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* On December 21, 2021, when Paul Vallas was substitute hosting for Dan Proft on WIND, 4,178 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. More than 300 people died from the virus that week, bringing the total number up to more than 27,000. Hospitalizations surged to 7,380 just a few weeks later, on January 12th. Hospitalizations didn’t fall back to the December 21st level for a month, and didn’t fall below a thousand until late February…
Amy Jacobson: It’s a two-week peak. So, we’re going to have a two-week peak here. So as soon as the cases rise, that’s quickly as they are going to fall. And they are going to say it worked because of the vaccine mandates. You know that. Because two weeks from now on January 10th, this is going to be a nothing-burger.
Paul Vallas: We’ll be having strains every year and this is going to be the new normal.
OK, let’s stop right there. We’ve never again had a peak like the horrific winter of 21/22. The mini hospitalization spike we had this past December was around 1,800. That earlier winter’s spiral hasn’t become the “new normal,” as Vallas predicted, because vaccines work.
* And, as you’ll see, they mocked leaders for trying to keep even more people from dying…
Paul Vallas: But I think for people like Lightfoot and others this is an opportunity. Well first of all, this gives them the ability to make decisions unilaterally with no input. How many executive orders has Pritzker [issued]?
Amy Jacobson: 24.
Paul Vallas: 24. Illinois Policy does great work, great work in terms of reporting on these things. I mean, really them and CWB, and of course, Wire Points and I mean, they just do great work on providing really independent research and reporting. On these executive mandates, no legislative input whatsoever. So it gives them the ability to act like dictators. The second thing it does is it creates the perception that somehow they’re being decisive leaders.
That “dictator” stuff is the exact same rhetoric used by Darren Bailey and his ilk. The courts ruled again and again that the executive powers already existed in state law.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I do not envy Chicago voters.
…Adding… Speaking of Darren Bailey, this was posted by Bailey in May of 2022, during the Republican primary…
Caption?
Also…
Feds provide $5 bil. in new COVID funds for IL public schools and Pritzker agrees to increase state K-12 funding by another $350 mil. Yet, Governor still tries to SLASH Tax Credit Scholarships for poor families who send kids to private schools, saving a paltry $14 mil. Shameless!
— Paul Vallas (@PaulVallas) May 10, 2021
“Shameless!”
*** UPDATE *** From Natalie Edelstein at the Pritzker campaign…
Throughout the pandemic Governor Pritzker spent every day fighting to save people’s lives and livelihoods. He did it by following the advice of the nation’s best virologists and epidemiologists, many of whom are at Illinois’ world class research institutions and hospitals. Leadership requires making tough choices and not pandering to the loudest voices driven by politics. The next mayor of Chicago may be called upon to lead in a similar type of emergency and residents deserve to know if their next Mayor will listen to experts or instead to right wing talk show hosts when making decisions about people’s lives.
Vallas campaign…
“Paul Vallas looks forward to working with state leaders in tackling all the issues facing Chicago, from making the city safer to improving education to confronting crisis situations whenever they emerge. As a lifelong Democrat, Paul respects Gov. Pritzker’s leadership and voted for him in the past election.”
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:05 pm
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=== That “dictator” stuff is the exact same rhetoric used by Darren Bailey and his ilk. The courts ruled again and again that the executive powers already existed in state law.===
The Vallas coalition consists and caters to…
… the worst elements that Darren Bailey embraced and still embraces.
Pretending that Vallas isn’t wanting Bailey voters is ignoring who exactly Vallas *IS*
Chicago has flat out AWFUL choices.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:13 pm
== I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I do not envy Chicago voters. ==
Nor should you. Two awful candidates.
Comment by Forever906 Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:14 pm
“Illinois Policy does great work, great work in terms of reporting on these things. I mean, really them and CWB, and of course, Wire Points and I mean, they just do great work on providing really independent research and reporting.”
If this is who Vallas believes is doing great work, it tells us a lot about how he thinks. There is a reason the business community/the wealthy are funding his campaign.
To anyone who think Johnson is “owned” by CTU, guess who “owns” Vallas.
Comment by Techie Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:14 pm
“when Paul Vallas was substitute hosting for Dan Proft on WIND…”
That pretty much explains it. Right wing media has a simple business model: anger and hate. Keep the audience angry and give ‘em a scapegoat to hate.
Am I wrong in remembering that during the height of the pandemic, red states had more hospitalizations and deaths from Covid than blue states had?
Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:14 pm
We’ve got a bad choice and a worse choice. Not unlike 2019. I’m voting for the bad choice.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:17 pm
…lifelong Democrat…
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:20 pm
Vallas is just so toxic.
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:22 pm
That wasn’t Paul Vallas on the show, he was hacked. /s
I have a lot of problems with Paul’s platform. But one of the things I keep asking myself is how he will actually govern. It’s a little like Lori in 2019 that there’s really no way to know what he actually cares about as a person and where he will draw lines.
I really don’t know if Paul believes any of this stuff he is saying, he campaign feels more like he just picked a vacant lane of tough on crime and it resonated with a large swath of voters.
He doesn’t have North Star for what he actually believes in. He just wants to be Mayor very badly to me that makes for a very bad Mayor.
At least you know what you’re getting with Brandon Johnson.
Comment by twowaystreet Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:22 pm
“Illinois Policy does great work … .”
That alone disqualifies anything he says from ever being taken seriously again.
Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:24 pm
CWB purports to be journalism but there are no bylines and no accountability. And he thinks that’s a good thing?
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:26 pm
Just another reminder to vote for the Democratic Mayoral Candidate and not the closeted Republican.
Comment by Jerry Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:29 pm
So glad I do not face the choice that Chicago voters do . . . and so worried what the city will be like four years from now because of it.
Comment by Flapdoodle Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:30 pm
OW and Rich +1
Yikes.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:31 pm
How soon until Paul denies sending THAT tweet? /S
I’m also wondering if Paul renewed the lease to his Bridgeport apartment…or has he switched to month-to-month?
Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:32 pm
“Proud to Stand with Republicans”
This picture should run on every TV network until election day.
Comment by Wensicia Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:35 pm
It would be a fun exercise to watch Vallas, Bailey, and others of that ilk to talk to some folks who’ve lived under actual dictators for some perspective. Maybe then they wouldn’t throw that term around so loosely.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:40 pm
Paul Vallas seems to have multiple personalities. One is an angry old right wing nut. The other is a racially inclusive policy wonk with major management experience. Unfortunately he is a package deal.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:41 pm
“no legislative input whatsoever”
Narrator - The legislature opted not to challenge the executive orders.
“creates the perception that somehow they’re being decisive leaders”
And just how is a leader supposed to act during a national public health crisis?
We all saw what came out of Washington. We all saw what came out of Springfield. I’ll take Springfield all day long and twice on Sunday.
Vallas would have us believe that decisions made by the governor must be co-signed by the legislature. That isn’t how it works.
Vallas was poison before. He is poison now. I pity Chicago if he is elected mayor.
What more is needed to demonstrate vallas is a republican’t masquerading as a democratic candidate?
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:42 pm
OW and Rich +2
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:42 pm
==This picture should run on every TV network until election day==
Well they both agree Chicago is a “hellhole.”
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:46 pm
Does anyone really believe that if the legislature passed Covid mitigations that conservatives would have accepted them any better? The SAFE-T Act and the assault weapon ban were passed by the legislature and they don’t respect those laws.
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:48 pm
If you let Vallas stand next to you for just a minute, He can become you…that’s his gift.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:49 pm
Chicago voter here.
I cannot vote for Vallas. How can a “lifelong educator” promote vaccine ignorance and health misinformation? How is his pandering to the haters, the willfully angry, and the disinformation professionals any different from Donald Trump’s? It’s profoundly toxic and destructive. It’s poison being marketed as medicine.
I love this city. I was born here and I’ve lived here for 65 years and never faced a worse choice in a mayoral election.
But I can’t vote for Vallas.
Comment by northsider (the original) Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:49 pm
Looks like Bailey Vallas will be the next mayor. Maybe if he’s as smart as he believes he is, he’ll start making amends to JB for the baloney he spread against the governor. BV will be asking Springfield for a lot of help and he doesn’t have the horses to buck the Gov.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:50 pm
==Illinois Policy does great work, great work in terms of reporting on these things. I mean, really them and CWB, and of course, Wire Points and I mean, they just do great work on providing really independent research and reporting==
Man if he thinks those are reputable sources and do “great work” and are “independent” . . . . whew. Hard to take anybody who believes that seriously.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:52 pm
== Illinois Policy - and CWB, and of course, Wire Points - do great work on providing really independent research ==
As a social scientist, I suggest the word ‘research’ does not belong in that sentence. I also suggest the adjective ‘independent’ is a false modifier.
These political organizations do not conduct research of any sort. They simply construct arguments by gathering random data points.
If they actually cared to do research, they would know that they are losing at every turn with their false narratives.
But to the point, the idea that a potential mayor of the third largest city in the nation would trust clearly Republican-oriented PACs to “do independent research” is mind-boggling. It is also offensive to the sensibilities of the citizens of Chicago (and Illinois).
Comment by H-W Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:53 pm
Pictured: A man who keeps getting hacked, and an absolute hack.
Comment by Roadrager Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:54 pm
“Proud to Stand with Republicans” - says Darren Baily
Comment by Uptown Progressive Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 2:58 pm
Never trust a guy who switches sides conveniently…He’ll switch on you, too.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:08 pm
We really have two more weeks of this election? God help us.
Comment by Montrose Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:09 pm
There are only TWO types of folks that embrace Illinois Policy ridiculous…
1) The easy marks and the “Big Tuna” marks that pay the bills and salaries of the folks working at IPI, keeping the cycle going.
And…
2) The actual grifters that make money working in concert with IPI, and those in vertical integration that helps elevate them all by making IPI relevant.
Vallas is in the #2 category…
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:09 pm
Neither is expected to be a good mayor, so there is no good choice. However, Vallas has simply said too many things that are disqualifying, revealing too much about himself and his values that are unacceptable. Johnson is therefore the default choice, having said fewer unacceptable things.
Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:13 pm
Vallas thought he had a better chance of relevancy by acting like a Republican. He now believes his chances are better as a Democrat. In terms of who he really is, who knows? And that should be very concerning.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:17 pm
My theory is that Vallas’s anti-union message finally found an audience with the conservative crowd, and he steered into it. He is clearly not used to this level of public attention from actual people (as opposed to local media) and it helped steer him towards what that crowd wants to hear.
Either that, or he has been a Republican all along. Who knows.
Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:24 pm
===I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I do not envy Chicago voters.===
One demagogue plus one demagogue equals two demagogues.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:25 pm
“Never trust a guy who switches sides conveniently…He’ll switch on you, too.”
This is where Vallas is like Lightfoot. He is saying whatever he thinks folks want to hear so they will vote for him. I have a feeling there would be a wide gap between Candidate Vallas and Mayor Vallas.
Comment by Montrose Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:37 pm
“Illinois Policy does great work, great work in terms of reporting on these things. I mean, really them and CWB, and of course, Wire Points and I mean, they just do great work on providing really independent research and reporting.”
What?
Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:41 pm
Vallas will say and do anything to get elected. I agree with others, this is a choice of bad and worse and who ever wins will be a one termer.
Going to hold my nose and vote for Vallas.
Comment by Chicago Voter Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:45 pm
==Vallas thought he had a better chance of relevancy by acting like a Republican. He now believes his chances are better as a Democrat. In terms of who he really is, who knows?==
A capitalist, down to the bone. Whatever holds the biggest opportunity for the most money for Paul personally, that’s the side you will find him on. Now give him the keys to all of those city contracts and resources and let the man work his magic.
Comment by Roadrager Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:53 pm
So Vallas went full MAGA on us
Comment by Walker Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:54 pm
The one area I’ll disagree with some of the commenters here is that Paul Vallas has never flip-flopped when it comes to workers having strong Unions. He is stridently anti-Union and always has been. He’s an ideologue that will bait CTU into a strike knowing that he’s got his Wirepoints and IPI buddies ready to stand with him and the other Private Equity guys from Lakeview and Lincoln Park tossing 100k donations his way.
Comment by Chicago Blue Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:55 pm
The long term damage to the city will be considerable as a result of this election. It doesn’t matter who wins… I don’t see who can/will fill the void… and I’m no fan of Lightfoot.
Comment by Lincoln Lad Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 3:55 pm
And yet, despite all that, he keeps getting endorsements from well known Dems. Fascinating.
Comment by low level Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:03 pm
I’m so confused.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnVrjFSE1hA
Back to not voting?
Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:07 pm
This is such a depressing election. I can’t under any circumstance vote for Vallas, and Johnson was in my bottom three. I was thinking about sitting out an election for the first time in the 30 years I’ve been able to vote, but enough has come out about Vallas that I’m going to have to go vote Johnson and hold my nose.
Comment by Goober Grape Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:36 pm
dear Chicago, yes you may be just a little concerned that he’s pals with Trumpers, ignores racism and anti LGBTQ comments and you are a white straight person so it’s not about you. but this is about science and it looks like Paul Vallas could have gotten lots of people killed during the pandemic if he had been Mayor of Chicago. He sides with the anti science crowd. Please do everyone a favor and not vote for him.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:37 pm
“Deputy Governor for Public Safety, Infrastructure, Environment, and Energy.”
This should be 4 different jobs.
Comment by The Dude Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:39 pm
Vallas is using the Democratic Party. This party should not give an inch to right wingers and their anti-unionism and bigotry. They are having major success in this state and Michigan, they don’t need Vallas types.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:53 pm
Interesting mailers today. Two for Vallas which includes an 8×10 glossy of Jesse White. One for Johnson with a picture of Vallas and no Brandon Johnson. What?
The daily deluge.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 4:58 pm
So a closeted Proud Boy or someone who has no idea what they’re doing? A bad choice, but an easy one.
Comment by K3 Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 5:36 pm
Preach to your choir, comment section.
Comment by It Seems To Me Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 7:44 pm
perspective on the Chicago Mayoral after watching tonight….Panicking Paul. He did not do well tonight. Closing was ultra negative. Brandon was an uber lefty with an upbeat attitude.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 8:01 pm
If Vallas is elected, he has poisoned his opportunity to have a good relationship with Governor Pritzker by referring to him as a Dictator. He’s a DINO.
Comment by Manchester Tuesday, Mar 21, 23 @ 9:36 pm
“As a lifelong Democrat, Paul…”
If you have to keep saying you’re a Democrat, it might be because you’re not, but know that you need to convince voters that you are.
Comment by Techie Wednesday, Mar 22, 23 @ 9:48 am
What if… hear me out… he has a point…
Comment by Jolly Man Wednesday, Mar 22, 23 @ 12:39 pm