45 Comments - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:10 am: I said this yesterday, this might be one of your last chances; Congressman Schock; * Unilaterally clean house. * Release a timely report of lapses of judgement. * Develop an action list, do what’s on the list. Publicly. * Hire “old, boring” seasoned Staff. * Find a new Crew, get a better, politically-savy “kitchen cabinet” whose main goal is to watch Staff, your district “home-base” and… * Stop. All. Social. Media. Forever. Do all those things, you may be able to get through this with some shred of…something. Still, it getting late, or maybe too late(?) OW - Belle - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:10 am: He needs to get straight with this matter and fast. He’s making the issue worse with the dancing. - too obvious - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:12 am: If I recall correctly Jesse Jackson Jr. was sent to prison for stealing only from his own campaign fund. Obviously serious but at least it was money people had given him, albeit for a different purpose. In Schock’s case it appears we’re talking about theft of federal tax dollars, and the alleged theft is documented to a great degree by Schock’s own social media activity. I don’t see how this ends well for Mr. Schock, asusming there’s not a different standard for white congressmen from Peoria. - Anon - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:17 am: It’s time for GOP leadership to stand against him. He is a disgrace and needs to go. His hubris reminds me of another narcissistic politician from Illinois who now resides in club fed. Someone should tell Schock that he won’t be allowed to bring his P-90X videos to prison. - late to the party - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:18 am: I think you might have mis-read that first item, Rich. Politico is alleging that he claimed the software expense but the software exec. said it was for the plane ride, not any software. His PR firm is taking issue with the allegation that it wasn’t for software. Not defending any of it though. If the kid wasn’t going to pay attention to ethics, he should have hired someone who would do it for him. - late to the party - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:21 am: I mean, if any of his highflying was a result of ignorance, rather than deliberate flaunting of the rules. Either way, time to go. Possibly to jail. - Freebird - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:24 am: Arrogance. Do we have a dem to run against him in 16? Dave Koehler? Anybody? - A guy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:24 am: You’re right about one thing for sure. He’s a lot better than his PR team. - Wordslinger - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:24 am: Silence would be best now. The money for the p.r. firm would be better spent on lawyers. The National Review can’t hurt you, but the national government — Justice Department, IRS — can. - Mouthy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:36 am: Wonder if his office can pay off the state’s pension backlog? - Walter Mitty - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:37 am: This is not going away or will end with anything less than resignation. If…If…he can stay out of jail should be his main focus. It appears the Feds have a place to start… We will see if they do, and if they do, we all know the track record they have…. The only take winner cases… OW, you need to post your comments about advice to Rutherford’s staff… When they call you…Lawyer up…. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:42 am: - Walter Mitty -, Yeah. I’m really trying hard not to start fown that path, personally, because I’m afraid if I step there, I can’t find a way off…but the path is in sight. Thanks for the credit. - nikobey - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:43 am: Congressman Schock would do well to heed OW’s wise counsel without delay. - Skeptic - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:45 am: “Do we have a dem to run against him in 16?” No, because he lives in 18. - Shore - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:52 am: Oswego, you’re usually right but this isn’t a staff fail, it’s a principal fail of principle. These weren’t staff decisions, these were his decisions and they’re going to look at everything now for him going back to springfield if they can probably and this isn’t one he can just kind of bs his way through by repaying funds, apologizing, whatever. good riddance. - walker - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:53 am: Slinger’s got it again. Political posturing is not what’s most needed right now. This will die down and he will be retained in that district, if and only if this doesn’t morph into formal legal issues. - chi - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:54 am: I think the PR team took issue with the story, i.e. the PR team disputed it was for a private flight. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 11:57 am: - Shore -, Staff owns a fair chunk. Why? Schock takes 10 to NYC, no one thought twice. Schock, with a Staffer, fly to a Bears game, no one bats an eye? The Office either had zero respect from Schock and no one could be a contrarian voice, or they were all complicit, and they all were trying to get as much as they could milk out of the position. Staff failed him, Schock hired a weak minded Staff, or a Staff lacking backbone to help keep Schock out of trouble. With 10 heading to NYC, I’m thinking weak minded, and tgst is a fail on both parties. - MrJM - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:03 pm: Polite or not, I no longer see how Schock can get out of this without answering some questions under oath. – MrJM - Educated in the Suburbs - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:06 pm: Oh man, that CNN reporter. Most of the rest of the guys in that press bunch were local reporters (some of them TV reporters on their first jobs out of college) and they’re all going, “Awwwwwwwwkward ….” and trying to look anywhere else as the CNN reporter ramps up the rudeness. The political and media communities in the 18th are small, so they all know each other, and that’s a pretty rare level of rudeness (possibly because the reporters know they’ll run into the politicians later at the supermarket, and vice versa). Is Jehan Gordon in the 18th or is she in Bustos’s 17th? - Unstoppable - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:06 pm: Wonder how he’s getting to SXSW? http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_IAP38257 - Just an Old Guy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:07 pm: It’s too late, the dirge has begun… - econ prof - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:08 pm: ==* Stop. All. Social. Media. Forever.== I don’t see that happening. He’s much too narcissistic for that. - Wensicia - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:14 pm: ==or they were all complicit, and they all were trying to get as much as they could milk out of the position== This is what it’s starting to look like. Neither staff or PR firms can help Schock now. He should clam up and let his lawyers talk to the media going forward. I wonder if he even realizes how bad this is for him? - Who me worry? - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:25 pm: “Staff owns a fair chunk.” Um, Captain, I think there is an iceberg ahead. - JoanP - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:27 pm: @ skeptic - I’m pretty sure freebird was referring to 2016, not the 16th district! - Nearly Normal - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:29 pm: While I was out last night, my voice mail took a message that was a survey about Cong. Schock. “Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job at Congressman Schock is doing?” The choices were generally approve, generally disapprove,neutral or unsure. Since there was no response, the automated survey shut down. Can’t be no accident that the survey was down after these incidents were reported in the media. - Nearly Normal - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:31 pm: Can’t be no accident that the survey was done after these incidents were reported in the media. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:32 pm: ===“Staff owns a fair chunk.” Um, Captain, I think there is an iceberg ahead.=== I don’t think this Staff saw the iceberg, that’s why they get a chunk of the blame… - Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:32 pm: Schock has been able to skate through on good looks and charisma for years. He appears to think that approach will carry him through now as well. Unfortunately for Schock, this attack seems to be orchestrated and possibly coming from more than one set of detractors. HE can keep skating, but the ice seems thin. To bring in OW’s line of thinking, staff is there to keep him away from the thin ice; instead, they’re following his lead right into the dangerous area, telling him it’s fun and taking selfies. - Truthteller - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:33 pm: For the good of the republican party in Illinois, and nationally, Schock needs to resign immediately. He will now be the poster child for abuse of office, and waste of taxpayer dollars. He will no longer be an effective fundraiser for the Republican conference, he is not even a chairman of a subcommittee in Congress. What is also disturbing is that Schock is a member of the House Committee on Administration which has direct oversight jurisdiction of how Members of Congress run their offices, and the federal election process. He knew what he was doing was wrong. - Union Man - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:40 pm: Time for him to fess up and ask for forgiveness. Otherwise, hit the road!! - Undergrad Economist - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:48 pm: ==Wonder how he’s getting to SXSW?== Unstoppable, is right. #unstoppable - Reading Comprehension - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 12:52 pm: You may want to read the quoted paragraph and the one immediately after that you cut out: While declining to comment on some of the reports, Schock’s PR team has taken issue with the accuracy of others, like a Politico story on Monday that said Schock had reported on federal campaign finance documents that he spent more than $3,000 on software when in fact the money was part of the cost of a flight in a software executive’s private plane to a Chicago Bears game and his district. “We believe the characterization of the certain activities discussed in the Politico story are factually inaccurate,” said a Schock spokesman. “The review of Congressman Schock’s official office, campaign and leadership PAC compliance procedures is ongoing and includes the issues discussed in the Politico story. While the review is ongoing, however, we are not in a position to comment on any of the specifics and have no further comment at this time.” Politico is making the Bears game allegation, not the PR firm. - Anonymiss - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 1:06 pm: That CNN story is incredible. - vole - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 1:36 pm: One of the few times I’d agree with the wingers — Boehner and McConnell do desperately need to go. Which doesn’t do much for a defense of Schock. I am certainly not one of his 750,000 constituents from whom Schock takes his marching orders. And I am certain that none but perhaps a few of his ultra elite constituents could identify with his questionable shenanigans. Cheaters cheat. Because about 25% of our economy is a racket and D.C. is in their pocket. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 1:52 pm: Hubris led to this mess, but incredibly all of it may have been legal. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/washingtons-open-secret-profitable-pacs/ http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/03/13/3384641/scam-leadership-pacs/ - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 1:54 pm: ==Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss likes golf, so much so that he spent more than $100,000 the past two years entertaining at some of the finest courses in the world. New York congressman Gregory Meeks prefers football. He spent $35,000 on NFL games. All of this was paid for with political contributions — all in the name of democracy.== smh - 47th Ward - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 1:55 pm: ===Time for a new PR team=== As Wordslinger and others pointed out, this is well beyond a PR problem. Schock needs to lawyer up and then clam up. Having said that though, if he is going to continue to mount a PR campaign to save his neck, he might want to start by finally telling the truth. About everything. The truth will set him free, even if he ends up in federal prison. - Skeptic - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 2:36 pm: JoanP: Ah…good catch. There was a sacrificial D that ran against him in ‘14, but he got crushed. I suspect that short of an indictment (and maybe not even then) he’d still get re-elected. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 2:55 pm: Saying there was a sacrificial d to run against schock gives the central Illinois dems too much credit for schock having any opposition. The Democratic nominee was a ex Republican gadfly who beat out a political novice history teacher from quincy in the primary. - vole - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 3:16 pm: Yes, hisgirlfriday. That is what is so disheartening about the whole Schock fiasco — it is emblematic of just how weak and corrupt the entire political system actually is. The supreme importance of money mongering for political power — Schock is a master of it. With his war chest it will be very difficult for anyone to unseat him. The power of incumbency. The weakness of the parties. And sadly, the cynicism and complacency of the people. How many people even participate in party politics let alone vote? In your face behavior like Schock’s just alienates the citizenry even further. So, yeah, Schock, tell us you are taking your marching orders from us. Schock might have been less inclined to cheat if he didn’t think he had the spin meister schpeil mastered. Which he does! Slick pac abominable. - nothingsurprisesme - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 3:21 pm: It’s all about the bumper stickers. If you drive through Schock’s district you’ll notice the four most popular bumper stickers… “Jesus is my co-pilot” “Guns don’t kill people, abortion clinics do” “My bedspread is a Confederate Flag” “My wife, yes, My dog, maybe, My Gun , never” Democrats have no hope in this neighborhood since they did everything they could to gerrymander the districts surrounding Schocks and this is what we’ve ended up with. As long as he keeps the bumper sticker crowd happy this district will always be Schock’s. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 3:30 pm: Glad to know Schock doesn’t need my vote anymore. He has seen the last one from me he will get. -A Bitter Clinger from the Right. - QCLib - Thursday, Mar 12, 15 @ 4:11 pm: If Illinois loses a seat in 2020, this could be interesting to merge his seat with Kinzinger. That is, if Schock makes it through all of this. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.