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26 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011

CHICAGO

JACK HIGGINS OPINION

WE THINK
John Barron Publisher Tom McNamee Editorial Page Editor

A N I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R

Don Hayner Editor in Chief Andrew Herrmann Managing Editor

Legislators must find ways to trim budget


t wasnt one of Gov. Quinns finer moments. When Illinois Senate Republicans last week unveiled a hard-times budget plan, calling for $5 billion in cuts from a $35 billion state budget proposed by Quinn for next year, the governor dismissed them like pesky flies. Those apostles of, you know, Draconian cuts end up hurting your economic growth and jobs. Im not listening to them, Quinn said, taking a big swat. Never mind that in February Quinn challenged Republicans, known of late as the Illinois party of No, to craft their own budget stabilization plan if they rejected his. And never mind that the Republicans are absolutely right to lay out major budget cuts. Heres what Quinn should have said: Lets talk. Despite a major income tax increase in January, significant and painful budget cuts still are needed in Illinois. The state owes its schools and social service agencies upward of $9 billion and is facing crippling pension costs. The tax increase will help lighten that load, but Illinois also must scale back the cost of government to achieve true solvency. Do the Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, go too far? We think so. Human services, already decimated by recent budget cuts, cannot afford another big hit. We also think proposed major cuts to education are unwise. Additionally, a big chunk of the estimated $5 billion in savings cant be realized in the next year. The plan calls for reducing pensions for current employees an issue everyone agrees will end up in court and renegotiating state employee contracts, never an easy or quick process. State leaders should move forward on both fronts but cant count on those savings just yet. But Radogno and her colleagues deserve plenty of credit for ringing the alarm bell in a responsible way and reviving a long-forgotten custom in Springfield. Its called democracy, that intelligent back-and-forth in pursuit of common good that long ago fell out of fashion in Springfield.

Why wont Alvarez answer questions?


CAROL MARIN
here is Anita Alvarez? Requests from the Chicago Sun-Times and WMAQ-Channel 5 to interview the Cook County states attorney about the David Koschman case have gotten us nowhere. Yes, weve talked by phone with her chief of staff, Dan Kirk; the former head of Felony Review, Darren OBrien, and her spokeswoman, Sally Daly. But not Alvarez. Two news releases Daly sent didnt even include her boss name. One was titled, Statement of the Cook County States Attorneys Office Regarding the Death Investigation of David Koschman. The other, in an e-mail, was untitled. Its worth remembering that Anita Alvarez made history in 2008 by differentiating herself from the pack. Unlike five others running for Cook County states attorney, Alvarez was the only woman, the only Hispanic. A career prosecutor, she was a self-described hockey mom who could be tender when it came to kids but tough as nails when it came to criminals. In the tragic 1997 Girl X case, Alvarez was the voice for the voiceless, bringing to justice the man who raped, strangled and beat a 9-year-old child and put roach poison down her throat. Alvarezs campaign pledge was to rebuild trust in those who had no faith in law enforcement. Where is that Anita Alvarez? Where was she in 2004 when David Koschman, a 21-year-old kid from the suburbs, was cold-cocked one morning on Division Street by Mayor Daleys nephew R.J. Vanecko? I ask this because in 2004, before her historic election, Alvarez was States Attorney Dick Devines third in command. Both owed their start to the former states attorney, Mayor Richard M. Daley. By any standard, the Koschman case that arrived on their doorstep was a heater, given that it involved the Daley family. But Devine, in a phone conversation with the Sun-Times in February, dismissed that notion, telling the Sun-Times that he didnt remember anyone in the press or . . . the world of politics [calling] with regard to this incident. Devine said, I just recall . . . police and felony review looked at it and concluded they would not charge. When told that the states attorneys office cant find any record of that felony review, Devine responded: There normally would be some kind of record kept. I dont know why the file is missing. Nor do we. Its one of long list of questions neither the Chicago Police Department nor the states attorneys office has answered. (Heres a link to those questions: www.suntimes. com/test/4247001-418/unansweredquestions-in-homicide-case-involvingdaley-nephew.html). David Koschman, the only child of a widowed mother, died seven years ago from the head injuries that resulted from R.J. Vaneckos punch. Nanci Koschman, every bit the hockey mom that Anita Alvarez is, still grieves every day. Mrs. Koschman never filed a lawsuit. And she never believed that anyone, in that drunken altercation on Division Street, meant to kill her boy. But when a detective, years ago, told her she would be impressed by who was involved in Davids death, she knew that had the situation been reversed and her son had fatally hit Vanecko, the process and the outcome likely would have been different. Today, Dick Devine is in private practice. One of his clients is R.J. Vaneckos brother Robert. Devine also was recently appointed by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin to head a screening committee for federal judges. Anita Alvarez is reportedly high on the list of candidates. Wherever her career takes her next, lets hope she rediscovers her voice for the voiceless before she leaves.

cmarin@suntimes.com

Hiding donors spurs suspicions


hile interviewing candidates for alderman, we talked to quite a few who have accepted hefty campaign donations from anonymous strangers, no questions asked. You might think this would trouble them. You might think that taking money from people in the shadows might make them nervous. You might think they might wonder just what their unnamed benefactors are looking for in return. Nobody gives money to anybody for nothing. But few candidates have turned down the money. More often, they admit to mild misgivings, urge the donors to reveal themselves, and grab the check. As Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown has written, the money has been sprinkled around town by For a Better Chicago, a newly incorporated group led by political consultant Greg Goldner, who in the past has worked for Mayor Daley and Rahm Emanuel. So we know who he is. But Goldner has refused to tell Brown how For a Better Chicago raised a whopping $855,000. That, he says, is nobodys business. The irony for us is that we have endorsed a number of these candidates, and we have no regrets. We considered the alternatives. But there can be consequences to your reputation for Goldner and for the candidates when you willfully keep the public in the dark. The public has every right to doubt your integrity.

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