Former Governor Pat Quinn: “The first job as a governor is to get a budget passed”
* If you listen to the audio below (15:40 mark, in case you don’t want to listen to it all), you’ll hear Quinn deny that any of his budgets were out of balance…
“That isn’t true at all. Our revenue equaled our expenditure. That’s called arithmetic.”
Umm, no.
Quinn’s final budget as governor was a complete, utter failure. The General Assembly passed a fantasy budget that didn’t make any allowances for the loss of revenues from the scheduled partial rollback of the income tax hike. So, the incoming governor had to patch that huge hole.
The Kirk For Senate campaign launched a new television ad, titled “Even More,” that highlights Senator Mark Kirk’s courageous and independent record in Congress. The ad, airing on Chicago broadcast and cable networks, details Kirk’s independent and bipartisan record, including his demand for a vote on Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland along with Kirk’s refusal to support Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“As the partisanship and gridlock in Washington intensifies, Senator Kirk remains an independent-minded, reform-driven solution seeker,” said Kevin Artl, Kirk For Senate campaign manager. “Senator Kirk continues to put partisanship aside to to find common sense solutions for the people of Illinois.”
* As I told you yesterday, this is about a $250K buy, and it’s only running on Chicago TV, prompting one Democrat with the Duckworth campaign to crack wise earlier today…
Thinking we won’t respond to Kirk’s ad, we’ll just run the same ad in Downstate markets….
Long before his stroke, Mark Kirk was independent, ranked as one of the most bipartisan Senators.
After facing death, Kirk returned even more committed to serve Illinois.
Mark was the first Republican to support a vote on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
He’s a leader on protecting a woman’s right to choose.
And Mark Kirk bucked his party to say Donald Trump is not fit to be commander in chief.
Mark Kirk, courageous and independent.
I’m Mark Kirk, and I approve this message.
…Adding… So, they did decide to respond…
In response to Republican Mark Kirk’s new campaign spot, released today and running only in Chicago according to reports, Duckworth deputy campaign manager Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“Republican Senator Mark Kirk has lied for years about his military record, falsely claiming to have served in combat and claiming an award he never earned, and now he’s not being straight with Illinois voters by portraying himself as a liberal Democrat in Chicago while apparently hoping no one else across the state notices. You can always count on two things from Kirk: dishonesty and crude political calculation, and this ad has an abundance of both.” — Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
But in a new twist on [a scheduled August workplace retaliation trial in Downstate Union County involving two workers at the Anna Veterans Home], the court docket shows that a pretrial settlement conference has been scheduled for Friday. Duckworth is being represented by the Illinois attorney general’s office.
Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl jumped on the idea of a settlement, suggesting that Duckworth “does not want the truth to come out.”
“After weeks of dodging questions about whether or not she will testify at her own trial, Duckworth is now answering that question by engaging in behind-the-scenes settlement talks in order to avoid a trial and having to take the stand,” Artl said.
“What makes this situation even more egregious is that Illinois taxpayers will ultimately have to pay the bill for Duckworth’s improper actions,” he said.
…Adding… So, Duckworth’s campaign responded to the TV ad, but not about the trial?
