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Memo to BOE: Your site is (still) killing me *** UPDATED x25 ***
Monday, Jul 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller [Updated and bumped to the top because we’re going to use this thread for newly filed campaign disclosure reports.] *** UPDATE 25 @ 9:22 pm *** The governor’s report is in and they told the truth about not having any new Winston & Strawn charges. They did this once before, however, and added them back in later, so one never knows what to believe. The governor reported raising $1,891,238, spent $387,165 (including about $46K to Hinshaw & Culbertson law firm) and had $3.6 million in the bank. He’s still carrying $750,000 in old debt on the books. Every dime of that is owed to his criminal defense attorneys at Winston & Strawn. So 39 cents of every dollar he raised this period is committed to the pinstripes. …Adding… The debt to Winston & Strawn has dropped from $965,352.04 in the last filing period to $750K in this filing period. But no money was reported as being paid to the firm this year. A campaign spokesperson said that the reduced amount was the result of negotiations with the firm. The guv’s people have said for some time now that they’ve disputed some of the charges, and subscribers know another story about the law firm that I told them a couple of months ago. The spokesman added that no separate legal fund has been set up by the governor. *** UPDATE 24 @ 8:25 pm *** State Sen. Christine Radogno has been talking up a possible GOP gubernatorial bid. Her numbers are in. Radogno raised $111,692, spent $91,002 and had $94,089 cash on hand. I’m not sure how any of these Republicans think they’re going to be competitive with those kinds of numbers. Here are the amounts raised for the Repubs who have been floating their names…
Not exactly stellar. *** UPDATE 23 @ 8:18 pm *** Trib bloggers Rick Pearson and John Chase have more on the governor’s fundraising numbers…
* 5:33 pm - I’m gonna take a bit of a break. I’ll be back when the governor’s report is filed. *** UPDATE 22 @ 5:29 pm *** Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ report has been filed. He raised $659,865, which is more than Lisa Madigan, who (to be fair) was busy having a baby, but a bit less than Dan Hynes. The campaign points out, however, that Giannoulias’ individual contributions (as opposed to PAC money) was far higher than both Madigan and Hynes. Giannoulias ended with $1,273,741 cash on hand. *** UPDATE 21 @ 5:09 pm *** The governor’s campaign just said their report will be released at about 7 tonight. According to the campaign, no new Winston & Strawn expenditures will be reported. That could mean a lot of things, however. The guv’s campaign will report raising a bit under $2 million, with just under $3.6 mil cash on hand, although that’s a ballpark at the moment. Stay tuned. *** UPDATE 20 @ 5:00 pm *** The report is in for Citizens for Emil Jones. The committee raised $290,255, which compares to the $230,600 that Jones raised during the same period in 2006. Jones finished the period with cash on hand of $1.6 million - way down from the $2.5 million he had on-hand two years ago at this time and equal to Frank Watson’s on-hand total. * The Illinois Senate Democratic Fund report has also just been filed. The committe raised $621,812, which is down from the $719,311 it raised in the same 2006 period. The ISDF had $452,463, compared to $809K in ‘06, and far lower than the Senate GOP total. *** UPDATE 19 @ 4:49 pm *** The Illinois Green Party raised $20,879 in the first half of the year. IGP had $9,611 cash on hand. *** UPDATE 18 @ 4:42 pm *** Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s D-2 is in. AG Madigan raised $569,399 during the reporting period. That’s about $170,000 less than what Comptroller Dan Hynes pulled in. Ouch. Madigan has $2.6 million in cash on hand - which is a few hundo more than Hynes. *** UPDATE 17 @ 4:38 pm *** Sen. Bill Brady, who ran for governor in 2006, is talking up another run in 2010. But he reported just $55,730 in contributions during the first half of 2008. Brady had $67,413 on hand. Money was his biggest problem last time, you will recall. *** UPDATE 16 @ 4:32 pm *** Rev. Sen. James Meeks has been touted by some as a possible 2010 gubernatorial candidate. Well, Meeks reported raising just $7,300 in the first six months of the year. *** UPDATE 15 @ 4:14 pm *** Nothing has been filed yet, but I’m told that House GOP Leader Tom Cross’ D-2 will show he raised about $640,000 and has $1.1 million cash on hand. That compares to $576,205 raised during the same period two years ago, with $1,372,742 cash on hand. *** UPDATE 14 @ 4:05 pm *** Secretary of State Jesse White’s disclosure report has been filed. White reported raising $359,807, spent $234,720, and had $668,712 on hand. *** UPDATE 13 @ 3:59 pm *** The Democratic Party of Illinois, which Speaker Madigan uses to fund his House campaigns, reported raising $177,939 during the first six months of the year. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s more than the $109,434 which DPI raised in the same period back in 2006. And this is the bigger story: DPI ended the period with $743,190, way up from the $166,044 it had on hand at the end of June, 2006. *** UPDATE 12 @ 3:52 pm *** House Speaker Michael Madigan’s personal campaign committee report is in. Friends of Michael J Madigan raised $1,159,368 during the reporting period. That compares to $780,875 from the same period in 2006, so it’s a big jump. But the end result is about the same, as far as bank balances go, at least. FOMJM ended the reporting period with $1,117,394 cash on hand, compared to $1,009,329 during the same period in 2006. Still, he’s up while the GOP leaders are down. *** UPDATE 11 @ 3:46 pm *** The governor’s House floor leader, Rep. Jay Hoffman, has put together a giant campaign fund, partly in anticipation of an eventual run for secretary of state, and partly to help his allies against Speaker Madigan, and the rest to defend himself. Hoffman reported raising $106,780 during the first half of the year, bringing his total cash on hand to over $1.24 million, even after spending $98,808 on campaigns, staff, infrastructure, etc. Not bad for a little ol’ rep, eh? *** UPDATE 10 @ 3:34 pm *** The Tribbies have some interesting campaign finance tidbits…
*** UPDATE 9 @ 3:08 pm *** Senate GOP Leader Frank Watson’s personal committee report is in. Watson raised $601,718 during the first half of the year, compared to $752,210 during the same period two years ago. Watson spent $249,601 and had a bit over $1.6 million on-hand. He had about $1.9 million on-hand two years ago. *** UPDATE 8 @ 2:15 pm *** The Democratic nominee for Cook County State’s Attorney, Anita Alvarez has raised $463,275 since the primary (compared to $71K for the filing period by her GOP opponent). Her total for the first six months of the year was $1,054,093. She has $167,957 on-hand. *** UPDATE 7 @ 2:04 pm *** The House Republican Organization reported raising $407,791 in the first half of the year. That compares to $478,358 during the first half of 2006. But the HGOPs are going to have to defend a ton of seats this time around, unlike 2006, when they only lost one seat. HRO spent $389,411 and had just $111,779 in the bank. These state legislative caucus committees are usually outpaced by the personal committees of the various leaders. So, we’ll see what those numbers bring. *** UPDATE 6 @ 1:56 pm *** The Cook County Republican Party raised $28,370 during the first half of the year. During the first six months of 2007. which was an “off” year, the party raised $27,262. Not much of an improvement. The latest reports show that the party has $14,460 in the bank. *** UPDATE 5 @ 1:50 pm *** Two years ago, the Republican State Senate Campaign Committee raised $653,334 during the first half of the year and had about $1.1 million cash on hand. This time around, the RSSCC pulled in $611,252 and had $922,051 in the bank. *** UPDATE 4 @ 1:38 pm *** GOP state Sen. Kirk Dillard has been mentioned as a possible statewide candidate. His latest report shows he raised $60,187, spent $90,199, and had $103,467 on hand. * Also, Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks has been hinting around about a statewide bid. Franks reported raising $123,327 during the first six months of the year, he spent $112,545 and had $133,430 left over. *** UPDATE 3 @ 1:36 pm *** The late John Stroger’s campaign fund didn’t raise any money this year, nor did it spend any, but it still has $559,556 in the bank. The late county board president’s son, Todd, also reported no money raised this year in one of his funds, but the Friends of Todd H Stroger for President funds hasn’t yet reported anything today. *** UPDATE 2 @ 1:22 pm *** GOP Sen. Dan Rutherford lost to Secretary of State Jesse White in 2006, but he’s obviously been gearing up for another statewide bid. Rutherford reported raising $219,699 during the first six months of this year. He spent $135,840 and had $273,964 in the bank. Rutherford filed his report last week, but I hadn’t seen any coverage on it, so there you go. *** UPDATE 1 @ 11:35 am *** Dan Hynes is the first statewide officeholder to file his D-2 report today. Hynes raised $739,377, spent $108,498 and had $2,358,420 in the bank on June 30th. * Republican Joe Birkett, who is talking about a race for governor, already filed with $63,782 raised, $57,221 spent and $96,713 in the bank. * GOP state’s attorney nominee Tony Peraica filed earlier with $71,215 raised, $120,874 spent and $43,522 in the bank. OK, so today is campaign finance report deadline day and the State Board of Elections’ website is proving to be a huge pain. Yes, they fixed some of the more egregious problems that we complained about a few months ago. But check out the steps it takes to keep things in order for several campaign finance stories that will run in tomorrow’s Capitol Fax (and which ran in today’s CF - the one with the goofy error about Grumman)… First, you go to the Latest Reports Filed page and start scrolling down. OK, I found one that sparks my curiosity: Citizens for Jim Watson. He doesn’t have any opposition, but he’s in Iraq and I’m kinda interested to see if he’s raised any money. So, I click on the D-2 link and up pops the report. If I have a bunch of other reports open, often times when I click on one of the “itemized” lists I get somebody else’s report details. That means hitting the “back” button, refreshing Watson’s latest D-2 report page and then clicking on the details link once again. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t, necessitating another back button, another refresh and another link. Now, if I want to save the latest D-2 report for later, I have to go back to the Latest Reports Filed page, find Watson’s name again, and click on the committee name, rather than the D-2 link. Of course, by now I’ve realized that I have to do this right off the bat, but it’s just goofy that I have to do it at all. But after I do that, I have to go into the D-2 report again or I won’t get a unique address. Then and only then do I get a link that I can save for later, but the link is for the “all documents filed” page, not the latest D-2 in question. Argghhh!!! Of course, they still haven’t allowed users to open a link in a new tab or a new window, so once I get a link I can finally save, I have to copy and paste it into a new tab on my own. Also, if I try to save the D-2 page as an html document so I can get around the Board’s craziness by keeping a copy on my hard drive, I get this unreadable mess. It’s inexcusably retro, buggy and ridiculous, but that may not be the worst of it. As Curt Mercadante notes…
Document the atrocities.
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- Squideshi - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 11:20 am:
Possibly the worst atrocity is refusing to comply with IITAA standards. Second, the front page isn’t even valid HTML/XHTML.
- Been There - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 11:50 am:
Pretty impressed with Danny Boy’s fundraising. Not exactly the Obabma way, with small individual contributions, but rather the old fashion way. Big donations from the unions, lawyers, etc. Pretty convincing either way.
- IlliniPundit - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:18 pm:
It’s as if, rather than making campaign finance information as accessible as possible, the SBOE is trying to actually hide it from the citizens and media of Illinois.
It’s incredibly frustrating to deal with as a filer, as a blogger, and as a citizen. And they’ve known about the problems for years, and don’t seem interested in fixing them.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:18 pm:
That’s some decent cash for Hynes. For Birkett, not so much.
I never thought I would see the day where the Dems could consistently outraise the GOP. The idea that a black rookie Senator could raise a quarter billion is beyond my wildest dreams.
- DumberThanUThink - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:20 pm:
Speaking of Money both the presidentials ties to crooked banking deals get a little ink. Sun-Times reprises McCain, the Keating 5 and the S&L scandal —a truly under reported fed scandal.
The Wall Street Journal gives a heart warming review of Superior S & L ( Penny Pritzker chair)and how they were doing crooked loans while under FDIC control…here is a taste..(all the court docs are linked on the web…Chi media largely ignored Superior’s predatory tactics)
FDIC Faces Mortgage Mess
After Running Failed Bank
Subprime Lender
Made Problem Loans
On Regulators’ Watch
By MARK MAREMONT
July 21, 2008; Page A1
Federal officials heap much of the blame for the subprime mortgage mess on lenders, claiming they recklessly made too many high-cost home loans to borrowers who couldn’t afford them.
It turns out that the U.S. government itself was one of the lenders giving out high-interest, subprime mortgages, some of them predatory, according to government documents filed in federal court.
The unusual situation, which is still bedeviling bank regulators, stems from the 2001 seizure by federal officials of Superior Bank FSB, then a national subprime lender based in Hinsdale, Ill. Rather than immediately shuttering or selling Superior, as it normally does with failed banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. continued to run the bank’s subprime-mortgage business for months as it looked for a buyer. With FDIC people supervising day-to-day operations, Superior funded more than 6,700 new subprime loans worth more than $550 million, according to federal mortgage data.
The FDIC then sold a big chunk of the loans to another bank. That loan pool was afflicted by the same problems for which regulators have faulted the industry: lending to unqualified borrowers, inflated appraisals and poor verification of borrowers’ incomes, according to a written report from a government-hired expert. The report said that many of the loans never should have been made in the first place.
FROM THE CASE FILINGS
• Beal Bank laid out its legal case1 in a Nov. 19 filing in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
• The FDIC filed this response2 to Beal’s suit at the same court in late April 2008.
• In an undated internal FDIC assessment3. that Beal Bank obtained and filed in court in June, the FDIC acknowledged “numerous appraisal deficiencies” in the portfolio it sold to Beal and discussed its legal vulnerability. Points of interest: Pages 8-11 summarize the final report of an outside expert; pages 16-17 pages 16-18 discuss appraisal, fraud and other problems; pages 26-27 consider the FDIC’s “poor” legal situation. The handwritten notes were in the version filed in court; it’s unclear who added them.
• One exhibit filed in the case4 by Beal Bank was a May 2004 report to the FDIC from an outside expert reviewing the portfolio sold to Beal.
• The FDIC filed an excerpt5 of what it said was a final version of the 2004 expert’s report, which concluded that almost 19% of the loans sold to Beal contained material breaches of the warranties (pages 16-24).
• Another internal legal analysis6 shows the FDIC recognized problems with fraud in some loans sold to Beal.Hundreds of borrowers who took out Superior subprime loans on the FDIC’s watch — some with initial interest rates higher than 12% — have lost their homes to foreclosure, data on the loans indicate.
Banking regulators are grappling with a new round of woes related to subprime mortgages, which were generally made to people with poor credit histories. This month, the FDIC took control of the IndyMac Bank, a major lender that specialized in higher risk loans, after it failed. The FDIC intends to keep IndyMac open, as it did with Superior, but it doesn’t plan to originate any new mortgages.
At the time the FDIC was running Superior, subprime lending hadn’t yet emerged as the national disaster it since has become. But some lending experts already were faulting industry practices and warning about rising delinquencies. The FDIC’s problems with Superior could fuel criticism that bank regulators were slow to heed warning signs.
The FDIC, one of the chief U.S. bank regulators, manages a giant insurance fund that compensates customers of failed banks, and it takes charge of banks seized by the government. It has taken over hundreds of failed banks over the years, and generally has a good track record handling the difficult job.
The Superior situation could be costly for the FDIC. Texas-based Beal Bank SSB, which bought a portfolio of Superior loans, about half of them originated under the FDIC, is suing the agency in U.S. District Court in Washington. The suit claims many of the loans were made improperly and are plagued with problems.
An internal FDIC legal assessment, obtained by Beal Bank and filed in court last month, acknowledged “numerous appraisal deficiencies” in the portfolio and a “small number of loans that appear to be fraudulent from inception.” Calling the FDIC’s legal position poor, the undated 26-page assessment suggested that the agency’s liability could be as much as $70 million. Another FDIC official, in a deposition, estimated that the cost of settling the case could be less than one-third that amount.
In a recent court filing, the FDIC estimated that about 1,500 of the 5,315 loans it sold to Beal either have defaulted or are nonperforming. The FDIC already has bought back another 247 of the mortgages, most of them for violations of federal anti-predatory-lending laws intended to protect borrowers from unreasonably high fees or deceptive practices. Beal Bank has said in court filings that 73 of the repurchased loans were originated while the FDIC was running Superior
- just a guy - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:29 pm:
My mac makes it easy to save whatever document or web site is open as a PDF file, it’s basically a one-click operation. Print>as PDF> to (file folder or desktop, whatever). have you tried doing something like that?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:31 pm:
just a guy, that means i can’t save the complete archive, so it’s meaningless.
- Just Asking - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:36 pm:
Wordslinger:
If you take a closer look at individual D-2’s you will see the traditionally GOP leaning groups,(Chambers & business oriented)giving to Dems and Repubs basically across the board. Then when you go and look at the traditional dem leaning groups, (unions & trial lawyers) you will see very few Repubs cashing in. I did not do a scientific analysis but it sure seems like the Dems have a clear cut advantage if they are the only ones taping into a base of money. The story here is why would all these traditional Repub groups give to so many dems that clearly have not voted their way. Probably just protecting their six.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:50 pm:
The LINK for downloading the training manual for their electronic filing software doesn’t work.
What the heck????
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:53 pm:
YDD, welcome to my world. lol
- Squideshi - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 1:11 pm:
The Board should also make use of the Illinois State Web Templates. Let’s try to make things consistent for citizens here in Illinois.
- Ghost - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 1:22 pm:
I wonder if the Gov has any cash on hand after paying legal bills.
- there he goes again - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 1:23 pm:
Hynes has turned in a very impressive report that reflects support from every region of the state.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 1:25 pm:
YDD: You DO NOT want to read that manual. It is easier to figure it out yourself, which is saying a lot. I have been using it for 3 years, and I cannot imagine what the programmer who designed it was thinking. It was easier to figure out MYST!
- DumberThanULook - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:04 pm:
Looks like Foul Mouth Franks has his hopes dashed.
Better luck next time Hillary man.
Pingback Illinois State Board of Elections Software … cont’d « Prairie State 2.0 - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:11 pm:
[…] Today, Rich Miller picked up a quote from our post in today’s Capitol Fax Blog. […]
- DHouser - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:44 pm:
With little or no support in the labor community, the Hillary man will never have what it takes to move forward.
- What planet is he from again? - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:48 pm:
Can we arrange to include these in the fund sweeps? Not only will it help balance the state’s budget, but then we’d have to suffer far fewer inane campaign ads come November. Sounds like a win-win to me!
- A Citizen - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:53 pm:
Rich, the problem(s) you are having are due to the fact that their system is designed to run on a Timex Sinclair computer . . . circa 1980. Guv must have gutted out their budget for IT.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:55 pm:
LOL. Nah, I’ve been complaining about that site since George Ryan’s days.
They have people on staff who do this stuff full time. You’d think they could set aside a few minutes to figure out how to let users do basic things like open a new tab.
- Steve - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 3:09 pm:
Maybe Alderman Burke could loan some money to the Cook County Republicans,since he’s got so much more than they do sitting around.
- Anon - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 3:21 pm:
How does Anita Alvaerez raise that much money ($463,275) and claim she is not part of the culture or will not feel like she owes her new friends. As much as it pains me maybe we should listen to Peraica (from a distance).
- Ghost - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 3:39 pm:
“The Service Employees International Union’s Illinois political action committee gave $50,000 to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”
good thing the Unions are not currently “negotiating” a new contract with the State through AFSCME. Otherwise it might appear to be a conflict to accept money from a beneficiary of those negotitaions who is lining the pockets of the person responsible for the ultimate deicsion.
- Phil Elliot - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 3:55 pm:
Isn’t it odd that John Stroger’s account is still active with almost $500,000? I my memory serves me correct didn’t Todd Stroger get slapped with large fines because he failed to disclose campaign contributions late last year. I can’t wait to see who donated to Stroger. We can all then send them a “thank you” for the Stroger tax increase.
- Jimmy87 - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 4:55 pm:
Look at the big “transfer in” ($10,000) from Citizens for Dale Righter to Frank Watson’s personal committee on 3/4/2008. This raises some red flags as it was just days later we learned that Sen. Righter would be replacing Sen. Sieben as Assistant Republican Leader as opposed to Kirk Dillard.
$10,000 is quite a bit of money for a rank and file member to kick up to leadership…
- anon - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 5:05 pm:
How in the world did Dan Hynes outraise Lisa Madigan? Shocking!
- Anonymous - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 5:08 pm:
AG Madigan was on maternity leave for a couple months and that could explain why her numbers were below Hynes.
- Anon - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 5:37 pm:
How about the suburban GOP’s did they have a rough time also?
- Way South of the Border - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 5:58 pm:
Lisa Madigan’s contributors are incredibly diverse, with all those $50 donors. She’s building a base, not a favors list. Does Dan Hynes accept less than $200? Does Blagojevich accept less than $500? But I suppose her maternity leave is more topical.
- J. Bacon - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:11 pm:
Oops, it’s an amendment….
- The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:14 pm:
I thought we were in a recession? Guess not.
- "Way South..." has it right - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:18 pm:
Giannoulias pointed out he raised more from “individual contributions”, but Lisa Madigan raised her $ from a very broad group of individuals (528) That’s double Giannoulias’ 264 individual contribs and almost triple Hynes’ 145
- James the Intolerant - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:26 pm:
Didn’t Hynes have a large amount of debt left from his US Senate run? It is my understanding that the debt can’t be paid with these funds. Anyone know how much is still owed?
- some former legislative intern - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:42 pm:
Hoffman has a bunch of dough. Big deal. He wants to eventually run for secretary of state? Good luck on that one, considering he won’t get any votes in Chicago with his being tied to Rodo the Fraudo at the hip and Mayor Daley’s intense dislike for Blago.
Anyone associated with Blago will get no help from Mayor Daley. Even if Blago leaves office, the Mayor will not forget. He never forgets friends and foes and allies of friends and foes.
There is always a chance at redemption if the foe can do a large favor for the Mayor, but I can’t see Hoffman ever being in a position to do that.
Bye Bye Jay!
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:45 pm:
Lisa Madigan reports all of her contributions as itemized even though she doesn’t have to for those under $150 or something.
Both Giannoulias and Hynes have a good chunk of not-itemized individual contributions - if they reported all them as itemized, both of their individual donors numbers would be much, much higher.
- Ghost - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:47 pm:
The report is in for KFan. He raised $9.86 which compares to the $2.30 that he raised during the same period in 2006. KFan finished the period with $1.26 cash on hand. KFan points out, however, that there is no more change to be found in any of the couches in his apartment, his parents place or in the capital press room. KFan raised more from rifling change and panhandling then Rickey Hendon.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 6:52 pm:
ie: If you assume that all of Giannoulias’ 10K in non-itemized contributions are from $100 donors, then he would show 100 more donors. Same assumption for Hynes yields 120 more donors. Still not Lisa-level, but let’s calm down with the implications that she’s grassroots or something.
- Way South of the Border - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:15 pm:
It’s interesting that when Obama raises money from small contributors, he gets universal praise and a profile in the Atlantic Monthly, and when Lisa Madigan does it, it’s like she had a bake sale: “Oh, look how little she raised.” Come on guys, give the woman a break.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:26 pm:
Uh, that’s because he raised it from 1.5 million people, not 550.
Or maybe it’s because he’s a man and she’s a woman, if I’m getting the drift of your “bake sale” comparison correctly.
And 25K from Eychaner is nothing to sneeze at. They all have their big donors and small donors. I’m just saying it’s a little early to go around beating the chest o’ grassroots…
- Math - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:26 pm:
If my math is correct it looks like Hynes netted this period (contribs - exp) $631k, Giannoulias $621k, Madigan $432k and White $125k, although White did spend $35k on a vehicle. Also, if you look at Madigan’s transfers in, it looks like she’s getting some really big checks from a few powerful groups. Checks that big don’t come in on accident, someone’s really putting the squeeze on.
Also, Hynes and Madigan are 2nd generation pols, if someone wants to explain to me how 1st generation, 1st time officeholder Giannoulias is able to keep up with them I’m listening.
- Re:Math - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:40 pm:
I would bet that the reason Mr. Giannoulias has been able to keep up with Hynes/Madigan is that he is openly telling his contributors that he is running for Gov. in 2010 and using Illinoisans’ Anti-Rod to his benefit. Whether these are his honest intentions or not, it is clearly filling the coffers.
- Re:Math - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:41 pm:
Sorry, “Anti-Rod sentiment”
- Math - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:41 pm:
Yeah but don’t you think they’re doing the same? I mean when AFSCME is writing $25,000 to Lisa Madigan and $15,000 to Dan Hynes don’t you think it’s because they’re telling a story about the future?
- Way South of the Border - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:44 pm:
Obviously, Obama and L. Madigan work on two vastly different scales.
Looking at the state arena, compared to the other constitutional officers, Madigan shows the strongest signs of base-building. And in this political environment, that’s worthy of our notice, even (and especially) in the early stages. I mean, don’t we hang out here to see ahead of the curve?
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 8:38 pm:
So, did AFSCME get to name two appointments in the exec branch this spring?
- Leigh - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 8:38 pm:
I see a potential republican governor candidate with a lot of cash……
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 8:42 pm:
I guess Winston & Strawn doesn’t mail out bills until July 1.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 8:53 pm:
So, are you gonna share, Leigh, or just tease? lol
- Leigh - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:07 pm:
Rumor only…….we don’t do those on this site do we?
- Levois - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:09 pm:
Clout City was looking at $ amounts for the cook county state’s attorney race. Alvarez has WAY more money than Peraica. I shouldn’t be surprised at that.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:15 pm:
Levois, I know this is a long post, but the Peraica/Alvarez numbers are here. Have been for a while.
- missed it - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:17 pm:
Rod’s debts to Winston & Strawn are down, though he’s not showing any payments to Winston. Paying the debt outside of the political fund, so that donors don’t have to be disclosed, perhaps?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:24 pm:
Interesting. I’ll check.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:59 pm:
I figure the debt to W & S is down because the Gov. cashed in his frequent brief miles. Or maybe he negotiated a debt consolidation.
OR…$200K will get W & S nine executive branch appointments (June discount: pay for eight, get one free).
- The Ibenidiot - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 10:10 pm:
I guess corruption pays. At least up until the very last minute before an indictment.
I wonder how many friends Rezko and Ryan have left.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 10:15 pm:
Math, Alex has one of the best bases not only in the state, but in the country, in the Greek community.
They’re not to be underestimated, especially here. Cash businesses, and they understand the value of a buck and are not afraid to invest.
Mike Dukakis hung around with bedrock old GOP Bush when it came to fundraising in 1988. And believe me, most of those Greeks who gave to Dukakis voted for Bush.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 11:48 pm:
Fun fact from the Governor’s D-2:
On January 3, 2008, the campaign committee spent about $1,500 on flowers.
Fun fact from the January 3, 2008, Chicago Tribune:
“At the conclusion of the news conference, Blagojevich addressed the federal investigation by briefly denying that he had the conversations alleged in the court document.
Then, as he stepped away, Blagojevich was asked by a reporter how he felt about federal authorities investigating real estate commissions accepted by his wife, Patricia.
The governor hesitated for a moment, before walking away without giving a response.”
I think we have that response now.
- Surprised - Tuesday, Jul 22, 08 @ 2:10 am:
The Governor’s filing is “problematic”. They are reporting no payments to their lawyers and no new debt to their lawyers even though the most high profile trial in this state since G. Ryan went on trial happened entirely within this period.
Several people within their circle were spoken to, and this report is only accurate if you believe that within the entire trial not once did someone from this campaign fund speak to their attorney on the phone until June 1 (which is after the trial ended but within the normal 30 day billing cycle so that the invoice would not have to be reported in the debt section). In order to prove this report factually incorrect, all you have to do is to establish that someone from Winston & Strawn spoke to someone affiliated with the FOB fund.
If they had made one single payment of an outstandin invoice, they could then explain away any situation, but they didn’t so now they have to be able to prove that there was no billable contact between the law firm and their client during the whole Rezko trial. Difficult.