* NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern asked Bruce Rauner today about the Ray Rice punchout video and the child abuse charges against Adrian Peterson…
Ahern: You are part owner, a minority owner with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Have you spoken to your group about how the NFL has handled Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson? Are you onboard with what’s going on?
Rauner: “I have not spoken with the Steelers organization at all. Not in many months.
Ahern: Why would you not want to reach out and find out what…?
Rauner: “I am working here in Illinois to win an election and transform our government so it’s working for the people again. That’s 100 percent my focus.”
Reporter: So, would you also comment, though, could you comment on the situation?
The candidate moved on to another reporter instead of answering that last quesiton.
* The Question: Fair questions or not? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Quinnsters were apparently ready for this one. From a press release…
Amidst the NFL controversy sweeping the nation about standing up against abuse of women and children, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights) today criticized Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s Tax Plan for the devastating impact the budget would have on at-risk families in Illinois, particularly those struggling with abuse and violence. While Rauner’s Tax Plan puts $1 million into his own pocket, it leaves an $8 billion hole in the state budget. Most of the burden of this massive funding deficit will fall on education - which would suffer an unprecedented cut of $4 billion - but crucial programs helping women, children and other victims of domestic abuse would also be significantly slashed by Rauner’s proposal.
Today Rauner, a part owner of Pittsburg Steelers, refused to stand up for battered women and children when asked directly about the NFL controversy sweeping the nation. Rauner become an owner of the team in 2009, shortly after an abuse scandal was brushed off by the team.
“Bruce Rauner needs to answer specifically for the radical reductions he proposes, which will harm some of the most vulnerable individuals in Illinois: the children and spouses who are victims of abuse,” Lt. Governor Simon said. “Time and again Rauner has failed to explain how exactly he would preserve critical programming with such unrealistic economic projections. Few specifics have been provided by his campaign at any rate.”
“A billionaire and self-proclaimed member of the .01 percent, Bruce Rauner has made much of his ability to invest and make money,” Senator Hutchinson said. “Investing in abuse prevention and intervention has been proven to provide long-term returns to the state of Illinois, but when it comes to domestic abuse and its victims, Rauner always seems willing to put politics ahead of people.”
Once implemented, Rauner’s Tax Plan would have a devastating impact on critical programs funded by the state.
And then it goes on and on like their usual press releases.
* But a Republican, on background, wants you to know this…
State Funding For Domestic Violence Shelters Has Been Cut 13.7% From FY2009 To FY2015 - Nearly $3 Million. (Appropriations Report - FY2009, Illinois Comptroller, p. 204; Enacted FY2015 Budget By Line Item, Governor’s Office of Management and Budget)
*** UPDATE 2 *** He shoulda just answered this one to begin with and scored some points…
*** UPDATE 2 *** The full response from the Rauner campaign did not come from Rauner himself…
“Bruce thinks what Ray Rice did is deplorable and the NFL has badly mishandled the situation. As a husband and father of four daughters, Bruce stands for women’s health and safety everyday. Sadly, Pat Quinn has done just the opposite and cut funding for domestic violence shelters by nearly 15 percent. That never should have happened, but Pat Quinn was too busy funneling millions into his own political slush fund that is now the subject of two federal grand jury investigations.” - Rauner spokesperson Lyndsey Walters
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* Click here to read Bruce Rauner’s new ethics plan. Some of it is much-needed, some of it is obvious overkill or rehash.
* Hiring…
* Fire all IDOT employs who got an “illegal” job
* Launch an online portal that includes info on all non-civil service workers
* Request a federal hiring monitor to oversee IDOT
* Revolving door…
* A firm, one-year lobbying ban for all senior executive officials and legislators
I’d go even further and bar any of those folks from negotiating private sector jobs while in office.
…Adding… Gov. Quinn has a bill in the hopper to address part of this. From the LRB synopsis…
Provides that (in addition to current restrictions on chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, and deputy governors) a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, or deputy governor serving in the Office of the Governor is prohibited from lobbying or consulting in any fashion before or with the executive or legislative branch of State government for a period of one year immediately after termination of State employment.
* Ban government contract lobsters…
* Any government entity receiving state funds would be barred from hiring an outside lobbyist
* No outside income for legislative leaders (he’s already proposed that one)
* Conflicts of interest…
* Expand powers of Legislative Ethics Commission powers to include fines and censure. Legislators whould be prohibited from voting on matters where there are conflicts of interest
It’s not clear if that means farmers couldn’t vote on a generic farm bill, or whether it would mean farmers couldn’t vote on a farm bill that mainly impacted them. Devils are always in the details.
* Recall…
* Recall expanded beyond governor to all constitutional officers and legislators
* No pensions for felons
* Multiple expulsions…
* Amend Constitution to allow for multiple expulsions for the same offense (addresses Rep. Derrick Smith case, when he was expelled and then re-elected and couldn’t be expelled again)
That is definitely needed.
* Term limits
* Slush funds…
* More transparency and accountability for state grants
Much of that was already addressed this spring.
*** UPDATE *** From the Quinn campaign…
Quinn for Illinois Communications Director Brooke Anderson issued the below statement regarding Bruce Rauner’s desperate attempt to hide his own proven record of profiting from pay-to-play, fraud and corruption:
“Bruce Rauner has zero credibility when it comes to ethics - he has profited from fraud, abuse and mismanagement of his own businesses and taxpayer dollars throughout his career.
“For example, the U.S. Attorney had this to say about one of Mr. Rauner’s companies: ‘APS Healthcare took Medicaid’s money for itself and left some of our most vulnerable citizens without the aid they deserved.’
“Unlike Governor Quinn who takes responsibility and fixes problems whenever they arise, Bruce Rauner takes no responsibility but always takes the profits.
“Mr. Rauner may have been able to take the money and run in the private sector but he can’t hide from his own business record of pay-to-play, corruption, fraud and hiring swindlers.
“Bruce Rauner can’t be trusted.”
Below is a recap of the Governor’s record of reform.
Governor Quinn’s Record of Reform
Enacted a strong new ethics code that forbids the promise of state jobs and contracts or political favors in exchange for campaign contributions and increases scrutiny of officials, state workers and lobbyists.
Signed legislation that imposes a first-ever contribution limits on candidates, political parties and political action committees and created a Campaign Finance Reform Task Force, which will study the impact of contribution limits and make recommendations following the 2012 & 2014 elections. Mr. Rauner promptly took advantage of a loophole to smash the limits and benefit himself, so he and his fellow billionaires could try and take over Illinois.
Fought for an enacted a law that allows the power to recall a Governor who is not working in the public’s interest.
Established he Illinois Reform Commission to examine and present solutions against corruption and taxpayer abuse, including in state hiring.
Issued Administrative Order to strengthen hiring controls and ensure compliance with all Rutan rules.
Fought for and signed law to strengthen the OEIG authority as a hiring watchdog by allowing the OEIG to self-initiate investigations, requiring publication of state employee wrongdoing including wrongdoing related to hiring, and empowering the Inspector General with new authority to review hiring of all agencies to ensure compliance with Rutan and all applicable employment law.
Fought for a signed Grant Accountability and Transparency Act, which is landmark legislation that overhauls the state’s grant oversight and accountability process, while providing the strongest grant oversight in the nation.
Vetoed legislation that would have reduced government transparency by limiting the ability of citizens to seek public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Signed legislation creating a permanent public access counselor within the Attorney General’s Office to oversee enforcement of the FOIA and strengthening fines for noncompliance.
Launched the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal to provide Illinoisans with access to state government spending information.
Launched the Illinois Sunshine Portal Sunshine.Illinois.gov, a new one-stop shop where the public can view many public records and documents online.
Launched data.illinois.gov, a searchable clearinghouse of information from state agencies that will help inform residents about the operation of state government and encourage the creative use of state information, including the development of applications for mobile devices that can be built around the data.
Signed legislation that creates a position of a state actuary to oversee the five state-funded pension systems to help increase transparency of the systems.
Issued an executive order that encourages state agencies and local governments across Illinois to increase the amount of raw data they share with each other, businesses, academic institutions and the general public.
Signed legislation to strengthen the Illinois Open Meetings Act by ensuring that a copy of the meeting notice and agenda is available to the public for the entire 48 hours preceding the meeting.
Signed legislation that strengthens ethics provisions in certain Illinois county governments to help establish ethical guidelines and simplifies the removal process for individuals who violate those guidelines.
It would’ve been nice if the Quinn campaign found one or two good ideas to praise, but this being the nastiest campaign in modern state history, I suppose that’s too much to ask.
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* Congresswoman Cheri Bustos voted for the Paul Ryan, Patty Murray budget plan last year and is now under fire from her GOP opponent for voting to cut spending. From a press release…
The Bobby Schilling for Congress campaign has released their second commercial of the 2014 campaign cycle. The commercial features veterans who are disappointed with Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) for her heartless vote to cut veterans benefits by $6 billion last year.
In December of 2013, Cheri Bustos voted to cut veterans benefits by $6 billion by voting for the Ryan-Murray budget. Shortly afterwards, Cheri Bustos said that her vote to cut veterans benefits was “right for America.” Veterans across the Illinois 17th District were outraged by this heartless vote.
In addition to voting to cut benefits to veterans and their families in her own district, Congresswoman Bustos failed to lead when veterans needed her most during the VA crisis. While veterans were dying on wait-lists at VA hospitals, Cheri Bustos said and did nothing until Bobby Schilling stepped up.
Bobby Schilling opposed the Ryan-Murray budget. In an op-ed he wrote in January, Schilling said “we should be cutting our debts, not our vets.”
Schilling also led first to solve the VA crisis. Schilling introduced the Enhanced Veterans Health Care Experience Act back in 2011, a bill that would fix the VA wait-listing issue by allowing veterans to use their own doctors in their own hometowns. Schilling’s bill was included as a provision in this summer’s VA reform legislation that passed the House unanimously 426-0 and has now been signed into law.
There is a clear contrast between Cheri Bustos’ disappointing record on veterans issues and Bobby Schilling’s aggressive advocacy for veterans in his district.
It is very hypocritical for Cheri Bustos to run a TV commercial about what her staff did for one veteran while she voted to hurt tens of thousands of veterans. This new ad shines light on Cheri Bustos’ failure to stand up for veterans.
Jon Schweppe, communications director at Bobby Schilling for Congress, released the following statement:
“Cheri Bustos spent more than a year voting against veterans and ignoring their concerns, and now she’s trying to flip the script in an election year. If Cheri Bustos wants to work on her image with veterans—which she clearly does, judging by her first two commercials—maybe she should just follow through on her promise to give up 10 percent of her pay and donate the $34,800 to a veterans charity. That would be the right thing to do.”
* Schilling’s new ad…
* Script…
Bobby Schilling (Colona): I’m Bobby Schilling, and I approve this message.
Councilman Eric Turner (Peoria): We’ve risked our lives.
Brian Munos (Silvis): We’ve put it all on the line.
Ken Moffett (Moline): And how did Congresswoman Cheri Bustos repay us?
Munos: Bustos voted to cut veteran benefits by six billion dollars.
Ron Tady (East Moline): Six billion dollars!
Moffett: That’s billion with a B.
Munos: After promising she never would.
Moffett: How could you cut our benefits, Cheri?
Turner: How could you?
Munos: How could you?
Tady: How could you? Shame on you.
Moffett: Shame on you.
Turner: Shame on you, Congresswoman Bustos.
* The bipartisan lesson here is that budget cuts never play well in general election campaigns. That’s why Bruce Rauner vows to increase state spending on education, infrastructure and IDNR even though he also pledges to cut taxes. Bustos tried to position herself in Congress as a fiscally conservative Democrat. So, she gets this hit.
However, the hard reality of governing is that when you demand cuts (as Schilling has and does), then stuff like this happens.
*** UPDATE *** From the Bustos campaign…
Today, Colin Milligan, the Communications Director for Cheri Bustos for Congress, released the following statement on ex-Congressman Bobby Schilling’s new desperate and dishonest negative ad:
“Ex-Congressman Schilling wasted little time going negative. In an apparent act of desperation, Schilling has responded to Cheri Bustos’ strong support from Illinois veterans by airing a dishonest attack ad in the hopes of confusing voters about her record. Veterans are such a priority to Cheri that she not only led an effort to protect military retiree benefits, but has combat veterans on her staff. And voters have already seen first-hand that when veterans speak up, Cheri Bustos listens.
“Once again, ex-Congressman Schilling is trying to distract voters from his anti-middle class record by pointing to cuts that never happened, but voters know the truth.”
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* This ad was recorded by a friend off his TV at my request this morning because the Rauner campaign has yet to release its own version.
It’s pretty hard-hitting, but one of the first times I’ve seen the lesser-known Senate President John Cullerton used in a negative hit. They probably needed his 25 years in office to push the total to an even 100…
…Adding… The Rauner campaign has a press conference scheduled for 10 o’clock this morning to “make a major policy announcement.” The ad will likely be released after that. The campaign has set up the ad with a press release, however…
Across Illinois, They’re Talking About Pat Quinn’s Corruption
Grand jury subpoenas. Illegal patronage hiring schemes. Secret insider deals. We’ve seen this move before; we know how it ends.
Federal grand jury subpoenas…
A new subpoena seeking records about Gov. Pat Quinn’s botched 2010 anti-violence program has been issued, this time from a federal grand jury based in Chicago.
The request marks the first subpoena issued by Chicago-based federal authorities in the probe into Quinn’s $54.5 million Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. Numerous prior subpoenas had come from federal authorities in Springfield.
The federal grand jury in Springfield has subpoenaed emails from the governor’s former chief of staff, Jack Lavin, and several others heavily involved in implementing the program.
Illegal patronage hiring schemes…
Sanguinetti says it’s wrong that the governor’s administration is allowing a little more than 100 of those people to keep their jobs at IDOT. The Rauner campaign says the hirings are wrong considering Quinn says he’s working to clean up state government.
“We should get rid of all these illegal hires and going forward, we should do the right thing, the fair thing, which is hiring people based upon merit,” Sanguinetti said.
Sanguinetti says one of those keeping their job is a woman married to a Peoria labor official who has contributed to the Democratic Party.
Secret insider deals…
Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner said Tuesday he wouldn’t have signed legislation creating Illinois’ medical marijuana pilot program because it includes a secret process for deciding who may grow and sell the drug.
Rauner said it’s “another hallmark” of a culture of corruption under Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. He said the public should know who’s applying for a limited number of state permits, and whether the permits are given to “insiders” with political clout.
“Millions of dollars in business licenses are up for grabs, and Pat Quinn wants to keep taxpayers in the dark,” Rauner said.
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