Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will enter the 2010 race for U.S. Senate and officially launch his campaign during a seven-city statewide swing beginning Sunday in Chicago and Springfield. Since forming his exploratory committee in March, Giannoulias has received an outpouring of support from Illinois residents throughout the state who are hungry for leaders who will take on powerful special interests in Washington, get our economy back on track and restore opportunity for every American.
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Date: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Place: Hilton Chicago
720 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Date: Sunday, July 26, 2009
Place: President Abraham Lincoln Hotel
701 E. Adams St.
Springfield
On Monday, Giannoulias will also make stops in Carbondale and the Metro East area. On Tuesday, Giannoulias will visit Rockford, the Quad Cities and Peoria. (Details about events in these locations will be announced later this week.)
* 1:25 pm - It appears that Cook County residents might see some sales tax relief soon. The county board just approved rolling back half of the one-cent sales tax increase with 13 votes. It’ll take 14 votes to override, but Commissioner Forrest Claypool was absent and he’s expected to vote against any veto by President Todd Stroger.
Tony Peraica has already sent out a victory e-mail…
“What a difference a year makes: when I first introduced a sales tax rollback last year, many of my fellow commissioners scoffed. Now, with election season right around the corner, those same commissioners have found religion and passed this tax rollback.
“Whatever their reasons — today’s vote is a victory for the taxpayers.
“Todd continues to insult the taxpayers by promising to veto this tax relief ordinance. Fortunately, we believe we have the fourteen votes necessary to override his veto. Good for the taxpayers — bad for Todd.”
…Adding… Peraica live-Tweeted the vote, so the roll call is here.
Quinn is a “bad boy” on the Illinois political scene. A gadfly. An energetic, committed man, who, depending on who you talk to, is either slightly naive, or is, very simply, a ruthless demogogue. Most will agree, however, that he is clever.
Publicly, Quinn fancies himself a self-styled Howard Jarvis, firmly of the belief that the public dog should wave the bureaucratic tail and not the other way around. They laughed a year ago when Jarvis got Proposition 13 on the California ballot, Quinn said. They stopped laughing when it passed. Quinn is ultimately trying for the same kind of citizens’ initiative in Illinois. The object of Quinn’s ire, however, is not the tax structure but the shape of Illinois politics and the need, he says, to keep the politicians honest and their fingers out of the public till. […]
And while he cringes when hearing criticism, Quinn says his group will win someday. “If you’ve got a bill you want passed, I wouldn’t advise hiring me as your lobbyist,” said Quinn. “I haven’t exactly endeared myself to the politicians in Springfield. Our group is not even as quote “respectable” unquote as Common Cause. But sometimes it’s necessary to open some boils if you want to cure things.”
Quinn sees his work as an example of 1960’s activism applied to the more inner-directed 1970’s. “At first the activists wanted to change the world,” Quinn said. “When that didn’t work, they decided to try changing the nation. Now the emphasis is on state and local issues. The issues may be the more mundane, but the problems are more relevant to people’s day-to-day lives. “There was a survey that showed there are more members of public interest groups like Common Cause and the Ralph Nader group than there are dues-paying members of the Republican and Democratic parties. We’re in the mainstream. This is where politics is headed.”
* Best response wins a ticket to the August 17th Chicago White Sox game vs. the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox Caucus bought up 200 seats and I snagged [as in “purchased”] a bunch of them, so I’ll be giving them away from now until then. The seats are in left center field.
If you’re not a Sox fan [horrors!] or can’t make it to the game, you can elect to give the ticket to someone else or put it back in the pile for another day.
* Democrat Dan Seals, who lost two consecutive races for the 10th Congressional District against Republican incumbent Mark Kirk, just sent out a blast e-mail to supporters…
I am writing to tell you that today I am indeed announcing my candidacy to represent the people of the 10th district.
I am running to help the families of our community get back on solid ground. I have been struck by how this economic downturn has hit people of all communities and economic strata. I will work to make healthcare and energy costs more affordable, while focusing on job growth for our community. I know that President Obama shares these values, and I look forward to the opportunity to join President Obama in working towards a brighter future for our children and our community.
You also know that I have raised the alarm about our national debt. Once we have put out this economic fire, we must put our fiscal house back in order. In the long run, if we don’t control our costs and reduce our debt, we risk not only our prosperity but that of future generations. I support President Obama’s commitment to reduce the deficits and I will work with him to achieve it.
Abroad, we must continue to engage with the world to combat global warming, support human rights, and contain belligerent regimes such as Iran and North Korea. And I will continue to be a strong ally in Israel’s quest for a sustainable and secure peace.
I look forward to talking and working with you on these and other issues in the coming months. If we can keep the focus on problem solving instead of partisanship, there’s nothing we can’t do.
* Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has paid off a big debt - to himself.
Stroger’s latest fundraising report showed he cashed in three certificates of deposit worth over $526,000 and paid himself $350,000.
President Stroger loaned his campaign $500,000 during his first countywide race. His D2 report is a bit of a mess (no surprise). The report claims he still owes $115,000 in debt to others, including Senate Majority Leader James Clayborne. But it looks like the total is more like $181K $131K to others and $150K to himself.
Stroger reported raising about $180,000 in the first six months of the year, but drilling into the report you find that $48,000 of that was transferred in from a now defunct Stroger campaign committee.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is vowing to veto the latest plan to cut back on the penny-on-a-dollar sales-tax hike that he pushed through a year ago. But a key opponent says he may have the votes for an override.
The veto threat, confirmed by Mr. Stroger’s office, came after Commissioners John Daley and Lawrence Suffredin met with Mr. Stroger last week and asked him to halve the tax hike by early 2010.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s office now plans to release cellphone records as soon as later today of the four people at the center of a hiring scandal in his administration: Stroger himself, his chief communications officer Gene Mullins and ousted county employees Donna Dunnings and Tony Cole.
That’s according to the Better Government Association, which sued Stroger for failing to turn over those cellphone records between Nov. 30, 2008, to April 30, 2009.
Stroger is hiring a new campaign manager soon, but to say he faces an uphill climb is an insult to hills.
* Potential Stroger challenger Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown loaned her campaign fund $70,000 and raised another $160,000, which is more than Stroger, believe it or not. Unsurprisingly, quite a few of those contributions came from Cook County employees.
* One of the more formidable challengers in the contest, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, raised about $365,000 net for twodifferent committees. Treasure Island Foods was her biggest contributor, giving $15,000. She also transferred in $25,000 from her aldermanic campaign fund.
* Congressman Danny Davis could be the big dog in this contest. Davis’ local campaign fund pulled in $67K, spent it all and had $20K left. His federal committee, which he could use for the local race, had about $580K on hand at the end of the last quarter. [Notice change. That’s ten times more than I first wrote. Wow.]
* MWRD President Terrence O’Brien raised no money, but had about $147K stashed in two committees.
* Sheriff Tom Dart says he’s not interested in a run, but he did raise $101K and had $216 in the bank.
* Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin has been talking about running, but he raised no money other than a $30,000 loan to himself. He had just $9100 on hand.
* The most likely political reason behind Gov. Quinn’s long-awaited signature of the capital bill, which was a reverse flip-flop…
On the strength of strong union support, Comptroller Dan Hynes reported $3.5 million in his political fund Monday, representing a five-to-one fund-raising lead over Gov. Quinn. […]
[Hynes’] largest donor was the Illinois Pipe Trades political action committee, which donated $50,000. International Union of Operating Engineers Local 649 in Peoria gave Hynes $43,000.
With the capital bill signed, that union money is now withing Quinn’s grasp. Keep an eye on his fundraising, which was better than expected and will only grow…
Gov. Pat Quinn has traditionally been a poor fundraiser, but state campaign finance records filed Monday show that once he replaced the ousted Rod Blagojevich and vowed to run for governor next year, his contributions skyrocketed to more than $860,000.
Hynes has a big cash on hand lead, but a governor has the power to raise huge amounts of money in a hurry. We’ll see if Quinn is up to it. Sneed says he’s looking at hiring David Rosen…
Sneed hears top Dem fund-raiser David Rosen, who has raised tons of cash for Hillary Clinton in the past, is in serious talks with the Quinn camp.
Rosen got into a spot of trouble with the G, but was acquitted. He’s a mega fundraiser who ought to scare the pants off any prospective Democratic opponents, Hynes included. If Quinn hires Rosen or somebody similar, then we’ll know he’s serious about doing what it takes to hold onto the job. Reformers are queasy about money, but you can’t win without it.
State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) raised more than $350,000 since January, including a $101,000 loan to his campaign, and had $410,000 on hand.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) had $101,000 available from his legislative fund, while another recently announced governor candidate, state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), had $39,620 to spend after raising $21,000.
Republican operative and pundit Dan Proft had $16,659 on hand for his campaign for governor after raising $103,000, including a $67,000 loan.
Illinois Review has the complete list of GOP gubernatorial fundraising, including….
ADAM ANDRZEJEWSKI
Beginning Balance: $0.00
Total Contributions/Loans: $504,433.20
Total Expenditures: $147,779.45
Funds available: $356,653.75
Garrett is close with state Rep. Julie Hamos (D), who she said will move from Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D) neighboring district into the 10th district to run. Hamos did not return a call for comment on the race, but Garrett said she would be likely to support her at some point in the campaign.
“I won’t rule anything out. I’m going to look at it and go from there,” [state Sen. Terry Link] said. “I’m going to look at the candidates, and if I think I’m the best one, I will consider it strongly.”
Link said he doesn’t feel rushed about making a decision. “I’ve put campaigns together pretty quickly,” he said.
I do have to agree with Team America Blog, however…
I think the real chances of Link actually making a bid for Congress are about 0%.
* Despite his poor fundraising effort last quarter, Sen. Michael Bond is the only “real” Democratic candidate who has announced to date, but Dan Seals is still out there...
Most Democrats, however, are waiting to see what marketing consultant Dan Seals, the 2006 and 2008 Democratic nominee, will decide about the race. Seals clobbered his 2008 primary opponent and would bring solid name identification to the race; however, national and local Democrats have expressed serious doubts about giving him a third shot at winning the seat.
Congressman Kirk spent millions of dollars just to hold on to this seat, President Obama won this district with over 60 percent of the vote, and Senator John Kerry carried this district in 2004,” said Gabby Adler, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of House Democrats. “There is no doubt Illinois’ 10th Congressional District presents a great opportunity for Democrats this election cycle.”
* Is Republican state Rep. Beth Coulson in or not? CQ Politics says no. Roll Call says she’s still thinking about it.
Dick Green, who has a background in business and runs the stock market analysis service Briefing.com, is one Republican who is likely to enter the race. […]
“In particular, I think there is now too much government involvement in the economy,” he added. “I am an unapologetic defender of free markets, free trade and capitalism.”
Green should be joined in the GOP primary field by Patricia Bird, a business owner who was decisively defeated in an April bid to become mayor of Mount Prospect, a Chicago suburb in Cook County.
Another businessman, Bill Strong, has also expressed interest in the race. A former finance chairman for Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign in Illinois, Strong would also be able to put a significant amount of his own money into the race.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. says its second-quarter profit fell 66 percent as the global recession continued to dampen sales of its machines and engines. But it boosted its 2009 profit outlook.
Caterpillar’s broad reach and diverse line of products — ranging from backhoes and bulldozers to turbines and cargo ship engines — make it a bellwether of the global economy.
The company says it earned $371 million, or 60 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30. Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar earned $1.11 billion, or $1.74 per share, during the same period last year.
U.S. machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday and raised its full-year outlook, citing signs of stabilization in the world’s credit markets and economies.
Shares in the Peoria-based manufacturer rose 12.1 percent, or $4.42, to $41.07 in early trading…
Stripping out costs associated with layoffs and restructuring, Caterpillar made 72 cents a share. Since the end of 2008, Caterpillar has cut 17,100 full-time workers.
Analysts, on average, had expected the company to report a profit of 22 cents a share on sales of $8.36 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America will bring its “Save The Dream Tour” to McCormick Place starting Friday. Chicago is the fourth stop on a 10-city tour.
The workshop allows homeowners in trouble to meet with their mortgage lender to restructure their existing loan, either through permanently lowering the interest rate, dropping the principal balance or changing the terms.
The services are free and the workshop is open to the public.
Hotels in Chicago, as well as other big cities, are offering dramatic bargains to draw visitors during this economic lull.
Here, the prestigious Drake Hotel, famous for hosting Princess Diana during her only visit to Chicago 13 years ago, started the price war among Chicago hotels last January that continues today.
The Drake started offering a $95-a-night rate in January that dared others to follow, said a rival hotel executive who declined to be named. That rate ended in mid-April, but Chicago’s hotels continue to offer deals.
Wal-Mart launched a Web site Monday to try and generate grassroots support for its controversial plan to build a South Side super-store.
It’s the latest in the company’s five-year battle to build a second Chicago location in the Chatham neighborhood.
But the plan has faced strong opposition from unions and community groups. Elce Redmond is a community organizer with the South Austin Coalition. He says he wants Wal-Mart to provide worker health benefits and higher wages.
Now that Chicago has filled in the “missing links” in the Wacker Drive riverwalk, it’s time to design the rest — even though the city still doesn’t have the money to build it.
The Daley administration has issued a “request for proposals” from firms interested in designing the final phase of the San Antonio-style riverwalk — the six-block stretch between State and Lake streets.
“We have secured funding for most, if not all of the remaining design, but we still need to identify construction dollars,” said Transportation Department spokesman Brian Steele.
Chicago 2016 leaders gave their regular presentation Monday, telling a community forum in the city’s Lakeview neighborhood that the Olympics would be a privately funded spectacle that would raise the city’s profile globally.
But unlike a string of recent meetings, after the bid team put its best foot forward, it was immediately hit with counter-presentations from critics who fear that the Summer Games could gravely damage the city.
While bid officials hoped to allay fears particular to Lakeview residents, such as the impact of venue construction to a lakefront bird sanctuary and further congestion to a crowded neighborhood, they had to defend the bid from attacks on multiple fronts.
Sharing the stage with bid officials were Tom Tresser of No Games Chicago, which opposes the games, and Erma Tranter, president of Friends of the Parks. While Tranter doesn’t oppose the Games outright, her group fears that the current plan would permanently mar some parks and burden the Chicago Park District with facilities it later won’t be able to afford to operate.
ROCKFORD —Union representatives negotiating a new labor agreement for police officers plan to file today for arbitration with the Illinois Department of Labor, union representative Doug Block said Monday.
Faced with a financial crisis, city officials have pushed for concessions in negotiations with unions representing Rockford police officers and firefighters. Those concessions include wage freezes, insurance contribution increases and staffing reductions.
Ten months after the CTA pulled seats out of a number of Brown Line cars to make room for more riders, they are pulling the plug on the idea, saying customers want to sit, not stand.
This fall Illinois will start publishing data about hospitals’ performance on a public Web site, according to officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The data will include rates of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA, the ratio of nurses to patients, and information about the cost and volume of 30 leading procedures performed by hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers.
MOUNT VERNON — An executive affiliated with a southern Illinois group home where a sheriff’s deputy allegedly zapped three children with a stun gun says he’s “alarmed'’ by the allegations.
A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the three boys claims a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy was unprovoked when he shocked them a year ago at the Southern Thirty Adolescent Center near Mount Vernon.
The lawsuit claims a fourth child was handcuffed, threatened and thrown into a closet.
The petition names two deputies. Their boss, Sheriff Roger Mulch, says he stands behind the deputies.
* This is why the national Republicans and so many prominent Illinois GOPs love Mark Kirk…
The chants of protesters could be heard throughout U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk’s Monday morning announcement of his U.S. Senate campaign.
“Health care now,” they repeated over and over from the street, as Kirk spoke to supporters.
“Those are the left wing guys I think. We’ll have the right next,” Kirk joked shortly after the chanters began.
Later, when he answered questions from the media, he again referred to the protesters, saying “I can see from the crowd here that the Democratic Party seems to be very worried about me, which is why they’re here.”
Whether it’s reality or not, Kirk has gone out of his way to position himself right in the political middle - and made himself look courageous doing it. No mean feat.
My old buddy Paul Green used to say that a moderate Republican running statewide will always beat a Democrat in Illinois. Those days are gone, but Kirk gives the GOP more hope than it’s had in years, and for good reason.
* It looks like Kirk will probably sail through the primary. He will then have plenty of time between February and November to plant himself directly in the center and tout his good government ways…
“I will be a moderate on the divisive social issues but a fiscal conservative,” Kirk said of his political philosophy. “But at heart, (I am) a guy who would be totally dedicated to restoring the image of Illinois and ethics and integrity in government.”
“To really be effective and represent the entire state, you’ve got to have a broad appeal,” [former Gov. Jim Edgar] said. “Mark has a superb record of integrity and ethics, but he has a good record on the issues as well. We need to win in November and he can win.”
The party guys love “he can win” candidates. Independents will go for the integrity angle, which will only be helped by his military service (something Kirk has always used to its fullest extent in his campaigns).
* But what about the right wing and that cap and trade vote? A first class answer…
Kirk told me Monday he has been inundated with e-mails from Republicans unhappy with his cap-and-trade vote. So, why did he vote yes?
“We’ve sent three armies to the Middle East and I’ve fought in two of them. As combat veterans, we get to ask, ‘Are we going to still being doing this 20 years from now?’ So I’ve been in favor of anything that gets us to energy independence,” said Kirk, an intelligence commander in the Naval Reserve who was deployed in December to Afghanistan.
Energy independence and combat record all in one response. Not bad at all, even if it doesn’t completely quell the shouts.
Kirk divorced recently. When he was asked how that might affect the race, his ex-wife stepped forward to say she supports him completely.
“He’d make a great senator,” Kimberly Vertolli said.
It ain’t every day that a divorced man is so solidly supported by his ex wife. Don’t underestimate that appeal. But also notice how the ex stepping in completely quashed the line of questioning. Man, that was a good move. He can just quote her from now on.
The 48-year-old North Shore congressman chose to make the announcement outside the home where he lived as a teenager in Kenilworth, reportedly the wealthiest suburb in all of Illinois. Still, the Republican said he was not worried about being labeled the candidate for the privileged.
“This is where I grew up, and this is who I am,” said Kirk.
* It’s no wonder the national Democrats are already posting slick Internet ads whacking him…
June’s NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey found more Americans (46 percent) blaming Bush for the nation’s federal budget deficit than Congress and the Obama administration combined. But that may not still be the case a year from now, and the more time passes, the more likely that swing voters will shift the responsibility for the nation’s economic problems to current officeholders.
Ronald Reagan, after all, rode to the White House in 1980 on a wave of dissatisfaction with Carter’s presidency, but that didn’t stop voters from spanking Republicans at the polls two years later (costing Republicans 26 House seats just two years after they won 33 seats)
* We’ll see how he does Downstate, where abortion, coal-fired electric plants and guns are viewed much differently than in the northern suburbs. But if his tour is only half as good as his roll-out, he ought to impress.
