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
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 11:54 am:
Funny thing about video and Ads, and quotes and stances…
You can change, but the video, the quotes, the Ads remain
How about demanding Pat Brady step down on SSM?
Yeah, that’s what I thought. As much as Slytherins try to seem like Gryffindors, the Parsel Tongues will expose those when speaking.
4-62 on SSM in the General Assembly; Remember, Jim Oberweis led the torches and pitchforks when sides needed to be picked.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 11:55 am:
===I decided earlier this year to label all oppo I receive as such.===
Good on you Rich.
- wordslinger - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:02 pm:
It certainly is a change for Oberweis. Perhaps it reflects the real, multiple divisions within the GOP on the issue that can be seen around the country and in Congress.
- lake county democrat - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:06 pm:
Somebody needs to make him an “undocumented driver.”
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:12 pm:
In Illinois, you need someone’s driver’s license number to get their driving record.
How did someone get Oberweis’ driver’s license number?
Separately, I wonder how many speeding tickets others who voted for the bill have? Or other candidates? That could make for an interesting story, if it is so easy to get someone’s dl number.
While we are at it, let’s also take a look at tickets given to state of Illinois vehicles being operated by someone other than their authorized users.
- Ron Burgundy - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:14 pm:
Not sure the parameters under which they operate and decide what to release or not release, but the SoS press office routinely answers news inquiries regarding the driving records of people accused of crimes, in accidents, etc. You see it all the time.
- Under Further Review - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:15 pm:
Eleven tickets in a quarter of a century? That is a scandal?
There are some other elected officials in Illinois who have done much worse.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:17 pm:
Lets bd clear, the speeding ticket drop is dopey.
Even tweaks are mocking the idea if this being a tweak. Weak sauce.
- Newsclown - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:21 pm:
Don’t get your hopes up: a visa for illegal Hispanics without a path to citizenship, is a way to pander to employers wanting cheap undocumented labor, without giving that labor a way to vote in elections.
- jim - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:21 pm:
honesty compels me to say that his driving history raises questions about his judgment behind the wheel. not sure that it translates elsewhere, but it shows a definite disregard for the law as well as an indifference to the costs of violating our speeding laws. I say that as a convicted speeder myself — two tickets in 40-plus years, none in the last 30 years.
- A guy... - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:28 pm:
Had he run for state office sooner, he may have won a seat sooner and not had all those speeding tickets. If you drive I-55 going south, you can see the cars with state plates in your rear view moving fast passing you. lol. Dopey thing to go after a guy for in oppo. Dumb strategy. Everyone hates cops who give you a speeder instead of a warning and a break. Most can relate to the hassle it causes in your life.
If he’s moderated on immigration, good for him. I’ll send one up to the Blessed Mother thanking her for helping him be a better guy on that. Agree with a lot of what’s on the thread today.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:30 pm:
He shouldn`t have let his illeagal driver have so much time off.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:43 pm:
==While we are at it, let’s also take a look at tickets given to state of Illinois vehicles being operated by someone other than their authorized users.==
You mean like John Cullerton’s son?
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 12:52 pm:
So right now a stranger can call the SoS press office and get the entire driving record of Ron Burgundy? Or Rich Miller?
Not sure how I feel about that.
Especially since official SoS procedure requires knowing the driver’s license number: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/drivers_license/purchaseabstract.html
Getting someone’s dl number is a lot different than looking up a home address online. It is virtually impossible to do by legitimate means unless you have the person’s permission.
It also appears that in this particular case the information was gathered by a private citizen working for a political campaign as part of an oppo dump - not gathered by a journalist.
- Will Caskey - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:17 pm:
As a researcher, just want to say I 100% approve of labeling research dumps as such, Rich.
Non-attribution dumps are a lousy tactic and it should be done away with.
- Demoralized - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:30 pm:
==In Illinois, you need someone’s driver’s license number to get their driving record.==
No you don’t. You can see all of my speeding tickets if you go to the circuit clerk’s website in my county and type in my name. You might have to search all of the county websites but you could find out that info pretty easily.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:31 pm:
===need someone’s driver’s license number to get their driving record===
Journalists can just call the SoS and ask.
- Demoralized - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:31 pm:
I get an average of a ticket of a year. Who cares? That’s a pretty pathetic attempt at an “attack.”
And just an FYI Rich . . . my insurance has never gone up as a result of any of my tickets. Have no idea why but it never has.
- been there - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:41 pm:
it’s true that he won’t be getting speeding tickets on any roads monitored by state troopers (not just I55) as long as he has his state senate plates, and then his state senate “retired” plates. that may be due, historically, to the fact that a long-ago appropriations committee chairman slashed the state police appropriation after he got a well-deserved speeding ticket on I55.
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 1:52 pm:
@Demoralized - I forgot about that approach. Good point. It would be labor intensive, but is definitely possible.
@Rich - I learn something new every day. Would you or Oscar call and ask them about Jesse White for us?
On second thought, that might not be the best idea a reader has ever suggested
- Chicago Cynic - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 2:49 pm:
It’s a fair point about Oberweis and tickets but it should have been raised when he was introducing the bill. Now, you kind of get the “what’s the point” reaction.
- Lunchbox - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 3:14 pm:
This is a non-story. Nobody bases speeding tickets even as a part of not voting for someone.
- Shark Sandwich - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 3:48 pm:
Speaking of ‘oppo type research’, i saw one of his ice cream/milk delivery trucks 2-3 months ago, and noticed it was registered in another state. Made me wonder how far his deliveries go. The obvious guess is that it is a tax/fee avoidance, but the optics are bad - illinois offc holder/runner, but doesn’t use illinois tags.
- Frosty-The Snowman - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 5:05 pm:
I think I would be too embarrassed to say that my “top accomplishment” after my first year in Springfield was raising the speed limit by 5 or 10 mph in Illinois. It would be like saying that I seem to lack the ability to determine the major priorities in Illinois government. Where were you when the pension reform issue should have been being discussed? Were you sleeping in a corner? How about addressing the far more important pressing financial issues within our state? It would be like saying that even though you forgot to put on your trousers when you went to the store for your wife, you knew to wear your cordovan colored loafers instead of your black dress shoes.
- Just The Way It Is One - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 5:16 pm:
Sounds like one stating the OBvious, but, NO
WONDER now that Oberweis pushed so hard for passage of that Bill! On the one hand, it’s hilarious, but on the other, it sure isn’t good news in his Race for the U.S. Senate, iffy though that whole venture has been all along anyway! But there is no DOUBT that his “Good-Humor(ed)” Opponent (sorry, I couldn’t resist!), the ever-affable Dick Durbin, is going to just have a Field Day with THIS new revelation (and may just find it too irreSISTible NOT to include in some TV Attack Ad down the road)…!
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Feb 28, 14 @ 8:44 pm:
“That’s what you call political evolution.”
For that to be true he’d have to believe evolution exists.