It’s not the first time that a Republican statewide candidate for governor in Illinois has resorted to the use of misleading newspaper attributions. In his failed 2006 race for the GOP nomination for governor, businessman James D. Oberweis used four fake headlines from real newspapers across the state in his TV advertising.
Underscoring that McKenna’s campaign didn’t need to misattribute the Tribune, it also released an accompanying radio ad using the same “hides the truth” accusation with no reference to the newspaper.
McKenna campaign spokesman Lance Trover responds…
“Last week Governor Quinn characterized his record as governor as “Missions Accomplished,” this at a time when the state is facing bankruptcy and near record unemployment while the governor is refusing to launch any effort to tackle — or even acknowledge — these issues until after his primary election.
“By any sane, rational definition, that is hiding the truth.
“His assertion was such a prominent point of his presentation, that the Tribune even used it in the headline and the lede. We understand the seriousness of making this accusation about Governor Quinn. Rather than facing the possibility of being charged with using political hearsay, we cited an article using the governor’s own words to demonstrate our point: he is hiding the truth.”
“You’ve got to have a governor who gets things done. That’s what I’ve done. I took over at the worst time Illinois could ever have in our history, a very dark, dark hour,” Quinn said. “And we’ve, day after day, got missions accomplished whether it’s in ethics or getting things done for ordinary people in the budget or getting jobs.”
I wrote at the time that the Tribune was mischaracterizing the “missions accomplished” quote, so I guess it’s garbage in, garbage out.
* Speaking of false claims, Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman sent out a fundraising e-mail today that points to poll numbers which don’t really exist…
In the last few days, much has been made of an internal poll we conducted. Geoff Garin, our pollster and long-time advisor to Senator Durbin, shows in a polling memo that in a general election Alexi Giannoulias loses to Mark Kirk by 17 points, and I beat Kirk by 5 points.
Bottom line: I am the strongest Democratic Senate candidate to take on Mark Kirk for the November election.
Actually, the memo shows Mark Kirk leading Hoffman 40-30, and leading Giannoulias 40-37. It’s only after the “push” questions, both positive and negative, that Hoffman edges out Kirk.
* It’s tough to discern whether David Axelrod actually told James Warren that he has concerns about Alexi Giannoulias or whether Warren just assumed it. Either way, it would be nice if the Chicago Media Cooperative story was more transparent…
Mr. Axelrod concedes that he and Mr. Obama failed to persuade Attorney General Lisa Madigan to run for the Senate seat vacated by Mr. Obama. “She would have walked into the seat,” Mr. Axelrod says. White House qualms about the Democratic frontrunner, Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois treasurer, are self-evident, with worry that the Republican challenger, Representative Mark Kirk, will be needlessly formidable.
“The Blago saga will hang heavy over our politics, and that’s what Kirk’s banking on,” Mr. Axelrod says.
If you’re an underdog conservative running for Congress, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) should be on your speed dial these days.
A favorite of the tea party crowd and a longtime scourge for Democrats and some Republicans alike inside the Senate chamber, DeMint has emerged as the leading benefactor for any Republican who wants to challenge the establishment candidates backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. […]
And DeMint is considering offering an endorsement to attorney Patrick Hughes, who is challenging Kirk in the Republican primary for Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois. DeMint has met with Hughes twice in the past two months to discuss his campaign, and DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund website is polling respondents on whom they support in the Hughes-Kirk primary.
“This is a national race … so an endorsement from Sen. DeMint or any great conservative leader like him is welcomed and would be helpful,” Hughes said Thursday, after meeting with DeMint for a second time.
Fans of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) are also, apparently, fans of atty Patrick Hughes (R) — which could turn out to be a bad thing for the NRSC.
Over the weekend, Hughes won an online straw poll of visitors to DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund website, which gauged which candidate DeMint backers wanted to support in the race for Pres. Obama’s old SEN seat in IL. Hughes took 74%, while Rep. Mark Kirk, the favorite candidate of DC GOPers, garnered just 8%, barely over half the number of people who voted for “other.”
“Other” came in second. No surprise, but not good for Kirk. Still, DeMint has made it clear that he only intends to involve himself with winning candidacies and Hughes has shown us nothing to indicate he can beat Kirk.
Illinois’ top Republican says he’s received a “commitment” from the national party to invest big bucks here in hopes of a GOP breakthrough in the 2010 elections.
State GOP Chairman Pat Brady said no one mentioned any specific numbers at a meeting he held Friday afternoon with Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee. But “significant help” was promised, he said.
“Mr. Steele says he’s very committed to Illinois,” Mr Brady said in a brief phone chat. “Illinois is a top tier state for them.”
* Related…
* Lyons Township GOP backs Hughes, Topinka, Plummer: Saturday morning’s Republicans of Lyons Township candidate forum ended with endorsements for Patrick Hughes for U.S. Senate, and fell one vote short of backing Dan Proft for governor. Andy McKenna was the next highest vote gubernatorial vote getter — at 14. 29 votes were needed for endorsement.
* Dems claim Rauschenberger not a Republican: Well, the Senate Democrats are trying to expand a DuPage County court ruling used last cycle to bump an opponent off the ballot against Sen. Carol Pankau. In the case of Rauschenberger, they claim that because he pulled a Democrat township election ballot last cycle in order to vote for his sister for Elgin Township Trustee (there was no Republican primary), that he is now ineligible to run for office as a Republican.
* Press Release: U. S. Senate candidate Cheryle Jackson today announced the launch of an online petition against sending more troops to Afghanistan and the withdrawal of American military forces still in Iraq. The petition can be found at BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. “It is time to take care of America again and time to bring our troops home. And it’s time for people at the grassroots to make their opinions known about a war with no end in sight that claims precious lives and resources that we so desperately need at home,” said Jackson.
* Edgar cuts ad for 41st House race: Former Gov. Jim Edgar was spotted at the Capitol on Friday filming an ad that’ll back Elmhurst Republican Brien Sheahan for the 41st Illinois House district. That’s the seat currently held by Bob Biggins, who’s not seeking re-election. Sheahan, a DuPage County Board member, once worked for Edgar. He’d be the second former Edgar staffer to get the former governor’s nod. He already endorsed former aide Kirk Dillard for governor.
* Gingrich to raise cash for Ethan Hastert: Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich is set to host a Dec. 11 congressional fundraiser for the son of former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert… Ethan Hastert, an Elburn attorney, is running against state Sen. Randy Hultgren of Winfield Township, Mark Vargas of Elgin, Jeff Danklefsen of Geneva and Jim Purcell of Batavia.
* Low Tea Party moment symbolic of muddy week: Catherina Wojtowicz, of Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community, an organizer for a Tea Party splinter group, Chicago Tea Party Patriots, falsely claimed that the Houghs fabricated their story. In an e-mail, she called them operatives of President Barack Obama who “go from event to event and (cry) the same story.” When the Houghs spoke at the Lipinski event, some Tea Partiers ridiculed them. They moaned and rolled their eyes and interrupted. Midge Hough began to cry.
* We spent much of last week discussing the governor’s controversial plan to sell the Thomson prison to the feds so that the Gitmo detainees can be moved there, along with hundreds of other inmates.
* The Question: Do you support or oppose this proposal? Explain thoroughly, please. And try to stay as Illinois focused as possible. Thanks.
Monday, Nov 23, 2009 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
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* Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has said he wants to stem the flow of out-of-county patients to Stroger Hospital. As of last year, they were still streaming in…
In 2008, 26,000 patients came from the Collar Counties; 25,000 were from downstate counties; 1,800 came from Indiana; and 5,200 were from other areas.
The cost to the county is about $50 million a year. One story…
Aurora housewife Bushra Ayaz has colon cancer. She’s now being treated at Stroger Hospital, because, when she sought treatment at hospitals in DuPage and Kane counties, they declined because she has no health insurance.
“The doctors over there, they were saying, ‘Oh, you cannot afford the chemo. … It’s very expensive, and we will not give you here,’ Ayaz said.
Her sister, Nuzhat Fahim, explains the runaround they received at other hospitals.
“I just felt like a rolling stone,” she said. “When we were in a hospital, they sent (us) to another one. And they sent (us) to another one. They said, ‘No, you go to Cook County Hospital.’”
* The Sun-Times takes a look at Gov. Pat Quinn’s pledge to “fumigate” Illinois government of top Blagojevich hires. The paper’s first problem was getting Quinn’s office to comment…
[Quinn’s] spokesman would not directly answer questions about how many Blagojevich administration workers have been let go as a result of Quinn’s fumigation pledge.
And the numbers appear disheartening…
Today, despite a failed effort by House Speaker Michael Madigan to force Quinn “to accelerate the pace” of the housecleaning, dozens of high-ranking, top-paid hires from the Blagojevich era are managing to hold onto their state jobs.
At least 70 have done so despite coming under scrutiny in a federal investigation of what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald termed in 2006 were “very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud” under Blagojevich, who is awaiting trial on federal charges that he used his job as governor to improperly benefit himself and those close to him.
* Paratransit riders are facing an RTA fare increase, and they want Gov. Quinn to step in…
A dozen paratransit protesters pressured Gov. Quinn Friday to give them the same fare freeze he gave other CTA riders this month.
“Since Gov. Quinn was able to freeze fares for people who ride fixed routes, that same courtesy should have been afforded to the riders for paratransit,” said Debbie Pittman of Chicago, spokeswoman for the Concerned Citizens of Paratransit. “We understand there might be a budget that needs to be met,” she added, “but it shouldn’t be on the backs of the riders.” […]
[Pittman] said they got “a big runaround” with the governor’s representatives when they finally met with them at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago Friday in a meeting barred to the media. “So, we are going to keep fighting,”
[Pittman] added.
Attorney General, 326
Senate Operations, 257
House Operations, 251
Transportation, 222
Public aid, 188
Public health, 177
Revenue, 166
Secretary of State, 147
Human services, 122
DCFS, 109
* And in other budget news, the Pantagraph once again publishes an editorial demanding that the Legislature “do something” about the budget without ever saying what it would like to see done…
We asked state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, and state Sens. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, and Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, what they personally are doing to resolve the state’s budget problems.
Rep. Brady, who is running for re-election, said he has been meeting with various groups and individuals, such as current and retired ISU employees, and conveying information to the governor’s staff.
Sen. Brady, who is among seven Republican candidates for governor, said there needs to be a 10 percent cut in spending. He said one of the problems in formulating a solution is the difficulty getting information from state agencies.
Sen. Rutherford, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for treasurer, said he is repeating his call for reforming the state’s pension system and Medicaid system before considering an income tax hike. He also said he speaks about state issues every other day with Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno.
It’s good to hear our lawmakers are “involved,” but the General Assembly never should have gone home in September (not to mention July) without directly addressing the state’s budget problems.
This time, McKenna goes after the man who replaced Blagojevich, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. The ad says the state budget deficit is growing quickly while Quinn “hides the truth.”
The ad cites the Chicago Tribune to support the allegation, even though the newspaper never said that.
McKenna spokesman Lance Trover defends the wording as a fair summary of facts reported by the newspaper and not an attempt to mislead people into thinking the Tribune accused Quinn of hiding something. He maintains it’s not misleading because the ad doesn’t use quotation marks around the phrase.
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, whose analytical skills are suspect at best, uses the “Royal We” to claim that the ad is one of the best ads of the seasons to date…
For our money, the best ads we’ve seen so far in the 2010 midterms are in Illinois for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna. McKenna, a former state party chair, has featured the famous hair of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in each of his early ads — a symbol of the corruption and business as usual that has dominated politics in the state. McKenna’s new ad starts with an image of Blago’s hair atop the state capitol dome while a narrator details what Blagojevich — and, by extension, his successor Pat Quinn — have done to the state. McKenna faces a serious primary challenge from, among others, former state attorney general Jim Ryan but win or lose he has provided a potent blueprint for the GOP nominee to ensure voters don’t forget about Blagojevich next year.
The original hope by Dan Hynes’ Democratic gubernatorial campaign was that they could outspend and beat up Gov. Pat Quinn on TV by Thanksgiving to the point where the governor was vulnerable in the Feb. 2 primary.
Early benchmark polling for . Quinn had him leading Hynes 54-to-26, with other polls showing similar results. Hynes’ name ID was a relatively low 67 percent, compared with Quinn’s 88 percent.
Since then, Hynes has spent close to $2 million on TV ads, but Quinn has matched him pretty much dollar for dollar. And while Hynes stopped running network TV ads on Nov. 11 and went dark on cable last week, Quinn was up with a positive bio ad last week on both network and cable.
The governor has raised more money much faster than many people expected, given his historical aversion to the activity. Quinn has also run a much better, tighter and more visible campaign than many had expected. The governor is getting “earned” media coverage on the all-important Chicago TV almost every day, and the state’s multibillion dollar capital construction bill has allowed him to cut ribbons all over the state, which is something Hynes simply can’t match.
Recent polling conducted by other statewide Democratic candidates show Quinn ahead of Hynes 50-to-38 and 50-to-35, sources say.
While clearly demonstrating that the race is significantly tightening, the polling shows Quinn has not yet been brought below 50 percent - a crucial benchmark for all incumbents, even though there are more than two candidates in the race at this point (both of the second tier candidates face petition challenges, however, and could be booted from the contest). At least one of those polls has Quinn with about a two-to-one favorable rating, which shows that Hynes’ ads haven’t yet succeeded in roughing up the governor.
The Hynes people believe they have significantly closed the gap and are now in a position to make the final four-week run beginning in January. But big questions remain about what the “dark,” period - when nobody is running ads - between now and January will do to the polling numbers. Will Hynes fade back to the status quo ante? Or, will his numbers roughly hold steady while voters’ attentions turn to decidedly unpolitical things? There are reports from inside that Hynes plans to run a Christmas ad in December, but that will be a purely positive message and won’t do much of anything to bring Quinn down.
Since Hynes hasn’t yet fully put the governor on his back, there are those who believe that the comptroller’s campaign message won’t really work in the final four weeks, either. I have said publicly that I believe this race could be over by Thanksgiving if Hynes didn’t have Quinn bleeding from every political orifice by the traditional holiday season kickoff date - after which negative ads would likely be a huge liability. He doesn’t appear to have done that to Quinn, but I’m not quite ready to pronounce Hynes’ campaign officially dead, although everybody would have to admit that he does face some very, very difficult odds.
Both campaigns have indicated privately that polling and focus grouping shows that Governor Quinn’s proposed income tax hike “works” much better against him than attempting to tie Quinn to his ousted predecessor and two-time running mate Rod Blagojevich. Hynes has focused his advertising on the tax issue, but the ads clearly haven’t put Quinn down as of yet.
It’s not known whether Hynes will attempt to somehow use the Blagojevich issue in his January ad campaign. Quinn has a pretty solid reputation for honesty among voters, and he is probably seen as a “safe” choice, considering the last two governors. They also clearly want to see him succeed and have so far given him something of a pass on his many stumbles in office.
That hopeful voter attitude could all fade by next fall, after Quinn has another legislative session under his belt, but Feb. 2 is just around the corner. After this week, there are really only about four campaign weeks left, and every candidate who can afford it will be up on TV come January. There will be a lot of cash flowing, and messages will easily be buried under all the clutter.
* Forecast for Dem primaries: Ugly: The Democratic Senate primary in Illinois — largely quiet until recently — might be the next flash point, another example of Democrats field-testing attacks on each other that will most likely prove useful for the GOP. There, the campaign of former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman charges that state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’s baggage from his career as a banker makes him unelectable, an argument that is likely to be revisited in some form by the GOP if Giannoulias, currently the front-runner in the polls, ends up as the nominee.
* DuPage candidate kicked off ballot: Meanwhile, the five other objections the electoral board heard Friday were unanimously overruled, and those candidates will remain on the ballot. Dan Cronin and Debra Olson, two of the four Republican county board chairman candidates, successfully defended the challenges. Both GOP sheriff candidates, incumbent John Zaruba and challenger Mike Quiroz, will stay on the Feb. 2 ballot. And Democratic District 2 forest preserve commission candidate Hilary Denk also survived the petition objection.
McCormick Place has seen nearly a third of its business vanish this decade, a period that saw two recessions. Attendance at major events in Chicago’s main convention center declined from 3 million in 2001 to 2.3 million last year. Las Vegas and Orlando held up somewhat better but likewise have seen attendance fall off since the middle of the decade.
More recently, Tradeshow Week, an influential publication in the industry, reported quarterly figures showing that since last year, convention attendance and space usage are down by 8 percent to 17 percent. An analysis it published last spring carried the hopeful headline, “Better days ahead.”
The chief executive officer won his post after raising campaign cash for disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The just-departed human resources director owed her job to a powerful state senator. Other top executives have long ties to Mayor Richard M. Daley’s political machine.
That’s what clout looks like at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, known as McPier, a little-understood government entity that operates the city’s primary convention venue, the vast McCormick Place complex; the adjacent McCormick Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the lakefront tourist center Navy Pier.
Some words just don’t seem to go together. Aon Centerand blight, for example.
That’s why Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, didn’t bite on a proposal to create a tax increment financing district in the East Loop. Owners of the Aon and four other downtown stalwarts — One and Two Illinois Center and One and Two Prudential Plaza — would like the city to set up a TIF district to generate property-tax dollars to pay for improvements to their buildings.
But Reilly says the properties in question “don’t even come close” to meeting the legal threshold for such assistance.
Joe Ferguson is the eldest son of a working-class single mom and a father he never knew who survived that rejection — and the mean streets of Boston — to become a dogged federal prosecutor in Chicago.[…]
Last week, the City Council handed Ferguson a four-year term as Chicago’s corruption-fighting inspector general, replacing David Hoffman, a thorn in Mayor Daley’s side who resigned to run for the U.S. Senate.
The quote of the week comes from Ald. Isaac Carothers, 29th, who shrugged off a report about the City Council’s incestuous hiring practices just as Mayor Richard Daley announced that illegal patronage in Chicago is dead.
“All of us have family members on the payroll,” Carothers said. “That’s nothing new.”
Carothers, who is facing federal bribery charges, won’t even say whether the William Carothers on his payroll is his father or his brother. It’s none of your business who he hires with your tax dollars.
* Chicago zoning inspector in kickback case back at work
A politically connected zoning investigator has returned to work at City Hall barely a week after he admitted to accepting bribes of cash and gifts to repeatedly overlook zoning violations.
William Wellhausen — who pleaded guilty Nov. 3 and was brought back to the job the following Monday — said he’s clueless why that happened.
“I have no idea. You’ll have to ask the city,” Wellhausen said before hanging up the telephone at the city’s Landmarks Commission, where he is doing clerical work.
A statewide police association will check its financial books after learning one of its board members — a Chicago Police sergeant — was charged with skimming $600,000 from the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association.
Sgt. John Pallohusky, a detective and president of the Chicago sergeants’ association, also serves as financial secretary for the Springfield-based Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois.
On Friday, Cook County prosecutors charged Pallohusky, 53, with stealing from the Chicago Police Sergeants’ Association and spending the money on a home, an online stock brokerage, gambling trips, hotels and steak dinners.
• Suspensions of black students have escalated by 75 percent since 1999, while those of white students have dropped more than 5 percent.
• When it comes to the more serious punishment of expulsion, white students are kicked out 16 percent more often than a decade ago, but black students are expelled 56 percent more often.
• Whites make up nearly three-fifths of public school enrollment, yet in the most recent data, they account for one-third or fewer of both suspensions and expulsions.
The proportion of blacks facing discipline has soared in all parts of the state even though the percentage of Illinois’ black enrollment has steadily fallen in the past decade.
Nearly 400 of Rich Township’s current seniors never took the exam, the spokeswoman said. The district has failed for several years to make adequate test score progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, and is currently under “corrective action.'’ Rich Township District 227 Supt. Howard Hunigan could not be reached for comment Friday.[…]
Statewide, current seniors who skipped the exam in what would normally be their junior year were disproportionately poor, black, and students with special needs, a new analysis by the Illinois State Board of Education indicates. Such kids traditionally are among the lowest-scoring in the state and nation.
Economists expect the joblessness that has weighed down the nation’s economic recovery will start to slowly abate in 2010, but they predict consumers will continue to keep a tight rein on spending, according to a new survey.
While signs have pointed to the end of the recession, joblessness remains rampant. The national unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest in 26 years. About 9 million people currently receive unemployment benefits.
“Bob’s Last Art Show” will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Cozy Drive-In, 2935 S. Sixth St., Springfield. Mounted color prints and T-shirts with Waldmire’s art will be for sale.
If you don’t know who Bob is, you’ve really missed out. Learn something by clicking here.
Friday, Nov 20, 2009 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
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* Conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft has received yet another endorsement from a Republican township organization…
Last night the Southern Will County Republican Organization (SWCRO) which comprises six rural townships in Will County endorsed conservative Republican candidate Dan Proft for Governor. ]…]
“By endorsing my candidacy, the Southern Will County GOP joined the Republican organizations of Schaumburg Township, New Trier Township and Niles Township in voting for policy revolution.
The Plainfield Township Republican Party has endorsed rival conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski.
It’s becoming obvious that several suburban township organizations have moved far to the Right - at least at the endorsement sessions. New Trier’s GOP organization endorsed Bob Dold over Rep. Elizabeth Coulson and other candidates in the 10th Congressional District. In the past, that would’ve probably been a lock for Coulson. Elk Grove Township also went with Dold, and nobody got enough support in Northfield Township for it to make an endorsement.
Looking for a sign that the conservative ascendancy in the New York special election may be making other moderate Republican candidates across the country antsy?
State Rep. Beth Coulson, one of the most moderate Republican candidates running for Congress, will be meeting with Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele [today] in Illinois to discuss her campaign – and the need for Republicans to have a big-tent party so it can compete in Democratic-minded districts.
Notably, she telegraphed her scheduled meeting with Steele and Republican party leaders in Illinois in a press release. It’s fairly uncommon for a candidate to announce a meeting with party officials, especially when it’s closed to the press.
It’s only uncommon when it hurts the candidate. More…
From Coulson: She “will join Illinois’ House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Senate Minority Leader Chris Radogno, as well as Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady in the meeting with the chairman to talk about the upcoming midterm elections in Illinois and how to keep the 10th Congressional District in Republican hands.”
The GOP leaders believe that Coulson is the best shot at holding onto that seat. But she has to get through the primary first. Coulson, for her part, is trying hard to move right…
Coulson campaign spokesman Joe Woodward said that she’s against President’s Obama’s stimulus, cap-and-trade energy legislation and would have voted against the health care bill that narrowly passed through the House.
Brady said he believes a good model for selling the tollway would be what Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels did in leasing that state’s 157-mile I-90 tollway for $3.8 billion.
The 75-year lease allowed the company to almost immediately double tolls for cash payers while raising rates subsequently at least 2 percent a year. Drivers using an electronic payment system, like Illinois’ I-PASS, have been granted a break on the hikes until 2016.
So, he’s apparently writing off some of the suburban vote.
* Back to Gitmo we go. Congressman Peter Roskam is upset that Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannouolias received some sort of briefing by National Security Council staff on moving the Gitmo prisoners to Thomson. From a press release…
“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides for open and transparent consideration.”
Giannoulias’ campaign says they believe the NSC staffer who did the briefing was the same person who briefed officials at Thomson earlier that day. Doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
The Giannoulias campaign also has a new list of endorsements…
State Senator Edward Maloney
State Senator John Sullivan
State Representative Deborah Graham
State Representative John D’Amico
Alderman Carrie Austin
Alderman Lona Lane
Alderman Bernard Stone
Alderman Joann Thompson
Alderman Howard Brookins Jr.
City of Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely
Peoria County Democratic Chairman Billy Halstead
Marion County Democratic Chairman Zach Roeckeman
Lawrence County Chairman Joe Weger
Des Plaines Mayor Martin Moylan
Maine Township Regular Democratic Organization
Maine Township Democratic Committeeman Laura Murphy
Associated Firefighters of Illinois
* Peraica involved in 3 signature challenges: Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica challenges signatures in two races and is challenged in one.
* Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on education in Illinois
* Exposed to a Tea: But your screamfest Saturday at Oak Lawn Community High School exposed you as nothing more than a small but vocal gang of disgruntled white suburbanites who are ticked off at … well, appear to be ticked off at just about everything.
* It’s Official: Dunkin to Face Schroeder in February Primary Election: The Chicago Board of Elections rejected a challenge to the candidacy of David Schroeder for the State House of Representatives today. This clears the way for Schroeder to appear on the ballot facing incumbent Ken Dunkin, the first time Dunkin will face a Democratic challenger since he was elected in 2002.
* Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) is the epitome of a gentle soul. But his public demeanor may just be a Clark Kentian cover. Check it out…
A state senator from Peoria says he fought off an armed robber who interrupted him while he was doing some remodeling at his business.
Democratic Sen. Dave Koehler says he was painting Thursday night when a man with a gun appeared and demanded money. Koehler says he gave the robber what was in his pocket and told him to leave.
The man demanded Koehler’s cell phone next, but the senator says he instead knocked the man against a wall and took the gun.
* I’m glad to see that the state’s GOP congressional delegation is finally starting to act like grownups…
Illinois’ Republican congressional delegation attempted to tone down their rhetoric Thursday over housing detainees from Guantanamo Bay at a state prison by issuing a series of questions to Gov. Pat Quinn.
“As we move forward with a dignified and precise discussion regarding the cost, security and legal issues…,” the delegation’s letter begins.
The letter is in stark contrast to one the delegation sent to President Barack Obama over the weekend that raised the specter of such a move inviting a local terrorist attack.
“If your Administration brings al-Qaida terrorists to Illinois, our state and the Chicago Metropolitan Area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization,” the first letter read.
That first letter, of course, was drafted by Congressman Mark Kirk. It prompted a huge backlash in the media which continues to this day. This, for instance, is the Southern Illinoisan’s “Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down” for today…
THUMBS DOWN! To the amount of hysteria stirred up by politicians who don’t want detainees from Guantanamo Bay housed at a prison facility in Thomson. Gov. Pat Quinn is attempting to sell the prison to the federal government. The facility would house a lot of federal prisoners and possibly a few hundred detainees from the Guantanamo prison. Closing Guantanamo is a legitimate political issue for Congress and the federal government. But many politicians are making it sound like Al-Qaida operatives will be roaming the streets. There’s always room for reasonable political discussions, with the emphasis on reasonable.
Kirk jumped the gun and assumed several facts not in existence and twisted other facts to the point of no recognition. Here’s one of his more egregious false assumptions from this week…
“Once here, federal law mandates these terrorists have a right to visitors,” Kirk said. “Federal policy allows up to 10 followers or family members per prisoner. With 215 coming to Illinois, that would be over 2,100 Al Qaeda followers and family members connected to Jihad coming to Illinois, likely connecting through O’Hare airport.”
Except, the prisoners won’t be allowed visitors other than pre-approved legal counsel.
Let’s hope things start to calm down. But the damage to Congressman Kirk’s reputation will not heal any time soon. Instead of waiting for the facts and asking sane questions, he went completely off the rails and started screaming about how we were all gonna die if we allowed these prisoners to be sent to Thomson.
…Adding… Related…
* E-poll shows support for housing Guantanamo prisoners in Illinois: A straw poll of 541 voters in state Sen. Susan Garrett’s 29th District indicates 52 percent of respondents are in favor of moving prisoners from the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to an idle Illinois prison. Another 35 percent were opposed, and 13 percent said they were undecided. She received responses from 541 constituents in the poll e-mailed two days ago.
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* Perhaps the dumbest report I’ve seen in years was former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman’s “analysis” of the city’s parking meter lease deal. According to Hoffman’s report, if the city had just increased parking meter rates on its own, it would’ve reaped twice the amount of money of leasing the meters.
The report was silly because of the political facts on the ground. Cook County’s one percentage point sales tax hike has practically created a revolution - or at least a revolution in the Tribune editorial board’s collective mind. The county board has once again voted to roll back half the tax, and Ald. Toni Preckwinkle promised yesterday that she will eliminate the rest of the tax increase if she is elected county board president.
For good reason, there is little to no enthusiasm in the Democratic-dominated Illinois House to increase the income tax, and the House GOP has pledged to unite against any such move. Every Republican running for governor is promising not to increase taxes, with Dan Proft actually pledging to cut taxes.
My point here is that if Mayor Daley and the city council had actually voted to double parking meter rates on their own, the outcry would have been so loud and intense that by now those rate hikes would assuredly have been rolled back. If not, lots of aldermen, and even the mayor, would be in extreme danger of losing their jobs.
I’m going over all this again because the first “scoop” of the New York Times’ Chicago Media Cooperative focuses on some revelations about the deal…
After a rocky start hurt their bottom line, Chicago’s new parking meter operators are raking in more than $1.1 million a week and expect even more revenue next year, according to internal company documents obtained by the Chicago News Cooperative.
The parking meter company projects total revenues of more than $75 million and net income of about $58 million in 2010, after a second round of rate increases go into effect across the city on Jan. 1. In the first 10 ½ months of operation ending Dec. 31 of this year, the company expects $32.7 million in net operating profit, for a 70 percent profit margin.
According to the meter deal’s income statement for May 2009, revenues for the month were about 20 percent below projections. At the same time, expenses were far over budget, mostly for “supplemental staffing.”
The rest of the story is mainly about how parking rates will rise next year and the private company will make more money. Nothing really new there.
Illinois, the fifth largest U.S. state by population, postponed selling $3.46 billion of municipal bonds to fund state pensions because of a delay in appointing a new official to oversee debt sales, said Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for the state budget department.
Great. The budget spokesperson essentially confirmed that Quinn’s dithering on replacing his Blagojevich hand-me-down caused serious problems.
Sean Sebold, president of Sebold Capital Management and a member of the chamber’s board of directors, said businesses produce jobs, not government and he called an income tax increase a “job killer.”
“You think someone is going to bring a business out of a state to our state with a 4.5 percent income tax?” he asked. “What it will also do is drive retirees out of the state.”
The income tax would still be on the lower side, and retirees do not pay taxes on pension income. The Daily Herald didn’t note that, however.
And this quote, also from that DH story, is why Dan Hynes is having such a tough time knocking Quinn off his perch…
John Schmitt, president and CEO of the chamber, said he was not prepared to comment specifically on Quinn’s income tax proposal but that the chamber doesn’t typically support tax increases. But he was glad the business community had a chance to share its concerns and called the visit productive.
“He seems to be open minded and progressive,” Schmitt said of Quinn. “Because of what his predecessors did to the office of governor he has a tough battle but he’s working to restore confidence in the office and I think he’ll do it.”
Voters want Quinn to succeed, understand he was put in an impossible situation and are willing to overlook the glitches to date. If this attitude survives next year, it’ll be tough for Republicans to beat him as well. But there’s no guarantee of that, of course.
* 10:24 am - Read the Senate Ethics Committee’s report on Roland Burris by clicking here.
From the report, which is technically a “Public Letter of Qualified Admonition”…
The Committee found that you should have known that you were providing incorrect, inconsistent, misleading, or incomplete information to the public, the Senate, and those conducting legitimate inquiries into your appointment to the Senate. The Committee also found that your November 13, 2008 phone call with Robert Blagojevich was inappropriate. Although some of these events happened before you were sworn in as a US Senator, they were inextricably linked to your appointment and therefore fall within the jurisdiction of this Committee.
More…
Your sworn affidavit and sworn testimony before the Illinois House of Representatives were inconsistent, incomplete and misleading.
The letter goes on to claim that Burris’ “shifting explanations” about his sworn statements “appear less than candid.” And that his November, 2008 phone call with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother Rob was “inappropriate,” but that it did not rise “to the level of an explicit quid pro quo.”
Burris’ response…
After months of investigation into the circumstances surrounding the appointment and seating of Senator Roland W. Burris, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics has closed its inquiry and cleared the Senator of any legal wrongdoing.
In a ‘public letter of qualified admonition,’ the Senate Ethics Committee outlined the specific areas of concern that it investigated, and conclusively found no “actionable violations of the law” occurred.
Earlier this year, Senator Burris was also investigated and subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney in Springfield, Illinois.
“I am pleased that after numerous investigations, this matter has finally come to a close. I thank the members of the Senate Ethics Committee for their fair and thorough review of this matter, and now look forward to continuing the important work ahead on behalf of the people of Illinois,” said Senator Burris.
In recent months, Senator Burris has emerged as a key member of the Democratic caucus as they seek to piece together the critical 60 votes needed to pass President Obama’s health care legislation through the United States Senate. He has become a strong voice for the inclusion of a strong public option, and his vote is seen as vital for final passage.
* 10:41 am - ABC7’s headline is “Burris cleared by ethics committee.” Apparently, somebody at ABC7 just skimmed through Burris’ press release.
Taking aim at a loophole used to exclude academically weak 11th-graders from state testing, Illinois education officials said this week they want to create a single standard to determine when students are counted as juniors and therefore must take the exam.[…]
Nearly 10,000 students now in their final year of high school — about 7 percent of all Illinois 12th graders — skipped the two-day Prairie State Achievement Exam last spring for no apparent reason, according to a new state analysis.
These students didn’t qualify as juniors in May, and their districts chose not to test them, state records show. But months later in October they were listed as 12th graders — seemingly skipping 11th grade.
Because these low-achieving students did not take the rigorous exam, their home high schools were never held accountable, allowing them to skirt a central tenet of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Tucked into the county’s approximate $3 billion 2010 budget that was approved Thursday night is another $13 million in cuts for the health system, a tough blow to withstand, said Bill Foley, the health system’s chief executive. […]
The system also has slashed 1,350 jobs by eliminating about 700 vacant positions on top of layoffs, according to health officials.
But this week, county commissioners sliced in half the controversial sales tax increase that took effect nearly 18 months ago, meaning about $32 million less in sales tax income during the new budget year.
On Thursday, commissioners passed a measure requiring any department that did not cut its budget by 5 percent, as they were asked to do, to take a 3 percent hit. That includes the health system, which would lose about $13 million.
Waiting until Monday’s veto deadline, Stroger tells the Sun-Times, will give the county’s residents a chance to call their elected leaders and tell them to reconsider the half-penny on the dollar giveback. He has long said the lost revenue stream would decimate the county’s healthcare system.
“I do want to give them time — I want to give the constituents time to talk to their commissioners,” Stroger said.
His only hope of beating back an override, unlikely now even though he’s done it three times before on the issue, is for Cook County residents to speak up.
* Chicago City Council uses stealth payroll for family, operatives, those with heat
Shadowy $1.3 million payroll helps them get around ban on patronage hiring
Operating without scrutiny, one alderman hired the mother of a former top mayoral aide later convicted of rigging city hiring. Another hired a city worker ousted for sexual harassment allegations. Several others hired relatives.
“All of us (aldermen) have family members on the payroll,” said Ald. Isaac Carothers, 29th, who has paid a relative more than $30,000 since January 2008. “That’s nothing new.”
The revelation comes as Mayor Richard Daley prepares to ask a federal judge to end decades of court supervision over City Hall’s clout-heavy hiring practices, arguing that illegal patronage is dead. But the city’s hiring compliance officer told the Tribune he didn’t know about the payroll of about $1.3 million a year.
Mayor Daley on Wednesday re-appointed his nephew and former campaign finance chief to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority mapping plans for a retail development near U.S. Cellular Field.
Peter Thompson helped his uncle raise more than $7 million in less than three months — after Daley took a four-year break from fund-raising in the wake of the Hired Truck scandal — on the mayor’s way to a sixth-term landslide.
Now, Thompson will keep his unpaid seat on the agency that built and improved U.S. Cellular Field through Jan. 1, 2012.
Chicago’s City Council has approved a settlement to claim some land near O’Hare International Airport. The City of Chicago finalized its negotiations with Bensenville earlier this week to take over more than 500 houses as part of an expansion project at O’Hare. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says it’s a good deal for the northwest suburb.
DALEY: All the property in and around O’Hare Field is always - all those suburban areas deal with future developments - it’s very important for them, for their tax base and their jobs.
Daley says transportation is a major economic engine for Illinois. The City of Chicago settled with Bensenville for $16 million after years of legal challenges.
Two dozen Illinois employers connected to public-safety infrastructure face a federal audit of their hiring records. Immigration officials say they have reason to believe the companies are hiring illegal immigrants.
Four months after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced the destruction of about 200 graves, Burr Oak’s heavy new wrought iron gates opened to the public Thursday.
This month, 1,800 people waited in line at the annual Energy Assistance Fair at Thornton Township Hall in South Holland. Some people waited in line for hours, and the turnout was more than five times greater than last year’s attendance of about 350.
“It’s the Great Depression all over again when you see it up close,” said Robert Storman, who heads community relations for Thornton Township.
Nearly 800 people at the fair qualified for direct donations — ranging from about $200 to more than $1,000 — from Thornton Township to help cover heating costs. Others met with representatives from Nicor, ComEd and other utilities to resolve problems and work out payment plans.
