GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 15, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 75,037 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 15, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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Senate to vote on pension borrowing in early November

By Jamey Dunn

Leaders in the Illinois Senate plan to return to Springfield a few days after the election to consider $4 billion in borrowing to make the state's required pension payment for the current fiscal year.

The Senate plans to hold session on November 4 to address the borrowing plan, which passed by a narrow margin in the House after contentious debate last May.

John Patterson, a spokesperson for Senate President John Cullerton, confirmed the announcement that Gov. Pat Quinn made about the vote last July. He said Quinn asked Senate leaders during the summer to take up the issue as soon as possible. He added that the November 4 date was the earliest Senate members could accommodate the governor's request.

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Poll: Recall amendment likely to pass

By Jamey Dunn

A constitutional amendment that would allow voters the power to recall a sitting governor seems to be the only sure thing on the statewide ballot for the upcoming general election, according to one poll.

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute’s recent poll of more than 700 likely voters found 65 percent of participants favored recall power that would be applied to governors. Only 27 percent were opposed to recall. While the amendment in front of voters in November is limited to the governor’s office, 66 percent of respondents in the poll approved voters having the power to recall other statewide elected officials.

John Jackson, a visiting professor at the public policy institute, said the convictions of former Gov. George Ryan on corruption charges and the impeachment and corruption trials of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich contributed to the public’s support of recall. “I think [recall] is a sure thing. ... [It’s] the scandal from the last two governors that drives this idea. [Recall is] a recourse that the voters could take,” he said.

Voters were in favor of open primaries, an issue the General Assembly will take up in its veto session. Almost three quarters of respondents would prefer not being required to declare a party affiliation to vote in primary elections. Gov. Pat Quinn used his amendatory veto power to tack an open primaries provision onto an elections bill. Jackson said he hears an “endless stream of complaint” from voters about having to publicly identify with a party to cast their votes.

More than 75 percent of respondents also disapproved of the state’s current redistricting plan.

More than 80 percent of participants backed term limits for legislators, as well as limiting the time an individual can be speaker of the House or Senate president. They also favored limits on the campaign money given by leaders to rank-and-file members. More than half of those surveyed supported public financing for judicial races.

Jackson said he thinks legislators may take notice of the strong public backing on some of these reform issues — especially the open primary amendatory veto — that will be before them in the near future. However, he said that does not mean any action on those issues is in the works. “When will the tide turn in Illinois? And what will make it turn? … That’s the bigger question, and the far the more important question.”

Jackson said the next installment of poll results, which comes out Monday, will address the public’s perception of the state budget.

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Update on Campaign Finance

Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Some numbers from the filings:

* In the 49th Senate district, incumbent Deanna Demuzio reported another $230K in receipts, mostly from the Senate Dems. Her opponent, Sam McCann, lags in cash but has been getting regular infusions from Republican leadership. This race will likely be the first to cross the $1 Million mark.

* In the 40th Senate District, appointed incumbent Toi Hutchinson holds a fundraising lead over challenger Todd Baumgartner, who reported $20K in receipts since yesterday, mostly from Republican leadership. This race holds a tenuous hold on second place for most fundraising in a Senate contest; the 43rd, between AJ WIlhelmi and Cedra Crenshaw, is close behind.

* House races are hard to rank because Jay Hoffman is sitting on such a huge pile; the disclosure reports do not say how much of that he plans to spend. Challenger Dwight Kay has been bringing in money at a rapid clip; he may never catch Hoffman dollar-for-dollar, but it appears he'll have enough to get his message out. His latest reports show another $16K, mostly from Tom Cross and affiliates.

* Charles Landers, the Democrat seeking to replace retiring Betsy Hannig (and, before her, Gary Hannig) reports a whopping $270K in receipts this month alone, largely from the Democratic Party of Illinois. Republican Wayne Rosenthal has about half as much cash; he's relying on Tom Cross and the HRO for the bulk of his money. These candidates are more likely to spend what they raise; if they do, this is poised to be the most expensive House contest.

* In the 35th open House race, Republican Barbara Bellar filed a paper A1 showing a $15,000 donation from Kenneth Griffin of Citadel Investment Group. As we noted earlier, Griffin's been giving to many candidates, but this donation may have slipped under the radar since it was filed on paper. With this donation, Bellar will need to start filing all reports electronically. Appointed Democrat Bill Cunningham holds a slight cash advantage in this low-dollar race.

* The pro- and con- Kilbride committees have been fairly silent. No on Kilbride shows no receipts; the two pro-Kilbride committees (Vote Yes Tom Kilbride Supreme Court and the Kilbride Campaign Committee) show a total of $86K (One pro-Kilbride committee has filed a Pre-Election; none of the others have). The Illinois Civil Justice League today reported $100K from American Justice Partnership, which one might assume is headed toward that 3rd District retention race.

* Cook County Assessor candidate Joe Berrios has been sitting on a lot of money for years. He's also raised a fair bit this month, and we find he has reported $517K for the General Election, not counting some investments. Independent candidate Forest Claypool has reported raising more in recent weeks, and the combined total is now over $1 Million.

To comment, please visit ICPR's blog.

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GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 14, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 78,945 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 14, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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Agency unveils plan for Chicago through the next 30 years

By Jamey Dunn

A plan that is intended to guide the growth and development of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs through 2040 was launched today.

The GOTO 2040 plan has been compared to the well-known, so-called Burnham Plan — the 1909 Plan of Chicago created by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett.

Tom Garritano, a spokesman for the Chicago Metropolitan Association for Planning (CMAP), said the comparison helped to grow interest an participation for the planning stage of GOTO 2040. “One of the great things of the timing of the 2040 plans was that it was in the last year of development during the Burnham centennial.”

He added the two plans address very different issues and challenges. “There’s 100 years in between. It is a very different region. The world is a very different place.”

GOTO 2040 cites an estimated population growth in the region of 25 percent, from 8,600,000 today to 11,000,000 residents in 2040.

The plan applies to Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. It focuses on communities collaborating to make development decisions that work together, instead of building in a disconnected and haphazard way to meet immediate needs. “Most of our region's near-term challenges are the direct result of choices made — or too often deferred — in the past. Urgent challenges have often been an excuse to avoid planning, but they actually reinforce the need to plan more effectively. We need to act now, before today's opportunities become tomorrow's crises.”

GOTO 2040 emphasizes sustainability, maintaining public transit and infrastructure, and cutting down on suburban sprawl.

Garritano acknowledged that one of the most important aspects of implementation will be participation from all the communities GOTO 2040 involves. However, he said the involvement of many stakeholders in the three-year development of the plan is an encouraging indicator of their willingness to participate. “They’ve helped write their marching orders,” he said. “I wouldn’t take [their participation] for granted, but it’s a good sign.”

The authors of GOTO 2040 emphasized the need for responsibility and communication across Chicago-area communities. “The cumulative choices of 284 municipalities and seven counties determine quality of life and economic prosperity across our region. With local autonomy over land use comes the responsibility to consider how those decisions shape a community’s livability, including how they affect neighboring communities and the region as a whole. “

From more on GOTO 2040 see the current (October) Illinois Issues, page 31.

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Whitney demands debate invitations

By Jamey Dunn

With only a few weeks before the general election, Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate for governor, has launched a campaign to be included in public debates.

Whitney is pushing to be invited to three planned gubernatorial debates, which now only include Republican candidate Sen. Bill Brady and Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn.

The debates, scheduled for later this month, are sponsored by Elmhurst College, the League of Women Voters of Illinois and the City Club of Chicago.

Whitney said all candidates should be invited to debate, but he thinks he has the strongest appeal for inclusion because he won more than 10 percent of the vote in the 2006 governor’s race. He added that he is the only candidate who has detailed a specific plan to address the state's current budget crisis.

Whitney said that candidates who collect enough signatures to get on the ballot should not then face a polling requirement to be included in debates. “We shouldn’t be relying on the polling numbers. What is the purpose of a civic organization? It’s to allow the citizens to choose,” Whitney said.” It’s to inform the voting public so that they have an opportunity to decide who the best candidate is. Then you will see the polling numbers change.”

Jan Czarnik, executive director of the League of Women Voters, said the purpose of a debate held shortly before the election is to give voters a chance to find out more about the candidates who are likely to bring in votes. “It’s not our job to build support for candidates that the public doesn’t seem to be very interested in.”

According to the organization’s written policy, the league requires that candidates get at least 10 percent support in “one or more statewide non partisan public poll not more than 30 days prior to the election and at least five days prior to the debate.”

Czarnik said representatives of Whitney’s campaign and the Green Party were involved in debate planning sessions and agreed to those terms last July.

Whitney said his representatives may have “acknowledged” the league's terms but never agreed to them. He said there could have been a "miscommunication" between his staff and the league, but his view on debate participation has not changed. “In any event, I think it’s still wrong.”

Whitney has created an advertisement advocating his inclusion in the debates. He said he is raising money to buy television airtime for the advertisement. He is encouraging supporters to contact the debate sponsors and said he will be organizing protests outside any “illegitimate” debates that do not include him.

Whitney plans to participate in a debate with Brady and Quinn on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus tomorrow night.

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GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 13, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 74,889 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 13, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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Poll shows Brady gaining in governor's race

By Jamey Dunn

A poll released today by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows Republican candidate for governor, Sen. Bill Brady, with a greater lead than other recent polls.

Today’s poll of more than 700 likely Illinois voters — conducted between September 30 and October 10 — shows Brady with 38.4 percent of the vote and Gov. Pat Quinn with 29.8 percent. Independent candidate Scott Lee Cohen got 5.9 percent, and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney had 2.2 percent. Libertarian candidate Lex Green had 1.5 percent, and 22.1 percent of respondents were undecided or said they preferred another candidate. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Two polls released at the end of September showed a much closer race for the governor’s seat. A Chicago Tribune poll had Quinn in the lead at 39 to Brady’s 38, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

A CNN/Time poll had Brady with 40 percent of the vote and Quinn 38 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percent. All three polls show the race for U.S. Senate as a toss up. The Public Policy Institute Poll had Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk with 37.3 and Democratic Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias with 36.8 percent. Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones had 3.3 percent. Libertarian Mike Labno had 1.8 percent, and 20.7 percent were undecided or preferred another candidate.

Just as those polls caused a stir earlier this month — many polls earlier in the race showed Brady leading by about 10 points — today’s Public Policy Institute poll has people taking notice. However, Charles Leonard, a visiting professor with the institute who oversaw the poll, said many factors come into play when looking at such public opinion surveys.

One is the margin of error. Leonard pointed out that the margin of error in his organization’s poll and the Tribune’s poll is very close to the difference in numbers. “When we do a survey, it’s not like sticking a thermometer in the water.”

Leonard added that all the polls paint a picture of a two tight races and — with the high level of undecided respondents — a group of candidates that voters are not very enthusiastic about. “It is a volatile, fluid race. It doesn’t look like people are very firmly committed,” he said.

He said some pollsters will push undecided voters to say which candidates they may be leaning toward, but that was not the case in the Public Policy Institute’s poll. “It’s a weird year, and other surveys don’t have as many undecideds as we do. … We didn’t poke the undecideds.”

Participants were also asked about their approval of President Barack Obama. Half of respondents approve of the president’s performance; a recent Gallup found 46 percent of voters approved nationwide.

However, well over half, 62 percent, of the respondents in the Public Policy Institute survey thought the country is headed in the wrong direction, and 81 percent thought the state was going down the wrong path.

While more respondents — 41 percent — said they agree with the ideals of the so-called Tea Party movement than those who disagreed — 36 percent. More — 45 percent — said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate affiliated with the Tea Party than the 33 percent who said they would be more likely to support a candidate tied to the movement.

Leonard said it is still fairly early for observers to latch onto poll numbers. “They should take every poll with a grain of salt until we get into the last couple days. … People either overstate what polls can do, or they ignore them and say they are all bogus. The truth is obviously somewhere in between.”

The institute plans to release more results from the poll tomorrow. Check back for more details.

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GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 12, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 74,814 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 12, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 11, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 74,761 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 11, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - October 10, 2010

Articles of interest to Illinois Republicans recently posted by ABC7, NBC5, CBS2, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business, Daily Herald, Suburban Chicago News, Suburban Life, Pioneer Local, Southtown Star, Rockford Register Star, Bloomington Pantagraph, Peoria Journal Star, Springfield State Journal Register, Belleville News Democrat, Southern Illinoisan, Illinois Review, Public Affairs, Champion News, Illinois Family Institute, Americans For Truth, Chicago Daily Observer, Tom Roeser, Capitol Fax, etc. Since January 1, 2005, GOPUSA ILLINOIS has brought 74, 702 such articles and information on many upcoming events to its subscribers' attention each morning, free of charge, and without any advertising. To view the October 10, 2010 GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips, please visit www.gopillinois.com or www.gopusa.com/state-news/IL/. Thanks

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