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* Pearson worked later than I did today…
* Quinn campaign…
News is breaking that billionaire Republican Bruce Rauner, the richest candidate in Illinois history, has given himself another $1.5 million in his efforts to buy the governor’s seat. Rauner has now given himself more than $12.5 million.
And the Chicago Tribune is tweeting Rauner gave another $750,000 to the Illinois Republican Party, bringing the total to more than$3.5 million. […]
Below is the statement of Quinn for Illinois Deputy Press Secretary Izabela Miltko at the new flood of Rauner money:
“As the public learns that Bruce Rauner has been deceiving them about his key role at a deadly string of nursing homes at a trial in Florida, Rauner has done what he does best: Reached for his pocket book.
“No amount of money will make up for the substandard care that was prevalent at Rauner’s nursing homes. And no amount of money will be able to hide the truth from the people of Illinois, that his policies, like his business practices, put profit ahead of people.”
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Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I think I’m going to this…
Rich,
I meant to send this to you much earlier knowing your affinity for great live music coupled with tasty food and beverages, unfortunately I’m just now remembering to.
The SamJam - Unplugged on the Prairie event is 12 hours of acoustic, progressive bluegrass, roots, and Americana with all proceeds going to neurofibromatosis (NF) research through NF Midwest. It is tomorrow at the Macoupin County Fairgrounds in Carlinville from noon to midnight. If you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out.
The line-up is pretty solid with the 6 bands from St. Louis and Chicago area, they are Old Salt Union, Chicago Farmer, Tangleweed, Acoustics Anonymous, Clusterpluck, and The Leadfoot Band.
Here is a link to the SamJam website: http://www.samjam4nf.com/.
Sam, who is the namesake of ‘SamJam’, is a personal friend and an amazing guy. He loves live music and this is his and his family’s way to give back to all those that have helped him over the years. It should be a blast.
Cheers
* We’re ending the week with two videos. The first is the “Boat Drink Caucus” playing at the Phases of the Moon Festival. Notice that Sen. Don Harmon is playing bass. The band’s bass player fell ill. Harmon hadn’t played bass in decades, but he grabbed an axe and let it rip…
* And, now, Van the Man…
We were born before the wind
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Zorn on “early release”
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Zorn writes about the case of Derrick Allmon, who’s accused of deliberately killing 9-year-old Antonio Smith after he served half his prison sentence and was released…
“A violent criminal was let out early under (Gov.) Pat Quinn (and) murdered a 9-year-old boy,” seethed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner on Tuesday.
But Allmon wasn’t let out “early.” He was let out exactly when the prosecutors and the courts expected he would be let out on the day he was sentenced. He was let out exactly when the law, passed by Democrats and Republicans in Springfield, said he should be let out.
“We cannot allow this to continue to occur,” continued Rauner.
If by “this” he means a pervasive misunderstanding by the public of how prison sentences work — a misunderstanding to which Rauner opportunistically contributed by trying to score political points off the death of Antonio Smith — then I agree. […]
Or if by “this” Rauner means rewriting sentencing laws to give judges the latitude to keep dangerous people behind bars for longer periods or removing this fig leaf commonly known as “good time,” I also agree.
But if by “this” he means a sentence-reduction program that was discontinued several years ago and has been replaced (under Quinn!) by an incentive-based program only for those convicted of nonviolent crimes, I call rubbish.
I probably excerpted too much, but go read the whole thing to fully appreciate the arguments here.
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Question of the day
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* First, it was the “early release” rehash from 2010, then it was thirty year-old comments from Mayor Harold Washington which were already used in the 2010 campaign, and now Gloria Steinem…
Famed women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem is throwing her support behind Gov. Pat Quinn and launching a “Women for Quinn” Coalition.
Steinem was scheduled to appear at Chicago’s Allegro Hotel with Quinn and top Democratic female officeholders including Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
Steinem said in a statement that she backs the Chicago Democrat because he supports abortion rights and equal pay for women. She said he fought for a law to end discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace.
No offense meant to Ms. Steinem, but it’s most definitely “Throwback Week” on the ol’ campaign trail.
* The Question: What blasts from the past do you predict the two campaigns will haul out next week? Snark is obviously encouraged, as are explanations for your “predictions.”
…Adding… The Steinem visit has been postponed. Also, Dave Dahl over at the Illinois Radio Network mentioned the above throw-back items in his report today and ended it with a funny “Back to the Future” theme…
Heh. I love that guy.
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Another unknown
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No way does Bruce Rauner want the NRA’s endorsement while he’s trying to do well in suburban Cook County and Chicago. So he didn’t respond…
* Rauner did, however, talk to the AP about generalities…
Rauner, a Republican businessman from Winnetka, applauded Illinois becoming the last state in the nation to approve concealed carry, and warns that too many regulations on assault weapons and other firearms can run afoul of constitutional rights. […]
“Gun regulations are important,” Rauner said at a news conference, where he was endorsed by a group of black Chicago ministers. “It’s important that we keep guns away from criminals and the mentally ill, but going much beyond that creates constitutional issues.” […]
“I believe in common sense gun safety measures like background checks that keep guns away from criminals and people with mental illness,” he wrote. “Going beyond that requires a very careful balance between promoting public safety and protecting constitutional rights.”
During a GOP primary debate, Rauner said gun owners may want to use the weapons for target practice or other purposes on their own property — calling it a constitutional right “and we’ve got to respect that fact.” Quinn’s campaign on Monday repeated its criticisms of his stance, saying such weapons “belong on a battlefield — not in our schools and not in our communities.”
* Jim Oberweis, on the other hand, needs all the help he can get…
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* From a press release…
Tom Cross announced one year ago that he would not seeking re-election to the Illinois House and instead was running for State Treasurer. But over the last year, Tom Cross spent $192,692 from his legislative PAC, Citizens to Elect Tom Cross State Representative, to support his race for Treasurer. Those expenditures include: more than $40,000 in payments to Cross’ campaign manager Kevin Artl and five other employees; nearly $40,000 in payments to campaign consultants; and over $10,000 in meal charges. During the same period, Tom Cross continued to funnel money into both his legislative campaign account and Cross for Treasurer, which was created on September 11, 2013.
The Frerichs campaign says that is a clear violation of Illinois campaign finance laws. Under the law, PACs are required to report when they spend money on behalf of another candidate or cause, even when it is the same individual running for another office, which Cross failed to do. Illinois law also limits Cross to spending $52,600 from his legislative PAC on behalf of his Treasurer’s race in an election cycle, a cap that the Frerichs campaign says Cross clearly violated. The Frerichs campaign notes that Cross did report transferring $15,000 from his legislative campaign account to his treasurer’s race, a move that is perfectly legal. That move, they say, is proof that Tom Cross knew the law yet chose to ignore it
“Tom Cross wants to be our state treasurer, but he can’t even account for his own fundraising,” says Frerichs campaign manager Zach Koutsky. “Tom Cross violated basic election laws in a major way, and he clearly knew he was doing it.”
The contribution caps were enacted in 2009 on the anniversary of the arrest of Tom Cross political ally Rod Blagojevich. Frerichs voted for SB 1466 while Tom Cross voted against the measure.
Documentation is here.
* From the Cross campaign…
Another day, another false attack by Senator Mike Frerichs. Over the course of the last few weeks, the Frerichs campaign has launched a litany of untrue attacks, ranging from statements about Tom attending conferences he never did to mistruths about his voting record.
“As it relates to today’s fictitious attack by Senator Frerichs, our campaign has fully complied with the requirements of the Campaign Finance Act by fully disclosing all contributions and expenditures. The purpose of the Campaign Finance Act is to compel the disclosure of political spending and Tom has fully disclosed for each committee, period.
“The desperation of the Frerichs campaign, which is losing in every noteworthy general election survey, is exemplified in the dirty tactics they are undertaking. The conduct of Senator Frerichs calls into serious question whether he has the character or judgment to serve the state of Illinois as its next Treasurer.”
I’m expecting more back and forth on this one, so stay tuned. Notice that Cross’ campaign didn’t specifically address the caps issue.
*** UPDATE *** As expected, the Frerichs campaign has responded. The relevant portion…
Tom Cross continues to dodge questions, just as he dodged complying with our state’s campaign finance laws.
One of the main purposes of the law is to ensure that campaign spending is transparent. Tom Cross violated both the spirit and the letter of the law by spending money from his legislative PAC on his Treasurer’s campaign and failing to disclose that fact. Period. Cross also clearly violated caps that limit how much his legislative PAC can spend on his Treasurer’s race to $52,600 per cycle.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* In other news, Greg Hinz followed up with the Illinois Department of Revenue about its changed stance over Sen. Frerichs’ legislative office property tax bill…
Initially, the department ruled that Mr. Frerichs’ case was similar to that of state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, who some years ago was ordered to pay property taxes on space she leased from Chicago Public Schools for her district constituent office. But now it says otherwise. Why the shift?
According to the department, state law treats school property differently from a building owned by a mass transit district.
Even though both are public bodies, “Once the (school) property is no longer used for exempt purposes, it is again subject to property tax, even if leased to the state government,” a department spokeswoman said. But the law covering transit districts allows the break if the leasing entity also is a public body, in this case a member of the state Senate using the space for public purposes.
* Meanwhile, this looked like a pretty big hit when I read the Tribune headline and lede…
Simon hits Topinka on aides’ lucrative 2nd jobs
Democratic challenger Sheila Simon on Thursday criticized Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka for her role as president of a federally funded nonprofit that paid two key comptroller staffers more than $50,000 a year for part-time work on top of their six-figure taxpayer-funded salaries.
But, as it turns out, the organization in question didn’t update its disclosure forms after Topinka was elected. It’s actually much less time per week for much less money. At least, that’s what they’re saying.
* The Topinka campaign fired back…
Lt. Governor Simon reports income from “consulting” in 2014 but does not indicate what the consulting involved, who it was for or how much time she spent on the work outside of her Constitutional Office.
Hypocrisy has a name and its name is Sheila.
Simon’s disclosure report is here. Disclosure is required for any annual income earned over $5,000 and Simon lists “Consulting” in that category.
…Adding… From the Simon campaign…
Rich -
Attached is the transcript of the full exchange between Comptroller Topinka and the editorial board on the Smart Money Smart Women issue. As you can see, Judy Baar Topinka believes she left the company several years ago, but the tax filings for the company list her as the president as recently as 2012.
Here are links to the Form 990s for the company in question. As you can see on PDF page 7, Nancy Kimme was earning $117,300 in 2010, Markus Veile was making $84,310, and Ken Kamps was making $66,000, for what they list as 35 hours per week worked.
Fast forward to 2012, and you see that on PDF page 7 again, Nancy Kimme and Markus Veile are still there in the same position, listed at 35 hours per week, and now earning $53,350 each (while also drawing six figure salaries at the Comptroller’s office, full time). Judy Baar Topinka is still listed as the president of the company.
So they say they listed the wrong amount of hours, and also Judy Baar Topinka should not have been listed as president. But they DID go in and alter the salary amounts - how could the rest have been overlooked? The signature block on the first page clearly says:
“Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is true, correct, and complete. Declaration of preparer (other than officer) is based on all information of which preparer has any knowledge.” In 2010, Ken Kamps signed the form. In 2012, Nancy Kimme signed it.
Also, for the “consulting” thing with Sheila, if Comptroller Topinka’s campaign referred to page 4 of the filing they will see under “Major sources of income” that Sheila listed $8,516 from textbook royalties. She was the co-author of a law textbook.
Here are cleaner PDF links:
2009
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2010/770/627/2010-770627531-077abf76-9.pdf
2011
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2011/770/627/2011-770627531-08a65aec-9.pdf
2012
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/770/627/2012-770627531-09bc9ca8-9.pdf
–
Dave Mellet
Campaign Manager
Sheila Simon for Illinois
The attachment is here.
* The two went at it at the Sun-Times as well…
Topinka boasts that she has implemented a policy of prioritizing payments for not-for-profit and service agencies that serve the state’s most vulnerable residents. She says there are “no favorites” but that she works with state agencies, lawmakers and vendors themselves to understand which situations are most dire.
But Simon says the office should work to disclose exactly who it’s paying when, and why.
“It’s perfectly legal to be silent about that. I just think it’s wrong,” Simon said. She suggested the comptroller’s office should publicly disclose who agencies getting expedited payments employ, the number of people they serve, and whether they’ve exhausted all other lines of credit.
Topinka calls Simon’s idea unfeasible and “overly simplistic,” noting the state writes checks from hundreds of different funds, some of which have large backlogs, and others which have no backlogs at all. The office is obligated by law to pay for some services, such as foster care, immediately.
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Unclear on the concept
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Riopell and Silverberg at the Daily Herald…
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn wants his tax plan put into action right after the Nov. 4 election, echoing his key campaign argument that the state can’t afford to let income taxes drop at the end of the year.
Quinn has called for keeping the state’s 2011 income tax hike intact instead of letting it lower on Jan. 1 as scheduled. Without the money from the higher income tax rate, he says, the state faces serious cuts to schools and a growing pile of unpaid bills. […]
Quinn says his re-election will demonstrate to lawmakers that his plan is the right one.
“It’s going to happen in 2014, in November and December,” he said of his tax plans. New lawmakers take their seats in January.
You’d think that after six years as governor he’d know he will need a three-fifths super-majority to pass his tax hike extension in November or December.
Ain’t gonna happen, guv. January is the month you’re looking for.
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Pot, meet kettle
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Republican Bobby Schilling is quite upset with a new DCCC TV ad…
“Congresswoman Bustos and the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) should be ashamed of themselves for promoting an edited, dishonest video and running advertisements based upon it,” Schilling said.
“This was bullying, plain and simple,” he continued. “I’m calling on Congresswoman Bustos and the national Democrats to do the right thing and remove this dishonest advertisement from the airwaves.”
Schilling wants the campaign to get away from disputing political ads and center more on the issues.
“There has to be some way we can have (ads) vetted through so you have independent people looking at and say, ‘This is and honest ad, and here’s the facts’ and be able to put it out,” Schilling said. “But, that’s probably never gonna happen.”
* Oh, for crying out loud. And I do mean “crying.” I think I posted the ad already, but here it is in case you missed it…
* The script…
The Sensata plant in Freeport closed and shipped off more than 100 jobs to China…
When workers in Freeport needed their Congressman, Bobby Schilling turned his back on them.
Schilling voted to protect tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs
– and even voted to let them keep their government contracts.
He used your tax money to help send American jobs overseas.
We don’t need any more politicians like Bobby Schilling.
* From the QCTimes…
Schilling, who represented the 17th District from 2011-12, objected to the new ad Tuesday, calling it a “lie.”
The commercial doesn’t say so directly, but the Democratic committee confirmed it is referring to a September 2012 confrontation between the former Republican congressman and a few workers from Sensata Technologies at a Stephenson County Farm Bureau meeting.
Workers at the meeting demanded to know whether Schilling supported a piece of legislation and, after some back and forth that involved what appeared to be a farm bureau official, the workers began chanting “yes or no,” and Schilling was escorted by one of his campaign staff to the back of the room.
When at least some of the Sensata workers left the room, Schilling returned to the front of the room, according to a video of the incident posted at the time by Schilling’s campaign.
“They’re saying Schilling walked out on constituents. That’s a lie,” the Republican said in an interview Tuesday.
* And check out how he goes to great lengths to prove his point…
Yes, he makes some valid arguments, but his over-interpretation of the simple phrase “turned his back” is more than a little goofy.
And I have to agree with Cheri Bustos’ campaign that his idea to have “independent people” vet ads is pretty rich coming from a guy who ran a TV ad this month which FactCheck.org brutally slammed as “shamefully misleading.”
As I often say in comments: Move along, please.
…Adding… This just came over the transom. From a WEEK TV story…
“And they did this to try to bully and intimidate and put this out to make it look like I walked out on a meeting. I believe it is unamerican and it’s the bad part of politics for anyone to do that, whether it is Republican or Democrat” said Schilling.
Oh, please. Unamerican? Clean your own house first, dude.
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Today’s number: 71 percent
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As you know, I greatly prefer legalization, but Springfield’s decrim appears to be drastically cutting down on the city’s arrests for tiny amounts of marijuana. SJ-R…
Arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana in Springfield dropped dramatically from 2009 to last year, following the city council’s move to change how such offenses are dealt with.
A decriminalization ordinance passed in 2009 said people found possessing less than 2.5 grams of marijuana would be ticketed and fined $300. Before the ordinance was passed, the offense would have resulted in a Class C misdemeanor charge that included a $1,500 fine. […]
There were 101 arrests in Springfield last year for possession of less than 2.5 grams of marijuana, a nearly 71 percent drop from the number of arrests for the same offense in 2009. […]
In the four-year period starting in 2010 and including 2014 to date, there have been 465 arrests in Springfield for small amounts of marijuana, according to figures provided by the city. During the same period, 1,627 citations were issued for such possession offenses, roughly 3 1/2 times the number of arrests.
But 2.5 grams is less than a tenth of an ounce. Maybe it should be expanded?
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* We’re getting to this a bit late in the game, but here’s the Sun-Times’ take…
A Snapchat text from Wrigley Field during state worker hours and a pair of sexually harrassing text messages to female co-workers were among the new details to emerge Wednesday in the firings of three high-level staffers in state Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s office.
The Executive Ethics Commission Wednesday released a report by David Wells, executive inspector general for the treasurer’s office, into an alleged scheme to circumvent the time-keeping system in Rutherford’s office.
Wells identified Patrick Carlson, George Daglas and Ashvin Lad, all three senior members in Rutherford’s management team, and said all three violated the “trust and integrity” of Rutherford and state taxpayers by their conduct. […]
“All three positions are senior staff positions within the office of state treasurer, appointed by Treasurer Rutherford. These individuals are in leadership positions of a state agency wherein integrity and trust are key character traits. By their participation in this fraudulent time keeping scheme, whether it was ‘every day’ or ‘one time only,’ their actions violated the trust and integrity of Treasurer Rutherford, the office of state treasurer, and most importantly, the trust of the taxpayers of the state of Illinois,” Wells’ report concluded.
* The Tribune has a different sort of angle…
Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford fired three top aides who were accused of falsifying timekeeping records, but the former employees say they were targeted in retaliation for participating in a probe looking into allegations of sexual harassment and political pressure made against their boss. […]
In written responses released by the inspector general, Carlson, Daglas and Lad say there are several inaccuracies in the report and question the legitimacy of the investigation, saying the inspector general did not follow proper protocol and inform them of the right to have interviews recorded.
Carlson said in his response that he at no point admitted to being a part of the scheme, and accused Wells of having an “accusatory tone and demeanor” during interviews. Carlson wrote that Wells’ behavior matches that of other treasurer’s office staff members and was “designed to purposely and willfully create a hostile workplace environment and was done in retaliation” for statements Carlson made to another investigator hired by Rutherford to vet allegations brought against him by a former employee that the treasurer engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment and political pressure.
Lad also questioned Wells’ investigation, saying the ethics officer relied on statements from “co-workers who were set to find ways to retaliate against me for cooperating with an internal investigation.” Daglas did not say he felt he was being retaliated against in his formal response to the report, but told the Tribune on Wednesday that the trio was unfairly targeted for participating in the Rutherford probe. Carlson and Lad declined to comment further, deferring to their written responses.
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* I put this post together during the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, but never published it. Not sure why. But as you’ll soon see, it’s relevant to today’s revelation about Bruce Rauner.
* I’ve known several people, all poor, who faced the constant threat of arrest over things like a small fine not being paid, or a hospital collects on a debt and a court date is missed and they can’t afford to pony up…
In Ferguson, court fees and fines are the second largest source of funds for the city; $2.6 million was collected in 2013 alone. That’s become a key source of tension. There is a perception in the area, Harvey says, that the black population is targeted to pay those fines. Eighty-six percent of the traffic stops, for example, happen to black residents — even though the city is 67 percent black.
“I can’t tell you what’s going on in the mind of a police officer but, in the mind of my clients, they’re being pulled over because they’re black,” Harvey says. “They’re being pulled over so the city can generate revenue.” […]
“This becomes a major issue: if you can’t pay your fines, you stop going to court. And then a warrant goes out for their arrest, and if they don’t have the fine money they’ll sit in jail until the next court date. We’re talking about traffic tickets here, really the lowest level offense.”
* People all over the country get caught up in this ridiculous cycle. And if they do wind up arrested and sit in jail, they can lose their jobs and their kids. From the New Yorker…
(A)cross much of America, what starts as a simple speeding ticket can, if you’re too poor to pay, mushroom into an insurmountable debt, padded by probation fees and, if you don’t appear in court, by warrant fees. (Often, poverty means transience—not everyone who is sent a court summons receives it.) “Across the country, impoverished people are routinely jailed for court costs they’re unable to pay,” Alec Karakatsanis, a cofounder of Equal Justice Under Law, a nonprofit civil-rights organization that has begun challenging this practice in municipal courts, said. These kinds of fines snowball when defendants’ cases are turned over to for-profit probation companies for collection, since the companies charge their own “supervision” fees. What happens when people fall behind on their payments? Often, police show up at their doorsteps and take them to jail.
From there, the snowball rolls. “Going to jail has huge impacts on people at the edge of poverty,” Sara Zampieren, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, told me. “They lose their job, they lose custody of their kids, they get behind on their home-foreclosure payments,” the sum total of which, she said, is “devastating.” While in prison, “user fees” often accumulate, so that, even after you leave, you’re not quite free. A recent state-by-state survey conducted by NPR showed that in at least forty-three states defendants can be billed for their own public defender, a service to which they have a Constitutional right; in at least forty-one states, inmates can be charged for room and board in jail and prison.
* Thankfully, Illinois took a stand against this craziness two years ago. From a May 30, 2012 press release…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan today applauded state lawmakers for supporting the Debtors’ Rights Act of 2012, a measure that would protect poor people from being jailed over unpaid debts.
Small traffic-related fines, hospital bills and the like were covered under that legislation. It was a very good bill that helped Illinois move away from criminalizing poverty. Other states, however, are not so enlightened.
* Now, on to Bruce Rauner. It’s not known whether Rauner had anything to do with plans to purchase this company, which was finalized just two months after he retired from GTCR, so it’s once again difficult to pin anything on him. From the Chicago Reader…
Though Rauner retired from GTCR in 2012, he’s still an investor in it. Not long after he left the firm, it acquired a company called Correctional Healthcare Companies, which provides medical and mental care, including “behavioral programming,” for prisons and jails that want to save money by outsourcing such services.
Illinois is one of the states that’s contracted with CHC. As the Better Government Association has reported, the mental care it’s provided at juvenile detention facilities has been the subject of a lawsuit—though the suit was filed against the Quinn administration. Records show that the state has paid CHC about $21 million since 2012.
But CHC owns another company that does far more controversial work. Judicial Correction Services doesn’t operate in Illinois, but in a number of states in the south it’s a leading provider of what’s called private or offender-funded probation. Simply put, the company contracts with local courts to oversee people on probation for misdemeanor offenses. The arrangement is attractive to budget-cutting officials because there are no direct costs for taxpayers: the offenders cover expenses by paying monthly fees to be supervised.
The thing is, these aren’t hardened criminals—they’re people snared in the court system for committing low-level offenses. And the problem with asking them to pay is that many of them are on probation because they didn’t have the money to pay the fines for their misdemeanors in the first place. The ACLU calls the practice “court-sanctioned extortion.”
* From that BGA story…
In Illinois, the company has drawn criticism in connection with a federal lawsuit filed in 2012 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois against the state Department of Juvenile Justice, accusing the state agency of inadequately treating detainees with mental health conditions. […]
But Dr. Louis Kraus, a court-appointed expert in the ACLU case, says he found that Correctional Healthcare “is not meeting the needs of the kids.” Kraus, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center, says he found some Correctional Healthcare employees lacked the training and certification needed to treat juveniles with serious mental health and psychiatric problems. […]
An unrelated court case, which was settled in November 2012 for undisclosed terms, accused Correctional Healthcare of being “deliberately indifferent” to the medical needs of an unnamed Illinois youth prisoner. That lawsuit was filed in May 2011 in federal court in Chicago against Correctional Healthcare, an affiliate of the company and a Correctional Healthcare physician the lawsuit said didn’t send the detainee to a hospital until more than 14 hours after the boy first complained of severe testicular pain. As a result, one of the boy’s testicles had to be surgically removed, according to the suit.
Discuss.
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* Roland Burris was expected to testify against C. Gregory Turner in his federal trial related to alleged illegal lobbying on behalf of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. But Turner’s lawyers say they received new federal documents about what’s said to be a federal investigation into the former US Senator. The Sun-Times has the scoop…
Prosecutors Barry Jonas and Georgia Alexakis said most of the documents handed to Turner’s lawyers Thursday relate to the federal probe of Burris’s controversial appointment by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the U.S. Senate in 2008, which was already “in the public domain.” But they also acknowledged that there is also new information about a second probe of Burris, which they described as “sensitive” and said should not be discussed in open court.
Details of the new allegations against Burris weren’t discussed publicly Friday morning, but after [Turner lawyer James Tunick] passed the judge a three-page document that details the new allegations, the judge’s eye’s bulged and she appeared to stare pointedly at prosecutors.
“As you can see, it’s very serious,” Tunick told her. […]
Bucklo ordered both sides to return at 3 p.m. so that they can discuss the matter further.
OK, let’s please not speculate in comments. We’ll track any further developments later this afternoon.
*** UPDATE *** From the Twitters…
Oof.
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Madiar argues against pension reform law
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Via the Senate Democrats comes this op-ed by their chief legal counsel Eric Madiar…
Anyone following the pension reform debate knows that Illinois has long diverted the moneys needed to properly fund its pension systems to avoid tax increases, cuts in public services or both. Some may not admit it, but they know it. They also know this practice is the primary reason why the systems are underwater.
Since much of my time over the last three years has been spent on our State’s pension problem, I wanted to find out how long it’s been that way and how long we have known about it. Well, as chronicled in an article I wrote now published by Chicago-Kent College of Law, I have an answer.
1917. No, that’s not a typo.
In 1917, the Illinois Pension Laws Commission warned State leaders in a report that the retirement systems were nearing “insolvency” and “moving toward crisis” because of the State’s failure to properly fund the systems. This nearly century old report also recommended action so that the pension obligations of that generation would not be passed on to future generations.
The 1917 report’s warning and funding recommendation went unheeded, as were similar warnings and funding recommendations found in decades of public pension reports issued before and after the Pension Clause was added to the Illinois Constitution in 1970.
These reports have consistently warned the public and lawmakers for decades of the dire consequences of the State’s continued underfunding, and of the significant burden that unfunded pension liabilities posed for taxpayers. They have also been advised that the Pension Clause bars the legislature from unilaterally cutting pension benefits of retirees and current employees.
Indeed, one of the Clause’s purposes is to prevent the State from reneging on its pension obligations during a fiscal crisis due to the burden imposed by the State’s unfunded liabilities. The Clause was added at a time when the pension systems were no better than they are today.
These reports also reveal that, as early as 1979, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s advised the State that it would lose its AAA bond rating if the State did not begin tackling its increasing unfunded pension liabilities. Also, in 1982, Governor Jim Thompson succeeded in passing legislation making pension funding far more dependent upon stock market returns to stave off higher State pension contributions. Interestingly, that legislation resulted from a report commissioned by Governor Thompson, which highlighted how the pension systems should consider investing in mortgage-backed securities to obtain higher stock market returns.
Further, a 1985 task force report noted that Standard and Poor’s reduced its bond rating for Illinois from AAA to AA+ due to the State’s “deferral of pension obligations,” and that another rating agency viewed the State’s pension funding as a future financial “time bomb.” Finally, the much heralded 1995 pension funding plan was designed to increase the State’s unfunded liabilities and postpone the State’s actuarially-sound pension contributions until 2034.
Given this well-documented history, it’s extremely hard to legitimately believe that our State’s current situation is so surprising that the Illinois Constitution can be ignored and pension benefits unilaterally cut. As noted in my previous legal research, the Pension Clause does not support such a result.
The likelihood of that result occurring seems even more remote given the Illinois Supreme Court’s July decision. In that decision, the court explained that the Clause was intended to “insulate” benefits from “diminishment or impairment by the General Assembly”, and that the court could not rewrite the Clause “to include restrictions and limitations that the drafters did not express and the citizens of Illinois did not approve.”
Make no mistake about it, the court’s July decision strongly signals doom for the argument that the 2013 pension reform bill is constitutional because the legislature can trump the Pension Clause when it declares a fiscal necessity. So too does the State’s sordid history of failing to properly fund the State’s pension system.
When it comes to Illinois’ pension funding problem “what’s past is prologue.” Addressing this problem, however, requires the acceptance of this history as well as the obligations and boundaries imposed by the Pension Clause.
Madiar’s Chicago-Kent article is here.
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Open thread
Friday, Sep 26, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Man, it never fails. Wake up late and everything then seems to take twice as long to finish. Sorry about the lack of posts this morning.
So, while I continue trying to catch up, how about a local elections open thread? Let us know what’s going on in your neck of the woods.
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“Zig-zagging the state”
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Terry James at WJBC…
Republican Lt. Gubernatorial Candidate Evelyn Sanguinetti made a stop in Bloomington Thursday morning to talk an alleged secret program by Governor Pat Quinn to release prisoners early.
Sanguinetti says those criminals went on to commit more crime. WJBC News asked Sanguinetti what the Rauner administration would do about crime in Illinois if elected.
“For starters it’s not to have the secret program to put criminals out on the street and putting our families in jeopardy,” said Sanguinetti. “As a mother of three small children, I would have certainly liked to know and object.”
* Many thanks to Terry for the raw audio, which is simply priceless…
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Tomorrow’s news today
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* OK, let’s try this again. The last video didn’t work properly and I had to take the post down.
Gov. Pat Quinn answered reporters’ questions today. He was repeatedly asked about Bruce Rauner’s Harold Washington TV ad, but did his best to turn it back on Rauner, calling it a “diversion” from Rauner’s nursing home scandal. He talked about other subjects as well. It’s definitely worth a listen…
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Today’s number: 29,228
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Keep in mind that these TV advertising numbers compiled by The Center for Public Integrity go back all the way to January 1st and run through September 13th. But Rauner was bashing Quinn throughout the primary, so that’s why I didn’t take the time to break them out. These totals also don’t include local cable TV buys.
The two sides are pushing thousands of points this week on Chicago TV alone, so fresh numbers would be much higher…
RAUNER: 11,900 “mixed ads” - $6.8 million - targeting Pat Quinn, supporting Bruce Rauner
RAUNER: 935 “negative ads” $944,500 - targeting Pat Quinn
RAUNER: 5,547 “positive ads” - $6.5 million - supporting Bruce Rauner
TOTAL RAUNER: 18,382 ads - $14.2 million
QUINN: 3,880 “negative ads” - $3.4 million - targeting Bruce Rauner
QUINN: 1,244 “positive ads” - $2.4 million - supporting Pat Quinn
IL FREEDOM PAC: 5,722 “negative ads” - $4.9 million - targeting Bruce Rauner
TOTAL QUINN/IFP: 10,846 ads - $10.7 million
GRAND TOTAL: 29,228 ads - $24.9 Million
Expect more. Lots and lots more.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a press release…
Today, Gov. Quinn reportedly told the Daily Herald editorial board that he “never promised that the income tax hike would be temporary.” But video of a 2011 press conference shows otherwise: Gov. Quinn referred to the tax hike as “temporary” no less than three times.
“Gov. Quinn is clearly trying to rewrite history. The facts and his own words portray a different story,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider. “If he’s willing to be this bold in twisting his own words, why would we trust anything he says?”
* The press release is based on this Tweet…
* Back to the press release…
* “I want to point out that the, I guess, one point of the income tax, one percent, is temporary for four years. It will fall to 3.75% at the end of that time.” - Gov. Pat Quinn post tax hike press conference, January 12, 2011 – Video from Rich Miller/Blueroomstream – quote at 12:25
* “Well, the concept here is this is a temporary income tax to deal with the immediate fiscal emergency our state faces; to pay the bills so we don’t have severe cutbacks in education, health care, public safety, important things that are absolutely vital to the lives of the citizens,” Quinn added. - CBS Chicago, January 12, 2011 - Quinn defends income tax hike
* “We have some temporary tax increases that are designed to pay our bills, get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing and make sure that our state has a strong economy.” —Gov. Pat Quinn post tax hike press conference, January 12, 2011 – Video from Rich Miller/Blueroomstream – quote at 4:00
That CBS2 quote is at about the 14:00 mark of the “Rich Miller/Blueroomstream” video. He again references the phase-out at about the 26:00 mark.
* But at about the 15:00 mark, Quinn was asked: “Four years from now, do you support making this five percent tax increase permanent?” His response…
“We’ll deal with one day at a time, one week, one month, one year at a time.”
* The Question: Fair hit by the IRP or not? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
survey service
[Oops. Had to change the answers. Sorry about that. Yes and No didn’t track with the question.]
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Drops in the bucket hyped as important floods
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My in-box has been bombarded the past two days by Sen. Dick Durbin’s DC office announcing tiny little grants as if they were major developments…
DURBIN ANNOUNCES A MORE THAN $15.2 MILLION INVESTMENT IN ILLINOIS HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS
“Today’s funding is an important investment in the Illinois public health system, in the health research done at our hospitals and universities, and in the primary care programs that keep our citizens healthy,” said Durbin. “These programs – whether they are providing valuable patient care or researching the causes of disease – will help Illinoisans lead long, healthy lives.”
DURBIN ANNOUNCES A $1.6 MILLION INVESTMENT TO SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING SERVICES IN ILLINOIS
“This federal funding invests in resources to train new mental health providers who will care for young people struggling with behavioral or mental illnesses. It will also equip teachers and others with the tools they need to effectively identify and respond to mental health issues in youth, and fund school and community efforts to improve access mental health services,” Durbin said.
DURBIN ANNOUNCES OVER $1.8 MILLION INVESTMENT IN ILLINOIS SCHOOLS
“Today’s announcement is an investment in the safety of students in Illinois classrooms,” Durbin said. “Ensuring that our classrooms are safe, inclusive spaces will help prevent our youth from turning away from their studies and toward drugs and violence. We must also ensure that these efforts include reforms to better discipline our students without forcing them out of the classroom and into a courtroom.”
DURBIN ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $1.7 MILLION IN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FUNDING FOR MENTORING, RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS
“The funding announced today will enhance ongoing efforts in Chicago and throughout the state to provide services that support previously incarcerated young people and adults and help them reintegrate back into society through mentorship programs,” Durbin said. “It is critical that the federal government support these programs, which have helped many get back on their feet, find jobs, and become productive members of the community after incarceration.”
All of those were received within the past 25 hours.
Sheesh.
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* From a press release…
Downstate Democrat Mike Frerichs, candidate for State Treasurer, is calling on his Republican opponent, 22-year incumbent Republican Tom Cross, to cut his ties with American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and renounce their agenda. This week Google, Facebook, and Yelp joined a long list of companies that have cut ties with ALEC. The national right-wing think tank is accused of undermining efforts to address climate change and spearheading anti-environmental legislation nationwide.
Frerichs, a Certified Public Finance Officer, notes that the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) called on all states to incorporate sustainability practices into their investment standards in 2012. GFOA represents 18,000 public finance experts across the U.S. and Canada. Frerichs has pledged to bolster efforts in the Treasurer’s office to improve sustainable agriculture if elected. Frerichs says the Ag Invest program, which partners with local banks to provide discounted loans, has been underutilized.
“Tom Cross and Bruce Rauner embrace a philosophy of maximizing profits at any cost that has been firmly rejected not just by public finance officers, but also by leading Illinois businesses like Caterpillar and John Deere,” says Zach Koutsky, Frerichs’ campaign manager. “Mike Frerichs has called for a renewed effort to invest in sustainable agriculture that would support farmers looking to purchase the latest green technology and grow our economy. Tom Cross says we should only be focused on maximizing interest rates.”
Frerichs was recently endorsed by the Illinois Sierra Club in his race against Cross, who has a history of anti-environmental votes in the legislature.
Cross is an Identified Leader of ALEC, a rightwing think tank that denies global warming
Cross is a leader within the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a rightwing corporate think tank, according to nonpartisan watchdogs at The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). In 2011, Cross participated in an ALEC conference aimed at restricting the rights of women, racial minorities, gay Americans and older workers in all 50 states to sue for wrongful termination, workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.
Cross Voted Against Legislation Sponsored By Obama To Protect Lake Michigan
Tom Cross voted against a measure co-sponsored by state Sen. Barack Obama to block sludge treatment facilities from being built near Lake Michigan. Cross was one of only 20 No votes in the Illinois House against the bipartisan measure (SB 1003).
Cross Voted Against Legislation to Warn Parents of Contaminated Drinking Water
Cross led House Republican opposition to legislation notifying the public about contaminated drinking water. Cross voted No and was joined by nearly all of his GOP colleagues in opposing the measure. (HB 3264)
That first bill became law - 11 years ago. The second bill was never called in the Senate after passing the House three years ago.
*** UPDATE *** The Cross campaign flatly denies that he attended that 2011 ALEC conference. ADDING: They also point to this story which shows he was in his own district during the ALEC conference.
They also rightly point out that HB 3264 was sponsored by Rep. Naomi Jakobsson, who represents half of Sen. Frerichs’ district. Yet, Frerichs did not pick up the bill in the Senate as a co-sponsor. The bill status shows no Senate sponsors at all. So, if the legislation was that important, they say, why didn’t Frerichs pick it up?
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* The Tribune continues its coverage of the federal bankruptcy trial of a nursing home chain once partly owned by Bruce Rauner’s GTCR…
[Edgar Jannotta], who was both a partner at GTCR and a director of Trans Healthcare, also testified about communications concerning Trans Healthcare he had in 2004 and 2005 with other GTCR partners on an investment committee that included Rauner, now the Republican candidate for Illinois governor. Rauner is not a defendant in the Florida lawsuit, though GTCR and Jannotta are defendants. Rauner and Jannotta have both retired from the equity firm.
In those exchanges, Jannotta warned the investment committee that Trans Healthcare’s finances were so shaky it might have to file for bankruptcy protection. Instead, Trans Healthcare was sold in a pair of complicated transactions that plaintiffs’ attorneys say cleaved off the chain’s liabilities into a new firm that effectively had no assets. […]
In his testimony, Jannotta acknowledged that the sale of Trans Healthcare that GTCR took part in did not contemplate any eventual damage award payments to the estates of nursing home residents. He said that was because new companies created in the transaction were to handle any claims. GTCR was not involved with those new companies, which bore variations of the name Fundamental.
“Part of the consideration of the sale was … the Fundamental entities were taking responsibility for those liabilities,” Jannotta testified in the deposition.
* Meanwhile, Kurt Erickson has a piece today about how at least a dozen former Rauner companies have declared bankruptcy. One example…
Another company owned by GTCR, Graceway Pharmaceuticals, also butted heads with federal regulators over one of its key products— a medicine designed to treat skin cancer.
The company was unsuccessful in keeping its patent on Aldara, allowing cheaper generic versions to hit the market. Although cancer patients had access to less expensive options, that meant the company’s revenue plummeted from $320 million to $52 million.
“The loss of exclusivity with respect to Aldara, and the resulting decrease in net sales, is the primary factor that has led” to the bankruptcy, noted Gregory C. Jones, Graceway’s executive vice president of strategic development.
As the company was heading into bankruptcy in 2010, GTCR took $9 million in cash out of the company. The company later was forced to pay more than $6 million of that money back.
Kinda blatant, no?
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Rauner campaign disputes the story…
Rich -
Unsurprisingly, the facts on Graceway are not as presented by the Freedom PAC folks. The $9 million distribution was a TAX distribution, which was required under Graceway’s Limited Liability Company Agreement. The investment into Graceway was structured in a way that had taxable earnings flow through the holding company. The tax distributions are then remitted to state and federal governments. Notably, Graceway did not make any discretionary distributions in 2010.
Simply put, the tax distributions would have gone directly into the U.S. treasury.
The $9 Million Distribution From Graceway In 2010 Was A Tax Distribution, To Pay Income Taxes On The Company’s Earnings. “The 2010 tax distribution totaling $9,127,166.00 was made on March 18, 2010. The Debtors made no further distributions to the Members following this distribution.” (“DEBTORS’ MOTION FOR AN ORDER AUTHORIZING THE DEBTORS TO ENTER INTO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH GTCR,” In re: GRACEWAY PHARMACEUTICALS, LLC, United States Bankruptcy Court For The District Of Delaware, Case No. 11-13036 (PJW), 2/14/12, p.4)
· Graceway Did Not Make Any Discretionary Distributions In 2010. (“DEBTORS’ MOTION FOR AN ORDER AUTHORIZING THE DEBTORS TO ENTER INTO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH GTCR,” In re: GRACEWAY PHARMACEUTICALS, LLC, United States Bankruptcy Court For The District Of Delaware, Case No. 11-13036 (PJW), 2/14/12, p.4)
*** UPDATE 2 *** Illinois Freedom PAC…
Rich,
The Rauner campaign’s statement was highly misleading. The fact that it was a tax distribution does not change a thing. It just means that GTCR obtained $9 million from an insolvent company to pay their own tax liabilities on their investment in Graceway before creditors could state their claims to the money. This is why a judge ordered them to pay back $6 million of the money they took from the company, including $4.5 million to first lien creditors. It was still a greedy and heartless maneuver because Graceway was cutting jobs and slashing benefits.
It’s telling that the Rauner camp did not deny that GTCR
· Acted to protect its own profits over the interests of cancer patients,
· Cut 130 jobs
· Slashed employees’ health care and retirement benefits, and
· Took $9 million from a failing company, most of it which it was forced to repay.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* The full oppo report by the union-backed Illinois Freedom PAC…
THE SAME MONTH GTCR-OWNED GRACEWAY PHARMA LAID OFF 40% OF ITS WORKFORCE AND CUT BENEFITS, GTCR PAID ITSELF $9 MILLION AND WAS FORCED TO PAY BACK $6 MILLION OF THAT DURING BANKRUPTCY
GTCR founded Graceway Pharmaceuticals in 2006, committing $200 million to develop the company. In 2010, Graceway’s sales started to plummet, and the company laid off 40% of its workforce and cut benefits including vision care and 401k matching for its remaining employees. The same month that these moves were announced, GTCR gave itself a $9.1 million distribution from the company. Shortly after, Graceway began defaulting on its debts and went into bankruptcy. During the bankruptcy proceedings, GTCR was ordered to pay back $6 million of the 2010 distribution it received from Graceway, because the company was already insolvent when the payment was made.
GTCR FOUNDED GRACEWAY PHARMACEUTICALS IN 2006
GTCR Founded Graceway Pharmaceuticals In 2006. “Founded in 2006 by King Pharmaceuticals Inc. chief executive Jefferson J. Gregory and private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, Graceway focuses on acquiring branded prescription products and licensing products. The company specializes in dermatology, respiratory and women’s health products. [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
2006: GTCR Said It Would Commit $200 Million To Develop Graceway. “In 2006 the firm said it would commit up to $200 million to develop Graceway. GTCR did not respond to a call for comment.” [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
July 2011: GTCR Remained The Sole Sponsor Of Graceway Pharmaceuticals. “Graceway brought in Lazard as of at least April to help look at its options. GTCR remains the sole sponsor of the business.” [Daily Deal, 7/12/11]
December 2011: Graceway Pharmaceuticals Sold To Medicis Pharmaceutical Group For $455 Million. “Graceway will fund its plan with the proceeds from the $455 million sale of its assets to Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., which closed Dec. [The Deal Pipeline, 4/12/12]
GRACEWAY LAID OFF 40% OF ITS WORKFORCE AND CUT BENEFITS DUE TO LACK OF SALES
March 2010: Graceway Laid Off 130 Of Its 323 Employees. “In federal court filings Tuesday, Graceway revealed that it will lay off 130 of its 323 employees, and that it is ‘taking drastic steps to avoid bankruptcy.’” [Bristol Herald Courier, 3/25/10]
March 2010: Graceway “Lopped Off 60% Of Its Payroll; Cancelled Matching Contributions To Its 401K Program; And Eliminated Subsidies For Vision Coverage And Dependent Life Insurance.” “Bellamy confirmed Tuesday that Graceway was dismissing about 40 percent of its employees, but refused to provide any further details about how many people and what positions were affected. Those details were spelled out in court filings later Tuesday: Graceway has lopped off 60 percent of its payroll; cancelled matching contributions to its 401k program; and eliminated subsidies for vision coverage and dependent life insurance.” [Bristol Herald Courier, 3/25/10]
March 2010: Graceway Senior VP Of Human Resources: “Graceway’s Entire Workforce Is Distracted, Unsettled And In Poor Spirits.” “In a declaration supporting Graceway’s bid for an injunction against Nycomed, a senior executive painted a grim picture of the workplace environment. “Graceway’s entire workforce is distracted, unsettled, and in poor spirits,” according to the declaration by John William Musick, senior vice president for human resources. “Their work performance and productivity has suffered dramatically. Rather than devoting their time to researching and developing new products or marketing and selling existing products, they are worrying about keeping their jobs and beginning to look for new jobs.” [Bristol Herald Courier, 3/25/10]
Graceway Pharmaceuticals Laid Off 40% Of Its Workforce. “In May 2010, Graceway laid off 40% of its workforce.” [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
THE SAME MONTH AS THE ANNOUNCED LAYOFFS AND BENEFIT CUTS, GTCR PAID ITSELF $9.1 MILLION FROM GRACEWAY
March 2010: Graceway Made A $9.1 Million Distribution To GTCR “When The Company Was Already Insolvent.” “In March 2010, Graceway Holdings made a $9.1 million distribution that the debtors say was made when the company was already insolvent, according to the motion. Graceway said that because of this, the funds could be subject to potential avoidance or recovery actions under the Bankruptcy Code. GTCR disputed this, according to the motion.” [Law360, 2/14/12]
GRACEWAY REPEATEDLY DEFAULTED ON ITS DEBT AND S&P CUT ITS BOND RATING
Graceway Owed Over $430 Million In First-Lien Debt And Defaulted On The Debt In 2010. “Further injuring the drug company was the large amount of first-lien, second-lien and mezzanine debt issued on May 3, 2007. As of Wednesday, Graceway owed $430.7 million to first-lien lenders led by Bank of America NA, $330 million to second-lien lenders and $81.4 million to mezzanine lenders. Graceway also owes about $30 million to unsecured trade creditors. The first-lien notes include a $650 million term loan due May 3, 2012, as well as a $30 million revolver, $10 million swing line loan and up to $10 million in letters of credit. Graceway defaulted on the first-lien debt in 2010 but cured the default through an Oct. 15, 2010, agreement.” [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
Standard & Poors Downgraded Graceway’s Credit Rating To SD From B- After Graceway Defaulted On Second Lien Debt On August 31, 2010. “In September 2010, Standard & Poor’s rating service lowered Graceway’s corporate credit rating to SD from B- after the business failed to make an Aug. 31, 2010, interest payment on the second-lien term loan.” [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
2011: GRACEWAY PHARMACEUTICALS FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY LISTING UP TO $1 BILLION IN DEBT
September 2011: Graceway Filed For Bankruptcy. “Graceway filed the bankruptcy proceedings Sept. 29 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. In the bankruptcy court documents, Graceway listed an estimated $1 billion in debt and some $500 million in assets.” [Bristol Herald Courier, 10/19/11]
In Its Bankruptcy Petition, Graceway Listed Assets Of $100-$500 Million And Debt Of Between $500 Million To One Billion Dollars. “In its petition, Graceway listed assets of $100 million to $500 million and liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion. It wasn’t clear how much GTCR has invested in the company to date.” [Daily Deal, 9/29/11]
GTCR WAS ORDERED TO PAY BACK $6 MILLION OF THE $9 MILLION IT TOOK FROM THE COMPANY IN 2010
GTCR Was Ordered To Pay $6 Million To Graceway’s Debtors Because Of Allegations GTCR Recouped $9.1 Million In Distributions From Graceway In 2010. “The new disclosure statement and plan outline a settlement with Graceway equity sponsor GTCR Golder Rauner LLC. Under the settlement, filed Feb. 14, the Chicago private equity firm would pay $4.5 million to the first-lien lenders and $1.5 million to the debtor’s estate. The settlement stems from allegations that members of GTCR had recouped about $9.1 million from distributions from Graceway in 2010.” [The Deal Pipeline, 4/12/12]
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Fact checking the fact checkers
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The AP ran a “Fact Check” of Bruce Rauner’s “early release” TV ad (which you can watch by clicking here). But I’ve got some quibbles with some of the “facts” presented…
RAUNER’S CLAIM: “What happened after Quinn freed them is unthinkable. Sexual assault of a minor, violent domestic abuse and more senseless murders.”
FACTS: The AP found several cases of freed inmates later charged with domestic abuse. At least one is serving a life sentence for a Peoria County murder after early release.
That’s not entirely accurate. Edjuan Payne wasn’t released under the now-infamous 2009 MGT-Push program, he was released in 2010 by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
* From a 2010 Peoria Journal Star story…
Payne was found to have consumed alcohol - a parole violation - during a check Jan. 17 [2010] and was taken back to prison, Elman said. Under department guidelines, his violation after early release meant he had to serve the rest of his sentence, which would have kept him behind bars until July 22.
Another state body, however, intervened. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which has the authority to alter inmates’ sentences by awarding credit for good time and conduct hearings on alleged parole violations, allowed Payne’s early release once again.
The board granted parole to Payne on March 29. On Friday, 47 days later, he made his first court appearance in Peoria County on a second round of murder allegations.
* And, yes, Payne’s parole agent did recommend that he only serve two months for the violation, but he actually served longer than that 2-month recommendation before the Prisoner Review Board set him free, as the AP itself reported at the time…
But records reviewed by The Associated Press show Corrections recommended Payne serve only two months for his parole infractions.
Payne was locked up longer than that before the PRB set him free.
Corrections spokeswoman Sharyn Elman said Monday that Payne’s parole agent suggested the two-month term and it was not an official agency recommendation, although it was signed by her supervisor.
* And in either case, the Department of Corrections’ MGT-Push program was halted in December of 2009 by Gov. Quinn, months before Payne’s release, as the AP reports today…
QUINN RESPONSE: In a fundraising email to supporters, Quinn campaign manager Lou Bertuca responded that “Gov. Quinn didn’t authorize a single early release. In fact, the very day he found out about the program, he shut it down.”
FACTS: It’s true that Quinn suspended early release within hours of the AP’s report, and permanently terminated it at the end of that month. But two days after the article, Quinn said he had known about the program and claimed it had been well-publicized, but wouldn’t say why he was halting it. The next day, he said then-Corrections Director Michael Randle had not followed specific instructions to bar violent offenders from early release.
When he formally ended the good-time program Dec. 30, 2009, Quinn said he hadn’t known about the program until reading the AP account.
Yes, Quinn said he knew about the program, but he insisted that the program he’d authorized was only for non-violent offenders. Director Randle, Quinn said, had disobeyed his orders and was eventually forced out. And he hadn’t known about the program until reading the AP account actually translates into Quinn’s claim that he didn’t know about violent offenders being released, not about the program itself. A bit of twisting there.
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A “magical” caption contest!
Thursday, Sep 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Palos Heights/Palos Park Regional Journal…
Palos Heights retired famed magician Ron Urban and his son Renaud meet GOP governor hopeful Bruce Rauner
* The pic…
So, is this magician’s powers part of Bruce Rauner’s secret plan to increase spending, cut taxes and balance the budget? Maybe so. Or maybe Mr. Urban will make the nursing home scandal magically disappear. Or… ?
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* Democratic Congresswoman Cheri Bustos met with the Quad-City Times editorial board and was asked about her 2012 promise to give up 10 percent of her congressional salary. She didn’t come off very well…
Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., said Wednesday that she made a mistake two years ago by saying she’d cut her own pay if elected, but added that she is trustworthy and, in the end, what’s really important is getting results. […]
“It was a vigorous back and forth, and I said something I shouldn’t have said,” Bustos said. “You don’t make decisions like that without talking to your husband about it or anything else.”
Bustos said she did not intend to follow through on the matter, because “my pledge to the residents and the citizens of this district” was that she’d support legislation to cut lawmaker pay. “I did support that legislation,” she said. […]
“I work very hard. My word is good, and I have taken very, very seriously my reputation, my family’s reputation. I made a mistake. I’m sitting her telling you I made a mistake. I should not have said that,” Bustos said.
* Schilling campaign response…
Jon Schweppe, communications director at Bobby Schilling for Congress, said that Bustos should follow through on her promise, not apologize for getting caught breaking it.
“Congresswoman Bustos is wrong,” Schweppe said. “Her word isn’t good. She didn’t make a mistake—she made a promise. She made a promise and she broke it. If she wants to make good, she should give back the money. Period.
“And to say her word is good after everything she has ‘misspoken’ about—the shutdown pay, the investment in a Chinese company that ships American jobs overseas, the veterans cuts, the slanderous statements about Bobby Schilling’s employer—is almost laughable but mostly just sad at this point.”
* The Schilling campaign also has a new TV ad which addresses the matter…
* Script…
Narrator: “Congresswoman Cheri Bustos refuses to be accountable for her promises and her votes. Bustos promised she’d cut her own pay by 10 percent, now she claims she ‘misspoke.’
Bustos cast a vote on House Joint Resolution 59 on December 12, 2013, a vote to cut veterans benefits by six billion.
After public outcry, Bustos voted to restore the cuts… will she now claim she ‘mis-voted?’ The facts don’t lie.”
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* The SJ-R’s editorial board interview of Gov. Pat Quinn was posted yesterday and only has 18 views as I write this. It does take awhile sometimes for YouTube’s counts to catch up to actual view counts, but let’s run that way up today because I’m sure there must be something of interest. Let us know what you find, if anything, in comments…
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IL-12 now rated “pure tossup” by Rothenberg
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Rothenberg Political Report…
Illinois’ 12th District. Neither Mike Bost (R) or Rep. Bill Enyart (D) are lighting the Downstate district on fire, but one of them has to win in November. Democrats have been attacking Bost with ads that include his fiery tirade on the state House floor, but the Republican is still standing and may even be leading in the race. This is a competitive district where Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is going to get crushed by Bruce Rauner (R) at the top of the ticket and Enyart just hasn’t done the work that some of his freshman colleagues have done to put himself in a stronger re-election position. We’re changing our rating from Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic to Pure Toss-Up.
Quinn isn’t gonna get “crushed” in the western end of that district, but I don’t really dispute the rating change.
Discuss.
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The great Illinois smoke-out
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* State Rep. Dan Brady doesn’t appear all that enthused about IDPH’s proposed new rules to ban smoking in outdoor beer gardens…
The Illinois Department of Public Health is preparing an administrative rule that could shut down tobacco smoking in patios and other outdoor places of public accommodation. These areas, often called “decks” or “beer gardens,” are allowed by the zoning rules of many Illinois municipalities and local governments. They are used by restaurants and taverns to accommodate smokers who are eating or drinking at places where food or alcohol is served. Rules are already in place to enforce the Smoke-Free Illinois Act prohibiting the smoking of tobacco at indoor locations where food or beverages are prepared or served. The proposed new rulemaking would expand this prohibition to cover outdoor ancillary locations also used by an establishment for serving.
The proposed rule change would affect the private property of small businesses throughout Illinois. Several owners of licensed establishments have told their legislators and the press that they had built or modified patios and beer gardens in response to specific assurances, including in at least one case an alleged written assurance, from the Department of Public Health that smoking in a covered outdoor location would be acceptable under State law if the smoking area was accessible to servers but not adjacent to an ingress/egress doorway or window.
* And, speaking of smoking, from Dick Durbin’s office…
Today U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Representatives Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), John D. Dingell (D-MI), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) releasing a new report that found that hundreds of tobacco advertisements and images glorifying smoking and e-cigarettes appear in magazines with large teen readerships.
The report finds that “tobacco companies continue to glamorize smoking in advertisements in magazines with large youth readership” and that “magazines frequently contain alluring images of smokers in their editorial content.”
The report identified hundreds of advertisements, photos, and other images – many featuring alluring images of celebrities glamorizing smoking and e-cigarette use. These advertisements and images appeared most frequently in Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, US Weekly, People, and Time.
Um, Time has a “large teen readership”? I had no idea. Actually, I didn’t think anybody under 60 read that magazine any longer.
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Today’s number: $126 million
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rahmbo no likey the weed…
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday knocked down potential challenger Karen Lewis’ idea to legalize and tax marijuana, saying he doesn’t “think you should balance the budget by promoting recreational smoking of pot.”
OK, who’s talking about “promoting” it? Just get the government the heck outta the way.
* I’m kinda choking a little here as I write this, but I’m with Karen Lewis on this issue…
“I think it’s important for us to start thinking very differently about revenue sources,” Lewis said. “In Colorado, in the first quarter alone, the state generated $80 million. Come on. Not only that, but having a sensible drug policy stops a lot of other silliness.”
Told that the mayor criticized her idea, Lewis said the casino that Emanuel wants to build in Chicago to boost revenue would be much more damaging to Chicagoans than legalized cannabis.
“I know for a fact that casinos have a devastating effect on families and communities, and people have lost their houses because they have gambling addictions and problems,” Lewis said. “But recreational usage of marijuana is worse? Come on. How do you compare that, to you also promoting casinos, which damage families way, way, way worse?”
* Lewis has a very good point about revenues. In fact, NerdWallet just did a study on this very topic and concluded Illinois could reap annual revenues of $126 million.
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* Gov. Quinn took questions from reporters today about Bruce Rauner’s new TV ad that uses some disparaging remarks about Quinn by the late Mayor Harold Washington. He said that his last conversation with the mayor was cordial…
Quinn said he “always did the right thing” as the city’s revenue director. “My conscience is clear,” Quinn said.
The governor said the last time he talked to Washington the mayor said, “ ‘Quinn, You’re my friend. You’ll always be my friend. Some day we’ll have a drink about this.’”
Quinn also said he didn’t get along with some Washington’s staffers.
Quinn also pointed to Mayor Washington’s strong support for increasing the minimum wage and the fact that there are no African-Americans in executive positions at Rauner’s former firm. Have a listen…
* But the Rauner campaign released some more info on the decades-ago spat, which got pretty darned nasty…
After Washington Fired Quinn, Quinn Publicly Attacked Him And Questioned His Honesty. “Former city Revenue Director Patrick Quinn said Monday that he told Mayor Harold Washington on two occasions that an aide tried to influence the timing of a city tax audit hearing but that Washington made no move to stop the practice. In an interview, Quinn, who was ousted last week from the post he held since November, also disputed figures released by city officials to show that a parking-ticket amnesty program he conceived was a failure. The forced resignation of Quinn, a grass-roots reformer, has sparked countercharges by Quinn and the mayor’s chief of staff, Ernest Barefield, who pressed for Quinn’s resignation. But Quinn on Monday, for the first time, disputed Washington’s statements about the incident.” (R Bruce Dold, “Quinn Disputes Mayor On Audit,” Chicago Tribune, 6/30/87)
Quinn Called Press Conferences Accusing The Washington Administration Of Improper, Politically-Motivated Hiring Decisions. “A former official of the Chicago Department of Revenue charged Tuesday he was fired for refusing a city official’s order to block the hiring of a job applicant who had ties to former Revenue Director Patrick Quinn. The surprise allegation, made at a press conference called by Quinn, touched off new questions about whether Washington administration aides have interfered in the scandal-plagued revenue department. City officials denied the charges and retorted that Quinn, the grassroots reformer who was brought in to shake up the department, attempted to circumvent court-ordered hiring guidelines himself to get a job for a friend.” (R Bruce Dold, “City Aide Says Quinn Link Got Him Fired,” Chicago Tribune, 8/12/87)
Quinn Accused The Washington Administration Of Lying About Motor Fuel Tax Collections To “Bamboozle” The City Council Into Approving A Property Tax Increase. “Patrick Quinn, ousted Chicago revenue director, accused the Washington administration Tuesday of deliberately overestimating income from motor fuel taxes to “bamboozle” the city council into approving the record $79.9 million property-tax increase last year. Quinn leveled his latest charges in a heated exchange with Lucille Dobbins, Mayor Harold Washington’s assistant for financial administration, during a radio interview about Quinn’s ouster in June.” (James Strong, “Quinn Says Council Was Tricked Into Passing Property-Tax Hike,” Chicago Tribune, 8/26/87)
Washington Said Quinn’s Charges Were A “Patent Lie.” “Later, Washington branded Quinn’s charges that the administration deliberately exaggerated the fuel taxes as a “patent lie” and said: ‘the estimates are just that. Sometimes you hit and sometime you’re off.’” (James Strong, “Quinn Says Council Was Tricked Into Passing Property-Tax Hike,” Chicago Tribune, 8/26/87)
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The person who took this photo of a car with bipartisan political bumper stickers was safely stopped at the time…
* The Question: Caption?
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Unclear on the concept
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m not quite sure why I received this e-mail from the Quinn campaign today…
ICYMI: Defense attorneys hit value of lawsuits in Rauner-linked nursing home case
Actually, the article points out something that I had on the blog the other day which backs up Rauner’s claims that nobody was trying to dump assets in the face of huge lawsuit threats…
Defense attorneys for a nursing home chain once owned by Bruce Rauner’s GTCR equity firm sought Wednesday to show a bankruptcy court judge that wrongful death cases involving patients could have been settled for modest sums, aiming to undercut claims that the owners had a motive to hide assets.
Under cross-examination, a former staff attorney for the nursing home chain testified that the plaintiff attorneys offered to settle six neglect and wrongful death lawsuits for a total of $200,000. The offer came as the company was trying to clear lawsuits off its books before filing for receivership in Maryland in 2009, said Kristi Anderson, who was a lawyer for Trans Healthcare of Baltimore at the time.
“There was some demand that came back in the neighborhood of $200,000,” Anderson testified.
When she relayed that to the chief financial officer of her company, his counter offer was $80,000 to settle all the suits. She said the attorney representing estates of the patients never responded, and that was the end of settlement talks.
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* Well, here’s a “controversy” I had never heard about until Bruce Rauner’s campaign sent it to me twice today. From an online publication called the Washington Free Beacon…
Wow. That sounds pretty darned serious.
* The lede…
Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s ongoing refusal to publicly defend the University of Illinois’ decision not to hire an academic whose anti-Semitic tweets sparked a national controversy is causing concern among local Jewish community leaders who feel that Quinn should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the school.
* The author claims that “Quinn has repeatedly refused to defend the university” without providing much explanation or any links to stories where he specifically “refused” to answer any questions except for relating this incident…
Quinn’s campaign again avoided commenting on the controversy Wednesday when approached by the Washington Free Beacon.
When asked if the governor has made any comments about the matter, a Quinn campaign staffer who answered the phone said, “not that I’m aware of.” A further request for comment was not returned by press time.
“Press time”? I didn’t know online publications had press times. Learn something new every day, I suppose.
Also, I called the main Quinn campaign number this afternoon and a young, low-level employee answered the phone. He didn’t know anything about the issue, obviously, because he’s just a guy who answers the phone.
* The Rauner campaign was more than happy to share its thoughts with the Free Beacon…
“There is a line between academic expression and hateful rhetoric that blames Jews for anti-Semitism,” Rauner said in a statement provided to the Free Beacon. “Salaita crossed that line, and I strongly support the decision made by [University of Illinois] Chancellor [Phyllis] Wise and the Board of Trustees.”
Rauner went on to slam Quinn, who sits on the school’s board, for staying silent in the face of clear anti-Semitic bias.
“What shocks me is that Pat Quinn has been silent on this issue—absolutely silent in the face of hate speech at our state’s flagship university—where the governor has a seat on the board. This isn’t the first time he’s been silent—this is a pattern of silence from Pat Quinn on a core issue,” Rauner said, referring to the governor’s past refusal to back a statewide measure to condemn boycotts of Israel.
Not to make light of this controversy, which I’ve avoided myself because university politics tends to bring out the absolute bat-dung crazy in people (and, frankly, the university is free to withdraw a job offer whenever it wants, so it’s basically a non-issue for me), but I’m guessing that Rauner’s statement didn’t come from the person who answers the phone at Rauner HQ. Just sayin…
And while it’s true that Quinn hasn’t been quoted on Sen. Ira Silverstein’s failed proposals to counter the anti U of I boycotts and boycott threats, the governor’s campaign spokesperson, who was his government spokesperson until this summer, told me that nobody has ever asked her or the campaign about the U of I controversy.
I asked her to get me a response from Quinn, who was in an SJ-R editorial board meeting when we texted. So, stay tuned for an update.
* Also, the U of I seems to be doing pretty well these days…
The University of Illinois Foundation said Monday that it received $259.5 million in donations during the fiscal year that ended June 30, a 10.5 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.
*** UPDATE 1 *** As mentioned above, the governor is traveling today. His campaign spokesperson sent along a quick statement a while ago with the promise of more info when she has a chance to talk more extensively with Gov. Quinn. I figured I’d go ahead and post the initial statement now to get it out of the way in case tinfoil hats start springing up in comments…
Of course the Governor supports the board’s decision
She also pointed out the obvious fact that Quinn appointed the members to the U of I’s board.
*** UPDATE 2 *** A bit more from Brooke, via text…
The Governor certainly supports the board’s decision. He believes they did the right thing and he made that clear to the Chairman of the Board after the decision was made.
*** UPDATE 3 *** I’m trying not to smirk here…
Governor Quinn Statement on Rosh Hashanah
CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn today issued the following statement on Rosh Hashanah:
“I extend my warm wishes for a sweet new year to the Jewish community in Illinois, and throughout the world, as we welcome the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.
“Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish High Holy Days, when the Jewish community reflects on the past and renews their commitment to the future. During this time of reflection, we honor and celebrate all faiths as well as their rich contributions to our shared Illinois.
“On behalf of the people of Illinois, I wish all a happy and healthy new year. L’Shanah Tovah!”
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* Expect a lot more on this front in the coming days…
A coalition of leaders who worked with, supported and espoused Harold Washington ideals and policies issued the below statement. Leaders who issued the statement are U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (D-1st), U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-2nd), U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-4th), U.S. Representative Danny Davis (D-7th), Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Commissioner Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Timuel Black, the Rev. Clay Evans, Jacky Grimshaw and the Rev. Dr. B. Herbert Martin:
“Harold Washington would be rolling over in his grave to see this desperate commercial run by a billionaire who didn’t hire a single African American executive at his own business and who wants to eliminate the minimum wage.
“Those who remember and loved Harold Washington know that he spent his entire career fighting against the Republican, anti-worker, benefit-the-rich policies that Bruce Rauner wholly represents.
“This is another desperate effort by a billionaire trying to change the subject from an ongoing federal trial targeting his company after misdeeds that led to the abuse, neglect and death of many senior citizens under his watch. Bruce Rauner can’t avoid responsibility for his business.”
The Rauner ad is here, in case you somehow missed it earlier today.
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* AP…
Nearly five dozen Illinois Department of Transportation employees have been given a temporary reprieve from layoff because of a court agreement by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration.
Quinn’s lawyers agreed late Monday in Sangamon County Circuit Court to disregard the Sept. 30 dismissal date for 58 so-called “staff assistants” until they have a hearing before a judge, according to Carl Draper, one of the Springfield-based attorneys for the workers.
Eliminating the staff assistant’s position was part of a reform Quinn announced last month after a blistering report about improper hiring at the agency. But the Teamsters union, which represents the workers, filed a lawsuit to block the dismissals.
Draper said a status hearing would be scheduled for late this month. He would not comment further.
* From the increasingly strident Bruce Rauner campaign…
Another Day, Another Pat Quinn Broken Promise
“Pat Quinn said he fired these illegal IDOT hires and now says he won’t. That’s on top of the other 103 illegal hires he’s already refusing to fire. Pat Quinn’s capacity to break his promises to the people of Illinois knows no bounds.” - Rauner spokesperson Mike Schrimpf
Oy. The guy agrees to a court delay and he’s breaking his promise?
These guys are making it almost impossible for themselves to govern should Rauner actually be elected.
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* Mayor Rahm Emanuel said two things when he pushed for speed cams. First, the cams would slow down traffic near schools and parks and, therefore, potentially save lives. The second was the cams could generate up to $70 million a year for education programs.
Most figured the push was a cynical move to raise more cash. And they figured the $70 million was a low-ball estimate. Hey, maybe it was just a cash grab. But that’s not how it’s turning out…
The 92 speed cameras installed near 43 schools and parks have generated just $3.7 million in fines, and only $1.5 million of that has been collected. That’s after churning out 758,176 warning notices and 42,568 tickets since the first camera was installed at Gompers Park in August. […]
From the first day of warnings through March 9, the average number of motorists caught speeding each day has dropped at all but four of the 92 cameras locations. The biggest decline — 97 percent — occurred at McKinley Park, 2080 W. Pershing, which went from an average of 861 daily speeders in September to 28 in March.
* Hizzoner was asked about the slowed-down motorists the other day…
He essentially said, “I told you so.”
“The first goal — as I said when we created the child safety zones — was to deter people from speeding near our schools and our parks. And it has been incredibly effective at slowing people down,” he said at an unrelated news conference on street repaving.
Referring to the Sun-Times, Emanuel said, “You said . . . we’re not going to have the financial resources. The Tribune has said this is going to be an unlimited amount of money. . . . Stop the prediction business. We have only one fact: People are slowing down.”
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Rauner attempts crime pivot
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
One week after Bruce Rauner said he wouldn’t have signed a bill supporting medical marijuana in Illinois, the Republican gubernatorial candidate on Tuesday said he was “open to the discussion” of decriminalizing small amounts of the substance statewide.
When asked about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and reducing to a misdemeanor the penalty for possession of one gram or less of any controlled substance, Rauner said: “I think we can and should talk about ways we can creatively deal with non-violent offenders. We should have that discussion…We have a massive failure by Pat Quinn to deal with violent criminals.”
Did that mean he could be for it?
“I’m open to the discussion,” he said. “What we’ve got to focus on is the violent crime that’s occurring in our communities. That’s what we’ve got to focus on, we’ve got to prevent it.”
* From the Chicago Reader…
“The fact is that as governor, two of your most important tasks are to try to create an economic environment in your state where jobs can grow and flourish, and second, to try to protect the public safety of your state,” [NJ Gov. Chris Christie] said. “Unfortunately for the people of Illinois, Governor Quinn has failed at both of those tasks.” […]
“Pat Quinn has failed on violent crime,” Rauner said. “He’s created an environment where it can thrive. And then, through his ineptitude, he has released violent criminals early.”
* Tribune…
“[Gov. Pat Quinn] ran a secret program releasing violent criminals early and just today it was discussed further in the media (that) a violent criminal was let out early under Pat Quinn (and) murdered a 9-year-old boy. We cannot allow this to continue to occur,” Rauner said.
Allmon was among four reputed gang members charged last week in the Grand Crossing shooting. Allmon had been on parole after being released from prison for possession of a firearm by a gang member.
Shaer later confirmed that Allmon received 17 “tickets” while in prison, including one for a “brief, mutual fight where no one was injured.” Allmon was transferred from a minimum security prison to a medium security facility after verbally threatening a guard. Shaer said that Allmon did not physically harm anyone or pose a significant threat and added that corrections officers have cracked down on minor offenses in recent years to prevent more serious incidents. Allmon was on parole that included home electronic monitoring except for certain times when he was allowed to look for work.
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State ward accused of killing roommate
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The question here is whether this could’ve been prevented…
Kadiedra Shontell Speed’s experience in Illinois’ child-welfare system has included being placed with adoptive parents who ended up abusing her, stays in psychiatric hospitals, addresses at four homes in the last five years and several arrests for fighting, according to court records and sources.
Now 20, she’s still a ward of the state after her failed adoption, years earlier. Over Labor Day weekend, she had another run-in with the law — this time with deadly consequences.
After arguing with her 34-year-old roommate, Speed left in a rage and returned hours later, allegedly stabbing the woman to death in their basement apartment in Joliet, Will County prosecutors and neighbors say.
* Back in 2009, another state ward named D’Andre Howard stabbed his fiancee’s sister, father and grandmother to death, prompting an internal investigation…
A report in 2012 by the DCFS inspector general about that case — in which Howard was found guilty and is now serving three life sentences — was supposed to lead to greater oversight of hundreds of older wards, who typically are in “independent living” programs run by social service agencies that DCFS hires. Inspector General Denise Kane revealed Howard had a history of sexual assault arrests and a “long history of violence” that “indicated an urgent need for services.” But she concluded “a lack of communication among involved professionals,” including DCFS’ sexual abuse services coordinator, led to a DCFS contractor inadequately supervising Howard.
Whether child-welfare workers missed warning signs of potential violent behavior by Speed is difficult to assess. There’s no indication the fights she had in high school caused any serious injuries, and her most recent involvement in the court system before her murder arrest involved her winning an order of protection in February against a parolee boyfriend she said beat her up.
Go read the whole thing and tell us what you think.
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Oppo dump: More nursing home cases
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Quinn campaign claims it has uncovered “seven new wrongful death cases” involving Bruce Rauner’s former nursing home chain and “scores more settlements than previously known.” I’ve added links to supporting documentation…
The extent of negligence and wrongful death settlements from a chain of nursing homes controlled by Bruce Rauner is more extensive than previously was known.
Seven new wrongful death cases, in Ohio and New Mexico, were revealed Wednesday, even as more than $1 billion in judgments resulting from six deaths at Rauner’s Trans Healthcare Inc. (THI) face an ongoing bankruptcy trial in Florida. GTCRauner is a named defendant in the lawsuit.
The new cases add to a disturbing picture of neglect, abuse and substandard care at facilities managed by Rauner’s nursing home company.
See the attached court records for the case files and new information. A summary of the deaths at THI facilities under Rauner’s leadership appears below.
The new revelations were discussed Wednesday on a conference call with reporters by nursing home advocate and medical malpractice attorney Steven M. Levin, senior partner at Levin & Perconti.
“We now know of at least seven more individuals who perished as the result of poor care they received from nursing homes controlled by Bruce Rauner. Rauner calls any discussion of his involvement in his company a ‘distraction.’ I call it a pattern,” said Levin, a leading advocate nationally against nursing home abuse.
Levin noted that the seven new cases did not represent the full record of negligence at THI.
“Bruce Rauner has avoided questions about his conduct and involvement with THI. Given what little we know, it’s easy to see why,” Levin said.
New cases:
Name: Agnes Corbi
THI facility: McCrea Manor Nursing Home, Stark County, Ohio.
Date of death: March 5, 2001
The Story: Admitted Jan. 1, 2001, Corbi was at risk of falls. She was improperly supervised and suffered injuries related to a fall March 1, 2001. She died four days later. The complaint alleged unsafe and unclean conditions contributed.
Date of settlement: July 17, 2002
[Click here for more]
Name: Donna Arviso
THI facility: Albuquerque Care Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date of death: September 1, 2005
The Story: The behavior of her caretakers was described as “willful, wanton and in reckless disregard” for her well-being. This included improper staffing and days of bleeding without proper care, which caused her death.
Date of settlement: July 21, 2010
[Click here for more]
Name: Cuong Koc
THI facility: Valle Norte Caring Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date of death: September 20, 2006
The Story: According to the complaint, as the result of negligence, poor training and understaffing at the facility, Koc suffered injuries which left him in a “near-fetal” position, choking on food, suffering from massive dehydration and ultimately leading to his death.
Date of settlement: October 3, 2007
[Click here for more]
Name: Jeffery Long
THI facility: Autumn Court Nursing Home
Date of death: April 11, 2003
The Story: According to court documents, he suffered severe injuries and the care provided to him was negligent leading to his ultimate death.
Date of settlement: June 26, 2006
[Click here for more]
Name: John Heafey Howard, Jr.
THI facility: Greenbriar Healthcare Center, Boardman, Ohio
Date of death: January 2, 2008
The Story: Howard was an elderly man suffering from early Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension, depression and hypothyroidism. He suffered negligent care that led to significant weight loss (from 178 pounds to 132 pounds in two months), pressure ulcers, malnourishment, dehydration and shock. He died as a result.
Date of settlement: November 1, 2010
[Click here for more]
Name: Kimberly Bonnett Carter Hayes
THI facility: Greenbriar Healthcare Center, Boardman, Ohio
Date of death: August 7, 2006
The Story: Hayes went in for long-term care and rehabilitation. Instead, her caretakers withheld medication, failed to treat infections, failed to change her catheter for at least two months, failed to treat her psoriasis and failed to keep her skin clean. Her death certificate lists cause of death as septic shock and renal failure.
Date of settlement: February 21, 2008
[Click here for more]
Name: Mary Ruth Williams
THI facility: Valle Norte Caring Center Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date of death: September 4, 2004
The Story: Despite being a documented fall risk at the time of her admission, she suffered from multiple preventable falls resulting in fractures and eventually death.
Date of settlement: August 17, 2006
[Click here for more]
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* Buried deep within this AP feature on the state treasurer’s race is some actual news…
Cross has accused Frerichs of financial mismanagement as county auditor, and highlighted a dispute over unpaid taxes for Frerichs’ legislative office.
Frerichs said the legislative office legally should not have been billed, but later did pay the $1,800 levy. However, on Monday the Illinois Department of Revenue reversed its earlier decision, and granted Frerichs an exemption.
The Illinois Department of Revenue was obviously wrong to claim Frerichs owed taxes when his district office rented space in a government building. That’s just a ridiculous contention. However, Frerichs brought the initial bad press upon himself by refusing to pay the tax debt, instead of just paying it while he was appealing.
And, don’t forget, he also owed taxes for a campaign office he rented in that same building. That one didn’t go away this week.
…Adding… I’m assuming that Tom Cross’ campaign is gonna question the convenient timing of this decision. While I still think this is the right decision - legislative offices are, after all, government offices - the timing is curious.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Statement from Kevin Artl, Campaign Manager for Tom Cross for Treasurer
“In typical Illinois fashion, Senator Mike Frerichs leveraged his clout with Governor Quinn and received an insider deal that allows him to avoid paying property taxes on his legislative office. After consistently claiming Frerichs and other lawmakers owed taxes on their offices, Quinn’s Department of Revenue has reversed that position a mere 40 days before the election.
“The decision allows Frerichs and at least one other lawmaker to avoid paying over $450,000 in unpaid property taxes. While Frerichs’ property taxes on his campaign office also went unpaid, the continued use of clout to secure patronage positions and now to avoid paying property taxes demonstrates why he would be a reckless State Treasurer.”
The Frerichs Case
Illinois Department of Revenue: “…consistently denied leasehold assessment exemptions…”
Crain’s, August 8, 2014
But according to Revenue Department spokeswoman Sue Hofer, the money is owed, which is why the department in June formally rejected Mr. Frerichs’ request for a non-homestead property tax exemption.
“We have consistently denied leasehold assessment exemptions for legislative offices,” Ms. Hofer said, pointing to one “very similar case” a few years ago involving state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago.
Illinois Department of Revenue: Frerichs’ Exemption Denied Based On Longstanding Policy
Crain’s, August 12, 2014
The Illinois Department of Revenue earlier had rejected Mr. Frerichs’ request for an exemption, citing its ruling in a similar case several years ago involving state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago.
Champaign County Treasurer: Frerichs Offered Excuses, But No Payments
Crain’s, August 8, 2014
According to Amy Foster, senior administrative secretary for the treasurer, he has not paid bills for seven years, starting in 2008, and now owes a combined $1,814.17 in back taxes and interest. That amount is due and outstanding.
Ms. Foster says she spoke repeatedly to Mr. Frerichs and aides through the years and on various times was given different explanations, including that the office was not subject to the leasehold tax and that an official waiver was being sought from the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Frerichs Also Did Not Pay Property Tax Bill For Campaign Office-Claims It Was “Misplaced”
Crain’s, August 12, 2014
Mr. Frerichs also did not pay the tax on his political office, which is rented from the transit district, until questions were raised. His campaign said it believes that the bill for that tax inadvertently went to the legislative office, which didn’t pay it because it was believed to be part of the larger tax dispute.
The Monique Davis Case:
Illinois Department of Revenue: Davis Office Not Tax Exempt
Chicago Sun-Times, June 11, 2012
“CPS contended that as a leaseholder of publicly owned property, Davis is responsible for leaseholder taxes dating back at least 20 years and totaling $157,500, plus close to $287,000 in penalties for nonpayment.
The Illinois Department of Revenue ruled back in 1998 that Davis’ use of the building for a district office did not make it tax-exempt.”
Illinois House of Representatives Votes to Change Law On Lease Hold Agreements To Make Them Exempt from Taxes
Chicago Sun-Times, June 11, 2012
By a 60-54 vote, with Davis voting present, the House entered into the legal dispute between the longtime South Side lawmaker and the Chicago Board of Education over her refusal to pay back rent and leaseholder taxes on her district office, which is in a school-owned building.
Note: The Legislation was not approved by the Senate.
Legislation to Exempt Lawmakers from Paying Property Taxes Fails
WTTW, January 29, 2013
In the last legislative session, a bill passed the House that would have exempted Davis and all public officials from leaseholder taxes. It was sponsored by Madigan’s top lieutenant, Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie.
Absent a resolution, the tab for past rent and taxes grows. Sullivan believes that the state of Illinois and Monique Davis now owes well over $1 million.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Frerichs campaign…
Tom Cross was at the heart of the insider deal with Rod Blagojevich, Tom Cross voted for $10 billion in borrowing that netted Cross ally Bob Kjellander $800,000, money that eventually flowed back to Tony Rezko’s circle of friends and was at the heart of Blagojevich’s corruption trial.
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20100610/News/306109944
Only after the deal became public did Cross criticize Kjellander. And not for insider dealing, but for making the Republic Party look bad:
“It’s not healthy for us as we rebuild. It’s not healthy for our party,” Cross said. “He needs to make a decision whether to make lots of money or to represent our party. With the climate the way it is and the recent history of our party, he can’t do both.”
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-08-17/news/0508170116_1_house-gop-carlyle-group-robert-kjellander
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Google severs ties with ALEC
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Google is just the latest in a string of companies that is moving away from the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council…
The decision marks a major victory for a campaign by environmentalists, union activists and other liberal groups that have pushed companies to drop support for ALEC. Microsoft ended its ties to the group a few weeks ago.
“The consensus within the company was that that was some sort of mistake,” Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, referring to the initial decision to support ALEC.
“Everyone understands climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place,” Schmidt said in an interview with National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm. “And so we should not be aligned with such people — they’re just, they’re just literally lying.”
* ALEC’s response…
“It is unfortunate to learn Google has ended its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council as a result of public pressure from left-leaning individuals and organizations who intentionally confuse free market policy perspectives for climate change denial,” said ALEC chief executive Lisa Nelson. “ALEC believes in freedom of speech and opinion. Google is an important voice on these and many other issues, and we will miss their perspective in our discussions.”
* Some context…
Google isn’t the first to succumb to such public pressure. Microsoft (MSFT) confirmed last month that it had left ALEC, and the progressive group Common Cause says corporations including Coca-Cola (KO), Bank of America (BAC), and General Motors (GM) have done the same. The Center for Media and Democracy, a foundation-funded progressive nonprofit, says at least 80 corporations have publicly dropped their ALEC affiliations since 2011, when it launched its ALEC Exposed website to track the group’s activities and the name-brand companies that help fund them. Common Cause and CMD were among 55 organizations, mostly labor and liberal groups, that sent a letter to Google earlier this month urging it to dump ALEC.
The success of the push against ALEC illustrates the effectiveness of going after what in labor circles are known as “secondary” targets: people or organizations that provide funding, support, or some kind of cover for an activist group’s primary opponent. Since those secondary targets have their own interests and reputations to protect, it’s often easier to cajole them into cutting ties than it is to get your primary target to change its ways. Peel off enough of the groups that bring their backing or their business to an organization, and you can cause it serious headaches. Unions made such effective use of “secondary boycotts” that Congress, in the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, restricted their ability to use them.
Discuss.
…Adding… Facebook is leaving, too…
Facebook is set to become the latest tech company to end its support for a controversial rightwing lobby group that works against climate change legislation. […]
Facebook said: “We reevaluate our memberships on an annual basis, and are in that process now. While we have tried to work within ALEC to bring that organization closer to our view on some key issues, it seems unlikely that we will make sufficient progress so we are not likely to renew our membership in 2015.”
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Zorn nails it
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Eric Zorn has a masterful, must-read takedown of Democratic Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and her refusal to abide by her 2012 pledge at a Tribune editorial board interview to give up 10 percent of her salary. You really should read the whole thing, but here’s an excerpt…
In short, there’s no evidence that it played even a tiny role in Bustos’ subsequent 53.3-46.7-percent victory over Schilling.
Still. There’s a principle to consider here, and it goes something like this: “Do what you say you’re going to do. Follow through. Exceed expectations. Reputations matter, in politics and in every field. You want to be known as someone who can be trusted to get things done and stick to your word.”
Who put it that way? Rep. Cheri Bustos to MSNBC earlier this year as part of the cable network’s profiles of “30 of the most dynamic women candidates seeking office in 2014.” […]
When I asked for comment, her campaign directed me to a recent Peoria Journal Star article in which Bustos told a reporter, “When I was in Chicago, I said something that I shouldn’t have said, but I never said it on the campaign trail. I never made it as a promise to the people in the 17th Congressional District.”
Again, go read the whole thing.
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Attorney: GTCR orchestrated shell company sale
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More federal bankruptcy testimony about the strange GTCR business deal that left elderly graphic artist Barry Saacks with control of an empty shell nursing home company…
Also Tuesday, more videotaped testimony was played in court from a different lawyer involved in the sale of Trans Healthcare to Saacks. That attorney, Brett Baker, represented New York investors who had partnered with GTCR in the nursing chain.
After the deal closed in 2006, Baker said he sent himself an email to memorialize concerns he had raised about the legitimacy of the “disheveled” elderly man being placed as the sole shareholder buying the company.
In his testimony, Baker also said lawyers for GTCR orchestrated the timing and many of the terms of the Trans Healthcare sale, which involved not only the shell company owned by Saacks but another firm that would take control of still valuable facilities run by the chain.
That second firm, partly owned by Grunstein, continued to operate nursing homes while the Saacks-controlled entity ceased to do anything other than hold liabilities of the old GTCR-owned Trans Health, lawyers for the estates have alleged.
* From the Quinn campaign…
Quinn for Illinois Media Advisory
**Wednesday, September 24, 2014**
CHICAGO – Quinn for Illinois will hold a press call with medical malpractice attorney Steven Levin to discuss new records showing more deaths, abuse and neglect at Bruce Rauner’s deadly nursing homes across the nation.
WHEN: 10 a.m.
* According to Levin’s law firm bio, he obtained a “$2.9 million Cook County record nursing home neglect verdict in a pressure sore case.” More…
Steve was among the first attorneys in the country to handle nursing home cases, and has established a reputation as one of the country’s top litigators in the area of nursing home litigation. He has advocated on behalf of hundreds of nursing home residents who have been victimized by improper care and treatment, achieving record-setting verdicts and settlements in these cases.
More importantly, Steve’s vigilance in representing victims in nursing home negligence lawsuits has brought national attention to this rampant and unacceptable problem, sending a message that mistreatment of one of society’s most vulnerable groups will not go unnoticed.
Steve is a member of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care’s Leadership Council, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of nursing home residents and their families. He is also the former chair of the AAJ’s Nursing Home Litigation Group. Steve’s comments on nursing home litigation have been quoted in national news publications including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
He apparently knows his stuff, but PI attorneys aren’t usually beloved figures, to say the least.
…Adding… From the Rauner campaign…
His law firm (Levin & Perconti) has given $4k to Quinn this cycle. $36k to the Democratic Party of Illinois since 2004. $100k to Democrats and Trial Lawyer PACS in total.
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* This same ad backfired badly on Dan Hynes in the 2010 primary. We’ll have to see what happens with Republican Bruce Rauner’s attempt at using the late mayor’s comments. I’m assuming Quinn will do what he did in ‘10: Try to gin up a furious backlash on African-American radio stations…
New TV and Radio Ads: ‘Biggest Mistake’
“Harold Washington fired Pat Quinn – we should too.”
Ads follow Monday endorsement by key African American pastors
Two days after receiving the endorsement of key leaders in Chicago’s African-American community, Bruce Rauner today released television and radio ads highlighting former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s blistering 1987 criticism of Pat Quinn.
“I would never appoint Pat Quinn to do anything,” Mayor Washington said at the time. “Pat Quinn is a totally and completely undisciplined individual who thinks this government is nothing but a large easel on which to do his PR work.”
Mayor Washington had hired Quinn to be the city revenue director but fired him eight months later.
“He was dismissed; he should’ve been dismissed,” Mayor Washington continued at the time. “My only regret is that we hired him and kept him too long.”
In addition to the 30-second TV ad, the Rauner campaign also launched a 60-second radio spot titled “Biggest Mistake.”
“Pat Quinn failed Harold Washington, and Quinn failed our schools, streets and whole community,” the radio ad says. “Now Pat Quinn wants four more years? Harold Washington fired Pat Quinn – we should too.”
* The TV ad…
* The radio ad…
…Adding… To refresh your memory, here’s Dan Hynes’ 2010 ad…
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Good morning!
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Let’s wake up today with an awesome cover of “Sugaree” by Cubensis…
You thought you was the cool fool
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