QUOTE OF THE DAY
New trains? That’s not where your Metra fare hike will go
Let’s set the record straight right up front: That 10.8 percent fare increase Metra wants for next year is not about buying new trains.
Only $2.4 million of the $27.3 million the fare hike would generate next year would go toward the purchase of new rolling stock. The rest would plug holes in the 2015 operating budget, including almost $20 million in increased wages and benefits. Metra’s operating expenses are going up 6.4 percent, well above the rate of inflation.
And that 68 percent fare hike projected over the next 10 years? Most of that would cover day-to-day expenses, too.
Chicago Sun Times: Emanuel’s appointment of new treasurer denounced as insider deal
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday appointed Kurt Summers as city treasurer — and defended the insider deal that made it possible — over the objections of one of Summers’ staunchest supporters.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., once hired Summers as an intern. It was the first job in politics for the grandson of longtime community activist Sam Patch, a close adviser to former Mayor Harold Washington.
That’s why Rush summed up the mayor’s choice to replace retiring City Treasurer Stephanie Neely by saying: “The person is perfect. . . . The process has a lot to be desired.”
Chicago Sun Times: CPS wants to delay new test even though state already said ‘No’
Chicago Public Schools is seeking to delay the full implementation of a new standardized test until next year, though state education officials already told the head of the district “no” several months ago.
Parents who signed 1,175 petitions so far to “Park the PARCC” test (the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) were delighted to learn they could have an ally in the district.
But in a July letter, the Illinois State Board of Education wrote that the state cannot jeopardize its federal funding for poor children by granting CPS an exception to the law requiring the test.
A national survey of the nation’s knowledge of health insurance like Obamacare has found “wide gaps” in Americans’ literacy despite a $1 billion education campaign, with the public unable to answer basic questions like how much they owe for a routine doctor’s visit.
The authoritative American Institutes for Research study, coming on the eve of open enrollment for Obamacare, found that most people think they know more about healthcare and health insurance than actually they do, a miserable result considering last year’s taxpayer-funded federal marketing blitz to be followed by another this year.
AIR’s survey of 828 people ages 22-64 also found that younger Americans were the most confused —and they were the focus of the ad campaign and the most likely to use the health insurance marketplace set up under Obamacare.
State Journal Register: Federal judge orders court-appointed monitor for IDOT hiring
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a court-appointed monitor to review hiring problems at Gov. Pat Quinn’s Department of Transportation, a setback for the Democrat running for re-election largely on how he navigated Illinois away from ethical problems.
The ruling — less than two weeks before the election — followed a motion filed in April by anti-patronage campaigner Michael Shakman, who alleged that a long span of improper hiring based on clout and connections necessitated an outside monitor and further investigation at IDOT. Quinn administration attorneys had argued that neither was necessary because a state inspector general had investigated and the issues already were being addressed.
Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier disagreed, saying the inspector general’s work didn’t negate the “need for the court to take action.” But he didn’t grant Shakman’s request for a separate probe, explaining the court monitor could sufficiently review why issues occurred and do so transparently.
CBS Local: Top Alderman Mocks Inspector General For Suing Council; ‘He’s Just Full Of Molasses’
A key alderman on Wednesday scoffed at Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan’s lawsuit against the mayor, the City Council, and several committee chairs, seeking to force them to better fund his office.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports Budget Committee Chairwoman Carrie Austin (34th) said she doesn’t understand how Khan can even sue the city for more money in his budget.
Austin said the council has already given him money.
“Where do he think the money falls from? Out of a cherry tree or something?” she said. “You know, it’s like, come on. Our budget is tight. He just wants to be able to spend willy nilly.”
Huffington Post: Playing Politics With the Supreme Court Over Obamacare
As the mid-term elections fast approach, it’s not just congressional races that are getting hotly partisan. The proponents of the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act are racing to the Supreme Court, and playing politics with the law in the process. Michael Carvin, the lead attorney in this round of attacks on the ACA, apparently expects the Supreme Court to play along with him. But he might have trouble convincing the Justices to join his game.
At an event at the conservative Heritage Foundation last month, Carvin offered his outlook on King v. Burwell, a challenge to the availability of subsidies for low- and middle-income Americans to purchase insurance under the ACA, in unashamedly partisan terms. Explaining why he believes the Supreme Court will take the unusual step of hearing the case now, rather than waiting for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to conclude its in-progress consideration of a similar case, Halbig v. Burwell, Carvin told a reporter: “I don’t know that four justices, who are needed [to take the case] here, are going to give much of a damn about what a bunch of Obama appointees on the D.C. Circuit think.” Carvin also added that he’s “not going to lose any Republican-appointed judges’ votes” when the full D.C. Circuit eventually decides the case, apparently dismissing the ability of these respected federal appeals court judges to think for themselves and apply the law in an impartial fashion (as they have sworn to do).
Chicago Sun Times: Key player in red light camera scandal plans to plead guilty
Martin O’Malley — a key player in Chicago’s red light camera scandal involving Redflex Traffic Systems — plans to plead guilty in December, according to court records filed Wednesday.
O’Malley, 73, of Worth, was employed as a “consultant” for Redflex when its deal to provide red light cameras to the city began in 2003. But his main role was allegedly to funnel cash and perks to his pal, city worker John Bills, who is accused of helping rig the contract for Redflex in return for kickbacks.
O’Malley has been cooperating with federal prosecutors for some time, sources say.
Chicago Tribune: Sears rejects report of layoffs, store closings
truggling retailer Sears Holdings will lay off at least 5,457 employees and close more than 100 stores, many before Christmas, according to a Seeking Alpha report citing liquidation notices and employees. Sears disputes the report.
At least 46 Kmart stores, 30 Sears department stores and 31 Sears Auto Centers are scheduled to close before the end of January, according to the report. Four Illinois stores were on the list, including Kmarts in Peoria and Bloomington, and Sears and Sears Auto Centers in Danville and Forsyth, totaling 260 layoffs for the state.
Sears spokesman Howard Riefs said the reported store count and list of closings is not accurate, but he did not provide a correct number. He said the company would update its store count when it releases its third-quarter financial results in November, and that all affected store associates have been notified.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
