Better than Law & Order: State Rep. Lang on Cable and Streaming
State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie]: ... I have also told him [Gov. Blagojevich] that he has done great damage to himself in certain communities in this state...
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State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie]: When did you become so liberal, Jeff?
Jeff Berkowitz: I’m interested in assisting low-income people.
Rep. Lou Lang: As I am.
Jeff Berkowitz: And I don’t think that’s something that’s the exclusive prerogative of liberals, or conservatives. Right?
Rep. Lou Lang: That’s true.
******************************************
"Public Affairs," is featuring State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] tonight in twenty-five Chicago Metro suburbs [See, below, end of this post, for a detailed suburban airing schedule] on Comcast Cable; this coming Monday night [Sep. 4] through-out the City of Chicago on CANTV, Cable Ch. 21 at 8:30 pm; And, All of the Time [24/7] on the "Public Affairs," podcast page on your computer [Watch Lang, Blagojevich, Topinka, Obama, McCain, Bean, McSweeney, Scheurer and many, many others here].
****************************************************************
The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including this week's show with State Rep. Lou Lang; Claypool, McCain, Blagojevich, Obama, Topinka, 8th CD Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Melissa Bean, 8th CD Republican Nominee David McSweeney; 8th CD Third Party Candidate Bill Scheurer; Tony Peraica, Cook County Commissioner and Republican Nominee for County Board President; Ald. Todd Stroger, Democratic Nominee for Cook County Board President and many, many more on our video and audio podcast page[Watch here].
***************************************************
This week’s suburban edition of Public Affairs features State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] debating and discussing with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz Pay to Play and the Gubernatorial Candidates, Education Funding, Tax Swaps, Governor Blagojevich's proposed sale of the lottery, school vouchers-school choice; Gov. Blagojevich, Sister Muhammad, the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, anti-Semitism, Louis Farrakhan and much, much more. This Public Affairs program will also air through-out the City of Chicago this coming Monday night, Sep. 4 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] and can be viewed anytime on your computer. [Watch here].
********************************************
A partial transcript of the show with State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] is included below and an additional partial transcript of the interview with State Rep. Lang will be posted on this blog later this week.
******************************************************
Obscene level of school expenditures: Time for the affluent suburbs to belly up to the bar. Alternatively, time to support school vouchers-school choice.
************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: The problem is—if you look north of here [Comcast Skokie Studio], you look to the North Shore —K-8 in the Winnetka Public Schools must be spending twenty thousand dollars per year, per kid. [liberals] talk about obscene profits for oil companies—it’s almost obscene what they are spending there per-kid in those schools, relative to what we spend elsewhere. Don’t you think you could sell it that your district, Winnetka, Glencoe and Naperville and so forth ought to give up a little of their funding to help in some of the low-income areas? Because if we wait until the day that you can sell it to taxpayers that we’re going to have a major boost in spending, in taxes, it’s not going to happen. So why not be tough and say to folks in Skokie, Glencoe and Naperville and relatively affluent areas, “It’s time for you to step up.” Belly up to the bar, as somebody once said. Give up some of your tax money. Give it to these low-income areas—it’s not even equality. You would still have kids in low income areas who are not quite getting the education [they should], but it wouldn’t be quite as bad.
State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie]: Out of the many issues that come to my head as you ask the question, let me just discuss two. First, I think my constituents understand that we have to educate every child in the state of Illinois. But they certainly don’t want to diminish the quality of their local schools to accomplish that. We have a good level and a not-so-good level and we cannot reduce the good level to help the others. We have to bring the level of the schools that are not so good up. That’s first. The second is that schools in our area, whether it be Glencoe, Skokie, Wilmette, Winnetka or wherever, are schools that have built-in costs. They have built-in contracts with their teachers. They have built in fixed overhead costs. They cannot just be told one day, “Hey, you’re getting less.” They can’t run their schools. Even though you might argue and others might argue they’re spending too much, the fact is they’re spending it.
Jeff Berkowitz: We could phase them out. We could say “you will get less,” in two years. There are lots of ways to do this.
Rep. Lou Lang: When did you become so liberal, Jeff?
Jeff Berkowitz: I’m interested in assisting low-income people.
Rep. Lou Lang: As I am.
Jeff Berkowitz: And I don’t think that’s something that’s the exclusive prerogative of liberals, or conservatives. Right?
Rep. Lou Lang: That’s true.
Jeff Berkowitz: I know people in both areas who generally want to—of both pedigrees [that is] who want to help low-income people. And my point is, if you really want to do it—I don’t think that is [exclusively] a liberal thing… but … people who are conservative may suggest a school choice system. Because if you can’t sell this, Lou, if you can’t do what I suggested, either you can’t raise taxes overall substantially, or you can’t redistribute, [then] keep everything the same, but give people some choice. Give the people in the City of Chicago Public Schools [a generally] inner city area, where we spend now in excess of eleven thousand dollars per kid, per year—give them the choice and see if they can use that money [to improve their outcomes]. It’s not New Trier [High School, in Winnetka] level, but see if they can use that money to go to a school of their choice, and because they can do that, it will stimulate competition, innovation and so forth. You know the arguments.
Rep. Lou Lang: Right.
Jeff Berkowitz: School vouchers, school choice. You know there are a lot of people in your district who probably exercise that [choice] and have sufficient money to go to a private [non-sectarian] school [or] to go to a parochial school, to go to an Asian school, to go to a Jewish school. There are people who do that. What I’m suggesting is—sometimes they get a better education, sometimes not, but parents make that choice. Let’s expand that [choice]. Let’s try to give everybody—maybe start at least in the City of Chicago and then expand it statewide, so that people who—we can’t help [under the current system], for some reason, politically [can be given choice]. You, I and others can't give them the choices that we’d like to. Let’s do something that doesn’t take any redistribution of income, any redistribution of power. School vouchers, school choice. You want to sign up to that?
Rep. Lou Lang: No. Actually, I’m unalterably opposed to that. And the reason is because it doesn’t provide a better distribution. It doesn’t improve schools. It may improve one child’s opportunity. But when you provide that, and you provide choice—first of all, I think it’s a violation of our Constitution.
Jeff Berkowitz: The state constitution.
Rep. Lou Lang: The Constitution requires that we fund public schools first.
Jeff Berkowitz: There are people who would debate that.
Rep. Lou Lang: I understand. But, my view is that it requires that we fund public schools. Now, it seems to me, that’s my first responsibility. Secondly, you would say, let’s let the kids who want to go to public school choose the public school they want to go to. And, that’s all well and good, until what happens is everybody gets in their vehicles or their buses and they all go to a handful of schools, which takes all the best and the brightest out of those other schools and that makes them worse.
Jeff Berkowitz: Okay, we don’t have time to—we’ve got to get to another topic.
Rep. Lou Lang: Sure.
Jeff Berkowitz: I just want to say that we’ll come back to this another time.
Rep. Lou Lang: We can.
Jeff Berkowitz: I would say everybody can leave [any school], whoever wants to leave can leave. And, so, I don’t see how they’re worse off. If they want to stay, they can. If everybody wants to go to a private school, there will be a supply of private schools. But we don’t have time for that whole conversation. We are going to continue to speak as the credits roll, but I very much want to thank our guest, State Representative Lou Lang. Thank you so much for coming.
Rep. Lou Lang: A great pleasure.
Jeff Berkowitz: I hope you’ll come back soon, so we can complete-
Rep. Lou Lang: Any time.
Governor Blagojevich, Sister Muhammad and anti-Semitism
*********************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: This discussion and some of the other topics we didn’t have time for. One I do want to get to is the issue of leadership of Governor Blagojevich on race. You know that came up. It was a big deal, with Sister Muhammad, from—she was on a commission dealing with race and discrimination-
Rep. Lou Lang: Hate crimes.
Jeff Berkowitz: Hate crimes. And yet she was Minister of Protocol in Louis Farrakhan’s organization.
Rep. Lou Lang: Correct.
Jeff Berkowitz: He’s noted, as you know, for being an anti-Semite. The Jews on that Commission resigned. You took [an appointment to that Commission] and you went on for twenty four hours and then you got off. Explain that.
Rep. Lou Lang: We don’t have time for all the machinations.
Jeff Berkowitz: Give me the short answer.
Rep. Lou Lang: The short answer is that for a short time I was convinced, for a brief period of time, that I could do some great things and accomplish some great things. I was not told that some of the other Jewish members of the Commission had resigned. When I found that out, when I found out that there was no capability of this Commission to do its work—I resigned.
Jeff Berkowitz: Should the Governor step up and dismiss Sister Muhammad? There’s no place for somebody who’s Minister of Protocol [for Louis Farrakhan] to be on that commission, is that right?
Rep. Lou Lang: Well, two days before I accepted appointment to the Commission, I had a press conference where I said exactly that. She should not be on the Commission. There’s no room for a person that-
Jeff Berkowitz: You stick by it?
Rep. Lou Lang: I Absolutely stick by it.
Jeff Berkowitz: Have you been telling the Governor that?
State Rep. Lou Lang: I have told him more than once and I have also told him that he has done great damage to himself in certain communities in this state-- the way he handled this situation. He has got time and the ability to fix it, but he hasn’t yet.
*****************************************************
From this week’s suburban edition of Public Affairs with State Rep. Lou Lang. The program, recorded on August 20, 2006, will also air though-out the City of Chicago this coming Monday night, Sep. 4 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] and can be viewed anytime on your computer [Watch Now].
*****************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
******************
In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the show airs tonight in the regular weekly Public Affairs slot, 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19 or 35, as indicated, below.
In ten North Shore suburbs, the show is also airing in its regular airing slot at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19 this week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below.
******************************************************
The episode of Public Affairs, featuring State Rep. Lou Lang, airs tonight:
at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, parts of Inverness, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wilmette
And at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 35 in Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Glenview, Golf, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Schaumburg, Skokie, Streamwood and Wheeling.
and Wednesday night and Friday night at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Bannockburn, Deerfield, Ft. Sheridan, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods and Winnetka.
****************************************************
Transcript draft prepared by Amy Allen, who also does research for “Public Affairs,” and has her own political blog [See here].
***************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
******************
***************************************
State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie]: When did you become so liberal, Jeff?
Jeff Berkowitz: I’m interested in assisting low-income people.
Rep. Lou Lang: As I am.
Jeff Berkowitz: And I don’t think that’s something that’s the exclusive prerogative of liberals, or conservatives. Right?
Rep. Lou Lang: That’s true.
******************************************
"Public Affairs," is featuring State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] tonight in twenty-five Chicago Metro suburbs [See, below, end of this post, for a detailed suburban airing schedule] on Comcast Cable; this coming Monday night [Sep. 4] through-out the City of Chicago on CANTV, Cable Ch. 21 at 8:30 pm; And, All of the Time [24/7] on the "Public Affairs," podcast page on your computer [Watch Lang, Blagojevich, Topinka, Obama, McCain, Bean, McSweeney, Scheurer and many, many others here].
****************************************************************
The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including this week's show with State Rep. Lou Lang; Claypool, McCain, Blagojevich, Obama, Topinka, 8th CD Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Melissa Bean, 8th CD Republican Nominee David McSweeney; 8th CD Third Party Candidate Bill Scheurer; Tony Peraica, Cook County Commissioner and Republican Nominee for County Board President; Ald. Todd Stroger, Democratic Nominee for Cook County Board President and many, many more on our video and audio podcast page[Watch here].
***************************************************
This week’s suburban edition of Public Affairs features State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] debating and discussing with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz Pay to Play and the Gubernatorial Candidates, Education Funding, Tax Swaps, Governor Blagojevich's proposed sale of the lottery, school vouchers-school choice; Gov. Blagojevich, Sister Muhammad, the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, anti-Semitism, Louis Farrakhan and much, much more. This Public Affairs program will also air through-out the City of Chicago this coming Monday night, Sep. 4 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] and can be viewed anytime on your computer. [Watch here].
********************************************
A partial transcript of the show with State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie] is included below and an additional partial transcript of the interview with State Rep. Lang will be posted on this blog later this week.
******************************************************
Obscene level of school expenditures: Time for the affluent suburbs to belly up to the bar. Alternatively, time to support school vouchers-school choice.
************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: The problem is—if you look north of here [Comcast Skokie Studio], you look to the North Shore —K-8 in the Winnetka Public Schools must be spending twenty thousand dollars per year, per kid. [liberals] talk about obscene profits for oil companies—it’s almost obscene what they are spending there per-kid in those schools, relative to what we spend elsewhere. Don’t you think you could sell it that your district, Winnetka, Glencoe and Naperville and so forth ought to give up a little of their funding to help in some of the low-income areas? Because if we wait until the day that you can sell it to taxpayers that we’re going to have a major boost in spending, in taxes, it’s not going to happen. So why not be tough and say to folks in Skokie, Glencoe and Naperville and relatively affluent areas, “It’s time for you to step up.” Belly up to the bar, as somebody once said. Give up some of your tax money. Give it to these low-income areas—it’s not even equality. You would still have kids in low income areas who are not quite getting the education [they should], but it wouldn’t be quite as bad.
State Rep. Lou Lang [D-Skokie]: Out of the many issues that come to my head as you ask the question, let me just discuss two. First, I think my constituents understand that we have to educate every child in the state of Illinois. But they certainly don’t want to diminish the quality of their local schools to accomplish that. We have a good level and a not-so-good level and we cannot reduce the good level to help the others. We have to bring the level of the schools that are not so good up. That’s first. The second is that schools in our area, whether it be Glencoe, Skokie, Wilmette, Winnetka or wherever, are schools that have built-in costs. They have built-in contracts with their teachers. They have built in fixed overhead costs. They cannot just be told one day, “Hey, you’re getting less.” They can’t run their schools. Even though you might argue and others might argue they’re spending too much, the fact is they’re spending it.
Jeff Berkowitz: We could phase them out. We could say “you will get less,” in two years. There are lots of ways to do this.
Rep. Lou Lang: When did you become so liberal, Jeff?
Jeff Berkowitz: I’m interested in assisting low-income people.
Rep. Lou Lang: As I am.
Jeff Berkowitz: And I don’t think that’s something that’s the exclusive prerogative of liberals, or conservatives. Right?
Rep. Lou Lang: That’s true.
Jeff Berkowitz: I know people in both areas who generally want to—of both pedigrees [that is] who want to help low-income people. And my point is, if you really want to do it—I don’t think that is [exclusively] a liberal thing… but … people who are conservative may suggest a school choice system. Because if you can’t sell this, Lou, if you can’t do what I suggested, either you can’t raise taxes overall substantially, or you can’t redistribute, [then] keep everything the same, but give people some choice. Give the people in the City of Chicago Public Schools [a generally] inner city area, where we spend now in excess of eleven thousand dollars per kid, per year—give them the choice and see if they can use that money [to improve their outcomes]. It’s not New Trier [High School, in Winnetka] level, but see if they can use that money to go to a school of their choice, and because they can do that, it will stimulate competition, innovation and so forth. You know the arguments.
Rep. Lou Lang: Right.
Jeff Berkowitz: School vouchers, school choice. You know there are a lot of people in your district who probably exercise that [choice] and have sufficient money to go to a private [non-sectarian] school [or] to go to a parochial school, to go to an Asian school, to go to a Jewish school. There are people who do that. What I’m suggesting is—sometimes they get a better education, sometimes not, but parents make that choice. Let’s expand that [choice]. Let’s try to give everybody—maybe start at least in the City of Chicago and then expand it statewide, so that people who—we can’t help [under the current system], for some reason, politically [can be given choice]. You, I and others can't give them the choices that we’d like to. Let’s do something that doesn’t take any redistribution of income, any redistribution of power. School vouchers, school choice. You want to sign up to that?
Rep. Lou Lang: No. Actually, I’m unalterably opposed to that. And the reason is because it doesn’t provide a better distribution. It doesn’t improve schools. It may improve one child’s opportunity. But when you provide that, and you provide choice—first of all, I think it’s a violation of our Constitution.
Jeff Berkowitz: The state constitution.
Rep. Lou Lang: The Constitution requires that we fund public schools first.
Jeff Berkowitz: There are people who would debate that.
Rep. Lou Lang: I understand. But, my view is that it requires that we fund public schools. Now, it seems to me, that’s my first responsibility. Secondly, you would say, let’s let the kids who want to go to public school choose the public school they want to go to. And, that’s all well and good, until what happens is everybody gets in their vehicles or their buses and they all go to a handful of schools, which takes all the best and the brightest out of those other schools and that makes them worse.
Jeff Berkowitz: Okay, we don’t have time to—we’ve got to get to another topic.
Rep. Lou Lang: Sure.
Jeff Berkowitz: I just want to say that we’ll come back to this another time.
Rep. Lou Lang: We can.
Jeff Berkowitz: I would say everybody can leave [any school], whoever wants to leave can leave. And, so, I don’t see how they’re worse off. If they want to stay, they can. If everybody wants to go to a private school, there will be a supply of private schools. But we don’t have time for that whole conversation. We are going to continue to speak as the credits roll, but I very much want to thank our guest, State Representative Lou Lang. Thank you so much for coming.
Rep. Lou Lang: A great pleasure.
Jeff Berkowitz: I hope you’ll come back soon, so we can complete-
Rep. Lou Lang: Any time.
Governor Blagojevich, Sister Muhammad and anti-Semitism
*********************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: This discussion and some of the other topics we didn’t have time for. One I do want to get to is the issue of leadership of Governor Blagojevich on race. You know that came up. It was a big deal, with Sister Muhammad, from—she was on a commission dealing with race and discrimination-
Rep. Lou Lang: Hate crimes.
Jeff Berkowitz: Hate crimes. And yet she was Minister of Protocol in Louis Farrakhan’s organization.
Rep. Lou Lang: Correct.
Jeff Berkowitz: He’s noted, as you know, for being an anti-Semite. The Jews on that Commission resigned. You took [an appointment to that Commission] and you went on for twenty four hours and then you got off. Explain that.
Rep. Lou Lang: We don’t have time for all the machinations.
Jeff Berkowitz: Give me the short answer.
Rep. Lou Lang: The short answer is that for a short time I was convinced, for a brief period of time, that I could do some great things and accomplish some great things. I was not told that some of the other Jewish members of the Commission had resigned. When I found that out, when I found out that there was no capability of this Commission to do its work—I resigned.
Jeff Berkowitz: Should the Governor step up and dismiss Sister Muhammad? There’s no place for somebody who’s Minister of Protocol [for Louis Farrakhan] to be on that commission, is that right?
Rep. Lou Lang: Well, two days before I accepted appointment to the Commission, I had a press conference where I said exactly that. She should not be on the Commission. There’s no room for a person that-
Jeff Berkowitz: You stick by it?
Rep. Lou Lang: I Absolutely stick by it.
Jeff Berkowitz: Have you been telling the Governor that?
State Rep. Lou Lang: I have told him more than once and I have also told him that he has done great damage to himself in certain communities in this state-- the way he handled this situation. He has got time and the ability to fix it, but he hasn’t yet.
*****************************************************
From this week’s suburban edition of Public Affairs with State Rep. Lou Lang. The program, recorded on August 20, 2006, will also air though-out the City of Chicago this coming Monday night, Sep. 4 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] and can be viewed anytime on your computer [Watch Now].
*****************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
******************
In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the show airs tonight in the regular weekly Public Affairs slot, 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19 or 35, as indicated, below.
In ten North Shore suburbs, the show is also airing in its regular airing slot at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19 this week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below.
******************************************************
The episode of Public Affairs, featuring State Rep. Lou Lang, airs tonight:
at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, parts of Inverness, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wilmette
And at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 35 in Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Glenview, Golf, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Schaumburg, Skokie, Streamwood and Wheeling.
and Wednesday night and Friday night at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Bannockburn, Deerfield, Ft. Sheridan, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods and Winnetka.
****************************************************
Transcript draft prepared by Amy Allen, who also does research for “Public Affairs,” and has her own political blog [See here].
***************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
******************
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