* Republican Bill Kelly lost badly to Judy Baar Topinka in the comptroller’s primary last February. He now has a Saturday evening show on WiND Radio and contributes to a page at the Washington Times’ community website called “Tea Party Report.”
He’s more of a “teaparazzo” than an actual journalist and freely admitted in a recent press release that what he does is theatrical…
The host is known for his high octane political antics with an entertainment bent.
Kelly really got under the skin of a couple of high octane Chicago TV reporters the other day who were attempting to interview Rahm Emanuel. Kelly appeared more interested in “asking” loaded questions and interrupting the proceedings than actually listening, and at one point CBS2’s Jay Levine angrily threatened to deck the guy. Kelly’s video is a must-watch…
Our politics today.
I can empathize with being shut out of the process because I, too, was ostracized for a long while for not being a “traditional” journalist as defined by the big boys. On the other hand, being an obnoxious goof and attempting to scream out political points instead of asking actual questions gives the rest of us in the alternative news delivery business a bad name.
* And while we’re on this topic, you wouldn’t think that a news service which is regularly used by 45 Illinois newspapers, 100 radio stations and a bunch of TV stations would be kept out of the Illinois Legislative Correspondents’ Association, but that’s exactly what is happening now to Illinois Statehouse News.
The company’s founder is a prominent member of the Right, but ISN has put out a decent product and has hired some top-notch reporters like Ben Yount, who came over from Metro Networks. I’ve often used their videos and regularly use their items on this site.
I don’t attend Correspondence Association meetings because I’m not headquartered at the Statehouse and don’t particularly care what happens at them, but I wish I’d have known about the group’s latest meeting because I would’ve stood up for Illinois Statehouse News. Instead, the members voted to refuse giving ISN entré to our little club. They’ve more than earned their stripes, as far as I’m concerned. Another vote is expected next month. We ought to do the right thing here.
The problem may be that iSN gives its content away. So they’re seen as an unfair competitor by some, and there’s been some worries expressed that they could make “legit” operations obsolete and then they could start revealing their “true” colors. But they’re not going away just because they don’t have a Statehouse office. They’re headquartered right across the street, for crying out loud.
We don’t have to give every jamoke with a website and a YouTube account automatic ILCA membership, but there are some excellent websites out there which are producing quality stuff. Turning our backs on the future is what got the news industry into so much trouble to begin with.
* And speaking of alternative news sites, Progress Illinois has posted highlights from last night’s rally featuring Vice President Biden. I’ll bet you didn’t read about Lisa Madigan’s ear-shattering shrieking voice in the papers today…
Oh baby! Nothing says election like a politician and a cuddly kid. Illinois Republicans are hoping the sight of a newborn combined with a state budget calamity will induce voters to throw a tantrum.
With three weeks to go before the election, three billboards just popped up in the northwest suburbs.
The goal? To throw Democratic legislators loyal to the most powerful man in the state, Michael Madigan, out on their ears. A dozen state House wins are all that’s needed to turn that chamber blue to red.
And drop-kick Madigan out as speaker. […]
As to the billboards put up by House Republicans?
“Sounds like another one of those low-grade high school pranks,” Brown said dismissively. “It’s the usual bluster, but lack of execution.”
Maybe, baby, that’s right.
But just imagine if — finally — it’s not.
* The Alternate Question: Would you prefer Tom Cross or Mike Madigan as Speaker? Explain.
Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Sheila Simon said she believes the voters of Illinois are ready for some real answers and real solutions to financial problems facing the state.
“There are a lot of people who understand the big picture of where we are as a state, and they are willing to take the medicine,” Simon told members of The Southern Illinoisan editorial board Tuesday morning.
A majority of voters Simon has spoken to would be willing to accept an income tax increase, particularly if the money went to a focused purpose like education.
* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with Simon that voters may be ready to accept a targeted income tax increase? Explain.
*** UPDATE *** Alexi Giannoulias’ lawyers have sent letters to state’s attorneys, county clerks and the attorney general asking for an investigation of Mark Kirk’s “voter integrity” project. The lawyers have also asked that the offices “provide additional legal and law enforcement personnel” to the targeted areas “in order to ensure that every vote is cast and counted legally.”
* Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk is being criticized for saying he has “now funded the largest voter integrity” program in 15 years in Illinois. Kirk told Republicans on a conference call, obtained by ArchPundit, that he’s deploying lawyers to “key, vulnerable precincts,” to guard against fraud. All of the places Kirk mentioned, however, have high numbers of black people, including the South and West Sides of Chicago, Rockford, Metro East, “where the other side might be tempted to jigger the numbers somewhat.” Listen…
* Kirk has taken some heat over the use of the word “jigger,” but I’d rather not go there. It seems a bit much to me. And, frankly, it distracts from the real issue.
Often when campaigns deploy these armies of lawyers, their aim is to suppress the vote, not ensure ballot integrity. The lawyers hover everywhere and will do things like demand voters produce identification, or check for any tiny technical errors committed by polling judges. Anything to prolong the process might also discourage people waiting in line. With today’s electronic voting, it’s pretty tough and highly unusual to stuff ballot boxes, but it’s a handy excuse to use while you’re suppressing turnout.
* The Kirk campaign points to a recent voter fraud case in the Metro East for justification…
“Congressman Kirk supports statewide efforts to combat machine politics and voter fraud that is well-known in Illinois,” read a statement Thursday issued by Kirk spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski. “Just this week, two individuals pled guilty to vote fraud in Metro East. Voter fraud dilutes votes and disenfranchises citizens.”
But that case, as Larry notes, was about absentee voting, not election-day, precinct-level voting, which is what the Kirk people say they are fighting. Apples and oranges.
* It’s Kirk’s right to do this. There’s nothing illegal about it as long as his operatives stay within the law come election day. Polls show that black voters aren’t backing him at all and there’s a big push by Democrats now to turn out black voters, so I can even see why he’s doing it. But bragging about voter suppression efforts in black precincts is more than a little unseemly. He pretty much deserves whatever heat he gets. Cindi Canary of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform is right…
“Congressman Kirk is correct that on occasion people are busted for voter fraud but it’s an extraordinarily inefficient if not impossible way to mess with an election and it’s certainly not the province of any political group or political machine or ethnic group,” Canary said.
Canary also said that she wasn’t surprised the targeted districts are made up of mostly African Americans.
“I think there may be something there and even more broadly it’s the urban vote versus the suburban and exurban vote. It’s kind of like saying voter fraud is a symptom of African American voters,” Canary explained. “This is not necessarily the voter population that he’s likely to win.”
* Meanwhile, Mark Kirk’s new TV ad is called “Truth.” Rate it…
GOP Senate nominee Mark Kirk got off a line he should have used in [Sunday’s] TV debate.
Referring to Democratic foe Alexi Giannoulias, who was several groups ahead of him in the parade, Mr. Kirk quipped, “When you went to Miami to see Michael ‘Jaws’ Giorango, what did you talk about?”
Ouch! Mr. Giannoulias has said he didn’t know “the full extent” of Jaws’ and other Broadway Bank clients’ mob-related criminal past.
As I’ve written before, that Miami trip is the single largest unanswered question about Giannoulias’ role at the bank. I’m kinda surprised there’s been so little attention to it.
* Roundup…
* Kirk, Giannoulias on gays in military ruling: Democrat Alexi Giannoulias praised Tuesday’s decision to stop a policy he called “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional.”
A spokeswoman for Republican Mark Kirk says he doesn’t believe a decision should be made until the Joint Chiefs of Staff issue their report on the policy in December.
* The Hill has released a new poll for the 10th Congressional District which tracks fairly well with the Democrats’ own released polling. Democrat Dan Seals leads Republican Bob Dold in the open seat contest by twelve points, 49-37…
Voters are split along party lines, with independents slightly favoring Seals, 42 percent to Dold’s 33. Seals also wins with male and female voters and across all age groups.
President Obama easily carried this district with 61 percent in 2008, and he gets a high approval rating from voters: Fifty-six percent say he’s doing a good job. That could help Seals, as 65 percent say the president is an important factor in their vote.
Kirk’s district has been a longtime Democratic target, and Seals came within 6 percent of beating him in 2006 and 2008. At one point, Seals was reported to be under consideration for appointment to Obama’s Senate seat, a spot that ultimately went to Roland Burris (D).
The NRCC has spent around $242,000 in this district, while the DCCC has spent about $271,000.
Methodology…
The Hill’s poll was conducted Oct. 2-7, surveyed 405 likely voters via the telephone and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
They polled over six days? Odd, that. Also, they haven’t posted crosstabs for this one yet. Not sure why.
…Adding… A commenter found some limited crosstabs. Click here. Thanks much.
The spots are significant because they show that labor is carefully picking its races this year. Unions readily admit they are going to be outspent by conservative third party groups, but they still plan to play a large role in selected races.
It is also important to note that SEIU is going in for Hare, who represents a district that President Obama carried with 57 percent of the vote. Hare wasn’t considered highly vulnerable until about a month ago, when Republican polls showed his race with Schilling to be much tighter than anticipated. The DCCC consequently reserved air time in Hare’s district.
The ad will air in the Quad Cities area of Illinois for a week starting today. The SEIU is spending more than $317K on airing the ads.
“150,000. That’s how many Illinois jobs have been lost to unfair trade deals,” the ad says. “But Bobby Schilling supports a new free trade deal with Korea. And Schilling says he’d support even more free trade deals.”
* Hare’s Republican opponent Bobby Schilling also has a new TV ad called “Phil Hare was Here.” Rate it…
* This has to be one of the stranger political stories of the year. Two men of advanced age get into a physical tussle over the placement of a Bob Dold sign in Wilmette, of all towns…
It began at about 2 p.m. on Oct. 4 in the 1300 block of Sheridan Road, along the sidewalk of a vacant property just south of Langdon Park. An 85-year-old man with a walker apparently pulled two political yard-signs out of the ground and tossed them aside.
The property’s owner lives in the house next door – a 60-year-old woman and her 92-year-old father. The woman’s father began picking up the signs when the 85-year-old started yelling at him, according to a police report.
The woman came to her father’s defense, but when she tried to plant one of the signs back in the ground, the 85-year-old grabbed it. During the ensuing tug-of-war, the man allegedly hit the woman in the side of the head and shoulder. Then he lost his grip on the sign, and fell backwards over his walker, police said.
When police arrived, they offered to take the man to the hospital after he complained of a sore hip, but he refused. The man claimed the yard signs were on public property, but when a police officer disagreed, the man called him, “an idiot and a liar,” according to the police report.
“Then he lost his grip on the sign, and fell backwards over his walker.” People. Please. Relax a bit out there.
In August, one in 2,500 homes in Sangamon County had received foreclosure notices, according to RealtyTrac, a national listing and data company. Statewide, the figure was one in 314 and nationally, one in 381.
Still, TSP-Hope Inc. executive director Ron Fafoglia said requests come in daily for help through the group’s mortgage and foreclosure counseling program. But foreclosure suspensions by major lenders and federal mortgage modification incentives have had little effect, he said.
The latest harvest estimate of 160 bushels an acre, released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was down 14 bushels an acre from early September. Estimated yields are down more than 11 percent since early August.
“It’s a huge drop,” said University of Illinois Extension agronomist Emerson Nafziger. “In my 29 seasons, I don’t think I’ve seen one that large. […]
Corn prices have spiked as a result, closing at $5.79 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday compared to a little less than $5 late last week.
In one development, Alderman Bob Fioretti (2nd), who is expected to run for mayor, asked that the mayor provide real figures on revenues and expenditures for the first nine months of the year, rather than the traditional “projected” numbers.
* Daley budget expected to leave long-term woes to successor
The spending plan will be a mostly hold-the-line proposal without tax or fee increases. And it will put up to 200 more cops on the streets, the mayor announced Tuesday.
But the financial blueprint also won’t include the kind of major cost-saving overhaul of city government budget watchdogs say is needed. Instead, Daley is simply bequeathing years of money woes to the city’s next chief executive, critics contend.
* Municipal Pension Tabs Average $15,000 Per Household
…and if you live in Chicago, the ultimate bill for years of unfunded promises to municipal employees is much, much worse. Like $42,000 per household, according to a new study by Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester and Northwestern University’s Joshua Rauh.
* Chicago’s deepening pension hole; Alexi’s TARP waffle?
* Bed Bugs Hit Chicago Public Schools’ Headquarters
More than 572,000 passengers took Amtrak between St. Louis and Chicago in the just-completed federal fiscal year, a 13.1 percent increase that made the route one of the fastest growing in the country. […]
The Chicago-St. Louis service was the seventh-fastest-growing route of nearly 50 operated by Amtrak nationwide. The route was also among nine that carried more than 500,000 passengers for the fiscal year.
The Quincy-to-Chicago Amtrak route saw a 3.4 percent increase in ridership during the 2009 federal fiscal year, and Mayor John Spring told aldermen Tuesday that it bodes well for the city’s hopes of building a $6 million intermodal facility using funds set aside in the state’s capital bill.
The Sun-Times has obtained a copy of the Oct. 7 letter to Weis, penned by Earl Dunlap, head of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, that reads in part: “Over the next few months, the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center will be transitioning to a new staffing plan, which may potentially result in a job loss for over 200 JTDC employees. Hostilities have been growing among some staff members in connection with this plan, and there have been credible threats of violence.”
Citing property tax payments that aren’t due until December, City Manager Sarah Phillips said the staff recommends the city issue a tax anticipation note of $1.5 million for a short-term loan.
* Yesterday’s winner was “OneMan” for his series of comments about that photo of Pat Quinn’s empty refrigerator…
He may not have any money for food but he is going to be getting a new Stainless Sub-Zero fridge since that money comes out of a different budget.
Only I have the mustard to get us out of this jam.
Well I was going to go to Jewel, but then I heard Dominick’s was better, however Whole Foods would appeal to part of my base, but then again shouldn’t I help the small local grocer.
It turns out Governor Quinn did not know someone was providing ‘early release’ to his food. Once he found out about it he stopped it immediately. Pat Quinn, concerned about his fridge, just not aware of it.
My fridge has jam in it now, it isn’t empty, it’s getting more full all the time, that’s progress, that’s Pat Quinn.
And my favorite…
When asked what was in the box on the middle shelf, Quinn answered, “Not Jason Plummer’s tax returns to be leaked in two weeks, that’s for sure.”
E-mail me, Henry, and we’ll drink heavily.
* Today’s contest features a photo of Congressman Mark Kirk…
As always, the winner gets at least an hour of cocktails with yours truly, and maybe OneMan as well. Let’s make it a twofer!
* Not a single Democrat was quoted - even on background - for this Tribune piece, which suggests that the author hyped his lede…
While Scott Lee Cohen is casting himself as an alternative to established party candidates for governor, running mate Baxter Swilley is a main reason Democrats are worried.
See, Swilley is black, so Democrats must be worried. Except that nobody knows who the guy is. Swilley has a bunch of yard signs planted, but he’s not exactly a household name. Could a black lt. governor candidate sway a few votes in what could turn out to be a close race? I suppose so, but the real problem isn’t Swilley, it’s the money, time and message that Scott Lee Cohen is aiming at black neighborhoods.
But records show his personal issues continue. On August 23, the judge in his Cook County divorce case issued an order to arrest Cohen if he didn’t cough up $3,210 in support payments within a week. He paid. […]
On Friday, York-Cohen’s attorney appeared in court and asked a circuit judge to force Cohen to turn over evidence of how he is funding his campaign when he is chronically behind in his support payments
Oops.
We’ve seen at least one politician go to prison in this state because he failed to keep his ex-wife happy: Former Attorney General Bill Scott. The lawyer for Scott’s ex asked for a piece of the AG’s campaign slush fund during child support proceedings. Scott did a year and a day in prison, if memory serves. I’m not suggesting that this could happen to SLC, I’m just saying that when you’re running for office it’s always best to make sure the ex is cool with the flow.
* In other also-ran news, Green Party gubernatorial nominee Rich Whitney has a new Internet promo video. It’s not bad for an amateur…
*** UPDATE *** I forgot to post this Cohen story. The candidate believes all the polls are wrong and he’s gonna win…
Scott Lee Cohen, running as an independent candidate for Illinois governor, campaigned in Quincy on Tuesday and discounted polls that show he is running a distant third behind Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bill Brady.
Cohen said the polls are inaccurate, and he claims he has much more than the 14 percent following that was his high water mark among a flurry of recent polls.
“The mainstream media is trying to minimize my campaign … no offense. But it’s not working,” Cohen said. “I’m in this to win and have been since day one.”
A top executive at Tribune Co., parent of the Chicago Tribune, e-mailed a company-wide memo Monday that contained links to off-color satirical videos, including one he labeled “[Expletive deleted]” in which a gyrating woman appears to pour liquor on her bare breasts.
The note to employees in Chicago and elsewhere from Lee Abrams, Tribune Co.’s chief innovation officer, came less than a week after an unflattering New York Times front-page story characterized the Chicago-based media concern’s top management as fostering a poisonous, sexist “frat house” atmosphere.
Abrams’ memo spurred complaints to Tribune Co.’s human resources department from Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern and others, upset at the sexual content. Abrams was not immediately available for comment.
“I thought it was offensive and I thought it was completely inappropriate to be sent out in a workplace setting to everyone in this company,” Kern said Tuesday. “We’ve had some employees complain as well, and I took it to HR.” […]
“This is not the way it is at the Chicago Tribune and it is not the way it is in the newsroom, and the way you communicate that to people is by complaining about it and getting it stopped,” Kern said.
Way to destroy the brand, frat boys.
If the rest of the local media starts to pick up on these crazy stories, you have to wonder whether the coverage might impact the paper’s candidate endorsements. Probably not, but I still wonder.
Granted, the Tribune has done a diligent job of covering the business and legal sides of its company’s epic bankruptcy, reporting on the chicanery that led to Zell’s “deal from hell” and the struggles to emerge with a settlement. But except for a few artfully worded posts on Rosenthal’s blog, the sordid reign of Michaels & Co. has been all but ignored by the World’s Greatest Newspaper and its numerous print and broadcast confederates.
Once Carr’s New York Times blockbuster hit, how did the Tribune respond? By circling the wagons at first and printing a ludicrous broadside from Michaels, who urged employees to “ignore the noise” and who sought to impugn the motives and reputation of the writer. (That’s standard operating procedure for Michaels, who tried to discredit my reporting on him earlier this year by labeling me “an out-of-work blogger” and someone who is “no longer paid to be in media.”)
The timidity of so many journalists at the Tribune, WGN-Channel 9 and WGN-AM (720) to speak out makes me admire Roger Ebert even more for the way in which he took on Conrad Black and David Radler, the two crooks who nearly ran the Sun-Times into the ground a few years ago. Or the way Carol Marin and Ron Magers confronted their NBC bosses at WMAQ-Channel 5 in the late ’90s. Or the way Mike Royko stood up to Rupert Murdoch when he took over the Sun-Times in the early ’80s. Who is their counterpart when Tribune Co. is in crisis? Colonel Tribune?
What’s ultimately at stake is the credibility and authority of the Tribune to exert its influence over all the other institutions it covers. In the aftermath of the New York Times piece last week, Kern posted a memo in which he extolled his newsroom’s “highest professional, ethical and moral standards.” Confronting Abrams on Tuesday was another step in the right direction. But I’m afraid both moves are too little, too late.
The editorial board never lets a day go by without telling somebody how to live their lives. A mirror might be handy.
* As you already know, Bill Brady is running two ads attacking Gov. Pat Quinn on the early release scandal (click here and here to refresh your memory). Quinn let those ads run for about a week without responding, but he is now.
…Adding… Two commenters sum it up well. It’s just me…
Idiots. You never repeat the accusation. You offer something to dilute it, like an ad showing how Quinn redirected money to a rape crisis center. They are treating voters like they listen to and remember every commercial they see or hear. There simply are too many and voters don’t remember the content of the ad, they only remember the message (Pat Quinn is soft on crime).
Dirt Digger…
It repeats the charge and emphasizes that Quinn is responsible for everything.
Frankly unless I had already seen a seemingly neverending series of Slade-White ads for Quinn I would have trouble telling this is not actually attacking him.
I fail to see the justification for the departure from the standard call opponent a liar, state one germane fact and attack opponent on other grounds script.
Watch the ad with the sound off and it looks like it’s a Brady ad attacking Quinn. This is really a bad idea.
