Hackers are targeting state Democratic Party officials and have successfully breached and impersonated some of them, according to a message the Association of State Democratic Chairs sent Wednesday to its members.
“A number of chairs and state parties have been victims of hacks and impersonation recently,” read the email, which POLITICO obtained.
On Monday, [Raymond Buckley, president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs] posted on Facebook that his Twitter account was hacked last week and that Facebook had warned him about someone pretending to be him and trying to delete his profile. “Three other Dem State Chairs had their emails hacked,” he wrote in his post, which has since been deleted. “Interesting times.”
Speaker Madigan doesn’t use e-mail, doesn’t have a Facebook page and doesn’t use Twitter, so we can safely assume he wasn’t hacked.
* The Question: What would a hacked Democratic Party of Illinois Facebook page look like?
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk on Wednesday released a letter from the physician that led the medical treatment of his stroke declaring that the senator has made a “full cognitive recovery” while still dealing with some physical limitations.
“He is unlikely to regain further range of motion on his left side, but he continues to undergo regular exercise and physical therapy to maintain his strength,” stated Dr. Richard Fessler of Rush University Medical Center, who called Kirk otherwise “a healthy 56-year-old male.”
“His speech is occasionally halting but has vastly improved. The stroke did not affect the left side of his brain, which controls cognitive and verbal functions,” Fessler continued.
Kirk suffered a severe stroke in January 2012, returning to the Senate after a near year-long absence for recovery and rehabilitation. He often uses a wheelchair and occasionally uses a cane. Fessler wrote that Kirk has “no increased risk” of suffering another stroke.
Politically, Kirk’s campaign believes the big question voters have is about the mental state of Kirk, who turns 57 on Thursday, and what the lingering fallout of the stroke is on his judgment, if any.
Some of Kirk’s controversial remarks — such as calling his colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a “bro with no ho” in 2015 — have fueled speculation about Kirk’s mental status.
Kirk’s stroke did not impact “the left side of his brain, which controls cognitive and verbal functions,” Fessler wrote, concluding Kirk “has made a full cognitive recovery.”
The Fessler letter omits basic information yielded in routine physical exams — what medications Kirk takes, the results of basic lab tests, his blood pressure, electrocardiogram results.
After just nine months at embattled Chicago State University, President Thomas Calhoun Jr. is apparently parting ways with the Far South Side university.
Trustees on Friday plan to vote on Calhoun’s “separation agreement” and name an interim president, according to a board meeting agenda posted Wednesday morning. Calhoun is paid $300,000 a year, and the terms of the agreement were not immediately available. […]
On Wednesday morning, the president of the university faculty union sent a letter to the board to show the faculty’s “virtually unanimous support” for Calhoun, saying he has “provided steady leadership and a strong public voice” during the difficulties presented by the budget crisis of the past year. […]
“The board has chosen a path guaranteed to create continued conflict, contention and uproar on this campus,” said [Robert Bionaz, president of the faculty union], a history professor. “This is a truly dark hour for our university, and Gov. Rauner should immediately replace every member of this current board of trustees.”
* Dusty Rhodes thought a young man’s testimony to the General Assembly in favor of a bill to restrict school suspensions and expulsions sounded too good to be true. For instance…
“My junior high school had a very set protocol for disciplinary referrals,” Anderson said. “At three you got an out-of-school suspension; at five you got expulsion. In 8th grade, I set my junior high school single-year record at 54, and I was not expelled. And the reason for that was: I had an assistant principal who pulled me aside and told me that I was too smart for the dumb things I was doing. He said that he wasn’t going to let my behavior at age 13 affect what I was going to do at 23, 33 and 43.
“Every time that I would get those disciplinary referrals, he would pull me into his office and he’d make sure that my teachers forwarded my homework to his office, and I would do my school work in his office. And because of that, he didn’t allow my immaturity to affect who I became as an adult. And now I have a college degree, a law degree, and I’m sitting here before you to advocate on behalf of legislation that is that champion, that is that assistant principal who was there for me. All these young people — they don’t always have that. What this legislation does is it seeks to give those young people that additional champion.”
“Quentin Anderson! Really, really liked him. He drove me crazy!” Hampton said, “I’m not going to lie, he drove me crazy. It was just… at the time, he wasn’t a bad person, he just was going through some tough times, which led to really poor choices.” […]
“Quentin went through some really difficult phases, but you know what? If you can look past their choices and look into their heart, I really believe that there’s a big difference between who a person is versus the choice they make,” Hampton said. “Yeah, you have to pay for this choice, but are you really a bad person? No. Let’s rethink this. That’s how you change behavior.”
But Hampton didn’t just change Quentin Anderson’s behavior. The change Hampton made in that one student eventually changed the law in Illinois.
* But the story doesn’t end there. Dusty sent me an e-mail today…
So yesterday we aired this story that originated when I watched this kid lobby for Lightford’s SB100, and became suspicious that his personal tale he kept telling all the lawmakers was exaggerated if not wholly fabricated. Turns out — it wasn’t. But when I sent him a pic of the principal he had talked about every time he testified, he responded, “Yep, that’s the dude that saved my life.” I thought — well that’s a little melodramatic. But then last night, he contacted me and said his brother had called him after hearing the story, in tears. And he sent this link so that I could see who his brother is:
Tio Hardiman Offers Strong Alternative as 2018 Gubernatorial Prospect
(Chicago, IL) - After racking up 125,500 votes, securing nearly 30 percent of the vote statewide, and winning 30 counties downstate in the March 2014 Democratic Primary, Tio Hardiman is considering another run for Governor. The Chicago native has focused his career on strong community development and social change, and he believes in the face of economic and political stagnation, he is the catalyst Illinois needs. In a statement released today he said:
“My priorities have always focused on what is best for everyday people – ensuring youth have jobs, communities are economically stable and violence is reduced in every neighborhood. I represent the people, and in my first run for governor in 2014, I learned exactly what it would take to ensure a successful primary campaign. I’m determined to represent the common voice, and I’m the only candidate in the state of Illinois who does not need millions of dollars to win a primary. I could win the March 2018 Primary with $500,000, which promises to be a wide-open raise that is anyone’s game. Governor Bruce Rauner has disappointed millions of people across Illinois by allowing the state’s economy to languish. He has failed to reduce the state deficit, failed to address violence in Chicago, refused to fairly fund Chicago Public Schools, and has aggressively worked to break apart Illinois unions that protect hard working citizens. Illinois needs a leader who can take us in the right direction, and I plan to run a comprehensive grassroots organizing effort that will galvanize over 100,000 people to join my campaign.” - Tio Hardiman, prospective 2018 gubernatorial nominee
He says he can win the race with $500,000? Does he recall that he only raised $19,372.11 in the first quarter of 2014? And all but $555 of that was a loan to himself?
Hardiman ran an almost non-existent campaign. So, he didn’t “win” those votes and counties. The inept, unpopular Pat Quinn lost them.
Governor Bruce Rauner told law enforcement officers fixing the states wasteful bureaucracy will help free up the money needed for public safety.
The Governor made his comments at the Decatur Conference Center & Hotel. He spoke to more than 200 criminal interdiction police officers.
“Reduce wasteful bureaucracy, the cost of bureaucracy in our government, and free up money that we can put into public safety,” Rauner told WAND’s Doug Wolfe before leaving the conference.
The Governor told officers the money could be used to put extra police on the streets and provide them with the technology to do their jobs.
“So we’ve got this vicious cycle going. Bureaucracy wasting money and low economic growth not generating money and it’s taking away resources from you, it’s taking away from our school and making all the problems that you’re dealing with every day worse.”
If the people of Illinois skipped out on their job responsibilities 73% of the time in the month of September, they would get a pink slip – not a promotion.
Why does Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth hold herself to a different standard?
As NBC Chicago reports, Duckworth – one of the least-effective members of Congress, has missed 19 out of 26 votes in this month alone:
Duckworth has missed 19 out of 26 votes in September following a seven week recess. That includes seven votes Tuesday…Last week, the Duckworth campaign claimed the congresswoman missed votes because she was busy on the campaign trail.
One of the seven votes Duckworth skipped yesterday would prevent tax hikes on out-of-pocket medical expenses for middle class Illinoisans and seniors over 65.
Yet, that just wasn’t important enough for Duckworth to show up to work.
They list a couple of bills that’ll probably never become law and conclude…
The United States Congress isn’t just another office in the Rod Blagojevich administration where public officials can skip out on their responsibilities without consequence.
Tammy Duckworth should stop ripping off her constituents by wasting their tax dollars on an empty, ineffective congressional office.
“On Tuesday, Tammy was warmly received by over 2,000 working men and women of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, where she laid out her vision for an economy based on fair trade and opportunity for all in contrast to Senator Kirk, who supports the tax loopholes companies use to ship jobs overseas and tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, paid for by raising taxes on middle-class families by $2,000,” Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath said in a statement.
“She also noted that Illinois has lost more than 270,000 manufacturing jobs since Kirk was first elected to Congress, a fact not lost on those in attendance, or working families across Illinois,” McGrath added. “With that record, it’s no surprise Kirk was a no-show in Illinois on Labor Day.”
The Duckworth campaign also pointed to votes missed by Kirk, including one in May that looked to protect and enhance the rights of sexual assault survivors. The Kirk campaign noted that Duckworth also missed a vote that day on a measure that looked to help police find kidnap victims.
This meaningless campaign can’t be over soon enough.
* This isn’t as silly as some might think. As the article rightly notes, no state has defaulted on its bonds since Arkansas during the Great Depression and states can’t file for bankruptcy…
For a year, Citigroup Inc. has recommended a strategy that has been controversial among its clients: Buy debt issued by the lowest-rated U.S. states to boost returns in a market where tax-exempt yields sank to historic lows.
Though there is “little optimism” that some of the worst-rated states with negative credit outlooks will see their funding of public pensions improve enough to help their bond ratings, Citigroup continues to “cautiously” recommend the debt to investors, according to a new report.
“It’s a controversial topic, but we think it is a compelling buy,” Vikram Rai, head of municipal strategy at Citigroup, said in a phone interview. “There is downgrade risk, but the credit stress is going to unfold slowly. The spread is compelling.”
Citigroup’s report declines to name specific states but some of the lowest rated such as Illinois and New Jersey, have returned 5.148 percent and 6.067 percent this year, respectively, according to S&P Municipal Bond Indices, some of the highest in the market.
The Kirk For Senate campaign will launch its first Spanish television ad tomorrow, titled “Su Senador,” highlighting Senator Kirk’s work on behalf of Illinois’ Hispanic community and residents. The ad will run on Univision and Telemundo until the end of the election cycle.
Senator Kirk has consistently broken from his party to support and advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. In 2013, he was one of 14 Senate Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform and has continued the effort throughout his term, working with organizations like the Illinois Business Immigration Council. In 2005, Senator Kirk launched his Abuelitas program that has reunited over 3,000 separated families. He is fluent in Spanish and studied at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
So far, Univision, which airs on WGBO Ch. 66, reported the Kirk campaign bought seven ads for this week at a cost of $3,175. No spending report was on file with the Federal Communications Commission for Telemundo, which airs on WSNS Ch. 44.
The Campaign for Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger on Wednesday called on Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza to pass on one of her two public pensions to make up for her ten years of simultaneously taking in two government paychecks.
The campaign noted that Mendoza raked in two salaries – one from the city of Chicago and the other from the state – during her ten years of “service” in Springfield. The paydays coincided with government contributions to her two public pensions.
“Susana Mendoza voted for the unbalanced budgets, tax increases and pension holidays that put Illinois in fiscal crisis,” Munger Campaign Manager Phil Rodriguez said. “At the same time, she picked up two paychecks and sweetened her two pensions. It embodies all the problems that have led us to this place.”
Mendoza started working for the City of Chicago in 1998 as a Project Coordinator. In 2000, she won a Party Primary for State Representative and received a 33 percent raise for her city job a month later. She then served ten years in the General Assembly, all the while remaining on the city and state payrolls.
The salaries coincided with contributions to two public pensions.
“It’s time for a change,” Rodriguez said. “Leslie Munger spent her career balancing budgets and meeting financial expectations. She has dedicated nearly two decades to serving developmentally disabled adults. She doesn’t accept a public pension or state health care benefits. The contrast could not be clearer.”
You’d think that info about Munger’s “two decades” of dedication to “serving developmentally disabled adults” would be on her campaign bio page. It ain’t.
Other than that, what do you think of the release?
She is an active community leader and volunteer, and was honored as Lincolnshire’s Citizen of the Year in 2004. She is a long time volunteer and former Board member at the Riverside Foundation, a not-for-profit residential facility for developmentally disabled adults in Lincolnshire where she was the Volunteer of the Year in 2013 and the Distinguished Service Award Honoree in 2016.
*** UPDATE *** From Susana Mendoza…
“Like Rod Blagojevich, a pathological liar who attacked Susana on this same false charge years ago, Leslie Munger isn’t telling the truth. When Susana retires, she will have only one pension. What’s true is Leslie Munger flat out lied at the Chicago Tribune last week when she denied that her campaign chair is Elizabeth Brandt when official documents signed by Munger herself show Brandt, the leader of the movement to slash the paychecks of thousands of Illinois private sector workers, is in fact her campaign chair. Leslie Munger is very wealthy and doesn’t have to worry about a safety net when she retires unlike 99% of other Americans. We need a truth-telling independent comptroller, not a Rod Blagojevich quoting, factually challenged lap dog for Bruce Rauner.”
