“I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived,” Blagojevich said. “I saw it all growing up.”
On Monday, Blagojevich said the comment was “stupid, stupid, stupid.”
He said it was meant as a metaphor for his disappointment with Obama, whom he accused of doing more to help Wall Street than Main Street.
I was going to do a post today about how his apology revealed more about his jury strategy than anything else, but Mark Brown beat me to it and is exactly right on the money…
What’s just as obvious is that Blagojevich was particularly worried he might have offended those in the African-American community he has worked so hard to cultivate since his arrest — Exhibit A being the appointment of Roland Burris to replace Obama — in hopes of getting at least one person on his jury who might take pity and vote to acquit.
And if this stuff about Attorney General Lisa Madigan is, indeed, on the federal wiretaps, jurors are gonna be horrified…
Playing cute with what he could say about the government wiretaps, Blagojevich let this drop to Esquire about the deal he says he proposed to send Lisa Madigan to the Senate:
“In conversations over the telephone, without me saying what’s on it, because I can’t, but I recall over and over I’m saying things like, ‘If I can get this, how much do I love the people of Illinois to make that [bleep] senator?”
The magazine didn’t bleep out the c-word, but Blago was caught off guard when reporters asked him about using it, admitting he hadn’t read the article yet.
“I don’t think I said that,” he offered, getting that worried look he gets in his beady little eyes when he’s been caught.
He better not have used that word because female jurors will revolt. Steve Brown, a spokesman for the AG’s father, gave his usual response…
“The former governor is a very confused and troubled human being,” said Steve Brown.
“If everyone looks up the word sociopath on Google I think they’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on.”
* Congressman Bobby Rush will endorse Cook County Board President Todd Stroger today. According to a press release, Rush will be “surrounded by a dynamic coalition of clergy,
civic, elected officials, community leaders and the candidate.”
Rush is infamous for his race-baiting ways, but he’ll have a tough time topping a group called “Soldiers for Stroger,” headed by Gator Bradley, which is distributing some pretty nasty fliers on behalf of the board president…
* Rep. Jan Schakowsky endorsed Toni Preckwinkle for county board president yesterday, calling the Alderman “the only progressive in this race.” Have a look…
* The Cook County Board President candidates debated yesterday and threw a bit of mud…
Preckwinkle bashed Brown on several fronts, including the clerk’s receipt of gifts from her employees and Earnfare workers passing her nominating petitions. Preckwinkle characterized the clerk as having “stumbled from one crisis to the next.”
Brown said the incidents Preckwinkle cited “relate to others and not myself.”
Brown said she got rid of the Earnfare campaign worker as soon as she learned of the problem.
As far as employees giving her gifts, Brown said: “I gave them gifts, too. That wasn’t reported. We’re like a family. We give each other gifts during the holiday time period.”
Terry O’Brien, head of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, asked incumbent Todd Stroger about a July 2009 Better Government Association study that found of 11 county service contracts only three went to the lowest bidder and all were tied to political donations.
“You claim to sponsor a number of reform initiatives, is that what you’d consider reform?,” O’Brien asked.
Stroger responded during the City Club of Chicago-sponsored debate that he didn’t know “exactly what contracts you are talking about.”
Brown asked Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien how he got to be a millionaire on his $80,000 government salary, suggesting it was in doing consultant work for polluters. “I do not apologize for being a successful businessman,” O’Brien said, adding, “Terry O’Brien does not protect polluters.” He called those charges, previously leveled by Preckwinkle as well, “defamatory.”
Meanwhile, it seems top Republican leaders are turning on Palatine Township GOP Committeeman Gary Skoien as he seeks re-election following a domestic incident involving his wife and two other women at his Inverness home.
Challenger Aaron Del Mar, a freshman Palatine councilman, says he has landed the backing of both Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady of St. Charles and Cook County GOP boss Lee Roupas. Roupas has the seat Skoien had from 2004 to 2007 when he famously put a bounty on Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s head for evidence that would lead to his conviction on corruption charges.
Meanwhile, Del Mar has never voted in a Republican primary. According to voter records, the 31-year-old has only voted in one primary - a Democratic one.
Del Mar tells Animal Farm that is because he is young. He hasn’t had much time, he says, to cast primary ballots. He says he voted in the 2008 Democratic primary to help drag out that parties internal battles leading into the general election.
The proposal announced by the mayor and the governor calls for giving convention center officials more control over labor rules and taking some of the power away from the many trade unions that work at the convention center, including the right to strike. The proposal also includes an effort to restructure the crushing debt schedule facing the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns and operates the convention hall and Navy Pier.
But in Springfield, lawmakers threw cold water on the idea of giving any more authority to the current McPier managers, appointed by the mayor and governor. Instead, a House committee sent a bi-partisan message with an 11-0 vote for a bill that would dump the current McPier board and put in place a smaller interim panel to examine the growing expenses and loss of convention activities.
“We’re at a crisis, a crisis of management,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, Madigan’s top lieutenant. She said lawmakers would not consider going along with the work rule changes or giving the convention authority more borrowing power until they know what went wrong.
“It’s time for a little new broom, a little sweep clean,” Currie said. “If they can convince us that it makes economic sense to extend the taxes or extend their borrowing power, well, we have the opportunity to come back and do it.”
“A few hundred workers in one building” would lose some rights, McPier Chairman John Gates said, but in exchange, “Thirty-five thousand (industry) workers would save their jobs.”
One top labor leader, Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon, had a mixed reaction to the proposal.
Auditing contractors is a good idea, one that workers have sought for many years, Mr. Gannon said. But despite several questions on the subject, he declined to take a position on the public employment/no-strike clause. “I need to run that up the flagpole with the unions down there (at McCormick Place),” Mr. Gannon said.
Prosecuting attorneys would receive advance warning about the early release of prison inmates under legislation a House committee approved Monday.
As proposed, the Department of Corrections would have to notify the relevant state’s attorneys at least 14 days before an inmate could be released early. State law presently proscribes only that state’s attorneys get “reasonable” notice before an inmate is let out before the scheduled date. […]
The amendment approved Monday also will require inmates to serve at least 60 days in the state correctional system before review for early release.
State Rep. Jim Sacia, a Republican from Pecatonica, said he would like to see another addition that would require victims, too, be notified.
* A committee also advanced a bill to allow the state to borrow $250 million to help ease the financial crunch on human service providers…
Gov. Pat Quinn could get the ability to borrow additional millions to make health care payments under legislation that gained initial support from lawmakers on Monday.
Quinn’s attempts at short-term borrowing have been thwarted by Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who’s criticized the governor for being inconsistent in his plans and having no real way to pay off the loans. […]
Lawmakers entered the picture on Monday when an Illinois House committee voted to let Quinn access federal health care money to leverage additional borrowing since Hynes has not gone along. If the House and Senate were to approve this deal, Quinn may not need Hynes’ approval.
Although they rejected the idea in October, the Illinois House is again mulling whether to give Gov. Pat Quinn extra time to craft a proposed state budget.
In action Monday, a House committee endorsed legislation that could eventually push Quinn’s budget address into March. Usually, the governor’s budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is presented in mid-February.
Republicans Monday continued to push an idea to give people a penalty-free chance to catch up on back taxes in order to generate some quick cash for the struggling state budget.
Republicans first floated the so-called “tax amnesty” plan last year as a chance to get $100 million immediately to pay for the state’s largest need-based college scholarship program.
Democrats largely ignored the idea then, and lawmakers approved spending $200 million on the Monetary Award Program without a way to come up with the money.
At a hearing Monday, a House panel discussed the tax amnesty plan again, but declined to vote on it.
Downstate hotel owners, including those in Springfield, will have to wait to see any adjustment in state reimbursement rates.
The latest effort to get a change went nowhere when it was presented to the Governor’s Travel Control Board in December. […]
In an e-mailed response, Alka Nayyar of the Department of Central Management Services said lodging rates for downstate hotels are set by the Travel Regulation Council, which hasn’t raised downstate rates since 2003.
The Springfield state rate is $70 per night. The federal lodging rate is $83.
* In legislative campaign news, the Chicago Reader has a very good article about how the IVI-IPO endorsement process was subverted by the 47th Ward regulars…
On December 29, a group of north-side members of the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization gathered to endorse attorney Dan Farley as their candidate in the upcoming Democratic primary for 11th District state representative. This was a coup for Farley, a first-time office seeker. North-side candidates covet the group’s stamp of approval, which gives them an aura of machine-fighting progressivism popular with voters.
The joke of it all is that there was hardly a real independent in the room that night.
In fact, leading the charge for independence was none other than 47th Ward alderman Eugene Schulter, one of Mayor Daley’s most loyal north-side City Council allies.
The IVI-IPO’s endorsement process is a joke.
* And GOP state Rep. Suzie Bassi’s primary opponent has a new Internet video criticizing the incumbent for missing 242 votes during her last term. Take a look…
* Sen. Kirk Dillard questioned the ethics of two of his Republican gubernatorial primary opponents today. From a press release…
“Unfortunately, we have candidates in our own party who lack ethical judgment,” Dillard continued. “I’m proud to say that as Chairman of the Du Page County Republican Party, my central committee never found me guilty of ethics violations. My opponent Andy McKenna, the ‘insider,’ cannot say the same.”
The Illinois Republican Party announced Friday that McKenna, the former state GOP Chairman, inappropriately used party funds while he was Chairman. McKenna admitted to the allegation.
Dillard also questioned the ethical judgment of Jim Ryan. During Ryan’s previous, unsuccessful run for governor, he received campaign contributions from convicted influence peddler Stuart Levine, including more than $150,000 after the election. A New York Times article recently referred to Levine as ‘the convicted swindler and Blagojevich buddy who was a former aggressive Ryan fund-raiser.”
But Dillard also came under fire by Sen. Bill Brady, who claimed at today’s City Club event that Dillard was Jim Edgar’s chief of staff when the corrupt MSI contractor was hired.
Hmmm. I hadn’t thought of that one.
Brady said later that he was just pointing out electability problems with Dillard, and said the Democrats would most likely use the MSI issue in November if Dillard was nominated.
Brady also went after Jim Ryan’s ties to Stu Levine. More about Brady’s remarks from the AP…
State Sen. Bill Brady blasted McKenna for using state party resources when he ran the Illinois Republican Party to conduct a poll that questioned voters about McKenna’s potential as a statewide candidate.
And Dillard questioned Brady about a campaign contribution he’d received.
Afterward, Illinois GOP chairman Pat Brady said he isn’t concerned the GOP sniping would hurt the party’s chances in the fall.
I talked to Jim Ryan at a different event today in the south suburbs and I’ll have more for subscribers tomorrow about that conversation. He made some excellent points about his campaign and about his opponents.
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Schillerstrom has a new TV ad. It’s a modest buy, but I really like this spot. Have a look…
* Democrat US Senate candidate David Hoffman also has a new ad with a tiny buy. It’s mainly designed to provoke publicity, at least at the moment. Watch it…
Giannoulias is running two campaign ads that include the Consumer Reports logo and a quote from the magazine. But the watchdog publication tries to stay strictly neutral and doesn’t let businesses or politicians use its name.
On the Republican side, former Attorney General Jim Ryan received a total of $75,000 in recent days in $25,000 donations from the three men who head ATI Physical Therapy and operate a group of clinics that deal with orthopedic rehabilitation, including sports medicine. Among the schools where ATI is recognized as the “official sports medicine provider” is Benedictine University in Lisle, where Ryan taught after losing his 2002 bid for governor to Rod Blagojevich.
Speaking of sports, Ryan also reported a $5,000 donation from James Irsay, the owner of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
Previously, Republican contender Andy McKenna, a former state GOP chairman, reported that his wife had loaned his campaign for governor $800,000.
Another Republican candidate, GOP consultant and commentator Dan Proft, reported a contribution of $20,000 from Richard Uihlein of Waukegan, the CEO of Uline, a packing and shipping supply company based in Waukegan.
* Illinois Review reports that Bill Brady went after JRyan and Kirk Dillard today at the City Club debate…
Former Attorney General Jim Ryan and State Senator Kirk Dillard were the targets of State Senator Bill Brady, who challenged their refusal to oppose an income tax increase, as well as Dillard’s participation in an Obama ad during the Iowa primary. Observers say Ryan appeared undisturbed by the verbal punches, and pointed the conversation elsewhere. Also on the panel was Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski.
While the candidates jabbed each other and missing candidate Andy McKenna, emcee Paul Green joined in the poking at McKenna when awarding the club’s traditional token of appreciation - a City Club coffee mug. When one rolled to the floor and broke, Green joked, “That one’s for Andy McKenna”.
* Related…
* Hurckes connection, clout dog House race: Officer Joseph Hurckes, brother of Oak Lawn Trustee Jerry Hurckes, is serving a 30-day unpaid suspension for using the LEADS system to download photographs to help Southwest Side state Rep. Michael Zalewski’s re-election campaign, two sources familiar with the investigation confirmed.
* Tension arises at 62nd House forum: Some visible tension occurred late in the forum when, as part of an answer to an unrelated question, Mitchell said Cole has favored charging in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants.
* I’m giving a speech this morning, so I’ll post more later, so let’s get to the setup…
Gov. Pat Quinn says his Democratic primary campaign is a referendum on raising taxes to solve the state’s budget crisis.
“If I prevail on Feb. 2 - I believe I will - I think that is a message,” Quinn told the Daily Herald editorial board Friday about his upfront push to raise taxes.
And if he beats Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes in the primary, Quinn argued lawmakers will feel safe to vote for a tax hike, and perhaps even make cuts in state pension benefits, by the end of March.
“My view is between Feb. 3 and the end of March, within the first quarter, we will deal with revenue and I think we will pass revenue,” Quinn said.
* The Question: Assuming Quinn wins the primary, do you believe the General Assembly will pass a tax hike before the end of March? Explain fully.
* Doug Finke doesn’t like the idea of legislators being involved in any investigation into Gov. Pat Quinn’s secret and botched early release program for violent prison inmates…
But an investigation during an election year? One that includes legislators? Oh, yeah, that will get to the bottom of things. No way that could degenerate into an endless round of political grandstanding.
He doesn’t propose an alternative, however. Just cynicism. And while I agree that there would be grandstanding (there was plenty of it during the Blagojevich impeachment, but Finke didn’t argue against that process), I also think a probe with subpoena powers would be more likely to get to the bottom of things than nothing at all.
Gov. Pat Quinn was quoted by the Associated Press last week as saying he’s answered all questions about his administration’s controversial, secret and completely botched early prison release program, so he’s done talking about it.
I beg to differ.
I called the Department of Corrections soon after I saw that quote and asked a few questions that I’ve never seen asked.
For instance, state Sen. Bill Brady, a Republican candidate for governor, claims that Corrections Director Michael Randle has said he had informed the governor about the so-called “Meritorious Good Time Push” program, which let attempted murderers and other violent types out of prison early - several of which were then re-arrested for violent crimes. Quinn, however, has said that he didn’t know about the program until he read about it in the newspapers. How does the director explain the discrepancy, I wanted to know.
I also asked whether the word from inside was true that Director Randle had made himself the department’s direct conduit to the governor. How often, on average, did the two men talk every week, I asked.
And, most importantly, if Quinn is telling the truth that he didn’t know about this disastrous and now suspended MGT Push plan, what reason can Randle provide for his failure to inform the governor?
Not one of those questions was answered. I received an e-mail pointing me to an audio file of the governor’s press conference during which he talked how things got so out of hand. But none of my answers were found in Quinn’s comments, except that the governor reiterated he did not know about MGT Push, and that it was a mistake and that he had killed the program.
Quinn did make some good points in his presentation. For instance, inmates released under the program, beginning in mid September, would’ve all been out of prison by this month anyway.
But the governor also spent much of his time laying the blame on the General Assembly for the debacle. Quinn claimed that the director’s hands were tied because state law required that some pretty nasty convicts must be eligible for early release. While partially true, this was an accelerated early release program, and the responsibility for that acceleration - and the crimes committed during the early release periods - must fall on the administration, and ultimately on Quinn himself.
We need more answers about this botched operation, regardless of what the governor says. Quinn has stonewalled tough questions while answering only those that he can spin - and he isn’t doing a very good job of that, either.
If Quinn and Director Randle won’t provide more answers, then the General Assembly must act by holding hearings with full subpoena powers.
Another Republican running for governor, state Sen. Kirk Dillard, is also pressing for an investigation. Dillard wants the entire Legislature to sit as a “Committee of the Whole” with full subpoena powers to get to the bottom of this mess.
“Governor Quinn and his administration continue to provide vastly different stories about these programs including who made the decision to authorize the early release, why violent criminals were included in the program, and why the MGT program was secretive,” Dillard was quoted as saying in a news release.
AFSCME, the union which represents prison workers, also wants a bipartisan probe in the form of a special joint task force, including legislators from both parties and both chambers, to answer urgent questions about the administration of the corrections department
Full hearings with subpoena powers are probably the last thing the Democrats who control the General Assembly want, particularly in an election year. But this botched program literally endangered the lives of Illinois citizens. At least one prisoner released early was subsequently arrested for shooting somebody - and that’s just what we know of. The whole program was concocted and conducted in secret, and details have been few and far between.
For six years, Illinois endured the Rod Blagojevich administration, which made a bad habit of keeping things secret, blaming the General Assembly for its own mistakes and wrecking almost everything it touched. This early release program and its aftermath look more than just vaguely familiar.
When Quinn took over after Blagojevich was impeached and ousted, he said he would be different, that he believed in accountability and transparency in government. Quinn’s behavior on this issue, however, is downright unacceptable.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Quinn’s campaign tried to gin up some “stone-throwing in a glass house” coverage over the weekend. The Daily Herald fell for the bait…
llinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s opponent in the Democratic primary has criticized him for the early release of felons from state prisons.
Now the tables are turned, with Quinn calling Comptroller Dan Hynes a hypocrite for handing a part-time campaign consulting job to a felon who himself was released early.
“Maybe Hynes should clean up his own house before throwing more stones,” Quinn said in a statement released Sunday.
Quinn has been criticized for secretly releasing hundreds of violent inmates early, some of whom were then rearrested for violent crimes. That’s quite different than this, but it’s still a good gotcha game point and the DH went for it hook, line and sinker.
Gov. Quinn late Friday abruptly canceled a planned appearance at a weekend fund-raiser organized by north suburban lawyer and lobbyist Anthony Abboud, known as “Individual Q” in convicted political insider Tony Rezko’s federal indictment.
Abboud had sent out an invitation to donors promising “an intimate gathering with Gov. Quinn” in Abboud’s Northbrook home Sunday night. […]
Quinn’s “Abboud-face” came after the Chicago Sun-Times raised questions late Friday about why the governor would consider raising campaign funds from someone tied so closely to Rezko, who was a main fund-raiser and advisor for impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. […]
But Rezko’s indictment disclosed that after being named by Blagojevich to the state Teachers’ Retirement System board, Abboud and another Blagojevich TRS appointee were told by Rezko to take direction from convicted influence peddler Stuart Levine, a fellow TRS board member and fund-raiser for Blagojevich.
Oops.
* The governor needs plenty of money to churn out his campaign ads, and, as expected, he’s getting bigtime help from SEIU…
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign for election wasted little time after the New Year holiday in hitting the fundraising circuit, generating more than $140,000 in cash and services in three days last week, with nearly half coming from a politically powerful union, records show.
Records on file with the State Board of Elections show that of the $142,000 Quinn raised from Jan. 4 through Jan. 6, nearly half–$67,557—came from the Service Employees’ International Union.
* Related…
* Mark Brown …I guess there are two ways you can look at Quinn courting [Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr’s] endorsement this time. Either he’s a stand-up guy who sticks with his friends, or he’s so determined to carry the African-American vote in the primary that he’s willing to risk possible future embarrassment from his Jackson connection in exchange for the mileage he can gain from it now.
* Jackson endorsement of Quinn could help with black voters, draw attention to Blagojevich scandal
* Andy McKenna was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune. Read it here…
We’re attracted to several of the GOP candidates: As a group they comprehend that Illinois governance needs to be dismantled and reinvented. But this primary race has convinced us that businessman Andy McKenna has the best skills set — disciplined policy proposals, but also a level demeanor — to pull Illinoisans together.
We cannot endorse either of these candidates in the primary. Neither one has inspired confidence that he can make the difficult, unpopular decisions that must be made to resolve this state’s financial crisis.
We don’t see this as tantamount to an early endorsement of the Republican nominee in the general election. The Democrat who wins the primary will have nine months to make a better case for himself. We hope he proves our skepticism wrong.
But if he doesn’t, we think voters will have an easy choice.
Gov. Pat Quinn says violent offenders were released early from prison under a non-publicized, money-saving program because his corrections chief went rogue.
“I told him repeatedly” that he did not want violent criminals released early, Quinn told the Daily Herald editorial board Friday. “In carrying out that plan he didn’t follow my directives.”
If he repeatedly didn’t follow a direct order, then he should be fired. Plain and simple.
Quinn also blamed the General Assembly for his woes…
Overall, Quinn attempted to point the blame at lawmakers who refused to back his call for an income tax rate increase. The early release program was needed to save money as the state struggles under an $11 billion shortfall, Quinn said.
* This one’s kinda funny. Rep. Mike Boland is running in the Dem primary for lieutenant governor, but his congressman, Phil Hare, just endorsed Sen. Terry Link.
* That’s it for me. I’ll be back Monday with much more. Session cranks up for a few days next week, and we’ll have plenty of coverage for you.
This song came on the jukebox while I was in a bar in Macedonia years ago, and everything seemed to make sense. The song came on the jukebox the other night while I was in a bar on Miami Beach and brought back lots of memories…
* The following joint statement was release this afternoon by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady and the McKenna for Governor campaign…
Over the last several weeks, questions have arisen regarding a poll commissioned by the Illinois Republican Party and paid for with State Party funds during the tenure of Andy McKenna as Chairman of the Party. The poll, taken last April, contained opinions of Illinois voters related to relevant issues and voter identification of a number of potential statewide Republican candidates. At his instruction, and at the urging of the Finance Committee, Mr. McKenna’s name appeared in the voter identification questions of the poll. The poll also included an analysis of his personal name identification with Illinois voters.
The State Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party has concluded that Mr. McKenna should not have done so without prior Central Committee approval and disclosure. Mr. McKenna had no intent to violate the spirit or the intent of the Party’s by-laws and he sincerely apologizes for having done so.
…Adding… This was in the statement but buried beneath a bunch of extraneous stuff, so nobody saw it…
State Party Chairman Pat Brady, the Illinois Republican Party, and Mr. McKenna now consider this matter closed.
Tyrone Fahner, a McKenna friend who chaired the state GOP’s finance committee at the time, previously had told the Tribune that the party’s major campaign contributors decided to authorize the poll and it was Fahner’s idea to include McKenna’s name.
But the joint statement from the Illinois GOP and McKenna’s campaign said McKenna’s name was included in the poll “at his (McKenna’s) instruction, and at the urging of the Finance Committee.”
Some of McKenna’s rivals in the Republican primary election have accused him during the campaign of using party funds to weigh his bid for governor or one for Senate, which he never launched.
What’s more, they said, he met with some of them to sound them out about their potential strategies and donors, never disclosing he was considering his own bid.
Fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Schilerstrom’s press statement…
“Andy McKenna’s conduct is in line with Springfield culture today, but not with what our state requires for tomorrow. Andy presented himself as an honest broker in the Governor’s race before quitting as Chairman and becoming a candidate himself. He led the Illinois Republican Party Finance Committee in meeting with candidates, and then guided them to his own campaign. And now it is confirmed that at the same time he was purporting to lead Illinois Republicans, he was quietly tapping Party resources to lay the groundwork for his own bid, violating the very Code of Ethics he established.
“Now McKenna says he is an ‘outsider’ and ‘quiet cure’ for what ails the state, and he is investing his dollars to make sure we believe it. But he cannot buy enough time on television to change the fact that McKenna himself is in desperate need of a ‘hair’ cut.”
Schillerstrom also provides a quote from the state central committee’s code of ethics which was passed while McKenna was chairman…
“The spirit and intent of the Code is to ensure that those who serve as State Central Committee members do so for the sole benefit of the Republican Party and the general public, without any suggestion of service to promote their private interests.”
When Gov. Pat Quinn halted a secret early prison release program last week, he acknowledged that 56 of the freed inmates were already back behind bars - 48 of them for violating rules of their parole.
What he didn’t say was that those broken rules included at least 17 allegations of violent crimes, including attempted murder, armed robbery and domestic battery, according to Associated Press interviews and reviews of both public and internal Corrections Department documents.
One offender who’s back after he was released under the program known as “MGT Push” allegedly shot his victim in the leg. Victims of nine others who earned return trips to the penitentiary contend they were battered.
Seven parolees are back in lockup for crimes involving guns or other weapons.
Illinois, the second-lowest rated U.S. state, paid more than some comparably ranked U.S. companies when it sold $3.47 billion of taxable bonds to finance its annual contribution to a public employee pension fund.
The state, downgraded last month by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, paid as much as 4.421 percent yesterday on the bonds, which mature in one to five years. The top rate was 182 basis points, or 1.82 percentage points, higher than the yield on five-year U.S. Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Corporate securities rated A that mature in three to five years traded 154 basis points over Treasuries yesterday, indexes from Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch & Co. show.
“They certainly did have to pay a premium to get this deal done,” said Matt Buscone, a portfolio manager at Boston’s Breckinridge Capital Advisors Inc., a money manager overseeing $11 billion in assets, which bought Illinois debt maturing in two years. Municipal bonds “are subject to a lot of bad headline risk these days” with deteriorating state and local budgets, he said. “Headline risk” refers to the potential effect of bad news on investment values.
Because the state of Illinois isn’t paying its bills, Community Workshop & Training Center cut its hours.
“We have to close early now,” Executive Director Gail Leiby said Wednesday.
CWTC provides services to the developmentally disabled, with an operating budget of about $9 million a year. Missing $1.8 million over the last six months represents almost 40 percent of its funding. As a result, a not-for-profit that tries to operate as a business has tightened its belt in all sorts of ways.
“We have not received a payment since July 1. That’s for services already rendered, of course,” Leiby said. “. . .We’ve cinched it so tight we can barely breathe.”
* The wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna, Mary McKenna, has just contributed $800,000 to her husband’s campaign. That cash is helping to fund a $500,000 per week TV ad buy that’ll last through the rest of the primary race. Rate McKenna’s latest…
Script…
MALE VO:
Illinois: overspent, nearly broke.
Yet, Jim Ryan and Kirk Dillard won’t rule out tax hikes.
Governor Quinn is pushing a 50% tax increase!
Only Andy McKenna can fix this mess with no tax increase.
Andy VO:
This is Andy McKenna. I’m a businessman. We need
to make smart choices,
cut spending and not raise taxes.
* Yesterday, I told you that ultra-conservative radio host Sandy Rios had endorsed GOP state Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor on the same day that she penned a vicious screed questioning Congressman Mark Kirk’s sexuality. Sen. Kirk’s campaign refused to respond when I first called yesterday, but the candidate issued a statement last night…
“I believe the most important issues in this campaign remain balancing our state budget, bringing jobs back to Illinois, and cleaning up corruption in Springfield. My goal is to unite the Republican Party and the voters of Illinois around these important issues and make Illinois work again. I am very grateful for the support from across the party including moderates and conservatives alike. I appreciate the support of Sandy Rios however. I disagree with the recent article published in Town Hall News.”
He is a resolute Republican, committed to limited government and conservative on most social issues.
But he is a pragmatist as well, an essential quality for any Republican wishing to be effective in this Democratic-leaning state. He is cut from the same cloth as several of Illinois’ most successful governors — Richard Ogilvie, Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar. Dillard was, in fact, Gov. Edgar’s chief of staff.
The Chicago Sun-Times endorses Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor in the Feb. 2 Republican primary. No other candidate comes close to matching his experience in the executive and legislative branches of state government, his knowledge of the back doors of power in Springfield, and his proven ability to build cross-party coalitions without abandoning core Republican values.
Dillard has correctly identified the greatest challenge facing Illinois’ next governor — the mountain of debt and unfunded pension obligations undermining our state’s economic competitiveness. His solution is, in part, to freeze all hiring and non-emergency spending, impose zero-based budgeting, reduce Medicaid fraud and trim pension benefits for new employees.
Many of these ideas, frankly, strike us as general and vague. Cut Medicaid fraud? Sure. But how?
On the other hand, grand plans are a dime a dozen — every candidate has one. Far more valuable is the political skill to carry out that plan — and here Dillard stands apart.
* GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft is up on cable with a small buy. Watch it…
* Republican comptroller candidate Jim Dodge has a new Internet video that pokes fun at rival Judy Baar Topinka and uses video footage to skewer the other candidate in the race. Take a look…
By the way, that drunken video footage was first posted to YouTube by William Kelly himself, so it’s fair game.
* Related…
* McKenna says Ryan considers taxpayer protection a “special interest”
* 10th Congressional District election: GOP state Rep. Elizabeth Coulson wins endorsement from former U.S. Rep. John Porter
* Bob Dold Criticizes President Obama for Stepping On Illinois Primary With Rescheduled State of the Union: Dold said the decision to hold it on February 2nd is not only intended for political gain, but it tramples the Illinois Primary Election.
* Village president takes on incumbent in 25th Senate
* My Sun-Times column today takes the broad view while looking at this botched early release program…
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that our last few Illinois governors have been hit with a stupid stick.
I don’t know why this is happening, but it’s become a pattern and I’m seriously worried for this state.
One of the nice things about the democratic process is that politicians usually don’t do things that would cause them to lose their jobs. That attitude has its downsides, of course. If too many politicians become too overly cautious then nothing gets done — like what’s going on now in the U.S. Senate.
But here in Illinois we’ve seen some blatantly reckless stupidity that just boggles the mind. George Ryan’s crimes, Rod Blagojevich’s arrest, and now the Pat Quinn administration’s breathtakingly moronic early release program for violent prisoners.
For all his faults, I have always thought that George Ryan was a pretty darned good governor. He got things done. There was little to no gridlock on the big issues. But he stupidly believed that he could behave like politicians did 30 years ago and not suffer the consequences. He had no sense of self-preservation and he is now sitting in a federal prison cell. Ryan’s stupidity still infuriates me to this day.
Rod Blagojevich was a horrible governor. Gridlock didn’t just prevail, it thrived. Chaos became normality. I was happy when he finally got busted and ousted for his unbelievably stupid alleged schemes to shake down the president-elect over the choice of a U.S. senator and strong-arm the rest of the establishment for cash and personal favors. I was enraged, however, at the damage his arrest did to this state’s already poor reputation. Once again, we had an amazingly stupid politician who didn’t have the mental capacity to realize what he was doing to himself and to his state.
And now, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how Gov. Quinn could be so stupid about this botched early release program for violent inmates. As you certainly know by now, the Department of Corrections secretly let out hundreds of dangerously violent inmates — including notorious gang leader Michael Rodriguez, who had been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder — before their scheduled release dates.
This is not only a horrible policy, but also incredibly stupid politics. Releasing violent people from prison early for no good reason endangers lives and rewards people who don’t deserve any sort of reward.
Politically, well, it’s pretty obvious what sort of damage can be done with this issue in an election year.
Well, not quite.
It may be obvious to anyone with half a brain that this is a potentially fatal blunder, but it apparently wasn’t at all obvious to the Department of Corrections. Quinn says he was kept in the dark about the program, which is not what he said when the story first broke.
Let’s take the governor at his word — his second word, not his first — and believe that he didn’t know anything about the program. That still makes him a horribly inept manager. And Quinn’s shutting down the program and admitting it was a bad idea just won’t suffice. Heads must roll. When somebody makes a mistake this bad, a limp slap on the wrist and a halfhearted apology (all the while blaming the Legislature for forcing him to do what he didn’t have to do) is nowhere near good enough.
If Dan Hynes or the Republicans succeed in using this issue to defeat Gov. Quinn, I sincerely hope our next governor doesn’t catch the “stupid disease.” I just don’t think we can take much more of this bizarre behavior. I know I can’t.
The only thing missing in the most notable television ad in the Illinois governor’s race is Englebert Humperdink singing, “Release Me.”
His verse, “Please release me, let me go” would be vividly apt for Dan Hynes, the mild-mannered Illinois comptroller. Mr. Hynes, the Democratic challenger, issued a broadside at Gov. Patrick J. Quinn that included photos of ominous-looking souls (all Caucasians, in a tidy example of Democratic Party political correctness) let go in an early release program that freed some violent offenders who soon returned to prison after alleged crimes and parole violations.
* In another Democratic race, comptroller candidate Rep. David Miller is up with a new radio ad. Listen by clicking here.
I’ll have more for subscribers about this race on Monday, but Miller is going up on TV in the last 10 days of the campaign.
* Rep. Mike Boland takes a whack at a fellow lite guv candidate. From a press release…
Representative Mike Boland, Democratic candidate for Illinois Lieutenant Governor , called on Terry Link to return donations from Midwest Generation, which has been a frequent target of community groups and EPA lawsuits. The company’s six aging coal-fired power plants, including the Waukegan Station in Link’s Senate district, are some of the worst contributors to air pollution in the Chicago area. Midwest Generation and its parent company are a top career donor to Link, giving his campaigns over $30,000.
* Some Unlikely Allies Push for More Cash for Department of Juvenile Justice: Watchdogs and department of juvenile justice administrators and union representatives all told legislators at a hearing yesterday that the department has been chronically under funded. Kurt Friedenauer runs DJJ. He told legislators that the buildings where the kids sleep at one prison are falling apart.
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