* From US Sen. Mark Kirk…
“I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers–not building walls. That’s why I find Donald Trump’s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American.
As the Presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump’s latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party.
It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.”
…Adding… This vote is legally meaningless because Petraeus is not registered as a write-in candidate and probably won’t ever be…
…Adding More… Duckworth campaign…
In response to Republican Mark Kirk’s reversal on his endorsement of Donald Trump, Duckworth deputy campaign manager Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“What took so long? Apparently for Mark Kirk, it’s acceptable to refer to Mexicans as rapists; to propose banning Muslims from entering the country; to call women fat pigs and dogs; to mock a reporter’s disability; and to insult just about everyone who doesn’t look like Donald Trump. Until today, and for nearly a year, Kirk was fine with all of that, and even saw a ‘net benefit’ in Trump’s campaign, and offered himself up as a potential adviser. Yesterday, Tammy Duckworth called Senator Kirk’s silence in the face of Trump’s bigotry a betrayal, and we’re standing by our statement.”
…Adding Still More… Press release…
Democratic congressional candidate CJ Baricevic (IL-12) today called Donald Trump’s attacks on U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel as racist and challenged Congressman Mike Bost to join Speaker Paul Ryan in denouncing Trump’s comments and urged Bost to withdraw his support of Trump as Senator Mark Kirk did on Tuesday.
Baricevic issued the following statement:
“I join Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Mark Kirk in condemning Donald Trump’s racist attack that Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a native of Indiana, cannot impartially try a case in our federal court system due to his family heritage. This despicable racist attack on Judge Curiel has no place in our country and deserves universal condemnation. Congressman Bost should immediately condemn this attack and rescind his support of Donald Trump for President. Shame on Mike Bost if he does not deplore Donald Trump’s racist statement and continues to support Donald Trump.”
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* Team Tribune…
Rauner also ripped into Democratic Senate President John Cullerton, calling “corrupt” his tactics in pressing for a school funding formula change. Once again, Rauner referenced a January Cullerton speech to the City Club of Chicago in which the Democrat said “We got to change the school funding formula. … Before we appropriate money for education for next year that starts July 1, we have to fix this formula.”
Said Rauner on Tuesday: “(Cullerton) has said he doesn’t want schools to open, doesn’t want the schools to open, unless the formula changes and there’s a lot more money for Chicago. He said it. This is not, I mean I am not making it up,” Rauner said. “That is wrong. That is corrupt. That is a conflict of interest, using political leverage to damage other communities and we cannot let that happen.”
And this gets us to a budget… how?
…Adding… As a commenter points out, using “leverage” that could damage communities is something the governor himself proposed a bit over a year ago…
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner kicked off a campaign-style statewide tour Monday by indicating he’ll try to “leverage” the state’s money woes into securing a series of pro-business changes from a General Assembly controlled by Democrats likely to fiercely oppose them. […]
The first stop was at Tribune Tower, where the governor sought to frame up the last seven scheduled weeks of the spring session during an appearance before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board. The governor and legislative leaders will try to craft a new budget before the May 31 adjournment deadline against the backdrop of a projected deficit of $6 billion and Rauner calling for major cuts.
“Crisis creates opportunity. Crisis creates leverage to change … and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change,” said Rauner […]
Pressed to explain, Rauner simply said: “Crisis. Crisis creates leverage.” [Emphasis added.]
He projects a lot.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Jim Edgar states the obvious…
“It’s critical that in public arenas that we treat our adversaries with civility because one of the things I also learned (in politics is that) today’s adversary is tomorrow’s ally because issues change. But if you just call somebody stupid or a crook, it’s going to be a little harder the next day for you to meet them as allies,” he said. […]
Still, Edgar added, “There’s nothing worse than an old governor telling a new governor what to do.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Senate President Cullerton’s spokesman John Patterson…
“For too long the state has failed to meet the needs of schoolchildren throughout Illinois. The Senate President remains hopeful that the governor is serious when he says education is his top priority. He also hopes that the governor understands his role is to advocate on behalf of all public school students in every community. We need to rise to confront the educational challenges together.”
Kept it classy.
* Related…
* Social services brace for more uncertainty as key deadline looms: Yet, as Rauner travels the state pushing his proposal, the spending plan that would get at least some money for this fiscal year to social service groups sits on his desk. “(Signing it) is just common sense and it just needs to be done,” said Marilyn Krolak, director of the DuPage Senior Citizen Council.
* July hearing set in social services lawsuit against Gov. Rauner: A coalition of 82 groups called Pay Now Illinois filed a lawsuit against Gov. Bruce Rauner and state agencies citing fallout from the state’s budget impasse. The group claims it’s owed more than $130 million for 11 months of unpaid work.
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Dems unveil “Trump or Kirk” website
Tuesday, Jun 7, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Today, as Republican Mark Kirk refuses to criticize Donald Trump for his racist comments about Latino & Muslim Judges, the Democratic Party of Illinois is launching a new website to highlight the similarly offensive rhetoric employed by Kirk and Trump. The website, www.TrumporKirk.com, will be accompanied by a digital advertising campaign. It presents viewers with a series of ridiculous comments and quizzes them on whether they were said by Mark Kirk or Donald Trump.
“Republican Mark Kirk and his endorsed presidential candidate Donald Trump share a habit of making offensive comments and embracing fringe conspiracy theories. One endorsed discriminating against Muslims and accused President Obama of having a U.S. Senator indicted out of political retribution. The other says Latino and Muslim judges are incapable of objective decision making. Examining their rhetoric, it’s clear that Republicans Mark Kirk and Donald Trump are two peas in a pod. No wonder Kirk said he’d ‘certainly support’ Donald Trump and offered to serve as Trump’s ’steady conservative hand,’” said Democratic Party of Illinois spokesperson Sean Savett.
Yesterday, Democratic Senate nominee Tammy Duckworth delivered a forceful speech condemning Trump’s racist comments about Judge Curiel and Kirk’s refusal to disavow them.
Examples of the quotes featured on the website include:
“She’s as good-looking as a super model, but with a business education.”
“He’s going to have a rotating first lady … he’s a bro with no ho.”
“Tens of thousands of people are gonna lose their lives because of Barack Hussein Obama.”
“The little rich girl is having a temper tantrum. It is ironic that an heiress with no record of service to her country would attack me.”
“She has yet to lift her manicured little pinkie for our national security.”
I took the test and only got half of them right, mainly because [click here to see the reason so I don’t spoil your own quiz experience].
Oops.
* OK, now on to the other “controversy” mentioned above. Here’s the Tribune…
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth on Monday accused Republican Sen. Mark Kirk and others of being “complicit” in Donald Trump’s campaign of “hate and division” and said they deserve “to be judged harshly” for failing to publicly rebuke the presumptive GOP presidential nominee over comments about the judiciary.
Speaking to a West Loop gathering of the national pro-Democratic women’s group EMILY’s List, the two-term congresswoman from Hoffman Estates warned the first-term Republican senator that “silence is betrayal” when it comes to failing to take a stand against Trump’s criticism of federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel.
The problem here is that the Republicans are in a major trick bag. The moment they denounce Trump, they look like fools because they’re immediately asked if they still support him.
* For instance…
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had harsh words Tuesday for Donald Trump‘s comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, calling out the presumptive GOP nominee for racist comments while simultaneously reaffirming that his endorsement of Trump stands.
Kirk needs a better answer than Ryan. We’ll see soon enough if he comes up with one.
…Adding… Forgot to note that I received this postcard in the mail…
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* Gov. Rauner was asked in Oregon yesterday about the lack of funding for the Redeploy Illinois program. If you’re not familiar with the program, here’s a brief explanation from the Sun-Times…
Under the juvenile version of Redeploy Illinois, which started in 2005, judges give juveniles ages 13 to 18 who commit less-serious crimes a community-based option instead of prison. The juveniles also get counseling, career training and treatment for such things as trauma, substance abuse and mental health issues.
* Here’s what the governor said yesterday…
“It’s outrageous that we don’t have a budget… If we don’t have a balanced budget we don’t have the resources to put into our essential human services. And Redeploy is a very important program. Now, the good news is we’ve been studying the data, so far we’re not seeing any increase in crime related to Redeply being strangled by the lack of a budget. But at some point it will.”
* That “some point” may have already arrived…
After a rash of armed robberies and carjackings startled Rockford residents this year, police recognized a few teenagers among those arrested in an ensuing crackdown.
The youths had been enrolled in a state-funded program called Redeploy Illinois, which is almost universally praised as an alternative to jail that diverts troubled youths from further crime. But due to a loss of funding in Illinois’ unprecedented budget impasse, a Rockford-area nonprofit ended its program in October, leaving some 40 juveniles without the one-on-one attention they’d been receiving.
Within months, police say, some of those teens were re-arrested, including after 14 robberies on one January day.
“When all these social service agencies are cut, the only public agency left to pick up the pieces is law enforcement. We’re not equipped to do that,” said Pat Hoey, Rockford’s assistant deputy police chief. “You can’t arrest your way out of youth violence crime issues.”
As the Sun-Times noted, “You can pretty much draw a straight line from the political stalemate in Springfield to a flurry of robberies in Rockford.”
Yep.
…Adding… The AP is now up with a story entitled “Rauner: Crime to spike ‘at some point’ due to budget impasse.” You’re welcome.
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* Interesting…
House Members:
Democratic members of the bipartisan working groups continue to meet with Republican legislators and the governor’s office to develop a resolution to the state budget impasse. The Speaker is hopeful that progress will continue, as it has over the past few weeks. Given this progress and the need for these discussions among the working groups on the budget and other issues to continue without interruption, the House will not be in session on Wednesday, June 8.
Tim Mapes | Chief of Staff
Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s Office
*** UPDATE 1 *** Kind of an odd press release, but whatevs…
Time for Mussman to Stand Up To Mike Madigan, Get Back to Work
Today, Speaker Mike Madigan informed legislators that tomorrow’s planned house session has been canceled. Jillian Rose Bernas, candidate for State Representative in the 56th House District, issued the following statement:
“After failing to pass a budget to ensure that our schools open on time, Speaker Madigan’s decision to cancel session tomorrow clearly shows that he is not willing to do the work that needs to be done to pass a balanced budget and reform state government.
Representative Michelle Mussman needs to stand up to Mike Madigan and work with Republican legislators to compromise so that we can begin to rebuild Illinois.
I have been walking door-to-door talking with neighbors, and they are frustrated with rising taxes and the lack of opportunities. Mussman is in a position to do something about this, but she continues to side with Speaker Madigan and it’s unacceptable. She was elected to represent the people of this community, not the personal agenda of Speaker Madigan.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Tribune…
“Speaker Madigan promised me that they were going to come in every Wednesday. I said, ‘That’s not enough Mr. Speaker, you should be coming in every day until we get a budget, and get a balanced budget and more resources for our schools. Then I heard this morning, he just announced today they’re not going to come in tomorrow like he said they would,” Rauner said. “They’re not going to come in at all this week. They are slow rolling the process. They want a crisis in the schools. They want a crisis in the government to leverage a Chicago bailout and leverage a big tax hike without any reforms.”
“I am concerned,” Rauner said. “That’s the reason I need your help. They’ll come back if we demand, if we the people of Illinois, demand they come back. They should be doing their jobs.”
He could just call a special session. He’s not a totally helpless victim here.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Tribune…
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown called it “a lot more of that empty mumbo-jumbo that we hear from the guy.
“There’s no bill to vote on, so no reason to bring people back,” he added.
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