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* UPDATED x1 * Afternoon Must-Watch Videos: Quinn fires back at Chris Christie, Rutherford stands up for Illinois and Jaconetty tells it like it is

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* Gov. Pat Quinn was asked today to respond to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s new advertising campaign in Illinois urging businesses to relocate to the Garden State.

“He was advertising before November 2nd for my opponent and nobody listened to him then and I don’t know why anybody would listen to him,” Quinn said, adding “This is a guy whose business climate is rated 48th in the nation.”

Oof.

Watch…

Quinn also said of Christie, “New Jersey’s way of balancing the budget is not to pay their pension payment, not to deliver on property tax relief that was promised, to fire teachers… I don’t need that kind of advice from that guy.”

Um, OK, what about that property tax relief, governor? Didn’t you promise that last year? Also, lots of Illinois teachers lost their jobs last year.

Thanks to BlueRoomStream.com for the video.

* State Treasurer Dan Rutherford showed his bipartisan chops during a CNBC interview earlier today. The hosts appeared to think the Republican would gush all over their budgetary hero Chris Christie (who has barely touched his deficit) and toe the DC party line on bankruptcy for the states. Rutherford, however, appeared to surprise them. He didn’t overtly praise Christie and he completely ruled out that silly bankruptcy proposal. He also refused to run down his own state, despite plenty of CNBC baiting. Must watch…

* Our last video is also a must-see. Tom Jaconetty talks to the Chicago Bar Association Election Law Committee about what ballot challenges are really all about. Jaconetty is working with Burt Odelson to kick Rahm Emanuel off the ballot. He’s brutally honest…

Sorry for the video quality on that one.

*** UPDATE *** The Illinois Policy Institute wants to repeal the income tax in its entirety…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:12 pm

Comments

who were the Obama lawyers who took out Alice Palmer? they
were probably in the Jaconetty class. Actually, everyone should be in the Jaconetty class. it is FILLED with good things.

how much is the bill for the legal defense for Rahm?

oh, no, it stopped at qualifications……….

Comment by amalia Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:24 pm
Speaking as a liberal Democrat who didn’t vote for Rutherford and doesn’t have a whole lot of love for him, that was a classy interview. It’s always nice to see a state politician from either side of the aisle who is an Illinoisian first and a member of his or her party second…

Comment by Captain Angrypants Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:26 pm
Hey Gov Quinn- you actually have a lot in common with Christie- NJ is the only other state investigated by the feds for making misrepresentations to bond investors as to the health of their pension systems

Comment by Sue Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:33 pm
Rutherford came across as bright, non-political and addressing the problem. Refreshing to not hear an attack or blame. He made IL look good.

Reference not paying pension payments: we already did that here: they called it a “pension holiday” when they redirected the state funds scheduled to go into the pension system for a year [or 2?]. Former Governor Rod and current Dem leadership then spent that $$$ elsewhere. Rich will recall if Lt Gov Q was part of that plot or not.

Comment by North of I-80 Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:34 pm
“He was advertising for my opponent… and nobody listened to him then”

I see his point, but, when said opponent got 46 percent of the vote and a plurality/majority in 98 of 102 counties, that’s still an awful lot of nobodies

Comment by Secret Square Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:34 pm
“This is a guy whose business climate is rated 48th in the nation.” - Quinn

Is he talking about himself here? Last I knew Illinois ranked 48th in business climate. Maybe we’re 49 now. Illinois is a great state, I live here and I’ll probably die here, but let’s not kid ourselves. Our business climate (aka, our climate to create jobs) is bad. We need to fix some things instead of just being defensive. Let’s just admit that we need to fix our business climate and state doing it.

Comment by Ahoy Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:36 pm
Hey Gov Quinn- you actually have a lot in common with Christie- NJ is the only other state investigated by the feds for making misrepresentations to bond investors as to the health of their pension systems

Last I heard one thing does not equate with “a lot.”

Comment by dave Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:50 pm
Rutherford didn’t say anything, but he sounded good when he didn’t say it.

“We need to restructure xxx.” OK, continue?
“Taxes are bad!” Still not news.

Comment by JN Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:54 pm
That Rutherford interview is like a breath of fresh air.

Comment by Deep South Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:55 pm
Illinois has the nation’s 16th best business climate, according to Site Selection magazine.

Comment by Down South Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:56 pm
Great interview by Rutherford. He really nailed it by calling for leadership, then he stepped up and gave us some. Well done!

As for the Fox Chicago segment: that’s some first rate slanted journalism there, friends. I loved the tough, probing questions. They didn’t just take O’Hara at his word, they echoed his talking points. They should have to disclose that as a political contribution to IPI and the IHRO. Oh brother!

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 3:58 pm
Dan did a great job…He spoke like an adult not like a partisan.

Comment by Louis Howe Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:02 pm
Is he talking about himself here? Last I knew Illinois ranked 48th in business climate. Maybe we’re 49 now.

According to the Tax Foundation, IL is 23rd and NJ is 48th. They look specifically at taxes and nothing else. http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp60.pdf

Chief Executive has IL 46th and NJ 48th.

Comment by dave Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:03 pm
Actually, the videotape of Tom Jaconetty is taken from a Chicago Bar Association Election Law Seminar class conducted by members of the CBA Election Law Committee. Most of those in attendance listening to Jaconetty were prospective candidates looking to learn about the petition process before entering a race.

Jaconetty has routinely authored the chapter on ballot access contained in the three ring binder on election law put out by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

The person to Jaconetty’s side is Matthias Delort, now a Cook County Circuit Court Judge. Delort used to specialize in election and municipal law while in private practice. The video is quite old since Delort has been on the bench for sometime now.

Barbara Goodman is the other presenter that Jaconetty is referring to while making his remarks. She has frequently worked as a hearing officer for the Chicago Board of Elections.

One of the truest statements that Jaconetty made during his address related to the number of lawyers trying to run for office without mastering the details of the petition gathering process. The attorneys manage to mess up all of the time.

Comment by Honest Abe Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:03 pm
+1 for Rutherford from this full bred Democrat. Good interview on whats best for all us, not political propaganda. Stood up for Illinois AND for Jay Cutler.

Comment by jayhawk97 Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:08 pm
@Ahoy & Dave -

Site Selection Magazine ranks Illinois 16th.

Don’t know how far down New Jersey ranks, but they’re in the bottom half of the country for sure.

http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2010/nov/cover/

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:26 pm
the difference between Snooki and Gov. Christie is that Gov. Christie keeps punching himself in the face.

Comment by piling on Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:31 pm
Here’s a fact I bet a lot of people don’t know.

The Illinois Policy Institute is officially “neutral” on gambling expansion.

Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd and doesn’t that make it kinda hypocritical for them to get their undies in a bunch over tax increases?

I think it’s just more proof the IPI is a not so silent partner of the IL GOP, and Tom Cross’ caucus in particular, as we know they have no problem with more gambling.

Comment by just sayin' Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:39 pm
It was tough to do opp research on Rutherford in ‘06 and he’s achieved a lot of support (both sides) since. I’m thinking he’s the future for that party.

Comment by irisheyesrsmilin' Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:47 pm
The 48th rank is based upon a report prepared by ALEC, a right wing think tank for legislators. If you look at the report it actually had Illinois ranked in the top 11th and 10th when looking at the sales tax and the income tax respectively. It had us 46th for “litigation climate” - a totally subjective measure. Republican legislators repeatedly state this figure as fact when talking to the media. Like the congressman said - say it enough times and it becomes the truth.

Comment by Marcus Agrippa Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:51 pm
Jaconetty is the best and he is right about picking a lawyer with election law experience. They should have picked a camera man with video experience.

BTW, Carol Marin’s gaff saying Jaconetty had about 19,000 days of Cook County paid time coming was the single most ridiculous reporter flub I’ve ever seen. Instead it was 1.9 days.

She must have made his head spin with that one.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 4:59 pm
Dan Rutherford for Governor!

Comment by GetOverIt Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 5:03 pm
Christie’s in over his head if he wants to trade body punches with Quinn. More from our governor, please, when these hacks try to divert attention from their own messes by bad-mouthing us.

Let’s here it for Rutherford. There’s a rare Illinois GOP leader who understands what I thought was a bipartisan, primal truth:

I can badmouth my family. But if you do it, put ‘em up.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 5:06 pm
Not related….but i thought you all woudl find this interesting….CMB’s up on broadcast tomorrow.
http://twitter.com/smart_mediagrp

Comment by JCIII Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 5:26 pm
Jaconetty’s comments are brutally honest, though I see no reason why we should save our outrage, as he suggests. The petition-challenge gauntlet is a cottage industry for a small number of election law attorneys who are, as the Cook County Assessor’s chief of staff says on this video, preserving the family businesses of Madigan, Berrios, Burke, et al. Outrage here is not the mark of the naïve; it’s just appropriate.

As for Marin’s flub, it doesn’t register as anything more than a typo. What’s really ridiculous is Jaconetty drawing a County salary and benefits while pressing these petition challenges.

Comment by Indeedy Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 6:57 pm
Indeedy-

Why is it “really ridiculous” for someone to have two sources of income? Are you saying he isn’t performing one or both of the jobs adequately? Is there a conflict? What’s the conflict?

Comment by chi Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 7:08 pm
I’m having a hard time deciding who looked sillier in that interview, IPI or Fox, and both of them set the bar pretty high

Comment by steve schnorf Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 8:20 pm
Bear in mind, Jaconetty’s audience for this blood and thunder speech. Many of the people in the crowd were prospective clients, so he was selling himself and suggesting this is not an era for a novice.

Interestingly, Jaconetty routinely works for objectors. He rarely defends candidates; he almost always tries to remove people from the ballot.

Comment by Honest Abe Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 8:58 pm
Doh! Should read “This is not an area for a novice.”

Comment by Honest Abe Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 8:59 pm
It was a great interview by Dan. If he could just knock off the silly stuff related to his car, his driver and the rest he would have a great chance at higher office.

Comment by Dan Fan! Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 9:00 pm
Des anyone take the Illinois Policy Institute seriously? How is that their public relations efforts always seem to coincide with the House GOP.

The lesson: The IPI has essentially become an arm of the Illinois House Republican caucus, which has an interest in undermining anything the majority party proposes. Be wary of quoting them.

Comment by Priceless Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 9:41 pm
Dan Rutherford will be the next Governor!…. Bet on it!

Comment by flip/flop Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 9:43 pm
From the IPI interview - “cuts will solve the budget problem.”

Ummm . . . no they won’t. Not by themselves. It was irresponsible not to pass the tax increase before now and it would be even more irresponsible to repeal the tax increase. Stupidity at its highest.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 10:06 pm
If Rutherford keeps this up, he will be the most electable Republican candidate for governor in 2012. I didn’t see a GOP candidate for state office work harder than Rutherford during the 2010 campaign.

Comment by Roy Cone Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 10:29 pm
Dan will be very interesting to watch as he develops away from his very conservative district and continues to work on his appeal to the rest of the state. If this interview is a hint of things to come, who knows?

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 10:44 pm
Susanna Martinez is the new governor of New Mexico, and yesterday she pretty much gave the same kind of anti-tax pro-business state of the state we have heard across the US. Christie is not alone in the direction he has been taking. There are ten new GOP governors, and all of them will be following Christie’s lead. We are swimming upstream.

Like it or not, Illinois is the poster child of disfunctional government. We have been making governors out of Ryan and Blagojevich, a senator out of Burris, and have become a punch line on nightly talk shows.

With the trend towards cutting governments and not raising taxes, we made news again when our governor did what all the other governors have publically stated they never would do.

Illinois is the fat kid with the wet pants dressed in mismatched plaids. The best way of handling all this ridicule is to do good with the decisons we’ve made. We don’t need to defend ourselves. We just need to show the other states that we can still be the great state we have been over the past Century.

But with the other states going in the other direction than Illinois, we will be seeing more fingerpointing and mocking.

I think it is a waste of time throwing dirt at Indiana, Wisconsin, New Jersey and the other states that will, or are, mocking us.

Living well is the best defense. I hope the tax raising gamble works. I don’t think it will do much more than buy more time for us, but I am still hopeful.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 10:56 pm
As Obama moves to the center… in a left center country. Quinn continues to move further to the left in a left center state…. hmm. Rutherford votes for landmark civil rights in the civil union bill… he is tacking left from the right …. Quinn is tacking left from the deep left. Bet on it… Rutherford will be the next governor.

Comment by flip/flop Tuesday, Jan 25, 11 @ 10:57 pm
My interpretation of Jaconetty’s suggestion to save the outrage, simply meant that whether its fair or not, it is a reality, a reality that anyone in that room (perspective candidates) needs to understand and adapt to.

If Rahm ends up off the ballot the same theme will prevail. Whether its fair or logical will not matter…if there is a law or a loophole that can be used to throw you out, and powerful enough people want to throw you out…you had better insulate yourself or you will be thrown out. The only difference is that with the Mayor’s race, the stakes are even higher.

Comment by Worth It Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 1:22 am
Repeal the +67% Income Tax hike?

Has ANYBODY said anything about one of the first things adopted in the 97th General Assembly that effectively rules that out?

Senators, including all the hapless ILL-Republicans, voted unanimously to adopt Democratic Majority Leader Cullerton’s SR 3 that sets the amended rules for Senate in the new session.

These rules require a 3/5 majority (36 votes) to move a tax bill from Second reading to Third reading, debate and vote.

Fat chance of that happening.

Comment by You Can't Stop What's Coming Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 7:55 am
Rutherford Rocks! That was my opinion the first time I heard him speak years ago and still is.

Comment by 3 beers to Springfield Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 8:20 am
Jaconetty and Raucci … Those two sweat more election law than most lawyers type in a lifetime. If you ever get a chance to watch Jaconetty work on a challenge, take the time.

Burt is beyond good, but the old school ways of Tom and Andy are pure gold. I have seen Tom make a candidate cry like he described … In reality, Tom is describing himself, and I mean that as a compliment, and only as a compliment, zero snark.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 8:20 am
You Can’t Stop — that was the focus of a CapFax post and commenter discussion last week. Scroll back a bit and look for Jason Plummer … err, I mean Matt Murphy … talking about repeal last week.

Comment by piling on Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 8:39 am
I was out of town for a whole week during that entire fisaco.

Comment by You Can't Stop What's Coming Wednesday, Jan 26, 11 @ 9:38 am