* 6:03 pm - AFSCME local leaders met with the governor’s top staff today. The union just released this statement…
Leaders of the state’s largest union of public service workers, AFSCME Council 31, including more than 75 leaders from every AFSCME local union representing Illinois state employees, met today in Springfield with representatives of Governor Pat Quinn and his Department of Central Management Services (CMS).
AFSCME executive director Henry Bayer issued the following statement:
“The Quinn Administration proposed employee concessions that would cut every state worker’s pay by 11 to 15 percent over the next year and a half, and still result in 1,000 layoffs. We simply don’t believe our members can afford that, and we don’t think it’s fair to expect them to bear such an unfair burden.
“AFSCME is strongly opposed to any layoffs. We made clear that the governor should rescind the layoffs he has already scheduled, and instead work to raise adequate revenue to support the vital services AFSCME members provide. If Pat Quinn chooses to lay off thousands of frontline state workers, he will decimate those services, including child protection, safe prisons, aid to the needy, care for the disabled, environmental protection and much more.
“The ranks of state workers have already been slashed. Illinois has the nation’s fewest state employees per resident. As a result, AFSCME members are already working an extraordinary amount of overtime, much of it forced. In June alone, employees in the Department of Human Services worked more than 100,000 hours of overtime, and in the Department of Corrections they worked more than 145,000 hours of overtime. Laying off staff in those circumstances would worsen the overtime crisis and cost the state more money.
“Today AFSCME proposed ways the state could save money without harming vital services and the employees who provide them. We know there are state contracts worth tens of millions of dollars for services that are not essential and could be canceled or modified. We believe the state’s group health insurance program could be administered more efficiently. And there are still many unnecessary top-level managers left over from the previous administration.
“The only real solution to the state budget crisis is to raise new revenues. AFSCME will continue its efforts to build legislative support to that end, and to prevent the layoff of any state employee.”
*** UPDATE *** Here come the layoffs. From Gov. Quinn’s office…
Governor Pat Quinn’s senior staff met today with AFSCME leadership to discuss potential changes to the State of Illinois’ AFSCME contract in response to the current national economic crisis and the resulting declining state revenues.
Unfortunately, AFSCME was not open to these proposals which would have saved thousands of state jobs and, instead, they made the choice to go forward with layoffs. We are hopeful that other unions will not choose this path.
The union did recommend some additional cost-saving measures, which we appreciate and will consider. By being unwilling to re-open the contract, we are now forced to proceed with the layoffs.
The cost-reduction plan is a critical component of the larger budget solution and calls for shared sacrifice among state agencies and their employees.
While we are disappointed with today’s outcome, we will continue to work to rescue our state from this fiscal emergency.
* Earlier today, Dan Hynes demanded either an explanation or an apology from Gov. Pat Quinn after Quinn charged that Hynes opposed an advisory referendum on a graduated income tax a few years ago. Hynes denied he opposed the referendum.
“[Quinn’s] bizarre claim that Dan has changed positions on a progressive income tax is patently false,” a campaign spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Well, after I asked for more than 24 hours, the Quinn campaign finally sent what it says is proof that Hynes has flip-flopped from opposing a graduated tax to now supporting one. This is from an October, 2003 story in the Kane County Chronicle…
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes opposes a proposed state constitutional amendment that would double the state income tax paid by the rich.
While touting his US Senate bid on Wednesday, Hynes touched on the proposal that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn endorsed earlier this week, but kept a visit to Kane County focused on grabbing Illinois’ share of federal dollars to boost the state’s ailing economy.
“I wouldn’t advocate a tax increase at the state level,” Hynes said.
Oof.
Still, that one sentence quote is the only direct quote the paper ran on the topic, and it’s the only story forwarded by the Quinn campaign, so it’s not 100 percent definitive, but it ain’t good for Hynes, either.
“In 2004, [Dan Hynes] opposed a graduated income tax,” Quinn said. “Maybe he’s flipped and he’s flopped over to our side, and I’m glad he has. In 2004, he wasn’t there to help us.”
I called and called and received no official response. I was told on background that Quinn was likely referring to a private request he made to Hynes during either the 2004 non-binding referendum on the graduated income tax or the subsequent push to pass a constitutional amendment based on the successful results of that referendum.
Hynes, however, denied yesterday that he ever opposed the referendum and said Quinn had never asked him to help pass the constitutional amendment through the GA.
Today, Hynes is demanding either a clarification or an apology. From a press release…
The Dan Hynes for Governor campaign is calling on Pat Quinn to clarify or apologize for his false assertion yesterday that Hynes had previously opposed the issue of a progressive income tax. Tellingly, Governor Quinn has failed to provide proof for his claim, and his office referred only to a “private conversation” in a report published this morning. The Hynes campaign categorically denies any such conversation took place.
Hynes campaign spokesman Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“On the topic of flip-flops, Pat Quinn typically knows of what he speaks. But his bizarre claim that Dan has changed positions on a progressive income tax is patently false. It is no surprise that the Governor would rather not defend his own plan to raise taxes by 50 percent across the board on all Illinois families.
Yesterday, Dan Hynes put forward a bold plan to address our state’s fiscal crisis by modernizing the tax structure and making it more fair. Pat Quinn talked about flip-flops and fishing trips. The people of Illinois are looking for a leader with a clear vision of the future, not a hazy focus on the past. Dan Hynes is going to continue to talk about his plans to move Illinois forward.
Governor Quinn owes the people of Illinois an explanation.”
* Meanwhile, the Illinois Republican Party has posted a new video, which is essentially Hynes being asked on WLS AM’s Don & Roma Show this morning to respond to an IL GOP talking point. Watch it…
* Speaking of Don & Roma, Gawker has uncovered some e-mails sent by media types begging for an interview with Rod Blagojevich soon after his arrest. Don & Roma’s producer told Blagojevich’s press secretary “I have an an incredible offer for you!” so please call. Read it here. Read the rest of the suck-up e-mails by clicking here.
Former ABC7 political reporter Andy Shaw was no suck-up. Check out his e-mail. Heh. Way to go, Andy. [I don’t think I sent an e-mail that day because I was able to get the press secretary on the phone very early that morning.]
* And David Ormsby compares Alexa web rankings of various gubernatorial campaign sites…
Illinois 2010 Governor Candidate July 2009 Web Traffic Rank:
* Brady, Bill 5,387,593
* Dillard, Kirk 7,209,347
* Hynes, Dan 9,777,962
* Murphy, Matt 10,221637
* Proft, Dan 3,815,627
* Quinn, Pat 4,626,269
These aren’t hits, by the way. These are rankings based on the entire Intertubes.
Proft has the “highest” rank of the bunch, with Quinn in second place. But they’re way behind this blog, which, according to Ormsby, Alexa has ranked at 206,748. I’m not a fan of Alexa, but whatever. It’s a fun little comparison.
* A recent national poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that 51 percent of American adults believe alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana.
A mere 19 percent said pot is more dangerous than booze…
Younger adults are more likely than their elders to view alcohol as the more dangerous of the two.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of women say alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, compared to 48% of men.
In the crosstabs, it looks like even a plurality of senior citizens think alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, 35 percent vs. 22 percent, with 33 percent saying they’re both equally dangerous. The poll found that about a quarter of all respondents thought that both were equally dangerous, with 2 percent saying neither were dangerous.
57 percent of Democrats said booze was more dangerous, while 45 percent of Republicans agreed. Just 14 percent of Dems said pot was more dangerous while 25 percent of Republicans concurred with that statement.
In fact, not a single identified demographic group believed that pot was more dangerous than booze. Not one.
1,000 adults surveyed August 26-27, 2009 with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
* Gov. Pat Quinn was on WSOY’s Byers & Co. program earlier this week. The host, Brian Byers, asked the governor about Monday’s Question of the Day, wherein we discussed who would play Quinn in a movie about his life.
The governor apparently saw the post because he mentioned one of your suggestions. Take a look to see which actor Gov. Quinn jokingly suggested play him in a movie…
* The Quinn campaign is continuing to bash Dan Hynes’ tax and budget proposals…
[John Kupper] of the Quinn campaign dismissed Hynes’ ideas as playing politics. “In a very real sense, this is a proposal that was put together for the benefit of a political campaign and not a serious effort to address the state’s fiscal problems,” he said. “It’s a lot of rehashed proposals that came right out of the political playbook 101. The question is better addressed to Dan Hynes as to how he is going to enact these things, since he’s pretty much been on the sidelines as these budget issues have been debated.”
Political? Yes, of course. Serious? Well, it’s at least as serious as Quinn’s budget plans, which pretty much all failed.
* Hynes has a calculator on his campaign website to compare what your taxes would be with his income tax proposal, which, he claims “puts the Middle Class first, with Gov. Quinn’s proposal.
*Taxes may vary based on an individual’s ability to qualify for certain exemptions and credits.
Household income –
under $200,000 would stay at the 3 percent income tax rate.
between $200,000 and $300,000 would be taxed at 3.5 percent
between $300,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 5.5 percent
between $500,000 and $1 million would be taxed at 7 percent
over $1 million would be taxed at 7.5 percent
* There’s been a lot of discussion about how “boring” Hynes is and how that may be an advantage in a year when voters could be tired of flashy, dishonest, incompetent leaders. Kristen McQueary notes that this is not a new schtick for the Hynes family…
Perhaps Hynes can mimic a television commercial his father used during his 1987 run for Chicago mayor. In it, Tom Hynes talked about his reputation as boring. The camera panned to his family where Dan Hynes, then a University of Notre Dame student, pretended to be sleeping.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Quinn is “acting gubernatorial” by cutting a very big ribbon today. From the governor’s public schedule…
Governor Pat Quinn will join local, state and federal officials to break ground on a transportation hub in Joliet.
WHO: Governor Quinn. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Crete), Joseph Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D-Joliet), Larry Walsh, Will County Executive, Jim Young, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Union Pacific Corporation. Michael Mullen, Chief Executive Officer, CenterPoint Properties
That capital bill is a political goldmine. But it has its downsides. From a Pantagraph editorial…
Hey, we just found an easy place to cut $40 million from the state’s capital budget.
It’s the $40 million allocated to build a branch of Chicago State University on the west side of Chicago — money that was not even requested by the university. That “surprise” doesn’t give us a lot of confidence in the rest of the budget.
* The other day, Mark Brown defended Republican US Senate candidate Congressman Mark Kirk against attacks on his immigration stance. Today, Brown gives an approving nod to Democratic US Senate hopeful Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ proposal to require states to recognize gay marriages performed in other states…
Under Giannoulias’ view, a same-sex couple from Illinois who get married in Iowa, where gay marriage became legal earlier this year, would have the same rights here as a married heterosexual couple.
Giannoulias said that would give them inheritance rights, hospital visitation rights, equal pension and health care benefits and all other legal protections granted married couples.
“I don’t think we’re asking for special rights,” Giannoulias said. “They’re equal rights.”
Informed of Giannoulias’ comments, a spokesman for Kirk offered a succinct response: “Congressman Kirk opposes gay marriage, supports the Defense of Marriage Act, and agrees with President Clinton’s policy of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
Brown calls the idea politically risky, and he’s most likely right about that. Your thoughts?
Tipsville: Sneed is told that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has definitely, positively decided not to enter the fray for President Obama’s old seat in the U.S. Senate.
•It’s for the usual reasons: the need to raise boatloads of campaign cash, raising five kids — and not wanting to give up a secure job.
* Speaking of Kirk, I haven’t had much on the blog about Dick Green, a wealthy Republican who is gearing up to run in Kirk’s Congressional District. That’s a mistake. We should probably keep a close eye on him. Here’s an excerpt about Green filed a while back by ABC7’s Charles Thomas…
“We’re going to raise the money necessary to compete and we’re going to do everything necessary to win this race.” ]…]
Mr. Green, a multi-millionaire financial consultant, would not answer when asked if he planned on using his own money. He would only say that he’ll have enough to run the race until the finish.
* Related…
* Halvorson to host 2nd telephone town hall on health care
Illinois will get more than $200 million in U.S. Labor Department funds to modernize its unemployment insurance program.
The money is coming from the federal stimulus program.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security can use these funds to pay unemployment benefits, or if appropriated by the Legislature, for administering its unemployment insurance program or providing employment services, according to the office of Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill.
Stroger has previously said he might support a .25 percent rollback of the 1 percent increase that took effect just over a year ago, hiking the county sales tax to 1.75 percent. That would at least save Cook County consumers an estimated $100 million a year, if not the $200 million that would have resulted from a half-percent cut. But fresh from his victory Tuesday, when Chicago Commissioner Deborah Sims switched sides at the last moment to sustain Stroger’s veto of a July vote to cut the sales tax a half penny on the dollar, he backtracked on even that.
“Things have changed,” Stroger said. “It’s not the same. I’d have to go to the finance team, and we’ll look at the numbers, and we’ll see if we can handle that. But we do know that we have some costs that weren’t there last year when I proposed the budget, and one of them is $113 million for the pension fund.”
Deborah Sims can vote with impunity — or so she believes — because of several factors. First of all, she doesn’t really represent the South Suburbs, she represents her Chicago Wards — and, specifically, her loyalists are very proud of her residence in the 34th Ward. If Sims can get the votes out of the Chicago Wards and Thornton township, then she wins. Her work — her neglect of the Southland — is evidence that she understands this political calculation.
Hence her continued loyalty to Todd Stroger. Thus her neglect of the Southland.[…]
In the end, Deborah Sims has to do two contradictory things: have a strong presence in the South Suburbs (especially in Thornton township) and hope that voters don’t realize who she is. Todd Stroger won’t be successful down here — John Stroger wouldn’t have done that well if Forrest Claypool’s campaign had tried to compete in the South Suburbs.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Wednesday, they contend that Dart has violated their right to due process by refusing to enforce court-ordered eviction notices on tenants.
“I’ve had one tenant who hasn’t paid his rent for 10 months,” Slinkman said. “Tenants all over Cook County are gaming the system because they know there’s a court order that prevents evicting them when the temperature is below 15 degrees or when there’s excessive snow on the ground or during the holidays.
The agencies are seeking $200 million in federal stimulus funding to get express buses running between job-scarce areas in the south suburbs and employment opportunities in the west and northwest.
If funding is approved, the so-called high-occupancy-toll or HOT lanes could be opened on the Tri-State by early 2012, officials said Wednesday.
Across Will County, there are hundreds of middle-class addicts — what authorities say constitutes a deadly heroin epidemic. A record 19 overdose deaths have occurred so far this year. That’s three more than were recorded in all of 2008, and nearly four times as many as in 2000.
The problem is fueled by cheap prices, easy availability and relaxed social attitudes toward a drug once considered beyond the pale.
The death toll has risen every year since 2005, according to Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil’s office, with the overdoses occurring in places including Mokena, Crest Hill, New Lenox and Homer Glen — suburbs better known for family-friendly, cookie-cutter subdivisions than widespread hard-drug use.
* Gov. Pat Quinn responded to Dan Hynes’ proposed graduated income tax with a claim that many have made about the governor. Hynes, Quinn said, has flip-flopped…
“In 2004, [Dan Hynes] opposed a graduated income tax,” Quinn said. “Maybe he’s flipped and he’s flopped over to our side, and I’m glad he has. In 2004, he wasn’t there to help us.”
I’ve asked the Quinn campaign for Hynes’ quotes from 2004, but they haven’t gotten back to me yet.
Quinn also blasted Hynes for proposing to fumigate half of Blagojevich’s appointees…
Quinn bristled at Hynes’ suggestion that he should fire half of the appointees made by Blagojevich who are making $70,000 a year, saying it was “un-American” to fire people based solely on who hired them. He said he has gotten rid of “a lot of bum apples,” but believed in evaluating “each person individually, based on their character, their record, their work performance.”
Quinn wasn’t as harsh when Speaker Madigan expressed his desire to fumigate all Blagojevich hires, but he still expressed reservations about it back in May.
Quinn also criticized Hynes’ proposal to allow more casinos in order to balance the state budget, saying he doesn’t want Illinois to become the “Las Vegas of the Midwest.”
Quinn also accused Hynes of being absent during this year’s budget battle, saying Hynes “went fishing” while he negotiated with the legislature. He also accused Hynes of failing to work with him and other constitutional officers on a variety of legislative issues this year, “but Dan Hynes, he didn’t want to work. From Day 1 he didn’t want to cooperate, he just wanted to play politics. I’m disappointed in him, I thought he wouldn’t be so much of a professional naysayer.”
* Meanwhile, Republican response to Hynes’ announcement has been somewhat slow. I’ve seen two so far. Sen. Kirk Dillard sent out a press release…
No state has ever taxed and borrowed its way into prosperity- the same way no family has ever spent their way out of a financial bind. It’s more of the Blagojevich, Hynes, Quinn Chicago “dem-economics” that got us into this problem.
When are Illinois Democrat leaders, who control every statewide office and both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, going to learn? Just like Illinois families and small businesses, we as a state must learn to live within our means.
These plans do not represent leadership. Instead, they represent more of the tried and failed. Others are proposing more borrowing- another failed economic concept to bring about growth and prosperity.
Hynes only problem w/ Quinn tax increase is was not big enough. Job-killing, malaise-inducing grad tax is horrible idea
* UPDATE - From Pat Brady, the new state GOP chairman…
“The Democratic field for Governor is shaping up to be a choice between a Blagojevich Democrat who wants to raise taxes and a Blagojevich Democrat who wants to raise taxes, which is clearly not the kind of change the people of Illinois seek nor the kind of change Republicans are ready to bring to our state.”
* UPDATE - From Sen. Bill Brady…
“The first words we hear from candidate Hynes is a proposal to dig deeper into the pockets of Illinois’ citizens and businesses. This is just another Chicago area politician looking to tax our vulnerable families and businesses, without realizing Illinois already is pushing jobs and people out of the state due to the high cost of living and working here.”
“As Illinois already ranks 48th in economic performance, we cannot afford to increase taxes on anyone, and we can’t continue to look to expanding gambling as any kind of solution to the state’s spending problems,” said Brady, a Bloomington Republican and business owner.”
* Congressman Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) was elected earlier this year as the reform candidate. Both city papers touted his reformer credentials over and over on their editorial pages. Well, those often over-the-top editorial boards would do well to pay attention to Quigley’s remarks yesterday when touting his endorsement of Rep. John Fritchey for Forrest Claypool’s county board seat. Watch it…
You can’t fight everything and everyone on every single topic and demand total victory or nothing and then expect to win anything.
* According to the Tribune, the new International Olympic Committee report on all the proposed 2016 sites appears to be a draw. The Tribune headline this morning is: “No clear favorite emerges from IOC report”…
An International Olympic Committee document assessing the bids of the four cities vying for the 2016 Summer Olympics this morning noted several problems with Chicago’s bid. But problems also were found with Rio de Janeiro, considered by some the emotional favorite to win the Games.
The committee also had concerns about the other two cities, Madrid and Tokyo. It cited organizational problems in Madrid’s bid, and the low level of public support in Tokyo.
Rio Janeiro and Chicago’s chances of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games received a boost on Wednesday after they appeared to edge ahead in the technical evaluation of the four candidates.
The Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee’s evaluation report still identified key shortcomings in the Brazilian and US cities, notably on transportation and some of the planned venues.
However, the report released Wednesday used blunt language to fault Madrid and Tokyo, even though all the potential hosts were regarded as being of “an extremely high level” and presenting both “risks and opportunities.”
Then again…
Sources close to the IOC told AFP earlier this month that Rio de Janeiro’s bid to become the first South American city to host the Olympics has been gaining momentum, while Chicago has been losing ground.
Perhaps the biggest red flag for Chicago in the 90-plus page report: the questions raised about Metra’s ability to handle an expected doubling in demand during the Olympics.
The commuter rail line is key because it’s expected it would handle two-thirds of the “overall Olympic traffic” and that would “more than double peak commuter traffic demands,” according to the IOC report.
And while the IOC praises the compactness of Chicago’s proposed Olympic Village and 22-venue plan, and even lauds the Chicago 2016 bid committee’s work to ensure that no white elephants — buildings that no longer serve any purpose — are left standing after the Games, the report questions whether plans for re-calibrating existing facilities, for example, might ultimately prove to be costlier.
The report calls the city’s proposed budget achievable.
Rio — seeking to take the Olympics to South America for the first time — may have gained the most, receiving the fewest direct criticisms in the report summary.
The 98-page report also cited low public support in Tokyo and a lack of understanding of different roles in Madrid.
Rio bid leaders said they believed they received the best review.
Political newcomer Kip Kirkpatrick, the co-founder of a private health-care equity firm, is expected to pull the plug on his bid for the Democratic nomination for state treasurer, sources familiar with the campaign said today.
That leaves just one Democrat running in the primary, Robin Kelly. JB Pritzker, who ran for Congress unsuccessfully several years ago and has since focused on his business, might run, although that seems somewhat in doubt. But it is within reason to assume that Democrats will look at Kelly’s current free pass and somebody will decide to jump in.
* 10:19 am - Comptroller Dan Hynes has just called for a “progressive” income tax, a dollar increase in the cigarette tax, two to three additional casinos, luxury services and other revenue ideas and budget cuts. You can watch it live by clicking here.
“I think it’s wrong to tax families during a recession,” said the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Hynes called for a “Fair and progressive tax system that will not raise taxes for 97 percent of our citizens… It will increase taxes only on those making over $200,000 per year…. Even then, the incremental increases will be staggered.” Top rate of 7.5 percent at $1 million a year.
The constitution would have to be amended to pass this proposal, of course.
* Gov. Pat Quinn, by the way, initially had no events on his schedule today. He then added two events, including one at 10:30 (just 8 minutes from now), where he will answer questions. [Update: The afternoon event is no longer on the schedule.]
* Hynes: “Our budget deficit is the product of our leadership deficit.”
* Hynes has ended his speech and is now taking questions from reporters.
Hynes said he wants the General Assembly to pass a resolution to put the constitutional amendment question before voters next year.
“Pat Quinn’s plan is regressive and unfair… Now he might have changed it, probably did.” Ouch.
“The hard, cold fact is this: We can’t cut our way out of this.”
No increase in corporate income tax.
Pushing, again, to merge comptroller and treasurer’s office.
* Hynes wants to cut back government operation lines to 2005 levels,
* 10:35 am - End of presser. I’ll be posting some docs in a few. Patterson has more.
* From the Hynes campaign…
“The general idea…is straightforward: before turning to taxes, we have to cut unnecessary government spending. If we don’t, we’ll place an unfair tax burden on people… We won’t have addressed the problem in the same common sense way that they would. A budget, whether at home or in Springfield, should require budgeting.”
To reduce the 2010 Budget shortfall, Hynes proposed taking immediate action to:
o Cut unnecessary government spending with a strategic process;
o Fire half of the Blagojevich political appointees making $70,000 a year or more;
o Reduce exorbitant state contracts by 20 percent;
o Bring state government operations back to 2005 levels, using best practices and directing agencies to work with front-line workers to identify cost-saving measures and efficiencies (Through a similar process, Hynes’ Comptroller’s Office is operating at 2001 levels.);
o End unfair tax exemptions, loopholes and discounts.
“The goal of this plan is simply to make our state better,” Hynes concluded. “But to do that we have to lead with clarity and consistency.”
* AP: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes has formally announced his campaign for governor by introducing his plan to solve the state’s budget crisis.
* NBC5: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes formally entered the Illinois governor’s race this morning, and during his announcement he laid out a reform agenda aimed directly at the establishment.
CBS2 and ABC7 are both using AP stories at the moment.
* Sun-Times: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes formally announced his candidacy for governor today, proposing to change the state’s income tax from a flat 3 percent tax to a “progressive” tax that would top out at 7.5 percent for millionaires.
* Tribune: State Comptroller Dan Hynes today said he could dig the state out of its budget hole if he were governor–outlining more than half a dozen initiatives ranging from a graduated income tax and new casinos to cutting state workers and reducing state contracts.
* Daily Herald: Illinois voters would decide whether those making more than $200,000 a year would have their taxes raised at the same time pick a governor next year, under the plan put forward by Democratic hopeful Dan Hynes.
* 11:44 am - Illinois Federation of Teachers…
“We want to take a closer look at it before commenting further
* Just in time for Dan Hynes’ formal campaign announcement kickoff today, Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign has a new poll of 751 likely Democratic primary voters out that shows Hynes has a long row to hoe…
Quinn: 54%
Hynes: 26%
Undecided: 20%
The pollster claims that Quinn leads in “every demographic and geographic subgroup. More…
• Almost three-quarters of voters (73%) agree that, “Pat Quinn is honest and trustworthy.” Two-thirds (68%) agree that, “Pat Quinn has restored integrity to the governor’s office.” And 60% agree that, “Pat Quinn fights for people like [them].”
• While 62% say that, “Pat Quinn has shown that he deserves a chance to serve a full term as Governor,” just 29% say, “Pat Quinn helped get past the scandals of Rod Blagojevich, but he isn’t up to the job of Governor.”
Name ID, favorability and job approval…
• Pat Quinn (88% name identification) and Dan Hynes (67% name identification) both start out with good name identification. But Quinn’s favorable rating (72%) is 16 points higher than Hynes’s (56% favorable). Quinn’s job rating as governor (68% positive) is 7 points higher than Hynes’s job rating as Comptroller (61% positive).
I’ll have more on this poll later.
* Meanwhile, Mark Brown doesn’t think much of a new advertising campaign by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights which attacks Mark Kirk. The print and online ads feature a photo of Kirk and a condom: “Congressman Mark Kirk: Condoms are not an immigration solution!” The radio ad begins with an announcer saying: “I wonder what goes on inside the mind of a congressman when he states that the solution for immigration is to send condoms to Mexico.”
Actually, Kirk never said anything about condoms, nor did he specifically use the words “birth control,” although I think the latter at least is a fair inference to draw from what he actually did say.
Kirk was speaking on the House floor in June 2007 in favor of U.S. financial support for international family planning agencies when he made these comments:
“A slower rate of growth of Mexico’s population would improve the economy of Mexico,” Kirk said. “It would also reduce the environmental pressure on Mexico’s ecosystem. But a slower rate of growth would also reduce the long-term illegal immigration pressure on America’s borders.”
While that doesn’t strike me as particularly objectionable, I’m told I would feel differently if I were of Mexican descent.
* Our political quote of the day goes to Congressman Danny Davis, who was asked about the failure yesterday of the Cook County Board to roll back part of the sales tax hike…
Another politician eyeing Stroger’s job, Congressman Danny Davis, says he doesn’t know enough about the county’s finances to take a position because he’s not on the board.
DAVIS: So how I can I take a position when I don’t know the issues?
Wow. That’s a pretty serious admission of ignorance.
A spokesman said there is no significant purpose for the addition, which first began appearing in news releases Monday.
“There’s no reason or why,” spokesman Bob Kettlewell said. […]
Kettlewell was asked if Jackson had begun using her maiden name because of prior female senators who used three names - Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, by way of Illinois and Arkansas.
“Absolutely not,” Kettlewell said.
Could the Jackson name be polling badly? They’re not saying.
* Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely is definitely not running for US Senate, I’m told. It would’ve been pretty late to jump in anyway.
And that his victory, even in the face of terrible Cook County unemployment, high foreclosures, and consumer flight to collar counties with lower sales taxes, is something to sit back and study.
Especially if you are Mayor Richard M. Daley and his brother, County Commissioner John Daley.
An override of Stroger’s veto of the roll back required 14 of 17 commissioners. Sims was to be the 14th.
Sims changed course, she says, because it’s not clear yet how a loss in tax revenue might impact county services. Keeping all the county health clinics open is her top priority.
We don’t want to close clinics, either. That’s why we were glad to hear that the Cook County Health and Hospitals System proposed budget — released Tuesday, just in time for the vote — didn’t call for closings.
That budget isn’t set in stone, and Stroger’s office said a roll back would have required deeper cuts to the health system budget.
* I received some really good news via e-mail early this afternoon from Randi Belisomo Hernandez, who is Carlos Hernandez Gomez’s wife…
Rich,
Wanted to let you know your blog post on Capitol Fax was the best thing that’s happened for Carlos in a long time, other than his cancer being removed!!!!!
Just read him all the messages and it made him feel so good.
We expect to be out of intensive care tomorrow, and in the hospital another 10-12 days or so. The doctors say he’s doing great, except for all the questions he keeps asking everyone!!
He never stops.
Thanks so much for being such a friend,
Randi
The power of positive thought never ceases to amaze me.
I replied that I’d like her permission to post her e-mail on the blog and she got back to me a few minutes ago, along with this…
Carlos is in a room now….though they told us they expected him to be in ICU thru tomorrow!
He’s doing so great though they moved the process along ahead of schedule…..but I believe a gang war in Milwaukee aided that.
Shooting victims needed the ICU space……rough crowd around here!
Randi
Heh.
* If you would like to send Carlos a card, check out Judie Garcia’s post on Carlos’ FaceBook page…
Carlos is out of ICU — 3 North Tower, Bed 7 [Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, 9200 W Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53226-3596]
His family is with him but Carlitos still cannot have outside visitors but he’s doing well.
Cook County’s controversial sales-tax hike will remain in place.
An effort to roll back half of the year-old penny-on-the-dollar sales-tax increase fell short in a vote today of the Cook County Board, with Cmsr. Deborah Sims jumping ship and backing Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s earlier veto of the rollback.
Commissioner Deborah Sims (D-Chicago), who had been part of the tenuous coalition supporting a roll back, chose today to support Stroger and sustain the veto. In July, Sims had voted to roll back the sales tax increase, but today she switched positions and voted in favor of keeping the tax hike. (You can read about the board’s July vote to cut the sales tax by clicking here.
Sims said it’s too early in the 2010 budget process to determine whether the entire increase will be needed next year. “I hope that we will not rush to do anything here today,” she said.
“I want to make an intelligent vote here,” she added. “That’s what the people elected us to do, and we can’t do that if we don’t have all the information.”
“Shame on those commissioners who upheld Stroger’s veto - - especially Commissioner Sims, who flipped her position to become the deciding vote in support of this tax. With portions of our county having the highest tax rate in the country, it’s no wonder that our local economy is suffering so badly. Who in his or her right mind would want to make the situation worse?”
* Legislative Democrats are scared to death about the impact of this Stroger tax issue on next year’s suburban campaigns, and they should be. Commissioner Sims may think she made the right vote for the county’s budget (and that’s debatable), but her party is gonna suffer because of that flip-flop.
* I thought about trying to come up with a comparison of this video to Illinois politics or a specific Illinois politician, but I think I’ll just leave it up to you instead…
* The Question: Who (or what) does that bumbling karate chopper most remind you of in Illinois politics? Explain.
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.
* 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.
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.
* Can someone please explain this Jim Thome deal to me?
The 39-year-old Thome is hitting .252 with 23 home runs and 74 RBI in 106 games this season. He has 564 career home runs.
The five-time All-Star is owed $2,415,301 from his $13 million salary, and is eligible to become a free agent after the World Series.
The White Sox get minor league infielder Justin Fuller and will send cash to the Dodgers. It was not immediately known how much Chicago was sending to the Dodgers.
Look, I know Thome isn’t the player he used to be. I never expected him to be around at the start of next season, either.
But we get an “A Adv” League infielder hitting .231andpay the Dodgers to take Thome? Even though Thome becomes a free agent after this season? Sure, we wouldn’t get anything for Thome at that point, but I hardly see the reasoning here. It’s almost insulting.
The only explanation is that the Sox are dumping payroll because ownership believes the team is tanking hard - which it is - and fans won’t show up to games this month - and they probably won’t. But gross insults like this may make the fan situation worse.
* I am no fan at all of Jose Contreras. In fact, I can’t stand the guy. But at least we got some cash for him…
The Colorado Rockies acquired right-hander Jose Contreras from the Chicago White Sox on Monday night for cash and minor leaguer Brandon Hynick. […]
The 37-year-old Contreras is 5-13 with a 5.42 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 21 starts this season. He’s pitched in seven major league seasons with the Yankees and White Sox and is 70-63 with a 4.66 ERA.
The 24-year-old Hynick is 10-9 with a 3.83 ERA and two complete games in 26 starts this season with Triple-A Colorado Springs.
* Obviously, the Sox are planning some much-needed rebuilding. If Ozzie Guillen stays on board, then they need to get back to “small ball” players, who seem to work better with Guillen’s coaching style. General Manager Kenny Williams appeared to lose his grasp of that concept after the 2005 World Series win. If anybody in management ought to go, it should be him. At least, that’s my opinion. What’s yours?
* Quite a few people, including more than a couple of pundits, have claimed since Rod Blagojevich’s arrest that the governor had the goods on a lot of people and would eventually spill his guts. But Blagojevich has instead proved his insanity…
I’ve just closed the cover on Blagojevich’s 264-page blame-all, and I’ve got to admit that parts of it are kind of interesting, especially for the insights into his troubled mind. Those who have variously labeled our former governor a narcissist and sociopath will find nothing to dissuade them.
He seems to now imagine himself a Christ-like figure who is being crucified for the collective political sins of others.
Much of Blagojevich’s anger in the book is directed at the Madigans, though the conspiracies and deals he contends they were behind never panned out.
He even has trouble getting simple references right…
He invokes Daedalus and Icarus, but Blago gets the ancient myth wrong and insists Icarus fell to the ground after flying too near the sun rather than into the sea.
“I am not writing myself off,” Blago says, “with respect to a future in public service.”
* There are a couple of “tell-all” tales in the book, but the media hasn’t really picked up on them yet. Most everyone is focusing on the alleged attempt to auction off the US Senate seat, which will likely end up being a small part of his case. But this is from the Sun-Times’ Blago Blog…
Blagojevich claims he had a 2006 meeting with Madigan and his daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, where the two allegedly hit him up for $400,000 in campaign contributions. [..]
“It was designed by the Madigans as a subtle threat. While dear old dad is literally and figuratively putting the arm on me from my left side, she is subtly holding a gun to my head from the right. Their message was easily interpreted. If I didn’t fork over (2 1/2) percent of my campaign fund … then they were both going to make trouble for me,” Blagojevich wrote. “It was subtle and but purposeful. And that’s what they intended and that’s what they did. And it made me feel like I was being shaken down.”
Blagojevich attacked Lisa Madigan — the same person he says later in the book he was to appoint to the vacant U.S. Senate seat — for being “unethical.” A year prior, Lisa Madigan had subpoenaed campaign fundraising records: “from the very office she was now sitting in.”
Blagojevich said he wouldn’t kick in. Michael Madigan’s payback, Blago says, was blocking his healthcare initiative. Lisa Madigan’s? Not endorsing Blago’s reelection bid.
The payback aspect is most likely just his delusion. But the allegation he makes about AG Madigan being at the campaign fund meeting after issuing subpoenas to his campaign fund is a good point. The AG has not directly answered questions about the book.
* In the end, though, this cartoon probably sums up the book best.
A contract covering 6,000 workers at 30 downtown hotels expired at midnight Monday, and labor and management remain far apart, according to Unite-Here Local 1.
The appointment was critical, as today’s meeting is the County Board’s only chance to override President Stroger’s veto of a July measure to roll back the 1 percent increase in the county sales tax imposed earlier this year.
Just in time to vote down a sales-tax hike, Northwest Side Democratic committeemen chose Illinois State Trooper Edwin Reyes today to replace Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado.[…]
County Board Finance Committee Chairman John Daley said that with Reyes’ appointment, there are 14 votes, including his, to override Stroger on Tuesday.
Several make six figures, with highest paid at $300K […]
Mayor Daley’s chief of staff got a whopping 41 percent pay raise — to $250,000 a year — when she jumped off the City Hall merry-go-round to become president of Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.
Even with that $72,784-a-year pay raise, former chief of staff Lori Healey is not the bid team’s highest-paid executive, according to Chicago 2016’s “Stewardship Report” of $48.3 million in Olympic spending.
• • Translation: Sneed is told city budget chief Gene Saffold may tell cops and firemen to park it!
• • Further translation: Word is the city plans to stop the personal use of municipal cars by the Chicago Police and Fire departments.
• • Stop shop: “For many years, both departments have been permitted to take their assigned vehicles home,” said a top city source. “The use of such cars will now be strictly administered . . . and not treated like a perk.”
• • $$$$$: Is it true the approximately 400 city municipal vehicles cost the taxpayers millions yearly? Stay tuned.
An estimated 50,000 felons have been released from Illinois prisons or county probation without submitting DNA samples as required by law, leaving a gaping hole in the 7-year-old program designed to link known criminals to unsolved crimes.
The Illinois Department of Corrections released nearly 10,000 felons without gathering their DNA since the law was enacted. And Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan’s office estimates that county probation departments did not secure samples from 40,000 additional felons, mostly in Cook County, due to delays in implementing the law.
The $40 million project, aided by $17 million in federal tax credits, has recovered the architectural glory of the old power plant, especially in a soaring turbine room with glistening white brick walls and tall, arched windows.
