July 22nd, 2008 03:52pm
Aaron Chambers
Jim Thacker, a Rockford-based political consultant, is doing quite well for himself thanks to the campaigns of Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen, U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo and others.
Such local political campaigns paid Thacker at least $108,120 during the year ended June 30, according to state and federal campaign finance disclosure statements.
Thacker earned $42,000 from Chuck Prorok’s campaign for Winnebago County state’s attorney, $22,000 from Morrissey’s campaign, $10,200 from Christiansen’s campaign, and $4,000 for Mike Hakanson campaign for Winnebago County auditor during that one-year period, according to statements updated Monday with the State Board of Elections.Prorok, Christiansen and Hakanson are Republican. Morrissey came from a strongly Democratic family and won election in 2005 as an independent. Thacker describes himself as a conservative Republican.
Thacker also earned $29,920 from Manzullo’s campaign during the year ended June 30, according to the Federal Election Commission. Thacker is formerly Manzullo’s chief of staff.
Thacker started volunteering for political campaigns in 1984 and he’s been a full-time political consultant since 1992, he told me.
“I’ve been involved in politics for 24 years on a pretty serious level,” he said. “And I think what most of these folks are looking for is basically a resource — somebody they can talk to who’s been through the battles before. It’s reassuring when, in the course of a campaign, that different issues pop up and they’re working with somebody who’s probably experienced those issues on a previous campaign.”
As a full-time, Rockford-based political consultant, Thacker has little competition — at least on GOP side of the equation.
“There’s not a lot of people like me,” he said. “I only take on a number of races base on my ability to spend the right amount of time with them and basically not have to work 24 hours a day.”
Thacker, 45, grew up in Woodstock. He attended Rockford College and spent considerable time in Rockford as Manzullo’s chief of staff.
“I’ve been coming back and forth to Rockford for 20 years,” he said. “Later, when I was working on Larry Morrissey’s campaign, that’s when I actually started living here. And I’ve been living here for about five years.”
As is typical for political staff, Thacker said he’d rather not be in the spotlight. He’d rather stay behind the scenes.
“I will not be upset if no article appears,” he said.
July 22nd, 2008 12:42pm
Aaron Chambers
Paul Gorski, the Democrat trying to unseat Republican Scott Christiansen as chairman of the Winnebago County Board, said in an e-mail this morning that he plans additional fundraising by the Nov. 4 general election.
Gorski responded to my inquiry, placed by phone last night, about why he did not file a campaign finance disclosure statement with the State Board of Elections by Monday’s filing deadline. When a candidate raises and/or spends more than $3,000, the candidate must file a committee and file disclosure statements with the state board.
Gorski told me he had not met that threshold …
I have not met the threshold for filing yet, but I expect to do so this weekend.
I have a fundraiser scheduled for this Saturday, July 26th, 4-7 PM at the Rockford Lithuanian Club. We will also be holding “Tuesday Night Dinners With Paul” this fall. In addition, some other fundraising efforts have just recently been made, and I expect to see the fruits of those efforts over the next few weeks.
Most of my efforts to date have been spent walking, calling, and otherwise directly visiting voters in Winnebago County. The response from voters has been very positive, actually great, and I’m looking forward to a very active campaign as we go into this final stretch.
Christiansen had $51,572.21 on hand June 30 after raising $81,075.00 and spending $91,336.43 during the first six months of the year, according to his statement with the state board.
July 22nd, 2008 08:34am
Aaron Chambers
If Rod Blagojevich does anything especially well, it’s raise campaign money. He has long been a prolific fundraiser, and despite a looming federal probe of his administration’s activities, he continues to be. He raised roughly $1.9 million during the first six months of this year.
Still, his fundraising is down from previous years.
Midway through his second term, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich has amassed more than $3.6 million in his campaign fund, more than any other statewide officeholder but only about a third of what he had in the bank halfway through his first term.
July 22nd, 2008 08:16am
Aaron Chambers
Sunil Puri, the Rockford real estate developer, gave generously to political campaigns during the first six months of this year, according to newly filed statements with the State Board of Elections.
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| Puri (right) with Dan Arnold of Road Ranger |
His donations included:
$2,501 to the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association
$1,000 to Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford
$250 to Gwyn Gulley, candidate for judge
$10,001 to Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Over the years, Puri has donated more than $346,000 to public officials and candidates for office in Illinois, according to the State Board of Elections.
He also is a “bundler” for the Obama presidential campaign, having raised at least $50,000 for that race.
July 22nd, 2008 07:34am
Aaron Chambers
The Obama campaign is getting some grief for telling traveling reporters to not wear green during Obama’s Middle East tour
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| Green, The Color of Islam |
An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said.
Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.
“A ban on wearing green seems bizarre,” said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Columbia University, who said the color is associated with the family of the Prophet Mohammed.
“I would hazard the guess that the campaign’s concern is more with distorted—and religiously inaccurate—reporting by Obama’s detractors than with any actual signal that might be conveyed,” he said, referring to false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. “You don’t want to have some blogger come along and say ‘Obama is showing his true color.’”
“I think they’re just being overcautious to a ridiculous degree,” Bulliet said.
More here on green, the color of Islam.
July 18th, 2008 04:41pm
Aaron Chambers
NIU today defended its position as the only entity permitted by a state panel to build a proton therapy center in Illinois. Proton therapy is the cutting edge in radiation treatment of cancer, and NIU in building a center in western DuPage County.
The NIU plan is under attack by Sen. Dan Cronin, R-Elmhurst, and other lawmakers who say the state panel should consider a competing proposal.
A group of 23 state lawmakers is urging a state regulatory agency to approve a second proton therapy facility for DuPage County, which would put two cutting-edge cancer treatment centers within 6 miles of each other.
The lawmakers’ support was captured in a letter written by state Sen. Dan Cronin (R-Elmhurst) to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
As the Tribune story notes, the board approved NIU’s plan but not the competing plan.
Northern Illinois University won state approval in February to build a $160 million proton therapy cancer treatment center in the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago. NIU promised the state it could have the center open by March 1, 2010.
In April, the health facilities planning board issued a preliminary rejection of Central DuPage Hospital’s and Procure’s plan for a $140 million facility, citing its nearness to NIU’s. The health board will reconsider the Central DuPage project a final time next month.
Cronin took a shot at NIU …
Cronin’s letter stated that lawmakers were “troubled by the proceedings that resulted in approval for NIU.” The letter also said a staff report prepared for the board relied too heavily on information provided by NIU to the detriment of evidence presented by Central DuPage.
In its statement, NIU’s John Lewis shot back:
NIU followed the rules scrupulously to obtain approval for its non-profit proton therapy treatment and research center, has already broken ground, and remains on time and on budget. The opinions of those not even involved in the process should be weighed against the ‘facts on the ground.’ The ‘very real reality’ is eligible cancer patients will be able to receive proton treatment at NIU’s center in 2010, as required by the IHFPB’s approval of NIU’s Certificate.
The Register Star covered this story extensively. Go here and here for more background.
July 18th, 2008 03:39pm
Aaron Chambers
Obama’s week in the news began with a bang when the New Yorker magazine released a cover satirizing right-wing fear mongering. The cover depicts Obama sharing a “terrorist fist jab” with his wife, Michelle.
The Politico.com’s Roger Simon cut to the chase in a column entitled “‘Idiot’s Veto’ not worth the cost” …
The New Yorker was kidding. It was satirizing people who hold stupid misconceptions about the Obamas.
A lot of people got upset anyway.
Root.com followed up with a survey of Obama cartoons. The site’s story concluded: “Drawing a black man—either seriously or satirically—it appears, is damned difficult.”
The (liberal) Huffington Post’s take on the cover controversy is here. A conservative columnist suggested “many people looking at the cartoon don’t think of it as ’satire’, but rather as a serious statement on the Obama power couple.”
Much, much, much more on this flap is here.
An accompanying New Yorker story examines Obama’s political upbringing in Chicago.
Obama also announced he will soon travel to the Middle East and Europe, on the taxpayer’s dime of course.
And on Tuesday, Obama gave a speech in which he renewed his view that American troops ought to pull out of Iraq. More here.
The Wall Street Journal says perhaps Obama should have held his speech until after completing his trip abroad. The editorial mocked his judgment …
It would be nice if Mr. Obama could at least get his facts straight. Earlier this month, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad reported that the Iraqi government had met 15 of the 18 political benchmarks set for it in 2006. The Sunni bloc in Iraq’s parliament is returning to the government after a year’s absence. Levels of sectarian violence have held steady for months – at zero. (In January 2007, Mr. Obama had predicted on MSNBC that the surge would not only fail to curb sectarian violence, but would “do the reverse.”) If this isn’t sufficient evidence of “genuine political accommodation,” we’d like to know what, in his judgment, is.
Meanwhile, this state’s own U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel did his part to damage Obama’s “reformer” credentials by repeatedly saying Obama played a stronger role in Rod Blagojevich’s 2002 election as governor than had previously been reported. Blagojevich is one of the nation’s most unpopular political figures, and he increasingly has embodied the shady side of Illinois politics — despite his own pledge to reform Illinois government. By linking Obama to Blagojevich, Emanuel certainly didn’t do Obama any favors.
The WashingtonPost.com ran its own story on Obama’s Chicago ties.
Obama is crazy about exercise.
Politico.com looked at Obama’s relationship with Kirk Dillard, a Republican state senator from west suburban Hinsdale. Dillard took the unusual step (unusual for a Republican) of cutting a television commercial to express his affection for Obama.
The spotlight found Michelle Obama, too, when the Washington state GOP ran an attack ad capitalizing on her infamous American “pride” remark.
And a major British paper profiled Michelle Obama …
Michelle is not exactly a pauper. She has earned salaries of up to $275,000 even since quitting corporate law for public service, first working for Chicago’s mayor and latterly for the city’s university hospitals. Whereas Cindy McCain was a big beneficiary of Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy, Michelle’s refrain is: “We have become a nation of struggling folks. It’s gotten worse over my lifetime and, doggone it, I’m young! Forty-four.”
She can just about claim to voters: “We’re a young couple just out of debt.” The Obamas had large student loans, only repaid by the sales of Barack’s two books.
Her informal language – “Doggone” and “Jeez” – emphasises that she is a relatively normal “working soccer mom”, whose chief concern is her family. When their daughters Malia, 9, and Sasha, 7, were given a giant cookie shaped like the Obama logo, she complained: “More sugar for the kids.”
Michelle Obama is working to re-introduce herself.
And, lastly, a look at Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain.
July 17th, 2008 01:26pm
Aaron Chambers
As we reported in today’s Register Star, Rep. Jim Sacia and other white Republicans on Wednesday accused a black Chicago Democrat of race-baiting during a committee hearing.
During a morning hearing on a bill to help ex-convicts get jobs and start businesses, Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, said lawmakers representing state prisons are more interested in keeping their prisons packed with inmates “from Chicago” than they are with helping ex-convicts improve their lives after prison.
“African-Americans down here (in Springfield) have got to fight harder … to stop this continued recidivism because opportunities are denied,” Davis said. “You need to take the names of people with prisons in their districts and watch how they vote. They don’t want to stop crime. It stops their livelihood.”
Sacia, who is white, told Davis her statement was “asinine,” and she responded that she was not speaking to him. Sacia then voted against the bill and abruptly departed from the hearing.
“Her comments were definitely racial,” he said after the hearing. “They were directed at white Republicans. It was totally unacceptable.”
Davis accused lawmakers representing prisons of stymieing efforts to improve the lives of ex-cons.
“Illinois must recognize there are some people in the Illinois General Assembly who have prisons in their district and their whole objective is to keep them filled,” she said during committee. “Anything that would create an atmosphere to get those prisons with fewer people, or (would) threaten to close (them), it’s a war.”
“’We’ve got to have those prisoners,’” she continued, characterizing what she perceives as the view of lawmakers whose districts include prisons. “’They’ve got to come down here from Chicago and we’ve got to keep them filled because that’s how we get work. That’s our economy. We no longer plant corn. We no longer have farms. We don’t raise cows and pigs. We keep prisoners.’”
Davis, an African American, noted after the hearing that she had not specified the race of inmates packing prisons.
“I didn’t say what color they are, but we all know what color they are,” she said.
According to a 2005 report (the latest available) from the Illinois Department of Corrections, 60 percent of the adult prisoners in Illinois are black, while 28 percent are white and 11 percent are Hispanic.
Her remarks and the ensuing response from livid Republicans has attracted quite a bit of attention.
What do you make of this? Did the Republicans over-react?
UPDATE 1
Sacia used his weekly column, which he distributes to local newspapers, to address the controversy …
We returned to Springfield on Tuesday, July 16 at the beckoning of Speaker Madigan to resume work on a capital (jobs) bill and to vote on override motions dealing with the Governor’s $1.4 billion in cuts to the Fiscal Year 2009 state budget.
The Governor used a broad ax to cut funding from numerous social services and state government agencies that provide very necessary monies to keep the machinery of the state moving forward. The House voted on thirty-three separate override motions dealing with cuts to the new budget (House Bill 5701). My good friend Representative Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) articulated the “insanity” of voting no, in effect voting to sustain the Governor’s cuts. As an example, he noted that the Governor cut a mere 3% from his own budget while slashing more than 25% from Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s budget. No one has missed the ongoing battle between these constitutional officers. This and the other disproportionate cuts made throughout the budget left me with no option but to vote to override the Governor’s actions.
Adding insult to injury, the $59 billion budget the Governor axed had been sent to him $2.4 billion out of balance. There is a lot of blame to go around in this unfortunate situation, but the true absurdity lies in knowing that no matter what we do our efforts will be futile if the Senate doesn’t return to Springfield as well to deal with the Governor’s budget cuts. Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) is a close ally of Governor Blagojevich and has made it clear that he has no intention of calling the Senate back into session. Sounds absurd? You’re right, it is.
On the budget, the Illinois House did its due diligence and now we await the next move by the Governor or the Senate. We did not however, act this week on a sorely needed capital (jobs) bill that would put up to 700,000 Illinoisans back to work.
Oh, and did I mention that if the Senate fails to return and take action, legislators and the Governor will receive a 3.8% pay raise? This raise will be funded on the backs of hard working Illinoisans. That infuriates me, and of course I will give my pay increase to charity.
I would be remiss if I also didn’t mention the potential racial issue that arose at our Prison Reform Committee hearing on July 16th. I am the Minority Spokesman on this committee and I take that responsibility very seriously. My good friend and an outstanding young legislator LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago), an African American, presented House Bill 2746 that would allow the state to provide low-interest loans to paroled prisoners to help them start their own businesses.
In my questioning, I was attempting to determine if we would be offering more perks to ex-offenders than to law-abiding citizens who have not been to prison. Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago), an African American who is not a regular member of the committee, said that members who have prisons in their districts do all they can to keep the prisons full. She urged African American legislators to work together to put a stop to it. I told the lady her comments were asinine and it went down hill from there. When the full House came to order I asked the Speaker to investigate the incident, which I felt was highly racial, and at a minimum, race-baiting. [Emphasis added]
July 17th, 2008 12:24pm
Aaron Chambers
State lawmakers are back home today and are not scheduled to return to Springfield until after the Nov. 4 general election.
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| Dog in Pajamas, complements of spoilurpets.com |
It’s just me, a couple dozen other reporters, some legislative staff, secretaries and a bunch of security guards remaining at the Capitol. Once again, I can show up to work in my pajamas.
But my bliss in puffy slippers may not last long. With Gov. Rod “Madman” Blagojevich, House Speaker Michael “King of the Mountain” Madigan and Senate President Emil “I’m Powerful Too” Jones running the state government, it’s a safe bet we won’t have to wait long for the next drama in Springfield.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all with these characters, it gets even goofier. Yesterday, Blagojevich declared that he might send state troopers or even the National Guard into the neighborhoods of Chicago to help stem “out of control” violence. Only, Blagojevich hadn’t bothered to mention this to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley before mentioning it to rolling television cameras. As CapFax Blog noted, Blagojevich apparently just “blurted” it out.
By the time the House completed work Wednesday, its members had restored to the state budget more than $400 million in spending Blagojevich had cut. Only, Blagojevich said he cut that spending because there was inadequate revenue in the budget to support it, and the House didn’t bother voting for any additional revenue-raising plan to back up the additional spending.
Blagojevich’s people were quick to say the House had acted irresponsibly. Then again, Blagojevich cut just $1.4 billion from the budget after insisting it had a $2.1 billion hole. How did the governor plan to manage that other $700 million in spending for which he claimed there was no revenue? Who knows.
And in any case, Blagojevich has long lacked any credibility regarding budget numbers. It’s prudent to take everything the man says about the budget with a huge — I mean huge — grain of salt. Even as the state faced the worst general-fund deficit in the nation near the end of his first term, Blagojevich insisted it wasn’t possible for the state to have a deficit.
Oh, and remember how the governor tried to cut state funding for 4-H and other agricultural programs from the budget that ended June 30 because he claimed it had a $750 million hole? The governor agreed to restore funding for those programs when fellow Democrats in the Senate agreed to defeat a plan that would have allowed voters to recall Blagojevich from office. And though Blagojevich’s people had threatened to withhold nearly $400 million in payments for schools during the month of June to help close that budget gap, they released that money too.
How did the governor patch that $750 million hole? Who knows. Did such a hole even exist? Who knows.
If there’s another thing Blagojevich does not do well, it’s sit still with his mouth shut. Though Madigan engineered the defeat of the governor’s $34 billion capital plan by out-foxing him on the last day of spring session, Blagojevich is working feverishly to build public pressure to topple Madigan and push the plan through.
Blagojevich seldom misses an opportunity to promote his plan. Yesterday, when he offered to send troopers or troops into Chicago yesterday, he clumsily painted his capital plan as a means to quell violence in Chicago.
“The mayor can be a great help in this in getting the House Democratic leadership to pass that big capital program,” [Blagojevich] said.
That capital program would funnel millions into communities he says need money to fight crime in a comprehensive way.
It’s safe to assume Blagojevich will continue beating that drum. Perhaps he’ll go so far as to call lawmakers into special session. Who knows.
In the meantime, I’m getting cozy with flannel.
July 17th, 2008 10:47am
Aaron Chambers
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| My Future Garage? |
I’m thinking about building an altar in the garage, between the lawn mower and table saw …
When George Michael placed a cross on the side of his lakefront mansion, neighbors assumed the decoration was simply a display of the man’s religious faith.
What his neighbors didn’t know is that Michael had decided to convert his $3 million residence into the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff, qualifying him for a nearly $80,000 break on his annual property tax bill.
Now, locals are questioning whether the property is a church at all. Village officials wonder how they’ll be able to make up the lost revenue, and residents worry that their share of the tax burden will grow as a result.
Meanwhile, Lake Bluff officials notified Michael that if he is running a church, he’ll need to pay more than $115,000 in fines for failing to get the village’s permission, setting up a possible court battle.
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