* Oh, heck. I forgot to post a question. Let’s do this one: AP…
Smoking will be banned indoors and out on all Illinois public college and university campuses starting next summer under legislation signed yesterday by Gov. Pat Quinn.
Quinn said the measure, which takes effect July 1, 2015, applies to all state-supported schools and will protect students’ health and help nonsmokers avoid unwanted smoke “on the campuses they call home.”
Smoking still will be permitted inside privately owned vehicles and during some activities protected by the federal American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
Health officials praised the law, saying it could help reduce smoking rates.
* The Question: Do you agree or disagree with this smoking ban? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* The Sun-Times has some video of Bruce Rauner during which Rauner says he wanted to punch somebody for allegedly trying to keep him out of Chicago’s annual Greek Independence Day parade…
“I was the only Republican in this parade. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in line. You know what Pat Quinn said: ‘Holy cow, Rauner’s coming after my base. You know, I’m out working ‘em, I’m working ‘em. He’s running around chasing me … he’s never been to a Greek parade in his life. He came to that parade because he said, “Uh-oh, Rauner’s taking my votes.’”
“You know what, they tried to, his people tried to kick me out of the parade. You know what, it’s the closest I’ve come to punching someone in this race. I said, I said I ain’t leaving this parade, this is not a Democratic parade, this is a Greek-American parade, and I’m working for every family in this state. You know what, I pushed those guys aside, we went to the front of that parade, high-fives and selfies all up and down. You know what, they were clapping and cheering. They loved every part of the message.”
Quinn’s people say the governor has indeed marched in the Greek Independence Day Parade in the past. They say the governor did not order or attempt to kick Rauner out of any parade.
“The Governor has attended numerous Greek events in recent years and throughout his career, including the Greek Independence Day Parade in 2010 and most recently on March 30 along with his Greek-American running mate Paul Vallas,” says campaign spokeswoman Brooke Anderson. “Mr. Rauner has a history of making things up in his stump speeches and his negative attack ads, so we’re not surprised he is continuing that trend.”
I tried calling the group which runs the parade, but its phone number is disconnected.
*** UPDATE *** Blogger and frequent commenter Louis G Atsaves in comments…
For those who think Rauner was making this up, I beg to differ. I was there as a marcher. My group was marching just behind the “dignitaries” line, where Rauner and Quinn were nearly next to each other.
One of the parade marshals ordered the Rauner marchers that were between the dignitaries and my group off the street and moved them out to the curb.
My group was right behind them and I was carrying a State Flag. I waived the Rauner group back in, told the marshall something unprintable and they then marched the rest of the parade directly in front of my group.
No other “political” group was treated like that in that particular parade.
When everyone reached the parade stand, the Rauner group was announced twice, once where they should have been, and a second time when the MC (Anna Davlantis) noticed them in their new spot, which I guess was a little poetic justice.
That goes some distance toward confirming part of Rauner’s story.
Marching in that parade were nearly every single Cook County and Chicago politician of both parties, along with Rauner and Quinn. Kirk was also there (just behind my group) riding in a convertible.
So, when Rauner said, “I was the only Republican in this parade,” he wasn’t telling the truth?
Bruce Rauner today issued the following statement in response to new data showing Illinois leads the Midwest in job losses this year while thousands of Illinoisans have left the workforce.
“Illinois should be home to a vibrant workforce with a booming economy but thanks to Pat Quinn we are still leading the Midwest in job losses. With higher taxes and fewer jobs, Illinois isn’t working under Pat Quinn.”
According to the BLS data, Illinois has lost 4,200 jobs since the beginning of the year while its neighbors have made large gains: Indiana has gained more than 26,000 jobs, Wisconsin has gained nearly 11,000 jobs, Missouri has gained more than 31,000 jobs and Iowa has gained 6,000 jobs.
Additionally, the data shows more than twice as many people have left the Illinois workforce than have gained jobs over Pat Quinn’s time in office. As media noted today, while the unemployment rate has declined, “BLS numbers show much of that is due to people leaving the workforce.”
That’s certainly one way to spin it and it’s valid.
We need more. Lots and lots more. But the recent three-month trend ain’t horrible.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Quinn campaign response…
As Governor Quinn today announced 500 good-paying jobs by an Illinois company, Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner and one of his top allies - which he has personally funded the tune of $525,000 - attacked the Illinois economy and rooted for Illinois to fail even as Illinois’ unemployment rate went down to its lowest point since August 2008. It makes sense that Bruce Rauner is desperately trying to undermine any positive economic news for our state because it’s undermining the very basis for his bash-Illinois campaign. The Illinois Policy Institute, which agrees with Mr. Rauner’s position to cut the minimum wage, and Rauner are working feverishly to spread their message of doom and gloom even as the economic outlook in Illinois has significantly improved.
Below is a quick fact check on Rauner’s claims:
Rauner Falsehood: Illinois is in an economic death spiral.
Fact: Just last week, unemployment fell to 6.8%, its lowest point since August 2008 and significantly lower than when Governor Quinn took office. This is the steepest 12-month unemployment decline in the last three decades.
Rauner Falsehood: Illinois leads the Midwest in job losses this year.
Fact: The arbitrary seven-month timeframe is cherry picked by those rooting for the state to fail. A full year period tells a much more accurate and honest story. Over the past 12 months, the state has created 30,500 jobs, and the unemployment rate has fallen from 9.2 to 6.8—the largest decrease in three decades, and 127,000 more people are working. Further, Illinois saw net job creation last month, with 11,200 private sector jobs created, and a net job creation of 10,300 jobs because of government job loss. Yet left unsaid by Bruce Rauner is that he has proposed a Tax Plan that would slash the budget by EIGHT BILLION DOLLARS which would lead to mass layoffs of state employees and drive the unemployment rate sky high.
Rauner Falsehood: With higher taxes and fewer jobs, Illinois isn’t working under Pat Quinn.
Fact: Under Governor Quinn’s leadership, Illinois is making a comeback. While there’s more work to do, unemployment is significantly lower than when Quinn took office. According to a new study on businesses, Illinois’ overall tax burden ranks lower than about half the country - read about the study here.
Republican False Claim: Unemployment isn’t really going down - people are just leaving the workforce.
Fact: In fact, Illinois had a net gain of 11,200 private sector jobs last month. We have 127,000 more people working today than compared to last year.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The Rauner campaign responds…
17,157 Illinoisans Exited The Workforce In July, The Third-Largest Drop In Labor Force Participation Since At Least 2004. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/18/14)
21,637 Illinoisans Exited The Workforce In June, The Largest Drop In Labor Force Participation Since At Least 2004. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/18/14)
Illinois’ Labor Force Has Been Dropping Every Month Since April, For A Cumulative Total Of 63,083 People Who Stopped Looking For Work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/18/14)
Some readers will be offended by the idea of video recording cops and teachers. You might even invoke the specter of mass surveillance. I see things differently. Privacy is a wonderful thing, but on-duty police officers and teachers in classrooms are not private citizens living their lives as they choose. They are public servants charged with, well, serving the public.
* That’s almost guaranteed to honk off the Illinois Federation of Teachers. We’ve discussed the IFT and IEA attacks on the Trib earlier. The IFT’s MoveOn petition demanding that the Tribune “stop manufacturing scandals that target teachers and start telling the whole story” now has more than 4,000 signatures.
Teachers, parents, and students across the world demanded that the Chicago Tribune tell the whole story about our schools. They took to Twitter using the hashtag #TheWholeStory. The hashtag garnered more than 5 million impressions and was the #1 trending topic in the Chicago area.
* There’s something missing from this Quinn campaign press release…
Quinn for Illinois is continuing to take a closer look at Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s business record, including his strategy of outsourcing jobs overseas to drive GTCRauner’s profits. The Polymer Group, a multinational corporation formed with Bruce Rauner that produced non-woven fabrics, including feminine hygiene products and wipes, is the latest Rauner business to be profiled.
KEY QUOTE: “Their strategic story is very compelling.” -Bruce Rauner in 1998 on PolymerGroup’s use of foreign labor.
THE STORY: Bruce Rauner served as a director of the Polymer Group, operating factories around the globe that produced feminine hygiene products and wipes. Controlled by GTCRauner, the group was heavily invested in low-wage labor markets opened up by “free trade” agreements such as China and Mexico, reaping millions in profits. Rauner exited the firm around the time they declared bankruptcy, leaving investors on the hook for $600 million in debt obligations.
THE TIMELINE:
1994: GTCR Acquires Majority Stake in the Polymer Group and Rauner takes a seat on the board of directors. [Polymer Group, SEC S-1/A, 05/07/96]
1995: Polymer Expanded and Increased Manufacturing in Mexico Shortly After NAFTA Went into Effect in 1994. According to a Polymer SEC S-1/A Filing in May 1996: “The Company recently completed an expansion in Mexico with the installation of a new 4.2 meter SMS line with unique and proprietary capabilities…. The Company continuously evaluates opportunities to expand its existing production capacity or enhance production technologies. The Company has invested approximately $50.0 million in capital improvements since 1992 to either debottleneck existing assets or to add new capabilities and capacity. The largest of these projects is a state-of-the-art SMS line at the San Luis Potosi, Mexico facility, which line began commercial production in the third quarter of 1995.”[Polymer Group, SEC Filing S-1/A, 5/7/96]
1995: Nearly Half of the Company’s Sales Were Derived from Operations Conducted Outside the United States. “The Company manufactures certain of its products in Germany, Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands. In 1995, approximately 42% of the Company’s net sales ($182.3 million) were derived from operations conducted outside the United States.” [Polymer Group, SEC Filing S-1/A, 5/7/96]
By 1999, Polymer Operated 23 Manufacturing Facilities “Strategically Located” in Eight Countries on Three Continents, Including Mexico and Argentina. Polymer reported in its 1998 Annual Report that, “PGI is currently in the final stages of building/acquiring new facilities in Colombia, Turkey, and China. With these new facilities, PGI will operate plants in 11 countries on four continents.” [Polymer Group, 1998 Annual Report]
Between 1993 and 2002, Sales From Polymer’s Foreign Manufacturing Facilities Increased From $28 Million to $404.6 Million. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K, 04/14/03]
December 2001: Rauner and another GTCRauner Principal Remain on the Board of Directors. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K, 04/12/02]
May 2002: Polymer Group Files for Bankruptcy. [Associated Press, 05/13/02]
Subsequent filings show Rauner no longer listed as director after May 2002. [Polymer Group, SEC Filing 10-K , 05/1/02 (Amendment) , 04/14/03]
I get that “jobs outsourcing” is usually a bad thing for businessman candidates like Bruce Rauner, particularly when the story ends in bankruptcy.
But usually those stories include emotional tales of laid-off American workers. I don’t see any references to Americans losing their jobs here. Sure, he can be criticized for not opening American plants and hiring American workers, but this isn’t the best “hit” I’ve ever seen.
A Cook County judge will decide whether Bruce Rauner, the Republican candidate for governor, and his business partners must pay fines for illegally erecting a digital billboard on a building in West Rogers Park.
The company has signs across Chicago and in some suburbs. It ran into trouble with City Hall over a 10-foot-by-10-foot sign it put up about a year ago above the corner doorway at 6958 N. Western Ave.
It got a permit from City Hall on Dec. 14, 2012, for an electric sign but didn’t also obtain a required public-use permit from the City Council, which has to sign off whenever a sign extends onto public property.
“The sign was hanging over the public way, and they didn’t have a permit,” said Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th). “It was quite a large sign, and the neighbors were complaining about it.”
As we’ve discussed before, Chicago is crazy about its regulations of business signs, awnings and the like. It’s ridiculous and unjustifiable. I mean, according to the article, the company is facing fines of as much as $15,000 a day, dating back to Feb. 25.
Sheesh.
* Back to the story, which notes that Rauner is a “passive investor” in the company…
The Rauner campaign has received $188,000 in free advertising from the sign company in the past five months, according to financial disclosure reports that it’s filed with the Illinois State Board of Election.
* These photos aren’t in the article, but perhaps the subject matter of the above 50th Ward sign is what got Ald. Silverstein so fired up…
Yeah, I’m sure that had nothing whatsoever to do with the alderman’s hissy fit.
#amiright?
…Adding… Apparently, this fight has raged for awhile, even before the signs started flashing pro-Rauner messages…
The approximately 100-square-foot sign went up in early June [of 2013], facing north on the busy intersection.
Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) also has heard criticism from her constituents about the sign erected by Digital Greensigns above the corner store at 6958 N. Western Ave., she said.
Joseph Mancino, CEO of the digital billboard company, wouldn’t comment on other signs, but said the sign in West Rogers Park was erected lawfully and in compliance with a building permit.
The city confirmed that the company obtained the proper building permit and that it was located snuggly enough up against the single-story commercial building not to need a public-use permit.
* Bernie took another look yesterday at the allegations that Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka had asked the governor to get her son a job at SIU…
“I did not do that,” she said. “I just asked if he would consider him. … I’d like to reverse the trend of people leaving Illinois. I can actually bring a family back.”
“I’ve put it out there for anybody,” she said of her son’s resume, “in the private sector as well. … You get jobs and you work by virtue of relationships; I mean, it’s not just putting a blind ad in the paper.” […]
Dave Mellet, campaign manager for Democratic Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, who is running against Republican Topinka for comptroller, said: “What Judy Baar Topinka has admitted to is attempting to use patronage to obtain a job for her son, which is wrong and possibly illegal. In Judy Baar Topinka’s world, a resume is something you submit to the governor. For everyone else in Illinois, a resume is submitted to human resources.”
Topinka spokesman Brad Hahn said that, with Simon down in the polls and with 11 weeks go to the election, “we expect her to get more desperate and pathetic with each passing day.”
* So, considering the growing hostility between Sheila Simon and Gov. Quinn, and the placement of this Quinn campaign sticker, I’m not sure that Lt. Gov. Simon stuck it on herself during Governor’s Day. A prank, perhaps?…
Mr. Rauner has put a ton of money into trying to revive the GOP field organization. He isn’t about to talk about things such as his relatively liberal beliefs on social issues or his support for some tax hikes. Too dangerous.
Mr. Quinn is hiring lots of Obama campaign vets and stretching to motivate Chicago voters, especially African-Americans. That’s almost certainly why you’ll see Mr. Obama here sometime in the fall campaigning for Mr. Quinn.
One interesting aspect is voter registration. While I’m sure that adding voters in, say, Lincoln Park would meet with the approval of both the governor and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, that’s not the case on the South Side, where Mr. Emanuel would like to hold down the turnout in February for potential foes such as Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. Man, I’d just love to be in the room when the mayor and governor talk about registration.
One other thing I’d follow between now and Election Day is whether Team Rauner, which by most polls is 7 or 8 points up, gets overconfident. That would be a big, big mistake in a blue state like Illinois…
After that unexpectedly narrow primary win, I don’t think they’ll get too overconfident.
* In fact, one thing I heard a lot from the Rauner folks last week was “1998.” That’s the year Republican George Ryan faced Democrat Glenn Poshard in the governor’s race.
I’m not sure why, but the surprise appearance by former Gov. Jim Edgar at the Illinois State Fair’s Republican Day last week didn’t generate much media coverage.
Despite the fact that Edgar is a Republican, this was not an easy “get” for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner. I’m told it took weeks of careful wooing and negotiations through one of Edgar’s old cronies. Edgar backed state Sen. Kirk Dillard in the GOP primary against Rauner, but he has also expressed public and private concerns about how Rauner is portraying himself on the stump and about how that confrontational attitude could manifest itself if he’s elected governor.
Another reason why I’m perplexed by the lack of coverage is that Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has repeatedly gone out of his way to praise Edgar since Dillard’s Republican primary loss. Quinn consulted with Edgar before his post-primary budget address, seeking his advice on keeping the income tax at current levels and providing some property tax relief. Quinn then mentioned Edgar by name during his actual address, saying the former governor was right to keep a tax hike in place.
If Quinn was hoping to somehow neutralize the still popular Edgar, he failed miserably. Edgar said at the State Fair last week that not only did Rauner have an opportunity to finally end one-party rule, but “The Blagojevich-Quinn governorship has been a disaster for Illinois.”
Oh, man, that’s gonna leave a mark.
“Outsiders” can make some Illinoisans uncomfortable. Despite the blathering of editorial boards and pundits, quite a few voters here subconsciously or otherwise still “don’t want nobody what nobody sent.” The Edgar endorsement could go a very long way toward soothing fears by moderate to liberal independents about how Rauner may be just too new, too unknown and too risky to be trusted with the office.
Meanwhile, four years ago I wrote that Gov. Quinn wouldn’t know a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death in his front yard. His 2010 State Fair Governor’s Day speech was rambling, disjointed and unfocused. Not this year. Quinn’s theme so far is pretty darned clear: Bruce Rauner is an out of touch billionaire whose policies would harm working people.
But can it work? So far, the attacks seem almost juvenile, catty and not well produced. “Look! Over there! Rauner is rich! He’s rich, I tells ya!”
The Quinn campaign appears to be following the Obama 2012 script very closely (and that script was based in part on Quinn’s 2010 campaign against Bill Brady). The first thing they have to do is establish in voters’ minds that Rauner is a plutocrat. Once that message is baked in, the big hits connecting him to nursing home and hospital deaths and whatever else the Quinnsters have in their opposition research files can be dumped on Rauner’s head.
The political professionals who attended Governor’s Day this year weren’t confident at all that Quinn could pull this off. Then again, they had zero confidence in Quinn four years ago and he managed to edge out Brady. But, of course, there’s no third party candidate willing to spend close to $4 million and split the anti-Quinn vote with Rauner this year, as there was in 2010.
In contrast, the GOP operatives who attended Republican Day four years ago were upbeat and hopeful, but quite concerned about the physical mechanics of GOP nominee state Sen. Bill Brady’s campaign. Those fears turned out to be justified. This time around, there were few if any fears expressed about the way their guy is running his show.
And probably for good reason. The Rauner folks say that the Republican Governors Association has been tracking the number of contacts made at the doors by GOP gubernatorial campaigns. Rauner’s door-to-door contact effort so far ranks number one in the nation - even ahead of Texas, which has a far larger population than Illinois.
Rauner, by the way, left after his State Fair appearance for a 38-county bus trip blitz through Downstate Illinois. The schedule looks brutal.
The idea is to pack as many Downstate appearances in before Labor Day and then focus mainly on the Chicago media market until November. It’s the smart move because Downstate is so huge that it can’t be easily and quickly traversed.
The governor, on the other hand, has focused much of his summertime attention on the Chicago area, perhaps because polls show he has real trouble with his Democratic “base.”
* Related…
* Erickson: State Fair offers glimpse of fall campaign season
* Finke: GOP seemed energized at the fair, for once - In the past few years, Republicans often sounded like they were just going through the motions during their state fair rally. This year, not the case.
* My Crain’s editor said he’d read a Chicago newspaper article about Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair and complained that it lacked “color.” So, I was asked to use lots of color in my column…
The Illinois State Fair’s “Director’s Lawn” is a tree-lined venue far from the corn dogs, grandstand concerts and beer tents.
The lawn spreads out in front of a rather dingy house used by the state’s director of agriculture, off a road marred by potholes and best accessed via a special gate that often is closed during the fair because there’s so little public parking. A million or so people attend the fair each year.
The grass on the lawn is trampled flat. But no events ever are as crowded as the annual Governor’s Day and the accompanying rally for the party out of power.
Even in this era of high-tech campaigns, the twin events unofficially kick off the governor’s race… Politicians high and low attend. The more important ones give speeches, the less important mill about and try to interest others in shaking their hands. Every major media outlet sends reporters.
* I’ve had one of the best State Fair experiences ever. And let’s hope (probably beyond hope) it doesn’t rain tonight because I really want to see these guys…
While political reporters, analysts and party strategists argue over whether there is or is not a wave approaching, one thing is clear: it’s an extremely difficult landscape for Democratic candidates.
Candidates, party committees, and outside groups are polling dozens of House races as they formalize their fall ad strategies. And increasingly the news ranges from good to great for Republicans, and very few competitive races trending toward Democrats. […]
Illinois’s 13th District. Former Madison County Judge Ann Callis started the cycle as one of Democrats’ top recruits. But her challenge to Rep. Rodney Davis (R) just isn’t materializing. The congressman is in a very strong position and Gov. Pat Quinn is proving to be an anvil around the neck of Downstate Democratic candidates. We’re moving the race from Toss-Up/Tilt Republican to Lean Republican.
State and local police departments obtain some of their military-style equipment through a free Defense Department program created in the early 1990s. While the portion of their gear coming from the program is relatively small (most of it is paid for through department budgets and federal grants), detailed data from the Pentagon illustrates how ubiquitous such equipment has become.
Highlighted counties have received guns, grenade launchers, vehicles, night vision or body armor through the program since 2006.
* Keep in mind that “recipients” can include state and local governments based within the counties. The national map…
* A few random Illinois counties. Check out all the armored vehicles…
* The Illinois Department of Central Management Services was mandated by statute way back in 2012 to expand a state employee database to include municipal employees. CMS claims it was never appropriated any money and so never expanded the database.
One of the co-sponsors of that legislation, Rep. Jack Franks, is not happy…
“There was no appropriation necessary,” Franks said. Local governments “already have this information and all they have to do is transmit it to the state electronically. There’s absolutely no cost and anybody who hides behind that ought to be tarred and feathered.”
State law requires local government agencies to post salary information on their own websites about employees whose annual total compensation exceeds $75,000. Many post the information for all employees.
West Chicago Republican state Rep. Mike Fortner was the chief sponsor of the bill to add library district employees to the database. He had no idea when his bill passed last August that Central Management Services officials hadn’t implemented the database for other local government employees. He also said he was never informed of appropriation issues.
“I would naively suspect that if you’ve got the person on staff doing the website for the state agency, it’s at most an incremental increase in responsibility,” he said. “I get that the first time (reporting) may take more work, but maintaining it would not be near as much.”
Because none of the laws include an enforcement component, there’s little recourse to compel the state agency to create the databases, according to legal experts.
The governor ought to step in and order CMS to do its job.
Illinois Lt. Gov. and Democratic candidate for state comptroller Sheila Simon performed a same-sex marriage ceremony Thursday afternoon in Springfield. […]
“The party that fought tooth and nail against same-sex marriage is at the state fair celebrating their intolerance,” said Simon’s campaign manager Dave Mellet in a press release. “Meanwhile, Sheila Simon is on the capitol steps, helping two men celebrate a wedding that Republicans forced them to wait on for two decades.”
Simon’s campaign is calling out Republican incumbent Judy Baar Topinka for appearing at LGBT rallies, but failing to support her LGBT employees while serving as state Treasurer, when she “chose to be the only constitutional officer in Illinois to prohibit same-sex domestic partners from receiving health care coverage,” according to Simon’s campaign.
“It’s hypocritical for Judy Baar Topinka to stand up at GLBT rallies, and then raise money and rally with a man who has pledged to veto same-sex marriage,” Mellet added.
Tying her to Rauner is a good move. The treasurer’s office stuff is accurate, but a whole lot of people, including President Obama, have “evolved” on this topic since 2008. So, I’m not sure if it can get any traction, particularly since JBT worked so aggressively to pass gay marriage.
Wearing a Bruce Rauner T-shirt and a pair of Prada shoes, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock walked onto the State Fairgrounds putting the political divisiveness between himself and the gubernatorial candidate behind him.
Topinka called for everyone to get people to vote GOP: “It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican, Democrat, independent, vegetarian, whatever. This is where it’s at.”
Former Marine Paul Schimpf, who is seeking to unseat Attorney General Lisa Madigan, said her 12 years in office have seen two governors go to prison for corruption.
“Her record speaks for itself,” Schimpf said. “Trust a retired Marine, not the Madigan machine.”
“That house is the people’s house,” Rauner said [of the governor’s mansion]. “We should treat it with reverence; we should treat it with respect. Some of you guys who know contractors may have to help me. We have to repair the roof and pump out the basement.”
It was a reference to reports earlier this year that the mansion roof was leaking so badly it damaged rooms on the third floor and led to flooding in the basement. Mansion officials have estimated the roof is at least 40 years old.
“The current governor takes care of the governor’s residence the way he takes care of the economy,” Rauner told the fair crowd.
Sanguinetti was a no-show at a Republican unity breakfast in Springfield Thursday and seemed to tiptoe around the controversy while expressing her adoration for the State Fair during a brief speaking role at the Republican fair event
“Over the last six years, and I apologize to my kids already, this is a family tradition coming to this place,” Sanguinetti told the party faithful at the fairground rally.
“I think she should apologize for those disrespectful remarks,” Quinn told reporters in Chicago. “That isn’t the right way to talk about anybody or any cow in Illinois. We’re proud of our cows. They’re the best that ever was.
“She ought to say she’s sorry to a bunch of cows,” Quinn said.
He was making a joke, but that didn’t translate well to the printed page.
“You know what? I bet Pat Quinn and his Chicago machine political allies don’t even know what a steer is,” Rauner said. “You know what? A steer is a castrated bull. You know what?
“I tell ya,” Rauner continued, “Pat Quinn and his cronies, and these corrupt patronage workers, they know — they do know bull. You hear Pat Quinn generate a lot of bull when he’s talking about his failed record, failed record on jobs, on taxes, on schools.”
No, I don’t “know what.” How about asking us again?
Bruce Rauner remained defiant in insisting he’s released enough on his taxes and wouldn’t commit to making public his full tax schedules for inspection before the Nov. 4 election.
“We will release our tax returns when they’re prepared and filed on Oct. 15 and at that point we will have released four years of our tax returns. We outlined and detailed our tax rate. My tax rate is the same as Pat Quinn’s,” Rauner said to a packed scrum of reporters after riding into the fairgrounds on his Harley.
Rauner ducked when asked if he would release his full schedules, talking over reporters and repeating that he’d release his 2013 tax documents in October. Rauner has asked for an extension and that is the due date. Gov. Pat Quinn and other Democrats on Wednesday repeatedly called on Rauner, a multi-millionaire with hundreds of investments, to release the full details of his finances for public inspection. While candidates are not required to do so, it has become the new norm to release full tax schedules and it was something that Mitt Romney eventually did in the 2012 presidential election. His tax documents were some 700 pages.
* But not every Republican agreed with Rauner. Charles Thomas…
Earlier at the state county chairman’s meeting, other Republicans differed on how much Rauner or any candidate should reveal of his or her personal finances.
“I think that basically candidates need to be a transparent as possible,” said Paul Schimpf, R-Attorney General candidate.
“I think you have to see where your money is and I think people need to be upfront about that,” said Judy Baar Topinka, R- Illinois comptroller.
* From the DGA…
“If Bruce Rauner doesn’t want to trust the people of Illinois with information about his finances, the people of Illinois shouldn’t trust Bruce Rauner. He has hidden his policies from them. He has hidden his foreign investments from them. He has hidden the details of how he built his corporate empire at the expense of workers, seniors and communities.
“Releasing tax information is a low bar of disclosure for a public official, not a ‘diversion’ as Rauner says it is. It’s an easy test of whether he is worthy of the public’s trust. Bruce Rauner has failed that most basic test and he shouldn’t be trusted.”
* And the Quinn campaign released a photo comparing Romney’s disclosed tax returns to Rauner’s…
On a day when Republicans were otherwise well-choreographed, U.S. Senate candidate Jim Oberweis attempted to respond to the Democrats’ painting them as the detached party of the rich. Oberweis, a millionaire who has so far donated $1 million to his run for Senate, worked to cast Durbin as a millionaire. The attempt landed with an awkward thud.
“Please repeat after me,” Oberweis asked the crowd. “Millionaire! Career politician! Dick Durbin! Must go!”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday blamed the economic squeeze on the middle class for his 35 percent showing in a Chicago Tribune poll that also shows him trailing Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. […]
“There’s tremendous economic stress in people’s lives, which is why I’ve pushed for the minimum wage, which is why I’ve pushed for policies to make sure our small businesses have a fair chance and an equal chance with big companies,” the mayor said.
“You have to have a set of policies in place — from pre-K to community colleges to playgrounds to parks to after-school activities — to give everybody a chance to not just look at the gains, but know that they have a future in those gains. We’re not where we need to be. We’re not repeating the mistakes that got us into the problems. But we’re not at the pace or place we need to be where everybody’s feeling an opportunity that they have a chance at a middle-class job.”
Yikes. When the overwhelming majority is siding with the CTU against you, that’s trouble with a capital T. That sound you hear is Karen Lewis’ cackling.
Among parents of children in Chicago Public Schools — about one-fifth of those taking part in the survey — nearly 4 out of 5 disapproved of the mayor’s handling of public education while only 19 percent approved. But even those without children in the public schools disapproved at a 62 percent rate, while only 27 percent approved. […]
While dissatisfaction with the mayor on education crossed racial lines, it was more intense among African-American voters. Critics contend black neighborhoods were disproportionately targeted for school closings. Fully 77 percent of black voters disapproved of Emanuel’s handling of the city’s schools while only 14 percent approved. […]
Among white voters, 52 percent disapproved while 38 percent approved. Those numbers slipped from May 2013, when 46 percent of white voters approved of Emanuel’s handling of the schools and 44 percent disapproved. The poll found a similar dynamic among Hispanic voters. […]
Emanuel’s approach on charters versus neighborhood schools was roundly criticized by voters: 72 percent disagreed with that approach, compared with 18 percent who agreed. African-American voters most severely opposed the policy — at 83 percent — while only 10 percent agreed with Emanuel. Nearly 8 in 10 parents of CPS children also were opposed, as well as 75 percent of female voters, 69 percent of men and 63 percent of whites.
Former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar says he’s all in for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner.
Edgar says the Democratic agenda offers more of the same policies voters have seen for the past decade. He even equated Gov. Pat Quinn’s tenure to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is now serving a 14-year term in federal prison.
“The Blagojevich-Quinn governorship has been a disaster for Illinois,” he said.
* Gov. Pat Quinn announced some positive economic news yesterday during the State Fair’s Republican Day…
The state Department of Employment Security says Illinois unemployment fell in July to 6.8 percent. It was the fifth straight monthly decrease in the state’s jobless rate.
The new employment numbers included, finally, a gain in manufacturing — though total jobs there remain lower than a year ago.
It prompted Governor Pat Quinn to try to rewrite what has been the established narrative about the State’s troubled economy as he seeks another 4-year lease in the Executive Mansion.
“Unemployment’s fallen from 9.2% last year to 6.8%. It’s the steepest decline since the 1980s. Last month employers created 11,200 jobs,” Quinn said.
And even better, the decline now is being propelled not by people leaving the job force but by the creation of new jobs, with 11,200 positions added just in July. […]
The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 7.1 percent in June to 6.8 percent in July, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The state rate is still somewhat above the national figure of 6.2 percent, but the 0.6 difference is just a fraction of what it was a year ago.
Since July 2013, the Illinois rate has dropped an enormous 2.4 percentage points, from 9.2 percent to 6.7 percent, according to the federal data released by the state. That’s the biggest year-over-year decline since 1984, putting the unemployment rate just above the 6.8 percent level of August 2008. […]
According to the figures, derived from a different survey than the unemployment data, the state added 11,200 private sector jobs in the past month, and 35,600 over the past 12 months.
The July gains were widespread across various sectors, with professional and business services up 5,900, manufacturers adding 3,900 positions and construction 1,900 slots. Leisure and hospitality dropped 3,800 in the month.
According to the governor’s office, this is the lowest unemployment rate in six years. And you’d have to go back to 1984 to see such a sharp drop in the rate.
“Celebrating today’s job numbers is like cheering a touchdown when you’re down 35 points with two minutes left,” said Mike Schrimpf, a campaign spokesman.
“Our state is still down thousands of jobs since the beginning of the year, we still have one of the worst unemployment rates in the entire country and thousands of Illinoisans have given up looking for work. On top of higher taxes, this means too many families continue to suffer under Pat Quinn. Thankfully, Pat Quinn’s time is almost up and his term in office can’t end soon enough for the working people of Illinois.”
* Related…
* VIDEO: Quinn announces state unemployment rate drops
* Illinois’ tax burden? Not so bad, according to new report
