A Chicago Blog

I filed a FOIA request this morning for Arne Duncans credit card statement. I’ll keep you posted on how things turn out. If you’re interested, here’s the letter.

After news yesterday that government officials are abusing their credit cards, the New York Times is quick to show it really does care about taxpayers. They editorialize today:

A pending Senate proposal would mandate such obvious precautions as regular audits by each department’s inspectors general, second-party approval of credit purchases, the denial of cards to workers with poor personal credit and firing for blatant abusers.

We don’t doubt that most of the 300,000 employees with government credit cards are honest, as agency officials insist. Here’s a chance to demonstrate that by nailing misfits who consider government service a license to pick the public’s pockets.

Wow, strong language from a newspaper that regularly endorses taking away the tax cuts of 2003. Let’s applaud them for coming to their senses.

But it occurs to me that their solution for government gone wild is to create more government. Why should we trust internal auditors any more than the bureaucrats who misspend the publics money. Or better yet, why should we trust the regulators to write the auditing rules in a way that properly exposes government waste? Is this really the best we can do?

I’m not against audits, but I think there is a much easier solution to this problem. PUT ALL CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS (and receipts) ONLINE!!! Why not let the millions of bloggers just itching to scoop a big newspaper, spend their time and resources sifting through credit card receipts. I’m serious! I trust ten thousand bloggers more than ten thousand bureaucrats any day of the week.

The road to reform is paved with transparency!

If this were an isolated occurrance I probably wouldn’t be concerned much about it. But the fact is, this is as close to the rule as it is the exception.

Illinois Issues reports:

A controversial plan to shut down part of the Stateville prison in Joliet became just a bit more contentious after a packed meeting at the Statehouse Wednesday.

The director of the state’s prisons told a House committee that the reclassification and transfer of more than 1,000 maximum security prisoners and the relocation of hundreds of employees was being done to justify the state’s $140 million new prison in Thomson

This is common in state school construction. Communities will qualify for state construction bonds and use them to justify schools that are way too big. The, in order to justify them, they shut down smaller satellite schools and bus kids in. Jerseyville is a particularly notable example.

Leslie Carbone reports.

This morning I attended a press conference where the Illinois Policy Institute released the latest version of their Piglet Book. In the clip below, Chairman John Tillman runs through some highlights. My favorite is a study of Ukranian Easter Eggs. Nice!

Let’s see, get arrested on charges of racketeering because you took $150k from a booster for steering a talented player to the University of Alabama. Lose your teaching license. Get convicted and sentenced for time served. Do god knows what for a couple years. Get your teaching certification reinstated?

Yep, sounds like the American public education system alright.

Barack Obama is the candidate of hope, but most of us have been a little confused about what that means exactly. Now Obama is slowly lending some substance to the rhetoric, by giving away free concert tickets to Ben & Jerry’s favorite band: The Dave Matthews Band. Does Obama plan on giving Dave a cabinet position if he’s elected? That’s hope for you. Maybe he will create a Department of Stoner Jams and make Dave secretary. Wow, the world is looking like a better place already.

[Disclaimer: I'm a huge Dave Matthews fan. ]

A little over a week ago I blogged about my attempt to gain access to Governor’s Office emails using a freedom of information act request. I didn’t expect this request to be greeted with a smile. Other bloggers around the country have made similar requests and been told it would cost anywhere from $1350 to $541,000 to comply. Though other Governors, like Charlie Crist in Florida, seemed more than willing to cooperate with the project.

And still, I was naive. I didn’t expect to be totally stonewalled. Last Friday I received a letter from legal councel, Allison Benway, explaining:

Your request … is denied because it is unduly burdensome. Even if your request were not unduly burdensome, this information is exempt pursuant to section 7(1)(f) of the Act.

What exemption? Here is what 7(1)(f) says:

Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except that a specific record or relevant portion of a record shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and identified by the head of the public body. The exemption provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.

I’m no lawyer but this would seem to pertain specifically to items related to developing legislation, not general correspondence.

I have the right to appeal the denial in a letter directly to Rod Blagojevich. I plan to do so and will keep you posted.

Seriously, the guys over at AFP have put together a coalition letter supporting HB4765 which would create an “Accountability Portal” on web for Illinois state government. According to their press release the bill would require the posting of “comprehensive information about state spending, state employees and their pay rates, state contracts, state tax credits, and all revocations and suspensions of state occupation and use tax certificates.” Here here. HB4765was appartenly inspired by Coburn’s bill.

According to another Trib story:

Linking Gov. Rod Blagojevich to pay-to-play politics, the star witness at the corruption trial of Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko said Wednesday that the governor agreed to a plan to cut off state business from a Chicago financier who failed to come up with campaign cash.

Maybe one of the reasons the recall amendment is getting so much support from Democrats, is that they know the alternative is involuntary recall and, subsequently, a trial that will probably make the George Ryan trial look like small claims.