* Lots of staffers were dealing with petition challenges today, so while comments are technically closed I’ll still be taking votes on our Golden Horseshoe awards for best House Dem and GOP campaign staffers. If you missed the festivities, feel free to post a comment in the thread. Your comment will be held in the moderation queue, but I can still see all moderated comments and will wait until Monday to make a decision.
* A hearty congratulations to Andy Raucci on being elected Speaker of the Third House yesterday. I wanted to be there for the annual luncheon, but couldn’t make it.
* Gov. Pat Quinn appeared on Jonathon Brandmeier’s WGN Radio show this morning. Brandmeier loves him some Pat Quinn. And Quinn was the loosest I’ve ever heard him. He started by deftly ad-libbing through some ad copy and seemed to have a splendid time throughout the entire show. If you do nothing else today, listen to this…
That’s the Pat Quinn I used to know. More like this, please.
* This next one is not so funny. Apparently, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough is unaware that Rod Blagojevich’s jury convicted him on 17 counts this past June. The host of Morning Joe kept repeating a blatant falsehood on national TV yesterday.
“The jury was deadlocked on all but one count,” Scarborough said, referring to Blagojevich as “my friend.”
“A 14-year sentence for something that the state, really, had trouble proving, is so excessive.”
That was the first trial, Joe. There’s been another trial since then. Maybe you didn’t notice. It was in all the papers.
“Put a mark on his name, send him to jail for a year or so,” Scarborough suggested. “This is total BS, total BS,” he said.
Yeah, perhaps if he’d just been convicted of lying to the FBI, a year would’ve been enough. But he was convicted of 17 charges this year, plus the FBI lying charge. That’s less than a year per charge.
A Fox News producer called me a while ago to invite me on some show or another.
“I don’t do cable,” I said. He acted like he’d never heard of such a thing. This is national news, he said. You’ll be seen all over the country. “Forget it,” I said. “I do Public Television and that’s about it.” He was so baffled that he was speechless, so I hung up on him.
I hate cable news.
* SEIU held a demonstration outside CME’s headquarters this week asking people to please, pretty please donate their spare change to the rich…
Clever.
* And, finally, Rod and George sing the Illinois Song…
There’s no real mystery to understanding Rod Blagojevich.
He was, and still is, a failed wannabe gangster.
Not a real gangster who pops caps in people’s behinds. Blagojevich tried to model himself on movie gangsters.
The guy even quoted a character from “The Godfather, Part 11” during a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly.
“This is the business we’ve chosen,” said an angry Hyman Roth to Michael Corleone in that classic film that just about everyone in politics has studied beginning to end.
Blagojevich once said the very same thing during a State of the State address.
His flashy, expensive clothes, his gigantic posse, his brash swagger all point to the wannabe gangster type. I mean, the man is broke but he still had a driver take him to court every day? That’s gangster if I ever saw it.
The thing is, Blagojevich was never much good at the gangster role.
Sure, he had most of the theatrics down, but aside from firing a bunch of helpless state workers without the proper political connections, he was a failure right down the line.
Blagojevich declared war on House Speaker Michael Madigan when he was still in the Illinois House. By 2007, all hell had broken loose. This was supposed to be his Michael Corleone moment, when he would wipe out all his enemies in one fell swoop.
Instead, the fight lasted two years and ended with a paranoid and deranged Blagojevich caught on FBI wiretaps plotting ways he could leverage Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to get himself appointed to a Cabinet post, or a cushy job making big bucks or raking in tons of campaign contributions from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Madigan’s obvious desire to pursue impeachment charges and Obama’s rise to the nation’s top job had finally collapsed Blagojevich’s insane belief that he was the one destined for the White House, and he didn’t handle it well.
Remember his enraged rant when he discovered his job approval rating had sunk to 13 percent?
“I f—ing busted my a– and p-ssed people off and gave your grandmother a free f—ing ride on a bus. OK? I gave your f—ing baby a chance to have health care. I fought every one of those —holes including every special interest out there. … And what do I get for that? Only 13 percent of y’all out there think I’m doing a good job. So f–k all of you!”
When I heard that, I immediately thought of another rant by a failed wannabe movie gangster, Fredo Corleone.
“I’m your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over!” Fredo screamed at Michael Corleone.
“That’s the way Pop wanted it,” Michael calmly responded.
“It ain’t the way I wanted it!” Fredo shouted back. “I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says, like dumb. I’m smart and I want respect!”
Fredo’s life ended not long afterward, shot in the back of the head at sundown while fishing with a “family” friend. Blagojevich’s political life ended not long after his rant was recorded, arrested by FBI agents at his home one morning before sunrise.
Like Fredo, Blagojevich was far too interested in the flashy life to take care of business, though both were convinced they were destined for greatness. Fredo’s botched shortcut up the family tree by helping a rival gangster try to kill his own brother undid him.
Blagojevich’s illegal shortcuts resulted in a 14-year prison sentence and permanent infamy.
So, maybe the former governor can console himself with the fact that he’s still alive.
Ryan is now serving his sentence of more than six years at a federal prison camp in Terre Haute, Ind., where he lives in dorm-style housing.
But Blagojevich might expect a more harsh situation, at least at first. Inmates sentenced to more than 10 years are generally sent to secured prisons, said Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Edmond Ross. [Emphasis added.]
* In other news, Scooter has urged Blagojevich to game the system…
Scott Fawell, the former chief of staff of a different convicted governor, George Ryan, is offering a tip on how Rod Blagojevich can cut his lengthy 14-year sentence.
The former governor may be able to make a request with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to take part in a substance abuse program.
Fawell said that’s what he did before going into prison.
“What you do is say that in between the time you’re sentenced and the time you report, you just couldn’t stop drinking,” Fawell said.
It shaved time off of Fawell’s 78-month sentence he received for corruption that happened while he worked for Ryan. He went through a nine-month program in prison, then got six months off in a halfway house plus one year of credit for doing the program. That’s on top of time off for good behavior.
“I didn’t want to do it at first. I said: ‘I’m going to save a little shred of dignity,’ ” he said. “But it’s the only game in town. It’s the only way you can get time off” in the federal system.
* Related…
* VIDEO: Jackson: I Didn’t Know Blago Had a Brother
* One reason why Congressman Joe Walsh announced his candidacy last night in Chicago instead of in the new 8th District is that almost nobody is backing him. From the Daily Herald…
[Rival 8th CD Republican, DuPage Regional Superintendent of Education Darlene Ruscitti] is expected to receive the support of several members of the Illinois Republican delegation over Walsh — including Roskam, the GOP chief deputy whip and 6th District congressman, and 13th District Congresswoman Judy Biggert of Hinsdale.
I had heard that Peter Roskam had told Walsh he’d be working against him. Walsh denied the rumor yesterday, but if the Daily Herald is right, then Roskam will be on the other side of this primary.
Illinois GOP officials later revealed that before that meeting, Walsh and [US House Speaker John] Boehner had had a sit-down about the district switch.
[Jack] Roeser said he called Boehner to encourage that meeting and provide Walsh with a financial incentive for doing so. A few minutes into that conversation, he said, Boehner tapped him for a $50,000 donation.
* Boehner’s meeting then translated into NRCC support…
In running from the newly-drawn 8th, Walsh wanted and apparently got some national backing. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions said: “Joe Walsh gives Republicans the best opportunity to win the 8th District.”
Cue the “pay to play” howling in five… four… three…
*** UPDATE *** Roeser’s people say he contributed the $50K at a June Boehner fundraiser, during which there was no talk of the Walsh move. The meeting with Speaker Boehner in November did not involve talk of financial support.
* Walsh Changes Course, Announces Run In 8th: “We are at war in this country…I went (to Washington) to stop this president. I went to go to war. The media and neither political party get it.” Walsh called his fight a “revolution to get our country back.”
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* Back to Rod for another number. Well, actually, it’s a date. Eric Zorn plotted Rod Blagojevich’s February 16 prison report date, factored in good time credit and then calculated the former governor’s release date…
While I will shed no tears for Blagojevich, I do believe that by the year 2020 a lot more folks will be asking themselves whether he still belongs in prison.
That, or they’ll have forgotten about him by then.
“It is a very stern sentence….It is a sad chapter and it is closed, the book is closed. “Illinois has to make sure that the world knows we have a reform governor who believes in honesty and integrity at all times,” Quinn told “Morning Joe.” Noting that former Gov. George Ryan was also in jail on corruption charges Quinn said, “we want to make sure this never happens again.”
* You could hear some great quotes in these two videos, but, wow are they full of the most vile and disgusting profanity ever. From a press release…
Tuesday evening, Matt Harrington, Campaign Director and Senior Advisor of several campaigns past and present, left threatening messages on the answering machine of State Representative Candidate Tom Swiss, including direct threats of physical attack.
“The insiders still haven’t received the message. They still feel entitled to all government positions. These phone messages are disturbing for two reasons. First, the threat of extreme violence and second the use of public resources for personal or political gain.”
Do not click those above links if you are offended by profanity or if listening to such things would get you in trouble at work. Seriously. Disturbing stuff.
* The folks at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation are making some bold claims these days. For instance, the Economist reports…
Katelyn Hancock, a spokesperson for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, says her state has been in competition with Illinois 43 times this year to win new investment—and won 40 times.
Already this year, 16 companies moved all or a portion of their operations from Illinois to Indiana, which the IEDC estimates brought the state 1,500 new jobs and more than $305.1 million in investment.
* I asked Gov. Pat Quinn’s spokespeople for a response and they didn’t directly dispute Indiana’s numbers…
Governor Quinn is focused on creating jobs and working hard to make Illinois an even more attractive place to do business not only in the Midwest, but globally. The Governor has an aggressive long-term strategy for bringing quality jobs to Illinois, which includes innovation, exports and foreign investment, business-friendly legislation, and addressing infrastructure needs. And we don’t need to exaggerate our success; the proof is in the numbers.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, from October 2010 to October 2011, Indiana lost 12,400 jobs, a 0.4 percent decline in employment. Illinois added 60,500 jobs in that same time period. Illinois added 30,000 jobs in October, more than any other state. Since January 2010, Illinois has added 108,100 jobs ranking Illinois first in the Midwest in job creation. Illinois is home to 10 companies in the Fortune 100, 19 in the top 250 and 31 in the top 500. Indiana, by contrast, has five in the top 500. While Illinois’ corporate tax rate is at 7 percent, Indiana’s corporate rate is 8.5 percent - 20 percent higher than Illinois).
However, our competition isn’t Indiana, it’s India. The Governor is focused on making sure Illinois remains competitive on a global scale. We’re in a National recession, this is a national issue that every state is facing. The reality is that Midwestern states need to work together more, not less, to market the region to global visitors and business. An approach that focuses on picking off a neighboring state’s business is short-sighted and is a losing strategy for our region.
“Right to work” is not a strategy to achieve economic progress and create jobs.
* An Indiana news story from last month suggests the Hoosiers are prone to exaggeration…
In his zeal to sell Hoosiers on a right-to-work bill, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, appears to be playing fast and loose with the facts about job creation in Indiana.
Several times this week, Bosma has proclaimed Indiana “the envy of the Midwest in our job-creation efforts,” and said if Indiana enacted a right-to-work law it would “remove the last barriers to job creation” and “help the quarter of a million unemployed Hoosiers get back to work.”
But far from being best in the Midwest, data released Tuesday by the U.S. Labor Department shows Indiana is not creating jobs; it’s losing jobs.
From October 2010 to October 2011, Indiana lost 12,400 jobs, a 0.4 percent decline in employment. The only state to do worse was Georgia, a right-to-work state, which lost 27,900 jobs, or 0.9 percent of employment year-to-year.
Each of Indiana’s neighboring states — Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky — all added jobs during that same period, including 60,500 jobs in Illinois and 48,900 jobs in Michigan.
None of those states has a right-to-work law.
* Indiana is so fervent about the idea of wooing CME Group that at least two towns are competing to host the company. Indianapolis is one, suburban Carmel is another…
CME Group appears to be the subject of a Nov. 3 letter from Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard. In it, Brainard offers $150 million in tax incentives, plus free land and expedited permits for an 800,000-square-foot headquarters, and a 425,000-square-foot “data center facility.”
* But despite the fact that the Board of Trade contributed heavily to Gov. Quinn’s campaign last year, Sen. Bill Brady has been an outspoken proponent of its tax cut…
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, says he believes a tax break deal to help CME Group, Sears and some small businesses can still be done by the end of the year.
The Illinois House overwhelmingly rejected the plan last week after the Senate passed the measure.
“I’ve had some discussions with some folks (in the House) that I’ve asked to step up and be leaders in the Chicago area to try to get this done,” Brady said.
You don’t see that too often in Illinois. So, whatever you think of the CME proposal, kudos to Brady.
The La Salle County Board will hold its January meeting at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Ottawa to accommodate those concerned about the plan to build a 315-acre sand mine next to the east entrance of Starved Rock State Park on private property.
If I ever leave here I hope never to return
If I get that van back, Man, the road I’m gonna burn
Right now my future’s in the hands of the boys down at Firestone
Stuck in Indianapolis feeling all alone
