November 6th 2008
The FBI wiretap of JB Pritzker & Rod Blagojevich.
UNEDITED
Blagojevich: Ok, so, but, what if, and I’m telling ya this could happen, because I know how Madigan is, he says ‘I’ll give ya health care, I’ll give ya a capital bill, OK. We’ll work with you to balance the budget the way you want to do it and I’ll raise taxes on people…and you make Lisa the senator, OK?’
Pritzker: Hmm, hmm.
Blagojevich: That puts me in a moral dilemma…because of all of the prospective candidates, what, dealing with her, suing us to f****** support Bush kicking 35,000 poor people off of health care…
Pritzker: Yeah, I know.
Blagojevich: You know, all that bulls***.
Pritzker: You know what? You should do it. You should do it. I’d take that in a heartbeat.
Blagojevich: Morally repugnant. I probably have to do it.
Pritzker: Yeah, I’d do it. I’d do it.
Blagojevich: OK, and then there’s an AG I can appoint, J.B.
Pritzker: You’re doing the right thing for the people.
Blagojevich: Are you a lawyer?
Pritzker: Yeah.
Blagojevich: There’s an AG that I appoint.
Pritzker: Oooh, that’s interesting…
Blagojevich: You see what I’m saying?
Pritzker: Oh, there ya go.
Blagojevich: I mean, don’t rule that one out.
Pritzker: OK.
Blagojevich: I mean, I’m not promising. I’m just saying these are all scenarios.
JB Pritzker
A corrupt deal for Illinois
Listen to the full FBI tape at pritzkerblago.com
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Today, the JB Pritzker for Governor campaign released two new ads in response to Bruce Rauner’s desperate attempt to distract from his failed record as governor.
With Rauner facing statewide backlash for his fatal mismanagement of the Legionnaires crisis at the Quincy Veterans’ Homes that took the lives of 13 Veterans and spouses, Rauner has decided to play politics in the Democratic primary instead of defending his record. JB is ready to take Illinois down a different path with real plans to clean up Rauner’s damage and get Illinois back on track.
“When a governor doesn’t take charge, people die, and 13 veterans and spouses have now lost their lives because Bruce Rauner failed to lead,” said JB Pritzker. “It is no surprise this governor would rather attack me than run on his failed record. I’m running on real plans to get Illinois back on track by creating jobs, investing in quality education, and expanding healthcare across our state. It’s time to stop the political games, focus on beating Bruce Rauner, and get our heroes and families across the state the leadership we need.”
Illinois public health officials delayed informing the public for nearly a week about a deadly 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at a state veterans’ home in Quincy despite knowing the facility was facing “the beginning of an epidemic,” according to internal emails from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office obtained by WBEZ. […]
One of the nation’s top infectious disease experts said it’s “mind boggling” that the state would wait six days to notify the public about the initial outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home.
“I think it’s really inexcusable,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. “It takes you six days from seeing an epidemic to tell people that you’re seeing an epidemic? That’s six days that you’ve allowed that disease to spread in a manner that probably wouldn’t have happened if you would have known earlier because people would have been taking action. People would have been asking questions.
“If you know there is an epidemic, you need to tell people immediately,” Adalja said.
The state’s decision not to notify the public immediately did not display even minimal standards of caution, he said.
Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries testified that officials waited to notify the public because they needed time “to ensure that before information was released that we knew what we were talking about.” In the meantime, she said, staff was instructed to check residents’ vital signs more frequently and residents were told informally that there was the risk of an infectious disease on the campus. Jeffries said the goal was to not “incite hysteria or panic.”
Lawmakers questioned that reasoning, saying relatives of the residents didn’t get information that might have led them to remove their loved ones from the home.
“I reject the idea that you had to choose between improving the care and taking initial remedial measures and issuing a press release,” said Rep. Michael Halpin, D-Rock Island. “I don’t know that the press release was necessary, but informing the residents and the powers of attorney and their family members that there was a specific issue is important.”
* Gov. Rauner today during his Quincy press conference…
Our team did exactly what they should have done, exactly when they should have done it.
* Related…
* Rauner emerges from Quincy veterans home with plan for zero legionnaires cases: One step Rauner said he’ll take is putting together a new task force in the coming days. The task force will be made up of veterans advocates, lawmakers, healthcare professionals and members of his administration. Rauner also recommended a new facility on the Quincy campus and laid out a way to pay for it. “I also want to work with philanthropists and businesses that would be willing to donate both financial resources as well as technical capability,” Rauner said.
* Rauner vows not to close Quincy veterans home after Legionnaires’ outbreak: “I came here because I wanted to make a judgement for myself. I didn’t want to just rely on other people. I didn’t want to hear testimony or various opinions,” he said. “I wanted to come for myself to see first hand the nature, the fundamental service at this facility. And let me be crystal clear, I do NOT support closing this facility.”
In the often loud and frequently inane blah-blah-blah that is radio, Milt Rosenberg was for nearly half a century an oasis of intelligent conversation and learned curiosity.
Ever mindful of the intelligence of his listeners, Rosenberg was a late-night radio fixture who interviewed an astonishing array of guests from all walks of life — among the eclectic hundreds were Henry Kissinger, Carl Sagan, Jimmy Carter, Norman Mailer, Bob Feller, Bill Murray, Jane Byrne and Barack Obama — and actively engaged with listeners on his late night “Extension 720” program on WGN-AM 720.
The late John Callaway of WTTW-Ch. 11, no slouch himself at the interviewing game, once said, “When Milt Rosenberg formulates a question with a premise in which he refers in two different languages to four different books, I say to myself, ‘That’s smart. That’s big-time smart.’ ”
Milton J. Rosenberg died of pneumonia and its complications Tuesday. He had entered the hospital in Chicago on New Year’s Day. He was 92. His death was announced by his friend Joe Morris.
“He was a polymath, a perceptive analyst, and a keen questioner,” Morris told friends in an email Wednesday. “These traits, combined with a prodigious memory born of wide reading and experience, made him an outstanding interlocutor of political leaders, business executives, academics, journalists, artists, and others in the long parade of guests whom he welcomed to his studios and to the extraordinary conversations that he then held for the benefit of millions of Americans listening to his program each night in their homes and cars across the nation as streamed by clear-channel radio at 50,000 watts. For four decades his show was the mandatory first stop on the book tour of every author of a serious work of fiction or non-fiction.
“His career was also described by the arc of a moral conversion, carried out in public via his nightly broadcasts, from the ‘soft mindless leftism of an East Coast academic’ to an embrace of free market economics, traditional social values, and an appreciation of the United States as the world’s best hope for the defense of freedom and human decency in global affairs,” Morris wrote.
Born in New York and educated at Brooklyn College and the University of Wisconsin, Rosenberg earned a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Michigan. He taught at Yale University, the Ohio State University, Dartmouth College, and the Naval War College before joining the University of Chicago, where he served as director of the doctoral program in social and organizational psychology. He later became professor emeritus.
The late, great Paul Green got me on Milt’s show once and it was an experience I will never forget. What a giant.
"I'm not goin' away! All right!" - Former Gov Pat Quinn when asked if it isn't time for him to let the next generation to run for attorney general. @wlsam890pic.twitter.com/IOKhRzhY53
* Dusty Rhodes has a good explanation of Gov. Rauner’s amendatory veto of a school funding reform trailer bill this week…
The trailer had received bipartisan support: unanimous in the House; 42-11 in the Senate. But Rauner’s veto letter says it doesn’t go far enough in providing school choice, and he wants to lower the standards to include private schools that haven’t yet received “recognition” from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Such “recognition” entails a thorough examination of a school, starting with a 17-page form that requires documentation of curriculum, anti-discrimination policies, teacher qualifications, staff background checks and other safety protocols — all confirmed by teams of ISBE investigators through multiple site visits.
Rauner wants to include private schools that are merely “registered” with ISBE, which is a more casual process. Registration means a school official completes a five-page form providing “assurances” regarding curriculum, safety, and other standards, but does not include a site visit. Schools lobbying for this change include Urban Prairie Waldorf School, Village Leadership Academy, and the nationally renowned Hales Franciscan High School — all located in Chicago. […]
State Sen. Andy Manar, the Bunker Hill Democrat who sponsored both the original school funding reform and the trailer bill, says that, if this concept had come up earlier in the process, this wrinkle might have been ironed out.
“I get it,” he said. “I mean, I understand the discrepancy here, but this is what happens when there isn’t a single public hearing about an idea like tax credits for private schools.”
* But there is support for Gov. Rauner’s AV among Democrats…
A West Side Democrat is urging fellow legislators to make the changes Gov. Bruce Rauner is seeking in a tax scholarship program for private schools, arguing that under the bill passed by the General Assembly “a lot of African-American schools are being cut out.” […]
Eventually a spokeswoman provided names of schools from the Illinois State Board of Education showing about 250 schools that weren’t recognized by the board in time to accept scholarships in the fall.
Eighteen of them were Roman Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago that didn’t get recognized in time because of a clerical error, and it’s uncertain when they will be eligible, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Anne Maselli.
“We are unsure at this point if those 18 schools will be able to participate in the tax credit scholarship program,” she said.
The archdiocese’s remaining 196 schools are already eligible for the program.
Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said he has been fighting since last year to allow more time to let schools be recognized… “Hales Franciscan is a school that clearly should be on the list because they educate African-American males, and it’s a historic school. And that school is not part of the process. They can’t receive the donations,” Ford said “This law was supposed to be taking care of the families that need the scholarships most, and we find that a lot of African-American schools are being cut out. All of those schools were at the table so they were blindsided by the fact that they were not recognized and that they had to be in order to receive the benefits.”
Illinois Democrat gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker revealed yesterday once more how out-of-touch and unprepared he is for the political spotlight, arguing that an effort by Governor Bruce Rauner to give students in need more school options constitutes “political games.”
The State Journal-Register explains that Governor Rauner issued an amendatory veto on legislation this week in an attempt to fix issues in school funding legislation that “prevents three dozen private schools from participating in a new scholarship program.” Rauner’s plan is expected to provide $100 million in scholarships this year.
“Making this adjustment to this bill will maximize the number of schools eligible to participate, and therefore the number of students who may benefit,” Rauner said. “Inclusivity was the spirit of this legislation to begin with, and we simply must ensure that we follow through with the appropriate language to get the job done.”
But for billionaire Hyatt heir J.B. Pritzker, helping students trapped in failing schools is somehow objectionable. Pritzker is calling Rauner’s efforts to help students an example of “political games.”
Here’s the truth - J.B. Pritzker is the one playing political games by refusing to support better outcomes for students. It’s more evidence that Pritzker is not ready for primetime.
* But…
Gov’s veto says private schools CAN get funding WITHOUT:
1. a single ISBE sight visit to verify a functioning school actually exists
2. verifying that students who receive funding actually attend class
Burr Ridge Village Board members are threatening to sue state Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs for allegedly slandering the village with his political advertisements.
Durkin, the Illinois House Republican leader, is running for re-election in the 82nd House District and Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub, also a Republican, has filed to run against him in the primary. The district includes all or portions of Burr Ridge, La Grange and Western Springs.
Board member Albert Paveza said a group called Citizens for Durkin has been mailing out numerous fliers alleging the village has run unbalanced budges while driving up property taxes. The advertisements also allege the village raised fees to pay for a Chicago bailout.
Paveza said he consulted with the village’s attorney, and the attorney agreed Durkin’s political ads may have crossed a line.
* Thing are really heating up on the ad front in that race. Straub is backed by Dan Proft and Proft is mostly funded by Richard Uihlein, who was a big player in the Roy Moore Senate race last month. Keep that in mind when watching this new Durkin spot…
* And the pro-Straub folks have a new spot whacking Durkin over alleged mob ties…
One of the problems with this particular line of attack is that Henry Vicenik, the man testifying that Durkin tried to set up a meeting about opening a strip club, is now in prison.
An Illinois State Board of Elections hearing examiner has recommended state Rep. Scott Drury be knocked from the Democratic ballot for Illinois attorney general because he filed an incorrect statement of economic interest — a charge the north suburban lawmaker plans to fight.
The recommendation is the first step in the petition challenge. While calls and emails to the board were not returned on Tuesday, Drury’s campaign early Wednesday produced another recommendation by the board’s general counsel, which “does not concur” with the initial recommendation. That recommendation says the statement Drury filed is sufficient since it “relates to the State of Illinois,” not just the district he represents.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Chicago, where the board will hear both recommendations.
According to the initial hearing examiner’s recommendation, Drury filed a statement of economic interest, required to run for office, but submitted a statement from April 2017 that he submitted to the Secretary of State for his role as state representative.
Drury’s attorneys claim his statement is accurate because it was filed within a year, which is required. And they argue that even if he had filed one for the attorney general post, it would have been identical to the one submitted.
The good news for Drury: The board’s general counsel says he should stay on the ballot, according to board documents. “The statement of economic interest that the candidate has on file as a state representative relates to the state of Illinois, not only the representative district that he represents,” it reads.
Either way, those are both just recommendations. Drury’s fate is up to a vote of the elections board, which meets Thursday. If the board votes to kick him off the ballot, the former federal prosecutor could head to court to get back on. You can read about the case on p. 394 of this document.
My son Dajae was just 14 years old. He was coming home from a party, walking with a group of friends. They were where they were supposed to be doing what they were supposed to do. Dajae and his friends stumbled upon a person who started shooting at a group of kids. He had no idea who they were.
We’re in a club that shouldn’t exist, mothers who have lost their child due to gun violence. We should not be losing our kids in this way.
I’m supporting JB Pritzker for governor. JB’s criminal justice plan calls gun violence exactly what it is: an epidemic. I think he’s addressing a lot of the factors that contribute to criminality and gun violence. He has a plan. JB can make a difference because he cares, he understands, and he cares.
Kennedy is playing a dangerous game. He is playing the race card unfairly, knowing that’s the quickest way to get a headline in Chicago. But playing the race card — in this case without the goods — also is the quickest way to destroy a reputation, divide us against each other, and set back whatever progress in racial fairness our city has made. […]
As Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote last week, there is no doubt that Chicago has seen an exodus of working-class and poor black people. The city’s African-American population has dropped by more than 250,000 people since 2000, which is to say since 11 years before Emanuel first was elected mayor.
But, as Mitchell also wrote, to blame Emanuel for the exodus is to feed “age-old conspiracy theories” instead of “coming up with fresh ideas that would benefit the black community.”
WBEZ’s South Side reporter Natalie Moore said Kennedy wasn’t wrong in describing disinvestment in African-American neighborhoods, but said the candidate misused the term.
“We see many challenges in black South and West Side neighborhoods,” Moore said. “I don’t dispute his evidence is there about the challenges that those neighborhoods are facing but we are not seeing a replacement of people in those neighborhoods. We’re seeing population decline.”
Merriam-Webster defines “gentrification” as the “process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.”
As the root of the word suggests, gentrification is linked to socioeconomic class rather than race, although those factors can coincide.
Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios is facing $41,000 in fines for failing to return campaign contributions from property tax appeals lawyers whose donations exceeded legal limits, according to a pair of new rulings by the county ethics board.
The rulings raise the level of scrutiny on campaign contributions given by appeals lawyers to Berrios, who doubles as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and depends heavily on their donations in raising political funds. The action also ignites another high-profile showdown with the county Board of Ethics, with which he previously clashed over nepotism issues. […]
In rulings released late Monday, the ethics board listed 30 examples of property tax attorneys or firms whose donations to Berrios’ main political fund in late 2016 or early 2017 exceeded the $750 limit. It fined Berrios and the Committee to Elect Joseph Berrios Cook County Assessor $1,000 for each violation, for a total of $30,000. The $1,000 fine per violation is the maximum allowed.
An additional $11,000 in fines were imposed on Berrios and his 31st Ward Democratic Organization, the source of his main power base.
…Adding… Berrios campaign…
Every contribution received by the Assessor’s campaign complies with State Law. Attempts by the county ordinance to limit the rights of contributors are invalid. Assessor Berrios is not personally wealthy so he must rely on campaign contributions from supporters. Wall Street Republican Fritz Kaegi broke the contribution caps in late September in an attempt to buy the Assessor’s office.
According to Illinois State Law, the maximum an individual can contribute to a candidate is $5,600. No contribution to Assessor Berrios’ campaign exceeded that amount. In addition, Fritz Kaegi broke the contribution caps so all campaigns for the Assessor’s office are considered exempt from any campaign caps.
We intend to supply further evidence that there was no violation of the election law by accepting any contributions. We believe we will prevail in the upcoming motion for reconsideration. The Assessor believes the fines are improper and expects the order will be ultimately vacated by the ethics board or the court.
Assessor Berrios believes in a fair playing field for all candidates, who are seeking office, not just the wealthy 1%.
Biss admitted he and others passed a flawed law in 2013 intended to reduce pension debt. The law was struck down in 2015 by the Illinois Supreme Court, which said raising the retirement age for younger employees, capping the salary eligible for a pension and limiting cost-of-living increases violated the state Constitution.
“The state’s got awful budget problems, and state pension debt is an awful part of it,” said Biss, a co-sponsor of the 2013 legislation. “I do think there was kind of an obsessive hysteria about it a few years ago that led a lot of people in the legislature, myself included, to act irresponsibly. That bill was unconstitutional.”
Biss says consolidating pension systems is one way to cut costs. Illinois “has 628 different pension systems,” Biss said. “For almost every community in the Daily Herald area there are two pension systems, one for police officers and one for firefighters … that are served by the same investment and legal consultants. We’ve built a system whose investment returns cannot be what they should be and that allow politically connected consultants to reach their hands into 628 different pockets and come out with taxpayer dollars.”
He also advocates allowing buyouts for pension plan participants.
State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston stopped in for an Editorial Board interview the other day to make his case for governor, and we will have more to say about that at a later time.
For now, though, we can’t resist sharing our fascination with his perspective on House Speaker Michael Madigan, the most powerful Democrat in Illinois.
His criticism of Madigan is at once sharp but also arms length. Such a curious combination. […]
Biss says that Rauner has shown that nuclear confrontation with Madigan is ineffective. If elected governor, he says, he will have to find a way to work with the Speaker.
With that in mind, Biss is careful about his rhetoric. His opposition to Madigan, he says, is not personal; it’s with the system.
In response to a question, he bluntly criticized Michael Madigan, the powerful longtime speaker of the Illinois House of Representative, who also serves as the chairman of the state Democratic Party.
“Mike Madigan’s been there too long,” said Biss. “Mike Madigan is too powerful and that power has not been good for the state of Illinois.”
Madigan has been speaker of the House for all but two years since 1983.
“I think the problem with Speaker Madigan is that longevity,” Biss said. “He doesn’t really care about public policy; he’s interested in holding onto political power.” […]
“We are drifting toward plutocracy and that’s a problem,” Biss said. “It’s not what the state needs and it’s not what people want. People can weigh in on that in March.”
The Illinois Education Association (IEA) Board of Directors voted overwhelmingly to recommend Democrat J.B. Pritzker for governor. The vote came after a Pritzker recommendation from the IEA IPACE executive committee.
“All the candidates we met with were impressive and thoughtful. Our membership did not come to this decision lightly,” IEA President Kathi Griffin said. “It was Pritzker’s strong commitment to funding K-12 education, his promise to invest in higher education, his pledge to protect collective bargaining rights and his willingness to enact a progressive income tax that matched our goals for public education in Illinois.”
IEA members also sited Pritzker’s electability as a reason for the recommendation, pointing out the Pritzker campaign structure, his high name recognition and a comprehensive state-wide campaign strategy.
“I am so proud to receive the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association and the over 135,000 educators and education support professionals they represent,” said Pritzker. “Every child in Illinois deserves a quality education, no matter their zip code and as governor I will partner with the IEA to make that a reality in our state. Our educators will have a seat at the table as we fight to fully fund public schools and ensure equitable school funding in Illinois. With the IEA on our team, I’m confident we can continue to grow our statewide, grassroots movement, defeat Bruce Rauner, and get public education in Illinois back on track so every child has the tools they need to reach their full potential.”
The IPACE Executive Committee went through an exhaustive process of seeking a gubernatorial recommendation that began in November 2017. All candidates, both Democrat and Republican, were given the opportunity to complete questionnaires. State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston; Regional Office of Education Superintendent Bob Daiber, businessman Chris Kennedy and Pritzker all completed the questionnaires and were interviewed by the full IPACE executive committee along with nearly 40 observers, representing IEA members from all parts of the state. Additionally, the candidates were given the opportunity to share their campaign strategies and polling with IEA leadership. Republicans, Gov. Bruce Rauner and state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, did not return the gubernatorial questionnaire and as a result were not interviewed.
Additionally, IPACE conducted a poll of IEA members in early January to gauge the mood of IEA members in regard to the upcoming election. The poll involved 600 members and sought input about all of the candidates, both Democrat and Republican.
A communications staffer ousted by Gov. Bruce Rauner is accusing the governor’s office of stonewalling on requests for public information, including emails to and from first lady Diana Rauner regarding an abortion bill the governor angered conservatives by signing.
Diana Rickert — a former staffer of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute — filed the lawsuit on Jan. 5 in Cook County Circuit Court. […]
Rickert claims she filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to the governor’s office in September and October 2017, including requests for emails sent to former chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen from state employees in the Department of Innovation and Technology, and others sent to Rasmussen “regarding internet browsing history for state employees.” […]
Rickert also asked for emails to and from Diana Rauner from June 1, 2017 that include the following terms: “abortion, HB40, reproductive rights, Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood, Terry Cosgrove.” The request included a personal email address, a state email address and one from her role with the Ounce of Prevention
Additionally, Rickert asked for emails to and from Rauner’s policy chief Michael Lucci since Aug. 25 that also included the same abortion-related search items.
Some of her requests are pretty specific, like all e-mails sent to Kristina Rasmussen on Sept. 20, 21 and 22 last year. She apparently knows what she’s looking for.
Rickert now works at the Liberty Justice Center and is being represented by attorneys from the organization, which is affiliated with the Illinois Policy Institute.
Jacob Huebert, the center’s director of litigation, said the lawsuit is part of the group’s “mission to protect citizens’ rights” and is aimed at requiring Rauner’s office to “comply with the law.”
A Rauner spokeswoman said the suit is “under review.”
Rickert also is seeking emails from former chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen to the state’s information technology agency as well as information about the web browsing history of state employees. The two previously worked together at the institute.
* Pritzker campaign…
“A former member of the ‘Best Team in America’ is now suing Bruce Rauner for trying hide information from the public,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This transparency averse governor can’t even figure out how to lead his own staff, let alone our state.”
The field to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez shrank Tuesday as Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa dropped out and backed Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
Garcia adds Ramirez-Rosa’s endorsement to those of Gutierrez and progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the commissioner tries to position himself as the front-runner to represent the barbell-shaped district that includes chunks of Chicago’s Northwest and Southwest sides.
Last month, a Democratic polling firm released a survey that showed Garcia with a big early lead in the late-developing contest. Garcia enjoys wide name recognition in the city following his loss in the 2015 mayor’s race. […]
“My campaign, like a modern, effective campaign, conducted an internal benchmark poll,” Ramirez-Rosa said while appearing with Garcia at a Near West Side union hall. “What that benchmark poll showed was that if there were a path forward it would require dividing and splitting the progressive movement. And we need a unified progressive movement if we’re going to take on Donald Trump.”
A challenge to state Sen. Ira Silverstein’s re-election bid will spill into Wednesday, after a hearing officer OK’d testimony from a handwriting expert in a last-ditch effort to keep the Chicago Democrat on the ballot by reviving petitions signatures that had been deemed invalid. […]
A preliminary examination of Silverstein’s petitions raised questions about enough of the signatures to leave him about 45 short of the 1,000 needed to make the ballot.
On Wednesday, Silverstein’s lawyer presented about 130 affidavits attesting to the validity of individual signatures that had been called into question. A hearing officer was convinced by only 26 of them.
Silverstein’s lawyer, longtime election attorney James Nally, called the hearing officer’s high rate of dismissal unusual, and he asked to bring in a handwriting expert. They’re due back for a second hearing Wednesday afternoon.
* One of Silverstein’s opponents just received yet another big endorsement…
The Equality Illinois PAC endorses Ram Villivalam for state senator of Illinois’ 8th Senate district and urges voters to support him in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, March 20.
The Equality Illinois PAC is the statewide political action committee dedicated to advancing justice and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Illinoisans through engagement in the electoral process.
“Ram Villivalam will be a champion for all residents of the 8th district, including LGBTQ residents,” said John Litchfield, chair of the Equality Illinois PAC. “Villivalam’s record of pro-equality leadership speaks for itself. As Outreach Coordinator for U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, he worked with legislative staff to introduce legislation that would protect and expand the rights of LGBTQ people. As Legislative Coordinator at SEIU Healthcare, Villivalam supported LGBTQ-affirming legislation on behalf of the union. We know he will be a champion for the LGBTQ residents of the 8th district.”
“We also recognize the unusual nature of this primary, in which Villivalam is challenging incumbent State Sen. Ira Silverstein. However, as major pro-equality legislation has advanced through the legislative process since 2010, Sen. Silverstein has not been a leader for LGBTQ people,” said Litchfield. “Sen. Silverstein was the only state senator to vote present on civil unions legislation in 2010. He did not vote at all when the marriage equality bill came for Senate votes twice in 2013. Silverstein did not vote to protect LGBTQ youth from harmful, discredited conversion therapy in 2015. And he did not vote to modernize the state’s birth certificate law consistent with modern standards of medical care and to ban the anti-LGBTQ panic defense in 2017.
Former Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has launched a website and scheduled a campaign fundraiser for next month as he continues to take steps toward challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel next year.
The native New Yorker, who ran the Chicago Police Department for more than four years before Emanuel fired him, said he’s “very close” to making a decision while acknowledging a campaign would need to be a “yearlong event” ahead of the February 2019 election.
In September, an exploratory committee bearing McCarthy’s name was formed, and the former top cop has said the group has worked to convince him to take on Emanuel. The committee is circulating invitations for a Feb. 11 fundraiser that feature a photo of a smiling McCarthy wearing a dark suit, red tie and American flag lapel pin.
Asked what she and Rauner disagree on, Sanguinetti listed two areas — one serious, one not so much.
“So, he doesn’t know how to dress. And I’ve tried to help, but brother won’t listen,” Sanguinetti said, referring to Rauner’s typical uniform of casual ranch-hand slacks with a plaid button-down shirt and ultra-long sport coat. Sometimes, the governor swaps the coat for a vest.
“He’s his own person. He beats to his own fashion drum, but that’s one disagreement,” Sanguinetti said.
Ives’ campaign reports that the fourth-quarter disclosure she’ll file later this month will detail contributions of around $500,000. Some of that already has been reported, such as $50,000 from tech maven William Merchantz, $30,000 from Otto Engineering and $20,000 from consultant and conservative activist Brian Timpone.
Ives hopes to get more at a Lombard luncheon later this week starring radio talk show host Mike Gallagher. Sponsorships are going for up to $25,000 each, and sponsors include industrialist Peter Huizenga and Tom Roeser, son of the late Jack Roeser, who once ran for governor himself.
Notably absent from the list is megadonor Dick Uihlein, a staunch Rauner backer who some think may be convinced to jump ship. “We don’t have anything from him,” says Ives spokeswoman Kathleen Murphy. “It hasn’t happened yet, so we’re not counting on it.”
State Rep. Jeanne Ives, the Republican challenging incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner from the right in the March 20 gubernatorial primary, is headed to Washington D.C. this week to meet with potential donors, her campaign tells POLITICO. “She’s meeting with some of her contacts out there,” Ives spokeswoman Kathleen Murphy said Sunday. “She is reaching out to people outside of Illinois.” Rauner, a multi-millionaire himself, has some $65 million in his campaign account. Murphy says Ives has landed some $800,000 in earned media and expects to expand more conservative radio talk, including a weekly spot at a Decatur station.
$800,000 in earned media? From a GOP official…
The “$800,000 in earned media” is a bit of an eye-roller. You wouldn’t say “earned media” if you had actually raised $800,000 in real cash. Sounds like her campaign isn’t as gaining as much steam as she claims.
Just days before the 2010 general election, then-Sen. Rickey Hendon, D-Chicago, introduced then-Gov. Pat Quinn at a Chicago rally by calling Quinn’s Republican opponent a “racist,” among other things.
The resulting uproar was quite something to behold, but Hendon refused to apologize to Sen. Bill Brady and so did Quinn. Everyone, including me, thought that Hendon may have hurt Quinn in a close campaign.
Hendon told me later he believed he had actually won that race for Quinn. Hendon said he was able to pierce the clutter of a noisy campaign and speak directly to black voters. His comments fired them up and put Quinn over the top. Hendon says a lot of things, and it’s always difficult to nail down a single deciding factor in a super-close campaign. But there is no doubt that Hendon’s comment electrified a community that a Tribune poll had found wasn’t enthusiastic about voting for Quinn.
And that brings us to last week’s comments by Chris Kennedy. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate shocked just about everyone by claiming that a deliberate “strategic gentrification plan” exists to push black people out of Chicago and make the city “whiter.” Kennedy pointed fingers of blame at Mayor Rahm Emanuel and, to a lesser extent, Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Kennedy’s remarks prompted howls of protest, with the mayor’s office comparing Kennedy’s hot rhetoric to President Trump’s. The city’s police superintendent ripped into the candidate for attempting to use the city’s violence to “score political points.” Pundits and others were quick to take Kennedy to task for having the gall to utter such remarks.
Tellingly, however, none of Kennedy’s Democratic primary opponents have so far uttered a peep. One campaign quietly pointed out that Kennedy had contributed $5,000 to Mayor Emanuel’s campaign fund and another shared some statistics on background that showed that African-American enrollment at the University of Illinois fell from 2,572 when Kennedy was appointed chairman of the board of trustees in 2009, to 2,241 when he left that post in 2015.
Their aim was to make Kennedy look like a hypocrite because attacking what he said would likely backfire with African-American voters — one of the most important constituencies in the primary. Why would it backfire? The conspiracy theory Kennedy wove has been circulating for years in the black community, and it has more than a little basis in fact.
Mayor Richard M. Daley tore down much of the city’s public housing projects and sent many of those residents packing to the suburbs, partly by making it difficult to obtain subsidized housing vouchers in the city. A couple of hundred thousand black people left Chicago from 2000-2010, and the exodus has continued since then. The population loss led to school closures, which many believe have caused even more people to leave. And, of course, the South and West Sides are enduring one of the worst violent crime waves since the crack epidemic, which is prompting even more people to flee.
But Kennedy took it much further by pulling it all together into a grand conspiracy. He claimed Chicago is “using a strategy of selective containment, where we’re allowing violence to continue as long as it only continues in certain neighborhoods.” He even said the plot had a name, the “80-8 Rule,” which he clai-med meant that “80 percent of the violence occurs in just 8 percent of our city.” That’s all by design, according to Kennedy.
Kennedy then closed the circle by claiming this is all being done to clear the way for “economic development.” Kennedy pointed to the closing of 18 public schools in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. “That neighborhood,” Kennedy said, “just south of the Loop, there along the beaches of Lake Michigan, is the next great development play in Chicago.”
The new development, Kennedy said, wouldn’t be for the benefit of Bronzeville’s mostly African-American residents who have lived there for years and are being “pushed out.” Instead, he said, the development would make way for a “new wave of gentrification.”
Again, this is nothing new. Lots of folks firmly believe this sort of thing, including black people in power.
The tale Kennedy told was undoubtedly divisive, and perhaps even hatefully so. But without much campaign cash on hand, and with his prospects dimming rapidly, Kennedy had to do something to get back in the game. This hard slap to the face of the city’s white establishment will definitely resonate with a large group of people who Kennedy desperately needs to win.
* Meanwhile, if you think Kennedy is at all chastened, check this out…
In news reports, Emanuel called Kennedy’s comments “sad,” and Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Eddie Johnson said he felt “the hard work our men and women are doing to beat back this violence” was “used to score political points.” He also said he had never met Kennedy.
Kennedy didn’t back down from his comments at his office, saying Emanuel didn’t “argue with the premise” but just tried to play political games.
“To use the chief of police for political motives—we don’t believe in that in the United States,” Kennedy said. “That’s what they do in places like Russia. That’s what they do it totalitarian regimes. That’s what they do in fascist countries. We’re in a democracy.” […]
“Instead of using your chief of police to come after me for political purposes, use your chief of police to fix the problems in the police force itself,” Kennedy said. “Rahm Emanuel needs to know that I have more friends who are police officers than he’ll ever have. Those are my friends.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed school funding legislation, saying it wouldn’t let about three dozen private schools participate in a new scholarship program.
Rauner issued the amendatory veto Monday for legislation that the Illinois State Board of Education requested to move forward with a new school funding formula that would prioritize poor and needy schools. The scholarship program would allow individuals and corporations to give private schools money for scholarships in exchange for a tax credit.
Rauner said “we simply must ensure that we follow through with the appropriate language to get the job done.”
Rauner used his amendatory veto powers to rewrite the measure, which sponsors said was requested by the Illinois State Board of Education so officials could move forward on a new school funding formula that would prioritize poor and needy schools.
While Rauner has listed the new funding formula as one of his top achievements as he seeks re-election, the Republican governor said Monday that lawmakers failed to address a technicality that would prevent at least 36 Catholic and independent schools from benefiting from a new scholarship program he’s pushed.
Under that program, individuals and corporations can give money for scholarships to private schools in exchange for a tax credit worth 75 percent of their donation.
“Inclusivity was the spirit of this legislation to begin with, and we simply must ensure that we follow through with the appropriate language to get the job done,” Rauner said in a statement.
* From the governor’s press release…
Lawmakers also should fix a defect that would prevent at least 36 Catholic and other independent schools — many of which serve African-American communities — from participating in the Invest in Kids program for up to two years, Rauner said.
Senate Bill 444, as written, does not address the exclusion from program participation of those schools not yet recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education. Invest in Kids creates a scholarship program affording low- to middle-income students opportunities to attend non-public schools through a system of tax credits for approved contributions.
SB 444 should include language that grants program eligibility to ISBE-registered schools, as well as those already recognized, to increase the number of schools affected and broaden the scope of potential applicants, according to the governor.
“Making this adjustment to this bill will maximize the number of schools eligible to participate, and therefore the number of students who may benefit,” Rauner said. “Inclusivity was the spirit of this legislation to begin with, and we simply must ensure that we follow through with the appropriate language to get the job done.”
Meanwhile, the governor’s office said the state Board of Education is still working on the new funding formula and tier funding is still “several months” from being sent out.
“It is unfair for critics to say that this amendatory veto will delay implementation of SB 1947,” Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said in a statement.
State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, called the amendatory veto Rauner’s version of tossing “his own request in the trash.”
“Here’s what Gov. Rauner accomplished today: absolute chaos while undoing all of the equity components in the school funding reform legislation that he takes credit for passing,” Manar said in a statement. “I am perplexed and puzzled by the motivations of this governor who claims to care deeply about public education in Illinois. “Why would he veto a bill that he sought in the first place?”
Senate Democrats said the bill was intended as a form of “technical cleanup,” which had been requested by the governor’s administration.
* Pritzker campaign…
“Bruce Rauner is forcing students to wait for fair funding so he can expand his back-door school voucher program, once again using Illinois children as pawns in his political games,” said JB Pritzker. “With his amendatory veto of SB 444, this failed governor is manufacturing another crisis by putting equitable school funding on hold, even after he claimed credit for the reform. SB 444 should have been signed the day it landed on Rauner’s desk to ensure Illinois schools were properly funded under the new, more equitable formula. Once again, this failed governor is attacking public education in Illinois and students will pay the price.”
* Daiber campaign…
“School districts waited until Aug. 31 (2017) with uncertainty of funding. The governor’s action delays progress on implementing the new funding formula, for which all districts in Illinois are waiting.”
At issue is language that would prevent private schools not recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education from benefitting from a scholarship program contained in the legislation, under which taxpayers can give money for scholarships to private schools in exchange for a tax credit worth 75 percent of their donation.
“To award public funds to private schools not meeting ISBE recognition status is a move in the wrong direction for school funding reform,” Daiber said. “It lowers the standards by which we operate when you do that.”
Daiber, in his official capacity as regional superintendent of schools for Madison County, conducts the compliance visits for non-public school recognition status.
Daiber opposes the tax credit-for-scholarships program, and has promised to end it if he’s elected governor. “This provision was snuck into school funding legislation when lawmakers were in a must-pass bind. School funding was jeopardized. There were concerns about school districts being able to make payroll. If the scholarship tax credit program is examined on its own merits, it’s an economic and educational disaster,” he said.
…Adding… Ruiz campaign…
As the former president of the Illinois State Board of Education, former vice president of the Chicago Board of Education, and former Interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools, I urge the General Assembly to move immediately to override Governor Rauner’s veto of the historic education funding bill.
It is outrageous that, once again, Gov. Rauner is playing politics with our children’s education. His decision to veto this important bill, which would bring some long-awaited equity to the state’s funding of public education, has pulled the rug out from under school districts in low-income communities across Illinois.
Rauner’s action in vetoing this crucial bill is bad enough – but his hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Just a few short weeks ago, Rauner named “Historic Education Funding Reform” as his top accomplishment during his disastrous term as Governor. Yet now he has brought this overdue school funding reform to a screeching halt.
Again and again, Rauner has shown us he feels absolutely no responsibility or concern for the people of Illinois. We cannot allow Rauner’s radical political agenda to derail this reform and jeopardize the futures of our most vulnerable students.
It is time to end these delays and take action to provide our public schools with the funding they deserve – now.
After raising $1.095 million in fourth quarter and kicking off the first quarter of 2018 with $3.1 million cash on hand, Biss for Illinois is launching its first television ads. The ads, “Personal” and “Homework” introduce voters to Daniel and explain why a middle-class community organizer and public school parent is the only candidate Illinoisans can trust to fix our broken system.
“Personal” features Daniel and his wife getting their children ready for school in the morning, while “Homework” shows Daniel sitting with one of his kids to help with a homework assignment.
“I think if more politicians had kids in public schools, or struggled to balance their own budgets, we’d have an Illinois that worked for the middle class,” says Daniel in “Personal.” “That’s why I left teaching, to be an organizer then a state senator, to fight for fair taxes and healthcare we can all afford, and that’s why I’m running for governor. Because fixing our broken system isn’t some campaign promise: for me, it’s personal.”
“As the only candidate for governor with kids in public schools, I’m also the only one who will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes to fully fund them,” says Daniel in “Homework.”
