Explore our content

Quick hits | All dates | All authors
All categories
Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
2:58pm
Wed Jun 16, 2010

Harper To Biggert: Send Your BP Cash To The Gulf

Illinois' own Rep. Judy Biggert has received a PAC donation from BP -- the artist formerly known as Amoco -- every cycle she's served in Congress. According to OpenSecrets, the oil giant has contributed $9,000 to her campaign fund since 1999. (That figure includes a $1,000 donation from Amoco in 1998, which is now part of BP.) Her 13th Congressional District challenger Scott Harper is calling on her to return all of that money. From a press release:

Noting the consequences the spill is having on the Gulf region, Harper said “Congresswoman Biggert’s BP money would be better spent cleaning up a coastline or compensating a shrimper who’s out of a job than it would in her campaign account.”

Harper previously demanded Biggert give back $2,000 she took from the Goldman Sachs earlier this year while the firm was under an SEC investigation for fraud, but the Republican refused. House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) also took some flak this month for pocketing a $500 BP donation, one of just two state lawmakers nationally to receive one.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
11:08am
Wed Jun 16, 2010

Brady's "Distractions"

Capitol Fax just highlighted GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady's "delusional" statement to Politico that he would win this year's governor's race even if the Democrats had Barack Obama as their nominee.  "Bravado is one thing," Rich Miller writes, "but that's something quite different."  Further down in the same Politico article comes a statement that strikes me as even more inane:

"Do I think that [Gov. Pat] Quinn will continue to dig through my voting record and try to distract people? Probably," he said, retorting that voters "are realizing that this state has been ruined by Chicago influences that have been in control the last eight years."

So it's not fair to examine your opponent's voting record? Someone should remind Brady that, just five short months ago, he was aggressively attacking his Republican rivals for their past votes.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
9:35am
Wed Jun 16, 2010
46 comments

To Stem Unemployment, McDermott Proposes A Civilian Conservation Corps (UPDATED)

On MSNBC's The Ed Show last night, during a segment on the fight to extend unemployment benefits, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) floated an idea that I've seen mentioned in our own comments section: Why not simultaneously respond to the Gulf oil spill and the unemployment crisis by creating a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that can aid with the cleanup?  From his remarks (watch the full video here):

MCDERMOTT: I made a suggestion to my staff a couple of days ago: Why don‘t we write a bill for a CCC -- you know, sort of a conservation corps like Franklin Delano Roosevelt had -- put it out along the beaches of the Gulf Coast and start picking up oil? This is needed work.  This could easily be paid for by BP because they say they‘re going to pay for the cleanup.  So it‘s not going to the taxpayers.  But we could put people to work in legitimate things that really make a difference in this country.  There are a lot of things we could do if we went after it.

On a related note, the Washington Monthly's Steve Benen notes that Senate Republicans' latest ploy to delay an unemployment benefit extension involves a proposal to require those receiving aid to undergo drug tests. "If I didn't know better," he writes, "I might think Republican lawmakers actively dislike -- on a personal level -- those who've lost their jobs in the recession."

UPDATE (10:37 a.m.): The Senate voted down the so-called "tax extenders bill" by a 52 to 45 margin this morning. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) will likely offer a smaller package in the coming days, although no Republicans have said they are willing to support that bill, either. Annie Lowrey offers more details here.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
5:30pm
Tue Jun 15, 2010

A Bold Statement

Political observers across the board are generally in agreement that this is going to be a very tough election year for Democrats at the ballot box.  By contrast, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton is optimistic that he can grow his majority in Springfield.  From the Illinois Observer:

At a fund-raiser on Chicago’s north side organized by human rights activists, Cullerton told approximately 30 guests gathered at Ann Sather restaurant, “I think we can add seats in November.”

Talk about raising expectations ...

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
3:52pm
Tue Jun 15, 2010

Kirk Blames Giannoulias For State Budget Crisis, Again

Another state bond rating downgrade, another instance of Mark Kirk trying to blame U.S. Senate rival Alexi Giannoulias for the Illinois budget crisis:

"While many are focused on the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Illinois families are focused on the state debt crisis right here in Illinois. Alexi Giannoulias stood by and watched as our state's debt skyrocketed and our pension liabilities spiraled out of control. [...] [N]ow his failure to do his job as State Treasurer could cost our state even more. The recent downgrading of Illinois' credit rating by Fitch and Moody's should be a major wake-up call to the citizens of Illinois. We need fiscal leadership at the federal and state level to rescue our state and turn this economy around."

Again, as Kirk's own YouTube Channel proves, Giannoulias has not simply "stood by and watched."  He has been a vocal and longstanding supporter of increasing the income tax rate in Illinois (while simultaneously reducing the property tax burden) to generate much-needed revenue and help plug the deficit.  It's unclear what more Kirk would like to see him do in his capacity as state treasurer.  It's also unclear what Kirk supports doing to solve the crisis. 

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
12:37pm
Tue Jun 15, 2010
1 comment

"An Interest-Free Loan To The State"

U of I Interim President Stanley Ikenberry on the hundreds of millions of dollars that the state owes the university system:

"I think the big issue is for us is liquidity. Ordinarily we don't have a liquidity problem. But if in effect we're making an interest-free loan to the state, that pretty well exhausts our liquidity. That takes a very difficult problem and begins to make it unmanageable. At some point down the road, we'll simply not be able to make payroll. That's the bottom line."

The comment echoes a remark by the Easter Seals of Illinois' Dan Runyon back in April, in which he said that social services agencies are "basically acting as the state's banker."  And it's important to remember that while the state continues to "borrow" from the budgets of these schools and nonprofits, many of them are in turn taking out bank loans to stay afloat.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
9:36am
Tue Jun 15, 2010

Another IL-SEN Poll Dropping Today

Taegan Goddard drops this little tease into his latest post on the U.S. Senate contest in Illinois:

A new poll out later today will show there is definitely room for another candidate in the race.

It's a Public Policy Polling survey.  Check back for more details later in the day.

UPDATE: Here it is.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
4:55pm
Mon Jun 14, 2010
67 comments

Will We See A Vote On Unemployment Benefits Later This Week?

It's looking that way.  U.S. Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture on the federal jobs bill (H.R. 4213) that would extend the filing deadline for unemployment benefits through November.  That means it's on track for a final vote in the Senate by the end of the week, after which it has to go back to the House for concurrence. 

Earlier in the day, Reid rejected a proposal by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to extend the filing deadline for 30 days -- as Congress has repeatedly done this year.  "Thirty days doesn't do it," he told the Hill. "It just kicks the ball down the road."

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
1:50pm
Mon Jun 14, 2010

The Congress Strike Turns Seven

Later this afternoon, UNITE-HERE Local 1 members and labor allies from across Chicago will head down to the Congress Hotel on Michigan Avenue to mark the seventh anniversary of the hotel employees' strike. As we wrote this time last year, a trip to the Congress picket line has unfortunately become an annual summertime rite for the city's progressive community. Today, Illinois' own Rep. Luis Gutierrez is scheduled to address the union workers.  We'll be at the rally, so check back for more coverage tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, you can learn more about this labor dispute -- the longest-running in the country -- by reading our 2008 article "Walk The Line."