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* Crain’s has an interesting piece on House Speaker Michael Madigan this week. The money graf…
If Mr. Madigan is like many other pols in wanting to keep his power and help his family, what’s rare is how little he uses his power elsewhere. Mr. Lawrence recalls once asking Mr. Madigan if he was passionate about any issue or cause. “His answer was that he was more about being a political strategist.”
As I’ve said many times before, Madigan’s only real legacy so far is that he’s been Speaker longer than anybody else. And that’s a big reason why he opposed Gov. Quinn’s tax hike.
This is also a decent graf…
Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and other Springfield vets like former Senate President Philip Rock, a Democrat, say Mr. Madigan does have a bit of an ideology, not untypical of what you might expect from an Irish Catholic from the Southwest Side: mildly conservative, both on fiscal and social issues. “At times, he was my only ally (among the four legislative leaders) in trying to hold the line on the budget,” Mr. Edgar says.
But that can change, as the article rightly points out. Madigan has also pushed to underfund the pension systems and borrow way too much money.
* Patrick Collins is right, but he sometimes acts as if he’s the first person to ever notice this stuff…
“It’s all about protecting (Mr. Madigan’s) majority, his power,” says former federal prosecutor Pat Collins, who headed a reform commission that expected much more. “On things that affected his power base, the reform was slight at best.”
A good point…
Some Madigan allies say privately that the state is better off with a speaker who reins in members who might otherwise go astray. In Illinois, it has been governors and Chicago aldermen who have tended to get in legal trouble — not Mr. Madigan’s minions.
* Collins, by the way, is dipping his toe into politics….
A Winnetka attorney eyeing a run for Congress as a Republican may be the first to land a coveted endorsement from the prosecutor who put GOP Gov. George Ryan in prison.
Bill Cadigan, who was raised in Arlington Heights and once worked for U.S. Rep. John Porter, is a longtime friend of Patrick Collins, the federal prosecutor who led the Ryan trial and went on to become a statewide ethics advocate. […]
“If he throws his hat in the ring, he is someone who I think will be a great candidate,” Collins said. “I think he would be good on the issues that are important to me, such as ethics.”
* Meanwhile, since we’ve brought up the governor’s ethics commission, Pat Quinn dropped more hints the other day that he may use his amendatory veto powers on the campaign finance reform bill…
“Well when I testified for it I said it’s a good bill, but it’s not a perfect bill and I suppose you want to get as close to perfection as we can,” Quinn said late last week. “So, I certainly want to strive toward that goal and by working as a team I think we can go pretty far.”
Quinn has repeatedly pointed out to reporters that he has the power to strengthen the bill by rewriting it — a so-called amendatory veto. Pushed about whether that’s his plan, he said “that could be.”
A veto would send the bill back to lawmakers, where it would face an uncertain future amid competing political agendas. The bill would die if lawmakers don’t vote to agree to the changes or else override the changes with a supermajority vote that would require help from Republicans — who refused to support the bill the first time.
But remember how the reform commission and others demanded that local state’s attorneys be given broader powers to investigate political corruption? Well, the state’s attorneys have turned another reform argument upside down, and are working against the FOIA bill. Why? One reason…
Prosecutors are also leery of granting the attorney general new powers to enforce the Freedom of Information Act.
* Speaking of ethics and the like, I actually wholeheartedly agree with this Tribune recommendation for cleaning up the U of I admissions mess…
The university needs an objective liaison to field claims that an application was erroneously rejected. Lawmakers, trustees and others who are asked to intervene would then have a legitimate channel for those requests — and no excuse for meddling themselves.
Good idea.
* And, on a somewhat related note, the Daily Southtown slams a local mayor for not opposing video gaming in his town…
THE ISSUE: Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said in last Sunday’s SouthtownStar that he does not oppose video poker machines in the village, an expansion of gambling recently approved by Gov. Patrick Quinn and the Legislature.
WE SAY: Zabrocki is not taking the negative effects of video poker or the community as a whole into account. Let him know you don’t want it.
Um, what if they want it?
* Related…
* Black Caucus Springfield office tagged with racial graffiti
* Illinois must act on racial profiling : The response has been silence. On the legislative front, efforts to ban consent searches stalled in legislative committees, despite consistent evidence of the racial disparity in these searches. Rather than take action in the face of “indisputable” evidence, some legislators suggest studying the problem for a longer time before taking any action.
* The angry vote works
* Indignation no match for curiosity
* Blagojevich’s name still towers over a bit of Chicago
* Sources: Hull wanted Obama’s Senate seat : But this time, he worked behind the scenes, quietly angling to get appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
* Lawmakers to probe tollway scandals: “We feel strongly that taxpayers need to have a far clearer understanding of certain patterns of behavior that emerge from the tollway,” said state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg, an Evanston Democrat and longtime tollway critic who is organizing the hearings with state Sen. Susan Garrett.
* Edgar keeps on giving
* Commission Drafts U of I Admissions Recommendations
* Redeeming the U. of I.
* Entire U of I board should resign
* System has helped to fuel problems at the U of I
* Here’s why U of I scandal matters to you
* Quinn presents more budget cuts, seeks tax hike
* Governor: Budget plan won’t fund the full fiscal year
* Area lawmakers: Plan will worsen deficit
* State continues to ride borrowed money merry-go-round
* State’s unpaid bills in the billions
* Agencies say Illinois’ unpaid bills are crippling
* Unions, Service Providers React to Gov’s Budget Cuts
* Government’s role as protector of disabled at issue
* Legislative uncertainty for Illinois Fiscal Year 2010, but where are the student voices?
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:02 am
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If Hull had purchased the Senate seat from Blago for the $28 million he spent trying to win it in 2004, 2 things would have happened.
1. Hull would probably be our senator today.
2. Blago’s defense fund could’ve enabled his attorneys to drag his legal proceedings on for a decade (or paid for a nice life in a country without an extradition treaty).
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:27 am
I’m convinced MJM has insulated himself to an extent that he’s immune to any sort of pressure to cede his authority. He’s taking a calculated risk that voters don’t have the resolve to force him to change.
24 years in the top spot, heavily gerrymandered districts, and control of the caucus purse strings strongly suggest he’s right. Sigh.
Comment by The Doc Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:39 am
–Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and other Springfield vets like former Senate President Philip Rock, a Democrat, say Mr. Madigan does have a bit of an ideology, not untypical of what you might expect from an Irish Catholic from the Southwest Side: mildly conservative, both on fiscal and social issues.==
That’s about right.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:50 am
“mildly conservative, both on fiscal and social issues.”
In other words, our “blue” state is run by a Republican. If only it were true: Madigan is “fiscally conservative” in the way George W. Bush was.
Comment by lake county democrat Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:55 am
Michael J. Madigan is in power, but he is not a leader unless maintaining the status quo as the ship sinks counts as leadership.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 9:56 am
Not mentioned by the Tribune is that UIUC had an Ombudsman/person office until the early 90’s.
I think it was 1992.
The Ombuds Office resolved disputes involving not just admissions, but any problem or grievance that any student had with any university office.
UIC and UIS have Ombuds - I’m not sure what yahoo thought getting rid of UIUC’s was a good idea, but apparently they need to be flogged.
Comment by Yellow Dog Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 11:18 am
Madigans Legacy
He is honest.
He has assured a Dem. majority in the house.
He fought for the citizens of Illinois during the most corrupt Gov. tenure.
He , before many others, recognized the thievery and abuse people were subject to with regards mortgages and passed legislation trying to deal with the problem.
He helped the White Sox get funding for their stadium.
He stood in the way of Blago’s Gross Revenue Tax.
I could go on and on about his accomplishments, but what good would it do. There are those who are thankful for his deeds, then there are those who are haters or partisan.
The Speaker never has and never will worry about what others think. His record speaks for itself.
Comment by MOON Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 11:31 am
Trustee Shah (Blago’s pal) has resigned. Good riddance!
Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 12:02 pm
Mike Madigan is to Illinois politics what Al Davis is to football: “just win baby.” Although in the case of the Raiders, not so much lately.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 12:03 pm
“Well, the state’s attorneys have turned another reform argument upside down, and are working against the FOIA bill. Why? One reason…
Prosecutors are also leery of granting the attorney general new powers to enforce the Freedom of Information Act.”
most of us don’t even know about it, much less pay attention to it, but the power struggle seems to be pretty much constant between the attorney general and the state’s attorneys.
Comment by been there Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 12:10 pm
–Mike Madigan is to Illinois politics what Al Davis is to football: “just win baby.” –
Can’t quite see MJM with the ducktail, granny classes on a chain and black leather jacket. Al is considerably more litiguous, as well.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 12:26 pm
MJM is Collins white whale…. with Rich Miller as Ishmael.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 12:52 pm
1. Crains needs a new political editor. Republicans took back congress in 1994, not 2004.
2. The piece defines what is wrong with his state. He’s an elected official, not a party hack. Yes democrats win elections, but the state is losing. That’s not the right way to do things.
Comment by Shore Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 1:32 pm
Shore is feeling blue.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 2:47 pm
The piece fails to give our Wall Street pals any credit for the state financial disaster (bet that comes as a surprise from organ that “buisness” in the title)
Might also be good to add supporting gaming expansion that got IL a fair price and kept the kinks out — that one failed in the Sentate, but at least IL did not give away the store and give Blagoof $34 billion to auction off.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 3:33 pm
I agree with most all of what “Moon” says about Madigan. He is honest and hard working. He has stopped some wasteful spending and does a good job managing a very difficult and diverse House Democrat Caucus. But Madigan’s legacy will be that he was more a mechanic than driver of Illinois’s political agenda. He was more of a maintenance worker keeping the lights on and the floors clean rather than a builder or architect with vision and energy. He has been static rather than dynamic. He has maintained the status quo when Illinois and the Nation have cried out for change.
Comment by Louis Howe Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 3:34 pm
Seemed like MJM was driving energy policy and a change in the system of pricing electricity recently.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 3, 09 @ 4:00 pm
Interesting. Madigan was the only leader, Dem or Repub, that stood up against Blagojevich. How quickly they forget. Madigan’s record speaks for itself.
Comment by anon Sunday, Aug 9, 09 @ 12:55 am