* A buddy of mine said he’d heard a Bill Brady ad on black radio. I asked if he could get me a copy. This was recorded off the radio and there’s a static spike near the beginning, so watch your speakers, but if you do nothing else today you absolutely, positively must listen to this…
Script…
Music lyrics: The time for change is now. We can show you how. Get in the groove, let’s make a move, with Bill Brady.
Narration: Now is the time to make a move in the right direction. It’s time for a change, but you can’t change or fix anything if you are part of the problem. Our last governor was part of the problem. So is our present governor. You can’t cut deals with everyone you think will help you get elected. We need a governor for all the people of Illinois that has a plan to get us out of, and keep us out of this mess we’re in. A governor who’s independent in policy, but dependable in times of need. It’s not about whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat. It’s about getting Illinois back on the right track. And Bill Brady is the one who can get the job done. So let’s make the right move with Bill Brady.
Music lyrics: Get in the groove, let’s make a move, with Bill Brady.
He’s no Rickey Hendon, but that’s quite a catchy tune.
* Our old friend Simon Edelman at the Quinn campaign sent a video over with this note…
Don’t be surprised if you see it this Tuesday on Glee.
I have no idea what that means, but the video/ad is pretty darned funny. And I mean intentionally funny, unlike Brady’s radio spot. Watch…
Oh, man. Some of those clips were painful to watch. Funny, but painful.
* As a commenter pointed out, Gov. Pat Quinn is the political version of a jam band. Maybe not a good jam band, but a jam band nonetheless. Here’s another long riff at the SJ-R editorial board…
* And here’s your exclusive preview of WBEZ’s “Best Game in Town.” From the producer….
Several congressional districts are up in the air and polling information has key Illinois districts trending republican. We talk with WBEZ’s Sam Hudzik about the local districts that may go blue. And this week, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews taped his show Hardball from the University of Illinois (Chicago). Steve Edwards sat down with the longtime cable talk show host to talk about the possibility of a congressional swing and to assess how President Obama is performing.
* Nobody in their right mind would suspect that Chicago’s early voting numbers this fall would even come close to matching 2008’s. Sure enough, it’s down, but it’s still way ahead of the 2006 totals…
As of Thursday, according to the Chicago Board of Elections, 28,476 people had cast ballots. That sounds good, but it’s not even one-third of the 103,000 who’d voted by this point in 2008, when a fellow named Barack Obama led the ballot.
Today’s figure roughly equals all of the early voting count in 2006. But early voting was in its infancy then.
You never compare off-year turnout to presidential years and you don’t do that with early voting, either. Top wards are 18 and 19.
* Cook County’s EV totals are ahead of 2006 as well…
County Clerk David Orr said 35,600 people had voted early as of Thursday, while 33,000 did so in 2006.
Early voting started Oct. 12 and ends Thursday.
“What’s significant about early voting so far is because for the first time in history, the suburbanites are voting heavier and earlier than the city folks,” Orr said.
That is interesting. Top EV sites are Orland Park and Matteson, the home of state treasurer candidate Robin Kelly.
* Also keep in mind that “no excuse” absentee voting is legal this year. You don’t have to leave your home to vote any longer. You just mail in your ballot, which is even easier than early voting, and that may impact EV totals. Lots of people are receiving mass absentee ballot applications in the mail. The Republican Party sent theirs out last week and the Democrats’ coordinated campaign mailed theirs this week.
But there was a problem with at least one group this year. They made a stupid mistake, and they’d better hope the Post Office works out the problem…
Some groups trying to take advantage of a new absentee voting law allowing people to cast a ballot by mail without having to give an excuse are having a few problems with their get-out-the-vote-efforts, elections officials said today.
An insert in today’s editions of RedEye (a Chicago Tribune publication) and the Chicago Reader aimed at encouraging younger city voters to fill out a pre-printed, mail-in request for an absentee ballot contained the wrong address for the Chicago Board of Elections. The mail-in form listed the board’s address as 69 N. Washington St., instead of 69 W. Washington St.
The newspaper insert was part of the “Vote Naked Illinois” voter outreach campaign sponsored by Equality Illinois, Rock the Vote and Roosevelt University.
Jim Allen, a spokesman for the city election board, said the office is working with the U.S. Postal Service in hopes that the absentee ballot applications will be delivered to the board offices.
You’d think that with all the money put into the “Vote Naked” campaign they’d have enough cash to hire a proofreader. Sheesh.
Chuck Goudie’s ABC7 piece this week on no excuse absentee voting was headlined “Open absentee voting concerns officials,” but the only official quoted said they’re keeping a close eye on things.
Have you received one of those mass absentee ballot applications yet?
* Meanwhile, the ACLU of Illinois claims the recall provision on the ballot next month violates the US Constitution. From a press release…
The group’s objection centers on the provision in the recall process that requires at least 100 registered voters from each of at least 25 separate counties to sign a petition in order to initiate the recall election process. The ACLU of Illinois argues that this requirement means that “signatures of electors in less populous counties have greater value than the signatures of electors in more populous counties.” This, the ACLU of Illinois notes, undermines the principle of “one person, one vote” that the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly required as part of the electoral process.
They make a good point about that. More…
The ACLU’s Grossman notes that voters in Illinois’ 24 most populous counties – which contains 6.4 million voters or 84% of registered voters – could not place a recall question on a future ballot – even if every voter in those 24 counties were supportive of recalling a sitting Governor. Voters in the remaining 78 counties – with only 1.2 million voters or 16% of registered voters – could gather the necessary 530,000 signatures (using the 2006 gubernatorial election as a guide) to begin a recall election. Grossman writes that “(t)his disparity clearly violates the one person, one vote principle.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but it makes sense. And a similar state petition provision was struck down by the US Supremes many years ago…
However, a 1969 U. S. Supreme Court – Moore v. Olgilvie – struck down Illinois’ requirement that candidates for office (in this case, presidential electors) garner petition signatures from at least 50 counties. The Court said that all voters must be treated equally, whether urban or rural, or whether they reside in sparsely settled or populous counties.
So, even if it passes, it may very well be doomed.
I am no longer undecided on this one.
But, frankly, it was only passed so legislators (mainly Democrats) could claim they voted for recall. Gov. Pat Quinn has also made the issue a big part of his campaign. This was little more than political cover. And poorly written at that.
* Related…
* Agreement reached: The Illinois State Board of Elections and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement after at least 35 of the state’s jurisdictions failed to mail absentee ballots to overseas voters before the national deadline.
* Vote early, vote easy: Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham is tallying more than 500 ballots a day, with an eye to possibly hitting 1,000 a day as voters have embraced early voting.
* Election Day is over for millions of early voters
* Muslim Americans rally to get out vote - Leaders hope to turn frustration into action this fall
* I’ve been hearing tons of rumors about Scott Lee Cohen trying to buy off African-American ministers, but two ministers confirmed it to CBS2…
Two ministers say the offer was made by a Cohen supporter and by someone who worked for the campaign in the past. It was simple, they say, throw their support behind Cohen at a news conference and they would get cold, hard cash in return.
Chicago minister Rev. Gregory Lee says he’d never had an offer quite like it before.
“It was in the form of cash,” he said.
On Tuesday, while attending a meet-and-greet with independent candidate for governor Scott Lee Cohen, Lee says one of Cohen’s supporters and a one-time campaign worker told him Lee would get at least $500 if he publicly backed Cohen. Lee says it seemed to him that the worker was trying to buy his support. […]
CBS 2 spoke with Reverend James Jones by phone, since he was out of town, who said he received the same offer.
Cohen’s campaign told CBS2 that it didn’t authorize any cash payments.
Not good at all. The Cohen campaign probably just bought itself an investigation.
* WGN TV also had a similar story last night. Rev. Lee told WGN that he was offered $500 and claims he saw people receiving cash. The state’s attorney is reportedly looking into the allegations. Watch it.
*** UPDATE *** From the Cohen campaign…
Independent gubernatorial candidate Scott Lee Cohen will hold a news conference this afternoon at his campaign headquarters. Cohen is prepared to answer questions about erroneous reports that his campaign made financial commitments to a group of Chicago area pastors for their support.
“Nothing could be further from the truth”, says Cohen. In fact, Cohen will produce video evidence that will refute any suggestions that his campaign made any financial commitments to the group of pastors who attended a “Meet and Greet” event at Dusties Restaurant in suburban Matteson on Tuesday.
The pastor who organized the event, Reverend Marvin Alexander of Union Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, will also be present at the news conference.
A campaign spokesman blamed the miscue on an overworked campaign aide.
“This was an inadvertent overlooking of a critical deadline,” said John Davis. “With two weeks left in the campaign, things start swirling around.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections, which regulates campaign laws, typically fines first-time offenders $500 as long as they file within 10 days of the deadline. The disclosure law is aimed at giving voters information about where candidates are getting money for their campaigns.
Davis said Cohen’s reports will be filed by Friday.
“We’re not sweating the small fine,” Davis said.
OK. Way to bring the heat on yourself, Scott.
* As I’ve told you before, many of the “employers” attending Cohen’s “job fairs” are multi-level marketers. Fox Chicago reports that some of those companies even want up-front cash…
The jobs message resonated with people like Amanda Musfelt of Rockford, a college graduate and mother of three who has been trying unsuccessfully to get back into the workplace. At our request, Musfelt joined hundreds of job seekers who attended Cohen’s job fair in Rockford on Oct. 5 […]
She also found some of the companies aren’t just paying you– they want you to pay them, asking for up-front fees for supplies and training seminars.
“I don’t remember the numbers,” Musfelt said. “I heard a $250 thrown out there, and you make it back in three months, three times that. Not the job I’m looking for. I don’t have $250.”
Usually around this point in a campaign, some pundit will spout off about how undecided voters ought to just stay home on Election Day if they haven’t yet made up their minds.
For crying out loud, the argument goes, if you can’t come to a conclusion after seeing all the ads and reading all the stories, then why foist your uninformed views on the rest of us?
Normally, I might agree with those snarky types. But not this year.
For one, the news media just haven’t done their job, so I can’t blame the masses for being underinformed. The Chicago media have been so wrapped up in covering next year’s mayor’s race that they’ve ignored this year’s state races. And by foolishly focusing on Rahm Emanuel’s every breath, they’ve screwed up their coverage of two elections at the same time. That has to be some kind of record.
But here’s my little secret. I’m completely undecided. I really have no clue who I’m voting for at the top of the ticket. And I have no excuses about being uninformed. Politics is not only my job but my life, so I read just about everything published about every candidate. I’ve read their position papers, I’ve listened to their interviews, I’ve watched all the debates.
Some might say I’ve just overloaded my brain with too much information. But I do that every year. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a problem with the candidates. Not me.
If Gov. Quinn is elected and proceeds to govern the next four years like he has the last two, we’ll never dig ourselves out of this hole.
Quinn has enormous trouble making a decision, and when he finally does make up his mind he more often than not flip-flops, then flip-flops again. I’ll need to buy a neck brace if he gets four years. And our state’s serious structural problems may never be solved.
And then there’s Bill Brady. This man has yet to show me that he has even a tiny bit of a clue about what he faces if he’s sworn in. You can’t balance the state’s completely out of whack budget in one year with a 10 percent cut and a billion-dollar tax reduction. Not without a truckload of magic beans anyway.
That other newspaper’s Brady endorsement was extremely telling. Pretty much the entire editorial focused on how bad Quinn is. They essentially just crossed their big blue fingers and hoped for the best from Brady without any real evidence. I’m not willing to do that.
Moving to the U.S. Senate race, we have Mark Kirk the policy wonk without a moral center vs. Alexi Giannoulias the policy lite juvenile.
We haven’t had a person as credentialed as Kirk run for the Senate here since the sainted Paul Simon. And yet, his outright and repeated fabrications about his military service record turn my stomach. I can report on him without a problem, but I just can’t bring myself to vote for him.
Giannoulias has been running for Senate for more than a year now and yet I always get the feeling that he’s the kid who shows up for finals without ever cracking open his textbook. Charm is not enough in the world’s most elite legislative chamber. Hard work and long hours of study are required to succeed. Giannoulias is too often embarrassingly unprepared, even when he has been asked the same questions before.
None of these people are all bad. Quinn’s heart is as big as the state. Brady really does want to try to fix what’s wrong.
Kirk is an earnest hard worker. Giannoulias has shown a real capacity to empathize with people less fortunate than himself.
But none of that is enough.
I don’t expect politicians to be perfect or even close to perfect. But these four guys don’t even measure up to Illinois’ normally low standards.
Candidates are supposed to grow during a campaign. These guys have shrunk.
Rock Island County States Attorney Jeff Terronez has been pulled from at least one campaign ad, while Illinois State Police look into allegations that involve buying alcohol and partying with underage girls.
A source close to the case says the allegations center around a 19-year old junior college student, and a 17-year old high school student, both under the legal drinking age of 21.
Mr. Terronez Thursday said he couldn’t comment on any investigation or allegations.
Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Chief Justice Tom Kilbride confirmed Mr. Terronez’s taped endorsement was edited out of his campaign commercial on October 1st.
* I’m not sure how many points are behind this ad, but Bill Brady just released a new and positive spot called “Im the guy.” Rate it…
* The new TV ad from Karl Rove’s CrossroadsGPS is about the mob banker stuff…
* MoveOn is running an ad for Alexi Giannoulias that brings up “the corporate front groups” trying to “buy” the election…
* And here’s something you should definitely watch unless you’re a media pro. UIS Assistant Professor of Business Administration Jorge Villegas talks about emotions in advertising. Have a look…
According to numbers released Thursday by the Project on Student Debt, four-year college grads in the United States, on average, graduated in 2009 with $24,000 in student loan debt, a record high.
At the same time, they moved into a work world with an 8.7 percent national unemployment rate for college graduates ages 20 to 24 — the highest annual rate on record, according to the student loan project, put together by the California-based nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success.
In Illinois, the average debt for college seniors graduating in 2009 was about $22,000, according to institute’s study, which looked at students who graduate from public and private nonprofit four-year colleges with loans.
Possible fraud, and a failure by Cook County officials to police government contracts, have excluded women- and minority-owned businesses from getting a legal piece of the pie. […]
One unidentified business owner claimed, “I have been offered $75,000 a year to have the name of my company used on contracts without performing under the contract,” according to the report. The unidentified owner declined the payoff.
The redevelopment at Diversey and Clybourn will be one-third public housing, with the remainder to be determined through developers and community input, the CHA said.
The mixture has been a point of contention, with some residents wanting the development to be 100 percent public housing.
Sneed hears Cook County investigators hauled boxes of hard drives and photo electronic devices out of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s executive office at 118 N. Clark St., after business hours Thursday evening.
Sweep ‘em: Sneed is told they were concerned computer files/equipment may have been removed after a private company reportedly swept Stroger’s offices for eavesdropping devices Wednesday night. Stay tuned.
Monroe County Coroner Julie Gummersheimer is reported to be in stable condition after initially being in critical condition in a St. Louis County hospital, according to media reports.
The Monroe County Independent said that Gummersheimer was in St. Anthony’s Medical Center with an illness that began with pneumonia.
* After last night’s debate, most TV newscasts included this Bill Brady quote about former Rod Blagojevich guys Juan Ochoa and Dean Martinez, who had hosted a fundraiser for him…
“They are good people who care deeply about their community and their state. And i look forward to their guidance.”
That didn’t sit well with four people who’ve been behind Latinos for Brady. They sent out a press release this morning calling on their candidate to “sever all ties with the former Blagojevich cronies.” An excerpt…
We cannot allow our party and its standard bearer to be misled back to the days where pay-to-play politics ruled our state.
It is well known that both Dean Martinez and Juan Ochoa were major fundraisers for Governor Blagojevich. It is also well known that both organized one of the last fundraisers for Blagojevich just three days before the former Governor was arrested in December 2008. It is unconscionable to us and to the voters of Illinois that the Brady for Governor campaign accept any tainted contribution, monetary or other, from such individuals who played by Governor Blagojevich’s illicit and illegal rules.
We believe that Senator Brady was misled and misinformed about these individuals and call upon his campaign to return any funds raised by these Blagojevich associates and sever ties with them immediately. Neither Martinez nor Ochoa is Republican, but more importantly, they do not represent the hard working citizens and business owners of the Latino Community in Illinois.
Ouch.
I’ve been waiting for a Brady campaign response for a while. Nothing yet. I’ll post it here when I get it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** And here’s the response…
While the Brady campaign welcomes the vocal and public support of all volunteers and supporters, these gentlemen do not speak for our campaign, and use of our campaign letterhead was not sanctioned. We remain grateful to all Hispanics for Brady volunteers and to the Republican National Hispanic Assembly for supporting Bill Brady’s plan to bring all factions together to secure prosperity and opportunity for all.
As today’s New York Times correctly points out, Pat Quinn cannot shake his public defense of his two-time running mate Rod Blagojevich as an “honest” politician of “integrity,” and his 11th hour attempt to exploit and divide our Latino community for his political gain just won’t work.
On the eve of this important election, Bill Brady believes it’s time for supporters and volunteers alike to put aside the old divisions and come together to defeat political insider Pat Quinn.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Joseph P. Galvan, who is listed on the letter…
First let me say that Steve Galvan and I both support Bill unequivocally.
We never saw the statement until Lou sent it to me after it was sent to everyone else.
The statement is divisive and does not represent Steve nor my positions on this issue. We are working to bring everyone in the Latino community together to change the direction of this state. We just want to be on record that we disassociate ourselves from this press release.
Joseph P. Galvan,
Joseph P. Galvan, Principal Galvan and Associates
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* From the bizarre to the crazy. Al Reynolds’ campaign website claims that he “helped organize the East Central Illinois Tea Party Patriots.” His network helped him run a write-in campaign that landed him on the 52nd Senate District ballot as the Republican opponent of Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign). But Reynolds went way off script last night at a candidates forum…
The Republican candidate for state Senate in the 52nd District said Wednesday night that black men “find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education.” […]
After the forum had ended, Reynolds repeated his comments.
“Look at the number of black men who opt out of getting a job and opt out of higher education. They don’t even make it out of high school because the lucrative drug trade is so rampant that it’s just easy for them to fall into that. What are the avenues for the black man to get out of the ghetto? He becomes a star athlete or he does drugs. I mean very few men of the black race get out of that ghetto through education.
“The women do. The women do because, number one, they’re forced to because they don’t have anybody to take care of them. They do a good job. A lot of the women are very good about getting out and getting an education. The men just have a more … you know, the lure of high money because it’s high money in drugs without having to pay the price of going to school.”
And, get this. The forum was co-sponsored by the NAACP.
[Sigh.]
You remember that big fight with the NAACP over racist elements within the tea party? Well, it looks like the NAACP found one. Heck, he came right to them.
The Champaign County GOP chairman has called on Reynolds to resign from the ballot. I think it’s too late for that. The chairman and the local party never really supported Reynolds, and it doesn’t appear that the Senate Republicans have given him any help beyond some minor early assistance from a group that is working with SGOP candidates this year.
* Speaking of tea partiers, Democratic Congressman Phil Hare has posted some audio of Republican congressional candidate Bobby Schilling agreeing to shut down as many “progressive agencies” - going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt - as he can…
Mayor Jim Ardis may have committed a misdemeanor and subsequent felony by using what appeared to be official city stationery recently to request campaign donations on behalf of a judicial candidate, State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said Wednesday.
Ardis said he didn’t know he was breaking the law.
Ardis confirmed that on Oct. 8, on paper with the city of Peoria letterhead, the city logo and “office of the Mayor” across the top, he wrote and mailed a letter requesting money for John Vespa’s campaign for 10th Judicial Circuit Judge against Democrat Chris Spanos. The letter, distributed to 200 people from Ardis’ personal campaign database, is signed by him and followed with the City Hall address.
When first asked by the Journal Star why he sent the fundraising request on city letterhead, Ardis responded, “Because I support (Vespa). I’m the mayor. Why not?”
He noted he paid for the copies, envelopes and postage and the city letterhead was from a Word document on his home computer. “That’s not the first time I’ve sent out letters asking for support. I use mayor letterhead for a lot of stuff,” Ardis said.
I’m just speechless. What elected official doesn’t know this law?
Americans take control of a League of Women Voters Forum much to the chagrin and dismay of the moderator.
How is it these folks who hold these forums (and who stridently choke the debate process) can be so clueless on what it means to be an American.
The League of Women Voters got schooled October 20th, 2010 in Grayslake Illinois on what it means to be an American.
The League can be goofy and inept, but I’m pretty darned sure their members are good Americans.
* The Sun-Times’ Abdon Pallasch made a wisecrack at a City Club gathering this week about Bill Brady’s infamous puppy bill. The gist of Abdon’s remark was if you kill one puppy or ten puppies at a time what’s the difference because they’re still dead. Make sure to check out the audience’s reaction. Wow. There’s no embed because the CS-T’s player wreaks havoc with my site, but click here to watch. Abdon’s comments start at just before the 23 minute mark.
Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias today accused his Republican opponent of “economic treason” for raising money from U.S. businessmen in China the day before a Congressional vote on overseas business, prompting GOP Rep. Mark Kirk to respond that Giannoulias is running a dishonorable campaign.
Kirk’s fundraiser was held not in China but via Internet video conferencing and the event was scheduled long before Kirk’s May 28 vote, his campaign said. The fundraiser with 12 citizens working in Beijing raised about $6,000—a drop in $12 million he has raised so far.
Giannoulias refused to back away from his accusation tying Kirk’s vote to the money. He said Kirk has put China’s interest ahead of that of the United States.
“It can be called nothing but an act of economic treason,” said Giannoulias, the state’s treasurer who receives labor’s support.
“He raises money from corporate executives in Beijing one day, and the next day sold out American jobs to China to return a favor.”
“That’s not the vote of someone who is representing the interests of Illinois families ,” Giannoulias said. “It is the vote of someone who is representing the economic interests of Beijing.”
Kirk staffers counter that the fundraiser, which generated less than $6000, was scheduled weeks before the vote. They contend he opposed the bill because it increased spending by $102 billion, and added $54 billion to the national debt.
“If he wants to say that’s a coincidence, I’d say it’s a very interesting coincidence,” Giannoulias insisted, sticking to his allegation that the vote was a direct quid-pro-quo for the fundraiser which took place the day before.
When I posted my own story yesterday, I thought the whole vote and fundraiser thing was a rather curious coincidence. I was also fascinated with the fact that so many internal leaks have sprung out of the Kirk campaign this year.
But calling somebody a traitor is truly beyond the pale in politics. Giannnoulias ought to apologize.
* Yesterday, PPP’s poll had Bill Brady leading Gov. Pat Quinn by one point, 42-41. Today, the Pollster Who Shall Not Be Named has Brady ahead by eight points, 45-37. The pollster once again omitted Libertarian Lex Green and used “some other candidate” instead. But “other” only received one percent of the vote, which is the same result for Mr. Green in PPP’s poll, so we’ll bust the Rasmussen embargo for today.
* The Question: What’s your own prediction for the final spread between Brady and Quinn?
* This new DSCC ad is already stirring up a hornet’s nest. Watch…
The NRSC’s torrid response…
“The facts are clear: Only one candidate in this race honorably served our nation’s military, while the other loaned millions of dollars to known criminals and lost millions of dollars in Illinois’ college savings program. The Democrats are trying to smear the record of a decorated service member in an effort to prop up a failed mob banker who has never worn a military uniform for one single day in his life. This ad is shameful, and it’s offensive to all of the men and women who have bravely served our nation’s armed forces.” – Amber Marchand, NRSC Press Secretary
The Republicans tried to get out in front of this two days ago with a friendly leak…
Just in case you didn’t think the Illinois Senate race could sink any lower, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is planning to launch a final ad campaign featuring a “veteran” to attack Mark Kirk’s service record. […]
More importantly, where is the outrage?
Alexi Giannoulias never served. He has never put his own life on the line for the United States of America. Mark Kirk has – repeatedly.
As the Chicago Tribune recently noted, “All of us do, though, know that Kirk has a record of service, military and congressional, that is 100 percent verifiable. As a naval intelligence officer, he has put his life on the line for this nation.”
Will veterans stand for this? A man who never served recruiting veterans to smear a fellow veteran for political gain? Will the mainstream media catch on and finally call out Giannoulias for going over the line? We’ll see.
Turns out, though, they had a lot of veterans in the ad, not just one.
I kid you not. Seriously. That’s the Tribune’s headline. From the story…
During the [”Hardball with Chris Matthews”] show, Matthews quizzed Giannoulias for more than 10 minutes about Obama, Iraq and Afghanistan before asking the question some Chicagoans have also begun to ask: Would former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel make a good mayor for Chicago?
Dodging the question, Giannoulias said, “I am focused on Nov. 2.”
Thanks, Tribune. 13 days out and that’s what you wrote about yesterday. I truly cannot thank you enough.
* I told you yesterday that, at my request, Public Policy Polling tested House Speaker Michael Madigan’s favorables…
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Michael Madigan?
18% Favorable
52% Unfavorable
30% Not sure
Oof.
* Favorable ratings are different than job approval ratings, but take a look at these results from a Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll taken September 8 through October 9, 2009…
40.4% Approve
42.6% Disapprove
17.1% No opinion
Again, faves and job approves are different types of ratings, but it seems pretty clear to me that Madigan is on a downward spiral. No surprise, considering all the bad press he’s received and the mess this state is in. The Tribune has been calling for his head on an almost weekly basis for months, including yesterday…
If you don’t like the way Mike Madigan runs this state, you can’t vote him out. He even engineered his own Republican opponent on the ballot.
That doesn’t mean the rank and file are innocent bystanders. If you’re not convinced your local lawmaker is working hard to bust the status quo — you can check our candidate questionnaires for guidance — then go ahead, throw the bum out. Insist that your lawmaker commit to a fair electoral map, or term limits, or both. And send a message to Madigan and Cullerton: Give us competitive elections, or get out.
Madigan is far better known than he used to be, and people don’t like what they’re seeing.
* Let’s drill down into the PPP poll, shall we? Even his own party members don’t care for the guy…
This crosses racial lines as well…
What jumped out at me in the age crosstab is that the people who know about him the most like him less…
Many jeered when Flider, asked for whom he would vote for speaker of the House, answered with: “It’s hard to say who you’re going to vote for for speaker of the House when you don’t know who’s running.”
Although, they could’ve also booed because Rep. Fllider was insulting their intelligence. I don’t blame them. Still, notice how Flider - who’s getting a shipload of Madigan money this season - ran away from the Speaker as best he could.
“If the viewers are happy with the way Illinois is going, elect Pat Quinn. But if you want an Illinois that looks more like an Indiana or a Tennessee - a state that can turn the page - we need new leadership in Springfield.”
Now, Brady wasn’t saying that we’d be better off if we were Hoosiers or whatever Tennesseans call themselves. He was trying to make the point, I think, that those states are run well. It’s part of his standard stump speech…
One of the states that Brady looks to is Indiana; others are Texas and Tennessee.
“States that have learned to live within their means,” as Brady put it.
There are undoubtedly many things Illinois can learn from those other states. We are certainly no beacon of hope for the rest of the world.
Still, even though I love my Aunt Jean and Uncle Mike very much, I’ve never wanted to move to their Indiana home state. And while I’ve traveled to Tennessee and like the place, I have zero desire to live there. I think that’s why Brady’s comment may have bugged me and some of you. I, for one, chose to stay here in the early 1980s when jobs were beyond scarce and some of my friends and family were heading south to Texas and Florida. If I wanted to live in Texas, or anywhere else, I’d move there. Well, not now. I’m kinda stuck in this golden cage of my own construction.
* State Individual Income Tax Rates: Illinois, 3%; Indiana, 3.4%, Tennessee, 6% …ADDED BY ZORN: note that the table in the link above doesn’t account for a fact found elsewhere on the Tax Foundation website, that “Tennessee’s personal income tax system consists of a flat 6% rate on exclusively dividend and interest income. No other personal income is subject to state taxation.” As a result, Tennessee’s per capita state income tax is $47, Illinois’ $806 and Indiana’s $760 — income disparities explain the Illinois and Indiana figures
* Per capita income –Illinois, $46,693; Indiana $37,279; Tennessee, $38,090
Higher state tax rates and way lower per capita income.
* Keep in mind, however, that few people actually watched the debate last night. Check out the numbers for Tuesday’s US Senate debate…
The debate hosted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos scored a 5.0 rating (175,000 households).
That easily beat the 2.8 rating (98,000) “The David Letterman Show” pulled on WBBM-Channel 2 and the 2.5 rating (87,500) for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on WMAQ-Channel 5.
That’s a solid TV rating, but 175,000 households ain’t a lot of people in the grand scheme of things. And since nobody covered the Indiana/Tennessee thing except Eric and myself, the only way people who didn’t watch would ever know about it is if Pat Quinn put it into a TV ad, which I seriously doubt he’d do.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** From The Business Insider, based on data from Joshua Ruah an associate professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University….
11 State Pension Funds That May Run Out of Money
#1 Illinois
Year pension fund runs out: 2018
Bill in the following year: $13.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 32% […]
#3 Indiana
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $3.6 billion
Share of state revenue: 17%
#4 New Jersey
Year pension fund runs out: 2019
Bill in the following year: $14.4 billion
Share of state revenue: 34%
Ernst & Young also found that executive compensation programs were not monitored by internal audit, a board sub-committee or outside advisers “to evaluate for compliance with policies, procedures and controls.”
In a response included as part of the audit, Metra said it already has implemented “many of the report’s recommendations” since Mr. Pagano’s suicide, and stressed that the report “found no violation of any laws, regulations or ordinances.”
A source close to the situation said auditors recently discovered the unaccounted funds and told SWANCC officials the suspicious activity all occurred within the last year.
It is unclear whether the discrepancy was uncovered through the agency’s annual audit or whether a special audit was conducted.
Wright, of Naperville, said she had served in her job without blemish since 1999, but that disciplinary action was taken against her in the wake of two reports she submitted in the last two years.
In 2009, she reported that there was “credible evidence” the administrator had a relationship with a tollway vendor “that might raise a conflict of interest,” and that the administrator also “verbally mistreated” a toll employee he supervised. This year, she reported that the administrator had retaliated against an employee for participating in the 2009 investigation.
Wright said she was demoted on May 12, 2010, after being told that the new political leadership at the agency wanted to choose its own person, but the position never was filled.
But while the form explicitly says “REQUIRED,” district officials said they were just strongly suggesting that participants cough up some support as part of the newly launched “Say Yes to CPS!” campaign.
Schools chief Ron Huberman said the school district is not trying to force any of the volunteers to pay for their participation.
Weis did not say which police districts stand to lose officers and which districts stand to gain. He would only say that some districts “have an additional number of police officers above and beyond what analysis has proven they actually need. So we can move some of those officers to a district where analysis has shown they need some more.”
Police Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th) applauded Weis for confronting an issue that his predecessors took pains to avoid.
Mark Donahue is police union president. He says Weis’ Friday night press conference was held in haste and that he didn’t conduct a proper investigation.
Lane is accused in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this year of misrepresenting key details in a bid to get a loan to help finance a $35 million real estate deal — designed to buy nearly 600 apartment units in 25 buildings and turn them into affordable housing in the Auburn-Gresham, Chat- ham, Roseland and South Shore neighborhoods. The deal was one of the largest projects attempted by the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation, whose chairman is Finney.
In 2001, Lane was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for lying to get loans to save his South Side shopping center.
Beavers, a storied 75-year-old Chicago Democrat, said Wednesday that he used his $1,200-a-month expense allowance to boost his income until it attracted media attention in late 2008.
“I used it as income and paid taxes,” he said in a telephone interview.
The commissioner said he did not know what prosecutors were after with the latest subpoena.
The Denver attorney hired by Mayor Daley to oversee city hiring — only to be stripped of that responsibility and resign — is embroiled in a new dispute with City Hall. This time, it’s over unemployment compensation.
Anthony Boswell filed for unemployment last month to obtain weekly benefits of $534 for 26 weeks, based on his $161,856-a-year salary.
* Peoria City Council is responsible for making call on residency
“Ultimately, the issue is one of where it’s a person’s permanent residence,” Ray said. “It’s up to the City Council.”
Ray’s comments come one day after an order of protection filed against 5th District City Councilman Dan Irving listed his address in Hanna City, not within the district he represents.
The three main items that were disputed and reinstated were $40,000 plus another $4,555 in the sheriff’s budget, which will maintain the DARE; $74,500 to the University of Illinois 4-H program; and $126,784 to reinstate courthouse office hours from the proposed 32 to 40.
There were a total of $270,000 additions to the proposed budget. On Wednesday, County Treasurer Melissa Andrews said the total appropriations for 2011 was $6,681,163 million.
The levee improvement project being coordinated by the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention District has an estimated cost of $160 million to $170 million. The project is a response to new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps and guidelines, which would decertify the region’s levees and significantly increase the cost of flood insurance for property owners if the levees are not upgraded.
The County Board also on Wednesday voted to sue FEMA over the new flood maps. The lawsuit will allege that FEMA has no justification to decertify the levees. The Flood Prevention District Council’s leaders have said FEMA refuses to provide evidence for decertifying the levees.
* NBC5: Quinn, Brady Spar on Jobs, Ethics: In his opening statement Quinn outlined his main themes — job creation, compassionate governance — while accusing Brady of “reckless” budget plans and legislating in his own interests. “I’ve created jobs,” Quinn said. “I’ve brought honesty to the governor’s office.” Brady, in retort, accused Quinn of failing to create jobs in Illinois, leading the state into a record $13 billion deficit, and running a “secret” government that isn’t accountable to the people.
* Tribune: Quinn, Brady lash out on ethics, taxes, education at governor debate: Quinn accused Brady of voting to help his real estate development business. Brady offered his strongest response yet, flatly denying there was any problem with him voting three times for improvements around a planned highway interchange in Champaign that was near land he was working to develop. “There was no conflict of interest in these pieces of legislation,” Brady said. “I’m above that.” Afterward, Brady said he does “not regret voting for those three pieces of legislation.”
* Rockford TV: Gubernatorial Debate Gets Heated: The word “spending” dominated the debate between the two candidates for governor. “This is a house of cards, the governor is not being transparent, he’s spending money recklessly and Illinoisans are going to have to pay for it” says republican candidate for governor, Bill Brady. “I’ve cut more than any other governor in Illinois; I’ve cut my own pay” says Governor Pat Quinn.
* Daily Herald: Hot-button issues at center of governor debate: State Sen. Bill Brady, a Bloomington Republican, told moderator Ron Magers and panelists at the ABC 7/League of Women Voters debate that he is proud of his social beliefs opposing abortion in the cases of rape and incest, and opposing civil unions and gay marriage but is not “using them to divide Illinois.”
* Sun-Times: Brady rips Quinn for handing out big construction checks: GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady Wednesday ripped Gov. Quinn’s barnstorming tour of vote-rich areas during the past two weeks to hand out multimillion-dollar construction checks. Brady, the state senator from Bloomington, accused his Democratic rival of ticking down the campaign season clock by using one of the advantages of incumbency: doling out money from last year’s $31 billion capital construction program. Since the start of this month, Quinn has crisscrossed the state, handing out $368 million in construction funds. That total doesn’t include another $73 million in state or federal allotments that were the basis for Quinn press conferences… Quinn denied using the projects that benefit the city’s South and West sides and areas far Downstate — areas where the governor is trying to gin up voter turnout for his campaign — for political gain.
* ABC7: Quinn, Brady trade jabs in ABC7 debate: During one question, the governor learned of a link between Senator Brady and Dean Martinez, a former deputy to ousted Rod Blagojevich. “I really was surprised to learn that the former deputy to Rod Blagojevich was hosting a secret fundraiser for Senator Brady,” said Quinn. “Governor Quinn is drawing for straws. These are fine people. Let me talk about governor Quinn,” said Brady.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Quinn campaign…
But the bombshell of the evening came when moderator Rebecca Sanchez asked Senator Brady about a secret fundraiser thrown for him by Rod Blagojevich’s Deputy Governor.
In public, Brady denounces the entire Blagojevich administration. But privately, Brady is attending secret political fundraisers thrown for him by Blagojevich aides. The hypocrisy was not lost on voters.
Brady is one of the most right wing, partisan members of the General Assembly. But when it comes to secret fundraising, Brady is more than willing to cross party lines.”
* Bill Brady’s quote on Juan Ochoa and Dean Martinez…
“I believe they are leaders in the Latino community. They did host a fundraiser for me… They are good people who care deeply about their community and their state. And i look forward to their guidance.”
Guidance? Really?
From a friend…
I get the strategy, but those guys are transactional
CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov reports that while publicly, Brady has been criticizing Quinn for his association to Rod Blagojevich, behind the scenes, one of Blagojevich’s former top aides has been raising money for him.
Dean Martinez is his name. And Bill Brady admits Blagojevich’s former deputy governor has been helping his fundraising efforts. Brady says he doesn’t see any hypocrisy in that alliance. Gov. Quinn sees it another way.
“We’d like to know more details about that,” said Quinn. “Apparently, the only time he wants to deal with the Blagojevich administration is when it comes to raising money for himself. We need some answers there.”
“Gov. Quinn is drawing for straws, these are fine people,” said Brady.
