* Charles Thomas is at today’s court hearing on Gov. Pat Quinn’s legislative salary veto, so let’s follow him. Gov. Quinn is in attendance and I’ll be posting what I’m hearing from somebody else who is there.
Watch the hearing unfold…
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State senator takes “SNAP Challenge”
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* All respect…
State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) is taking the SNAP Challenge this week to better understand the hardships faced by food stamp recipients. The SNAP Challenge, sponsored by the Greater Chicago Food Depository, invites elected officials, community leaders and others to spend only $35 on food for a week – the average weekly SNAP benefit for a single adult.
“I’m taking on this challenge to educate myself about the struggles poor families face when trying to put food on the table,” said Collins, a member of the Commission on the Elimination of Poverty. “With some members of Congress questioning the necessity of SNAP benefits, it’s important to draw attention to the barely adequate but still critical lifeline food stamps represent for the poor in Illinois.”
SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps – provides benefits to more than 820,000 Cook County residents and 47 million people nationwide. The average individual SNAP recipient in Illinois receives just $35 each week to spend on food. SNAP Challenge participants are asked to eat only food they have purchased using the $35 available for the week, include food purchased at restaurants and avoid accepting free food.
“Every day, low-income individuals and families must make heart-wrenching decisions between buying food or medicine, or between paying the rent or paying a doctor’s bill,” Collins said. “It’s a privilege to stand with ‘the least of these,’ even in a small and symbolic way, and challenge the apathy that consigns them to the margins of our awareness.”
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, a network of 650 food pantries throughout the Chicago region, distributes food to 678,000 individuals each year while offering training programs that help break the cycle of poverty.
The Food Depository estimates that in order to compensate for the five percent cut in SNAP benefits proposed by some members of Congress, its pantries would have to increase the amount of food they provide by 50 percent.
I simply can’t imagine living on that tiny food allowance.
And, as far as I’m concerned, all those legislators who are constantly complaining about the cost of the food stamp program really ought to take this challenge. Walk a mile in the shoes of someone less fortunate for a change.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A text message from a very good friend…
you’ll get a kick out of this. [Hillary Clinton] is the keynote speaker for this charity luncheon im at. She just took a swipe at Pat Quinn- who is here- and called him the luckiest politician in the world. The room erupted in laughter.
* The Question: How would you describe Gov. Pat Quinn’s luck?
…Adding… A text from the governor’s office…
From someone sitting in that same room - not me - “it was NOT a swipe - it was friendly! She said she loves working with the Governor and looks forward to continuing to work with him in the future.”
OK, but it’s still funny.
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* Tom Cross officially announced for state treasurer today. From an e-mail to supporters…
State law requires we have a balanced budget, yet the gimmicks legislators and Governor’s have used over the past decade have resulted in the nation’s worst budget deficit and over $7 billion in unpaid bills.
It’s not fair to taxpayers and it has to stop.
On day one, I will let the legislature and Governor know that I will use all the powers available to me under the Constitution, including legal action, to enforce the state’s balanced budget requirement.
Taxpayers deserve no less.
That’s not a bad idea. The attorney general has said that if the Legislature passes a budget that it considers to be balanced, then it satisfies the constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, even if the House Speaker himself admitted publicly that the budget wasn’t balanced. Remember this from 2010?…
A more activist approach to this question would be welcomed.
* WLS AM…
Cross jumped in promising to be a different kind of state treasurer.
“I think the conventional time and the conventional day, the conventional wisdom of the treasurer’s over here just watching the books like Mr. Drysdale did for the Clampets is over!” Cross said.
Now Cross is not without a primary challenger. DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan is also running.
“I’m a CPA and a certified fraud examiner and Tom is an attorney!” [Grogan] said.
* Perhaps Mr. Grogan, CPA, should audit his grammar before posting on Facebook…
I want welcome Tom Cross the the race for State Treasurer. I know this office was not his first choice, but I look forward to a spirited debate.
I doubt he’s gonna get much debate unless he can show he can actually run a real campaign. So far, he hasn’t.
…Adding… Grogan updated his page…
I want to thank Rich Miller of CapitolFax for pointing out that, in my prior post, spellcheck put an extra “the” instead of the word “to”. If I only had free help from HRO staff as I was starting my campaign my posts might read more like they were written by a lawyer and less like a CPA.
I want welcome Tom Cross to the race for State Treasurer. I know this office was not his first choice, but I look forward to a spirited debate.
And he still makes a mistake.
Hilarious.
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One primary does not a Democrat make
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Taken alone, this is not a big deal. How many decades did Ronald Reagan register as a Democrat before switching to the GOP, for instance?
Tom Kacich reports…
Although he voted in Republican primaries at other times, [Republican GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner] took a Democratic ballot in the 2006 primary election.
As Kacich reports, Rauner took the Democratic ballot to vote for Forrest Claypool, who was running against John Stroger for county board president. Claypool was, and is, a darling of the Chicago monied elite. They also backed his doomed independent campaign against Joe Berrios for county assessor.
So, again, this ain’t a big dealio taken by itself. Lots of bigtime, GOP-leaning money bags took “D” ballots in ‘06 to back Claypool.
* The problem becomes when you add it to Rauner’s coziness with Rahm Emanuel and his campaign contributions to other Democrats.
In the general election, that’s not a real issue (except for the pay to play allegations regarding Gov. Rendell). But in a primary, GOP voters (and Democrats, for that matter) tend to prefer purity.
* So, taken as a whole, this is just one more bit of “evidence” that can be used to paint Rauner as a “closet Democrat” - if, that is, anybody finally raises the money to go after the guy.
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*** UPDATE *** Alexi Giannoulias responded this morning to the NBC 5 story about how he’s considering a bid for governor…
“Ain’t happening. My life is great right now, Quinn’s my friend, and frankly I think it’s too late for anyone serious to get in anyway.
“Ahern’s correct: I’ve gotten calls, but I imagine that the folks who called me are probably calling others as well. Flattered, but no interest. I do, however, miss Springfield and especially the folks in the treasurer’s office dearly.”
So, let’s put that goofy rumor to rest once and for all, shall we?
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* NBC 5…
With Democrat Bill Daley out as a candidate for governor, who might be in?
NBC 5 has learned that some Democratic insiders not satisfied with Gov. Pat Quinn are reaching out to others, including former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
Also on the wish list is Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as well as perhaps a newcomer — a business man or woman.
While there are concerns it may be too late even though the official filing isn’t until December 1, Giannoulias is said to be at least entertaining the idea.
Yeah. Another banker. And a bank that failed, to boot. That’ll work.
I’ve reached out to Giannoulias via voicemail, text and e-mail, but haven’t heard back. I’ll let you know if he responds.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been asked by some folks to write stories encouraging others to run, including about Alexi and Dan Hynes. But I’ve told everybody that unless I hear from those guys directly, I’m not gonna write anything beyond what’s being reported already.
That was my rule with Kwame Raoul. We talked, he was clearly interested, I thought he could pull it off, so I wrote about it.
* Meanwhile, the folks who already decided not to run aren’t changing their minds…
Lisa Madigan, who is seeking re-election as attorney general, said Tuesday that she is not reconsidering her decision to bypass a run against Quinn.
“My decision was based on nothing else to do but my own considerations, not those of any other potential candidates in the race,” she said.
Democratic state Sen. Kwame Raoul of Chicago, who also had weighed a primary challenge to Quinn, said he was not reconsidering. Raoul indicated his decision was due to a variety of factors, not simply whether the primary would have been “a three-way or a two-way race.”
* Related…
* Is Bill Daley back in frame as possible Ambassador to Ireland?
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Why isn’t there more coverage of this story?
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fox Chicago ran a story this week about a man who spent 14 months in Cook County Jail after being busted for violating a state Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon law that was recently tossed out by the Illinois Supreme Court. A total of twenty people are being released from Cook County’s lockup in the wake of the ruling and another 60 will have charges dropped.
From the story…
Edward Hambrick has already spent more time behind bars at the Cook County Jail than some who’ve been convicted of violent crimes. His case began 26 months ago, when he said he left Pierre, South Dakota, where he’d been working as a computer programmer, to return to his native Englewood for a 20th high school class reunion.
Hambrick was staying at his mother’s house. Law enforcement sources told FOX 32 News it’s on a block controlled by a faction of the Black P Stone street gang. While his South Dakota license plates might have drawn attention, Chicago police said they stopped Hambrick on 79th Street because he wasn’t using his truck’s seat belt. That’s when an officer found his loaded, .45 caliber Taurus handgun and two magazines with 10 rounds each.
“‘Whose gun is that in the car?’ I said, ‘It’s mine.’ He said, ‘Well, why do you have a gun?’ I said, ‘For the same reason you have a gun, to protect myself,’” Hambrick says, describing his conversation with the cop.
Hambrick said he showed the police his Illinois Firearm Owner’s ID card, as well as a concealed carry permit valid in South Dakota. Precisely because he’d grown up on the bloody streets of Englewood, he said, he felt he needed a gun to protect himself. Hambrick, who said he once belonged to the National Rifle Association, admits he became belligerent as he then addressed the alleged shortcomings of Chicago’s gun laws.
“He said, ‘Well, Chicago has this ordinance that bans guns and you can’t have a loaded weapon, blah, blah, blah,’” Hambrick recalls. “I said, ‘Officer, did you take an oath to the constitution?’ He said, ‘Yes. We all did.’ ‘So, right now you’re violating your oath and you’re violating my rights.’ They subsequently ignored all that and arrested me for Aggravated UUW.”
It’s that charge, aggravated unauthorized use of a weapon for personal possession, that the State Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last week. That’s why a spokeswoman said State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez will send assistant prosecutors into courtrooms Tuesday asking to dismiss AUUW charges against about 80 defendants, including 20 or so like Hambrick who couldn’t bond out and are in County Jail.
The 40-year old Hambrick said he wouldn’t plead guilty even to a lesser charge because it would instantly end his career in information technology.
So, isn’t the release of this guy an admission by State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez that people who have a valid FOID card and aren’t committing any other felonies can now carry loaded, concealed guns in Cook County?
Either way, I’m still amazed that the recent ILSCt ruling hasn’t managed to generate more interest from the Chicago media. Baffling, even.
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Today’s quote
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sneed talked to Bill Daley…
◆ Sneed: “I’m told you think Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, who is close to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, could win?”
◆ Daley: “I do think Bruce Rauner is the strongest candidate.”
Of course he does. The two have serious partisan differences, of course, but overall they’re ideological soul mates.
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* So far, at least, Bill Daley’s exit from the Democratic primary is not prompting the Republican candidates to focus their attacks on Gov. Pat Quinn. Instead, they’ve used the occasion to mostly attack each other. Bill Brady…
According to Brady, both Rauner and Dillard have so-called RINO problems to overcome. For Rauner, it’s his association with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“80 percent of those polled by a We Ask America poll say that if they know you were supportive of Rahm Emanuel, meaning Bruce Rauner, it’s a non-starter. They won’t support you as a Republican candidate for governor,” Brady said. […]
Brady said Dillard’s main problem with Republican voters will be his past support for President Obama, appearing in a television ad for Obama during his 2008 campaign. However, Dillard’s quotes in the ad praised then Senator Obama for his ability to work in a bi-partisan way, as well as his negotiation skills.
While more and more voters wish that legislators could work in a bi-partisan manner, Brady thinks party lines supercede that desire, and Dillard’s appearance will hurt him in the race.
“These folks have compromised in ways that [Republican voters] can’t accept.”
* Kirk Dillard…
“It’s very clear that Mr. Rauner is now, especially with Bill Daley out, that Bruce Rauner would be Mr. Emanel’s choice,” Dillard said. “I think you want someone who’s independent from the Mayor of Chicago. We have major battles going on over school funding, funding of the Regional Transportation Authority and I have a respectful and good-working relationship with the Mayor of Chicago, but I’m not in his inner circle as is Bruce Rauner.”
Dillard went on, “I believe that for a Republican nominee, that closeness to Rahm Emanuel - the guy who made Rahm Emanuel rich by giving him tens of millions of dollars right after he left the Clinton administration - that is not a healthy governmental relationship for a Republican governor.” […]
As for Bill Brady, “he proved last time - in 2010 - he was unelectable and it hasn’t gotten easier for him this time,” Dillard said.
* But Bruce Rauner did stick to the subject of Quinn…
“We’re the worst run state in America. And it’s all about lack of leadership, all about lack of driving results. Quinn, clearly — worst governor in America. The good news for us is, it doesn’t look like he’s such a crook he’s going to jail.”
* In another interview, Dan Rutherford merely repeated his claims that he was the only candidate who could win in November. And Dillard did get in an anti-Quinn line…
Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard said, We know Pat Quinn … 12 credit downgradings by Wall Street, an economy that is the second worst in America … he is a completely ineffective leader.”
Coverage follows conflict, and whacking each other is a surefire way of getting into the newspapers and on TV. Expect more of it.
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Hearing today on lawmaker pay
Wednesday, Sep 18, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* AP…
A Cook County Circuit Court judge was expected to hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to stop lawmakers from being paid until they agree on how to deal with Illinois’ nearly $100 billion public pension problem.
House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton sued after Quinn used his line-item veto earlier this summer to cut money for legislators’ salaries from the state budget. They contend that their fellow Chicago Democrat’s actions were unconstitutional and violated the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.
The lawmakers have asked Judge Neil Cohen to order paychecks to be issued. Cohen set oral arguments for Wednesday. It was unclear if he planned to rule immediately following the hearing or at a later date.
* Tribune…
There are a number of potential outcomes to the hearing before Judge Neil Cohen. He could rule legislators should be paid immediately with back pay. He could rule in favor of lawmakers but put the decision on hold while the governor’s office appeals it. He could stand by Quinn. And Cohen could listen to arguments and take some time to deliberate.
* Bloomberg…
Quinn, in a July 30 statement, called the lawsuit “just plain wrong.”
The governor’s intent shouldn’t be disregarded, his attorneys said in a Sept. 13 court filing. “A line-item veto, after all, is part of a legislative process for which the fulfillment of legislative intent is the primary objective.”
The Legislature maintains the power to override his veto rendering the lawsuit moot, Quinn said in an earlier filing.
The lawmakers disputed Quinn’s assertion their case was merely hypothetical because the legislative process hasn’t run its course.
“This will come as a surprise to the legislators (and their families), who now have not been paid for two months,” Madigan and Cullerton said in a Sept. 6 filing. “Perhaps their banks can issue hypothetical credits to their accounts so that they can write hypothetical checks to pay their very real monthly bills.”
Subscribers have those September filings.
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