* From the Bruce Rauner campaign…
Rauner 2013 Tax Summary:
Income on Federal Return: $60,777,806
Adjusted Gross Income on Federal Return: $60,150,853
Federal Income Taxes Paid: $14,373,718
Federal Effective Tax Rate on Income: 23.65%
Federal Effective Tax Rate on Adjusted Gross Income: 23.90%
Illinois Net Income on State Return: $61,432,654
Illinois Income Taxes Paid: $2,878,381
The basic 1040 return is here.
* The press release…
Bruce Rauner released his 2013 federal and state 1040’s, reflecting income and tax rates, while detailing the Rauner family’s substantial charitable and community giving last year.
Last year, the Rauners paid more than $17 million in federal and state taxes on income of $60.8 million for a total effective tax rate on income of more than 27.5%. Their federal effective tax rate on income exceeded 23.5%.
“I’m nobody that nobody sent and independent of the special interests,” Rauner said. “Unlike Pat Quinn, who put self-dealing and cronyism ahead of the people, I’ll put the people first and end decades of corruption in state government.”
In addition, the Rauners and their family foundation made charitable contributions totaling more than $5 million, including a $1 million contribution to the Red Cross last November for relief efforts following the devastating tornado in Washington, Illinois.
“Diana and I are proud to be able to give back to the state we love by supporting community organizations and giving those in need a helping a hand,” Rauner said. “We are passionate about making Illinois a better place for every person in state, and I look forward to increasing opportunities for every person in our state next year as governor.”
Additionally, Bruce’s wife, Diana, takes no salary for her work as president of the non-profit Ounce of Prevention Fund.
There will probably be updates to this post. If you know anything about taxes, shoot me an e-mail with your thoughts. Thanks.
…Adding… Quinn campaign…
Quinn for Illinois issued the below statement from Communications Director Brooke Anderson in response to Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s disclosure of just four pages of his 2013 tax returns showing he raked in more than $60 million. At the same time, he proposed cutting the minimum wage. Bruce Rauner is leading the most deceptive campaign in Illinois history and refusing to release his full tax records like transparent candidates do, including Governor Quinn and Mitt Romney:
“Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s partial disclosure of his 2013 tax returns shows that he not only he took in more than $60 million - he took in those millions at the same time he was running around Illinois advocating to cut the minimum wage.
“Mr. Rauner’s disclosure is wholly insufficient and raises more questions than answers. What are his sources of income? What loopholes is he jumping through? Does he have any conflicts of interest in his finances? The voters don’t know because Mr. Rauner is hiding this information from them.
“What we do know is this: Bruce Rauner took in $30,000 an hour last year while he sought to lower the minimum wage and he certainly can’t be trusted to look out for Illinois’ working families.”
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* Thanks to all who voted to take a break on Monday. Whew, I was worried when I hit that “publish” button. I’m gonna take it easy this weekend and I hope all of you do the same.
Los Lobos will play us out with a killer cover of “Bertha.” Turn it up…
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Congressional roundup
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The House Majority PAC isn’t giving up on the “Meltdown Mike” theme in the 12th District. This is a smallish St. Louis TV buy of $50,000…
* Cheri Bustos and Bobby Schilling debated last night…
When questioned about accusations that he turned his back on workers in Freeport, Illinois, whose jobs were being shipped overseas, Schilling said the claims were simply untrue.
“I tried to have meetings with these people. I actually wrote a letter to the president of the company,” said Schilling.
In turn, Bustos responded to criticism that she failed to follow through after saying she’d voluntarily cut her own pay by 10 percent if elected.
“I made a mistake when I appeared before the Chicago Tribune editorial board, and I’ve acknowledged that. What I do support, the same thing my opponent supports, is a collective 10 percent pay cut for Congress,” said Bustos.
Oy on both…
“It really is a shame how these campaigns are run these days,” Bustos said. “I feel for the people who have to watch these commercials.”
Bustos cited a report by www.factcheck.org which said a Schilling ad that accused her of voting to cut veterans is false.
Schilling referred to an article on www.politifact.com that discredited a common theme for Democratic ads, including ads against Schilling, which say Republicans voted in favor of tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas.
Both Bustos and Schilling defended their own ads when asked about reports that claim they are misleading.
* The Mike Bost campaign sent me this yesterday and I missed it…
I’ve attached a picture of the actual pamphlet that Enyart kept referring to last night about Mike allegedly endorsing the Ryan Budget when, in fact, he never did. As you can see from the literature, it doesn’t say anything like that.
Enyart’s actual claim is that Mike endorsed it on a piece of campaign [literature]. At 31:45 in the capfax video, “It says #1 I would vote for the Paul Ryan budget.”
Yep. Click here to see it.
* The Daily Herald endorsed Bob Dold today. From a press release…
The Daily Herald today endorsed Bob Dold (R-10) for Congress in Illinois 10th District. The newspaper opted to endorse Dold over incumbent Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) due to Dold’s independent, bipartisan and effective leadership when he served in Congress, in contrast with Schneider’s highly partisan record.
In their endorsement, the Daily Herald wrote, “When Dold held the office, he maintained the district’s tradition of independent representation, with a voting record that was one of the most bipartisan in Congress. In the two years that Schneider has held office, he has not. His voting record is considerably more party line, as a comparative review of The Washington Post’s Congress Votes Database indicates.”
The newspaper continued, “Only one of these two candidates carries on the dynamic independent tradition of Mark Kirk and John Porter. That candidate is former Rep. Bob Dold, and we give him our endorsement.”
* On the same race, Brad Schneider is still bombarding people with fundraising e-mails like this one entitled “out of options”…
Brad needs your urgent support. Here’s why:
– Last month, polls showed our race in a dead heat.
– Last week, Roll Call named Brad one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country.
– Now, Boehner’s Super PAC dumped $1,000,000 on Chicago airwaves to distort Brad’s record.
Look, this race is TIED. If we fall behind on this week’s ad buy goal, Republicans will POUNCE.
That’s not an option.
So far, the ad isn’t posted on the PAC’s YouTube page. Anybody seen it?
* And Stu Rothenberg goes way out on a limb (/snark)…
Illinois’ 13th District. Ann Callis was one of the most highly-touted Democratic recruits this cycle, but the challenger never really got untracked, and Democrats failed to put much of a dent into Davis. This is the one seat state Democrats failed to win in 2012 after they redrew the congressional map. The big question is whether Democrats will make this district a priority in two years or decide that the Republican congressman is fundamentally much stronger than they initially assumed. We’re changing the Rothenberg Political Report rating of the race from Lean Republican to Republican Favored.
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Question of the day
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Monday, October 13th is Columbus Day, a state holiday.
Normally, I don’t work on state holidays. But this campaign season has been gloriously hectic. I put up 23 posts yesterday and y’all commented hundreds and hundreds of times. There were 1,243 votes on a poll I posted at 9 o’clock last night and over 120 comments about that poll before people finally went to bed. We ended up with 214,000 page views yesterday (and a slow site for a while - major upgrade coming after work today). Crazy, man. The NRI hearing and the debate drove lots of traffic, but average traffic this work week has been about 190,000 page views per day. I got 20,000 more page views this past Sunday than I was getting on average weekdays three years ago in October. I’m not sure what to think of that.
I love my job and I love this blog, and I have no problem working on Monday. But I would also love a little extra break and I’m expecting news and comments to be light on Monday, since it’s a holiday. But this has been such an intense and at times overwhelming campaign season that I’m not all that confident in my expectation.
So…
* The Question: Do you want CapitolFax.com to stay open on Columbus Day or should we all just take a little break? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
online polls
I will abide by the majority vote at 4:15 this afternoon.
And, of course, any big breaking news will lead to a post if the blog is shut down. There just may not be any comments.
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Local 150 behind yet another anti-Rauner move
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Back in the GOP primary, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 was the earliest and most enthusiastic supporters of the “Stop Rauner” movement. Subscribers know a bit more about the personal reasons behind this, but the political angle was totally genuine. Rauner is for “right to work,” and while 150 has lots of Republican members, that’s a killer issue for them.
So, on to today’s Illinois Review story [although David Ormsby had it first earlier this morning]…
Within minutes of filing his D-2 Quarterly Report showing $100.00 in his account late Wednesday night, Chad Grimm, Libertarian for Governor, reported getting a $30,000 donation from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 based in Countryside, Illinois. […]
Grimm’s numbers are nearing 7 points in the latest gubernatorial race polling, which could be devastating to the Rauner campaign November 4th.
$30K is chump change, but if 150 or other unions start kicking in more money, they might be able to cause some real trouble for Rauner.
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A few more thoughts on the debate
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
Aside from what I wrote in the subscriber section today, here are a few of my takeaways from last night…
* I agree with Tom Kacich on this point…
Finally, for a debate that was supposed to focus on downstate issues, there was no discussion of roads, agriculture, gun rights or higher education. Don’t expect those topics to be addressed in the next debates in the Chicago area.
While that didn’t make the debate a complete failure, Tom is right.
* Also, the League of Women Voters has a terrible debate format. Not enough follow-up between candidates, too tightly controlled.
Amanda Vinicky thanked you, by the way…
Vinicky did her best to skirt the rules, but the League should either come up with a better format or stop hosting debates. They suck.
* Now, on to something that I don’t think many folks noticed beyond a few commenters. One of the questioners pointed out that Gov. Quinn has closed prisons, while Bruce Rauner has said he’d reopen prisons. What would each do about rehabilitating inmates in order to reduce recidivism?
Rauner’s answer…
“We need to reform our corrections system in Illinois. It is broken and is badly mismanaged under Gov. Quinn, just as most departments of our government have been under Quinn.
“We have a tragic situation in Illinois. We have unsafe prisons. We have corrections officers with their life and their personal safety at risk. We have inmates with their personal safety at risk because we haven’t properly staffed and invested in our corrections system.”
Whoa. Stop tape.
When was the last time you heard a candidate at that level in either party bemoaning the lack of personal safety for prison inmates?
The time Rauner has spent with African-American clergy (who deal with this issue on a daily basis) may have informed him on this topic. Yeah, maybe he mentioned it as a way to score a political point or two, but that also comes at the cost of fury from the “get tougher” crowd. He deserves credit for listening and thinking and putting it into a reasonable context.
* OK, restart tape…
“We also incarcerate non-violent offenders very often here. And we do a very poor job relative to other states for providing alternative routes to deal with non-violent offenders - ways that they are more likely to receive help and avoid falling back into lives of crime and helping them find ways to get back in society and be productive citizens.
“We don’t think outside the box, we don’t do good innovative programs like other states do.”
Stop again.
Quinn’s administration has come up with some innovative offender programs, as the governor explained in his own response. But Rauner was absolutely right on the fact that our prisons have too many non-violent criminals (who then learn how to be violent).
Look, Rauner could have easily used that question to bang Quinn for his botched 2009 early release debacle. It would’ve dovetailed nicely with his attack ad. Instead, Rauner chose to focus on inmate safety and finding ways to avoid imprisoning non-violent offenders and instead helping them become productive citizens.
I found this to be quite remarkable. I mean, a candidate with a perfect setup for a full-throated negative assault chooses instead to go with a soft hit and empathy for society’s perceived dregs?
Nicely done, Bruce.
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Tribune, Crain’s endorse Rauner
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* No surprise here. The Mother Ship’s “bottom line”…
Illinois must change direction. This state faces enormous financial and economic perils going forward. We know Quinn’s way — more tax money! — and that he simply can’t bend the powers that be in Springfield. We’d rather have a governor with Rauner’s outsider moxie.
For the broke, broken Illinois of 2014, Bruce Rauner is two challengers in one:
He’s challenging an incumbent who tried and came up short. He would challenge the power brokers who like Illinois just as it is. No wonder they loathe Rauner. He makes them sweat.
He deserves your vote.
* Crain’s chimed in with its own nod for Rauner…
Originally an outsider, Mr. Quinn unfortunately has fallen victim to the vices of one-party rule, promoting patronage and passing around political favors. He has not garnered enough political support, among voters or in the Illinois General Assembly, to serve as a counter-weight to House Speaker Michael Madigan or Senate President John Cullerton. He is too ready to spend taxpayer money on projects that we can’t afford or aren’t even needed, such as an airport in Peotone and the Illiana Tollway.
If elected, Mr. Rauner likely would face stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Still, his relationship with the Democratic leadership is unlikely to be worse than Mr. Quinn’s, and could be better, by putting honest differences on the table.
Illinois has been on the wrong path for years, going back to a time before Democrats reclaimed the governor’s office. With an independently minded Mr. Rauner, we now have a chance to change course. Mr. Rauner deserves your vote.
The only thing I will point out here is that when somebody claims “Illinois government can’t possibly get any worse,” I always say they are misinformed. Of course it can. I’m not saying that Rauner will make it worse, mind you. I’m just sayin…
…Adding… I should also point out that if Quinn is reelected, things might also get worse. He’ll be a lame duck who isn’t listened to or heeded much now. I don’t know if it’ll get worse, but it’s possible. The point here is that anybody who says it can’t get worse knows nothing about the Statehouse.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Debate roundup
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Subscribers already know part of my take on last night’s debate and I’m putting a post together about another highly interesting moment, but you can chew on this stuff for a while until the other post is ready…
* Quinn, Rauner try to create fear about the other guy during debate: Quinn stuck largely to a class warfare script against Rauner, a wealthy equity investor from Winnetka, in delivering a more polished and aggressive performance reflective of his political experience. Quinn repeatedly suggested Rauner’s plan to cut taxes would hurt education funding… “Unfortunately, under Gov. Quinn, Illinois has been one of the worst-run states in America. We have rampant misspending of taxpayer money, massive waste in the system,” Rauner said. The Republican challenger attacked the state’s system of purchasing goods and services as “part of the cesspool of cronyism and patronage that’s so endemic inside our state government. (Quinn) relies on that for his election. He relies on that for campaign cash. And that’s rampant throughout the departments.”
* Governor Candidates Debate: Rauner said Quinn has been a failure as governor. “Pat Quinn has been a failure on jobs. Under his administration, we’ve become the lowest state of job growth of any state in the Midwest,” he said. Quinn said Rauner has had is troubles as a financier. “My opponent talks about successful results – he’s been involved with 12 different bankruptcies involving other companies, and there’ve been six of his executives indicted and convicted and sent to jail. Two are under indictment now. They’ve got 150 lawsuits against a nursing home chain,” he said.
* Quinn-Rauner debate: Each casts other as state’s worst nightmare: “My opponent, all across Illinois, went across this state, saying eliminate the minimum wage. A person taking in $53 million a year running around Illinois saying eliminate the minimum wage. He’s adamantly against the minimum wage. Well, I’m adamantly for raising the minimum wage” [said Quinn]… “Pat Quinn has been governor for six years, and he’s had a super majority of his party in the General Assembly,” Rauner said. “And he has not increased the minimum wage in that time. If he was serious about this, he could have gotten it done. He’s playing political football with people’s lives and with our economy.”
* Illinois Governor Candidates Square Off In Debate: “Politicians in Illinois said every time they want to raise taxes it’s for schools,” Rauner said. “We put the lottery in Illinois to fund our schools. The money doesn’t really fund our schools. Our current Governor raised income tax by 67 percent, said it would be for education then he cut half a billion from school funding.” “When it comes to education funding, my opponent makes up things,” Quinn said. “We’ve increased education funding in the classroom by $500 million, independent fact checkers have indicated that. We’ve also paid the teacher pension every single year.”
* Little focus on downstate issues in first gubernatorial debate: Little else directly related to downstate came up, save for a single question on a proposal by state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, to change the funding structure for primary and secondary education. But while that’s a measure that “is having a regional fault line,” Mooney said, it’s as much related to wealthy districts versus poorer districts as specific regions of the state.
* Quinn, Rauner clash over Illinois economic climate: Democratic Sen. Andy Manar’s proposal would direct more state money to poorer rural districts at the expense of wealthier suburban districts… Quinn said the state needs to increase education investment. But he says Manar’s proposal needs “a lot of oversight and review” as well as more debate. Rauner said he “probably wouldn’t support that particular bill.” He said he favors an overhaul of the current formula.
* Quinn, Rauner detail regrets in governor’s debate: Quinn says he’s “definitely not perfect,” and doesn’t think any human being is. He says he regrets not cutting lawmakers pay — and his own — to spur an overhaul of the state’s underfunded pension systems sooner. Rauner says not every company his private equity firm has created or acquired has been successful. He also noted he’s “rarely” seen business executives engage in unethical behavior. He says he’s tried to take action to quickly correct that.
Your own take-away?
*** UPDATE *** From the Quinn campaign…
After a panelist hoped against hope during Thursday night’s debate for Bruce Rauner to make his fantastical tax plan “add up,” Governor Pat Quinn set the record straight on the Rauner Tax Plan that not only doesn’t add up, but would devastate Illinois education in order to give billionaires like Rauner a $1 million tax cut.
“I don’t go for that,” Governor Quinn is shown as saying to the new Rauner Tax on services and consumption, and a budget hole that would result in the layoff of 1 in 6 schoolteachers in Illinois.
In a new Quinn for Illinois web video, here’s the question asked by a WUIS reporter that Bruce Rauner just couldn’t answer:
“Outside of your own campaign, nobody seems to make the numbers in your blueprint add up. You said you want to give more money to state parks, to education, higher education, while at the same time cutting revenues and rolling back the income tax to 3% in four years. Let’s try again: Make that add up, please.”
(He couldn’t.)
* The video is pretty cleverly done…
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Ouch! That one’s gonna leave a mark
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn’s new TV ad is brutal and, to my eyes and ears anyway, incredibly effective. Perhaps you disagree, so watch it and discuss below…
I’m not calling it “Bloodtober” for nothing.
Wow.
…Adding… Script…
NARRATOR: What do we really know about Bruce Rauner?
Court documents reveal Rauner threatened an executive after firing her for not laying off workers to maximize profits.
NBC news reported Rauner said:
CAROL MARIN: “Quote. I will bury her. I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don’t know if she has a family or not but if she does she better think twice about this.”
NARRATOR: Did Bruce Rauner really think no one would find out?
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One of the best editorials in memory
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* You won’t see many tweets like this from an Illinois Federation of Teachers spokesperson, but I couldn’t agree with her more…
Like the Trib, I’m not exactly a huge Karen Lewis fan, but like Aviva, I choked up a little reading the editorial. I really wish they would write stuff like this more often. Go read the whole thing.
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* Mike Frerichs’ campaign, through a surrogate, has filed a formal complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections alleging that Tom Cross’ state treasurer’s campaign has avoided state contribution caps by using multiple campaign committees. The violation is alleged to be at least $180,000.
For background on the allegations, click here to see a post I did late last month. To read the complaint itself, click here.
…Adding… From a press release…
Tom Cross was charged today with gross violations of Illinois campaign finance laws as detailed in a sworn complaint filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBoE). The complaint documents repeated violations of Illinois campaign finance laws by Tom Cross. The complaint alleges Cross filed false financial disclosure reports with the Illinois State Board of Elections, accepted contributions in excess of the statutory maximums, and used multiple political committees to circumvent campaign finance laws. Specifically, the complaint alleges that:
· Cross failed to report nearly 200 contributions totaling $180,000 as required by law that were made to his campaign for State Treasurer as in-kind expenditures;
· Tom Cross personally headed the political action committee, Cross for Treasurer, that filed false financial reports with state regulators;
· Tom Cross accepted over $180,000 in contributions that grossly exceeded the cap of $52,600 by a political action committee;
· Tom Cross controlled, either directly or indirectly, seven different political funds that were used to evade the $5,300 cap on individual contributions on at least two occasions.
The complaint asks SBoE to fine Cross for: accepting contributions in excess of statutory maximums; failing to disclose these contributions in quarterly reports; and failing to report each contribution over $1000 out of the $180,000. The Frerichs campaign estimates that Tom Cross failed to report approximately 40 individual contributions in excess of $1000.
In addition, the complaint asks SBoE to conduct a full audit of each of the seven committees under Tom Cross’s control. The complaint was filed today in SBoE’s Chicago office after serving official notice on Tom Cross and on his campaign. SBoE will likely hear the matter at its next board meeting, October 21st.
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Rate Bruce Rauner’s new TV ad: “Corruption”
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Rauner campaign…
Bruce Rauner’s campaign launched a new ad today highlighting Pat Quinn’s record of cronyism and corruption.
“Pat Quinn took over for Rod Blagojevich and picked up right where he left off,” Rauner campaign spokesman Mike Schrimpf said. “Quinn doubled Blagojevich’s illegal political hiring program and now Quinn’s at the center of federal criminal investigations by two United States Attorneys.”
* The ad…
* The script…
Voiceover: “One hundred years of corruption and counting.”
Pat Quinn: “We do not need a governor of Illinois who is ethically challenged.”
News Anchor: “A criminal grand jury is investigating Governor Pat Quinn.”
Pat Quinn: “We’ve restored integrity and honesty.”
News Anchor: “The findings come on the heels of Quinn defending himself in another investigation.”
Pat Quinn: “I promised to restore integrity – and we have.”
News Anchor: “Another day, another political scandal for Governor Quinn.”
Voiceover: “First Blagojevich. Now Quinn. Can we afford four more years?”
…Adding… Quinn campaign response…
After billionaire Bruce Rauner’s week of desperation began with a demonstrably false ad accusing people of killing babies, slinked into a witch hunt led by the Rauner forces that did nothing but expose their own political motivations and culminated with a fact-free debate “whiff” in Peoria, Quinn for Illinois Deputy Press Secretary Izabela Miltko had this to say:
“Let’s be clear - there’s only one candidate in this race with a real record of corruption and that’s Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner.
“Time and again, Mr. Rauner’s businesses engaged in bribery, fraud, neglect, abuse and outright corruption under his watch, in his name and for his profit.
“Each and every time, Bruce Rauner cashed out before the wrongdoing was exposed, leaving others to clean up the mess.
“As his record is exposed and the public finds out about the REAL Bruce Rauner, we can only expect more desperation and more money spent to try to buy facts that aren’t there.”
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Good morning!
Friday, Oct 10, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The late, beyond great singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt covered this Rolling Stones song better than the Stones ever coulda done it. Why? His authentic Texas twang and his hard-scrabble life. Townes just owned this one, man…
I know you think you’re the queen of the underground
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Tonight’s quotable
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From ABC 7’s report on today’s NRI hearing…
(A) harsh audit found the program was hastily developed, mismanaged and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. Lavin admitted that mistakes were made, but the program helped thousands of people.
Quinn’s current opponent Bruce Rauner uses the word “corruption” when talking about the NRI probe.
“Is this corruption? No, I don’t think so, it is gross mismanagement and incompetence,” [Rep. Ron] Sandack said.
He’s probably right, but I’m not sure the Rauner campaign is gonna love him for that one.
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LAC collapses its tent
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Toni Irving was Gov. Pat Quinn’s deputy chief of staff, so she had direct access to the governor. Part of her portfolio was the governor’s 2010 anti-violence initiative. She’s a big part of the Auditor General’s stinging report.
But after grilling other witnesses for hours on end, the Legislative Audit Commission asked Irving questions for maybe 10 minutes before dismissing her today.
Irving is an African-American, and with some backlash being ginned up out there, that could’ve played a role in the brief questioning. But another witness was grilled this afternoon for only a few minutes and then released. That witness was a white male.
As I write this at around four o’clock, the LAC has adjourned.
And that may be the biggest surprise to emerge from this entire exercise.
The Republicans pushed hard yesterday and came up mostly empty when it came to the non-audit side issue of whether the anti-violence initiative was used to win the 2010 election. They pushed hard again today with Jack Lavin and didn’t make much progress.
The promised October disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn ended with a quiet thud.
* Look, the audit is the audit. The anti-violence program was a complete fiscal mess. Two US Attorneys and the Cook County State’s Attorney are investigating. That’s as it should be. Let the pros do their jobs.
The past two days showed what can happen when politicians try to play prosecutors for political advantage without first making utterly sure that they could prove their case.
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* Earlier this afternoon, I told you that the governor’s campaign had singled out three Republican members on the Legislative Audit Commission as “Witch Hunt Leaders.” Here is their response…
Does Governor Quinn really believe that federal and Cook County investigators are also on a witch hunt?
Sen. Jason Barickman
Rep. Ron Sandack
Rep. David Reis
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“All in!”
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune’s campaign finance report Twitter page has been indispensable all year. I’m not a big fan of the “All in!!!” hyperbole for $50,000 contributions and over because as we’ve seen many times, $50K is chicken feed in many races. Other than that, I’m loving it.
Anyway, here are a few highlights from the last day or so…
* Speaking of Topinka…
Veteran Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka continues to hold a sizable lead over Democratic challenger Sheila Simon in a new Reboot Illinois poll.
The automated poll, conducted Oct. 8 by We Ask America among 1,070 likely voters, found incumbent Topinka the choice of 52 percent of respondents to Simon’s 34 percent. Libertarian candidate Julie Fox was the choice of 4 percent of respondents. The result was consistent with Reboot Illinois polls conducted June 16, July 31 and Sept. 2 that found Topinka ahead by 11, 19 and 19 percentage points, respectively.
The poll has a margin of error of +/-3 percent, with 28 percent of responses from cell phone contacts. Party identification of participants was 26 percent Republican, 37 percent Democratic and 37 percent independent.
While Topinka’s overall showing was impressive, more remarkable were her numbers among Chicago and Cook County suburban respondents. Simon had a 47-37 edge among Chicago voters, but Topinka’s 37 percent is very strong for a Republican candidate. Winning 20 percent of the Chicago vote is considered the benchmark for a Republican statewide candidate to win.
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Rate Tom Cross’ TV ad
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s called “A Different Kind of Republican”…
* Script…
I’m Tom Cross.
I’m running for State Treasurer to clean up the mess in Springfield …
… and I’ve never been afraid to break from my party to get results.
I’m pro-choice,
I support stem cell research …
… and I cast the deciding vote for marriage equality.
As Treasurer, I’ll fight government waste and fraud
Holding the Springfield Politicians accountable
so we can invest in what really matters … our schools.
VO: Tom Cross. Independent leadership for Illinois.
…Adding… Frerichs campaign response…
Tom Cross is “different”, and not in a good way.
One of the ultimate Springfield insiders, Tom Cross was on Rod Blagojevich’s clout list. According to a Sun-Times special report by Dave McKinney, Cross recommended 46 people to the “Blagojevich Jobs Machine.”
Tom Cross voted against bipartisan legislation backed by Mark Kirk and Barack Obama to block a toxic sludge treatment plant from being built on Lake Michigan. Cross was one of only 20 House lawmakers to oppose clean drinking water for millions.
Mike Frerichs worked with Democrats and Republicans to end the troubled legislative scholarship program and to expand job-creating enterprise zones. Mike Frerichs will put an end to the “politics as usual” that have plagued the Treasurer’s office in recent years, while Tom Cross continues to say “good job.”
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* As I mentioned earlier today, you could almost feel the backlash building. From a press release…
Pastor Pfleger’s Response to Outrageous Ignorance about Violence by GOP Legislators
The Legislative Audit Commission should be ashamed of themselves for their investigation into the N.R.I. Program! At the time when people were being shot daily on the streets of Chicago, when even 6 Chicago Police Officers were killed, they continue to attack a program that created jobs and opportunities during such a violent time in the city.
The members of this legislative commission either have no idea or don’t care about the violence epidemic that swept Chicago in 2010. To them, the violence in Chicago is something that they read about in the paper or hear about in the news. The commission wants to say Governor Quinn used the program for political gain rather than helping to stop the violence plaguing our city. The sad truth is that the commission itself is the one using the program for political gain, as it is nothing less than a witch hunt creating an illusion of corruption.
Where were these critics when the violence was causing bloodshed in our streets? We were in a state of emergency trying to save lives in our communities. What were they doing? They were playing politics with peoples’ lives. They were voting against common sense gun safety legislation. They were voting against summer jobs programs for our children and young people. It is a point that should not go unnoticed that these very legislators that sit on this commission are all endorsed or supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA). And their records demonstrate that they vote time and time again against even the most common sense public safety practices. These critics aren’t the solution to gun violence, they are the problem.
In the Pursuit of Justice…
Rev. Michael L. Pfleger
Senior Pastor, The Faith Community of Saint Sabina
…Adding… Every Republican on the committee has gone out of his way to say they are very concerned about the city’s violence problem. So, in a way, that’s an unfair hit.
Also, the apparently coordinated use of the “witch hunt” phrase undercuts his argument as well.
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* This just gets worse and worse for Rep. Drury…
Today, Cook County Judge Franklin U. Valderrama rejected State Representative Scott Drury’s emergency request for temporary injunctive relief, seeking to silence his opponent in the 58th District, Dr. Mark Neerhof. Attorneys for Dr. Neerhof successfully argued that Drury had not raised a “fair question” that Drury would succeed in his lawsuit.
Neerhof campaign manager, Mick Paskiewicz, issued the following statement:
“Today, the court took the right step and denied Scott Drury’s attempt to shield his record from the voters. Drury knows he’s an embattled incumbent, so he launched this desperate attempt to silence Dr. Neerhof with a frivolous lawsuit. Dr. Neerhof will continue his campaign that is gaining traction with voters, and hopefully Scott Drury will stop hiding in the court room and answer for his record.”
Drury gave less than 48 hours notice for today’s hearing, calling it an “emergency”. Dr. Neerhof was not present in court, as was caring for patients in his high-risk obstetrics practice.
*** UPDATE *** The judge’s order is here. And Dan Proft has responded…
“I appreciate the judge’s ruling on this matter. It is unfortunate that Rep. Drury, an attorney, believes that political campaigns should be litigated in court rather than decided by the voters. Instead of wasting more of his constituents’ money and the court’s time on his frivolity, Rep. Drury might consider working to stop SB 16 from cutting millions and millions of dollars in funding for schools in his district.”
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Question of the day
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* On Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, Gov. Pat Quinn’s chief operating officer Jack Lavin sent an e-mail to some government staff. Click the pic if you have trouble reading the document…
* The following Sunday, Lavin sent this e-mail from his personal computer to Quinn campaign staff. We looked at it yesterday, but let’s look at it again…
* At least some Republicans have implied so far today that this shows Lavin was trying to hurry up the state’s programmatic development process so he could pitch it to the campaign over the weekend. Lavin, for his part, said he was merely pushing to get the program up and running to help alleviate the city’s violence problem.
To date, this is the closest thing to a “smoking gun” about the possible unethical mix of government and politics that the GOP has put forth to date.
* There is, however, some other evidence that points to possible hinkiness. For instance, everybody who has testified so far has said they were under the impression that neighborhoods were chosen for grants “based on crime statistics.” But those statistics have never been explained because the DHS formula used to choose the neighborhoods was never found even after an extensive search by the Illinois Auditor General.
* Pretty much everybody testified yesterday (and today) that the haste in putting together the program had nothing to do with election day, but with getting the program up and running as fast as possible.
As we discussed yesterday, former IVPA Director Barbara Shaw said…
“Elected officials, presidents, governors often introduce initiatives and programs to respond to the needs of constituencies that they serve. So, it wasn’t a shock to me, that this was happening during that time. But I do want to say here, the governor’s office never told us who to give the money to, what communities to go in, what agencies should get that money. The elections did not play a role in where that money went to,” Shaw answered.
* But on October 25, 2010 - just days before the election - Barbara Shaw was doing all she could to pry loose some bigtime state money for the Violence Prevention Authority…
* Again, the standard response has been there was an “emergency” that needed to be addressed. Kids were being murdered, something needed to be done as fast as possible. And the number of shootings and stabbings was indeed still pretty significant as late as October. There were 35 Chicago homicides in October, which was more than the 31 in September, but far less than the 60 in August. Still, there were 42 in July, not much more than October.
So, for the moment anyway, let’s set aside the obvious failure of these hearings to meet some way too high GOP expectations, and try to just stick with…
* The Question: From what we know so far, do you believe that the roll-out of the NRI program was too overtly political and possibly illegal, or was it overtly political but within an historically accepted mixture of campaigning and government, or was it not political? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
polls
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* From a Quinn campaign e-mail entitled “GOP Witch Hunt Leaders’ Voting Records on Public Safety Issues”…
Senator Jason Barickman
· Voted against the Violence Prevention Task Force (98th - HB 2879 – one of only 4 Senators to vote “no”)
· Voted against the Grant Transparency and Accountability Act (98th - HB 2747)
· 92 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted against basic “lost and stolen” regulations on firearms (98th - HB 1189)
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
o Voted against a limit on sale of handguns within 30-day period (97th - HB 203)
o Voted against additional safety enhancements on concealed carry (98th – HB 1453)
· Voted against most measures to help ex-offenders get jobs after incarceration ends
o Voted against “ban the box” (98th - HB 5701)
o Voted against sealing records for non-violent offenders (98th - HB 2378)
o Voted against auto-expungement for juveniles (98th - SB 978)
o Voted against sealing of low level drug offenses, retail theft, and theft (98th - HB 3061)
o Voted against tax credits for employers who hire ex-felons (98th - SB 1659)
o Voted against second chance probation (98th - HB 3010)
o Voted against changing the age of delinquency from 17 to 18 (98th - HB 2404)
o Voted against allowing Medicaid enrollment for certain inmates pre-release (98th - HB 1046)
o Voted against legal immunity for individuals seeking treatment for drug overdose (97th – SB 1701)
o Voted against the Internet Dating Safety Act (97th - HB 4083)
o Voted against the DJJ ombudsman, which was created in response to the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (98th - SB 2352 – one of 6 “no” votes)
o Voted no on gang witness protection program (98th - HB 1139)
Representative Ron Sandack
· 83 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
Representative David Reis
· Voted against the Violence Prevention Task Force (98th - HB 2879 – one of only 6 Representatives to vote “no”)
· 100 rating by NRA in 2012
o Voted for concealed carry (98th - HB 183)
o Voted against a limit on sale of handguns within 30-day period (97th - HB 203)
o Voted against basic “lost and stolen” regulations on firearms (98th - HB 1189)
o Voted against additional safety enhancements on concealed carry (98th – HB 1453)
o Voted against gun locks (94th - SB 1832)
· Voted against most measures to help ex-offenders get jobs after incarceration ends
o Voted against “ban the box” (98th - HB 5701)
o Voted against sealing records for non-violent offenders (98th - HB 2378)
o Voted against auto-expungement for juveniles (98th - SB 978)
o Voted against sealing of low level drug offenses, retail theft, and theft (98th - HB 3061)
o Voted against tax credits for employers who hire ex-felons (98th - SB 1659)
o Voted against second chance probation (98th - HB 3010 – one of 2 “no” votes)
o Voted for changing the age of delinquency from 17 to 18 (98th - HB 2404)
o Voted against eliminating prostitution as a felony (98th - SB 1872)
o Voted against redeploy in Cook County (98th - HB 2401)
o Voted against expungements for veterans (98th - HB 1548 - was a GOP bill)
o Voted against providing reentry services to ex-offenders (96th - HB 436)
o Voted against greater oversight for redeploy (96th - SB 1289)
o Voted against the establishment of reentry (94th - SB 554)
o Voted against GED good conduct credit for compliant parolees (95th – SB 1391)
· Voted against common-sense public safety measures
o Voted against legal immunity for individuals seeking treatment for drug overdose (97th – SB 1701)
o Voted against the Internet Dating Safety Act (97th - HB 4083)
o Voted against the amended DOC early release program (97th - SB 2621)
· Voted against creating the Department of Juvenile Justice (94th - SB 92)
· Voting against creating the Racial Profiling Prevention and Data Oversight Act (94th - SB 2368)
I’m wondering now if the phrase “witch hunt” will come up during tonight’s gubernatorial debate.
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WARNING: Once seen, this can never be unseen
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A new mailer from Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC declares: “Chicago Democrats have been in charge of Illinois since leggings and headbands were the exercise fashion rage”…
If you can’t read it, at the bottom it says “Olivia Newton-Madigan.”
I’m sure y’all can come up with a better caption that that.
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Rate Mike Frerichs’ first TV ad
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* It’s called “Measure”…
…Adding… The Illinois Republican Party has responded with a novella…
Frerichs Needs To Answer For Mistakes Made As Auditor
Bad Math & Patronage Scandals Highlight Frerichs’ Past
Chicago… State Senator and Democrat candidate for Treasurer Mike Frerichs has touted his financial experience and plans to deter the influence of special interests in the Treasurer’s office. But first, Frerichs has to answer for on-the-job errors that cost the taxpayers millions, and past instances of patronage that undercut his claims at reform, says Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider.
“As Auditor, Mike Frerichs missed the mark on an Early Retirement Initiative that he said would save Champaign County thousands, but it ended up costing taxpayers millions,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider. “Illinois simply cannot afford a Treasurer who is bad at math.”
In 2003, Champaign County Auditor Mike Frerichs was tasked with analyzing an Early Retirement Initiative (ERI) for Champaign County. Relying on the analysis and data from Auditor Mike Frerichs, the Champaign County Board approved the ERI plan and Frerichs supported the plan saying it is a “good tool to deal with budgetary problems for the county board.” (“County Board to Consider Offering Early Retirement,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 7/3/03)
Within a few short months, Frerichs’ analysis proved to be far off the mark as the plan failed to achieve savings and in fact created $2.45 million in new unfunded liabilities for the county.
The funding shortfall required the Champaign County Board to conduct a bonding issuance to pay off pension obligations for IMRF. The bonds to pay off the failed ERI program were finally paid off nine years later in January 2014 with a total cost to taxpayers of more than three million dollars. (Champaign County Budget)
Frerichs’ mistakes as Auditor were documented during the County Board debate to remove him as Champaign County’s agent with IMRF. Frerichs fought the dismissal, but it was approved by the County Board by a bipartisan vote of 17-5. (Champaign County Policy, Personnel and Appointments Committee – 9/6/2006, Champaign County Board Minutes – 9/21/2006)
Frerichs has continued to try to hide his mistakes made during the ERI. First, he blamed the cost to taxpayers on stock market returns after the ERI, until it was pointed out the market outperformed expectations. Then he said that he was only in charge of gathering data, when in fact he presented the plan to the Champaign County Board Finance Committee. (”Treasurer Race Heats Up Over Accusations of Mismanagement, Patronage,” The Associated Press, 8/12/14; Champaign County Board Finance Committee Minutes, 4/23/03)
“Mike Frerichs’ bad math cost Champaign County taxpayers millions,” said Schneider. “The simple truth is that Frerichs has neither the skill set nor experience to be Illinois Treasurer. He simply is not ready for the responsibility.”
Patronage & Alleged Ghost Payrolling
Mike Frerichs is at the epicenter of two of the most publicized and costly patronage scandals in recent Champaign County history. While Frerichs claims he wants to remove “clout” from the office of State Treasurer, his record is laced with reports of patronage, clout and ghost-payrolling that ended up costing taxpayers over $100,000.
CURT DEEDRICH
Frerichs Flexes Clout to Get Campaign Manager A Job
The Deedrich appointment three years ago stemmed from the dual desire of county board Democrats both to flex their newfound political muscle by filling county jobs with patronage appointments and to satisfy current state Sen. Mike Frerichs’ desire to find a good job for his former campaign manager. So in a controversial decision, board Democrats passed over a better-qualified employee in the supervisor of assessments office and named Deedrich to what had been a nonpolitical post. (“Deedrich Follies Are County Board’s Doing,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 6/10/07)
The Results Of Frerichs’ Patronage Program Called “A Disaster”
But he’s been such a disaster that it’s unlikely Deedrich will win reappointment when his term expires next year. That’s assuming he hasn’t been fired by then. (“County Positions Should Be Filled On Merit, Not Loyalty,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 4/6/07)
TONY FABRI
Frerichs Pushes Fabri For County Auditor Post
Fabri had the backing of two former auditors at the meeting, Frerichs and Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing. (“Champaign County Democrats Nominate Fabri For Auditor,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 1/4/07)
Fabri Decides He Doesn’t Need To Show Up For Work
County government telephone records indicate that Champaign County Auditor Tony Fabri has been missing from his office for well over half the workdays in the last year, including two different periods when he apparently was gone for more than a month. (“Phone Records Show County Auditor Frequently Absent,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/15/09)
And Frerichs Gives Fabri Advice On How To Avoid Ghost-Pay Rolling Criticism
Fabri said Frerichs, who preceded him as county auditor, warned there might be sniping about his attendance at work. “He said that when you start hearing complaints to just walk around Brookens and say ‘Hi’ to everyone and make sure that they see you,” Fabri recounted. (“Phone Records Show County Auditor Frequently Absent,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/15/09)
Frerichs Admits Fabri Doesn’t Show Up For Work And Doesn’t Do A Good Job, But Urges Voters To Support Him Anyway
Frerichs, a longtime ally of Fabri’s, urged voters to look beyond the charges of absenteeism against Fabri … “I’m not saying that the current auditor shows up every day and does the best job. (“Voters To Decide Whether To Keep Elected Auditor,” The Champaign News-Gazette, 3/29/11)
“Mike Frerichs’ past is filled with the exact same problems he’s claiming he’ll fix in the Treasurer’s office,” Schneider said. “But actions speak louder than words, and Mike Frerichs’ record paints a clearer picture than his campaign promises.”
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Front page news!
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* At first blush, this Bobby Schilling press release looks pretty darned serious…
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline) has received a lot of help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—more than $1 million so far according to OpenSecrets.org. However, the DCCC’s advertising has come under fire for its dishonest content and false claims.
Now, the DCCC and its Chairman, Congressman Steve Israel (D-New York), are facing a House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation for a clear cut violation of House ethics rules in a TV ad attacking Bobby Schilling (R-Colona) on behalf of Congresswoman Cheri Bustos.
A Peoria taxpayer has filed an official complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics for the blatant violation of House ethics. The complaint is attached.
Jon Schweppe, communications director at Bobby Schilling for Congress, released the following statement:
“Now here’s a story deserving of a front page headline in Sunday’s paper,” Schweppe said. “Congresswoman Cheri Bustos should immediately condemn the DCCC for their incredibly false advertising as well as their blatant House ethics violation. Will Bustos stand up against the corrupt outside money she claims to so vehemently oppose?”
Wow. What could this front page-deserving story be?
* Well, read the complaint. Or check out Illinois Review’s report…
The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is being accused of violating U.S. House rules in using a photo of Bobby Schilling when he was a congressman sitting in a House committee in its most recent ad, “Heart.”
In the new ad, the DCCC infers that Bobby Schilling is responsible for Illinois losing thousands of jobs overseas.
Peoria resident Ruby Arms wrote in a complaint letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics mailed October 1 that, “The DCCC, a Member-driven political committee organized under House Rules, violated the rules regarding the use of House committee footage, as well as those governing the use of official resources for campaign activity and political gain. House Rule 114(b) explicity prohibits the use of committee footage as partisan political campaign material.”
Ms. Arms went on to urge the Office of Congressional Ethics to enforce rules and hold the DCCC, Chairman Steve Isarel and Members of the DCCC “accountable for the ethics violations they committed.”
Sigh.
The two candidates debate tonight at 6:30 on WQAD TV, which will stream it live on the interwebtubes. It’ll be the only televised debate of the campaign.
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Easily debunked claims
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Democratic Congressman Bill Enyart and GOP state Rep. Mike Bost debated last night in southern Illinois…
The debate got heated when Enyart said Bost supported Republican Paul Ryan’s budget.
“I never said I supported Paul Ryan’s budget. That is a lie,” Bost said.
* The full quote is at about the 20:50 mark in the debate video…
* Transcript…
“In the words of Ronald Reagan, ‘There you go again.’
“You did the same thing to Jason Plummer, but you’re not going to do it to me. I never said I supported the Ryan budget, and that is a lie.”
* The Democrats, however, point to Bost’s Facebook page, where he slams Enyart for not being sufficiently pro-coal. Included in that criticism is this…
The second bullet point is the important one, the Democrats say, because that rollcall is the Paul Ryan budget. So, while Bost didn’t exactly say that he supported the Ryan proposal, he slammed Enyart for voting against it because it would’ve been good for Illinois coal.
Bost also skipped an AARP debate to campaign with Ryan, the Democrats point out.
* Meanwhile, from the same debate…
At another point during the debate, Bost said Enyart was appointed general of the Illinois National Guard by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“Governor Blagojevich did not make me a general,” Enyart responded. He said he was selected by a board of generals and nominated by U.S. President George W. Bush.
* Um, from an August 31, 2007 press release…
Gov. Blagojevich appoints Brigadier General William L. Enyart as 37th Adjutant General; will lead Illinois Department of Military Affairs
SPRINGFIELD- Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today named Brigadier General William L. Enyart as the new 37th Adjutant General of Illinois. Enyart will command more than 13,000 Soldiers and Airmen of the Illinois National Guard. He will also serve as the Governor’s principal advisor on military matters and function as the director of the Department of Military Affairs. Enyart will assume command from Maj. Gen. Randal E. Thomas, who retires in September.
“General Enyart brings a wealth of military and civilian experience to the Illinois National Guard. He has served in the Illinois Army National Guard for more than 30 years in a wide variety of positions. Major General Randy Thomas performed an outstanding service to the Illinois National Guard, and I’m sure General Enyart will build upon that record, bringing leadership and vision to help the Illinois Army National Guard better serve and protect our state,” said. Gov. Blagojevich.
He can’t run away from that one.
…Adding… The Democrats point out Bost actually claimed that Blagojevich made Enyart a general, which, they say is not true. In that case, it was a botched Bost hit.
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* As we discussed yesterday, Jack Lavin’s personal e-mails show that the former state chief operating officer discussed the governor’s botched anti-violence initiative with the governor’s campaign team at least a handful of times.
Sen. Bill Brady, who lost to Quinn in 2010 and sits on the Legislative Audit Commission, had this to say at the time…
“I don’t think there’s been any question in anyone’s mind that the Quinn administration, his governmental staff and his political staff, used government resources to please certain constituencies that they hoped would increase the voter turnout and suppress the voter turnout for us prior to the election,”
That story was initially posted online shortly before 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon.
* Shortly afterward, at 2:18 pm, I received this e-mail from the Illinois Republican Party…
Moments ago, Barbara Shaw misled the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission. The Chicago Sun-Times reports Shaw saying:
“…the governor’s office never told us who to give the money to, what communities to go in, what agencies should get that money…”
Shaw’s statement is demonstrably false. Take a look:
The South Suburbs Were Added To NRI At The Direction Of The Governor’s Office. “After target communities for NRI were determined, the south suburbs requested to the Governor’s Office that its area be included in the Initiative. The Governor’s Office agreed and three townships were added.” (“Performance Audit State Moneys Provided To The Illinois Violence Prevention Authority For The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative,” Illinois Auditor General, 2/14, p. 13)
Hermosa Was Added To NRI In The Third Year At The Direction Of The Governor’s Office. “In a series of meetings in the fall and early winter of 2012, the same ICJIA staff met with Deputy Chief of Staff Toni Irving about the NRI program and other topics. At some of these meetings, a Governor’s staff member, George Letavish was present. During these meeting DCS Irving showed ICJIA staff various iterations of drafts of budgets for the NRI program identifying the amount of funding to go to each of the NRI lead agencies and amounts to be distributed by the lead agencies to subcontracting provider agencies. Hermosa was included on the list of communities to be funded in all iterations of the draft budget.” (ICJIA Response To Auditor Questions, 10/22/13)
* Check out the timestamp on this post in our ScribbleLive feed yesterday afternoon…
Yep. Just four minutes later, and about a half an hour after a member of the Legislative Audit Commission blasted Quinn for mixing government and politics in a gubernatorial campaign, the exact same question pushed by the IL GOP was brought up in a state legislative hearing by a GOP member of the commission.
I’m certain it was just a happy coincidence, though.
* By the way, Shaw had an explanation ready…
Shaw responded that the south suburbs were added “as a region,” but the governor had no influence over which groups would get the grants and how much each would receive. The governor decided that x amount would be sent to Chicago and x in the southern suburbs, but that’s it.
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*** LIVE COVERAGE *** NRI hearing
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Quinnsters successfully buried a story in a bunch of other stuff….
The Legislative Audit Commission hearing had been delayed since July at the request of federal prosecutors looking into the Quinn grant program. In a sign the probe continues, the Quinn administration acknowledged a new grand jury subpoena of emails and other records from a former top Quinn aide.
The federal request set a deadline of Nov. 4 — the same day Quinn asks voters to re-elect him as governor against Republican Bruce Rauner. The challenger has been using the legislative and federal probes into the program to try to chip away at what traditionally has been one of Quinn’s strengths, a reputation for integrity. […]
[Former DCEO Director Warren Ribley’s] emails and documents are being sought by federal prosecutors in the latest subpoena that Quinn officials released Wednesday. The request, dated Sept. 26, also seeks emails of Jack Cutrone, the current head of the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority. Ribley said he had not seen the new subpoena.
* Live video of the 9 o’clock hearings will be available at the GA’s main page. Subscribers have access to our own exclusive live video here. And here’s the ScribbleLive thingy…
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Today’s quotable
Thursday, Oct 9, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown on yesterday’s NRI hearing…
If Quinn is lucky, these latest revelations will do more to help him with African-American voters than the actual program did in 2010.
I’m not sure African-Americans ever realized how far Quinn stuck his neck out to try to help their communities.
But they certainly are getting the message this time that Quinn is in trouble for spending a lot of money to give jobs to their kids and to provide services in their neighborhoods.
The beginning of a backlash?
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Pension reform status update
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the We Are One Coalition…
Today, the Sangamon County Circuit Court decided it would take up first the motions filed by the We Are One Illinois coalition and other plaintiffs who argue that the Pension Protection Clause renders SB1 unconstitutional. At today’s status hearing, the Court stated its belief that the Plaintiffs’ motions, if granted, will resolve the question of whether SB1 is constitutional. The Court directed the Plaintiffs to file their replies in support of their motions by October 31 and set argument for November 20 at 1:30 p.m.
The following statement may be attributed to We Are One Illinois:
“As we have always maintained and the recent Kanerva decision confirms, the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution is absolute and without exception. There is no merit to the State’s purported justification for the unconstitutional diminishments and impairments that SB1 imposes. We are hopeful for a swift resolution in the plaintiffs’ favor, so that we can work with legislators willing to develop a fair—and legal—solution to our state’s challenges, together.”
…Adding… SJ-R…
“There are three motions pending saying that the reserve sovereign powers as alleged by the state is not a defense in this case,” said Springfield attorney Don Craven, who filed one of the multiple lawsuits attempting to have the pension reform law declared unconstitutional. “The court agreed to take those matters up first. If we are right, and the reserve sovereign powers doesn’t work, this case will be over.”
At least at the circuit court level. Both sides agree the matter will eventually be decided by the state Supreme Court.
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Caption contest!
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yes, it’s late in the day, and yes, we already have one other caption contest going, but how could we pass up this? From my pal Kerry Lester…
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Money still coming in for referenda
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More money is flowing into political committees designed to push statewide ballot initiatives. For instance the Committee to Reduce Income Inequality & to Support Human Rights has gone from raising $757,500 since the end of last month to a bit over a million dollars today. The Operating Engineers, Amalgamated Transit Union and the Great Lake Region Organizing Committee have all pitched in since we last checked that committee.
* The Committee to Raise Illinois’s Minimum Wage had raised $603K by the end of September. It’s up to $962K today. SEIU Healthcare, the NEA, Leo Smith and others all contributed.
* And as subscribers already know, Dr. Henry Nicholas III contributed $850,000 to the Marsy’s Law for IL Committee on October 1st.
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A very important thing to remember
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This comment by “Illannoyed” is spot on…
The Rauner folks might be getting some of what they need. Both the Sun-Times and Tribune have headlines and stories that can be used in campaign ads. I understand that a campaign taking advantage of an existing policy isn’t improper in and of itself, but good luck explaining that to an electorate accustomed to political corruption. The nuance is likely to be completely lost.
S/he’s right. Sun-Times…
Tribune…
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Former Illinois Violence Prevention Authority director Barbara Shaw is sworn in this morning before taking questions from the Legislative Audit Commission…
* The Question: Caption?
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* Sun-Times…
For the first time, proof emerged that Gov. Pat Quinn’s 2010 Neighborhood Recovery Initiative factored into his election strategy that year in personal emails from the governor’s former top aide that were released Wednesday by a legislative panel investigating the program.
The emails from ex-Quinn chief of staff Jack Lavin represented a key highlight from the opening of two more days of hearings on the $54.5 million anti-violence grant program that is now under federal investigation. […]
“I don’t think there’s been any question in anyone’s mind that the Quinn administration, his governmental staff and his political staff, used government resources to please certain constituencies that they hoped would increase the voter turnout and suppress the voter turnout for us prior to the election,” Brady told Early & Often, the Chicago Sun-Times political portal.
“There’s been various sightings, so to speak. This clearly is smoke. I don’t know if it’s a smoking gun or not. But clearly, they were using government programs to try to increase their support in certain communities in the state. This is clear evidence of it,” said Brady, who narrowly lost the 2010 election to Quinn and is a member of the Legislative Audit Commission.
* OK, let’s look at the e-mails.
…Adding… The governor’s campaign and a spokesperson for the Senate Republicans clarified that these e-mails were from Jack Lavin’s personal, not his government account.
[If the links don’t work for you, click here, go to NRI Audit Review Documents and then find the Lavin e-mails.] Here’s the relevant part of the Lavin e-mail dump mentioned above. Lavin was Quinn’s chief operating officer at the time and also did work on the campaign during his off-hours…
* This does indeed show cooperation between the governing side and the campaign side. But if you know anything about campaigns and governing, you know that there is no absolute wall separating the two. As long as it’s done outside the confines and locale of government offices, hours, etc., it’s all accepted practice.
Look, incumbents campaign on (or run away from) their records, and so it’s no real surprise that the campaign would discuss the value of using a state program for their guy’s political benefit (or to keep something from becoming a problem). And, again, keep in mind that these aren’t state workers on state time. These are people with the campaign and administration officials on their own time. There’s a huge difference there.
The e-mails certainly show that the NRI was viewed by the campaign as a popular program that would help Quinn’s reelection. I don’t think anyone has ever denied that. Governors do this sort of thing all the time with ribbon cuttings, etc. If you want politics completely out of government, you have to cancel all elections.
* To be illegal, though, you’d probably need some internal state correspondence or a witness who could place overtly campaign decisions within the governing process, instead of the other way around (which is what those e-mails appear to show). Barbara Shaw denied any such connection during her testimony this morning…
“Elected officials, presidents, governors often introduce initiatives and programs to respond to the needs of constituencies that they serve. So, it wasn’t a shock to me, that this was happening during that time. But I do want to say here, the governor’s office never told us who to give the money to, what communities to go in, what agencies should get that money. The elections did not play a role in where that money went to,” Shaw answered.
* So, on to some other e-mails, which are agendas for early morning campaign meetings…
* Again, what this shows is that on at least three days during the the campaign, the political operatives discussed the political value of the NRI program.
Were decisions being made about the actual NRI program during those three meetings, or was NRI discussed in the context of maximizing political benefit from a state program? Standard campaign procedure would suggest it’s most likely the latter, but, of course, we don’t know for sure.
However, “incoming FOIAs” right below “NRI” is quite interesting. We don’t know whether or not the two topics are related. But that’s really interesting. Again, though, the campaign needs to know what to expect from the media and the opposition, and so discussing incoming government FOIA requests would definitely be part of that process.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Rauner campaign…
“Governor Quinn’s chief of staff tried to conceal these emails but got caught red-handed,” Rauner campaign spokesperson Mike Schrimpf said. “These emails are the tip of the iceberg but one thing is now clear – the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative had nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that two federal grand juries are investigating the blatant diversion of millions of taxpayer dollars to support the governor’s election. It’s time for Pat Quinn to turn over all of his electronic communications from 2010 so we can finally find out what he knew and when he knew it.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Quinn campaign…
Those were clearly not government conversations.
Chicago was in a state of emergency in the spring and summer of 2010. The issue of gun violence was a critical concern for many constituencies, particularly in the African American community. Six police officers were slain. Dozens of innocent people were being gunned down every day. A young boy was shot 22 times. There were calls for Governor Quinn to activate the Illinois National Guard.
The Governor acted forcefully in response to the bloodshed on the streets. The NRI program was one of many actions he’s taken that the campaign promotes - he signed bills to crack down on gun violence, prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and to tackle some of the root causes of violence. He implemented programs to address high unemployment in the most at-risk areas. He came into the inner city often to meet with community activists, clergy, parents, students and law enforcement personnel. He did his job.
In any incumbent’s campaign, you run on your record.
Obviously the campaign would want to promote what we are doing to fight violence in the community during an election, just like any other policy issue in a campaign.
We are constantly taking inventory of all the various policies, programs and achievements of the Governor’s administration so we can properly and fully communicate them to constituencies who care about where he stands, what he’s done and what he will continue to do in office.
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Poll: Durbin up 51-38
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a Jim Oberweis fundraising e-mail sent yesterday…
Here are three quick facts about my campaign to unseat Obama Democrat Dick Durbin in Illinois:
1.) Multiple polls now show me surging to within 6 points of Dick Durbin.
2.) Dick Durbin is nowhere near 50 percent in a single poll.
3.) My campaign needs your immediate help to close this gap and win this race!
Please make your most generous donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or more to my campaign right now to help me keep the pressure on Dick Durbin. We’re on track to win this race, but we can’t give up now!
My name is Jim Oberweis. I’m a conservative state senator here in Illinois, and I have made it my mission this year to send Dick Durbin packing.
Right out of the gate, liberals - and even some conservatives! - wrote my campaign off as a non-starter. But now, I’m pulling within 6 points of one of the top Democrats in the U.S. Senate!
* It’s a good thing he sent that yesterday, because today…
Seeking his fourth term, Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin held a 13-percentage-point lead over Republican challenger Jim Oberweis in a new Reboot Illinois poll.
Oberweis, a Republican state senator from Sugar Grove, had a better showing among Chicago and Cook County voters than in a Reboot Illinois poll a month ago, but he also lost ground to Durbin among respondents in the five collar counties and downstate. Libertarian candidate Sharon Hansen was the choice of 4 percent of respondents, with 6 percent undecided.
The automated poll of 1,086 likely voters, conducted Oct. 7 by We Ask America, had a margin of error of 2.98 percent with cell phone contacts making up 24.5 percent of contacts. Party identification of respondents was 27 percent Republican, 35 percent Democrat and 38 percent independent.
* Crosstabs…
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* The SJ-R followed up on the Politico story about Democratic groups pulling out of Ann Callis’ congressional race…
Ann Callis said Tuesday that having the political arm of the House Democrats pull funding for some advertising on her behalf doesn’t mean she’s out of the running in the 13th Congressional District.
“I don’t wake up in the morning to see what the national Democrats and the national press are saying about me,” Callis told the editorial board of The State Journal-Register. “I know we have built an extremely strong ground game … and I am confident that we are in a very, very good place.” […]
But Brandon Lorenz, DCCC regional press secretary, did not concede the 13th. “Ad reservations are changing every week, and Judge Ann Callis is running an aggressive campaign in a tough climate” while exposing Davis’ record, he said.
“Remain calm!”
* WICS has more Callis reaction…
“It’s clear we’re building grassroots momentum and will continue to fight for our values for the next four weeks.”
“All is well!”
Hat tip to the NRCC for the story links. The “Animal House” reference is my own.
*** UPDATE *** From the Callis campaign…
The campaign of former Chief Judge and Congressional challenger Ann Callis today announced it is in a strong position going into the final four weeks of the election due to its successful fundraising and strong grassroots network of support.
The campaign had its strongest fundraising quarter of the cycle, raising more than $400,000 during the third quarter. As of September 30th, the campaign had more than $545,000 cash on hand. Volunteers across Illinois have responded to Callis’ call for change and have contacted thousands of residents and registered more than 8,300 new voters as of the traditional registration deadline, a strategic key in a district that was decided by 1,002 votes in 2012.
“Our campaign is building strong grassroots momentum as voters connect with our message of restoring accountability to Washington for members of both parties. We’ve seen record fundraising as individual low-dollar donors and families across Illinois are chipping in and doing what they can, rejecting Congressman Davis’ Washington insider strategy of relying heavily on funds from special interests and corporate donors that directly benefit from his votes.
“Let me be clear, this campaign has never been about the national Democratic Party, out-of-state billionaires like the Koch brothers, or Washington pundits. My campaign and vision for public service are not beholden to anybody but the people I’d be elected to serve. As a woman who has spent her career in the judiciary, I’ve been underestimated before, but I am confident and inspired by the many people across our district who are fueling this campaign and leading us to victory on Election Day,” said Callis.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The DCCC has reported paying for about $200K in ads blasting Rodney Davis, so despite the Politico report they haven’t completely withdrawn yet. Many thanks to a commenter.
*** UPDATE 3 *** From the Davis campaign…
1. DCCC was on record saying they were staying in Champaign-Springfield with their initial three week ad reservation. They are currently in the second week of that run. This reservation has been on the books for months, so the money put down this week is nothing new. This reservation has DCCC on Champaign-Springfield until 10/20.
“But the DCCC official pointed out that it will continue to advertise for Callis on Champaign, Ill., television for at least three weeks in October.”
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gateway-to-dc/democrats-pulling-air-support-for-callis-house-campaign-on-st/article_37b9439a-322a-5d56-b6ee-e469f61d3285.html
2. That same P-D story points out the DCCC reservation pulls in STL market.
“the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has decided to pull October advertising dollars on St. Louis TV it had set aside for Democrat Ann Callis, who is challenging Illinois’ 13th District Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville.”
3. It was reported last week by Roll Call that House Majority PAC, cancelled reservations in STL market targeted for IL13
http://atr.rollcall.com/elections-2014-house-majority-pac-cuts-house-races/
4. DCCC still has a reservation in STL for 10/28-11/3 and HMP still has a reservation for Champaign-Springfield for 10/28-11/3. Of course, as the DCCC spokesman said, they are changing weekly.
5. Finally, our media folks confirm today that House Majority PAC has cancelled their reservation in Champaign-Springfield market for 10/21 to 10/27.
So, we have had DCCC pulls in the STL market and HMP pulls in STL and Champaign-Springfield markets, with certainly the potential for more pulls. Anyway you slice it, not good for them.
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* Reboot…
The automated poll, conducted Oct. 7 among 1,083 likely voters by We Ask America, found Cross leading Frerichs 40 percent to 39 percent, with Libertarian candidate Matthew Skopek at 6 percent and 15 percent undecided. Party identification of respondents was 27 percent Republican, 35 percent Democrat and 38 percent independent. The margin of error is 2.98 percent. Cell phone contacts made up 24.5 percent of the respondents.
Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat, had trailed Cross, an Oswego Republican, in Reboot Illinois polls on June 17, July 31 and Sept. 4, by margins of 7, 11 and 6 percentage points, respectively.
* Xtabs…
* And the new result ought to help Frerichs raise money. From a recent NYT article entitled “How to Win at Raising Money: Warn That You’re About to Lose”…
Why do campaigns keep saying they’re losing? These doom-and-gloom messages seem to be effective at motivating donors. The best evidence to support this claim comes from a new study by the social scientists Todd Rogers of Harvard and Don A. Moore of the University of California, Berkeley.
In other contexts, they note, projecting confidence is often a successful leadership strategy. But in politics it may serve to demobilize potential donors by convincing them that their contributions are unnecessary. Why give if your preferred candidate is going to win anyway? By contrast, people are often more motivated to act when trying to avoid an undesirable outcome — in this case, losing an election.
To demonstrate this point, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Moore conducted experiments in which they showed that online survey participants are more supportive of hypothetical preferred candidates if they are just behind in the polls instead of just ahead.
These differences matter in the real world of campaigns, as the two professors show using fund-raising experiments conducted by the Democratic Governors’ Association and Anne Lewis Strategies, Inc. Emails from the D.G.A. saying that Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for governor in Florida, was ahead of the Democrat Charlie Crist in the polls were almost 50 percent more likely to result in a donation and raised approximately 60 percent more than those saying Mr. Scott was behind.
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Schneider’s new ad: “On the Floor”
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Brad Schneider campaign…
U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) released a new broadcast television ad today that highlights former Congressman Bob Dold’s record of standing with Republicans to support ending the Medicare guarantee, raising the retirement age, raising middle class taxes and defunding Planned Parenthood.
“When he had his chance, Dold voted with Republicans to end the Medicare guarantee, raise middle class taxes and defund Planned Parenthood,” Schneider for Congress spokesperson Staci McCabe said. “Time and again, Bob Dold proved he could be counted on as a reliable vote for Republican’s irresponsible agenda.”
* This is the second attempt at reproducing the magic of 2012’s “too Republican” ad. Tell us what you think…
* Script…
Husband: More decisions, huh?
Wife: Yeah.
Husband: Oh no…Bob Dold and the Republicans…
Wife: They’re still selling this stuff?
Husband: Ridiculous. End the Medicare guarantee. Raise our taxes…
Wife: Raise the retirement age for Social Security. Defund Planned Parenthood?
We can’t afford any of this.
Husband: It looks even worse from this side.
Wife: Those Republicans…
Husband: Yeah, it’s not our style.
Wife: Definitely not for this house.
Husband: Do you have the receipt?
Wife: Just throw it out.
Um, if they “can’t afford any of this,” then why throw it out?
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NRI hearing coverage
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Bombshell or just the usual? The lede…
The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative has been a political liability for Gov. Pat Quinn since a state audit tore apart the grant program in February, but newly released emails show top aides to the governor worried about its potential political cost as far back as 2011.
OK, but scroll down and here’s what you see…
That’s when former Quinn chief of staff Jack Lavin, the governor’s former chief operating officer Andrew Ross and the director of the Illinois Finance Authority, Chris Meister, worked to insulate the governor and help contain a brewing, NRI-related tempest involving Chicago Ald. Deborah Graham (29th) in her 2011 aldermanic race. […]
Ross’ emails show that Quinn’s cadre of advisors was focused on a campaign press release from Graham’s aldermanic opponents, who vowed to speak out jointly at a Feb. 15, 2011, news conference against the “questionable appropriation of anti-violence funding directly benefiting the incumbent alderman.”
“The potential exposure for the governor’s office from the factually incorrect press release alludes to a scenario where the governor and Alderman Graham made these funding decisions of [sic] their own,” Meister wrote, noting that four of Graham’s opponents had “received … either directly or through affiliated organizations state and federal funds.”
On the afternoon of Feb. 15, 2011, Meister circulated a statement from Graham in which she assailed her opponents’ “last-minute attack” as a move that “stoops to a new low.”
So, the governor and Graham both deny coordinating the grant. Why wouldn’t the governor’s office work to shoot this one down? Now, if they’re not telling the truth, that’s a whole other story. But if there was no coordination, then they do have a right of self-defense.
* Anyway, the Senate GOP says that live video of the 10 o’clock hearings will be available at the Legislative Audit Commission website (ADDING: It’s actually on the GA’s main page). Subscribers have access to our own exclusive live video here. And here’s the ScribbleLive thingy…
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Quinn TV ad slams Rauner on assault weapons
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today’s hearings into the governor’s 2010 anti-violence initiative may have prompted this Quinn campaign ad blasting Bruce Rauner over his stand on assault weapons. From a press release…
350 Bullets: That’s How Many Bullets a Military-Style Assault Weapon Can Fire During New TV Ad
CHICAGO - 350. That’s the number of bullets a military-style assault weapon with a high-capacity ammunition magazine can fire in the time it takes to watch a new Quinn for Illinois TV ad that highlights Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner’s heartless support for the deadly weapons.
Ignoring communities plagued by gun violence, Rauner has expressed strong support for the ownership of military-style assault weapons and said that use of such deadly weapons should be “up to the owner.”
The new ad points out that, “Assault weapons are designed for just one purpose - to kill a lot of people in a short amount of time.”
* Rate it…
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Rauner’s new web video: “NRI Blues”
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* On the morning of the Legislative Audit Commission’s hearing into the governor’s botched Neighborhood Recovery Initative, Bruce Rauner has launched a new web video which attempts to paint Gov. Pat Quinn as corrupt. Rate it…
* Meanwhile, the AP has a brief preview story about today’s hearing…
The Legislative Audit Commission subpoenaed seven former Quinn administration officials connected to the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. They’re due to start appearing before the bipartisan committee that oversees state audits today. Organizers say testimony could take all day.
Quinn championed the program in 2010 to help target neighborhood violence. However, state auditors found “pervasive” problems with management and spending and county and federal authorities are investigating further.
Critics deemed it a “political slush fund” to help Quinn shore up votes in a close gubernatorial contest. Quinn dismisses those claims, but the issue dogs his campaign. He faces a challenge from Republican Bruce Rauner
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Rauner gives self another $1.5 million
Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Today’s A-1 filing is here. That comes on top of another $1.5 million Rauner’s campaign reported Friday afternoon. The gazillionaire has contributed $4.5 million to his campaign since September 22nd, and $15,576,000 to himself since becoming a candidate.
Hat tip to the DGA.
* Apparently, today’s fundraising e-mail wasn’t sufficient (/snark)…
Friend,
The Washington Post reported last week that Democrats have spent more money in Illinois than any other state!
President Obama was here last week. First Lady Michelle Obama is here today. Hillary Clinton is here this week too.
Now it’s being reported this will be the most expensive governor’s race in history… and we’ve been outspent.
We’ve been outspent in what could be the most expensive governor’s race in Illinois history. Why are Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, national Democrats and special interests pouring in tens of millions to beat us?
A few words: polls and priorities.
Polls? A series of polls show us with a small but durable lead. Their only hope to win is to outspend us (turn on your TV to see how they’re trying to make that happen).
Priorities? Pat Quinn is the poster child of machine politics. A career politician under two federal investigations who raised taxes 67% and oversees a state with billions in debt. A governor who raised taxes on everyone, but still has cut education spending by $500 million and released violent prisoners early.
When we beat him, we will beat the machine. Everyone knows that. That’s why Michelle Obama is here today. It’s why Hillary Clinton is coming.
Will you help us compete with Pat Quinn’s Obama-Clinton fundraising machine by making an online contribution of $10, $25, $100, $250 or even $1,000 right now?
The President, the First Lady and Hillary Clinton. What do they all have in common? All three are going all-in to save Pat Quinn’s campaign from defeat.
Last week, President Obama came to Chicago to raise $1.25 million for Pat Quinn. And you stepped up BIG to help us compete. But it’s not over yet.
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* AP…
A Chicago attorney and anti-corruption campaigner is stressing that a court-appointed monitor is needed to ensure the state’s Department of Transportation is in compliance with political hiring bans.
Michael Shakman’s filing Monday in federal court comes in response to a motion by Gov. Pat Quinn’s attorneys that the governor’s administration’s response to allegations of political hiring in the department had been both “prompt” and “appropriate.” […]
Shakman says the state investigator’s findings are reason enough for the monitor.
* Shakman says a whole lot more than that. From his filing…
The centerpiece of Governor Quinn’s argument is that all the issues identified by the [Inspector General’s] Report have been addressed. As noted above, the Report did not probe the involvement of the Governor’s office and did not state the numbers of transfers that violated the Decree. Thus, whatever the Governor’s responses, they don’t address those issues. Nor are they sufficient to address the identified violations in a manner likely to prevent reoccurrences.
Governor Quinn responded to the Report by directing IDOT to (i) retrain executive staff, who “will be required to attend a Rutan training course,” (ii) annually compare employee job descriptions with actual duties and if there is a discrepancy, “the job descriptions must be clarified,” (iii) hire an outside consultant to review exempt positions and provide updated descriptions to CMS to decide if they are really exempt, (iv) not create new exempt positions until the Governor says to do so, (v) abolish the “staff assistant” title, (vi) create a new definition of “technical” and an oversight board, (vii) “ensure” that all transfers into non-exempt positions are lawful and (viii) review prior audits for compliance.
What is missing in the Governor’s Response? Like the Report, the Governor’s response provided no explanation for the root causes of illegal hiring (in violation of Rutan) or for illegal duty assignments to often-meaningless jobs, followed by illegal transfers to non-exempt positions (both in violation of the 1972 Decree). Rutan and executive orders previously cited by the Governor, June 6, 2014 Response clearly did not prevent illegal hiring, illegal job assignments or illegal transfers. Missing from the Report and the Governor’s response is an analysis of why these violations occurred, the methods used, and structure to give reasonable assurances that violations will not occur in the future. Without that, the Governor’s directives will just be more words on paper.
How meaningful are the Governor’s remedial actions? The Governor is embroiled in a hotly-fought election contest against a candidate who focuses on the IDOT employment mess; the Report describes serious problems with IDOT employment practices, mostly on Governor Quinn’s watch; the Plaintiffs’ motion seeks a monitor to investigate and report, and the right to take discovery. What is surprising is how little the Governor has actually done in response.
(i). Retraining is not a solution because there was training before, as the IG’s Report notes. It did not prevent violations.
(ii). Comparing job descriptions and actual duties may provide more evidence that job titles have been manipulated, but will not address why. It will not prevent new “discrepancies” in a system operated for political purposes, as has occurred since early in the Blagojevich administration. The real question is how to prevent political misuse of job titles. […]
(iv). Freezing creation of exempt positions until the Governor says otherwise may be good public relations, but is not good public policy. Some positions should be exempt. The process of creating legitimate exempt positions should not be suspended until the Governor says otherwise. Rather, proposed exempt position descriptions could be prepared and circulated to Plaintiffs’ lawyers and a monitor. That process has worked well for other governmental agencies subject to Court orders in this case. It results in a credible exempt list approved by the Court.
(v) - (iv). Abolishing the “staff assistant” title, creating a new definition of “technical” and an oversight board fall into the category of closing the barn door after the horses have left. The problem with “Staff Assistants” was not inherent in the position. Rather, hundreds of positions were used to employ people who had clout, but who did little or nothing. Eliminating the “Staff Assistant” job title does nothing to prevent the same misuse of other positions. Nor does defining a “technical” job description and reviewing that determination prevent reoccurrence of patronage practices in other jobs. This case has demonstrated the creativity and willingness of public officials to engage in political manipulations in violation of the Decrees and their own internal written policies. Here “[t]he actions of IDOT officials violated Administrative Order No. 2 (2009) and IDOT’s own personnel policies,” Report at iv, not to mention this Court’s Decree. More than restating the rules is needed. Independent, external oversight is necessary.
(vii) - (viii). Ensuring that all transfers to non-exempt positions are lawful and reviewing all prior audits for compliance are also after-the-fact efforts that do not identify causes, prevent repetition or provide a trustworthy policing mechanism.
All these steps could have a role in a comprehensive effort to devise permanent, long-term solutions. But they appear mainly to be public relations efforts to show that the Governor is doing something – and to support his argument that the Court should do nothing.
*** UPDATE *** From the Rauner campaign…
“Bruce agrees with Michael Shakman that the governor’s phony reforms ignored the underlying corruption inside his administration and will not prevent illegal hiring at IDOT in the future. Pat Quinn said he would end patronage four years ago — he was lying then and he’s lying again today. The only way to end illegal patronage hiring is to submit to Michael Shakman’s call for a federal hiring monitor at IDOT.” - Rauner Spokesperson Mike Schrimpf
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* Bruce Rauner isn’t the only guy running pro-choice ads on Chicago-area cable TV…
Tom Cross, the Republican candidate for State Treasurer, is running a television ad in which he plainly states that he’s “pro-choice, pro-stem cell research,” and “proud” of being a deciding vote to legalize same sex marriage in Illinois.
It is unclear the scope of the ad buy. However, it is running on the Food Network, which boasts a 62% female viewer demographic with a household income $75,000+.
The Cross campaign has yet to make the ad publicly available, according to Illinois Review.
* And this’ll probably make some GOP heads explode, but Cross shared an endorsement with his Democratic rival today…
The Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (Equality Illinois PAC) today endorses the re-election of Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka in the Nov. 4 General Election.
With no incumbent in the race for treasurer, Equality Illinois PAC, endorses both candidates, state Rep. Tom Cross, a Republican, and state Sen. Mike Frerichs, a Democrat.
Notice they went with Topinka over Sheila Simon. They explained in the press release that they side with incumbents who are with them.
* Meanwhile, from the Tribune editorial board meeting…
Cross, a partner at a Joliet-based law firm, has said he hopes to use the bully pulpit of the treasurer’s office as a means to encourage the General Assembly to approve a balanced budget and could sue. Frerichs called Cross out Monday, saying any citizen could do that and there’s nothing in the Illinois Constitution that gives the treasurer responsibility to do so.
“Every lawyer I’ve consulted says the … treasurer has no special standing,” Frerichs said.
Cross maintained that a lawsuit “is one way to hold the General Assembly and/or the governor accountable,” he said.
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Senger up with new TV ad
Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As we discussed yesterday, state Rep. Darlene Senger may have a fighting chance against incumbent Democratic Congressman Bill Foster. Rate her new ad…
* Script…
Big spending Bill Foster…
…He’s voted seven times to increase the debt limit…
…While opposing a balanced budget.
Higher taxes, job killing regulations, wasteful spending…
…Bill Foster voted for it all.
I’m Darlene Senger. I’m running for Congress to get Washington to work for us.
We need to cut the debt and lower taxes for families and small businesses.
Darlene Senger opposed governor Quinn’s tax increases.
She’ll fight for us in Congress.
I’m Darlene Senger and I approve this message.
* Related…
* Foster, Senger disagree on immigration approach
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* Tribune…
Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner today said he blames Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn for the deaths of child-abuse victims whose families previously had contact with the state’s child-welfare agency.
“Yes,” Rauner said when asked by reporters if the deaths of 95 children with past contact with the Department of Children and Family Services from 2011-2013 were attributable to Quinn.
“Pat Quinn is, in the end, responsible for the failings at the Department of Children and Family Services. If it was a one-year problem or a temporary problem you could say, ‘OK, maybe, there was, it’s not really his responsibility.’ But he’s been governor for six years. He’s had a revolving door of failure at Department of Children and Family Services for years and years,” Rauner said.
But…
Quinn spokeswoman Anderson said that an increase in deaths from 2010 to the 2011-2013 time period was in part attributable to a change in reporting requirements. That change required a finding of neglect if an infant died after being left in an unsafe sleep situation, such as in bed with a parent. Those reporting requirements were changed to the former rules in March.
* And YDD makes a very interesting point in comments…
I would note that the opening scene of the Rauner ad shows an infant being placed to sleep with a blanket in his crib.
One of the leading causes of sleep suffocation, according to every medical expert.
The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends infants sleep alone, on their backs, and in a crib that is free of blankets, toys, and other possible suffocation hazards.
Sleep suffocations were the single largest cause of death in the Sun-Times report.
The child in this ad is clearly being shown placed at risk, apparently unbeknownst to Rauner, who is promoting a very unsafe practice.
He appears to be right about the AAP and the ad itself.
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* As I’ve been telling subscribers for a couple of months now, the advertising in state legislative races has been truly vicious, particularly the stuff from the House Democrats. For example…
District 59 Republican challenger Leslie Munger is denying claims that she supports pedophiles working in schools, a misinterpretation that she says incumbent State Rep. Carol Sente is spreading through a call center.
Munger said she learned about the claims when a supporter and resident of the district copied a voicemail message and shared it with her. The person who left the voicemail said that Munger opposes a recently adopted law that would help keep pedophiles from working in schools, and reminded the voter of a Buffalo Grove teacher who was recently arrested on charges of producing and receiving child pornography, according to Munger. […]
“These attacks are completely baseless and are a result of my desire to stop the unfunded mandates Springfield keeps passing, imposing increased costs and higher property taxes on our communities,” Munger said in a statement responding to the voicemail message. “My opponent is spreading these lies against me because she cannot run on her record.”
Munger said a search of the national sex offender registry only costs $5 and background checks cost between $7 and $15. She said she supports the checks and would not repeal that law, but surmised that the caller may have been referring to her opposition to “unfunded mandates.”
When you say you’re against “unfunded mandates,” you should say right at the start you don’t mean “good unfunded mandates.”
But, yeah, wow, what a nasty hit. The danger for Sente is that this creates a North Shore backlash. And, frankly, that’s as it should be.
Subscribers have audio of the robocall and the full script.
* The House Democrats also love to bring national issues into state races because people tend to understand national stuff more than state stuff and because the House Democrats are actually responsible for the bad state stuff and they can more easily blame Republicans for all the lousy national Congressional stuff. I’ve given subscribers numerous examples of this, but here’s an Illinois Review piece from today…
Tuesday, West Suburban Patriots released copies of the campaign ads that have filled voters’ mailboxes in the 46th House districts they say are “blatantly false” about their organization’s efforts.
“Heidi Holan’s Tea Party friends know she will grant their dangerous wishes,” one mailer said, with “Cut Social Security” and “Slash Medicare” as two wishes from an Aladdin’s lamp.
“Heidi Holan and the Tea Party agenda are Bad News for Illinois Seniors,” the reverse side says.
The West Suburban Patriots are very upset about the impression the mailers leave with their neighbors.
“At no time, nor in any manner has our organization ever advocated ‘cutting funding from Social Security or Medicare or slashing guaranteed medical coverage and benefits that senior citizens rely on, etc.’ To state such is a blatant lie,” the press statement said.
* The Republicans are not happy with these hits, but they take them in stride and fire back when necessary.
There’s just no way to prepare yourself to run against these House Democrats because they grab things out of thin air and throw it at you.
I mean, they’re using an end-of-session budget press release by House GOP Leader Jim Durkin to claim that a bunch of GOP candidates support raising politicians’ pay, which is an absolutely crazy concoction. I’d tell you more, but I want a subscription check first.
* Anway, when Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC took a page from the House Democratic playbook, Rep. Scott Drury (D-Former Federal Prosecutor) filed a $9 million lawsuit…
Drury alleges that around Oct. 1, Proft, Liberty Principles PAC, Neerhof and his campaign produced and distributed campaign mail and cable ads that falsely portrayed Drury as “a proponent of local school funding cuts — which he is not,” the suit stated.
Drury was also portrayed as unethical and a political “sheep” who does the bidding for others, the suit stated.
Proft, reached by phone Monday night, said Drury’s suit is “frivolous.”
“The idea that Scott Drury thinks that a disagreement over policy in a political campaign is something to be litigated shows how insulated he is from the need for public discourse in this state,” Proft said.
* Basically Proft did what the HDems are doing elsewhere, claiming that because his party leaders want something, Drury does, too. In this case, it’s Sen. Andy Manar’s school funding reform bill…
* And check out part of Drury’s lawsuit. Click for a larger image…
OK, first of all, this is an uncoordinated (by statute) independent expenditure by Proft, so I don’t understand why Drury’s opponent is getting dragged into this lawsuit.
Secondly, Proft’s PAC has done this very same hit on several other Democrats and they haven’t gone screaming to the judicial branch with $9 million lawsuits.
* Should political attacks be based on hard facts? Heck yes they should. But since when has that ever happened? I’m in no way condoning Proft’s hit, just like I don’t condone the HDems’ multiple falsehoods, but, baby, that’s just part of life in the bigtime.
If you want to fight this, then battle it out on the proper playing field. Don’t run crying to Lady Justice.
* Man, it’s just too easy to sue somebody in this state. And, please, keep that in mind before you comment on this particular post. There’s an angry lawyer out there on a sacred Mission of Truth, and that type can be an extremely dangerous beast when provoked (and I’m not in any way comparing Rep. Drury to an animal, it’s just an expression meant to be slightly humorous, so please don’t sue me, Scott).
*** UPDATE *** From House Republican Leader Jim Durkin…
“Mr. Drury should back up a little bit and grow a thicker skin. His response gives new meaning to the term “overreaction.”
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Today’s number: 100,000
Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Charles Thomas…
The deadline for normal registration to vote is midnight Tuesaday. But eligible Illinois residents will have their chance to register up until and including on Election Day.
More voter registration applications arrived Monday afternoon at the office of Cook County Clerk David Orr.
“Registration in suburban Cook is going to be significantly up over four years ago,” Orr said. “My guess is we’ll easily be more than 25,000 registrations up over four years ago.”
And city residents account for most of the 100,000 new voter registrations collected by “Every Vote Counts,” a coalition that targeted low to moderate income neighborhoods and young people.
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*** UPDATE *** From the Schneider campaign…
“This shameless ad is a perfect example of why Americans hold Washington Republicans in such low regard,” Schneider for Congress spokesperson Staci McCabe said. “Attacking Brad’s wife and family for cheap political gain is why so many Americans are disgusted by Republican’s tactics. The hypocrisy of this smear campaign is that Republican Bob Dold was in Congress, he voted to award the company referenced in the ad with a sweetheart land deal even after it was revealed that it would benefit Iran.”
From their background material…
Congressman Dold Voted to Protect Oil Companies that Violate Iran and Syrian Sanctions. On July 25, 2012, House Republicans voted against a plan to prohibit companies who conduct business with Iran or Syria in violation of U.S. sanctions from receiving drilling leases. [HR 6082, Vote #510,7/25/12]
Congressman Dold Voted to Protect Mining Companies Doing Business with Iran. On July 12, 2012, House Republicans voted against a plan to prohibit companies from receiving mineral exploration permits if they have violated the sanctions imposed against Iran, or if Iran holds an ownership interest in the company. The measure was offered Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. [HR 4402, Vote #467, 7/12/12]
Congressman Dold Voted Against Stopping American Companies from Conducting Business With Iran. On November 3, 2011, House Republicans voted against a measure “that would have stopped Americans from doing business with any person who directly or indirectly is doing business with Iran.” [HR 2930, Vote #824, 11/3/11; Washington Jewish Week, 11/4/11]
House Republicans Voted To Reward a Company That Helps Iran Mine The Fuel it Needs for its Nuclear Efforts. On October 26, 2011, House Republicans voted to allow Resolution Copper to swap land with the federal government, effectively clearing the way for development of North America’s largest copper mine. Resolution Copper is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. RioTinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has partnered with Iran on a uranium mining operation in Nambia. The mine accounts for 7 percent of the global supply of uranium. Rio Tinto continued its partnership with Iran, in spite of United Nations ruling barring the country from investing in mines of the fuel. Iran owned its stake in the mine through the Iran Foreign Investment Company. [HR 1904, Vote #808, 10/26/11; The Hill, 10/26/11; The Arizona Republic, 10/26/11; Resolution Copper’s Website, accessed10/26/11; Bloomberg, 10/27/10; see also: JTA, 10/26/11]
House Republicans Voted to Protect a 20 Percent Tax Break for Companies Violating Iranian Trade Sanctions. In April 2012, House Republicans voted against a motion to recommit that would have eliminated a 20 percent income tax cut for companies that violate U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. The motion failed 179-229. [HR 9, Vote #176, 4/19/12; Washington Post, 4/22/12]
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* From the NRCC…
“Brad Schneider has been trying to hide his family’s income because they invest in companies that are dangerous to America. We now know Brad invests in companies that send jobs to China and uranium companies that do business with Iran. It’s clear we can’t trust Brad Schneider’s judgment.” – Katie Prill, NRCC Spokeswoman
* The NRCC’s new ad…
* Script…
ANNCR: What is Brad Schneider hiding?
Schneider still won’t release all of his tax returns.
And news reports say that Schneider has abruptly changed his filing status to keep some of his family’s income secret.
Now official documents reveal Schneider’s family invested thousands in companies that outsource jobs to China.
Schneider’s family even invested in a uranium mining company that did business with Iran.
We just can’t trust Brad Schneider.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Oy.
Do you think people actually believe this stuff?
* Meanwhile, the NRCC is running a new spot on St. Louis TV…
Bill Enyart went to Washington and voted with Nancy Pelosi 90% of the time instead of fighting for Southern Illinois. We can’t trust Enyart when he votes to protect his first class travel and special congressional health care perks all while voting for more government spending. We need Mike Bost who will make a difference in Congress and fight for Southern Illinois families and jobs.” – Katie Prill, NRCC Spokeswoman
* The ad…
* Script…
ANNCR: Bill Enyart is part of the problem in Washington.
He’s voted with his party almost 90%.
Enyart voted to raise the debt ceiling 3 times.
To reward himself, he voted to keep first class airfare and special health care perks for Congress.
Bill Enyart, another politician wasting our tax dollars helping himself.
Mike Bost is different. He’ll fight for us in Washington. Mike Bost for jobs.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
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Poll: Quinn over Rauner 44-40
Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* A new We Ask America poll conducted for Reboot Illinois has Gov. Quinn leading Bruce Rauner by four points, with Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm scoring 6 points. Quinn’s 44-40 lead is outside the margin of error for the first time in a WAA poll and the governor appears to finally be shoring up his base, while Rauner may have some weakness developing Downstate…
Perhaps the biggest piece of good news for Quinn is the 62-14 lead he registered among respondents in the city of Chicago. That’s a 4-percentage-point bigger lead in Chicago than Quinn registered in the Sept. 2 Reboot Illinois poll. Among respondents in Chicago in the three earlier Reboot Illinois polls, Quinn led Rauner 65-18, 59-18 and 62-18.
In the Cook County suburbs, Quinn polled slightly ahead of Rauner — 44.5 percent to 43.9 percent — in the Sept. 2 survey. Quinn scored a huge increase in suburban Cook in the new poll, finishing ahead of Rauner by 27 percentage points, 58-31. […]
The new poll also is the first for Reboot Illinois in which Quinn leads among women voters. After trailing Rauner by 4, 7 and 5 percentage points, respectively, in three previous Reboot Illinois polls, Quinn finished ahead among women this time, 44-36.
While Rauner continued to lead among downstate respondents, his 47-32 lead in this poll is considerably smaller than in any of the previous Reboot Illinois polls. There was comparatively little change in the collar counties, where Rauner led 54-36 in the new poll. In the previous poll, on Sept. 2, Rauner led in the collar counties by 25 percentage points, 57-32.
Discuss.
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* From the Bruce Rauner campaign…
Bruce Rauner’s campaign today launched a new ad taking aim at Gov. Pat Quinn’s record of kids dying while in the custody of his Department of Child and Family Services.
“They were just children, our most vulnerable with their whole lives ahead – lives cut short tragically, senselessly from abuse, neglect while in the care of Pat Quinn’s administration,” the ad titled “Just Children” begins. “Incompetence or corruption? It doesn’t matter. Pat Quinn failed those who needed him most – and now he wants four more years.”
According to multiple media reports, the number of DCFS-involved children who have died due to abuse or neglect has spiked sharply under Pat Quinn – 15 in 2010, 34 in 2011 and 2012, and 27 in 2013 with five more under investigation.
Under Pat Quinn, DCFS funding has been cut by $115 million since Fiscal Year 2010. Meanwhile, Quinn’s DCFS has been repeatedly plagued by cronyism and corruption. Most famously, George E. Smith looted millions from DCFS using his relationship with then-Director Erwin McEwen. Smith allegedly used $100,000 for sports tickets. Rather than fire McEwen, Quinn allowed him to resign.
“There’s a real human cost to Pat Quinn’s cronyism and corruption,” Rauner campaign spokesperson Mike Schrimpf said. “If we had a governor who cared more about people than politics, maybe some of these kids would still be alive.”
Whew. Essentially calling the governor a “baby killer” and it’s only October 7th. I’m expecting a strong Quinn response to this. Stay tuned.
* Rate it…
*** UPDATE *** From the governor’s spokesperson…
This is a false and malicious attempt to smear the Governor.
Bruce Rauner is well aware that the Department of Children and Family Services is an agency that intervenes in emergency life and death situations to save children who are most at risk for abuse and neglect.
To imply the Governor is somehow responsible for the deaths of children in the horrific circumstances that this agency enters into while trying to save lives is despicable and a new low.
The cynical irony of Bruce Rauner’s false ad is that it’s his budget plan that would cut deny DCFS the resources necessary to fulfill its vital mission.
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“Hardball”
Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Let’s revisit the Sun-Times story from below about a lawsuit alleging, among other things, that Bruce Rauner had threatened a CEO of one of his companies to prevent her from filing a suit…
Kirk alleged in the lawsuit that Rauner threatened her personally and through a LeapSource board member — a claim she made in a sworn deposition. That former LeapSource board member confirmed in a deposition that “threatening things…were said to her” and that he had been involved in some of those conversations. Rauner denied the allegations through a spokesman.
The lawsuit alleged that Rauner told Kirk in February 2001: “If you go legal on us, we’ll hurt you and your family.”
Kirk also alleged that Rauner, wary of a her possibly suing, relayed a similar threat to her a few days earlier through another board member, Thomas Gilman, a consultant and ex-top executive at Chrysler Financial.
“I will bury her,” Rauner is alleged to have told Gilman.
“I will make her radioactive,” Rauner allegedly told Gilman, according to the complaint. “She will never get another job anywhere, ever. I will bankrupt her with legal fees. I don’t know if she has a family or not, but if she does, she better think twice about this.”
* This is from Carol Marin’s NBC 5 version of the story...
In her sworn deposition Kirk alleged she was also warned by a colleague saying, “Bruce had threatened” her and would make her “radioactive.”
That colleague was Thomas Gilman, another plaintiff along with Kirk in the lawsuit, who sat on the Board of LeapSource and is a former CEO of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas.
Gilman said Kirk was concerned about the behavior of GTCR and the threatening things that were said to her.
“Were you involved in any conversation where threatening things were said to Ms. Kirk?” Gilman was asked in his deposition. His answer was “yes.”
The Rauner campaign responding to questions posed by NBC 5 and the Chicago Sun-Times strenuously denied ever threatening Kirk, her family or her livelihood.
Federal District Judge Robert Broomfield later dismissed almost all of the counts of Kirk’s lawsuit saying there was no breach of fiduciary responsibility by GTCR, but the judge’s ruling did not address the alleged threats.
Judge Broomfield wrote Rauner’s GTCR: “chose to ‘play hard ball,’ adding “undoubtedly it would have been preferable to plaintiffs if defendants (GTCR) had comported themselves with an [a]spirational ideal of good corporate governance practices … that go beyond the minimal legal requirements of corporate law.”
Discuss.
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* My phone rang Sunday morning. It was a good friend of mine, but I had been out late in St. Louis the night before, so I let his call go to voicemail. We talked later in the day. He said a pollster had called his house at 10 o’clock that morning and asked to speak with the female voter. His wife took the phone. She was asked something about a gun and a woman and Bruce Rauner and she couldn’t really remember what else. Did I know what was going on?
I said I didn’t. Maybe it was the Republican Party stuff with the Libertarians? I didn’t know. I also found it very weird that a pollster was calling on a Sunday morning. That never happens. Not only that, but my friend’s wife is a “hard” Republican, and the poll was full of push questions against Bruce Rauner.
So, I filed it away and figured I’d find out what was up sooner or later.
* Last night, my friend texted me that the Sun-Times had the story which was outlined in the poll. Not long after, I asked for and obtained audio of the poll from a GOP source. Here’s the question…
CALLER: Okay. These’ll be like the last three questions. So Bruce Rauner, I’m just going to read another one, Bruce Rauner lacks the character and temperament to be governor. He won’t be a governor we can trust.
He allegedly threatened to quote bury unquote a woman CEO he hired telling her quote we’ll hurt you and your family endquote. At the same firm, Rauner let threats and violence against women occur without speaking up. When told that the male executive repeatedly threatened coworkers with a gun, physically struck a secretary, Rauner said addressing it was not a high priority, was more concerned with turning a profit than the wellbeing of his employees.
* Raw audio…
* If you listen to the full thing, you’ll hear the respondent ask the pollster a question…
PERSON: Oh, and one last thing.
CALLER: Mhm.
PERSON: Where were you calling from? I didn’t catch it in the beginning.
CALLER: We’re doing an interview down here in California.
PERSON: Oh wow, alright, cool. With what company?
CALLER: Mhm. ADG Research Group company. American Directions.
ADG is a Democratic outfit.
For the record, the Quinn campaign denies that it did the poll, but there are plenty of other Democratic organizations playing in this pond.
* And then, almost like magic, we got the Sun-Times story…
Kirk also alleged that Rauner, wary of her possibly suing, relayed a similar threat to her a few days earlier through another board member, Thomas Gilman, a consultant and ex-top executive at Chrysler Financial.
“I will bury her,” Rauner is alleged to have told Gilman. […]
Shortly before her firing, Kirk recorded a board meeting in February 2001, where discussion about the company’s precarious finances was sidetracked after she brought to the board’s attentions allegations that a LeapSource manager routinely brought a gun to work in his car, had a violent temper and had threatened to “take someone out” at work, according to a transcript in the court record.
Kirk also alleged the same employee, Matt Appel, wound up striking his secretary, causing her to quit, and posed “some big risks” to GTCR “from a litigation perspective,” the transcript shows. […]
Rauner expressed sympathy for the former secretary but also suggested LeapSource’s precarious financial condition trumped concerns about the manager and any liability related to the secretary being struck.
“In a normal operating company, there would be certainly channels on how to deal with that and no company and no civil person would want to have anything to do with an employee like that,” Rauner said at one point, according to the transcript. “The flip side is, we as a board … are you know, debating issues of whether LeapSource has its lights on on Monday. I mean, and so, you know, whether the secretary sues or not, you know, pales by comparison.”
There’s a whole lot more, so go read the whole thing.
* But the Rauner campaign pushed back hard against the story last night…
THE LEAPSOURCE LITIGATION WAS WITHOUT MERIT AND SUMMARILY DISMISSED BY A JUDGE
The Lawsuit Was Dismissed By A Federal Judge On Summary Judgment. “IT IS ORDERED that the motion for summary judgment by defendants GTCR Golder Rauner, L.L.C., GTCR Fund VI, L.P., GTCR VI Executive Fund, L.P., GTCR Associates VI, Joseph P. Nolan, Bruce V. Rauner, Daniel David A. Donnini and Philip A. Canfield (doc. 347) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, as hereinafter ordered.” (Order on Motion for Summary Judgment, Diane Mann, as Trustee for the Estate of LeapSource, Inc., et al., v. GTCR Golder Rauner, L.L.C. et al., U.S. District Court for Arizona, No. CIV-02-2099-PHX-RCB, 3/30/07, p. 73)
IN HER SWORN DEPOSITION, CHRISTINE KIRK DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS HER CLAIM THAT RAUNER THREATENED HER
Christine Kirk’s Complaint Alleges That, After She Was Fired As Leapsource’s CEO, Rauner Spoke To Her On The Phone And Said “If You Go Legal On Us…We’ll Hurt You And Your Family.” “During the board meeting, Rauner told Kirk to call him the next day to discuss her severance. When Rauner spoke with Kirk the next day, he threatened Kirk in a booming voice, ‘If you go legal on us [by filing a shareholder suit], we’ll hurt you and your family.’” (Plaintiff’s Fourth Amended Complaint, Diane Mann, as Trustee for the Estate of LeapSource, Inc., et al., v. GTCR Golder Rauner, L.L.C. et al., U.S. District Court for Arizona, No. CIV-02-2099-PHX-RCB, 6/14/04, p. 68)
In Her Sworn Deposition, Kirk Says The Phone Call She Referenced In Her Complaint Was “Entirely Professional.” ATTORNEY: “What did you say to Mr. Rauner and what did he say to you during that call?” CHRISTINE KIRK: “That — I said, ‘Bruce, you said to call you about my severance,’ and he said that I needed to work with Joe, that I had loans outstanding, and I needed to work with Joe on resolving those loans and the severance.” ATTORNEY: “Did he say anything else during that call?” KIRK: “Not that I recall.” ATTORNEY: “What did you say to him?” KIRK: “I told him I would do that.” ATTORNEY: “Was that call entirely professional?” … KIRK: “Yes, I believe so.” (Christine Kirk Deposition, 6/8/05, p. 999-1000)
CHRISTINE KIRK DID NOT COLLECT A PENNY IN DAMAGES
GTCR’s Settlement Agreement Explicitly States That The Settlement Payment Was For The Plaintiffs’ Out-Of-Pocket Legal Expenses – The Plaintiffs Did Not Collect A Single Penny In Damages. “The Defendants will pay $511,000.00 to settle the GTCR Litigation; the Settlement Agreement expressly provides that the GTCR/K&E Settlement Payment is being made by GTCR and K&E for the express purpose of reimbursing certain out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Plaintiffs and by their counsel.” (Motion of Trustee and Plaintiffs to Approve Settlement with GTCR Defendants, Kirkland & Ellis, and Makings Defendants, In re: Leapsource Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court – District of Arizona, Case No. B 01-09020 PHX JMM, 8/12/08, p. 11)
WHEN ALLEGATIONS OF LEAPSOURCE EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT SURFACED, RAUNER IMMEDIATELY ORDERED AN INVESTIGATION
During The February 27, 2001 LeapSource Board Meeting, Christine Kirk Accused An Employee Of Hitting His Secretary. CHRISTINE KIRK: “That’s right Dan that’s what I said. I think then I need to talk to Mike about, you know, the information we found and, you know, we get…what the lawyer just told us is that we have some big risks from a litigation perspective. The guy is at this point physically threatening people. We’re not talking about verbally assaulting them. I’m talking about he’s threatening to physically assault people.” RAUNER: “Did he hit anybody?” KIRK: “No. but he told people he’s a gun in his car, he’s told people he wants to take people out. Um he physically abused his secretary.” RAUNER: “He physically abused…what did he do?” KIRK: “He hit her.” RAUNER: “Oh, so he did hit somebody.” KIRK: “I mean…there’s…” RAUNER: “Is she still at the company?” KIRK: “No, she walked out.” (LeapSource Board Meeting, 2/27/01, p. 9)
Rauner Directed Kirk To Tell The Company’s New CEO, And That An Investigation Be Carried Out. DAN YIH: “Then aren’t we saying that Mike should review this?” KIRK: “Yeah, and that’s why I said I will go over it with Mike.” RAUNER: “That’s fair, I think it’s good….would be good if you did talk to Mike about it.” (LeapSource Board Meeting, 2/27/01, p. 9-10)
Rauner Clearly Denounced The Alleged Assault, Saying “No Company And No Civil Person Would Want To Have Anything To Do With That.” RAUNER: “Um…Chris in a normal operating company there would be certainly channels on how to deal with that and no company and no civil person would want to have anything to do with an employee like that.” (LeapSource Board Meeting, 2/27/01, p. 10)
The complete deposition referenced above is here.
* While many of the allegations in the Sun-Times story appear to be bogus or directly contradicted by other evidence, particularly since they were tossed by a judge, if Rauner loses the spin war on this thing he may very well be toast. Done. Put a fork in him. Ergo, the vigorous pushback.
* But there is one quote that stuck out for me. From a 2005 deposition taken from Bruce Rauner, with emphasis added for obvious reasons…
“That hard thing is getting customers; the hard thing is cutting expenses; the hard thing is laying people off. But that’s what good companies do when times are tough, and she just would not do it,” said Rauner, who sat on LeapSource’s board.
Hey, that really is the difficult truth about business, but people aren’t gonna want to hear it.
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