* As the Rod Blagojevich jurors deliberate, let’s take a peek at Jim Warren’s column about former Mayor Daley…
And since I was rushing back to the trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, I asked about him. Mr. Daley is wary of kicking a guy while down, so I got the response I did when he was mayor.
“Cuckoo.”
* The Question: What one word would you use to sum up Rod Blagojevich’s tenure as governor?
* Capitol Fax readers have been learning about Stand for Children’s attempt at big-footing Illinois politics since last October. It took the mainstream media months to catch up, even after Stand for Children accumulated and spent huge money during the election, and even as the group’s major issue, education reform, played out at the Statehouse.
Today, Gov. Pat Quinn will sign the education reform bill that probably wouldn’t have even been introduced without the group’s involvement. So, it’s the Tribune’s turn to catch up…
As Edelman focused on Illinois last fall, he saw an opportunity. A new state law set to take effect Jan. 1 would for the first time limit the size of political donations, but the window was closing fast.
“I didn’t need a rocket scientist,” Edelman said.
He shook the money tree.
The people who quickly poured big bucks into Stand for Children’s campaign kitty include a Chicago-centric crew of philanthropists whose interests in improving education coincide with a willingness to write big checks. […]
The group didn’t spent it all, and it’s now sitting on about $2.9 million, a significant sum now that the biggest check an individual can write a political action committee is $10,000.
* Speaking of campaign contributions, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange gave big bucks last year to politicians who turned around and raised the company’s taxes - a move that Merc’s parent company says could force it to leave Illinois…
The exchange has donated $1.27 million to Illinois politicians in the last two decades, with almost $500,000 of those campaign contributions coming in the last 1-1/2 years, including: […]
* Two contributions together worth $150,000 to state Democratic Party leader Michael Madigan’s efforts to continue as speaker of the Illinois House.
* A $50,000 donation to Quinn’s general election run last year, after the exchange gave $40,000 to the governor during the Democratic primary campaign.
* CME’s estimates of its state tax liability means it will pay about 5 percent of all new corporate income taxes generated by January’s tax hike. The company certainly has a point about the unfairness of the corporate tax structure here…
But in the April interview, Duffy said the tax hike felt like a slap coming right after the company’s investment in Aurora, which created a lot of jobs in the state.
He also noted the state’s tax structure hits some companies harder than others.
A restructuring of the state’s tax law restricted the tax to profit on in-state sales and eliminated property value and payroll size from the formula. The change benefited multinational manufacturers with sales all over the world.
In fact, two-thirds of corporations filing Illinois returns owed no taxes in 2008.
“I’m not suggesting I have the answers,” Duffy said in April. But, he said, it would be better if everybody paid a little.
CME Group may not only seek an incentive package. According to sources, the company is considering a request for a change to its industry’s corporate income tax formula. […]
Revising “apportionment rules” in this way would require the approval of the General Assembly. Already, some industries have different rules. For instance, airlines operate under a different tax formula than other transportation companies.
If the changes being considered by CME Group are approved, Illinois’ overall corporate income tax rate of 9.5 percent would remain the same for Chicago’s exchanges. What is subject to that rate would change, in order to lower the company’s tax burden. […]
CME Group is expected to argue that because of the way its business is structured and conducted, the company had the highest effective state and local corporate income tax rate among the top 50 Illinois public companies that paid those taxes in 2010. […]
According to an analysis of public filings obtained by the Tribune, CME Group’s state and local income tax rate was 8.9 percent in 2010. It was the only company in the 8-9 percent range; four companies had a rate between 7 and 8 percent.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said today he remains committed to phasing out a corporate employee “head tax” that brings in about $19 million annually to the city.
“I believe it’s a disincentive for companies,” Emanuel said at a news conference to announce United Airlines will be bringing 1,300 more jobs to Chicago. “My goal is — and it will reflect it when I do my budget — that we will roll back a buck a year, so that over my term, it will be the $19 million that is quote unquote raised, will be eliminated.”
CME Group Inc. is looking to sell most of the Chicago Board of Trade building, putting one of Chicago’s most iconic structures on the market.
The disclosure comes less than a week after the exchange operator warned it may leave Illinois to avoid an increase in corporate taxes. Yet a CME spokesman said the sale of the Board of Trade building isn’t connected to discussions over a potential move and declined to say whether it would make an exit easier.
The 80-year-old Art Deco building is comprised of three towers and houses the trading floors for agricultural commodities such as corn and wheat and financial derivatives such as interest-rate futures. It was designated as a historic landmark in 1978 and anchors Chicago’s financial district.
CME said it has hired Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. and Holly Duran Real Estate Partners LLC to market the north and south towers, which include the trading floors for agriculture commodities. CME said it would lease back the space it currently occupies in the buildings, including the trading pits.
* Three stories over the weekend suggest the gaming bill could be lopped off a bit. AP…
Senate President John Cullerton has put a hold on the measure as he and other Democrats consider ways to scale it back. That hold stops the clock on the legislation and buys legislators time before an upcoming special session.
If Quinn amends the bill, the House and Senate must approve his changes. But removing proposed sites in Chicago, Rockford, Danville, the south suburbs or Park City, or dropping the racing components, would reverse support from lawmakers representing those interests.
“I control the bill. I’m the only one who can call the bill, and I’m the only one who moves the bill,” said state Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan), whose district includes Park City. “Do you really think I would allow the bill to move forward without mine being in it?”
Multiply Link’s stance by 95—the number of lawmakers who voted for the bill — and you can understand how changes could sink it. It received the bare minimum 30 votes to advance from the Senate.
Link said he plans to meet with Quinn in the next few weeks to discuss the possibility of follow-up legislation to address Quinn’s concerns. The goal would be to convince Quinn to sign the bill on the condition a follow-up bill might later scale down the scope.
State senators are looking for ways to shrink the size of a major casino expansion lawmakers just approved in the hopes of avoiding a veto by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who fears too much gambling is packed into the plan.
The gambit faces two significant challenges. It’s unclear how much lawmakers would have to cut out to pass muster with the governor. And the gambling deal had so many pieces to satisfy so many interest groups, removing one could send the whole thing toppling down. […]
Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat who sponsored the measure in the House, said he was surprised to hear his colleagues were considering changes when Quinn has yet to weigh in with specifics about what he would sign off on and what he wouldn’t.
Lang said it’s “premature” to start nixing parts of the plan, noting that negotiating such a large deal requires weighing many interests. He said peeling away some portions in an attempt to bring Quinn on board could put the whole thing in danger.
“I’ve been working on this bill for 20 years, and I finally found the right combination,” Lang said. “If slots at tracks come off, you can’t pass the bill. If the money for downstate agriculture comes off, you can’t pass the bill. If you take out casinos for Danville and Rockford, it might damage the ability to pass the bill.”
* Related…
* Gambling package hinges on Quinn decision: “I wouldn’t have voted for it if it didn’t have slots at the racetracks,” Poe said. “I’ve got an agricultural background. It’s a lot bigger business than people realize. There’s a lot of jobs that surround horseracing. We’re just losing that industry. In that main gaming bill, excluding the fairgrounds, there’s a lot of money going to (university) extension (programs), water conservation. There’s a lot going to rehabilitate 4-H, county fairs. I think that brought a lot of downstaters onboard that wouldn’t have been with that. I don’t think it would have passed without that.”
* If you’ve been wondering what’s really going on with this potential special session, read my latest syndicated newspaper column…
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton says he had a simple message for House Republican Leader Tom Cross in the waning hours of the spring legislative session: “See you in July.”
As you probably know by now, Cullerton’s Senate voted to add $430 million to the House’s austere state spending plan. The Senate initially wanted to spend a billion dollars more than the House, but many of Cullerton’s Democratic members demanded that they at least get something, so they came up with a list totaling $430 million.
House Speaker Michael Madigan couldn’t agree to the additional spending unless Leader Cross also signed off because the two had decided months earlier to stand together on the budget. Cross said he wouldn’t agree to the additional Senate spending, even though Cullerton said he’d found a way to pay for it.
So, Cullerton tacked his member requests onto the capital plan bill, which also contains road construction money. The House refused to agree to the amendment and Speaker Madigan announced that he wanted to appoint a conference committee to work out a deal over the summer.
No dice, said Cullerton. The Senate has no intention of acting on Madigan’s request and wants a new bill, he said. Cullerton could be voted down by the other three caucuses in a conference committee, so that idea is out, he said.
And despite claims by House leaders in both parties that the administration can spend money approved this fiscal year on projects next fiscal year because the state’s “lapse period” was extended out to six months, Cullerton believes that lots of road construction will stop very soon.
“They have the money,” Cullerton explained, “but they have no authority to spend it.”
Gov. Pat Quinn agrees with Cullerton, saying all construction work will have to start shutting down after June 17.
Quinn has said that a special session may have to be held sometime soon to work out this problem, or, as Cullerton put it, “The second largest road construction season in the history of Illinois will come to a halt.”
“I won’t be forcing a special session,” Cullerton said. “The road builders will.”
Cullerton promised to reduce his caucus’ budgetary add-on demand from $430 million down to $280 million. He said he’s backing away from $150 million for the General State Aid program for schools. The House’s budget keeps the official school spending level the same, Cullerton explained, but it deliberately under-funded the program by $150 million. The Legislature can come back in January and add back that cash, he said.
But how will he pay for these budget requests? Well, the Senate President said he purposely left out at least $280 million in what are known as “trouts” from the budget implementation bill to fund the increased spending he wants.
This may seem complicated, but it’s not, so stay with me.
Transfers out, or “trouts” as they’re more commonly called, are inserted into the budget implementation bill every year to transfer cash from the state’s bank account into special funds. They’re done almost as a matter of course, but Cullerton decided to short some of the trouts this year to pay for his members’ requests. But the House Republicans wouldn’t go along with the plan and that’s when Cullerton made his comment about seeing Leader Cross in July.
Cullerton also more than hinted that he plans to reintroduce his dollar a pack tax hike on cigarettes to help pay for the capital plan when the General Assembly returns — a proposal that has so far been rejected by the other three leaders.
As I write this, he’s also preparing to demand that both chambers come back to Springfield to pass a new legislative furlough plan. The Senate introduced a 12-day furlough plan, but never passed it. The House passed an identical proposal, but it’s still sitting in the Senate awaiting action.
The House, for its part, wants the Senate to come back to town on its own, back off its demand for that extra program spending and then pass the furlough bill that the House already approved. But several members of the Senate President’s Democratic caucus are itching for a fight over that extra spending, as is the governor.
For right now anyway, nobody is backing down and I’m not making any vacation plans.
* Related…
* Road builders already see effects of capital-bill impasse: Mike Sturino, president of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, said contractors have been notified by the state not to start work on projects on which bids were approved April 29.
* Finke: Lislators set to begin work on capital bill
* They’ll be back: It’s a dangerous game the Senate Democrats are playing. If they insist on pursuing the additional cash and the House doesn’t concur, they could be facing serious backlash for putting tens of thousands of laborers out of work.
* Unions have gotten the blame for the high costs at McCormick Place. But they’ve never been the real problem. It’s mostly about the contractors and the associations. Crain’s explains why…
Average drayage rates at Orlando and Las Vegas convention centers are 42% and 51% lower than McCormick Place, respectively, according to a 2009 Tradeshow Week survey. GES and Freeman say one reason is that labor costs are lower in those cities, but drayage is also 38% cheaper at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, which operates under the same labor agreements as McCormick Place.
The Stephens center uses an in-house contractor, Rosemont Exposition Services, to manage its freight.
Show management — the trade associations that stage conventions — also make good on the exhibitors’ nickel. McCormick Place leases floor space to the associations at $1.30 to $1.80 per square foot.
But associations charge exhibitors $20 to $40 per square foot. A show with 300,000 square feet of exhibitor space would pay McCormick Place up to $540,000 but collect $12 million from exhibitors — a better-than-2,000% markup. […]
In its exhibitor kit for the Digestive Disease Week Show in April, Freeman misleadingly implied exhibitors didn’t have a choice. “As the official service contractor, electrical installations must be performed by Freeman union labor,” the document reads.
Neither Freeman nor the critical-care association bothered to tell Ms. Canavan she had a choice. She saved money by choosing ETS but only after McCormick Place called to say she had that option.
Friends, colleagues and above all family remembered the late state Rep. Mark Beaubien of Barrington Hills on Friday, as a man of conscience and integrity whose embrace of people from backgrounds and mindsets very different from his own evolved over time.
“Before he was deified by you all for his tolerance, he was quite an Old Testament father,” Beaubien’s son Mark recalled, evoking a chuckle from those attending the funeral Mass at St. Anne Church in Barrington. […]
The younger Mark Beaubien said it was a wonder to watch his father evolve into a Republican legislator capable of lending support to such untraditional causes as same-sex civil unions and a woman’s right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term.
A statement on the back of the funeral program said, “If asked why he was one of the few Republican supporters of the Civil Union Bill, he would respond with humility and simplicity that it was simply time and we should all ‘live our own lives and speak our own values.’”
The younger Beaubien said his father died as one of his best friends, describing him as “oppressively affable.”
llinois gained nationwide notoriety in January when Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a 67% hike in the personal income tax rate while lifting the corporate tax rate to 9.5%, the fourth highest in the nation. How is that working out?
The good news is that corporate tax receipts in Springfield are up by about $300 million amid the economic recovery—though the state comptroller’s office announced in April that the state still faces $8 billion in unpaid bills. The bad news is that, according to the state’s Department of Commerce, Illinois has already shelled out some $230 million in corporate subsidies to keep more than two dozen companies from fleeing the state. And more are on the way.
Illinois has most definitely not “already shelled out some $230 million in corporate subsidies” this year. Those subsidies will be handed out over time, as many as ten years in the case of Motorola Mobility. So subtracting a decade-long subsidy from five months of corporate tax receipts to make some sort of a point is just beyond ridiculous.
* From a column written by then-Lt. Gov. Paul Simon on November 3, 1971…
The Downstate Teachers’ Retirement System is funded only at 34%.
That means that we can get by this year and next year, but 10 years from now or 15 years from now there will be a great many teachers retiring and someone is going to suddenly say, “What happened to all that money?”
There’s almost nothing new at the Statehouse. And worries about imminent doom of the pension system go back decades before that column was written.
Gov. Pat Quinn is withholding $52 million in transportation payments for Illinois’ cash-strapped schools so he can use that money instead to get the most out of federal Medicaid stimulus funds.
“After the buses are in the garage and the students are home for the summer, how’s a school district supposed to make a cut?” asked state Rep. Roger Eddy, R-Hutsonville, and Hutsonville School District superintendent. “Those expenses have been incurred. There is no way that we can do that. This is the most ridiculous proposal I’ve ever heard.”
As part of the 2009 stimulus plan, the federal government offered states more Medicaid money if they didn’t decrease Medicaid eligibility and followed certain guidelines. Illinois receives 60 cents from the federal government for every dollar it spends, but that will drop to the pre-stimulus amount of 50 cents for every dollar spent starting next month. So far, the state has received $3.6 billion from the federal government’s stimulus plan.
“We have to manage our resources right now in order to get that match. That’s worth maybe $100 (million) to $200 million to our state,” Quinn said at a news conference earlier this month. “I have to do everything necessary to get the most money that we can.”
Quinn said he is using school transportation funding, because the school districts have flexibility in how they spend their general state aid, or GSA. Schools can dip into their GSA to cover the lack of bus money over the summer and fall months, Quinn’s office said, until they are reimbursed for their transportation outlays.
Quinn’s office plans to pay the districts the $52 million by December for expenses incurred during the fourth quarter, which ends June 30.
Republicans are beating the drums, asking if former Democratic Congressman Bill Foster of Batavia plans to return $1,000 in “tainted contributions” he received from disgraced New York Rep. Anthony Weiner. […]
“Will Bill Foster return his scandal-tainted Weiner money … or will he silently condone his former colleague’s unacceptable and potentially ethically-compromised behavior?” a GOP email blast asked. Foster, who plans to run again, has not replied to our request for comment.
“Scandal-tainted money?” Really? Was Weiner sending X-Rated Tweets to potential donors? C’mon.
Try your very best to keep your comments clean, people. Thanks.
*** UPDATE *** Sheesh. I can’t believe I forgot to do this. I mean, the whole point of writing this post was to show you this photo…
On the average day, the man attends between five to ten events, meets dozens of people, has regularly scheduled media appearances, is responsible for $15 billion in investments, and manages a staff of close to two hundred employees. Meet Dan Rutherford, the banker for the State of Illinois. […]
Treasurer Rutherford recently announced the state’s purchase of $10 million worth of bonds from the State of Israel as a portion of the treasury’s sovereign bond holdings. “State of Israel bonds is a secure investment with an outstanding track record; they produce a strong rate of return and Israel has never defaulted on payments of principal or interest,” Rutherford said.
In praising the purchase, Israel Bonds president and CEO Joshua Matza noted, “The state of Illinois has been a loyal, consistent purchaser of Israel bonds. We are gratified by the state’s continued recognition of Israel bonds as dependable securities, as well as the fact that Israel bonds represent an investment in a sister democracy with shared values and ideals.”
Sounds like a decent idea, but apparently Illinois has been buying these bonds for years. Dude, could you make it any more obvious that you’re running for governor?
On Thursday, it was the Chicago Board Options Exchange suggesting that higher corporate taxes in Illinois could cause it to take jobs out of state. The CBOE’s warning came a day after CME Group Inc. said the same thing. CME owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade.
* And some good news for a change. From a Gov. Pat Quinn press release…
“Today’s announcement that United Airlines is bringing 1,300 jobs to Chicago is great news.
“The merger of United and Continental Airlines and their plan to continue making Chicago the nation’s hub for air transportation show that our efforts to boost Illinois’ businesses are paying off. This investment will have a major impact on our state as the company grows and its employees become part of our economic fabric.
“This once again demonstrates that Illinois is the premier state in the Midwest for businesses from around the world, and we’re committed to continuing to make it an even better place to live and work. I thank United Airlines for its continued commitment to the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago as we continue our economic recovery.”
…Adding… From Mayor Emanuel’s press office…
Mayor Emanuel made the announcement alongside United Airlines president and CEO Jeff Smisek, on the 10th floor of the Willis Tower, where many of the United Airlines employees will be working.
“As Chicago’s hometown airline, United is pleased to announce that we are bringing an additional 1,300 jobs downtown from locations throughout our system by the end of 2012,” said Smisek. “Mayor Emanuel recognizes the importance of keeping Chicago competitive with other cities and expanding job growth here, and we look forward to working together with him and his team.”
* The Question: Should Illinois’ corporate income tax hike be repealed - after finding a way to replace the revenue or cut the budget? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* Kudos to the Tribune editorial board for this piece about all the “wilding” stories…
The test for Emanuel and his top cop is to shut down the violence — and the fear-mongering — fast.
* But, wait, wasn’t this Trib editorial yesterday part of the problem? Yep…
It feels like a variation on “wilding,” in which roving gangs assault strangers, seemingly for sport. In 1989, five young men were charged with raping a jogger in New York’s Central Park. Police said the attack was a case of wilding — though in the end the convictions were vacated.
The violence hasn’t reached that level in Chicago. It needs to be stopped before it does.
The [Central Park] convictions were vacated in 2003. Another man already jailed for other crimes confessed to the attack. DNA evidence supported his claim.
On April 19, 1989, Meili was raped and nearly beaten to death while jogging in New York’s Central Park. She suffered numerous injuries, including skull fractures and lacerations and severe blood loss. The five young men who were ultimately indicted, tried and convicted say they were coerced into a confession. At the time, police attributed the crime to marauding gangs of teens who engaged in what was termed “wilding.” Those who committed such acts became known as “wolf packs.” Once again, as in other points in American history, associations between animals and black criminality became part of the public conscience.
In 1989, Donald Trump paid $85,000 for full-page ads in four of the New York-area newspapers. Under the headline “Bring Back the Death Penalty,” Trump wrote, “They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence.”
Members of the Central Park Five believe that Trump’s call for the death penalty — for minors in a non-capital case — only served to create a hostile media environment before the teens went to trial. A new book on the case by New York Daily News staff writer Sarah Burns, called The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding, suggests that Trump’s incendiary rhetoric was one of numerous factors which resulted in injustice for the Central Park defendants.
Some innoccent people are gonna get railroaded if we go back to those bad old days. Guaranteed. The crime wave is real and serious. But we absolutely cannot let newspapers dictate the climate.
*** UPDATE *** Nope. From Bill Brady’s spokesman Dan Egler…
Rich:
Sorry to diminish the spectator sport here. Brady had some people suggest he should consider a Congressional run in the 18th or new 13th, but after the briefest of consideration told them his focus is on reelection to the Senate and continuing to work to fix Illinois’ problems.
(He hasn’t made any calls seeking support for any Congressional run, and you’ll recall he announced for re-election earlier this week.)
Schock shock? Sneed hears state Sen. Bill Brady, the GOPer who came this/close to beating Gov. Pat Quinn, is making calls to explore running for Congress against Rep. Aaron “Mr. Abs” Schock.
Discuss.
* Roundup…
* From an e-mail: Word in Kane County is John Laesch is planning on running in the 11th District. Possible Foster/Laesch rematch. His website John06.com is down for “maintenance”
* Alderman Bustos considers run for 17th District: East Moline Ald. Cheri Bustos has added her name to the growing field of Democrats considering a 2012 run for the U.S. Congress from the newly-redrawn 17th District… Former, long-time Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert said Thursday his hat is still in the ring. He said he’s also close to making a final decision.State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, publicly has announced he’s running.
* War on Women Is Democratic Rallying Call Against Republicans: Emily’s List cited the Medicare plan as it singled out nine House Republican freshmen as its first targets next year, months earlier than in the last election. They are Paul Gosar of Arizona, Allen West of Florida, Robert Dold and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, Joe Heck of Nevada, Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass of New Hampshire and Steve Stivers of Ohio.
* GOP Freshmen Promise Cuts, Spend Big in First Quarter: GOP Freshmen Promise Cuts, Spend Big in First Quarter: Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger is the biggest freshman spender, dishing out $78,000 on “mass mailings and communication” to constituents, including a pamphlet explaining “some of the ways we can help” in government interaction
* Republican freshmen spend big bucks on cars, PRL: The biggest newly elected spender in this realm is Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who authorized spending $78,518 in taxpayer money on “mass mailings and communications” — just under $900 for every day he was in office during the first three months of his congressional career. Kinzinger sent a pamphlet to his constituents explaining “some of the ways we can help” in interactions with the government. Kinzinger also advertised the “state-of-the-art multimedia section” on his website. His office told POLITICO in a statement that it has no more plans for franked mail after it sent a mailing to 217,000 houses across the district.
* GOP freshman fundraising off new Congressional map: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is fundraising off the new Illinois congressional map. His campaign is urging supporters to “fight back” and “stop Chicago Democrats’ Illinois power grab.” The goal is to raise $20,000 by June 30, which marks the end of second quarter fundraising, according to his campaign website.
* A Letdown from Freshman GOP Congressmen: According to Politico, more than a dozen of these budget-conscious freshmen spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on these items. Including the biggest spender, Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger.
“He talked and he talked and that is all he did. . . . They want you to believe his talk is a crime. It’s not.”
That statement Thursday by Rod Blagojevich’s attorney Aaron Goldstein, as reported by the Sun-Times’ “Blago Blog,” pretty much sums up the former governor’s defense in his federal criminal trial:
“I’m not sayin’ . . . I’m just sayin’.”
Mind you, Rod wasn’t saying that he wanted to extract a bribe in exchange for appointing various people to fill Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. He was just tossing around ideas. He didn’t really mean it.
“He’s not perfect,” Goldstein said. “He likes to talk.”
Rod didn’t really want a bunch of billionaires to pony up cash to fund a nonprofit group in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to the Senate seat. He was just talking about it. And the fact that he stopped talking about the scheme after Jarrett withdrew her name means nothing. He just has attention deficit disorder or something. He quickly moved along, and so should we. There’s really nothing to see here.
Um, OK. Hold on. What about when he told his brother to be careful about negotiating a huge cash payoff in exchange for appointing U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate seat because the whole world would be listening?
“‘The whole world is listening’ is a phrase I use all the time,” Blagojevich said on the stand.
But, wait. When Blagojevich discovered soon after that his office was being bugged by the FBI, didn’t he then order an aide to “undo” the negotiations on the Jackson appointment?
All talk. No big deal. There wasn’t anything there to begin with.
Excuse me, but what about when he told an aide that he wanted to hit up the CEO of Children’s Memorial Hospital for a $50,000 campaign contribution while discussing a state grant for that hospital? Didn’t he also make a call to see if he could hold up the grant?
Nah, there’s nothing to that. He was just thinking out loud.
But the grant wasn’t actually released until after he left office, right?
Hey, he tried to have the money released after he was arrested by the FBI. So, see? It’s all just talk.
“Look at his actions,” Blagojevich’s lawyer said Thursday. That’s how you will know what was in his mind.
You see, Rod never actually came right out and told the hospital CEO, or a big tollway contractor, or Rep. Jackson or anybody else that he wanted a campaign contribution or a job or whatever in exchange for doing them a favor. Others he sent might have said some words to that effect, but they weren’t sayin’. They were just sayin’. Plus, how can Rod control what his own emissaries say? Not to mention that just asking for a contribution isn’t illegal. Never mind that he said privately that he wanted something in return. He didn’t really want anything. It was all just talk. There’s nothing to it.
“This case is about nothing,” Goldstein said. Blagojevich got nothing and he did nothing.
All Rod did was talk.
“I’m not sayin’ . . . I’m just sayin’.”
His lawyers are clearly hoping the jurors will buy into that line of bunk. But maybe they’ll think about it a bit differently. Maybe they’ll assume it’s what a bookie might say if you fall behind on your gambling debts.
“I’m not sayin’ I’ll break your legs if you don’t pay me tomorrow. I’m just sayin’ you might have trouble walking for a while.”
* Meanwhile, we can only hope that the Blagojevich jury decides the same…
