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The boy who cried “Wolf”
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller * As I’ve already told you, the Illinois Republican Party has demanded a federal investigation based on these allegations in a state GOP press release…
The special session dealt with pension reform. The allegation is that Madigan and Cullerton were bought off by SEIU to kill pension reform. Here’s GOP Chairman Pat Brady…
That’s a pretty bold statement, to say the least. Is it true? Signs point to “No.” * The union has claimed that it sent the checks much earlier. I asked for proof earlier today. The union consented to send me electronic copies of the checks, but SEIU officials didn’t want me publishing anything that had any signatures or checking account numbers on it. So, we agreed I could do some screen captures from parts of the checks. Here is part of one of the checks that the Democratic Majority disclosed as receiving on the special session day. Click the pic for a larger image…  As you can see, the check was written on July 27th - well before the special session day, and four days after SEIU announced its endorsements and approved its campaign contributions. Indeed, four of the five SEIU checks were written three days before Quinn even announced the special session. And the endorsements were made and contributions approved a week before Quinn called the special session. SEIU says those four checks were mailed on August 1st. * Another $50,000 check was cut on July 25th and mailed to the Democratic Majority on July 30th. It was also disclosed as being received by Democratic Majority on the special session day. This check is configured differently, so a screen cap was ruled out by the union. Here’s the date on the check, however…  * So, if the checks were cut on the 25th and 27th and mailed a few days later, why were they reported by Madigan as being received on August 17th? From the Illinois State Board of Elections…
So “received” doesn’t mean the same thing in state campaign law as the state GOP says it means. * From a statement by SEIU…
* SEIU has also produced a timeline, which you can read by clicking here. * Calling for a federal investigation is about the most serious thing somebody can do in this state. It ought to be done with extreme care and preceded by more than just a cursory glance at the Internet. Obviously, neither of those two things were done in this instance. The state GOP should either put up or retract. Simple as that. Politics may be a game to some, but screaming for the feds is not a game - or, at least, it shouldn’t be. …Adding… Related…
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- Bill - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:07 pm:
97K to kill pension deform. If only it was that easy!
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:10 pm:
Ut oh ….
Ut oh ….
UT OH!!!!!!!
Yeah, ILGOP! Yeah Pat Brady! BOOOO Facts!!!!!!
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:15 pm:
@Bill, Oswego Willy -
You guys are the best.
In Pat Brady’s defense, given the Illinois Republican Party’s paltry fundraising, its not surprising he’s unfamiliar with Illinois’ campaign finance reporting system.
YDD
P.S. My good friends at the Illinois Realtors might want to think twice before cutting this goof another $10,000 check. You’re just flushing money down the drain.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:16 pm:
===* Calling for a federal investigation is about the most serious thing somebody can do in this state. It ought to be done with extreme care and preceded by more than just a cursory glance at the Internet. Obviously, neither of those two things were done in this instance.
The state GOP should either put up or retract. Simple as that. Politics may be a game to some, but screaming for the feds is not - or, at least, it shouldn’t be.===
Amen, Rich …
Never, ever, EVER call for the “G” unless you are pretty doggone sure you have something down so cold, it is beyond reproach.
Also, ILGOP (Pat Brady),
The Press Releases and internet postings are not the best way to get the “G” to take you seriously! You go see the “guys down the street”, leave your irrefutable evidence on the table, say NOTHING, and leave.
Then hope to goodness you never made that mistake.
This is one of the most irresponsible actions by Pat brady and his Regime since he has been Chairman.
ILGOP SSC Members,
This is how “your guy” is doing his job, throwing out federal invesigation verbage and half-truths that make you all look foolish and put others under a microscope because allegations mean nothing to Pat Brady.
The only people who can “fix” this … are you.
- Spliff - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:19 pm:
Does the State GOP really want people looking at how and when controbutions are given out and funneled to different candidates? They might want to look in their own closets before throwing stones.
- just sayin' - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:24 pm:
There’s now a picture of Pat Brady in the dictionary under “throwing stones in a glass house.”
Is this clown really a lawyer? Is he licensed to practice in IL? Anyone look him up recently at the ARDC site? Just curious.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:31 pm:
===Is this clown really a lawyer?====
…and he worked for the US Attorney’s Office at one point!
- J - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:36 pm:
I hope the USA’s office has double checked all of Pat Brady’s old work. I’d hate to see someone get off because he was being an idiot.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:41 pm:
The checks were written out at the end of July and mailed 8/1? And “received” on the date of the Special Session when they were deposited. So the committee sat on the checks for nearly two weeks, then deposited them on 8/17? I guess the appearance of such deposits just prior to the Special Session was being avoided? Why? For obvious reasons perhaps? And yes, I understand the law and understand the definition of “receipt” in the law.
But the timing remains pretty darn suspect. So does the skulking around with the checks.
Based on the original information, Brady had every right to raise hell over this.
And by the way, if roughly 38% of union members are Republicans, did these same unions contribute to Republicans at the same ratio? Where are those checks written out to the GOP funds?
- The Captain - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:43 pm:
Date received used to be when the committee or an agent of the committee was in possession of the contribution however this changed when the last campaign finance law passed (the one with the contribution limits) and now the law says a contribution is legally recognized being received on the date of deposit.
This means that a donor and a receiving entity can report different dates for the same contribution and both be well within the law.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:44 pm:
===Based on the original information, Brady had every right to raise hell over this.===
Raise hell, maybe. Call the feds? No.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:45 pm:
Somehow this is still Mike Madigans fault…
This comment brought to you by the MadiganBlameBot(tm)
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:46 pm:
I’d also take exception to a claim made by the Illinois Watchdog reporter that Mike Madigan is “well known.”
According to the poll recently posted by Rich, 63 percent of voters either havent heard of Madigan or have no opinion. And that was an affluent suburban district in thw Tribune’s footprint.
That, ultimately, is why Brady’s plan is likely to not only fail, but backfire.
When you spend all your time and money talking about things the voters dont care about, you arent merely wasting money and time. You are actually sending a clear message that you either dont understand or dont care about what is important to them.
YDD
PS. Tri-state billboards. Cross. Now i get it, CFS.
- Rudykzooti - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:57 pm:
Note to the GOP, you can;t handle the truth…Madigan is as teflon as they come baby.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:57 pm:
“Pat Brady is part of a Madigan-run conspiracy to make Republicans look like total idiots,” Pat Brady claimed.
- TwoFeetThick - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 3:59 pm:
The feds really ought to investigate whether or not the Republican Party has been bought off by the Democrats. The recent performances by Republicans both here and nationally makes me wonder if they’re not intentionally throwing the game.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:05 pm:
@Louis:
How are those straws you are grasping at holding up? I guess I know no why Pat Brady still holds onto power if there are people who actually support this moronic kind of stuff out there.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:16 pm:
@TwoFeetThick -
Sounds like a good Kass column to me.
- Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:16 pm:
So why then did Republicans block pension reform?
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:19 pm:
===So why then did Republicans block pension reform?===
The GOP checks got lost in the mail(?)
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:54 pm:
“When asked directly about this revelation, Pat Brady …”
(crickets)
Still waitin’ Pat …
- annon - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 4:57 pm:
Lots of cash any way you look at it. “Well placed checks” into the ranks you must admit.
- dave - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 5:49 pm:
**Lots of cash any way you look at it. **
I assume that you complain about the same thing when other orgs spend similar amounts on the state GOP and Republican candidates, yes?
- Midstate Indy - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 6:57 pm:
Open letter to Mr. Pat Brady: Please, just stop talking. Thank you. The end.
I do hope the tone of the ILGOP’s conversation changes soon..this malarkey will help cause the GOP establishment to suffer yet another decade of backseat driving in the ILGA, and the whining is getting old.
- Zoble21 - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 8:17 pm:
Big Deal Rich, the check was dated 3 weeks earlier!! WOW…like no one expected Quinns call for session, more smoke and mirrors. If Quinn wanted real pension reform he would not have allowed 100’s of new state employees to be hired in the 11th hour before the new pension formula went into 2 years ago. MORE GAMES 3 county Quinn!
- Meanderthal - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 8:45 pm:
Well, I guess that clears all of that little misunderstanding right up.
- Baja Wisconsin - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 9:25 pm:
Hmmm. Doesn’t look like a duck, eh? Looks like a duck to me. Quacks like a duck, too.
But I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with pensions. Just a contribution to good govenment by squeeky clean civic minded folk.
- Imposter - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 9:39 pm:
There is a reason that the checks are recieved only when the organization is in possession of them. Just because the check was cut, doesn’t mean it will be delivered. Could they be dangled in front of a lawymaker for a month? gee, humm.. Seems like both sides have their blinders on.
- annon - Wednesday, Aug 22, 12 @ 9:48 pm:
Well regarding lots of cash, GOP isn’t in charge but I’m sure they’ve recieved their share of contributions too. It’s just interesting timing & who it went to. Who cares really. It should not be a surprise. It’s been this way for time & memorial. It is what it is. It’s Illinois.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 23, 12 @ 12:20 am:
You know what they say about ducks.
BTW, it’s “recEIve”. Not recIEve.
- Palos Park Bob - Thursday, Aug 23, 12 @ 7:28 am:
This is really embarrassing to all Republican voters and candidates in the state. Here we have more than a decade of irresponsible, corrupt and mismanaged government in Springfield, a pension underfunding of ridiculously generous and scamming pension programs, a “grants gone wild” corruption in the GA,, and statutes that allow CTU to shutdown the school system and cause tremendous student and family problems for no reason other than excessive greed,and THIS is what Brady makes a big deal about?
The state GOP is INCREDIBLY disconnected from the rank and file, and the stealing of GOP member rights to select their own Central Committeemen, who then elect tools like Brady, is a BIG part of the problem!
- Quinn T. Sential - Thursday, Aug 23, 12 @ 9:06 am:
{Raise hell, maybe. Call the feds? No.}
Are issuing a politically motivated Press Release; and “Calling the Feds” the same thing?
Given the nature of the beast; and the time and space issue dedicated to the issue here, it would seem to me that Mountain and Molehill syndrome is spreading faster than West Nile Virus in Cook County, or Legionaires Disease in Chicago
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Aug 23, 12 @ 9:54 am:
1. I’m buying stock in tin foil.
2. When the conservative-backed Watchdog.org is refering to your p.r. stunt as a “smear,” you’ve really jumped the Shark tank.
3. It seems to me that some Republicans have been losing so much and so long in this state that they are desperately trying to rationalize their failures by constructing an alternate reality where Madigan controls everything. I guess that’s much easier than looking in the mirror.
- Sideliner - Thursday, Aug 23, 12 @ 10:23 am:
Instead of rewarding the action, the unions paid for it up front like everyone else always does in Springfield. One thing Springfielders are honest about is “no money, no vote”.
Republicans might consider a tack different than whining and stamping their dainty feet about Madigan. That has worked out so well the last 20 years.