Brady flips on Kj
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Sen. Bill Brady has defended Bob Kjellander in the past. No more.
Brady, Oberweis and Gidwitz all said Kjellander should go for the good of the party.
Topinka, the former state party leader, went further than she ever has before in criticizing Kjellander. She all but called for him to step down from his party posts.
And that flip-flop allows Brady to turn the tables on Oberweis.
During a particularly testy exchange, Brady pointed out the Federal Election Commission has an open investigation into Oberweis’ 2004 campaign committee for U.S. Senate, and that the State Board of Elections has fined two political action committees run by Jack Roeser of Carpentersville. Roeser has donated more than $185,000 to Oberweis’ campaign, making him the 59-year-old Aurora businessman’s largest contributor.
“You are tied to someone who is a deadbeat in the eyes of the State Board of Elections,” Brady said, staring at Oberweis. “Do you deny that?”
Oberweis called Brady’s comments a “low blow” and said Roeser is only interested in “clean government.” While he explained that Roeser is appealing the fines, Brady interrupted, causing Oberweis to shout, “May I finish, Bill…. You’ve interrupted me three times now.”
And Brady hasn’t even begun to talk about Oberweis’ two meetings with George Ryan, or his other ties to the disgraced former governor.
UPDATE: For whatever reason, the AP story had almost as much info about the Tribune debate as the WILL debate in Champaign County, rendering it not so useful. Luckily for us, Illini Pundit live-blogged it. Very good stuff. Read the whole thing.
From the AP story, it looks like Brady pulled a George W. Bush in Urbana.
Asked about their political role models, Gidwitz named Teddy Roosevelt, and Oberweis mentioned both Ronald Reagan and corruption-fighting prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
“I’m a Roman Catholic, and I grew up modeling myself after — asking myself the question ‘What would Jesus do?”‘ Brady said, before praising Abraham Lincoln.
I’ve been waiting for that one because it has seemed fairly obvious to me that Brady is running a Bushlike campaign (without the gobs of money and oodles of support, of course) while Oberweis is attempting to be Reaganesque.
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Late afternoon shorts
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· Sweet was robbed.
· The Blagojevich-Stroger connection.
· Auto Show preview.
· Soldier donates flag.
· Oberweis not worried about lousy poll numbers, plans advertising blitz.
· Top 10 consumer complaints.
· A new documentary to be shown at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin next month - about the “f-word” - will include a piece about our old friend Alan Keyes. (Scroll way down for info).
· This isn’t short, but it’s fascinating.
Wrong.
That’s what local union officials are saying about claims by Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) that residents of the Illinois Veterans Home receive improper care.
“The Illinois Veterans Home is a beautiful place to live, and the care is excellent. I wouldn’t be afraid to go there myself,” said Priscilla Slater, union president of Local 1787 of AFSCME.
A report by Council 31 released Wednesday claims that staff shortages at the Quincy facility have led to a variety of care problems, and that an estimated 100 veterans were on a waiting list to get into the home even though 160 beds sit empty.
Slater says those numbers are inflated.
“We have 86 empty beds, nursing home care beds. I don’t know where they came up with 160,” she said. “And on the waiting list, there are just 53 people. I got these numbers straight from the adjutant’s office, as of yesterday.”
Slater doesn’t dispute the fact that staff shortages have required staff to work a lot of overtime, but she believes recent hirings will help ease the situation.
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This just in… Daily Show clip
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Watch it here or here.
Thanks to KA for the heads up.
And Edwin Eisendrath shows he has no sense of humor. From a press release:
Last night Governor Rod Blagojevich’s disrespect of Illinois voters reached new heights. Thumbing his nose at over 100 years of civic tradition, he has refused to debate his Democratic primary challenger, Edwin Eisendrath. He says he is too busy governing. BUT HE HAS PLENTY OF TIME FOR LAUGHS ON CABLE TV.
After watching the clip, I kinda doubt that Rep. Stephens has a sign in his pharmacy that says “The customer is always right.”
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Alexi Giannoulias got a bit of bad press today:
Of the millions donated to Illinois politicians, it’s a mere $5,000.
But this cash donated to a Democrat hoping to become Illinois’ treasurer comes with the makings of a TV murder mystery: It’s from a Florida casino fleet owner whose uncle was gunned down in an execution-style slaying after selling the gambling fleet to a group that included indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
What’s more, the candidate, Alexi Giannoulias of Chicago, happens to own a stake in a Chicago bank where the donor owes $4.8 million.
Giannoulias says there’s nothing wrong with the donation — it’s simply a gift from a fellow Greek.
The donation came from Spiros Naos in December. Naos owns SunCruz Casinos, which operates several gambling cruise ships, mostly in Florida.
Naos became owner after his uncle was gunned down in 2001, in what authorities called an execution-style slaying that remains unsolved. The murder occurred shortly after the fleet was sold to a business group that included Abramoff, who has set Washington politics asunder since pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion and agreeing to cooperate with authorities.
But the Abramoff group fell on hard times quickly and SunCruz filed for bankruptcy within months. Abramoff and his business partner since have been charged with defrauding lenders who backed the casino purchase.
Enter Naos, who in 2004 led an investment group that paid $36 million for the casinos.
Naos knows Giannoulias because he has borrowed money from Chicago-based Broadway Bank, founded and run by Giannoulias’ father. Alexi Giannoulias is a vice president. Records show Naos has a $4.8 million loan from Broadway.
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Question of the day
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Yesterday, I asked why you were voting for a particular candidate for governor. Today, I’d like to know why you’re not voting for the other candidates.
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Veterans get the short end of the stick
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Two stories on sub-par treatment of veterans:
A state union says an estimated 100 veterans are waiting to get into the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, even though 160 beds sit empty because of staff shortages.
Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) also claims in a report released Wednesday that:
* Veterans at the Quincy home are bathed just once each week, according to a bath schedule obtained from the home. When staff is really short, residents miss their scheduled weekly bath.
* Incontinent veterans are not checked often enough to promptly change soiled diapers.
* The Illinois Department of Public Health’s most recent inspection report, conducted in October 2004, indicated that the facility “failed to complete treatments” for bedsores on two of the three residents checked in one living unit.
* Workers voice concerns over a higher risk of “elopement” — when an unsupervised resident leaves the facility. A recent example ended in tragedy in October when resident William Gilson was found dead in nearby Cedar Creek, where he had apparently wandered unnoticed.
* Understaffing prevents the timely and regular provision of physical and occupational therapy to veterans who need this care.
* Licensed practical nurses often are required to pass medications on floors where they don’t know the veterans. The combination of overwork and lack of familiarity increases the chance that residents will inadvertently receive the wrong medication or an incorrect dose.
* A shortage of kitchen and support staff causes meals to be prepared late and delivered later, sometimes cold.
* Frontline workers say there is no time left to give veterans personal attention, and they fear that lack of staff and too much overtime lead to a higher risk of injuries among both residents and staff.
AFSCME also noted staffing shortages and inadequate care in veterans homes in Manteno and LaSalle. The report said the state’s fourth veterans home in Anna appears to have adequate staffing and does not have the same degree of operational problems that the other homes do.
And this one:
State Senator Gary Dahl, R-Granville, labeled as unfounded the state’s contention it is difficult to find nurses to staff military veterans homes.
“The fact they’re having a hard time finding nurses is hogwash,†Dahl noted. “The problem is with the amount of time it takes the state to hire a nurse.â€
Dahl said 14 to 20 beds are empty at the La Salle Veterans Home in La Salle today because of lack of staffing, even though the state plans to break ground this spring on an 80-bed addition to the facility.
The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs noted Wednesday the money is there to hire more staff, but finding nurses is a problem.
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Dump the joke, guv
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I think it’s time that Gov. Blagojevich stop telling this joke.
An incident happened on his way to the airport to go to Washington, the governor said.
“We were stopped at a red light,” he said. “I rolled down a window, and a young girl, 12 years old, African-American, I looked at her, she looks at me. I look at her again. She looks at me. She gasps and she said, “Oh, my God, it’s Mayor (RICHARD) DALEY.” […]
“And we’re walking out, and there’s a whole crowd of people,” Blagojevich said. “And you could hear a young African-American girl, maybe 12 or 13 years old, and she was starstruck. She saw President Clinton. She said, ‘President Clinton!’”
“And then she saw Senator Obama, and she said, ‘Wow, Barack Obama!’ And then she saw me, and she said, ‘Wow, Mayor Daley!’” That drew laughs, of course.
I’m not sure why he thinks it’s OK to always mention that it was a young African-American girl. A joke like that, repeated like he did with different facts, could ruin a Republican.
UPDATE: Zorn has posted audio of the two stories back-to-back here.
Blagojevich states twice that she’s an African-American in one of the stories, making it seem even worse than the quote above. Again, if a Republican did this, he or she would be in huge trouble.
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Morning shorts
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· No chance that Ozzie will change his mind and go to the White House, despite criticism by Mayor Daley. Ozzie Jr: “To Ozzie, his family is more important than getting attention for himself. You have to remember, Mr. Daley is a politician. My dad is not.”
· From the beginning of the Sun-Times article:
In the past six years, Republican millionaire John Cox has lost bids for U.S. Senate, Congress and Cook County recorder of deeds. And now he’s ready to run for the White House.
From the end:
“Maybe its time for a true outsider, not a professional politician, not someone who has been elected to a lot of things,” he said.
That quote speaks for itself.
· Peoria article on Oberweis meeting with editorial board essentially prints Oberweis press release, fails to note if he was challenged on anything.
· Atrios may be onto something.
I don’t look over my advertiser statistics much but casual observation suggests that the way to get people to click on an ad is to put pictures of pretty people in them.
· Cairo’s account frozen, declared in default.
· Justice Thomas and Kafka.
· Coroner writes blog.
· Blagojevich wants Guard cuts blocked.
· Eyes are on you.
· I forgot about watching “The Daily Show” last night. Anyone see it?
· Drive time with parents would double under White bill.
· Durbin wants taxpayer financed campaigns. But Sen. Hot-Head (R-Easily Offended) says “No.”
· There are days when I could definitely use this.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
Who are you supporting for governor and why? Please don’t tell us why you’re not voting for someone else. Just tell us why you’re backing your candidate.
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A play for the endorsement?
Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
The other day, the Chicago Tribune editorial page thundered that gubernatorial candidates needed to first address the state’s massive pension debt before proposing any new spending programs. Looks Like Topinka read it.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka warned that if she is elected, interest groups from schools to health groups shouldn’t expect many new programs or money.
It’s time the state starts living within its means and paying off existing debts, she said.
That requires putting the majority of all new revenue toward paying off the pension debt that has mounted for years and made the solvency of Illinois’ retirement funds the worst in the nation, she said.
“You can’t keep using the pension fund as a piggy bank,” Topinka told the Journal Star editorial board Wednesday, where she was interviewed for a potential endorsement. […]
“We’re just going to have to get used to the idea that much of any new revenue is going to have to go to pensions,” she said. “There’s only one way you solve that pension problem: you pay it off.”
Not exactly a sexy campaign slogan. Next move, Tribune.
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Morning shorts
Thursday, Feb 9, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
· I despise Washington, DC politics, and have as long as I can remember. This bit of goofiness does nothing to make me change my mind. The amount of national dust that can be kicked up over something as trivial as a career politician’s bruised ego is beyond me. Message to all DC types: Get over yourselves.
· John Cox has apparently decided that he hasn’t withdrawn from enough campaigns.
· Was this ever in doubt?
· The feds force SIU to drop paid fellowships for the poor, minorities and females because they discriminated against non-poor white males.
· Republican congressional candidates list their reform plans.
· Charlie Johnston calls the McCulloch prosecution into question.
· Two state employees claim there was nothing untoward about a controversial IBM contract approved during George Ryan’s administration. Prosecutors had an earlier witness who claimed the deal was rigged.
· There’s massage and then there’s massage, but the person in this story appears to be the “clean” sort, not the dirty kind. Conclusion: That piece is a totally unfair hit.
· Congrats to Deputy Dog Bradley Tusk, whose wife is pregnant.
· Ald. Solis says he’s not interested in being appointed City Clerk to replace Jim Laski. Word is that’s because the mayor told him he wouldn’t get the job anyway.
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