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A new way of doing business, and an old way

Monday, Jun 15, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

People on the outside of this slow-motion train wreck in Springfield, who nonetheless are paying attention, may have noticed the almost schizophrenic aura surrounding the thing.

Take last Tuesday. House Speaker MICHAEL MADIGAN and Senate President JOHN CULLERTON, both Chicago Democrats, met with Republican Gov. BRUCE RAUNER. At a news conference later in the day, Madigan said the meeting was cordial and productive.

But between the meetings and Madigan’s news conference, Rauner held his own availability, at which he accused Madigan and Cullerton of making millions in their private law practices off of high property taxes. It was very close to calling both men crooks.

Madigan called his news conference to rebut Rauner, to explain that his law practice deals with property assessment errors, and to make clear that there is a firewall between his law practice and his position as a public official. He said that during his meeting with Rauner, the governor made no mention of his problems with Madigan’s law practice. […]

It just seems like the opposite of the way people usually operate. Normally, they say nice things in public and save the vitriol for private discussions. In this case, the governor apparently is very pleasant and cordial in private meetings before holding a public news conference to label the top two Democrats in the legislature as corrupt insiders.

* Erickson…

Rather than sitting down and hashing out some kind of deal with the General Assembly, Gov. Bruce Rauner last week first accused the Democratic leaders of breaking state ethics laws and then, during a stop in Decatur, cast them as part of the “Chicago machine.”

I’m no expert on negotiation tactics, but that doesn’t seem like a recipe for success when it comes to finding common ground and solving problems.

* Pearson has more on the Chicago machine angle…

The governor visited a handful of Downstate and suburban communities last week to promote what he calls his “turnaround agenda” and vilified Madigan and Cullerton as driving the “Chicago machine” and questioned whether local Democratic lawmakers were wedded more to Chicago and their leaders’ political interests than to their own voters. […]

Rauner’s initial efforts to tour Downstate also reflect the regionalized nature of rural Democrats, who tend to be much more socially conservative than their city counterparts. Notably, Rauner’s targeting of Downstate lawmakers validates concerns some Democrats voiced during a May 31 closed-door meeting of senators following what was supposed to be the last day of session.

Fearing an onslaught of millions of dollars in negative TV ads funded by Rauner and his allies, several Downstate Democrats complained to Cullerton that they were being left politically vulnerable and without a way to answer the attacks, according to two senators at the meeting who were not authorized to speak publicly about it. […]

Republicans attempting to tarnish Downstate and suburban Democratic lawmakers with the “Chicago machine” label is nothing new in Illinois politics. But the next election is a year away, and Rauner himself has been an integral part of Chicago city politics as a top adviser and close friend to Emanuel.

…Adding… Since he’s saying these things, you’d think he ought to back up his claims…

Governor Rauner has to negotiate with Democratic leadership. He’s calling out House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton for personally benefitting from their positions of power.

They’re both also Chicago attorneys for separate law firms.

When asked, Rauner wouldn’t say specifically if there was a grant, contract, project, bill, or overall policy that Madigan or Cullerton have personally profited from. Instead - Rauner spoke generally - saying they’re part of the Chicago political machine.

“It’s built on a large government insiders’ dominance,” Rauner said.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** GOP defends “brave women” who stood up to Duckworth

Monday, Jun 15, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From Fred Brown at the RNC…

Good Morning –

Tammy Duckworth’s time under disgraced Governor Blagojevich is coming back to haunt her. Duckworth needs to answer questions about her involvement in retaliating against whistleblowers.

With the trial date set and Duckworth avoiding questions, it makes you wonder what more she has to hide.

* The linked story…

A trial date has been set in a whistle-blower lawsuit involving U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth.

In a case dating to her tenure as a member of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, the Democrat from Hoffman Estates is alleged to have retaliated against two employees of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

After six years of legal wrangling, a Union County judge on June 2 scheduled a bench trial for April 4, 2016. A pre-trial hearing is set for Aug. 4 at the courthouse in Jonesboro. […]

Allegations outlined in a September 2009 amended complaint say Duckworth, who headed the agency from December 2006 to 2009, violated state ethics rules and inflicted emotional distress on two employees of the Anna Veterans’ Home.

* From the Illinois Republican Party…

On June 2nd, a Union County Judge set the trial date for Rep. Duckworth who is facing charges filed by employees of the Anna Veteran’s Home in Union County for state ethics violations stemming from Duckworth’s attempts to silence reports of wrongdoing and abuse of veterans by caretakers.

According to the suit and documents filed in Union County Court, after firing one of the whistleblowers, Duckworth told the other whistleblower:

“If you do your job and keep your mouth shut and concentrate on job duties, you will keep your job”

The lawsuit, which was filed in 2009, alleges that Duckworth wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another employee for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The brave women who tried to call attention to problems within the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs should have been commended for their actions. Instead, Tammy Duckworth intimidated them, ordered one woman to ‘keep her mouth shut’ and attempted to fire another. These allegations of outrageous misconduct against Congresswoman Duckworth are extremely troubling. It is time for the Congresswoman to explain her actions and send a clear message that acts of retribution against whistleblowers in government will not be tolerated,” said Nick Klitzing, Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party.

The Republican Party taking the side of state bureaucrats is pretty rich. And the initial “whistleblowing” was about some yelling and a few accusations from a supervisor who made it clear she wanted to get rid of one of the plaintiffs before the plaintiffs actually blew the whistle. Go read the complaint yourself, with the link helpfully supplied by the ILGOP.

Either way, the headlines probably ain’t gonna be good for Duckworth’s US Senate campaign.

*** UPDATE *** It is, however, a bit odd that Duckworth denied the existence of this suit in her 2012 race against Joe Walsh…

Transcript…

Well, first and foremost that’s not true and you continue to say things repeatedly that are not true and you think if you say them over and over again thinking they would be true and they’re not. This is what Mr. Walsh does he tries to distract people from the issue at hand

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Oops: The state may soon receive a $2 million windfall from the Rauner campaign

Monday, Jun 15, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Remember this Gov. Bruce Rauner quote from the other day when he was asked about how his contributors differed from Democratic contributors?…

“My donors are basically taxpayers. My donors are taxpayers. And the reality is, I have not taken money from folks who do business with the state, who make money from the government and by the government spending more money. Frankly, it’s illegal for businesses or individuals who contract or do business with the state to do business with politicians. That’s a good restriction. I haven’t taken any money from any of those folks. My donors are taxpayers, pure and simple.”

* Well…

The head of a company that has done more than $50,000 in business with the state in each of the past four years donated $2 million to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s campaign fund in December in apparent conflict with state campaign finance laws.

Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest is CEO of Uline, a packaging supply company now based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. In December, he gave Citizens for Rauner a $2 million contribution. Uihlein’s wife, Elizabeth, is president of the firm, and she donated $25,000 to Rauner in October. […]

A state law that took effect in 2010 state, “Any business entity whose contracts with State agencies, in the aggregate, annually total more than $50,000 … are prohibited from making any contributions to any political committee established to promote the candidacy of (i) the officeholder responsible for awarding the contracts or (ii) any other declared candidate for that office.” Vendors whose business exceeds the threshold are supposed to register with the State Board of Elections.

Uihlein’s company did not register with the Board of Elections.

Yikes.

* The matter is now under investigation by the state’s chief procurement officer. Other candidates who’ve found themselves in violation have had to give the money to the state’s General Revenue Fund…

As for whether that means Citizens for Rauner, the governor’s campaign fund, will have to give more than $2 million to the state treasury because of Uline’s state business, [the state’s chief procurement officer, Matt Brown] said he didn’t want to go that far.

“We want to conduct that analysis before I give you any idea what the outcome could be,” he said.

…Adding… This specific Uihlein topic was first mentioned by a commenter ten days ago.

…Adding More… Yellow Dog Democrat pointed out this issue way back in January.

* Meanwhile, let’s go back to this Tom Kacich story about how the governor is attempting to recruit candidates with the promise of spending $1 million each on 20 legislative candidates next year…

Gov. Bruce Rauner says he wants Meister to consider running for Senate, and is willing to bankroll his campaign to the tune of about a million dollars.

“He told me very specifically that he has 20 million dollars and that he’s working to do a million for 20 races that he thinks are the most winnable,” said Meister, the 32-year-old owner of Minneci’s Ristorante in southwest Champaign, and an unsuccessful candidate for state representative in 2012.

* I told subscribers about the questionable legality of this effort last week and included it in my newspaper column this week. The Sun-Times followed up…

“Whoever it is who is doing the recruiting and contributing would have to be set up as something other than the independent expenditure committee,” said Ken Menzel, general counsel to the Illinois State Board of Elections. […]

“When you say you’re going to encourage someone to run and you’ll help them raise so much money, that doesn’t mean you’re going to hand them a check for that amount,” Menzel said, but instead could mean: “’I can put you in touch with other groups from my donor base’ . . . the national campaigns kind of end up working that way, too.”

The attention that the practice is getting has set off alarms in the world of campaign finance, though, and word is campaign finance attorneys are looking into the legality of Rauner’s overture to Meister.

“The governor is not above the law,” said Jerry Morrison, assistant to the president of the SEIU Local 1 union. “If you’re going to present yourself to the public as a reformer and you’re going to shake up Springfield, you certainly should be following the law.

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