Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Oct 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I told subscribers about a new Rasmussen Reports poll earlier this week, but I figured it was time to clue in the blog as well.

Rasmussen asked: How do you rate the way that Rod Blagojevich is performing his role as Governor? Excellent, good, fair, or poor?

Zero percent rated Gov. Blagojevich performance as “excellent.”

Zero.

As we used to say in Germany: “Nix, Nein, Frankenstein.”

Last month, 3 percent rated Blagojevich’s performance as “excellent,” which ain’t much, but it was at least something.

* Here are this month’s Blagojevich job approval results with last month’s in parentheses…

Excellent 0 (3)
Good 4 (9)
Fair 29 (28)
Poor 65 (60)
Not sure 1 (0)

Notice that his “poor” rating has risen from 60 to 65 percent.

Oof.

* The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform’s David Morrison comments over at Illinoize…

A 2000 General Election exit survey I found on-line suggests that 32% Illinois voters held a favorable view of then-Gov. George Ryan, which was after the first two dozen Operation Safe Roads convictions but still nearly three years before he was indicted and four years before his conviction. It would seem that George Ryan was 8 times as popular as Gov. Blagojevich.

* Blagojevich’s rating is even below President Bush’s, according to Rasmussen: How do you rate the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President? Excellent, good, fair, or poor?

10% Excellent
15% Good
11% Fair
64% Poor
0% Not sure

* Another question from Rasmussen: Have things in Illinois gotten better, worse or stayed the same since Rod Blagojevich became governor?

5% Better
67% Worse
25% Stayed the same
4% Not sure

* These sorts of stories aren’t helping…

The Blagojevich administration still isn’t saying how many people might be affected by an ill-fated health insurance program the governor launched last year.

A day after a Cook County judge ordered the administration to dismantle the FamilyCare expansion program, the administration wouldn’t say how many people might be left in the lurch from the decision.

‘’We are currently reviewing the decision and are determining how many people would be affected, but the governor is committed to making sure that these families continue to get the insurance they need,'’ said Annie Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

It is not clear why the administration hasn’t said how many people are enrolled in the program, which offered state-backed health insurance to people earning 400 percent of the poverty level, or up to $83,000 annually for a family of four.

What a disaster.

* Speaking of disasters, an overwhelming majority of respondents said they were cutting back on their holiday spending, which generally drives the nation’s economy…

* This holiday season, will you spend more or less on gifts than you did last year?

6% More
69% Less
23% About the same
2% Not sure

* More poll results…

* Should the Illinois State Constitution be amended to give voters the opportunity to recall statewide elected officials?

57% Yes
23% No
20% Not sure

* Do you favor or oppose Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic games?

64% Favor
26% Oppose
10% Not sure

* Senate Election

Sauerberg 31%
Durbin 62%
Other 0%
Not sure 7%

* 2008 Presidential General Election Match-Ups

McCain 39%
Obama 56%
Other 0%
Not sure 5%

* In terms of how you will vote for President, are you primarily interested in National Security issues such as the War with Iraq and the War on Terror, Economic issues such as jobs and economic growth, Domestic Issues like Social Security and Health Care, Cultural issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, or Fiscal issues such as taxes and government spending?

50% Economic Issues
19% National Security Issues
9% Domestic Issues
8% Cultural Issues
8% Fiscal Issues
6% Not sure

The economy is everything.

Discuss.

[Illinois Survey of 500 Likely Voters Conducted October 13, 2008. Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4.5%.]

37 Comments

Morning shorts

Friday, Oct 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Appellate Court lets con-con question stay as is on ballot

Efforts to alter a question on the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters if Illinois should hold a constitutional convention were blocked Thursday by a state Appellate Court.

The ruling means that the question, which a Cook County judge has ruled was misleading, will remain on the ballot as is. Instead, voters will be handed a notice with a neutral version of the question, though they must cast their votes on a ballot that features the old language.

* Assessor Houlihan: I believe the time has come to exercise this right and call a constitutional convention. For me, two issues dominate. The education and revenue articles of the state constitution need to be changed.

* Constitutional convention: Remedy or waste of money?

* Major interest groups split on rewriting Illinois’ constitution

* Sheriff says he’s changed the system, will restart evictions

* Evictions to resume Monday

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says he’ll end his prohibition on foreclosure evictions Monday now that new language has been added to court orders aimed at protecting renters who are not properly informed their landlord has lost the property.

The Sun-Times reported this week that Cook County judges began using a new court document for foreclosure evictions that specifically names tenants living at the foreclosed property and states how long they are allowed to remain in units — the length of their lease or 120 days, whichever is shorter — before deputies are allowed to haul out their belongings.

* With new court procedures, Cook County to resume evictions

After suspending all evictions related to mortgage foreclosures in Cook County, Sheriff Tom Dart announced Thursday that he would resume those evictions starting next Monday.

The reversal comes after a week of discussions with the court officials responsible for handling mortgage foreclosures to create language that would ensure the rights of good-standing tenants in foreclosed buildings.

* Dart Announces Evictions to Resume Monday

* Thousands show up for flood relief funds

* More than 1,650 CPS students paid for good grades

* Dipping our toes into the car pool

* Ill. issues conditional license to Countrywide

* State hopes to give local economy a $1 billion boost

State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias pledged Thursday to deposit $1 billion more in state money into Illinois banks and credit unions, saying it would help ease the credit crunch and bolster the taxpayers’ return on investments.

The move is designed to help financial institutions loan money in Illinois communities suffering from rising unemployment and the nation’s economic tizzy.

“It’s critical that Illinois take steps now to ease this crisis and get financial institutions lending to local business and consumers again so that this international crisis does not spread to other sectors of the Illinois economy,” Giannoulias said.

* Transitional Jobs programs provide a pathway out of poverty

* Geography and the Invisibility of Poverty

* Poverty elimination needs to include asset building

* Fourth Generation Poverty

* Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes

* Sun-Times: Durbin for U.S. Senate

When it comes to the U.S. Senate, voters need someone who can deliver.

Sen. Dick Durbin has shown he can do just that.

* Friday Beer Blogging: Iceland Edition

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Horrible news on just about every level, except for the chosen few

Monday, Oct 13, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The economic news isn’t getting any better…

A new U.S. Census Bureau study reports that 785,000 Cook County residents do not have health insurance. That’s 17 percent of the overall population. Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D) actually suspects the figure, based off a 2005 census report, is low.

* Percentage-wise, the highest numbers of uninsured are centered mostly in southern Illinois, a high poverty area that is almost always overlooked…

PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION UNINSURED
Cass County 21.8 percent
Calhoun County 21.4 percent
Jackson County 20.6 percent
McDonough County 20.2 percent
DeKalb County 20.1 percent
Stark County 20.1 percent
Jo Daviess County 20.0 percent
Henderson County 19.9 percent
Cumberland County 19.2 percent
Scott County 18.9 percent

* But if you look at population numbers, there are tons of uninsured in suburbia…

NUMBERS OF PEOPLE UNINSURED
Cook County 784,930
Du Page County 106,015
Lake County 101,020
Will County 82,311
Kane County 75,606
McHenry County 40,432
Winnebago County 38,202
Madison County 34,874
Champaign County 30,031
St. Clair County 26,629

The full list of all Illinois counties can be found at this link.

* The lack of adequate health insurance often results in financial devastation…

Facing debilitating health problems, Goldner refinanced his Highland Park home repeatedly only to wind up with a $729,000 mortgage on a house that eventually sold for $450,000.

* More horrible news…

On the brink of the cold-weather months, more than 56,000 natural-gas customers in the Chicago area remain disconnected for lack of payment. That’s up 36% from last year, putting pressure on utilities and local officials to get disconnected households back online before winter begins in earnest.

Peoples Gas and Nicor Inc. are offering new programs to help customers who are behind on their bills. In a pilot that began last month, Peoples has stopped shutting off customers as long as they pay 60% of their monthly bill. For two weeks last month, Nicor offered to reconnect customers who paid half of their outstanding debt and agreed to a payment plan for the rest. Some 1,400 took advantage of the offer.

With the souring economy making it increasingly difficult for people to pay their bills, consumer advocates say the programs are not enough. While federal heating assistance to low-income households in Illinois is up 59% from last year to $237 million, natural-gas prices are also up. For the November-to-March period, Peoples forecasts the gas bill for a typical Chicago household will rise 11%, to $1,183.

* And state and local governments are feeling the economic pinch…

Local governments are bracing for deeper budget shortfalls as the financial crisis hammers everything from sales tax revenue to pension funds.

The state’s cash on hand in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, ended Sept. 30, plunged 75% to a record low $188 million amid slowing tax revenue, state Comptroller Dan Hynes says. Its unpaid bills ballooned 31% to $1.8 billion, also a record. That could further delay already tardy payments to vendors and crimp access to people who rely on state services such as Medicaid.

“We expect this to get worse,” Mr. Hynes says. “We expect to unfortunately continue on the path of breaking these dubious records going forward.”

Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday asked the federal government to provide financial assistance to Illinois and other states to defray budget deficits.

* Mayor Daley claims the economic crisis is behind his bid to raise taxes yet again…

Mayor Richard Daley on Saturday blamed the economy for his new proposals to raise taxes on downtown parking and sports tickets to balance the city budget.

“Everyplace is being affected; this is a very tough economy and it’s going to be here about three or four years. It’s not going to go away,” he said. “I’m not happy with [the economy], no way—nobody can be happy with the economy. These are minor things we are looking at.”

* But there still seems to be plenty of tax money for the mayor’s friends and family…

City Hall has another multimillion-dollar deal in the works for Mayor Daley’s nephew and his business partners.

* And the budget woes aren’t having an impact on hizzoner’s PR budget…

At a time when Daley is cutting more than 1,000 workers to plug a $469 million deficit, he is also spending millions to promote the city’s image and manage the message coming from City Hall.

The city employs more than 50 representatives across various departments in the Daley administration, at a cost this year of $4.7 million. In addition to that in-house army, the city has funneled millions more to private spin doctors.

* Related…

* Sen. Dick Durbin says it will be two weeks before the government will spend a penny of the $700 billion in the bailout plan, adding the turnaround won’t happen overnight.

* In bailout, Chicago asks: Where’s mine?

* Democratic committeemen with Cook County jobs

* Board Wants Delay On Transit Fair Hikes

* Illinois Attorney General Backs Sheriff’s Eviction Moratorium

* Foreclosure workouts not working, AGs tell banks

* Accredited Sues Illinois Sheriff Over Eviction Standstill

* Sheriff’s eviction policy saves little guys from unfair suffering

* Trend of Medicaid pay increases is expected to end as states struggle

* Daley considering increased taxes on parking, ballgame tickets

* City budget shortfall gets worse

* Mayor’s Warning: Economy Will Get Worse (Video)

* Daley Announces Parts of Budget Plan

* Tower trumps slowdown

* AT&T Planning to Boost Wireless Service

* Machinists union confirms start of Boeing talks to end strike

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