* 3:04 pm - Two days of heat is all it took. From a press release…
Governor candidate Bill Brady today said to avoid distracting from the failures of the Quinn/Blagojevich Administration, he will make available his income tax returns this week.
“Pat Quinn wants nothing more than to turn attention away the failures he has led us to,” Brady said. “I won’t let anything stand in the way of my determination to bring a clean break to Illinois.”
Brady noted that Quinn has earned his income from taxpayer money while he himself has worked in the private sector.
“Today just shows again that Pat Quinn is part of the public sector ruling class,” Brady said.
Um, Bill, what about that Senate salary? Isn’t that “taxpayer money” too?
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno talked to reporters after the leaders meeting today about the governor’s proposals that I’ve already outlined below.
Radogno claimed that the proposed cuts don’t really add up to $2.6 billion because Quinn wants to add spending back into the plan. She claimed the cuts really added up to only $900 million, while Quinn wants to do $9 billion in borrowing and new taxes. Have a look…
* House Republican Leader Tom Cross, like Radogno, was asked about a six-month budget. But, like Radogno, Cross said it wasn’t discussed. Take a look…
* Quinn’s budget director David Vaught talked about extending the lapse period by four months and how that helps vendors avoid the court of claims. Actually, it helps the state avoid the court of claims. Either way, watch…
* In case you missed it below, Gov. Quinn told Chicago reporters that he wants a review of leadership use of cars…
“This is an alarm bell that we need to pay attention to,” Quinn said. “Especially in these times of austerity, we need to look at where all state vehicles are, how they are used, where they’re assigned, and I intend to pursue that.” […]
Quinn said it is “absolutely wrong” for state-owned vehicles to ever be used by family members or anyone not working for the state, but he stopped short of saying top lawmakers should be stripped of the perk saying he planned to meet with legislative leaders and discuss the issue this afternoon.
The governor did suggest the legislative branch could face budget cuts that would force the General Assembly to reconsider some purchases.
“It bears inspection, and this is a good time to do the inspecting,” Quinn said. “We have a tough budget, we have to tighten the budget. Any information that we have that indicates that a vehicle is not necessary, then we will act appropriately.”
* Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan both commented on the Rahm Emanuel for mayor kerfuffle.
First up, Quinn, who cracked that he knew Rahm when “he was an idealist” back in 1980…
* 12:57 pm - The day before thousands of protesters are planning to descend on Springfield to decry the governor’s proposed budget cuts, Gov. Quinn is telling legislative leaders today that he wants to increase budget cuts by $400 million.
Quinn also wants to lengthen the lapse spending period by four months, which would give the state even more time to pay bills from one fiscal year to the next.
From the guv’s office…
In addition to the proposed $2.2 billion in cuts the Governor proposed on March 10, he is calling for authority under the emergency budget act to cut $400 million additional funds from the budget. This would bring the Governor’s proposed total cuts to $2.6 billion. The Governor is also requesting an extension of the lapse period for payments to vendors in an effort to ensure all payments owed are received. The lapse period would be extended from Aug. 31 to Dec. 31.
Currently, we have more than $6 billion in accounts payable. This detailed plan reduces those bills to $2.9 billion by using strategic measures which include borrowing excess money from other state funds and partially liquidating the revenue from the tobacco settlement. Both of these strategies will net the state $2 billion dollars to help stabilize the budget, pay our bills, refinance our debt and keep people employed.
The truth is we need revenue. The education surcharge will generate $2.8 billion dollars that will be used to fund education while keeping tens of thousands of people employed. Education is a top priority for the Governor. He is committed to raising needed revenue in order to continue to provide excellent educational opportunities for our students.
Governor Quinn inherited these fiscal challenges that were created over several years of budget mismanagement and this detailed plan provides the solutions to get the state back on sound financial footing.
Quinn’s budget office also distributed these two graphs. Click the pics for larger images…
We’ll have video from the post-meeting leader availabilities, so check back.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn released his tax returns today and turned his disclosure into a campaign issue by calling on Republican rival Sen. Bill Brady to do the same or drop out.
The governor said there is “something not right” about Brady’s refusal to release his tax information, suggesting Brady is trying to hide business interests that could conflict with holding the state’s top office. […]
“As everyone knows we’ve had two governors preceding me that got into a lot of trouble, one’s in jail, one’s under indictment,” Quinn said, referring to predecessors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. “ Illinois doesn’t need a shady governor. I think it’s very important we have a governor that’s open, direct, and accessible.”
“I think anybody who wants to aspire to this office and doesn’t want to disclose their tax return really should re-think their candidacy, because I think this is fundamental to making sure the governor of our state does not have any conflicts of interest that would in any way harm the people of Illinois.”
“The senator said he’s concerned such a disclosure would harm his business interests. Then the question is what are those business interests and do they conflict with the public interest,” Quinn said.
…Adding more… The Quinn campaign is pushing back against the notion that it said Brady ought to release his returns or drop out. The Tribune interpreted it differently, and so did I. But just so you know, the Quinn campaign doesn’t see it that way. The headline has been adjusted to reflect that protest.
*** UPDATE *** As mentioned above, Quinn talked to Statehouse reporters today about the Brady income tax issue.
“Sen. Brady says he doesn’t want to hurt his business interests by disclosing his income tax. Well, wait a minute. If you’re going to be the governor the number one interest is the public interest, not your private business interest that you want to keep hidden.”
Quinn also talked about the possibility of Scott Lee Cohen entering the governor’s race. Quinn said he ran into Cohen at a ballgame and Cohen told him to be prepared for a “big surprise.”
* This is not unexpected, since Quinn endorsed Joe Berrios in the primary and bashed Dan Hynes’ father for leaving the Democratic Party to run for mayor against Harold Washington…
Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday made it clear that a longtime friend, Forrest Claypool, is on his own in his race for Cook County assessor.
“I supported the Democratic party nominee in the primary (election),” tax appeals Commissioner Joseph Berrios, Mr. Quinn told a Chicago press conference. “I’m a Democrat. That’s where I’m going to be” in the November general election. […]
Politically, Mr. Quinn’s stance could cost him if Mr. Claypool gets enough signatures on petitions to run as an independent candidate. But Mr. Claypool stands to lose, too, given Mr. Quinn’s influence among African-American voters in particular.
And even though the announcement was predictable, it’s also pretty predictable that the Chicago Tribune is gonna hammer Quinn - and probably everybody else that goes with Berrios - for this.
* Meanwhile, we got a “revelation” today from the Illinois Policy Institute…
In total, the Maine Workers’ Compensation Commission spent around $5 million on wages or approximately half of the $11.5 million that Illinois spent in 2008.
Maine population = 1,318,301
Illinois population = 12,910,409
Where:
Outside the Law Office of Sam Adam and Sam Adam, Jr.
6133 South Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
More information:
The former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich will make the strongest public statement to date concerning the charges he is facing.
Blagojevich has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and says he is innocent of all charges.
The former governor will react to developments in this case.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: For stations planning to carry this statement from Rod Blagojevich live, please be advised that it will begin promptly at 5:03pm CST.
Gov. Blagojevich will not be available for any interviews or comments prior to the 5:03pm Central statement.
Out of respect for his children, please avoid reporting or videotaping at or near his Chicago residence.
* Garritt Cullerton’s DUI while driving a state car assigned to his Senate President father without permission has sparked questions about just how many state vehicles are controlled by legislative leaders. The Tribune comes up with the answers…
The assignment of state vehicles to the four partisan leaders of the state Senate and House was part of a little-known provision of a law passed in 1984 that eliminated controversial legislative commissions that had become bloated by the salaries of lackeys and relatives. One panel that was eliminated had a dozen vehicles, and the four legislative leaders divvied them up. The legislature has bought new vehicles since that time through its operations account.
Cullerton’s office said the Senate currently owns six vehicles, three used by Democrats and three by Republicans. The fleet includes three late-model Ford Escape hybrids, two Tauruses and a 2005 Dodge Caravan.
The House clerk’s office under veteran Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago said the House has eight vehicles. A spokeswoman for House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego said Cross primarily uses a 2007 GMC Yukon, but Republicans also use a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer and a 2005 Chrysler 300 C. The five other House vehicles include 2007 Ford and Chrysler vans, a 2004 Chrysler Concorde, a 2006 Chrysler 300 and the newest vehicle, a 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid. […]
Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont uses one of the SUVs to drive while in Springfield, spokeswoman Patty Schuh said. She said another car is kept at the Chicago office for the use of staff and other lawmakers, and the van is used by staff for deliveries to district offices.
The governor’s office is assigned state vehicles and the executive branch is co-equal to the legislative branch, so while I can surely see the reasoning behind any outrage, it’s best to keep this in perspective.
Still, I’ve been around 20 years and I don’t remember any previous stories about those cars.
Leadership spending is super-secretive, so it’s high time that they open their books and let everybody see just what the heck is going on over there.
As far as the younger Cullerton’s traffic stop record goes, well, that’s not good, either. But, as with yesterday, I would rather avoid this particular topic. They tend to get way too overheated. Also, in case there’s any question about what happened to that car in question, ABC7 has the answer…
Cullerton’s spokeswoman says the Ford Escape was impounded by the Chicago Police Department Sunday and that President Cullerton himself paid the fee to get the vehicle released from the auto pound.
“This is an alarm bell that we need to pay attention to,” Quinn said. “Especially in these times of austerity, we need to look at where all state vehicles are, how they are used, where they’re assigned, and I intend to pursue that.” […]
Quinn said it is “absolutely wrong” for state-owned vehicles to ever be used by family members or anyone not working for the state, but he stopped short of saying top lawmakers should be stripped of the perk saying he planned to meet with legislative leaders and discuss the issue this afternoon.
The governor did suggest the legislative branch could face budget cuts that would force the General Assembly to reconsider some purchases.
“It bears inspection, and this is a good time to do the inspecting,” Quinn said. “We have a tough budget, we have to tighten the budget. Any information that we have that indicates that a vehicle is not necessary, then we will act appropriately.”
* On Saturday, Bill Brady’s campaign invited a few bloggers to discuss the issues for 15 minutes. Among other things, he was asked this question by the Illinois Review…
Do you have a couple of wedge-type issues to appeal to Cook County? One of the issues has been that you’re not well known in Cook County, and there’s been some kind of pessimism about you being able to reach into some of the minority communities.
Brady’s response…
…The school choice thing appeals to people. The term limits thing appeals to people. When you reach into the minority communities, which we have been horrible at.
Last general election for governor, we got 14 percent of the black and Latino vote. That’s 25 percent of the vote, by the way. We cannot ignore it. When we asked why, we blatantly found out that it’s not because of issues. Those communities are with us on the family issues. They’re with us on the school issues. The problem is, we’ve been AWOL. The Democrats have been propagating those communities, if not monthly, weekly, then daily. Our message has got to be inviting. We simply haven’t invited. The school voucher is helping us. The big box issue is helping us. Fresh food, jobs, affordable food, a say in your child’s education.
Those are some valid points, but some of his numbers are off. According to the exit polling, blacks and Latinos made up 20 percent of the 2006 gubernatorial vote, not 26. Judy Baar Topinka got 16 percent of the African-American vote and 12 percent of the Latino vote, so that is 14 percent on average.
Historically, though, when Republican candidates talk about winning minority votes, it’s mostly about appearing to be open-minded to more moderate white folks, not really an all-out push for black votes (the Latino vote was kinda up for grabs a while back, but national GOP immigration policies pretty much spoiled those chances).
That’s not a bad thing at all, of course. Having a Republican candidate talking about issues impacting minority areas is a positive thing. But this isn’t about winning that vote. It’s about winning.
* Chicago Public Radio is the only media outlet that appeared to even remotely connect the dots today between Republican Mark Kirk’s call on Alexi Giannoulias to release his tax returns and Democrat Pat Quinn’s demand that Republican Bill Brady release his returns.
I point this out because it’s an interesting little battle we have going on here right now at the top of the ticket. It’s not an exact comparison, since Giannoulias filed for an extension (although he did provide WBEZ with his paperwork) and Brady is just flat-out saying “No” when asked about his returns. The advantage, then, goes to Quinn, who might conceivably use Kirk’s demands against Brady, but hasn’t. That’s partly because Quinn has no real campaign organization in place. Here’s part of what Kirk said…
“I worry the coming implosion of his family bank may have tax implications for him, and therefore he’s not willing to release his taxes,” Kirk said.
Brady has previously admitted that his family businesses are suffering mightily during the Great Recession. So, the connection is there.
But the rally probably won’t push politicians to support a tax increase in an election year, many lawmakers said.
“To say that is going to rally enough support for a tax increase, I don’t think so,” said state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington. […]
“You got rallies going on today in my area against taxes,” said state Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion.
Case in point, supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment brought even more than 15,000 people to Springfield for a rally back in 1982, to no avail. However, a huge rally that same year sponsored by labor organizations against a move by GOP House Speaker George Ryan to bring a “right to work” bill to the floor did work. The difference is, that bill wasn’t going anywhere anyway. It would’ve been vetoed by Republican Gov. Jim Thompson if it ever advanced to his desk, which was doubtful.
* And when the Republican gubernatorial nominee is pushing for huge cuts in programs and is adamantly opposed to a tax increase, there is just no political cover at all for a tax hike now…
Converting one state government agency into an advisory group, and renegotiating employment contracts at another agency, are two of the ways that the Republican running for governor would save taxpayer money.
State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) would change the Illinois State Board of Education from a policy-setting agency to one that would only advise the governor.
Brady says the $80 million agency is currently more of a hindrance to education than an administrator. He also complains about accountability at the board, saying everyone there points their fingers at everyone else. “Harry Truman would have a field day with where the buck stopped,” Brady said.
Brady also says he would renegotiate contracts for Illinois State Police troopers and civilian workers, because he says the salaries and pension are too sweet compared to those in the private sector.
* But the anger at Springfield is palpable among rally organizers. Here’s a quote from David Comerford, a spokesperson for the Illinois Federation of Teachers…
“No politician will be speaking at the rally. They’ve done enough talking without acting,” said Comerford. “They need to hear from us.”
More than 120,000 people have signed petitions to get the proposed citizen initiative on the ballot, but that’s less than 50 percent of the 288,000 needed. Amendment supporters had hoped to finish the petition drive by April 1.
The coalition behind the amendment, which includes the League of Women Voters, said the fight is not yet over.
“It’s two weeks before we have to file,” said Jan Czarnik of the League of Women Voters. “If we do fall short, it’s only because we haven’t had enough people circulating petitions in such a short amount of time.”
The League remained upbeat and defiant in Springfield yesterday, even though its original goal was 500,000 signatures by April 1st, to ensure that it had enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot…
“We’re not having so much trouble; it’s two weeks before we have to file,” Jan Czarnik with the League of Women Voters said… “This is the easiest public education campaign (the League has) ever undertaken,” she said. “Our petition circulators get as far as saying ‘Hello, did you know that the members of the General Assembly draw the districts for which they run for reelection’–the voters are appalled by this and angered by this.”
Roughly 1,100 signatures were collected from Southern Illinois by the League of Women Voters of Jackson County, who took the lead on gathering petitions earlier this year.
League representative Dorcy Prosser of Carbondale said it was simply difficult to get people passionate about something as esoteric as legislative districts, and the fact Republicans began supporting the Fair Map amendment put a political spin on things that repelled others.
“I certainly hope we can get it on the ballot, but obviously it’s looking questionable,” Prosser said.
That’s pretty much the exact opposite of what Czarnik told Springfield-based reporters yesterday.
* The controversial League alliance with the Republicans mentioned by Ms. Prosser was also the subject of a press release issued this morning by State Sen. Marty Sandoval (D-Chicago). Sandoval demanded that people not sign the petitions…
Dozens of Republican operatives and a few self-styled reformers are asking Illinois citizens to sign a petition. This petition, called the Fair Map Initiative, would create very unfair representation of the largest minority group in Illinois: Hispanics. Even though Hispanics are responsible for all the population growth in llinois over the last decade (and thus due for a major increase in representation in local, county, state and federal levels with new maps drawn after the census), if the Fair Map Initiative is implemented, Hispanics will not see a proportionate and fair increase in Hispanic-majority districts.
I joined with my Democratic colleagues in the Illinois Senate to improve the transparency of the map-making process while my Republican colleagues voted against our proposal, preferring a process that would put a lid of Latino representation. Now they are hoping to build another wall between Hispanics and our government with the “Fair Map Initiative.”
Republicans will be on the streets until early May asking for your signature on the petition. If you are approached, I suggest you take the advice of one of the country’s most beloved Republicans, former First Lady Nancy Reagan: Just Say No!
The League has until May 3rd to turn in its signatures. Two years ago, the League opposed a constitutional convention, partly on the grounds that changes could be made to the existing constitution via the amendment process. They’re finding now that it isn’t so easy.
Mayor Richard Daley spoke for many Illinoisans Monday when he evoked a “Springfield bubble” in which lawmakers are oblivious to the economy around them and unwilling to bleed inefficiencies out of their operations. [Daley’s] government’s latest economizing involves asking vendors to renegotiate their contracts with a goal of cutting the city’s costs. Last week he announced an audit of health benefit rolls to purge ineligible employees or dependents — people who aren’t entitled to city-paid medical care but who receive it courtesy of taxpayers
“We’re doing everything here, and the state and federal governments are not doing that,” Daley said, adding he wasn’t pointing fingers at specific politicians. “It does get you upset. You figure why are they immune from the economy — that people are suffering.
“They don’t understand that this is a national recession. They are living in — they call it the Washington or Springfield bubble.”
“There isn’t one state employee or federal employee taking any time off. You wonder, why not? Don’t they realize that this is a national recession? Don’t they realize that people are suffering? There’s where the disgruntled attitude is — that they don’t get it. … They’re living in the Washington or Springfield bubble.”
Not one mention in any story or the Tribune’s editorial that Daley totally and unequivocably opposes a plan by Gov. Pat Quinn to slash state funding to local governments. Not one mention in the Tribune editorial that the paper is on record supporting an even deeper cut to local government funding. And not one mention in any story that the state does, indeed, have a furlough program for non-union employees.
The Tribune, as we’ve discussed before, is also on record supporting a move to slash pension benefits for current state and local government employees. I’ve already told you that the edit board bases its position on a report by Sidley Austin, a lawfirm which represents the Trib’s parent company in bankruptcy proceedings. The Tribune led off a pension cut editorial yesterday with a quote from Eden Martin of the Civic Committee. Not mentioned in the editorial is that Martin is “of counsel” to - you guessed it - Sidley Austin.
* Meanwhile, a story plastered all over today is absolutely no surprise. Rahm Emanuel has thought about running for mayor for a very long time. Before he got it into his head that he could be US House Speaker, mayor was at the top of his list. Now that the Speaker’s job is out of the question, mayor is back on the wish list…
In an interview with PBS host Charlie Rose to be run late Monday night, Emanuel said he does not plan to run against Mayor Richard M. Daley, but he has his sights on the office if the mayor decides to retire one day,
“I hope Mayor Daley seeks reelection. I will work and support him if he seeks reelection,” Emanuel said. “But if Mayor Daley doesn’t, one day I would like to run for mayor of the City of Chicago. That’s always been an aspiration of mine even when I was in the House of Representatives.”
In an interview with The Hill last week before Emanuel’s appearance on PBS, Gutierrez said Emanuel “better stay in the White House.”
“He’s not to get my endorsement anytime soon. He should stay in the White House, but then he can go make millions in investment banking,” Gutierrez said, referencing the Wall Street job Emanuel held between his post in the Clinton White House and his run for Congress in 2002.
Gutierrez, a Latino leader who has represented Chicago in the House since 1992, has criticized Emanuel’s performance as chief of staff and has expressed anger at what he sees as a lackluster push by the Obama administration for comprehensive immigration reform.
The 56-year-old lawmaker has also considered running for mayor himself, but in the interview he insisted he is not going to be leaving Congress any time soon.
The station is installing a new emergency generator at its transmitter site in Monticello, which also broadcasts the public radio station WILL-FM 101.1.
The funding includes $313 million from Illinois, $115 million from Missouri and $239 million from federal resources for a total of $667 million.
Officials estimate the bridge project will create $25.3 billion in regional economic activity over the next 45 years. It is also expected to create about 2,200 primary and secondary jobs for the greater St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Scheduled for completion in the middle part of this decade, the four-lane, cable-stayed bridge will divert Interstate 70 traffic from an existing bridge that’s one of just two in the nation that accommodate three freeways. The plan also allows for the bridge, designed to be two lanes in each direction, to be expanded by a lane each way.
Romel Esmail and Bassam Haj Yousif of Global Real Estate Investors LLC are accused of using at least $3.6 million of loan proceeds for their own personal benefit — including the purchase of a vehicle, jewelry and other real estate….The two launched an effort to convert a building at 6 N. Michigan Ave. into condominiums and also acquired the nearby 59 E. Van Buren St. with loans from the former CIB Bank of Hillside.
This time we’re talking about a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for an empty lot between 103rd and 111th streets next to the Bishop Ford Freeway. Wal-Mart is the critical element in an ambitious development called Pullman Park, which would bring thousands of jobs to the Far South Side.
* 2:14 pm - Earlier today, Alexi Giannoulias’ US Senate campaign sent out a press release bashing Mark Kirk for taking money from Goldman Sachs employees…
On January 13, 2010, Kirk blew off four votes to attend a Wall Street fundraiser, raising more than $150,000 from Wall Street contributors. [FEC; HJRes 64, Vote 2, 1/13/10; HJRes 1002, Vote 3, 1/13/10; HRes 860, Vote 4, 1/13/10; HR 3892, Vote 5, 1/13/10]
Congressman Kirk has taken $54,010 from employees of Goldman Sachs, including $21,600 this cycle for his Senate campaign. In his career, Kirk has raised $1.26 million from the securities and investment industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The company is being sued by the SEC for alleged fraud.
Congressman Mark Kirk said he plans to return campaign contributions from employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama in Illinois.
“I will err on the side of caution,” Kirk said at a news conference in Chicago.
Kirk said his campaign is still determining how much Goldman employees donated to him.
I’ve always been leery of returning suspect contributions. It’s far better that they be given to charity. But, it’s good that Kirk is getting in front of this.
It’s also good to see that Kirk finally held a press conference.
* The congressman also did a bit of grandstanding on the Blagojevich case, urging $25 million in stimulus money be spent on corruption investigators…
Republican Mark Kirk wants to spend federal stimulus money to beef up corruption prosecutions although he didn’t vote for the stimulus package.
The congressman and U.S. Senate candidate says using the money in Illinois would be helpful because he says Illinois taxpayers pay a “corruption tax.” […]
Kirk wants $25 million annually for the Justice Department to increase investigators and public corruption prosecutions.
Maybe he could donate the Goldman cash to Fitzgerald. Just sayin…
* Congratulations to my father for getting out of the hospital tomorrow Thursday - nine seven days ahead of schedule. He worked hard on his stroke therapy and it paid off big. [My brother Doug informs me that the date has changed. It’s still a big positive, though.]
* Congratulations to Rep. Mike McAuliffe on the birth of his new baby son, Conor.
* Congratulations to David Dring for finishing the Boston Marathon today with a very respectable time of 3:45:41. Yeah, man.
* Best wishes to Josh Kalven, who is leaving his job as editor of Progress Illinois for other opportunities out West.
* Did I miss anything or anybody? Feel free to post your own best wishes, etc. in comments.
* Federal prosecutors filed a document today asking the judge to keep Rod and Rob Blagojevich mum about Chris Kelly’s suicide and more…
Prosecutors in Chicago are urging a federal judge to bar former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers from telling the jury at his corruption trial about his chief fundraiser’s suicide.
In court papers Monday, prosecutors say Blagojevich and his attorneys have made remarks suggesting they might bring up fundraiser Christopher Kelly’s suicide at the trial.
The motion shows that prosecutors are expecting a circus, and if the past is any guide, they’re right to be worried. More…
Among the issues, prosecutors want the defense barred from arguing to the jury that it should be able to play all the undercover recordings made of Blagojevich in the fall of 2008. Blagojevich has long called for all the tapes to be played, not just the ones preferred by prosecutors.
“For example, comments by counsel or witnesses along the lines, ‘If it was up to us, we would play all the tapes,’ are improper,” the government said.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to block the defense from making Blagojevich’s impeachment an issue at trial, arguing it has no bearing on the criminal case. The jury shouldn’t consider consequences of the government’s decision to charge the ex-governor, the prosecution argued. […]
Prosecutors also don’t want jurors told about positive actions by Blagojevich as governor because they are irrelevant to his criminal case.
And, while Rod Blagojevich on his radio show may spew tales of misdeeds by other politicians, he can’t do that at trial. The defense can’t ask jurors to acquit the former governor because it was just “politics as usual,” prosecutors argued.
“No one is on trial in this case other than the defendants, and the jury should not be presented with evidence and counter-evidence as to whether other individuals committed similar acts,” prosecutors wrote.
They also said the former governor can’t tell jurors it was a selective prosecution (they can argue that to a judge, not a jury) and can’t try playing on jurors’ sympathies by discussing what a conviction would do to the former governor’s family.
Sunday night, Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady told guests at the Kankakee County Lincoln Day dinner that Republicans are ahead in both the races for governor and U.S. Senator in Illinois, that they may pick up two congressional seats and that they could even take back the Illinois House.
* The Question: What do you think of Chairman Brady’s prediction that the House Republicans might actually win control of the Illinois House come November? Explain.
…Adding… The HGOPs would need to pick up at least 12 seats to win a majority. They picked up 13 in 1994.
* How big is Wednesday’s budget rally by AFSCME, SEIU, the teachers unions and others expected to be? Well, the Secretary of State’s office just sent out a memo asking employees not to leave the building during their lunch hour…
Please note it will be extremely difficult for you to leave the complex on this day during your lunch hour due to the number of people marching and the street closings. From approximately Noon to 1:30 p.m. it will be virtually impossible to leave in your vehicle due to the number of people marching and the parking lots being blocked by them.
Yikes. Organizers are predicting 12-15,000 people will show up, which will probably rank as the largest Statehouse demonstration ever.
Calling the state a “deadbeat entity,” the president of the Indian Prairie School Board is proposing the district not send the state the money it withholds from its employees for income taxes as long as Springfield continues to be delinquent on the money it owes the district.
The district sends the state $5 million to $6 million a year in state income taxes from its employees, with payments of about $500,000 sent every month.
“It’s incredibly ironic to me that we’re sending a deadbeat entity that owes us $13 million, a half million dollars per month,” board President Curt Bradshaw told fellow board members.
“Incredibly ironic” is right. Bradshaw said he’d like to see a law passed to allow the school board to withhold the cash, but that’s unlikely, of course.
* Once again, the Tribune editorializes in favor of slashing pension benefits for current employees…
Chicago law firm Sidley Austin, citing Illinois case law and a 1979 Illinois attorney general’s opinion, has concluded that the state can reduce pension benefits that employees will earn in future years. Former federal Judge Abner Mikva and former state appellate Judge Gino DiVito counter that Sidley is wrong, that employees are entitled to retire with the pension scheme that was in place on the day they were hired.
What we can conclude from all this is that … lawyers often don’t agree. We resolve these issues by going to court. For taxpayers, the stakes are enormous — potentially the difference between state government’s return to solvency and rising pension costs that choke spending on education, health and other priorities.
Aside from the wisdom of passing legislation that many feel is unconstitutional, shouldn’t the Trib disclose that Sidley is its $925 an hour attorney of record for its parent company’s bankruptcy? Far be it from me to suggest that Tribune Co. might be wanting to give a PR boost to a company that has billed it almost $25 million, but what about that “appearance of impropriety” that newspaper editorialists are always writing about?
…Adding… I didn’t notice this at the bottom of a Trib editorial today…
suppressing inconvenient facts is the best way to discredit your cause.
According to a Fox Chicago News source Former Lieutenant Governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen and House Speaker Mike Madigan had a private meeting Saturday morning on the South West Side. […]
At the 13th Ward Democratic headquarters, where party Chairman Mike Madigan has an office, we were initially told by an office aide that there was in fact a meeting between Madigan and Scott Lee Cohen Saturday. Then we were abruptly told by another office aide that, “No.”, there was not a meeting.
We asked, “Is it a secret meeting? You guys just have no answers? Is Speaker Madigan here right now?” We were told Madigan wasn’t in the office. After seeing his office door open and asking again, we were told he had just arrived. We were then told Madigan had no comment and the office was being closed for the day.
Madigan’s Spokesperson, Steve Brown had this to say about the alleged meeting, “Mr. Cohen resigned from the ballot. I am not aware of any meeting scheduled today. I am not even sure why there would be a meeting.”
After decades as the sharp-tongued, angry outsider of Illinois Republican politics, conservative businessman Jack Roeser is trying to get on the inside.
He’s given $50,000 to the state GOP. He’s seeking a leading role as the Illinois liaison to the Republican National Committee. And he’s even agreed to help with a big fundraiser honoring statewide Republican candidates, including a man he vilified before the February primary, U.S. Senate nominee Mark Kirk.
Ask the 86-year-old Roeser to explain the sudden change of heart, and he cites new party leadership and a desire to stop the circular firing squad the Illinois GOP had become.
“Very simply, the Republican Party is very different than it was a short while ago,” said Roeser, the wealthy founder of Otto Engineering, a Carpentersville, Ill., manufacturing firm.
“Although I will endorse his administration,” Delgado said of Quinn, “I will do so holding my nose.”
Delgado is still fuming about Quinn’s handling of the mess at the Department of Corrections, including the firing of Sergio Molina, whom Delgado said was made into a scapegoat.
* Republican state Sen. Randy Hultgren’s congressional campaign sent out a press release last week touting its fundraising success…
State Senator Randy Hultgren raised $281,000 in the reporting period ending on March 31, 2010. The figure represents the campaign’s best fundraising quarter to date since Senator Hultgren announced his candidacy in August.
The next day, though, Democratic Congresscritter Bill Foster topped him…
Today, the Bill Foster for Congress Campaign continued to demonstrate its political strength by raising $354,840 during the first fundraising quarter of 2010 (January 14 – March 31). His opponent, State Sen. Randy Hultgren, raised only $261,779. […]
With these first quarter results, the Foster Campaign has raised $1,783,537 for the 2010 cycle and has $1,268,889 cash-on-hand. Hultgren’s campaign has raised a total of $446,861 and has $108,097 cash-on-hand.
That cash-on-hand difference is striking, but can be overcome if the nationals dump bigtime bucks into the race.
Halvorson raised about $420,000 in the first three months of the year and had $1.25 million on hand. Kinzinger raised about $224,000 and had $299,000 in the bank.
Even so, Stu Rothenberg has moved the Foster/Hultgren campaign into the “Pure Toss-Up” category. The 10th CD was also moved into the category. Halvorson is also now on Rothenberg’s radar, although her race is in the “Democrat Favored” category. [Hat tip: Illinois Review.]
* I really find it repugnant that so many people appear to be so eager to get me to post about Garritt Cullerton’s DUI. Most of the deleted comments here and the e-mails I’ve received this morning were breathlessly excited about this development. Some were even gleeful.
He screwed up. Period. And it certainly didn’t help matters at all that he allegedly took the car assigned to his father the Senate President without authorization.
But if you think we’re gonna discuss this here, you’re out of your freaking mind. Go somewhere else. Maybe a newspaper site that doesn’t care what people post. I have no time to sift through what sure looks to be a flood of partisan schadenfreude. I had to delete several comments when a GOP state Rep. got popped for DUI earlier this year and I don’t want to go through that again today. Live and learn.
Also, if you want to test me on this, go ahead and post on another thread and I may just ban you.
If 60 is too old for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, how about a 43-year-old attorney general who used to sit next to President Obama in the Illinois Senate?
Slate.com lists Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, 43, as one of its top 21 Supreme Court prospects.
Madigan at first laughed off her status as a hot prospect for the nation’s top court, saying “only if you have the longest list.” But she then said, “It’s flattering to even be mentioned as someone who might be considered. But we have some other fine people who would be extraordinary for the Supreme Court.”
Turns out, this is really old news. Slate has had AG Madigan on its “short list” since last year, before Sonia Sotomayor was picked. We even had a long discussion about it last May. Madigan remains on its list this year.
* Between December of 2000 and September of 2008, the FDIC seized just three Illinois banks. Since then, it has taken over 25 Illinois banks, mostly in the past 11 months. Something to think about as the Chicago media’s “Broadway Bank Death Watch” heats up.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking, to be honest. If you want to be governor and you don’t want to disclose your income tax return, I think you’re really letting the people down.”
Quinn is supposed to release his returns today. But last year, you had to make a reservation to review Quinn’s returns and couldn’t make copies…
Getting a peek at Gov. Pat Quinn’s taxes isn’t as easy as you might think.
Quinn didn’t make copies of them available today when he released the returns, instead requiring people to make appointments to see them at his Chicago or Springfield offices.
Other politicians, including President Barack Obama, e-mailed copies of their returns.
Quinn spokesman Bob Reed said in an e-mail that Quinn prefers viewers take notes from his original documents.
Brady has said that he won’t release his tax returns, but people can find out about his investments by checking his filing with the secretary of state. That filing doesn’t say a whole lot, but you can read it by clicking here.
“As he has done every year, he has filed an extension,” said a spokesperson. The campaign had no comment on why Giannoulias files late
* And what kind of tool tries to call the governor at 11 at night on New Year’s Eve? Patricia Quinn of Bloomington has been getting calls from folks thinking she’s the governor for months, including that one…
Her calls began in late fall, which is also when the “other” Pat Quinn set off national debate and international protests by announcing plans to sell a little-used Illinois prison to the federal government so it could hold terrorist suspects now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The most amazing call,” says Pat, “had to be the one at 11 p.m. … on New Year’s Eve. The man said, ‘I’d like to talk to the governor about selling that prison,’ and I said, ‘This is a different Pat Quinn. You need to call Springfield.’ But he was from Green Bay, Wis., and he just kept talking to me about it.
“I’ve never met him,” Quinn says about the governor, “but I’ve been reading up on him. He’s had a lot of government offices in his life, so when he got to be governor, I was happy for him so he can fulfill his dreams.” She added, “I can tell you, too, he sure gets a lot of phone calls.”
* According to Crain’s, “Illinois toll rates are among the lowest in the country, averaging 3.3 cents a mile for passenger cars using the electronic toll lanes.” But a rate hike may be in the cards during an election year…
Faced with up to $4 billion in critical repairs on the I-90 tollway and $7 billion in debt already on the books, agency leaders are quietly considering what they previously declared unacceptable: raising tolls on passenger cars using the system’s electronic I-Pass lanes.
The agency is at a financial crossroads: Toll revenue is flat while expenses continue to rise, leaving less operating cash to meet mounting debt obligations. With I-90 and other improvements demanding attention, the authority has all but shelved a plan to devise “green lanes” for carpooling and mass transit, the capstone of its ambitious conversion to electronic, open-road tolling.
By all accounts, the agency needs more money. For starters, the 63-mile stretch of I-90 between O’Hare International Airport and Rockford needs fixing now. Tollway engineers say 80% of the road requires extensive work as soon as this year, and officials are proposing several options, from patchwork repairs to a massive reconstruction project that would include rail or bus service. The cost could run anywhere from $2 billion to $4 billion. Four new tollways, including a western bypass to O’Hare from Elgin, would add billions more to the authority’s expenses.
The unions that work at McCormick Place are the same unions employed at the Stephens Convention Center at Rosemont and the same unions that frequently dispatch members to work shows in Nevada and Florida. On an hourly basis, their members earn roughly the same in each of those locales.
But only in Chicago does the end customer — the trade show or convention — end up paying a ton more. Who gets the difference?
One chunk goes off the top to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. “McPier” runs McCormick Place and collects a surcharge on just about everything within its halls but argues with some validity that it has cut costs way back lately.
Others point to the two big companies that manage shows for McCormick Place customers, or to the unions, which at times effectively dictate work rules and are divided here into bargaining units that each need to be fed.
But back to my question: Who’s to blame? “All of them,” answers one insider I trust. I suspect she’s right, and I’m guessing the Madigan plan will at least singe all of them.
• A commitment to slash its profit margins on food and electrical service, and potentially to give customers a choice of providers. Talk of privatizing electrical service hit a wall.
• Support for extracting work-rule concessions from the unions, either by making workers public employees or by pressuring the unions and their private employers to go back to the bargaining table. The board was divided on this matter, as well as on whether contractors should be required to document that they pass along any savings in labor costs to customers.
Electrical service profit margins are out of this world. That has to be a major focus. It’s extremely disappointing that they don’t want to even require contractors to disclose whether they are passing along savings to exhibitors, let alone make pass-through reductions a requirement. As I’ve pointed out here before, Rosemont’s convention center (which is in the top ten nationally) is its own contractor and they don’t have any complaints about over-pricing, despite using the same unions as McPier.
* In other economy news, Chuck Sweeny has an interesting column about how downstate gas prices almost spiked way upwards, but how Gov. Pat Quinn and others stepped in to block new IL Dept. of Agriculture rules.
Also, the Peoria Journal-Star supports a bill backed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan to regulate the burgeoning credit debt settlement industry. But the Sun-Times thinks Madigan’s bill goes too far and supports legislation backed by “responsible” members of the industry.
* Daily Herald: Lawmakers, please don’t forget jobs
* Can Cook County homeowners save their homes?: Under the program being rolled out in the county, where foreclosures this year spiked 16 percent over the same period last year, homeowners will be able to meet with their lender to try to work out a modification or other agreement.
* The Fair Map Coalition originally thought it could gather 288,000 valid petition signatures by April 1st. That didn’t happen, so it extended the deadline until last Friday, April 16th. But that deadline has been missed as well…
A coalition wanting to change how the state draws its legislative districts lacks the signatures needed to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot but is pressing ahead.
Jan Czarnik with the Fair Map Coalition said [Friday] that based on the “volume” of petitions filed so far, they don’t have the required 288,000 signatures to get the item on the ballot.
The coalition chose [Friday] as its self-imposed deadline to receive petitions after extending the deadline from April 1. The official deadline to submit petitions for the ballot to the secretary of state’s office is May 3.
“It’s only mid-April,” she said of the deadline. “There are two weeks left.”
Jan Czarnik, executive director of the Illinois League of Women Voters, which is spearheading the petition drive, said support for the petitions has been strong.
But, Czarnik said, “We don’t have the 300,000 signatures yet.”
Some Republicans planned to spend the coming days ramping up their collection of signatures. Czarnik said some churches plan to become active in the signature process thisweekend.
[Mary Schaafsma, issues and advocacy coordinator with the League of Women Voters] said the group expects petitions from a wide variety of organizations to come in this week. “We’ll have a better count then,” she said. “I think at the end of the week, or early the following week, we’ll have a good idea of where we are.”
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is about the remap process…
Almost nothing frightens state legislators more than redistricting. The drawing of new legislative district maps after every census causes more bouts of heartburn than just about anything else.
Take a look at the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when several state Senators flocked to a secure computer room to check on their district boundaries just ahead of a critical map-making deadline. The rest of us were still in shock, but those Senators were taking care of business. Their business.
The ultimate goal in redistricting for legislators is not only to get a map that allows them to remain in their current homes and discourage competition from the other political party, but also to draw a district that eliminates primary opponents and includes their strongest precincts and closest allies.
It doesn’t always work out that way. Former Democratic state Rep. Judy Erwin was a highly respected legislator, but the last remap - controlled by her party - put her in the untenable position of running against colleagues and/or running in a lot of unfamiliar turf. She chose retirement. She wasn’t alone.
Legislative leaders look at the map-making process a different way. They please whom they can (or want) and do everything possible to draw maps that guarantee their party’s dominance. This, of course, is much easier for Democrats in Illinois than Republicans because the state has leaned Democratic for so many years. Even though the Republicans drew the map in 1991, the House Democrats controlled the chamber for eight out of 10 years. And the Senate Democrats came within several hundred votes of winning their chamber in 1996.
The Democrats won the right to draw the current map in the 2001 lottery. Since then, their party has dominated legislative elections, mainly because the party has done so well statewide.
Besides completely turning around their party’s fortunes and tweaking some of the more evenly divided districts, the best way legislative Republicans can get back into the game is to trap the Democrats in Chicago as much as possible and keep them from splitting up suburban Cook County towns and strategic Downstate communities into tiny pieces.
The Democrats have successfully used “spoking” to extend their Chicago districts into the Cook County suburbs. Spoking simultaneously dilutes suburban Republican votes and adds to the number of city-centric Democrats who can be elected. Trap the Democrats in Chicago and make sure suburban and Downstate towns are kept whole, and the Republicans might possibly be able to draw maps that give them a halfway decent shot at winning their chambers.
That’s a big reason the Democrats are turning thumbs down on a remap proposal by the Republicans and good government groups such as the League of Women Voters. The “Fair Map Amendment” would all but prohibit mapmakers from crossing municipal boundaries. It’s a GOP dream come true, the Dems say, and the good government types fell for it.
The “Fair Map” authors also have steadfastly denied Democratic accusations that their proposed constitutional amendment would dilute minority rights. But during a state Senate committee hearing last week, the proponents admitted they were working on changing their legislative proposal to satisfy groups such as the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund which had objected to the measure.
The “Fair Map” group also is trying to gather signatures to put the proposal on the ballot this fall, and it’s far too late to change the wording on that initiative’s race and ethnic provisions. Last week’s all but admission that their language falls short of protecting minority rights could be used against their petition effort as the submission deadline draws near.
The Senate Democrats passed their own alternative last week, and it has its flaws as well. Far too often, district maps are drawn to allow legislators to choose their voters, rather than the other way around. The Senate Democratic proposal doesn’t really do anything to address this very real problem.
In the end, though, all this may be for naught. The reformers and the Republicans haven’t been able to convince the Democrats to adopt their plan, and the word is that their petition-gathering operation isn’t up to snuff. The House Democrats are one vote shy of a three-fifths majority required to pass constitutional amendments, so it’s unlikely that they could pass the Senate-approved measure even if they wanted to. What we have here is probably an empty debating exercise with no real future.
* Related…
* Nancy Marcus: Stop the politicians; support Fair Map Amendment
Since Daley created the Graffiti Blasters program in 1993, city workers have erased or painted over nearly 2 million graffiti tags, Streets & San spokesman Matt Smith says. At a total price tag of about $9 million a year, that means it’s costing Chicago taxpayers about $76 a blast.
But with City Hall groaning under the weight of a record budget deficit, graffiti removal has declined every month since last October — which also happens to be when the city lost its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“It’s anybody you might see driving on (Interstate) 55. It’s business travelers, it’s leisure travelers,” said Marc Magliari, a spokesman for Amtrak in Chicago.
Rank and file officers will get an average raise of 2 percent each year for the next five years. However, that is less than the offer Mayor Daley pulled off the negotiating table more than one year ago when the police union pushed for more.
Police officers have been working without a contract since June 2007.
Police had been offered 16% over five years during bargaining a couple of years ago, but refused it. Mr. Daley withdrew the offer in 2009 as the economy soured and the matter went to arbitration.
* Chicago police raises to average 2 percent as City Hall wins arbitration
* Chicago’s Police Union Says Wage Increase Should Be Higher
Donna Dunnings will be paid $79,000 a year to run the Cook County Stimulus and Revitalization Project, which provides funds to help developers return to the tax rolls properties they buy with large delinquent property tax bills, said Eric Herman, spokesman for Assessor James Houlihan.
The last time the city conducted a health insurance audit, roughly 5,700 people suspected of being falsely listed as dependents of city employees were cut off.
* New city watchdog: Employees rigged hiring, failed to disclose free trip
