* Mayor Daley blasted the police and firefighter pension reform bill which passed the Senate yesterday…

“This will be a staggering blow to Chicago’s property taxes,” Daley said. “It would be the largest property tax increase in the history of the city of Chicago during an economic crisis, an economic crisis in every home and in every job in Chicago and in the state of Illinois.”

Daley said the city would owe at least an additional $550 million each year beginning in 2015.

Right now, the city puts two dollars in the pension system for every dollar contributed by employees. That’s the entire formula. There is no actuarial basis, which is a big reason why the fund is so out of whack. The new bill simply puts the system on a solid actuarial footing.

But there’s absolutely nothing in the bill whatsoever which “mandates” a tax hike.

* Umm…

Supporters of civil unions will see their votes “split between five or six candidates, while Sen. Meeks will get all the votes of those who are against it,” said Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, who praised Meeks for views that he said “conform to the beliefs of the majority of Chicagoans.”

Actually, according to an August Tribune poll, Sen. Meeks’ opposition to civil unions was not in the majority…

54 percent of suburban residents favor legalizing same-sex civil unions, compared with 33 percent who would oppose such a law. When city residents are included, the results remain nearly the same.

And I seriously doubt that everyone who opposes civil unions will be voting for Rev. Sen. Meeks. There are plenty of other issues in Chicago, and there are other prejudices involved here.

* This is not really a gigantic deal…

Yet another mayoral candidate has jumped into a debate on evolving ethics reform, with contender Miguel del Valle charging that plans offered by rivals Gery Chico and Rahm Emanuel have a big loophole.

At a press conference, Mr. Del Valle noted that while his competitors would turn down donations from lobbyists, both are open to taking campaign cash from city contractors — at least until after the election.

“They can talk ethics all they want,” Mr. Del Valle said, “but to me, that says they’ll have already been bought and sold just to make it to City Hall.”

Contractor contributions are capped at $1500. Small beans in a mayor’s race of this magnitude.

* I will never forget the press conference Gov. Rod Blagojevich held in Chicago early in his first term with several noted reformers, including Cindi Canary of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and Dawn Clark Netsch. They all praised Blagojevich’s ethics plan. And they all lived to regret being used.

I couldn’t help but think of that event yesterday when David Hoffman held a press conference with Rahm Emanuel to praise Emanuel’s ethics reform package, which Hoffman helped draft…

Now, I don’t believe that Emanuel is a criminal, but Hoffman could live to regret that little dog and pony show. Also, Mayor Daley pushed through more ethics reforms than any mayor since William Dever, but Hoffman’s praises for hizzoner were few and far between.

* From the Tribune…

Open letter to Gov. Pat Quinn from former Gov. Dan Walker

Dear Pat:

Dear Dan Walker,

Who cares what you think?

I don’t know Walker, but some people I trust, including Charlie Wheeler, who covered Walker for the Sun-Times, refer to him as a pathological liar. That’s good enough for me. Go away, man.

* Roundup…

* Rahm’s Sneaky Residency “Ad”

* Meeks: Raise retirement age

* Senate approves reduced pensions for new police, firefighters

* Quinn won’t say if he’ll sign pension legislation

* Quinn’s holdover appointments targeted

* Senate approves increased reviews for state lease deals

* Illinois Senate rebuffs Quinn on open records veto

* Zorn: Civil unions mark a great day

* Trial date set for Cellini

* Blagojevich attorney says no plea deal is in the works

* Prosecutors working on Blagojevich jury questions