Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Sep 30, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dear Gov. Pat Quinn,

You’d probably better set aside more money in your budget to fight a blizzard of lawsuits over your planned facility closures…

Among the potential roadblocks is a statute designating the Chester Mental Health Center as the state’s sole facility for treating certain kinds of violence-prone residents. The governor wants to move the residents to an existing facility in Alton.

In addition, moving nearly 2,000 inmates out of the Logan Correctional Center will cause additional overcrowding in the state’s already cramped prison system, potentially opening up the state to an inmate lawsuit. […]

In addition to requiring statutory changes allowing Alton to begin serving Chester residents, mental health advocate Mark Heyrman, a facilitor for the Chicago-based Mental Health Summit, said state laws limit how Quinn can use the savings he says he will get from closing the three centers.

* Dear Tammy Duckworth,

It’s “Dick” with a “D.” Try to remember that the next time you send out a fundraising e-mail…

…Adding… But this Duckworth campaign e-mail update ain’t bad at all…

Here’s the good news: when we totaled it up at lunch yesterday, we realized that Tammy has raised $386,504 for the primary from over 2,000 people.

* Dear Community Unit School District 300,

If Sears moves its headquarters because the company’s local economic development area authorization is allowed to expire, you’re gonna get even less tax money…

“EDA is not the way.”

“RIP, EDA.”

Allison Strupeck, director of communication services in Community Unit School District 300 admitted, “I’ve been thinking a little too much about what the slogans might be.”

Those are slogans Strupeck said she hopes to see and hear soon around the Carpentersville-area school district as it treads into uncharted waters to stop the extension of the EDA — economic development area — special property tax status around Sears’ Prairie Stone corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates.

District 300 is working with students, staff, parents, community groups and legislators to remove an amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 540 that would extend the EDA past its expiration in mid-2012. That’s because those tax incentives hand about $14 million in tax dollars each year that would go to District 300 instead to the EDA generally bordered by I-90, Route 72, Beverly Road and Prairie Stone Parkway, school district officials say.

* Dear ten percent of the American public,

Are you freaking blind?…

Three years after a financial crisis pushed the country deep into recession, an overwhelming number of Americans — 90 percent — say that economic conditions remain poor.

* Dear ComEd,

You might wanna consider the distinct possibility that you’ve been cursed…

Wind gusts knocked out power to 31,000 people overnight, ComEd officials said.

Perhaps canceling your Cubs skybox would do the trick.

* Dear 47th Ward Democratic Committeeman Gene Schulter,

Perhaps your organization wouldn’t be such a laughing stock right now if you had spent more of this money over the years…

Schulter’s two campaign committees had $187,299 in cash on hand, with another $647,141 invested in certificates of deposit as of June 30, state records show.

* Dear Robert Schmidt, husband of embattled state Sen. Suzi Schmidt,

What kind of person calls 911 because his wife locked him out of the house after she discovered on Christmas morning that he was allegedly having an affair with their neighbor? Yeah, she threw stuff at you, but, sheesh dude, couldn’t you just walk away, perhaps to that very same neighbor’s house?

* Dear Chicago Tea Party honcho Steve Stevlic, who is co-hosting this weekend’s TeaCon 2011 event,

In retrospect, I’m sure you would agree that it probably wasn’t a good idea to taunt Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. after his marital problems were exposed when you yourself had been busted two months earlier by the coppers for soliciting the services of a, um, woman of the evening.

It’s fantastic that you weren’t convicted after you agreed to attend a rehab program. Here’s hoping that you’re a better person now. And I mean that without any snark in my heart. But you still might wanna try to keep a low profile during the upcoming festivities.

* Your turn…

30 Comments

Massive fail

Monday, Oct 4, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson looks like this year’s version of Carol Moseley-Braun. No, not the CM-B who became the first black female US Senator in 1992. I mean the incumbent who spent six years doing basically nothing, not coming home, walling herself off from the media and compiling a less than mediocre legislative record.

Case in point, the Sun-Times just endorsed Halvorson’s conservative Republican opponent, despite the fact that it disagrees with Adam Kinzinger on just about every policy issue…

When the choice is between a mediocre first-term U.S. representative who tends to vote your way and a young upstart of great promise who would just as likely vote the other way, whom do you support?

We’re going with the kid.

Halvorson was a good state legislator who understood how to win tough campaigns. She was out and about in her district and generally kept in touch. It was tough for her to watch her voting record after she became the Senate Majority Leader, but she was such a strong campaigner/legislator that she was wooed hard by the DC Dems. Apparently, she forgot every lesson she ever learned in Springfield.

…Adding… The Halvorson campaign just called with several instances where she was available to constituents. But the fact remains that the people I’ve talked to in her district who are in this business say she just hasn’t been nearly visible enough.

* In other congressional campaign news, the National Association of Realtors is spending $300,000 on television ads supporting Democratic incumbent Bill Foster. Watch the ad…

* FiveThirtyEight, by the way, has downgraded Republican chances of taking this seat and now has it as an even chance of a takeover. Nate Silver had categorized this as a “Lean Takeover” seat.

* From the Hotline…

The NRCC has launched a TV ad blitz targeting 45 districts this week, marking the first time Republicans have been on the air in as many districts as they’ll need to take back control of the House. Republicans are spending big on the effort, dishing out $4.4M on the ad buys this week.

The blitz is significant because, like last week, Republicans are spending much more on the airwaves than Democrats. The ads are part of the GOP’s strategy of going on the attack early in an attempt to lock up seats. The DCCC, on the other hand, is reserving the bulk of its resources for the final couple of weeks before Election Day.

The ads - 25 of which are brand new — come a week after the NRCC went up in 30 districts. The NRCC has planned to spend $35M on TV in 55 districts so far.

The NRCC is targeting 17 Democrats with ad buys of $100K or more.

The NRCC is apparently running ads in 10 (Kirk open seat), 11 (Halvorson) and 14 (Foster).

* In other down-ballot news, the Tribune, as expected, endorsed Forrest Claypool. They laid it on thick…

No task for Cook County voters is more important than denying the Democratic machine control of the assessor’s office whose calculations of real estate values drive your property tax bills. Its candidate, Joe Berrios — who sits on the county’s tax appeals board, moonlights as a lobbyist and heads the County Democratic Party — is a one-man conflict of interests. Most egregiously, he lobbies Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton in Springfield — then returns to Chicago to handle their law firms’ tax appeals on behalf of big commercial clients.

There’s more. Can’t wait for the scourge of legalized video gambling to arrive at restaurants and bars near you? Thank lobbyist Berrios and his compliant cronies in Springfield. And did we mention that Berrios supported his pal Todd Stroger’s notorious hike in the sales tax? Stroger wound up with a 1-percentage-point tax increase; Berrios was happy with Stroger’s initial proposal for a 2-point gouge.

Carol Marin looked at the race as well…

Berrios’ supporters have a warning for the renegades.

“Everyone will be held accountable,” 1st Ward Committeeman Jesse Ruben Juarez told me. “They don’t realize how many Latinos they have in their areas.”

In truth, neither race nor ethnicity nor controversial social issues are involved in this contest. It’s a simple matter of reform, and political strategist Kitty Kurth says it boils down to this:

“If Berrios is able to win, the Machine still exists.”

And if he loses?

There will be an eye-popping chink in the little that’s left of its armor.

* Roundup…

* McQueary: Miller vs. Topinka exposes teacher union hypocrisy

* Getting to the bottom of Foster’s ‘toxic asset’ claims about Hultgren

* 9th Congressional District hopefuls spar on jobs, economy

* Sun-Times: Roskam, Davis for Congress

* RR Star: Manufacturing focus makes Manzullo best choice in 16th

* Lt. gov. candidates say they’re ready to lead

* Krug: Endorsements get conversation started

* Northwest Herald: Secretary of State: Jesse White

* Cook Co. assessor candidates spar over impact of property tax change

* Tribune: Preckwinkle’s moment

* 29 Days Left

* Cepeda: Tuesday: Last day to register to vote

* Registering to vote is simpler than it seems

* Journal-Courier: Campaigns should adjust to early voting

* Looking at the art behind those political ads, mailers

* Should judges accept campaign money? Rival candidates disagree

* Durbin Hits the Road for Democrats

34 Comments

« NEWER POSTS