Scott Lee Cohen, the Chicago pawnbroker and onetime Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, submitted a letter Friday to state Democratic Party officials withdrawing his candidacy.
The letter, given to a representative for state party chairman and House Speaker Michael Madigan, will be handed over to the Illinois State Board of Elections when state offices open Tuesday following the Presidents Day holiday, a Cohen spokesman said.
“We didn’t want this to continue through the weekend,” said Cohen’s spokesman, Baxter Swilley. “We gave it to the state party, and they will file it. We consider the matter closed.”
Swilley declined to provide a copy of the letter until it was accepted by elections officials. He said the one-page letter simply states Cohen is relinquishing all rights to the nomination.
Gov. Quinn hasn’t been doing public events this week. I don’t really blame him.
Quinn managed to survive the Democratic primary by a few thousand votes, only to realize a few hours later that he had been paired on the ticket with a pawnbroker who had been arrested for allegedly holding a knife to his girlfriend’s throat and had allegedly attempted to rape his wife, among other things.
When that news broke, I’ll bet everybody at the shuttered Dan Hynes campaign breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Hooray! We lost!”
Michael Sneed reported in Thursday’s Chicago Sun-Times that at least 70 people had contacted the governor’s office asking to be the new lieutenant governor candidate.
Some are surely legitimate, but I imagine that many others are coming out of the woodwork.
“Hi. Can I apply for the job?”
Sure. What are your qualifications?
“Well, I work at a massage parlor and my ex-boyfriend once tried to slit my throat.”
Click.
State Rep. Arthur L. Turner (D-Chicago) finished second in the lieutenant governor’s race and says he’s a natural choice. But if he couldn’t defeat the nightmarish Scott Lee Cohen, how the heck is he going to help the Democrats beat the Republicans?
Turner has been involved in a long-running feud with state Sen. Rickey R. Hendon (D-Chicago). Most people figure Hendon got into the lieutenant governor’s primary to take black votes away from Turner, his fellow African-American legislator and longtime political nemesis. Whatever it was, it worked. If Quinn chooses Turner, Hendon will certainly make lots of trouble for the governor in the Illinois Senate.
Friends of S. Raja Krishnamoorthi think he should be the choice. Krishnamoorthi is an Indian American who lost to Rep. David E. Miller for comptroller in the Democratic primary. Republicans were worried that Krishnamoorthi would win that race and be the spark that fully ignited the extensive and wealthy Indian-American community on behalf of the Democratic Party.
But choosing an also-ran such as Krishnamoorthi would be a direct slap at Turner and his African-American allies. No way.
Rep. Mike Boland (D-East Moline) finished fourth in the lieutenant governor primary and thinks he ought to be named to the ticket. Yeah. OK. Skip over the No. 2 guy to choose somebody who finished way back in the pack? Right. Check. Next!
Dan Hynes really ought to be the one to step up here. His millions of dollars in negative TV ads almost worked, but the incumbent is now damaged goods. Hynes doesn’t want to run as Quinn’s second banana, and Quinn can’t stand the sight of Hynes, so that’s that. Too bad for both men, because a Quinn/ Hynes ticket would have been dramatic enough to put this mess behind them and help rehabilitate both their images.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan might want to run for governor in four years, so there’s some talk of picking an elder statesman such as Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard. He’s a conservative Downstater, which would bring some much-needed balance to the completely liberal Cook County ticket. And he’s old enough that he wouldn’t have the ambition to run for the top job when Quinn is finished.
Maybe state Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) has the right idea. Franks wants the party to just leave the spot open. Don’t fill the Cohen vacancy.
It’s a useless, do-nothing job anyway, so why even bother replacing Cohen?
No matter whom the Democrats choose, somebody will be miffed, so picking nobody could avoid that morass and allow them to focus on Jason Plummer, the Republican lieutenant governor nominee — an unknown, very conservative 27-year-old who spent his family’s money to win the nomination.
It’s something to consider.
* Related…
* Fox Valley State Rep. Franks says leave Lt. Gov. slot empty
* Ill. state representative says Quinn should run solo
* House Speaker Michael Madigan speaks to John Williams
There are nearly 1,444,000 registered voters in Chicago. Turnout for the Feb. 2 primary was 27.2 percent, the worst for a non-presidential primary, but apparently better than the still-unofficial statewide figure.
Without the extension, Quinn would have had to deliver his budget speech Wednesday. Now, he does not have to address lawmakers about his spending plan until March 10.
The Web site - www.budget.illinois.gov - will post on Feb. 24 the tax revenues for the current budget year and how they’ve been spent so far. Also posted will be projected revenues for the next budget year, which begins July 1, and all the projected program costs, debt payments, pension liabilities and other spending pressures.
Some pro-gambling legislators are pushing a plan to either charge a fee or withhold construction from communities that reject video gambling for bars and restaurants.
* Agencies fear state cuts will be setback for Illinois Q-C kids
* State libraries may be the next victim of state’s financial woes
* Fiscal Sustainability: Our State and Its Flagship University
Next year is even more worrisome. The $2 billion in federal stimulus funds will be gone. The false comfort of this year’s $3.5 billion in pension obligation notes may not return but the obligation to fund pensions will remain. Interest payments on borrowing will go up. This year’s FY ‘10 deficit will carry forward.
In short, as serious as things are now, FY ‘11 will be much worse. Our University of Illinois economists estimate we could be looking at a nearly $13 billion hole going into FY ‘11, a gap almost half of the entire State general fund budget.
The Campus Faculty Association has scheduled a “teach-in” Monday afternoon on the UI’s budget crisis, demanding that budget decisions “be motivated by the core values of teaching, research and public engagement” and be “open, transparent and collaborative.”
Desperate times produce desperate measures, and this request to borrow based on the unreliable promises from a near-bankrupt state has to be among the most desperate of all.
* Illinois to receive increase in specialty crop grant funds
The department intends to use the funds to award “mini-grants” that expand markets for fresh produce grown in Illinois and is encouraging specialty crop growers to submit a proposal before the April 30 application deadline.
* House Democrats block Republican attempt to get vote on campaign finance reform
Madigan argued that last year’s campaign finance bill was a compromise. It applied the limits on how much leaders and parties could give to candidates to only the primary campaign, and takes effect next year.
The plan creates an income tax credit of 25 percent on “qualified expenditures” incurred by a developer who restores or preserves a historic structure.
If approved by the legislature, the Peoria Democrat’s plan would become the first state income tax credit applied toward historical structures in Illinois.
* Lawmakers considering income limits on free rides for seniors
A one-person household with an income of $27,610 would be eligible under the guidelines. A two-person household could have a maximum income of $34,635. The circuit breaker program is used to set income guidelines to give seniors property tax relief and aid to buy prescription drugs.
Lawmakers want more input before making decision on bill governing racy text messages
* Proposals seek ’sensitive balance’ in teen sexting
As proposed, sending a “sext” could bring a $1,500 fine and six months in jail. Asking someone to send you a “sext” could bring a $2,500 fine and a year in jail.
The surest way to prevent the huge, hungry carp from gaining a foothold in the lakes and threatening their $7 billion fishing industry is to sever the link between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River basin, created by engineers in Chicago more than a century ago.
* Illinois lawmakers upset over call to close locks in Asian carp fight
The Labor Department said that first-time claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 440,000. Wall Street economists expected a smaller decline of 15,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
But other numbers in the report point to a stabilizing market. Buildings that are geared to first-time buyers and quote prices at about $290 a square foot are drawing the greatest interest and will lead a market recovery, said Gail Lissner, vice president at Appraisal Research.
Mr. Daley said he’s also ordered a management study designed to move more police from desk jobs to street duty, and said he is continuing the city’s hiring freeze.
Mayor Daley on Thursday tightened the bureaucratic belt another notch by ordering a 6 percent cut in non-personnel spending in all city departments except police, fire and emergency services.
Anthony Boswell’s 30-day suspension without pay comes as Daley this week moved to weaken the Office of Compliance by shifting its oversight duties for city hiring to the inspector general’s office.
Boswell’s attorney Jamie Wareham offered no specific examples of the clout hiring. He simply said there was more at work in Boswell’s suspension than an attempt by Inspector General Joe Ferguson to snatch control of city hiring away from the Office of Compliance.
Only 12 percent of all parking tickets end up being challenged. That’s even though 56 percent of all tickets challenged last year ended up being tossed out, according to Administrative Hearings director Scott Bruner.
He said he was prepared for a tough fight at his trial, which is set to get under way June 3 before U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel.
“This is the battle of my life and I’m prepared to confront it,” the Nashville, Tenn., businessman said.
His attorney, Michael Ettinger, told reporters he is thinking of filing a motion to have his client tried separately from the impeached former governor.
Statistics released today in the 2010 Illinois Kids Count Report show that 34 percent of Rockford’s children live in poverty. That’s 3 percentage points higher than second-ranked Chicago.
According to Hanania, former Town President Henry Klosak and the board passed an ordinance in 1992 that made elected officials over 60 eligible for town health insurance. In 1997, after Loren-Maltese was elected, the board expanded the ordinance, taking out the age requirement and amending it to cover elected officials and spouses for life. Children can receive the insurance up to age 19].
In fact, Pat McCarthy can rattle off a list of subdivisions in the works or expanding in Chatham — Foxx Creek, Manor Hill II, Glendale, The Willows, Oakbrook, North Pointe Commons and Avenal to name a few.
* [Springfield]’s fourth union local votes against furloughs
Members of AFSCME Local 3738, which represents clerical, technical and professional employees throughout city and City Water, Light and Power departments, on Thursday voted 89-34 against the mayor’s proposed contractual concessions, according to Roger Griffith, staff representative for AFSCME Council 31.
But the curtain has been dropped on the perk now that the jail’s $35 monthly Netflix subscription has been canceled — a tiny portion of the $2 million in budget cuts that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran disclosed Thursday.
* Tinley considers ways to ease higher parking fees
* Residents say Grayslake violating its own snow ordinance
* [Winnebago] County Board OKs bond sale for Bachman settlement
* [Peoria] County’s asphalt quality control requirement set to begin May 1
* Livingston Co. about to exit nursing home business
The Livingston County Board learned Thursday that the Illinois Department of Public Health has granted a probationary permit to allow Flanagan-based Good Samaritan Home to own and operate the county-owned, 122-bed Livingston Manor. A final permit cannot be granted until the state inspects Livingston Manor.
The probationary permit is good until March 31. Livingston County Board Chairman Bill Fairfield said the state will renew the probationary permit if the inspection isn’t done in time.
* We’ll open up comments on Tuesday, but there will be a couple of posts tomorrow and two on Monday. Of course, if the craziness kicks in there will be updates. Hopefull, though, we can all take a break during the big, 4-day Lincoln weekend.
* Sen. James Meeks has been railing at the public establishment for quite some time, but he’s amped up his criticisms lately. Today’s Sun-Times has an article about how Meeks is pushing legislation to strip Chicago’s local school councils of their power to pick principals and provide for vouchers for kids in some targeted schools…
“I think they are radical changes,'’ the Chicago Democrat said Wednesday of the two bills now in Senate committees. “Isn’t that what the president ran on — change? America has voted for change.'’
Some school activists were stunned by Meeks’ proposal to convert elected local school councils into advisory bodies. No longer would LSCs select and fire principals and approve school budgets, as required under the 1988 Chicago School Reform Law. […]
Meeks — pastor of Chicago megachurch Salem Baptist — said Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman and his predecessor, now U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, have told him that “principals are the most important people'’ in a school while complaining that “we don’t pick the principals.'’ The bill would “eliminate that excuse,'’ Meeks said. […]
Meeks said he also plans to amend a voucher bill he introduced last fall so that students in the 15 lowest-scoring CPS high schools and the 50 lowest-scoring CPS elementary schools would be eligible for tuition vouchers to private or parochial schools.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois is “highly enthusiastic'’ about the idea, said executive director Robert Gilligan.
* Meeks talked about his voucher plan at length to the conservative Illinois Policy Institute. I have posted the audio on YouTube for ease of listening. Check it out…
Some relevant quotes for those who can’t watch at work…
What we don’t understand is the voucher movement seems to be born, or seems to have been started, by Republicans. It was a Republican idea. That’s the way the Democrats look at it. That’s the way black lawmakers look at it. This is a Republican idea. This is what the Republicans want to push on us, and public schools are working in your area.
Meeks went hard after his fellow African-American legislators for being “owned by the unions”…
However, if we’re going to build a coalition, if we’re going to give black lawmakers and people who are owned by the unions, because most of these elected officials are owned by unions. And when I say owned by unions, I simply mean this: you’re coming to us and you have us going anti-union and going against the most, what we allege to be, the most powerful people, or those who hold our elections in the palm of their hand.
So you’re coming to African American legislators, who, they got $500 at most in their account, and you’re trying to get them to take an anti-union position.
And then he explained his idea…
Let’s then have, and this is what my bill will do, let’s have vouchers for failed schools first. Let’s take the top 50 failing elementary schools and the top 10 or 15 failing high schools — the ones we use the statistics for — and let’s say to those lawmakers, hey, if this bill passes the kids who go to this school, Fenger, and Harper, and Harlem, and Marshall, and Austin, let’s give the parents in this area a choice and let the parent take the kid to any school they want to go to.
Now, it will be hard, I’m hoping, for legislators to argue against that. It should be hard for African American legislators to argue against it.
When I was in Haiti, one of the things I realized and recognized…they started with the critically injured first. Those are the people you (treat?) when you come on the scene. You always start with the critically injured. You don’t start with the guy with the scrape on his head. You start with the person with the crushed lungs, and the crushed head. Let’s start with the critically injured.
Let’s have vouchers for the critically injured. Let’s rescue the kids at the bottom. Let’s get them a voucher. Let’s get a voucher in their hand. And then as we see that it’s working for them, and it’s fair for them, or right for them, then in the next phase, let’s help some more people. And let’s help some more people.
But unless we are committed to helping those who we use the statistics, unless we’re willing to help them first, I don’t think it’s going to be an easy sell to lawmakers because we are asking them to put their political careers on the line for an idea that they really don’t get, that they really don’t understand. But when it’s their school, and only their school, they’ll get it, I believe. And I believe they’ll understand it.
* Reading the inspector general’s report on former Department of Human and Family Services chief of staff Tamara Hoffman is a mind-blowing experience.
Hoffman is well-known on Springfield’s after-hours circuit for some of her more, um, “interesting” behavior. But as far as I can tell, none of her behavior ever did a whit of damage to DHFS at the Statehouse. The agency’s bills passed or died, its rules were approved or shot down regardless of what Tami did off-duty.
But back in April of 2008, the department’s inspector general got some reports of baudy after-hours behavior by Hoffman, so he started an investigation.
Yes, you read that right. Blow off too much steam in a bar and the next thing you know the inspector general is on your tail. Literally, as it turns out. The official investigation eventually involved following Hoffman around in state cars.
DHFS Inspector General John Allen initially tried to convince Director Barry Maram to either fire Hoffman or have her tone down her off-duty behavior. Maram brushed off the busy-body, saying he didn’t think her after-hours activities were anyone’s business. Allen didn’t give up, though, and launched an all-out probe.
Eventually, they got Hoffman for showing up late to work (which required IG Allen to spend state money on surveillance), having some naughty pictures on her state computer and talking to me without going through the public information office. From the State Journal-Register story…
Investigators also found that Hoffman violated state policy by giving an unauthorized interview to Rich Miller, creator of the Capitol Fax newsletter, in February 2009.
Here’s the story I wrote that got Inspector General John Allen in such a tizzy…
DEPARTMENT GOES AROUND BLAGOJEVICH Several hours after Rod Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI, a top official at the Department of Health and Family Services confirmed to me that the governor’s office had indeed put a hold on money for a pediatric care program, an allegation contained in the federal criminal complaint.
The feds claimed that Blagojevich had held up funding for the program in order to pry loose a $50,000 campaign contribution from the person who runs Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Tami Hoffman, who is the chief legal counsel for DHFS, decided to go on record about what she knew yesterday after the Chicago Tribune posted a story on its website claiming that Blagojevich had finally released the state money as his last act in office.
Hoffman said she was told personally by Blagojevich Deputy Governor Bob Greenlee a week before Blagojevich’s arrest that the money was to be put on hold. The department, Hoffman said, had been informed several days earlier that a hold had been placed on the program. Greenlee resigned soon after Blagojevich’s arrest. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has not spoken about the criminal complaint in public.
The day after the governor’s arrest, Hoffman said DHFS began working to get the pediatric care funding to hospitals without the governor’s knowledge or cooperation. The governor apparently placed a call to the department a few weeks later to check on the status of the funding and was angrily reminded that his office had placed a hold on the money.
The funding proved to be complicated, Hoffman said, with various negotiations required with providers and difficult computer coding to accomplish. The department eventually decided on a February 1st posting date of the funding availability, but that was a Sunday, so it was moved up.
Hoffman said the decision was made to post the funding availability on the network shortly after the Senate voted to remove Blagojevich from office on Thursday, January 29th. It was, she said, the first time to her knowledge that a posting was done without a governor’s name attached to it. It was also apparently done that way to ensure that Blagojevich could not take any credit for funding the program after he was accused of holding up the money in exchange for a large contribution.
Bottom line: This funding was apparently not Blagojevich’s last act in office.
Inspector General Allen claimed in his report that he had been told Director Maram was “caught off guard” and “upset” over Hoffman’s leak. Maram confirmed to Allen that he was angry, but he defended his chief of staff by saying that she wanted to set the record straight and “did the right thing.”
Yet, somehow, this episode is included in Allen’s report.
What a freaking crock that is.
Hoffman’s refusal to answer numerous questions at the House Impeachment Committee’s hearings is nowhere in the report. Instead, Allen’s report is a salacious collection of innuendo and heresay and “shocking” news that she had some porn on her ‘puter and showed up late to work.
Look, she brought most of this on herself. No denying that. And I won’t defend breaking the on-duty rules. She is what she is, and she’s gotta deal with it.
But what are we coming to in this state when, as corruption is all around, a guy like Inspector General John Allen is expending bigtime state resources to investigate after-hours tavern behavior? And what the heck is Allen doing chastising Hoffman for speaking truth to the media about Rod Blagojevich’s corruption?
Also, just as an FYI, I was told not long ago that Allen was nosing around the office about a comment which had been posted here on my blog. DHFS refused to respond to my questions about that earlier this week when I called to discuss the Allen report.
* Subscribers know that I did a long analysis today of Sen. Bill Brady’s legislative voting record. One of the things I forgot to mention was that Brady voted against the Smoke Free Illinois Act, which banned smoking in public places.
Brady also unveiled some proposed constitutional amendments yesterday…
The GOP gubernatorial front-runner Wednesday proposed changing the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriages, make it more difficult to pass state tax increases, impose term limits on lawmakers and overhaul the process of redrawing legislative boundaries.
“I’m trying to give the government back to the people,” said Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), when asked what the package says about him as a candidate for governor.
The same-sex marriage prohibition would prohibit gay marriages and civil unions.
He’s proposed many of these same ideas before. The gay marriage ban is one thing, but I’m not sure how the ban on civil unions will go over too well in a general election with Democratic-leaning independents. Without those votes, he can’t win this state. The smoking ban is just another item on that list.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Money only 1 part of a winning mix, says Plummer: “There’s been a whole lot of things that I’ve done in my life that aren’t on the biography,” Plummer responded. “I think that my biography is probably understated, to be honest with you.”
* If you want to really cut the state budget, and not just play around the edges, school funding is a necessary target. Not to say it’s a good thing. It’s not. But there’s no way to get a real handle on the deficit without cutting aid to schools. And those cuts may be on the way…
Current negotiations in Springfield could result in 10 percent cuts to the state’s school funding foundation level, meaning millions less in state aid to local schools.
State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat who chairs the Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations Committee, said this week the state budget crisis will likely affect general state aid, lately the only consistent funding source from Springfield to local schools. […]
While the state has stopped and started other payments to the schools during its current budget crisis, general state aid was the only part that continued uninterrupted.
If Chapa LaVia is correct, that could change next year.
“It looks like we’re coming to some huge drops in general state aid,” Chapa LaVia said. “It’s looking like anywhere from $600 to $700 per-pupil drop.”
Oof.
A top budget source told me yesterday that some very big, important programs will “have to go away” for six months to a year until the state can right its ship. After that (and maybe after a post-election tax hike) the state can decide which programs to bring back.
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director David Vaught told Illinois Statehouse News that the state will have to do four things to start bringing the budget into balance. Cuts, “strategic borrowing,” help from the federal government and “we’re going to need a revenue increase.” Watch…
Illinois House Republicans are putting the public relations thumbscrews to the ruling Democrats right now in the only way they can: By proposing a bill that seeks to impose what one sponsor called “fiscal sanity” on state spending, then forcing the Dems to publicly slap it down.
The bill, HB3189, would require that any legislation that’s passed and is going to cost money has to have an identified income source included in it. How could anyone be opposed to that, you ask? That’s the same thing the Republicans are asking, in one angry floor speech after another.
“When you’re in a $12 billion hole, quit digging!” shouted state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, summing up the philosophy behind the bill. Another Republican backer of the bill pointed out that this “pay as you go” process is one that, on the federal level, is being demanded by President Barack Obama. (Using Obama’s positions as a lever on Democrats here has become a favorite tactic of Illinois Republicans — ironic, considering.) […]
In any case, the point of proposing the bill wasn’t to get it passed, but to force its defeat.
True. Expect plenty more of that in the coming days, weeks and months.
Speaker Madigan and his allies in Springfield need to stop whining about the Republicans when they have the votes to pass a sustainable budget on their own. No one is going to buy the idea that the GOP is responsible for the inaction in Springfield. Such an argument makes the speaker — and the party as a whole — look dysfunctional and cowardly.
* Related…
* State’s Financial Crisis Hits Home for Lawmakers: Some lawmakers are facing up to $10,000 in late payments and it’s starting to take its toll.
* Governor Gets More Time To Deliver Budget To Lawmakers
* Local lawmakers split on Quinn’s budget delay: Republicans aren’t buying Quinn’s claim that by delaying the budget presentation a few weeks, it’ll give the public a chance to shape state finances. But Democrats said a little more time won’t hurt given the recent election.
The lieutenant governor’s office would be eliminated beginning in 2015 under a proposed state constitutional amendment filed today by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Facing a dire budget situation, Gov. Pat Quinn has been lobbying lawmakers for months to give him more time to craft a state budget.
On Wednesday, legislative leaders finally agreed to a proposal that would give him three additional weeks to crunch the numbers.
But, the Democratic leaders added a new wrinkle to the often byzantine budgeting process that has left Illinois government teetering on the edge of an $11 billion hole.
Now, instead of launching the budget-writing process after the governor’s speech on March 10, Democrats who control the House and Senate will require Quinn to post an online outline of the state’s financial details two weeks before he takes the stage on March 10.
The Senate Executive Committee approved the bill today.
* Rod Blagojevich was in court today for his arraignment on new federal charges. He pled not guilty and his lawyers filed a motion to unseal all of the federal government’s surveillance tapes. Blagojevich then issued this statement to the media…
“Today I’m throwing down the gauntlet. I know I have a constitutional right to try to suppress these tapes. And as a former prosecutor I believe there’s a good chance that it would probably be granted. Here’s what I’m not going to do: I’m not going to hide behind my lawyers, nor will I hide behind technicalities in the law to try to block these tapes from being heard. Instead, I’ve instructed my lawyers to petition the court so that every second, every minute and every hour that the government secretly taped me is provided to both sides to be played in court. And I challenge the government to get on the side of truth and justice and if this is a crime spree like you claim it was, then don’t hide behind technicalities. Play the tapes. Play the truth, and play the whole truth.
“I’m not just talking the talk here. I’m also going to walk the walk, which is right up to the witness stand. And when I take the stand, I’ll testify and swear on the Holy Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I expect and, more importantly, I believe the people of Illinois expect and deserve that the government does the same.
“Play the truth, and play the whole truth. Play nothing but the truth. Play the tapes.”
Later, Blagojevich’s lawyer, Sam Adam Jr., pulled back a bit from that, saying that the former governor wants every tape played that’s relevant to his corruption case.
“We are saying either side can play any minute of any tape that they wish to play,” Adam said.
Blagojevich said he thinks he can contest the original finding that there was probable cause to believe a crime was committed, which allowed the wiretaps to be placed in the first place.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel [Monday] noted that a recent motion filed by Blagojevich’s lawyers contained no legal citations in its request that the government give them rush copies of witness statements.
“The blunderbuss demand for everything to be turned over sooner than the law allows is not well made,” Zagel said, adding: “The volume of discovery already produced far exceeds that required by established law.”
Zagel makes it plain he is not amused with a recent filing by Blagojevich attorneys, which at one point criticizes the government for securing its witness list as if the defendant were “Tony Soprano” and not the ousted governor of Illinois.
Zagel calls the recent pleading by Blagojevich lawyers: “an assortment of rhetorical flourishes oddly detached from the issues in this case, in one instance invoking the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and, in
another, pleading that Defendant needs certain evidence to establish his innocence.
* If Bill Brady (or Kirk Dillard) is elected in November and something happens to him, this is the man who would be our governor…
Striking, no?
WBEZ takes a look at 27 year-old GOP lt. governor nominee Jason Plummer…
PLUMMER: Experience in state government, sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not so great. And I think right now people really want that outsider perspective.
And Plummer says he’d be ready to serve as governor if the situation arose, pointing to his experience in the naval reserve and his work as an executive at his family’s lumber company.
PLUMMER: You know, I’d gladly match my leadership and my executive experience up to most anybody’s.
Plummer is an executive at his family-owned lumber business, and an intelligence office in the naval reserves. Using more than $1.3-million in personal and family money, he won the primary with 34-percent of the vote.
State Representative Dave Winters says he expects Democrats to make an issue of Plummer’s lack of government experience, but says he can overcome that. […]
State Senator Matt Murphy, who finished second in the lieutenant governor race, says everything he’s seen of Plummer leads him to believe he’s qualified.
Another candidate in the primary, Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole, would not directly answer the question of whether Plummer is qualified for the job. But says he congratulates the nominee, and will support the entire GOP ticket.
But how upfront has Plummer been about his “experience”? Justin Kaufmann takes a look…
A quick scan of his bio online give him some notable credits, including work served with Senator Peter Fiztgerald and separately, with the Heritage Foundation. Work served is a weird phrase and it grabbed my attention.
Upon second look (and second Google search), it turns out that Plummer served as an intern for both Fitzgerald and the Heritage Foundation.
A most interesting but under-reported quote came yesterday from the mouth of “his excellency”, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan in Springfield as he discussed the state’s gigantic ($13 billion) budget deficit:
“That doesn’t mean that there has to be a tax increase”.
That’s how Capitol Fax quoted Madigan in its 4:18am dispatch today.
Remember that during the past seven months, including during his successful primary campaign, Governor Pat Quinn promised that he and the democratic leaders of the House and Senate would address the state’s need for new revenue “after the primary election”. At the very top of Quinn’s 2010 legislative wish list has been an increase in the Illinois income tax–with added exemptions, etc. to reduce the burden on the poor and/or homeowners–to generate the additional billions needed to bring the budget into balance.
Without the Speaker’s support, does it mean that the Governor will have to drop his drive for “new revenue”? Does this mean the Republicans have lost their central campaign issue for November? How will Illinois get the money it needs to operate for the next year?
* Parents demand Kaneland revisit cuts: Around 200 parents and teachers packed the public forum to express their concerns about the potential impact increased class size would have on students, as well as the elimination of interscholastic athletics at the middle school and high school extracurricular clubs and activities, as well as fewer coaches. District officials said the extra activities cost an estimated $900,000.
* District 207 teacher’s union to vote on saving jobs
* Agencies go over concerns with [Carbondale City] council
* Decision on pavilion’s tax status in board’s hands
* Our Opinion: Library can’t be viewed as expendable: While we accept the branch closures as a necessary step in horrid economic times for city government, we do so grudgingly. We believe this community must see the end of branch libraries not as a one-time cure administered in hard economic times, but as a symptom of an ailment that has afflicted Lincoln Library for decades.
* Illinoisans slated to lose jobless benefits without new extension
With a deadline coming up next week, Gov. Pat Quinn wants more time to give his budget address — and promises to give a public glimpse of the state’s budget situation before that.
Under state law, Quinn is required next Wednesday to give his address to lawmakers outlining his budget plans for next year. Quinn has sought more time but so far, the House and Senate haven’t been able to agree on how far to push the speech back – either earlier or later in March.
In a letter sent to lawmakers yesterday, Quinn says he wants to give his budget address March 10. On Feb. 24, he writes, he’ll put information online for lawmaker and public perusal to set up the next year’s budget.
* I was up at 4 o’clock and felt a little something, but figured it was lack of sleep. Nope…
The 4.3 magnitude quake, centered 48 miles west of Chicago near the city of Sycamore, hit at 4 a.m. local time at a depth of about 3 miles.
“The whole house shook,” Walter Mockus of St. Charles told the Chicago Tribune. “The chimes that hang were all ringing. It was so loud, I thought a plane had gone down.”
“I heard the plates I didn’t wash from dinner rattle,” said Alice Fabbre of Joliet. “The house shook, but it was very short. At first, I thought it was a snow plow going by.”
“It shook me out bed. I was sleeping and the whole bed was shaking, it was that violent,” said Rex Covington, who lives in Plato Center Township, about five miles west of Elgin. He estimated the tremor lasted 5 or 6 seconds.
“When I called 911, she said they felt the shock too and said their whole building in Geneva shook.”
* Click here for the USGS page. And here are Tweets about the quake.
There’s gotta be a good political analogy here, but I’m too tired. Have at it.
* Speaker Madigan said yesterday he’s surprised that no one has been fired at the Dept. of Corrections in the wake of the botched early release scandal. He also talked about Gov. Quinn’s prospects in the general election. The following videos are courtesy of Illinois Statehouse News.
“I’m rather surprised that there haven’t been some dismissals over at the Department of Corrections,” Madigan told reporters on the opening day of the spring legislative session. “That’s what I would recommend.”
In December, Quinn said corrections officials made a “mistake” by moving forward with the program, but he did not fire anyone. He said his hand-picked prison chief, Michael Randle, exercised “bad judgment.”
Madigan didn’t single out Randle for firing.
“I don’t know who is responsible. I wasn’t around the situation,” he said.
However, Madigan added, “I would think in the ordinary course there would be some dismissals.”
And then there was this surprisingly sympathetic take on Quinn’s general performance during his year in office, which many in both parties say has been an uneven one: Quinn came in “in a very difficult circumstance,” says Madigan. “I think he’s doing the best he can. . . . (Political) goodwill only lasts for so long. It was going to go away eventually.”
Madigan also took aim at Republican lawmakers, saying they have refused to cooperate with Democrats on finding solutions to the state’s massive budget problems. He called them “nonparticipating do-nothings.”
Republicans argue that the Democratic majority routinely shuts them out of budget talks, rejects their ideas and uses parliamentary maneuvers to block their legislation.
* Related…
* Illinois school districts, universities slam state for late payments: The presidents and chancellors of 12 public university campuses sent a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes asking them to set a payment schedule so they can collect more than $735 million in state payments owed them. Closer to home, Alton’s Community Unit School District No. 11 is waiting on more than $4 million from the state, and administrators say the backlog is forcing them to consider layoffs. Edwardsville’s School District 7 and Collinsville’s Community Unit School District No. 10 are also short about $4 million each. Belleville Township 201 High School District is owed more than $2 million.
* Public universities appeal for money they were promised - State payments to 9 taxpayer-funded schools are behind $735 million
* State university presidents react to lack of funding
* Scott Lee Cohen appeared on Chicago Tonight again last night. He tried to explain why he hadn’t yet formally withdrawn, complained about the media coverage of his family and announced that he was heading to Washington, DC to do some media interviews. Watch it…
* House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked about the Cohen debacle yesterday and he spoke at length about Cohen, the replacement process, the governor’s role, etc. This is from a longer video posted by Illinois Statehouse News. Have a look…
* Related…
* Who knew about Scott Lee Cohen: A research perspective
* Madigan not backing anyone in Cohen replacement battle: “I’ve committed to no one,” Madigan said. “I think the overriding goal ought to be to find a strong candidate who will be well received by the people of Illinois.”
* Madigan says he warned Cohen things would get worse: Madigan has been criticized for not vetting candidates and allowing someone like Cohen to be in a position to win. “I’m not going to engage in finger pointing or recriminations. I think we ought to be happy that Mr. Cohen has dropped out,” Madigan said. “Now we ought to focus on replacing him.”
* Madigan: Lawmakers to help pick Quinn running mate: Madigan, who also is chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, said he plans to meet with Quinn and Senate President John Cullerton to discuss filling the vacant position of nominee for lieutenant governor. The three of them will submit the name of a candidate to the party’s central committee, which formally makes the choice. “At some time, the governor and Sen. Cullerton and I will sit down and talk it through,” Madigan told reporters. “I expect that I will be the one that will be called upon to communicate with the members of the committee, which I’ll do. We’ll attempt to come to a consensus.”
* Is ‘diversity‘ a consideration for lt. gov?: “I don’t think that’s an issue. You’ve got four highly qualified African Americans,” said State Rep. Art Turner. “I know I have a proven record and have the ability to represent this entire state, so I would hope that the color of my skin or the region or the community that I live in is not a factor to stop me from going to this position.”
* 10th Democratic leaders have say in Cohen replacement : Pierce personally favors state Rep. Karen May, D-58th, because she has a strong record on the environment and ethics. Additionally, she would provide the Democrat’s November ticket with a representative from Chicago’s collar counties, he said.
* Democrats to pick Quinn’s running mate next month: Brown defended the democratic nature of the selection process for Cohen’s replacement. Brown noted that the central committee members were chosen by Democratic voters on Feb. 2.
* Chuck Sweeny: Cohen’s exit gives Dems chance to leave slot blank: Why are they doing this? They should just promote second-place finisher, state Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago.
* Walter’s Perspective: Blame For Cohen Fiasco: The bad guy in all this is not Scott Lee Cohen. It’s Michael Madigan, chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, one of the most powerful politicians in the history of Illinois.
