* 5:41 pm - A Republican associate judge gave a statement to the O’Fallon Police Department today claiming that Democratic congressional candidate Bill Enyart pushed her during a parade. The judge, an African-American woman who was passed over by the Democrats in last year’s slating process, wants Enyart charged with misdemeanor battery.
The local cops haven’t arrested Enyart, and they’re expected to send the matter to the St. Clair County state’s attorney. For whatever reason, the Plummer campaign didn’t have a video tracker on Enyart during the parade. As of now, there are no photos of the incident or of the two people together.
The Enyart campaign responded that he accidentally bumped into Cason and immediately apologized to her. […]
“Bill accidentally bumped into a Plummer supporter and immediately apologized, but somehow, between laughing, joking and now, this has become political,” Bresler said. “This is the type of ugly politics that people in southern Illinois are sick of, where something as simple as a parade could become grounds for political gamesmanship.”
Annie Dauber, a 16-year-old Belleville West High School junior, who said she was passing out political stickers at the parade, said she saw the incident but thought Enyart and Cason “just bumped into each other.” Dauber, whose name and telephone number were supplied to the BND by the Enyart campaign, said she couldn’t recall whether both were walking, or whether Enyart came up behind Cason.
During an interview outside the police department after her videotaped statement, Cason, who said she was wearing a blue and yellow Plummer for Congress sweatshirt in the parade — Jason Plummer is Enyart’s Republican opponent — said Enyart came up behind her and said, “I got a T-shirt for you.” Cason said she took this to mean that Enyart was remarking about her Plummer sweatshirt.
Cason said she turned to look back and, at the same time, attempted to hand her campaign flyer to a woman bystander when “he (Enyart) shoved me aggressively in the upper left shoulder.” Cason said she was pushed aside and, as Enyart stepped by her, with one of his own political flyers in hand, he said, “Hi, I’m Bill Enyart. I’m running for Congress.”
Carlous Huston, a Republican precinct committeeman in Belleville, said he was with Cason and saw the same thing as she alleged. Huston said he, too, gave a videotaped statement to the O’Fallon Police, as well as a written report that he had prepared and signed.
Huston said that after Enyart allegedly shoved Cason, Enyart’s son “harassed her by dancing around her as she walked in the parade while holding one of his father’s campaign signs.” Cason also alleged that Enyart’s son harassed her in that manner.
* Pat Byrnes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s husband, writes a great little blog that I like to read whenever I have the time. It’s called “Captain Dad,” and it’s about his adventures as what used to be known as a “house husband.” My own father was a house husband for a while, so I think it’s pretty cool.
PBS Kids is the only network TV I let my kids watch. We do it on Wednesday mornings, when my daughter is home from preschool.
Other than Friday and Saturday movie nights, that’s practically the only time we turn on our TV. (Sorry if that seems weird.)
What’s so special about PBS? Well, the educational aspect is nice, but that’s not the most important thing. And the escape from addictive violent imagery is a bonus, but not our prime consideration either. And I do appreciate that they don’t sexualize everything for all ages, but again that’s not the draw.
What’s special about PBS is the absence of commercials. The rock ‘em, sock ‘em, buy-buy-buy brainwashing that consumes a full quarter of the viewing experience on broadcast TV and a third on cable. I used to write commercials for kids’ TV, so I know exactly how much psychological research is exploited to transform young innocents into rabid consumers. “Still persuadable” is what they call the younger demographics. In other words, gullible. Suckers. Prey.
Other than baseball and football and occasional movies, I don’t watch much TV any more. And I watch or, more often, listen to most baseball games on the MLB network, so I am not exposed to many TV ads there (just the same one, over and over). I usually DVR football games, go do something else for a while, then fast-forward through the ads when I return. I eschew all cable “news” shows and am not interested all that much in local news, so I don’t see those ads, either, which means I miss out on a lot of political ads.
If I listen to the radio in my car, I’ll switch to another station when an ad comes on. So, the only political ads I’m usually exposed to are on YouTube and on the Internet. I do look at Internet ads. I’m not sure why. I even click through quite often. I hate those stupid pop-ups, pop-behinds, or the ads that block me from seeing a page, however.
Anyway, with all the money being spent on campaign ads nowadays, let’s try this…
* The Question: Do you generally watch TV ads? And, more specifically, do you pay attention to campaign TV ads? Explain.
A Texas super PAC has once again upped its bet on Congressman Joe Walsh, R-North Barrington, and now looks like it may well hit the $2 million mark on his behalf in the northwest suburban 8th District.
As of late Thursday, according to the Sunlight Foundation, the Now or Never PAC has reported spending $1.75 million here, mostly on TV ads promoting Mr. Walsh or zapping his Democratic foe, Tammy Duckworth.
The “independent” expenditures are up almost a half a million dollars just from earlier this week, with some tens of thousands of other spending by the group not yet reflected in Sunlight’s database.
* The complete totals from the Sunlight Foundation show that outside spending for Walsh and against Duckworth rack up to an astonishing $2.18 million - dwarfing the tiny amount of money spent on Duckworth’s behalf. The numbers…
WALSH, JOE (R) NOW OR NEVER PAC Support $917,320.00
DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY (D) NOW OR NEVER PAC Oppose $829,148.00
WALSH, JOE (R) FREEDOMWORKS FOR AMERICA Support $181,215.44
DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY (D) NEW PROSPERITY FOUNDATION; THE Oppose $171,993.49
DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY (D) FREEDOMWORKS FOR AMERICA Oppose $83,532.15
WALSH, JOE (R) CREDO SUPERPAC Oppose $26,586.89
KRISHNAMOORTHI, S. RAJA (D) SUBURBAN VOTERS FOR CHOICE Support $25,215.00
WALSH, JOE (R) LUNCH PAIL REPUBLICANS INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE ONLY COMMITTEE Support $6,618.75
DUCKWORTH, L. TAMMY (D) LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS ACTION FUND Support $70.52
WALSH, JOE (R) CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC Support $61.66
WALSH, JOE (R) LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS ACTION FUND Oppose $52.87
WALSH, JOE (R) ILLINOIS TENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATS Oppose $6.39
* Duckworth’s latest [This may actually be an older ad that just popped up again on YouTube] TV ad…
Duckworth has raised a lot of money so far, so she can fight back. But this is obviously a ton of outside cash.
*** UPDATE *** I took a quick look at some more outside spending and here’s what I found…
* Outside spending for 10th District Democrat Brad Schneider is just shy of $69,000, according to the Sunlight Foundation. By comparison, outside independent expenditures designed to help Republican incumbent Bob Dold is over $1.2 million.
* Over in the 11th CD, total independent expenditures topped $1.7 million. Of that, almost $1.6 million has been spent either attacking Democrat Bill Foster or supporting Republican incumbent Judy Biggert.
* It’s a bit more weighted toward the Democrats in the 17th CD, where over $1.2 million has been spent to help Republican Bobby Schilling, and over $1.9 million has been spent helping Democrat Cheri Bustos.
* In my opinion, this is one of the best TV ads of the season so far. Republican Congressman Bobby Schilling totally undercuts a powerful ad run by the DCCC (click here to see the DCCC’s ad). Schilling wrongly blames Cheri Bustos for the spot, but you still gotta watch this one…
Script…
Narrator: “Why is Cheri Bustos running a Chicago-style false attack ad on Bobby Schilling?”
Steve Ballard: “You forgot where you came from.”
Narrator: “But we know where this guy’s from. Bustos is using party bosses posing as local workers.
Hank Gray: “Why does Cheri Bustos have to go to Wrigley Field to raise campaign money? This is her district—here—not Chicago.
Randy Gebhardt: “Cheri Bustos is a tax-raiser. Like Bobby, I’m fed up with Washington.”
Jerry Schreiner: “What sets Bobby Schilling apart is that he’s one of us.”
Lori Rotz: “Leads by example. Go Bobby!”
Bobby Schilling: “I’m Bobby Schilling and I approved this message.”
That “Go Bobby!” line really works well. Your thoughts?
* Some background can be found in a recent letter to the editor from a Schilling fan…
OK, now the anti-Schilling ads are getting silly.
I just saw one in which Steve Ballard, former Rock Island County Democratic chairman and East Moline prison warden, is saying that he is disappointed in Rep. Bobby Schilling. What a joke! This is the same Steve Ballard who appointed the son of Phil Hare to be assistant prison warden, even though there was at least one more qualified candidate.
So, let’s line up all of the Rock Island County Democratic machine nepotists and let them testify how they don’t like Bobby Schilling, duh.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Schilling campaign…
The Democrats’ ad included Dave DeBaillie, a former Henry County Democratic Party Chairman, Steve Ballard (pictured), a former Rock Island County Democratic Party Chairman, Cecilia O’Brien, wife of former Chief of Staff to Rep. Phil Hare, and Derek Jones, a former staffer for Rep. Phil Hare.
Sheesh.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the DCCC…
Priceless: Tea Party Congressman Bobby Schilling Enlists Campaign Donor and Activist in Latest Bogus TV Ad
Reeling from attacks from his own constituents, Congressman Bobby Schilling enlisted one of his own campaign donors to appear in his newly released TV ad. Congressman Schilling actually accuses Democrats of “posing” as local workers in his new ad while at the same time defending himself with his own campaign donor, Jerry Schreiner. The same donor spoke on behalf of the Schilling campaign to the Quad Cities Argus Dispatch at a Schilling sponsored protest opposing raising the minimum wage.
“Could Congressman Bobby Schilling be any more desperate to change the subject from his record of voting to end the Medicare guarantee just to protect tax breaks for corporate outsourcers and millionaires?” asked Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “When his own constituents condemn his failed priorities in Washington, the best Congressman Bobby Schilling can do get his campaign donors to come to his defense.”
Background
Jerry Schreiner Donated to Schilling. According to FEC reports, Schreiner gave $300 in May 2012, and $100 in June 2012. [FEC.gov, filed 7/15/12]
Adelson, the billionaire owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino and many other resort venues, and his wife, Miriam, are the primary nonparty donors for campaign ads.
Last month, the Adelsons’ YG — for Young Guns — Action Fund spent $557,750 to buy media attack ads against Plummer’s Democratic opponent, Bill Enyart, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Adelson’s superPAC, which provided the most money of any of the independent groups buying ads in the 12th and 13th District races, exemplifies the “new normal” of fundraising since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowed outside groups to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns as long as they don’t coordinate with the candidates.
All told, Republican and conservative groups have spent almost $1.2 million on attack ads against Enyart.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $503,350 in attack ads on Enyart’s behalf against Plummer, plus another $335,170 to support Enyart, according to the FEC reports.
Worth just over $21 billion and now in the cross hairs of the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Adelson has made history: He is the first person to spend $70 million to sway a presidential election, and he plans to spend more — perhaps as much as $100 million — by Election Day. An estimated $20 million to $30 million of the giving went to groups that do not disclose their donors and had not been reported before.
Adelson (pronounced ADDLE-son) is the dominant pioneer of the super PAC era — by far the biggest donor to the web of secretive groups that are adding nearly $1 billion to the more traditional spending by the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee.
The 79-year-old literally spreads the wealth: He sent $5 million to the super PAC run by Boehner allies and $5 million to the super PAC run by Cantor allies.
* And as the AP is reporting today, the US Chamber has spared nothing in its attacks on Democrat Bill Enyart. Rate the Chamber’s latest ad…
The judge said he’d never received so many letters. Then Zagel really shocked me, and a few other reporters in the courtroom, when he talked about a few of the pro-Cellini letters. Among these, Zagel said, were “letters from three prominent journalists.”
Prominent journalists? Is that why he was able to fly under the radar for so long?
Those names are sealed in the court file per Zagel’s orders, I’m told, but whoever they are, the three prominent journalists and the others and Mrs. Cellini got what they asked for. They wanted mercy from Zagel. And that’s what he gave them.
I wasn’t asked to write a letter, and I wouldn’t have written one if I had been asked.
“I think there is something to be said for incarceration for a person in Bill Cellini’s position,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro after the sentencing. “… In certain communities, sentences of incarceration do send messages, and this is a small community we are talking about — the sort of bipartisan cabal of Illinois, the people that are the behind-the-scenes folks that fuel the corruption and raise the money. Those people pay attention to things like this, and they pay attention when someone who is almost 78 goes to prison.”
Prosecutors were so convinced he was a criminal that they sent him away over a fantastical scheme. Stu Levine and Cellini were supposedly shaking down a Hollywood guy for a $1.5 million contribution to Rod Blagojevich’s campaign fund. In 2004, that sort of contribution from an individual was absolutely unheard of in Illinois. I don’t believe the scheme actually existed beyond Levine’s drug-addled head. Cellini never asked the target for the cash, and Tony Rezko - who was alleged to have been in on the scheme - was acquitted on that particular count.
But a letter of support? Nope. No way.
* Roundup…
* Mark Brown: Cellini sentence another step forward for honest government
Gov. Pat Quinn, who has faced relentless criticism from state employees’ largest union for withholding pay raises, boosting retiree health-insurance costs and trying to reduce pension benefits, has fired the union president’s wife from a state job as a workers’ compensation arbitrator. […]
Kinnaman, a lawyer who has worked for the state since 1990, had been a full-time arbitrator for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission since 2004. She earned $115,840 a year. Before that, she was a full-time appointed member of the commission’s predecessor, the Illinois Industrial Commission. […]
Kinnaman, who remains unemployed, said Thursday she applied for reappointment. She said she wasn’t told why Quinn chose not to renew her appointment. […]
Bayer and AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall declined to speak with the newspaper about Kinnaman’s firing. But Lindall wrote in an email: “We have no direct knowledge that the failure to reappoint her was retribution for who she is married to. If it was, it is both unethical public policy and a slap in the face to every woman who has worked to achieve her own independent role in public life.” […]
Lindall said in his email: “Jackie Kinnaman has more than 20 years’ experience as a workers compensation commission (member) and arbitrator in a career that predates Mr. Bayer’s directorship at AFSCME. First appointed by Gov. Thompson, Ms. Kinnaman was subsequently reappointed by both Republican and Democratic governors, and recently earned unanimous recommendations for a new term from both business and labor representatives.”
Kinnaman said she is not eligible for state pension benefits or health insurance.
This kind of reminds me of when Rod Blagojevich fired Tim Mapes’ wife. We all know how that one worked out.
The final case to stem from the corruption investigation into imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich comes to a close Thursday, when a multimillionaire who once wielded enormous political influence in the state is expected to face a judge for sentencing.
William Cellini, 77, was convicted last year for his role in trying to get a $1.5 million campaign contribution for Blagojevich from the Oscar-winning producer of “Million Dollar Baby” in exchange for state business. The Springfield businessman was once known to political insiders as the King of Clout for his behind-the-scenes influence in state government.
Federal prosecutors want a 6 1/2- to eight-year prison sentence, while defense attorneys have asked for probation.
* The Question: Do you lean more toward the prosecution sentencing request or the defense request? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* After initially denying there were any problems with a TV ad attacking Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a Super PAC has decided to pull the ad back and retool it a bit…
Tyler Harber, a spokesman for Now or Never PAC, confirmed that changes are being made to a commercial set to run on Chicago cable and broadcast stations criticizing Duckworth’s tenure as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. He described those changes, however, as minor. […]
“We made no substantive or topical changes to the ad,” Harber said in an email. “The ad conveys the same message as before. We were not asked to take out any of the arguments we made in the ad. It is not unusual to make minor adjustments to ads. People who see the first version and the second version will notice virtually no difference whatsoever.” […]
Duckworth’s campaign first became aware of the ad after it received a “tip” from a source at WLS-TV, spokeswoman Kaitlin Fahey said, that the ad did not pass muster from the station’s legal department. Stations often ask for additional documentation when they vet political ads, The campaign then began contacting other area TV stations. Sources at WBBM said the ad was on “hold” until they were told it was being recut.
Other stations did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The commercials from the $405,000 ad buy are set to air over the next week.
The PAC has already spent $800K building up incumbent Joe Walsh. Subscribers know the results.
* Meanwhile, Duckworth might want to use this Joe Klein interview against Walsh ASAP…
[Walsh] told me, for example, that while he would oppose any budget deal that raises tax rates, he does support the complete elimination of such popular tax loopholes as the mortgage-interest and charity deductions.
The Democrats didn’t take this guy seriously two years ago and he won. They’ve been spiking the ball in the endzone for months. It’s obviously costing them.
* An August poll taken for Democratic congressional candidate David Gill had him leading Rodney Davis by six points. Gill’s latest poll has him up by just a single point…
The poll, paid for by the campaign of Democratic candidate David Gill, shows Gill with 40 percent, Republican Rodney Davis with 39 percent and independent John Hartman with 8 percent. The survey of 400 registered, likely voters was taken Sept. 26 and 27.
Gill’s tiny lead is well within the poll’s 4.9 percentage point margin of error, according to pollster Donna Victoria.
A new report by the Federal Election Commission on so-called “independent” or “superPAC” spending in the race shows that $1.795 million has been devoted to the race, most of it against Gill. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce entered the race over the weekend, saying it would put $500,000 in advertising to oppose Gill. A 30-second ad posted online by the Chamber of Commerce hits Gill for his support of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and for a plan to raise taxes “on job creators.” […]
The DCCC is still the biggest spender in the race, having devoted $567,122 on ads attacking Davis.
But according to the Gill campaign, slightly more than $1 million has been spent either by the independent groups or by the Davis campaign on ads opposed to Gill.
If all goes well, subscribers will have their own poll results for this district tomorrow morning.
* And, no surprise, the negative ads in that district aren’t gonna stop. Retiring Congressman Tim Johnson called for a cease fire the other day. Nobody is heeding it…
Neither the Republican nor Democratic candidates has embraced the idea, and both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee indicated they’ll continue to use attack ads in the new congressional district that runs from Champaign-Urbana southwest to the Edwardsville and Collinsville areas in southwestern Illinois.
In fact, the DCCC made a $238,669 media buy on Tuesday — the day the retiring Republican congressman made his request — for more ads opposing Republican candidate Rodney Davis of Taylorville. The DCCC now has invested $805,791 in the 13th District race, almost half of the $2 million that six separate superPACs have spent in the district since August.
“We stand by our ads,” said Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for the DCCC.
The Republican congressional PAC also indicated it would not abide by Johnson’s request. It has spent more than $330,000 on ads opposing Democrat David Gill.
“Bottom line, David Gill and his extremely partisan policies are bad for Illinois families,” said Katie Prill, a spokeswoman for the NRCC.
* Either this is irresponsible hyperbole to prevent lawmakers from overriding the governor’s veto of the prison budget cuts (Quinn wants to use the prison money for DCFS), or it’s a stark admission that Illinois is a failure at protecting kids. Read every, single word of these two paragraphs…
In the wake of an estimated $90 million budget cut, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has slashed a program that works to keep kids with their families and is shifting focus from prevention to meeting its legal obligations and simply keeping kids alive.
“We took a look at how could we minimize our risk and still maintain the level of services that we are responsible for. When I say minimize risk, I’m talking about death of children. Because that’s ultimately what the Department of Children and Family Services is responsible for, is protecting children from dying,” DCFS Director Richard Calica told a Senate committee at a Chicago hearing. He added, “Well-being is nice, but death is what lands in the papers, and death is what I’m responsible for.” Calica said the reduction means the agency would reduce services that are not required by law or consent decrees.
The union and Calica urged legislators to approve supplemental spending for the agency to either eliminate or soften the blow of the cuts. Quinn has spoken out against the cuts, too. However, AFSCME opposes the funding source that he has suggested to pay for supplemental spending. Quinn is asking lawmakers to sustain his vetoes of funding to keep open several state facilities that employ AFSCME members and instead spend the money at DCFS. […]
[Calica] said that the changes at the agency are the product of the budget approved by the General Assembly. “The layoffs that you’ve been hearing about have to do with the budget that you all passed. You gave me the mandate to save $27 million. I don’t know how to save that without firing people, and I don’t know how to choose other than to choose based on the well-being of the children that I’m responsible for.”
[DCFS spokesman Kendall Marlowe] reiterated his boss’ statements about the department’s priorities, albeit in a slightly less blunt fashion. “We have core responsibilities to safety, permanency [of placement of children either back with their families or in adoptive homes] and well-being. But permanency and well-being can’t happen if a child is [not] safe. We need to protect lives. And in tight times, we still work to give children permanency and well-being, but we do have to prioritize their lives and their safety.” But both acknowledge that scaling back the intact families program could lead to more children becoming wards of the state. However, Marlowe said that he suspects it would not be a substantial increase.
* Yesterday, I asked you to give me one word to describe your feelings about the upcoming presidential debate. Now that the debate is over, how about giving us one word to describe your take?
* As I’ve told you before, the DCCC has been posting opposition research and raw tracker videos online this cycle. The idea is to let other groups, PACs etc. who are running “independent expenditure” campaigns have access to stuff that could be useful in their TV ads.
A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) staffer is publishing creepy videos of the homes of Congressman Bobby Schilling, his family members, neighbors, and supporters (see videos below) …the Schillings are understandably concerned about their family and friends’ privacy and safety — especially after a YouTube stalker incident just a year ago.
Last October, Congressman Schilling was the victim of a cyber death threat. A YouTube that went viral offered $75,000 for the congressman’s assassination or for the rape or murder of a member of his family (see video HERE).
With those memories still fresh in the Schilling family’s minds, the congressman’s sister-in-law visited Schilling’s Democrat opponent’s office and asked them to take the videos down. Staffers at Cheri Bustos’ headquarters said they would look into it, but the videos are still viewable.
“Frankly I am sickened by someone creeping around my sister’s house and our neighborhood, videoing homes,” Christie Schilling, the congressman’s wife, told Illinois Review. “I don’t want to sound like an alarmist. I’m sorry, but I don’t like not feeling safe.”
The videos of the homes have since been taken offline. But they were for houses that also appeared in the DCCC’s opposition research book.
For instance, Schilling owned a house on Ponderosa Drive in Colona that, according to the OR book, had some tax liens on it. A house in Silvis was bought and sold quickly, indicating it was flipped. A house in Geneseo was bought and sold within five years.
* Why is this important at all? Well, according to the OR book, Schilling earned no income from his now-legendary pizza restaurant in 2009 and earned just $1,750 in 2010. So, the idea is, apparently, to encourage somebody else to tell voters that Schilling ain’t much of a pizza guy. Instead, he’s… I dunno… something else.
* Today’s Sun-Times headline “South Side left without power more often than North Side” probably wasn’t much of a shock (pardon the pun) to most folks. People would likley just assume that the black-dominated South Side would be more likely to get the shaft…
The utility’s listing of each individual power outage in its annual reliability report showed the North Side had 15 wards with the smallest level of power outages, according to a Sun-Times breakdown of the numbers.
But on the South Side, only two wards made it into the lowest category of the Sun-Times analysis: wards that had fewer than 64,000 customer-hours of outages in 2011. […]
Shuman’s business and Lewis’ home are in the 3rd Ward, which runs along either side of King Drive and includes parts of Bronzeville, Grand Boulevard, Fuller Park and Kenwood. ComEd reported nearly 158,000 customer-hours without power in the ward in 2011, the fourth worst total in the city.
By comparison, the 43rd Ward’s Lincoln Park neighborhood on the North Side had only 57,000 customer hours of outages.
Qiana Acklin, 33, lives in the 4500 block of South Drexel Boulevard in the nearby 4th Ward, which endured 145,000 customer-hours without electricity.
“I think maybe it has to do with race, that plays a factor,” she said when told of the disparity between her 4th Ward and most North Side wards.
The 3rd and 4th wards are majority black, but white wards on the South Side were also hit hard. The 19th Ward, which covers parts of Beverly and Mount Greenwood, is 66 percent white and had 162,000 customer-hours of outages. Whites are the largest group in the 23rd Ward, which includes parts of Garfield Ridge. That ward had 146,000 customer-hours of outages.
The 41st Ward in the far northwest corner of the city was atypical for the North Side in that it posted the highest outage customer-hours in the whole city: 283,000. This was mostly due to storms that hit the Edison Park and Norwood Park neighborhoods in July 2011.
“The South Side tends to have much more overhead [cable] exposure,” said Terry Donnelly, chief operating officer and executive vice president of the utility. “The North Side tends to have more underground conductors and the South Side tends to have more tree density.” […]
Suburbs, with even more above-ground power lines and more trees to knock them down, suffered more frequent and longer outages than the city.
Areas in wealthy North Shore suburbs were harder hit in 2011 than middle- and working-class south and southwestern suburbs.
Highland Park, for example — with a population of 29,000, smaller than any Chicago ward — had 305,000 customer-hours of outages.
Statistics can be manipulated to say lots of things, so I don’t think the article really answered the question.
* But, at the least, ComEd needs to vastly improve its infrastructure. And on that topic, the company’s plans to roll out a “Smart Grid” have been stymied by the Illinois Commerce Commission. As the Tribune notes, the ICC won’t have annual control over the company’s rates once it finalizes how certain returns on investments are calculated, and the Commission has been making it very tough on ComEd, although it gave in a bit after pressure from the General Assembly…
The Illinois Commerce Commission on Wednesday gave Commonwealth Edison a mixed decision on recovering the cost of ComEd’s smart-grid infrastructure project. The ICC allowed ComEd’s way of figuring its pension assets, but denied both interest rate costs and rate base that ComEd wanted to recover the costs of the project.
ComEd spokeswoman Judy Rader said ComEd still needs to review the order. But ComEd spokespeople in earlier statements have said the utility will appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court if it decides it cannot recover enough costs to proceed.
The ICC previously approved a rate that ComEd claimed was inadequate. In part, the ICC ruled that the electric utility can’t earn a rate of return on a pension asset that isn’t fully funded.
ComEd had proposed a decrease in its electricity rates totaling $40 million to $50 million, but because of the pension issue, the ICC decided May 29 to cut customers’ rates by four times that, for a total of $168.6 million.
The ICC did not rule in ComEd’s favor regarding two other items that also affect the returns ComEd will receive on its infrastructure build out.
Instead, it offered a compromise that involves archaic technicalities that have to do with interest rates the company will receive and how the ICC will determine how costs are determined.
Asked whether ComEd would urge state lawmakers to force the ICC to go along with the utility on the two remaining disputed issues, [ComEd spokeswoman Judy Rader] said, “It’s too early to say.”
It’s never “too early to say” on this topic. You can safely bet ComEd will be back in the GA with this issue very soon.
An email shows that the utility giant ComEd wrote a column for state Rep. Charles Jefferson to submit to a local newspaper under his own name.
The Rockford Register-Star ( http://bit.ly/ODiNyJ ) reported Wednesday that Jefferson sent in a 420-word column urging state regulators to reverse a rate cut that he says would impede ComEd’s efforts to modernize its power grid.
An email accidentally forwarded to the newspaper showed ComEd had written the column. The company asked Jefferson to submit it “at your earliest possible convenience” if he agreed with the content.
* Richard Ingram, the executive director of the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, had an interesting take on what the Chicago Democratic leaders’ pension “cost-shifting” plan could do…
Mr. Ingram said such a change might give TRS more power to compel pension fund payments than it has now. It can’t pursue legal action against the state, but it could against school districts if they fail to make required contributions. Part of the reason the pension fund is underfunded is due to the state missing payments in the past.
Hadn’t thought of that, but he’s probably right. The IMRF has a similar power over municipalities.
Republican state Senate candidate Bill Albracht said his opponent, state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, will follow party orders and support a plan that could lead to big property tax increases to cover teacher pension costs.
Sen. Jacobs, however, said the claim was “baseless.”
At a news conference in Moline, Mr. Albracht said his District 36 opponent would support a plan backed by Democratic leadership in Springfield to shift the cost of pensions to local school districts, which has met with widespread opposition from lawmakers outside Chicago.
“If he thinks I’m for that, he’s crazy,” Sen. Jacobs said.
Mr. Albracht was joined in Moline by Illinois Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno to warn against the cost-shift plan.
“They plan to do this in the lame duck session,” Sen. Radogno said.
Nearly one in ten Illinois voters don’t have a photo ID, according to the latest poll results from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.
Roughly 9.4 percent of registered voters asked in the poll said they don’t have “a current, unexpired Illinois-issued ID” that includes a photo, the institute, housed at SIU Carbondale, found in its recent statewide poll.
The institute released the findings Wednesday in light of a Pennsylvania judge putting a stop Tuesday to that state’s new and controversial voter ID law. Many states require people show a photo ID at the poll.
It’s aimed at preventing fraud, but in this election cycle critics have complained the rules keep away poor and minority voters, which tend to be the people without a current photo ID.
Subgroup responses in the Simon Poll show that instances of voters without IDs are higher in groups that tend to vote Democratic.
Registered voters with a high school education or less were more likely than average to be without ID (14.6 percent), as were African Americans (16.2 percent), voters under 35 (13.4 percent) and those with household incomes below $50,000 (14.0 percent).
According to the crosstabs, 18.2 percent of Latinos say they have no state-issued photo identification card.
…Adding… Per a commenter’s request, the poll found that 7.2 percent of whites said they had no state ID card.
9.6 percent of Chicagoans, 9.1 percent of suburbanites and 9.6 percent of downstaters say they have no state-issued identification. 10.5 percent of Democrats, 11.3 percent of independents and 7.7 percent of Republicans say they don’t have a state ID. Just 3.6 percent of people making over $100,000 a year have no official ID card.
Illinois’ number is slightly less than the national statistic provided by the Brennan Center for Justice, which estimates that as “many as 10 percent of eligible voters” do not currently have or will be able to get proper identification in order to vote. Illinois is in line with estimates that show Pennsylvania with 9 percent estimates of eligible voters without a picture ID. The Simon Poll’s estimate of 9 percent is higher than a recent 7 percent estimate in New Hampshire and a 6.7 percent estimate in Minnesota.
…Adding… Here’s how the question was asked…
Do you have a current, unexpired Illinois-issued ID with your picture on it, like a driver’s license?
“Today’s actions are just the latest in series of disconcerting moves by this Justice Department, including its handling of the Fast and Furious Operation, allowing nepotism in hiring, its questionable dismissal of voting rights cases and the politicization of decisions that benefit special interest groups,” Wolf said in a statement. “This may be the most disreputable Justice Department in modern history.”
“This back-door move by the Obama Administration to open Thomson and reject the will of Congress and the American people is dangerously irresponsible, and will be met with the full and unfettered opposition of the Appropriations Committee,” Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
* Call me naive, but I thought this react by Speaker Boehner was just way out of line…
Speaker Boehner: Obama Administration’s Purchase of Thomson Prison a Backdoor Move to Import Terrorists Into America
“A majority of the American people and a bipartisan majority in Congress oppose bringing the terrorists imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay into the United States, yet the White House continues to take steps to move forward with its dangerous plan. The unilateral decision to purchase the Thomson Prison – even though Congress has repeatedly opposed the Obama administration’s effort to use taxpayer funds to do so – underscores the administration’s desire to move forward and bring these detainees to U.S. soil. House Republicans have kept our Pledge to America to keep the terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay out the United States, and we will continue to keep our pledge. President Obama owes the American people an explanation about how importing these dangerous terrorists and giving them the same rights as U.S. citizens will make us any safer. Republicans will continue to oppose this dangerous plan.”
Boehner has a member in a tight race in the Quad Cities area, Bobby Schilling, who wanted the state of Illinois to practically give away the Thomson prison to the federal government. So, now, according to Boehner’s logic, Schilling supports terrorists too?
“Opening up Thomson Prison to federal inmates will bring more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in new investments to this area and will alleviate the overcrowding in other maximum-security prisons thoughout the country. As long as no suspected terrorists from Guantanamo are moved here, I fully endorse the sale of Thomson to house federal inmates.”
That’s the reasonable Republican line. Good idea, just don’t move terrorists there. Got it.
We’ve been hammering Wolf for months to get out of the way, to no avail. So our first question was, how did the administration get around him? Getting Wolf’s signature is “a tradition and a courtesy,” not a legal requirement, Durbin said. Second question, then: Why didn’t the president bigfoot Wolf a long time ago?
“We tried to be respectful,” said Durbin, who appealed to House Speaker John Boehner to intervene after exhausting the usual channels. “The president and the department still have to work with the guy.
“But we reached the point where we thought this was never going to happen.”
This is a win-win deal: The feds get a bargain price on a state-of-the art prison, and Illinois will add all those jobs without forfeiting its investment. The only loser here is Rep. Frank Wolf.
It isn’t a huge amount of money, but it really takes a lot of stones to give that guy any campaign cash.
Sheesh.
* Meanwhile, Greg Hinz reports that Secretary of State Jesse White has convinced House Speaker Michael Madigan to make calls on behalf of Smith’s opponent, Lance Tyson…
At issue is an endorsement rally scheduled for [yesterday] afternoon by Lance Tyson, who decided to run as a third-party candidate after Mr. Smith won renomination in March, despite facing federal corruption charges. Mr. Smith subsequently was expelled from the House, and local Democratic powers, headed by Secretary of State Jesse White, got behind Mr. Tyson. […]
Steve Brown, Mr. Madigan’s longtime spokesman, told me that the speaker, at the request of Mr. White, has called various parties “and asked them to be for Tyson and attend the event.” Mr. Brown wouldn’t say if the speaker will open his war chest in the contest, but suggested it would be clear where the speaker stands, given the preceding comments.
So exactly who will show up? I’ve confirmed that a long list of officials, including U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and John Daley, and Aldermen Joe Moreno (1st), Emma Mitts (37th) and Michelle Smith (43rd) support Mr. Tyson. And I hear that a couple of deep-pocketed unions are preparing to jump into the contest.
*** UPDATE *** Congressman Danny Davis just called to say that he wasn’t at that Tyson event, didn’t know about the event and is neutral in the race.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* It turns out that Smith’s reported benefactor Alliance for Living NFP is also a big contributor to the Speaker’s campaign funds…
Man: I heard something really interesting today. A family of four, like ours, pays more income tax than all of the credit unions in the state combined.
Woman: That’s amazing! I didn’t realize that credit unions don’t pay taxes.
Man: It’s true. Get this. The tax subsidy for credit unions is more than $1.5 billion a year. And that’s just federal income taxes. They don’t pay state taxes, either. That subsidy could go a long way to solving the state’s budget problems.
Woman: Well I’m glad we do business with our local bank. Do you know that bank employees just spent the day at Chrissie’s school talking to all the kids about financial literacy? And they’re even going to sponsor Tom’s soccer team.
Man: Our bank sure does a lot in this community.
Woman: They sure do. In my opinion, if credit unions really want to do business in our community, like banks do, they’re going to have to step up to the plate and pay taxes like the rest of us.
Man: Your family should not pay more in taxes than the credit union down the street. Let your elected officials know that you say “No” to credit union tax exemption.
Brought to you by the Illinois Bankers Association.
Credit unions are not-for-profit companies, so they don’t pay income taxes. But pretty much anybody can join a credit union these days, and the banks have been complaining about unfair competition.
We haven’t had a real knock-down, drag-out fight between the bankers and the credit unions in a while. Expect to hear more about this issue next spring.
* This story about how the Europeans bested the Americans in the Ryder Cup because Rory McIlroy got a ride to the golf course is making the rounds…
Next time the Illinois State Police are looking for donations, their first call should be to Rory McIlroy.
The world’s No. 1 golfer needed a police escort to make it to the first tee on time Sunday after mixing up his time zones. He made it with 10 minutes to spare, just enough time to scarf down an energy bar, take a few strokes on the putting green and hustle to the tee.
“I’ve never been so worried driving to the golf course before,” McIlroy said. “Luckily there was a state trooper who gave me the escort to here. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have got here in time.”
McIlroy was reading the Ryder Cup tee times on his phone and saw that he and Keegan Bradley were teeing off at 12:25 p.m. One problem: That was Eastern time. Medinah Country Club, outside Chicago, is in the Central time zone.
“All of the sudden we realized Rory was not here, and we started to look for him,” European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said. “Nobody knew.”
Finally, at 11, someone called McIlroy. With the police escort, McIlroy pulled up at the Medinah clubhouse 10 minutes before he and Bradley went off.
McIlroy probably misses his tee time and forfeits his match, if he doesn’t get a police escort to Medinah.
With the escort, McIlroy arrives just in time to slip into his golf shoes and sprint to the tee box. He went on to defeat Keegan Bradley in a crucial match.
There it is folks. Our tax money was used to help Europe retain the Ryder Cup.
Worst of all, the governor hasn’t taken any action against the state trooper with seriously misplaced priorities. Seriously, how difficult would it have been to mistakenly drop McIlroy off at Butler National?
Yeah governor, this one is on you.
* But it turns out that the Illinois State Police wasn’t to blame. It was a local cop…
It was Lombard Deputy Police Chief Patrick Rollins who got McIlroy to the altar of golf at the Medinah Country Club on time — saving him from the humiliation of forfeiting a hole, facing disqualification and potentially losing the Ryder Cup to the Americans.
What has been described as the one of the biggest last-day comebacks in Ryder Cup history — the Europeans’ win despite trailing the Americans 10-6 going into Sunday’s matches — almost didn’t happen because McIlroy was accidentally late due to a time zone glitch.
The scenario leading up to Europe’s victory began with a search for the world’s No. 1 golfer — and ended with sirens blaring and an abrupt halt depositing an anxious McIlroy on the front steps of the Medinah Country Club.
“I was just doing my duty,” said Rollins, whose fast thinking and deft driving Sunday is being credited with getting tardy golf ace McIlroy to the Medinah Club in time to snatch the cup from Team USA.
“The Ryder Cup was won on the golf course and not on the road,” chuckled Rollins.
“But I am getting a lot of ribbing for not driving to the wrong golf course or getting a flat tire,” Rollins told Sneed.
“But believe me, I would have done it for the American players if they had wound up being accidentally late like McIlroy.”
