Watch McCarron, Zorn-Proft and Froehlich here

The "Public Affairs," show featuring urban affairs expert John McCarron debating public policy and political issues with show host Jeff Berkowitz has now been added to the "Public Affairs Podcast Page," and [can be watched here]. The McCarron show also can be watched on cable throughout the City of Chicago tomorrow night [8:30 pm, Cable Ch. 21]. For more about the show, including partial transcripts, see here.

Also added to the "Public Affairs," podcast page for your viewing pleasure on your computer are two shows taped earlier this week but which have not yet aired on cable: (1) This coming week's suburban edition of Public Affairs featuring Chicago Tribune columnist and blogger Eric Zorn and Republican campaign consultant Dan Proft debating and discussing with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz the key international, national, state and local events, winners and losers in 2006, predictions of same for 2007 and (2) Our upcoming show featuring State Rep. Paul Froehlich [R-Schaumburg] debating and discussing with show host Jeff Berkowitz why the State GOP has been on a sharp downhill slide for the last eight years, and how to reverse that deep descent into an apparent bottomless pit[These shows, along with twenty others, can be watched here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Congresswomen Schakowsky and Bean, Congressman-Elect Roskam, Cook County President Todd Stroger, Cook County Commissioners Claypool and Peraica, Ald. Munoz and many, many more pols on our video podcast page. [Watch here].
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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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Better than Fiesta Bowl: McCarron knocks Big Box Living Wage Law

Updated Saturday evening, Dec. 30: The Public Affairs show with John McCarron, discussed below, has now been added to the Public Affairs podcast page and [can be watched here].

Also added on Saturday evening to the podcast page, for your viewing on your computer, are two shows taped earlier this week but which have not yet aired on cable: (1) Our show with Chicago Tribune columnist and blogger Eric Zorn and Republican campaign consultant Dan Proft, discussing the key international, national, state and local events, winners and losers in 2006, and predictions of same for 2007 and (2) Our show with State Rep. Paul Froehlich [R-Schaumburg] discussing why the National and State GOP have been heading downhill, and how to fix that.
[These shows, along with twenty others, can be watched here].
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John McCarron: I think some things are better dealt with nationally. You’re backing me into a corner, here.

Jeff Berkowitz: …All right, so backing you into that corner…you don’t want that higher minimum wage—higher at the City level [than suburbs] and you don’t want it higher for Illinois. Nationally, same problem. You raise the minimum wage nationally—you cut people out of jobs, out of employment—[You should] give them an earned income tax credit [if their income is low]. Democrats want that, Rahm Emanuel wants that. Milton Friedman wanted that.

John McCarron: We’ve got an earned income tax credit.

Jeff Berkowitz: Expand it. Do anything to keep people working.

John McCarron: We should. I’m all for it. I’m all for it.
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Monday night's City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs, airing throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV][Opposite the Fiesta Bowl], features John McCarron, a Chicago Urban Affairs power player,Chicago Tribune columnist and Medill School Adjunct Professor. You may also[Watch the show with McCarron here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our upcoming show with Tribune columnist/blogger Eric Zorn and Republican campaign consultant Dan Proft and our show with this Monday night's guest, Chicago Power Player John McCarron; previous shows with Cong. Schakowsky [D-Evanston], Cong. Bean [D-Barrington], Chicago power player Gery Chico, State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], and State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston] as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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For more about this Monday night's show in the City of Chicago , including a summary of topics discussed, background information about the featured guest, Chicago Urban Affairs power player John McCarron, and partial transcripts of the show, see here
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This coming week's suburban edition of Public affairs features Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune columnist and blogger, punching and counterpunching over the Year in Review and predictions for 2007 with Republican campaign consultant Dan Proft See end of this post for a "Public Affairs," suburban airing schedule [There is a special airing of the Zorn-Proft show this Tuesday night at 9:30 pm on Comcast Ch. 19 in ten suburbs including Winnetka, Kenilworth, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Bannockburn, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Deerfield and Ft. Sheridan]
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Jeff Berkowitz: Economic development. I think Laura Washington would tell you it has been somewhat uneven across the city [of Chicago]. Englewood may not have benefited as much from this mayor as certain other areas perhaps on the Northwest side. Do you agree? Is that a fair criticism?

John McCarron: Well, to some extent, Englewood is still Englewood. As is Woodlawn, as is North Lawndale, we have areas--

Jeff Berkowitz: The west side and the south side [of Chicago]. Have they gotten better [in terms of economic development]?

John McCarron: Yes, they have.

Jeff Berkowitz: Under Mayor Daley?

John McCarron: Yes.

Jeff Berkowitz: Because of Mayor Daley?

John McCarron: Yes. Two different questions. Under Mayor Daley, yes. Because of Mayor Daley, I mean the reason that so much—you go to the south side of Chicago and you drive down King Drive, you start at McCormick Place and just drive south down King Drive and you can’t believe—someone who has been covering the City for thirty years just can’t believe the truth of my eyes because it has just been re-born. A lot of it. Yeah, there’s pockets here, pockets there, but I mean, it’s been re-built. What’s going on? The private market—your favorite vehicle of all human endeavor is changing neighborhoods, especially as we radiate out on vectors from the downtown, which, of course, is—

Jeff Berkowitz: Changing in a positive way?

John McCarron: Changing in a very positive way.

Jeff Berkowitz: Stores are coming in. Targets are coming in. Home Depots. At least they were trying to. Then the City Council said, “No, you folks [Big Box stores] must pay double the [Illinois] minimum wage—have a Living Wage of $13/hour. Daley said, “I am having none of that.” He vetoed it [the Big Box living wage ordinance]. He won. Is he [Daley] right on the Living Wage?

John McCarron: …Okay, we’re moving right along here? We’re moving into minimum wage. Daley is right on minimum wage. And, a lot of these community organizations that are fighting Wal-Mart and demanding a Living Wage, I think they are wrong. And, the reason is I think that makes us non-competitive. Competitive, competitive.

Jeff Berkowitz: There you go.

John McCarron: Makes us non-competitive with the suburbs. I mean if you can go right across Harlem Avenue [outside of the City of Chicago] and buy a sofa out at a store where they are paying their clerks less or where their property or their sales tax is less, you’re going to do it, I mean it is just—

Jeff Berkowitz: You recognize that you are losing jobs, you are losing tax revenues to the suburbs [if the City requires Big Box stores to pay a Living Wage that is higher than the Illinois minimum wage]. You are with Daley on that?

John McCarron: Yes, because certain things- like minimum wage—have to be done, ought to be done nationally. We have a Republican Congress and a lot of states are getting frustrated and they are doing it state by state—

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you would criticize the Governor [Blagojevich] and the state legislature [in Illinois] for passing a higher minimum wage than in other states. You get the same kind of loss of jobs in Illinois relative to other states that you are talking about City-Suburban, right? You agree?

John McCarron: Yes, I would. Yes, I would.

Jeff Berkowitz: Now, just take it one last step--

John McCarron: I think some things are better dealt with nationally. You’re backing me into a corner, here.

Jeff Berkowitz: …All right, so backing you into that corner…you don’t want that higher minimum wage—higher at the City level [than suburbs] and you don’t want it higher for Illinois. Nationally, same problem. You raise the minimum wage nationally—you cut people out of jobs, out of employment—[You should] give them an earned income tax credit [if their income is low]. Democrats want that, Rahm Emanuel wants that. Milton Friedman wanted that.

John McCarron: We’ve got an earned income tax credit.

Jeff Berkowitz: Expand it. Do anything to keep people working.

John McCarron: We should. I’m all for it. I’m all for it.

Jeff Berkowitz: All right…We got McCarron to say we should cut out the national minimum wage.

John McCarron: No, I didn’t say that. Go to the China standard, huh?
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John McCarron , as was recorded on Dec. 17 and as is airing this Monday night[8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[watch the McCarron program 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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Better than UCLA v. UNC in B-Ball: McCarron on Mayor Daley

Jeff Berkowitz: …you give the Mayor an A or A- on [the criterion of ] a workable city; you give him a C- on fighting corruption; over-all, give him his grade, end of the term.

John McCarron: I’d average it out as a B+.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you are pretty high on this Mayor?
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This Week's suburban edition of "Public Affairs," airing in the Chicago metro suburbs, features John McCarron, Chicago Tribune columnist, Adjunct Professor at the Medill School of Journalism and consultant to the MacArthur Foundation, debating and discussing the issues with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz. See, below, for the Public Affairs suburban airing schedule, including a special airing in ten suburbs tonight. You may also, within a few days, [Watch the show with John McCarron here].
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Topics discussed in the Public Affairs show with John McCarron include public corruption and major accomplishments under Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, the February 27, 2007 mayoral election and Daley's opponents [Dorothy Brown and Dock Walls]; Chicago Public School improvement under Daley, charter schools and school vouchers; uneven economic development in Chicago under Daley and the impact of a Big Box living wage in Chicago, the impact of a higher minimum wage in Illinois than in surrounding states and the impact of the national minimum wage; raising the collar counties' sales tax for mass transit operations; raising state taxes for education and other purposes; actions by Mayor Daley's patronage chief Robert Sorich and City of Chicago Water Department/political honcho Don Tomczak; sending Jeremiah Joyce and Tim Degnan "away," and much, much more.
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John McCarron will be the featured guest on the Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 [New Years Day], 8:30 pm, Cable Ch. 21] City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs."
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with John McCarron [to be added later this week], Gery Chico, State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] and State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston], as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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Jeff Berkowitz: …if you had to predict now, give us that prediction—Mayor Daley, what percent of the vote [will he get on Feb. 27, 2007]?

John McCarron: 75% of the vote.
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Jeff Berkowitz: Let’s change the scenario. Say it is not such a Happy New Year for Mayor Daley—everybody is surprised and he gets indicted before the February election—just hypothetically, we are not saying it is going to happen but if that happens, what would those numbers look like then?

John McCarron: Then, all bets are off—

Jeff Berkowitz: You mean Dorothy Brown [or Dock Walls] could actually win with an indictment of Mayor Daley?

John McCarron: Well, let me say then my 75% bet is off, then he [Daley] might have trouble scraping in with 50%, but even indicted-- the Mayor is so popular right now; the City looks so good-- I realize there are problems in the shadows, but he is riding high, here, and we could talk about corruption later—
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John McCarron: There is a lot [of public corruption around him]…I do agree- I am not saying he is part of it because I don’t think there are any Swiss banks accounts here or anything like that…but what we are seeing is the general criminalization of what we had grown up with as business as usual…

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you would agree that Senator Peter Fitzgerald had a major impact—and would you say a positive impact on the State of Illinois?

John McCarron: Yes, I would.

Jeff Berkowitz: By working hard to bring in Patrick Fitzgerald as the U. S. Attorney [for the Northern District of Illinois].

John McCarron: Yes, I would. I mean shame on me and shame on my city editors [at the Chicago Tribune] when I was growing up in journalism in Chicago for accepting what was going on. I think it maybe took an outsider [U. S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald] to come in and say, “Hey, this is wrong.”
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Jeff Berkowitz: Was it wrong when Don Tomczak, the Water Department Chief- whatever you want to call him—they may have had somebody who was the real chief—but it was Don Tomczak who was out there directing the Daley army to elect… Rahm Emanuel over Nancy Kazsak in the 2002 Democratic Primary [for the 5th Cong. Dist. seat]; Rahm now is where he is [Democratic Congressional Campaign Chairman who helped to elect a Democratic majority in the U. S. House]—

John McCarron: Tomczak even went down and I think helped elect his son State’s Attorney [Republican] in Will County on weekends—

Jeff Berkowitz: But, that was free lancing. The point is—didn’t Daley know what Tomczak was doing? He [Tomczak] has been there forever.

John McCarron: Boy, if he didn’t know—we know we have another problem. [Then we would] have an ignoramus in the Mayor’s office in Chicago. So, I’d like to think, yes, he knew but he just kind of wished he didn’t know but he wasn’t about to disturb the applecart.

Jeff Berkowitz: Did he know in a legal sense? Did he have that kind of knowledge? Because, if so, he may have some troubles.

John McCarron: Well, indeed, he might. You know, the Feds have been in his office.

Jeff Berkowitz: Daley’s office.

John McCarron: They have interviewed him. They have pulled records out of the City side of the [Cook] County building. [Out of the Cook County side, too]. So, yeah, this could come into play and it could come into play very soon. But, I still think even if he [Mayor Daley] were indicted, which is extremely unlikely, I think he’d still win [in the February election].
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Jeff Berkowitz: …So, you give the Mayor an A or A- on [the criterion of ] a workable city; you give him a C- on fighting corruption; over-all, give him his grade, end of the term.

John McCarron: I’d average it out as a B+.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you are pretty high on this Mayor?

John McCarron: Corruption is what is keeping him [Daley] from being a great Mayor for all ages, I think. A LaGuardia level of mayor.
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John McCarron, as is airing this week on Public Affairs in 35 Chicago Metro suburbs [See below for the suburban airing schedule] and as will be airing on Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. The show was recorded on Dec. 17, 2006. You may also[soon watch the John McCarron program here].
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In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the "Public Affairs," show airs every Tuesday night 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 Public Affairs show air three times each week in its regular slots at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below. Tonight, there is special airing of the McCarron show at 9:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19 in these ten suburbs.
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The suburban episode of Public Affairs airs every Tuesday night :

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 every Monday night, 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. In these ten suburbs, there is a special airing tonight, at 9:30 pm, of the show with John McCarron.

The City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs," airs every Monday night at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] throughout the City of Chicago.
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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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Better than Monday Night Football:Chico Streaming on Immigration

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you want twenty-five to thirty million [additional illegal immigrants]; is Professor Chiswick right? Do you have the potential to have twenty five million additional illegal immigrants coming here and do you want that?

Gery Chico: I suppose there is a supply and demand element to this issue and I don’t know that twenty five million people can be sustained in the U. S.
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Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs, airing throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV], features Gery Chico, former President of the Board of Education for the Chicago Public Schools and 2004 Illinois Democratic Primary candidate for U. S. Senate. You may also[Watch the show with Gery Chico here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with tonight's guest, Chicago Power Player Gery Chico , State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston] and Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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For more about tonight's show in the City of Chicago,including a summary of topics discussed, background information about the featured guest, Gery Chico, and partial transcripts of the show, see here.
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This week's suburban edition of Public affairs features Chicago Tribune columnist, Medill School of Journalism adjunct professor, MacArthur Foundation consultant and urban affairs expert John McCarron. See end of this post for a "Public Affairs," suburban airing schedule [There is a special airing of the show this Tuesday night at 9:30 pm on Comcast Ch. 19 in ten suburbs including Winnetka, Kenilworth, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Bannockburn, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Deerfield and Ft. Sheridan]
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Jeff Berkowitz: Professor Barry Chiswick, he has studied this area a lot, he is at the University of Illinois at Chicago- a distinguished economist who has been working on migration studies, immigration issues for the last three decades. Professor Chiswick sat in the chair you are sitting in, debated this issue with University of Chicago economist Hoyt Bleakley [Watch May 7, 2006 show with Chiswick-Bleakley here].
and one of the things he said is if we adopt McCain-Kennedy [immigration reform legislation], he assures us that within five years to seven years, we will have twenty-five million additional illegal immigrants. Do you understand that kind of thinking?

Gery Chico: I would imagine that…his thought is that it makes it far more attractive for people from economies that are not as robust as the U. S. to come here.

Jeff Berkowitz: With the idea that—people don’t want to call it that “A” word, amnesty—but some form of forgiveness will occur and so if we do this now…for people who are here now, not only are we not going to seek to push those illegal immigrants out of the U. S., but we’ll set up a system so that “within ten or eleven years if you go thru all these procedures: tax checks, abiding by the law- no criminals, etc., you’ll become a citizen,” people outside- not just in Mexico, but in South America—will say, “I can go the legal route or I can just enter into the United States and in 10 years, they will do the same thing." I mean, you understand incentives, you are in business, you are in law, and you know people react--

Gery Chico: Yes, Yes

Jeff Berkowitz: It is not a totally irrational thing to predict, is it?

Gery Chico: No, in fact, it is human nature to want to better yourself. So, right, what do you do about it?

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you want twenty-five to thirty million [additional illegal immigrants]; is Professor Chiswick right? Do you have the potential to have twenty five million additional illegal immigrants coming here and do you want that?

Gery Chico: I suppose there is a supply and demand element to this issue and I don’t know that twenty five million people can be sustained in the
U. S.

Jeff Berkowitz: Well, say it is ten to fifteen [million illegal immigrants]. Do you want that and is that a concern to you of adopting this guest worker forgiveness program?

Gery Chico: Well, I am not sure if it is forgiveness. There is a certain element of work going forward that you have to do in order to earn that and keep that status.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, do you put people who are here illegally ahead of people who have tried to work the system legally-they didn’t come to the U. S. and they are trying to enter now as a legal immigrant.

Gery Chico: Sure.

Jeff Berkowitz: And, is that bad because you are favoring somebody who broke the law as opposed to somebody who is playing by the rules?

Gery Chico: One of the problems I think there is which makes this a multi-faceted problem—besides the weak economy south of the U. S., is the U. S. Homeland Security system. You can die waiting in line to get your legal permission to be in this country. It simply takes too long. And, there is no incentive for the U. S. Government right now to move any faster. It is a real conundrum because—

Jeff Berkowitz: Why is there no incentive? Business pushes hard. They think that these individuals [guest workers or legal immigrants] are necessary.

Gery Chico: Yes, but the Congress sets arbitrary, artificial limits as to how many people can come in from different countries in what work categories and so before you know it you are running up against a wall—one place or the other. Furthermore, you can appear to have all the openness that you like, but if the Congress only appropriates so much money for Homeland Security to operate this program [legal immigration], you’re going to have those lines on Jackson Street that you see everyday when you go to downtown Chicago. It’s a real conundrum and if you are going to deal with this problem, deal with it in all of its facets and let’s solve this thing once and for all.

Jeff Berkowitz: So you admit there are these issues, you admit there are these concerns, but you are saying address them all and somehow it will work out.

Gery Chico: It is the way you would deal with a problem in your home—and I would—you don’t deal with it piecemeal.

Jeff Berkowitz: Let’s go over to education—something you spent a good part of your career focusing on as President of the Board of Education [of the Chicago Public Schools]—six years working with Paul Vallas…
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Gery Chico , as was recorded on Dec. 10 and as is airing tonight[8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Chico program 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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Better than College Football: Gery Chico on Cable/Streaming

Gery Chico: Oh, I think a lot of what Don Tomczak was doing was on his own. Yes, I do.

Jeff Berkowitz: Daley, the sea of corruption all around him and he just doesn’t know anything? Here’s a guy who every little thing he notices [wrong] in the City- he tells somebody and he gets it right.

Gery Chico: I don’t think you can hold the Mayor responsible or accountable for ...
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This Week's suburban edition of "Public Affairs," airing in the Chicago metro suburbs, features Gery Chico, former Chief of Staff for Mayor Daley and former President of the Board of Education for the Chicago Public Schools, debating and discussing the issues with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz. See, below, for the Public Affairs suburban airing schedule. You may also[Watch the show with Gery Chico here].
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Topics discussed in the Public Affairs show with guest Gery Chico include various approaches to dealing with illegal immigration, e.g., drones, biometric cards and paths to citizenship, whether a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants now in the country may attract another 25 million illegal immigrants in the next five years; U. S. foreign policy with South America; how successful Chicago Public School Reform has been, and whether school vouchers-school choice might improve education in Chicago; has Richard M. Daley been a good Mayor, did he know about the illegal behavior of his patronage chief, Robert Sorich and much, much more.
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Gery Chico will be the featured guest on the Monday, Dec. 25 [8:30 pm, Cable Ch. 21] City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs."
*************************************************
The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with Tonight's guest, Gery Chico, State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] and State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston], as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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Jeff Berkowitz: …the City of Chicago. Ready for Reform? You know the Mayor [Chico was Daley’s Chief of Staff from 1992-95 and appointed by him to be President of the Board of Education for the Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001]. You would say he has done a good job-- for what? 17 years now as Mayor of the City of Chicago?

Gery Chico: Since 1989.

Berkowitz: 17 years. He has done a good job?

Gery Chico: Yes, a very good job.

Jeff Berkowitz: Robert Sorich, [Daley’s] patronage chief, convicted. Good job? That kind of corruption. Rigged tests. Rigged hiring.

Gery Chico: No, I don’t agree with those practices.

Jeff Berkowitz: The Mayor had to know. You know the Mayor. He had to know that was going on and he didn’t do anything, right?

Gery Chico: No, I don’t agree with that. Anymore than--

Jeff Berkowitz: How could he not know about the patronage chief—he put him there.

Gery Chico: Well, first of all, he didn’t put anybody particularly there at that level.

Jeff Berkowitz: Sorich—

Gery Chico: The Mayor, the Mayor’s job and what I saw the Mayor do and what I worked with the Mayor to do was establish a Cabinet. You appoint people to run departments. People who run departments are appointed directly by you and you more or less have daily or weekly contact with those folks. [There are] a lot of people below that- this is a 44,000 person government. You do not have contact with those people every day. And, it wouldn’t be shocking to me if he didn’t see them all year.

Jeff Berkowitz: …So, you are saying 44,000 employees?

Gery Chico: Yes.

Jeff Berkowitz: He can’t know everything?

Gery Chico: He can’t.

Jeff Berkowitz: [But], this [Sorich] is somebody who used to drive John Daley to work, right? I mean he is a trusted person. It wasn’t his job to drive him, but this is not just a guy off the street. Sorich—What? Sorich would invent a patronage system that was abusive, that was rewarding people?

Gery Chico: Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute—

Jeff Berkowitz: He would invent something and reward people for political work, and [use that] for promotions and hiring, on his own? He wouldn’t do that as part of something that the Mayor was trying to do?

Gery Chico: Oh, patronage wasn’t his invention. Patronage goes back decades and decades.

Jeff Berkowitz: No, that’s a violation of the Shakman decree. You know that, right? He would be doing this on his own?

Gery Chico: What was done by those folks is a violation of the Shakman decree.

Jeff Berkowitz: Why would he go out and do it on his own? He would do it as part of an effort to elect people. Daley’s army. Cong. Rahm Emanuel got elected this way, didn’t he? [2002 Democratic Primary victory of Emanuel over Nancy Kaszak]. The [City’s] water department, Don Tomczak.

Gery Chico: Yes.

Jeff Berkowitz: He [Tomczak] was doing it on his own, too. He’s a free lancer?

Gery Chico: Oh, I think a lot of what Don Tomczak was doing was on his own. Yes, I do.

Jeff Berkowitz: Daley, the sea of corruption all around him and he just doesn’t know anything? Here’s a guy who every little thing he notices [wrong] in the City- he tells somebody and he gets it right.

Gery Chico: I don’t think you can hold the Mayor responsible or accountable for a lot of the decisions made by his underlings.
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Gery Chico, as is airing this week on Public Affairs in 35 Chicago Metro suburbs [See below for the suburban airing schedule] and as will be airing on Monday, Dec. 25 [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. The show was recorded on Dec. 10, 2007. You may also[Watch the Gery Chico program here].
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In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the "Public Affairs," show airs every Tuesday night 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 Public Affairs show air three times each week in its regular slots at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below.
******************************************************
The suburban episode of Public Affairs airs every Tuesday night :

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 every Monday night, 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.

The City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs," airs every Monday night at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] throughout the City of Chicago.
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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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Better than Monday Night Football: Sen. Rauschenberger on Obama and DeReg

Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin]:If Barack Obama asked my advice, I would [tell him] not to get into the Presidential race. He will inherit seven or eight very powerful enemies...who are going to make much more of his record than he may want made of it now...

Jeff Berkowitz: What is the weakness in his [Obama's] record? If you were working for John Edwards and he said, show me what to argue about in his record, what would you show him?
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Jeff Berkowitz: It sounds like you are saying Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is wrong when he says he wants to freeze residential electric power rates?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely, he is wrong.
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Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs, airing throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV], features fourteen year State Senator, 2004 Republican Primary Candidate for U. S. Senator and 2006 Republican Primary candidate for Lt. Gov. Steve Rauschenberger [Elgin]. You may also[Watch the show with Sen. Rauschenberger here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with tonight's guest, State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], Former Chicago Public School Board President and 2004 Dem. U. S. Senate Primary candidate Gery Chico, State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston] and Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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For more about tonight's show in the City of Chicago,including a summary of topics discussed, background information about the featured guest, Senator Rauschenberger, partial transcripts of the show, and links to same, see here.
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This week's suburban edition of Public affairs features former Chicago Public Schools Board President Gery Chico. See here for a "Public Affairs," suburban airing schedule.
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Jeff Berkowitz: …People say timing is everything in politics. Is this Barack Obama’s time? He’s caught on.The buzz is about Barack Obama. This is a time in which there is no Vice-President lined up to run on the Republican side for President, no President lined up to run. It is a completely open race on the Democratic and Republican sides. If Senator Obama waits now, it could be eight years [before he could run again]. He is 45- sure he would [only] be 53…

Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin]:If Barack Obama asked my advice, I would [tell him] not to get into the Presidential race. He will inherit seven or eight very powerful enemies, including Hillary Clinton and Edwards and others who are going to make much more of his record than he may want made of it now. Barack Obama has the opportunity to stay focused and to become a leading senator in the Senate. If he were asking my advice, if I were working for him, I would tell him-- let this cup pass. It’s the wrong time, this is what the media wants, not what the voters want.

Jeff Berkowitz: What is the weakness in his [Obama's] record? If you were working for John Edwards and he said, show me what to argue about in his record, what would you show him?

Senator Steve Rauschenberger: Well, they’ll look up his legislative record in Springfield and they will highlight the fact that he carried some extraordinary liberal bills when he was in the majority. That will position him in a way that’s not—[he is] better off building his record, [he should] do some more international travel, stay focused on what the point of being a good U. S. Senator is and prepare, if he is serious about the Presidency.

Jeff Berkowitz: And, wait eight years, if it is necessary?.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: For a forty five year old, eight years is a walk in the park.
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Jeff Berkowitz: Electricity. It sounds like you are saying Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is wrong when he says he wants to freeze residential electric power rates?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely, he is wrong.

Jeff Berkowitz: They have been frozen for 10 years. You were on the Energy Committee. You were extensively involved in De-Reg ten years ago.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Yes, I was one of the authors [of the Energy De-Regulation bill]. I am very proud of---

Jeff Berkowitz: You lowered rates, you froze them for ten years and you said competition would ensue—

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: It has.

Jeff Berkowitz: Has it on the residential level? Because, that is what people say—there is no competition on the residential level.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: We never expected competition on the residential level.

Jeff Berkowitz: You didn’t?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: [Not] until after the price freeze.

Jeff Berkowitz: So once the rates go up, providers will come in and compete? Is that your point?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: We wanted two things in the first ten years: We wanted to see an active wholesale market, where power producers competed against each other and a network to distribute that electricity. And, second, we wanted to see commercial customers enter the marketplace and see competition. Half of the commercial customers that were on the ComEd system ten years ago are now off of it. There is a robust, commercial competitive market and there is a robust, wholesale, electrical generation market.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, it is working.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Now is the time--

Jeff Berkowitz: De-Reg is working?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Yes.

Jeff Berkowitz: On the commercial level and it would work--

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: It is working on the wholesale level—

Jeff Berkowitz: And it would work on the residential level

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: It will.

Jeff Berkowitz: If rates were to increase which would attract companies to come in, ultimately driving down rates? Or keeping them at a competitive price, whatever that is. Is that your point?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: And improving the service. I mean cell phone service is not about the lowest $9/month; it is about the best service.

Jeff Berkowitz: [It is about] the choices? What people want and the kinds of electricity and how much to invest and to make sure there aren’t brownouts and all of that stuff.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely. What kind of power they want. Do they want green power?

Jeff Berkowitz: So, this should be the vision that the Republican Party should be articulating on the electricity side?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely. Well, I am talking about it here on [Public Affairs]. We’ve saved billions of dollars nationally with electric deregulation because we are no longer constructing power plants that we don’t need. So, that’s a healthy thing.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, Gov. Rod Blajojevich is wrong when he stands up and says that you have to freeze rates?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: He’s right for politics.
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State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], as was recorded on Dec. 3 and as is airing tonight[8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Rauschenberger program 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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Durbin on More Troops, Securing Baghdad and Obama's Run

Senator Dick Durbin: ...So the idea of sending 50,000 more [troops]—the fear I have, Mr. Kimber [sitting to Senator Durbin’s right] can remember-- during Vietnam, it was always just another 50,000, another 50,000, another 100,000 and pretty soon, we were...
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Jeff Berkowitz: Are we down to a three person race in the Democratic [Presidential] Primary between Clinton, Obama and Edwards?

Senator Durbin: I think those are the three major candidates, but...
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Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL], now No. 2 in the U.S. Senate, this morning gave a thumbs down to General Jack Keane’s [USA Ret.] proposal for more troops in Iraq. The Keane proposal, which has apparently been made to the President, addresses the issue that Senator McCain says [Watch Q/A on "Public Affairs," show of Oct. 30, 2006 with Sen. McCain here] has been the conclusion of virtually every serious, independent analysis of the Iraq War, i.e., the U. S. never committed sufficient troops to win the War to remove Saddam Hussein and then win those essentially post-war efforts in Iraq to create a democracy that, as President Bush likes to say, can sustain itself, govern itself, defend itself and become an ally of the United States in its war on Terrorism. Further, Gen. Keane argues the U. S. never made it its mission to achieve security in Baghdad [and make sure that Al Anbar Province does not become a side show by the terrorists to prevent success in Baghdad], a mission that Gen. Keane asserts is essential to prevailing on our efforts to Win the "War in Iraq," or perhaps what is more accurately called the post-war effort to secure a stable, operating democracy in Iraq.

Gen. Keane argues that an additional 50,000 troops, or so, could achieve that mission now. Moreover, by achieving security in Baghdad and handling Al Anwar Province, which could be accomplished in 12 to 18 months, and by pursuing the political and economic reforms, goals and Shia-Sunni agreements/compromises that security in Baghad and Al Anbar would make possible, the population in Iraq [both Shia and Sunni] would then have the right incentives to cooperative with Coalition forces to put down the insurgents and sectarian violence.

This, of course, is the conventional wisdom for the counter-insurgency key to success—win the heart and minds of the population at large and they will help military forces put down the insurgents and terrorists. Moreover, the approach seems to be a fresh, new approach to winning in Iraq, something the U. S. public implicitly, if not explicitly, seems to want.

On the other hand, Senator Durbin is clearly not buying. But, what will those senators and Democratic presidential candidates, e.g., Hillary Clinton, who may be more centrist, say? What about those Democratic Senators and Presidential candidate, e.g., Obama and Edwards, who are a bit more to the left than Senator Clinton? What would they say to the Keane proposal? Those are good questions that someone else will have to ask. There is only so much this correspondent can do in a morning.
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Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL]: ...The Baker Hamilton Commission made it clear that they believe and I share the belief that the American troops should be re-deployed to a safe position and out of Iraq by March, 2008. That has to be our national goal. Now, if the President tells us that they need a surge of troops to protect our troops as they move out, Senator Reid has said-- and I think I would agree-- Yes. But, only on temporary basis, and only with the specific goal in mind of returning our troops to America…
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Jeff Berkowitz: Senator, yesterday morning on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, one of the former generals- a retired General [Gen. Jack Keane (USA Ret.), former Army Vice-Chief of Staff] who has met with President Bush [recently], outlined a proposal to--as he said, we have never had a mission to secure Baghdad, to secure Al Anwar province-- and the General outlined that kind of mission, which has been proposed to the President, which would entail about 50,000 [additional] troops for 12 to 18 months [See here and here]. The President is said to be considering that proposal. If he proposes that to the nation, what will the response be of the Democrats in the U. S. Senate.

Senator Dick Durbin: I will only speak for myself. I would oppose that. When I visited Al Anbar province, which is to the west of Baghdad, in the first week in October, I went to visit a group of Marines under General Zellmer, who has been quoted in the press. He told us he was under an “Economy of Force directive,” and I said what does that mean? He said that means we have moved marines and soldiers out of Al Anbar province and put them in Baghdad. So, we were losing ground in Al Anbar because of Baghdad and I said why did they do that. He said because Baghdad is the whole ball game. If Baghdad falls, this war is over. We can’t let that happen. So, what has happened is we have transferred troops into Baghdad—I can’t even tell you how many at this moment in an effort to try to create some stability there and to stop the killing and it has not worked, so the idea of sending 50,000 more—the fear I have, Mr. Kimber [sitting to Senator Durbin’s right] can remember-- during Vietnam, it was always just another 50,000, another 50,000, another 100,000 and pretty soon, we were in a position where we ended up with so many lives lost. I, for one, believe this bi-partisan Commission [Baker Hamilton Iraq Study Group] had the right idea. It is time for the Iraqis to stand and fight. It is time for us to start bringing our troops home.
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Jeff Berkowitz: Are we down to a three person race in the Democratic Primary between Clinton, Obama and Edwards?

Senator Durbin: I think those are the three major candidates, but who would have guessed a year before Iowa that John Kerry would be the nominee [in 2004]. In fact, I think most people would have assumed he wouldn’t be the nominee. So, things do change and making predictions in 2006 about a race in 2008 is a risky business.

Berkowitz: Are you sure that Senator Obama will decide to run [for President]?

Senator Durbin: No, I’m not sure. He still has to make that decision and make that announcement. I think he [Barack Obama] is leaning in that direction.
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Senator Dick Durbin, answering questions from the Press after Senator Durbin presented six medals of honor, including a Purple Heart, to Vietnam Veteran Arthur Kimber in his Chicago Senate office, this morning.
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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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On the Left with ABC Nightline’s Terry Moran

ABC’s Nightline broadcast earlier this week [Dec. 12] a ten minute segment in which a Nightline correspondent gave a sense of what it is like for some of our troops engaged in the grinding and dangerous work of trying to bring security and civil order to Baghdad, and also trying to identify and apprehend the bad guys. ABC Nightline Correspondent Dan Harris discussed and narrated what he saw during one long, eleven hour day with the troops, including his “nauseating fear,” when the troops would knock down doors without knowing “who or what,” was on the other side.

It was a good segment and would have been fine if Terry Moran, former White House Lefty correspondent [See here] and now Nightline Lefty Co-host, could have “let it be.” But, Terry can’t do that. That is not what ABC pays him the big bucks for. To earn his money, Terry is expected to give a provocative, nasty, liberal slant to the news and Terry usually delivers.

This time, Nightline’s Moran took out his bazooka to fire at one of his and Hillary Clinton’s favorite targets. That target is the “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy,” that is always out there making trouble for good guys, like Terry Moran and others on the Left:

“Dan Harris, getting out on to the Battlefields in Baghdad to bring you the story. There are a lot of right-wing commentators who like to criticize reporters in Iraq for supposedly playing it safe. They are wrong. We thank Dan and all of his colleagues.” [Emphasis Supplied].
Terry Moran, ABC’s Nightline, Dec. 12, 2006

Now, Terry, if he were being fair and balanced, might have said this:

There are some conservative critics of main stream media who argue that much of the media in Iraq, due to the danger of travel in that country and perhaps due to some liberal bias, miss a lot of the progress that is being made by the Iraqi Government, and Iraqi and U. S. military forces, to bring some civil order to the country, to restore the economy and to improve the conditions for the people of Iraq. And those critics are right that SOME of that is missed.

However, as you can see from our report, Baghdad is still a very dangerous place and that is very much a problem- a problem for ANY of the media trying to bring accurate coverage to you. It is also the major problem in the War in Iraq that the United States and the Iraqi government, and their allies, may or may not be able to solve. Indeed, that is very much why the United States and its allies are at a cross-roads now in Iraq.

As you can also see, some, and maybe a lot, of the reporters in Iraq do undertake very dangerous missions to bring you the news. Dan Harris is one such reporter from ABC News. Thank you to Dan and his colleagues who are taking those risks to bring you the news.

Of course, what is more important to Terry Moran and Nightline? Giving it to you straight or throwing in a dig at the Right-Wing? You got it.

And, when will Terry throw in a dig at the Left-Wing? Come on- I don’t even think “Left-Wing” is a part of Terry’s working vocabulary.
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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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Winnetka School Board Pres. and Supt. van der Bogert on hot seat?

"That’s some catch, that Catch 22," Yossarian observed. “It’s the best there is," Doc Daneeeka agreed.

Winnetka and other suburban school board may not have a novelist like Joseph Heller sitting on their boards, but Winnetka and other suburban school districts may have their own version of Catch 22 that prevents community-Board dialogue and prevents the Board from answering questions such as the queries below, which were asked by a parent/Winnetka Caucus Council member at a recent Winnetka School Board meeting:

Did Winnetka School Board Member Becky Hurley consult with Board President Kelly and Superintendent van der Bogert before she referenced a private email regarding the child of a Winnetka Caucus Council (“WCC”) Schools Committee member in a meeting with WCC co-chairs Joni Johnson and Ed Harney, WCC Schools Committee Chairman Xerxes Bhote, and private citizen Laurie Kaplan?

Was the intent of this disclosure to have [the parent] removed from the WCC Schools Committee?

Was the intent of the conversation to show [the parent] as being biased against the existing slate [incumbent Winnetka school board members]?

What specifically was her [Board Member Becky Hurley] intent in regards to the information she provided?

What was a private citizen Laurie Kaplan doing at this meeting where Board Member Hurley revealed the contents of an email exchange between [the parent], the Board President [Anne Kelly] and the Superintendent [Dr. Rebecca van der Bogert]? [See here].

The thing of it is, putting it in plain spoken terms, shouldn’t an email communication from a parent to a school board president about the parent’s child be confidential and not be treated as “fair game,” in another school member’s member apparent effort to help her Board President in a political process?

The Winnetka Caucus Council co-chairs, who perhaps were co-opted by the Winnetka School Board appear to take the view that No-- such emails should not be given confidential treatment. Caucus Council Co-Chairs Ed Harney and Joni Johnson wrote in an email to a Caucus Council members a few hours before the Council voted, November 15, on the Caucus’ school board slate:

The Schools Committee Chair [Xerkes Bhote], Joni Johnson and Ed Harney [Caucus Co-Chairs] [and a private citizen] …attended a meeting with Becky Hurley [Winnetka School Board Member]… A communication that was a matter of public record was shared between Anne Kelly [Winnetka School Board President and not slated for another term by the Winnetka Schools Committee] and a Winnetka parent disclosing [an issue relating to the parent’s child— described in the email sent by Johnson and Harney]. We actually knew of the situation prior to its disclosure.

So, perhaps Anne Kelly will want to discuss with the Winnetka Community whether she thought that the email to her from a parent about her child should have been treated confidentially. Did Anne or Superintendent van der Bogert forward the email to Board Member Becky Hurley with the understanding that it would be treated confidentially by board member Hurley. If so, was that confidence breached by Hurley. To what extent has Kelly investigated this matter? To what extent has Superintendent van der Bogert investigated the issue? What are the results of the investigation? Inquiring minds want to know.

How did Caucus Council Johnson and Harney learn of the “situation,” prior to the disclosure [by Hurley]. Did the private citizen in attendance also know of the “situation.” How did the parent’s email to school board president Kelly become a matter of “Public Record, as Ed Harney and Joni Johnson assert? If Johnson and Harney had learned of the situation prior to the meeting with Hurley, did Hurley know that? How?

Winnetka School Board Presdident and candidate Anne Kelly will have an opportunity to meet with the Caucus Council and other members of the community this evening and answer these and other questions:

The Winnetka Caucus Council is holding an informal candidate forum from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 12 for the board candidates who will be voted on at the Caucus Council Town Meeting in January…The forum will allow members of the public to ask questions about and discuss community issues with the candidates. The forum will take place in the Council Chambers of Village Hall.

… Anne Kelly, current School Board president, and Jeff Hoch, have been slated for a second term on the School Board. Newcomers Van Barletta and Nancy Fehrenbach have been slated, also…

All voting- age residents of the Village will have an opportunity to vote on the slated candidates at the Caucus' Winter Town Meeting, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 18, at the Skokie School Auditorium on Glendale in Winnetka. [The final election by the Public of school board candidates occurs in the Spring, always with the possibility of a contested election—this being America].
[Winnetka Talk, Dec. 7, 2006].

Well, there you go. Will Winnetka School Board’s version of Catch 22 be invoked or will Anne Kelly step up and answer some questions from the community? If they are asked, that is. So far, Kelly, Hurley and van der Bogert are taking the position with this reporter--mums the word.

And, perhaps Supt. van der Bogert, who apparently has accepted a new position as Head of School at the Palm Beach Day Academy, effective July 1, 2007, will want to answer some questions about the above before she ventures out to a somewhat sunnier climate. Indeed, perhaps she will want to do so tonight.
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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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Better than Monday night Football: Hamos on Cable/Streaming

Tonight’s City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs, airing throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV], features eight year North Shore State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston]. You may also[Watch the show with Rep. Julie Hamos here].
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston], State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] and Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston], debates and discusses with shot host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz the desireability and impact of an increase in the Illinois minimum wage; a continued cap on real estate tax assessments and the impact of that cap on attracting and maintaining business in Cook County, the impact on electricity supply of freezing electric power rates; education funding reform and tax increases; “pay to play in Illinois,” campaign finance reform; dealing with the anticipated capital cost requirements and other reform issues relating to the RTA [Metra, CTA and Pace] and much, much more.
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Jeff Berkowitz: …You have a Democratic State House, Democratic State Senate, Democratic Governor, probably a Democratic State Supreme Court, are you folks going to say in 2007, “Let’s just raise those taxes and what are they going to do, we’re Democrats and we can win easily.” You will get a lot more revenue. Is that where we are going?

State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston]: Well--

Jeff Berkowitz: I mean you want to raise it [spending] on the transit side, you want to raise it on the education side—

State Rep. Julie Hamos: I know the Democrats are—I think everybody is worried about raising taxes and the Governor, himself, as we know, in the past has not wanted to raise--

Jeff Berkowitz: He [Gov. Blagojevich] took a pledge, no increase in the—

State Rep. Julie Hamos: Income and sales taxes—

Jeff Berkowitz: Right, is he going to keep that pledge?

State Rep. Julie Hamos: Well, I don’t know if he made the pledge for the second term, did he?

Jeff Berkowitz: Yes, he did. So, is he going to keep that pledge?

State Rep. Julie Hamos: It certainly boxes him in. I think the state finances are experiencing some real pressures, right now, big pressures.

Jeff Berkowitz: That’s the question. Would you favor an increase in the income tax or an increase in the sales tax, to structurally change, as Ralph Martire puts it, the Revenue system.

State Rep. Julie Hamos: I doubt it. No, I doubt it.

Jeff Berkowitz: You don’t favor an increase in the income tax?

State Rep. Julie Hamos: Even my constituents [18th District: Evanston, East Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka and very small portions of Rogers Park and Glencoe]-- who I did a tough issues survey with, not too long ago, and there were very interesting results—said that if we were going to raise the income tax, it should be for school funding reform. There was a strong group of people that cared about that.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, you would favor it [an increase in the state income tax] for that and that alone?

State Rep. Julie Hamos: I think people are not interested in raising the income tax just to expand state government.

Jeff Berkowitz: Just [do it] for education?

State Rep. Julie Hamos: They are not interested in just expanding state government so I think we- the pressure and the burden is on us to make a convincing case that if we are gong to raise taxes—you know Illinois has the lowest tax in the country for those 45 states that have a state income tax. Five states have no state income tax; Forty-five states do, we are the lowest. So, this wealthy state—potentially we have the ability to look at that and I think be open to it. But, I think the burden is on us to say, if we are going to raise the income tax, what is it for. Not just to expand State Government.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, is it deceptive to say we have the lowest income tax of all states [who have an income tax] because we have, perhaps, the highest, in many respects, on the property tax side. So, perhaps, it is a way of saying we choose in Illinois—

State Rep. Julie Hamos: Well, this is the school funding issue. This is exactly the problem.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, is it a problem because we choose in Illinois to have more of the total funding for K-12 Education come from the property tax and less of it come from the state government or the state [income] tax, some would say that gives people what they want—more local control. You know: He who pays the Piper calls the Tune. You know that.

State Rep. Julie Hamos: Well, local control is one thing. But, I think we should all be concerned about providing for a quality education for children statewide and that is not happening. The disparities [in education funding] are too great in Illinois and for a state that is relatively comfortable, that is really Democratic—I think there really are some values that we should overlay that question with and one of those is children statewide do not benefit from a system that is that localized and I think we have to pay attention to that.
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State Rep. Julie Hamos, as is airing tonight [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Hamos program here].
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State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] is airing this week on the suburban edition of Public Affairs in 35 Chicago Metro suburbs [See below for the suburban airing schedule] and next Monday, Dec. 18 [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Rauschenberger program here]. For more on the Rauschenberger show, including partial transcripts and links to same, see here.
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In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the "Public Affairs," show airs every Tuesday night 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 Public Affairs show air three times each week in its regular slots at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below.
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The suburban episode of Public Affairs airs every Tuesday night :

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 every Monday night, 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.

The City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs," airs every Monday night at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] throughout the City of Chicago.
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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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Rauschenberger on McKenna, State GOP Elders and School Choice

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger : [State GOP Chairman] Andy McKenna, Jr. has got his hands full. I think he needs to do better than he did in the last election... What you need out of the State Party Chair is ... someone who can raise money ... Andy needs to learn not to take advice from the kind of people he listened to in the last election.
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Sen. Rauschenberger: ...what is the fundamental difference between our higher educational system and our K-12 system? The real, fundamental difference is that Northwestern University doesn’t OWN any students. The University of Chicago doesn’t OWN any students. The University of Illinois doesn’t OWN any students. They have to earn them. They have to COMPETE.
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This coming week's suburban edition of "Public Affairs," airing in the Chicago metro suburbs, features State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] debating and discussing the issues with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz. You may also[Watch the show with Senator Rauschenberger here].

See here for more about the show and Sen. Rauschenberger, a partial transcript of the show, links to the "Public Affairs," video podcast page and the Public Affairs suburban airing schedule.
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State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] will be the featured guest on the Monday, Dec. 18 [8:30 pm, Cable Ch. 21] City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs."
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Jeff Berkowitz: Let’s talk about the State GOP. The Chairman is Andy McKenna, Jr. Is Andy doing a good job as State GOP Chairman?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin]: Andy has got his hands full. I think he needs to do better than he did in the last election, but Andy is certainly up to the job. What you need out of the State Party Chair is a senior ambassador, someone who can raise money and someone who the people in the Party can identify with. So, Andy is Okay, but Andy needs to learn not to take advice from the kind of people he listened to in the last election.

Jeff Berkowitz: Who was that?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Well, Bob Kjellander, for one [For our out of town readers, Kjellander, Treasurer for the Republican National Committee, is an Illinois Republican with strong ties to Karl Rove in the White House; Kjellander was said to have emerged recently as a key figure in an ongoing probe of corruption in Illinois; Also, House Minority Leader Tom Cross mailed a letter to various Republicans in yet another apparent effort to push Kjellander out as Illinois’ Republican National Committeeman]; Jim Edgar, for two [Again, for our out of state readers, Edgar was a two term, popular Illinois Republican Governor, last elected to public office in 1994]. You know, Jim Edgar was a good leader and in 1995, he had a firm grasp of Illinois politics, but when you spend the last six years in Colorado hiking with your grandchildren, you no longer have a grasp of where Illinois is. Jim Edgar’s vision was Judy Baar Topinka. We saw what the results of that were and as a Party, we need to close that chapter and move on to the next page.[Republican State Treasurer Topinka lost by nine points to incumbent Democratic Governor, Rod Blagojevich, in November, with the Green Party candidate, Rich Whitney, getting an astounding eleven points]
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Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: …Fundamentally, the [public school] system doesn’t work: your class sizes are too large in elementary and too small in high school; …we are teaching foreign language in high school instead of elementary schools; we are starting kids too late and keeping them too long. We need to re-think the whole [school] system, not just the State of Illinois, but the United States…

Jeff Berkowitz: Do you need more money? Can you do this with the current amount of money that is being spent?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: I think you have to do this with the current amount of money that is being spent and perhaps in the long run less resources.
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Jeff Berkowitz: …[I]f you could do this thing that I have spoken of before, where we take the $11,000 that we are spending in the Chicago Public Schools per kid, per year and give it to the parents, put it in the backpack and say, if you are happy, the kid, backpack and cash stay with the existing school, but if you are not, out goes the kid, backpack and cash—that scholarship, if you want to call it that, it gives parents school choice, you’d like that?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: That’s a concept you would sign on to?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Yes, what is the fundamental difference between our higher educational system and our K-12 system? The real, fundamental difference is that Northwestern University doesn’t OWN any students. The University of Chicago doesn’t OWN any students. The University of Illinois doesn’t OWN any students. They have to earn them. They have to COMPETE.

Jeff Berkowitz: [As to] public and private universities, in a sense there is almost no difference. We call one public, we call the other private, but in reality it is just an historical footnote. They are out there competing with each other for students.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Absolutely, and that [higher education] choice gives us a system that performs far better than our K-12 system.
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State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] as will be airing this coming week on Public Affairs in 35 Chicago Metro suburbs [See here for the suburban airing schedule] and as will be airing on Monday, Dec. 18 [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Rauschenberger program here].
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The City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs," airs every Monday night at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] throughout the City of Chicago.
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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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Shooting this afternoon at Chicago Loop train station

A shooting occurred earlier this afternoon at the Metra Ogilvie train station in the Loop, and for an hour or two, the station was closed to outgoing or incoming trains. It appears that the gunman shot four individuals, three critically, at the Wood Phillips sixteen attorney IP law firm on the 38th Floor of the train station building at 500 West Madison. Wood Phillips also has an Arlington, Virginia office.

The Metra Ogilvie train station is also known as the Citigroup Center and the Chicago and Northwestern railroad staion. The gunman, who used a freight elevator to get into the law firm on the 38th Floor, apparently took a hostage, and after that, the gunman was shot and killed by the police. There are unconfirmed reports that the gunman may also have shot himself about the same time as the police shot him. The gunman is said to have had a knife, snub-nosed revolver, hammer and oddly, a camera.

The Metra Ogilvie train station is now operating again, open to both outgoing and incoming trains, but the train schedules are irregular and trains are leaving when fully loaded and they are making all stops.
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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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Sen. Rauschenberger on Barack Obama and State GOP

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin]: He [Obama] is one of the brightest people I have ever worked with...The question now is whether Barack is going to be seduced by the media and by the attention or whether he stays focused on his opportunity to be a real break-through statesman.

Jeff Berkowitz: Some people say he is too liberal to be President. You’ve seen him in action in the State Senate. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is as liberal as you can be and 1, not so liberal, and 5- in between, how liberal is this guy? Is he a 10?
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Sen. Rauschenberger:...So we [Republicans] have to be out there with an honest vision about education reform; we have to be out there with an honest vision about...
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Next Week's suburban edition of "Public Affairs," airing in the Chicago metro suburbs, features State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] debating and discussing the issues with show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz. See, below, for the Public Affairs suburban airing schedule. You may also[Watch the show with Senator Rauschenberger here]. Topics discussed include an assessment of State GOP leaders, the likely successor to Cong. Hastert, should he step down next year, Barack Obama's Presidential capabilities and liberal rating, problems with the recently legislated increase in the Illinois minimum wage, problems with an electric power rate freeze, education reform, tax swaps, school vouchers, the requisite vision and message of the State GOP for that party to succeed, Bob Kjellander and Jim Edgar and much, much more.

Rauchenberger came into the State Senate in 1992, as one of the "Fab 5" new Republican Senators, each of whom had significant business experience: Senators Peter Fitzgerald [who was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1998, and did not seek re-election in 2004, with that seat ultimately won in a 70-27 landslide by Democrat Barack Obama over Maryland import Alan Keyes], Dave Syverson [Rockford, still holds that seat], Pat O'Malley [Palos Park, gave up his seat when he ran and lost in the Republican Primary for Governor in 2002], Chris Lauzen [Aurora, still holds that seat; perhaps the current favorite to win a hotly contested Republican Primary to replace Cong. Hastert in the 14th Cong. Dist. if, as expected, the former Speaker steps down in 2007 to become the U. S. Ambassador to Japan] and Steve Rauschenberger who gave up his seat this year to run, first in the Republican Primary for Governor, and then ran in the Primary for Lt. Gov., as part of a ticket with gubernatorial candidate Ron Gidwitz, with both losing their respective primary races].

Rauschenberger, who stepped into the role as a chief budget negotiator as a freshman senator, is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable state legislators in Illinois on budget issues. When he ran in the Republican Primary in 2004, Rauschenberger swept most of the edit board endorsements, demonstrating a knowledge of national issues that matched his understanding of state legislative issues. Senator Rauschenberger is currently serving as President of the National Association of State Legislators.
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State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] will be the featured guest on the Monday, Dec. 18 [8:30 pm, Cable Ch. 21] City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs."
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The "Public Affairs," podcast page gives you a choice of more than twenty-five episodes of “Public Affairs," including our recent shows with State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin], Chicago Mayoral Candidate Dorothy Brown [D] and State Rep. Julie Hamos [D-Evanston], as well as interviews, discussions or remarks with or by U. S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giulianiand many, many more pols on our video podcast page[Watch here].
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Jeff Berkowitz: Quickly, on Obama. You came in [the State legislature] in 1992; Obama came in in 1996, so you had substantial overlap there—

State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin]: Sure.

Jeff Berkowitz: Eight years together [1996-2004]. You should know this gentleman fairly well from your days in the State Senate.

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: I know him very well.

Jeff Berkowitz: Presidential timber, Barack Obama?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: If he was asking my advice, I think he will make a mistake if he runs this time, it is too soon. He needs to get a fully developed sense of the national responsibilities as a U. S. Senator. I would advise him not to run this time. But, he is certainly a factor.

Jeff Berkowitz: Is he capable. I know you may disagree with him on policy. Is he a capable guy?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: He is one of the brightest people I have ever worked with. He has the potential to be a great U. S. Senator and Lord knows, I don’t know how we pick presidents in America, a lot of it seems like accident, but he has a great deal of opportunity. The question now is whether Barack is going to be seduced by the media and by the attention or whether he stays focused on his opportunity to be a real break-through statesman.

Jeff Berkowitz: Some people say he is too liberal to be President. You’ve seen him in action in the State Senate. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is as liberal as you can be and 1, not so liberal, and 5- in between, how liberal is this guy? Is he a 10?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: No, if 10 is Barbara Flynn Currie [Majority Leader in the Illinois State House, from Hyde Park—and a State Rep. from within Obama’s old State Senate District], who has never seen a tax she wasn’t for and who has never seen spending she didn’t like, I would put Barack at about a 7 or an 8. And, he is very pragmatic—and… willing to learn. I think, as he stays in office, and develops more perspective, he’ll become more conservative. He has got that opportunity.
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Jeff Berkowitz: What should the vision—what should the message be for the Republican Party in the State of Illinois?

Sen. Steve Rauschenberger: Well, for the last four years, we have been known as the party of No. We voted against everything [Governor] Rod Blagojevich talked about. Our message was basically we can’t afford to do what Rod wants to do and the voters gave us feedback on what that message meant to them, a resounding thumbs down: both at the gubernatorial level and—we lost every constitutional office, we lost five seats in the State Senate; we lost one seat in the Illinois House…so we have to be out there with an honest vision about education reform; we have to be out there with an honest vision about where we see healthcare in the next decade; we need to be out there talking about what it takes to make Illinois, again, a land of opportunity where there’s jobs and opportunity, that’s what people care about…they want to hear about how you are going to do that, they don’t want to hear constant criticism of the incumbent.
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State Senator Steve Rauschenberger [R-Elgin] as will be airing next week on Public Affairs in 35 Chicago Metro suburbs [See below for the suburban airing schedule] and as will be airing on Monday, Dec. 18 [8:30 pm on Cable, CANTV] on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs. You may also[Watch the Rauschenberger program here].
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In twenty-five North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs, the "Public Affairs," show airs every Tuesday night 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 Public Affairs show air three times each week in its regular slots at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 19, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as indicated, below.
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The suburban episode of Public Affairs airs every Tuesday night :

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 every Monday night, 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.

The City of Chicago edition of "Public Affairs," airs every Monday night at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] throughout the City of Chicago.
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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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