* Andy McKenna was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune. Read it here…
We’re attracted to several of the GOP candidates: As a group they comprehend that Illinois governance needs to be dismantled and reinvented. But this primary race has convinced us that businessman Andy McKenna has the best skills set — disciplined policy proposals, but also a level demeanor — to pull Illinoisans together.
We cannot endorse either of these candidates in the primary. Neither one has inspired confidence that he can make the difficult, unpopular decisions that must be made to resolve this state’s financial crisis.
We don’t see this as tantamount to an early endorsement of the Republican nominee in the general election. The Democrat who wins the primary will have nine months to make a better case for himself. We hope he proves our skepticism wrong.
But if he doesn’t, we think voters will have an easy choice.
Gov. Pat Quinn says violent offenders were released early from prison under a non-publicized, money-saving program because his corrections chief went rogue.
“I told him repeatedly” that he did not want violent criminals released early, Quinn told the Daily Herald editorial board Friday. “In carrying out that plan he didn’t follow my directives.”
If he repeatedly didn’t follow a direct order, then he should be fired. Plain and simple.
Quinn also blamed the General Assembly for his woes…
Overall, Quinn attempted to point the blame at lawmakers who refused to back his call for an income tax rate increase. The early release program was needed to save money as the state struggles under an $11 billion shortfall, Quinn said.
* This one’s kinda funny. Rep. Mike Boland is running in the Dem primary for lieutenant governor, but his congressman, Phil Hare, just endorsed Sen. Terry Link.
* That’s it for me. I’ll be back Monday with much more. Session cranks up for a few days next week, and we’ll have plenty of coverage for you.
This song came on the jukebox while I was in a bar in Macedonia years ago, and everything seemed to make sense. The song came on the jukebox the other night while I was in a bar on Miami Beach and brought back lots of memories…
* The following joint statement was release this afternoon by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady and the McKenna for Governor campaign…
Over the last several weeks, questions have arisen regarding a poll commissioned by the Illinois Republican Party and paid for with State Party funds during the tenure of Andy McKenna as Chairman of the Party. The poll, taken last April, contained opinions of Illinois voters related to relevant issues and voter identification of a number of potential statewide Republican candidates. At his instruction, and at the urging of the Finance Committee, Mr. McKenna’s name appeared in the voter identification questions of the poll. The poll also included an analysis of his personal name identification with Illinois voters.
The State Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party has concluded that Mr. McKenna should not have done so without prior Central Committee approval and disclosure. Mr. McKenna had no intent to violate the spirit or the intent of the Party’s by-laws and he sincerely apologizes for having done so.
…Adding… This was in the statement but buried beneath a bunch of extraneous stuff, so nobody saw it…
State Party Chairman Pat Brady, the Illinois Republican Party, and Mr. McKenna now consider this matter closed.
Tyrone Fahner, a McKenna friend who chaired the state GOP’s finance committee at the time, previously had told the Tribune that the party’s major campaign contributors decided to authorize the poll and it was Fahner’s idea to include McKenna’s name.
But the joint statement from the Illinois GOP and McKenna’s campaign said McKenna’s name was included in the poll “at his (McKenna’s) instruction, and at the urging of the Finance Committee.”
Some of McKenna’s rivals in the Republican primary election have accused him during the campaign of using party funds to weigh his bid for governor or one for Senate, which he never launched.
What’s more, they said, he met with some of them to sound them out about their potential strategies and donors, never disclosing he was considering his own bid.
Fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Schilerstrom’s press statement…
“Andy McKenna’s conduct is in line with Springfield culture today, but not with what our state requires for tomorrow. Andy presented himself as an honest broker in the Governor’s race before quitting as Chairman and becoming a candidate himself. He led the Illinois Republican Party Finance Committee in meeting with candidates, and then guided them to his own campaign. And now it is confirmed that at the same time he was purporting to lead Illinois Republicans, he was quietly tapping Party resources to lay the groundwork for his own bid, violating the very Code of Ethics he established.
“Now McKenna says he is an ‘outsider’ and ‘quiet cure’ for what ails the state, and he is investing his dollars to make sure we believe it. But he cannot buy enough time on television to change the fact that McKenna himself is in desperate need of a ‘hair’ cut.”
Schillerstrom also provides a quote from the state central committee’s code of ethics which was passed while McKenna was chairman…
“The spirit and intent of the Code is to ensure that those who serve as State Central Committee members do so for the sole benefit of the Republican Party and the general public, without any suggestion of service to promote their private interests.”
When Gov. Pat Quinn halted a secret early prison release program last week, he acknowledged that 56 of the freed inmates were already back behind bars - 48 of them for violating rules of their parole.
What he didn’t say was that those broken rules included at least 17 allegations of violent crimes, including attempted murder, armed robbery and domestic battery, according to Associated Press interviews and reviews of both public and internal Corrections Department documents.
One offender who’s back after he was released under the program known as “MGT Push” allegedly shot his victim in the leg. Victims of nine others who earned return trips to the penitentiary contend they were battered.
Seven parolees are back in lockup for crimes involving guns or other weapons.
Illinois, the second-lowest rated U.S. state, paid more than some comparably ranked U.S. companies when it sold $3.47 billion of taxable bonds to finance its annual contribution to a public employee pension fund.
The state, downgraded last month by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, paid as much as 4.421 percent yesterday on the bonds, which mature in one to five years. The top rate was 182 basis points, or 1.82 percentage points, higher than the yield on five-year U.S. Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Corporate securities rated A that mature in three to five years traded 154 basis points over Treasuries yesterday, indexes from Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch & Co. show.
“They certainly did have to pay a premium to get this deal done,” said Matt Buscone, a portfolio manager at Boston’s Breckinridge Capital Advisors Inc., a money manager overseeing $11 billion in assets, which bought Illinois debt maturing in two years. Municipal bonds “are subject to a lot of bad headline risk these days” with deteriorating state and local budgets, he said. “Headline risk” refers to the potential effect of bad news on investment values.
Because the state of Illinois isn’t paying its bills, Community Workshop & Training Center cut its hours.
“We have to close early now,” Executive Director Gail Leiby said Wednesday.
CWTC provides services to the developmentally disabled, with an operating budget of about $9 million a year. Missing $1.8 million over the last six months represents almost 40 percent of its funding. As a result, a not-for-profit that tries to operate as a business has tightened its belt in all sorts of ways.
“We have not received a payment since July 1. That’s for services already rendered, of course,” Leiby said. “. . .We’ve cinched it so tight we can barely breathe.”
* The wife of Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna, Mary McKenna, has just contributed $800,000 to her husband’s campaign. That cash is helping to fund a $500,000 per week TV ad buy that’ll last through the rest of the primary race. Rate McKenna’s latest…
Script…
MALE VO:
Illinois: overspent, nearly broke.
Yet, Jim Ryan and Kirk Dillard won’t rule out tax hikes.
Governor Quinn is pushing a 50% tax increase!
Only Andy McKenna can fix this mess with no tax increase.
Andy VO:
This is Andy McKenna. I’m a businessman. We need
to make smart choices,
cut spending and not raise taxes.
* Yesterday, I told you that ultra-conservative radio host Sandy Rios had endorsed GOP state Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor on the same day that she penned a vicious screed questioning Congressman Mark Kirk’s sexuality. Sen. Kirk’s campaign refused to respond when I first called yesterday, but the candidate issued a statement last night…
“I believe the most important issues in this campaign remain balancing our state budget, bringing jobs back to Illinois, and cleaning up corruption in Springfield. My goal is to unite the Republican Party and the voters of Illinois around these important issues and make Illinois work again. I am very grateful for the support from across the party including moderates and conservatives alike. I appreciate the support of Sandy Rios however. I disagree with the recent article published in Town Hall News.”
He is a resolute Republican, committed to limited government and conservative on most social issues.
But he is a pragmatist as well, an essential quality for any Republican wishing to be effective in this Democratic-leaning state. He is cut from the same cloth as several of Illinois’ most successful governors — Richard Ogilvie, Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar. Dillard was, in fact, Gov. Edgar’s chief of staff.
The Chicago Sun-Times endorses Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor in the Feb. 2 Republican primary. No other candidate comes close to matching his experience in the executive and legislative branches of state government, his knowledge of the back doors of power in Springfield, and his proven ability to build cross-party coalitions without abandoning core Republican values.
Dillard has correctly identified the greatest challenge facing Illinois’ next governor — the mountain of debt and unfunded pension obligations undermining our state’s economic competitiveness. His solution is, in part, to freeze all hiring and non-emergency spending, impose zero-based budgeting, reduce Medicaid fraud and trim pension benefits for new employees.
Many of these ideas, frankly, strike us as general and vague. Cut Medicaid fraud? Sure. But how?
On the other hand, grand plans are a dime a dozen — every candidate has one. Far more valuable is the political skill to carry out that plan — and here Dillard stands apart.
* GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft is up on cable with a small buy. Watch it…
* Republican comptroller candidate Jim Dodge has a new Internet video that pokes fun at rival Judy Baar Topinka and uses video footage to skewer the other candidate in the race. Take a look…
By the way, that drunken video footage was first posted to YouTube by William Kelly himself, so it’s fair game.
* Related…
* McKenna says Ryan considers taxpayer protection a “special interest”
* 10th Congressional District election: GOP state Rep. Elizabeth Coulson wins endorsement from former U.S. Rep. John Porter
* Bob Dold Criticizes President Obama for Stepping On Illinois Primary With Rescheduled State of the Union: Dold said the decision to hold it on February 2nd is not only intended for political gain, but it tramples the Illinois Primary Election.
* Village president takes on incumbent in 25th Senate
* My Sun-Times column today takes the broad view while looking at this botched early release program…
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that our last few Illinois governors have been hit with a stupid stick.
I don’t know why this is happening, but it’s become a pattern and I’m seriously worried for this state.
One of the nice things about the democratic process is that politicians usually don’t do things that would cause them to lose their jobs. That attitude has its downsides, of course. If too many politicians become too overly cautious then nothing gets done — like what’s going on now in the U.S. Senate.
But here in Illinois we’ve seen some blatantly reckless stupidity that just boggles the mind. George Ryan’s crimes, Rod Blagojevich’s arrest, and now the Pat Quinn administration’s breathtakingly moronic early release program for violent prisoners.
For all his faults, I have always thought that George Ryan was a pretty darned good governor. He got things done. There was little to no gridlock on the big issues. But he stupidly believed that he could behave like politicians did 30 years ago and not suffer the consequences. He had no sense of self-preservation and he is now sitting in a federal prison cell. Ryan’s stupidity still infuriates me to this day.
Rod Blagojevich was a horrible governor. Gridlock didn’t just prevail, it thrived. Chaos became normality. I was happy when he finally got busted and ousted for his unbelievably stupid alleged schemes to shake down the president-elect over the choice of a U.S. senator and strong-arm the rest of the establishment for cash and personal favors. I was enraged, however, at the damage his arrest did to this state’s already poor reputation. Once again, we had an amazingly stupid politician who didn’t have the mental capacity to realize what he was doing to himself and to his state.
And now, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how Gov. Quinn could be so stupid about this botched early release program for violent inmates. As you certainly know by now, the Department of Corrections secretly let out hundreds of dangerously violent inmates — including notorious gang leader Michael Rodriguez, who had been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder — before their scheduled release dates.
This is not only a horrible policy, but also incredibly stupid politics. Releasing violent people from prison early for no good reason endangers lives and rewards people who don’t deserve any sort of reward.
Politically, well, it’s pretty obvious what sort of damage can be done with this issue in an election year.
Well, not quite.
It may be obvious to anyone with half a brain that this is a potentially fatal blunder, but it apparently wasn’t at all obvious to the Department of Corrections. Quinn says he was kept in the dark about the program, which is not what he said when the story first broke.
Let’s take the governor at his word — his second word, not his first — and believe that he didn’t know anything about the program. That still makes him a horribly inept manager. And Quinn’s shutting down the program and admitting it was a bad idea just won’t suffice. Heads must roll. When somebody makes a mistake this bad, a limp slap on the wrist and a halfhearted apology (all the while blaming the Legislature for forcing him to do what he didn’t have to do) is nowhere near good enough.
If Dan Hynes or the Republicans succeed in using this issue to defeat Gov. Quinn, I sincerely hope our next governor doesn’t catch the “stupid disease.” I just don’t think we can take much more of this bizarre behavior. I know I can’t.
The only thing missing in the most notable television ad in the Illinois governor’s race is Englebert Humperdink singing, “Release Me.”
His verse, “Please release me, let me go” would be vividly apt for Dan Hynes, the mild-mannered Illinois comptroller. Mr. Hynes, the Democratic challenger, issued a broadside at Gov. Patrick J. Quinn that included photos of ominous-looking souls (all Caucasians, in a tidy example of Democratic Party political correctness) let go in an early release program that freed some violent offenders who soon returned to prison after alleged crimes and parole violations.
* In another Democratic race, comptroller candidate Rep. David Miller is up with a new radio ad. Listen by clicking here.
I’ll have more for subscribers about this race on Monday, but Miller is going up on TV in the last 10 days of the campaign.
* Rep. Mike Boland takes a whack at a fellow lite guv candidate. From a press release…
Representative Mike Boland, Democratic candidate for Illinois Lieutenant Governor , called on Terry Link to return donations from Midwest Generation, which has been a frequent target of community groups and EPA lawsuits. The company’s six aging coal-fired power plants, including the Waukegan Station in Link’s Senate district, are some of the worst contributors to air pollution in the Chicago area. Midwest Generation and its parent company are a top career donor to Link, giving his campaigns over $30,000.
* Some Unlikely Allies Push for More Cash for Department of Juvenile Justice: Watchdogs and department of juvenile justice administrators and union representatives all told legislators at a hearing yesterday that the department has been chronically under funded. Kurt Friedenauer runs DJJ. He told legislators that the buildings where the kids sleep at one prison are falling apart.
Friday, Jan 8, 2010 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In 2008, Americans went online in record numbers for voting information. eVoter.com is making social media easier for candidates and voters. Gone are the days of trying to figure out how to make Facebook, Twitter, and online organizing work in your advantage. eVoter does the hard work for you. Campaigns, candidates, and voters get the social media tools and election knowledge they want, right away and in ONE location.
Candidates can:
• Create a high visible profile, at a very low cost
• Fundraise
• List endorsements
• Post press releases
• Promote YouTube and other online videos
• Take advantage of high search engine results
• Recruit and manage volunteers
• Send direct messages to voters
• And more!
Voters can:
• Search for polling places
• Create sample ballots and slating cards
• Look up candidates and the issues that matter
• Volunteer, donate, and connect directly with campaigns
Be heard and get empowered at the website where candidates and voters connect: www.eVoter.com.
