* I went down a bit of a rabbit hole today after seeing a typo in one of Dan Proft’s papers…
State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) is portrayed as having “served up” her constituents in the 115th House District in a new Liberty Principles PAC ad on YouTube ridiculing her as a pawn of powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).
“You know Terri Bryant voted for Mike Madigan’s 32 percent income tax hike, but that’s only half the story,” a voice blares in the ad. Branding the tax hike the largest in state history, the video adds “after raising taxes, Bryant sent our money to bail out Chicago Public Schools’ pensions.”
So, you’ve got a Proft paper story that’s purely about a Proft PAC’s ad. How… 21st Century of them. Click here to watch the spot.
* Now, for the typo, scroll down to the end of the story…
Bryant is being challenged in the March 20 Republican primary by Paul Jacobs of Pomona, who is running on a platform of proposed budget reforms and spending cuts.
Citing rising taxes as one of the primary reasons for the state’s spiraling out-migration problem, Griffith has also blasted Bryant over her support for the state’s newly enacted $36.1 billion spending plan.
Griffith? Who dat?
* For the answer, read this eerily similar story about an eerily similar Proft ad written by the same author for a different Proft paper…
With just weeks remaining before the March 20 primaries, a new Liberty Principles PAC ad on YouTube blasts incumbent state Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) as doing a disservice to her 93rd House District constituents based on her constant support of powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).
“You know Norine Hammond voted for Mike Madigan’s 32 percent income tax hike, but that’s only half the story,” a voice blares in the ad. Branding the tax hike the largest in state history, the video adds “after raising taxes, Hammond sent our money to bail out Chicago Public Schools’ pensions.” […]
Hammond is being challenged in the Republican primary by U.S. Army veteran and Abingdon resident Joshua Griffith, who has repeatedly blasted her throughout his campaign over her support for the $36.1 billion budget plan enacted last year. [Emphasis added.]
So, the guy who wrote both of those stories must’ve been typing too fast and got his primary races a little mixed up. It happens, but it made me look around.
* If you click here, you’ll see the Hammond ad is almost identical to the Bryant ad. And Liberty Principles PAC produced two other nearly identical ads. One’s against Rep. Charlie Meier, the other against Rep. David Reis. One of Proft’s papers also has a story up about the Proft ad against Rep. Meier. Click here.
OK, so he does a lot of cookie-cutter stuff. No surprise.
The factory-like production standards did create somewhat of a problem because the ad claims the education funding reform bill was a “Chicago bailout” and notes that Reis voted for it. That’s true, but as Reis points out, his Proft-backed opponent is on record saying he would’ve voted for the bill as well. It’s not a real problem, though, because Proft’s ad is an independent expenditure. So, by law, he’s not supposed to coordinate with the candidate.
* But, wait, there’s more. Three of the four aforementioned Proft-backed candidates have nearly identical websites (Griffith, Moore and Jacobs).
And if you go to the “News” section of each of those sites, you’ll see that most of the posted stories are actually from… you guessed it: Proft’s papers.
Pritzker criticized Biss for voting for the 2013 pension reform legislation that was later declared unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court, saying it contradicts his “middle class” governor narrative.
“Dan Biss introduced a bill that took pensions away from 450,000 workers across the state, including teachers and nurses. And I don’t think that’s good for the middle class,” Pritzker said. “It’s a contract we make with those folks, and it’s time we stand up to the plate and pay what’s owed to them.”
Biss said the vote was a mistake that he has since learned from, but shot back at Pritzker for donating money to a political action committee that also received contributions from Gov. Bruce Rauner and that pushed the pension reform bill.
“I was a legislator in early 2011 when there was a huge budget crisis,” Biss said. “I was trying my best and fell for a false choice on what this problem was. I’ve learned that lesson, and that lesson is visible in my voting record for years since that time.”
* Pritzker campaign press release during last night’s forum…
Despite using We Mean Business PAC as a talking point, Dan Biss cashed two checks totaling $15,000 from the very same organization. Those contributions came as Biss was writing and passing the unconstitutional pension bill that cut benefits for 467,000 teachers, university workers, and state employees. Since the bill was blocked by the Illinois Supreme Court, Biss has taken heat for his “flip-flop” as he tries to back away from the same bill he wrote.
REALITY CHECK:
After flip-flopping on pensions at the Crain’s editorial board, Biss was asked, “if you can so completely change your opinion on something you spent so much time and energy on, what can people trust you not to change your opinion on?”
Dan Biss received two contributions totaling $15,000 from We Mean Business PAC.
Biss “helped write” and led efforts to pass the pension bill that was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and cut pension benefits promised to over 467,000 state workers.
While Biss attacks JB for donating to We Mean Business PAC, the donation came two years before Biss authored the unconstitutional pension bill.
At tonight’s Illinois Democratic candidate forum hosted by the State Journal-Register, WMAY and the University of Illinois in Springfield, the Pritzker panic continued as JB Pritzker recycled his sloppy attacks against Daniel Biss.
Let’s check the facts.
Pritzker Panics on Pensions
JB Pritzker brought up Daniel Biss’ record on pensions. Pritzker neglected to mention that he funded the pro-business PAC that lobbied for a far more extreme bill.
Pritzker donated $20,000 to the We Mean Business PAC, which supported the passage of SB512, a bill designed to benefit wealthy business people over workers. Daniel Biss voted against this legislation despite Pritzker’s PAC’s pressure.
“Pensions are a promise, and I’ve been very open about my record on this issue, and what I’ve learned about it,” said Daniel Biss during the debate. “I was a legislator in early 2011 when there was a huge budget crisis. I was trying my best and fell for a false choice about the right way to solve this problem. I’ve learned that lesson, and that lesson has been visible in my voting record for years since that time. As governor, I’m going to pass fair tax policies to fund our pensions and make sure we can guarantee them.
“What I want to say about the breathtaking hypocrisy of JB Pritzker, my god, what was he doing? At that same time that I was doing something that I’ve said I learned a lesson from, he was funding a right wing organization that was attacking me from the right and trying to do away with pensions altogether. He hasn’t said he learned a lesson, he hasn’t acknowledged it, he hasn’t admitted it. It’s pure hypocrisy, it’s a failure of leadership.”
Daniel Biss has addressed his role in passing SB1 and acknowledged his error. He has explained his reasoning, the lessons he learned from it, and how his approach to the issue has changed. JB Pritzker has not.
* Most of the coverage of last night’s forum centered around this topic. From a Daniel Biss press release…
At tonight’s Illinois Democratic candidate forum hosted by the State Journal-Register, WMAY and the University of Illinois in Springfield, the Pritzker panic continued as JB Pritzker recycled his sloppy attacks against Daniel Biss.
JB has been sloppy in his continued attempts to smear Daniel. Let’s check the facts.
JB Pritzker is Michael Madigan’s candidate for governor. He paid his dues for the Speaker’s support with donations from newly-formed LLCs. Then after Madigan lined up establishment support for Pritzker’s campaign he returned the favor by refusing to call for Madigan’s resignation as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois in the face of his mishandling of multiple allegations of sexual harassment coming out of his office.
“I’ve called for Mike Madigan to step down as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” said Daniel Biss during the debate. “I’m a Democratic elected official and I’ve lost my faith in his ability to lead the Illinois House as well. We have an important choice to make in this election. I have a record of independence from Mike Madigan, but JB Pritzker is Mike Madigan’s hand-picked candidate in this race. It took JB Pritzker a week to get permission from Mike Madigan to even name him in talking about the sexual harassment cover-up. We need someone with independence, and I’m that candidate.”
After Pritzker continued to dodge the question, Biss responded.
“I just want to point out that when JB got done attacking me, he said he was going to answer the question but then didn’t, because he hasn’t gotten permission yet from Madigan to answer that question.
“But here’s the truth,” continued Biss. “There’s a Pritzker-Madigan wing of the Democratic Party, and there is a progressive wing of the Party that I’m a part of. And I’ll work with anybody. When I’m in office, I work with both parties and all wings of all parties to move a progressive agenda forward.”
As Pritzker flailed on the Madigan question tonight, he attempted to change the subject to Daniel Biss, criticizing Biss for voting for Madigan for Speaker, and running his PAC.
As a member of the House in 2010, Daniel Biss was presented with two options for Speaker: a Republican or a Democrat. Biss voted for the Democrat.
JB Pritzker doesn’t always support Democrats over Republicans. During President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, Pritzker told Bloomberg that he had to wait and see who the Republicans nominated before he could decide who to support for election, calling President Obama “mediocre.” At the time, the Republican candidates who he considered supporting over President Obama were Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul.
Daniel was offered a chance to fight against Bruce Rauner and Donald Trump’s agenda by heading the Leading Illinois for Tomorrow (LIFT) PAC, which sought to show voters the similarities between Rauner and Trump. JB Pritzker donated $900,000 to the PAC, and Chris Kennedy donated another $50,000.
* We have Biss’ full forum comments above, so let’s look at how Pritzker reacted at the event. SJ-R…
Pritzker, responding to Biss’ criticism, essentially called the state senator a hypocrite for accepting financial support from Madigan in the past while running a super PAC in 2016 that was funded heavily by Madigan allies.
Despite not doing so in his initial statement on the sexual harassment controversy, Pritzker did call out Madigan by name at the debate.
“We need to make sure that there is a fully independent investigation, something that is totally independent of Speaker Madigan’s operation and Speaker Madigan himself,” Pritzker said. “We need to make sure that we stand up for the women who come forward in workplaces across the state of Illinois and, in (running mate) Juliana Stratton and my administration, there will be a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment.”
But Pritzker did not answer a panelist’s question of whether Madigan should give up his party chairmanship, his speaker role or both.
“He hasn’t gotten permission yet from Madigan to answer that question,” said Biss in noting the dodge.
For his part, Pritzker lashed out at Biss and labeled “utterly ridiculous” the lawmaker’s claims of independence from Madigan.
“This is a state representative who got elected with Mike Madigan’s help, who accepted tens of thousands of dollars from him, who ran Mike Madigan’s super PAC and who’s accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Springfield insiders, bankers and lobbyists,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker said an independent investigation that Madigan has approved will identify where blame should fall. He labeled Biss’ claim “utterly ridiculous,” contending Biss was first elected to office in 2011 with Madigan’s help and has taken “tens of thousands of dollars” from Madigan-controlled campaign committees and “from Springfield insiders, bankers and lobbyists.”
On his second try, Pritzker still avoided the question, saying an independent investigation prompted by Madigan “will determine who the perpetrators are and who is truly responsible.”
Shaw Decremer became the second Madigan operative to be dismissed this month — his exit coming just seven days after the firing of Madigan’s longtime aide Kevin Quinn after a woman came forward with allegations of unwanted and repeated advances from Quinn, the brother of Ald. Marty Quinn (13th).
“Everybody, I mean, everybody up and down the line, who is responsible should be held accountable,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker may have been lucky that Chris Kennedy couldn’t attend the forum.
*** UPDATE *** ILGOP…
As Illinois Democrats turn up the heat on Mike Madigan for his mishandling of sexual assault allegations within his political organization, one Democrat has given Madigan his tacit support - J.B. Pritzker, Madigan’s candidate for governor.
But media outlets aren’t letting Pritzker off the hook for his refusal to answer a simple question that’s on everybody’s minds - ’should Mike Madigan resign as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, House Speaker, or both?’
I already posted most of the links they included, but the party included this powerful clip of Biss after the forum that I hadn’t seen…
Biss continues calling Pritzker, “Madigan’s candidate” after debate wraps up. pic.twitter.com/PxUQpAg0Zd
