Former Gov. Jim Edgar urges Gov. Bruce Rauner to quit holding budget hostage - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

 

By Bernard Schoenburg, Political Writer

Posted Oct. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 16, 2015 at 11:47 PM

The lack of a budget four months into the fiscal year has destabilized state government, and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner should quit holding a state spending plan hostage to a list of demands because permanent damage is being done, former Gov. Jim Edgar said Friday.

"State government's probably in the worst state it's been in the 47 years that I've been around (it)," Edgar, a fellow Republican, told The State Journal-Register in an interview from his Springfield home. "You've got dozens and dozens of programs that aren't being funded, agencies that are having trouble doing their mission, and I just think it's very unfortunate."

"We need a budget," he added. "These other issues, they're important, some of them I think more important than others, but you don't hold the budget hostage to get those. ... It has been very destabilizing for state government. I think a lot of people have suffered."

Rauner vetoed most of the budget the the General Assembly passed last spring, saying it was out of balance. He did sign the education budget, so elementary and secondary schools have been receiving state funds for the fiscal year that began July 1. In all, about 90 percent of state spending — at last year's levels — is going out under court orders, consent decrees and state statutes.

Edgar, who was a lawmaker and secretary of state before serving as governor from 1991 to 1999, campaigned for Rauner in the general election last year, and he said he repeatedly told Rauner of the importance of having a budget.

"I think he listened," Edgar said. "I don't think he necessarily agreed with it, apparently."

Rauner has said he wants business and governmental reforms to make Illinois more attractive for business before he will agree to a budget. But Edgar said the budget standoff has the opposite effect.

"An unstable state government — and that's what we have right now, very unstable — is a detriment to economic growth," he said. "I mean, folks aren't going to come to this state and make an investment if they think state government's dysfunctional."

Edgar, who is a senior fellow with the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs, noted that no higher education budget is in force. He said the U of I has a lot of reserves and can cover costs for a while, but other institutions "are really getting into trouble. ... I'm not sure how long that can go."

"One of the strengths this state's had for years is ... a great higher education system," he said. "I think that is in jeopardy now."

When he was governor, Edgar said, CEOs of companies would tell him that they'd wanted tax breaks and lower workers' compensation costs, " 'but most important, we want a stable, dependable state government. We want an education system that works. We want a good quality of life.' "

• Edgar noted that the fact that some Illinois lottery winners can't get paid until there is a state budget recently made national news.

  "We already have a questionable reputation out there," he said. "It's the little things that kill us."

  One manifestation of the budget impasse in Springfield has been the closing as of Oct. 1 of the Illinois State Museum. Union workers there are still being paid and going to work, though the administration has closed the museum and satellite facilities to the public. Nonunion workers, including the museum's former director, were laid off or have retired.

  "He closed the state museum, but we're still paying for people to work at the museum," Edgar said. "At the same time, we're not paying for domestic abuse shelters. We're not paying for homeless shelters. I mean, there are a lot of things that really need money, people really need help. ... It's a complete mess-up, what's going on, and I think we need to end it."

  Edgar also said that even if the museum is reopened, top people won't return.

  "And that's the trouble," he said. "The longer this goes, the more permanent damage is done to the state."

  Rauner having 'productive discussions'

  Rauner, at a news conference in his office Friday, said when asked about the museum: "We're working on a lot of things. ... One of the big frustrations, obviously, of not having a budget is we're having to do things that we'd rather not do. ... That's the nature of the process. We're doing the best we can."

  Edgar said he thinks Rauner is a person who cares and is smart, but he should adjust his priorities "to what is doable."

  "He does not come from government," Edgar said of the governor, who was a venture capitalist. "He doesn't even really come from mainstream business. He comes from (being an) entrepreneur where you buy a business, you tear it apart and you sell it. ... I don't think you're going to tear apart the state and sell it. He might want to, but you can't do that."

  Catherine Kelly, spokeswoman for Rauner, said via email, "Governor Edgar is certainly entitled to voice his opinions, but we all know the structural and fiscal challenges facing the state have been decades in the making and require major reforms to fix."

  At his meeting with reporters Friday, Rauner reiterated the need for elements of his "turnaround agenda," saying that term limits and legislative redistricting reform are popular, and allowing local governments to decide if they should collectively bargain with their workers or pay prevailing wages on construction projects is not extreme.

  "Everybody, Democrats and Republicans, believe in local control of issues," Rauner said. He said he's not trying to decimate collective bargaining in Illinois.

  Page 3 of 4 - "All I'm saying is let local people decide," he said.

  While all four legislative leaders and the governor have apparently not met in one place since May, Rauner said Friday that he has had "fruitful discussions" with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who needs legislative help from Springfield to ease the city's budget.

  He also said he's had "some pretty productive discussions in recent weeks" with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and "some cordial conversations ... as well" with Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.

  Rauner said there should have been a budget in May, and there is now "a lot of pressure" and an "incentive to get something done" for Chicago.

  "Will we get it done in December or early January?" Rauner said. "I hope it's before then, but it could well last a lot longer. All we can keep doing is working hard."

  Edgar: Attacks don't help

  Edgar, in the interview, faulted the Democratic-controlled General Assembly for passing unbalanced budgets for two years, but he said "the governor is the one the public holds responsible" for operations of the state.

  He said as time goes by, the budget hole gets deeper — as less tax money is coming in this year because a temporary income tax increase partially rolled back as of Jan. 1, with the rate on individuals dropping from 5 percent to 3.75 percent. And under the school appropriation the governor signed, Edgar said, more is being spent.

  If Rauner thinks Democrats will "cave" under pressure, Edgar added, "I don't know if they are. ... There's some basic things that he's trying to get that I'm not sure they will ever give up."

  Rauner ran television ads against Madigan in June. He also told reporters that month that he thought Madigan and Cullerton had a "conflict of interest with taxpayers" because they work for law firms that handle property tax appeals.

  "I don't think those comments help," Edgar said. He said he doesn't think the ads "softened up the Democrats any. I think, if anything, they probably got a little more dug in."

  "There are a lot of things I muttered in private" as governor, Edgar said. "I always thought I had to watch what I said or my staff said. ... We always tried to be extremely careful ... not to get involved in personalities."

  Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Cullerton, said the governor's budget proposal was also unbalanced, and Democrats acknowledged that the budget they forwarded to the governor "was not a comprehensive solution." They had said they wanted to work with Rauner on revenue and cuts to patch the budget hole.

  "President Cullerton has been willing to consider changes to collective bargaining agreements with labor in recent years," Phelon added. "Those were negotiated policies that didn't undermine the fundamental right to organize. That hasn't changed."

  Page 4 of 4 - Edgar said the state will need more revenue as well as cuts, and the amount of revenue that will be needed keeps growing with the budget impasse. He said Rauner has acknowledged the need for more revenue, including talk of broadening the sales tax to services.

  "I think the income tax is easier," Edgar said, because a new tax is harder for people to accept and figure out.

  Edgar said the he doesn't like term limits but thinks remap reform is "a great idea."

  But he said a budget shouldn't hinge on getting that reform.

  "If you understand state government, you'll know there's nothing more important to legislators than redistricting," Edgar said. "So why do this when the chances are about nil that you're going to get it, but you cause all these other problems that are really your responsibility?"

  The former governor said he likes "the ceremonial side" of how Rauner is handling the office, including appearing at community events.

  Edgar said he wouldn't say now-imprisoned former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was "anything close to being a better governor" than Rauner.

  Still, Edgar said, "at least Blagojevich ... was off doing his crazy things and state government kind of continued to move along. I don't think state government's moving along right now. I mean, I just think too many things are at a standstill."

  About his support for Rauner in his 2014 battle against former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, Edgar said, "We had a choice between the two candidates, and I think that was the right choice."

  "I guess the question is, Would I support him next time?" Edgar added. "And I would say, 'I hope so,' but we won't know until we get to that point in history."

• "All I'm saying is let local people decide," he said.

  While all four legislative leaders and the governor have apparently not met in one place since May, Rauner said Friday that he has had "fruitful discussions" with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who needs legislative help from Springfield to ease the city's budget.

  He also said he's had "some pretty productive discussions in recent weeks" with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and "some cordial conversations ... as well" with Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.

  Rauner said there should have been a budget in May, and there is now "a lot of pressure" and an "incentive to get something done" for Chicago.

  "Will we get it done in December or early January?" Rauner said. "I hope it's before then, but it could well last a lot longer. All we can keep doing is working hard."

  Edgar: Attacks don't help

  Edgar, in the interview, faulted the Democratic-controlled General Assembly for passing unbalanced budgets for two years, but he said "the governor is the one the public holds responsible" for operations of the state.

  He said as time goes by, the budget hole gets deeper — as less tax money is coming in this year because a temporary income tax increase partially rolled back as of Jan. 1, with the rate on individuals dropping from 5 percent to 3.75 percent. And under the school appropriation the governor signed, Edgar said, more is being spent.

  If Rauner thinks Democrats will "cave" under pressure, Edgar added, "I don't know if they are. ... There's some basic things that he's trying to get that I'm not sure they will ever give up."

  Rauner ran television ads against Madigan in June. He also told reporters that month that he thought Madigan and Cullerton had a "conflict of interest with taxpayers" because they work for law firms that handle property tax appeals.

  "I don't think those comments help," Edgar said. He said he doesn't think the ads "softened up the Democrats any. I think, if anything, they probably got a little more dug in."

  "There are a lot of things I muttered in private" as governor, Edgar said. "I always thought I had to watch what I said or my staff said. ... We always tried to be extremely careful ... not to get involved in personalities."

  Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Cullerton, said the governor's budget proposal was also unbalanced, and Democrats acknowledged that the budget they forwarded to the governor "was not a comprehensive solution." They had said they wanted to work with Rauner on revenue and cuts to patch the budget hole.

  "President Cullerton has been willing to consider changes to collective bargaining agreements with labor in recent years," Phelon added. "Those were negotiated policies that didn't undermine the fundamental right to organize. That hasn't changed."

•  

   

Former Gov. Jim Edgar urges Gov. Bruce Rauner to quit holding budget hostage - News - The State Journal-Register - Springfield, IL

Political buyer's remorse? Ex-Illinois Gov. Edgar, who backed Rauner, now slams him : News

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:   Political buyer's remorse? Ex-Illinois Gov. Edgar, who backed Rauner, now slams him : News

The Springfield State Journal Register article is available at:  http://www.sj-r.com/article/20151016/NEWS/151019595

Canada’s Republican prime minister | National Observer

Interesting view regarding Koch Brothers influence in Canada.

By Warren Bell in Opinion | October 18th 2015

Illustration by Victor Juhasz 'Harper's Caucus' (Caricatures from left to right) Front row: Benjamin Netanyahu, Stephen Harper, Xi Jinping. Second row: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Charles Koch, David Koch

Previous story

As we approach the election on Monday October 19, something has just dawned on me.

The prime minister of Canada is basically a Republican American. He may as well be President Stephen Harper (R).

Stephen Harper’s mindset and policies are a peculiarly un-Canadian cross-border mix of ideas from the Tea Party, the Koch brothers, U.S. evangelicalism and Christian Zionism.

The Tea Party takes over

The American Tea Party is a hotbed of ideological zealotry that has now become the core of the Republican Party south of the border.

The Tea Party plans to make the government of the United States smaller and smaller. It wants to lower taxes, especially to corporations, curtail social services (their particular target is inexpensive healthcare through the Affordable Care Act – also known as “Obamacare") and privatize as many services as possible.

It wants to make the economy the one and only issue in the political equation – with a special emphasis on avoiding or reducing the government deficit. It wants to make access to guns even more widespread.

Oh, and the Tea/Republican Party airily waves off global warming as a distracting fiction.

The Tea Party rejects the United Nations and especially the environmental agenda generated at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It happily takes money from a uniquely American institution known as the “SuperPAC”, a kind of informal committee that is nominally situated outside the political process, but in reality supports political actions with vast infusions of cash, mostly received from colossally rich Americans like the Koch brothers.

The Koch brothers are the Tea Party

Oh, those Koch brothers.

It is now known that the elusive and fabulously rich Koch brothers, Charles and David, working with Big Tobacco, formally created the pseudo-grassroots Tea Party back in 2002, when together they paid for the establishment of the first Tea Party website. [It's been shut down and replaced, by the way.]

It just so happens that the Koch brothers possess more land in the tar sands than any other business interest. Their financial investment in the fossil fuel industry around the world is massive.

That massive wealth helped fund right wing think tanks in the United States, and the Fraser Institute in Canada, which preach the same small government, low tax approach favoured by the Tea Party. The siblings, on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, have paid tens of millions of dollars to argue, like the Tea Party, against the reality of global warming, and particularly the role of humankind in causing it.

The Koch brothers have another disconcerting attribute.

Despite having expressed, 30 or 40 years ago, strong support for gay rights and abortion, Charles and David Koch have pragmatically funnelled tens of millions of dollars into evangelical Christian and conservative Catholic groups with diametrically opposed points of view, because the latter tend to support the market-driven economy – a venue where the very rich do very well.

The Koch brothers just happen to have also played an important role in fostering support for the state of Israel, working closely with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson as well as lobby groups. Together, Adelson and the Kochs and others have lobbied hard for pro-Netanyahu Republican politicians.

The Tea/Republican Party and the Koch brothers identify closely with Christian Zionists and support for Netanyahu's government. Leading Tea Party politicians such as Michele Bachmann, Steve King and Louie Gohmert have travelled several times to Israel and the Middle East, voicing strong Biblically-infused support for the Israeli state and its government, and consequent blanket condemnation of Muslim “terrorists”, including in this essentially all Palestinians, even though over 10 per cent of them are Christians.

Now the Likud Party in Israel, which equates criticism of its platform with anti-Semitism, is reciprocating by reaching back in history to deceased Commie-hating U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy as it attacks socially progressive organizations, parties and politicians in Israel.

Putting it all together – Stephen Harper and the Tea Party and the Kochs and….

As you read about the Tea Party, Charles and David Koch, and their blind faith in small government, lowered taxes, private sector services, support for fossil fuels, and zealous support of Netanyahu coupled with a rejection of Islam, you may have felt a sense of déjà vu, a resonance with the Canadian federal election.

And that’s because it’s there, laid out in the platform of the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper.

All the attributes and behaviours and beliefs espoused by the Republican Party, the ascendant Tea Party that currently shapes its policies, and the shadowy Koch brothers with their limitless fortune, sit very comfortably with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Rename the Republican Party the Conservative Party of Canada, and set the Reform Party — aka the Tea Party – at its centre.

Replace the Koch brothers with assorted CEOs of oil and fracking companies (or, frankly, with the Koch brothers themselves, given their vast holdings in the tar sands).

Inject a dose of rigid Christian fundamentalism — from the Christian and Missionary Alliance for Harper, and from the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation for his U.S. counterparts.

Add in identical beliefs in lower taxes, smaller government, the primacy of big business, the “traditional” family, free markets, trickle-down economics and the privatization of services like health care, the CBC and the social safety net.

The parallelism is striking. No wonder that almost immediately after he was first elected as a minority Prime Minister, the Prime Minister called upon Republican strategist Frank Luntz to come north and advise Conservatives on how to win, and win big.

The dark side – negative ads and voter suppression

The only thing missing is mention of negative campaign advertisements.

But the Tea Party, the Koch brothers, and the Republican Party – and the Conservative Party in Canada – share that inclination too. North of the 49th Parallel, we are familiar with the Harper ads about Justin Trudeau’s hair, the notion that “he’s really not ready for the job”, and the talk about all opposition parties being soft on Islamist jihadism.

Among Republicans, the penchant for nasty negative ads has become so all-consuming that they have begun inspiring their wearied opposition to reciprocate. In the current Republican presidential campaign, faute de mieux, attack ads by Republican Party candidates against one other now actually exceed positive ads.

And then there's one final thing.

Voter suppression

The US electoral system has embraced digital technology for voting in most state and federal elections. This has opened the door to vote tampering on a massive scale, and the tendency has been inextricably bound up with the Republican Party.

Voter suppression is alive and well in Canada, in different ways (robocalls come to mind), but with the same brazen intent: to block citizens from voting for other parties.

Canadian or Republican American? It’s our choice.

The bottom line in all this is that Stephen Harper is politically more American than Canadian, more Republican and Tea Party than Conservative in the older “progressive Conservative” Canadian spirit, more ideological and belief-driven than pragmatic.

So I say: RIP Canada, as a separate and sovereign nation.

Welcome to our country’s new role as the dang-fangled new 51^st state of the American Union.

God bless Canamerica.

Unless you and I get out and vote for another option tomorrow.

 

Canada’s Republican prime minister | National Observer

InvEnergy sues Livingston County Board regarding denial of Wind Farm special use denial

On October 9, 2015 legal action was taken against Livingston County regarding their denial of a special use for a 134 wind turbine project.  Livingston County has several other operating wind farms. 

Will such a legal suit occur in Boone County after the county board votes on the text amendment to the wind ordinance?

The complete legal complaint, appendices and attachments are available through Edgar County Watchdog at:  http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/InvenergyAppeal-151009-PR-Complaint-filed.pdf  (Edgar County Watchdog has many anti-wind opinions but the documents supplied by them appear to be the complete complaint without opinions)

 

On the Agenda: Boone County talks budget, Winnebago County weights debt plan - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

• By Rockford Register Star

  Posted Oct. 19, 2015 at 5:31 AM

  In an effort to shed more light on what local government boards are up to each week, the Register Star will publish a brief look at key items up for consideration by elected bodies.

  Here are some items on the agenda this week:

  Boone County Board: Members will discuss the maintenance budget, salaries, wages and ways to balance county finances during a special Finance, Taxation & Salaries Committee Budget Hearing at 6 p.m. today at the Boone County Administration Complex, 1212 Logan Ave., Belvidere.

  Loves Park: Aldermen will discuss snow-removal bids for the 2015-16 season. The meeting is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. today at City Hall, 100 Heart Blvd.

  Machesney Park: Trustees will approve residential construction plans and discuss changes to a police services agreement with the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Frank G. Bauer Municipal Hall, 300 Roosevelt Road, Machesney Park.

  Rockton: The village could approve replacement of a police squad car and create a special-event application to use village parks and property. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Village Hall, 110 E. Main St.

  Roscoe: An architectural firm will give a presentation at the Committee of the Whole meeting on the space needs for the next Roscoe police station. The meeting begins right after the Village Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Village Hall, 10631 Main St.

  Winnebago County Board: Members will discuss and could approve extending jail construction debt 10 years to free up cash to hire more sheriff's deputies. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Winnebago County Courthouse, eighth floor, 400 W. State St., Rockford.

  — Ben Stanley, Chris Green, Kevin Haas, Lindsey Holden

• By Rockford Register Star

   

 

 

On the Agenda: Boone County talks budget, Winnebago County weights debt plan - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Sheriff Warns of "Gypsy" Scams - McHenry County Blog

 

Sheriff’s Office Warns of Recent “Gypsy” Scams

The McHenry County and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office are investigating two recent “gypsy” scams both targeting elderly victims in rural areas. The incidents occurred Wednesday, October 14, 2015, in unincorporated McHenry County and Boone County.

One such scam occurred at about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday in unincorporated Woodstock, IL.

Two suspects entered an elderly couple’s home after they told the couple they were there to perform home improvement work.

Once inside, one of the victims was coerced to go to the back yard with one of the suspects while the other suspect remained in the house and removed personal belongings from the residence.

Approximately 45 minutes later, a similar scam occurred in Garden Prairie, IL.

The suspects, in both incidents, were described as male between the ages of 20 to 40 and of Greek or Hispanic ethnicity. They drove a white pick-up truck with a white cab or white cargo van with blue lettering on the side, and out-of-state registration plates.

In general, the scam involves gaining the confidence of elderly victims in order to gain access to their homes, usually by telling the victim that they are there to perform some type of home improvement work.

Once inside home, one suspect will distract the victim, while the other will ransack the home for cash, credit cards, jewelry and other valuables.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information that could assist with this investigation to contact our Investigations Division at (815)338-2144. If you believe you have been a victim of a scam or if you observe suspicious activity, please report it to your local police department or the Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Warns of "Gypsy" Scams - McHenry County Blog