* No more for me. Still a little sore from the wreck, so I’m hoping for a decent night’s rest. Haven’t had one in a week. Illinoize, as always, is in charge until Monday…
* And now, your moment of Zen. Watch that Illinois River flow with Bob Dylan…
What’s the matter with me,
I don’t have much to say,
Daylight sneakin’ through the window
And I’m still in this all-night cafe.
Walkin’ to and fro beneath the moon
Out to where the trucks are rollin’ slow,
To sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow.
*** 1:14 pm *** The last time I talked to the guy he sounded pretty fired up, even though he just had a parting of ways with his campaign manager. Strange days, these…
Dick Versace, the Democratic candidate for the 18th Congressional District, told the Journal Star in an exclusive interview today he is withdrawing from the race for personal reasons.
“I thank all who offered their support to me and respectfully ask for their understanding,” he said.
* 1:18 pm - Illinois GOP Chairman Andy McKenna responds to Versace’s announcement…
“Dick Durbin failed to recruit their first choice and celebrity power failed to work with their second choice. With a solid Republican district and strong Republican candidates, it will be difficult for any Democrat to win while Rod Blagojevich and his pals in Springfield are failing the people of Illinois at every turn.”
* 2:47 pm - The Politico weighs in with a good report, picking up on an important aspect that the Peoria paper missed in its scoop…
[Versace’s] withdrawal raises the possibility that Democrats will be unable to field a candidate on the ballot, as the filing deadline in Illinois already passed (on November 5). Yesterday was the last day candidates could file to be a write-in candidate. [for the primary]
“We’re going to see what the rules are,” said one Democratic staffer.
Pointing to Bill Lipinski’s underhanded move of retiring from the ballot after the primary and installing his son into the race, the Republicans had this to say…
“This could be Chicago-ward politics taking place in Central Illinois,” said an Illinois-based GOP operative. “Whoever comes in will have a cloud on their head hanging over them.”
And the national Repubs claimed victory…
“After all of their grandiose claims, it appears that Dick Versace has rejected the Democrats in Washington and is taking his and going home,” said Spain. Apparently, Dick Versace’s ride on the ‘Common Sense Express’ has led him to realize that the Democrats’ liberal policies and sagging approval rating don’t play well in Peoria.”
[Emphasis added]
*** 4:07 pm *** The Illinois Planned Parenthood Council endorses Bill Foster in the 14th CD Dem primary. John Laesch Kossack supporter enraged. Commenters confused.
…Adding… More hilarity as enraged confusion ensues in the above-mentioned comment section when several Kossacks can’t tell the difference between Illinois PP and the national group, and therefore bombard the wrong office with calls. The “machine” is blamed, as is Daley. Take a look at those links and you’ll see why I’m so proud of my commenters.
…Funniest Update Yet… Despite all the online screaming by some pretty kooky John Laesch supporters at DKos over Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Bill Foster, Larry helpfully reminds us that just last year Laesch refused contributions from abortion rights groups…
Even though Laesch says he is pro-abortion rights, he refuses to accept donations from pro-abortion rights political action committees.
“It’s too divisive,” he said.
LOL.
*** 7:00 pm *** Dick Versace’s statement…
“Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, I am announcing my withdrawal as a Democratic candidate for the congressional seat in this district.
“Over the course of this campaign it is clear to me that Illinois families are hungry for change and that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are fed up with President Bush and his failed policies. While I’m disappointed it’s not going to be me, this community deserves a leader that will stand up to Washington Republicans that are out of step with the real needs of this wonderful community.
“I thank everyone for their support and encouragement in this race, and I ask that you please respect my privacy and that of my family as we face this difficult personal issue.”
*** SATURDAY *** Former state Rep. Bill Edley says he’d consider being the replacement, according to Billy Dennis…
spoke by phone to former State Rep. Bill Edley a few moments ago. He was just as shocked as everyone else by Dick Versace’s decision to drop out of the race for Congress. In fact, he had sent a campaign donation to Versace’s campaign a week or so ealier.
But the former state representative might consider asking the county chairs of the Democratic Party in the 18th District to place his name on the ballot for the general election.
“I would think the Democrats would find many people Interested in running,” Edley said. “”If they don’t, I would consider it.”
I met Dave Kohn back when he flacked for Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood. Before that, Kohn was Congressman John Porter’s press secretary. He’s been around forever.
I’ve gotten to know Dave much better since he took a big job with the Union League Club, which has become my favorite spot in Chicago to stay and entertain pals. We try to get together whenever I overnight there during the week and last month was no exception.
Dave stopped by the club’s fantastic bar after work when I was there last and dropped off his band’s latest CD (Voodoo Pilot - “Good Luck Charm“). He asked me to give it a listen.
Now, I really like Dave, but he’s a Republican nearing middle age so I wasn’t exactly sure that I was gonna like his music. I looked at the CD jacket and saw that his entire band is filled with people you wouldn’t ever call “spring chickens.” But, what the heck, he’s a friend and I was in for a long drive, so I popped the CD into the player and headed down the road.
Wow.
I mean, wow.
OK, maybe it was my low expectations, but I was really blown away by “Good Luck Charm.” The thing is, even after several listens, I’m still hooked.
Go to the band’s MySpace page and listen to the first track, “Sandman Blues.” Actually, listen to them all. They’ve got an Allman Brothers/Grateful Dead feel in some of their tunes, with a Midwestern twist. The band describes their sound as “electric roots rock blues,” and that’s pretty accurate.
The homemade video of this Voodoo Pilot performance of “Blue Sky” doesn’t have the greatest production standards, but the jamming is mesmerizing and Kohn rocks on the drums…
Click the RealPlayer button to listen to “Dots Connected,” which, if there is justice in the world, ought to be getting some WXRT airplay…
Voodoo Pilot is not for teenagers. No headbanging here. The kiddies might not get into the laidback nature of many of Voodoo Pilot’s songs, but count me as a big fan. Here’s “Fortune Teller Blues”…
The band’s next gig is at Montrose Saloon (2933 W. Montrose) on Saturday, December 15th. Coincidentally, that’s the night before our holiday party, so I’ll be in town. If you can’t make it to the Sunday event, then just meet me at the Voodoo Pilot show Saturday night. I’ll buy you a beer or two. The show starts at 9.
They’re also looking at coming to Springfield soon. Any help with booking them would be appreciated. We’ll have another party for Springfield people if this ever gets worked out. I’ll keep you informed.
I’m thinking we should do an end of the year award thingy.
Believe it or not, I don’t want to make it snarky or negative. And I’d like to make this an annual thing, so the categories have to be broad. I’ll have certificates made up and somehow present them to the winners.
So, for instance, “Most independent state legislator” might be a category, or “Most effective rank and file state legislator” could also be an idea. “Least partisan US Congressman” could be something to ponder.
What I’d like you to do today is start brainstorming on categories. No snark. No negativity. Put some thought into it. We’ll start the voting next week.
* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board has probably been the least critical of Gov. Blagojevich et al than any other paper with wide readership in Illinois. The reason? Their Missouri governor and legislature are dominated by conservatives and the predicament drives them batty. Today, the ed board offered up this interesting bit of perspective on the mass transit mess…
Missouri citizens can only gawk with amazement, and perhaps envy, at all of this. In St. Louis, the perpetually strapped Metro transit system also faces service cutbacks next year. But Missouri’s rural-dominated legislature would sooner see St. Louis residents walk to work in the snow than part with an extra dime for Metro.
* Speaking of transit, former CTA president Frank Kruesi has been hired as Mayor Daley’s top lobbyist in Washington, DC. If he does as “well” in DC as he did in Springfield, Chicago will be bankrupt in two years. The man is not exactly a coalition builder.
* The Pantagraph editorialized today on how it wants to see a final legislative deal done. But two of their suggestions, listed one right after the other, tend to cancel each other out…
– Inclusion of projects in the statewide construction plan should be based on the need for the project, not the need for votes.
– Rank-and-file lawmakers should outline their suggestions and pressure their leaders to reach an agreement.
* Meanwhile, the governor held a press conference with a group of women with breast cancer to illustrate why he was trying to get around the General Assembly…
Cynthia Irvin and other women battling breast cancer came to the news conference to thank Blagojevich for ordering that Illinois tax dollars pay for their treatment.
“I want to thank the governor and the state of Illinois, ’cause I don’t know what would have happened to me if it wasn’t for them,” Irvin said.
The governor was showcasing the women’s plight as an example of why he’s ignoring the general assembly, which failed all year to approve his multi-billion dollar expansion of state-subsidized health insurance.
* He also lashed out at those who would try to stop him…
The governor is calling business leader Gidwitz, whose family owned a cosmetics company, a Scrooge for filing a lawsuit in the Christmas season to deprive women of health care when he has never had to worry about medical coverage.
“It’s mind boggling that the heir of a shampoo fortune would go out of his way to take health care away through the courts. And, yeah, it is Scrooge-like in many ways,” said Blagojevich.
“When you don’t have the facts on your side you resort to name calling. That’s what the governor is doing. It is not about health care. This is about the governor overstepping his authority,” said Gidwitz.
Ho Ho Ho: It must have been a bad case of “Bah, humbug!” that caused House Speaker Mike Madigan to hastily return the red holiday poinsettias sent by Gov. Blago to Madigan’s office.
• • The mistletoe trio: However, Xmas posies dispatched by Blago to the three tops — GOP Senate Leader Frank Watson, GOP House leader Tom Cross and Senate President Emil Jones — were readily accepted.
The trouble with that analysis is that Madigan no longer accepts gifts of any kind. That ended with the Gift Ban Act. He won’t even allow lobbyists to pick up a dinner tab. The Madigan people have asked for a retraction.
* During that bus trip I took with Gov. Blagojevich and his crew last spring, I had a long chat with Patti Blagojevich about her real estate business. She had a pretty good explanation for some of the deals we talked about, but it was clear to me - and I said so - that this business absolutely had to end. I was told later that she had wound down her real estate business and we wouldn’t be seeing any stories about recent deals.
Today’s Tribune story is about a 2004 deal. Hopefully, there won’t be too many more of these. Still, what’s done is done and the feds (like all humans, including reporters and blog commenters) often take their prejudices into a case…
In an interview this week with the Tribune, real estate agent Mary Bennett said FBI agents contacted her firm’s attorneys requesting she sit down with them. She said agents wanted her to explain why she agreed to add Patricia Blagojevich as a second agent in the 2004 sale of a home in the 1200 block of North Astor Street.
Bennett said she included Patricia Blagojevich at the request of the owner, John H. Simpson, an investment banker who has donated $97,000 to Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund since 2002. […]
Simpson, reached by telephone at his California office, declined to comment. Before moving, he worked at a Chicago investment firm that also used to employ U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a close ally of Gov. Blagojevich’s and the man who succeeded the governor in his seat in Congress. A check of state records indicates that neither Simpson nor his firm has any state contracts. […]
But the Tribune’s investigation into Patricia Blagojevich’s real estate dealings has documented a steady income — more than $200,000 — to the Blagojevich household from key political supporters, campaign fundraisers and state contractors since he was elected.
The problem for Mrs. Blagojevich in this particular instance is that she was belatedly added as a second agent. It just looks fishy.
Real estate is more about “who you know” than anything else. And who does Mrs. Blagojevich know? Well, she’s the daughter of a longtime and powerful alderman and the wife of a governor. That means she knows a ton of politicos. Unfortunately, some of those people may have used her to get to her husband, and then, of course, there’s the idle chatter around the campfire that the Blagojevich family was using the real estate business to take financial advantage of the governor’s position.
$200,000 over five years may seem like a lot of cash, but if they were selling out for that little I’d be surprised (although people have sold out for much less). Those commissions won’t even cover the legal bills.
Here’s the response from the governor’s office…
“No one — and I mean no one — has told us that she is under investigation, and there’s no reason she would be,” said Abby Ottenhoff in an e-mailed response to questions Thursday. “She has done nothing wrong.
Try to refrain from angry little “drive-by” blurts in comments. They annoy me and don’t move the discussion along. Thanks.
Obama’s showing [in South Carolina] has improved significantly among black voters. He now attracts 51% of the African-American vote in South Carolina while Clinton picks up just 27%. A month ago, the candidates were even in this important constituency […]
In the South Carolina survey, African-Americans constitute 49% of Likely Democratic Primary voters.
Let’s see… Could that February sage have been… Ummm… Me?
Next, you “experts” assume that just because viable, credible black candidates end up winning overwhelming majorities of black votes that polls currently showing Hillary Clinton leading Obama among African Americans are somehow important.
Wrong again.
In Illinois, at least, large numbers of black voters tend to take their time making up their minds. In political parlance, they ‘’break late.'’
Ten months before the March 2004 U.S. Senate primary (about where we are now before the Iowa caucuses), Obama’s own polls showed him winning just 34 percent of the black vote. About a month before the primary, African-American voters began ‘’breaking'’ in large numbers to his candidacy. As they began focusing on the campaign, black voters saw he was viable, liked his message and a significant percentage finally realized he was African American. He ended up winning just about all their votes.
This same pattern has been repeated time and time again during the past 25 years here. Harold Washington didn’t start off his campaign with the majority of black support against a white female with a huge war chest and the powers of patronage and incumbency, but he certainly ended that way.
Like Byrne, Hillary Clinton is almost universally known and has a strong record of backing issues important to many Democratic African-American voters. Obama is far less known. It’s perfectly natural that, right now, many black voters are siding with Clinton. But, if Obama’s candidacy remains viable through early next year, I’d bet that the vast majority of African-American voters will end up with him.
* Pretty much right on schedule, African-American voters are now breaking away from Clinton in a big way and are inching towards Obama in South Carolina - and it’s showing in the overall head-to-heads…
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Clinton with 36% of the vote while Obama is the top choice for 34% of the state’s Likely Primary Voters. A month ago, Clinton had a ten-point advantage. In September, the former First Lady was up by thirteen points.
If Obama remains viable (that is, if he doesn’t get blown out by voters, the media or strange turns of events in Iowa and/or New Hampshire) you can expect this trend among black voters to accelerate as the Jan. 26th primary approaches. South Carolina is where the campaign changes. No longer will the focus be on self-important, lily white rural/suburban enclaves. Minority voters will will play a much larger role
Critique this assessment and share your thoughts on Obama’s candidacy to date.
* President’s mortgage plan leaving families in the cold
* Press Release: AG Madigan responds to what the federal interest rate freeze means to Illinois homeowners
The President’s plan would exclude homeowners who have fallen behind in their monthly payments – estimated to be about 22 percent of all subprime borrowers – and homeowners whose loans’ low introductory teaser rates are scheduled to reset to higher rates before Jan.1, 2008.
“The President’s plan seems to be premised on the faulty belief that America’s homeowners are primarily to blame for this epic crisis,” said Madigan. “In reality, our investigations have revealed that subprime lenders widely engaged in reckless lending practices that pushed borrowers into unaffordable loans. By excluding homeowners who have fallen behind on their payments, the resident’s plan gives the subprime mortgage industry a free pass for engaging in irresponsible conduct, leading to this crisis.”
* ACLU jumps into suit over moment of silence law for schools
“The law is unconstitutional,” ACLU Legal Director Harvey Grossman said after receiving permission from U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman to become a so-called friend of the court in the lawsuit.
Grossman said the ACLU would file “an exhaustive brief” with Gettleman providing the reasons why the law violates the Constitution.
A survey of several public universities found fewer than 300 students are taking advantage of the benefit this year, which is less than the more than 2,200 students who had been projected to qualify…
Illinois is among 10 states that have laws on the books allowing for cheaper, in-state tuition rates for students who are the children of undocumented immigrants.
In signing the measure into law in 2003, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said giving undocumented students equal footing in the education process will help more young people go on to “achieve their full potential.”
It appears Illinois is following a national trend when it comes to teens having babies. In what has been described as a “troubling reversal,” the nation’s teen birthrate rose 3 percent between 2005 and 2006. Preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control show the percentage of Illinois teens giving birth rose to 10 percent last year, up from 9.7 percent in 2005.
Both figures are a switch from recent years, in which the percentage has been steadily dropping.
* Mysterious candidate survives challenge to replace Hastert, will stay on ballot
The board offered no discussion before voting 6-0 to follow a hearing officer’s recommendation to strike the objections filed by two men in November.
Neither Dilger nor objectors Jon Zahm and Jeff Davis appeared during the brief hearing at the Thompson Center. Dilger did not respond to e-mails seeking comment on Thursday.
“There’s not much to say about it. I wasn’t going to take another trip to Chicago for it,” said Zahm, a Maple Park-based political consultant.
Davis, a paid consultant with Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis’ campaign, could not be reached for comment.
*** IMPORTANT UPDATE *** As I said twice below, don’t jump to too many conclusions here. I just spent some time on the phone with someone close to Joe Cari, and this AP story may seem groundbreaking at first, but maybe it ain’t.
Remember, Cari has already pled guilty and he’ll be testifying for the feds in Tony Rezko’s trial under oath. So, when I hear that there was nothing untowards about that meeting with Blagojevich (although there was, indeed, plenty that seems untowards about the alleged stuff that the governor and his pals did), then we should probably walk this AP story back a bit.
“Joe does not have a memory of whether he set the meting up. He thinks one of his law partners set it up. The meeting had to do with hospitals in Illinois. One of his partners represented a number of hospitals across the state, and he represented a handful of hospitals. The meeting was related to hospitals in the state. It had nothing to do with anything.”
I may have more in a bit. Just take a deep breath and watch the show as it plays out.
*** ANOTHER IMPORTANT UPDATE *** This is from Joe Cari’s spokesman. It’s quite the quote…
“There was a heavy interest in a period of time by the Blagojevich people to get Joe on the team to raise money. That recruitment effort - late 2003 and 2004 - was led by Tony Rezko, Chris Kelly, Stu Levine and Gov. Blagojevich. Joe politely declined every request, saying he had retired from politics.”
Interesting.
Although he is a Democrat, Cari had helped Jim Ryan’s 2002 campaign against Blagojevich. Levine, a close Jim Ryan pal, was probably instrumental in pointing Cari out as someone the Blagojevich crowd should bring into the fold.
———————————————-
*** 12:27 pm *** Obviously, this doesn’t look good, but let’s not jump to too many conclusions today…
Records show a Democratic fundraiser who pleaded guilty in a state pension scandal met with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just weeks before he attempted to shake down a firm seeking state business.
Blagojevich’s appointment calendar was reviewed by The Associated Press. It shows Joseph Cari met with the governor at his state office in Chicago on March 16th, 2004.
Cari admitted he attempted to pressure a firm in May of 2004 to pay a sham consulting fee before it could get state pension business. It was part of a scheme to raise campaign cash for a high-level officeholder.
Fifty-two-year-old Joe Cari was a behind-the-scenes political player who raised big bucks for democrats.
In a seventeen-page plea agreement, Cari admitted telling an investment firm that it had to hire a politically-connected consultant or else it would not get a multi-million dollar deal with the State Teachers Retirement System.
Cari told the feds he did that for his law firm’s client, the now-disgraced Stuart Levine. Then a pension board member, Levine’s now facing trial on two separate indictments, allegedly having stolen millions of dollars.
Cari said Levine told him: “A high-ranking Illinois public official/Public Official A” acting through two close associates was selecting consultants for the investment firms that appeared before the Teachers Pension Fund. Levine said this was part of a fundraising strategy by Public Official A and that Public Official A and his associates were going to pick law firms, investment banking firms, and consultants that would help Public Official A with campaign contributions.
Sources tell CBS 2 News they believe Public Official A is Governor Rod Blagojevich and the two associates are Blagojevich fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin Tony Rezko.
Right after the governor’s election, he assigned Kelly and Rezko to recruit and screen candidates for his cabinet, as well as hundreds of policy-making positions.
*** UPDATE 2 *** More background on Cari’s connections to Stu Levine, Chris Kelly and Rod Blagojevich from a column I wrote a while back…
Blagojevich’s role in all of these allegations - and they are still allegations - is still not totally clear. We do know that Levine paid to fly Blagojevich and his top people out to New York on two separate occasions for fundraising events. Also on the trip were admitted felon Joe Cari and Chris Kelly, who flatly denies he has ever done anything wrong, as has Cellini, as has Rezko.
The governor raised about $120,000 in campaign contributions on the first trip and a few weeks later the contributors got some big state contracts. The governor says this was all a coincidence.
There are a lot of coincidences in this administration. For instance, the governor initially claimed it was just a coincidence that two friends of Tony Rezko each ponied up $25,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund right around the time the governor appointed them to a state board that governs hospitals. Turns out, that board was more crooked than anything George Ryan was ever accused of. Stu Levine was reappointed to the board by the governor and then proceeded to cut all sorts of corrupt deals. Tony Rezko was also allegedly in on the scam at that board.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Also, you may recall, the alleged pension fund scheme wasn’t the only shadey bidness in which Cari claims he was involved with Blagojevich. Here’s another one of my newspaper columns…
Cari told prosecutors and Firm 4 that he had been through this sort of thing before with Public Official A [whom sources say is Blagojevich].
“Cari said that his private equity firm had agreed to hire a consultant in order to get funding from another State board.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Cari was also an issue in a California campaign involving Democratic Comptroller Steve Westly. Here’s part of a script from a TV ad run by Westley’s opponent last year…
“This is Joe Cari,” the narrator intones. “He’s a corrupt Chicago businessman who gave Steve Westly thousands in campaign contributions.”
Westly’s picture appears, and the narrator continues: “Westly then steered public pension funds to Joe Cari’s investment company….
UPDATE - One of Cari’s advisors just told me that Westley’s opponent was eventually embarrassed by the ads because it turned out that he, himself, had hounded Cari for contributions and fundraising help for months.
Obviously, having a record of a meeting with this figure is not something that seems all that favorable to Gov. Blagojevich. But, again, let’s not jump to too many conclusions today. Thanks.
*** UPDATE 5 *** One other thing to remember here. Cari has promised to cooperate with the feds, so it’s highly likely that he’ll be testifying in Tony Rezko’s upcoming federal trial. We could find out a lot more then about what went on in that alleged meeting with Blagojevich. [See the update at the top for more on this point.]
* Purchase tickets here for the December 16th performance of “No-El, Or How the Blagojegrinch Stole Christmas” - Our Capitol Fax holiday party
* Also, thanks for all your kind words in yesterday’s QOTD. It’s good to know that you’re concerned.
* And another thing as long as we’re talking about reminders.
I’ve been updating my YouTube site a lot lately, so go check it out. Two of the videos added today are about the upcoming statewide smoking ban and whether Illinois should hold a Constitutional Convention.
I also have indivdual playlists on various topics…
Sneed hears Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart will announce a crackdown on illegal gambling today stemming from raids Wednesday on suburban taverns.
To wit: The raids were on taverns that allegedly made illegal payouts to patrons gambling on video poker machines. The probe is in part the result of a desperate family who claims a loved one lost $60,000 on illegal video poker this year alone.
Upshot: Watch for Dart to urge the General Assembly to oppose casino expansion in Illinois.
* Question: Have you ever played video poker at a tavern? And, do you think such gambling should be legalized? Explain.
Blagojevich, who was roundly criticized last week for attending a hockey game in Chicago while the Illinois House was defeating a transit bill in Springfield, points out that Daley is traveling to Italy this week instead of joining the fight for a transit bill.
“It would be very helpful to have the mayor help us during crunch time to get the legislature to pass a solution for the Chicago Transit Authority,” the governor said.
While a good point, it’s probably not the best idea Blagojevich has ever had. Daley said he’d be back soon and didn’t expect anything to happen between now and then.
* Blagojevich went on to criticize Speaker Madigan…
Daley’s trip and Madigan’s refusal to attend high-level summit meetings is infuriating the governor, who launched into an expletive-filled tirade against the mayor and the speaker after ABC7’s taped interview. Blagojevich said he is wondering why everybody criticizes every move he makes while the other leaders seemingly get a pass.
Again, another good point, but it looks awful whiney. [Emphasis added]
* After tossing hizzoner to the wolves, the governor hopes to get his cooperation…
“I intend to call Mayor Daley (Thursday) and ask him to go with me to Springfield early next week to lobby the legislature and get this done,” Blagojevich said. “I hope to have a long conversation with him (Thursday) about this.”
* Apparently, the guv did interviews with three of the four “major” network affiliates. No such luck for Channel 2, which did the big expose on him last week that’s gotten Blagojevich into so much trouble. Fox News Chicago also scored an interview. Watch their story here.
In that story, Daley clearly states that transit funding should not be linked to gaming expansion. But he did say during his press conference yesterday that capital projects are very important. You can listen at WBEZ or below…
[audio:cityroom_20071205_newsintern_Chic.mp3]
* More stories, compiled by Paul…
* Daley demands stop to CTA doomsday merry-go-round
* Daley, union pushing for a transit fix by year’s end
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones assured a Chicago civic group that lawmakers want to bail out the Chicago Transit Authority.
But Jones says lawmakers shouldn’t be blamed for the CTA’s financial crisis, which he says was caused by years of mismanagement.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From an IL GOP press release…
In light of yesterday’s news report that Rod Blagojevich launched into an “expletive filled tirade” against Mayor Daley and Speaker Madigan over the never-ending transit crisis, the Illinois Republican Party today is launching a statewide soap drive to help clean up the Governor’s language — and the mess in Springfield. […]
All Illinoisans are invited to send as much soap as they choose to the Illinois Republican Party offices in Springfield or Chicago. At the end of the drive, the soap will be donated to local homeless shelters. The soap drive will run through December 20
The governor’s recent raiding of funds has emptied the state’s Coal Development Fund and Southern Illinois legislators believe the money won’t be seen again this year.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich used $10.2 million from the coal fund as part of a $27 million bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority and the Regional Transit Authority in the Chicago area last month. Susan Hofer, spokeswoman for the governor’s office of management and budget, said the movement of funds would not impact any current projects or programs. […]
The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has distributed more than $5 million in grants from the coal fund in each of the past two fiscal years, and Blagojevich set aside $17 million from the fund in June 2006 as part of an incentive program to attract the FutureGen project, a zero-emissions power plant. Two central Illinois cities, Mattoon and Tuscola, are among four finalists for the plant’s construction site against two Texas sites.
* And here’s another problem. The state collects a host of local taxes and then distributes them back to local governments (after taking a cut in most cases). But some of those checks haven’t been cut lately and that’s causing discomfort…
[The city of Bloomington] is waiting to receive more than $1 million in payments from the state for its portion of the income tax, but the checks have not been sent by Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office.
With the city’s cash reserves already strapped, city Finance Director Brian Barnes said the city will have a hard time paying its bills.
“We could run into a major cash flow problem if this keeps up,” Barnes said.
The City Council already has been struggling to cut a $3 million deficit from its $75 million proposed budget for next year.
The reason for the delay? There’s usually a cash-flow pinch in December, but it’s much worse this year, so the state is passing down its problems to the locals. Wonderful.
* You may recall that one of the items that Gov. Blagojevich vetoed from the state budget was operating cash for public television and radio. While not the sole source of WTVP Peoria’s current crisis, that veto didn’t help matters much. Bank of America is threatening to foreclose on a big loan next month and sell the station off in pieces…
Starting tonight, Peoria’s public television station wants your support like never before.
WTVP-TV Channel 47 needs $6.9 million - or enough, they hope, to satisfy Bank of America - by Jan. 15.
“They’ve indicated to us unless they’re paid they will put everything up for sale in one fell swoop or sell it in pieces, whichever is to their advantage,” WTVP president and CEO Chet Tomczyk said. “In which case, we go dark.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Comptroller Dan Hynes’ website comes this dire warning…
All state agencies, employees, state vendors and payees should be advised that the current delays affecting payments out of the state’s General Revenue Fund (GRF) are expected to continue and likely lengthen throughout the remainder of calendar year 2007 and into calendar year 2008.
Under optimal revenue conditions, or for payments from non-GRF funds, the Office of the Comptroller (IOC) can issue a warrant within 2-4 days after a proper voucher is presented to our office. However currently, substantially more GRF bills or vouchers have been submitted to the IOC than incoming revenues or cash on hand permits to be processed on a timely basis We do not anticipate that there will be sufficient GRF revenues to significantly reduce current payment backlogs for the near future.
Please note that while agency payrolls should not be impacted by these conditions, the majority of other payments out of the General Revenue Fund will continue to be delayed due to the lack of sufficient and/or timely revenues. At this time, these delays are in excess of 30 business days and are expected to increase over the next several months.
The state of Illinois is $1.6 million behind in paying the city of Springfield its cut of state income taxes, a problem that is growing statewide, according to Alan Henry, a spokesman for state Comptroller Dan Hynes.
“It’s about insufficient receipts to meet the state’s obligations,” Henry said. “Historically around now, the volume of bills exceeds revenue. That’s exacerbated by what appears to be a slowing of receipts.
* Democrats have been paranoid for weeks that Cindy Ardis-Jenkins was merely a placeholder in the race to replace state Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Perioa). Schock is running for Congress and is therefore abandoning his House seat. Ardis-Jenkins is the sister of Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. Local Dems have been convinced that if Schock loses the congressional primary race then Ardis-Jenkins would bow out of the state Rep. race. That may paranoia may be unfounded considering this very interesting development…
[Peoria] Mayor Jim Ardis pledged his support for 18th Congressional District candidate and Heartland Partnership CEO Jim McConoughey on Wednesday, labeling him as the “most experienced and proven leader” to fill the vacancy.
Ardis, who serves as mayor for the largest city in the district, is asking those who voted for him to vote for McConoughey in the Feb. 5 primary.
“Jim McConoughey is by far the best choice among the three and understands what role our congressman needs to have in this community,” Ardis said in a news release.
Despite all his early missteps and the fact that retiring Congressman Ray LaHood has so far not endorsed him, plus the mayor of the district’s largest city backing one of his two opponents, and the fact that such a young candidate doesn’t even appear to have a campaign website yet, Schock should probably still be considered the frontrunner. He’s been on the air in a big way with well-produced TV ads, for instance, and he seems by far to be the candidate who will do whatever it takes to win when crunch time comes.
* Meanwhile, Fako & Associates (an Illinois polling firm) has a must-read post over at Illinoize…
Around this time of year you’ll start to notice newspapers reporting “re-elect” numbers in their headlines and press releases and fundraising memos from candidates stating Congressman XX has a re-elect number of only XX% (Always way below 50%). […]
Beware of these numbers when reported on their own, without other supporting information.
“Re-elect” questions, in our experience, usually reflect suppressed levels of support for candidates and don’t show a true status of an incumbent’s re-election standing. For example, in 2006 we polled in a Midwestern congressional district for a prospective challenger. The incumbent had a very low (26%) re-elect number, but that same official had nearly a 50% positive job approval rating and a personal favorability rating that was twenty points higher than the re-elect assessment. We’ve seen similar discrepancies between re-elect questions and other incumbent assessment items in our surveys and other polls throughout the years.
The “Re-Elect” question, in its various forms, should never be interpreted on its own as the tell-tale sign of an incumbent’s prospects. It should only be factored in the evaluation when it is accompanied by related questions whose data also support its conclusion.
Keep that in mind when you read upcoming poll stories. Go read the whole thing. It’s worth a minute of your time.
* This isn’t exactly a congressional story, but it involves a congressman….
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. teamed up with organized labor earlier this year to help send his wife and several other newcomers to the City Council. But he resisted union pressure to drop support for longtime ally Howard Brookins Jr., even though Brookins, the 21st Ward alderman, was a labor target for opposing the big-box minimum-wage ordinance.
“I’ve known Howard Brookins all my life,” Jackson said before aldermanic runoff elections in April. “I’m not going to lose my friendship with him over a political issue.”
But Brookins has just found out that friendship doesn’t always translate into political support.
The alderman is now fighting five others for the Democratic nomination for Cook County state’s attorney, but he’ll have to campaign without the endorsement of Jackson. Brookins says his old friend told him recently that he’ll be supporting another candidate, most likely Cook County commissioner Larry Suffredin, because the congressman refuses to back anyone allied with Cook County Board president Todd Stroger or commissioner William Beavers. Beavers is now running against Jackson’s wife, alderman Sandi Jackson, for Democratic committeeman of the Seventh Ward.
* More endorsements for Congressman Lipinski’s opponents…
Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool endorsed Mark Pera, an assistant county prosecutor from Western Springs. Claypool, who has positioned himself as a reformer, said Pera would be “an independent leader.”
In the southwest suburbs, Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett claimed that several dozen of his suburban mayoral colleagues were backing him. The list included Ed Zabrocki of Tinley Park, who confirmed he’s backing Bennett. A couple others didn’t call back today.
* More congressional stories….
* Double election, double the work - New petitions needed to replace Hastert
* Huckabee gets last spot on ballot for Illinois GOP primary
* FCC chair gets Congressional scold - Martin takes heat for rushing ownership vote
* Chicago Public Radio: Green party looking to gain credibility through Illinois primary
*** UPDATE 1 *** I somehow missed Bernie’s column today. As I told you above, Aaron Schock is already running TV ads. One of the claims in the ad I’ve seen is that he “Passed 13 bills.” This isn’t an accurate count on several levels. First, Bernie found, Schock actually passed 22 bills out of the House, but ony 13 of those made it to the governor’s desk. And then there’s this…
Five of the bills that ultimately were sent to the governor were originally introduced by Schock. The other eight were Senate bills that were sponsored by Schock when they arrived in the House. […]
“When I say I passed a bill, that means carrying it through the House,” he said. “What I can control as a state rep in the House chamber is to get my colleagues” to approve the legislation. “Those are the terms we’ve used in the last four years” to describe how many bills he’s passed.
That spin may be open to interpretation, but it’s definitely not completely honest. And there’s more…
Of the 13 Schock bills that passed both houses, the votes on all but one were unanimous or nearly unanimous, indicating they were not the kind of emotion-filled issues that make for long debates
I’m positive that the Peoria Journal-Star will mention these discrepancies.
“It’s probably one of the most reformed child welfare systems in the nation,” said Erwin McEwen, who was officially appointed to the agency’s top job Wednesday, after more than a year as acting director.
Now, McEwen said, it is time to look hard at how the reforms are playing out, and find the weak links in the system. He has spent much of the last year investigating child deaths, poring through records to figure out who allowed it to happen, and look for patterns of breakdown
* Durbin pushes plan to help foreclosure crisis in Illinois
* Editorial: Officials need to put I-80 widening on the front burner
By 2030, New Lenox’s population will grow fivefold and top 100,000, according to figures from Chicago-area urban planners. Frankfort’s population will increase more than sixfold to 67,000. Mokena’s will double to 27,000. Orland Park and Tinley Park combined will have more than 130,000 residents. And Homer Glen, a town that didn’t exist the last time the United States took an official census, will have more than 40,000 people, according to projections.
* Clout Corner: Trucking magnate who swore off city business gets $57 million snow removal deal
Three years ago, when the Sun-Times revealed that Bridgeport trucking magnate Michael Tadin’s companies took in the most money from the scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program, Tadin said he was done working for the city.
But now Tadin’s M.A.T. Leasing has won a city contract for “emergency rental of heavy-duty snow removal equipment” — $57.3 million over five years.
I was in an auto accident Saturday afternoon. We were heading to Chicago to see the 50th anniversary concert for the Old Town School of Folk Music during that big ice storm. Just north of Pontiac, I hit the slickest patch of ice I’ve ever seen and wound up in the median ditch. Oops.
We were both wearing our seat belts so neither of us was hurt beyond some minor bruises, even though I did total the car. Five minutes after our wreck, a car driving south on the frontage road hit an ice patch and flipped four times. The driver was apparently not wearing his belt and he was thrown from his vehicle and died almost instantly.
Usually, I like to keep my private life private. It’s really none of your business what I do or what happens to me when I’m not working. But I’ve been thinking all week that maybe if I show you a photo of my car, it’ll convince some of the recalcitrants out there to wear their freakin’ seat belts, so here it is…
Again, we weren’t hurt other than a bit of soreness. It could have been much worse if we were stupid enough not to wear our belts.
So, on to the question: Do you ever go beltless? Why? Also, do you have any friends or family members who refuse to wear their belts? What’s their excuse?
* I told you yesterday about the lawsuit filed by business groups to stop the governor from ignoring the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ vote to block his emergency rules to greatly expand health care programs. How did the governor’s office react? Well, by shifting into partisan campaign mode, of course…
The Blagojevich administration issued a written statement blasting the lawsuit as the work of “Republican activists.”
“It’s unfortunate that two prominent Republican activists would go to court to take health care away from families,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said in the statement. “President Bush wouldn’t even go to those lengths. Every Democratic leader in Illinois should join us in fighting this lawsuit and help protect the hardworking people who rely on us for health coverage so they can keep seeing a doctor.”
“Every Democratic leader in Illinois should join us in fighting this lawsuit and help protect the hardworking people who rely on us for health coverage so they can keep seeing a doctor,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said in an e-mail.
This is the first time, lawmakers note, that Blagojevich has disregarded an action by the 12-member panel, which he strengthened several years ago by giving it the power to permanently block rules sought by the administration.
Previously, such actions had to be ratified by the entire General Assembly.
Ottenhoff said the administration’s track record of obeying the panel’s rulings is “irrelevant” and insisted that the panel’s votes on rules are merely advisory.
He signed a law to specifically allow JCAR to block his emergency rules and then claims it can’t. Amazing.
* I told subscribers about this next development earlier this week, and the Trib buries it way down in their story today…
Lawmakers are watching the suit closely, saying its outcome could greatly shape the way future laws are written. It also could force legislators to rewrite many existing statutes to prevent state agencies from hiking fees or taking other major actions that would normally require approval from the rule-making committee that shot down Blagojevich’s health-care expansion, they said.
Bills are gonna get really, really long and detailed if legislators have to write the rules as well.
* Both of these endorsements are important in a Democratic primary, and neither will come with a whole lot of cash….
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday he will back Geneva scientist Bill Foster, and the Illinois AFL-CIO announced its support for Yorkville carpenter John Laesch in the 14th Congressional District Democratic primary election.
“As a scientist and businessman, Bill Foster will be a voice for common sense solutions in Congress,” Durbin said in a statement. “I’m proud to lend him my support and I look forward to working with Bill Foster to bring an end to the war in Iraq, pass affordable health care for all Americans and end our dependence on foreign oil.”
On Feb. 5, Foster will compete with Laesch, Genevan Joe Serra and St. Charles attorney Jotham Stein for the Democratic nomination to fill the seat formerly held by Rep. Dennis Hastert. […]
Also on Tuesday, the state AFL-CIO announced its backing for Laesch, who ran against Hastert in the 2006 general election.
The AFL-CIO listed the union carpenter among a group of national and local candidates the organization said “have long track records of standing up for workers’ rights, workplace safety, education, healthcare for all, fair trade and corporate accountability.”
Laesch is probably still struggling to gain some credibility after his gaffe-filled race in 2006, so the endorsement will help a lot. Foster has a hill to climb on name recognition, which Laesch already has because of the ‘06 bid, so the Durbin endorsement will help there.
* Meanwhile, Jim Oberweis was interviewed this week…
“I think there’s pretty good name recognition for the Oberweis name,” Oberweis said. “In fact, as I go door to door, It’s not unusual for people to, before I’m able to introduce myself, say ‘I know you.’”
I wonder what they say right after that. Anyway, back to the interview…
“As I’ve gone door to door, I’ve asked people what’s on their mind, and I really expected the war in Iraq to be the number one issue, and it wasn’t,” Oberweis said. “In fact, illegal immigration was the number one issue on people’s minds. I would say I get more questions on illegal immigration than on all other issues combined.”
People often hear what they want to hear, but he’s walking doors and I’m not, so I’ll take his word for it.
“I’m really an entrepreneur. I have really spent my life in business,” Oberweis said. “I’m not really a politician, and I never will be a politician.”
The jokes write themselves.
Oberweis is also attempting to assume the mantle of Denny Hastert, as this quote makes obvious…
Besides vying for the 14th Congressional seat, Oberweis also has run for state governor and [US] senate. He said he became interested in politics after Hastert encouraged him to run for [US] senate.
“My response was, ‘Well if Denny Hastert asks me to run and Peter Fitzgerald wants me to run and other Republicans want me to run, sure.’ I thought that was my way of saying no. But, two days later, I got a call from Denny Hastert asking me to get involved,” Oberweis said. “Since then, I have learned more. I have become more discouraged with the condition of the Republican party in Illinois, and I have become more and more committed to helping change that direction and trying to get candidates who are involved to serve the public instead of people who are involved to make money off of politic
Oberweis also promised to build an ice cream shop in the DeKalb-Sycamore area.
* In other news…
* Seals Beats Out Footlik For AFL-CIO Primary Endorsement
* Democrat Scott Harper Gets AFL-CIO Endorsement In IL-13
* Jill Morgenthaler Gets Key Labor Endorsement In IL-6
* Many of us have been impressed with the way Alexi Giannoulias has handled himself as state treasurer. But his family’s bank is gonna dog him for a long while, I think. Today’s Sun-Times story is headlined “Alexi the amnesiac?”…
llinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was accused Tuesday of evading questions and playing a “game” about what he knew about a $1 million bank loan he gave in 2002 to an 86-year-old, “feeble-minded” woman.
Giannoulias was loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank when he agreed to give the loan to Loren Billings, who once ran the city’s Museum of Holography. She had applied for the loan with co-signers who had a history of fraud. Billings’ family is now suing the bank.
Giannoulias testified he had concerns about the co-signers and approved the loan only after their names were removed. Still, Billings’ family says that within a day of Giannoulias cutting her a check, more than half of it was made out to a firm those co-signers were associated with, GnXpert Neural Technologies. […]
Later testimony revealed Billings can’t fill out basic forms on her own, though Giannoulias testified “she was confident in what she was doing” and given that she was willing to mortgage her business and home on the loan, “it would be a prudent loan.”
Giannoulias was the loan officer on the Billings loan, although he had only been working full-time at the bank for about a month. He testified Tuesday that he did not recall whether he personally investigated Billings’ financial records but that he believed other bank officials most likely had done so.
He appeared largely unruffled during about three hours of questioning, though he frequently could not remember details, often repeating, “Again, that was five years ago.”
At one point, William Cook, an attorney for Kasprazak, protested about what he called Giannoulias’ “evasive dodging” on whether the loan was prudent.
Giannoulias eventually agreed that if the loan were based only on Billings’ tax return information, “I’m not sure it would be a prudent loan.” But Broadway Bank attorney Damon Cheronis argued that the question was not proper.
In a statement released Tuesday, bank officials argued that the lawsuit was “fraught with baseless claims and factual errors” and that they expected to prevail.
Billings “clearly understood the terms of the loan,” bank officials said in the statement.
For the last eight months, paychecks for hundreds of teachers and staff have arrived late or were short — sometimes by hundreds of dollars. And 1,600 teachers who retired in June have been getting estimated pension checks, rather than the exact amount, with as many as 650 getting much less than they are due, the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Board says.
All because CPS can’t figure out how to work the $17 million payroll system it launched in March.
* Six Dems vyign for State’s Attorney post square off
During the 100-minute exchange, the candidates also addressed a wide range of other issues, including how to handle low-level drug offenders, jail overcrowding and the county’s current budget impasse. The Democratic primary is wide-open, with a large field of candidates and no endorsement by the county party.
On the Republican side, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica of Riverside, who unsuccessfully ran for board president last year, is running against Edward Barron, an Orland Park attorney.
* State cries foul after getting refurbished copiers
The hit on taxpayers after the transaction with Brooklyn, New York-based M&M Computers is pegged at an estimated $165,217.
The copiers, which had been targeted for use at the Illinois Department of Transportation, were put in storage pending legal review.
* The Tribune had this bit today on Hillary Clinton’s latest attack on Barack Obama…
[Clinton] also raised a new front on the issue of Obama’s use of “present” votes — rather than “yes” and “no” votes — on legislation when he was in the Illinois Senate, including on measures that dealt with Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion rights. […]
Obama has defended his “present” votes on abortion-related bills in the Illinois legislature, contending it was part of a strategy fashioned with abortion-rights advocates to help give some Illinois Senate Democrats political cover and to avoid looking harsh by casting “no” votes that would create a re-election risk.
But the Tribune earlier this year found few lawmakers remembered such a strategy and many of those who joined with Obama to vote present were, like him, in politically safe districts.
* Maybe only a few members the Tribune contacted remember this ploy, but I do. It was specifically designed by Planned Parenthood to counter Republican Senate President Pate Philip’s barrage of hot-button abortion bills that he was continually trying to ram through the Senate in 2001 and 2002. The Tribune missed the point - and by not contacting the groups involved, flubbed the story.
Besides passing bills he supported, Pate’s idea was to cause a controversy by splitting “moderate” Democrats away from the abortion rights groups, thereby causing a rift on that side, and, more imporantly, to put some political targets on the hot seat. So, as they also did in the House a few years back, Planned Parenthood was encouraging “Present” votes by some of their more loyal members in order to encourage the moderates to vote that way as well.
* For instance, Senate Bill 1661, introduced in 2002, would have created the “Induced Birth Infant Liability Act.”
Provides that, if a child is born alive after an induced labor abortion or other abortion, a parent of the child or the public guardian may maintain an action on the child’s behalf for damages…
The bill passed with 31 votes, but it received 11 Present votes. Among those voting “P” were Republican Senators Christine Radogno and Adeline Geo-Karis. Moderate Democrats voting “P” were Molaro and Viverito. Sen. Pat Welch, a perennial political target who was finally defeated in 2004, also voted Present.
A companion bill, SB 1662, was also hugely controversial at the time…
Defines “born-alive infant” to include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.
The roll call on that proposal was pretty much the same as the other one.
* Was the strategy a success? Planned Parenthood claims it was, but the bills still passed the Senate and not all politically vulnerable people stuck to the program. Sen. Debbie Halvorson voted “No” on both of those bills in 2002, when she was up for reelection, but voted “Present” the year before on pretty much the same legislation, SB 1094 and SB 1095
* Pam Sutherland of Planned Parenthood said today that Pate Philip “couldn’t use those votes against the moderates or against pro-choice people.” Sutherland also slammed Clinton. “Having come from Illinois, she doesn’t understand Illinois politics.” And Sutherland had this to say in today’s Sun-Times…
“The poor guy is getting all this heat for a strategy we, the pro-choice community, did,” said Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council.
Also, none of those aforementioned bills made it to a floor vote in the House, a development that surprised and angered some pro-life activists who had believed that Speaker Madigan was an ally, or at least a sympathizer. It shows you just how controversial these bills were, because Madigan had allowed pro-life bills to the floor before that package of legislation was introduced.
* Despite all this, Present votes, particularly repeated Present votes, are almost always fair game in campaigns. I’ve seen them used time and time again. So Clinton’s attack is perfectly understandable and within the bounds of political tradition (unlike that kindergarten nonsense), even if her facts are off on this one. The Tribune’s coverage played right into her hands.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Perhaps the Tribune should have looked at their own paper’s archives. Eric Zorn covered this very same issue well over three years ago…
“To provide cover for other Democrats who were shaky on the issue in an effort to convince them not to vote `yes,’” Sutherland said. “The idea is to recruit a group to vote `present’ that includes legislators who are clearly right with the issue.”
Sutherland said this tactic makes the “present” vote look less like a hedge or a cop-out and more like a constitutional concern or other high-minded qualm.
The irony is that pro-life groups in Illinois attacked him for killing later versions of these bills when he was a Committee Chair by not letting them out of committee.
Last year, however, BAIPA regained prominence when State Senator Barack Obama’s vote against allowing babies born alive to be deemed as “persons” made statewide headlines during his run for U.S. Senate. Republican candidate Alan Keyes repeatedly told the press he accepted the invitation to come from Maryland to run against Obama based primarily on Obama’s vote on the BAIPA while in the State Senate.
Obama recently stated that if the state legislation were to be identical to the federal language, he would vote for passage.
He went on to say, “I believe that position should be the one Democrats should take,” [pro-life activist Jill Stanek] reports Obama said to her in January while on a visit to the Capitol.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Zorn has now reposted his entire column on this issue. It had disappeared from the Intertubes, but you can read it here…
Obama’s “present” vote on that bill is one Hull is attacking him for in a flier decorated with rubber duckies.
Sutherland just laughs. “We also had [Democratic Senate leader] Emil Jones, [current Atty. Gen.] Lisa Madigan, Miguel del Valle, Rickey Hendon and other very strong pro-choice legislators voting `present’ on that one,” she said. “It was all done to pull `present’ votes off the fence.”
Obama confirmed Sutherland’s account of the legislative strategy and said, “No one was more active to beat back those bills than I was.”
“Criticizing Obama on the basis of `present’ votes indicates you don’t have a great understanding of the process,” said Thom Mannard, director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
* 12:20 pm - For the second day in a row Speaker Madigan did not attend the leaders meeting in Chicago. A spokesman said no invitation was offered (the same reason was given yesterday).
Asked if Madigan would meet with House GOP Leader Cross and Senate GOP Leader Watson today, as he did yesterday after the leaders meeting, the spokesman said he believed that staff was still working on answering questions raised by yesterday’s meeting.
* 12:34 pm - It’s always something.
Yesterday, the governor’s office promised a session next week to deal with the transit crisis, gaming, capital bill, etc. Trouble is, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators is holding its annual conference starting next Wednesday in Little Rock, Arkansas.
House Republican leader Tom Cross acknowledges it could take until January to work out a gambling expansion plan that would pay for a statewide construction program and pave the way for a mass-transit bailout.
Cross says he’d like something to happen next week but he can’t promise anything will. He blames the political climate and personalities involved.
House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t attend a second day of meetings with Governor Rod Blagojevich and the three other legislative leaders to break a logjam that has transit riders facing threatened service cuts and fare increases.
…Adding… After checking around, I think the context of Cross’ statement is a bit different than what was presented in the AP story. Apparently, Cross was asked by a TV reporter what was to prevent Speaker Madigan from dragging the entire process into January, and Cross said he could see that happening. He wasn’t actually predicting a January session.
llinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was accused today of evading questions and playing a “game” about what he knew about a $1 million bank loan he gave in 2002 to an 86-year-old “feeble-minded” woman.
Giannoulias was a loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank when he agreed to give the loan to Loren Billings, who once ran the city’s Museum of Holography. She had applied for the loan with co-signers who had a history of fraud.
Her family says that, within 24 hours of Giannoulias cutting Billings a check, more than half of it was made out to a firm associated with the co-signers, GnXpert Neural Technologies.
Under questioning before Cook County Judge Sophia Hall, Giannoulias repeatedly said “I don’t recall” or “I just don’t remember” details of the loan transaction because it was so long ago.
Giannoulias was repeatedly asked whether it was “prudent” to give a loan — with a $9,845 monthly payment due — to a woman with a monthly income reported on loan documents to be around $10,000. Finally, attorney Peter King asked Hall to order Giannoulias to answer.
A coaltion of business groups filed suit in Sangamon County Tuesday to stop Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s planned expansion of health care programs.
The Illinois Coalition of Jobs, Growth and Prosperity said the state’s decision to expand health care programs without the approval fo the General Assembly is unconstitutional. It wants the courts to halt the expansion and to prohibt Comptroller Dan Hynes from paying any bills connected with the expansion.
The home mortgage meltdown isn’t just gutting the poorer parts of town.
It’s beginning to hammer wealthy and middle class Chicago neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Irving Park, Portage Park and Mt. Greenwood — all areas where home mortgage foreclosures have shot up by 100 percent or more from 2006 to 2007.
Data released Monday by the National Training and Information Center shows that in Lincoln Park there were 18 homes in foreclosure during the first six months of 2006 — but that number more than doubled to 37 for the first half of this year.
In terms of sheer numbers, poor neighborhoods still are feeling the worst pain. But percentage increase in mortgage defaults is climbing faster in middle class areas, according to the data.
Poverty stricken West Englewood, for example, had 348 foreclosures, or 111 per square mile — yet that was just a 58 percent increase over the previous year.
But in middle class Portage Park, the heart of the Northwest Side Bungalow Belt, mortgage defaults jumped from 32 homes to 94, a whopping 193.8 percent.
* Now, on to the question: What, if anything, should state government do about this situation? Explain fully.
*** UPDATE *** Finally, a bit of good news on this general topic. Illinois will avoid the immediate meltdown that’s happening in some other states…
Illinois pulled its investment funds out of mortgage-backed securities long before the subprime meltdown, a move that will save the state from a crisis that faces other state governments.
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said he has been assuring municipal leaders and representatives of state agencies that the more than $8 billion of the state’s portfolio and the more than $6.5 billion in the government investment pool is safe from rising mortgage default rates.
As a general rule, he said the state avoids investing in derivatives products and decided to pull its money out of certain high-risk products long ago.
“We were well out of (high-risk products) well before the first rumblings (of mortgage market troubles),” Mr. Giannoulias said.
Recent news reports are now emerging about state governments holding investments in mortgage-backed securities that are now in danger of default. Florida, Montana and Connecticut have seen their debt ratings downgraded as a result of their financial holdings.
* Ernest Yelton, the executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, worries about how gaming expansion in Kentucky and a casino in Michigan will eat in to his state’s revenues. But he’s not so concerned about Illinois’ proposed expansion plan…
“One of our advantages to Illinois is they, historically, seem to do everything wrong. Everything they seem to do has backfired and it has been to our benefit,” Yelton said.
As an example, Yelton pointed to the passage of Illinois’ statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Casinos are not exempted from the law.
“Well, when Don Barden bought the Trump (Casino in Gary) he made one floor smoke-free and within two weeks he had to change it because people wouldn’t go. Gamblers smoke. I don’t like it. I don’t smoke, but they do,” Yelton said.
Yelton pointed out that the disagreements that have dominated Illinois politics come at a time when Democrats control all branches of state government.
“I just see no agreement from those people,” Yelton said.
Capitol Fax, published by Rich Miller and an excellent source of inside information about Springfield, reported Monday that Madigan has agreed to also use casino gambling revenue for public education.
Until last week, Capitol Fax reported, Madigan had insisted that all new casino money be used only for capital projects.
* Kadner also quotes state Rep. Lou Lang about the state’s gaming prospects. Lang is one of two House Democratic point persons on gaming expansion…
Since Lang always has been something of an optimist when it comes to casino expansion, I was reluctant to take his words at face value.
“I’m telling you that I’ve been at this for years, and we’re closer to getting it done than ever before,” Lang said.
The vast expansion of gambling that Blagojevich and the legislative leaders discussed once again Monday is a prospect that outrages some. They’re demanding a voter referendum first.
“They cannot buy the ballot box,” said Rev. Tom Grey, a gambling opponent. “What they can buy are state legislators.” […]
“The massive expansion of public gambling is not what the public wants,” said Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn. “In fact I think the public ought to have a chance by referendum to weigh in on whether all this gambling — enhanced gambling — is a good idea.”
* Meanwhile, the absolutely bungled 10th license might be back in play…
The Illinois Gaming Board is taking preliminary steps to reissue the state’s long-dormant 10th casino license after a recent set of court rulings greatly limited efforts by Emerald Casino officials to open in Rosemont.
Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said the state will begin soliciting bids from investment bankers to try to find an expert to help sell the license to generate “as much money … as we possibly can.”
“This has been a long time coming,” Jaffe said at Monday’s board meeting. “The 10th license has been dormant since 1997 and cost the state an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue.”
But don’t get your hopes up too high…
While the Gaming Board is moving forward with plans to sell the license, Emerald officials said last week that they will continue to fight in federal Bankruptcy Court.
* More from Paul…
* Editorial: With Gov. Zamboni in charge, state keeps slipping
* Yet another good government study has come up with yet another set of reform proposals for Illinois…
The eight-member, bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections should be replaced with a nonpartisan elections director, and administration of elections should be more uniform across the state, a new study says.
The study, by researchers at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, found that the biggest problem Illinois has is that the election system, overseen by more than 100 county clerks and other election authorities, “is decentralized with insufficient state-level leadership or guidance,” according to Edward Foley of the election law center at the college in Columbus, Ohio.
Foley said in an interview that the selection of a nonpartisan director of elections could be done with recommendations from legislative leaders to a governor, or by a governor with supermajority support — perhaps 75 percent — from both legislative chambers.
* Yet, when you look at the study’s summary (the full analysis has not been posted yet, even though I received two press releases about this issue yesterday), it goes beyond just recommending ways to reduce fraud, including this idea…
States should work to improve access to voting by relaxing barriers to voter registration. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin allow Election Day Registration and the study found no increased fraud under these systems. Other states reluctant to embrace this reform might consider Michigan’s system of affidavit voting, which protects voters whose names are not on the voter rolls even though they have attempted to register.
This makes me think there’s another agenda at play here.
* The Illinois State Board of Elections was created as a reform in 1970. Elections oversight had been one of the powers of the secretary of state, but that office was considered inappropriate for the office. Yet, there are some reformers who would go back to the old days…
Kent Redfield, professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield and an election-reform advocate, said he thinks a constitutional change to make the secretary of state the top election official would be a way to have someone accountable for fair elections who could also seek adequate funding.
Redfield said the people who get appointed to the eight-member board now “tend to be establishment Democrats or Republicans … vested in the current system.”
With a secretary of state in charge, he said, “If elections are screwed up, then you have somebody who’s accountable” and who could be voted out themselves.
* Increase the trust in the integrity of state elections by making local elections officials more accountable. Illinois is one of a few states that allow local election boards to be dominated by one political party or another, which jeopardizes the credibility of the boards’ work. Audits are also often poorly executed by local boards because of the lack of accountability.
* Create nonpartisan tribunals to resolve election disputes.
For at least a decade, the Chicago Board of Education has maintained secret files on some of the criminals who have slipped into the school district’s teaching ranks. […]
The documents reveal that drug-dealing, prostitution, attempted murder, criminal sexual assault, embezzlement, theft, reckless homicide and stalking are among the crimes committed by those hired to educate children.
The state’s largest school district routinely failed to warn state education officials or other school districts of problem teachers.
For example, the school district conducted an internal investigation that revealed that a Chicago high school teacher twice had had sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl, a CPS inspector general report said. The teacher was not charged with a crime but did resign from the Chicago school district after an internal investigation. According to the CPS documents, the unidentified teacher remains certified to teach in Illinois and is now teaching in Rockford Public Schools.
No one within Chicago Public Schools warned their counterparts in Rockford. […]
Upon being informed by a reporter on Oct. 30 of information in the secret files, Steve Katz, general counsel for Rockford School District 205, had this to say:
“This is absolutely sinful. Rockford School District would never knowingly hire a teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old. What kind of reference did Chicago give this person? It couldn’t have been a bad one or we wouldn’t have hired him. If one of our principals knew this about someone’s background and hired him anyway, that principal would be fired. Legally, Chicago didn’t have to warn us, but it certainly is immoral for them not to have.”
- Illinois ranks 49th in the nation in the rate at which it suspends or revokes teaching certificates.
- In 2004, Illinois became the 46th state to require FBI background checks for those entering the teaching profession. But the law exempted all teachers hired before 2004 from background checks. […]
Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Morris, introduced legislation to fingerprint all teachers but said lobbyists for the two teachers’ unions objected saying that it “picked on teachers.” Her bill was amended to fingerprint just those entering the profession or moving from one school district to another.
A national database of teacher misconduct constructed by Small Newspaper Group found that Georgia educators were 25 times more likely to have their teaching license suspended or revoked than their counterparts in Illinois.
A Small Newspaper Group analysis of data obtained from licensure regulatory agencies for Illinois physicians, attorneys and teachers found:
-Illinois lawyers were 25 times more likely to lose their professional licenses than Illinois teachers.
-Physicians in Illinois are 43 times more likely to lose their license than teachers are to lose their teaching certificate, the newspaper group found.
The county has more than doubled the number of abortions performed each week since the service was reinstated in 1992 — to a current average of 77 a week from a self-imposed limit of 30 a week.
County officials and abortion advocates say the need has always been there, but the county wasn’t addressing it.
* Editorial: Don’t apply smoking ban to private fraternity houses
Although interesting, it would not be worth the costs of a legal fight that likely would be doomed to failure.
Instead, the department should focus on the original intent of lawmakers who approved the law and on crucial details such as when, if ever, an outdoor “beer garden” would be included in the Clean Indoor Air Act.
Leave the regulation of private fraternity and sorority houses to the organizations themselves and - to a limited extent - to the universities that recognize those organizations.
* Clout heavy contractor got $45K for unauthorized job
“RFD is sitting on top of a gold mine, and we now know where that vein is,” Executive Director Bob O’Brien says. “If we pursue it with aggressiveness, Rockford, the Rock River Valley and this region is going to become very, very wealthy.”
Even if no new routes are added at Chicago Rockford International next year, the airport should still break its single-year passenger record.
But airport officials are aiming higher. They want to see 300,000 to 400,000 passengers next year. They want to see at least a million passengers within five years.
* Illinois Republicans hold Governor for a day contest
* Kirk Dillard: Legislators who are ready for reform
* Daily Herald briefs: Transit vote next week…more support for Illinois FutureGen
* Michigan/West Virginia latest to back Illinois’ FutureGen bid
* 8th and 16th Congressional incumbents not breaking bank on election
Eighth District incumbent Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat, held a commanding fundraising lead over her closest challenger, Long Grove businessman Steve Greenberg. Both will battle it out in primaries for the right to represent their parties in the November general election.
Similar trends held in the 16th District, where Rep. Don Manzullo, an Egan Republican, had $455,244 in his campaign coffers, while Democratic challenger and Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud reported $77,089.
