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Yowza - $2.5 million in one pop to Rauner

Friday, Jun 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Who needs a budget plan when you have friends like this?…

All in!! $2,500,000.00 from Griffin, Kenneth to Citizens for Rauner, Inc. http://t.co/pd99Zqr7nl

— Trib IL CampaignCash (@ILCampaignCash) June 13, 2014

…Adding… A Ken Griffin flashback from a 2012 Tribune interview…

Q. I’m going to come back to this. But I want to touch on two more areas first. What do you think in general about the influence of people with your means on the political process? You said shame on the politicians for listening to the CEOs. Do you think the ultrawealthy have an inordinate or inappropriate amount of influence on the political process?

A. I think they actually have an insufficient influence. Those who have enjoyed the benefits of our system more than ever now owe a duty to protect the system that has created the greatest nation on this planet. And so I hope that other individuals who have really enjoyed growing up in a country that believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and economic freedom is part of the pursuit of happiness – (I hope they realize) they have a duty now to step up and protect that. Not for themselves, but for their kids and for their grandchildren and for the person down the street that they don’t even know.

Emphasis added for obvious reasons. I think he’s having sufficient influence on the Rauner campaign, to say the least.

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*** UPDATED x2 *** Bill Luking

Friday, Jun 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a press release…

Luking & Associates, LLC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

It is with a heavy heart that Luking & Associates, LLC informs you that William H. Luking, president and founder of Luking & Associates, LLC passed away quietly yesterday afternoon.

Thank you for your thoughts & your friendship at this time. We have lost a friend, mentor, and colleague. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have lost a champion.

Arrangements are pending and will be announced when completed.

* People who didn’t know Bill would often comment on his disheveled appearance, but those who did know him constantly marveled at his brilliance. The guy read everything. He knew every legislative trick in the book. I was talking to a colleague of his this morning who said Bill once recited the state plumbing code from memory during a meeting.

Bill’s institutional memory would overload a computer. And now it’s gone. We are all the poorer for his loss, whether you knew him or not. The hole his death creates at the Statehouse is just unimaginable.

I tried to never miss a chance to talk to Bill when I saw him during session. He wouldn’t normally dish about stuff he was working on, but he would discuss what other people were up to, assess their chances, find their weak points, suggest a better route, give me some history, etc. He never wasted my time and I tried never to waste his.

Bill told me years ago that he once met Frank Sinatra and shook his hand. Bill was a young reporter in the hinterlands and Ol’ Blue Eyes came to town for a show. How freaking cool is that?

Many of us will forever be in Bill Luking’s debt. He was most definitely one of a kind. He was also a sweet and generous man.

I’m sure many of you have your own stories about Bill, so I’ll leave comments open. I’ll let you know about arrangements.

*** UPDATE 1 *** From Mayor Rahm Emanuel…

“Bill Luking dedicated himself to the law and the legislative process. His legend and legacy will be lasting. For nearly 30 years, Bill fought for Chicago and its people and was essential to every major legislative initiative passed on the City’s behalf. As a dean of the Illinois statehouse, Bill shared with others his passion for history and always made himself available to mentor young people learning their way around the halls of the state Capitol. On behalf of all of Chicago, thanks Bill.”

As far as I’m concerned Bill’s getting the Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Insider this year. Not gonna be a vote.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Senate President John Cullerton…

I am saddened to hear the news of Bill Luking’s death. He was among the first people to encourage me to run for office in 1976. He was a man of honor, with an incredible knowledge of the legislative process. For decades Bill used his considerable skills to tirelessly advance the interests of the City of Chicago. He will be greatly missed.

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Quinn’s disturbing pattern of silence

Friday, Jun 13, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Lots of people covered Gov. Quinn’s campaign press conference with some ministers, but WBEZ was one of the only outlets to report this angle…

An outspoken Chicago pastor connected Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan and suggested that GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner stands for “evil,” as he appeared next to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday to give the Democrat his endorsement.

Um, what?

* Listen to the raw audio…

* Back to the WBEZ story. The minister in question was speaking of registering voters, including “unlikely voters”…

The governor remained silent as the Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman, a long-time left-wing activist, spoke at his side during a press event where Quinn accepted the endorsement of several mostly African-American clergy members. […]

“That’s an unlikely voter that began way back in 1961 and ’62 with the Ku Klux Klan, that grew up through the militias, that came outta the militias and, and, and – came in to call themselves conservatives, and then came in to call themselves Republican,” Coleman said.

“That’s a movement that brings an evil that we have got to stop,” Coleman said, as the crowd began to clap. “Our fight – our fight is not – our fight is not with flesh and blood. Our fight is with powers and principalities. And there’s an evil – there’s an evil that a candidate may seem that he’s harmless is gonna raise up in this state and we’re not gonna let it happen!”

* The minister later backed away…

Reached by phone after Thursday’s event, Coleman told WBEZ he does not believe Rauner is evil. He said he was referring instead to the “hatred and prejudice and white supremacy” he believes are represented by the conservative Tea Party movement, which he said gets political cover from the GOP.

“We’re not suggesting that Rauner is a member of the Klan or that there were any Klansmen involved in his campaign or anything like that,” Coleman said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “We were just saying that the forces that are unleashed by the - the current day Republican Party are very dangerous forces and very racist forces, and that we don’t want them to take over in Illinois.”

* But the state GOP chairman was justifiably outraged at the governor’s silence…

“It is unacceptable and outrageous for a sitting governor to stand by silently and condone comparisons to the Ku Klux Klan,” [ Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider] said. “Governor Quinn owes the people of Illinois an explanation for why he stood by and said nothing.”

* The Quinn campaign’s reaction…

“We couldn’t disagree more strongly, and the Governor believes this rhetoric has no place in politics,” Anderson wrote in an email.

* The minister apologized, so I’ll leave it at that. What bugs me about this incident is that it isn’t the first time Quinn has remained silent while one of his supporters went off on one of his Republican opponents. Remember this from 2010?…

A West Side get-out-the-vote rally Saturday backfired for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn when the governor was forced to quickly distance himself from racially charged criticism about his Republican foe made by the man who introduced him, Chicago mayoral candidate state Sen. Rickey Hendon. […]

“Let me tell you a couple things. I’ve served with Bill Brady. I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon told the crowd. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be $3 an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”

Quinn stood silent and didn’t speak until after a reporter asked him about Hendon’s remarks.

Governor, that’s just not acceptable.

* Related…

* ADDED: Two ministers backing Quinn got money from troubled state program: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn received a robust re-election endorsement this week from dozens of Chicago area ministers, including at least two whose religious organizations got money from a much-criticized state anti-violence grant program.

* Our Cold Civil War Intensifies

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