* When city folks see rain, their grass gets greener, maybe their trees spruce up a bit and they think the drought problem is over. Not in the least…
Illinois has more than 1,000 miles of inland waterways, which at different points link to the Mississippi River. In 2010, according to Waterways Council Inc., more than 108 million tons of commodities worth almost $20.4 billion — mostly grain and coal — moved on the state’s waterways. The commodities were shipped to 20 states, with Louisiana receiving the most — more than 37.5 million tons of commodities, mostly grain. Much of that is exported through the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s very much under the radar screen for most people,” said Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. “I happen to sit on the Chicago River, and I look right down, and I see barge traffic every day. I see sand barges coming through, scrap-metal barges, stone. I don’t see grain here, but Downstate — it’s huge.”
For every one-inch loss of water, a barge must decrease its load by 17 tons of cargo, according to the American Waterways Operators, a trade association based in Arlington, Va.
This year, the river isn’t low by inches. It’s down by feet.
“We’ve been light loading barges,” said Dennis Wilmsmeyer, executive director of America’s Central Port and president of the Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals trade group. “Barges aren’t as full, they don’t sink as much into water, and that’s allowing us to continue to operate.”
* I’ve told you about my good friend Rob Werden, a farmer in northern Madison County. Rob harvested corn over the weekend and he posted this pic on his Twitter feed yesterday…
Ugh.
Rob told me that one of the fields he farms averaged 4.6 bushels of corn per acre. Unreal.
* The AP’s Chris Wills e-mailed his colleagues in the Statehouse press room today…
Colleagues:
I wanted to let you know that I’m leaving the Associated Press after 22 years and taking a new job as spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Being a reporter has been fun and challenging. It’s been an honor to work alongside many of you and reading (or hearing or watching) the great stories that everyone produces. But it’s time to try something new and face some new challenges.
…tax cuts for the wealthy and pay raises for Judy Biggert?
After thirty years in politics, Judy Biggert isn’t on our side.
She left the middle class behind, voting to bankroll tax cuts for the wealthy…
…by removing Medicare’s promise and increasing costs for us
With nine votes to raise her own pay, no wonder Biggert’s looking out for the wealthy.
Illinois can’t afford Judy Biggert.
* The Illinois GOP has a new video about Brad Schneider. From a press release…
Brad Schneider is the progressive Democrat running for Congress in Illinois’ 10th District. Schneider supports massive tax increases, borrowing money “all day long,” Occupy Wall Street, and the far-left lobby J Street. But at least he has a solid business background—or so we thought.
After touting his business credentials for 17 months, Mr. Schneider reported on his official personal financial disclosure forms that his business, Cadence Consulting Group LLC., has not earned income for at least three years. Breitbart.com, The Washington Free Beacon, Examiner.com and others have all reported on Schneider’s embellished business background.
“Brad Schneider needs to come clean about his business background,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady. “Voters aren’t sure what to believe from him now.”
* President Obama reportedly bypassed a congressman’s objection and agreed to buy the long-vacant Thomson prison from Illinois, according to US Sen. Dick Durbin…
“Finally, the Department of Justice this afternoon is going to present the $165 million check in the Northern District court of Illinois in Rockford to pay for the transfer,” said Durbin, who acknowledged it was a “rare” move to bypass a high-ranking House Appropriations Committee member. “At this point, the president had to intervene and do this directly. I hope people understand he’s doing it for his state.”
Veteran Virginia Republican Rep. Frank Wolf had long blocked the federal Bureau of Prisons purchase of the prison from the state of Illinois, saying he did not trust the Obama administration’s vow not to transfer suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into the facility despite a federal law that prohibits such moves. Wolf also said he did not trust Attorney General Eric Holder, whom the GOP-led House found in contempt for the failed Fast and Furious gun-walking program. […]
Durbin, the state’s senior senator and No. 2 Democrat in Washington, said funds for the purchase came from unspent money in the Department of Justice budget for the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
The Thomson prison issue also has been at the forefront of the highly competitive 17th Congressional District contest between freshman Republican Rep. Bobby Schilling and Democratic challenger Cheri Bustos. At one point, Schilling urged the state to renegotiate the sale price to $75 million in an effort to try to get the support of his fellow Republican, Wolf. But citing the state’s fiscal problems and its previous negotiations with Justice Department officials, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s office rejected Schilling’s effort to lower the price.
Durbin despises Schilling (Bustos is Durbin’s candidate all the way) and wanted this thing done before the election. Schilling can’t take any real credit now because he wanted the price lowered so much. That was never a good move on Schilling’s part because the state really needs that cash.
Wolf says he’s deeply troubled by the sale. He says it’s an “unprecedented directive” to “circumvent Congress.”
Pshaw.
It was a legal maneuver to circumvent a single, obstinate, delusional congresscritter.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Sour grapes? Looks like it…
Congressmen Don Manzullo (IL-16), Bobby Schilling (IL-17), and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) today released the following statement on the Obama administration moving to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center from the state of Illinois:
“The bottom line is that this is a welcome development for our region, particularly those who have been struggling to find good jobs. Thomson Correctional Center has been sitting empty for 10 years, costing the residents of Illinois millions of dollars in upkeep and keeping many Illinoisans and Iowans out of work each year.
“We have been working together towards the same goal of reaching across the divide, finding a solution, and bringing these jobs to our area without moving detainees from Guantanamo to U.S. soil. If the Administration was willing to move on Thomson without closing Guantanamo all along, we question why they waited this long before taking action. But as the old saying goes, ‘There’s no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.’”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Gov. Quinn and Sen. Durbin talk to reporters…
* Kabillionaire Bruce Rauner is rumored to be interested in a run for governor. But this quote on the front page of the Tribune might not endear him to some Republican leaders…
Rauner has indicated that his indictment of the Illinois political scene goes beyond just the Democrats who control Springfield.
“The politicians here are so weak, so incapable of leading, they’ve just decided to sort of let the circumstances, let the bond market force the change, let the tax revolt force the change because they won’t lead. We have got to replace the leaders,” Rauner said.
* This TV ad by the Now or Never PAC attacking Democratic congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth is causing some controversy…
* According to the Duckworth campaign, WLS TV has refused to run the ad. From a press release…
Chicago area television station WLS has refused to air a false television ad produced by the far right-wing SuperPAC Now or Never. The shadowy Super PAC funded with secretive donors from outside of Illinois placed over $1 million in television ads in the Chicago market in support of Congressman Joe Walsh. WLS reviewed the ad which makes false claims about Tammy Duckworth’s record and determined the content not to be accurate.
Duckworth Campaign Manager Kaitlin Fahey said, “It’s not only concerning that we know nothing about this secretive SuperPAC and where it gets its funding, it’s become clear that they will stop at nothing to help Joe Walsh stay in Congress, up to and including lying about Tammy Duckworth.”
The campaign says they didn’t ask WLS to pull the ad. The station, the Duckworth folks say, made the decision on its own. They have, however, used that decision to convince other stations to pull the ad down.
At least one other station is planning to run the ad. Larry Wert, NBC-Universal general manager, told the Sun-Times that it is airing the same commercial that is under dispute.
“We cleared the spot; it will air tonight,” Wert said.
WLS, however, has not yet publicly said whether it has indeed decided not to run the commercial. And a spokesman from Now or Never said that WLS hasn’t sent a confirmation that the station is considering pulling it. “They are required to give us notice,” said spokesman Tyler Harber.
A Duckworth spokeswoman, Kaitlin Fahey, initially said a “source” from WLS said it would be pulled.
* One of the claims in the ad…
As a Blago appointee, an audit found Duckworth was guilty of misusing or misreporting $4 million of taxpayer money.
Audits don’t find people “guilty,” juries do that, but this is a TV ad, so whatever. The Trib explains…
A state audit did find that receipt of a $4.4 million grant that improved the LaSalle Veterans’ Home was never submitted for inclusion in a state audit report. Department officials at the time said it was an inadvertent omission and that reporting the grant was the responsibility of another state agency.
Ad Took Duckworth Statement Out of Context–Her Statement of Support in this Case was Based on VA Jobs.
On April 1, 2007 Duckworth’s responses to a question and answer session with the Pantagraph were published. When asked about veterans’ homes, she stated “They are well run but they are understaffed. It is so important to me that the governor’s budget get passed because there is an additional 104 positions for staff that will go out to my four veterans’ homes.” [Pantagraph, 4/1/07]
Even so, she did back the budget at the time, which was funded by the Gross Receipts Tax proposal.
The commercial’s cookie-cutter format would look familiar to voters in various other congressional districts where the organization has bought similar spots.
Each ad starts with a Minnesota businesswoman suggesting that uncertainty over tax rates and health care costs has prevented businesses from hiring. In the 10th District version, a voice-over follows the businesswoman’s appearance as slow-motion footage of Schneider plays on-screen.
“Brad Schneider? He supports government-mandated health care, a scheme that will raise taxes and hurt job creators,” the ad says. “And he wants to hit our small businesses with higher taxes, preventing them from creating new jobs.”
The Schneider campaign called the ad “deceptive.”
On the tax issue, the ad is vague, as was the Schneider campaign’s response. Campaign spokeswoman Staci McCabe said Schneider supports “targeted tax breaks for small business to invest in new products, new processes and new people.”
* But there’s more to it than that. The Democrats sent over an analysis that I’ve posted online…
On its “Outsourcing Management” page, Permac Industries states:
Today’s complex manufacturing often necessitates the participation of more than one player in a project. That’s why Permac offers outsourcing management, a process where Permac teams up with other global suppliers – inside the U.S. as well as offshore – to get the job done. But from the customer’s vantage point, they’re only dealing with a single source: Permac. http://www.permacindustries.com/about/services/unique-services/outsourcing-management/
A commenter noted yesterday that one of the people in this ad, which is about job loss, worked for former Congressman Phil Hare. So, Schilling did actually cause this man to lose his job.
Script…
You lose your job, it a, it’s a real bellringer.
Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to keep tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas.
I just see the jobs being sucked away.
Bob, is your goal to eliminate the middle class in this country?
You are pulling the rug out from under us.
Bob, you don’t understand what you’re doing to families.
It doesn’t make any sense.
It’s just not right.
* Kelly Kraft, who was the governor’s budget spokesperson, then elevated to deputy budget director, then moved up to Gov. Pat Quinn’s press secretary this past July has applied to be the executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. The position has been vacant for a year.
The Quinn administration contended Monday that Kraft’s “extensive experience” with bonds and budget policy make her “well-equipped to manage (the agency) in a way that is fiscally prudent.” Further, spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said, Kraft’s marketing experience would be an advantage in promoting the ballpark, which in turn would “draw in more revenue for the state.”
Emanuel remains unconvinced.
“Mayor Emanuel has appointed three financial titans — Norm Bobbins, Jim Reynolds and Richard Price — to the ISFA board to ensure the Chicago taxpayers are being protected, and he believes the executive director position should be filled by someone with the proven experience of managing large organizations to find cost savings and efficiencies,” his office said in a statement when asked to react to the possibility of Kraft as the agency’s new executive director.
Bobbins is the retired former LaSalle Bank Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. Reynolds is chairman and CEO at Loop Capital. Price, whom Emanuel appointed last week, is chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial. [….]
By trying to install a top aide at the sports agency, Quinn may be attempting to keep closer tabs on the [Wrigley Field renovation] issue [contemplated by Emanuel].
Quinn has a habit of appointing his friends to positions instead of looking outside his circle. I’ve asked this question before, but when was the last time Quinn did a national search to fill a major position? Ever?
That’s not to say that Kraft wouldn’t do a good job. I don’t have any problems with her. I’m pretty sure she’d be fine. But would she do the best job?
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s office…
Governor Quinn believes an honest, well-qualified, hard-working woman with strong marketing skills and proven experience implementing budgets and reducing the operational costs of state government is just what the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority needs.
Kelly Kraft has extensive experience with bonds and budget policy from her three+ years working in the Office of Management and Budget, as well as having served as Assistant Budget Director - she would be well-equipped to manage ISFA in a way that is fiscally prudent. Kelly also has strong marketing experience and has developed key relationships in the business and media communities, which would help promote the stadium for other opportunities to draw in more revenue for the state.
More Background about Kelly Kraft
As Director of Communications, Kraft plans and oversees the execution of the administration’s internal and external communications, manages staff, and helps to develop policies that impact the people of Illinois and move the state forward.
Kraft has served as Assistant Budget Director, helping to guide Illinois’ Budgeting for Results, pension reforms, Medicaid restructuring initiatives as well as helping to reduce the state’s discretionary spending to 2008 levels. She had broad experience in government affairs and strategic planning. She has also managed complex subjects like debt issuance, financial reporting, contract negotiations, and budget policy. Prior to her career in public service, Kraft was an award winning and Emmy nominated journalist. She worked as a news anchor, reporter, producer and editor in major television markets such as Las Vegas, Buffalo, San Diego and Chicago. Kraft has also hosted and narrated the award-winning PBS documentaries “Kids in Peril” for law enforcement agencies and students in criminal justice programs. Kraft earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana where she studied Journalism and Political Science. She also studied at Thames Valley University in England. She grew up in Peru, Illinois in La Salle County.
For the past couple of election campaign cycles, this one included, incumbent state legislators have bragged in their campaign ads about cutting their pay.
They didn’t actually do that, but they did vote several times to take unpaid furlough days. So, it’s almost the same.
But lots of nonincumbents have upped the ante this fall — refusing to accept a state pension if elected.
Lifetime pensions for part-time legislators became a hot issue when the General Assembly first considered reducing pension benefits for state workers and teachers.
Those union members bitterly complained that legislators getting generous pensions for part-time jobs were passing judgment on full-time workers with modest incomes. And some outspoken conservatives have questioned why legislators should get pensions at all.
The issue heated up to the point where House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) endorsed legislation in the August special session that abolished pensions for newly elected legislators. It failed to pass, but that bill made the issue even more visible.
It also gave those who voted for it (mostly House Democrats) something else to crow about on the campaign trail — they voted to reduce their pensions and eliminate them entirely for new members. The issue now is playing out with a vengeance on the campaign trail.
I had noticed that several candidates had pledged not to take pensions if elected, so I asked the four caucus campaign managers to tell me how many candidates were pledging not to do so.
The House Republicans say 11 of their candidates have vowed to forgo a pension, but they say more are on the way. The 11 are Pat Fee (R-Naperville), Melinda Hult (R-Belleville), John Lawson (R-Schaumburg), Neil Anderson (R-Rock Island), John Cabello (R-Machesny Park), Glenn Nixon (R-Bourbonnais), Dan Kordik (R-Villa Park), Mark Shaw (R-Lake Forest), Julie Bigham Eggers (R-Columbia), Jonathan Greenberg (R-Northbrook) and David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills).
The Senate Republicans identified nine candidates who’ve said they will not take a pension. More, they say, are on the way. The nine are Mike McElroy (R-Decatur), Joe Neal (R-Wadsworth), Arie Friedman (R-Highland Park), Mike Babcock (R-Bethalto), Randy Frese (R-Paloma), Garrett Peck (R-Plainfield), Jim O’Donnell (R-Park Ridge), Mark Minor (R-Ewing) and Bill Albracht (R-Moline).
The Senate Democrats have two such candidates, Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
The House Democrats, as so often is the case, weren’t entirely forthcoming on this issue.
“We’ve had a number of candidates who’ve said they would eliminate and/or reduce pensions (in one form or another) for lawmakers,” wrote the House Democrats’ campaign manager in response to an email inquiry.
The House Democrats say members in that rather broad category include Deborah O’Keefe Conroy (D-Elmhurst), Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines), Kathleen Willis (D-Addison), Sue Scherer (D-Decatur), Laura Fine (D-Glenview), Stephanie Kifowit (D-Aurora), Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) and Scott Drury (D-Highwood).
That makes 30 candidates who are either vowing to not take a legislative pension or to significantly reduce those pensions. Of course, every House member who voted for that pension change in the special session can also be counted as at least supporting the end of pension benefits for future lawmakers.
The House Democrats say it’s ironic that so many House Republican candidates are promising to forgo pensions when their caucus voted overwhelmingly against the special session bill.
“If the Republicans decide to get on board, we’d pass the bill eliminating pensions for future lawmakers and we’ll make the issue a moot point,” a House Democratic operative said last week.
The legislative pension issue obviously polls well or that many candidates wouldn’t be campaigning on it. But it’s important to remember that campaigns don’t always move policy. People run on issues all the time that are forgotten just as soon as the next election ends.
What makes this somewhat different, though, is the sheer number of candidates in both parties who are talking about this issue, combined with Madigan’s proposal to end pensions for new legislators. Pandora’s Box may have been opened for good.
* There were lots of rumors earlier this year of bigtime bucks for legislative races coming from people like Ken and Ann Griffin this fall. Maybe not…
The Nov. 6 contests for the White House and Congress are only part of the picture for the new cadre of wealthy financiers who are looking to magnify their impact by focusing on state and local politics. They are not putting much money into state Republicans’ slim chances of reversing Democratic control of the Legislature this year, but insiders expect their influence to grow dramatically with statewide offices, including U.S. senator and governor on the ballot two years from now. […]
Also stepping into a new activist role are mega-donors Kenneth Griffin, who founded the hedge fund firm Citadel LLC, and Anne Dias Griffin, who founded her hedge fund firm, Aragon Global Management. The husband and wife have donated more than $6.1 million to candidates and causes at the state and federal level since 1998. […]
“All these people, they make decisions based on data, on ROI (return on investment), based on performance. That’s how they make money,” the consultant said. “You can’t just call up these folks and say ‘I’m a Republican. I need money.’ What is your plan? How do you get across the finish line. What’s your ROI? What’s your approach?”
And it appears that the investment community will pull back if results aren’t delivered.
“They’re no longer interested in jumping behind (someone) who has tried and failed,” the consultant said. “They want to do it themselves because the (politicians) at the head tables haven’t done it.”
The investment community provided substantial seed money, including $190,000 from the Griffins, to the Two Party System Inc. PAC that in 2010 spent more than $800,000 to back state House GOP candidates and campaigns. But promises of major pickups against Democrats never materialized. Through the first half of this election year, the PAC has made no contributions.
The Griffins have contributed just $30,000 since July.
Newsweb media mogul Fred J. Eychaner ranks 13 on the nation’s list of top political donors.
In addition to his efforts for President Obama, Eychaner is one of the 2012’s highest national indiviual donors to liberal legislative candidates and political action committees in the 2012 cycle.
In this cycle alone, Eychaner has donated over $3 million to federal Democrat-affilliated Political Action Committees […]
Of the $377,000 he has given thus far to Illinois Democrat candidates and the Democratic Victory Fund and the Senate Democrats, nearly half - $190,000 - went to the abortion advocacy group Personal PAC
* OK, here’s a weird story. A southern Illinois man claims that somebody stole some yard signs from his yard last week. No big deal. Happens all the time.
But then the man alleges that the thieves returned the signs on Friday, replanted them in the ground and then set them on fire. WSIL reports…
Here’s a hint to any aspiring political vandals, or people who want to damage their own stuff and then blame it on the opposition: This state has no statute of limitations for arson. Don’t do it.
* The Question: What’s your favorite political vandalism story?
* They really never had a decent case. But they did have plenty of taxpayer money to spend on lawsuits, so they appealed all the way to the top…
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear a challenge from Illinois Republicans who want a Democratic-drawn legislative map thrown out.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno and other Republicans. They say the maps drawn by Democrats were gerrymandered to benefit the party and were unconstitutional. The lower courts have thrown out their complaints.
…Adding… Coincidentally, the Tribune published an editorial yesterday calling the remap “Grand Theft Illinois.” No hyperbole there, though.
Notice that slightly fewer Catholics favor gay marriage than the state as a whole, but fewer Catholics oppose all legal recognition than the rest of the state.
Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is getting hit with a nationwide backlash over his suggestion that the federal government bail out the state employees’ pension program.
Critics have in the past several days pounced on the suggestion, made last year when Quinn, in announcing the state’s fiscal 2012 budget, said part of Illinois’ long-term effort to reduce the estimate $167 billion in under-funded liabilities would be to seek “a federal guarantee of the debt.”
A national backlash? Maybe in the conservative echo chamber. As far as I can tell, nobody else cares much, if at all.
The basic plan floated by Quinn would be for the federal government to rescue the pension program through buying the state’s bonds, which critics say are too financially risky to attract investors.
Quinn said after announcing the budget that seeking the federal guarantee was only a precaution, then later called the related wording a “drafting error,” according the non-partisan Citizens Against Government Waste
* OK, we’re gonna take this one point at a time…
* 1…
The basic plan floated by Quinn would be for the federal government to rescue the pension program through buying the state’s bonds
* Former budget director David Vaught did make that suggestion, but not recently. He said this way back in October of 2009…
According to newly installed state Budget Director David Vaught, Gov. Pat Quinn recently brought up the idea with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others at the White House. The governor got a good enough reception that “he intends to extend” his efforts, Mr. Vaught said.
A federally guaranteed bond issue could be an enormous help to Illinois in dealing with a huge fiscal 2011 budget hole that Dan Long, executive director of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the Legislature’s fiscal research arm, now pegs at $11 billion to $12 billion.
Mr. Vaught said a federal guarantee would cut the interest rate on such a bond to “in the 3% to 4% range” from “5% to 6%.” That would make it much more profitable — and less risky — for the state, which would invest the funds in higher-yielding stocks and bonds.
Since any profits could be booked up front, at least in part, the state would be able to avoid making hundreds of millions and perhaps billions in annual contributions to worker pensions that it otherwise would have to come up with in the next few years.
* 2…
state’s bonds, which critics say are too financially risky to attract investors
* Actually, the state’s bond sales have consistently been way over-subscribed. From July…
State receives $14.9 billion in orders for $1.5 billion bond deal
* 3…
Quinn said after announcing the budget that seeking the federal guarantee was only a precaution
* Um, he never said that. Citizens Against Government Waste claimed Quinn said this last month when it awarded the governor its “Porker of the Month” honor…
When queried about it then, the governor claimed that the inclusion of that bailout language was a “precaution.”
The governor of Illinois said Friday he is not seeking a federal guarantee of his state’s pension debt, but that he included the proposal in his budget last week “as a precaution” as he struggles to fund pension obligations for public employees.
“That’s not something we’re pushing, really,” Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Ill.) said in an interview with Fox Business, after he and a dozen fellow Democratic governors met with President Obama at the White House to discuss possible moves to boost the economy.
OK, so he did say that. Let’s move on….
* 4…
then later called the related wording a “drafting error,”
* In reality, Quinn’s staff immediately said a staffer made an error when the analysis was written when queried by Fox Business News and others in 2011…
Brie Callahan, spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said Quinn would turn down all offers of federal bailout if the state finds itself out of cash.
“We believe that the states have an obligation to pay their bills and to meet the demands they have put upon themselves,” she said. “We don’t want any federal assistance in terms of bankruptcy.”
* So, what happened between 2009 and 2011? Back in 2009, and then again in 2010 Quinn used borrowing to make the full pension payment. But then he declared that there would be no more bonding for pension payments. Why? Well, the income tax hike gave him the revenues to make those payments. So, there was no pension bond request in his FY 2012 budget proposal in February of 2011. The tax hike revenues will fall short of making those payments in the coming years, which is a big reason why he’s pushing pension reform. Also, the Republicans took control of the US House in November, 2010 election, so by early 2011 there was no way in heck any idea like that would fly.
In other words, when the state was borrowing to make pension payments, Quinn discussed a federal bailout. But he was apparently denied by the President and DC Democrats back in 2009 because nothing ever happened, even with Democratic control of both congressional chambers.
And now, for whatever reason, the echo chamber is dredging these old stories up.
In addition, an editorial Tuesday in the Chicago Tribune argued that saving Illinois will “start a stampede of demands for equal treatment from other financially troubled states” with public pension debts ranging from $1 trillion to $25 trillion.
That was no “editorial.” It was an op-ed by Dennis Byrne. Big difference. [And no offense meant to Dennis, either. Just pointing out that an op-ed ain’t an editorial.]
* Bad things happen when you hang out with Lindsay Lohan. That’s not in dispute. But a former John Shimkus staffer partying down with Lindsay Lohan is highly unusual…
A 25-year-old former aide to Illinois Rep. John Shimkus — who was initially arrested on an assault charge after Lindsay Lohan claimed he grabbed her in a New York hotel room in an argument over cellphone images — was freed Sunday and his arrest voided when the charge could not be substantiated, law enforcement officials said.
Instead, Christian LaBella of Valley Village, Calif., and Lohan were filing harassment complaints with police against each other after they were interviewed by police about their run-in, law enforcement officials said.
He worked for John Shimkus? The man who believes that climate change is a fiction because the Book of Genesis says so?
I probably wouldn’t be surprised if, say, a Jan Schakowsky staffer was partying with Lilo. But Shimkus? That’s just odd.
How about, just for fun, we make up some other weird celebrity pairings with the Illinois delegation?
* The NRCC ad which implies that Cheri Bustos used her influence to connect her street to her country club has been pretty much universally panned in local editorials as blatantly misleading. And now Bustos is running her own ad on the subject. Rate it [Fixed link.]…
[The campaign took down the other version and replaced it with the one above.]
It’s a pretty good response ad. Trouble is, Bustos waited about eleven days to respond. Not a great idea. The other side had plenty of time to burn their own message in.
* Meanwhile, PolitiFact has “awarded” its not-so-coveted “Pants on Fire” rating to a recent NRCC ad against Democrat David Gill on Medicare…
Attacks that say a candidate would “end Medicare” have typically come from Democrats. But this one comes from the Republicans. […]
The proposal Gill was referring to was published on Aug. 30, 2003, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it remains on the physician group’s website. Here’s an excerpt, with some key points in bold:
“We envision a national health insurance program that builds upon the strengths of the current Medicare system. Coverage would be extended to all age groups, and expanded to include prescription medications and long term care. Payment mechanisms would be structured to improve efficiency and assure prompt reimbursement, while reducing bureaucracy and cost shifting. Health planning would be enhanced to improve the availability of resources and minimize wasteful duplication. Finally, investor-owned facilities would be phased out.”
So let’s put this in perspective. The NRCC isn’t merely criticizing Gill’s “plan” — one he praised with some limitations eight years ago, a time well before passage of President Barack Obama’s health care bill, which was intended to solve some of the health care policy challenges Gill perceived in 2004. Instead, the NRCC is also saying it’s Gill’s intention to “end Medicare.”
But that’s true only in an Alice in Wonderland sense. The Physicians for National Health Care plan would “end” Medicare only because it would aim to put everyone — not just senior citizens — in a system designed to run, yes, just like Medicare.
The NRCC ad claims, “David Gill: His plan would end Medicare.”
But we find that’s a ridiculous claim that ignores the sweeping nature of what he supported. He actually supported an expansion of a government-run plan so that everyone would have Medicare-like coverage — including seniors.
The NRCC ad completely distorts the plan in an attempt to scare seniors. Pants on Fire!
One of those was on the disclosure of financial or conflict-of-interest information by candidates. Most of them got pretty overwhelming support from the respondents, in that they said something was either very important or somewhat important for a candidate to disclose.
The poll asked things like how important is it to know if a candidate has real estate or other investments that may benefit from actions by the government? More than 92 percent think that’s either very important or somewhat important to know.
Interestingly, one of the lower rated items was disclosure of income tax returns. That’s become almost a routine demand of some candidates for office and at times a campaign issue when the returns aren’t released. Yet, only 79 percent thought releasing tax returns was very or somewhat important.
Obviously, a lot of people still think it’s important, but maybe not as much as the hoopla over releasing tax returns might suggest.
Voters don’t agree on much of anything these days. So when 79 percent of voters agree on something, that’s a huge amount.
* It turns out, however, that the issue is lots more important to Democrats and independents than Republicans. From the crosstabs…
Still, 65 percent of Republicans is pretty darned high as well.
It’s about a woman named “Susan” that Dr. Gill says he resuscitated after she had a heart attack. Susan had to go home, however, because she didn’t have health insurance.
In a 2006 campaign video produced when Gill was making an unsuccessful bid for Congress in Illinois’ 15th district, he told a similar story about a 39-year-old person who died of a heart attack that may have been prevented had they been covered by health insurance.
But in the 2006 telling — and in another version published on a blog in 2009 — the subject of the story was a man, not a woman named “Susan.”
After a bit of back and forth, the Gill campaign hedged…
In a follow-up statement, Gill campaign spokeswoman Lucy Stein suggested Susan may be an amalgamation of a number of similar experiences Gill has had over the years.
“In his 13 years as an ER doctor caring for thousands of patients, David has seen too many young families devastated by heart attacks. These stories are the tragic but preventable result of a profit-driven health care system,” Stein noted.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The full 2006 Gill campaign video is here. I’ve excerpted the relevant quote…
[ *** End Of Update 1 *** ]
*** UPDATE 3 *** Total denial of the report by Gill’s spokesperson…
I never suggested the amalgamation story… Both are real people, but the point is that there are countless others just like them
She’s right that she was never directly quoted as saying such. And it’s not clear she was even implying it from the story’s quote.
The Chamber of Commerce is up with a generic attack ad pushing all sorts of crazy distortions about me. And the businesswoman they feature in his spot? She’s from Minnesota. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a local voter.
CAMPAIGN UPDATE: We just got new poll numbers in. They confirm that David has an excellent opportunity to win.
Despite a million dollars being spent against him so far, Dr. Gill is in the lead and doing exceptionally well with voters who have seen our advertising.
Yeah. They’ve seen the “Susan” ad, which could now be blown out of the water.
* Also, Gill’s campaign is changing staffers on the fly, which makes it look quite disorganized…
MICHAEL RICHARDS, 33, a member of the Champaign County Board, recently left the campaign. TOM ALTE of Normal remains deputy campaign manager. The campaign’s political director is JACK QUIGLEY of Chicago, a friend of Gill. SHERRY GREENBERG, originally from Los Angeles, is a senior political strategist sent by the DCCC, Alte said. And the new press secretary is LUCY STEIN, who previously worked for a Senate committee in Washington, D.C.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rodney Davis has a new campaign ad. Rate it…
In late September, Gov. Quinn took a six-day junket to meet with CEOs and politicians in Brazil. Public employees and labor leaders there were waiting with their own “Pat Quinn Truth Squad”! The signs in Portuguese read, “Governor Quinn, Bad for Workers”. In this photo: Graca Costa (left), president of the National Confederation of Municipal Workers (CONFETAM), and Vagner Freitas (right), vice president of the Unified Workers Central (CUT).
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today launched a new voter education and grassroots campaign in Illinois’ 10th congressional district, highlighting Brad Schneider’s support for policies that will hurt Illinois job creators. The new ad features Darlene Miller, the U.S. Chamber’s 2008 Small Business of the Year winner, urging Chicago voters to know where their candidates stand on policies that will advance job growth and investment. This launch is part of the Chamber’s largest voter education campaign in its 100-year history to elect pro-business candidates to Congress.
“Voters need to know where their candidates stand on issues that promote free enterprise,” said Rob Engstrom, the U.S. Chamber’s senior vice president and national political director. “Unfortunately, Brad Schneider instead supports policies that will stifle growth and job creation in Illinois’ 10th district and across the country. He supports government-mandated health care that will raise taxes and hurt job growth. With small businesses facing prolonged uncertainty, tax hikes are last thing they can afford, let alone elected officials who support them.”
* Meanwhile, the Daily Herald caught Schneider in a big flip-flop…
Despite his claims to the contrary, congressional candidate Brad Schneider’s public stance on extending the Bush-era tax cuts has changed since the Democratic primary.
In a recent Daily Herald candidate questionnaire, Schneider — who’s running against incumbent Republican Robert Dold for the suburban 10th District seat — said he supports extending at least some of those tax cuts.
“I have continuously said that, at the very minimum, the Bush tax cuts for income under $250,000 should be extended,” Schneider, of Deerfield, said.
Except he hasn’t.
When the Daily Herald asked Schneider about the tax cuts ahead of the March primary, he said nothing about extending them.
* Related…
* Is Israel a wild card in 10th Congressional race?: For the first time since Lauren Beth Gash lost by 2 percentage points to Kirk in 2000, the Republican incumbent — Congressman Bob Dold of Kenilworth — faces an opponent who has deep ties to the local Jewish community. Brad Schneider, of Deerfield, boasts “more trips to Israel than he can count” and past work in a kibbutz as he challenges Dold in a newly drawn, mAore Democratic-leaning 10th District. Dold, who has molded himself in the image of Kirk, is well-respected for his work on behalf of Israel over his 20 months in office, including pushing for tougher Iran sanctions and calling for fully funding the nation’s security commitment to Israel.
The founder of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches said during a Sept. 18 panel discussion in Chicago that he will relocate the company’s licensing division to Florida, where he plans to move in early 2013. Mr. Liautaud said in January 2011 that he applied for residency in Florida out of anger when Gov. Pat Quinn raised the corporate tax rate to 5 percent from 3 percent.
In remarks made last week as part of a half-day conference in Chicago on how tax policies affect corporate growth, Mr. Liautaud said the Florida move was just the first part of leaving Illinois for good.
“That’s what we’re going to do to start, but I think you’ll probably see us out of Illinois in the next four years and probably see us in Indiana or Austin (Texas), if I was to guess,” he said in the video. […]
While Mr. Liautaud said a year ago that the tax rate made him consider leaving Illinois, he said last week that it was state policy that cemented the move.
“What I mind is how they spend the tax,” he said. “I would stay, but the way they spend the tax is really driving me away.”
* Back in January of 2011, after the income tax was increased, Liautaud claimed he was already in the process of moving out of Illinois…
Liautaud said he has rented a house in south Florida and his children started school there last week. He said he has applied for Florida residency and plans to commute to Champaign.
He said he doesn’t know yet whether he will put his home on West Armory Street on the market.
* But Liautaud apparently didn’t ever enroll his kids in a Florida school. At the event last week, he said this…
“My wife’s gonna stay in Champaign with the kids and we’re gonna file separate income tax returns.”
* And instead of leaving Illinois himself almost two years ago, Liautaud became a Mitt Romney delegate in Illinois. Liautaud said last week that because of his delegate status, he’ll be around until January 1, when he’ll then move to Florida.
*** UPDATE *** As you can see if you try to watch the above video, the Illinois Policy Institute has claimed my excerpt is somehow a copyright violation.
This was a two minute excerpt from a 51 minute video, which was linked here and on my video’s YouTube page. Fair Use Doctrine ought to apply here and I intend to inform YouTube of this.
Ridiculous.
Anyway, go to about the 4 minute mark on their video and you’ll see Liautaud’s full comments.
Alexandra Anderson, a 25-year-old law student at Northwestern University, is among a growing number of people flocking to downtown homes in major cities across the United States, a group described in a Census Bureau report released Thursday.
The report found that the number of people living within two miles of Chicago’s City Hall rose 36 percent from 2000 to 2010. Though many of the largest U.S. cities experienced a similar trend in the last decade, Chicago outpaced them all in that category.
More than 48,000 moved to downtown Chicago in the last decade, according to the report. New York City saw a 9.3 percent increase in its downtown population, or about 37,000 people.
Anderson said she didn’t think twice about her decision to live in a downtown studio apartment when she moved to Chicago last year. Her apartment is around the corner from Northwestern Law School. A grocery store, a post office and multiple restaurants, bars and coffee shops are all within a five-minute walk.
I moved downtown in early 2001. There were no grocery stores, and lots of other stores closed at 5 o’clock because the Loop used to empty out after work. But things changed fast. I eventually moved back to Springfield, but from what I can tell, downtown appears to be a lot more liveable these days.
Despite some of the problems, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to walk to things like the ballet (I had season tickets back then). The lake was a short hike. Big festivals were more fun to attend because I could easily go home and rest up for a couple hours if I wanted. Getting to baseball games was super easy because the L was right around the corner. Covering downtown news events was a breeze. Back when Chicago still had July 3rd fireworks, I’d often throw a viewing party. You could watch the display in air conditioned comfort without dealing with crowds. I loved living downtown.
But then I started thinking about moving back to Springfield after the brutal 2004 overtime session. The commute was just killing me. The drive down wasn’t so bad. It was the drive back north, after long nights spent, um, “gathering information.” I moved a year later, and I’ve never forgiven Rod Blagojevich for that. Don’t get me wrong. I have a very nice place in Springfield. I enjoy my life here. But I do miss the action.
* Democrat congressional candidate David Gill has a new TV ad about how an insurance company refused to pay for his late wife’s helicopter med-evac to St. Louis. Rate it…
* Democratic congressional candidate Cheri Bustos has released new poll numbers which purport to show her race against Republican freshman Bobby Schilling is neck and neck. From the pollster, GBA Strategies…
Democrat Cheri Bustos is surging in her race against incumbent Republican Congressman Bobby Schilling in Illinois’ new 17th congressional district. A new survey1 of 600 likely voters shows Bustos has closed the gap dramatically since advertising in the campaign began, pulling to within 45 – 47 percent—well within the survey’s margin of error.
But the pollster then did some weird voodoo, which makes me uncomfortable…
In a vote simulation where undecided voters are allocated by their partisanship, Bustos and Schilling are completely tied 49 - 49 percent.
I really wish campaigns wouldn’t do that stuff without at least offering up some detailed explanations. It undermines their numbers.
* Schilling released numbers last month showing him leading the race by 13 points, 50-37. But the new polling shows President Obama is doing very well in the district…
President Obama leads Governor Mitt Romney by a wide 54 – 41 percent margin in this race.
So, the unmentioned bottom line here is that Bustos is still vastly underperforming the top of the ticket.
Survey of 600 likely voters conducted by GBA Strategies September 24-26, 2012. Respondents were reached on land lines and cell phones. Results have a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval.
* Downstate and suburban Democrats are finding themselves on the defensive this campaign season over their Chicago leaders’ idea to shift employer pension costs to Downstate and suburban schools districts. Here’s one example from the Metro East…
The Illinois Senate’s Republican leader said Wednesday she suspects Democrats in January will try to use a lame-duck session of the legislature to shift the costs of downstate teachers’ pensions onto local school districts.
Such a shift would likely force local school districts to raise property taxes.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said she suspects Illinoisans will get a “January surprise” on the pension cost-shift because it was during a lame-duck session in January 2011 when the Democrat-led legislature passed a temporary, 67 percent increase in the state income tax.
Radogno made the prediction during a campaign stop in Glen Carbon with Republican Senate candidate Mike Babcock of Bethalto.
But Babcock’s opponent in the 56th Senate District, Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, said there’s been no discussion of having a pension-reform vote during the lame-duck session. Even if there were, there just aren’t enough votes to pass such a shift, Haine said.
“The Republicans and Democrats downstate are united on a few things, and this is one of them. It’s a no-go,” Haine said.
* But Radogno insists that history could be repeating itself…
She and Babcock both said Haine voted for the tax increase during a lame-duck session after saying he would oppose such an increase.
Haine said he absolutely did not say he would vote against the measure, which eventually passed. He said he opposed a permanent income and sales tax increase but voted for a temporary tax increase of four years to avoid a statewide financial disaster. The tax hike will “sunset” in two years.
Haine said he opposed a permanent income tax increase bill, which also included several sales tax increases.
He said the temporary measure was the only way to save SIUE from closing its doors, to prevent nursing homes and hospitals from having to lay off employees and to keep school staffing intact.
“I find it odd that he (Babcock) is criticizing me for voting for a temporary tax increase that prevented teacher layoffs, but now he’s saying he’s opposed to a measure that he says could cause teacher layoffs,” Haine said.
If you’re explaining, you’re losing. Haine may not lose the election, but he could very well be losing this argument.
I first met Maze Jackson when he was running the Chicago and suburban ground game for Gov. Pat Quinn’s Democratic primary campaign.
He’s brash, smart, funny, with a mind that can go a dozen directions at once. I couldn’t help but like the guy. And now Jackson is running his toughest campaign ever.
Jackson is managing Lance Tyson’s uphill race against indicted former state Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago). Smith was expelled from the House in August, months after being arrested for allegedly accepting a $7,000 bribe.
There is no legal way to kick Smith off the ballot, and he refused to drop out of the race. If he wins, the House can’t use the indictment to kick him out of office again because the Illinois Constitution forbids such a move.
A poll taken two weeks ago showed Smith with a huge 47-9 lead over Tyson, with the remainder undecided, so things don’t look good for Maze Jackson right now.
Tyson was picked by the district’s ward committeemen to challenge Smith after Tyson threatened to spend thousands of dollars of his own money whether or not he was chosen. Some committeemen had their own candidates in mind, but they begrudgingly went with Tyson after Secretary of State Jesse White intervened on his behalf. White engineered Derrick Smith’s appointment to the House, so he’s being held responsible by the powers that be for defeating Smith in November.
White drafted Jackson as Tyson’s campaign manager. Jackson knows the West Side legislative district well, having run Ald. Walter Burnett’s campaigns.
Jackson thinks the poll, taken by We Ask America, showed lots of residents were choosing their candidate on party lines. If a pollster asks a West Side Democrat how he or she plans to vote, they will naturally pick the Democrat. Jackson says he has to convince voters that his candidate is “the real Democrat.”
So far, House Speaker Michael Madigan has decided to stay neutral because a Democrat will be elected regardless, according to his spokesman. But Jackson believes this campaign has potentially national ramifications, and he’s not giving up hope yet that Madigan and/or the local Democratic Party will come to his candidate’s aid.
That’s a lot of hope, but is there a plan? Election Day is in about five weeks.
Jackson described an expensive campaign plan of mail, black radio and cable TV, but I haven’t seen much of an uptick in Tyson’s lackluster fund-raising.
A recent event hosted by Gov. Pat Quinn helped bring in some bucks, Jackson said. “People just wanted to see a sign that there’s going to be a campaign,” Jackson said. And now that the wheels are “getting in motion,” more cash should begin flowing. Some outside groups reportedly will spend money attacking Smith, Jackson said.
Jackson said he needs to persuade 30-40 percent of voters in the heavily African-American 27th and 28th Wards to break their lifelong habit of automatically voting for Democrats. The 27th is White’s ward, so that should go somewhat smoothly. The 28th is run by Ald. Jason Ervin, who, after some early trepidation, is now on board, according to Jackson. But the former Democratic committeeman there is Ed Smith, and he’s working against Tyson, so trouble is afoot.
The idea is to “run up the score” in the district’s other wards, which are more racially diverse. The walk card Tyson’s campaign is using features a mock “Wanted” poster with a mugshot of Smith, who is “wanted” for “disgracing the Democratic Party,” “Crimes against the residents of the 10th District,” and “Federal bribery.”
If only it were that easy to win a crazy campaign like this.
* Lawyers for Bill Cellini sent out a press release quoting from some of the hundreds of letters they’ve collected on their client’s behalf. Some were from major players, others were from small fry. But they all praised the man, who faces sentencing on a federal corruption conviction. The press release is here.
“On many occasions I did not agree with Bill’s position on an issue and I would often take action which was contrary to Bill’s position. In all of this time and in all of these issues, I never personally saw nor did I hear on any of those occasions that Bill acted improperly in any manner. Bill never asked me to take any action which I deemed inappropriate.?
“Never and I repeat N-E-V-E-R did Bill Cellini ever ask me to do anything illegal, immoral or unethical. Nor have I heard of anyone I respect say that Bill Cellini was anything less than honest.”
Citing the trial record and jury verdict, the lawyers said that the government’s theory of his presumed political influence was rejected by the trial jury that acquitted Mr. Cellini on the two counts of the charges related to the widespread corruption alleged during the terms of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. They argued it would be a legal impropriety to allow that theory to infect the sentencing and it would be fundamentally unfair. […]
[Cellini’s attorneys] also said the nature and circumstances of the offense support a probationary sentence.
“…Mr. Cellini stands convicted of some participation in a conspiracy to extort Tom Rosenberg, but it is undisputed (and likely almost without precedent in cases involving comparable facts) that Mr. Cellini was never even informed of and did not participate in the most critical aspects of that conspiracy, including the actual decision, planning, and alleged attempt to extort Rosenberg by providing him a choice between paying a kickback and making a campaign contribution. Indeed, it is uncontroverted that at least for a time, Mr. Cellini actively attempted to aid Rosenberg and defeat the extortion efforts of the mastermind of the conspiracy, Stuart Levine…Against that background, the evidence at trial and jury’s verdict established that Mr. Cellini did no more than act as a middle man for the purpose of smoothing out a situation he knew little about involving corrupt individuals with unknown plans and ulterior motives.
* And Cellini’s lawyers are also playing up the health angle…
In addition to a recent heart attack and persistent heart disease, they wrote, Cellini, 77, has had prostate cancer and is treated for “a frequently crippling neurological disorder, cervical spinal stenosis, that has twice resulted in his losing feeling in his arms and hand and needing to undergo emergency evaluation as to whether he had actually had a stroke.”
He has also been diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis, another degenerative disk disease “that can result in weakness or numbness in the limbs and difficulty walking,” the memo says.
Cellini suffered a heart attack June 4 while undergoing a heart catheterization, the document says. Tests showed afterward that his heart had been seriously damaged, it states.
“Mr. Cellini has not been able to commence full cardiovascular rehabilitation as yet … because following the heart attack and stent implanting, an acute (blood) clot was discovered in his leg and groin, which was deemed by his physicians to be a life-threatening health risk,” the lawyers write.
“Medications have contained the clot in the area, but a doctor has told Cellni that ‘he has a propensity for clots for form, which can be deadly,’ and if there are any symptoms of clotting, ‘Mr. Cellini must immediately obtain emergency treatment or risk the possibility of a stroke or death.’”
