Donald Trump’s closest Hill allies are privately lobbying the former President to get involved in a Republican-on-Republican matchup in Illinois, a potentially messy scenario that has sparked internal strife in the party and prompted GOP leaders to launch a counter-campaign aimed at keeping Trump on the sidelines.
At the center of it all is freshman Rep. Mary Miller, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus who has been left without a seat after redistricting. Now she’s deciding whether to challenge fellow Illinois Republican Reps. Rodney Davis or Mike Bost. Hoping to boost Miller’s political prospects, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — another controversial firebrand who is close with Miller — has been talking her up to Trump and encouraging him to throw his weight behind Miller, according to multiple GOP sources.
A Trump endorsement would turbocharge the intraparty battle and potentially make things even stickier, something GOP leaders are eager to avoid. So House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has worked behind-the-scenes to head it off: he has urged Trump to stay out of the primary race, telling the former President that Bost and Davis — who are poised to become committee chairmen if Republicans reclaim the House after next year’s midterms — are both good members, sources said. […]
And Miller has created other heartburn for McCarthy and the party. In particular, Republicans are upset that Miller has spread disinformation about a bipartisan bill that passed the House to bolster how vaccination records are maintained and shared. Miller attacked the 80 Republicans who backed the measure, and later told the conservative outlet Breitbart News that the bill would “track” unvaccinated Americans who “will be targeted and forced to comply with Biden’s crazy ‘global vaccination’ vision.”
* And Mark Maxwell points out that Miller voted against a pre-Christmas pay raise for members of the US Armed Forces…
* Meanwhile, Miller is sure to be asked about Darren Bailey’s new running mate Stephanie Trussell and her myriad anti-Trump posts on her social media accounts, so they’ve been busily posting this pic to prove she came around…
Indeed she did. There’s also this from just a few months ago in praise of Democrats pushing the vaccine…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Looks like Rep. Miller just upped the ante…
Rep. Miller: The January 6th commission hates President Trump because he exposed the corruption of the DC establishment here in the swamp. pic.twitter.com/OmjSxSEllM
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Miller is listed as not voting on the Jan. 6th “Commission” legislation. Hilarious.
*** UPDATE 3 *** US Rep. Rodney Davis’ comms director points out that there is no such thing as a “January 6th Commission” and obliquely accuses Rep. Miller of being “misinformed”…
Hey Rich.
Saw your updated post. I just wanted to point out that there’s no “1/6 Commission,” which some misinformed people often conflate with the 1/6 House Select Committee initiated by Speaker Pelosi. The makeup and powers of the proposed bipartisan 1/6 Commission versus the currently-active, partisan 1/6 Select Committee are very different. The proposed 1/6 Commission, styled after the 9/11 commission, never made it into law after it failed to advance in the Senate. There were individual votes on both the commission and the select committee.
As we have seen, the sham 1/6 House Select Committee has been a partisan circus, which is what Congressman Davis expected to happen with a Select Committee, and that’s why he voted against it. You can find the roll call of that vote here. The only Republicans to vote in support of the 1/6 Select Committee were Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger. I will note that according to the House Clerk, there were 19 Republicans who are listed as “Not Voting” on the 1/6 Select Committee resolution, including Rep. Miller.
One other thing I will note, Rep. Miller and nearly every House Republican (there were six listed as not voting) voted for the creation of a 1/6 commission in a procedural motion earlier this year. The vote occurred in a motion to immediately bring the bipartisan 1/6 Commission legislation to the House floor for a vote. A no vote on the procedural motion is basically a vote to advance the 1/6 commission bill, i.e. support the bill. You can find a roll call of that vote here.
More than happy to provide additional info if you need.
Illinois Department of Public Health records also show 748 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care beds.
According to IDPH figures, the last time the state saw more than 3,500 COVID-19 patients was exactly 11 months ago.
Since IDPH last reported updated COVID-19 figures Friday, 105 more deaths from the virus have been recorded throughout Illinois and 19,515 new cases have been diagnosed. […]
The state also recorded nearly 500,000 test results over the past three days as well, including 233,784 results returned Saturday, the most ever in a single day for the state.
The state’s seven-day case positivity rate has dropped to 4%, the lowest it’s been in two weeks. Three days ago it was at 4.3%, IDPH records show.
352 people are in the ICU, the most since January 20th. Statewide, just 12 percent of ICU beds are open.
* So many deaths and so much destruction of our medical infrastructure could’ve been prevented…
On the very day that an eager nation began rolling up its sleeves, Dec. 14, 2020, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 300,000. And deaths were running at an average of more than 2,500 a day and rising fast, worse than what the country witnessed during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York City was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
By late February total U.S. deaths had crossed 500,000, but the daily death count was plummeting from the horrible heights of early January. With hopes rising in early March, some states began reopening, lifting mask mandates and limits on indoor dining. Former President Donald Trump assured his supporters during a Fox News interview that the vaccine was safe and urged them to get it.
But by June, with the threat from COVID-19 seemingly fading, demand for vaccines had slipped and states and companies had turned to incentives to try to restore interest in vaccination.
It was too little, too late. Delta, a highly contagious mutated form of coronavirus, had silently arrived and had begun to spread quickly, finding plenty of unvaccinated victims.
Last week at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, 34 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number since the pandemic began.
“Patients we have in the hospital are due to the fact that we have many community members that are not vaccinated,” said AMITA Health Regional Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kalisha Hill. “99% of the patients in our hospital in both Joliet and Kankakee that are COVID Positive are unvaccinated.”
And yet some workers at the town’s hospitals are suing because they don’t want to be vaccinated. Ridiculous.
As the coronavirus pandemic approaches the end of a second year, the United States stands on the cusp of surpassing 800,000 deaths from the virus, and no group has suffered more than older Americans. All along, older people have been known to be more vulnerable, but the scale of loss is only now coming into full view.
Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400.
*** UPDATE *** Not unexpected…
The Supreme Court has rejected two challenges to New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. The challengers sought religious exemptions to the mandate. The court denied the challenges in one-sentence orders on the shadow docket. Thomas, Alito, & Gorsuch dissent. pic.twitter.com/Zz8qsKgDe9
Governor JB Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation for counties across central and southern Illinois that were impacted by recent storms and tornadoes. A disaster proclamation grants the State of Illinois the ability to expedite the use of state resources, personnel, or equipment, and allows the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to procure additional resources to help communities recover from the storms.
“My administration is committed to standing with Edwardsville and all of the surrounding communities affected in every aspect of the immediate recovery, as well as on the road to rebuilding,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Yesterday, I authorized a state disaster proclamation for Madison County, as well as all storm-impacted counties, to facilitate recovery efforts as well as the pursuit of additional federal resources. We are working directly with the White House and FEMA to ensure access to all federal resources for this community. And as local entities work to secure federal reimbursements and recovery dollars, we will assist every step of the way.”
In addition to high-speed winds that led to downed trees, powerlines, and other damages, six tornadoes were confirmed throughout Illinois. In Madison, the tornado caused the roof of a private business to collapse resulting in six fatalities and multiple injuries.
In response to the severe weather, the governor activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). Through the SEOC, multiple state agencies are offering assistance on the ground including Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Illinois Department of Public Health. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Edwardsville Community Foundation, and other nonprofits are also providing services to local residents.
“Since Friday’s tragedy at the Amazon warehouse, local organizations and teams of first responders have worked tirelessly to provide stability and comfort to the Edwardsville community,” said State Senator Rachelle Aud Crowe (D-Glen Carbon). “By enacting a disaster proclamation, the state is taking action to make resources readily available to assist residents during the recovery process.”
“As our community looks ahead following the devastating storms that hit our region last weekend, now is a time for us to come together to support each other and heal,” said State Representative Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville). “I want to thank Governor Pritzker for deploying resources to our region to help those who were directly impacted by the storms recover.”
“The disaster proclamation will provide our region additional resources and funding needed to help our community recover following Friday’s nights storm,” said State Representative Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg). “I appreciate everything our first responders and volunteers have and continue to do to help the region recover. I know this has been a difficult time for those impacted. I encourage anyone needing assistance to contact my office at 618-433-8046.”
“We in Madison County are still in shock and mourning. We appreciate the immediacy of the response from the State and Governor,” said Madison County Board Chair Kurt Prenzler.
Counties included in the disaster declaration include: Bond, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jersey, Kankakee, Lawrence, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, and Woodford.
Lot of Eastern Bloc counties on that list.
…Adding… Press release…
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) and Mike Bost (R-IL-12) today led every member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Biden urging the White House to support Governor J.B. Pritzker’s request for an Emergency Declaration for 28 counties. The letter follows severe weather and tornadoes this past weekend that led to six fatalities from the collapse of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois.
“We are writing in support of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s request for an Emergency Declaration for the following Illinois counties to assist in the response to extensive tornado damage: Bond, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jersey, Kankakee, Lawrence, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, and Woodford,” wrote the lawmakers.
“Governor Pritzker has determined that this incident is of such severity that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and local governments, and the State is in need of Public Assistance to continue responding to and recovering from this tragic disaster,” the letter concluded.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed legislation paving the way for $250 million in state funding to community groups that are working to reduce gun violence in Chicago’s hardest-hit neighborhoods and other parts of Illinois suffering the ripple effects of a nationwide crime spike.
The Reimagine Public Safety Act, which created a new state office for firearm violence prevention, was part of the budget Pritzker signed in the spring.
The trailer bill that was signed Friday — which state lawmakers advanced during the fall veto session — gives officials in the Illinois Department of Human Services more leeway in issuing the millions in grant funding and expands eligibility for groups already working to “interrupt” violence, according to Pritzker’s office.
Before signing the bill at a Washington Park news conference, Pritzker outlined Chicago’s most recent spate of fatal shootings — including that of a 71-year-old Chinatown resident who was apparently targeted at random earlier this week — and committed to investing in “neighborhoods that have been truly forgotten.”
“There are the countless children who have been taken from us far, far too soon. Too much tragedy. Too much loss. We are all here to say enough is enough,” Pritzker said, noting “the scourge of rising violence” has extended well beyond Chicago.
* A bit more from an administration press release…
In November, the Governor declared gun violence a public health crisis, launching a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence. The administration pledged a $250 million state investment over the next three years to implement the plan in partnership with community-based organizations. The RPSA builds upon this initiative by requiring the state to pursue a data-driven approach to high-risk youth intervention programs and technical assistance and training. This will be administered by IDHS, in partnership with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) and the Firearm Violence Research Group.
* From a very different Friday press release…
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement on Governor Pritzker’s signing of legislation that will further weaken the criminal justice system.
“While violence in Illinois is at unprecedented levels, Governor Pritzker, the Illinois legislative Democrats and States Attorney Kim Foxx have created a “consequence free” Illinois for organized street gangs and criminals. Their collective dismissal of victims and law enforcement during this time will not be forgotten. My heart goes out to the thousands of victims of crime that our government continues to fail.”
* Pritzker administration response…
Leader Durkin’s empty talking point is devoid not only of a serious approach to reducing crime but also suggests a lack of reading comprehension of the law. This law strengthens the Reimagine Public Safety Act, a data-driven, community based initiative designed to prevent and interrupt gun violence and fund violence reduction efforts. Violence reduction efforts are essential for having fewer victims of crime. If Republicans truly cared about reducing crime and helping victims, they wouldn’t have decimated mental health, victim support services and after school programs – and they would’ve voted for budgets and legislation put forward by Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly that fund proven violence reduction.
Discuss.
…Adding… From Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago)…
Leader Durkin has a history of picking the wrong time to speak up. He was silent while Bruce Rauner was destroying the very communities that the Reimagine Public Safety Act - which passed with 52 votes in the Senate - will invest in. I want to thank my Republican colleagues for stepping up on this occasion to reimagine public safety.
BREAKING: @DarrenBaileyIL will announce Stephanie Trussell as his running mate this morning. The former WLS conservative talk show host is in Lisle with Bailey for the announcement before they go on a bus tour across Illinois. #twill
“Students will travel to Jefferson Middle School, observe a teacher and then have a question/answer luncheon and discuss the importance of considering education as a career as a person of color,” the flier reads.
…Adding… Trussell promised that she and Bailey would deliver a tax cut at the end of their second year in office.
*** UPDATE 1 *** There were a couple of video problems, but here’s her speech. As always, please pardon all transcription errors…
What an amazing country we live in a place where a woman born on the west side of Chicago, who spent her high school years working at the Maywood McDonald’s can stand here today as a candidate for lieutenant governor of our great state. I love our country and I love Illinois. It’s the heartland of America, but its political leaders and political class have failed us. That’s why I’m so excited to join Darrin Bailey’s campaign to restore Illinois. … With a Bailey Trussell ticket, we will bring our great state back. My mom had me when she was barely 17 years old. Yet through her hard work and sacrifices, she was able to send my sister, my brother and me to private schools, scouts, dance lessons on Michigan Avenue and church youth group. She was determined to give us the opportunities that she never had, laying the foundation for us to become successful adults. One of the most important lessons she taught me was work ethics. Nobody worked harder than my mom and that’s her back there.
I got my first job at 14 at Pick and Pay. It was my best friend’s family’s corner store. At 15, I started working at McDonald’s, even though I was only 15. I started working there anyway. At 17 I was a crew chief, by 18. I was a manager. I learned early the value of hard work. Years later my eyes were open to how Democratic and progressive policies that were supposed to help me were actually hurting me, making things worse. I kept working and fighting and eventually my husband and I moved to Lisle, the best kept secret in DuPage County. We immediately felt welcome. As I worked hard as a mom raising five children, I also enjoyed serving my community. I have been everything from a Cub Scout leader, a room mom, to that taxiing mom with a minivan filled with kids, driving them to and from practice. But what I really love about my town is sitting in the stands cheering for the Lyons Lions. I was there when the boys basketball team played in state in 2004. I was there when my daughter played on the basketball team in 2005 when they made it to Sweet 16. I love my town. Darren’s life story and my own are a testament that no matter your background, no matter where you start, you are defined by choices you make and the work you’re willing to put in.
Our work for the people of Illinois is just beginning. While we love this great state we all know Springfield is broken. It’s so self evidently true that it’s almost not worth arguing the details. Over the last decade, hardworking people have fled Illinois in droves. The majority of those left looking for better jobs. 20% of them left because they couldn’t find affordable housing. Sadly, many are leaving because they no longer feel safe. In the 70s we played outside even after dark as our parents sat on the porch. We felt safe. Today murder and crime rates in Chicago are the highest they’ve been in two decades. Taxes, the cost of living, crime on the street. These are real problems that we all know JB Pritzker can’t, hasn’t and won’t fix. We need real common sense policy solutions. We need leadership who will fight to defend our police not defeund them. We need to get the woke left political agenda out of our classrooms for once and for all. It’s time to teach our kids to chase their dreams not to be a victim or hate one another.
Darren and I will demand a zero based budget that freezes spending with no tax increases. Every department will start at zero and will have to make the case for every cent of its funding. We have to stop passing budgets that spend tax dollars automatically. We’ll implement an honest review of each spending item. By the end of our second year, we intend to deliver a tax cut to the Illinois families. After all it’s your money.
Friends, better days are ahead for Illinois, but only if you make real conservative changes. Pritzker is a failure. We can’t afford four more years of failure. It will kill this great state. Let’s put the days of slick politicians and rich elites who don’t understand our problem is behind us. My story has made me the conservative that I am today. Growing up on the west side, the best side, getting my first job as a young teenager, raising my five kids. All this didn’t come without some obstacles. But together all of us the hardworking people of Illinois, we can solve challenges and turn our home around. Darrin Bailey is the governor we need for Illinois.
*** UPDATE 2 *** DPI…
Today, Stephanie Trussell, a right-wing talk show host and Trump loyalist, announced she will run for lieutenant governor alongside gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey in the divisive Republican primary. Trussell’s bizarre, wildly out of touch views make her a perfect addition to the growing field of radical candidates.
“The first lieutenant governor candidate announcement is in line with what we’d expect from this anti-choice, anti-science field of extremist, far-right candidates,” said Abby Witt, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “Illinois Republicans want to overturn Roe, rip needed health care from hundreds of thousands of people, deny the science on COVID-19, and take us backwards.”
Trussell, who called Donald Trump “the greatest president of our time,” wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rip health coverage from more than 600,000 Illinoisans. She has espoused extremely harmful anti-choice views and compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK. She’s repeated a number of dangerous, reckless conspiracies about COVID-19 and has shown she is unfit to serve. Trussell’s far-right, extreme views do not belong anywhere near the governor’s office.
Today’s pick sends a clear message that the Republican primary for governor is going to be a messy race to the bottom.
I don’t care what he has to say he is he is a man of very little character. He’s uncouth, he’s disgusting. And it saddens me that he’s the front runner. He does not represent the values of the Republican Party.
A whole lot of people who have endorsed Bailey are going to have an interesting decision to make now.
Jesse Sullivan: Yeah, yeah, let me share. It’s almost laughable because because because I feel like…people in Illinois, these political operative types, they know, they’re scared, because I’m not beholden to them. So I’m not a politician. I know that Illinois is corrupt, and this den of vipers. And so you know what? One of those high and mighty types of this political machine, they showed up at my door before I even decided to run. This political backroom dealing class, they wanted me to be a part of this. And I’m not here to line their pockets. And so you know what? They decided they’re going to come after me. And they’re going to go and try to find, create all these lies. That’s what they do. That’s how these people work, and they’re going to keep at it. And you know what? Donald Trump, he didn’t pay them off, he didn’t bend his knee to the establishment. And I’m not going to either. And so I’m here to fight corruption, not to be a part of it. But I’ll share what I was doing in college…
Dan Proft: Just before we get to that, who was the high and mighty type that showed up at your doorstep?
Jesse Sullivan: So all of this I’m going to share. It’s all going to come out because we need sunshine and bleach on the whole system. And so I am…I’m going to be sharing everything with everybody along the way. And I don’t think you’ll be surprised by it.
Dan Proft/Amy Jacobson: Can you share with us now? Who is it?
Jesse Sullivan: And I don’t think you’ll be surprised by it.
Dan Proft: I’m sure I wont be but I still want a name.
Jesse Sullivan: Well, I’m preparing it with my whole team. And we’re going to share with the people of Illinois what this whole system is like.
Dan Proft: Alright, I want to get to St. Louis University and this, this paper you started, but I would just say this, I would just say this, and I’ll take you to word, and we’ll see what happens. But if if you’re unwilling to name names, and this goes for anybody, if you’re unwilling to name names, including within the Republican ranks, then that tells me it’s going to be more of the same that tells me this is…
Jesse Sullivan: Oh, I will, I will. I promise. Trust me. I will. I’m going to.
Not sure what the holdup is. Spilling to Proft would’ve been a big get for the show.
* OK, now some additional background on that magazine Sullivan started at SLU. This is from the university’s student paper back in 2006…
A group of socially conscious Saint Louis University students will launch a new campus publication early next month. Dubbed One World, the magazine will focus on global issues and promote social justice. Organizers hope that One World will inspire students to take action and to fight poverty and oppression throughout the world.
“[The magazine] is a call to action. It is centered on the notion that every person, regardless of national boundaries or cultural or religious differences, is linked together by our common humanity,” said Jesse Sullivan, the founder of One World.
Sullivan, a junior majoring in theology and international studies, first thought of starting a social justice magazine after returning from a semester abroad in El Salvador last year. Sullivan said that the poverty he witnessed there inspired him to raise awareness about social justice issues once he returned to SLU. […]
“Based on the Jesuit ideal of ‘men and women for others,’ we must take a stand and side with the suffering and the oppressed. We have a responsibility to hear the cries [of the suffering], to let them resonate with us and echo in our lives. Raising awareness on international issues is a necessary first step in taking action to help,” Sullivan said.
Jesse Sullivan: Yeah, so here, here’s what I was doing at St. Louis University. I was working in campus ministry, I was traveling out to Washington, DC to go on right to life marches. And I created an organization and a magazine, largely driven by my faith to focus on global poverty. So I can’t tell you what the magazine has done since then, and what articles they’ve published or haven’t published, because I’ve been living my life since then past college. And so, so if they want to go, that’s the most they can find to try to ruin my good name is that they’re going to say, Oh, this, this magazine that he got started back when he was a college student, has since then wrote articles where I have no oversight or control over what’s said. And, you know, from what the reporting, I would disagree with many of those articles, obviously. And so if that’s the best they can do, it’s pretty sad. And they see me as a threat to this system. And so that’s why they’re coming after me.
Dan Proft: That’s fair. But I want to be a little bit more clear on this then. So you didn’t found this magazine as a social justice outlet?
Jesse Sullivan: Yeah
Dan Proft: You did not?
Jesse Sullivan: So I, No, no, I did not. So social justice. Listen to me on this, I say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning, and I talk about justice. And for me, this notion of justice, for me was talking about people living in poverty, and how we can use our faith to help them that we have an obligation to remove obstacles to opportunity. And so that’s what I’ve always meant in my life and how I’ve always tried to approach things.
In context, that’s actually a fairly decent explanation, although a bit too earnest. Thoughts?
Sullivan, a political neophyte who ran a San Francisco-based nonprofit before launching his gubernatorial bid in early September, founded the magazine One World in 2006 while a student at St. Louis University. The publication had financial support from left-wing groups like the Center for American Progress, whose Goal Was To “counter the growing influence of right-wing groups on campus.”
If you look at page two of this issue of his magazine, it says it’s funded by Center for American Progress’ campus arm. And click here and scroll down and you’ll see that his magazine was listed as one of the 51 progressive journalism outlets funded by Campus Progress while he was still on the masthead.
Reporter: Do you have any plans to institute any kind of further mitigations [and] if I can double up the question, Dr. Arwady said yesterday that Chicago was looking at maybe requiring COVID vaccination proof for restaurants or other large gatherings. Is the state looking at further mitigations and perhaps any kind of vaccine passport?
Pritzker: Well, throughout this pandemic I’ve said that local governments county governments should certainly look at stricter mitigations if they feel that in their area that is warranted.
Let me say specifically about Winnebago County in Rockford. This morning, I spoke with the mayor of Rockford and our IDPH has been in regular contact with the hospitals and the local public health department to make sure that we’re providing what they need. That means help with staffing. For example, they have access to our staff in contract at the state level. And then add to that monoclonal antibodies that we’ve been distributing across the state but now specifically focused on Winnebago County where this morning they declared a disaster in the county.
Reporter: [off mic, so no transcript]
Pritzker: Again, we’re looking at everything that has been done, you know, over the last two years, always. But what we’re really focused on is making sure that people are following the masking requirements indoors. Thank you to all of you who are doing that here. And making sure that we’re providing vaccines everywhere in the state. Please, if you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated and get your booster. It gives you multiple times the protection than even the first two shots did, so I want everybody to listen and go immediately to their pharmacy or their doctor if they can
Please pardon any transcription errors.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Meanwhile, the current Republican frontrunner is holding an event in Rockford, the site of a local disaster declaration…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Might as well put this here…
.@GovPritzker has extended the Illinois COVID-19 public health emergency through January 8. You can see his latest executive order here. #twillhttps://t.co/ZgPYegvY7Z
* If you’ve contributed to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois during our December fundraising drive, thanks. If not, please click here. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
* Rob Karr, like his predecessor, is about the chillest person in this business. He’s got the skills and demeanor of a seasoned diplomat. So, seeing these quotes was a surprise and should be a wake-up call for everyone. Here’s Fran Spielman…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot was accused Thursday of abdicating responsibility for the retail crime wave sweeping Chicago and, instead, pressuring merchants to implement their own costly and unworkable security measures.
Twice in the last month — and as recently as this week — Lightfoot urged Magnificent Mile merchants victimized repeatedly by smash-and-grab robberies to follow the lead of their counterparts in Milan, London, Paris, Rome and along Hollywood’s Rodeo Drive.
She specifically mentioned security guards at the door, entrance cameras, merchandise “either chained and roped or put behind glass” and customers being “buzzed into” stores.
On Thursday, Illinois Retail Merchants Association President Rob Karr flatly rejected all of the mayor’s ideas.
He branded the suggestions “extraordinarily disheartening,” “misinformed” and “false”—yet another example of how Lightfoot “continues to point fingers and play the blame game.”
…Adding… Ken Griffin has been complaining loudly about the city’s crime…
The head of President Joe Biden’s security detail is retiring and taking a job with Citadel, billionaire Ken Griffin’s hedge fund.
David Cho has been with the United States Secret Service for more than 25 years and is the first Korean American to become special agent in charge of the service’s Presidential Protective Division. He’ll start at $43 billion Citadel on Jan. 3 as deputy head of security, according to a spokesman for the firm.
Due to the unintended divisive nature of HB4259, I’ve decided not to pursue this legislation. Based on feedback and further reflection, we need to heal as a country and work together on common-sense solutions to put the pandemic behind us. Since taking office, I’ve always tried to have civil discourse with those who’ve disagreed with me. However, violent threats made against me, my family and my staff are reprehensible. I hope we can return to a more positive discourse on public health, especially when it comes to this pandemic that has tired us all.
Carroll said they received “several” threats. As we have discussed before, the bill would’ve violated federal law.
…Adding… Rep. Carroll is saying now that he didn’t intend to be divisive, but here’s what he told the Sun-Times…
(I)t all boils down to frustration between those who have “been following the science and … trying to do the right thing” and those who are “choosing not to get vaccinated, who are able to, for whatever they choose.”
“I think it’s time that we say ‘You choose not to get vaccinated, then you’re also going to assume the risk that if you do catch COVID, and you get sick, the responsibility is on you,’” Carroll said.
Alexi Giannoulias, in a four-way Democratic primary for secretary of state, picked up the endorsement of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., on Wednesday, the second member of the House delegation to support his bid. […]
Earlier, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., and former Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., announced endorsements for Giannoulias. […]
“This election is critically important as Republican Secretaries of States across the country are implementing extreme right-wing policies that amount to the worst voter suppression effort since Jim Crow,” Schakowsky said in a statement.
“These underhanded tactics are solely aimed at suppressing the vote, particularly among voters of color, and restricting access to the ballot box.”
The only connection the SoS has to voting is the motor voter program.
— Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) announced the endorsements of 40-plus Illinois elected officials and community leaders for his re-election campaign. This slate of endorsements includes state senators, state representatives, county elected officials, school board members, village trustees, mayors, and community activists. […]
— Anna Valencia has been endorsed by the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 1 in her bid for secretary of state.
Cook County sheriff’s official Becky Levin plans to kick off her campaign to seek the Illinois House seat of outgoing Majority Leader Greg Harris on Thursday, calling herself “a crime fighter and a public health expert, who has a proven record of results.”
The first candidate to officially enter next year’s race to fill the North Side Democrat’s House seat, Levin grew up in northwest suburban Des Plaines and has lived in Uptown for the last 10 years, describing herself as a “proud” policy wonk and nerd.
After more than two decades in health care, she has served as the executive director of public policy for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart since January 2020. Levin pointed to her background and “breadth of experience” as the main reasons why she should succeed Harris.
This person as well…
Apparently word is getting out there that my dear friend Mike Ziri is considering a run for the IL House! All I can say at this point is there is no one I know in IL politics who is kinder, harder working, and has a bigger heart than Mike Ziri. Plus, he's damn smart. pic.twitter.com/jYYUxYdfhD
Candidate for State Representative in Illinois’s 51st House District, Nabeela Syed, announced this morning she has been endorsed by State Representative Theresa Mah.
Rep. Mah shared the following statement with her endorsement: “Nabeela is a driven community organizer who has helped shape winning movements for progressive issues on local and national scales. She has a track record of mobilizing voters, especially young voters and voters of color, which will be critical for our party in 2022. I am proud to give her my endorsement.”
“Representative Mah is a tireless advocate for Illinois families in Springfield and has been a champion on issues including education, economic opportunity, and immigrant rights,” said Syed. “I’m proud and honored to have her support.”
Rep. Mah joins Sen. Ram Villivalam in endorsing Nabeela Syed’s campaign for State House.
*** UPDATE *** Not unexpected…
The Illinois AFL-CIO, representing nearly 900,000 workers and their families across the state, today has thrown its political support behind Nikki Budzinski for Congress in the 2022 election.
The AFL-CIO’s Executive Board voted today to strongly support Budzinski, who has announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination for the 13th District seat in Congress stretching across central and southern Illinois earlier this summer.
Budzinski, a native of Peoria, has devoted her professional life to fighting for working families and the middle class since graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her grandfather was a union painter, and her grandmother was a public school teacher. She interned for former Congressman Dick Gephardt, former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, and for Planned Parenthood.
Budzinski has served as Political Representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters, Associate Director for Legislative and Political Action for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and as senior advisor to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on labor issues. She left her role as chief of staff to President Joe Biden’s budget office earlier this year to run for Congress.
She has lined up an impressive list of endorsements for the 13th District seat in short order, from unions representing electrical and communications workers, transit workers and firefighters to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, and a number of Illinois federal and state elected officials.
Budzinski promises to put working families first in Congress, through a $15 an hour federal minimum wage, a federal tax credit for families with children, and stronger health care, prescription drug and job training programs.
The new 13th District, reconstructed after the 2020 Census and recently approved by the state Legislature, is expected to stretch from the Metro East near St. Louis along Interstate 55 through parts of Springfield, then east through Decatur and to Champaign in central Illinois.
“This was an easy decision for our board because Nikki Budzinski is a true, proven champion for working families,” said Tim Drea, Illinois AFL-CIO President. “At a time when our nation’s politics are so polarized, we know Nikki will put working and middle-class families first and always be a voice for investing in the workforce that drives our country’s success. We look forward to supporting her candidacy in 2022 and working closely with her to put Illinois on the right track in Washington.”
Budzinski said the AFL-CIO endorsement is a major boost to her efforts to put working families first in Congress.
“I am truly honored to be endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO in my campaign for Illinois’ 13th Congressional district. I am proud to have spent my career working on behalf of working people; fighting for a $15 minimum wage, paid sick time, safe working conditions and retirement security. The labor movement built the middle class and that is why in Congress I will proudly support the Pro Act, to strengthen a worker’s right to have a voice in the workplace. I look forward to partnering with the Illinois AFL-CIO to deliver results for working families when I am elected to Congress,” Budzinski said.
* Publications like the Free Beacon are known for taking oppo that others probably don’t want. But considering the claims made by Darren Bailey this week more than just implying that Jesse Sullivan is a Democratic plant, well, it’s at least worth a look before it becomes a regular primary campaign talking point…
A venture capitalist running in Illinois’s Republican gubernatorial primary is a relative newcomer to the right. Fifteen years ago, Jesse Sullivan founded a self-described “social justice” magazine that has defended riots and abortion.
Sullivan, a political neophyte who ran a San Francisco-based nonprofit before launching his gubernatorial bid in early September, founded the magazine One World in 2006 while a student at St. Louis University. The publication had financial support from left-wing groups like the Center for American Progress, whose Goal Was To “counter the growing influence of right-wing groups on campus.” In the years that followed, One World published articles Dismissing riots in Ferguson, Mo., as the work of “a few troublemakers” amid “an entire crowd.” Four years later, in 2018, the magazine Expressed Support for the “legal right to choose” to have an abortion. […]
A Sullivan campaign spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that the Illinois Republican founded the publication “when he was in college doing humanitarian work,” though Sullivan remained on One World‘s masthead as the magazine’s “visionary” long after his graduation. His campaign says that role came with “zero involvement or editorial oversight.” At the same time, Sullivan appears to have remained involved with the magazine, headlining its 10-year anniversary celebration in 2016. A campaign spokesman said he spoke at the event “as a courtesy.”
“The suggestion that Jesse agrees with the viewpoints of a magazine he has had nothing to do with, is laughable,” Sullivan’s campaign said in a statement. “Let’s get back to the issues at hand and leave the cancel culture to the liberals and political hacks.”
His problem is he’s an unknown quantity who kicked off his campaign by fudging his “military” background. I dunno what to believe now. Also, there’s this from Sullivan’s LinkedIn page…
So, he claims to have been the CEO for five years. Yeah, OK, but he was in college when he founded it and it’s been ten years since he left the group. I dunno.
Who is Jesse Sullivan? A guy I went to college with wants to become Governor of Illinois. He’s got the look. He’s got money from the tech bros. But what he doesn’t have is a pedigree in being a Republican.
It’s like he was kidnapped and transformed into a GOP Manchurian candidate out of central casting in Ripon, Wisconsin.
Thankfully, those of us who knew him back when aren’t alone. Jesse Sullivan, social justice warrior king of St. Louis U. as a Republican? I would have known him if he were a Republican. I helped run the College Republicans on campus and in the state. This transformation is about as legitimate if Shoeless Joe Jackson walked out of a [expletive deleted] cornfield wearing a Red Sox uniform.
Maybe tech money does corrupt. Ask JD Vance.
Perhaps somebody in Illinois should ask him about his views on Donald Trump? Or Mitt Romney? Or John McCain?
Beware of posers. Jesse Sullivan is a poser.
…Adding… Gary Rabine…
Republican Governor candidate Jesse Sullivan needs to answer the growing number of questions about his Republican credentials as he seeks to be head of the Illinois Republican Party. In the last several days it has surfaced that until recently he has been aligned a with far-left publication, politically active in Democratic campaigns and has not voted or supported the Party’s presidential nominee since at least 2004. (voted for Obama, but not Trump). Crashing your parent’s car is something you can blame on youth–aligning with the socialist elements of the Democratic Party until right before you decide to run for the Republican nomination for Governor is something else. We don’t need a fake Republican as our nominee.
* If you’ve contributed to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois during our December fundraising drive, thanks. If not, please click here. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
Gov. JB Pritzker says he’s not planning to institute a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate like the one in New York City.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is enacting a mandate for private sector workers. Pritzker was asked if that’s something we could see in Illinois.
“That again is not something that we’ve been looking at,” said Pritzker. “We have people that are getting vaccinated every day in Illinois. We want more people to get vaccinated. I think you can see as more people get sick and go into the hospital nearly all of them are unvaccinated and that is causing a real problem.”
Mayor Lightfoot is also not interested in doing that.
Denying someone their job because of their vaccination status is discrimination, according to State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and the “Freedom Act” that he is pushing for would outlaw this practice. […]
When asked if people should have the peace of mind to go to work with the assurance everyone around them is vaccinated, Niemerg responded by saying “Well, shouldn’t everybody that has the right to go to work understand that they are not going to be discriminated upon as a condition of employment?”
He only appears to care about people who are willing and even eager to spread disease.
Within Illinois, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Calhoun County with 1,203 cases per 100,000 per week; Vermilion County with 994; and Clay County with 925. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Is it time to start calling these people pro-covid legislators?
Public health officials on Tuesday announced 78 more COVID-19 deaths across Illinois, the state’s highest one-day toll in 10 months.
That’s almost four times as high as Illinois’ daily coronavirus death rate over the past month, and it’s the most fatalities reported in a day since 102 lives were lost statewide Feb. 11, at the tail end of the state’s worst surge of the pandemic.
The state is now averaging 41 deaths per day over the past week, up from about 23 per day during the first week of November, according to figures from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
One day can be an anomaly, but yikes. Tuesday’s numbers haven’t been released as of this writing.
As of Monday, 4,404 people were admitted to Michigan hospitals with confirmed cases of the virus. Of them, 40 were children, according to Michigan Medicine, which supplies the state health department with hospitalization data.
That breaks a pandemic record set on April 8, 2020, when 4,365 people were hospitalized with the virus during an initial surge that had the nation reeling as so little was known about the virus, how it spread and how to treat it.
According to IDPH data, only 0.05% of fully vaccinated Illinoisans have ended up hospitalized for a COVID infection, and even fewer — 0.014% — have died from the virus.
* Gov. Pritzker is making several stops in southern Illinois today…
Daily Public Schedule: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
What: Gov. Pritzker to announce the widening of Interstate 57 through Southern Illinois, funded by the historic Rebuild Illinois capital plan.
Where: Benton Municipal Airport, 1 Airport Road, Benton
When: 9:30 a.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
Note: Parking is available in the lot south of the Benton Municipal Airport Terminal at the end of Airport Road. See map below.*
What: Gov. Pritzker to announce funding for new wastewater infrastructure in the Village of Alto Pass.
Where: Alto Pass Community Center and Village Hall, 23 Elm Street, Alto Pass
When: 11:30 a.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
What: Gov. Pritzker to join labor leaders to tour the Carbondale Warming Center and help unload donations ahead of the holidays.
Where: Carbondale Warming Center, 608 East College Street, Carbondale
When: 12:30 p.m.
Note: No additional media availability.
What: Gov. Pritzker to attend the groundbreaking of the new Walker’s Bluff Resort and gaming expansion in Southern Illinois.
Where: Lot southeast of Tasting Room at Walker’s Bluff, 14250 Meridian Road, Carterville
When: 1:45 p.m.
Watch live: https://www.Illinois.gov/LiveVideo
* Darren Bailey was asked recently how he would counter Jesse Sullivan’s huge campaign finance advantage in the GOP primary…
I’m not a bit worried about that because every bit of his $10 million is Democrat-controlled money. If people will check Jesse Sullivan out they’ll see that his number one supporter that dumped in $5 million. All these people are from the Silicon Valley, from California and Colorado. Chris Larsen, his number one supporter, $5 million. He was on Joe Biden shortlist for vice president March of 2020. February of 2021, he donated $250,000 to Nancy Pelosi. This is nonsense. Go to Illinoissunshine.org. Look at all of his donors, click on his donors and you will see who else they have been donating money to. This is a Democrat ploy to put someone to make them look like a Republican and it’s nonsense. So the more people get educated about this, the more that they will see this, the more that they will understand this. Yes, that is, so that’s what’s going on. There is no doubt about this.
We’ve got almost 15,000 individual donors from $5 all the way to $200,000. Money is not going to win this election. Anyone in the state of Illinois from the primary all the way to Pritzker that’s going to sit here and tell us that money is going to win they are wrong. Grass roots is going to win the day. We’ve got people who have never been involved in the political process. Every one of these events that we’ve put on, people are showing up they’ve never been to a political meeting before. They’re getting engaged. They’re learning. That’s what we’re doing. That’s how we’re going to get Illinois back on track.
The most dangerous thing for Illinois to do is to elect the wrong Republican for the wrong reasons.
I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’ this is a line of attack that could prove to be successful. Make him deny it. “I am not a plant!” The Republican Party’s conspiracy theorist wing is Bailey’s core constituency, after all. If they can believe there’s a microchip in every vaccine, or that you can “de-vaccinate,” they’ll probably buy into this.
* Moving right along, a press release…
Today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC endorsed Congresswoman Marie Newman for re-election in Illinois’ 6th congressional district.
Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, and Jamie Raskin released the following statement:
“The Progressive Caucus has delivered for working families this year thanks to dedicated champions like Congresswoman Marie Newman who consistently put the needs of their community before corporations and special interests. Since the moment she came to Congress, Representative Newman has been delivering for her constituents, fighting to close the gender pay gap by making it easier for women to access capital, tackling the climate crisis, and creating good paying jobs by supporting investments in the future of our transportation systems. Her leadership has helped pass legislation that will strengthen organized labor and move America one important step closer to finally establishing health care as a human right. We are proud to endorse Congresswoman Newman for re-election.”
Congresswoman Marie Newman released the following statement:
“We are at a pivotal moment in this country and the Progressive Caucus is leading the charge to create an economy that works for all of us, championing policies that will uplift every single American. I’m honored to receive an endorsement from the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and I look forward to the opportunity to continue working with my colleagues in the caucus to rebuild our economy so that it is stronger, more equitable, and rooted in worker and climate justice.”
In 2020, the PAC raised $4.4 million and launched its first-ever independent expenditure arm, helping elect eight new candidates to Congress.
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia on Wednesday garnered the backing of the Illinois Nurses Association in her bid to succeed Jesse White as Illinois secretary of state.
Tori Dameron, the president of the union, said in a statement nurses “need the support of strong union allies in office now more than ever” as the pandemic continues to “strain” frontline workers and others in health care.
“Anna Valencia understands that more than any other candidate in this race,” Dameron said. “We know she will always fight for us the same way we fight for our patients every day. The INA is proud to endorse her.”
Valencia wrote that she is “committed to using the Secretary of State’s Office to advocate for all working families and make sure that our nurses, who are a critical part of the community, are supported in every effort.”
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) is touting Republican victories in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that authorizes military spending and enacts Department of Defense policies for FY22. Rep. Davis proudly voted in support of the FY22 NDAA last night.
The legislation passed the House last night by a vote of 363-70. Republicans were crucial to bringing the bill across the finish line, providing a majority of the Yes votes. 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against the legislation. You can find the roll call of the House NDAA vote here.
“We must never allow our military to be defunded, which is what voting No on the NDAA would have done.”
US Rep. Mary Miller, who may challenge Davis in a primary, voted “No,” along with Danny Davis, Chuy Garcia, Jan Schakowsky and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
…Adding… From Miller’s statement…
The NDAA still creates a federal vaccine mandate that allows President Biden to discharge healthy active duty service members from my district. The bill also includes leftist Critical Race Theory “equity” training requirements for the military that my constituents strongly oppose.
I am proud that as a result of hard work by conservatives, the gun confiscation and draft for teenage girls provisions were removed from the bill. I will always oppose radical leftwing policies being rammed through Congress by President Biden, and I will never vote for policies opposed so strongly by the constituents I represent.
It was so radical and left-wing that AOC and Jan Schakowsky voted against it. Right. She’s caught on this one.
* As I’ve been telling you, this argument is at the core of the Democratic defense of its state legislative redistricting law and it was prominently featured during oral arguments yesterday. From the Capitol News Illinois report…
“Illinois in 2020 is not your grandfather’s Illinois,” Sean Berkowitz, an attorney defending the maps passed by the General Assembly in August and signed by Pritzker in September, told the judges.
Berkowitz pointed to the fact that there are a number of Black lawmakers in the Statehouse who do not come from predominantly Black communities. He also pointed to the fact that even though whites make up the largest racial group in Illinois, the current lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state are all Black while one U.S. senator, Tammy Duckworth, is Asian American.
“Crossover voting in Illinois is the norm, not the exception,” he said, adding that Illinois today “is not Mississippi in 1965 or Illinois in 1980.” […]
[Plaintiffs] attorneys spent the morning trying to convince the judges that racially polarized voting does continue to exist in Illinois and that if the maps approved by the legislature are allowed to stand, Latino and Black voters will lose political influence in state government.
In particular, they argued that many of the minority members of the General Assembly were first appointed to their seats after their predecessors stepped down in the middle of their. That gave the appointed lawmakers a significant advantage by allowing them to run as incumbents.
There was also a dispute about how any problems should be remedied, either through court action or sending it back to the GA, so click here to read the rest.
*** UPDATE *** Related press release…
The Illinois Supreme Court today announced the lifting of the pause order regarding the judicial redistricting in Public Act 102-0011 (Act), which will change the judicial district boundaries for the first time since they were established in 1964. Effective January 1, 2022, the Court’s order pausing the implementation of redistricting pursuant to the Act will be vacated.
The new order is available on the court website by clicking here.
On June 7, 2021, the Court entered the order which paused the transition to a new judicial redistricting statute. That order directed that appeals and other matters shall continue to be filed in the judicial districts as they existed on June 3, 2021, the day before Gov. Pritzker signed the Act into law on June 4, 2021. The Act was paused to give the courts sufficient time to plan and implement the significant changes it required.
Beginning on January 1, a notice of appeal initiating an appeal to the appellate court or a direct appeal to the Supreme Court pursuant to Rule 302(b) shall be transmitted by the clerk of the circuit court to the appropriate appellate district as established by the Act. Additionally, a petition or application or motion under Rule 303(d), Rule 303A, Rule 306, Rule 307(d), Rule 308, Rule 335, Rule 604(c), or Rule 606(c) will be filed in the appropriate appellate district as established by the Act. These provisions will apply regardless of the date of the judgment appealed or sought to be appealed.
Circuit courts will remain subject to the rule that states that when conflicts arise among the districts the circuit court is bound by the decisions of the appellate court of the district in which it sits. In a redistricted circuit, the appropriate appellate district will be the district in which the circuit was located at the time that the circuit court action was initiated.
If a case is heard by one appellate district on appeal and if a subsequent appeal in that case is heard by a new appellate district pursuant to this order, the new district will treat the decision of the prior district as the law of the case. That the decision of the prior district applied the law of the prior district that is contrary to the law of the new district will not be a basis for departing from the decision of the prior district.
* If you’ve contributed to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois during our December fundraising drive, thanks. If not, please click here. Follow along with ScribbleLive…
