Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn said he told Chicago-area public transit officials he’d meet with them this week to discuss their precarious financial situation.
Instead, transit leaders were left to meet with Quinn’s staff members as the governor flew to Washington today. Lawmakers ended their fall session last week without approving a plan to help the CTA, Metra and Pace avoid threatened fare increases and service cuts.
Quinn is scheduled to meet with Illinois’ congressional delegation and lend his support to efforts to pass a measure that would provide grants to military members and their families.
On Wednesday, the governor will meet with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and other Illinois lawmakers to discuss high speed rail, transportation funding and other state priorities.
So, he’s going out for a DC press pop on federal grants today and that was more important than resolving the transit problems? Hookay.
The governor did have time for a campaign confab earlier today, however…
GOVERNOR QUINN’S CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2009
Governor Pat Quinn will attend a breakfast with the Mayors of Bloom Township at 8 a.m. at The Egg & I Restaurant, 222 Dixie Highway in Chicago Heights.
THIS EVENT IS CLOSED TO MEDIA.
[Sigh]
…Adding… The governor’s office believes that Quinn only said that his staff would meet with the transit folks. Either way, he’s still in DC for a press pop while he probably should be here. After all, Hynes wasn’t even invited to the budget negotiations, but Quinn whacked him for not staying by the Batphone during the 4th of July holiday break.
Also, the governor is holding a DC fundraiser tomorrow night at the Charlie Palmer Steak House. Ticket prices range from $1,000 to $10,000. The host is former Democratic Party of Illinois chairman and current DC lobbyist Gary LaPaille. Click here to see the invite.
…Adding 2… You knew this would happen sooner or later. From a press release…
PAT QUINN SETS HYPOCRISY LAND SPEED RECORD
Governor ‘skips town, flies to Washington’ and blows off CTA funding meeting days after absurd campaign ad blasts Hynes for June Obama DC meeting
Four days after launching an absurd and widely discredited attack ad that among other things chastised Dan Hynes for “skip[ing] town, flying to Washington” when Hynes had in fact been there to meet with President Obama, Pat Quinn today truly set a record for hypocrisy by blowing off a CTA funding meeting to leave early for a trip to DC. Dan Hynes for Governor campaign communications director Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“It’s hard to decide which is more mystifying – Pat Quinn blowing off a CTA funding meeting after his own confusing inaction on public transit funding last week left the matter unresolved, or his departure for Washington just days after his campaign launched an absurd attack on Dan for attending a meeting with President Obama there last summer. This is a truly remarkable turnabout, even by Pat Quinn’s standards, and while mildly amusing, it again betrays a certain disregard for our intelligence. If hypocrisy were quantifiable, this would be an all-time record.”
Since its first airing late Friday, the Quinn campaign ad has been roundly derided by neutral observers as “misleading,” “miss[ing] the mark” and “insulting to our intelligence.”
…Adding 3… He’s holding a DC fundraiser tomorrow, but Gov. Quinn has no events listed on his campaign schedule…
GOVERNOR QUINN’S CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009
Governor Pat Quinn has no events on his campaign schedule for Wednesday Nov. 4, 2009.
…Adding 4… Here’s the official schedule for tomorrow…
GOVERNOR’S PUBLIC SCHEDULE
**Wednesday, November 4, 2009**
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Governor Pat Quinn will join Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) for a press availability following a meeting of members of the Illinois congressional delegation. […]
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Governor Pat Quinn will speak in support of a National Military Family Relief Fund at the National Press Club.
* As the old saying goes, the only truly honest politician is a retired politician.
Case in point: Here’s former Attorney General Jim Ryan back when he was a retired politican, in June of 2007. HB 750, by the way, was the income tax hike in exchange for property tax reductions…
Jim Ryan: “I did support HB750, [although] I think it is a moot issue…” “I think the idea of some permanent revenue stream for education and ultimately for health care is very important for our state and I do think we have a revenue problem…” “We still have…probably over a three billion dollar budget deficit again in the State…” […]
Jeff Berkowitz: As a member of the [Center for Tax and Budget Accountability] Board and I realize you are saying that legislation doesn’t generally go thru exactly as proposed, if somebody says to you that Board is supporting HB 750
Jim Ryan: I am comfortable saying I support it.
Jeff Berkowitz: Implicitly, you support the notion of a 5.5 billion dollar net increase in taxes, right?
Jim Ryan: Right. In principle, I support HB 750, right.
* And here’s Jim Ryan, active candidate for governor, today…
But in an interview today on WGN-AM’s Greg Jarrett Show, Ryan offered few specific details about how he would approach the state’s gaping budget deficit besides opposing higher taxes and seeking a “top to bottom” review of all state programs. [Emphasis added]
* As I’ve already told subscribers, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has filed petitions to challenge former Senate President Emil Jones for Jones’ 2nd Democratic State Central Committeeman’s seat. Considering how the two men despise each other, this could be a fun campaign.
In honor of this battle, let’s have a caption contest featuring the congressman, his father and former Sen. Jones, shall we?
Keep in mind that, as always, racist comments will result in severe beatings and lifetime banishments. The vast, overwhelming majority of you are good people, but some jokers always want to use posts like this to strut their despicability. Don’t do it.
* Quote of the day goes to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, who said this after filing his petitions late yesterday afternoon…
“I feel great,” Stroger said after filing. “I feel like 150 pounds of dynamite.”
I think that dynamite might be going off in his face pretty soon - cartoon-style, of course. Not in reality. I also figure there will be a lot of interest in the validity of those Stroger signatures and possibly a challenge.
About 40 minutes before deadline on the last day to file Monday, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger filed 22,000 signatures to run for re-election — about half as many as some of his main rivals.
It wasn’t that people were reluctant to sign his petitions, he said.
“Normally, you have people who collect signatures,” Stroger said. “It’s hard getting people out there to collect signatures.”
It’s definitely tough to get people to pass sheets knowing that almost every door they knock on will soon be slammed in their faces, coupled with screams of anger. I cannot imagine what it would be like circulating for Stroger.
The horror. The horror.
* Runner-up quote of the day award goes to Jim Ryan, who is now apparently campaigning as an outsider…
“Until you get in there, it’s hard to say exactly what you would do,” Ryan said, adding he also would eventually like to see pension and Medicaid reform.
The lack of specificity in Ryan’s comments was in sharp contrast to his run for governor seven years ago in which he offered detailed proposals to deal with an already out-of-whack budget. Since his loss to Blagojevich, Ryan has been teaching at Benedictine University in Lisle.
Ryan also appeared to be trying to bill himself as an outsider, despite two terms as Illinois attorney general and before that a stint as DuPage County state’s attorney.
“I think I bring a fresh perspective. I’ve been out of government for a long time,” Ryan said. “I love public service. I believe in public service. I don’t really think the government is supposed to be the problem, it’s supposed to be at least part of the solution and it hasn’t been.”
First McKenna, now Ryan. Yep. Outsiders. Sure.
By the way, Jim Ryan’s people said they were waiting to file until yesterday not because they were having petition problems but because they wanted the last spot on the ballot, which might be worth a point or three come election day. Well, as Cal Skinner notes, Ryan filed his petitions before Andy McKenna. So, McKenna gets the last spot, not Ryan. Oops.
In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010.
Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others. […]
Even in Illinois, where polls shows Kirk would be highly competitive as a general election candidate in a state in which Republicans have been crushed in recent elections, the prospect of picking up the president’s former Senate seat isn’t enough to win over many activists.
“We’re going to work hard as hell to make sure Mark Kirk doesn’t win,” said Evert Evertsen, an Illinois tea party organizer. “Mark Kirk is about as liberal as Arlen Specter was.”
What a breathless piece that was. No mention at all that not a single valid poll shows Kirk in any sort of GOP primary trouble.
The problem with Politico is that it too often sets the meme for the day. The Hill quickly followed suit, as did Hot Air, HuffPo and many, many more. Yet, there’s no real evidence that this surge yet exists in Illinois.
Look, I don’t doubt that the crazy NY congressional race could embolden the Right here and elsewhere if their candidate wins. But I do question whether they actually have the ability to do anything about it.
Republican candidate Dr. Eric Wallace announced Tuesday that he is withdrawing his bid for Illinois’ U.S. Senate — making the path easier for Rep. Mark Kirk to secure the GOP nomination for the seat.
“Too much is at stake for the citizens of Illinois in this race and I have decided to put my personal ambitions aside to prevent the splitting of ‘true’ conservative and Christian votes in the primary and thereby handing the nomination uncontested to Mark Kirk,” Wallace said in a press release Tuesday.
“I don’t want to be responsible for handing this primary to Mark Kirk because my fellow conservatives and I split the vote in the Republican Party. Defeating Kirk has to take first priority because he is neither an economic nor social conservative,” Wallace said.
Wallace was an also-ran at best. The only way this helps conservative Republican Patrick Hughes is if Hughes can make it a close race. There’s just little to no evidence of that yet.
* Can we expect a barn-burner in Forrest Claypool’s old county board district? Likely…
State Rep. John Fritchey filed last week to replace Claypool, who three years ago narrowly lost a primary battle for county board president. Today, another challenger emerged: former Ald. Ted Matlak.
In 2007, Matlak lost his re-election bid in the 32nd Ward to newcomer Scott Waguespack.
Matlak is no political novice. Neither is Fritchey, who has the support of Claypool and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Chicago, who was Claypool’s board ally before he won a special election for Congress earlier this year.
* Eric Zorn tries to parse blame in the Quinn vs. Hynes TV advertising fight. I mostly agree with what Zorn says, but this just isn’t right…
That [Hynes] ad, like Hynes’ first ad which started it all, fires wildly by unfairly labeling a legislative tax compromise as “Quinn’s proposal.”
Fires wildly?
Look, the governor endorsed that final House tax hike bill. He is on record saying that the House should ignore the Senate-passed tax increase bill and focus on the House bill at hand. And even after the House bill failed to pass, Quinn refused to budge from his position, saying the House version was the one he wanted.
So, it’s not a wild accusation, or at all unfair, to call this Quinn’s bill. He backed it. It’s his.
* Republican Mark Kirk: It’ll be me vs. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate next year
* Hughes: Filed, withdrew and filed again. What’s the story? One of Hughes supporters had sent a petition sheet directly to the Board of Elections via snail mail, and the ISBE had no choice but to receive it as a filing. “I was stunned and asked how could that be? It didn’t have anything else with it and no one was authorized,” Johnston said. The staffer said it happens more than people know, but that if they get a sheet in the mail they have to treat it as a filing. That’s the law. “I asked how we fix it,” Johnston said. “She told me we had to withdraw the earlier filing and file the real packet. So she got the general counsel out, did a withdrawal form for me and then proceeded to accept the filing I had prepared. I had to find Patrick, had him notarize the form withdrawing from the earlier filing and brought that back to the Board.”
* Press Release: Today the Campaign Manager to Robert Dold – Republican candidate for Illinois’ 10th Congressional District – is calling on State Representative Beth Coulson to abandon her unlawful request to use state taxpayer funds or her funds from her state campaign account to pay for mailings while she is a candidate for federal office. “This use of taxpayer dollars taken from State coffers not only is illegal,” said Campaign Manager and Spokesperson Kelley Folino, “but it reveals a willingness on the part of Rep. Coulson to disregard campaign finance laws and Illinois taxpayers.” Ms. Folino urges the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to reject Coulson’s request.
Carolyn Brown Hodge, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, resigned from the governor’s staff Friday night upon reports that the state’s Office of the Executive Inspector General had confiscated her computer to determine whether she was doing political work on state time.
Quinn’s office released a terse statement on Monday: “Carolyn Brown Hodge resigned late Friday. She is wrapping up a few pending matters today before leaving the position as deputy chief of staff.”
Democratic governor candidate Dan Hynes [yesterday] called for an investigation into why a top aide to Gov. Pat Quinn resigned late last week.
* Unlike the previous administrations, I kinda doubt that this is a systemic problem with Quinn’s shop. But it is interesting to me how predictable this cycle has become. First, denial, then silence, then reluctant parsing of words, then more silence followed by a call for an investigation by a political rival.
And it’s also mind-boggling to me that Hodge would do any sort of campaign work on state time after what we’ve all been through in the past seven years. She knows better. But, as I’ve come to learn this past decade or so, nothing should ever surprise anybody around here.
Despite all this, let’s try not to go totally medieval on Hodge today. There might be a decent explanation for all this, so keep your powder at least a little dry.
While recognizing that the bill failed to sever the financial umbilical cord between members and their leaders, this page urges Gov. Pat Quinn to sign it.
More…
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, has expended great effort trying to convince us that there is no connection between the leaders’ power and the unlimited contributions they can pour into contested legislative races.
“I’m eager to hear somebody say why I’m wrong,” Cullerton told us Friday. “I gave money to people (while running for Senate president). They told me they weren’t going to vote for me.
“(An example is state Sen.) Gary Forby. And by the way, have you noticed since Gary Forby got elected how I’ve controlled him on his votes — on the motorcycle helmet law,” Cullerton added, sarcastically. Forby is against requiring riders to wear helmets, while Cullerton favors it. The Senate defeated the bill in a lopsided 14-42 vote in April.
Cullerton may have been referring to a recent Chicago Tribune story which started out by noting how much money had been spent on Forby’s 2008 race, then quickly moved on to a discussion of how House Speaker Michael Madigan maintains such a tight hold on his chamber. The Forby example made little sense in context because not a single Forby vote was ever pointed to as evidence that he was owned by Cullerton.
That’s the big fallacy here.
The Statehouse secret is that “targets” almost always have the most independent-looking voting records of just about any legislator. Democratic Rep. Jack Franks represents a solidly Republican district. He never votes party line, except on routine parliamentary stuff. He rants and raves about budget deficits, but won’t ever vote for a tax hike. Ever.
And the more targets a leader has, the less likely that said leader will move legislation that will upset the voters. Witness Speaker Madigan’s fear about an income tax hike this year. Madigan is worried sick that a tax hike would imperil the size of his majority, if not his majority itself. So, the House wouldn’t pass a tax increase.
The legislators who take the real tough votes - on both sides of the aisle - are the ones who almost never have to worry about general election contests. Those members, however, do have to worry about the occasional primary contests - and this year there seem to be more of those than ever in Chicago. Capping leader contributions in primaries does, indeed, weaken their hold over the GA because they cannot retaliate as easily.
All that being said, the huge amount of money it takes to win a tiny handful of targeted races does skew the legislative process towards the interests with the deepest pockets. And that’s a big reason why so little ever gets done. Both business and labor have contributed heavily to Speaker Madigan’s campaign coffers, which tends to hold down the number of the usual Democratic pro-labor bills coming out of the House.
So, while stuff like this from Byrne [post edited] may make “common sense,” it’s not actually true…
It assures unending servility from grateful candidates, and explains why few lawmakers have the guts to challenge his arrogant and destructive dictates. Instead of limiting Madigan’s control, it increases it.
* From the Pantagraph, which has been the Tribune’s little sister for years…
An outcry from the public against House Bill 7 led Quinn and Democratic leaders to go back to the drawing board. That outcry should continue.
Tell Quinn to show leadership and use his amendatory veto to limit contributions of political party and legislative caucus committees.
Leader contributions should be capped in general elections in order to reduce some of the sway that special interests have in both chambers. But if anybody thinks that capping those contris would ever pry MJM’s grip off the House’s throat, they’re completely delusional. The man is unusually talented - spectacularly so - and mere laws will not work to loosen his hold.
Nothing will change in the GA until Speaker Madigan leaves. Period.
* 3:50 pm - [Surprises are highlighted.] Chicago Alderman Bob Fioretti has filed petitions to run for the 7th Congressional District seat now held by Danny Davis, who may run for county board president.
* Attorney Clint Krislov has filed as a Democrat to run for comptroller. Krislov dropped out of the 1996 US Senate race (which also featured Dick Durbin and Pat Quinn) after reported problems with his petitions.
* We have a new US Senate candidate. Corey Dabney, an African-American Democrat, is apparently waiting to file his petitions. His website is here. The site was purchased on October 8th - less than a month ago. That makes two black Democratic US Senate candidates, although only one, Cheryle Jackson, can be considered a top tier candidate. Ms. Jackson has not yet filed.
* State Sen. Tony Munoz has filed to run against Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz for Democratic State Central Committeeman.
* In non-surprise races, Dan Proft filed his petitions for governor, Dan Rutherford filed for state treasurer. Porter McNeil has filed for Rep. Michael Boland’s House seat. Boland has not yet filed for treasurer lieutenant governor, but there’s still time.
More as they come in. You can follow along by clicking here and then clicking on the “Latest filed” link. The idiotic State Board of Elections website doesn’t allow direct linking. Morons.
* 4:04 pm - Cheryle Jackson and Corey Dabney have now filed.
Democratic political operative Mark Doyle has filed for treasurer.
* 4:22 pm - Jim Ryan just filed for governor.
* 4:34 pm - You can watch the Cook County filings at this link. As of this writing, Todd Stroger has not yet filed for reelection.
Andy McKenna and his running mate Matt Murphy have filed.
* 4:54 pm - Once again, we have to wait while Cook County updates its site. The county clerk hasn’t updated since 4:19 pm. Sheesh.
* 5:00 pm - Rep. Boland has filed for LG. If you’re keeping track, seven Dems have filed for LG so far, and six Republicans have also filed. Still no updates from David Orr’s site.
5 mins to deadline and no sign of Todd Stroger, uh, Mr. President, where are you? 10 minutes ago from web
* 5:06 pm - The Green Party will have a gubernatorial primary between 2006 contender Rich Whitney and late filer Richard Mayers of Chicago. However, Mayers also filed for 10th Congress.
* 5:09 pm - ABC7 claims that Todd Stroger filed his petitions last. But there’s no confirmation yet from the county clerk.
* 5:10 pm - I was finally able to get confirmation from the county clerk’s office that Stroger filed. It would be nice if they’d update their site.
* Dan Hynes has just posted his latest TV ad online. It’s been running since Friday. Rate it…
* Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn’s online videos continue to be excellent. The problem is the campaign doesn’t even try to get people to watch them. Here’s a video from last week’s petition filing…
That Quinn video has been online since last Wednesday, yet it only had 61 views before I posted it here. I just don’t get those guys. They have a valuable asset and they waste it.
We are perplexed by Comptroller Hynes’s concerns with our latest TV ad, given that everything in our ad is factually correct and based on the Comptroller’s own public schedules, which are readily available to all. These schedules make it clear that, during the greatest budget crisis in Illinois history, the state’s comptroller was largely absent from the scene. […]
It remains our intention to conduct a campaign of ideas and principles. But given Hynes’ unrelentingly negative TV campaign, we are firmly committed to forcefully responding to his distortions of the Governor’s record.
Dan Hynes made the decision last month to run a negative campaign based on misleading voters about the Governor’s decades-long record of fighting for tax fairness and tax relief for working families. He can make another decision today to end this negative approach. Upon his pledge to pull his latest attack ad, we will pull our response ad from the air and will devote all future TV advertising to Governor Quinn’s record and his plans for moving Illinois forward.
That is today’s choice: Dan Hynes can continue down the negative TV campaign path that he started, or he can join Governor Quinn is restoring this campaign to the informative, issues-based principles that Democratic primary voters deserve.
Awaiting Hynes’ response.
*** UPDATE *** From the Hynes campaign.
“Two days after launching an embarrassingly absurd attack ad that continues to draw derision from outside observers, the Quinn campaign wants a way out. No thanks. We will continue to run our campaign based on a discussion of the central issue facing the state of Illinois and its future – the budget crisis. Pat Quinn is free to continue talking about haircuts.” -Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
* Democrat Alexi Giannoulias has released results of a new poll that shows him ahead of Republican Mark Kirk. From a press release…
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias leads Republican Mark Kirk in the race for U.S. Senate in Illinois, 46 – 43 percent. In addition, voters approve of the job that Giannoulias is doing as state Treasurer by more than a 2:1 margin.
In a matchup against Democrat David Hoffman, however, Kirk fares much better. Kirk leads Hoffman by a 48 – 39 percent margin. Giannoulias outpaces Hoffman’s performance in every region of the state, including the city of Chicago.
Giannoulias currently leads Kirk in the Chicago media market by a 51 – 38 percent margin. David Hoffman, who has spent the last four years in the public eye as the city’s Inspector General and generated 405 news stories, trails Kirk inside the Chicago market (41 – 47 percent).
The general election findings are based on a sample of 805 likely general election voters conducted October 25th – 28th conducted for the Alexi for Illinois campaign. A sample of this size is subject to a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Speaking of the US Senate race, this is from ABC’s The Note…
With a conservative revolt pushing a Republican candidate out of a key House race in New York State, the head of the conservative group Club for Growth is warning that other Republicans could face similar fates in primary races next year — and Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., is at the top of that list. […]
Chocola said other candidates could also come under scrutiny from the right. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who’s running for the Senate next year, is “probably not” someone the club would support, he said.
It’s not at all clear from that piece if the Club for Growth will take after Kirk. Seems kinda doubtful.
By the way, Democratic candidate Jake Meister has posted a web video about filing day.
Among filers today is Ed Scanlon, a lawyer from Oak Park, running for the Democratic nomination for governor. He’s against any state income-tax increase, and wants the state to save money by putting new employees on a defined contribution retirement plan - such as a 401(k), instead of a defined benefit plan that pays monthly for life.
Scanlon said he might spend as much as $500,000 on his own race.
As of 2:04 pm, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger had not yet filed for reelection. State Rep. Michael Boland hadn’t yet filed for lieutenant governor.
But there have been a few who did hand in petitions. Among them is Chicago Ald. Brian Doherty, who will run as a Republican for retiring Democratic Sen. James DeLeo’s seat. As subscribers know, this has been one drama after another. Conservative Republican Patrick Hughes has filed for US Senate.
Sen. Don Harmon has filed for 7th District State Central Committeeman against Congressman Danny Davis. Davis has filed for Congress and Cook County Board President. He has until next Monday to decide which office to seek. Former congressional candidate Christine Cegelis has filed for the 6th District Democratic Central Committeewoman slot against Joan Brennan.
Republican Rosanna Pulido has filed again for the 5th District congressional slot. Pulido is an anti illegal immigrant activist who won the special Republican primary to replace Rahm Emanuel and was stomped by Mike Quigley. Aurelia Pucinski has filed for a vacant slot on the 1st Appellate bench.
* Related…
* Schillerstrom congratulates Dillard for folding on video poker
Jim Ryan ran and lost to Democrat Rod Blagojevich in 2002. Now there’s word he’s entering next year’s election race, competing against fellow republicans including State Sen. Kirk Dillard, DuPage county chairman Robert Schillerstrom and former state GOP chairman Andy McKenna.
Ryan, most recently, was the state’s attorney general. He has been out of public office for nearly a decade, now teaching political science at Benedictine University in Lisle.
He could carry some heavy political baggage. During his career, his largest campaign contributor was former law school friend Stuart Levine, now a disgraced and admittedly corrupt businessman.
With Brian Dugan’s confession to the 1983 murder of Jeanine Nicarico, there could also be a renewed focus on Ryan’s prosecution of two innocent men when he served as DuPage County state’s attorney.
* The Question: Can he win the Republican primary or is he doomed? Explain.
* Mayor Daley wasn’t pleased that nothing came of the mass transit funding bill during the veto session…
Mayor Daley criticized state lawmakers Saturday for failing to roll back the controversial program that lets all seniors ride public transit for free.
“Some legislators didn’t want to work this out,” said Daley, speaking at an unrelated event on the South Side. “It is really unfair because they’re hurting their own citizens.” He added: “It seems like nothing can get done in Springfield.”
But a CTA source Friday said the authority believed it had negotiated a deal with Gov. Quinn and the four legislative leaders to freeze fares in 2010 and 2011 in exchange for letting low-income seniors ride free while other seniors would pay as little as 85 cents. Daley did not criticize Quinn, even though the source claimed it was the governor who backed out of the deal.
As I’ve said before, this is faux populism. Real populism is ensuring that reasonably priced mass transit is available to as many people as possible.
Daley didn’t mention Gov. Pat Quinn’s name, but the Sun-Times editorial did…
With elections looming in February, far too many Illinois politicians — most notably, Gov. Quinn — refused to pull the plug last week on a program the CTA cannot afford and many seniors don’t need.
And this Christmas promises to be an especially glum holiday for more than 1,000 CTA workers, who face the prospect of being out of a job a little more than a month later.
Jim LaBelle, a transportation expert with the civic group Chicago Metropolis 2020 and a Metra director, said the service boards have no choice but to prepare for the worst-case scenarios.
“We’ll be going ahead with those plans we have discussed. I don’t see a reason to change that,” LaBelle said. “I think we’re still where we were before last week. It’s a tough time.”
Transit officials and experts say the outlook is particularly grim now that the legislative session has ended without the governor and General Assembly providing financial relief for the CTA, Metra and Pace.
One thing not mentioned in most stories is that the CTA told lawmakers they were preparing to lay off 1,000 workers, then the very next day revealed that they had sent out 1,800 layoff notices. This naturally angered legislators who have a hard time trusting the CTA/RTA anyway, and it resulted in a large gathering outside the House chambers late Thursday. I got there late so I missed the heavy-duty fireworks, but here’s a little video clip…
Instead of holding lawmakers’ feet to the fire this week, [Quinn] was playing Transit Fairy, waffling over free rides for seniors and promising everyone else cheap rides forever. That’s his shtick: make promises and leave the dirty work for others. No wonder so little of it actually gets done.
“You don’t want a casino to hurt all your restaurants. You want a casino only to be for a casino — not for food and beverages and everything else. You go in there for one reason: to gamble,” the mayor said.
“If you look at other cities, they have . . . not gotten the benefits outside the casino. It’s not helped restaurants or anything else. They go in there and stay there.”
In the past, Daley has talked about a huge casino with high-end restaurants and other activities, like Detroit’s opulent MGM Grand hotel/casino.
* Tribune editorial: Lawmakers deserve credit for getting this right. There’s no need to delay here. Sign the bill, Governor. Then the Cook County Board should repeal that tax increase in its entirety — over Stroger’s veto, if that’s what it takes.
The “holes” she doesn’t like include a Clintonesque bit of legislative language that defines the “receipt” of a campaign donation as the day it becomes a “deposit” in the bank. Thus a candidate can hang on to a check and skirt new requirements for timely reporting of contributions until, say, after an election.
True. But what good is a contribution if a campaign doesn’t spend it during the election?
Yes, some campaign expenses are paid after the election, but money is almost always raised to be spent, not to be hoarded.
Republican lawmakers are still stinging over the surprise move by government reform groups to strike a deal with Democrats on the campaign restrictions, a deal that doesn’t limit legislative leader and political party giving in the high-priced fall general elections.
The coalition of government groups called Change Illinois! had held out for such general election limits for weeks, and Republicans had become closely aligned with the group, going so far as to rely on its members to keep them appraised of what was happening in closed-door talks with the Democrats who control state government. […]
But on Thursday the reform group gave up on limiting leadership giving in general elections and endorsed the plan put forth by Democrats that imposes those restrictions only in the primary. The group’s representatives said they’ll keep fighting in future sessions to expand the limits but called the current deal a significant step forward.
Republicans accused the group of selling out while Democrats, now brandishing the reformers’ endorsement, approved the first campaign limits in Illinois and chided Republicans for waffling.
A few weeks ago, I asked a top Republican what his party’s plan was in the ongoing war over campaign finance reform.
“We are not for some sham ethics bill,” the official said, then added with tongue slightly in cheek, “We stand with the reformers, until they capitulate, then I’m not sure where we stand, but I’ll let you know.”
The Republicans are badly outnumbered in both the Illinois House and Senate, they don’t raise as much money as the Democrats, their party has been on the outs with voters since Gov. George Ryan went down in flames and President George W. Bush alienated most of the state.
So the Republicans did the politically smart thing and eagerly professed their undying love for reform and pledged their never-ending loyalty to those plucky reformers - all the while using the reform issue and the reform groups as a partisan sledgehammer against the Democrats. It was a smart political play.
The assault started when Gov. Pat Quinn’s reform commission issued its report. Several of the commission’s recommendations were unworkable, and even some commissioners admitted that there were flaws in their report, but the Republicans demanded a vote on that document as it was, without changes. They were denied by the Democrats and the media immediately picked up their howls of outrage. Coverage always follows conflict and the Republicans used that hard rule of the universe to their advantage at every opportunity.
After the governor’s commission disbanded, the Republicans latched on to a coalition of reformers called Change Illinois.
“Any proposal not fully endorsed by Change Illinois will not have my support,” House Republican Leader Tom Cross defiantly declared last week.
Well, “capitulation” came just a few days after Cross’ declaration of alliance, and he and the rest of the Republican Party were left in the dust.
Change Illinois agreed to a provision that allowed legislative leaders and party committees to contribute money to candidates without any limitations during general elections, but capped those contributions in primaries. The proposal had been almost universally slammed by the state’s major newspaper editorial pages as worse than no reform at all and had been flatly rejected by the Republicans for potentially concentrating even more power into the hands of legislative leaders.
After praising the reformers and vowing to stand with them for most of the year, the Republicans resorted to attacking the reformers when they cut the deal. Rep. Suzie Bassi (R-Palatine), for instance, suggested that the reform coalition may have been “bought out.”
But the legitimacy conferred on the reform groups by people such as Leader Cross for the past several months made the Republicans’ angry reaction look more than a little hollow. Any suggestion that the reformers had been somehow bought off just isn’t believable.
The Republicans and the other critics are probably right about the bill’s merits. Not capping the contributions made by the caucus committees and the party organizations while capping everybody else’s contributions isn’t exactly fair and certainly does nothing to address the massive spending by those entities during general elections.
Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, the House Republicans may suffer the most from this contribution cap during primaries. History has shown that it’s a rarity for a Democratic legislative primary to drastically impact the outcome of a general election (although there may be one next year in Chicago, of all places). But the House Republicans have fought off organized primary assaults from their own party’s right wing for decades. They spent a fortune because if those ultra-conservative candidates prevailed in the primary, then the Democrats would have a good shot at picking up those seats in the general election.
There are a few curious aspects to the bill. For instance, the language that bans political parties from making campaign contributions in primaries expires right before the petition process begins for the 2014 campaign. So, if Attorney General Lisa Madigan decides to run for governor in that election, and her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, is still the state Democratic Party chairman, the cap could disappear for her just in time for the campaign.
That may sound like a convenient gift, but it will probably cause some real headaches for Ms. Madigan. Another high-profile fight like this one over Speaker Madigan’s resistance to reform just before the campaign season starts could be a disaster for the daughter.
But you’ve got to figure that if the toxic atmosphere brought on by the Blagojevich situation earlier this year wasn’t enough to get definitive campaign finance reform, then Illinois has probably seen as much “reform” as it ever will.
This is another talking point used by the Republicans last week and I really doubt that it’s valid. As I pointed out above, parts of the law sunset at various dates, requiring new legislation, which will mean more editorials, screaming and debates. Also, you gotta figure that whomever is elected governor next year will have his own reform package to unveil early in his first term. That’s been the pattern in the past, and it will most certainly be so again if, as expected, “reform” becomes a major issue in the 2010 campaign.
* Pantagraph: Cullerton looks more and more like Emil Jones: If one person knows what’s best for all of us, why are we spending money on all the other lawmakers in Springfield?
* The person who ran Gov. Pat Quinn’s Springfield office has abruptly resigned under very curious circumstances…
A top aide to Gov. Quinn has left her $119,158-a-year job amid a state government probe into whether she had done political work on state time.
Carolyn Brown Hodge, Quinn’s deputy chief of staff, resigned late Friday after the Chicago Sun-Times asked the governor’s office about the situation.
Hodge’s state computer was seized by the Office of the Executive Inspector General to determine whether the equipment might have been used for any political purposes, a source said.
There are always going to be a few bad apples in the barrel. There’s just no way to keep them all out. For the past 11 years, though, it’s often seemed like you’d have to look long and hard to find a non-spoiled apple in that state barrel.
* The revelation comes at a time when Gov. Quinn is airing a new TV ad that seems to tie Comptroller Dan Hynes to Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan, and accuses the comptroller of lollygagging. Have a look…
Rate it.
* “But as comptroller for twelve years, [Hynes] signed off on every state check,” the ad claims. Zorn wonders aloud…
(I)t strikes me that it wasn’t that long ago that Quinn was harrumphing at Hynes to do his job and sign the checks that paid to promote Illinois against Hynes’ better judgment. Which checks is Quinn talking about that he didn’t think Hynes should have signed?
The “he signed off” refers to the Comptroller’s promise to go “line by line” through the state budget. Given that he has had the opportunity, and the responsibility, to do precisely that task for 11 years, it is hard to understand why he now suddenly promises to start to examine the budget as Governor.
Yes, but he has to sign the checks, doesn’t he? This ad suggests that he could have not signed the checks, yet the moment he got up on his hind legs and said “I will not sign these checks,” Quinn scolded him to do his job. If you want to say he didn’t put forward his own proposals often enough over the years, fine. But can you really say he shouldn’t have signed the checks?
What about the “spa” claim in the ad? From the Tribune…
The Hynes campaign said the comptroller was getting a haircut at a less-than-luxury “spa” near his home, and contended Quinn’s camp was trying to divert attention from the governor’s failed efforts to deal with the state’s budget problems.
And the Hynes campaign goes full-on Blagojevich throttle in its response to Quinn. From a press release…
“… Dan Hynes has done his job and signed all Illinois checks since taking office as Illinois Comptroller in 1999,” campaign communications director Matt McGrath explained. “Over the years, he has consistently raised questions and sought clarification on certain spending priorities, but ultimately he is required by law to issue checks on legal and approved disbursements, and he has done so.”
By running this ad, however, and casting an apparently disapproving light on Hynes’ tenure as Comptroller, the Quinn campaign has opened the door to a discussion of who really stood for fiscal responsibility during the Blagojevich Administration. While Dan Hynes repeatedly warned of overspending and pending fiscal catastrophe, Quinn stood silent. As recently as September, 2006, Quinn said of his two-time running mate: “He’s always been a person who’s honest and one of integrity. I have confidence the governor does the right thing all the time.” [Daily Herald, 9/15/06]
“If Pat Quinn wants to have a discussion of who stood up to Rod Blagojevich and who stood silent, we’re happy to oblige,” McGrath said. “The record is clear. As late as September 2006, Pat Quinn ‘refused to say even one bad word about [Blagojevich],’ and that he ‘did the right thing all the time.’ Meanwhile, Dan Hynes let it be known that the consequences of overspending were potentially catastrophic, and has unfortunately been proven right. While Illinois’ fiscal health, and ultimately its future, hung in the balance, Pat Quinn was Rod Blagojevich’s biggest cheerleader.”
Here we go, campers.
…Adding… A commenter points out something I failed to notice. The “iStock” watermark is on two video clips used in the Quinn ad. Usually, when you purchase something from iStock, the watermark is removed. If you don’t buy it and use it without permission, the watermark stays on. Oopsie?
…Adding 2… The Quinn campaign just e-mailed to say that the ad above was an earlier version. It has since been changed to remove the watermarks.
For 21 years, Terrence J. O’Brien has been on the board of Cook County’s sewage-treatment operation, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
During that time, O’Brien and his friends have started more than a dozen companies, including two engineering firms that have landed at least $3 million in contracts over the past decade from governments including the state of Illinois, the City of Chicago and the town of Cicero.
The Chicago Democrat, now running for Cook County Board president, has regularly reported his ownership of those companies, as required. But he has never disclosed all of the government contracts those companies have gotten.
Asked to make public that information, his campaign staff provided the Chicago Sun-Times a list of government contracts for only two of O’Brien’s companies.
Not quite three years later, Dencek landed a new job. Under a $100,000 consulting contract, he was hired to be chief of staff to the district’s new president, Terrence J. O’Brien, who used to work for Dencek at the agency.[…]
His annual contract is now worth $149,374 — nearly double O’Brien’s salary as part-time president.
He also gets a $100,392 yearly pension from the district — which he couldn’t collect if he had come back as an employee of the district rather than a consultant.
Since retiring 15 years ago, Dencek, 69, of Orland Park, has collected more than $2.5 million from the district. That includes $1.3 million in consulting fees and more than $1.2 million from his pension.
Emboldened by the lowered requirement for a veto override, Republican Cook County commissioners already are discussing another attempt to roll back the county’s sales tax next week.
And they received some support from a government watchdog group that came out to a public hearing Friday to condemn Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s proposed 2010 budget.
Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said he was disappointed by a $3 billion Cook County budget proposal that grows 4.5 percent over last year’s expenditures in the midst of hard economic times.
Stone’s handpicked precinct captain keeps $84,000 salary for almost 2 years while awaiting trial for ballot fraud
* Daley defends not raiding special taxing district money to balance budget
Speaking to reporters today after an event in the Brighton Park neighborhood promoting a tree planting program, Daley said the taxing districts are good for Chicago.
“To be perfectly frank, I think it’s just a lack of marketing about what they do and account for,” Daley said. “We just have to show, with better marketing, we have to show what the benefits to the community are.”
The mayor said that the special taxing districts, which freeze the amount of property taxes collected within a given geographic area for up to 23 years and set them aside for local improvements, have allowed the city to build new police stations, fire stations and libraries.
“We would not be doing these things in the community if you didn’t have TIF money,” Daley said.
Chicago aldermen with their noses out of joint Friday demanded to know why they are searched along with the masses at the city’s central headquarters for administrative hearings.
