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Guest Blogger - Here’s a Question
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department Well, thoughts have been flying back and forth for two days now since Rich posted about the Pontiac prison guards doing the informational picket about the furlough and budget during the legislative visit at the prison. Now I have a question back, especially for those who don’t work for the state. One thing for you to keep in your mind as you read this - I’ve worked in both the public and private sector, and feel I have a fair grasp on all sides. Okay, here goes: Let’s say you work for a company that has a several billion dollar budget each year, and the chairman of the board doesn’t always make sense. You have been there a long time and are a dedicated employee with pretty good benefits and what you think is a stable work environment. Then your company starts to have some financial problems and the man in charge decides all the employees of the company (remember this is a private sector company) need to give something back, maybe take a few days off without pay, or better yet, come to work on the days they aren’t getting paid. You’ve already lost other long term employees to retirement and no one took their place, so you have extra work to do and no extra pay. How would you feel? I’ve seen here people voicing opinions from both sides, but nobody addressing anything like this really. I’ve figuratively seen fingers pointed and somewhat outraged private sector people (Rs and Ds) speaking out against people who work for the state, but put the shoes on your feet and see how they feel. If something isn’t done, and the gov and leaders in Springfield don’t address the budget shortfall, more than just employees are going to feel the hurt. People we serve, people who get services, the general public needing to contact those smaller agencies, they are the ones going to pay. There’s 6 weeks left until the end of the session and there’s no budget in sight. I, for one, don’t want to pay for another overtime session, but I also don’t want anyone who lives in Illinois to have to pay the price for lack of good services.
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Not common
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller You don’t hear about this sort of thing too often. (KSDK) - The governors of Missouri and Illinois are having extradition discussions about a man linked to a triple homicide in Belleville, Illinois. I don’t have anything to add. I just think it’s an interesting process.
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Roskam stuff
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller From a press release this afternoon: WHEATON - State Senate Republican Whip and Floor Leader, Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton), will hold a conference call [Thursday morning] with reporters to discuss his intentions to seek the Republican nomination for Congress in light of Chairman Henry Hyde’s announcement. Senator Peter Roskam will be in Springfield since the Illinois State Senate is in session.
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Good news
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Tessa, a big favorite in the comment section, is going to do a little guest blogging once or twice a week. Eventually, I’m planning to add diaries, like RedState and Kos, only diarists will probably be invite-only to cut down on goofiness. Tessa will be the first “victim.” But go easy on her for a while.
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Praise
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller News-Gazette reporter and occasional blogger Jim Dey loved Governor Rod Blagojevich’s speech yesterday. Blagojevich, who was repeatedly booed during his appearance at the University of Illinois basketball team celebration, shared the stage Tuesday with some heavy hitters at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. There’s plenty more. Go have a looksee. (Link via Illinipundit)
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Attention, state workers
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller I’ve been hearing rumors that some state employees are being strongly “encouraged” to sign up and/or “volunteer” for the governor’s I-SaveRx program. If this is happening and you are one of those state workers, please e-mail me as soon as you can. And, don’t worry, I will keep all e-mails strictly confidential. I didn’t get this far by burning sources. Also, I’m not opening comments on this one because I want to communicate with these people one-on-one, not provide a forum for anonymous reports by the guv’s enemies and counter-charges by his shills.
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Blogginois
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Willy Nilly heaps praise (I think) on Congressman Ray LaHood for introducing a bill to ban lame duck congressmen from filing ethics complaints against other Congressmen. Modern Vertebrate reports on a LaRouche comeback candidate. Retired coal miner and LaRouche supporter Vic Roberts (D) says on his Web site that he’s running for Congress in 19th. In 2003, Roberts, you may remember, dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate for health reasons. The candidate’s website is here. Hiran Wurf uses his own blog to answer Tuesday’s “Question of the Day.” The Peoria Pundit is experiencing “too much drama” in his life to blog at the moment. OneMan ridicules Jim Oberweis for attacking teachers. CrossBlogger “Chris Rhodes” has a busted phone and a busted ‘puter. The Archpundit is back on a semi-regular schedule. Illinipundit takes a look at a recent Capitol Fax story (he’s evidently a subscriber). Weinberger wants fewer bus stops. The Inside Dope has a whole bunch of stuff. Bloggers, please feel free to publicize other stories in the comments section that I neglected to mention.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller This is probably too meta, but what question(s) would you like to see asked here?
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Lawsuits
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller From the Tribune: Hundreds of school districts across the state and dozens in the Chicago region have dramatically increased special taxes for legal claims and insurance expenses over the last five years, a recent study shows, but not necessarily because legal troubles have mounted. Attorney Robert Slattery is quoted extensively in the piece. Slattery’s crusade against misuse of the tort tax goes back to at least 2001, when he filed suit against Highland Community College, according to the Freeport Journal-Standard. Richard and Delores Woessner of Pearl City, two of Slattery’s clients, attended the brief hearing Monday. Woessner was part of an unsuccessful attempt to challenge the Pearl City school district’s use of tort funds several years ago.
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Hyde roundup
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller The Tribune has a good roundup of the GOP scramble to succeed Congressman Henry Hyde. On the Republican side, at least four people–two current state senators, a former state representative and a former DuPage County officeholder–are indicating interest in the Republican primary race for a seat that Hyde has held since his election in 1974. And some Republicans said privately they think the numbers could multiply. That’s very possible, I agree. But unless another relatively big-name conservative Republican enters the race, I don’t think that Sen. Carole Pankau gets in. Sen. Carole Pankau (R-Roselle), said she was “very seriously looking” at a bid for Hyde’s seat. Of the nine townships in Hyde’s congressional district, she said she has run and won in seven of them. DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett continues to say that he won’t run. He’s currently trying to pay down debt from his ‘02 statewide race, and he couldn’t do that fast enough as a federal candidate. So, it’s still possible that he may jump in down the road, despite what he says now. If he does, or if someone like him does, Pankau probably enters the race because the conservative male vote will be split. Then again, she may decide she can win regardless. A Pankau-Roskam race would be fun to watch, although I still give the edge to Roskam at the moment.
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Get it out yourself
Wednesday, Apr 20, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller An old rule of politics is, if at all possible, when you discover that you’re about to get hit with a negative story, try to get out in front of it with a reform. Mayor Daley used to do that all the time with the Tribune. Trib reporters would file a Freedom of Information Act request, and a team in the mayor’s office would then carefully review the documents to see if there were any potential problems. The deficiencies would then be corrected and the Trib would either have to write about how the mayor reformed an agency, or ignore the story altogether. Eventually, the Trib decided to shotgun dozens of FOIAs at once to confuse the opposition. Anyway, that story came to mind when I read the Sun-Times this morning. When employees with Illinois Property Asset Management learned they won a $25 million state contract, they went out to dinner to celebrate. So, how did this problem come to light? Administration officials said Tuesday that these and other bills have prompted an internal investigation and have cast a black mark on a company they insist is filling a vital cost-saving role as the state struggles to balance its budget. […] And I love this part. (GOMB spokesperson Becky) Carroll said she could not say how the Illinois Property Asset Management expenses came to the governor’s attention. Nobody with the company or the state is under criminal investigation, she added. Interesting.
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Prof fights back with spreadsheet
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller This is what happens when you mess with people who have advanced degrees: A former Southern Illinois University finance professor has created a tool to help State University Retirement Systems participants see what impact the governor’s proposed pension reforms would have on their retirement pay. The calculator is here. And a quick note to the News-Gazette’s webmaster: What’s with the lack of spaces between paragraphs? Your paper is difficult to read online. One more thing while I’m at it. Why isn’t Katie Clements’ column online?
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Clergy Call on Senate to Pass HB 1100
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller (The following is a paid advertisement): Yesterday at the Chicago Temple, Bishop Timothy Lyne led a multifaith group of Chicago area clergy to call on the Illinois Senate to pass the Monsignor John Egan Payday Loan Reform Act, HB 1100. Supporters include: Father Pfleger, St. Sabina Catholic Church; Bishop Timothy Lyne; Rev. Walter Turner, President of the Baptist Ministers Conference; Lewis Flowers, Austin Community WOC Ministers; Jennifer Kottler, Protestants for the Common Good; Bishop Charles Davis, Indiana Avenue Pentecostal COG; Rev. Joseph Henry, Omega Missionary Baptist Church; Rev. Hillard Hudson, Pilgrim Baptist Church of South Chicago; Rev. Tyrone Crider, Mount Calvary Baptist Church; Rev. Leonard Deville, Alpha Temple; Rev. James Demus, III; Rev. Stanley Watkins; Rev. Sylvia Franklin, Apostolic Faith Church; Rev. Steven Thurston II, New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church Senator Kimberly Lightford; Senator Jackie Collins; Senator Kwame Raoul; Senator James Meeks; Representative. Marlow Colvin; Commissioner Bobbie Steele; Alderman Toni Preckwinkle; Rebirth of Englewood; Citizens for a Better Westside; Lawndale Neighborhood Organization; Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc.; Healthcare Consortium of Illinois; Oak Park NAACP; Southside NAACP; Chicago Westside NAACP; Women’s Business Development; Firman Community Services; Rainbow/PUSH; Project IRENE; Women’s Business Development.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Christine Cegelis, who ran a strong but unsuccessful campaign against Henry Hyde last time around, posted a diary yesterday at Daily Kos which talked about Hyde’s retirement announcement. Frankly, I don’t think she has a very good chance now that Hyde is gone, but I’m curious what you think. So, the question today is, can Cegelis win her second time around? One sidenote: Cegelis must have been caught flat-footed by the announcement (even though we had all heard it would be coming in mid-April) because her website is down for remodeling. Oops.
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Georgia blogger tries to influence Illinois legislature
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Georgia blogger Straight up With Sherri has posted the e-mail addresses of every member of the Illinois Senate’s Health & Human Services Committee and urged her readers to lobby against a bill that would limit ultrasound tests to doctors and healthcare specialists acting under doctors’ orders. Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers often use the ultrasound scans to talk women out of having abortions, and the bill, HB 2493, passed the House before the pro-life lobbyists figured out what was going on. I’ve already reported on this bill in the Capitol Fax. So, if you’re one of those legislators and you all of a sudden start receiving e-mails from Georgia, you now know why. Straight up With Sherri wasn’t done with her Illinois project, however. She caught Rep. Ron Stephens’ appearance on Scarborough Country this week to discuss the governor’s emergency order on pharmacies and morning after pills. The Georgian was so impressed that she has asked her readers to e-mail the governor in support of Stephens’ efforts to block the guv’s emergency order. UPDATE: Prompted by a commenter, I visited the FDA’s website: It’s risky business taking pictures of unborn babies when there’s no medical need to do so. That’s the word from the Food and Drug Administration, which is concerned about companies trying to turn an important medical procedure into a prenatal portrait tool. […]
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AP to start charging for Internet posts
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Hopefully, this won’t deter outlets like CBS-2 Chicago from posting the Associated Press’ Illinois stories online as they come over the wires. The Associated Press will begin charging newspapers and broadcasters to post its stories, photos and other content online, a pricing shift that reflects the growing power of the Internet to lure audiences and advertisers from more established media. Note to CBS-2: If you can’t afford to pay the new rates, charge for the service. I know I’d pay it.
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Labor trouble
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Senate President Emil Jones isn’t the only Illinois Democrat having trouble with labor unions. The Chicago Federation of Labor’s dynamic president Dennis Gannon unloaded on Mayor Daley yesterday. Chicago’s most powerful labor leader on Monday issued a thinly veiled warning to Mayor Daley: End the two-year-long negotiating stalemate with unions representing 20,000 city employees or risk the embarrassment that comes with labor unrest when Chicago plays host to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June. Gannon is an activist president who hasn’t hesitated to plunge in to controversial issues. He’s been arrested at more demonstrations than probably all of his predecessors combined. I don’t always agree with him, but I have a huge amount of respect for him, and if Daley doesn’t settle this contract he will undoubtedly have trouble at the mayors conference.
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No George?
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller Here’s the list of the attendees for today’s dedication of the Lincoln Presidential Museum, provided by the governor’s office. I had heard that George Ryan would be there today, but he ain’t on the list. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and First Lady Patti Blagojevich That’s too bad about Ryan because even though he tried to pack the place with hacks, the museum and library wouldn’t have existed without his efforts. Also, notice that they spelled Treasurer Topinka’s maiden name incorrectly. It’s Baar, not Barr. UPDATE: I received this funny e-mail a few minutes ago. On the security walk-through yesterday they gave us the seating
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Community WiFi
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller I’m going to be writing more on this topic in the future, but for now, here are several reports that deal with arguments in favor of municipally owned WiFi networks. You can read up if you want and debate it here. So far, only one proposal has surfaced to ban municipalities from starting their own networks. Sen. Steve Rauschenberger says locals shouldn’t be trusted with the projects.
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