Well it can vary by quite a bit within Illinois lets look at the top and the bottom of the list.
Bill Foster from Batavia is worth someplace between $6.6 and $28.8 Million. Foster was quoted in the Beacon News as saying
..he'd prefer the reports offer more specifics to give a clearer picture of net worth. "I'd be perfectly happy if they gave more detail," he said.
Nothing is preventing you from doing that congressman....
Then at the other end....
Bobby Rush, who lists no Assets or Liabilities and lists a net worth of $0
Perhaps he should get some tips from Bill Foster, but seriously should we be concerned that the congressman lists no assets?
OneMan
— OneMan /
We got an email from Jonathan Goldman about his candidacy for state rep in the Democratic primary for the 10th district.
I suspect when the email was sent they didn't figure it would be the suburban Republican who would do the item on it. But he makes some points I would like to take a closer look at. You can find what was in the email here.
Work to put Illinois' fiscal house in order. "We need to get serious once and for all about fixing the State budget, rather than lurching from one fiscal crisis to another. We need to restructure our tax policies based on ability to pay and address our structural deficit so that we can pay our bills on time and fully fund our pension obligations," said Goldman.
So bottom line, who is going to pay more? Who is going to pay less? As for the pension system, do you think the current state pension system should be available to folks who go to work for the state three years from now?
Continue reading this entry »
— OneMan /
In another powerful display of spinelessness towards the robber-barons of the US financial industry, Barney Frank and Timothy Geithner are at the forefront of weakening legislation aimed at finally setting some tough standards on lenders. It looks like Milton Friedman's ghost still haunts us, even in the actions of people that are supposed to be working for us. When will we wake up and realize that unregulated free market ideas should have been thrown in the garbage can of history long ago?
My favorite quote from this article: "We can't let the momentum for reform fade as the memory of the crisis recedes," states Geithner. Really, Mr. Geithner? If the crisis is fading, will this be another "jobless recovery", like in the 1990s? With millions of Americans still barely scraping by and with millions more without access to health care, this statement just shows how out of touch Obama and the Democratic Party is with working Americans.
— Timothy Morin /
Sun-Times reporter Abdon Pallasch has a beautifully written and deeply researched piece on the slating of Cook County Judges. The slating process--or "ballot management"--is a practice sacred to the County political bosses. The authority of slating is where they generate much of their political capital. Not only from the people they choose, but from the legions of people who serve the Party loyally in hopes of one day being slated--or of having a big enough name to get somebody else slated. Pallasch mentions a judge named William Haddad--Haddad's experiences gave me the idea to write the piece on ballot management I posted in 2004. It was an off the record conversation with Haddad about his endorsement by the Party that gave me some of the background ideas. That piece of course was based on casual hearsay conversations with various political hacks and precinct workers I would never call "journalism". Pallasch's piece refers to that 2004 Haddad campaign and really gets into how slating looks and works.
There is something to be said for this process--for all the horse-trading and political hackery involved, a society where the courts harden into a clubbish aristocracy is not what we want, either. There is a middle road in there somewhere.
My favorite bit, but, really, read the whole thing:
Here's who wins judicial elections in Cook County: Women with Irish names. For whatever reason in this county where roughly half the residents are women and 17 percent claim Irish ancestry, women lawyers with Irish names win more than 50 percent of all countywide judicial elections.
That's why lawyers of Jewish or other ancestry often legally adopt Irish names to run for judge here. That's why when party leaders slate men without Irish names, such as William Haddad, who would have been the first Arab-American full-circuit judge in Cook County, the party must recruit Irish women lawyers to run as "ringers" or "stalking horses" to flood the ballot and fracture the Irish-woman vote.
— Ramsin Canon /
WBEZ has a great report from inside the Cook County Democratic Party Slating Committee meeting this week. The full meeting happens today.
Here are some interesting facts* that WBEZ
didn't report on:
- Alderman Dick Mell asked candidate for County Board Terry O'Brien, "I'm interested to know, in terms of the veto override provisions that are ultimately determined by the state legislature, Irishdingussayswhat?" To which O'Brien responded, "What?"
- County Recorder of Deeds Eugene "Gene" Moore actually introduces himself by saying, "Hello, I'm Eugene 'Gene' Moore" while making air quotes.
- Karen Yarborough, Commiteeman for Proviso Township, travels around with an aide who announces, "Proviso Township, Entering!" when she enters a room, and "Proviso Township, Retiring!" when she leaves.
- Ald. Toni Preckwinkle yawned loudly during one of Committeeman Ira Silverstein's questions, and then interrupted him and said, "Man, Silverstein, you're so boring you make P.J. Cullerton (38th) sound like Randy Barnette (39th)!" She actually said the parentheticals.
- Committeeman John Fritchey head-butted Steve Landek, but it was a "friend head butt".
- When hotel staff wheeled in refreshments, Secretary of State Jesse White asked for a "tumbler" of Diet Pepsi. Nobody laughed.
- Mike Madigan peeled an entire apple without breaking the skin, then revealed that it was actually a human heart.
- In a spirit of unity, Secretary of State Jesse White pledged that the Party would unite behind any candidate it endorsed. "We'll tumble for you," he added. Some people laughed.
- Committeeman Bob Rita took Committeeman Wilbert Crowley's hand and slapped him across the face with it, then asked him why he was hitting himself.
- Howard Brookins asked John Daley if he liked Harry Potter more than Twilight. Daley rolled his eyes and said, "Is John A. Pope (10th) Catholic?"
*None of these are actually facts. Although I do think John A. Pope is Catholic.
— Ramsin Canon /
There is a flaw in the motto "Elect More, and Better, Democrats." This motto of the liberal netroots--as a handy shorthand for the current generation of liberal activists--was laid out originally by Markos Moulitsas and adopted to various degrees by the other major netroots networks and organizations.
The flaw is the word "better". With no real left ideology (and therefore, no attendant analysis of the current political and economic situation) there is no real way to gauge what makes a "better" Democrat. With no definition of "better" in this context, we are left with "Elect more Democrats;" not only this, but without an ideology--an analysis--we can't gauge legislative progress--meaning we will never know when we have "enough" Democrats. Electing more Democrats is not a worthwhile goal until we know what makes a politician a "good" or "better" Democrat.
That is to say, without a party-independent movement capable of providing analysis of current political and social crises, we'll end up with a constant tension between those who think espousal of particular issues, versus partisan loyalty, define "progress", "the left" or "progressivism".
I would offer as my primary piece of evidence the Honorable Michael J. Madigan.
Continue reading this entry »
— Ramsin Canon /
The state of the Illinois budget continues to be at the first stage of grief, denial. What we are denying is that some form of tax increase is inevitable.
What Illinois has, and would have no matter who is governor, is this: (1) a structural deficit, because our current tax structure just doesn't generate enough to fund the total state budgets and pension obligations at the rate we spend; (2) years of avoiding this through creative accounting such as fund sweeps and, in effect, using the pension funds as a credit card; (3) an overall tax system that is regressive, and arguably one of the more regressive in the nation; and (4) a huge revenue shortfall due to the recessionary economy, which has dramatically lowered revenues from income, from sales, and from the transfer of real estate. This last is what tipped the deeply troubling into the truly alarming.
Continue reading this entry »
— Jeff Smith /
It appears that at least for today the Illinois House has not acted on HB0007, the shell bill being used to carry the key campaign finance reform provisions of the ethics package. Because hardly anyone in Chicago has actually seen what is being debated and reported on, I have included here in several places the link to the actual bill.
I traded e-mails with my state rep, Julie Hamos, today, trying to keep up on what's going down, and advised that I'd probably vote against the bill if I was there, if it was a pure up-or-down. Often, any progress is better than none, but if Cindy Canary says a bill is "phony reform," I'd be pretty reluctant to give it my stamp of approval, because Ms. Canary lives and breathes the real thing, rip-snortin', no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is passion for The Change We Need around here. And sometimes a half-measure is not half a loaf, it acts as a block to real reform, sometimes while making matters even worse.
Continue reading this entry »
— Jeff Smith /
Here is the first speech I would give after announcing that I was going to run for governor:
I am a man of faith, I am the pastor of a large church in Chicago, a large Christian church. I know however there are people of faith who do not support my canidicy because of my views on some social issues.
I want to take this opportunity to reach out to them and point out how the faith we share can point us in a new direction as a state...
I am reminded of the word of the profit Ezekiel 16:49
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy"
-- Nothing there about the sins we more commonly associate with Sodom, but "she did not help the poor and needy", the same sin this state has been guilty of for to far long....
We have children in this state who are underfed, undereducated because of the neighborhood they were born in. We fail these children as a state and perhaps more importantly as Christians. I call on all of you to work with me to solve this problem. Christ spoke much more about how we treat the least among us than and of the issues that divide us.
You may feel uncomfortable with my stands on other issues, too comfortable to support or vote for me, fine I can accept that.
But what I can not accept as a Christian and as a leader in this state is a desire to ignore these issues and do nothing. That is why I decided to run for Governor as an independent, not to attract voters because of party labels but to attract voters who agree that something needs to be done. That the status quo can not be maintained, that we need to act as a state more like the Samaritan and less like the Pharisee.
Don't know if he is going to run for governor, but if he does, I would toss the gauntlet down and toss it hard.
— OneMan /
A reader reported to us that she happened to fly back from a trip to DC on the same American Airlines flight Thursday as both Illinois senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris. The flight was delayed three hours, during which time Burris worked the gate, shaking hands and talking with other passengers. Durbin was nowhere to be found until the plane began boarding.
The senators turned out to be seated right next to each other -- Burris by the window, Durbin in the middle seat, with a large gentleman on the aisle. Durbin and Burris didn't speak the entire flight, according to our source, who was two rows in front of them. Burris reportedly stared out the window the whole way, while Durbin appeared to be sleeping. They went in opposite directions once the plane landed at O'Hare. Considering their recent meetings have been tense, it's no surprise -- but you'd think they would have been able to switch seats.
— Andrew Huff /
From a campaign statement:
"In January, I wrote a piece published in the New York Times about the need to hold a special election to replace not just Barack Obama, but all Senate seats that are vacated. I didn't write this for political expediency, but to point out that this was a century-old constitutional reform made to take power away from large, monied special interests. We don't need a new amendment. We just need to follow the one that's there: the 17th Amendment.
"Once again we see our political system at the local, state and federal levels flooded by the influence of big money. Banks receive trillions in bailouts while working people lose their jobs, health care and homes. We are in desperate need of reform in this country; let's start by holding elections to fill vacant Senate seats."
Progress Illinois has been all over the Burris situation.
— Ramsin Canon
It's amazing that even in these stiff economic times the amount of money candidates raise is nothing short of huge. According to Greg Hinz:
In the latest news among the Dems, County Commissioner Mike Quigley reported raising $250,000 so far and signed up mega-Clinton fundraiser Bill Brandt as his finance co-chair. Mr. Quigley also led narrowly over state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz in a new poll, but she reported having pulled in more money, about $325,000, though others say the real figure is $500,000.
Of course, Quigley and Fiegenholtz are the projected political heavyweights of this race, but still...
— Daniel Strauss /
Was it Illinois's worst day ever or its best?
Listening to the rhetoric from the state senate chamber in Springfield, you might think that we should consider ordering a few million caplets of Prozac from Canada.
Let's refrain, shall we?
I won't go so far as to say it's the state's finest day -- it most certainly wasn't -- but former Governor Blagojevich's unanimous conviction on impeachment charges today should be a proud moment for anyone who believes that the General Assembly has the sworn duty to remove a governor when he or she has lost the confidence of the people.
I never thought I'd find myself thinking this, but I agree with what Senator Meeks of Chicago said on the senate floor earlier today. "This is not a sad day for me," Meeks said. "This is a great day. We are not ruled by angels. We are not ruled by super-humans. We have, unfortunately, as our leaders of our state, city, country, people with flaws -- human beings, just like the rest of us who are prone to mistakes. We have leaders who make errors. However, when those errors drift into criminal activity or abuse of power -- when that happens and a leader oversteps his or her boundary, what a joy that we don't have to form a militia, that we don't have to form an army -- an upstate army and a downstate army -- and go down to the second floor, and get grenades and guns, and bomb the governor out of the second floor."
"What a joy we have a process," Senator Meeks said.
Continue reading this entry »
— Richard Lorenc /
Wow. That was quick.
In fewer than 3 days on the job (or 2 if you were one of those who was getting ready to sue because of the flubbed oath on Tuesday) President Obama has moved decisively to expand government transparency at the federal level.
Color me impressed.
On his second day in office, President Obama reopened WhiteHouse.gov to search engines. Just yesterday he issued a memo on FOIA requests, and made a forceful statement on the end of the unlawful detentions at Guantánamo Bay.
He's also made solid moves on ethics for White House staffers.
Now, Ramsin may not agree with this assessment, but the highest honor I can bestow upon the president today is that of Technocrat-in-Chief.
Since his time in the U.S. Senate when he co-sponsored a federal expenditure transparency bill with one of my congressional heroes Tom Coburn, Obama has been a consistent supporter of good government procedures.
Continue reading this entry »
— Richard Lorenc /
Given all the givens, that open letter President-elect Obama wrote "to his daughters" was at best strange, and at worst ridiculous.
This may seem nit-picky, but doesn't he live with his daughters? And haven't we heard that the First Parents want to shield their young girls from overmuch media scrutiny? So how does publishing a cloying, effusive and vague letter "to his daughters," in a magazine called Parade nonetheless, make sense?
The First Family by all appearances are a model family, but enough already.
The letter itself is beautifully written but filled with meaningless cliches and purposeful ambiguities. I know it's supposed to be a proxy letter meant to actually go to ALL of America's children, but what is the point of writing a high-profile open letter without a clear purpose besides "I want children to succeed?"
I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential--schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college--even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity. I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer.
Thanks, National Dad! This is nothing that any politician wouldn't express, if not so eloquently.
If the President-elect wanted to write an open letter to the nation's children (doesn't seem so sweet when you put it that way) he should have done so. Malia and Sasha are included in that set. The obvious love of the Obama family for one another is a great national example, and we should be thankful for that. But given a choice between no eloquent open letters to family members or even more of an intrusive celebrity culture in politics, I'd nix the epistles in a minute.
— Ramsin Canon /
By all accounts, Cong. Jesse Jackson, Jr. is on the "short list" of possibilities to fill Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat for the next two years. Some newspapers and activists have been actively lobbying for Gov. Blagojevich, who has sole discretion in the decision, to appoint Jackson.
Continue reading this entry »
— Jeff Smith /
From Clout St., Obama just became president-elect, but city aldermen are already expecting some favors from him. Relax a minute, he hasn't even been inaugurated.
I like this quote by Ald. Ed Smith (28th):
But Ald. Ed Smith (28th) sounded a rare cautionary note, warning that local expectations for Obama may be unrealistic.
"We can't dump all the problems on him," Smith said. "There's thousands of cities out there and he has to look at all of those cities."
— Levois /
