Sneed exclusive: Quinn to propose tax cut for families with children
January 28, 2012 1:04AM
Gov. Pat Quinn | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
Updated: January 28, 2012 5:33PM
Sneed exclusive ...
The Quinn bin: Sneed has learned Gov. Pat Quinn plans to make life a lot easier for Illinois households with kids.
◆Translation: Watch for Quinn propose a tax cut targeting families with children Wednesday at his State of the State address. “This tax cut will benefit almost 1.5 million families in Illinois, by putting more money in their pockets,” a top source said.
The Blago beat ...
Is it akin to squeezing blood from a turnip?
Sneed is told a new federal knife wound is in the process of being plunged into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich before he starts serving his 14-year federal prison sentence on the Ides of March.
◆Translation: The feds have filed papers seeking $21,800 out of Blago’s $129,176 contributions to his state retirement fund in order to satisfy a federal court judgement...“It could have bought a used car for his 15-year-old daughter, Amy, who just got her driver’s permit,” quipped a Sneed source.
Follow up ...
It’s been a year and the late Mary Infantino’s jewelry is still missing.
Cook County Sheriff’s police/Oak Lawn cops still don’t know where it went. And the hospital where it reportedly went missing is not talking.
◆Backcheck: Infantino, 89, was struck by a car and killed in 2010.
◆Upshot: Employees at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, who treated her in the emergency room, placed her jewelry — which included her 60-year-old diamond wedding ring — in a biohazard bag.
◆Buckshot: “Hospital employees agreedto take polygraph exams until corporate lawyers for the hospital gotinvolved and put the kibosh on it,” said Michael Kaufmann, chief ofdetectives at the Oak Lawn Police Department.
◆Quoth Kaufmann: “Essentially, our investigationis stalled...but something happened to that bag. Was itmisplaced, lost or stolen? We haven’t been able to determine.” It’s not the firsttime patient property has gone missing at the hospital, he added.
◆The flip side: Hospital spokesmanMike Maggio tells Sneed, “It’s a legal issue, so we arenot commenting at this time.”
◆The family side: Former top Dem politico/former Chicago Board of Trade czar Tom Donovan, who is married to Infantino’s daughter, Vita, tells Sneed “everyday isa heartache” and resolution is needed.”
Excerpt burps ...
◆First up! First Lady Michelle Obama blast’s author Jodi Kantor’s portrayal of her in Kantor’s insightful tome, “The Obama’s” — despite Mrs. Obama’s acknowledgment she hadn’t read the book.
◆Second up! What was characterized as a finger pointing “dust-up” last week between President Barack Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was reportedly the result of an excerpt from Brewer’s book which bothered Obama — despite the fact the President admitted he only read an excerpt out of the book.
◆Question: Isn’t critical analysis based on gathering all the facts before one opens one’s mouth?
Beatle blather ...
To some it’s an honor: But the late Beatle John Lennon decided he no longer wanted to be called ‘Sir” and gave the British monarchy back his Order of the British Empire because of the country’s support of America in the Vietnam War — among others things, according to a report in the New York Times.
◆Signing off: Lennon signed his letter to the Queen: “Sir John of Bag.”
Sneedlings ...
Flower Power: For the third consecutive year, the Chicago Botanic Garden set an all-time attendance record: generating 953,864 visits in 2011...Today’s birthdays: Greg Louganis, 52; Oprah Winfrey, 58; Eleanor Randolph, priceless...Monday’s birthdays: Vanessa Redgrave, 75; Gene Hackman, 82; Phil Collins, 61, and Warner Saunders, ageless.
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