* “Saving Illinois taxpayers” via jet helicopter? From the Illinois Review…
Aboard a jet helicopter this morning, on his way from Joliet’s Lewis University airport to Cahokia, For the Good of Illinois founder Adam Andrzejewski just sent Illinois Review a photo of the Illinois River with these words, “It’s a beautiful state and we are going to restore our historic greatness.”
Andrzejewski will join House Republican Leader Tom Cross, State Senator Kyle McCarter, State Representative Dwight Kay and GOP candidates at the first of four planned stops in Wednesday’s “Save Illinois Taxpayers” fly around in Cahokia at 10:00 am.
*** UPDATE *** There’s now a video. Leader Cross talks about the helicopter ride at around the 4 minute mark. Among other things, Andrzejewski claims that the Democrats want another $2 billion tax hike…
* Ignoring complaints about their last ad, which used local Democratic Party officials, the DCCC is running a new ad blasting Congressman Bobby Schilling featuring those same local Democrats…
* Script…
42 years I’ve been working?
Paying all those years into Medicare.
That’s part of my future.
Congressman Bobby Schilling voted to cut Medicare, costing seniors sixty four hundred dollars more per year for health care…
People can’t afford $6400 a year.
$6400 is not affordable.
…Just to fund tax cuts for millionaires.
I don’t know how we’d handle that.
There’s just no way.
Bob just doesn’t get it.
We worked all our lives.
And to take that away from us now would be a lie.
Congressman, you broke a promise to me.
* And AFSCME is also getting involved in the district with this TV ad…
* Script…
Bobby Schilling’s negative attacks on Cheri Bustos? Pure fiction. The facts? Another hundred and seventy Illinois jobs going to China. After Bobby Schilling voted to protect tax breaks that help companies ship jobs overseas. Yep. After all the jobs we’ve lost in Illinois, Schilling voted to help outsource even more. With Bobby Schilling in Congress, the truth hurts. The real story? Cheri Bustos is a working mom who’ll stand up for the middle class and fight for Illinois jobs.
The 30-second TV spot refers to Dold as a “Tea Party loyalist” and quotes a Sept. 16 column in the Houston Chronicle. Although the print version of the Chronicle used the phrase, the version available online doesn’t.
Dold, who paints himself as a moderate and has distanced himself from the conservative Tea Party, attacked the ad during a joint 10th District candidate interview last week at the Daily Herald’s headquarters in Arlington Heights.
“The Houston Chronicle actually corrected that, and I’m calling on my opponent to actually take down that ad because I’m not a Tea Party loyalist,” said Dold, of Kenilworth. […]
In an email Monday, Schneider campaign spokeswoman Staci McCabe stood by the commercial.
She provided a copy of the printed version of the Chronicle column to show the “Tea Party loyalist” phrase was used. She had no comment about the phrase’s later removal from the digital version of the column.
Joe Walsh is not the only Illinois Republican in trouble. Four tea party loyalists were targeted by Democrats who control the legislature. Robert Dold, a freshman from the Chicago area, was placed in a Democratic district represented by liberal Rep. Jan Schakowsky. He moved to the neighboring district where most of his current constituents live. His race with management consultant Brad Schneider is highly competitive. The fate of the Illinois Five could depend on the margin of President Barack Obama’s victory in his home state.
Fair or no?
…Adding… From the DCCC…
Congressman Robert Dold really wants to cover up his record supporting the Tea Party Majority in the House of Representatives. Too bad.
In Washington, Congressman Bob Dold went along with extreme cuts to the Great Lakes, slashes to education or Pell Grants, and even restricting a woman’s right to emergency contraception. Now, Congressman Dold seems to have a problem when anyone holds him accountable for putting the Tea Party ahead of Illinois.
“Where was Congressman Robert Dold’s outrage when the Tea Party Majority in Congress pushed cuts to the Great Lakes or restricting a woman’s right to emergency contraception? He was too busy voting alongside them,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Dold caved to extreme Tea Party cuts that gutted everything from environmental protections to Pell Grants and now he wishes no one knew about it. Apparently the only way to get a reaction from Congressman Dold is to hold him accountable for putting the Tea Party first.”
Background
Congressman Dold Voted to Cut $250 Million from Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In February 2011, Dold voted to pass the House continuing resolution (H.R.1) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, that cut funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by $250 million – from $475 million to $225 million. In March 2011, Crain’s Chicago Business wrote that Dold had previously promised to protect the Great Lakes but then voted for the Republican’s continuing resolution that included a $250 million reduction in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Dold responded saying, “We have to tighten our belt,” even though “some of the things we cut will be things I disagree with.” [HR 1, Vote #147, 2/19/11; WHTC, 3/02/11; Crain’s Chicago Business, 3/28/11]
Congressman Dold Voted to Cut Pell Grant Funding. Dold voted for two House Republicans budgets that cut critical education programs. “The Department of Education would be cut by more than $115 billion over a decade. Approximately 9.6 million students would see their Pell Grants fall by more than $1000 in 2014, and, over the next decade, over one million students would lose support altogether.” [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; H Con Res 112, Vote #151; OMB, 3/21/12]
Congressman Dold Voted to Allow Hospitals to Refuse to Provide Emergency Care. On October 13, 2011, Dold voted for a “bill to ban effectively abortion coverage in state health-insurance exchanges. The bill also would allow hospitals to refuse to provide emergency abortion care, even when a woman’s life is in danger, and gives states the ability to undermine coverage of many health related services, such as contraception.” [HR 358, Vote #789, 10/13/11; NARAL’s Congressional Record on Choice, 2011]
Illinois freshman Rep. Bob Dold holds the distinction of representing the most Democratic congressional district currently in Republican hands. Add to that the fact that Illinois is President Obama’s home state and he’s going to win biiiiiiiiiiig there. One Tea Party freshman from Illinois, Joe Walsh, is already toast. But Dold, one of the most independent of the GOP freshmen, has run a solid campaign and remains in a competitive contest with Democratic businessman Brad Schneider. Romney’s performance could well determine Dold’s future.
