|
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click
here. Subscriptions are $350 per year. To advertise on the Capitol Fax Blog, please click here. |
Friday, Aug 29, 2008
* More of that “Rewrite to Do Right” magic…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration is under federal scrutiny for allegedly trading state jobs for campaign contributions, proposed a ban Friday on political cash from anyone holding a government job.
Blagojevich used amendatory veto authority on innocuous campaign-finance legislation and suggested barring contributions to any state officeholder—from governor to legislators—by any public employee, from local librarians to the director of state prisons. […]
The measure appears difficult to police. Currently, election law requires candidates to disclose the occupation and employer of contributors giving $500 or more. Blagojevich’s proposal mentions no minimum contribution and carries a $10,000 penalty for violations.
“You have to know who all these municipal employees are,” said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “If I work in the clerk’s office in Peotone and I send in $25, if they receive it, they can have a penalty up to $10,000.”
- posted by Rich Miller Comment
|
Friday, Aug 29, 2008
* Well, that wasn’t much of a vacation. Whatever. Here’s your video…
So the powers that be left me here
To do the thinkin’
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Friday, Aug 29, 2008
* Sen. James Meeks says the Chicago Public Schools boycott is a go, and blames Gov. Rod Blagojevich….
“No more time. The window has expired,” Meeks said.
Next Tuesday, the state senator and pastor of Salem Baptist, a South Side megachurch, hopes to bus about 2,000 Chicago Public Schools students to north suburban schools. The students will boycott their first day of school to call attention to school-funding inequities. […]
Meeks had offered earlier this week to call off the boycott if Gov. Blagojevich, state Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan agreed to back his $120 million, three-year plan to reform Illinois’ most seriously ailing schools by today, but he gave up on that idea Thursday. […]
“The governor never did agree, and there’s just no more time. I can’t start everything in motion and pull it back. It would make me look uncommitted,” Meeks said.
Meeks had proposed identifying 12 failing high schools — in Chicago, the south suburbs and Downstate — and their feeder elementary and middle schools, for three years’ worth of audits and reforms.
Instead, he will be taking CPS students to New Trier High School, which spends $17,000 per student compared with $10,000 per student in Chicago.
* More from yesterday afternoon…
“I can’t figure the governor out,” said Meeks in light of Blagojevich’s decision to return home [on Thursday].
Madigan, the state Democratic chairman, said he’s been on the “periphery” of the Meeks’ school funding issue. Meeks wants the state to spend $120 million over three years to help improve educational opportunities for children in poorer schools in Chicago and other parts of the state.
“Sen. Meeks has spoken to me. He’s asked if I would be willing to attend a meeting with he and the governor and Sen. Jones and I said I would be,” Madigan said. “But I’m waiting for the setting of the date and the time.”
Jones, who is retiring from the Senate at the end of his term in January, indicated Meeks might be seeking an escape plan after calling on ministers of churches with predominantly African-American congregations to join him in seeking a Chicago school boycott on Sept. 2 and making a symbolic effort to enroll students in the wealthy New Trier Township school district.
“I’ve got to talk to Sen. Meeks,” Jones said, adding that he was “trying to get everyone together.”
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
* Bad budget news is buried during Obama’s acceptance speech…
Thirteen state historic sites and 11 parks will close, and human services will be affected as the Blagojevich administration said Thursday it will lay off 325 workers.
The tourist attractions include the reconstructed log cabin of Abraham Lincoln’s father and stepmother near Charleston, set to close Oct. 1, just five months before the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth.
Four state agencies will cut their work forces this fall because of the $1.4 billion Gov. Rod Blagojevich took out of a state budget he said wasn’t balanced. The cuts include 179 positions at the Department of Children and Family Services and 73 at the Department of Human Services. Another 127 DCFS workers will keep their jobs but be moved to positions or areas where there are vacancies.
* Here is a list of closures:
STATE PARKS
* Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park
* Illini State Park near Marseilles
* Wolf Creek State Park
* Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
* Lowden State Park, Oregon
* Hidden Springs State Forest, Strasburg
* Channahon Parkway State Park, Channahon
* Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris
* Kickapoo State Park, Oakwood
* Moraine View State Park, Leroy
* Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton
STATE HISTORIC SITES
* Lincoln’s New Salem, Petersburg: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open five days per week, and received 432,176 visitors in 2007.
* Lincoln Tomb, Springfield: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open seven days per week but will reduce operations to five days per week starting September 1 due to the layoff of seasonal workers. The Tomb had 339,073 visitors in 2007.
* Old State Capitol, Springfield: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open five days per week, and had 109,254 visitors in 2007.
* Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, Springfield: Will open seven days per week in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open on Saturdays only and had 37,774 visitors in 2007.
* Dana-Thomas House, Springfield: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 41,045 visitors in 2007.
* Vachel Lindsay Home, Springfield: Will be open on a limited schedule, with hours to be determined by staff at the Old State Capitol who also manage this site. The site is currently open on Saturdays only, and had 2,472 visitors in 2007.
* Cahokia Mounds, Collinsville: The site will remain open five days per week. It had 329,428 visitors in 2007.
* Lewis and Clark, Hartford: The site will remain open five days per week, and had 96,188 visitors in 2007.
* Ulysses S. Grant Home, Washburne House and Old Market House, Galena: The Grant Home will remain open five days per week using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the Illinois Bureau of Tourism. The Washburne House and the Old Market House will remain open on their current schedules using volunteers: Washburne House, open Fridays only; Old Market House, open five days per week. These Galena sites had 113,328 visitors in 2007.
* Douglas Tomb, Chicago: The site will remain open five days per week. The sole employee lives on-site and is needed to provide security. The site had 13,456 visitors in 2007.
* Pullman, Chicago: The site will not be impacted. It will remain open by appointment only. The sole employee maintains the collections, works with volunteers and provides security.
* Black Hawk, Rock Island: The Hauberg Indian Museum will close October 1, but the natural areas and lodge will remain open five days per week. The site had 138,668 visitors in 2007.
* Lincoln Log Cabin, near Charleston: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 82,735 visitors in 2007.
* David Davis Mansion, Bloomington: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 49,468 visitors in 2007.
* Fort de Chartres, Prairie du Rocher: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 38,100 visitors in 2007.
* Vandalia Statehouse, Vandalia: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 31,690 visitors in 2007.
* Bishop Hill Museum, Colony Church and Bjorklund Hotel: These three buildings will close October 1 but will be open on a limited basis for special events. They are currently open five days per week, and had 19,551 visitors in 2007.
* Carl Sandburg, Galesburg: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 8,598 visitors in 2007.
* Cahokia Courthouse, Cahokia: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 8,414 visitors in 2007.
* Bryant Cottage, Bement: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. The site is currently open four days per week, and had 5,176 visitors in 2007.
* Jubilee College, near Brimfield: The site will close October 1. It is currently open five days per week, and had 72,780 visitors in 2007.
* Apple River Fort, Elizabeth: The site will close October 1. It is currently open five days per week, and had 24,693 visitors in 2007.
* Fort Kaskaskia and Pierre Menard Home, Ellis Grove: These two sites, including the campground at Fort Kaskaskia, will close October 1. These sites are currently open five days per week, and had 23,086 visitors in 2007.
* Mt. Pulaski Courthouse, Mt. Pulaski, and Postville Courthouse, Lincoln, will remain open four days per week, and Metamora Courthouse, Metamora will remain open five afternoons per week. These sites are operated with volunteers.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
* This is interesting…
As his sentencing nears, pressure is mounting on Tony Rezko to cooperate with federal investigations into some of the highest-profile politicians in the state — including Gov. Blagojevich. […]
Now, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times that Rezko has been seen at the federal courthouse as many as a dozen times since his June conviction. He’s been held since then at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago.
* So is this…
A state panel Wednesday urged Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration to cancel a multimillion-dollar deal to rent office space from a politically connected developer whose family has been a major donor to the governor.
Under the lease, the state is paying downtown Chicago rental rates—more than $19 per square foot—for a building in economically depressed Harvey that was conceived as a model center for child welfare agencies but never reached its potential.
The lease is at the center of what has been a quiet but intense fight between the Blagojevich administration, which sought to sweeten and extend the contract, and a little-known oversight panel.
“It is a bad situation, and every month we delay, the taxpayers of Illinois are paying money for no reason,” said Edward Bedore, a member of the Procurement Policy Board who calls the deal “outrageous.”
* And this is a bit ironic…
Here’s the rest of the story on Gov. Blagojevich’s announcement this week that he wants to “rock the system” with new ethics reforms:
The West Side building where the governor held his news conference was once co-owned by Ali D. Ata. That would be the same Ali Ata who has pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges involving Rezko, a former Blagojevich adviser and campaign fund-raiser.
Blagojevich hired Ata to head the Illinois Finance Authority in January 2004 even though Ata and three partners didn’t pay the mortgage on the 3500 W. Grand building they’d been leasing to the state and had been foreclosed upon in September 2003. In the 10 years before the foreclosure, Ata and his partners had taken in $3.2 million in rent from taxpayers.
At Rezko’s trial, Ata — a onetime Rezko business partner — testified he made hefty campaign contributions to Blagojevich, at Rezko’s urging, to land his state post. Blagojevich has denied that the contributions were behind Ata’s hiring.
* A missed opportunity…
State Sen. Rev. James Meeks said on Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Co., that he would continue to push his boycott of the first day of school in Chicago.
However, in Chicago, dozens of parents said the idea was not for them, and would walk their children to class, NBC5’s Dick Johnson reported.
“On the first day of school, we are going to work to make sure that 100 percent of Chicago Public School children are in school on that first day,” said Phillip Jackson of the Black Star Project. […]
“I talked to the governor last night, I talked to the speaker yesterday,” Meeks said. “They said that sometime this (Wednesday) morning, we’ll schedule a time to meet.”
That meeting apparently didn’t happen.
* Sad…
Layoffs, furloughs and a hiring freeze are being implemented by Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes to cope with cuts made to his office budget by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The comptroller - just the latest among statewide elected officials to implement such measures - is also offering incentives for workers to retire early in hopes of avoiding even further involuntary cuts.
* Related…
* “If you do things the right way, pay your dues, you get to be Dan Rostenkowski — you don’t get to be president,” said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “Chicago politics is not geared to producing presidents — it produces aldermen and mayors.”
* Creators Syndicate is pleased to announce that Robert D. Novak will be writing occasional columns
* A New York financial services firm that employs Mayor Daley’s nephew stands to make millions if the mayor gets his way and the Chicago Children’s Museum moves from Navy Pier to Grant Park.
* Differences pushed aside
* Suburban school districts, police working out protest logistics - Officials say they will welcome Chicago students
* Gaines’ perspective
* Dan Hynes Speaks before Illinois Delegates
* And no footsie. Please.
* SJ-R Opinion: Good ideas, wrong tactics on ethics bill
* Duckworth blasts McCain over military policy
* Maybe the good people of Denver should leave Chicago pizza to Chicagoans
* The 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield has ruled that a hospital in Urbana has to pay property taxes. The court agreed with the state Department of Revenue and local tax authorities, who contend that Provena Covenant Medical Center doesn’t provide enough charity care to be tax exempt.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008
* I think I made a mistake by not going to the convention…
An emotional U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. called on warring Democrats to unite Wednesday at their national convention and said he wouldn’t be satisfied unless Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan hugged.
On a makeshift stage at the hotel where the Illinois delegation is staying, Madigan got up and walked toward Blagojevich and the two hugged.
The moment came after Jackson teared up when he hugged Mayor Richard Daley, saying he had tried to get to know the mayor for 14 years. Just two years ago Jackson was incessantly criticizing Daley as he explored and then backed away from a potential challenge in the 2007 mayor’s race.
Jackson also hugged Debbie Halvorson, with whom he’s been sparring publicly, and Bobby Rush.
* More from this morning…
Jackson was overheard saying, “I won’t be satisfied until the governor and Michael Madigan hug too.”
Then… Blagojevich and Madigan actually did hug, and a standing ovation followed, with the room erupting in cheers.
Wow.
*** VIDEO UPDATE *** From Chicago Public Radio…
*** VIDEO UPDATE 2 *** The Tribune has another video posted.
*** VIDEO UPDATE 3 *** The governor talks about the morning’s events…
* From CPR’s blog…
What a morning at the IL delegation breakfast at the Denver Marriott! Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. talked about reconciliation and bringing the IL democratic party together. He pointed out Congressman Bobby Rush and jumped off the podium to reconcile. They hugged on the floor which was a very powerful moment. He then called out Michael Sneed of the Sun-Times and reconciled with the media. In the video below, he starts by asking if there is anyone else he should reconcile with since he’s on a roll. Mayor Daley surprisingly steps forward and hugs Congressman Jackson Jr. That’s just the beginning of one of the biggest stories of the IL delegation here at the DNC.
* Some were skeptical…
Following the rousing speech by Jackson, Madigan declined to comment.
Senate President Emil Jones Jr. seemed skeptical.
“It all remains to be seen, you know,” said the Blagojevich ally. “So I don’t know whether it is genuine or not.”
*** PHOTO UPDATE *** From the Daily Herald…
* The goodwill started yesterday, apparently…
Illinois delegates have been wondering how the tension between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan will play out when both of the state party leaders showed up in the same room at the Democratic National Convention.
But they were all smiles and yucking it up Tuesday afternoon during a long private chat after the governor arrived fashionably late at an Illinois reception hosted by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. […]
The speaker’s 22-year-old son, Andrew, may have played the role of intermediary or at least a neutral topic of discussion as the governor asked about his new career in real estate with Mesirow Financial Corp.
Andrew is a born conciliator. The governor has told me before that the thing he respects most about Mike Madigan is the way he’s raised his son, Andrew, and the relationship the two have with each other.
* It turns out that Gary LaPaille, who has long been estranged from Madigan, may have played a major role…
Mr. Madigan and Mr. Blagojevich were, typically, in separate corners of the room when Mr. Madigan’s former chief of staff, Gary LaPaille, went and talked to each man and then, eventually, pulled them together.
Messrs LaPaille and Madigan themselves have feuded for years. But according to sources who asked not to be named, Mr. LaPaille told his ex-boss that if the two of them could talk together, so could Mr. Madigan and Mr. Blagojevich. In that conversation, sources said, the speaker agreed to take a second look at the governor’s proposed capital program, which has been stalled in Mr. Madigan’s House.
A Madigan-LaPaille rapproachment is even more unlikely than a Madigan-Blagojevich truce, so this was truly something out of the ordinary.
* After yesterday’s private meeting…
Blagojevich also acknowledged that [he and Speaker Madigan] discussed the possibility of meeting, as early as Wednesday, on a proposal put forth by Sen. James Meeks to provide about $40 million to a pilot program of giving extra help to some schools in high poverty areas in Chicago and around the state.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Rep. David Miller and Senate President Emil Jones have been on the outs for years. But the on-stage hugging was apparently contagious. From a Rep. Miller press release…
This morning Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and I put aside our political differences and embraced. I witnessed the coming together (and embracing), of Congressman Jackson and Mayor Daley. And, most notably, Governor Blagojevich, and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan, who have been at odds, embraced one another after hearing Jackson’s compelling call for Party unity. It was a symbol that goes beyond description.
*** UPDATE 5 *** Ben Calhoun has a great play-by-play of this morning’s activities, and so does Lauren Fitzpatrick.
* The Sun-Times has more on the future…
Does it mean Illinois Democrats will move forward on a road and infrastructure construction bill and other other issues gridlocked in Springfield since Blagojevich and Madigan stopped communicating?
Maybe not.
Madigan huddled with Blagojevich for 20 minutes at a Daley party Tuesday — the first talk between the two in a while — then Madigan huddled with Meeks at this morning’s breakfast. But after the celebrated hug, Madigan left the breakfast refusing to take any questions.
Madigan’s spokesman threw cold water on the idea of reading anything substantive into the “symbolic gesture” of a hug.
Meeks said he had no word on whether a lengthier meeting would happen. He said his first-day-of-school boycott will go ahead Tuesday unless state leaders agree to free up $120 million for schools in poorer districts.
Blagojevich doubted an agreement could be reached by Tuesday and urged Meeks to call off his boycott anyway.
“Notwithstanding the love fest you just saw, and all the hugging and kissing, I can’t commit Speaker Madigan or Senate President Jones to something,” Blagojevich said. “I don’t know that it’s physically possible to round everybody up.”
But Blagojevich said he was optimistic the hug might turn out to be more than just a symbolic gesture. The governor at first refused to discuss what he and Madigan said to each other at Daley’s party.
“I did ask him, ‘I hear that you’re prepared to meet with us and Rev. Meeks,’ and he said he would,” Blagojevich said.
* As does the AP…
It remained to be seen whether Wednesday’s reconciliation would survive the delegation’s return to Illinois.
“I just wonder if it’s the altitude,” Blagojevich said later, referring to Denver’s thin mountain air. “We’ll find out when we get back home.”
*** UPDATE 6 *** If you’re watching tonight’s convention coverage, you’ll see that as of 6:10 pm, Speaker Madigan and Gov. Blagojevich are sitting next to each other at the convention. Dan Hynes is next to Blagojevich on the other side.
Strange days
* Related…
* School Boycott On or Off?
* Blagojevich to run again. In Denver he says, “I love my job.”
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
* You can read the governor’s amendatory veto message of HB824, the ethics bill, by clicking here.
* Unrelated, but the Sun-Times has a late afternoon convention report with some interesting quotes…
Mayoral brother Bill Daley has arrived at the Democratic National Convention, adding a fifth (at least) potential candidate for Illinois governor to the mix here. […]
“January” he said, trying to get back to his breakfast. “I’m going to talk about it next year in a serious way.” […]
“It’s certainly something I’m thinking about,” [Lisa] Madigan said of the governors race. “I’m not going to be supporting Gov. Blagojevich for a third term. I think we need better leadership in the state of Illinois. … It’s not news.”
Asked about Blagojevich’s criticism of her father, House Speaker Mike Madigan, for not attending an Illinois delegation event with Blagojevich, Madigan replied, “I’m not part of their fight, so go find them.”
Giannoulias denied the speeches by himself, Madigan and Hynes on Monday night were a “test run” for the 2010 Democratic governor’s primary.
* More on Bill Daley from Sweet…
*He talked to potential donors, asking one I chatted with to stay neutral and not take sides in what could be a crowded primary field.
*He’s already polled statewide and found that he could sell the Daley brand Downstate.
The big question is will voters–especially south of I-80 in Downstate Illinois–not want to vote for Daley because his brother Richard is Mayor of Chicago, his brother John is Finance Chair of the Cook County Board and his father was the longtime legendary Chicago mayor. Daley found that the name Daley is respected in government.
*He’s tested his names against all the players–Gov. Blagojevich, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and found nothing in the results that would discourage him from running.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
* National Review’s Freddoso points out some hypocrisy…
Denver — “[E]thics reforms means getting officials to limit gifts to themselves.” Those are the words of Emil Jones, president of the Illinois senate, in his speech at the Democratic Convention Monday.
Jones would know. He is Barack Obama’s political mentor, and he can now give himself a $578,000 gift. It is a perfectly legal and completely corrupt arrangement that he made ten years ago, with just a little help from Obama.
* And so does Sweet…
Democratic Party of Illinois Chairman Michael J. Madigan is hosting a Coors Field reception Wednesday honoring Barack Obama bankrolled by corporations with interests often before the Illinois General Assembly. Madigan is also the powerful Illinois House Speaker.
While Obama’s campaign does not accept contributions from federal lobbyists and political action committees–and Obama bemoans on the campaign trail the influence corporations have over Congress– the Democratic convention here which will hand Obama the Democratic presidential nomination is being underwritten by a variety of corporate sponsors.
* More bickering in Denver…
Some Illinois state legislators are furious with Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for airing the state’s dirty laundry yesterday, while other top Democrats from Barack Obama’s home state took the Democratic National Convention stage to tout their former Springfield colleague.
The controversial Blagojevich was left off Monday’s program – and then he picked that day to announce, back in Chicago, that he was rewriting a major campaign ethics bill that the Legislature passed unanimously this year. Key lawmakers have said they’ll fight him on it. […]
State Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Coal City: “He couldn’t stand not getting attention when we were all out here.’’
State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Chicago: “It was purposefully done on a day that most Democratic elected officials in Illinois were out of town . . . I think the reception here will not be warm.’’
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan: “It’s more antics.’’ Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn: “It’s somewhat petty to pick that particular day to try and take away attention.’’
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock: “He was trying in some desperate way to make himself seem somewhat relevant . . . He’s not wanted here.’’
* Rep. Jack Franks, Hillary Clinton’s Illinois co-chair, on Don & Roma…
On Blagojevich claiming that he wasn’t snubbed by the convention: “Well, why would that surprise you? He still denies he’s Public Official A.”
* Comptroller Dan Hynes is a bit too optimistic…
“I think this week the unity and the common purpose we have of electing Barack Obama is overwhelming, so I feel very confident that the Illinois Democrats are going to be united this week and throughout the election season,” Hynes said.
* It only took them two months, but the Tribune finally noticed that Bill Daley is considering a run for governor…
William Daley, the brother of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, did not dismiss talk Tuesday that he might become one of an array of Democrats seeking the job of Illinois governor in 2010, a post Gov. Rod Blagojevich may try to keep.
Daley, a former Commerce secretary in President Bill Clinton’s administration and the 2000 campaign manager of former Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign, told reporters at the Illinois delegation’s meeting that it would not be wrong for them to mention him as a potential candidate.
Daley, who is now an executive with J.P. Morgan Chase, briefly considered making a bid for the governor’s office in 2002, the year the embattled Blagojevich became the first Democrat in more than a quarter century to win election to the post.
Daley has said little about his interest in seeking the governor’s office in two years, when Blagojevich’s second term ends. But Daley acknowledged he has been receiving encouragement for a run for the post and mentioned the Democratic Party’s problems in Springfield, where infighting has kept government at a standstill. […]
He told reporters that he would “talk about next year in a serious way” in January 2009.
* Sweet has more…
Today is the 88th anniversary of women getting the vote and former Commerce Sec. Bill Daley, a top Obama advisor is at Day Two of the Democratic convention co- hosting a reception for the nation’s female Democratic governors, wearing his bankers’ hat. The event is sponsored by JP Morgan Chase; Jamie Dimon, its CEO and chairman and Daley, the vice chairman. Governors attending are Janet Napolitano of Arizonia, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Christine Gregoire of Washington and Ruth Ann Miner of Delaware. Daley is contemplating running for governor in 2010.
* Speaker Madigan downplayed the Emil Jones “Uncle Tom” imbroglio…
llinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) isn’t worried about a spat among Illinois Democrats in Denver this week. Delmarie Cobb, a delegate for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), claims that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) called her an “Uncle Tom” for not supporting U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Jones says he called her a “Doubting Thomas.”
Madigan says it’s not a big deal. “Democrats are Democrats,” he said. “There are different people among Democrats. But as we move to the general election, we’re all being to be brought together, and we’re all going to working for the same direction, which is to change the direction of this country.”
* Carol Marin…
But in this history-making week when the first African American in the nation’s history accepts a presidential nomination, we are reminded that race and gender are unequal conversations in the view of many in my generation of women. And those women felt stung again, just as Clinton delegate Delmarie Cobb did this week when she was accused by Obama’s mentor, state Senate President Emil Jones, of being an “Uncle Tom.”
* Emil Jones this morning…
* Lisa Madigan on Don & Roma…
“The social person in my family is really my mom. They’re like polar opposites… They couldn’t do your show. My mom could, but not my father.”
* More mid afternoon convention stuff…
* Sun-Times convention blog
* Patterson: Illinois delegates’ first-day reviews of the convention logistics were not exactly glowing. When a bus ride from the hotel to the Pepsi Center (which you can see from the hotel) takes 90 minutes, patience quickly evaporates. Then, there’s a significant hike to get into the center’s limited access gates and a thorough pat down by security. “Next time … I’ll bring my lunch,” Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said of the bus ride.
* Duckworth to speak on veterans issues at convention
* Gun charges expected in Obama plot: Three men who authorities initially feared were plotting to assassinate Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention are facing only gun charges—signaling they never posed a real threat.
* Impressions from Monday’s Convention
* Daley: OK to like McCain, don’t vote for him
* Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr: “Barack Obama has the capacity to hit,” Jackson said a breakfast panel just before the opening of the Democratic National Convention. “But he is in the situation where he can’t hit back, which Jackie Robinson could not do. … He had to be able to run the bases, even though the crowd was jeering the first African-American on the field.”
* City clerk given night’s toughest job
* Lisa Madigan defends honor of Cubs fans after White Sox fan Barack Obama insults their baseball integrity on ESPN
* Sun-Times: Illinois Democrats have the best seats in the house this week at the Democratic National Convention. And they’re hoping to come home and pick up the best seats in the House, boosting the Democratic majority in Congress.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
* Senate President Emil Jones continues to deny that he called Hillary Clinton supporter Delmarie Cobb an “Uncle Tom,” and there’s even a disagreement over how, exactly, he apologized to Cobb…
“He came over, sat down. A couple of people obviously had something to do with it,” Cobb said, without elaborating. “He sat down at the table with me. He said, ‘I apologize and let’s move forward.’ I accepted his apology and said, ‘OK, we will.’ It was never my intention to continue things that would hurt Barack Obama.”
Jones, however, offered a much less apologetic version of his Monday conversation with Cobb.
“I said ‘If that’s what you think I said, I don’t want to have no hard feelings, so I apologize. We’ve known each other too long.’”
Describing the latest encounter to a Sun-Times reporter on the convention floor Monday evening, Jones still insisted he never called Cobb an “Uncle Tom,” saying “But that’s not what I said”
* And one of the witnesses to the alleged event backs up Sen. Jones…
Latasha Thomas, Chicago City Council 17th Ward alderman, called the Daily Herald to say she witnessed the event and never heard Jones say “Uncle Tom.”
Another aldermanic witness, Freddrenna Lyle backed up Cobb’s version.
* Mayor Daley wasn’t exactly helpful to Jones…
“I think it’s a misuse of words. There’s no ‘Uncle Toms,’ anybody supporting Hillary, Obama. It’s just a mischoice of words,” the mayor said.
Translation: Daley believes Jones said it, but “mischose” his words. Daley has not been all that pleased with Jones lately, so this flap had to make him smile just a wee bit.
* Roland Burris wasn’t all that helpful, either…
Roland Burris, the former attorney general and the first black man to win a major statewide office, minimized the importance of the incident. He didn’t condone using the phrase “Uncle Tom” but said it was probably made in jest.
* And Rep. Monique Davis piled on…
Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, offered one possible solution, at least when it comes to Jones.
“I think Barack Obama would be wise to keep him locked up in the basement until the election is over,” said Davis, who, like Jones, is black.
* Meanwhile, the Obama-controlled convention allowed Sen. Jones to give his speech yesterday to the assembled crowd despite the controversy, but the DNC’s web masters pulled a George Orwell on Jones…
Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, gave a brief speech at the convention, one of several Illinois officials. CSPAN ID’d Jones as an Illinois state senator, omitting the president title.
And the convention Web site has yet (8:26 p.m. Denver time) to post his speech. Those before and after are posted but not his.
Several hours later, the speech still wasn’t posted.
Jones was apparently “disappeared.”
* Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, a Tier One level congressional candidate, was reportedly apopleptic about Jones’ comments.
“She was talking to Jones outside the breakfast [meeting Monday morning for Illinois Democrats] and I overheard something about this destroying her career,” e-mailed a reporter pal.
* Related…
* Arrests made in possible plot against Obama
* Sleeper statewide candidate in 2010: Miguel del Valle
* EricV: One interesting little comment is that since Illinois is, of course, front and center they’re having a little problem with the seating. Apparently Illinois always does assigned seating and they’ve got Mayor Daley, Gov. Blagojevich, Mike Madigan, Dick Durbin, and all the big names in the front row. Usually these are the best seats in the house, but this year they’re like the first row in a movie theater. Or maybe a better simile is that of a concert because there’s plenty of fans standing at the base of the stage making those front row seats really bad… They’re trying to redo the seating behind me right now…
* At the convention, Illinois delegation split by racial, gender discord
* Alice Palmer didn’t want to be photographed
* Land of Lincoln is a house divided
* Audio of Lisa Madigan’s speech to DNC
* DNC Botches Alexi’s Name
* Lisa Madigan transcends nepotism
* PrairieStateBlue coverage
* Obama: “Oh, that’s easy. White Sox. I’m not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren’t watching the game. It’s not serious. White Sox, that’s baseball. Southside.”
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
* Breaks common at affluent schools are rare in impoverished areas…
All 10 affluent schools offered at least 20 minutes of daily recess, usually tacked on to a lunch period of at least 20 minutes. Most of the impoverished schools offered no regular recess and a 20-minute lunch, though two of the schools did squeeze in 10 minutes of recess daily.
The typical affluent school featured far more phys ed than the one period a week usually found at the impoverished schools. And both art and music were common at advantaged schools, while impoverished ones mostly offered art and no music, though one had both and two had neither.
* Meeks Offers to Call Off School Boycott
* Multi-Million Deal Could Prevent School Boycott
* Meeks has new school pilot project - Plan ties funding to performance…
A Democratic state senator and a former Republican candidate for governor on Monday proposed a three-year, $40 million pilot project aimed at proving that better funding and more resources would give low-performing schools a lift.
The proposal could lay the groundwork for the long-sought statewide overhaul of public school funding, possibly including a tax increase, once the 2010 race for governor is over.
Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago), who outlined the proposal with GOP businessman Ron Gidwitz in a meeting with the Tribune editorial board, also tied the proposal to his call for Chicago Public Schools students to boycott the first day of classes Sept. 2.
Meeks said he will rescind his boycott plan if three fellow Chicago Democrats, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan, would publicly back the pilot proposal. Meeks said he hoped to meet with them in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.
* Officials awaiting word on IDNR budget cuts
* Blagojevich: Ethics bill will get complete overhaul…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Monday he’s following through on his promise to “rock the system” by drastically changing an ethics-reform measure to target lawmakers while cracking down on campaign contributors with large state contracts.
Blagojevich, at a news conference in Chicago, said he’ll use both his executive-order and amendatory-veto power to rewrite the measure the legislature sent him in May.
The announcement drew an immediate rebuke from reform advocates and lawmakers, who promised to try to overturn the changes.
* Ethics bill vetoed, sent back
Quinlan said the governor cut the provision of the bill that would restrict donations from people bidding for contracts because it could be an unconstitutional restriction of free speech. Quinlan said the governor strengthened the bill in other ways, such as prohibiting lobbyists and lawyers from donating on behalf of state contractors they represent.
Asked why he did not sign the bill as passed and seek to improve the law later, Blagojevich put the blame on lawmakers for not acting sooner on ethics legislation.
* State Lawmakers Strike Back at Governor
* A governor’s charade…
Rather than push legislators to write his “improvements” into law, he’d rather grandstand for the cameras, make noise about reform, and hope that—with public attention focused on the Democratic National Convention in Denver—nobody is paying much attention to the culture of political sleaze back home in Illinois. For those of you reading from Denver: Nothing has changed. The culture of political sleaze is as virulent as ever.
* Eastern budget avoids governor’s slash
* Mounds supporters call for federal takeover…
Pauketat and other archaeologists have written letters to state and federal officials urging an agreement. They say the federal government is far better funded to take care of the 2,200-acre property, home to the world’s largest prehistoric earthworks and the centerpiece of a village that once housed 10,000 people.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Monday, Aug 25, 2008
* The time off from work was going swimmingly until I made the mistake of checking the Intertubes this afternoon…
A black Hillary Clinton delegate on Sunday accused state Senate President Emil Jones of calling her an “Uncle Tom.”
Jones — Barack Obama’s political mentor — denied using the racially loaded slur against Chicago political consultant Delmarie Cobb, but two aldermen who said they witnessed the Saturday night exchange back up Cobb’s account.
“Last night, I was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ by Emil Jones in the lobby of the hotel, right in front of [Ald.] Freddrenna Lyle and [Ald.] Leslie Hairston and [Ald.] Latasha Thomas,” said Cobb, a member of Clinton’s Illinois Steering Committee. “I walked over to him and asked him, ‘What did you just call me?’ ” […]
Lyle, alderman of the South Side’s 6th Ward, said she was standing with Jones when the conversation took place in the lobby of the hotel where the Illinois delegation is staying, but she dismissed it as Jones engaging in harmless banter with someone he knows, although Lyle said she told him, “Emil, that’s bad even for you.”
* And then today…
The chief of Illinois’ National Organization for Women chapter today called on Barack Obama’s “political godfather” to resign immediately from the Illinois state Senate for calling an African-American Hillary Clinton delegate an “Uncle Tom.”
“That was a pretty horrible comment,” said Illinois NOW president Bonnie Grabenhofer, also a Clinton delegate, who issued the demand for Senate President Emil Jones’ resignation. […]
“I’ve never heard anything as awful or as sexist or as racist as to call her that for supporting Hillary,” said Clinton delegate Gay Bruhn, another NOW member in Illinois who called for a public apology from Jones.
* Larry believes this doesn’t sound like something Emil Jones would say.
I beg to differ. Jones has often referred to African-American Illinois House members as “House n—-rs” for following House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is white, instead of doing what Jones believes is right for the black community.
Larry does make this point, however…
What is missing is that Bruhn isn’t just another NOW member, she’s [Illinois NOW president Bonnie Grabenhofer’s] partner. That would be mentioned in any story referring to a heterosexual couple. So the story misses the context and treats same sex couples differently.
* Patterson interviewed Delmarie Cobb and it’s clear that she is not exactly an unbiased source…
“So when I tell that story he comes over to me and he said, ‘There were 35,000 in Springfield (for Obama’s introduction of vice presidential pick Joe Biden) 35,000 people in Springfield’
“I said, ‘Well that doesn’t mean anything, just that 35,000 more people drank the Kool-Aid.’
“I said, ‘See, he will not let this alone.’ I said, ‘What are you signifying.’
“He said, ‘I’m not signifying.’
“I said, ‘Oh, they’ve got another name for it now?’
“I said, ‘Why can’t you be gracious in victory as I am gracious in defeat?’” [emphasis added]
* Even so, there are apparently witnesses besides Ald. Lyle…
Cobb and at least two Chicago aldermen told friends that Jones made the “Uncle Tom” reference after a back-and-forth with the Senate president that started lightheartedly.
* And I doubt all of them could have misheard Jones…
Jones, himself an African-American, maintained Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Chicago public relations executive, misunderstood a comment in which he said it was time for those who continue to back the New York senator and former first lady to stop being “Doubting Thomases” and rally around Obama.
“She walked away and I said, ‘All you Doubting Thomases have to get on board,” Jones said of his discussion with Cobb over the weekend. “She turned around and said, ‘You called us?’ and I said, ‘No. That’s not so.’ I thought it was all over with. She just caught the last word of what I said. People make mistakes.”
* Check out some video here.
* Related…
* Obama unfamiliar with Jones’ alleged comment
* Obama team wants to smother diehard Clinton backers with respect
* Durbin: Feuding State Dems owe it to Obama to lay low
* Mayor Daley on message
* Illinois In Spotlight As Dem Convention Kicks Off
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Monday, Aug 25, 2008
* Here we go again…
Gov. Blagojevich [announced today] that he’s rewriting a state-government ethics bill that has been sitting on his desk, adding changes that include sweeping new limits on campaign contributions and an effort to stop “double-dipping” by some legislators.
The governor also plans to use his power as the state’s chief executive to impose a ban on “businesses, their affiliates and affiliated persons” with state contracts that total more than $50,000 from making contributions to himself, other state constitutional officeholders, legislators, candidates for state office and state political parties, effective Jan. 1, 2009.
* Here’s how the legislation would be changed, according to the governor’s office, with commentary by myself in brackets and in bold…
* Expands contributions ban: Governor Blagojevich is using his constitutional authority to improve House Bill 824 by applying the campaign contribution restrictions contained in the bill to all constitutional officers, members of the General Assembly, candidates for office, and state parties. [A shot at House Speaker Michael Madigan, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois - This provision was first suggested by Senate President Emil Jones, a Madigan enemy.]
* Requires legislators to affirmatively accept pay raises: Unlike the current system, legislative pay raises would have to be passed by both houses in order to take effect. [Also a suggestion from Senate President Emil Jones, who believes that the House always takes the easy way out by rejecting the pay raises in the hopes that the Senate will not follow suit.]
* Double-dippers: Outside employment by legislators with any unit of state, county or municipal government would be prohibited (except teachers, school counselors, university instructors, police officers, firefighters and elected officials). [The governor has repeatedly blamed Chicago “double dipper” legislators for killing his capital projects plan, so this is retribution on a grand scale.]
* Disclosure: Lawmakers and their spouses must disclose lobbying activity before boards, commissions, and units of local government. Legislators would be required to disclose their client, who they lobbied, and their fees. [This is a direct shot at Rep. John Fritchey, one of the co-authors of the original ethics bill who represents legal clients in Chicago zoning matters.]
* There is an agreement to override any gubernatorial changes, however…
“We’ve already talked about it: We will override him,’’ warned state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Chicago Heights. “This has to be signed, as is. . . . We have worked way too long with this.”
* And…
The chief Senate sponsor of the bill, Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, predicted both houses will override the veto. While elements of the governor’s action makes sense, the bill that passed was a consensus measure that lawmakers agreed was the most that could be approved, Mr. Harmon said.
* As always, there’s a twist…
But Senate President Emil Jones, a staunch Blagojevich ally, said he was not aware of any agreement to move an override of the governor’s changes. [emphasis added]
That is simply not true.
* Even so, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is seeing right through this ploy…
“The governor claims he will strengthen HB 824 with an amendatory veto and executive order, but it is apparent he is trying to bypass the legislative process, rather than work towards real reform. Some of his proposed changes have merit and should be debated as separate bills. In the meantime, the General Assembly should reject his veto and put the most important reform in state statutes.”
* And here’s the trick box…
If the Legislature refuses to accept his changes and doesn’t vote to block them, the original pay-to-play prohibitions would die entirely — and, ironically, Blagojevich could hit legislators for blocking ethics reform that he had a hand in killing.
* Related…
* Governor’s press release: AV Fact Sheet
* Governor’s press release: Ethics reform
* Governor signs executive order on ethics reform
* The devil is in the details with ethics reforms
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
Monday, Aug 25, 2008
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
llinois Senate President Emil Jones has never been fully appreciated as a legislative leader. Jones, who announced his retirement last week after years at the helm, has a manner of speaking which leads far too many people to assume that he is not intelligent.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He has been a supremely crafty tactician, who, despite all the bad raps and his recent blunders, has won far more than his share of legislative battles. He is literally a larger than life character.
Yet, there’s little doubt that Jones has been the most publicly vilified legislative leader in memory, particularly in the past two years.
His constant and unwavering support for Rod Blagojevich, the most unpopular (and most investigated) governor in the nation, certainly contributed to the shwacking. Jones stood by the governor’s hugely controversial Gross Receipts Tax idea last year when everyone else had abandoned it and when it had become clear that the proposal had probably killed off his professed life’s dream of enacting permanent, real education funding reform.
Jones appeared to brazenly block electric utility rate relief at the behest of his buddies at ComEd. He stood by the governor throughout a long, bitter overtime session last year and this year. His family benefitted from pay raises and no-bid contracts from the Blagojevich administration. He allegedly lied to House Speaker Michael Madigan about upholding last year’s budget agreement when he refused to override Blagojevich’s vetoes that targeted House Democrats and Senate Republicans for political punishment.
Jones blocked a constitutional amendment for recall of public officials and deliberately slow-walked an ethics reform bill at the governor’s behest. He railed against attempts to block a pay raise for lawmakers, infamously telling reporters that he needed that raise and some food stamps. And he just managed to replace himself on the November ballot with his son.
Sen. Jones has certainly become a liability for his members. You can’t get thumped for all of those outrages on an almost daily basis without at least some mud splashing on your rank and file. So his announcement last week that he would give up the Senate presidency may help ease the pain of some of his incumbents.
The retirement’s legislative impact is not completely clear. It’s thought that Speaker Madigan and maybe even some of Jones’ own members will want to put off a multi billion dollar capital construction plan until Jones leaves office. Why cut a deal now when a better one might be concocted after January?
There’s a legitimate concern in some circles about what this retirement announcement may mean for Jones’ fundraising. He is allowed to withdraw about $577,000 from his personal campaign fund because of a clause inserted into a mid 1990s ethics bill.
That would leave his bank balance at just over $1 million — about a half million shy of Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson’s June 30th total. Except for his most loyal friends, it’s difficult to see how Jones can easily add to that account now that he has made himself a lame duck.
Members were assured that there would be plenty of money in the campaign fund for incumbents, but Watson and his cohorts have to be breathing just a bit easier now that Jones has taken himself out of the game.
Meanwhile, loads of candidates are engaged in the Jones succession battle. It’s every man (literally, because there are no women in the race as I write this) for himself. And it’s far too early to make any predictions of how things will play out. There are no locks, there are no true frontrunners. This thing is wide open.
Also, word is that some candidates are already beginning to reach out to Senate Republicans in an effort to pad their margins and reach the magic number of 30 required to win the presidency — a majority of those elected in the entire Senate, not just among Democrats.
But forget about those 30 votes today. The big problem now is just finding 19 votes — a majority of the Democratic caucus. Almost that many Democrats are currently floating their names for president.
There is certainly no shortage of egos in the General Assembly, and the Senate Democratic caucus has an overabundance. It will likely take some time before many are ready to set aside their vanity candidacies and start actively engaging in the process.
- posted by Rich Miller Comments Off
|
|
Support The Capitol Fax Blog
Visit our advertisers...
Search the 95th General Assembly By Bill Number
(example: HB0001)
|
Search the 95th General Assembly By Keyword
|
Quick Links
|
|