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Saturday, Jan 21, 2006
I missed Henry Bayer’s call earlier. Then I found out why he phoned.
Illinois’s largest state employee union endorsed Judy Baar Topinka in the Republican primary for governor Saturday, but made no endorsement in the Democratic primary, signaling the union’s disappointment in Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
In 2002, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 100,000 active and retired state workers, endorsed Blagojevich in both the primary and general elections.
“There’s no question many of our members all across the state have been extremely disappointed in this administration,” said union spokesman Anders Lindall. “He’s allowed important state services to deteriorate due to lack of funding and lack of appropriate staffing. He’s failed to reform our states’ broken tax system.”
UPDATE: From the press release:
Among other notable endorsements, the union backed Paul Mangieri in the Democratic primary for treasurer and Democrat Tammy Duckworth for U.S. House of Representatives from the 6th District in Chicago’s western suburbs.
UPDATE: The State Journal-Register has more.
And OneMan makes a good point.
I think this might actually help Blagojevich in the general election. He can show that he is in fact no friend of government and government employees and he is being careful with state funds. He can rail against bureaucrats and the like and talk about how he has shrunk government.
- posted by Rich Miller 22 Comments
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
Talk at you Monday.
If you want to comment somewhere this weekend, the Illinoize folks will be busy.
Meanwhile….
This is my newphew, Nicholas George Miller. Nicholas was just accepted into Stanford University’s highly prestigious All Star Baseball Camp.
Nicholas is not just a spectacular athlete. He’s an “A” student and, as I’ve written here before, one of the finest young men I know. Congratulations, Nicholas!
UPDATE: On another baseball-related note, congrats to Ozzie Guillen on becoming a citizen this week.
- posted by Rich Miller Comment
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
I forgot to post the SurveyUSA tracker for January. Sorry about that.
Blagojevich job approval is 42 percent, disapproval is 53 percent. The crosstabs are here and the trendlines are here.
Read and discuss.
UPDATE: For a little balance, Eric Krol has an interesting column today about Topinka.
In a year when ethics will be the dominant issue in politics, Republican governor candidate Judy Baar Topinka might have left her flank a little exposed with her choice of campaign manager.
The magenta-haired state treasurer, after a long search, settled on Terry Barnich to run her show. He’s a former Illinois Commerce Commission chairman under Govs. Thompson and Edgar. He also agreed last year to resign from the Chicago Athletic Association board amid conflict-of-interest allegations by feuding members.
The financially troubled club, one of those rarified, old-boy-network-type places downtown, reached an agreement to part ways with Barnich and his business partner at a telecommunications consulting firm.
Some club board members accused Barnich of setting up a favorable office lease deal for himself inside the club building and profiting from a takeover of the building’s telephone system. […]
Critics point to the Barnich hire as one of the several signs Topinka’s campaign isn’t firing on all cylinders yet, despite her nominal front-runner status as a three-term statewide officeholder. She could be leaving the door open for her three opponents in the March 21 Republican primary…
Barnich was run out of the ICC on a rail. Second worst ICC chairman ever, in my opinion (hard to top Ed Hurley for that dubious distinction).
UPDATE 2: Josh Goodman makes a very good point:
SurveyUSA’s newest approval rating polls reveal the secret to being a popular governor: Don’t be a former member of Congress.
Ten current governors who once served in Congress average 46% approval and 47% disapproval in their home states. (The polls were conducted before an eleventh, New Jersey’s Jon Corzine, took office.) If that doesn’t sound too bad, consider that among the other 40 governors the average is 56%-37%.
There are a few similarities between these troubled congressmen-turned-governors that might explain the phenomenon:
* At least to some degree, four of them (Illinois’ Rod Blagojevich, Kentucky’s Ernie Fletcher, Maryland’s Robert Ehrlich and Alaska’s Frank Murkowski) have been accused of hiring improprieties involving selecting partisan supporters, financial backers or family members for government posts. While it would probably be too simplistic to say they were corrupted by Washington, D.C., and some of these accusations haven’t been proven, no one ever became more ethical by serving in Congress.
I think I may have made the same point either here or in the Fax, but I’m too busy right now to look it up. Read the whole thing.
UPDATE 3: An internet ad? From a press release:
Democratic challenger Eisendrath will release first Internet commercial of this year’s Democratic primary race for Governor of Illinois.
Where’s the TV?
- posted by Rich Miller 5 Comments
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
From a press release:
Identifying such abuse as “privacy theft,†Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed a lawsuit against a Florida company that for roughly $100 and a cell phone number will use allegedly illegal means to access an individual’s cell phone or land line records.
Madigan filed the complaint today in Sangamon County Circuit Court against Kenneth Gorman, director; Steven Schwartz, secretary; and 1st Source Information Specialists, Inc., d/b/a locatecell.com, celltolls.com, datafind.org and peoplesearchamerica.com. The company is located in Tamarac, Florida.
Madigan, who subpoenaed locatecell.com approximately two weeks ago, sued the defendants under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
“This entire enterprise is an outrageous invasion of personal privacy that could put lives in danger,†Madigan said. “The possibility of harm from this ‘service’ to victims of domestic violence and law enforcement is enormous. As Attorney General, I will do everything in my power to stop this abuse.â€
Madigan’s complaint alleges that 1st Source made misrepresentations to telecommunications companies to obtain phone records by calling companies and posing as the customers, agents or employees of the company; made misrepresentations to telecommunication companies online by posing as consumers to gain unauthorized access to online accounts; sold phone records illegally obtained; and misrepresented to consumers via the Web sites that they had legally obtained the call records.
Madigan said the defendants only need to be provided with a third party’s cell phone or land line telephone number to achieve their goal of obtaining the cell phone records. In fact, some of the sites offer a discount if the customer includes the consumer’s name and address along with the cell or land line number.
UPDATE: From Crain’s:
A Cook County Circuit Court Judge Friday denied Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s petition to stop state utility regulators from approving Commonwealth Edison Co.’s plan for an auction among power generators that is expected to sharply increase electricity rates next year.
The decision by Judge Nancy Arnold, which originally was expected next week but instead was issued Friday afternoon, clears the way for the Illinois Commerce Commission’s scheduled vote next Tuesday on the plan. Commission staff and an administrative law judge have recommended approval. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has urged commissioners to vote against.
Judge Arnold ruled that the attorney general has alternative avenues to appeal the commission’s decision if it approves the auction. Foremost among those is appeal directly to the Illinois Appellate Court, which the law allows, she wrote.
“The court sees no reason to interject itself into what has been, and will no doubt continue to be, an orderly process,†she wrote.
- posted by Rich Miller 4 Comments
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
If you had a chance to sit down and have a private chat with the underdogs in the governor’s race - Edwin Eisendrath, Jim Oberweis, Bill Brady and Ron Gidwitz - what would you tell each of them?
- posted by Rich Miller 36 Comments
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
The U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform doesn’t want Illinois to stop at medical malpractice insurance reform. From a press release issued earlier this week:
Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, issued the following statement tonight:
“It is disconcerting that Governor Blagojevich failed to address Illinois’ reputation as one of the worst states in the country for lawsuit abuse. That reputation is contributing to Illinois’ jobs crisis, and is one reason why the state continues to lag behind the rest of the country in terms of economic growth.
“The medical liability reforms enacted last year are a good step forward, but Governor Blagojevich and the state legislature need to finish the job by passing more lawsuit reforms. This will help Illinois employers escape the onslaught of opportunistic trial lawyers getting rich at the expense of Illinois employers and working families.â€
A Harris Survey of corporate executives ranked Illinois 46th out of 50 states in legal fairness, having dropped 12 spots in three years. An astounding 81 percent of respondents in that survey said a state’s legal climate affects important decisions, such as where to locate or invest.
This is exactly what the trial lawyers predicted would happen when the GA passed med-mal reform last year. I highly doubt that any bills will move this year, but it appears the issue won’t go away.
Your feelings?
- posted by Rich Miller 19 Comments
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Friday, Jan 20, 2006
A futile attempt to clear out my “in” box.
Not to take anything away from the Sun-Times’ very good series on cellphone privacy, but Macleans had a story about this very disturbing subject last year.
You can find AFSCME’s prison report that I wrote about yesterday here.
The Kentucky legislature won’t accredit bloggers. I went through much the same thing that a lot of bloggers are going through now back when I first started covering the General Assembly. Maybe I’ll tell that story one day.
Failed Supreme Court candidate Gordon Maag’s defamation suit was dismissed for the second time.
Here’s a nice piece on Joel Brunsvold’s retirement as IDNR director. This happened during my Christmas vacation and I never wrote how much I have enjoyed knowing Joel over the years.
Andy Plonka has a photo of Governor Blagojevich jogging in his neighborhood during the day. Check Andy’s comments after I asked what time that photo was snapped.
I’d like to make this a local news update thread. What’s going on in your town, ward, county, etc?
- posted by Rich Miller 9 Comments
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
…Head on over to Illinoize. They’ve got some lively conversations going on over there.
- posted by Rich Miller Comment
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
(Idea shamelessly stolen from IR)
- posted by Rich Miller 59 Comments
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
The Hill has a brief roundup of the 6th Congressional District race. I’m told that the Roskam numbers are accurate.
Republican state Sen. Peter Roskam is expected to report later this month having raised more than $380,000 in the fourth quarter of 2005, ending the year with approximately $825,000 in the bank.
Roskam is seeking the seat being vacated by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.).
Democrats in Washington were cheered last month by the entry into the race of former Black Hawk pilot Tammy Duckworth, who lost two limbs while serving in Iraq.
Contending that Hyde’s solidly GOP 6th District is trending Democratic — his Democratic challenger, Christine Cegelis, gave the Republican his most spirited race in years in 2004 — Democrats say the time is ripe, with the president’s sinking poll numbers, for a Democratic pickup.
Republicans scoff at that logic, noting that while Republicans have rallied around Roskam, Democrats are mired in a primary. Despite leading Democrats’ having thrown their support behind Duckworth, Cegelis, who launched her second House bid shortly after losing her first, remains popular among local Democrats.
Hiram has some info on Lindy Scott’s fundraising at Illinoize.
This is a 6th District open thread.
- posted by Rich Miller 16 Comments
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
Which newspaper editorial page do you trust the most? Why?
- posted by Rich Miller 17 Comments
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
I attended part of Edwin Eisendrath’s press conference yesterday. Just a couple of thoughts.
1) The man is very quick on his feet. He made some good pivot points yesterday that should serve him well. He does need a better answer about why voters should trust him when Rod Blagojevich made basically the same “clean up government” promises four years ago.
2) He doesn’t come off as a pleasant sort. Way too angry. Not approachable. Supposedly, this will be addressed somehow very soon. We’ll see.
This is a Democratic primary open thread.
- posted by Rich Miller 19 Comments
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Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
This wrap-up is as good as any.
Democratic and Republican candidates for governor on Wednesday characterized Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s fourth State of the State address as typical of the first-term Democratic governor: short on details, long on blame and full of election-year, unfunded promises.
And what was up with Blagojevich’s constant criticism of Washington, D.C.?
“The governor is blaming now Washington, after having blamed the Legislature one year, the prior administrations at least one year, the state superintendent one year - and this year’s fall guy is Washington,” said Republican candidate and Chicago businessman Ron Gidwitz.
Read the whole thing.
This is good, too.
Blagojevich provided a glimpse into the strategy the first-term Democratic governor will employ this election year, repeatedly railing at social policies emanating from Republican-led Washington while portraying himself as a leader willing to stand against them.
- posted by Rich Miller 14 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
Governing.com blogger and magazine reporter Christopher Swope writes that he is having a little trouble finding Republican-leaning state-focused blogs.
Help him out in comments.
Also, I should thank Christopher for the kind words in the above entry.
While I’m at it, Small Newspapers had a pretty good story about blogs this week.
- posted by Rich Miller 19 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
The governor’s State of the State address is today. I’ll be doing public television’s pregame show, if you’re interested (and, yeah, I’m totally sunburned - quick weekend in Miami).
Let’s devise a drinking game, although drinking during lunch is NOT a good thing.
The way this goes is, every time the governor says “X” you take a drink. If he says “Y” you take another drink. Fill in the blanks.
UPDATE: Notice that a certain word is missing from this speech? Can you say “keno”?
- posted by Rich Miller 37 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
First, read this.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich wouldn’t say Tuesday whether he will agree to debate his opponent in the Democratic primary.
“First of all, I haven’t even formally announced yet, and there’s time for politics,” the first-term governor said. “I am going to keep doing my job every day as governor, and we’ll keep you posted.”
Challenger Edwin Eisendrath said he has accepted several debate invitations and would love to face the governor in a discussion of the issues. […]
Eisendrath burst out laughing at Blagojevich saying there will be time for politics later. “He’s been politicking for a long time,” Eisendrath said.
If you were able to ask one question of each candidate during the debate, what would it be?
Also, as a bonus item, do you think the two will ever face each other in a formal debate setting?
- posted by Rich Miller 24 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
The Tribune gives us the broad picture.
After several failed attempts to pass a statewide ban on assault weapons, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday they will make the initiative a top priority in the current session of the state legislature.
In a joint news conference, the two Chicago Democrats called on the General Assembly to support their proposal to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of semi-automatic and .50-caliber weapons. […]
The governor will make a pitch directly to the General Assembly when it convenes for his annual State of the State Address on Wednesday. That speech comes two years after the expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons, after Congress failed to re-enact it. […]
Gun-rights groups say the legislation is unfair, because the description covers guns commonly used by law-abiding hunters and sport shooters.
“There’s no making these people happy,” said NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde. “They just want to ban as much stuff as they can … They will never be happy until they have eradicated firearm ownership.”
The Daily Herald covered the suburban angle.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich put the political bull’s-eye on suburban lawmakers Tuesday, challenging them to support an assault-weapons ban they helped defeat last year.
“The one area where crime is up is in suburban communities around the city,†Blagojevich said during a Chicago news conference. “And we are calling upon particularly those suburban legislators who last time around couldn’t vote for this, but now are in a position to vote for it.â€
But several suburban lawmakers Blagojevich could appeal to said they’re holding firm in their opposition.
“When you read the Second Amendment, it’s pretty clear. … It says the right to bear arms shouldn’t be infringed upon,†said state Rep. Michael Tryon, a Crystal Lake Republican.
Your turn.
- posted by Rich Miller 19 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
I’m not sure how long the governor’s keno plan will be sucking wind.
The Tribune’s latest editorial, entitled “Keno and business as usual” certainly didn’t help,
This is getting to be a tired old story with Blagojevich, who campaigned as a swashbuckling reformer dedicated to cleaning up Springfield’s insider dealings.
Yet there has been a long stream of revelations about the governor’s friends’ links to state contracts and jobs–the same kind of insider favoritism and pay-to-play politics that he complained about when he was a candidate.
Blagojevich estimates that keno would net about $80 million annually, with the proceeds used to pay debt service on $500 million in bonds for the school construction portion of a broader public works initiative. Gambling revenues can be notoriously unsteady, though, making them a shaky foundation for a bond debt revenue stream. Adding keno to the mix of legal games of chance also runs the risk of cannibalizing revenue the state already gets from the lottery, casinos and horse racing.
All reasons to think this is a bad bet for everyone, except the governor’s friends.
Ouch. I contend in my column that some of this stuff is overblown, but I fully admit that this is a political nightmare for the governor.
The Tribune’s Rick Pearson made many of the same points in a recent analysis that I did last week.
By introducing keno wagering at thousands of bars and restaurants into the funding mix, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has turned an already fractious legislative discussion about his multibillion-dollar plan to build and repair roads and schools into a debate about more gambling in the state.
“People aren’t calling me saying they heard the governor’s got some capital construction bill and that they hope we can get this and that done,” Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said. “They’re saying they don’t want the keno machines in their local restaurants.” […]
But it’s not only Republicans who are balking at Blagojevich’s plan.
Last week, four Democratic Latino state senators from Chicago told the governor in a letter that his proposal was “unacceptable,” in part because “our residents already spend too much of their hard-earned dollars on games of chance.”
Meanwhile, the House Republicans want Attorney General Lisa Madigan to step into the debate.
House Republicans moved Tuesday to draw Attorney General Lisa Madigan into the debate over whether Gov. Blagojevich can authorize keno wagering in bars and restaurants without legislative approval. […]
“This action of trying to unilaterally bring keno to the public is improper,” said Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), who was among those seeking Madigan’s intervention. “This is a matter for the Legislature to debate and not for the governor to do on his own.”
- posted by Rich Miller 5 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
The Daily Southtown’s Kristen McQueary makes a good point in her latest column.
During a recent endorsement session, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees voted “present” on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s re-election campaign, according to Capitol Fax.
AFSCME’s leaders are unhappy with the reduced state workforce in place under the Blagojevich administration. They also didn’t appreciate Blagojevich’s push last year to reduce pension benefits, the Fax reported.
But keep in mind that Blagojevich — guided by recommendations from a bipartisan panel of lawmakers — introduced several reforms that didn’t even touch the pensions of current state workers.
Blagojevich wanted to trim perks for future workers — perks that even union-loving Democrats admit are too generous and which the state can no longer afford.
Furthermore, Blagojevich pulled the plug, agreeing to a wimpy task force to keep studying the problem.
AFSCME got off easy.
She didn’t mention that AFSCME also got one of the sweetest contract deals in the nation last year.
The trouble is, the union’s rank and file mostly despises the guv. It doesn’t matter what he’s done for them (or what he might throw at them during supplemental appropriations negotiations), there’s just no way that the leadership could vote to endorse Blagojevich and retain their positions.
- posted by Rich Miller 12 Comments
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Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006
I want to personally extend my best wishes to Corinne Wood.
More than 81/2 years after she had a mastectomy, former Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood is undergoing treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer that a former aide called “a little more aggressive than last time.”
But former deputy chief of staff Chris Hensley and Wood’s husband, Paul, said they are optimistic she will recover.
“She’s a pretty tough lady, and she beat the last one for almost nine years,” Paul Wood said. “And we are hopeful she will beat this as well.”
I may not have always written the greatest things about her, but I always greatly admired her tenacity in the face of extreme odds. She is, indeed, one tough woman.
Get well soon.
- posted by Rich Miller Comment
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