* Dan Hynes is one-upping Gov. Pat Quinn on Quinn’s recent amendatory veto…
The state official in charge of payroll has no plans to start writing bigger paychecks for lawmakers even though a plan changing how raises occur was vetoed by the governor.
“Absent a court order or specific appropriation, nothing changes,” said Alan Henry, spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, whose office processes payroll.
Quinn changed the bill to kill off future automatic cost of living raises. The GA has not yet acted on the AV, but Hynes is taking the populist road. He’s also about to formally announce his candidacy. From a press release…
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes will formally enter the race for the Democratic nomination for Governor Wednesday by introducing a major policy proposal that will be a hallmark of his campaign.
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft outlines a few campaign promises in his latest press release…
1. Cut income and corporate tax rates 50%.
2. Institute statutory spending caps on the General Assembly to ensure that state spending cannot outpace the rate of population growth plus inflation year-over-year.
3. Reduce fees and consumption taxes.
4. Eliminate the estate tax.
Halving the personal and corporate income tax rate would cost about $5 billion. Eliminating the estate tax would dry up almost $300 million in revenues. “Consumption taxes” amount to well over $9 billion, depending on how they’re counted.
* I really don’t get this logic from Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne. Byrne blasts Gov. Pat Quinn for using his amendatory veto powers to add a provision to a bill which allows citizens the right to pass binding referenda to create new local ethics laws that can’t be repealed for at least four years…
Suppose that the legislature — miraculously — was of the same mind-set, and passed the amendment? Perhaps it would fire up some grass-roots anger in a few burgs, like Bolingbrook, where Mayor Roger Claar has allegedly lived high on the hog from political contributions from people and firms that do business with the suburb.
But Chicago is an entirely different hog. Chicago voters have shown themselves to be too lazy, inept, apathetic, pliable or unconcerned to organize the kind of grass-roots campaign it would take to impose ethics on the rogues they continually elect.
Excuse me? The citizens of Bolingbrook are so angry about Mayor Roger Claar that nobody filed to run against him this year. Somebody did run as a write-in, and scored a not too shabby 25 percent, but it was still just 25 percent.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, special election voters this year ignored the “Machine” candidates and elected noted reformer Mike Quigley to Congress.
I usually just ignore Byrne. But that comparison was just bizarre, man.
* Speaking of Quigley, he’s expectedly endorsed Rep. John Fritchey for the county board. From a press release…
In a significant political announcement, State Rep. John Fritchey stated that he will not seek re-election to the General Assembly seat that he has held since 1996, opting to run to fill the vacancy created by Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, who has announced he will not be running for another term. Congressman Mike Quigley and Commissioner Claypool joined Rep. Fritchey at his announcement and pledged their full support of Fritchey’s bid, citing the need for the County Board to have a proven reformer who can hit the ground running.
* The Sun-Times whacks Speaker Madigan on his law firm’s apparent conflict of interest…
Madigan is right when he says he has broken no laws by doing property tax work for companies that do state business, but he is wrong when he says there is no potential conflict of interest.
We see two ways to resolve the problem:
• • Madigan’s law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, could disclose the names of every client who even remotely does business with the state. We’re skeptical of Madigan’s claim, made Monday in response to the Sun-Times story, that the canon of ethics for lawyers prohibits him from doing so. Ald. Ed Burke routinely lists all his law clients who do city business on his ethics statements.
• • Madigan’s law firm could stop doing legal work of any kind for anybody who does business with the state.
That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. And, frankly, with the Joe Berrios county assessor candidacy looming, it would be a prudent move, FBI-wise.
* Now that Bobby Rush has endorsed Cheryle Jackson, could a Pat Quinn endorsement be far behind? [/snark]. From a press release…
U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle Robinson Jackson today received key endorsements from U.S. Representative Bobby Rush, State Senator Rev. James Meeks and the Cook County Democratic Women Organization for her bid to fill the Illinois seat once held by President Barack Obama. These early endorsements signal strong support from the community.
“Cheryle is exactly who Illinois needs in the U.S. Senate,” said Rush. “Like many of us, she worked her way up to become a force for change and progress for everyday people. She understands from personal experience how important quality health care, education, and access to good jobs and opportunities are to Illinois families. She’ll take that fight to Washington.”
In his own way, Rush is one of the most powerful forces in Illinois politics. He’s made Gov. Quinn back away from more positions than just about anyone else.
* Campaign news you can use…
I spy . . .
GOP U.S. Senate hopeful Mark Kirk spotted dining on a BLT sandwich with Thousand Island dressing, accompanied by 13 others, at Little Ricky’s eatery in Winnetka Sunday night following his North Shore fund-raising bash starring former GOP presidential hopeful John McCain
Or not.
* Related…
* Quinn set to visit Quincy: Gov. Pat Quinn is headed to west central Illinois to dedicate a $295 million highway project.
* SJ-R: Let’s have real ethics reform
* Illinois deserves better; reform veto should be first step
* University of Illinois: President B. Joseph White and Chancellor Richard Herman blame each other
* Faculty puts off vote on U of I president, chancellor
- Niles Township - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:37 pm:
I am deeply concerned by Dan Hynes. While I don’t think the legislature should get a penny more, Hynes is willing to ignore the law on the dare that anyone is stupid enough to go to court to get an order? So our governor-to-be is willing to ignore laws when it suits him? Lisa really is obligated to go to court to enforce the law, but I’m sure she won’t. Smart politically, but this is not the type of move a governor should make.
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:38 pm:
now that quinn, mike madigan, cullerton and cindi canary are all in bed together on reform i’m sure that they will address mike’s apparent conflict of interest. btw… has the media asked quinn for his thoughts on the Sun times report about mike madigan? as a taxpayer and citizen of illinois, i’d be interested in what governor quinn has to say about his new best friend’s apparent conflict of interest. seeing as to how the governor believes in fiduciary reponsibilities and all.
still trying to keep obama’s senate seat black. I wish cheryle ROBINSON jackson a lot of STATEWIDE luck with that. sometimes I wonder if maybe rush shouldn’t be running for governor against pat quinn, as he is a formidable foe. no? I would love for Quinn to endorse ROBINSON jackson—that would be great! he’s in bad shape right now and pretty desperate, so he probably will endorse her to secure the black vote. I doubt that many blacks see much of a distinction between hynes and quinn anyway. wit all that said though, I think the race between hynes and quinn will be pretty close. so, if I am quinn I go for every single vote I can get any which way I can.
still no word, almost a week later, from alexi about hoffman?
- in the know - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:47 pm:
Niles: unless the money is expressly appropriated, which I don’t think it was, there would be case law supporting the Comptroller’s possition….The legislative act of approriation is the last act in funding salaries, notwithstanding the Comp Review Board report. He’s actually being consistent.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:47 pm:
What with the caps on her name, WCW? I don’t get it.
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:49 pm:
Boy, I bet Cheryle wishes her maiden name was Obama. she’s probably been quiet the last couple of weeks furiously scouring her family tree to see if there was anything by way of Kenyan relation.
do most people even know or care that michelle obama’s madien name is robinson? probably not. But then again when people keep mistakeningly assuming that you are a relation of THE Rev. Jackson and son, you’d better do something to try to distinguish/distance yourself.
- Scooby - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:54 pm:
This reminds me of a question I’ve been meaning to ask the blog masters for a while now. Can we get Will County Woman and shore added to the “Vanilla Man Ingnore” button? It would make the comments section much more readable.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 12:56 pm:
Proft’s platform, which I assumed would be fiscally conservative, is to drive the state into the fiscal ground!?!
Or, is this just another indication that our educational system is failing to teach basic math?
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:00 pm:
Scooby, I grant you the power to just skip over my comments. Truthfully you’ve always had that power, haven’t you? So why not just use it?
- montrose - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:00 pm:
Call me Rich Miller, but I would say Proft’s tax plan is ultra-conservative.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:03 pm:
lol
- The Doc - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:06 pm:
Rich, we see right through your transparent attempt to curry our favor by bashing MJM. We now consider you an ultra-liberal disingenuous flip-flopper.
Hugs and kisses,
Chicago GOP
- Brennan - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:11 pm:
What are the odds that with each passing day in Illinois President Kennedy gets another ultraconservative button?
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:13 pm:
“Halving the personal and corporate income tax rate would cost about $5 billion. Eliminating the estate tax would dry up almost $300 million in revenues. “Consumption taxes” amount to well over $9 billion, depending on how they’re counted.”
Proft’s pitch sounds great on paper but is incredibly shortsighted and muddy…
How does Mr. Proft plan to pay for asphalt when its cost rises faster than inflation + population growth? (Or electricity… or paper… or gas for state troopers’ cars… or raises for those state troopers and other employees…).
Last year’s CPI went up 0.1%. Proft doesn’t say he defines “inflation” as CPI but that is the current tax cap law defines it.
And if he uses the Census Bureau estimates for population growth, their numbers are constantly changing.
The Census Bureau’s 2007 pop. estimate for Illinois (Jul 1, 07) was 12,852,548
The 2008 (Jul 1, 08) estimate was 12,901,563 — a whopping change of barely more than 0%.
Nada + Zilch = Empty Rhetoric
- Cindy Lou - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:19 pm:
–”ensure that state spending cannot outpace the rate of population growth plus inflation year-over-year”.—
Would not that have to take into consideration as to what’s happening with the population from year to year? (Not just numbers but circumstances)
- Obamarama - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:20 pm:
Has Proft floated corresponding cuts with his revenue decreases? Those numbers seem a bit extreme even for him. This past legislative session there were service providers/recipients that were ready to burn the capitol down for merely proposing cuts that were roughly 10% of what Proft is proposing. And speaking of being off their rocker…
===Boy, I bet Cheryle wishes her maiden name was Obama. she’s probably been quiet the last couple of weeks furiously scouring her family tree to see if there was anything by way of Kenyan relation.===
Hi. What?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:22 pm:
WCW, that Kenyan comment was bizarre. You may need to take a rest.
- Anonymous45 - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:37 pm:
WCW: I doubt that MJM is in need of friends named Pat Quinn…to quote Barney Frank, “On which planet do you mostly reside”? (IMHO The greatest public snark ever by a pol…)
- Will County Woman - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:44 pm:
oh please! It wasn’t bizarre at all.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:45 pm:
Well, you just confirmed it.
- What the heck - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:46 pm:
Alexi better wake up and not take the black community for granted! He may have union support but the unions have not turned out people for elections as they have in the past.
- Dooley Dudright - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 1:57 pm:
“Mark Kirk spotted dining on a BLT sandwich with Thousand Island dressing…”
(Whaaaa? Thank you, Sneed — I guess.)
But hey, no worries. It’s another Kirk two-fer.
A culinary insult. And a coronary insult.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 2:01 pm:
Question for Proft: why stop at half? I mean, given the enormity of the cuts proposed, all he’d be able to fund as governor are pensions and debt service, if that.
How the heck does he plan to profit from governing if he cuts taxes by half? He wouldn’t be able to pay himself, much less a sweet contract for Urqhart.
But he certainly is NOT ultraconservative. The end of state government is solidly in the mainstream of the GOP I suppose.
- The Librarian - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 2:14 pm:
47th Ward:
Just because President Obama regularly misuses the word doesn’t mean others should.
enor·mi·ty
1 : an outrageous, improper, vicious, or immoral act
2 : the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous; especially : great wickedness
The word you wanted is “enormousness” or, better still, “colossalness.”
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 2:18 pm:
Thanks Librarian,
I can’t speak for the president, but given the definition you provided, I’ll stand by my useage above.
But I’ve been a grammar/useage critic myself, so I do appreciate where you’re coming from.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 2:39 pm:
Oops, ended a sentence with a preposition. I should have said, “so I do appreciate the constructive criticism you’ve offered.”
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 3:18 pm:
1. Did Hynes issue this latest missive from his secret island volcano lair? Is he still on the milk carton?
2. Speaking of sharks, Proft jumps one early. Get real, brother — if it were that easy, it would have been done by now. You’re going to have to strap on that thinking cap and work a little harder to be taken seriously.
3. For years, Dennis Byrne has been the Angry Old Man, Dana Carvey’s bit from SNL: (”When I was a boy, we didn’t have clean water… and we liked it, we loved it!”)
4. Thousand Island Dressing is underrated as a condiment.
- Bob - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 3:50 pm:
Cheryle doesn’t need endorsements to win the nomination, she needs Tom Dart to jump in.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 3:50 pm:
47th, or to remember the immortal words of Winston Churchill regarding the grammatical impropriety of ending sentences with prepositions, that is certainly the sort of usage up with which we shall not put.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 3:51 pm:
The Census Bureau’s 2007 pop. estimate for Illinois (Jul 1, 07) was 12,852,548
The 2008 (Jul 1, 08) estimate was 12,901,563 — a whopping change of barely more than 0%.
Rob N, if 49,015 people showed up one morning at your doorstep, I’d bet you’d notice it.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 3:51 pm:
Thanks Steve,
Believe it or not, I once had a journalism prof tell us that prepositions were wonderful things to end sentences with.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:12 pm:
Wow
Commando Kirk does 1000 island on the BLT, pays WhackyJackMcCain to drift through town and gets zero pub on his downstate campaign swing.
I guess if you a 1000 Islander you got your candidate. Everyone is still adrift
When does CaribouBarbie hit town?
- Anon - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:23 pm:
Reformers routinely practice zoning law when their Uncle is chair of the committee that makes all the zoning decisions in Chicago. Reformers are usally in their elected office solely because of the family they married into.
If there is an elected official in Illinois whose actions are more inconsistent with the public persona they try to portray I’d like to know who it is.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:40 pm:
Hey Rich - PSB is reporting that Kip Kirkpatrick is out. Which leaves Robin Kelly as the only announced candidate passing petitions in the Treasurer’s race. Who jumps in now?
- Just Observing - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:44 pm:
Who is running to replace Fritchey in Springfield?
- Maybe... - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:44 pm:
Bill,
I hear JB Pritzker might be a candidate for Treasurer. Don’t know if there’s anything to that.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 4:59 pm:
Maybe - where did you hear that? Sneed’s column???
Jokes, jokes.
- Chi Gal - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 5:24 pm:
But the important thing is… what condiments does he put on a BLT? Maybe Sneed could get on that for us.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 5:48 pm:
Six says, “Rob N, if 49,015 people showed up one morning at your doorstep, I’d bet you’d notice it.”
If you needed $8 to pay for something but Mr. Proft only saw fit to allow you a dime I’d bet you’d notice too.
Proft’s formula uses “rate of population growth” not actual “population growth”.
Keep in mind those 49,105 people represented a rate of only a 0.003% increase, and Proft is proposing to use that plus inflation (0.1%) for his year-to-year formula to destroy our state.
What happens if people emigrate from Illinois due to Mr. Proft’s short-sighted policies? Do we then demand that state vendors pay the state for the privilege of giving the state commodities?
I’m all for tax caps and the like as long … as they make sense.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 5:50 pm:
Wordslinger asks, “1. Did Hynes issue this latest missive from his secret island volcano lair? Is he still on the milk carton?”
Just because you haven’t heard from him personally doesn’t mean he’s not working it.
Put your ear a little closer to the rail. Hynes sounds like he’s rolling right along.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 6:09 pm:
ChiGal
reliable sources say chips and black olives
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 6:10 pm:
ChiGal
It was also noticed that his crusts were shaved off
- Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 6:19 pm:
CFS way to go with the salad dressing jokes after being caught with your pants down yesterday and taking one for the team. “Canon of Ethics”? How far up there did you have to reach to pull that one out? Hard to argue that’s a big secret if Eddie Burke is publishing his, dontcha think, CFS?
- Chi Gal - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 6:42 pm:
CircularFiringSquad - Kudos for scooping Sneed! With real journalists losing their jobs in droves, it is amazing how some keep theirs.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 1, 09 @ 8:58 pm:
–Put your ear a little closer to the rail. Hynes sounds like he’s rolling right along.–
Rob, I’m not the smartest guy, but I’ve never put my ear on the rail since that unfortunate incident in fifth grade. I just don’t have a lot of respect for campaigning by press release pot-shots. Get out in the arena.
I really don’t understand why Hynes is doing it this way. He should be living on free TV right now, contrasting himself with Quinn.
Despite what others say, I think Hyne’s is an excellent candidate. I don’t buy the boring stuff.
Put it this way: who’s the only guy to ever beat him? No shame there. You have to admit, no matter your politics, that guy was a political comet.
- Anon - Wednesday, Sep 2, 09 @ 3:37 am:
Wordslinger…
Put it this way: who of substance has he ever beat? Yes, he lost to Barack but that doesn’t excuse the absolutely horrible race he ran. The Hynes family lined up roughly 90 county chairs and 40 Alderman and he still lost by 25 points in an 8 candidate race.
Is there anyone who thinks Hynes may have seen some numbers that are causing him to go on the attack daily? Just wondering.
- Rob_N - Wednesday, Sep 2, 09 @ 6:28 pm:
Word,
There are other ways to reach the base is all I’m saying.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 7:09 am:
The reason why senatorial candidate C. Jackson added her middle or maiden name Robinson to her official ballot name is simple: it makes the name longer so it will stick out on the ballot. After all Alexi is fortunate to have the name Giannoulias.
The US Senate race will be a real fight. First, its an off year election which tends to support the party out of power. Secondly, in a general election Kirk has greater draw on Democrats and Independents than any Republican since Chuck Percy.
The two Democrats who would have had the best chance to beat Kirk are Lisa Madigan and Dan Hynes and they’re not running.
The one thing I would advise Kirk not to do is to send any ‘franked’ (no postage) mail outside the borders of his own district unless its in response to a letter he receives from anywhere in the nation. even though it is not illegal. In fact, while Congressmen are elected from a district, they are actually representatives of the state. Indeed some of the smaller state have two US Senators (because all states do as stipulated in the Constitution) and only one Congressman (because members of the House are apporiioned on population, and any state that has less than roughly 700,000 citizens only gets one seat, so the single Member of the House runs statewide or ‘at large’.
In Illinois in 1964 there was no agreement on reapportionment, so all of the candidates for the Illinois House of Representatives ran statewide and at large. The ‘orange’ or ‘bed sheet’ ballot as it was alternatively called, produced a weird situation. The major parties agreed not to run more than 118 candidates, for a total of 177 seats, which guaranteed the minimum number of Democrats or Republican would be 59 regardless of the vote margin. The Democrats headed their ticket with Adlai Stevenson III, and the Republicans with Earl Eisenhower (brother of the former President)who lived in LaGrange. That was the Goldwater year, and the Democrats swept the state guaranteeing them 118 seats.
I hope this posting satisfies Rich Miller’s request for something original even if arcane.
Phil Krone
- Philip Krone - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 7:13 am:
The previous posting was mine, I signed it at the bottom. Sorry about the typos. I will always remember in the future to make sure that none of my comments are ‘excessively’ rabid, although a little rabidity can go along way.
- Philip Krone - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 7:15 am:
Oops. I will make sure that none of my comments is excessively rabid. Between you and me, I just noticed that terrible grammatical error in my previouss posting.
- Phil Krone - Wednesday, Sep 9, 09 @ 12:10 pm:
Attention: Rich Miller
I’m waiting for you to comment on my original entry. After all its your blog.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 9, 09 @ 12:12 pm:
Keep waiting. There’s nothing to respond to.
- Phil Krone - Wednesday, Sep 9, 09 @ 12:55 pm:
OK. I will remember the next time to ask a question. This time I will just stipulate that you had no reason to question my facts, premises or conclusions. Fine. And thank you.