Both Good and Bad
ArchPundit
In the initial leaks about the plan over at Rich’s. More in a bit after the details come in. Good questons by Krol here.
The general idea of generating $650 million for the last six years isn’t as bad as I thought below.
The Non-Story Blog Story
The ‘controversy’ over a student code of conduct in Libertyville is a bit silly.
If you are a high school student and you put pictures of yourself drinking or doing illegal drugs the biggest problem is that the school is doing such a bad job of encouraging critical thinking skills.
Lake Bluff resident Mary Greenberg, the only person to speak during the public comment period, told officials that the district is overstepping its bounds.
As parents, “we have to watch what they’re doing,” said Greenberg, who has a son at Libertyville High. “I don’t think they need to police what students are doing online. That’s my job.”
I have to admit that if I thought school officials were going through the sites regularly just to look for problems, this might be a waste of resources, but the first thing you should understand about posting stuff on the internet is that such posts are public.
If the District were to try and limit free speech rights or squelch criticism of school officials that’s a different story, but pointing out to students that public display of incriminating pictures can result in discipline for the conduct should be a no duh moment.
Ummm…what implications Denny
Denny gets huffy about the FBI raid on Jefferson’s office.
“Once I have more information about this raid made available to me, I have had an opportunity to carefully consider the long-term ramifications for the Legislative Branch of this action, and I have consulted with the appropriate bipartisan leaders of the House, I expect to seek a means to restore the delicate balance of power among the branches of government that the Founders intended.”
Presumably, there was a search warrant. Then again, maybe not given the Administration of late, but the only protection Members of Congress have in relation to criminal cases is to not be stopped and held from reaching Congress during session. The separation of powers is serious, but in this case, the other two branches must act in concert to have a warrant issued and that is consistent with the Constitution.
Gee, Denny, how about phone records for Members of Congress being obtained without a warrant–THAT doesn’t concern you?
Peoria Housing Scandal
Bill is doing a bang up job covering it–essentially the Housing Authority got in bed with predatory lenders.
Worst Story of the Day for the Guv and Alexi
Rezko partnership files bankruptcy after loan from Broadway Bank.
Leaving the Mess for the Next Guy
We’ll see how close the story is to the plan, but this stuck out at me:
Schools would get at least $1?billion a year for the next four years from such a deal, with the remaining $6?billion going into an education trust fund governed by a board appointed by the four legislative leaders, governor, comptroller and treasurer, according to a Democratic source briefed on Blagojevich’s proposal late Monday.
Madigan should oppose this point simply to save Lisa the headache. It’s again a revenue stream that ends after a set amount of time while the asset isn’t available for 6 more years. While we are still speculating on the total plan, it’s worse than that–nearly $650 million a year goes to education (if one doesn’t count the displacement effect) so the net gain in the first four years is $350 million/year. What happens in year 5 if the other $6 billion is not distributed?
Strip Jefferson of his Committee Assignments
Over at Kos, they are suggesting William Jefferson be asked to resign–something the leadership cannot force–instead Dems should strip him of his committee memberships making life very tough.
Clout List
Rich has the Clout List in it’s entirety.
That’s the Blagojevich list since there are so many floating around anymore.
Collateral Damage
For those who listened in to Collateral Damage last night, here is the article on Peter ‘the undercover homosexual lifestyle investigator? Labarbera You can also search for his name over at the ArchPundit side and find plenty of fun material. The General picked up on him recently as well.
You can stream the show here whenever the new episode goes up.
Gianoulis Deathwatch Day 27
While I haven’t been linking to all of the stories on Alexi, they continue with some regularity…
Today’s, via Rich, Local loan to accused felons linked to treasurer candidate
A Chicago bank owned by Democratic state treasurer candidate Alexi Giannoulias and his family loaned more than $20 million to firms controlled by two local developers who are awaiting trial on federal money laundering charges.
Boris Stratievsky, 44, and Lev Stratievsky, 67, who were arrested last June and charged with money laundering and forgery, obtained six mortgage loans from Broadway Bank between 2001 and 2005 to finance real estate purchases in Chicago, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling, according to county records.
Obviously, Alexi didn’t spend money doing oppo on himself and is now paying the price. My only complaint is couldn’t the folks in the primary who started this have made it all come out early?
Alexi may stay on the ballot, but his candidacy is doomed. It’s another example of why unexperienced rich guys aren’t qualified for high office just because they are rich.