* Illinois Review covered an Illinois Republican Party event last Thursday, but managed to bury the big news…
IL GOP’s Executive Curt Conrad said IL GOP Chairman Pat Brady and the new Finance Committee has raised more funds in the first four months of 2010 than was raised in 2009 altogether.
And because of the heightened interest in the possibility of winning the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races, Illinois has been promised at least $5 million in RNC funds to get out the RNC message and get voters to the polls on Election Day. The state’s RNC Victory program will be headed by Rodney Davis, who’s been key to Congressman John Shimkus’ (R-19) campaigns over the years.
At least $5 million? That’s a lot of scratch, man. The national GOP is in love with the idea of taking the US Senate seat away from the Democrats…
RNC Chairman Michael Steele spoke with the coalition representatives for ninety minutes, emphasizing the importance of grassroots building and message presentation. “A candy hasn’t been invented yet that would be as sweet as winning Barack Obama’s Senate seat back,” he said. Steele promised RNC resources during the upcoming election.
With SEIU, AFSCME and the teachers unions all upset with the Democrats, thus possibly depriving them of bigtime buckaroos, and the absolute governmental meltdown by the Democratic majority, the Republicans would be smart to target money into this state. Whether they’ll actually have it is anybody’s guess. They’re not doing too well these days.
Rich Williamson, an attorney who lost the 1992 U.S. Senate contest to Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, was selected by the GOP state central committee from a field of candidates during a meeting at a Chicago hotel.
Williamson succeeds Pat Brady, who vacated the position when he became chairman of the Illinois Republican Party last year.
Two state representatives called on Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday to deploy the Illinois National Guard to safeguard Chicago’s streets.
Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford said they want Quinn, Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis to allow guardsmen to patrol streets and help quell violence. Weis said he did not support the idea because the military and police operate under different rules.
“Is this a drastic call to action? Of course it is,” Fritchey said. “Is it warranted when we are losing residents to gun violence at such an alarming rate? Without question. We are not talking about rolling tanks down the street or having armed guards on each corner.”
What he envisions, Fritchey said, is a “heightened presence on the streets,” particularly on the roughly 9 percent of city blocks where most of the city’s violent crimes occur.
If this sounds familiar, it is. Rod Blagojevich had the very same idea a couple of years back.
Referring to the Kent State shootings in 1970, when National Guardsmen fatally shot four student protesters at a campus demonstration, [Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis] said that “when you mix military functions with law enforcement functions, there is sometimes a disconnect.”
Noting that the military does not operate under the same constitutional constraints as the police, he questioned how Chicago residents would react to soldiers raiding homes without warrants, and said that in his 25 years of law enforcement experience, he had never seen an example of military personnel working under local civilian command.
“The National Guard is very useful if we had a big earthquake or huge flood or a catastrophe like that, where we simply had to control folks,” he said, “But the problems we’re facing are illegal weapons, narcotics and gangs. And while I will always look out for as much help as we can, I don’t think the National Guard is the solution.”
* The Question: Putting aside the fact that Blagojevich came up with idea first, what do you think of it?
* Let’s take a look at six different views on the Bill Brady “didn’t pay any income tax” issue. First up, the candidate himself via press release…
“My family has been blessed, and while the down years have been hard to swallow personally, what has really pained us is the difficulty these times brought to our extended family — the men and women who we were lucky enough to have with our firm,” Brady said. “With private sector businesses like ours, there are good years and bad years. We’re optimistic and know it will work out in the end, but for many workers, it all means a lot of struggle. We’ve had to make the tough decisions and are coming through all right. We need to do the same thing for state government.” […]
In making the returns available, Brady said he supports the public’s right to have confidence that elected officials have no potential conflicts of interest.
“I don’t want anything to distract from my commitment to bring a clean break to Illinois, which we need so badly,” he said. “The people who were part of our company suffered the effects of a state with a job-killing environment. As governor, I’ll work to end the corruption and old politics that hurts so many people.”
But, as a matter of practical politics, Mr. Brady still is going to have to explain how he really can make $75,000 a year as a state senator and still pay nothing, or almost nothing, in federal income taxes in three of the past four years.
[Brady’s tax attorney] said the typical Illinoisan “can relate” to Brady’s financial woes. We’ll see.
This is the weaselly way of “releasing” tax returns that seems to be in the Illinois GOP playbook for 2010. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee for Senate against Giannoulias, used pretty much the same method to “release” his tax returns, one big difference being that Kirk’s returns are a lot less complicated than those of Brady, who has many business interests.
While I can appreciate that the two men probably don’t want copies of their returns floating around on the Internet for the rest of their lives, this also has the effect of not giving anyone in the public a real opportunity to scrutinize what’s in those returns. […]
While this may be just how it works when you own your own business, I don’t think I’ll be alone in believing there’s something unfair about a rich guy who also draws a nice government salary but doesn’t pay any income taxes. And something phony about a guy in those circumstances who complains about taxes being too high.
In a press release, Brady voiced his regrets at how the real estate downturn had forced his company to lay off many of its employees, which he also cited as evidence of why he’d make a good governor. It would be interesting to know how many of those employees got by with paying no taxes. It would be interesting to know what trims the Brady family budget took in those years.
* Now, let’s turn to somebody I don’t quote very often here. Doug Ibendahl…
It’s going to be hard for a guy like Brady who has obviously been wealthy enough to afford the luxury of running for governor for basically the last six years straight, to explain why he couldn’t at least kick something into the kitty from the generous state salary he receives. For a fraction of the price the Brady family likely spent on tax lawyers and accountants, Bill could have at least demonstrated he had some skin in the game on the state’s budget crisis.
Tax accountants can be expensive, but probably not that expensive. Still, I see the point. Not to mention the $30K Brady loaned his campaign in 2008 and the $101K he loaned his campaign in 2009, but let’s get back to Ibendahl’s argument…
Again, I know it’s surely all legal. But paying zip in 2008 while you’re on the state payroll and running for governor simply looks bad. It looks even worse when you’ve tried to play the hero to the tea partiers – but now the tea partiers find out you eagerly embraced the hated Obama stimulus plan to greatly reduce your tax burden. […]
Bill Brady should have told Republicans the facts during the primary race. He should have disclosed his returns in December or January (at a minimum, 2008 and prior would have been available). By waiting until now, Brady has given the Democrats effective ammo.
Would it have made a difference in the February primary? I think it would have – certainly 200 votes worth at least – and I think it’s pretty clear that’s why Brady didn’t want to release his returns. I think the excuse about not wanting to reveal proprietary business secrets to his competitors was bogus.
Ibendahl is right that such a disclosure might’ve thrown the close-as-could-be primary to somebody else. Whether Quinn and the Democrats can make this an effective argument is yet to be seen. So far, the coverage has been pretty even-handed.
* As a reminder, here is a statement the Quinn campaign released on Friday…
Today, after significant pressure, Senator Brady agreed to share several years of his past tax returns with the press. But there were conditions: instead of making copies available to the taxpayers of the state, select members of the media were invited to “view” his returns only for a limited period of time. This sounds more like a glimpse of Haley’s Comet or of a solar eclipse than the full disclosure the public deserves.
The original Tea Party’s rallying cry was “no taxation without representation.” Apparently, Senator Brady misinterpreted this line as “no taxation for elected representatives.” Since the public was not afforded the opportunity to view his returns, it’s likely we won’t know how he managed to pay no income taxes on over $100,000 of income in more than one tax year.
Given his track record—of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy but voting against a minimum wage, and of avoiding taxes on the salaries of his campaign officials—it’s not surprising that Bill Brady believes a different standard should apply to him.
If Senator Brady is this secretive and controlling about basic information like his tax returns, just imagine how he would govern. After two recent scandal-plagued administrations, Illinois residents deserve better.
What’s Quinn trying to say? That Brady believes he didn’t have to pay taxes because he is an elected representative? Or that because Brady is an elected representative he should pay taxes that the law doesn’t require?
Should Brady not take advantage of a tax break that is provided under the Stimulus Package? Should he ignore his deductible business loses when calculating his taxes? Really, is he supposed to pay taxes on money that he doesn’t make? Should he not accept his refund? Is he supposed to pay more than he owes, and if he doesn’t is that a legitimate issue for Gov. Pat Quinn to use against Brady?
Brady’s reluctance to disclose his income taxes is a legitimate issue. That he allowed reporters only a peak at his returns is, at best, odd. It makes him look like he is trying to hide something, which he probably is because he’s in business and his competitors might find disclosure of some information useful.
But not paying taxes that he doesn’t owe is not a legitimate issue. If you don’t like tax breaks then you ought to work to change the tax code. If you can understand it.
I think everybody makes some valid points. But I’m not sure yet how this is going to play out. So far, as I noted above, the media has been pretty even-handed. But taxes are a huge issue in these-here parts, so I’m sure we’ll see a revisit soon. Your thoughts?
[Bumped up from Saturday, comments opened and updated with related stories.]
* The Chicago Young Republicans are attempting to gather 10,000 signatures this month to help put the so-called Fair Map redistricting amendment on the ballot in November. The Fair Map campaign is being coordinated by the League of Women voters and they’ve apparently offered the CYRs a sweet cash reward if they succeed…
The Illinois Fair Map project has challenged the CYRs to collect 10,000 signatures in the month of April. In turn they’ll donate $10,000 to the Chicago Young Republicans.
The League has been criticized lately for its alliance with the GOP, but that apparently hasn’t slowed them down any. The CYRs say they plan to circulate petitions at Sunday’s White Sox game. The League needs to gather almost 300,000 valid signatures by May 3rd to qualify their redistricting proposal for the ballot and they’ve admitted that they’re way short.
In a 58-0 vote that took just 94 seconds, Senate President John Cullerton and his colleagues passed a measure that would protect a long-standing bank practice of charging businesses an extra five days in interest each year.
Cullerton, who gave permission for a top lieutenant to introduce the bill, is a Chicago partner in a large law firm with banking clients that would benefit from the proposal. In fact, his firm had just weeks before finalized a class-action settlement on the issue for a bank that agreed to pay more than $4 million to its borrowers.
Much later in the story, we learn that the “permission” came when Sen. Don Harmon “had a brief discussion with Cullerton about the issue when [Harmon] asked permission to use another bill as a vehicle to get around filing deadlines.” The Bankers Association lobbyist said he drafted the legislation and “I never talked to John Cullerton or anyone at his firm.” The bill also was a benefit to all banks, not just the one represented by Cullerton’s firm. But here’s the peg this story is hung upon…
In the wake of the indictments of two successive governors, the Illinois legislature last year moved to tighten some ethics rules but left alone weak provisions that govern disclosure of their incomes, investments and clients. Lawmakers also moved to retool the public records law but exempted themselves from most of its provisions.
There should definitely be more disclosure. No doubt.
* Related…
* Cross wants vote on plan he financed: House Republican leader Tom Cross has sent a letter to the governor asking him to order a special session on legislative redistricting…. Cross’s campaign fund gave $5,000 to the group pushing the “fair map.” … Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno also donated $5,000 from her campaign fund… Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens campaign fund is the only other disclosed donor so far. His campaign account provided $3,000.
* Area Leagues of Women Voters set to merge: Cite declining membership and economic benefits
In the 60-second spot, Giannoulias talks directly to voters about the bank where he was a loan officer before being elected in 2006.
“I was very proud to be a part of it, and when I left, over four years ago, it was in good shape. But no one could have foreseen these problems,” Giannoulias says as the ad flashes a headline highlighting the nation’s economic troubles. […]
In the ad, Giannoulias doesn’t miss the chance to take a swipe at Kirk, a five-term congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs, for the nation’s economic troubles.
“Washington politician Mark Kirk doesn’t get it,” the announcer says.
* Giannoulias accuses Kirk of favoring Wall Street
* Alexi Answers Tough Questions After Bank Collapse
* Daley confident Giannoulias will overcome bad bank news: “So all these small banks are going under. Yes, they are. They’re going under all over the country,” said Daley. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Giannoulias’ bank or anyone else, they’re all going under. There’s going to be more.”… Asked if he has spoken to Giannoulias since the bank closed, Daley said, “Why should I? It’s not my problem. I enjoy my life. It’s my birthday today — give me a break!”
* NYT: F.D.I.C.’s Seizure of Senate Candidate’s Family Bank Further Complicates an Illinois Race
* My syndicated newspaper column this week is about the end of session…
The Illinois General Assembly usually tries to adjourn by the end of May. That hasn’t worked out too well the past few years as partisan bickering, the state’s huge budget problems and the bloody war between former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan forced months-long overtime sessions.
The last time the Legislature truly got out early was in 1999, when then-Senate President Pate Philip demanded they adjourn by April 15th. After legislators left town, I didn’t know what to do with myself. There were no statewide elections at all the following year, which meant that absolutely nothing was going on in the political world. So, I went to Kosovo to cover the war and then took my daughter on a tour of Europe and went with my dad to Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. It was quite an adventure. Later that year, I went to Cuba during then-Gov. George Ryan’s official visit. I have fond memories of that year. I actually had a life back then.
This year, though, the calendar says the General Assembly plans to adjourn by May 7th. I haven’t really experienced a May without grueling work hours since those halcyon days of 1999, so that pleases me. But I’m not holding my breath because of all the carnage I’ve seen the past few years. I just can’t bring myself to believe.
The early adjournment idea isn’t going down well with everyone, however. The plan at the moment is to pass a budget that’s billions of dollars out of balance and inform Gov. Pat Quinn that he is now in charge of figuring out how to pay the bills. Newspaper editorial boards are already warning legislators not to sneak out of town before truly “solving” the problems or they will pay heavy consequences.
One of the demands issued last week by some of the thousands of protesters who descended on Springfield to press for higher state taxes and lower budget cuts was that lawmakers stay in town, finish the job and abandon their early adjournment dreams.
“(I)f you try to leave town without doing your job, we are going to chase you. And when you come back home, we will be there,” warned Henry Bayer, the Illinois director of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
So far, though, legislative leaders are still hoping to at least partially meet that May 7th adjournment target. The idea at the moment is to try to finish work on all “substantive” legislation by the 7th, and then return for the last week or so in May to put the final touches on the budget and deal with anything else that comes up in the interim.
But several high-level Democratic legislators are quite nervous about this plan. The perception of a “vacationing” General Assembly while the state sinks ever deeper into a financial and economic morass frightens them to no end. They’ll be sitting ducks, the members worry. Better to finish the whole thing by the 7th or, even better, just work through the whole month, even if there is little or nothing to do.
A big factor playing into the timing of the General Assembly’s summer adjournment will be whether the Republicans, particularly the House Republicans, support more borrowing. The governor wants to borrow billions of dollars to meet the state’s pension payments. But that borrowing has to be approved by a three-fifths vote in the General Assembly, and they can’t do that in the House without the Republican minority. If the House Republicans don’t get on board, the budget will take far longer to craft and will be very “ugly,” one top Democrat said last week. If they do get on board, it’s possible that the Legislature could wrap up everything by May 7th.
That doesn’t appear to be in the cards, however. The Republicans have no incentive to allow Democrats to conclude business early. The longer they’re in town, the longer the Republicans will have easy access to the media to make their case that the Democrats are incapable of governing.
I learned long ago that when it comes to the Illinois Statehouse, don’t ever get your hopes up about adjournment schedules and always bet on nothing ever getting done. That way, you’re never disappointed. Well, you’re still disappointed, but it’s a little easier to digest.
More recently, school districts that operate under property tax caps (metro-Chicago counties and some downstate counties) were given grants to make up for growth in local property wealth that could not be taxed fully because of the caps.
Guess which school district participates in the general state aid formula, has a very high percentage of poverty students and has had rapid appreciation of property values.
Chicago.
As a result of these relatively new elements in the formula, almost all of the $1.3 billion in new funding for state aid in the past five years has gone to poverty grants and state-funded property tax grants, largely for Chicago schools.
Yikes.
* Related…
* Quinn’s bad Monday: As Monday dawns, Quinn is an increasingly lonely proponent of a tax hike. The Civic Federation comes out Monday with a 95-page rejection of the governor’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts in 10 weeks. The support for a tax hike? Gone. Laurence Msall, the federation’s president, sounds exasperated with Quinn and Democratic legislative leaders. “They haven’t lived up to our expectations,” he says. “They haven’t cut spending. We see no evidence that they’ve tried.”
* Civic Federation zaps Quinn’s state budget: “Borrowing five to six billion dollars for operating expenses neither balances the budget nor helps ensure next year’s budget crisis will be any better,” federation President Laurence Msall said. What Illinois needs is a budget “that does not make the situation worse,” he added.
* Daley suggests people should decide fate of video gambling in Chicago: “It’s not me, it will be the people who decide this,” Daley told reporters. “If you put it on the ballot, you’ll find out what the people want.” “You do your surveys and find out,” Daley added when asked if he thinks Chicagoans would support the measure. “One thing they don’t want, they don’t want their taxes increased, you know that.”
* Lawmakers, chamber receptive to slots at track: When told of the possible deal that would put video slot and poker machines at Arlington Park and other tracks, state Rep. Suzie Bassi said she supported the idea because the slots would be put in areas already under the microscope of gambling regulators. Bassi, a Palatine Republican, said that made it much easier to support than video gambling at bars.
* VIDEO: Henry Bayer’s speech to last week’s protest
* Quinn’s Language on Tax Increase Getting Stronger: “This is a heroic battle, an epic battle for education in Illinois… I’m going to fight until the last dog dies, until we get proper funding for education in the Land of Lincoln… Your oath is to the people, not to politics as usual, not to an election year. You’ve got to do hard things.”
* Illinois Gov. Quinn urges veterans to take advantage of state, federal services
* VIDEO: Andy McKenna talks Illinois school voucher legislation
* It’s easy to miss when there isn’t a target: Of course, if Quinn has been vague about where he will cut, the Republicans have been equally vague about how big the cuts should be. Although Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, put out a figure of $2 billion to $3 billion the other day, Republicans mostly don’t talk specific numbers. As long as there is no target, you can always charge that Quinn failed to hit it.
* Pension crisis took decades to create, one day to ‘fix’: Quinn’s budget director said there’s no interest in skipping payments or extending the 50-year plan to lower this year’s payment. Quinn has sought an income-tax increase to help cover education funding, which could free up state funds for use elsewhere. But its prospects for approval this session are dim.
* U46 could get millions from state: Elgin School District U46 is nearer to receiving tens of millions more in state financial aid, as state lawmakers take a step to closing a loophole in the district’s funding process.
* Belvidere School District 100 Plans for Future School Years: The state may cut $1.3 billion from Illinois schools and many Stateline districts are trying to prepare now for that blow. In Belvidere, school leaders have a lot of options on the table and it could include closing a school.
* Over coffee, Halloran talks finances: Thursday, during the first of two Coffee With the Superintendent informal public events, Halloran explained the district’s current financial picture to the five visitors who attended.
* Crunching Costs Continues: Elk Grove Township Supervisor Nanci Vanderweel is crunching numbers this week trying to close a $37,000 budget gap in next year’s township budget.
* Oddly enough, Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk refused to talk to a reporter in southern Illinois last night about the Giannoulias bank closure, even though it was one of the bigger news days of the entire campaign…
Kirk has made the bank troubles a central issue in the campaign, but Friday evening his aid refused News 3’s request for three minutes of the congressman’s time to discuss Broadway Bank and the Wall Street reform bill which is expected to go up for debate in Washington Monday.
* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno was a guest this week on Fox Chicago Sunday. She talked about the budget, Bill Brady’s taxes and cars assigned to legislative leaders. Have a look…
* Channel 5 has posted the raw video of Alexi Giannoulias’ statement to the gathered media tonight. At one point, he appeared to fight back tears…
* Giannoulias also issued a statement to his supporters, and it included some fighting words for Congressman Mark Kirk…
Rather than run on his record, Congressman Mark Kirk’s entire campaign to date has revolved around hoping and praying that this family business would fail. Is that the kind of Senator we want, one that cheerleads for an Illinois business to fail while bailing out the Wall Street banks that helped get us into this mess in the first place?
All deposit accounts. excluding certain brokered deposits, have been transferred to MB Financial Bank, National Association (N.A.), Chicago, IL (”assuming institution”) and will be available immediately. The former Broadway Bank locations will reopen as branches of MB Financial Bank, N.A. during regular business hours.
* Alexi Giannoulias plans to hold a press conference tonight at 7 at the Hotel Allegro. Check back. We may have live video.
* Amcore appears to be the biggest bank on today’s seizure list. From ABC7…
“Amcore is another bank on the ropes. It is 3 or 4 times bigger than Broadway. From a business perspective, Amcore is a way bigger story but the detail of a US Senate Candidate makes [Broadway] more interesting,” said Brian Battle, Performance Capital Partners.
Three other Chicago-area lenders — Lincoln Park Savings Bank, Citizens Bank & Trust of Chicago and Peotone Bank — are expected to fail Friday evening. They close at 7 p.m. and announcements of their buyers would take place after that, sources say.
Seven in one day. Well, isn’t Illinois special?
* Here are the costs to the FDIC’s bank-funded insurance fund for each of the seized institutions so far…
* 7:25 pm - From a Mark Kirk campaign spokesperson…
“While years of risky lending schemes, hot money investments and loans to organized crime led to today’s failure, it’s a sad day for Broadway Bank employees who may lose their jobs due to Mr. Giannoulias’ reckless business practices.”
* 7:29 pm - The Giannoulias campaign has updated its “The Truth About the Bank” website with info on how the FDIC insurance system is funded.
* I will probably update later tonight and through the weekend, considering the number of breaking stories today. Also, it turns out that Sen. Bill Brady didn’t have to pay federal income taxes for 2009 because of a provision in the stimulus package. So, it’s all Obama’s fault. Heh.
Anyway, comments are off and I’m gonna go rest for a while.
CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot reports customers are being told Broadway Bank will close after 6 p.m. Friday and will re-open Saturday under a new name. It was not immediately clear if another bank is in line to take control of the bank right away. […]
Sources tell CBS 2 the FDIC will shut down several Chicago banks Friday afternoon.
*** UPDATE 2 *** It looks like the White House got the message that Dick Durbin was trying to send: Get off the dime and start helping Giannoulias…
Obama’s deputy press secretary says the president intends to help Democratic candidates in Illinois “up and down the ballot.” […]
Durbin said Friday that the White House inquired about the state of Giannoulias’ campaign, asking about organization and fundraising. Durbin also defended Giannoulias and says he believes he can win the race against Rep. Mark Kirk.
Banking regulators entered the Chicago headquarters of Broadway Bank after 5 p.m. Friday, the apparent concluding step in the government’s expected takeover of the family-run lender that helped launched U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’ political career.
Two sources with knowledge of the bank’s situation said they anticipated that the government would seize Broadway Bank later this evening. Broadway was unable to raise the $85 million it needed to remain independent.
* Bill Brady’s campaign just issued a summary of his adjusted gross income and the taxes he paid. The document shows he paid no state or federal taxes in 2008 because of a federal tax break. From the campaign…
Brady’s taxable income from 2009 came under a provision of the IRS in 2009 to help small business fight through and survive by allowing the sales of assets.
More from the campaign…
The Bradys paid 22 percent of their taxable income as taxes in the last six reporting periods. They contributed more than six percent to charity during that time.
During the past three years, due to the recession and the unprecedented housing recession the Brady partnerships and combined business’ has lost a significant amount of money. […]
Anticipating the economic downturn, the Brady family began retooling their company in 2006. At its height, Brady Homes employed 34 employees. But facing the new economic reality, the company and staff had to be downsized through tough and painful decisions. The Realty side of the business saw a loss from 150 to 70 employees.
Here’s the summary…
2009
Adjusted Gross Income: $119,910
Taxable Income: $ 49,733
Federal Tax Paid $ -
State Tax Paid: $ 3,309
2008
Adjusted Gross Income: ($116,679)
Taxable Income: $ -
Federal Tax Paid: $ -
State Tax Paid: $ -
2007
Adjusted Gross Income: $372,355
Taxable Income: $318,796
Federal Tax Paid: $ 41,699
State Tax Paid: $ 10,802
2006
Adjusted Gross Income: $130,326
Taxable Income: $ 24,551
Federal Tax Paid: $ 1,228
State Tax Paid: $ 3,610
2005
Adjusted Gross Income $549,685
Taxable Income $466,314
Federal Tax Paid: $124,255
State Tax Paid: $ 20,058
2004
Adjusted Gross Income: $558,798
Taxable Income: $495,517
Federal Tax Paid: $158,454
State Tax Paid: $ 16,622
More later.
…Adding… Commenter “Scooby” wins the comment of the week award for this gem…
It’s a good thing his family business wasn’t a bank.
*** UPDATE 1 *** According to his returns, Brady reported losses of $369,500 in 2008 and $67,033 in 2009.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The initial Tribune story does not even report that Brady paid no taxes in 2008. Interesting.
*** UPDATE 3 *** State Board of Elections records show that Brady loaned his gubernatorial campaign $101,000 on December 31st of 2009. Yet he paid no federal income tax for the year and showed a taxable income of $49,733.
*** UPDATE 5 *** The Associated Press reports that Brady paid no federal taxes in 2009, but does not mention that he paid no federal or state taxes in 2008.
Republican candidate for governor Bill Brady disclosed today that he has not had to pay federal income taxes for the past two years and did not pay state income taxes for his 2008 filing.
According to tax returns made available briefly to the media this afternoon, Brady’s business interests took a significant hit in 2008, causing a net income loss of $116,679. As a result, Brady, a state senator and businessman from Bloomington, did not have to pay any income taxes for that year.
*** UPDATE 7 *** From the Pat Quinn campaign…
Today, after significant pressure, Senator Brady agreed to share several years of his past tax returns with the press. But there were conditions: instead of making copies available to the taxpayers of the state, select members of the media were invited to “view” his returns only for a limited period of time. This sounds more like a glimpse of Haley’s Comet or of a solar eclipse than the full disclosure the public deserves.
The original Tea Party’s rallying cry was “no taxation without representation.” Apparently, Senator Brady misinterpreted this line as “no taxation for elected representatives.” Since the public was not afforded the opportunity to view his returns, it’s likely we won’t know how he managed to pay no income taxes on over $100,000 of income in more than one tax year.
Given his track record—of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy but voting against a minimum wage, and of avoiding taxes on the salaries of his campaign officials—it’s not surprising that Bill Brady believes a different standard should apply to him.
If Senator Brady is this secretive and controlling about basic information like his tax returns, just imagine how he would govern. After two recent scandal-plagued administrations, Illinois residents deserve better.
*** UPDATE 8 *** Brady’s campaign is doing a conference call at 5 o’clock to discuss the issue. Atorney Jason Barickman will be answering questions. Barickman is also the chairman of the Champaign County Republican Party.
* He’s just gonna drag everybody in, apparently. I think I should just send out a blast e-mail to everyone in Illinois politics asking if they’ve been subpoenaed, too…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, said he was subpoenaed by the defense to testify in the June 3 corruption trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
“Whether I’m going to be called, I don’t know,” Durbin said, adding that he received the subpoena “several” weeks ago. “But, you know, a subpoena is an order of the court to appear. And if I’m called to appear, I will.”
Blagojevich’s lawyers are asking the federal judge overseeing his case to compel President Barack Obama to testify in order to dispute allegations against the impeached governor.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel will consider that request on April 30. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wouldn’t comment on the possibility of the president being subpoenaed in the case.
Durbin said he was interviewed for about 30 minutes “several months” ago by federal investigators in the Blagojevich case.
Last year, Durbin was interviewed by the federal prosecution for the case. At that time he said he had one 10 to 15 minute conversation with Blagojevich about the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President Barack Obama, which Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell. Durbin said he suggested 10-20 names that should be considered for the replacement.
…Adding… I sent out some e-mails to various spokespersons and just got my first reply. The governor’s office says Gov. Quinn has not been subpoenaed.
…Adding… Senate President Cullerton’s office said he has not been subpoenaed, either.
* Lee Enterprises (which publishes the Post-Dispatch, the Pantagraph and the Southern, among others) reported its third profitable quarter in a row this week. Gannett’s first quarter profits jumped 51 percent. McLatchy and the New York Times also had some good news to report.
Part of the reason for this apparent comeback is that the companies have so aggressively cut staff that their spending is now more in line with the revenues they can reasonably generate. Also, newsprint prices have fallen dramatically, as papers have slimmed way down or gone out of business. The ad revenue depression appears to be slowing, if not exactly bottoming out. And at least one analyst is pleased…
I’ve always stressed that print won’t die though it will shrink and radically change. The problem is the inertia and denial which leads many executives to think that these revolutionary changes won’t affect them but the next generation of leaders at magazine and newspaper companies.
Ironically, the recession accelerated history and the main trends and that forced some print companies to shape up. We saw Conde Nast lay off a lot of people, for example, despite historically having a lot of overhead. We also saw both Gannett (GCI) (parent of USA Today) and McClatchy (MNI) go through some painful steps that explain why in Q1 2010 both companies reported profits. […]
All print companies need more than the iPad to save their bacon. As I’ve long argued, if they really want to come back with a vengeance they would look at how they can leverage video online, which is totally incremental revenue for them (unlike TV and film companies).
He’s mostly right, but there’s still the big problem of reporting staffs stretched to the limit of breaking. What newspapers ought to be doing is clearing out their front offices of the expensive dead weight. It’s the content, stupid. Better content will drive more - and better - eyeballs. Bells and whistles are fine, but strong, timely content is king, baby. The Tribune is probably doing the best job of this of any media company in Illinois. They’ve shown a remarkable willingness to experiment with new ideas, and some of their reporters are eagerly embracing the new online news venues.
But newspapers ain’t out of the woods yet. They are, for the most part, still far too stuck in the past. The State Journal-Register, for instance, hired Ryan Keith away from the AP and gave him the task of handling the paper’s new media duties. Ryan initially did things like live-blog political events, debates, etc. He also created and staffed its aggregator page. But the paper has seemed to be returning to more traditional stuff in recent months. Ryan was reportedly frustrated with the mindset and announced today that he’s leaving the SJ-R for a career in public relations. From a press release…
Veteran statehouse reporter Ryan Keith is leaving as bureau chief for The State Journal-Register/GateHouse Media to join the public relations/public affairs firm of Mac Strategies Group, led by Ryan McLaughlin. Keith will head Springfield operations for the firm. This expansion will provide a day-to-day presence for the firm, strengthening its ability to service client both before the Chicago and Springfield press corps. Keith worked in the Springfield press room for 10 years, previously working for the Associated Press and starting as an intern with the Chicago Tribune in 2000.
I’m really sorry to see Ryan go. He was a huge asset to that paper, but he was woefully underutilized. Mac Strategies will be a good fit for him, though. Best wishes, man.
* As we’ve discussed before, newspapers make a nice chunk of change off publishing official legal notices. State law requires local and state government notices to be published in newspapers, and the papers charge for the privilege. So it’s no surprise that a bill that cleared the Senate this year which would allow fire protection districts to post a couple of types of notices on their own websites has the Illinois Press Association up in arms.
This proposal is the quintessential reason why government should not be allowed to report on itself and clearly demonstrates why government needs to remain transparent and not try to serve as both judge and jury in the business of public notices. Aside from the inherent conflict of interest, this legislation makes little sense for a state that is trying to rid itself of an image of pay-to-play politics, public corruption, unbridled graft and imprisoned governors.
Um, “report on itself”? If this was “reporting,” then why do newspapers want to be paid to run the notices?
The bill does have an obvious flaw…
For example, guess what was conveniently left out of the legislation? You guessed it, any frequency or time requirements that would mandate how long or how often government must post this vital information on their Web site. Under the proposed legislation, it could be 10 days, 10 hours, or even 10 minutes. It is alarming that however long the notice remains publicly available would be solely at the discretion of the public body posting its own notices.
Just because newspapers have been publishing notices since “before the days of Abraham Lincoln,” as the IPA exec director writes, that doesn’t mean we should be continuing to do it now. Instead of this flawed little bill, the GA ought to be thinking about setting up a central online clearinghouse for these notices which could be easily accessed and navigated by the public. Money could be saved and the public might be better served. It’s worth a debate, anyway.
* Meanwhile, there was a bit of a behind-the-scenes blowup yesterday over a claim by NBC 5 that they had the “exclusive” story about how the redacted material on a filing by Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys could be seen by simply copying and pasting the pdf file into a text file.
The station blasted out a mass e-mail late yesterday afternoon announcing their exclusive. But they made the mistake of not blind-copying the recipients. So, I hit the “reply to all” button and pointed out that I published the story hours before they did. They apologized profusely and corrected the story.
This is truly not a big deal, although I must admit that I did enjoy dinging the NBC guys a bit.
More importantly, though, I didn’t even realize that my own story actually appeared nine minutes after Natasha Korecki published the entire, unredacted document yesterday. Natasha should get credit for the scoop.
Things move fast in this business. When I was focused on writing my piece on the redaction problems, I didn’t even bother looking around to see if anyone else had it. I imagine that the same thing happened with others as well. Heck, I just realized that my Giannoulias story headline is almost identical to NBC5’s. I honestly don’t know if I saw their hed and it stuck in my mind, or if I came up with it on my own. Weird.
Also, I didn’t figure out this redaction thing on my own. CBS2’s Internet guru is the one who mentioned it to me. Information sometimes moves in unusual ways.
…Adding… I started to write this piece because the IlliniPundit blog has been shut down. And then I forgot to post the darned story. Sheesh.
Last night, I was appointed to the Champaign City Council, representing District 5. This is an enormous honor and an even larger responsibility. The time constraints of serving as a Council member (and running for election!) while balancing everything else in my life led to me to pledge during the application process that I would set aside IlliniPundit.com. I am doing so now, and I will no longer administer the site or participate on it. Reaching that decision was very difficult for me as IlliniPundit.com has been an overwhelmingly a positive experience for me, but I am confident that it is the correct decision. There just simply isn’t enough time to do both things well.
Gordy will continue blogging at his campaign website, which is here. I’m hearing that he’s accepting offers to buy the IlliniPundit blog. Good luck, Gordy, with everything you’re doing!
* Related…
* Former sports editor Bill Adee steers Chicago Tribune’s online strategy: Mr. Adee is working with the Tribune’s technology experts on new applications for the iPad, Kindle and other devices. The goal is to create newspaper downloads that readers will pay more for than they do currently.
* As you know by now, Sen. Bill Brady will release his tax returns today. But there are some conditions…
(R)eporters in Illinois will have only three hours to review the documents — and only if they’re at his Springfield campaign office. That’s the only way Brady has said he will make them available.
“We’ve made our decision,” Brady told reporters about the conditions for reviewing the tax returns. Asked whether he was doing enough to ensure adequate public scrutiny and transparency, he repeatedly replied, “You’ll have access to it.”
No copies. Just a lookie-look. And only in Springfield. Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign responded…
“The lack of access to Sen. Brady’s tax returns does not meet Gov. Quinn’s standard for transparency and openess,” campaign spokeswoman Mica Matsoff wrote to the Current.
Quinn did the same thing last year, however. Reporters had to make a reservation to review the guv’s tax returns and couldn’t make copies. He did make copies available this year, however.
* The Question: Should Brady allow reporters to make copies of his tax returns? Explain fully, please.
* Greg Hinz has a must-read story which looks at how a bipartisan bill requiring means testing of seniors to qualify for free mass transit rides was killed in the Senate Executive Committee this week…
By a narrow 6-7 vote, the committee rejected the bill co-sponsored by Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat, and Christine Radogno, the Senate GOP leader from La Grange. All seven votes came from Democrats.
And they did it even though the biggest Senate Democrat of them all, President John Cullerton, voted to move the bill to the Senate floor — and even though the Executive Committee traditionally does exactly what the Senate president wants it to do. […]
Mr. Cullerton’s spokeswoman says the president prides himself on not being a political boss but on allowing his members to vote their conscience. But that doesn’t explain why after Senate Executive Committee member Donald Harmon came down with food poisoning — he quite possibly would have voted for the bill —Mr. Cullerton replaced him on the committee with a definite “no” vote, Sen. Donne Trotter.
So Mr. Cullerton voted “yes” — reflecting the view of his district, his spokeswoman says. But he took an action to kill the bill upon which he voted “yes.”
Sen. Trotter is a regular replacement for members who can’t make Exec meetings, but Greg is certainly correct that Cullerton could’ve moved that bill to the floor if he wanted to. Instead, it was a nicely orchestrated bit of theater.
Is it any wonder the state can’t get a handle on its $13 billion deficit?
Our so-called statesmen in Springfield — led on this one by Sen. Rickey Hendon, a Chicago Democrat — can’t even deny a free bus ride to a senior who can comfortably do without it.
The true insult is to the many seniors who say they are willing to give up this little perk for the good of the greater cause — fixing the state’s budget mess. They know shameless pandering when they see it.
If this is the best Springfield can do, why drag out this legislative session another day?
They’ve failed to pay for state employees’ pension systems, which have become an unsustainable burden on the state. They’re months behind in making payments to hospitals, doctors and school districts.
Why not give free rides to seniors? In fact, why not give free rides to everyone?
Senior citizens I have encountered think the perk is madness. If a person can afford to pay his way, let him, they say.
I don’t know where the Tea Party folks are on this one.
And there were thousands of people rallying outside the state Capitol, begging for tax hikes to avoid cuts, when the Senate Democrats proudly protected free rides for seniors. If ever elected officials should have been run out of town on a rail, that was the moment.
* Speaking of this week’s rally, I’m not sure that Neil Steinberg fully understands who was at the event. He claims they were all “state workers.” Not true, unless you think teachers are state employees. Also, there were tons of employees of not-for-profit groups and companies at the event…
Still, I would have felt better had those been private-sector Illinoisans begging for more taxes. But that would be unlikely, given those most affected by government cuts — the poor, the sick, children — aren’t about to bus themselves to Springfield and wave signs.
There were plenty of poor people at that rally. All he had to do was read the coverage.
* The Responsible Budget Coalition has a new TV ad slamming “the politicians in Springfield” for wanting to “walk away” from the budget morass and adjourn early. “Don’t let them come home without a responsible budget,” the ad concludes. Watch it…
When I reached the Council of State Governments in Lexington, Ky., executive director David Adkins told me, “I’d never heard the term until your phone call today.”
Adkins is important because he was a Republican state legislator in Kansas from 1993 until 2005, and those who are now calling for a forensic audit of Illinois government frequently claim that a forensic audit in the Jayhawk State in 2003 saved taxpayers $1 billion.
It’s true, said Adkins, that then-Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius instituted an aggressive review of state spending practices early in her first term. “But most of the savings came from picking low-hanging fruit,” he said, such as selling off state vehicles.
And he quoted Auditor General Bill Holland saying the audit wouldn’t save money…
“These resolutions would require my office to re-examine 135 million transactions and check all the details on about 50,000 contracts a year going back nine years,” said Illinois Auditor General William Holland. “It would be a mind-boggling, astronomical cost. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Holland, whose office is nonpartisan, was once chief of staff to former Democratic Senate President Phil Rock. And though Holland formally takes no position on any bill, he said it’s “very doubtful” that such an undertaking would pay for itself.
Andrzejewski vehemently disagrees and Zorn lays out his entire reasoning, so go check it out.
“The governor came out and wants to convince people that he heard the people of this state when they said they want government to rein in spending. He is trying to convince people he’s going to cut $2.6 billion, when it’s clear that at best, he’s got $200 million up there in unspecified cuts [if his proposed 1 percentage point tax increase passes], and this is from a guy who’s got a track record of claiming he is going to cut and not having the guts to go ahead and do it,” he said.
However, Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for Quinn’s Office of Management and Budget, said if the governor’s proposed income tax increase passes, there would still be $900 million in cuts. She added that Quinn is seeking to make $400 million more in reductions, in addition to the cuts he proposed in March.
Since it’s highly doubtful that the approximately $3 billion income tax hike will pass, this is mostly an empty argument.
* Related…
* Rep. Jack Franks: Want to solve the budget crisis? Say no to spending
* The FDIC’s deadline for Broadway Bank to find $85 million in new capitalization expires today, so Alexi Giannoulias’ family bank could get “eated” later this afternoon…
If a bidder has not been found for the Giannoulias family’s Broadway Bank, today could be the day federal and state regulators walk in and shut it down.
Nearly 90 days ago, the bank entered into a consent decree with government officials in which bank officials agreed to try to raise $85 million to recapitalize the bank. […]
It could be the FDIC found another bank willing to buy Broadway Bank. Broadway Bank officials won’t know until the regulators arrive.
Or regulators could wait another week past Monday’s 90-day deadline.
* If the seizure does happen today, you can expect a gigantified firestorm as hostile reporters and pundits try to force US Senate candidate Giannoulias off the statewide ticket. Politico set the tone with a story about how the White House refused to commit to getting the president involved in the campaign…
At the moment, the White House seems open to the idea of losing Obama’s old seat rather than putting the president’s prestige on the line for Giannoulias, the brash and boyish Illinois state treasurer — and onetime Obama basketball buddy — whose campaign has been rocked by the financial meltdown of his family’s bank.
Durbin said Emanuel was sympathetic to his pleas but ultimately noncommittal, telling him that the White House was “considering the race, weighing their options and weighing a decision on what to do.”
Politico reports that Giannoulias wasn’t even told that President Obama could be visiting Quincy soon, although the publication noted that other congressional candidates are grumbling about the same lack of communication from the White House. The publication also claims that it’s an “open secret” that the White House is watching to see if a bank failure forces Giannoulias out of the race before deciding what to do.
Sen. Dick Durbin was the focus of the article, and he was clearly trying to call out Obama for his inaction. But Durbin, who is Giannoulias’ campaign chairman, wasn’t exactly a 100 percenter today either…
To an extent, Durbin’s political stock is tied to Giannoulias’s, Democratic insiders say. As chairman of the campaign, Durbin could take some blame for a Giannoulias loss — just as he gears up for a possible majority leader’s race against New York Sen. Chuck Schumer this fall, and just as Schumer could get credit for helping guide New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s path to a likely victory.
But Durbin dismissed such talk, saying he expects Reid to win his reelection in Nevada and continue as majority leader. And he distanced himself from the problems of the candidate.
“There’s certain things I can control, certain things I can’t control,” Durbin said. “I’m not the candidate; someone else is. I can give advice and try to analyze this as best I can. Ultimately, Alexi has to make these decisions personally.”
That sound you just heard was the thump of Durbin throwing his little buddy under the bus.
The Giannoulias people say that this isn’t the first time he’s been under pressure to drop out of a campaign. When he first ran for state treasurer four years ago, Speaker Madigan tried to force him out so that his own candidate could win unopposed. After Giannoulias won the primary, reporters and pundits took notice that Madigan still seemed rather hostile to Giannoulias (because of allegations about the bank) and was distancing the state party from him. Then, last year when the White House was openly courting Lisa Madigan and others to run, Giannoulias was pressured in the media to drop off the ticket.
Through it all, he has perservered, and the candidate believes that come election day six months from now the bank failure will be old news and not a big deal.
The problem with that theory is that the state’s political reporters and pundits are infinitely more hostile to Giannoulias than anybody currently running for office here. They don’t show any signs of letting up, either. And the fire-roasting they are preparing for Giannoulias today will be a sight to behold…
Giannoulias’ campaign won’t talk specifically about the strategy for dealing with a bank failure. Spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said he will focus on the economy and creating jobs, arguing that the bank’s problems are not major issue for some people.
“We are going to keep talking to voters about what matters to them most,” she said.
Changing the subject won’t be easy.
“You can’t overcome that … especially Giannoulias, who four years ago ran for treasurer touting his experience and expertise. I mean, you can’t have it both ways,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. “This is going to be an indelible stain on him.”
Over the past few years, we made decisions that — though sound at the time — resulted in a high level of nonperforming assets. We have paid a significant price for those decisions, but we can survive and, given time, thrive. To do this, we do not need assistance from taxpayers; all we need is patience from regulators. Where big banks got a bailout, all we ask is to be allowed to live, with the capital we have, until the market turns around — as it already has for the big banks.
There is little risk to such an approach and much to gain. Current regulators are relying on an outdated belief that a bank in trouble on some capital ratios should be shut down quickly as the most cost-effective solution. But most of today’s troubled institutions have low levels of capital because they are forced to value assets in the worst possible light at the worst possible time, and to realize these losses immediately. Given the global conditions, it is difficult to see how closing banks early is a lower-cost option. Why force a sale when the market is at the bottom? […]
We are not asking for a bailout, just time to turn things around. Our bank, our customers and our communities are all experiencing a great economic dislocation. Wall Street banks got taxpayer money to survive — all we seek is a chance to pull ourselves up.
We may not be too big to fail, but we shouldn’t be deemed too small to live.
The bank is currently turning a profit, so his ideas do make some sense. Lots of small banks are being gobbled up by the very same “too big to fail” institutions that got hundreds of billions in government bailouts - making them even bigger at a fraction of market rates because these post-seizure fire sales are quite yummy for them. But it’s highly doubtful that he has swayed the FDIC at all.
