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Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Go check this post for some new Schock updates, then head over to Illinoize…

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Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

*** Post updated on Sunday. Scroll down for more. ***

* 2:10 pm - Bill Dennis has a very interesting scoop today…

On May 31, 2007, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 90-20 to approve its version of SB 1621, a law that requires state pension funds to divest their holdings in foreign companies that are doing business with Iran’s energy industry, which is financing Iran’s efford to develop nuclear weapons.

Schock was among the 20 who voted against this measure.

So, Schock would threaten nuclear holocaust with China over Iran but wouldn’t vote for economic pressure? Oof.

* 2:38 pm - The governor has sent a letter to the legislative leaders and Mayor Daley…

…While I have postponed a mass transit ‘Doomsday’ twice, inaction by the General Assembly has also meant two missed opportunities for a final solution that works for people. We all agree that we cannot wait until another ‘Doomsday’ is upon us. Last Friday, Speaker Madigan and Leader Cross set a 7 to 10-day deadline to deliver a funding solution. This coming Monday will be the 10 th day.

It is important that we respect this deadline and avoid more ‘Doomsday’ situations. This past Tuesday, Speaker Madigan, Leader Cross and Leader Watson indicated that they believe they are making progress. This is a good sign. However, we must learn the obvious lessons from this fall, and not substitute progress for action.

I note with great interest the Mayor’s comments in today’s Sun-Times demanding that we all come to an agreement on a long-term funding plan for mass transit by December 1 st. I believe we all share his frustration with the lack of action. We need to work more quickly to provide certainty for the people who use the buses and trains every day.

With your participation, we can move this process along, and reach a solution in short order. Accordingly, I invite each of you, along with the Mayor, to a meeting in my Chicago office at 10:00 a.m. this Wednesday, November 14 th to work through any differences. We have promised the people a capital bill and a long-term funding source for mass transit.

*** Sunday *** So, apparently, this Pershing missile proposal from Schock wasn’t such a “deeply thought-out policy” after all. Larry fills us in…

Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987 and it was ratified in the US Senate in 1988. The INF Treaty banned Intermediate Range Nuclear Missiles and the last one was destroyed (outside of museum pieces) in 1991. [In other words], we haven’t had any Pershing Missiles since Aaron Schock was 10 years old.

Oops.

* Also, Schock told Bernie Schoenburg this about his vote against the Iranian divestment proposal…

“With each additional restriction that’s placed on a pension fund in Illinois, it further prohibits those pension managers’ ability to make wise decisions, to keep those pension systems solvent,” Schock said.

The final version of the Iran bill applies only to the five state pension systems, not local police and fire pension systems.

Though he said the General Assembly shouldn’t delve in foreign policy, Schock said that doesn’t mean he would vote against all resolutions in that field.

“Ultimately, you have to make a decision based on what you’re presented with,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s wise for us to get involved with foreign policy, as a rule of thumb.”

Bernie didn’t mention it, but a check of the Sudan divestment vote showed Schock voted for that proposal.

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Question of the day

Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Peoria Journal-Star’s fawning coverage of state Rep. Aaron Schock has long been a running joke in Springfield. I don’t blame Schock in the least. If he’s able to get that sort of “homer” coverage, then more power to him. It’s entirely the paper’s fault.

The Journal-Star’s own political reporter was apparently incapable of writing a follow-up to Bernie Schoenburg’s column yesterday which exploded a gaping hole in the paper’s original coverage of Schock’s official congressional campaign announcement. The task was instead given to a Statehouse scribe.

That was probably a good idea. As the Peoria Pundit notes about the author of the original story, who failed to include the stunning revelation that Schock would sell nuclear missiles to Taiwan if China didn’t help the US deal with Iran…

PJS reporter Karen McDonald… also attended the [GOP congressional candidate] McConoughey press conference where her single question was to ask McConoughey, essentially, “Oh yeah? Well what’s YOUR position?”

The reporter in question was assigned to do another story on Schock for today - the sort of piece that the Peoria Journal-Star has excelled at over the years…

Instead of discussing laws with his peers in Springfield or discussing platforms for his congressional run, state Rep. Aaron Schock had to answer to students Thursday at Roosevelt Magnet School, where he served as “principal for a day.”

A group of about 100 students asked Schock about his grades in school, future goals, the city’s jaywalking ordinance and, perhaps most important to them, whether he gets national holidays off as a state representative.

Yep. She had him right there and didn’t ask him (or at least didn’t report) about his Strangelovian idea to destabilize the world. That pretty much sums up everything that’s wrong with the Peoria Journal-Star.

Now, to the question: Does your local paper skew its coverage in favor of any particular politician? Explain.

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Getting at Rod

Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My Sun-Times column this week starts out with a no-brainer proposition…

Barring a miracle, it’s difficult to see how Illinois Republicans can turn around their misfortunes anytime soon.

President Bush remade the national GOP in his own image. Republicans in this state, except in hard-core pockets, are now buried with him in a deep, dark hole.

Not long after the 2006 primary, Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign ran a TV ad linking his Republican opponent Judy Baar Topinka to President Bush. Topinka had emerged from a nasty Republican primary in surprisingly good shape, with one poll showing her competitive with Blagojevich. But her numbers dropped through the floor after that TV spot aired, and she never recovered.

* It goes on with some more examples and then makes this point…

All but the most loyal GOP voters appear to be so completely turned off by the Republican “brand” that even if they disagree completely with Democrats on major issues they won’t consider voting for the other party.

* And then…

There will be an opportunity for Illinoisans to vent their rage next year without voting for a Republican, however.

* What would that be?

Every 20 years, Illinois voters are asked if they want to convene a state Constitutional Convention. The last time this question was on the ballot, in 1988, more than half of all voters didn’t even bother to pick a side.

But Gov. Blagojevich is so incredibly unpopular with voters right now, as well as Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and the whole system in general, that if something doesn’t change soon I think we could see the voters using next year’s “Con-Con” vote as a referendum on our seemingly broken government

* I take the readers through the recent polling which showed 65 percent of Illinoisans want to add recall to the Constitution and a majority would recall Gov. Blagojevich if given the chance and toss in a bit of Con-Con history. Conclusion…

To many voters, changing from a Republican majority in 1994 to a complete Democratic majority in 2006 hasn’t worked at all. They may just decide that real change will only come if the rules are changed.

Thoughts?

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Another emergency rule filed *** Updated x1 ***

Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The governor proposed doubling state-subsidized health care without any formal announcement or actual legislation…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration intends to grant state-subsidized health care to another 147,000 adults, saying poor access to insurance “has reached a crisis level requiring immediate action.”

The administration’s new policy more than doubles eligibility for a health care program known as FamilyCare.

A family of four with a combined income of up to $82,600 — or up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level — can now join. Previously, income for a family of four had to be $38,203 or less, or up to 185 percent of the poverty level. The plan is part of Blagojevich’s campaign to make government health care available for anybody without private insurance.

On Wednesday, the administration filed an emergency rule, which surfaced Thursday as Blagojevich visited Washington to promote his health-care efforts.

Local Republicans were not impressed.

“It’s clearly an abuse of the emergency rule process because this is clearly not an emergency — expanding a government program and doing it around the legislative process,” said Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford.

* This is from an e-mail that a member of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules sent me last night. JCAR will have to approve the emergency rules…

HFS filed an emergency rule to expand family care to cover people up to 400% of the federal poverty level. This would pick up an additionjal 147k people. Oh yeah, at a cost of $367.5M. With no federal match. And potentially further increase the payment backlog to providers, which ironically could lead many of them to not take new patients, or even cut existing ones. Unreal.

Interesting that he makes this major policy decision with NO press release but piggybacks it onto his DC trip.

This sets up the JCAR battle that people have been waiting for. (JCAR is meeting on Tues.) I don’t even think he wants to do it, but just wants to be able to demagogue on the issue that he cares more about health care than anybody else does. If only the legislative process wasn’t so inconvenient

[Some emphasis added]

Demagoguery over substance? Never. Not our governor.

* Meanwhile, Gov. Blagojevich was asked yesterday why he didn’t support single-payer health insurance…

“So much of what you do in government is done through political realities,” Blagojevich said. “The art of politics in government is the recognition of what is possible.”

He knows the tune. He just can’t dance to it.

*** UPDATE *** Chambers follows up on his intial story…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s latest plan to expand health-care coverage will cost $367 million annually, far more than his administration acknowledged, key lawmakers said today. […]

The Blagojevich administration insisted Thursday evening that the plan would cost $43 million through June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

But Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, said his staff analysis shows the expansion would cost $367 million annually once it’s fully implemented. Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Pontiac, concurred.

Fritchey said the $43 million figure is misleading even as it pertains to this fiscal year.

He said the state stands to lose $21.5 million in federal reimbursement dollars when the administration moves the $43 million from the existing Medicaid program to cover the expansion startup.

Go read the whole thing.

53 Comments

Morning Shorts

Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* New Team America Blog: Kirk defies party and votes in favor on ENDA

* Illinois Policy Institute: Revenue declines show budget reforms are desperately needed

State government continues to face both short-term and long-term challenges. Taking steps to ensure that Illinois has a transparent government and moving to make Illinois a government innovator through smart spending reforms is one way of reducing the overall burden of state government without negatively affecting popular and effective programs.

Stopping tax increases, and in fact, lower the tax burden on Illinoisans would be one way of making Illinois more economically competitive while forcing policymakers to make the necessary reforms to the state’s overspending. Both greater transparency and aggressive efforts to innovate through smart spending initiatives promise to deliver high quality government services in a cost efficient manner.

* Daley demands answer on CTA funding by Dec. 1

“The General Assembly and the governor have to solve this issue. It isn’t about casinos. It’s isn’t about infrastructure. It’s about public transportation,” the mayor said.

“You have to tell us Dec. 1 whether you’re going to do it or not. Give us a deadline at least 30 days before because it’s unfair to every passenger in the CTA and also the work force. . . . They didn’t get a pay raise. They changed their health benefits and pensions to make it work. They did their part. When is state government going to do their part?”

* CTA’s other crisis: Rehab needs billions

The result is that more than 500 CTA buses, one-fourth of its fleet, have been on the road for 16 years, logging an average 580,000 miles apiece.

It’s not just traffic that can make the wait for a CTA bus so long. The oldest CTA buses miss thousands of scheduled runs each month because of equipment breakdowns that keep them idle in the garage.

* IL Transportation Issues: What’s got into IDOT?

The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced a series of public hearings on its Illinois State Transportation Plan. You can get a draft of the Plan here.

* Change of Subject: Students should mock the silence law, not ignore it

* Parents to get online peak at teen driving record

* WurfWhile: DuPage democrats double the number of precinct committeemen

* Jeffrey Ward: The return of the chairman

Kane County Republican Party Chairman Denny Wiggins is now a paid consultant for State Senator Chris Lauzen’s congressional campaign. Hmmm! The party chairman working for one candidate in an open primary? Sounds kind of like one of my kids offering me 50 bucks to love them more than the other.

* WurfWhile: Rudy Clai and campaign finance reform

Rudy Clai and it looks like Republican Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns are likely disqualified from serious contention in the 14th congressional primary because of money, as are Democrats John Laesch and Jotham Stein. It isn’t right - and it isn’t good for us or our democratic political system.

* Allen gets tops ballot spot in state’s attorney’s race

* Clout City: Give us our Daley bread

So Daley and his political team came up with a new strategy: Bypass the aldermen and work through the clergy. Instead of getting support and granting favors to members of City Council or Democratic committeemen, Daley’s City Hall courted black ministers, seeking their approval for administration policies or at least their appearance at press conferences. At the same time, the city funneled millions of dollars in federal money to the churches for day care and other social service programs, and helped them acquire land for church expansions and parking lots. The pastors, according to a top Daley aide, were viewed as “surrogate aldermen.”

* John Kass: The memory gets fuzzy in the heat

Fedzheimer’s—the terrible malady that saps the memories of politicians when the feds begin snooping around—claimed another victim on Thursday: Mayor Richard Daley[…]

“I’ve never heard of that,” the mayor said when asked by reporters about a front page Tribune exclusive that the FBI was investigating allegations that city inspectors were used to pressure property owners in Daley’s 11th Ward to sell their land to politically connected developers.

* Controversial city business tax not dead yet

* Former alderman Troutman drained budget and office before leaving

* DuPage makes Olympic pitch for suitable equestrian sites

* Signs, signs, everywhere there are sports signs

We’re talking about the green signs. You know the ones that sit on the edge of a town that tout the accomplishments of a particular high school athlete or team.

More classes equal more signs. Right?

The “high school champions” sign program has been around for about 30 years. The initial motivation was to honor IHSA state winners in the communities they hailed from.

“Sometime in the ’70s, we started to develop policy on it,” said Mike Glaffey, media liaison for IDOT.

* Friday Beer Blogging: Erdinger Edition

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