* The Southern…
The nonprofit arm of an organization founded by GOP operative Karl Rove is spending handily — to the tune of more than a half-million dollars — for attack ads that began Tuesday against U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart, who quickly responded with a message of his own.
Enyart faces Republican state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, in the Nov. 4 election.
Crossroads GPS, which is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (4), plans to spend $565,000 to fund attack ads against Enyart, according to the D.C.-based insider publication, Politico.
* The ad is kinda cookie cutter…
* Lynn Sweet…
Crossroads GPS, a spinoff of a group founded by Karl Rove — the conservative strategist Democrats despise — is running an ad ripping Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., for opposing the repeal of Obamacare, a message potentially hindering the comeback bid of former Rep. Bob Dold, R-Ill.
I hear the Dold team — seeking to portray Dold as an independent-minded moderate Republican — was not pleased with the Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies ad.
Crossroads GPS is sinking a whopping $640,000 into a cable buy for a spot or spots running since last Sunday through Sept. 3 in a bid to bolster Dold in the north suburban 10th Congressional District contest.
The Crossroads ad now in play may be more of a headache than help to Dold, in a rematch after Schneider narrowly defeated him in 2012. President Barack Obama won the district with 58 percent of the vote in 2012. Obamacare by no means is a pejorative in this Obama-friendly district.
So why go there? Repealing Obamacare is a priority of Crossroads GPS.
That ad hasn’t been posted yet, but it’s apparently similar to the Enyart ad.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Aug 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As somebody else tweeted yesterday, she’s 72? I never woulda guessed that one. Robert Feder…
Elizabeth Brackett, a respected veteran of four Chicago TV news operations, retired Tuesday after 20 years as a full-time staff correspondent for “Chicago Tonight,” the nightly news program on public television WTTW-Channel 11.
But she won’t be leaving the show altogether. In her new role as “special correspondent,” Brackett will contribute 10 long-form stories in the coming year. […]
Brackett, 72, said her decision was determined in part by the retirement last May of her husband, Peter Martinez, as co-director of the Center for Urban Education Leadership at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A world champion triathlete in her age group, she also said she needed more time to train for the World Triathlon Championships in Chicago next year. Before that, she plans to compete next month in the International Triathlon Union World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. […]
For her work she has been honored with a Peabody Award, five Emmy Awards (including a national Emmy), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Headline Club and induction in the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chicago/Midwest chapter.
* She won her age group’s World Triathlon Championship three years in a row…
* The Question: Caption?
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* Two things are missing from this article…
A key House Republican involved in the legislative probe of Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2010 Neighborhood Recovery Initiative announced plans Wednesday to personally visit a state agency to mine additional staff emails involving the program that the lawmaker believes have been withheld improperly by the administration.
In a letter to the governor, state Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, urged Quinn to authorize “full and complete access to the emails and electronically stored information at [Central Management Services] related to the NRI program.”
Reis noted that a lawyer for former Quinn deputy chief of staff Toni Irving, who helped oversee the anti-violence grant program, indicated to the Legislative Audit Commission that CMS, which controls most of the state’s computer data servers containing emails, had found “over 100,000” relevant emails in a search. Yet, Auditor General William Holland had access to “a number much less than that figure,” Reis wrote. […]
In his letter, Reis said he intends to bring “an expert in the field of electronic discovery” with him to CMS’ Springfield offices on Sept. 3 and intends “to start my work and will continue until my review of the materials is complete.”
* The first thing missing is any sort of context. Reis knows full well that the 100,000 emails were all of Irving’s emails from the entire time she worked for the administration. So, of course the Auditor General looked at fewer than 100,000.
* The second things missing is a response from the governor’s office. I asked for a response this morning and here it is…
The representative’s demand is a political stunt and undermines the law as well as the Legislative Audit Commission’s process for requesting documents related to their review.
As was made clear during the commission hearing in July, the counsel in reference noted the former state employee had hundreds of thousands of total emails in her possession, not 100,000 related to anti-violence programs. Additionally, if the representative were to show up at CMS and demand a search of a secure facility, he would be asking the agency to violate a variety of state and federal laws.
Our office has fully complied with the Legislative Audit Commission. At their request we have provided a disc with more than 2,000 emails related to NRI. The limited number of emails not provided on the disc were legally-protected attorney-client communications between state employees and state attorneys either seeking or providing legal advice.
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Today’s number: 54 percent
Thursday, Aug 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Steve Chapman…
In 1995, the FBI reports, 9,074 blacks were arrested for homicide. In 2012, the number was 4,203 — a decline of 54 percent.[…]
…USA Today reports: “Nearly two times a week in the United States, a white police officer killed a black person during a seven-year period ending in 2012, according to the most recent accounts of justifiable homicide reported to the FBI.”
There’s another, bigger problem with the preoccupation with “black-on-black crime.” The term suggests race is the only important factor. Most crimes are committed by males, but we don’t refer to “male-on-male crime.” Whites in the South are substantially more prone to homicide than those in New England, but no one laments “Southerner-on-Southerner crime.” Why does crime involving people of African descent deserve its own special category?
The phrase stems from a desire to excuse whites from any role in changing the conditions that breed delinquency in poor black areas. It carries the message that blacks are to blame for the crime that afflicts them — and that only they can eliminate it. Whites are spared any responsibility in the cause or the cure.
Excluding them from complicity is harder to do when the killer is white and the killed is black, as in the shooting in Ferguson. Raising “black-on-black crime” right now is not a sincere attempt to improve the lot of African-Americans. It’s a way to change the subject and a way to blame them.
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Rauner files “emergency appeal”
Thursday, Aug 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Today the Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, chaired by Bruce Rauner, filed an emergency petition for leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Supreme Court will ultimately decide if the people have the right to vote on the Term Limits and Reform binding constitutional amendment on November 4th.
“I urge the Illinois Supreme Court to listen to the people of Illinois; the Court needs to take our appeal and rule on this case. We believe our Term Limits and Reform amendment is not only constitutional but is exactly what the framers of the 1970 Illinois Constitution intended when they provided for a direct initiative by the voters to make structural and procedural changes to the Legislature. The Legislature will never vote to term limit themselves because of their self-interest in maintaining the status quo in Springfield - it has to be the people,” Bruce Rauner said.
The Committee filed nearly 600,000 signatures with the State Board of Elections in April, almost double the number required by law, in order to place the amendment on the November ballot. The State Board of Elections has certified that enough valid signatures were submitted for the amendment to appear on the ballot.
“This amendment was crafted to follow the requirements as set forth by the Illinois Constitution and previous rulings of the Illinois Supreme Court that have addressed what is needed to have a valid initiative,” Rauner concluded.
Look, if you spend enough money and do it right, you can get 600,000 signatures on just about anything. 600,000 signatures has nothing to do with constitutionality.
…Adding… In my haste to post this development, I forgot I had something ready to go on this topic. Here’s our frequent commenter “walker” on Bruce Rauner’s attempt to amend the Constitution with term limits…
It was doomed from the start, and should have been known to be so. It was obvious on first reading of the petition itself.
Quite an abusive and fraudulent campaign tactic. Cynically build up the hopes and dreams of well-meaning citizens, just to look good, only to have their efforts fail by design, and to then blame those “insiders” in Springfield.
Of all the things this Rauner team has done, this was the most cynical and destructive — regardless of where you are on term limits. And it will probably work well for Rauner at the polls, which is of course their only ethical standard.
* Also, Wordslinger…
Now it’s just a Rauner-as-victim thing that he can use to burnish his outsider credentials and stoke up anger.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune rewrites history…
a redistricting reform proposal that died after Mikva’s ruling because its supporters didn’t have the money to fight another round.
Yeah, that’s why they dropped it. Right. And if they really were facing financial ruin, it’s because donors finally figured out that they had screwed up their petitions and their amendment.
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Uber ramps up the pressure with new radio ad
Thursday, Aug 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Uber is running a new radio ad today calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to veto the ridesharing bill. Rate it…
* And the company sent out a press release responding to the Citizens Action release from yesterday…
As the calls for a veto of HB 4075 rise, the taxi industry reaches new lows
The front groups for the taxi monopoly have been spending a lot of time throwing mud. It started with lies about insurance and background checks that insult the hard working men and women who are our uberX partners, and now it’s a lie about our CEO.
Yesterday, taxi front groups reached new lows by falsely claiming Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick was visiting Illinois to lobby on the anti-ridesharing bill.
No, Travis was not in Illinois, but here’s who was: more than 70,000 residents who have asked Governor Quinn to veto HB 4075 and and preserve ridesharing in the state.
A proud member of the taxi cartel’s league of front groups, the Citizen Action Network followed our innovation (surprise!) by launching a cute, little petition to try and counter the more than 70,000 loud and proud Uber supporters who have asked Governor Quinn to save uberX.
Not surprising to see a stale and tired playbook from an industry that has failed to compete for decades. You can’t track their signatures but you can check out all the support rolling in on for ridesharing here.
While Illinois residents count the days until the Governor makes his decision, and we all get a thankful reprieve from the onslaught of taxi company lies, let’s review the facts about HB 4075 - a bill that was handcrafted by the taxi industry to put their competition out of business.
HB 4075 bill would devastate uberX and ridesharing across the state of Illinois by:
·
Restricting the number of drivers who could become rideshare partners. That means fewer rides when Illinois residents need them, higher DUI rates, and residents who happen to live in neighborhoods that taxi companies refuse to provide service to will be left without any transportation.
· Adding red tape to the process of becoming a rideshare driver. uberX driver partners make a steady income on a flexible schedule by driving a few hours a week. This bill would eliminate the ability to do that by asking part time drivers to get a professional chauffeurs license – a process that costs money and does nothing to improve the quality or safety of rideshare service.
· Applying archaic insurance standards that do not benefit public safety. uberX driver partners have 3X more insurance coverage than Chicago taxi drivers. HB 4075 fails to recognize the industry-leading insurance that protect rideshare drivers and riders on thousands of trips every day in Illinois.
* And an infographic…
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* Back in May, Julieus Hooks signed a nominating petition for the Libertarian Party. The Republican Party attempted to kick the Libertarians off the ballot and hired a lawyer who hired a private security firm to help with the challenge.
That “help” included sending visibly armed private investigators to the homes of petition signers…
“On or about July 20, 2014, I was exiting my house when a tall Caucasian man and a woman approached and startled me. The man had a gun, which was visible. They told me that the woman who had circulated the petition sheet that I had signed had violated the law because she had obtained too many signatures and committed fraud. I was then given a piece of paper and told to sign.”
Sarah Dart, who was paid to circulate petitions for the Libertarians and obtained Hooks’ signature, told me a similar story. Dart says a private investigator named Carlos Rodriguez contacted her, asking about a missing girl who knew someone she supposedly knew.
She believes the story about the missing girl was a ruse. When she met with Rodriguez, Dart says he confronted her with a stack of petitions and asked her to admit that the signatures for the Libertarians were obtained fraudulently. She refused, and the state’s hearing officer later found that her signatures were legitimately gathered.
Dart says Rodriguez displayed a holstered gun when he met her. He gave her a business card showing he works for Morrison Security in Alsip. The company’s owner is the Palos Township Republican leader, Sean Morrison.
Morrison has been a Bruce Rauner ally since the beginning.
*** UPDATE *** As YDD notes in comments, these could be Class 4 felonies…
(10 ILCS 5/29-4) (from Ch. 46, par. 29-4)
Sec. 29-4. Prevention of voting or candidate support. Any person who, by force, intimidation, threat, deception or forgery, knowingly prevents any other person from (a) registering to vote, or (b) lawfully voting, supporting or opposing the nomination or election of any person for public office or any public question voted upon at any election, shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
…Adding… Those of you who are defending Rauner and the state GOP in comments should go read the whole Sun-Times story…
A party spokesman confirmed that lawyer John Fogarty hired Morrison Security to help with the case against the Libertarians’ petitions.
“Their private investigators are licensed to carry firearms and often do so in areas they consider dangerous,” Republican spokesman Andrew Welhouse said.
The party clearly defended the practice of sending visibly armed private detectives to peoples’ homes.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Quinn campaign’s response calls for a federal investigation…
“We are deeply disturbed that the Rauner forces are intimidating people with weapons.
“Sending armed investigators to people’s homes in the name of politics is not OK in Illinois nor anywhere else.
“Voter intimidation has no place in our state, particularly with guns.
“This is a serious matter and it should be investigated by the State Board of Elections, Cook County State’s Attorney, and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.”
To be clear, I have heard of private eyes and off-duty cops doing petition work. it does happen. It’s absolutely wrong, however, to send armed people to intimidate voters. And hopefully this blatant example will help end it.
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* From a press release…
The Quinn campaign moved quickly to update their latest 30-second television ad highlighting Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s record of outsourcing American jobs overseas. The ad now includes Rauner’s own impassioned defense of outsourcing.
Rauner has taken in millions based on his business practice of outsourcing American jobs overseas to maximize profit by exploiting low-wage, no-protection labor markets. On Tuesday, he defended his actions, saying outsourcing was “part of our economy.” and, “No. Not every job should be in America.”
* The newly updated ad…
Thoughts?
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Uh-oh
Thursday, Aug 21, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) is challenging incumbent Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) to follow through on her promise to give up 10 percent of her pay by donating $34,800 to a veterans charity of her choice.
“Promises made should be promises kept,” Schilling said. “When I ran for Congress, I promised to reject the congressional pension and health care plans, vote against all pay raises for legislators, and lead by example—these are promises I kept. Congresswoman Bustos promised to reject 10 percent of her pay—that amounts to $34,800—but she has failed to do that. Today I am challenging Congresswoman Bustos to do the right thing and donate that $34,800 to a veterans charity of her choice. Not only would that be a worthy cause and an appropriate use of the money, but it might also help Congresswoman Bustos start to repair her relationship with veterans after she voted to cut $6 billion to benefits for disabled veterans and their families last year.”
* In September of 2012, Bustos was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune editorial board and pushed an idea to cut congressional pay by 10 percent. An edit board member pressed her on whether she’d give up 10 percent of her pay voluntarily if her bill didn’t pass…
Cheri Bustos: “And I’m saying, though, this is a vote. That every member of Congress takes a 10 percent pay cut, and there’s a pay freeze until we—we get this under…”
Interviewer: “I’m sorry, I’m confused. Are you—if you’re elected—are you saying to whoever the HR department is—”keep 10 percent of my pay.” Are you—it’s yes or no. Are you going to voluntarily give up ten percent of your salary?”
Cheri Bustos: “I’m saying that—yes. And I would—I would take a—I would propose that there is a vote to cut 10 percent of the pay for every member of Congress.”
Interviewer: “But you would do it regardless?”
Cheri Bustos: “I’m sorry?”
Interviewer: “You would do it regardless of how the vote turns out?”
Cheri Bustos: “Yes.”
* Listen for yourself…
* Bustos never did have ten percent of her pay deducted from her salary. And check out her campaign’s lame response…
Bustos’ campaign manager, Jeremy Jansen, said she “misspoke,” adding that Wednesday was the first time he heard the recording.
“Cheri Bustos has been a leader in fighting for more Congressional accountability, which is why she voted for the No Budget, No Pay Act, which forced members like herself to put skin in the game and prevented them from collecting any pay until they did their jobs and passed a budget,” Jansen wrote in an email. “Cheri misspoke in the midst of a discussion regarding budget proposals similar to this, but to that end supports legislation that would cut lawmakers’ pay 10 percent and looks forward to it coming up for a vote.”
Sorry, but that ain’t gonna fly.
* Bustos beat Schilling last time around mainly by claiming that Schilling had become “too DC” during his first term. But Schilling refused to accept congressional health insurance and pension benefits during his one and only term, so he can now turn this very issue back on Bustos in a potentially game-changing maneuver.
I cannot believe nobody took note of this promise at the time and made sure Bustos followed through. Big mistake. She probably needs to make that donation.
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