Rauner skirts Trump questions in Peoria
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Rauner’s Peoria event this afternoon was billed as “No additional media availability.” But the governor apparently agreed to take some on-topic questions. After a couple minutes of those, a reporter asked about the man who must not be named…
Reporter 1: So, why are you here today and not in Granite City?
Rauner aide: We’re just keeping it on-topic…
Rauner: Well, I’m here because this is a very significant piece of legislation that passed at the end of the General Assembly. And this was scheduled long time ago. Uh, and today, [laughs] my day is very full. I was in Chicago and Itasca and Rockford, and I’m heading back to Springfield tonight.
Reporter 2: You didn’t think it was important to support the president in Granite City today at all?
Rauner: Well, what’s important is that we support economic growth for the entire state of Illinois. And that’s what this legislation does. We need to bring down tax burden in our communities and grow more jobs and that’s what we’re here to do right now.
Rauner aide: Alright, thank you everybody!
The legislation is here.
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Rauner pushes petition against abolishing ICE
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Facebook ad…
* So, I asked the Pritzker campaign where the candidate stands on ICE…
Donald Trump’s administration is using ICE to separate families and communities are being forced to live in fear. This policy is contrary to what America stands for. We need real change and to do away with practices that separate families and demonize immigrants. We need to reform the culture in ICE so they’re focused on violent criminals, drug traffickers, and terrorists, not families seeking refuge.
Here in Illinois, Bruce Rauner needs to stand up to Trump and sign SB 35 and enforce and strengthen the Trust Act. Not only do we need comprehensive immigration reform, but we also need a governor who is willing to stand up to Donald Trump.
SB35 is the “Immigration Safe Zones Act.” Click here for a summary. Make sure to read the amendments, which narrowed it. The bill has been on Gov. Rauner’s desk for almost a month.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NPR…
The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average of eight hours of sleep per night for adults, but sleep scientist Matthew Walker says that too many people are falling short of the mark.
“Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain,” Walker says. “Many people walk through their lives in an underslept state, not realizing it.”
Walker is the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He points out that lack of sleep — defined as six hours or fewer — can have serious consequences. Sleep deficiency is associated with problems in concentration, memory and the immune system, and may even shorten life span.
“Every disease that is killing us in developed nations has causal and significant links to a lack of sleep,” he says. “So that classic maxim that you may [have] heard that you can sleep when you’re dead, it’s actually mortally unwise advice from a very serious standpoint.”
* The Question: On average, how many hours do you sleep per night during a typical week?
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Common sense or “bizarre and dangerous”?
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Between 2010 and 2016, Chicago taxpayers shelled out an astounding $936 million for settlements, judgments and legal expenses in police misconduct cases. And the city used bonding to pay some of that tab, which drove costs up even higher.
From last week…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan are close to unveiling a proposed court agreement intended to govern reforms in the Chicago Police Department, attorneys said Friday in federal court.
The lone sticking point, attorneys said, remains whether the department must document incidents in which an officer points a gun at a person.
That is indeed a big sticking point for the cops. But just last month, the Chicago City Council approved a $2.5 million settlement of an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a 3-year-old girl after an officer pointed a gun at her chest while striking her handcuffed mother.
* Consent decrees do appear to work elsewhere…
CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley reports in New Orleans, a consent decree implemented five years ago had a dramatic effect on brutality complaints. An oversight report last year said, “The monitoring team did not locate any litigation for the past two years, alleging excessive use of force.”
A study of 23 departments under consent decrees, including New Orleans, found lawsuits dropped dramatically – from 23 to 36% each year, in each city.
* The Chicago FOP says that the resulting data on officers pulling their guns could be used to taint cops who are just doing their jobs. But…
[Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson] said police officers shouldn’t oppose the clause, since if they are behaving properly and following department protocols when they pull their guns, the data wouldn’t be held against them.
* The police also complain about the added paperwork…
But the Chicago Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police oppose the measure. One retired sargent said he believes the policy would just complicate officers’ jobs further.
“We already have a report, every time a police officer has an encounter with somebody, they have to fill out a report, it’s like 70 boxes,” said retired CPD Sargent Peter Koconis. “When you add something else to this mix, you’re taking a good active police officer and you’re putting him down for 20-30 minutes, just filling out paper work for absolutely nothing.”
Back to Ferguson…
Ferguson said he doesn’t buy the argument that reporting every instance when an officer draws a weapon would be overly burdensome. He argued that there are “very, very easy technologically-based fixes” for reporting those incidents.
“It is not a significant added burden. And the fact of the matter is, it is far too important to leave on the cutting room floor in terms of what we are monitoring and tracking with respect to use of force,” he said.
* More Ferguson…
The inspector general argued that pointing a gun — “separate from it being an officer” — is a “use of force that under the law constitutes an aggravated assault” because it involves the use of “potentially deadly force.”
That’s why it’s become a “pretty standard provision that those incidents be reported, tracked, analyzed and accounted for,” both in “the context of consent decrees and reforms outside of consent decrees,” Ferguson said.
“Beyond that — and I speak about this both from a professional context and a personal context because I’ve been on the receiving end of a gun being pointed at me in my past, it is a fundamentally perspective-changing event to occur,” Ferguson said. “To think that it has little to do with how the community perceives the police would be blinking reality. So, it’s a really important thing to fold into how it is that we monitor the use of force.”
A robber pulled a gun on Ferguson when he was young, and then the cops pulled their guns on him when they responded.
* But the Chicago FOP has pledged to fight the consent decree to the bitter end…
The Trump administration rightly dismissed the methodology and findings of this DOJ investigation and declined to impose a consent decree.
Despite this, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Mayor Rahm Emanuel broke new legal ground to create their own consent decree. We believe this action is not legal, not moral, politically motivated and is one of the most disturbing examples of how political careers in Chicago are built by attacking the police.
Because so much of Chicago’s media is also deeply allied to the various factions of the anti-police movement, little real debate or discussion of the merits or consequences of this bizarre and dangerous consent decree have taken shape in the City.
Thoughts?
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Wednesday afternoon text from RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard after he saw yesterday’s caption contest…
Photos from 35th St. viaduct next to Guaranteed Rate Field the night of White Sox Legislative Caucus two weeks ago! Holds up lots of train tracks!!! Right next to the ball park.
One of the pics he sent…
Yikes.
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* Tina Sfondeles on what sure looks like the governor’s hastily arranged campaign schedule in order to avoid President Trump’s Granite City appearance…
Brent Johnson, the president and owner of Midwest Aero Support wrote in a Facebook post that he was notified on Wednesday that Rauner would visit his company.
“I feel honored he selected MAS [Midwest Aero Support] for this occasion. What is even more humbling is that President Trump will be in Illinois the same time tomorrow in a different city,” Johnson wrote. “The governor declined the president’s invitation to join him in Granite City to visit MAS instead. How we were selected is a mystery, but I feel it is an opportunity / experience of a lifetime.”
Rauner’s campaign spokesman Will Allison said both campaign events “had been in the works for weeks.” Allison said the events were planned on Jan. 26. He said there was talk of visiting a different company in Rockford, however.
“If someone is trying to imply that we had nothing on our schedule at then Trump shows up, and we added events, that’s not true,” Allison said. “Both have been in the works for awhile.”
Schuh said the Johnson post appears to be a businessman boasting about the governors’ visit.
Oh, this should be a pleasant event.
Johnson also wrote on Facebook that he hoped to post photos of the visit. Can’t wait.
Also, the governor’s office denied to Tina that Rauner had declined a formal invitation to President Trump’s event and told her that they’d reached out to the White House and the president’s people knew he couldn’t make it.
*** UPDATE *** Mary Ann Ahern gave the governor what-for today when he refused to take reporters’ questions…
Like I said… tense.
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* Nissa Rhee for Block Club Chicago…
READI is the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative, a radical new experiment from Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization, that could change how Chicago communities treat violence.
Hand-picked by a unique violence-predicting algorithm as well as referrals from outreach workers and partners in the criminal justice system, READI participants are among the most likely to be shot or shoot someone in the city.
For 18 months, these extremely high-risk Chicagoans are given transitional jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy and legal and social services to help them pave a different future. Afterwards, they also receive an additional six months of coaching to help them find full-time work.
Conceived by researchers at the University of Chicago and based on the latest violence prevention research, READI has a four-year budget of $48.7 million funded by 11 groups including the MacArthur and Polk Brothers foundations.
The program is operating in four of the neighborhoods hardest hit by gun violence in the city: Austin, West Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Greater Englewood. Since its rollout in September of last year, more than 160 men have started working. Heartland expects to connect 500 men to jobs by spring of next year.
Go read the whole thing. Fascinating concept and a well-written story.
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It’s just a bill
Thursday, Jul 26, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* OK, this is not something you see every day. Reps. Dave McSweeney and Greg Harris filing a bill together. Press release…
State Representative David McSweeney (R-Cary) today introduced bipartisan legislation to protect patients who depend on medical supplies and equipment from the Rauner Administration’s massive reorganization of the Illinois Medicaid program. Assistant Majority Leader Greg Harris (D-Chicago) is co-sponsoring the legislation (HB 5930).
“The decision to ram through a multi-billion dollar reorganization of our state’s Medicaid system was done with little forethought and shows no signs of saving taxpayers a dime,” Representative McSweeney said. “MCOs are slashing rates to providers, potentially driving them out of business. This will lead to lost jobs and increased costs to the state in the future. Our bill also prohibits sole source contracts. Requiring competition will help save taxpayers money.”
“This legislation will ensure low-income individuals are guaranteed a minimum quality standard for medical supplies and equipment, while protecting small Illinois businesses from multi-billion dollar insurers seeking to maximize their own profits,” said Representative Harris. “It’s time we take action to protect Illinois’ healthcare infrastructure.”
HB 5930 will:
• Require the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to create minimum quality standards for medical supplies and equipment
• Set a floor on provider reimbursements, to ensure we don’t drive these critical small businesses out of the market
• Prohibit Managed Care Organizations from signing sole-source contracts with providers of medical supplies and equipment
• Save taxpayers money by:
o protecting a competitive medical supply and equipment marketplace
o ensuring that patients have access to high-quality products, reducing the need for more expensive interventions like hospitalizations.
McSweeney’s legislation comes on the heels of several stories from Illinois and throughout the country showing certain managed care companies taking advantage of lax oversight by slashing reimbursement rates to providers, thus resulting in poor patients losing access to vital medical equipment like breathing machines and incontinence supplies.
Recently, the Dallas Morning News wrote several disturbing stories outlining how one Managed Care Organization, mismanaged Texas’s program for Texas Foster Children. Illinois selected the same company, Centene, to manage the healthcare of the children under the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services’ care. The stories exposed how without oversight, MCOs saved money by denying necessary equipment and care, even for some of the state’s most vulnerable children.
“I look forward to working with members of both parties to pass this bill during veto session and begin the process of ensuring that our Medicaid program works for taxpayers and patients alike,” McSweeney added.
WBEZ aired a story on the legislation this week. Click here.
* Other stuff…
* ADDED: State program can help assure secure retirement for thousands: While many state legislatures are examining this type of program, Illinois is just the second state to implement one, and as with any major change or new idea, there are skeptics. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called Secure Choice “the wrong answer” because its leadership believes state-sponsored plans “are a poor substitute for employer-provided plans” in part because employees “are significantly limited in how much they are allowed to contribute.” This criticism completely misses the point. Whether or not Secure Choice would be better than an employer’s retirement plan is irrelevant to the thousands of small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and employees in Illinois who don’t have access to any retirement plan. Secure Choice cannot discourage employers to end a benefit they do not offer, nor will it dissuade companies from offering a benefit they cannot afford.
* Rauner Vetoes Bill On ‘Jailhouse Snitches’: The bill would have regulated the testimony of so-called jailhouse snitches. In cases involving murder, sexual assault, or arson, defense attorneys would have gotten advance notice, and judges could block the informant’s testimony. John Hanlon, with the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield, says when Illinois had a death penalty, false informant testimony was the leading cause of wrongful convictions.
* New Law Allows Kids To Unlock Potential: Thanks to an acceleration law championed by Senator Kimberly Lightford and Representative Camille Lilly, thousands of advanced learners from across Illinois will now have a new opportunity to take courses that meet their intellectual needs. The upcoming school year will be the first year the state’s new acceleration law goes into effect; requiring all school districts to allow advanced learners to enter school early, enroll in above grade level courses, or skip grades if they are deemed eligible for acceleration. This means that the 4-year-old who knows how to read can now enter kindergarten; that the sixth grader who understands Algebra can now sit in on an eighth-grade class; and, that the high school junior who has already earned all the credits they need to graduate can now graduate early.
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* It’s the morning, so I’m hesitant to declare this the best tweet of the day, but it’s clearly the frontrunner…
* Why is it so good? I didn’t get to this topic yesterday, but we talked a bit about the Senate Transportation Committee’s hearing about the Tollway before it happened. The hearing was called after Marni Pyke wrote a series of stories for the Daily Herald. From her committee coverage…
Amid a call for resignations, Illinois tollway executives fielded questions from state senators about potential nepotism and politically connected PR subcontracts Wednesday at a special hearing.
“You need to fight against conflicts of interest,” former tollway director and former Democratic Sen. Bill Morris of Grayslake testified. “You need to not have these conflicts of interest.”
And to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who appoints the tollway board, Morris said: “This tollway board needs to be asked to resign.”
But tollway officials said they’d “set the record straight.
“What was demonstrated is that the safeguards and mechanisms enacted to ensure transparency and protection against potential conflicts of interest work,” Executive Director Liz Gorman said.
* Tribune…
In response to questions about why the Tollway would need a multimillion-dollar public relations contract when it already has an 11-member internal communications team that costs about $1.6 million a year, Tollway officials said additional communications work is needed to reach out to hundreds of homeowners who will be affected by the planned expansion of I-294.
The most critical and colorful statements at the hearing came not from current state senators but from former Democratic state Sen. Bill Morris, a former Tollway board member. Morris has frequently expressed criticism of the current board, appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Morris said Tuesday that board members were not doing their jobs in properly reviewing contracts and should resign.
“There’s never a ‘no’ vote on the Tollway board anymore,” Morris said.
Morris also recommended that the state end the $30,000 annual salaries for Tollway board members and replace them with a limited $150 per diem for attendance at each meeting, and require all board members, administrators and senior executives to regularly disclose to the public any contacts with firms seeking contracts with the Tollway.
* AP…
Former Democratic state Sen. Bill Morris is also a former Tollway board member. He told the committee that board members weren’t properly reviewing contracts and should resign. Morris is a frequent critic of the current board, appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. […]
Morris said the state should require all board members, administrators and senior executives to regularly disclose to the public any contacts with firms seeking contracts with the Tollway.
So, yeah, I’m thinking Yvette is right.
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* Tina Sfondeles on the ongoing Bruce Rauner/Willie Wilson flap…
But even as the Republican governor moved to distance himself from the nonpartisan mayoral challenger — to whom Rauner has given $200,000 in the last year alone — a common political link surfaced. Rauner and Wilson both employ the same man to help with black voter outreach efforts, according to their campaigns and expenditure reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. […]
Rauner and Wilson have described themselves as friends. And both the Rauner and Wilson campaigns are paying the same man for outreach efforts. It’s not uncommon for consultants to be paid to work for several campaigns. Chauncey Colquitt is working outreach for both campaigns.
Citizens for Rauner paid Colquitt $12,000 in two payments for consulting in late June, with the campaign also paying Colquitt’s The Crescent Group $30,000 for legal services, expenditure reports show. Wilson’s campaign also paid The Crescent Group $9,500 in two payments in late June. Colquitt is the listed agent for the group […]
The Rauner campaign did not elaborate on Colquitt’s role, only saying Colquitt is “not the outreach director for Wilson’s campaign.”
Wilson campaign manager Scott Winslow said Colquitt is a paid consultant focusing on “African-American messaging, what’s going to resonate with different populations.”
* But, wait, there’s more! Colquitt also worked for then-Rep. Ken Dunkin in 2016 (click here). Dunkin, of course, was/is a Rauner ally who lost his 2016 Democratic primary to Juliana Stratton and then failed in a comeback bid last March.
* And that’s not all!…
Colquitt’s other job (separate from the campaign) is to help secure guests for WVON talk show host Maze Jackson. Rauner appeared on Jackson’s show June 19 declaring he has done more for the black community than any governor before him. The comment raised eyebrows but it isn’t inaccurate—Rauner has established programs to make sure blacks get a share of state business.
Two days after that radio appearance, Rauner paid $30,000 to Colquitt’s Crescent Group business and $12,000 to him directly, according to campaign expenditure reports. I’m told those payments are for work done since Colquitt was hired in May.
Connecting the dots on Maze Jackson: He supported Ken Dunkin, the controversial lawmaker appointed to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Jackson and Dunkin got to know each other when Jackson was a statehouse lobbyist and later when he was executive director of the Black Caucus Foundation. Jackson’s wife is Kari Steele, also a Water Reclamation District commissioner. Jackson’s good friend is Vince Bass, the director of public engagement and civic affairs for the governor’s office. Before that, Bass worked for former state comptroller Leslie Munger. She’s now the deputy governor. Jackson also owns a marketing company called The Intelligence Group, which was paid $91,000 by Munger for campaign work.
* This oppo package is huge! Take a look at this video of Gov. Rauner from a month ago attending a Maze Jackson “What’s In It For The Black People?” cookout…
WIIFTBP cookout!
Posted by Maze Jackson on Saturday, June 23, 2018
In the video, the governor tells an attendee that “Madigan wanted that impasse and now we have more money for child care.” Aside from the “AFSCME bill,” one of the votes that Rauner convinced Dunkin to skip in 2015 would have restored cuts Gov. Rauner made to child care programs.
Colquitt is present while Maze narrates. Later, Jackson takes the microphone and says, “We’ve got an election in November. Who came to see you? Hey, gov, you want to say a couple of words real quick?” Maze then expresses disappointment that no state legislators showed up.
Rauner, wearing his biker vest, touts his expansion of child care, among other things.
“Remember the people who came to see you and took your vote importantly,” Jackson says when Rauner finishes speaking.
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[Bumped up to Thursday morning for visibility.]
* The advisory is silent on media questions at the governor’s campaign event tomorrow, which starts at 12:30 in the afternoon…
MEDIA ADVISORY: Governor Rauner to Visit Machesney Park Business Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Governor Rauner will visit Midwest Aero Support Inc. in Machesney Park, Illinois. He will tour the facility and speak with employees. […]
Governor Rauner will tour the facility and speak with employees
* No press questions will be allowed at the governor’s Peoria event, according to his official public schedule…
Daily Public Schedule: Thursday, July 26, 2018
What: Gov. Rauner takes action on Senate Bill 3527 regarding the River’s Edge Tax Credit
Where: Peoria Riverfront Museum Plaza, 222 SW Washington St., Peoria
Date: Thursday, July 26, 2018
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability
* And there’s good reason why he won’t take questions in Peoria…
* SJ-R…
“It seems to me the governor is avoiding spending any time with the president,” Pritzker said. “On the one hand, he stands with the president in so many ways and is silent in the face of so many of the president’s policies that are bad for Illinois.” […]
In the meantime, while Trump is in Granite City, Rauner will be visiting other areas of the state. Rauner said Tuesday that he was just in Granite City to act on legislation and was not planning to return right away.
“He’s obviously avoiding (Trump),” Pritzker said. “This governor seems to want to play both sides of the issue.”
* Some Illinois Republican officials will be in Granite City, however…
* And DPI’s new executive director will also be there, but I seriously doubt he’ll be on stage with the president…
DPI Executive Director to Join Local Protests Against Trump’s Proposed Health Care Cuts
Granite City, Ill. — Tomorrow, Democratic Party of Illinois Executive Director Christian Mitchell will join local protests against Donald Trump’s first visit to Illinois as president. Mitchell will highlight Trump’s attacks on healthcare and attempts to undermine Illinois working families.
* These local House Dems in districts won by Trump in 2016 probably won’t be picketing, however…
State Rep. Jerry Costello II, D-Smithton, and state Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Godfrey, are applauding the steel tariffs put in place by Republican President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to the Granite City Works steel mill on Thursday.
“I am glad to see the reactivation of two blast furnaces at the Granite City mill,” Costello said in a news release. “Our region is witnessing the positive results of our country’s new tariffs on steel. As a result, middle-class families, local businesses and others are seeing the real effects of investment in our capable workforce and community. We need to continue to push policies on both the state and national level that will continue to foster the creation of good-paying jobs.”
Bristow commended the President’s efforts to bring back steel jobs in the metro-east.
“One of my main priorities in Springfield has been fighting for local jobs and to restore those that we have seen outsourced overseas,” Bristow said. “I am encouraged and excited to see the reactivation of two blast furnaces in Granite City, restoring local jobs to our communities and providing jobs for middle class families.”
…Adding… Snark from Team Pritzker…
While Donald Trump makes his first visit to Illinois as president today, Bruce Rauner is playing hooky, stating : “I, uh, I do not plan to go. I was just in Granite City just in the past week.”
Really? He really can’t visit Granite City twice in a week’s time? Everyone knows Rauner is a staunch Trump supporter — whether he’s a silent partner or cheerleader — so what’s the real reason Rauner won’t appear with Trump?
“Bruce Rauner is ditching his partner in crime on his first presidential visit to Illinois, and he’s pretending it’s a scheduling conflict,” said Pritzker campaign spokesman Jason Rubin. “It’s time for this failed governor to level with the voters about the real reason he won’t appear with Donald Trump.”
…Adding… John Shaw, Director of the Paul Simon Institute, on WSIL TV…
“Democrats believe this is a seat they can win. They believe it’s a democratic-leaning seat,” Shaw explains. “While Republicans need to hang on to this seat in order to keep control of the House, and they have incumbents. You can’t lose incumbents in a very competitive year.”
Vice President Mike Pence has already shown his support for Bost by attending a Metro-East fundraiser for him in mid-July. Shaw says President Trump’s upcoming visit to the area will further secure votes for Bost among Republican voters.
“I doubt the president is going to win over new converts to the republican party, that’s just not his style,” Shaw says. “I think he’s going to do a good job in solidifying the republican base, which is the reason I think Bost is welcoming his visit.”
However, Shaw doubts the president’s appearance will have a lasting impact on the mid-term elections. “I think its probably a helpful development for Bost in the short-term, but I’m not sure there’s going to be any permanent change in the structure of the race due to one Presidential visit,” he says.
* And Brian Mackey for NPR…
President Trump’s trade fights with China, Canada and Europe have put some members of Congress in a tough spot. Do they stand with American steelworkers, whose mills might benefit from newly imposed tariffs, or soybean farmers, whose exports are at risk in a trade war? Brian Mackey of Illinois Public Radio reports from the southern part of that state.
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