Illinois gave us a low-key Bicentennial

Illinois officially turns 200 years old Monday, and there will be a celebration.

In fact, there have been activities taking place during the past year leading up to this day that are meant to make us fully aware of what a truly intriguing history our state has experienced during those two centuries of existence.

YET I WOULDN’T be the least bit shocked to learn that most of you weren’t the least bit aware of that – or of the activities that will take place at Navy Pier in the name of giving Illinois a proper birthday celebration Monday night.

For perhaps it is the result of the fact that Illinois isn’t exactly the most-unified of states. We’re certainly not Texas, with a strong self-awareness of who we are. Those of us from Illinois most often identify with the particular region of the state that we come from, rather than the notion of Illinois as a whole.

I suspect that has inhibited any true appreciation of Illinois’ existence through all those years. Too many of us probably wonder why any attention is being paid to the rest of Illinois, and not just our home region.

I’m sure I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else. I’m not only Chicago-born, I’m specifically of the South Side (the South Chicago neighborhood, to be exact). I’m just as likely to think of a West Side neighborhood as alien turf as much as something in Southern Illinois.

Bicentennial celebration location historic in its own right

WHILE SOMEONE FROM central Illinois, I’m sure, thinks all of us are alien to his/her experience of what our state is all about.

Personally, I’m inclined to think the significance of Illinois’ existence is the way it has managed to incorporate all these different experiences into a single way of life. Almost as though what makes Illinois unique is that we have figured out a way to incorporate a bit of everybody into our state existence.

From an urban Chicago experience to parts of the state that aren’t too different from Appalachia – and to parts of central Illinois that actually give us those corn fields that too many people think are the entirety of the rural Midwest.

A long-gone part of what made Chicago and Illinois so significant

Then, there’s always the land of Forgottonia – as in the rural western part of the state that got that label as almost a joke of just how isolated it is from the rest of us.

THIS IS THE experience that will be in display Monday night at Navy Pier – where the program will try to give us a taste of bipartisanship (if such a thing can actually exist in Illinois these days). Both Gov. Bruce Rauner and Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker are expected to be on hand for the festivities.

Unless someone decides to have a political hissy bit and not show up – which always is a possibility.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon (which got its beginnings as just a band on the local music scene in Champaign) and bluesman Buddy Guy all will be amongst the performers.

We’ll even get acknowledgement of the musical “Hamilton” including Chicago as being amongst the places where it is being performed, and a historic program narrated by Bill Kurtis – whose deep voice is to a certain generation the sound of a quintessential Chicago newsman (unless you’re of the type who was watching Fahey Flynn) instead.

AND SATURDAY NIGHT Live, of sorts, will be included, what with George Wendt and Robert Smigel giving us a riff off their old “Superfans” sketches. Too bad that Mike Ditka himself couldn’t be on hand, what with him still recovering from a recent heart attack.

As for edibles, it should be noted there will be a 1,000-pound birthday cake from Eli’s – the place that many of us think is the ultimate for cheesecake.

Which could lead to questions about why we can’t have deep-dish pizzas – which some like to think is the ultimate local food item. Yet I can already see the problem with its’ inclusion.

We’d get into a serious quarrel over whether or not thin crust is truly more representative of Illinois, and whether it should be cut into slices or squares – a debate that likely will linger on to Illinois’ tricentennial some 100 years from now.

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Could partisan political “trade-off” be detrimental to Illinois’ future as state?

Does Bost's congressional victory ...

Some might wonder how President Donald Trump can be delusional enough to think his political interests succeeded on Election Day. Yet if one looks at the political maps in a certain way, it becomes apparent.

For it would seem the parts of Illinois that were already Republican are now moreso.

THOSE AREAS MIGHT well be the parts of the state that lie outside the Chicago metropolitan area. But those are often areas that think of themselves as an entity to their own.

… console Republicans for Roskam's loss?

Which means I’m not surprised many of those people are feeling thankful they have so thoroughly chased Democratic Party interests out of their portion of the state. They may think they now have domination of the only portions of Illinois that matter.

Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn a similar sentiment exists within the Chicago area that isn’t all too concerned about these political losses, because they managed to take portions of the outer suburbs that oft were represented by Republicans in the past, but have now swung over to the Dems. Heck, Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider couldn't even win re-election to his post on the Cook County Board!

The bottom line is that Illinois’ congressional delegation come January will consist of 13 Democrats and only 5 Republicans – a two-seat gain for “da Dems.”

Are Underwood and Casten (below) … 

RANDY HULTGREN AND Peter Roskam will be gone, replaced by Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten. Throughout levels of government, the Republican Party became irrelevant throughout the Chicago-area.

Yet for those anxious to wear the Republican-tinged glasses to view things, Tuesday was the night that Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., fought off Democrat Brendan Kelly and Rep. Rodney Davis beat Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan.

Albeit the latter was by a narrow voter margin of 50.51 percent to 49.49 percent.

But Davis is a member of Congress from the Champaign-area representing a swath of central Illinois, while Bost is from around Carbondale and is the lone representative on Capitol Hill of that region of Southern Illinois that thinks of itself as “Egypt.”

… gain, or losses, for Illinois?

THE FACT THAT Roskam and Hultgren will be gone? I’m sure the ideologues will think it was more important to keep Davis and Bost.

Heck, let’s note that when President Donald Trump felt inclined to come to Illinois to campaign on behalf of Republicans in general, he went to Bost’s district for a political “fly-in” rally. The president himself said earlier this week that Roskam’s defeat was because the two-decade political incumbent “didn’t want the embrace” of presidential support.

Although I suspect if Roskam had actively touted himself as a “Trump Man,” he would have had his political clock cleaned by an even bigger margin than the 52.84 percent to 47.16 percent tally he actually lost by.

What caught my eye in looking at the congressional district map for Illinois is that there is one point right down the middle of the state where one could go straight through from the Wisconsin border all the way to where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers converge (a.k.a., Cairo) and never set foot in a Democratic-represented area.

THE SAME WOULD apply if you traveled from the east edge of Illinois around Danville to the far west around Quincy. Nothing but political “red” on the map.

Too easy for Illinoisans to ignore other party

You’d be passing in between the Chicago and Quad-Cities areas, and also skipping over the Illinois portions of the St. Louis area – which, if you think about it, are the portions of Illinois that comprise nearly three-quarters of the state’s population.

Which is how Democrats were able to gain Illinois House seats in suburban portions of Illinois to once-again have a 60 percent “veto-proof” supermajority, while allowing Republicans to feel like they still kept control of the rural parts of the state. We in Illinois may come out of this year’s election cycle thinking our region prevailed, even though we’re progressing to the point of becoming two separate regions. 

Let’s hope Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker wasn’t just paying lip service when he said this week Chicago will “have no more special a role” than other Illinois cities, because having us work together as a state is how we’ll be capable of accomplishing anything of significance in the future for all our benefit.

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Rauner had better learn to act ‘blue’ if he wants to succeed politically

Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner’s election rhetoric has some Illinoisans (particularly those from outside metro Chicago) desiring a guy who’s going to be antagonistic and challenging and willing to provoke the urban opposition.

Particularly toward that guy in the Illinois House of Representatives named Madigan, who despite his unpopularity in some parts of the state was re-elected to his legislative seat with 16,393 votes running unopposed in his Clearing neighborhood (the Midway Airport area) district.

BUT HERE’S HOPING that Rauner was sincere when he said late Tuesday how he contacted House Speaker Michael Madigan and state Senate President John Cullerton and expressed a willingness to work WITH the legislative leaders to try to resolve the state’s problems.


Even though both the Capitol Fax newsletter and the Chicago Sun-Times questioned Wednesday whether Rauner made any call to Madigan. Let's hope he really did make the call.

Because if Rauner really is delusional enough to think he can single-handedly take down the structure of Illinois government, he’s going to find himself as isolated and unpopular and incapable of getting anything done as it can be.

I’d hate to think that Rauner spent nearly $30 million of his own money to win an election that would turn him into the pompous ass of Illinois politics. Nobody wins in that scenario.

THE REALITY IS that Rauner’s re-election is a political aberration. The factors that apply as to why it happened aren’t really part of any conservative Republican movement that some want to believe is sweeping across the nation.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., won re-election to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate with ease; whomping all over Republican James Oberweis – who seemed envious of the fact he won’t be part of a new GOP majority on Capitol Hill.

There’s also the fact that Republicans were completely unsuccessful in their goal to win more seats in the Illinois House. Political pundits prior to the vote counting were convinced the GOP would gain two or three legislative seats – thereby taking away from Democrats their biggest political weapon. But as of Wednesday, it does not appear to have happened.

It seems we still have a veto-proof majority in both legislative chambers. If Rauner thinks he can arbitrarily reject anything the General Assembly passes, they have the power to overturn him!

YES, IT’S A loss for Democrats to lose a gubernatorial post anywhere in the nation. But this state basically is “blue” regardless of that one loss. It’s going to be Rauner’s role to adapt.

Let’s hope for his sake that he really doesn’t have an ideological social agenda (and my understanding is that on environmental issues, he does have an attitude that offends the conservatives amongst us). Otherwise, he’ll wind up being a one-termer – losing, perhaps, to Lisa Madigan come 2018?

I write this knowing full well that Judy Baar Topinka managed to get re-elected as Illinois comptroller (is Democratic challenger Sheila Simon now relieved she gave up the lieutenant governor post and didn’t go down to defeat with Pat Quinn?), and that Tom Cross may wind up as state treasurer.

That race (tied up at 48 percent apiece with about 1 percent of the votes remaining to be counted) could wind up giving Democrats a “take” from Republicans that would help to assuage the loss of the Executive Mansion – which no Dem has lived in for quite a while, and which even Rauner says he won’t use.

THEN, THERE ARE all those referendum questions that the GOP claimed were designed to encourage Democrat-leaning voters to show up at polling places.

They all passed by overwhelming margins – a minimum-wage increase, contraception coverage and a so-called millionaire's tax increase – meaning there is evidence that the people of Illinois won’t revolt if the conservative Republicans don’t get their way on these issues.

Particularly the tax increase that Rauner would want to believe was a major reason why people rejected “four more years” of Quinn as governor. Sixty-three percent of voters said “yes” to the idea.

Could it turn out that in the end, the ultimate losers will be the conservative ideologues who had fantasies of political conquest when they cast their ballots for Rauner?

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EXTRA: Forgettin’ the home folks

How many votes did Democratic state comptroller hopeful Sheila Simon lose Monday night amongst residents of Illinois' Little Egypt with her wisecrack during her pseudo-debate during WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” program?

Both Simon and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka were asked the proper pronunciation of “Comptroller.” Topinka said the silent “p” is a British holdover. Simon agreed, but then added she mispronounces many things, being a Southern Illinois resident.

I HAVE BEEN in way too many quarrels with Southern Illinois residents over how to say “Cairo,” “Vienna” and “Eldorado” – and who are absolutely convinced their regional dialect (KARE-oh, VIGH-enna and ElderRAYdough) is the only way to speak.

Then again, how many Germans snicker at the local “rubes” whenever they hear someone speak of Chicago’s “Goethe Street?” Named for poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (GUER-tah), they find it absurd that a Chicago cop  (back in my old City News Bureau days) once mocked me for not realizing it is spoken locally as “GOH-thee.”

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Pension party line, Chicago-style

Mayor Rahm Emanuel was in Springfield on Tuesday – making his first mayoral appearance at the Statehouse to lobby on behalf of Chicago interests.

EMANUEL: Will anybody listen?



Specifically, Emanuel testified before the Illinois House committee (I wasn’t there, I watched streaming video on my laptop computer courtesy of Capitol Fax) that is reviewing measures meant to reform the way in which government funds its pension programs for government and education retirees.

EVERYBODY AGREES THERE is a mess – largely because for many years, government chose to undercut the amount of money it put into the programs, figuring it could make up the shortfall in future years.

Yet putting off this problem for so long means the shortfall has grown to so large that we’re going to have to have our state make some serious cuts, or take some other drastic actions, in order to balance things out.

But somehow, I doubt that Emanuel swayed anyone with his morning appearance before the committee.

Because all I detected from his talk was the party line that we have been hearing from the city’s legislators in recent weeks – Chicago is the real victim in all this!

THAT CONCEPT IS based on the notion that pensions for retired teachers who worked in the Chicago Public Schools are not covered by the state. Ultimately, taxes charged of city residents by the school district cover the costs.

But city residents also are state residents, which means their share of taxes cover the costs of the pensions to the retired educators, government employees and one-time elected officials who draw retirement benefits from the five programs the state oversees.

As Emanuel put it, “We want equity with the rest of the state.” He went so far as to say that for the current pension system to be maintained properly, city residents would have to face a 150 percent increase in their taxes.

“That’s a burden I refuse to put on our taxpayers,” Emanuel told the members of the House Personnel and Pensions Committee.

THESE ARE THE same state legislators who like to take up the argument, or respond to the “cause,” that says Chicago is “leeching” money off of the taxpayers across the rest of Illinois.

Which makes me wonder how many of those legislators are going to dismiss anything that Emanuel has to say as being just Chicago blather. That may be a small-minded, unrealistic, attitude for them to cop.

Insofar as what the solution to this problem is, drastic actions are going to have to be taken, and I comprehend that people are going to get hurt in the process of the state fixing its problems.

I understand why people who were planning to retire soon would hate the idea of the retirement age being raised, or having their contributions increased. Those workers are being dumped on, even though the economist-types aren’t going to want to have to take that factor into account.

OTHERS WILL WANT to use that emotional factor to undercut any solution to a real problem. Which is an attitude that cannot be allowed to prevail – although I’m not bold-enough, or knowledgeable-enough, to offer up a “solution” at this time.

That is for people far more knowledgeable than me to figure out.

But it is reality that a part of why it is going to be difficult for officials to resolve the pension funding mess is because of the regionalism that has always been a part of Illinois’ character, but has intensified in recent years to the point where some people just don’t want to listen to anyone else.

Which is too bad, because Emanuel actually had one legitimate point in saying that this is an issue that can drag everybody and everything in Illinois down.

“FAMILY BUDGETS, CORPORATE budgets, municipal budgets, and ultimately the state budget” would all be harmed if the cost of providing pensions to retirees isn’t brought under control, Emanuel claims.

I just wonder how many political people are going to want to hear it from Anybody But Rahm.

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