* From a press release issued by the Illinois Republican Party late yesterday afternoon…

BREAKING: Madigan takes another $100K from Union TODAY!

After taking $250K from SEIU before Pension Reform Special Session, Madigan doubles down on cash proving he’s not interested in pension reform

CHICAGO – The Illinois State Board of Elections’ website reports that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gave the Friends of Michael J. Madigan political committee $100,000 in contributions TODAY – Thursday, August 23.

SEIU has already given political committees controlled by Illinois House Speaker/Illinois Democratic Party Chairman/Father of the Illinois Attorney General Mike Madigan and State Senate President John Cullerton $242,000 in the days leading up to an Illinois General Assembly Special Session on Pension Reform - leading to calls by the Illinois Republican Party for a federal investigation of the timing of such donations.

“Mike Madigan has doubled down on pension reform – and sadly Illinois taxpayers are the losers,” said Brady. “Today’s disclosure prove Mike Madigan has no shame and, despite his rhetoric, no interest in fiscal reform.”

Board of Elections records previously show that on Aug. 17 – the same day as the Special Session – Service Employee International Unions (SEIU) gave $47,000 and another $50,000 to the Democratic Majority (a committee chaired by Madigan to elect Democratic State House members); on Aug. 13 it contributed $50,000 to Cullerton; on Aug. 10, $45,000 to the Senate Democratic Victory Fund, and on Aug. 6, $50,000 to the Democratic Party of Illinois (chaired by Madigan).

* OK, let’s go over this yet again. If you’d read the timeline provided by SEIU on Wednesday, you already know that the union cut one of those two checks on July 25th and the other on July 27th. They were both mailed a few days later…

SEIU Contribution Timeline

Monday, July 23rd – SEIU Illinois Council PAC Endorsements were made and contributions approved. 

Wednesday, July 25th – SEIU Illinois Council PAC Endorsement checks were cut and mailed promptly to the  following funds:

 
‐ $50,000 to Democratic Majority  
‐ $50,000 to Friends of Michael Madigan  
‐ $50,000 to Citizens for Cullerton
‐ $50,000 to Senate Democratic Victory Fund

Friday, July 27th SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana PAC endorsement checks were cut and mailed/delivered  promptly to the following funds: 

‐ $50,000 to Citizens for John Cullerton 
‐ $45,000 to Senate Democratic Victory Fund 
‐ $50,000 to Friend of Michael Madigan 
‐ $50,000 to Democratic Party of Illinois 
‐ $47,000 to Democratic Majority 

Considering the wisecrack that Chairman Pat Brady made about me during Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair, it’s pretty obvious he reads this website. So, he should know that his earlier claims were proved false. An SEIU spokesman called this latest press release “more of the same Republican bombast.”

* And it’s not like Chairman Brady is ignorant of the law when it comes to when contributions have to be reported.

As you can see by looking at this chart, a big chunk of twelve large donations made by billionaires Ken and Nancy Griffin to various Republican county and other organizations throughout Illinois in late December of 2011 and early January 2012 were then sent to the Illinois Republican Party in mid January. The IL GOP did not disclose any of those contributions for about two months. $140,000 of the $240,000 the Griffins sent to the local party organizations went back to the state party for tickets to a state party fundraising event featuring Karl Rove.

When asked back in April why the party sat on the cash for so long, this is how the party’s attorney explained things…

Under law, he says, “the date that stuff gets reported as a donation is the date it was deposited.”

Does that mean the state party really sat on more than $100,000 in checks for two months or so before depositing them?

The state party has been short-staffed, operating with a skeleton crew, Mr. Fogarty replies, adding that most of the donations apparently were made in connection with a Jan. 24 fundraiser featuring GOP star Karl Rove.

However things might appear, nothing improper occurred here, he concludes. There’s “nothing unusual” about some folks like the Griffins spreading their money around to various groups, he says.

So, Chairman Brady knows all about the law when it comes to reporting requirements. Or, at least, he should. And therefore, he knows what he is saying is just bunk.

*** UPDATE *** Illinois Review releases its hounds…

In an attempt to obfuscate recent revelations that the SEIU is transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars into various Democrat political committees, Madigan-backed “mouthpieces” have been employed to try and change the conversation by talking about “when” the money was transferred, rather than the fact that it was. Not to mention the stunning amount, and its ultimate purpose.

The Democrat apologists are also using the rather stale ploy of attempting to kill the messenger. In this case its Pat Brady, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, who has been consistently and successfully exposing Mike Madigan and the Democrat/Union money system embedded in Illinois.

I just ripped the DCCC today for stupid lies about Joe Walsh. I don’t like lies. And I really don’t like repeated lies. About anyone. I’m no fan of Walsh, but i’ve stuck up for him when few others did - to the point where I got an angry phone call from a Democratic operative not long ago chastising me for being anti-Duckworth. I ain’t, and I told him so.

And as far as the “stunning amount” of money contributed by SEIU, it’s big. No question. But the union’s “ultimate purpose” is being obfuscated by the IL GOP, IR and others, including some here. The point is that SEIU has just a relatively small handful of members who belong to state retirement systems. The union is far more concerned with human service funding because it directly impacts its members. Higher pension costs equals less human services money.

I was asked earlier today by a Republican commenter why SEIU would give so much money to the Democrats since it is such a “big player” in the We Are One coalition, which is fighting the pension reform bill. Here’s what I wrote…

I went back and looked at my saved emails (and I save them all)…

Neither the SEIU state council nor the [SEIU] healthcare group attended the August 13 press conference denouncing the pension plan before the special session. Only a small SEIU local attended.

A We Are One press release from May on media contacts for pension issues listed AFSCME, IFT, IEA and others, but not SEIU.

The only press release from SEIU on pension reform since the beginning of the year that I can find is from the aforementioned Local 73, not the state council or healthcare council.

The argument being put forth by the state GOP is entirely bogus. And now their friends have taken to attacking the messenger. Classy move, that.