The Civic Report

All this talk about health care reform has swirled like a screaming, incomprehensible vortex for months now, and still I haven’t any sense of what really would happen if a bill were to pass.

Would I, as an underemployed, uninsured “young invincibile,” get relief or just a mandate to buy insurance?

Would there be a public option? And, if so, what would that mean? How much would it likely cost me to be insured and what kind of coverage would I get?

I could go on and on with questions, and I have for months now, and still not get anywhere. No one’s going to just appear with the answers.

So here we go, let’s do this together.

I’ve posted the latest House version — the 1,990-page Affordable Health Care For America Act put out by Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning. I invite anyone and everyone to read it, comment on it, ask questions about it and together perhaps we’ll learn something about it.

Happy reading!
House Health Care Bill

After a three-week hiatus, The Civic Report will relaunch this week with a new focus: national politics.

Expect to see the features you’ve come to know and love still around — the short, snappy posts and the bolded key points — and expect to see some new initiatives, as well.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

See you soon!

Ald. Bernie Stone (50th) went on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” Wednesday to defend City Hall’s parking meter deal against the lawyer for a group who’s suing the city over it and a journalist who helped expose the hasty way it was done.

Stone got testy fast. He called Inspector General David Hoffman’s scathing report on the lease deal “worthless.” The Reader’s Mick Dumke, who has followed the deal closely, asked what research the alderman had done on the value of the meters. “That’s none of your damn business,” Stone replied.

Watch the video:

Stone doesn’t exactly have the best record when it comes to attentiveness. Watch this video of him falling asleep during a City Council meeting in March:

Bonus: Scope the Inspector General’s report:

Chicago Inspector General’s Report On Parking Meter Deal –

Vice President Joe Biden’s Chicago roundtable on health care Thursday was as noteworthy for what wasn’t discussed at it as for what was.

A public health insurance option dominates the national discussion. The vice president talked about electronic record-keeping.

Why? Because no one objects to electronic record-keeping. It may be the least contentious reform proposal.

But the real way you know it was a dog-and-pony show was by seeing who got the invite. Roland Burris, Lisa Madigan, Jan Schakowsky and a whole bunch of doctors from Sinai hospital in their spiffy white coats.

Roland Burris isn’t likely to show up at a health care discussion unless he knows he won’t have to answer any tough questions.

In fact, he didn’t have to answer a single one. The panel itself took no questions from the audience and none from the press.

To call that a discussion strains credulity.

No question electronic records beat manila folders with brads. And no doubt $1.2 billion to help hospitals and clinics launch electronic records systems helps. But do we really need to have a roundtable discussion about it?

Is that really why the vice president flew to Chicago? To convince us of that?

Here are links to today’s coverage of the event:

• Chicago Tribune: Vice President Joe Biden hears from hospitals about getting medical records online
• Chicago Sun-Times: Biden pitches health care plan on the West Side
• Associated Press: Biden To Announce Almost $1.2B For Medical Records
• Chicago Public Radio: Joe Biden Brings Health Care Fight To Chicago
• Medill News Service: Biden plays it safe on health care — no public option debate here
• Daily Herald: Biden in town to announce almost $1.2 billion for medical records

With the way the digital world continues to expand, news increasingly goes to find an audience, rather than the other way around.

Young professional people especially want the news to come to them. Time-starved, with too many demands on their attention, working professional people are turning to news-delivery devices such as Google Alerts, Twitter and Facebook with greater frequency.

Watch this quick video from The Civic Report editor Tim Taliaferro offering some easy strategies for letting others do the heavy news lifting, bringing you the news you want, and saving you time — and sanity.

Chris Kennedy

Merchandise Mart boss Chris Kennedy, he of the golden name and golden pocketbook, has decided against drawing on his surname or his wealth to run for governor or the U.S. Senate, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Kennedy explained in an e-mail to friends why he opted not to run for the Senate:

In the end, I did not want to have to leave the state in order to serve it. They say love conquers all, and in my case, it conquered ambition. I realize that I would rather be a good husband and a good father than a good Washington politician.

His uncle Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) battle with cancer and the recent death of his aunt Eunice Shriver, a founder of the Special Olympics, had factored into his decision, Kennedy said.

I have been increasingly aware of the enormous contributions that my Uncle Teddy has made because of his service in the United States Senate.  I think the more we learn of his story, the more we want to carry on his legacy.

Bizarre reporting quirk: The Sun-Times Michael Sneed leads off her news article on Kennedy with this peculiar third-person reference to herself: “Sneed has learned the Merchandise Mart’s Chris Kennedy has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate — or any political office this year.”

Ald. Helen Shiller

Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) is on the hot seat from Uptown constituents who say she has ignored an outbreak of violence in the North Side neighborhood.

What’s really put the heat on her is a video that an Uptown resident took of rival gangs running, cursing, punching, shouting and throwing glass bottles at each other on Sheridan Road.

Watch the video:

What a riot! from Joe Gray on Vimeo.

Since the video hit Uptown Update, a community news blog, CBS, NBC and the Huffington Post have reported on it.

At an Olympics bid town hall meeting Monday night at Truman College, protesters waited for Shiller outside holding signs demanding that she do something.

Shiller briefly tried to address the protesters but kept getting interrupted. So she left, and the protesters and the media ran after her.

Watch this Fox News Chicago report:

Mark Kirk

Alexi Giannoulias

Cheryle Jackson

2010 U.S. Senate Race

Republican Mark Kirk edges out Democrats Alexi Giannoulias and Cheryle Jackson for the lead in the race for Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, a new Rasmussen poll finds.

On the Kirk-Giannoulias match-up, here is the question and the results:

In thinking about the 2010 Election for the United States Senate, suppose you had a choice between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. If the election were held today would you vote for Republican Mark Kirk or Democrat Alexi Giannoulias?

41% Kirk

38% Giannoulias

4% Some other candidate

17% Not sure

Kirk bested Jackson 47 percent to 30 percent, with 6 percent saying some other candidate and 17 percent not sure.

Noteworthy tidbit: In each case, you’ll notice, 17 percent of respondents weren’t sure. Expect that to change as the race proceeds.

Stakes: Kirk is seeking to break the stranglehold Democrats have on statewide offices in Illinois. Many political observers consider him the Republicans’ best shot.

Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin

Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin won’t challenge Todd Stroger for board president, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Suffredin, a Democrat, flirted with making a run for board president after Commissioner Forrest Claypool decided earlier this year that he wasn’t going to run.

Backstory: Back then, when Stroger was mired in scandals and the field was wide open, lots of candidates entertained the idea of running the show.

Context: Suffredin is also good pals with Toni Preckwinkle, who was the first candidate to announce she would go after the embattled Stroger.

Theory: Suffredin may have never seriously considered a run. He could have been a Trojan horse candidate for Preckwinkle to muddy the political waters and keep other challengers out.

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger

Political commentator Michael Sneed wrote Sunday she’s “hearing rumbles” that embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is having some uncomfortable heart-to-hearts with Democratic leaders about running for re-election.

It sounds like his resolve may be failing.

Which isn’t all that surprising — this has not been Stroger’s year.

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