Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ll likely be posting this weekend, but I’m gonna close comments unless something huge happens.
* In the meantime, Steve Earle wrote it, but Levon Helm nailed it…
There’s a chill in the air only miners can feel
There’s ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed
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* I’ve heard some grumblings from some folks about this very topic, but nobody has really brought it out in kinda/sorta public until now…
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is helping the re-election campaign of state Rep. Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios (D-Chicago) with a robocall in which he says Berrios is opposed by “those who want to silence Latino voices.”
Berrios faces a primary challenge in Tuesday’s election from Will Guzzardi, who nearly unseated her two years ago and now has the backing of several prominent Latino elected officials.
“I’m outraged that there are groups working to reduce the number of Latino public servants in the state legislature at a time Latino voices should be stronger,” Gutierrez says in the recorded message to voters in the Northwest Side’s 39th Illinois House District. “They want us to be weak … Stand up to those who want to silence Latino voices and support Toni Berrios.”
Some other Latino politicians clearly do not see the race in the same way as Gutierrez — with Guzzardi, who is white, winning endorsements from state Sen. Willie Delgado (D-Chicago) and Ald. Joe Moreno (1st).
It’s gonna get even uglier before it’s over. Bank on it.
…Adding… Gutierrez, you may recall, was with GOP Rep. Skip Saviano in 2012. He’s not been in good graces with the Madigan folks since then, so it’s an interesting little move by him. Also, one of the ways the HDems neutralized Gutierrez in 2012 was to point out that he was Puerto Rican and the district’s Latino voters were from Mexico. Remember Sen. Sandoval getting led out of a community meeting by the coppers while he was shouting about this “issue”? So, now the congressman is basically doing the same thing.
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Cross fending off “outside groups”
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an e-mail to supporters of Rep. Tom Cross’ bid for state treasurer…
Outside groups allied with my opponent have launched an aggressive, negative and false attack against our campaign.
They know we’re winning and they know that I’m the only candidate committed to fighting for an honestly balanced budget and really cracking down on fraud and corruption.
In short, my opponent wants the status quo and I want change.
Now they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars in last-minute negative attack ads to try to derail our momentum.
Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen!
I’m asking you today for an emergency contribution of $10, $15, $25 or whatever you are comfortable with so that we can compete with these outside groups.
These outside groups are fighting us at every turn as we work to restore fiscal accountability and fight against waste and corruption and now they have placed significant ad buys on radio stations across Illinois in an effort to defeat us at the last moment.
* I checked with the Cross campaign and the “outside groups” include the National Organization for Marriage, which is doing radio ads blasting Cross in Downstate markets. NOM hotly opposed the gay marriage bill.
In other words, I’m not sure this has much to do with anybody “fighting us at every turn as we work to restore fiscal accountability.”
But, whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
I’m trying to find a copy of the radio spot. Anybody heard it?
* Also, there’s this from Equality Illinois…
Candidates who supported the freedom to marry in Illinois are benefitting from an unprecedented effort by the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (EQIL PAC) that has raised and will spend $150,000 prior to Tuesday’s state primary election. […]
About $120,000 of the $150,000 total was used for direct contributions to legislative candidates in targeted races throughout Illinois. The other $30,000 is being being spent on direct mail, events and get-out-the-vote efforts, including phone banks that are making tens of thousands of phone calls on behalf of the candidates leading to the primary on Tuesday, March 18.
So far, not much is showing up on A-! reports, but the group has endorsed Cross.
* In a somewhat related story, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action has also endorsed Cross.
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Proft claims poll shows Matune lead
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Dan Proft…
Liberty Principles PAC-backed Keith Matune Opens Up a Lead on incumbent Ron Sandack
Conservative challenger Keith Matune has opened up a lead on incumbent Republican State Rep. Ron Sandack entering the final weekend before the Republican Primary Election on Tuesday, March 18.
Over the course of the last 7 weeks, Matune has steadily risen in the polls as voters in the 81th District have gotten to know him and to evaluate him in comparison to Sandack, including through communications in district (mail, phones, TV, online) produced by Liberty Principles PAC.
The survey was commissioned by Liberty Principles PAC and conducted by the Florida-based polling firm of Fabrizio Lee (www.fabriziolee.com).
Sandack-Matune survey
DATE: March 11-12
Sample: 300 Likely GOP primary voters
Margin of Error: +/- 5.7%
When I first surveyed this race on January 21-22, Sandack led 32-16. When I next surveyed the race on March 2-3, Sandack led 31-22. Now Matune has opened up a lead outside the margin of error.
- Dan Proft, Chairman, Liberty Principles PAC
NOTES:
Matune’s favorable/unfavorable is nearly 2:1 (35-19) whereas Sandack’s is 1:1 (34-33)
Matune wins among those who have heard of both (78% of sample) by 11. Matune leads with those who have an opinion of both (50% of sample) by 23.
Matune leads with conservatives by 21
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* This looks like big trouble…
Federal officials searched state Rep. Keith Farnham’s Elgin legislative office and home Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys office in Chicago said.
Spokesman Randall Samborn said a search warrant was executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations officials as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White said federal officials asked for help with Farnham’s Springfield office, but Samborn said no search warrant was being executed there.
*** UPDATE *** The DH has updated…
Secretary of State Police officers Friday were sitting outside Farnham’s Springfield office on the second floor of the Stratton Building, an office building next door to the Illinois Capitol.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White said federal officials asked for help securing Farnham’s Springfield office.
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Question of the day
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Aviva Bowen’s Facebook page…
Election Day is Tuesday, and you know what that means! - the Running of the Political Cliches, brought to you by Masters of the Obvious. Today’s kick-off begins with an old favorite - “it all comes down to turnout.” Stories about the impact of weather and debates on undecided voters (spoiler: little to none) must be on the way.
Other favorites, fellow hacks and flaks?
(And reporter friends, I’m not dissing this story; it’s a good round-up. Just laughing at the headline.)
She then linked to a story with the headline: “Turnout could swing GOP race for Illinois governor.”
* Some of her comments…
Kevin Lampe: We have done everything, it is now up to the voters.
Scott Cisek: Winning comes at many levels.
Kyle Hillman: Something, something… Abraham Lincoln ….something, something
Will Caskey: Low turnout, voter apathy mark (election). Political science professor Dick Simpson said (sad panda).
Elizabeth Austin: This has been a hard-fought primary, but I think I can speak both for my team and for my opponent’s in saying that we are firmly united in our commitment to a (Democratic/Republican) win in November.
* The Question: Your favorite/least favorite political cliches?
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Teachers union opens new front
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
The second-largest U.S. teachers union has added a firm formerly headed by Bruce Rauner, a Republican leading the race in next week’s Illinois gubernatorial primary, to its enemies list.
The American Federation of Teachers is urging public pensions to review investments with Chicago-based GTCR, a private-equity firm where Rauner was chairman before stepping down in 2012. He supports shifting government workers to 401(k)- type plans from traditional defined-benefit pensions, which give retirees a payout based on years of service and final salary.
The AFT, with 1.5 million members, is scheduled to release an updated “watch list” of 29 money managers that the union says support groups opposed to traditional pensions. GTCR has $4.9 billion of commitments from U.S. public pension funds, according to Preqin Ltd., a London-based research firm. The AFT is also adding Highbridge Capital Management and a unit of London-based insurer Aon Plc to the list.
“Trustees should actually know if someone who is trying to get you to invest with them are also trying to eliminate the pension system,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a telephone interview. “The centerpiece of Rauner’s campaign is the elimination of the defined-benefit plan.”
* Pensions and Investments…
“Having earned millions as an asset manager of defined benefit plans, Rauner is now, as a gubernatorial candidate, calling for freezing the benefits of the state’s defined benefit pension plans and putting all new public employees in a defined contribution plan,” the report said.
The union’s first Ranking Asset Managers report, published last April, has been amended twice to remove six firms, including AQR Capital Management and KKR. Following the publication of the report, executives at both firms detailed their support for defined benefit plans in letters to their pension plan clients.
The full report is here.
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Oberweis back in Illinois
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis said today he’s back in Illinois after a controversial pre-election visit to Florida, and explained that he took the trip south for his wife’s birthday because “family comes first” and he wanted to support his marriage. […]
In a radio interview this morning with Tribune columnist John Kass and Lauren Cohn on WLS-AM, Oberweis said that one of the problems that ended his first marriage was that his then-wife thought he worked too much. He said he didn’t want to make that mistake again in his second marriage.
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The pension proxy war
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the biggest legislative campaign stories this year is the proxy war between House Speaker Michael Madigan and the public employee unions. For instance, appointed state Rep. Rep. Jaime Andrade Jr. (D-Chicago) voted for the pension reform bill. The unions have been spending tons of cash to defeat him…
Andrade has picked up more than $60,000 from Madigan and is getting help from the speaker’s troops. Mell’s ward organization added $15,000. Andrade, who voted for same-sex marriage, received $11,000 from Equality Illinois PAC, a gay rights group.
Big union money is backing Nancy Schiavone, who finished third for 35th Ward alderman in 2011 and then became the ward’s committeeman. AFSCME gave her $50,000, SEIU donated $40,000 and spent about $82,000 in an independent expenditure, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers contributed $25,000.
* Rep. Toni Berrios (D-Chicago) voted against the pension bill, but she voted for six pension reform bills previously, so the unions are on the attack…
Joe Berrios’ 31st Ward Regular Democratic Organization is in big for his daughter at $66,000. Madigan has poured in more than $55,000. Mailboxes are getting stuffed with fliers from Madigan’s operation. He’s also chipped in thousands more for paid campaign staff. Rep. Berrios received $6,500 from a local operating engineers union. She started the year with $156,779 in her campaign fund and so far has added more than $302,000.
[Will Guzzardi] has collected more than $240,000 since Jan. 1, the bulk of it from unions. AFSCME, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association each tossed in $50,000. The CTU chipped in $11,000. A Service Employees International Union Healthcare fund PAC contributed $42,000. Guzzardi also is benefiting from nearly $91,000 in independent expenditures from the Illinois chapter of SEIU.
* And then there’s Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) who voted for the pension bill and is mainly targeted by the Chicago Teachers Union, but other labor groups are involved…
{T}eachers unions have poured in $240,000 since Jan. 1 to blast Mitchell and boost the campaign of challenger Jay Travis, a community activist with sympathies for union concerns. They’ve made independent expenditures through a political action committee called Chicagoans United for Economic Security.
Travis also has collected $30,000 for her campaign fund from teachers unions and $10,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is among the unions suing over the state pension law.
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A “Walker vs. Walker” campaign
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* James Krohe Jr. has a very good column comparing former Gov. Dan Walker’s rhetoric to Bruce Rauner’s. Walker had a successful private sector career as a vice president and general counsel at Montgomery Ward, and was heavily involved in reform politics…
“To those who have grown rich on the public dollar, to those who have won secret grants and contracts, to those in government who put themselves first and the taxpayers second – to you I bring my first message from the people of Illinois: the free ride is over.”
No, that’s not Bruce Rauner practicing his inauguration speech, but Dan Walker, delivering his, in 1973. In personality and political style, these two business successes from the Chicago suburbs are father and son. During his campaign for governor, Walker had pushed buttons worn smooth from long use by underdogs without a platform. He railed against the bureaucrats, the special interests, the experts, the machine. As Rauner is doing, Walker’s anger mobilized a constituency of the discontented, the pissed off, the confused, the uninformed. And Walker, like Rauner, brought an attitude rather than an agenda to the race.
* A very good point…
Rauner’s over-simple analyses of Illinois’ complex economic problems (lower taxes, break the unions) remind me of Walker’s naïve belief that the miseries of the Commonwealth, like the miseries of the wider world, were caused by Beelzebub – in the Commmonwealth’s case, one named Daley.
* I’m probably excerpting too much, but the column is that good…
Rauner’s first TV commercial (“This old watch cost me 18 bucks”) was vintage Walker in the art of its symbolism and the condescension of its message. Walker favored expensive suits as befits an executive for Montgomery Ward, but affected a working man’s bandanna and chambray work shirt and jeans for his famous walk through southern Illinois that led him to the governor’s mansion. Rauner sensibly does his walking on TV ads, but the Everyman pose is much the same, as is the wardrobe, in his case a Carhartt work jacket of the sort favored by dudes posing as Montana ranchers.
* More…
What matters in a governor is his skill at governing and, like the rookie Walker, Rauner has run nothing more complicated than meetings. As a manager, Walker was a failure. He made the mistake, common among businesspeople who enter public service, of thinking that a governor is a merely a CEO with fewer perks; he didn’t realize that being a boss is not the same as being a leader.
* Another good point…
Walker promised to “sweep the arrogance of bureaucracy from the halls of power.” Such rhetoric hardly endeared him to the career administrators he needed to make government work. Walker said worse about the Daley Democrats in Springfield, with the result that he couldn’t get a quarter out of the legislature to make a phone call. Rauner has been similarly foolish in his criticism of his own party, recently castigating “probably a third, maybe more, of the Republicans in Springfield” he believes have “sold out to the government union bosses.”
* And the summation…
Walker’s legacy was a sour anti-government bias that still deforms the public’s judgment. It led to the voters’ approval, three years after Walker left office, of the constitutional amendment that abolished multi-member districts in the Illinois House. The “reform” failed to improve legislative independence and reduce costs as promised; indeed, the cutback made government more expensive and less independent. I predict that if it passes, Rauner’s term limits measure will come to be seen in the same way.
Pat Quinn, a prime mover of the cutback amendment, was brought into state government by Walker, at whose feet he learned the craft. A Rauner primary win thus will leave Illinois with the unsavory prospect of a Walker vs. Walker campaign come fall. As for the likely outcome, we can safely say that only Illinois will lose.
Discuss.
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Proft busts the cap in Sandack, Pihos races
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this yesterday. Daily Herald…
Campaign spending by conservative talk show host Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles committee has exceeded $200,000 in two DuPage County Illinois House races, a huge amount in races for seats at the Statehouse.
Proft has been backing teacher Keith Matune of Downers Grove against state Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove and attorney Peter Breen of Lombard against state Rep. Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn.
Proft filed letters in each race Thursday saying his committee had spent more than $100,000 on mail and other advertising in each race, an amount that lets the candidates raise money above typical Illinois contribution limits.
Taking limits off with a few days before Tuesday’s primary might not matter much, but it shows how heated the two races have become.
* In related news, Eric Zorn wonders whether Proft, as a WLS radio host, should be so involved in these campaigns…
WLS-AM morning co-host Dan Proft and I are mixing it up on Facebook. I started the tiff with this observation.
Does anybody else think it’s weird that WLS-AM host Dan Proft is funneling money into political races through his PAC? I realize talk hosts aren’t journalists, but neither are they supposed to have skin in these games.
Proft fired back:
This will no doubt come as a surprise to you, Eric, but I didn’t renounce my American citizenship when I became a talk show host. Therefore, I can participate in politics like anyone else and, as an American and an Illinoisan, I most definitely have skin in the game. Further, I am not sure of the talk show hosts you listen to, whether on radio or TV, but picking candidates and picking sides is a positively pedestrian occurrence on the airwaves just as it is with the Tribune editorial board.
As other readers joined the conversation, I replied:
Dan Proft can go on the air for four hours every morning and talk up his point of view about a campaign. There’s a big difference between that, in my mind, however, and being the money man for that campaign. To my mind, listeners and readers ought to demand disinterested commentators, commentators whose point of view isn’t tainted by the hint of financial conflicts. This has nothing to do with anyone’s rights as a citizen or with newspaper endorsements.
He came back:
Zorn, you not only assume facts not in evidence, the facts in evidence address your concern. I disclose any even perceived conflict and trust listeners to make up their own minds, judge the information as they see fit.
And I am not certain where this woozy dreamland of untainted, disinterested commentators with pristine points-of-views exists but I know it’s not in Chicago–and I’ll hasten to add a substantial percentage of the so-called “objective” journalists to my sarcasm for good measure.
More here.
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* From the Chicago Tribune…
Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner wouldn’t rule out taxing retirement income as part of an overhaul of Illinois’ tax system, saying he didn’t have a position on the issue during the final debate before Tuesday’s primary election.
It marked a theme for Rauner on Thursday night. The wealthy venture capitalist from Winnetka also didn’t know the details of his running mate’s slip-and-fall lawsuit against several government agencies. And Rauner said he was unsure about Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s request to spend $100 million to encourage President Barack Obama’s library to come to Chicago. […]
Rauner, who has been successful in previous forums by sticking to a tight script, appeared caught off guard when asked about the concept of imposing the state income-tax on retirement income in Illinois. Politicians broach the subject with some risk given the elderly are among the most dedicated voting demographic — particularly in a Republican primary.
“I don’t have a position on that yet,” Rauner said. “What I would recommend we do is look at our entire tax code in Illinois, look at every tax and every tax base and every rate and then compare ourselves to other well-run states that we compete with.”
Taxing retirement income has been an issue in this state for decades. He was “caught off guard” and hasn’t thought about it? Is he kidding?
And, what the heck, man, did he not vet his running mate or is he just playing dumb? No way could he be that clueless about an important incident in someone’s past who could be a heartbeat away from the governor’s mansion.
* And check out his description of his relationship with Rahm Emanuel…
Rauner was asked to explain his relationship to Emanuel, with whom he has vacationed and hired briefly at the investment firm Rauner once led.
“I’ve known him for many years. I’ve worked with him when he was in the private sector a little bit. And I’ve worked with him on school reform while he was mayor in Chicago. The mayors in Chicago control the schools. My wife and I have dedicated much of our life and our financial resources to school reform and I’ve worked with the mayors to do that,” Rauner said.
“A little bit”? He helped make Rahm a millionaire.
* And, somehow, I just don’t think a dress was the gazillionaire’s biggest “splurge”…
In some of the lighter discussion, each candidate shared their biggest “splurge.”
Brady said his was a red Porsche he bought for his wife, a comment that drew a “wow” from the notoriously frugal Rutherford before Brady, of Bloomington, admitted the car was 10 years old. Rutherford said his home in Chenoa, while Rauner said he splurged during a trip to Italy and bought his wife a nice dress. Dillard said it was a crystal chandelier that hangs in the entry of his family’s home, and that his wife still says they didn’t need.
If you missed it last night, you can watch the whole debate by clicking here.
* And while he won’t talk publicly about much of anything, he’s working hard behind the scenes. A post by Mark Allen…
Over the past few days I have seen Black grassroots street teams for Republican Bruce Rauner for Governor passing out literature on CTA trains for the March 18th Primary. I must commend Rauner for investing in the Black grassroots community when technically he doesnt have to to win The Republican Primary. I am glad to see some unemployed Black people making some legitimate dollars for a few days versus other illegal street economies I have seen them engaged in on CTA trains and on the street. I must also commend Rauner for the number of grassroots meetings he has held in the Black community with a number of constituent groups you would have thought were Democratic
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Let’s be careful out there
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NBC Chicago…
Falling ice has become an issue in Chicago following the rain and snow late Tuesday and early Wednesday, as political consultant Dan Curry can attest to firsthand.
He was walking downtown Wednesday afternoon when he was struck by falling icicles.
“It hurt. It felt like a baseball had hit me in the head,” Curry said. “The thing that really scared me was that there was a lot of blood, and I reached up and my hands were filled with blood and there was blood all over the place.”
Luckily, a couple of Good Samaritans stopped to help him.
* Dan works for Doug Truax and posted this image on his Twitter feed…
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Today’s numbers are mind-boggling
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We got caught up in politics yesterday and I didn’t get around to this story. Sorry about that. Greg Hinz has a solid take on the state comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report…
Illinois’ net cumulative deficit for “governmental activities” — a broad measure of obligations the state has accrued, relative to resources it has to pay bills — rose an additional $1.2 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, to $47.8 billion. The overall figure is nearly triple what it was just seven years ago, though the annual increase was the smallest it’s been since at least fiscal 2006.
“Governmental activities” includes almost all the programs and spending normally run by state government, from prisons and education aid to Medicaid and highway construction. Some, though not all, pension obligations are included. Excluded are self-contained business activities, including the unemployment insurance trust fund, the college tuition assistance program and the Illinois Lottery. […]
In his analysis, [Auditor General Bill Holland] reported that the net deficit for governmental activities has steadily risen from $18.7 billion in fiscal 2006 to $47.8 billion in fiscal 2013. Only one other state, Massachusetts, has a negative net position in the governmental activities account, he reported. Even other Midwestern states such as Michigan and Ohio are in the black.
Illinois is doing somewhat better by a narrower measure, the net balance in its general (or operating) funds, Mr. Holland found. It improved from a negative $9.1 billion in fiscal 2012 to “only” negative $7.3 billion in fiscal 2013, the lowest since the 2009 recession.
But the good news is limited, Mr. Holland conceded. “The deterioration is slowing,” he said. Ending the deficit entirely is going “slowly — very, very slowly.”
The CAFR is here. The Auditor General’s analysis is here.
* Meanwhile…
Interest payments on Illinois’ late bills cost the state $318 million last year – enough to cover the annual budget of the Illinois State Police, according to a published report.
The state auditor’s overview of Illinois’ finances shows interest payments from fiscal year 2013 were more than double what was paid in the previous year when the figure was $136 million, according to a report by the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers.
The state’s interest on unpaid bills was $91 million in 2011, $97 million in 2010 and $36.9 million in 2009.
Brad Hahn, a spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, said this year’s interest payments should be much lower because the state has been “aggressive” about working to reduce the backlog of unpaid bills.
* And…
An Illinois State Board of Education report released Wednesday shows more Illinois schools are in poor financial shape and borrowing money or dipping into reserves than previous years, a problem that could worsen as the state faces overall budget cuts next year.
The annual review, which places school districts into four categories ranging from high financial strength to high risk, shows an overall downgrade in the financial position of the state’s districts. About 120 of Illinois’ 862 districts are in the two categories that indicate higher risk — an increase of nine from last year. And the problems are only expected to get worse as about 60 percent of school districts forecast they’ll have a deficit in the 2014 fiscal year, an increase of more than 10 percent the previous year.
State education officials say the state has underfunded education for the past three years, causing the overall downgrade in financial strength.
* Not to mention this mess…
Proposed state rules designed to crack down on sales tax havens are running into heavy fire from key business and tax policy groups — a possible sign that the highly contentious issue is headed back to the Illinois General Assembly.
Both the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois told me that proposed rules issued in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s Hartney decision are still too vague on who owes how much and where.
I hear that a third influential group, the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, also is prepared to ask for major revisions at a public hearing scheduled next week in Springfield.
The proposed rules were issued by the Illinois Department of Revenue after the high court on Nov. 21 tossed out old rules that the state and agencies such as the Regional Transportation Authority charged had been exploited by firms that established “order acceptance centers” in low-tax jurisdictions including Kankakee and Channahon to avoid paying higher taxes on goods that ended up in Chicago and its metropolitan area.
Taken together, it’s almost too much to fathom.
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Rauner’s cash bar philosophy
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My latest Crain’s column…
“An example of how the rich keep their money,” wrote a buddy of mine at the top of an email he forwarded the other day.
The original email was an invite to Bruce Rauner’s election night party in a big downtown Chicago hotel. At the bottom of the invitation, in all caps, was the reason for his ire: “CASH BAR.”
“Cash bar!!!” emphasized my friend, who enjoys a wee taste every now and then.
He was clearly blown away by the fact that a gazillionaire who has spent $6 million of his own money — a bigger personal investment on a governor’s race than anyone in Illinois history — was making the schlubs buy their own drinks come election night. That’s unheard of. It’s almost unholy.
Bill Brady is having a cash bar at his party at the Holiday Inn in downstate Bloomington on the night of the March 18 primary, but his campaign doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. Mr. Rauner, on the other hand, is beyond flush.
I tried to explain to my friend that Mr. Rauner saves his money for important stuff, like television ads.
“You did not just write that alcohol is not important, did you?!” he fired back.
Yes, I did.
Read the rest of the column by clicking here.
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The final debate
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you plan on watching tonight’s WTTW Republican gubernatorial candidates debate and aren’t near a TV or Chicago, then click here at 7 o’clock to watch online.
And however or wherever you watch the debate, tell us what you think in comments.
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Facepalm
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you can listen to this horribly produced robocall by Bruce Rauner’s campaign all the way through without losing your mind, then your sanity is stronger than mine…
As a friend said, the monotone voice and super-slow pace of that voice-over anti-artist is worse than nails on a chalkboard. It’s… It’s…
Words fail me.
Did they outsource this project to an adult literacy program?
How do they ever expect people to actually listen to this train wreck? No wonder folks are hanging up on pollsters all over Illinois.
* Have any of you received any robocalls like this?
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This one may resurface later in the year
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Via a late in the game opposition research dump, we get this recent report from the Financial Times…
Bank of New York Mellon suffered an 18 per cent fall in fourth-quarter earnings after the custody bank lost $115m on its investment in ConvergEx, the Wall Street broker that was accused by US regulators of “fleecing” clients through hidden fees.
* Why should you care? Well, first, what happened with ConvergEx?…
A brokerage firm agreed to pay more than $151 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it inflated fees when trading for clients, bilking charities and other big investors in what prosecutors called an “astonishingly brazen” scheme.
Prosecutors accused two former traders at ConvergEx Group LLC of sending trades through an overseas unit to add hidden markups and markdowns, making unwitting investors pay tens of millions of dollars in illicit added charges, in a fraud that ran from 2006 through 2011.
The unit and former traders, Jonathan Daspin and Thomas Lekargeren, pleaded guilty to criminal charges of securities and wire fraud. ConvergEx agreed to pay criminal penalties totaling $43.8 million under a deferred prosecution agreement.
Three ConvergEx brokerage units admitted to wrongdoing as part of a more-than $107 million settlement of a parallel civil case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The two traders also agreed to admit wrongdoing and pay a total of more than $1.2 million to settle the civil charges against them.
* Bank of New York Mellon wasn’t the only owner. The other? GTCR - the “R” stands for Rauner… Bruce Rauner…
The allegations have plagued attempts by BNYMellon to sell its stake in the company, which is controlled by the custody bank and the private equity group GTCR.
* From a class action complaint…
In reality, under Defendants’ double-charging scheme, Defendants received both the disclosed commissions and additional undisclosed and unauthorized fees that often exceeded the disclosed commissions received from the ERISA plans that used their services.
Defendants generated the additional, undisclosed fees by funneling trade orders for the purchase and sale of securities to an off shore subsidiary broker located in Bermuda. The subsidiary broker executed the trade orders as a principal, rather than an agent. The subsidiary broker then added a markup on the price, for a purchase, or a markdown, for a sale. By doing so, the subsidiary broker created a “spread” between the actual price and the reported price. The Defendants confirmed the reported price to their customers and collected and kept the undisclosed and unauthorized “spread” as additional compensation. The profits from retaining the “spreads” on these trades were referred to by Defendants as “trading profits” or “TP.”
The amount of TP income Defendants earned in this fashion varied, but it generally equaled, or exceeded by roughly as much as 10 times, the amount of income Defendants earned through disclosed brokerage commissions on the same trades.
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Rita presents new gaming expansion outline
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island) has come up with some new tweaks to the long-stalled gaming bill. From a press release…
Rita, D-Blue Island, is filing the two amendments to Senate Bill 1739 after months of work on the issue, including hearings in East St. Louis and Tinley Park during this spring session. The amendments would:
* Authorize a state-owned Chicago casino with between 4,000 and 10,000 positions
* Call for sharing of revenue from that Chicago casino with Cook County, south suburban communities and state government
* Limit spending from gambling revenue to education and capital construction projects at the state level and capital and pensions at the local levels
* Authorize casinos in Lake, Winnebago, Vermilion counties and the south suburbs, but with fewer positions than allowed in previous expansion bills
* Allow gaming positions at horse racing tracks except for in the Metro East, and at half of the number of gaming positions called for in previous expansion bills
* Eliminate spending on specialty funds as called for in previous expansion bills, except for $5 million to combat gambling addiction that remains in the bill
Rita emphasized that these amendments, filed as legislators return to Springfield next week, are intended to move the conversation forward on gambling expansion this spring. The earlier hearings showed significant divides in the St. Louis area on the impact of adding slot machines at Fairmount Park on gambling at the Casino Queen in St. Louis, and similar disputes over which communities should receive a casino in the south suburbs of Chicago and how casino money should be shared among those communities. How a Chicago-owned casino would be regulated has also stalled previous expansion pushes.
“I have spent time thinking about how we start to address these and other problems slowing down a gambling expansion bill in Springfield. I think the best way to do that is to simplify our efforts. Let’s scale back the size of our bill and refocus our attention on what matters most here: creating a strong revenue source for our state and communities and putting people to work. These new amendments accomplish both of those goals. I look forward to having a robust discussion about these ideas and working with my colleagues on a solution now,” Rita said.
Thoughts?
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More anti-Rauner mail from Teamsters, Shearer
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Review has been posting mail sent by anti Bruce Rauner organizations. Check out the Teamsters’ mailer by clicking here.
* And Steve Shearer’s union-funded Fund for Progress and Jobs sent a pro-life mailer attacking Rauner to GOP households…
* Shearer recently changed his PAC’s name, dropping the word “Republican” from the beginning. That may be because of a cease and desist letter he received from the Illinois Republican Party a few weeks ago…
As you know, the State Party is vested with the authority to authorize an organization’s use of the word “Republican” in Illinois, and we take the use of the name seriously. In fact, on January 18, 2014, the Illinois Republican State Central Committee voted unanimously to authorize a review of the Committee’s use of the name “Republican,” and to resort to all legal means to protect the interests of the Illinois Republican Party.
Dissembling under a “Republican” cloak with our misappropriated trademarks is a deception consistent with the politics of dishonesty and dissembling which that has brought our great state to its current crossroads.
Accordingly, we insist that the Committee cease and desist using the word “Republican” in the name of the Committee. This can be easily accomplished by filing an appropriate amendment with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Further, we insist that the Committee cease and desist using the elephant mark on any future communications.
Further, we demand that you remedy the damage the Committee has caused by sending a mailing to the recipients of your recent pamphlet forthrightly disclosing your funding sources and your partners in your “shock and awe” effort. The Committee’s failure to comply with this request will force the State Party to consider all legal remedies.
I asked Shearer via e-mail last night if he intended to comply with that second demand. I’ll let you know if he responds.
* Meanwhile…
The committee launched by former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock’s ex-chief of staff lives for another day in its effort to keep ads rotating on air in favor of state Sen. Kirk Dillard.
Steve Shearer, who chairs the Fund for Progress and Jobs committee, tells the Chicago Sun-Times that the Chicago Federation of Labor on Wednesday wired over a donation that will keep his efforts afloat at least for another day. Shearer did not immediately disclose the size of the contribution, however, the money will be enough as of now to keep his efforts to boost Dillard active through Friday. (The Chicago Federation of Labor later said that $50,000 went to Shearer for use in anti-Rauner efforts and not to endorse any candidate in the primary.)
Shearer’s PAC hasn’t filed an A-1 in about a week.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
In any discussion about treatment of mental illness, the interests of the patients and their families should come first. But Senate Bill 2187 – sometimes called “RxP” – would create a lower-tier health system for people with mental illness.
SB 2187 would allow psychologists who have no medical training to prescribe powerful medications to patients. Current Illinois law allows only people who have medical training – doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants – to prescribe drugs.
Why does medical training matter? Physical illnesses and mental disorders are often intertwined. Additionally, psychiatric medication, such as drugs for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, can interact negatively with medication for chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure. Finally, psychiatric drugs are powerful and can create risky side effects. To understand these intricacies, psychiatrists go through four years of medical school plus at least four years of residency. They learn to treat the whole patient – not just the brain.
Maybe that is why the pre-eminent advocacy group for patients and their families – the National Alliance on Mental Illness – opposes this legislation. In announcing its opposition to SB 2187 last year, NAMI’s Illinois chapter said that in treating mental illness, “the best medical expertise must be brought to bear.”
Psychologists who want to prescribe can follow the route taken by nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doctors. They can obtain medical training – instead of insisting on a law that would lower the standard of care. To become involved, join the Coalition for Patient Safety, http://coalitionforpatientsafety.com.
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Cullerton and Wheeler on executive powers
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Senate President John Cullerton was at the Union League Club of Chicago today and talked about various stuff, including this…
Bruce Rauner says he’d use executive orders to shake up Springfield, but Cullerton said when Rauner and his team check the state statutes and constitution they’ll find there’s not a lot he could do by executive order.
* Full quote…
“Mr. Rauner should read the Illinois Constitution as to what powers are for the governor in terms of executive orders; they’re somewhat limited. He’s probably not aware of that.”
* And Public Affairs Reporting Program Director Charlie Wheeler, while speaking on a different topic, nevertheless made an interesting point to a reporter this week…
The Illinois governor has no ability to unilaterally rewrite the statutes,” Wheeler said. The only way a governor could undo a state law was by the same way it was done in the first place: with the approval of a majority of state Senators and Representatives.
The closest an Illinois governor can get to ruling by fiat is an executive order, Wheeler said. But the Illinois Constitution only lets governors use that power to reorganize parts of state government, not to magic away laws they dislike. And even then, the legislature can overturn an order.
But that doesn’t mean governors haven’t tried.
When former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois House in 2009, the charges against him weren’t limited to the corruption that would later send him to prison. Buried in the laundry list of Blagojevich’s misdeeds was Article 9, which accused him of “utter disregard of the doctrine of separation of powers” when he unilaterally expanded a state healthcare program that the legislature rejected.
Just in case a new governor might be thinking about pushing the envelope a little too hard, he ought to read that last paragraph a few times first.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a fundraising e-mail…
Dear Rich,
Today is a big day! (at least for me and my wonderful wife!) I’m writing to let you in on a little secret: Sheila is celebrating her 53rd birthday. I have been married to Sheila for more than half of those 53 years, so that makes it an even bigger day.
For much of the past year, Sheila and I have been spending many happy days traveling the state in our family car, a Ford Focus hatchback, and meeting folks in the far flung cities and counties of Illinois. And if you don’t already know, Illinois is a really big state! Along the way we have met so many incredible, hardworking folks and families who also want to bring real change to our state.
For Sheila’s 53rd birthday, would you help us get across the finish line in Sheila’s race for Comptroller by giving $5.30, $53, or even $530? These resources will be put to good use, helping us get our message to every corner of the state that Sheila and I won’t reach by Election Day in our Ford Focus.
Don’t forget to wish her a happy birthday on her Facebook page!
Thanks,
Perry Knop
* For some reason, a wedding photo was attached…
* The Question: Your birthday wishes for LG Simon?
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A call to action
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown writes, correctly, that state grants are the “soft underbelly of Illinois government”…
This is where the bodies are buried — along with the money to pay them. This is where government waste goes to hide.
Everybody knows it, but nobody seems to be able to do much about it — until the dirt comes out in the wash. […]
Last week, federal prosecutors in Springfield won a conviction against Jeri Wright, the daughter of President Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who played a small role in a $1.25 million grant fraud scheme involving Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans and her husband, a Chicago police officer. Evans and her husband had already pleaded guilty to spending most of the money on themselves. […]
All told, the Sun-Times Chris Fusco reported last year, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Springfield has charged 13 people in recent years in connection with grant fraud schemes involving at least $16 million. […]
What are the common denominators in these cases?
Usually a lack of oversight from the state agency dispensing the money, and often some connection to Illinois politics. […]
Funny thing about state grants: the money is almost always earmarked on the surface for some valid altruistic purpose — AIDS prevention, saving a neighborhood cultural anchor, steering young men away from illegal activities that breed violence.
But time after time, we find that the grants that go bad were paid to political allies in recognition of past or future support.
The General Assembly has to get some control over this mess. The governor and legislators cannot continue to hand out these grants without any proof that the agencies are doing any good. There are some very good groups that do very good work, but there’s just way too much local politics involved with the granting process.
How many people have to go to prison before this is reformed?
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* Unless the state’s economy improves dramatically between now and November, Gov. Pat Quinn will have to make social issues part of the mix this fall in order to win. Bruce Rauner says he’s pro-choice, but he’s not necessarily against gay marriage, he just says he wanted a referendum before he’d sign the bill into law. So, Quinn will undoubtedly seek to put marriage equality on the table and he telegraphed a punch during an interview with Windy City Times…
WCT: Every House member and most of the Senate are facing re-election. Are you doing anything to help legislators facing primary challenges, especially ones who voted for marriage equality?
Gov. Pat Quinn: I support all of those who voted for marriage equality. I think that was a courageous vote. Wherever I can, I try to help out the best I can. The key moment occurred when we passed that bill in the House. I won the election in 2010 by 31,000 votes. If I hadn’t won, that day in November wouldn’t have happened because the person I ran against was an opponent of marriage equality.
In fact, in terms of the Republicans running right now, when we passed the bill, Bruce Rauner, in Quincy, Illinois, demanded that I veto the bill.
Ever since the Auditor General’s report was made public about Quinn’s horrendously inept and politically drenched anti violence initiative, Quinn has stayed far, far away from reporters. The fact that he sat for this friendly WCT interview tells you something about how hunkered down he is.
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Miffed at Rauner snub, ISRA backs Dillard
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Illinois State Rifle Association…
Illinois gun owners could not have better friends in Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, and Dan Rutherford. Each of the three has proven himself time and time again to be a solid supporter of the individual right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, this primary election season has forced the ISRA-PVF to choose one of its three good friends for endorsement in the Republican gubernatorial primary. The ISRA-PVF 2014 primary endorsement goes to Senator Kirk Dillard. By no means is Senator Dillard any bigger of a supporter of gun rights than Senator Brady or Treasurer Rutherford. However, we believe that Senator Dillard’s broader appeal among voters will push him past Gov. Pat Quinn in the general election.
A fourth candidate in the primary, Bruce Rauner, was found to be unsuitable for endorsement due to his campaign’s failure to address issues important to law-abiding Illinois firearm owners. Whereas candidates Brady, Dillard and Rutherford addressed thousands of gun owners at the Illinois Gun Owners’ Lobby Day (IGOLD) in Springfield earlier this month, Rauner chose to blow the event off – not even bothering to send a staffer to address the IGOLD crowd. In the opinion of the ISRA-PVF, Bruce Rauner offers little to Illinois hunters and sportsmen.
Discuss.
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Oberweis issues statement from Florida
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Illinois Review obtained a statement from US Senate candidate Jim Oberweis about his week-long trip to Florida before the primary…
“It is certainly no secret that in a highly contested U.S. Senate race in one of America’s most populous states, I will be expected to travel quite a bit over the next six months, mostly inside Illinois but occasionally outside Illinois, to meet with contributors and to attend fundraising events,” Oberweis said.
“I have currently traveled to Florida for two reasons. First, to fulfill a promise to my wife to spend a few days with her in Florida for her birthday, and second, to raise money for my U.S. Senate race.”
Doug Truax, Oberweis’ opponent, said Oberweis’ actions show he’s unelectable.
“We need a warrior to take on Durbin, not a timid snowbird,” Truax said.
Discuss.
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Monique Garcia and Michelle Manchir report for the Tribune…
Gov. Pat Quinn is facing a challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election, but the state’s chief executive is not running much of a campaign.
He hasn’t aired a single television or radio ad, and he hasn’t sent out mail pieces to potential voters. He didn’t name his top campaign staff until this week, and his running mate, Paul Vallas, didn’t move back to Illinois until this month. Beyond that, Quinn has barely acknowledged opponent Tio Hardiman, the former leader of a city anti-violence group who was dismissed after he was arrested on a domestic battery charge last year. Cook County prosecutors later dropped the case.
While the Republican governor hopefuls trade barbs, Quinn has lain low. He has barely been out in public after a highly critical audit of how his administration divided up a $55 million state anti-crime grant program and the quick resignation of his hand-picked director of the state’s child welfare agency. The governor also pushed back his yearly budget address until the week after the primary — a move that allows Quinn to find out who his Republican opponent will be in the fall before taking a stand on whether the state should extend a soon-to-expire income tax hike he signed into law in 2011.
Instead, Quinn has spent the past several months doling out money for projects across Illinois, low-risk, locally popular things like new bike trails, equipment for firefighters, and improvements for airports and water mains. He traveled to Washington to meet with President Barack Obama on the national effort to raise the minimum wage and toured Illinois towns ravaged by November’s deadly tornadoes, railing against the denial of some federal financial assistance.
* From John Gregory at the Illinois Radio Network…
“There’s no excuse for the media to keep giving Gov. Quinn a pass, and not force him to have a debate with Tio Hardiman,” Hardiman said, “because we’re actually gaining numbers every day. We can only go up in the polls now. We can only go up—all the way.” Hardiman believes there’s real support for his campaign, and not just from Democrats willing to get behind anyone who isn’t Quinn. He claims his website is outperforming all other candidates, including those running for the Republican nomination.
* By the Hyde Park Herald’s Jeffrey Bishku-Aykul…
“Every mismanagement of the state falls on the poor and the working class people to hold the state up. Without the poor and the working class, this state would be destroyed already,” [Hardiman running mate Brunell Donald] said.
She added, “We don’t have a governor with a backbone for the poor and the working class.”
* And David Ormsby at the Illinois Observer writes about a poll he commissioned which showed Quinn leading Hardiman 64-36…
“Given that 36% of Democrats, including 35.5% of African Americans are currently planning to support an accused domestic abuser over the incumbent Democratic Governor, this poll makes it clear that Governor Quinn has some work to do in shoring up his base,” said Aileron Communication President Dave Lundy, a public relations and political strategist based in Chicago.
Quinn’s meager margin over Hardiman is also being fed in part by Democratic voters’ sour mood about the state’s direction.
“[N]early two thirds of voters believe that Illinois needs a new direction, as 57% of respondents indicated that they believe Illinois is headed in the wrong direction while 43% believe Illinois is currently on the right track,” according to the pollster. “This view is strongest among women, 58%.”
Lundy warns that a sizable Hardiman protest vote portends problems for Quinn if the Rauner does indeed emerge as the governor’s general election opponent as many insiders are expecting.
“The question in the Democratic primary was never whether Governor Quinn would win. Instead, his opponent’s presence on the ballot should be viewed as a proxy for “other” and right now 36% of Democrats would rather vote for ‘other’”, said Lundy. “In a campaign against a social moderate like Bruce Rauner, that could be highly problematic.”
* From Hardiman’s Twitter page…
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