Chicago, that error-prone town

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Look for new Chicago data on ICPR's website next week. We're going ahead with the release even though there are some notable errors and omissions in some candidate reports, some of which may require the filing of amended reports with the State Board. Among the oddities we've found:

The First C D Victory PAC reports transfers totaling $72,900 to "Citizens to Re-Elect Shirley Coleman." This is not now nor was there ever a committee by that name. The alleged committee shares an address with the 16th Ward Regular Democratic Organization, though, and that's also the only committee that says they support(-ed) Ald. Coleman. That committee, however, still hasn't filed disclosure reports for the first half of the year, so it's not yet clear that they did in fact receive the transfers from the First C D Victory PAC.

Citizens to Elect Willie B Cochran still shows that they cannot identify the occupation and employer of Sheila Cochran, who gave the committee $500 last year. Not only does Sheila Cochran share a last name and address with the candidate, she's also listed as the Treasurer of the committee. Surely someone can find out her occupation and employer.

Friends of Ald. Madeline Haithcock has dissolved, and they've left a mess behind them. They report $198K in non-itemized individual donations (ie, of less than $150), suggesting over 1,320 small donors. They also report $380K in non-itemized expenditures, meaning a minimum of 2,300 small vendors. While it's possible they had over 3,600 small donors and vendors, you'd think a candidate with that many total supporters would poll more than 3,224 votes in the run-off. They also show donations over $500 from 20 people, only three of whom are identified with an occupation and employer. Among those whose occupation and employer the PAC , the did not identify: David Herro, the Trib-profiled equity fund leader who fumed about Big Box; Richard Wendy, a land-use lawyer now with Freeborn & Peters who used to work for the city's Planning and Development Department; and Tim Rand, who co-owns concessions at Midway Airport (Tim's brother and business partner Everett is identified as being involved in "business" for "self."). The committee also reports a donation from "Ibrahim M. Shihodeh", probably meaning Ibrahim M. Shihadeh, a developer with Winthrop Properties. The committee dissolved in July, so we're not optimistic that the official record will be corrected, but we'll do what we can in the Sunshine Database.

New data will be posted soon.

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Dem day at the Fair

Today's ST,

Warring factions of Illinois' Democratic Party turned unity day Wednesday at the Illinois State Fair into a display of name-calling, booing and apologizing for a feud that almost shut down state government.

Organizers tried to focus on their common goal of electing Sen. Barack Obama president, but the diversion couldn't paper over deep cracks within the party, fissures caused by the caustic 10-week budget stalemate between Democratic leaders.

"It's embarrassing -- it's not the way people envision their leaders acting," Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said. "I think the public is getting sick and tired of this."

Gives new meaning to Obama's statement on Rove,

Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has left the country more divided, the special interests more powerful, and the American people more shut out from their government than any time in memory.

Except I can't figure out who's the architect of the strategy to divide in Illinois or even much about what it's about. Saying the Gov is insane doesn't work for me. Some Illinois Democrats must think there is political profit for them ,some how, in all of this.

It's just kind of hard for the rest of use to see.

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Fitz tackles the Chicago PD

Durbin should have been asking Gonzales what's taken so long.

Today's ST

The U.S. attorney's office has joined the ongoing criminal probe of an elite squad of the Chicago Police Department, working with Cook County prosecutors to investigate why police officials did not stop rogue officers who allegedly robbed and kidnapped civilians over at least four years, sources familiar with the investigation said.

xp Prairie State Blue

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Constituent Asks Jack Franks to Help Slow Down MCC Baseball Stadium Project

One of Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks’ constituents has asked for his assistance in slowing down the Illinois Community College Board’s rush to approve McHenry County College’s proposed Frontier League team baseball stadium. Frontier is headquartered in Troy, Illinois.

Indeed, "Hush, Hush, Hush; Rush, Rush, Rush" seems to be the order of the day with this $35 million non-referendum borrowing.

Dated last Friday, the letter writer, who prefers to remain unidentified on McHenry County Blog, asked Franks

“for assistance in receiving answers to some questions I have about McHenry County College’s expansion plans, particularly the inclusion of a stadium.”

The letter points out that the project “raise(s) tax implications for all District 528 residents, as well as possible violations of the Community College Act.”

The following specific assistance is request:

"To request the Illinois Community College Board’s CEO to withhold ICCB approval of the expansion/capital development project until certain questions have been satisfactorily answers; and

"To determine whether the Community College Act and the ICCB’s Administrative Rules have been violated."

The letter goes on to point out the non-referendum nature of borrowing ($36 million) and points out that the project

”…represent(s) a diversion of public funds and properties from the college’s offering a more rigorous educational curriculum more in keeping with its statutory obligations.”

It concludes by asking for the public to “be given the opportunity to have several questions about the proposed expansion answered satisfactorily by MCC’s administration and the experts it has hired before Mr. (Jeff) Obrzut issues his letter and before this expansion proceeds any further.”

No other community college subsidizes a minor league baseball team.

Posted first on McHenry County Blog.

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111 Days

Posted yesterday on ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Three months can define a career. Most of the alphabet soup agencies that came to embody the New Deal were created during the first three months of FDR's first presidency. In 1985, the song "We Are the World" was recorded on January 28th and hit #1 on the American charts on April 13th. Heck, the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 and President Bush held his "Mission Accomplished" press conference on the USS Lincoln on May 2, 2003.

Where there's a will there's a way. Alas, to date the Illinois Senate has shown no will to address pay-to-play in state contracting.

Despite dozens of news reports highlighting state contracts awarded to campaign contributors, despite exit polls last November showing that 86% of voters think fixing political corruption is very or extremely important to them, despite the support of every major reform organization in the state, despite supportive editorials in over 15 of the largest newspapers around the state, despite the endorsement of five of the six statewide officers in Illinois, despite the votes of 116 members of the Illinois House, and in the face of 46 Senators (out of 59) who have signed on as Sponsors, the bill has never even had a hearing in the Senate.

Today marks the 111th day that House Bill 1 has been locked down in the Senate.

While Senate President Jones and his spokespeople insist they want something "bigger and better," no alternatives to HB 1 have been filed for public hearing. With a budget sent to the Governor, will the Senate President now devote more of his energies to making this happen? He has several possible avenues. Sen. Jeff Schoenberg has worked hard to include pay-to-play rules in his pension and procurement reforms. Sen. Don Harmon still has HB 1 as a stand-alone measure. The public isn't as interested in vehicles as they are in results. Bromides aside, it is high time for the Senate to declare what they will support.

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Introducing the Illinois GOP Network

The Illinois Republican Party is down, but a long way from being out. As the party rebuilds from the ground up, after a string of disappointing election days, now is the time for bloggers and other interested individuals to take part in the growth process. Illinois is the home state of Abraham Lincoln, and the birthplace of Ronald Reagan, two great Republican presidents. And remember, it wasn't so long ago, 1995 to be exact, when the Illinois GOP controlled each statewide office, both chambers of the General Assembly, and the Governor's Mansion.

And the governor at the time, Jim Edgar, actually lived in the mansion.

As James Thurber once wrote, "You could look it up!"

The good old days were not that long ago, and they could be back sooner than you think.

Where does one start? By networking and building, and the place to do it is at the new Illinois GOP Network Forum.

Click on the above link to get started. I'm already there.

Crossposted on Marathon Pundit.

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Governor Vetoes Legislative Pork – Want to Apply $463 Million to Health Care Program

Since the Governor’s Office stopped sending me press releases, I haven’t printed any.

I’ll make an exception today because he vetoed the pork-member initiatives-earmarks, whatever you want to call it, out of the budget bill and is trying to allocate the $463 million to get his health program off the ground.

That will, of course, build a big hole in the budget for next year, and, if demand is greater than expected, a gap that needs to be filled before next July 1st.

The legislators can override his line item vetoes with a bare majority vote. I would not assume that won't happen.

I well remember what the veto session was called under the last Democratic Party governor, a populist with fewer big spending ideas named Dan Walker.

We all called it the "veto override" session.

I have read the press release and no where does he mention his goal is to force Illinois taxpayers to pay for the health care of illegal aliens.

Little wonder why, because if that were known the idea would sink like a millstone.

The governor is removing the $500 million, presumably with his line item veto power, but, as is typical with this chief executive, no paperwork but a press release has been filed.

Take a look at the press release. Use my perceptual screen and you can see where the illegal aliens will obtain health care.

You can, of course, sense my frustration that the real motivation behind the governor's health care initiative is never mentioned in news stories. If a politician is trying to accomplish a major change in public policy, he or she should be forthright. That is not an attribute of the governor in his health care proposal.

The press release can be found here at McHenry County Blog.

The governor's summary chart can be enlarged by clicking on it.

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Twists and Turns

So in the latest, but not wholly unexpected, twist, the Governor today announced his intention to veto $500 million in 'pork and other non-essential spending' in order to increase 'healthcare security for half a million people.' In my last post, I discussed my thoughts on member initiative projects, so I won't rehash that here.

Two things strike me as odd about this turn of events.

First, while the Governor clearly has the authority to line item veto spending measures, I do not believe that he has the authority to reappropriate those funds elsewhere.

One way that I think that he might try to do this (and I'm simply thinking out loud here, sort of) is via an agency reorganization. This would be an extraordinarily convoluted means of attempting to reach his goal, and I'm not sure that it would work in any event, but I just can't think of another means by which he could do it. (Another reason that this wouldn't make sense is that, if I am interpreting this section correctly, the House could nullify the Executive Order with a simple majority.)

For your reference, here is the Section that I am referring to.

SECTION 11. GOVERNOR - AGENCY REORGANIZATION

The Governor, by Executive Order, may reassign functions among or reorganize executive agencies which are directly responsible to him. If such a reassignment or reorganization would contravene a statute, the Executive Order shall be delivered to the General Assembly. If the General Assembly is in annual session and if the Executive Order is delivered on or before April 1, the General Assembly shall consider the Executive Order at that annual session. If the General Assembly is not in annual session or if the Executive Order is delivered after April 1, the General Assembly shall consider the Executive Order at its next annual session, in

which case the Executive Order shall be deemed to have been delivered on the first day of that annual session. Such an Executive Order shall not become effective if, within 60 calendar days after its delivery to the General Assembly, either house disapproves the Executive Order by the record vote of a majority of the members elected. An Executive Order not so disapproved shall become effective by its terms but not less than 60 calendar days after its delivery to the General Assembly.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

The other thing that I find interesting is in Sen. Jones position and statement. There was a reported understanding among the leaders to stick together on the budget vote and any subsequent veto overrides. So Emil's standing with the Governor on this issue today would appear to be an outright 180 degree flip on the other leaders. Going back on an agreement is never good form, that truism is magnified exponentially under the dome.

More substantively interesting is the Senate President's statement in the press release:

“The Governor has said he would not sign a budget that did not include his priority of health care. The four leaders knew the risk of negotiating an operating budget without the Governor in the room – I suggest today that I understand why the Governor is making this decision and I commit to working with him to fund health care within the operating budget that is on his desk.” said Senate President Emil Jones, Jr.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that sounds like he is resigned to working solely within the present budget framework, by moving dollars around. It appears to signal a complete retreat from any significant new source of funding for healthcare.

There are two ways of looking at this. The first is that it was a Kafkaesque, but ingenious, way to put $500 million into expanded healthcare programs in our state. The second is that, if this is what the Governor truly wanted all along, he probably could have gotten it done in May. $500 million is a long way from the $8 billion GRT that he had thrown out there earlier.

Either way, there is sure to be enough spin on all sides of this latest development to create a new ride at the State Fair.

To read or post comments, visit Open House

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Austin Weekly News: Shooting death sparks outrage

AWN on the Aaron Harrison shooting.

I remember back in the 1970s a guy was burglarizing garages in Galewood. Police cuffed him but then the guy walked away from the squad and went trotting off down the ally. So the police shot him in the back, killing him, for trying to escape.

It was perfectly legal. The police lost their jobs for using excessive force, but they had violated policy, not the law.

So Zorn thinks Peraica doesn't stand a chance running for States Attorney,

Peraica, of Riverside, lost to Todd Stroger in November's election for Cook County Board president and will almost certainly lose again to whichever Democrat stands for state's attorney if he wins the GOP primary. But his zesty campaign rhetoric ought to make things interesting.

Some of that zesty rhetoric ought to shine some light on a CPD that's gone badly wrong, has been wrong for a long long time, and has destroyed the confidence and trust of Chicagoans with the CPD. Illinois's GOP thinks it's not their issue. Peraica should change that.

xp Prairie State Blue

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The Other White Meat

In response to the budget recently overwhelmingly passed by the General Assembly, Governor Blagojevich stated that, "It's got so much pork in it that if you were to hold the budget document itself, you'd probably be unable to hold it because it's so greasy."

I think that the Governor's statement is understandable in that the 'pork demon' is one that is easily sold to the general public.

But it's not really accurate. The concept of 'member initiatives' is rooted in the belief that legislators are best situated to know the local needs of their districts. To the extent that a legislator can direct funding for a laudable purpose that can withstand public scrutiny, I believe that it is a legitimate part of the budget making process.

The public scrutiny aspect is key to this argument. This year, 3 of the 4 legislative caucuses (HDem, HRep, SRep) listed all member initiatives as line items in the budget so that they can be easily viewed. In furtherance of this transparency, all of my projects are listed at the end of this post. My initiatives consist of funding for local schools, libraries, and a grant to the local YMCA, which does some great things in the district.

For the Governor to generalize all initiatives as 'pork' is misleading and duplicitous. This is the same Governor who gave $1,000,000 for a minor league baseball stadium in downstate Illinois 'on a spur of the moment decision'. And while that grant may be justified, I am sure that the Governor did not refer to it as 'pork' at the time.

In a related twist, and something that is no fault of the Governor's, earlier this year, I introduced, and passed out of the House, HB473, legislation that I worked on with Sen. Obama's office to provide transparency in state grants and funding. The bill is modeled on Sen. Obama's federal earmark transparency bill which has received widespread attention and acclaim. (The bill shows up as a Rep. Bradley bill because I transferred sponsorship in order to get around the bill limit.)

My legislation passed the House 116-0 and has languished in the Senate for months. Until last week that is.

That's when the Senate Executive Committee gutted the bill and reduced it to a shell. I asked the Senate sponsor of the amendment why the action was taken and was derisively told that they desperately needed the bill as a vehicle for budgetary purposes. (It was never used for that purpose. Surprise surprise.)

I find it incredibly ironic that legislation that I worked on with Sen. Obama's office would be eviscerated by the very chamber in which he used to serve.

In any event, I do not have high hopes that the member initiatives are going to survive the still-unfolding budget process. If they don't, I'll leave it to the Governor to explain to the schools near his house that the new books and computers that they need are simply 'greasy pork'. I just don't see it that way.

As mentioned above, here are the line items that I requested be placed in the budget:

Page 975, Section 144. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Lakeview YMCA for capital repairs and community room development.

Section 145. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to Chicago Public Libraries for the Lincoln Park branch.

Section 146. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to Chicago Public Libraries for the Lincoln/Belmont branch.

Section 147. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to the Chicago Park District for Lakeview High School campus playlot renovations.

Section 148. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to Chicago Public Libraries for the Wicker Park/Bucktown branch.

Section 149. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a grant to Chicago Public Libraries for the Sulzer Regional branch.

Page 1066, Section 63. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Lane Tech High School.

Section 64. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Lakeview High School.

Section 65. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Mayer School.

Section 66. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Lincoln Park High School.

Section 67. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Waters School.

Section 68. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Prescott School.

Section 69. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Coonley School.

Section 70. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Jahn School.

Section 71. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Hamilton School.

Section 72. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Abraham Lincoln School.

Section 73. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Agassiz School.

Section 74. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Alcott School.

Section 75. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Drummond School.

Section 76. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Audubon School.

Section 77. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Bell School.

Section 78. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Blaine School.

Section 79. The sum of $30,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Illinois State Board of Education for a grant to Chicago Public Schools for Burley School.

To read or post comments, visit Open House

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Trial Lawyers Are Only Winners In Illinois Legislature

Schools, Transit, Roads, Cities, Health Care Among Losers

Despite the intense media interest and the equally intense "insider" interest in what has been going on (or not going on) in Illinois government this year, the reality is that most Illinois citizens aren't paying much attention and those who are are not surprised by inept government because they don't expect government to do much that is good.

The exception, of course, are state employees and those interest groups that survive on state dollars.

Now in their third month of overtime and "special" sessions, the leaders of government in Illinois have still failed to do their job. One of their primary responsibilities is to enact a budget for the state and they have been embarrassing in their futility. While the General Assembly has finally approved a budget, this fiasco is far from over.

In fact it took a questionable and highly political lawsuit filed in Christian County to assure that state employees would be paid.

There are several undeniable conclusions that can be drawn -- heck, they don't need to be "drawn," they are screaming loudly -- from the futility and failure of Illinois government.

First is that the Democratic Party establishment in Illinois is incapable of governing our state. With a Democrat as governor and Democratic control of both chambers in the General Assembly and ALL state-wide offices, enacting legislation, even highly partisan legislation, and passing a budget that would have been panned by Republicans, should have been easy and should have been accomplished before the scheduled May 31 adjournment date.

But they have been incapable of doing that.

Second is that Republican leadership in Illinois is woefully lost. In a state that supported Republicans for President every four years between 1968 and 1988, had control of both chambers in Springfield in 1995-96, and elected EVERY state-wide official in 1994, there is no excuse for the total collapse. It can't be blamed on George Ryan or Jack Ryan or Alan Keyes. Legislative leaders have done their best but it's tough -- impossible -- to compete when the numbers are so overwhelmingly hostile.

The Third and most disturbing conclusion -- yet also the most obvious -- is that the personal injury trial lawyers in Illinois have unprecedented and unreasonable influence over the institutions of government.

Kevin McDermott of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote last Friday:

The governor has acted on just 31 of more than 700 bills sent to him by the Legislature this year.

That may not be a stunning fact by itself as it is assumed that a governor and his legal staff (and political staff) will review all bills sent to him before signing. Usually, it takes up to two months.

(Note: The governor signed an additional 27 acts on Friday, August 10, the day McDermott's story appeared.)

But it didn't take that kind of review to take care of the trial lawyers. The third bill he signed this year, Public Act 95-0003, was a trial lawyer-backed bill that was sent to the governor on May 22 and signed on May 31. There was no announcement from the governor's office and no fanfare. Just a signature to enact a law that was one of the highest priorities of the personal injury lawyers in Illinois and opposed by doctors, hospitals, businesses, newspapers, many lawyers who are not involved in personal injuries, and thousands of Illinois citizens who understood that the new law is simply a way to allow trial lawyers to collect more money.

So despite all the bickering in Springfield, despite the fact that nothing has been done for mass transit, or for schools, or for the governor's touted health insurance plan, or for highways, or for cities ... and despite the fact that it took a lawsuit to guarantee pay checks for state employees ... the governor and General Assembly were able to agree that one of the highest priorities of the state should be to take care of the trial lawyers and they did that in a matter of days more than two months ago.

*

ITLA, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, does deserve credit for not being afraid to let the world know who -- and what -- they are. Twelve states have joined the movement to remove the words "trial lawyers" from their name. The national "Association of Trial Lawyers of America" changed its name last year to "American Association for Justice." Since then, 12 states have joined, most recently Kentucky, new home of the "Kentucky Justice Association."

-- Ed Murnane
Illinois Civil Justice League
August 13, 2007

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University of Illinois military scholarships scandal update

Here are my prior posts on the University of Illinois military scholarships scandal.

Broken promises: How "jarheads" got shunted aside at the University of Illinois: A Marathon Pundit series

Marathon Pundit Exclusive: What happened behind the scenes of the University of Illinois veteran scholarship scandal

University of Illinois: "Hookers are Praised as Soldiers" –Marathon Pundit's Third Investigative Report

On September 12, in the basement of the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago, the Court of Claims, which consists of seven "judges" who are actually attorneys appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The Court of Claims is the arena where certain types of lawsuits against the state, or state universities, are heard.

I am going to try and attend.

Robert van der Hooning, the former Assistant Dean for the University of Illinois College of Business was the man in charge of the program whose goal was to offer 110 full-ride scholarships the Urbana-Champaign campus' Executive MBA program in Chicago last year.

Many of those scholarships were later rescinded by senior University of Illinois College of Business administrators.

To me, actually to most people, "a deal is a deal," but fearing under-funding of the each scholarship's funding source, the Illinois Veterans Grant, the administrators quietly began pressing the delete button on many of those scholarship offers.

After getting the good news, shortly after Memorial Day, some veterans got the bad news. The scholarships they thought they had were pulled. After Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn got involved, many of those scholarships were offered again, only to be re-rescinded, and then offered again.

Van der Hooning is suing the University of Illinois, charging his dismissal from the school was in retaliation for his whistleblowing activity as he tried to right the scholarship wrongs.

Despite what I see as a very strong case, van der Hooning may be facing a tough audience next month. Governor Blagojevich hasn't done much if anything to increase funding for the constantly underfunded Illinois Veterans Grant program. By law, what the Illinois Veteran's Grant doesn't pay, state universities have to cover out of their own pockets.

"Blago" was sworn in to office for his first term two months before the invasion of Iraq. As for as the military, and their needs, things have obviously changed since January, 2003.

And as I stated above, the Court of Claims "judges" are Blagojevich appointees.

The University of Illinois is run by its board of trustees, who are appointed by, you guessed it, the governor.

The state's fiscal 2008 budget, which was due at the end of May, still hasn't been approved. There's a chance, albeit a slim one, that the Illinois Veteran's Grant will be remembered before a budget is approved.

I don't expect much from Blagojevich, however. As Diane from Respublica reports, "Governor Elvis" has signed just 31 of 700 bills that have been sent to his desk this year.

And Illinois War on Terror vets keep coming home, looking to get on with the rest of their lives and continue to contribute to society.

If van der Hooning loses, so do the veterans, since a signal will have been sent that it's okay to screw them over.

This case is not just about one guy.

Related Marathon Pundit post:

Univ. of Illinois College of Business Dean on "partial leave of absence without pay"

To comment on this or any other Marathon Pundit post, click here.

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