by Adam Doster on January 08, 2009 - 11:57am
Here's GOP Rep. Peter Roskam, speaking about President Bush's legacy on WLS' Don Wade & Roma Morning Show yesterday morning:
Internal mp3
ROMA: By the way, will Bush ever get credit for being the most ocean-friendly, the most ecological president ever?
ROSKAM: Not in our lifetimes, but I’ve got a prediction: I think you know, it's going to be one of these Harry Truman look-backs in about 50 years. And at that point, history tends to look with more clarity on an administration. And there’s plenty to criticize, but let’s face it: he’s kept us safe since 9/11, he took on the challenge of Africa like no other president ever did, and you know Roma, the point you made also is on those key ecological questions, he really stepped up. And he got the tax question really, really soundly. So I think he’s going to be perceived kind of as a Harry Truman -- tough guy, stood his ground, and history tends to be good to those people. But it takes a while.
So much could be said ... but I think we'll just let this one speak for itself.
by Progress Illinois on January 08, 2009 - 10:07am
In an article today, MediaPost's Wendy Davis covered our dispute with Fox Chicago over the use of their video content on YouTube:
A Fox Chicago spokesperson said the media company issued the takedown notice because it believed the material violated its copyright.
But Kalven said that the brief clips constitute a fair use of Fox material. "These were not full segments from Fox broadcasts," he said. "They were clips and snippets from longer reports and they were generally accompanied by links to their Web sites. We tried to drive traffic their way."
Paul Alan Levy, a lawyer with consumer rights group Public Citizen, said the clips appeared to constitute fair use, based on the publicly available knowledge about them. Specifically, he said, the clips apparently consisted of relatively brief excerpts of longer broadcasts, and were non-commercial. "Under those circumstances, it seems like it would be pretty hard for Fox News to prevail," Levy said.
Read the whole thing here.
by Josh Kalven on January 08, 2009 - 9:39am
The House "special investigative committee" released a draft report this morning recommending the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. An excerpt:
For all the reasons stated in this report and the evidence contained in the record before the committee, the special investigative committee for the Illinois House of Representatives, 95th General Assembly, finds that the totality of the evidence warrants the impeachment of the governor for cause.
You can read the entire draft here (PDF).
by Angela Caputo on January 08, 2009 - 9:34am
Like other parts of the Midwest, Illinois’ Macoupin County has struggled to redefine itself in a fast-changing economy. For three straight years, unemployment rates steadily ticked up. Then, two nearby mines closed last year, pushing the unemployment rate above 10 percent. For those who’ve since landed new jobs, many earn only a fraction of their former paychecks.
But hope springs eternal. Researchers from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University have been studying wind patterns over a soybean field in the heart of the county for the past year. And what they’ve found could be a new source of revenue and employment that would have seemed unlikely just a few years back: wind power.
Continue reading »
by Progress Illinois on January 08, 2009 - 9:16am
Burris Appointment No Done Deal
As Roland Burris left the nation’s Capitol yesterday, the status of his appointment to the U.S. Senate remained in limbo. Democratic Senate leaders say they’re waiting on Secretary of State Jesse White to sign off on his certificate of appointment. (Burris has petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to force White to do so.) But White and Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a counter motion with the state’s high court yesterday contending “nothing remains to be done by the Secretary to complete the appointment process and to enable the U.S. Senate to seat Burris.”
Impeachment Panel Meets For Day 7
A The House panel considering the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich will meets again this afternoon. On tap is Burris’ testimony about his controversial Senate appointment and potentially new information from Blagojevich’s campaign fund. The panel has given the governor’s campaign committee until 10 a.m. today to turn over information about the money it raised between July 1 and December 31 of 2008.
Continue reading »
by Josh Kalven on January 07, 2009 - 6:41pm
In response to Progress Illinois' dispute with Fox Chicago over our use of brief clips from their news coverage, some have asked me exactly how many YouTube videos we create that included WFLD footage. Here's the answer: a sweep of our coverage during the past ten months found that we uploaded 11 videos with Fox Chicago content.
If you click on the links at the bottom of this post, you'll see that in four of these cases, we pulled down the clips to criticize something said by a political figure. In six others, we were highlighting an interesting statement by a guest or reporter. In the remaining one we criticized Fox Chicago itself. Furthermore, in only three of these cases are the full videos of the underlying segments available on Fox Chicago's website. Meanwhile, a search of the YouTube database for the terms "Fox Chicago" and "Fox Chicago News" turned up nearly 300 functioning videos.
I'd also like to make this point about the use and subsequent removal of the Axelrod clip.
Continue reading »
by Angela Caputo on January 07, 2009 - 5:30pm
The House impeachment committee resumed work today and at center stage were the juicy details of former Illinois Inspector General Zaldwaynaka Scott’s previously confidential report on some dubious political hiring.
It turns out that Gov. Blagojevich apparently used the Department of Employment Security as a dumping ground for political hires, until Scott stepped in to stop it in 2004. Politically connected folks weren’t only leapfrogging over more experienced candidates, some went on to collect undue salaries and vacation time for jobs they were unqualified to fill, the report revealed.
While committee members seemed sincerely outraged, they also looked restless and ready to wrap up the proceedings. It’s pretty clear that they’re ready to deliver an impeachment recommendation to the full House for a vote.
Continue reading »
by Progress Illinois on January 07, 2009 - 4:56pm
Below are our daily picks from the Illinois blogosphere and media at large:
Why Blago Is Really Toast
National political analysts have heralded Rod Blagojevich's decision to appoint Roland Burris as politically savvy, but the Reader's Mick Dumke argues that the governor broke the cardinal rule of Chicago politics.
Chicago's Loose Tooth Love
Mechanics' Ramsin Canon develops an interesting analogy to describe Illinoisan residents' perverse pride in the feudal nature of local politics: "Loose tooth love."
What Roland Burris Owes Powell
While Roland Burris owes a debt a gratitude to Rod Blagojevich and Bobby Rush, blogger Jelani Cobb says it's legendary Harlem-based Rep. Adam Clayton Powell that the potential U.S. Senator really should thank.
To receive our “Around The Horn” update in your inbox every afternoon—along with links to our top stories and the breaking news of the day— sign up for the Progress Illinois Extra.
by Adam Doster on January 07, 2009 - 4:31pm
Like most Illinois politicians, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley doesn’t trust the state’s embattled governor. This is particularly true when it comes to Blagojevich's ability to dole out stimulus dollars effectively. Yesterday, Daley intensified his efforts to engineer a political agreement with the federal government that would allow the city to receive a direct share of the federal stimulus plan being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama. Here’s what he told the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman:
“We can’t wait. You can’t allow Springfield to take your money, hold the interest, then eventually give it to you in the middle of winter. You’ll never get the job done in the middle of winter,” Daley told reporters.
“You just go straight to the federal government and say, ‘We have all the construction ready to go. We have matching funds. Let’s go with it.’ ”
Daley's point is well taken. It’s expected that Congress will allocate much of the stimulus funding to cash-strapped state governments. But in Illinois that means the money runs through Gov. Blagojevich’s office -- a scary thought these days.
That being said, Daley’s request raises two concerns.
Continue reading »
by Josh Kalven on January 07, 2009 - 2:12pm
As we noted this morning, Senate Democratic leaders have asserted that no further steps can be taken on the Burris appointment until the Illinois Supreme Court decides whether to force Secretary of State Jesse White to sign the certificate of appointment (as Burris has asked the justices to do). Sen. Dick Durbin said at the press conference that he expects the court to weigh in on the matter this week. This afternoon, however, White and Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a counter motion calling on the high court to reject Burris’ appeal. They argue that White fulfilled his obligations under Illinois law by registering the appointment and is not required -- by the state or the U.S. Senate -- to sign the certificate.
Continue reading »
by Josh Kalven on January 07, 2009 - 11:55am
Thanks to a strange little article by the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman yesterday, there seems to be an impression out there that Ald. Patrick O'Connor (38th Ward) is the front-runner for the 5th Congressional District race. Case in point, Chicagoist ran with this headline: " Race to Replace Rahm: O'Connor Pulling Ahead."
Pulling ahead? Huh? The guy has neither announced his candidacy nor raised any money (as far as we know). Spielman's suggestion that he would easily sweep up the support of the Cook County Democratic Party is also in question, as Crain's Greg Hinz points out today:
Signs were increasing on Tuesday that the race to succeed Rahm Emanuel in Congress will be a wide-open affair, with party bosses not unified beyond any one contender.
Continue reading »
by Angela Caputo on January 07, 2009 - 11:17am
After State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias proposed merging the state’s five pension funds into one last month, we quoted this response from AFSCME Council 31 spokesman Anders Lindall: “When it comes to ethics and transparency, we support [the treasurer’s] goals. Whether this is the way to get there, we’re not sure yet.”
If Giannoulias is going to ultimately get legislative support for his proposal, he needs to convince those unions representing state employees that their members’ safety nets would not be put at risk. As part of an effort to provide more detail about this plan and assuage such concerns, the treasurer launched a new website last Friday that makes a numbers-based case for the merger.
Continue reading »
by Josh Kalven on January 07, 2009 - 9:37am
UPDATE (10:37 a.m.): Sens. Reid and Durbin are just concluded their press conference on Capitol Hill. They have not agreed to seat Burris, as the AP reported this morning. To the contrary, they emphasized the importance of having Secretary of State Jesse White's signature on the certificate of appointment and said they are delaying any decision on whether to seat Burris until after the Illinois Supreme Court rules on the matter. Durbin said he expected the high court to address the case today or tomorrow. If and when White is ultimately forced to sign the document, the Senate leaders said they will "reassess" the situation and reserved the right to then refer the issue to the Rules Committee.
So ... nothing much has changed in the past 48 hours. What a mess.
Here's the video:
Continue reading »
by Progress Illinois on January 07, 2009 - 8:58am
Burris Barred, But Maybe Not For Long
While members of the incoming U.S. Senate were sworn in on Capitol Hill yesterday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appointee was barred from the Senate floor. But all is not lost for former Attorney General Rolland Burris; Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- chairman of the chamber's Rules Committee -- urged the Senate to seat Burris, who she argues was chosen lawfully despite the corruption allegations dogging the governor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin are scheduled to meet with Burris this morning.
Obama Warns Of Trillion-Dollar Deficit Potential
After meeting with top economic advisers Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama warned Americans that the nation may suffer “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come” because of the need for increased government spending. But the Democrat also promised to limit and eventually reduce the long-term debt by enacting spending controls and efficiency measures throughout the federal budget.
Continue reading »
by Josh Kalven on January 06, 2009 - 6:00pm
Yesterday, I described how Fox Chicago's short-sighted reaction to our use of clips from their news coverage recently resulted in the suspension of our YouTube account. Today, the Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society took note of our case and provided some additional context. In his blog post on the matter, CMLP director David Ardia cited an earlier example of FOX's "overreaching copyright claims" before concluding:
Fox's heavy-handed response to Progress Illinois' use of its clips highlights the network's myopic view of the media ecosystem in which it operates. Rather than seeing Progress Illinois as a competitor attempting to steal website traffic from WFLD-TV, the network should be grateful that its political coverage is generating buzz in the blogosphere.
That's exactly right. The fact that we occasionally highlight excerpts from WFLD's coverage should be seen as a benefit to the network -- an indication of relevancy. If there is anything depriving the network of website traffic, it's their own failure to adapt to the times.
Continue reading »
