Another Kirk facepalm
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune on Sen. Mark Kirk’s latest thoughts about his presidential choice…
“I like him. I think for David Petraeus, the guy who won the battle against ISIS in Iraq … would be the best commander in chief for us,” Kirk told reporters.
He appears to be referring to the Iraq “surge” pushed by former President Bush and led by Petraeus.
* So, apparently Kirk has rethought his position on the surge. From Feb. 17, 2007…
Dear Friend:
Thank you for responding to our survey.
I do not support President Bush’s proposed troop surge in Iraq and voted for the House resolution that recommended against his action. The United States should increase the responsibilities of the elected Iraqi government to solve its own problems, while reducing the number of American combat troops sent overseas.
More here and here.
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Summers floating name for governor
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This was pitched to me yesterday, but I decided to wait until today to talk to him. Looks like I’ll have to now…
He’s been touted as a possible future mayor of Chicago — but city Treasurer Kurt Summers’ eyes may be on the governor’s mansion.
Sources close to the up-and-coming Democrat say he’s exploring a 2018 run against Bruce Rauner.
A final decision to run would likely depend on U.S. Sen Dick Durbin, the big dog in Illinois Democratic politics who would likely clear the field of primary challengers, should he decide to run. […]
In Springfield on Thursday morning for a Democratic Party breakfast event before the State Fair, Summers was asked about a potential gubernatorial run and said: “We’re all here working to defeat Bruce Rauner and elect Democratic candidates.”
Your thoughts?
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Nekritz twice tried to get into the Olympics
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kerry Lester…
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz was a few inches shorter, a “whole lot stronger” and pension reform wasn’t yet a gleam in her eye as she took to the balance beam at the Olympic trials in Los Angeles in spring 1976.
The tiny, curly-topped teen from Kansas was vying for a spot on the American gymnastics team that would head to Montreal to compete against the peerless Nadia Comaneci of Romania that summer. Nekritz knew then she probably wouldn’t score a berth. But she says she wanted to take her athletic abilities as far as she could.
Twenty years later, she was back at it. She competed in a completely different sport, this time at the Olympic trials for indoor cycling.
“I didn’t wipe out,” she laughs. “I performed about as well as I was going to perform. I was nowhere close to being anywhere on the Olympic team.”
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* Monique Garcia…
House Republican leader Jim Durkin said it’s time for some horse trading, suggesting Republicans would work with Democrats on automatic voter registration if Democrats in turn help the GOP pass legislation to overhaul how legislative districts are drawn.
Durkin’s suggestion comes after Rauner vetoed legislation last week that would have allowed state agencies to begin automatically registering new voters as early as January 2018. It would also have allowed for an immediate update of the registration info of an estimated 700,000 existing voters ahead of the presidential election this fall.
Rauner argued the measure needed work, saying it could allow for voter fraud. Supporters balked, saying it was a political move and noting Rauner is likely to be on the November 2018 ballot as he seeks a second term.
Durkin said Wednesday that there’s room to negotiate if Democrats would be willing to cut a deal on an effort to change how political districts are drawn, which critics contend is too political. A petition drive to change the state’s constitution to take politics out of the process is now before the Supreme Court.
“If they want to work and negotiate a Fair Map vote and we’ll work them on automatic voter registration,” Durkin told reporters before Republicans held their annual rally at the Illinois State Fair. “The fact is, this is the business we are in. It’s about compromise, it’s about both sides trying to find a way in which we can accomplish each other’s priorities.”
Leader Durkin voted against the AVR bill, but Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno voted for it. Just six Senate Republicans voted against it.
Thoughts?
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The man who shall not be named
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
[House Republican Leader Jim Durkin] said Trump might hurt in some races this November, and help in others. And Durkin said he’s still not ready to support the GOP presidential nominee.
“I’m not there yet,” Durkin told reporters. “I want to hear someone talk like a president and act like a president before I vote for one.”
State Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno warned that a vote against Trump shouldn’t mean a vote against Republicans across the state. And she argued that members of both parties have doubts about their presidential nominees.
“We’d be silly not to say there’s mixed feelings about the top of the ticket. The great news is, though, that the other side has the same problem. I think we’re starting on kind of an even basis here,” Radogno said. “We may have people that love Trump and want to go out there and just vote for him. Our job is to say that’s great but don’t forget the rest of the ticket.”
On her own feelings about Trump, Radogno called her ballot “private,” but vowed that she wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton.
I fully agree that Trump could actually be helpful to the Republicans in some districts. But statewide? No.
A Republican poll taken July 12-13 found Clinton leading 46.4 to 32.5. Another GOP poll taken July 14-16 had Clinton up 51-33. A Democratic poll taken August 1-4 had Clinton up 51-32.
…Adding… I meant to post this, too, but somehow forgot. Notice anything missing from the front of the ILGOP State Fair tent?…
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Mendoza lashes out at Munger, Rauner
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This morning…
* Background from yesterday…
“They can’t get a budget passed,” Munger said of Democrats, “but somehow they found time to get [a special election for comptroller] passed. And they did it because they think a Republican cannot win in Illinois during a presidential year. Well, they have a surprise coming. Because even though I’m the incumbent in this race, I’m the newcomer to state government. My opponent spent her entire adult life on the city of Chicago and state of Illinois payrolls. … She’s used the Chicago machine to jump from office to office, and now she wants to use them again, because she cannot run on her record.”
Mendoza worked for the city of Chicago’s planning department and was a state representative for 10 years before being elected Chicago’s city clerk in 2011. And while House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN, D-Chicago, has had that post for all but two years since 1983, Munger, in her speech, seemed to stretch to tie Mendoza to the long tenure of the speaker, who also chairs the Democratic Party of Illinois.
“She has voted for every one of Speaker Madigan’s unbalanced budgets,” Munger said. “She’s voted for every tax increase, every pension holiday and all of the borrowing that (has) created the mess that we are in today. She calls Speaker Madigan her mentor. …”
“So today, let’s say ‘Enough!’” Munger said, trying to get the fairgrounds crowd going.
“We’ve had enough of the Chicago way and enough of the politics,” Munger said. “Let’s give Susana Mendoza and her supporters a wake-up call. No more deals. No more politicians who put themselves first.”
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A bit of a stretch
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an ILGOP press release…
Happy Career Politician’s Day!
Celebrate with a selfie featuring our Snapchat filter at the fair or grab one of our new Dick Durbin buttons
The Democratic Party in Illinois has doubled down on the status quo, with its most prominent politicians, Mike Madigan and Dick Durbin, vowing to oppose term limits.
Dick Durbin has reportedly been talking to Madigan about running for Governor.
It’s no surprise then that Durbin would stop to kiss Mike Madigan’s ring – he’s just another career politician whose held power for 33 years.
Dick Durbin voted against term limits in the Senate[1].
Durbin went on record saying, “For some members of Congress… 20 years in office is not long enough.”
NO WONDER DURBIN OPPOSES TERM LIMITS
HE’S TOO BUSY MAKING MONEY OFF HIS ELECTED OFFICE
Dick and Loretta Durbin have reported a net worth of $1.75 million[2].
How? Dick Durbin funneled millions in government kickbacks to his wife’s lobbying clients[3].
ETHICS EXPERTS HAVE CALLED THE DURBIN’S LOBBYING SCHEME “TROUBLING” [4]
If you’re among the 80% of Illinoisans that support term limits, show your support today by taking a Snapchat at the fair and showing off one of our Dick Durbin or Mike Madigan career politician buttons!
Millions in kickbacks? If the party really believes that, then perhaps they should have somebody file an ethics complaint.
* Footnotes 3 and 4 lead to this Tribune article…
Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center and an expert on ethics in lobbying, said the Durbins’ arrangement deserved a thorough airing.
“If you’re going to become a lobbyist, part of the deal is, everything you do is going to be gone over with a very bright light, and it should be,” she said. “So I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong, but it is inherently worth very close scrutiny, and the burden really should be on them to show that there aren’t conflicts.”
Craig Holman, a lobbyist and expert on government ethics at Public Citizen, a watchdog group, said that even though the Durbins have complied with Senate ethics rules, he found the circumstances “troubling.”
Holman perceived an “indirect” conflict of interest in Durbin securing or announcing federal money for his spouse’s clients. “It doesn’t run afoul of any of the congressional ethics rules or federal conflict-of-interest laws, but it does raise red flags in the sense that Durbin is getting credit for awarding grants or earmarks to some of the clients of his wife,” he said.
Also, his latest tax returns shows that his wife made $43,202 last year.
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Another year, another Rutherford event
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rutherford has been holding a State Fair event at Franny’s for years and even held one last year. For whatever reason, he just can’t bring himself to stop doing it, even though his future ain’t exactly bright these days…
Former Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s quixotic decision to host a party outside the gates of the Illinois State Fair while he continues to fight a sexual harassment lawsuit had some senior GOP members scratching their heads Wednesday.
But a relaxed Rutherford was unapologetic, telling Chicago Inc. his political career is merely “in recess” and that “I’m going to do in life what I want to do, when I want to do it.”
Just a handful of pals and supporters — about 25, including Illinois Senate Minority leader Christine Radogno — stopped by to attend the bash, which Rutherford said he has been hosting at a Springfield bar for 21 years.
Rutherford, who has more than $900,000 in campaign cash left over from his doomed 2014 gubernatorial bid, declined to identify what office he might seek, if any.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” he said, but noting that he got “21 percent of the vote in Chicago” when he successfully ran for treasurer. Rutherford’s event came after hundreds gathered inside the fairgrounds to hear Gov. Bruce Rauner and other party leaders speak on the Republicans’ main day at the fair.
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White says “no intention” of running again
Thursday, Aug 18, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There were some rumors that Secretary of State Jesse White would use today’s festivities to announce he was running again in 2018. Things could still change, but it’s not happening yet…
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