Donald Trump’s closest Hill allies are privately lobbying the former President to get involved in a Republican-on-Republican matchup in Illinois, a potentially messy scenario that has sparked internal strife in the party and prompted GOP leaders to launch a counter-campaign aimed at keeping Trump on the sidelines.
At the center of it all is freshman Rep. Mary Miller, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus who has been left without a seat after redistricting. Now she’s deciding whether to challenge fellow Illinois Republican Reps. Rodney Davis or Mike Bost. Hoping to boost Miller’s political prospects, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — another controversial firebrand who is close with Miller — has been talking her up to Trump and encouraging him to throw his weight behind Miller, according to multiple GOP sources.
A Trump endorsement would turbocharge the intraparty battle and potentially make things even stickier, something GOP leaders are eager to avoid. So House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has worked behind-the-scenes to head it off: he has urged Trump to stay out of the primary race, telling the former President that Bost and Davis — who are poised to become committee chairmen if Republicans reclaim the House after next year’s midterms — are both good members, sources said. […]
And Miller has created other heartburn for McCarthy and the party. In particular, Republicans are upset that Miller has spread disinformation about a bipartisan bill that passed the House to bolster how vaccination records are maintained and shared. Miller attacked the 80 Republicans who backed the measure, and later told the conservative outlet Breitbart News that the bill would “track” unvaccinated Americans who “will be targeted and forced to comply with Biden’s crazy ‘global vaccination’ vision.”
* And Mark Maxwell points out that Miller voted against a pre-Christmas pay raise for members of the US Armed Forces…
* Meanwhile, Miller is sure to be asked about Darren Bailey’s new running mate Stephanie Trussell and her myriad anti-Trump posts on her social media accounts, so they’ve been busily posting this pic to prove she came around…
Indeed she did. There’s also this from just a few months ago in praise of Democrats pushing the vaccine…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Looks like Rep. Miller just upped the ante…
Rep. Miller: The January 6th commission hates President Trump because he exposed the corruption of the DC establishment here in the swamp. pic.twitter.com/OmjSxSEllM
*** UPDATE 2 *** Rep. Miller is listed as not voting on the Jan. 6th “Commission” legislation. Hilarious.
*** UPDATE 3 *** US Rep. Rodney Davis’ comms director points out that there is no such thing as a “January 6th Commission” and obliquely accuses Rep. Miller of being “misinformed”…
Hey Rich.
Saw your updated post. I just wanted to point out that there’s no “1/6 Commission,” which some misinformed people often conflate with the 1/6 House Select Committee initiated by Speaker Pelosi. The makeup and powers of the proposed bipartisan 1/6 Commission versus the currently-active, partisan 1/6 Select Committee are very different. The proposed 1/6 Commission, styled after the 9/11 commission, never made it into law after it failed to advance in the Senate. There were individual votes on both the commission and the select committee.
As we have seen, the sham 1/6 House Select Committee has been a partisan circus, which is what Congressman Davis expected to happen with a Select Committee, and that’s why he voted against it. You can find the roll call of that vote here. The only Republicans to vote in support of the 1/6 Select Committee were Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger. I will note that according to the House Clerk, there were 19 Republicans who are listed as “Not Voting” on the 1/6 Select Committee resolution, including Rep. Miller.
One other thing I will note, Rep. Miller and nearly every House Republican (there were six listed as not voting) voted for the creation of a 1/6 commission in a procedural motion earlier this year. The vote occurred in a motion to immediately bring the bipartisan 1/6 Commission legislation to the House floor for a vote. A no vote on the procedural motion is basically a vote to advance the 1/6 commission bill, i.e. support the bill. You can find a roll call of that vote here.
More than happy to provide additional info if you need.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that an investigation is underway to determine what happened at Amazon’s Edwardsville warehouse where six people were killed in a tornado Friday night. […]
Pritzker, who spoke during a news conference after touring the Amazon warehouse, said Illinois should consider whether building codes need to be changed in light of “climate change.” […]
Amazon employees and “partners” who were at the building when the tornado hit were asked to “shelter in place” at the building’s designed interior place on the north side of the building, which is on the opposite of the 1.1 million-square-foot building where the tornado actually struck the building.
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the designated shelter in space is an interior section of the warehouse and is not built any differently than the rest of the building.
All of the persons who gathered in the safe place survived the storm and the persons who died were on the south side of the building where the tornado struck.
* But the Amazon claim about there being only one shelter in place spot seems to contradict this claim by a survivor…
Jaeira Hargrove and Etheria Hebb loaded up their delivery vans Friday morning at an Amazon facility near Edwardsville and spent the day delivering packages in the Glen Carbon area.
When the weather started turning bad, they returned and quickly parked their vans. A woman told them to head to the bathroom because of a tornado warning, Hargrove said Sunday in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. […]
“We were just standing there talking. That’s when we heard the noise. It felt like the floor started moving. We all got closer to each other. We all started screaming,” Hargrove said.
The building collapsed as an EF3 tornado smashed into it.
Both Hargrove and Hebb were knocked to the floor. Hargrove was calling out to Hebb, but Hebb didn’t respond. She was one of the six people who were killed in the building’s collapse.
The Senate and House Redistricting Committees today released a proposed map of new Cook County Judicial Subcircuit boundaries to reflect population shifts that have taken place over the course of three decades.
“The current Cook County subcircuits are extremely outdated and out of proportion population wise,” said Rep. Lisa Hernandez, Chair of the House Redistricting Committee. “These proposed boundaries allow for better representation of the diversity within Cook County for the first time since the subcircuits were created in 1991.”
“It’s important that our judicial system reflect our communities, especially as Cook County becomes increasingly diverse,” said Sen. Omar Aquino, Chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee. “These updates are long overdue and will give residents a greater and more equal say in who is trusted to interpret the laws of our state and oversee our legal processes.”
Under this proposal, the number of subcircuits in Cook County will increase from 15 to 20, largely due to the population growth in the Chicagoland area. The subcircuits will be substantially equalized to better reflect the population and demographic shifts that have occurred across the county during the past three decades.
This new map will not impact the tenure of the current judges in Cook County.
Members of the public may request to provide testimony, submit electronic testimony or submit electronic witness slips in advance of the hearings via the General Assembly website www.ilga.gov or through email at redistrictingcommittee@hds.ilga.govand redistrictingcommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov. Those who wish to provide testimony at a hearing location will be given the opportunity to do so as well.
Cook County Subcircuit Hearing
• Thursday, December 16th at 1:30 p.m. – Joint House and Senate Hearing
Hybrid Hearing – participants may testify via Zoom or in person
Location – Room C-600, 6th Floor, Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N LaSalle St. Chicago, IL
Members of the public can also submit their own proposals through the online map portal located on the House and Senate redistricting websites. For that tool and to view the proposed map, visit www.ilsentateredistricting.com or www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting.
There had been talk of some Downstate subcircuits.
In what supporters are hailing as a victory for press freedom, Amy Jacobson has won her battle to attend Governor J.B. Pritzker’s media briefings as a journalist.
Jacobson, who co-hosts mornings on Salem Media news/talk WIND 560-AM with Dan Proft, sued Pritzker and his press secretary, Jordan Abudayyeh, earlier this month for barring Jacobson from daily press conferences.
Pritzker said Jacobson had forfeited her status as a reporter by “taking an extreme position” when she spoke at a Reopen Illinois rally May 16 protesting the governor’s stay-at-home order during the pandemic.
Backed by Liberty Justice Center, a Chicago-based conservative public-interest litigation center, Jacobson and Salem claimed Pritzker’s ban violated Jacobson’s First Amendment rights to freedom of the press and free speech as well as her rights to equal protection and due process.
On Monday Pritzker and Abudayyeh rescinded the ban and invited Jacobson “to participate in the Governor’s press access on the same basis as other journalists.”
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers can exclude members of a conservative think tank from attending press briefings and keep them off his email list sent to other reporters, upholding a ruling from a lower court.
The MacIver Institute for Public Policy filed the lawsuit in 2019 alleging that Evers violated its staffers’ constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of the press and equal access.
But U.S. District Judge James Peterson in March 2020 rejected their arguments, saying MacIver can still report on what Evers does without being invited to his press briefings or being on his email distribution list. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld that decision. […]
“We cannot fathom the chaos that might ensue if every gubernatorial press event had to be open to any ‘qualified’ journalist with only the most narrowly drawn restrictions on who might be excluded,” the court said.
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a conservative think tank over \Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to exclude the group’s writers from press briefings.
The justices acted without comment Monday, leaving in place lower court rulings that said the decision is legal. […]
MacIver had argued that Evers was excluding its staffers and violating their free speech rights because they are conservatives. Evers said they were excluded because they are not principally a news gathering operation and they are not neutral. […]
Former governors, including Walker, also limited the number of reporters and news outlets that could attend budget briefings and other events.
Illinois Department of Public Health records also show 748 of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are in intensive care beds.
According to IDPH figures, the last time the state saw more than 3,500 COVID-19 patients was exactly 11 months ago.
Since IDPH last reported updated COVID-19 figures Friday, 105 more deaths from the virus have been recorded throughout Illinois and 19,515 new cases have been diagnosed. […]
The state also recorded nearly 500,000 test results over the past three days as well, including 233,784 results returned Saturday, the most ever in a single day for the state.
The state’s seven-day case positivity rate has dropped to 4%, the lowest it’s been in two weeks. Three days ago it was at 4.3%, IDPH records show.
352 people are in the ICU, the most since January 20th. Statewide, just 12 percent of ICU beds are open.
* So many deaths and so much destruction of our medical infrastructure could’ve been prevented…
On the very day that an eager nation began rolling up its sleeves, Dec. 14, 2020, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 300,000. And deaths were running at an average of more than 2,500 a day and rising fast, worse than what the country witnessed during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York City was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.
By late February total U.S. deaths had crossed 500,000, but the daily death count was plummeting from the horrible heights of early January. With hopes rising in early March, some states began reopening, lifting mask mandates and limits on indoor dining. Former President Donald Trump assured his supporters during a Fox News interview that the vaccine was safe and urged them to get it.
But by June, with the threat from COVID-19 seemingly fading, demand for vaccines had slipped and states and companies had turned to incentives to try to restore interest in vaccination.
It was too little, too late. Delta, a highly contagious mutated form of coronavirus, had silently arrived and had begun to spread quickly, finding plenty of unvaccinated victims.
Last week at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, 34 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number since the pandemic began.
“Patients we have in the hospital are due to the fact that we have many community members that are not vaccinated,” said AMITA Health Regional Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kalisha Hill. “99% of the patients in our hospital in both Joliet and Kankakee that are COVID Positive are unvaccinated.”
And yet some workers at the town’s hospitals are suing because they don’t want to be vaccinated. Ridiculous.
As the coronavirus pandemic approaches the end of a second year, the United States stands on the cusp of surpassing 800,000 deaths from the virus, and no group has suffered more than older Americans. All along, older people have been known to be more vulnerable, but the scale of loss is only now coming into full view.
Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the virus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400.
*** UPDATE *** Not unexpected…
The Supreme Court has rejected two challenges to New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. The challengers sought religious exemptions to the mandate. The court denied the challenges in one-sentence orders on the shadow docket. Thomas, Alito, & Gorsuch dissent. pic.twitter.com/Zz8qsKgDe9
* The 2021 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Senate Democratic Non-Campaign Staffer goes to Mary Hanahan…
I second the nomination of Mary Hanahan on the Senate Dem staff for her tireless work on Illinois’ new climate law. There were many cooks in and out of the kitchen at various points, tensions were high, and drafting timelines ridiculously short for multiple iterations of the nearly 1,000 page bill. And with all that, she always seemed pleasant, accessible, and responsive. Thanks Mary and congratulations on a product Illinois should be proud of for years to come.
She’s tops.
* The 2021 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Democratic Non-Campaign Staffer goes to Erik Lowder…
He’s become the go-to senior analyst on the House side, and understands the process better than just about anybody in the building. Add to that, he’s trained just about every younger Speaker’s staffer worth their salt. Plus, you couldn’t find a nicer guy.
The world needs more mentors.
* On to today’s categories…
* Best Senate Republican Non-Campaign Staffer
* Best House Republican Non-Campaign Staffer
Please explain your comments and nominate in both categories if at all possible. Thank you!
Governor JB Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation for counties across central and southern Illinois that were impacted by recent storms and tornadoes. A disaster proclamation grants the State of Illinois the ability to expedite the use of state resources, personnel, or equipment, and allows the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to procure additional resources to help communities recover from the storms.
“My administration is committed to standing with Edwardsville and all of the surrounding communities affected in every aspect of the immediate recovery, as well as on the road to rebuilding,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Yesterday, I authorized a state disaster proclamation for Madison County, as well as all storm-impacted counties, to facilitate recovery efforts as well as the pursuit of additional federal resources. We are working directly with the White House and FEMA to ensure access to all federal resources for this community. And as local entities work to secure federal reimbursements and recovery dollars, we will assist every step of the way.”
In addition to high-speed winds that led to downed trees, powerlines, and other damages, six tornadoes were confirmed throughout Illinois. In Madison, the tornado caused the roof of a private business to collapse resulting in six fatalities and multiple injuries.
In response to the severe weather, the governor activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). Through the SEOC, multiple state agencies are offering assistance on the ground including Illinois State Police, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Illinois Department of Public Health. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Edwardsville Community Foundation, and other nonprofits are also providing services to local residents.
“Since Friday’s tragedy at the Amazon warehouse, local organizations and teams of first responders have worked tirelessly to provide stability and comfort to the Edwardsville community,” said State Senator Rachelle Aud Crowe (D-Glen Carbon). “By enacting a disaster proclamation, the state is taking action to make resources readily available to assist residents during the recovery process.”
“As our community looks ahead following the devastating storms that hit our region last weekend, now is a time for us to come together to support each other and heal,” said State Representative Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville). “I want to thank Governor Pritzker for deploying resources to our region to help those who were directly impacted by the storms recover.”
“The disaster proclamation will provide our region additional resources and funding needed to help our community recover following Friday’s nights storm,” said State Representative Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg). “I appreciate everything our first responders and volunteers have and continue to do to help the region recover. I know this has been a difficult time for those impacted. I encourage anyone needing assistance to contact my office at 618-433-8046.”
“We in Madison County are still in shock and mourning. We appreciate the immediacy of the response from the State and Governor,” said Madison County Board Chair Kurt Prenzler.
Counties included in the disaster declaration include: Bond, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jersey, Kankakee, Lawrence, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, and Woodford.
Lot of Eastern Bloc counties on that list.
…Adding… Press release…
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) and Mike Bost (R-IL-12) today led every member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to President Biden urging the White House to support Governor J.B. Pritzker’s request for an Emergency Declaration for 28 counties. The letter follows severe weather and tornadoes this past weekend that led to six fatalities from the collapse of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois.
“We are writing in support of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s request for an Emergency Declaration for the following Illinois counties to assist in the response to extensive tornado damage: Bond, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jersey, Kankakee, Lawrence, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, and Woodford,” wrote the lawmakers.
“Governor Pritzker has determined that this incident is of such severity that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and local governments, and the State is in need of Public Assistance to continue responding to and recovering from this tragic disaster,” the letter concluded.
[Tom Eikman, owner of Eikman’s Processing in Seward, Illinois, a small-sized, third-generation meat processor] said he expects high meat prices to continue into next year. Because of big time consolidation, most of the meat in Illinois stores comes from four giant meat processing conglomerates. Mid-sized meat processors who used to provide competition have all been absorbed by the big four.
Big Agriculture dictates the meat prices, Eikman explained. His processing plant could undercut them in the short term and sell steaks below their market rates. However, word would quickly get out and Eikman would run out of the inventory.
So his hands are tied. He has no choice but to fall in line and charge market rates, he argued.
If there were eight giant meat processing conglomerates rather than just four, the situation might be a little better for farmers and consumers, Eikman said. In Southern Illinois, Saline River Processors is setting up a large meat processing plant with the power to compete with the big four. The company hopes to be up and running in the fall of 2022.
* The White House has a blog, which I didn’t know about until reading something about meat prices on Twitter this weekend. Anyway, that blog took a look at the situation, and Mr. Eikman appears to be correct about this…
In September, we explained that meat prices are the biggest contributor to the rising cost of groceries, in part because just a few large corporations dominate meat processing. The November Consumer Price Index data released this morning demonstrates that meat prices are still the single largest contributor to the rising cost of food people consume at home. Beef, pork, and poultry price increases make up a quarter of the overall increase in food-at-home prices last month.
As we noted in September, just four large conglomerates control approximately 55-85% of the market for pork, beef, and poultry, and these middlemen were using their market power to increase prices and underpay farmers, while taking more and more for themselves. New data released in the last several weeks by four of the biggest meat-processing companies—Tyson, JBS, Marfrig, and Seaboard—show that this trend continues. (Other top processors are private companies that don’t report publicly on their profits, margins, or income.) According to these companies’ latest quarterly earnings statements, their gross profits have collectively increased by more than 120% since before the pandemic, and their net income has surged by 500%. They have also recently announced over a billion dollars in new dividends and stock buybacks, on top of the more than $3 billion they paid out to shareholders since the pandemic began.
Some claim that meat processors are forced to raise prices to the level they are now because of increasing input costs (e.g., things like the cost of labor or transportation), but their own earnings data and statements contradict that claim. Their profit margins—the amount of money they are making over and above their costs—have skyrocketed since the pandemic. Gross margins are up 50% and net margins are up over 300%. If rising input costs were driving rising meat prices, those profit margins would be roughly flat, because higher prices would be offset by the higher costs. Instead, we’re seeing the dominant meat processors use their market power to extract bigger and bigger profit margins for themselves. Businesses that face meaningful competition can’t do that, because they would lose business to a competitor that did not hike its margins.
As one large meat-processing firm noted to investors during its earnings call, their pricing actions “more than offset the higher COGS [cost of goods sold].” Comparing the fourth quarter of 2021 to the same quarter in 2020, that same firm increased the price of beef so much—by more than 35%—that they made record profits while actually selling less beef than before.
In addition to a crackdown, the feds are pumping a billion dollars in lending capital to expand processing capacity.
* More on the afore-mentioned Saline River Processors, which is receiving funding from the US Department of Agriculture…
Williamson County was competing with a location in Kentucky for this project as part of the USDA’s efforts to increase capacity and diversify processing facilities across the United State.
“We have received tremendous support from the cities of Marion, Herrin, and Creal Springs and have worked tirelessly with Congressman Mike Bost, State Senator Dale Fowler, Governor JB Pritzker’s office, Williamson County Board Chairman Jim Marlo, and other elected officials to bring these career jobs to southern Illinois”, said Ted Hampson, a spokesperson for Saline River Farms, LLC.
* This is why a properly reinforced tornado shelter is so important. From 2004…
Around 2:30 p.m. last Tuesday, alert employees at the Parsons Manufacturing Co. plant in Roanoke, a little more than 100 miles southwest of Chicago, looked out the window and saw a terrifying sight: an immense tornado bearing down on the plant.
The employees got on the public address system immediately. The warning went out: “This is not a joke. A tornado is on the ground. Get to the storm shelters.”
By the time the tornado slammed into the plant 11 minutes later, everyone had made it safely to concrete-reinforced restrooms, which doubled as storm shelters. The 225,000 square foot plant was destroyed, as was an addition under construction and the cars and trucks of many employees. But none of the nearly 150 workers present at the time was injured. Not a single one.
According to the National Weather Service, this was an F4 tornado with winds of more than 200 miles an hour. That ranks it as one of the most powerful twisters to hit Illinois in the last 50 years. F4 tornadoes are usually deadly. This one wasn’t. That had less to do with luck than it did the planning and preparation of company owner Bob Parsons. His insistence on building storm shelters into the design of the plant and on having regular fire and tornado drills saved lives.
That Roanoke tornado was more powerful than the one which hit Edwardsville Friday night.
* On to Amazon tornado coverage from the Post-Dispatch…
The National Weather Service said Saturday night that the tornado that hit the Amazon building reached the EF3 category — the third-strongest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with winds between 136 mph and 165 mph.
The tornado touched down just northwest of the intersection of Interstates 255 and 270, then traveled northeast into Edwardsville.
It triggered the collapse of a 40-foot-high wall about the length of a football field, which brought a portion of the roof down as well, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford said Saturday. […]
Asked about precautions taken, the company said when a facility is made aware of a tornado warning, all employees are told to move to a designated, marked shelter-in-place location. Employees are trained on emergency response, the company said.
* The shelters were supposedly “fortified,” but to what extent is still unknown…
Workers there sheltered in two places, she said, and one of those areas was directly struck. These areas are typically fortified, though it was unclear if they were built to withstand a direct tornado strike. Based on preliminary interviews, Ms. Nantel added, the company calculated that about 11 minutes lapsed between the first warning of a tornado and when it hit the delivery station.
Jaeira Hargrove and Etheria Hebb loaded up their delivery vans Friday morning at an Amazon facility near Edwardsville and spent the day delivering packages in the Glen Carbon area.
When the weather started turning bad, they returned and quickly parked their vans. A woman told them to head to the bathroom because of a tornado warning, Hargrove said Sunday in an interview with the Post-Dispatch. […]
“We were just standing there talking. That’s when we heard the noise. It felt like the floor started moving. We all got closer to each other. We all started screaming,” Hargrove said.
The building collapsed as an EF3 tornado smashed into it.
Both Hargrove and Hebb were knocked to the floor. Hargrove was calling out to Hebb, but Hebb didn’t respond. She was one of the six people who were killed in the building’s collapse.
Several employees told Reuters that they had been directed to shelter in bathrooms by Amazon managers after receiving emergency alerts on mobile phones from authorities. […]
Some of those workers said they had kept their phones despite what they believed was a violation of an Amazon policy that prevents them from having cellphones at work.
The company responded by saying that there was no Amazon policy that prevents employees or contractors from having a cell phone at work.
The building is where drivers who operate the blue-gray Amazon delivery trucks pick up packages for delivery to homes. It’s called the “last mile” building since it’s the final stop before completing an order. Local authorities previously have said that Amazon didn’t have a count of how many employees were at the building because of a “shift change” when the tornado hit, but Nantel said that there was not a shift change.
Instead, she said, it was a case of several employees finishing their delivery routes and returning to the warehouse where their personal vehicles were parked. “There are people coming and going because the drivers are all beginning to wrap up their routes,” she said. “There’s just a lot of activity at that point.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed legislation paving the way for $250 million in state funding to community groups that are working to reduce gun violence in Chicago’s hardest-hit neighborhoods and other parts of Illinois suffering the ripple effects of a nationwide crime spike.
The Reimagine Public Safety Act, which created a new state office for firearm violence prevention, was part of the budget Pritzker signed in the spring.
The trailer bill that was signed Friday — which state lawmakers advanced during the fall veto session — gives officials in the Illinois Department of Human Services more leeway in issuing the millions in grant funding and expands eligibility for groups already working to “interrupt” violence, according to Pritzker’s office.
Before signing the bill at a Washington Park news conference, Pritzker outlined Chicago’s most recent spate of fatal shootings — including that of a 71-year-old Chinatown resident who was apparently targeted at random earlier this week — and committed to investing in “neighborhoods that have been truly forgotten.”
“There are the countless children who have been taken from us far, far too soon. Too much tragedy. Too much loss. We are all here to say enough is enough,” Pritzker said, noting “the scourge of rising violence” has extended well beyond Chicago.
* A bit more from an administration press release…
In November, the Governor declared gun violence a public health crisis, launching a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence. The administration pledged a $250 million state investment over the next three years to implement the plan in partnership with community-based organizations. The RPSA builds upon this initiative by requiring the state to pursue a data-driven approach to high-risk youth intervention programs and technical assistance and training. This will be administered by IDHS, in partnership with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) and the Firearm Violence Research Group.
* From a very different Friday press release…
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement on Governor Pritzker’s signing of legislation that will further weaken the criminal justice system.
“While violence in Illinois is at unprecedented levels, Governor Pritzker, the Illinois legislative Democrats and States Attorney Kim Foxx have created a “consequence free” Illinois for organized street gangs and criminals. Their collective dismissal of victims and law enforcement during this time will not be forgotten. My heart goes out to the thousands of victims of crime that our government continues to fail.”
* Pritzker administration response…
Leader Durkin’s empty talking point is devoid not only of a serious approach to reducing crime but also suggests a lack of reading comprehension of the law. This law strengthens the Reimagine Public Safety Act, a data-driven, community based initiative designed to prevent and interrupt gun violence and fund violence reduction efforts. Violence reduction efforts are essential for having fewer victims of crime. If Republicans truly cared about reducing crime and helping victims, they wouldn’t have decimated mental health, victim support services and after school programs – and they would’ve voted for budgets and legislation put forward by Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly that fund proven violence reduction.
Discuss.
…Adding… From Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago)…
Leader Durkin has a history of picking the wrong time to speak up. He was silent while Bruce Rauner was destroying the very communities that the Reimagine Public Safety Act - which passed with 52 votes in the Senate - will invest in. I want to thank my Republican colleagues for stepping up on this occasion to reimagine public safety.
BREAKING: @DarrenBaileyIL will announce Stephanie Trussell as his running mate this morning. The former WLS conservative talk show host is in Lisle with Bailey for the announcement before they go on a bus tour across Illinois. #twill
“Students will travel to Jefferson Middle School, observe a teacher and then have a question/answer luncheon and discuss the importance of considering education as a career as a person of color,” the flier reads.
…Adding… Trussell promised that she and Bailey would deliver a tax cut at the end of their second year in office.
*** UPDATE 1 *** There were a couple of video problems, but here’s her speech. As always, please pardon all transcription errors…
What an amazing country we live in a place where a woman born on the west side of Chicago, who spent her high school years working at the Maywood McDonald’s can stand here today as a candidate for lieutenant governor of our great state. I love our country and I love Illinois. It’s the heartland of America, but its political leaders and political class have failed us. That’s why I’m so excited to join Darrin Bailey’s campaign to restore Illinois. … With a Bailey Trussell ticket, we will bring our great state back. My mom had me when she was barely 17 years old. Yet through her hard work and sacrifices, she was able to send my sister, my brother and me to private schools, scouts, dance lessons on Michigan Avenue and church youth group. She was determined to give us the opportunities that she never had, laying the foundation for us to become successful adults. One of the most important lessons she taught me was work ethics. Nobody worked harder than my mom and that’s her back there.
I got my first job at 14 at Pick and Pay. It was my best friend’s family’s corner store. At 15, I started working at McDonald’s, even though I was only 15. I started working there anyway. At 17 I was a crew chief, by 18. I was a manager. I learned early the value of hard work. Years later my eyes were open to how Democratic and progressive policies that were supposed to help me were actually hurting me, making things worse. I kept working and fighting and eventually my husband and I moved to Lisle, the best kept secret in DuPage County. We immediately felt welcome. As I worked hard as a mom raising five children, I also enjoyed serving my community. I have been everything from a Cub Scout leader, a room mom, to that taxiing mom with a minivan filled with kids, driving them to and from practice. But what I really love about my town is sitting in the stands cheering for the Lyons Lions. I was there when the boys basketball team played in state in 2004. I was there when my daughter played on the basketball team in 2005 when they made it to Sweet 16. I love my town. Darren’s life story and my own are a testament that no matter your background, no matter where you start, you are defined by choices you make and the work you’re willing to put in.
Our work for the people of Illinois is just beginning. While we love this great state we all know Springfield is broken. It’s so self evidently true that it’s almost not worth arguing the details. Over the last decade, hardworking people have fled Illinois in droves. The majority of those left looking for better jobs. 20% of them left because they couldn’t find affordable housing. Sadly, many are leaving because they no longer feel safe. In the 70s we played outside even after dark as our parents sat on the porch. We felt safe. Today murder and crime rates in Chicago are the highest they’ve been in two decades. Taxes, the cost of living, crime on the street. These are real problems that we all know JB Pritzker can’t, hasn’t and won’t fix. We need real common sense policy solutions. We need leadership who will fight to defend our police not defeund them. We need to get the woke left political agenda out of our classrooms for once and for all. It’s time to teach our kids to chase their dreams not to be a victim or hate one another.
Darren and I will demand a zero based budget that freezes spending with no tax increases. Every department will start at zero and will have to make the case for every cent of its funding. We have to stop passing budgets that spend tax dollars automatically. We’ll implement an honest review of each spending item. By the end of our second year, we intend to deliver a tax cut to the Illinois families. After all it’s your money.
Friends, better days are ahead for Illinois, but only if you make real conservative changes. Pritzker is a failure. We can’t afford four more years of failure. It will kill this great state. Let’s put the days of slick politicians and rich elites who don’t understand our problem is behind us. My story has made me the conservative that I am today. Growing up on the west side, the best side, getting my first job as a young teenager, raising my five kids. All this didn’t come without some obstacles. But together all of us the hardworking people of Illinois, we can solve challenges and turn our home around. Darrin Bailey is the governor we need for Illinois.
*** UPDATE 2 *** DPI…
Today, Stephanie Trussell, a right-wing talk show host and Trump loyalist, announced she will run for lieutenant governor alongside gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey in the divisive Republican primary. Trussell’s bizarre, wildly out of touch views make her a perfect addition to the growing field of radical candidates.
“The first lieutenant governor candidate announcement is in line with what we’d expect from this anti-choice, anti-science field of extremist, far-right candidates,” said Abby Witt, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Illinois. “Illinois Republicans want to overturn Roe, rip needed health care from hundreds of thousands of people, deny the science on COVID-19, and take us backwards.”
Trussell, who called Donald Trump “the greatest president of our time,” wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and rip health coverage from more than 600,000 Illinoisans. She has espoused extremely harmful anti-choice views and compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK. She’s repeated a number of dangerous, reckless conspiracies about COVID-19 and has shown she is unfit to serve. Trussell’s far-right, extreme views do not belong anywhere near the governor’s office.
Today’s pick sends a clear message that the Republican primary for governor is going to be a messy race to the bottom.
I don’t care what he has to say he is he is a man of very little character. He’s uncouth, he’s disgusting. And it saddens me that he’s the front runner. He does not represent the values of the Republican Party.
A whole lot of people who have endorsed Bailey are going to have an interesting decision to make now.
* From a New York Times story about a “Plan B” if President Biden doesn’t run again…
There’s also Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a billionaire who has worked to stabilize his state’s finances and enact progressive policies, like a $15 minimum wage, since his election in 2018. A longtime financial benefactor of national Democrats, Mr. Pritzker may face a competitive race for re-election in 2022.
While allies say that Mr. Pritzker has expressed no specific intention to run for president in 2024 if Mr. Biden bows out, he has talked privately about his interest in seeking the White House at some point should the opportunity arise.
His advisers tried to tamp down the prospect, at least for now. “Governor Pritzker is focused on addressing the challenges facing the people of Illinois and is not spending any time on D.C.’s favorite parlor game: Who will run for President next,” said Emily Bittner, his spokeswoman. She said the governor “wholeheartedly supports” Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris and expected them to be re-elected.
Still, the talk is abundant — at least in private.
A person close to the governor’s campaign called The New York Times story “a reach.”
* I would agree, but a Democratic pal of mine with years in this business thinks otherwise. From a text…
There’s no accidents in the NY Times political section. Emily is seasoned in the national press. Very easy to get somebody out of a cattle call story on column inches alone. I very much believe Gov has talked about it with enough people in enough of the right places to earn that mention.
We’ll see. But governors who get too ambitious in this state don’t meet successful ends. Think Dan Walker, Rod Blagojevich and Bruce Rauner.
Just a couple of months ago, more than 50,000 electronic witness slips were filed in opposition to a proposed legislative change to the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act.
Whether you believe all of those filings were legitimate or not, that’s still a gigantic uproar about a bill which stopped employees from trying to use state law to sue employers for requiring vaccines or regular COVID-19 tests as a condition of employment.
So, the recent over-the-top negative reaction to Rep. Jonathan Carroll’s (D-Northbrook) bill to cut off COVID-19-related health insurance benefits for the unvaccinated should’ve been no major surprise.
“An Illinois Democrat who claims the unvaccinated are ‘clogging up the health care system’ has proposed a bill that would force them to pay all of their medical expenses out of pocket if they become hospitalized with the coronavirus,” blared the Fox News Channel. And all heck broke loose.
Carroll claims he was threatened with violence and so were his family, his staff, even his synagogue. His home address was posted on Twitter as were photos of his kids.
This monstrous behavior is beyond repugnant, but it’s not new. Ask the Republican legislators who voted to raise the state income tax in 2017 how they were pummeled on Facebook, partly because an anti-tax group allied with then-Gov. Bruce Rauner weaponized its own Facebook page followers against them.
Despite the often-insane levels of harassment, most of those Republicans stuck to their principles and voted to override Rauner’s veto of the tax hike. The future of the state was in peril because one man was insisting he wouldn’t approve restoring desperately needed revenues without first slashing the power of unions here, and those Republicans were not going to be bullied by him or an angry mob into caving.
And, of course, the same sort of thing happened to many Democrats this fall before they voted to narrow the scope of the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to its original intent. They were flooded with calls and bombarded on social media.
The anti-vaxxers, as it turns out, are even more wound up than the anti-taxers, although I’m betting it’s many of the same people who are perpetually angry about pretty much everything.
Rep. Carroll surrendered last week and filed a motion to table his controversial bill, handing a rare Illinois victory to the folks who insist beyond reason that vaccines contain microchips, or whatever their ridiculous conspiracy theory of the moment happens to be.
Members of a Facebook page I regularly track that promotes anti-vaccine theories and tactics celebrated the news of Carroll’s retreat. One member gleefully wrote: “Violence is the only thing tyrants fear and is the only thing that will stop them.”
So, not only did Rep. Carroll predictably stir up the rabble, he rewarded threats of violence with a win.
And this was all about a bill that wasn’t legal in the first place. Federal law prohibits what Carroll was trying to do, an inconvenient fact that was ignored or downplayed by most news media outlets which covered the legislation.
Most of the coverage was breathless and ignorant, fueling the hype on the far right. Only one reporter, Hannah Meisel at public radio station WUIS, got it right: “Unvaccinated COVID patients can’t be denied insurance coverage for hospitalizations as one Dem lawmaker wants, but employers, including Ill., have other options,” was her online headline.
Not only wasn’t Carroll’s bill legal, it also ran directly counter to Democratic Party doctrine, which favors health coverage for everyone. Carroll essentially advocating to destroy the finances of entire families because of the stupidity of a single family member was bizarre.
But, really, all this bill was designed to do was attract attention and get lots of “clicks” and make his allies cheer and his enemies boo. It was a pointless game. Carroll’s bill wasn’t going anywhere, and he knew it.
And Carroll’s behavior is an insult to the people who have bravely stood up to the angry haters for just causes. They couldn’t back down because so much was at stake. Carroll, on the other hand, just walked away with a shrug, claiming despite all evidence that he didn’t intend to be divisive. Carroll taught those angry people the absolute wrong lesson.
I feel horrible for Rep. Carroll’s family, his staff and his rabbi for being put through this disgusting and needless drama. I hope he apologizes to them. And then maybe he should apologize to everyone else for giving the angriest among us a victory.
A screen shot of that Facebook group chat is here.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan has carefully maneuvered around questions about the extent of his support for former President Barack Obama. Some oppo research that landed in Playbook’s inbox addresses the issue.
In the One World magazine that Sullivan founded while a student at St. Louis University in the 2000s, Sullivan acknowledged supporting Obama. The magazine’s “Call to Action” box on page 22 encourages readers to support the Global Poverty Act introduced by then-Sen. Obama. And there’s a note: “OneWorld does not endorse a specific presidential candidate (although Jesse Sullivan does).”
That doesn’t mean Sullivan voted for Obama, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t. His campaign would say only that Sullivan has voted Republican for nearly a decade.
“Jesse Sullivan didn’t grow up in a political household — he knew more about the Chicago Bears than he did about any politician. His values have always been deeply rooted in his faith — pro-life, pro-family, pro-freedom,” spokesman Noah Sheinbaum said in an emailed statement. “Through his work and his life, Sully has found that Democrat politicians have been lying to him and to voters, over and over again, implementing radical policies that are out of touch with the values of everyday Illinoisans. He has only voted for Republicans for nearly a decade.”
Hmm. Ask Kirk Dillard how Obama support went over in statewide Republican primaries.
