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.

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See you soon!

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

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.”

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.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin

Dick Durbin, the senior U.S. senator from Illinois, has decided against holding any townhall meetings to discuss the president’s health care plan.

Health care townhalls across the country have been disastrous for Democrats, marked with frustration and no small amount of vitriol.

Rather than risk a shouting fest, Durbin says he will hold private meetings across the state.

Juicy quote: He won’t be doing what he calls “sucker-punch town hall meetings” that he says have attracted “political theater,” CBS2 Chicago reports.

Related: Aspiring senator Mark Kirk held a private townhall meeting in Naperville Wednesday along with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert. No one shouted at that meeting.

Reporting quirk: The Plainfield Sun reported that one audience member asked Kirk and Biggert this tough question:

I’ve set up companies in Canada, England and in the U.S., and I can tell you that unless my spouse works for a big company with health care, I can’t think about opening a business,” Kirk was told. “Why should I be responsible for my employees’ health care when a society should take care of that?”

The reporter did not include Kirk or Biggert’s response.

Watch a recent townhall in Tampa:

Feel like going to a townhall? CBS2 Chicago lists these upcoming meetings:

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) is planning health care town halls for 9 a.m. on Aug. 22 at Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Van Buren St., and at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 29 at the Second Baptist Church of Maywood, at 36 S. 13th Ave. in Maywood.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has a town hall set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at Niles West High School Auditorium, at 5701 Oakton St. in Skokie.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has scheduled a town hall meeting for 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at the Sheldon Heights Church of Christ, 11249 S. Halsted St.

U.S. Senator Roland Burris

Now this is rich: Roland Burris told ABC News this week he might run for his senate seat after all.

Burris had said previously the fund-raising demands were too much and that he would not seek election to the seat Rod Blagojevich appointed him to.

Now apparently a chorus of people has arisen to beg the senator not to leave.

“What I’m still hearing,” Burris told ABC, is “people from all over the country and they are saying, ‘Don’t give up that seat.’”

Juicy quote: When asked if that meant he would be running after all, Burris said, “You never say never in this business.”

Making a race-announcement video and posting it on YouTube has become a mandatory rite of passage for politicians these days. They all do it, and they all applaud themselves for doing it. As though having a video on YouTube makes them hip and in touch with young voters.

Rather than having you scouring YouTube for all these gems (We know how you despise scouring YouTube), we’ve collected them here in one, frequently updated location.

If you’re bored, give them a look and post comments with your reactions below. It’s amazing what you can learn about politicians when they train cameras on themselves.

Note: Joe Birkett’s video announcing he’s running for attorney general remains in the line-up, even though Birkett has since changed his mind. We left it in for old time’s sake.

Jeremy Rose, president of the Chicago Young Republicans

Jeremy Rose, president of the Chicago Young Republicans and campaign adviser to gubernatorial candidate Matt Murphy, gives his take on Lisa Madigan, Mark Kirk, Kirk Dillard and Alexi Giannoulias.

Rose offers an insider’s look at the jockeying and political calculations being made within the Illinois Republican Party and which office the party thinks it has the best shot at winning.

Hint: It rhymes with U.S. Tennant.

Listen:

Rose 1 Lisa Madigan’s big decision (4:22)

Rose 2 New faces and old faces in the party (3:48)

Rose 3 The governor’s race (4:34)

Rose 4 The importance of fund-raising (3:16)

Rose 5 Republicans and Chicago politics (4:34)

Rose 6 Looking ahead (2:47)

Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Political commentator Greg Hinz called Lisa Madigan’s decision to run for re-election as attorney general the most consequential political event since Jim Thompson entered the 1976 governor’s race.

Given how the political dominoes have been falling ever since, Hinz may be right.

Background: Every politician in Illinois was waiting on Lisa Madigan to decide what office — Senate, governor, AG — she would run for before they made their race decisions.

Why: She’s considered the most popular politician in Illinois and, thus, nearly unbeatable.

Domino report:

• Republican Mark Kirk is in for the U.S. Senate race.
• Republican Joe Birkett is regretting announcing early that he would run for attorney general.
• Democrat Alexi Giannoulias wants to be the frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race.
• Republican Kirk Dillard is in for governor.
• So is Republican Bill Brady and Democrat Dan Hynes.
• Republican Dan Rutherford is in for state treasurer.
• Democrat Julie Hamos is moving so she can run for the Congressional seat Mark Kirk is leaving.