Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s legal team confirmed to WLS Radio on Thursday that a subpoena was in fact mailed to attorney’s representing Illinois state treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias.
Defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. told WLS’ Holly Garland that the subpoena was mailed to Giannoulias between April 27th and April 29th.
Giannoulias disclosed the subpoena late last month.
* Keep in mind that this story is a targeted leak, not an actual report, but those are some pretty darned strong numbers…
Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk brought in $2.3 million for his Senate bid in the second quarter of 2010, making the last three months the strongest fundraising period of his campaign even as a sustained controversy over his military service threatened to undermine his standing in the polls.
A source close to the Republican’s campaign said Kirk raised $1 million just in the month of June, when the flap over a series of biographical misstatements was unfolding. Asked if the controversy impacted fundraising, a campaign adviser said: “The results speak for themselves.” […]
Kirk, a five-term North Shore Chicago congressman, has raised around $9 million through the cycle.
Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign isn’t releasing their numbers yet.
* Meanwhile, where the heck has Chris Cilliza been for the past year? Get a load of this lede…
In just the last 48 hours, the Illinois Senate race between state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R) has turned very nasty.
Please. These guys have been going at each other’s throats since day one.
*** UPDATE 1 *** A Mark Kirk campaign press release just revealed that the campaign is reporting $3.9 million cash on hand. Kirk had $3.7 million cash on hand at the end of the last quarter, [the number in that Lynn Sweet column is inacurrate - he actually had about $3 million COH] meaning he spent just about all most of the money he raised this quarter. That’s [still] a heckuva burn rate.
At one point, Quinn seemed to suggest he considers the budget balanced.
“There’s no hole left,” he said at a Chicago news conference.
* From Bill Brady’s campaign…
Governor Quinn has apparently cranked up the old Rod Blagojevich razzle dazzle machine.
It’s too little too late. Despite the $13 billion deficit and increased government spending – Governor Quinn has done nothing to address the structural problems in state government. Instead he continues to propose his 33 percent income tax increase that takes more money out of the pockets of Illinois residents.
The taxpayers have had enough.
Governor Quinn today cut less than one-half percent from the state budget with a supposed promise to cut more. The people of Illinois know that those cuts won’t happen. Last year, Governor Quinn promised to cut spending by $1 billion – and instead state spending increased.
Illinois has lost a record number of jobs. Unemployment is at a 26-year high. More than 200,000 jobs have been lost under Governor Quinn’s failed leadership.
Sen. Matt Murphy, a budget experts for Senate Republicans, was quick to criticize. He said Quinn’s outline contained “a lot more fiction, I think, than fact.”
Taking the brunt of the cuts are programs serving the physically and mentally disabled. There were no announced layoffs, but the state workforce will drop by about 1,000 employees by not replacing workers who leave the public sector. […]
State universities will see an overall cut of $96 million, which essentially reflects the absence of federal stimulus dollars this coming year.
Unlike former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Quinn did not target the prison system for cuts. Rather than threaten to lay off workers or close prisons, Quinn hopes to save $42 million by managing overtime costs. […]
The Illinois State Police will see a $15.4 million reduction, but Quinn has backed off his earlier threat to shutter district headquarters.
The Illinois Department of Public Health will see a $17 million cut. Among programs on the chopping block are a prostate cancer awareness initiative and rural health grants.
Quinn also issued an executive order aimed at cutting costs for everything from in-state travel to magazine subscriptions.
*Elementary and secondary education: Cuts $241 million in categorical programs, including $84 million in transportation, $68 million in reading improvement grants and $70 million for other grants.
*Human Services: Cuts $312.6 million. More than $262 million is to come from grants. Non-Medicaid programs in mental health and developmental disabilities will be reduced or eliminated, payments will be delayed for developmental disabilities programs, and eligibility will be limited for several other programs.
*Healthcare and Family Services: Increases $162 million
*Public Health: Cuts $17 million. Women’s and rural health grants, medical student scholarships and community health center expansion are among areas to be reduced.
*Children and Family Services: Cuts $6 million. Bed counts will be reduced in institutions and group homes.
IRS Agent Shari Schindler just testified that Rod and Patti Blagojevich spent $400,000 in clothing expenses between 2002 and 2008. Of that, $207,000 was spent Oxxford Clothes, a luxury clothier that Rod fancied. Thousands more were spent at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Geneva Custom Shirts.
And he’s complaining about money troubles?
…Adding… Their clothing expense works out to roughly half of Blagojevich’s after-tax income as governor. You think this’ll stick in the jurors’ minds? Oh, yeah.
With charts and graphs, she’s explaining a flow of money from Tony Rezko’s Rezmar Corp. to Patti Blagojevich’s firm, River Realty.
Prosecutors noted that nowhere on the Blagojevich family’s tax returns — which were publicly released while Rod was governor — is there any indication that Rezko money went to Patti.
The Blagojeviches’ income peaked in 2004 at $392,392. By 2008 — the year we hear recordings of Blagojevich angsting about his cash flow — it’s down to $226,795.
By August of 2008, Schindler testified, the Blagojevich and his wife owed more than $90,000 in credit-card debt and were also $220,000 in the red on a home-equity loan. Several witnesses have testified that near the end of his term in office Blagojevich appeared to be obsessed with finding ways to make more money.
Schindler also explained charts she had prepared showing large flows of money ending up in the pockets of Blagojevich or his wife, Patti, from businesses associated with Rezko, a developer later convicted of corrupting state boards.
The money from Rezko began flowing to the Blagojeviches around the same time that a $600,000 loan connected to a state pension deal was made to a business associate of Rezko. The loan was extended by lobbyist Robert Kjellander, also a top official in the state Republican party who had just been paid more than $800,000 as his cut from brokering a deal to steer $10 billion in state underwriting business to Bear Stearns.
In another series of transactions explained by Schindler, Rezko’s development firm, Rezmar, was paid $40,000 in commissions on January 21, 2004, from a real estate deal. The next day, Rezmar wrote a check for the same amount to River Realty, a company owned by Patti Blagojevich. Then the following day, River Realty wrote another check to Patti Blagojevich for $40,000.
* Related…
* State ethics officer: Rod Blagojevich completed ethics training
* FBI tapes: Blago frustrated by Obama’s lack of cooperation: “They all leave town and I’m stuck with gridlock . . . impeachment . . . and a f—— president who’s all talk and no give?” Blagojevich said.
* Mayor Daley outlined his response today to the US Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down the city’s handgun ban…
* following DC ordinance and registration of no more than one handgun per month,
* two step process to own and register
* no ownership for anyone convicted of a violent crime
* no ownership for anyone with 2 or more DUIs
* no ownership for anyone convicted on a domestic violence charge
* bans assault weapons
* bans gun shops
* requires firearms safety training
* requires city firearms permit, state FOI card and registration with the Chicago Police Department
Mayor Daley today backed off his plan to limit Chicagoans to one handgun and dropped the idea of requiring liability insurance altogether in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to shoot down the city’s handgun ban.
The replacement ordinance outlined by the mayor was considerably weaker than Daley and top mayoral aides had initially described. […]
No more than one firearm in the home could be “assembled and operable.” The rest “must be broken down in a non-functioning state or shall have trigger lock or other mehanism making the firearm temporarily inoperable.”
As expected, gun shops would be prohibited in the city of Chicago, under the ordinance.
Chicagoans would be required to register their weapons, but only after obtaining firearms safety training comprised of at least four hours in the classroom and one hour on a firing range.
Also, if a gun owner “knows or has reason to believe” that a minor is present, the one operable gun would have to be “held by the person” or “physically seucred on the person’s body” to avoid falling into the hands of children. If not, that one gun would also have to be secured or disassembled.
* Assault weapons are banned, as is the possession of ammunition by anyone who does not have a valid FOID card and registration for a gun of the same caliber.
* Applicants must be at least 21 years old, unless a parent signs for a child age 18 or older.
* To protect the city against costs for a lawsuit in case a police officer shoots an armed person while responding to a home, Daley also said the city will pursue legislation at the state and federal levels granting liability immunity for first responders and the city.
* The ordinance bars anyone from possessing a handgun outside a home, which excludes garages, outdoor areas, hotel rooms and group-living quarters.
* Former Chicago Ald. Marty Oberman sued last year to force a special election for US Senate. He claimed the US Constitution requires a special election and the appointment of Roland Burris was only temporary and the state should’ve set special election dates.
The lower court ruled against his request for a preliminary injunction, so Oberman appealed last fall. As we’ve already discussed, a confusing, long-winded and obtuse appellate opinion [fixed link] was finally handed down in June that claimed a special election was necessary, but no election was actually ordered.
“It’s extremely difficult to try to shoehorn in a process where candidates file petitions to get on the ballot and then the ballots are prepared and the voting equipment is prepared and then to get all that stuff deployed in the polling places, then get all that machinery system back into the warehouse,” said James Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. “You still have to accept absentee ballots for 14 days after the election; you may not have a proclamation until say the end of September, and then at the end of September, you’re supposed to be sending ballots out to overseas and military voters for the general election.”
* You can read the attorney general’s motion that was filed yesterday by clicking here. From the motion…
…in declining to hold that the period between November 2, 2010 and January 3, 2011 is de minimis… the decision misapprehends Illinois law, which does not permit a candidate elected on November 2 to assume office until election results are certified in early December, when there will be few to no days left in the Senate session, and the decision fails to account for the risk of serious prejudice to Illinois voters if the State must include two elections for the same Senate seat on the November ballot. Finally, the decision errs in presuming that sufficient time remains before the general election to include an additional
Senate race on the November 2 ballot consistent with Illinois law.
Translation: Even if there was time to hold a special primary and a special election, which there isn’t if we follow state and federal laws, the new Senator would be in office about a month, over the Christmas break. That’s a lot of cash for no benefit. Ridiculous.
Plaintiffs argue that adding a second ballot could be done at no cost to taxpayers if the candidates are chosen by party leadership
Translation: The three state party chairmen could appoint candidates to the general special election ballot. According to the attorney general and the Chicago elections board, that would be against state law…
10 ILCS 5/7-1 of the Election Code states:
“Except as otherwise provided in this Article, the nomination of all candidates for all elective State, congressional, judicial and county officers … shall be made in the manner provided in this Article 7 and not otherwise.” ie through a primary.
10 ILCS 5/7-61 then reads: “Whenever a special election is necessary the provisions of this Article are applicable to the nomination of candidates to be voted for at such special election…” and then goes on to detail a primary.
Thus, even if the code does not specifically refer to a U.S. Senate special election, it does give clear direction.
Also, why bother to even hold a special general if the party leaders are gonna just appoint the nominees anyway?
* Yesterday’s court hearing produced no results, and we may not get any direction for weeks. It’s also possible, maybe probable, that the full appellate panel will take the case back and look at it. From James Allen of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners…
The next hearing on this matter was scheduled for Wed., July 21 — but Judge Grady advised all parties to be prepared to return to court sooner in the event the 7th District Court of Appeals acts before then to affirm, clarify, amend or otherwise change the opinion it issued on June 16 regarding the need for a Nov. 2 Special Election for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Roland Burris.
* I sure hope Oberman isn’t pursuing this suit because of any eligible reimbursable expenses from the state. But the timing of the appellate ruling now means that there just aren’t enough weeks left to run this silly special election. He needs to drop it and move on.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden’s blog…
In fact, if a special primary election would be held, it is all but certain that military ballots would not go out in time to meet the new standards set up by the MOVE Act.
It could also be argued, persuasively, that a simple tweak to the Election Code could clarify this issue for this election. That would require a special session, but the cost of that vs. the cost of a special primary is not even close. If Judge Grady, at the U.S. District Court, tries to take the authority for this process away from the legislature, the legislature should wrest it back and save taxpayers the money of the special election and not imperil the November election, especially the votes of those overseas.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Marty Oberman…
The plaintiffs’ position is that, consistent with the election code and the constitution, the nominees for a special election to be held on Nov. 2, 2010, could be chosen through the same mechanism now contained in the election code for filling vacancies in nominations, i.e., the party central committees can choose the nominees. This appears to be what happened in the special election ordered by the 7th Circuit in 1970 when George Collins was elected to the House. This same approach was upheld by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to flll the vacancy when Pennsylvania Senator Heinz was killed in a plane crash in 1991.
There is no requirement in the election code for a primary for a special senate election because the legislature never thought about it.
If the plaintiffs’ approach is followed, there will be not one penny of extra cost to the taxpayers and the principles in the constitution will be upheld. We still think the constitution is important, don’t we?
* As we discussed a bit yesterday, road-construction projects are being halted in the Chicago area as two unions have voted to strike. From the Sun-Times…
A strike today by construction workers could delay road-building projects such as the resurfacing of the Eisenhower Expy.
The Laborers’ District Council of Chicago and Vicinity voted to strike earlier this week, and workers were already striking at some locations Wednesday. The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, voted to strike Wednesday night and expected to stop work this morning.
The unions seek health-benefit-package increases of 15 percent over three years, while companies have offered a 1 percent hike, according to Dennis Culloton, spokesman for the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association, which represents local contractors.
The parties are scheduled to talk Monday. The current contract expired May 31.
“It’s MARBA’s position they should continue to work and continue to earn their $45 to $50 an hour in the meantime,” Culloton said.
Late Wednesday, Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, whose members operate heavy machinery, voted to authorize a strike that was expected to begin at midnight. Other unions that could follow include carpenters, cement masons and technical engineers.
The laborers and the equipment operators unions represent about 15,000 employees in a 10-county area that includes the Chicago region, officials said.
“We are in OK shape right now on the Eisenhower and we will be OK if the strike lasts a couple of days,'’ Kollias said. “But if this goes on for a couple of weeks or a month, the project will be seriously delayed.'’
Sticking points were 10 to 15 percent increases in health care and reduction in annual work hours from 1,600 to 1,000 on average.
“Contrary to the employers’ rhetoric, we understand full well the pain this economy has caused for construction workers,” Local 150 President James Sweeney said in a statement.
Contractors argued that operating engineers and laborers are paid between $35 to $45 an hour and demands for increases were impossible in the economic climate that has devastated the construction industry.
“Why not continue to work? There’s another negotiation session set for July 7,” MARBA spokeswoman Lissa Christman said.
* Yesterday, I asked both the Operating Engineers and the contractors to submit their sides of the story. Let’s start with the contractors…
Tom Nordeen, Chairman of the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association (MARBA) today made the following statement in response to reports that local trade unions representing area construction workers are planning to or are on strike:
“For months, MARBA negotiators have been engaged in collective bargaining talks with unions representing the carpenters, cement masons, laborers, operating engineers and technical engineers. We are disappointed to learn the Operating Engineers Local 150 plans to join the Laborers District Council in authorizing a strike as soon as tomorrow (Thursday, July 1).
“We do not believe the unions should strike because we have another negotiating session scheduled with both unions for July 7th. In the meantime, the Operating engineers can continue to work and earn more than $45 dollars-an-hour in wages—totaling more than $68 dollars-an-hour in wages plus benefits –while both sides participate in good-faith talks. While both parties negotiate, the Laborers District Council members can continue to earn more than $35 dollars-an-hour—totaling more than $53 dollars-an-hour in wages plus benefits. While we talk, these union members can continue to earn good salaries on projects important to local taxpayers and consumers.
“Unemployment in the trades is as high as 40 percent, yet MARBA negotiators have been struggling to engage union representatives in an agreement that reflects the reality of the worst economic recession in 80 years. We are all competing for work at prices far below what we were able to secure in years past. But so far, the unions have been unwilling to reconsider their demands for substantial increases in hourly wage packages—15 percent over the next three years– that far exceed cost of living increases and health benefit plans available to the average Illinois worker.
“The hourly increases that the unions have proposed simply do not reflect the truth of what has happened to the industry. And they don’t reflect the reality that these increased costs would ultimately be borne by the taxpayers on publicly funded jobs.
“The talks are continuing and the unions do not have to go on strike. The only way the men and women of the union trades can again put their skills to work and provide for their families in these tough times is for their union officials to bring a sense of reality and some shared sacrifice to the table.”
* From the Operating Engineers Local 150…
[Last night], thousands of members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 voted unanimously to authorize a strike, affecting approximately 8,500 members working under several agreements throughout 9 counties in northeastern Illinois.
The strike will begin at midnight, at the conclusion of at 30-day “cooling off” period, during which both sides were required to meet three times per week toward an agreement. “We made ourselves available 24 hours a day, and the employers only agreed to meet four times in the entire month,” said James M. Sweeney, President-Business Manager of Local 150. “The livelihoods of thousands of working men and women depend on these negotiations, and while we have made ourselves available, the employers are running out the back door of meetings.”
The agreement ended on May 31, and negotiations between Local 150 and employer groups Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association (MARBA) and Excavators, Inc. have produced little more than a stalemate. Employers walked out of negotiations on Monday, June 28th, and stated that they would not be willing to meet again until July 7th, fully aware that Local 150 members had been without a contract for nearly one month and that a meeting would be held to vote on a contract proposal tonight.
“Our proposal does not include wage increases over the next three years,” said Sweeney. “But with healthcare inflation estimated at 10-12 percent annually over the next three years, we have costs that need to be covered. Local 150 is going to use its reserves to cover the approximate $150 million healthcare shortfall over the next three years caused by the reduction in hours worked.” Members who averaged 1,600 hours annually a few years ago have seen their yearly hours sink to 1,000 on average. This results in significantly lessened contributions to the funds.
“Local 150 members took money out of their pockets to stabilize these funds last year, and now we are using our reserves. We have done our part, and we are asking employers to share the burden,” said Sweeney. “These funds are administered jointly by labor and management, so they have a responsibility as we do to ensure that these funds are stable.”
“Contrary to the employers’ rhetoric, we understand full well the pain this economy has caused for construction workers. We are feeding 1,000 families a week with boxes of food. We are covering COBRA payments for 1,200 families who have lost healthcare coverage. We have spent millions upon millions of dollars to make sure that our members are provided for, so for them to insinuate that we are not aware of the economic conditions is insulting.”
At this time, employers have not offered to meet any earlier than their originally set date of July 7. Local 150 will remain available for negotiations, but according to Sweeney, “we cannot make them sit down with us.”
The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 is a labor union representing more than 23,000 working men and women in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Local 150 represents workers in various industries, including construction, construction material production, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag production, landscaping, public works and others.
* Your thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Todd Vandermyde of the Operating Engineers sent these dot points over yesterday. They could be helpful to the discussion…
· Our contract expires May 31st with a 30 day cooling off period.
· So June 30th is the end – it’s in the contract everyone knows it CONTRACTORS included.
· The contract also states that they – both sides are to meet 3 times a week during June.
· The contractors only wanted to & met 4 times in June.
· On Monday (6/28) during negotiations the contractors called for a caucus. After a while a representative came back to say they had left and would meet again on July 7th.
· We started announcing the special meeting for [last night] on June 15th for what we hoped would be for a contract ratification. In the absence of a contract proposal beyond the talked about .65 an hour total package – not even any real contract language changes proposed, it will turn to a strike vote with no formal proposal to bring to the membership.
· The contractors’ proposal of 0, 0, 0 for three years translates into a 20% reduction in wages on the check with what we will have to pull out just to meet healthcare inflationary costs, retire healthcare and pension costs.
· Our proposal is NOT looking for a wage increase, merely looking to cover inflationary cost of healthcare.
*** 10:36 am *** Click here for an advance look at $91 million in cuts to the community services program. An impact summary…
DMH projects over 70,000 consumers including over 4,200 children will lose access to basic mental health care including medications, psychiatry visits and case management. In addition, over 4,000 consumers will be displaced from their residential settings in the community. Most may be placed into nursing homes.
*** 10:38 am *** The governor has started talking.
After a thorough review of the state’s operating budget for the coming fiscal year, Governor Pat Quinn today announced major reductions to state spending while prioritizing the tools needed to keep the Illinois economy moving forward. Governor Quinn also issued an Executive Order to place additional restrictions on government spending.
Governor Quinn reduced the fiscal year 2011 budget by $1.4 billion, while preserving core services of education, health care and public safety. […]
Governor Quinn today acted on the following bills:
* House Bill 859: Appropriations: Reduction vetoed
* Senate Bill 1215: Technical Appropriation Changes: Signed into law
* Senate Bill 3660: Emergency Budget Act: Signed into law
* Senate Bill 3662: Budget Implementation Act: Signed into law […]
The Governor also allocated funds for several high-priority programs, including:
* $206 million to maintain early childhood education programs throughout the state
* $26.7 million to fund adult education programs at community colleges, which in turn qualifies for an additional $48 million in federal matching dollars
* $55 million to fund community mental health programs to maintain funding for community mental health residential programs
* $325 million to maintain funding that allows eligible seniors to remain in their homes, rather than moving into nursing home, through the Department on Aging’s Community Care Program
The Executive Order Governor Quinn signed today requires spending reductions such as: travel expenses, vehicle use, printing, telecommunications, overtime pay, leasing of office space, contractual spending, energy efficiency, managed care for Medicaid and sale of surplus equipment and property.
This year’s budget will be $24.9 billion, down from last year’s $26.3 billion, officials said. That represents the amount spent out of the state’s main checking accounts.
*** 11:48 am *** End. Thoughts?
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* Gov. Pat Quinn will outline what he intends to do with state budget cuts in Chicago today at 10:30. The governor was given a “lump sum” budget by the General Assembly and granted extraordinary emergency powers as well.
Illinois Information Service will be streaming the presser live…
If you do watch or listen, help everyone else out by live-blogging in comments. I’ll also update this post.
* Your budget roundup…
* Painful cuts loom in OK of state budget today: The thinking is Quinn today will sign a state budget that is billions of dollars in the red, announce painful budget cuts for the 2011 fiscal year that begins today and push off paying billions of dollars in past-due bills.
* Quinn to unveil fix for budget gap: The Chicago Democrat also may use the occasion to pressure lawmakers to return to Springfield and approve borrowing about $4 billion to make the state’s annual contributions to government pension systems. Without permission to borrow the money, Quinn will have to find it elsewhere, meaning deeper cuts throughout the budget.
* Quinn to unveil his state budget plans today: The only area he identified was “bureaucracy,” implying reductions in direct government expenses, such as employee costs. However, Quinn is limited on that front because of an agreement the administration reached earlier this year with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest of state government’s employee unions.
* Medicaid funds may not come through: All the governors involved said they have made historic cuts to their budgets, and ending the higher rate would force them to cut into basic essential services such as education… California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose state would get about $1.8 billion from the proposed extension, agreed. He said it is wrong for Congress to mandate coverage levels but refuse to give states more funding when a recession makes demand go up. “The federal government cannot have it both ways. … It’s simply unfair and will have devastating consequences.”
* Cadillac or Chevy, pensions too costly: The Sun-Times editorial objects to the Civic Committee’s use of the word “Cadillac” to describe Illinois’ pension plan for its employees, but the facts are more important than the adjectives. State employees with enough years of service can retire with full pensions at age 55. (Chicago employees can retire with full pensions at 50.) State retirees get automatic 3 percent cost adjustments whether there is inflation or not.
* Critics say 401(k)-style state plan unworkable, expensive: Critics of creating a 401(k)-style retirement benefit for public employees Wednesday pounced on gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady’s suggestion that the state move away from its current pension programs and into a system widely used in private industry. The idea might actually increase the cost of retirement programs and would provide a less secure retirement for workers, opponents said. “It is idiotic on every level,” said Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a leading critic of state budgeting.
* State’s unpaid bill tally stands at about $4.5B: Those still owed money from the state on Wednesday include schools, universities, caretakers of seniors and business owners like Decatur pharmacy owner Dale Colee.
* It seems pretty clear that the US Supreme Court ruling striking down Chicago’s gun ban will result in lots more lawsuits. The ruling, along with its DC gun ban ruling, claims that “reasonable” gun ownership restrictions are allowed.
“Reasonable,” of course, is in the eye of the beholder. In Chicago, reasonable means this…
Chicago may severely limit the number of handguns that can be kept in a single home and ban gun dealers within city limits in the wake of Monday’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted the city’s handgun ban, City Hall’s top attorney said [yesterday].
The court’s ruling “did not say that a person is entitled to more than one handgun, and one handgun is sufficient for self defense,” Corporation Counsel Mara Georges told aldermen at a City Council committee meeting. “We believe that a limitation on the number of handguns to one per person per residence would be consistent with the Supreme Court’s decisions.”
Earlier [yesterday], Georges said a requirement that handguns must be registered in the city will definitely be in the new ordinance. The city also is considering requirements that gun owners undergo training, submit to a criminal-background check and obtain liability insurance, she said.
Also under consideration are ballistics testing or “stamping” of each weapon so spent ammunition can be traced back to a specific gun. “We’ve looked at an assault weapons ban, that’s something our current ordinance contains,” she added. “I think it makes sense to continue an assault weapons ban, to continue allowing only certain kinds of weapons and prohibiting others, prohibiting certain kinds of ammunition.”
Washington requires gun owners to get five hours of safety training, register their firearms every three years and face criminal background checks every six years.
Gun owners there are further required to submit fingerprints and allow police to perform ballistic tests. They must keep revolvers unloaded and either disassembled or secured with trigger locks unless they have reason to fear a home intruder.
Those provisions apparently don’t go far enough for Daley, who hinted strongly at an insurance component to protect public safety workers and taxpayers.
But one gun rights supporter said many of Georges’ suggestions all but assure a legal battle, calling them “preposterous” and a violation of gun owners’ civil rights.
Owning a gun, said David Workman of the Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation, “is a civil right and you can’t limit a civil right.” He also said it would be illegal to single out gun shops just because the merchandise they sell might poise a danger to residents.
In addition to bolstering our right to possess firearms for self-defense purposes in our homes, the ruling by the Supreme Court offers hope for additional sanity in the ever-ongoing firearms debate. It was a decision hailed by lawmakers from the region, Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion and Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.
Bost suggested the ruling will give new weight to the argument for a concealed carry law in Illinois, which he supports. Such laws are on the books in 48 states, excluding Illinois and Wisconsin, and have been equated with declines in gun crimes elsewhere. Thugs are reluctant to strike those who might shoot back.
It might be an uphill fight, but the concealed carry goal is worth pursuing for law-abiding, thoroughly trained citizens, if only to ensure there is no erosion in the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding our Second Amendment rights. We can’t be confident of keeping a 5-4 ideological split on the nation’s high court, and there always be lawyers willing to pursue new firearm restrictions - and well-heeled clients willing to pay for such limitations.
With her world famous greeting “Hello Pineapples!” and loving heart bigger than her hair, it’s impossible to imagine Chicago without Miss Foozie®. A famed personality and household name in the city’s LGBT community and beyond, she’s consistently voted “Best Female Impersonator”, including nods from the publications Chicago Free Press and New City. She has big plans for expansion and is embarking on a journey to win more hearts across the country.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s biggest campaign problem is the government. Whether it’s the budget deficit, early release of prisoners, or whatever, Quinn has a huge albatross around his neck. This story won’t help…
The state of Illinois helped pay for day care services in homes where sex offenders live, the auditor general reported Tuesday.
Auditors found 90 cases in which day care providers paid by the Department of Human Services had the same address as someone on the statewide sex-offender registry. The total number might be even higher because the audit only counted cases where addresses matched exactly, down to whether street names were spelled out or abbreviated.
In one case, the person who was paid to care for children was actually on the offender registry. The provider had a conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault but received two payments totaling $187.69, according to the report by Auditor General William Holland.
The Department of Human Services was only recently given authority to check the backgrounds of the people it pays to provide child care, said spokesman Tom Green.
But Holland said he was unaware of any previous prohibition and was flabbergasted it never had been done.
What a freaking mess that is. The new law required that DHS check the backgrounds, but Holland’s position is apparently that nothing stopped the department from checking those backgrounds before. The audit is here.
* Related…
* State shouldn’t contribute to 401(k)s, Brady says - Candidate for governor retreats on lowering minimum wage: Brady explained his unpopular votes on some bills by saying he looks at issues like a businessman: Why did he vote against state mandates that insurance plans cover pap smears, mammograms and contraceptives? Because he votes against all mandates which he says raise the cost of health insurance.
From the disabled who need help to stay in their homes to school districts trying to balance their own budgets, people who rely on state spending are bracing for Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget scalpel.
Quinn said Monday he’s preparing to deal with the proposed spending plan approved by lawmakers last month and that cuts are coming, although he did not specify where they will land.
Some examples…
“What we’re hearing is the administration is seriously considering cutting the home care program, cutting hours and cutting people off the program,” said SEIU communications director Brynn Siebert. “It costs three times as much to keep a person in an institution as at home.” […]
Don Moss, a lobbyist who works on behalf of mental health and developmental disabilities organizations, said he’s hearing from providers that their contracts with the state to provide services are being cut.
And the teachers’ union isn’t thrilled, either…
“We think this is a budget built on quicksand. Regardless of what numbers they put in the budget book, the funding doesn’t exist to fund education at that level,” Comerford said.
Hints of what Gov. Pat Quinn has in store for budget cuts are coming in paper work for local human services. Don Moss, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Illinois, says providers are returning grant and fee-for-service contract papers for Wednesday’s midnight deadline, and they’re finding that some grants have been wiped out.
Moss says services for the people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and addictions will all be affected, although he says services that are Medicaid-eligible will be in the best shape. He says for grant programs, some services will see a three-to-six month reprieve, while others will receive nothing.
Republican lawmakers in Springfield are getting in their “I told you so’s” now that Congress has balked at extending federal stimulus funding.
Including in the sweeping plans in Washington, D.C., was about $700 million which was earmarked in the new state budget for a continuing enhanced Medicaid match. But the so-called FMAP money — Federal Medical Assistance Percentage – is not coming in time for the start of Illinois’ new fiscal year on Thursday. […]
GOP lawmakers say the extra Medicaid money should never have been included in the Democratic written budget.
State Rep. Patti Bellock, R-Hinsdale, said Quinn wanted the most optimistic numbers he could find, and now the state is going to have to pay the price.
Keep in mind, however, that the House Republicans did not propose a single appropriations bill or amendment to address this problem.
* And be mindful while reading the following story that the governor and AFSCME negotiated a deferral of half its 2 percent pay hike until July of 2011. They’re getting a one-point bump now…
Despite a state budget that is billions of dollars out of whack, more than 46,000 state workers will see bigger paychecks on Thursday.
Judges, prison guards, welfare office workers and mental health specialists will see raises and cost-of-living adjustments worth an estimated $105.6 million.
For some lawmakers, the raises are an example of why the state is in such dire financial straits.
“I just think it shows how Gov. Quinn isn’t serious about getting a handle on this problem,” said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth.
Since Democrats took total control of Illinois government in 2003, our credit ratings have been downgraded 11 times, the most in Illinois history. A report released recently by CMA Datavision identified Illinois as one of 10 sovereign governments most at risk of default. We are ahead of California and the nation of Portugal. Our financial woes extend beyond the borders of the U.S.A.
Eleven times? Yikes.
* Related and a roundup…
* ADDED: Senator Dave Syverson Makes Outrageous Budget Blooper
* Advocates push to spare services for disabled from budget ax
* New laws kick in Thursday : Almost 50 new laws will hit the books July 1, and they range from high-profile issues state lawmakers fought over to small changes that you may never notice.
* The Sun-Times has now changed the wording of its reporting on yesterday’s testimony by SEIU Illinois honcho Tom Balanoff. Yesterday’s post read…
[Balanoff] says Alexi Giannoulias, a friend to then President-Elect Barack Obama, asked him to ask Blagojevich about a possible appointment for him.
But that’s now been deleted after the campaign raised a question about its accuracy. Live-blogging is extremely difficult, especially during long, drawn-out events like trials, so these things happen. The story today reads…
Balanoff also testified that Giannoulias helped arrange a meeting of Jarrett, Balanoff and Giannoulias to discuss a Blagojevich appointment of Jarrett. Balanoff called Giannoulias to tell him Jarrett was dropping out. “In passing, he said: ‘Maybe he’ll appoint me,’ ” Balanoff testified.
Balanoff testified that he told Giannoulias he would run it by the then-governor.
Blagojevich, in a Nov. 24 meeting, bristled at the thought.
” ‘That motherf - - - - -, I wouldn’t do s - - - for him. Every chance he got he took a shot at me,’ ” Blagojevich said of Giannoulias, according to Balanoff.
So, it’s not nearly as bad as I thought yesterday. Time to move on.
* Speaking of moving on, a day after Mark Kirk apologized again for embellishing his record, he has launched two new TV ads. Let’s rate them.
In the first commercial, titled “Risky,” Kirk’s campaign shows a picture of a young-looking Giannoulias and then notes he is 34 years old. It then goes on to describe controversial loans Broadway Bank made to men with ties to organized crime while Giannoulias worked there, showing black-and-white pictures of the loan recipients. It also criticizes Giannoulias’ performance as treasurer when a college savings program run by the office lost $73 million.
“Alexi Giannoulias: Trust him with your money?” the announcer asks.
The other ad is called “Stand.” From the Sun-Times…
“Stand,” portrays Kirk as a more committed environmentalist than Giannoulias because Kirk spoke out against BP’s plan to discharge more into Lake Michigan while Giannoulias has a top aide who worked as a lobbyist for BP.
Environmental groups The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, both have endorsed Giannoulias in this race, saying Kirk exaggerated his role in stopping BP’s proposal to dump more discharge into Lake Michigan.
The new ad buy starts on broadcast television in the Chicago area today and cable television Thursday.
From what I’m hearing so far, these are not huge ad buys. But they are getting wide publicity. WaPo…
The commercials are evidence that Kirk is following a “your best defense is a good offense” strategy, seeking to use his press conference and these ads to shift the focus in the race back to Giannoulias after a month of questions about the veracity of his military resume.
Kirk is also trying to exploit his financial edge over Giannoulias by beginning to define the race in the costly Chicago media market over the summer — typically a very quiet time for politics.
* Also, the troubles with posting the full Kirk press conference video continued late yesterday when I posted only his speech and not his media Q&A. Here’s the Q&A…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Giannoulias is responding with his own ad. So far, this is Internet-only. But the campaign claims they will make a buy. No word on how big that will be. This is a one-minute ad that slams Kirk. Rate it…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Today’s “Morning Joe” program was simply brutal. Make sure to watch…
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the Giannoulias campaign…
AD CHECK: THE TRUTH ABOUT KIRK’S NEW LIES
FACT: KIRK’S AD IS PAID FOR BY BIG OIL
Alexi has taken no money from BP, from its lobbyists or executives. Mark Kirk is paying for this ad with BP money: he has taken more than $120,000 from the firm that is making millions representing BP in the aftermath of the spill, $2,500 directly from BP and its executives, $4,750 from its corporate lobbyists, and another $8000 from Representative Joe Barton, who infamously apologized to BP executives on the House floor last week. [FEC; Center for Responsive Politics; Chicago Tribune, 5/18/10]
FACT: KIRK LOST KEY ENVIRONMENTAL BACKING FOR SIDING WITH BIG OIL
Congressman Kirk’s record on the environment has cost him the endorsement of the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters. They chose Alexi because Kirk has continually sided with Big Oil by voting to protect tax breaks for big oil companies, to expand drilling throughout America’s coastal waters, and to allow drilling in prohibited areas. He even stood with Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin in 2008 to overturn the moratorium on drilling off the Florida coast. [Chicago Sun-Times, 6/8/10]
KIRK AD LIE 1: The Sun-Times said Kirk, quote, “fought hard to stop BP from dumping more waste into the lake.”
TRUTH: Jack Darin, who heads the Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter, called this claim “another case of Mark Kirk exaggerating his resume… He took a boat trip and held a press conference, but I think for him to say he stopped BP is clearly wrong. Unfortunately, Indiana went ahead gave BP the pollution permit for the pollution we were all so upset about, and still are. So BP in fact has not been stopped.”
KIRK AD LIE 2: Alexi says higher energy taxes are on the table.
TRUTH: Alexi has never pushed for higher energy taxes. He supports a market-based system that puts a price on global warming pollution, reduces our dependence on oil and spurs investment in renewable energy and new clean energy jobs. Numerous independent studies have shown that his transition can occur with minimal cost to consumers, and help make America more competitive in today’s global economy.
KIRK AD LIE 3: Alexi Giannoulias’ top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist.
TRUTH: Alexi’s unpaid advisor was never a lobbyist for BP. He was a real estate attorney who worked on zoning cases for BP-Bovis, the construction and development joint venture that converted existing Amoco stations into BP stations. It is required by the City of Chicago that real estate attorneys handling zoning cases register as lobbyists. He never advocated for BP and has done no work on oil and drilling issues.
KIRK AD LIE 4: Now running for Senate, Alexi supports higher taxes to fund billions more in spending.
TRUTH: Every proposal outlined by Alexi includes a counter-part offset to ensure that it is deficit neutral. Alexi also supports pay-as-you-go federal budgeting rules, which Congressman Kirk voted against. It’s no wonder — Kirk voted for every Bush budget and tax cut for the wealthy that tripled our national debt, took us from record surpluses to record deficits, and put the global economy on the precipice of collapse. [HR2920, Vote 612, 7/22/09; HJR45, Vote 48, 2/4/10; HCR353, Vote 79, 3/20/02; HCR95, Vote 141, 4/11/03; SCR95, Vote 198, 5/19/04; HCR95, Vote 149, 4/28/05,; HR4241, Vote 601, 11/18/05; HCR376, Vote 158, 5/18/06; SCR 21, Vote 377, 5/16/07; HR3, Vote 45, 3/8/01; HR6, Vote 75, 3/29/01; HR8, Vote 84, 4/4/01; HR1836, Vote 118, 5/16/01; HR1836, Vote 149, 5/26/01; HR3090, Vote 404, 10/24/01; HR3529, Vote 509, 12/19/01; HR586, Vote 103, 4/18/02; HR2143, Vote 219, 6/6/02; HR4019, Vote 229, 6/13/2002; HR2, Vote 182, 5/9/03; HR2, Vote 225, 5/23/0 3]
KIRK AD LIE 5: As Treasurer, he made risky investments that cost families $73 million in lost college savings.
TRUTH: Even Congressman Kirk has admitted that the problems experienced in one of Bright Start’s 21 funds was the fault of Oppenheimer, not the Treasurer’s office. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, “Kirk addressed a controversy involving Giannoulias’ stewardship as state treasurer of the Bright Start college savings program-and appeared to take Giannoulias’ side… Kirk went after “a state bureaucrat that has a bad record.” Asked by a reporter who that bureaucrat was, Kirk replied it was the person who ran the Oppenheimer “core plus” fund-who is not a state employee.” [Chicago Tribune, 10/12/09] In fact, under Alexi’s stewardship, the Bright Start program went from one of the worst in the country to one of the top five, according to several independent analysis.
KIRK AD LIE 6: At his father’s bank, Alexi made tens of millions in risky loans to convicted mobsters. Then, the bank collapsed.
TRUTH: Because of banking regulations that were strictly followed by the bank, all of these loans were legal and reviewed by state and federal regulators. Any suggestion that these few loans had any relationship to the bank’s financial problems is a lie.
* From CBS2 we have the full video of Mark Kirk’s press conference today. Watch it…
…Adding… The video is stalling out at the 3:09 mark. They’re working on it. Meanwhile, NBC5 has some edited videos…
* Kirk: “Admit the Mistakes, Own Them, Fix Them” In this condensed and edited video, GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk apologizes for his mistakes and vows to improve and maintain full disclosure.
* After taking heat from Gov. Pat Quinn this week for advocating a one dollar per hour cut in the minimum wage while being a “millionaire who didn’t pay his taxes,” state Sen. Bill Brady backed off today…
[Brady] suggested that the state minimum be frozen until the federal rate rises to Illinois’ level.
“Let’s just say the federal wage should be allowed to catch up with the Illinois rate,” and then the two should move in tandem, he said.
Brady also reiterated his plan to put state workers into 401(K) plans, but with a new twist…
Asked how he would pay the costs of converting to “employee-owned pensions,” as he suggested in his speech, Mr. Brady said the state should switch to a 401(k) system that would be totally funded by workers, not the government.
As long as Illinois pays pensions, political corruption is inevitable, as political insiders try to maneuver for advantage, Mr. Brady said. But that could be avoided if the state just paid a good wage and let employees save for retirement themselves, he continued.
* 2:52 pm - So far, Alexi Giannoulias has said that his only involvement with the US Senate vacancy was setting up a meeting between SEIU President Tom Balanoff and Valerie Jarrett.
But Balanoff testified today that Giannoulias was interested in the appointment as well. From the Sun-Times…
“I heard from Blagojevich, he said [Valerie Jarrett] is not interested,” [Balanoff] said he told Giannoulias.
“If the governor called her in the next hour or so if he offered a job would she take it? And he said no. He thought it was a real shame that Blagojevich did not appoint Jarrett.”
Then Giannoulias said this: “In passing he said, maybe he’ll appoint me,” Balanoff said.
[Balanoff] says Alexi Giannoulias, a friend to then President-Elect Barack Obama, asked him to ask Blagojevich about a possible appointment for him.
In a Nov. 24th meeting, Balanoff raises the point.
Blagojevich bristled, he testified.
“That mother f—–, I wouldn’t do s— for him. Every chance he got he took a shot at me.”
Expect a Mark Kirk/GOP response in 3… 2… 1…
*** UPDATE 1 - 3:35 pm *** From the Illinois GOP….
…Balanoff’s sworn version of events directly contradicts at least three claims made by Alexi Giannoulias.
December 4, 2008: Alexi Giannoulias told the Chicago Tribune that Rod Blagojevich’s staff had reached out to him about a possible appointment to the vacant Senate seat.
Giannoulias also said that staff within Blagojevich’s office have “reached out” to him as a possible candidate to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate, though a Blagojevich spokesman said the governor has not contacted Giannoulias directly.[2]
December 4, 2008: In the same interview, Giannoulias told the Chicago Tribune that he was not “pushing for the seat”
Giannoulias said he’s not pushing for the seat, but if it’s offered he’d have to take a “very, very hard look,” at the opportunity to work in Washington D.C. alongside his close friend Obama.[3]
December 12, 2008: Alexi Giannoulias said that he hadn’t “really thought about” Obama’s Senate seat.
Giannoulias, a Democrat, said he’s been busy sorting through the state’s financial woes following Tuesday’s arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“I haven’t really thought about it to be honest with you,” he said during an appearance at Aurora University. “I’ve been focused on trying to do my job and trying to rebuild the public’s trust in us as elected officials.”[4]
*** UPDATE 2 - 4:47 pm *** From the Giannoulias campaign…
“As he has discussed openly, and which was confirmed by today’s testimony, Alexi was a strong advocate for Valerie Jarrett’s appointment to the vacant Senate seat. When Valerie signaled she was no longer a candidate, Alexi half-jokingly raised the idea with his friend Tom Balanoff of being appointed himself, never expecting for the request to be passed along to the former governor. The former governor’s response – an expletive-laced tirade – says all you need to know about the seriousness of this idea and the relationship between the two of them.” - Matt McGrath
After Jarrett publicly took herself out of contention, Balanoff said he had a conversation with State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a protege and basketball buddy of Obama’s, who is now the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat. Of that conversation, Balanoff said: “In passing he said, ‘Maybe he’ll appoint me.’” [Emphasis added.]
Union leader Tom Balanoff just testified that right after the Presidential election, he met with both Valerie Jarrett and Alexi Giannoulias about Jarrett’s possible appointment to the Senate by Rod Blagojevich.
Balanoff said he asked Giannoulias to set up the meeting. The three met at the Aon Center on Nov. 7.
Balanoff said at the meeting he told Valerie Jarrett about his meeting the day before with Blagojevich.
“I said: ‘He said some goofy stuff … he could be Secretary of Health and Human Services.’” Balanoff testified. “I told her I told him that wasn’t going to happen. We both laughed.”
Balanoff said he planned to tell Blagojevich that if he didn’t appoint Jarrett then the governor couldn’t expect future help from the union, a major Democratic contributor.
Eventually, Jarrett’s name was withdrawn because Blagojevich kept insisting on cutting a deal.
The former governor’s defense team just completed the poking and prodding of prosecution witness John Harris in a predictable attempt to undermine potentially damaging testimony about the alleged sale of the Obama Senate seat and some of the other charges in the massive indictment. We got to see two of the defense theories that were mentioned in opening statements and developed more thoroughly as the trial moves along.
One is the so-called “advice of counsel” defense, which says in effect: Blago was sourrounded by attorneys—Lon Monk, Bradley Tusk, John Harris, Bill Quinlan—and if they didn’t tell him anything was illegal, how was he supposed to know? That, however, is an argument that’s been laughed off the legal stage by Richard Posner, the intellectual giant on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Chicago. The second explanation for Blago’s behavior, from his attorneys, is what I call the “braying at the moon defense,” which means the former governor did a lot of yelling, screaming, scheming and threatening because that was his personality—he was a bit of a whack job, not a criminal. Well, the first part was obvious to most of us for years. That was the governor we elected twice—shame on us. The second part, whether or not he’s a criminal, is, thankfully, up to the jury. I’m confident they’ll do the right thing, which is something we can’t say about Blago and his cohorts.
* The judge doesn’t think Tony Rezko would be a great prosecution witness…
One big question hanging over the trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been whether his convicted fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko, would appear at these proceedings to testify against his old friend. Rezko, now imprisoned at a federal facility in Wisconsin, has been cooperating with government agents since shortly after his 2008 conviction.
It’s still not certain whether Rezko will testify, but at a hearing before testimony resumed today, U.S. District Judge James Zagel strongly suggested that Rezko would make a lousy government witness.
Zagel said there was a word to describe witnesses like Rezko who damage whatever side calls them to testify. That, said Zagel, “generally explains why they’re not called.” Zagel refrained from actually saying what the word was, leaving the suggestion it was less than polite.
* Roundup…
* Judge James Zagel: New tape won’t be admitted until Rod Blagojevich takes the stand
A new satellite office located at 420 E. Main St.in Collinsville will serve Southwestern Illinois in providing information, education and outreach services the state treasurer’s office offers.
“This area is expanding and becoming increasingly diverse and there is a real need for residents to have consistent access to programs and services from the treasurer’s office,” said Chief of Staff Robin Kelly.
Both Robin Kelly and Alexi Giannoulias are running for statewide office. Metro East Democratic turnout will be hugely important this fall. It doesn’t take a genius to see that this move has political ramifications.
Giannoulias and Kelly have had three and a half years to open that office, and they chose to do it right before an election and, more telling, during a huge state budget crisis. What a stupid move.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the treasurer’s office…
We’ve opened satellite offices gradually around the state each year of this administration. All of the locations are rent free, so taxpayers do not pay for the space.
In fact, the purpose of the satellite offices was to save money. They cut down on travel expenses and give employees more time in the office to work and interact with constituents.
Since the first satellite office opened in 2007, we’ve saved nearly $30,000 in travel/operating costs. We are constantly looking for ways to do more with less.
Also, we’ve introduced more accountability to our staff, as no employees are now allowed to work out of their homes, a practice allowed under the previous administration.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Speaking of botched politics. Daily Kos fired the Research 2000 polling firm after their numbers in a round of elections didn’t match up to reality. And now, DKos is about to sue the firm after research showed it may have made up its numbers…
DailyKos has published a report by “three statistics wizards showing, quite convincingly, that the weekly Research 2000 State of the Nation poll we ran the past year and a half was likely bunk.”
“While the investigation didn’t look at all of Research 2000 polling conducted for us, fact is I no longer have any confidence in any of it, and neither should anyone else. I ask that all poll tracking sites remove any Research 2000 polls commissioned by us from their databases. I hereby renounce any post we’ve written based exclusively on Research 2000 polling.”
One item the researches discovered was an odd even/odd correlation in the numbers. First, they showed some poll results…
A combination of random sampling error and systematic difference should make the M results differ a bit from the F results, and in almost every case they do differ. In one respect, however, the numbers for M and F do not differ: if one is even, so is the other, and likewise for odd. Given that the M and F results usually differ, knowing that say 43% of M were favorable (Fav) to Obama gives essentially no clue as to whether say 59% or say 60% of F would be. Thus knowing whether M Fav is even or odd tells us essentially nothing about whether F Fav would be even or odd.
Thus the even-odd property should match about half the time, just like the odds of getting both heads or both tails if you tossed a penny and nickel. If you were to toss the penny and the nickel 18 times (like the 18 entries in the first two columns of the table) you would expect them to show about the same number of heads, but would rightly be shocked if they each showed exactly the same random-looking pattern of heads and tails.
* Suit money goes to low-income maternal health care
* University of Chicago hospital pays $7M to settle suit over NICU crowding
* Analysis: What’s behind the Attorney General’s investigation of Lollapalooza?: Whatever the scope of and motivations behind the investigation, it is clear that all of these questions will hover over the Chicago music scene until Madigan finally says exactly why her office has set its sights on Lollapalooza–or if she takes one of several possible actions ranging from a lawsuit filed on behalf of Chicago residents, to crafting a consent decree whereby Lollapalooza agrees to change the way it does business, to giving the concert a clean bill of health and ultimately doing nothing at all–which sources say is the least likely outcome of all.
* Gov. Quinn said yesterday that he would probably announce his budget cuts Wednesday. He refused to offer details…
The only area Quinn specifically said would be cut is “bureaucracy,” but he provided no details.
“There are serious cuts in the bureaucracy of state government,” Quinn said. “We’re going to have to tighten the belt as tight as it can be.”
Quinn signed an agreement with AFSCME this past January not to close any more state facilities. The agreement also forbade any state employee layoffs until June of 2011 beyond those already announced at the time. We’ll just have to wait and see how he gets around this one if he’s focusing on the “bureaucracy.”
But Quinn did say he’d protect education and human services as much as he could…
Exactly what he will allocate to each area is another question. As he has before, Quinn said he will do what he can to protect education spending, although the State Board of Education last week announced $300 million in cuts to education programs.
“Last year, we had an effort by the General Assembly to cut human services in half. It was heartless,” Quinn added. “I hope we can prevent any kind of severe cuts in human services or any other important services to people.”
* Today, Quinn said he probably won’t announce his budget decisions until Thursday…
Quinn says he’ll sign a budget by midnight Wednesday but may not announce his budget cuts until Thursday morning.
* State Sen. Larry Bomke will be a major target of these cuts. The Springfield Republican has refused to publicly support the pension borrowing plan and he’s already dismissing Quinn’s latest gambit…
Bomke said he believes the budget details to be released this week are just more of the same game that’s been played at the statehouse for two years. A game he says won’t end until after this fall’s election.
“It’s all politics,” Bomke said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
But Bomke also says he wants cuts…
Bomke said cuts would be more prudent, and are likely what voters expect.
“The general population is having a tough time. People who are not public employees are finding themselves out of a job,” Bomke said. “And I think the general population is saying live within your means.”
That quote won’t go over too well in Bomke’s district. Expect tons of heat on him to switch to a “Yes” vote on pension borrowing.
* Brady: Quinn didn’t fire ‘hacks’ Blagojevich hired: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady said Monday that Gov. Pat Quinn, who took over the job after the ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, did not remove “political hacks” Blagojevich named to state jobs. He also told the Illinois Society of Association Executives, meeting in Springfield, “I like the director of transportation, but I think that more of an engineering sort ought to be involved” in that post.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is set to face the press late this morning for a high-stakes question-and-answer session – his first open forum with reporters since acknowledging a month ago that he had misstated his military service during his campaign for Senate.
Kirk, once viewed as a favorite to defeat Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks as newspaper reports repeatedly unearthed misstatements about his biography – from claiming that he won the Intelligence Officer of the Year award when he did not, to overstating his experience as a teacher.
Last week, Kirk seemed to bottom out: In a scene belying his status as an accomplished and media-savvy member of Congress, he dashed out of a candidate forum with Giannoulias rather than answer reporters’ questions.
Today, though, he’ll take them head-on, and a strategist familiar with his plans said he intended to play offense too.
“Kirk will lay out the contrast in the race and the choice between his record and Alexi Giannoulias’s, speak to the big issues confronting the state of Illinois, announce policy speeches he will deliver over the course of the campaign, and acknowledge mistakes that have been made concerning his record,” the strategist said.
* I talked with a reporter at the presser who said Kirk has “filled the room with children and veterans.”
Cong Mark Kirk has a room full of close supporters at the Northbrook Renaissance Hotel, including Astronaut Jim Lovell and several veterans. The plan is for Kirk to give a short speech and then he’ll take questions from the press.
Outside a handful of young democratic protestors are wearing aprons that say “if you can’t stand heat run thru the kitchen,” referring to his jog away from press a week ago at the Chicago Hyatt.
Update in comments if you can. NBC5 says they’ll have video early this afternoon. Check back for updates.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he’s sorry for being careless and making mistakes about his accomplishments.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Giannoulias campaign…
“In terms of hollow apologies and passive-voice blame-shifting, Congressman Mark Kirk’s acknowledgment of ‘misrememberings’ and ‘carelessness’ sets a new standard. Allow me to be blunt: Congressman Kirk wasn’t careless and he didn’t misremember - he lied. One mistake is careless. Misrepresenting, embellishing or not telling the truth about 10 different phases of your military career over a 10-year period is a pattern of lies, plain and simple. When these mistruths have been repeated on the floor of the House of Representatives, on a taxpayer-funded official website, in campaign television ads and materials, in press releases, on campaign websites, and from his own lips, Congressman Kirk’s web of lies can’t be fixed by one phony press conference.”
Beyond his apology, Mr. Kirk also made it clear he’ll be doing something else different from now on: He released an advance campaign schedule through the July 4 weekend, something his campaign repeatedly refused to do, lest the Dems be tipped off to his plans.
So, will these mea culpas work?
Probably — provided that no other major questions arise about his record. […]
And, for whatever it’s worth, by the time the press conference was over, reporters were asking Mr. Kirk about things other than his résumé. For the moment at least, things have moved on.
I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the end of the embellishment stuff.
Kirk packed the press conference with a “Hallelujah chorus’’ of 100 supporters who heckled reporters and shouted “move on” when reporters pressed Kirk about his numerous mistakes on his military record. One supporter even harassed a Bloomberg news reporter after the conference.
* It’s no great insight to say that this state is pretty divided on the gun issue, with much of Cook County and many of the suburbs mostly objecting to guns on the streets and the rest of the state mostly supporting gun rights.
Because of this, there is a real political danger for gun rights advocates if they move too fast after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling. I’m particularly talking about early indications that there will be an attempt to push the concealed carry issue here during the campaign. Whatever you think of the issue, it’ll be a while before that concept is accepted in and around the city, or even in some areas that generally support gun rights. From a state Sen. John O. Jones press release issued yesterday…
I am pleased the court has struck down the Chicago gun ban. I look forward to working with lawmakers to move concealed-carry bills through the Illinois General Assembly.
Jones is a Republican from southern Illinois, so concealed carry is a popular thing down there. State Sen. Bill Brady also reiterated his support for concealed carry yesterday…
“I believe in the Second Amendment, and I believe the court ruling today is a step in the right direction to afford Illinois citizens including (those in) Chicago their rights,” Brady said.
Brady also reiterated that he would support an Illinois law to allow regular citizens to carry concealed guns, but the right wouldn’t be automatic to all.
“I have said that I support laws which fully embrace Second Amendment rights,” Brady said. “In the case of concealed carry, many states have proven that with the right training, background checks and implementation, it works well.”
Asked about his backing for concealed carry in Illinois, Brady said, “with the right safeguards, absolutely.”
Asked if he thinks it opens to the door to concealed carry being allowed in Illinois, Quinn said, “I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s embedded in the constitutional right.”
Locally, McHenry County Sportsmen’s Association member Lee Lexow heralded the decision and cast his eyes toward the November election. […]
With Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady supporting concealed carry and incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn opposing it, Lexow said the Illinois governor’s race could provide a referendum of sorts on the concealed carry issue.
“I think it’s going to boil down to how the elections fall out,” Lexow said.
Making this election a “referendum on concealed carry” will not work well for proponents. It’s just too much change, too fast.
State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said the high court decision could alter the number of votes needed in the House and Senate need to approve a concealed carry proposal.
Currently, parliamentary rules mean a concealed carry proposal needs 71 votes to be sent to the governor. Mitchell said the ruling could result in a simple majority of lawmakers — 60 in the House — being needed for passage.
“I think that’s achievable,” said Mitchell, who is sponsoring a concealed weapons measure in the House.
Scaring the Democrats’ base in the Chicago region is a really bad idea when the Republicans have a clear enthusiasm and historical advantage right now.
* Related…
* Schock comments on Supreme Court Decision McDonald v. City of Chicago
* Candidates weigh in on Court ruling on Chicago gun ban
* Court took cheap shot at city’s crime rate, Chicago officials contend
Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Joseph Berrios dropped his challenge of ballot petitions filed by county Commissioner Forrest Claypool on Monday, setting up a four-way race for the assessor’s office in the general election.
“It would be irresponsible to subject either the public authorities or our opponent to the cost, time and effort of litigation, perhaps all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court,” said Berrios spokesman Manuel Galvan. “Instead, the campaign asks Mr. Claypool to set aside the insults and empty rhetoric, and pledge to conduct a spirited, fair and clean campaign. The public deserves nothing less.”
Claypool, running as an independent, called the announcement “a critical victory for taxpayers and a blow to the insiders like Joe Berrios, who have used government to protect the powerful instead of the people.”
“We will take our message of reform to the voters of Cook County,” Claypool added, “and we will give them a chance, on Nov. 2, to declare their independence.”
The Forrest Claypool campaign for assessor has asked Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to look into harassment of its campaign workers by someone impersonating a sheriff’s deputy or other law official.
According to Claypool campaign manager Tom Bowen, one or more people flashing badges visited campaign workers over the weekend — one at 8:30 a.m. Saturday — and asked them to sign false affidavits denying that they’d circulated nominating petitions for Mr. Claypool and/or that they’d used another notary beyond the one on official forms.
One of those with a badge said he was with “the board of elections” and another with “the county Democratic committee,” Mr. Bowen said.
Ms. Alvarez’s spokesman confirmed that the office is reviewing the matter, but said they’ve urged the Claypool camp to first file a police report.
* Mr. Claypool personally deleted 1,301 bad signatures.
* Nearly 53,000 suspect signatures, including many who weren’t registered to vote in Cook County, or didn’t sign the petitions themselves or signed more than once.
* Circulator ineligibility would have reduced the total by another 6,000 signatures.
* Additionally, another 6,000 more alleged valid signatures may have been ineligible on other grounds.
* Short of further legal action in the courts, the Berrios Campaign believes that there would be 30,000 to 32,000 valid signatures remaining, and the law requires 25,000 signatures to file as an independent candidate.
* An objection was filed to Scott Lee Cohen’s petitions yesterday, but nobody near Gov. Pat Quinn did it. Instead, the objection was filed by an infamous Illinois “birther” named Sharon Meroni. Some background from a January story in the Daily Herald…
A Fox River Grove-based blogger questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama lost her bid Wednesday to have a special grand jury empaneled to investigate her claims.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather rejected the petition for a grand jury filed by Sharon Ann Meroni, founder of Patriot’s Heart Media Network, saying there is no lawful justification for it. “There is no legal basis for you to do what you’re asking to do,” Prather told Meroni in court.
“The law does not allow it. There are no facts pled in your petition which would require what you’re seeking.”
Meroni’s online nom de plume is “Chalice Jackson,” and her latest effort revolves around forcing President Obama’s resignation. There’s nothing on her blog about the challenge to Cohen and numerous others, but when I know more, so will you. All told, Ms. Meroni filed 32 petition objections yesterday.
*** UPDATE *** With a hat tip to a commenter, Meroni has updated her blog with a post about why she filed the objections. It’s all about the birth…
The objection is based on the fact that there is no evidence that any of the candidates fit US and Illinois Constitutional mandates of age and citizenship requirements. For the most part, the age of a candidate is generally easy to discern. Citizenship status is not.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Monday he knows people who had been examining signatures filed on behalf of William “Doc” Walls III, whose name was removed from the Democratic primary ballot. Walls has filed as an independent for governor. [..]
The objector is Blake Phillip Sercye of Chicago, who Quinn said Monday he knows.
“I’m sure he was concerned, like I am, in making sure the election law is complied with,” Quinn said. “Several of the people that I know counted the names, and he (Walls) clearly has insufficient signatures.”
Among other candidates facing objections: are Will Boyd Jr., Greenville, an independent for U.S. Senate; former East St. Louis Mayor Carl Officer, a Practical Party candidate for U.S. Senate; Corey Dabney of Aurora, independent for U.S. Senate; Shon-Tiyon “Santiago” Horton, Alton, independent for U.S. Senate; Christopher Pedersen, Joliet, various offices including U.S. Senate; Gregg Moore of Chicago, independent for governor; Andy Martin, Illinois Reform party for U.S. Senate; Stephen Estill, Mason City, independent for governor; Michael White, Constitution Party candidate for governor; Mike Labno of Oak Brook, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate; Lex Green of Bloomington, Libertarian for governor.
Atheist Rob Sherman filed an objection against Carl Officer’s US Senate campaign. Four objections were filed against Officer’s petitions by various people. Sherman filed objections to several other candidates as well, including Andy Martin.
In 2006 Chicago cast 18.7 percent of the statewide vote while suburban Cook counted for another 19 percent. A strong Democratic turnout for the Cook County Board president’s race or even the possibility of a highly publicized three-way fight for Cook County assessor could drive the county’s turnout above the 1,350,915 votes in 2006. Assuming Quinn eventually starts campaigning and begins spelling out Brady’s record on controversial social issues, it is highly likely that Quinn’s chances for victory will improve greatly.
Clearly there is nothing Brady can do to stifle Cook County’s turnout. Brady’s best hope in Cook County is to keep social issues off the political table and concentrate on his high cards - Democratic economics and Blagojevich.
In raw numbers if Quinn comes out of Cook County with 500,000-plus votes over Brady - same as in 2006 - the geopolitics of Illinois will become a heavy burden for the downstate Republican. To be sure, Brady as a downstater would have a far better chance to surpass Topinka’s 2006 performance in closing the Cook County gap. Still, it would be a very steep climb. […]
Still looming above all these issues is the math. Unless there is GOP surge in Chicago or a Republican rebound in north and west areas of suburban Cook, the odds are great that Quinn will leave Cook with an enormous lead and a powerful leg up on winning the governorship. Perhaps the ultimate question is whether Quinn will have enough oomph elsewhere in Illinois to take advantage of his party’s favorable geopolitical edge and eke out a victory in an admittedly bad Democratic year.
* Related…
* Chicago machine fails to eliminate Crenshaw - so far
Burge, 62, showed no emotion, his hands folded, when a federal jury found him guilty Monday afternoon of lying under oath about torturing African-American criminal suspects at the Area 2 police headquarters. The perjury was part of a 2003 civil lawsuit filed by former Death Row inmate Madison Hobley. Burge was found guilty of two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury and could face up to 45 years in prison when he sentenced in November.
There was silence in the courtroom — as U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow ordered — when the jury’s decision was read.
But outside, there were high-fives, celebratory hugs and even tears.
For years it looked as if Burge would escape criminal charges altogether. He was fired from the Police Department in 1993 for torturing a cop killer, but a four-year investigation by special Cook County prosecutors concluded in 2006 that the statute of limitations on the claims of abuse had long passed. It wasn’t until 2008 that federal prosecutors figured out a clever way to indict him — not for the tortures themselves, but lying about them.
Plans to add five kids to the typical CPS high school classroom come as city high school test scores have stagnated, and concerns about student deaths due to violence have triggered a two-year, $60 million anti-violence campaign.
Kelvyn Park High English and social studies teacher Liz Brown said the number of essays she will have to grade would soar from 130 or 140 to 165 under the plan. Writing conferences and classroom discussions will suffer, and violence might well increase, Brown said.[…]
Huberman said the state Board of Education’s decision last week to restore some “categorical” funding in such areas as special education had brought the district an extra $57 million. That, combined with $18 million in new district cuts, was allowing CPS to cancel plans to raise the typical class size to 35, he said.
* Huberman Still Wants Union Concessions, Despite Better CPS Budget Outlook
