The other day, via Capitol Fax, I found this hit job on Alexi Giannoulias done by Fox News.
While watching it, I was shocked to find Rick Pearson, the respectable Tribune political reporter on the piece. Well, it turns out that Pearson wasn't in on the whole hit job thing. Pearson told Steve Cochran of WGN Radio about the incident.
Pretty shallow, but pretty typical for folks like Hannity and his producers. Especially since Alan Colmes left, the show is a complete right-wing hack job.
Man goes unconscious at Lollapalooza and ends up dying.
Cook County Assessor James Houlihan announced he will not seek re-election.
Houlihan claims that he will continue to fight for property tax reform and school funding reform. (In Illinois, property taxes make up the majority of school funding leading to large disparities between rich and poor school districts.) If he is really serious about doing this, he has to have a large bully pulpit. This may have to include starting a political action committee. (Not something I should be advocating in the state of Illinois...) However, to fight people like Daley and Speaker Madigan one has to have a war chest of funds available. This can easily be accomplished through a grassroots state tour effort. Sure in Greenup, Rock Island, and Cairo the soon to be ex-Cook County Assessor might not be a big draw, but if anything in this state is going to change it is going to have to be a hard fight from the ground up. Mr. Houlihan supported a Constitutional Convention vote last year. Several special interest groups and unions did not support the "con-con." A con-con would have drafted a new state constitution. In the end, while I applaud Houlihan for modernizing the Assessor's office and coming up with independent, creative solutions to fix the state budget, I have to say that if he is serious about reform in Illinois, he has to speak up and he has to start speaking up now.
News Aggregated by Aaron Lowe
Commentary by Aaron Lowe
Showing posts with label illinois politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illinois politics. Show all posts
Jul 25, 2009
Around the News - Lowe Style
Black scholar agrees to meet with Obama, policeman.
Gates says it's time to 'move on' from his arrest.
To me, this Gates's whole shtick is just one big crock. How many people actually heard of him before this incident? How much money was he making? How much can he make off this? TONS!
'Cash for clunkers' rules are released.
Census threatens to rip Iraq into shreds.
Sarah Palin leaving governor's post amid confusion, criticism.
Kyrgyzstan: At the Crossroad of Empires, a Mouse Struts.
Kyrgyz opposition cries fraud over vote
Vote in Kyrgyzstan Gets Harsh Criticism
Community backlash grows regarding arrested Hoboken Mayor Cammarano.
This case is just crazy. I cannot wait to see how this thing plays out over the next few months and years. More on Cammarano and the city of Hoboken here.
Last British Army WWI veteran dead at 111. More here. And here. And here.
Report Sees Agent Orange Link to More Illnesses.
Oakland Voters Approve Marijuana Tax
Drive to legalize marijuana rolls on in California
Is Marijuana the Answer to California's Budget Woes?
New Yorker says he would have been suicide bomber.
American says he volunteered for Taliban suicide mission.
New Yorker Explains Path to Al Qaeda.
Three State Legislators Sidestepping Clout Panel.
Jupiter: Our Cosmic Protector?
Hubble snaps picture of Jupiter impact site.
Quinn, Hynes Trade Shots In Likely Primary Prelude.
The governor called Hynes a "no show" on tough budget choices, while Hynes' campaign accused Quinn of keeping quiet while disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich "drove our state into a ditch.”
Pat Quinn may have kept mostly quiet and out of the forefront while Blago drove Illinois into the ground, but Dan Hynes was even quieter and even more out of the spotlight. So Dan Hynes, who ya crappin’?
“When you get in the arena, you've got to make decisions,” Quinn said. "You can't stand on the side of the road and not take part in tough battles. You can't be a no show. You can't just show up and say, 'Hey, I want to be elected to something.' I think you have to show you have the courage of your convictions to stand in the arena, take tough positions, do hard things because that's what the public demands."
But Hynes campaign spokesman Michael Rendina disputed Quinn's characterization, noting Hynes has proposed $1.2 billion in cuts to the state budget along with $1.8 billion in new money by legalizing more casinos, closing business tax breaks and expanding the sales tax to luxury items. Hynes had been critical of inconsistencies behind Quinn's failed push for an income-tax increase and questioned why the governor hadn't made cuts to try to win public support.”
Hynes did not publicly out line any of his proposed cuts or revenue raising measures. He sent out an open letter, but that had the same rhetoric as this statement. It’s easy to say build more casinos, blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, Illinois still has an outstanding casino license because we can’t seem to find someone to develop a property that doesn’t have ties to the mob, some other crooked enterprise, or some corrupt politician. And as for Danny-boy Hynes’s cuts, I want to see them line by line. I want to know how did you come up with these cuts? Why did you just send an open letter? How come you haven’t requested a sit-down meeting with Governor Quinn? These are all questions that have to be answered before you can be believed. As for Quinn, he’s been flip flopping left and right so much that I don’t even know where to begin.
Gates says it's time to 'move on' from his arrest.
To me, this Gates's whole shtick is just one big crock. How many people actually heard of him before this incident? How much money was he making? How much can he make off this? TONS!
'Cash for clunkers' rules are released.
Census threatens to rip Iraq into shreds.
Sarah Palin leaving governor's post amid confusion, criticism.
Kyrgyzstan: At the Crossroad of Empires, a Mouse Struts.
Kyrgyz opposition cries fraud over vote
Vote in Kyrgyzstan Gets Harsh Criticism
Community backlash grows regarding arrested Hoboken Mayor Cammarano.
This case is just crazy. I cannot wait to see how this thing plays out over the next few months and years. More on Cammarano and the city of Hoboken here.
Last British Army WWI veteran dead at 111. More here. And here. And here.
Report Sees Agent Orange Link to More Illnesses.
Oakland Voters Approve Marijuana Tax
Drive to legalize marijuana rolls on in California
Is Marijuana the Answer to California's Budget Woes?
New Yorker says he would have been suicide bomber.
American says he volunteered for Taliban suicide mission.
New Yorker Explains Path to Al Qaeda.
Three State Legislators Sidestepping Clout Panel.
Jupiter: Our Cosmic Protector?
Hubble snaps picture of Jupiter impact site.
Quinn, Hynes Trade Shots In Likely Primary Prelude.
The governor called Hynes a "no show" on tough budget choices, while Hynes' campaign accused Quinn of keeping quiet while disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich "drove our state into a ditch.”
Pat Quinn may have kept mostly quiet and out of the forefront while Blago drove Illinois into the ground, but Dan Hynes was even quieter and even more out of the spotlight. So Dan Hynes, who ya crappin’?
“When you get in the arena, you've got to make decisions,” Quinn said. "You can't stand on the side of the road and not take part in tough battles. You can't be a no show. You can't just show up and say, 'Hey, I want to be elected to something.' I think you have to show you have the courage of your convictions to stand in the arena, take tough positions, do hard things because that's what the public demands."
But Hynes campaign spokesman Michael Rendina disputed Quinn's characterization, noting Hynes has proposed $1.2 billion in cuts to the state budget along with $1.8 billion in new money by legalizing more casinos, closing business tax breaks and expanding the sales tax to luxury items. Hynes had been critical of inconsistencies behind Quinn's failed push for an income-tax increase and questioned why the governor hadn't made cuts to try to win public support.”
Hynes did not publicly out line any of his proposed cuts or revenue raising measures. He sent out an open letter, but that had the same rhetoric as this statement. It’s easy to say build more casinos, blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately, Illinois still has an outstanding casino license because we can’t seem to find someone to develop a property that doesn’t have ties to the mob, some other crooked enterprise, or some corrupt politician. And as for Danny-boy Hynes’s cuts, I want to see them line by line. I want to know how did you come up with these cuts? Why did you just send an open letter? How come you haven’t requested a sit-down meeting with Governor Quinn? These are all questions that have to be answered before you can be believed. As for Quinn, he’s been flip flopping left and right so much that I don’t even know where to begin.
Jul 8, 2009
Illinois Politics
Lisa Madigan has announced today that she will not seek election as United States Senator or Governor. Instead, she will seek re-election to her current post as Illinois Attorney General. It had been reported by several news organizations that the Democrats and the Obama administration were courting her to run for either the Illinois U.S. Senate seat currently held by Roland Burris or for Governor. By seeking to stay in the same office, she will likely face Joe Birkett, the DuPage county State's Attorney. She narrowly defeated Birkett to become AG in 2002 and faced only token opposition in 2006 when she was re-elected AG. As of this time, Birkett is the only announced Republican in the AG race.
This creates a political vacuum in the Democratic primaries for Governor and the U.S. Senate seat. State treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has already announced he is running for the Senate seat. Incumbent Governor Pat Quinn is expected to seek re-election, but has not officially announced anything. Dan Hynes, current state comptroller, is expected to be a major player for either seat. Although he has not announced anything, he was expected to try a run for AG if Madigan moved up, but now he can seriously consider the Senate seat or the Governorship. In recent weeks, Hynes has been critical of how Quinn has handled the budget brouhaha. It has also been speculated that Congressman Danny Davis would make a play for the Senate seat, but it appears more and more that he is lining himself up to run for Cook County Board President. (Btw, that crowded field already includes Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and Cook Cty. Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.)
In other news, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is supposedly telling folks in Washington that he will attempt the jump from House to Senate. Illinois GOP chariman Andy McKenna has also allegedly begun to talk with Republican honchos about running for the Senate seat.
Gearing up for a fight in Illinois!
This creates a political vacuum in the Democratic primaries for Governor and the U.S. Senate seat. State treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has already announced he is running for the Senate seat. Incumbent Governor Pat Quinn is expected to seek re-election, but has not officially announced anything. Dan Hynes, current state comptroller, is expected to be a major player for either seat. Although he has not announced anything, he was expected to try a run for AG if Madigan moved up, but now he can seriously consider the Senate seat or the Governorship. In recent weeks, Hynes has been critical of how Quinn has handled the budget brouhaha. It has also been speculated that Congressman Danny Davis would make a play for the Senate seat, but it appears more and more that he is lining himself up to run for Cook County Board President. (Btw, that crowded field already includes Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and Cook Cty. Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.)
In other news, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk is supposedly telling folks in Washington that he will attempt the jump from House to Senate. Illinois GOP chariman Andy McKenna has also allegedly begun to talk with Republican honchos about running for the Senate seat.
Gearing up for a fight in Illinois!
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