Author: Charles McBarron

Spread the word that this Friday, March 19, is Pink Friday, the day IEA members statewide want to make sure everyone remembers that public education is facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis that, unless sanity prevails, could cost 17,000 education employees their jobs.  Read more about the event.

At the IEA Representative Assembly on Friday, we expect to see the two top candidates for governor, Democrat Pat Quinn and Republican Bill Brady on the same stage for the first time since their respective nominations.  It’s important that those two see a lot of pink, since one of them will be the next governor and will be charged with solving the crisis that has public education and essential state service providers on the ropes.

One percent: it’s not enough, but its a start

Governor Quinn surprised just about everyone last week by calling for a one percentage point increase in the state income tax (from 3 to 4 percent) to benefit education.

The proposal absolutely reflects the fact that cutting education is considered politically risky, unlike cutting almost anything else.  Facing 17,000  layoffs, IEA strongly supports the governor’s tax plan. However, just as strongly, IEA is calling for passage of a comprehensive tax reform bill that will address the needs of the state well beyond education.  HB 174 looks pretty good right now.

It’s clear the governor needs support to pass a tax hike.  H e was hammed Monday night on Chicago TV over the proposal but held his ground on the education tax increase and rejected a suggestion from the business community that benefits for  current pension plan participants be reduced.  See the video.

Watch this space:  Very soon, we’ll be announcing a plan for making sure the members of the General Assembly get that message when they are back home during the upcoming spring break.

# # #

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Will this be a “Be careful what you wish for” moment?

Education employees, for good reason, disliked the George W. Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind.’   It’s a long list as to why: Too much emphasis on standardized testing, it unrealistically expected all students to be able to learn at the same pace, it was punitive, etc.

And did I mention the underfunding?

Well, NCLB will, fairly soon, be a thing of the past, replaced by a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), pushed by President Obama and Education Secretary Duncan.   The “blueprint” for the new ESEA will be delivered to Congress on Monday and some of the details are expected to become available over the weekend. Stay tuned.

Things that make you stroke your chin and go “hmmmm”

Having spent some time in corporate PR, we are aware that, sometimes, when a big event with potential for controversy (an important new product, a major policy shift) is about to be introduced, the announcement is preceded by news stories that attempt to set the stage for the product/argument that’s coming – the idea is to suggest “You need this product/policy to address that need or problem.”

So, let’s see what’s been in the news lately”

Well, there was the March 6 Newsweek which included the cover story: Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers.  The same issue also included Blackboard Jungle – Freshly minted teachers have passed every test but one: how to control their classrooms.

Like we said, stay tuned.

How you like me now?

Finally, if you like excitement in your retro soul/pop, we predict you will like this.  Suggestion: Turn it up to 11.

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Gov. Quinn’s proposal to raise the income tax by a single percentage point (3 to 4 %) has raised hopes that the massive RIF (reduction in force) notices that are being mailed to education employees throughout Illinois can be rescinded in time for the next school year.

But it’s far from a done deal.

The Sun Times outlines what’s at stake for education:

If the tax-hike proposal fails, Quinn proposed cutting:

• General state aid to public school districts by $613.1 million, which would lower the amount the state spends on average per pupil from $6,119 to $5,669.

• Reimbursements to school systems for mandated programs such as special education and transportation by $401.9 million.

• Curriculum and instruction programs by $162.4 million, including $20.3 million less for bilingual education and $54.3 million less for early education.

• University funding by between 6 percent and 6.2 percent, amounting to $83.1 million in lost state dollars for nine universities.

So, what are the chances?  If you ask the SouthTown’s Kristen McQueary, not so good:

Quinn’s idea is pretty clever. It unifies the state’s two powerful teachers unions behind his plan as he heads into a precarious re-election campaign, and it provides a timely revenue stream that thrifty taxpayers might be willing to swallow. We’ve all seen headlines about pending teacher layoffs.

But I wouldn’t count on the tax hike seeing the light of day. Lawmakers will pass a budget grounded on borrowing, even though we can’t afford the debt service we currently owe. Then they will head home blaming each other. How courageous.

“The state’s fiscal crisis is crowding out the state’s responsibilities to fund teacher pensions and its ability to provide resources to the classroom,” said Lawrence Msall, president of the nonpartisan Civic Federation, based in Chicago. “(Teachers) need to not allow the General Assembly to make this crisis worse by borrowing and pushing bills from one year to the next.”

Continued borrowing is, of course, a bad plan for a business such as Illinois that is almost $13 billion in debt; that’s why IEA President Ken Swanson on Wednesday, called for passage of the income tax for education proposal, but, at the same time, urged approval of HB 174; the bill the state senate passed last year but which has never been voted on in the House.

HB 174 takes a comprehensive approach to revenue and calls for, among other things, a bigger tax increase to fund education and other state programs and reduce the need for further borrowing.

Just as, for the last century, no one has lost money betting against the Chicago Cubs, it’s pretty easy today to say that this tax plan won’t/can’t pass.  After all, people have been saying that for the last 20+ years and they haven’t been wrong yet.

But, the first thing that has to happen in order for the state to meet its obligations to its employees and the citizens who rely on state services is for a plan to be introduced.  That’s been done.

The next thing that has to happen is that the members of the General Assembly have to be made to believe that they will be worse off on Election Day in November if they DON’T pass a tax increase than if they do.

The people who care about education and the continued delivery of necessary services to Illinoisans have to make them see the light.

It hasn’t happened before, but that just means the more than 133,000 IEA members haven’t made it happen yet.

Lobby Day is April 21.

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This was not expected.

On Wednesday, Gov. Quinn today took a bold step to stop the decimation of public education in Illinois.  He proposed a one-percentage point (from 3 to 4 percent) increase in the state income tax for public schools.

This was a surprise, especially, it seemed, to House Minority Leader Tom Cross and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno. Interviewed on TV a few minutes after Quinn’s budget address, the two Republicans appeared stunned and clearly did not have the right set of talking points for the speech that Quinn actually gave.

The governor’s speech also flummoxed his November opponent, State Sen. Bill Brady, whose plan to cut all state spending, including education, by ten percent would severely damage public schools and inflict massive suffering on Illinoisans who need help from the state.

Longtime Statehouse observer Jim Broadway of State School News Service says the Quinn proposal is smart politics.

“… nothing is more popular than public education. Nothing affects citizens more directly than their children’s access to pre-school or special education programs. Nothing affects their property tax bills more than state funding cuts.

And

With the money that would generate – we estimate about the same $1.1 billion he proposes otherwise to trim from the ISBE budget lines – all the severe funding reductions we described for SSNS Newsletter subscribers earlier today could be restored.

It is now up to the General Assembly. The legislature, after all, enacts state tax policy and budgets. All the governor can do is to propose them. Will constituents lobby their legislators to support an education surcharge to the income tax? Will the legislators listen to their constituents even if they do?

On Wednesday, IEA President Ken Swanson said that while the governor’s proposal for a tax to pay for education is appropriate and welcomed, the state has great needs beyond education.  Comprehensive tax reform is still needed.

The budget address surprise certainly sets the stage for an interesting moment next Friday afternoon, when Pat Quinn and Bill Brady make their first joint appearance at the IEA Representative Assembly.

That appearance will be streamed live on the Internet.  Check the IEA Website for the details.

And plan to be in Springfield for Lobby Day on April 21^st.  Things are getting interesting.

State Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), the Republican nominee for governor, has a lot to learn about his state’s biggest metropolitan area.

And vice-versa.

As the Daily Herald reported Sunday,

More than 94 percent of Chicago area Republicans picked someone other than Brady in the seven-candidate Feb. 2 primary. He received just 23,579 votes in all of Chicago and the collar counties, where 406,655 of the state’s 767,485 Republican votes originated in the primary for governor.

The longtime Bloomington lawmaker secured a razor thin victory of 193 votes by dominating downstate, where he and his family operate a string of real estate, entertainment and investment companies.

If Brady is to have a real shot at unseating Quinn, Republican leaders make no secret that it is critical for him to get known in the most populace region of the state, and fast.

We like to tell our members, “Define yourself, or be defined by your opponents.”  Brady is getting defined by his opponents right now, and it isn’t pretty.

Meanwhile, Democrats are taking advantage of the vacuum, rushing to paint down Brady as a cruel right-winger before he can cast himself as a businessman with the chops to root out corruption and stimulate jobs.

Quinn recently blasted Brady for briefly introducing legislation that would allow animal shelters to euthanize multiple dogs at once in gas chambers. On Friday, when Brady secured the party’s nod, Quinn’s campaign sent out a blistering statement describing the fresh opponent as “the extreme right wing of the party.”

The missive highlighted Brady’s votes against raising the minimum wage and equal pay legislation, among other proposals.

Then there was Brady’s news conference last week where he tried to go on offense by claiming that a recent murder was the work of someone who Gov. Quinn wrongly released from prison.  As Carol Marin explains in the Sun-Times, it wasn’t true,

The released prisoner in question is 21-year-old Jonathan Phillips, who has recently been charged with a new crime — murder. The fact is that Phillips, a convicted carjacker, was by all accounts — except Brady’s — released back in November within established guidelines and — here’s the important point — not because of Quinn’s two controversial, discontinued prisoner release programs.

And

What Brady did not seem to know until reporters told him was that the Illinois Department of Corrections had already begun posting early release inmates on its Web site.

(Note to Brady: preparation, preparation, preparation.)

Brady stated after the primary that he would focus his campaign on those predisposed to his vision of Illinois:  Slashing state spending across the board, including education and services for children, the sick and the elderly.  He would deny future education employees and other state workers traditional pensions, forcing them to accept “defined contribution” benefits, like a 401K.  Brady also is a staunch social conservative, the type Illinois voters have never embraced in a general election for a statewide office.  Though former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald was very conservative, he ran to the middle in the general election, something that Brady seems disinclined to do.

Those who agree with Brady’s fiscal and conservative social agenda can’t elect him governor; there just aren’t enough of them in Illinois.

Which is not to say he can’t be elected in November.

What if, on Election Day in November, voters who believe the state should continue to offer defined benefit pensions to educators, who believe the state should not cut spending for education and services to Illinois children and the elderly, decide to stay home or withhold their vote for Gov. Quinn?

Brady won the nomination thanks to voter apathy.  Will it happen again?

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On Thursday, Illinois, along with 15 other states and the District of Columbia, was named a finalist in the competition for $4 billion to be awarded through the federal Race to the Top program.
Most of the states surviving the initial review of RTTT applications, including Illinois, had applications that had been endorsed by education employees organizations.  IEA supported the Illinois application.

IEA President Ken Swanson, Executive Director Audrey Soglin and General Counsel Mitch Roth, provide an update for IEA members and staff on the federal Race to the Top program and explain some of the thinking that preceded the decision to endorse the state application.  Watch the video.

We will be seeing a lot of this in the weeks to come:

The Maine Township High School District 207 school board Monday night dismissed five tenured teachers from Maine South and West high schools.

The five – three physical education teachers, a librarian and an applied arts teacher – are part of the 75 certified teachers laid off last month in order to save the school district $5 million. The remaining 70 are nontenured teachers.

The layoffs, which are effective at the end of this school year, are part of $15 million in cuts made last month to plug a projected $19 million deficit in 2010-11 budget.

Have you told the governor yet that Illinois needs a tax increase because our state can’t afford to reduce education quality? Have you watched this video that explains how you can give input to Gov. Quinn on the budget, then have you gone to the governor’s Website to post your comments? (That last point is important. Feel free to share your comments to the governor on the IEA Website but FIRST, post them to the governor’s Website)

Public education-basher Dennis Byrne in the Tribune claims that the sentiment on the budget Website is anti-tax increase. Frankly, that’s hard to say because the Website is not that easy to navigate, but the key points are these:

• Illinois also needs to continue to provide needed services to the poor the sick and the elderly. We can’t cut our way out of a $13 billion hole.
• To have a healthy state economy, Illinois needs a strong public education system at all levels; Pre-K, K-12, higher education and adult education.
• A balanced approach, of cuts and tax hikes, is needed to fix the state budget.

Let the governor know how you feel. Do it now.

Hear an audio version of this post

SouthownStar columnist Phil Kadner positions himself in the Crow’s Nest and fixes his spyglass on the immediate future.

This ship of state is steaming full speed ahead as people scream, “Iceberg!” That’s what this State of Illinois budget mess looks like to me.

There’s a $13 billion shortfall sitting in the water waiting to wreck havoc on the ship’s hull.

The captain, Gov. Pat Quinn, sequestered in his cabin, has asked the passengers to get together and come up with an escape plan should the boat capsize.

The guy at the wheel is House Speaker Michael Madigan, who seems not to have a care in the world. He keeps telling the passengers that if this ship sinks, it’s the fault of the Republican crew members, who have had no hand in charting this course.

Kadner sees carnage coming fast.

In about a month, hundreds, if not thousands, of teachers are going to be getting notices that their jobs are not guaranteed next fall.

The state’s multibillion-dollar construction plan, designed to put people to work, is in jeopardy because people are voting not to adopt legalized video gambling.

And the bond rating agencies are saying there may soon come a time when loaning money to Illinois may be too great a risk.

Still, the ship maintains its course.

As for the Republicans, when no one seems to be looking, you can see them laughing as they prepare the lifeboats.

When the time comes, when the ship meets with disaster, they’re going to mount a rescue effort. Of course, not everyone will be saved. There will be massive suffering.

But they hope to be hailed as heroes, believing no one will notice they did nothing to prevent the disaster itself.

As he usually does on funding issues, Kadner hits the nail on the head. Read the whole column.

Then read Sunday’s Tribune editorial that proposes a “no tax increase” budget for Illinois .  The Trib’s obsession with public employee pensions continues.  The paper’s editorial board apparently will happily crash the ship of state into the iceberg if they can wreak revenge (for what, we don’t know) on public employee unions.

Then, take action.

1)    Watch this video

2)    Follow the instructions for providing your input on the state budget to Gov. Quinn.

3)    Forward this information to your colleagues so they will do the same.

If IEA members, en masse, speak from their hearts about what Illinois will lose unless we maintain education quality, the negative, short-sighted, and often mean-spirited comments currently dominating discussion on the governor’s website will be rightly ignored.

The budget crisis is a revenue crisis.  Gov. Quinn believes the answer is a tax increase.  Tell him he’s right and he needs to fight for what’s right.

We don’t have to sink.  We have to make our voices heard.  Go to the IEA Website now. Get ready for Lobby Day on April 21.

Does it seem to you that that the ubiquitous IEA slogan, “Invest in Excellence,” is a lot less prominent lately?

It’s not your imagination.

Invest in Excellence (aka IIE), as a slogan and campaign name, is being retired.

The reason for that is found in stories about massive budget cuts planned in school districts throughout central Illinois, in the southeastern part of the state, in the suburbs of Plainfield and Elgin and everywhere else in Illinois.

And those stories are just from last week!

IIE has been replaced as the name of the IEA funding reform campaign by SOS: Save our Schools/Save Our State because Illinois public education is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis.

RIFs and the reduction or elimination of academic programs, sports, field trips, and extracurricular activities are all being threatened as a result of the state budget crisis.  We’ve heard estimates that as many as 17,000 possible positions could be lost in public schools.

If this situation doesn’t warrant a distress signal, nothing ever would.

In marketing parlance, this is called “re-branding.”  The IEA funding campaign is being rechristened in an effort to ensure everyone understands that the situation is critical and demands immediate attention.

Renaming/rebranding is not ”starting over.” SOS is a continuation and intensification of the IEA funding program.

The IEA principles that have guided IIE since the beginning remain the same:

1. Increase student achievement by improving the public education system.

2. Provide adequate resources to all preK-12 public schools.

3. Provide adequate resources to all public higher education institutions in ways that will keep tuition affordable for all students

4. Provide a long-term solution for pension system stability and funding.

5. Do no harm to any public education entity, that is, no public education entity receives less money than it is currently receiving.

IIE served us well, but new circumstances dictate new tactics aimed at achieving the same goal.  Regardless of the name, the IEA commitment to fair funding remains strong.

An SOS is being sent because the situation is dire.  Will you answer?  Will you encourage your colleagues, family and friends to do the same?

Brady quote of the day

Today’s Brady moment is from the Greg Hinz column in Crain’s Chicago Business.

The presumptive Republican nominee for governor, State Senator Bill Brady, is extremely conservative on both social and fiscal issues. In a state that is nearly $13 billion in debt, Brady not only is insisting there will be no tax increase, he also wants to cut state spending, including education, by ten percent across-the-board.

That’s right.  We could be already looking at education job losses of 17,000 and Bill Brady wants to further cut education.

Not only that, Brady wants to divert public money to private schools through vouchers, he wants public schools to teach Creationism, he wants public schools to lead prayers and he would force new public employes into 401K plans with no option for a defined benefit (traditional pension) plan.

Noting that candidates with far right views don’t usually win elections in Illinois, Hinz asked Brady if he planned “to reach out” to groups that clearly won’t like the Brady agenda, “if only to let them know that it’s not personal.” Brady’s response:

“I’m appealing to the chamber of commerce and groups that share my view as to what’s necessary for Illinois.”

Translation:  Brady isn’t interested in trying to convince people different from him that he has the best answers for Illinois.  He’s sticking to his base and standing by his non-mainstream beliefs that, ordinarily, you wouldn’t expect to be winners in a “blue state.”

He’ll tell Illinoisans what they want to hear; that they can cut spending avoid tax increases and lose nothing.  It’s untrue, but it was that kind of hooey that got Rod Blagojevich reselected four years ago.  He wants to hold his base and grab some independents who lean right.

It’s an election plan that can work if voters who care about public education, who believe the state has a responsibility to its citizens, especially children, the sick and the elderly, stay home on election day.

Will IEA members who didn’t bother to vote in the primary show up in November?  Does everyone get what’s at stake?

We’re  in a crisis.

Wednesday’s “We can’t wait for a responsible budget” rally at the Illinois Statehouse was called an “anti-Tea Bagger event” because thousands of people turned out to demand a tax increase.

The attendees were employees of agencies that serve Illinoisans who need help from their government, as well as many those who receive services from the state.

With Illinois facing a $13 billion dollar budget deficit in the midst of a recession, attention appropriately is being paid to the issue of state spending.

But discussions that focus solely on dollars miss the point by a mile. Governments are not like businesses; when times get tough, the demand/need for services increases.

Most members of the General Assembly stayed away from the rally.  Too bad.  They need to be reminded that failing to raises taxes to save state programs and services has a tremendous cost.

The state has a  revenue problem and there is never a good time to raise taxes.  However, no issue is bigger than the impact on people when government fails to provide needed services.

Should we cut loose the people who need help?  Is that who we are?

Watch this brief video Then, copy this link and send it to a friend. –  http://bit.ly/ck4cKu

People need to know about the real cost.

(Thanks to Sarah Antonacci, Mark Ritterbusch and Janette Weatherall)

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More rally coverage:

Public employees throughout Illinois are feeling the heat from employers who want a do-over on contracts with their unions. One such local is in Kane County, where members of the Kaneland Education Association (KEA) voted 3-1 to reject a proposal that they renegotiate despite school board claims that the state budget crisis made the last year of the three year contract unaffordable:

School District officials in November made a formal request to renegotiate terms of the contract because of a projected $2.6 million deficit in the 2010-2011 fiscal year budget.

The district has presented proposed budget reduction plans that include cutting elementary band, middle school sports and high school clubs and coaching positions, as well as eliminating teaching positions and freezing administrative salaries.

According to a statement from KEA,

” … If the issue were as simple as ‘Taking less money so that students can have more programs,’ the KEA would have answered the board’s request 3 months ago with an answer of, ‘Yes we’ll take less money for the good of the kids.’ But this issue has been multi-faceted from the beginning,”

The school board expressed “disappointment” with the decision but shouldn’t have been surprised.

When bargaining teams spend months (and sometimes years) negotiating a contract, there is an expectation that the agreement that both parties sign is the agreement both parties will live under.

And what has really changed? There is nothing new or surprising about the state’s poor fiscal condition. The only reason we didn’t see this sort of pressure in local districts last year is because federal money flowed in to state and local governments, allowing members of the General Assembly to indulge in their favorite pastime – ignoring the state budget crisis.

KEA is under attack fro0m some in the community for taking this stand.  Those folks should read KEA President Linda Zulkowski’s address to the school board last week

Our contract is a mutual promise and commitment in both good times and lean. KEA has always honored our promise to the district. That’s what a commitment is. It’s no fairer for the district to ask for an open contract in lean times than it is for employees to demand an open contract in times of surplus. Our response does not negate our commitment to move forward in a collaborative manner with the Board, administration and community as we all strive to do what is best for students.

Any IEA local feeling similar pressure should discuss the situation with their UniServ director immediately. The state association will support any decision made by a local.

The Kaneland school board, and any other boards worried about their finances, should point their fingers at the members of the legislature, who can relieve the pressure by passing HB 174, a bill that would generate needed revenue by raising the state income tax.

On Wednesday, there will be a Statehouse rally by the Responsible Budget Coalition, urging passage of HB 174. IEA is a member of the coalition.  If you can’t  attend the rally, you can still tell your legislator “I can’t wait for a responsible budget.”

Every IEA member needs to understand that the state’s financial situation is critical and is putting pressure on school programs, staffing and employee pensions. In the months to come, mass participation from members will be absolutely crucial in order to bring about the best possible outcome.

Please check the IEA Website regularly for updates. While you’re there, send a distress signal to your legislators.

It’s time for an SOS – Save our Schools, Save Our State.

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Hear an audio version of this blog

School districts throughout Illinois are warning their employees that layoffs are coming as a result of the state budget crisis.

Just last week, hundreds of school employees and community members in the southern Illinois community of Piasa turned out for a forum on the proposal to cut $2.3 million from the District budget. That proposal would lay off one fourth of the teaching staff in the Southwestern School District, including at least one teacher with ten years experience. Further evidence of a crisis is seen throughout the state.

Already, they’re talking RIFs in Carpentersville, in the Maine Township High School District in the Chicago suburbs, and in nine counties in western Illinois, to name just some of the troubled areas.

Thousands of education jobs are threatened and many more thousands of students, as well as their communities will suffer, unless the state legislature finds the money to save programs and positions.

Unfortunately, the key player in this real-life drama appears to have little interest in using his power to bring about a solution. House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), as seen in this video clip, is rejecting tax hike talk, even though the revenue increase is the key element of Gov. Pat Quinn’s economic platform as Quinn seeks election.

Madigan appears to be sticking to his long-held position that, unless there is some Republican support, the House won’t be voting on a tax increase in the spring session.

It’s sad to say that, there are people holding office in Illinois who won’t lift a finger to help people until the neediest among us are suffering. It’s sadder to say, that is happening now. One example, 5-year-old Caylee Warpehoski of Bartlett.

Caylee is hearing-impaired, and she also suffers from facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a progressive muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue. Over the last two years, her muscular dystrophy has become progressively worse, her mom said. Her back is C-shaped from the disease, making it difficult for her to stand up and walk around upright. She has a one-on-one special education aide with her at all times during school “more for safety issues, because she has to be watched,” Diane said. “She has a tendency to lean and fall.”

In November, Caylee’s parents were told that their daughter’s 3 ½ hour school day would be cut by one hour, another casualty of the state budget crisis.

“She’s hardly in the classroom — there goes her education,” her mom said. Diane noted that five hours of her classroom time each week have been lost, along with four hours of her services each month. “There’s not enough time in the day to receive all of her therapy and education.”

Caylee’s school district, U-46, is facing a budget deficit of nearly 47 million dollars and the special education cuts are part of a plan to reduce the deficit. More pain is on the horizon,

“We do not know if, or how many, special education staff will be cut as we reduce the budget,” said district spokesman Tony Sanders. “We will be taking to the public some of the ideas of the Budget Advisory Task Force to receive input before reductions are made.” If special education staff is reduced, those layoffs will be announced in March, according to district officials.

What you can do

IEA is part of a coalition that is fighting to convince legislators to pass a budget that addresses the state’s financial problems and adequately funds crucial state programs including human services and public education.

The Responsible Budget Coalition will hold a statehouse rally next Wednesday, February 17. Since most IEA members will be working and unable to attend in person, they are urged to make their feelings known by sending a email to their legislators through the IEA Website.

In addition, it’s easy to send a “I can’t wait for a responsible budget” message to lawmakers. Click here.

Don’t forget the IEA Lobby Day is April 21st. Visit the IEA Website regularly. Become an IEA facebook fan . Follow IEA on Twitter.

We’re in a fight for our lives. It’s never been more important that IEA members stay connected.

(Listen to an audio version of this blog)

The Scott Lee Cohen era ended on Sunday night with a news conference held in a Chicago sports bar during the Super Bowl.  In it’s way, a perfect ending to the latest in a series of episodes that have made Illinois politics a national joke.

Cohen decided to withdraw as the nominee after he was spoken to by Illinois Democratic Party Chairman, Michael Madigan.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that “conversation.”

Cohen’s departure gives Madigan and the Democrats some flexibility as to who will be Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate.  Assuming they take a little time, they will have the advantage of knowing whether the Republican opposition will be State Senator Bill Brady or Sen. Kirk Dillard.  Dillard trails by about 400 votes and Dillard backer, former Gov. Jim Edgar, has said he expects Brady’s lead to hold.

If so, voters will have a clear choice in November.  Brady’s positions on social issues are extremely conservative and he claims he can cut the state budget ten percent across the board to get the budget deficit under control.  Of that strategy, Edgar says, “people will die” if additional cuts are made to human services providers , not to mention the devastating impact of further cuts in public education.

Jim Broadway of the State School News service suggests Cohen has turned out to be a savior for the Dems:

In dropping out, Cohen rescued Gov. Pat Quinn’s hopes of being elected to the job he got by default when ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached last year. Quinn still likely faces an uphill battle.

He also removed a major distraction from the spring session of the General Assembly. Legislators face an FY 2011 budget gap of about $13 billion. They didn’t need such political comedy as a backdrop.

So, by withdrawing from the state Democratic ticket, Scott Lee Cohen has done more for the people of Illinois than many current office holders.

Can we build on this?

(Listen to an audio version of this post)

My grandmother used to have a card on the wall of her kitchen that read, Don’t Complain – Things Can Always Get Worse!

I thought about grandma this week, when Illinois Republicans (apparently) nominated a tax hating, concealed-carry supporting, Creationism teaching, school voucher proponent for governor and Democrats saddled Gov. Pat Quinn with a girlfriend-beating (allegedly), steroid-shooting, child support-owing nominee for Lieutenant Governor.

Oy.  What a state we’re in.

Bill Brady

Prior to Tuesday, no one expected State Senator Bill Brady to even finish a close second in the race for the Republican nomination for governor.  He’s not well known outside his Bloomington district and he didn’t spend anywhere near the money of his main competitors, Sen. Kirk Dillard or Andy McKenna, to try to change that.  His was truly a grassroots campaign and, when the dust settles, Brady’s success needs to be studied and understood.

At this writing, Brady leads Dillard by about 400 votes.  It’s not clear how many of the thousands of yet-to-be-counted ballots are for the GOP primary, much less how many of those voters chose Brady or Dillard over the five other candidates.

Scott Lee Cohen  (update: 7:20 PM Sunday, Cohen withdraws.  (More here)

Scott Lee Cohen, who made millions owning pawnshops in the Chicago area, spent more than $2 million of his own money to become the Democratic nominee for Lt. Gov.  There is no way to force him off the ballot.  He has to agree to leave.

And leave he must.  From FOX TV in Chicago:

What does this do for the Democrat’s chances in November?

“As far as the governor is concerned, they’re done,” said Paul Green, a political scientist at Roosevelt University.

Green says Quinn would need moves like Houdini to separate himself from his unwanted running mate in the public’s eye.

“The fact of the matter is that all the media would be covering would be this fellow, and it wouldn’t be dealing with the state’s revenue problems, tax problems, pension problems. It would be ‘how close did that knife get?” Green said.

Since pawnbrokers are known for always getting paid, it might cost the Democratic party some big bucks to make Cohen leave.

My advice; “Pay the man.”  One way or another, Cohen needs to go, now.

Longtime Illinois political observer Jim Broadway also believes State Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan, should go.  He thinks Madigan should resign from that post for allowing this farce to happen.  Again.

This fiasco is not unprecedented. It also happened back in 1986 when two followers of political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche gained Democrat nominations. Gubernatorial candidate Adlai Stevenson III acted on principle, formed a third party (Illinois Solidarity), essentially conceding the general election to Gov. Jim Thompson. Madigan, also then Speaker, learned nothing.

And, not to brag, but we talked about the possibility of another LaRouche-type fiasco in this space just a few weeks ago.

Back to Brady

Anyone who thinks that Brady is too extreme to be elected isn’t living in Illinois in 2010.  He will promise, as Rod Blagojevich did, that we can be just fine without raising taxes, despite a massive ($13 billion dollar) budget deficit.

As we wrote in October, a 2009 survey made it clear that Illinoisans prefer to believe the budget mess can be so9lved through budget cuts..

The poll released Wednesday by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute shows 65 percent of the voters oppose Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to raise the income tax from 3 to 4.5 percent. The same poll shows 56 percent of voters believe the state’s budget problems “can be solved by cutting waste and inefficiency.”

This popular notion is absurd on its face; if you laid off every state employee and zeroed out the state’s contribution to public education, you would still have a budget deficit.

Though Brady has positions on social issues that are outside the mainstream, he will try to redefine himself as a “compassionate conservative” who can bring jobs back to Illinois by “squeezing the fat” out of the state government budget by cutting ten percent from all spending, including education and human services.

Former Governor Jim Edgar has rejected that idea, saying, across-the-board cuts at that level will mean that “people will die.”

If Brady is the nominee, we will be providing our members with a lot of information about him.  He will need to be seen as he truly is.

6:00 AM

Just woke up from a dream in which the Illinois Republicans nominated a candidate who thinks the answer for a state on the verge of bankruptcy is to LOWER the revenue available for education and to cut funding for necessary services to children, the sick and the elderly.  Oh yeah, in the dream, he wants to force state employees into 401K programs, even if they cost more for taxpayers.

There was a lot of other stuff in the dream that I don”t have time to post right now.

What a crazy dream.

6:05 AM

Uh oh.

We’re awake now.  Time to get to work.