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* As I’ve already told subscribers, Gov. Pat Quinn will hold a press conference this afternoon at 2:30 to announce his new chief of staff and take questions from reporters. IIS will have a “watch it live” link here.
* While we’re waiting on the guv’s newser, check out this press release from Bill Brady’s campaign…
PAT QUINN’S ILLINOIS: NO JOBS, NO REFORM Brady Says Quinn Obsessed with Politics, Not Jobs
Chicago – Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady today said Governor Pat Quinn’s firing of the state’s Executive Inspector General on the very day he learned of an ethics probe involving his chief of staff suggests he’s focused on politics, not jobs during our fiscal crisis.
“In the middle of a recession, people need a governor focused on creating jobs and cleaning up state government,” said Brady. “Instead, Governor Quinn has gone down the same road of his predecessors - ethical lapses, investigations, and protecting political insiders at taxpayer expense.”
“Illinois lost 20 thousand jobs last month alone,” he said. “This latest revelation proves we won’t ever solve our fiscal crisis under a governor consumed by politics, not jobs,” he said.
Questions over the firing of the state’s top ethics official are the latest in a string of published reports that call into question the Governor’s commitment to government reform, and the priorities of his Administration.
Previous examples include:
· Secret pay raises for political appointees, including his Budget Director
· Questionable use of official state time and resources for his political campaign
· Supporting the honesty and integrity of convicted Governor Rod Blagojevich months after federal officials revealed their investigation
· Quietly signing a video poker bill to allow known criminals into gambling against the recommendation of the Gaming Commission
· Failing to support the recommendations of his own reform commission
· Keeping a majority of Rod Blagojevich’s officials in top government positions
· Vetoing McPier reforms
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:37 pm
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Meh, most of the state’s campaigns this year are variations of pot v. kettle. Brady can’t point to a plan of his own, and his business is not entirely successful, so he can’t really leverage that s experience. And they guy DID vote on legislation that had an influence on his private business’s profits. Not just once, either.
Not enough Bon Ami in the world to clean up these two charred containers. A pox on both of ‘em. But at least Quinn says we need a tax increase and he’s for it. Brady is all platitudes and empty promises.
Comment by Gregor Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:43 pm
Gregor… true what you say, but you have to admit that is a pretty killer press release.
Quinn is approaching being done… get a fork…
Comment by Wondering... Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:46 pm
Pretty good Press Release as far as these things go. Quinn will not be able to do anything for the rest of the campaign without some sort of reply like this from Brady. The only thing that saves Quinn now is if he comes up with $130B under his mattress in the Governor’s Mansion. Even then, Illinois budget still has us spending $3 for every $2 that comes in as revenue.
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:46 pm
I’m guessing Brady didn’t really “say” those things somewhere — it’s a press release put out by his office.
If I were Brady, I’d be on the golf course or somewhere else very low profile. All he can do right now is get in Quinn’s way.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:46 pm
wordslinger,
When I was doing releases, I used to have the candidates recite their quotes to me. Then I could look anyone in the eye and say the candidate really said it!
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:51 pm
I like the irony of a press release that questions the firing of a Blago appointee that also points out that Quinn has not fired enough Blago appointees.
Comment by Montrose Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:51 pm
Brady’s doing exactly what he should, trying to make this into a bigger story than it is.
Take the pot shots, force Quinn to answer them and make this story last another couple of days. Then just step out of the way as Quinn throws the gallow’s latch on himself.
Comment by A.B. Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:55 pm
I still don’t understand why Quinn doesn’t focus more on those bills Brady voted on that were specifically written to benefit his own business dealings (i.e., real estate projects like the one near Champaign for starters).
To me that’s way more serious than this stuff Brady harps on, and in fact even more serious than anything we heard during the Blago trial. That’s someone with his hand directly in the state cookie jar.
Comment by just sayin' Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:56 pm
There is something silly about blasting Quinn for keeping a number of Blago officials when the fired IG was a Blago official. And a Blago official whose job was to investigate but didn’t investigate Blago. Sigh.
Comment by Indy Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:56 pm
One thing that drove suburban voters away from the gop and into democrat hands was that one of our key values- trust in government and the expectation that the gop would govern responsibly was totally shot. It’s not as sexy as abortion but its a key value and why a lot of republicans that live in the suburbs that otherwise agree with the party left it.
For quinn this should be a gimme, people don’t expect him to make miracles but he could at least show he’s running an efficient ship and doing his best. He’s not and its keeping him from being able to make the debate about brady and giving suburban voters less reason to trust him.
Comment by shore Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:56 pm
I am positive that today’s press conference will be a disaster b/c he’s not going to answer any questions the press will have. I feel a little bit sorry for whomever he is naming to fill the COS position, though not much b/c that person should know the nightmare they are walking into. I agree with other commenters - Brady should just lay low and respond to the ever increasing number of stupid things Quinn does as they happen.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 12:58 pm
Axlerod’s firm was ahead of the national DNC triage. Barring a miracle, Quinn’s floundering probably means he’s done. This is especially true since the Kirk/Ali G. race is so tight. If the national level Ds need to triage only one major statewide race in Illinois, it’s going to be the senate seat.
Comment by John Galt Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:00 pm
This press release and incident may be enough to have Quinn playing permanent defense the rest of the cycle.
Comment by John Bambenek Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:16 pm
I understand that unethical does not necessarily equate to illegal.
That said…under the PQ administration we’re not just talking about a few isolated unethical incidents, we’re talking about a pattern.
Whether it’s staff using state resources for political purposes, and outing themsevles or being caught and resiging (Stermer and Brown -Hodge) to top man’s excessive use state resources to campaign for himself (planes etc.), a pattern of unethical behaviors has clearly emerged in that office.
When the PQ’s Campaign issues a press release and states that PQ has “zero-tolerance” for unethical behavior, I’m left wondering how they can possibly forget recent questions put to PQ about his use of state resources while on the campaign trail. What zero-tolerance? When asked, PQ has brushed off the questions surrounding the ethics of his actions as no big deal. Well, it is actually a big deal. Since yesterday, ethical lapses in the PQ administration are apparently quite a big deal.
The firing of Wright looks bad on many fronts. That PQ boasted about how Wright was a Blagojevich holderover who had to be let go, simply doesn’t bode well considering the timing of his removal. Not to mention the hundreds of other Blagojevich holderovers who PQ has not fired because he claims that the feds are investigating. Really? So, they weren’t investating Wright, huh?
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:18 pm
Somewhere Bill is tossing about confetti and cackling wildly.
Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:21 pm
Yeah. Where is Bill this week? Working? Nah…
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:22 pm
There is no irony in pointing out that Quinn is firing a Blago holdout while not firing other Blago holdouts.
NEWSFLASH:
He has been governor almost two years and he hasn’t cleaned house. This means he either wants these people around, or hasn’t gotten around to getting rid of them. In either case, it shows his ineptitude, which is only reinforced by his campaign efforts.
Fork Pat Before He Forks You.
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:26 pm
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:22 pm:
“Yeah. Where is Bill this week? Working? Nah…”
Golfing on the Vineyard with Barry?
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:27 pm
First rule of politics, never get in the way of your opponent shooting himself in the foot.
It must drive the water-carriers crazy that Brady isn’t around so they could change the subject.
Comment by John Bambenek Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:31 pm
Quinn must be playing political rope-a-dope, thinking Brady will wear himself out thowing those haymaker press releases.
Comment by Joe from Joliet Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:34 pm
Brady’s folks need to queue up a Blago-ish ad reminicent of the JBT/Ryan Polka. There are enough words spoken by Quinn in support of Blago that Brady can run such a commercial for a month before the general election to remind everyone of the cozy relationship. Enough voters won’t know how far apart Quinn and Blago were, but they’ll buy it - especially with Blago’s media whoring.
Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 1:52 pm
Team Sleep, you’ll see that, of course, later in the race. Right now Brady doesn’t have to spend a dime or do anything.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:00 pm
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:00 pm:
“Team Sleep, you’ll see that, of course, later in the race. Right now Brady doesn’t have to spend a dime or do anything.”
Yeah, that is quite a turn of events, isn’t it. An incumbent governor (who everyone likes and is really not corrupt by Illinois standards) is on the defensive. He must take the initiative (his “sign-the-bill” tour), but each time he is exposed he slips up. Meanwhile, the challenger gets to sit back and marshal his forces, save his money (and raise more to boot), and only has to keep one press person around to respond to the opponent’s slip-ups. As challenger, you have led in every single poll taken in the race since the primary.
This is a very strange campaign indeed, especially for governor. I can’t wait to see how September shapes up, but I’m pretty sure we have to give Brady the month of August.
Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:07 pm
RMDF…
Dude, the monkier is simply out of line. Lose it.
Comment by Wondering... Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:08 pm
Wondering…..
Thanks for saying something. I just didn’t want to be the first.
Comment by neo state worker Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:12 pm
RMDF
On what planet is the death of friends considered a subject of humor by anonymous commentators? Maybe you’ve never lost one… or had one.
Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:16 pm
The goo-goos should be thrilled. The inspector general thing works so well that it caught one of their own.
Jerry Stermer is one decent man, past present, and future and this whole thing is crap. Memo to future Governors: Appoint IGs who know the difference between corruption and bs, and don’t waste their time and money (reading 37,000 e-mails? An auditor would tell you you don’t need to review nearly that many to be pretty sure you are dealing with a rare exception, not a pattern)on the bs when they might then have time to catch some real bad guy.
My apologies to Stermer on behalf of myself (and I hope) decent citizens everywhere. My advice to the goo-goos; even when you elect what you think are good people, that tiger is still going to have to be fed every day, so watch over your shoulders.
Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:18 pm
Same guy as yesterday. Different IP. I’ll get him yet. He doesn’t know it, but I know where he is right now. New IP Address: 128.241.109.107
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:18 pm
Since Brady is brining up the pay raises for PQ’s staff, will the new chief of staff respond by amending the furlough program again, away from the amended program Stermer circulated to the agencies on Friday?
Comment by Pat Robertson Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 2:24 pm
All of the Quinn “lapses” don’t add up to NoTaxBill’s voter for his Chambana land scam…Maybe the legislative IG can kick over a few stones.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Tuesday, Aug 24, 10 @ 3:59 pm