* The Flubs have sucked so badly this season that I haven’t bothered to engage much in one of my favorite pastimes of messing with their fans. I mean, 13.5 games out of 1st? An 18-1 loss to Milwaukee which included a franchise record 26 hits given up?
Look, I know that the White Sox lead in their division may not hold up. We’re only just one game ahead of the Twins. But we are beating the absolute snot out of Detroit today, so I thought I’d chime in with an afternoon question…
* In a somewhat strange turn of events, a couple of historically moderate Republicans, House Republican Leader Tom Cross and Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno, are co-hosting an ultra-conservative national event next month in Illinois. Andrew Breitbart and Glenn Beck are both speakers at the Right Nation 2010 extravaganza. From a press release…
Right Nation 2010 announced today that Andrew Breitbart will be joining fellow conservatives, Republicans and Tea Party Independents at the September 18 event. An outspoken conservative, Breitbart has built a reputation as a public figure unafraid to take on the liberal left or the controversial topics of the day.
The founder of Breitbart.com, Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism, and Big Peace, Breitbart is also a commentator for the Washington Times and various news programs, as well as an author and publisher.
Breitbart joins conservative icon Glenn Beck, Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Congressman Aaron Schock and Tea Party leader Herman Cain, as well as journalists Stephen Moore, John Fund, and others.
House Republican Leader Tom Cross has long had a reputation as a moderate, but he’s been pushing hard against that for the past year or so. The same goes for Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno. Both leaders are listed as hosts of Right Nation 2010. Several local tea party groups are listed as partners. Cross’ House Republican Organization is one of the sponsors.
State budget shortfalls pose a “significant” or “severe” risk to the national economy. The loss of tax revenue has forced state and local governments to cut services and lay off workers. […]
At the same time, state budget shortfalls have emerged as a major threat in the economists’ view. State and local governments cut their spending in the first three months of this year at a 3.8 percent pace. That was the biggest cutback since the second quarter of 1981, just before the economy entered a severe recession.
When states and localities tighten spending by trimming services and jobs, the cutbacks ripple through the broader economy, causing individuals to spend less, too. The drop in state and local government spending shaved about half a percentage point off the U.S. gross domestic product in the first three months of this year.
Nearly two-thirds of the economists view the states’ budget crises as a significant or severe threat to the rebound. [Emphasis added]
I’ve been saying for well over a year that the administration and the Congress screwed up badly by not giving the state’s a bigger helping hand. One of the reasons for the failure of the economic stimulus was that the states counteracted it with their spending cuts.
And, to be clear, I’m not necessarily saying that the stimulus should’ve been bigger, although many would. I am saying that more money sent the states’ way and less spent on things that barely stimulated anything would’ve been the smart thing to do. But, no.
* Our chart of the day is from the Rockefeller Institute and looks at quarterly state tax revenues for all states since the beginning of 2007…
Reid said he is now more confident of getting a small-business relief bill through the Senate this week, including significant tax breaks for companies and a $30 billion Treasury-backed loan facility. But new budget problems Monday cast fresh doubt on the Senate’s ability to deliver on a White House-backed state and local aid package designed to avert tens of thousands of layoffs, including teachers, in the fall.
Just hours before a scheduled cloture vote Monday, the Congressional Budget Office informed Senate leadership that it was still about $5 billion short of offsetting the full $26.1 billion cost of the package. […]
Within the aid package, $10 billion is dedicated to protecting teaching jobs, and the remaining $16.1 billion is to help governors meet their state Medicaid payments for the first half of 2011. In both cases, the funds would essentially extend relief provided under the giant economic stimulus bill enacted soon after Obama took office last year. But Democrats have pledged to fully offset the costs through a combination of tax reforms and spending cuts, about $10 billion of which came from the recovery act.
* Economists Confirm: State Budget Cuts Threaten Economic Recovery: In fact, states’ actions to close their estimated $140 billion in budget shortfalls without more federal aid could cost the economy up to 900,000 public- and private-sector jobs. You don’t have to be a leading economist to realize that’s the last thing our economy needs.
* More Balance: So, claims that our analysis systematically understates costs for public employers are invalid on this basis. Similarly, claims that our study should have added the value of the entire unfunded liability (of state and local government DB plans) onto a single year’s compensation costs are completely off base. Any analysis that does so will reach conclusions that are equally inappropriate and flawed.
* Poll: Public Prefers Candidates Who Serve Pork, But Not Tea
At the behest of Illinois Republican Party Chair Pat Brady, the president of the Chicago Young Republicans has been ousted amid a growing scandal for the state GOP.
An allegation of sexual misconduct against CYR President Jeremy Rose — and the alleged cover-ups, blind eyes turned and retributions made in its wake — resulted in Rose vacating the post Monday.
Chairman Brady said Rose’s continued involvement with the Young Republicans was “a distraction to what we’re trying to accomplish.”
In addition to being the longtime CYR president, Rose was hired by Cook County Republican Party chairman Lee Roupas as political director in 2009. He was promoted in early 2010 to CCRP Executive Director, though Roupas knew full well of the allegations against Rose. […]
“I told the board of the Young Republicans that Jeremy needed to step down immediately,” Brady said. “The Young Republicans aren’t under my jurisdiction per se, but I did tell the board that it’s time to have Jeremy step down.”
The background is here. As I noted in comments the other day, I can’t help but wonder how the League of Women Voters now feels about giving the CYRs $5,000 during its remap petition drive.
* In more important Chicago news, the Sun-Times reports that nine city aldermen are heading out the door, including Ald. Helen Shiller, who already announced her retirement…
The list of aldermen at least thinking about calling it quits includes such political heavyweights as: Ginger Rugai (19th), Jim Balcer (11th), Frank Olivo (13th), Ed Smith (28th), Vi Daley (43rd), Pat Levar (45th), Mary Ann Smith (48th) and Bernard Stone (50th).
That list doesn’t include Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, who will likely move up to county board chairman, and Ald. Brian Doherty, who is running for the state Senate.
* Related…
* Alderman’s finances come under scrutiny - Campaign donations not reported over three years
Several commenters and critics have sniffed that they recall I was quite enthusiastic about Blagojevich early on. Not so. A review of the archives from his election through the end of 2003 finds mostly offhand references, little praise and such digs as these:
* The Question: What was your first impression of Rod Blagojevich? Be honest and explain.
* The Democratic Governors Association is running a new radio ad attacking Bill Brady. Rate it…
Script…
“Auction” – 60-second radio
Auctioneer: The bidding starts at eight dollars. Do I hear eight dollars? Eight…eight…
Man: I’ll go eight dollars…
Auctioneer: Thank you, Mister Bill Brady. Do I hear seven? Seven-dollars-an-hour for a lower minimum wage…
Wife (whispering to husband): Darling! What is Bill Brady doing?
Man: Seven! Yes! I’ll go seven…
Husband (annoyed): Keep your voice down, dear.
Auctioneer: Again! It’s Bill Brady! Can we go lower? Lowwwwer…
Wife (whispering to husband): But…how awful! Brady’s bidding to lower the minimum wage?
Husband (irritated): Yes, Mumsy! He said it back in June – Bill Brady thinks the Illinois minimum wage is too high.
Wife (urgently whispering to husband): And Brady wants to roll the minimum wage back?
Husband (irritated): Correct…
Wife (incredulous, whispering to husband): But, darling…we’re not even that cruel to the gardener!
Auctioneer: Sold! Bill Brady would roll back the minimum wage for Illinois families. And that’s why this ad is paid for by the Democratic Governors Association-Illinois. Not authorized by any candidate and no candidate is responsible for Democratic Governors Association-Illinois’ activities.
Strangest ad I’ve heard so far this season. What the heck? Am I wrong here?
…Adding… An alternate view from a trusted buddy who isn’t connected to either campaign…
I spend about 20-40 minutes a day in the car and have been through a few sessions with ad folks on this stuff.
Sounds, voices and repetition are what make radio ads good.
First thing you hear: “crack” of the auction gavel. That catches the listener’s attention.
Next thing is a fast talking auctioneer, then a husky voice of brady, then back to the auctioneer who deliberately changes his speed when he says “lowwwwer” minimum wage.
New voices from the couple at the auction, the back and forth on it and Lower minimum wage is repeated no short of 5 times.
Another crack of the gavel and then bill brady would roll back the minimum wage.
That is a great radio ad. It has sound effects, changing voices and it repeats the main thing they are trying to get across at least 4 or 5 times. Most people are distracted when listening to radio by driving or working. So, great radio ads involve tons of repetition and distinguishing sounds that make them memorable. The story is less important than the acting to catch someone’s attention.
I think it’s just way too cluttered to be effective. The repetition gets lost in the nonsense. But, we’ll see.
…Adding More… From a friend…
I know they are working a theme, but this doesn’t make me hate Bill… Unless they just want me to remember he is against the minimum wage as a set-up piece for when they go in for the kill on the taxes, Florida condo and Porsche
* The Alexi Giannouolias US Senate campaign insists that their candidate left the daily operations of his family bank in September of 2005. That’s now an important claim because the Sun-Times reported this yesterday...
On Feb. 14, 2006, newly obtained records show, the bank made a $22.75 million loan to a company called Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners, it turns out, included Rezko.
Giannoulias couldn’t have known about the Tony Rezko-related loan, the campaign insisted to the Sun-Times, because he wasn’t part of day-to-day operations…
Through a spokeswoman, Giannoulias says he knew nothing about the $22.75 million loan to Riverside District Development until reporters contacted him.
“Alexi left daily operations of the bank in September of 2005, months before this loan was made,” says Kathleen Strand of his campaign staff. “He had no knowledge of it, and his name is not on any documents related to the loan.
“This guilt-by-association story is an unfortunate and failed attempt to link Alexi to Mr. Rezko.'’
* The trouble is, which Alexi Giannoulias are we to believe? The current Giannoulias, or the one who was interviewed in March of 2006, a month after the Rezko-related loan was made? From a March 15th, 2006 article in The Windy City Times…
WCT: What’s your biggest advantage and your biggest disadvantage?
AG: That’s easy. My biggest advantage is that this is a fiscal office and I’m a banker and a financial manager. The state treasurer is responsible for investing $12 billion—and you want someone who’s [invested] before. My opponent may be a nice guy, but he’s more qualified to be an attorney general.
My parents founded Broadway Bank; over the past four years, we’ve more than doubled in asset size. I’m senior loan officer and vice president, so I oversee a $600 million loan department. I’m also chief investment officer and invest about $150 million. [Emphasis added]
That doesn’t sound like past tense to me. “I’m senior loan officer,” “I oversee,” “I’m also chief investment officer…” All present tense - and a month after that Rezko-related loan. And it’s not the only article out there. The Kirk campaign has pointed to a December 20, 2005 SJ-R story…
Giannoulias noted that he currently serves as vice president and senior loan officer at the four-branch Broadway Bank in Chicago.
* When asked yesterday whether the candidate has any paperwork verifying that he actually left daily operations, a campaign spokesperson said she didn’t. Besides, she said, the bank is now closed, so accessing paperwork would be practically impossible. And she continued to insist that Giannoulias left daily operations in September of 2005.
It’s not clear exactly what day Giannoulias was interviewed by the magazine, but it was definitely after March 1st of 2006…
Windy City Times: At the Stonewall Democrats Illinois forum [on March 1] , you sounded off on [main primary opponent] Paul Mangieri.
Again, March 1st would be after that Rezko-related loan was granted.
So, either Giannoulias was not telling the truth back in 2006, or he’s not telling the truth now. Which is it? The campaign response…
It was a passing reference to his position at the bank. He didn’t resign or quit. He took leave and if he lost his election he would have resumed his job at the bank.
So, I’m guessing that means he was lying back then, but not now. I’m also guessing that they’re right and that Giannoulias didn’t have much to do with the bank during the heat of the March primary. He was busy getting thwacked pretty much every day by the Democratic Party of Illinois. Then again, he could’ve saved himself some grief in ‘06 by just announcing that he had stepped aside. So, my guesses could be wrong.
Kirk said that on the day of Obama’s inauguration, Pelosi introduced a bill for the stimulus package. He said he canceled his plans that day, “pulled an all-nighter” and read the bill. The next day he issued a memo to Republicans of “why the stimulus won’t work.”
“Every Republican voted against the stimulus off that,” he said.
Kirk also claims that Illinois hospitals are laying off people because of the health care bill…
He said hospitals are generally the number-one employer in communities, but that the $500 billion in cuts to Medicare in the health-care reform legislation have required hospitals to stop hiring or to layoff staff and to stop all expansion programs.
“And so not only do we see the problems of our own health care being created by this law, but we’re also seeing the number-one employers in many Illinois communities beginning to contract because of the details of this legislation,” he said.
More on that another time.
*** UPDATE *** The Illinois Federation of Teachers has endorsed Giannoulias. From a press release…
Citing his commitment to quality public education for all students, the Illinois Federation of Teachers has endorsed Alexi Giannoulias for the United States Senate.
“Alexi Giannoulias will fight for our children and their education,” said IFT President Ed Geppert. “He understands the needs of public schools and he has the leadership ability to continue the fight for those schools as a member of the United States Senate.”
“I believe that a strong, vital system of public education is essential to our future. Our public education system is the key to opportunity for millions of children and families. And a quality system of higher education is essential in today’s knowledge-based economy. I’m honored to receive this endorsement from the Illinois Federation of Teachers,” said Giannoulias .
A national antigun group is endorsing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in the November election.
Quinn’s campaign office says he will pick up the backing of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence at a Tuesday event on Chicago’s South Side.
The group believes that the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Chicago’s gun laws can still be used to promote robust gun control. From their website…
“We are pleased that the Court reaffirmed its language in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment individual right to possess guns in the home for self-defense does not prevent our elected representatives from enacting common-sense gun laws to protect our communities from gun violence. We are reassured that the Court has rejected, once again, the gun lobby argument that its ‘any gun, for anybody, anywhere’ agenda is protected by the Constitution. The Court again recognized that the Second Amendment allows for reasonable restrictions on firearms, including who can have them and under what conditions, where they can be taken, and what types of firearms are available.
“Chicago can amend its gun laws to comply with this ruling while continuing to have strong, comprehensive and Constitutional gun laws, just as Washington D.C. has done. After the Heller decision, at least 240 legal challenges have been brought to existing gun laws, nearly all of which have been summarily dismissed. There is nothing in today’s decision that should prevent any state or local government from successfully defending, maintaining, or passing, sensible, strong gun laws.”
* Meanwhile, somebody in Illinois finally noticed that Gov. Quinn signed a bill into law late Friday evening. From the Sun-Times editorial page…
If you play a long shot in poker, you’d better be ready for a losing hand.
With legislation that Gov. Quinn signed Friday to amend the 2009 Video Gaming Act, Illinois is playing a long shot: that organized crime won’t creep into the newly authorized video gaming industry.
Theoretically, this law could prove a winner for Illinois, just as you can theoretically win a poker hand with a pair of deuces.
Problem is, the odds against you are pretty steep.
Now, if they’d just open their eyes and look around, they’d see a whole bunch of other actions that Quinn successfully buried Friday night. It’s truly amazing to me that the entire Illinois media has let Quinn get away with this.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that Quinn budget director David Vaught had predicted during an interview that, in January, Illinois lawmakers would raise the income tax by 2 percentage points. Quinn, in full damage control mode, on Thursday admonished Vaught for speaking out of turn, said Vaught’s remark was “misconstrued” and added that a Bloomberg reporter from out of state didn’t understand what Vaught said. Quinn reiterated his support for a 1 percent income tax increase — sorry, a 1 percent surcharge for education — and added that he would veto anything else.
The wheels fell off that “misconstrued” explanation Friday when the Capitol Fax Blog posted a video recording of Bloomberg’s interview with Vaught. His words: “We fully expect that we’re going to pass a tax increase in January. We think it’s going to be substantial.” Asked to define “substantial,” Vaught explained Quinn’s support, variously, of a 2 percent hike and a 1 percent hike and concluded, “To me that’s the range of possibilities.” Then John Sinsheimer, Quinn’s director of capital markets, made 2 percent sound like Quinn’s true goal: “The overseas investors we talked to, when we told them we could balance the budget with a 2 percent increase in individual and corporate income taxes, that pretty much raises about $6 billion, slightly less than that — that’s the deficit.” The overseas investors, he added were impressed. “They looked at us and said, ‘Only a 2 percent increase?’ They were amazed by that.”
Illinois taxpayers may be amazed too. We can’t top the headline on Bloomberg’s follow-up story: “Illinois sends contrasting messages to bond buyers, voters on deficit plan.” Oh, and about that supposedly clueless out-of-state Bloomberg reporter: Among the three Bloomberg journalists conducting the interview with Vaught and Sinsheimer was Flynn McRoberts, a former Tribune staffer and now Bloomberg’s Chicago bureau chief.
However, CMS said employees may voluntarily use that option to meet the requirement that they take 24 unpaid days off by June 30, 2011.
Rules fleshing out how the furlough program, ordered by Gov. Pat Quinn, will work were issued to state agency directors, budget directors and other managers who work under Quinn’s control. The rules still leave a lot of discretion to agencies to see that the furlough day commitment is followed while still ensuring that the agency can function. […]
At one time, the administration was considering requiring employees to use their paid state holidays to fulfill the furlough requirement. State employees get 12 paid holidays between now and the June 30, 2011 end of the current fiscal year. Forcing non-union workers to forego pay on the holidays would allow the state to get the benefit of furlough days at a time when the majority of employees would be off work anyway.
However, the CMS memo makes the use of holidays as furlough days voluntary, not mandatory. CMS spokeswoman Alka Nayyar said the idea was dropped because it would have required a change to state personnel rules, a process that would take a minimum of 90 days. That would have further compressed the time in which employees had to take furlough days.
* 6:49 pm - Judge John Grady’s order is exactly what we expected. The special US Senate election will take place Nov. 2nd. No primary will be held. Winners of the February primary and those who otherwise qualify for the ballot will appear on the special election ballot. Read Judge Grady’s permanent injunction order by clicking here.
* As I told subscribers last week, the IEA has endorsed Judy Baar Topinka for comptroller. This is important to the race because the union gave a huge pile of money to Topinka’s Democratic opponent Rep. David Miller in the primary. From a press release…
The 133,000-member Illinois Education Association (IEA) is recommending Republican Judy Baar Topinka for state comptroller and Democrat Robin Kelly for state treasurer. […]
“Her experience as three-term state treasurer ensures that Judy Baar Topinka will hit the ground running as comptroller at a time when an experienced hand is crucial for the good of our state,” [IEA President Ken Swanson] Swanson said. […]
“We all know that our state budget is in crisis. Robin Kelly has the experience needed to run the treasurer’s office at this important time in our state’s history,” Swanson said.
Other recommendations announced by IEA include: Democratic incumbents Lisa Madigan and Jesse White for Illinois Attorney General and Illinois Secretary of State.
Topinka is a surprise because of the primary contributions to Miller and his sponsorship of a big tax hike. But Miller also voted for that pension reform bill. Kelly has to be pleased with this nod since the union often polls extensively before endorsing. The IEA also endorsed Lisa Madigan and Jesse White. The union has not yet endorsed in the US Senate race.
* Related and a roundup of stuff I forgot to post earlier today…
* Quinn puts brakes on school mandates: Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a new law that holds lawmakers from passing any new instructional mandates. Instructional mandates require school districts to integrate certain topics into their curriculums. The mandates can call for new standards in subjects ranging from history and language to driver’s education and physical health.
* AT&T, others made big donations, got action in Illinois General Assembly : AT&T asked the Legislature to ease telecom regulations so it could more easily compete in the exploding wireless market. The bill, though controversial among consumer advocates, was approved without a single “no” vote from state elected officials — who, collectively, have received more than a half-million dollars in campaign donations from the company since January 2009.
* You would think that after the state treasurer’s office stirred up a hornet’s nest by opening satellite offices right before the election they’d be extra careful about mixing state business with politics. You’d be wrong…
Alexi Giannoulias is the state treasurer of Illinois, but it’s hard to tell from the just-published quarterly issue of his office’s Financial Education Newsletter, which has almost nothing to say about what the Democratic incumbent’s been up to but is chock full of news about his chief of staff.
That would be Robin Kelly, who is pictured five times in the four-page newsletter and is prominently quoted on at least three pages. She happens to be the Democratic candidate to succeed Mr. Giannoulias as treasurer in the November general election, just three months from now.
Right on page one, the newsletter talks about how Ms. Kelly welcomed attendants at the office’s annual Smart Women Smart Money conference. A couple of pictures of her presenting awards are on page two.
Page three shows and tells about Ms. Kelly working to establish savings accounts for children and to award Bright Start scholarships. And while there’s no picture on page four, she is quoted again talking about a new program to help low-income folks save money.
Page four also happens to include the only mention of Mr. Giannoulias that I could find.
Go have a look for yourself. Blatant. Not only is she pictured five times, her name is mentioned on every single page.
…Adding… From the treasurer’s office…
Hi Rich,
I’d like you to clarify a few items for your readers.
Under this administration, we’ve cut our staff by 17 percent (about 40 positions) at the same time we’ve worked to improve outreach and financial education through free or low-cost means such as satellite offices and newsletters.
The financial education newsletter has been distributed on a quarterly basis since Winter 2008 via email — not by mail – and they are all available on our website for review. It has always featured both Robin and Alexi, along with other members of our Financial Education staff.
Recipients voluntarily sign up for the newsletter at our financial education events, including Smart Women Smart Money conferences. SWSM was established under the previous administration 10 years ago and continues to draw hundreds of participants each year from across the state. SWSM is presented by Dollars & Sense Inc., a not-for-profit organization, thanks to corporate sponsorships.
The Illinois State Treasurer’s Offices operates six satellite offices across the state to save money and improve constituent services. We put out this fact sheet in July, but it appears that people need to be reminded that these offices have been rolled out since 2007 at a net savings to taxpayers.
FACT: In every year of the Giannoulias administration at least one new satellite office has been opened.
FACT: In every instance the satellite office is rent-free.
FACT: STO employees were already working in every part of the state and were incurring high travel expenses prior to satellite offices opening.
FACT: Even after accounting for expenses like phone lines and internet, the reduced travel costs have saved the STO $30,000 and counting already.
FACT: STO regional employees are cross-trained on all STO programs allowing them to provide service to citizens and communities throughout the state.
FACT: Prior to opening the satellite offices Illinois citizens were forced to drive to either Springfield or Chicago to go to the Treasurer’s office. Here are the distances saved:
· Rockford (90 miles)
· Rock Island (160 miles)
· Effingham (90 miles)
· Collinsville (80 miles)
· Mt. Vernon (130 miles)
FACT: The State Treasurer’s office has 17% fewer employees under the Giannoulias administration than under the previous one.
* Yeah, it’s only Monday, but I’m pretty confident this entry will hold up. From the Kankakee Daily Journal…
Scott Lee Cohen has been called of many things since his early March departure as the Democratic Party nominee for lieutenant governor.
The word “quitter” isn’t among them.
The 45-year-old Cohen, now an independent candidate for Illinois governor, was in Bourbonnais Friday afternoon and stated he’s in this race because that’s what the people have asked of him.
Nobody has called SLC a quitter since he quit the lt. governor’s race? Really? Huh. I must’ve missed that.
* Bankrupt Mother Tribune spent precious dollars polling 800 Chicagoans and then posted the results on its Breaking News page…
The poll found a sparse 4 percent of Chicago-area residents consider August their favorite month. June ranked No. 1 at 21 percent, with July and its accompanying fireworks a close second at 18 percent.
As summer gives way to fall, people remain moderately happy through October — 13 percent ranked it as their favorite — then the bottom drops out with only 1 percent ranking November tops. December’s slightly more popular with 3 percent, but that’s likely just the holiday bump, and well within the poll’s plus or minus 3.5 percent margin of error.
Thanks so much.
* I originally posted this one below, but I’ve moved it up here because it’s gotta be our most vacuous story of the day…
Not only did Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign embrace social media, but social media, in turn, embraced Obama.
The story then goes on to report how many Facebook friends and Twitter followers various suburban candidates have. Scintillating…
Facebook and Twitter, too, reveal similar numbers of followers and message styles. Seals has 1,222 followers on his political page. Dold has 1,319. Twitter shows Dold has 162 followers with 27 tweets, and Seals has 224 followers with 82 tweets. […]
On July 20, Dold posted on Facebook about his first radio ad, which he said introduced his reasons for running for office, and his “philosophy as a fiscal conservative and social moderate.”
Those looking at the page not only had the opportunity to click on a link to hear the ad on his website, but could comment on the ad itself. A dozen different Facebook users either commented on the ad or “liked” the post.
“We don’t want to overload people,” Dold said. “We’ve been focused on creating a conversation.”
This would’ve been a great opportunity to point out the dangers of a candidate posting his/her thoughts on Facebook, like when Dold appeared to approve of a hugely controversial budget plan and then deleted his Facebook post when Seals tried to make some hay out of it. But, no.
* Least dubious commentator of the month award (and it’s only August 2nd) goes to a Fox News contributor…
“I just got a call earlier today from Michael Steele’s office. I can’t disclose what’s going on right now, but I do expect a lot of support from the RNC,” Hayes told me on July 27.
Regardless of support and the Blagojevich trial touching Jackson’s reputation, the fight will be difficult for Hayes. At the moment, he has only $30,000 in his war chest and Chicago’s 2nd district has not elected a republican since 1950.
The “Hayes” in the story is Isaac Hayes, the Republican opponent of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. Hayes’ fight will be more than just “difficult.” It’s impossible. The 538 site just rated the district as the tenth most Democratic in the nation. I really doubt Chairman Steele has that kind of money to burn.
Now the Capitol Fax has not to date written a word about Al Gore meeting prosecutors because an Irish female masseuse wouldn’t give him a hand.
Thanks, Tom. I laughed so hard I almost cried. Made my week.
* The power of “E.” From the Drudge Report…
Later…
Mistakes happen.
* Seen anything goofy lately?
…Adding… I forgot about this lede. Let’s call it our first runner-up…
What could have been a soul-stirring celebration of the music of Stephen Sondheim — and a thrilling culmination of ten years of distinguished Sondheim celebrations at the Ravinia Festival — was allowed to fall victim to some bone-headed planning on Saturday night. The debacle on the North Shore was a textbook example of what can happen when an arts venue worries too much about food and drink for its big donors and forgets its real business of fulfilling the artistic souls of the regular folks — the Sondheim lovers without the bow-ties and the fine gowns — at the back of the pavilion and out on the lawn.
* The Tribune’s profile of Sam Adam, Jr. reveals a very nervous man in anticipation of the Blagojevich verdict…
“I’m so nervous, I can’t eat. I can’t sleep,” he says. “I’m dead tired, so it’s tough to stay focused. I’m sort of a wreck.” […]
In the end, Adam says he gave “about 70 percent” of his planned closing. During his final argument Tuesday, Adam apologized to the jury for rambling. On Friday, three days later, he was still analyzing his performance.
“Of course you second-guess yourself,” he says. “I have nothing to do but wait. So I replay the entire trial in my head and wonder if I should have done something differently. But I believe I did the best I could.”
On Thursday, the first full day of deliberations, Adam says he sat in his Woodlawn office and watched his computer screen as a slideshow of his two children played on an endless loop. The jury sent a note around 10:30 a.m. apparently asking for the transcript of the prosecution’s closing. Adam says he and his father, Sam Adam Sr., who defended the case with him, spent an hour or so debating its possible meaning before deciding they couldn’t possibly know.
Watch the Trib’s video, though, and you see true torment. The Trib didn’t use some of the best Adam quotes…
“If we lose this case, to some degree it’s true it’s my fault.”
“I know that family. I know Annie, I know Amy, I know Patti, I know Rod, very well. And to think of what’s going to happen, it’s a very nervous thing… I’m living a case in which this man is going to be taken away from his babies. Taken away from his babies. Of course I’m nervous about that. And that my f-f-f-failures. or my bad decisions, or my ability, or should I say non-ability, to make the jury see what I see, of course that makes me nervous. If this happens it goes on me.”
“You very well may have a technical violation of the law. You may… All I can tell you is I did the best that I can… This is politics, this is politics as usual. Maybe I lose that argument, I’ll be the first to say ‘OK, I couldn’t make the sale.’”
* My latest syndicated newspaper column is about last week’s Quinn/Brady dustup and some related polling crosstabs. Read on…
Gov. Pat Quinn was in rare form last week as he attacked state Sen. Bill Brady before his Republican opponent had a chance to get his own licks in.
Quinn was put in an extremely awkward position by his budget director, who indicated to an out-of-state reporter that the state’s income taxes would be increased to 5 percent from its current 3 percent come January. Democrats were predictably stunned by the political stupidity of such a thing, and Republicans were predictably foaming at the mouth with outrage. The virulently anti-tax Brady quickly scheduled a press conference, and we all knew what was coming: Unadulterated vitriol.
The governor explained to reporters that his budget guru had been “misconstrued.” Raising the income tax to 5 percent wasn’t his plan, Quinn declared, vowing to veto any tax increase above 1 percentage point.
But in between the defenses, the governor engaged in a full-throttled attack on Brady for proposing to cut education funding by 10 percent as part of Brady’s across-the-board budget reduction plan. Quinn claimed Brady’s proposed billion-dollar slash would force the layoffs of “thousands of teachers,” crowd classrooms to the breaking point and, most importantly, cause property taxes to “skyrocket.” You could barely count to three in between Quinn’s warnings about how Brady would force property taxes through the roof.
“I’m a person who wants to hold down property taxes,” Quinn said. “If we want a growing economy, we cannot have politicians from Bloomington running around Illinois telling people before an election nothing is going to happen as far as tax reform when it comes to supporting education, but then after the election presiding over the biggest property tax in Illinois history.”
“I don’t want to see these local property taxes go up,” Quinn said moments later. “You’ve got to be careful of these apostles of ‘no tax.’ When they talk, they have their fingers crossed because they know the local government is going to raise the property tax on people.”
And he wasn’t finished. “I know that there’s going to be false prophets running around Illinois saying, ‘We don’t have to do anything, just stand still, cut the budget of state government for education by 10 percent.’ Make sure that everybody knows what this fellow is talking about. He wants to cut the school budget in Illinois, the education budget, by 10 percent. How are you going to fund the schools?”
Yeah, he laid it on pretty darned thick.
And considering the position Quinn was in, the property tax angle might not have been a bad push-back. People are probably more upset about the property tax than any other tax in the state. If he has to divert attention from his own proposed income tax hike, that’s the way to go. There is also little doubt that large, permanent cuts to education and local government eventually will lead to property tax hikes.
Then again, the negative messages pushed by Quinn apparently haven’t worked all that well. The latest Rasmussen poll has Brady with a seven-point, 44-37 lead, despite Quinn already having spent $2 million or so on viciously anti-Brady TV advertising.
More ominously, the poll of 750 likely voters taken July 26 found that a big chunk of Quinn’s “must get” vote is now seriously considering voting for a third party candidate. And there may be plenty of those to choose from this year.
A staggering 23 percent of African-Americans, 19 percent of moderates, 14 percent of Democrats and women and 10 percent of liberals chose “Some other candidate” in the poll. Just one of those demographics - moderates - was in double digits in Rasmussen’s June 7 poll. Quinn’s advertising has been so crushingly negative (which tends to push people away) and his job performance has been so utterly abominable lately that people apparently are heading for the exit doors.
That isn’t happening to Brady. His natural base - Republicans, conservatives, men, whites and people making more than $100,000 a year - are all still in the single digits on the “Some other candidate” response. Just 3 percent of Republicans are thinking of straying, for instance.
And it also isn’t happening to Quinn’s fellow statewide Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. Not a single one of those “must get” Democratic constituencies is in double-digits on Rasmussen’s “Some other candidate” response for the U.S. Senate campaign.
Pat Quinn’s worst enemy has always been Pat Quinn, and it’s no different now.
* ADDED: Poll watch: Dems find glimmers of hope: One of those is in Illinois, the 10th District seat currently held by Mark Kirk. And an internal poll from that race, obtained by the Swamp, showed Dan Seals (D) with a 46-38 lead over Robert Dold (R). The poll was conducted in late May; though there have been few major developments specific to the race, the national climate remains volatile. But we’ve seen Illinois races less prone to national trends, given President Obama’s consistently strong numbers in his home state.
* Introducing Partisan Propensity Index (PPI): It turns out that there’s one other factor which is fairly useful to look at, which is socioeconomic status. Relative to how they do for the Presidency, Democrats are somewhat more likely to win races for Congress in poorer districts, and somewhat more likely to lose them in wealthier ones. Another way to put this is that a split ticket of Republican for President, Democrat for Congress is more likely to occur in a poor district, whereas a split ticket of Democrat for President, Republican for Congress is more likely to occur in a wealthy one…. Most of the places where Democrats hold seats in the House in spite of a disadvantageous PVI — think TX-17 or MS-4 or TN-4 or OK-2 or the couple of Democrats in West Virginia — are poor, and most of the places where the reverse is true — think Mark Kirk in upscale IL-10 or Mike Castle in Delaware — are fairly well-off.
* Congressional Candidates: No Residency Required: Bobby Schilling acknowledged he doesn’t live in the district he’s seeking to represent, but noted that his Moline restaurant and his life history are tied to the 17th District.
* Democrats Maintain Advantage on Generic Ballot, 48% to 44%
* An alternative for Illinois: Adam Turl talks to Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate for Illinois governor, about solutions to the economic crisis and the November election.
* Rich Whitney on WBBM Radio’s At Issue program [Fixed link]
* Independent governor candidate drops out, sells T-shirts: Frequent political candidate William “Dock” Walls is withdrawing from the Illinois governor’s race for the second time this year, but the latest announcement from the veteran African-American activist was a bit unusual. Last night, Walls sent out e-mails to reporters touting a T-shirt business that listed him as the contact. There was no word about his latest independent bid to run for governor, just a plug for customizable t-shirts. It wasn’t until today that a news release arrived from Green Party candidate Rich Whitney in which he claimed Walls’ endorsement. Whitney said in the statement that he was “thrilled that he has the support of such an important force for social change in Chicago.”
* Lex Green press release: Bill Brady found to be against voter choice in Illinois: The truth is out about who is behind the attack on voter choice. During petition challenges against the Constitution Party, one of the objectors stated that he is working for Bill Brady. In spite of Senator Brady’s silence about this disregard for ethical ballot choice, he is, in fact, a co-conspirator. And the lawyer who is the principle objector is John Fogarty, long time ally of Tom Cross. It looks like the Republican Party is calling out the big guns.
* Other than making a little pop as President Obama rolls into town, I’m not quite sure what the purpose is behind today’s Sun-Times story…
By February 2006, businessman and political fixer Tony Rezko was already politically radioactive, caught up in a federal investigation that would see him criminally charged by the end of that year.
News reports had linked Rezko, a key adviser and campaign fund-raiser for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to shady deals involving state pension funds — among the crimes that ultimately would send him to prison.
This was the Tony Rezko who, looking for millions of dollars for a massive South Loop development, turned to Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Alexi Giannoulias. Giannoulias, the Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, had left his post as a senior loan officer at the Chicago bank in late 2005 to mount a successful campaign for Illinois state treasurer, though he still held an ownership stake in the bank.
Giannoulias has said previously that he and his family’s bank couldn’t have known back in 2002 when they loaned Rezko money that he would become so radioactive. That’s the big hook for this story: Aha! Rezko got a loan in 2006! Everybody knew he was shady by then!
But, wait a sec. Rezko’s name appears nowhere on the loan because he was a minority partner. The company got the loan at least three months after Giannoulias took a paid leave of absence from the bank. The company paid the loan back a few months later by taking out another loan from a different bank.
Giannoulias, already facing questions about his fundraising after bringing in less than $900,000 for his general election campaign in the past quarter, finished June with more than $200,000 in debts left over from a competitive fight for the Democratic nomination.
The candidate owes a total of $208,438 to vendors and staffers, according to his most recent Federal Election Commission filing. More than $61,000 of the debt is owed to consulting firm Adelstein Liston, which produces Giannoulias’s television ads. An additional $41,450 covers unpaid bonuses to staff members and consultants left over from the primary. […]
Giannoulias has held onto his debt for months, though: The Illinois primary was the first of the year, back in February. And his fundraising contrasts sharply with Republican nominee Mark Kirk’s. The congressman raised $2.3 million in the second quarter and ended June with $3.9 million in the bank, compared with $1 million for Giannoulias.
It’s one thing to owe a debt to yourself because those don’t have to be paid back right away. It’s quite another to owe that much cash to vendors and staffers this far away from the primary. Giannoulias’ position is mighty tenuous. He’d better raise a whole lot of moolah when the preznit hits town.
* Meanwhile, does anybody in their right mind really think that a VAT will pass after the election if the national Democrats lose a ton of seats? Senate Republicans are gonna line up to help break a filibuster shortly before their position is improved? This looks like a straw man…
U.S. Senate nominee Mark Kirk, now a congressman from the North Shore, has new legislation that would ban the federal government from imposing a national sales tax, more commonly known as a value-added tax, or VAT.
The action amounted to a bit of political theater, since no authority exists now for the feds to impose a VAT; one would have to be approved by Congress. But the good congressman was trying to make a point, and did: no new taxes named VAT.
* Related…
* Peoria needs more than lip service, generic priorities in Senate race: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk dropped into town a little over a week ago to unveil his “Peoria Agenda.” … Unfortunately, after looking through his “Peoria Agenda,” our first-blush reaction is that it’s rather generic. Of Kirk’s nine priorities, only three involve specific policy proposals. The remainder are vague pledges of support for things no sane candidate would oppose.
