* The income tax return disclosure issue has been mostly biting Republicans this year, but it’s become a problem for a Democrat in the 10th Congressional District…
The issue of tax returns took the spotlight in a North Shore congressional campaign Thursday as Republican U.S. Rep. Robert Dold made public his tax returns and Democratic challenger Brad Schneider declined to do so.
Schneider suggested voters should look at his candidate disclosure reports to learn about his finances. But those forms, which congressional candidates are required by law to fill out, make it hard to discern his personal income and provide no information about the taxes he pays or his wife’s salary. […]
Schneider, meanwhile, says his accountants haven’t yet finished his taxes for 2011. The candidate said he paid a tax rate of “well in excess of 20 percent” for 2010, but he did not provide documentation.
Without the tax returns, it is impossible to know Schneider’s exact income. The federal disclosure reports require candidates to note only a broad range on the value of assets and, in many cases, income.
Though the Deerfield candidate started a one-man consulting firm in 2008, he reported no direct income from it on his disclosure reports. He did report making about $30,000 in renewal commissions from an insurance firm he once ran.
As we’ve already discussed, a recent Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll found that 79 percent of Illinoisans believe a candidate releasing tax returns was important.
* The Question: Should Brad Schneider release his tax returns? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Tuesday, Oct 9, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* This is what’s really at the heart of the matter in the dispute between Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel over who will be the new executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority…
The mayor appoints three board members, the governor four, including the chairman. But there was a “political understanding” that the mayor would choose the executive director to balance things out, said Peter Bynoe, the lawyer who helped create the authority and was its first executive director.
“That was the understanding,” Bynoe said. “I think a lot of people have gotten confused and a lot of things have gotten blurred since then.”
There used to be the same sort of deal with McPier, until the law was rewritten. Springfield has its own such arrangements. The House Republicans for years controlled who was director of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. And it’s still their guy, kinda.
…Adding… The governor’s people say the governor’s office has controlled the post for quite a few years.
* So the governor now wants to break the old ISFA arrangement, perhaps because he’s trying to stop Mayor Emanuel from cutting a multi-million dollar deal to help the Chicago Cubs, and maybe the Bulls and Blackhawks. The governor ostensibly controls the ISFA board, but the mayor can be mighty persuasive and there are some very persuadable people on that board.
From what I hear, Quinn can’t get the ISFA board to back him up on his new executive director appointment of communications director Kelly Kraft, so they’re in stalemate right now.
* And it sure looks like the mayor’s side retaliated by leaking or at least pointing to a bit of somewhat embarrassing information about the past life of the governor’s choice to run the agency. She didn’t do anything that millions of other Americans haven’t done in this country. But it’s Rahm, so he’s always gotta be brutal. Always with the dead fish. Always with humiliating the enemy.
Gov. Pat Quinn accuses Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel of character assassination in connection with Quinn’s choice to run the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. […]
Finally, the governor’s office confirmed that shortly before she joined the Quinn administration, Kraft filed a personal bankruptcy in 2009, with $102,500 in debts mainly from credit cards.
The governor says his appointee’s financial problems stemming from a “personal situation” are resolved, as he blamed the mayor’s people for trying to smear Kraft’s reputation.
“I wish the mayor would stop doing this. This is a very good person. Stop assassinating her character. He has his operatives doing that. That’s not the right way to go,” said Quinn.
“I want the best there,” Emanuel said. “I have nothing against Ms. Kraft, nothing individually… we need to make sure the people in and around the Illinois Sports Authority have the best professionalism to achieve that goal of protecting the Chicago taxpayers — not anybody else — Chicago’s taxpayers, from paying the bonds if, God forbid, anything bad happens.”
Kraft was a TV reporter before she joined the Quinn administration as a budget spokeswoman in 2009, the same year she filed for personal bankruptcy with $102,500 in debt. The case has been resolved. Quinn later promoted Kraft to assistant budget director before naming her his director of communications in July.
Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday accused Mayor Rahm Emanuel of blocking the governor’s choice to lead the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority — and tarnishing the reputation of a “strong woman” in the process — to pave the way for a “backroom deal” to renovate 98-year-old Wrigley Field. […]
“We’re not gonna have any backroom deals involving the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and Wrigley Field. I want to make sure there is someone there — the executive director — who is a goalie for the taxpayers and prevents any cooked-up deals behind closed doors on Wrigley Field,” the governor said in an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
Quinn then referred to Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell’s failed plan to have the state acquire and renovate Wrigley under now-convicted-and-jailed former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“We’ve already had a preamble here — a couple of efforts to use public money to invest in Wrigley Field. We don’t want another one of these deals that comes down that involves a private sports stadium, Wrigley Field, wanting public money with the cooperation of City Hall,” Quinn said.
“I’ve said over and over again I don’t think public money should be abused with respect to private stadiums. Kelly Kraft is a strong woman who knows how to say `no’ to proposals that are not in the public interest. That’s what the position entails: A person who knows the financials, knows the bond world and is able to prevent backroom deals.”
The Sun-Times claims that sources close to Emanuel say he has no intention of using the ISFA in a Wrigley deal.
* Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is reportedly mulling a “violence tax” on guns and ammunition…
Such a tax alone wouldn’t close a $115 million budget gap in 2013, but it could at least funnel money into the county’s $3 billion operation — where roughly two-thirds of the budget pays for both the county’s public health clinics and two hospitals along with the criminal justice system that includes the courts and jail.
“If we were to pursue a tax on something like guns and ammo, clearly that wouldn’t be popular with the [gun lobby] out there, and it may not generate $50 million, but … it is consistent with our commitment to pursuing violence reduction in the city and in the county,” Kurt Summers, Preckwinkle’s chief of staff, said on Monday.
The idea is to curb the number of guns in circulation, he said, citing a report issued last summer showing that nearly one-third of the guns recovered on Chicago’s streets were purchased in suburban gun shops. Other statistics are more dire: Murders in Chicago are up 25 percent this year, according to recent police statistics, and the county jail is filling up — with 9,000-plus inmates, nearing the 10,155 capacity. […]
The cost to treat a gunshot victim, without insurance, is pegged at $52,000, Summers said. And 70 percent of gunshot victims don’t have health insurance, he says.
* The Illinois State Rifle Association’s response…
“Today the president of the Cook County Board announced another in a long string of schemes to punish law-abiding firearm owners and firearm dealers. In the past, the county board has tried banning firearms and heaping all sorts of red tape on firearm owners and dealers – all in an attempt to discourage county citizens from exercising their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. This latest proposal, a tax on firearms and ammunition, will raise very little revenue and do nothing to stem the violent crime that Cook County has become famous for.
“As with the county board’s past gun control schemes, this firearm and ammunition tax is just a smokescreen designed to obscure the fallout from ineffective government. Estimates are that about 90% of those people who commit murders in Cook County have previous criminal records. Likewise, estimates indicate that about 75% of murder victims have criminal records as well. These numbers are an indictment of the Cook County courts and the county’s correctional system. It’s clear that the county cannot deter criminal activity and cannot rehabilitate the criminals that do end up incarcerated. Regardless of what the county board would have us believe, the problem of crime and punishment in Cook County is not the fault of law-abiding hunters and sportsmen.
“Whether board president Preckwinkle likes it or not, the demand for firearms and ammunition by law-abiding citizens remains strong – in great part due to the failure of the county to keep its streets safe. Imposition of this punitive tax on guns and ammunition will do nothing to stem that demand. The reality is that lawful firearm dealers will avoid the tax by moving out to the collar counties and take their law-abiding customers with them. And with their customers will go hefty sales tax receipts that far out strip any revenues that the firearm “sin tax” would generate. And lastly, passage of this tax on firearms and ammunition will make reelection bids much more expensive for those board members who vote for it.”
There’s not a lot that a state legislative candidate can do when his or her party’s presidential nominee starts to tank.
The presidential race drives turnout to the point where candidates lower on the ballot must struggle mightily to rise above the noise and get their messages heard by distracted voters.
And because there are no statewide races in Illinois this year, that means there are no truly high-profile campaigns to “break up” any presidential advantage or momentum.
Congressional races are all that state legislators have this year to cushion the blow from the top, and down-ballot candidates are increasingly placing their hopes on those contests.
After 2010, downstate Illinois looked like highly fertile ground for the Republican Party. If the GOP had fielded better candidates in the Metro East area near St. Louis, for instance, they might have picked up more seats in the Legislature.
But 2010 is little more than a memory these days, and although downstate still has several opportunities for Republicans, the north and northwest Chicago suburbs appear to be gaining importance. Lots of proud ticket-splitters in that area, along with some viable Republican congressional incumbents (Bob Dold and Joe Walsh), means it could be fertile ground for the Republicans.
The 29th Senate District might be one example. Arie Friedman (R-Highland Park) is running as a moderate Republican. He was slammed hard last month by the conservative Illinois Family Institute for claiming to be pro-choice, which the Republicans actually loved. They believe the attack will help Friedman with more moderate voters, and that’s the path to victory.
The Democrats thought they had this Senate district in the bag, along with both of its House districts (Reps. Elaine Nekritz and Scott Drury). But the area’s congressional races (especially Dold) have the Republicans believing they’re at least in the hunt in all three legislative contests.
Polling shows single-digit advantages for the Democrats in those three races. If Dold’s lead evaporates, then the GOP candidates further down on the ballot are probably cooked. If Dold hangs in there, the others might at least have a shot.
So far, Dold appears to be holding his own. The latest We Ask America poll taken last week had Dold up by almost four points.
The Senate Republicans are hammering Friedman’s Democratic opponent, Julie Morrison, of Deerfield, in the mailboxes these days. Two recent mailers highlighted Morrison’s struggles on three separate occasions to answer questions about where she stood on the state income tax increase.
The Republicans believe that once north suburban voters have “checked the boxes” on abortion, guns and other social issues, they’re open to listening to fiscal messages such as taxes. That worked well for U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk in the area when he was a congressman, and Dold has positioned himself the same way.
Friedman has a history of being conservative, however, so this is somewhat of a GOP makeover attempt, and the Democrats are saying voters won’t buy into it. They may very well be right. The Republicans may have needed a more moderate candidate there.
What looks to be a fairly close congressional race in the Quad Cities/Rockford/Peoria region is working to the Democrats’ disadvantage in state Sen. Mike Jacobs’ (D-East Moline) district.
Jacobs has made some major missteps in his career and has real problems with his Democratic base. And even though President Barack Obama will win the Senate district by a sizable margin, Jacobs still is struggling hard to defeat Republican Bill Albracht.
And Albracht is being helped against the prevailing presidential winds by U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling’s race against Cheri Bustos. The latest We Ask America poll taken last week had Schilling (R-17th) leading by about 2 1/2 points, while Obama led by about 7 points in the district.
This explains why the Illinois Republican Party chairman recently declared that most of his organization’s energy would be focused on congressional races this year. Simply put, the Republicans have to break up Obama’s momentum in his home state and create some of their own momentum in the congressional races to avoid a down-ballot disaster.
Obama helped the Republicans by performing badly in the first presidential debate Wednesday night against Mitt Romney. As a result, he lost some ground nationally and here in Illinois.
That doesn’t mean Obama will lose Illinois or even the election — George W. Bush badly lost his first 2004 debate to John Kerry and still won. But if Obama doesn’t regain his footing, it could mean that Republicans running for Congress and the Legislature won’t have to push so hard against the wind.
* The DCCC has slightly different numbers in the Schilling vs. Bustos race. From a press release…
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a new Anzalone Liszt poll showing Cheri Bustos gaining critical momentum over Congressman Bobby Schilling.
After overcoming a 9 point deficit in August, Bustos now holds the lead over Congressman Schilling 45 percent to 44 percent and is winning independents 39 percent to Schilling’s 37 percent.
This poll also shows that attacks on Congressman Schilling’s record of voting to end the Medicare guarantee just to give tax breaks for outsourcers are working, and Congressman Schilling’s popularity is tanking. President Obama is set to win big in Illinois 17th Congressional District as he did in 2008.
Barack Obama holds an 11-point lead over Mitt Romney (51% Obama / 40% Romney), in a district he won by 21 points in 2008 (60% Obama / 39% McCain). Obama further consolidating his 2008 coalition could cause Schilling even more problems.
* The Tribune endorsed Tammy Duckworth for congress…
Walsh has been a congressman made for cable television, but not for his constituents. He has fueled the political vitriol that has paralyzed Washington, that nearly shut down the federal government, that has failed to produce meaningful fiscal reform and economic recovery. We saw something in that endorsement interview — what a congressman Joe Walsh might have been.
Our endorsement instead goes to former Veterans Affairs leader Tammy Duckworth, a war veteran from Hoffman Estates, who has campaigned as a constructive, bipartisan problem solver and would eschew extreme rhetoric in favor of thoughtfully working together. We think she would be the kind of moderate Blue Dog Democrat who reflects the new 8th District, which takes in portions of western Cook, northern DuPage and eastern Kane counties.
* Walsh issued a defiant statement in response…
“I’m not at all surprised by the decisions of the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald to endorse Tammy Duckworth. Ms. Duckworth has always been the preferred candidate of the elite Chicago liberal media. The day I care what the Chicago media thinks about me or this race will be the same day that I leave the political arena. I am running for Congress to serve the people of the 8th district, who are struggling to find work, stay in their homes, and are fighting to make sure that their kids and grandkids have the same opportunities that they did.
“For years, the Chicago media has been out of touch with families like those in the 8th district. It is no surprise that these papers lose readership almost every single year and have essentially become irrelevant and bankrupt. It is because the elite media does not understand that American families are fed up. They are sick of the same old politicians making promises to get endorsements. As the Tribune said of my opponent, she is a ‘more-practiced politician. Practiced, that is, in not offering her opposition targets by getting to specific on solutions.’ I can not and will not go down that same road.
“We are at a crucial point in America, and this country needs leaders who will stand up and say no to Washington’s back room go along to get along deals. Now more than ever we must move past the talking points and come up with real solutions. The elite Chicago media will never understand that, but the American people do. Let us remember that if the good people of Illinois cared about what these irrelevant papers had to say, Tammy Duckworth would now be serving her third term in Congress, as both the Herald and Tribune enthusiastically endorsed her 6 years ago, against Peter Roskam.”
…Adding… A commenter sums it up well…
If he truly did not care about getting the newspapers’ endorsements then he would not have bothered to sit down with them for the endorsement interviews.
His press release is little more than the response of a petulant child who did not get what he wanted.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a new automated poll showing Tammy Duckworth with a 10 point lead, winning 52 percent over Congressman Joe Walsh’s 42 percent – dangerous territory for an incumbent. Congressman Joe Walsh’s favorables are underwater with nearly half of voters holding a negative opinion of him. In contrast, Tammy Duckworth is both well known and well liked with a definite advantage in this Democratic leaning district.
“The problem Congressman Joe Walsh faces is that voters both know him and dislike him,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “While Illinois families have had enough of Congressman Walsh’s dangerous uncompromising Tea Party record in Washington, they clearly favor Tammy Duckworth as the only candidate standing up for the middle class.”
* Related…
* Truth check: Is Duckworth violating uniform rules?: Department of Defense rules state that members of the military “not on active duty (including retired members) may use photos of themselves in uniform for ‘campaign media’ purposes.” However, “the photo or information must be accompanied by a prominent and clearly displayed disclaimer that neither the military information nor photographs imply endorsement by the Department of Defense or their particular military department.”
* The House Majority PAC says it will spend $2.4 million on ads linking moderate Republican US Reps. Judy Biggert and Bob Dold to Joe Walsh and other unpopular conservative people and causes.
When Fox Chicago reported exclusively on Rep. Judy Biggert’s income tax returns two weeks ago, we noted that she is believed to be the wealthiest member of Illinois’s Congressional delegation. Her Democratic challenger, though, is even wealthier, a point underscored in her new attack ad.
A Foster spokesman said the 11th District congressional candidate is, indeed, a multi-millionaire. But he called just about everything else in his opponent’s new ad misleading. He said a theatrical stage lighting company Foster co-founded in 1975 did layoff 61 people during a downturn a decade ago, but it now employs more than ever: 650 in the U.S.
The new ad debuted as Foster released his income tax returns for the first time ever. One surprise in a review by Fox Chicago News: while preparing his campaign to return to Congress, Foster earned so little last year that he owed no income tax. His wife, Aesook Byon, also a physicist like Foster, filed her taxes separately. She made more than $200,000 in 2011. So, the couple paid about $55,000 in taxes — 24.7% of their income.
While Foster sold his interest in the lighting company to his partners in 2007, the payout will take 16 years and be taxed at the lower, capital gains rate. In 2010, for example, Foster and his wife received a combined $1.5 million, with 18.6% their effective joint tax rate.
* Biggert’s campaign pounced on the fact that Foster paid no income taxes last year. From a press release…
The Judy Biggert for Congress campaign today released the following statement from Naperville small businessman Jimmy Bergeron, owner of Jimmy’s Grill:
“I’m a hardworking small business owner and taxpayer, and the things Bill Foster voted for while he was in Washington makes it harder for me to keep my doors open. He’s running again, and he’s always talking about how he wants to raise taxes on people like me. So I was pretty angry when I saw on the news that he paid no federal incomes taxes last year. It’s incredibly hypocritical of Bill Foster to pay no taxes when he’s running around campaigning for higher taxes on hardworking small business owners.”
* The Biggert campaign also wants Foster to release more returns…
Over the weekend we learned that millionaire former Congressman Bill Foster paid no taxes last year. In keeping with a promise she made on Fox Chicago during a televised debate, Representative Biggert previously provided the last five years of her returns to the station. In the interest of transparency, the campaign will offer other members of the media the same opportunity. But it comes with a challenge - will Congressman Foster release the last five years of his and his wife’s returns to the media as well?
* Biggert has been running an ad claiming that the “millionaire former congressman” Foster outsourced jobs to Wisconsin and backed legislation that allegedly “sent jobs to China”…
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Hinsdale) has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association. The announcement was made at Hinsdale South High School in Darien Monday.
Biggert is the incumbent running for the 11th Congressional District. Her opponent is Democrat Bill Foster.
Although some members of the Republican Party have actively said they don’t agree with teacher unions, Vice President Kathi Griffin of the Illinois Education Association said it’s important to look past Biggert’s political party.
“I think it’s important that we focus on what the candidate stands for,” Griffin said. “It’s not whether you are a Democrat or Republican. It’s whether you’re a friend to education, and that’s what we see in Judy Biggert and why we are endorsing her.”
Even better than the recommendation — IEA does not use the word “endorse” — the group’s national parent, the National Education Association, several days ago quietly disclosed a $546,000 “independent expenditure” on her behalf.
A vote for Biggert would be a vote for fiscal restraint. And her re-election would be a constant, nagging reminder to House Speaker Michael Madigan and the rest of his crafty mapmakers that the voters don’t like being used as pawns.
Always with the Madigan.
* And I can’t remember if I posted this last week, so here’s the US Chamber’s latest ad against Foster…
* I told you over the weekend that a St. Clair County judge has accused Democratic congressional candidate Bill Enyart of pushing her during a Saturday parade. She now wants an apology and says all will be forgiven…
Immediately after the press conference, [St. Clair County Associate Judge Laninya Cason] was a guest on the Dana Show, a radio broadcast emanating from St. Louis that is heard on KFTK, 97.1. Cason told conservative host Dana Loesch that if Enyart will make a “proper” apology, she is willing to drop her efforts to have him charged.
“I don’t want him to have a criminal record,” she said, “but I won’t be bullied.”
“He did apologize immediately when he accidentally bumped into her, as witnesses have attested,” Bresler said Monday. “This is political campaign silly season.”
* There’s also some to-do being made about this photo of the judge wearing a Plummer sweatshirt the day of the parade…
As for Cason wearing a Plummer sweatshirt, Cason said only wore it because she was cold and asked a Plummer supporter if she could wear one temporarily.
The Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct urges judges not to get involved in politics beyond handing out their own political literature and speaking about their own campaign. […]
Asked whether such a public association with political candidates might violate the judicial ethics code, Cason said, “No. Absolutely not. We are running on the same ticket. So we can support each other.
…Adding… As some commenters have noted, that sure looks like a Plummer t-shirt worn over a sweatshirt. So, her explanation appears bogus.
Frankly, I’m a little surprised that this hasn’t gone national. It’s tailor-made for Drudge. “White Democrat allegedly shoves black Republican woman.”
* VIDEO: Judge Laninya Cason demands apology from General Bill Enyart after alleged altercation
* 12th candidates differ on future plans for ‘Obamacare‘
* Cason files amended JIB complaint against opponent: Cason, who switched political affiliation from Democrat to Republican after a falling out with party leaders earlier this year, claims her opponent Associate Judge Zina Cruse has engaged in an additional 15 ethical violations since her original complaint accused Cruse of improperly presiding over cases in which her campaign manager, Belleville divorce attorney Charles Courtney, represented one of the parties.
* Editorial: Judge Cruse could have avoided ethics question
Tuesday, Oct 9, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The cable industry is asking lawmakers to place a NEW 5% tax on satellite TV service. HB 5440 is not about fairness, equity or parity – it’s a tax increase on the 1.3 million Illinois families and businesses who subscribe to satellite TV. They cannot afford another NEW tax – not now and not in this economy!
HB 5440 Will Hurt Illinois Families and Small Businesses
• Satellite TV subscribers will see their monthly bills go up 5%.
• This tax will impact every bar, restaurant and hotel that subscribes to satellite TV service, which will translate into higher prices, decreased revenues, and fewer jobs.
• Rural Illinois has no choice: In many parts of Illinois, cable refuses to provide TV service to rural communities. Satellite TV is their only option.
HB 5440 Is Not About Parity or Fairness
• Cable’s claim that this discriminatory tax is justified because satellite TV doesn’t pay local franchise fees could not be further from the truth. Cable pays those fees to local towns and cities in exchange for the right to bury cables in the public rights of way—a right that Comcast and Charter value in the tens of billions of dollars in their SEC filings.
• Satellite companies don’t pay franchise fees for one simple reason: We use satellites—unlike cable, we don’t need to dig up streets and sidewalks to deliver our TV service.
• Making satellite subscribers pay franchise fees—or, in this case, an equivalent amount in taxes—would be like taxing the air It’s no different than making airline passengers pay a fee for laying railroad tracks.
