Congressman Aaron Schock says don’t expect to see him run for governor anytime soon.
Schock says he will not seek a chance for the governor seat in 2014. Schock, 31, says he’s already placed his name on the ballot for re-election in the 18th congressional district He’s focused on maintaining his seat, but he’s not ruling out a run in the future.
“I could run for dog catcher perhaps someday. I don’t know. I’m not going to rule anything out. But I will tell you right now, my plans are to run for congress,” he said.
Schock is seeking his third congressional term
If you click the link, you’ll see that the story has disappeared. The station retracted it, apparently at the insistence of Schock, who maintains that he’s not ruling anything out.
* When somebody is talking about race or ethnicity and makes it a point to say “I have friends who are…” you pretty much know where the rest of it is going. Candidates should really learn to shut up when they find themselves saying that line. Case in point, Congressman Bobby Schilling…
After talking about health care, Rep. Schilling, unprompted by the audience, said, “What about English as a second language? Can we agree on that? How come I got to learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever.” […]
“One of the biggest problems is, you know, I got some Hispanic friends is that, a lot of those folks that don’t know English, is primarily because they don’t even know Spanish,” Rep. Schilling said at a forum in Annawan. “So, they don’t even know their own language, so that’s why you’ve got these teachers coming in helping them to try and get them better with their own language and then kind of teach ‘em. It’s a pretty tough battle.”
Um, huh?
“How come I got to learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever”? What the heck is that all about?
Not to mention there are a whole bunch of Serbo-Croatians in that part of the world.
So, in one speech, he offended Slavs and Latinos and made himself look like a total doofus.
Great work, Congressman!
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Congressman Schilling’s office…
Listen to the whole audio file. There are two constituents asking questions and kind of talking amongst each other.
“And the term limits is something that… we can’t get on the ballot, that has to come from Washington…” - constituent 1
“No I understand, but could that be common ground is my question… And how about English as a second language, can we agree on that? How come I gotta learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever?” - constituent 2
Then Schilling responds.
The way it’s clipped, they sound similar, but the Serbo-Croatian thing is not said by Schilling.
*** UPDATE 2 *** I just talked to Terry Schilling, who said he was in the room at the time and he swears the Serbo-Croatian comment was made by somebody else.
“It’s not an offensive quote,” said Terry Schilling, Rep. Schilling’s campaign manager. “It’s simply stating a fact.”
Rep. Schilling did not mean to say that Hispanics could not speak Spanish, Terry Schilling said, but that “a lot of times people come to this country who aren’t up to speed with the grammar of their own language.” The problem was not confined to the Hispanic community, Mr. Schilling said.
It’s not an offensive quote, eh? OK. Stick with that.
* And this brings up the secretly recorded Mitt Romney speech that has the national media all atwitter. Romney talked about how 47 percent of the country will vote for President Obama no matter what because they’re… well… here’s the quote…
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
* This is hardly new. It’s what the Right has been saying for years. For instance, today’s Illinois Review headline…
Romney was right - the 47% will never vote for him
* But this Romney quote from that secretly taped speech did catch my eye…
Describing his family background, he quipped about his father, “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this.”
* Usually, this sort of stuff is specifically designed to depress Democratic turnout. So, rate this NRCC ad attacking Democratic congressional candidate Cheri Bustos on that basis, please…
*** UPDATE 1 *** A DCCC official says Bustos isn’t a member of that or any country club…
This is completely manufactured misfire from national Republicans who don’t understand a local issue.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the DCCC…
Fact Check: Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted to Protect Exclusive Country Club-Style Perks For Members of Congress
Cheri Bustos doesn’t belong to any country clubs, but national Republicans are desperate to manufacture a false and misleading line of attack connecting her to one . However, Washington Republicans’ own Tea Party Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to make sure Members of Congress get perks in Washington as if being in Congress was like being in a private country club. Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to protect exclusive perks for Members of Congress even though he supported ending Medicare and making seniors pay thousands more for their health care.
“Illinois seniors would have to pay thousands more for Medicare just so Congressman Bobby Schilling can keep his country club style perks for Members of Congress in Washington,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Bobby Schilling certainly made himself at home in Washington, and he wants to keep his Members only gym and dining room even if middle class families lose the Medicare guarantee to foot the bill. By doubling-down, national Republicans are exposing just how out of touch Congressman Bobby Schilling’s priorities in Washington are with Illinois.”
Background
Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted Against Cutting Funding for Member Gym. In 2012, Congressman Schilling voted against a Democratic budget proposal that would task the Committee on House Administration with identifying ways to cut subsidies paid to the House gym, Barber shop, Salon, and the House dining room. “The Committee on House Administration shall review the policies pertaining to the services provided to Members of Congress and House Committees, and shall identify ways to reduce any subsidies paid for the operation of the House gym, Barber shop, Salon, and the House dining room,” the amendment stated. [Section 412 of Van Hollen Amendment #6, House Report 112-423; H Con Res 112, Vote #150, 3/29/12]
Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted for Ryan Budget That Ends Medicare. Congressman Schilling voted for two budgets authored by Congressman Paul Ryan. The budgets would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit, protect $40 billion in tax breaks for big oil, provide people earning more than $1 million a year with an average tax cut of $265,000, and create incentives for corporations to shift profits and jobs overseas. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it will increase health care costs by an extra $6,359 by 2022 for future Medicare beneficiaries, while a household making between $50,000 and $100,000 would face a tax increase of at least $1,358. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12; Tax Policy Center, Table T12-0078 and T10-0132; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12; Joint Economic Committee, 5/20/11; Joint Economic Committee, 6/20/12]
If you’re explaining, you’re losing, goes the old saying. We’ll see.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the Bustos campaign…
Bustos Campaign Statement on False National Republican Attacks
Cheri Bustos’ campaign today released a statement following the latest false attack from national Republicans desperate to cover up Congressman Schilling’s record of shipping jobs overseas and cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans on the backs of working people.
Already, the Director of City Engineering pointed out the absurdity of national Republicans’ claims noting that the City Council unanimously approved the first of a two-phase water main project years before Bustos was even elected locally. Now national Republicans are doubling-down and lying about Bustos’ connection to a country club to which she doesn’t even belong. In fact, she’s never been a member of a country club in her life.
“National Republicans are doubling-down on the kind of lies and toxic games that have broken Washington and it’s clear neither Congressman Schilling or his Washington backers understand local issues here in Illinois. The truth is that a bipartisan City Council unanimously approved a water main project to solve a local problem affecting the community, and Cheri Bustos doesn’t even belong to the Short Hills Country Club or any country club,” said Allison Jaslow, campaign manager for Cheri Bustos for Congress. “National Republicans are desperate to keep Congressman Schilling in Washington because he’s proven he will vote with his Party. Schilling supports tax cuts for the richest Americans while saddling seniors with $6,400 in out of pocket costs and even raising taxes on the middle class.”
* If you want to watch a way over the top rant against the teachers’ unions and House Speaker Michael Madigan, check out Jack Roeser. His comments take up the first couple of minutes of this video…
* For the other side of the issue, here’s a video from the Chicago Teachers Union called “The Truth in Black & White”…
* The conservative Heritage Foundation obviously has a different take on the strike than the CTU, and they explain it in this video…
Lewis addressed criticisms that, as the union’s leader, it is her responsibility to get teachers back to work as soon as possible. Calling the CTU a “member-driven union,” Lewis said, “We do take democracy seriously, and I know that’s frustrating for people, but in the end, it’s ultimately a better way to govern a union, because then it’s not top-down leadership.”
“I think that we have encouraged healthy debate and we have encouraged analysis,” Lewis said. “It was something that was never encouraged by union leadership before and I think people misinterpret that. It’s unusual and it’s a better way to move the union.”
Lewis also said she believes teachers have made some gains, but she recogonizes that in tough times concessions have to be made.
“This is an austerity contract. This is not a contract of we can get all that we want.” […]
When asked about the injunction, Lewis said “if anything” the injunction hearing scheduled for Wednesday “will push people in the opposite direction.” and that the “imposition of will from the mayor will have a deleterious effect.”
* The Republican leaders held a press conference yesterday to express their frustration with the pace of Medicaid reform…
Some Republican members of the Illinois General Assembly accused Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration Monday of dragging its feet on making cost-saving changes to the state’s Medicaid program.
In particular, they said the administration has been slow to begin reviewing Medicaid rolls to eliminate people who do not qualify for benefits.
“To date, they have not even started the process,” said House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego. “We’re now told it won’t be until January of next year that they will start the implementation of ‘scrubbing.’ To put this off until January is unacceptable.”
Well, actually, they have started the process. The law requires the state to award a contract to scrub the Medicaid rolls within the budget year’s first 90 days. The state did it in a little over 70 days. The contractor, Maximus, Inc., will need some time to set up the system to get the work done right.
Cross even suggested Quinn’s delays could be political, putting off the cuts until after the Nov. 6 election. Quinn’s office sharply denied that idea.
“What else could be the reason?” Cross said.
The Quinn administration could’ve waited another three weeks until the 90-day time limit expired to sign the contract, so I’m not sure there’s a huge political conspiracy here.
Maximus will review pay stubs, addresses and other information for current recipients and for people who are signing up for benefits to make sure they live in Illinois and don’t exceed income limits.
It’s not clear how many people will be kicked off the Medicaid roles, but lawmakers and the governor say the change could save $350 million.
Republicans, who have made combating Medicaid fraud a key component in their party platform, complained Monday that the administration isn’t moving fast enough.
They said Maximus should not wait until January to implement the program.
“To put this off until January of 2013 is unacceptable,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.
Republicans say the delay could result in the state not saving as much as money as predicted, which could force lawmakers to have to return to Springfield to make further cuts to the budget.
“There’s no excuse. This was passed last spring,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont. “This is something that is not difficult to do.”
Again, the administration signed a contract in a little over 70 days, when the law that the Republicans helped negotiate allowed for 90 days.
And the company has to open a call center, hire workers, let out subcontracts and train state employees to use the new system. That takes time.
The Republicans do make a very valid point, however, that the longer this takes to implement, the fewer savings will be realized by the end of the fiscal year, unless Maximus really kicks it into high gear.
* But GOP claims about the amount of money that could be saved by tightening up the roles have always been a bit on the bloated side…
“There is some research that shows people don’t [game] the system as much as is implied by some. Some of the legislators claimed 20 percent of people are income-ineligible because we haven’t verified their income. I think that is a very high number and not likely,” says Robert Kaestner, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who is affiliated with the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
Our Illinois early intervention project produced a $24.5 million net increase in child support collections in the three years through June 30, 2011 – $25.63 collected for each dollar spent
Another troubling aspect to this company is that the increase of poverty and pressures to downsize government actually makes for good business. They say as much in their SEC report: “Our core health and human services business has benefited from steady demand over the last five years. We have not experienced any material adverse change in demand as a result of government budgetary pressures. We believe the critical nature of our services in helping governments provide and administer important safety net programs in the U.S., such as Medicaid, welfare-to-work and CHIP, to the most vulnerable populations helps insulate our services from significant downward pressure, particularly during an economic downturn.”
Recently the Project on Government Oversight released a report concluding that the federal government actually pays billions more to hire private contractors than what it would pay current public sector workers to perform comparable work; a Heritage Foundation reports states the opposite. Analyses supporting both sides of this debate are plentiful, but there is little disagreement that over the past several decades, privatization of government services has increased dramatically and hundreds of billions of dollars are spent outsourcing public services.
For more than a year, Republicans have charged that the Quinn administration has not pushed hard enough to implement money-saving reforms targeting ineligible Medicaid recipients. The administration has contended that one attempt to require more paperwork from recipients to prove their eligibility and fight fraud was blocked by the Obama administration because states were not supposed to increase requirements under the president’s signature health care program, the Affordable Care Act.
The state pressed ahead by using electronic methods of matching data, such as with addresses from the Illinois secretary of state’s office, that the federal government deemed more acceptable. Yet the agency said it needed more sophisticated tracking help, leading to the Maximus contract.
Another point took the form of a question: Would a judge up for retention be willing to rule against the labor unions that historically have played a key role in city elections? Flynn is seeking retention on the Nov. 6 ballot.
“You tell me what chancery judge is going to issue an injunction against the teachers union,” [labor lawyer L. Steven Platt] said. “Believe me, the unions have long memories. Every union is going to remember this judge … come election time.”
No kidding.
Then again, now he has to worry about what Emanuel does to him.
The union’s current leadership rose to power on a platform of pushing back against privatization of public schools and the aggressive education reform efforts introduced by former CPS chief Arne Duncan, who is now the U.S. secretary of education.
Many of CTU’s current leaders helped found the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, which started out as a book club to review Naomi Klein’s best-seller “The Shock Doctrine,” which argues that corporate interests have exploited crises to push through agendas that undermine democracy.
But as in many labor organizations, Lewis is faced with uniting a membership that spans the political spectrum. In CTU, that ranges from high-ranking officials who have written for socialist websites to more traditional members simply concerned with working conditions. Some of those more radical factions inside and outside her labor organization are now attacking her and others in union leadership.
Leaflets calling Lewis a “sellout” for concessions agreed to with CPS were distributed to union delegates at Sunday’s meeting. That phrase surfaced again among frustrated delegates as they left the meeting with few concrete details about the contract proposal and with serious concerns about what they were being asked to sign. […]
Members of socialist organizations, some of whom are union delegates, also took Lewis to task for failing to disclose more to delegates.
“This was done to allow the CTU (leadership) sufficient time to ‘package’ the sellout, and the membership insufficient time to consider it,” according to commentary that a socialist organization said it handed out to delegates at the meeting.
* The Socialist Equality Party’s presidential candidate (yes, there is such a person) Jerry White distributed this statement at last Saturday’s strike rally…
“The truth is that the CTU and the AFT (American Federal of Teachers) are preparing a betrayal of the strike and the imposition of a sellout contract that will have devastating consequences for teachers and the future of public education in Chicago and across the country.” […]
“As the presidential candidate of the Socialist Equality Party, I urge teachers to reject this sellout. The teachers have remained solid since the strike began and won powerful support from parents, students and workers throughout the city and across the country.”
“Now is the time to broaden the struggle and stand fast against the phony ‘reform’ agenda of Emanuel, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Obama, and the entire political establishment.”
“The assault on teachers and public education can be defeated only on the basis of a recognition that the struggle against it is a political struggle against both parties of big business and the financial-corporate elite whose interests they serve.”
“This elite includes the speculators and parasites looking to cash in on the carve-up of public education and proliferation of privately run schools.”
“I urge teachers to broaden their strike and fight to mobilize all school workers, public employees, auto workers, young people and unemployed workers behind them and in opposition to the united front of Democrats and Republicans, the media and big business. The union leadership has no intention of waging such a fight.”
Leftists love strikes. They think strikes solve everything. Meanwhile, working people have to pay their mortgages and make their car payments. The professional Left talks a lot about workers treated as “pawns” by the elites, but they treat workers that way as well.
* Now, let’s go to the live feed. BlackBerry users click here. Everybody else can just watch..
* A pro-coal rally in southern Illinois turned political over the weekend when first one speaker then another denounced President Obama…
Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said although coal production was up 13 percent last year in Illinois, growth might be short lived. He said the administration in Washington wants to put the coal industry out of business.
Although the event was billed as an apolitical rally, some speakers, including Gonet, made it clear that politics is playing a large role in the current state of the industry.
“I want to be clear today: Some said this isn’t a rally about politics, and it isn’t — it’s about coal,” he said. “But I want to be clear right at the beginning, if you’re for coal, you can’t be for the present administration, you can’t be for President Obama.”
So, Illinois coal production was up 13 percent last year, but… Obama is killing it? I’m not sure I follow here.
* Things really got heated when the next speaker took the podium, Bob Murray, president of Murray Energy…
Murray continued several minutes outlining how Obama is hurting the industry and how Republican challenger Mitt Romney would support the coal industry.
Murray was eventually interrupted by a heckler in the crowd, who yelled the rally wasn’t supposed to be political.
Murray replied, “This is very political, that’s’ what the coal industry is all about,” he said. “I’ve been invited to speak, when I’m done you can speak — until I’m done, you shut up.”
Moments later Murray was again interrupted, to which he replied, “Shut up, you’re no coal miner,” and began a chant of “Coal, Coal, Coal.”
Several miners at Murray Energy’s Century coal mine in Beallsville, Ohio, contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, over the last two weeks to say that they were forced to attend an Aug. 14 rally for Romney at the mine.
Murray closed the mine the day of the rally, saying it was necessary for security and safety, then docked miners the day’s pay.
Asked by WWVA radio’s Blomquist about the allegations on Monday’s show, Murray chief operating officer Robert Moore said: “Attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event.”
Murray is right about one thing, though. Coal is more about politics than anything else. Everybody promises to revive coal, and then nothing happens until the next election, when everybody promises to revive coal. But when coal finally does rebound, the person in charge is denounced for killing the industry.
State Treasurer Dan Rutherford said the Illinois coal industry is a billion dollar industry that employs 3,500 people. Rutherford said the industry needs to be sustained in order to protect American interests and security.
3,500 employees. That’s it.
Coal extraction is so mechanized now that even a huge increase in production wouldn’t employ all that many people.
Trust me, I understand the strategic aspect of the resource. But a jobs producer it really ain’t. Take a look at this graph of Kentucky coal mining output and employment…
* I can’t keep all my polls secret. I figured this one would get picked up by at least some major media outlets. Indicted and expelled former state Rep. Derrick Smith has a huge 48-9 lead over his third-party opponent, Lance Tyson…
The survey, which showed 43 percent of respondents undecided, was performed by Illinois pollster We Ask America on Sept. 12 and first reported Monday by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rich Miller in his Capitol Fax newsletter.
Gregg Durham, chief operating officer of the polling group, said it appears residents in the 10th House District may be unaware of Smith’s August expulsion from the House because of his federal bribery charge.
“Usually, when we dig into these types of details, there’s a surprising amount of people busy making a living, raising kids and going through normal struggles of life who are unaware of what has happened,” Durham told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Former Rep. Smith has a common last name, and it’s not uncommon anywhere in Illinois for people to not pay attention in a state representative race, especially when there’s an important presidential race at hand,” he said. “If this election were held today, he’d swamp Mr. Tyson.”
Smith was indicted last spring after allegedly accepting a $7,000 cash bribe from an undercover FBI informant who claimed to be acting as an intermediary to a purported daycare operator wanting Smith’s help in obtaining a $50,000 state grant. Smith allegedly wrote a letter of support for the daycare operator before taking the informant’s money.
Durham said another factor is that the automated poll informed voters of Smith and Tyson’s political affiliations, and many Democrats likely were swayed by learning Smith is the only Democrat in the race.
Among respondents who identified themselves as Democrats, 57 percent favored Smith, and only 7 percent chose Tyson.
* From Carol Marin’s weekend column on Derrick Smith…
(Y)ou might assume that some party regulars would be thrilled to endorse Tyson, running on the Unity Party ticket.
Secretary of State Jesse White, who launched Smith’s political career and now renounces him, supports Tyson.
But others? Not so much.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is “neutral” in this race, according to her political director.
As is Madigan, whose own political committee was providing financial resources to Smith at the same time lawmakers were ousting him.
There are a lot of political subplots to this story, including beleaguered West Side politicians struggling to keep their power base who think Smith — even under a federal cloud — helps them more than Tyson.
* And Eric Zorn’s take on Marin’s column was prescient, since he didn’t know the poll results when he posted this…
My theory: They’re anticipating Smith will be convicted at his federal corruption trial, scheduled to start later this year, and will therefore be ineligible to serve in the General Assembly. And they’re afraid that Smith still has enough support in his district to deal the party an embarrassing loss. So rather than risk the humiliation of extending themselves for Tyson — who was once former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s chief of staff — they’d rather wait and hand-pick a safe and compliant replacement for Smith.
The other theory I’ve heard is that the House Democrats would rather not “waste” precious money on Smith which could be used to defeat Republicans. The ball may be entirely in Jesse White’s court now.
*** UPDATE *** This won’t help the governor’s argument. The state’s prison population just hit an all-time high…
State records analyzed by The Associated Press show the population topped 49,154 over the weekend. That’s 19 inmates more than the Corrections Department’s previous record, set on Oct. 6, 2011. […]
The prisons were designed to hold 33,700 people. Last spring corrections officials declared a downward trend in prison numbers and predicted an overall average for the year of less than 46,000.
Quinn wants to close five correctional centers — a loss of 1,700 more beds — to save money in a budget crisis. A lawsuit by a state employees’ union has stalled that.
The Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon has denied the state’s appeal of a 30-day restraining order issued earlier this month in Alexander County.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had sought the restraining order to temporarily halt closures of state facilities, including Tamms Correctional Center, Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro and Southern Illinois Adult Transition Center in Carbondale.
An arbitrator had ruled in the union’s behalf, ordering the state and AFSCME to return to the bargaining table for 30 days before closures could begin. The union filed suit in Alexander County to effectively give that decision the weight of law.
Associate Circuit Judge Charles Cavaness of the First Judicial Circuit granted the 30-day restraining order Sept. 4. The state appealed Sept. 6.
The Appellate Court unanimously rejected the Quinn Administration’s appeal of the TRO, issued earlier this month, and dismissed the claim that Alexander County Circuit Court Judge Charles Cavaness had abused the court’s discretion in issuing the order in response to a motion filed by AFSCME. The ruling clearly stated that the “trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo until the court rules upon the request for injunctive relief.”. The TRO is affirmed and remains in effect.
At the same time, the Quinn Administration has also filed suit in Cook County seeking to vacate the arbitrator’s order on which the TRO is based. In response to two grievances filed by AFSCME Council 31 earlier this month, Arbitrator Steve Beirig ruled that the Administration had not fulfilled its contractual obligation to bargain over the impact of the scheduled closures in DOC and DJJ. The arbitrator directed the parties to continue negotiations for up to 30 days to resolve the outstanding issues—especially those related to the impact of the closures on employee health and safety throughout the corrections system.
The Administration has also filed a motion in Cook County seeking an emergency stay of the arbitrator’s order. If the stay is granted, then the state would not be obligated to bargain and could go forward with the closures while the State’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling is pending before the court.
AFSCME has filed counter motions to dismiss the state’s motion to vacate (and with it the motion for the emergency stay) or else to move the case to Alexander County Circuit Court to be considered in conjunction with the Union’s pending case seeking an injunction to halt the closures.
Both the Administration’s motions and the Union’s motions will have an initial hearing in Cook County Circuit Court at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, Sept. 19.
The union is seeking the injunction “in aid of arbitration” to prevent the state from moving forward with the closures until the issues raised in impact bargaining have been addressed. If the injunction is granted, it will likely be on the same basis as the TRO. A TRO can be granted without the full-scale legal proceedings that are required for an injunction—and is granted on an emergency basis until the hearing on the injunction can be completed.
A hearing on the Union’s motion seeking an injunction to halt the closures in aid of arbitration is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 24 in Alexander County Circuit Court.
An official with the comptroller’s office said the hacker couldn’t access the main frame, so no data was compromised. The Inspector General is investigating.
* In related news, one of my e-mail accounts was hijacked this morning. All they appeared to have done was change my password, though. No e-mails were sent from my account. I hope I caught it quickly enough.
The hackers got access to my account when they changed my password by answering my secret question, which, in retrospect was a stupid secret question: “In what town were you born?” Pretty much anyone can find out that answer.
* The Question: Have you or your business/agency ever been hacked? Explain.
[Democrat David Gill’s] campaign manager quit last week, saying he needed to spend more time on his own campaign for Champaign County Board. […]
Alte couldn’t say last week if a full-time campaign manager will be brought on board for the final 52 days of the race.
“I’m not really certain about that,” Alte said.
And the NRCC has pounced on Gill’s assisted suicide issue. From the Pantagraph…
“I don’t think people should have to put up with the amount of suffering the state says they have to. A lot of physicians feel disgruntled, ashamed and disgusted in their inability to assist patients,” Gill said in an article in The (Bloomington) Pantagraph.
He added that physician-assisted suicides already occur.
For example, Gill said some doctors will keep increasing a patient’s dosage of pain-relieving morphine, fully aware that respirations will eventually stop.
“It goes on everyday,” he said at the time.
It wasn’t until two years later that he was fired by OSF after writing a letter to the editor in support of euthanasia. A hospital spokeswoman said physician-assisted suicide goes against the teachings of the Catholic church.
“In view of the fact that Dr. David Gill embraces and advocates medical treatment methods that are unlawful in this state and that are not acceptable by community medical standards, Dr. Gill cannot be employed by OSF HealthCare System,” a company representative said at the time.
* From the NRCC…
As you cover David Gill’s DCCC makeover attempt to not appear as radical as he is, please consider the following editorial and comment.
NRCC Statement: “Illinois families need to know that David Gill thinks physician-assisted suicide is an acceptable medical treatment. This is the same man that is running for Congress and wants to be put in charge of representing the healthcare needs of Illinois families in Washington. Sending David Gill and his radical ideas to Washington is dangerous for Illinois families.” – NRCC Spokeswoman Katie Prill
I was in Edwardsville over the weekend and Gill was being followed there Saturday by some guy dressed in a surgeon’s outfit and holding a sign that I couldn’t read as we sped by. By the time we dropped off our passenger and returned to the scene, the whole thing was over.
* Meanwhile, the negative TV ads are flying fast and furious these days. The DCCC’s new ad against Republican incumbent Bobby Schilling is entitled “Broken Records.” Rate it…
* Script…
Records are made to be broken.
And Bobby Schilling is giving it his best shot.
In two years flat, Schilling voted to give tax breaks to millionaires…
Voted to protect tax breaks for companies that send our jobs overseas… and voted for more unfair NAFTA-style trade deals.
And to pay for it all? Schilling voted to cut Medicare, costing seniors an extra sixty four hundred dollars a year.
Bobby Schilling. From one of us to one of them…in record time.
Joe Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, is moving forward with plans to bankroll a major ad campaign to help Mitt Romney and Republican candidates. […]
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Ricketts will spend $12 million on ads starting this week, with $10 million to back Romney and $2 million to assist Republicans running for Congress.
The ads funded by Ricketts will feature ex-Obama supporters talking about Romney, a tactic that Romney used on his own in a video played at the GOP convention in Tampa. The WSJ says the ads will run in battlegrounds such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia and Iowa.
Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade, is behind the Ending Spending Action Fund. The super PAC has assisted Republican Deb Fischer, the Senate candidate in Nebraska, and spent money on an ad supporting Gov. Scott Walker in the Wisconsin recall election.
* Related…
* Word on the Street: Ethics group cites Schock over campaign fundraising: The Reader’s Digest version is this: Schock apparently sought a $25,000 donation from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to a super PAC that was helping Rep. Adam Kinzinger in his successful primary bid against Rep. Don Manzullo for territory including all of Putnam County and part of Stark and Bureau counties. The groups filing the complaint - Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal center - allege that Schock was only legally permitted to ask for a $5,000 donation.
* The Tribune editorial board claims it has researched the proposed pension “cost shift” to local schools and has come to believe that it won’t increase property taxes. A phased-in cost shift coupled with reforms in the current proposal make the plan “affordable” for school districts, the paper claims. It also has what it calls a compromise solution…
We’ve been shopping a compromise solution to some smart Republicans and Democrats, with nobody screaming, “No!” Today we humbly take it public:
Legislators, pass pension reform with the cost shift plus language that would render moot the local distrust of Springfield. How so? By giving local districts and other governments not only the responsibility to fund pensions, but the freedom to negotiate benefits with their employees — just as they negotiate wages. Springfield still could maintain its pension investment pools and make sure local governments pay into them. In rough terms, then, we’re suggesting a model that borrows from, and adds to, protocols under which the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund successfully operates.
Republicans, the party of grass-roots government, should like this expanded local control. Local districts and other governments should be thrilled to have not just responsibility for, but control over, their compensation packages. The best question we’ve heard: Won’t this create a gap between pensions offered by have and have-not governments? Maybe or maybe not; governments already can tweak pay and other compensation components to fit their needs and resources.
* US funds fall out of love with commodities: A brief love affair with commodities is over at the $36bn Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, one of the biggest public pension funds in America. Four years after hiring managers to make new commodities investments, the pension fund has scrapped the strategy and shuffled money into a portfolio it says “better reflects conditions in the world economy”.
* AFSCME under siege - Union faces unprecedented challenges, even from allies
* Andy Shaw: End pension scams for clout crowd: Will this solve the state’s giant pension problem? No. But a crackdown sends an important grass-roots message: Governments of all sizes have to stabilize public pensions for the hardworking rank-and-file workers — not the insiders who use power, clout and cunning to game the system.
Chicago Public School students appeared less likely to be heading back to school Tuesday after a Cook County judge declined Monday morning to take up immediately a lawsuit by Chicago Public Schools asking the judge to end the teachers strike.
In a brief hearing, Cook County Judge Peter Flynn told a city attorney he preferred to schedule a hearing on the matter for Wednesday, a city law department spokesman said. The spokesman could not immediately provide a reason for the delay.
Wednesday is, for now, the earliest possible time students could return if the teachers union House of Delegates votes to approve the tentative deal at its meeting Tuesday.
Chicago Public Schools balked at that timeframe, wanting to sent students back on Tuesday. It filed a lawsuit in Cook County court Monday morning, asking a judge to end the teachers strike because it is illegal and presents a “clear and present danger to public health and safety.”
With Chicago Teachers Union delegates voting to stay on strike at least through Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel Sunday accused the union of using children as “pawns’’ and vowed to seek a court order to halt the walkout.
The announcement from Emanuel came about an hour after CTU President Karen Lewis said “a clear majority’’ of delegates refused to suspend the strike until they had seen the exact contract language of the entire deal — something not expected until Tuesday.
Delegates just didn’t trust Chicago Public Schools not to try to slip one over on them if they called off the first CTU strike in 25 years without more study and discussion of the offer, Lewis said.
“Please write ‘trust’ in big giant letters because that’s what the problem is,’’ Lewis said. […]
“The big elephant in the room,’’ Lewis said, “is the closing of 200 schools”—a number CPS officials have denied.
“They [delegates] are extraordinarily concerned about it. It undergirds just about everything they talked about.’’
One delegate agreed the group wanted “something in writing to go on….We need more than just the bullet point break down.’’
* Mayor Emanuel’s full statement…
I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union. This was a strike of choice and is now a delay of choice that is wrong for our children. Every day our kids are kept out of school is one more day we fail in our mission: to ensure that every child in every community has an education that matches their potential.
I have instructed the City’s Corporation Counsel to work with the General Counsel of Chicago Public Schools to file an injunction in circuit court to immediately end this strike and get our children back in the classroom. This continued action by union leadership is illegal on two grounds – it is over issues that are deemed by state law to be non-strikable, and it endangers the health and safety of our children.
I have also asked the President of the Board of Education, David Vitale, and the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Jean-Claude Brizard, to explore every action possible to get our kids back into a classroom or educational facility.
While the union works through its remaining issues, there is no reason why the children of Chicago should not be back in the classroom as they had been for weeks while negotiators worked through these same issues.
CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin responded: “They said the Montgomery bus boycott was illegal, too.”
CTU leaders have said they believe teacher evaluation and recall are linked to pay and are thus fair game for a strike. The union also sought to insulate itself against a court injunction by filing an unfair labor practice complaint, just days before the strike.
The basis of that complaint was the union’s charge that CPS started illegally implementing provisions that had not been negotiated in the contract, such as failing to pay teachers step increases and implementing a new teacher evaluation system.
Filing an injunction is a risky move for Emanuel. If he loses in court, he would further anger teachers and make them more suspicious of the deal. If he wins, forcing teachers to end their strike could anger members of other unions.
Be clear in your own mind. Your leverage is gone. The deal doesn’t get any better after this and your standing with the community only goes downhill.
In fact, it started going downhill precipitously the moment union President Karen Lewis stepped before the television cameras Sunday to say school won’t reopen until Wednesday at the earliest. I don’t need to wait for a public opinion poll to know this.
By delaying, you don’t underscore your distrust for Mayor Rahm Emanuel or the leadership at Chicago Public Schools. You only expose a lack of trust in your own negotiating team and the leader of your team, Lewis.
You’re not showing you have a democratic union. You’re showing you have a union that is as tone deaf as all those national commentators have been saying for the past week. You’re showing yourself to be a union out of control.
If you don’t take this deal, you might as well dump Lewis and her team and start over because their credibility will be gone at the bargaining table.
*** UPDATE *** From the same parade as below, we hear the Democratic tracker in this video hollering at a parade watcher “Don’t wave, she’s gonna send you back to Mexico!” The offending comment is at about the 30 second mark…
Ugh.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* This is definitely not how to deal with a video tracker. What appears to be a motorcycle-riding volunteer for Congresswoman Judy Biggert’s campaign threatens to run over a Democratic tracker…
Not good at all.
Chill out, people.
Seriously.
* In other news, the NRCC has a new TV ad blasting Democratic congressional candidate Bill Enyart…
* Script…
BILL ENYART: The job market is gradually getting better under President Obama.
ANNOUNCER: Getting better Mr. Enyart?
Twelve million Americans are out of work.
Millions more have lost hope all together.
Even worse Mr. Enyart, your support for keeping the government takeover of healthcare will raise taxes on small businesses and could destroy another 249,000 jobs.
Bill Enyart,
Out of touch, liberal, wrong for the economy.
* Democratic congressional candidate David Gill has a new radio ad…
* And a group called the American Action Network launched a $350,000 TV and digital campaign against the Democratic Gill. This ad will run on St. Louis TV for two weeks…
* Script…
David Gill supported the failed stimulus and government funding of companies like Solyndra, which lost a half a billion of our tax dollars.
Now, Gill wants a single-payer health plan more radical than Obamacare.
Gill would eliminate Medicare, put bureaucrats in charge of healthcare decisions, and add a new 2 percent tax to pay for it, costing families one thousand dollars a year.
David Gill: Radical ideas we just can’t vote for.
American Action Network is responsible for the content of this advertising.
