* This is absolutely ridiculous and if it was happening in the American South every Democrat in the country would be rightly freaking out…
A little more than one month before Election Day, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said Wednesday that most Chicago voters who head to the polls on Nov. 8 will be casting their ballots at a different polling place from where they were assigned to vote in the primary and in previous years.
* Never heard of this clown, but he seems to have quite the opinion of himself…
.@alexstein99 has entered the Illinois politics stage! 😂
Bailey claimed he wouldn’t change existing abortion protections, but he has spent his entire political career saying he is going to “end” abortion in Illinois. Bailey’s anti-choice views are no secret, and despite his non-answers on stage, he won’t protect women’s rights as governor. Governor Pritzker has enshrined the right to choose into state law, and will continue to stand up to retrograde politicians who wish to take us backwards.
When asked about his comparison of abortion to the Holocaust, Bailey doubled down saying, “yes the facts are true when you compare the numbers,” and when pressed to name a Jewish leader who supported his offensive claim, he outright refused. Bailey’s lack of remorse for his harmful comparison is outright disqualifying.
When asked about his previous assertions that he would “repeal everything that J.B Pritzker has signed into law,” and whether that included increasing the minimum wage, he dodged his record of opposition, saying only “it was very obvious what [he] meant.” The truth is Bailey wants to repeal the state minimum wage entirely and voted against raising the state minimum wage to a living wage. It’s no surprise that a man who would tell hard working union members to “stay in [their] lane,” would oppose fair wages.
While Bailey once again failed to offer concrete solutions, he continued to make false assertions about his plan for “zero-based budgeting.” He claimed there is “$10 to $15 billion in that budget of waste,” but has yet to answer which human services he would cut first. His lack of plans to propose balanced budgets serve as a scary reminder of the Rauner years, who decimated Illinois’ finances and held the budget hostage for years. Under Governor Pritzker’s responsible fiscal management, Illinois has earned six credit rating upgrades, delivered $1.8 billion in tax relief to working families, and dedicated $1 billion to the depleted rainy day fund.
* ILGOP…
“Governor Pritzker’s defining legacy - the [un]SAFE-T Act has made our communities less safe, and unfortunately the worst is yet to come. On January 1st cash bail is set to be eliminated across Illinois, potentially releasing violent criminals back onto our streets.
100 of Illinois’ 102 State’s Attorneys oppose this law while numerous Democratic State’s Attorneys have sued the administration to stop it from taking effect. When pressed by moderators numerous times. Governor Pritzker failed tonight to provide specific changes that would support to reform his disastrous law to save lives before it’s too late.
Make no mistake, Darren Bailey won this debate. He outlined a positive vision for our state’s future - one that prioritizes public safety, law enforcement, and a strong & competitive business climate. Illinois voters are fed up with the culture of corruption and criminal coddling that has defined Pritzker’s tenure in office. It’s high time for a change.”
…Adding… Proft’s PAC…
Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson had Illinois gubernatorial Republican candidate Darren Bailey on Chicago’s Morning Answer after his debate the previous night with Gov. Pritzker, a debate in which the overwhelming consensus –even among establishment Chicago media types– was that Bailey won handedly.
Some quotes from Darren Bailey:
“This man [Pritzker] has no clue. I was shocked and taken aback last night at his lack of knowledge on the issues…I was shocked at his inability to articulate and defend…all he could do was stand there and blame everything on Rauner or Trump, and calling me a liar.”
“’No but yes, no but yes,’ seemed to be [Pritzker’s] answer to everything. We cannot trust this man, and we found that out last night.”
“I’ll come to the table, and I’ll bring everyone. Everyone will have a voice, even that noisy Democrat, you will have a voice, because that’s not happening at all in these last four years.”
The whole interview can be heard on Rumble linked below and on the Facebook page of PBR PAC.
…Adding… Rumors of problems with Budzinski’s numbers…
While Illinois’ governor candidates sparred Thursday night in Normal, 13th Congressional District candidates Regan Deering, a Republican, and Nikki Budzinski, a Democrat, met on the debate stage at the Illinois Public Media studios in Urbana.
While differences were seen in the candidates’ positions on the issues, such as abortion and how to address gun violence, some common ground was noted regarding student loan forgiveness.
Both candidates were not in favor of President Joe Biden’s executive action to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt — a plan the Congressional Budget Office estimates would cost approximately $400 billion.
For Budzinski, a former chief of staff in Biden’s Office of Management, her concern was how taxpayers would cover those costs. The action by the president is not the best way to address college affordability, she said. College tuition and fee rates have increased by 130% since 1990, according to the Education Data Initiative.
* More stories, mostly gathered by Isabel…
* Illinois Supreme Court candidates 2022 battle for 2 open seats in November election: Rochford and O’Brien are both making abortion a key issue in their campaign ads, attacking their opponents for being supported by anti-abortion groups while touting their own pro-abortion credentials as an important qualification for the next justices.
* Sara Paretsky: State Supreme Court races could lead to a rollback of abortion rights in Illinois: Illinois has a so-called trigger law on the books — which would have made abortion illegal with the overturning of Roe. In 2017, the state enacted House Bill 40, blocking the trigger provision. But the Thomas More Society, a national legal group that often represents abortion rights opponents, has filed a lawsuit to overturn H.B. 40. Burke, who at one time professed an affiliation with the DuPage County Thomas More Society, and Curran claim they could be objective in hearing the lawsuit. We heard such promises of objectivity from Trump’s Supreme Court nominees.
* Hard-right PAC forms ‘battle plan’ to take on ‘radical left’ judges in 3 Kentucky races: A new conservative PAC formed in Kentucky this week with a goal of reshaping “radical left” courts plans to spend up to $1.6 million on three key nonpartisan judicial races this fall. It plans to spend the rest of about $21 milliion in judicial races in six other states: Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, and appeals to donors to fund the effort, urging people to give “at least $1,000.”
* Young women are trending liberal. Young men are not: Young women are more likely to identify as liberal now than at any time in the past two decades, a trend that puts them squarely at odds with young men. Forty-four percent of young women counted themselves liberal in 2021, compared to 25 percent of young men, according to Gallup Poll data analyzed by the Survey Center on American Life. The gender gap is the largest recorded in 24 years of polling. The finding culminates years of rising liberalism among women ages 18 to 29, without any increase among their male peers.
* Citadel’s billionaire CEO Ken Griffin becomes GOP $100 million midterm megadonor: Only Soros Fund Management founder George Soros and shipping magnate Richard Uihlein have given more to candidates running for the U.S. House or Senate. Soros has donated over $128 million to Democrats while Uihlein has given $53 million to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets. Griffin, however, has spent another $50 million during this election cycle — which runs from Jan. 1, 2021 through the end of this year — on the failed Illinois gubernatorial campaign of Aurora, Ill., Mayor Richard Irvin, who lost in the Republican primary, according to state campaign finance records.
* Republican Kathy Salvi seeks unlikely upset over US Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Challenging a U.S. senator who has become a national icon to many Democrats, Republican Kathy Salvi balances her uphill bid against U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth with optimism. […] Salvi, an attorney from Mundelein, touts a conservative agenda that includes increasing domestic energy production, shrinking government spending, cutting taxes and increasing border security in taking on Duckworth, the first-term Democratic senator who is a combat veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq War.
* In their own words: Meet the candidates running to replace Cheri Bustos: For the first time in a decade, Rep. Cheri Bustos will not be on the ballot for Illinois’ 17th congressional district. Instead, either Esther Joy King (R) or Eric Sorensen (D) will be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. News 8 sat down with both candidates, to discuss their most important policy points and why they believe you should vote for them.
* Lake Villa trustee looks to unseat McHenry senator who says Illinois goes too far on abortion: A Lake Villa trustee looking to unseat a Republican in the state Senate said she was motivated to run after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Attorney Allena Barbato is running in the 32nd District against state Sen. Craig Wilcox, a former Air Force colonel and McHenry County Board member who was appointed to the Senate seat in 2018 and won election two years later.
* Swanson, Demink on the ballot for Illinois House District 71: Swanson has been in office since 2017. Currently a retired electrician, Demink is looking to extend past his 30 years of experience in local politics. Demink ran unopposed in the June 28 primary election. Demink most recently served as a precinct committeeman in Mercer County. Both candidates enter the final month of campaigning with concerns of jobs and law enforcement. Specifically, the SAFE-T Act, or the end of cash bail in Illinois.
According to a high-ranking Tribune executive, the newspaper will eliminate its endorsements for president, governor and Senate seats.
This comes after the Chicago Sun-Times recently got out of the endorsement game, as it transitioned to nonprofit status.
The Tribune is one of three newspapers owned by Alden that will continue endorsements this season as they’re far along in the process, according to The New York Times. The other two are The Baltimore Sun and The Denver Post. […]
A copy of the planned editorial reads, “Unfortunately, as the public discourse has become increasingly acrimonious, common ground has become a no man’s land between the clashing forces of the culture wars.”
The paper will continue making endorsements in non-gubernatorial statewide races as well as legislative and local races. The Tribune’s endorsements in legislative races during the spring primary were often ill-informed. Anyway…
* The Question: Do you think: 1) The Tribune should continue making endorsements in all races; or 2) This is the right call by Alden; or 3) The Tribune should stop all endorsements all the way down the ticket? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Q: You’ve said several times that you’re open to making changes to the SAFE-T Act. What are some of the changes you’d like to see during veto session?
Pritzker: Well, I think it’s very important that we look at Senator Scott Bennett’s bill. He’s really, I think, written a pretty good bill, the provisions of which we should go through and decide which ones are appropriate. Working together in committee hearings and working groups, there are appropriate changes to make, most especially to clarify for everyone, that there’s no such thing as a non-detainable offense. And that what we’re aiming at here is keeping murderers and rapists and domestic abusers in jail, and not keeping people who can’t afford bail for a nonviolent offense out of jail, not putting them in jail, but rather allowing them to get out of jail.
He still didn’t answer the question.
Also, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice is strongly opposed to Sen. Bennett’s bill…
* Not sure what happened to my live coverage app, so this will be the replacement for now. I put this together in a bit of a hurry, so I’ll be adding more soon. Follow along with Twitter…
* If you didn’t watch last night’s debate, the Tribune has a really good roundup of start to finish. Excerpt…
But Pritzker, asked if he would vow to not raise taxes if elected to a second term, would not take the [no new taxes] pledge. He did say he would not make another attempt to seek passage of a graduated-rate income tax system that voters rejected two years ago, and he said continued balanced state budgets could lead to permanent tax cuts. […]
Bailey faced controversy over a 2017 video in which he contended the 6 million deaths of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II paled in comparison with lives lost to abortion. Bailey has said he hasn’t needed to apologize and that unnamed Jewish leaders “have told me that I’m right.” In the debate, Bailey stood by his Holocaust comparison and said “the facts are true when you compare the numbers.” But he refused to name the Jewish leader, saying, “I’m not going to put anybody on record.”
Bailey, who has called for the repeal of the state criminal justice reform legislative package called the SAFE-T Act and criticized its provisions for cashless bail, acknowledged he could support unspecified “bail reform for nonviolent criminals.” But he continued to contend the cashless bail provisions taking effect Jan. 1 were akin to “attaching revolving doors to every jail in the state of Illinois. And, friends, we’re going to have the exact same problem across the state that Chicago is experiencing.”
Pritzker said Bailey’s comments were in line with Republicans who “have put out a lot of disinformation, a whole list of things that they say are non-detainable offenses. There’s no such thing.” He said the goal of the criminal justice reform package was “to keep murderers, rapists, domestic abusers, violent criminals in jail.”
Still Pritzker acknowledged that changes to the law should be made but he repeatedly did not offer any specifics, saying, “I think there are clarifications that can be made in the law to make sure that everyone understands what this law does.”
Video…
GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey said Jewish leaders "told me that I'm right" that abortion is as bad as the Holocaust.
Moderator: "Could you name the Jewish leaders who agree with you?"
“Illinois has the most permissive abortion laws in the nation. Nothing’s going to change when I’m governor. I couldn’t change them,” Bailey said. “JB Pritzker stays up at night trying to dream up new abortion laws.”
* Some keen observations about the debate format and the moderators from Dave McKinney at WBEZ…
But in showcasing two gubernatorial contenders with polar opposite views on Illinois’ direction, the fast and, at times, scattershot pacing by the debate’s hosts left viewers without answers about where the candidates stood on some of those key issues. […]
When asked if he would commit to not raise taxes, Pritzker avoided directly answering, later saying a continued balanced budget could make “tax cuts permanent.” But Bailey wasn’t asked the same question, and escaped the issue altogether. […]
Neither candidate seemed to offer up much of a prescription when asked about the three things that could be done to curb corruption in Springfield.
The governor didn’t offer anything specific, and Bailey suggested stripping accused lawmakers of their state benefits when they are indicted — ignoring that Illinois law requires criminal convictions before pension benefits can be taken away.
Debate moderators cited a voter opinion survey that found about half of Illinoisans believe crime will increase after January 1, when the SAFE-T Act imposes new requirements on prosecutors and police who want to detain a violent offender.
Bailey calls for repealing it. Gov. Pritzker says he wants changes but wouldn’t get specific.
“The criminal justice system that Darren Bailey and Republicans are standing up for is one that allows murders and rapists and domestic abusers to buy their way out of jail. And that’s unsafe,” Pritzker said.
Moderator: “Gov. Pritzker, are you willing to answer the question? One specific change you would make?”
“Again, I think there are clarifications that can be made in the law to make sure that everyone understands,” Pritzker responded.
I told subscribers last month about a very interesting crosstab in that WGN poll which has gone unreported elsewhere: “77 percent of Trump voters say the law will increase crime, compared to just 26.5 percent of Joe Biden voters who say it will drive up crime.” Crosstabs also showed that the poll’s Trump/Biden 2020 split was extremely close to the actual result. Biden, you will recall, won by 17 points. So, most of the people who believe the SAFE-T Act will increase crime aren’t gonna be Pritzker voters.
According to Bailey, Pritzker’s handling of crime, property taxes and education is “crushing” the state, “all because J.B. Pritzker is hellbent on becoming the most radical leftist governor in America. … This man is dangerous.”
Pritzker, elected in 2018 amid the aftermath of a budget stalemate that left the state billions of dollars in debt, boasted before an audience at Illinois State University in Normal of the way he paid down debt and balanced the budget for four years. Bailey claimed that Pritzker did so with federal relief money for the COVID-19 pandemic and by not paying the full amount to fund employee pension systems.
Bailey contended he would cut taxes with a “reprioritization of spending” and zero-based budgeting. Pritzker said his management of the budget has proved successful and with billions of debt paid down, his continued leadership could mean lower taxes in the future.
Pritzker said he would not repeat his 2020 attempt to change the constitutionally required flat income tax to force wealthier residents to pay more, contending that his management of finances has produced budget surpluses the last two years.
Bailey said Pritzker shorted the pension systems by billions of dollars a year, which is true on an actuarial basis, but not on a statutory one. Bailey did not say how he would provide that extra dough.
Bailey’s plan to make tuition more affordable at state schools included reducing administrative “bloat,” referencing University of Illinois’ President Timothy Killeen, who Bailey claims makes over a million dollars per year. […]
He did not provide specifics for reducing the so-called bloat.
“Our children are leaving the state, they’re not able to attend here, our tuition is entirely too high, and guess what, news flash, under the last four years of JB Pritzker, it’s gotten worse,” Bailey said, stressing Republicans should be the ones to ”deal with these issues.”
When asked how he can make state colleges more affordable, Pritzker said he made higher education more affordable by raising investments.
“In fact, I’ve increased MAP grants, those are our state scholarships, by 50%. That’s $200 million. That means that anyone who is eligible that applies for a MAP grant gets one. That’s never happened in the history of our state. As a result, we have the highest freshmen enrollment across the state in six years, and here at ISU, it’s the highest in 35 years,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker made that ISU comment after Bailey praised ISU in contrast to the U of I.
But Bailey has not been shy about his position on abortion as a much more conservative Republican than the brand of GOP politicians who’ve traditionally enjoyed political success in Illinois. Thursday night’s debate featured clips of both candidates played in surround sound for the approximately 1,200 audience members in ISU’s Braden Auditorium. One of those clips featured then-legislative candidate Bailey in a 2017 Facebook live video unearthed this summer, in which the Republican compared abortion to the Holocaust.
Bailey has previously accused Democrats and the media of exaggerating his statement that “the attempted extermination of the Jews of WWII doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization.” But he also defended his statement in August, claiming that Jewish leaders told him he was right. Asked on Thursday to identify those leaders, Bailey refused. […]
A majority of Illinoisans — and Americans — favor banning assault-style weapons, as Congress did for a 10-year period between 1994 and 2004. Pritzker re-upped his call for that ban on Thursday night, but when asked why Democrats didn’t take up the issue this summer, the governor punted responsibility to the legislature. Bailey, too, demurred to the General Assembly on that question, pivoting instead to talking about mental health, and at one point blaming the influx of migrants at the nation’s southern border. […]
Bailey, on the other hand, claimed he could save the state billions of dollars by implementing “zero-based budgeting,” wherein continuing appropriations are nixed and each line item in Illinois’ now $40-billion budget would have to be justified. But the Republican declined to elaborate on what he thought he’d turn up in wasteful spending.
The most dramatic moment of the debate came when Bailey went after Pritzker over the speculation he may run for president. Bailey pledged not to run for another office if he’s elected governor.
“I want to ask you if you’re interested that same pledge to only run, that you won’t run for another office,” Bailey sad. “Matter of fact I have the pledge right here if you’re interested in signing.”
“I intend to serve four years more as governor if reelected, and I intend to support the president, he’s running for reelection,” said Pritzker.
Both candidates were asked about Amendment One, also known as the “Workers Rights Amendment,” which would enshrine the right to organize and collectively bargain into the state constitution.
Pritzker has been firmly in favor of it while Bailey signaled opposition, noting that an amendment is not needed when workers already have many of the same rights currently.
“My message is this: Unions, stay in your lane and everything will be fine,” Bailey said. “Leave mom-and-pop and private business alone.”
The line earned groans from the audience and perhaps represents a thorny subject for Bailey as unions have broad support across the state, even among many downstate residents likely to vote for him.
The debate moderator asked Bailey: “Aside from saving the life of the mother, would you ban all abortions including in cases of rape and incest?”
“Illinois has the most permissive abortion laws in the nation. Nothing’s going to change when I’m governor. I couldn’t change them if I could,” Bailey replied.
“J.B. Pritzker stays up at night trying to dream up new abortion laws,” Bailey said, and that comment elicited what appeared to be gasps from some in the crowd.
Video…
Pritzker: "Over and over again you've heard Darren Bailey lie just for the last 10 minutes of this debate, and I have to say he's following in the footsteps of the person he begged for an endorsement from, and that's Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/Su3qS61vfp
North Central College political expert Stephen Caliendo expected before ethe debate that the spatting would continue in this debate.
“It’s a partisan atmosphere. It’s an ideologically divisive atmosphere in our country right now. But remember, getting out the vote is the most important thing,” Caliendo said. “It’s not necessarily convincing people to vote for one or the other, but can you can get energized to make sure to go to the ballot?”
The influx of migrants into the Chicago area from Texas as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star was also a subject of discussion during the debate, with Bailey suggesting that Pritzker house the migrants in Hyatt hotels, alluding to the Pritzker family’s ownership of the worldwide hotel chain.
While incumbents traditionally have an upper hand in debates, Bailey’s preparation as the underdog in the race set the stage for a combative debate that made the candidates’ disagreements heading into the election strikingly transparent.
When asked about keeping businesses in Illinois, Bailey leveraged the departure of companies like Caterpillar and Tyson to hammer Pritzker on taxes and attacked the governor’s inability to retain HQs despite having four years with a legislative supermajority: “We shouldn’t be having this conversation.” Bailey was also able to slip in another attack on Chicago crime, name-checking McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski’s recent comments about Chicago crime to underscore his point.
Yes, these are the sort of pivots you expect politicians to make during these debates but Bailey, regardless of his views or policy, performed in a way that betrayed his lack of experience on a big political stage. Perhaps the bar was pretty low to begin with, but he cleared it.
* Let’s play a little game. Without scrolling down, see if you think this one-sided story on the SAFE-T Act comes from one of Dan Proft’s “pink slime” papers or from supposedly legitimate news media…
Hinsdale’s village president on Tuesday raised the possibility of tent cities in local parks once a new crime law takes effect in January.
He also said residents have threatened to shoot those trespassing on their properties.
The Village Board voted to adopt a resolution denouncing the SAFE-T Act. The law bars police from arresting criminal trespassers in most cases and eliminates cash bail.
With the trespassing change, Village President Tom Cauley said, “I guarantee you that we’re going to find ourselves with people just camped out in parks, and we cannot ask them to leave. They may be in your backyard or in your shed living there.”
No mention of the Illinois Supreme Court Implementation Task Force’s debunking of this nonsense. No rebuttal at all. But it wasn’t published by a Proft paper. It appeared in the Hinsdale Patch, and was written by a former newspaper reporter.
* Let’s keep going. Proft paper, or not?…
One of the hot topics of the debate was the controversy that’s surrounding the newly passed Safe-T-Act.
Following the first Gubernatorial Debate that took center stage at Illinois State University, Thursday Night. East Peoria Mayor, John Kahl took to Facebook and posted this.
“Thank you to Tazewell County State’s Attorney Kevin Johnson and the 49 other State’s Attorneys who had the fortitude to join together in filing a lawsuit yesterday against Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in response to the unconstitutional Public Act 101-652 (SAFE-T-Act), said Mayor of East Peoria John Kahl.
Mayor Kahl also added, that the good people of Illinois deserve and appreciate this kind of leadership.
State Representative Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) has called for a special session to discuss suspending the motor fuel tax and addressing the SAFE-T Act.
The Illinois General Assembly is not scheduled to return to work until November 15 but Caulkins is calling for immediate action and urging lawmakers to return to Springfield.
“Instead of giving criminals a financial break with no cash bail, how about we give taxpayers a break at the pump and suspend the motor fuel tax,” said Rep. Caulkins in an announcement on Thursday. “We were elected to represent our constituents, we need to get back to work and address the important issues facing the state. Suspending the gas tax and eliminating no cash bail for criminals are two pressing issues that need to be fixed.”
Basically a rewriting of Rep. Caulkins’ press release without anything else attached it it. But that’s not a Proft paper. It’s from WAND TV in Decatur. WICS in Springfield ran almost the exact same story.
* Proft paper, or not?…
Both the Winnebago and Boone county state’s attorneys announced lawsuits Thursday, joining a number of Illinois counties concerned with the constitutionality of the “SAFE-T Act” bill, set to enact on Jan. 1.
“Many of the provisions of the bill accomplish shared goals of fairness, equity and transparency,” said Boone County State’s Attorney Tricia L. Smith. “However, some aspects of the bill, including taking away the court’s discretion to detain individuals on any criminal charge based on facts of the charged case, the defendant’s criminal history, prior failure to come to court, and/or the danger they pose to individuals or the community at large, are very troubling for the safety of our community.”
Jo Daviess and Ogle counties state’s attorneys announced their lawsuits on Tuesday.
“Filing suit here in Winnebago County seeks to ensure that any decision a judge makes in another county will apply here,” said Hanley, who shared a statement Sept. 9 listing his concerns about the bill.
“From a resource setting we’re not even close to ready, putting aside some of the problems with some of the language of the law,” said Hanley.
Not a Proft paper. That’s WIFR out of Rockford. The reporter did say she reached out to the AG’s office, but they don’t generally comment on lawsuits and didn’t here, either. No attempt was apparently made to reach out to local state Rep. Maurice West, who supports the law.
* Proft paper, or not?…
Boone County State’s Attorney Tricia L. Smith announced Thursday that she and Boone County Sheriff David Ernest are joining a bipartisan coalition of state’s attorneys and sheriffs throughout Illinois who are challenging the constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act passed by the Illinois legislature in January 2021.
According to a press release issued by Smith Thursday afternoon, she and the sheriff have filed a lawsuit Wednesday “to protect the interests and the safety of the people of Boone County.”
Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley announced Thursday his office is joining numerous other counties in a lawsuit challenging the SAFE-T Act, which would eliminate cash bail in Illinois effective Jan. 1.
Hanley said he is challenging the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, claiming it is unconstitutional and vague.
On Oct. 4 in a press release, Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock and Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle announced that they have filed a complaint against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in Ogle County Circuit Court seeking to have the criminal justice reform SAFE-T Act declared unconstitutional.
The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act passed in the early hours of Jan. 13, 2021. It abolishes cash bail beginning in Jan. 1, 2023, reforms police training, certification and use-of-force standards, expands detainee rights and requires body cameras at all departments by 2025. The legislation has been amended twice since its passing to accommodate concerns of law enforcement groups and changes have included moving effective dates back and use-of-force language.
“The The SAFE-T Act, which was passed in the middle of the night by a lame duck legislature, does nothing to improve the safety of the citizens of Illinois,” Tuesday’s press release from Rock and VanVickle said. “There was not a mandate from the voters for it. It barely had enough votes to pass, even in the extremely-lopsided, Democrat-majority Springfield legislature. The process that was used to pass the bill was flawed, rendering the bill unconstitutional. The resulting bill language contains inconsistencies that will only serve to allow dangerous individuals to remain on the street as well as place even more unfunded mandates on county government.”
* Point being, while it’s fine to talk about what the Proft papers are doing, we shouldn’t then let all these supposedly trustworthy media outlets off the hook.
Asked what they’re walkout song would be, Pritzker whiffed, saying any song about big ideas (his campaign theme). Bailey: “A Hard Workin’ Man” by Brooks & Dunn.
One of the lines in that Bailey walk-up song choice is “I’m gettin’ really good at barely gettin’ by,” which seems appropriate.
* Pritzker really did whiff on his walk-up song choice, though…
* But he was given another opportunity in the post-debate spin room and he chose one…
There are three versions of that song, but here are some lyrics from the American Authors version, which is what I think he meant…
I don’t feel like going home
But all my cash is gone
Yeah, I got nothing to do tonight
I’m passed out on the floor
Up in the hotel bar
But it don’t matter, ’cause I’m feeling fine
It eventually leads to an anthemic refrain.
K-Pop group ENHYPEN also has a song named “Go Big or Go Home,” but I doubt that’s what he meant. And the Wheeler Walker Jr. song with the same name is about looking for a plus-size woman: “Say goodbye to them little size 2’s / You need a girl that’s bigger than you.”
I asked the campaign and didn’t hear back right away, so I’ll let you know what they say.
After the hour-long debate, Pritzker took a handful of questions from reporters who tried to pin him down on more specifics left unanswered in the back-and-forth between him and Bailey.
Bailey, however, did not choose to meet the press, instead sending a campaign staffer who briefly addressed reporters left waiting in the so-called “spin room.”
“It is clear the senator won the debate tonight,” Bailey spokesman Joe DeBose said before saying his boss wouldn’t be answering questions.
“I’m just here to tell you that we won and winners don’t need spin,” he said, donning a black cowboy hat as he left the room.
Nice touch on the hat.
* The full BlueRoomStream video is here. But here’s a clip…
