* 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.
