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Question of the day

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a Bobby Schilling press release…

It has been more than two weeks since audio surfaced where then-candidate Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) promised to give back 10 percent of her pay if elected. She still refuses to answer whether she will follow through on that promise. That refusal continued Friday in an interview with reporters in Peoria—the same group of reporters she ran away from two weeks ago.

And honestly, we wish we could stop banging the drum on this, but she just won’t answer the question:

    Reporter: Congresswoman Bustos, will you follow through on your promise to give up 10 percent of your pay?

    Bustos: “You know, it’s a diversion from what I want to be talking about.”

Jon Schweppe, communications director at Bobby Schilling for Congress, released the following statement:

“Congresswoman Bustos continues to dodge simple ‘yes or no’ questions about whether she will give up ten percent of her pay like she promised—that’s $34,800 she owes us. Now she is dictating to the media what they will and won’t be covering.

“Congresswoman Bustos can end this controversy quickly with a ‘yes or no’ response—the people deserve an answer. Will Congresswoman Bustos follow through on her promise to give up ten percent of her pay? Or is she going to break her promise to voters? Yes or no?”

* She doesn’t come off great in the video

* From what I gather, Bustos doesn’t want it to look like she returned or donated her salary because Schilling demanded it. There are some Democrats who believe she can win without dealing with this issue, so they’ve counseled her to ignore the whole thing. On the other hand, this isn’t going away anytime soon. Sooo…

* The Question: What should Bustos do about her 2012 promise? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.


surveys & polls

And, yes, some of you will see a typo. I tried to fix it, but can’t get the fix to immediately appear. Sorry.

  42 Comments      


*** UPDATED x2 *** Rauner unveils education reform ideas

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Bruce Rauner is holding a press conference on education reform. Click here to read it. From the twitters…


‘’

* This one also caught my eye…

* I was told early this morning that Rauner would not be calling for the end of teacher tenure. Well, according to NPR, Florida’s law essentially ends tenure for all new hires and teachers who move to new districts..

Rating teacher performance. The law requires districts to rate teachers and administrators annually, according to a legislative analysis, with half of their score based on student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test Performance over a three-year period.

How teachers are paid. New hires will no longer have to climb the decades-long seniority ladder to earn the highest salaries. Now, the highest-rated teachers can earn the top salaries just a few years out of college. Highly-rated teachers already working can opt out of the merit pay system — but if they switch districts they would be paid on their performance, according to a United Teachers of Dade Q & A. Teachers will also no longer be guaranteed additional pay for advanced degrees.

Job security. New hires will no longer enjoy long-term contracts, but instead must be rehired on an annual basis. Those already teaching are again exempted from the new law, but teachers who switch districts would then move to annual contracts.

*** UPDATE 1 *** From the IFT…

“Bruce Rauner’s blueprint reads like a Greatest Hits of failed education experiments that penalize good teachers instead of addressing the fact that Illinois schools are some of the worst funded in the nation,” said Dan Montgomery, President of the IFT and a high school English teacher for eighteen years.

“When it comes to what ails us, teacher tenure and merit pay are red herrings. There is no evidence that giving teachers due process negatively impacts student achievement, but research overwhelmingly shows the devastating effects of poverty and under funding schools. As a teacher, I saw firsthand the heartbreaking impact on a student when a parent lost a job or struggled to pay the bills.

“If Rauner was really interested in our students, he wouldn’t advocate eliminating the minimum wage.

“If Rauner was really interested in our students, he wouldn’t propose budget ideas that would cut billions out of public education resulting in teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, and higher property taxes.

“We want great teachers for all of our students, and if the goal is to improve education, we don’t need to pit teachers and parents against each other. We need the resources to make success possible.”

*** UPDATE 1 *** Paul Vallas…

“Bruce Rauner’s education blueprint includes a lot of promises, but predictably fails to pay for any of them. In reality, Rauner’s plan will put an additional one million dollars in his own pocket while laying off 1 in 6 teachers by blowing a $4 billion hole in Illinois’ education budget.

“This is reckless and irresponsible. The outcome of Rauner’s plan - larger classroom sizes, higher property taxes and cuts up and down the line to education - will represent disaster for our public schools.

“Education is for everyone - not just the elite.

“This is just another example of Mr. Rauner looking out for people like himself at the expense of the working families of Illinois.”

  72 Comments      


The minimum wage and an upscale biker club

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Natasha Korecki is absolutely right when she wrote that the key ingredient missing from Gov. Pat Quinn’s minimum wage challenge last week was “stress”

It’s not really something you can put a dollar amount on. Quinn gobbled his banana and presumably stepped right back into a car driven by his security detail. At night he rested his head at his Galewood home.

People like Dollie Brewer, who works with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, see the stress first-hand.

“Anytime you don’t have enough money, you go to bed thinking: ‘Where am I going to sleep?’ You think: ‘What am I going to eat? I would like to eat quality food, but I have to eat what’s left over,’ ” Brewer said. […]

“We’re working and can’t even afford to pay the parking if we work downtown. And we’ve got parking meters in the parks, parking meters are in the schools, parking meters are everywhere. And where’s the money coming from?” Brewer said. “Raising the minimum wage and trying to have the minimum wage keep up with inflation will at least give us the opportunity to try to have a quality lifestyle, to pay a few bills. No, you won’t have enough to pay all your bills, but at least you won’t have to be on public assistance. You will get your dignity back.”

Quinn kept the issue on the front burner last week, but it could have been handled so much better. Then again, it’s not every day that Dollie Brewer is quoted in a big city newspaper.

* On the other side of the spectrum, Kurt Erickson writes that Bruce Rauner’s $140,000 wine club isn’t the only organization he belongs to. He’s also a member of a “motorcycle club”

Rather than go on poker runs and cruise through the corridors of corn and beans in Illinois, this club takes its members to places like Spain, Italy, Croatia and Turkey.

According to the website for the American Flyers Motorcycle Club, Rauner has gone on three tours with the group since 2009, including one in West Virginia and two in Utah.

Photos on the club website show members relaxing after a day in the saddle, drinking wine and smoking cigars. None of the photos show members crumpling cans of Natty Light on their foreheads.

On the West Virginia trip, club members stayed at least one day just over the border in Pennsylvania at the Bedford Springs Resort. Safe to say it is not the Super 8. A basic room at the inn starts at $455 a night.

* Rauner also explained to reporters on Friday about why he used his $18 watch in his early TV ads

“My watch, it is what it is. The campaign wanted to make sure the voters knew who I am. That’s who I am.”

  30 Comments      


*** UPDATED x1 *** Karen Lewis gives $40,000 to own campaign fund

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Click here for the A-1. That’ll get some city tongues wagging.

*** UPDATE *** Lewis says it’s a loan. Sun-Times

“It’s a sign that I’m trying to raise money,” Lewis tells Early & Often. “People have to see that we’re trying to raise money now. We have to do all kinds of other things.”

That includes getting a campaign office to operate out of.

The money comes as petition circulators have begun their work on her behalf.

“We had petition training on Saturday. It was a big drive — 500 people showed up, it was amazing,” she said.

  38 Comments      


IFT launches fall mail program

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Illinois Federation of Teachers says this mailer will be sent to all member households in the state (about 100,000) this week. This is the “first of many, and in addition to an unprecedented ground game and member-to-member program.”

Keep in mind that the IFT polled its members and this is only going to member households. It’s not designed for mass consumption, so rate it for what it is, please. You can click the pics for a larger, pdf version…


  15 Comments      


Checkbook campaigning

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sun-Times

Gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner drove his 1993 van to a South Side credit union on Friday where he made a $1 million deposit aimed at helping to provide small business loans for the African-American community.

Rauner spent about 10 minutes talking to the South Side Community Federal Credit Union’s president, before depositing the money via a wire transfer. Rauner said he contributed $200,000 as a donation to the institution, and deposited $800,000 into an interest-bearing account.

Rauner pledged his support to the credit union near 54th and Wentworth in July. […]

But the Republican multimillionaire told reporters that his decision to contribute to the credit union was not political. He called accusations he’s buying African-American votes by donating the money “baloney” and “political spin.”

* Yeah, right. This is all about making an investment. The Tribune blows up that notion pretty handily

Rauner said he would be receiving interest on his $800,000 credit union deposit at a rate he said was “small” but did not specify. “We’ll get our money back with an interest return,” Rauner said.

While Rauner described his deposit as an investment, he acknowledged the credit union had a 25 percent default rate on its loans. Records of the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that monitors credit unions, showed that as of June 30, the organization managed $3 million in deposits for 1,550 members.

On its website, the credit union advertises personal, auto and business loans for its members, including payroll advance loans at an interest rate of 16 percent and payday alternative loans at interest rates of up to 28 percent.

Yikes.

* Meanwhile, Phil Kadner got a tip that Rauner was meeting with African-American ministers in Harvey the other day, but he arrived too late to hear what Rauner had to say

Rauner said he would use his contacts in the business community to encourage them to create a program that would make more jobs available to ex-cons, [David Gethers, minister of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in Harvey] said. […]

[J.R.] Jordan and Gethers said Rauner also spoke about his interest in improving public education. They came away with the impression that Rauner, as governor, would increase school funding.

I asked if he said how he planned to do that. Rauner has said he would cut the state income tax, meaning Illinois would have less money for education, among other things.

I was told Rauner had implied that he might dip into his personal wealth to fund some programs.

“He would use his own money?” I asked.

“That’s what he said,” Jordan replied. “He said he had been investing his own money in education for years. He said one thing he would do is make sure every teacher in Illinois is certified, and he has funded programs in the past to make sure teachers are properly trained.’

…Adding… This explains a lot

“As my wife will say all the time, I’m pretty cheap. I don’t like to spend money I don’t have to. I invest in assets. I’ve done very well with my investments,” said Rauner, an equity investor from Winnetka.

  33 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Political events calendar

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Tillman: “False charge of racism”

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Let’s start the coverage of this story with the react from John Tillman at the Illinois Policy Institute…

One of the most harmful actions one can take with respect to racial issues is the false charge of racism. Today we have seen Gov. Quinn do just that in his desperate bid for re-election. It is a failure of leadership of the highest order.

We stand by every word I said in the video that Gov. Quinn’s campaign office released today. Those remarks from October of 2011 convey what we have long believed: that the free enterprise system and the founding principles of this country are the best way to help all of our people, but especially the poor, disadvantaged and minorities. That is what the Illinois Policy Institute fights for every day.

Any fair viewer of that video will see the falseness of Gov. Quinn’s press release from this morning.

We will have more to say on this later in the day.

John Tillman

* Now, let’s move back a step and hear what the Quinn campaign had to say a bit earlier this morning…

Quinn for Illinois spokesman Izabela Miltko issued the below statement regarding new video showing one of Rauner’s top allies making the case that cutting the minimum wage is the best way to help “minority people.” After the comments, Rauner donated more than half a million dollars to the organization, which is currently pushing to eliminate the minimum wage in Illinois.

“Bruce Rauner is not only bankrolling an organization that is currently pushing to eliminate the minimum wage - he is closely aligned with a tycoon who has said that the minimum wage turns ‘minority people’ into gang members.

“Such extreme, bizarre policies and racial stereotypes have no place in Illinois.

“It’s extremely disturbing that Mr. Rauner surrounds himself with these out-of-touch individuals and Tea Party organizations.

“Bruce Rauner owes the people of Illinois an apology. He should immediately renounce these ugly, racist remarks and disassociate himself from the Illinois Policy Institute and its CEO, John Tillman.”

* OK, now here’s the video which started it all. Bruce Rauner was on the podium with Tillman for this 2011 event. Tillman’s remarks in question start at the one hour, 27 minute mark, but you probably should start just a little earlier

* Transcript provided by the Quinn campaign…

John Tillman: “Think about the minimum wage: they love to talk about how the minimum wage helps poor, disadvantaged, and minority people.

“Think about that video we saw of Jack Roeser’s life earlier and those children walking to St. Elizabeth’s school. You saw those kids on that video. You remember them walking in, some of them were 7, 8, or 9 years old. Imagine those kids when they’re 17, 18, 19 years old walking down the street on the south side of Chicago or the west side of Chicago.

“If we have a low minimum wage so employers can afford to bring in a new employee who’s just learning how to work, developing their skills, trying to get a leg up in life- help wanted signs go out.

“When we raise the minimum wage to $8.25, those kids when they’re 17, or 18 and grown up out of St. Elizabeth’s walk down that same street when they walk by those stores, the help wanted signs are taken away because that employer can’t afford $8.25 an hour.

“So those kids keep walking and they walk and they get to the corner, and what do they find at the corner? They find a member of the gang offering them a job to be a drug runner. Is that the choice we want to make?

“Those kids are our heroes on why a lower minimum wage is better, not a higher minimum wage because it changes those kids’ lives for the worse if you raise it, it improves their life if you lower it.”

* The Rauner campaign wants to remind you of this story from earlier this year

An outspoken Chicago pastor connected Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan and suggested that GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner stands for “evil,” as he appeared next to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday to give the Democrat his endorsement.

The governor remained silent as the Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman, a long-time left-wing activist, spoke at his side during a press event where Quinn accepted the endorsement of several mostly African-American clergy members.

But

Shortly after speeches concluded, Quinn disappeared out the back door of the Chicago Lakeshore Hotel, where the endorsement event was held, without taking questions from reporters. Following inquiries from WBEZ, the governor’s re-election campaign sought to distance itself from Coleman’s comments on Thursday.

Spokeswoman Brooke Anderson told WBEZ that Coleman was invited to speak at the event by another minister, not by the campaign. In a statement Anderson said the governor does not support Coleman’s statements.

“We couldn’t disagree more strongly, and the Governor believes this rhetoric has no place in politics,” Anderson wrote in an email.

So, considering that the WBEZ story is being pushed by the Rauner campaign, it’s probably only fair that they react to Tillman’s video and his later response, right? Or am I missing something here?

  18 Comments      


Callis goes on the attack

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Democratic congressional candidate Ann Callis has a new TV ad. Last week’s ad was positive. This one’s a negative, but it’s done in a humorous way.

UPDATE: Callis has now released the new ad on YouTube, so I deleted the other code from the NRCC video and added this one

* Script…

(GENE, FARMER)
When I first heard that Congressman Rodney Davis had spent forty grand in D.C. steakhouses, I said “well done.”

(PETE, BUTCHER)
Me too. But then I found out Davis voted to chop Medicare…

(GENE, FARMER)
But not perks for himself, like first class flights, pensions, or healthcare for life.

(PETE, BUTCHER)
Hey, steak is great, Congressman, but it’s time to trim some fat in DC.

(GENE, FARMER)
Putting yourself ahead of the middle class is a load of bull.

Pretty good. We’ll see if it moves any needles.

* From the NRCC…

Ann Callis is up on TV with an ad attacking Rodney Davis. Callis must now realize that her friends at the DCCC aren’t coming in so she will have to do her own dirty work and go negative right out of the gate.

The problem with Callis’ new ad is that she attacks Rodney on first class travel and health care for life for members. Callis didn’t do her homework because Rodney actually voted to ban first class travel for members and also voted to end health care for life for members. See for yourself HERE.
Callis also didn’t mention the perks she will receive after retiring as a judge – both a pension and health care which are paid for by Illinois families. Seeing Callis doesn’t like elected officials receiving perks, will she refuse to accept her state pension and state health care for life?

NRCC Statement: “The latest attack ad from Ann Callis is dishonest and factually incorrect. Rodney Davis has voted to end congressional perks all while Ann Callis plans to collect a state pension and health care. The only one in this race who wants to milk Illinois families is Ann Callis and this latest attack ad is just plain bull.” – Katie Prill, NRCC Spokeswoman

  13 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Latest cable TV buys

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Rauner wants IDOT workers fired now

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The IDOT hiring scandal continues to brew. Sun-Times

Rauner also called on Quinn to “take action” on alleged patronage jobs within the state Department of Transportation.

“Gov. Quinn does not need to do another review. He needs to take action and actually follow through on his word,” Rauner said. “Pat Quinn has not taken action. They are still inside the government, dozens and dozens of them. My question to the governor is ‘Why are these folks still on the payroll, illegally taking money from the taxpayers?’ Who is he protecting. What’s he hiding?”

A report by the state executive inspector general released last month questioned the hiring of hundreds of staff assistants with IDOT.

“Unlike Bruce Rauner who takes no responsibility for fraud and mismanagement happening right under his nose, Gov. Quinn has already acted to reform the agency, appoint a new secretary and make sure everything is being done right,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said. “Bruce Rauner takes the money from fraud happening at his own business and then goes home quietly.”

* Crain’s editorialized on it as well

Lately, however, Mr. Quinn looks like just another standard-issue ward heeler, overseeing a department handing out jobs to cronies like candy to Halloween trick-or-treaters. The state’s top investigator reported late last month that IDOT improperly hired more than 250 people in the past decade, and the practice accelerated under Mr. Quinn.

Investigators found no evidence that Mr. Quinn or his staff members were aware of impropriety, but former IDOT Secretary Ann Schneider, whom Mr. Quinn appointed in 2011, said recommendations for agency hires came from the governor’s office.

Perhaps it was too much to hope that Springfield was ready to be cleaned up. But it was nice to think that if anybody was going to try, good ol’ Pat Quinn would.

Now he has handed another self-styled reformer, Bruce Rauner, a ready-made cudgel, which the Republican gubernatorial candidate has been swinging gleefully at Mr. Quinn on the campaign trail. And Illinoisans are left with just that much more reason to doubt that anyone who promises “reform” will ever deliver.

* From the Rauner campaign…

“Pat Quinn doesn’t need another review; he needs to fire those who were illegally hired. My question to the governor is this: who are you protecting and what are you hiding? We need a new governor who will follow through on his promises.” – Bruce Rauner

On Friday, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was confronted about dozens of illegally hired patronage cronies who remain in state jobs. Instead of promising to fire them, Quinn said he would order another “review.”

When asked to respond on Friday, Bruce Rauner correctly pointed out that Quinn had already claimed he conducted a review and that the Inspector General presented his findings to the governor – a long with the list of 250 illegal hires – back in June. Watch the clip.

Who is Quinn trying to protect? The governor does not need to do another review – he needs to take action and keep his word.

Discuss.

  42 Comments      


Durbin sends out red alert on Uihlein TV ad

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the Dick Durbin campaign…

The man who has done more than any other in Illinois to fuel the Tea Party movement across America has quietly put down hundreds of thousands of dollars in television advertising this week in a stealth effort to smear Dick Durbin with ads that completely distort the truth. It’s an effort to advance Jim Oberweis’ extreme agenda and dangerous ideas that will do nothing but harm to Illinois’ middle-class.

Our America Fund, whose sole donor is Illinois Tea Party funder Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest, purchased television advertising on Chicago broadcast stations this week with an ad that takes quotes from Karl Rove and other conservative leaders and attributes them to respected news sources.

Uihlein recently moved 1,000 jobs from his company in Illinois and moved them to Wisconsin.

The attack ad claims that Dick Durbin pushed the IRS to investigate only conservative organizations, when in fact Durbin clearly was asking for an investigation of non-profit organizations whom use their tax-exempt status to do political work — which is against Federal law.

Sen. Durbin has posted all communication he had with the IRS on his Senate website — and it has been there for four years. It clearly shows that Sen. Durbin asked for an investigation of any C4 organization “that are directing millions of dollars into political advertising.”

“This ad is trying to fool the voters of Illinois,” said Ron Holmes, Communications Director for the Durbin Campaign. “And the true intent of Richard Uihlein is to elect Jim Oberweis, because his group shares with him ideas that are out of the mainstream and downright dangerous for Illinois’ middle-class.”

* Rate the ad

* It appears that this group will also be playing in two other Senate races. One in Michigan and one in Iowa.

  30 Comments      


What’s behind an unusual teachers union endorsement?

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column

The Illinois Education Association has always leaned more Republican than its Illinois Federation of Teachers counterpart, but at least one of the IEA’s endorsements raised a few eyebrows this year.

Conservative state Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) was endorsed by the IEA last month. The Illinois AFL-CIO assigns the Metro East legislator a rating of just 36 percent so far this session. The Illinois Federation of Teachers, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, endorsed Kay’s Democratic opponent Cullen L. Cullen. The IEA is not an AFL-CIO union.

The Kay endorsement is not what you’d call an everyday occurrence. Yes, the IEA endorses a fair amount of Republicans, but it’s pretty well documented that Kay was on friendly terms with the Tea Party when he was first elected in 2010. The IEA is not exactly enamored with that bunch.

According to a story published by the fiscally hard-right Illinois Policy Institute, Rep. Kay attended one of its press conferences last year with a handful of other Republican legislators who “showed their support” for the group’s budget legislation, including a proposal to move all current teachers and government workers into 401(k) style pension plans. Kay, however, did not co-sponsor that plan and it was never brought to the House floor for a vote. The IEA, of course, was and still is dead-set against the Illinois Policy Institute’s plan.

And according to a report in GOP Illinois USA, Kay and others “spoke very highly” of Rep. Jeanne Ives, who is perhaps unrivaled in the General Assembly for her harsh criticisms of government employee unions. Rep. Ives recently donated to Kay’s campaign.

And speaking of money, Chicago radio talk show host Dan Proft, who’s no friend of the teachers unions whatsoever, told me he and Kay have discussed whether Proft would contribute to Kay’s campaign. Proft has a huge campaign fund, so I suppose it’s possible that Kay might wind up receiving cash from both sides of the teachers union debate.

Kay and Cullen, I’m told, had identical answers to questions posed by the union. Kay voted against the state pension reform bill, which the teachers appreciated because they fought so hard against the bill’s passage. And, according to folks at the IEA, Kay clearly went out of his way to obtain their endorsement this year. So, after rejecting him three elections in a row, the union awarded it to the Republican.

But there are a couple of other important angles here.

The IEA is understandably worried about what could happen if Bruce Rauner is elected. Rauner has howled about the evils of teachers unions for years. The IEA will need allies in both parties to fend off Rauner’s expected attacks on their collective bargaining rights and tenure. A friendly voice in the House Republican caucus probably wouldn’t hurt when a Gov. Rauner is pushing those legislators to fall into lock step.

Also, I’m told, the IEA rank and file has quite a few members who really don’t care for House Speaker Michael Madigan, particularly Downstate, but also in some parts of suburbia.

Speaker Madigan went after teachers’ pensions a few years after he took tons of campaign money from Bruce Rauner’s anti-union education reform pals. Madigan used that cash to stave off a Republican onslaught and then led the charge on school reform.

Madigan, of course, has also been known to try and “flip” a member whenever he deems it necessary. So, a candidate beholden to Madigan might not always be considered trustworthy. Rep. Kay, on the other hand, could never be confused with being a Madigan ally, and also has an independent streak when it comes to his own party.

And, there are those under the Statehouse Dome who figure that Madigan, despite his anti-Rauner campaign rhetoric these days, might eventually decide to work with the Republican against the teachers unions just like he did a few years ago. So why give Madigan another “duckling” like Cullen when a Republican might very well turn out to be far more trustworthy?

In other words, the IEA’s endorsement of Rep. Kay makes perfect sense – at least as far as anything makes sense at the Illinois Statehouse.

  8 Comments      


An instant classic: “Right on, Bruce Rauner”

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The IEA’s new YouTube video is the funniest political spot of the season so far

* Script…

Woman in limo: “I’m not paying attention to all those negative ads, because I know the real Bruce Rauner will stand up for me.”

Man in upscale bar: “A tax system that favors the wealthy… for once. When are the poor and middle class gonna start paying their fair share? I’m with you, Bruce Rauner.”

Woman in tennis outfit: “I want my little princess to go to the best private schools around. And I want taxpayers to pay for it all. I know I can count on you, Bruce Rauner.”

Woman in limo: “We need a governor who knows how to create jobs… in China. Outsourcing, wage cuts, union busting. Bruce Rauner will help job creators like me boost that bottom line.”

Old man with young woman: “Pensions! Who cares about pensions? If you want to retire comfortably, marry rich. Right on, Bruce Rauner.”

Narrator: “Tax breaks for the rich. Attacks on public schools. Union busting. And more! They’re standing with Bruce Rauner because Bruce Rauner is standing with them.”

The first few times I heard “Attacks on public schools,” I thought the narrator was saying “A tax on public schools.” The video succeeds on multiple levels.

  60 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Monday, Sep 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

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« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Reader comments closed for the holiday weekend
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Jack Conaty
* New state law to be tested by Will County case
* Why did ACLU Illinois staffers picket the organization this week?
* Hopefully, IDHS will figure this out soon
* Pete Townshend he ain't /s
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
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