Dozens of school districts around the state are scrambling to keep preschool programs intact — or to lay off staff — after learning their preschool funding was reduced or zeroed out.
Illinois lawmakers approved $50 million in additional money for preschool this year, so it was a shock to many of the programs to learn their funding was slashed.
* Mark Maxwell looked at some other schools yesterday…
Abrupt cuts to early childhood education programs like the Prevention Initiative and the Early Childhood For All project caught several school districts off guard, especially because their scores met or exceeded the requirements to maintain funding. pic.twitter.com/9fAMFUK8KJ
The State Board of Education said they simply ran out of money.
* ISBE press release…
Fiscal year 2019 was the first statewide open competition for the Early Childhood Block Grant in a number of years. The process provided funding for 5,000 additional children. However, due to the large number of applicants, the appropriation could not fully meet the need statewide, and not all qualified programs received funding.
The State Board of Education is collaborating with the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the Department of Human Services on a solution to fund additional high quality Prevention Initiative and Preschool for All Expansion programs. The agreement will fund programs that met standards (scored 60 or above) and did not initially receive funding for FY 2019 due to the limited funds in the State Board’s appropriation. These programs will receive funding at the same per child cost as other funded programs. The State Board is deeply appreciative of the collaboration to further expand access to high-quality early childhood services.
I’m not sure, though, that the board can find enough. They told Maxwell that they’d need $170 million to make everyone whole. I’m hearing they’re only looking to come up with a fraction of that. We’ll see.
*** UPDATE *** From the Board…
$170 million is the amount we are short for all requests. The $20 million identified will fund all of the eligible programs (those that scored above a 60) at the per child amount - not full requests. So it will put the 60+ programs that qualified for funding at the same level as those that were funded.
* The AP takes a look at bills awaiting gubernatorial action. Here’s one…
Lawmakers also sent Rauner a proposal to raise the limit on damages from $100,000 to $2 million for those who sue the state, a measure that has been billed by Democrats as a way to provide justice for family members of veterans who died of Legionnaires’ in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, have said the proposed changes are overly broad and would harm taxpayers.
Increases the maximum award for certain claims sounding in tort filed on or after July 1, 2015 from $100,000 to $2,000,000. Provides that the court shall annually adjust the maximum awards to reflect the increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for the previous calendar year, as determined by the United States Department of Labor.
* Oh, man, was this ever a big mistake by Lori Lightfoot’s comms director. From Think Progress…
It was a Tuesday in late June when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned the world upside down. The New York machine shuddered to an unexpected halt. A 28-year-old socialist had taken on the King of Queens in the state’s 14th congressional district and won.
Some 800 miles west, in Chicago, mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot was hoping to replicate that victory. A little more than seven months out from the city’s election, Lightfoot and her campaign have tried to paint her as the next insurgent progressive to knock out a more moderate, white, establishment incumbent in the wake of Ocasio-Cortez’s victory.
Lightfoot, however, is more hesitant to take on the same ultra-progressive stances Ocasio-Cortez made central to her campaign. And, at least at this juncture, Lightfoot hasn’t yet managed to inspire the same activist energy that propelled Ocasio-Cortez to victory — energy crucial to Lightfoot’s bid against incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the field of nine other challengers.
Two days after Ocasio-Cortez’s primary win, Lightfoot’s communications director reached out to me over email. She noted that I had written about Ocasio-Cortez, New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, and several other women candidates in the past, pitching Lightfoot as the next progressive sensation.
What follows is an evisceration of Lightfoot on just about every possible left-wing purity test level. Not pretty.
For you kids out there, don’t do this.
* Related…
* Emanuel-allied group hires away potential rival’s fund-raiser: Going to work for Progress Chicago, a group backed by Emanuel confidant Michael Sacks and other mayoral associates, is Katelynd Duncan, a fast-rising fund-raiser whose clients have included Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Illinois Democratic Party Acting Executive Director Christian Mitchell, Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), and—until recently— [Bridget] Gainer, who insiders say will announce against Emanuel within the next two weeks.
* Columnist George Will essentially endorsed Bruce Rauner for governor in 2014…
Illinois voters can choose Rauner and term limits, or the acceleration of stagnation and the end of the pleasure of complaining.
* And Will was ecstatic about Rauner’s inauguration in February of 2015…
The most portentous election of 2014, which gave the worst-governed state its first Republican governor in 12 years, has initiated this century’s most intriguing political experiment. Illinois has favored Democratic presidential candidates by an average of 16 points in the last six elections. But by electing businessman Bruce Rauner, it initiated a process that might dismantle a form of governance that afflicts many states and municipalities.
* And when the impasse was really hitting home in August of 2016, Will stuck up for his guy…
Seated in his office in Chicago, wearing neither a necktie nor a frown, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is remarkably relaxed for someone at the epicenter of a crisis now in its second year and with no end in sight. But, then, stress is pointless when the situation is hopeless. Besides, if you can ignore the fact that self-government is failing in the nation’s fifth-most populous state, you can see real artistry in the self-dealing by the Democrats who, with veto-proof majorities in the state Legislature, have reduced this state they control to insolvency.
“I love a fight,” says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan “the worst elected official in the country” and Madigan’s machine “evil.” The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the “blue model” is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nation’s glory.
Maseng Communications, which is run by Will’s wife, Mari Maseng Will, was given a contract by the Rauner campaign this past spring.
The Supreme Court is especially admirable when correcting especially deplorable prior decisions, as with the 1954 school desegregation decision rejecting a 1896 decision’s “separate but equal” doctrine. It did so again June 27, overturning a 41-year-old precedent inimical to the First Amendment.
* Gov. Rauner press release today…
Gov. Bruce Rauner today announced the 2019 recipients of the Order of Lincoln, which is the state’s highest honor for professional achievement and public service.
“These distinguished individuals make us proud to be Illinoisans,” Rauner said. “They have honored us with their achievements in medicine, business, the arts, the law and sports, so it is only fitting and proper to bestow upon them the state’s highest honor.” […]
“While the recipients’ work spans many fields, all have the traits of Abraham Lincoln in common,” Rauner said. “They possess tremendous talent. They are great leaders, great community servants and great lovers of Illinois.” […]
George F. Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post who also is a regular contributor to NBC News and MSNBC. Will is also a prolific writer of books about national and international relations, politics, government, and the sport of baseball. Titles include “The Pursuit of Happiness and Other Sobering Thoughts,” “Statecraft as Soulcraft,” and “One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation.” Will was named Best Writer by the Washington Journalism Review in 1985 and one of the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal in 1997. He grew up in Champaign.
…Adding… I changed the headline because the governor has no direct role in naming these awards. From the governor’s office…
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, and self-perpetuating organization established in 1964 to recognize the outstanding contributions made by living Illinois citizens, whether by birth or by residence.
The laureates are selected at a called meeting of the Regents and General Trustees, a group of no more than sixty distinguished Illinoisans in attendance, from the nominees submitted. There is a vote to determine those most deserving to honor as Laureates of the Academy, thereby conferring upon them the Order of Lincoln.
IMPACT JOURNALISM: SEC regulators bust Illinois GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner over pay-to-play investigation we broke in 2014. Original story here: https://t.co/Cw3GRiEJSg New SEC action here: https://t.co/gYInsxvl8J
Upon further review, SEC actually sanctioned firm that did biz with TRS. Member of the firm gave money to Rauner campaign, but that was refunded upon request. Firm was prohibited from doing biz with TRS for 2 years under pay2play rule. But kept going. Firm penalized $120,000 https://t.co/N33kXCJfct
Illinois Republicans gathered in Tampa for the Republican National Convention, and they’ve designated House Speaker Mike Madigan as their punching bag, launching the website FireMadigan.com dedicated to paraphernalia with the logo seen at right. A Madigan spokesman laughed the Republicans’ gumption off, saying, “Not much success then. No reason to think their luck will change.”
“We need to make a change, people recognize that,” said Illinois GOP Chair Pat Brady. “We’re just going to create awareness about the damage Mike Madigan’s policies — or lack of policies — have done to the state of Illinois. That’s a message that’s really resonating (with voters.)”
Former governor Jim Edgar says the “fire Madigan” campaign is a gimmick.
That’s not necessarily bad — campaigns need gimmicks, he says … but Edgar says Republicans ought to be focusing on winning more elections.
“I’d like to see more Republicans in the legislature, and yeah, I’d like to see Tom Cross as Speaker. I’m not so — [I don’t] think we ought to just concentrate on telling the Democrats they ought to get rid of Mike Madigan. That’s their decision.”
After coverage of our FIRE MADIGAN signs at Republican Day at this year’s Illinois State Fair, we’ve had many people asking for FIRE MADIGAN materials so we’ve created this online FIRE MADIGAN store.
If you think after over 40 years in Springfield and Illinois being ranked as one of the worst states financially that it’s time to Fire Illinois House Speaker/Illinois Democratic Party Chairman/Father of the Illinois Attorney General Mike Madigan, you can have a little fun helping spread the word with any of these FIRE MADIGAN products, including t-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, buttons, and signs. Check back often as more designs and products will be added in the weeks ahead!
“When we started this, it was less about building unfavorables and more about letting people know who he is and how Springfield actually works,” said Pat Brady, former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party who launched a “Fire Madigan” campaign four years ago. “Now they are trying to take that and win seats with it, and I think they are going to have success.”
“It’s ‘Fire Madigan’ on steroids because they have the resources and the funding and a lot of very smart people running these campaigns. It’s a lot more well thought out and a stronger strategy than we’ve ever had,” Brady said. “We are in a state that has been dysfunctional for so long that they are looking for someone to blame, and the speaker is an easy target. If we can get across the point that a vote for an individual Democrat is a vote for Madigan, I think that’s very effective.”
Others are less convinced.
“We’ve made Madigan an issue for years. I mean, when I was running for governor re-election, I had quadruple bypass surgery. I credited one of the bypasses to Mike Madigan,” former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar quipped to a Springfield audience last month before raising doubts about the strategy targeting Madigan.
Together, the people of Illinois can hold their state representatives accountable by asking them to sign The People’s Pledge, putting the people back in charge of state government and ending Mike Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.
Visit www.FireMikeMadigan.com to learn more about The People’s Pledge and get involved.
Illinois politics is rotten at its core. Dominated for decades by one man: Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
He’s amassed power at all costs, even as Illinois has suffered under his rule. Madigan will do anything to keep his grip on power, even as scandal engulfs his reign.
Enough is enough.
THE PEOPLE’S PLEDGE requires members of the Illinois House of Representative to promise to oppose Mike Madigan as House Speaker no matter what.
Even if Madigan refuses to resign, our state representatives can still take his power away by removing the Speaker’s gavel from Madigan’s grip.
The People’s Pledge also makes sure a Madigan-like politician can never rise again by placing term limits on legislators and statewide officeholders. The People’s Pledge puts the people back in charge of state government.
An Instagram post of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner appearing to officiate at the wedding of Equality Illinois board member Mark Cozzi and James Koeke on July 1st has been stirring interest for the past few days.
The photo is on newlywed Mark Cozzi’s Instagram account, along with photos of him and his new husband on their honeymoon in Italy. While the governor’s part in the ceremony as the photo indicates has not been clarified, it’s obvious that Rauner is no longer hopeful of attracting social conservatives to help re-elect him in November.
“It’s clear that the governor has learned nothing from his near-loss in the Republican primary this year,” Illinois Family Institute’s executive director David E. Smith told Illinois Review. “He’s not interested in attracting social conservatives to get out and vote Republican this fall.” […]
The governor has chosen to snub the Illinois Republican Party social conservative base despite being faced with near-mutiny when he almost lost the 2018 Republican Primary to conservative State Rep. Jeanne Ives in March.
Others applauded the governor’s role in the wedding. Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said it shows “love is love and that people are recognizing that.”
“I don’t really know all the politics of it. I’m going to guess some of it. But the truth is, it’s just a public official respecting and honoring the fact that love is just love,” Yohnka said. “I thought they [the Illinois Family Institute], my friend David, is supposed to be about families and this is a family and it’s a wonderful thing.”
Equality Illinois — the state’s civil rights organization for LGBTQ people — too, applauded Rauner’s role in the wedding.
“As chief executive of our state, it is appropriate for Gov. Rauner to administer government-sanctioned functions, including marriage,” said Mike Ziri, spokesman for Equality Illinois. “There is no license to discriminate in Illinois, as the Illinois Family Institute seems to falsely believe.”
I’ve asked the Pritzker and McCann campaigns for a response.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Pritzker campaign pointed me to this tweet…
Appearing with a Vice President who wanted to take money away from HIV prevention to fund conversion therapy the same week you officiate a gay marriage is a really interesting take on having no social agenda. #ilgov#twillhttps://t.co/2JuxQNaOLG
Media from across the state has roundly criticized the latest ad by JB Pritzker for peddling lies. Despite the Rauner campaign’s clear rebuttal of claims made in the ad, the Pritzker team doubled down on their allegations despite clear falsehoods.
Take a look at how media from around the state covered Pritzker’s ad:
Chicago Tribune:
Rauner’s campaign noted that the governor late last month called for an end to Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that labeled migrants entering the country as a criminal rather than civil matter. He called the policy “wrong” and “heartbreaking” and said while the nation needs to “secure our borders and stop illegal immigration,” a policy of “separating families is not the right answer.”
Pritzker’s ad quotes Rauner, suggesting he hadn’t given “any thought” to the separation policy. But the governor actually responded to a question about a Trump administration desire to deploy state National Guard units to the Mexican border. No such request had been made for the Illinois National Guard.
The ad also asserts Rauner profited from the firm Correct Care Solutions. The firm is being used to provide healthcare at some federal Department of Homeland Security migrant detention centers. Rauner previously was a partner in the equity investment firm GTCR and has said his current investments have been delegated to a power of attorney.
Rauner’s campaign referenced comments by his government spokeswoman Patty Schuh, who said the firm still owns the investment in Correct Care Solutions but it has not shown any profits or losses from it yet.
Rauner left GTCR in 2012, his campaign said, and the equity firm didn’t invest in Correct Care Solutions until 2014.
Rauner campaign spokesman Alex Browning said the Pritzker ad “intentionally misrepresents the facts” in order to “weave a false and deceitful narrative. The Pritzker campaign should immediately take down this dishonest and shameful ad.”
State Journal-Register: The governor’s campaign notes correctly that when Rauner said he hadn’t given any thought to an issue, it was when he was asked if the state would send Illinois National Guard troops to the border – and there had been no such request from the federal government. He said at that same appearance that the policy of separating children from parents is “bad policy” and “heartbreaking,” and “not the moral thing to do.”
“We need to secure our borders and stop illegal immigration, but separating families is not the answer. I’m strongly against that and I’ve made my views clear to (the) federal government,” Rauner said at that appearance.
Politico:
Billionaire J.B. Pritzker, who also knows his way around an investment portfolio, is taking the bluntest approach possible.
His campaign team poured gas on the fire with an ad that took liberties with some of the facts of our story. Rauner’s camp says the ad is wrong about three points:
1. The ad says Rauner is an owner of CCS. He’s not. But the company does sit in the GTCR fund’s portfolio, for which Rauner is an investor and disclosed earnings.
2. The ad claims CCS is helping “keep children separated from their parents.” It’s not. The company provides health-care services at the detention facilities.
3. The ad quotes Rauner out of context, says communications chief Will Allison. When Rauner said “I’m not giving that any thought whatsoever,” he’s referring to whether he’ll send National Guard troops down to the border — not to separate families, Allison said.
Actually, Rauner has called for an end to dividing families, saying, “It’s wrong. It’s heartbreaking. It’s not the moral thing to do.”
Capitol Fax:
Pritzker campaign doubles down on false claim
CBS Chicago:
Fact is, the ad is highly misleading at best.
“The company is in the business of health care. They are not in the business of separating families. So this commercial is untrue on so many levels,” said Illinois Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti.
The company is called Correct Care Solutions. It’s at least partially-owned by Rauner’s former private equity firm GTCR. And it does provide medical care to detainees. [Emphasis in original.]
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said Gov. Bruce Rauner’s economic interest statement reported profits from Correct Care Solutions. The governor’s statement reported profits from GTCR Fund X, a private equity fund that has an ownership stake in Correct Care Solutions.
Except its headline, “Illinois governor profits off ICE detention center contracts,” hasn’t been changed for some odd reason.
* He’s been talking about doing this for weeks and weeks. From a media advisory…
Tomorrow, Governor Rauner will attend an event in Marion hosted by the House Republican Organization to launch the People’s Pledge campaign across the state. The People’s Pledge states that candidates for the State House of Representatives, when elected, will vote for term limits on all elected officials and for anyone other than Mike Madigan for Speaker of the House, making state government accountable to hardworking Illinoisans.
The big question for me, though, is whether he’s finally going to drop some big bucks into the HRO’s coffers. Money talks, pledge gimmicks walk.
…Adding… From HRO…
“Mike Madigan has been in office for over 47 years, driving Illinois into the ground and personally profiting along the way. That’s wrong. With ‘The People’s Pledge,’ Illinois voters can hold candidates for state representative accountable by demanding they support term limits for lawmakers and constitutional officers and oppose Madigan as House Speaker. Together, the people of Illinois can take control of Springfield and end Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.” - House Republican Organization Political Director Joe Woodward
Today, House Republicans announced the creation of The People’s Pledge, a campaign to end Madigan’s grip on power and hold candidates for state representative across Illinois accountable by asking them two simple, yet powerful, questions:
1) Do you pledge to support a term limits referendum that would amend the Illinois Constitution to term-limit state lawmakers and statewide officeholders?
2) Do you pledge to oppose Mike Madigan’s speakership, voting to deny him another term as Speaker of the Illinois House?
The people of Illinois know that term limits are not a partisan issue. Public opinion polls show that over 80% of voters across the political spectrum support term limits on state lawmakers and statewide constitutional officers. Republicans, independents and Democrats across Illinois support term limits, but Mike Madigan and his allies are standing in the way.
Madigan has held onto power for so long primarily because Illinois lacks term limits. Madigan and his lawyers have repeatedly blocked voter attempts to put it on the ballot. Madigan runs for office year after year, amassing more power and profiting along the way. That’s wrong. With term limits, we can hold state government accountable and make sure Illinois has no more ‘Madigans’ who accumulate power.
Together, the people of Illinois can hold their state representatives accountable by asking them to sign The People’s Pledge, putting the people back in charge of state government and ending Mike Madigan’s grip on power once and for all.
Visit www.FireMikeMadigan.com to learn more about The People’s Pledge and get involved.
The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Faculty Senate cast a vote of no confidence in SIU President Randy Dunn on Tuesday and is urging the Board of Trustees to remove him as soon as possible.
The resolution, which claims that Dunn worked to undermine the SIU system, passed 25-1; two senators abstained from the vote.
The group’s action comes after an analysis of nearly 1,900 pages of internal documents revealed that Dunn worked closely with SIU Edwardsville to develop a $5.1 million reallocation proposal, while leaving SIU Carbondale officials in the dark. Dunn also appears to have helped develop and guide legislation to dissolve the system.
WHEREAS President Dunn has also acted contrary to the Board of Trustees statement Mutual and Respective Roles of the Board, President, and Chancellors which requires the System President to serve “as a ‘shield’ against outside interference in University and campus matters”;
WHEREAS President Dunn worked with SIUE leadership and constituents, the press, lobbyists, and legislators to write, guide, and promote legislation to dissolve the SIU System;
WHEREAS President Dunn coordinated efforts to undermine the SIU Carbondale Campus;
WHEREAS President Dunn’s activities have served in a variety of ways to damage the reputation of the SIU System at a critical time for all SIU campuses. WHEREAS President Dunn has lost the trust of the Carbondale faculty.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the SIUC Faculty Senate provides a vote of NO CONFIDENCE regarding President Randy Dunn and his ability to lead the SIU System.
FURTHERMORE BE IT RESOLVED that the SIUC Faculty Senate urges the Board of Trustees to meet as soon as possible to remove Randy Dunn.
Shortly after the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees voted down a proposal to shift millions of dollars to the Edwardsville campus this past spring, the chancellor of SIU Edwardsville sent out a bombshell announcement: A state representative would soon introduce legislation to split up the system.
A little over an hour later, SIU President Randy Dunn forwarded the announcement to his wife with a short message. “It’s on now. Xoxo,” he wrote.
For Dunn, who represents both Edwardsville and its sister campus, Carbondale, the April 12 board vote and separation bill filing represented what appears to be the culmination of several months of planning and working closely with Edwardsville officials.
Based on analysis of nearly 1,900 pages of internal emails, correspondence and meeting notes released by the SIU FOIA office, it appears Dunn was aware of the separation legislation before trustees were informed. The documents also suggest that Dunn’s staff might have assisted in developing the bill — even though Dunn publicly claimed a neutral stance on it.
* Voice of The Southern: What’s done is Dunn: Given the problems facing the system, SIU needs a president like Abraham Lincoln, who said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Instead, Dunn’s actions are more secessionist.
Dunn survived a trustee motion to oust him because of a 4-4 tie. Both campuses have student trustees, with the tradition that one of the campuses has actual student voting powers for a year, and then the other campus gets the vote the next year. Edwardsville’s student trustee was Dunn’s saving grace.
* Regardless of tradition, however, the governor has the statutory authority to decide which campus has an official student trustee vote. The Southern recently interviewed the incoming Carbondale student trustee, Brione Lockett…
“It’s intimidating because of the situation we’re in, but it’s less intimidating because my vote isn’t just supposed to be my own biased vote. It’s supposed to be the vote of the students.” […]
Lockett said the voting trustee for the 2018-19 academic year hasn’t yet been appointed, although the student trustees’ one-year terms began July 1. [Emphasis added.]
In other words, the ball is now in Gov. Rauner’s court.
By the numbers: The mayoral primary election is seven months away but the numbers are flying like it’s tomorrow.
A poll taken last month and secreted away by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s political campaign shows he has an approval rating of 43 percent and a favorable rating of 45 percent of voters.
The numbers popped up coincidentally (hmm) in my email after Lori Lightfoot’s campaign released a poll earlier this week showing the mayor had a approval rating of 32 percent and a favorability rating of 36 percent.
Lightfoot’s poll didn’t reveal head-to-head numbers between her and Emanuel, but the mayor’s did. It shows him leading Lightfoot by 16 points.
The bigger numbers have dollar signs in front of them. According to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Emanuel has $8.2 million on hand and Lightfoot has $391,000.
Speaking of polls: A telephone poll last night about the Chicago mayor’s race threw out the names of all the usual suspects and this one: Valerie Jarrett. A source tells me it was hard to discern who conducted the poll, though more than a few questions were focused on Garry McCarthy, the former police chief. Adding Jarrett to the mix would sure make it interesting. Emanuel and Jarrett, both former White House aides who should be chums, have a bristly relationship.
Lightfoot hasn’t spent a dime and she’s only behind by 16 points according to Rahm’s own poll?
This latest poll was conducted roughly two weeks before Lightfoot declared her candidacy by condemning Emanuel’s autocratic, “us-vs.-them” style of government.
At the time, McCarthy’s 70 percent name recognition vaulted him into second-place, with 16 percent of the vote, followed by Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown with 15 percent and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas with 9 percent.
Lightfoot is my personal “one to watch” right now, with the caveat that she can raise the money. If I’m her, I’m calling everybody who contributed to Daniel Biss’ gubernatorial campaign. And if she can use that money to put “progressive” North Siders together with a sizable chunk of the African-American population, I think she could make a real run at this.
* No surprise at all considering they ran pretty much the whole show. Tribune…
Third-party governor candidate Sam McCann reported receiving $77,700 more in campaign contributions from a union that endorsed J.B. Pritzker in the Democratic primary for governor, campaign finance records show.
About $60,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 paid for petition circulation services for McCann. Last month, he turned in roughly 65,000 petition signatures to get on the November ballot, a number so big that it helped insulate him from an attempted challenge by Republican allies of Gov. Bruce Rauner and others.
McCann is running under the new Conservative Party banner, exacerbating the challenges facing Rauner’s re-election as he seeks to heal divisions within his party’s base.
The central Illinois Republican previously had received $50,000 from the politically active union. It plays politics on both sides of the aisle, but union leader James Sweeney has been highly critical of Rauner’s agenda, particularly in trying to end a requirement that prevailing union wages be paid on public construction projects.
150 has endorsed Pritzker. Not too difficult to figure out what’s going on there.
* Meanwhile, from a press release…
Today, Sam McCann applauded President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy left on the United States Supreme Court by retiring Justice Kennedy.
McCann issued the following statement:
Brett Kavanaugh is an outstanding choice to fill Justice Kennedy’s vacancy on the Supreme Court. He has made logical common-sense interpretations of gun laws throughout his years on the bench, and his appointment brings an opportunity to eliminate infringements upon the rights of lawful firearm owners in Illinois and across the country.
Once confirmed, Kavanaugh will protect and restore the conservative values that Americans hold dear, but which have been under attack for decades. Having a solid conservative majority on the court also brings hope for the overturn of Roe v. Wade, one of the most wrongly-decided cases in American history.
I am a staunch pro-life advocate and the distinction between my opponents and I could not be clearer on this issue. Bruce Rauner and J.B. Pritzker are both outspoken advocates for abortion, with Rauner’s campaign pointing to his support of House Bill 40 as his effort to preserve women’s right to choose in Illinois in the case that Roe v. Wade is overturned. Prior to House Bill 40’s passage, a reversal of Roe v. Wade would have rendered abortions illegal in Illinois. When he signed House Bill 40, Bruce Rauner turned on conservatives and threw his support behind on-demand taxpayer-funded abortions, which have quadrupled in the first half of 2018.
Conservatives across Illinois should celebrate this nomination, and this movement should further alienate Governor Rauner for his betrayal of conservative principles and the sanctity of human life.
* Earlier this week, WCIA TV ran a story based on Politico’s report about Gov. Rauner “turning a profit from a health care group that services U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, including facilities that hold immigrant families with children.” Click here if the embed doesn’t work for you…
And WCIA is clarifying a story we reported last night about the governor’s finances. A web story, published first by Politico, suggested with incomplete evidence that Gov. Rauner makes a profit from immigration detention centers at the southern border. We cannot confirm that report and the governor’s office denies it. An investment firm that Rauner used to control does hold stake in a healthcare company that provides medical treatment for inmates there. However, it remains unclear if that contract is profitable. A spokesperson for Rauner says the firm has not collected any profit from it.
FYI, the above YouTube video was posted by the governor’s campaign.
* Related…
* 10 Chicago-area politicians sign letter urging that ICE be abolished: Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Skokie), Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago), joined Ald. George Cardenas (12th), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th), Ricardo Muñoz (22nd), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Milly Santiago (31st) and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) in co-signing an open letter calling for an end to the agency.
* My mom sent me a link to this SJ-R story last week and I’m just now getting around to posting it…
The [American Political Items Collectors] national convention – a once-every-two-years event – will be in Springfield for the first time July 18-22 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The non-profit membership organization is dedicated to promoting the collection, preservation and study of materials relating to political campaigns and the presidency – though the buttons, banners and bandanas can also come from races for governor or other offices.
The convention will include more than 225 dealer tables of political and historical items being bought and sold.
Part of the show – from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 21 and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 22 – will be free of charge and open to the public. On that weekend, members of the public will also be able to get free appraisals of their political items and can have them auctioned at one of several sessions during the day for a commission fee.
* You can’t see it very well in the pic below, but Mayor Richard J. Daley signed this 1975 campaign poster and it’s one of my favorite pieces in my own personal collection…
I used to have a “Honkies for Harold” button, but I somehow lost it. One day, I’ll replace it.
* And this poster was, um, obtained from the Illinois GOP’s state fair tent many moons ago…
I shoulda got Rod to sign that before he went away. Oh, well. He may be out soon. One never knows.
We had an “official” Question of the Day about memorabilia years ago, but maybe you’d like to refresh our memories about your own favorite items.
* Gov. Rauner’s campaign manager Betsey Ankney tells Greg Hinz that there is a path to victory for her boss…
“In our focus groups, people can’t cite a single positive thing about Pritzker even after he’s spent $80 million” on TV ads, Ankney said. That’s why, when Rauner in the spring spent “$4 million over six weeks” running ads tying Pritzker to imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, “his positive rating dropped 20 (percentage) points.”
Ankney declined to release the latest results from her campaign’s pollster, Dave Sackett. But said Rauner has pulled “closer than any public poll indicates.” The closest poll that I’m aware of came a couple of weeks ago from We Ask America for Capital Fax. It showed Pritzker ahead just 36 percent to 27 percent, a nine-point margin. (Pritzker hasn’t released his poll figures either, but it’s believed they show him much further ahead.)
Ankney said the campaign will seek to drive those numbers down more by staying on the attack. “There’s a whole host of things to come,” she said, indicating that among them are the Pritzker family’s failed Superior Bank. “The oppo book on him is very thick. You can expect to see a lot more. . . .He’s a target-rich environment.”
That having been said, Ankney’s view appears to be a minority one, even among Republicans. “There is a path to re-election for Rauner,” says one insider. “I just don’t think they’ve found it yet.”
“Maybe if Hillary Clinton was president and Democrats weren’t crawling out of their skin,” said another.
Pritzker put the blame on his sister Penny for the failure of Superior Bank on the FBI wiretaps…
“What happened to her bank?” Blagojevich asked. “Did it collapse or something?”
“Yeah, she was chairman of the bank,” Pritzker said. “It had subprime loans. I mean bad stuff.”
“Superior Bank turned out to be an inferior bank,” the governor remarked.
“Inferior. Exactly, exactly. Very good,” Pritzker said. “I like that. Inferior Bank. I haven’t thought about that. That’s a good one.”
However, the Pritzker campaign is currently running an ad which falsely claims that Rauner owns a company “which is paid millions to keep children from their parents.” You go down that road and it’s tough to complain when the other side does it back to you.
Even so, the Rauner campaign has cycled through three different messaging tracks in the past month or so. They kicked everything off with a Blagojevich ad, then switched to the toilet issue and now they’re on a Madigan track.
“How do you build a narrative if you’re changing messages every 2 weeks?” a Democratic pal of mine asked yesterday.
But, hey, this is politics. And just about anything can happen in politics, which is why I love it so much.
By the way, I heard weeks ago that the Rauner folks were touting a poll showing the Republican trailing by 8 points, which is 1 point closer than the poll I commissioned.
Suicide rates in Illinois have increased by nearly 25 percent, mirroring national trends.
With a state total of 1,415 suicides in Illinois in 2016, it’s becoming increasingly clear to advocates and experts that awareness is only half the battle. The state’s suicide rate increased about 23 percent from 1999 to 2016. Nationally, the rate increased about 25 percent over the same period.
“(Suicide) is the 11th leading cause of death in Illinois last year, and actually, when you look at the numbers for young people, the number is actually greater,” said Steve Moore, co-chair of the board of directors for the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “For (the) age group of 15 to 34, it is the third leading cause of death. It’s the fourth leading cause of death for those between the ages of 35 and 54. [The number of suicides in 2016] is actually higher than homicide.” […]
Placing some of the blame for suicides on the availability of healthcare resources, Moore said that to lower the risks, proper help needs to be provided. In fact, 90 percent of suicide victims had diagnosable mental illnesses, he said.
Now “union” is a dirty word. Whenever a Sun-Times story mentions “union” these days, the word is quickly followed by an explanation that the ownership of this newspaper includes a number of union organizations.
Newspapers owned by rich guys and run by corporations (and that’s almost all of them) do not include such disclaimers in stories about tax cuts for big business or appointments of Supreme Court justices expected to rule against the rights of workers.
It would be refreshing to see something like, “For the sake of disclosure we must reveal that our multi-millionaire owner is going to benefit substantially from government deregulation, which is likely to pollute your drinking water and increase the likelihood that your children will die from cancer.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner discussed the threat posed by escalating trade disputes with the the Japanese ambassador to the United States on Tuesday at a machine tools facility in Schaumburg.
“We … talked about tariffs, and the importance of making sure we don’t break out in a full trade war, how tariffs can cause massive unemployment, job losses, around the world and here in Illinois,” Rauner said.
Rauner said he told Ambassador Shinsuke J. Sugiyama in a private meeting that he had cautioned Trump administration officials to avoid a “tariff war” during a recent trip to Washington D.C.
Gov. Bruce Rauner acknowledged a trade war “could cause massive unemployment and job losses” in Illinois as he was touring a Schaumburg steel company Tuesday with Japanese officials who worry the White House will double down on tariffs. […]
Japan-based Amada America Inc. fabricates sheet metal and employs about 90 people at its Schaumburg location, mostly engineers and managers.
The company gets much of its steel domestically but is facing uncertainty, Amada Executive General Manager Jeff Otten said. “We’re still waiting to see what happens,” he said.
Steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Trump are a grave concern, Consul-General of Japan in Chicago Naoki Ito said, as is a new threat of similar tariffs against auto parts.
“Japan is a major investor in Illinois … and is responsible for creating many tens of thousands of jobs,” said Rauner, who added he’d voiced concerns about the policy to Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders while visiting Washington recently.
It’s just too hard to get Republicans elected in Democrat-dominated Cook County and Chicago, so there’s an effort to throw in the towel and wipe out partisan labels in the county’s elections.
At least that’s what it sounds like Cook County GOP Chairman Sean Morrison is pushing to happen in the state’s largest county - with the help of IL GOP Governor Rauner.
Morrison - who also serves on the Cook County Board as one its few Republicans - is asking for help for a petition drive to “get a binding referendum question on the ballot that would make elections for all Cook County countywide offices non-partisan.”
“This initiative, if we are successful, will have a longstanding impact on our ability to run candidates countywide,” Morrison wrote to the Palos Township GOP Friday.
Indeed. Morrison was unable to get candidates to run in Cook County’s countywide races this time around. Democrats are running unopposed - making the Republican platform and its public policy positions unavailable for Republicans living in the county.
