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Friday, Aug 26, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Today is National Dog Day, so here’s a pic of Oscar, who needs another haircut…

* Have a good one…

It jumped so high, it touched the sky

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Munger and Mendoza face off in hostile debate

Friday, Aug 26, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday’s Chicago Tribune editorial board debate between the four candidates for Illinois comptroller was quite spirited.

But check out this claim by Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza about appointed incumbent Leslie Munger…

“Her campaign chairman is the actual mayor who passed Right to Work legislation, the only piece of Right to Work legislation in the entire state of Illinois to pass, and it happens to be in her own home town. One of the central issues of Gov. Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda. She’s not fought against the Turnaround Agenda. She’s championed the Turnaround Agenda.”

Munger claimed the allegation was “false” and said her campaign manager did no such thing.

Um, this wasn’t about the manager, it was about the chairman. And Mendoza was right about that and repeated it several times.

* In an attempt to show her independence, Mendoza claimed that she “helped chair” the House’s Blagojevich impeachment committee. While she helped sponsor the resolution, she merely served as an “alternate member” of the actual committee.

* And then there was this…

Munger said she also heard from the governor over her decision to delay paychecks for lawmakers, saying Rauner argued nobody should get paid during the budget impasse.

Wait. I thought Gov. Rauner was solidly in favor of paying state workers during the impasse. Somebody isn’t telling the truth.

* Another attempt by Munger to demonstrate her independence…

At the top of the list was Munger’s refusal to follow the governor’s orders to withhold so-called “fair share” fees from unions, as he instructed in an executive order shortly after taking office in 2015. Those are the fees government workers must pay to unions to cover the cost of collective bargaining even if an employee chooses not to join a union. After consulting with Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the speaker’s daughter, Munger said withholding the fees would violate federal law.

* The Mendoza response…

“I believe she has not stood up to Gov. Rauner,” said Mendoza, a former state lawmaker who’s in her second term as city clerk. “The one time she mentioned was about two weeks into her job, and I feel like it was a big surprise even to the governor.”

If it was such a big surprise to the governor, then wouldn’t that support Munger’s claim?

* And they’re both sticking with their parties on the impasse…

“We cannot get to a balanced budget without a growing economy,” Munger said of Rauner’s so-called turnaround agenda. “I think you have to do it.”

Asked if Democrats should bend in their opposition, Mendoza said they would not give in to Rauner’s proposals that would “sacrifice the hardworking men and women in this state.”

* Related…

* RAW VIDEO: Comptroller debate

* Comptroller hopefuls argue independence from Madigan, Rauner

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Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Rate the new Baricevic ad

Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m pretty sure this CJ Baricevic TV ad, which is airing in Paducah, is the first Democratic congressional spot to make Gov. Rauner an issue. The governor is apparently not polling well down ‘yonder. Rate it…

* Script…

I worked at Granite City Steel with a crew of steamfitters to pay for school at SIU. It was hard work—a good job—and it taught me a lot. That’s why I fought against Governor Rauner’s devastating budget. But Washington’s forgotten how hard you work. Congress gives Wall Street billionaires tax cuts and trade deals that ship our jobs overseas and we get higher tax bills and pink slips. I’m CJ Baricevic and I approve this message because I’ll fight for working families—not Washington special interests.

* This is the Rauner budget thing they’re referring to…

The St. Clair County ruling stated workers could receive their entire paychecks without a state budget in place. Circuit Judge Robert LeChien issued that ruling. Attorney C.J. Baricevic argued on behalf of union workers.

…Adding… From a Rauner guy…

Baricevic ad makes no sense considering our attorneys were in court with him in support of paying the workers.

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Yet another race to the bottom in the US Senate race

Thursday, Aug 25, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Tribune…

The rhetoric continued to escalate in the U.S. Senate race Wednesday, as Republican Sen. Mark Kirk accused Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth of mocking stroke victims when she characterized him as “unhinged” for likening President Barack Obama to the nation’s “drug dealer in chief” over the January Iran prisoner release deal. […]

On Tuesday, the Democrat appeared at the City Club of Chicago for a speech in which she characterized Kirk as “unhinged” for his comments on the Obama administration sending $400 million to Iran as U.S. hostages were being released as part of the multination agreement aimed at reducing the Middle Eastern country’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. Kirk likened Obama to the nation’s “drug dealer in chief” last week in an appearance before a Springfield newspaper editorial board.

Duckworth assigned to Kirk a term defined as “mentally deranged.” But Duckworth backed off when asked by reporters if voters should take into consideration any possible aftereffects of her opponent’s stroke. […]

“She is so desperate to run for office she would denigrate any stroke victim in America and make fun of them and that’s awful. You shouldn’t do that. For people who have strokes, they can make tremendous comebacks mentally and physically,” said Kirk, who also rejected Duckworth’s call for an apology to Obama.

This is at least the second time that the paper reported that Duckworth “backed off” her original comment. But that would only be the case if Duckworth had actually tried to connect Kirk’s stroke to the “unhinged” remark.

* Here’s what she said during her speech…

Senator Kirk has joined the rogue’s gallery of the President’s fiercest — and most unhinged — critics, and for that he should be ashamed. What he said is beneath the dignity of the office he now holds, and Senator Kirk should apologize immediately to the President, as well as to the people of Illinois.

* Sun-Times…

Duckworth on Tuesday called Kirk “unhinged” for his comments and urged him to apologize.

“If you look at all of the things he’s said, I think he lacks the ability to control what he’s saying, and you can look at the numerous gaffes that he’s had over the years,” Duckworth said after a City Club of Chicago event.

The Democrat sidestepped reporters’ questions about whether she was suggesting Kirk was suffering after effects from his stroke.

* Here’s her subsequent exchange with reporters…

Bill Cameron [WLS 890 AM radio]: You said [Senator Kirk] was unhinged. Is it that bad?

Cong. Duckworth: Well, if you look at all the things he has said, I think that [Senator Kirk] lacks the ability to control what he is saying. And, you can look at the numerous gaffes that he has had over the years.

Derrick Blakely [NBC-5 News]: Is that inability due to his stroke?

Mike Flannery [Fox 32 News] : Unhinged?

Cong. Duckworth: I do think [Senator Kirk] is unhinged. To call the Commander in Chief—basically comparing [the President] to a drug dealer. I think that is a significant thing for a United States Senator to say. I mean this is the same man who called one of his colleagues ‘a bro with no ho,’ it’s not befitting of a United States Senator.

* She was then asked: “Tammy, if that lack of ability is a result of the after-effects of the stroke, should voters take that into consideration?” Her response…

I think that is, uh, the furthest thing that people should look at. People should look at the fact that he’s been ineffective as a Senator.

It seems to me that the reporters really wanted her to talk about Kirk’s stroke and she wasn’t taking the bait. Maybe I’m wrong, though. Watch the video yourself and let us know what you think…

* What she most definitely side-stepped, however, was a question about her support for President Bush’s big tax cuts. She has blasted Kirk for voting for the tax cuts, but she backed those same cuts in her 2006 congressional campaign. Her excuse was that she never actually voted for the cuts.

* Related…

* Editorial: Mark Kirk’s mouth bites him again

* Editorial: In Senate race, voters deserve better; Illinois needs more