U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) today released a new poll from Public Opinions Strategies showing that, despite millions being spent against him by outside groups in recent weeks, Schilling is starting to pull away from his opponent, Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline).
At the same time, Schilling released fundraising totals for the third quarter showing he raised $617,826.37 in that span, pushing his total fundraising efforts for the 2011-12 election cycle over $2.1 million. The campaign currently has $839,000 cash on hand.
The Public Opinion Strategies poll surveyed 400 likely voters and gave Schilling a 51-44 lead over Bustos. 45 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Schilling, while 34 percent of voters had an unfavorable opinion of him. Meanwhile, just 34 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Bustos, while 38 percent of voters had an unfavorable opinion of her. The poll also found that President Obama leads Mitt Romney in the Illinois 17th District by a 50-44 margin.
We Ask America had Bustos ahead by less than a point on October 9th. The firm had Obama ahead of Romney by almost 12 points, not the 6-point margin in Schilling’s poll.
* Meanwhile, the DCCChas a new poll showing Democrat Brad Schneider leading Republican Bob Dold by a single point, 44-43. That October 14th poll tracks pretty closely with We Ask America’s October 9th poll which had Dold up by less than 2 points. This race appears to be quite close.
The data in this memo is from a survey of 451 likely 2012 voters conducted October 14, 2012, in Illinois’ 10th Congressional district. Respondents’ information came from the voter file and respondents were interviewed over the phone by an automated survey. The margin of error is 4.6%.
* OK, on to the DCCC’s new TV ads. The first hits Bobby Schilling on Medicare….
Script…
We work a lifetime for these moments…
We save…and plan so there’s peace of mind in retirement.
But some in Washington like Bobby Schilling would end that security… end the guarantee of Medicare…
Schilling would hand decisions about our health care to insurance companies…
To give more tax breaks to millionaires.
Bobby Schilling needs to remember: he works for us.
And we work our whole lives…for this.
* Another “Jason Plummer’s never had to work for anything” spot…
Script…
In Washington, special interests are drowning out the middle-class.
But if you send this Plummer to Congress, he’ll make it worse.
Jason Plummer signed a pledge that protected tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs.
And he’d give more tax breaks to millionaires like himself — while making the middle-class pay thousands more.
Jason Plummer’s never had to work for anything…what makes you think he’ll work for you?
47,000 Illinois jobs lost.
Sent overseas in unfair trade deals.
47,000 families left to scrape by… while corporations are rewarded for the mass layoffs.
Rewarded by politicians like Rodney Davis who want to hand them tax breaks for shipping our jobs overseas.
47,000 more reasons why Rodney Davis is wrong for Illinois.
I didn’t see any new GOP ads posted on YouTube this afternoon, but if or when I do I’ll update the post.
*** UPDATE *** A pretty good Rodney Davis ad I missed…
New Poll Shows Romano in close battle with 26 year incumbent Lang
Could it be? Could Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) really be in trouble?
* Not so much…
In a poll conducting by Victory Media Group of Glenview from October 9-11, challenger Vince Romano scored 44.2% of the vote to 26-year incumbent Democrat Lou Lang’s 55.8%.
OK, so Lang is well over 50. And the pollster isn’t a pollster.
* But it gets better. Check out the questions the pollster asked…
* 16th District State Representative Lou Lang has been in office for 25 years– since 1987. Last year he joined 59 Democrats and zero Republicans to pass a 67% tax increase on personal income and 46% tax increase on business income. Knowing this…
Less/More Likely to Vote for Lou Lang
Less Likely 57.5
More Likely 17.9
No Difference 24.6
* If the election for your State Representative were held today between 25 year incumbent Democrat Lou Lang and Republican businessman Vincent Romano, who opposes tax increases and will vote to repeal them if elected.
Lou Lang 55.8
Vincent Romano 44.2
* The Question: Could you come up with a more lopsided set of poll questions?
Snark, of course, is heavily encouraged.
…Adding… Your answer doesn’t have to be about Lou Lang, unless you really want to, of course.
* The Sun-Times has the list of potential replacements for retired US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. US Sen. Dick Durbin will make the pick, but Sen. Mark Kirk has veto power. Check it out…
◆ Patrick Collins, who led the successful high-profile prosecution of former Gov. George Ryan and now works with law firm Perkins Coie.
◆ Zach Fardon, who also prosecuted Ryan and is now in private practice with Latham and Watkins.
◆ Judge Virginia Kendall, appointed to the federal bench in 2006 by President George W. Bush. Kendall has had her criminal cases reassigned while she competes for the top prosecutor’s job.
◆ Lori Lightfoot, one of the city’s leading African-American attorneys, once the chief administrator at the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards, now works with law firm Mayer Brown.
◆ John Bunge, a former deputy chief of the U.S. attorney’s general crimes section in Chicago, who now works with the Kirkland & Ellis law firm.
◆ John Lausch, who led the prosecution of several corrupt cops cases and now also works with Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in white-collar criminal defense and securities enforcement.
◆ Ricardo Meza, the former head of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, appointed Executive Inspector General for Illinois by Quinn in 2010.
◆ Gil Soffer, who worked in Washington, D.C., under former Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip, has served as a commissioner on the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission and now works with law firm Katten.
* As we’ve already seen, Republican Congressman Bob Dold used his mom in a TV ad to bolster his claims that he won’t harm Social Security or Medicare. Republican Congressman Bobby Schilling uses his grandmother to make the same point, but with a harder edge at the end…
Jackson told The Daily that he is “not well” and has doctor’s appointments twice a day at George Washington University Hospital, not far from his home in the trendy DuPont Circle neighborhood: “I go over there … at 10 [a.m.] and 1 p.m.”
Jackson didn’t address the allegation that he misused money from his supporters — to decorate his home.
* The publication did apparently confirm that Jackson went out on the town the other night, but it didn’t seem like a big deal…
Jesse Jackson Jr. showed up at the Bier Baron Tavern last Tuesday and Wednesday, the first time he had been seen in a public place since going on leave.
Jackson caught the attention of both patrons and the staff. A server who would identify himself only as “Frank” told The Daily that Jackson was with a group that included both men and women.
“He was here. He was drinking. He was with other people,” Frank said. “I personally didn’t serve his table.”
Some commenters wondered why I didn’t post that breathless and oddly sourced Gawker story yesterday. Well, there you have it.
* Freshman Republican Bob Dold has complained that Democrat Brad Schneider’s ad which calls him a “Tea Party loyalist” is a fabrication. Well, the House Majority PAC has now doubled down…
Dold ain’t gonna like that one.
* Dold, by the way, has a major cash advantage over Schneider in the 10th CD…
Team Dold netted $993,509 in donations during the quarter, according to the campaign’s report. For the entire election cycle, the Dold campaign has received an estimated $3.9 million from donors.
The Dold campaign spent $832,560 during the quarter and $1.9 million during the race so far, records show.
The Dold campaign ended the period with $2.3 million in the bank and $44,480 in debts.
Schneider’s campaign netted $777,268 in donations during the last quarter. For the campaign, he’s received nearly $2.3 million in campaign checks.
Schneider spent more than Dold during the quarter, reporting nearly $1.1 million in expenses. Overall, the Schneider campaign has spent $2.1 million on the race. That includes money spent during the contested Democratic primary. Dold ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
Schneider finished the quarter with $267,625 in the bank — roughly 11 percent of the funds in Dold’s campaign war chest.
* Related…
* Dold, Schneider discuss bipartisanship, health care reform: Dold, though, said the act addressed access to insurance, not quality. He said the way to drive down medical costs is through consumer-driven plans. While a large portion of the country gets its health insurance through employers, Dold said he has talked to business owners who would prefer to pay a required penalty in exchange for sending their employees to find alternatives on the “free market.” “I can think of few things more terrifying than to tell someone they’re on their own to get health care,” Dold said.
* Dold Discards Norquist Pledge in Debate With Schneider: Dold then touted his support of the Cooper-LaTourette financial plan as an alternative to the House Republican Budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), his party’s vice presidential candidate. He was one of eight co-sponsors—four Democrats and four Republicans… “I’ll do it in a way we will be able to get more than 38 votes,” Schneider said of his intentions to work with Republicans. “The day after (Cooper La Tourette was defeated) he (Dold) voted for the Ryan budget that will replace Medicare with a voucher system.”
* The constant media drumbeat about how public employees need to essentially be punished for their “lavish” pensions isn’t working, according to the Tribune’s latest poll…
Illinois voters overwhelmingly blame politicians for creating the state’s public employee pension mess, but like elected officials, they’re divided about plans to fix the problem, a new Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.
* This was a quickie poll question. The consequences weren’t totally laid out. We need better numbers. But when less than a third of the population supports an idea, it may be time to rethink that idea. And it also means that even harsher ideas should be looked at with much suspicion.
The proposal also drew 55 percent opposition from white suburban women, moderate voters that include so-called soccer moms especially concerned about education. Only 28 percent of that group backed the cost shift. Among independent voters, a key demographic that influences state elections, the idea was rejected 44 percent to 31 percent.
The Chicago Democrats have really shot themselves in the foot with that plan.
Could the race for the Illinois House in the 96th District actually become a race? Apparently, yes.
It hasn’t seemed like it for several weeks. Democrat SUE SCHERER of Decatur, who won a close contest in the primary, has had TV ads running and fliers carrying her picture filling mailboxes across the district, which runs from Decatur into central Springfield. There’s been virtually nothing to match those public efforts from Republican DENNIS SHACKELFORD of Rochester. […]
As of late last week, meanwhile, Schackelford’s only disclosed large donation from the House Republican Organization since July was $5,100 worth of telephone polling. Total large donations reported in that time were less than $17,000.
But things will be changing, said KEVIN ARTL, political director of the House GOP campaign organization.
“It goes back to the old saying, ‘You can’t buy me love,’” Artl said, saying his group believes Scherer’s support has leveled off. “Voters have seen through it,” he said. “We’re going to do a full plan here (for Shackelford) for the final 30 days.” In that short time frame, he said, “We can invest less than the Democrats, but get a higher rate of return.”
Since then, the Republicans have put in just $5,873.28 for a mailer.
* And now, a couple of their members are complaining to the media. But they’re not upset with their own party for failing to get involved. They’re agnry that the House Democrats are playing to win…
Republicans have not poured nearly as much into Dennis Shackelford’s attempt to win the open seat, which stretches between Decatur and Springfield. Reports show Shackelford, a small business owner from Rochester, had $11,000 in his account after raising $16,666 during the quarter.
Shackelford is trying to make Scherer’s fundraising an issue on the campaign trail. On Tuesday, he has scheduled a press conference with GOP state Reps. Adam Brown of Decatur and Bill Mitchell of Forsyth to highlight Madigan’s financial influence in the race, which includes paying for a direct mail campaign and other big ticket expenditures.
* Rep. Mitchell had $141,907.78 in his campaign fund at the end of the third quarter. He has no opposition in the general election. As of now, Rep. Mitchell hasn’t contributed a dime to Shackelford’s campaign.
The reason that the House Republicans didn’t put any money into this race is because of that expenditure Bernie reported…
Schackelford’s only disclosed large donation from the House Republican Organization since July was $5,100 worth of telephone polling
That polling expenditure was reported on August 24th. After that, no more money was spent on Shackleford until this month.
What does that tell you?
Well, it’s kinda obvious. When you see that somebody paid for a poll and then that somebody doesn’t spend any more money, it’s a pretty good sign that the poll wasn’t exactly favorable.
* Let me make this clear. I don’t blame the HGOPs for not playing there. It’s a Democratic-leaning district and their candidate just hasn’t yet gotten any traction. They have other candidates in relatively close races who have worked very hard and deserve the cash a whole lot more. If I had to bet money, I’d say the recent Shackleford mailer was likely the SJ-R endorsement. That’ll help, but it won’t be nearly enough.
So, if Reps. Mitchell and Brown show up at that press conference without large checks in hand, their presser should be treated for what it is. Empty whining.
* But, hey, I suppose the press conference is not a bad idea. If you have no money, you try to get publicity. And the easiest way to get publicity Downstate is to fear-monger about Mike Madigan.
One way of getting around the state’s new campaign contribution caps law is by forming a lot of different campaign committees. State law forbids people from forming more than one committee (except for independent expenditures, political parties and state legislative leaders), but nothing in the law prevents “friends” and allies from forming their own committees to receive and give money.
For example, House Republican Leader Tom Cross has his own PAC, Citizens to Elect Tom Cross, his allowed “caucus” PAC, the House Republican Leadership Committee, and also appears to control or at least influence four other committees: Illinois Crossroads PAC, Citizens to Change Illinois, the Illinois House Victory Fund and the Move Illinois Forward PAC.
Before we go any further, let me stress that none of this appears to be illegal. The House Republicans don’t deny they’re doing this, with one official saying that they even include these campaign accounts in the presentations they give to large donors.
The point here is not to say that somebody is doing something wrong. It’s to show that if somebody wants to contribute money, they’ll find a way. State law caps the dollar amount that campaign committees can both give and receive, so multiple funds means contributors can give more money and the various funds can then, in turn, give out more cash.
The state’s contribution cap law is just not very good at what it’s supposed to do. In fact, the law makes it more difficult to track donors, because we have to look up so many different angles. I happened to stumble upon these House Republican committees, for example, while casually looking up contributions made by Jack Roeser.
The Illinois Crossroads PAC was formed in January, but reported collecting no contributions until July. It has since received more than $40,000 from Cross’ personal committee, plus two $10,000 contributions from Otto Engineering, a company owned by conservative activist and GOP fundraiser Jack Roeser. Walmart kicked in another $10,000, and energy magnate Gerald Forsythe contributed $5,000. Residual Based Finance Corp. contributed $2,500. The PAC has reported receiving $82,500 so far this cycle, and has contributed $70,000 to the Illinois Republican Party.
Citizens to Change Illinois was formed back in 2007, years before the caps were implemented. Its treasurer is a longtime aide to Cross. The PAC had just $22,000 in the bank at the end of June, but then money started coming in the next month, totaling $67,500, including two $10,000 checks from Roeser’s company, $10K from Walmart, $5k from Gerald Forsythe and $2,500 from Residual Based Finance Corp. $60,000 of the money raised since June 30th has already been contributed, with $35,000 going to the state Republican Party and the rest going to House GOP candidates.
The Illinois House Victory Fund is controlled directly by Cross. It was formed way back in 2004, but it had just a bit over $20,000 in the bank as of June 30th. So far, it’s received the usual two $10,000 checks from Roeser’s Otto Engineering and the $2,500 from Residual Based Finance Corp. All of the contributions it has made so far have gone to a handful of House Republican candidates.
Move Illinois Forward PAC, based in Oswego (which is in Cross’ district), was formed several years ago, but it had only $15K in the bank at the end of June. Since then, Otto has contributed $10K, Forsythe contributed $5K and Residual has contributed $2,500. The PAC has so far contributed $25K to Cross’ House Republican Organization and $15K to targeted House GOP candidates.
Again, there doesn’t seem to be anything untoward about these committees or these contributions, at least not at this point. It’s just money finding a way to its intended target. You may hate it, but the truth is that’s just the way of the political world — and of the money world.
It’s also a pretty good demonstration of how a perhaps well-intended law doesn’t perform as promised.
But most of all, it’s further proof that nobody, not even reformers, ought to be crowned as unquestioned experts in this business.
* From a Tribune editorial on House Speaker Michael Madigan and, of course, pensions…
The Capitol he entered in 1971, like the state it governed, was muscular and robust. […]
Madigan’s reaction is to lament, as would a victim, the crises he helped cause — and has the influence to solve. At the federal level, the senatorial Gang of Eight works to avoid a fiscal cliff, and presidential candidates clash over debt. In Illinois, Madigan and his fellow leaders haven’t had significant talks about their pension debacle in months.
* The Tribune really needs to bone up on its Illinois history, at least regarding pensions. Here’s a chart showing the pension systems based on percent they were funded from 1968 through 2011…
You can click the pic for a larger image. If you still can’t see the funding ratio for the early seventies, here you go…
So, in 1971, right as Madigan took office, the pension systems were being blatantly ignored.
Now, that’s not to say that other aspects of the state budget were worse then than they are now. It’s just that the Tribune has always acted as if this pension funding problem is somehow new. It’s not. As I’ve told you before, this problem goes back more than half a century.
* The Tribune’s latest poll has a plurality of Illinoisans opposing the gaming expansion bill that Gov. Quinn recently vetoed…
The survey results show growing opposition to new casinos and video slots at horse racing tracks, contrasting sharply with a similar poll conducted in February. The latest poll findings also appear to show that voters back Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to veto the legislature’s latest gambling expansion bill in August.
Lawmakers have twice approved measures to allow five new gambling palaces for Chicago, Rockford, Danville, the south suburbs and Park City in Lake County, but Quinn has raised many concerns to block the measures.
The poll found 47 percent oppose the gambling expansion plan, while 43 percent approve of it. Those numbers are turned around from February, when a survey showed 50 percent of voters statewide approved of the gambling expansion plan while 42 percent disapproved.
In the new survey, almost half of Chicago residents, 49 percent, opposed the gambling expansion proposal, while 40 percent supported it.
Respondents were not told what the money from expanded gaming would be used for, but whatever. It is what it is.
* Meanwhile, as Penn National fights against gaming expansion and slots at tracks to protect its Joliet and St. Louis casinos, the company is making the exact opposite argument in Maryland…
Election Day – Nov. 6 – could very well be doomsday for a Maryland horse racing establishment.
That’s how officials of Rosecroft Raceway see it. They predict that if voters approve the referendum on expansion of gaming in the state, it will mean the demise of the 63-year-old raceway.
Karen Bailey, director of public affairs for Penn National Gaming [PNG], owner of Rosecroft, said that they’re being squeezed out of consideration to develop a new casino in Prince George’s County if the measure passes, which will likely force the track to close.
“Rosecroft is not going to have a fair shot,” said Bailey. “In order for us to stay open, we need to add gaming.”
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is interested in introducing a special gambling tax on video poker and slot machines, to the tune of $800 per machine, as part of her larger budget proposal this week, the Sun-Times has learned.
In a brief phone call with the Sun-Times, Preckwinkle confirmed that she’s examining a gambling tax, including on the poker machines, but declined to provide specifics beyond that. […]
Zack Stamp, a lobbyist for the Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association, had no problem commenting on such a proposal.
“I don’t know if they can legally do that,” said Stamp.
“These businesses have made a substantial investment in this equipment with an understanding somewhat of what the tax target is going to be, but if you’re going to come back in and lop something like this on top of them, it’s just another hurdle to get a return on their investment,” said Stamp.
State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, a champion of gambling expansion, also said he was surprised.
“I find it ironic that the same County Board that prohibited video gaming in unincorporated areas of the county has decided to make some money off of the video gaming devices where they can’t prohibit them,” Lang said. “I find it unusual and interesting.”
Lang said he was most concerned that an additional $800 charge per machine could eat into additional revenue bars and restaurants would use to improve their businesses and hire more employees.
“This additional tax on games might have a chilling effect on economic growth and jobs within Cook County,” Lang said.
* Related…
* September revenue dips 1 percent at St. Louis area casinos: Casino Queen in East St. Louis saw its revenue fall 5.5 percent last month to $10.3 million compred with September 2011. The Casino Queen’s revenue had risen 8 percent in August 2012 compared to the prior year’s month. Argosy Alton saw its September revenue fall 5.1 percent to $5.6 million compared with the same month last year. Argosy’s revenue had risen 9 percent in August compared with August 2011.
* New video gambling machines start to go live at area businesses
* Video Poker Collection Timeline Unclear: The Illinois Gaming Board says it’s also processing applications from more than 2,200 businesses interested in running video poker machines.
* This 15-second pause while Congresswoman Judy Biggert attempts to ask a question of Democratic challenger Bill Foster is just downright painful to sit through…
When the candidates were given the opportunity to grill each other, Biggert stumbled for 15 seconds before asking a half-formed question.
“I wanna know how you are going to, uh – solve the, uh, campaign finance…”
“ – problem,” finished Foster, who then went on to say that outside spending by super PACs and other groups is “one of the biggest threats to our democracy.”
Asked afterward why it seemed so difficult to come up with the question, Biggert suggested she wasn’t comfortable going on the attack.
“I had a question and I just couldn’t remember what it was,” she said. “I just didn’t think that this was the way I wanna be. I don’t like sending out anything like [negative ads]. … But it’s what people respond to, and I think that’s a shame.”
* Biggert press release…
“Judy Biggert won today’s debate on the facts and on temperament, while demonstrating her command of the issues and commitment to the 11th District,” said campaign manager Mike Lukach. “In contrast, and in a desperate attempt to distract from his record of layoffs at Electronic Theatre Controls, former Congressman Foster ran from the fact that his company closed the deal for their new headquarters just weeks after laying off ten percent of their workforce, and broke ground just months later.”
“Millionaire former Congressman Foster owes the voters of the 11th District an apology for his distortions and falsehoods, and for hypocritically calling for higher taxes while paying no federal income taxes himself last year. Those watching today’s debate have been reminded why the voters fired Bill Foster in 2010.”
* Foster’s spin…
Today Congresswoman Judy Biggert refused to back down from her support of the Ryan budget that she voted for twice that would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit, force seniors to pay more for their prescriptions immediately, and increase health care costs for future seniors by $6400. Congresswoman Biggert had no explanation for her votes to raise taxes on middle class families by $2700. After 30 years in politics, Congresswoman Biggert is more concerned about the profits of billionaires and corporations than the health of the middle class.
“Today Congresswoman Biggert stood by her vote to take away Medicare’s guaranteed benefit for seniors and raise taxes on the middle class,” said Bill Foster. “The Ryan/Biggert budget would force seniors to pay more for their prescriptions and leave future seniors with $6400 in additional costs, while also increasing taxes on middle class families by $2700. By voting for the Ryan budget, and continuing to support it, Congresswoman Biggert chose to protect tax breaks for insurance companies, billionaires, and Wall Street, while squeezing out the middle class.”
Congresswoman Biggert defended the Ryan budget this morning at a taped debate hosted by the League of Women Voters and ABC7 Chicago, which will air on Sunday Morning after This Week with George Stephanopoulos. The next debate was scheduled for Tuesday evening, but Congresswoman Biggert canceled her appearance at the AARP forum, refusing to explain her position to concerned seniors.
* Democrat Ron Stradt hasn’t raised much money for his Sangamon County State’s Attorney race. He spent less than $11K in the last quarter and had less than $6K on hand at the end of September. As of this writing, his GOP opponent, an appointed incumbent, hadn’t filed his quarterly report, but his previous report showed he had far more cash than Stradt.
So what does an underfunded and definite underdog do? Try to create as much of a stir as possible, of course…
Stradt, obviously hoping to do something different to wrest the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office away from the GOP, is also running a radio ad in which a conversation between a man and a woman includes how Stradt wants to empanel a grand jury to investigate misconduct of state legislators.
“With broken promises to state employees, he can start with Madigan and Quinn,” it says.
That refers to Democrats including Gov. PAT QUINN.
One participant in the ad wonders if Stradt is a Democrat, and the other says he is “a conservative Democrat for concealed carry” who will “clean up the Statehouse.”
* Over the years, local state’s attorneys have stayed as far away from the Statehouse as they could. Incumbent John Milhiser, for instance, refused to get involved after Sen. Mike Jacobs allegedly punched Sen. Kyle McCarter on the Senate floor. Most CapitolFax.com readers agreed with the decision, as did the SJ-R…
Cheers to Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser for introducing some common sense into a situation that never should have come across his desk. Milhiser said last week that no criminal charges will be filed as the result of an incident between Sens. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, and Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, on the Senate floor during the last hours of the spring legislative session. McCarter accused Jacobs of striking him following debate on a bill for which Jacobs’ father, former state Sen. Denny Jacobs, had lobbied. Whether it was a poke, shove or punch, this was not a police matter and should have been resolved accordingly.
But corruption is another story. I’m curious if you think local state’s attorneys should get involved in this stuff.
Amendment 49 on the November ballot in Illinois is cleverly drafted to concentrate more monetary power in the same Springfield legislative leaders who have de facto bankrupted the Illinois Treasury. With $83 billion in projected liabilities, Illinois has the nation’s largest state budget crisis.
Amendment 49 is crafted to strip local governments and voters of current decision-making prerogatives and transfer those decisions to Springfield.
Among other subterfuges, Amendment 49 overrules and destroys the Illinois Constitutional protection against eliminating or reducing earned benefits, such as pensions for state retirees who by state law cannot receive Social Security and, in many instances, cannot receive Medicaid.
Furthermore, thousands of elderly retirees and current state employees were mandated by Illinois law to pay into Illinois retirement systems and then were legally prohibited from having Social Security.
Amendment 49 contains more words than the entire first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution — the Bill of Rights. The obvious intent of the verbose Amendment 49 is to hide its true impacts from voters in a 700-word avalanche of unnecessary and deceptive words.
Marketing experts know that few voters will read beyond the benign first sentences and that voters will be inclined to vote “yes” in that benign spirit. While the voters may wish to vote to concentrate more monetary power in Springfield leadership, they should not be tricked into misdirecting their votes and eliminating their current constitutional safeguards by the confusing 700 words in Amendment 49.
For example, hidden in the “last sentence” is the new constitutional provision: “(d) Nothing in this Section shall prevent the passage or adoption of any law, ordinance, resolution, rule, policy or practice that further restricts the ability to provide a ‘benefit increase,’ ‘emolument increase,’ or ‘beneficial determination’ as those terms are used under this Section.”
Thus, Amendment 49 overrules the current Constitutional safeguard known as the “non-impairment provision” in Article XIII, sec. 5, of the Illinois Constitution.
As confirmed by expert memoranda — for example, the State Universities Annuitants Association memoranda (at www.suaa.org, June 8, 2012) — Amendment 49 was drafted outside normal processes, including the Springfield Legislative Reference Bureau.
Among other problems for local taxpayers, the language overriding the “non-impairment provision” was added at virtually the last minute as the “last sentence” hidden at the end of 700 words.
Amendment 49 has also been disguised with various monikers including “HCA49” and “HJRCA49,” and it was originally floated by Speaker Michael Madigan’s office as “Amendment 5.”
Instead of concentrating more power in Springfield’s legislative leadership, taxpayers should consider simply rejecting Amendment 49 as just more deceptive legislative legerdemain.
* Kindt uses a heckuva lot of scare tactics in the piece. That gibberish about the proposal having different names is just whacky talk, for instance. There is no such a thing as “HCA49.” HJRCA49 is the actual, legal legislative name. Amendment 49 is short-hand.
* But what really irked me was how Kindt cited a bit of language and then declared that it overrules the Constitution’s non-impairment provision without any explanation whatsoever.
“Legal counsel for the We Are One Illinois coalition of unions does not share the view that (the amendment) threatens existing constitutional pension protections,” said AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall.
Until the opposition comes up with actual legal reasoning behind this claim, I just can’t buy into it.
Democrat Tammy Duckworth went on the attack against Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh on Friday, airing a TV ad calling attention to what she said were his extreme views on abortion.
The half-minute commercial, which appears to target female voters who might be more likely to support abortion rights, features a repeated video clip of Walsh saying, “I am pro-life without exception.”
A Walsh campaign spokesman did not directly respond to a question asking Walsh’s stance on abortion, but the congressman previously has indicated that he opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest.
Duckworth supports abortion rights. In an email Friday, Duckworth said she does not “support any restrictions on a woman’s right to choose or her access to safe, affordable reproductive health services.”
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s campaign finances are the subject of a federal probe after the congressman allegedly improperly used campaign money to decorate his home, according to a new report.
The Chicago Sun-Times on Friday first reported that Jackson was under federal investigation, a probe that began before he took a leave from Congress in June to seek medical help. Ultimately, the Jacksons said he suffered from bipolar depression.
The Sun-Times reported that the investigation was being handled out of Washington D.C. and was an entirely new area of scrutiny and did not involve the sale of the U.S. Senate seat — a case involving Rod Blagojevich where Jackson’s name repeatedly came up. Spokespeople representing Jackson were not talking on Sunday.
The probe prompted lawyers for Jackson to meet with federal prosecutors this week in an attempt to persuade them not to indict the congressman.
The sources said it was unclear whether Jackson, who has not been seen in his office for months, would be charged before the November election — a subject that was discussed between Jackson’s lawyers and the prosecutors this week. Jackson’s lawyers urged the prosecutors not to file charges before the election — but prosecutors refused to make any commitments, the sources familiar with the meeting said.
