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* Pat Quinn’s campaign has issued a pretty darned harsh response to Bill Brady’s new TV ad…
The best way to judge a politician’s character is not just by what he says, but more importantly, by what he has done. In Bill Brady’s first campaign commercial, nearly all of his statements are contradicted by the facts, by his record and even by his own statements. Here are the commercial’s claims and the facts that contradict them:
“As a family man and a home builder, we’ve had to tighten our belts to survive”—During the economic recession, Brady’s business was bailed out by taxpayer-funded federal assistance, and his main source of income for the past two years was his senate salary, paid by Illinois taxpayers. All while paying no income taxes on over $100,000 of income in more than one tax year.
“I know we’ll succeed as long as we have a blueprint”— Bill Brady has no blueprint for Illinois. Former Republican Governor Jim Edgar has pointed out several times that Brady’s plan for solving the budget crisis is short on specifics and doesn’t add up. And Brady himself called for a 10 percent across-the-board cut only to deny he ever advocated such a plan.
“Pat Quinn’s idea is to feed big government by raising your taxes by 33 percent.” Governor Quinn is committed to closing the budget deficit while retaining vital services. Pat Quinn has proposed budget cuts, tax breaks for small businesses, property tax relief and a sales tax holiday. But providing funding for education, public safety and infrastructure isn’t big government, it’s giving Illinois residents the basic services they need to live safe, productive lives.
“[Quinn] thinks government growth is more important than ours.” Governor Quinn has provided strong leadership and made tough decisions to make government smaller and more effective, including reforming the state pension system to save billions in the coming decades. He’s also successfully implemented jobs programs to save companies from leaving
Illinois, grow our economy and put Illinois residents back to work.“I’ll make a clean break from the politics of the past, with real contribution and term limits for politicians.” Senator Brady is the politics of the past. He has been in office for the past 17 years and has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from special interests and lobbyists during that time. In 1994, Pat Quinn led a petition drive called “Eight is Enough” for term limits. The petition received nearly a half a million signatures - Senator Brady was not one of them.
The commercial concludes with the statement, “I’m Bill Brady, and as governor I’ll put you first.” Based on all his empty claims, Illinois residents shouldn’t believe it.
* I can’t confirm this story, but I can say that if some leaders did ask Exelon to present this proposal then they’re probably freaking upset that Exelon just outed them…
A senior executive for Commonwealth Edison Co. parent Exelon Corp. said Illinois legislative leaders asked ComEd to submit its recent offer of $500 million to help the state with its massive budget shortfall in return for freezing electric rates at above-market levels for four years.
“This was done by us — by invitation — from the highest leadership in the Illinois Legislature,” Exelon Executive Vice-president William Von Hoene Jr. said Wednesday at an investor presentation in New York. “Over a month ago, we met with legislative leaders, who told us that they would like us to put together a proposal that would provide cash for the state of Illinois to address parts of its budget shortfall and also provide some innovative features that would be attractive to us.”
But legislators deny they provoked the short-lived and highly controversial plan that some critics likened to bribery.
* Lou has been saying he’s two votes shy for weeks. I just don’t see it passing…
According to chief sponsor Lou Lang (D-Chicago), momentum is slowly building in the Illinois House for a bill (SB 1381) to legalize medical marijuana. In April, the Deputy Majority Leader told the Reader that while 92 lawmakers “have looked me in the eye and said, ‘This is a great bill,’” only 52 explicitly stated that they would vote for it. Last Thursday, he bumped the whip-count up to 56. And in an interview on Fox Chicago last night, the Democrat said 58 are currently on board, two shy of the 60 needed to pass it. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for a vote on this bill before the end of the month.
* Interesting…
The Committee for Truth in Politics, a conservative group with a tongue-in-cheek name, an aversion to disclosure, and no public presence beyond its large ad buys targeting Democrats, appears to have lost a tussle with Alexi Giannoulias over an ad it sought to air in Chicago. […]
The Committee attempts to take refuge under the First Amendment, but the First Amendment does not shelter lies, and, as I stated in my earlier letter, you have a duty ‘to protect the public from false, misleading, or deceptive advertising,’” a lawyer for Giannoulias’ campaign wrote Comcast Spotlight, objecting to the description of the takeover as a “bailout.”
After an exchange of letters, the ad did not air, though the political sales manager for Comcast Spotlight, Richard Brehm, declined to explain in detail why.
“”We did not pull the spot in question – the agency asked that we suspend the order and we complied with the request,” he said, noting the ad never aired on Comcast Spotlight, the Chicago cable provider.
* And unless he says exactly who threatened him, I wouldn’t believe a word Scott Lee Cohen says…
Candidate for Governor Scott Lee Cohen is telling Bill Cameron he quit the Democratic party’s nomination for Lieutenant Governor after being threatened with prison by a high-level party official.
Scott Lee Cohen says he regrets getting off the ballot for Lieutenant Governor.
He says the allegations about his personal life were false, but he was intimidated by this threat.“It was, if you don’t drop out today, then all your tax records better be in impeccable order, because someone’s going to jail. And then I was told, if they couldn’t find anything to put me in jail over, they’d still put me in jail. They would make something up to put me in jail. They did not want me on that ticket.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Bill Brady talks about the Highland Park school district decision to not allow the girls basketball team to travel to Arizona…
*** UPDATE 2 *** Too funny…
Two former Democratic candidates for governor will try again to make it onto the Illinois ballot — this time as independents.
Chicago businessman William “Dock” Walls will run for governor, with Oak Park attorney Ed Scanlan as his running mate.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The real question here is who will challenge them? Brady? Stay tuned…
Seven Libertarian candidates for statewide office will likely appear on the ballot for November’s general election, as they have topped the minimum 25,000 signatures needed to join the contest.
But Lex Green of Bloomington, who’s leading the charge as a candidate for governor, said the party will continue to collect signatures in an attempt to prevent any challenges from contenders of other parties. Green, an electrician at a Mitsubishi plant in Normal, made his first campaign visit to Southern Illinois Friday.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:09 pm
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Pfft! I don’t believe Scott Lee Cohen. Sorry.
Comment by Levois Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:16 pm
I’m confused. Is he admitting to tax fraud? If he has nothing to hide in his tax records he should have told them to pound sand.
What a goof. Perhaps he’s Blago in a fatsuit?
Comment by How Ironic Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:20 pm
Pat Quinn sounds almost like a Republican wannabe in his response.
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:23 pm
wow - I so distrust Mike Madigan that I actually find myself believing what ComEd says. Anything ComEd proposed would have been a financial net gain for ComEd; thankfully this died.
Comment by Robert Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:33 pm
you could make a really ugly ad at brady using jim edgar’s words. what could hurt a gop more than the words of another gop?
Comment by shore Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:34 pm
I can’t WAIT until petition filing is over ans SLC comes up short so we can stop hearing about this nut!
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:41 pm
what hypocrisy. It’s no doubt that probably both mjm and cullerton asked ComEd to make the proposal–Comed would not have gone out on a limb like that for a minority party.
Then mjm has lisa whack it.
it’s seriously no surprise why Illinois hasn’t rebounded since Rod left. MJM is the common denominator.
Comment by Easy Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:42 pm
I like Quinn’s response alot…maybe his new campaign manager isn’t so bad afterall?
But unless they put their response on t.v., it doesn’t mean much.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:44 pm
Quinn’s response has got to leave a mark! Pretty solid and like YDD says, they need to air it.
Comment by Justice Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:48 pm
I hope SLC stays in the running so he can keep us informed about the many plots of the Illinois Illuminati.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:52 pm
==During the economic recession, Brady’s business was bailed out by taxpayer-funded federal assistance, ==
Now that would be bigger news than just paying no taxes. A quick google search showed that Illinois Issues says he took advantage of a special 2009 federal tax law for small businesses to pay no tax, but another sources said he just had a net loss carryover, which is nothing special. Didn’t see anything else.
But if PQ said it, it must be true.
Comment by Pat Robertson Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:53 pm
PR, search more. He took advantage of a stimulus provision that allowed him to not pay taxes on 2009 income, even though he had substantial income last year.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:55 pm
That is Quinn’s best press release since in this primary or general cycle. But he will need to go on air to blunt Brady if his buy is anything thing more than a sampling.
Comment by Niles Township Friday, May 14, 10 @ 3:59 pm
Is that a pulse from Quinn’s campaign?
Comment by JonShibleyFan Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:02 pm
well, ydd, that was the question i had about quinn: would/could he go for the jugular. i think the response is pretty tame, but then i’m from florida, where we play politics for keeps…
Comment by bored now Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:07 pm
I think there could be a healthy discussion about whether the government should use taxpayer funds to subsidize small businesses (no 2009 fed tax), purchase of vehicles (cash for clunkers), purchase of more energy efficient housing options (cash for caulking, energy star rebates), etc.; but…
I don’t fault Brady for taking advantage of one of the ones offered. I imagine most of us hope our tax preparers do that for us, consider the cash for clunkers, energy efficiency rebates, and etc. whenever they are available.
Comment by Going Fishing Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:09 pm
Quinn doesn’t have any money. It is time to call Jerry and grovel.
Comment by Bill Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:09 pm
So Brady does a TV ad that was pretty good, and this is how the Governor responds?
ZZZZZZzzzzzzz…
A senior executive for Commonwealth Edison Co. parent Exelon Corp. said Illinois legislative leaders asked ComEd to submit its recent offer of $500 million to help the state with its massive budget shortfall in return for freezing electric rates at above-market levels for four years.
Why does this not sound surprising?
And who is that guy in the video? He sounded rather level-headed on what has been an emotional issue. If Brady keeps this up, he may be elected.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:15 pm
Quinn is holding such a lousy hand of cards that he has no choice but to attack, morning, noon and night.
Not sure about the timing, though. I note that this is just May. It may all backfire by November.
Comment by Bubs Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:17 pm
==During the economic recession, Brady’s business was bailed out by taxpayer-funded federal assistance, ==
Marin asked Brady about this point blank - twice - during her grilling of him on Chicago Tonight, which Rich posted earlier this week. He didn’t refute, didn’t deny, merely sidestepped. I think his final answer was that they helped to prop up banks or something like that.
But I can’t recall if that was before or after the discussion on pensions, when Marin rightly reminded Brady that Republicans and Democrats both have pushed off payments for years, to which Brady replied “Not this Republican.” Interesting. I guess that means that in all 18 years of his non-career-politician career he never voted for a budget. Of course, he also said there was a better alternative to the borrowing plan for pensions: just make the full payment. Of course! Why didn’t anyone else think of that? Quinn, go round up that magic money and make that payment. Geez.
Comment by WesternSky Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:27 pm
Sorry, Mr. Miller, but although I can find stories that mention Brady’s stimulus tax breaks, I can’t find anything that says which one(s) he used. The only two I know of that would have shown up on his tax return are bonus depreciation and immediate expensing of capital assets. Both were existing provisions that were going to expire last year, but were extended by the stimulus legislation, and both required him to make investments in his business during the year. Nothing that comes close to being “bailed out by taxpayer-funded federal assistance,” to my mind.
Comment by Pat Robertson Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:37 pm
“And the failure of this administration, and arguably even past administrations…”
It was awful big of Brady to concede that “arguably” the immigration issue just didn’t start under the Obama administration, what with its being in existence for a whole 16 months… Wow.
Comment by WesternSky Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:43 pm
Quinn hits some good points.
This is one I hadn’t thought of:
“In 1994, Pat Quinn led a petition drive called “Eight is Enough” for term limits. The petition received nearly a half a million signatures - Senator Brady was not one of them.”
Comment by just sayin' Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:48 pm
If SLC won’t name names, he should can it. If he received threats that upset him so much, he’s gotta be specific or the allegation’s not credible, especially coming from him.
Comment by just sayin' Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:53 pm
===I can’t WAIT until petition filing is over ans SLC comes up short so we can stop hearing about this nut! ====
There are plenty of people out there that he can hire to get this done. If he has money he can buy the signatures. Most, if not up to 75%, end up being bad signatures so he will need over 100,000 if he goes that route.
Comment by Been There Friday, May 14, 10 @ 4:56 pm
Nice to see Quinn tear into Brady with some ferocity.
Comment by jonbtuba Friday, May 14, 10 @ 7:12 pm
Quinn has been running around the state saying he will fund this program and pay for that building all year long, guess what he hasn’t followed though on very many of those promise’s. Do you think the public who is still waiting to receive that big check for their school building is going to believe a thing Quinn says?
Comment by Keeptrying Friday, May 14, 10 @ 9:07 pm
“Two former Democratic candidates for governor will try again to make it onto the Illinois ballot — this time as independents.”
I thought state law prohibited a candidate who lost a primary from later seeking that same office as an independent (or on another ticket)…
(Since Cohen ran for lt. gov. and he’s collecting sigs for an indy run for gov. I didn’t think that provision applied to him.)
Anyone know if my recollection is accurate?
Comment by Rob N Friday, May 14, 10 @ 11:46 pm
I wish we had another candidate for governor. I don’t like any of them. Why can’t Illinois ever seem to get quality gubernatorial candidates?
Comment by secondcity911 Sunday, May 16, 10 @ 6:25 pm
Quinn probably should stopp hammering Brady’s lack of a plan since his own party who controls both houses left town without working with him on a budget. If you can’t lead your own party, how can you lead the state, especially since they will lose seats this year.
The Edgar thing is getting old. I think republicans are tired of him as evidenced by his lack of influence in recent endorsements. Edgar doesn’t want in the race and doesn’t want someone else to look good doing the job either. Move on Jim, your done.
Let me get this straight. The democrats controlled federal government provided government assistance and Quinn his hammering Brady on that. So, Pat, you think Federal funds to save business is a bad thing? Yikes. The key word in the entire exchange regarding his business is SURVIVE. His business survived when many did not. How many private businesses has Quinn ran in good economic times, much less pulled them through bad ones?
Comment by the Patriot Monday, May 17, 10 @ 8:23 am
==So, Pat, you think Federal funds to save business is a bad thing? ==
Well, he thinks it’s a good thing to give state funds to Ford to create jobs in Illinois under a program that small businesses couldn’t even apply for.
Comment by Pat Robertson Monday, May 17, 10 @ 10:20 am