* Posted in the order they were received. ILGOP…
Day 4 of Pritzker Silence on secret Madigan spending
Pritzker previously gave $10 million to Madigan funds, said he was “grateful” for Madigan
The Better Government Association Friday revealed a massive investigation into millions of dollars of infrastructure projects requested by Mike Madigan that were approved and coordinated by Governor JB Pritzker and his key budget staff.
——— BGA REPORT ———-
It took the intervention of the Weglarz brothers’ longtime property tax lawyer — then House Speaker Michael J. Madigan — to find a solution. Now Illinois taxpayers are footing the $98 million bill for what would undoubtedly be one of the most expensive brake jobs in history.
….
In addition to the $98 million brake job, Madigan delivered another $31 million for a charter school that provided the BGA records detailing only $1.5 million in requests to lawmakers, $9 million for a Chicago high school even though nobody from the Chicago Public Schools sought it and another $6 million for a suburban airport control tower a Madigan political ally wanted for years.
…
A BGA examination of public records found at least $144 million went to just four projects backed by Madigan, the longest-serving house speaker in U.S. history. Each of those projects benefitted those to whom the former speaker has personal, professional or political ties.
In addition to the $98 million brake job, Madigan delivered another $31 million for a charter school that provided the BGA records detailing only $1.5 million in requests to lawmakers, $9 million for a Chicago high school even though nobody from the Chicago Public Schools sought it and another $6 million for a suburban airport control tower a Madigan political ally wanted for years.
….
“I also confirmed that Speaker Madigan has submitted the request to the Governor’s office,” she wrote to Bria Scudder, one of Pritzker’s top deputies. Emails show Scudder quickly forwarded the message to the director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, which plays a critical role in releasing state grant funds.
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The Illinois Republican Party calls on JB Pritzker to end his silence on his Madigan corruption.
Will Pritzker release all communications between the Office of the Speaker of the House and the Governor’s office, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget, and/or the Illinois Department of Transportation?
Will Pritzker release all communications between the Governor’s Office and both the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Transportation regarding Rebuild Illinois projects?
Will Pritzker release the full Madigan project list?
* DPI…
Griffin’s Rauner Reboot Slate Continues to Hide From Reporters, Voters
Today, we hit the one-week mark since the announcement that Richard Irvin is running for governor, the centerpiece of Ken Griffin’s Rauner Reboot slate. Since Irvin’s announcement, he has met with a grand total of zero reporters, taken zero questions, and held zero campaign events with voters. In fact, none of the Rauner Reboot candidates have done a single interview since announcing their respective campaigns. Let’s take a look at the stats:
• John Milhiser: 20 days silent
• Tom Demmer: 13 days silent
• Shannon Teresi: 12 days silent
• Steve Kim: 11 days silent
• Richard Irvin and Avery Bourne: 7 days silent
Why are the Rauner Reboot candidates so shy? When will any of them take questions from the press? How many conversations have they had with Ken Griffin, Bruce Rauner, or Rauner’s campaign team while they hide from voters? How long are they going to play this game of hide-and-seek?
While the Rauner Reboot slate talks a big game on transparency and accountability, their campaigns have been anything but. Here’s the most basic question of all: why are they hiding?
…Adding… ILGOP…
* DGA…
ICYMI: DGA Launches Accountability Clock Counting Up the Days Radio Silent Richard Irvin Has Avoided Talking to the Press
Richard Irvin has been dodging interviews since entering the Illinois GOP primary for governor a week ago — and now a new website is counting up the days Irvin’s remained radio silent.
The DGA launched GriffinSlate.com last Friday. View the site here.
Billionaire Ken Griffin is hand-selecting a slate of candidates to drag Illinois back to the days of Bruce Rauner — and Irvin is likely to top the list. Despite being the face of the Rauner reboot campaign, Irvin has yet to take an interview with the press.
“Radio Silent Richard is desperate to walk back his past support of Gov. JB Pritzker and learn Ken Griffin’s talking points before telling reporters where he really stands,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Irvin has been in this race for a week, and he’s already hiding from the press and his primary opponents. There’s a long, brutal primary ahead — and he can’t stay silent much longer.”
- Donnie Elgin - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:04 am:
“Both sides want the other to end their silence”
Rollins Band’s 1992 album, “The End Of Silence” is worth a listen.
- Silence - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:15 am:
They are doing their best Simon & Garfunkel with their echoes of the Sound of Silence.
- MisterJayEm - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:28 am:
“Why won’t you talk about all the billionaire’s money that you gave?”
“Why won’t *you* talk about all the billionaire’s money that you took?”
Sounds like the premise to a rejected Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial.
– MrJM
- Commissar Gritty - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:32 am:
I can’t possibly think of a less relatable story than two billionaires yelling at each other about how they spend their money. And yes I’m saying that ILGOP is a billionaire because they are so insistent in serving as a mouth piece for Ken Griffin.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:33 am:
If the ILGOP is interviewing consultants and the suggested strategy is to attack MAdigan and link Pritzker to Madigan, I would recommend finding a new consultant.
But hey, I am only looking at the wins/losses record of the last 10 years. I guess the ILGOP has a different rubric.
- Long year - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:33 am:
Yeah so, here’s the difference. The Governor had multiple open press events last week. No reporters asked him about that BGA story because if you can read a bill, you can see those projects were listed in it. They weren’t a secret. And Republicans voted for that bill.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:35 am:
As this new calendar is like January is the new “October” to the primary season, this noise, by either side is only as loud as the dollars and ads each is willing to put to these messages… in “October”.
If the GOP is still looking for “anti-Madigan”, toilet rippin’, big money parkin’ voters, they have big time problems. They should already be in the fold and needing reminders later in a calendar.
If Pritzker and Dems want answers, then start asking questions in :30, :45, 1 minute increments, beginning with these coming weeks of playoff football (don’t go negative during the Super Bowl, no one wants those ads, let alone the costs). Pressure is only felt when aptly applied.
Popcorn… lots of popcorn.
- low level - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:40 am:
The GOP thought the train noise shouldn’t be fixed and should continue without any attempt to fix the problem? Im sure thats comforting to the residents of the area.
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:40 am:
I don’t think either attack is going to have much of an impact, but a related difference is that at least Pritzker is doing public events, running ads, etc. The Griffin Gang isn’t even making their own case for themselves yet.
- Donnie Elgin - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:45 am:
DGA/DPI are doing more harm than good, Irvin at this point is not yet a household name; their hit pieces are getting his name out. If the big issue is that he has not spoken to the press, well that’s a flaw that he can fix quickly.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:46 am:
===their hit pieces are getting his name out===
To whom? I’d bet I’m the only one to run any of these.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:49 am:
= The GOP thought the train noise shouldn’t be fixed =
The GOP also thinks re-criminalizing some forms of cannabis would be a good idea too. A bill was submitted in the house late last Friday to do just that.
The new GOP slogan should just be;
“If it ain’t broke - break it”
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:50 am:
=== ===their hit pieces are getting his name out===
To whom?===
… who exactly is paying attention to this, even if Rich is the sole person giving these things sunshine?
If there’s big cash behind these, it’s not being shone, they’re releases, the lot of them.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:54 am:
This is all pretty silly, really. The comms people are keeping themselves busy, but is anyone changing their mind about any of the candidates? Pretty unlikely.
- Lt Guv - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 12:03 pm:
Does any of this really affect either side at this point? No, it’s just noise. Shut it already
- Joe Schmoe - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 12:11 pm:
“…….Who’s on first?…..”
- Arsenal - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 12:20 pm:
==Irvin at this point is not yet a household name; their hit pieces are getting his name out==
The whole point of the Griffin Gang is that they’ll have the resources to compete. So absent just a catastrophically bad ad campaign, Irvin’s name rec was never going to stay low.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 12:34 pm:
===Radio Silent Richard===
If this is what they went with just imagine the other ideas they rejected.
- Dotnonymous - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 12:50 pm:
Free Mike Madison
- Scott Fawell's Cellmate - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 1:05 pm:
S/O to Jake Lewis & DPI for the “Rauner Reboot” theme. Keep it going.
- Nuke The Whales - Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 1:10 pm:
==DGA/DPI are doing more harm than good, Irvin at this point is not yet a household name; their hit pieces are getting his name out.==
DGA/DPI getting his name out as a billionaire plant whose campaign cloaked in secrecy is certainly better than whatever Ken Griffin would do to introduce Rauner 2.0/Sarah Palin 2.0 to the Illinois electorate.