Chicago Politics: Emanuel Back on the Mayoral Ballot

Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's former Chief of Staff, wanted to run for Mayor of Chicago. That would seem to be straight forward since Emanuel is from Chicago but nothing is really that simple. Several of his political opponents filed a lawsuit against Emanuel appearing on the ballot because they claim that he did not comply with a state statute requiring his presence in Chicago for a year prior to the election.

The question is whether he lost residency when he moved away from Chicago to serve as Chief of Staff for President Obama.

Emanuel’s attorneys are expected to use Lampkin’s dissenting opinion to appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court. In today’s ruling, Hoffman wrote: “We ... order that the candidate’s name be excluded (or if, necessary, be removed) from the ballot from Chicago’s Feb. 22, 2011.”

Emanuel had won two previous rulings — by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and a Cook County judge. The case was appealed to the appellate court, which handed down the ruling before noon Monday.

Opponents have argued Emanuel is not a resident of Chicago because he rented out his North Side home while serving as chief of staff to Obama. The renter —Rob Halpin — refused to allow Emanuel to move back in after Mayor Daley’s announcement last year that he would not seek re-election. Halpin briefly ran for mayor himself.

His opponents in Chicago may have a point if he doesn't meet the necessary residency requirements as Illinois law requires candidates for municipal offices be a resident of the city for a year prior to elections. Emanuel, who resigned as White House chief of staff last year to run for mayor, was challenged on the issue by several Chicago residents. It becomes a timing issue, and whether he was a resident of Chicago for the year necessary to qualify or not.

The Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision found that Emanuel didn't comply with the statute. Emanuel probably figured that he didn't lose residency because he never intended to give up his domicile - and thought he could simply return to Chicago without having any problem with the time. However, when he stopped renting in Chicago that was used as a defining date by the court to rule that he had given up domicile.

The problem is that Emanuel continued paying property taxes on the Hermitage house property, had an Illinois drivers license, and otherwise made no actions that would indicate he gave up his residency (from the decision):

At all relevant times, including the time he was in
Washington, D.C., the candidate continued to pay property taxes for
the Hermitage house, continued to hold an Illinois driver’s license
listing the Hermitage house as his address, continued to list the
Hermitage house address on his personal checks, and continued to
vote with the Hermitage house as his registered voting address.

I don't understand how they could have ruled the other way, and to me the dissent's opinion is the more persuasive. This is typically the kind of standard that would show that a taxpayer did not give up domicile or residency and was therefore subject to tax by a given jurisdiction.

The majority's framing of the opinion shows that they ignored the very provision that they were ruling upon:

The issues in this appeal distill essentially to two: whether
the candidate meets the Municipal Code’s requirement that he have
"resided in the municipality at least one year next preceding the
election" (65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5(a) (West 2008)), and, if not, whether
he is exempt from that requirement under the Election Code
provision stating that "no elector *** shall be deemed to have lost
his or her residence *** by reason of his or her absence on
business of the United States" (10 ILCS 5/3-2 (West 2008)).

Even if the court mistakenly found against Emanuel on the first part - that he didn't reside in Chicago for the applicable time, he was still protected by the second part - he should not have lost residence by reason of business of the United States. He was the President's Chief of Staff and working in furtherance of the business of the United States.

I don't think it's an overreach to say that the Chief of Staff is a position doing the business of the United States. He's the right hand man for the President of the United States. You don't get much closer to the business of the United States than that.

Yet, it should be clear that both sides knew that all the lower court rulings were never going to be the last word. This was a case destined for the state supreme court.



Today, the Illinois Supreme Court has made an initial ruling to put Rahm Emanuel's name back on the Chicago mayoral ballot. They have yet to decide whether to take Emanuel's appeal of the Court of Appeals decision issued yesterday that said that Emanuel was ineligible to run for Mayor since he was not in Chicago for the requisite time period.

Less than 24 hours after an Illinois appeals court bumped Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for Chicago's election for mayor, the state's supreme court put that ruling on hold and ordered the city to include his name on any ballots being printed.

"The Board of Elections is directed that if any ballots are printed while this Court is considering this case, the ballots should include the name of petitioner Rahm Emanuel as a candidate for Mayor of the City of Chicago," the Supreme Court said in a one-page, unsigned order.

The court said it acted after receiving legal briefs from Emanuel and from his legal opponents who claimed he was unqualified because he did not meet residency requirements of state law. Today's order left unresolved whether the state's high court would take up the entire case on a speeded-up basis, but the order gave Emanuel the rapid relief he was seeking -- to keep his name on the ballot.

Stay tuned.

IOC Voting Eliminates Tokyo and Chicago From Hosting 2016 Games; Rio Gets It

Tokyo and Chicago are out. That leaves Rio and Madrid. I think the odds favor Rio, primarily because Europe is already hosting the 2012 Games in London. The IOC tends to spread out the Games geographically, and it would be the first time a South American country hosted the Games.

Apparently all the last minute efforts by the Obamas went for naught. It just wasn't in the cards.

UPDATE:
The Chicago Sun Times calls the outcome shocking. Really? Was Chicago really the frontrunner for the Olympic bid? I didn't really think it was. I always thought that Rio had the inside edge on this one.

Some reports suggest that President Obama only came to lobby the IOC after other national leaders did the same to bolster their own national efforts. Boosterism couldn't hurt, but it didn't help Obama land Chicago the 2016 games.

The US efforts to land Olympic games is coming up against stronger bids elsewhere; the NYC 2012 bid failed when the West Side Stadium deal collapsed a month before selection, thrashing any chances. Maybe that's why the Obamas couldn't seal the deal; they didn't have the strongest bid no matter how much support they could throw their way.

And that's the fault of no one but the Chicago 2016 committee.

UPDATE:
Rio wins in the third round of balloting.

UPDATE:
Apparently for some it was a foregone conclusion that Chicago would win that we have stunned disbelief from the CNN reporters covering the announcement:



That's not covering the news. That's cheerleading, and realizing that your team lost.

The Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Gets Support From Obamas

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are both hoping to make the case that Chicago should win the 2016 Olympics bid for holding the games. They're competing against Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio di Janeiro.

It is a multibillion dollar effort to put on the Olympic Games. They usually don't make money for the host city, but they are transformative in that they create new structures and infrastructure. The Beijing Games was a coming out party for the Communist government to showcase some tremendous and cutting edge sports venues, but had to overcome the heavy handed tactics of dealing with protesters, tracking and limiting content online, and the ineffectual ability to control the pollution that clogged the skies of the city all too frequently.

Japan's efforts include renovations of venues used in the games held there previously, along with a pledge to make the 2016 games eco-friendly. Chicago has an excellent mass-transit infrastructure on paper, but the facts are something else entirely.

The Chicago mass transit system needs a serious infusion of funds to bring it up to snuff. There are sections of track where speeds are limited because of a concern that derailments are all too possible. It has been unable to deal with basic maintenance, and the bill is in the billions.

Will the Olympic bid improve matters? Possibly. Mass transit is a key, and many of the venues and the Olympic Village are close together, limiting travel time and improving efficiencies in an effort to make the Games green.

I'm not quite as outraged as some are over the President being a salesperson for the US efforts to win the Olympics bid. It's his hometown, and being a booster for the hometown effort isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. I am concerned that the appearance of spending all that time and effort could be used better to deal with the Iranian crisis or the flooding in Georgia or even the health care battles in Congress. After all, there are other issues that require Presidential attention, and if he's spending time lobbying the Olympic committee in Copenhagen, that's time that he's not spending on foreign policy or national security issues like the Iranian nuclear and missile threats.

Destroying the Tourism Industry One Tax and Fee at a Time

States and localities have long thought that they had a sure way that they could raise revenues without incurring the wrath of their constituents. They'd simply tax the bejeebus out of anyone coming to visit from out of town.

They'd impose taxes on airport access, car rentals, meals, and hotel stays, to cover operating costs, or to fund new projects.

Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino is pushing to do just this in to the teeth of a recession all while the hotel and tourism industry is reeling as people stay home instead of traveling.

Currently, the meals tax is 5 percent. Beginning Aug. 1, the tax jumps to 6.25 percent. Under the mayor's proposal, an additional hike would bring the tax to 7 percent, effective Oct. 1.

As for hotel taxes, the current rate is 12.45 percent. If the plan is approved, the tax will jump to 14.45 percent.

Wisconsin just raised its car rental taxes significantly - from $2 to $18, to fund the construction of a rail link.

All over the country, states and localities are raising taxes and fees to balance their budgets, or to pay for new projects:

Popular tourist destinations were hit especially hard. Among places where taxes rose:

•Hawaii. The hotel room tax increased from 7.25% to 8.25% on Wednesday and will rise to 9.25% in July 2010.

•Nevada. The room tax will increase up to 3 percentage points, to a maximum of 12%. In Las Vegas, the hotel tax jumps from 9% to 12%. Reno's tax was already 12% and is not scheduled to change.

•New Hampshire. The tax on rooms and restaurant meals rose from 8% to 9% and was extended to include recreational vehicles at campgrounds.

•Massachusetts. Cities were given authority to raise the hotel tax from 4% to 6%, in addition to the state tax of 5.7%. Taxes on eating out will rise from 5% to 6.25% statewide, plus another 0.75% if cities choose.

•New York City. The city, which raised its hotel tax March 1 to 14.25%, not counting other fees, will start charging more for Internet reservations.

It that adds up to a significant chunk of the cost for a typical trip.

I take regular trips every year for leisure and have found that 30% of the costs to rent a car take the form of taxes and fees not imposed by the rental company but by the locality or state. It's insane. These localities are taxing me for the privilege of coming to their localities to spend my money on businesses and enterprises in their areas for a period of time before returning home.

I'm not alone in finding this situation infuriating. The recession is leading car rental companies to reduce their inventories, pushing the prices for the car rentals up, which only adds to the taxes owed on said rentals, and increasing the overall cost for a vacation.

There I was, going over a pending car-rental reservation and grumbling over the profusion of fees and taxes that increased my base rate by another 42 percent.

There was, of course, state tax (8 percent), county tax (1.5 percent) and city tax (1.5 percent). There were also the usual-suspect add-on fees, including an airport concession recovery fee (11.11 percent), customer facility charge ($3.50 per day) and vehicle licensing fee ($.20 per day), all of which were unavoidable as there was no convenient non-airport location.

There is one way I've found that can help reduce the overall cost of car rentals, and that is to buy Entertainment books annually. Since I take trips every year and make other purchases from the books, they more than make up for the $30-40 the books can cost. In fact, the Entertainment book more than pays for itself when booking car rentals. They have special rates that can save anywhere from $40-100 for a car rental over what you might find using Kayak, Orbitz, or any of the other travel websites, including Priceline. You have to play around with the various coupon codes offered, and might find that a 2-car class upgrade does better than 10% or 15% off for a weekly rental or vice versa, depending on which rental company you go with.

Still, those taxes and fees are unavoidable, and they mean that I have less money to spend on trinkets or restaurants or other items during the course of my stay.

So, while Boston looks to raise its taxes, it has a ways to go to being the highest tax burdened jurisdiction for travelers. That distinction goes to Chicago, which imposes more than $40 in taxes per day on tourists.

Roland Burris: The Blagojevich Gift That Keeps Giving

The fun in Illinois politics hasn't ended now that Rod Blagojevich was impeached and removed from the governorship. Nope. Not by a longshot.

The effects of his stint in office will be felt for a long time to come.

Right now, his choice to replace Barack Obama in the Senate looks like he's going to go down in flames of his own after lying about whether he had contacts with Blagojevich's office over who would replace Obama. He's also lied about whether he raised money for Blagojevich; he did. He's got multiple versions of stories, and each one calls into question his credibility.

It's to the point that even the Chicago Tribune is calling for Burris to resign.

Let’s see if we have it right: Burris had zero contact with any of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s cronies about his interest in the Senate seat being vacated by President Barack Obama— unless you count that conversation with former chief of staff Lon Monk, and, on further reflection, the ones with insiders John Harris, Doug Scofield and John Wyma and, oh yeah, the governor’s brother and fund-raising chief, Robert Blagojevich. But Burris didn’t raise a single dollar for the now ex-governor as a result of those contacts because that could be construed as a quid pro quo and besides, everyone he asked refused to donate.

The story gets worse with every telling.

Enough. Roland Burris must resign.

His protests that he had nothing to hide just don’t square with his obvious attempts to hide something, as evidenced by the evolving truths in three sworn statements to the House impeachment panel. His Jan. 8 testimony before that panel contradicted the affidavit he’d filed three days earlier. On Feb. 5 he submitted a “clarification” detailing the contacts he’d failed to mention on the stand.

Now he has admitted that the governor’s brother hit him up to raise campaign cash, and in at least one conversation, Burris raised his prospects for being appointed to the Senate.

Rob Blagojevich’s attorney has acknowledged that the feds likely have at least one of those conversations on tape. Burris told reporters Monday night that he “talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fund-raiser on,” but “they said ‘We aren’t giving money to the governor.’”

The hole just gets deeper and deeper, and Burris keeps digging. He has no credibility.

That's not a good way to start your career in the US Senate. Yet, this is completely par for the course in Illinois politics where being governor goes hand in hand with an indictment and conviction in Club Fed. His backers have no credibility either as they sat on evidence of Burris' wrongdoing themselves. That includes Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Perjury and obstruction of justice charges are just the beginning for Burris, who may have to have the stone masons carve in another line on his gaudy mausoleum - criminal. And while he would like to think of himself as a trailblazer, his current actions are little different than Blagojevich's - lying and obstructing justice and the investigations into whether there was wrongdoing in who would get Obama's seat.

Questions are being raised on how to solve the Burris problem. The concern is that even a successful perjury case against Burris might not be enough to unseat Burris.

More to the point, the problem with Illinois politics, and indeed politics across the country is that the corruption we see is pervasive and systemic. A starter might be to clean up the corruption at the local level and work all the way up through the ranks. The corruption is so pervasive that everyone thinks that this is the way politics gets done. Of course, the reality is that none of this will change because the voters keep sending back the same people who are responsible for the mess they're in. In fact, they're already making excuses and offering up a ready tolerance for such actions.

For now, we're left with knowing that the US Senate has opened an ethics investigation into Burris' actions. If it's anything like a House investigation, Burris has nothing to worry about; they're still not quite sure whether Charles Rangel broke the law and/or multiple ethics violations by cheating on his taxes, violating House ethics rules and disclosure rules, and breaking NYC housing rent control/stabilization guidelines for years on end.

Pass the Popcorn: Rod Blagojevich Is Impeached

Pass the popcorn, because this is going to get quite entertaining. Welcome to the Chicago way boys and girls.

Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was accused of attempting to sell Barack Obama's US Senate seat to the highest bidder has been impeached, the first time in Illinois state history. The Chicago Democrat was impeached by an overwhelming majority.

In a historic vote, the Illinois House has impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, directing the Senate to put the state’s 40th chief executive on trial with the goal of removing him from office.

The vote by the House was 114-1 and marks the first time in the state's 190-year history that a governor has been impeached, despite Illinois' longstanding reputation for political corruption.

Rep. Milt Patterson (D-Chicago) was the lone vote against impeaching the governor. Patterson, from Chicago's Southwest Side, said after the roll call that he didn't feel it was his job to vote to impeach the governor. He declined comment on whether he approved of the job Blagojevich is doing.

UPDATE:
And for the record, the Chicago story doesn't mention Blagojevich's political affiliation. He's a Democrat, not that it matters to most of the press, who would only find reason to include party affiliation when a Republican is involved - and include that detail in every available headline.

Great Moments In Education Spending

Someone in the Chicago school district authorized and spent $67,000 to purchase espresso/cappuccino machines. None of the schools that received them wanted or needed them. They sit unused.

Chicago public school bureaucrats skirted competitive bidding rules to buy 30 cappuccino/espresso machines for $67,000, with most of the machines going unused because the schools they were ordered for had not asked for them, according to a report by the CPS Office of Inspector General.

That was just one example of questionable CPS actions detailed in the inspector general's 2008 annual report. Others included high school staffers changing grades to pump up transcripts of student athletes and workers at a restricted-enrollment grade school falsifying addresses to get relatives admitted.

In the case of the cappuccino machines, central office administrators split the order among 21 vocational schools to avoid competitive bidding required for purchases over $10,000. As a result CPS paid about $12,000 too much, according to Inspector General James Sullivan. "We were able to find the same machines cheaper online," he said.

"We also look at it as a waste of money because the schools didn't even know they were getting the equipment, schools didn't know how to use the machines and weren't prepared to implement them into the curriculum," Sullivan said.

That's $67,000 that could have been spent on books or materials that actually improved student learning.

Or, it could have been given to Detroit, which claims that it has no money at all and has to scrounge for toilet paper and light bulbs. The district is apparently $400 million in the hole and is on the verge of being assigned an emergency financial manager.

What has taken Michigan so long to figure out that the Detroit schools are in trouble? Why has it waited until the district was $400 million in the hole? You would think that they would have noticed something was wrong when you have generations of students who are ill prepared for college and work. Why do Detroit residents continue to stand for a product - public education - that wastes money and can't spend the money in the classroom?

Throw in the fact that the state is going to send less money to the district because a headcount will reveal that they have fewer students, and the Detroit school outlook looks bleak. This would be the second time in 7 years that the district is to be taken over, and the teachers union, the DFT, complains that the reason that the district is the current bind is because of what happened the last time. Curiously, you would think someone would actually look and see why the budget went from a surplus to a massive deficit within six months:

Flanagan's action came after months of revelations about the district's precarious finances, in which the administration went from declaring a fund surplus in the spring to announcing a projected $408 million shortfall by June. The board later agreed to massive budget cuts, including layoffs and school closures, but ended fiscal year 2008 in a deficit nearing $140 million

The downturn in the auto industry could certainly play a role in the shortfall, but I suspect that there's more to this story than that.

UPDATE:
Indeed there is a reason; Detroit is spending $10,576 per student. Sadly, most of that money isn't making it into the classroom. (HT: jcm)

Lego My Blago!

Embattled Illinois Governor Ron Blagojevich has professed he's done nothing wrong and will fight the claims that he's engaged in rampant corrupt activities to his final breath.

“I’m here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Mr. Blagojevich said, during his quick public statement at the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago.

“I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight. I will fight. I will fight,” he said.

Mr. Blagojevich is accused of, among other things, trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.

On Wednesday, Mr. Blagojevich told reporters that the day “will soon be here” when he’ll tell his side of the story.

The Chicago Democrat is following a path tread by many other politicians in similar circumstances. They'll deny and avoid responsibility for any and all illegal and corrupt activities up until the moment they get what they or their lawyers believe is a reasonable deal from prosecutors and he'll admit to some form of wrongdoing.

The other alternative is to fight the claims and end up being convicted. You can ask Republican Sen. Larry Craig how his fight against his toe tapping in a restroom stall turned out.

How exactly will Blagojevich show that he's not guilty of the crimes alleged? Expect him to claim that everything was taken out of context, and that this is the Chicago way.

His proof?

It's the way things have always been done in Illinois and Chicago politics. If you want anything done, you have to play along. He was just better at it than everyone else. No one likes a sore winner, so they're on him. That's why he's innocent.

Hey, I didn't say it was rational, made sense, or even reasonable. I'm just saying that Blagojevich probably believes that he's done nothing wrong because this is how Chicago politics has always operated and had no reason to doubt the tactics used and the pay to play for Obama's seat.

Yet Another Reason Why McCain Lost the 2008 Election

Sen. John McCain remains a US Senator and will not become the next President of the United States in part because he alienated far too many Republicans with all of his "mavericky" statements. Republicans who turned out in record numbers in 2004 for President Bush's reelection stayed at home and on the sidelines as Obama's people turned out in record numbers.

That trend continues today, when he's far more likely to criticize Republicans for going after Obama's connections with corrupt Democrat Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich than to go after Obama and his connections with shady characters, corrupt politicians and the Chicago machine.

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with this.
"He's had a statement every single day, saying that the Obama team should reveal all contacts they've had with Governor [Rod] Blagojevich. He says that Obama's promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested. Do you agree with that?”

McCain replied: “I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”

It's absolutely infuriating that McCain continues to think that the Republicans are in the wrong whenever there is a scandal involving Democrats for simply pointing out the Democrats scandals.

After all, the media has done an awful job of sorting through all of Obama's past dealings in Illinois politics and even now are busy trying to erect a barrier between Blagojevich and Obama, despite the fact that there's no way that the two camps didn't talk about what would happen to Obama's seat once he was elected President. If the GOP isn't out there highlighting the connections between Obama and Blagojevich and the possibility of further criminal conduct among Obama's staffers (hey, I'm talking about Axelrod and Emanuel who have made multiple contradictory statements regarding their conversations with the Blagojevich staff on Obama's seat situation), who will?

That isn't to say that Obama engaged in criminal acts relating to Blagojevich's attempt to sell Obama's seat to the highest bidder and profit personally from the transaction, but Obama did work with Blagojevich on his 2002 campaign for governor, and has been close to Blagojevich - who has been under a cloud of suspicion for corrupt activities ever since 2002.

No one who knows anything about Chicago and Illinois politics should be surprised by any of the revelations about Blagojevich, despite the stunning audacity of his demands for profit from Obama's seat. What is surprising is how Obama has seemingly risen above all the corruption and emerged without even a whiff of taint from decades of corrupt politicians surrounding him on all sides - at least that's how it is portrayed by a media that did all it could to push Obama to win in November.

Never mind that Tony Rezko's conviction still may provide some troubling questions for what Obama knew and did and how he came to own his Chicago home. Rezko is also a close personal friend of Blagojevich and helped Blagojevich win the election in 2002.

Talking Points

After days of claiming that people from the Obama camp had no discussions with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, all of a sudden we get a report where Rahm Emanuel admits he talked with staffers from his fellow Democrat about what would happen to Obama's Illinois Senate seat.

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Chicago Tribune has learned.

The revelation does not suggest Obama's new gatekeeper was involved in any talk of dealmaking involving the seat. But it does help fill in the gaps surrounding a question that Obama was unable or unwilling to answer this week: Did anyone on his staff have contact with Blagojevich about his choice for the Senate seat?

Blagojevich and John Harris, his former chief of staff, face federal charges in an alleged shakedown involving the vacant Senate seat, which Illinois law grants the governor sole authority to fill.

It makes absolutely no sense that Obama and the Illinois governor's staffers wouldn't be having conversations about what would happen to the seat and who both sides would like to see replace Obama. It's simply farfetched that there were no conversations as Obama and his press flacks had been maintaining all week since the news of Blagojevich's indictments hit the airwaves.

Indeed, it looks like there were contacts beginning even before the November election. That too should have been expected since it was highly possible that the governor would be picking Obama's replacement.

Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be "acceptable" to Obama, the source said. On the list were Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Chicago, the source said. All are Democrats.

Sometime after the election, Emanuel called Harris back to add the name of Democratic Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan to the approved list, the source said.

So, what took so long? Was it that difficult to realize that telling the truth was the best and only course of action to take and that stonewalling would lead to the appearance of impropriety? Did Emanuel and Obama not realize that they're dealing with a prosecutor in the form of Patrick Fitzgerald who'd already secured convictions for obstruction of justice and perjury against "Scooter" Libby because he couldn't keep his story straight with investigators? The inability to come up with a coherent story could land Obama's top staffers, including Emanuel and David Axelrod in hot water.

I also find it hard to believe that we'll get a full investigation from Obama's own people into whether anyone had conversations or engaged in unethical or illegal activities; there's simply too much self interest involved to get a true and impartial investigation. The federal prosecutors are going to have to investigate and let the matter take them where the evidence leads.

Right now, I really don't think Obama himself is implicated in any of the direct corruption alleged against Blagojevich attempting to sell Obama's seat. That's not to say that Obama couldn't later be implicated in other schemes Blagojevich was running - and there's apparently plenty of corruption to go around.

It also raises questions as to Madigan's suddenly active role in seeking Blagojevich's ouster through the courts. She's ignored the corruption in Illinois all along, and yet now finds her voice even as she's been mentioned as a possible replacement for Obama. That doesn't suggest that she's involved in the corruption, but it certainly should raise questions as to her motivations.

For his part, Blagojevich continues to carry on state business even as calls for his resignation continue to pour in. There are also reports that he's consulting with his lawyers about possibly resigning this coming week, but as I've stated previously, Blagojevich would not resign unless he's got a deal in place with prosecutors.

Is Blagojevich Nuts?

It's a question that was asked by Powerline earlier this week (and again today), and CBS News is also raising the question. Why would he knowingly say such things even while he was under investigation for rampant corruption.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich knew for months he was under investigation, so why was he caught on tape making so many incriminating statements? Some are wondering if there's something wrong with his mental acuity.

As CBS 2's Jim Williams reports, right after the feds announced the charges against Blagojevich, there were angry shouts across the country. Many called him "disgusting, arrogant."

However, after some reflection, there is the serious question people like Marian Cassler of Chicago are asking: "When you know you're being watched, why would you do something like that? You have to have something wrong."

"Well, we think he's nuts, that he has some kind mental problem that he would have the audacity to do such a thing," said Chicago resident Meg Olsen.

Could it be that Blagojevich has a mental illness that has impaired his judgment?

Dr. Daniela Schreirer is a forensic psychologist at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and she does not see any sign of mental illness in the public Blagojevich, but believes he does have sociopathic traits.

"We're just talking about traits. We're not talking about full-blown diagnosis. But certainly, there's the same sense of entitlement, the same sense of thinking I am superior. I can do whatever I want. I am not going to be caught," Schreirer said.

For starters, I don't think he's nuts. I don't think there's anything clinically wrong with him, although all this talk will surely inspire his defense team to consider putting experts on the stand to claim that he was insane or suffering from some form of mental illness that couldn't tell right from wrong.

Blagojavich appears to see everything in terms of how he can profit from them. A Senate seat has worth to him beyond mere political power (which has value in and of itself). It has a dollar value. Everything can be reduced to a dollar figure or tangible use of political power. The affidavits and transcripts from the wiretaps all point to his insatiable need to profit from the situation.

So, when the opportunity presented itself to find a successor to Barack Obama, he opened the door to see what he could get for the seat. This isn't merely horsetrading, but flat out corruption. He's looking for pay to play. That may be politics as usual in Chicago, but it's criminal.

Further, the fact that he wanted the Tribune Company to choose between keeping certain reporters on the payroll or losing tax benefits should the company sell the Cubs, suggests that he was acutely aware of image and how to maintain power. It goes to the fungible nature of power, image, and profit. If the reporters broke news on his corruption, he'd lose power, image, and profit. He was doing what he could to protect all three. What is so breathtaking is just how starkly bold he was in doing all this.

He apparently believed he was above the law, even by Chicago standards.

Chicago's Mayor Daley Suggests Shutting City Offices To Save Money

This is the grand idea to save money in Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley, a Democrat, thinks that shutting non-essential offices for six days over two years will help save the city some $20 million.

The City of Chicago has a budget hole of $500 million.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports that Mayor Daley says he's facing a budget shortfall of nearly a half-billion dollars. He's already moved to cut 2,500 jobs from city hall's payroll. Now he's going to shut it down - along with other non-essential facilities on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. That will save $20 million.

The mayor's announcement Tuesday followed behind the scenes bargaining in which labor unions rejected the idea of taking unpaid days off while city services continued as normal. So Daley made an end run around them. He said all but the most essential city functions would shut down - and city workers would not be paid - on three days during the upcoming holiday season.

"The economic crisis in this country is getting worse and worse every day, and that's what you see in every headline in any major newspaper – locally, nationally and internationally," Mayor Daley said. "And it's gonna get worse next year."

It's time that the City of Chicago, and cities around the nation realize that spending money hand over fist for nonessential programs and that unions are a big reason that the costs for governance have spiraled out of control. Union demands and rich contract deals tie municipality hands and limit where they can cut their budgets in lean times.

Seventh Circuit Rules No Right To Hang Mezuzot In Condos

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that observant Jews have no right to hang mezuzot in a condo complex in Chicago. The majority ruled that the condo's rules did not violate the Fair Housing Act. I think the dissent gets this one right:

In dissent, Judge Diane Wood said enforcement of the rule amounted to a "constructive eviction" of observant Jewish residents, as well as an effective bar on Jews moving into the housing complex. "Hallway Rule 1 operates exactly as a redlining rule does with respect to the ability of the owner to sell to observant Jews. No such person could buy a unit at Shoreline Towers," she wrote. "The Association might as well hang a sign outside saying 'No observant Jews allowed.'"

The board eventually created a religious exception after years of fighting between the Blochs and the board including one instance where a mezuzah was removed while the family was attending a funeral for the husband of the plaintiff. Chicago also enacted a law in 2005 to guarantee the right to such religious displays.

The full case can be found here.

In other words, the Court found that any other boards that do not provide a religious exception or cities/states that do not provide such protections can discriminate against observant Jews who must put a mezuzah on their doorways. Similarly, any other religious group that requires a similar display could be prevented from doing so and the Court rubber stamps such discrimination.

Chicago Voting Irregularities Explained

Invisible ink? Yes, that's what some voters were led to believe was being placed on their ballots as they received plastic styluses that are incapable of leaving marks on paper ballots. Don't believe me? Let's go to the video tape: