Priceless
ArchPundit
Domestic Beer $8
Lap Dance $20
Champagne Room $250 Entrance Fee (payable in $1 bills)
Having your evening broadcast to the world because you are so stupid you put it on the town credit card.
PRICELESS!
2006
Chicago Food and Beverage
Someone has some ‘splaining to do…
New Lenox Mayor Michael Smith has a more of a problem than he thinks. In this post I pointed out his rather hysterical problem that he spent $1,462 in one night at a strip club on the New Lenox town credit card.
Mr. Smith didn’t quite come clean though when asked about the situation. I mean, given he wrote the reimbursement check from his and his wife’s account for $3,244 it was probably bad enough that he spent half of that at a strip club.
But that isn’t the whole story. The Trib reported:
A total of $1,300 was charged March 11. It’s listed under Chicago Food & Beverage, but Smith said he couldn’t recall the precise name of the restaurant.
If one were to call the VIP Club at 312-644-7400 (not work suitable if you are slow) and ask them how charges on your card appear if you were to take clients there, the answer is that for the admission fee and drinks, it appears as VIP Club. However, if you purchase what is described as ‘house cash’, it is charged as Chicago Food & Beverage. Hence, a nice round $1,300 on the New Lenox account.
So he spent a nice 2,762 at the VIP Club overnight on March 10-11. I hope someone got laid for that much. Not that I’m promoting prostitution, but for goodness sakes, if you are going to drop $2,700 in a few hours, someone should have gotten more than a dry hump or they are really pitiful.
Mr. Smith lied to the Trib, probably the other town officials and almost certainly to his wife.
To add more fun to the pot, it appears that El Geraldo’s office is saying that Smith was never actually the Campaign Chair. Let us remember that Smith gave the welcome at El Geraldo’s campaign kick off and was identified by the Home Town Morris Daily Herald as campaign chair. Unfortunate.
While I normally don’t care much, if the regular media picks up on this–I want some acknowledgement on this one. I at least have to explain to the wife why I’m calling strip clubs late at night.
Crossposted at Illinoize
But Let Me Just Say
The amount of political spam I get on immigration is higher than any other issue and it’s almost all anti-immigrant. It comes in an annoying flow of the same e-mail being copied and sent out by different people. I’m now up to 5 of them that regularly send the crap to me.
It’s strange targeting–I seldom get unsolicited items from conservatives in general, but on immigration, I have received a steady stream since not long after I started the blog.
Polling on Immigration
Eric then points out the ordinal relationship of immigration on priority lists tends to show an increasing concern.
I understand Eric’s point, but I think using ordinal relationships in polling data obscures whether the public is changing its overall view of the issue or if there is simply movement around the issue.
This is my fault for not laying out the numbers in a bit of laziness, but let’s look at polling data since 2004 in terms of the number of people who identify immigration as a extremely/very important or similar language
Gallup Poll. Feb. 6-8, 2004. N=1,008 adults nationwide. MoE ? 3.
immigration 55%
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). May 12-16, 2005. N=1,005 adults nationwide. MoE ? 3.1 (for all adults).
Too Little Attention to Immigration 64%
Pew Research Center survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Jan. 4-8, 2006. N=approx. 750 adults nationwide. MoE ? 4
Making it tougher for illegal immigrants to enter the U.S.” 51 %
Gallup Poll. March 13-16, 2006. N=1,000 adults nationwide. MoE ? 3.
“Illegal immigration” Great Deal 43 Fair Amount 29 Only a Little/Not A lot 28
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). April 21-24, 2006. N=1,005 adults nationwide. MoE ? 3.1
“Well, if you had to choose just one, which do you think should be the top priority?”
Illegal immigration 11
CBS News Poll. April 28-30, 2006. N=719 adults nationwide. MoE ? 4.
“What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?” Open-ende
Immigration 8
======================
In open-ended questions it has increased from neglible to somewhere between 8 and 11%. That’s significant certainly, but it also seems to be pretty tied to a small group of people who strongly care about the issue.
The overall concern over the issue seems to be pretty stable with all caveats about using different polling methodology and different questions.
So my interpretation is that while the overall numbers are pretty consistent, certainly the salience has increased amongst about 10% of the population.
When one looks at overall views on immigration, the numbers are remarkably consistent about the issue. Before 9-11 the polling shows a lower level of concern with the public hovering around 40% for reducing immigration. 9-11 demonstrates a change in the underlying population with a spike to 58% for reducing immigration, but then number settles down to about 50% for reducing immigration.
So while I was sloppy, I’d say that it seems that the public is pretty stable in its views on immigration with the exception of dramatic events that change the underlying dynamic. Since 2004, general public opinion is very stable. However, I was wrong in saying that salience is low all around since those thinking it is especially important has increased in open response questions.
There are a series of interesting question about whether salience is because the problem has changed or just because political entrepeneurs have raised the issue for political gain. Given the drop after 9-11 passed for support to decrease immigration, it seems to me to be more of a issue to motivate specific constituencies.
In fact, that seems certain given the top poll that shows 68% approval for a bill such as the Senate has generally been heading toward that allows for undocumenteds to stay and eventually apply for citizenship under specific circumstances.
For the change in immigration views overall:
USA Today/Gallup Poll. April 7-9, 2006. N=1,004 adults nationwide. MoE ? 3.
Below the flip
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$1,462 for one night in a Strip Club
I hope there wasn’t any sex in the Champagne Room.
What’s great is what triggered the paper to investigate:
The Star newspaper requested the AmEx invoice, along with the reimbursement check, at a time when the Finance Committee was debating Smith’s prepaid lodging expenses for a coming International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas.
What Happens in Vegas……
Weller’s campaign must be a ball
Mayor Michael Smith of New Lenox, Weller?s campaign chairman, gave the welcome.
?I can always turn to Jerry for assistance, and he?s always there to give a hand ? that?s very, very important,? Smith told the gathering.
Given Weller’s ties to MZM co-conspirators that are at the center of the Duke Cunningham scandal who were apparently running a prostitution ring, there are lots of interesting questions to ask for an enterprising reporter.
The Great Proposer
Marin points out that with unified Democratic control, we still cannot get campaign finance reform–though I’m inclined to spread the blame around to the Speaker and Jones, she has a very good point.
Make it start on January 1st and let’s get rid of direct union and corporation donations and limit the amount from PACs and Individuals.
Hynes gets it as does Fritchey:
State Comptroller Dan Hynes, first of all, didn’t even need a law to issue an executive order banning campaign contributions from contractors doing more than $10,000 in business with his office. He unilaterally did that more than a year ago.
And now, he’s pushing legislation that would ban pay-to-play politics, close the revolving door for officeholders who become lobbyists and provide public funding for judicial races.
He’s calling it the Government Integrity Initiative. And right now it’s deader than a doornail, buried in the graveyards of the House and Senate rules committees.
Hynes has been barnstorming the state trying to drum up support. “It’s not just the right thing to do,” he said Tuesday, “it’s the politically smart thing to do.”
If we cannot pass the full bill, let’s pass the Hynes-Fritchey bill. Democrats are in control–we can’t blame Republicans for local problems. Certainly Bush has created a vast number of longterm financial problems, but when it comes to the State of Illinois and ethics, he’s done the right thing though it’s probably the thing he regrets most–appointing Patrick Fitzgerald. Let’s start to make Fitzgerald have some free time at the state level and reduce the opportunities for corruption.
And T. Roeser Fires into the Crowded Circle
According to him, it was Topinka, not Kimme who said Bush should do fundraising for her late at night….
Now it develops that the source of those comments was not an aide, not Nancy Kimme but Topinka herself! Her campaign sought to protect her by saying that an aide was responsible for the devastating insult to the president from an establishment-anointed Republican nominee for governor. Some unnamed aide was given the blame, but it?s not true: no matter how many denials they make. Result: the dinner which Topinka hoped would raise big bucks has been shelved for now, despite Blagojevich?s stepping up his paid media attacks. Yet, understandably, the White House feels that for a statewide Republican candidate to say this to a national correspondent is almost unforgivable. Don?t be too easily convinced by a quick Topinka tut-tut denial. After all, she continues to steadfastly deny refusing to endorse U. S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald for reelection even though more than 75,000 listeners heard her wiggle out of providing support?
Just keeping the stories alive…
Overnight the Petitions
IFI wants those getting petitions together for the advisory referendum on a Constitutional Amendment to ban Gay Marriage to overnight them by close of business Thursday. Petitions are due on May 8th.
While there is a lot of bluster, one has to wonder why after extending the deadline nearly 2 weeks, there is still a need to overnight anything if the petitions are legit. The requirement isn’t even that hard—the stem cell initiative in Missouri just collected more signatures than Illinois requires. \
Then again Peter has been busy against the War Against Easter
Alternative Titles for the Homo Risk Audit
Home Alone and hiding from the Transgendered
Drop your favorites in comments.
400,000
With no arrests and the only near issue were some skinheads trying to cause problems.
The issue always amuses me because if you look at polling it looks like a big issue with majority support to do something….but something isn’t anything and it seldom gets above 10% of the public as the most important issue. It’s an issue increasingly of social conservatives that gets majority support in some sort of general sense, but then the specifics break it down. Looking at the polling data since 2004 it actually looks like the number of people thinking it’s important is slightly down or stable.
It gets brought up every few years, but most people are somewhat ambivalent about the undocumented workers. People generally respect those who come to work, but want them to follow the law–and yet understand that companies are the ones giving undocumented workers the incentive to come over illegally.
There is a simple way to end illegal immigration—fine companies for hiring them. Instead of scapegoating the people who want to work hard (and should be given better opportunities to do that within the law), scapegoat those who use them.
Making the immigrants into felons is absurd–for that matter making it a criminal and not a civil violation is silly unless the desire is to punish those making the least. Skirting immigration laws is done by those who know the penalties are small compared to the increased profits. For those who advocate markets, the way to end that sort of system is to make it unprofitable to hire undocumented workers.
Ultimately, immigrants are upset because the argument is only about those who cross the borders for work and not those who pay them. Given the latter have a greater part to play in the whole process (no demand–no supply), the likely reason left is racism. Immigrants who are here legally and many who have become citizens see that as a danger that doesn’t end with just undocumented workers. The whining about hundreds of thousands illegals misses the point the attack is felt far broader than just those who don’t have green cards, but those who have immigrated and love their home and many of those out there fear what happens next.