Question of the day
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The hotel deal has been a festering sore for years. Topinka has never been able to put the questions aside, so she tried a new tack with the Daily Herald.
Republican governor candidate Judy Baar Topinka expressed regret Wednesday for a decade-old, ill-fated hotel loan settlement proposal and also said she doesn’t think she’ll be hearing from federal prosecutors any time soon about a 2003 subpoena. […]
Asked Wednesday if she’d handle the loan situation differently in hindsight, Topinka said she would have tried to “create a consensus†instead of going at it “head on.†If she had done that, then-Republican Attorney General Jim Ryan, who eventually quashed Topinka’s settlement, might have helped her avoid what’s become a political albatross.
Topinka also denied any relationship with Cellini, despite his bank board’s ties. “He doesn’t contribute to me. I do not socialize with him,†she said.
The treasurer also said she doesn’t think anything will come of a February 2003 subpoena that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office issued after a former Topinka contract employee complained that workers were campaigning on state time. Topinka attributed the complaint to her decision not to renew the individual’s contract.
Will it work?
UPDATE: Audio here. (Scroll down.)
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Oy, Part 64,389
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I didn’t write about this in today’s Capitol Fax because I figured everybody else would be all over it. They were.
The Blagojevich administration’s count of how many jobs it has created is filled with errors and loose definitions that inflate the total, state auditors reported Wednesday.
Auditor General William Holland said Gov. Blagojevich’s commerce department counts jobs it expects will be created through grant programs instead of tracking the number actually created.
Holland, who is appointed by the General Assembly, also criticized the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for shoddy administration and failure to follow mandates from the Legislature.
Further, Holland said the department changed its methods so that people undergoing training are counted as new jobs, even though the trainees are people who already have jobs, auditors said.
But, wait, there’s more.
*DCEO had “difficulty” proving that it created or saved most of the jobs it claimed. Holland said that “for eight of 10 jobs performance measures … documentation did not agree with the amount reported.”
*20 percent of DCEO’s job-creation performance measures “were poor measures that provided little insight into program effectiveness.”
*None of DCEO’s 11 bureaus have procedures for measuring their effectiveness for economic development.
*The department has no way of tracking mandates from the General Assembly or eliminating obsolete mandates. “We identified some unfulfilled mandates,” the report stated.
*DCEO Commissioner Jack Lavin came in for direct criticism. By statute, he is chairman of the Coal Development Board, but he has not taken up his duties or provided leadership on the board’s expenditures.
More here and here.
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Weird
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I wonder if the staff played a little prank on the boss, or whether they’re all just this inept. Apparently, Gov. Blagojevich didn’t know that his recent interview with “The Daily Show” was for a comedy bit.
Talking with Post-Dispatch editorial writers on Wednesday, the Democratic governor said he went into the interview believing it was a serious report about Illinois’ emergency-contraception debate. Blagojevich said he had never watched “The Daily Show,” and didn’t know what it was when he saw it on his schedule.
“It was going to be an interview on contraceptives . . . that’s all I knew about it,” said Blagojevich, who laughed about the episode. “. . . I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was ‘the gay governor.’”
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Morning shorts
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Tougher penalties for fake cops pushed.
· McSweeney goes on the attack.
· House bill would force online dating servies to investigate participants.
· Labor endorses Stroger, Stroger blasts Claypool.
· No real surprise, but Ryan won’t testify in his own defense and his wife is certain that he’ll be acquitted.
· Tribune endorsements for Illinois House and Senate.
· Wilmington’s water nightmare.
· Most inane editorial ever. And that’s saying something.
· Illinois lost 32,000 manufacturing jobs last year. (Hat tip: IR.)
· Fritchey loves him some Peppers, claims he was ripped off.
· If you’re a DuPage Dem, Hiram has your weekend planned. Man, that’s a good blog.
· Would somebody please ask Ray LaHood about this? Are all reporters in his district blind or just too afraid to offend?
· No executions yet, says guv.
· Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull. From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth. You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.
· “In the past year, Marly’s has had fewer police calls than all but two of the 3 a.m. bars near it, according to department records. Police have been called to Marly’s 51 times, while they were dispatched 150 times to The Firehouse, 67 times to PT’s, 56 times to Catch 22, 55 times to 11 West, 41 times to The Alamo and 14 times to Mojo’s.”
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Gidwitz explains contributions to insiders
Thursday, Feb 23, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Is Ron Gidwitz a fool or an opportunist? Or did he truly have a political awakening that just happened to coincide with the gubernatorial campaign?
As a Republican candidate for governor, businessman Ron Gidwitz criticizes the Republican and Democratic players who he says have jointly controlled state politics for decades.
But a review of state and federal campaign finance records shows that he has been a prolific donor to some of the state’s most powerful GOP politicians, including former Gov. George Ryan, and has given to a handful of Democratic friends, such as Mayor Richard Daley.
On Wednesday, Gidwitz sought to distance himself from his fundraising past, saying it wasn’t “until relatively recently” that he understood the potential problems of contributions made by political insiders seeking deals in Washington and Springfield.
“My whole effort, for the last 30 years, was to try and get good people elected to public office who’d do the right thing by the people,” he said. […]
Records show Gidwitz has made more than $570,000 in donations to candidates and causes in the last decade, aside from another $1.7 million he’s given his campaign. He called the donations “contributions in the charitable and philanthropic sense.” He said he never sought anything in return. […]
Asked if he wasn’t helping to fund an organization he is now criticizing, Gidwitz said, “I was helping inadvertently.”
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Sounds like a good cause…
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Maggie McClain is a House staffer who is heading to Uganda this summer to help build an orphanage for kids whose parents have died of AIDS.
There’s a fundraiser tonight at Floyd’s. Tix are just 5 bucks. 8 o’clock.
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Support House Bill 1944 – The Electric Consumer Protection Act
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
(The following is a paid advertisement.)
The 1997 electric restructuring law wisely created a transition period in which rates were frozen to protect consumers until competition developed. This rate freeze was originally set to expire last January. But in 2003, the General Assembly extended the freeze for two additional years for a very simple reason: There wasn’t any competition.Â
While residential customers could theoretically choose another electric supplier, there weren’t any companies willing to offer service to residential customers, so the General Assembly extended the rate freeze.
But now it’s 2006 and residential customers still don’t have any choice. Nothing really has changed. And because nothing has changed, it’s only fair and consistent that we continue to support affordable electricity prices.
Under our current rate structure, both Exelon/ComEd and Ameren have record profits, record earnings, and a record share price.
Exelon/ComEd, in fact, is the most profitable electric utility in the entire US and is actually cutting rates in other parts of the country like Pennsylvania.
Exelon/ComEd is to electricity what Exxon Mobil is to oil. Any claims to red ink are simply a red herring.
Let’s stay the course and continue to support affordable rates for customers who literally have no other options. Vote Yes on HB 1944 (#1).
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Caption contest!
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
(Suggested by a commenter.)
UPDATE: For additional daytime fun, check out the (I assume unofficial) Rod Blagojevich for Governor blog!
UPDATE: We have a winner. Actually, there are three winners.
Shelbyville wrote:
Seriously I thought that was a picture of Topinka. I must be losing it.
To which North of Shelbyville replied:
Shelbyville, don’t feel bad. I glanced at the picture and also thought it was JBT! It wasn’t till I read the caption about preschool that I looked again and realized who it actually was. That was weird.
I had to chuckle at those two.
Then there was 47th Ward, who wrote:
“Governor Rod Blagojevich (right), pictured here congratulating Dep. Gov. Bradley Tusk, launched his re-election campaign Sunday contending his administration has matured a great deal and learned a lot in three years.â€
Gotta love it.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
First, read the whole story. Here’s an excerpt:
Under a bill that could be debated in Springfield as early as today, patients would be allowed to possess small amounts of marijuana - which advocates say helps pain sufferers, but opponents say would open the door to legalized pot.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, was passed 6-5 last week by a Senate committee. That is the first time such a bill has advanced that far in the Legislature.
The bill would allow patients with prescriptions to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or possess up to about 2 grams of it. Cullerton said those allowances would not usher in fully legal pot. […]
Several groups, including the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, all oppose the bill. Even medical use is too much, they say, because pot is a harmful, addictive drug. […]
“It’s a very frightening situation,” said Judy Kreamer, president of Educating Voices Inc., an anti-drug organization based in Naperville, Ill. Children would be the ones most hurt by medical marijuana, she said. “We don’t want to be giving kids the message that this is safe, that this is medicine.” […]
Kreamer said the temptation was too great for people to sell their excess marijuana, which “devastates” the lives of people who use it. Compared with the small number of people who’d be helped by medical marijuana, it isn’t worth the risk, she said. She said Illinois would become like California, which has thousands of marijuana “dispensaries” and where, she said, “addicts” run rampant.
No hyperbole there.
Anyway, sorry for injecting my opinion, but now it’s your turn. Do you support Cullerton’s idea? Why or why not?
And, as a bonus question, do you believe that marijuana “devastates” the lives of those who use it?
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Not as much as you think
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The Daily Herald has a good story today that lays out the pitfalls of the governor’s proposed education budget.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proposed adding $400 million to the state’s multibillion-dollar budget pie for education, but lawmakers say once his pet programs are funded, suburban schools will be scrambling for financial crumbs.
Included in the added spending is $45 million for new preschool programs the governor wants and $10 million for his plan to reduce elementary grade class sizes. Plus, the governor already promised $100 million to help Chicago public schools.
That quickly drops the total to $245 million before lawmakers even consider how to plug the money into existing programs. Once funding recommendations from the Illinois State Board of Education are added, the original $400 million for preschools through high schools quickly evaporates.
Read it all.
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News from the (Congressional) front
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
This is the sort of comment that makes so many people leery of Democrats.
Tammy Duckworth’s status as a war veteran probably is a political liability in the 6th Congressional District Democratic primary, opponent Lindy Scott argued Tuesday.
“Tammy has sacrificed a lot for her country. So perhaps in a general election there would be some support there because of her patriotism,†said Scott, when asked if Duckworth’s stint in Iraq is a liability among liberal voters in a suburban Democratic primary. “In the primary, perhaps it is a liability.â€
Wow. Just wow.
Moving right along, 8th District Republican hopeful David McSweeney either showed some real guts this week, or stupidity. I’m not sure which.
Congressional hopeful David McSweeney took a walk into the proverbial lion’s den Tuesday, offering himself up for a bruising round of questioning on the radio talk show hosted by his leading opponent’s husband.
The on-air meeting between McSweeney and former state lawmaker-turned-radio talker Al Salvi started civilly enough, but ended with McSweeney accusing Salvi of “trying to distort my position†on abortion
Salvi — who himself ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate and Illinois secretary of state — is married to Kathy Salvi, one of McSweeney’s five Republican primary opponents in the Northwest suburban 8th Congressional District.
Read the whole thing.
Duckworth, by the way, has a new cable TV ad. You can view it here.
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“Bankers bank on Topinka”
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
This always happens. Candidate proposes ethics reforms, and the media goes on the hypocrisy watch.
If Judy Baar Topinka’s ethics reform proposal was already law, the state treasurer and front-runner in the Republican race for governor might find her campaign significantly shorter on cash.
A Tribune analysis of her three terms in the treasurer’s office shows Topinka has received at least $500,000 from banks, their political action committees and individuals listing banks as their employer. Some of the donations came from banks that have had millions of dollars in contracts with her office.
Topinka also received donations from banks that do not have contracts but benefit when state deposits are sent to their institutions from the multibillion-dollar portfolio she has managed since being elected treasurer in 1994.
The benefits to Topinka’s campaign fund have come even as she has accused Gov. Rod Blagojevich of running a “pay to play” administration that has yielded him a steady stream of campaign contributions.
Fair hit? Yep. Will we see more of this? Bet on it.
UPDATE: Ron Gidwitz press release:
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Ron Gidwitz will hold a press conference today, Wednesday, Feb. 22nd at 11 a.m. at his campaign headquarters at 57 W. Grand, Third Floor, to talk about pay to play politics and the sweetheart deals that contradict Judy Baar Topinka’s new message of reform.
UPDATE 2: Dave from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform makes an addmittedly good point in comments.
I’m not so sure this is a fair hit. I don’t see any conflict between saying “I will play by the rulesâ€, and “I think the rules ought to be changed.†[…]
This kind of “gotcha†journalism is part of why reform doesn’t take hold; it fuels cynicism without advancing dialogue and instead plays into the hands of those politicians who are oppose reforms they see as an encroachment on their power. I don’t fault Rod Blagojevich for calling for contribution limits while not limiting his current contributors, and I don’t fault Topinka for calling for change while playing under the current rules, either.
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Morning shorts
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Trib reports on Eisendrath staff shuffle.
· Crain’s has a backgrounder on the legislative fight over a pending ComEd rate hike.
· The gift that keeps on taking.
· US Supremes refuse to hear Illinois newspaper case.
· Marin: Judy’s turn to cry.
· All Illinois nuke plants to be inspected.
· Fewer seniors buying Canadian drugs.
· More later.
· The Jobs Coalition has a new poll. But, man, are the questions ever slanted.
· Forensic accountant hired by George Ryan attorneys says the IRS blew it.
…federal authorities did not consider legitimate sources of cash, including Christmas money gifts Ryan received from his government employees, reimbursements from his political campaign fund and grocery shopping at Jewel. When the Ryans wrote checks for more than $100 at the store, they may have gotten cash back with their purchases, Charnetzki said.
Ryan had access to nearly $86,000 in cash sources from 1996 to 2003, he estimated.
· I love these bikers.
· Virginia proposes “laziness tax.”
· Bart the police dog examines the Ryan trial.
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Welcome home, Jerry!
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
 I was just told that my great pal Jerry Clarke is back safe and sound from a long tour of duty in Iraq.
Thanks, Jerry, for your service. It was above and beyond.
To make up for this lousy photo, the drinks are on me.
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