Congressman Aaron Schock says don’t expect to see him run for governor anytime soon.
Schock says he will not seek a chance for the governor seat in 2014. Schock, 31, says he’s already placed his name on the ballot for re-election in the 18th congressional district He’s focused on maintaining his seat, but he’s not ruling out a run in the future.
“I could run for dog catcher perhaps someday. I don’t know. I’m not going to rule anything out. But I will tell you right now, my plans are to run for congress,” he said.
Schock is seeking his third congressional term
If you click the link, you’ll see that the story has disappeared. The station retracted it, apparently at the insistence of Schock, who maintains that he’s not ruling anything out.
* When somebody is talking about race or ethnicity and makes it a point to say “I have friends who are…” you pretty much know where the rest of it is going. Candidates should really learn to shut up when they find themselves saying that line. Case in point, Congressman Bobby Schilling…
After talking about health care, Rep. Schilling, unprompted by the audience, said, “What about English as a second language? Can we agree on that? How come I got to learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever.” […]
“One of the biggest problems is, you know, I got some Hispanic friends is that, a lot of those folks that don’t know English, is primarily because they don’t even know Spanish,” Rep. Schilling said at a forum in Annawan. “So, they don’t even know their own language, so that’s why you’ve got these teachers coming in helping them to try and get them better with their own language and then kind of teach ‘em. It’s a pretty tough battle.”
Um, huh?
“How come I got to learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever”? What the heck is that all about?
Not to mention there are a whole bunch of Serbo-Croatians in that part of the world.
So, in one speech, he offended Slavs and Latinos and made himself look like a total doofus.
Great work, Congressman!
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Congressman Schilling’s office…
Listen to the whole audio file. There are two constituents asking questions and kind of talking amongst each other.
“And the term limits is something that… we can’t get on the ballot, that has to come from Washington…” - constituent 1
“No I understand, but could that be common ground is my question… And how about English as a second language, can we agree on that? How come I gotta learn Serbo-Croatian or whatever?” - constituent 2
Then Schilling responds.
The way it’s clipped, they sound similar, but the Serbo-Croatian thing is not said by Schilling.
*** UPDATE 2 *** I just talked to Terry Schilling, who said he was in the room at the time and he swears the Serbo-Croatian comment was made by somebody else.
“It’s not an offensive quote,” said Terry Schilling, Rep. Schilling’s campaign manager. “It’s simply stating a fact.”
Rep. Schilling did not mean to say that Hispanics could not speak Spanish, Terry Schilling said, but that “a lot of times people come to this country who aren’t up to speed with the grammar of their own language.” The problem was not confined to the Hispanic community, Mr. Schilling said.
It’s not an offensive quote, eh? OK. Stick with that.
* And this brings up the secretly recorded Mitt Romney speech that has the national media all atwitter. Romney talked about how 47 percent of the country will vote for President Obama no matter what because they’re… well… here’s the quote…
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.
* This is hardly new. It’s what the Right has been saying for years. For instance, today’s Illinois Review headline…
Romney was right - the 47% will never vote for him
* But this Romney quote from that secretly taped speech did catch my eye…
Describing his family background, he quipped about his father, “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this.”
* Usually, this sort of stuff is specifically designed to depress Democratic turnout. So, rate this NRCC ad attacking Democratic congressional candidate Cheri Bustos on that basis, please…
*** UPDATE 1 *** A DCCC official says Bustos isn’t a member of that or any country club…
This is completely manufactured misfire from national Republicans who don’t understand a local issue.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the DCCC…
Fact Check: Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted to Protect Exclusive Country Club-Style Perks For Members of Congress
Cheri Bustos doesn’t belong to any country clubs, but national Republicans are desperate to manufacture a false and misleading line of attack connecting her to one . However, Washington Republicans’ own Tea Party Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to make sure Members of Congress get perks in Washington as if being in Congress was like being in a private country club. Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to protect exclusive perks for Members of Congress even though he supported ending Medicare and making seniors pay thousands more for their health care.
“Illinois seniors would have to pay thousands more for Medicare just so Congressman Bobby Schilling can keep his country club style perks for Members of Congress in Washington,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Bobby Schilling certainly made himself at home in Washington, and he wants to keep his Members only gym and dining room even if middle class families lose the Medicare guarantee to foot the bill. By doubling-down, national Republicans are exposing just how out of touch Congressman Bobby Schilling’s priorities in Washington are with Illinois.”
Background
Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted Against Cutting Funding for Member Gym. In 2012, Congressman Schilling voted against a Democratic budget proposal that would task the Committee on House Administration with identifying ways to cut subsidies paid to the House gym, Barber shop, Salon, and the House dining room. “The Committee on House Administration shall review the policies pertaining to the services provided to Members of Congress and House Committees, and shall identify ways to reduce any subsidies paid for the operation of the House gym, Barber shop, Salon, and the House dining room,” the amendment stated. [Section 412 of Van Hollen Amendment #6, House Report 112-423; H Con Res 112, Vote #150, 3/29/12]
Congressman Bobby Schilling Voted for Ryan Budget That Ends Medicare. Congressman Schilling voted for two budgets authored by Congressman Paul Ryan. The budgets would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit, protect $40 billion in tax breaks for big oil, provide people earning more than $1 million a year with an average tax cut of $265,000, and create incentives for corporations to shift profits and jobs overseas. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it will increase health care costs by an extra $6,359 by 2022 for future Medicare beneficiaries, while a household making between $50,000 and $100,000 would face a tax increase of at least $1,358. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12; Tax Policy Center, Table T12-0078 and T10-0132; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12; Joint Economic Committee, 5/20/11; Joint Economic Committee, 6/20/12]
If you’re explaining, you’re losing, goes the old saying. We’ll see.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the Bustos campaign…
Bustos Campaign Statement on False National Republican Attacks
Cheri Bustos’ campaign today released a statement following the latest false attack from national Republicans desperate to cover up Congressman Schilling’s record of shipping jobs overseas and cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans on the backs of working people.
Already, the Director of City Engineering pointed out the absurdity of national Republicans’ claims noting that the City Council unanimously approved the first of a two-phase water main project years before Bustos was even elected locally. Now national Republicans are doubling-down and lying about Bustos’ connection to a country club to which she doesn’t even belong. In fact, she’s never been a member of a country club in her life.
“National Republicans are doubling-down on the kind of lies and toxic games that have broken Washington and it’s clear neither Congressman Schilling or his Washington backers understand local issues here in Illinois. The truth is that a bipartisan City Council unanimously approved a water main project to solve a local problem affecting the community, and Cheri Bustos doesn’t even belong to the Short Hills Country Club or any country club,” said Allison Jaslow, campaign manager for Cheri Bustos for Congress. “National Republicans are desperate to keep Congressman Schilling in Washington because he’s proven he will vote with his Party. Schilling supports tax cuts for the richest Americans while saddling seniors with $6,400 in out of pocket costs and even raising taxes on the middle class.”
* If you want to watch a way over the top rant against the teachers’ unions and House Speaker Michael Madigan, check out Jack Roeser. His comments take up the first couple of minutes of this video…
* For the other side of the issue, here’s a video from the Chicago Teachers Union called “The Truth in Black & White”…
* The conservative Heritage Foundation obviously has a different take on the strike than the CTU, and they explain it in this video…
Lewis addressed criticisms that, as the union’s leader, it is her responsibility to get teachers back to work as soon as possible. Calling the CTU a “member-driven union,” Lewis said, “We do take democracy seriously, and I know that’s frustrating for people, but in the end, it’s ultimately a better way to govern a union, because then it’s not top-down leadership.”
“I think that we have encouraged healthy debate and we have encouraged analysis,” Lewis said. “It was something that was never encouraged by union leadership before and I think people misinterpret that. It’s unusual and it’s a better way to move the union.”
Lewis also said she believes teachers have made some gains, but she recogonizes that in tough times concessions have to be made.
“This is an austerity contract. This is not a contract of we can get all that we want.” […]
When asked about the injunction, Lewis said “if anything” the injunction hearing scheduled for Wednesday “will push people in the opposite direction.” and that the “imposition of will from the mayor will have a deleterious effect.”
* The Republican leaders held a press conference yesterday to express their frustration with the pace of Medicaid reform…
Some Republican members of the Illinois General Assembly accused Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration Monday of dragging its feet on making cost-saving changes to the state’s Medicaid program.
In particular, they said the administration has been slow to begin reviewing Medicaid rolls to eliminate people who do not qualify for benefits.
“To date, they have not even started the process,” said House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego. “We’re now told it won’t be until January of next year that they will start the implementation of ‘scrubbing.’ To put this off until January is unacceptable.”
Well, actually, they have started the process. The law requires the state to award a contract to scrub the Medicaid rolls within the budget year’s first 90 days. The state did it in a little over 70 days. The contractor, Maximus, Inc., will need some time to set up the system to get the work done right.
Cross even suggested Quinn’s delays could be political, putting off the cuts until after the Nov. 6 election. Quinn’s office sharply denied that idea.
“What else could be the reason?” Cross said.
The Quinn administration could’ve waited another three weeks until the 90-day time limit expired to sign the contract, so I’m not sure there’s a huge political conspiracy here.
Maximus will review pay stubs, addresses and other information for current recipients and for people who are signing up for benefits to make sure they live in Illinois and don’t exceed income limits.
It’s not clear how many people will be kicked off the Medicaid roles, but lawmakers and the governor say the change could save $350 million.
Republicans, who have made combating Medicaid fraud a key component in their party platform, complained Monday that the administration isn’t moving fast enough.
They said Maximus should not wait until January to implement the program.
“To put this off until January of 2013 is unacceptable,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.
Republicans say the delay could result in the state not saving as much as money as predicted, which could force lawmakers to have to return to Springfield to make further cuts to the budget.
“There’s no excuse. This was passed last spring,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont. “This is something that is not difficult to do.”
Again, the administration signed a contract in a little over 70 days, when the law that the Republicans helped negotiate allowed for 90 days.
And the company has to open a call center, hire workers, let out subcontracts and train state employees to use the new system. That takes time.
The Republicans do make a very valid point, however, that the longer this takes to implement, the fewer savings will be realized by the end of the fiscal year, unless Maximus really kicks it into high gear.
* But GOP claims about the amount of money that could be saved by tightening up the roles have always been a bit on the bloated side…
“There is some research that shows people don’t [game] the system as much as is implied by some. Some of the legislators claimed 20 percent of people are income-ineligible because we haven’t verified their income. I think that is a very high number and not likely,” says Robert Kaestner, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who is affiliated with the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
Our Illinois early intervention project produced a $24.5 million net increase in child support collections in the three years through June 30, 2011 – $25.63 collected for each dollar spent
Another troubling aspect to this company is that the increase of poverty and pressures to downsize government actually makes for good business. They say as much in their SEC report: “Our core health and human services business has benefited from steady demand over the last five years. We have not experienced any material adverse change in demand as a result of government budgetary pressures. We believe the critical nature of our services in helping governments provide and administer important safety net programs in the U.S., such as Medicaid, welfare-to-work and CHIP, to the most vulnerable populations helps insulate our services from significant downward pressure, particularly during an economic downturn.”
Recently the Project on Government Oversight released a report concluding that the federal government actually pays billions more to hire private contractors than what it would pay current public sector workers to perform comparable work; a Heritage Foundation reports states the opposite. Analyses supporting both sides of this debate are plentiful, but there is little disagreement that over the past several decades, privatization of government services has increased dramatically and hundreds of billions of dollars are spent outsourcing public services.
For more than a year, Republicans have charged that the Quinn administration has not pushed hard enough to implement money-saving reforms targeting ineligible Medicaid recipients. The administration has contended that one attempt to require more paperwork from recipients to prove their eligibility and fight fraud was blocked by the Obama administration because states were not supposed to increase requirements under the president’s signature health care program, the Affordable Care Act.
The state pressed ahead by using electronic methods of matching data, such as with addresses from the Illinois secretary of state’s office, that the federal government deemed more acceptable. Yet the agency said it needed more sophisticated tracking help, leading to the Maximus contract.
Another point took the form of a question: Would a judge up for retention be willing to rule against the labor unions that historically have played a key role in city elections? Flynn is seeking retention on the Nov. 6 ballot.
“You tell me what chancery judge is going to issue an injunction against the teachers union,” [labor lawyer L. Steven Platt] said. “Believe me, the unions have long memories. Every union is going to remember this judge … come election time.”
No kidding.
Then again, now he has to worry about what Emanuel does to him.
The union’s current leadership rose to power on a platform of pushing back against privatization of public schools and the aggressive education reform efforts introduced by former CPS chief Arne Duncan, who is now the U.S. secretary of education.
Many of CTU’s current leaders helped found the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, which started out as a book club to review Naomi Klein’s best-seller “The Shock Doctrine,” which argues that corporate interests have exploited crises to push through agendas that undermine democracy.
But as in many labor organizations, Lewis is faced with uniting a membership that spans the political spectrum. In CTU, that ranges from high-ranking officials who have written for socialist websites to more traditional members simply concerned with working conditions. Some of those more radical factions inside and outside her labor organization are now attacking her and others in union leadership.
Leaflets calling Lewis a “sellout” for concessions agreed to with CPS were distributed to union delegates at Sunday’s meeting. That phrase surfaced again among frustrated delegates as they left the meeting with few concrete details about the contract proposal and with serious concerns about what they were being asked to sign. […]
Members of socialist organizations, some of whom are union delegates, also took Lewis to task for failing to disclose more to delegates.
“This was done to allow the CTU (leadership) sufficient time to ‘package’ the sellout, and the membership insufficient time to consider it,” according to commentary that a socialist organization said it handed out to delegates at the meeting.
* The Socialist Equality Party’s presidential candidate (yes, there is such a person) Jerry White distributed this statement at last Saturday’s strike rally…
“The truth is that the CTU and the AFT (American Federal of Teachers) are preparing a betrayal of the strike and the imposition of a sellout contract that will have devastating consequences for teachers and the future of public education in Chicago and across the country.” […]
“As the presidential candidate of the Socialist Equality Party, I urge teachers to reject this sellout. The teachers have remained solid since the strike began and won powerful support from parents, students and workers throughout the city and across the country.”
“Now is the time to broaden the struggle and stand fast against the phony ‘reform’ agenda of Emanuel, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Obama, and the entire political establishment.”
“The assault on teachers and public education can be defeated only on the basis of a recognition that the struggle against it is a political struggle against both parties of big business and the financial-corporate elite whose interests they serve.”
“This elite includes the speculators and parasites looking to cash in on the carve-up of public education and proliferation of privately run schools.”
“I urge teachers to broaden their strike and fight to mobilize all school workers, public employees, auto workers, young people and unemployed workers behind them and in opposition to the united front of Democrats and Republicans, the media and big business. The union leadership has no intention of waging such a fight.”
Leftists love strikes. They think strikes solve everything. Meanwhile, working people have to pay their mortgages and make their car payments. The professional Left talks a lot about workers treated as “pawns” by the elites, but they treat workers that way as well.
* Now, let’s go to the live feed. BlackBerry users click here. Everybody else can just watch..
