Heavyweights opt out of challenge to Lipinski; overview of other regional statewide races

Two years ago, Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) faced serious challenges from two rivals. This year, most of the challengers have lesser known names and few if any have significant organizations.


In the Democratic race in this predominantly Democratic district, one challenger filed by Monday night's deadline, Jorge Mujicas of Berwyn who is a somewhat known activist on immigration and non-citizen rights. His web site is in both English and Spanish and he has frequently spoken out against mandating "English-only" laws denying immigrants, especially Hispanics, rights to use their languages in official circumstances.


One Republican filed, Michael Bendas of Chicago, and one candidate for the Green Party (which is filing a full slate of statewide and local candidates in Cook County) filed, Laurel Lambert Schmidt of Riverside, Illinois.


Two years ago, Lipinski overcame stiff challenges. Lipinski won with 54 percent of the vote against 26 percent for challenger and Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mark Pera, 12 percent for Chicago attorney Jim Capparelli and 8 percent for Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett. 


Pera's campaign was being ballyhooed by many of the writers for the DailyKoz Web Blog, a very popular politically controlled blog that includes some racists who attack minorities and left-wing extremists, although the majority of the bloggers are mainstream and very pro-Democratic. But many of the bloggers who hammered Lipinski lived outside of the congressional district. Lipinski was first elected in 2004 after succeeding his father, Bill Lipinski.


IN OTHER STATEWIDE & CONGRESSIONAL RACES:


Incumbent Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-13th) takes a pass in the February 2, 2010 Republican primary and is being challenged by one Democrat in the November General election. That candidate is Democrat Scott Harper of Lockport. Harper challenged Biggert in 2008 and came closest to ousting Biggert who has been criticized for failing to be accessible to everyone in her district, especially from Orland Park.


It's a race worth watching as Biggert has been distributing government paid-for newsletter attacking the need for Health Care reform and rejecting proposals to create competition for the scumbag health Insurance Industry. Biggert has blasted reform measures introduced by President Barack Obama and has conveyed the lies that some far right-wing extremists have offered, including bigots like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck claiming that the reforms proposed by Obama call for funding for abortion (they don't) and propose covering illegal aliens with health insurance (which is also a typical big lie in her literature).


Biggert has been one of the most inaccessible congress members and Harper has a shot at unseating her.


Not surprisingly, 13 candidates filed for governor including besieged and beleaguered incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn. The lead Democrat is Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes who has been pummeling Quinn and exposing Quinn's apparent hypocrisy. Quinn, a former reformer, has compromised his views to work with Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and to undermine and weaken campaign finance reform measures. 


The former running mate with disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Quinn has been as equally unaccessible to the public and especially to the community media as was Blagojevich, who faces a slew of federal corruption charges.


Also running on the Democratic side are: Ed Scanlan of Oak Park and William "Dock" Walls of Chicago, a former aide to the late Mayor Harold Washington.


On the Republican side, former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, who lost in a bid against Blagojevich in 2002, filed his petitions. But many believe Ryan's candidacy is tainted with the bad politics of the past. Ryan is not the only person running for statewide office who tried to unseat Blagojevich. Former Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, in a surprising move, turned her sights on the Illinois Comptroller's race.


Other Republican candidates include the high profile Dan Proft who started his campaign before most and has received widespread media attention and support.


Former Republican Party chief Andy McKenna also entered the race, broadcasting strong commercials harmed only by a cheap joke reference to Blagojevich's "hair." The TV Commercial comes across very strong until it makes the stupid "hair" reference and makes McKenna look like his strongest feature is his dislike for Blagojevich instead of focusing mainly on the campaign issues that confront taxpayers throughout Illinois. Get a new advertising agency Andy!


Also running on the Republican ticket: Robert Schillerstrom of Naperville; Sen. Kirk Dillard, a strong candidate who has the endorsement of former Governor turned political consultant Jim Edgar (Edgar's political public affairs firm represented convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko); Illinois Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington; and Adam Andrzejewski of Hinsdale.


Topinka entered the race after METRA Board member Jim Dodge announced his own candidacy for the Comptroller's race. Also running as a Republican is William J. Kelly, a cable TV sports host.  Several Democrats have filed including Raja Krishnamoorthi, David Miller and Clint Krislov.  Erika Shafer filed on the Green Party slate.


In the "race" for attorney General, Incumbent Lisa Madigan, Mike Madigan's daughter, faces no Democratic challengers. She will face Republican Kim Steve of Northbrook and Green Party candidate David Black of Belvidere.


The race for lieutenant governor is packed and includes: (Republicans) Brad Cole, Jason Plummer, Don Tracy, Randy White Sr., Matt Murphy, and Dennis Cook; (Democrats) Rickey Hendon, the best known so far, Terry Link, Art Turner, Scott Lee Cohen, Thomas Michael Castillo and Mike Boland. (Green party) Don Crawford.


Secretary of State Jesse White is also getting a pass in the Democratic primary, facing Republican Robert Enriquez and Green Party candidate Adrian Frost in the November 2010 election.


And in the race for State Treasurer, three Democrats are battling it out including Justin Oberman, the son of former Ald. Martin Oberman, Robin Kelly and Mark Doyle. The winner will face Illinois Rep. Dan Rutherford, the only Republican, and Green Party candidate Scott Summers.


Here is a link to the State Election Board's very inefficient and not-user-friendly web site (they should take a lesson from the Cook County Clerk David Orr's web site which is one of the most user-friendly and citizen friendly web sites in government.) Click here to go to the state's difficult to use web site.


-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com 

Lisa Madigan out is big news: what does that say about those still running?

It's big news that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced yesterday that she is not running for either the office of Illinois Governor or U.S. Senator for the former Barack Obama seat in Washington.

If that's big news, what does it say about all the candidates who are running for those offices. Yikes!

Here's what all the players in this drama want:

Mike Madigan, the Illinois House Speaker: Found himself in a dilemma. He wants his daughter to become Governor, or possibly now US Senator -- Senators do become presidents -- but he also wants to maintain his iron fist majority rule in the Illinois House and the battle over the budget could jeopardize that. He's held back on an income tax increase to protect his daughter and to protect the many spineless legislators who don't want to say if they will support an income tax increase until they know for sure no one of substance will be running against them in this Spring primary.

Gov. Pat Quinn: The deer in the lights. He can't balance his promises of reform against the need to play tough politics. Inept in political diplomacy, Quinn's only talent is to lead often but not always losing campaigns for reform. This time, Quinn was able to reverse course and do nothing to push reform while the wolves ripped the reform chicken to pieces. With Lisa Madigan "in" the race, he could blame everything on Mike Madigan. Now that she is out of the race, he has to blame everything on his pathetic lack of leadership and his hypocrisy.

Senate President john Cullerton: It makes it easier for him to take marching orders from Mike Madigan, who is the defacto governor.

Democratic, spineless legislators: They are falling to their knees crying and yelling "Hail Marys" for their great fortune that they don't have to worry about anything any more. no more important decisions. No more possibilities they will get beat and lose all the perqs and clout and jobs they've gotten their families. And now they don't even have to work. Mike Madigan will do all the thinking for them.

State Republicans: They are in total disarray and divided into two messed up camps. Despite some good leaders, they can't get their act together. Lisa Madigan removing herself from the race allows mediocracy to rule again and anyone can run for office to get a good headline, like Sen Kirk Dillard, who has done what in the past decade? At least Dan Proft, the ultra conservative candidate for Governor, has some good ideas.

News media: We wanted Lisa Madigan to run for either office. She great news. And the dilemma it would cause in Springfield over the budget battle only becomes more dramatic as a news story.

Alexi Giannoulias: Who?

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich: With all the reality shows out of the way, he's left with fighting the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald who is out to get him with a vengeance. And all he can do is appear on a morning radio talks how that hammers him when he's not looking.

The public: They are left out in the cold.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Lisa Madigan launches her own personal FaceBook Page that she'll update

Here's the message from Lisa's campaign team regarding her new Facebook page that Lisa will personally update with information. It just doesn't say which office she will be running for, the U.S. Senate seat, which makes great sense, or the office of Illinois Governor, which her father already controls:

Check it out! Lisa Madigan just published her own official Facebook Page. Become a supporter today and join the Page at
LISA'S NEW FACEBOOK PAGE.

The new FB Page will be a great place to get all of the latest news stories and photos for the upcoming campaign in 2010. You'll also get exclusive announcements from Lisa herself.

Remember, Lisa's FB Page will be different from the “Citizens for Lisa Madigan” Group. For one thing, it's a lot more personal and Lisa will be updating it herself. The ‘Wall’ has tons of important things to read and share with friends. The ‘Info’ section is packed with interesting facts you probably never knew about Lisa. The Page also features fun and even heartwarming pictures and videos for you to enjoy. And, here’s probably the best part: you’ll be able to tell Lisa what’s on your mind.

So, sign up today at NEW PAGE, and be sure to invite your friends. Let's see how fast we can reach 1,000 supporters!

Thank you for everything you do for Lisa, and we look forward to seeing you at the new Page!

Warmest Regards,
Lisa’s Campaign Team

P.S. There's an older "Lisa Madigan" page that is unauthorized. So, make sure you sign up for the right page at OLD PAGE. We hope to see this other page taken down by month's end.

Governor right-on with his charges on taxes

Jim Tobin of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois (www.NTUI.org) pnned it down recently in an interview on RadioChicagoland (www.RadioChicagoland.com) charging that one reason why legislators dislike Gov. Rod Blagojevich is that he stands in the way of their efforts to raise taxes, and supports programs like expanded healthcare they don't want because the lobbyists who have some of the legislators in their pockets don't want them.

Tobin says that if Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn does succeed in his coup against his former partner, Blagojevich, the first thing he plans to do is raise taxes in Illinois to fund pet projects and pay for patronage hirings oncluding a coterie of contributors to his past funds.

Quinn won't answer and won't come on the radio show to answer these charges, even though I have extended an invitation to him repeatedly. Quinn only appears with media that suck up to him, and I won't.

Still, I'd love to hear Quinn explain his response to the charge that he supports raising taxes in Illinois. Of course, that assumes he has a good answer other than, yes, I plan to raise taxes in Illinois.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Governor Blagojevich deserves his day in court, not kangaroo court

Governor Blagojevich deserves his day in court, not kangaroo court
By Ray Hanania

It’s a tough choice between the lonely truth and the popular hypocrisy.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich deserves his day in court. Not in the kangaroo court contrived by the political lynch mob circling around his presumed remains, but in the light of the U.S. Constitution that every American is innocent until proven guilty and not one second, one legislative motion or one political diatribe too soon.

The events of the past 10 days since the governor was arrested and charged by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in an unprecedented guilty-until-proven innocent non-indictment have been stunning. Friday, Blagojevich, flanked by his attorneys, denied any guilt and insisted he is innocent.

Immediately, his critics in the legislature, who have been his critics for several years and who began impeachment proceedings long before Fitzgerald’s seemingly political accusations, ignored Blagojevich’s claim of innocence and stuck by their demands that he step down.

Attorneys for Blagojevich said that if the governor’s actions hurt the people of Illinois, he would step down, and his critics quickly jumped like kangaroos in a holding pen saying that the controversy has made Illinois the corruption laughing stock of the country.

Well, I have news for Blagojevich’s critics. Illinois has already long been the corruption laughing stock of the country. The state’s culture of corruption was here long before Blagojevich was elected governor six years ago.

And when Blagojevich is gone, that culture of corruption will remain, now heightened even more by a stampede of political kangaroos who hope to pounce on Blagojevich for their own political benefit.

First is House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who has battled Balgoejvich incessantly. Despite some arguments that Blagojevich’s style has been unorthodox, and assertions in some cases illegal, Madigan has been after the governor for several years, acknowledging last week that he initiated the impeachment probe almost a year ago.

Next in line is Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, the do-gooder that no-one in the Democratic establishment liked, until he became their only immediate alternative to Gov. Blagojevich. Despite Blagojevich’s claims that he is innocent, and the lack of “real” evidence of guilt other than the one-sided assertions of a possibly politically motivated US Attorney trying to save his job as a new Democratic president takes office, Quinn again called for Blagojevich to resign.

Resign, Quinn said, so that Quinn could be named as the acting governor, something Quinn knows he would never get in any election contest outside of the current turmoil he is helping to foment.

Then there is Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan who is seeking Blagojevich’s job, too. She petitioned the state’s highest court to throw her rival out of office, but thankfully the high court stuck by the laws of America and the United States Constitution that affords its citizens the right to face the evidence, witnesses and accusers, to review the evidence and see the facts that have been waved around by the political lynch mob.

I don’t know if Blagojevich is innocent or guilty. But I do know that his rights are being abused.

If Blagojevich does not step down, or is allowed to stay in office as Fitzgerald is forced to follow the nation’s laws, the political lynch mob has argued they will impeach him on the earlier high crimes. Those “crimes” include that Blagojevich implemented a health program to help needy families in Illinois without the blessing of the lynch mob and the kangaroo court justices.

Legislators blasted Blagojevich claiming that they support helping needy families, too, but the track record shows they’ve done nothing but line their own pockets with power and campaign cash from contractors.

Blagojevich stood by the people. He is trying to stand by the law.

If I have to chose between an unpopular governor who is alone with his demand to be treated like an American citizen and not an Iraqi prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, or to join the lynch mob kangaroo court jesters that more than Blagojevich has sullied the national image of this state with their selfish eagerness to remove someone illegally, I think I would rather stand with Blagojevich.

I would rather that I was wrong while standing rightly by our Constitution which gives Blagojevich rights the kangaroo court and political lynch mob seeks to deny him.

Gov. Blagojevich just may well be guilty of the charges. But there is a proper way to make the determination, and then there is the way of the kangaroo court and the state’s political lynch mob.

And even if it turns out they are right and Blagojevich is guilty, being in that company would have a feeling of shame that in destroying the governor we also destroyed our system of justice.

end

Illinois Attorney General sues local car dealerships

MADIGAN FILES SUIT AGAINST CHICAGOLAND AUTO DEALERS

Chicago - Attorney General Lisa Madigan today filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against two Orland Park auto dealers for deceptive sales and advertising practices.

The complaint, which names Orland Park Nissan and Infiniti of Orland Park as defendants, alleges that the dealers sent direct mail advertisements in April 2007 to Chicago area consumers describing an “exclusive credit amnesty event” and urging consumers to call the dealers to arrange a private appointment. The mailer indicated that targeted consumers may have filed bankruptcy in the past but that the “amnesty” would enable consumers to qualify for an affordable auto loan no matter their credit rating. The envelope containing the direct mailer claimed that “important vehicle recall information” was enclosed and that the consumers’ response was required. However, no recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration existed and the mailer didn’t contain recall information.

“These deceptive mailers purposely and unfairly targeted consumers who may have struggled at one time to manage their finances,” Attorney General Madigan said. “This lawsuit should send the message to auto dealers that my office won’t tolerate using deceptive marketing practices to lure unsuspecting consumers into risky loans.”

The Attorney General’s office has received 26 complaints against Orland Park Nissan and Infiniti of Orland Park, both of which are located at 8550 W. 159th St. in Orland Park. The Better Business Bureau also received 18 complaints against the auto dealers.

Attorney General Madigan’s complaint alleges that the deceptive mailer violates the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Loan Advertising to Bankrupts Act, the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Illinois Administrative Rules on Motor Vehicle Advertising.

The Attorney General’s lawsuit asks the court to prohibit the auto dealers from violating these consumer protection laws, including offering incentives and free prizes, using the term “recall” in advertisements, offering coupons with sales agreements and advertising that a loan would be made to a consumer who has declared bankruptcy. The suit also seeks restitution for consumers and asks the court to assess civil penalties of $50,000 per violation, an additional $50,000 statutory civil penalty and a $10,000 civil penalty for each violation committed against a person over 65 years of age. Madigan’s suit also asks the court to order the defendants to pay the costs of the investigation and court proceedings.

Assistant Attorney General Cecilia Abundis is handling the case for Attorney General Madigan’s Consumer Fraud Bureau.

Consumers who believe they have been the victim of consumer fraud can download a complaint form at www.IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov/consumers or call the Attorney General’s Consumer Fraud Hotline at one of the following numbers:

Chicago 1-800-386-5438
Springfield 1-800-243-0618
Carbondale 1-800-243-0607
Spanish-language Hotline: 1-866-310-8398

end

Lisa Madigan may or may not run for Illinois Gov, but will have daddy's support

Click image to display larger image

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan may or may not run for Illinois Governor, but if she does, daddy will most likely be out there helping her raise the cash ...

Ray Hanania's World comci strip
July 9, 2008
http://www.themediaoasis.com/