* I just finished a panel discussion at Roosevelt University’s Schaumburg campus. The panel was led by the illustrious Paul Green. House GOP campaign director Kevin Artl, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s press secretary Steve Brown and Daily Herald political editor Joe Ryan all sat on the panel with yours truly.
Thanks to blueroomstream.com, you can watch the entire thing in two parts…
* And the DSCC has a new Mark Kirk hearts Sarah Palin video…
* Meanwhile, reaction is coming in from GOP gubernatorial candidates to Gov. Quinn’s plan to bring Gitmo prisoners to the Thomson prison.
First up, Andy McKenna…
“The only thing that makes less sense than trying to solve our budget crisis by bringing terrorists to Illinois is promoting this plan as if it were a good thing for Illinois families.
“Gov. Quinn appears to be taking an “Alice in Wonderland” approach to his role as governor; the state’s not really nearly bankrupt, and what we really need to do is bring some terrorists here.
“As Governor I would not support this extreme plan and I call on the General Assembly to act swiftly and decisively to put a halt to Governor Quinn’s attempts to put terrorists in our neighborhoods.”
Kirk Dillard…
“As governor, my first priority would be to ensure the safety and security of Illinois residents. Therefore, I oppose using the Thomson Correctional Center or any Illinois prison to house Al Qaeda suspects. Under a Dillard Administration, we will not make our state a potential target if any of these terror suspects stand trial and are convicted in an Illinois courtroom. This is a matter of national security, and I applaud the Illinois Republican delegation in Congress for standing firmly against the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.”
Dan Proft…
“This is a terrible idea that threatens the safety of Illinois residents.
“It is emblematic of the Obama administration’s erratic public policy choices. The President issues an edict that he will close Gitmo without a plan for the detainees there. Instead of keeping suspected terrorists off domestic soil, the President and Governor Quinn are poised to bring to Illinois those with the ability to operate beyond the walls of any prison.
“We should be utilizing the Thomson prison to relieve prison overcrowding in Illinois’ existing 28 state prisons. According to a report issued by Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland this fall, Illinois’ prisons are 32 percent over capacity currently.
“We should bring Thomson fully online in a way that addresses our current capacity needs and enhances the security of both frontline DOC workers and the general public instead of potentially endangering both by bringing persons suspected to be connected to terrorist networks to Illinois.
“I call on President Obama and Governor Quinn to rethink this poorly conceived idea.”
And Democrat Dan Hynes…
“I support President Obama’s commitment to close Guantanamo Bay because it’s important for America’s image abroad, and for our national security. The kneejerk, alarmist response by some to this news is not helpful, in my opinion. That said, there are more questions than answers right now, and I have serious concerns. I am going to withhold judgment until I have a chance to see all the details and understand the entire picture.”
Then there was conservative GOP US Senate candidate Patrick Hughes…
“I am vehemently opposed to bringing enemy combatants, including the Gitmo prisoners, to Illinois and was also opposed the closing of Guantanamo Bay. This is failure of leadership of the Democrats - from the President down to Governor Quinn. As U.S. Senator, I will enact policies that will advance America’s national security interests and oppose any plans that weaken those interests - like this one being proposed by the Obama Adminstration.”
And the IL GOP took a whack at Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannouolias…
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady today called on Democrat Alexi Giannoulias to end his silence on the biggest homeland security question to face the State of Illinois since September 11th.
While Governor Quinn, Senator Durbin and every other Democrat running for U.S. Senate says they support a plan to bring roughly 200 terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to Thomson, Illinois, Giannoulias refuses to take a position.
On Sunday morning, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that while Democrats Cheryle Jackson, Jacob Meister and David Hoffman all supported the plan, “other prominent Democrats, including Alexi Giannoulias, who is running for Senate…declined to take a stance on the issue.”
Last night, the Associated Press reported that the three Senate candidates reiterated their support at a candidate forum in Rockford, but “Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer, skipped the debate.”
“If Alexi Giannoulias cannot take a stand on a critical homeland security issue, he is not ready to be a U.S. Senator,” Chairman Brady said. “While Congressman Kirk leads the effort to defend the security of Illinois families and all other Democrats in the race state their position, Alexi Giannoulias declined to take a stance. Alexi’s silence is deafening.”
The first, at 12:22 p.m., from the Dan Proft for Governor campaign said, “News Release; Proft wins New Trier Township GOP endorsement.”
The second one, at 1:28 p.m., from the Andy McKenna for Governor campaign said, “Press release: “McKenna wins New Trier GOP endorsement.”
As it turns out, they were both right. The two men — among seven Republicans running for Illinois governor — got a joint endorsement from the New Trier GOP.
That’s three big suburban township endorsements for Proft in the past week. He also got Schaumburg’s nod and Niles’ as well.
Political double agents — that seems the right phrase to describe some volunteers working on the Cook County Board president’s race.
Their true allegiance might not be clear. But their mission is: to topple incumbent County Board President Todd Stroger.
They’ve been working for two of Stroger’s three opponents in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary at the same time: Terrence J. O’Brien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the lone white candidate in the race, and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, one of the two black women challenging Stroger. […]
The proof is in the nearly two-foot-high stacks of nominating petitions each filed with the Cook County clerk’s office three weeks ago to get on the Democratic primary ballot along with Stroger and Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th). Over the last three months, three volunteers simultaneously circulated two sets of petitions — one for O’Brien, the other for Brown
Both Stroger’s and Preckwinkle’s people have been muttering for months that Brown is a put-up candidate by the white powers that be to split the black vote.
For years, Thomas Simmons was a high-ranking bureaucrat at City Hall. He also ran a successful “patronage army” of African Americans on the West Side.
Simmons helped many of his supporters get city jobs, according to testimony at the 2006 trial of Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief, Robert Sorich, who’s now in prison for illegally helping political workers get city jobs.
Today, Simmons and some of his group — Citizens for a Better West Side — are trying to get Terrence J. O’Brien elected the next Cook County Board president.
* I wasn’t able to go to the Rockford Democratic gubernatorial debate yesterday because of a previously scheduled engagement, but it appears I missed a hot one…
Gov. Pat Quinn accused Comptroller Dan Hynes of crying “crocodile tears” over billions of dollars in unpaid state bills, while Hynes called Quinn the “lead cheerleader” for Rod Blagojevich during a combative debate Sunday between two of the major rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor. […]
But Quinn said Hynes could have helped push for an income-tax increase last spring in the legislature. “You know, all this crocodile tears about health care costs–when it really counted in April, May and June, he wasn’t there,” Quinn said of the comptroller. […]
After repeated shots by Quinn that Hynes was AWOL on fiscal issues—“He wanted to politic and I don’t think we should allow that to take place when we have a crisis”—the comptroller said he was not sitting on the sidelines.
“You talk about the sidelines,” Hynes said. “Well, one of us was taking on Rod Blagojevich. The other was not only on the sidelines but was his lead cheerleader. I think that’s going to be relevant in this election.”
Here comes the Blagojevich card, campers. More on that from the AP…
Hynes said he spent years criticizing Blagojevich’s budget plans while Quinn was serving as Blagojevich’s lieutenant governor.
“One of us was taking on Rod Blagojevich. The other was not only on the sidelines but was his lead cheerleader,” Hynes said.
Quinn countered that he spoke out against a major Blagojevich tax plan in the governor’s second term and that he fought to give voters the power to recall corrupt officials, an idea that Hynes opposed.
The candidates were asked how they would make sure the Chrysler automotive plant in Belvidere remains in operation after 2012 when the company discontinues production of the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. Those models will be replaced by products under development that would use Fiat — not Chrysler — architecture, and company officials haven’t said whether those vehicles will be built in Belvidere.
Quinn said he wrote an auto manufacturing bill approved by the General Assembly that would give incentives to remain in Illinois and that he may sign it in Belvidere.
“My opponent wants to be the governor, but I am the governor and I am getting the job done right now for our auto manufacturers,” Quinn said.
* Some of the Democratic US Senate candidates debated as well. Giannoulias was a no-show. The AP has the story here.
I f you ever wondered whether Gov. Pat Quinn would do whatever it takes to win re-election, all you need to do is look at his latest TV ad.
The spot is perhaps the most misleading TV advertisement of the season so far, but it packs quite a wallop. Quinn cannily “accuses” his Democratic primary opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, of having “signed off on every single state check.”
“Now Hynes claims he’ll cut the budget line by line, but as comptroller for 12 years he signed off on every single state check,” the Quinn ad alleges.
The Quinn campaign claimed after the ad aired that they were trying to say that Hynes’ statutory check-signing duties meant he ought to know what the budget is all about already and that Hynes shouldn’t need to go over the budget line by line after he’s elected to figure out where to cut waste and over-spending.
While the Quinn campaign’s explanation for why they worded the attack ad the way they did is an interesting after-thought, if you watch the spot carefully you’ll see that what it’s really trying to say is Hynes is somehow responsible for the mess the state is in.
Effective advertising is all about the message received, not the message sent. So when you pick apart a TV ad, you have to try to understand what the advertiser wants viewers to take away from it. And what the Quinn campaign is partially trying to do here is say that Hynes was somehow responsible for the budget meltdown under disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich.
The Hynes campaign quickly launched a counter-attack via press release. “(T)he 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.’ ”
It was probably only a matter of time before the Blagojevich card was played. And we can probably expect that to continue throughout the rest of the campaign. Blagojevich is the ultimate in political radioactivity. Combine “His Hairness” with the state’s horrific budget deficit and Quinn’s resulting push to raise income taxes on the middle class and it’s easy to see why Quinn would want to begin laying the groundwork to take Hynes down with him.
By the way, that new Quinn ad is entitled “Spa.”
The title refers to a claim within the ad that while Quinn was hard at work on the state’s budget, “Hynes skipped town, flying to Washington, taking a vacation, hitting a spa in Chicago.”
Hynes claims the “spa” is a place just down the street from his home where he got a haircut. His longtime barber had temporarily moved to that location, so Hynes followed him over there. Speaking as someone who has had my hair cut by the same person for almost a decade, I can relate. By the way, she cuts hair at a “salon,” just in case anybody ever thought about doing an attack ad on me.
Hynes’ Washington, D.C., trip was for an Obama campaign event attended by President Barack Obama, Hynes’ campaign claims. Ironically enough, shortly after the ad began airing, Quinn left Illinois for a Washington fundraising trip and skipped an important meeting with mass transit officials.
The vacation mentioned in the Quinn ad was a family break with Hynes’ three sons and his wife. Yes, it was taken while the General Assembly and the governor had not yet wrapped up the state budget, but Hynes didn’t leave town when the Legislature was in session.
Whatever the actual truth is, the Quinn ad’s subtle connection of Hynes to Blagojevich and the overt taunting of Hynes for lolly-gagging in a spa while the state burns makes this a very effective advertisement. And like I said above, it shows that Quinn is no “high road” campaigner. He’ll get right down there in the dirt and the mud and the blood if that’s what it takes to win.
And he’ll definitely need every trick in the book if he wants to survive what’s sure to be the toughest campaign of his life.
* Related…
* Press release: Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool today endorsed former Deputy Illinois Treasurer Raja (RAH-jah) Krishnamoorthi (krish-nuh-MOOR-thee) for Illinois State Comptroller. “In this time of economic challenge and large budget deficits, we need officials who will serve as the taxpayers’ watchdog,” Claypool said. “I am convinced that Raja can be the kind of comptroller we need to cut the waste and fraud from state government while protecting the vital services it must provide.”
Rep. Mark Kirk, the leading Republican candidate for Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, rattled off a letter to the president warning that “if your administration brings Al Qaeda terrorists to Illinois, our state and the Chicago Metropolitan Area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization.
“As home to America’s tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target,” Kirk also wrote.
In addition to Manzullo and Kirk, Republican Reps. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale and Peter Roskam of Wheaton came out swinging against the proposal Saturday.
“Terrorists have no place on American soil,” Roskam said.
Biggert, whose district covers parts of DuPage and Will counties, said, “These detainees pose a unique threat to America’s security. They should (be) kept away from our shores, and far from America’s heartland.”
There’s most certainly an important federal policy debate here and they should definitely have at it. We need to have a debate in Illinois as well. For instance, should we be doing this just because the locals want some economic development and the state could use the cash?
But before we do anything, let’s try to calmly look at the facts instead of getting all crazy and predicting the end of the world. For instance…
According to data provided by Traci L. Billingsley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal facilities on American soil currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Some of these miscreants have been locked up here since the early 1990s. None of them has escaped. At the most secure prisons, nobody has ever escaped, period.
So, despite Congressman Roskam’s claim, lots of terrorists are already locked up in American prisons.
Of the total number, 35 [terrorist] inmates are housed in federal prisons in Illinois, including Ali al-Marri, who pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda. Al-Marri is serving eight years and four months at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
But the apocalyptic rhetoric rarely addresses this: Thirty-three international terrorists, many with ties to al-Qaeda, reside in a single federal prison in Florence, Colo., with little public notice.
Detained in the supermax facility in Colorado are Ramzi Yousef, who headed the group that carried out the first bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993; Zacarias Moussaoui, convicted of conspiring in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; Ahmed Ressam, of the Dec. 31, 1999, Los Angeles airport millennium attack plots; Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, conspirator in several plots, including one to assassinate President George W. Bush; and Wadih el-Hage, convicted of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.
Those are very evil people who did very evil things. Yet, nothing has happened to the area and the local politicians don’t seem to be screaming bloody murder and predicting an apocalypse.
A. No. It will likely require approval by Congress and at least the ‘OK’ from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.
Q. How many detainees would come to the Thomson prison?
A. Not clear. The Obama administration will only say a “limited number.” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says it will be “fewer than 100.” […]
Q. Is the Thomson prison secure?
A. It is a maximum-security prison with eight compartmentalized, 200-cell units. On the 146-acre site, the prison is protected by a dual-sided electrical stun fence, 312 cameras and armed towers. The Obama administration would also plan to upgrade security, making it one of the highest security prisons in the country. Detainees would be kept apart from the general population.
News that the federal government seems interested in transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Thomson Correctional Center was greeted warmly in this small, rural farm town along the Iowa border.
After holding out hope that the sprawling $145 million prison might improve the economic conditions in this remote area of the state, residents say any prisoners would be a welcomed sight.
“It would help the businesses here, and God knows we could use that,” said Kay Lawton, 59, a Thomson resident. “It doesn’t matter to me who they bring here.”
Again, this shouldn’t be done just because that part of the state needs jobs. And it shouldn’t be done just because the state government needs money. And it shouldn’t (and won’t) be done until it is thoroughly debated in Congress.
Despite the evidence, nobody can say for sure that Congressman Kirk is wrong, of course, and that helps make his scary outburst so politically effective. And as clear as it is to me that history shows there’s no serious threat, I’m still not completely comfortable with this Thomson idea. Kirk may look like the boy who cried wolf, but, to me, the proposal makes Illinois look downright desperate. It reminds me a little of the cash-strapped counties which take in garbage from wealthier counties to make a few bucks. As a citizen, I’m embarrassed about the whole situation.
* UPDATE: Related…
* Durbin: Gitmo plan opponents play on fears: An Illinois prison that may house terrorism suspects now at Guantanamo will be inspected by a federal team today, a day after Gov. Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin stumped for the plan — calling it “a dream come true.”
[Since I had an exam during the day on Thursday, and was incapacitated on Friday morning, I have responded in the comments section to all of your kind B-day wishes from last week. Thanks a bunch everyone]
* State Rep. Annazette Collins Robbed In Woodlawn - Courtyard Where Robbery Happened Was Unsecured Due To Area Code Glitch
With Cook County commissioners expected to roll back the sales tax a half penny on the dollar — and make it stick this time — a simmering discussion may very well boil over about a proposed hospital tax, as one group calls it, to continue delivering health care to the poor and uninsured.
The debate pits Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, a Democrat whose district largely encompasses the Southwest Side, against hospitals in Chicago and the suburbs.
Under the legislation Moreno sponsored, larger nonprofit health-care facilities would be subject to what he calls a “fee,” but sounds more like a penalty, if they do not provide free care to the poor or uninsured equal to 4.5 percent of the hospital’s annual expenses.
Moreno is concerned that revenue losses from a potential sales tax rollback would hurt Cook County government, a $3.1 billion operation with roughly $850 million going to the county’s health-care system this year.
The agency that runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier is likely to offer early retirement to 90 eligible employees and force 300 others to take up to 24 unpaid days off to help solve a financial crisis caused by a downturn in convention and tourism business.
Another reduction in hours worked by 200 unionized employees and renegotiation of contracts — for everything from attorneys to landscaping and janitorial services — is also on the table to erase a $34 million shortfall, sources said.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority board will meet at 1 p.m. today to consider the painful remedies.
* Transit unions put foot down with CTA and its plans for layoffs, service cuts
Leaders say they are not willing to make concessions because there are other ways to cut costs without limiting service
CTA workers are facing a list of concessions and layoffs, but union officials feel it’s time to take a serious look at a longterm fix.
At a Sunday morning news conference, union leaders suggested the CTA study the transportation system in Pennsylvania where a new statewide law, with money coming from an increase in highway tolls and sales taxes, provides resources to keep the transit agencies afloat for 10 years.[…]
The CTA is asking its workers for $160 million in givebacks over two years. The agency must find $95.6 million in savings to avoid service cuts and layoffs scheduled for February.
Metra riders who buy one-way tickets or weekend tickets or who wait to pay till they’re on the train will pay more, under a budget approved Friday by the Chicago and suburban commuter-rail agency’s board.
According to the latest figures from the Woodstock Institute, foreclosure filings were up by more than 50 percent in some well-off suburbs during the third quarter, as the mortgage crisis continued to shift to middle- and higher-income communities.
Thanks a bunch everyone]
