One of the city's most persistent and troubling scandals reaches federal court today when jury selection begins in the trial of Jon Burge, the former Chicago police detective accused of overseeing the torture of suspects.
For nearly two decades, Burge and his detectives allegedly sent dozens of men to prison on the basis of coerced confessions, deepening bitterness between police and minorities and helping inspire former Gov. George Ryan to reject capital punishment and empty the state's death row.
But Burge, now 62, living on a police pension and reportedly in poor health, will not be tried for any act of torture. While federal prosecutors say they will prove that he and his detectives abused suspects, the statute of limitations expired long ago.
Burge isn't merely living in Florida but he's doing it on the city's pension. Despite being fired in 1993, Burge continues to receive his pension. Furthermore, while he faces criminal charges, he isn't charged directly with anything related to the torture. That's because the torture was finally brought to light just after, conveniently enough, the statute of limitations ran out. These charges relate to Burge's alleged false statements under oath about this abuse.
This entire case is wrapped up in Chicago's culture of corruption. Richard M. Daley was Cook County State's Attorney from 1981-1989. It was his prosecutors that systematically took confessions from people that claimed to have been tortured. Besides his name, Daley ran for mayor under his record of convictions which we now know was heavily inflated by systematic torture. Furthermore, it was Mayor Harold Washington that in the early 1980's promoted Burge to commander even as allegations were prevalent.
I've been speaking with one of Burge's victims, Mark Clements. He was charged with four counts of murder stemming from a fire to a two flat in the Southeast side of Chicago in 1981. Clements says he was beaten in the chest for the better part of twenty minutes by a Chicago Police officer named John McCann. McCann then proceeded to scream racial epithets at Clements and then squeezed his genitals until Clements finally agreed to confess. Clements then proceeded to tell Cook County Prosecutor Kevin Moore that he had been tortured when Moore came in to take his confession. Clements was then tortured again by McCann when McCann found out that Clements dared to accuse him of torture. Clements was 16 at the time of his arrest and was given four life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Clements was only released from prison in August of 2009, even though his case was the subject of media scrutiny throughout his incarceration. Clements credits Bernadine Dohrn, wife of former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, with providing the legal help that ultimately got him released. One reason was that Cook County refused to test evidence for DNA when those tests became available. For most of his incarceration, Clements was represented by legal aid which didn't have the resources to do it himself. It wasn't until Dohrn connected Clements to powerhouse law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which spent several million dollars of its own resources that enough evidence was presented to allow his release.
Finally, the political world revolves around the state of Illinois for one day. Illinois is the first in the nation to hold its primaries and so the nation will have its electoral eyes on Illinois. Nationally, the two big races will be for the U.S. Senate and Governor. Republicans have a realistic chance of winning both in November.
The Democrats are putting up Dan Hynes and current Governor Pat Quinn. For self interest, all Republicans should be rooting for Pat Quinn to win. Quinn's first act as Governor was to raise that state's income tax about 50%. As the former Lt. Governor to Blago, that taint will likely stay with Quinn. Meanwhile, Hynes, the state's current Comptroller, has been surging in the polls.
Both are Springfield insiders in a year when that's a very bad place to be. On the Republican side, three candidates have been playing whack a mole with each other. Those candidates are Andy McKenna, Kirk Dillard, and Jim Ryan. Each would have the insider's label attached to them. Because each has waged a bloody commercial battle against each other. Dillard appeard in an ad in favor of then candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 election cycle. Both Dillard and Ryan are attached to tax increases. Meanwhile, McKenna has been attached to corruption as head of the Illinois GOP.
I believe that all three will knock each other out. Meanwhile, Adam Andrzejewski and Dan Proft were both vying for the candidate of the outsider. Recently, Andrzejewski has surged after being endorsed by Lech Walesa. That endorsement has lead to an endorsement by stalwart Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck yesterday. That race remains wide open but my pick is Andrzejewski. In the Senate side, Alexi Giannoulias, the state's current Treasurer, has been dogged recently by his connection to his family's bank, Broadway Bank. He's facing David Hoffman, the recently former IG in Chicago and Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson. Hoffman has gained traction attacking Giannoulias' big stock withdrawals over the last couple years. This has all happened while Broadway Bank has been losing tens of millions and is on the verge of being taken over by regulators. Meanwhile, Giannoulias was a loan officer at Broadway when he worked there. In fact, when he ran for the State's Treasurer office in 2006 he was dogged by loans made by the bank made to reputed mob boss in the area. Meanwhile, Hoffman has gained a reputation as corruption fighter. He was initially supposed to be a typical IG in Chicago but then waged several high profile battles with officials close to Daley. Hoffman has been dogged by what has been characterized as a terribly negative campaign including several retraction.
Once again, self interest would mean that Republicans are rooting for Giannoulias. Giannoulias was ahead as of the last set of polls but the race has taken on national significance and further exposure in the last week. That race remains up in the air. The last time the Democrats elected a true anti corruption fighter it was Mike Quigley to represent the 5th District in the U.S. House. He then cruised to victory in the special election. Hoffman would be a much tougher candidate in November. Meanwhile, Giannoulias would be tainted and bruised coming out of the primary. Jackson's campaign has been running third throughout.
On the Republican side, North Shore Congressman Mark Kirk has been leading throughout. His opponent, Patrick Hughes, is another favorite of the Tea Party movement. Kirk became its scourge following his vote in favor of cap and trade. He's also socially moderate. Still, while Hughes has been gaining recently, Kirk is the overwhelming favorite. He'd also be a favorite against Giannoulias. Against, Hoffman it would be a toss up.
While those two races will have national intrigue, the most compelling race is for the Cook County Board President. The current incumbent, Todd Stroger, has been an also ran throughout. The favorite originally, Dorothy Brown, has been dogged by some new ethics revelations recently. She's the current Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. She instituted a policy which laid a $5 fee for any employee that wore jeans to work. She's been unable to account for that money. There's been other questions about her employees contributions.
Questions about jeans day follow previous stories about Brown raising money for pet causes from workers in her office, which has more than 2,100 employees. She's also raised campaign money through her employees and they've been asked to contribute to gifts for her.
Today, Brown's staff acknowledged that there's no comprehensive accounting of the jeans day cash contributions that reach the tens of thousands of dollars each year. She said the office tries to verify that the number of permission stickers issued equals the number of contributions. Employees also are supposed to write their names on envelopes when they contribute for jeans day, she said. The comptroller in her office tracks the money, Brown added.
With corruption a main topic in Cook County, Brown has become vulnerable. That leaves the race open for Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and the head of the water reclamation district Terry O'Brien. That race also remains wide open.
On the Republican side, Roger Keats is facing off against John Garrido. Keats is the Candidate of the Republican Party in Cook County and he's being backed by Cook County Republican stalwart Tony Peraica. Keats remains the frontrunner in that race.
Meanwhile, the Green Party has been able to field no less than 19 candidates for offices in the Chicagoland area. This includes three candidates for the new head of the Water Reclamation District, Jack Ailey, Diana Horton, and Nadine Bopp. This includes a candidate for Governor, Senator, every Congressional district in the area, and about 70% of the Cook County offices.
Who does Daley support in the Cook County President's race? Only he knows and he isn't saying.
Mayor Richard M. Daley’s neutrality in the coming Democratic primary for Cook County Board president has created a free-for-all campaign, with no clear favorite yet to emerge from the four candidates vying to oversee the county’s $3 billion annual budget and 25,000 employees.
The mayor has cut off support for the incumbent, Todd H. Stroger, ending the mutually beneficial, generations-long alliance between his family and arguably the most significant black dynasty in the local political machine.
The mayor’s hands-off approach to the Feb. 2 primary is a product not only of Mr. Stroger’s broad unpopularity but also of the diminished ability of Mr. Daley and the Democratic Party to dictate the outcome of elections.
I don't know that public support from Daley now would help the candidate on the receiving end anyway. It is a rejection of Stroger who's been part of his machine for quite a while.
Up for grabs will be the Democratic/Republican nominations in the all important Cook County Board President and Governor's races. If you aren't registered to vote, check out this site. Also, you may want to download this handy form. Just remember all residents of Cook County, Todd Stroger is up for reelection.
So, there I was reading the Sunday Chicago Tribune when I came upon this editorial. It's a call to arms you see.
If you enjoy the political culture as is -- with the next corruption scandal never far off and with your public officials borrowing future generations into penury in order to prop up today's treacherously uncontrolled spending -- then you should support candidates who'll protect the status quo.
If, however, the failure of too many politicians to make urgently needed reforms infuriates you, then reach for a broom.We hope you're among the millions who are infuriated. And we hope you'll reach for that broom. If you're just coming up to speed on Illinois politics, fine. We'll help because, next year, you have to be a change agent:
The Tribune is having their Network moment. They're mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore. It's time to elect good politicians. It's not a moment too soon. After all, the county and state primaries are just about a month away and in this one party county and state those are as good as the general elections.
We've got a vital primary in the Cook County President's race and doggone it, it's time to elect a good leader already. That's the message from the Tribune.
Now, I'm all for the media helping the voters in their selection of candidates. That's a top priority of all media. Of course, the Tribune's been around for a hundred plus years and there's been elections all throughout. I'm not saying that the Tribune is cynically responding to a wave of cynicism among the electorate and hoping no one will include them in the cynicism...er, maybe I am.
After all, the last poll the tribune itself ran, the top two candidate in the Democratic primary, Brown and Stroger, had 90% plus name recognition, and the rest 60% and lower. Now, if the citizens of Cook County don't know who's running for Cook County Board President call me cynical but isn't some of the blame on the media for not telling them about it.
I'd be less cynical if the Tribune hadn't acted as cheerleader and chief propagandist for the Olympics movement but as a watchdog, you know the job of the press. It's been five years since the Chicago Hired Truck scandal broke. Donald Tomczak is in jail for taking bribes. He literally had bags of money delivered to his office. You know who's not in jail. Whoever delivered him the bags of money. It appears the Tribune investigation of the scandal stopped at Tomczak. The money, you see, just magically appeared at his doorstep. Again, I wouldn't be so cynical if someone at the Tribune noticed that money doesn't just magically appear.
Frankly, what really makes me cynical about this movement is how this particular editorial itself ends.
This editorial launches our pre-primary push to answer that question. Subsequent editorials will explore how a reconstituted Illinois can confront three mighty challenges:--The wreckage from current spending and borrowing -- and the taxing to pay for it all.--The need for ethical reforms to better curb corruption and to reduce the concentration of power in the hands of those Illinois oligarchs.--The disturbingly low level of job creation here as state government policies nudge employers to locate and expand elsewhere.
That's right folks. Electing good politicians in Illinois is so important, that this particular editorial was an introduction. Just you wait. Starting next week, the Tribune will really become the watchdog we all know they can be. Until then, the clock ticks until the primary and another seven days will wind down before the Tribune gets serious about helping the electorate to elect good politicians. Me cynical?
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was sending a message to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan when he recently fired two of Madigan's top political operatives from their high-paying county jobs, county sources said.
Madigan, like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, has not made an endorsement in the county president race and isn't expected to do so, the speaker's spokesman, Steve Brown, said.
But some of Madigan's Southwest Side foot soldiers have circulated nominating petitions and are actively backing Stroger's chief rivals for the Democratic nomination - Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District boss Terrence O'Brien, county insiders said.
Last week when I interviewed Tom Tresser, I didn't mention this but I should have. These two folks were making a total of $230,000 yearly. We, as the tax payers, not only pay for their salaries but their pensions. Thousands of patronage workers' salaries are paid by the County but so are their pensions once they retire.
The story in the Sun Times today is of patronage work used as bare knuckles politics. These two are supporters of Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House. They were fired, presumably, because Madigan has yet to support Stroger. The real story is the number of patronage workers the County has. These folks are hired based on clout and connections and not based on qualifications.
I first met up with Tom Tresserwhen I went to my first Olympics town hall event in the summer. Tresser lead the citizen activist group, No Games Chicago. They opposed the bid, as most have probably figured out. Tresser represented No Games, and their position, in the forum. Here's how I described Tresser's best argument that night.
Tresser, on at least five occasions, referred to Daley by the moniker corrupt. No one supporting the bid ever challenged this characterization. Instead, their defense was that the bid was a private non profit effort that is separate from the mayor's office
The corruption in Chicago's City Hall was the number one reason to oppose the Olympics coming to this city. While the Olympics aren't going to be here, the corruption is a major reason, the corruption hasn't gone away with it. In fact, it's a part of daily political life in the city of Chicago, the County of Cook, and the state of Illinois in its entirety.
Tresser announced his candidacy for Cook County Board President back in October. With several scandals hanging over the head of Todd Stroger, the issue of corruption was going to be a major part of the campaign. It is, however, the central part of Tresser's campaign. In fact, Tresser first made a name for himself, politically, here in Chicago fighting against privatization. Privatization and corruption are now mentioned in the same breath here in Chicago ever since the parking meter debacle. It was this debacle that gave all Chicagoans a first hand taste of the corrosive power of government privatization. Back in 2007, privatization was still being done at the margins. That was when the Chicago Park District tried to give away one of its parks to the private Latin High School. Tresser lead a group of citizen activists to stop this and he succeeded. He also got a first hand taste of Chicago corruption.
As such, I sat down with Tom Tresser this morning for a sweeping interview all about Cook County corruption, its roots, and what a politician dedicated to ending it could do. To understand how serious Tresser, who's running under the Green Party ticket, takes corruption, you only needed to look at the table we had the interview on. On this table lay three manilla folders stuffed with paper work: folder 1) Chicago corruption folder two 2)Cook County corruption and folder 3) Illinois corruption.
I first asked Tresser how Chicago's city hall machine is connected to the machine at the County level. Tresser first pointed out that John Stroger, the father of current Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, got his own political muscle when he supported then candidate Richard M. Daley for mayor over then Mayor Harold Washington in the mid 1980's. That would have been something near scandalous then since both Stroger and Washington are African American and Daley is white. Second, Tresser pointed out that the most powerful Cook County Commissioner is John Daley, the brother of Richard M. Daley. Daley heads the finance committee on the Cook County Board. Through this chairmanship, John Daley is able to wield all sorts of power.
The connection between the Chicago machine and the machine of Cook County needs to be viewed through much of the levers of both its powers: patronage and contracts. Patronage refers to the cushy jobs that those in the machine get. Contracts are doled out by the billions and tens of billions by the city, county and state government in Chicago, Cook, and Springfield. So, if you're a patronage worker, you can count on a cushy job not only with the city, but with the county if an opportunity arises. Furthermore, a business ally of Mayor Daley can not only count on the city getting them a sweetheart contract, but one with the county. As an example, Tresser showed me this article from the Sun Times earlier in the week.
A consulting firm headed by former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr.’s stepson John Sterling has been paid more than $787,000 under a Cook County contract funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, despite failing to provide required weekly reports — for 21 months.
That’s the key finding of a Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 News investigation of the contract for the troubled Project Shield program, a $40 million federal initiative born of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Sterling’s company, Synch-Solutions, was hired by Cook County in March 2008 to maintain quality assurance for the program, which aims to place enough video cameras in police cars and at stationary locations throughout the county to be able to provide a web of live video to a central command in case of disaster, attack or other emergency.
Emil Jones is the former President of the Illinois Senate. This story details how his step son got a sweetheart contract from the County and the step son's, John Sterling, company appears to have done no work. Jones was a part of the state government in Springfield. Yet, he's able to use his clout to give his stepson a sweetheart deal with the County government. That's how all three operate because all three are littered with corruption.
The other reality is patronage. That's the process by which machine activists, cronies if you will, get cushy jobs. Tresser told me that he volunteered for Dick Simpson's campaign in the early 1990's when he ran against Dan Rostonkowski for the U.S. Congress. Tresser visited a handful of polling stations as part of his volunteer work. At each station there were a handful of Rostonkowski "volunteers". In fact, they weren't volunteers at all. These were government workers be it from Chicago's city hall or some County office that were out campaigning for Rostonkowski. So, county workers are often asked to help out the campaigns of the machine on any level of government. (Rostonkowski later went to prison on corruption charges)
To put the corruption on the county level into context, Tresser next opened up the minutes to the last Cook County Board meeting held on December 2nd. The major news out of this meeting was the roll back of sales tax increase. What was of interest to Tresser was found in the first fifteen minutes of the meeting. According to the minutes, there was an approval of settlements of no less than eleven different court cases against the county.
Five of these settlements had to do with Shakman suits. What are Shakman suits? They're named after Michael Shakman. Shakman fought a vicious battle in the 1960's to make sure that city hiring and firing wasn't politically motivated. There was little explanation of the settlements in these five cases but we can assume that someone was passed over for a crony of the machine, they sued, and this is the settlement. The other six settlements were suit settled to injuries that were job related. In one case, an individual received $1000 for spilling coffee on himself. Because John Daley runs the Finance Committee, he has great power in authorizing these settlements. When Cook County Commissioners Tony Peraica and Bridget Gainor each asked for explanations of these settlements, they were quickly summarized in two minutes and the meeting moved on.
This too is symptomatic of Cook County. Because hiring is often done with patronage, Shakman suits are a part of political life. We can all assume that there's exponentially more patronage hiring than there are suits to stop such hiring. So, if five were settled in this one meeting, we can all only imagine how much patronage hiring there is. In fact, just in the city of Chicago, the city settled $136 million worth of lawsuits last year.
What is the end result of having a series of patronage workers in the County government? Tresser showed me this report from the local Fox affiliate. (embed doesn't work on all browsers so please go to the link if that's the case)
In the report, one County worker was caught napping. Another roads supervisor was followed and for three hours the supervisor never actually stopped to inspect any of the highway workers he's supposed to supervise. Who is the government worker caught napping? His name is Alex Moreno and his brother is Cook County Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno. In fact, according to the report, there's 137 employees of the highway department that are "pushing paper" in the downtown office.
Finally, there's the issue of TIF's, tax incremental financing. This is the method by which Mayor Daley especially is able to create a slush fund for his corruption. TIFs were originally meant for development in low and moderate income areas, but Daley has put in such places as the posh South Loop area of the city. They're now simply a means of securing financing for contracts for friends of Daley and hide the money well.
So, that's how the corrupt city, county and state governments function, in a nutshell. How does Tresser propose to fix things? He would start with a forensic audit of the entire county government to see where each and every penny is going. That's the only way to root out each and every corrupt contract. Next, Tresser would order a desk audit. By this he means that he would order a review of all the employees of the Cook County government. He would start with the top level managers, those making six figures. In the second year, he would look at the middle managers and in the third year he'd look at the "line employees", the plumbers, construction workers, and contractors. Only with such an audit, in Tresser's estimation, can the government root out the cronies, waste, and inefficiencies in hiring. The cronies would be replaced, the fut cut, and the inefficiencies combined. That's a process that would take up to three years.
From there, the County government would look at strategic planning for the future. Once the waste and corruption were rooted out, Tresser would look to set goals for the government so that it's again functioning on behalf of the people. He would implement simple things like a suggestion box and the so called secret shopper. The secret shopper is used by business who send in spies to check out their retailers to see how the staff provides service. Tresser would do the same thing only these "secret shoppers" would attempt to get property tax information, stamps, and other county related services. Tresser would also beef up the Inspector General's office and give that office more support. Tresser would also use the so called power of the purse to lean on other departments of the county government. For instance, Democratic nominee for Cook County Board President Dorothy Brown is currently the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The Cook County Board President can't force the Clerk to do a similar audit of their department, but the President can withhold funds from any other lever of the county government that they believe isn't functioning properly. That's what Tresser told me he intends to do.
I also asked him what an honest and truly anti corruption crusader Cook County Board President could do to disrupt the power of the Chicago machine. Tresser said that there would be no more sweetheart contracts to Daley's friends. Furthermore, Daley wouldn't have the county workers to count on to do campaign work. Not only would this starve the Daley machine of its power to line their friends pockets, but this could open up much of city hall to challenges from insurgent candidates. Furthermore, if Daley is no longer to be counted on to deliver the votes to an ally, his own power diminishes.
We talked about some of Tresser's potential opponents in the general election. We didn't speak about Stroger since Stroger's reputation preceeds him. Dorothy Brown is the current leader in the Democratic primary polling. Brown has made a name for herself in opposing Stroger, but in Tresser's view, she's still a part of the machine. She's had her own taints of corruption. Another individual making a name for themselves is Toni Preckwinkle. Preckwinkle has made a name for herself taking on Daley. Tresser pointed out that Preckwinkle supported the Olympics after first opposing it. Furthermore, Tresser said that he knows of no TIF that Preckwinkle has opposed.
The candidate that Tresser thinks will come out of the Democratic primary is Terry O'Brien. O'Brien is currently head of Chicago's Water Reclamation District. He also runs a private consulting on environmental issues. Here's how Andy Shaw of the Better Government Association explained this conflict of interest.
"It’s an outrageous conflict of interest and a dereliction of duty for the head of an agency responsible for ensuring that we have clean water to drink and play in, to work for a company that protects the polluters,” Mr. Shaw said. “It’s ‘dirty’ politics, literally and figuratively."
O'Brien has promised to divest if he's elected Cook County Board President but doesn't see his dual role now as a conflict. Tresser scoffed at this notion. Tresser said he didn't know any of the Republican candidates and didn't give them much chance to win. Given the Republicans track record in Cook County, that's assessment has historical backing.
Tresser ended the interview by pointing out the inherent conflict of interest of Cook County politicians taking money from PACs and corporations. (you can look each one up on ilcampaign.org) For instance, Todd Stroger received several thousand dollars from Ariel Capital LLC. How much, Tresser asked rhetorically, did Ariel receive in contracts from the county? Tresser pledged to take money only from individuals. This puts him at a decided disadvantage compared to the other candidates. He also pointed out that refusing to take corporate and PAC contributions is also a platform of the Green Party. In Tresser's view, the only way to serve the people and not the special interests is not to take money from the special interests.
Yesterday at about 11:15 AM at Zak's Restaurant near the Greektown neighborhood of Chicago, Tom Tresser officially announced his candidacy for President of Cook County. Tresser is best known as the face of the group No Games Chicago. By becoming the so called shadow of the 2016 Committee, No Games, and Tresser specifically, has developed a cult following throughout most of Chicago. Yet, Cook County Board President encompasses all of Cook County and not just the city. Furthermore, a cult following only takes you so far. Still, Tresser's entry continues to add intrigue to a race which will feature a dynamic that will be the love of all political junkies.
The Democratic primary will be bloody. It will take no great political prognostication to figure that out. Todd Stroger, the encumbent, is vulnerable and the Democrats know it. That's why there are no fewer than four challengers ready to take him on. Stroger is best known for sticking the County with the highest sales tax in the country. Local news stations have featured stories of cushy jobs going to friends and family. Then, there's the story of Tony Cole. Cole was his basketball playing buddy when Stroger offered him a job in the County. Not three months into his tenure, Cole was promoted. No one seemed to notice that Cole had a long rap sheet. They did notice, however, when Cole, while working for the County, was arrested not once but twice. On one occasion, Stroger's cousin Donna Dunnings, and then CFO of Cook County, used her own personal credit card to bail out Cole. I could go on and on listing Stroger scandals but hopefully the audience gets the idea.
In the Democratic race, there includes longtime U.S. Congressman Danny Davis, Chicago alderman Toni Preckwinkle, MWRD President Terrence O'Brien, and Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown. Davis is a six term Congressman from the 7th District on Chicago's South Side and parts of the Southern suburbs. Precwinkle will attempt to go the route of Stroger himself and go from the Chicago City Council to President of the Cook County Board. Of course, Stroger had the benefit of replacing his dying father and making a backroom deal to slip into his place. Meanwhile, Brown is the only one to have prior executive experience with her stint as head of the Circuit Court. All, however, have ties to the Democratic machine both in Chicago and in Cook County. If corruption is the issue of the day, and it should be, it's unclear just how much credibility any will have on it.
Meanwhile, the Republican field was lead by former Democrat Paul Vallas. Vallas is the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools. He challenged Rod Blagojevich for the governorship in 2002. Then, he went on to fix schools in Pennsylvania and most recently in Louisiana. Of course, he did all this as a Democrat. Insiders I've spoken with said that they believed that he left the Cook County area because he worried that the stink of the corruption was about to taint him. Vallas has also developed a reputation as a reformer. The Republicans have had exactly zero Cook County Board presidents in the history of Cook County. In fact, the closest they came was in 2006 when Tony Peraica barely lost to Stroger. Peraica remains a possibility to run in the race though he suffered a tough loss for Cook County State's Attorney to Anita Alvarez in 2008. (UPDATE) As a reader points out, Vallas has dropped out. The Republicans are lead by Roger Keats now, a candidate I am not that familiar with.
That leaves the aforementioned Tresser. Tresser is about to run on the third party Green Party ticket. That leaves him at a decided disadvantage. For instance, when he submits his signatures, you can bet the party bosses of the Democrats will have a team of lawyers scouring the signatures to make sure each and every one is legal. Furthermore, he won't have the benefit of city and county workers to go and knock on doors for him the way that say, Todd Stroger will have. Unfortunately, here in Cook County that's usually enough. Tresser does bring a record of fighting corruption though that's mostly in the borders of Chicago. He lead a near one year campaign against the Olympics often beating the newspapers to significant developments. Prior to that he lead a group of activists in opposing the Chicago Park District giving land to the private Latin School for them to build a soccer field. While the citizens of Chicago are familiar with the disaster of the privatization of the parking meters, many don't realize that the parking meter debacle is only one of a string of city actions aimed at privatization. Most don't get the publicity of the parking meters but almost all are just as disastrous.
There's a smell test that I usually use when a politician invokes the deity into a political debate. Does it seem out of place? Is this something that the politician does consistently or are they suddenly invoking the deity? For instance, Bill Clinton could be found at church only when there was political heat on him. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, evokes the lord a lot and so if she were to evoke the lord I wouldn't be quite as skeptical. (though, I understand that this would give her more license)
Last summer, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger orchestrated a massive sales tax increase on Cook County. It was widely criticized in the press. In fact, the Tribune has a continual running clock that tracks the number of days since it was passed and the number of days until the primary election, where presumably we can remove Stroger. Ever since, Stroger's opponents on the Cook County Board were constantly attempting to try and roll back some or all of that sales tax hike. All seemed to finally come together for a partial roll back.
Second, was the issue of the draconian rules necessary to override a veto. In the County government, there needs to be 80% of the votes to override a veto. Yet, it appeared as though opponents of the sales tax appeared to have 14 of the 17 commissioners on their side. Then, at the last minute, Commissioner Deborah Sims went from their side to siding with Stroger. How did she justify her sudden switch a day before the vote?
we have so many unanswered questions
...
This is a decision I made talking to my God, whether I fall on the sword or not this is the decision I made and I will live with it.
Now, I don't know Commissioner Sims and so I don't know that she didn't consult with God before voting to continue the nation's highest sales tax. All I can say is that I hope she is being disingenuous. That's because if God advised her to allow the citizens she represents to continue to pay the largest sales tax, we're all going to be disappointed in the after life.
The history of corruption in Cook County is long and well documented. Todd Stroger has been linked to a series of patronage jobs, most at six figures and more, and the latest scandal involves one Tony Cole. Cole is a basketball playing buddy of Stroger. Cole was hired to work for the County despite having a criminal record. He was even promoted nearly immediately. While he worked for the County, he was arrested twice. On one occasion, Stroger's cousin used her own credit card to bail Cole out of jail. Cole wasn't removed until all of this reached the media.
Corrupt governments always claim that hospitals will have their funding cuts without tax increases. That's the M.O. That's exactly what's happening here. Stroger is threatening that if these taxes are cut, he'll have no choice but to cut crucial hospital services. That's what Sims is alluding to when she says that there are "a lot of unanswered questions". There certainly are. How long will the corrupt and bloated County government justify their incompetence and corruption by threatening to cut crucial services? How long will corrupt county governments be allowed to flourish with antiquated rules to require 80% votes to override a veto? How long will we cynically allow politicians to invoke God to justify bad policy?
From the beginning, Democrats needed to come up with a viable explanation for the anger and frustration exhibited at town halls. That's because if that outrage was rooted in down right disapproval for their health care bill that would indicate a wholesale rejection of the bill in general. So, immediately, this was called a "mob". It was insinuated that nefarious forces were behind the demonstrations. On top of this, people claimed that the protesters were acting with poor manners. Instead, they should ask their questions quietly so that everyone has a chance to ask a question, it was inferred. The town halls were turned into a mob instead of a polite meeting it was said.
Here's why the town hall protesters shouted down their politicians. No one likes to be propagandized. They don't want to be used as props for talking points. People come to town halls to ask questions and get honest answers. Politicians rarely give honest answers. All their answers are carefully thought out so that they sound exactly right. The people didn't come to the town halls to hear spin, talking points, and propaganda. When that's what they got, they weren't just going to sit there and listen to it. Instead, they shouted down the politicians because they weren't going to stand to be props in a carefully scripted propaganda machine.
Just think about when the crowds would raise a fuss. It was following a politicians' pronouncement that this health care reform package will NOT add to the deficit, won't cover abortions, and won't cause people to lose their health insurance. It's when a politician would proclaim that this health care reform package is NOT a government takeover, the public option is merely about adding choice, and it will bend the cost curve.
The people simply don't believe any of these talking points. So, to them, this is rank propaganda. No one likes being propagandized and so the town hall attendees don't just sit there and listen patiently while they are propagandized. Instead, they shout down the propaganda. How is someone supposed to respond when they know they are being propagandized. I was once at a town hall meeting in which a new Cook County Commissioner was being chosen. At this town hall the same person, Michele Smith, was running for the office, asking her competitors questions, and on the committee to vote on the replacement. At the same time, she asked each candidate how they would end the culture of conflict of interest. Really, knowing her oscene conflicts, she dared to ask others how they would end this culture. Now, I raised this question to the person that sat next to me, and I was told to be quiet. They wanted to listen to the speakers. This was not a meeting in which the public was allowed to challenge the pols. As such, this rank propaganda went on and no voter challenged it.
Now, which meeting would you rather attend? Would you rather sit while a politician runs for an office, asks questions of their competitor, and chooses the candidate all while asking how to end a culture of conflicts? All the while, you're told that you need to remain quiet as part of proper decorum. Or, would you rather go to a town and when you hear propaganda you challenge it?
The Chicago Sun Times has the latest in a string political corruption revelation in an area in which this appears common place.
Patronage workers with the Cook County Forest Preserve District are seeing more green these days -- in their paychecks.
With people everywhere facing tough financial times, the 28 forest preserve patronage workers who've been on the payroll since 2006 all got hefty raises in the following two years, an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found. They're among 38 forest preserve workers who are exempt from the Shakman court order that bans political political hiring in city and county government.
On average, the exempt employees were paid $98,071 last year. Nine of them saw their salaries increase 19 percent or more between 2006 and 2008.
Between the fiasco surrounding former Governor Blagojevich, the scandal at the University of Illinois, and the growing scandal surrounding the Olympics, we might all forget that the Cook County government challenges all in the area for sustained and brazen corruption.
This story is remarkable not only for its brazen corruption, after all "patronage" is used in the story as though its expected, but by how the culture of corruption in the area has allowed it to happen.
In 1970, Michael Shakman became an independent delegate to the Illinois Constitutional convention. He became a champion against one of the many corrupt political practices in the state, political patronage. He then engaged in a nearly fifteen year battle against the powers that be in the political system and won. In 1983, the Shakman Decree was created. The Shakman Decree made it illegal to hire and fire city, county and state workers based on political factors. (excluded were those in a position of policy making and anything else where political ideology is important to the job) As such, about 40 city, county, and state offices disallow the practice of political patronage.
As it turns out, the victory was short lived. For the last twenty five years, the city, county and state have systematically assaulted the Shakman Decree and made more and more offices "exempt" from it. Mayor Daley is at the top of the list of those that try and muddy the waters on Shakman so that cronies can get cushy jobs.
The settlement is the result of the "Shakman case," first brought by attorney Michael Shakman in 1969.
Shakman challenged the city's legendarily corrupt patronage hiring system and won, but the city has been shown to have engaged in massive politically sponsored hiring despite court rulings to end the practice and assurances from city officials that the federal court decrees have been followed.
Daley has spent most of his administration fighting the federal Shakman decrees and continued the fight even after federal prosecutors last year won the convictions of four aides who allegedly rigged hiring to favor pro-Daley political workers.
Daley has managed to avoid being directly linked to corrupt hiring practices that have benefited his political campaigns and political allies.
The Cook County Board President, Todd Stroger, is also no stranger to this very assault.
So, just what exactly is it that 500 political employees hired by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger do all day?
For two years, a court-appointed watchdog has been asking Stroger that question. For two years, she has not gotten an answer.
Cook County Compliance Administrator Julia Nowicki, a former Cook County judge herself, made public Tuesday in a resignation letter that, as part of her quest to root out patronage abuses, she asked Stroger's administration to provide a job description for each of the 500 so-called "Shakman exempt" political employees Stroger can hire.
This brings us back to the latest scandal. The workers in question work for theCook County Forest Preserve District. The Cook County Forest Preserve, for unclear reasons, was given an exemption from Shakman and so it hired these 24 and likely more "patronage" employees. As the Sun Times reports, most of these folks are consistent contributors to the campaign of Todd Stroger or the 8th Ward Regular Democratic Organization which Todd's dad, John, controlled when he was alive. For their exercise of their first "first amendment" right (since a political contribution is your first amendment right), they were rewarded with a cushy raise of an average of near 20%. Well, I should clear up. There's no proof that these raises were the result of their contributions. All we know is that they just happened to occur all at about the same time period.
It's important to note that the county of Cook has one of the nation's highest sales taxes after Stroger pushed through a massive sales tax increase. (it's currently north of 10%) The sales tax increase came in response to a budget crunch and was passed in the summer of last year. It goes without saying that the budget crunch didn't affect these particular salary increases.
I have a stimulus proposal. It's a 150,000 square foot superstore. The construction would require 500 UNION contractors, electricians, construction workers, etc. The construction project would keep these 500 employed for about a year. Once built, the superstore would employ another 400 employees to operate it. This project would be entirely privately financed and would require absolutely no public funds. In fact, this private entity has all the cash available. This is important because in the current commercial mortgage market trying to finance such a project is very difficult. For instance, my mayor's (Richard M. Daley) nephew, Robert Vanecko, attempted to fund a similar, though much smaller, project and was unable to secure financing in this market. That won't be an issue here because this private entity has cash on hand to fund the entire project themselves. This project is SHOVEL READY. In fact, as soon as the city council approves the project, all that needs to happen is securing the proper permits and then they'll break ground on the superstore. In fact, several project managers would be hired immediately even while the permits are gathered. So, this project would produce jobs immediately. Finally, the area where this superstore would be built is currently occupied by dirt.
Of course, I am describing the proposal by Walmart to build its second superstore in the city of Chicago. Chicago's latest unemployment rate is 10.3% and climbing. So, a project that would employ 500 UNION workers to build a superstore and then 400 more people would be hired to manage and operate the store is one that would have plenty of takers. There's more. This store would be placed on 83rd and Steward in the Chatham neighborhood. According to Walmart's records, which measured the receipts from credit cards and checks, the three zip codes that surround this proposed location spent $80 million at Walmart stores in the suburbs, In fact, according to the same records, Chicagoans spent $500 million last year in suburban Walmarts. (keep in mind the real receipts are much higher because cash payments can't be measured)
Chicago has one Walmart currently. That store is on North Avenue and Cicero. (4600 W. North Avenue) In the two years since that store was completed, a Menard's, Bank of America, Dunkin Donuts, among several strip stores have since been built. That store, slightly smaller and without groceries (like what would be proposed), has generated $10.3 million in tax revenues for the city, county and state.
The reason that I love to use a plethora of numbers in my stories is because numbers don't lie. The numbers are clear and they are unmistakable. Walmart would create jobs. It would create revenue for the city. In fact, it would keep revenue in the city that is currently moving to the suburbs. If you don't believe the numbers, then just think about this. In order to believe that Walmart wouldn't stimulate the Chicago economy you would have to believe that a plot of dirt is more economically stimulative than a 150,000 square foot super store.
So, why aren't the folks at Walmart not working right now to gather the proper permits to begin building? It's because powerful Alderman Richard Mell has buried their proposal in his rules committee. Chicago politicians have a long history of connections to the unions. That's why Chicago politicians hate Walmart. Walmart employees are NOT unionized. Yet, that's why I capitalized unions in pointing out that constructing the superstore would employ strictly union employees. In other words, the same people that are trying to protect union jobs are, ironically enough, costing 400 union jobs that would be needed to construct the project. As such, even protecting the unions becomes a lot more perception rather than reality. Ultimately, this is nothing more than demonizing Walmart.
If the Chicago economy had 4% unemployment that would be one thing. It doesn't. Chicago's unemployment crossed 10%. Here comes Walmart presenting a SHOVEL READY project that they're willing to finance all on their own. (the city can contribute up to $10 million to encourage business construction) They've even committed to hiring up to 500 UNION workers to build this store. Still, that's not enough. Their proposal isn't allowed to see the light of day while a powerful politician buries the proposal. What does Mell have to say for himself? Not very much, that's what. He ignored my email just as he ignored the call of the Chicago Tribune when we both asked the same question. Why are you against this proposal?
This is what happens when politics trumps policy. There's a plot of dirt there now, and Walmart wants to put a 150,000 square foot super store there. They want to pay each and every dime to build and maintain the store. They want to hire UNION workers to build it. They want to hire hundreds of people to operate the store. Finally, if it's not built, Chicagoans will simply spend $500 million in Walmarts in the suburbs. Talk about a no brainer. That's only if you have the best interest of the citizens of Chicago in mind. I'd like to believe that Richard Mell has the citizens of Chicago's best interest but not only does he refuse to allow this proposal to even receive a vote but he refuses to even explain himself.
Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool announced this week that he wouldn't seek the office of Cook County Board President, as he did in 2006. This drew a rather crude response from fellow Cook County Commissioner William Beavers.
The ever outspoken William Beavers says fellow Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool - in a shocking announcement this week - decided against running for county board president because he's a "born loser" who doesn't have a shot at the top job.
Beavers is allied with current Cook County President Todd Stroger. Stroger has been embattled ever since he raised the sales tax to over 10%, making it among the highest in the country. More recently, the scandal surrounding the hiring of former bus buy and con Tony Cole has further embarrassed Stroger. Beavers, for his part, believes that the voters will give Stroger their vote of confidence once his record of balanced budgets comes out. Of course, it's much easier to balance the budget when you raise taxes to record levles.
Meanwhile, in Niles, a suburb of Chicago, their board recently discovered that one trustee, George Alpogianis, is a former con and is looking to remove him.
Niles Trustee George Alpogianis is a convicted felon and the Cook County state's attorney's office will seek to remove him from the village board if he doesn't resign, spokesman Andy Conklin said.
Conklin said Alpogianis' attorney, Mike Lavelle, had told the state's attorney's office that his client would resign before Monday
Illinois law stipulates that no former felons are allowed to run for any state office. Alpogianis, for his part, is determined to stand on principle and is now refusing to step down because he has "got a duty to serve the village".
Finally, the sad saga of Roland Burris took another turn this week when Sangamon County State's Attorney reported that they wouldn't seek perjury charges against him.
Senator Roland Burris was back in Chicago after finding out he won't face a perjury charge over statements he made about how he got the Senate job.
Burris announced the very next day that he would seek re election for his seat in 2010. The Democrats are hoping that he will face plenty of challengers as his representation of the party is turning into a major embarrassment. Potential challengers include Alexei Giannoulias who faces his own connections to corruption. Other potential challengers include Lisa Madigan, who's current office of Attorney General of Illinois has indicted no politicians on corruption charges during her tenure. So, it looks as though we are going to see another strong field of competitors here in Illinois in 2010.
Introduction: If you are out of work or struggling to stay on time with your bills, you are definitely not going to like this story.
This time last year Tony Cole was a bus boy making about $10 an hour. Currently, he is out of work. In between then though, he has travelled an employment road very few will travel. In November last year, he was offered an administrative assistant position with the Cook County government. That job paid about $48,000 a year. He was then the administrative assistant for the Chief Financial Officer of Cook County, Donna Dunnings. Dunnings is the cousin of Todd Stroger, President of Cook County. ( I would be remissed if I didn't remind everyone that President Obama endorsed Stroger for this post in 2006) Stroger raised some eye brows when he appointed his cousing to the six figure position of CFO but then again, in Cook County, the eye brows were relatively low.
Within weeks of moving into the County Government, Cole received a pay raise to nearly $60,000 a year. Then, on February 1, 2009, he was promoted into the human resources department of the Highway Department. He also received another small pay raise to just over $61,000 a year.
The story only begins there. In November 20th of 2008, Cole was arrested and bailed out of jail by Eugene Millins, a childhood friend of Stroger's. The credit card of Donna Dunnings was used to bail him out. That same day, the FBI finished a background check that they faxed to the County. It listed to prior criminal convictions by Cole that he didn't list on his application. Then, the State Police finished their on February 20th and also sent that to the County. Then, about a month after this Dunnings again bailed Cole out of jail on another arrest.
Yet, only two weeks ago, when the inspector general completed his report, did Stroger finally fire Cole. When the story caught on, he also fired his cousin. In the meantime, Stroger can't seem to keep his story straight. He has insisted that he only recently found out about the criminal background check even though multiple agencies claim they informed him months ago. He also claims he only knew about one arrest even though his own cousin bailed out Cole.
All is not lost here. I am happy to report that this story is on the top half of page one of the Chicago Tribune today. The Trib is taking this seriously. Furthermore, the Tribune has been keeping a running clock until the primary in February of 2010 following the sales tax increase. They have definitely put Stroger in their cross hairs and have decided to take him on and they won't bury any of his misdeeds deep in their newspaper.
There is some cynicism here as well. Stroger isn't merely corrupt but a buffoon. To take him on is to pick the easy target. The same Tribune is loathe to report on too much corruption by the likes of Richard M. Daley. That's because Daley is extremely shrewd as well as corrupt. Taking on Stroger is all good and well, but to take on corruption, the media must take on all its forms and not simply pick and choose the easiest target.
Prologue: As of this writing, no one has yet been selected to replace Mike Quigley, now a U.S. Congressman, to the Cook County Board but I will update as information rolls in.
This morning I strolled into Truman College to witness the open meeting to select the replacement to Mike Quigley (now a U.S. Congressman elect replacing Rahm Emanuel in the 5th district) to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The entire spectacle was a study in the inner workings of government, irony and dichotomy. The meetin was open and easy to find and as the chosen head, Tom Tunney (my alderman in Chicago), to maximize transparency. Of course, the selection of a new board member won't be voted on by the public. Instead, a committee of 8 committee men will select the replacement. In fact, their votes won't even be equal. Here is the breakdown.
44 - Tom Tunney - 20.5%48 - Carol Ronen - 19.9%46 - Tom Sharpe - 19.1%43 - Michele Smith - 17.1%40 - Pat O'Connor - 8.8%39 - Randy Barnette - 5.8%50 - Ira Silverstein - 3.8%49 - David Fagus - 2.3%32 - John Fritchey - 1.9%45 - Patrick Levar - 0.3%41 - Mary O'Connor - 0.3%
This breakdown is based on the weight of the vote for Quigley in his last election for Commissioner. For most of the rest of the country, this selection is a non issue. Here in Illinois this is of utmost importance. That's because Quigley was genuine agent of change, reform, and anti corruption, and unless he is replaced as such the County government will move towards the corrupt machine again.
The first candidate to speak was Committee Woman Michele Smith. If that name sounds familiar, it's because she is also on the committee to decide the candidate. She was also able to ask the other candidates questions. In the greatest bit of irony, she asked three questions of each including "what will you do to reduce the conflicts of interest in County government". (the county commissioners hold second jobs and often their private business comes in front of them as Commissioners). Now, I could state the obvious, but I will let my readers come up with their own thoughts about someone running for office, on the committee to decide said candidate for that office, and on the panel asking questions of said candidates asking questions abou CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.
The main themes of the meeting were: reform, the cook county sales tax, hospital funding, and efficient government. This happened for three reasons. First, again, Quigley has been a genuine agent of reform. Second, the indictment of Rod Blagojevich has made corruption the issue du jour. Third, Todd Stroger and his massive sales tax increase has made the issue of corruption especially relevant in Cook County itself. Furthermore, between the bloated budget and massive new sales tax, Todd Stroger did manage to cut the budget on Cook County Hospital also known as John Stroger Hospital.
Speaking of Todd Stroger...I decided to the some simple mathematics. At the beginning of the meeting, I decided to count the number of times that the name Todd Stroger was mentioned by either the candidates or the questionners. The exercise turned out to be easy because the number of times was ZERO. Stroger became the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Todd Stroger is the Cook County Board Commission President. He took over when he orchestrated a backroom deal in 2006 to replace his father, John, then President of Cook County, on the ballot when his father fell into a coma during his own run for re election. Since then, he has been the subject of so much corruption it is frankly to long to list here. (go here for a fairly full list)
With Stroger being the ghost, the candidates went through litany of promises for budget reform, consolidation of departments, and a series of boring and technical reforms of process. To me, much of this is pie in the sky. The reason the budget is bloated is because the County is run as a machine. To fix the budget, we need a commission ready to take on Stroger and the machine that runs it. Both the words CORRUPTION and PATRONAGE were also mentioned exactly ZERO times by both the commission candidates and questionners.
One of the easiest ways to get the budget under control is to cut some of the 25000 employees now employed by the County. That was one thing not suggested by anyone, though cutting employees takes real political courage because that means making an enemy of about 5000 very powerful and connected voters.
The favorite of both the Chicago Sun Times, Tribune, and the crowd at Truman College was Kimberly Walz. That's because for the last eight years Walz has been a top deputy to Commissioner Quigley, as both his budget director and most recently his chief of staff. His accomplishments have become her own. White male, Jim Madigan, pronounced that if he were elected it would be historic. That's because he would be the first openly gay politicians at the County and the state. (Tunney, it should be noted, is the only openly gay alderman in Chicago)
To truly understand the absurdity and irony of this "transparent" meeting, you had to stay till the end. The public was welcome to the speeches and to the question and answer session, though not allowed to ask questions themselves. Then, Tunney announced that the committee would retire in private where privately they would debate, horsetrade, and ultimately choose the next Commissioner. All right, he didn't characterize it as such, however this process would be in private. As such, the public was allowed to the dog and pony show of the speeches and the question and answers, however the public couldn't witness the process of voting for our new Commissioner. Transparency is alive and well, and Smith's curious view of conflict of interest, the whole spectacle smells much like corrupt politics as usual.
(Update)
Bridget Gainer, a former park district and city hall employee (and currently an executive at Aon), won the private vote to replace Quigley.
Democratic committeemen bypassed Mike Quigley’s top aide as his replacement on the Cook County Board, instead choosing today to seat former City Hall and Chicago Park District official Bridget Gainer.
Gainer, 40, was one of eight candidates — including Quigley’s former chief of staff Kimberly Walz — vying to serve out the remainder of Quigley’s 10th District county board term.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome and I’m looking forward to getting to work,” said Gainer, who works for Aon Corp., but previously had worked for the park district and in the city’s budget office.
Gainer was mentioned in the Tribune's editorial which ultimately endorsed Walz. I wish her luck in her new endeavor.
This morning my email was flooded with many local and state watch dog groups warning me that our new Governor, Pat Quinn, is planning on raising the state's income tax a whopping 50%. Cook County, the state' largest county, is already battered by the massive sales tax increase instituted about six months ago. Unlike President Obama's dubious promise, these taxes affect every single citizen. If enacted, try and imagine what a tax increase would do to the economy of the state of Illinois if it's done into the teeth of the recession.
Unfortunately, the state of Illinois is NOT the only state currently raising their taxes. More troubling is the list of large states doing it. The biggest offender is the state of California which raised several taxes amounting to a $13 billion added bill for California residents.
The revenue proposal would raise the state sales-tax rate to 8.25 percent from 7.25 percent and boost vehicle license fees to 1.15 percent from 0.65 percent of the value of an automobile. The package doesn’t include a gasoline tax increase that was included in previous versions.
It also adds 0.25 percentage points to all personal income tax brackets for two years. A resident currently taxed at 8 percent will face an 8.25 percent levy. That increase would drop to 0.125 percentage point depending upon how much money California receives under the economic stimulus measure signed by President Barack Obama. The budget anticipates at least $7.8 billion in such federal funds.
The state of New Jersey is looking to add a punishing income tax increase only to those making $500,000 and more. The state of Maryland is proposing to raise the tax on alcohol. Michigan plans to raise its gas tax.
On and on it goes. Most states will face a budget shortfall in 2009. Most of these states are very unlikely to cut spending. As such, they will only be able to borrow, if it's allowed, or raise taxes. So, throughout the country tax payers will have all sorts of taxes go up: income, sales, property, alcohol, gas, etc. This will affect each state in its own unique way.
One thing that no one can get around is that raising taxes into the teeth of a recession is totally counter productive. It only ecacerbates the recession. The United States is a collection of fifty states. If New York, California, and Illinois lead a host of states all raising their taxes, it is a terrible burden on the economy of the entire country. It will be very difficult to see any sort of a recovery if state governments, of most of the large states, are ensuring that their own states see their economies worsen even more into the teeth of the recession with a plethora of new taxes.
Not every state is doing it for sure. So far at least, the state of Ohio for instance has not announced any tax hikes. The state of Florida is only looking at an alcohol tax hike. The state of Pennsylvania is proposing a very modest increase in the state's cigarette tax (about 10 cents a pack), but Governor Rendell is also floating the idea of allowing counties the ability to raise their own individual sales tax. One need only go to Cook County to see what effect that has on any local economy.
Still, while this won't be seen everywhere in the country, it will be seen in a lot of places. In each of these places, for the most part, these tax increases will have a localizing effect of perpetuating the recession. Of course, it will be damn near impossible to have any sort of recovery when California, New York, and Illinois move toward economic abyss. The recovery is hard enough without an endless stream of states and localities raising taxes to make things even more difficult.
This is happening for a number of reasons. In Illinois, a combination of corruption which lead to then Governor Blagojevich simply buying votes through things like near universal health care and free public transportation for seniors contributed to this budget short fall. In California, the state was bloated with all sorts of social services not to mention a massive debt piled on by its growing illegal immigration policy. Whatever the reason, almost no state showed any fiscal restraint throughout the beginning of the decade when revenues were much higher. As such, they now all face budget shortfalls with no cushion. Furthermore, it is rare to find the politician with enough courage to propose spending cuts. As such, states all over will raise taxes on their citizens as we enter the teeth of the recession. By doing so, all these governments have just made the task of overcoming the recession just that much harder.
With little fanfare, the 5th District of Illinois, held the primaries for the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel in the Congress. The turnout was below 10% of the overall size of the district. That should be disheartening to all in this district. The area is extremely corrupt and that corruption occurs in part because of voter's apathy to it. The turnout in this one is not the start of any new day where voters aren't apathetic.
The election had some surprising and even couraging results. The winner on the Democratic side was Mike Quigley. Quigley, the Cook County Commissioner in the area, was not only running as an outsider, but rather, he was an outsider. He made his name being a thorn not only in the side of Mayor Daley but Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Quigley has become a thorn in the side of Daley over Tax Increment Financing (TIF) which Daley uses to help move money to "friends and colleagues" on a variety of projects. Furthermore, Quigley has become an opponent of Daley's brother, John, on the Board.
Quigley made his name in opposing much of Stroger waste and corruption. Quigley opposed Stronger's massive tax increase, though he endorsed Stroger and also voted for Stroger's first budget.
Still, the machine candidate was Pat O'Connor and he finished a distant fourth. Sarah Feigenholtz, also a long time insider, finished second. Quigley's victory is an affirmation that the corruption of Blagojevich, Daley, Stroger, et al is on its way out. The election of a candidate that made his name as an outsider taking on the machine is a good start for this area.
On the Republican side, the most troubling aspect was that Rosana Polido, the winner, received as many votes, just over 1000, as the Democratic candidate way down the list. Whereas Quigley exceeded ten thousand votes, Polido's vote total was only one tenth of that.
Polido has made her name as a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment as well as local leader of the Minutemen Project. Still, the election of Polido plays on all the perceptions of the Republican as a party of extremists. Her association with the Minutemen may play well with faithful within the party however it will do nothing but turn off independents. The election of Polido insures that the general election will be a bloodbath for the Republicans in this district.
A couple weeks back, I pointed out just how much of a political liability to corrupt concept of pay to play might wind up being for Barack Obama's Presidency. Since then, we have seen several developments on this front.
First, Bill Richardson was recently forced to withdraw his name from consideration for Commerce Secretary. There is a grand jury investigating charges that Richardson was involved in a pay to play scheme as New Mexico Governor involving the California company, CFR, and a contract they received from the New Mexico Finance Authority. The company was a big contributor to Richardson's campaign and thus we have the pay to play allegation. Now, I am actually surprised at myself that I didn't predict then that Richardson would be removed. Richardson is not high profile. Besides being Hispanic, he adds little to Obama's team. The Commerce Secretary is largely ceremonial anyway. As soon as news of Blago selling Obama's seat broker, pay to play took on a new meaning. Now, the only lasting ramification will be lingering questions about Obama's vetting abilities. That this wasn't discovered, or dismissed, doesn't speak very highly of Obama's vetting process. The liberal magazine, Mother Jones, has the most stinging rebuke.
The wreck of Bill Richardson, who withdrew earlier today as President-elect Obama’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, surely should have been anticipated by the Obama vetters. As previously reported by Mother Jones, the New Mexico governor has, over the last decade, left behind a wide trail of questionable business dealings, many of them involving the energy industry. Obama's transition team apparently chose to ignore these past whiffs of scandal. They also seem to have been unfazed by the current federal investigation into a possible pay-to-play scandal, which was already well underway when Richardson’s nomination was announced on December 3. Within two weeks of the nomination, the media was widely reportingthat Richardson was the subject of a grand jury probe in a “highly active stage.”
A developer in New York state donated $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton’s foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman’s mall project.
Hillary Clinton helped enact legislation allowing the developer, Robert Congel, to use tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex, an expansion of the Carousel Center in Syracuse.
She also helped secure a provision in a highway bill that set aside $5 million for Destiny USA roadway construction.
The bill with the tax-free bonds provision became law in October 2004, weeks before the donation, and the highway bill with the set-aside became law in August 2005, about nine months after the donation.
Now, I don't know what the deal is with this particular scandal, however anyone that has followed Hillary Clinton's career closely shouldn't be surprised to find her embroiled in the corrupt practice of pay to play. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, most of the donor list to Bill Clinton's library is a potential pay to play scheme now that Hillary is going to be Secretary of State.
Of course, Obama's biggest exposure to the stink of pay to play continues to be Blagojevich himself. I don't know anything Obama has done wrong regarding his own Senate seat, and I would be shocked if he did anything wrong. That said, pay to play is standard operating procedure in Chicago, Cook County, and Springfield. If he was never involved in the scheme himself, you can bet many of his allies and friends were. The closest I know of Obama being involved in pay to play is this report from the Boston Globe.
Now, I have said over and over that the selling of the Senate seat is not the only piece of Illinois corruption that will come out before this scandal is over. Blagojevich will not simply roll over. If he is removed, he will take a scorched earth policy with him. He knows about most of the corruption and he can point the finger at all sorts of Illinois politicians. Obama has gotten into bed with the likes of Richard Daley, Emil Jones, and Todd Stroger. As more and more Illinois politicians are implicated in corruption including pay to play, more and more will be friends and allies of the President. Once the dirty laundry really airs, then these episodes with both Richardson and Clinton will take on new meaning.
Antisocial personality disorder (APD) is a mental disorder. It is defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: "The essential feature for the diagnosis is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood."[1] Deceit and manipulation are considered essential features of the disorder. Therefore, it is essential in making the diagnosis to collect material from sources other than the individual being diagnosed. Also, the individual must be age 18 or older as well as have a documented history of a conduct disorder before the age of 15.[1]People having antisocial personality disorder are sometimes referred to as "sociopaths" and "psychopaths", although some researchers believe that Psychopathy/Sociopathy are not synonymous with AsPD.[2]
Here is a review of the charges against Rod Blagojevich. First, he is suspected of attempting to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama for cash, favors, jobs for himself and his wife. He is charged with attempting to extort the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to remove those critical of him from their editorial board in exchange for funds the company needed to complete the sale of the Cubs and Wrigley Field. Furthermore, he was charged with withholding funds from a hospital unless its principle contributed to his campaign. He even attempted to broker a deal in which the SEIU would provide him with a cushy job in exchange for a favorable pick to the U.S. Senate. In other words, here is an individual that was entrusted with serving the public and he used this position for nothing more than personal gain. Never has there been a more clear example of a sociopath than this.
In the aftermath of these startling allegations, much of the media and political establishment in Chicago, Cook County, and Springfield have reacted with horror and shock. It is as though his behavior is peculiar and surprising. Is this really so? Here is how John Kass, the only Chicago area media person to write about the corruption here with unvarnished truth, put Blagojevich's actions into context.
But that same day, I diagnosed Blagojevich as quite sane, because all he did was act like just another corrupt Chicago politician. He squeezed people. That's how things are done in the city that is not Camelot.
Still, Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to declare Blagojevich "disabled." She called on the justices—some of whom are there by grace of the Chicago machine—to remove Blagojevich, pronto.
"State government is paralyzed by a governor who is incapable of governing," Madigan insisted. "We would look to the fact that the term 'disability' legally is very broad, that it is not simply isolated to a physical or mental disability."Incapable of what? Signing his name to bills? He can sign his name, to bills, or to a federal witness list, which would be much nicer. But they don't want that, or another week or two of Gov. Dead Meat leading the nightly news.
The fact is that what has shocked the city, county, state, nation and world is the brazen nature in which Blagojevich committed his corruption. The corruption itself is frankly an everyday part of doing business. Todd Stroger, current President of Cook County, recently raised the Cook County sales tax above 10%, the highest in the nation. At the same time, he cut the budget of Cook County Hospital, also called John Stroger Hospital (named for his father the previous President of Cook County), and according to the local CBS affiliate Stroger has put multiple of his friends on the County's payroll with cushy six figure jobs.
Meanwhile, Lisa Madigan, the current Attorney General of Illinois, has been all over the news lately. She has in the last couple days been fervent in her opposition to Blagojevich and demand for him to step aside. This is a rather peculiar position. That's because while Blagojevich has committed his crimes she has been silent and absent in her role as top prosecutor in the State. I'm sure the fact that she is on most Democrat's short list to be the nominee for the next Governor has nothing to do with her new found righteous indignation.
Then, there is the head corruptor himself, Richard M. Daley. He runs the city of Chicago much like his father Richard J. Daley did, like a political machine. So, we can be sure that business is conducted based on patronage, bribes, favors, and back scratching. The list of corruption tied to Daley includes the Hired Truck scandal, patronage involving his chief deputy Robert Sorich, and a scheme in which $100 million meant to go to affirmative action recipients went to his WHITE friends. The city of Chicago isn't run for the benefit of the people he was elected to serve but rather for the benefits of the friends of Richard M. Daley. The same goes for the way in which Todd Stroger runs Cook County, and Rod Blagojevich has run the state of Illinois.
In my estimation, there are only two politicians that are genuinely against corruption, Tony Peraica a Republican and Forrest Claypool, a Democrat. So, as we all react with shock and horror to the revelation that Rod Blagojevich is corrupt, let's keep things in perspective. I'm not saying that the entire political apparatus in Chicago, Cook Cook County, and Springfield is sociopathic. All I'm saying is that my default position is that they are and each politician will have to prove to me otherwise.
Please note. I welcome any and all comments from any political perspective. I will not stand or approve any swearing, and personal attacks will likely also not be approved.
wenty minutes by a Chicago Police officer named John McCann. McCann then proceeded to scream racial epithets at Clements and then squeezed his genitals until Clements finally agreed to confess. Clements then proceeded to tell Cook County Prosecutor Kevin Moore that he had been tortured when Moore came in to take his confession. Clements was then tortured again by McCann when McCann found out that Clements dared to accuse him of torture. Clements was 16 at the time of his arrest and was given four life sentences without the possibility of parole.
