Will Midwestern U.S. govs display political pettiness for all of Asia to see?

Theoretically, it sounds good to know that our state’s governor was in Tokyo, and will spend this week on a tour of Asian nations, along with business interests that want to get those countries intrigued by the thought of doing business with us.

Can Gov. Bruce Rauner successfully urge Asian business interests to come to Illinois and Midwest? Photograph provided by state of Illinois

Bruce Rauner representing Illinois and trying to get foreign companies to spend their money in our state? It’s a wonderful idea. Yet excuse me for being skeptical that he’s capable of pulling it off.

FOR WHILE SOME people like to think Illinois’ pettiness centers around Rauner’s inability to get along with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and the Democrats who control the state Legislature, one could argue it is no more petty than the squabbles that occur between the governors of Illinois and the surrounding states.

As much as Rauner tries to portray this trip as his personal meeting with government interests in Japan and other parts of Asia, the fact is that both Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are also along on this trip.

It is a chance for Midwestern U.S. interests to band together to show that this part of the country is an intriguing part that perhaps foreign interests should take more seriously than anything out east or in the land of Dixie (what with all its anti-labor measures that it tries to portray as being the key to a successful business climate).

Will Rauner be able to 'play' nice ...

Yet these are the governors who seem to think that the success of their respective states is to pick away at the business interests of Chicago whose management are petty enough to be swayed by some of those same anti-labor measures that exist in the land of Hoosiers or cheese.

TO TELL YOU the truth, the idea of those three men being put on international display scares me. It makes me think of the potential for some sort of incident that will make our part of the country come across as a batch of rubes.

Which may be enough to send those Japanese business interests off to other parts of our nation and further ensure that our Great Lakes region becomes further decrepit.

... with Govs. Walker and Holcomb?

Which I’m sure the types of people who are supportive of this Age of Trump that we’re now in will be more than willing to blame on Democratic political operatives. Even though these three particular governors are all Republican, and supposedly ought to be allied with each other.

I fear our nation’s petty political climate will be on full display this week.

SO WHAT ARE our region’s chances of benefitting from what Rauner is billing as the first international trade mission he has engaged in since being elected our state’s governor in 2014?

Let’s hope Rauner didn’t engage in gaffes when meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe just before attending the Midwest U.S.-Japan Association conference held Monday.

“Japanese companies have been instrumental in creating jobs and driving economic development throughout the state of Illinois,” Rauner said, during his address to the group.

“It is not that often that we gather together, but when we do, like for this conference, we unite with an unprecedented strength on economic growth,” the Illinois governor said.

“WE NEED TO send the message that our growth is interdependent,” he said.

Government and business officials preparing to talk Monday in Japan. Photograph provided by state of Illinois

All of which sounds nice. It’s what our governor ought to be saying with the heads of the other Great Lakes states, and in fact when dealing with all the regions of Illinois as we address our state functions.

Let’s only hope that Rauner is actually listening to the words that were prepared for him by his gubernatorial staff. If he does, then perhaps there’s a chance that Illinois can gain something of economic value from this trip. Rauner bringing back a business or two with jobs would certainly be better than a crummy t-shirt.

And if he doesn’t? Then let’s hope Rauner at least picks up an interesting souvenir, or else the trip will be nothing more than an overly-elaborate vacation-like journey at taxpayer expense.

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Making money off of Illinois idiocy

You almost have to admire, in a conniving sort of way, the ability of a new company to figure out a way of making money off of Illinois government’s financial incompetence.

We're talking about the fact that certain parts of state government went for the entire 2016 Fiscal year (which ended last week) without being able to spend money.

THEY WEREN’T FORTUNATE enough to have court orders mandating that their services be provided and bills be paid regardless of the lack of a state budget.

So people who do business with those agencies have unpaid bills for their services. They have a legal assurance that they will someday be paid for their work, but it will be whenever the state finally gets around to things – which will come in upcoming months now that a budget of sorts is in place.

The key to comprehending this particular deal, which the Chicago Sun-Times reported on during the weekend and the Associated Press spread across the state like peanut butter on bread, is to realize that the state does have a legal obligation to pay extra to these people.

It is a penalty, of sorts, to the state for being late. Someday, these businesses could get more money than they had expected.

UNLESS THEY WIND up doing business with Illinois Financing Partners, which is a new company that is in the business of paying off people who are owed money by state government.

This company, controlled in part by former Gov. Jim Edgar, makes sure the businesses get the money they’re owed, with the understanding that when the state actually does reimburse for its debt, that payment – and any interest – will be given to Illinois Financing.

Meaning the businesses won’t gain that extra money. It will go to the company, which will wind up making its profit off of the fact that our state officials let partisan politics interfere with government operations to the point that it impacted the daily way of doing things.

In a sense, it sounds like some sort of third-rate conspiracy to make money off of someone else’s suffering one step up from bookmaking or loansharking. Although I’m sure there are laws that ensure it is completely legal.

PARTICULARLY SINCE NO one is forcing any particular business to take the deal!

Actually, I can comprehend why businesses would be eager to do business with Illinois Financing. Because it promises that companies will get the money they’re owed RIGHT NOW!!! Not at some obscure, unspecified date in the future.

When it comes to smaller companies where cash flow is important to maintain the daily operations, the idea of more money to be paid in the future is much less important than the idea of getting paid what is owed right now.

Waiting for the bigger payment could cause a company to fall so far behind in unpaid bills that they wouldn’t remain in existence long enough to collect that bigger payoff.

SO MAYBE THE companies feel blessed, in a sense, that they’re getting the money they’re owed. They can move forward, get on with their operations, and perhaps use the experience of recent months as a lesson of what can go wrong if one relies too heavily on doing business with Illinois state government.

Which is really a sad lesson to have to learn – if you think about it.

For state government is often semi-jokingly referred to as “the people’s business.” It ought to be something that companies consider a safe bet because their work will end up (or at least it’s supposed to) benefit the public.

Instead, someone has figured out a way to turn politically partisan ineptitude into a profit margin for themselves – rather than the public at large.

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One week remains until Ill.'s problems multiply; will things get worse?

I’m not the least bit surprised that we’re at this point in time without any progress having been made toward approving a balanced budget to allow Illinois state government to continue to operate a week from now.

We have political people in Illinois who act as though they’re still in college and waiting until the absolute last minute before they start work writing that paper that accounts for 50 percent of their total grade. All because they had to attend that wild party that is now nothing more than a haze in their minds.

SO NOW THAT we’re one week away from the end of the 2015 fiscal year, it seems to me that it is only natural state officials will now start to seriously think about what needs to be done.

In fact, I won’t be surprised that our officials are now just starting to fret about this issue. They spent all the past months “partying” it up too much.

Any serious break in the stalemate probably won’t come until this weekend, and probably won’t be resolved until June 30 proper. Maybe some time around 1 p.m., which will then result in a mad dash during the afternoon and evening hours to try to get the General Assembly to give its approval before 11:59 p.m. becomes Midnight.

Then again, we may wind up finding out this week that our political officials are more interested in prolonging this political fight well into the summer – believing foolishly that the people will be more than eager to blame the other guy!

I’M NOT ABOUT to predict how this situation will turn out, except that I emotionally am prepared for things to go to the worst.

Because we have a state financial situation where we don’t have enough income to pay for all of the obligations our state has.

Whereas Gov. Bruce Rauner seems more interested in pushing for the measures he hinted at during his campaign to try to restrict the power of organized labor than he is in ensuring that state government continues to operate without a hitch.

One can argue that such issues are irrelevant now and that our state officials need to put a budget into place to avert a potential shutdown of government activity – which is the option that hurts us all.

BUT I’M REALISTIC enough to know that isn’t going to happen. I also realize that Democratic leadership in the General Assembly has engaged in their own partisan gamesmanship with the budget. How else to explain the fact that they passed a budget proposal knowing it included a revenue shortfall; thinking they could shame Rauner into giving them what they want.

Except that our governor has no shame when it comes to this issue! Neither do our legislators.

We could very well fall into the situation where government continues to collect its revenue, but is not permitted to spend any of it because there’s no written proposal detailing how it is spent.

There are powerful egos on all sides of this partisan spat. Nobody is going to be willing to be perceived as being the one to “cave in,” particularly since business interests are putting their support behind Rauner and labor is depending on the Mike Madigan/John Cullerton combination to protect themselves from being stomped all over.

BUT OUR POLITICAL people have a knack of being able to pull things off at the last minute. Which is why nobody should be taking it all that serious that nearly a month has gone by since the General Assembly has finished its spring session without imposing its final action – a budget for Fiscal ’16.

It actually makes me reminisce about the days when the legislative session in Illinois continued through to June 30. The idea was that the legislative session ended with the fiscal year, and that the last issue to be voted on would be the budget itself.

Instead, we have state officials who want to think they’re already done – and that the budget is some sort of afterthought.

That is the real problem we face, and it is political people of all partisan persuasions who are to blame.

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New governor; same campaign rhetoric

We're now in the Rauner Era of Illinois government – as Gov. Bruce Rauner took his oath of office Monday and gave a predictable campaign speech filled with the same themes we heard all throughout last year’s electoral season.

As in the need for government to exist to bolster business interests and how he’s going to be the guy who brings to an end the problems of our state – but not necessarily in a way that the public at-large will enjoy.

PARTICULARLY IF ONE believes that government is in place to benefit the people, and that sometimes the desires of business conflict with the needs of the masses.

“To achieve (reform) will require sacrifice. Sacrifice by all of us – politicians and interest groups, business and labor, those who pay for government and those who depend on government services,” Rauner said during his inaugural address.

“Each person here today and all of those throughout the state will be called upon to share in the sacrifice so that one day we can again share in Illinois’ prosperity. We all must shake up our old ways of thinking,” the new governor said.

Now none of this should be a shock to those who were paying attention during the campaign season. Rauner went out of his way to avoid offering specifics about his intentions if he were to be chosen as governor.

BUT IT WAS clear from the big-money interests that were kicking in campaign cash to supplement the nearly $30 million of his own money that he spent that he comes from a unique mindset – one that wants government to get out of its way. Or do you believe that someone who is capable of working the next four years without a salary bears any resemblance to you and me!

Do you think those people who coughed up so much campaign cash are now going to settle for somebody as governor who doesn’t put them first? I expect they’d be the first in line demanding a refund/recount/recall if Rauner wasn’t a guy who wants to be the CEO of Illinois government.

That call for “sacrifice” could well be from the rest of us.

Particularly after I noticed the portion of his inaugural address that says he plans to issue an order calling for a thorough review of all government agency contracts issued since November – the time during which he was governor-elect and Pat Quinn was completing his term in office.

RAUNER SAYS THIS review is to, “regain our state’s good name and reputation.”

But it seems at this point more like an attempt to place blame on Quinn for everything he finds that doesn’t meet his business-oriented standards of satisfaction.

Quinn ought to become ancient history. He should have departed the governor’s office at the Thompson Center building in Chicago shortly after Noon and stepped aside from the public eye. There shouldn’t be anything about him that lingers when a new administration of the opposite political party takes control of state government.

But it seems that Rauner himself is eager to have the Quinn image remain for awhile. He wants a punching bag for use every time he turns up incapable of dealing with a problem confronting the state – “It’s Quinn’s fault!” is probably a line we’re going to hear repeated over and over in coming years.

WHICH IS WHY I wasn’t terribly offended by the fact that Quinn didn’t make the trip to Springfield for the inauguration ceremonies – it’s a new day, and living in the past does nobody any good! Although for anyone who cares, one of Quinn's final acts was to sign into law the bill concerning increased regulation of ridesharing services such as Lyft and Uber.

So excuse me if I’m not convinced by Rauner’s repeated talk of how he’s going to “shake up” the way Illinois government does things.

Because based on what I’m hearing and what I’ve seen in the past couple of months, it seems like it’s going to be a four-year term of Rauner in campaign mode; which we ought to realize amounts to four years of nonsense being spewed every which way.

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Oberweis still not a backer of needed reform of our nation’s immigration laws

I’m not the least bit surprised to learn that Republican Senate candidate James Oberweis remains opposed to any serious reform of our nation’s immigration policies.



OBERWEIS: Regards reform as 'amnesty'

A group calling itself the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition tried this week to convince Republican-leaning people that business interests would benefit if we did a serious revamp of immigration policies to eliminate all the bureaucratic flaws that currently exist.

I ALREADY CRITICIZED the group for relying too much on political historical figures such as Jim Thompson or Denny Hastert to try to sway a new generation of Republicans – one that wants to view the issue purely in ideological terms.

Such as James Oberweis, who is making yet another run for political office – this time for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Richard Durbin.

Oberweis, who has run for governor, Senate and Congress before finally getting a state Senate seat in Springfield, really seems determined to be a part of the Washington political scene.

Hence, the Senate campaign – he’s the “top” of the GOP ticket, even though Republican operatives will want to claim that gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner is.

OBERWEIS IS THE guy whose many past gaffes includes that campaign ad he ran a decade ago that stirred up immigration policy. The one that had him flying in a helicopter over a yet-to-be-remodeled Soldier Field, while telling us that the number of foreigners slipping their way into the country without a valid visa was large enough to fill up the Chicago Bears’ home to capacity every single day.

It was such a tacky viewpoint to have on the issue that the ad is still remembered. He’s going to have to live down the shame of such nonsense every day for the rest of his life.

On a certain level, he even realizes that. Oberweis is now saying his ideas were naïve and not well thought out. Meaning, he doesn’t want to be criticized for the ad any longer.

But has he really changed? Was he listening in the least when he attended the immigration forum held Tuesday in Chicago?

IT DOESN’T SEEM so. For Oberweis is still using the word “amnesty” to try to lambast the idea that immigration policy is flawed, and that we have to figure out a way to allow the nearly 11 million people now living in this country without a valid visa to remain legitimately, and openly.

RAUNER: No comment?

He talks of “non-immigrant visas” for adults who came to this country, as though he’s determined to keep such people in their own separate class. That kind of motivation is what causes much of the bureaucratic nonsense we get from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It’s when we get past that kind of thought process that we might be willing to move forward on immigration policy, and get Congress to finally approve something into law.

Because the status quo just doesn’t work. That ought to be the one point all of us should agree on.

I FOUND OBERWEIS’ opposition more humorous. Although Rauner’s thoughts, or lack thereof, also have their moments of jocularity.

The member of the 0.0001 percent of our society says he hasn’t really studied the issue, and also thinks this is something for President Barack Obama and Congress to resolve.

Technically, he’s right on the latter point. Although how many of those Congress members would be swayed by their governor taking a stance on the issue is something to wonder. Then again, trying to say nothing is in character for Rauner – who continues with his “Wizard of Oz” mentality.

The real Rauner?

 

“Immigration policy” was the curtain that Rauner didn’t’ want us to look behind on Tuesday. Does that make the Business Immigration Coalition the equivalent of Toto, ripping open the curtain to show us just how ordinary Oz/Rauner truly was – and is?

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He’s in hiding because he knows too much, or so Mel Reynolds says

I don’t doubt that there’s a stink surrounding the story of Mel Reynolds, the one-time member of Congress who recently got deported from Zimbabwe after managing to offend the government of that African nation.

REYNOLDS: The man who knows too much?

Then again, being on the bad side of Robert Mugabe doesn’t take much to achieve. That man seems to have a problem with anyone who won’t kowtow to him.

NOT THAT THIS fact makes me feel much in the way of sympathy, since he seems determined to continue his current saga in life.

For it seems that when Zimbabwe officials transported him from the jail where he had spent six days to their airport to get him out of the country, he didn’t return to his native United States.

He went to nearby South Africa – a nation that decades ago wouldn’t have let him come anywhere nearby. But now, is the place where he claims to be in hiding because he fears that a “secret Zimbabwean death squad” is trying to hunt him down. He’s marked for assassination, or so he says.

Although I wonder just how deep in hiding could he be if both WLS-TV AND the Associated Press managed to track him down by telephone for interviews in which he told us his life’s latest sob story.

REYNOLDS, WHOSE CRIMINAL record in this country involves both state charges related to being sexually involved with underage girls and federal charges related to his tax returns, has turned himself into a self-described consultant who was helping U.S. business interests to make connections in African nations.

Which is why he supposedly was in Zimbabwe since back in November.

He now says that his experiences have caused him to learn of U.S. officials, including some from our very own Chicago, who are skirting their way around the law – particularly since Mugabe doesn’t have the best record on international issues.

Reynolds now wants us to believe that the reason he got hit with criminal charges of pornography possession in Zimbabwe is because he was threatening to expose those people.

WHICH COULD COST business and government officials serious money!

Hence, the “death squads” that would turn Mel into a corpse. It all sounds so far over the top – almost like something out of a James Bond film (at least one from the Sean Connery era, the rest get just a bit too lame to pay much attention to).

Or maybe it’s more like something from a “Get Smart” episode – it sounds more like a Maxwell Smart caper than anything else, on account of all its inanity.

In fact, about the only reason I give it any credence is the fact that the pornography possession charge seemed too trumped up – and officials in Zimbabwe were way too eager to dismiss it.

REYNOLDS WAS CHARGED with a visa violation (it had expired) that was the reason he ultimately got deported. The pornography charge supposedly was dismissed because police did not get the consent of higher-ranking authorities before making the arrest.

Which may sound reasonable to someone whose legal sensibilities are U.S.-oriented. Although since when Zimbabwe officials care about such sensibilities is the real question.

A pornography arrest was just the way to draw attention to a U.S. political official whose lingering reputation was of getting aroused by the 16-year-old in peach-colored panties.

Reynolds isn’t wrong when he says that they used the most effective weapon they could come up with to discredit anything he might have to say about business interests in African nations. He may even be truthful in his statement to WLS-TV that he essentially “bribed” Zimbabwe officials to deport – rather than incarcerate – him.

ALTHOUGH EVEN TAKING that into account, it just seems like Mel Reynolds has a knack for walking into gaffes. And why his threats to expose what he knows about corruption (a press conference to be done while in hiding, he says) likely won’t be taken seriously.

Which may well be why the Rhodes Scholar-turned-Congressman-turned-inmate never was able to live up to the promise he showed early in life.

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Will Walgreens become the Preferred Drug Store for cigarette smokers?

Will Walgreen's lengthy Chicago-area history help it keep business if tobacco products actually become an issue?

I have to admit to being somewhat amused this week by the announcement by CVS that they will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products later this year.

It has me wondering if the business battle between newcomer CVS and long-time Chicago-area pharmaceutical retailer Walgreen’s will now turn to trying to gain a business advantage concerning those people who need to have their daily dose of “smokes.”

WILL CVS NOW try to claim a high moralistic attitude because they won’t sell cigarettes? Will they be the start of a trend in which the sight of all those racks of cigarette packs and cartons behind the cash register will become obsolete?

Or something you only see in a seedier sort of business?

Is that what Walgreen’s is destined to become? Since the Deerfield-based retailer indicated this week they do not plan to follow suit on cigarettes.

They’re adopting the line of logic used by convenience stores, gasoline stations and other businesses that include tobacco products on their shelves – they add to the financial bottom line in a way that can make the difference between being profitable or going out of business altogether.

HOW FAR WILL Walgreen’s be prepared to carry this decision out? Because they certainly want to be taken seriously in terms of health care issues.

In fact, there are those industry analysts who contend that CVS’ decision to drop cigarettes from their stores is less about a high-minded moral statement and more about a bottom-line business decision.

As in they can make more money ultimately by having various clinics, vaccination services and other health care options in their stores – services with which the sight of cigarette cartons would just be too much of a clash!

Personally, I don’t smoke. I never have. Just something about the smell was always so unappealing that I never felt compelled to try.

WHICH MAKES ME not so much appreciate a business that doesn’t encourage smoking, as much as dislike a business that does.

I have way too many memories of getting stuck in lines waiting to make a purchase because the person right ahead of me either can’t make up their mind what brand of cigarettes they want, or (more often) are getting all worked up into a frenzy that demands to see a store manager because the sales clerk can’t figure out which of the variety of brands it is that the customer wants.

Invariably, it winds up being a small purchase I was making (sometimes, as little as purchasing a newspaper or two – yes, I still prefer ink on paper to this format).

Which makes such a purchase a bigger deal than it has to be!

THERE’S ALSO THE case that I currently live at a place with both a Walgreen’s and a CVS store within three blocks of me. I can’t say I favored either one of them in the past.

But I may well have to start spending more money at the CVS if this tobacco sales issue actually becomes a controversy.

Because I’m sure the people who want to view their cigarettes as some sort of civil rights issue (never mind the real issues of our society) will be more than willing to make a stink about this – and not just because their clothes and breath reeks of inhaling too much tobacco fumes throughout their lives.

There are times when I wonder if people are willing to “fight to the death” for their cigarette habit as intensely as those who are making an issue of “concealed carry. Perhaps it’s the same people – a cigarette pack in the shirt pocket and pistol tucked in the hip.

OR MAYBE A cigarette pack and pistol tucked in the purse?

While the rest of us consider fighting for issues that really matter in our daily lives. Including which place might help us look out better for our health.

Could that now be CVS?

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Doing business elsewhere for tax benefits not legal; why should it be acceptable for electoral purposes?

Perhaps I’m the only person who finds it ironic we learned this week that the wife of now-U.S. Senate candidate James Oberweis specifically moved out of Illinois for tax purposes at the same time that the Supreme Court of Illinois ruled against business interests that tried to pull off a similar maneuver.

OBERWEIS: Still Illinoisan, but not spouse

Specifically, the court ruled that the companies that deliberately tried to evade paying Cook County tax rates by locating an office in some low-tax rate rural county were behaving improperly.

THOSE COMPANIES ARE now going to have to start admitting that they’re Chicago-area businesses and pay the local tax rate. No more trying to claim they’re Kankakee-area companies!

So what should we think of Julie Oberweis, who apparently officially moved to Florida three years ago and has taken actions to set herself  up as a Florida resident who just happens to spend time in Illinois – where her state Senate member husband still claims his residency.

When the word got out earlier this week (reported by the Chicago Sun-Times), it brought up an issue that is bound to be used over and over during the upcoming campaign season by those wishing to trash the man who is making his third attempt to run for the U.S. Senate.

Oberweis admits his wife did the move so she could qualify for lesser tax rates on her income.

SHE’S JUST LIKE the companies that try to create a rural office for themselves (in some cases, just a little storefront used to maintain an address, while all the real work is done at the so-called subsidiary office in the Chicago area).

It comes across as an attempt to dodge taxes. Which many of us would regard as someone thinking they’re not supposed to pay their fair share.

Ct said businesses can't claim fake offices

Except to those with the corporate mentality who honestly believe their fair share is nothing – and that any government official who can’t accept that viewpoint is “anti-business.”

Personally, I’m not terribly offended by the Oberweis maneuver – so long as the letter of the law is complied with strictly.

IF THEY WANT to go through the hassle of filing separate state tax returns (he in Illinois and she in Florida), that’s their business. Their federal return is a joint effort, according to the Sun-Times. But it has to be prepared to acknowledge their split life.

DURBIN: Will he use tax issue in campaign?

I believe it’s a lot more effort than its worth, just because one wants to believe they’re being over-taxed in Illinois and they don’t want to pay the going rate. And if there's even one technical slip-up, the feds will be sure to get themselves involved.

Which I honestly believe is because one gets more benefits from being in Illinois, and in the Chicago-area portion of the state. You get what you pay for. Places that go out of their way to boast of their low tax rates usually offer up next-to-nothing for their local residents and corporate interests.

Take the tax avoidance situation.

A COMPANY SUCH as Hartney Fuel Oil, Co., which tried claiming it was based in Mark, Ill., rather than its real corporate offices in suburban Forest View, wouldn’t hesitate to ACTUALLY move to Mark (population, 550) if they thought they could gain real benefits or savings from being located in the Putnam County village.

It will be intriguing to see how this particular issue plays out, and if it will be added to the litany of gaffes Oberweis (the candidate, not the spouse) has made in past campaigns. A helicopter circling Soldier Field, anyone?!? Will she have to “move” back to Illinois so her husband can run, yet again, for federal office?

One other point should be made. Oberweis tried to minimize the idea of his wife being a Florida resident by implying that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has the same situation – his spouse, Loretta, is a lobbyist in Springfield.

Except that, technically, so is Durbin, the senator, whose D.C. living situation is that of the famed four Congress-members who live in a grungy frat-house style home (inspiring the new program “Alpha House”) because they’d rather not maintain real homes in the District of Columbia along with their REAL houses back home.

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EXTRA: Loss of photographers not about adapting to new technology as much as ol’ fashioned union-busting

A trekkie on the picket line?

It has been a week since the Chicago Sun-Times and all of its sister suburban papers made it public that it was letting go its entire photography staff.

They try to claim it is a matter of adapting to new technology and accepting that people want more video clips as part of their news reports on the Internet.

YET IT’S JUST a little too hard to swallow. I’d accept this a lot more easier if those Wrapports types who own the newspapers would just admit that a priority of theirs is getting rid of those photographers who were covered by a Chicago Newspaper Guild contract.

Because a lot of the people who are going to get hired in the future to accommodate all this desire for video clips are going to be younger types, and the company will probably go out of its way to ensure that the guild (a.k.a., the dreaded union) will never get their paws on these new people. Otherwise, at least a few of those photographic veterans would have been retained, and retrained.

Maybe the Sun-Times didn’t call out the cops to crack heads open when the photographers and their supporters picketed the newspaper’s offices Thursday morning. But the desire to not have to deal with a union was just as much a motivation as it was at a place like the old Republic Steel – where East Side neighborhood residents still pay tribute to the strikers who were killed on Memorial Day 76 years ago.

So it was totally appropriate that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis was among those who picketed the Sun-Times on Thursday, although I’m sure she also gains from the public recognition she will receive.

CTU boss Karen Lewis takes on new labor cause

 

AFTER ALL, SHE got herself on television, and that bolsters her name recognition for her own future causes.

Whereas the Sun-Times’ recognition? They got professional smart-aleck Stephen Colbert to do a segment that on his Comedy Central program that made the newspaper look rather ridiculous.

And for what it’s worth, the difference in images in the newspaper is notable – particularly since the bulk of the pictures now appearing in the pages of the Sun-Times seem to be from the Associated Press.

As for this particular posting, the images accompanying it were shot with my own smartphone. And I’ll be the first to admit they look horrid; just as bad as they do when they get used on television newscasts. But this could be the future, if this particular trend catches on.

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We shouldn’t be surprised that Sears closes stores after getting tax break

There are many people these days who are outraged with Sears, using the Internet to vent their rage at the fact that the retailer had the gall to demand a serious tax break from the Illinois General Assembly, then announce that it plans to close stores across the country.

Personally, I can’t get upset – largely because it is exactly the kind of conduct I would have expected. I’m dismayed that conditions are like this, but not the least bit surprised that it could happen like this.

BESIDES, IT ISN’T like any agreement was violated. The actions that happened this month are completely within the “letter of the law.” If anything, Sears’ behavior is perfect evidence of the fact that not every bad thing that happens is illegal.

So let’s look at what happened with Sears, which used its political clout to pressure the Illinois Legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn to back a measure giving the corporation some serious tax breaks.

At a time when Illinois government is looking for every bit of income it can get its hands on, the idea that it would be willing to “give back” some money is a significant act on its part.

But Sears Holding Corp. used political blackmail, so to speak, to get what it wanted. They threatened to leave their northwest suburban corporate headquarters and relocate to some other state (possibly North Carolina, in Charlotte) if they weren’t given financial incentives to stay.

ILLINOIS GOVERNMENT, NOT wanting the national “black eye” of having a company with such history leaving our boundaries, gave in. They got their tax breaks, although it took the General Assembly several tries to get it done.

And some legislators prefer to think that they voted to grant some tax relief to low-income people. Although anyone who is being honest admits that no one would have cared about the low-income people if not for the need to address Sears.

But this week, saying that the Christmas holiday season was nowhere near as good financially as they would have wanted, Sears said that about 120 stores across the country will have to be shuttered. On Thursday, they went so far as to identify 79 locations – with the implication being that another 40 or so yet-to-be-identified stores will also be closed in the near future.

Now this deal doesn’t, in any way, affect the fact that the corporate headquarters will continue to be in Hoffman Estates – which was the only condition of the tax break.

NOBODY EVER PROMISED that all the stores would stay open. So nothing legally improper (a.k.a., criminal) has occurred.

I’m sure the fact that no Sears stores (or their sister K-mart stores) in Illinois are being closed is solely because no one wants to tick off the political people here. But when a little more time passes, there could well be Illinois-based Sears stores that get closed.

In fact, the only Chicago-area store affected by this week’s announced round of closings is a K-mart in St. John, Ind.

That store at the far southeast corner of the Chicago metropolitan area likely is cost some jobs and some will be hurt. But it is on the other side of State Line Road. I’m sure that Sears officials are justifying this one local closing by thinking to themselves, “What has Indiana done for us lately?”

WHICH MAY NOT be an illegal viewpoint for them to have. But it is one that bothers me that we have to accept it as just the way things are done.

It is the reason why I have my problems with the ideologues of our society who like to rant that our governments in Illinois and Chicago are anti-business. We supposedly tax so excessively that no reputable business would want to locate within our area.

Ignoring the fact that access to the Chicago-area, with all its perks and joys, is something of significant value to a business in-and-of itself.

The kind of people who want to think they’re being “pro-business” are really just too eager to give in to the corporate whims that would just as soon believe they should not have to pay any kind of tax.

ALL-TOO-OFTEN, THEY’RE THE same entities that rant about how profitable they could be – if only they didn’t have to pay such ridiculously-high wages to their employees. As though they’d have any kind of product or service to sell for profit if NOT for their employees.

Which means the next time I hear that someone is complaining about how “anti-business” Illinois and Chicago are, I’m going to wonder if they’re the kind of person who thinks it is somehow proper that Sears would whack away at stores and jobs just a couple of weeks after getting a significant business break from state government.

The fact that anyone could think this is acceptable is what I find offensive – much more than the business’ act itself.

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Capitol conniving takes place on both sides of the politically partisan aisle

Words such as “done deal’ are being used to describe the fact that the Illinois General Assembly will return to the Statehouse in Springfield ONE MORE TIME this year to try to pass a deal meant to bring an end to speculation that entities such as the Chicago Board of Trade and Sears will leave Illinois.



There may be a deal on corporate tax breaks for Sears and the commodities exchanges, but the trust level of legislators these days is about as gloomy as this century-old postcard image of the Illinois Statehouse.



Then again, in Springpatch Speak (that unique brand of double-talk used by state politicos), “done deal” merely means they’re going to try again – with everybody convinced that someone else will try to do the political equivalent of sticking a shiv in their spine.

I PHRASE IT so crudely because the mentality that goes into such strategy is blunt.

We have leaders for both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature claiming to have a deal on the proposed corporate tax breaks, one negotiated in good faith and meant to bolster our state’s business climate – while also offering some aid to those of us who aren’t CEO’s of major corporations.

Yet the plotting of this event, which will begin when the Illinois House of Representatives returns to Springfield on Monday and could end with the state Senate doing their thing on Tuesday, makes it clear that nobody really trusts anybody else.

For the record, the legislators will be asked once again to vote on the concept of changing the way transactions taxes are figured for the Board of Trade and Mercantile Exchange.

BOTH CLAIM THEY are being extremely overtaxed (although many corporate types often give off the impression that they view ANY tax as over-tax).

There also is a tax credit being extended for another decade for Sears Holding Co., which could save that corporation about $15 million per year, and now legislators are being asked to consider a tax credit for Southern Illinois-based Champion Laboratories, Inc.

Which plays right into the hands of all those “Occupy Chicago” activist types who claim that the problem with our government is that it is too eager to benefit business at the expense of real people (a.k.a., the 99 percent).

The Illinois Senate had previously approved a version of this bill that also included an expansion of the earned income tax credit (from 5 percent to 10 percent) that could reduce the tax bills for low-income families.

BUT THE ILLINOIS House had rejected that notion (with its “infamous” 8-99 vote), claiming that the state can’t afford to lose the roughly $110 million such a tax break would cost to provide. And yes, it was the Republican caucus that instigated this particular opposition – although many Democrats also voted against the idea, largely because they seemed confused last week about what it was they were doing.

Which is why political people have now split this up into multiple bills that will require several votes to complete, and will probably take hours upon end to achieve a goal that many legislators seem to desire.

Yes, it will be staged so that the first “vote’ taken will be on the earned income tax credit expansion. The assorted tax breaks for business interests will come afterward, BUT ONLY if the tax credit for low-income families comes first.

If the earned income tax credit expansion fails in the Illinois House, then the tax breaks will never come up for a vote this year (which could backfire because Sears, at least, says it wants to know by year’s end what they can count on from the General Assembly). This won’t become one of those perennial bills that gets debated year after year after year – with promises of action some time in the distant future.

BECAUSE THE STATE Senate has also made it clear they will gladly cancel their scheduled emergency session date for Tuesday – if the Illinois House turns out to be incapable of passing anything.

Which also means the stage is being set for all the rhetorical blame that will be dished out.

Democrats will argue it is their GOP colleagues who caused the failure. If Sears were to leave for some place such as North Carolina, or if the commodities exchanges were really to relocate to a place such as Indianapolis, they will claim it is the fault of the GOP for not being willing to approve a deal.

Meanwhile, my mind can already envision the GOP criticism that will say Democrats who lead the Legislature let this matter get bogged down with what they’d like to consider an “irrelevant” issue.

PERHAPS THEY’LL EVEN claim this is “class warfare” by bringing tax breaks for poor people into the political mix on this issue.

Of course, the fact that this tax credit is being put into the mix is largely due to the fact that Democratic leaders of the Legislature want to have a little political cover. Otherwise, all the Occupy Chicago activist criticism that will be forthcoming will turn out to be true.

Our state’s business climate garbled up by officials more interested in partisanship and one-upmanship than trying to accomplish something, which is just as bad as those legislators in places like Indiana who are pushing for “right to work” laws because they think it will appease the conservative ideologue segment of voters come the next Election Day.

This whole issue is nothing but a political mess, particularly for one that officials are trying to describe as a “done deal.”

IT IS A done deal – provided that nobody decides to screw somebody else in the process between now and Monday/Tuesday.

On the Statehouse Scene, that concept is always a reality.

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