News-Gazette Editorials

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Burris appointment another chapter in same old story

Democrats in the U.S. Senate appear to be moving, unenthusiastically, toward admitting Roland Burris to the chamber. That's the same Roland Burris whose chief patron is a recently arrested, soon-to-be-impeached governor, a governor who has been accused of trying to sell that U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. So how legitimate is that appointment if it goes to a fading political warhorse (who last won office in 1990) whose most recent contributions are monetary – to the campaign of the malodorous governor?

Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich may be close to pulling off their little U.S. Senate appointment stunt, giving Blagojevich's long-shot impeachment defensive a boost and allowing Burris the chance to add another line to the ostentatious self-tribute at his mausoleum.

Jobs moving from Illinois

Recent announcements of Caterpillar Inc. jobs moving from Illinois to Texas and Arkansas should alarm state officials – if they are paying attention to such mundane, nonimpeachment-related developments.

Two recent announcements by Caterpillar Inc. should be triggering alarms in the offices of the governor and state economic development officials – if anyone is there. Peoria-based Caterpillar says that it will spend $140 million to build a new road grader plant in Arkansas (that will employ 600 people) and $167 million to build another facility near San Antonio (one that will employ 1,400).

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Is Illinois ready to go straight?

The idea of honest government in Illinois may seem like a pipe dream. But Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would like to give it a try.

With time quickly running out for Rod Blagojevich, his successor, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, is laying the groundwork for a new administration.

Richardson pulls plug on himself

How did a federal criminal investigation escape the attention of those who were vetting Cabinet choices for the new administration?

The weekend announcement that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson dropped his bid to join the White House Cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama proves, if it was really in doubt, that Republicans don't have a monopoly on ineptitude.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Go easy on the governor?

A little story out of North Carolina caught our attention last week. It was about the retiring governor of that fine state, Democrat Mike Easley, who said that newspapers should be nice to him. Can you imagine the reaction if Rod Blagojevich said something like that?

In North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, who is leaving office after two full terms as the state's chief executive, complained that the state's newspapers, particularly those in Charlotte and in the Raleigh-Durham area, had been unkind to him.

Set a high standard for stimulus spending

The headline on the Associated Press story caused a shudder: "Can Uncle Sam spend cash fast enough?" The answer is of course he can. But the question ought to be: "Can Uncle Sam invest cash wisely enough?"

It turns out, thankfully, that the federal government really can't spend money fast enough. A federal stimulus package that was supposed to be ready for President-elect Obama on the day he took office apparently won't be ready until mid-February at the earliest. There's even some indication that the $700 billion or so in spending and tax cuts might be done judiciously, or at least with what passes for judiciousness in Washington.

Monday, January 5, 2009

The real challenge facing Illinois government

The impeachment process will occupy the time of Illinois lawmakers for the next two to three weeks, but right after that they face as big a challenge: how to manage state government through its worst financial crisis in at least a quarter-century.

The likely impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich is getting all the headlines out of Springfield these days, but a longer-term problem – the state's financial welfare – is being ignored by the self-indulgent man who is still the state's chief executive.

New year brings tougher DUI law

Driving under the influence is a dangerous and ever-more-costly offense.

The costs of being arrested and/or being convicted of driving under the influence keep going up.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Reading FutureGen's tea leaves

The effort to resurrect the FutureGen clean-coal energy project, orphaned last year by the Bush administration, resumes Wednesday with an important meeting between Dr. Steven Chu, the secretary-designate of the Energy Department, and Sen. Dick Durbin and other members of the Illinois congressional delegation. It's unclear so far where Chu will come down on the FutureGen plan.

The proposed $1.8 billion FutureGen clean-coal power plant, which was to have been built near Mattoon, was killed last year by the Bush administration. But U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and other members of the Illinois congressional delegation said they would resume their quest to develop FutureGen and its promise of a coal-fired power plant with zero carbon emissions after a new administration was sworn in.

Friday, January 2, 2009

No bailout for failing in NFL

There's a lesson to be learned from the series of sudden vacancies among the ranks of head coaches in the National Football League.

It didn't take long after the NFL's regular season ended for the hammers to start to fall.

The Legislature's predicament

Here's the predicament Democratic Illinois legislators find themselves in as they try to one-up a discredited governor – they've got to get down and dirty with him in a costly, politically humiliating sandbox fight.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proven time and again that he doesn't care how much money he wastes or how much he soils the state's reputation. To him, state government is a game and he just wants to win as much as possible. How else do you explain his bizarre decision – opposed by both President-elect Obama and Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate – to appoint perennial hanger-on Roland Burris to be Obama's Senate successor?

Thursday, January 1, 2009

A subdued welcome to 2009

There doesn't seem to be a lot of reason to be optimistic about the new year – but the American people are, a poll found.

It's hard to feel good about what lies ahead in 2009. Everyone from respected economists to "futurist" Faith Popcorn say it will be a difficult year. Popcorn, in fact, says it's "the end of the world as we know it."

Governor got off to an early start

Federal subpoenas raise the possibility that Gov. Blagojevich started bending the rules even before he took office.

It's probably impossible for the hole Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is in to get much deeper, even though he, for reasons known only to him, keeps trying to dig deeper.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Caroline Kennedy's bid for Senate seat no sure thing

Caroline Kennedy is learning the hard way that there's a difference between being a celebrity and being a politician.

The Kennedy name still carries a lot of political heft, so much so that Caroline Kennedy may yet end up as a U.S. senator from New York.

Blagojevich's latest embarrassment

It's a tough call about which is more shameful: Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pointless appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate or sad sack Burris' willingness to accept the tainted appointment.

Just when you thought he might be going away quietly, Gov. Rod Blagojevich rises from the political critical care unit to embarrass himself and the state of Illinois again with the futile appointment of Roland Burris to the vacant U.S. Senate seat most recently occupied by President-elect Barack Obama.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Illinois on the reapportionment bubble

Illinois' population growth in the last year – just 0.6 of 1 percent – is small enough to continue a decade-long trend that could mean the loss of another seat in Congress in 2010.

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau says that the nation's population continues to shift to the west and the south, meaning that Southern and Western states will continue to gain congressional representatives and the Midwest and Northeast will continue to lose them. Illinois is right on the bubble, in danger of losing one congressional representative, but perhaps with enough growth to hold onto its 19 seats in the U.S. House.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Hoopster stays on road to recovery

It can be a long, bumpy road for alcohol abusers.

Former University of Illinois basketball player Jamar Smith was back in Champaign County Circuit Court last week, winning plaudits all around for his so-far successful battle with alcoholism.

Impeachment panel has hands full

Gathering sufficient evidence to justify removing a governor from office is a hugely complicated business.

It's important for the public to remember that the ongoing impeachment process involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is a political, not a judicial, process. There are huge differences.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Plea deal in cop's DUI case raises questions

Why did a Champaign police officer charged with drunken driving get kid-gloves treatment in the court system?

Elizabeth Drewes remains in the Champaign County Jail, where she's being held on $5 million bond in connection with her involvement in a terrible car crash that killed a 24-year-old Ogden woman.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Gambling board stoops to conquer

State regulators passed up higher bids to avoid uncomfortable questions about the operators of a proposed casino in Cook County.

Suddenly, in Illinois government, appearances and substance matter – and nowhere more than in the lengthy, controversial fight over the state's unused 10th license to operate a land-based casino.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

A Christmas classic

More than a century ago, a young reader of The New York Sun wrote a letter to the newspaper's editor, Francis P. Church, asking him to address what were her obvious doubts about the existence of Santa Claus.

"Dear Editor," read the letter from Virginia O'Hanlon. "I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in the Sun, it's so.'

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Madoff made off with investor cash

It's a blue Christmas for thousands of investors who thought their money manager guaranteed an endless supply of green.

The subprime mortgage crisis has been a disaster for more than legitimate businesses like prominent banks, major manufacturers and retail giants.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Turbine victim of poor economy

Some University of Illinois students are understandably upset that a plan to build a wind turbine on the south campus has been shelved. Given the deteriorating financial condition of the university, it was a prudent decision. The worst thing is that more painful budget cuts may be coming.

University of Illinois officials are preparing for as much as a 10 percent budget cut for the remaining six months of the fiscal year, President Joe White said last week. The university may have to make do with as much as $70 million less in state funds between now and July 1, he said.

Illinois' ungoverning governor

Rod Blagojevich met (briefly) with reporters at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago last Friday. He wasn't there to talk about emergency budget measures, a statewide construction program or how to help social service agencies in danger of going out of business for lack of state support. He was there to talk about ... himself.

Lawmakers looking for a reason to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich need look no further than the governor's press conference Friday (the one at which he refused to take questions).

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter just beginning

Had your fill of wind and ice and snow? Better get used to it. Winter is just beginning. The last three weeks of storms and cold came during what is officially known as autumn.

If what we have been enduring the last three weeks was autumn, how bad will winter (which officially began this morning) be? After all, temperatures are running about 4 degrees below normal and we've had enough snow and ice so far to make for an entire normal winter. Winter, at least astronomical winter, has barely begun.

Ugly unemployment figures and what can be done

Unemployment rates in Illinois, including Champaign and Vermilion counties, were up again in November. And recent announcements about impending plant closings and partial shutdowns mean that even gloomier days are ahead.

Friday's news about rising Illinois unemployment rates reinforced the already dire warnings about economic conditions, even in Champaign County, an area that traditionally has been considered almost recession-proof.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Impeachment about governance, not criminality

As much as the attorney for Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to shape it as a criminal proceeding, the act of impeachment under way in Springfield is more about politics and governance. The question lawmakers ultimately must ask themselves is not has Rod Blagojevich broken any laws? Instead it is: can Rod Blagojevich effectively govern the state of Illinois?

The Illinois Constitution doesn't offer much guidance on impeachment. All it provides is seven sentences that set out how the procedure is to be undertaken.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Senate election compromise worth considering

Illinois Democrats, in the aftermath of the Blagojevich scandal, supported a special election to fill the state's vacant U.S. Senate seat, but now they're backtracking. But there's a compromise available that could have the seat filled by April and with an election.

Soon after the stunning arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich on federal corruption charges, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin suggested that Blagojevich could not be entrusted with naming the replacement senator for president-elect Barack Obama. Instead, Durbin said, voters should be able to nominate and select Obama's replacement in a special election.

Tax system in need of reform

A new study by the Tax Foundation gives added ammunition to those who suggest that Illinois' much maligned property tax system needs reform.

Out of our "This is news?" department comes word of a study by the Tax Foundation that found that Illinoisans pay more in property taxes than residents of all but six states. Only residents of New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts pay more.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Rantoul prepares for bad times

Congratulations to the village of Rantoul for operating in a fiscally prudent and conservative manner. Earlier this month village officials said they would hold the line on the village's property tax levy, meaning a possible reduction in some individual tax bills to the village. They're also hoping to make cuts in spending both this year and next.

Let's hope officials in Rantoul can be a model for other local governments during these difficult economic times. Rather than impose another $30 in property taxes on the owner of a $100,000 home, village officials in Rantoul have adopted a novel strategy: freezing the property tax levy at this year's level.

George Ryan's apology

George Ryan apologized last week for the misdeeds that earned him a federal court corruption conviction and a cell in the Terre Haute prison. Although it's hard to disagree with those who ascribe insincerity to the former governor's plea, the fact is it was an apology. Many, including us, said that was needed before they could support commuting the remainder of his prison term.

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan finally apologized last week – more than a year into his 6 1/2-year federal prison sentence – for "mistakes made in my administration, both by me and others on my watch."

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Finally, the impeachment process begins in House

The Illinois House of Representatives has given Gov. Rod Blagojevich ample time to resign from office in an orderly and respectful manner. The governor has signalled that he will not do so. So House Speaker Michael Madigan has acted to begin impeachment proceedings. It is the right call, made deliberately and thoughtfully.

Everyone from the president-elect of the United States to East Central Illinois residents who have signed an online petition promoted by state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, has urged Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign. But the governor has resisted, even as he and the state of Illinois became the laughingstock of TV comedians and political commentators after his arrest last week on federal corruption charges.

Welcome Urbana mayor contest

Unlike the case four years ago all Urbana voters will have a choice on April 7 when they vote for mayor.

In 2005 the race for mayor of Urbana concluded after the Democratic primary. Once Laurel Prussing had been chosen the Democratic Party candidate the race was, literally, over. She was the only candidate listed on the April general election ballot.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Illinois' inadequate campaign disclosure laws

The Blagojevich scandal eventually will highlight many shortcomings in Illinois ethics laws. One is already quite apparent: the lack of immediate and full disclosure of campaign contributions.

The federal affidavit that led to last week's arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich disclosed that the governor hoped to raise $2.5 million in campaign contributions – probably to pay defense lawyers – by Dec. 31. (By way of comparison, that would be about a half-million dollars more than he raised in the first half of the year).

Congress minus two crooks

When the rascals run for re-election, voters can just say no.

The elections results were close, but voters in Alaska and Louisiana both set a good example for Illinois residents when it comes to dealing with corrupt elected officials: they voted them out of office.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Champaign County a model of open Web access

If you've ever examined the Web sites of other Illinois counties, you'd be amazed how much more information is posted on Champaign County's site. A government watchdog group, the Sunshine Review, has taken notice and has praised the county.

Many Illinois counties have a long way to go in using their Web sites to provide useful information to the public. The Sunshine Review, a national group dedicated to government transparency, notes that 42 of Illinois' 102 counties have no Web access at all. Area counties in that group include Edgar, Ford and Moultrie counties. Most other area counties, including Vermilion, provide minimal information.

Get head start on impeachment

Rod Blagojevich has had five days to consider his charade as "governor" of Illinois, five days to grasp how incapable he is of performing his constitutionally required duties, five days to contemplate all the damage he can inflict on the state government and its citizens. And still he refuses to resign. So the Legislature must act.

Rod Blagojevich apparently won't resign from office. So the Legislature will have to remove him.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Board closes book on novel dispute

"The Kite Runner" makes a comeback in the Champaign schools.

All's well that ends well, so it appears the controversy over a sophomore class reading assignment in the Champaign schools is now history.

Juice no longer on the loose

The adventures of a football star and celebrity criminal no longer attract high ratings.

In the mid-1990s, the murder trial and controversial acquittal of retired football star, actor and athletic celebrity O.J. Simpson set off a protracted national debate about race relations and the courts.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

High court seeks high standard

The Illinois Supreme Court is trying to get better performance and fewer problems from the state's roughly 1,000 judges.

A new proposal to hold state judges accountable for their conduct and improve the performance of judges new to the bench is a welcome effort to achieve the difficult result of holding a group of free agents to a single, collective standard.

Voters, turn up the heat

President-elect Obama and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin Wednesday called on Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, joining a chorus that included nearly every newspaper in the state as well as congressmen, legislators and Democratic county chairmen. Let your voice be heard as well.

Step right up and join the fastest-growing group in Illinois – the chorus calling on Gov. Rod Blagojevich to step down and get out of the way.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Blagojevich must step down for good of Illinois

Following his arrest and the release of an astonishingly damning FBI affadavit, it is imperative that Rod Blagojevich step down as governor. The affadavit discloses corruption so deep and so rampant that nothing Blagojevich does in his official capacity from now on is credible, whether it is signing a piece of legislation or making an appointment. And he especially cannot be entrusted with something as solemn to the good citizens of Illinois as the appointment of Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate.

Rod Blagojevich may be innocent until a jury finds him guilty, but as a political leader and the governor of a state of 12 million people who deserve better, he is crippled. The charges in a 76-page affadavit released Tuesday morning, along with Blagojevich's own quotes from about 50 days' worth of FBI wiretaps, portray a politician so driven by avarice and power, so corrupt, perhaps even deranged, that he can no longer be trusted to lead the state.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

State Medicaid payments key to Carle settlement

The number of defendants in the state's anti-trust lawsuit against local medical clinics has dropped from two to one.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and health care advocate Claudia Lenhoff last week engaged in highly publicized celebration of the settlement of an anti-trust lawsuit that requires Carle Clinic to bring aboard nearly 3,000 new Medicaid patients.