* I will definitely be posting over the weekend, so check back. This amazing cover takes a half a minute or so to get going, but, man, is it ever so sweet. Get up and dance…
Full of hope, full of grace, is the human face
But afraid, we may lay our home to waste
A recurring idea is for the state to tax retirement income, such as pensions and social security. This idea is widely unpopular, with 74 percent opposing and only 22 percent in favor.
Biss campaign manager Abby Witt released the following statement in response to JB Pritzker’s latest misleading attack ad.
“Daniel only wants to tax retirement income of billionaires like JB Pritzker, so it’s no wonder he’s in a panic. JB has never had to worry about saving for retirement, for his kids’ college tuition, or for rent each month. While Daniel Biss passed the landmark Secure Choice Savings Program that created retirement options for millions of fellow working Illinoisans, JB Pritzker was ripping toilets out of his house to avoid property taxes and forcing the rest of us to make up his personal savings.”
Biss has said on numerous occasions that he would only consider taxing retirement income of millionaires and billionaires to reduce the burden on the middle class, and only after the Illinois Constitution has been amended to allow for a progressive income tax.
The only voters who are gonna see that response are reading this blog post right now, unless Biss has the money to air a TV ad.
However, in a follow-up question in which only retirement income above $100,000 would be taxed, majorities are in favor. Combining the 22 percent who favored it in the first question with the 52 percent of the 745 initial opponents who would favor it with the exemption, 60 percent of the total sample favor taxing retirement income above $100,000.
* I guess the other big news here is that Mariotti has eight campaign staffers…
Today, the campaign staff of Illinois Attorney General candidate Renato Mariotti formed a staff union. When Mariotti heard his campaign staff was considering unionizing, he welcomed the idea. “I fully support unions,” Mariotti said. “In my Blueprint for Resistance, where I laid out how I would stop Donald Trump’s unconstitutional policies, I proposed a workaround for public sector unions after Janus. When I heard my staff wanted to unionize, I was happy to support them.”
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case, Janus v. AFSCME, which is expected to deliver a major blow to labor. The decision would allow union members to refuse to pay dues while still receiving benefits from union representation. Experts predict union funds would plummet.
Mariotti campaign staff, led by Mary Difino and Eric Coats, reached out to Campaign Workers Guild, a new national union that organizes campaign staff. Staff met with campaign leadership for an amicable negotiation session. Among other things,, staff receive pay until the end of the month, three paid sick days, and one-hour lunch breaks during their workdays per the contract.
“I’ve put out detailed policies for how I will support unions, combat wage theft, and support economic justice for all American workers as Attorney General,” Mariotti said. “I’m proud of my staff for unionizing and look forward to winning this campaign due to their hard work and dedication.”
Running on a platform of stopping Donald Trump as Attorney General and refusing to take special interest money, Mariotti’s campaign has surged in recent weeks.
Mariotti has emerged as a leader of the Resistance movement since Donald Trump’s election to the Presidency. In 2016, he joined Chicago law firm Thompson Coburn as a partner after over nine years of service as a federal prosecutor, where he prosecuted white-collar crime and fraud causes. He is known for the first prosecution and conviction of a high frequency trader under the Obama Administration.
And, yes, I know there’s only a week and a half until election day and Mariotti isn’t exactly the front-runner, but this is still an interesting little development and he may even get some coverage for it. Plus, the CBA is worth a read.
* Except for the fact that the ad-maker should have put the candidate’s name on-screen a whole lot more, this has become my favorite TV ad of the primary cycle.
Monticello Republican Randy Keith is vying to replace retiring GOP Rep. Bill Mitchell. He’s up against two candidates, one of them, Dan Caulkins, has benefited from $200,000 in spending by Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC, which is why Chicago is mentioned at the beginning…
That’ll scare the fish!
I must’ve watched that ad 20 times already.
* The Question: What’s your favorite campaign TV ad of all time? Explain.
* Former Rauner administration chief counsel Dennis Murashko…
Today, the Office of the Executive Inspector General notified me that the Office has concluded the investigation into the false, malicious, and defamatory complaint against me. The case has been closed as unfounded.
That’s the technical term.
In layman’s terms, the complaint has always been a lie. It was filed anonymously. The OEIG has given me no indication who is behind the complaint, which is as it should be. But the complaint, at least a copy I was shown by the press, is dated July 19, 2017, merely a week following tumultuous staffing changes in the Governor’s Office. As has been reported, unnamed former staffers and their associates wrongly believed that I was responsible for the Governor’s decision to replace the Chief of Staff on July 10, 2017. I don’t think the timing of the complaint is coincidental.
I had learned about the complaint when a reporter contacted me in the late evening hours of August 24, 2017. That was after the Governor’s Office had already announced I would be leaving. Indeed, I had submitted my letter of resignation on August 23 but was asked to stay through August 31 and help with a smooth transition.
On August 25, however, I was abruptly escorted out of the Thompson Center, moments after I had advised the Chief of Staff and Deputy General Counsel about the August 24 phone call in which I learned about the alleged OEIG complaint. There was no explanation given for shutting off my access and escorting me out. As I recall, the Office of the Governor did not have a policy to immediately terminate, suspend, or put on leave a staff member, no matter how senior, who is the subject of an OEIG complaint.
Why staff members decided to have me escorted out a week ahead of the scheduled departure I don’t know. What I do know is, because of their actions, there’s been this false link between the OEIG complaint and my resignation.
I am glad I can finally clear things up and state unequivocally that my resignation had zero to do with that baseless complaint.
Why I resigned has been the subject of much speculation, some of it pointing to my August 21, 2017 memo outlining sensible guidelines for the interactions between the Governor’s official and political offices. Governor Rauner said publicly that he had urged me to create the memo. I will just say this: The memo was necessary, and to this day, I stand by it 100%. I provided the memo to the staff and then resigned. If I were to do it all over, I would do the same thing.
It is now time for me to move on. I look forward to building my new business. And while the brand of politics that has led to the above is definitely not for me, I still cannot help but be immensely grateful for the amazing opportunity to serve our State. I became better for it. And in the long run, the rest just doesn’t matter.
Gov. Bruce Rauner and a host of other GOP luminaries are slated speak at the Whiteside County Republicans annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday […]
The keynote speaker will be Erika Harold, attorney general candidate and Miss America 2003.
That should be interesting.
…Adding… I’m told Harold still plans to attend the event.
* Pritzker campaign…
According to a shocking new report, Republican Attorney General candidate Erika Harold said she’d rather see children adopted to “a heterosexual couple who were known child abusers” than a “loving gay couple.”
As the two share a stage tonight at Lincoln Day Dinner in Deer Grove, will Rauner speak out against these hateful remarks?
“Bruce Rauner hand-picked Erika Harold to run for attorney general and is contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to boost her candidacy, but does he stand by her blatant homophobia?” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh.
Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, who said during debate he once discriminated against those attracted to the same sex, said he’s changed.
“Evolution is part of what we do as a body,” he said.
* Former Gov. Pat Quinn…
Erika Harold’s reported views about the legitimate adoption rights of gay couples should alarm everyone in Illinois. Ms. Harold should know that there is never a situation when it is acceptable to knowingly put children in an unsafe home.
All children deserve loving parents who will protect them from harm. To expose foster youth to abusive placements is inexcusable and wrong.
As Governor, I stood for tolerance and fought hard to make marriage equality the law of Illinois. As Attorney General, I will speak out against bigotry whenever it surfaces. I will protect children from abusive situations and I will safeguard the rights of gay couples.
As Bruce Rauner’s handpicked candidate for Attorney General, Ms. Harold has the duty to protect children from abuse and combat bigotry of any kind.
* Press release…
Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, an adult adopted person who chaired The Adoption Reform Committee in the Illinois House and championed scores of laws making adoption inclusive in Illinois, said:
“Illinois cannot risk electing an Attorney General who will allow her personal bigotry to reverse years of progress on adoption policies that reflect inclusion, equality and the best interest of the child standards that are codified in Illinois law.
“Whether Harold recalls what she said or not, I demand that she answer that same question now and to answer it publicly. “
Agreed on the need for Harold to speak publicly herself, not through a spokesperson.
The Kennedy family name still has sway in Hollywood, it seems.
Not only have comedian Larry David and diva Barbra Streisand donated to Chris Kennedy’s gubernatorial campaign fund, but now Dan Aykroyd has cut a “Blues Brothers”-themed ad for Kennedy.
“The Blues Brothers had to break many laws in order to pay the Cook County Property Assessor’s office $5,000 for Sister Mary Stigmata, to save their Catholic orphanage,” Aykroyd says in the ad, in which he is filmed working under the hood of a police squad car. “Thirty-eight years later, the Cook County Assessor is still ripping off Chicagoans. Dirty politicians have made a fortune by enforcing unfair tax assessments.
“Now you know I love Chicago, and I know that the only way that corruption will end is if Chris Kennedy is elected governor of Illinois on March 20. Please, end the racket!”
* ADDED: Actor Jesse Eisenberg to join Daniel Biss rally in Chicago on Saturday: How’s this for irony: Jesse Eisenberg, who has a penchant for playing ambitious, high-profile business tycoons, is suddenly campaigning against real-life billionaires J.B. Pritzker and Bruce Rauner in support of a “middle-class” governor candidate.
* Cosgrove is supporting Glen Ellyn Democrat Terra Costa Howard in the general…
Abortion-rights group Personal PAC plans to start dropping mailers critical of Republican state Rep. Peter Breen of Lombard, an early signal that Democrats could see the seat as a top target in November.
Breen is an attorney and leading abortion opponent who helped spearhead the lawsuit challenging Illinois new law expanding access to taxpayer-funded abortions. He is the House GOP floor leader at the Capitol.
Personal PAC President Terry Cosgrove said the group is spending money early to take on Breen because the House district he holds is a “moderate” one that went for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
State Representative Peter Breen is obsessed with ending access to reproductive health care for all women.
Just a few of the lowlights from the Breen record:
* Lied about and voted against HB 40. He filed a lawsuit to prevent HB 40 from being enacted. Breen then filed a bill (HB 4114) that would repeal HB 40, make abortion illegal with no exceptions for rape or incest, and make most forms of prescription birth control a murder weapon based on his narrow religious definition of “conception,” rather than a definition based on science.
* Voted against a bill to ensure access to prescription birth control (HB 5576).
* Has worked tirelessly to shut down and defund Planned Parenthood.
* Yesterday, 87 House Republicans and Democrats voted for an Equal Pay bill (HB 4163). But not Peter Breen, who stood up on the House floor and railed against the bill.
* Breen has endorsed the bigoted Trump loving anti-choice Jeanne Ives to be our next Governor.
Several months ago I was a guest, along with Breen, on Bill Cameron’s WLS radio talk show. I spent a ½ hour asking Breen at least ten times to tell the radio listeners that he wants to make abortion illegal in Illinois. Each time he refused to answer that simple question.
Peter Breen is afraid that the voters in his moderate DuPage county district will find out that he doesn’t represent them, but instead is following his own narrow agenda that threatens the health and safety of voters in Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Lisle, Wheaton and Downers Grove.
Former Illinois state Rep. Al Salvi sees the same path to victory for state Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) in her Republican primary run against Gov. Bruce Rauner that he took in his upset win during his run for U.S. Senate more than two decades ago.
Salvi, who recently endorsed Ives, stunned the political world in 1996 when he rallied from a 14-point polling deficit to top then-Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra in the GOP primary. He eventually lost the general election to Sen. Dick Durbin.
That last sentence is the most important.
* Um, she’s linking to her own Wall St. Journal op-ed. So, she’s agreeing with… herself?…
Today, Biss for Illinois launched its latest television ad, Anything. The ad features Daniel meeting with voters and underscores his positive, progressive vision for taking our state back from the wealthy and well-connected.
“The billionaire class will say anything—spend anything—to hold onto power,” says Daniel in the ad. “The question is, will we, the people, let them? My name is Daniel Biss, and no matter how much they spend on dishonest attack ads, the truth is, your vote is more powerful than their money. We can make the make the millionaires pay their fair share. We can invest in good schools and healthcare for all. It’s time to level the playing field for the rest of us.”
A coalition of road builders, engineering firms and construction industry groups sued Cook County this week claiming officials illegally diverted about $250 million earmarked for roads, bridges and transit to a fund unrelated to transportation.
Shifting those dollars violates a constitutional amendment passed in 2016 that prohibits state and local governments from dipping into taxes and fees that were collected for transportation projects, the lawsuit stated. […]
“The county’s roads are deteriorating,” Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association CEO Michael Sturino wrote Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle in February before the lawsuit was filed Tuesday. “Nearly half of Cook County’s bridges are considered either structurally deficient, functionally obsolete or both.”
Yet the county deposited revenues from the gas tax and other transportation-related fees into the public safety fund that pays for the sheriff’s and state’s attorney’s office, among other expenses, the lawsuit said.
Transportation funds may be expended for the following: the costs of administering laws related to vehicles and transportation […]
The costs of administering laws related to vehicles and transportation shall be limited to direct program expenses related to the following: the enforcement of traffic, railroad, and motor carrier laws; the safety of highways, roads, streets, bridges, mass transit, intercity passenger rail, ports, or airports
So, the courts may have to decide if the county can only use that restricted cash to pay for direct costs or whether it can use a much more broad definition. Expect a fight all the way up to the Supremes on this one.
Maggie Wunderly is running for the obscure post of Illinois Democratic Party committeewoman for Illinois’ 11th Congressional District and says she was motivated to get into politics because of Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. She says she was approached by intermediaries of Madigan in December with a simple proposition.
“If I pre-pledge my vote to Madigan, then he would not spend money against me in the race,” Wunderly says the intermediaries told her. She declined to name who they were, but says multiple people who knew Madigan but did not know each other reached out to her with the same message. “I decided not to do the deal, because I thought it was unethical to pledge my vote ahead of the election.”
In fact, she says the offer extended to 12 other candidates running for Democratic committeeman and committeewoman who had been endorsed by the pro-Sanders Our Revolution Illinois group. The message was: promise to re-elect Madigan as party chair, and he’ll stay out of your race. […]
“I didn’t take the deal,” [Alison Squires, committeewoman candidate in the 14th CD] said. “I said that I thought it was unethical and I wanted to not close doors.”
That’s standard operating procedure, but these Berniecrats ain’t SOP types.
* And so this stuff like this happens…
* Rauner campaign…
“The veil is being lifted on Mike Madigan’s corrupt machine. Whether it’s removing candidates from the ballot or demanding loyalty in elections, Madigan continues to prioritize preserving his own power over the people of Illinois. And JB Pritzker is just another pawn in Madigan’s game.” - Rauner Campaign Communications Director Will Allison
Mike Madigan is stooping to new lows to maintain his power and position as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. According to several candidates running for the Democrats’ State Central Committee, Madigan offered them a deal: vote for Madigan to be party chairman and he won’t actively work against their campaigns.
It’s clear that JB Pritzker took a similar deal from Madigan, especially now that Pritzker’s top two supporters, Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, are making calls on behalf of ‘progressive’ Mike Madigan.
“Mike Madigan and J.B. Pritzker are bankrolling a Democrat accused of beating a woman and trespassing on her property. When Pritzker says ‘we believe you’ and Madigan says he will ‘personally’ intervene in harassment and abuse cases, they don’t really mean it. J.B. Pritzker will support Mike Madigan at all costs, regardless of how many women Madigan’s corruption hurts.” - Illinois Republican Party Spokesman Aaron DeGroot
First, it was Kevin Quinn. Then, it was Shaw Decremer. Now, it’s State Rep. Bob Rita.
Yesterday, on International Women’s Day, yet another brave woman stepped forward to tell her story of abuse at the hands of a close ally of House Speaker Mike Madigan, Bob Rita.
Rita’s accuser revealed that in 2002, her father, a former legislator, pleaded with Mike Madigan to personally intervene with Rita to keep her safe from his violent attacks. Madigan said he couldn’t get involved and kept the money flowing to Rita’s campaign. Now, Madigan says he can’t recall if such a meeting ever occurred. Rita went on to win his campaign and be a rubber stamp for Madigan’s agenda.
Fast forward to 2016.
J.B. Pritzker used an LLC to secretly funnel $5,400 in campaign cash to Bob Rita, Mike Madigan, and other Madigan-backed Democrats.
Now that domestic battery and criminal trespass allegations against Rita have resurfaced, does J.B. Pritzker still support Bob Rita’s candidacy for the Illinois House?
Additionally, does J.B. Pritzker believe Bob Rita’s accuser or does he believe Mike Madigan?
Whenever J.B. Pritzker says “we believe you” or Mike Madigan says he will “personally” intervene in harassment or abuse cases, they don’t really mean it. Madigan and Pritzker will do anything for power, no matter how many women get hurt.
OK, first of all, there were no direct contributions from any of Speaker Madigan’s committees to Rita’s campaign in either the 2002 primary or that year’s general election. However, the alleged crime happened after the primary and that’s a strong Democratic district, so Madigan didn’t really need to be involved in the fall. Rita ended up getting 80 percent of the vote after spending less than $25K.
Also, Rita was acquitted, despite the fact that his jury included 9 women and he was accused of beating up and threatening to rape a cop who was the daughter of a popular former state legislator.
* Even so, I think they have a point about Pritzker. From the above video link to a Pritzker ad…
“If I’m elected governor, when… women everywhere need me to say ‘we believe you,’ I will be in charge.”
The alleged victim here says the jury got it all wrong.
I’ve asked the Pritzker campaign for a response.
* Related…
* Domestic battery accusations resurface against State Rep. Bob Rita ahead of primary election: Liz Hogan, Rita’s former girlfriend, said the incidents happened in 2002 when she was attempting to break off their relationship. “He grabbed me by the back of my hair and pulled me down to the ground,” said Hogan. Rita went to trial in the case and was acquitted in 2003. But Hogan, emboldened in part by the #MeToo movement, believes it is now a different era.
* Michael Madigan wouldn’t intervene in domestic battery case involving Democratic candidate, woman says: Sixteen years after the alleged incident, Hogan is taking her case to the court of public opinion, bolstered by the #MeToo movement and the support of Rita’s primary challenger, Mary Carvlin, Carvlin joined Hogan at the news conference, where she called on Madigan and Rita to step down. “Voting for Bob Rita is voting for Speaker Michael Madigan,” Carvlin said. “This is a man whose organization has rampant sexual harassment and a history of protecting the abuser, not the abused.”
* Rep. Bob Rita’s Accuser Comes Forward: Hogan asked her father, retired State Rep. Andy McGann, for help. She says McGann went to talk to Madigan. “So he came back and he, almost with tears in his eyes, said Mike Madigan says he couldn’t do anything about it. He just threw his hands up in the air,” Hogan said. “Madigan should have acknowledged the problem, addressed it — someone should have talked to Bob Rita about it.”
* State Representative’s Former Girlfriend Says Madigan Knew of Abuse Allegations: Madigan’s spokesman says the speaker does not recall meeting Hogan’s father. Rita was acquitted in the trial, and in a written statement Rita said “The claims were false then and are false today. Since then I have been a champion for women’s issues in Springfield and in the district.” “That’s a straight up lie,” Hogan said in response. “It’s a lie.”
* Speaker Madigan denies inaction in years-old domestic dispute involving lawmaker: Hogan’s father died in 2008. McGann and the speaker were friends, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. Madigan sponsored a death resolution in McGann’s honor. “I remember him sitting there in the church, crying, in one of the pews,” Hogan said of the speaker at McGann’s funeral. She says she didn’t recall speaking to Madigan then.
* Woman says Madigan ignored abuse charge against House candidate in 2002: “The speaker has no memory of a meeting between him and McGann about Bob Rita,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. “This apparently happened after the incident, after Rita was charged. So I don’t even know what, if such a meeting happened, what was the expectation?”
DCFS hasn’t published child abuse and neglect numbers since July. It’s something, for the past 35-years, they’ve done monthly. […]
Groups like the ACLU, the Foster Care Alumni of America and the Association of Social Workers Illinois, all depend on the data to keep track of abuse cases and ensure DCFS is doing it’s job. The information on the “Executive Statistical Summary” reports calls collected on the child abuse hotline, detailing where abuse is happening in the state and what the circumstances might be.
DCFS blames the halt on technical issues. A spokesperson says they’re working with Department of Information Technology (DoIT) to replace outdated software.
Some advocate groups the timeline doesn’t add up.
“It’s generally infuriating that we’re not able to get this data this is really core data so we can identify where trends are in the state where abuse cases are happening whether or not the department is doing their job in investigating those abuse cases, and without this data we can’t advocate for those children or the social workers that are suppose to be doing this work,” says Kyle Hillman of the National Association of Social Workers Illinois.
#FacePalm.
Rauner: “On things that we can control, I would give us an A.”
He must be using one heckuva grading curve.
…Adding… From Kyle Hillman in comments…
Also in that news coverage was this:
The last report was issued a month after new director, Beverly Walker, took over. When asked when new data would become available a DCFS spokesperson responded, “We are determining whether there is a legal mandate to produce this particular report.”
Rather than figuring out how to get the data out to the public, they are trying to figure out if they can legally just stop and hide the report numbers.
…Adding… Andrea Durbin at the Illinois Collaboration on Youth in comments…
DCFS testified in a Senate hearing in the fall that calls to the hotline were up 12% in the last two years, after years of declines. Our neighboring states have seen their child welfare systems explode with children due in part to the opioid crisis. This is a bad time for the data to go dark.
* Pritzker campaign…
“Hiding child abuse and neglect statistics is a new low in Bruce Rauner’s cover up of his fatal mismanagement of state government,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Children are suffering while this failed governor tries to preserve his image instead of protecting the lives of our most vulnerable.”
* Related…
* Boy died after being returned to his mother despite warning. The judge now works for DCFS: Carrie Cross told the judge the next time she would see 3-year-old Elijah Campbell, he would be dead. She was right. “I loved that boy. We had a lot of love for him,” Cross said. Elijah died in 2014 — three years after St. Clair County Judge Laninya Cason terminated Cross’ guardianship and returned the boy to his biological mother, Mio Campbell.
* As we all know, Republican attorney general candidate Erika Harold is a former Miss America. Mary Ann Ahern has three anonymous sources who say Harold was asked an unusual question at the 2000 Miss Illinois Pageant, which she did not win…
One of the questions to Harold that year was: If she, like her mother, was responsible to place a child in foster care and had to choose between a.) A loving gay couple or b.) A heterosexual couple who were known child abusers, which would she chose?
All three sources told NBC 5 she chose the child abusers.
NBC 5 has spoken to three people, who all played a role in that Miss Illinois pageant, with direct knowledge of the exchange. They were present when Harold responded to the question.
One of the pageant officials said: “I remember it because it was so shocking. She took some time to answer it. And that drew people in. It stopped the room.”
That pageant official said: “It said a lot about her, she spoke about reading the Bible daily and said her beliefs could not subject a child to the gay lifestyle.” […]
The interview was not part of the pageant presentation seen by the public. It lasted about 10 minutes, however the points from that interview were important in the overall judging. It may have been recorded for the contestants to watch later as a way to improve their performance, however no recorded copy of the Harold interview has yet surfaced.
* From Harold’s campaign, which is absolutely livid…
Voters should first know that NBC Chicago has chosen to air an unverified story from anonymous sources twelve days before an election about an alleged event that supposedly occurred nearly two decades ago when Erika was 20 years old. Erika does not recall the alleged exchange, but Erika certainly supports same-sex adoption and foster care placement.
* Ashley Hatfield, the executive director of the Miss Illinois Scholarship Organization…
It is troubling that people claiming to be former pageant officials are anonymously attacking former contestants. No one associated with the Miss Illinois Organization is making these claims, and it is not representative of the organization. All current and future contestants should compete without the fear of being anonymously attacked by pageant officials. Erika was an outstanding Miss Illinois and Miss America, and we are proud of her work with our organization.
Look, I love me some Mary Ann. But even if Harold did say it, she was 20 years old. I doubt I now believe even half the things I believed at that age.
But there’s no sense in ignoring the harsh reality that whatever the truth is here, this story will almost undoubtedly wind up as a very ugly TV ad during the fall campaign.
It’s quite the life we’ve chosen.
* On to the react in the order it was received…
Republican Attorney General candidate Gary Grasso released the following statement today:
“As a father to 6 children, I am sickened by the idea of placing any child in danger, especially in the home of known child abusers,” said Grasso. “Above all else, we must protect our children so they have the opportunity to thrive without the fear of an abusive parent or guardian. Child abuse is a disgusting and heinous crime and, if true, I am appalled by my opponent’s statement.”
* NASW IL…
Like most who read the Mary Ann Ahern report, we are stunned to learn an Attorney General candidate held this offensive view. While we realize the question was hypothetical, it is vital to state that the hypothetical behavior would be highly unethical for a person holding a social work license and would likely result in loss of license and their employment.
We sincerely hope, Ms. Harold’s views have evolved since this question was posed to her. Our next AG needs to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community and defend the supportive same-sex foster parents who are critical to our safety net. Further, they need to be the champion of the children in our foster system, a portion of which are gay youth in care.
There is no place in our government for the view that it would be better to expose foster youth to abusive placements because of personal opinions rooted in hatred. Instead of dismissing criticism, we encourage Ms. Harold to reach out to one of our over 20,000 licensed social workers in Illinois and explore why she held/holds these views.
Kyle Hillman
Director, Legislative Affairs
National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter
* DGA…
Another one of Governor Bruce Rauner’s political allies is in hot water, and Rauner’s dodging the tough questions. NBC Chicago reported in a disturbing story that Governor Bruce Rauner’s hand-picked Attorney General candidate, Erika Harold, reportedly told Miss Illinois judges she would rather have a foster child grow up in an abusive household than live with a same-sex couple. One person recounted that Harold’s answer was so shocking, it lost her the pageant.
Rauner’s operation has been completely behind Harold from the beginning. He claimed he “personally recruited” Harold and recently donated $350,000 to help her close out the primary. The Illinois Republican Party, largely funded by Rauner, has officially backed her candidacy. Harold has such close ties to Rauner, she was even heckled for trying to claim independence from the Governor.
Yet, Rauner’s camp did not respond to NBC’s request for comment last night. Does Rauner stand by his Attorney General candidate?
“Bruce Rauner personally recruited Erika Harold and bankrolled her campaign, and now must address her hateful and harmful comments,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Governor Rauner needs to tell the people of Illinois if he still supports Erika Harold’s candidacy, and why.”
* ICOY…
Illinois Collaboration on Youth’s Statement on Erika Harold’s Alleged Views on Abused and Neglected Children
An issue has surfaced around statements that Erika Harold allegedly made years ago that she does not recall making. While she says her views have now changed, we want to make a clear statement that should apply to every public official, including Erika Harold if she should be elected:
There is never a situation when it is acceptable to knowingly put children into a dangerous or unsafe home. Children and youth who have been abused or neglected deserve to have their elected officials be their fiercest advocates, protecting their safety and well-being.
When children enter the child welfare system, the State of Illinois assumes the responsibility of parent for them for as long as they are under the custody of the State. As the association representing child welfare providers who serve more than 80% of the abused or neglected children in DCFS’ care, as well as community-based youth providers who work to keep young people safe and out of the child welfare system, we expect that all of our elected officials will place the utmost importance on their role as temporary parent for our children.
* Pritzker…
I’m proud to know many wonderful LGBT parents. They deserve better than this from a candidate for any office in this state. I would hope @BruceRauner would disavow these horrible comments. https://t.co/RtUIjDkoPg
Again, even if this is true, she was 20 years old at the time. Her alleged (by people who won’t appear on camera or allow their names to be used) belief was repugnant, but she says she no longer feels that way.
People can change. They can evolve as they learn.
*** UPDATE *** From a 2014 book called “Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain,” by author Kate Shindle…
Shortly thereafter, [Miss America Organization interim CEO George Bauer] encountered another big headache: some serious difficulties with “his” first Miss America, Erika Harold (2003). Harold had competed several times before winning the Miss Illinois title. Her ultraconservative views had proven to be a bit too extreme for some judges; one year, she had failed to make the top ten after her answer to a question about same-sex adoption in her private interview: under pressure, Harold reportedly stated that she would choose to place a child in an abusive heterosexual home rather than with a loving gay couple. Unfortunately for her, one of her judges had recently adopted a child with his longtime partner. Another told friends that because of that single answer, he had dropped her interview score from a 10 to 2. Although judges are trained not to score contestants directly on their personal or political values, they are instructed to evaluate the young woman’s ability to state her opinions in a diplomatic and appropriate manner. Like everyone, pageant contestants say plenty of things that they think better of later. But if a winner publicly flubbed an answer as badly as Harold did privately, the fallout would be disastrous.
* Scott Kennedy’s extremely handy dandy website pinged me yesterday about a $43,000 independent expenditure by the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association. It looked like radio ads on behalf of JB Pritzker. I reached out to the IDCCA and they sent it over.
* And that got me to thinking about how much Pritzker was spreading around. His campaign has contributed almost $618,000 to other campaign committees, with the largest being a whopping $200,000 to the St. Clair County Democrats last month.
Most, but not all, of the rest appears to be “street money” to ward, township and county Democratic organizations. The scale of this is pretty amazing. For instance, Pritzker’s campaign gave $15K to the 37th Ward Organization and $10K to Democratic organizations in the 8th Ward, Lyons Township, 34th Ward and a few others (some are repeats). $5K each was given to 26 committees (some repeats). And 28 other contributions were made of less than $5K. Click here for the full list.
You can cover a whole lot of precincts with money like that.
* By contrast, Chris Kennedy’s campaign has made $9,550 in contributions to other committees, but $5K of that went to Personal PAC (although Pritzker got the endorsement and kicked in far more).
And Sen. Daniel Biss’ campaign has given other committees just $4,000 since the beginning of last year. And half of that went to Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, who now backs Pritzker.
Chris Kennedy on Friday accused billionaire rival J.B. Pritzker of trying to buy forgiveness for insulting comments he made about black politicians in a wiretapped conversation with Rod Blagojevich — with $159,000 in contributions to Cook County Democratic ward bosses, many of them African-American. […]
“Since J.B. Pritzker started his apology tour for those comments about African American leadership, he’s s given $374,000 to political organizations across the state, more than $159,000 of which went to committeemen in the Cook County Democratic Party,” Kennedy said.
“He’s taken pay-to-play politics and amplified the system from pay-to-play to fund-to-forgive and fee-to-forget. He’s buying off the leadership.”
The always outspoken Austin was furious when told of Kennedy’s charge.
“I’ve sat quiet long enough. And I’m not gonna sit and die and let Chris Kennedy slander me. The hell with Chris Kennedy. I’m more than insulted by this so and so. Nobody can buy Carrie. Nobody! J.B. didn’t give me a dime when I endorsed him. Not one dime,” Austin said, her voice rising.”
That would be just a few days after Rauner used his amendatory veto powers to rewrite the education funding reform bill. Mrs. Rauner sent the e-mail from her personal account to private e-mail accounts of Mark Harris at ColdSpark Media, Gov. Rauner’s chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen, Rauner’s Deputy Chief of Staff of Communications Diana Sroka Rickert and the ILGOP’s Kayleen Carlson…
Reframing Bruce thru the ed fight
If, as Mark says the polling reveals that voters want someone to stand up to Madigan yet view Bruce as unwilling to compromise, let’s use this fight and it’s inevitable conclusion to demonstrate how Bruce has raised hard and important issues for the state, worked collaboratively to try to address them, and compromised repeatedly, only to have Madigan run down the clock, walk away and do a power play. As this is unfolding in real time we need to use this to rewrite the narrative of the past two and a half years. Bruce takes on real state challenges that the Ds never did during their reign, convenes bipartisan working groups, negotiates in good faith, Ds run down the clock until there’s a crisis and then pull out of negotiations and run their own agenda, which is to do nothing and protect the status quo.
The ECW’s angle is to show Mrs. Rauner’s influence on Gov. Rauner and his struggle to get an education funding reform deal.
* But I’m more interested in the logic she was using. The “voters want someone to stand up to Madigan yet view Bruce as unwilling to compromise.”
Ten days after Mrs. Rauner sent that e-mail, the Senate overrode Gov. Rauner’s AV. The next day, the governor said this…
“Any element of my amendatory veto, I’m open to changing. Let’s compromise. Let’s find a solution. Let’s do it together. Let’s do what’s fair for our kids, especially our low-income kids, so they’re all treated the same.”
But even if the negotiations among the four legislative leaders do produce some progress, some folks are still doubtful that Gov. Rauner can bring himself to sign the bill, or that his new staff can get him to stick to his word. […]
So, there’s naturally some informed doubt that the governor will be able to bring himself to sign something as big and important as an education funding reform bill. The governor publicly denied last week that the First Lady has become more involved in his administration, but by all accounts she most certainly has and she now may be the only hope of keeping him on track.
* As you’ll recall, they did eventually work out a deal. But then the very next day Gov. Rauner said this…
“The bad news is, Speaker Madigan’s caucus took the bill and inserted a bunch of bad things in it,” Rauner said. “We’re trying to get out as many of those as we can. They’re trying to divert a lot of the money that should be coming to southern Illinois and central Illinois and divert it to the broken financial condition of Chicago. So, we’ve been battling that and it’s not been easy.” […]
“It’s not fair but it’s going to end up being a compromise,” Rauner said. “It’s not where we’d like it to be and what I’ll try to do is fix the problems with it in subsequent legislation.”
He eventually signed the bill. If it took Mrs. Rauner getting heavily involved and formulating a strategy, so be it. Somebody had to do it. And we’re likely better off for it.
There are some areas in which a majority of voters would support increased revenue, starting with the so-called “millionaire’s tax,” which would impose an extra 3 percent levy on income over $1 million, favored by three-quarters [76 percent, 21 oppose, with 57 percent strongly in favor] of respondents in the sample. Nearly as many [72 percent in favor, 24 percent oppose, with 47 percent strongly in favor] would favor a constitutional amendment to allow a graduated income tax, with higher rates for higher earners and lower rates for lower earners.
A slight plurality (49 percent favor, 46 percent oppose) would favor legalized gambling in Illinois to raise state revenues [23 percent strongly favor and 28 percent strongly oppose].
Less popular were a sales tax on services [39 percent favor, 58 percent oppose, with 36 percent strongly opposed] and a tax on gasoline to fund highway, road, and bridge improvements [42 percent favor, 57 percent oppose, with 41 percent strongly opposed).
A recurring idea is for the state to tax retirement income, such as pensions and social security. This idea is widely unpopular, with 74 percent opposing and only 22 percent in favor. However, in a follow-up question in which only retirement income above $100,000 would be taxed, majorities are in favor. Combining the 22 percent who favored it in the first question with the 52 percent of the 745 initial opponents who would favor it with the exemption, 60 percent of the total sample favor taxing retirement income above $100,000.
The state of Illinois has a budget deficit of over 1.5 billion dollars. I’m going to read three statements that people have made about how to fix the deficit, and ask you which one comes closest to your views. If you haven’t though much about this issue just tell me that.
* Illinois’ public programs and services have already been reduced significantly. We can only fix the problem by taking in more revenue, such as a tax increase.
* The state takes in plenty of money to pay for public services, but wastes it on unnecessary programs. We can fix the problem by cutting waste and inefficiency in government.
* Illinois’ budget problem is so large it can only be solved by a combination of budget cuts and revenue increases.
* Haven’t though much about it.
More revenues 10%
Cuts to waste and inefficiencies 51%
Both cuts and revenues 28%
Haven’t thought much 6%
Other/Don’t know (not read) 5%
Since 85 percent of the state’s budget is made up of K-12 education, higher education, and health and human services, which one of these areas should be cut to make up the difference?
K-12 6%
Higher education 29%
Health and human services 17%
All of the above (not read) 3%
None of the above (not read) 32%
Other/Don’t know 13%
“This year, as in years past, our poll shows the people of Illinois support spending cuts in the abstract, but are reluctant to endorse specific spending cuts. This underscores one of the essential reasons for our state’s seemingly intractable budget problems. The people of Illinois seem to be saying, ‘Please cut spending, but we have no idea of where to actually cut spending- and stay clear of the programs that we like’” said John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Institute. […]
From 2011 to 2015, the percentage of voters believing that cuts were the answer to the problem dropped more than 15 percentage points, from 58 percent to 42 percent. That number has since flattened, and jumped to 51 percent favoring cuts in the latest poll.
“This is a perplexing phenomenon in Illinois public opinion,” said Charlie Leonard, an Institute visiting professor and one of the directors of the poll. “After more than a decade of cuts to public budgets, people can’t let go of the idea that there is $1.5 billion in waste to cut. We have written about this extensively before, but the persistent belief in cutting ‘waste,’ coupled with the inability to agree on solutions, means we’ll probably still be writing about it in the future.”
