Today at Illinoize...

John Ruberry tells us that cult leader Fred Phelps is coming back to Illinois.

Mickey Segal gets ten years, Pat Hickey reports.

Dan Johnson-Weinberger muses about Judy Baar Topinka's announcement locale.

IllinoisPundit asks readers about JBT's abortion stance.

David Morrison (of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform) writes about politicos who owe campaign-related fines.

Jim Muir (Southern Illinoisan columnist and blogger) has some good advice for Judy.

And much, much more. Go see for yourself.

Question of the day

Should Barack Obama run for president in 2008, or should he wait? Why?

UPDATE: Comments closed.

Swift-boated

Carol Marin has a different take than I did in today's Capitol Fax about Personal PAC and Planned Parenthood's Judy Baar Topinka press conference yesterday. Although it's pretty darned good.

...Planned Parenthood of Chicago and Personal PAC told reporters they had serious questions about whether Topinka is, in fact, pro-choice.

That question will no doubt surprise some people who thought that matter was already settled. After all, Topinka has for years been described in political circles and in the media as a Republican "moderate" who supports the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision establishing a woman's right to choose. And in fact, she is. And does. But with notable exceptions. Topinka supports parental consent, opposes the so-called partial birth abortion and has voted for legislation that allows for spousal notification. [...]

Though he wasn't in the room, Gov. Blagojevich was a presence at Tuesday's news conference. [...]

...his dismal poll numbers mean that Blagojevich is going to have to do much more than tout his accomplishments. That clearly hasn't been enough so far for citizens in general or women in particular. And now that a woman has entered the 2006 governor's race, Blagojevich has to draw a clear distinction between himself and Topinka, who is the clear front-runner in a field of five Republicans. And one of the ways to do that is abortion.

Also, thanks to Carol for the mention in her column today.

Good link

Campaign websites.

I found this yesterday but can't remember which website pointed me there. Sorry for no hat tip.

This is a state politics open thread.

Monroe Flinn... Updated

I always liked former state Rep. Monroe Flinn, who was perhaps best known near the end of his career as the man who would cut off lengthy and boring House floor debates by moving the previous question.

But he was much more than that. He was a director of the state's Constitutional Convention, and as the story linked below points out, JCAR still calls its annual report the "Flinn Report."

Former state Rep. Monroe Flinn died Tuesday at Anderson Hospital in this village near St. Louis. He was 87. [...]

Flinn, who served for 24 years in the Illinois House of Representatives, died from natural causes, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

The Democrat, who retired in 1995, earned respect from members of both parties because of his honesty and loyalty to residents of his district, state Rep. Thomas Holbrook, D-Belleville, told the paper in a 2001 interview.

He kept in touch after his retirement, dropping by the Statehouse for visits. It was always good to see him and I'll miss him now that he's gone.

The funeral will be handled by Colonial Funeral Home in Cahokia. I'll post the info here later.

UPDATE: Sorry it took so long, but here is the funeral information.

Visitation 3-8 p.m. Thursday
Services 10 a.m Friday
Braun Colonial Funeral Home
3701 Falling Springs Road
Cahokia, Il 62206
618-332-6793

The big guns

Dick Simpson writes an otherwise scathing commentary about how Rahm Emanuel should support Christine Cegelis for Congress, but lets drop these little bits:

Emanuel courted Army Major "Tammy" Duckworth to run as the Democratic candidate. He cynically believes that people will vote for her just because she is a wounded veteran of the Iraq War. She has no political platform and no indigenous campaign organization. She is still undergoing physical therapy for her war injuries and she had to get permission from the military to run. She will leave active duty on Dec. 1 to do so.

Apparently the campaign staff and cash would be helicoptered in from Washington because there has been no base built in the district even though nominating petitions are to be filed beginning Dec. 12. David Alexrod has been picked by Emanuel to run her public relations campaign locally.

Axelrod is on board? If they have the money for bigime media, Axelrod is one of the best and Cegelis is toast.

And, Dick, attacking a wounded war hero doesn't play all that well in Democratic primaries.

(Hat tip Austin Mayor)

This just in... Rep. Pat Bailey convicted

More in tomorrow's Capitol Fax.

Background here.

Here is the story.

After a one-day bench trial, Ill. Rep. Patricia Bailey (D-Chicago) was convicted at around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday of charges she lied about her home address on several occasions leading up 2004 primary election.

Criminal Court Judge Diane Cannon found Bailey guilty of three counts of perjury and two counts of forgery; and not guilty of two separate counts of forgery, three counts of perjury and two counts of mutilation of election materials.

Those counts were split between three different false addresses she was accused of using on her candidacy papers in 2003 and while registering to vote in 2002.

Bailey, who was first elected in 2002 and reelected in 2004, is required by Illinois law to forfeit her office, and could be sentenced to serve up to 5 years in prison, according to Assistant Attorney General Vincenzo Chimera.
Probation is also an option for Cannon, when she sentences Bailey on Dec. 21.

UPDATE: Comments closed because some people can't act like reasonable adults. Really, people, do you think having your comments up for a few minutes before they're deleted makes any sort of impact?

This just in...

From a press release:

DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett will be hosting a press conference TODAY, November 29 at 5:00 p.m. to announce the findings of the Grand Jury investigation regarding the murder of Jeanine Nicarico.

Further details will be discussed at the press conference.

Today at Illinoize

Illinipundit analyzes the latest polling on the governor.

That they've not improved is indicative of a serious credibility problem - that voters and the media regard him and his accomplishments cynically, no matter how meritorious - that is going to be very, very hard to overcome.

Diane talks about the IHSA's attempt to achieve competitive balance in its high school sports tournament.

Jill Stanek discusses continuing controversy over the morning after pill.

And much, much more. Get over there.

Question of the day

First, read this:

Unable to get lawmakers to support a ban on junk food in schools, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is asking the Illinois State Board of Education to use its authority to bar the sale of soda and other unhealthy foods at elementary and middle schools.

"I believe that if we successfully implement a ban on junk food at elementary and middle schools, it will help build the case for a ban in high schools," the governor wrote to board members Monday in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. "So I'm asking you to help our most impressionable kids form good eating habits, and prove that schools are better off without junk food." [...]

In his letter to the state education board, Blagojevich wrote that he is sensitive to such concerns but believes the costs associated with selling junk food in schools outweigh the benefits. Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the state board of education, said he is inclined to support Blagojevich's proposal and noted that childhood obesity is a growing problem.

The Blagojevich administration focused its junk food ban on elementary and middle schools because a ban at the high school level would be less effective since high school students have more access to junk food elsewhere, Regenstein said. High schools also would lose revenue from vending machines, he said. [...]

Kathleen Dezio, spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, said the industry adopted voluntary guidelines last summer that restrict what drinks are available in school vending machines.

Do you favor the governor's proposal? Why or why not?

38-57

Here is that new SurveyUSA poll I told you about in this morning's Capitol Fax.

Not good news for the governor. Not good news at all.

Read and discuss - and try to keep the "all polls are unreliable" crackpot remarks to yourself. Thanks.

Not a good idea

The Sun-Times editorial board thinks that Attorney General Lisa Madigan should broker a deal to help Neil Bluhm's group take over the idle 10th casino license.

Though her office has initially indicated otherwise, there may be enough flexibility in the language of the Riverboat Gambling Act to allow the license to pass to another party through a negotiated settlement. Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, the last standing contender for the license, asserts strongly that that's the case. Headed by real estate magnate Neil Bluhm, Midwest Gaming says a settlement allowing it to build a casino in Des Plaines would provide five-year tax revenues of $1.1 billion. He's showing us the money.

Bluhm's outfit became a prime contender after Rosemont was effectively removed from the picture by Madigan, based on allegations of mob ties that put the northwest suburb "under a cloud of doubt and mistrust." Rosemont is now seeking restitution of the $45 million it claims it spent on a parking garage for the casino. Bluhm's lawyers and others believe that the garage issue can be resolved through bankruptcy court without impeding his plans under a settlement that could be reached in just a few months. [...]

With so much on the line for the state treasury, we think Madigan should exhaust all possibilities to broker an agreement.

The problem with this is pretty obvious. Bluhm was a huge contributor to AG Madigan's last campaign. The Rosemont people already believe that she shafted their boat to help Bluhm. If she negotiates an agreement to help a major campaign donor, she could be letting herself in for lots more criticism.

Sticking by her consultant

I'm still catching up on my reading and my blogging, but part of Bernie Schoenburg's latest column caught my eye.

Among GOP candidates for lieutenant governor is SANDY WEGMAN, the Kane County recorder of deeds. [...]

Wegman was in Springfield with her husband and consultant, ROD McCULLOCH of Westmont, just before McCulloch was charged in DuPage County with turning in petition sheets for a Milton Township candidate with fraudulent signatures. McCulloch denies he did anything wrong, and Wegman said he’s still consulting for her.

“He knows a lot of people,” Wegman said. “He’s making contacts for us that perhaps we wouldn’t be making otherwise. He’s been professional in handling that.”

“Everyone’s entitled to a trial,” she added. “In this country, you’re still innocent until proven guilty.”

Most likely to succeed

This has been making the blog rounds for the past few days, but I've been away and haven't been able to write about it.

Sen. Barack Obama, already portrayed by the Washington press as the Senate equivalent of a rock star, has wowed his Democratic colleagues as well.

National Journal, a respected Washington weekly magazine covering politics and government, asked 101 members of Congress and 137 lobbyists, former government officials and other political insiders which politician has the greatest potential to become president in 20 years.

The answer: the 44-year-old freshman senator from Illinois.

Of the 89 Democrats who responded, 45 percent picked Obama, the Senate’s only black member, National Journal reported in its Nov. 11 edition. The second choice was “don’t know,” at 13 percent.

Some sample anonymous comments from poll respondents: “He’s a laser in a room of lamps,” and “He has the charisma and steady leadership qualities to make it to the White House.”

Four candidates for US Attorney

From the News-Gazette's political blogger, Tom Kacich:

At least four men have applied to succeed Jan Paul Miller as the U.S. attorney in the region that includes Champaign-Urbana and Danville. It also includes Springfield, which some believe is chock-full of political corruption but which yielded not a single official misconduct indictment during Miller's three-plus years here.

Among the four known candidates are two who would seem to have impeccable political connections: state Sen. Rick Winkel, R-Urbana, who has never been a state or federal prosecutor but has the support of three downstate congressman, and Darin LaHood, a 37-year-old assistant U.S. attorney in Las Vegas for the last four years and a former assistant state's attorney in Tazewell County who also is the son of U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, a powerful congressman from Peoria and a close ally of Hastert's.

The other known candidates also have central Illinois roots and impressive prosecutorial backgrounds but their political bloodlines aren't as rich.

John Michelich, a senior trial attorney in the criminal division at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., grew up in Auburn, in Sangamon County, graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and got a law degree from Drake University in Des Moines. He was an assistant state's attorney and a first assistant state's attorney in Sangamon County for more than 10 years, handling major felony cases and overseeing a staff of 17 lawyers.

Since 1988 he's worked for the Department of Justice and has worked in the child exploitation and obscenity section, the narcotic and dangerous drug section, and the criminal fraud section. He also was sent to The Hague to assist the Justice Department in investigating and prosecuting international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia.
Michelich says he's handled more than 75 jury trials in the state and federal courts and has led federal grand jury investigations in more than 15 states. In 2002, former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gave him his distinguished service award.

The fourth known candidate is Rodger Heaton, an assistant U.S. attorney in the central district of Illinois, who grew up in McLean County, attended the University of Illinois, earned a law degree from Indiana University and now lives in Rochester.
Heaton worked in the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield from 1990 to 2000, including a stint in the Office of the Independent Counsel, where he prosecuted former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and two business associates in a tax fraud case.

Dart slated

All the whining and gnashing of teeth by Tom Dart's supporters in the comments section here last week was obviously overblown. Dart was slated for Cook County sheriff today.

The endorsement of Tom Dart was wired from the get-go by his boss and neighbor in the 19th Ward on the Southwest Side -- Michael Sheahan. Sheahan started lining up support for Dart before last week's announcement that he's not running for re-election. Dart was also burning up the phone lines and that -- along with Sheahan's clout -- pretty much wiped out the competition. But it also infuriated black and Latino activists and four other candidates who showed up to pitch themselves Monday -- even if it was a done deal.

Andy Shaw's story also includes some very weird quotes.

"Sylvester Baker will be honest, fair, and inclusive," said Sylvester Baker, (D) Candidate for Sheriff. [...]

"I served as alderman for 16 years in this city of Chicago and didn't get indicted," said Robert Shaw, (D) Candidate for Sheriff. [...]

"I don't have anything personally against you, but you're just repulsive to me in regards to the fact that you say one thing and do another," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, (D) Chicago.

And this interesting tidbit at the bottom of the piece.

House speaker Michael Madigan didn't vote for or against Dart. He voted present but wouldn't say why. Speculation is he doesn't want competition for his daughter -- the attorney general -- if she ever runs for higher office

I'm only going to say this once, Dart people, behave or I'll shut down comments right away. No warnings tonight.

This just in...

Rep. John Fritchey won't run for state treasurer. The decision was not unexpected. He has more info about his decision on his blog. Hopefully, he'll also cross-post that at Illinoize, where he is a contributing member.

UPDATE: Oops. He already did cross-post it at Illinoize.

Illinoize

I've started a new group blog called Illinoize. A boatload of bloggers, Capitol Fax commenters and others have been invited to post and several have already done so.

I started the new blog for a few reasons. Most of my readers are busy people and they just don't have time to read the dozens and dozens of Illinois blogs every day. Others are blog addicts who spend quite a bit of time surfing the Web looking for interesting stuff.

Illinoize will help both of those groups. Now you can surf one site to get an idea of what's going on elsewhere in the Illinois blogosphere.

Illinoize will also showcase some very good bloggers who ought to have more readers and perhaps encourage some of the better commenters here to start their own blogs. It's a win-win for everyone.

I'm hoping that Illinoize will essentially run itself. I don't have the time or the energy to do much more, so I wanted a place that was open and free and interesting, but requiring as little work on my part as possible.

Unlike almost all other group blogs on both the right and left, Illinoize has contributors from across the political spectrum, which I think should be much more interesting for readers.

I hope you'll give Illinoize a try. Thanks.

UPDATE: It also just occurred to me that some of the Illinoize bloggers will be exposed to large numbers of readers from a different viewpoint for the first time. Except for the occasional trolls, conservative blogs tend to attract conservative readers, and the same goes for liberal blogs.

With a cross-section of readers at Illinoize, these righties and lefties will have to be prepared to defend their positions, in some cases for the first time. It's already starting to happen over there and I think that's a very healthy thing.

Question of the day

Who do you think Judy Baar Topinka should choose as her running mate?

Durbin takes swipe at Blagojevich

US Sen. Dick Durbin took a rare public swipe at Governor Blagojevich in an AP story.

When Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave his last State of the State address, he bragged that his personal lobbying and the help of U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert had produced an extra $490 million for Illinois' hospitals and nursing homes.

It was an unusual account coming from a governor who, according to members of Congress, rarely takes a personal role in lobbying or thanks the officials who work with him.

Unlike other Illinois governors of recent decades, Blagojevich's lobbying style does not include backslapping office visits and chatty phone calls. And the state's Washington office also has cut back its personal contacts.

"I would have to say Governor Blagojevich's style doesn't include that. It is rare for me to speak to him personally," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield resident and the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate. "I still know what his priorities are in his administration and do my best to try to help him."

I wonder if the guv got the message.

A must-read

If you haven't read the Tribune's Sunday story about the governor's PR machine, make sure you do so now.

With his re-election campaign looming, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has built an unprecedented image-shaping machine, sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer-funded promotional letters to constituent groups, urging agency directors out into the field and grading the media's coverage of events. [...]

An administration effort this summer to use parole agents to distribute a letter from the governor to various constituency groups, extolling his work to track sex offenders, ignited strong protest from his allies in organized labor and the Democratic Party, who complained it came perilously close to forcing state workers to do political work for the governor. But the parole initiative was just the tip of the iceberg.

Documents obtained by the Tribune show that at least 32 "Dear Friend" letters came from the governor's office between July and August. The letters, signed by the governor and appearing on his official letterhead, discuss topics ranging from women's health care to a new law banning younger drivers from using cell phones. One letter, appearing with the signature of Patricia Blagojevich, the governor's wife, extols a new law exempting nursing mothers from jury duty. [...]

[In July], the Illinois Department of Public Health sent more than 340,000 letters and more than 70,000 e-mails to state recipients of health-care benefits, plus hospitals, doctors, hospices, chiropractors and other groups, the tracking form shows.

There's too much to excerpt. Make sure you read the whole thing. And notice this at the end.

By their standard, Blagojevich had an excellent month in August, according to copies of agency logs obtained by the Tribune. Their count showed that 942 stories were written or broadcast about key agencies under the governor's control. Of those, 906 were deemed "positive," nine as "negative" and 27 were "neutral." For July, the scorecard showed 725 positive, 27 negative and 75 neutral.

So much for the constant complaint that the media is ignoring his message. That's supposedly the reason they have to do all this extra PR work.

I wonder if they're rating individual reporters as well.

In a related story, the guv has spent $130,000 in taxpayer funds to videotape state events that he has attended, which brought this rebuke from the State Journal-Register:

It is a continuing problem with this administration. Rather than rely on the natural good publicity that flows from doing good deeds, Team Blagojevich is driven to prove the brilliance of its leader at every turn and at any cost. It comes across as needy and desperate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments are off until Monday. Light to nonexistent posting until then unless something big breaks or I get a few minutes of free time.

If you're looking for Illinois stuff for the next few days, you might want to go here. I'll explain next week what that's all about.

By the way, I'm thankful for my subscribers and the readers of this blog. You're all tops in my book. Have a good one.

Blagojevich to make late announcement?

Buried at the end of this story about Republican gubernatorial debates was this little tidbit.

Although Blagojevich has not formally announced his intent to seek re-election, a spokesman for the governor said Monday that he fully expects Blagojevich to file his petitions before the Dec. 12 deadline.

"He's given me every indication that he will file," said Pete Giangreco, spokesman for Blagojevich's campaign committee.

No date has been set for when Blagojevich will make a formal announcement, he said.

"I don't expect one until January or February or at least not until after the State of the State address," Giangreco said.

The State of the State is January 18th.

Congrats to Emil Jones

According to this column in the Defender, Senate President Emil Jones was married in Las Vegas over the weekend.

"Word" from Las Vegas is that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. and Dr. Lorrie Stone were wed Saturday at high noon during a lovely garden ceremony at the exclusive MonteLargo Village on the shores of sparkling Lake Las Vegas. The one-of-a-kind posh, luxury resort 17 miles from the Vegas Strip is set amid Nevada's desert mountains. The Mediterranean-themed village, we're told, offers exquisite shopping and dining, golfing, European-style gaming, championship golf and lakeside recreation.

Congratulations, Senator!

(hat tip: AmyEAllen)

Also, while congrats may be in order, Jones' house was burgled while he was away. His car was also stolen but later recovered.

No excuse for this

IDHS really needs to get its act together:

Personal information -- enough to make an identity thief's mouth water -- keeps turning up in an unlocked trash bin behind a state office in Belleville, according to a published report.

Records containing names, addresses, home phone numbers, birth dates and Social Security numbers were found in the trash behind an Illinois Department of Human Services office, the Belleville News-Democrat reported today.

The records were found Saturday and again Monday evening, after the newspaper informed the agency. The finds occurred more than six months after the newspaper began to fish personal information out of open trash bins at various state agencies.

Not sure I'd want to be assigned the task of fishing through trash bins, but it's a good story.

Question of the day

For what are you most thankful?

(By the way, posting will most likely be very light today.)

This just in... Birkett stays put

Joe Birkett won't run statewide next year. From a press release:

NOTE: The following note is being sent today by DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett to his supporters.

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005
3:15 p.m.

I want to let you know that I am very grateful to you for your efforts on my behalf as I vigorously explored a run for Governor.

For the past several months, I traveled our state along with several other Republicans who were running or considering entering the race. During this exploratory campaign I traveled more than 50,000 miles and I met great people. Our message and our ideas were well received everywhere we went.

I have decided not to be a candidate for governor or any other statewide office next year. There are few things in life that are as all-consuming as politics – especially a campaign for Governor. While I fully intend to explore another run for statewide office in the future, I have found that it would be very difficult to simultaneously run and still perform my duties as State’s Attorney; especially at a time when my office is facing a number of significant challenges.

I want you to know that while I will not be on the statewide ticket, I will be very active in supporting fellow Republicans, including the candidacy of my good friend and colleague, Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz, who will be our candidate for Attorney General. I will also focus on bringing about needed legislative and policy reform to improve the justice system and the quality of life in Illinois.

Finally, thank you again for your continued support. We have a great opportunity to achieve Republican victories next fall and I look forward to working with you to help make them possible.

Once again, have a Happy Thanksgiving and a great holiday season.

Question of the day

As I told Capitol Fax subscribers last week and then again this morning, state Sen. Carole Pankau (R-Itasca) will challenge Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes next year. Here's a story about the race. Please read it before you comment.

Do you think she can win? Why or why not?

Unhappy Republicans

School board president John Vivoda's decision to challenge Peter Roskam in the Republican primary for Henry Hyde's old seat has set off some sparks in DuPage.

...[Vivoda] said he wanted to avoid “this anointing of somebody who is an ultra-conservative.”

Vivoda thinks a moderate like himself will hit an untapped Republican electorate. [...]

His viewpoint, however, doesn’t sit well with area Republican leaders who see Vivoda as a spoiler.

If Vivoda is a true Republican, he wouldn’t want Roskam to spend precious financial resources in a primary fight, said state Sen. Kirk Dillard, the DuPage GOP chairman. Vivoda should let Roskam save his money for the general election next November, Dillard said.

“Sadly, Mr. Vivoda will only be helping the Democrats, since he will not beat Peter Roskam in the Republican primary,” Dillard said.

Read the whole thing.

Vivoda probably doesn't have a chance, but he sure knows how to stir things up. Check out this Tribune story:

[Vivoda] doesn't expect to get the support of the district's traditional Republican leadership, who he says "winked and nodded at George Ryan forever."

Whiplash

The main Sun-Times story on Cook Couty Sheriff's Michael Sheahan's retirement was pretty straightforward.

Stunning Cook County's political establishment, longtime Sheriff Michael Sheahan made a last-minute decision Monday not to seek a fifth term, and he tried to get Democratic leaders to slate his chief of staff, Tom Dart, to replace him.

The party's ward and township committeemen gave Sheahan two standing ovations when he addressed their slate-making session Monday, but they balked at his request for an instant endorsement of his popular deputy.

Instead they put off for one week the decision on whom to slate for the office. That will give other potential candidates time to try to scramble together campaigns.

The story mentioned that Ald. William Beavers and county board member Mike Quigley were both interested.

Not so says Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown.

[Ald. William] Beavers was telling reporters he was serious about running for the job himself, but he's not. What he's serious about is not wanting to be taken for granted in the decisionmaking [...]

Quigley was immediately discussed as a sheriff's candidate, based on his past criticism of Sheahan, but he said he wasn't interested.

Brown also wrote, "The 19th Ward braintrust may have outmaneuvered everybody again."

Not so, says Michael Sneed.

The Hatfields and the McCoys? Sneed hears Cook County Sheriff Mike Sheahan's decision not to run for re-election reportedly prompted an intraparty feud.

*Translation: Sheahan, who is pushing his chief of staff Tom Dart as his replacement, reportedly ran afoul of 19th Ward Dem strongman Thomas Hynes, our former Cook County assessor who is supposedly backing former U.S. Attorney Jim Burns for the job. (Burns is Secretary of State Jesse White's inspector general.)

*Explanation: Sneed is told the fuse was lit when Sheahan failed to inform Hynes of his decision to pull up stakes until after Sheahan had already told ward committeemen the day before.

*History note: No love lost here. Bad blood was drawn when Hynes' son Dan was chosen to run for state comptroller, a job Dart, then a state representative, wanted and felt he deserved due to his many years of service to the Dem party.

Get all that?

UPDATE: The next time I talk to Tom Dart, I'm going to make it a point to tell him what I think of his moronic supporters who've been posting here. Comments are closed because some people are just plain evil.

PUSH-CORE

You may have to subscribe to read this, but it's too good to let it stay behind the firewall. Greg Hinz writes about ComEd and an unlikely group of supporters.

...Which leads to the story of Commonwealth Edison Co., the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the question of why groups such as Rev. Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition are quietly helping the company in its bid to bump up electric rates, an increase that poor minority folks are especially ill-equipped to pay. [...]

Recently, [ComEd] set up a grassroots group, Citizens Organized for Reliable Electricity (Core), to push ComEd's plan for market-based electricity rates. Most members, predictably, are business folks who instinctively oppose government intervention. Some, like ex-Chicago Board of Trade President Thomas Donovan, have a second reason; Mr. Donovan says Mr. Clark and ComEd took extra steps to protect the CBOT against power outages.

But, notably, Core also has lured leading minority figures whose constituents can't pass on higher bills to customers, including United Neighborhood Organization CEO Juan Rangel and Rainbow/Push Chairman Martin King. Rev. Jackson also recently wrote Gov. Rod Blagojevich offering to "mediate" the dispute, and he wants to meet with the governor. [...]

I give Mr. Clark and ComEd buckets of credit for helping minority groups. But when someone as powerful as Rev. Jackson gets involved in a fight like this, it makes waves. Sometimes, it's best to just say no.

Man, everybody was in the tank on that Marty Cohen ICC chairmanship vote. Everybody.

Gidwitz proposes tax plan

It may be Thanksgiving week, but GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz is still issuing press releases. Yesterday, he announced a tax plan.

Charging that Gov. Rod Blagojevich “just doesn’t get” how bad of shape Illinois’ economy is in, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz Monday proposed a state-tax rebate for every new job created here over the next five years.

Under the plan, employers would get back 50% to 75% of the state income-tax liability for any hew hires—the larger figure applying to “higher quality” posts that offered health care benefits and retirement plans.

The initiative “would have no prerequisites for location, size of business, or number of jobs created,” said Mr. Gidwitz at a Chicago press conference. “This state needs an economic shot in the arm.”

The comments from Mr. Gidwitz, who headed Chicago’s Helene Curtis Industries before it was acquired by a Dutch firm, came after a series of recent reports suggesting that Illinois has lagged behind other states in recovering from the post-9/11 recession, and indeed that it has created fewer jobs than the rest of the nation since at least 1990.

What do you think?

Will Dart be next sheriff?

Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan says he won't run for a 5th term. His chief of staff Tom Dart will reportedly ask the Cook County Central Committee later today to slate him for the office.

Dropping a bombshell into Cook County politics, Sheriff Michael Sheahan called Democratic leaders this morning to tell them he will not seek re-election to a fifth term in the high-profile office.

“He has been in public service 38 years, sheriff since 1990,” said Cook County Democratic Chairman Tom Lyons. “He just wants to turn his attention to other matters.”

Exactly why the veteran Southwest Side politician decided to pull the plug remained somewhat of a mystery. He has been mentioned as potential candidate for higher office in the past, especially state treasurer, an office that will become vacant if Republican incumbent Judy Baar Topinka follows through with her plans to run for governor.

But none of the people Sheahan has been contacting said he spoke of any other offices when he gave them the news. Sheahan’s office has also been hit by investigations of inmates’ allegations of beatings at the Cook County Jail, but Democratic leaders insisted that played no role in his decision.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Considering how many comments we've had and the amount of bile expended, it took longer than expected to reach the 3-deletion limit. But we have hit the mark and so comments are now closed on this post.

Question of the day

Do you think US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has "criminalized politics" or is he just trying to get the criminals out of politics? Explain.

By the way, posting will be light today.

I need these people to contact me, please

Bill Baar, Grand Old Partisan, President Nixon, Sammy Esposito, RedByrd, Roy Slade, Scott Fawell's Cellmate, Steve Schnorf, Shelbyville, Tessa, The Dude, bardo, JSM, Team Sleep, rambler, Pat Hickey.

If you're one of these commenters, please e-mail me.

And, no, you're not in trouble.

Comments closed for the weekend

See you Monday.

Pool report

A reporter friend of mine sent this e-mail to me today.

I guess I didn't have anything better to do, but I attended yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "venue reform" in civil litigation. S.B. 1724 (sponsored by Kirk Dillard) would give plaintiffs fewer choices of where to file their lawsuits. The main witnesses in support of the bill were Ed Murnane and a lawyer from Worshington named Mark Behrens, who was working on behalf of the Civil Justice League.

The star senator was Don Harmon.

The Civil Justice League guys had argued that the disproportionate number of civil cases filed in Cook, Madison and Saint Clair counties placed a burden on Illinois taxpayers, plus made them more vulnerable to being selected for jury duty. But when Harmon asked whether these causes brought in any "litigation tourists," for example lawyers staying in hotels and eating in restaurants for an extended period, the witnesses revealed that of all the asbestos litigation filed in Madison County over the last five years, only two had gone to trial -- which showed that their "burden on the citizens" argument was B.S.

Harmon also asked whether the disproportionate number of cases being filed in these three counties had led to any actual injustice. None of them could answer yes.

Then Harmon attacked their argument that having these "judicial hellholes" discourages businesses from locating in Illinois. If businesses can be sued in Illinois no matter where their business is located, how does that hurt business development here, Harmon asked. The answer from Murnane: It just does!

Question of the day

Every Friday afternoon, before he was unceremoniously fired, WMAY talk-show host Mike Wilson did a segment called "Cake, or Ferrets in the Boxer Shorts."

For those unfamiliar with the segment, this is where you get to vote for the wonderful sweet person that would be deserving of a nice big piece of cake, and the total [expletive deleted] that would be worthy of having ferrets dropped in his or her boxer shorts.

Since he's no longer on the air, you can post this week's nominees here.

And, please, no profanity, libel, or other bizarre behavior. Seriously, y'all are getting a little too weird for me lately. Try to have some fun with this.

Not gonna do it

I've had lots of requests to create an IDOT post here in the wake of a few recent resignations.

I'm not going to do it for several reasons, one of which is that you IDOT people can get a little out of hand in the comments section. I know, you feel you are under siege, and some of you have provided some good info in the past, but I haven't been able to babysit the blog the last few days, so I couldn't risk it. Today is no different.

So, if you have theories, corruption tales, etc., I'd appreciate it if you would e-mail me.

First time for everything

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is usually the definition of "cool under fire."

He's got one governor on trial, the vice president's former chief of staff and the Sun-Times' former owner under indictment; he's put a NY Times reporter in jail and now has a renowned Washington Post editor on the hot seat; and he has the mayor of the state's largest city and the current governor on the run, yet he's always Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected.

Until yesterday, when reporters asked him about People Magazine naming him one of the "sexiest men alive."

"I almost enjoy going back to the leak questions I can't answer," said Fitzgerald, blushing.

"Uhhh, I ... I don't wanna comment."

Fitzgerald couldn't wait to get back to talking about the intricacies of corporate fraud. But when pressed about the designation, which he shares with Matthew McConaughey and country star Keith Urban, Fitzgerald, a Harvard Law graduate with a Boy Scout reputation, responded with his typical wit.

"I played a lot of practical jokes on people for a lot of years and they all got even at once," he said. "OK, new topic."

He blushed? Does that mean he's human?

[emphasis added]

I forgot about this

I wrote about Secretary of State director of physical services Cecil Turner's firing in today's Capitol Fax, noting that White could come under fire for continuing the culture of cronyism at the SoS.

But I forgot about this one. The Sun-Times fills us in.

White's office faced questions in 1999 when Turner was hired despite having a criminal history.

In 1975, a federal jury convicted Turner of conspiracy for his role in a scheme in which a Petersburg, Ill., mail carrier stole $7,000 in income-tax refunds, veterans' benefits and other federal checks.

Turner was found guilty of forging signatures, possessing some of the illegally obtained checks and helping in the thefts. He was sentenced to three years in prison and served 11 months.

"We had known that at the time we hired him. We thought people are entitled to a second chance in life. He'd been a prominent citizen in the Sangamon County area, and we thought he'd do a good job," Druker said.

Maybe not.

Meanwhile, White's GOP opponent, state Sen. Dan Rutherford, has an interesting feature on his campaign website.

Rutherford has asked for suggestions on how to improve the SoS office, and some of them are pretty good.

I have a suggestion that can help those with illness. Add a Medical Alert to the Driver license. I have heard for EMTs that they will look in wallet for information before treating a person to see if there is any medical information regarding why they may have collapsed. This way they can just look for a State ID or Driver license to see what they need to do in order to help the person that is fallen ill and can't respond. This can save lives. Just a thought.

Rutherford then comments on most of the suggestions.

Very good idea.

New poll numbers

SurveyUSA has a new poll of President Bush's job approval ratings in all 50 states, and as you might image, the prez ain't doing so well here.

Just 31 percent approve of his job performance, while 67 percent disapprove. Yeesh.

His disapproval is up 11 points since May, while his approval is down 8.

Illinois and Massachusetts were tied at 44th highest approval of Bush in the nation. Nationally, he's at 37/60.

The poll of 600 adults was taken November 11-13. It has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.

Mike Wilson booted from WMAY

It turns out, I was on Mike Wilson's last show on WMAY yesterday.

Mike was my favorite Springfield talk-show host. He was witty and engaging and always a fun listen. I thoroughly enjoyed being on his program because we had a good chemistry between us and could just have lots of fun. It was the only show I did on a regular basis. Not sure if I'll ever do another.

The last thing I said, during the last minute of Mike's last show, was how great his program was and what an asset he was to the station. Neither of us knew what was about to happen next.

This morning Mike was fired for budgetary reasons.

I'll miss you, Mike. Good luck.

3 "cleared" at DCFS

A law firm hired by the state has cleared three DCFS officials to return to work.

Three state Department of Children and Family Services employees placed on paid leave Oct. 25 after the launch of a federal investigation into hiring practices have been cleared to come back to work.

But the personnel employees -- Robin Staggers, Tom Putting and Corey Novick -- are not going back to their old posts, DCFS spokeswoman Diane Jackson said Wednesday.

Staggers, formerly a deputy director of human resources, has been assigned to become the agency's African-American Affairs liaison. She is expected to assume those duties today.

Putting reported to work Monday in DCFS' Division of Monitoring and Quality Assurance. Novick, a lawyer, started work that day in the agency's legal department. [...]

The governor's office, Jackson said, hired a law firm to issue an independent opinion about whether Staggers, Putting and Novick should be allowed to return to work. DCFS acted based on the lawyers' recommendation that they return.

Question of the day

Should Illinois ban casino gaming, expand it, remake it somehow, or keep it the way it is?

Won't work

The Cross Bloggers have been up in arms lately abut this site that anonymously attacks one of their legislators. The people behind the offending site recently did a mailing to voters in the district advertising its existence.

The Crossers urged the legislator to retaliate with his own website, and he has now done so, although it's a bit on the weak side. Frankly, he ought to be sending his friends and family over there to bombard the other place with their own version of the truth, so that visitors can see for themselves if the allegations are overblown hype or not.

Anyway, this week, the Crossers made the following suggestion:

Do me and Paul a favor. Go over to the bad blog and click the little 'flag' button on the top right. If we get enough folks to 'flag' the site, we'll take it down.

I have the same "flag" button on my site, as do most Blogger.com bloggers. The Cross suggestion worried me a little because I don't want to be subjected to politically motivated harassment, so I sent Blogger Support an e-mail about this subject. I received the following reply:

Blogs with many flags are reviewed by our support staff and we do not take action against blogs simply for political opinions.

That's good to know.

Consider this a blog report thread. Hype your own blog or chat about what other blogs are doing.

Brought to you by...

This story wouldn't even be a story if the governor had not made this sort of thing an issue. His supporters claim he's being held to an unfairly high standard, but it wasn't that long ago that he placed himself on a very high pedestal.

The thousands of tollway commuters now able to cruise through the four I-PASS express lanes at the first redesigned toll plaza on I-294 will certainly know whom to thank.

Just above the overpass of toll-gathering gadgetry at the Irving Park Toll Plaza is a long permanent sign reading “Open Road Tolling — Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor.”

The declaration has Republicans howling, Democrats defending and a watchdog group raising an eyebrow two years after the governor pushed through an ethics package that, in part, was aimed at stopping political self-promotion through public projects. [...]

Blagojevich’s name does not appear above regular tollbooths, where drivers with cash are paying double to cover the tollway enhancement project.

The tollway erected the sign for commuters so they know why the new system is there and what to call it, Damico said.

It was the governor's idea to forbid the using of names, images, etc. in TV, newspaper and radio ads promoting a state program. What people often forget, however, is that his original proposal also included billboards.

Again, this is not a huge issue. But it is a very good indication of how the upcoming campaign will look.

Stroger steps on his message

The idea was to announce his candidacy, but Cook County Board President John Stroger allowed himself to get pulled off message yesterday.

...But at a press conference in which he was flanked by dozens of big-named supporters, Mr. Stroger ventured into dangerous political waters by strongly suggesting he’s about to call for a county property-tax hike. [...]

The county’s chief official reminded voters that when he first ran for office he pledged to hold the line on property taxes. He has done so, and, as a result, the county’s property-tax rate (not the levy) “has fallen 40% since I took office,” he said.

But, in answer to a question, Mr. Stroger said, “It looks like it (the tax freeze) may be coming to an end,” if state government does not come across with tens of millions of dollars needed for health costs.

“I’ll do what I think is right,” Mr. Stroger concluded. “The public will judge and, whatever happens after, I’ll live with it.”

Quote of the week

This has been mentioned in comments, so I thought it should be elevated:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday he's too busy to think about his 2006 re-election campaign and is unconcerned about the possibility of a Democratic primary challenge.

The first-term Democratic governor also dismissed recent Tribune reports raising questions about hiring in his administration as reporters "trying to justify their pay."

"They need to do work and so they have to look for stuff and write certain things," Blagojevich said.

UPDATE: Comments are closed on this post because some people are complete morons who should go find another blog to infect.

Question of the day

Politicians cringe when the Chicago Tribune publishes a negative editorial about them, and they gloat when the Tribsters heap praise. Trib editorials have been known to kill bills and nominees (Marty Cohen is a recent example), and have heavily influenced numerous state policies and political campaigns.

Do you think the Tribune editorial board has too much influence over Illinois politics? Why or why not? And do you think the Tribune handles the responsibility well? Explain.