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Davis’ own poll shows him being shellacked by Emanuel and Alexi considering mayoral run

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* You’ve undoubtedly read by now that a group of African-American leaders has chosen Congressman Danny Davis to be their standard-bearer in the mayor’s race.

But a poll commissioned by Davis himself, which for some reason he decided to circulate not long ago, actually shows he will have a very rough time against Rahm Emanuel if Davis manages to make it into the runoff. From Congressman Davis’ pollster…

Emanuel does well against Davis and Braun one-on-one, even when just looking at African-American voters and Hispanic voters. Emanuel received 45 percent of the African-American vote and 58 percent of the Hispanic vote, compared to 36 percent and 20 percent respectively for Davis. The numbers are similar one-on-one with Braun, but Braun does better with Hispanic voters.

This seems to be due to Emanuel’s name recognition and generally positive image. So, even if a coalition of African-American voters is possible, that does not guarantee success. However, there are a fair number of undecided voters so that adds another variable into the mix.”

If Rahm Emanuel gets 45 percent of the black vote against Davis in Davis’ own poll, then you have to wonder what he and that committee is thinking.

* And this has been going around for days. I’m not sure yet whether the labor poll actually exists, but there are some aldermen who cannot handle the idea of Rahm Emanuel for mayor and some of them are now turning to a guy who got almost 80 percent of the Chicago vote last week…

Defeated U.S. Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias appears to be at least toying with the idea of running for mayor. But as per my post of Wednesday, I’m still not convinced it’s real or that he’s doing anything except listening to some flattery at a time when he could use some.

In an e-mail on his way back from a post-election vacation, Mr. Giannoulias confirmed chatter that “I have received a lot of calls from aldermen and donors that I was absolutely not expecting.” Reportedly included in that group are City Council graybeards Ed Burke (14th) and Dick Mell (33rd), who don’t much like the idea of taking orders from a Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Mr. Giannoulias further confirmed that results of “a very strong (and flattering) poll” have been shown to him. Sources say the poll was conducted for a labor union and that it reportedly shows Mr. Giannoulias running six or seven points ahead of Mr. Emanuel.

“Does that mean that I’m running for mayor? No,” Mr. Giannoulias continued in his e-mail. “Is it stupid for me to say no, unequivocally, without even listening? Not sure yet.”

Thoughts?

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Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center MYTHBUSTERS

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Part 1, Electric Rates.

Myth: Taylorville will put an “enormous economic burden” on consumers

Fact: The Clean Coal Portfolio Standard caps residential rate increases at 2.015%, or $1.67/month, according to the ICC.

Myth: Taylorville means rate increases now, when we can least afford it

Fact: Between now and 2015, the project will invest billions in Illinois, employ nearly 2,500 construction workers and purchase supplies from all corners of the state. The cost to ratepayers between now and 2015? ZERO. NOTHING. ZILCH.

Myth: Taylorville will dramatically increase electric rates for large business customers

Fact: Big business customers currently pay 40.5% less for electricity than residential and small business consumers. Even under their worst case scenario, large customers would still pay 37.1% less.

Myth: Illinois has plenty of electricity. No new plants are needed.

Fact: As Crain’s and others have reported, environmental regulations are expected to force 25-40% of Illinois coal plants to shut down by 2020. Since Illinois still relies on coal for half of our electricity, less supply and more demand means higher electric rates if cleaner supplies of reliable electricity, like Taylorville, are not built. And who benefits from that?

SAY YES TO TENASKA’S TAYLORVILLE ENERGY CENTER!

Learn the facts. For more information, visit cleancoalillinois.com

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Question of the day

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From Gallup…

Americans think it is generally more important for political leaders to compromise to get things done (47%) rather than sticking to their beliefs (27%), but Republicans and Democrats hold differing views on the matter.

Republicans tilt more toward saying leaders should stick to their beliefs (41% to 32%), while Democrats more widely endorse compromise (by 59% to 18%).

Gallup used a 1 through 5 rating system, where “1″ meant it is more important for political leaders to “compromise in order to get things done,” while “5″ meant it is more important for political leaders to “stick to their beliefs even if little gets done.”

* The Question: Based on that 1-5 rating system, where do you stand? Explain.

23 Comments

Time to face reality

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Pat Quinn should listen to Mayor Daley…

Mayor Richard Daley [yesterday] suggested state government leaders should focus on cutting costs before raising taxes.

“First of all, you have to show the intent that you cut off waste, inefficiency, fraud, everything else,” Daley said. “So, they have to really show that. So, it’s up to them. You can’t just tell people, like here, I’m just going to raise taxes. You’d be thrown right out of City Hall. They want you to cut expenses, cut waste, inefficiency, reorganize and get a bank for the buck. That’s what they want. Simple as that.”

The mayor’s remarks came after Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s claim that he has a mandate to raise the income tax after campaigning on a tax-hike pledge and prevailing in last week’s governor election.

Quinn’s response? Not heartening…

At an unrelated news conference [yesterday], Quinn said he’s confident a tax increase will pass.

“I think members of the legislature need to have a rendezvous with reality. That’s what I would say. We’ve got to do what’s best for Illinois. The election’s over. It was over last week. So now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and work hard on what’s necessary for the people,” the governor said.

Quinn’s tax increase alone will barely make a dent in the state’s deficit, so he’s going to have to cut anyway. He might as well come up with at least a partial plan now. Earlier this week, all he could point to was eliminating the legislative scholarship plan. Yeah. That’ll help pass this tax hike. Watch…

A win is a win and Quinn won the election. But that doesn’t make him dictator. He can’t pass his tax hike by fiat. And he can’t wish away this budget deficit, either.

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How about we band together and try to take the lead on something for a change?

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* One of the things that Gov. Pat Quinn gets right is his vocal support for alternative energy. And Illinois is at the center of wind power partly because of his work.

The Environmental Law and Policy Center has produced a new study identifying over 100 Illinois companies with 15,000 employees active in the “wind power supply chain.” The group also estimates that 17 manufacturing jobs are created for every megawatt of power developed. That means 2,500 jobs for a 150 megawatt utility-scaled wind farm.

* The state now has 25 wind farms. Chicago is home to 13 major wind power company corporate headquarters. Here are just a few…

Acciona, a $7 billion Spanish-based multinational corporation, develops and manages clean energy projects, operates a turbine assembly and has its North American headquarters in Chicago. Acciona has ownership interests in seven North American wind farms.

Invenergy has its global headquarters Chicago and it develops, owns and operates large scale renewable energy facilities in North America and Europe. The company has developed twenty U.S. wind farms, two of which are in Illinois, making it one of the nation’s largest independent wind energy producers.

Midwest Wind Energy, headquartered in Chicago, is a utility-scale wind farm developer, with a current project portfolio of over 5,000 megawatts of power in Illinois and the Midwest.

Naperville’s BroadWind Energy headquarters recently got a writeup in the local paper…

Naperville’s Broadwind Energy is a wind-industry holding company with four businesses: logistics, technical and engineering services, turbine tower construction and precision gearing systems manufacturing.

“We make the towers that the turbines go on and manufacture the gears that go in the gear boxes, and we also have a service business that maintains the turbines,” said Broadwind spokesman John Segvich on Tuesday.

According to Segvich, Broadwind began in 2006 in Manitowoc, Wis., and moved to Naperville in March 2008. The 800-person company serves wind farm developers and operators throughout the United States. While Naperville is its corporate headquarters, Broadwind operates a gear-manufacturing plant in Cicero and a turbine plant in Texas.

“The services business is pretty much where the customers need them,” Segvich said, adding that the company chose to move to Naperville to be near a major international business center.

“The wind players are here in Chicago,” he said.

Another business snagged from the cheeseheads.

All those headquarters need lawyers, CPAs, caterers, programmers, insurance, public relations specialists, and on and on and on.

* But there’s also a more direct benefit. A. Finkl & Sons is gearing up to supply the industry with high grade steel for turbines. Winergy Drive Systems, a division of Siemens, just opened its second turbine production facility in Elgin. The company employs 500 Illinoisans. There’s lots more. Read the report.

* This is clearly a growth industry for Illinois, and the state needs to do even more. A new state law that allows school districts to cut deals with wind farm companies is starting to pay dividends for districts like Warrensburg-Latham, which is near Decatur…

Emmett Aubry was tired of hearing complaints about the wind and decided to find a way to put it to good use.

Aubry, the Warrensburg-Latham schools superintendent, told those at the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce Ag Café luncheon Monday that what he found could help not only the school district but provide a boost to the area’s economy.

“When you come to Warrensburg for a football game at the high school, it will blow you off the hill top,” Aubry said. “We griped about it a lot.”

A nearly $400 million wind farm is planned for 10,000 acres of leased land outside Warrensburg, Aubry said. The school district sits on what would be the northeast corner of the farm, he said. […]

The project would create 300 construction jobs and 22 permanent jobs, Aubry said. Many of the workers would be trained in a newly-developed wind technician training program at Richland Community College in Decatur.

* What about price? There is an argument that the price differential between wind and what we have now is just too great. But Illinois Wind Daily (yes, there is such a publication) makes a good point…

An article in this weekend’s New York Times highlights an interesting hurdle facing the wind industry during the current economic crisis: state utility commissions are viewing renewable power supply contracts as too expensive in comparison to standard power supply contracts. This issue has been problematic for wind projects in Illinois and other states, but could be a short-sighted perspective because power prices are now at historic lows.

They’re low because of the recession. They’ll eventually go back up again, but this wind industry opportunity will be gone by then if we lay back now.

* And as long as the market is out there, we need to not only stay in the game, but lead it and help pave the way. For instance, people tend to believe they “own” the sightlines from their property. That’s pretty silly, but it seems to be a natural inclination. I know I can feel the same way. But too often, a tiny handful of rural neighbors are allowed to stop or greatly slow down wind farm projects…

The [Marshall County] board’s approval came over the objections of several residents who live in the area where the 16 turbines will be located. Rebecca Donna, an Illinois Valley Community College professor who also had objected at an earlier Zoning Board of Appeals hearing, said the turbines will reduce quality of life and property values for residents not involved in the project.

“There are 31 residents (in that category),” Donna said. “I know that’s not a lot of people, but I think the county should consider those people. It will very negatively impact our lives.”

* What we also don’t need is for ComEd to continue dragging its feet. The company has so far prevented a bill from passing that would extend a provision in state law that only allows the company to apply only renewable energy sources from Illinois to its minimum alternative energy mandate. ComEd wants to import wind-generated power from out of state instead. Legislators need to be for Illinois jobs, not utility games. If this bill isn’t properly drafted, then the players need to come up with a new one. But soon. As with everything else, we’re in competition with other states and other countries in this industry.

We have lots of coal here, and clean coal technology needs to be invested in as well. Environmental regulations are trending harshly against coal these days, so we can either do nothing and stick with the old technology and be left behind (once again), or kick it up ten notches and get out in front of the changes coming our way, whether we like it or not.

[Hat Tip: Progress Illinois and Illinois Wind Daily.]

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Gov. Quinn plays hardball with the cheeseheads

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Now, this is what I call aggressive business recruitment…

Gov. Pat Quinn says a Wisconsin trainmaker is welcome to move its jobs to Illinois.

Quinn is inviting Talgo Inc. to come to the state after Wisconsin’s newly elected Republican governor said he wanted to give back federal money for a proposed high-speed rail project or use it for something else.

Quinn sent a letter to the Milwaukee company Wednesday. He says Illinois will do whatever it can to lure them.

* The company is interested in moving here…

A Spanish-owned train company would seriously consider moving its plant from Milwaukee to Illinois in 2012 if Governor-elect Scott Walker follows through on his vow to kill a planned high-speed rail line, a company executive said Wednesday night. […]

“If Wisconsin is losing its enthusiasm for its rail program and others are not, we could go to Illinois and manufacture world-class trains there,” said Nora Friend, Talgo vice president for public affairs and business development. “We certainly appreciate Gov. Quinn reaching out to us. We will consider very seriously states that want to grow their rail program.”

* The federal government has allocated $810 million to Wisconsin to build the high-speed train line. Gov. Quinn had this to say several days ago about the Wisconsin governor-elect’s campaign promise to halt the Milwaukee to Chicago project…

I just heard from Ray LaHood today, he called and said, ‘Well, Wisconsin might not want the money for high speed rail.’ We’re here, here we are. We’ll be happy to take it. You know, anything we can grab hold of

* Governor-elect Walker wants to use the money for roads instead, but Transportation Secretary LaHood has said they can’t, and it doesn’t look like Wisconsin will have a legal leg to stand on…

Walker, meanwhile, made another pitch to use the stimulus money for roads instead. He wrote U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, saying that voters across the country chose new governors who are against using transportation money for passenger trains. And the Republican Walker said, quote, “I believe it would be unwise for the Obama administration to ignore the will of the voters.” LaHood said on Monday that the $810-million would have to be spent on trains – or else it would go to another state for its trains.

But House Republican Tom Petri of Fond du Lac said Congress probably wouldn’t be much help to Walker. He said the law would have to be changed to use the money for roads – and states like Illinois that want the train funding would never vote for that. Walker is against having Wisconsin pay the train’s operating costs once its built.

From Secretary LaHood’s letter…

“None of the money provided to Wisconsin may be used for road and highway projects, or anything other than high-speed rail. Consequently, unless you change your position, we plan to engage in an orderly transition to wind down Wisconsin’s project so that we do not waste taxpayers’ money,” wrote LaHood.

Oof.

* And despite potentially losing jobs and nearly a billion dollars in transportation money, the Wisconsin governor-elect is not backing down…

“Gov.-elect Scott Walker is going to fulfill his campaign promise to stop the construction of the Madison-Milwaukee train line,” Walker spokesman John Hiller said in a statement. “He will also fulfill his campaign promise to create an economic environment that allows the private-sector to create 250,000 new jobs.”

Yeah, well, that Wisconsin project would’ve created 5,500 construction jobs over the next three years. And then there are all those Talgo jobs.

* And then there’s this…

If Illinois receives the money, it could “add insult to injury” because Wisconsinites would still be burdened with the Illinois tolls while traveling to Chicago, but the toll payoffs would not be returned, [Jay Heck, executive director for Common Cause in Wisconsin] said.

59 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY: This just in…

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Americans for Prosperity promotes big lie and Edgar kicks Brady when he’s down

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Americans for Prosperity is jumping into the non-fray over seating Mark Kirk now with an online petition…

Mark Kirk won two elections to the U.S. Senate on November 2. He won an election to a full 6-year term, and he also won a SPECIAL ELECTION to fill the final two months of President Obama’s unexpired term. The special election is critical because Congress is considering a sweeping lame duck agenda that will include decisions on tax hikes for all Americans, the first vote on funding ObamaCare, and potentially dozens of other hugely consequential issues.

Mark Kirk campaigned as a LAME DUCK KILLER and won his election on a promise to stop Pelosi/Reid lame duck agenda. He won. Now, unlike the two Democrats who won special elections in West Virginia and Delaware, there is a chance that Kirk will not be seated. EVEN THOUGH he won a special election SPECIFICALLY for the lame duck session, state officials are saying he will not be certified until more than a week after the lame duck session starts. That’s not right.

Sign the petition. Don’t cheat! Give Kirk his seat!

PETITION TO BOARD OF ELECTIONS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DANIEL WHITE, GOVERNOR PAT QUINN, SECRETARY OF STATE JESSE WHITE:
Mark Kirk won a special election for the lame duck. His opponent conceded. We demand you certify the result and issue his writ of election immediately.

PETITION TO SECRETARY OF THE SENATE NANCY ERICKSON, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID, SENATE MINORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL:
Roland Burris is not a senator. An election having now duly qualified Mark Kirk to complete President Obama’s unexpired term, Senator Kirk should be seated immediately and he, not Mr. Burris, should represent Illinois in the lame duck session.

* Let’s go through this goofy petition piece by piece, shall we?

1) Kirk did not win a term to fill all of the remaining days of Obama’s unexpired term. A federal judge and the appellate court ruled that the state board of elections must certify the winner by November 24th. Under that late July federal judicial order, whoever won the special election would miss the first week of the lame duck session.

2) Alexi Giannoulias’ concession holds zero legal weight.

3) Unless Americans for Prosperity wants the Illinois State Board of Elections to violate probably two dozen state and federal laws, it cannot certify this election for Mark Kirk. The ballots are not all counted yet (see the Republican counties of Lake and McHenry for just two examples). Some military ballots may not have arrived in the counties yet. Does AFP want to deprive armed forces members of their right to vote? Just a few weeks ago, the Illinois Republican Party wanted to extend the time period to count those ballots and threatened to file a lawsuit. Now, it’s patriotic to not count them? Huh? I’m getting whiplash here. The official state canvass does not begin until next Wednesday, after the deadline for receiving and counting absentee ballots ends. This is a big state. That takes a while.

4) Unless Roland Burris decides to step down, he is most definitely a Senator until Mark Kirk is sworn in. The red herring of West Virginia and Delaware does not apply here. There is no vacancy here. That’s due to both Burris and the federal judicial decree. There is simply no seat for Mark Kirk to take.

Even Tom Roeser kinda/sorta admitted error today. AFP has vast sums of cash and, presumably, staff. You’d think they would know better. But the Washington Examiner wants the Senate Republicans to use this non-issue as an excuse to filibuster everything next week. Thankfully, Drudge is too focused today on groped stewardesses to take notice, or Fox News would surely jump in with both Right feet.

* Speaking of things we should ignore…

Former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar says Republican Bill Brady lost the governorship in last week’s election because he was ultimately too conservative for Illinois.

Speaking at a post-election forum in Springfield, Edgar said Republicans missed an opportunity to seize the state’s top office on Nov. 2.

Edgar, who was governor from 1991 to 1999, says while it was a good night for the GOP in that the party gained seats in the Legislature and two statewide office. However, he doesn’t think the party is back in Illinois.

And…

“To me, there’s only one election – that’s governor. … We kind of missed our opportunity,” said Edgar, a Republican who served two terms as governor from 1991 to 1999. “We should have won the governorship.”

If this was so important, you’d think maybe Edgar would’ve been out there campaigning for Brady. Maybe appearing in the ‘burbs and calming down moderate women. Then again, to my knowledge, Brady’s campaign never asked him to do that or cut a TV ad. That could’ve helped in the suburbs.

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Quinn cool on gaming, but will he change his mind?

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Gov. Pat Quinn talks about casino expansion and slots at tracks…

“You can’t gamble your way to prosperity,” Quinn said. “I think we have to understand in Illinois that we have some gambling. But do we want to expand it and make Illinois the Las Vegas of the Midwest? Not in my opinion.”

He’s right that we can’t gamble our way to prosperity. But I don’t think anyone is talking about making Illinois “the Las Vegas of the Midwest.” What they’re talking about is adding four new casinos, one in Lake County, one in Chicago, one in southern Cook and one in Danville, plus slots at tracks. Las Vegas has 1,701 casinos. We’d need to do a whole lot more expanding to get to that level.

* Sen. Mike Jacobs makes sense…

“I think it’s kind of wrong that we haven’t let Chicago have the same (gambling) benefit that my community enjoys. The [Quad Cities] has three casino boats and Chicago doesn’t have any.”

Jacobs was referring to Iowa boats in his calculation, but it’s still true. And it seems a bit silly to me that the Quads have three boats and Chicago has zero. It also seems ludicrous that we’re allowing all those south suburban people to stream across the Indiana border to hand over their gambling losses to the Hoosiers.

* So, will Quinn change his mind? Sen. Syverson also makes sense…

State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, howeverm said he doesn’t think Quinn’s position will matter — or stay the same.

“He will change his mind like he does on pretty much everything,” Syverson said. “The idea that a new lotto game is somehow better than more gambling is just silly.”

* From a press release…

Governor Pat Quinn [yesterday] unveiled the new Veterans Cash lottery ticket, a scratch-off ticket that benefits Illinois Veterans. All proceeds from the ticket go to fund rehabilitative programs and other services for Illinois’ Veterans. Since Governor Quinn championed the program in 2006, it has generated more than $8.4 million for Veterans organizations across the state.

“With Veterans’ Day coming up on Thursday, it is important that we honor the men and women who have answered the call to serve their country,” said Governor Quinn. “It is important that we do everything we can to make sure returning Veterans have access to rehabilitation programs and other important services. I encourage all Illinois residents to buy the new Veterans Cash ticket and support our Veterans.”

Anyone else see the irony in that quote?

* Look, gambling is not exactly popular. And I, for one, am not fully comfortable with the government being an active participant in a scam. And make no mistake, gambling is a scam (for everyone but my wife, that is, who always wins). They don’t build those fabulous casinos because they lose. It’s a tax on people who can’t do math. But it’s an almost purely voluntary tax. Nobody forces anybody to go to those casinos.

I also don’t think adding four casinos and slots at tracks puts us on any sort of slippery slope to becoming the next Vegas. We’ve had boats for twenty years and there are only ten licenses, and it took years to find a home for that tenth license. Any expansion takes a huge effort. And expansion attempts fail about 99 percent of the time. It’s been a decade since the last one.

* There are also real concerns that more gaming could mean less consumer purchasing here. And considering the lack of current retail demand in our economy, that question should be addressed. All in all, though, governing is inherently a balancing act. If new casinos do little real damage and help us balance the budget a bit without new taxes, then the scale tips in their direction.

Some have real moral qualms. But Illinois is hardly Sodom and Gomorrah, and neither is Iowa, Missouri or Indiana, the three states we compete with.

What we need is some sober, rational analysis and thought, not bizarre scare tactics by a petulant governor who demands that the General Assembly pass his tax increase before they do anything else.

* Meanwhile, Comptroller-elect Judy Baar Topinka and Treasurer-elect Dan Rutherford have a warning for Gov. Quinn. No short-term borrowing unless they believe it’s a decent plan that the state can afford…

Quinn has called borrowing one of his “budget pillars.” But state law requires both the state treasurer and comptroller to sign-off on short term borrowing in Illinois. Topinka said that means she’d better get answers to her questions.

“I have a number of questions about any type of short term borrowing,” she said. “What will the money be used for, how long will it be out, and is there money for the state to pay it back?”

Topinka vowed she won’t be issuing any blank checks to the governor. Rutherford has the same criteria as Topinka when it comes to borrowing. And he thinks he has a mandate to be tough. […]

Rutherford said that not all borrowing is bad, but he does worry about Illinois’ mounting debt and the state’s ability to repay what it borrows. […]

“If [the borrowing plan] is something that makes sense, there’s a means to pay it back, we understand where the money is going to go to, is there a revenue stream, all of those, I’m willing to look at it. I’m not going to be an obstructionist just to be an obstructionist,” added Rutherford.

* Related…

* Quinn calls for Madigan, Cullerton to approve tax increase

* Lame duck Daley keeps mum on Quinn’s tax plan

* News-Gazette: Quinn has chance for a new start

* Illinois tallies tax amnesty receipts

* Kadner: Gambling bill coming but problems remain

* Illinois Plans $1.5 Billion Tobacco Bond for Budget

* LaHood to states: Proceed with rail projects or give up stimulus funds

45 Comments

Question of the day

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A quote by Robert Gilligan, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois…

“Civil unions, for all intents and purposes, are practically the same as same-sex marriage,” said Gilligan, whose group is among five religious-based or socially conservative organizations against the legislation

The legislation in question is a bill to provide for civil unions in Illinois. The Sun-Times editorialized on behalf of the bill today.

* The Question: Regardless of how you feel about civil unions and gay marriage and even gay rights, is Mr. Gilligan correct when he says that civil unions and gay marriage are “practically the same,” or are there significant differences that ought to be recognized by the General Assembly? Explain.

Again, let’s not debate the merits of the bill here. Let’s try to only stick to Gilligan’s statement.

50 Comments

Bean needs a miracle, while Walsh vows to fend off attempts to “steal” election

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The only thing that will save Congresswoman Melissa Bean is a miracle.

Lake and McHenry counties won’t even start counting late-arriving absentee ballots until next Tuesday the 16th, which is the statutory deadline. From Lake County’s website…

All tallies from Provisional and late-arriving ballots voted by mail are reported 14 days after Election Day when the election results become final. The official canvass of the results occurs the following day.

This, by the way, is yet another reason why the state cannot certify Mark Kirk’s election.

Anyway, back to Bean. With Cook County’s absentee results mostly in, Bean trails Republican Joe Walsh by 347 votes. That’s down from her 553-vote deficit late last week before Cook started counting late absentees, but it isn’t nearly enough. She picked up just three votes on Walsh yesterday in Cook, which has now stopped counting until next Tuesday as well.

And keep in mind that Bean actually won suburban Cook County 54-43. She lost Lake County 50-47 and got stomped in McHenry 52-43.

It’s likely that a higher percentage of Democrats voted by mail in those counties than voted on election day, partly because of the Democrats’ coordinated committee efforts. But that difference will have to be truly vast for Bean to catch up or even get close enough to realistically expect that a recount will make much of a difference…

About 500 absentee ballots remain unaccounted for in Cook County, election officials said, though the likelihood they will be returned with a valid postmark date drops by the day.

Another 216 provisional ballots could also be counted into the total, though only between 20 and 25 percent of those votes are usually ruled valid, said Courtney Greve, the clerk’s office spokeswoman.

Lake County has received 599 valid absentee ballots that will be counted, and several hundred more provisional ballots likely will be counted into the total, said County Clerk Willard Helander. McHenry County Clerk Katherine Schultz said she expects her county to contribute a few dozen votes.

The Cook “unaccounted for” line is a bit vague. The county mailed out 500 more absentee ballots than they’ve so far received back. Some will never be sent. The ones that are sent in will likely be postmarked after last Monday’s deadline.

* In the meantime, Joe Walsh is heading to DC for freshman orientation. He appears to have earned that right. But, as usual, he went over the top in a message to supporters…

Rest assured as well, that we are diligently prepared to defend against any attempt to steal last week’s victory away from us. We won’t let that happen.

…Adding… From Bean’s campaign…

“Every single day that ballots have been counted following Election Day, the margin of votes separating Congresswoman Melissa Bean and Mr. Walsh has continued to shrink. Now, more than ever, this race remains too close to call. While we wait for additional ballots to be counted, we remain encouraged by the favorable results we’ve seen in suburban Cook County. In fact, nearly 70 percent of the absentee ballots counted since Election Day in Cook County were cast in support of Congresswoman Bean, which suggests that similar absentee numbers will be reported in Lake and McHenry between now and November 16th.”

It suggests nothing of the sort since she won Cook County.

* Related…

* Rep. Shimkus aims to be House Energy and Commerce chairman: One other more-senior member is likely to chair the panel’s subcommittee on telecommunications, so the real contest is between Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, who has served in Congress since 1987, and Mr. Shimkus, who was first elected a decade later. Conservative groups recently started a campaign to block Mr. Upton, citing his voting record going back to the 1990s, according to Politico, a Capitol Hill publication.

* ‘The planet won’t be destroyed by global warming because God promised Noah,’ says politician bidding to chair U.S. energy committee

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Kankakee has a lesson for the city

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I was born in Kankakee. Like many small cities, Kankakee installed parking meters downtown decades ago to generate revenue and prevent people from parking too long in front of stores. And, like many small cities, Kankakee’s downtown quickly went to pot. It didn’t take long before they had no more stores. Some Chicago businesses are now starting to freak out about what could happen to them…

Along Touhy between Francisco and Sacramento avenues, there had always been free street parking. But, suddenly without warning, a pay box appeared on Oct. 31.

Michael Ben-Ezra owns the North Shore Bakery at 2919 W. Touhy Ave. Last week, the first week with the pay box, he says his business was down 30 percent.

“You know, the customer comes in to buy a sweet roll or something, They walk in for 10 minutes” and have to pay or risk a $50 ticket.”

He says, with the pay boxes, the city is driving businesses away. He points to the next block which has had metered parking all along it and more than half the storefronts are empty.

That’s an excellent point. For shops which sell low-priced items like sweet rolls, who’s gonna pay through the nose to park? And get this response from the alderman…

As for the businesses along Touhy, Alderman Stone says they’ve been lucky until now to have no meters. Now, their luck has run out.

Such empathy.

* Parking meters alone didn’t destroy Kankakee’s downtown. Shoppers’ preferences shifted to malls. But the town’s oldtimers are still upset at the way those meters were installed, and that’s been maybe 40 years ago. So if Kankakee is any guide, then this is not an issue that will ever go away in Chicago.

And the way the contract is written, those meters will continue to spread throughout the city. The company will have two ways to increase revenues, jack up parking rates or install new meters. It’s not gonna be pretty either way, and it’s going to be both ways.

I don’t think many people care about the meters in the Loop. You can actually find street parking at times now. But the Loop is essential. People have to go there. They don’t necessarily have to stop in for quick roll at North Shore Bakery on Touhy, although in my view it’s an excellent place to find tasty treats.

* I derided the study conducted last year which found that Chicago could’ve made more money if it had just raised parking rates itself without contracting it out to a private firm. The fatal flaw with the study, I wrote, was that aldermen would either never have been so foolish as to raise the rates and vastly expand meter placement themselves, or they would’ve been forced to instantly annul the ordinance once the public figured out what happened.

But by going this privatization route and by spending pretty much all the company’s money up front, the city is now stuck. What it needs to do now is figure out how to get itself out of this contract or drastically modify it or little Kankakees are gonna sprout up all over the neighborhoods. And, take it from a Kankakee native, that’s not a good thing.

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Morning shorts

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune Co. asks court to approve $43M in bonuses

* Hiring remains slow even as economy picks up

* Chicago Public Schools sees $700 mil. deficit next year

* Estimate of corn crop lowered again

* A third of Chicago-area homes underwater

* Congressmen pay wives from campaign funds

* Panel approves TIF for company’s 650-job expansion downtown

* Shrink City Council committees, alderman says

* Daley takes credit for fire department audit’s findings