* Thank you, Stella. This made my entire morning…
GOV. BLAGOJEVICH hasn’t officially said he will run for a third term in 2010, but he has said that “I love my job . . . and there is no reason to think I don’t want to keep doing this job.” Well, my sources tell me that he is already planning a series of fund-raisers. And, if all goes well, one will be held in Chinatown on Dec. 3 and another Dec. 5 with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
I hate to break it to you, but that money may never wind up being spent in an actual campaign.
* Why would I say that? Maybe this…
Pushing further into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s inner circle, federal investigators have subpoenaed records involving a lobbyist friend who represented a hospital company that won a favorable state ruling.
The company’s for-profit affiliate donated $25,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign a month after the state’s action.
John Wyma, a top fundraiser and former Blagojevich aide, was named in a federal subpoena delivered two weeks ago to Provena Health, according to sources. It sought records about Provena’s lobbying relationship with Wyma, the donation and the company’s efforts to win approval for a new heart program.
* Or this…
In the lowest ratings ever recorded for an elected politician in nearly three decades of Tribune polls, a new survey found few approving of the job Blagojevich is doing as governor and even fewer who want him re-elected.
The results show the state’s first Democratic governor in a quarter-century has lost the confidence of voters in his own party. Moreover, the backing of one of his strongest voting blocs—African-Americans—appears to be falling away.
Overall, the survey of 500 registered likely voters conducted at the end of last week showed a mere 10 percent said they wanted Blagojevich re-elected in 2010, while three-fourths said they didn’t want him back for a third term.
* Or this…
A poll conducted for the Chicago Tribune found that just 10 percent of likely Illinois voters want Gov. Rod Blagojevich re-elected in 2010.
Seventy-five percent of people surveyed in the poll… say they don’t want the Democrat back for a third term.
* Read the full poll by clicking here.
* He’s like Kryptonite to candidates…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is used to raking in and spending big political dollars. This election season, he’s on the sidelines.
Blagojevich’s campaign this week filed a “non-participation” report with the State Board of Elections. That means he’s not giving out campaign cash to help other candidates or support or oppose policy issues on the ballot.
It also means he doesn’t have to disclose how much money he’s raised or spent this summer and fall until early next year.
* And this sort of stuff keeps a-coming…
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan has asked the state Ethics Commission to delay approving a request from the head the Illinois Toll Highway Authority to join a politically connected company that has won millions of dollars in tollway work.
Madigan believes the state should enforce the so-called revolving-door prohibition, which requires state employees to wait a year before working for companies they once hired or regulated, Madigan spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said Wednesday.
Brian McPartlin, the tollway’s executive director, asked the commission for a waiver from the one-year prohibition in the state’s ethics law.
* As does his penchant for Nixonian secrecy…
First, Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave out state-subsidized health care without permission.
Now, he won’t tell taxpayers how many people are participating, how much tax money has been spent, or even which state account he’s using to keep funds for the program.
The Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ rejection of The Associated Press’ request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act amplifies the mystery surrounding Blagojevich’s FamilyCare program and the administration’s reputation for secrecy after promising open government.
Pardon me if I just can’t believe he’ll actually run again.
Oops. Did I say “pardon”? That ain’t gonna happen, either.