Illinois governor urges lawmakers to work together for a greater illinois

Gov. Rauner

Taking a softened tone in his annual State of the State address, Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner, on Wednesday, made the case for a stronger, better, and united Illinois one that might make other states envious of its schools and economic success. To reach that enviable status the Republican governor, of this very blue state, said that all Illinoisans had to participate, but also to make the state competitive. And, to achieve this, he said, “Through bipartisan cooperation, Illinois can once again be the economic engine of the Midwest and the home of innovation and prosperity for everyone.”

If the tone seemed rosy and even optimistic, then the last 18 month long absence of a budget, complete with name calling, mudslinging, accusations, and stonewalling made some wonder if this is the same governor that has held out against a budget unless his so-called “Turnaround Agenda” was incorporated, made up of reution on workmen's compensation benefits, term limits, and deregulation of unions.

To no one’s great surprise he said, “We haven’t had a full year budget of some kind in a year-and-a-half– and we haven’t had a state budget that is truly balanced in decades. We have more than $11 billion in unpaid bills, a $130 billion unfunded pension liability, and the worst credit rating in the nation. We have the 5th highest overall tax burden and one of the lowest rates of job creation of any state.”

All true, but the stalemate and the standoff especially between the powerful Speaker of the House MIchael Madigan, was not mentioned, nor the frustration that residents have experienced, and their exasperation at the continued fights and name calling, between he and the Speaker; nor the pleas to stop the insanity, and to start governing were acknowledged.

At one point, he nearly pleaded with the majority Democratic lawmakers, who control both sides of the General Assembly, when he asked, “I ask you today, on behalf of all the people of Illinois – Democrats and Republicans – please do the right thing and pass the bills to put term limits and fair maps on the ballot. Let the people decide these issues for themselves. End the power of incumbency and special interest groups, and give power back to the people of our state. Illinois turns 200 in 2018.

In a nod to the new direction in Washington, Rauner’s populist tone, was again a departure from his normal focus on business empowerment.

Pointing to past successes, Rauner gave a laundry list of successes, and said, “We closed the revolving door on Executive Branch employees leaving government to become administration lobbyists. We tightened the gift ban loopholes that lobbyists and contractors used to influence regulators and win favor with decision makers. We increased transparency, so that any resident of the state can now go online and review state spending on contracts and at-will hires. “

If it seemed like a campaign speech for re election, then the observations of both critics, and fans, were joined in their assessment. A millionaire, Rauner is also aided by some of the state’s wealthiest persons such as financier Ken Griffin. So, if this is the rallying point, it also might be a warning, that all things being equal he is in the game to win.

With President Trump threatening Chicago city government to “stop the carnage” of violence, or he would send in the Feds, Rauner hitched onto the tag line when he noted, The violence occurring in Chicago every night is intolerable; we’ve got to bring it to an end,” but also acknowledged as many lawmakers, Chicago police leadership, and others have noted the multiple causes, when he acknowledged, that “Violence experts say there’s no single cause and no single solution. But with the right mix of policies – with a joint commitment between the city, the county, the state and the federal government – we can and must find solutions to curb the violence.”

While offering assistance to Mayor Rahm Emanuel in that effort, he also said that “Law enforcement plays a critical role in violence reduction – but in the end, it’s a treatment, not a cure. Addressing the roots of this plague will take much more: to restore hope where hope has been lost, to build a long-term future of quality education and good jobs for communities that need it most. Tearing down the barriers to good jobs and economic opportunity. Getting rid of blight and incentivizing redevelopment.”

Meanwhile hovering in the background was the effort by State Sen. John Cullerton and Minority Leader Christine Radogno to get their package of tax increases, reduction, and other compromises off the table and to to a floor vote, but despite the days and weeks of their efforts, it all came to nought on Wednesday, with not a single vote recorded, but Cullerton said that next month,  "Then it's going to come time to make a decision," and furthermore, during a brief session, "The problems we face are not going to disappear; they're going to get more difficult every day. When we return Feb. 7, everybody should be ready and prepared to vote."

"It's incredibly complicated, and the more you try to refine it, the more things crop up," Radogno said. Their plan raises the income tax and creates a service tax to beat down the deficit; includes cost-saving measures to the workers' compensation program and a property-tax freeze sought by Rauner; pension- and school-funding overhauls; expanded casino gambling and more,” reported the Beloit Daily News.

While the Chicago Tribune noted that “Supporters furiously tried to make last-minute changes to keep the measure alive, but prospects for quick action dimmed on the complex package of tax increases and pro-business changes.”

As they neatly noted, “Business groups usually aligned with Rauner and his Republicans and unions normally allied with Democrats went to work against the plan. Retailers argued they could not support tax increases without major cuts in spending, manufacturers contended changes to workers' compensation rules were superficial, teacher unions said property tax freezes would starve local school districts, and education groups warned that outsourcing janitorial jobs could jeopardize student safety.”

All in all, a package that while designed to hang together, could also fall together, despite the heroic efforts of Cullerton and Radogno.

Here are some of the  details: A raise the income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent was altered, with new plans resetting the personal rate at 4.99 percent —just under the 5 percent rate that was in place when Rauner was elected.  Deleted was the penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages, replaced by a so-called “opportunity tax” that would “charge companies for the "privilege" of doing business in the state, and a new tax on various services such as car repairs and dry cleaning. A plan to raise the minimum wage to $11 by 2021 also was set aside.”

“Underscoring the uphill nature of the Senate proposal, the House canceled Thursday's session, announcing it would head home a day early as lawmakers there focused their attention not on the budget but bickering over the partisan rules Democrats, led by Speaker Michael Madigan, use to maintain control over the chamber,” was also noted making some observers wonder what the focus of the legislators were.

Rauner did say, despite his lack of input, or approval, that “It’s heartening to see the Senate coming together on a bipartisan basis to acknowledge these changes are needed. Let’s build on that cooperation to achieve a truly balanced budget and changes that really move the needle on job creation and property tax relief.”

U.S. Dept. of Justice accuse Chicago police of civil rights violations

Friday’s release of the U.S. Department of Justice report on the Chicago Department, after a 13 month investigation, prompted largely by the shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by a white police officer, after the fallout over the court-ordered release of the video has prompted a wide variety of responses from both public officials such as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, and local leaders. Some have breathed a sigh of relief that the investigation has occurred, and others remain suspicious that there will be true change, at least in a generation.

U.,S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, made the announcement, accompanied by U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, and Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department head of civil rIghts.

The three held a news conference at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago's Loop, Lynch said the report “found “reasonable cause” that the police department engaged in a pattern of using excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. She blamed that partially on “severely deficient training procedures” and “accountability systems.”

“Chicago police have shot at fleeing suspects who weren’t an immediate threat, failed to address racially discriminatory behavior within the department and put their own officers at risk”, reported the Chicago Sun-Times..

The 164 page report comes after an initial rejection by Emanuel, calling it “misguided,” but facing a mountain of criticism, including calls for his resignation, he relented. And, in response, he said that he would, in breaking a long-held pattern of police overtime, ask for 970 new police officers, although not specifying how he would pay for them in a city that is beset by previous practices of financial mismanagement, mostly over pension payments to city workers, and mandated by state and city laws. Some aldermen have said that they would support another property tax increase to pay for them.

Rushed ahead of schedule, due to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, there is some concern that if Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is confirmed as successor to Lynch that there will not be support for the actions. Not only has Sessions a dubious past for the civil rights of Black Americans, after certain statements prevented him from taking a federal judicial post, many are worried that the situation in Chicago may then remain stagnant.

Sessions also remains suspicious that this type of report and specifically consent decrees that mandate specific changes are effective in changing police practices. In a meeting with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) he would not agree to implement the report, saying that he wanted to understand it better.  And, in his confirmation hearings last week, he said: "I think there is concern that good police officers and good departments can be sued by the Department of Justice when you just have individuals within a department that have done wrong," Sessions said. "These lawsuits undermine the respect for police officers and create an impression that the entire department is not doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness, and we need to be careful before we do that."

Preceding the report Emanuel, in addition the proposed hiring of more officers, he also  added a youth mentoring program at low-income minority youth, and a police accountability plan, by replacing the Independent Police Review Authority with a multi-tiered system, that some have criticized as a “recipe for failure” since it would not be truly independent from CIty Hall says University of Chicago Law professor Craig Futterman. He also says the budget is woefully inadequate.

Against the long held racial and economic segregation, the problem of racial injustice and lack of trust by black communities, has increased the polarization between them and the police. In fact, Gupta said the neighborhoods hardest hit by the “CPD pattern of unlawful force and breakdown in the city’s accountability system” include those on the South and West sides,” where many black residents live.

“Police misconduct will not be tolerated anywhere in this city and those who break the rules will be held accountable for their actions,” said Emanuel, on the dias with Lynch and later, Police Supt. Johnson, who said that some of the findings in the report “are difficult to read” and that “unconstitutional policing has no place in the CPD or the city of Chicago,’ reported the paper.

This is not a new problem either for Chicago, or the nation (as President Obama has often noted) as smartphone videos show the abuse, and its coverup -- the code of silence -- and one that Johnson said, when first appointed that he was unsure of existed and which in an interview that I held with Chicago Urban League head, Shari Runner scoffed at, in near disbelief.

The report also noted: “When officers falsify reports and affirmatively lie in interviews and testimony, this goes well beyond any passive code of silence; it constitutes a deliberate, fundamental, and corrosive violation of CPD policy that must be dealt with independently and without reservation if the City and CPD are genuine in their efforts to have a functioning system of accountability.”

It also decries the inadequate training that CPD officers received and thus their inability to de-escalate tense situations. One “solution” in the past was the torture of more than 200 black men arrested by the notorious Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

Last year, the Guardian, a U.K. newspaper uncovered the existence of a black hole detention center, in Homan Square,where primarily black and Hispanic prisoners virtually disappear.

With the incoming Donald Trump administration ready to begin, those supporting a true reform remain dubious; and in the past, he said Chicago was out of control and suggested that “stop and frisk” be a remedy; one that was used in New York and that was condemned by the New York Civil Liberty Union as racial profiling.

As columnist, and member of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Steve Chapman, said last year, “The biggest source of racial tension is also the oldest one - the divide between whites and blacks, manifested in economic disparities and broadly different views of law enforcement.”

When Dept. of Justice investigators held public forums,last July, to gain public input,more than 200 black residents gave their opinion, and one woman related an incident when an elderly friend had asked police to help rid her West Side community  of its drug problem, she was told by a white officer, “Well, I thought out you all liked that.”

Former police superintendent Garry McCarthy, fired by Emanuel after the public hue and cry over the delayed release of the McQuan video, decried the report, and before its release, said that there was no racial profiling by some officers, “they’re wrong,” he stated.

Initially receptive was Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo “But, he soured quickly when he heard about the allegations of “systemic violations of civil rights and abuse by the police” that, he believes, mirrors an “anti-police” narrative.” said the Sun-Times.

Lynch has said the federal government and Chicago officials have signed an “agreement in principle” to keep negotiating what comes next. The Justice Department currently has agreements in place with 20 different law enforcement agencies, including 15 consent decrees.

It seems that with all of the objections, defensive cries, that this measure to ensure equal treatment for minority residents, using best practices of policing, may not go anywhere at all despite the protests of many, the DOj report, and evidence that supports the allegations, making one wonder can true justice be given the “turning point” that Fardon said on Friday, or will it continue to be business as usual with the Chicago Police Department? Only time can tell.

Reaction to the report from law enforcement officials and city police officers have been largely dismissive of it. Even the most serious of accusations: systemic dysucntonal practices, detailed in the report have been met with scorn. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that on Second City Cop Blog, the comments have been stark: "scam", a "crock of shit", and perhaps the mildest "garbage." Seen as being unfairly maligned, even with serious allegations, one of the comments, noted, "Hopefully the DOJ run by adults under Trump will re-examine the report." The paper also reports many racist and anti-Muslim statements, will undoubtedly see hopes for a change in direction, and indeed change in general, an uphill battle.

In an unrelated court action attorneys for long-time National Lawyers Guild legal observer Jerry Boyle filed suit in federal last week to challenge the sweeping use of “Stingray” cell phone spying devices by Chicago Police.

The suit, which aims to be certified as a class action, alleges that the stingray devices are frequently used without warrants or any official guidance, indiscriminately sweeping up cell phone data from innocent people, including attendees at political rallies, demonstrations and other 1st Amendment-protected activities.

Stingrays have the power to obtain identifying information about cell phones, access the content of phone calls and texts made on the phone, reveal website browsing histories, and track a phone’s cumulative movements.

The suit alleges that the Chicago Police Department’s use of cell site simulators “is secretive and widespread…and [CPD] has long refused to disclose information about its use of cell site simulators to the public and fought attempts to obtain such records in the courts, choosing to conceal its use of the technology.”

“The Chicago Police Department can’t give its officers weapons that have the power to search and seize our most personal information without any instructions about how to use them,” said Craig Futterman, a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School and one of the lawyers representing Mr. Boyle. “That’s like giving officers guns and telling them to go get the bad guys, without even teaching them how to shoot. We've recently seen how this lack of surveillance oversight has played out at the NSA, where employees abused surveillance tools to spy on their spouses.”

The final frontier for Barack Obama, it all began in Chicago

Eight years ago a young Senator made a speech outlining a unified dream for America, where there was no blue or red states, just simply, Americans united in a common goal. That goal, and that man Barack Obama, became both president and aspirant in an attempt to bind the the social and economic wounds of the nation that had been rent by war, and factionalism. Now, after two terms in office as president of the Unites States, Barack Obama brought the end of his administration home to Chicago, on Tuesday night for his final speech to the nation.

In less than 50 minutes the president gave his vision of an America, one that has turned the corner of the economic downturn of the early years and has seen the Big Three automakers turn a profit, and stabilized the nation’s banking system in a series of regulatory aims that would not allow a repeat of the financial crisis that had a domino effect on the global economy.

As the nation’s first African American president he became both a lighting rod and a whipping post for a wide range of hopes, dreams, fears and even abject hatred. He took all of this in stride, and kept his cool, his cerebral and managerial cool as he trudged through the slog that is characteristic of Washington.

Towards the middle of his course, his opposition grew stronger and more vocal, at his attempts a immigration reform and health care; both of which were fought tooth and nail, so much so that former president Jimmy Carter had to note that had Obama been white, the sustained donnybrook might not have occurred.

He faced great obstacles including an unemployment rate of 10 percent at the end of his first year in office and leaves with one at 4.7 -- yet the progress was slow as the unfettered hands of capitalism gave slow ground to progress; and only then after 75 long months, causing some to say that not much was done.

He acknowledged as much when he said,it's not “that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change and make life better for those who follow. Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard. It's always been contentious. Sometimes it's been bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all and not just some.”

Obama foiled his critics with an often light wit, and hard work and obfuscated plans for being a one-term president, as long sought by Sen. Mitch McConnell of being a one term president. This was accomplished with reelection to a second term, and the 18,000 strong gathered at McCormick Place, a lakefront convention center, and gave him roars of approval and standing ovations, throughout his speech, on a cold Chicago evening.

The blend of rhetoric reflected both his deep knowledge of constitutional law and American history as he made frequent allusions to Lincoln,and at length to George Washington, the nation's first president.

With a quick turn to the present, he also upheld the notions of racial equality that still need to be met, when he noted, “it means acknowledging that the effects of novelty and Jim Crow didn't suddenly vanish in the 60s, that when minority groups voice discontent, they're not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political  correctness . . . but demanding equal treatment that our founders promised.”

For one electrifying moment, there was the magic of that first speech, when he noted, “as citizens”, we “must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a waking of the values that make us who we are,” Obama said. And when he he noted the patriotism of all with this line: “That's why I reject discrimination against Muslim Americans, who are just as patriotic as we are,.” he got a standing ovation.

While he stuck mostly to national concerns and not those of the city of Chicago, the setting and the local rooted both he, his wife, the First Lady Michelle Obama, and their two children firmly in their roots,  as he wiped away a tear, as he paid tribute to the woman who stood, by his side, along with their two daughters, Malia, now 18 years old, and her younger sister, Sasha, now 15.

A significant role for Obama has been that of husband, and he acknowledged this by saying: “Michelle — Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, girl of the South Side — for the past 25 years, you have not only been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend. You took on a role you didn't ask for and you made it your own, with grace and with grit and with style and good humor. You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And the new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model. So you have made me proud. And you have made the country proud.”

A true family man, Obama addressing his daughters: “Malia and Sasha, under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women. You are smart and you are beautiful, but more importantly, you are kind and you are thoughtful and you are full of passion. You wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I've done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.”

In the end of this era,  revisionist historians will soon begin the game of taking this history and assessment apart, and its direction might reveal lots that was previously acknowledged, but one thing is certain: the work of the Barack Obama administration “helped so many Americans, it has inspired so many Americans — especially so many young people out there — to believe that you can make a difference — to hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourselves.”