Month: February 2010

No trust, no new taxes, no fix for Illinois budget mess

Posted by dcrim – February 25, 2010

Gov. Pat Quinn is right in saying an income tax increase that would generate between $3 billion and $5 billion is needed to help correct an Illinois budget that is spiraling toward the abyss. The state cannot continue to nibble around the edges and rely on revenue gimmicks while staring at a projected $11.5 billion deficit a year from now.

Yet, it’s unlikely the income tax hike will happen. For starters, too many elected officials have been shortsighted in recent years in taking a blanket no-tax pledge, a move designed chiefly to play well with voters and ignore reality as the deficit grew. Even though the Senate approved one last year, House Speaker Michael Madigan never called a vote, and he doesn’t sound like he plans to do so this year, either, not with legislators facing voters in November.

The other reason is that the state has not shown it can handle money. State officials at all levels can blame the economy for a large part of this, but Illinois was a financial mess before the markets tanked. Schools, service agencies and providers were being starved. Pension obligations were not being met. Necessary projects that could have produced jobs were put on hold.

Taxpayers have the right to be skeptical. They might take a leap of faith and support higher income taxes if they thought the state would spend the money wisely, fix the problems through cuts and reform measures, and restore financial sanity. But this is Illinois, the land of political hiring, exorbitant pensions and shady deals. One former governor is in prison and another could be headed there.

So the budget debate will be like watching auto racing: We may just tune in to see the crashes.

Plight of Hannibal couple illustrates health insurance dilemma

Posted by dcrim – February 21, 2010

Jim Gallagher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch uses the sad story of Patty and Greg Robinson of Hannibal, Mo., to issue this warning about the individual health insurance market: Watch what you’re buying. There are lots of lousy health policies out there.

Of course, it’s probably too much to ask for the 535 members of Congress to actually collaborate  — you know, legislate, problem solve, work for the people — to come up with a way to make sure things like this don’t happen. Not in an election year when the wrong party (either one) might get credit. Not when nifty sound bites trump substance.

Niekamp case keeps going and going and going

Posted by dcrim – February 20, 2010

Question of the day: Will the quo warranto lawsuit filed against Quincy School Board President Melvin “Bud” Niekamp be decided before his term expires in 2013?

There was yet another delay in the case this week, meaning the evidentiary hearings that had been scheduled in late November for next Monday and Tuesday will not be held until May 4. Seems all parties were so booked up they couldn’t squeeze it in until then. The attorneys did concede they could argue their points in one day instead of two the week after the Dogwood Festival, an apparent salute to expediency.

This case has had more stops and starts than a 16-year-old driving a clutch for the first time. For those keeping score at home, if the May hearing is actually held, it will have taken 284 days since the suit was filed to get to the point to maybe determine if it should be heard.

No rush to judgment here. Sometimes the wheels of justice move slowly; sometimes they just spin.

Friday feeding frenzy: It’s gonna be all Tiger, all day

Posted by dadam – February 19, 2010

How big is the Tiger Woods press conference today? ESPN is going to be all Tiger, all day, on all platforms. You can follow the press conference live below.

Meanwhile, Mike Bianchi, a sports columnist with the Orlando Sentinel, says he doesn’t want to hear an apology from Woods today. All he wants to hear is when Tiger will be playing again.

I want to hear Tiger Woods talking about his birdies and bogeys; not about his babes and bimbos. If you want to see him fall on a bloody sword, fine. I’d rather see him lift up a Claret Jug. … the public apology given by Tiger’s speechwriter today is completely and utterly meaningless. America is not going to fall for any more white lies or red herrings. But a green jacket? Now that’s a discourse of a different color.

Columnist Jason Whitlock, on the other hand, in an open letter, urges Woods to retire. Whitlock says having a life is more important than dealing with today’s media frenzy and breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.

That’s not advice. I’m not even sure it’s what I would do if I was in your position. It’s simply what I feel 24 hours before your news conference announcement. Take your golf clubs, go home and raise your kids. Don’t let for-profit “journalists” turn you into Michael Jackson. Walk away.

Woods once again running the show as he re-enters public eye

Posted by dcrim – February 18, 2010

TigerWoodsTiger Woods plans to speak publicly Friday for the first time since his personal life began to unravel on Nov. 27. But his “press conference” will consist only of friends, a select number of media representatives and one pool camera. No questions will be entertained.

As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports writes, it is vintage Woods, a perfectly scripted event with him squarely in charge. And Wetzel doesn’t have a problem with that, considering it’s another example of how Woods has lived his life.

Writes Wetzel:

Tiger owes a public apology to his wife, children, mother and in-laws because he has publicly humiliated them. Other than that, I don’t think he owes anyone else a whole lot – other than an admission to the public that his well-crafted image was a complete lie. Although I think we all get that by now.

There’s no need to detail every transgression. No need to discuss girlfriend No. 1, cocktail waitress No. 6, or Perkins breakfast value meal No. 3. Once the Florida Highway Patrol closed its investigation on the November car wreck, that may or may not have included Woods being chased by a golf club-swinging wife, the incident no longer was a public issue.

This is no apologist column for Woods. I’m just a realist. He’s a lousy guy. It’s just he was a lousy guy before, and he may be one in the future, also. He often treated people poorly. He often acted like a boor. Fans didn’t want to hear it because they enjoyed how he played golf. It was fair enough; he wasn’t running for president. We liked him because he won. When you’re choosing which movie to see, you’ll almost always favor the superior actor without regard to his marital fidelity.

You can bet the folks at Augusta National are glad this is playing out now. They desperately want Woods to play in the Masters in April, but they certainly didn’t want him issuing any mea culpas on Bobby Jones’ course.

Want to know how nutty this is getting? Aside from the seven satellite trucks parked a mile away? The Associated Press reports British bookmaker William Hill has set odds at 4-to-7 that Woods wife, Elin, will be with him. It offers 8-to-1 odds that Woods will announce he is getting a divorce, 12-to-1 odds that his wife is pregnant and 100-to-1 odds that he is retiring.

Quincy Tea Party organizers hope to help shape national debate

Posted by dcrim – February 17, 2010

Bill Hennessy writes for biggovernment.com — edited by Quincy native Mike Flynn — that some Tea Party organizers are creating a political action committee (PAC) they hope will help influence up to 20 congressional races this fall. Among those agreeing to play a role in the PAC development are two members of the Quincy Tea Party.

Meanwhile, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post writes that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele treated Tea Party leaders like an ugly date Tuesday afternoon: They were good enough to take upstairs, but not good enough to be seen with in public.

And Mark Halperin in Time magazine has this take on what Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement have in common.

Audi ad may hit closer to home than many people think

Posted by dcrim – February 15, 2010

Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby says the environment friendly Super Bowl ads by Audi — “Put the rind down, sir! That’s a compost infraction!’’ — were supposed to be a parody, but he says real life is no spoof. Jacoby writes that Big Brother is a little out of control.

There was a time when Americans were thought capable of deciding for themselves what to do with their coffee grounds or whether to carry groceries home in paper or plastic bags. … One thin slice at a time, liberties we used to take for granted are replaced with mandates from above. Rather than leave us free to choose, Big Brother increasingly makes the choice for us: On trans fats. On gambling. On smoking. On bicycle helmets. On health insurance.

No David Letterman, but see how you would rate these lists

Posted by dcrim – February 14, 2010

Like lists? Time magazine has lists. Here’s a sampling:

• Top 10 embarrassing things that didn’t stop people from getting elected.

• Top 10 unfortunate political one-liners.

• A cheapskate’s gift guide to Valentine’s Day. (OK, so this is a little late. But you can see how you did.)

• Twenty-five athletes to watch in the Winter Games.

Blagojevich uses national air time to say … nothing

Posted by dcrim – February 12, 2010

Another riveting performance by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich with an exasperated Bill O’Reilly Thursday night. Blagojevich had some problems answering “yes or no” questions, but he did make several attempts to plug his book, which already has gone from hardback to paperback.

Will Americans tune in or tune out Vancouver Winter Games?

Posted by dcrim – February 10, 2010

816The Super Bowl is history. Pitchers and catchers report next week. March Madness is around the corner. The Masters will be played in two months. The NBA playoffs … OK, it’ll be May before Kobe and LeBron play any meaningful postseason games.

With that backdrop, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games begin Friday and run through the end of February. As we brace for another round of alpine skiing and Nordic combine, and a little curling and skeleton, the question 30 years after the “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid is whether there are any compelling storylines to grab our attention?

Forbes points out that American snowboarder Shaun White is among the highest paid Olympic athletes, pulling in a cool $7.5 million last year. And we’re told to watch for his double McTwist 1260, and so yawn.

The networks don’t really count on us guys for ratings, anyway. Figure skating draws the female audience, except in my household, and that always provides the biggest spike in the Nielsens. Is there anything that will entice you to watch? A little luge competition, perhaps?