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* The state’s Legislative Inspector General has opened an investigation into Rep. Paul Froehlich at the request of Illinois Review…

Subject: Representative Froehlich

I received in today’s mail your request for investigation into matters involving the above-referenced member of the Illinois House of Representatives, bearing a May 27, 2009 postmark. I am not sure the reason for the delay in actual delivery, but wanted to let you know that I have received it and will be opening an investigation into the matter. Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention. I will let you know when the investigation is completed. In the meantime, should you need to reach me, here is my contact information. For faster communication, you may feel free to use the following email address.

Thomas J. Homer
Legislative Inspector General

~~Actually, there is a new LIG and I sent him an e-mail asking for comment on this story. Wait and see, I suppose.~~ [Same LIG, new executive director. Oops.]

* Mark Kirk raises the usual and has a nice bundle…

North Shore Republican Congressman Mark Kirk, who has been contemplating a costly run for the U.S. Senate or governor, reported Monday that he has built up a campaign warchest of more than $1 million.

Kirk raised more than $580,000 during the second quarter of the year, according to a statement his campaign released. Such a fundraising performance is robust by the standards of U.S. House members but lags slightly behind the amount of money Kirk raised during the same period in the last election cycle.

A statement released by spokesman Eric Elk described the results as “on pace” with Kirk’s fundraising during the second quarter of last election cycle. Kirk raised $606,000 during the second quarter of 2007 and had accumulated a balance of $1.1 million at the end of the period. […]

The statement from Kirk’s campaign described this year’s fundraising as “strong” given the economic recession.

* Congressman Shimkus throws an Elton John fundraiser for the second time, but won’t attend…

At least two members of the House of Representatives–both of whom are on record opposing gay rights–will be hosting fundraisers at the upcoming Billy Joel/Elton John “Face2Face” concert at Nationals Park on July 11. […]

This isn’t Shimkus’ first Elton fundraiser. In 2005 the Kentucky Democrat reported:

“A spokesman for Shimkus, Steve Tomaszewski, said his boss’s fund-raiser at the Elton John concert was neither an endorsement of the singer’s politics nor a betrayal of Shimkus’ stand on gay marriage. Shimkus won’t attend himself, however, because of a scheduling conflict, Tomaszewski said.”

Tomaszewski confirmed Thursday to Party Time that the congressman will most likely not be attending the fundraiser on July 11 either.

* Gov. Quinn is meeting with suburban legislators and Carlos Hernandez Gomez is live Tweeting…

State Rep. Jack Franks says Illinois needs a two-year budget to fix the current fiscal mess which he says Gov. Pat Quinn has mishandled.
about 2 hours ago from mobile web

Waiting outside a meeting between Gov. Pat Quinn & suburban lawmakers over the state’s budget mess. Three plus hours I’ll never get back.
27 minutes ago from mobile web

* And the News Gazette is live-Tweeting today’s testimony before the commission investigating “clout” admissions to the U of I.

* In other news, the scandal-plagued Tribune Co. has agreed to sell the Cubs and Wrigley Field to the Ricketts family…

Tribune Co. intends to sell the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family, sources familiar with the matter said Monday, ending the company’s flirtation with another buyer after negotiations with the Rickettses had stalled two months ago.

After more than five months of negotiations, Tribune Co. has a written agreement to sell the baseball team and other assets to the Ricketts family for about $900 million. The two sides reached a deal over the weekend and forwarded an outline of their transaction — what is known as a term sheet — to Major League Baseball for its initial comments, according to sources who declined to be identified because an agreement has not been announced.

The two sides still have details to work out that will be included in a definitive agreement, sources said. The term sheet sent to MLB includes information on the deal’s capital structure and how the Ricketts family will finance the transaction, sources said.

Ricketts Field? Sounds appropriate.

…Adding… From a press release…

Former Deputy State Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi announced today that he has raised more than $390,000 for a potential campaign for Illinois Comptroller.

The amount is believed to be the most ever raised by a first-time Comptroller candidate this early in a campaign, according to records available on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat, is exploring a run for Comptroller should incumbent Dan Hynes choose not to run for a fourth term in 2010. […]

Krishnamoorthi, 35, formed his exploratory committee on April 22, 2009 — just 10 weeks before the June 30 fundraising deadline.

…Adding more… Politico and USA Today both ran pieces today about the Mike Ditka video for Pat Quinn that I told you about this morning. Locally? Nothing.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:38 pm

Comments

Rich who do you hate more, the Cubs or the Trib?

Comment by Scooby Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:47 pm
“Hate” is such a strong word.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:48 pm
Or, Rich, you might have asked “Is there a difference?”.

Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:50 pm
Objectively, Tribune Co. is “scandal-plagued” because it is under two federal investigations. If a politician was under two G probes, that person would assuredly be labeled as “scandal plagued.”

So, my use of the phrase “scandal-plagued” has zero to do with my own personal thoughts about Tribune Co. Frankly, I respect many Tribune Co. employees. I don’t even dislike Zell, believe it or not.

The Chicago Ricketts, however, are a different matter entirely.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:54 pm
Don’t forget the Cork and Steroids scandals that plagued the cubs.

Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:57 pm
I was just kidding, it’s a trick question. They’re the same thing.

Comment by Scooby Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:58 pm
Excuse me, A Citizen, but they are no longer the cubs. They are The Ricketts. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 4:58 pm
I am looking to seeing the disclosure forms for Krishnamoorthi

Comment by OneMan Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:00 pm
OneMan, I’m told $10K came from himself, if that’s what you’re hinting at.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:03 pm
So former cub fans now have a case of The Ricketts fever? This should prove to be entertaining, though not in a baseball way!

Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:03 pm
And about 600 donors.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:03 pm
The minnesota U.S. Senate campaign cost each candidate about $20 million last year and Illinois is a bigger boy. That means Kirk has to raise 1 million a month or 30k/day for the next 17 months, minimum. I’m not sure 580k will do it.

Also Rich, should we blow up the sox now or in november when that offense reaches the aarp qualification age.

Comment by Shore Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:08 pm
All this money flowing for politcal war chests and none to pay the bills in Illinois. Perhaps a 50% surcharge for running for office could help the Illinois general revenue fund.

Comment by Nellaelad27 Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:20 pm
Watch Fox News Chicago at 9:00 PM and you can see more about Froehlich and his buddies.

Comment by Deeda Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:30 pm
“The Ricketts family, which made its fortune through the Omaha-based online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp….”

Does that mean Sam Waterston will be the new voice of the Cubs?

Comment by Cheswick Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:37 pm
Instead of Cubs tickets, it’ll be Ricketts tickets.

Comment by Cheswick Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 5:42 pm
I guess that means next year’s crosstown classic between the Rickets and the White Dorfs will be highly anticipated.

Comment by hmmm Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 6:02 pm
Help me out here. The Legislative IG confirmed outwardly that he has opened an investigation etc etc..I thought per the Ethics Act it was confidential and other OIGs dont even confirm or deny the existence of an investigation. I hope that guy isnt violating the Act. Nahhh, an Executive Inspector General violating their own Act, impossible in Illinois. Never happen.

Comment by confused Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 6:25 pm
Did the gov. make any headway with any of the female legislators with whom he met last week? Is he making any headway with suburban legislators who have met with him today?

Comment by Will County Woman Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 6:36 pm
Sam Waterston as the voice of the cubs? be still my heart…

Comment by soccermom Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 6:50 pm
- Will County Woman -
“Did the gov. make any headway with any of the female legislators…”
I think he, bachelor guv, met them on MySpace or Face Book and they speed dated. Don’t know the results though.

Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 7:15 pm
What will be interesting to see in the Tribune deal is how that federal/state taxation on the capital gains will be calculated.

There was a story some tome ago which described a technique which will allow Mother Tribune to not pay significant capital gain taxes.

In a time when governments of all levels are struggling with revenue, it is apparently OK to have a large entity shield hundreds of millions from taxation.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 7:51 pm
Kind of curious how much came from him, more so how many donors and what their past giving was. Lots of money for someone no one had really heard of. Also curious is donations were down from the South Asian community due to the Rod stuff…

Comment by OneManBlog Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 8:31 pm
OneMan…actually, Raja has been linked to the Obama administration for a long time. He was Obama’s policy director for his Senate run and then a member of his speech team. It’s clear to me where the money is coming from….

Comment by no_one_inparticular Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 9:13 pm
so does Reinsdorf park Rich

Comment by getmeoutofhere Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 9:30 pm
Absolutely brutal fox story highlighting alleged insider deals with Froehlich and Berrios. if he was hoping for an administration job, he may even be too toxic for Quinn, and that says a lot for a guy who kept filan…

Comment by Easy Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 10:04 pm
Nellaelad27–

While your point is well-taken, how would such a demand be structured? I, for example, ran for school board and lost. I spent less than $700 on my campaign. Would I have to send $350 to the state, or would I be exempt for attempting such a low-level office? Would I be exempt because I was told I did not have to file a campaign disclosure form, due to my lack of fundraising (I was self-funded) and low level of expenditures?

While your idea is interesting, it could be very, very problematice, especially in a state with politicians as crooked as ours are.

The devil, as we all know, is in the details…

Comment by Lynn S Monday, Jul 6, 09 @ 11:16 pm
I guess that I am in the dark about the Rickett family? What is so bad about them? Other than having been successful in their business endeavors and reaped the fruits of their success, what have they done that is so bad? I am not sticking up for them as I don’t know anything about them (other than the fact they have been a very successful family). I am just curious.

Comment by John Doe Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 7:21 am
John Doe -

There is nothing bad with them. For rich, the problem is the cubs.

Comment by hmmm Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 7:33 am
I laugh at party-switcher Froehlich.

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 7:56 am
Is Thomas Homer, the legislative inspector general, the former state rep. who was Neil Hartigan’s guy in the House back in the day?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 8:33 am
I’ve met Raja on one occasion. He seems to be a very capable man. I can’t imagine Comptroller as a particularly demanding job.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 9:52 am
I keep waiting for the cap fax new sports section, or at least its baseball column.

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Jul 7, 09 @ 12:47 pm