Speak into the lapel

I've been joking with people at the Statehouse lately that there could be a lot of wired folks hanging around. In one instance, at least, that turned out to be true.

At least one official hired by Gov. Blagojevich's administration wore a hidden recording device as part of the federal government's ongoing investigation of the governor's hiring practices, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The person wore the wire for an undisclosed period of time, a source familiar with the probe said. That source confirmed the feds' tactic on the conditions that the individual who was wired not be identified and that those who have been recorded not be named.

Besides the wire, investigators also have interviewed several potential witnesses regarding the Democratic governor's hiring practices, the source said.

If somebody was wired, we could be getting close to an indictment.

Please try to refrain from speculating about who the wired person was. No names, please.

Question of the day

What, if any, impact do you think blogs will have on the 2006 Illinois campaign? Explain.

By the way, I don't just mean statewide races. I'm also asking about congressional, legislative and local contests.

And I'd also like to hear from other bloggers about how they plan to cover the various races.

A popular topic

My newspaper column this week is about Gov. Blagojevich's scandal woes. The last graf sums up my feelings.

Insiders say the governor is reluctant to dump or even distance himself from the politically connected insiders who helped get him elected and who have since raised huge mountains of cash for his campaign fund and, in Rezko's case, even helped pad his family's personal bank account. Until he makes a complete break with those people, it will be impossible to even start convincing voters that this governor is clean.

The Tribune's Rick Pearson includes a similar take in his story, "Dark cloud hovers over Blagojevich."

"His poll numbers are very bad, but they're not fatal at this point," said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. "But if you set yourself up with reform and renewal, and a new way of doing business, you set that up as a criterion, and it's an absolute standard people are going to use to judge you against," he said. "If you can't meet that basic level of character, if you can't be trusted on [reform], then how can voters trust you on any other initiative?"

The SJ-R's Bernie Schoenburg wrote a similar story, entitled "Blagojevich's shadow."

The Daily Herald's Eric Krol had an unusual twist.

There are probably only a few people who have a greater personal interest in what’s going on at the federal courthouse these days than Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich. [...]

With federal authorities now issuing subpoena after subpoena on Blagojevich’s administration in a seemingly ever-widening investigation into state hiring, the governor almost has to hope Ryan walks.

Brandon Honig, of the NW Indiana Times, concluded his piece, "More than half disapprove of Blago" with a quote from state Sen. Carol Ronen, a Blagojevich ally.

With a new election less than 13 months away, those headlines are causing some Democrats to worry about Blagojevich's chances for re-election. But Ronen, for one, remains confident.

"A lot of this noise out there detracts from our ability to talk about the positive things, but I think people are smart enough to see past all the cynical press to see that the governor has done a lot to help them."

Not in the top ten

For whatever reason, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza didn't include Illinois in his list of governor's races to watch.

I suppose not having a settled Republican field might be part of it, but an incumbent with approval ratings in the low 40s toupper 30s definitely rates a watch, even if it doesn't fit neatly into a Top Ten list.

Social Security resolution passes without rollcall

The House Republicans have ridiculed the House Democrats' attempt to glom onto the Social Security issue.

And for good reason. State legislators have no say over Social Security, so the local SocSec forums the HDems held all over the state meant little to nothing, except perhaps to distract attention from the Democrats' raiding of the state pension funds last spring.

With all the criticism, you'd think the HGOPs would have made more of a stink about this resolution last week.

HR654 "Urges President Bush and the United States Congress to resist radical changes to the Social Security system." It passed out of committee with both Republicans voting "Present," then passed the full House by voice vote. Nobody asked for a recorded rollcall.

Obviously, the Republicans had no desire to make a bad vote, which shows that while the forums had little to nothing to do with governance, they had everything to do with good politics. The way of the world... at least the world I work in.

As seen in today's Capitol Fax

Here are two background stories for a couple of items in today's Capitol Fax.

DCFS hit with another subpoena

Public Official Bails Out Sex Abuse Suspect

And here's a follow-up to a story that was covered first in Capitol Fax last week.

Web blog targets Paul Froehlich

Finally, here's a story I haven't written about yet, but I don't really know why.

The Duke factor

BREAKING NEWS.. GUILLEN & REINSDORF TO SPEAK

White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Manager Ozzie Guillen will speak to a special joint session of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, November 2nd, at noon, according to the governor's office and sources close to the White Sox.

The governor's office will reportedly be flying the two men and others from the organization down Wednesday morning.

Several people worked on this project, and I would like to thank each and every one of them for their efforts.

More details, if they're available, will be in Monday's Capitol Fax.

Go Sox.

(Many thanks to Mike and Pete for the photo submissions.)

Comments closed for the weekend

See you Monday.

UPDATE: Comments are now reopened.

Friday White Sox blogging... Final 2005 edition

My buddy Gabe Lopez is trying to convince White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to speak to a joint session of the General Assembly next week. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, there is this from the Rocky Movie Marathon Foundation blog:

Posted below are a couple of pics from the Illinois House chamber where State Representative Patricia Bellock (R-Hinsdale) put socks on every microphone.

She told me she went out to Walgreen's at 1 A.M. to try and buy 59 pairs of socks, one for all 118 legislators.

The store was closed, but she said she was back when it opened to buy them.

Go Sox.

Question of the day

Do you think there ought to be statewide standards for transporting firearms, or should municipalities have the right to impose their own restrictions? Explain.

Background info on this question can be found here.

News of the day

Senate overrides gun veto.

Rauschenberger explains absence.

More trouble for ICC Chairman.

All Kids passes House.

House votes to repeal Riverboat Gaming Act.

SurveyUSA poll

As promised in today's Capitol Fax, here is the SurveyUSA poll that shows Governor Rod Blagojevich has a 41/53 job approval/disapproval rating.

The monthly results dating back to May are here.

Results for all 50 states are here.

The Tribune's poll from earlier this month is here.

Discuss.

All Kids and illegal immigrants

The State Journal-Register's editorial page takes a quick look at Republican complaints that the governor's All Kids plan will lure illegal immigrants and the poor to Illinois with taxpayer-subsidized healthcare.

(T)he boogeyman being presented by several opponents to the bill is that "illegal immigrants" and other (poor) people without insurance will flock to Illinois and cost us all dearly. It's a nice scare tactic, but also a really bad and flawed argument.

Illinois already has a Medicaid program that insures the poor. If "poor" people were going to flock to the Land of Lincoln for low-cost health insurance, we suspect the migration would already have begun. Yet, other states also run Medicaid programs, so we can probably stand down our National Guard and let the borders remain open.

More on the audit

I reported on the new CMS audit in this morning's Capitol Fax, but Copley has a good story today, so I'm posting it here.

Six months after delivering a scathing audit of the Department of Central Management Services, Illinois Auditor General William Holland said the state agency still hasn't changed many of its practices.

A follow-up review released Wednesday by Holland showed that CMS has only implemented about 25 percent of the changes Holland recommended to improve operations at the agency. Holland's original audit blasted CMS for waste and mismanagement, including not following purchasing laws and being unable to document more than $600 million it claimed to have saved taxpayers. [...]

However, CMS acting Director Paul Campbell said Holland's review only covered a period until the end of June, the end of the state's last budget year. Since then, Campbell said, many more of Holland's recommendations for improvements have been implemented.

Utility stuff

A couple of items on utility issues:

Illinois political candidates have received more than $1 million in campaign contributions since 2003 from electric utility companies that now are pursuing a controversial rate-setting plan, a new report says.

The top donor was Exelon and its subsidiaries, including Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison, which gave $535,400, according to an Illinois Campaign for Political Reform report being released today. Ameren and its subsidiaries, which serve much of central Illinois, took second place by contributing $504,200, the report said.

The top recipients of the money were Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, who collected $219,400, and Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson of Greenville, who took in $163,250, according to the report.

And this:

Exelon Corp. announced a record quarterly profit Wednesday, then came under attack for allegedly threatening Illinois consumers with blackouts if they don't accept higher electricity rates.

The Citizens Utility Board asked the Illinois Commerce Commission for an emergency investigation into what it alleges are false claims by a group funded by Commonwealth Edison and its parent, Exelon. The group, Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, is trying to overcome opposition to ComEd's plans to buy power at auction, which is expected to raise residential electric rates.

"CORE is a ComEd front group that is trying to mislead people into supporting a massive rate hike at a time when the company has record earnings," said David Kolata, executive director of CUB. "They are not being honest."

But here's what could be the biggest news out of the Tribune story:

"ComEd is prepared to enter into an agreement that will keep the [electric] rates at or below the 1997 level," [Exelon CEO] Rowe said at a press conference Wednesday to discuss Exelon's earnings.

That could go a long way to solving the company's current problems with the governor.

Surreal

Now I know how all my friends who are Cardinals fans have felt over the years. I never thought I could have experienced this much joy from a simple game at my age. Amazing.

Go Sox.

This is your final World Series open thread.

Question of the day

Do you think the appointment of former CUB director Marty Cohen to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission was a good move or is unfair to the state's utility industry? Why or why not?

SWEEP!

Auditor General Update

The Auditor General's report that I wrote about in today's Capitol Fax will be posted here shortly after 10 this morning.

As I write this (9:25), Holland is testifying at the Legislative Audit Commission.

UPDATE: It's available now. Here is the digest.

Six of 10 FY05 contract files tested (60%) lacked documentation in one or more areas. Concerns were raised about the availability and completeness of information provided to the auditors. Numerous documents expected to be retained centrally in contract files were missing upon initial review. [...]

In another instance, two Department officials met with a potential vendor prior to the issuance of the RFP. No other vendors were contacted regarding the issuance of the RFP. This vendor was subsequently determined to be the only responsive bidder and was awarded the contract. [...]

In one of the tested awards, a $162 million contract for pharmaceuticals, the Department used an evaluation process that conflicted with the process specified in the RFP. [...]

Of the 10 FY05 contracts tested, we noted the Department allowed a vendor to extensively revise its proposal during the best and final process. The original proposal submitted by the winning vendor for performing various types of pressure washing services quoted statewide rates. The best and final offer revised the rate structure based on regions.
For many of the pressure washing services to be provided, the final pricing by region was double or triple the original statewide rate quoted in the winning vendor's initial proposal.

This should kick up a bit of dust.

New SUSA polls

SurveyUSA has released its monthly US Senate state-by-state tracker and the results are not surprising.

Barack Obama is tied for 3rd most popular Senator in the nation, with a 73 percent job approval and 21 percent disapproval. His approval is up 6 points since May, but essentially unchanged since last month. (Margin of error is 3.6, and poll was taken Oct. 15 and 16.)

Dick Durbin is tied for 77th most popular US Senator in the nation, at 50 percent job approval and 40 percent disapproval. Durbin's approval is also up 6 since May, but pretty much unchanged since September. (Margin of error is 4.1, and poll was taken Oct. 15 and 16.)

Question of the day

If you were on the governor's staff, what would you suggest the administration do to take the media focus off corruption and turn it to the governor's policy proposals?

AFSCME Voices from the Frontlines

(The following is a paid advertisement.)

Here in Illinois, youth recidivism is up. The cause? Steep cuts to the education, mental health and job programs that help young offenders turn their lives around.

"At my youth center," one veteran educator says, "we are so short of teachers. Our special ed program is gutted and our mental health services have been cut. We used to have a good vocational ed program, but not anymore."

In response, some advocates want to create a new bureaucracy that won't spend a penny more on helping kids.

AFSCME members - those who have spent years teaching, training and counseling young offenders - disagree. They say we should cut the red tape and return to what works: Resources, not reorganization.

"We have done a good job in the past, and we can do a good job again," the educator says. "What we need are resources and commitment, not legislation."

More.

Another subpoena

The G is crawling all over the place these days.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday expanded their investigation into the hiring practices of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration, delivering a subpoena to the job-rich Illinois Department of Transportation that demanded employment records for the last three years.

At the same time, a top-level hiring administrator at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services who has been named in the federal probe was placed on administrative leave, state government sources said. One of those sources also said the DCFS external affairs unit, which had been run by a handpicked Blagojevich appointee who is under federal scrutiny, was disbanded.

The developments overshadowed the governor's speech Tuesday in Springfield to a rare joint session of the legislature in which he implored lawmakers to approve his child health-insurance program. Republican critics immediately labeled it a shallow effort by the governor to deflect attention from a burgeoning scandal only weeks before his expected re-election announcement.

The guv's staff complained yesterday that the media is focused too much on scandal. That complaint ought to be directed at the US Attorney's office, which obliterated the governor's All Kids message with this latest round of subpoenas.

3-0

The calls finally started going against us, our pitching collapsed, we stranded a ton of runners on base, we played 14 maddening innings on the road and used every member of the bullpen plus one, yet somehow we still managed a win. What a team.

This is your World Series open thread.

Go Sox.

Sox Caucus update

I've been asked by several people where the White Sox Caucus is meeting tonight to watch the game.

Boone's is the place. Tomorrow will be a better spot, I'm told.

Docs endorse AllKids

From a press release:

The Illinois State Medical Society today endorsed Governor Rod R. Blagojevich’s landmark All Kids proposal that would make Illinois the only state in the nation to provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance for every child in the state.

Guv's office hit with subpoena

This can't be good.

Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal grand jury investigation into the hiring practices of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office, according to sources and documents reviewed by the Tribune.

The Blagojevich administration acknowledged it has recently hired a former assistant U.S. attorney to handle investigators' requests for documents from the governor's office.

And aides to the governor confirmed late Monday that they received a fresh subpoena seeking personnel documents related to hiring in the state's child welfare agency. [...]

The letter notes that "the government is conducting a grand jury investigation regarding allegations of criminal wrongdoing of Victor Roberson, Robin Staggers and Joe Cini in relation to public corruption." Porter was not available for comment.

Cini is the director of the governor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the centralized clearinghouse for the administration to review state job applicants. Cini, who worked on Blagojevich's first campaign for Congress in 1995 and later worked for Mell, was hired from the Chicago Park District to the governor's office post shortly after Blagojevich was inaugurated as governor.

Reform and renewal.

Question of the day

Do you think public funding of campaigns is a good idea? Why or why not?

Don’t Allow Politics To Put Electric Reliability At Risk

(The following is a paid advertisement.)

We’re Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE), a coalition of individuals, businesses and organizations who support continued reliability in the electric industry.

We believe that:

* Critical decisions about the future of electricity pricing and delivery should be left to an objective and informed Illinois Commerce Commission that is insulated from political pressures.

* The pro-reliability and pro-competition legislation passed by the General Assembly nearly 10 years ago and now guiding the ICC shouldn't be delayed or changed. The ongoing restructuring process should continue without interruption.

Visit us at www.illinoiscore.org for more information.

Bassi to stay in House

I wrote about this in Capitol Fax already, but here is the Daily Herald's take.

Citing her seniority in the Illinois House of Representatives and quality of life issues, Susanne “Suzie” Bassi has decided not to be a candidate in next spring’s Republican primary for state Senate.

The 27th District state Senate seat Bassi would have been shooting for is now occupied by Wendell Jones of Palatine. Jones has announced he does not intend to seek re-election to the seat, which he has held since 1998. [...]

So far, two prominent Republicans — Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins and Harper College Board of Trustee member Matt Murphy — have announced plans to run for Jones’ seat. The district covers parts of Palatine, Buffalo Grove, Hoffman Estates, Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights, South Barrington and Barrington Hills. [...]

Still mulling a run is Palatine Township Clerk Kevin O’Connell.

The Democrats don't have a candidate yet.

Con-con reunion

It's too bad this isn't open to the public. It might not be the best party, but it would be interesting.

About 35 of the people who helped craft the 1970 Illinois Constitution will reunite in Springfield on Friday and Saturday, said event organizer Thomas Pliura.

Pliura said he hopes the gathering, which is expected to draw about 70 people, will spur debate on whether Illinois should have another constitutional convention in the next few years. Illinois voters in 1988 rejected a referendum asking whether to call for a constitutional convention, and another referendum is due in 2008, he said.

This week's reunion will include a reception and social event for constitutional delegates and staff Friday night in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. A series of discussions on the constitution is planned for Saturday morning in the Old State Capitol. The events are not open to the public.

Anti-gaming people will be in town

Groups supporting Rep. John Bradley's bill to ban riverboat gaming will descend on Springfield this week.

Opponents of a proposed Ho-Chunk casino in Lynwood apparently are not interested in only singling out the American Indian tribe for taking an interest in gaming.

This week, members of the group Citizens For Our Community -- which has staunchly fought the Ho-Chunk nation's plans -- will join members of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems in Springfield to lobby for a bill that could bring an end to casinos throughout the state.

The bill -- which recently made it through committee in the House -- would repeal the Riverboat Gambling Act, essentially eliminating casino gambling in Illinois.

Bradley's bill might pass the House if it's ever called for a vote, but nobody thinks it will clear the Senate.

George's "nest egg"

Fawell was good for the defense last week, but not so good for Ryan yesterday... via CBS2's blog.

Late Monday star government witness Scott Fawell testified about two “shortages” in the campaign fund of George Ryan totaling as much as $1.2 million.

Fawell told the jury hearing Ryan’s corruption case that Ryan referred to a $400,000 discrepancy in September, 1994 as a “nest egg.”

“I got a confession to make,” Fawell quoted Ryan as telling him in January of 1995 after he’d been sworn-in as Secretary of State for the second time. “I …held back $400,000 because I knew you’d spend it.” Fawell was Ryan’s statewide campaign manager at the time.

Fawell also spoke of a $700,000 to $800,000 shortage in the ryan campaign in 1998 when ryan was running for Governor. But in this example Fawell said ryan never discussed the shortage with him.

Houston, you have a problem

This is your World Series open thread.

And ponder this while you're at it.

The bat Scott Podsednik used to end Game 2 of the World Series is headed to the Hall of Fame.

The White Sox left fielder's line-drive homer to right in the bottom of the ninth lifted Chicago to a 7-6 victory Sunday night.

The Hall of Fame requested the bat and on Monday, White Sox officials were preparing to send it to Cooperstown.

"I can't put it into words. It's really an honor, no doubt," said Podsednik, who hadn't homered in 507 regular-season at-bats.

Podsednik's blast was just the 14th game-ending homer in World Series history.

"It's a moment in time that can never be duplicated," Hall of Fame spokesman Brad Horn said. "That bat will always be historic."

And then there's this gem:

In the middle of so much excitement over the White Sox is the story of a longtime Cubs fan who literally went to her grave despising the South Siders…

The obituary in last Friday's paper read: "Irene Egan, age 68, of Melrose Park... One week prior to her death, Irene said, 'If the Sox get into the World Series, it will be the death of me.'"

"She came out and told my brother a week prior to her death that if the White Sox go to the World Series, that it would be the death of her. And we couldn't believe it, because all of a sudden she died after they won their last game."

Carolyn Simon is the daughter of Irene Egan.

Irene Egan was a bartender at a place called Coach's. And her daughter Carolyn says she loved to give the White Sox fans an earful of how much she hated the Sox.

Go Sox.

More God politics

You may recall that WMAY morning guy Jim Leach coaxed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady to talk about teaching the Bible in schools.

Leach did it again this morning with lt. governor candidate Raymond Poe.

"I just heard a figure last week, 80, 85 percent of people in this country are Christians. And, uh, we seem to ignore that, and we react to the minorities on these issues."

Asked about teaching intelligent design in science class, Poe said:

"Yeah, I can favor that, but it's pretty sad that we have to disguise what we're doing. You know, I mean, we're all trying to figure out a way to promote our agenda, and we're going to do it through the means of science, rather than just let it happen."

UPDATE: The AP picks up the meme.

The four Republicans vying for the party's nomination for governor are divided over Illinois schools teaching "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution, an issue with the potential to sway votes among the religious right.

Steve Rauschenberger endorsed the idea Monday, saying it would enrich children's education.

Question of the day

What are your thoughts on the proposed third regional airport near Peotone?

Who is right, who is wrong? Why? Do you think it will ever be built? Why or why not?

AllKids roundup

The Tribune ran a skeptical story about the governor's AllKids plan yesterday.

The plan "doesn't in any way address the long-term sustainability of Medicaid," said Robert Kaestner, a professor at the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs and moderator of a recent legislative workshop on the topic. "The fundamental problem is that Medicaid is taking up an increasingly large share of the state budget."

The AP has a piece about yesterday's rally.

Thousands attended a rally Sunday in support for Gov. Rod Blagojevich's plan to guarantee health insurance for every child in the state, giving the issue momentum as legislators return to Springfield this week. [...]

"I want to say to some of our critics who I think are more motivated by the politics of the issue than the righteousness of the cause ... that the health of our children should not be held hostage because of partisan politics," Blagojevich said.

The rally was at A. Finkl and Sons, a Chicago manufacturer where Blagojevich's father worked and where the governor announced his first gubernatorial bid in 2001.

There was no mention of how much the rally cost taxpayers.

And, Copley's Doug Finke did what he does best: Write snark-filled columns about the guv.

Naturally, Blagojevich's office denies that there are re-election motives behind the All Kids program. Among their myriad arguments, our favorite is the timing issue.
It goes like this: The General Assembly will vote on the issue in the next two weeks, a full year before the next general election. By this time next year, the news media and the public will have forgotten about All Kids, and it will be of no benefit to the governor's re-election bid. Oh, really?

If it passes, All Kids won't go into effect until July 1, 2006, just four months before the election. Do you have any doubts that next summer there will be a massive, state-funded publicity program to make sure everyone knows All Kids is starting? And gosh, that publicity campaign will probably have to go well beyond July 1 to make sure every kid who is eligible is enrolled.

The Chicago way

One of the top tutoring firms in the nation, Newton Learning, perhaps learned too well how Chicago operates.

In yet another blow to the Chicago Public Schools' tutoring program, the state is kicking out a top national tutoring firm from five Chicago schools after investigators found evidence the company had hired school employees to steer business its way.

The Illinois Board of Education on Friday accused Newton Learning of violating ethics rules that govern free tutoring programs mandated for poor children.

It also ordered the school system to reopen tutoring registration in at least seven schools where alleged violations occurred, including after-school programs run by other firms besides Newton.

A spokesman for the district said the matter would be investigated by the system's inspector general.

In a letter sent Friday to Newton, state investigators alleged that school employees hired by Newton had altered parent selections on tutor sign-up forms to specify Newton as the tutoring firm of choice, instructed parents to select Newton for their child's tutoring, and sent home sign-up forms with Newton already selected as the tutoring firm.

McDermott is a Sox fan.

Go Sox.

Use this as your World Series open thread for Monday.

UPDATE: My newspaper column has more:

A friend of mine asked me the other day why I stopped being a Cubs fan five years ago and converted to the White Sox.

There were many reasons, but the most important one is that I had grown tired of rooting for a team that didn't seem to care about winning.

I have the same attitude about politics.

Oh, yeah

Comments closed for the weekend

Go Sox.

Way wrong

SurveyUSA has a new state-by-state tracker out.

This one is "right track, wrong track," and shows that just 25 percent of Illinoisans think the nation is on the right track. 70 percent say "wrong track." Yikes. The right-wrong for July was 34-61. MoE was 3.7 percent.

According to SurveyUSA, not a single state had a 50 percent-plus "right track" response. Utah's was the highest, at 47 percent "right" 48 percent "wrong."

Question of the day

Your World Series predictions, please.

UPDATE: From a Barack Obama press release:

“We are all extremely proud of what the White Sox have accomplished and everyone in Chicago will be cheering when they bring the championship home,” said Obama. “And as I’ve told my wife many, many times, the White Sox are 1 and 0 in games where I throw out the first pitch. So all I'm saying is that if Ozzie calls, the arm is rested and ready.”

Considering he threw like a girl last week, I'm sure his arm is "rested and ready."

Go Sox.

UPDATE 2: OneMan and Austin Mayor have both blogged on it already, but was anyone else a little creeped out by Sneed's World Series snippet today?

Sad Sox . . .

A sad note: For obvious reasons, the late baseball legends Jack Brickhouse and Harry Caray won't be in attendance.

I literally spit out my coffee when I read that this morning. Bizarre.

COOLEST UPDATE EVER: Snagged a ticket for tomorrow.

AFSCME Voices from the Frontlines

(The following is a paid advertisement)

Illinois operates veterans' homes in Anna, LaSalle, Manteno and Quincy to serve elderly, sick or disabled veterans who cannot care for themselves. But budget cuts have slashed 79 frontline positions from the four facilities since 2002 - an 11% drop.

As a result, the remaining staff often scrambles to maintain even a basic level of services. "They give me 29 patients," one veterans' home nurse says of a typical day. "They need medicine, wounds treated, blood-sugar tests, respiratory care and more. You cannot do a good job with all the needs."

Plain and simple, the nurse says, "The veterans do not get the care they deserve. They don't get their meals on time. They don't always get their bath - and they only have one a week. Some of them are lonely, but we don't have the time to sit down and talk.

"It's not right that our veterans are treated this way."

More.

Use campaign money, paper says

The Bloomington Pantagraph runs another in a series of harsh editorials on Governor Blagojevich.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund should pay a consulting firm whose primary job was to prove the governor's administration saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars as claimed last spring.

The no-bid consulting contract was for up to nearly $1 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. The governor's office called it a "personal service" contract to develop methodology to calculate savings.

The governor's office has yet to release the consultant's report -- the type of delay that always arouses suspicion. But we would be shocked if it doesn't support the governor's claim.

This smacks of a move to bolster the governor's re-election campaign. That's why his campaign should pay for the consultant, not taxpayers. [...]

But the governor didn't like what he heard from that office last spring. Auditor General William Holland said there was "little evidence" to support the governor's claims that combining agency functions within his Central Management Services department saved taxpayers $600 million. Holland said CMS' work may have cost the state extra money.

I'm hearing there's another CMS audit coming soon. It won't be pretty, either.

Zinga wants another shot

Andrea Zinga lost to Cong. Lane Evans last year, but wants another shot.

Andrea Lane Zinga, a former television anchor, is running for Congress in the 17th District for a second time. [...]

Zinga said Evans has been fined for illegally moving money between different campaign accounts during the 1998 and 2000 elections.

"We have a congressman whose campaign and local party have been fined $215,000 for stealing elections ... Do we condone outright fraud?" Zinga asked. [...]

Another Republican, Jim Mowen, also is campaigning for the 17th District nomination. Mowen is a real estate developer from Rock Island, who believes his business experience will give him the skills needed to be effective in Congress.

AllKids roundup

The list of 240 groups supporting the governor's AllKids program includes some organizations that don't back it.

At least six organizations say their names appear on a list of supporters of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's plan to guarantee health insurance for all the state's children although they have not officially endorsed the program.

The Tribune has a story about the campaign-style tactics being used to push AllKids. Read the whole thing.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration is engaged in a massive public relations push for his child health insurance proposal, using state agencies to ask such disparate groups as construction contractors and foster families to help boost attendance at a Sunday rally to promote his plan.

The Trib also runs an editorial today about the program.

The governor has lashed out at skeptics, demanding they declare whether "they support or oppose the concept" he is pushing. But legislators don't vote on concepts. A Medicaid overhaul of the magnitude Blagojevich wants has long-term implications for patients who rely on this care and for the state. [...]

The situation may become more complicated as Congress eyes a trim in health-care spending on the poor. Washington and Springfield split the costs of Medicaid here, so any rollback in federal aid could increase pressure on the state to spend more just to cover the needs of current Medicaid patients. It's crucial to define and understand all those implications before Springfield acts.

Brady: "Teach the Bible in our schools"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady thinks that God needs to be brought into our school systems.

“I think we should teach the Bible in our schools,” Brady said. “One of the basic, fundamental voids we have in our school system is bringing God into the system.”

Asked if he would teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution, Brady said, “I think we should teach everything that educates our children, and I think bringing God and the Bible into that is critically important.”

That ended the telephone interview with Leach, but I contacted Brady later to get more on what seemed a pretty strong view.

He said any teaching about the Bible “should be left up to local school board, but I don’t think there should be a prohibition against them teaching the historical significance of the Bible or any religion. …”

“I believe in school prayer. I believe in the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe there ought to be the freedom for local school boards to make those decisions.”

So, he seemed to back off a bit. Brady is positioning himself to the right of every candidate on the God issue. He starts his public appearances with a prayer, for instance. It's his niche. I just wonder how this will play in the general.

ISRA pushing overrides

The Illinois State Rifle Association sent an e-mail to members this week asking them to urge the General Assembly to override three vetoes by Governor Rod Blagojevich.

You may or may not agree wth ISRA, but it's always interesting to see what they're up to.

Here are the bills, in ISRA's own words:

* HB340 - introduced by Representative David Reis. This bill reforms the waiting period provisions by removing the waiting restrictions when a lawful gun owner trades in one firearm for another. A background check would still be performed. This bill was vetoed August 1st, 2005.

* SB57 - introduced by Senator Peter Roskam. This bill would require the state to erase the database it keeps on lawful gun owners 90 days after the transactions. This has no effect on records for criminals or ongoing investigation that involves criminal activities. This bill was vetoed August 1st, 2005.

* SB2104 - introduced by Senator Todd Sieben. This bill creates preemption for firearms transportation. This bill would put forth a single set of statewide rules for firearm transportation, and would prevent lawful gun owners from being ambushed by local bans and obscure local gun laws while traveling in Illinois. This bill was vetoed August 1st, 2005.

This just in... IHA supports AllKids UPDATED: But Catholics don't, yet

From a press release issued moments ago:

The Illinois Hospital Association (IHA) today endorsed All Kids, Governor Blagojevich’s program to provide health care coverage for the state’s uninsured children. The following is a statement from IHA President Ken Robbins:

Our hospitals have always provided care to those who need it, regardless of their ability to pay. The Governor’s All Kids plan will help hospitals by sharing the burden of meeting the needs of uninsured children, but, more important, it will help our children get the care they need and deserve.

Many of the children who appear in hospital emergency rooms are there because they don’t have the insurance coverage that would provide them with ongoing preventive care to keep them healthy and prevent minor illnesses from becoming acute, complex conditions. Many of the adults hospitals treat today have conditions such as heart disease and diabetes that should have been diagnosed and treated in childhood. The All Kids program has the potential to give children the right care at the right time so they can grow up to live active and productive lives.

Enhancing access to health care has always been the goal of the hospital community in Illinois. Our hospitals already provide care to the uninsured through free community health programs and through the $1.2 billion worth of uncompensated medical care they provide each year. As part of their commitment to their communities, hospitals treat patients from every segment of society, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

We look forward to collaborating with the Governor, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the General Assembly to work out the details of the All Kids program.

This is a big, big boost for a program that was probably going to pass anyway. Even so, the Hospital Assn. endorsement gives AllKids some needed legitimacy. The only other major medical-related holdout right now is the Med Society.

UPDATE: The Catholic Conference of Illinois isn't keen on the idea until it sees more info.

A lobbyist for the six Catholic dioceses in Illinois, Robert Gilligan, executive director for the Catholic Conference of Illinois, insisted that CCI couldn’t support Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent proposal to provide affordable health insurance coverage to all children in the state.

Admitting that the overall concept of the proposed plan “is a good thing,” Gilligan claimed that the proposal lacks sufficient information and basic details about the legislation.

Staff members of CCI, the public policy voice and legislative liaison for the Catholic Church in Illinois, along with the representatives of Catholic Charities agencies across the state “endorse the concepts brought forth” in the governor’s proposal and “we look forward to working with (him) and the General Assembly to expand essential health care to all Illinois citizens,” stated Gilligan.

He pointed out, however, that CCI wouldn’t publicly support the proposal until all stipulations and provisions are clearly brought to the forefront.

Guv plans veto session address

Another attempt at catapulting the propaganda or a legitimate effort to sway legislators to his side?

Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to promote his "All Kids" health insurance proposal next week with a special address to lawmakers, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The governor will address a joint session of the House and Senate on Tuesday, said Abby Ottenhoff.

Governors rarely make such addresses, aside from the annual state of the state and budget speeches. They are usually reserved for issues a governor considers top priority.

Question of the day

Suggested by Yellow Dog Democrat.

Assuming [Judy Baar] Topinka is out [of the governor's race], who is most likely to win the GOP primary? Which candidate matches up worst against Blago? And which matches up best?