Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Friday, Jul 11, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Well, it looks like we made it to another Friday afternoon. These guys are playing in town tonight, so maybe I’ll see you there…

Drink down a bottle and you’re ready to kill

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Ten single-stall ISU bathrooms have Fox News in a snit

Friday, Jul 11, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From the Illinois State University student newspaper…

New “All-Gender” signs will be replacing the “Family” signs outside of single stall restrooms at ISU.

Michael Shane McCreery, director and ethics officer in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Ethics and Access, said the idea for the new signs came from Sandy Colbs, the director of the Student Counseling Services.

Colbs posted a picture of the new restroom sign on Facebook and McCreery thought it was a great idea.

McCreery said he did some research and found that other universities were making the same transition.

For example, Illinois Wesleyan University made similar changes about a year ago. […]

Only single stall restrooms will be impacted: one in the Bone Student Center, one in Student Counseling Services and a couple throughout the dormitories.

McCreery said he does not anticipate more than 10 restrooms being affected.

* It all seems rather innocuous. I mean, transgendered folks could use them before, families can still use them, heck, you or I could use them. But Fox News freaked out…

* They were so creeped out by this that they eventually followed up. Fox guy Steve Doocy did a live shot outside the studios with people he claimed were “Fox friends”…

The updated signage will include a symbol of a half-man and half-woman, which has Doocy and company pretty confused and unsettled. The hand-picked crew of “Fox fans”? Not so much.

When Doocy asked a boy if he “would have any idea” what the symbol meant, the youngster suggested it might indicate a “family restroom.”

An older man next to the boy agreed.

“I could see that,” he said.

At that point, confident that he had planted the seeds for some righteous indignation, Doocy explained the moral deterioration at Illinois State University.

“See, they were designated as ‘family restrooms’ in the past and now, apparently, they’re going to be known as ‘all-gender’ restrooms,” Doocy explained.

“Does that make sense?” he asked a woman.

It did make sense.

“Restrooms for both genders,” she said cheerily.

Doocy was persistent.

“That’s right. Bathrooms for both genders, or transgenders,” he said, turning to a man in a Pittsburgh Pirates T-shirt. Surely, he shares Doocy’s mixture of confusion and anxiety!

“Transgender, that’s right,” the man replied dully.

So, apparently it’s no big deal to them, either.

* Video…

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New radio ad slams Durbin on equal pay

Friday, Jul 11, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a press release…

Americas PAC has just released a new radio ad running across Illinois highlighting the wage gap between men and women working on Dick Durbin’s Senate staff.

Americas PAC Chairman Tom Donelson said, “Dick Durbin likes to talk about the Republican war on women, but how can he talk of a war on women when he doesn’t even pay his female staffers the same as the men?”

Analysis of Senate Staff payroll by the Washington Free Beacon found that in 2012 Durbin “paid men $13,063 more, a difference of 23 percent.” [Link http://freebeacon.com/politics/senate-dems-betray-lilly/]

“The average female on his staff was paid about 77 cents for every dollar earned by his male staffers,” Donelson said.

In 2014, after two years of supposedly championing equal pay for women, a follow-up report by the Free Beacon found that “The average female salary is $11,505 lower than the average male salary in Durbin’s office.” [Link http://freebeacon.com/politics/men-average-11505-higher-salary-than-women-in-dick-durbins-senate-office/]
President Obama’s White House has a wage gap problem as well. [Link http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/male-female-pay-gap-remains-entrenched-at-white-house/2014/07/01/dbc6c088-0155-11e4-8fd0-3a663dfa68ac_story.html]

“The hypocrisy is stunning,” said Donelson. “I am eager to hear Durbin’s explanation of why his female staffers are paid less than male staffers.”

Since 1963 the Equal Pay Act has made it illegal to pay men and women with the same experience differently for equal work. The new legislation pushed by Democrats, known as the Paycheck Fairness Act, does not change the premise of that long-standing law, but just makes it easier for trial lawyers earn money from class action lawsuits. [Link https://www.uschamber.com/letter/key-vote-letter-s-3220-paycheck-fairness-act]

“Dick Durbin’s crony capitalism and hypocrisy are on full display,” Donelson said. “He wants to pass legislation that his own office could be sued for violating, except the legislation conveniently exempts the government.”

The key provisions of the proposed act would not apply to the Federal Government.

“This isn’t about equal pay. This is about paying off trial lawyers,” Donelson said. “Simply put, Dick Durbin and the Democrats are hypocritically pretending to be champions of equal pay so they can line the pockets of trial lawyers who donate to their campaigns.”

Americas PAC, through its issue advocacy and Federal Independent Expenditure Only committees, has placed 47,000 radio ads so far this this election cycle

* And here’s the ad…

Click to listen

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*** UPDATED x1 - Quinn response *** Rate Bruce Rauner’s new negative TV ad

Friday, Jul 11, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From a press release…

Bruce Rauner’s campaign began airing a new television advertisement today outlining some of Pat Quinn’s most egregious broken promises as governor.

“Again and again, Pat Quinn broke his word and failed the people of Illinois,” Bruce Rauner said. “After promising to make job creation a top priority, Illinois finds itself tied for the worst unemployment rate in the Midwest. After promising not to cut education spending, he gutted it by more than $500 million. After promising to protect working families from higher taxes, he passed a massive 67 percent tax hike on every Illinoisan – and now he’s trying to make that tax hike permanent.”

“Illinois voters can’t trust Pat Quinn. It’s time for a new direction,” Bruce concluded.

* Rauner’s post-primary TV spots have all been positive until now. Rate it…

* Script…

VOICE: When you hear Pat Quinn’s false attacks remember his broken promises.

PAT QUINN: Our job recovery bill will create more than four-hundred thousand jobs.

VOICE: Under Quinn Illinois leads the Midwest in job losses.

PAT QUIN: Another area we are not cutting is education.

VOICE: Quinn cut 500 million causing teacher layoffs and crowded classrooms.

PAT QUINN: Under our plan a family of four will not pay higher taxes.

VOICE: Quinn raised taxes by 67 percent on every Illinoisan. Pat Quinn a broken record of broken promises.

…Adding… The governor’s campaign claims this is a “very thin” buy of 300 points in Chicago.

*** UPDATE *** Quinn campaign response in full…

Billionaire Bruce Rauner leveraged some of the money he grabbed jumping through tax loopholes for the super-rich to go negative in July and begin the job of distorting Gov. Pat Quinn’s record. Here are the facts that reject Rauner’s false claims and a statement from the Quinn Campaign:

Bruce’s Claim: Gov. Quinn cut $500 million from education.

Fact: That’s false. Quinn has increased education investments, including payments into the Teachers’ Retirement System, and has made the tough calls to protect education from radical cuts that Rauner’s position on revenue would mandate. Education makes up half of the state’s discretionary budget.

Bruce’s Claim: Gov. Quinn raised taxes 67 percent.

Fact: Illinois is tied for the 9th-lowest state income tax rate among the 43 states that have an income tax. Rauner conveniently ignores the fact that by increasing revenue, we’ve been able to protect education from drastic cuts that he wants to enact, while also paying down the bills by nearly $6 billion.

Bruce’s Claim: Illinois leads the Midwest in job loss.

Fact: This is false on multiple levels. According to the Philadelphia Reserve, Illinois is ranked #1 in the Midwest for projected growth over the next six months.

There are more people working in Illinois today than at any time since February 2009—the first month of the Governor’s administration. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Illinois’ unemployment is at its lowest point since November 2008 and is lower than when Gov. Quinn took office. Today Illinois’ unemployment rate is at 7.5%, a 5 ½ year low. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Illinois has added 242,700 private-sector jobs since the recovery began in 2010. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Below is the statement of Quinn for Illinois spokesman Izabela Miltko:

“In the absence of any substantive plans to confront challenges facing Illinois, billionaire Bruce Rauner got an early start distorting Governor Quinn’s record of fighting for working families and getting the job done.

“It’s worth noting that Rauner is paying for these false attacks, and many more to come, with cash he grabbed by jumping through elite tax loopholes that cause the middle class to pay more.

“The next time you see one of Bruce Rauner’s negative TV ads attacking Governor Quinn, remember how he payed for it - at your expense.”

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