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Because… Radical Madigan!

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Illinois

* American Conservative Union Foundation…

Over the 35 years Speaker Madigan has presided over the lower chamber, Democrats have increasingly voted more liberally, according to new analysis from the American Conservative Union Foundation (ACUF), host of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). This new radical Left regime has since passed Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “soak the rich” progressive income tax regime which Illinoisans will consider on the November 2020 ballot.

In 2012 when ACUF first began analyzing the voting records of the General Assembly, House Democrats earned an average conservative score of 35%. However, as Speaker Madigan began turning in scores of 16%, 6% and 5% over the next few sessions, House Democrats followed suit and earned average scores of 19%, 14% and 11%.

“While Speaker Madigan’s near-five-decade reign appears to be coming to a disgraceful end, the Illinois Democrats he helped convert into socialists have so far survived his criminal scandal,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “Throughout his 47 years in power, Illinois has earned the lowest credit rating in the country, weathered the most severe pension crisis in U.S. history and suffered the worst population decline in the last 10 years. Is there a more damning indictment of liberalism than Madigan’s tenure in government?”

On average, lawmakers of the House of Representatives voted more liberally than their counterparts in the Senate. House Democrats (17.92% average) proved more liberal than Senate Democrats (14.09%). A greater share of senators (10%) earned awards for conservative voting records than representatives (7%). The Illinois General Assembly matched its overall average score compared to the previous session (35.6%).

ACUF’s Ratings of Congress and Ratings of the States are initiatives of ACUF’s Center for Legislative Accountability (CLA). These ratings are designed to reflect how over 8,000 elected officials across the nation view the role of government while illustrating the differences between chambers of the legislature and revealing lawmakers’ positions on a wide variety of issues that directly affect citizens.

ACU Foundation reviewed each piece of legislation voted on in both chambers of the legislature to produce average scores of each chamber as well as individual scores for each sitting member.

Click Here to view the 2019 Ratings of Illinois online and Click Here to visit our website.

I would suggest that Bruce Rauner did far more to “radicalize” House Democrats than Madigan did, but whatevs.

* Meanwhile, perhaps now some folks will realize why the Democrats in power here are so reluctant to embrace this concept…

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released its latest web advertisement warning Americans about Democrats’ true motives behind their unprecedented spending in state legislative races in 2020: liberal gerrymandering.

Though this may come with great shock to much of the left-wing media, who for years have bought into Democrats’ faux campaigns for ‘fair maps,’ liberal activists and their allies in Congress have been plotting a socialist takeover of the United States and have identified the 2020 redistricting cycle as its best opportunity to bring their rigged maps to battleground states where they’ve yet to successfully silence conservative voices and shut-out accurate representation. Disguised as a ‘fight for fairness,’ these efforts are overtly partisan and blatantly hypocritical. In fact, one far-Left group led by Barack Obama and Eric Holder state in IRS filings its purpose is to “favorably position Democrats for the redistricting process.” The RSLC, the national political organization leading the fight to defeat coordinated efforts to rig maps in favor of Democrats, exposes hypocrisies like these and more in the video below.

The video is here.

The RSLC has contributed to a handful of Illinois Republicans, including Leader Durkin and the House Republican Organization.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:38 am

Comments

That Mad is so rad

Comment by Shytown Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:42 am
Frontline had a very good episode about conspiracy theories in conservative American politics. The phrase “liberal activists and their allies in Congress have been plotting a socialist takeover of the United States” really shows how much the right embraces conspiracy.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:49 am
===I would suggest that Bruce Rauner did far more to “radicalize”===

I agree with this position. Rauner pushed on so many different levers while trying to create his “crisis” it brought a lot of issues that had been set aside or left way on the back burner to the forefront. Bruce Rauner leaves in his wake a complicated and sometimes confusing legacy. Case in point:

Bruce Rauner; The man who signed the law that provide state funding for reproductive services so that a woman’s rights wouldn’t be defined by their income.

===weathered the most severe pension crisis in U.S. history ===

Hyperbole aside, it’s worth noting we call it the Edgar Ramp, and the 3% COLA was established by Thompson after spending almost a decade doing everything he could to make sure only Republicans got state jobs. In both instances decades after the fact the defense that seems to be mounted for why those policies were adopted boils down to “we were bad at math.”

GOP talking points only work for folks with short attention spans.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:51 am
“the Illinois Democrats he helped convert into socialists have so far survived his criminal scandal,”
Merriam Webster on Socialism:any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
Ok so Matt Schlapp, what does Illinois do that is more socialist than other states? I know we have public roads, so does every other state. What industries has Illinois nationalized?

Comment by 17% Solution Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:58 am
HAHAHAHAHA (banned puncuation).

Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 11:59 am
“Is there a more damning indictment of liberalism than Madigan’s tenure in government?”

Glass houses much? Look at the federal government’s exploding deficits and debt under Trump and the GOP. Look at Kansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma recently when taxes were cut. Kansas was a disaster. Look at what Rauner purposely did to Illinois’ finances. Does anybody seriously believe the right wing and GOP are fiscally responsible?

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:00 pm
I think it’s safe to say that Progressives have done more to negatively impact Madigan’s base of power than Republicans have done with decades as an opposition party. Calling him “radical” is bonkers.

Comment by NIU Grad Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:08 pm
The Speaker won’t hold votes that aren’t locked, or the issue is baked and ready to pass. Start there.

Me? I don’t think it was Bruce only. Nope.

The most important and significant Democrat in Illinois in the past 35 years?

Diana Rauner.

There’s no second.

Diana Rauner, single-handedly, divided the ILGOP, radicalizing a Bruce Agenda that made possible Jeanne Ives to wedge herself into that division.

Bruce signed HB40, so Diana Rauner could save face, even as the Raunerites in the GA voted against it. Great example of not Dems moving Left, Diana Rauner made the Raunerites implode the party in ways even Madigan “Himself” couldn’t dream.

Diana Rauner wanted the IPI for messaging while asking the Pritzker Family to bail out The Ounce, and social services collapsed or downright folded.

Diana Rauner, as a financial partner forced moderate GOP members who supported labor to move on, and sowed a real political divide, by geography, and by doing so, made the Dems more open to liberal ideals in the suburbs and districts never thought possible because of Raunerite politics.

Madigan? Nope.

Diana Rauner? She did what no other Dem could do; Diana Rauner made the GOP model of winning disappear.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:08 pm
===”Is there a more damning indictment of liberalism than Madigan’s tenure in government?”===

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.

I think MJM is OK with being an example of that.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:24 pm
@Grandson,

I think it depends on how you define “fiscally responsible”.

Comment by Lynn S. Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:26 pm
===The Speaker won’t hold votes that aren’t locked===

At some point I think Speaker Madigan’s management of the State House and Democratic Caucus will make a series of very fine Ph.D. dissertations.

===Diana Rauner? She did what no other Dem could do; Diana Rauner made the GOP model of winning disappear. ===

I think this is a very valid position, but the last thing our State needs is a GOP opening to claim that Bruce Rauner was a Democratic plot.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:27 pm
=== Rauner was a Democratic plot.===

… which I wholly did NOT do, which you seemly imply.

Read what I wrote, exactly as I wrote it.

Thanks.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:30 pm
The ILGOP’s obsession with Madigan resembles a conspiracy theory. Now, I’m not saying Madigan is pure as the driven snow (he’s almost surely ethically compromised). But conspiracy theories are powerful because they suggest that everything would be right with the world if not for some evil individual or group. To wit:

The ’60s were a time of upheaval and social disillusionment? Must be the fault of the CIA for killing Kennedy!

Is your child autistic? It’s because Big Pharma paid off your doctor to give your kid dangerous vaccines!

Illinois’ finances are in the toilet and Republicans are losers statewide? It’s all Madigan’s fault!

Comment by Benjamin Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 12:30 pm
===Throughout his 47 years in power…===

Any Republican governors?

When they start calling it the Madigan Ramp, call me.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:03 pm
Mike Madigan claims to be reasonable and moderate and not the subject of a federal investigation

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:05 pm
==The RSLC, the national political organization leading the fight to defeat coordinated efforts to rig maps in favor of Democrats==

I’m so tired of the right whining that taking away their structural advantages over the rest of us is unfair:

It’s unfair to let the vote be decided by people instead of land mass.

It’s unfair to enact rules forbidding them to draw districts such that Democrats can get 53% of the votes cast statewide but only 36% of the seats (WI).

It’s unfair to take down the barriers to voting that have been erected against primarily Democratic-voting groups.

It’s unfair to consider extending statehood to currently disenfranchised territories, because the people there are likely to vote for Democrats.

It’s unfair for Democrats to win governor’s offices, so those offices need to be stripped of their powers before the usurpers take over.

It’s just so, so unfair for the majority not to accede to the rule of those who, while numerically in the minority, should count more because they’re the *real* Americans.

Comment by TooManyJens Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:05 pm
“”House Democrats (17.92% average) proved more liberal than Senate Democrats (14.09%). A greater share of senators (10%) earned awards for conservative voting records than representatives (7%).”"

Somebody writing this piece for the ACU is apparently interpreting and reporting their own data backwards. These are “conservative” voting scores. The higher the score, the more “conservative” (i.e. the less “liberal”).

Their narrative about the House/Madigan vs. the Senate is therefore also backwards.

Comment by walker Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:06 pm
I cannot tell you how shocked I am that Democrats are seeking an advantage in redistricting. The GOP would never think of such a thing. /snark/

Comment by JoanP Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:28 pm
At some point I think Speaker Madigan’s management of the State House and Democratic Caucus will make a series of very fine Ph.D. dissertations.

Candy, I had seriously thought about that. Alas, I’ve gotten too old. I’ll be eating tapioca by the time I’d finish it.

Comment by Lt Guv Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:40 pm
Gerrymander the heck out of the state, especially in light of the points TooManyJens made above. Politics aint beanbag…

Comment by low level Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:45 pm
==Throughout his 47 years in power, Illinois has earned the lowest credit rating in the country==

One could argue that Illinois received its highest-ever credit ratings while Madigan has been speaker. Between 1997 and 2000, AA+, AA and Aa2 from the major three. That doesn’t fit the narrative, though. Really, the trouble didn’t start until Blagojevich took office in 2003, then the Quinn downgrades, then Rauner’s. What is the one common denominator with all the state’s credit downgrades? That’s right: bad governors. They caused all those downgrades. Kinda, sorta, not really, maybe snark.

==weathered the most severe pension crisis in U.S. history==

Per Merriam-Webster
weather (verb)
2: to bear up against and come safely through
//weather a storm
//weather a crisis

So, we made it through the pension crisis? Thank you, Speaker (banned punctuation). I mean if y’all are hurting for cash, I’ll chip in a few bucks for a dictionary.

Comment by John Deere Green Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:49 pm
@Oswego Willy:

I can recall in the 1980s when Madigan was still promoting himself as “pro-life.” He has moved left.

Comment by Practical Politics Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 1:57 pm
=== I can recall in the 1980s when Madigan was still promoting himself as “pro-life.” He has moved left.===

Ok.

Now what?

HB40, as an example, was ripe, and passable, which it did pass.

There are people who comment here that are so staunchly pro-life they voted for Bruce Rauner after he signed HB40.

This idea of policy, or better, single issue voting, is driving politics left, tribal politics are driving moves Right or Left, to extremes, not the policy or issues.

Madigan is up every two years. If his stance makes him too liberal, than it does.

Also, social issues, in 30+ years of life, changing how you feel on a social issue, I’m guessing most in life also have a change or two?

Otherwise, ask him. How am I suppose to know his personal feelings and how they’ve evolved.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 2:08 pm
The Republicans can’t stay out of their own way. You have a semi “revolt” inside the party and you try and galvanize them against the R’s. ” The Government you elect, is the Government you deserve.” Thomas Jefferson. Although, Don Henley had a great song “Month of Sunday’s” on Building the Perfect Beast way back… Give it a spin. Makes sense today…

Comment by Fighter of Foo Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 2:14 pm
I would rather deal with the problems of socialism than the problems of fascism.

Comment by RIJ Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 2:16 pm
The Republicans can’t stay out of their own way. You have cracks inside the party leadership for the first time in my life.

Comment by Fighter of Foo Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 2:19 pm
Over his tenure, the Speaker has generally been in sync with the majority sentiment of his caucus. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, he had many more conservative Downstate and white ethnic Chicago members. The Speaker was sometimes to the right of Thompson, Edgar, and Daniels on taxes and spending. Most liberal social issues were DOA into the mid 2000’s. His caucus is much different now. Can you imagine former members like Brunsvold, McNamara, Deering, and David Phelps being an important part of the 2020 majority? The Speaker’s positions/votes acknowledge this change to a more minority and Suburban female driven caucus.

Comment by Oldtimer Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 2:26 pm
“Liberal activists and their allies in Congress have been plotting a socialist takeover of the United States…” Meaning: citizens voting their will at the polls.

Comment by IllinoisBoi Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 3:14 pm
===… which I wholly did NOT do, which you seemly imply.===

To clarify, OW, that was not directed at you. I think your opinion is accurate. What I was meaning to convey is that it is easy for me to imagine that in 2022 the GOP, or at least some of the GOP, placing a lot of effort into the very counterfactual claim that the Rauner Administration was a Democratic plot.

I’m not intending to suggest that you’re proposing that, but I think the accuracy of your opinion could very well be fuel added to stoke such a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 3:24 pm
First, what walker said: the higher the score, the more conservative the voting record. Whoever wrote that the House (with a 17.92%) is more conservative than the Senate (with a 14.09%) just thoroughly embarrassed themselves.

Second, do these guys really think referring to the progressive income tax as a “soak the rich” plan will make people oppose it? “Soak the rich” is the best argument FOR the progressive income tax.

Comment by You might say that Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 3:46 pm
=== that was not directed at you===

Then when you decide to grab my thoughts

=== I’m not intending to suggest that you’re proposing that, but I think the accuracy of your opinion could very well be fuel added to stoke such a ridiculous conspiracy theory.===

Explain that better, make your points your own, please.

This is an ongoing thing, bud.

Stay well.

:)

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 4:12 pm
===When they start calling it the Madigan Ramp, call me.===

The Edgar ramp was woefully inadequate but the pension holidays where the State contributed $0 to the pension systems is what caused the graph to look like it does.

Comment by HighSox Monday, Aug 3, 20 @ 9:29 pm