Unions launch new nursing home ad
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is not the “killer” ad I’d heard about. That one may be coming next. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll leave comments opened for a few hours tonight so y’all can weigh in…
…Adding… The above ad is not the ad which will run tomorrow on all stations. The spot above had to be edited to remove a reference to NBC after a legal row over at ABC 7.
…Adding more… Here’s the script for the ad which will be aired everywhere but on WLS…
Narrator: Bruce Rauner says;
Bruce Rauner: “We’re going to Springfield and run Illinois like a business “
Narrator: But NBC reports Rauner’s business operated nursing homes where residents died from abuse and neglect.
Narrator: Arlene Townsend. Fell 18 times.
Narrator: Juanita Jackson. Suffered from malnutrition and dehydration.
Narrator: Elvira Nunziata. Strapped to her wheelchair. Fell downstairs. Not found for almost an hour.
Narrator: Court after court awarded more than $1 billion to victims’ families.
Rauner: “We’re going to run Illinois like a business “
Narrator: Hasn’t Bruce Rauner’s business done enough damage?
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Rothenberg moves governor’s race to “toss up”
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Stu Rothenberg has moved the Illinois governor’s race from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss-Up.” The ratings change was made because of Bruce Rauner’s strengths and Gov. Pat Quinn’s weaknesses…
That doesn’t mean that Quinn can trail in all the polls and win once again. He has four years of incumbency and unpopularity to overcome, and can’t rely on third party candidates getting a sizable chunk of the vote this November. But it should give some pause at projecting Quinn’s demise.
It looks like Rauner successfully navigated the primary but the general election will be another story. His personal resources will be an asset but he has shown some vulnerability as a first-time candidate. Rauner’s critics point out his multiple stances on a minimum wage increase as a good example. And Democrats are likely to try and portray Rauner as the Illinois version of Mitt Romney — a wealthy Republican who is out of touch with regular people. Rauner has multiple homes and has already been criticized for trying to get his daughter into a exclusive charter school.
Quinn has been a political survivor. He looked like a loser in 2010 and won. He looked like he couldn’t get out of the Democratic primary this year and cleared the field. Quinn shouldn’t be counted out. That said, the governor’s poor job approval numbers can’t be ignored, and we have growing doubts about his re-election prospects. Because of that, we are changing our rating of the race slightly from Lean Democrat to Toss-Up.
Quinn trailed badly in most polls before the 2010 election day because most pollsters weren’t including all the third party candidates in their surveys. The ones who did include everybody had a much more accurate read of what was really going on. I hammered pollsters for weeks in the run-up to election day back then after I figured out what was happening. Yes, Quinn won when by all rights (huge GOP landslide year) he maybe should’ve lost, but the election was only a lot closer than most predicted because their data was garbage.
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Rate Rauner’s new attack ads
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bruce Rauner’s campaign is up on the air with some hard-hitting 15-second TV ads against two of his three opponents. First up, Sen. Kirk Dillard, who “was a registered lobbyist while he was a legislator.” Rate it…
* Next up, Sen. Bill Brady, who voted for tax hikes and pay raises, according to the ad. “Less money for you, more for him.” Rate it as well…
Two recent polls have shown either Dillard or Brady (depending on the poll) bumping up a bit. These two ads appear designed to bring them both down a notch as we await what is billed as a new, killer ad by the Rauner-hating unions.
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Question of the day
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Gatehouse Media…
Cold and allergy medicines containing a key ingredient used to make methamphetamine would become available by prescription only under newly introduced legislation intended to thwart production of the illicit stimulant.
State Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, has introduced a measure that would make pseudoephedrine a schedule III controlled substance in a joint effort with police to curb meth labs.
Senate Bill 3502, which would amend the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to include ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, has been referred to the Assignments Committee.
“We think it’s going to be a game changer in Illinois for meth,” Pekin police Chief Greg Nelson said Wednesday at a meeting for the Peoria Multi-County Narcotics Enforcement Group (P-MEG) policy board. “Pseudoephedrine is the only required ingredient to make meth.”
Right now, in order to buy pseudoephedrine customers have to give their names and records have to be kept. The products are also not displayed on public shelves, but kept behind the counter.
* The Question: Should the availability of pseudoephedrine be changed to prescription only? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey solution
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Today’s quotable
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn has launched a national search to try and correct his completely botched appointment of the resigned-in-a-huff DCFS head Arthur Bishop. This quote is spot on, but not exactly a ringing endorsement of Quinn’s reelection chances…
State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, who chairs the House Appropriations-Human Resources Committee, said it’s important that Quinn’s next pick for DCFS boss be given a chance to run the agency long-term — regardless of whether Quinn loses the November election to a Republican.
“The right person would be the right person — whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a Whig or a Tory,” Harris said.
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Rate the new ad
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of Bruce Rauner’s new TV ads…
I’ve heard there was another ad that specifically targets his three opponents by name. Still trying to get ahold of it.
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A changed man?
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Looks like an opposition research dump to me…
U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis, who cites his successful push to raise Illinois’ speed limit as the top accomplishment of his first year as a state lawmaker, has been ticketed for speeding 11 times since 1988, according to public records.
On average, that’s a ticket every 2.4 years, which is more than I’ve had, but I assume he can afford the higher insurance rates.
By the way, I decided earlier this year to label all oppo I receive as such.
* Meanwhile, a refresher to set up something else…
Oberweis drew fire in his 2004 run for the Senate after TV ads showed him flying over Soldier Field in a helicopter and asserting that enough “illegal aliens” cross the border and steal jobs to fill the stadium every week. Also during that campaign, his dairy aired a TV ad that showcased him in the weeks before the primary. It led to a $21,000 fine from the Federal Election Commission, which called the ad an unreported corporate contribution. […]
Though the assertion in the Soldier Field ad was disputed, Oberweis in an interview stood by his math but acknowledged, “We did a lousy job in the commercial.” As for the doctored headlines, he said his campaign manager had placed the ad and it was “pulled immediately” when he learned of the inaccuracies.
* The something else…
State Sen. Jim Oberweis, a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the March 18 primary, says he favors a pathway to citizenship for children brought into the United States illegally by their parents.
“In this country, we try not to blame children for acts of their parents,” Oberweis told the editorial board of The State Journal-Register.
He said that for parents who did break the law, “I do not believe that we should provide amnesty.”
But, he added, “We don’t want to break up families. My … suggestion is that we look at a non-immigrant visa which would allow them … to be here legally. However, it would not provide them with a path to citizenship.” He also said such adults should pay Social Security and Medicare taxes while working, but they should not automatically get such entitlements.
“That’s the cost for breaking the law, in effect,” he said.
That’s what you call political evolution.
* Other stuff…
* At Issue: Jim Oberweis
* U.S. Rep. Schock endorses Truax in GOP primary race to unseat Dick Durbin
* Oberweis bringing three-restaurants-in-one concept to Bolingbrook
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* Bernie has a great column this week about Bruce Rauner’s refusal to be specific about… well… darned near everything. He goes back to June with an exchange about the power of public employee unions…
“We need to modify their power,” [Rauner] said. When asked how, he said, “I won’t go into it today. We’ve got a detailed plan on it.”
I mentioned that it sounded like legislative approval would be needed.
“We have a plan,” he said. “We’ll talk about that another day.”
* On education…
I asked if he would want vouchers to be usable at religion-based schools.
“We’ll get to that plan later,” he said with a laugh.
* On pensions…
I asked if it would be unconstitutional to make current workers change midstream, given that the Illinois Constitution doesn’t allow “diminished or impaired” pension benefits.
“Absolutely not,” he said, “We’re not taking away anything done historically. … I’ve talked to top lawyers in the state. Very constitutional.”
* Since many months have passed, Bernie went to see if he could get an update…
[Rauner campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf] this week didn’t provide the name of any of those “top lawyers” or provide clarification on the issues about which I asked.
* Rauner also avoided directly answering many questions in last night’s debate. Coverage roundup…
* Debate video, Part 1
* Debate video, Part 2 [Waiting on valid link]
* Debate video, Part 3
* Debate video, Part 4
* GOP candidate debate takes on feisty tone: From the opening minutes, Sen. Kirk Dillard was particularly aggressive at making personal digs at the other three: Sen. Bill Brady on losing the GOP primary in 2006 and governor’s race in 2010, Treasurer Dan Rutherford on recent allegations of misconduct, and businessman Bruce Rauner for his massive fundraising and television ads that have dominated the airwaves.
* Debates start to heat up: It was Kirk Dillard who punched hardest, saying Rauner’s business associates were crooks. “More business associates from Missouri and Michigan in Federal penitentiaries than we have Governors, and that ought to be a red flag he’s unelectable”.
* GOP candidates for IL governor square off at debate: When asked to comment on Rutherford’s weaknesses as a possible general election candidate, businessman Bruce Rauner would not bite. “I’m not going to answer that question directly,” said Rauner. “I’ve worked very hard in the race not to criticize my Republican opponents.”
* Rivals Rip Rauner in Republican Debate: And Brady also attacked the 6-year-old ad tying Dillard to President Obama. “He’s not a reliable republican,” said Brady.
* Owning assault weapons a right, three GOP candidates say: “We have to be aware that we have major crime problems in Illinois, and we make a mistake when politicians blame gun ownership for our crime problems. There are other issues, it’s not gun ownership,” Rauner said. “Pat Quinn has been a massive failure on crime in Illinois. Crime under Pat Quinn has skyrocketed throughout Illinois — not just Chicago, but in Rockford and many other communities, and we’ve got to take action with restoring our budgets to balance so we properly staff and train our police departments.”
* Rivals rip Rauner in raucous governor debate: Brady said Rauner’s tough talk about using the governor’s executive authority to challenge a Democratic-led General Assembly was “naïve” and threatened gridlock. “He doesn’t know what it’s like to make the legislature work together,” Brady said. “Look at the catastrophe that’s created in Washington, D.C. with Barack Obama dictating by executive order. Mr. Rauner thinks he can do that in Springfield because he doesn’t have the experience.”
* Governor candidates sharpen attacks on eve of early voting: The candidates largely avoided laying out specific plans to address Illinois’ disastrous finances beyond allowing the state’s 2011 tax increase to roll back. Rauner, for example, called for “comprehensive tax reform” and Rutherford said “everything is on the table,” including raising more revenue via taxes.
* GOP candidates talk gay marriage at debate: Republicans running for Illinois governor say they don’t object to gay marriage on a personal level, but they don’t support Illinois’ new same-sex marriage law.
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* There are benefits to representing safe districts and not facing a primary challenge. For instance, you can introduce bills like this without much worry…
State Rep. Jay Hoffman wants to expand Illinois’ speed-camera law so that not just Chicago can install the devices. […]
He said Thursday there weren’t any metro-east municipalities that approached him about wanting speed cameras.
“Some of the school organizations that represent school administrators talked to us about it, for safety purposes,” Hoffman said. “I don’t want to mandate it, but to allow the option statewide, instead of just Chicago. It would just give the option to local school boards and local municipalities, who would have to approve it if they have a safety issue and want these devices.”
The current law allows installation of speed cameras only in a “safety zone” — an area within one-eighth of a mile of a school or public park. It allows a fine up to $100 for a speeding violation.
Peoria, which is far from Hoffman’s district, is apparently interested in the speed cams.
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My Chicago column has moved to Crain’s
Friday, Feb 28, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I hinted at this yesterday, but the always essential Robert Feder has the story…
Rich Miller, the Illinois political reporter, editor, blogger and pundit whose Capitol Fax newsletter has been a must-read among power brokers for more than 20 years, is joining Crain’s Chicago Business as a contributing columnist.
Starting Friday, Miller’s column will appear twice monthly on chicagobusiness.com and eventually will be seen in Crain’s weekly print publication as well.
The move marks a return to Chicago media for Miller, 51, whose eight-year run as a free-lance columnist for the Sun-Times ended in January.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my years writing for the Sun-Times and I’m looking forward to a new challenge with Crain’s,” Miller said Thursday. [Crain’s political columnist] Greg Hinz has been a good friend for a very long time, and his encouragement convinced me that I should embrace this change. So far, I’ve totally enjoyed dealing with the management, and I’m looking forward to the publication of my inaugural column.” […]
When Miller became available, [Crain’s government and politics editor Tom Corfman] and his colleagues at Crain’s didn’t have to think twice. “We looked at each other and said yes right away,” he said. “We’re really grateful for the opportunity.”
* And this is very important to remember…
In addition to his work for Crain’s, Miller will continue to write his daily blog, his premium subscription newsletter and the syndicated newspaper column he distributes free throughout the state.
* My inaugural column is here. I’m not going to excerpt it because I want y’all to go over there and read it. So get to it. The headline is: “What does the far right wing see in Rauner?”
* Crain’s, by the way, endorsed Rauner today. Just to be clear, I have nothing to do with their endorsements.
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Won’t move the needle
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
With less than three weeks before the March 18th GOP gubernatorial primary, Kirk Dillard’s running mate has a new move.
Don Tracy, the brother-in-law to state Rep. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, who is running as Dillard’s lieutenant governor, filed papers this week announcing “Illinoisans for Jil Tracy,” an independent expenditure PAC.
The papers made public today announce that the committee’s purpose is to “support the candidacy of Jil Tracy and Kirk Dillard.”
Rep. Tracy’s family is quite well off, so I called Don this afternoon and he told me his total investment would be “five figures.”
That ain’t enough to do much of anything.
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Many, many thanks!!!
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Thanks to everyone who donated to Special Olympics Chicago on behalf of my really stupid idea to jump in Lake Michigan during this weekend’s Polar Plunge. Here’s the list as of 3:00 this afternoon. I see that my new column editor is at the top…
Tom Corfman, Crain’s Chicago Business $50.00
Elgie Sims $100.00
Pete Dombrowski $50.00
Mike Pollak $50.00
Soccermom $40.00
Chicago Cynic $50.00
Marty Moylan $100.00
David Manning $100.00
Terry Steczo $25.00
Sen. Mike Frerichs $50.00
anonymous $100.00
Heather Steans $200.00
Dan Proft $100.00
Laurie $50.00
Jeff Glass $100.00
Mokenavince $50.00
Frank Calabrese $25.00
Dalai Lama $10.00
Don Moss & Associates $50.00
Nearly Normal $25.00
Cheswick $20.00
Grant Vaught $50.00
Uptown Progressive $50.00
RonOglesby $25.00
Jake From Elwood $30.00
ppanda $25.00
Nadine O’Leary and Josh Potts $100.00
32nd Ward Roscoe Village $50.00
Rep. Lou Lang $100.00
Samurai $50.00
a drop in $50.00
G’kar $25.00
Corvax Louis is trying to kill you $25.00
Glass half full $25.00
Chris Nybo $50.00
David Ormsby $100.00
Chavez-respecting Obamist $25.00
Dean $50.00
Mark Denzler $50.00
Peter A. Quilici $50.00
David McSweeney $100.00
Matt Butterfield $25.00
quicknote $20.00
Nathan Ross $50.00
Louis G. Atsaves $25.00
Anonymous $50.00
Susiejones $20.00
dupage dan $30.00
Kevin Fanning $25.00
lake county democrat $30.00
Y’all pledged a total of $2650. So, I’ll be adding that matching grand later today. We did good. I promised I wouldn’t bug you for more if we reached $2,000, but you can check out the donation page by clicking here - just for your own edification, of course. No donating required.
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Today’s numbers are grim
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press conference announcement…
[Chicago Coalition for the Homeless] ran a statewide survey in December 2013 that asked public school districts and Regional Offices of Education to respond about the level of services reaching children and teens identified as homeless students. Sixty-seven percent responded - 36 of 54 sub-grantees under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Key findings include:
· 52% responded that more than half of their homeless students do not receive needed tutoring or access to preschool.
· 56% said that less than half of homeless students received counseling
· 44% said their staffing capacity to identify and enroll homeless students is limited or very limited
· 21% responded that less than half of homeless students get transportation assistance to get to and from school
The Illinois State Board of Education has proposed to restore $3 million in FY15 state funding for grants to school districts for services to homeless students, but the proposal must still be approved by the Governor and the state legislature. Funding was awarded for only one year, during FY09, though homeless enrollment in schools across Illinois has risen 109% over the past five years.
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* A recent Scott Reeder column was discussed in a Senate Revenue Committee hearing yesterday. The column was about the owner of a small business that was allegedly run out of existence by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The column was headlined “Another small business closed by the Illinois Department of Revenue”…
For 10 days last month, a state auditor camped out at their store – sitting at one of those tiny little children’s tables – reviewing three months of receipts.
And that’s where the problem began.
You see, Ergadoo is the sort of business that has many nonprofits as customers – schools, churches, nurseries.
Those types of organizations don’t have to pay sales taxes.
So, teachers, church secretaries and principals often come in bearing letters from the Illinois Department of Revenue declaring their organizations’ sales tax exemptions.
Susan and her husband dutifully record the transaction – along with their tax exemption number.
Sounds good, right?
Well, no. The Revenue Department says that’s not good enough.
Clause said the Revenue Department told her it’s her store’s responsibility to determine where the customer’s money comes from.
“How am I supposed to prove if someone comes in with a $20 bill and a tax-exempt letter whether that money is from a school’s petty cash fund or someplace else? I can’t. No one can,” Susan said. […]
After examining three months of transactions such as these the auditor declared that the store owed $800 in back sales taxes.
“I told the auditor the state spent more to have you here for 10 days than it will end up collecting,” Susan said.
Then the other shoe dropped.
“We were told the state would plug the findings of the audit into some sort of formula and come up with a tax bill for the last three years. We’re guessing that will be about $8,000.”
After the salaries they drew from their business that is more than the store’s profits for the last two years.
* OK, first of all, small businesses like that one don’t really report “profits.” The money made is converted into salaries and other income, and then taxes are paid on personal income.
Also, check out a statement posted on the company’s Facebook page, which wasn’t so clear…
As many of you already know, in September of 2013, we opened Ergadoozy on the south end of our building. It has taken off with great success and for that we thank everyone who has come by and visited even once! We seem to be booked with parties ahead for 6 weeks and are starting to turn people away. So we are going to expand our play offerings at Ergadoozy come Spring of 2014.
Do to this, we need more room and the only place to get it is from the north end of the building, now housing Ergadoo;the educational supply and toy store. In order to make room for the Ergadoozy additions, we are now discounting the entire store of Ergadoo at 50% off. First come, first served. Anyone is welcome to shop and help clear out the space. […]
We were probably headed to this point eventually, but a recent sales tax audit by the Illinois Department of Revenue will severely change how we would have gone forward with doing business with tax exempt organizations. We would rather leave the marketplace with our good name than get caught up in the burdensome details of the state taxing system.
* It’s not good at all that IDoR was camped out at her store. And the decisions about whom to give the non-profit exemptions are, indeed, not so self-evident. A good CPA would’ve probably cleared all that up.
But, while IDoR’s allegedly excessive actions do make me quite uncomfortable, this store was going out of business anyway to make way for a new, more profitable concern. I don’t think we can directly blame the government for the closure.
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Bishop out at DCFS
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m still puzzled why Quinn even appointed this guy in the first place. AP…
The director of the state’s child welfare agency who pleaded guilty to stealing money from clients of a Chicago social-service agency 20 years ago has resigned from his post.
Department of Children and Family Services Director Arthur Bishop submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Pat Quinn’s office Wednesday. The letter notes that his background could be a distraction for Quinn in the upcoming election.
The Chicago Sun Times and WBEZ Radio reported last week that Bishop pleaded guilty to theft in the mid-1990s for taking money from patients at Chicago mental health center.
Quinn’s spokeswoman says the governor immediately appointed a new acting director of the agency. Attorney and social worker Bobbie Gregg was appointed for a 60-day term while a search for a full-time replacement begins.
* Bishop’s resignation letter was quite bitter…
While your political rivals may be willing to attack me in an effort to obtain some modicum of political advantage, I cannot agree to be used as a distraction to the real issues that face the state and the children that remain in state custody.”
* Oof…
The announcement of Bishop’s resignation came shortly after the news organizations had posted a story in which a daughter, Erica Bishop, questioned how Arthur Bishop could care for the state’s most troubled children given that he had shunned her for her entire life — even after DNA testing proved she was his daughter nearly 11 years ago.
“He’s supposed to be protecting the kids of the state — and you’ve got a kid out here you never done anything for,” Erica Bishop said. “He left me as a father, which I think that’s unfair to me and it’s unfair to my kids. . . . As far as them wanting to keep giving him higher positions to look over people’s kids, I don’t agree.”
Sun-Times and WBEZ reporters interviewed Erica Bishop on Tuesday morning and requested an interview with Arthur Bishop that afternoon.
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* After reports surfaced that a high-level employee with the Department of Natural Resources had accepted a large campaign contribution from a coal mining company and then transferred half of that to Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign fund, the governor’s campaign press office released this statement…
Statement from Quinn Campaign Regarding Campaign Contributions
To be clear, as a matter of campaign policy, we do not accept political contributions from state employees.
Immediately upon learning today of previous donations from this entity and their connection to a state employee, the Governor directed that these funds be donated to worthy charities across Illinois.
The Trooper Douglas Balder Benefit Fund, the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, the Chicago Urban League and the Illinois Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund will each receive $2,000 in donations. This exceeds the total contributed by the Douglas County Democrats.
Again, it is our policy to not accept donations from state employees.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Frerichs has also donated the cash to charity…
The News-Gazette reported earlier this week that Quinn had received $5,000 and Frerichs $250 from the Douglas County Democratic Party last August. That money apparently originated with Foresight Energy Services Co. of St. Louis, which operates coal mines in Illinois. […]
Frerichs, D-Champaign, said Thursday that he had donated $250 to the Eastern Illinois Foodbank in Urbana.
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S&P states the obvious
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services is releasing a report today which will hopefully stifle the goofballs who continue to compare Chicago to Detroit…
“We believe Chicago can largely control its own fate, whereas Detroit cannot, nor will it be able to for some time. In our view, this may be the key difference between the two cities and may be what will allow Chicago to work through its problems rather than follow Detroit’s path on the road to bankruptcy,” concluded the report, titled “Will Chicago Suffer Detroit’s Fate?” […]
“We saw … a comparison people were making (but) our criteria made it look starkly different,” Ridley said. “People wanted to draw comparisons, where we didn’t necessarily think there were comparisons that made sense from a credit standpoint.”
The report notes that Chicago has a much higher median per-capita income, higher housing values, a lower unemployment rate and a much slower rate of population decrease over the past six decades. It also points to the 22-year tenure of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and the city’s long-range financial plans, which it lists as signs of stronger management than the Motor City, where the entrance to the mayor’s office has been something of a revolving door in recent years.
Chicago also set more money aside for financial rainy days, has more cash on hand and has a far greater ability to meet its debt obligations despite a reluctance to increase taxes.
* More…
S&P added that it believes “the magnitude of Chicago’s budgetary issues does not put it in the same league as Detroit.”
* Maybe Eden Martin, who favors allowing Chicago to declare bankruptcy, will read the report today. Then again, maybe he’ll just echo this guy…
Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said the report is another reminder that state lawmakers need to pass pension changes for Chicago. “We should take little solace that we are not the largest bankrupt city in America,” Msall said.
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* Sun-Times…
The AFL-CIO, which has nearly 900,000 members in Illinois, filed a complaint with the Office of the Executive Inspector General, alleging that Rauner is violating the state’s procurement code because of Rauner’s former chairmanship of GTCR. GTCR has won millions of dollars in Illinois pension business, through the Teachers Retirement System.
According to the complaint, Rauner must wait two years before donating money to any candidate — even himself — under the procurement code.
Rauner resigned from GTCR on Oct. 19, 2012. Under the AFL-CIO’s way of thinking, Rauner would have to wait until Oct. 19 2014 (right before the general election) before he could donate to his own campaign.
“We filed a complaint and we feel very strongly it is a significant conflict of interest,” Illinois AFL-CIO President Mike Carrigan told the Sun-Times. “We strongly feel is a violation of the Illinois procurement code.”
* Tribune…
Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf contended the unions were “allies” of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and were acting “beyond the point of desperation.”
“The complaint fails on its face and is conceptually ridiculous. Bruce first contributed to his exploratory committee nearly a year ago, and the government union bosses finally filing this now only confirms that they know Bruce will defeat Quinn and shake up the status quo in Springfield,” Schrimpf said in a statement.
Officials from the Office of Executive Inspector General said they could not comment on the complaint, which the AFL-CIO filed late last week. An official in the inspector general’s office was not familiar with any previous complaints over alleged violations of prohibited donations by state contractors dealing with political candidates.
* The complaint can be found by clicking here.
* And here’s the actual statute referenced in the complaint…
Any business entity whose contracts with State agencies, in the aggregate, annually total more than $50,000, and any affiliated entities or affiliated persons of such business entity, are prohibited from making any contributions to any political committees established to promote the candidacy of (i) the officeholder responsible for awarding the contracts or (ii) any other declared candidate for that office.
This prohibition shall be effective for the duration of the term of office of the incumbent officeholder awarding the contracts or for a period of 2 years following the expiration or termination of the contracts, whichever is longer.
This is a fascinating case because I think the statute could be seen at least a couple of different ways. Still, I gotta wonder whether prohibiting somebody from spending cash on his own campaign would be constitutional.
My question, which hasn’t yet been answered, is: “Why the heck did the unions wait until Rauner had spent $5 million to file this thing?”
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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This ranking is a striking decline from the 27th place and grade C Illinois received in 2009. The message is clear: Without action, the emergency care environment in Illinois continues to worsen — threatening access to life-saving care for the citizens of Illinois.
Review the complete results of “America’s Emergency Care Environment, A State-by-State Report Card – 2014” produced by the American College of Emergency Physicians online at emreportcard.org.
Emergency care is the safety net of the health care system, and state support is key to maintaining this safety net. The 2014 Report Card shows the lack of support and limited resources in Illinois have stretched it to breaking point. Without significant changes, access to care for Illinois citizens is threatened. Don’t let the safety net break: Support medical liability reform and disaster relief funding to keep emergency departments open and resources available when you need them most.
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