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 The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is
hosting the first major debate amongst the Republicans vying
to take on Governor Blagojevich Wednesday night. The
debate will be moderated by Antonio Mora and Diann Burns of
CBS Channel 2, who will broadcast the debate live from
Naperville to the Chicago
area from 6-7 pm. The National Federation of Independent
Business and the Naperville Chamber of Commerce join the
Chamber as co-hosts of the event.
The
debate will be the highest profile event thus far for a
campaign that has yet to energize the electorate. It
will give the candidates a potential audience of millions of
voters to make the case they should lead the state for the
next four years. The issues discussed will focus on the
future of the Illinois economy and the
operations of state government.
The
Chamber has also secured a partnership with Springfield's ABC affiliate, Channel 20,
to broadcast a similar event in Springfield on March 7.
This is likely to be the only live event in downstate prior to
the Primary Election.
Governor
Blagojevich and his opponent in the Democratic Primary, Edwin
Eisendrath, have been invited to participate in their own
debates that will also be broadcast by Channel 2 and Channel
20. Those debates have yet to be scheduled.
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Those
hoping Ed Eisendrath will be able to run a big budget campaign
to effectively challenge Governor Blagojevich have to have
some doubts now that Eisendrath has unveiled his first
campaign commercial. The low budget ad is only to be
found on his website. Predictably, it focuses on the
poor perception of the Governor's ethics as golfing "insiders"
praise their special access to Blagojevich's policy
decisions. View the ad at http://www.eisendrath2006.com. |
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The union
that represents 35,000 state employees decided over the
weekend not to endorse a candidate seeking the Democratic
nomination including the sitting Governor. AFSCME, which
represents 100,000 people in Illinois, decided against
recommending Blagojevich or Eisendrath during their
endorsement session on Saturday. "Many
of our members are very disappointed in Governor
Blagojevich," said Henry Bayer, executive director of
Council 31, in a statement after the endorsement session at
the Hilton Springfield. "He has allowed important state
services to deteriorate and the state's fiscal woes to
worsen."
Treasurer
Judy Baar Topinka received the support of AFSCME in her bid to
win the GOP nomination for Governor. Bayer said in the
supporting statement that Topinka "best understands the
importance of public service and the concerns of working
families. While her opponents have demonstrated hostility to
workers' rights, public services and secure pensions, she is a
moderate from the Jim Edgar, Jim Thompson wing of her party.
We think Topinka is the obvious choice in the
primary." |
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The Blagojevich
administration has proposed a $500 tax credit for buyers who
purchase highly fuel efficient automobiles in an effort to
reduce emissions in Illinois. The tax credit will
apply to vehicles that burn ethanol making Illinois farmers very
happy. However,
the list of proposed vehicles is not broad enough, claim car
dealers across Illinois. Only
nine vehicles made the Governor's list and only three are
domestically produced.
The Governor's
program does not even include every E-85, ethanol burning
vehicle available.
A number of the E-85 vehicles exceed the mileage
restrictions set forth in the proposal. Vehicles must meet a
standard of 35 miles per gallon for gas or diesel vehicles and
25 mpg for flexible-fuel vehicles. The list of nine
vehicles eligible under the Blagojevich plan are the Toyota
Prius, Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid, VW New Beetle
(diesel), VW Golf (diesel/manual), VW Jetta (diesel), Ford
Escape Hybrid (front-wheel drive), Chevy Monte Carlo (FFV) and
Chevy Impala (FFV). |
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"Much to
Southern Illinoisans' dismay,
the $500 million school-construction component is in some
limbo. The governor wants to retire the school-construction
portion of the bonds by authorizing keno in state bars and
restaurants. The state could clear $40 million to $80 million
on keno per year, according to the governor's
estimates.
Southern
Illinois has a long list of communities waiting for schools to
be built, including Benton,
Carterville, Du Quoin, Johnston City and Marion.
State schools superintendent Randy Dunn was in Du Quoin on
Friday, pushing for bonds to fund school
construction.
Unfortunately, the state funding
mechanism continues to be debatable, keno or no keno. The
governor did not mention keno in his speech but would like to
start the game this summer. Blagojevich has said he does not
consider keno to be an extension of gambling, indicating he
could institute the game himself through the state lottery and
without the legislature." Read
the whole thing... |
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Beginning
February 9th, the Political Insider
will be sent to subscribers only. This is a free
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registration at the top of the
newsletter.
REGISTER TODAY and you will continue
receiving the Illinois Chamber's
Political
Insider as the 2006 campaign season heats
up! |
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