* It’s a bit blurry, but here’s a photo taken by Amanda Vinicky of Gov. Pat Quinn and House Speaker Michael Madigan. “So close, yet so far away,” is Vinicky’s caption. A larger version is here…
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Illinois Republican Party charges media companies for access to their convention events. So, for instance, this is from the IL GOP’s 2008 campaign finance report…
Chicago Tribune
435 N Michigan Ave Ste 250
Chicago, IL 60611 $600.00
8/28/2008 Other Receipt
Illinois Republican Party
Registration Fee […]
NBC-WMAQ
454 N. Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60611 $1,200.00
9/2/2008 Other Receipt
Illinois Republican Party
Registration Fee […]
WLS-Radio
190 N State St
Chicago, IL 60601 $600.00
8/27/2008 Other Receipt
Illinois Republican Party
Registration Fee
The Democrats historically have not offered that option.
Pay to, um, play?
Just sayin…
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the IL GOP…
The Illinois Republican Party provides media access to convention events at no charge. The receipts you highlighted were from media that opted to pay for ILGOP-arranged meals and transportation - not for access to the events.
*** UPDATE 3 *** This was sent to media members before the 2004 GOP convention…
Illinois Delegation Service Fees– It has come to our attention that some of you have not received the information regarding the Illinois Service Fee. Toward that end, there is a $500 per person fee that is required for anyone participating in the Illinois Convention activities schedule for convention week. Those who have paid the service fee will receive a special credential will allow them access to all the activities.
What does it include?
· Access to daily delegation breakfast
· Access to evening “night cap” party
· Luncheon aboard the Bateaux on New York Harbor
· Cocktail reception prior to convention
· Convention staff office
· Taste of Illinois goodie bag, commemorative lapel pin, delegation golf shirt and much more.
If you do not have a service fee credential, you will not be admitted.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* A press release from the Illinois Republican Party arrived in my in-box at 4:39 yesterday morning…
Last night, a flurry of reporter tweets alerted the public that Illinois Democrats were banning media coverage of their events in Charlotte:
Mary Ann Ahern @MaryAnnAhernNBC:
First impressions: #ILGOP more accessible than #ILDEMS
We just got kicked out of Omni Hotel interviewing Rev Jackson #DNC #Demsdontlikeus
We made it to Charlotte, but Spkr Madigan says no media allowed at party #DNC #Madiganpartypooper http://yfrog.com/h4n5vsmj
Charles Thomas @CharlesThomas7
Now IL Dems ban reporters from delegate reception. @ilgop is party of transparency? #Madigan #DNC2012 pic.twitter.com/oSjKUEX5
Interviewed @GovernorQuinn on street ’cause IL Dem hotel bans newsies. #Madigan #DNC2012 pic.twitter.com/04rC2fo8
TV news media banned from IL delegation hotel. Can’t be serious. #DNC2012 #Madigan pic.twitter.com/qbomVei1
Carol Marin @CarolMarin
Madigan’s party closed to press. Can you imagine?
“It’s sad but not at all surprising that Mike Madigan and his corrupt cronies brought their Chicago tradition of secret backroom meetings all the way to Charlotte,” Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said. “Voters face a clear choice in the coming election. Republicans want to make sure as many people as possible hear our ideas to lower taxes, cut spending and put our economy back on track. Democrats want to kick out the media, lock the door and make sure voters can’t hear their plans to raise taxes, increase spending and keep our country moving in the wrong direction.”
Here are today’s key questions for Illinois Democrats – in case anyone spots one sneaking out of Mike Madigan’s secret, closed-press meetings:
1) Why are you banning Illinois reporters from access to your events at the DNC?
2) What are you hiding from Illinois voters that you can’t allow reporters into your events?
3) Are you afraid of your candidates being quoted speaking about unpopular far-left economic policies like higher taxes, increased spending and exploding debt?
4) Are you afraid of voters learning about your sponsors and SEIU union bosses that may be in attendance?
5) Why do you think the Illinois Republican Party is more transparent than you are?
A bit over the top by everybody involved, apparently.
* Several state legislators have filed an amicus curiae brief defending the constitutionality of the state’s law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. As you already know, a suit has been filed claiming that the state’s civil unions law creates an unconstitutional “separate and unequal” status for gay and lesbian couples.
The brief was filed by Republican state Senators Kirk Dillard, Matt Murphy, Darrin LaHood, Bill Brady, Democratic state Senator William Haine, Republican state Representatives David Reis, Michael Connelly, Richard Morthland, Patti Bellock and Paul Evans, and Democratic state Representative Joseph Lyons.
Led by Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) and Senator Bill Haine (D-Alton), the legislators’ brief supports a motion to dismiss the ACLU and Lambda Legal lawsuits filed by Thomas More Society attorneys, on behalf of downstate county clerks who were allowed into the case to defend the law.
“We welcome the bipartisan support for Illinois’ marriage law offered by this respected group of legislators,” said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society. “They rightly point out that under our constitutional system, the issue of how the government treats domestic relationships is reserved to the General Assembly.”
The legislators assert that the judicial branch should not rewrite the state’s marriage laws, stating that “to do so would be to place the court in a position of acting as a super-legislature, nullifying laws it does not like. That is not our proper role in a democratic society.” They also claim that such action would, “Dramatically interfere with the constitutional guarantee of separation of powers by which the general assembly is empowered to make public policy….”
The legislators also cite several sociological arguments stating that “… the marriage structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents ….” The legislators also supported the religious liberty concerns raised by the amicus brief of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, also filed this week, indicating that “of great concern to us is hostility that may be shown to Illinois’ religious minorities” who oppose same-sex marriage.
* The Question: In your opinion, does the state civil unions law create a “separate and unequal” status for gays and lesbians? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
California debt is beating Illinois bonds by the most in three months as investors choosing between the two lowest-rated U.S. states reward efforts to bolster the finances of the nation’s biggest pension.
Illinois lawmakers failed to advance any measures in a special session Aug. 17 aimed at addressing the nation’s worst- funded pensions. Standard & Poor’s last week cut the state’s credit one level to A, sixth highest. That’s one step above California, where the Legislature passed a plan last week that is projected to curb pension liabilities by as much as $55 billion.
The two states are “a study in contrasts in what they’ve done recently, especially as it relates to pensions,” said James Dearborn, managing director in Boston at Columbia Management Investment Advisers, which oversees $16 billion in munis. “Illinois continues to be the poster child for pension issues.”
Um, huh? Most of the changes approved by California legislators apply only to future employees…
Assembly Bill 340, authored by Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, would apply immediately to state or local government employees hired after Jan. 1, 2013. The measure sets caps on how much of their pay can be counted toward their pensions, rolls back the formulas used to calculate those benefits and pushes back the retirement age.
Those new workers would also share half the normal cost of their pensions with employers. Current employees also would pick up at least half of that cost within five years through collectively-bargained agreements. After that, employers could impose the 50-50 split.
In a Daily Herald survey, Illinois convention delegates gave him passing grades, with 80 percent saying he should be the party’s 2014 nominee and 20 percent suggesting someone else. […]
In the Daily Herald survey of party faithful attending this week’s convention in Charlotte, 40 percent of respondents gave Quinn a “B” grade for his time in office. Another 25 percent assigned him an “A” and more, 28 percent, gave him a “C.”
Fifty-one Democrats responded to the survey, out of 214 total delegates.
On the question about Democrats’ 2014 nominee, several among the 20 percent who want an alternative to Quinn named names, listing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon.
Twenty-one respondents skipped that survey question, compared to 30 who answered it.
Most people looked at last week’s veto by Gov. Pat Quinn of the gambling expansion bill and saw nothing except defeat for the issue. But the governor appeared to deliberately leave open some doors that you could drive a riverboat through.
For instance, nowhere in his veto message did Quinn mention slot machines at horse tracks.
Quinn had been an adamant foe of allowing the horse racing industry to set up “mini casinos” at their tracks, believing it would mean an oversaturation of the gambling market. He cited the inclusion of slots at tracks in last year’s gambling bill as a major reason why he opposed the legislation.
But Quinn subtly began to back away from his opposition, which was included in his “Framework for Gambling in Illinois” plan in October that he wrote in response to criticisms that he wasn’t making his positions known to negotiators.
In May, during a meeting with gambling proponents, Quinn refused to say whether he would agree to slots at tracks if legislators included a ban on campaign contributions from casino operators. That refusal was taken as a big hint that Quinn had backed off, and governor’s office insiders confirmed that was the direction he was heading.
Reporters then tried for days to get Quinn to say in public if he still opposed slots at tracks, and he would always refer them to his “framework” in response.
Quinn’s veto message last week outlined his main opposition to the bill, which mostly followed his “framework” from last year. He strongly highlighted his demand that casino companies not be allowed to make campaign donations (although he didn’t mention contributions from immediate family members of casino operators, who generously pumped up his campaign fund during the 2010 cycle).
Quinn also sharply criticized what he considers to be a lack of oversight of a new Chicago casino. The governor repeated his assertions from his October framework that the bill doesn’t give the Illinois Gaming Board adequate time to “make critical licensing and regulatory decisions.” And he said again that money from expanded gambling needs to go to education.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has fought hard against too much state oversight of a city casino. But Quinn made clear last week in his veto message that Emanuel will have to give in on that, and, to his credit, the mayor seems to be willing to do so.
It’s also clear that some sort of contribution ban will have to be put in place for the governor to be convinced. The ban won’t really work all that well. The casinos could just contribute to other funds, which would wash their money back into the system.
For example, Indiana prohibits contributions from casino operators, but the Republican Governors Association’s “super PAC” gave $1 million to Indiana’s GOP gubernatorial candidate last month, and the RGA has received at least $1 million from a single casino owner.
Money will always find a way into the political process. Quinn received several large campaign contributions from an immediate family member of the Des Plaines casino owner in 2010.
Even so, word is that Dick Duchossois is open to a contribution ban. Duchossois owns Arlington Park racecourse via his interest in a big corporation. His son’s massive contributions to Republicans in 2010 reportedly sparked Quinn’s ire. And some of Quinn’s Democratic friends who have casino ownership are major Duchossois haters.
But if Duchossois agrees to a contribution ban, even implicitly, then that particular issue might see some progress — although we could probably expect a vigorous court challenge from other casino owners on 1st Amendment grounds.
In May, insiders said Quinn wanted to wait until the Legislature’s November veto session to deal with gambling expansion and then use the future tax revenue to heroically fix a gaping budget hole. The second part of that is coming to fruition with Quinn’s demand that much of the tax money from more gambling go to education.
The General Assembly cut the education budget by $210 million this spring, and the gambling expansion is expected to bring in about $200 million a year. Quinn could, therefore, claim that he had “saved” the education budget with gambling growth.
The veto session part is a bit more tenuous, however. Quinn wrote in his veto message that the state cannot “gamble its way out of our fiscal challenges.” The governor claimed that “even a casino on every street corner cannot repair the state’s $83 billion unfunded pension liability.”
The governor’s message was pretty emphatic. There will be no gambling expansion until pension reform is in place.
* House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked about the “Fire Madigan” campaign being run by the Illinois Republican Party…
“Let’s remember, Illinois Republicans are standing in opposition to the retention of a son of Illinois as president of the United States,” Madigan told reporters.
“They don’t want to talk about Romney and Ryan and their destruction of Medicare, so they want to create a diversion,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to work. I think the people of Illinois know that Illinois Republicans just want to sit on the sidelines and say, ‘Well, the Democrats have a majority. They should solve all the problems.’”
* The Republican Party chairman responded via press release…
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady responded, “Illinois voters can’t afford anyone sitting on the sidelines while Mike Madigan and his rubber stamps drive our state into the ditch. If Illinois voters want to save Illinois, they need to fire Madigan and his cronies in November.”
Now the strongest words yet from House Speaker Mike Madigan indicating a pension overhaul will wait, at least until November: “I’m not planning on being in Springfield before the election, now I’m only one person down there but I don’t plan to be down in Springfield before the election.”
* He also hinted that the Democrats might try to go it alone on pension reform…
Madigan for the first time suggested he might be willing to pass a pension package strictly with Democratic votes rather than rely on non-existent GOP support. […]
“What we’re learning in recent years is on these major issues, you do them when you’re able to do them. We repealed the death penalty in Illinois. We raised the income tax in Illinois. Those were all done after a general election,” Madigan said, referring to two hot-button matters the Legislature passed during a January 2011 session.
“The better question is when are you able to put together 60 and 30 votes to pass a major piece of legislation,” he said.
Madigan had insisted on at least 30 Republican votes in his chamber to pass a pension deal, but he appeared to back off that demand Monday during a question-and-answer session with reporters following a breakfast of Illinois delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
“That’s always a possibility. That’s always a possibility,” he said. “Again, you have to be there. You have to work to find 60 and 30 votes. Sometimes they’re there. Sometimes they’re not,” Madigan said when asked about a Democratic-only roll call on pensions.
Right now, the votes aren’t there. It’ll be extremely tough to get them as well. We’ll see.
* Schock to Illinois delegates: GOP can learn from Madigan: While he cut at Democrats for fiscal mismanagement and a tax increase, he noted Madigan has “done a very good job with candidate recruitment. One thing I’ve learned is if you have all the money in the world and you have a bad horse, you don’t win on race day.”
* From an AFSCME press release, sent yesterday afternoon…
Just two weeks after a huge crowd of working men and women booed him off the stage on Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair, Pat Quinn found that he couldn’t escape responsibility for his anti-labor record even in Charlotte, NC.
Starting today at the Democratic National Convention, the state’s largest union of public-service workers — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 — announced it will publicize Governor Quinn’s push to lay off 4,000 state employees, slash retiree pensions and break union contracts while giving away hundreds of millions of dollars in new corporate tax loopholes.
The union will debut a new mobile billboard near Governor Quinn’s campaign fundraiser this evening at the Capital Grille, 201 N Tryon St., and will bring it to many events in Charlotte this week.
A letter sent this afternoon to the entire Illinois delegation laid out the governor’s record.
The letter is here. And here’s the mobile billboard referenced in the press release…
* Gov. Quinn talked about being pro-labor during a speech to Illinois delegates yesterday…
“Today is a very special day in American history — it’s Labor Day and every day should be Labor Day. … It’s so important that we honor labor all the time,” the governor said. Quinn touted support for increasing the state’s minimum wage, which currently stands at $8.25 an hour, $1 above the federal minimum wage.
The misgivings of organized labor toward Quinn were muted somewhat by improvements in manufacturing jobs in the state as well as new United Auto Workers union jobs at the Chrysler Corp. plant in Belvidere, the Ford Motor Co. plant on Chicago’s South Side and the Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plant in Normal — successes Quinn readily touted to the delegates.
“I’m a friend of labor and I will always be friends to labor because they helped me,” Quinn told reporters later. “Governors have to make tough decisions. Sometimes they upset some people. But I think I’ll do well with ordinary working people in Illinois across our state because they know I fight hard for them every day.”
“I haven’t forgotten (Quinn) won by 32,000 votes (in 2010), and I think a few other people haven’t forgotten that either. I don’t know how he could win re-election again without making peace with labor. But we’re ready. We’ll be at the table. All it will take is a phone call,” Carrigan said.
