Felsenthal Files

06/18/10

Could Jan Schakowsky Lose in November?

Joel Pollak, the 32-year-old Harvard-educated Tea-Party-backed candidate for the 9th Congressional District (currently occupied by Jan Schakowsky), had what seemed like a hugely successful fundraiser on Wednesday afternoon. Featuring Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, the luncheon was held at the...

Posted at 01:29 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (9)

06/14/10

Lon Monk Back in the Hot Seat—and Back in the Day

Rod Blagojevich wants the jury in his corruption trial to know that Lon Monk, his former BFF, is a turncoat. Blago’s grimaces, eye rolls, and frantic scribbling during Monk’s testimony—not to mention his dagger-eyed stares at his former campaign manager and groomsman—may have been for show, but those who know the former governor know that he once truly loved Lon Monk...

Posted at 11:22 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (2)

06/11/10

The 25 hardest working lawmakers—just one from Illinois

The Hill is out with its list of the 25 hardest working congressmen and women. I searched it for someone from Illinois, and it wasn’t until I reached number 25 that I finally found one—Tim Johnson, 63, a fifth-term Republican representative from...

Posted at 11:24 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (6)

06/07/10

Law-School Loser?: Blago's Curious Comment

On the first day of his trial, Rod Blagojevich encountered two students from Chicago’s John Marshall Law School. When the students approached Blago to introduce themselves, he “shook their hands and told them that he once tried to enroll at their school,” according to Stacy St. Clair’s report in the Chicago Tribune. “‘I applied there on Monday and was rejected Tuesday…. That's why I'm not defending myself.’” Not true...

Posted at 02:28 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (3)

06/04/10

Will Thane Ritchie—Chicago Hedge Fund Guy, Political Gadfly, and Almost-Chicago Bear—get Newsweek?

A.R. Thane Ritchie, founder and CEO of Ritchie Capital Management, LLC—headquartered in Wheaton, where he also lives—is trying to buy the venerable but money-losing Newsweek magazine. The 44-year-old Ritchie’s bid—a nonbinding letter of interest that he placed on his own behalf, not his company’s—was one of four submitted by...

Posted at 01:51 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (4)

06/02/10

Rain and Tar Spoil Obama’s Parade

What a crummy weekend in Chicago President Obama suffered. At my dinner with friends on Sunday night, one of the younger guests—who had worked for Obama, as had his parents—used the word “optics”, arguing that Obama’s messaging these days is a mess. If the President had a competent message shaper, this young man said, surrogates would...

Posted at 11:30 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (5)

05/26/10

Eddie Newman, Doctor to Chicago's Stars

Edward “Eddie” Newman, who died Saturday at age 89, was, as his obituaries noted, the physician to some of Chicago’s most notable figures—including Mayor Richard M. Daley, real estate magnate Arthur Rubloff, and famed Chicago Bears quarterback...

Posted at 01:20 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (2)

05/21/10

Rahm Emanuel: The Next Democratic Party Chairman?

Lately, I’ve been talking a lot with Fred Beuttler, the deputy historian of the House of Representatives and a font of knowledge about that institution. Recently, we discussed one of my favorite subjects: Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, the former congressman for the 5th District, now serving as chief of staff to President Obama. Beuttler speculates that...

Posted at 11:20 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (6)

05/18/10

All the Comforts of the House (of Representatives)

A recent Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats...

Posted at 03:10 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (4)

05/13/10

The Wives Club: No Wonder Blago Wanted That Job for Patti

How lovely for Carrie Zalewski and Lynne Sered. Governor Pat Quinn recently appointed the two women to plum jobs on state boards that pay six-figure annual salaries. Each woman appears to have solid credentials. But—in the kind of coincidence that seems to happen all too often in Illinois—each woman also has a powerful connection...

Posted at 06:02 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (5)