From State Rep. Steve Reick:
Death of A.J. Freund Spurs Calls for Major Reform
Illinois’ at-risk children are supposed to be looked after by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). When these children are injured or killed, Illinoisans deserve answers and solutions, and for too long we’ve been given neither. The most recent incident involves the tragic death ofA.J. Freund. A.J. lived in Crystal Lake and his body was found wrapped in plastic about a mile from my Woodstock home.
Last Friday, Representative Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa), Senator Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) and I met with three high-level officials from DCFS in my Woodstock office. We had a preliminary discussion about identifying the gaps in the system that allowed this boy’s repeated warning signs of abuse to fall through the cracks, and talked on a broad level about policy solutions that could prevent future tragedies. The DCFS officials were told in no uncertain terms that we will do whatever is necessary to improve processes and outcomes for youth in crisis in our state. This was the first of what will be many meetings which I intend to result in substantive changes to this agency.
Auditor General Issues Scathing Report on Audit of DCFS
Illinois’ Auditor General issued a scathing report this week that outlined how DCFS consistently failed to follow its own policies for investigating cases of abuse and neglect from 2015-2017. During the audit period, which included 221,341 investigations involving 358,545 children, 102 children with prior DCFS contact ended up dead. In addition to the startling numbers throughout the report, the audit showed that investigators in many cases were slow to make initial contact with possible victims and abusers. The audit also pointed to a failing hotline system where a majority of those leaving a message on the hotline might not have received a timely callback. Despite a federal consent decree that set maximum caseloads for DCFS workers, the auditor found that close to 80% of the investigators had caseloads that exceeded maximum levels.
The audit report is a timely document that will help us with our own deeper investigation into what happened, why it happened, and how we can prevent future deaths. Click here to access the audit report summary, and click here to access the full report.
House Republicans Host Successful Graduated Income Tax Forum in McHenry County
Thank you to everyone who braved the unexpected snow storm on April 27 and attended the graduated income tax town hall meeting I hosted with Representatives Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa), Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) and Allen Skillicorn (R- East Dundee) in Lake in the Hills. We were joined by tax expert Andrew Nelms of Americans for Prosperity, and after a short PowerPoint, we took questions from a very engaged audience.
The flat income tax guarantee is one of the things that Illinois gets right. Today, if lawmakers want to raise income tax rates, they must raise them on everyone. If they wish to provide relief to lower and middle-income taxpayers, that can be done by providing greater exemptions and credits to those folks without changing the rate structure. By removing the flat rate and implementing a graduated rate structure, lawmakers would be able to impose higher taxes on more and more people by manipulating brackets and rates as they increase state spending. If this initiative makes it to the ballot, I hope Illinoisans think long and hard about whether they can trust legislators to set responsible rates and hold their spending to what is affordable through those rates.
McHenry County’s Patrick Kenneally Testifies to Benefits of Rep Reick’s Bail Reform Act Opt-Out Bill
Last week I was joined in Springfield by State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally for a subject matter hearing on legislation that would allow some Illinois counties to opt-out of the provisions of Illinois’ new Bail Reform Act. The House of Representatives’ Judiciary Criminal Committee held the hearing to gather information about the bill, but because the hearing was subject-matter only, no vote was taken to advance or reject the legislation. For larger initiatives such as this, a subject matter hearing is often the first step of the political process.
I filed HB 221 earlier this year, but was told the legislation would not move during the current session. The bill would allow any county with a population of less than 3,000,000 to exempt itself from the provisions of the Bail Reform Act if the county board adopts a resolution for that purpose.
The author of the Bail Reform Act was well-intentioned, but as this new law was implemented it became very clear that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to pre-trial justice reform. Provisions that are working well in Cook County are actually having a negative effect in McHenry County and other suburban and downstate areas.
Mr. Kenneally spoke about shortcomings in the new Act that have had unintended consequences in most areas outside of Cook County. He told committee members the provisions of the Bail Reform Act make it increasingly more difficult for his office to fight the opioid epidemic because it puts opioid abusers back onto the streets after they have detoxed in jail but before they have accessed services to address the addiction.
Senate Democrats Advance Graduated Income Tax Package
Illinois Senate Democrats have passed a graduated tax package out of the Senate that would increase taxes by more than $3.5 billion per year. The Senate tax package includes four pieces of legislation. The four-piece package is tied together, meaning all of the bills must pass or none of them takes effect. The bills include:
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SJRCA 1, which was approved along party lines with all 19 Senate Republicans voting “no,” would remove the flat income tax requirement from the Illinois Constitution and provide that the General Assembly would set income tax rates. As I discussed above, our flat tax structure is an important taxpayer protection, which, if removed, would provide legislators with a much easier method by which they could raise taxes in the future. The Constitutional Amendment would not enshrine actual rates, thus eliminating any protections from tax hikes beyond year one.
GRADUATED INCOME TAX
Senate Bill 687 (approved 36-22) contains the new graduated income tax rates/brackets. In some cases, the rates are even higher than what was proposed by Governor Pritzker just two months ago. As approved, the Senate proposal raises the top income tax rate to 7.99% from 7.95% in Governor Pritzker’s proposal and kicks in for individual filers with income over $750,000 and joint filers with income over $1 million. The highest 7.99% tax rate would apply to all income. You can look at this as merely a “teaser rate”, because given the current appetite for spending in Springfield, it won’t be enough. The Governor has said that the measure will add $3.25 billion to revenue in its first year, but based upon the bills we’ve passed just this term, that money’s already been spent. The rates that we’re going to be asked to vote on as part of this package of bills will have to be raised, by a large amount and soon.
ESTATE TAX REPEAL
Senate Bill 689 (approved 33-24) would repeal the Illinois estate tax. This repeal is contingent upon passage of the graduated tax amendment. According to COGFA’s FY20 estimate, repealing the estate tax would reduce state revenue by approximately $300 million. This is merely a sop to get Republican support.
CONDITIONAL PROPERTY TAX FREEZE
Senate Bill 690 (approved 36-18) would provide property tax relief beginning in 2021, based upon the condition that the State fully funds K-12 education as called for in the evidence-based funding model passed in the last General Assembly. This would require $350 million annually under the new funding formula and approximately $300 million for mandated categorical payments. If these education funding requirements are met, property tax rates for school districts would be frozen for the coming year and every year thereafter in which the State meets the full funding requirement. This freeze doesn’t address the fact that we still have the highest property taxes in the nation, nor does it recognize that the current funding formula doesn’t address ongoing increases in local school spending, such as labor contracts.
Pension Crisis is Key Reason Why Graduated Income Tax is Not the Solution
Illinois’ biggest problem is its debt. The backlog of bills is huge, but it pales in comparison to our pension debt. Today about 25% of the state’s general revenue is earmarked for pensions, and that number increases sharply in the coming years. Simply put, there’s no way that any change to the income tax structure will accommodate increasing pension obligations and the state’s primary responsibility to fund essential state programs and services for vulnerable populations.
The Governor is on record as saying he’ll allocate $200 million per year of the tax increase toward the debt, but that amount doesn’t come close to addressing the true costs of current pensions. It doesn’t even cover the annual increases in pension contributions called for under current law.
Do we need tax reform? Absolutely. But this isn’t the way to do it. We need a global review of our entire tax structure with an eye toward creating a tax system that moves in the direction of our economy, which requires us to look at not only income taxes, but all sources of revenue: sales taxes, motor fuel taxes, user fees and property taxes. We also need to change the mindset where most legislators automatically think that taxes is the only way to increase revenue. As I’ve repeatedly said, our job is to create conditions where businesses can add jobs and grow the economy. By doing that, we can increase revenue in the only way that is truly sustainable.
Measure to More than Double Motor Fuel Tax Advances out of House Committee
On Thursday, the House Revenue & Finance Committee advanced a measure that would pump $2.44 billion into a capital plan through large increases to the motor fuel tax and to vehicle registration costs and fees. An identical bill was also filed in the Senate.
As presented, House Amendment #1 to HB 391 calls for:
- A 25-cent increase in the motor fuel tax (from 19 cents to 44 cents per gallon)
- A 30.5-cent increase in the diesel fuel tax (from 21.5 cents to 52 cents per gallon)
- A $50 increase in the registration fee for passenger cars (from $98 to $148)
- A $30 increase in Drivers’ License fees (from $30 to $60)
- A $982.50 increase in the annual registration fee for electronic cars (from $17.50 to $1,000 per year)
I am aware of the importance of maintaining our roads, bridges and other infrastructure and recognize that it has been more than a decade since we’ve had a capital bill to fund these key projects. Here locally there is no project more important than safety and capacity improvements to Route 47.
I serve on the Revenue & Finance Committee and several members expressed concerns over the plan to more than double the motor fuel tax and the other registration and fee increases. While the bill cleared the committee in a 9-6 vote, discussions are ongoing and additional amendments are expected if/when the bill reaches the House floor. In its current form I could not support the bill so I voted against advancing it out of committee.
Reick Co-Sponsors Legislation to Require Supermajority Vote to Raise Income Taxes
Earlier this week I joined about 30 of my House Republican colleagues in sponsoring HJRCA 34, which would mandate 2/3 approval from lawmakers to raise income taxes on Illinoisans. The legislation would become especially critical if the effort to eliminate Illinois’ flat income tax is replaced by a graduated tax system.
HJRCA 34 would provide an important layer of protection for taxpayers because it would make it harder for legislators to raise the income tax. While a supermajority vote is needed to change the Constitution for a graduated tax structure, once it is in place only a simply majority vote would be required to raise the rates.
FRAUD ALERT: Why hasn’t that rat resigned yet?
Was he even sober at the meeting?
Just look at his slack jawed mug behind Kenneally?
Oh, He cares so much about little kids, but he’s charged with a crime that belies his total lack of care for others.
And he still drinks!!!!
Come to the next meeting of the McHenry County Association of Misunderstood Politicos Who Like to Drink & Drive.
Tina Hill will pass her Baton of President to Steven “I be weavin’” Reick.
“Annual May Dipso-Dash May 18. 1:00 pm @ The Cottage (CL)”.
Resign RINO!
So where is Reick’s “update” about his DUI arrest earlier this month, and his upcoming court appearance in Sangamon County on May 30th?
Where is his update to constituents that he will resign from his office, or not seek re-election in 2020?
And while he’s at it, explain to all of us why he had the nerve to smirk in his mug shot?
I do not trust anyone who smirks; they cannot be trusted.
If Reick thinks he can pull a Bill Hybels (Willow Creek Community Church) and sweep-this-under-the-rug and minimize what he did, he has another thing coming.
Look at all of the lives Hybels’ unrepentant sin cost so many people. The same can be said for James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel.
I hope the potential candidates to replace Reick are looking hard at this race, because if Reick does not do the right thing and resign, or not seek re-election, we, the voters, will and unseat Reick, and we will not care what political party the winning candidate will be from, Reick must go.
And speaking of political parties, where are the Republicans, especially the chairwoman of the McHenry County Republican Party, demanding Reick to resign?
Lauren Underwood is clearly the one that needs to resign!
WHILE THE COMMUNITY SUFFERS FROM THE LOSS OF ONE OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN, THIS COMES FROM THE FILES OF LAUREN UNDERWOOD–>
“UNDERWOODNOW” WRITES AS SHE TALKS ABOUT AJ FREUND: ”only when a white kid is involved do the media and politicos jump on the wagon for reform”
Reick works for the people regardless of race and he accepts responsibility.
Lauren Underwood refused to acknowledge her racist rants and accepts responsibility for nothing!
Comparing Reick to BIll Hybels is like comparing an apple to a big fat watermelon. A big stretch of your imagination!
Reick ought to resign … or at least promise to stop drinking during his term, especially when he appears at these hearings!
Just look at him!
I shake my head.
We keep hearing about ena tubg one tax increase after another. How come they never talk about spending cuts?
Thank you for visiting my website. http://www.senatorbiss.com/
I am proud to serve as the State Senator from Illinois’ 9th Senate District. I hope you’ll find this site a useful resource in keeping up to date with what’s happening in our district and in Springfield. Please contact any of my offices with questions or ways I can better serve you.
It is my honor to represent you in Springfield.
Sincerely,
State Senator Daniel Biss
9th Senate District
He’s bad RHINO dream, that could make you scream.
Not quite sure when DUI became a synonym for inept, but here we are.
Hey folks, this is still the United States, he is due his day in court, regardless.
Thats right he is due his day in court.
As for Lauren Underwood, she needs to resign!
Reick to Hybels is valid, since both men thought to shield their sins instead of owning them and doing the right thing immediately.
I stand by the comparison.
Give it up about Congresswoman Underwood being “UnderwoodNow”.
Like it or not, Congresswoman Underwood is cruising and will likely win a 2nd term next year.
If the Republican nominee for the 63rd is Reick, look for a Democratic landslide for Underwood across McHenry County.
I’m not here to tickle ears, just being honest.
Your analogy is still a stretch!
Bill Hybell was accused of sexual misconduct.
Reick had a DUI.
There is no comparison even in a court of law.
It only shows that you exaggerate so you can sell your distorted beliefs about Reick.
Exactly what Lauren Underwood does to sell herself.
Lauren Underwood is a racist. You can’t get around that.
Underwood, has achieved nothing while in office.
Underwoods campaign is nothing but a charade of lies and a parade of lies!
“UNDERWOODNOW” WRITES AS SHE TALKS ABOUT AJ FREUND: ”only when a white kid is involved do the media and politicos jump on the wagon for reform”
Her linked in page is full of analogies that only benefit the black race!. Her race!
Underwood is not in office to benefit the people she is there to benefit the black people.
Underwood is a narrow minded candidate who doesn’t know how to tell the truth.
Its time for the people to wake up and acknowledge the truth about Lauren Underwood.
Further, Underwood is a “RACIST LIAR” and not to be taken seriously!
By the time the election occurs, the people will be well informed about Lauren Underwood!
One reason for state legislators to vote no on SJRCA 1, which amends the state constitution to allow a graduated state income tax, is there is not an associated constitutional amendment to reign in costs.
For example, the State of Arizona constitution has a pension sentence similar to the pension sentence in the State of Illinois constitution, and Arizona has passed two constitutional amendments curtailing pension benefits.
+++++++++
Illinois Policy Institute
Arizona voters show Illinois the path forward on pensions
by Adam Schuster
November 19, 2018
“For the second time, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing changes to unearned future pension benefits.”
illinoispolicy.org/arizona-voters-show-illinois-the-path-forward-on-pensions
++++++++++
It’s not only higher taxes and fees that are impacting Illinois property taxpayers.
It’s also lower property appreciation, or even depreciation, that reduces the income of those that sell their property.
The massive debt in the state (pensions, retiree healthcare, past due bills, bonds, etc.) is impacting taxpayer wealth in many ways.
++++++++++
DCFS reform should include an analysis of the AFSCME Council 31 collective bargaining agreement with the State of Illinois that covers DCFS employees.
The 2012 – 2015 AFSCME Council 31 cba with the State of Illinois, including appendixes, is 267 pages.
That’s the most recent such contract posted on the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) website.
The Bureau of Personnel in CMS is tasked with labor relations (including labor contracts) for all state agencies.
DALA, both men, Reick and Hybels did wrongdoing, period.
They tried gloss over it, ignore it and minimize it.
Hybels was forced to retire 6 months earlier than he planned, but after saying a number of stupid things.
Reick’s inaction to address his future and thinking he can just own it, plead guilty and move on is similar, because his constituents deserve something better.
How about remorse, repentance and responsibility, namely resigning.
As for Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, she is not a racist, period.
Prove it, and point to something all of us know she herself said, and not a blog commenter who uses her last name.
You and others are so obsessed by this 32 year old woman, I’m wondering if it is out of envy and covetousness, if not petty jealousy.
Underwood took a big risk by running last year and it paid off for her.
That’s the American way.
She is doing something she loves, and in her first 4+ months in office, she is accomplishing getting legislation passed in the House, several components will likely become law.
Yes, she’s had a goofy vote or two (lowering the voting age to 16), but everyone has a goofy vote.
You do a lot of chest-thumping, but you sure as heck don’t have a candidate, let alone one who can beat Congresswoman Underwood.
Let’s look at the declared and potential candidates to challenge Underwood, and the things they’re doing lately:
Jim Oberweis, too unelectable (running in 7 of the last 9 election cycles, losing his first 5 attempts, and only 2 terms in the state senate to show for all he has spent money to achieve) and now too old, given he’ll be 74 come November of 2020.
Danny Malouf, he’s nearly a month late turning in his FEC paperwork due last month, and he still hasn’t filed with the FEC.
Even if you earned and spent ZERO, he is still obligated to file a disclosure report.
He doesn’t have a chance.
Anthony Catella, this guy does battlefield reenactments and impersonations, and apart from his announcement, he’s doing a terrible impersonation of a congressional candidate.
He won’t even make it to the ballot.
Ted Gradel, he has the best chance to win the primary and to give Underwood a race, and that may not be enough to beat Underwood next year.
He’s new, and like President Trump, Chicago Mayor-elect Lightfoot, and Congressmembers Underwood and Sean Casten, has not held elective public office before.
He is a genuine self-made millionaire, beginning in the trading pits of the CBOT and CME, and has been blessed with a wife of nearly 30 years, and 3 daughters.
He’s a family man who best represents the families, as well as the risk takers and entrepreneurs of the 14th district.
Jim Marter, did a terrible job in his congressional challenge against Congressman Kinzinger last year.
Allen Skillicorn, his propaganda campaign continues, through multiple town hall meetings, a faux newspaper article yesterday and his writing guest columns to the Northwest Herald and Illinois Review, and he sounds a lot like you, being envious of what Underwood has done in her lifetime at 32, compared to what he has done by age 44, and legislatively, that means he’s done nothing.
Underwood beats him a mile, but he will be an also-ran in the primary.
Sue Rezin, I do not think she is going to run, despite visiting Washington D.C. earlier this year and talking with the NRCC.
Too much evidence that Gradel is the preferred choice of the Republican establishment (the 5 remaining Republican members of Congress from Illinois), which means she will not make the race.
If I overlooked a candidate who could unseat Underwood next year, please share their name.
Former Quigly Supporter You can type all day long it doesn’t mean you are right.
Underwood should resign ASAP!
Doesn’t matter what your argument is.
Looks like you are a Democrat!
Underweird won’t resign. Sorts won”t let her!
She should resign.
One of America’s dumbest politicians.
The Democrats promoted a candidate who racist and doesn’t even work for the people.
Re: “Underwood took a big risk by running last year and it paid off for her.”
Scary comment.
What risk?
Underwood was chosen by the Obama / Soros / Eychaner machine three years ago.
Wake up folks!
Like AOC, Underwood was a ‘made’ candidate.
The Dems spent $4,891,319.17 to get Underwood elected.
Hultgren spent $2,400,772.35, started his campaign too late and did not know how to run a competitive campaign.
In addition, Republican ‘base’ dislike for Rauner, caused those voters to stay home while the socialists came out in droves inspired by a well funded ‘ground game’ with PAID volunteers.
Underwood currently has $252,929.13 in her campaign account.
The candidate perceived as showing the most support for our current President will win the Republican primary in the 14th next year.
Interesting to watch what appears to be Republican voters willingly tossing Reick ‘under the bus’ while the Dems circle their wagons around their recent DUI recipient.
Also, interesting that Reick obtained his DUI shortly after the Dem received his.
Setup?
I wonder how many other State Reps were stopped and given a breathalyzer the same night?
Yea – I’m sure police were set up on the other side of town in Springfield to trap a Republican State Rep. **eyeroll**
The guy was drunk.
Very drunk.
And he made a very stupid and dangerous decision to drive.
Don’t try to rationalize it.
Don’t try to make it partisan.
Reick is a loser.
Apparently he doesn’t get a pass/escort from the cops in Springfield like he does in MCHenry Co.
Rep. Reick, please reign, you are a disgrace, especially with your smirking face!
BTW Underwood would never have been elected if Hultgren wasn’t such a lazy RINO.
Reick is being thrown under the bus, not just by the DUI alone, which was inexcusable, but also by his smirking in his mug shot.
Smirkers cannot be trusted because they are usually hiding something, and Reick’s attitude has got to go.
He thought this DUI arrest was some joke, didn’t take it seriously, nor the constituents he represented.
Setup?
I don’t get into conspiracy theories, but given we are talking Springfield, I would think everything is a setup there, meaning he shouldn’t have put himself in such a place to begin with, and should have drank soda pop that night, not wine.
As for DALA, I’ll type whatever I want, as long as the host of this site allows me.
You don’t like it, you don’t have to read it, and opinions vary as far as I, or anyone else is right.
“Questioning”, by what you said, I doubt the people you said recruited Underwood back in 2016, as they all thought Hillary Clinton would succeed President Obama.
AOC (Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) was not a “made” candidate either, given she had to beat the Democratic Caucus Chair, 10-term Congressman Joe Crowley just to make it to November in a safe Democratic district.
She did.
And like AOC, Underwood took a risk, put her name on the ballot, got people to back her campaign, cruised to a 57% victory in the 7-way Democratic primary, and then went on to beat 4-term Congressman Randy Hultgren.
Like the old Smith Barney ads with John Houseman would say of Underwood, she earned it.
Underwood was also helped that Hultgren ran his campaign like a buffoon (and “started his campaign too late and did not know how to run a competitive campaign” are proof).
So, if Rauner voters stayed home, how is it that Rauner won the 14th district last fall?
Better question, why did those Rauner voters split their ticket?
And who is going to challenge Congresswoman Underwood next year?
Nobody is saying who their preferred candidate is among those who have declared or are thinking about it, except me, and I think Ted Gradel has the best shot.
And despite all of his talk, Allen Skillicorn is giving a lot of signs that he will not run for Congress next year, despite his latest quotes in a faux newspaper over the weekend.
Look at his picture in this article next to the smirking Steve Reick.
Skillicorn has put on weight (that tweed jacket is fitting him tight) and has grown a beard.
Usually, when you are preparing for a race where you need to look good on TV commercials, you lose weight and are clean-shaven.
Photoshop will only go so far.
I close with a sobering thought, given the “…socialists came out in droves inspired by a well funded ‘ground game’ with PAID volunteers.”
comment: In the fall of 2020, you will have the Democratic presidential nominee and Senator Dick Durbin at the top of the ticket for the Democrats, and it is a forgone conclusion Illinois will, for the 8th straight presidential election, be a blue state.
Also, Billionaire Governor J.B. Pritzker will be trying to pass his fair tax constitutional amendment in that election.
Those same “socialists” will be out in bigger droves in the fall of 2020.
That alone could guarantee an Underwood victory.
Oh, and I am not a Democrat, just an independent voter.
The racist comments made by Underwood are inexcusable!
Lauren Underwood should resign!
The people should never forget–>
“UNDERWOODNOW” WRITES AS SHE TALKS ABOUT AJ FREUND: ”only when a white kid is involved do the media and politicos jump on the wagon for reform”
“Former Quigley Supporter’ You can type all day long it doesn’t mean you are right. I did not say you can’t say what you want.
Go ahead.
Type away.
It doesn’t mean you are right and everyone else is wrong.
Today’s (5/14) Northwest Herald reported how the mayor of Sandwich, IL, resigned his office after he was named in a solicitation sting by the LaSalle County sheriff.
The mayor did not waste time doing the right thing when faced with this misdemeanor charge of soliciting a sexual act.
The ex-mayor is 66 years old, about Reick’s age.
When you read stories like this, or of Steve Reick’s DUI, you wonder what was going through their heads.
Both these guys are in their mid-60s.
What were they thinking?
May Reick follow the same example and resign.
You are so full of it “Former Quigley Supporter!”
Your request to have Reick resign is not about doing the right thing!
Nope, Your request to have Reick resign is politically motivated!
You are comparing a sexual act with a DUI!
Where are your brain cells?
YOU DON’T HAVE ANY!
You would never make an Attorney or a Prosecutor!
As for Lauren Underwood she needs to resign effective immediately!
“UNDERWOODNOW” WRITES AS SHE TALKS ABOUT AJ FREUND: ”only when a white kid is involved do the media and politicos jump on the wagon for reform”
SHAME ON HER!
SHE HAS BEEN MAKING RACIALLY INCENDIARY COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG FOR MONTHS!
BY THE WAY, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS NEVER ONCE STEPPED IN TO TELL HER SHE IS WRONG!
CLEARLY, ANY TACTIC WILL WORK, AS LONG AS THEY GAIN SOME VOTES IN SUPPORT OF LAUREN UNDERWOOD!
YEP!
NEWS FLASH, THOSE TACTICS SUCK, THEY LACK PROFESSIONALISM AND THEY ARE OFFENSIVE TO THE PEOPLE!
MAY LAUREN UNDERWOOD FOLLOW THE SAME EXAMPLE AND RESIGN!
**SHE HAS BEEN MAKING RACIALLY INCENDIARY COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG FOR MONTHS!**
Racist DALA – seriously, stop. Prove that UnderwoodNow is Lauren Underwood, or stop. You have literally zero evidence for your absurd claims.
Cal – can you stop this blatant lying about Underwood?
“AlabamaShake” you are full of it too!
Put a muzzle on it!
You are just trying to protect your candidate Lauren Underwood!
The people should not forget at election time what Lauren Underwood is all about! –>
“UNDERWOODNOW” WRITES AS SHE TALKS ABOUT AJ FREUND: ”only when a white kid is involved do the media and politicos jump on the wagon for reform”
SHAME ON HER!
And shame on you for defending her!
OK, DALA, the only thing I’m full of is the truth.
I’m not here to tickle your ears, I’m here to tell the truth. And my brain cells are all here and firing on all cylinders as they are gifts from God.
The comparison between Reick and the ex-mayor of Sandwich is valid, since their respective charges are both misdemeanors which could be expunged from their records.
Being convicted of a misdemeanor would not force them to resign!
The Sandwich ex-mayor did the right thing by resigning, and he did it immediately after he was caught.
He hadn’t been arrested and booked, yet.
And I’m sure both men had done their respective sins before, they had not been caught (someone else said this was Reick’s 5th DUI, don’t know if that’s true).
The ex-mayor of Sandwich, along with the other 8 men who were charged because of the LaSalle County sheriff’s sting, must have done something in the past like what they did, too.
In addition to the now ex-mayor of Sandwich, 2 of the other men caught in the sting, one was a Putnam County public defender, and another a vice president of operations and physician services at Illinois Valley Community Hospital.
I’m guessing the ARDC will be reviewing and disciplining the public defender guy, and hospital administrators the hospital exec.
There is nothing political about my calling for Reick to resign.
As I said before, I am not a Democrat, but an independent.
Just wanting the man to do the right thing.
Come to think of it, where do you, DALA, stand on Reick?
Should he resign, not run again, or what?
Are the other commenters who are calling for Reick to do the right thing and step down, are they doing it for political motivation, too?
Finally, you really need to cut out your use of the word “racism”.
It makes a good man bad.
I gave one of my expert opinions on this topic recently on another blog, along with an embedded video, which I think you may find useful.
Please check it out, as well as the main article:
https://thefirstward.net/2019/05/13/quick-hits-satanic-jews
The comparisons are not valid.
Just because they are misdemeanors does not mean they are comparable.
Totally different.
It would be interesting to hear where the McHenry County Republican leadership is on Reick’s DUI.
The Northwest Herald editorialized on this last week:
https://www.nwherald.com/2019/05/08/our-view-rep-reicks-disappointing-session/aox5y3c
The last sentence is one that all, including Reick, should heed:
“He [Reick] needs to get his act together.
If he can’t, it falls to local Republican leaders, and ultimately to voters, to take action.”
Getting his act together, to me, means resigning, or at least not running again next year and announcing that between now and mid-year so good candidates can make the important decision to seek this seat.
The Northwest Herald is a “RAG”
They call themselves a Newspaper
NOT!
They don’t like the Republican Party and there is “CLEAR BIAS” in their reporting.
There is reason to believe, that they also protected Nygren and Zinke when all the ‘reported” corruption was taking place.
It just so happens, their former reporter Kevin Lyons, who was also Managing Editor, played poker with and was friends with police officers.
His reporting was also” BIAS”
He is now Director of Communications for Woodstock Community District 200.
Probably a Political Hire.
If you follow the Northwest Herald’s opinions, you are gullible.
**Just because they are misdemeanors does not mean they are comparable. Totally different.**
True.
The Sandwich mayor hired a consenting prostitute and didn’t and wasn’t going to harm anyone.
Reick drove drunk and could have killed people.
You’re right – they’re totally different.
Only one of them put lots of people in harms way.