June 2009 Archives

The Hound hasn't been this happy since discovering a drive-through liquor store somewhere west of Amarillo. What is tickling The Hound is the announcement by Chicago area McDonald's that they're now open 24 hours. You have a middle-of-the-night Big Mac attack? Now you can soothe it, with fries.

Participation varies by restaurant, and 24-hour service is not available everywhere. Yet, the Oak Brook-based chain says as of now the majority of restaurants in the region will offer late-night diners a drive-through menu. What took McDonald's so long to figure out this around-the-clock feature?

It should have happened sooner, especially considering places that used to be all-night diners are now shutting their doors before midnight. Not that The Hound prowls that late at night, but it is a consolation if the hunger pains come calling knowing there is a place open to get a bite.

Does this mean the rest of the fast-food industry will follow the giant's lead? Only time and appetites will tell.

Tuesday was Olympic Day in the U.S. so The Hound drove to Wadsworth to see if the village, home of the planned equestrian events if Chicago is awarded the 2016 Summer Games, was holding a special celebration. There was a lot of water standing around, but no folks standing around marking Olympic Day in the "Village of Country Living."

Chicago celebrated the Olympic movement, as did another 158 cities in 43 states. But not Wadsworth, which will host actual Olympic events, if Chicago gets the games. Maybe Wadsworth Mayor Glenn Ryback didn't get the memo from fellow Democrat, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

In Chicago, 30,000 kids took part in fun runs across the city. Another 20,000 people attended the Olympic Day celebration at Chicago's North Avenue Beach. Past Olympians were on hand to mark the event. Not even a Wadsworth toast to the Olympics was heard at the Duck Inn.

Thinking that rural folk are a little slow or maybe the party line from Chicago wasn't operational, The Hound traveled up to Wadsworth the next two days in a row. Still nothing. Guess they don't have the Olympic spirit yet in Wadsworth.

But Waukegan did celebrate Olympic Day --- on Friday, with two past Olympians taking part at happenings sponsored by the Waukegan Park District. Better late than never, but that can also be said for a casino and a minor league ball team.

"In God We Trust" is good enough for the federal government, but apparently not so in Waukegan where the city's new mayor has banned an opening prayer at City Council meetings, instead opting for a "moment of silence." Wouldn't it be nice to silence politicians for a long time, instead of just a moment?

After having a prayerful invocation since the 1990s, Mayor Robert Sabonjian has made the City Council ungodly by removing this usually uneventful paen to the Almighty. Prayers for public bodies usually don't cause a stir. In this case, the mayor's heavy hand may do the opposite. Just another case of Christians being pushed to the background. Next thing you know, there go the downtown Christmas decorations.

The Hound doesn't recall getting rid of the opening prayer as one of the mayor's campaign platforms. Perhaps this is part of his cost-cutting moves, because the city paid $50 to Bishop Joseph Coburn of the All Nations Church of God Holiness in Christ for each of his twice-a-month invocations.

If saving money is the ultimate goal, then perhaps the mayor and City Council can call dial-a-prayer to petition the Lord. That's free.

If former Chicago Cub and White Sox Sammy Sosa tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, is anybody really shocked? From all the cries of, "Sammy, say it ain't so!" you'd think people weren't paying attention back in 1998 when Sosa and St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire chased Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs in a season.

To The Hound, both those guys looked pretty bulked up back then. McGwire eclipsed the Maris mark, while Sosa finished with 66 round-trippers that season. The next year Sammy blasted 63, then 50 in 2000, 64 in 2001 and 49 in 2002. Remember the "Cork Bat Affair" in playoff year of 2003? He hit 40 that year.

Sosa testified before the House Government Reform Committee investigating steroid use in Major League Baseball in 2005 stating, "I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean. To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs." The New York Times report of Sosa testing positive for the drugs said it happened in 2003. Heck, if he was taking them then, he should have hit 60 homers and led the Cubs to a World Series berth, right?

Instead he did a salsa dance before the congressional committee, choosing his words and dates carefully. If he took 'roids back then, it's history. The idea is to stop current players from using them.

And, if a handful of names have leaked from this anonymous survey some government bureaucrat has, let's see all of the names. The Hound wants to know who are all the 104 players who allegedly used performance-enhancing drugs. Let's get beyond this latest taint on Major League Baseball and give us the names.

A funny thing happened to Keith Turner on his way to the Lake County Board. He didn't make it. The Waukegan Democrat tapped to replace Waukegan Mayor Robert Sabonjian on the board tapped out like they do in ultimate fighting cage matches.

On Thursday, Turner sent out a release saying he will be appointed to Sabonjian's District 8 seat, one of three vacancies or soon-to-be-vacancies on the County Board. On Friday, he sends another saying he is tapping out, this four days before he's supposed to take the oath of office.

Now, there are rumors swirling around Turner about his sudden change of plans. Like there was something in his past that came to light. That powerful Lake County Democratic Party chairman, state Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, told Dems on the County Board to oppose Turner's taking the Sabonjian seat. As for Turner, in a letter to supporters Monday, he said he made the decision to withdraw from consideration "on Friday morning after receiving confirmation of test results related to a medical condition."

OK, The Hound accepts that and hopes it's nothing serious. But then Turner spews: "I realize that the timing of this decision will generate a degree of speculation and rumor and though there was tremendous pressure placed upon the Democratic board members, I want to assure you that my decision was not made due to any political pressures or considerations exerted upon me from any quarter or in any way influenced by the lack of support I received from the Democratic Party." Huh?

And, depending on this medical condition, he says he intends to run for the seat in 2010.

What is it with Democrats that they can't fill open seats? Let's see, anybody recall how Democrats filled a U.S. Senate seat? Bet Republicans won't have this problem when it comes to filling the vacancies caused by resignations of District 19 Rep. Michael Talbett of Lake Zurich and District 18 Rep. Pam Newton of Vernon Hills. Isn't that why political parties have precinct committeemen and township and district organizations?

Or is this part of the continuing rift in the once-mighty Waukegan Democratic machine. After all, they couldn't elect a Democratic mayor in April. Maybe they're just tapped out.

While human service professionals gear up to protect their jobs in the realm of the tentative Illinois budget, businesses aren't taking plans to increase taxes lying down. Take the American Beverage Institute which is lobbying to stop the increase in liquor taxes in order to stem the tide of red ink overtaking state government.

The Legislature has decided to add nearly three cents in additional taxes to the price of a six-pack of beer, 13 cents on a of bottle wine and 80 cents on a fifth of the hard stuff. The liquor tax hike, lobbyists say, would put a strain on distillers and sellers, while putting an additional 4,500 people on the state's unemployment rolls. That's on top of the nearly 20,000 jobs the hospitality industry says it's lost because of the recession.

Let's see, tax booze or tax constituents. If you were a lawmaker, how would you vote? Duh! Especially since the tax hike is estimated to generate nearly $115 million annually.

But here's the argument the liquor industry is really hammering as the still tax awaits Gov. Pat Quinn's signature: Raising the price of a drink hurts low-income taxpayers the hardest. They say one-third of the booze in the state is consumed by Illinoisans with incomes under $50,000 a year. Guess the rich are different than you and The Hound, after all.

There's only one answer to creeping alcohol taxes: The advent of backyard stills and the proliferation of moonshine sales across Illinois. Pass the corn licker, Snuffy!

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is going around the state poor mouthing about what will happen if the Legislature doesn't increase the income tax 50 percent. That social service agencies will suffer and in turn so will the state's most vulnerable residents --- low income families. Quinn has used this mantra at several photo op set ups. The usual photo op is Quinn surrounded by sad-looking kids.

What the governor doesn't understand is most Illinoisans don't care. Most of us are lucky we've got jobs or haven't had to take a month's furlough rather than a mere week. We could care about the less fortunate. Heck, we are the less fortunate.

How come the first call is always for a tax increase? How come every politician runs for office and says he or she wants to run government like a business, but when the going gets tough they just print more money at the taxpayers' expense? How come the governor doesn't name a blue-ribbon commission (we now have two in his short tenure) to look into government efficiency at the state level?

Because it's easier to raise taxes than work hard at working hard. It's easier to guilt trip taxpayers currently hurting in this economy to keep funding the nanny state, rather than the Prairie State.

Start cutting governor, because The Hound doesn't believe state lawmakers want to face the wrath of an irate electorate in next year's elections.

It seems Rod Blagojevich wasn't the real stumbling block to get anything accomplished in Springfield after all. Even with his hairness out of the picture, lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn, Blago's successor and one-time running mate, couldn't agree on how to bail out Illinois government from the billions in dollars we're in the hole.

Surprisingly, it was the same people who put us in this mess, the Democratic leadership who followed Blago down the yellow brick road to wrack and ruin, that continued to look toward tax increases without looking at cutting spending. Hello, Illinois Senate. They still don't get it.

Amidst people being asked to take furloughs and give back pay hikes, a statewide unemployment rate licking at the 10 percent range, along with some of the largest companies in the state and nation going into bankruptcy, aka General Motors, our lawmakers want to raise taxes and fees. If Illinois voters don't punish these ladies and gents at the polls next year, it's time to think about moving to America's Dairyland.

It's interesting to compare how Illinois pols tackle a budget crisis compared to Wisconsin. Up north, Gov. Jim Doyle has issued an executive order forcing all state employees to take 16 days off over the next two years. The order applies to 69,000 state workers. In addition, Doyle has rescinded a 2 percent pay raise for non-union workers and asked union workers to give up the raise or face the layoff of 400 state workers.

That is expected to save $121 millon over the two years the furlough is in effect. Not much considering Wisconsin has a $6.6 billion budget shortfall. But it is something.

Matter of fact, Lake County government and forest preserve officials could take a lesson from Gov. Doyle, who, like Pat Quinn, is a Democrat. You didn't hear Quinn talking about state worker layoffs as a first resort, now did you? This guy is so over his head he's beginning to make Blago look like a statesman.

Gov. Quinn wants to expand video poker and raise taxes. That's a good start for a re-election campaign, eh, governor?