We had our Lincoln Day Dinner a few days ago. All in all about what I expected. However some random thoughts, more indepth stuff to come.

Some Advice for candidates

A) If you are going to an event where most people are wearing suits, your 'guys' should be wearing suits, regardless if they are in their 20's and want to look 'cool'. If I have to dress up you have to dress up, it's petty and not fair, but that is the way it is.

B) If you are running for a state wide office, one of the things I am going to think about is how friendly you seem relative to others running for statewide office. If another statewide candidate takes the time to chat with me and make eye contact. I am expecting you to talk to me for at least 1 minute without you looking for someone you perceive as more important.
C) If there is a head table at the event, odds are there is some local folks who do good work locally and are liked locally, be they a committeeman, local political official or even local pastor are seated there. Go make an effort to go say hi to them and shake their hands. Every local is going to notice that. Heck even do the back of the room thing (work your way forward).

In response to the 'respect is earned' comment.
-- True, however at some level it is also given first, then earned or lost.

OneMan

It appears that Rahm Emanuel is the hobgoblin of the 'progressive movement' as well as the Democratic Party.

Who knew. Thanks to Soap Blox Chicago you can find this sort of stuff out.

OneMan

The Sun Times isn't trying to imply some sort of linkage between a campaign donation and treatment of a vendor are they?

Saint Blagojevich would never allow such a thing to happen. He may not know that the Daily Show is comedy but he knows nothing funny is going on in his administration.

OneMan

If nothing else this administration has created a lot of jobs in the Grand Jury sector.

OneMan

Once again Bill Holland gets himself taken off Gov. Blagojevich's Christmas card list.

This time it's an audit of DCEO...(summary here, full audit here)

It would appear that when DCEO sites job numbers, it is based off of projected jobs created/retained instead of actual jobs created/retained (why state reality when you can state projections)

They also changed it's performance measurement methodology to include employees that received training in it's reported job creation and retention numbers.

Finally "For 8 out of 10 jobs performance measures in our sample, documentation did not agree with the amount reported"

Also from the audit summary

"Most of DCEO's other reported performance measures we reviewed did not agree with the underlying documentation's; 73 percent (57 of 78) of the figures we tested did not agree."

So the questions that I see coming out of the audit (and might be fun for someone to ask at a hearing).

Why did DCEO feel the need to change it's reporting methodology to include workers trained as part of the job retention/created numbers?

Did this change have anything to do with the fact that the numbers appear from the audit to have gone down during part of the current administrations term?

Who suggested the change in methodology?

Did the change have anything to do with the fact that the old methodology showed a 60,000 jobs created/retained in FY 01 and about 30,000 in FY 2003?

What steps is DCEO taking to address the issues related to documentation of performance figures?

Since DCEO has felt it appropriate to report projections instead of actual numbers has DCEO taken any steps to examine the accuracy of their projection methodology, if so what has DCEO learned from the examination of their methodology?

If DCEO has not undertaken any activities to evaluate the projection methodology, why not?

A lot of these questions are related to the questions that HR 671 passed on 5-30-2004 wanted addressed.

On page v of the summary it points out that the Illinois Coal Development Board, chaired by the Director of DCEO, was not seated by the DCEO director and has not met to provide advice on expenditures. If this is correct than who recommended that the state spend $15 million on coal development projects since it would appear that group that is supposed to make recommendations on these sort of expenditures isn't or a least wasn't seated. (Read the press release the money did come from DCEO).
Just asking

OneMan

I listened to the entire debate and Rich is right the part at 56:33 is entertaining. Some observations

First, citing cost numbers from Chicago Catholic Schools is a bit of a misnomer, most public schools don't have anyone working for them that have take a vow of poverty.
Secondly Eric Kroll (I knew him in high school and college) provided the prototype of an anti-Andy Martin ad if anyone needed to write one. I did learn a lot about Andy from that question alone.
Third, the whole Oberweis comment thing on Judy reading her closing statement was in my mind a bit sophomoric and her comment back at him did score some points in my mind.
Finally, what appears to have happened after the debate was a bit surreal.
Looking forward to likely seeing all of the participants later this week? Perhaps I may ask a question or two...

OneMan

They said being a smart alec would never pay off, so I am open to restaurant suggestions in Springfield to have Rich take us to. The only 'cool' restaurant in Springfield I knew of was a Thai place that I think it closed now.

Now here is an interesting question. I am likely going to be seeing Mr. Oberweis at a Republican event this week. Since my identity is only sort of secret (it isn't that hard to figure out) will one of his people say something to me about the joke? Will they understand it was a joke or will I get grief over it?

OneMan

My buddy Don has a post over at his blog showing how to make your own Winter Olympics Medal using some ribbon and an old AOL disk. It's worth it for the picture of his son with a 'medal'

OneMan

Why I Love Aurora...

The Becaon News is asking for essays on this very subject so I thought I might do one and I figured this was as good of a place to work on it as anyplace.

Why I Love Aurora.

I Love Aurora because my kids can grow up here knowing other kids who are from different backgrounds and have parents from all over the world. On my street on the far SE corner of Kane County I have neighbors from several countries and at least 3 or 4 corners of the world.

I Love Aurora for it's sense of drive and hustle. Go to downtown Aurora, an area much bemoaned by some. It is not downtown Naperville, thankfully (don't get me wrong I love downtown Naperville) but walk around downtown Aurora. Small business that are not part of chains but where real people put up their own capital and try to make their idea work. The very esense of what makes America great. Drive around town and see the small bakeries, restaurants, the guy with a truck hauling furniture, The Wurst Kitchen. Small business all over the place some that have been around for over 110 years, some that have been around for 2 weeks all trying to make it.

I Love Aurora for it's people. In the 12 years I have lived here it has been an honor to get to know a number of great people. People who love this town and want to make it better. If they are folks who have lived here 60 years or 60 days. People who even though they may disagree on how to make Aurora a better city, they want to make it a better city and do their part via churches, clubs and neighborhoods. People who have the same dream that my father had, the same dream I have that with an education and hard work their kids can do a little better in the world then they have and work to make the world a better place than it was when they got there. People who don't judge someone's value by the size of their house but of the character of the people who live there.

I Love Aurora for it's housing. No matter how bad some of the houses look on any street there will always be at least one well maintained beautiful home on the street. Beautiful old houses that have stories to be told. Homes to nice to ever be torn down an be replaced with a mcmansion. New homes on the edges of the city where young families can start and grow.

Still a work in progress tell me what you think.

OneMan

Does Sneed have a five year old writing the column now? No not someone who writes like a 5 year old but an actual 5 year old. Behold the emergance of the 'yum-yum'

Today

by taking the kids to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for a quick hot chocolate and yum-yums. Magically, a knock on the door of the closed eatery procured the victuals.

Umm Mike most Dunkin' Donuts never close.
The 14th

Yum yum . . .Is ex-White House chef Walter Scheib the first to leverage his post in the

The 12th

*To wit: Hunt and Nicola Bulgari -- of Bulgari jewelry store fame -- served lobster and yum-yum caviar at Holly's posh co-op

The 9th

and eat more yum-yum lobster soup

Seriously, do we need to add Yum-Yum to our Sneed Bingo cards along with Mayor Daley, Get it, forget it, Sugar, Anne Burke and Gibsons.

OneMan

Got polled by Family Taxpayers and some other outfit about a marriage referendum they also asked if I would pass petitions, I took a pass. I am done with petitions for a little while. (Also the unknown caller showing up on my phone was a dumb idea, makes it less likely that people will answer).

Update: They only asked if I thought marriage was important then read the language of a proposed 'defense of marriage' referendum. They then asked if I would pass petitions.

It wasn't much of a poll more of a 'how do you feel and will you help us thing'

Now here is a question. If Judy gets the GOP nod does having this thing on the ballot help her by bringing a part of the party to the polls or does it hurt her?

OneMan

From a link on the SoapBlox Chicago blog.

The Activist Class War Continues

Within the progressive activist class, there is also a very real class stratification. While the blogosphere and the netroots may not be "the people" within America or the Democratic party as a whole, within the world of progressive activists, they are definitely "the people," "the masses," "the rank and file," and any other populist term you want to throw out there. I believe the main mark against Hillary Clinton within the blogs and the netroots is the degree to which she is perceived as the uber-representative of the upper, aristocratic classes of the progressive activist world.

This is what will do in the left over time. Do you think the average voter would have any idea what this guy is talking about. With ideas like this "uber-representative of the upper, aristocratic classes of the progressive activist world" you are really going to ignite the grass-roots. I was expecting to see the words dialectic and proletariat.

OneMan

Via World Net Daily

Lt. Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington during World War II The University of Washington's student senate rejected a memorial for alumnus Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of "Black Sheep Squadron" fame amid concerns a military hero who shot down enemy planes was not the right kind of person to represent the school.

Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."

Ashley Miller, another senator, argued "many monuments at UW already commemorate rich white men."

Besides the fact the Baa-Baa Black Sheep was a cool TV show. I actually met "Pappy" Boyington twice at the Experimental Aircraft Association convention in Oshkosh WI when I was in high school and spoke to him for a few minutes. Seemed like a nice enough gentleman who was willing to talk to a 16 year old about his service in WWII.

Reguarldless about how you may feel about the military anyone who was willing to serve deserves a level of respect and anyone who won the Medal of Honor deserves a level of respect that is beyond reproach and gripe.

OneMan

Ok, a lot has already been blogged about the governor's pre-school for all plan. But since details seem to be a bit hard to come by I am going to hold off to some extent but here are some questions.

Where are the classes going to be held? New facilities, existing schools?
Who is going to run the pre-schools? The state, school districts, private entities, all of the above?
What about transportation? If one kid wants to go to a 'state' pre-school lives in Oak Brook but the pre-school is 10 miles away is it up to the parents to get him there? What about rural areas?
What about the economic impacts? If an area has one or two pre-schools and the state then adds one and the enrolment goes down and one 'private' pre-school shuts down. That is a business that pays taxes you just took out.

Lookin for details.

OneMan

Some day I will fully understand the whole 'split thing' in Dundee, when I get that level of understanding I think my head will explode. To read a bit about it go here (the Beacon News).

I find it interesting that it appears that Oberweis will be speaking to one group. If I was any of the governor candidates I would stay away from the whole thing, one way or the other you are going to tick someone off.

OneMan

From CBS and others.

AURORA Police in Aurora have confirmed that a 12-year-old boy who said he brought powdered sugar to school for a science project last week has been charged with a felony for possessing a look-alike drug.

Yeah that's the solution to the drug problem in town, go after the 12 year olds.

OneMan

Have to give a shout out to Tom Cross' staff. I got a nicely written focused letter on Tort Reform. I think I gave his office a call on it a while back or perhaps they figured it out based off some blog postings. Reguardless it was one of the better 'I am working on this' letters I have gotten.

OneMan

Me and my family looked at homes in the 1.6 to 1.8 million dollar range in downtown Naperville (no I can't even remotely afford one of those). Since lots in that area for teardown purposes go for 650K I really feel sorry for those folks who bought a small house in that area 10 years ago for about 100 ~150K and are either now or soon will be facing really huge tax bills. I mentioned this to a realtor and he didn't seem all that sympathetic.

OneMan

I haven't done a Sneed Rant in a while so here goes. From yesterday

I don't think I've ever responded to someone else's mail, but a letter to my cohort columnist Carol Marin, which was published in Wednesday's Sun-Times, derided us both as post-menopausal women who "just haven't learned to age gracefully."

*The hateful rant made me chuckle and want to flee to the haven of my past vacation at the heavenly Malliouhana Hotel on the island of Anguilla, where I could eat yum-yum lobster soup . . . place my post-menopausal body in aquamarine water on the hotel's white sand beach . . . ponder retirement . . . and eat more yum-yum lobster soup. Wanna come, Carol?

Where to start with this one.
A) You sticking up for Carol Marin, you could carry Carol's reporters notebook. Carol: Insights into politics and life.
Sneed: Mentioning who ate at Gibsons recently and droping in references to Anne Burke
B) Is the mention of 'the heavenly Malliouhana Hotel on the island of Anguilla' just intended to be a plug or is it just you pointing out how you get to take cool vacations.
C) 'yum-yum lobster soup' my 4 year old doesn't even use the phrase yum-yum anymore.
D) East lobster soup and ponder retirement. Sounds like a plan to me Mike, I suggest you get right on it.

OneMan

I got a Dear Republican Leader letter from Sen. Bill Brady that mentioned he had driven more than 90,000 miles around the the state in "my E-85 ethanol-fueled vehicle".

Not really what I expected in a letter from a strong conservative "my E-85 ethanol-fueled vehicle". All in All a fairly good mailer.


OneMan

Recently had some one point me toSoapBlox Chicago....

Where I found these lines

First

Roe v. Wade is the revolutionary declaration that defies history to assert women are not brood mares. Although the issue is misrepresented as being exclusively about abortion, the real point of contention has always been female autonomy. Distaff independence is a frighteningly subversive concept so religious traditionalists have waged a terrorist campaign that has effectively negated Roe in most of America. Now, federally guaranteed reproductive freedom will be officially confiscated, the victim of Republican malevolence and Democratic indifference. Soon, other protections for the traditionally oppressed will experience a similar fate courtesy of the Roberts Court…

If you think that most people who object to abortion do so because they want women to be 'brood mares' you are really missing the point.

There was also this

In 2006, the biggest question facing blogs and bloggers is: Will their ascendancy empower the American people -- in the broadest sense of the word -- or merely add to the clout of an elite online constituency? Technology is only as revolutionary as the people who use it, and the progressive blogosphere has thus far remained the realm of the privileged -- a weakness that may well prove fatal in the long run.

It goes on about some opion about the lack of women 'progressive' bloggers and how the fact some other blogger seems unconcerned about this bothers some other bloggers.


Not every post over at SoapBlox starts out like someones Poli Sci masters thesis, go take a look it is sort of like the Illinois Leader for lefties without a forum. I really hope they add a forum.

OneMan

Some general thoughts.

From the revelation at the Ryan trial that people gave him $12,500 in cash as a farewell gift. Having worked in the private sector it is not normal to give your boss cash at the holidays and even less normal for him to note how much you gave him.

McCaffrey tried to suggest that giving gifts of cash to bosses was common at Christmas in the business world, but U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer agreed with the prosecution that those questions were irrelevant.

Ummmm, having worked in the business world. No it is not common.


Next. The Governor lays out some ideas for increasing the number of Nurses in Illinois.

Yes there is a nurse educator shortage. A huge one, when my wife finished the MSN degree they asked her if she wanted to go for her PhD and then think about teaching. However the idea of several more years in school did not appeal to her. Considering to teach nursing just about anyplace you need a masters degree and the salary can range from about 45,000 to 65,000K (the only number I could find).
There is an article at Monster that points out that a MS educated Nurse can make about 60K as an instructor or about 80K in practice (that is from 2003).
Also the American association of Colleges of Nursing reported

In fact, AACN's survey found that 32,797 qualified applicants were not accepted at schools of nursing last year due primarily to a shortage of faculty and resource constraints. Within this total, applicants turned away include 29,425 from entry-level baccalaureate programs; 422 from RN-to-Baccalaureate programs; 2,748 from master's programs; and 202 from doctoral programs.

You want more nurses and nurse educators. There is a simple supply and demand answer. Pay them more (yes I have a huge bias here)

OneMan

Speaking of issues that impact Nurses and clinicians, my wife's malpractice insurance only went up 10% or so this year....

OneMan

Mrs. OneMan got a letter from our local democratic state rep. that was intended for nurses talking about bills our rep was involved in that have an impact on health care providers. One of the bills mentioned talked about support for reducing the payment time from the state for medical bills.

Making reference to bills asking the state to reduce the payment cycle is nice but how about actually fixing the problem. It is easy to have bills saying the state should reduce the payment cycle. It is something else entirely to actually do something about it. (Hat tip to Rich about the payment period increase)

Off the normal subject...

commercials on the big game.

Is it just me or did you want to smack the guy in the Blockbuster ads by the end of the game. All these other companies ran different ads, funny ads and all Blockbuster ran was the same ad over and over again that featured a guy who looked like a dude on a first date.

I did like the MacGuyver MasterCard ad, The Dove ad, the Miller Ads.

OneMan

Looks like some major news entities saw the same things I did in my post on the 31st about some donations to friends of Blagojevich and decided to do some digging.
The Sun Times, Chicago Tribune and Crains all have some more scoop. This looks like it has the potential to be interesting.


OneMan