* From the Bruce Rauner campaign…
Rauner 2013 Tax Summary:
Income on Federal Return: $60,777,806
Adjusted Gross Income on Federal Return: $60,150,853
Federal Income Taxes Paid: $14,373,718
Federal Effective Tax Rate on Income: 23.65%
Federal Effective Tax Rate on Adjusted Gross Income: 23.90%
Illinois Net Income on State Return: $61,432,654
Illinois Income Taxes Paid: $2,878,381
The basic 1040 return is here.
* The press release…
Bruce Rauner released his 2013 federal and state 1040’s, reflecting income and tax rates, while detailing the Rauner family’s substantial charitable and community giving last year.
Last year, the Rauners paid more than $17 million in federal and state taxes on income of $60.8 million for a total effective tax rate on income of more than 27.5%. Their federal effective tax rate on income exceeded 23.5%.
“I’m nobody that nobody sent and independent of the special interests,” Rauner said. “Unlike Pat Quinn, who put self-dealing and cronyism ahead of the people, I’ll put the people first and end decades of corruption in state government.”
In addition, the Rauners and their family foundation made charitable contributions totaling more than $5 million, including a $1 million contribution to the Red Cross last November for relief efforts following the devastating tornado in Washington, Illinois.
“Diana and I are proud to be able to give back to the state we love by supporting community organizations and giving those in need a helping a hand,” Rauner said. “We are passionate about making Illinois a better place for every person in state, and I look forward to increasing opportunities for every person in our state next year as governor.”
Additionally, Bruce’s wife, Diana, takes no salary for her work as president of the non-profit Ounce of Prevention Fund.
There will probably be updates to this post. If you know anything about taxes, shoot me an e-mail with your thoughts. Thanks.
…Adding… Quinn campaign…
Quinn for Illinois issued the below statement from Communications Director Brooke Anderson in response to Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s disclosure of just four pages of his 2013 tax returns showing he raked in more than $60 million. At the same time, he proposed cutting the minimum wage. Bruce Rauner is leading the most deceptive campaign in Illinois history and refusing to release his full tax records like transparent candidates do, including Governor Quinn and Mitt Romney:
“Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s partial disclosure of his 2013 tax returns shows that he not only he took in more than $60 million - he took in those millions at the same time he was running around Illinois advocating to cut the minimum wage.
“Mr. Rauner’s disclosure is wholly insufficient and raises more questions than answers. What are his sources of income? What loopholes is he jumping through? Does he have any conflicts of interest in his finances? The voters don’t know because Mr. Rauner is hiding this information from them.
“What we do know is this: Bruce Rauner took in $30,000 an hour last year while he sought to lower the minimum wage and he certainly can’t be trusted to look out for Illinois’ working families.”
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* Thanks to all who voted to take a break on Monday. Whew, I was worried when I hit that “publish” button. I’m gonna take it easy this weekend and I hope all of you do the same.
Los Lobos will play us out with a killer cover of “Bertha.” Turn it up…
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Congressional roundup
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The House Majority PAC isn’t giving up on the “Meltdown Mike” theme in the 12th District. This is a smallish St. Louis TV buy of $50,000…
* Cheri Bustos and Bobby Schilling debated last night…
When questioned about accusations that he turned his back on workers in Freeport, Illinois, whose jobs were being shipped overseas, Schilling said the claims were simply untrue.
“I tried to have meetings with these people. I actually wrote a letter to the president of the company,” said Schilling.
In turn, Bustos responded to criticism that she failed to follow through after saying she’d voluntarily cut her own pay by 10 percent if elected.
“I made a mistake when I appeared before the Chicago Tribune editorial board, and I’ve acknowledged that. What I do support, the same thing my opponent supports, is a collective 10 percent pay cut for Congress,” said Bustos.
Oy on both…
“It really is a shame how these campaigns are run these days,” Bustos said. “I feel for the people who have to watch these commercials.”
Bustos cited a report by www.factcheck.org which said a Schilling ad that accused her of voting to cut veterans is false.
Schilling referred to an article on www.politifact.com that discredited a common theme for Democratic ads, including ads against Schilling, which say Republicans voted in favor of tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas.
Both Bustos and Schilling defended their own ads when asked about reports that claim they are misleading.
* The Mike Bost campaign sent me this yesterday and I missed it…
I’ve attached a picture of the actual pamphlet that Enyart kept referring to last night about Mike allegedly endorsing the Ryan Budget when, in fact, he never did. As you can see from the literature, it doesn’t say anything like that.
Enyart’s actual claim is that Mike endorsed it on a piece of campaign [literature]. At 31:45 in the capfax video, “It says #1 I would vote for the Paul Ryan budget.”
Yep. Click here to see it.
* The Daily Herald endorsed Bob Dold today. From a press release…
The Daily Herald today endorsed Bob Dold (R-10) for Congress in Illinois 10th District. The newspaper opted to endorse Dold over incumbent Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) due to Dold’s independent, bipartisan and effective leadership when he served in Congress, in contrast with Schneider’s highly partisan record.
In their endorsement, the Daily Herald wrote, “When Dold held the office, he maintained the district’s tradition of independent representation, with a voting record that was one of the most bipartisan in Congress. In the two years that Schneider has held office, he has not. His voting record is considerably more party line, as a comparative review of The Washington Post’s Congress Votes Database indicates.”
The newspaper continued, “Only one of these two candidates carries on the dynamic independent tradition of Mark Kirk and John Porter. That candidate is former Rep. Bob Dold, and we give him our endorsement.”
* On the same race, Brad Schneider is still bombarding people with fundraising e-mails like this one entitled “out of options”…
Brad needs your urgent support. Here’s why:
– Last month, polls showed our race in a dead heat.
– Last week, Roll Call named Brad one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country.
– Now, Boehner’s Super PAC dumped $1,000,000 on Chicago airwaves to distort Brad’s record.
Look, this race is TIED. If we fall behind on this week’s ad buy goal, Republicans will POUNCE.
That’s not an option.
So far, the ad isn’t posted on the PAC’s YouTube page. Anybody seen it?
* And Stu Rothenberg goes way out on a limb (/snark)…
Illinois’ 13th District. Ann Callis was one of the most highly-touted Democratic recruits this cycle, but the challenger never really got untracked, and Democrats failed to put much of a dent into Davis. This is the one seat state Democrats failed to win in 2012 after they redrew the congressional map. The big question is whether Democrats will make this district a priority in two years or decide that the Republican congressman is fundamentally much stronger than they initially assumed. We’re changing the Rothenberg Political Report rating of the race from Lean Republican to Republican Favored.
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Question of the day
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Monday, October 13th is Columbus Day, a state holiday.
Normally, I don’t work on state holidays. But this campaign season has been gloriously hectic. I put up 23 posts yesterday and y’all commented hundreds and hundreds of times. There were 1,243 votes on a poll I posted at 9 o’clock last night and over 120 comments about that poll before people finally went to bed. We ended up with 214,000 page views yesterday (and a slow site for a while - major upgrade coming after work today). Crazy, man. The NRI hearing and the debate drove lots of traffic, but average traffic this work week has been about 190,000 page views per day. I got 20,000 more page views this past Sunday than I was getting on average weekdays three years ago in October. I’m not sure what to think of that.
I love my job and I love this blog, and I have no problem working on Monday. But I would also love a little extra break and I’m expecting news and comments to be light on Monday, since it’s a holiday. But this has been such an intense and at times overwhelming campaign season that I’m not all that confident in my expectation.
So…
* The Question: Do you want CapitolFax.com to stay open on Columbus Day or should we all just take a little break? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
online polls
I will abide by the majority vote at 4:15 this afternoon.
And, of course, any big breaking news will lead to a post if the blog is shut down. There just may not be any comments.
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Local 150 behind yet another anti-Rauner move
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Back in the GOP primary, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 was the earliest and most enthusiastic supporters of the “Stop Rauner” movement. Subscribers know a bit more about the personal reasons behind this, but the political angle was totally genuine. Rauner is for “right to work,” and while 150 has lots of Republican members, that’s a killer issue for them.
So, on to today’s Illinois Review story [although David Ormsby had it first earlier this morning]…
Within minutes of filing his D-2 Quarterly Report showing $100.00 in his account late Wednesday night, Chad Grimm, Libertarian for Governor, reported getting a $30,000 donation from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 based in Countryside, Illinois. […]
Grimm’s numbers are nearing 7 points in the latest gubernatorial race polling, which could be devastating to the Rauner campaign November 4th.
$30K is chump change, but if 150 or other unions start kicking in more money, they might be able to cause some real trouble for Rauner.
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A few more thoughts on the debate
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
Aside from what I wrote in the subscriber section today, here are a few of my takeaways from last night…
* I agree with Tom Kacich on this point…
Finally, for a debate that was supposed to focus on downstate issues, there was no discussion of roads, agriculture, gun rights or higher education. Don’t expect those topics to be addressed in the next debates in the Chicago area.
While that didn’t make the debate a complete failure, Tom is right.
* Also, the League of Women Voters has a terrible debate format. Not enough follow-up between candidates, too tightly controlled.
Amanda Vinicky thanked you, by the way…
Vinicky did her best to skirt the rules, but the League should either come up with a better format or stop hosting debates. They suck.
* Now, on to something that I don’t think many folks noticed beyond a few commenters. One of the questioners pointed out that Gov. Quinn has closed prisons, while Bruce Rauner has said he’d reopen prisons. What would each do about rehabilitating inmates in order to reduce recidivism?
Rauner’s answer…
“We need to reform our corrections system in Illinois. It is broken and is badly mismanaged under Gov. Quinn, just as most departments of our government have been under Quinn.
“We have a tragic situation in Illinois. We have unsafe prisons. We have corrections officers with their life and their personal safety at risk. We have inmates with their personal safety at risk because we haven’t properly staffed and invested in our corrections system.”
Whoa. Stop tape.
When was the last time you heard a candidate at that level in either party bemoaning the lack of personal safety for prison inmates?
The time Rauner has spent with African-American clergy (who deal with this issue on a daily basis) may have informed him on this topic. Yeah, maybe he mentioned it as a way to score a political point or two, but that also comes at the cost of fury from the “get tougher” crowd. He deserves credit for listening and thinking and putting it into a reasonable context.
* OK, restart tape…
“We also incarcerate non-violent offenders very often here. And we do a very poor job relative to other states for providing alternative routes to deal with non-violent offenders - ways that they are more likely to receive help and avoid falling back into lives of crime and helping them find ways to get back in society and be productive citizens.
“We don’t think outside the box, we don’t do good innovative programs like other states do.”
Stop again.
Quinn’s administration has come up with some innovative offender programs, as the governor explained in his own response. But Rauner was absolutely right on the fact that our prisons have too many non-violent criminals (who then learn how to be violent).
Look, Rauner could have easily used that question to bang Quinn for his botched 2009 early release debacle. It would’ve dovetailed nicely with his attack ad. Instead, Rauner chose to focus on inmate safety and finding ways to avoid imprisoning non-violent offenders and instead helping them become productive citizens.
I found this to be quite remarkable. I mean, a candidate with a perfect setup for a full-throated negative assault chooses instead to go with a soft hit and empathy for society’s perceived dregs?
Nicely done, Bruce.
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Tribune, Crain’s endorse Rauner
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No surprise here. The Mother Ship’s “bottom line”…
Illinois must change direction. This state faces enormous financial and economic perils going forward. We know Quinn’s way — more tax money! — and that he simply can’t bend the powers that be in Springfield. We’d rather have a governor with Rauner’s outsider moxie.
For the broke, broken Illinois of 2014, Bruce Rauner is two challengers in one:
He’s challenging an incumbent who tried and came up short. He would challenge the power brokers who like Illinois just as it is. No wonder they loathe Rauner. He makes them sweat.
He deserves your vote.
* Crain’s chimed in with its own nod for Rauner…
Originally an outsider, Mr. Quinn unfortunately has fallen victim to the vices of one-party rule, promoting patronage and passing around political favors. He has not garnered enough political support, among voters or in the Illinois General Assembly, to serve as a counter-weight to House Speaker Michael Madigan or Senate President John Cullerton. He is too ready to spend taxpayer money on projects that we can’t afford or aren’t even needed, such as an airport in Peotone and the Illiana Tollway.
If elected, Mr. Rauner likely would face stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Still, his relationship with the Democratic leadership is unlikely to be worse than Mr. Quinn’s, and could be better, by putting honest differences on the table.
Illinois has been on the wrong path for years, going back to a time before Democrats reclaimed the governor’s office. With an independently minded Mr. Rauner, we now have a chance to change course. Mr. Rauner deserves your vote.
The only thing I will point out here is that when somebody claims “Illinois government can’t possibly get any worse,” I always say they are misinformed. Of course it can. I’m not saying that Rauner will make it worse, mind you. I’m just sayin…
…Adding… I should also point out that if Quinn is reelected, things might also get worse. He’ll be a lame duck who isn’t listened to or heeded much now. I don’t know if it’ll get worse, but it’s possible. The point here is that anybody who says it can’t get worse knows nothing about the Statehouse.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Debate roundup
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Subscribers already know part of my take on last night’s debate and I’m putting a post together about another highly interesting moment, but you can chew on this stuff for a while until the other post is ready…
* Quinn, Rauner try to create fear about the other guy during debate: Quinn stuck largely to a class warfare script against Rauner, a wealthy equity investor from Winnetka, in delivering a more polished and aggressive performance reflective of his political experience. Quinn repeatedly suggested Rauner’s plan to cut taxes would hurt education funding… “Unfortunately, under Gov. Quinn, Illinois has been one of the worst-run states in America. We have rampant misspending of taxpayer money, massive waste in the system,” Rauner said. The Republican challenger attacked the state’s system of purchasing goods and services as “part of the cesspool of cronyism and patronage that’s so endemic inside our state government. (Quinn) relies on that for his election. He relies on that for campaign cash. And that’s rampant throughout the departments.”
* Governor Candidates Debate: Rauner said Quinn has been a failure as governor. “Pat Quinn has been a failure on jobs. Under his administration, we’ve become the lowest state of job growth of any state in the Midwest,” he said. Quinn said Rauner has had is troubles as a financier. “My opponent talks about successful results – he’s been involved with 12 different bankruptcies involving other companies, and there’ve been six of his executives indicted and convicted and sent to jail. Two are under indictment now. They’ve got 150 lawsuits against a nursing home chain,” he said.
* Quinn-Rauner debate: Each casts other as state’s worst nightmare: “My opponent, all across Illinois, went across this state, saying eliminate the minimum wage. A person taking in $53 million a year running around Illinois saying eliminate the minimum wage. He’s adamantly against the minimum wage. Well, I’m adamantly for raising the minimum wage” [said Quinn]… “Pat Quinn has been governor for six years, and he’s had a super majority of his party in the General Assembly,” Rauner said. “And he has not increased the minimum wage in that time. If he was serious about this, he could have gotten it done. He’s playing political football with people’s lives and with our economy.”
* Illinois Governor Candidates Square Off In Debate: “Politicians in Illinois said every time they want to raise taxes it’s for schools,” Rauner said. “We put the lottery in Illinois to fund our schools. The money doesn’t really fund our schools. Our current Governor raised income tax by 67 percent, said it would be for education then he cut half a billion from school funding.” “When it comes to education funding, my opponent makes up things,” Quinn said. “We’ve increased education funding in the classroom by $500 million, independent fact checkers have indicated that. We’ve also paid the teacher pension every single year.”
* Little focus on downstate issues in first gubernatorial debate: Little else directly related to downstate came up, save for a single question on a proposal by state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, to change the funding structure for primary and secondary education. But while that’s a measure that “is having a regional fault line,” Mooney said, it’s as much related to wealthy districts versus poorer districts as specific regions of the state.
* Quinn, Rauner clash over Illinois economic climate: Democratic Sen. Andy Manar’s proposal would direct more state money to poorer rural districts at the expense of wealthier suburban districts… Quinn said the state needs to increase education investment. But he says Manar’s proposal needs “a lot of oversight and review” as well as more debate. Rauner said he “probably wouldn’t support that particular bill.” He said he favors an overhaul of the current formula.
* Quinn, Rauner detail regrets in governor’s debate: Quinn says he’s “definitely not perfect,” and doesn’t think any human being is. He says he regrets not cutting lawmakers pay — and his own — to spur an overhaul of the state’s underfunded pension systems sooner. Rauner says not every company his private equity firm has created or acquired has been successful. He also noted he’s “rarely” seen business executives engage in unethical behavior. He says he’s tried to take action to quickly correct that.
Your own take-away?
*** UPDATE *** From the Quinn campaign…
After a panelist hoped against hope during Thursday night’s debate for Bruce Rauner to make his fantastical tax plan “add up,” Governor Pat Quinn set the record straight on the Rauner Tax Plan that not only doesn’t add up, but would devastate Illinois education in order to give billionaires like Rauner a $1 million tax cut.
“I don’t go for that,” Governor Quinn is shown as saying to the new Rauner Tax on services and consumption, and a budget hole that would result in the layoff of 1 in 6 schoolteachers in Illinois.
In a new Quinn for Illinois web video, here’s the question asked by a WUIS reporter that Bruce Rauner just couldn’t answer:
“Outside of your own campaign, nobody seems to make the numbers in your blueprint add up. You said you want to give more money to state parks, to education, higher education, while at the same time cutting revenues and rolling back the income tax to 3% in four years. Let’s try again: Make that add up, please.”
(He couldn’t.)
* The video is pretty cleverly done…
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Ouch! That one’s gonna leave a mark
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s new TV ad is brutal and, to my eyes and ears anyway, incredibly effective. Perhaps you disagree, so watch it and discuss below…
I’m not calling it “Bloodtober” for nothing.
Wow.
…Adding… Script…
NARRATOR: What do we really know about Bruce Rauner?
Court documents reveal Rauner threatened an executive after firing her for not laying off workers to maximize profits.
NBC news reported Rauner said:
CAROL MARIN: “Quote. I will bury her. I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don’t know if she has a family or not but if she does she better think twice about this.”
NARRATOR: Did Bruce Rauner really think no one would find out?
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One of the best editorials in memory
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* You won’t see many tweets like this from an Illinois Federation of Teachers spokesperson, but I couldn’t agree with her more…
Like the Trib, I’m not exactly a huge Karen Lewis fan, but like Aviva, I choked up a little reading the editorial. I really wish they would write stuff like this more often. Go read the whole thing.
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* Mike Frerichs’ campaign, through a surrogate, has filed a formal complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging that Tom Cross’ state treasurer’s campaign has avoided state contribution caps by using multiple campaign committees. The violation is alleged to be at least $180,000.
For background on the allegations, click here to see a post I did late last month. To read the complaint itself, click here.
…Adding… From a press release…
Tom Cross was charged today with gross violations of Illinois campaign finance laws as detailed in a sworn complaint filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBoE). The complaint documents repeated violations of Illinois campaign finance laws by Tom Cross. The complaint alleges Cross filed false financial disclosure reports with the Illinois State Board of Elections, accepted contributions in excess of the statutory maximums, and used multiple political committees to circumvent campaign finance laws. Specifically, the complaint alleges that:
· Cross failed to report nearly 200 contributions totaling $180,000 as required by law that were made to his campaign for State Treasurer as in-kind expenditures;
· Tom Cross personally headed the political action committee, Cross for Treasurer, that filed false financial reports with state regulators;
· Tom Cross accepted over $180,000 in contributions that grossly exceeded the cap of $52,600 by a political action committee;
· Tom Cross controlled, either directly or indirectly, seven different political funds that were used to evade the $5,300 cap on individual contributions on at least two occasions.
The complaint asks SBoE to fine Cross for: accepting contributions in excess of statutory maximums; failing to disclose these contributions in quarterly reports; and failing to report each contribution over $1000 out of the $180,000. The Frerichs campaign estimates that Tom Cross failed to report approximately 40 individual contributions in excess of $1000.
In addition, the complaint asks SBoE to conduct a full audit of each of the seven committees under Tom Cross’s control. The complaint was filed today in SBoE’s Chicago office after serving official notice on Tom Cross and on his campaign. SBoE will likely hear the matter at its next board meeting, October 21st.
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Rate Bruce Rauner’s new TV ad: “Corruption”
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Rauner campaign…
Bruce Rauner’s campaign launched a new ad today highlighting Pat Quinn’s record of cronyism and corruption.
“Pat Quinn took over for Rod Blagojevich and picked up right where he left off,” Rauner campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf said. “Quinn doubled Blagojevich’s illegal political hiring program and now Quinn’s at the center of federal criminal investigations by two United States Attorneys.”
* The ad…
* The script…
Voiceover: “One hundred years of corruption and counting.”
Pat Quinn: “We do not need a governor of Illinois who is ethically challenged.”
News Anchor: “A criminal grand jury is investigating Governor Pat Quinn.”
Pat Quinn: “We’ve restored integrity and honesty.”
News Anchor: “The findings come on the heels of Quinn defending himself in another investigation.”
Pat Quinn: “I promised to restore integrity – and we have.”
News Anchor: “Another day, another political scandal for Governor Quinn.”
Voiceover: “First Blagojevich. Now Quinn. Can we afford four more years?”
…Adding… Quinn campaign response…
After billionaire Bruce Rauner’s week of desperation began with a demonstrably false ad accusing people of killing babies, slinked into a witch hunt led by the Rauner forces that did nothing but expose their own political motivations and culminated with a fact-free debate “whiff” in Peoria, Quinn for Illinois Deputy Press Secretary Izabela Miltko had this to say:
“Let’s be clear - there’s only one candidate in this race with a real record of corruption and that’s Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner.
“Time and again, Mr. Rauner’s businesses engaged in bribery, fraud, neglect, abuse and outright corruption under his watch, in his name and for his profit.
“Each and every time, Bruce Rauner cashed out before the wrongdoing was exposed, leaving others to clean up the mess.
“As his record is exposed and the public finds out about the REAL Bruce Rauner, we can only expect more desperation and more money spent to try to buy facts that aren’t there.”
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Good morning!
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The late, beyond great singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt covered this Rolling Stones song better than the Stones ever coulda done it. Why? His authentic Texas twang and his hard-scrabble life. Townes just owned this one, man…
I know you think you’re the queen of the underground
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Tonight’s quotable
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From ABC 7’s report on today’s NRI hearing…
(A) harsh audit found the program was hastily developed, mismanaged and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. Lavin admitted that mistakes were made, but the program helped thousands of people.
Quinn’s current opponent Bruce Rauner uses the word “corruption” when talking about the NRI probe.
“Is this corruption? No, I don’t think so, it is gross mismanagement and incompetence,” [Rep. Ron] Sandack said.
He’s probably right, but I’m not sure the Rauner campaign is gonna love him for that one.
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LAC collapses its tent
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Toni Irving was Gov. Pat Quinn’s deputy chief of staff, so she had direct access to the governor. Part of her portfolio was the governor’s 2010 anti-violence initiative. She’s a big part of the Auditor General’s stinging report.
But after grilling other witnesses for hours on end, the Legislative Audit Commission asked Irving questions for maybe 10 minutes before dismissing her today.
Irving is an African-American, and with some backlash being ginned up out there, that could’ve played a role in the brief questioning. But another witness was grilled this afternoon for only a few minutes and then released. That witness was a white male.
As I write this at around four o’clock, the LAC has adjourned.
And that may be the biggest surprise to emerge from this entire exercise.
The Republicans pushed hard yesterday and came up mostly empty when it came to the non-audit side issue of whether the anti-violence initiative was used to win the 2010 election. They pushed hard again today with Jack Lavin and didn’t make much progress.
The promised October disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn ended with a quiet thud.
* Look, the audit is the audit. The anti-violence program was a complete fiscal mess. Two US Attorneys and the Cook County State’s Attorney are investigating. That’s as it should be. Let the pros do their jobs.
The past two days showed what can happen when politicians try to play prosecutors for political advantage without first making utterly sure that they could prove their case.
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* Earlier this afternoon, I told you that the governor’s campaign had singled out three Republican members on the Legislative Audit Commission as “Witch Hunt Leaders.” Here is their response…
Does Governor Quinn really believe that federal and Cook County investigators are also on a witch hunt?
Sen. Jason Barickman
Rep. Ron Sandack
Rep. David Reis
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“All in!”
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune’s campaign finance report Twitter page has been indispensable all year. I’m not a big fan of the “All in!!!” hyperbole for $50,000 contributions and over because as we’ve seen many times, $50K is chicken feed in many races. Other than that, I’m loving it.
Anyway, here are a few highlights from the last day or so…
* Speaking of Topinka…
Veteran Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka continues to hold a sizable lead over Democratic challenger Sheila Simon in a new Reboot Illinois poll.
The automated poll, conducted Oct. 8 by We Ask America among 1,070 likely voters, found incumbent Topinka the choice of 52 percent of respondents to Simon’s 34 percent. Libertarian candidate Julie Fox was the choice of 4 percent of respondents. The result was consistent with Reboot Illinois polls conducted June 16, July 31 and Sept. 2 that found Topinka ahead by 11, 19 and 19 percentage points, respectively.
The poll has a margin of error of +/-3 percent, with 28 percent of responses from cell phone contacts. Party identification of participants was 26 percent Republican, 37 percent Democratic and 37 percent independent.
While Topinka’s overall showing was impressive, more remarkable were her numbers among Chicago and Cook County suburban respondents. Simon had a 47-37 edge among Chicago voters, but Topinka’s 37 percent is very strong for a Republican candidate. Winning 20 percent of the Chicago vote is considered the benchmark for a Republican statewide candidate to win.
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Rate Tom Cross’ TV ad
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s called “A Different Kind of Republican”…
* Script…
I’m Tom Cross.
I’m running for State Treasurer to clean up the mess in Springfield …
… and I’ve never been afraid to break from my party to get results.
I’m pro-choice,
I support stem cell research …
… and I cast the deciding vote for marriage equality.
As Treasurer, I’ll fight government waste and fraud
Holding the Springfield Politicians accountable
so we can invest in what really matters … our schools.
VO: Tom Cross. Independent leadership for Illinois.
…Adding… Frerichs campaign response…
Tom Cross is “different”, and not in a good way.
One of the ultimate Springfield insiders, Tom Cross was on Rod Blagojevich’s clout list. According to a Sun-Times special report by Dave McKinney, Cross recommended 46 people to the “Blagojevich Jobs Machine.”
Tom Cross voted against bipartisan legislation backed by Mark Kirk and Barack Obama to block a toxic sludge treatment plant from being built on Lake Michigan. Cross was one of only 20 House lawmakers to oppose clean drinking water for millions.
Mike Frerichs worked with Democrats and Republicans to end the troubled legislative scholarship program and to expand job-creating enterprise zones. Mike Frerichs will put an end to the “politics as usual” that have plagued the Treasurer’s office in recent years, while Tom Cross continues to say “good job.”
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* As I mentioned earlier today, you could almost feel the backlash building. From a press release…
Pastor Pfleger’s Response to Outrageous Ignorance about Violence by GOP Legislators
The Legislative Audit Commission should be ashamed of themselves for their investigation into the N.R.I. Program! At the time when people were being shot daily on the streets of Chicago, when even 6 Chicago Police Officers were killed, they continue to attack a program that created jobs and opportunities during such a violent time in the city.
The members of this legislative commission either have no idea or don’t care about the violence epidemic that swept Chicago in 2010. To them, the violence in Chicago is something that they read about in the paper or hear about in the news. The commission wants to say Governor Quinn used the program for political gain rather than helping to stop the violence plaguing our city. The sad truth is that the commission itself is the one using the program for political gain, as it is nothing less than a witch hunt creating an illusion of corruption.
Where were these critics when the violence was causing bloodshed in our streets? We were in a state of emergency trying to save lives in our communities. What were they doing? They were playing politics with peoples’ lives. They were voting against common sense gun safety legislation. They were voting against summer jobs programs for our children and young people. It is a point that should not go unnoticed that these very legislators that sit on this commission are all endorsed or supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA). And their records demonstrate that they vote time and time again against even the most common sense public safety practices. These critics aren’t the solution to gun violence, they are the problem.
In the Pursuit of Justice…
Rev. Michael L. Pfleger
Senior Pastor, The Faith Community of Saint Sabina
…Adding… Every Republican on the committee has gone out of his way to say they are very concerned about the city’s violence problem. So, in a way, that’s an unfair hit.
Also, the apparently coordinated use of the “witch hunt” phrase undercuts his argument as well.
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* This just gets worse and worse for Rep. Drury…
Today, Cook County Judge Franklin U. Valderrama rejected State Representative Scott Drury’s emergency request for temporary injunctive relief, seeking to silence his opponent in the 58th District, Dr. Mark Neerhof. Attorneys for Dr. Neerhof successfully argued that Drury had not raised a “fair question” that Drury would succeed in his lawsuit.
Neerhof campaign manager, Mick Paskiewicz, issued the following statement:
“Today, the court took the right step and denied Scott Drury’s attempt to shield his record from the voters. Drury knows he’s an embattled incumbent, so he launched this desperate attempt to silence Dr. Neerhof with a frivolous lawsuit. Dr. Neerhof will continue his campaign that is gaining traction with voters, and hopefully Scott Drury will stop hiding in the court room and answer for his record.”
Drury gave less than 48 hours notice for today’s hearing, calling it an “emergency”. Dr. Neerhof was not present in court, as was caring for patients in his high-risk obstetrics practice.
*** UPDATE *** The judge’s order is here. And Dan Proft has responded…
“I appreciate the judge’s ruling on this matter. It is unfortunate that Rep. Drury, an attorney, believes that political campaigns should be litigated in court rather than decided by the voters. Instead of wasting more of his constituents’ money and the court’s time on his frivolity, Rep. Drury might consider working to stop SB 16 from cutting millions and millions of dollars in funding for schools in his district.”
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Question of the day
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* On Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief operating officer Jack Lavin sent an e-mail to some government staff. Click the pic if you have trouble reading the document…
* The following Sunday, Lavin sent this e-mail from his personal computer to Quinn campaign staff. We looked at it yesterday, but let’s look at it again…
* At least some Republicans have implied so far today that this shows Lavin was trying to hurry up the state’s programmatic development process so he could pitch it to the campaign over the weekend. Lavin, for his part, said he was merely pushing to get the program up and running to help alleviate the city’s violence problem.
To date, this is the closest thing to a “smoking gun” about the possible unethical mix of government and politics that the GOP has put forth to date.
* There is, however, some other evidence that points to possible hinkiness. For instance, everybody who has testified so far has said they were under the impression that neighborhoods were chosen for grants “based on crime statistics.” But those statistics have never been explained because the DHS formula used to choose the neighborhoods was never found even after an extensive search by the Illinois Auditor General.
* Pretty much everybody testified yesterday (and today) that the haste in putting together the program had nothing to do with election day, but with getting the program up and running as fast as possible.
As we discussed yesterday, former IVPA Director Barbara Shaw said…
“Elected officials, presidents, governors often introduce initiatives and programs to respond to the needs of constituencies that they serve. So, it wasn’t a shock to me, that this was happening during that time. But I do want to say here, the governor’s office never told us who to give the money to, what communities to go in, what agencies should get that money. The elections did not play a role in where that money went to,” Shaw answered.
* But on October 25, 2010 - just days before the election - Barbara Shaw was doing all she could to pry loose some bigtime state money for the Violence Prevention Authority…
* Again, the standard response has been there was an “emergency” that needed to be addressed. Kids were being murdered, something needed to be done as fast as possible. And the number of shootings and stabbings was indeed still pretty significant as late as October. There were 35 Chicago homicides in October, which was more than the 31 in September, but far less than the 60 in August. Still, there were 42 in July, not much more than October.
So, for the moment anyway, let’s set aside the obvious failure of these hearings to meet some way too high GOP expectations, and try to just stick with…
* The Question: From what we know so far, do you believe that the roll-out of the NRI program was too overtly political and possibly illegal, or was it overtly political but within an historically accepted mixture of campaigning and government, or was it not political? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls
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* From a Quinn campaign e-mail entitled “GOP Witch Hunt Leaders’ Voting Records on Public Safety Issues”…
Senator Jason Barickman
· Voted against the Violence Prevention Task Force (98th - HB 2879 – one of only 4 Senators to vote “no”)
· Voted against the Grant Transparency and Accountability Act (98th - HB 2747)
· 92 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted against basic “lost and stolen” regulations on firearms (98th - HB 1189)
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
o Voted against a limit on sale of handguns within 30-day period (97th - HB 203)
o Voted against additional safety enhancements on concealed carry (98th – HB 1453)
· Voted against most measures to help ex-offenders get jobs after incarceration ends
o Voted against “ban the box” (98th - HB 5701)
o Voted against sealing records for non-violent offenders (98th - HB 2378)
o Voted against auto-expungement for juveniles (98th - SB 978)
o Voted against sealing of low level drug offenses, retail theft, and theft (98th - HB 3061)
o Voted against tax credits for employers who hire ex-felons (98th - SB 1659)
o Voted against second chance probation (98th - HB 3010)
o Voted against changing the age of delinquency from 17 to 18 (98th - HB 2404)
o Voted against allowing Medicaid enrollment for certain inmates pre-release (98th - HB 1046)
o Voted against legal immunity for individuals seeking treatment for drug overdose (97th – SB 1701)
o Voted against the Internet Dating Safety Act (97th - HB 4083)
o Voted against the DJJ ombudsman, which was created in response to the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (98th - SB 2352 – one of 6 “no” votes)
o Voted no on gang witness protection program (98th - HB 1139)
Representative Ron Sandack
· 83 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
Representative David Reis
· Voted against the Violence Prevention Task Force (98th - HB 2879 – one of only 6 Representatives to vote “no”)
· 100 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
o Voted against a limit on sale of handguns within 30-day period (97th - HB 203)
o Voted against basic “lost and stolen” regulations on firearms (98th - HB 1189)
o Voted against additional safety enhancements on concealed carry (98th – HB 1453)
o Voted against gun locks (94th - SB 1832)
· Voted against most measures to help ex-offenders get jobs after incarceration ends
o Voted against “ban the box” (98th - HB 5701)
o Voted against sealing records for non-violent offenders (98th - HB 2378)
o Voted against auto-expungement for juveniles (98th - SB 978)
o Voted against sealing of low level drug offenses, retail theft, and theft (98th - HB 3061)
o Voted against tax credits for employers who hire ex-felons (98th - SB 1659)
o Voted against second chance probation (98th - HB 3010 – one of 2 “no” votes)
o Voted for changing the age of delinquency from 17 to 18 (98th - HB 2404)
o Voted against eliminating prostitution as a felony (98th - SB 1872)
o Voted against redeploy in Cook County (98th - HB 2401)
o Voted against expungements for veterans (98th - HB 1548 - was a GOP bill)
o Voted against providing reentry services to ex-offenders (96th - HB 436)
o Voted against greater oversight for redeploy (96th - SB 1289)
o Voted against the establishment of reentry (94th - SB 554)
o Voted against GED good conduct credit for compliant parolees (95th – SB 1391)
· Voted against common-sense public safety measures
o Voted against legal immunity for individuals seeking treatment for drug overdose (97th – SB 1701)
o Voted against the Internet Dating Safety Act (97th - HB 4083)
o Voted against the amended DOC early release program (97th - SB 2621)
· Voted against creating the Department of Juvenile Justice (94th - SB 92)
· Voting against creating the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Act (94th - SB 2368)
I’m wondering now if the phrase “witch hunt” will come up during tonight’s gubernatorial debate.
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WARNING: Once seen, this can never be unseen
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A new mailer from Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC declares: “Chicago Democrats have been in charge of Illinois since leggings and headbands were the exercise fashion rage”…
If you can’t read it, at the bottom it says “Olivia Newton-Madigan.”
I’m sure y’all can come up with a better caption that that.
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Rate Mike Frerichs’ first TV ad
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s called “Measure”…
…Adding… The Illinois Republican Party has responded with a novella…
Frerichs Needs To Answer For Mistakes Made As Auditor
Bad Math & Patronage Scandals Highlight Frerichs’ Past
Chicago… State Senator and Democrat candidate for Treasurer Mike Frerichs has touted his financial experience and plans to deter the influence of special interests in the Treasurer’s office. But first, Frerichs has to answer for on-the-job errors that cost the taxpayers millions, and past instances of patronage that undercut his claims at reform, says Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider.
“As Auditor, Mike Frerichs missed the mark on an Early Retirement Initiative that he said would save Champaign County thousands, but it ended up costing taxpayers millions,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider. “Illinois simply cannot afford a Treasurer who is bad at math.”
In 2003, Champaign County Auditor Mike Frerichs was tasked with analyzing an Early Retirement Initiative (ERI) for Champaign County. Relying on the analysis and data from Auditor Mike Frerichs, the Champaign County Board approved the ERI plan and Frerichs supported the plan saying it is a “good tool to deal with budgetary problems for the county board.” (“County Board to Consider Offering Early Retirement,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 7/3/03)
Within a few short months, Frerichs’ analysis proved to be far off the mark as the plan failed to achieve savings and in fact created $2.45 million in new unfunded liabilities for the county.
The funding shortfall required the Champaign County Board to conduct a bonding issuance to pay off pension obligations for IMRF. The bonds to pay off the failed ERI program were finally paid off nine years later in January 2014 with a total cost to taxpayers of more than three million dollars. (Champaign County Budget)
Frerichs’ mistakes as Auditor were documented during the County Board debate to remove him as Champaign County’s agent with IMRF. Frerichs fought the dismissal, but it was approved by the County Board by a bipartisan vote of 17-5. (Champaign County Policy, Personnel and Appointments Committee – 9/6/2006, Champaign County Board Minutes – 9/21/2006)
Frerichs has continued to try to hide his mistakes made during the ERI. First, he blamed the cost to taxpayers on stock market returns after the ERI, until it was pointed out the market outperformed expectations. Then he said that he was only in charge of gathering data, when in fact he presented the plan to the Champaign County Board Finance Committee. (”Treasurer Race Heats Up Over Accusations of Mismanagement, Patronage,” The Associated Press, 8/12/14; Champaign County Board Finance Committee Minutes, 4/23/03)
“Mike Frerichs’ bad math cost Champaign County taxpayers millions,” said Schneider. “The simple truth is that Frerichs has neither the skill set nor experience to be Illinois Treasurer. He simply is not ready for the responsibility.”
Patronage & Alleged Ghost Payrolling
Mike Frerichs is at the epicenter of two of the most publicized and costly patronage scandals in recent Champaign County history. While Frerichs claims he wants to remove “clout” from the office of State Treasurer, his record is laced with reports of patronage, clout and ghost-payrolling that ended up costing taxpayers over $100,000.
CURT DEEDRICH
Frerichs Flexes Clout to Get Campaign Manager A Job
The Deedrich appointment three years ago stemmed from the dual desire of county board Democrats both to flex their newfound political muscle by filling county jobs with patronage appointments and to satisfy current state Sen. Mike Frerichs’ desire to find a good job for his former campaign manager. So in a controversial decision, board Democrats passed over a better-qualified employee in the supervisor of assessments office and named Deedrich to what had been a nonpolitical post. (“Deedrich Follies Are County Board’s Doing,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 6/10/07)
The Results Of Frerichs’ Patronage Program Called “A Disaster”
But he’s been such a disaster that it’s unlikely Deedrich will win reappointment when his term expires next year. That’s assuming he hasn’t been fired by then. (“County Positions Should Be Filled On Merit, Not Loyalty,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 4/6/07)
TONY FABRI
Frerichs Pushes Fabri For County Auditor Post
Fabri had the backing of two former auditors at the meeting, Frerichs and Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing. (“Champaign County Democrats Nominate Fabri For Auditor,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 1/4/07)
Fabri Decides He Doesn’t Need To Show Up For Work
County government telephone records indicate that Champaign County Auditor Tony Fabri has been missing from his office for well over half the workdays in the last year, including two different periods when he apparently was gone for more than a month. (“Phone Records Show County Auditor Frequently Absent,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/15/09)
And Frerichs Gives Fabri Advice On How To Avoid Ghost-Pay Rolling Criticism
Fabri said Frerichs, who preceded him as county auditor, warned there might be sniping about his attendance at work. “He said that when you start hearing complaints to just walk around Brookens and say ‘Hi’ to everyone and make sure that they see you,” Fabri recounted. (“Phone Records Show County Auditor Frequently Absent,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/15/09)
Frerichs Admits Fabri Doesn’t Show Up For Work And Doesn’t Do A Good Job, But Urges Voters To Support Him Anyway
Frerichs, a longtime ally of Fabri’s, urged voters to look beyond the charges of absenteeism against Fabri … “I’m not saying that the current auditor shows up every day and does the best job. (“Voters To Decide Whether To Keep Elected Auditor,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/29/11)
“Mike Frerichs’ past is filled with the exact same problems he’s claiming he’ll fix in the Treasurer’s office,” Schneider said. “But actions speak louder than words, and Mike Frerichs’ record paints a clearer picture than his campaign promises.”
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Front page news!
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* At first blush, this Bobby Schilling press release looks pretty darned serious…
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) has received a lot of help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—more than $1 million so far according to OpenSecrets.org. However, the DCCC’s advertising has come under fire for its dishonest content and false claims.
Now, the DCCC and its Chairman, Congressman Steve Israel (D-New York), are facing a House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation for a clear cut violation of House ethics rules in a TV ad attacking Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) on behalf of Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.
A Peoria taxpayer has filed an official complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics for the blatant violation of House ethics. The complaint is attached.
Jon Schweppe, communications director at Bobby Schilling for Congress, released the following statement:
“Now here’s a story deserving of a front page headline in Sunday’s paper,” Schweppe said. “Congresswoman Cheri Bustos should immediately condemn the DCCC for their incredibly false advertising as well as their blatant House ethics violation. Will Bustos stand up against the corrupt outside money she claims to so vehemently oppose?”
Wow. What could this front page-deserving story be?
* Well, read the complaint. Or check out Illinois Review’s report…
The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is being accused of violating U.S. House rules in using a photo of Bobby Schilling when he was a congressman sitting in a House committee in its most recent ad, “Heart.”
In the new ad, the DCCC infers that Bobby Schilling is responsible for Illinois losing thousands of jobs overseas.
Peoria resident Ruby Arms wrote in a complaint letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics mailed October 1 that, “The DCCC, a Member-driven political committee organized under House Rules, violated the rules regarding the use of House committee footage, as well as those governing the use of official resources for campaign activity and political gain. House Rule 114(b) explicity prohibits the use of committee footage as partisan political campaign material.”
Ms. Arms went on to urge the Office of Congressional Ethics to enforce rules and hold the DCCC, Chairman Steve Isarel and Members of the DCCC “accountable for the ethics violations they committed.”
Sigh.
The two candidates debate tonight at 6:30 on WQAD TV, which will stream it live on the interwebtubes. It’ll be the only televised debate of the campaign.
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Easily debunked claims
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Democratic Congressman Bill Enyart and GOP state Rep. Mike Bost debated last night in southern Illinois…
The debate got heated when Enyart said Bost supported Republican Paul Ryan’s budget.
“I never said I supported Paul Ryan’s budget. That is a lie,” Bost said.
* The full quote is at about the 20:50 mark in the debate video…
* Transcript…
“In the words of Ronald Reagan, ‘There you go again.’
“You did the same thing to Jason Plummer, but you’re not going to do it to me. I never said I supported the Ryan budget, and that is a lie.”
* The Democrats, however, point to Bost’s Facebook page, where he slams Enyart for not being sufficiently pro-coal. Included in that criticism is this…
The second bullet point is the important one, the Democrats say, because that rollcall is the Paul Ryan budget. So, while Bost didn’t exactly say that he supported the Ryan proposal, he slammed Enyart for voting against it because it would’ve been good for Illinois coal.
Bost also skipped an AARP debate to campaign with Ryan, the Democrats point out.
* Meanwhile, from the same debate…
At another point during the debate, Bost said Enyart was appointed general of the Illinois National Guard by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“Governor Blagojevich did not make me a general,” Enyart responded. He said he was selected by a board of generals and nominated by U.S. President George W. Bush.
* Um, from an August 31, 2007 press release…
Gov. Blagojevich appoints Brigadier General William L. Enyart as 37th Adjutant General; will lead Illinois Department of Military Affairs
SPRINGFIELD- Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today named Brigadier General William L. Enyart as the new 37th Adjutant General of Illinois. Enyart will command more than 13,000 Soldiers and Airmen of the Illinois National Guard. He will also serve as the Governor’s principal advisor on military matters and function as the director of the Department of Military Affairs. Enyart will assume command from Maj. Gen. Randal E. Thomas, who retires in September.
“General Enyart brings a wealth of military and civilian experience to the Illinois National Guard. He has served in the Illinois Army National Guard for more than 30 years in a wide variety of positions. Major General Randy Thomas performed an outstanding service to the Illinois National Guard, and I’m sure General Enyart will build upon that record, bringing leadership and vision to help the Illinois Army National Guard better serve and protect our state,” said. Gov. Blagojevich.
He can’t run away from that one.
…Adding… The Democrats point out Bost actually claimed that Blagojevich made Enyart a general, which, they say is not true. In that case, it was a botched Bost hit.
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* As we discussed yesterday, Jack Lavin’s personal e-mails show that the former state chief operating officer discussed the governor’s botched anti-violence initiative with the governor’s campaign team at least a handful of times.
Sen. Bill Brady, who lost to Quinn in 2010 and sits on the Legislative Audit Commission, had this to say at the time…
“I don’t think there’s been any question in anyone’s mind that the Quinn administration, his governmental staff and his political staff, used government resources to please certain constituencies that they hoped would increase the voter turnout and suppress the voter turnout for us prior to the election,”
That story was initially posted online shortly before 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon.
* Shortly afterward, at 2:18 pm, I received this e-mail from the Illinois Republican Party…
Moments ago, Barbara Shaw misled the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission. The Chicago Sun-Times reports Shaw saying:
“…the governor’s office never told us who to give the money to, what communities to go in, what agencies should get that money…”
Shaw’s statement is demonstrably false. Take a look:
The South Suburbs Were Added To NRI At The Direction Of The Governor’s Office. “After target communities for NRI were determined, the south suburbs requested to the Governor’s Office that its area be included in the Initiative. The Governor’s Office agreed and three townships were added.” (“Performance Audit State Moneys Provided To The Illinois Violence Prevention Authority For The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative,” Illinois Auditor General, 2/14, p. 13)
Hermosa Was Added To NRI In The Third Year At The Direction Of The Governor’s Office. “In a series of meetings in the fall and early winter of 2012, the same ICJIA staff met with Deputy Chief of Staff Toni Irving about the NRI program and other topics. At some of these meetings, a Governor’s staff member, George Letavish was present. During these meeting DCS Irving showed ICJIA staff various iterations of drafts of budgets for the NRI program identifying the amount of funding to go to each of the NRI lead agencies and amounts to be distributed by the lead agencies to subcontracting provider agencies. Hermosa was included on the list of communities to be funded in all iterations of the draft budget.” (ICJIA Response To Auditor Questions, 10/22/13)
* Check out the timestamp on this post in our ScribbleLive feed yesterday afternoon…
Yep. Just four minutes later, and about a half an hour after a member of the Legislative Audit Commission blasted Quinn for mixing government and politics in a gubernatorial campaign, the exact same question pushed by the IL GOP was brought up in a state legislative hearing by a GOP member of the commission.
I’m certain it was just a happy coincidence, though.
* By the way, Shaw had an explanation ready…
Shaw responded that the south suburbs were added “as a region,” but the governor had no influence over which groups would get the grants and how much each would receive. The governor decided that x amount would be sent to Chicago and x in the southern suburbs, but that’s it.
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*** LIVE COVERAGE *** NRI hearing
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Quinnsters successfully buried a story in a bunch of other stuff….
The Legislative Audit Commission hearing had been delayed since July at the request of federal prosecutors looking into the Quinn grant program. In a sign the probe continues, the Quinn administration acknowledged a new grand jury subpoena of emails and other records from a former top Quinn aide.
The federal request set a deadline of Nov. 4 — the same day Quinn asks voters to re-elect him as governor against Republican Bruce Rauner. The challenger has been using the legislative and federal probes into the program to try to chip away at what traditionally has been one of Quinn’s strengths, a reputation for integrity. […]
[Former DCEO Director Warren Ribley’s] emails and documents are being sought by federal prosecutors in the latest subpoena that Quinn officials released Wednesday. The request, dated Sept. 26, also seeks emails of Jack Cutrone, the current head of the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority. Ribley said he had not seen the new subpoena.
* Live video of the 9 o’clock hearings will be available at the GA’s main page. Subscribers have access to our own exclusive live video here. And here’s the ScribbleLive thingy…
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown on yesterday’s NRI hearing…
If Quinn is lucky, these latest revelations will do more to help him with African-American voters than the actual program did in 2010.
I’m not sure African-Americans ever realized how far Quinn stuck his neck out to try to help their communities.
But they certainly are getting the message this time that Quinn is in trouble for spending a lot of money to give jobs to their kids and to provide services in their neighborhoods.
The beginning of a backlash?
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