Recently in Politics Category

BY MIKE CETERA

In 2007, Gov. Rod Blagojevich killed funding -- about $6 million -- for the anti-violence group CeaseFire, which had a fledgling Aurora chapter. An administration official at the time said the state could not afford to spend money on the program.

Nine months later, the governor on Tuesday proposed a $150 million anti-violence plan that encourages funding of "community-based programs (to) keep our children safe."

You see, now the governor wants to find a way to Stop. Killing. People.

If only there were a such a program out there...

But, wait, it gets better. The governor, in proposing his new Community Investment Works program, which -- as of yet -- has no funding source, appears to have used a rather flattering news story about what CeaseFire has accomplished to advocate his own plan. If CeaseFire is so great, why did he block funding?

BY DAVE PARRO

It's interesting that Mayor Tom Weisner's State of the City address this week contained no major announcements. Especially considering that we're heading into election season.

Last year during his address, Weisner announced the winning concept design for his proposed river park and committed $5 million toward its first phase. In his first address to local business leaders after he took office in 2005, he made optimistic promises about what his administration would accomplish.

But his address Wednesday really didn't tell us anything we don't already know. In this case, is no news good news?

BY MIKE CETERA

Eyebrows were raised, but the word "tenuous" also was uttered more than once during our afternoon meeting Monday when editors discussed where the mention of Dennis Hastert in the Tony Rezko trial should be played in the paper.

Read the trial accounts here and here.

From the Sun-Times:

Tony Rezko associate Elie Maloof just testified that when he received a grand jury subpoena, Rezko told him not to talk to the feds. Why?

"The federal prosecutor will no longer be the same federal prosecutor," Maloof just testified that Rezko told him. What did Rezko mean prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asked? "That Patrick Fitzgerald would be terminated and Dennis Hastert will name his replacement. The investigation will be over."

All of the accounts I've read dance around the suggestion that Hastert was involved in a plot to sack U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Hastert denied the suggestion himself on Monday.

Yet this isn't the first time the former speaker's name has been invoked during discussions of Fitzgerald's potential dismissal.

BY DAVE PARRO

In an interview with the Associated Press, congressional candidate Jim Oberweis says he has done a lot of soul-searching since his loss in the special election and talked to voters about what went wrong.

His conclusion? His negative campaigning might have backfired. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure this is a positive campaign based on a serious and respectful discussion of issues that are important to people in the 14th Congressional District," Oberweis said.

That would be quite a shift. But is it too late for Oberweis to change his public image after so many failed campaigns filled with personal attacks and distortions of the truth?

BY DAVE PARRO

The debate over the value of lobbyists for local governments isn't a new one. On one side, municipal officials often say they are needed so the interests of their city or county are heard. Opponents see wasteful spending that only contributes to a corrupt system.

Aurora hired a lobbyist to work at the state and federal levels after Mayor Tom Weisner took office three years ago, but aldermen aren't convinced of his worth because he hasn't been reporting on what he's doing for his $84,000 every year. Before the City Council renews Dan Shomon's contract, they're going to require quarterly reports.

So how does a lobbyist prove his value?

BY MIKE CETERA

Dave Parro and I took on the recall amendment point-counterpoint style on today's Viewpoint page. Read Dave's column here; mine here.

Who's right? Is recall a good idea or a terrible one, as I argue?

BY MIKE CETERA

A state spending study released today by two taxpayer advocacy groups (I'm guessing these are conservative organizations) makes the point that Illinois faces a fiscal crisis not because it doesn't have enough money, but because the folks we send to Springfield spend too much of what taxpayers are compelled to give on non-essential programs.

State revenues have grown on average 5.5 percent each year between 2003 and 2007, according to the 2008 Piglet Book, published jointly by the Illinois Policy Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste.

Have you gotten raises that big over the last four years? If so, are you having a hard time with your checkbook?

BY DAVE PARRO

We knew Rick Lawrence and Stephanie Kifowit would be running for mayor in Aurora, but things could get really interesting if Richard Irvin throws his hat in the ring again.

The at-large alderman, who lost to Mayor Tom Weisner in 2005, is being coy about a poll being conducted that asks Aurora residents about another potential mayoral run for the young attorney. Irvin played dumb about the survey, but said, "I will run for mayor again at some point in the future."

With three aldermen potentially running against Weisner, things could get very interesting on the City Council over the next year. But who has the best chance of beating an incumbent mayor with a huge war chest?

BY MIKE CETERA

I know we're in the middle of a perpetual campaign, but it's a bit early to be comparing Bill Foster's voting record to other members of his party.

That's like saying we know how good a ball player Billy Hatcher is because of his batting average in the World Series. (He owns the MLB record for batting average in a four-game series; Hatcher batted .750. Over his career, he was a .264 hitter). Sorry, gratuitous reference. I've got baseball fever.

Still, the analogy holds. We can't possibly know how Bill Foster is going to vote based on two weeks worth of data.

BY DAVE PARRO

In the wake of the 14th Congressional District special election, three area legislators plan to announce legislation Tuesday that would ban the annoying and borderline harassing political "robocalls" that were so prevalent during that race.

State Reps. Tom Cross, Tim Schmitz and Ruth Munson will announce the introduction of the bill at a press conference in Geneva at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. Political robocalls have been an issue on this blog recently, and the Beacon wrote an editorial about them last week calling for legislation.

Maybe some good will come after all out of the relentless negative campaigning we saw in the congressional race.

UPDATE (3/19): Read the story about the press conference here.