* 4:54 pm - The blog is running a tad slow right now because several people are accessing an 82 MB audio file of the Senate Executive Committee. Sorry for any delays you might be experiencing, but the slowness appears fairly slight considering the traffic.
* 2:22 pm - No surprise here, but after a raucous two-hour debate, the Senate Executive Committee refused to vote on the proposed constitutional amendment to recall state officials. We’ll have some audio clips later. Quite the show.
State senators advanced legislation Wednesday to allow Illinois voters to say whether the state should put a graduated income tax instead of the current flat tax.
The Senate Executive Committee voted 7-5 to send the proposed constitutional amendment to the full Senate.
Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) called the flat tax—which is 3 percent for individuals—unfair and regressive. He maintained putting the measure before voters would allow debate on potential changes in the state tax strucuture.
* 2:34 pm - The governor tried to make a joke yesterday when asked about the Tony Rezko trial…
Well I—I appreciate that question. That’s the first time anybody’s ever asked me that. Um.
And the pressure may be getting to his staff…
To the side, Blagojevich’s press secretary could be seen with her head in her hand.
Illinois’ gambling casinos would be able to ignore the new law banning most indoor smoking under a plan that a state Senate panel narrowly approved today.
The legislation would keep the casino exemption in place for five years.
Sen. Frank Watson, R-Greenville, is the lead supporter of the idea, which he says will help casinos that have seen revenue drop because of the statewide smoking ban. By a 7-6 vote in the Senate Executive Committee, Watson added the casino exemption as an amendment to Senate Bill 2707.
* 3:18 pm - The House is currently debating HB 758…
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that the requirements of sales of firearms at a gun show apply to private sales or transfers of handguns by persons who are not federally licensed firearm dealers.
* 3:56 pm - The gun bill, HB 758, came up short by two votes. 58-58-0.
Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Eliminates provisions that allowed an hourly wage of 50 cents below the regular minimum wage to be paid to an employee under 18 years of age. Makes other conforming changes. Effective January 1, 2009.
* 4:42 pm - The minimum wage bill passed with 62 votes, but a verification has been requested. The verification upheld the vote. The bill is declared passed.
* 4:49 pm - Statement from Gov. Blagojevich on the failed gun bill vote…
“Today’s House vote is yet another crushing disappointment to everyone involved in the fight against gun violence. We need common sense gun legislation and we need it now.” […]
Nationwide, 40% of gun transactions occur through unlicensed sellers and no-questions-asked private deals that require no background checks. A recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that unlicensed sellers were involved in about one-fifth of trafficking investigations and associated with nearly 23,000 illegal guns.
* The Pope has arrived in America, but I was raised a Lutheran, so here’s a link to Lutheran Day in Illinois, which is today.
* Consultant releases study claiming low racial minority levels in DuPage County results in low crime rate, then claims…
MGT partner Karl Becker acknowledged the report was lacking supporting data regarding the minority population assessment, but said he stood by the report’s conclusions.
“I have no data, but I’m sure I’m right.” I wonder how much that one cost?
* Unless somebody comes up with a very large (and I do mean large) pile of cash, I promise that I will never use those sneaky pop-up ads like the Tribune and Sun-Times have. The ads are activated when you highlight text on a page. It doesn’t happen every time on every page, but it’s supremely annoying because they get around my popup blocking software in my browsers.
* Google follows through on a public pledge to make sure a new airwave spectrum is open to all by making a huge bid, is then outbid, auction brings in record amount of money, yet Google is accused of gaming the system by congresscritters like Illinois’ own John Shimkus. Seriously weird.
* The Reader and Frank Coconate are being sued by James Sachay, the former assistant commissioner of the Chicago Aviation Department…
James Sachay alleges in court papers that Coconate posted blog comments under Sachay’s name, including one that said: “I am voting for Frank Coconate. I am sorry I challenged his petitions under false pretenses. I am sorry I stole money from Roman Pucinski. I am sorry I got illegal contracts for my son and acted criminally at O’Hare.”
At the time, Coconate was running against Ralph Capparelli for 41st Ward committeeman; Sachay worked for Capparelli. (Both lost to caterer Mary O’Connor, president of the Edison Park Chamber of Commerce)
Coconate denies that he posted the items, but the Reader’s blogs have a horrible reputation for allowing all sorts of ugly stuff in their comments. The courts have already ruled that we’re not responsible for what’s said in our comment sections, as long as it doesn’t violate copyright laws, but the Reader really needs to clean its act up. I hate linking to stories over there because of that situation.
* This means nothing, but he ran for Senate here once, so I guess I ought to link to it.
* We finally have a new prosecution witness in the Tony Rezko trial, and he seems much more believable than Stu Levine. Joe Cari was a bigtime Democratic fundraiser, but, like Levine, backed Jim Ryan for governor in 2002. Cari’s connections to Bill Clinton and his fundraising prowess for Al Gore allegedly brought him to the attention of Blagojevich…
Gov. Blagojevich was sitting across from his then-deputy governor, Bradley Tusk, on the New Jersey-bound private plane in 2003 when Tusk got up and asked well-known Democratic political fund-raiser Joseph Cari if he’d switch seats.
Cari didn’t know the governor well, he testified Tuesday at Tony Rezko’s corruption trial. So Cari was surprised when Blagojevich offered a vision for his political future and told Cari he could play a role.
“The governor wanted to know about my experience in the 2000 election” as one of unsuccessful presidential hopeful Al Gore’s top fund-raisers, Cari testified. “He then slid into how excited he was to be governor, some of the dreams he had and also he had aspirations beyond the governorship.”
Cari quoted Blagojevich as saying Rezko and another fundraiser, Christopher Kelly, were his most trusted advisers and “they were going to be the key people in his public service wherever it went.” Blagojevich told him there would be “investment banking work, consulting work to give to the people who helped them,” Cari said.
“Wherever it went” meant the White House. Remember those days? Seems like eons ago.
Back in Chicago, Cari said he was summoned to meetings with both Rezko and Kelly where they urged him to raise money for Blagojevich.
He said Kelly “pushed me pretty hard — that this would be good for my law firm and my private equity firm, that I could have whatever I wanted but they needed help raising funds nationally.”
Cari said he met with Stuart Levine at Rezko’s office in January that year. Rezko said he had the power to award contracts and get consultants hired through the governor’s then-chief of staff, Lon Monk, Cari said.
“Mr. Monk took direction from [Rezko],” Cari told the jury.
Rezko illustrated his clout by picking up the phone and apparently calling Monk in front of him, Cari said.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Reid Schar then asked Cari, who was a managing director at an investment firm known as HealthPoint, what Rezko told him he could do for him.
“Legal work or help for HealthPoint,” Cari said. “Things like that that would be helpful to me.”
And what did Rezko ask in return? Schar queried.
“To raise money for the governor, nationally,” Cari said.
* Related stories…
* Blagojevich apparently following Rezko case after all
A Cook County judge Tuesday erected a new speed bump in front of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s efforts to broadly expand state-subsidized health care.
But the judge also allowed the governor to move forward on his expansion of a program to screen uninsured Illinois women for breast and cervical cancer.
[The judge] decided that the administration was within its rights to extend an existing program for breast and cervical cancer screenings to women age 65 and older. He said the legislature approved $6 million for the program without imposing limits, allowing the department to expand the benefits as long as it was within that $6 million appropriation.
The governor wants to spend far more than $6 million on the cancer screening, but that was not an issue. It could become an issue at trial, if this thing gets that far.
“The judge’s decision is mostly good news,” Blagojevich said at a news conference in Chicago.
Yep. It was an “up” day for the governor.
* As I told you yesterday, the judge did block the Family Care expansion…
The FamilyCare ruling simply requires that people enrolled must work or seek work, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said.
“We believe most, if not all, enrollees currently meet this requirement,” Ottenhoff said. “We intend to address the issue raised by the court so we can continue to protect health coverage for people in FamilyCare.”
That would have to be done through legislation. We don’t have a great climate for legislative fixes these days.
In an apparent jab at Blagojevich, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) lent support to a proposed universal health-care system far broader than the failed plan the governor offered last year. Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines) called it a political ploy by House Democrats to separate themselves from the governor but still back health care.
A Blagojevich administration plan to reorganize and combine administrative functions of some state agencies is drawing fire from a lawmaker who claims it will be used to award contracts to the governor’s favorites.
Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, a frequent critic of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, said Tuesday he will try to get the House to block the plan.
“I think the governor has been in so much mischief,” Franks said. “This is one way to give him extraordinary power, to have people totally under his thumb, and then bring in outside consultants to increase our costs.”
“It’s basically no-bid contracts galore for the governor,” Franks said.
However, Greg Wass, who holds the newly created title of chief information officer in the Blagojevich administration, said the latest plan is a “carbon copy” of a smaller reorganization undertaken in 2006.
Illinois Senate Democrats [yesterday] took the wraps off their version of legislation to get rid of “pay to play” politics in state government.
The measure, an amended version of House Bill 824, would bar contractors who do more than $50,000 in business with the state from contributing to the political funds of any officeholder who awarded the contract. It also would bar those contractors from making political contributions to any of the officeholder’s declared challengers.
The Senate plan differs in some ways from another ethics proposal that passed the House last year but has sat idle in the Senate. Under that legislation, House Bill 1, individuals who have contracts worth $25,000 or more would be prohibited from making political contributions.
Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, sponsored HB1. He said [yesterday] that he thinks the two sides can reach a compromise on ethics legislation that could pass in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
* Both myself and the Sun-Times called the appellate court’s denial of Bob Sorich’s appeal a “green light” for prosecutors this morning. Background from the Tribune…
After winning the convictions in the Sorich trial, prosecutors promised that they would continue their investigation of City Hall corruption.
But the only high-ranking Daley administration official to face charges since has been former Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, accused last year of arranging jobs for members of the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization. And no charges have come yet from investigations into hiring at Cook County and in the Blagojevich administration.
“The presumption of people in politics has been that a lot of other things were waiting on this decision,” said Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley (D-Chicago). “It backed up a very important tool to ferret out corruption.”
* The Sun-Times scored a former federal prosecutor for its explanation…
“In my opinion, the decision that came down today blessed the aggressive posture that the U.S. Attorney’s office has taken in corruption cases,” he said. “A contrary decision would have had a chilling effect on the future cases considered by the U.S. Attorney’s office.”
Prosecutors were fearful — and defense attorneys hopeful — that the court might throw out the convictions based on a decision last year tossing out a conviction of an aide to the governor of Wisconsin.
“The court went out of its way to distinguish the Sorich case from [the Wisconsin case],” Collins said. “It focused on the massive and systemic nature of the scheme, compared to the sporadic and episodic corruption in [Wisconsin.]”
That case (US vs. Thompson) has been bandied about for months as a possible saving grace not only for Sorich but for everybody else who hasn’t been zapped yet.
* Sun-Times…
The ruling sent waves of angst through City Hall, Gov. Blagojevich’s office and other government offices […]
“I’m sure there are certain people now who are concerned,” a Blagojevich loyalist told the Sun-Times.
Tuesday’s ruling means the 43-year-old Sorich has 72 hours to report to prison, according to his attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin. Prosecutors said a federal judge would hear their motion to revoke the bond Thursday.
But Durkin noted he would continue the appeal process, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
“It is important to remember that the city has moved forward and upward on many fronts since the events in question,” said Daley. “We are operating in close cooperation with the court appointed monitor in all hiring.”.
Hilarious.
* Also, a reminder that a Con-Con can do some good…
Shakman filed the suit after he was beaten in a race for delegate to the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention. He blamed the help his opponent got from a horde of precinct captains and other doorbell ringing campaign workers who had jobs on the city payroll.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday he would ask legislators for $25 million to help colleges bolster security, a job the state’s public universities estimated would cost $41 million, according to a state task force.
* Cop with most DUI arrests charged with misconduct, other felonies
“Clearly, anyone who wants to ban plastic [bags] or charge another tax would be more interested in seeing people’s grocery prices go up than we are,” he says. “Everybody wants everything, but nobody wants to pay anything. Well, we’re not going to try to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.”
“My job is not to be a cheerleader for the governor but rather a watchdog for the public,” Quinn said. “And I see recall as the ultimate power the public needs to straighten things out when they really get out of hand.”
In a key win for federal prosecutors, an appellate court in Chicago on Tuesday upheld the convictions of four former top aides to Mayor Richard Daley [including former patronage chief Robert Sorich] who were convicted of rigging hiring and promotions at City Hall. […]
On appeal, lawyers for the former city aides argued that they could not be convicted of criminal fraud because they took no bribes or kickbacks in the scheme. But a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
This has got to send a chill down the governor’s spine. There are several tracks to the federal investigation, and Rezko is just one of them. Hiring practices are another.
The centerpiece of their appeal is a challenge to the government’s theory of prosecution: they contend that their behavior, while dubious, is not criminal, and that the honest services mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, is unconstitutionally vague. We conclude that the defendants’
actions do constitute mail fraud, and that the statute is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the facts of this case. The defendants also argue that they did not deprive the city or the people of Chicago of any money or property, but the jobs that they wrongfully gave away were indeed a kind of property, so we reject this argument. Individual defendants also challenge the sufficiency of the indictment, the connection to the mails, and the sufficiency of the evidence against them, while one defendant argues that he was entitled to a sentencing
adjustment for playing a minor role.
Finding none of these arguments persuasive, we affirm on all counts.
* 11:02 am - The judge ruled that the arguments against the governor’s Family Care expansion have a likelihood of succeeding at trial. So, a preliminary injunction was granted “based on the failure to abide by the elibility criteria required by law,” according to the judge. A similar argument against the expansion of the breast and cervical cancer screening program was denied.
* 11:05 am - This is gonna be a mess. The administration went ahead and enrolled a bunch of people in the expanded Family Care program (the governor expanded eligibility from 185 up to 400 percent of the poverty level) last year. What’s going to happen to those people now? We don’t have an answer from the guv’s office yet, but I’m sure he’ll blame somebody else.
* 11:23 am - What the judge essentially ruled is that the administration claimed it had the authority under existing state laws to expand the Family Care program. The judge claimed that they followed some laws, but not one in particular. So, he didn’t have to rule on the main argument - that the governor exceeded his authority to implement a program without an appropriation or specific legislative approval - because the administration’s new and expanded Family Care program didn’t meet the federal TANF requirements. It’s a punt, but the same result is reached.
[Cook County Judge James Epstein] also placed a stay on the order for seven days in order to allow the governor’s lawyers to review the order and perhaps appeal. The ruling comes in a lawsuit seeking to halt the expansion.
A state legislative panel has twice refused to approve rules for the expansion and lawmakers did not include funding in the state budget. But the administration contends it can grow the program anyway.
“We are clearly unhappy that he ruled on this basis,” said attorney Larry Blust, a private lawyer retained by the Blagojevich administration.
As he dashed into the governor’s office at the Thompson Center to consult with his client, Blust added, “We’ll decide in the next seven days what we are going to be doing about it.”
* 12:24 pm - Richard Caro, the lawyer who initially brought the lawsuit, just told me that the administration is “free to amend the regulation to comply” with the judge’s ruling. However, he said, they’d be right back in front of the judge to get approval and the judge could open up all those other issues - including the constitutionality of the governor’s move - that the judge was able to ignore because the guv didn’t follow the TANF requirements.
Judge Leo Zappa today said Senate President Emil Jones should be added as a defendant to a lawsuit over Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s power to set the date and time of special sessions.
Although he didn’t make a ruling today, Zappa strongly indicated he will do that in another week, despite objections from Blagojevich’s lawyer.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Zappa said. “If the governor has the right to set the date and time, it will have as much impact for senators who do not show up as representatives.”
Blagojevich sued House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, because Madigan did not have the House meet in special session at the exact date and time set by the governor. The lawsuit did not name Jones, a Blagojevich ally, as an defendant.
“You do not need to return unless you receive further notice,” U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve told [Levine] after 25 minutes of questioning.
*** 1:03 pm *** From the governor’s office…
“The Court’s decision affirms the Governor’s authority to expand existing healthcare programs without new legislation. We’re delighted by the Court’s ruling on the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program. The Court upheld the Governor’s authority to provide all uninsured women access to mammograms and other cancer screenings. This makes Illinois the only state in the country to ensure all women have access to the cancer screenings and treatment they need.
“We are also encouraged by the Court’s ruling on the Family Care program. The Court ruled that the statute which authorizes the expansion of Family Care requires an additional provision that the people enrolled be employed or seeking work. We believe most, if not all, enrollees currently meet this requirement. We intend to address the issue raised by the Court so we can continue to protect health coverage for people in Family Care.”
Remember, though, that the judge enjoined the administration from carrying out the new rule and stopped Comptroller Hynes from authorizing any payments.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has repeatedly deflected questions about the federal corruption trial of his former top fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, often suggesting he’s too busy to follow details of the case.
Yet on Monday, Blagojevich abandoned that posture to take a shot at Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who has been pushing a recall measure to give voters the option of removing the governor.
Asked about the Rezko trial, Blagojevich noted that Quinn’s name arose in testimony earlier in the day.
“I didn’t know Pat Quinn had dinner with Stuart Levine and Tony Rezko at his house until I learned that today,” Blagojevich said.
The clout-heavy private school that mistakenly got $1 million from Gov. Blagojevich has admitted for the first time that one of its officials had a felony conviction — a disclosure that contradicts its earlier claims and could be grounds for the state to get its money back.
* If they’re only shooting for 300,000 signatures, that means their opponents ought to have a good chance of keeping this proposal off the November ballot…
Supporters of a state constitutional amendment to define “marriage” as only for male-female couples are in the final stretch of a push to collect enough signatures to put an advisory referendum on November election ballots.
How close they are to their goal is unclear. Joetta Deutsch, a Taylorville resident and board member for Protect Marriage Illinois, declined Monday to say how many signatures the organization has gathered.
She said Protect Marriage Illinois is shooting for more than 300,000 signatures statewide. That figure would exceed the required number of about 270,000 signatures, but organizers want to ensure their effort survives even if some signatures eventually are thrown out as invalid.
The signatures must be submitted to the State Board of Elections by May 5 to get the advisory referendum on Nov. 4 ballots, Deutsch said. Protect Marriage Illinois has set an April 30 deadline for church groups and other supporters to submit signed petitions because the organization needs time to process the paperwork.
The usual rule of thumb is to get twice as many signatures as needed. That would be pretty tough, but an extra 30,000 (if they even get that much) is cutting it a bit too close for comfort.
Also, it would be interesting to know how many of their state legislative and congressional supporters, as well as their local pol backers, are contributing to the petition effort.
Southwest Airlines today honored the State of Illinois with the unveiling of Illinois One, a Boeing 737 emblazoned with an artist’s rendering of the state flag. Southwest Airlines’ top Leadership celebrated the high-flying tribute to the State of Illinois at an event in a Chicago Midway hangar with Governor Rod Blagojevich, Mayor Richard M. Daley, and its Chicago-based Employees.
“We are thrilled to honor Illinois with this beautiful aircraft; it is truly a demonstration of the great relationship we have developed with our Chicago Midway Customers and a tribute to our local hard-working Employees,” said Southwest Airlines Chairman Herb Kelleher. “Our pride for Illinois will now fly high over the 64 cities Southwest serves.”
And here’s the plane…
Nifty.
* Question: Come up with a better name than “Illinois One.”
A constant complaint from bloggers is that they get no respect from the so-called mainstream media. Reporters say much the same about bloggers, who tend to pick apart their stories and columns and sometimes make them look like fools.
I’ve watched this back and forth with much bemusement over the past few years.
I started writing about the Statehouse for a company named Hannah Information Service in 1990. We were a dial-up bulletin-board system designed for lobbyists. Back then the state’s official Legislative Information System featured a 1200 baud modem and was available during business hours Monday through Friday. To use LIS in those days you needed a thick codebook and had to manually type in long “libsync” commands. Hannah downloaded all the LIS info via a nifty computer program and reposted it on an easy to use, menu-driven bulletin board system that could be accessed 24/7 via a super-fast (for then) 9600 baud modem.
When I started writing for Hannah I was initially refused entry into the Legislative Correspondents Association because, they said, they didn’t have a category for what I was doing. I talked my way in, but I was apparently the subject of discussion at just about every annual meeting thereafter, particularly after I snagged some office space with my buddy Greg Tejeda at United Press International.
So, I can relate to what many bloggers are going through. To this day, there are still a few on that Mezzanine who have issues with my very existence. It doesn’t much bother me, even when they run stuff I’ve written without attribution. Sometimes, they actually do credit me, as the SJ-R editorial did today. I’ve learned to ignore most of it. Hey, I’ve got a pretty good life, and no heartless megacorporation is trying to downsize my job. I’m a happy camper. As Elvis Costello once wrote: “I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.”
Hannah was always undercapitalized, and I didn’t make much money at all, so I quit in 1993 and started the Capitol Fax. I decided to give it three to six months to see if I could make a decent living on my own. I hit my “month one” revenue target in a week, and my “month three” target in a month. It just kept going up from there.
That was 15 years ago this month.
I want to thank my subscribers for everything. You mean the world to me.
And to the grumbling bloggers: Keep at it. Living well is the best possible revenge.
The government’s star witness at the fraud trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko testified Monday that Sen. Barack Obama and his wife attended a party in 2004 at the home of the indicted political fundraiser. Stuart Levine said the party took place in April 2004 and was held to honor Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born, London-based billionaire visiting the United States
* Obama’s spokesman implied to the Sun-Times that Obama may not have attended the Rezko party…
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said: “As he has said previously, Senator Obama does not recall meeting Nadhmi Auchi at any time or on any occasion, and this includes any event that may have been held for Mr. Auchi. Senator and Mrs. Obama have no recollection of attending any such event.”
* LaBolt gave a slightly different explanation to the Tribune…
“Sen. Obama does not recall meeting Nadhmi Auchi at any time or on any occasion, and this includes any event that may have been held for Mr. Auchi,” LaBolt said.
* The Sun-Times reports that two sources contend that Obama was, indeed, at the Rezko event, but rehashed this response from Auchi’s spokesperson…
Auchi couldn’t be reached Monday. His lawyer, Alasdair Pepper, told the Sun-Times in February his client “has no recollection of meeting Senator Obama.”
* So, I sent an e-mail this morning to Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn’s spokesperson. Levine testified that Quinn attended the party. The spokesperson confirmed that her boss was there. When asked whether Quinn remembers Obama being present, this is the response I received…
He believes so, but Quinn was there rather briefly — came late, left early to watch the NCAA final four. So Quinn wasn’t taking attendance.
Now we have to go through this Rezko goofiness all over again because Obama’s operation wants to play cute instead of just saying, yeah, he was there, but barely remembers it, or something like that.
Oy.
It seems like every time the Obama campaign comes close to nailing an issue down, or finally putting Clinton in a corner, it goes off track.
* By the way, Quinn now says that Blagojevich should have steered clear of Tony Rezko. From today’s Tribune…
“After some of the things we are hearing at the trial from Mr. [Stuart] Levine, I don’t think [Rezko] should have ever, ever been appointed to anything. And I think the governor owes the people an apology for that.”
* More Obama/Rezko stuff, compiled by Kevin…
* Sneed hears rumbles Kathleen Sebelius, the two-term Dem governor of Kansas, may become Barack Obama’s veepmate.
* Considering that Gov. Blagojevich’s poll numbers are beyond horrific, he’s probably not the best Obama surrogate…
“There is nothing elitist about the fact that working class families are struggling today. Our economy is sluggish. Gas prices are up to near $4 a gallon. It costs 25 percent more just to turn your lights on. A loaf of bread and gallon of milk cost a lot more than they used to. And wages are stagnant while the pay of CEOs continues to rise,” Blagojevich said on the tarmac at Midway Airport following an event for Southwest Airlines.
“So the frustration, the anger, the bitterness that Sen. Obama is talking about, that middle America is feeling, is precisely why he’s done so well in this election. People are responding to the fact that he is offering a voice to them, where in the past it’s just been a bunch of lip service from a bunch of politicians in Washington,” the governor added.
“Now that Negroes like Representative Monique Davis have political power, it seems that they have no problem at all with discrimination, just as long as it isn’t them who are being discriminated against.”
Sherman was referring to Rep. Monique Davis’ tirade against him during a House committee hearing, for which she was given Keith Olbermann’s daily “Worst Person in the World.” She later apologized for the remark, according to Sherman.
* Sherman, however, refused to apologize for his own comments. Sherman told me last week that he deleted those words after receiving an e-mail from 2006 Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney.
Sherman claimed that at the time he “didn’t know there was anything wrong with the phrase negro.” And in the same conversation with me he went on to explain his original comment while refusing to apologize…
“Now they are blacks and have political power, so discrimination is OK, but then, when they were called negroes and had no political power, discrimination was an outrage.”
* Last night, Olbermann aimed his dart at Sherman, giving the Green Party candidate yesterday’s “Worst Person in the World” award….
In a desperate attempt to maintain their popularity with the non-atheist majority, several Caucasian journalists have desperately grasped at a phony excuse to criticize me by condemning me for referring to Rep. Monique Davis, who is a Negro, as being, of all things, a “Negro.” […]
Rep. Davis seemed to be OK, two weeks ago, with discrimination against my group, because her group has political clout and my group doesn’t, but she retracted those statements last week. The White journalists have demanded that I apologize to Rep. Davis for not using a euphemism that Caucasian journalists approve of.
Sherman’s beef was with Monique Davis, legislator. Not Monique Davis black legislator or black legislators in general.
* I agreed with Zorn then and I agree even more so today after reading Sherman’s latest bizarre tirade. Sherman was and remains way, way out of bounds.
The Green Party folks have claimed that they’ve worked hard to make sure they have candidates which reflect their party’s values. This is their first test. Rich Whitney apparently stepped up to the plate once, but Sherman seems to have since ignored his advice after once briefly agreeing with him. Let’s see if Whitney or somebody else in the Greens does so again.
(E)very effective crusader needs to be able to tell the difference between when he’s fighting the good fight and when he finds himself where Sherman finds himself today, on the wrong side of a bad fight.
1. The Chicago Children’s “museum” is not accredited by the American Association of Museums.
2. While many argue the “museum” is unique, it is one of only 15 in Illinois, including 9 in the Chicago area.
3. The Chicago Children’s “museum” ranks 31st in the country, according to Parents.com, far behind the children’s museums in Decatur & Bourbonnais and The Magic House in St. Louis. Just two slots below the Ollie Mae Moen Discovery Center in Waco, Texas.
Why those directors sit in silence while the reputation of their museum as a stellar citizen sinks—on their watch—is a mystery:
• Are the directors whose names grace the museum’s Web site there to direct its future? Or are they just complicit names on a list, doing a drowsy stint of civic service?
• Do they not comprehend how many longtime friends their self-aggrandizing lust for Grant Park is costing their museum?
• How can they defend to museum donors the cost of all their lobbying, advertising and public relations expenditures for the right to . . . seize a part of Grant Park?
Maggie Daley cut her consulting work in half — bringing in just $50,000 compared with $100,000 in 2006. The Daleys combined made $238,190 after deferrals.
Under our current constitution, the Governor and legislative leaders have amassed so much power that a personal feud between them has completely gridlocked the entire state government.
The Wrigley wrangle: Sneed hears Gov. Blagojevich was spotted in deep huddle with Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry at a Scottsdale, Ariz., eatery Tuesday — hatching plans for the state to buy Wrigley Field.
• Dinner talk: Sneed is told Blago, the state’s No. 1 Cubs fan, is not only planning to move full steam ahead on getting the spring Legislature to authorize the sale of Wrigley Field to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, but also was entreating help from two politicos who were dining at the restaurant.
• Table talk: Word is Blago, who was dining with Piniella and Hendry at Don and Charlie’s restaurant following a Cubs spring training win over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, entreated Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) and Chicago Ald. Brian Doherty (41st) to “help me on this,” when they stopped by the Gov’s table while exiting the restaurant. (Dillard and Doherty and their families were dining at separate tables)
• The big squeeze: A Sneed spotter claimed Gov. Blago kept telling Dillard and Doherty: “You gotta help me on this. You gotta help me.” The source added, “It was definitely apparent the governor wants to do the deal.”
* The governor got his response from Dillard, sort of, in a Daily Herald op-ed on Saturday…
Such an expenditure of state dollars cannot come before a school construction program and infrastructure (roads and bridges) improvements in Illinois. We need a multibillion-dollar capital program in Illinois to repair potholes, crumbling roads, dangerous bridges and improve schools before we need to purchase Wrigley Field. Building and maintaining schools and improving our transportation network statewide are higher priorities right now than purchasing a baseball field - even if the beloved Cubs play in the civic treasure Wrigley Field. […]
I will put politics aside and play ball with Gov. Blagojevich on this issue.
Wrigley Field is a landmark and the third most popular tourist destination in Illinois. I agree with the governor that keeping the name Wrigley Field is also a priority. And I don’t believe taxpayer money should be used to renovate Wrigley.
With due respect to new Cub owner Sam Zell and the Chicago Tribune, the bottom line is this proposal must be good for the taxpayer. And put money into the state treasury.
Not exactly crystal clear.
* If you want crystal clear, listen to the boos the governor got when he attended a ceremony at White Sox Park last week. Ouch.
* The Daily Herald wondered why he did “so much talking”…
What was supposed to be a joyous occasion featuring a stunning bronze and granite salute to the 2005 champs instead turned into a boo-fest the minute the governor was introduced.
Boo.
“I’d love to thank you for the wonderful, warm welcome.”
Boo.
“My side of town would like to replicate what you did (in 2005).”
On the one hand, this isn’t earth-shattering news…
House Speaker Michael Madigan told a firefighters group last week that he, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones are engaged in a “civil war,” and that “no prisoners” are being taken.
This isn’t exactly a particularly unique insight. The fight between Madigan and the Blagojevich/Jones alliance started long ago and has been vicious, mean and hurtful to a lot of innocent bystanders. It resulted in an 11-month session last year, along with numerous lawsuits, special sessions and hordes of unresolved issues. I’ve heard it called a “civil war” before, and it’s obvious that nobody is taking prisoners. It’s a fight to the end.
* On the other hand, Madigan’s comments give us an important clue to the future…
But it’s rare that a politician will state things publicly in such a stark manner, so when he does, you can easily get the idea that the situation might be even worse than you thought. And if that’s the case, then we’re in for some true nastiness.
* And the field of batttle was expanded last week to include the House Republicans…
Madigan, who also is the state Democratic Party chairman, has become convinced that House Republican Leader Tom Cross somehow is in cahoots with the Democratic governor, and he took some extreme action to punish Cross for his perceived disloyalty.
On Monday, Madigan unveiled a Democratic candidate against state Rep. Skip Saviano, an influential Republican legislator from Elmwood Park.
Saviano has been a friend and ally of Madigan for years. Back in 1997, for instance, Madigan took the rare step of appointing Saviano to a committee chairmanship, even though Saviano’s Republicans were in the minority. They’ve always been close, and Saviano has been an effective go-between in the ongoing “civil war.” He can talk to just about anybody, but Madigan apparently thought he had strayed too far toward the governor’s position.
The move against Saviano stunned the Statehouse, which probably was the point.
Then, Madigan pushed two very anti-Republican bills to the fore. One would re-establish straight party voting in Illinois, which the Republicans eliminated after they lost the House to Madigan in 1996. Considering the very real probability that Barack Obama will be at the top of the ticket this November, straight party voting could imperil a whole bunch of suburban Republican incumbents.
The other proposal would reinstate another law Republicans got rid of during their two-year hold on total power. The first bill on the Republican agenda in 1995 was repealing the Structural Work Act, which let injured construction workers sue someone besides their employers. Business groups hated the law, and now Madigan wants to bring it back.
A pal of mine said he planned to talk to Madigan about Saviano and the rest of the speaker’s new agenda but had some real fears that Madigan might then turn on him. He’s right. And the same thing goes for the other two main characters in this drama, Blagojevich and Jones. If you’re not with them all the way, then you’re against them, and God help you if that’s the case. It’s why nothing gets resolved. Nobody can mediate this war.
Combine all that with Madigan’s refusal last Thursday to attend the leaders’ meeting photo op to talk about the capital plan, his decision to allow a recall measure to the House floor, and his statement on Friday that Gov. Blagojevich was working “outside the constitutionally-prescribed lawmaking process” and we have a pretty good road map of the near future: bumpy.
“My heart is filled today, and I have nothing but love in my heart for everybody and we’re looking forward to getting this done,” Blagojevich said after a meeting with former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard on Thursday. Poshard and Hastert are volunteering their time to help facilitate a capital bill.
* But that recall issue will be a thorn in his side for a while. From a press release…
Reminding Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his promise to “rock the system” with landmark ethics legislation that never materialized, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday called on the Governor to make good on his pledge and lead the fight to pass the Recall Amendment in the Senate and put the issue before voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.
* Quinn and Rep. Jack Franks are none too pleased with the fate the recall measure is facing in the Senate…
State Rep. Jack Franks and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn are fuming mad that a state senator who called Franks’ proposed recall amendment “stupid” has become its chief Senate sponsor.
Franks, D-Woodstock, is scrambling to get his proposed constitutional amendment to allow voters to recall state elected officials out of the hands of state Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, who opposes the measure. Quinn, a long-time advocate of recall, and Franks late last week denounced Trotter’s move to become chief sponsor, just days after the amendment passed the House with the needed three-fifths majority.
* Charlie Johnston tries to sum up the situation of the hopeless Republicans in this state…
Here we have five identifiable corrosive factions of Republicans that, like roving bands of rival warlords, do little or no damage to the real opposition while engaging in incessant internecine destruction, giving any transcendent, unifying leaders little chance to emerge. We shoot survivors in their cradle.
First, there are the arsonists. You know that bunch: in 2006 they declared anyone who did not support Oberweis in the gubernatorial primary a heretic who should be burned at the stake. This year they declared that anyone who DID support Oberweis in the congressional primary was a heretic who should be burned at the stake. They don’t get excited about supporting someone and are only happy when they have someone they are committed to destroying. While priding themselves on their brutal honesty, one quickly realizes it is the brutality, not the honesty, that excites them.
Second we have the looters. They rise until they reach a point where they can use their position to enrich themselves. They consider it a successful political career if they make a mint regardless of how bad they damage the party.
Then there are the quislings, those who are busy selling out to save their hides, making ads for Obama, voting to raise taxes, always looking for a means to advance themselves at the expense of their party – the Vichy French, as it were.
Fourth we have the clueless, those lovely souls who mean well but think salvation is to be found in the next iteration of the 72-hour-program and never pause to think that maybe we ought to actually stand for something and mean it.
Finally there are what I call the diplomats of doom or the Scottish Lords. These are always looking to find a way to negotiate surrender to the Democrats before the battle begins in exchange for some crummy little perk. If the Democrats promise to take us over the cliff with taxes and spending, our GOP diplomats of doom promise to take us over that cliff only half as fast. And they wonder why the rank and file don’t rally to their flag.
In an abrupt shift, Gov. Blagojevich’s administration won’t open the books on dozens of pardons he has granted since taking office.
Executive clemency files maintained by the Prisoner Review Board typically show police reports, court records and letters of recommendation — all accessible from the agency in the past.
But after criticism over two of his pardons last month, Blagojevich’s administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request from the Chicago Sun-Times seeking access to records tied to his 69 pardons and commutations.
And I agree with every word that this guy says…
“When you look at this from 35,000 feet, it’s really troubling,” said Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. “We’ll set up a system where we release convicted persons from jail or forgive them from their crimes later, and we’ll do it in a process that’s exempt from scrutiny. That could just be rife with corruption. It’s a favor-creating machine.”
After a gunman burst into a Northern Illinois University classroom and killed five students, the state police quickly spread the word that the shooter had legally purchased guns with a valid state firearm owner’s ID card.
But in the weeks since the Feb. 14 tragedy, Illinois State Police have said little else about 27-year-old Steven Kazmierczak, repeatedly refusing to provide documents or answer questions about the crucial card that allowed him to buy guns.
Doing so would violate the dead gunman’s privacy, the Illinois State Police said in denying a Daily Herald legal request. Aside from his privacy, state police also said the shooter’s gun card records are entitled to the same confidentiality protection granted to personnel files of doctors, nurses and others whose professions require state registration and licenses.
Several officials disagree with that stance, including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Her public information specialist urged state police to reconsider releasing the information, saying it is a public record and the reasons cited for maintaining secrecy are invalid.
Take the case of 17 Illinois Department of Transportation employees who were dismissed by the Blagojevich administration in 2004. They sued in federal court, claiming they were let go either as perceived political opponents of the governor or to clear the way so supporters of the new governor could be hired.
Springfield lawyer CARL DRAPER, one of those who represents the fired workers, in early April filed a “fourth motion to compel” the governor’s office to comply with subpoenas for documents.
For example, after a status hearing in the case before U.S. Magistrate BYRON CUDMORE in December, the governor’s side delivered five boxes of documents, containing more than 15,600 pages, to Draper’s team. But, Draper’s motion states, “about 15,000 were blank, stating: ‘REDACTED.’”
A lot was redacted even on the remaining 600 pages, he said. Often, only few lines of information could be seen on each page. “Less than about 2 percent of what they gave us actually had anything that we could read,” Draper said.
* One reason why the administration rejects FOIA requests is that when they do grant them they get whacked but good. Case in point from today’s Sun-Times…
A highly touted initiative Gov. Blagojevich’s office once said could rake in $300 million for the state through corporate sponsorships and naming-rights deals met a quiet death in February after netting the state a paltry $315,000.
The four-year deal between the Blagojevich administration and Team Services, a Maryland-based consulting group, was hatched in 2004 on the premise it could bring the state anywhere from $40 million in the first year to $300 million in three years.
But Team Services never came close to those projections. Between 2004 and 2008, the firm was credited with generating $1.13 million in sponsorships or naming-rights deals for the state, the administration confirmed.
During the same period, Team Services charged the state $820,000 for its work. The profit for the state amounts to only 0.1 percent of what Team Services predicted could be generated.
The state’s top auditor soon may be sicced on Gov. Blagojevich’s administration to figure out how a politically connected private school mistakenly got $1 million from the state in one of the governor’s biggest, most inexplicable financial miscues.
The idea of seeking a full House vote to direct Auditor General William Holland to probe the Loop Lab School deal has gained bipartisan traction since a top Blagojevich aide, Deputy Gov. Louanner Peters, stymied a legislative panel’s inquiry into the matter two weeks ago.
Of the almost 600,000 violation notices that have been sent since August, only one-half of 1 percent contained “errors in images” that would result in bogus toll-violation notices, she said.
Rezko is best-known nationally as a former fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but Blagojevich is the most significant player not in the courtroom. The essence of the criminal prosecution is the alleged ability of Blagojevich’s close friends and advisers to enrich themselves by manipulating decision-making in a famously unsavory state capital.
