* After last night’s debate, most TV newscasts included this Bill Brady quote about former Rod Blagojevich guys Juan Ochoa and Dean Martinez, who had hosted a fundraiser for him…
“They are good people who care deeply about their community and their state. And i look forward to their guidance.”
That didn’t sit well with four people who’ve been behind Latinos for Brady. They sent out a press release this morning calling on their candidate to “sever all ties with the former Blagojevich cronies.” An excerpt…
We cannot allow our party and its standard bearer to be misled back to the days where pay-to-play politics ruled our state.
It is well known that both Dean Martinez and Juan Ochoa were major fundraisers for Governor Blagojevich. It is also well known that both organized one of the last fundraisers for Blagojevich just three days before the former Governor was arrested in December 2008. It is unconscionable to us and to the voters of Illinois that the Brady for Governor campaign accept any tainted contribution, monetary or other, from such individuals who played by Governor Blagojevich’s illicit and illegal rules.
We believe that Senator Brady was misled and misinformed about these individuals and call upon his campaign to return any funds raised by these Blagojevich associates and sever ties with them immediately. Neither Martinez nor Ochoa is Republican, but more importantly, they do not represent the hard working citizens and business owners of the Latino Community in Illinois.
Ouch.
I’ve been waiting for a Brady campaign response for a while. Nothing yet. I’ll post it here when I get it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** And here’s the response…
While the Brady campaign welcomes the vocal and public support of all volunteers and supporters, these gentlemen do not speak for our campaign, and use of our campaign letterhead was not sanctioned. We remain grateful to all Hispanics for Brady volunteers and to the Republican National Hispanic Assembly for supporting Bill Brady’s plan to bring all factions together to secure prosperity and opportunity for all.
As today’s New York Times correctly points out, Pat Quinn cannot shake his public defense of his two-time running mate Rod Blagojevich as an “honest” politician of “integrity,” and his 11th hour attempt to exploit and divide our Latino community for his political gain just won’t work.
On the eve of this important election, Bill Brady believes it’s time for supporters and volunteers alike to put aside the old divisions and come together to defeat political insider Pat Quinn.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Joseph P. Galvan, who is listed on the letter…
First let me say that Steve Galvan and I both support Bill unequivocally.
We never saw the statement until Lou sent it to me after it was sent to everyone else.
The statement is divisive and does not represent Steve nor my positions on this issue. We are working to bring everyone in the Latino community together to change the direction of this state. We just want to be on record that we disassociate ourselves from this press release.
Joseph P. Galvan,
Joseph P. Galvan, Principal Galvan and Associates
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* From the bizarre to the crazy. Al Reynolds’ campaign website claims that he “helped organize the East Central Illinois Tea Party Patriots.” His network helped him run a write-in campaign that landed him on the 52nd Senate District ballot as the Republican opponent of Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign). But Reynolds went way off script last night at a candidates forum…
The Republican candidate for state Senate in the 52nd District said Wednesday night that black men “find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education.” […]
After the forum had ended, Reynolds repeated his comments.
“Look at the number of black men who opt out of getting a job and opt out of higher education. They don’t even make it out of high school because the lucrative drug trade is so rampant that it’s just easy for them to fall into that. What are the avenues for the black man to get out of the ghetto? He becomes a star athlete or he does drugs. I mean very few men of the black race get out of that ghetto through education.
“The women do. The women do because, number one, they’re forced to because they don’t have anybody to take care of them. They do a good job. A lot of the women are very good about getting out and getting an education. The men just have a more … you know, the lure of high money because it’s high money in drugs without having to pay the price of going to school.”
And, get this. The forum was co-sponsored by the NAACP.
[Sigh.]
You remember that big fight with the NAACP over racist elements within the tea party? Well, it looks like the NAACP found one. Heck, he came right to them.
The Champaign County GOP chairman has called on Reynolds to resign from the ballot. I think it’s too late for that. The chairman and the local party never really supported Reynolds, and it doesn’t appear that the Senate Republicans have given him any help beyond some minor early assistance from a group that is working with SGOP candidates this year.
* Speaking of tea partiers, Democratic Congressman Phil Hare has posted some audio of Republican congressional candidate Bobby Schilling agreeing to shut down as many “progressive agencies” - going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt - as he can…
Mayor Jim Ardis may have committed a misdemeanor and subsequent felony by using what appeared to be official city stationery recently to request campaign donations on behalf of a judicial candidate, State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said Wednesday.
Ardis said he didn’t know he was breaking the law.
Ardis confirmed that on Oct. 8, on paper with the city of Peoria letterhead, the city logo and “office of the Mayor” across the top, he wrote and mailed a letter requesting money for John Vespa’s campaign for 10th Judicial Circuit Judge against Democrat Chris Spanos. The letter, distributed to 200 people from Ardis’ personal campaign database, is signed by him and followed with the City Hall address.
When first asked by the Journal Star why he sent the fundraising request on city letterhead, Ardis responded, “Because I support (Vespa). I’m the mayor. Why not?”
He noted he paid for the copies, envelopes and postage and the city letterhead was from a Word document on his home computer. “That’s not the first time I’ve sent out letters asking for support. I use mayor letterhead for a lot of stuff,” Ardis said.
I’m just speechless. What elected official doesn’t know this law?
Americans take control of a League of Women Voters Forum much to the chagrin and dismay of the moderator.
How is it these folks who hold these forums (and who stridently choke the debate process) can be so clueless on what it means to be an American.
The League of Women Voters got schooled October 20th, 2010 in Grayslake Illinois on what it means to be an American.
The League can be goofy and inept, but I’m pretty darned sure their members are good Americans.
* The Sun-Times’ Abdon Pallasch made a wisecrack at a City Club gathering this week about Bill Brady’s infamous puppy bill. The gist of Abdon’s remark was if you kill one puppy or ten puppies at a time what’s the difference because they’re still dead. Make sure to check out the audience’s reaction. Wow. There’s no embed because the CS-T’s player wreaks havoc with my site, but click here to watch. Abdon’s comments start at just before the 23 minute mark.
Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias today accused his Republican opponent of “economic treason” for raising money from U.S. businessmen in China the day before a Congressional vote on overseas business, prompting GOP Rep. Mark Kirk to respond that Giannoulias is running a dishonorable campaign.
Kirk’s fundraiser was held not in China but via Internet video conferencing and the event was scheduled long before Kirk’s May 28 vote, his campaign said. The fundraiser with 12 citizens working in Beijing raised about $6,000—a drop in $12 million he has raised so far.
Giannoulias refused to back away from his accusation tying Kirk’s vote to the money. He said Kirk has put China’s interest ahead of that of the United States.
“It can be called nothing but an act of economic treason,” said Giannoulias, the state’s treasurer who receives labor’s support.
“He raises money from corporate executives in Beijing one day, and the next day sold out American jobs to China to return a favor.”
“That’s not the vote of someone who is representing the interests of Illinois families ,” Giannoulias said. “It is the vote of someone who is representing the economic interests of Beijing.”
Kirk staffers counter that the fundraiser, which generated less than $6000, was scheduled weeks before the vote. They contend he opposed the bill because it increased spending by $102 billion, and added $54 billion to the national debt.
“If he wants to say that’s a coincidence, I’d say it’s a very interesting coincidence,” Giannoulias insisted, sticking to his allegation that the vote was a direct quid-pro-quo for the fundraiser which took place the day before.
When I posted my own story yesterday, I thought the whole vote and fundraiser thing was a rather curious coincidence. I was also fascinated with the fact that so many internal leaks have sprung out of the Kirk campaign this year.
But calling somebody a traitor is truly beyond the pale in politics. Giannnoulias ought to apologize.
* Yesterday, PPP’s poll had Bill Brady leading Gov. Pat Quinn by one point, 42-41. Today, the Pollster Who Shall Not Be Named has Brady ahead by eight points, 45-37. The pollster once again omitted Libertarian Lex Green and used “some other candidate” instead. But “other” only received one percent of the vote, which is the same result for Mr. Green in PPP’s poll, so we’ll bust the Rasmussen embargo for today.
* The Question: What’s your own prediction for the final spread between Brady and Quinn?
* This new DSCC ad is already stirring up a hornet’s nest. Watch…
The NRSC’s torrid response…
“The facts are clear: Only one candidate in this race honorably served our nation’s military, while the other loaned millions of dollars to known criminals and lost millions of dollars in Illinois’ college savings program. The Democrats are trying to smear the record of a decorated service member in an effort to prop up a failed mob banker who has never worn a military uniform for one single day in his life. This ad is shameful, and it’s offensive to all of the men and women who have bravely served our nation’s armed forces.” – Amber Marchand, NRSC Press Secretary
The Republicans tried to get out in front of this two days ago with a friendly leak…
Just in case you didn’t think the Illinois Senate race could sink any lower, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is planning to launch a final ad campaign featuring a “veteran” to attack Mark Kirk’s service record. […]
More importantly, where is the outrage?
Alexi Giannoulias never served. He has never put his own life on the line for the United States of America. Mark Kirk has – repeatedly.
As the Chicago Tribune recently noted, “All of us do, though, know that Kirk has a record of service, military and congressional, that is 100 percent verifiable. As a naval intelligence officer, he has put his life on the line for this nation.”
Will veterans stand for this? A man who never served recruiting veterans to smear a fellow veteran for political gain? Will the mainstream media catch on and finally call out Giannoulias for going over the line? We’ll see.
Turns out, though, they had a lot of veterans in the ad, not just one.
I kid you not. Seriously. That’s the Tribune’s headline. From the story…
During the [”Hardball with Chris Matthews”] show, Matthews quizzed Giannoulias for more than 10 minutes about Obama, Iraq and Afghanistan before asking the question some Chicagoans have also begun to ask: Would former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel make a good mayor for Chicago?
Dodging the question, Giannoulias said, “I am focused on Nov. 2.”
Thanks, Tribune. 13 days out and that’s what you wrote about yesterday. I truly cannot thank you enough.
* I told you yesterday that, at my request, Public Policy Polling tested House Speaker Michael Madigan’s favorables…
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Michael Madigan?
18% Favorable
52% Unfavorable
30% Not sure
Oof.
* Favorable ratings are different than job approval ratings, but take a look at these results from a Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll taken September 8 through October 9, 2009…
40.4% Approve
42.6% Disapprove
17.1% No opinion
Again, faves and job approves are different types of ratings, but it seems pretty clear to me that Madigan is on a downward spiral. No surprise, considering all the bad press he’s received and the mess this state is in. The Tribune has been calling for his head on an almost weekly basis for months, including yesterday…
If you don’t like the way Mike Madigan runs this state, you can’t vote him out. He even engineered his own Republican opponent on the ballot.
That doesn’t mean the rank and file are innocent bystanders. If you’re not convinced your local lawmaker is working hard to bust the status quo — you can check our candidate questionnaires for guidance — then go ahead, throw the bum out. Insist that your lawmaker commit to a fair electoral map, or term limits, or both. And send a message to Madigan and Cullerton: Give us competitive elections, or get out.
Madigan is far better known than he used to be, and people don’t like what they’re seeing.
* Let’s drill down into the PPP poll, shall we? Even his own party members don’t care for the guy…
This crosses racial lines as well…
What jumped out at me in the age crosstab is that the people who know about him the most like him less…
Many jeered when Flider, asked for whom he would vote for speaker of the House, answered with: “It’s hard to say who you’re going to vote for for speaker of the House when you don’t know who’s running.”
Although, they could’ve also booed because Rep. Fllider was insulting their intelligence. I don’t blame them. Still, notice how Flider - who’s getting a shipload of Madigan money this season - ran away from the Speaker as best he could.
“If the viewers are happy with the way Illinois is going, elect Pat Quinn. But if you want an Illinois that looks more like an Indiana or a Tennessee - a state that can turn the page - we need new leadership in Springfield.”
Now, Brady wasn’t saying that we’d be better off if we were Hoosiers or whatever Tennesseans call themselves. He was trying to make the point, I think, that those states are run well. It’s part of his standard stump speech…
One of the states that Brady looks to is Indiana; others are Texas and Tennessee.
“States that have learned to live within their means,” as Brady put it.
There are undoubtedly many things Illinois can learn from those other states. We are certainly no beacon of hope for the rest of the world.
Still, even though I love my Aunt Jean and Uncle Mike very much, I’ve never wanted to move to their Indiana home state. And while I’ve traveled to Tennessee and like the place, I have zero desire to live there. I think that’s why Brady’s comment may have bugged me and some of you. I, for one, chose to stay here in the early 1980s when jobs were beyond scarce and some of my friends and family were heading south to Texas and Florida. If I wanted to live in Texas, or anywhere else, I’d move there. Well, not now. I’m kinda stuck in this golden cage of my own construction.
* State Individual Income Tax Rates: Illinois, 3%; Indiana, 3.4%, Tennessee, 6% …ADDED BY ZORN: note that the table in the link above doesn’t account for a fact found elsewhere on the Tax Foundation website, that “Tennessee’s personal income tax system consists of a flat 6% rate on exclusively dividend and interest income. No other personal income is subject to state taxation.” As a result, Tennessee’s per capita state income tax is $47, Illinois’ $806 and Indiana’s $760 — income disparities explain the Illinois and Indiana figures
* Per capita income –Illinois, $46,693; Indiana $37,279; Tennessee, $38,090
Higher state tax rates and way lower per capita income.
* Keep in mind, however, that few people actually watched the debate last night. Check out the numbers for Tuesday’s US Senate debate…
The debate hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos scored a 5.0 rating (175,000 households).
That easily beat the 2.8 rating (98,000) “The David Letterman Show” pulled on WBBM-Channel 2 and the 2.5 rating (87,500) for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on WMAQ-Channel 5.
That’s a solid TV rating, but 175,000 households ain’t a lot of people in the grand scheme of things. And since nobody covered the Indiana/Tennessee thing except Eric and myself, the only way people who didn’t watch would ever know about it is if Pat Quinn put it into a TV ad, which I seriously doubt he’d do.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** From The Business Insider, based on data from Joshua Ruah an associate professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University….
11 State Pension Funds That May Run Out of Money
#1 Illinois
Year pension fund runs out: 2018
Bill in the following year: $13.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 32% […]
#3 Indiana
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $3.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 17%
#4 New Jersey
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $14.4 billion
Share of state revenue: 34%
Ernst & Young also found that executive compensation programs were not monitored by internal audit, a board sub-committee or outside advisers “to evaluate for compliance with policies, procedures and controls.”
In a response included as part of the audit, Metra said it already has implemented “many of the report’s recommendations” since Mr. Pagano’s suicide, and stressed that the report “found no violation of any laws, regulations or ordinances.”
A source close to the situation said auditors recently discovered the unaccounted funds and told SWANCC officials the suspicious activity all occurred within the last year.
It is unclear whether the discrepancy was uncovered through the agency’s annual audit or whether a special audit was conducted.
Wright, of Naperville, said she had served in her job without blemish since 1999, but that disciplinary action was taken against her in the wake of two reports she submitted in the last two years.
In 2009, she reported that there was “credible evidence” the administrator had a relationship with a tollway vendor “that might raise a conflict of interest,” and that the administrator also “verbally mistreated” a toll employee he supervised. This year, she reported that the administrator had retaliated against an employee for participating in the 2009 investigation.
Wright said she was demoted on May 12, 2010, after being told that the new political leadership at the agency wanted to choose its own person, but the position never was filled.
But while the form explicitly says “REQUIRED,” district officials said they were just strongly suggesting that participants cough up some support as part of the newly launched “Say Yes to CPS!” campaign.
Schools chief Ron Huberman said the school district is not trying to force any of the volunteers to pay for their participation.
Weis did not say which police districts stand to lose officers and which districts stand to gain. He would only say that some districts “have an additional number of police officers above and beyond what analysis has proven they actually need. So we can move some of those officers to a district where analysis has shown they need some more.”
Police Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th) applauded Weis for confronting an issue that his predecessors took pains to avoid.
Mark Donahue is police union president. He says Weis’ Friday night press conference was held in haste and that he didn’t conduct a proper investigation.
Lane is accused in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this year of misrepresenting key details in a bid to get a loan to help finance a $35 million real estate deal — designed to buy nearly 600 apartment units in 25 buildings and turn them into affordable housing in the Auburn-Gresham, Chat- ham, Roseland and South Shore neighborhoods. The deal was one of the largest projects attempted by the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, whose chairman is Finney.
In 2001, Lane was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for lying to get loans to save his South Side shopping center.
Beavers, a storied 75-year-old Chicago Democrat, said Wednesday that he used his $1,200-a-month expense allowance to boost his income until it attracted media attention in late 2008.
“I used it as income and paid taxes,” he said in a telephone interview.
The commissioner said he did not know what prosecutors were after with the latest subpoena.
The Denver attorney hired by Mayor Daley to oversee city hiring — only to be stripped of that responsibility and resign — is embroiled in a new dispute with City Hall. This time, it’s over unemployment compensation.
Anthony Boswell filed for unemployment last month to obtain weekly benefits of $534 for 26 weeks, based on his $161,856-a-year salary.
* Peoria City Council is responsible for making call on residency
“Ultimately, the issue is one of where it’s a person’s permanent residence,” Ray said. “It’s up to the City Council.”
Ray’s comments come one day after an order of protection filed against 5th District City Councilman Dan Irving listed his address in Hanna City, not within the district he represents.
The three main items that were disputed and reinstated were $40,000 plus another $4,555 in the sheriff’s budget, which will maintain the DARE; $74,500 to the University of Illinois 4-H program; and $126,784 to reinstate courthouse office hours from the proposed 32 to 40.
There were a total of $270,000 additions to the proposed budget. On Wednesday, County Treasurer Melissa Andrews said the total appropriations for 2011 was $6,681,163 million.
The levee improvement project being coordinated by the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District has an estimated cost of $160 million to $170 million. The project is a response to new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps and guidelines, which would decertify the region’s levees and significantly increase the cost of flood insurance for property owners if the levees are not upgraded.
The County Board also on Wednesday voted to sue FEMA over the new flood maps. The lawsuit will allege that FEMA has no justification to decertify the levees. The Flood Prevention District Council’s leaders have said FEMA refuses to provide evidence for decertifying the levees.
* NBC5: Quinn, Brady Spar on Jobs, Ethics: In his opening statement Quinn outlined his main themes — job creation, compassionate governance — while accusing Brady of “reckless” budget plans and legislating in his own interests. “I’ve created jobs,” Quinn said. “I’ve brought honesty to the governor’s office.” Brady, in retort, accused Quinn of failing to create jobs in Illinois, leading the state into a record $13 billion deficit, and running a “secret” government that isn’t accountable to the people.
* Tribune: Quinn, Brady lash out on ethics, taxes, education at governor debate: Quinn accused Brady of voting to help his real estate development business. Brady offered his strongest response yet, flatly denying there was any problem with him voting three times for improvements around a planned highway interchange in Champaign that was near land he was working to develop. “There was no conflict of interest in these pieces of legislation,” Brady said. “I’m above that.” Afterward, Brady said he does “not regret voting for those three pieces of legislation.”
* Rockford TV: Gubernatorial Debate Gets Heated: The word “spending” dominated the debate between the two candidates for governor. “This is a house of cards, the governor is not being transparent, he’s spending money recklessly and Illinoisans are going to have to pay for it” says republican candidate for governor, Bill Brady. “I’ve cut more than any other governor in Illinois; I’ve cut my own pay” says Governor Pat Quinn.
* Daily Herald: Hot-button issues at center of governor debate: State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican, told moderator Ron Magers and panelists at the ABC 7/League of Women Voters debate that he is proud of his social beliefs opposing abortion in the cases of rape and incest, and opposing civil unions and gay marriage but is not “using them to divide Illinois.”
* Sun-Times: Brady rips Quinn for handing out big construction checks: GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady Wednesday ripped Gov. Quinn’s barnstorming tour of vote-rich areas during the past two weeks to hand out multimillion-dollar construction checks. Brady, the state senator from Bloomington, accused his Democratic rival of ticking down the campaign season clock by using one of the advantages of incumbency: doling out money from last year’s $31 billion capital construction program. Since the start of this month, Quinn has crisscrossed the state, handing out $368 million in construction funds. That total doesn’t include another $73 million in state or federal allotments that were the basis for Quinn press conferences… Quinn denied using the projects that benefit the city’s South and West sides and areas far Downstate — areas where the governor is trying to gin up voter turnout for his campaign — for political gain.
* ABC7: Quinn, Brady trade jabs in ABC7 debate: During one question, the governor learned of a link between Senator Brady and Dean Martinez, a former deputy to ousted Rod Blagojevich. “I really was surprised to learn that the former deputy to Rod Blagojevich was hosting a secret fundraiser for Senator Brady,” said Quinn. “Governor Quinn is drawing for straws. These are fine people. Let me talk about governor Quinn,” said Brady.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Quinn campaign…
But the bombshell of the evening came when moderator Rebecca Sanchez asked Senator Brady about a secret fundraiser thrown for him by Rod Blagojevich’s Deputy Governor.
In public, Brady denounces the entire Blagojevich administration. But privately, Brady is attending secret political fundraisers thrown for him by Blagojevich aides. The hypocrisy was not lost on voters.
Brady is one of the most right wing, partisan members of the General Assembly. But when it comes to secret fundraising, Brady is more than willing to cross party lines.”
* Bill Brady’s quote on Juan Ochoa and Dean Martinez…
“I believe they are leaders in the Latino community. They did host a fundraiser for me… They are good people who care deeply about their community and their state. And i look forward to their guidance.”
Guidance? Really?
From a friend…
I get the strategy, but those guys are transactional
CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov reports that while publicly, Brady has been criticizing Quinn for his association to Rod Blagojevich, behind the scenes, one of Blagojevich’s former top aides has been raising money for him.
Dean Martinez is his name. And Bill Brady admits Blagojevich’s former deputy governor has been helping his fundraising efforts. Brady says he doesn’t see any hypocrisy in that alliance. Gov. Quinn sees it another way.
“We’d like to know more details about that,” said Quinn. “Apparently, the only time he wants to deal with the Blagojevich administration is when it comes to raising money for himself. We need some answers there.”
“Gov. Quinn is drawing for straws, these are fine people,” said Brady.
* While we wait for the start of tonight’s 7 o’clock debate [click here for the ABC7 livestream], let’s take a quick look at the new Public Policy Polling poll….
42% Bill Brady
41% Pat Quinn
6% Scott Lee Cohen
1% Lex Green
3% Rich Whitney
6% Undecided
* I asked PPP to check Speaker Madigan’s fave/unfaves and they did…
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Michael Madigan?
18% Favorable
52% Unfavorable
30% Not sure
Oof.
Methodology…
October 14-16, 2010 Survey of 557 likely voters. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.2%.
* Please help us live-blog tonight’s debate in comments. Y’all did an excellent job last night. Let’s try it again. Click here for the livestream. The debate begins at 7 pm.
* Brady gets to early release, um, early in the debate. Just a quick mention, but a nice pivot.
* After months of ignoring Sen. Dan Kotowski’s budget reform proposal, Quinn has finally started using it in debates, including twice tonight. It also helps that Brady voted against the proposal - because it was attached to a budget bill.
The same goes for legislator furloughs, which Quinn just mentioned. It was in a budget-bill. Brady voted against the bill, so he voted against all that other stuff as well.
* LOL. Quinn has constantly used the phrase “perish the thought” whenever he mentions the possibility that Brady could be elected. Brady just said: “Governor, perish the thought that you’d tell the truth.” The man understands pivots. Very crucial in debates if people are watching.
* Brady: “Gov. Quinn has used the social issues to divide Illinois.”
* Andy Shaw: “Sen. Brady let me see if I can get an actual answer to the question.” Asks about social issues. Brady says he supports “parental notice,” 2nd Amendment. Tries to be as innocuous as possible.
* “Leaders lead, they don’t punt. Gov. Quinn has punted on issue like he has punted” on everything else, Brady said about death penalty reforms. He’s clearly getting the better of the guv.
* Brady again brings up the allegation that Illinois is deemed to be one of only 7 states to be in a recession. That was on MSNBC a while ago. I’ll be doing a fact check tomorrow on this.
* Quinn brings up George W. Bush and Brady’s support for him in yet another debate. Talks about rail car company that’s expanding and Groupon. Nippon and Groupon, if you’re keeping score at home.
* From Clout St…
Quinn claimed Brady voted against a bill that would have barred spouse abusers from having guns. Do not have a bill number to verify at this point.
So, I asked the Quinn campaign…
Brady Voted Against Denying Domestic Abusers Guns. Brady voted against a bill that required applicants for firearm owner’s ID cards to certify that they had not been convicted of domestic battery or similar offense. It also allowed the police to deny or revoke ID cards if the holder had been convicted of such crimes. [HB 127, Adoption, 92-22, 5/31/97]
There you go.
* Brady: “If you want an Illinois that looks more like an Indiana or a Tennessee…” vote for me. [Miller: Look, man, it’s not that I hate Indiana and Tennessee, but I don’t want to be like them.]
* Quinn shout-out to Lisa Madigan on how he’s working with her on transparency. LM is the most popular person in politics these days, so that can’t hurt. Also, third mention of Sen. Kotowski’s “budgeting for results” bill.
* Brady again brings up an audit. I wonder if anyone showed Quinn the quote from the auditor general about whether he knew what a “business audit” of the state would be. His response? “No.” Apparently not because Quinn didn’t mention it in his response. He used to read this blog. Maybe he’s just too busy now.
* Brady: “You’ve racked up record deficits and debt. $13 billion.” “Slashed” public safety. “I never said I’d slash Veterans Affairs.”
“It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve cut $3 billion it’s still not true.”
* Quinn brings up the “drive through deliveries” bill that mandated more than 24 hours hospital time for new moms, but doesn’t explain it very well at all.
* It’s a good thing that this debate isn’t being watched by a majority of the voters or the guv would be toast.
Keep that in mind, by the way. We’re watching, but not a huge number of people are. This isn’t like a presidential debate.
* Brady: “Let me remind you, governor, that it was you who introduced the bill to cut education by a billion dollars.” Zing.
* Quinn now trying to explain those three Brady “conflict of interest” votes. Actually, it wasn’t much of a “try.” The governor doesn’t seem to know the specifics. Bizarre.
Brady brings up the AFSCME deal in response. “Ethically challenged?” he asks before each point, including “secret pay raises.”
* Moderator asks Brady to explain the votes. Brady glosses over them.
Brady offers lamest defense/explanation yet of 3 votes he cast in Genl Assembly to spend tax dollars to benefit his interests nr Champaign
Yeah, but Quinn’s explanation was even lamerster. (OK, my drinking game word was “budgeting for results,” so I may be getting a bit tipsy too.)
* Latina panelist Rebecca Sanchez asks Brady about a story I wrote for subscribers a few weeks ago regarding a fundraiser attended by two former Rod Blagojevich cronies. Brady says he doesn’t know what she’s speaking of. She says Juan Ochoa and Dean Martinez. Brady says they’re “good people.” Quinn points out that he fired Martinez. That ought to push the story into the mainstream if anyone is paying attention.
* Brady: “Governor, you didn’t even have the backbone to stand up to Mike Madigan and John Cullerton” on your own reform commission’s ideas.
* Quinn talks about companies “taking” jobs from Indiana and Missouring and “bringing them to Illinois.” This was in context of Brady not paying taxes, believe it or not.
* Quinn uses Bush again in his closing statement. From Clout St…
*Brady closing statement: Illinois is a crossroads, but we need new leadership. Quinn has run state into the ground the past two years. Jobs lost. If you want to continue down that path, vote for Pat Quinn. If you want a difference, lower taxes and more jobs, vote Brady.
*Quinn closing statement: He stabilized government on ethics when he took over. Blamed Bush killing economy. Said he’s creating jobs. Important to have a governor with a heart.
* Joe Berrios is up with his new TV ad. It blasts Forrest Claypool for parking garages, pay raises and stuff, but, frankly, it’s so wordy and the announcer’s cadence is so odd at times that I’m not sure anyone will get it. I could be wrong, though. I’m kinda in a hurry these days and not paying really close attention to all these ads. Then again, neither are most people.
The spot ends with “Support the Democrat,” which is unusual for any ad this year, but Claypool is running as an independent, so that’s mainly what Berrios has going for him. Rate it…
…Adding… Republican congressional candidate Joe Walsh just sent out another weird e-mail to his network about tonight’s League of Women Voters candidates forum at Grayslake Central High School…
Dear Friends:
Get there early tonight. Ms. Bean may very well bus in people from outside of the district. We sure don’t want to miss that. Let’s be respectful, but let’s make sure that our voices are heard. Remember, this woman has been hiding from us and avoiding our questions for months. This “debate” will be rigged in her favor so let’s make it clear to her that she no longer represents us and needs to answer our questions. If not tonight, sometime before the election.
“This woman”?
I predict many breathless cell phone video posts on YouTube tonight.
* Public Policy Polling has just released its latest Illinois survey and finds Mark Kirk ahead of Alexi Giannoulias by two points 42-40. PPP’s last poll three weeks ago had Kirk ahead by four. From the pollster…
You would assume that for Mark Kirk to be running ahead as Republican in Illinois that he would be winning a good amount of crossover support from Democrats and that he would have a massive lead with independents. In reality he is doing neither of those things. He’s only getting 10% of the Democratic vote, about average for GOP candidates across the country this year. And he has just a 9 point advantage with independents, below average for what Republican Senate candidates across the country are getting. To put it into perspective when the GOP won another Senate seat this year in a state Obama won by 25 points- Massachusetts- their nominee took independent voters by a 32 point margin.
So how is Kirk ahead if he’s not doing those things? The final outcome in Illinois, perhaps more so than any other state in the country, is going to be determined by the ability of Democrats to mobilize their base in these final two weeks. We find that likely voters there only voted for Barack Obama by a 9 point margin in 2008, compared to his actual 25 point victory in the state. If what Democrats are dealing with on a national basis is an enthusiasm gap then what they’re facing in Illinois could perhaps be better described as an enthusiasm canyon. The only state where we see a bigger disparity between who voted in 2008 and who’s planning to vote this year is Obama’s native Hawaii.
The competitiveness of this race is completely predicated on paltry Democratic turnout. If that proves to be the case it’s about 50-50 as to who will win on election day with perhaps a small advantage for Kirk. If Democratic turnout exceeds current expectations there’s almost no doubt Giannoulias ends up as the winner.
Crosstabs are here. This is a relatively “old” poll since it was conducted Oct. 14-16, so some of these numbers are almost a week old.
Green Party nominee LeAlan Jones has 4 percent and Libertarian Mike Labno has 3 percent. 10 percent are undecided.
* Voters don’t like either of these guys…
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Alexi Giannoulias?
35% Favorable
47% Unfavorable
18% Not sure
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Mark Kirk?
35% Favorable
46% Unfavorable
19% Not sure
* And this is bad, bad news for Democrats…
Would you rather Democrats or Republicans held the majority in the next US Senate?
45% Democrats
46% Republicans
9% Not sure
Do you approve or disapprove of Barack Obama’s job performance?
45% Approve
51% Disapprove
4% Not sure
* Lots of undecided females…
* And LeAlan Jones is taking Democratic and black votes away from Giannoulias…
* The DSSC leaked a topline to Lynn Sweet yesterday showing Giannoulias leading Kirk 41-36. The pollster who shall not be named once again screwed up his numbers by using “some other candidate” instead of Libertarian Labno. Stupidity.
* Congressman Mark Kirk’s US Senate campaign has been plagued by strange internal leaks for months. And now we have one that includes a plan for a “Bejing fundraiser,” which was held the day before a House vote to close tax loopholes for companies that send jobs out of the country.
The latest leak is the internal agenda of a mid-May Kirk campaign finance meeting. Click here to read it. [Fixed link.]
The memo is chock full of interesting stuff, including his overall fundraising goals, regional goals, out-of-state goals, individual fundraiser event goals, targeted contributors, info about how much Kirk’s entire finance committee had raised to date, PAC goals, etc.
It even has a list of how the campaign’s Internet and e-mail fundraising was doing. According to the memo, the campaign had raised $423,687 by May via all its Internet/e-mail activities. Kirk’s website was bringing in the most, with $294,744. An ad on Drudge, on the other hand, brought in just $50.
* But then there was a curious item. If you can’t read the calendar, click the pic for a larger image…
Pay close attention to the May 27th event: Bejing FR. “FR” is a standard campaign abbreviation for “fundraiser.”
* The Kirk campaign says that the candidate held a “Skype” fundraising meeting with American businesspeople in Bejing, China. I’m told that 12 people participated in the event.
* And then the next day, Kirk voted “No” on a bill to close a tax loopholes that would prevent companies from “using current U.S. foreign tax credit rules to subsidize their foreign activities .”
Now, it’s not like the contributions from Americans doing business in China likely swayed Kirk much. Just about every Republican voted against that bill. And the Kirk campaign points to a story from 2008 about the Obama campaign sending people to China for fundraisers.
But Kirk co-chairs the China Congressional Working Group, and he’s taken heat several times for his ties to the nation. He infamously told Chinese officials that US budget numbers shouldn’t be believed, for instance. Kirk opposed legislation on Chinese currency manipulation.
“When you hear Congressman Kirk talk about job creation, he’s talking about jobs he created in China,” has been a standard line from Alexi Giannoulias this year. And while the campaign fundraiser looks legal, there are plenty of American businesses over there who are, indeed, exporting jobs to that country.
* The internal Kirk campaign leaks have been embarrassing. There was the leaked memo about how Kirk would like to have Sarah Palin’s support. There was the “source with connections to the Kirk campaign” leaking the Navy’s memo about his “partisan political activities during his last two tours of active duty.” Last week, Politico reported on another internal e-mail about how Kirk was worried he’d be “the next moderate victim.” And then there was the Republican-only conference call during which Kirk bragged about his “voter integrity” program that would focus on African-American areas that ArchPundit got ahold of.
You really have to wonder what’s going on over there.
* Roundup…
* Kirk’s Senate campaign troubled by embellishment: Kirk exaggerated his role in the [”Bridge to Nowhere’s”] demise, illustrating a proclivity for embellishment that appears to go beyond run-of-the-mill political puffery. The U.S. Senate contest with Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is the first statewide campaign for the five-term congressman, and the increased exposure and scrutiny have introduced Illinois voters to two Mark Kirks.
* Crossroads puts in $4M more: Crossroads GPS will spend about $1.18 million across Illinois and in the St. Louis market on behalf of GOP Rep. Mark Kirk, who trails Democrat Alexi Giannoulias in recent polls by slim margins.
* GOP Trouble On The Last Frontier: In Illinois, the NRSC dished out $825,000 on ads on Tuesday, the same day that Rep. Mark Kirk (R) and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) faced off in a debate.
* “Half True” Mark Kirk campaign ads say Alexi Giannoulias lost $73 million in our kids’ college savings
* You’ve seen this ad before about the rape victim, but Personal PAC is set to announce that they’re putting it on the Chicago morning shows. They’re spending $100K so far, and hope to raise $150K more. Refresh your memory…
* The US Chamber tries to finish off Democratic incumbent Debbie Halvorson…
*** UPDATE *** Um, dudes, the next time you hire a guy to wear a goofy shark suit, make sure he has a sign that correctly spells the word “Miami.” I mean, how hard can this be? From a reader…
Chicago’s Groupon, one of the web’s fastest-growing companies ever, got a $3.5-million aid package today from the state of Illinois, land of the $13-billion budget deficit. Was this really necessary?
Both the state and the company are insisting yes. The 250 new workers to be hired at the daily dealmakers’ Chicago headquarters under the financial package announced by Gov. Pat Quinn could instead have been moved to one of the company’s other offices.
For instance, Groupon President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Solomon told reporters that in a competitive market, with other states seeking Groupon jobs, the company did consider other locales.
“We thank Gov. Quinn and the state of Illinois for putting together an incentive package that allows us to further expand our workforce,” he said.
Said Mr. Quinn, “We want to keep ‘em here. It’s a competitive environment.”
The amount of money actually is relative peanuts — and fairly routine — divided into job-training and tax credits that are offered to many employers. But with state finances this low, you have to ask.
* The Question: Despite the massive loss of jobs in Illinois, is this too far or is it prudent?
The annual state budget is about $51 billion. But about half of that isn’t under the direct control of the governor or the General Assembly. […]
The general fund is the pool of money — about $25 billion for the next fiscal year — that we draw on to pay for education, public safety and health and human services, plus a few minor odds and ends. […]
But $25 billion really isn’t the starting point for a governor who wants to cut the budget. About $6 billion of that comes directly from the federal government. And somewhere around $9 billion is money we have to spend on education and Medicare in order to get the full amount of the federal funding. That leaves from $10 billion to $13 billion, according to various estimates, at which lawmakers can swing their axes.
In other words, that’s pretty much the entire deficit. Also, as Zorn reminds his readers, Bill Brady then wants to cut taxes by a billion dollars.
Zorn’s editorial board ought to read his entire piece before writing again about their pie in the sky ideas.
* Meanwhile, Brady repeated his claim that a “business audit” that took two to three months could help him figure out where to cut…
Asked whether the number of layoffs would number in the hundreds or thousands, Brady reiterated that he hopes that trimming the state workforce - which already has the fewest employees per capita in the nation - can be done by not replacing workers who leave or retire.
I asked Auditor General Bill Holland if he knew what a “business audit” of state government would actually entail. His reply: “No.”
* Speaking of the budget, Stateline is doing a series on states paying their bills late. Here is yesterday’s installment…
On weekday afternoons when schools let out in Humboldt Park, a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, dozens of children, ages 6 to 16, head to a community center known as the Youth Service Project. When they arrive at the center’s activity rooms, the children must do their homework first. Then they’re allowed to play, read books about sharks, throw balls at each other or just hang out with friends.
It’s a safe place in a neighborhood troubled by gang violence. Two years ago, two participants at the Youth Service Project were killed, and two more were injured, in the fighting. The youth at the center, which runs an arts education program, responded to the deaths by painting an indoor mural of their memories of that summer’s events. It shows a SWAT team van, a church cross against a blue sky and a funeral home — although the center’s staff, fearing that the funeral home would be a distressing image for the kids to see every day, have moved a bookshelf in front of it.
The center plays an important role in the life of Humboldt Park. Indeed, the state of Illinois, which provides 95 percent of the Youth Service Project’s funding, expects the center to provide all of the services under its contract. The catch is that, with all the state’s fiscal troubles lately, no one knows when the state will actually hand over that money.
In the past, the center has had to wait a month or two to get paid. This year, the center went six months without receiving a single check from the state. To get by, the center exhausted its line of credit, cut back on services and laid off seven of its 32 staff members. Only half as many children were able to take advantage of the Youth Service Project’s programs as did two years ago.
Disruptive as California’s delinquency has been to higher education, Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills is creating worse problems. Illinois lawmakers this year passed an unbalanced budget that does not bring in enough revenue to cover expenditures. Cash flow is so crimped that as of the end of September, the state of Illinois owed its community colleges and universities close to $600 million. That’s more than one-third of the state’s entire budget for higher ed.
* And Brady calls Speaker Madigan a “dictator” but says he thinks Madigan trusts him…
Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, said Tuesday he was ready to work with Democrats on pension reform and other controversial issues if elected, adding he thinks powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan “is looking for a leader … that he can trust” to lead the state.
“And I think Mike Madigan trusts me,” Brady told The Pantagraph editorial board.
At one point, Brady called Madigan, who has been speaker almost continuously since 1983, a “dictator,” but also said the Chicago Democrat “has a lot of respect for an effective governor.”
“We saw it with Edgar,” said Brady, referring to Jim Edgar, the Republican who served two terms as governor in the 1990s and who has endorsed Brady. “And I’m not a clone of Edgar, but I do think you can learn things from that success.”
If Brady wins and Madigan holds onto the House, this will be a fascinating battle. Madigan’s more liberal members will want an all-out revolt, but he’s never been all that fond of funding bureaucrats, so the Speaker may just give Brady all the rope he wants.
Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) is in trouble. He ran unopposed in 2008, but this cycle he trails the GOP candidate, Tea Party favorite Bobby Schilling, by seven points — 38 percent to Schilling’s 45 — and 14 percent of likely voters are undecided, according to The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll.
Perhaps even more troubling, 50 percent of independent voters support Schilling, while only 29 percent support Hare. Also among independents, 45 percent had a negative view of Hare, while only 18 percent had a negative view of Schilling, who’s never run for office and owns a pizza restaurant.
President Obama carried this district, and 57 percent of independents gave the president low marks.
Meanwhile, Hare trails by 17 points among male voters, while he only leads by two points among female voters. Schilling has a 20-point lead among middle-aged voters. Hare wins younger and older voters by a small margin.
Meanwhile, 95 percent of Republicans said they definitely will vote, while 84 percent of Democrats said the same.
And 38 percent of voters said Obama has brought change to Washington “for the worse,” while 25 percent said it was “for the better” and 34 percent said nothing has changed.
Had the National Republican Campaign Committee bothered to watch Congressman Hare’s complete statement, they would have understood he was clearly saying that we must invest in local communities to keep teachers and firefighters on the job. The myth Hare referred to is that you can’t spend at all during periods of debt. Hare even points out several budget offsets that could pay for these investments like ending tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and subsidies to the oil industry–offsets Republicans like Schilling refuse to support.
Associated Press says clip is out of context: “But add a little context and it becomes clear that Hare was not denying the debt exists. He was calling it a myth that the debt means the federal government can’t spend money on important programs.”
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) is in a tough battle for his district. He trails Republican Randy Hultgren by one point, 42 percent to 43, with 12 percent of likely voters undecided, according to The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll. […]
The poll found 26 percent of likely voters weren’t familiar with Hultgren, compared with 11 percent who didn’t know Foster. And 27 percent of independents said they weren’t familiar with Hultgren. […]
Among independent voters, 45 percent favor Foster, 39 percent favor Hultgren and 13 percent are undecided. Younger voters and female voters are leaning toward Foster, while Hultgren is popular among male and older voters.
President Obama carried this district, but 45 percent of voters said they disapproved of the job he’s doing. And 71 percent said the president would be a factor in their 2010 decision.
When asked about the change Obama brought to Washington, 35 percent said he brought change “for the worse,” 30 percent said he brought change “for the better” and 31 percent said nothing has changed.
* The Democrats are unleashing a double-barreled attack on Republican congressional candidate Bob Dold. Both ads hit him for being pro-life in a pro-choice district. Dold claims he’s pro-choice, but Planned Parenthood begs to differ. First up, Democrat Dan Seals’ ad, which claims that Dold is “hiding who he is”…
* The DCCC’s ad says “Robert Dold has been careful about what he shows us” and goes on to say he is “backed” by the Illinois Federation for Right to Life. Actually, the group “recommended” Dold in the primary. Watch…
According to Hotline on Call, the DCCC has spent $631,000 on Seals.
The Environmental Law and Policy Center says the health effects of the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods are adding up.
Howard Learner is the Environmental Law and Policy Center’s executive director.
He says new research shows the pollution has caused about $750 million to $1 billion in health and related damages over the last eight years.
The company anticipates roughly 80 people will be relocated as a result of the move that will cost the company up to $58 million to make, Tate & Lyle spokesman Chris Olsen said. An additional 40 positions in Decatur will be eliminated in 12 months, he said. […]
City officials in recent months have tried to persuade Tate & Lyle to stay in Decatur. At first, they thought hundreds of jobs could be in jeopardy. Tate & Lyle has been Decatur’s third-largest corporate employer.
Decatur Mayor Mike McElroy said he thought some jobs were saved as a result of the work that was done.
“I do know that it could have been more,” McElroy said. “Through the hard work of several people, they certainly brought that number down from what we had been told originally.”
The Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County assisted the city in presenting its incentive package. Some of the incentives are still being discussed but include job training assistance, enterprise zone and qualified work force packages, in addition to infrastructure and environmental considerations, said Craig Coil, president of the organization.
Daley told reporters that a “young person was handcuffed and . . . police officers watched it and someone went over and punched him in the jaw. The superintendent immediately suspended [them] — all . . . who watched it and the individual [who] punched the individual who was handcuffed.”
A source close to the officers said Tuesday that the suspect had tried to spit on the sergeant, who “moved” the suspect’s face to avoid getting hit with saliva.
Dart, who is mulling a run for Chicago mayor, said he won’t carry out evictions by three banks that have admitted questionable foreclosure practices until they can provide proof that their evictions are legal.
Dart said he plans to halt hundreds of evictions starting Monday unless the lenders — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC unit — can provide sworn statements that “everything was done properly.”
When the history of Cabrini-Green is written, the murder of Ollie will mark the day Cabrini really died.
Ollie’s full name was Bassam Naoum, and since Saturday night, when he was shot to death in one of his two small stores, he’s all anyone in Cabrini seems to be talking about. […]
Early Parker, who’s 66, was playing chess over by the Cabrini row houses a little after 9 on Saturday night when somebody ran past and said somebody got shot.
Over on Orleans. At Munchies. It was Ollie, Parker’s boss. Shot repeatedly. In the back.
CHA wants Lathrop to be a community of public, affordable and market-rate housing. The surrounding Lathrop neighborhood, off of the Chicago River, has condos and retail activity.
Four editorial jobs were cut at the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday, four at the weekly Pioneer Press papers since Friday and two at the daily Lake County News-Sun of Waukegan in the past two weeks, said Lynne Stiefel, president of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, the union that represents employees at those papers.
Reo Jonta Thompson, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder in the abduction and shooting deaths of Hammond residents Milton McClendon, 78, and Ruby McClendon, 76.
Thompson, 18, admitted he and co-defendant Gregory Brooks Jr., 19, of Hammond, fatally shot the couple and left their bodies in a Cook County Forest Preserve after abducting them at gunpoint from their home one year ago Monday.
Two of those school districts are suing the township school board, which educates no one. It basically hires the school treasurer to invest money. That’s it.
Joseph Bertrand Jr. was elected to the township school board in April 2007, but other board members refused to seat him - citing an obscure section of state law that prohibits two board members from representing the same school district.
Bertrand filed a lawsuit and won his seat, and the board spent more than $200,000 fighting that lawsuit.
Stone used whatever time was available to her to talk about her pet issue, the Land and Lakes Landfill, again accusing Village President Elliott Hartstein of a cover-up involving an alleged altered e-mail by former Village Manager William Brimm concerning the site.
Fifteen firefighter and 13 police officer positions remained cut from the preliminary 2011 budget after the City Council voted 9-1 Tuesday to endorse the administration’s proposed operations budget for next year.
The proposed cuts, if they stand, could potentially result in the closure of a fire station, according to the city’s fire chief and union president.
The farm, which will bring up to 223 wind turbines over 37,800 acres in Lexington, Lawndale, Chenoa and Yates townships, won final approval from the McLean County Board Tuesday.
Nuckolls, who did not attend the County Board meeting, is facing misdemeanor charges of domestic battery and interfering with reporting of domestic violence and a felony count of unlawful restraint. Under state law, he cannot be removed from the board unless he is found guilty or pleads guilty to a felony charge.
Campaigning is a top priority until Nov. 2, but U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, said Tuesday he hopes to schedule an initial meeting sometime in November. He, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, would attend and share information on how to address problems.
“Initially, we hope to get the levee district officials together with the Corps of Engineers, FEMA, local officials, state, county and other agencies,” Costello said.
