Tuesday, April 11 is our chance in Illinois to vote for peace and an end to this never-ending war.
As many of you know, Wisconsin voters in several communities recently exercised their right to vote on an end to the Iraq War. Illinois voters have a similar opportunity on our doorstep.
(Kucinich is a rara avis - there is no "out doing him". Yeah, Luis is angling. He knows how, both at the top and with his voters. imho. - promoted by wegerje)
According to Talking Points Memo, Dan Lipinski (3rd) and Jerry Costello (12th) may be among the 12 votes Bart Stupak claims to have ready to sink health care reform (such as it is) unless his attempts to bar women from using their own money to buy insurance that would cover abortions is part of the final deal.
Over at Daily Kos, RenaRF and deaniac83 have details on action plans. If you live in their districts, please let 'em know what you think:
There's a lot of nostalgia about the coal industry in Illinois but the coal companies don't hesitate to embrace change. One change they enjoy is that reopened mines are no longer union, despite all the blood spilled to organize the industry.
But more than that, the industry is quick to reduce the size of their workforce by mechanizing operations. The amount of coal mined in the United States steadily increased over the past twenty years, even while the number of coal mining jobs dropped dramatically.
Rio Tinto is connecting its Australian mines to satellite links so workers more than 800 miles away can remotely drive drilling rigs, load cargo and even use robots to place explosives to blast away rock and earth.
The company's Perth operations center, which relies on banks of high-tech equipment to manage one of the oldest and dirtiest jobs around, is a harbinger of new techniques that are allowing miners to go to more remote places, dig deeper and get ore to the market more quickly. It also aims to save Rio Tinto money by using fewer workers and keeping them out of harm's way.
Imagine that? Illinois could keep spending millions of dollars subsidizing the coal industry and there's no guarantee that one day most mining jobs won't be inside Peabody headquarters in St. Louis. Or, Murray Co could do it from Ohio. There are already less than 4,000 people employed in Illinois coal mining and even new mines won't hire many workers.
(a topic i'll be watching over the next six months... - promoted by bored now)
I hate to write the obvious but the conservative talk-radio crowd has a habit of sticking to their talking points in the face of reality. And the corporate press has a habit of adopting their narratives.
In the US Senate primary, Patrick Hughes was the darling of conservatives and the reactionary tea-bagger crowd. He ran against Mark Kirk, who became a talk-radio target after voting for Obama's climate change bill. Limbaugh and Beck commanded their forces to flood Kirk's office with angry calls after the cap-and-trade vote.
Their poutrage didn't amount to much in the Republican primary. Hughes' campaign never gained momentum and Kirk won resoundingly with 57% of the vote against five challengers.
Public officials are celebrating Illinois' federal high speed rail grant. Of course they have to highlight the positive side, but it looks to me like Illinois is a loser.
Let's face it... Illinois finished third behind California and Florida. We received less than a third of what the state requested. California received almost twice as much as Illinois. Money for the Chicago-St. Louis corridor is less than half the allocation for just the Midwest region.
Our share of the federal grant isn't enough to start a modern 220mph high speed rail system. It's not enough for a double track that would speed up Amtrak and reduce delays caused by freight traffic. Although, it does provide for planning in preparation of double tracks. It most definitely isn't enough to consolidate rail lines onto the 10th street corridor in Springfield (which none of the freight companies have agreed to anyway).
“What happened in Oregon is not good news for Oregon. They believe that anybody who makes $125,000 or more [annually] or businesses or anyone who makes $250,000 — they’re gonna start taxing them. They call them ‘rich people,’ ” the mayor said.
“I’ve always thought America stands for [rewarding success]. You finish high school. You work hard, go to college and you hope to succeed in life. I never knew it’s a class war—that those who succeed in life are the ones that have to bear all the burden. I never realized that. It will be a whole change in America that those who succeed and work hard [that] we’re gonna tax ‘em more than anyone else.”
Well, actually, yes, we do live in a country where if you make more we tax you more. It's called a progressive income tax. We have it at the federal level, almost every state has it and Illinois needs it too.
The worst part about this is that our timid legislators will now be even less likely to take a stand in favor of what we need -- an income tax increase (coupled with property tax relief) and a constitutional amendment for a progressive tax rate.
Carl says below that Pat Quinn "has been warned." Well now all those who support a progressive tax rate have been warned -- by the Mayor himself.
Today, 54 members of Congress signed a letter urging President Obama to put pressure on Israel to lift the siege of Gaza.
None of these Congresspersons was from Illinois. This is shameful. Perhaps some of the so-called progressives in the Illinois delegation can explain their failure to support human rights. Perhaps some of the members of the Black Caucus from Illinois can explain their failure to condemn the actions of a racist state.
It's hard to find strong environmental advocates in the Illinois legislature who aren't from Chicago or the suburbs. That's one reason why it's encouraging to see that downstate Representative Mike Boland is one of the state's boldest environmental champions.
One of the top priorities for Illinois environmental groups in '08 and '09 was the Clean Car Act. The oil and auto industry made a full effort to defeat the bill and they succeeded. It was never brought to a vote on the House floor and the Senate buried it in committee. Boland was one of only two downstate legislators who signed on to co-sponsor the bill when most representatives were backing down under pressure from corporate lobbyists.
He has a record of passing his own environmental bills, such as the Green Buildings Act last year. It ensures that state government leads by example by requiring that construction projects financed with state money must now be LEED certified. Pat Quinn praised the law in his State of the State address.
Cook County Deborah Sims stands her grounds Shelia Chalmers-Currin knows nothing about Cook County government Deborah Sims does Was a deal struck for Shelia to vote no?? Even though it passed, was it because she was running commissioner??????
I'm sure most everyone has seen some of those nazi spoof videos. Most of them are pretty funny, and i'll admit, I stumbled across this one while watching others (don't tell my boss). But did you know that there is one from some Andy Mckenna supporter?
One of the most interesting parts of the two hearings on the Taylorville Energy Center (TEC) was learning about the process of coal gasification and carbon capture. The TEC, proposed by Tenaska Inc, uses a gasification process that turns coal into syngas, which is converted into Substitute Natural Gas (SNG). Once the conversion is complete, they'll either use the SNG to power a steam turbine or sell it on the market.
Some CO2 from the plant may be captured, or the company can buy carbon offsets instead if they don't capture enough. Currently, their IEPA permit doesn't require them to capture any carbon at all. Some CO2 may also be sold on the market through a $1 Billion pipeline proposed across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi that would connect to "Enhanced Oil Recovery" projects along the Gulf Coast.
The company often points out that the entire process will make the plant's air pollution comparable to a natural gas plant. That's a real accomplishment for a coal facility. But it makes me wonder. Is there another alternative that would have low emissions comparable to natural gas that doesn't involve billions in subsidies and extra costs on consumers?
Tenaska Inc is busy trying to convince people that the coal gasification and carbon capture plant proposed in Taylorville won't raise electric rates. They have to try very hard because all evidence indicates that it will. To get the real story, you have to ignore what they're telling the general public and instead look at what they're telling investors and regulatory agencies.
Tenaska is betting that the public and reporters won't read the sourcing tariff for the TEC (Taylorville Energy Center). The document with all appendixes is over 90 pages long so I won't be uploading it on my blog. Luckily, the company gave a presentation at the Gasification Technologies Conference that's online and easier to understand. It includes a lot of juicy info about rates and taxpayer subsidies that you aren't likely to hear at a large public hearing or press conference.
The Chicago Federation of Labor released their local endorsements yesterday. But it was more interesting in what they didn't do rather than what they did.
They withheld endorsement in the Cook County Board President's race, a seeming slap in the face to Board President Todd Stroger. But they also postponed endorsements in the County County Commissioner's races.
The CFL postponed making any endorsements for Cook County Board of Commissioners until after an important budget vote tentatively scheduled for next Monday. The vote would be whether to repeal a portion of the county sales tax creating a budget deficit that would harm county services and the frontline workers who provide them.
(promoted per blog practice. however, someone from the campaign really does need to answer gary's question... - promoted by bored now)
Julie kicked off the week at the Hadassah-sponsored congressional candidates debate at Am Shalom synagogue in Glencoe.
Connecting with the crowd of more than 150 men and women, Julie shared her family’s story of escape from Communist Hungary during the 1956 revolution. She also discussed how, as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Israel is more than simply a political platform or policy position for her. She has a deep, personal connection with the United States’ only Democratic ally in the Middle East.
“I am proud to be running for Congress in a district which values Israel and expects its Congresswoman to be a passionate advocate for Israel,” she said. “That’s what I will be.”
Like many of the 10th District's residents, health care was also on the minds of attendees. As the Republican candidates made clear their opposition to health care reform, Julie stood up for Americans in need of quality, affordable health care. Voicing her strong support for the Affordable Health Care Act and the public health insurance option Julie stated:
“We have the opportunity to provide access to quality health care for all Americans. This is a key moment in time.”
Julie made clear that while the Affordable Health Care Act was a significant achievement, she is adamantly opposed to the Stupak amendment, which would limit women’s reproductive rights more than any legislation in recent history.
This is the big one. The biggest hearing on the biggest polluters contributing the most to global warming. The EPA is holding a hearing November 19 in Chicago to take public comments on regulating major sources of CO2. It's one of only two hearings on the topic nationally.
A proposed rule change to the Clean Air Act would allow EPA to regulate CO2 from large sources when a polluter modifies an existing facility or builds a new one. A small number of huge factories and power plants produce over half the carbon emissions in the United States. Dealing with them is essential to resolving the climate change crisis, no matter what happens with the Senate energy bill. The new rule would regulate the worst offenders while leaving small businesses and farms alone.
