Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

This just in… Readers live-blogging committee of the whole

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 11:00 am - The House just posted the first of its two hearings on the Senate-approved gaming bill. It’ll be held on Oct. 17th at 10:00 o’clock in the Thompson Center. [Hat tip to a subscriber in comments.]

* 11:03 am - You may have noticed that Bernie mentioned this site in his Sunday column…

Then there’s a flier, recently posted on www.thecapitolfaxblog.com, that accuses Madigan and President Bush of being “weapons of mass destruction” and says both are guilty of “failed leadership.”

“Madigan is an old style plantation political boss,” that flier says.

Brown said he believes the flier was distributed during budget battles this year at some South Side churches in Chicago and one in Decatur, where churchgoers are primarily black. Brown believes Blagojevich is behind the distribution. He called it “typical low-class crap you see from Blagojevich and his camp.”

REBECCA RAUSCH, spokeswoman for Blagojevich, didn’t immediately respond.

Here’s the flier, which was originally posted in the subscriber-only section. Click either pic for the full copy in pdf format…

* 11:20 am - My YouTube page has some new features. There are specialized playlists for videos about the Congressional campaigns, state legislative races and Cook County politics, plus several others. Go check it out.

* 11:40 am - The governor took some big whacks at Speaker Madigan on WBBM’s At Issue program over the weekend. Head to 780’s site to listen or just do so below…

[audio:blagoatissue9_30_08.mp3]

*** 11:48 am *** The House is scheduled to convene at noon today and then after the preliminaries they’ll open the Committee of the Whole to discuss the governor’s vetoes. I’ll be at the Statehouse and likely won’t blog much about it unless something big happens (and I’m paying attention - there’s more news I need to gather), so I’m asking readers to please live-blog the hearing in comments.

*** You can listen or watch by clicking here *** Thanks.

58 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Black; Lindner; Halvorson; Koehler; Transit; Tryon; Veto; Tollway; Asssessment caps; Billhartz; Burzynski; Brady; Kane (Use all caps in password)

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Question of the day

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* First, the setup, from a guest column in the SJ-R…

President Bush should pardon Ryan not because he is innocent, but because he became ensnared in the same archaic “cigar smoke” politics that pervaded the first 200 years of our nation’s history. And Judge Michael Kanne of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld his conviction wrote in his Aug. 21 opinion that, “The basis for my dissent lies not in the exceedingly drawn out evidentiary phase of this trial, but in the dysfunctional jury deliberations,” suggesting that he is as concerned about justice being served as the underlying evidence.

Kanne said, “My colleagues in the majority concede that the trial of this case may not have been picture perfect — a whopping understatement by any measure.” Have we been too hasty to imprison a former governor whose day in court was as corrupt as he is? Perhaps we should take a more crucial look at Kanne’s dissent. How would we feel if a jury deciding our fate consisted of people who were not sequestered from the media, where the public’s outcry of “Hang the bum!” appeared on every television screen and newspaper?

Would we not demand a mistrial if jurors were under investigation for lying to the court, hiring their own lawyers to keep from being prosecuted, and who were granted immunity by the U.S. attorney to prevent the case from being thrown out altogether? How in the name of jurisprudence can we ignore a situation where a juror took information into the jury room that they found on the Internet to use against a defendant that was not part of the trial testimony?

Some people believe that Ryan’s prosecution was little more than a vindictive reprisal by the U.S. government and Illinois officials for his January 2003 executive clemency order that spared the lives of 167 death row inmates just before he left office. While this may be a stretch, it is something to consider when weighing the principles of criminal law against the application of its intent.

Given the bizarre culture of Illinois politics, the improprieties that plagued Ryan’s trial, his advancing age and unlikelihood for recidivism, a presidential pardon would be in the interest of the federal justice system and the people of Illinois.

* Question: Do you agree that President Bush ought to pardon George Ryan? Why or why not?

56 Comments

Flubs Monday

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* All this bluster about a playoff berth? Please…

Fans will be celebrating the National League Central champion Chicago Cubs at a noontime rally in downtown Daley Center Plaza today. […]

The Cubs’ first playoff series begins Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.

* The Cubs would be in third place in every other division except the NL West, where they’d be in fourth place. Yet, Mayor Daley is cynically jumping on the bandwagon…

Like the sun setting over the lake or ketchup garnishing a hot dog, there are some things you just don’t expect to see in Chicago.

But there was Mayor Daley on Saturday, wearing a Cubs hat.

* From an e-mail I received the other day…

Where’s the Cubs coverage? I remember back in 2005 you had Friday blogs for months about the Sox. I want equal time. I want the Cubs up front and center. Get on it.

Be careful what you wish for.

53 Comments

Norquist and Illinois - An odd couple

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The thing I like about Grover Norquist is that he’s completely honest about his intentions…

“I don’t want to abolish” government, he once said. “I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

* There’s no beating around the bush with this guy. He’ll tell you exactly what he intends to do. Norquist was in Springfield recently for a reception…

Norquist says conservatives must starve liberals of tax revenue, thereby turning them into “competing parasites” that will cannibalize each other — and, ultimately, the government.

* I’m not sure that message resonates very well in Illinois. After all, the Senate Republican leader just signed off on a multi-billion dollar gaming expansion plan that will pay for massive infrastructure redevelopment as well as provide at least a half billion dollars for schools and transit.

Senate Republicans could have plenty of road, airport and college construction projects to bring home to their districts this fall - all backed by written promises from the governor.

Republicans last week provided the crucial support needed to pass a $13 billion state construction plan out of the Senate only after getting signed agreements from Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office.

* And the House Republicans have said they’ll participate in a plan to override the governor’s budget vetoes this week…

There apparently are enough House votes to approve the override motion.

* Quite a few state facilities are in Republican districts - the result of decades of GOP rule. As a result, Republicans often find themselves in the position of fighting for more state spending.

Illinois likes its social programs and its pork, so Norquististas are few and far between in the General Assembly in either party.

* Plus, the Democratic governor is against tax hikes “on people.” Instead, he is always on the lookout for other revenue sources and ways to game the system to produce more dollars for his government expansion…

[The budget director for Republican governor Jim Edgar and George Ryan, Steve Schnorf] said he had to give the Blagojevich administration credit. During the transition, he said, “I said to him (Blagojevich) and to (then-budget chief) JOHN FILAN … ‘You guys can’t get through four years without a tax increase, it just can’t be done.’ And he said, ‘We think it can.’ And he absolutely proved that it could be. They’ve gotten through five years now without any increase in our two significant statewide taxes.”

* More stories…

* Editorial: House has a place to start - “Among the more than $400 million in cuts Blagojevich made to the state budget in order to find funding for his own health-care initiatives was a $100,000 cut to the HeartSavers AED Trust Fund. That trust fund was set up to provide 50 percent matches to units of local governments in order to purchase lifesaving automated external defibrillators.”

* Sun-Times Editorial: State leaders need to lose egos and work together to solve problems

* Schools ‘wait and wonder’ as state wrangles with budget

* Editorial: Capital idea, but no jackpot

* A look at projects in the GOP construction pacts

* State construction bill includes more than roads, schools

* Lawmakers to attack budget again in veto session

* Lawmakers back in Springfield

* Plan to assist Chicago transit may also help out downstate

* Public transit service update

17 Comments

Springfield isn’t the only mess

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Cook County politics appears to be as dysfunctional as its statewide cousin…

A Latino commissioner angrily charged Friday that Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s office and allies are threatening to crack down on illegal immigrants unless the commissioner votes for a 2 percent sales tax increase.

Commissioner Roberto Maldonado says the not-so-thinly veiled threats came to a head during a Friday breakfast meeting with Stroger chief of staff Lance Tyson.

Just three months after the County Board voted to declare the county a “sanctuary” for immigrants, Stroger ally Commissioner William Beavers is introducing a measure Tuesday to temporarily revoke that status and allow the county to study its “fiscal impact.”

* Maldonado is the crucial swing vote who will make or break Stroger’s tax hike, so the county board president is now trying to distance himself from his political godfather’s idea…

In a Sun-Times story Sunday, Maldonado said he would not back any Stroger tax plans unless Commissioner William Beavers withdraws a proposal to revoke temporarily Cook County’s status as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants while a financial impact study is conducted. Stroger distanced himself from Beavers’ proposal Sunday, saying he did not support it.

* Meanwhile, Gov. Blagojevich couldn’t stop himself from jumping into the fray. Stroger has said the tax hike could help him save the county’s health care system…

But in an appearance Sunday on WMAQ-Channel 5’s “City Desk,” Gov. Blagojevich came out swinging against a sales tax hike, saying “it’s wrong” and “disproportionally hurts low-income and working-class families.”

“We are trying to pass access to health care for everybody that would ease the Cook County health care budget by $300 million,” the governor said.

* Here’s that City Desk video.

* The insanity continues. Not all county commissioners cut their budget as required…

While most made sacrifices by cutting thousands of dollars from their office budgets, laying off employees or taking furlough days, Commissioner Earlean Collins hardly cut anything at all from her budget.

“No, I didn’t cut 17 percent,” she said. “I had my reasons. But I’m not getting into that with you.”

Collins recently said it’s necessary for her to retain her own attorney, providing legal advice, because she doesn’t always trust advice from the state’s attorney, who is the board’s attorney.

* Related stories and editorials…

* Critics say sales tax would hurt Cook Co.

* Tribune Editorial: John Daley and the truth

* Daily Herald Editorial: Cook sales tax hike should be rejected

* Daley’s double tax trouble

* CPR: Commissioners debate sales tax boost

* Stroger’s push for tax increase draws criticism

Discuss your disgust.

28 Comments

Morning shorts

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Hospitals cry poor over charity care

* Governor fires up attack on emissions

* League of Women Voters pushing constitutional amendment

* Museum’s Grant Park plan hits new hurdle - “Friends of the Parks does not support the Children’s Museum as currently proposed for Grant Park”

* Cubs offer to aldermen could be ticket to trouble

* Fines add up for Illinois tollway cheats

* 65 mph truck limit may stand; more here

* Local GOP leaders line up for their candidates

* Business leaders line up for GOP candidates

* Field to replace Hastert in IL-14th expands to 7; more here

* Peoria Story: Versace at Democrats picnic

* Prepare for clout drought with departures in Congress

Organized lobbying efforts that bring together elected officials and business leaders - such as the “One Voice” project coordinated by the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal area - will take on added importance when the seniority of those congressmen is lost.

Johnson, LaHood and Weller have done a fairly good job of funneling money to this area for its roads, universities, airport and projects such as the planned transportation center in uptown Normal.

But even with its clout, Illinois generally has sent more money to Washington, D.C., than it has received.

* John Hilkevitch: State to hold talks on expanding roadway to O’Hare

* Gangs posing threat at Joliet schools?

* Pot harvest time

6 Comments

« NEWER POSTS