Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Oct 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Some of us figured that since Monday is the last day to file 2016 income tax returns we’d have something out of the governor’s office by now. And maybe the Democratic candidates aside from Daniel Biss who haven’t yet disclosed their returns might do so as well. It’s Friday afternoon, after all. Maybe it’ll come later. Or not. I’ve got some stuff to do now, so if they do send out press releases and/or copies of their returns I’ll post them when I can.

Have a good one and I’ll see you on the flip side…

They bought and sold you

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Dem candidates lash out at Trump over ACA moves

Friday, Oct 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Biss…

Trump's decision will lead to higher premiums for Illinoisans. We'll fight this, and keep fighting until we achieve Medicare for All. https://t.co/19SFKUMFeu

— Daniel Biss (@danielbiss) October 13, 2017

* DGA…

Over the past two days, President Donald Trump announced he would end ACA subsidies for people buying insurance on the individual healthcare marketplace and issued an executive order expected to further destabilize the market. Rates are expected to rise 20% or more.

For months, Governor Bruce Rauner sat quietly on the sideline as President Trump worked to end the Affordable Care Act, despite the consequences in store for Illinois families. Recently, Rauner even deflected blame for President Trump by trying to tie recent instability in the marketplace back to President Obama. When asked what he’s doing to protect Illinoisans, Rauner claims, without evidence, that he’s talking to leaders in Washington.

Well, now Governor Rauner has an old friend to call. Earlier this week his old health care advisor, Eric Hargan, was named acting Secretary of President Trump’s HHS. Hargan served as the “Co-Chair and Convener of the Healthcare and Human Services Transition Committee for Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.” Will Rauner call acting HHS Secretary Hargan and prevail on him to protect the 350,000 Illinoisans in the marketplace? Or will he continue to stand by as Illinois families see their rates rise?

“Premiums are set to skyrocket for Illinois families and Governor Rauner has not lifted a finger to stop it,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “For months, Rauner sat idly by as Trump worked to strip needed health protections and destroy the state budget. Now Trump’s reckless actions will hit voters in their pocketbook and Bruce Rauner’s silence is only making things worse for families. It’s time for Bruce Rauner to stop shielding President Trump and start standing up for Illinois.”

* Chris Kennedy…

“Attempts to rollback Obamacare were successfully thwarted because of outcry from across the country, including from a bi-partisan group of governors, despite the glaring absence of Bruce Rauner. Trump, along with rank-and-file GOP, failed in those attacks so now they’re taking a new approach. They’re dismantling Obamacare piece by piece, starting with subsidies to cover costs for the poor because they don’t think we care about the poor. Well, we do, and it’s on us to prove him wrong. We know health care is a right, not a privilege. No one in America should choose between bankruptcy and staying healthy. We know that when we risk health care access for the few among us, we risk it for all of us. Nearly 10 years ago, my uncle Ted Kennedy proclaimed words that still ring true today: ‘The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.’”

* Pritzker…

As Donald Trump sabotages the Affordable Care Act by halting subsidies, the JB Pritzker campaign released a new digital ad, “Fight Back.”

The ad highlights the intentional destruction of our healthcare system by Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington and the urgent need for a leader in Illinois to fight back. Bruce Rauner has remained silent as Donald Trump systematically dismantles our healthcare system and puts millions of Illinoisans’ coverage at risk.

“Donald Trump is intentionally destroying our healthcare system, but Bruce Rauner doesn’t seem to care that millions of Illinoisans’ healthcare could be jeopardized,” said JB Pritzker. “Trump is an immoral leader, and Rauner is his clear partner in Illinois. We need a governor who will protect Illinoisans from Trump’s attacks and work to protect healthcare in our state.”

The ad…

My own opinion of that ad is the editing may inadvertently pair Pritzker with Trump if you’re not paying close attention, and most people aren’t. I took my eyes away from it for a second and was a little surprised at what visuals were hitting my brain.

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So, what’s up with those new Rauner ads?

Friday, Oct 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Hmm…

The Rauner Campaign is running four different sponsored versions of its education ad on Twitter pic.twitter.com/XE5TK4NS9u

— IL Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) October 12, 2017

* We’ve already discussed a couple of them, but if you click here you can refresh your memory. Here’s a very short one apparently designed for social media…

We're delivering for our kids because I believe Illinois' future is worth fighting for. pic.twitter.com/rjxLjX0cr3

— Bruce Rauner (@BruceRauner) October 6, 2017

Gov. Rauner doesn’t appear or talk in any of his ads, and his photo isn’t shown, either. They’re all very soft and super-positive.

* Will Caskey offers an explanation…

Back in 2006, Republican polling found that whenever Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in one of his ads his numbers would sag. Despite winning by 10 points (in a huge Democratic wave), he had lousy job approval ratings.

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Kennedy again tries to explain his position on legalizing marijuana

Friday, Oct 13, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Lots and lots of words, but Chris Kennedy seems to be learning a little as the campaign moves ahead…

AUDIENCE MEMBER: My question is, would you legalize marijuana so this state would not go down the drain like all the others? Like [inaudible]

KENNEDY: I would do this. I would follow the advice of scientists and doctors. If the scientists and doctors and the recovery community said, ‘you should not do that because you’ll create a public health hazard,’ I wouldn’t legalize marijuana simply to get us out of a budget mess, I would tax the rich people who can do that. We don’t need to do that. But I would defer to science, I don’t think it should be a politician that makes that decision.

And we should, within six months of the next governor’s term, we should charge the University of Illinois with reviewing all of the studies that have been done and decide whether it should be legalized or not and how to legalize it. I talked to the governor of Colorado last Friday. So, he said, ‘Look we legalized it, but we didn’t know it would come as gummy bears.’ So, a bunch of kids ate gummy bears and ended up at the children’s hospital in Denver. Because we didn’t know that they should come in a medical container with a screw top lid that only an adult should open. So, they had to go back and re-regulate.’ Then he said the THC, which is the chemical in there, the THC is much stronger than it was when – I was familiar with the topic back in the 80’s, so it’s like 10 times stronger. There’s no regulation in Colorado, at least the way he said it, that regulates how much THC can be administered in one dose. Which means that for the first time in history, like in 10,000 years of human history, people can overdose from marijuana. You’re saying no you can’t –

AUDIENCE MEMBER: – Well, alcohol. You can overdose with alcohol.

KENNEDY: We should defer to science, and what we should say is, OK what do the rules look like? What would be good? Is it OK? Is it like liquor? If it’s like booze, they say it’s not a public health hazard, let’s do it. But let’s make sure we’ve got the right container, let’s make sure that we don’t have a dose that’s too high. Let’s learn from what other states have done. That’s what I say.

The thing is in America, this is interesting, the Republicans in the Senate and in the House, have stopped the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health from studying this question. There’s no study. The federal government is prevented from studying whether or not we should legalize marijuana. That’s like crazy, because politicians got involved where they should have differed to the scientists. In the state of Illinois we regulated medical marijuana. The doctors said, ‘oh no we should use it for many diseases.’ And they said ‘No, no, no, just a few,’ because the politicians substituted their own judgement for doctors and scientists. That’s ridiculous, we should defer to doctors, you should defer to science, there is truth and we should respect it. Let them decide and then we’ll do whatever they decide.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I feel that God gave us this beautiful plant. Why does there have to be so much regulation?

KENNEDY: And I think I would just ask a doctor or a scientist that’s all I’m saying. I can’t argue with your point.

* Video…

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