Crime and punishment
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ve become a big fan of AlderTrack this year for publishing stories that the other media is ignoring, like this fascinating piece…
Public testimony turned into a die-in and shouting match at Tuesday’s Cook County Board of Commissioners hearing on the proposed FY2016 budget, with an unusual heated exchange between Commissioners Robert Steele (2) and Deborah Sims(10), and a young woman advocating for $2 million in funding for restorative justice programs across the county. Roughly 20 activists, many in orange tees from Community Renewal Society, participated. The group also staged a vigil at a public hearing in Skokie.
Commissioners Steele and Sims’ exchanges with one protester, Victoria Crider, lasted more than 30 minutes.
“If you can come up with $7 million to lock people up, you can come up with $2 million to keep them away,” Crider, of FLY (Fearless Leading by the Youth) said, telling commissioners of color they should support a $2 million earmark for restorative justice programs. Steele, who hours before had committed to raising more funds for the program, told protesters, “Don’t depend on Cook County to bail everybody out. Ask foundations and corporations to invest in this.” He told protesters they should partner with commissioners, but was interrupted by Crider. The two, united on the issue a few hours earlier, spoke over each other about funding for the Cook County Jail.
Crider argued with Comm. Sims as well, insisting the County stop funding the jail, “those prisons aren’t stopping shootings from happening… And the police officers that you’ve got on the street, those are the ones that you need to see in prison,” she said, to applause from supporters.
After trying to explain why the County’s jails were necessary to lock up criminals like the shooter who killed a 9 year old boy the day before, Sims eventually lost her patience with Crider, who spoke over her repeatedly. She suggested Crider picked a poor target to argue with about gang violence, putting up her hand mid-sentence, “I live in Roseland, the Wild 100s, so you can’t talk to me.”
Finance Chairman Daley said Crider’s time at the podium was over, and Comm. Schneider spoke up, saying he supported Chicago police. A shouting match started up again, with one protester saying Chicago policemen had raped women in her community, and Crider continuing to argue with commissioners as she and other protesters left the Board room. Daley had the last word. “What are you going to tell the parents of that little baby? Don’t lock that individual up? Give me a break… Next speaker.”
The strong pockets of radicalism in Chicago never cease to fascinate me. Click here to subscribe to AlderTrack. It’s worth it.
* Meanwhile, this story appears to have disappeared from the Sun-Times website, but 2nd City Cop posted it…
Chicago Police officials are concerned the killing of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee could set off a spree of violence targeting gang members’ innocent relatives — who have been considered off limits in the past, a law enforcement source said Wednesday.
The development came as Chicago police said a person of interest in the killing had turned himself in to police for questioning with his attorney this afternoon. Police declined to comment further.
After Tyshawn’s shooting, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy hopes Chicago’s gang conflicts don’t “go to a different level,” the source said.
Officers monitoring social media have flagged discussions of gang members speaking of possible retaliation against other gang members’ families.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
EXELON CEO CHRIS CRANE – “A PHENOMENAL YEAR FOR US”
Today, Exelon announced third quarter 2015 profits of $629 MILLION. Yes, you read that right. Exelon has made more than $2.0 BILLION in the first nine months of this year. And yet despite their good fortune, Exelon still demands a corporate bailout even as our state budget crisis goes from bad to horrendous. They have promised to return to the ILGA with a full court bailout push in 2016!
IN THE THIRD QUARTER, EXELON MADE NEARLY SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS A DAY or $284,873 AN HOUR
On this morning’s earnings call, Exelon CEO Chris Crane described 2015 and said, “This is a phenomenal year for us.”
OTHER EXELON NEWS: ALL ILLINOIS PLANTS TO REMAIN OPEN
- Yesterday, Exelon announced that Clinton would remain open through at least 2017.
- Exelon previously announced that because Quad Cities and Byron cleared the PJM auctions, Quad will remain open through at least 2017 and Byron will remain open through at least 2018.
Struggling Illinois ratepayers have had enough.
Just say no to the Exelon Bailout.
www.noexelonbailout.com
s.
BEST Coalition is a 501C4 nonprofit group of dozens of business, consumer and government groups, as well as large and small businesses.
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Plant Closures Show the Need for Action in Illinois
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In the past month, two nuclear plants have announced their premature closure - the FitzPatrick plant outside Syracuse, NY and the Pilgrim plant outside Boston, MA - due to economic challenges stemming from a failure to properly value the plants for their reliable, carbon emissions –free energy.
These closures will be devastating to the economies of the communities in which they operate and efforts to reduce carbon emissions resulting in:
• Over 1,200 lost jobs;
• $600 million in lost economic activity; and
• Loss of a leading source of carbon emissions-free energy.
This comes on the heels of similar closures announced in Wisconsin and Vermont in recent years that have produced similar losses to those states.
According to a State of Illinois report, the premature closure of at-risk plants in Illinois would yield even more severe consequences here at home including:
• Nearly 8,000 lost jobs;
• $1.8 billion annually in lost economic activity;
• Up to $500 million in higher energy costs statewide; and
• Up to 38.7 million metric tons in increased carbon emissions at a cost of up to $1.1 billion per year.
Illinois cannot afford to let this happen.
We need policy reforms like the Low Carbon Portfolio Standard that properly recognize and value the significant amount of carbon-free electricity that comes from Illinois’ nuclear fleet to level the playing field for all forms of clean energy and best position our state to meet EPA’s new carbon reduction rules.
Learn more about the benefits of nuclear energy at www.NuclearPowersIllinois.com
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Question of the day
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Feb. 25, 2015 Tribune story…
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday convened what was billed as the first meeting of his Cabinet, telling agency leaders that they’ll be asked to do more with less, but that he’s willing to “take the arrows” along the way.
“I wish this year was going to be all happy, and you know, happy feet. This is not going to be a happy feet year,” Rauner told the group of about 50 officials gathered in a Capitol meeting room. “This is going to be pretty rough, but we’re going to get through it. And I tell you, in 24 months we’re going to be on a very different trajectory as a state.”
That means we only have to wait 478 more days until prosperity begins sprouting all over the place!
* The Question: What will Feb. 25, 2017 look like? Snark is heavily encouraged, of course.
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Look past the heat and at the numbers
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* SEIU Healthcare’s child care analyst Beth Berendsen issued a statement to reporters yesterday about the governor’s push against the child care assistance program funding bill. I didn’t post it because, frankly, I’m trying to tone things down a bit and the rhetoric was pretty darned incendiary.
However, the numbers in the release are important, so do your best to look past the foaming at the mouth and instead skim through to the highlighted numbers…
The Bruce Rauner administration’s cynical political screed released today regarding Senate Bill 570, which reverses his arbitrary rules changes to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), exposes a shocking truth: That his unprecedented eligibility requirements, which have made Illinois dead last in the nation in providing safe and affordable child care to working parents, truly are destroying the program.
The Rauner justification, released in advance of an expected vote Nov. 10 on SB570 and most certainly meant to influence wavering members of his caucus, states that more than 90,000 children currently are receiving CCAP subsidies. This number represents a reduction of 80,000 in the average number of children served in the previous eight years. The 90,000 figure also represents a decrease BY HALF of the children that were served in FY2015. This is devastating.
What Rauner did today is reveal a program deterioration so rapid that it is a drop of 70,000 children being served in just three months— down from the 160,000 figure provided by the former state CCAP administrator, Linda Saterfield, in her August 11th testimony to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a statement that led to her dismissal for openly admitting that the impact of Rauner’s cuts would be “devastating.” She was right.
Recent research has shown that more than 1 in 5 children in Illinois are living in poverty, meaning more than 600,000 children. In Illinois, a recent report from the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute showed that a full-time minimum-wage earner would have to spend 74% of their annual earnings on child care for an infant without assistance. And yet, under the rules justified in what Rauner released today, full-time minimum wage earners no longer qualify for CCAP. How can this be justified?
Work supports, including the Child Care Assistance Program, are vital to helping low-income parents continue to work and access high-quality child care which improve child outcomes and stability, goals to which Rauner has professed. But the number that Rauner now boasts about—90,000 children currently being served— represents a heartbreaking loss of opportunity for 90,000 others without his level of personal fortune. It also reminds us that he is interested exclusively in political power and has no concept or care in investing in real solutions to help the struggling families of Illinois.
Whether wittingly or not, what Rauner released today actually provides complete and compelling *justification* for passage of Senate Bill 570.
Rhetoric like that won’t help with Republican lawmakers, but if the House Democrats have all 71 members in town next week, it will probably help with that caucus.
Even so… whew.
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Charters say they’re doing pretty well
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Other than the fear of competition by existing schools and the lack of automatic union enrollment, I don’t really get the virulent opposition to charter schools. Are there problems with some charters? Heck, yes. But, to me, there ought to be alternatives to the industrial model school system for people who can’t afford private schools. Charters aren’t for everybody, but that’s precisely the point.
Reboot…
Today, there are 145 charter schools in Illinois and 90 percent of them are in Chicago. A recent policy brief from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, “Achieving the Dream: Chicago Charter High Schools Improve Academic and Life Outcomes for Students,” compared the academic performance of Chicago’s 48 charter high schools to the rest of the city’s non-selective district high schools.
Charts…
Discuss.
…Adding… The IFT asks that you click here.
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Yeah, this’ll work
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kerry Lester…
Rob Sherman, the Buffalo Grove-based atheist and activist, tells me he plans to call Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and demand that GOP state Rep. Jeannie Ives of Wheaton be removed from the House Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations Committee for having taxpayer-funded kids activity books printed amid the state budget impasse and then sending some to her children’s Catholic school.
The Illinois Constitution forbids using public funds “in aid of any church or sectarian purpose,” but Sherman says his main concern is the books went to a school her children attend.
Ives calls Sherman’s complaint “complete and utter silliness” and says the books cost a total of $130 and have been distributed to children throughout the district. The ones given to the Catholic school, she says, were left over from a kids boot camp she sponsors each summer at Cantigny Park in Wheaton. She also noted she annually returns thousands in office funds to the state.
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The true believers want this war
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s Chicago Business attracts several commenters who know how to write well, and I sometimes find them helpful because they say things that elected officials and others just won’t. For instance, this was posted to a column of mine by a frequent Crain’s commenter who goes by the name of Glenn Farkas…
Sally, I’m not missing the point at all. Rich’s article is a ruse. The state has been run like an organized crime syndicate for decades, so advising Rauner that if he would just stop leaning on the mobsters they might just come around and be altar boys. We elected him to shake up/break up Springfield, and it will probably get worse before it gets better. The single biggest factor in this state’s downfall is directly correlated to the Democratic politicians and their collusion with unions. The unions will never give up their golden goose w/o a fight and the Democrats can’t offend their primary donor base and election workforce. We have no other choice, and if you think the economy is bad now, keep heading down the road we’re on with none of Rauner’s reforms and the state will be in receivership within 5 years.
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Dedication to People – The Credit Union Difference
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Exactly what is the ‘Credit Union Difference’? Just ask Mae Powley, Manager of Pontiac-Dwight Prison Employees Credit Union.
“We really enjoy getting to know our members personally. We consider them part of our extended family. Members are friends, not just account numbers.”
From those who consider their credit union as a trusted place to help meet daily budgetary needs to those who are on the other side of the counter helping fellow members build strong financial futures, credit unions are all about “People Helping People”. So when Mae talks about the credit union as an extended family, she lives it. That’s because she is a member herself along with 1,100 other current and retired Illinois Department of Corrections employees and their family members – and has served alongside them as manager for the past 42 years.
Credit unions are able to better serve their communities because of their not-for-profit cooperative structure and leadership of a volunteer board elected by and from the local membership. Illinois credit unions: putting the “people” behind their fundamental philosophy.
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Unclear on the concept
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Illinois Policy Institute…
[Innovation Illinois’ Elizabeth Austin] also incorrectly described Illinois as having a “regressive flat income tax rate.” This is a contradiction in terms — a tax rate cannot be both regressive and flat. Since Illinois’ income tax rate is flat, everyone pays the same rate on all taxable income.
They can’t really be that clueless, can they?
Investopedia…
A regressive tax is generally a tax that is applied uniformly. This means that it hits lower-income individuals harder.
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Today’s number: $175 million
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
When Illinois returns to the municipal market after its unprecedented 18-month borrowing drought, it may find its budget impasse will cost taxpayers millions of dollars in the coming decades.
On a $1 billion offering of 25-year tax-exempt bonds, it would cost about $175 million more now than if an equal amount was issued with spreads at 2014 levels, based on data compiled by Bloomberg that assumes the yield equals the interest rate paid. Now in its fifth month without a spending plan, signs are mounting that debt sales for cash-strapped Illinois are only going to get more expensive.
* But, really, this quote shows how this whole thing is a bit rigged…
Long-term, the budget situation is fixable, according to Ty Schoback, a senior analyst in Minneapolis at Columbia Threadneedle Investments LLC, which holds some Illinois debt among its $30 billion of municipal holdings.
“As long as there’s adequate compensation in price, in addition to us having a view that they will ultimately come to a fix and get past this political gridlock, we certainly would consider additional purchases,” said Schoback. “You need to be compensated for the headline risk and the political uncertainty and these BBB+ downgrades.”
“Headline risk”? C’mon. What is that about?
Illinois has some of the strongest bond payback legal requirements in the country. Right now, child care, higher education and other programs are being slashed at least partly so the state can afford to make its bond payments on time.
The only people who truly believe Illinois is about to default on its bonds are newspaper website commenters.
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How can we miss you if you won’t go away?
Thursday, Nov 5, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If Hillary Clinton wins the White House, and history follows its usual pattern here,her first midterm will be pretty awful for Illinois Democrats. Knowing that, top tier Dems may take a pass on challenging the super-wealthy Republican Bruce Rauner. Maybe I’m wrong, though, and some do emerge because maybe Rauner is super unpopular by then (although the national political mood tends to influence state races more than the state mood). I could be mistaken. But whatever happens, I think that a Hillary win is Pat Quinn’s best hope to win the nomination again. The general election is quite another matter…
The former longtime gadfly-turned-governor is working behind the scenes to get support for what amounts to an “I told you so” re-election campaign, several Democratic sources say, making calls and setting up lunches and coffees to make his pitch. Quinn has also been more visible of late, including on Wednesday when he joined a group of stagehands protesting in Chicago. Sources say that Quinn asked for speaking roles at this year’s Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the county chairmen’s breakfast.
Quinn argues he should have a chance to go before voters again and tell them he was right all along in advocating to make his controversial “temporary” income tax hike permanent. The risky election-year tax proposal sucked up much oxygen in the last months of Quinn’s unsuccessful campaign against Rauner, a political rookie. Rauner, a wealthy private equity investor, asked lawmakers not to extend the tax before he took office. They obliged. […]
But Quinn’s dreams may be dead on arrival. As the operative who described Quinn’s pitch put it, “I haven’t heard anyone who’s taking it seriously. I think everyone is in agreement, our fundamental problem with our last election was our candidate.”
Another major Democratic insider pointed to the numbers, noting that in 2014, “650,000 people voted for the minimum wage referendum who didn’t vote for Pat Quinn. That tells you something.”
When Speaker Madigan said that Bruce Rauner didn’t really win last year, Pat Quinn lost, that was probably as much of a message to the former governor as it was to the current one. Or, at least, it should’ve been.
It’s no secret, by the way, that Quinn has been plotting this race almost since his 2014 defeat. He’s been popping up at events lately, including just this week at a union protest.
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Good news, bad news and… What the heck?
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Good news for the city…
Kraft Heinz announced Wednesday that it will move Oscar Mayer and the company’s U.S. meats business from Madison, Wis., to Chicago — a move that will add 250 jobs to Chicago’s Aon Center.
* Bad news for Downstate manufacturing…
Kraft will eliminate an undisclosed number of jobs at its Champaign plant as it moves its cheese production operation to other facilities.
“We are planning to move cheese production from our Champaign, Illinois, facility to other factories within our network,” Michael Mullen, senior vice president of corporate and government affairs for Kraft Heinz, said in a statement. “The move will take approximately 24 months to complete and will make Champaign a center-of-excellence in dry and sauce production. As a result of this decision we do expect there to be job losses in Champaign.”
* And then there’s this…
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McCarter hit for campaign spending
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The FEC can get really cranky about stuff like this…
State Sen. Kyle McCarter spent more than $33,000 on a campaign consultant in the four months before he announced his bid for Congress against Republican U.S. Rep. John Shimkus.
While that kind of spending isn’t unusual in the lead-up to a run for political office, the Republican from Lebanon tapped his state campaign account for the consulting work — a move that experts say likely would be prohibited under federal campaign laws if the work went toward his race for Congress. […]
“It’s not related to Congress,” McCarter said of the spending. […]
A review of records filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections shows that between June 1 and Sept. 29, McCarter wrote three checks worth a total of $33,675 to Downers Grove-based Isaiah Consulting.
By contrast, McCarter previously used Isaiah for three campaign mailing jobs worth a total of $1,232.
It’s not a lot of money at all, but, again, the FEC can be evil meanies.
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* Natasha…
The Rauner administration is vehemently pushing against SB570, which lawmakers are to take up in overtime session next week. The bill would limit the power administration’s have over managing a state program in time of financial crisis. Advocacy groups have blasted Rauner for changing rules to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) leading one group to erect billboards warning of Rauner’s “dangerous cuts.”
– In a memo obtained by POLITICO Illinois, the administration describes “high costs and unintended consequences” of the bill. “If enacted on January 1, 2016, the bill would add $220 million in program costs for the duration of Fiscal Year 2016 and have an annualized cost in excess of $800 million,” the memo says. READ THE MEMO: http://politi.co/1GLp6vr
* From the governor’s office…
Hi, Rich –
Hope you’re well.
I wanted to pass along the attached memo and the following statement to you. The statement is attributable to me.
“Unfortunately, rather than passing a budget, the Majority wants to politicize this issue. But with a huge price tag for taxpayers and a number of unintended consequences outlined in the memo, the bill presents a real problem for centrist Democrats, especially those who portray themselves as fiscal conservatives. The bill doesn’t just roll back a single emergency rule — it mandates nearly a billion dollars of annual spending regardless of available resources and threatens the viability of the program over the long run. Additionally, even if they pass this - there’s still no money to pay for CCAP so it won’t fix the underlying issue. Bad for taxpayers, bad for child care. It is a plainly political bill that would create as many problems as it pretends to solve.”
Thanks,
ck
Again, the DHS memo is here.
* However, back in August, DHS said it couldn’t determine the bill’s fiscal impact…
Fiscal Note (Dept. of Human Services)
Though the fiscal impact is indeterminable at this time, the amendment would provide the Department with little or no flexibility to manage the Child Care Program and live within established appropriations.
* Groups including Mrs. Rauner’s Ounce of Prevention sent their own letter today. The full response letter to legislators is here. Excerpt…
- 80,000 Illinois families are able to enter and remain in the work force
- 69,000 skilled early childhood education workers are employed in early learning facilities
- 46,450 employers in Illinois rely on CCAP to ensure their employees have a safe place to leave their children and are able to come to work every day
- CCAP generated $2.6 billion in revenue in 2014. For every 100 jobs created in child care, 56 are created in other industries. For every $100 spent on child care, $213 is spent in the economy
* However, nowhere in that letter was anything addressing the new DHS cost claims. So, I circled back to our pal Emily Miller at Voices for Illinois Children. Her response…
Hi Rich,
By now you have received a memo from a group of organizations encouraging lawmakers and the governor to support SB570, a bill that reverses dangerous cuts to child care implemented unilaterally by the Rauner Administration on July 1, 2015.
Notably absent from that memo is direct repudiation of numbers the administration put forward in its own memo issued this morning. That was intentional. The administration’s memo does not include information regarding how they arrived at their numbers - it simply states numbers as though they are factual.
For example, advocates cannot dissect claims of program costs when we are unsure what baseline is being used—are we comparing program costs from before the Governor’s devastating cuts, or after the cuts, when the administration turned away 15,000 children in the first month of the changes?
And what is the baseline for the annualized costs? The pre-cut levels? The post-cut levels? These are questions advocates do not know the answers to, and since we are unwilling to make numbers up, we are unable to refute the Governor’s claims as a result.
What we do know is that while the legislation would require restoring funding for the operation of the child care program, the cost of NOT funding the program is far greater than $220 million, or even $800 million (numbers used in the administration’s memo) due to the devastating impact that the Rauner Administration’s actions are having on working families. That is why advocates have for years called on Illinois lawmakers to identify revenue to sustain the program at the level necessary to meet the identified need.
No serious policymaker can honestly say investing in quality child care for working parents doesn’t save the state money in the short-and long-term. That’s why the coalition joined together to assess the real value of the CCAP program in Illinois. And that’s why we unanimously support the passage of SB570.
Thanks.
Emily Miller
Director, Policy and Advocacy
Voices for Illinois Children
* Related…
* Survey: Rauner’s Child Care Cuts Hitting Families, Providers Hard: Nearly 2,500 families from 100 child care centers in Illinois have lost access to state subsidized daycare because of the Rauner administration’s cuts to the program, according to a new survey of child care providers in the state.
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Oh, please
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The DePaulia…
It wasn’t business as usual Monday morning as hundreds showed up to march through Chicago’s Financial District for this week’s #MoralMonday protest, where demonstrators gathered to fight Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget. […]
“People are taking to the streets and shutting down the Board of Trade today because we can’t cut any more services,” Buck said. “We are in crisis and that is why we are here today.”
Dude, you didn’t shut down the Board of Trade. You blocked a doorway for a few minutes.
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Today’s quotable
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the commenter known as “Rod Sez I’m Pork”…
Hi Rich,
I am no longer a nonprofit executive director and I took a hiatus from Capitol Fax for my own sanity. I started reading it whenever I need an emetic.
I contacted our luminaries on behalf of my daughter who is a CPS sophomore. I politely urged them to put politics aside and provide the needed financial support for CPS. I know it probably isn’t going to happen, but I have a kid in AP US History, so I have to feign some sort of belief in our political system. I was amused by Governor Rauner’s “reply.”
Dear David,
I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to my office about public education funding in Illinois. My staff is reviewing your message. Please know I value your opinion and thank you for sharing it with me. Hearing from people in Illinois gives me a better idea of what is impacting local communities across the state. Knowing those opinions helps me make decisions for you in Springfield.
Please feel free to contact me in the future. My office phone numbers are (217) 782-0244 and (312) 814-2121.
Sincerely,
Governor Bruce Rauner
I truly appreciate the Governor making decisions for me. It allows me more time to perfect my guppy fish at feeding time impression.
Anyhow, I thought you would appreciate the sentiment.
Happy birthday Oscar, whenever it is.
Emphasis added.
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* HR 839…
Short Description: DEFEND PORK & BACON
Synopsis As Introduced
Calls upon the leaders of the State of Illinois to recognize and continue to defend the importance of bacon and other pork products, along with the pork producers, to the economy, job growth, and the consumer preference of the people of Illinois.
* Erickson…
Against the backdrop of a recent report linking processed meat to cancer, six Republicans introduced a resolution last week showing their support of bacon and other pork products.
Asked Tuesday if the proposal stems from the World Health Organization report warning about the health effects of eating certain meat products, state Rep. Steve Andersson of Geneva said, “You betcha. It was in direct response to that.”
Members of the newly rendered bacon lobby include Andersson, Avery Bourne of Raymond, Grant Wehrli of Naperville, Mark Batinick of Plainfield, Reggie Phillips of Charleston and Keith Wheeler of Oswego.
All are freshmen members of the House.
* My BBQ guru is Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn. Meathead is keenly interested in the science of cooking, so, as I always do with anything meat-related, I checked his site on the topic…
The report is problematic and extensive mainstream and social media coverage has been sensational, unquestioning, and often flat out wrong.
Let’s start with the fact that of the 22 scientists from 10 countries on the panel, 15 voted for the conclusions that were published and 7 disagreed or abstained. Usually these panels seek consensus and one prominent food safety scientist I discussed the results with was surprised at how far they were from consensus. Why the significant dissent and why publish such far reaching conclusions designed to change lifestyles and damage livlihoods with a vote of only 68%? And why publish only a summary? Where is the full report? […]
Many media reports equated the meats with cigarettes because they are both Group 1. As an NPR listener and donor I was shocked to read this headline on their website “Bacon, sausage and other processed meats are now ranked alongside cigarettes and asbestos as known carcinogens.” After several days they changed it. […]
So why didn’t they say so in the document so uneducated reporters would know better than to equate cigarettes with bacon? And why not explain the risk? I want to know what the odds are that I’ll get cancer if I eat two slices of bacon with my eggs every morning. The WHO panel says that eating 50 grams of processed meat (less than 2 slices of cooked American style bacon) per day increases your odds of colorectal cancer 18%. And they leave it at that. What the heck does that mean?
The Center For Disease Control (CDC) says that over a lifetime your risk of colorectal cancer, the focus of the WHO research, is under 5%. Two slices of bacon will up the odds to less than 6% not 23% (5% + 18%) as some math challenged reporters have told us.
Heck, according to CDC data, the incidence of colorectal cancer is significantly higher in Pennsylvania than in Maryland. Should we conclude Maryland is bad for your health and evacuate everyone? […]
The panel based its conclusion by studying existing studies, a practice called meta-analysis. Many media reports claimed they looked at 800 studies, but that’s not exactly true. They started with 800 and eliminated all but 15 red meat studies and 18 processed meat studies.
Conclusion? Noted legislative bacon fan and liberal Democrat Rep. Greg Harris ought to join the bacon caucus and co-sponsor this resolution.
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Steve Andersson…
Rich,
After your comments on the blog today about the Bacon caucus, Rep. Greg Harris called me in the spirit of bipartisanship and asked to be added to the Resolution. Done and done!
Steve
Hooray!
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Somebody needs to call a plumber
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This story in the Sun-Times about how Kim Foxx hasn’t yet disclosed an in-kind contribution of a poll done on her behalf by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle months before Foxx opened up a campaign account is a bit on the technical violation side.
But this is most interesting…
Foxx was aware of the January poll when it was conducted but “did not authorize” it, Klonsky said.
Emails obtained by the Sun-Times show Foxx was involved in drafting the poll questions.
Um, wow. Is somebody on the inside leaking campaign e-mails?
This’ll get interesting.
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Rahm in the middle
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
The governor has been trying like crazy to drive a wedge between the mayor and Madigan and hopes the CPS crisis will turn up the heat on Emanuel to make the break and side with the governor in favor of his pro-business reforms. In fact, Rauner has predicted that the state budget stalemate will end in January, when a simple majority is needed for passage and Chicago will be desperate for money to avert the need for thousands of teacher layoffs.
But Emanuel’s lavish praise for Madigan at Tuesday’s groundbreaking underscored the speaker’s point: Rauner’s divide-and-conquer strategy is a bust.
“He has not and I don’t think he will” drive a wedge between himself and Emanuel, Madigan said.
“The mayor and I share too many common interests. We’re both Chicagoans. We’re both dedicated to the interests of the city of Chicago, to the Chicago school system. And we’re very dedicated to the principles of the Democratic Party.”
There are those who believe [language at that link, so be advised] that the mayor and the governor are besties who have completely staged their fight.
No doubt there’s significant stage-managing here, as subscribers know.
But Rahm’s in this precarious position because Madigan ain’t making anything up. This fight is all too real to MJM, and he apparently believes that Emanuel is with him.
* Anyway, I just remembered that Oscar’s third birthday is November 18th, the same day that the leaders are meeting together for the first time since late May. If they won’t fix things for Illinois’ sake, or Chicago’s sake or their own sake, maybe they could do it for the puppy?…
…Adding… I misremembered. Oscar’s birthday is the 22nd, not the 18th. I’m a bad dad. And this impasse ain’t never gonna end.
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The “ultimate betrayal”
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ugh…
Lake County officials who eulogized Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz as a hero in the days after he died from a fatal gunshot wound, said Wednesday evidence now shows he staged his death as an apparent homicide to cover years of financial exploitation of the police Explorers post he oversaw.
George Filenko, commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, called Gliniewicz’s actions the “ultimate betrayal” that included intentionally leaving a staged trail of police equipment at the crime scene in an attempt to mislead police to believe his death was a homicide.
Filenko made the comments during an exclusive Daily Herald interview before a news conference to announce the investigation’s findings that Gliniewicz took a large sum of money from Fox Lake Explorer Post 300. Thousands of dollars was used by Gliniewicz for personal purchases, including travel expenses, mortgage payments, gym memberships, adult websites, facilitating personal loans and unaccounted cash withdrawals, Filenko said.
“There are no winners here,” Filenko said. “Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal to the citizens he served and the entire law enforcement community. The facts of his actions prove he behaved for years in a manner completely contrary to the image he portrayed.
Filenko said Gliniewicz was using the Explorer fund “as his personal bank account.” He added that $250,000 flowed through the account over seven years, and investigators estimated Gliniewicz took about “five figures.”
* More…
Police also say that the investigation into what happened was not over. The investigation “strongly indicates criminal activity on the part of at least two other individuals,” Filenko said, but he added that officials would not comment further on that.
The only hero of this story might be the county coroner, who tried to do his job while the police screamed about how he was hurting their investigation by releasing information.
This case just smelled funny from the beginning.
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Tone it down, please
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Natasha…
[House Speaker Michael Madigan’s press secretary Steve Brown] was asked about former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, who now serves in the governor’s administration as chief operating officer. Rauner has named Lingle among his “superstars” who would help fix the state’s financial mess. Lingle’s hire caught headlines both because of the high-profile nature of having a former governor on board — and her salary. At some $200,000 a year, Lingle is earning more as a Rauner aide than she was as governor of Hawaii.
– Brown suggested — and we’ve heard whispers of this in the past — that Lingle’s hiring had something to do with ties to a close Rauner adviser and strategist Nick Ayers and “dark money” that flowed from groups tied to him and attacked Lingle opponents. Background on that here: http://bit.ly/1RSlisr. Ayers is a Georgia-based political operative and past head of the Republican Governors Association.
– Ayers’ Target Enterprises, which handles campaign ads, was one of the biggest payees during Rauner’s record-breaking, $65 million campaign for governor.
– An audience member asked Brown what evidence he’s seen of her work in the Legislature: Brown said so far she organized a parade for the state fair.
– The Governor’s office slices into “pitiful” Brown: “It’s perplexing why high ranking House Democrats continue to unjustifiably attack top females in the Rauner administration,” spokesman Lance Trover said in a statement to POLITICO Illinois. “It is especially pitiful coming from someone who doubles as a lobbyist while serving as the Speaker’s spokesman. No wonder he’s pathetically protecting the old boys club.”
Brown was out of line. She doesn’t do legislative work, so he wouldn’t really know what her duties are.
Even so, this administration’s staff has singled out several Democrats for attack many times in the past. Just because Lingle is a woman doesn’t make her exempt. This is 2015, not 1955.
Then again, the Democrats have complained about those administration attacks on them, so turnabout should be avoided.
What I’m trying to say here is that everybody ought to just take a chill pill or something and try to show at least a modicum of respect for the other side.
…Adding… Text from a friend…
I was there. Brown made it very clear that she doesn’t work in the legislature, “So I wouldn’t be in the same meetings she is in and know what she does.” That part of the quote didn’t make it.
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Seems about a hundred years ago
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Back in January, the AP asked the state’s business leaders what they’d like to see out of the incoming Rauner administration…
Company leaders are typically among the fiercest proponents of tax cuts. But while many say they’d like to see changes such as the elimination of the state’s franchise tax, they also say the state has few options to generate much-needed money. “You can’t continually cut state government,” [Dennis Larson, executive vice president of the Central Illinois Builders] said. […]
But whatever happens, it needs to happen soon, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Gregory Baise said.
“Manufacturers want certainty. They want a tax structure that they know is going to be in place and they can plan,” Baise said. “We may not like the answers the governor is going to come up with. We understand that.” […]
First, “bring our revenues in line with expenditures,” Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch said. “But No. 2, show really every citizen of Illinois that the political process can work.”
Credit to Baise for staying on message since then. Maisch has since dropped his demand that the governor fix the budget first and show us how to make the process work and has instead gone all-in on the impasse.
But by these standards, Illinois is not #winning.
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Can’t anybody play this game?
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* State construction money isn’t being distributed and there’s still lots of untapped bonding authority out there…
Illinois, once a top issuer of municipal bonds, has been absent from the debt market for a year and a half despite having more than $4.8 billion of untapped bond authorization left from a $31 billion, partially bond-funded “Illinois Jobs Now!” program the state enacted in 2009.
Money on hand from state bond sales shrank to $552 million at the end of fiscal 2015 from $2.68 billion at the end of fiscal 2014, according to Moody’s. […]
Metra, the Chicago area’s commuter train operator, said about $400 million of projects, including improvements to 16 stations, two rail yards and a major bridge replacement program, are on hold due to the lack of state bond money.
Our state could use those jobs. And those are easily measurable jobs, not some ideological pie in the sky hoped-for return on anti-union “reforms.”
* Also, this…
A package of fees and taxes meant to pay off the “Jobs Now” bonds has fallen short of its revenue target. This is largely due to underperformance of a video gambling tax as some communities, most notably Chicago, blocked the gaming machines.
The package is expected to generate $830 million this fiscal year, short of legislative projections from 2009 that it would raise $943 million to nearly $1.2 billion annually, according to the Chicago-based Civic Federation.
Chicago wants a casino, so it hasn’t approved video gaming. In the process, it has passed up millions of dollars in revenue, which it can’t afford to leave on the table.
Man, this state is messed up.
33 Comments
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Today’s number: $7,300
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Monique…
The dome of the Illinois State Capitol won’t be adorned with the usual festive string lights this holiday season, a victim not of the Grinch but the ongoing budget impasse between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic legislative leaders.
Secretary of State Jesse White, whose office maintains the historic building, announced Tuesday that the dome will go dark this year because while a “nice tradition” the Christmas lights are “nonessential” as he tries to save money as the state enters its fifth month without a full budget.
The office has yet to make a decision about decorations inside the Capitol, where a giant Christmas tree and menorah are usually displayed in the rotunda.
White spokesman Dave Druker estimated the lights cost roughly $7,300 to put up each year — a pittance relative to the nearly $3 million the office says it owes Springfield’s municipal utility company.
* Finke…
Each year since the 1960s, workers from the secretary of state’s office have hung 260-foot strands of lights from the Capitol dome to the building’s roof. It normally takes a crew of 12 from 2 1/2 to three hours to install the lights. The strands use 25-watt bulbs that were commonly used for Christmas lights in the 1950s and ’60s. Two years ago, White’s office said more modern, LED bulbs might be used at some point, but there was no timetable for it.
White’s office has said it is an ongoing battle to deal with the effects of the state not having a budget in place. The office already announced it would not mail notices to people when it’s time to renew their license plate stickers, a move that will save $450,000 a month in postage costs. The savings will allow the office to stretch out money remaining in its postage account “for a few months longer” and enable the office to continue mailing the renewal stickers themselves along with titles and license plates.
The office also has been dealing with vendors who no longer want to do business with the state because they are not being paid for the work they do. The office even warned that power could be turned off at the Capitol because the state cannot pay its utility bills. However, Springfield’s City Water, Light and Power said a power shut-off is not imminent.
Thoughts?
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