Cohen really didn’t do much to update his web site in the past few weeks. In his “In the News” section, for instance, it lists news items as recent as January 28, 2010. Hmm, I wonder if there have been any articles about Cohen since then???

Also, under the “Issues” button, the first item is “Ethics“, where you’ll find this little nugget in Cohen’s plan for ethical reform:

1. Have each candidate take a “Character Test,” drafted by a panel of judges and ethicists, for the purpose of evaluating the character of each candidate. The test must be submitted as a candidacy filing document in Springfield, Illinois and immediately made available to the public on the Internet;

That’s a super idea! I’m no judge or ethicist, but I can think of a few questions we should ask all candidates:

1. Are you a deadbeat dad? Yes/No (circle one)

2. Describe any incidents involving knifeplay and massage-parlor prostitutes?

3. Did your wife get that black eye by falling down the stairs? Really?

There are several references to him running as Lt. Governor on the site. I think it’s safe to say that not a lot of thought was put into this campaign launch.

Scott Lee Cohen has a little more than 6 weeks to collect 50,000 signatures.

Scott Lee Cohen has no campaign organization.

Scott Lee Cohen hasn’t even decided if he’s going to hire petitioners or use volunteers to collect the 50,ooo signatures.

Scott Lee Cohen doesn’t have a running mate.

So what is this campaign about? Maybe it’s about repaying the $1 million in loans that his campaign for Lt. Governor received last year. Who made the loans to the campaign and stands to benefit from their repayment? Scott Lee Cohen.

The House passed S.B. 380, a bill that would allow a troubled tire incinerator in Ford Heights to qualify for renewable energy credits. Previously, the bill would have classified tires as a “renewable” resource, which was criticized by environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club. This current version puts tires in a new “reusuable” resource category that qualifies for the credits. Nothing about the operation of the facility itself will change.

The bill was presented by Rep. Will Davis (D).  A number of legislators spoke against it, including Reps. Eddy, Fortner, Winters, May, and Nekritz. Those speaking in favor of it included: Reps. Sacia, Black, Sullivan, DeLuca and Beiser.

When questioned on how “renewable” tires really are, Davis noted that rubber is naturally produced in the environment. However, according to the Rubber Manufacturing Association, only 14-27% of a tire is actually natural rubber, while the rest is synthetic rubber and other materials.

Rep. Bill Black made a valid point in defense of the bill, even though it was a little off topic. We create a lot of scrap tires, and they can be hard to get rid of, so they are often they are left to pile up, or people will just ditch them at the sides of roads.

The House and Senate both convene at noon today. You can watch or listen by visiting http://www.ilga.org and clicking on the Audio/Video link under each chamber. This is a good week to closely follow the legislature, because leaders would like to adjourn on Friday, and there is so much left undone … for instance, addressing the monumental calamity caused by their $13 billion in unpaid bills. The state’s Democratic lawmakers, who control all levels of state government, have done nothing thus far to addresses that crisis, which has or soon will affect every area of society in this state. But you’ll be happy to know they’re working very hard on a bill that bans eyeball tattooing.

Meanwhile, former Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Scott Lee Cohen is expected to announce his independent bid for governor today, which is sure to absorb much of the media’s attention. The petitioning period is half over — June 21 is the last day for indepedents to file their candidacy paperwork —  yet somehow he’s going to collect 25K valid signatures (which really means 40K total signatures) in that short amount of time? It’s borderline ridiculous.

Cohen met with House Speaker Michael Madigan a few weeks ago in what was supposed to be a secret meeting (but reporters blew the cover on it). Reports are that Cohen was informing Madigan that he was going to run. Doesn’t it seem strange that Cohen would waste several weeks flirting with the media instead of actually collecting signatures? Doesn’t it also seem an odd coincidence that he’s choosing this week — the last week of the legislative session — to entertain us with his hijinks???

Hopefully the media doesn’t pay too much attention to this wacky sideshow. But you know they will.

UPDATE:

Cohen doesn’t even have a runningmate. Seeing as the runningmate has to be printed on the same petition, and the petition can’t be changed once it begins circulation, I think it’s safe to say that this campaign is some sort of joke.

State Rep. Darlene Senger of Naperville has an interesting dilemma. She will be faced with a massive tax increase on thousands of everyday items, necessities, really, like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, sunscreen. A whopping 500%-plus tax increase on such items just passed the Illinois Senate and is now heading her way.

The bill also taxes non-essential things — those little nice little extras that we treat ourselves to — like candy, beer and soft drinks. Not necessarily the soft drinks that are nutritional, like anything over 50% juice. The ones that have less or no nutritional value, the kind that come in a pre-sealed bottle and contain natural or artificial sweeteners, like, oh, I don’t know, a Snapple Iced Tea.

If you think that because Senger is a Republican that this would be a no brainer, think again. Republicans in the Senate gushed with praise for the legislation. Her counterpart senator, Republican Randy Hultgren, voted YES. Republican Dan Cronin voted YES. Republican Carole Pankau voted YES. Republican Kirk Dillard voted YES.

Obviously, the best thing for her to do now is to “take a stand against her party,” and as you may know, any such stand will need to be approved of ahead of time by her party leadership and would have to have absolutely no consequences, like killing the bill.

But then she may not get that approval. That kind of discord can have consequences in this tax-hostile region of the Western Suburbs. The Republican Party stoked the anti-tax flames on April 15 by staging a Tax Day Protest in Downtown Naperville and said before God and everyone that they are sick of the taxes. Come to find out, most of the area’s state senators voted for this fiscally irresponsible and immoral bill.

If Representative Darlene Senger, who was a featured speaker at the Tax Day Protest, votes against the tax that Hultgren is for, it may get those hard-core right-wingers thinking, “Maybe she ought to have HIS job.” I’m sure Hultgren doesn’t want that, does he? And if they can say that about Hultgren in some districts, voters in other can say Cronin, Pankau and Dillard shouldn’t have their jobs either. Find more people like Senger, for goodness sake!

Thus, there may be some pressure to show what a darned good idea this is, even though it’s a tax increase, by having all House Republicans on board with the plan.

So will the Tax Day Tea Party protester raise taxes on Snapple Iced Tea? Stay tuned.

Receiving glowing praise for their bi-partisanship, the leaders of the Illinois Senate just passed a massive tax increase on a wide range of ordinary products that you might buy on your next trip to the grocery store. Everything from candy to toothpaste, taxes will increase to 6.25%*.

If you’re among those of us who drive, get ready to shell out more for the privilege. License fees are going up.

They also allowed the state to lease out the Illinois Lottery so a private middle management company can take a cut (that can’t be good for jackpots!) and expanded gambling to include video poker machines, turning every bar and roadhouse into a gambler’s paradise.

The spending increases were introduced to the public and passed with blinding speed. The spending measures were also buried in a totally unrelated bills, so an enterprising citizen like you might not be able to find it without a little help. Here’s where you can find info on your new taxes:

HB 255 – Senate Amendment 1 – the video gaming and tax/fee hike bill
HB 312 – Senate Amendment 2 – this is what they’re going to spend your money on

Again, these bills had broad support of Republicans and Democrats. So remember, next time you see your state senator, be sure to say thank you.

* corrected

Check out this excellent timeline on torture. This is a fascinating history of the Iraq War.

While reading the timeline I remembered Jessica Lynch, and wondered specifically what the Bush administration propagandists had to say about torture back then as this hero fable was being sold to the public. Check out this People Magazine article from the time, which reads like a Karl Rove press release on what happened.

Note that the un-named administration source calls the imaginary torturers “barbaric”. That an Iraqi officer slapping Lynch undermined her humanity — that’s a tactic right out of Bush administration’s own handbook!

This same tactic of slapping is mercilessly being mocked RIGHT NOW by right-wingers. What’s so bad about a slap? Yet here we have a story fabricated by the Bush administration where one of the main characters is so disturbed by this slapping that he begins to fear for his own safety, even hides his wife and kid, then risks his own life by going to the U.S. Military.

When this horseshit was originally disproven, critics at the time accused the Bush administration of concocting the tale to sell the war. But many Americans (including most of the media) were already sold on the war and would remain sold for years afterward.

In light of what we now know was going on, it is clear that the Lynch myth was created not to sell the war, but to sell torture. After all, if these evil Iraqi’s could do it to Wirt County Fair’s 2000 Miss Congeniality, by golly, they could do it to you too, and that made it okay for US to do it to THEM.

The story of Jessica Lynch is a torture fantasy written by torturers. And yet, it still manages to be an indictment of torture as a tactic that doesn’t work in getting intelligence (they claim Lynch remained defiant through the torture). This illustrates that only thing torture succeeds in doing was scaring the living crap out of every man, woman and child who hears about.

Excerpts below, but definitely read the whole article:
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139817,00.html

Whether she was shot in captivity or earlier, during the battle in which she was captured, or even through friendly fire, is still uncertain. But a Capitol Hill source privy to intelligence briefings about her condition tells PEOPLE that some of her wounds were the result of extensive torture. “Those people—the Iraqi captors—were barbaric,” says the source. “I have no doubt that with her injuries, and with what they had planned for her, she was going to die.” Her tormentors apparently met their match in Wirt County Fair’s 2000 Miss Congeniality.
…
She has many to thank for her survival, among them a 32-year-old lawyer named Mohammed who had seen Lynch on a chance visit to Nasiriya’s six-story Saddam Hussein Hospital, where his wife worked as a nurse….Mohammed (whose last name hasn’t been disclosed for security reasons) says he saw a black-uniformed officer whom others addressed as the Colonel slap the woman across the face. “The Colonel wanted a certain reaction out of Jessica, and he didn’t get what he wanted,” says a Pentagon intelligence officer familiar with Mohammed’s account. Horrified by what he had witnessed and fearing for his own family’s safety, Mohammed sent his wife and 6-year-old daughter to stay with a relative and walked six miles outside of town to tell U.S. GIs where Lynch was being held. “My heart cut,” says Mohammed, whose story has been confirmed by the Pentagon. “A person, no matter his nationality, is a human being. It was very important that I save Jessica’s life.”

Republican Representative Judy Biggert’s Public Schedule:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009:

As taxpayers around the nation hold tea parties to protest excessive government spending, borrowing, and taxing, Biggert will attend several such events being organized by area bloggers and taxpayer advocates….

Thursday, April 16, 2009:

Biggert will join officials from the Army Corp of Engineers, the Cook County Forest Preserve, Orland Park, Tinley Park, and the Audubon Society to celebrate the groundbreaking of a federally-funded effort to restore the Orland Grasslands….Biggert has long supported the restoration, having secured funding for the project over several years.

Friday, April 17, 2009:

In preparation for Earth Day, Biggert will visit a local branch office of UPS during an event showcasing its new hydraulic hybrid delivery truck….The truck is the result of a partnership formed in 2006 between UPS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Eaton Corporation, the U.S. Army, and Navistar International Corp.

Just out of curiosity…anyone who attended the tax day tea parties…did Biggert get up in front of the crowd and offer a preview of her little pork tour?

And in case you missed Republican Rep. Judy Biggert’s earmark requests, they’re available here on her Web site. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, surely this is just a blank Web page. Didn’t Biggert declare a personal moratorium on earmarks on March 25, 2008? In fact, didn’t she say this at the time:

“Last year, Congress passed 11,737 earmarks at a cost of $16.9 billion in taxpayer money,” said Biggert. “And just this month, the House Democrat majority passed a budget that sets the stage for more spending and the largest tax increase in history — $683 billion over five years. They want to raise taxes, but they don’t want a transparent process that allows wasteful spending to be challenged on the House floor. My constituents don’t want to pay for bridges to nowhere and indoor rainforests in Iowa anymore.”

Yes, you are correct in your recollection. She did publicly declare a little more than one year ago that she would not repeat NOT participate in the earmark process. These bridges to nowhere (referring to a project in Alaska earmarked by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and met with much fanfare at the time by Republican Gov. Sarah Palin) and indoor rainforests in Iowa (if you’re not sure what that is, imagine an Orland Grassland, except indoors) would have no place in her district. No sir!

So why the change of heart this year? Well, apparently, now that House rules obligate her to tell the public what earmarks she is making, that means it’s now okay to make earmarks. And like that, earmarks transform from evil bad spending to the one thing that can save us from the wrath of the dreaded Washington Bureaucrat. Quoth Judy:

“Members know their district’s needs better than some bureaucrat in Washington, but every dollar of taxpayer money should be fully vetted by the public and scrutinized for waste, fraud, and abuse.”

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with any of these projects. I’m all for the Grasslands. God knows I’m all for the 63rd Street Sewer Expansion. And if the Women’s Entrepreneurial Education and Workforce Development Initiative at Benedictine University says they need $300,000 to teach job skills to low and middle income women then I say give the Women’s Entrepreneurial Education and Workforce Development Initiative at Benedictine University the $300,000, damn it!

But then, I would not be caught dead at one of those stupid tax day tea parties, except to mock it. But then again, maybe I’m not giving her enough credit. Maybe that’s exactly why she went.

The headline:

$2.5 billion Midway Airport lease deal officially dead

The story:

Chicago officials say talks calling on a $2.5 billion deal to lease Midway Airport to private investors have collapsed because of the economy.

It’s too bad the bad economy couldn’t kill the other ill-advised privatization deals Daley has rammed through, such as the leasing of the Chicago Skyway and the leasing of city streets to corporations who jack up the rates and basically sit back and collect the cash. It’s too bad for Daley, his olympic spending orgy won’t be quite what he’d hoped, but it’s good for the rest of us.

Daley shouldn’t cry too much: With the biggest congressional backer of the superfluous third airport in Peotone, Jesse Jackson Jr., being scrutinized for his involvement in the Blagojevich Senate seat fiasco, Midway should remain financially viable for years to come. It’s a good thing. Don’t mess with it.

Bad!

In case you’ve missed it, there was a chilling article in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune on contamination in the Crestwood municipal water supply. Read it here

There are still unanswered questions, like “how in the hell could this happen?” There are several clues, and incidentally, they all can be found in the same paragraph (my bold):

For years Crestwood was best known for its longtime mayor, Chester “Chet” Stranczek, a former minor-league pitcher and trucking company owner who boasted that he ran the village like a business.

Here we have a mayor who bragged about the great taste of his towns water, who cut costs by cutting corners. Yes, he did indeed run the village like a business. And therein lies the problem. Governments are NOT businesses, and therefore, they should not be run like businesses. Businesses are self-serving entities. Governments are entities that serve the greater good. One is not like the other.

Here’s another clue that something’s not right in Crestwood:

Stranczek retired in 2007 after nearly four decades in office and was succeeded by his son, Robert.

So Stranczek builds this town almost four decades and gives it over to his son? Kind of like a family business? Was there was no hint of a clue of public accountability in this town?

This is as much of an indictment of Illinois election code as it is the Illinois EPA and environmental monitoring. People, we cannot keep re-electing people to the same office for four decades, and then when they step down, elect their kids. Why even have the election?

We badly need term limits so we know that people who run government like a business will occasionally get swept out and replaced by people who can capably run a government like a government.