A spokesman for state Comptroller Dan Hynes said they were thrilled the organization gave a “stinging rebuke” of the sitting Democratic Governor, Pat Quinn, by not endorsing him.
But Quinn’s office was reportedly happy the union did not endorse Hynes, who has racked up an impressive number of union endorsements for a challenger, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers on Monday.
I’ll have more on this for subscribers tomorrow, but I think Hynes got what he wanted here, and Quinn fumbled what should’ve been a sure thing, but in the end dodged a political bullet.
This morning on the Don Wade & Roma Morning Show on WLS-AM 890, former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger endorsed Dan Proft for Governor in the Republican 2010 primary. […]
“I am proud to endorse Dan Proft’s candidacy for Governor because Proft is the only candidate who has properly diagnosed what afflicts state government and is prescribing the right policy remedies,” said Rauschenberger, who is seeking to regain his old senate seat currently held by State Senator Michael Noland (D-Elgin)
“The other candidates believe we have a management problem in state government. Proft correctly understands that it is a system problem.”
Rauschenberger, a well-respected former member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and lead budget negotiator for the Senate Republicans, cited Proft’s plans to cut taxes and impose statutory spending caps in his endorsement.
In a 12-11 vote, board members narrowly approved a measure that bans the practice of legal video gambling in businesses in unincorporated Kane County.
The measure, of course, applies only to unincorporated areas of the county.
* Also, the US Supreme Court is hearing the “honest services” case today and is asking some tough questions…
They peppered federal government lawyer Michael Dreeben with questions about the so-called honest services law that’s commonly used to prosecute corporate executives for fraud.
Justice Stephen Breyer was particularly forceful, suggesting that under the law a U.S. employee could be charged for going to a baseball game on company time because prosecutors could argue the worker was depriving his employee of honest services.
There are 150 million workers in the United States, Breyer said, and 140 million of them would “fail your test,” he told Dreeben.
Justice Stephen Breyer said he worries that the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could be used to criminalize huge swathes of the U.S. workforce for such offences as reading The Daily Racing Form on the job.
Justice Antonin Scalia repeatedly criticized the law for being “inherently vague” and said Congress should have been more specific.
He said that not even the Justice Department can figure out exactly what activities the law covers. “I don’t see how you can expect the average citizen to figure it out,” Scalia told the government lawyer.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said vagueness “is the lurking problem here” while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said lower courts have been “massively confused” about the law’s reach.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Quinn campaign…
As a former member of the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Governor Quinn is honored by the support he has received from organized labor. To date, Governor Quinn’s campaign has received endorsements the Service Employees International Union, the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 25 and several other major unions. Together, the labor groups that have endorsed Governor Quinn represent more than 450,000 hard-working men and women.
Union leaders have praised Governor Pat Quinn’s vision of economic development and his effective leadership in passing Jobs and Growth for Illinois, the state’s first comprehensive public works program in more than a decade. Over the next six years, Illinois Jobs Now! will create and retain more than 439,000 jobs, helping to revive Illinois’ economy.
Throughout his entire career, Governor Quinn has been proud to stand with organized labor, walking picket lines and speaking out when workers’ rights to health coverage, decent work conditions, and fair compensation have been threatened or unfairly taken away.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Comptroller Hynes responds to the Moody’s downgrade…
This report confirms what I’ve long said. Illinois state government’s habit of spending more money than it takes in is harming the state’s ability to rebound from the downturn in the economy, making it more difficult for businesses to thrive, for people to find and keep work and for this state to move forward.
The rating agency obviously took issue with the delay in any meaningful resolution of the state’s fiscal situation until February.
It also confirms that undertaking additional short-term borrowing, when the state already owes $2.25 billion in short-term borrowing, is a bad idea.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the governor’s office…
Moody’s downgraded the State of Illinois’ General Obligation Bonds and Build Illinois Bonds one notch from A1 to A2. This downgrade is the result of the nationwide economic downturn and the long-term mismanagement of the state’s finances. It underscores the urgency for solutions and emphasizes the need to take action immediately.
The Quinn administration has been examining and exhausting every possible remedy to solve the budget crisis. The administration has proposed budget cuts, borrowing, revenue increases, and has asked for help from the federal government. We need everyone to work together and compromise for the common good to come up with solutions to solve this budget crisis.
* We’re running late today because of various breaking news items, so I apologize for that. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Andy McKenna’s TV ads claim the state is “facing bankruptcy.” McKenna repeated the bankruptcy claim to Greg Hinz today…
Mr. McKenna did not say how he’d persuade state workers unions to get their members to pay more [pension contributions], but added, “The alternative is, we go bankrupt. That’s not good for everybody.”
A judge cannot force a state into bankruptcy, and no state has ever technically declared bankruptcy, even during the height of the Great Depression. We’ve had this discussion several times in comments, but I thought we’d front-page it today.
* The Question: In your opinion, is this a gross misstatement that ought to be corrected by the media and the candidate, or is it no big deal and simply a use of dramatic license? Explain.
VAUGHT: We don’t want people to, to think that this is a minor situation. It’s not. We’ve got some serious problems that involve big numbers. And so we’ve got to plan in double digits. And so to say to agencies ‘we want you to cut 10 percent’ just would not have been realistic.
Vaught says he hopes to save two billion dollars by cutting the budgets of state agencies. He’s also looking at borrowing more money and raising taxes.
If there’s no tax increase, and I’m really doubtful about that, then a 14 percent spending cut will look like chicken feed this time next year.
* Remember last week when Gov. Pat Quinn was trumpeting a positive bond rating from Fitch as evidence that his fiscal stewardship was working?…
Armed with a new AA bond rating from Fitch Rating Service that he says demonstrates the state is a “good credit risk,”
You probably didn’t catch that unless you’re a subscriber. As I told subscribers this week, the Fitch rating was on bonds that are not only secured by the sales tax, but have first dibs on sales tax receipts, so the rating wasn’t exactly a huge deal, nor a direct reflection on Quinn.
Today, though, Moody’s downgraded some debt ahead of the sale of those very same sales tax-backed bonds. Well, I’m wondering what the guv thinks now. This is from Reuters. No link yet, but it’ll pop up soon…
Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded Illinois’ general obligation bond rating to A2 from A1, citing the state’s financial woes.
Moody’s said it also downgraded other Illinois ratings, affecting about $24 billion of outstanding debt, including the state’s Build Illinois sales tax revenue bonds, which were also cut to A2 from A1. […]
As a result, Moody’s also revised the outlook for the state’s GO and related ratings to negative, “reflecting the continuing likelihood of large structural budget deficits, growing negative year-end fund balances, strained operating fund liquidity and mounting pressure from pension and retiree health benefit obligations.”
Moody’s said Illinois identified an $11.6 billion budget gap–a $4.3 billion deficit for the latest year and a projected $7.3 billion one for the current year–when the firm began its review of the state’s ratings five months ago. That $11.6 billion gap accounted for more than a third of the state’s expenditures last fiscal year and was one of the largest among U.S. states.
Making matters worse, the governor’s proposal in March to address the gap this fiscal year by raising tax rates by half and reforming pensions failed to win support in the legislature
* Meanwhile, in other news, perhaps the idea that the state’s legalizing of video poker will take the Outfit out of the picture will gain a little bit of media traction now that the Sun-Times is reporting that a federal investigation is afoot…
A federal investigation of mob-backed video poker machines is now under way in the Bridgeport neighborhood, sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 News.
Yeah, it’s the mayor’s old neighborhood, so that’ll probably dominate the news. But there’s much in the Sun-Times story worth keeping in mind when you decide it’s OK by you to maintain the status quo. For instance…
Authorities believe the video poker machines, which produce illegal payouts, tie back to the operation of the late Joseph “Shorty” LaMantia, a top lieutenant in the 26th Street Crew.
LaMantia, in turn, worked under Frank Calabrese Sr., who was convicted in 2007 in the historic Family Secrets trial, involving 18 unsolved mob murders. Calabrese, Joseph Lombardo and three others were found guilty on racketeering and conspiracy charges.
Prohibition enriched mobsters beyond their wildest dreams. Heck, we’re still seeing the effects of it today. Calabrese belongs to the same outfit Al Capone once perfected.
What the Sun-Times editorial board and others are missing is that the current quasi-legal machines can only operate under a special state amusement license. Those licenses expire as soon as the new legalization program kicks off. If tavern owners keep the unlicensed machines, the machines can be seized and destroyed. No more need for long, expensive investigations of possible illegal payouts. They’re just gone.
* As I’ve already told subscribers today, the Illinois AFL-CIO has decided to remain neutral in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Hynes’ press release just arrived, so I figured it was time the rest of you heard the news…
In a major rebuke to a sitting Democratic governor, particularly one who touts his dubious record on job creation, the Illinois AFL-CIO chose today not to make an endorsement in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor. The federation of Illinois labor organizations voted 58-42 in favor of challenger Dan Hynes.
“Rather than offering the expected formality of endorsing the sitting Democratic governor, the Illinois AFL-CIO today instead issued Pat Quinn a stinging rebuke by opting not to make an endorsement in the race for the Democratic nomination,” Hynes campaign communications director Matt McGrath said. “Make no mistake, this is a direct reflection of the Governor’s lack of leadership and inability to create jobs. No matter how many ribbon cuttings Pat Quinn attends and takes credit for, the working men and women who actually build and repair our communities and infrastructure clearly know better.” […]
“The events of recent days add up to one thing: more and more people are alert to the fact that Dan Hynes has the vision and the ideas to lead our state forward, and our campaign has real momentum,” McGrath said. “The budget continues to be a mess and unemployment is at record highs, and Dan is the one candidate offering real solutions, with the record and competence to see it through.”
I’ve asked the governor’s campaign for a response and will post it here as soon as it arrives. SEIU and some other big unions have gone with Quinn, so the governor should’ve had the advantage, particularly since he’s an incumbent governor who signed the first capital bill into law since George Ryan’s days.
Quinn said he was “disappointed” he didn’t get the teachers’ backing.
“You always want to try to get every endorsement you can,” he said.
As the campaigns march toward the February primary, another plum teachers’ union endorsement is still up for grabs: the 133,000-member Illinois Education Association. If the union makes an endorsement, it won’t be until after a January board of directors meeting, said union spokesman Charles McBarron.
The IEA often stays out of statewide primaries, but this is a hot one and it’s always possible they could jump in. Stay tuned.
When you consider how much Stroger’s father, John Stroger, stuck his neck out for Daley when Daley needed it the most, the about-face is nothing short of appalling.
The elder Stroger stuck his neck out for Daley time and time again. I agree that there’s a serious debt there that can never be fully repaid, but John Stroger was county board president for quite a while and the son was dragged across the finish line and given every chance to prove himself. He screwed up. Debts only last so long, particularly political debts to somebody who had nothing to do with the original debt and who has so thoroughly screwed up his family’s formerly solid name.
There were a couple of interesting moments, however. Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign has hired Georgia Logothetis, better known as former front-page DKos blogger “Georgia10.” Logothetis and other Giannoulias backers were fully engaged during the discussion, rebutting Hoffman’s polling claims and posting Giannoulias’ positions on various issues. Hoffman’s campaign did the same to Giannoulias over at DKos last Saturday, so turnabout was fair play, I suppose.
The other item of interest to me was finding out that Hoffman has hired former Democratic congressional candidate John Laesch, who ran against former Speaker Denny Hastert and lost and then lost the Democratic special primary to Bill Foster. As longtime blog readers know, I’m not exactly a fan. He’s also probably looking for a little revenge on Giannoulias, whose endorsement of Foster inspired this Laesch retort…
Laesch shrugged off Giannoulias’ endorsement, calling him “just a wealthy guy who bought himself an office.”
“Abraham Lincoln, I don’t know if you know this, he didn’t [free the slaves] for the right reason, social justice. He just did it because so many white people were out of work because they couldn’t compete with slave labor.”
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan used some extreme rhetoric when talking about tax hikes to the Tribune editorial board yesterday…
Ryan, the former attorney general and DuPage County prosecutor who lost as the GOP governor nominee to Blagojevich in 2002, maintained that “to raise taxes during this recession is criminal.”
Asked for specific cuts in the state budget to eliminate the deficit, Ryan said “I don’t know if I can get there exactly,” though he joined the others in proposing reduced pension benefits for future state workers and instituting a managed health care program for the poor. But Ryan also said he would “cut aid to municipalities—at least reduce it if not eliminate it.”
You’d think if a tax hike was “criminal,” you’d have a plan to keep the awful event from ever happening.
Ryan added that cutting revenues to local governments “will put them on a diet and also save us money.” They’re already starving, so that’ll be one heckuva diet.
As we’ve already discussed, two years ago Ryan was supporting a big tax increase, but times change, and people decide to run for office. Also, he’s no longer listed as a board member of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, which still supports a tax hike despite the recession.
* Ryan’s remarks were made during the Tribune’s infamous closed-door editorial board candidate debates. In the past, they’ve posted audio of the debates, but I didn’t see anything online for the GOP gubernatorial hopefuls. Here’s a bit more…
Adam Andrzejewski, a Hinsdale businessman, said he would go further than the others on proposing pension reforms, vowing to take responsibility for retirement programs away from lawmakers and the governor and turn it over to each agency or local government.
I’m not sure what “each agency” means. But could that mean the State Board of Education would control the teachers’ pension fund? Yeah, that’ll work.
More…
McKenna criticized Dillard and Brady did the same to Schillerstrom over the DuPage County politicians’ backing of higher sales taxes for regional mass transit — a move likened to the unpopular sales tax imposed under Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. “You’re from downstate,” Schillerstrom, a Naperville resident, told Brady. “You didn’t have to worry when the trains stop running.”
Similarly, despite all the red ink in Springfield, he’d repeal the sales tax on gasoline, eliminate much of the estate tax and repeal business-tax hikes pushed through by ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich — a total of about $1 billion a year in revenues.
Mr. Brady says such steps would pay for themselves by reviving the state’s moribund economy, thereby generating more taxes.
The last time gas taxes were cut, it didn’t result in a spike in receipts as some had promised.
* Back to Jim Ryan for a moment. The candidate told ABC7 recently that he believes “most people in Springfield are good people. Most people in politics are good people.” But, he added, that the Democrats have failed and claimed “Honestly, I don’t think representative government works in Illinois. It doesn’t. Because I don’t know who they’re representing. They’re not representing me. They’re not representing you. Who, exactly, are they representing?” Take a look…
* Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Bill Brady begins running his first TV ad today. I’m not sure yet how many points are behind it. But, let’s go ahead and rate it…
Caterpillar Inc.’s new parts distribution plant in Clayton, Ohio, will result in some jobs moving from its logistics center in Morton and will replace the company’s regional distribution center in Indianapolis, the company said Monday.
About 170 material specialist positions will move from Morton to Clayton when the new $65 million, 1 million square foot plant opens in 2011.
* More firms plan layoffs than hires in early ‘10, study says
Employment services firm Manpower Inc. found that among companies it surveyed in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area, 16% plan to cut payroll during the first three months of the year. Just 8% plan to add workers, the outlook survey showed.
Households that earn less than $200,000 a year can get up to $200 back. Mayor Richard Daley is paying for the $35 million program with money from the controversial parking meter lease.
Chicago will dole out $35 million in property tax relief on the honor system, but only to a point: One of every 50 applicants will be required to produce their 2008 income tax returns.
Mayor Daley’s nephew Robert Vanecko says he no longer has a financial stake in a real estate investment firm he co-founded that got deals to manage $68 million for five city pension funds.
Not only will Democrat Carolyn Gardner get her 9th District seat on the Winnebago County Board on Thursday, she’ll be paid $7,500 for the year the Illinois Supreme Court said she should have served but couldn’t because Republican appointee Ted Biondo was holding down the fort.
Homeless people are more likely to be sick and have higher rates of chronic illness, placing them at the top of the priority list for receiving the H1N1 vaccination, experts say. But they are also far less likely to take such a preventive measure.
