* I knew there were a lot of social networking websites. I didn’t think there were this many, however. I don’t have to join them all, do I?
* I really hope they don’t fence off The Bean because of some moron. People love that thing.
* I’ve heard of yesterday’s papers, yesterday’s wine and yesterday’s news, but I’ve never heard of yesterday’s tomatoes. Thanks, Gov. Quinn, for enlightening me.
* Emphasis is in the original, which ironically highlights a very weird attitude over at a taxpayer funded institute…
The Illinois Report 2009 examines the performance of the State of Illinois on a set of crucial issues. This examination relies on evidence of the state’s performance and comparison of that performance to what is happening in neighboring or peer states. We believe the information contained in The Illinois Report 2009 is important to ongoing public policy discussions in Illinois.
The publication of this report annually emphasizes IGPA’s belief that solutions to the problems facing Illinois can be found with cooperation and collaboration among all relevant stakeholders. IGPA encourages these collaborative deliberations and is eager to help them succeed. […]
You are allowed to download one PDF copy of each chapter for your personal use. However, reprinting or distribution of these articles and photographs without the authorization of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs is strictly prohibited.
Please obtain permission by contacting:
Director of Communications
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
1007 W. Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801
Hilarious. I gotta obtain permission before downloading a single copy and swear on whatever is holy that I won’t pass it around? This is supposed to enhance “ongoing public policy discussions in Illinois”? And how can people collaborate if we can’t share the thing?
I think I’ll pass.
…Adding… Let’s turn on the not so wayback machine for the leader of the IGPA…
Robert Rich, director of the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs, said he doubts Blagojevich would resign, partly because it might make him look guilty.
Rich also doubts the Legislature would remove Blagojevich from office. House Speaker Michael Madigan and incoming Senate President John Cullerton wouldn’t want to be seen as interfering with the federal court process, he argued.
He predicts Blagojevich will stay in office and have a seat at the table in Springfield but that Madigan and Cullerton will gain new influence over the shape of the budget and other top issues.
Prescient, no?
* I’d say something about this, but it’s probably been said before…
Members of a committee formed in response to plagiarism accusations levied against a former university administrator received word this week that they need to reconvene and examine documents they may have plagiarized.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the 10-member committee of Southern Illinois University academics and administrators commissioned to develop a plagiarism policy may have borrowed from Indiana University’s definition—without citing IU.
Ask DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett who’s the Republican with the best chance of capturing the governor’s job in 2010, and he’ll say, “I am.” Talk to him some more and you get the distinct impression he’s more interested in running for state attorney general.
“I have the ideas and leadership qualities to take the state in a new direction,” he said of his potential as a gubernatorial candidate in a recent interview. A few moments later as he discussed his political options, he switched focus: “Attorney general is an office that’s tailor-made for me.” […]
“Part of me says I’d like the rematch [with Madigan]; however, I’d like to continue my career as a prosecutor as attorney general.”
A few minutes later he added, “I’d like to end my career as an appellate judge or Supreme Court justice.”
Words fail me.
* AG Lisa Madigan talks about an under-appreciated aspect of her office which probably won’t get a lot of coverage in the 2010 contest…
“When you become attorney general, you don’t realize how much of the work is involved in the provision of healthcare to people,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who has pursued an array of investigations, lawsuits and legislation in that arena. […]
During Madigan’s first term, Illinois hospitals had a tense relationship with the attorney general, who shamed many of them with a critical report on their contributions toward indigent care and pursued legislation that would have compelled every hospital to dedicate a sum equal to at least 8% of operating costs toward narrowly defined charity care.
“How has it been to work with an attorney general who is an activist on this issue? It’s been on the one hand very challenging at times,” said Howard Peters, the Illinois Hospital Association’s senior vice president for government affairs. Even in that year, however, Illinois hospitals fended off what they viewed as a draconian charity-care requirement while working with Madigan toward consensus on a second bill regulating hospital billing and collection policies, which became law. “Because the attorney general and her staff were open to interaction, dialogue and debate, even when we had serious disagreement, it resulted in being able to develop good policy,” Peters said.
Six funeral homes are suing the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, accusing it of coordinating a Ponzi scheme built on life insurance policies.
In the legal action, akin to a shareholders’ suit in the corporate world, the funeral homes say they’re on the hook for potentially tens of millions of dollars in funeral costs because a pre-need funeral trust fund administered by IFDA Services, a for-profit arm of the non-profit IFDA, has been bleeding money. The fund is supposed to pay for funerals for an estimated 49,000 people in Illinois who took out pre-need policies.
The IFDA should never have been in the trust business in the first place, the state comptroller’s office has ruled. The IFDA trust got its start thanks to a license issued in 1980 by then-state Comptroller Roland Burris, who went on to become an IFDA lobbyist and was ultimately appointed to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
* The state comptroller’s office and funeral home directors insist that no one who has purchased a pre-need contract guaranteeing payment of their funeral expenses is at risk.
* Student credit card crackdown: A new legislative push in Illinois may be making college campuses less welcoming to credit card companies. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has proposed legislation to restrict the promotion of student credit cards on colleges and universities in the state.
* Should the Illinois primary be moved to September, as Gov. Pat Quinn has said? Or should it be a different month, perhaps June? Let’s make this multiple choice…
* 1) Leave it in early February
* 2) Move it back to March, where it was until 2008
* If you clicked on this link in yesterday’s Morning Shorts, you saw that per capita “stimulus bill” spending in Illinois is in the top tier. Only a small handful of states fare better than us.
Top Democrats plan to add a big increase in highway and mass transit funding to President Barack Obama’s economic recovery program Tuesday, even as others in the president’s party hope to rein in the plan’s almost $1 trillion cost to taxpayers.
A move by Patty Murray, D-Wash., to add $25 billion in infrastructure projects is first in line as the Senate begins thrashing through dozens of proposed changes to the sprawling $885 billion measure.
Murray’s plan would increase the money in the bill for highway projects by almost 50 percent, to $40 billion, reflecting complaints from lawmakers in both parties that Obama’s plan doesn’t do enough to relieve a backlog of unfinished projects. Mass transit programs would get a $5 billion boost, while water projects would get $7 billion more.
The Illinois delegation ought to bump up the mass transit number even higher.
* Despite that above story, some Republican House members who voted against their chamber’s version are leaning in favor of the new Senate bill…
[GOP Congressman Mark Kirk]: “I think a stimulus package is necessary. And the one that will emerge from the Senate will have more infrastructure spending, more tax relief for small businesses to hire and less social spending on accounts that have little to do with economic developments.”
A new poll by USA Today could explain why some GOPs are starting to rethink their position. The article itself is horribly written, but here’s the best money quotes I could find…
Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, but expectations are low that it will help their families or turn the economy around this year. […]
While 17% say Congress should reject a stimulus bill altogether, those who want a stimulus passed are evenly divided over whether Obama’s plan should undergo major changes.
They never tell you what percentage of the population wants the bill passed. Goofballs.
* Meanwhile, Rep. Kirk had some kind words for state Rep. John Fritchey…
A Republican congressman from Chicago’s north suburbs could be open to endorsing a Democratic candidate for Congress. Mark Kirk says he’s done a lot of work with State Representative John Fritchey of Chicago. Kirk laughed when asked if he’ll make an endorsement in the fifth district special election.
KIRK: I told him I would either condemn him or endorse him, which ever helps.
A spokesman for Fritchey says he’s glad the representative’s reputation as an effective legislator is widespread. He adds that Kirk and Fritchey would be on opposite sides of many issues if they serve together.
Fritchey, by the way, was endorsed by the Illinois Federation of Teachers yesterday. That comes on the heels of an AFSCME endorsement. The Illinois AFL-CIO nod may not be far away.
The Service Employees International Union plans to endorse state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D) in her bid for former Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s (D) House seat, the Chicago Business Journal reports.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Related…
* Durbin looking for dollars in Washington: Durbin’s office estimates that the Senate version could save or create over 200,000 jobs across Illinois by the end of 2010 and could bring $25 billion in federal funding.
* My syndicated newspaper column this week is about the challenges facing Gov. Pat Quinn. It’s not a unique topic these days, but I think it’s still worth a read…
Before Rod Blagojevich came along, Pat Quinn was often ridiculed as a camera-hungry huckster with lots of ideas and little follow-through.
But after six years of Blagojevich’s bomb-throwing, empty promises, flat-out lies, needless political wars and miserable failures, finally topped off with a shocking display of corruption and self-immolation, our new Gov. Quinn looks like a statesman by comparison.
Many of us are so shell-shocked since Blagojevich’s arrest and so thoroughly sick of seeing that awful man on our TV screens 24/7 that Quinn suddenly feels like a rush of fresh air.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Quinn was infamous for using every PR gimmick in the book to attract television cameras. In the process, he alienated pretty much the entire political establishment. But last week, after he was sworn in as our 41st governor, Quinn said that Illinois needed “humble” leadership and promised to work closely with everyone in government to move the state forward.
As Quinn has said, we do, indeed, need far more cooperation at the top levels of government. We need a healthy respect for the process and the principle of separation of powers. We need a more quiet, humble leadership. We need a far more rational, inclusive and open-minded approach to budgeting and policy-making.
I have gained quite a lot of respect for Quinn in the past few years. It started when I learned that he was attending the funerals and wakes of Illinois soldiers who were killed in our two foreign wars. He never tipped off the media about what he was doing. He didn’t speak at the events unless asked. He didn’t glad-hand the bereaved. Quinn just slipped into the somber ceremonies unannounced, paid his respects and left when it was over. And he always asked permission before attending. If the families didn’t want him there, he didn’t go.
Now, that’s a class act, I thought at the time. Still do, in fact.
But some of the “old” Pat Quinn re-emerged last year while he was still lieutenant governor during an intense legislative battle over a constitutional amendment for recalling elected officials.
The recall bill passed the House, but the Senate’s sponsor had been quoted as saying that the proposal was “stupid.”
Quinn shot back that “certain members” of the Senate were preparing a “phony baloney … sneak attack” on the recall proposal, then spent days holding news conferences throughout the state and meeting with newspaper editorial boards.
The reaction was not pretty. The Senate sponsor, Donne Trotter, was so infuriated by Quinn’s publicity tour that he refused to shake Quinn’s hand at a subsequent committee hearing. Trotter overreacted, of course, but Quinn’s attempt to use blunt force to push the proposal through the Senate failed, and did severe damage to his relationships with several members of that chamber.
Still, Quinn didn’t call out senators by name, did his very best to maintain a calm demeanor while the Senate committee members tore into him with relish, and even agreed to support a retaliatory proposal which would have terminated the lieutenant governor’s service if the governor was ever recalled.
So, I suppose that’s progress.
He now has a much larger bully pulpit as governor, however, and legislators are awful tired of being bossed around and publicly humiliated by Blagojevich over the past six years, so Quinn has a delicate task ahead.
One of his first orders of business, he has said, is passing new laws to prevent future Blagojevich-style disasters. Only when the public is satisfied that the state government’s ethics are back on track will they be willing to accept sacrifices in the face of the government’s fiscal meltdown.
But convincing those same legislators who were so hostile to him last year to go along with yet another push for recall and some even broader reforms will require a deft touch. He can’t show weakness, but he must avoid bluster. Another needless showdown could be disastrous, considering the gargantuan task ahead of fixing the almost hopelessly broken state budget and passing an expensive job creation bill, all while avoiding further damage to the state’s tanking economy.
No governor in Illinois history - perhaps even American history - has had to face such widespread disaster and hunger for change on such short notice as Quinn.
* Quinn meets with Chicago Mayor Daley: New Gov. Pat Quinn is doing something his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, rarely did: He’s talking to other top elected officials. Quinn met Monday with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley — who has called Blagojevich “cuckoo” and had run-ins with the ousted governor last year.
* Gov. Pat Quinn extends state hand in friendship, cooperation with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley: Asked if he also supports the $150 million [Olympics] guarantee, Quinn said, “I support whatever is necessary,” later noting the Illinois General Assembly must still vote on the issue.
* Rod Blagojevich just said on “The Today Show” that the Senate’s vote to remove him last week was a “highjacking,” and an “unlawful and improper impeachment.”
“I don’t view myself at all as being shamed or disgraced,” he said.
That tells you a lot.
* The governor also made the extraordinary claim on the show that he was offered a deal in December to step aside, keep his pay and keep his security detail for two years if he would only refuse to appoint a replacement Senator for Barack Obama.
I know a bit about those negotiations, so I’ll be telling subscribers something about them tomorrow, but what Blagojevich said is just total bull. House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown summed it up best this morning in an e-mail…
“This is a very troubled and confused person who thinks he hears a lot of things.”
A publicist says former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to reiterate his innocence in another slew of television appearances including the “Late Show with David Letterman.’”
Days after being booted from office, Blagojevich will also appear Tuesday on NBC’s “Today'’ show, CNN’s “Larry King Live,'’ and Fox’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.'’
Publicist Glenn Selig says the former governor is “very concerned people think he let them down.'’
Emphasis added, of course, to show you how absolutely goofy this man is.
* Perhaps those bobbleheads could do us all a service and ask Blagojevich about this press release from The Autism Program of Illinois…
In one of his last acts in office, ousted former governor Rod Blagojevich stripped an additional $291,500 from The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) Service Network. That cut was in addition to funding cuts of more than 50% which had previously been imposed on the TAP Service Network by the Blagojevich Administration.
“While the former governor claimed to be a champion for children with autism, the facts say otherwise,” said Georgia Winson, Chief of The Autism Program of Illinois. “The General Assembly approved $10.2 million in funding for the network this fiscal year. After the former governor’s most recent action, the total funding cut exceeds $5.4 million. These cuts will mean a dramatic decrease in terms of access to services for families of children with an autism spectrum disorder.”
The TAP Service Network is the largest statewide network for autism services in the nation. The network has 12 regional centers spread throughout the state, and more than 30 partners including universities and community based organizations. Each year, the TAP Service network impacts more than 16,000 families of children with autism across Illinois.
The original appropriation bill passed by the General Assembly provided for $10.2 million in funding for the TAP Service Network. Blagojevich reduced that amount to $5 million by amendatory veto. During the former governor’s impeachment trial, TAP was informed by administration officials of the further cut in funding.
* Rezko wins move out of jail’s ‘hole’: The convicted businessman — poised to become a crucial witness in the massive corruption case against ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich — was quietly moved out of a downtown jail and into another facility last month, the Sun-Times learned Monday.
* Picture this: Blagojevich portrait may never happen: Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago), who has sided with Blagojevich more than most of his House colleagues, disagrees. He said Blagojevich should have his portrait hung, regardless of his ouster or possible criminal conviction.
Voters throughout Northwest suburban Cook County will get to record their views on the recent county sales tax hike when they go to the ballot box on April 7.
Many of these voters will also be asked if they want to break away from Cook County altogether.
But both questions are nonbinding - and even a spokesman for Cook County Board President Todd Stroger acknowledged almost anyone would vote against a tax increase if given the choice.
Besides the two dead people, there were 45 signatures of people who were not registered to vote and another 141 signatures that Kufalk-Marotta claims are outright fraud.
She has signed affidavits from Stephen Glover, Ronna Levin, Donald Kolle Jr., Thomas Homan and others stating that at no time did they sign their name to the petitions circulated by Kryczka.
* Feds: Chicago job seekers mowed dept. head’s lawn
People wanting jobs on the city payroll allegedly mowed the lawn, shoveled snow and washed windows at the home of the city’s commissioner of streets and sanitation and some gave him money and gifts, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors made the allegation in court papers filed in the case of former Chicago streets and sanitation commissioner Al Sanchez. […]
They said one man was asked to go to Sanchez’s house and mow his lawn. He did so and “observed multiple HDO participants at Sanchez’s house performing yard work and washing the windows of Sanchez’s house.”
“We plan to join Will County and plan to file an appeal,” New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said. “This plan is not good for the people of New Lenox. The process can take a long time.”
The Chicago area lost $79 billion in home values in 2008, and nearly half of that loss was during the fourth quarter, according to the latest report from real estate Web site Zillow Inc. to be released today.
Zillow also found that 23.4 percent of homes sold in the area in the fourth quarter sold for a loss, and 19 percent of homeowners in the area were upside down on their mortgages at the end of the year, meaning they owed more on their homes than they were worth.
The median home value fell 10.2 percent from a year earlier to $225,018, according to the report.
* Sen. Roland Burris explains that goofy tombstone of his by throwing the funeral home manager or the cemetery manager (maybe it’s the same person, or maybe not) under the bus…
“The cemetery in Oak Woods insisted when I went out to plan my estate that my résumé be put on it. That wasn’t me. That was the manager of the funeral home,” he said. “They insisted that my résumé be put up and they came up with that design and did all that.”
The argument that convinced him, he said, was that former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington is buried at this cemetery and he could not afford for the funeral home to give him the burial he deserved.
“The manager of the cemetery said, ‘Mr. Burris, your accomplishments are too many to let them not be known to young people.’ And he convinced my wife and I that that’s what should be done,” he said. “I questioned it and my wife questioned it, and we knew there would be that type of reaction, but we said we would be willing to overcome the cynicism of the press in order to let it be known for future generations.”
Any suggestion that space was left in case Burris won yet another political office is just not true, he said, adding that the news media is “just dreaming up stuff” and “people are laughing at me.”
“I had nothing to do with who designed that or who left a space at the top, that’s how they put the words in,” Burris said.
Too funny.
* Meanwhile, US Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid has now done a complete turnaround on Burris. First, Reid tried to keep Burris out, now he’s loaning Burris a top staffer…
Newly seated Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) has scored a personnel coup in snagging Darrel Thompson, senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), as his interim chief of staff.
Thompson, who was chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s Senate campaign in 2004, will be on loan to Burris for an undetermined amount of time, Reid’s office announced Friday evening. […]
“As the Leader of the U.S. Senate, I will do all that I can to support the success of Sen. Burris and that begins with detailing one of my most respected senior staff members,” Reid said in a statement. “Darrel’s institutional knowledge combined with his strong relationship with Members and staffs in both the Senate and House, will undoubtedly serve Sen. Burris well.”
Thompson is expected to help Burris fill other senior staff positions while aiding Burris in “developing a sound strategy to promote Senator Burris’ forthcoming legislative agenda and establishing constituent services and relations for the people of Illinois,” the statement noted.
However, Thompson will also continue to retain his title as senior adviser to Reid.
The press release announcing the move was distributed at 6:22 Friday night, Eastern time. Kinda buried, eh?
* 1:08 pm - Now that Rod Blagojevich is safely out of the picture, we have this development. The president will return to Springfield…
President Barack Obama, who used Abraham Lincoln’s hometown to stage key moments in his ascent to the White House, is returning to Springfield next week to honor the 16th president’s 200th birthday. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made the announcement today during the daily press briefing in Washington, D.C.
Springfield officials have been preparing for a possible visit, as Obama was invited to the Abraham Lincoln Association’s already-sold-out birthday banquet set for Feb. 12 at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
“He will attend and speak at the banquet there” at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Gibbs said today. Gobbs did not mention any other planned appearances in Springfield.
Let’s all hope Blagojevich’s ticket has been revoked.
* Pat Quinn quotes like this have been the focus of recent press releases from the Illinois Republican Party…
“[Blagojevich has] always been a person who’s honest and one of integrity. I have confidence the governor does the right thing all the time.”
Sept. 15, 2006, in reference to when Blagojevich’s daughter received a $1,500 check from a family friend whose wife just got a state job.
Quinn has yet to address that and other quotes, instead pointing to his split with Blagojevich after the election and his strong support for recall.
* The Question: Should Quinn be given a “honeymoon” and therefore allowed a pass on quotes like this until the election season begins? Or, should the quotes be read to him over and over again until he owns up to them?
* Several media outlets have focused today and over the weekend on the enormous problems facing Gov. Pat Quinn. Lee Newspapers sums up the nightmare with some bullet points…
• A crushing budget deficit — between $2 billion and $5 billion, depending on who’s counting — that is hobbling the state’s credit rating and causing late payment of state bills.
• Shuttered state parks and historic sites, the result of Blagojevich budget cuts that many allege were targeted at political enemies in the General Assembly. Quinn says he’ll reopen those venues, which means having to pay for it.
• Deep public cynicism about state government, perhaps a natural result of having one ex-governor sitting in prison and another potentially headed there. Polls show the Illinois public distrusts the General Assembly almost as much as it did Blagojevich.
• Dysfunction within state government. For two years, most of the state’s top officials and legislative leaders haven’t been on speaking terms with the governor’s office, and the conflict affected other relationships throughout government.
The state parks thing is really no big deal. We’re talking $2 million, which is a rounding error on a rounding error. They were closed merely to incite public panic and outrage and a backlash against the General Assembly.
The situation is so bad even former Gov. Jim Edgar, still admired in many circles for his fiscal stewardship during tight times in the early 1990s, said tax hikes are needed, though he cautioned they must be paired with unpopular budget cuts. The former Republican governor said the problems Gov. Pat Quinn inherits from the recently ousted Blagojevich are historically dire.
“I inherited a mess in 1991 and had a recession,” he said. “Now it is a huge mess and the worst it has ever been. Pat Quinn will have to deal with what Blagojevich has ignored for six years.” […]
“If you raise taxes before you get other expenditures under control, you will never get them under control,” said Edgar.
Quinn flew back to Chicago Friday with House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). In the 16th floor governor’s office in the Thompson Center, he met with Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Secretary of State Jesse White.
“The last time that happened under Gov. Blagojevich was July 1, 2003,” Lisa Madigan said, “so I know already that Gov. Quinn is going to be a very different governor than our former governor.”
Giannoulias had yet to be elected as of that date. He said Friday was the first time he’s ever been in the governor’s 16th floor workspace.
Madigan wouldn’t even be in the same room with Rod Blagojevich and hadn’t returned Blagojevich’s calls in years. Progress. And more progress…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois says he’s trying to make sure his state gets its fair share from a federal stimulus package. Durbin says he’ll continue to keep new Illinois Governor Pat Quinn in the loop.
DURBIN: I’ve had more phone conversations with Pat Quinn about this than the previous governor in the last year. And, I think this is a good start and we’re going to be working together.
* Quinn has said in the past that he wants to redo the state’s income tax provisions to allow a higher rate for the 1.4 percent of Illinois taxpayers making more than $250,000 a year. But that would take a constitutional amendment and it would have to pass both legislative chambers and then be approved by voters in the 2010 elections. So, it’s no immediate fix.
“I will always put taxpayers first,” he added. “I believe in putting taxpayers in the driver’s seat. And I understand the importance of holding down taxes.”
* Plus, everything will take place in the context of the 2010 campaign…
Contenders for the Feb. 2, 2010, Democratic primary for governor will begin circulating their candidacy petitions in a scant seven months if the current election date stands. Political one-upsmanship is inevitable among Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Quinn, an unelected governor trying to build a record in his new office.
“That will be a challenge,” said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont. “I think having Pat Quinn as governor is not what many people expected.”
The question becomes how he wants to be remembered…
The best governors have been people willing to do unpopular things.
Republican Richard Ogilvie created the state income tax and failed to win re-election. Democrat John Peter Altgeld, a 19th Century governor, pardoned three anarchists who he thought received an unfair trial. It ended his political career.
“Do the right thing” (as he has hisorically viewed “things”) and lose, or try to balance reelection with reality and hope for the best? Here’s Sen. Rickey Hendon’s take…
“(The) biggest challenge that I see for Pat Quinn is to overcome the do-gooder reformer image,” Hendon said. “Pat needs to know you have to grease the wheels - that’s the way it works, to get things done here.”
Hendon’s comment has been misconstrued as a call to corruption. It’s not. You have to wheel and deal with the General Assembly, not dictate from above. We’ll soon find out if Quinn is capable of that.
* Related…
* Quinn gets standing ovation from AFSCME members: “It’s hard to imagine anyone more unlike our previous governor than our new governor,” said Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, as he introduced Quinn. “If you handed Pat Quinn a hairbrush, he wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
* We’re finally rid of the corrupt clown, but he’ll still be on our teevees…
Rod Blagojevich is headed back to New York City.
No longer having a state to govern, Blagojevich, removed from office last week by a unanimous vote in the Illinois Senate, is scheduled to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday.
CBS, which airs the late night talk show, is billing the appearance as the former governor’s first late-night visit since his ouster.
Now that he’s been ousted from the governor’s office, Rod Blagojevich is pinning his hopes of staying out of prison on a father-and-son duo of defense attorneys, one of whom grabbed the limelight at R&B superstar R. Kelly’s sex tape trial.
“These are two of the most flamboyant attorneys in town,” DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise says of the team of Sam Adam and his son, Samuel E. Adam.
What about those public appearances and their impact on his case? Sam Adam, Sr. said it won’t be a problem…
“When he goes to trial he’s going to have to answer questions, and the only drawback would be if he said something in the media that would go to impeach his credibility at the trial and as far as I know he didn’t,” he said.
Comparing himself to Gandhi doesn’t impeach his credibility? I beg to differ. Plus, there was that Rachel Maddow interview, which could be problemmatic…
And so again, without going into detail, [Tribune Co. is] getting the benefit of these things to try to help the Cubs. We just would prefer that they don’t, look, that—that the things that [the Tribune editorial board is] advocating that I be impeached it’d be nice if they they laid off on an issue like that.
Oops.
* The governor said during his interviews and his Senate trial speech that he was completely surprised when he was arrested.
I’d beg to differ.
Why? Just take a look at the subpoena delivered to his downtown office the day before he was arrested. It’s a detailed roadmap of the criminal complaint.
* According to his private PR firm, the governor and/or his wife are not looking for a downtown condo, as was reported in various places. Of course, the PR firm, which also represents Drew Peterson, claimed that the governor did not contemplate resigning, which I believe to be false.
*** UPDATE *** The rhetoric is heating up a bit. From CQ Politics…
In what may be a glimpse of the campaigning to come, Feigenholtz — who is backed by EMILY’s List, the influential political action committee that supports Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights — tried to diminish the impact of the endorsement rival Quigley received from county commissioner Forest Claypool.
“It’s no surprise he would endorse his fellow County Board member,” Feigenholtz spokesman Franck said of Claypool. But he qualified that statement by contending that Quigley has supported controversial actions taken by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. “Unlike Mike Quigley, Claypool never embraced Stroger nor voted for his initial budget that cut frontline workers while adding Stroger’s friends and family to the county payroll. We wish Commissioner Quigley had shown similar judgment,” Franck said.
Quigley’s camp lashed back with equal vigor, seeking to tie Feigenholtz — long associated with the “reform” wing of the Chicago Democratic Party — with both Stroger and the recently ousted governor of Illinois. “Instead of slinging mud at other candidates, Sara Feigenholtz might want explain her own cynical record of ‘Springfield politics as usual’ which includes her own endorsement of Todd Stroger … and even a $5,000 contribution to Rod Blagojevich well after it was clear that he was the subject of federal investigations,” said Tom Bowen, spokesman for Quigley’s campaign.
Ouch.
Then again, Quigley allowed Blagojevich to use him as a pawn during the budget stalemate when he accepted Blagojevich’s invite to speak to a private leaders meeting on were the TIF issue.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Roger Romanelli was booted off the ballot in the 32nd Ward Democratic Committeeman’s race by Rep. John Fritchey, who ended up winning the race. Since then, Romanelli has asked for a US Attorney’s investigation of the Chicago Board of Elections, even though the Illinois appellate court upheld his removal.
And now he’s holding a press conference…
Press Conference: Public Invited
Saturday, February 7 at 2p * Ashland Grill, 2824 N. Ashland Ave.
We elected President Obama for CHANGE.
John Fritchey in Congress is NOT CHANGE - -
it’s more classic Chicago corruption.
We’re telling our story to save America. […]
We will ask the Illinois Reform Commission - - the new anti-corruption body created by Governor Pat Quinn - - to investigate the Chicago Board of Elections for rigging Fritchey’s election.
Some people just can’t let go.
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* Don’t forget to check Saturday’s update. You can comment on that post here.
* Not exactly “new” news, but at least someone has said they talked to Emanuel about the prospect of him running again…
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is interested in potentially returning to Chicago someday to reclaim the congressional seat he held until a month ago, a candidate running to replace him said Sunday.
When 11 Democrats at the first 5th Congressional District forum were asked whether they have had direct or indirect conversations with Emanuel about being a “place holder” for the seat, only state Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) said he had.
“I spoke with Rahm maybe a week or two after he had accepted the job of chief of staff,” Fritchey said. “At that time, he had commented to me that he may be interested in running one day again for the seat. I told him that should I be fortunate enough to run, and should I be fortunate enough to win the seat, I would look forward to campaigning against him.” […]
When word first surfaced of Emanuel’s departure from a leadership post in the U.S. House, one theory held that he wanted someone to win the seat who would step aside if he wanted to reclaim it in the future.
It was a lot more than a “theory.” It was a plain fact at the time.
The candidate most often mentioned as a potential seat-warmer for Emanuel, Mayor Daley’s unofficial floor leader, Ald. Patrick O’Connor (40th) was conspicuous by his absence at Sunday’s forum at DePaul University featuring 11 of the 13 Democrats on the ballot for the March 3 primary election.
O’Connor has strongly denied running as a place-holder for Emanuel.
University officials placed 10 telephone calls and e-mails to O’Connor, who never responded to any of them, they said. The 13th candidate, Pete Dagher, is fighting a ballot challenge to his petitions.
* That last sentence about the challenge to Dagher’s petitions got almost no play in the media, but it was a sore point during the debate among the 2nd Tier candidates. From the Progress Illinois live-blog…
Bryar is saying that two of his supporters decided to challenge Wheelan and Dagher.
Wheelan is not happy. He points out this signatures from his wife and neighbors were challenged. He asks whether candidates who lose their challenges should be held accountable.
Donatelli says Dagher’s own signature was challenged.
Monteagudo says that outrageous challenges caused his campaign 72 hours of work.
* Paul Bryar released a statement after the debate…
These supporters felt that the filed signatures of Wheelan, Thompson and Dagher were questionable. I think everyone in this district agrees that we need to demand accountability from those trying to represent this district in Congress. Neither I nor this campaign are paying for legal fees associated with these challenges. Our country faces greater issues, and if our opponents cannot handle this process perhaps we should not consider trusting them with the really important issues, like health care and job creation.
But challenging a wife’s signature? Bold. And if they were “shotgun” challenges, there could be repercussions.
I favor petition challenges as a normal course of campaigning, but there is a line.
* Another point from the live-blog…
Forys: If you beleve that you have to cut deals to get something done, then you don’t belong in Congress — you belong in jail.
That line bombed.
Hilarious.
* And Quigley apparently loved to read clips about himself to the crowd…
He’s reading various glowing press clips about his tenure as Cook Co. commissioner.
* Quigley also had a beginning of the year finance deficit compared to Feigenholtz…
An aide to state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said she would report raising nearly $325,000. She had not yet filed with the Federal Election Commission late Saturday.
Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley raised $138,290 and had nearly all of it to start the year.
Mo’ money…
•Charles Wheelan, a University of Chicago public policy lecturer, reported raising $108,822 through Dec. 31. He started January with $89,258 in the bank.
•Dr. Victor Forys, who is campaigning on a message of expanded health care access, reported raising $60,126. After loaning his campaign $100,000, he started January with $137,312.
•Delta Airlines pilot Jan Donatelli reported raising $15,650, with most of her contributions coming from fellow pilots and the United Pilots Political Action Committee. She had $8,694 left at the start of last month.
•Labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan’s campaign also said it would not be filing a report until next time.
Amtrak’s new conductor is from Illinois: Thomas C. Carper, former mayor of downstate Macomb, was unanimously named chairman by Amtrak’s board of directors yesterday.
Mr. Carper, a long-time supporter of passenger rail, has served on Amtrak’s board since last March. He was nominated to be a director by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Il., a leading advocate of Amtrak in Congress.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois says he wants American made steel to be used in infrastructure projects funded by an economic stimulus bill.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes the Buy American provision that was included in the stimulus bill introduced in the U.S. House. The chamber worries other countries could retaliate with tougher trade rules. Dick Durbin acknowledges that could happen but he says America’s steel industry needs a boost.
A Niles Township school superintendent made $411,500 last year — a record in a year that saw top public elementary and high school administrators’ pay climb past $400,000 for the first time.
But the taxpayer tab for Neil Codell, 56, didn’t stop after he left his post June 30.
Codell continued to receive his superintendent’s salary — even while in a lesser job — for an additional six months. Niles Township High School District 219 now faces a potential penalty of well over $100,000 from the Teachers’ Retirement System because of Codell’s early retirement and large spike in pay, state officials say.
“This may turn out to be a platinum parachute by the time all the bills are paid,'’ said the agency’s executive director, Jon Bauman.
The state’s 863 public school district superintendents had the highest average pay — $140,000 — of all the categories covered by state Board of Education salary data, but when it came to getting raises, they were near the bottom of the list.
Salary raises for superintendents averaged 2.3 percent. In contrast, elementary and high school classroom teachers got average raises of 4.9 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, between 2007 and 2008.
* 5th Congressional District Democratic underdog Paul Bryar has released a a poll taken earlier this month which shows himself at 0 percent support. I’ve never seen a candidate do that before now. If you think it’s odd, you’re right.
The point, however, is after the respondents are informed of various candidate stances Bryar ends up with 15 percent, “within striking distance” of the other frontrunners, according to the campaign, which claims to have raised well over $200,000 so far. More on that later this week.
* The poll of 401 likely voters was taken Jan. 14-15 and has a margin of error of +/- 4.89 percent. This is a Fako Associates poll, so it’s a good one.
However, the poll was conducted before Justin Oberman dropped out of the race, so it’s not nearly as useful as it could be for our purposes. Also, Oberman’s numbers are far different than the results he got in Mike Quigley’s poll.
* Here are the initial head-to-heads, with Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley’s poll numbers from Jan. 8-13 in parentheses…
* Respondents were also read position statements for all candidates, with half hearing one Bryar message and half hearing another. The messages were not revealed, and only one of the halves was shared in the polling memo. These results have a +/- 6.91% margin of error…
Notice, however, that Ald. Pat O’Connor doesn’t seem to be included in this round. Kinda weird.
* From the Fako polling memo…
Quigley (59% Name ID), Feigenholtz (41%), O’Connor (55%) and Fritchey (41%) hold only modest levels of name recognition. Their recognition is not deep or intense, with most of their ratings derived from soft, passive responses.
Their ratings are driven by geography. Their name ID and ratings diminish outside of their home areas, keeping a significant share of the vote up for grabs. […]
40% of the electorate is undecided, which is concentrated in the NW, outhern and suburban areas, all outside the more established candidates’ home bases.
Regional support can be seen in a graph from the polling memo by clicking here.
* Meanwhile, Mike Quigley’s first mailer went out this week. It features the Forrest Claypool endorsement and highlights Quigley’s battles against Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Click on the pics for larger images…
* And Democrat Charlie Wheelan has a new and visually striking campaign ad…
…Adding… The ad will barely run on TV. $1500 on the news on Super Sunday, and then $6K on cable for one week, according to a rival campaign.
