* Tribune…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner weighed in on Chicago’s mayoral race Thursday, calling Mayor Rahm Emanuel “corrupt” and lumping him with Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker and House Speaker Michael Madigan as three men who have “got to go.” […]
“Emanuel’s getting $20 million from his special interest groups. He’s corrupt. He’s part of the problem in Chicago,” Rauner said. “Failure on jobs. Failure on taxes. He’s got to go.” […]
Emanuel does not have $20 million this election cycle — at least not yet. To date, the mayor has raised more than $10 million toward his bid for a third term, according to state campaign finance records. As for special interests, about $2.4 million of that money has come from unions and another $186,000 from other political action committees, including the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, AT&T employees, Exelon and Ford Motor Company. […]
“Bruce Rauner’s Downstate election strategy is centered solely on denigrating Chicago, in large part because he doesn’t have any accomplishments worth mentioning. He’s said Chicago’s children attend schools that are crumbling prisons, he called Chicago’s teachers ‘virtually illiterate’ and he derided a peaceful anti-violence march led by several Chicago ministers as ‘chaos,’” [Emanuel spokesman Adam Collins] said in a statement. “He’s wrapping up a term in which he achieved nothing other than gridlock, and I guess desperate times call for desperate rhetoric.”
Politically, a fight probably helps both men.
* Sun-Times…
In a downstate radio interview on WJPF, Rauner was asked about former Gov. Pat Quinn’s push to get mayoral term limits and launched into an assault on Emanuel.
“Pritzker, Madigan, Emanuel, those guys got to go,” Rauner said.
Rauner said term limits “get guys out of office who need to go but who have too much power concentrated.” […]
Emanuel’s communications director Adam Collins called the Rauner broadside “high praise from the man named the worst governor in America.”
* We even got a Trump angle…
* Speaking of violence…
Gov. Bruce Rauner says Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has “failed horribly” on public safety after gunfire in the city last weekend injured more than 70 people and killed at least 11.
The Republican said Thursday that Chicago police have not received sufficient personnel, equipment or staffing assistance to be effective.
Rauner says he’s “disappointed” in Democrat Emanuel. Rauner says public safety is an officeholder’s first duty and that Chicago’s leaders “have fundamentally failed, failed horribly.” […]
Adam Collins is Emanuel’s spokesman. He says Rauner is to blame for his veto of legislation to crack down on illegal gun sales through state licensing of firearms dealers. Rauner rejected the plan from legislative Democrats as too burdensome on small businesses. Rauner has promised to veto another version of the plan that lawmakers have not yet sent him. […]
Police have will have 600 more officers in affected neighborhoods by this weekend.
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* Gov. Rauner this morning…
I’m funding Erika Harold. I’m giving her a million dollars which is a lot of money for me. I need her to win. Lisa Madigan has defended the corruption of her dad. Erika Harold will prosecute Madigan and the corruption. She’s awesome.
* The governor held a Statehouse press conference today…
Bernie: You said on the radio that you’re going to give a million dollars to Erika Harold and she ‘will prosecute Madigan and the corruption. She’s awesome.’ Corruption? Are you saying that Mr. Madigan has committed a crime? Are you a prosecutor now and what exactly should she prosecute him for? Because I know you like talking about everybody’s corrupt, but what are you talking about when you’re giving a million dollars and telling this person ‘I’m going to get you elected and you’re going to prosecute this man’? Is that the American way? And what is he guilty of?
Gov. Rauner: [Laughs] Well, the Illinois way is corruption. Madigan has been in control of our state for 35 years. Why do we tolerate a system where the leader of the legislature, the leader of the Democrat Party, uh, can control much of our state government, force policies that cause our property taxes and taxes to rise and then own a property tax appeal law firm, and charge property owners millions of dollars to get property taxes reduced? He’s on both sides of that. It’s corrupt, it’s broken it’s a fundamental conflict of interest.
Reporter: Is it legal?
Rauner: It shouldn’t be.
Bernie: Why didn’t you propose that?
Rauner: [Laughs] I have proposed many variations on this issue. I tried to get a law passed, uh, the General Assembly under Speaker Madigan blocked it, a law passed to stop legislators from, uh, owning property tax appeal law firms, so it would be illegal, and stop arguing cases in front of, um, tax appeal boards because they’re in, it’s a conflict. They, they raise taxes on their policy side and then make money reducing them. That’s, that’s a conflict. That’s a rigged system. And, uh, they wouldn’t pass that bill. So I went ahead and did an executive order. And now, legislators can’t argue cases in front of the state board. That I can do unilaterally.
Monique: But you also said that she should prosecute the speaker.
Rauner: Yes.
Monique: So, are you alleging that he has committed a crime? And also, how could she prosecute because that office can only refer crimes right now?
Rauner: [Laughs] So, attorneys’ general job is to enforce the law and investigate wrongdoing, especially in state government. The, the, the attorney general’s job is to represent the people of Illinois as their chief prosecutor and, and, uh, and legal, uh, representative. Um, we in Illinois have suffered for years. Our attorney general has defended the current system. Defended the conflicts of interest. Protect the problems in this state. Defend the status quo. We need someone who will challenge the status quo, investigate wrongdoing, investigate possible illegal activity, certainly investigate unethical activity and, and propose laws to make it illegal, rather only unethical. That’s what an attorney general who will primarily do. And in Illinois that has not been happening. Erika Harold will make that happen and that’s my point.
Rauner aide: Last question! Last question!
* By the way, I sent these questions to Erika Harold’s campaign this morning at 10:10…
1) Has Ms. Harold spoken with the governor about her plans to prosecute Speaker Madigan?
2) Does she have any plans to prosecute Speaker Madigan?
3) Does she have any other comment on the governor’s statement?
4) Does she have any comment on the governor’s pledge to contribute $1 million to her campaign?
I haven’t heard back.
*** UPDATE *** The Erika Harold campaign finally got back to me, but they didn’t answer any of my questions…
Erika is grateful for the support from not only Governor Rauner, but also many citizens across Illinois who want to reform state government.
If presented with evidence, Erika will investigate and pursue any allegation of wrongdoing or corruption at any level of government in Illinois as Attorney General. Additionally, Erika has called on lawmakers to give the Attorney General additional tools to crack down on public corruption, including the authority to convene a statewide grand jury and issue subpoenas.
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Report: Dicamba damage highest in Illinois
Thursday, Aug 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Since the Illinois State kicks off today, I figured we’d do an agriculture post. I’ve written about this topic before (click here). From an article in Successful Farming…
University weed scientists estimate at least 1.2% of U.S. soybean plantings have been damaged accidentally by the weedkiller dicamba despite stricter limits on its use this year, said a University of Missouri report. Damage was highest in Illinois, the No. 1 soybean-growing state, where 500,000 acres of the U.S. total of 1.1 million damaged acres are located.
The damage is way down across the country, but we’re now number one.
* Farm Week…
The number of dicamba-related complaints reported to the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is on the rise in the second year the herbicide is approved for use on tolerant soybeans, according to Jean Payne, president of Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association.
“We still are going to go over 300 formal complaints,” Payne told the RFD Radio Network®, referring to grievances that specifically allege dicamba damage. “And those 300 complaints that have been logged at the Illinois Department of Agriculture have taken our total pesticide-misuse complaints up over 450.”
Last year, IDOA fielded 430 total pesticide-misuse complaints, including 246 related to dicamba. Prior to 2017, the quantity of misuse complaints typically numbered between 100 and 120, Payne said.
“We saw widespread symptomology, and we can’t deny that it was there this year,” she said.
As if soybean farmers don’t have enough to deal with on the China trade fight.
* Modern Farmer…
For some background: dicamba is not a particularly new pesticide, but Monsanto has recently made a huge push with new dicamba-resistant soybean seeds to go along with the pesticide. Unfortunately, the pesticide has a tendency to drift, sometimes miles away, and the areas it hits are not always treated to be resistant. In that case, dicamba shrivels and kills plants—millions of acres of soybean fields have been affected.
But dicamba’s effects on plants are not limited to soybeans. Reports last year indicated that dicamba was killing mature oak trees in Iowa, Illinois, and Tennessee. But Unglesbee’s feature goes further, interviewing many farmers, gardeners, and even hotel owners whose farms, forests, lakes, and fields have been hurt. They include a South Dakota farmer who grows hundreds of varieties of fruits and vegetables for a CSA and estimated he’s lost $11,000 due to dicamba; an Illinois homeowner whose garden was destroyed; and a Tennessee resort owner whose attempts to plant young trees and a small garden for his restaurant were foiled by dicamba.
* WSIL TV…
Cupped up soybeans are one of the clearest indicators of dicamba exposure on beans not modified for the chemical.
“We’ve been drifted on and had about 65 acres of beans effected by volatility this year because neighbors used it,” said farmer Kelly Robertson.
* Illinois Newsroom…
Farmers in a federal class-action lawsuit filed two main complaints this week against agro-chemical giants Monsanto and BASF regarding the herbicide dicamba, which is blamed for millions of acres of crop damage, especially to soybeans, over the last couple years.
The “master complaints,” filed in a U.S. district court in St. Louis, consolidate 11 complaints from farmers from Arkansas to South Dakota.
The lawsuit alleges Monsanto and BASF created dicamba-resistant crops knowing it would likely cause harm to other fields. It states that the companies not only knew about the risk, “but everything they did and failed to do increased that risk.” […]
The second complaint alleges that Monsanto is creating a monopoly off of dicamba-resistant plants.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Aug 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m not totally clear how or why this started, but one of my favorite tweeters @chicagobars has officially declared this week to be “National Don’t Dump on People’s Beer Choice Week”…
If you don’t follow that guy, you really should.
* The Question: In honor of National Don’t Dump on People’s Beer Choice Week, what is your favorite beer that others might consider inferior? And don’t forget to explain your answer. Thanks.
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All’s well that ends well
Thursday, Aug 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Responding to what his mayoral campaign called an investigation by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a defiant Willie Wilson on Thursday defended his recent cash giveaways and said there’s “nothing wrong” with his charitable foundation’s paperwork. […]
Noting he was raised in the Jim Crow South, Wilson said, “I’m just tired of white people telling me what to do.” […]
Wilson’s campaign called the news conference Thursday to respond to what the attorney general’s office has said is a request for information, not an investigation. […]
Former alderman and state Sen. Rickey Hendon spoke alongside Wilson on Thursday and said he’s advised him to stop giving away money while this controversy swirls. Wilson said he’d stop the “foundation flow” after Sept. 1 but will continue giving cash out of his own pocket.
* More…
A Wilson spokesman promised to file the paperwork weeks ago.
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Because… Madigan!
Thursday, Aug 9, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Seems like a pretty small space…
What matters is media attention, however. We’ll see.
* Press release…
Today, Governor Rauner joined Illinois House candidates Mike Babcock, Jason Madlock, Doug Jameson, and Dwight Kay to sign The People’s Pledge, a commitment to put term limits on state elected officials and to vote for anyone other than Mike Madigan for House Speaker. The event followed Governor Rauner’s announcement that he’ll be supporting the House Republican Organization with another $4 million.
At the event today, Governor Rauner said this about The People’s Pledge:
“I’ve been an advocate for term limits my entire life. We together collected over 600,000 signatures to get them on the ballot five years ago, you guys remember this. But Mike Madigan sued us with his lawyer, and he got the state judges who are elected by Madigan, to say ‘no, you can’t do it that way. The only way to get term limits done is if the General Assembly votes to put them on the ballot.’ That’s what the judges ruled and that’s why The People’s Pledge is so important. We need the legislators to promise to put term limits on the ballot.
“And this guy Pritzker, who is running against me, he funds Madigan, he funds the lawyer who sued us to block term limits. Pritzker is part of the problem, he’s protecting the Chicago Machine. We’ve got to beat him, and the way to beat him is get The People’s Pledge signed.”
Emphasis added.
* OK, from the Illinois Constitution…
Amendments shall be limited to structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV.
Article IV is the legislative article.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled way back in 1976, when Madigan had been in office just five years, that the word “and” in that sentence meant “both.”
And in 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that term limits satisfied neither the structural nor the procedural subject matter requirements…
The eligibility or qualifications of an individual legislator does not involve the structure of the legislature as an institution. The General Assembly would remain a bicameral legislature consisting of a House and Senate with a total of 177 members, and would maintain the same organization.
Likewise, the eligibility or qualifications of an individual legislator does not involve any of the General Assembly’s procedures. The process by which the General Assembly adopts a law would remain unchanged.
So, since the Supremes had long ago ruled that “and” means “both” and that term limits were “neither,” Rauner had no case in 2014 unless he could convince the justices to overturn their previous rulings which dated back to the year the Starland Vocal Band recorded “Afternoon Delight” and the year OJ Simpson was arrested for a double murder.
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* JB Pritzker speaking to supporters last night…
There’s a lot that we need to do. And I’ve put forward plans, I almost get tired when people come up here, reporters, sometimes, come up to me and they say ‘Well gosh, what are your plans for the state? I don’t really know what your plans are.’
Well gee, every day I stand up to talk about what I want to do for the state, my vision for… I talk about the things that I care about deeply, and when I’m not able to get to a subject I always say to people ‘go to my website’ because we’ve got 18 plans. I don’t want you to think I’m overplanning, but we’ve got a lot to do in this state, you know, and I don’t want to be unclear about what direction that we need to go, and so, people should go there.
But I’m always surprised when a reporter comes up to me and says ‘What’s the substance? Tell us the substance of your campaign,’ and I say ‘Gosh, I’ll give you a three-hour speech if you’d like right now or you can just go to my website and read about everything that we’ve been talking about for the last year and a half.’
Pritzker does have a point that some reporters who complain about a lack of substance don’t actually cover the substantive things he’s proposed. And he does have a very long list of proposals that he developed during the primary. Click here to see them. His campaign put a lot of time and effort into crafting them.
* But, as many Illinoisans have discovered since January of 2015, the state budget is by far the most important part of the governor’s job. And while Pritzker’s proposals include several spending ideas, he’s never said how he’ll pay for any of this stuff except to repeatedly point to a progressive tax plan which isn’t really a plan so much as a talking point. The Democrat has yet to lay out what his rates and exemptions would be.
The only thing we know is that he’s said he’ll fund most of his new programs and expansions as well as significantly increase the state’s annual pension payment with the new graduated tax, so it’ll definitely have to bring in a lot of money. How much? Nobody knows yet.
Politics abhors a vacuum, and the governor is therefore taking advantage of Pritzker’s silence. Let’s return to today’s WJPF interview with Tom Miller…
Tom Miller: When you look and see what his progressive tax plan is I cannot find any names, numbers, figures.
Rauner: You know, the Democrats made a mistake. They’re trying to hide what they’re going to do to the middle class, working class families. They’re trying to hide it so Pritzker is trying to dodge what the rates would be. But they actually put out their tax plan a year ago mistakenly and it’s out there. It was put out by Madigan’s own people and it has a 26 percent tax rate hike on middle class Illinoisans. That’s their plan. They’re going to deny it and say ‘oh, no no we will only tax like multi-millionaires.’ Baloney. Every state that’s put in a graduated income tax, the middle class gets whacked. And that’s what Pritzker and Madigan have in mind. They’re going to dodge, but that’s the truth. We’ve got to beat these guys. They’re corrupt and they’re just tax cheats and tax hikers.
Tom Miller: The last piece of legislation I could find on the Illinois.gov web site that tracks all the legislation and the verbage that progressive taxes would start at $17,000 a year annually. That was the last one I saw. Because when you told me a moment ago, they all say no no no no no. The last plan started at $17,000 a year.
Rauner: That’s right. Anybody who makes more than $17,000 a year pays more under the Pritzker-Madigan tax hike plan. That’s exactly what they got in mind.
Miller (no relation that I know of) and Rauner were both talking about Rep. Rob Martwick’s bill, which would also provide property and sales tax relief. Nobody ever agreed to be a co-sponsor and Martwick got so much heat for his proposal that he tabled it in April.
But that’s what you get when you go mum on your most important issue.
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* This year’s butter cow…
Zoom in on the sign, though, and you’ll see a typo…
Bicenntenial? Oops.
*** UPDATE *** SJ-R…
The superintendent of the Illinois State Fair’s Dairy Building says the misspelling of the word “bicentennial” on the fair’s famed Butter Cow display will be repaired before big crowds hit the building this weekend to view the spinning refrigerated case holding the 600-pound creation.
Marla Behrends, the Dairy Building’s superintendent, said workers at the building were expecting to complete the fix Thursday evening.
Behrends said the Butter Cow’s sculptor, Sarah Pratt of West Des Moines, Iowa, felt terrible and was very sorry when she was informed about the mistake, which happened on a butter-based sign sitting next to the cow. The sign includes the word “bicenntenial,” with one of the buttery Ns in the wrong place.
* Speaking of butter cows, this is very cool…
* On to today’s parade…
The Illinois Department of Agriculture says the Wiseman Family, which owns the Wiseman Farm in Wabash County, will be the Grand Marshals for the 2018 Illinois State Fair Twilight Parade tonight.
The Wisemans have been recognized as one of only two Bicentennial Farm families in Illinois. They grow corn and soybeans on their land, which has been in their family since 1818.
* Parade deets…
The parade will begin in Lincoln Park, head north through the park to Sangamon Avenue and then east to the Main Gate and into the fairgrounds. Staging for the parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the park.
It is the second year for the Twilight Parade’s new route. For many years prior to 2017, the parade started near Ninth Street and North Grand and marched up Peoria Road to the fairgrounds.
The parade route will close to traffic at 4 p.m., and detour signs along North Grand Avenue and Veterans and J. David Jones parkways will be in place. The Parade Run begins at 5 p.m. and the parade at 5:30 p.m. The route is expected to remain closed until 9 p.m.
No public parking will be available for parade watchers in Lincoln Park or the Nelson Center. Patrons of the Nelson Center will be able to access the center using the intersection of Third Street and Black Avenue.
* Related…
* Old standbys, new roller coaster await Illinois State Fair fans
* Illinois bicentennial puts extra sparkle in Illinois State Fair: Inside, fairgoers will find a special display of “The Past to Today through Twinkies,” which were invented in Illinois. In fact, free samples will be made available to the first “200” visitors from a variety of companies.
* Grandstand preview: Culture Club comes back for ultimate ’80s experience
* Ready for battle: B-N teens to compete in band competition at State Fair
* Raleigh girl among winners of ‘Cream of Crop’ contest: The winning entries will be featured in the Treasurer’s tent on the north side of Brian Raney Avenue during the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. The fair kicks off on Aug. 9 with the Twilight Parade and ends Aug. 19.
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* Tribune…
Nearly 33,000 juveniles arrested over about the last two decades have been labeled by Chicago police as gang members, according to police data. […]
At the time of their arrest, 13 of the juveniles were just 10 years old. About 60 were 11. And more than 300 were 12, a Tribune analysis of the records showed.
Experts cautioned that labeling juveniles as gang members can create a stigma that causes lifelong problems for them yet serves little purpose for police.
The Police Department defends its gang databases, saying they remain an important tool in fighting what drives much of Chicago’s violence. However, the department has promised reforms in how people end up listed as gang members and in how they can remove their names.
Um, based on available evidence, that crime prevention “tool” isn’t working so well. It’s also allegedly unreliable…
Civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the Chicago Police Department relies on an error-plagued database that names up to 195,000 people as gang members, including many who have never been in a gang.
Many people were erroneously listed in the database simply because of a tattoo, social media post or address, according to the federal lawsuit from Northwestern University’s MacArthur Justice Center and other groups. Those listed as gang members have a harder time landing jobs, are more likely to be denied bond after arrests and are often targets of harassment by police or immigration officers, it contends.
The way police manage the database is “arbitrary, discriminatory” and “over-inclusive,” and it gives beat officers “unlimited discretion” to falsely label people gang members “based solely on their race and neighborhood,” the lawsuit states. In some cases, license-reading devices flag cars registered to someone in the gang database, increasing the odds of the car being stopped.
* And then there’s this…
A joint investigation by Chicago police and the Norfolk Southern Railroad that used a truck loaded with goods and left parked in Englewood as a lure for potential thieves has come under fire after video of the operation went viral.
“This bait truck operation is an unacceptable and inappropriate use of police resources,” said Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, chair of the City Council’s Black Caucus. “In a moment where police capacity is clearly under extreme strain, these sort of tactics are the last thing we should be spending manpower and energy on.”
A video shot earlier this month that was posted on the Facebook page of community activist Charles Mckenzie appears to show officers arresting a man after he allegedly broke into a “bait truck” in the Englewood neighborhood. People on the video argue that community members are being set up for arrest.
Police have often used bait vehicles to catch people in the act of committing a robbery or a theft. Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for the Norfolk Southern Railroad police, which worked with Chicago police on the investigation, defended the Englewood investigation, noting these sting operations are tactics used by law enforcement to crack down on patterns of thefts in certain areas.
Except…
In a statement, Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay said the trucks were part of a “joint surveillance operation to apprehend the individuals who have been breaking into freight containers at NS railyards in Southside Chicago.”
However, the railyards are more than a mile away from where the trucks were parked on city streets.
A mile away? Sheesh.
*** UPDATE *** Paul Vallas…
I’m for law and order, but the the time and resources used for a theft sting in Englewood is a misappropriation of limited police resources. Those resources should be focused on catching shooters and killers! How can a community engage with police if they feel their kids are being tricked by police? We need to build and earn trust with the community if we are to make headway in reducing the unacceptable levels of violence.
Agreed on all counts.
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* Gov. Bruce Rauner on WJPF this morning…
I’m being challenged by this guy Pritzker. He is a corrupt insider, loyal to Madigan, works for the Chicago machine.
We talked about coal. He is anti-coal. He supported Obama and Clinton and their war on coal. He’s funded them.
Just for clarity’s sake. Hillary Clinton won Illinois by 17 points in 2016. Barack Obama won it by 17 points in 2012 and 25 in 2008. This is not the fight to pick in a Democratic wave year, even if he is on a southern Illinois radio station because those words won’t necessarily stay in southern Illinois.
…Adding… Hmm…
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* The audio isn’t online yet, but Gov. Bruce Rauner told WJPF’s Tom Miller this morning that he is contributing $4 million to the House Republican Organization on top of the $2 million he’s already given them. He also said he is giving $1 million to Republican attorney general candidate Erika Harold.
The dude is finally going all-in, it appears.
JB Pritzker has contributed $2 million so far to Speaker Madigan’s House Democratic Majority PAC. And he’s given just $50,000 to Democratic attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul’s campaign.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Transcript provided by the Rauner campaign…
I’m funding Erika Harold. I’m giving her a million dollars which is a lot of money for me. I need her to win. Lisa Madigan has defended the corruption of her dad. Erika Harold will prosecute Madigan and the corruption. She’s awesome.
I’m also going to give another $4 million to the House Republicans. They are the ones who will vote to oust Madigan and get him out of office. They’re the ones who blocked the income tax hike that Pritzker and Madigan are pushing. I’m all in.
I need some help from all the folks around the state. But I need the folks in Southern Illinois. Get out and vote. Vote for reformers in the General Assembly, vote for Erika Harold. Vote for me so we can fight Madigan and get a better future.
…Adding… Also from today’s show…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Audio is here.
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