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Borrowing follow-up and various campaign news

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Illinois

* We spent a lot of time yesterday talking about Gov. Quinn’s false claim that Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias had signed off on a $500 million short-term borrowing plan and that Dan Hynes was the lone holdout. Giannoulias hadn’t signed off and Hynes said the governor’s office changed the plan several times and then set an arbitrary and almost immediate deadline for approval without providing any specifics.

Anyway, the governor’s office, which has not exactly been honest on this topic, responded to a few points in the coverage. One of those responses was to something I had written…

Back in October, Gov. Quinn was talking about borrowing $900 million short-term for healthcare and college scholarships. Behind the scenes, however, that number fluctuated wildly almost day to day and finally settled on $500 million.

The guv’s response…

Governor’s office has adjusted the dollar amount to accommodate the concerns of the Comptroller and Attorney General offices.

I asked the comptroller’s office for comment and here it is…

The Comptroller’s Office has consistently sought clarity from the Governor’s Office as to the details of their various borrowing proposals which they have been unable to provide. We don’t know what the Governor’s office is talking about and it seems increasingly apparent that they don’t either.

Oof.

The attorney general’s office said last night that they had simply asked the governor’s people to match their short-term borrowing request to statutory requirements.

So, once again, more distortions from the governor’s office.

The thing is, if Quinn had just waited until Giannoulias was really on board, he had a pretty good hit to use against the comptroller. But he didn’t wait, and he blew it. Badly. No excuse for that.

By the way, I just called the treasurer’s office and there’s nothing new to report from them.

* Meanwhile, some folks are complaining that the governor will deliver his State of the State address a few weeks before primary day…

His State of the State address could be a State of the Campaign address as well, some lawmakers say. Quinn delivers it Jan. 13 — less than three weeks before he tries to win the Feb. 2 Democratic primary election.

“It would appear to me that it’s nothing less than for the governor to take advantage of his office,” said Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.

Meh. He’s the governor. He’s entitled to give a SOTS address in January if he wants.

* Hynes is against slots at tracks and uses the issue to whack the guv. Hynes does favor adding more casinos, however…

Hynes didn’t specify a philosophical opposition to the [slots at tracks] idea, but said, “It’s just not part of my plan.”

That may sound like inconsistent policy, but it’s consistent politics. Hynes’ campaign to wrest the governor’s office from Gov. Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat, is based largely on Hynes’ asseration that Quinn has had a shifting, seat-of-the-pants approach to governing. [Yesterday] morning, Hynes presented Quinn’s apparent openness to exploring the racetrack-slots idea as another example of that.

“One thing I don’t want to do is budget on the fly,” said Hynes. “ . . . This week it’s slots at the tracks. What’s it going to be next week?”

Good point, but we need to get something done somewhere. I don’t really blame Quinn for trying to find an opening.

* In other campaign news, I received a rather weird e-mail from the Dan Seals for Congress campaign this afternoon…

Dear Friend,

Our opponents continue to spread outright lies about our campaign. One opponent sent out a campaign e-mail on Tuesday attacking Dan and another candidate. This other candidate then sent out an e-mail today. We’ve now received multiple e-mails and phone calls from people who, based on her e-mail, think that Dan made these false claims..

It is simply not true.

As we mentioned before, our opponents are bound to do anything. It’s time to stop the “he said, she said” political pettiness. Enough is enough already.

Apparently, Elliot Richardson sent out an e-mail making claims about Julie Hamos and then Hamos shot back in an e-mail, but didn’t mention Richardson’s name and just blamed the hit on an “opponent.” Some people evidently assumed that Hamos was referring to Seals, and that’s why Seals “responded” today. But that Seals e-mail certainly doesn’t clear up the issue. If anything, it just muddies things even more.

* Related…

* Hinz: Dan Hynes finally gets it right — on job-creation plan: But the plan doesn’t just propose expenditures. Mr. Hynes would make the existing EDGE tax credit and enterprise-zone programs contingent not just on jobs but jobs that pay higher wages. And he’d require companies that get incentives to pay the state back if they fail to meet the objectives of the deal.

* Quinn and Hynes trade shots over budget plan: “The problem is that the proposal changed four times over three weeks,” Hynes said. “And then yesterday we were told: Just sign off and we’ll work out the details later.”

* Gov. Pat Quinn accuses comptroller of dragging feet on fixing state budget

* Quinn blasts Hynes over borrowing

* Hynes touts job creation plan

* Quinn comes to campus

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:01 pm

Comments

Hynes is against the slots because a big part of his budget plan involves expanding gambling and increasing the taxes on gambling revenue. So no surprise there…
If Dan Seals couldn’t win that district with Obama on the top of the ticket, he should have stepped aside. Nice guy, but he had his time. His poll numbers are where they are because of name ID.

Comment by Big Policy Nerd Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:14 pm
i blame quinns media team. they could have controlled this from the beginning with one statement or one call. The problem is they have been putting out fires.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:19 pm
It would be nice if the springfield beuracrats could leave the political sniping to the campaign. Dan seals, you are on the 14th minute and 59th second of your 15 minutes. Although Team America will miss you.

Comment by shore Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:19 pm
the news about the quinn administration’s handling of the borrowing plan is not good. in fact it is quite disturbing. this hurts him on his recent claims that he has stabilized the budget, and of course it highlights a constant sore point: his leadership. above all it is not a confidence builder in him or his administration. if he thought this year was difficult, next year figures to be significantly worse.

his being in office for “only” 10 months, or the fact that blago was in office for the seven years prior, has absolutley nothing to do with how quinn responds to state issues and how he acts when trying to address and resolve issues. besides this latest borrowing scheme was totally his idea in response to the shortfall in projected end of the year revenues.

I am very pleased that hynes is still looking out for the people of illinois by questioning the plans that have been presented to him. the inability of anyone from the quinn administration to provide specific and clear answers is very telling and cause for very serious concerns.

Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:26 pm
I was leaning away from Seals towards Hamos, but the email that Seals responded to was clearly aimed at causing just this kind of confusion - a subtle but deliberate ‘dirty trick’. I’ll be sending my delayed contribution to Dan this week.

Comment by erstwhilesteve Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:30 pm
“One thing I don’t want to do is budget on the fly,” said Hynes. “ . . . This week it’s slots at the tracks. What’s it going to be next week?”

very nice. one would be hard pressed to find many people who would disagree with hynes on that key point.

Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:36 pm
@Will County Woman

So you are against slots at the tracks, but agree with Hynes to allow more casinos to increase state revenue? If people go to the tracks to bet anyway, why not let them play the slots too? Where should we build the next casino? In your hometown?

Comment by Big Policy Nerd Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:41 pm
=== Mr. Hynes would make the existing EDGE tax credit and enterprise-zone programs contingent not just on jobs but jobs that pay higher wages. And he’d require companies that get incentives to pay the state back if they fail to meet the objectives of the deal. ====

This is the smart way to handle any kind of credit to business, require it to creat jobs with meaningful pay, not just more low income poverty level positions.

Comment by Ghost Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:48 pm
Anonymous 2:19, please use another handle. That one’s taken already–by me. Thanks!

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:49 pm
Big Policy Nerd, the key point in the hynes quote, to which i was referring, is specifically the part about not doing the budget on the fly; and, indecisiveness that yield poor quality decisions.

Comment by Will County Woman Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 2:50 pm
Not to be critical, but is there an MS Office Word template that was used for Seals’ email? Heck, to “err on the side of caution”, might as well just send out that same email every two weeks or so–for all campaigns!

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:00 pm
===He’s entitled to give a SOTS address in January if he wants.===

Absolutely correct Rich. But do you think he’ll want to give the budget speech in January too? Me neither.

At the rate things are going, the electric company might be cutting service to the capitol complex over unpaid bills sometime after January, so this could be Quinn’s last shot in spotlight. Or last shot with audio anyway.

Tick tock.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:11 pm
Is it possible that the governor is under the mistakern impression that if he stalls on the unpleasant financial solution that the state’s unpaid bills will be forgiven or just magically fade away?

Comment by One of the 35 Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:26 pm
How ironic. Hamos sends out an email accusing “one of her opponents” of lying about her, when she knows most people will assume she means Seals, even though the “liar” is Richardson, a fairly unknown candidate. So who’s being dishonest here? Hamos’ behavior in this campaign has been appalling - a far cry what we who’ve been her constituents expected. Fortunately Seals is way ahead in the polls, and he hasn’t resorted to name calling, putting unwanted signs in peoples’ yards, and being rude to those who don’t support him.

Comment by 10thdem Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:39 pm
I saw the confusing email sent out by the Seals’ campaign to refute the smear tactics of the Julie campaign. This isn’t the first time she’s resorted to dirty tricks which makes me wonder if she’s a little too entrenched in Springfield politics. I thought the Seals’ campaign was trying to take the high road by mentioning the error and then moving away from that into the issues that concern him - why engage in pettiness when he is interested in job creation and things that might actually have impact in our lives? However, to avoid the confusion for those who might not have seen Julie’s despicable email accusation, he should have clarified and named names. Julie is running her campaign like someone who doesn’t expect to have to ask for our votes after she loses the primary election.

Comment by My two cents Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:52 pm
The SOTS in January might not be such a great idea on Quinn’s part. Really what does one say that does not make self look rather poorly? The state is great, I’m doing a great job? The state is a mess and with almost a year at the helm I can’t seem to get much done or do anything correctly like borrow money?

I would also assume anything wrong, puffed up and/or bending of the truth even ever so slightly is going to come right back at him in campaign ads from those running against him. It could give the others fresh ammo to whack him with going into the final period where people are actually paying attention.

Comment by Cindy Lou Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:54 pm
A pox on all their houses. I just detest it when nothing but a gang of thugs constitute the candidate pool. And topping it off, an incompetent for governor!

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 3:57 pm
I think that much of the apparent confusion in the Quinn Administration is due to the complete lack of cooperation from the GA leadership, the AG, the Compt, and the Treas. None of them seem interested in seeing Quinn reelected (Quinn doesn’t exactly have a record as a team player) and they are letting him twist in the wind.

Quinn and his people are tossing out ideas to get enough money to make it through the year, and, when one gets no traction, they toss out another idea. This should really be an indictment of the whole crew, some none of them are providing the leadership the state needs. If Hynes has a plan, he should have a friend in the GA introduce a bill. If Madigan, Cullerton, Cross, or Radongo have a plan, they should introduce one. This is a truly dysfunctional group.

Rod put together all kinds of crazy schemes to make it from one budget cycle to the next. And, much as they claimed to detest him, everyone signed off.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:01 pm
big policy nerd clearly isn’t a political nerd or he’d know that obama had no coat tails. and on the north shore where many active dems spent their time and money on his campaign, vs. spending much of it on seals’ campaign as they did in 2006, he had the reverse effect. running against an entrenched, well-funded (best funded congressional campaign in the country actually) incumbent is night and day from running for an open seat. and seals is way ahead of hamos even in the SE corner of the district where they know her. so please get your facts straight.

Comment by 10thdem Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:07 pm
As far as the Hamos email goes, perhaps it was as simple as sticking true to the principle of not naming your opponent by name–especially since Seals likely has the edge in name recognition (that is just a guess based on his perennial district-wide candidacy).

To “My Two Cents:” Too entrenched in Springfield politics? I don’t think anyone who is actually entrenched in Springfield politics is going to cry over losing Hamos. She has been a bit of a thorn in their side. She’s an outsider–like Andy McKenna, HA!

Comment by Obamarama Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:12 pm
In regard to Seals being “Way ahead in the polls,” do you mean the July/August 2009 poll? Or has some new “magical” poll emerged in the past few weeks?

Comment by Ben Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:19 pm
@ 10thdem

–obama had no coat tails.–

Try telling that to the DCCC.

Comment by Big Policy Nerd Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:45 pm
===Try telling that to the DCCC. ===

And the IL House Dems.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:46 pm
Julie polled more recently than that, but was unable to release a single figure, which does seem to imply that the original poll still has legs. I am as surprised as anyone to find that my original good impression of Julie has been completely tarnished -I have supported her in the past but will not in the future. I have even fundraised for her and considered myself a strong supporter. I think there is a lot of merit to being able to judge someone’s character by how they behave under duress. Anyone can behave well when they run unopposed in an overwhelmingly Democratic area. Now that she’s coming up short and her political cronies don’t seem to be able to deliver for her, daily hangups, snubs and now smears have become part and parcel for her campaign.

Ben what are you trying to imply by asking about a ‘magical’ poll? If Julie had any numbers to refute the original poll, it wouldn’t be a secret. Dan remains highly regarded in the tenth district, and it isn’t just based on name recognition- he’s earned his support the hard way, one vote at a time.

Comment by My two cents Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 4:50 pm
Rich comments on the Comptroller’s missive that Quinn keeps throwing out revenue plans:

= Good point, but we need to get something done somewhere. I don’t really blame Quinn for trying to find an opening. =

Really Rich? You have no idea what a cluster the budget has been from an insiders perspective (i.e. the people that actually do the budget work). I can’t believe I’m saying this but Quinn is just as bad, or WORSE, with the budget. None of his people know what they are doing. He just throws things out there with no plan. Also, as an example of just how screwed up he and his folks are, various memoranda were sent out several weeks ago about the budget by the new budget director and NONE of the staffers at GOMB knew anything about the memo or what was in it.

Comment by RJW Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 5:23 pm
RJW, I know what’s going on behind the scenes. I also know that this has nothing to do directly with the OMB. This is a policy issue as much as anything.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 5:25 pm
I have been pretty neutral in the 10th District campaign, but I don’t want someone who acts like the Republicans representing me. If Barack Obama can win by not smearing his opponents and taking the high road, then certainly Julie Hamos can do the same.

Comment by yomama Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 5:26 pm
In the recent dust up between Julie Hamos and Elliott Richardson, only Dan Seals stayed above the fray and focused on the issues that matter to citizens of the 10th Congressional District. While the other candidates got down in the gutter, Dan was talking about unemployment, health care, and the war in Afghanistan. Illinois politics has been associated with mudslinging and corruption for far too long. Dan has shown himself to be the candidate with the integrity to represent the voters’ interests in Washington, not one who uses the old political dirty tricks of lies and innuendo as a campaign approach.

Comment by Sue10 Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 6:31 pm
[…] Richardson posted this message on Monday morning, prompting Hamos to respond with an email blaming an unnamed opponent for the attack. Since no one knows who Richardson is, many people assumed it was from the Seals campaign. Accordingly, since Seals has a major lead in name identification and in the polls, he does not want to be tarred with, frankly, a clumsy attack. So, the Seals campaign sent out a message today explaining how this whole thing started, which appeared here on the Capitol Fax. […]

Pingback by The 10th District Advocate Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 7:20 pm
In the 10th, Richardson is rather misleading in his email. Hamos follows up by being misleading and tries to throw dirt at Seals. Seals sends out a message that’s odd at first, but makes sense with the whole situation. On the whole, this round goes to Seals. I’ve gone a bit deeper on my website.

Comment by 10th District Advocate Thursday, Dec 3, 09 @ 7:28 pm
Hamos’ campaign has been shockingly incompetent from the outset, when she foolishly put her Legislative Office address as her conact information on her campaign website! An FEC violation at the starting block. Very little ability to generate free media yet. And then when she gets it, she comes out backing the war in Afghanistan and touting her record of raising taxes and plan to increase taxes. That’s gonna fly off the shelves in the North Shore!

Comment by Svalk Friday, Dec 4, 09 @ 2:07 am
It’s a governor’s job to take the bull by the horns and get this short-term borrowing plan through. Complaining about it, particularly when getting the facts wrong, looks small.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 4, 09 @ 8:31 am
I started out neutral in the 10th race but the more I hear about Julie, the less I like. She hung up on a friend of mine during a fundraising call when my friend very politely told Julie that she was supporting Dan Seals. Of course, if the campaign had their act together Julie wouldn’t have called my friend anyway because it was public record that she had given Dan a very large check. Regardless, when my friend told Julie she was supporting Dan, Julie should have at least thanked her for her time but probably should have asked if there was anything she could say to change her mind and if not could she count on her support for the general election. My friend is not one of those people who just writes checks. She canvasses and phonebanks but Julie has totally alienated her and her associated. She just isn’t the right candidate to represent us.

Comment by independent minded Friday, Dec 4, 09 @ 9:06 am