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Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Pat Quinn’s latest Internet promo video is probably the best yet. Quinn campaign staffer Simon Edelman is underpaid, overworked and hugely talented, and he gets better all the time. Have a look…

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Things that make you spit out your coffee

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Earlier this week, somebody in the governor’s office accidentally cc’d me on an e-mail that was meant for a subordinate…

Yes, it helps to email rich miller with our comments re breaking news. He’s at: capitolfax@aol.com

He may or may not use. Not a friend of the house.

I’ve never been a “friend of the house” for any governor, so that made me chuckle and wonder if they have any reporters who can be classified as such. I e-mailed him back and jokingly asked if he knew what he did. His response…

Truth to power

I literally spit out my coffee when I saw that one. Fast-thinking comedy gold, complete with an inside joke. You will recall that “truth to power” is one of Gov. Quinn’s favorite expressions and something I took him to task for in a recent newspaper column.

And, in case you’re wondering, I don’t hold that e-mail against the governor’s office. Things happen, things get said. No biggie. I’m only sharing this with you because I thought it was so funny, not to embarrass anyone.

* In other spit-take news, today’s John Kass column, “Lottery commercial redefines joy in spirit of Chicago Way,” was about a new ad from the Illinois Lottery. Among other things, Kass thought he saw glorified corruption in the spot…

Then comes a revealing voice-over that speaks directly to the heart of The Chicago Way and invokes one of the pillars of Illinois politics:

Cash kickbacks.

“Joy someone with holiday scratch-offs from the Illinois Lottery,” says a narrator. “Who knows? They might joy you back.”

That’s a kickback. You joy me, I joy you. Isn’t that what contractors call it when they’re caught on FBI surveillance tape bringing “joy” to politicians? One famous Chicago politician stored his “joy” in the freezer, right next to the rib-eyes and the lobster tails.

By early afternoon, the Illinois Family Institute had sent out an “E-Alert” about the Lottery ad…

Illinois Lottery’s “Joy to the World” Ad Promotes False Hope, by David E. Smith, Executive Director -Illinois Family Institute

The Illinois Lottery is currently airing radio and televsion ads promoting scratch-off lottery tickets during the Christmas season campaign. The new ad campaign corrupts the traditional Christian hymn “Joy to the World” in attempt to mislead Illinois citizens into thinking that the miniscule chance of winning a lottery prize could buy them happiness.

But even more than that, the song’s deep meaning celebrating the birth of the Savior as it proclaims “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” is being perverted to sell a false hope of a different kind of “savior” — money and the love of it.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact Jodie Winnett, the Acting Supervisor of the Illinois Lottery, to ask her to stop misusing the true message of the season to promote its predatory lottery tickets which only push people deeper into debt and despair.

Here’s the ad…

* Meanwhile, in a bizarre turn of events, Rod Blagojevich’s PR firm claims that some congressman in Georgia wants to investigate US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. From a press release…

In an apparent expansion of a four-year congressional investigation of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald’s office, a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee will call witnesses today to determine if the prosecutor’s office manufactured evidence and forced witnesses to lie to obtain a 2003 conviction of a then prominent Chicago real estate developer and attorney.

Actually, the part about the hearing today is not true. At the end of the press release is this notation…

Chairman Johnson is expected to mention the Palivos case [during a hearing today] and Mr. Palivos and his wife, Vicky, will sit in the front row for the hearing. However, the hearing today is about judicial recusals, not prosecutorial misconduct or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Background on Johnson’s claimed investigation…

After his trial and conviction, Peter Palivos, 51, presented the committee with evidence showing that prosecutors forced witnesses to lie against him or face charges themselves.

“They wanted to frame me to get me to become a witness against George Ryan, but I have nothing incriminating to say against the man,” Palivos said in Oct. 2005.

After hearing the evidence, which includes sworn affidavits from witnesses who say there were forced to lie about Mr. Palivos, three separate House Judiciary Subcommittees asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate “possible prosecutorial misconduct” by Fitzgerald’s office. […]

Palivos alleges that he was convicted on a concocted obstruction of justice charge after he refused to lie for prosecutors in their investigation of former Ill. Gov. George Ryan, who is serving time in federal prison on corruption charges.

Palivos says he was told by federal agent Thomas Heinzer that he would be ‘framed with that crime’ unless he cooperated in the office’s investigation. When he did not, he was subsequently indicted and convicted. […]

Following Palivos’ trial, witnesses gave the House Judiciary Committee sworn affidavits “stating that they were forced to lie and the prosecutors on the case engaged in misconduct” in his case, prompting the committee to expand its investigation. […]

The documents the committee received also contained evidence, which appeared to show federal prosecutors prepared a false affidavit, falsified interview statements, threatened a defense attorney with a trumped-up obstruction of justice charge if he filed a motion, suborned perjury and withheld exculpatory evidence that would have prevented the imprisonment of an innocent man–Mr. Palivos.

Earlier this year, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Courts and Competition Policy, Congressman Hank Johnson wrote: “It appears [Palivos’] case is a good example of prosecutorial misconduct.” You can read that letter by clicking here.

I called the congressman’s office this morning, but haven’t heard back.

39 Comments

Question of the day

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A State Journal-Register reporter is sending around an e-mail asking various folks to help them put together a piece about the most important news events of the past decade. Here’s a list of suggestions from the e-mail…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is arrested and later impeached and removed from office

Former state Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States

Then-Gov. George Ryan clears Illinois’ death row

George Ryan issues a moratorium on executions that lasts for the decade

George Ryan is indicted and goes to prison for corruption

A shooting at the state Capitol claims the life of a security guard and prompts new security measures

Control of state government and the legislature switches from Republicans to Democrats

Budget problems plague state government throughout the decade

The legislature and Blagojevich break several overtime records for session with continued fighting

Longtime legislative leaders Pate Philip, Lee Daniels and Emil Jones hand over the reins of power to successors

Democrats take supermajority control of the state Senate and one seat shy of a supermajority in the House

Gov. Pat Quinn proposes a 50 percent income tax increase to fix budget holes, but lawmakers refuse to support it

Lawmakers end a 10-year standoff and approve a $31 billion capital construction program

Legislators end public outrage over soaring electric rates by approving a relief plan that reduces sharp increases after a 10-year rate freeze

The state’s pension debt grows astronomically, topping $70 billion by the end of the decade

Lawmakers approve the state’s first caps on campaign contributions to political campaigns in the wake of Blagojevich’s arrest

A smoking ban in public places forces smokers at bars, restaurants and public places outside to light up

* The Question, Part 1: Is there anything missing from this list?

* The Question, Part 2: What do you think are the top four or five state politics events of the decade? Explain.

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AP smears campaign contributors

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* An AP reporter who doesn’t appear to cover Illinois at all nonetheless gets the job of writing one of those ridiculous “where there’s even a tiny bit of smoke, there’s gotta be a raging inferno” stories about Congressman Mark Kirk…

As Mark Kirk campaigns for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, the Republican congressman casts himself as a scourge of the pork-barrel, special-interest congressional spending known as “earmarks.”

It wasn’t always that way.

Just two years ago, the four-term congressman secured more than $30 million for 19 pet projects in and around his Illinois congressional district. They included an aquarium, a planetarium and a church outreach project. In some cases, people linked to the projects reciprocated with thousands of dollars in campaign donations for Kirk’s re-election bids.

And what were those alleged reciprocations? How did this supposed pay to play game work?

Well, over the space of nine years, Adler Planetarium board members apparently gave Kirk a grand total of $23,000 and got over $1.1 million in earmarks. That’s an “eye-popping” $2,600 a year in contributions, and the AP doesn’t tell us how many board members contributed, so some might have given next to nothing. Whatever, I’m sure that money played such a big role in Kirk’s decision-making. Sheesh.

A board member of the Christian Outreach of Lutherans, which hasn’t exactly been on the US Attorney’s corruption radar screen, gave Kirk a whopping $4,600 in two years and the group received $119,000 from an earmark.

For crying out loud, does everything have to be a federal case? Here’s what that bad, ol’ Christian Outreach of Lutherans does…

The mission of Christian Outreach of Lutherans (COOL) is to give comprehensive assistance to families in need, by reducing hunger and homelessness, while encouraging personal growth and self-sufficiency. Serving all of Lake County.

None of the contributors, by the way, were given an opportunity to respond to this smear. The story isn’t as bad as looking for hidden corruption messages in Lottery commercials, but it’s close.

Politically, though, this article will give Kirk’s opponent some ammo, either by using the contributions or the headline: “Hopeful for Obama seat changes tune.” Kirk has been repeatedly slammed for flip-flopping.

However, this point, about how Kirk decided to oppose earmarks, is more salient…

Kirk said his personal tipping point came after the furor over earmarks for the “Bridge to Nowhere.” The project, pushed by Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, would have cost nearly $400 million and connected Ketchikan, Alaska, to an island with 50 residents.

Congress scrubbed funding for the project in 2005 — a full two years before Kirk gave up earmarks for good — but he still said it was the pivotal moment for him.

It apparently wasn’t all that pivotal if it took him two years to come to the conclusion.

* Meanwhile, Patrick Hughes says he probably wouldn’t have run against Kirk if Kirk had voted against the Cap and Trade bill…

“I had no interest in this race. I hadn’t considered running … then Mark Kirk voted for cap-and-trade,” said Hughes, a Hinsdale real estate developer.

More…

Kirk said he supported it as a way to wean America off foreign oil. Yet, he has since signed a pledged with a conservative group to oppose the legislation if elected to the Senate.

Hughes says he doesn’t believe global warming is caused by humans. But his platform against Kirk is bigger than cap-and-trade now.

“Our party is at a crossroads,” Hughes declared to the editorial board, before labeling Kirk “essentially a Democrat and in some respects an extraordinarily left-wing one.”

* Other reform stuff…

* Gov. signs ethics bill: ‘Not the whole loaf’

* Illinois campaign reform: Gov. Pat Quinn signs donation limits

* Quinn signs ethics law

* Tepid Joy for Campaign Finance Reform Advocates

* Things to know about campaign finance law

* What’s Next on Campaign Finance Reform?

* Unfinished business

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Planned Parenthood backs Quinn, Giannoulias; Edgar backs Coulson

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Planned Parenthood Illinois/Action, the political arm of Planned Parenthood has announced that it has endorsed Gov. Pat Quinn. The group also endorsed Alexi Giannoulias for US Senate. Other endorsements…

Mike Boland, Terry Link
Rickey Hendon and Art Turner - Lt. Governor
Lisa Madigan - Attorney General
Jesse White - Secretary of State
David Miller - Comptroller
Robin Kelly - Treasurer

Apparently, all those legislators running for LG qualified for the nod.

* Former Gov. Jim Edgar has endorsed Rep. Beth Coulson for the open 10th Congressional District seat. From a press release…

“As governor, I worked closely with Beth Coulson,” said Edgar. “I find her to be a person of tremendous talent, integrity and compassion. The same qualities that have made her an effective state legislator will make her an excellent member of Congress. The 10th District will be well served by electing Beth Coulson to Congress.” […]

Gov. Edgar’s endorsement follows on the heels of endorsements Coulson has received from the majority of Illinois Congressional Republicans - Reps. Judy Biggert, Timothy Johnson, Aaron Schock and John Shimkus - as well as virtually every Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly - including leaders State Rep. Tom Cross and State Sen. Chris Radogno - and local elected officials and civic leaders in the 10thCongressional District.

The New Trier Democrats endorsed Dan Seals over state Rep. Julie Hamos in the 10th CD Democratic primary. Hamos was endorsed by Citizen Action/Illinois.

* In other campaign news, the 14th Congressional District GOP primary is now a two-person race…

When a candidate is running without name recognition or the money to create a big bang, being the bad guy, or the spoiler, quickly can become all there is to achieve.

Such was the case with the trio of Republicans leaving the 14th Congressional District race within the past week. In the course of five days, a field of five Republicans looking to unseat Democrat Bill Foster became a two-man contest.

Jim Purcell, Mark Vargas and Jeff Danklefsen all dropped out with about the same amount of campaign funds they had when they entered the contest. That amounted to little more than what they had in their own pockets.

The two left standing - Ethan Hastert and Randy Hultgren - already are well into six figures with their fundraising.

* 14th District comes down to two-man GOP race

* AFL-CIO endorses Hirner over candidate from Peoria area

* Green Party hopeful in 10th District arrested

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McKenna disagrees with own TV ad, claims deficit is less than half what ad says

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* As I mentioned to you the other day, Andy McKenna’s TV ads claim Illinois’ budget deficit is $11 billion and growing by $30 million a day. That would mean a $22 billion deficit by the beginning of next fiscal year. I asked the campaign about those figures, but never received an explanation.

Well, reporters asked McKenna Wednesday about the $11 billion number and McKenna claimed the deficit was actually less than half that amount…

On Wednesday, McKenna told reporters that if elected, he’d roll back state spending to 2006 levels, reverse expensive health care expansions initiated during Rod Blagojevich’s years as governor and push for pension reforms in order to save $5 billion and balance the budget.

Asked about the other $6 billion in red ink, McKenna, a Chicago Republican, questioned the figure and challenged the current administration to explain it.

But everyone from the legislative agency tasked with tracking economic activity to investment analysts who set the state’s credit rating have put the state’s deficit for the next year at $11 billion if not more. Lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn attempted to create the illusion of a balanced budget this year by borrowing $3.5 billion to make pension payments, plugging education and health care holes with billions from the federal stimulus program and not paying nearly $4.5 billion to vendors on time.

Oy.

McKenna’s running mate claimed that the money owed state vendors which is rolled over from one fiscal year to the next isn’t part of the deficit..

“You know, we’ve got at least, at this point, four-and-a-half billion dollars in unpaid bills that have been rolling over. We didn’t accumulate that in one year. You’re not going to pay that off in one year,” said Palatine Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy, McKenna’s favorite for the lieutenant governor post. “The only time it’s ever suggested that we’re going to pay that off in one year is when people down here are trying to sell a tax hike. That figure of 11 (billion dollars) is obviously inclusive of that rollover in any estimate I’ve seen. So the five billion we’re talking about, in my view, is pretty close to filling the entire hole. As Andy has said, if you don’t have the money, you can’t spend the money.”

Actually, the rollover amount is less than that. The $4.5 billion is only what’s owed right now.

* The Daily Herald also brings up this valid point about Sen. Kirk Dillard’s economic plan…

Dillard, a veteran state senator from Hinsdale, said Illinois’ budget problems are driving jobs away, partly because businesses don’t know whether they’ll soon be forced to pay higher taxes and fees.

He promised to freeze state spending at current levels “for the foreseeable future.”

His campaign did not immediately respond to questions about how Dillard could freeze spending while also accomplishing his goals for schools, infrastructure and tax breaks — including what he called “the nation’s most aggressive tax credit for research.”

* And check out these strange lines from today’s Northwest Herald editorial…

Quinn’s plan to borrow $500 million is half-baked, at least to the extent anyone believes it’s going to do anything but put Illinois further in a bind.

And lollygagging is a fairly apt way to describe Hynes’ refusal to acquiesce to the governor’s plan to use the borrowed money to pay the state’s bills.

OK, so Hynes is supposed to speed up his endorsement of a half-baked borrowing plan? I don’t get it.

* While everyone bickers, the state’s credit rating takes another hit…

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its rating on Illinois’s general obligation bonds, reflecting the state’s budget gap.

The rating was lowered to A-plus from AA-minus.

[Hat tip: Newsalert]

16 Comments

Morning Shorts

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* Report: State lagging on tobacco prevention funding

Illinois ranks 42nd among U.S. states in its funding of tobacco prevention programs.[…]

A report from a coalition of public health groups released Wednesday says Illinois spends only a fraction of what the federal government recommends.

* Program helps build housing for Illinois’ homeless

* Daley floats waiver of employee head tax

Chicago would waive its $4-a-month employee head tax for two years — but only for newly hired employees — under a mayoral plan proposed Wednesday to stimulate job creation.[…]

Mayor Daley acknowledged that the symbolic savings of $48 a month would not be enough to persuade a struggling business to expand its payroll. But he’s hoping that a combination of local, state and federal tax incentives just might tip the scales.

* Daley wants to lift head tax on new employees for two years

* TIFs For the Rich

TIF districts also give the mayor unprecedented political leverage.

“The mayor ultimately controls these accounts, which gives him leverage over every public entity, from the City Council to the public schools to the Park District,” the Reader notes. “[A]t least half a dozen aldermen have told us that mayoral aides pressure them on key votes - such as the ordinances for funding the Olympics or moving the Children’s Museum to Grant Park - by either promising to give their wards more TIF dollars or threatening to take TIF dollars away.

“The more TIF districts are created, the more money goes into the TIF accounts and the more powerful the mayor becomes. . . .

* Government subsidy for McCormick Place?

Mayor Daley on Wednesday cracked the door open to providing a government subsidy for cash-strapped McCormick Place, but only if the convention center cleans its own house first and ends price-gouging that has triggered a trade show exodus.

* Hospital taxes, toilet paper lawsuits

Meanwhile, chief executives from South Suburban, Ingalls Memorial, St. James and Little Company of Mary hospitals are campaigning against an ordinance proposed by county Commissioner Joseph Moreno (D-Chicago), whose district includes the city’s Southwest Side.[…]

Moreno wants to charge hospitals in the county a fee if they fail to meet county-mandated criteria for charity care - the equivalent of 4.5 percent of their annual expenses. Because most hospitals are exempt from paying property and income taxes and certain state and local sales taxes, they are expected to provide a commensurate level of free care to indigent patients.

* Park District union to vote on furloughs to avoid layoffs

On Wednesday, the Park District approved a $392 million budget that scraps any layoffs so long as its thousands of unionized employees agree to take eight unpaid furlough days in 2010.

* CTA Workers Get Layoff Notices

Layoff notices are going out this week to Chicago Transit Authority workers. The CTA board approved the plan to help close a $300 million budget shortfall.

* CTA Union Rallies Against Leaders

* Cell-phone ban for CTA workers leads to 11 firings, union complaints of overreaching

Since zero-tolerance law took effect, reports of employees with phones have plunged

* Pace to cut fewer routes

* Pace leaders make route reductions less severe

* 3 Kennedy Expressway ramps reopen downtown

* Group wants race part of new CPS selection process

Saying blacks could be shortchanged by a proposed admissions policy for the city’s most coveted schools, some African-American parents are demanding that race be added as one factor in the admissions process.

* Black Parents Angered at Chicago Public Schools Admissions Policy

* County aims to speed up protection orders

A new domestic violence division will open in January. Behind-the-scenes changes are expected to speed up the process of getting a protection order and point abusers to programs designed to end the cycle of violence, said Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Tim Evans.

* EPA starts lead testing in East Chicago

* Chicago zoning inspector who took bribes testifies in trial

* Hearing set for Knox County official accused of theft

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 26 in the case of a Knox County official accused of stealing money from the political party she’s affiliated with.

Recorder of Deeds Paula Monzo is accused of writing about $3,500 in checks on the account of the Knox County Democratic Central Committee over the past year. Galesburg Police reports indicate Monzo was having trouble paying bills and had a cocaine habit.

* Give ear to the most at-risk students

For school officials considering budgets, the toughest decisions come when cuts go head to head with goals to ensure that every child has a chance to succeed. Those students labeled at risk in particular need every possible advantage.

Elgin Area School District U-46 found a way to further chip away at its massive deficit by returning its three year-round schools to a traditional nine-month calendar. The move, at Garfield, Channing and Sheridan elementary schools, is projected to save $200,000.

* Wrong year for a strike

* Flossmoor budget picture getting darker

* Homewood stuck on budget issue

* Aldermen not surprised by budget deficit

Most Springfield aldermen say they weren’t surprised to learn that the city faces yet another multimillion-dollar budget deficit.

* How incentive program works

* W. State development could get $500K in federal funding

ROCKFORD — A project that could represent the most significant economic development on West State Street in decades could get a boost of $500,000 in federal funding.

U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced in a news release today that the money is included in a 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill expected to be considered by Congress over the next few weeks.

* Jackson County board argues hiring policy

The board voted 13-1 to extend a hiring freeze requiring all departments to clear hires, both new and replacement, with Chairman John Evans. Evans reported to the board he has heard of people violating the same procedure that had been implemented in the previous fiscal year.

* NDK hopes some employees can return to work next week

BELVIDERE — Some NDK workers may return to their jobs at the Belvidere plant as early as next week, company officials said today.

They’ll be joined — perhaps for months — by investigators from state and federal agencies who are investigating the cause of an explosion Monday that blew out the west side of the Crystal Parkway building and left a 63-year-old Indiana man dead.

* Rockford panel OKs library union contract

* Few cashing in on Chicago Heights housing incentive

* Hoffman Estates may need 2011 tax hike for Sears Centre

* Homer Glen trustees unswayed by commission’s caution

* Aldermen question library funds, plans

* Colleges ‘have a huge stake in this community’

* Survey hints at new job creation

* Tazewell wants to work with state

* Nearly 99,500 deer harvested in Illinois

Illinois firearm hunters harvested nearly 99,500 deer during this year’s season.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday that the preliminary harvest total was about 6,000 fewer than last year’s harvest.

* Bone-chilling temperatures, wind chills to continue

The Springfield forecast for today calls for a high temperature of 21, but winds of 15 to 20 mph will make it feel like the air is between -9 and 1. Wind gusts up to 24 mph are expected.

Counties north of here, including Mason and Schuyler, are under a wind chill advisory this morning. Wind chills there range from -15 to -20. The advisory is in place through 9 a.m.

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