So far, she’s lining up behind State Rep. Harry Osterman’s HB 24, which would cap individual contributions at $2,300 and union, corporate, and interest group donations at $5,000.
According to spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler, Madigan thinks “it’s the most comprehensive of the bills” in play.
* The Question: Do you support this reform? Explain fully.
The problem? Not a single one of them mentions that “Sunshine Week” is being sponsored in Illinois by a special interest group which advocates on behalf of newspaper publishers. They even have a nifty online souvenir shop.
When it comes to figuring out how taxpayer dollars are spent on big state road projects, it’s wise to be prepared for a runaround. Take the massive reconstruction of the Dan Ryan Expy., which ended in 2007.
The Better Government Association, partnering with the Chicago Sun-Times, asked the Illinois Department of Transportation to provide a list of contractors and subcontractors who worked on the project, which wrapped up on time but at a total cost of $975 million — about $375 million over budget.
Here was IDOT’s initial response: “The department is not in possession of a list of contractors and subcontractors used in the Dan Ryan Expressway projects and is under no obligation to create or prepare a new record (in this case, a list) pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.”
In other words: no go.
* And the Tribune reports on new revelations about how Chicago’s foie gras ban really passed…
One of Daley’s most powerful allies suggests that the mayor could have nipped the council’s foie gras passion before it ever bloomed into a target of widespread scorn. In Tribune reporter Mark Caro’s new book, “The Foie Gras Wars,” Ald. Edward Burke (14th) says Daley flatly declined a chance to do that.
“I asked him,” Burke told Caro. “I said, ‘Rich, do you want us to stop this? And he said, ‘No, let it go.’ ”
Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said she told the mayor about Burke’s account and that he could not recall any such conversation. “The mayor was like, ‘What? I don’t know what he’s talking about.’ ”
It’s not the first time Daley has scoffed at suggestions he lords over what some have called a “rubber-stamp council.” Never mind that aldermen have been more faithful to the current Mayor Daley’s agenda than any council was during his father’s reign as chief executive.
* Kathleen Parker blames the print media’s demise on media bashers…
Unfortunately, the chorus of media bashing from certain quarters has succeeded in convincing many Americans that they don’t need newspapers. A new study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that fewer than half of Americans—43 percent—say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot.”
Only 33 percent say they would miss the local paper if it were no longer available.
A younger generation, meanwhile, has little understanding or appreciation of the relationship between a free press and a free society. Pew found that just 27 percent of Americans born since 1977 read a newspaper the previous day.
So, we should stop exercising our First Amendment rights to criticize the media and then newspapers will be just fine?
A deficit of $11.5 billion would amount to $917 for every man, woman and child in the state. That’s roughly the same amount that Illinois schools get from the state.
If officials wanted to tax their way out of the hole, they would have to double the income tax. If they wanted to cut spending, eliminating the Transportation Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the child-welfare department would just about do it.
Like families trying to pay bills and save for college, state government has seen its costs climb steadily. Medicaid costs ballooned as health care grew more expensive and more people turned to the state for care. Employee salary and health costs rose, and the law required bigger and bigger contributions to retirement funds. In addition, officials approved new programs, such as the health care expansions championed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
At the same time, the state gets most of its money from taxing income and sales. That means less money is available in a recession, when incomes drop and people cut back on shopping.
And has an anti-taxer suggest a solution…
John Tillman, chairman of the Illinois Policy Institute, argues there is no reason the entire deficit must be erased at once. What can’t be handled through spending cuts can be rolled over to future years until the economy improves, he said.
That was done before (by Jim Edgar, especially) and will undoubtedly be done again. But you can’t do that with the entire $11.5 billion. It’s just too much. California is a case in point…
Some hints of what may be coming, for other states as well as Illinois, lie in the experience of California. California, like Illinois once a bellwether state, but now solidly in the Democratic camp, thumped residents solidly with taxes. Sales tax up. Income tax up, too. Vehicle license fees doubled. Child care deductions cut.
On the other side of the equasion, California cut $15 billion in costs, more than half coming from education. The state cut two holidays and forced employees into one unpaid day a month.
As serious as all that sounds, it wasn’t enough. It made up only two-thirds of the hole — or about as much as the voters could choke down.
The other one-third of California’s budget hole was patched with borrowing.
What about rolling back Rod Blagojevich’s Medicaid expansions, including All Kids? Progress Illinois takes a whack at that…
The former governor’s FamilyCare expansion may have been reckless from a constitutional standpoint, but there’s no evidence that it’s weighing down the budget significantly. Only about 4,000 additional families managed to enroll under the expanded guidelines, which translates to less than $20 million per year.
* And how big of a bite will the tax hike take? The Trib explains…
…families of four earning about $56,000 a year or less would get an income tax cut or at least pay no tax increase because of the higher personal exemption he also was proposing. […]
Quinn is considering raising the state’s personal income tax rate, to 4.5 percent from 3 percent. Quinn aides have said the standard exemption may rise from $2,000 to as much as $6,000. Such a plan would mean families of four with a $75,000 income would pay $285 more in taxes and a family earning $100,000 would pay an extra $660 to the state, based on gross income and absent any other credits or deductions.
Many are the reasons why the State of Illinois’ accumulating deficits could total some $11 billion by the summer of 2010. But taxpayers shouldn’t feel guilty. For two decades, they’ve been increasing their payments to Springfield at roughly double the rate of inflation.
Perhaps, but if you look at taxes collected since 2002 and factor in the revenue crash currently predicted by the governor, it’s almost flat. So, the Trib is being disengenuous. Also, the income tax has not been raised in 20 years. And then there’s this…
Illinois’ total state and local tax and fee burden as a percentage of personal income is among the lowest of all states, according to 2006 data collected by the Federation of Tax Administrators and distributed by CTBA
Illinois now has one of the country’s more regressive tax systems. It’s time to shift the burden to those who can pay more. Quinn looks headed in that direction, saying Friday his plan includes a tax cut for lower income workers.
But without giving the governor an opportunity to explain any of his proposed budget cuts, the Trib lays into him…
We expected his teaser remarks in advance of his budget address this Wednesday to be odes to economizing: calls for higher benefit contributions from employees, moving Medicaid patients to managed care and other bold tactics for modernizing practices that are grounded in two prior centuries.
But then, with our optimism stoked and our pompoms at the ready, we heard about … the prisons, the teachers and the tax hike
What the Trib fails to understand is that, most likely, the governor is trying to assuage the interest groups before he lowers the boom on the cuts…
Quinn will try to cut $850 million from programs financed through the state’s general fund, the all-purpose checking account that pays for most state services. How Quinn will do that was not answered
$850 million may not seem like a lot in comparison to an $11.5 billion deficit, and it isn’t. But, as we’ve found here and as explained above, unless you want to cut aid to schools or throw people off Medicaid, there’s not a whole lot you can do.
Adding to the political intrigue is how helpful [House Speaker Michael Madigan] will be in ushering the tax hike through the legislature. The increase undoubtedly could be used by Madigan’s daughter, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, against Quinn should the two face off next year in the Democratic primary for governor.
* Meanwhile, I told subscribers about this plan last week…
You may pay more for license plates as a way to improve state roads and bridges.
Exactly what’s under consideration will be revealed Wednesday when Gov. Pat Quinn unveils his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
On Friday, chief of staff Jerry Stermer acknowledged the state was considering fees to bring in more money. […]
Illinois charges a set $78 fee annually for license plate registration renewal. The fee was increased by $30 in 1999 to help pay for a statewide construction plan. The Illinois Secretary of State’s office said increasing the $78 fee by $10 would produce $90 million in additional revenue.
* Related…
* CTBA: To Counter the Current Recession, Illinois State Government Should Maintain or Enhance Spending—Even if it Means Progressive Tax Increases—Rather Than Cut its Budget
* Sen. Dick Durbin: Gov. Pat Quinn ‘has no choice’ but to raise state income tax: Quinn has ‘no choice,’ he says; Daley not ready to approve or condemn
* Laura Washington’s latest column is a must-read…
It’s a heady time in African-American politics. Presidents, senators and congressmen are feeling the burn. The old political hands are nervous. The young turks are finding their sea legs. The 2010 Democratic primary races for the U.S. Senate and Cook County Board presidency may be petri dishes for a new strain of black political leadership.
Veteran political consultant Delmarie Cobb is a top adviser to Exhibit No. 1 of the old strain, Sen. Roland Burris. I visited her Bronzeville office last week during a pause in her winning battle to keep Burris in office.
“All of a sudden, we’re into this young thing, and anybody who’s been out here needs to be put out to pasture,” she vented. Cobb resents “that somebody would take this kind of knowledge and put it out to pasture.”
We’ve been hearing a lot of that sort of rhetoric lately. It resembles the beginning of the last major shift in Chicago’s black politics in the late 1960s. The New Yorker profile of Roland Burris doesn’t have much new stuff in it, but there are some historical nuggets which suit our purposes…
Daley contracted much of his patronage operation to what was known as the “submachine,” a group of compliant black politicians, led by Congressman William Dawson. Even though Dawson made sure that blacks received a share of government jobs, [Jesse] Jackson and others in the nascent civil-rights movement noted that the submachine had no interest in challenging Daley on broader issues, like fair housing and school
So, the young Turks tried to push the old guard aside, and the old guard pushed back hard. Burris, who was allied with Jackson and ran Operation PUSH for about a year, ran for comptroller as an independent and was trounced in the 1976 primary. He defected to the old guard when he sought the party slating for comptroller two years later…
Alan Dobry, who was a veteran of Chicago reform politics, attended the state committee meeting in 1977. “Roland was trying to get put up for Illinois comptroller,” Dobry recalled. “When he got up and spoke to the central committee, the first thing they said to him was ‘You started out as Bill Cousins’s campaign manager, what about that?’ But Roland assured everyone that he wasn’t an independent like Bill Cousins anymore, and was now a faithful member of the machine. Then they asked where does his committeeman stand on this? Gene Sawyer got up and said, ‘Roland is not an independent; he is a faithful member of the Sixth Ward Democratic Party organization.’ ” (One of the first people Burris hired to his staff as a U.S. senator was Sawyer’s nephew.) […]
According to Bernard Stone, a longtime Chicago alderman, Burris is “a very personable guy, and he never had the reputation of having his hand out. He was always a go-along guy. When he’s run with Party backing, he’s won; when he ran against the Party, he lost. It’s as simple as that.”
So, even though he subsequently ran against Mayor Daley and has since portrayed himself as an independent, he’s really a descendant of the old guard, which eventually made peace with (or coopted, depending on your persepctive) black church leaders. Back to Washington’s column…
Burris and Stroger are creatures of a sclerotic political machine, an operation that historically bred electoral success by ensuring an ethnic balance of go-along-get-along guys. The party has relied on a black candidate — “their” black candidate — to bring in the African-American vote. In 2010, that equation may not add up.
Washington’s column concludes with some observations about Sen. James Meeks’ encouragement of Chicago Urban League President and CEO Cheryle Jackson’s possible US Senate bid against Burris and others…
“That’s not Roland Burris’ seat. Anybody has the right to run,” Meeks says.
“The glass ceiling has to be lifted. At some point, we have to seriously consider qualified women,” he notes, adding, “It will give my daughters something to aspire to.”
That’s refreshing talk in black Chicago, which has been dominated by sexist, tired ward heelers and preachers for far too long.
Hallelujah.
* Related…
* Burris turns up on Blago list of potential fund-raisers
* Rosanna Pulido won the GOP primary in the 5th Congressional District with just 1,001 votes, compared to Democrat Mike Quigley’s 12,100. But some folks actually think she can win the general. From a post at RedState…
On Saturday afternoon, in the midst of Chicago’s famous St. Patrick’s Day celebration with its tradition of turning of the Chicago River green, a cadre of concerned Republicans met to plan a way to capture the Congressional seat of Chicago’s 5th District, the one being vacated by Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Her supporters and other interested parties… met at the top of a Michigan Avenue high rise in the comfortable setting of a decades old executive dining room of a Chicago insurance company. The rich wood decor was meant to invoke an old Irish pub, but carousing wasn’t on the schedule that day. Planning a political campaign was, however.
This meeting, dubbed a “council of Trent” by organizer and long-time Chicago conservative political activist and radio raconteur Tom Roeser, was meant to gather those that might help candidate Pulido to launch a campaign to turn Emanuel’s seat red.
This race is interesting for several reasons. As mentioned, it is for the Congressional seat of Obama’s Chief of Staff, but oddly enough the Illinois Democratic Party is not much involved in the campaign for Pulido’s opponent Mike Quigley. Quigley is running as a “reformer” and has widely criticized many members of Chicago’s Democrat political machine. That, combined with the fact that the Ill. Dems simply assume any Democrat will win the seat regardless, seems to have added up to Quigley being left to his own devices by the Party for his campaign for the 5th District seat.
It’s true that the Democratic turnout for the general will probably be low, but enough for a GOP win? Is that really possible? It is in some minds, and the race is being used to widen the insurgent/insider Republican war…
This being the case, one would think that the Cook County Republicans or even the state party might swarm in and make a play for the seat with a show of support for their Republican candidate, Pulido. Imagine stealing the Congressional seat of Obama’s chief of staff? What a coup that would be, eh?
Unfortunately, you’d be wrong thinking the Illinois GOP was smart enough to try it. And this salient fact shows the utter fecklessness of the Illinois GOP establishment as well as its utter hatred for any candidate that is remotely conservative. The Illinois GOP and the Country party both have turned their collective back on Rosanna Pulido. Hence the reason that Tom Roeser and crew have felt the need to come together to organize a citizen’s committee to act in place of the party establishment to support Pulido’s run.
But some insurgents were left out of the Saturday meeting, and they ain’t happy…
Sure beats us as to what point Rosanna Pulido’s supporters are trying to make by keeping their efforts to win Rahm Emanuel’s congressional seat a secret from like-minded and widely read conservative sources such as Illinois Review, but being open and giving interviews to national political sources such as RedState.org. What’s up with that?
From RedState we learn that Tom Roeser hosted an exclusive secret meeting on winning back the seat April 7. We’ll stand by and report from afar….as Pulido and Roeser obviously want it…Good luck with that, folks!
It’s like herding cats.
* Meanwhile, speaking of the embarrassing GOP split, Jersey County Republican Chairman Floyd Alexander takes issue with Sen. Chris Lauzen’s attempt to to pass SB600, which would force a popular vote to elect state party central committeemen…
But what is most concerning about Sen. Lauzen’s letter is his attempt to use our men and women in uniform to bolster his case.
Sen. Lauzen says that he is working to remove the current leaders of the Illinois Republican Party because to not do so would “dishonor the sacrifices of my father in World War II, my friends in Korea and Vietnam, and my sons in Iraq and Afghanistan.” I have news for you, Sen. Lauzen; you have already dishonored them and every other man and woman to wear this country’s uniform.
I fought and was wounded in Vietnam. My father fought in Germany during World War II. How dare you invoke my sacrifice, my father’s sacrifice and every other soldier’s sacrifice in a discussion about party elections?
As a county chairman who opposes SB600, I do not demand that every Republican toe the line and be ideologically pure. As far as I am concerned there is plenty of room for debate and disagreement in the Republican party. What I, and most other Republicans, do expect, however, is basic respect.
To understand what’s going on here you probably have to go back a decade or more, but this is the sort of bitter squabbling that resulted in Maryland blowhard Alan Keyes running as a Republican against Barack Obama for the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Back then, Judy Baar Topinka was running the state Republican Party, and the conservatives didn’t like her much.
When Republican nominee Jack Ryan was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race because of a personal scandal, Topinka wanted to replace him with Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth Doody Gorman, of Orland Park.
But the conservatives stepped in, and Keyes became the GOP candidate and a political disaster.
The idea was to embarrass Topinka and undermine her eventual campaign for governor.
In fact, many of the Republicans now backing SB 600 and ridiculing McKenna ended up supporting Blagojevich for governor when he ran against Topinka.
The internal backstabbing hasn’t stopped. And now the Democrats have gotten involved.
University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer says the school’s medical center is rethinking an existing program that redirects patients to other nearby hospitals and clinics on Chicago’s South Side.
No price-fixing or other illegal conduct by road salt suppliers was found.
“What we have learned is that procedural improvements to the procurement process are absolutely necessary,” Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan said.
Madigan recommended that the Illinois Department of Central Management Services work more closely with municipalities to lock in competitive road salt prices.
In early February, Madigan urged the management agency to work closely with municipal officials in crafting new procurement procedures and to consider some improvements. Among the recommendations Madigan’s office specifically urged the department to make were:
States Oversee Spending of Stimulus Funds; State Finances During the Great Depression; NCSL Project to Reduce Health Disparities in States; States Start Own Economic Stimulus Plans; and State Unemployment Rates Continue to Rise
Chicago Police announced Sunday an effort between gang enforcement and gang investigation units on the South Side resulted in 41 arrests and the seizure of narcotics, 18 firearms and $75,000 in cash.
* The Tribune AP claims that Gov. Pat Quinn was “greeted warmly” and that US Sen. Roland Burris got a “cold reception” at today’s St. Patrick’s Day parade…
Saturday’s parade-goers in leprechaun hats, green jackets and clover-spotted socks who clapped and greeted Quinn warmly just pointed at Burris derisively and chuckled. Many reminded the people standing closest to them that Burris was controversially appointed by ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Burris’ testimony about the appointment to a state House committee is being investigated. The senator rarely acknowledged or waved to people along the parade route, instead talking to the officials walking with him.
Quinn waved and smiled while the crowd whistled and cheered.
Before the parade, a few parade goers shook Burris’ hand, with one man saying “Good luck, sir.” Along the route, one onlooker shouted “Burris, you suck.”
A couple of onlookers shouted at Quinn, “Don’t tax us!” […]
There was also a good reception for Lisa Madigan, with crowd members calling out “Hi, Lisa!” as the attorney general’s float passed.
* I’ll close the week with a message to the governor’s press staff: If you’re gonna have a Statehouse press briefing on the budget, please invite all the Statehouse bureaus, not just some. How difficult could that possibly be? Thanks for listening.
* And now, Johnny Winter plays some Bob…
I got forty red, white and blue shoe strings
And a thousand telephones that don’t ring
The governor also will propose $850 million in additional state cuts and make a potentially hefty cut in the state’s pension payment, while proposing a scaled-back pension plan for new state hires. Quinn aides would not provide more specifics on those plans.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich released the following statement on the proposal from Gov. Pat Quinn to raise the state income tax:
“This is exactly what I said was going to happen. It is unconscionable that the new governor, Pat Quinn, wants to raise the income tax by 50% especially at a time when people are hurting and the economy is in shambles.
“When Pat Quinn and I ran as a ticket we promised the people not to raise their income taxes. For six years I kept that promise. It took him less than six weeks to break it.”
Former Gov. Blagojevich is not available for interviews and will not be making any other public statements today.
*** UPDATE 4 - 4:02 PM *** I told subscribers about this new $11.5 billion deficit estimate in late February, and recently pointed out the crashing income tax numbers, but this is still astounding…
The state’s budget hole has grown to an estimated $11.5 billion — “an unprecedented tsunami of red ink” — aides to Gov. Pat Quinn disclosed Friday afternoon as the new governor began to sketch out how he proposes to fix the state’s financial woes. […]
At the same time, while promising that Mr. Quinn will unveil $1.3 billion in proposed spending cuts when he introduces his fiscal 2010 budget on Wednesday, they and Mr. Quinn in an earlier appearance confirmed that a state income-tax hike definitely is on the way.
Officials said the tax increase, of unspecified size, would be paired with a tripling of the personal exemption, a combination that would freeze or cut taxes for a family of four if it earned no more than about $60,000 a year, but would require those in higher income brackets to pay more. […]
Over fiscal 2009 and 2010 combined, state revenues from individual and corporate income taxes and the sales tax are projected to be off a projected $3.2 billion — an “unprecedented” decline, according to Mr. Stermer.
At the same time, he said, Medicaid will cost the state an additional $1 billion or so in fiscal 2010, which begins on July 1, higher social services will cost taxpayers an additional $300 million, scheduled employee wage hikes and group health insurance another $300 million, and employee pensions potentially well over $1 billion, depending on possible cost savings..
Quinn wouldn’t give specific details Friday on the income rate or personal exemption levels he plans to propose.
But he did give a hint about who would be affected by any tax increase. The governor says a family of four making less than about $57,000 a year won’t see its taxes go up. The less money people make, he says, the more of a tax cut they’ll see.
*** UPDATE 2 - 1:47 pm *** The governor’s comments…
“There will be some that will have a higher tax burden,” Quinn told reporters today during an impromptu news conference at the James R. Thompson Center, adding it would be based on the ability to pay. Quinn said an increase would be part of a “fundamental reform” of the income tax system that would provide tax relief for many Illinoisans. He said that would come from more generous tax exemptions for working families who are suffering amid the nation’s economic decline.
Gov. confirms taxes will go up for folks earning above 56k in Illinois.
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* This possible tax hike isn’t as much as some thought, especially considering the higher exemptions…
Gov. Pat Quinn is considering raising the Illinois income tax by 50 percent in a politically risky bid to address one of the biggest budget dilemmas in state history, sources said Thursday.
An increase to 4.5 percent from the current 3 percent tax rate on individuals would include a corresponding hike in the corporate income tax on businesses, according to sources familiar with the new governor’s preparations for his first budget address Wednesday.
The first state income tax increase in 20 years would be cushioned in part by raising the standard tax exemption up to $6,000 per person from $2,000, the sources said. […]
Fee increases for license plate stickers and driver’s licenses are also under consideration by Quinn, sources said. The governor has also emphasized he wants to “cut, cut, cut” state government.
‘I think this economy makes it almost impossible to place an income tax increase on people.”
What Illinois politician said that this week?
Rod “No Tax Hikes on People, But I’ll Gladly Take Your Bribe” Blagojevich?
A Republican?
A conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat?
Nix, nein Frankenstein, as we used to say in Germany.
The answer: Attorney General Lisa Madigan, talking to the Aurora Beacon News.
Has Congressman-in-waiting Mike Quigley’s winning campaign strategy of bashing Todd Stroger’s tax increase spread to the staid, soft-spoken, liberal attorney general?
This is the same Lisa Madigan, after all, who fumed at Rod Blagojevich last year for vindictively slashing her office’s budget to the marrow. Now, she wants every other state agency subjected to the same cruel slash?
After waiting around all day for a response, Madigan’s spokeswoman finally called to explain that her boss really meant to say all other options should be looked at before any tax increase was proposed.
That’s not what she said, but whatever.
So, I asked, does Lisa Madigan support a tax hike?
“She’s waiting to hear what the governor proposes in his budget address next week.”
Is she open to a tax hike?
Same answer.
The message seems to be clear, however. She’s reserving the right to bash Gov. Quinn for raising taxes during an economic downturn.
Tax-increase foes have valid economic points, but too many fail to see the plain, hard facts.
There are those who say that the state’s budget deficit is about half or even less than half of the $9 billion to $12 billion estimated by Comptroller Dan Hynes and Quinn. All we need to do, they say, is cut $4 billion to $5 billion this fiscal year and again next fiscal year and the problems are solved. Poof.
What those folks never mention is that there are about 100 days left in the current fiscal year. Cutting $4 billion to $5 billion by June 30 would require turning out all the state’s lights. Open up the prison doors, lay off all the cops, no school payments, no Medicaid, no driver’s license facilities, no parks, no road repairs, no aid to local governments, no attorney general . . . no nothing, except for a skeleton crew to process our tax payments. And that still probably wouldn’t be enough.
We simply cannot cut our way out of this deficit. We shouldn’t fully tax our way out, either, of course. Real cuts should be made. But there are no magical solutions, and Lisa Madigan most certainly knows it.
This week, the two Republican state legislative leaders called for more gaming to fund a multi-billion-dollar capital construction program. It’s a pipe dream.
Quinn is widely expected to propose an income tax increase to help balance the budget, so Madigan’s tax comment was probably predictable. Madigan can sit back and let her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, push through Quinn’s tax increase and then reap all the populist benefit.
But Madigan in the role of the angry white tax-hater and lifelong populist Quinn as the bumbling Strogerish incumbent?
Seriously?
Well, Blagojevich did win his first election as a reformer, so I suppose anything’s possible with enough campaign money.
I just can’t see it. And I sure hope Madigan doesn’t try.
…Adding… I just noticed that something got cut for space. It was a couple sentences after “This week the two Republican state legislative leaders called for more gaming to fund a multi billion dollar capital construction program. It’s a pipe dream.” Here’s what was edited out…
MGM spent almost a billion dollars to put a casino in downtown Detroit a couple of years ago. Those days are over. MGM’s stock price has lost 90 percent of its value since last summer and the company is in danger of defaulting on its debt. MGM is far from alone in the industry.
* Related…
* Illinois Republicans call for more gambling to raise revenue
Local politicos have been buzzing about a domestic dispute between Palatine Township GOP Committeeman Gary Skoien and his wife, but most stopped short of publicly calling for Skoien’s resignation.
Even Inverness Village President Jack Tatooles, whom Skoien unseated as committeeman in 2002, said only that he doesn’t agree with allegations the police messed up.
“He’s made some innuendos about the police department, but these are good men and women who don’t lie on reports,” Tatooles said, adding he hasn’t had much contact with Skoien in the last seven years.
Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins also ran and lost against Skoien in the 2002 election. She called the situation “very unfortunate” and said, “My heart goes out to his wife.”
State Rep. Suzie Bassi, a fellow Palatine Republican, went further to say she was “not willing to endorse him in the future” and that the situation has hurt the image of the party.
“It’s about time he got his life together and spent some time taking care of his family,” Bassi said. “Step down? That’s going to be a choice he is going to have to make, but I hope he is willing to think long and hard about doing the right thing for the Republican organization and the community.”
“I hope he is willing to think long and hard about doing the right thing…” Isn’t that what Mayor Daley said about Burris?
Kinda funny that there’s no outraged rush to the cameras on this one. The Tribune editorial page, which has led the charge against Burris, has been mute. Kass hasn’t come up with any silly nicknames for Skoien like he did with Burris. And there’s been almost total radio silence at the conservative blogs.
*** UPDATE *** Thanks to a commenter, here’s part of a letter to the editor published last week year in the Daily Herald…
Recently a group calling itself the United Republicans of Palatine Township posted a full-page ad in the newspaper and sent out a mailing attacking Gary Skoien, the Republican Committeeman for Palatine Township.
We, as your Republican and local elected officials, could not be more adamant in our statement that this attack was factually inaccurate, mean-spirited and absolutely ridiculous.
Sadly, this is far from the first time that attacks in the name of “United Republicans” have been leveled against Gary Skoien, the local Republican Party, and other Republican officials working to deliver good government to the residents of Palatine Township. Since Skoien’s successful election over their chosen candidate in the committeeman race in 2002, it has been this same small group of purported leaders in this organization who have continued to attack him and anybody who dares associate with Gary Skoien.
The signatories…
Congressman Mark Kirk, 10th District
State Sen. Matt Murphy, 27th District
Mayor William McLeod, Hoffman Estates
Gregg Goslin, Cook County Commissioner
Gene Dawson, state central committeemen, 8th Congressional District
Ruth O’Connell, Wheeling Twp. Republican Committeeman
Linda Fleming, Palatine Twp. supervisor
Kevin O’Connell, Palatine Twp. clerk
Terry Kelly, Palatine Twp. assessor
John Powers, Palatine Twp. Highway Commissioner
Art Goes, Bill Huley and Lisa Moran, Palatine Twp. trustees
Cary Collins, deputy mayor, Hoffman Estates
Ald. Tom Rooney, Rolling Meadows
Sue Quinn, Dist. 15 school board
Tom Donohue, Inverness Park District commissioner
Oops.
It would be interesting to hear what these people say about Skoien now.
Police have rejected a request from a top suburban Republican to change a police report that states he was with two prostitutes when his wife attacked him over the weekend in their Inverness home.
Barrington-Inverness Deputy Police Chief Jerry Libit said today there would not be “any changes to the report,” as requested by Gary Skoien, a Palatine Township GOP committeeman and a former Cook County Republican chairman.
Libit said Skoien met Wednesday night with the officer who wrote the report.
Skoien has disputed that the women were prostitutes. He said he was with two friends early Sunday when his wife, Eni, punched him and swung a guitar at him.
* WARNING: Take it easy in comments. Follow the guidelines. In fact, stay well within the margins on this one. I’m in no mood today to deal with over the top posts. Don’t get yourself banned.
* Fox Chicago News takes a look at how Frank Zucharelli’s “Z Team” political machine uses South Suburban College as a power and fundraising base…
* Zell never contributed any money to Blagojevich, but this story does show us, once again, the Blagojevich mindset…
Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell was targeted for $25,000 by the Blagojevich campaign last November while the company’s Wrigley Field deal was under consideration and two weeks before the ex-governor was arrested, internal campaign documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
Zell’s name appeared on a Nov. 25, 2008, document titled “Focus List” among a group of 33 potential donors. Alongside Zell’s name was the $25,000 figure and a notation that read: “Rod to follow up.” On a Sept. 22, 2008, fund-raising document titled “Call List,” an entry noted “Sam Party on 9.27.”
In another campaign document dated Dec. 3, 2008, Tribune Co. sports consultant Mark Ganis is listed among 143 names of potential donors for tentative or scheduled fund-raising events. Next to Ganis’ name are the notations “New York Event” and “Rod went to dinner on 9/19. Rob needs to follow up.”[…]
The revelation comes after Tribune Co. disclosed Wednesday that federal agents interviewed Zell in January as a “potential witness” in the Blagojevich case. Among the charges facing Rod Blagojevich is that he schemed to have members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board fired in exchange for helping push through the Wrigley deal.
* The Tribune has a story from the Al Sanchez trial that you need to read all the way through…
John Barrera wanted to work for the city, so he joined the Hispanic Democratic Organization, a feared political street army that wielded power over jobs inside Mayor Richard Daley’s administration.
So the story goes, Barrera was told he got a city job through HDO without even applying. But later in the story is this…
One of Sanchez’s lawyers, Patrick Blegen, got Barrera to reveal to the federal jury that he had political connections of his own. Blegen suggested that was how he got his city job. Barrera acknowledged that his father was a former ward committeeman and that he started working on political campaigns as a child.
It’s a tricky thing to explain to a jury, but the fact that Barrera’s dad was a committeeman should actually make Sanchez look MORE guilty, not less.
Barrera’s dad was an independent Dem committeeman allied with the Balanoffs. His committeeman father couldn’t get him a job, (in fact, they probably wrote NO in big red letters on his application) so he felt he had to go through HDO instead.
But the funniest part is how Mayor Daley is reacting to all this…
When reporters pressed the mayor to explain how one city employee got her job, Daley grew angry and shut down the line of questioning.
“I’m not answering questions about that,” he said.
The college announced on Thursday that Patrick Fitzgerald, U-S Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, will deliver the commencement address at Knox on June 6th. Knox College President Roger Taylor called Fitzgerald’s leadership in combating crime “exemplary” and says the students have once again picked a national figure to address their class at commencement.
State Rep. Brandon Phelps says if downstate lawmakers help Chicago vie for the 2016 Olympics, they should get something in return - perhaps a law allowing Illinoisans to carry concealed weapons.
“They’re going to ask us for a lot,” the Harrisburg Democrat said Thursday.
Four proposals aimed at allowing Illinoisans to carry concealed weapons have been introduced this year. But, long running philosophical disagreements over gun rights between downstate lawmakers and their Chicago colleagues could keep them from becoming law.
Phelps hopes some horse-trading could benefit gun owners and Olympic supporters.
* The Question: If you were a downstate legislator, for what specific thing would you trade your Chicago Olympics vote? Explain.
* As I told subscribers yesterday, the circular firing squad had another fine day…
The Illinois Republican Party has retained a prominent law firm and is warning state lawmakers of both parties it will fight any proposed changes to how Republicans choose their top governing body.
State GOP Chairman Andy McKenna today issued the warning after an Illinois Senate panel backed a measure to require that the 19-member Republican State Central Committee be elected by voters at the primary election every four years. Currently, the representatives from each of the state’s congressional districts are chosen by Republican township and county committeemen.
The change long has been pushed by a group of insurgent conservatives looking for a toe-hold in running a political organization beset by strife and hobbled by the scandals surrounding imprisoned former Gov. George Ryan.
The legislation to make the governing change, backed by state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora, got out of an Illinois Senate panel earlier this week on a 5-4 vote. Only one Republican voted for it along with four Democrats. In a video posted on his Web site, Lauzen has blasted the state’s GOP leadership as “domineering parasites” and “self-serving, officious, lying, arrogant thugs” for not supporting his bill.
Saying he was “deeply troubled” by the “misguided and unconstitutional” proposal, McKenna said “the Illinois Republican Party will vigorously defend its rights under the United States Constitution.” […]
“Political parties in Illinois have a right to freedom of association - in other words they have a right to be free from exactly this sort of meddling,” McKenna said. “The Illinois Republican Party takes its First Amendment rights seriously and will not cede those rights to any governmental entity nor to any opposing political party.”
But Lauzen must rely on Democratic support to pass his plan since Republicans only hold 22 of the 59 state Senate seats. Lauzen said he will keep working toward passage.
“How can it be unconstitutional to restore what was there in the beginning?” Lauzen asked. Before 1988, Republican primary voters elected the party’s central committee. Democratic primary voters already elect their central committee.
Lauzen has a point about the constitutionality. The state currently gives state parties two organizational options. Lauzen’s proposal essentially deletes one of those options. The party strongly feels otherwise, however.
…Adding… From the state GOP’s lawyer Bill McGinley of Patton Boggs…
The State’s intrusion is no less unconstitutional now because the Party did not challenge previous statutory regulation: in Tashjian v. Republican Party of Connecticut, 479 U.S. 208 (1986) the Supreme Court held unconstitutional a statute that had been in effect for decades before the Republican Party finally challenged it.
In that case, the law requiring parties to hold closed primaries had been on the books since 1955 and the state parties had not protested. In 1984, the Republicans adopted a new rule to permit independents to participate in their primary . . . after the old law had been enforced against them for THIRTY YEARS. The Party won this challenge and the Supreme Court held that the state could no longer enforce the statute against them.
The Court later reaffirmed this principle, concluding that “[w]e have never held that a political party’s consent will cure a statue that otherwise violates the First Amendment.” Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Cent. Committee, 489 U.S. 214, 226 (1989).
In short, a state party does not “waive” or “give up” its constitutional rights simply because it did not protest prior regulation. Freedom of association entitles Parties to determine their current internal governance in accordance with the desires of current members; this is the entire point of protecting their right to define their own organization, its membership, and its message in response to changing times. State regulation that infringes that internal control is unconstitutional, regardless of whether past Party members objected to similar encroachment in prior legislation.
* Yesterday, the governor reversed Rod Blagojevich’s decision to close the Pontiac prison. Today, Gov. Quinn is reversing another one…
After months of uncertainty, the state’s traffic safety division is not moving to southern Illinois.
Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, said he received a voice mail this morning at his Springfield office from new Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig that an announcement about the division staying in Springfield would be made later today.
Anders Lindall, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, confirmed the union also had been notified an announcement was coming today.
Spokespersons for IDOT and the governor’s office did not immediately comment on the news.
Illinois ranked seventh nationally in foreclosure activity last month as Cook County filings surged in recent weeks despite pledges by big banks to a temporary cease fire, according to two reports released Thursday.
Residential and commercial properties in some stage of foreclosure totaled 14,218 last month, down 1.6 percent from January but up more than 62 percent from February 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing company.
State lawmakers from Springfield oppose Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ decision to deny a request by The State Journal-Register for records regarding a troubled funeral trust fund.
“This has occurred during the last six years under the comptroller’s watch, and he is the one that is supposedly doing the auditing, so let’s get all of that out in the open and solve the problem,” Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, said Thursday.
* Olympic apartments won’t be ‘white elephant,’ IOC chief says
* Chicago Sun-Times editing jobs won’t be outsourced to India, Canada
Union officials representing Sun-Times editorial employees said management informed them Thursday that the paper is scrapping the radical January proposal to eliminate up to 30 jobs.
The Newspaper Guild was braced for a fight. But, in the interim, a shareholder-led overhaul upended parent Sun-Times Media Group’s board and a succession of other changes, including John Barron replacing Cyrus Freidheim as Sun-Times publisher and Don Hayner succeeding Michael Cooke as editor.
Paint it silver? No. Call it Willis? Why not? Our immediate reaction upon hearing that Chicago’s landmark Sears Tower soon would be renamed Willis Tower was not good. Why, we wondered, can’t people leave Chicago iconography alone?
Macy’s should be Field’s. The Aon Center should be Big Stan. Cellular Field should be Comiskey Park.
Lost a tooth filling, which led to a tooth infection, which led to lots of nighttime pain, which woke me up in the middle of the night, which caused me to oversleep this morning and miss my dentist appointment. Feeling just ducky. Anyway, some posts will be up shortly. Trying to shake the grog.
