* Tribune…
Rauner said his campaign to collect enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot asking voters to amend the constitution to enact term limits has collected 320,000 signatures so far.
* That’s a bit more than he said he had almost a week ago…
“I’ve brought in U.S. Term Limits, an independent group, to acquire 300,000 signatures by May 4,” Rauner said at the town hall, one of several stops on a suburban bus tour. “They already have 310,000 but we probably need 450,000 to net down to 300,000.”
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Slight uptick detected
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As I told you last week, We Ask America is monitoring who is voting early and absentee in the Republican primary.
Last week didn’t show much if any actual uptick in Democratic involvement. Independents were down six points from 2010, and Republicans and Democrats were up three points each as a share of the total.
As explained before, a Democrat is classified as somebody who has taken a “D” primary ballot at least once since 2008. Independents are those who have not voted in a partisan primary since 2008. The State Board of Elections’ voter file is matched up with the names of people who’ve already voted.
The final numbers for early and absentees are showing a little something, however…
So, the final early/absentee tally is more Democratic than four years ago, but it’s also more Republican and less independent.
And while there are slightly more Democrats voting than normal, after accounting for the drop in independents. it’s only about 800 votes out of almost 78,000 cast so far. At least, that’s my read.
Keep in mind this is only early and absentee voting. Things could be different tomorrow.
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Photos of the day
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bruce Rauner and dog…
* Zombies in the mail box…
* Bill Brady and running mate…
* And last but not least…
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Cut those guys over there!!!
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Southern Illinoisan ran an editorial with the headline “More school cuts? Look somewhere else!”…
The school funding formula is a good place to start the work – and stop the bleeding from $800 million in education cuts since 2009. What’s needed is public support for a bipartisan reform plan touted by former Gov. Jim Edgar and members of a senate education committee. It would put most state education funding into one account, then require districts, including over-funded Chicago, to demonstrate their needs before receiving any funds. As we’ve previously said, Chicago currently receives a percentage of all state education dollars to spend at its own discretion – a system that yields the city hundreds of millions more than if it were held to the same standard as other school districts.
It’s time to take education off the chopping block.
We agree with Matt Vanover of the Illinois State Board of Education. “ … the future of Illinois really depends on how well we teach our students right now,” he said. “If we continue to cut our education, if we continue to cut back on K-12 learning, then we’re not going to have a workforce that’s going to be attractive to companies that want to come here.”
State budget cuts are coming. That seems certain. We don’t envy our lawmakers the task of putting the state’s finances in order, even though it’s one they deserve for many years of runaway spending. This time, lawmakers need to consider other alternatives to education cuts – including an overdue revision of the state school funding formula – before sharpening their budget knives.
The people of Illinois can’t afford the eventual price of more educational cuts – a further-damaged state business climate, more unskilled and idled workers, and high-priced strategies to deal with increases in crimes and social problems.
So, don’t cut education funding because that would be really bad for the state, except for Chicago, which obviously gets way too much money, so cuts there won’t hurt anything or anyone no matter what. There will be no “increases in crimes and social problems” if Chicago school dollars are cut. No impact on the business climate. No additional unskilled and idled workers.
Yeah.
That’s the ticket.
* Meanwhile, in the real world, Mark Brown writes about Fenger High School principal Elizabeth Dozier, who has emerged as the only real hero so far in CNN’s “Chicagoland” series…
To those of us who have trekked down to Roseland in recent years to witness the successes Dozier and her team have achieved at Fenger, the national attention is well deserved. That’s why I returned to Fenger this week to interview her.
She seemed wearier than her bubbly norm, most likely because she was fighting a cold that reduced her voice to a hoarse whisper.
But this also is a difficult period at Fenger, perhaps the toughest since Dozier’s first year in 2009 when, just weeks into the start of classes, student Derrion Albert was beaten to death on his way home from school.
That also was the first year Fenger received a $1.6 million annual federal grant that provided enough resources not only to help restore order but to give students a fighting chance at success.
Now, it’s Fenger’s first year without the federal money, and coupled with other CPS cuts, there’s a strain Dozier doesn’t try to hide.
“It stresses the building out. I think everyone is feeling it this year,” said Dozier, who has tried to minimize the impact on students by doubling up duties for faculty and staff.
But as everyone learns who tries to do more with less, there are limits. An average class size of 20 has jumped to 30, a huge difference for a student body that needs help with so much more than understanding the homework.
Yeah, so go ahead and cut Fenger’s state money even further. I’m sure it won’t do any harm whatsoever.
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Question of the day
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the twitters…
I tend to think more about the over-worked, under-paid, bone-tired staffers at times like this, but he has a good point, so…
* The Question: Who is in your thoughts on this day before the 2014 primary and why?
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Fun with numbers
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Adam Andrzejewski sent out a provocative e-mail last week. It began with a quote from a state legislator…
“Governor Quinn is driving a bus through loopholes in the Illinois procurement code.”
State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon)
* Andrzejewski continued…
Not even Rod Blagojevich thought of these loopholes…
Gov. Quinn is using intergovernmental agreements and grants to circumvent a competitive bidding process. Many thanks to Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar-Topinka for providing the data: total intergovernmental agreements (IGA) outside of a bid process totaled $1.8 billion (2013) and $5.2 billion since 2010!
* Andrzejewski claims IGA’s and grants have skyrocketed since the days of Rod Blagojevich…
AN EXPLOSION OF NO-BID GOODIES
Gov. Quinn’s total dollars in no-bid contracts and grants are 2,823% higher than the Blagojevich administration. Bidding a contract is important for transparency, competitive pricing, accountability and oversight.
* So I checked with the governor’s budget office. What’s going on here? They explained that if you take a look at the list AA compiled, you’ll see that these are grants to local governments, mainly due to the capital program. Rod Blagojevich had no capital program, hence the huge increase.
I communicated this to Andrzejewski and this was his response…
The point is not about the appropriation vehicle- capitol bill or otherwise. It’s about competitively bidding the contracts. It’s about distributing appropriated money in a manner where taxpayers are protected. We are not concerned with the appropriation vehicle, at this point. Our point is that a competitive procurement process has been undermined by loopholes in the code. Quinn is has driven $5.2 billion through those loopholes.
* But how is the procurement process undermined? These are grants to local governments for projects already in the pipeline and which, apparently, were bid at the local level. How do you bid grants like that? His response…
First, citizens needed to know the gross scale of growth in intergovernmental contracts/grants and you have to admit that $5.2 billion in four years with a topline 2,823% increase are big numbers. Illinois still has billions in unpaid vendor bills from general operations.
Secondly, we separately broke out the intergovernmental (IGA) contracts. The IGA’s have increased by 900% in the Quinn administration, from $44 million to $438 million last year. Again, at this point, we are not concerned with the funding purpose (construction, IT, etc.). Transparency, accountability and competition are thwarted with no-bid intergovernmental contracts. Quinn’s put “IGA contracting” on steroids.
* But, again, how do you bid that stuff? His response…
In my “first point” below, I covered the answer to your question below. In the “second point,” I cover the intergovernmental agreement contracts– and the gross majority of those can always go through a procurement process no matter what the purpose. Quinn must defend why it’s a 900% increase in no-bid IGA CONTRACTS. The only defense is the standard, “trust us we are saving you money.”
* I pointed out, yet again, that there was no capital program under Rod. His response…
Then it’s an interesting “defense” when the state is broke and billions are owed to vendors. To allow a 900% increase in no-bid contracts, to not frugally steward a half billion of hard earned taxpayer dollars, just because the lawmakers appropriated the money pot, is just another reason Illinois has net outward migration.
At that point, I gave up.
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#MassiveFail
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz looks at organized labor’s failures…
Unions kicked off the season by impotently watching as dozens of their Springfield allies abandoned ship and voted for a tough pension reform law that now needs only the final approval of the Illinois Supreme Court. More recently, they’ve spent nearly $4 million on what (unless all the polls are wrong) was a failed bid to prevent the virulently anti-labor Bruce Rauner from becoming the GOP nominee for governor. And when lawmakers return to Springfield after the March 18 elections, item one on the agenda is more pension cuts, this time for city and Chicago Public Schools workers.
“It’s really awful what’s happened,” concedes one top labor honcho, speaking privately. “I just don’t know right now if this movement has the capacity to build the next movement.”
I don’t know either. But even if it knocks off a couple of unfriendly lawmakers on March 18, Illinois’ labor movement risks becoming a chapter in the history books—right next to the one on Jimmy Hoffa. The question is: What should the movement do?
Part of the solution, I suspect, is putting someone in charge of the notoriously fractious labor “movement.” Someone who can act decisively.
That’s what was wrong with the multimillion-dollar TV blitz against Mr. Rauner. It started too late with too little, lacked focus and suffered from an identity crisis over whether to concentrate on taking out Mr. Rauner or electing someone else. The labor chiefs never quite figured out the answers. So, in consensus fashion, they did a little of this and a little of that—ineffectively. And now there’s less money available for November.
I wrote a long addendum to Greg’s piece, and then decided to save it for subscribers. So… discuss among yourselves.
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Today’s quotables
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kirk Dillard…
“People are catching on to the fact that Bruce Rauner is a social liberal, and a vacation buddy and a member of Rahm Emanuel’s inner circle,” Dillard said. “And buyers better beware. They better know who Bruce Rauner is. He has a ton of scandals in his business background with many people that were his associates in federal penitentiaries. We’ve been down that road with Rod Blagojevich before.”
Dillard disputed Rauner’s claim to be a political outsider.
“He’s an insider to the max. He’s the worst kind of insider — the one that does the buying,” he said.
* From NPR…
Democrats are eager to paint Rauner as the second coming of Mitt Romney, only worse — an arrogant rich guy seeking to buy his way into top political office.
“There is hardly a more flawed candidate running for office in the country today,” claims Quinn consultant Mark Mellman. “He’s done Romney-like dismemberment of companies to his own benefit.”
* From Politico…
“I believe Rauner’s probably the only one who could beat Quinn,” said a veteran Democrat operative who did not want to be named. “The message he has is resonating in the Republican Party, but I think it is also resonating with independents and disenchanted Democrats. … And Rauner’s run a very good campaign, he’s proven to be a very good candidate.”
Some outside observers agree Republicans have a good shot at this one if Rauner wins the nomination on Tuesday.
“You’re starting with the fact that it’s a blue state, so for a Republican to win in Illinois, the right set of factors have to come in place,” said Brad McMillan, former chief of staff to then-Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) who runs Bradley University’s public service institute. […]
But Democratic strategist Pete Giangreco, who ran Bill Daley’s short-lived primary challenge of Quinn before the former White House chief of staff dropped out, said the governor couldn’t pick a better challenger than Rauner.
“He’s probably the best guy for Quinn to run against,” Giangreco said. “Bruce Rauner is as phony as a $2 billion bill. This is a guy who has spent a record amount of his own money and he has defined himself negatively in a lot of people’s minds because all they know about him is he’s a billionaire and they see these ads where he looks like such a phony. They don’t buy him as a reformer. … And you can’t say that about Pat Quinn, that he’s dishonest. People don’t buy that.”
* Crain’s…
Going into this election, Mr. Quinn’s approval ratings are even worse than in 2010. The spread has widened, with 34 percent saying he has done a good job and 60 percent saying he has not, according to Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling’s latest survey in November.
Since then, however, Mr. Quinn had perhaps the biggest accomplishment of his term, getting statewide pension reform enacted.
“In the final analysis, Quinn doesn’t run against his job approval rating, he runs against another human being,” says David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon institute.
* New York Times…
“It’ll be a rock ’em, sock ’em campaign,” Mr. Quinn acknowledged last week as he left a church basement in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where he was promoting efforts to raise the state’s minimum wage. “This is a tough state politically,” said Mr. Quinn, whose approval ratings, at times, have dipped to miserable lows.
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Caption contest!
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sen. Mike Frerichs, the Democratic candidate for state treasurer…
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The other Rauner/Walker comparison
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last week, we looked at a comparison between Bruce Rauner and former Gov. Dan Walker. Today, let’s look at a comparison with a different Walker. From the AP…
When superrich Republican Bruce Rauner decided to run for governor of Illinois, it was clear this wouldn’t be the kind of race the state was accustomed to. Rauner, who made his fortune as a venture capitalist, was new to campaigning and bragged of being beholden to no one. He came out swinging at entrenched special interests and “government union bosses” with an intensity not seen before. […]
“I think all the national unions fear they’ll have another Scott Walker on their hands if he should come in,” said Don Rose, a longtime Chicago political analyst, referring to the Republican governor of Wisconsin who stripped state employee unions of most of their bargaining powers after his election in 2010. […]
Rauner, who made $53 million in 2012 but portrays himself as an everyman in a Carhartt jacket who loves hunting and fishing, is attempting to join the list of Republican business executives who have won office in recent years with no elective experience. They include former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a former Eli Lilly official; Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, CEO of a plastics company, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, former CEO of the Gateway computer company. They ran as problem-solvers in states with serious economic problems.
Rauner has cited Walker and Snyder – who also championed anti-union policies_as his role models.
* Bloomberg…
“Illinois is part of the pattern — these rich folks are going wherever they see an opportunity, just like they did in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan,” said Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Council 31, representing 95,000 workers and retirees in the state. “Illinois is experiencing some real difficulties, so they think they can make some inroads.” […]
Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives, which would make it difficult for a Republican governor to enact his agenda. Organized labor, though, was caught off guard by Walker and union-weakening moves in other states. […]
Since Walker pushed through collective-bargaining restrictions in 2011, membership in Wisconsin Afscme, the state where the union was born, has plunged 60 percent. Republican governors and legislatures in Indiana and Michigan passed laws exempting nonunion employees from paying dues, the first of their type in the industrial Midwest. Republicans pushed similar legislation in Missouri, where Democratic Governor Jay Nixon has vowed to veto it.
“The folks in Illinois sort of feel like they’re surrounded,” said Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. […]
“Bashing labor unions resonates with the Republican electorate,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. “And the people of Illinois have had a bellyful of politics as usual.”
Expect to see a whole lot more of this particular comparison in the coming months.
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I’m really glad this one is over
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Way back in 1992, I did a story about Dan Rutherford’s first run for the Illinois House of Representatives.
The House Democrats back then were quietly spreading rumors about Rutherford’s private life, hoping that the conservative, rural district would refuse to support someone who they said seemed to be gay. It was a classic “barber shop” play. Go where people hang out, like barber shops and taverns, and start spreading a rumor. Spread that rumor in enough places, and pretty soon lots of folks would eventually hear it and spread it themselves.
Without mentioning Rutherford’s name, I wrote that I knew the district pretty well. I didn’t reveal it in the story at the time, but I was raised on a farm in Iroquois County and my mom was born in Pontiac, near where Rutherford lives.
I wrote all those years ago that the Democrats were deluding themselves. Those voters weren’t just conservatives, they were dyed in the wool Republicans. They’d take a Republican over a Democrat any day of the week, pretty much no matter what the grapevine was saying. All the Democrats were doing was embarrassing themselves, I wrote, and they ought to cut it out. Rutherford won, of course. The Democrats’ tactic failed.
I remembered that story when the Sun-Times and the Tribune started publishing “exposés” about how Treasurer Rutherford had a habit of staying in the same hotel room or apartment with his male travel aide on some government and political trips. These stories served little apparent purpose other than to try and gin up that very same rumor mill about the candidate. The pieces were almost adolescently prurient in nature.
As with the Democrats almost 22 years ago, the newspapers never should’ve done that and should’ve instead risen above such nonsense.
The real angle here is that insiders say the young man in question was not comfortable with the arrangement. He has not, to my knowledge, alleged that Rutherford did anything specifically untoward, it’s just that he reportedly didn’t want to continue sharing rooms with his male boss. The story buttresses accounts that Rutherford puts some very weird pressure on some of his employees.
But this young man’s name was dragged through some very unseemly mud by the two largest newspapers in his home state. It wasn’t fair to him, let alone the whisper campaign damage it did to Rutherford.
Ten years after I wrote that first story in 1992, I was talking with Rutherford about a news item in his local paper about how he’d used campaign money for his legislative office expenses. The expenses appeared perfectly legal, but he was one of only a handful of people who were doing it at the time, so he caught some heat for it.
I suggested to Rutherford that this story might come back to haunt him if he attempted to move up to statewide office (Rutherford has been running for governor almost since he could walk).
Rutherford looked at me, got real quiet and then said, “Rich, you and I both know that if they come after me about something it won’t be about something like this.”
How right he was.
Last week, a reporter tweeted that Rutherford had decided to bar reporters from his election night party.
It’s hard to blame the guy.
Rutherford’s campaign says that a Chicago Tribune reporter showed up at the home of Rutherford’s mother at 9:30 one night to ask her highly personal questions about her son.
The campaign also confirmed reports I’d heard that the paper pursued the parents of Rutherford’s travel aide to demand to know if their son was gay after reports surfaced that the two men had shared rooms together. And the campaign confirmed that the Tribune pursued the aide’s ex-girlfriend with the same questions.
Look, Rutherford made some mistakes. Even some big mistakes.
But staking out a guy’s mom late at night and hounding the parents and ex-girlfriend of an employee with horribly inappropriate accusations seems way over the line to me. I mean, it’s not like Rutherford shot a man just to watch him die.
I always thought we were above the disgusting Hollywood paparazzi snooping level here in Illinois. I suppose I was wrong.
* Related…
* Dale Risinger endorses Kirk Dillard, abandons Dan Rutherford
* Rutherford winds down gov campaign with a whisper
* Rutherford to close Election night party to press
* Rutherford Staying Quiet During Election Night
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Edgar: Money matters and the polls are wrong
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Jim Edgar appeared with Sen. Kirk Dillard at campaign stops over the weekend…
Edgar said Rauner’s position as frontrunner is due to his flush campaign fund. Rauner has pumped $6 million of his own money into his campaign, however, he’s raised more than $6 million from others, including huge donations from some of the wealthiest people in the state.
“If he had the same amount of money as Kirk Dillard, Kirk Dillard would be ahead of him 3 to 1 in the polls today,” Edgar contended. “It’s purely money in my estimation, why he has the leads he has in he polls. The other thing I would also caution you. It’s very difficult to poll in a primary. Those numbers are not accurate. Turnout is the key. You don’t know what the turnout’s going to be. You don’t know what the cross over votes are going to be.”
Edgar says Rauner is ahead because of money and the polls are wrong. But isn’t that a wee bit contradictory?
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Poll shows Rauner holding on to large lead
Monday, Mar 17, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The latest from We Ask America as Bruce Rauner holding in the mid 40s. The poll of 1,126 likely GOP voters was taken last night. Numbers in parentheses are from a March 11th WAA poll…
Bill Brady 19% (19%)
Kirk Dillard 27% (26%)
Bruce Rauner 44% (46%)
Dan Rutherford 9% (9%)
Margin of error was ± 3 percent.
* The firm took those poll results and then calculated how many votes Sen. Dillard would need from unexpected crossovers to catch Rauner. If it’s a traditional 750,000 voter turnout, Dillard would need 126,600 outside votes to win. If the turnout is 800,000, Dillard would need 135,040 new crossovers to win…
That many votes represents a whole lotta love the unions have to generate for their crossover effort. Nothing of this scope has ever been accomplished in Illinois. Still, there may be enough crossover to move numbers tomorrow. But a few won’t be enough.
Dillard needs a stampede.
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[Comments are now open on this post.]
* The Sierra Club was trying to be helpful to Democratic state Rep. Jaime Andrade in his hotly contested, multi-candidate Chicago primary. Unfortunately, they put the wrong party affiliation on the thing. Major oops…
* The pro-choice group Personal PAC is using a photo of a vagina probe it its latest mailer targeting pro-life Republican House candidate Mark Batinick. I’m not gonna display it, but you can see it by clicking here. Also, I believe this same type of mailer is being used against other candidates.
Another anti-Batinick mailer is here.
* From a subscriber…
This was along a highway entrance ramp. Ferrand ran against Andrade but was kicked off the ballot by Schiavone allies. No “paid for” disclosure.
The sign…
* Here’s that National Organization for Marriage radio ad blasting Tom Cross. They use the voice of Jim Nalepa, of all people, to make their case…
* The IEA’s robocall urging members to vote for Kirk Dillard…
* The Illinois Federation of Teachers’ late mailer urging support for Dillard…
* But Bruce Rauner’s campaign isn’t letting up in the mail…
* The Windy City Times has demanded that groups using their copyrighted images stop doing so…
Windy City Times Attacks Use of Copyrighted Photos in Anti-gay 81st Distrtict Campaign
CHICAGO — Windy City Times newspaper is demanding that groups mailing bigoted, anti-gay attack fliers against state Rep. Ron Sandack immediately stop using its copyrighted photos.
Literature sent by the Illinois Family Action and the Liberty Principles PACs both use the same image of Sandack at a marriage equality rally in 2013, taken by Windy City Times staff photographer Kate Sosin. The Liberty Principles PAC also sent literature out in favor of Sandack’s opponent, Keith Matune, who has criticized Sandack’s support of same-sex marriage.
“Conservatives claim to respect property rights,” said Tracy Baim, Publisher of Windy City Times.
“Our Constitution protects the rights of these groups to send divisive, hate-filled mailings such as these,” Baim added. “But they are using our image to sell a product, hate, and we did not give them permission. We ask that they immediately stop using copyrighted photos.”
The literature also attacks Sandack for receiving donations from gay groups and individuals.
Sandack was one of three House Republications among the 61 reps voting for marriage equality in Illinois last fall. He represents the 81st District in the southwest suburbs.
Windy City Times is also pursuing other options, including possible legal action, to stop the unauthorized use of its images.
That’s only about a week too late, by the way.
* And the Republicans have scheduled their post-primary unity luncheon. From a press release…
On Wednesday, March 19th, the Illinois Republican Party will host a “March to Victory” luncheon following the Republican primary. Republican candidates for office and current officeholders will be on hand to address luncheon guests and the press.
“After ten years of one-party rule and five disastrous years of Pat Quinn as governor, the people of Illinois are desperate for a change,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Jack Dorgan. “Republicans are ready, and able, and eager to deliver, and we are working together toward our shared goal of victory in November.”
Who: Chairman Jack Dorgan, 2014 candidates plus elected officials [Full attendee list TBA]
What: March to Victory luncheon
When: Wednesday, March 19, 2014, 11:30 a.m.
Where: Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Room 710 Chicago, IL
* Other stuff…
* RAW VIDEO: Oberweis Explains Florida Getaway
* Oberweis Explains Pre-Election Trip To Florida
* Rauner: Wealth won’t decide GOP governor’s race
* Madigan backs lawmaker two years after expelling him
* VIDEO: Sen. Bill Brady joins Bruce and Dan
* VIDEO: Reggie Phillips Ad
* VIDEO: Shaw to run for Chicago Mayor
* VIDEO: Martin Sheen Joins Governor Quinn to Raise the Minimum Wage
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Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’ll likely be posting this weekend, but I’m gonna close comments unless something huge happens.
* In the meantime, Steve Earle wrote it, but Levon Helm nailed it…
There’s a chill in the air only miners can feel
There’s ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed
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* I’ve heard some grumblings from some folks about this very topic, but nobody has really brought it out in kinda/sorta public until now…
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is helping the re-election campaign of state Rep. Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios (D-Chicago) with a robocall in which he says Berrios is opposed by “those who want to silence Latino voices.”
Berrios faces a primary challenge in Tuesday’s election from Will Guzzardi, who nearly unseated her two years ago and now has the backing of several prominent Latino elected officials.
“I’m outraged that there are groups working to reduce the number of Latino public servants in the state legislature at a time Latino voices should be stronger,” Gutierrez says in the recorded message to voters in the Northwest Side’s 39th Illinois House District. “They want us to be weak … Stand up to those who want to silence Latino voices and support Toni Berrios.”
Some other Latino politicians clearly do not see the race in the same way as Gutierrez — with Guzzardi, who is white, winning endorsements from state Sen. Willie Delgado (D-Chicago) and Ald. Joe Moreno (1st).
It’s gonna get even uglier before it’s over. Bank on it.
…Adding… Gutierrez, you may recall, was with GOP Rep. Skip Saviano in 2012. He’s not been in good graces with the Madigan folks since then, so it’s an interesting little move by him. Also, one of the ways the HDems neutralized Gutierrez in 2012 was to point out that he was Puerto Rican and the district’s Latino voters were from Mexico. Remember Sen. Sandoval getting led out of a community meeting by the coppers while he was shouting about this “issue”? So, now the congressman is basically doing the same thing.
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Cross fending off “outside groups”
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an e-mail to supporters of Rep. Tom Cross’ bid for state treasurer…
Outside groups allied with my opponent have launched an aggressive, negative and false attack against our campaign.
They know we’re winning and they know that I’m the only candidate committed to fighting for an honestly balanced budget and really cracking down on fraud and corruption.
In short, my opponent wants the status quo and I want change.
Now they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars in last-minute negative attack ads to try to derail our momentum.
Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen!
I’m asking you today for an emergency contribution of $10, $15, $25 or whatever you are comfortable with so that we can compete with these outside groups.
These outside groups are fighting us at every turn as we work to restore fiscal accountability and fight against waste and corruption and now they have placed significant ad buys on radio stations across Illinois in an effort to defeat us at the last moment.
* I checked with the Cross campaign and the “outside groups” include the National Organization for Marriage, which is doing radio ads blasting Cross in Downstate markets. NOM hotly opposed the gay marriage bill.
In other words, I’m not sure this has much to do with anybody “fighting us at every turn as we work to restore fiscal accountability.”
But, whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
I’m trying to find a copy of the radio spot. Anybody heard it?
* Also, there’s this from Equality Illinois…
Candidates who supported the freedom to marry in Illinois are benefitting from an unprecedented effort by the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (EQIL PAC) that has raised and will spend $150,000 prior to Tuesday’s state primary election. […]
About $120,000 of the $150,000 total was used for direct contributions to legislative candidates in targeted races throughout Illinois. The other $30,000 is being being spent on direct mail, events and get-out-the-vote efforts, including phone banks that are making tens of thousands of phone calls on behalf of the candidates leading to the primary on Tuesday, March 18.
So far, not much is showing up on A-! reports, but the group has endorsed Cross.
* In a somewhat related story, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action has also endorsed Cross.
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Proft claims poll shows Matune lead
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Dan Proft…
Liberty Principles PAC-backed Keith Matune Opens Up a Lead on incumbent Ron Sandack
Conservative challenger Keith Matune has opened up a lead on incumbent Republican State Rep. Ron Sandack entering the final weekend before the Republican Primary Election on Tuesday, March 18.
Over the course of the last 7 weeks, Matune has steadily risen in the polls as voters in the 81th District have gotten to know him and to evaluate him in comparison to Sandack, including through communications in district (mail, phones, TV, online) produced by Liberty Principles PAC.
The survey was commissioned by Liberty Principles PAC and conducted by the Florida-based polling firm of Fabrizio Lee (www.fabriziolee.com).
Sandack-Matune survey
DATE: March 11-12
Sample: 300 Likely GOP primary voters
Margin of Error: +/- 5.7%
When I first surveyed this race on January 21-22, Sandack led 32-16. When I next surveyed the race on March 2-3, Sandack led 31-22. Now Matune has opened up a lead outside the margin of error.
- Dan Proft, Chairman, Liberty Principles PAC
NOTES:
Matune’s favorable/unfavorable is nearly 2:1 (35-19) whereas Sandack’s is 1:1 (34-33)
Matune wins among those who have heard of both (78% of sample) by 11. Matune leads with those who have an opinion of both (50% of sample) by 23.
Matune leads with conservatives by 21
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* This looks like big trouble…
Federal officials searched state Rep. Keith Farnham’s Elgin legislative office and home Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys office in Chicago said.
Spokesman Randall Samborn said a search warrant was executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations officials as part of an “ongoing investigation.”
A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White said federal officials asked for help with Farnham’s Springfield office, but Samborn said no search warrant was being executed there.
*** UPDATE *** The DH has updated…
Secretary of State Police officers Friday were sitting outside Farnham’s Springfield office on the second floor of the Stratton Building, an office building next door to the Illinois Capitol.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White said federal officials asked for help securing Farnham’s Springfield office.
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Question of the day
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Aviva Bowen’s Facebook page…
Election Day is Tuesday, and you know what that means! - the Running of the Political Cliches, brought to you by Masters of the Obvious. Today’s kick-off begins with an old favorite - “it all comes down to turnout.” Stories about the impact of weather and debates on undecided voters (spoiler: little to none) must be on the way.
Other favorites, fellow hacks and flaks?
(And reporter friends, I’m not dissing this story; it’s a good round-up. Just laughing at the headline.)
She then linked to a story with the headline: “Turnout could swing GOP race for Illinois governor.”
* Some of her comments…
Kevin Lampe: We have done everything, it is now up to the voters.
Scott Cisek: Winning comes at many levels.
Kyle Hillman: Something, something… Abraham Lincoln ….something, something
Will Caskey: Low turnout, voter apathy mark (election). Political science professor Dick Simpson said (sad panda).
Elizabeth Austin: This has been a hard-fought primary, but I think I can speak both for my team and for my opponent’s in saying that we are firmly united in our commitment to a (Democratic/Republican) win in November.
* The Question: Your favorite/least favorite political cliches?
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Teachers union opens new front
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bloomberg…
The second-largest U.S. teachers union has added a firm formerly headed by Bruce Rauner, a Republican leading the race in next week’s Illinois gubernatorial primary, to its enemies list.
The American Federation of Teachers is urging public pensions to review investments with Chicago-based GTCR, a private-equity firm where Rauner was chairman before stepping down in 2012. He supports shifting government workers to 401(k)- type plans from traditional defined-benefit pensions, which give retirees a payout based on years of service and final salary.
The AFT, with 1.5 million members, is scheduled to release an updated “watch list” of 29 money managers that the union says support groups opposed to traditional pensions. GTCR has $4.9 billion of commitments from U.S. public pension funds, according to Preqin Ltd., a London-based research firm. The AFT is also adding Highbridge Capital Management and a unit of London-based insurer Aon Plc to the list.
“Trustees should actually know if someone who is trying to get you to invest with them are also trying to eliminate the pension system,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a telephone interview. “The centerpiece of Rauner’s campaign is the elimination of the defined-benefit plan.”
* Pensions and Investments…
“Having earned millions as an asset manager of defined benefit plans, Rauner is now, as a gubernatorial candidate, calling for freezing the benefits of the state’s defined benefit pension plans and putting all new public employees in a defined contribution plan,” the report said.
The union’s first Ranking Asset Managers report, published last April, has been amended twice to remove six firms, including AQR Capital Management and KKR. Following the publication of the report, executives at both firms detailed their support for defined benefit plans in letters to their pension plan clients.
The full report is here.
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Oberweis back in Illinois
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis said today he’s back in Illinois after a controversial pre-election visit to Florida, and explained that he took the trip south for his wife’s birthday because “family comes first” and he wanted to support his marriage. […]
In a radio interview this morning with Tribune columnist John Kass and Lauren Cohn on WLS-AM, Oberweis said that one of the problems that ended his first marriage was that his then-wife thought he worked too much. He said he didn’t want to make that mistake again in his second marriage.
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The pension proxy war
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of the biggest legislative campaign stories this year is the proxy war between House Speaker Michael Madigan and the public employee unions. For instance, appointed state Rep. Rep. Jaime Andrade Jr. (D-Chicago) voted for the pension reform bill. The unions have been spending tons of cash to defeat him…
Andrade has picked up more than $60,000 from Madigan and is getting help from the speaker’s troops. Mell’s ward organization added $15,000. Andrade, who voted for same-sex marriage, received $11,000 from Equality Illinois PAC, a gay rights group.
Big union money is backing Nancy Schiavone, who finished third for 35th Ward alderman in 2011 and then became the ward’s committeeman. AFSCME gave her $50,000, SEIU donated $40,000 and spent about $82,000 in an independent expenditure, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers contributed $25,000.
* Rep. Toni Berrios (D-Chicago) voted against the pension bill, but she voted for six pension reform bills previously, so the unions are on the attack…
Joe Berrios’ 31st Ward Regular Democratic Organization is in big for his daughter at $66,000. Madigan has poured in more than $55,000. Mailboxes are getting stuffed with fliers from Madigan’s operation. He’s also chipped in thousands more for paid campaign staff. Rep. Berrios received $6,500 from a local operating engineers union. She started the year with $156,779 in her campaign fund and so far has added more than $302,000.
[Will Guzzardi] has collected more than $240,000 since Jan. 1, the bulk of it from unions. AFSCME, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association each tossed in $50,000. The CTU chipped in $11,000. A Service Employees International Union Healthcare fund PAC contributed $42,000. Guzzardi also is benefiting from nearly $91,000 in independent expenditures from the Illinois chapter of SEIU.
* And then there’s Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) who voted for the pension bill and is mainly targeted by the Chicago Teachers Union, but other labor groups are involved…
{T}eachers unions have poured in $240,000 since Jan. 1 to blast Mitchell and boost the campaign of challenger Jay Travis, a community activist with sympathies for union concerns. They’ve made independent expenditures through a political action committee called Chicagoans United for Economic Security.
Travis also has collected $30,000 for her campaign fund from teachers unions and $10,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is among the unions suing over the state pension law.
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A “Walker vs. Walker” campaign
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* James Krohe Jr. has a very good column comparing former Gov. Dan Walker’s rhetoric to Bruce Rauner’s. Walker had a successful private sector career as a vice president and general counsel at Montgomery Ward, and was heavily involved in reform politics…
“To those who have grown rich on the public dollar, to those who have won secret grants and contracts, to those in government who put themselves first and the taxpayers second – to you I bring my first message from the people of Illinois: the free ride is over.”
No, that’s not Bruce Rauner practicing his inauguration speech, but Dan Walker, delivering his, in 1973. In personality and political style, these two business successes from the Chicago suburbs are father and son. During his campaign for governor, Walker had pushed buttons worn smooth from long use by underdogs without a platform. He railed against the bureaucrats, the special interests, the experts, the machine. As Rauner is doing, Walker’s anger mobilized a constituency of the discontented, the pissed off, the confused, the uninformed. And Walker, like Rauner, brought an attitude rather than an agenda to the race.
* A very good point…
Rauner’s over-simple analyses of Illinois’ complex economic problems (lower taxes, break the unions) remind me of Walker’s naïve belief that the miseries of the Commonwealth, like the miseries of the wider world, were caused by Beelzebub – in the Commmonwealth’s case, one named Daley.
* I’m probably excerpting too much, but the column is that good…
Rauner’s first TV commercial (“This old watch cost me 18 bucks”) was vintage Walker in the art of its symbolism and the condescension of its message. Walker favored expensive suits as befits an executive for Montgomery Ward, but affected a working man’s bandanna and chambray work shirt and jeans for his famous walk through southern Illinois that led him to the governor’s mansion. Rauner sensibly does his walking on TV ads, but the Everyman pose is much the same, as is the wardrobe, in his case a Carhartt work jacket of the sort favored by dudes posing as Montana ranchers.
* More…
What matters in a governor is his skill at governing and, like the rookie Walker, Rauner has run nothing more complicated than meetings. As a manager, Walker was a failure. He made the mistake, common among businesspeople who enter public service, of thinking that a governor is a merely a CEO with fewer perks; he didn’t realize that being a boss is not the same as being a leader.
* Another good point…
Walker promised to “sweep the arrogance of bureaucracy from the halls of power.” Such rhetoric hardly endeared him to the career administrators he needed to make government work. Walker said worse about the Daley Democrats in Springfield, with the result that he couldn’t get a quarter out of the legislature to make a phone call. Rauner has been similarly foolish in his criticism of his own party, recently castigating “probably a third, maybe more, of the Republicans in Springfield” he believes have “sold out to the government union bosses.”
* And the summation…
Walker’s legacy was a sour anti-government bias that still deforms the public’s judgment. It led to the voters’ approval, three years after Walker left office, of the constitutional amendment that abolished multi-member districts in the Illinois House. The “reform” failed to improve legislative independence and reduce costs as promised; indeed, the cutback made government more expensive and less independent. I predict that if it passes, Rauner’s term limits measure will come to be seen in the same way.
Pat Quinn, a prime mover of the cutback amendment, was brought into state government by Walker, at whose feet he learned the craft. A Rauner primary win thus will leave Illinois with the unsavory prospect of a Walker vs. Walker campaign come fall. As for the likely outcome, we can safely say that only Illinois will lose.
Discuss.
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Proft busts the cap in Sandack, Pihos races
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about this yesterday. Daily Herald…
Campaign spending by conservative talk show host Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles committee has exceeded $200,000 in two DuPage County Illinois House races, a huge amount in races for seats at the Statehouse.
Proft has been backing teacher Keith Matune of Downers Grove against state Rep. Ron Sandack of Downers Grove and attorney Peter Breen of Lombard against state Rep. Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn.
Proft filed letters in each race Thursday saying his committee had spent more than $100,000 on mail and other advertising in each race, an amount that lets the candidates raise money above typical Illinois contribution limits.
Taking limits off with a few days before Tuesday’s primary might not matter much, but it shows how heated the two races have become.
* In related news, Eric Zorn wonders whether Proft, as a WLS radio host, should be so involved in these campaigns…
WLS-AM morning co-host Dan Proft and I are mixing it up on Facebook. I started the tiff with this observation.
Does anybody else think it’s weird that WLS-AM host Dan Proft is funneling money into political races through his PAC? I realize talk hosts aren’t journalists, but neither are they supposed to have skin in these games.
Proft fired back:
This will no doubt come as a surprise to you, Eric, but I didn’t renounce my American citizenship when I became a talk show host. Therefore, I can participate in politics like anyone else and, as an American and an Illinoisan, I most definitely have skin in the game. Further, I am not sure of the talk show hosts you listen to, whether on radio or TV, but picking candidates and picking sides is a positively pedestrian occurrence on the airwaves just as it is with the Tribune editorial board.
As other readers joined the conversation, I replied:
Dan Proft can go on the air for four hours every morning and talk up his point of view about a campaign. There’s a big difference between that, in my mind, however, and being the money man for that campaign. To my mind, listeners and readers ought to demand disinterested commentators, commentators whose point of view isn’t tainted by the hint of financial conflicts. This has nothing to do with anyone’s rights as a citizen or with newspaper endorsements.
He came back:
Zorn, you not only assume facts not in evidence, the facts in evidence address your concern. I disclose any even perceived conflict and trust listeners to make up their own minds, judge the information as they see fit.
And I am not certain where this woozy dreamland of untainted, disinterested commentators with pristine points-of-views exists but I know it’s not in Chicago–and I’ll hasten to add a substantial percentage of the so-called “objective” journalists to my sarcasm for good measure.
More here.
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* From the Chicago Tribune…
Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner wouldn’t rule out taxing retirement income as part of an overhaul of Illinois’ tax system, saying he didn’t have a position on the issue during the final debate before Tuesday’s primary election.
It marked a theme for Rauner on Thursday night. The wealthy venture capitalist from Winnetka also didn’t know the details of his running mate’s slip-and-fall lawsuit against several government agencies. And Rauner said he was unsure about Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s request to spend $100 million to encourage President Barack Obama’s library to come to Chicago. […]
Rauner, who has been successful in previous forums by sticking to a tight script, appeared caught off guard when asked about the concept of imposing the state income-tax on retirement income in Illinois. Politicians broach the subject with some risk given the elderly are among the most dedicated voting demographic — particularly in a Republican primary.
“I don’t have a position on that yet,” Rauner said. “What I would recommend we do is look at our entire tax code in Illinois, look at every tax and every tax base and every rate and then compare ourselves to other well-run states that we compete with.”
Taxing retirement income has been an issue in this state for decades. He was “caught off guard” and hasn’t thought about it? Is he kidding?
And, what the heck, man, did he not vet his running mate or is he just playing dumb? No way could he be that clueless about an important incident in someone’s past who could be a heartbeat away from the governor’s mansion.
* And check out his description of his relationship with Rahm Emanuel…
Rauner was asked to explain his relationship to Emanuel, with whom he has vacationed and hired briefly at the investment firm Rauner once led.
“I’ve known him for many years. I’ve worked with him when he was in the private sector a little bit. And I’ve worked with him on school reform while he was mayor in Chicago. The mayors in Chicago control the schools. My wife and I have dedicated much of our life and our financial resources to school reform and I’ve worked with the mayors to do that,” Rauner said.
“A little bit”? He helped make Rahm a millionaire.
* And, somehow, I just don’t think a dress was the gazillionaire’s biggest “splurge”…
In some of the lighter discussion, each candidate shared their biggest “splurge.”
Brady said his was a red Porsche he bought for his wife, a comment that drew a “wow” from the notoriously frugal Rutherford before Brady, of Bloomington, admitted the car was 10 years old. Rutherford said his home in Chenoa, while Rauner said he splurged during a trip to Italy and bought his wife a nice dress. Dillard said it was a crystal chandelier that hangs in the entry of his family’s home, and that his wife still says they didn’t need.
If you missed it last night, you can watch the whole debate by clicking here.
* And while he won’t talk publicly about much of anything, he’s working hard behind the scenes. A post by Mark Allen…
Over the past few days I have seen Black grassroots street teams for Republican Bruce Rauner for Governor passing out literature on CTA trains for the March 18th Primary. I must commend Rauner for investing in the Black grassroots community when technically he doesnt have to to win The Republican Primary. I am glad to see some unemployed Black people making some legitimate dollars for a few days versus other illegal street economies I have seen them engaged in on CTA trains and on the street. I must also commend Rauner for the number of grassroots meetings he has held in the Black community with a number of constituent groups you would have thought were Democratic
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Let’s be careful out there
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NBC Chicago…
Falling ice has become an issue in Chicago following the rain and snow late Tuesday and early Wednesday, as political consultant Dan Curry can attest to firsthand.
He was walking downtown Wednesday afternoon when he was struck by falling icicles.
“It hurt. It felt like a baseball had hit me in the head,” Curry said. “The thing that really scared me was that there was a lot of blood, and I reached up and my hands were filled with blood and there was blood all over the place.”
Luckily, a couple of Good Samaritans stopped to help him.
* Dan works for Doug Truax and posted this image on his Twitter feed…
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Today’s numbers are mind-boggling
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We got caught up in politics yesterday and I didn’t get around to this story. Sorry about that. Greg Hinz has a solid take on the state comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report…
Illinois’ net cumulative deficit for “governmental activities” — a broad measure of obligations the state has accrued, relative to resources it has to pay bills — rose an additional $1.2 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, to $47.8 billion. The overall figure is nearly triple what it was just seven years ago, though the annual increase was the smallest it’s been since at least fiscal 2006.
“Governmental activities” includes almost all the programs and spending normally run by state government, from prisons and education aid to Medicaid and highway construction. Some, though not all, pension obligations are included. Excluded are self-contained business activities, including the unemployment insurance trust fund, the college tuition assistance program and the Illinois Lottery. […]
In his analysis, [Auditor General Bill Holland] reported that the net deficit for governmental activities has steadily risen from $18.7 billion in fiscal 2006 to $47.8 billion in fiscal 2013. Only one other state, Massachusetts, has a negative net position in the governmental activities account, he reported. Even other Midwestern states such as Michigan and Ohio are in the black.
Illinois is doing somewhat better by a narrower measure, the net balance in its general (or operating) funds, Mr. Holland found. It improved from a negative $9.1 billion in fiscal 2012 to “only” negative $7.3 billion in fiscal 2013, the lowest since the 2009 recession.
But the good news is limited, Mr. Holland conceded. “The deterioration is slowing,” he said. Ending the deficit entirely is going “slowly — very, very slowly.”
The CAFR is here. The Auditor General’s analysis is here.
* Meanwhile…
Interest payments on Illinois’ late bills cost the state $318 million last year – enough to cover the annual budget of the Illinois State Police, according to a published report.
The state auditor’s overview of Illinois’ finances shows interest payments from fiscal year 2013 were more than double what was paid in the previous year when the figure was $136 million, according to a report by the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers.
The state’s interest on unpaid bills was $91 million in 2011, $97 million in 2010 and $36.9 million in 2009.
Brad Hahn, a spokesman for Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, said this year’s interest payments should be much lower because the state has been “aggressive” about working to reduce the backlog of unpaid bills.
* And…
An Illinois State Board of Education report released Wednesday shows more Illinois schools are in poor financial shape and borrowing money or dipping into reserves than previous years, a problem that could worsen as the state faces overall budget cuts next year.
The annual review, which places school districts into four categories ranging from high financial strength to high risk, shows an overall downgrade in the financial position of the state’s districts. About 120 of Illinois’ 862 districts are in the two categories that indicate higher risk — an increase of nine from last year. And the problems are only expected to get worse as about 60 percent of school districts forecast they’ll have a deficit in the 2014 fiscal year, an increase of more than 10 percent the previous year.
State education officials say the state has underfunded education for the past three years, causing the overall downgrade in financial strength.
* Not to mention this mess…
Proposed state rules designed to crack down on sales tax havens are running into heavy fire from key business and tax policy groups — a possible sign that the highly contentious issue is headed back to the Illinois General Assembly.
Both the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois told me that proposed rules issued in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s Hartney decision are still too vague on who owes how much and where.
I hear that a third influential group, the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, also is prepared to ask for major revisions at a public hearing scheduled next week in Springfield.
The proposed rules were issued by the Illinois Department of Revenue after the high court on Nov. 21 tossed out old rules that the state and agencies such as the Regional Transportation Authority charged had been exploited by firms that established “order acceptance centers” in low-tax jurisdictions including Kankakee and Channahon to avoid paying higher taxes on goods that ended up in Chicago and its metropolitan area.
Taken together, it’s almost too much to fathom.
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Rauner’s cash bar philosophy
Friday, Mar 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My latest Crain’s column…
“An example of how the rich keep their money,” wrote a buddy of mine at the top of an email he forwarded the other day.
The original email was an invite to Bruce Rauner’s election night party in a big downtown Chicago hotel. At the bottom of the invitation, in all caps, was the reason for his ire: “CASH BAR.”
“Cash bar!!!” emphasized my friend, who enjoys a wee taste every now and then.
He was clearly blown away by the fact that a gazillionaire who has spent $6 million of his own money — a bigger personal investment on a governor’s race than anyone in Illinois history — was making the schlubs buy their own drinks come election night. That’s unheard of. It’s almost unholy.
Bill Brady is having a cash bar at his party at the Holiday Inn in downstate Bloomington on the night of the March 18 primary, but his campaign doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. Mr. Rauner, on the other hand, is beyond flush.
I tried to explain to my friend that Mr. Rauner saves his money for important stuff, like television ads.
“You did not just write that alcohol is not important, did you?!” he fired back.
Yes, I did.
Read the rest of the column by clicking here.
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