McHenry County Blog

Here’s a press release from State Senator Kirk Dillard, a candidate for the GOP nomination for governor:

Dillard Renews Ethical Judgment Charge at Debate Important Party Nominates Candidate Who Can Win in Fall

(Lisle, IL) – Illinois Republican candidate for governor Kirk Dillard today renewed his charge that Andy McKenna’s ethics violation sends the wrong message to voters and contrasts sharply from Dillard’s record as a leader on ethics reform. GOP officials announced last week that McKenna, while Chairman, used party funds to further a possible run for political office.

Dillard has said that as Chairman of the DuPage County Republican Party he was never found guilty of ethics violations. “My opponent Andy McKenna, the ‘insider,’ cannot say the same,” Dillard said at the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce debate in Countryside.

Dillard also questioned the ethical judgment of Jim Ryan for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Stuart Levine, later convicted of influence peddling during the Blagojevich administration. “Unlike my opponent Jim Ryan, you won’t find any of my close friends or largest contributors sitting in a federal holding cell for a ‘pay to play’ scheme,” Dillard said. Ryan did not attend the debate.

Dillard argued that Republicans need to nominate a candidate who can win back the governor’s office in November, not someone who reminds voters of the Blagojevich/Quinn administration. “The stakes are too high. The judgment of our candidate for Governor should not be in question,” Dillard said.

Dillard has pledged to shut down his campaign fund when sworn-in as Governor. “The state is in crisis, and I need to spend all of my time governing, not fundraising,” Dillard explained. “We need a Governor who will lead by example to end corruption and focus all of his attention on making Illinois work again.”

Dillard was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1994. He served as Chief of Staff for former Governor Jim Edgar and was Legislative Affairs Director for former Governor Jim Thompson.

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Not included in the press release was this criticism of opponent State Senator Bill  Brady:

“Sadly, we do have candidates here of my own party who lack ethical judgment too:  Bill Brady, I haven’t taken a $10,000 contribution from a contributor and given their child free tuition at the University of Illinois Medical School.”

I found that in the Sun-Times story about the debate.

As I mentioned earlier reporting on the Chicago Sun-Times endorsement of Kirk Dillard, Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. Strangely, the endorsement appears online on Friday.

On the same editorial page, was a non-endorsement for the two candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. The piece is mainly a lament for Pat Quinn’s having not lived up to expectations raised by a lifetime of attacking the establishment.

Dan Hynes disappointed the editorial board for not being willing to reduce pension benefits for FUTURE employees.

Go figure, with the pension debt facing taxpayers.

(And, of course, I have a continuing interest in my pension to be paid. Again, I thank taxpayers for the opportunity to serve them as state representative fo sixteen years and county treasurer for four.)

Just in case you’re interested, the Chicago Sun-Times endorsed appointed-Governor Pat Quinn in the Democratic Party primary and Kirk Dillard in the GOP election.

Sunday, the Chicago Tribune is endorsing Andy McKenna.

Click to enlarge any image.

After the Tuesday 1776 breakfast sponsored by State Senator Pam Althoff, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard answered what I consider “the tough question:”

“Will you sign a pledge not to raise taxes like Andy McKenna did Monday?”

I got a long answer:

“I’ve never voted for a general tax increase in all my years in state government.

“I have no desire to raise taxes.

“My experience is as Jim Edgar’s fiscally conservative chief of staff and the only non-millionaire in the race with school age children.

“I am the candidate that can best hold the line on taxes.

“Moreover, I’ve said I want to reduce billions of taxes to improve our economy.

But speaking with conservative governors like Sam Perdue of Georgia, former Governor John Engler of Michigan and former (Florida) Governor Jeb Bush, these pledges are gimmicks.”

As one who served in the Illinois House of Representatives for sixteen years, I can tell you I never signed such a pledge and still was considered a “tax hawk” or “obstructionist,” if you prefer the description of the tax eaters.

As I understand the pledge it counts fee increases as tax increases. Fees are logically imposed upon regulated industries. The fees should cover the cost of regulation.

Now such earmarked funds are regularly drained to subsidized education and welfare, which means the fees are set too high. However, as wages and other costs increase, it is possible that fees as set would not bring in enough money to pay for the regulation. In such a case I would and have voted to increase fees.

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Other stories about the candidate’s Crystal Lake visit:

Kirk Dillard Woos McHenry County Women

State Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard speaks to mainly women at Crystal Lake's 1776 restaurant.

Billing himself as the only non-millionaire in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, State Senator Kirk Dillard spoke to mainly women at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant Tuesday morning.

He related having received this advice from his former boss, former Governor Jim Edgar:

“You must find a way to attract women and Latinos.”

State Senator Kirk Dillard greets Cathy Danca after the 1776 breakfast hosted by his colleague State Senator Pam Althoff.

Jobs, education and safety are the approaches Dillard said he was taking for both demographics.

My friend Pete Castillo and I arrived during the question and answer session for the 45 or so McHenry Countians in attendance.

Dillard reflected on his ability to work with newly-elected Senate President John Cullerton:

“We work on things we can get along on.”

In answer to a question about the pension debt hanging over Illinois, Dillard came out in favor of a two-tiered pension system with new employees not being guaranteed a certain amount each month.

(Government pensions are typically called “defined benefits.” They guarantee a certain amount each month and, in the case of Illinois, a 3% increase each year whether inflation is lower or higher. Private enterprise has moved from the defined benefit approach to a “defined contribution” approach in which the employer agrees to put so much a pay period into a pension pot. The amount available for retirement depends on how the money is invested and whether and how much the employee sets aside his or her own money for retirement.)

Dillard said he thought he was the only one who could pull that off (not his words). In a telephone town meeting with Andy McKenna, I heard his rival take something of a similar approach to reforming future pensions.

Dillard pointed out that the pension problem is not just one for state taxpayers. Local governments’ police and fire protection personnel have similar problems of under funding.

“We can’t sustain” the state pension situation, Dillard said. If something is not done about the pension system, “we will have no money for education, (hospitals and other functions financed by state government).”

Why does Dillard say that?

Because the Illinois state constitution pretty much says that pensions get paid first. At least as long as members of the Illinois Supreme Court get pensions like other state employees.

Prairie Grove Village Administrator Jeanine Smith and former State Representative Rosemary Kurtz listen to GOP gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard.

“I’m the person who has the political courage to get it done),” the state senator said, indicating he would tell state employee union leaders,

“If we don’t make these changes, we’ll go insolvent and a Federal bankruptcy judge will (impose) them.”

A question was asked about providing “tax credits up to a certain level” for contributions to not-for-profit organizations. Credits are subtractions from what one owes in state or federal income taxes.

Dillard indicated his support for such a change in the income tax law because not-for-profit groups provide better services cheaper than state government.

Touching on the precarious nature of state finances, Edgar’s former chief of staff pointed out that bills were paid in 17 days when the former governor was in office, but now a nursing home in his district hasn’t been paid “in more than five months.”

More tomorrow.

Sunday, my wife and I saw “Jersey Boys.”

The Frankie Valli actor sang,

“Working My Way Back to You, Babe.”

As I read Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna’s press release announcing he had signed the American for Tax Reform’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” I realized this might be a step toward the Illinois GOP’s returning to the taxpayer’s side in Illinois.

The song was written after Valli had played around on the road and his wife had left him. Goodness knows local govenment Republicans have played around with raising taxes—think of

• Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax hike and
  the Republican state senators in DuPage County (including Kirk Dillard, now running against McKenna for the nomination) and
• DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom’s inducing those GOP senators to vote for the bill that tripled the RTA sales tax in the collar counties.

McKenna even lashed out at Schillerstrom and former Governor James R. Thompson for supporting the huge RTA sales tax hike at the Republican State Convention in 2008, leading to a walk out of most of the DuPage County delegation, but cheers from other suburbanites like me.

But, Republican legislative leaders Tom Cross and Christine Rodogno have not become “responsible Republicans” and led the charge to bail out the spend and borrow and tax Democrats who have controlled Springfield since Rod Blagojevich beat Jim Ryan (and me) in 2002.

Maybe they have figured out what I have.

When Blagojevich took office in 2003, he proclaimed there was a $5 billion deficit. I always thought that was a two-year figure that could have been worked off, the way Jim Edgar got out of the hole that Jim Thompson left him.

Every year, including 2003, the Springfield (read “Chicago”) Democrats added a billion dollars to the budget.

Hey, there was no problem.

Come last year and Pat Quinn takes over. He proclaims an $11-12 billion debt.

Let’s do some simple math.

2009 minus 2003 is 6.

Six times $1 billion is $6 billion.

Five billion dollars, plus $6 billion is $11 billion.
Presto Chango!

We know where the Democrats deficit came from.

As Pogo, undoubtedly a Democrat, would say,

“We have met the enemy and it is us.”

Below is McKenna’s press release:

McKenna Signs Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge; Challenges Opponents to do the Same

Andy McKenna announced today that he signed the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge, vowing as Governor to “oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes.”“I am pleased to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because it is wrong to ask the taxpayers of Illinois to do more when their government has done so little,” said McKenna. “I challenge my opponents to sign this pledge and make a commitment to the hardworking men and women of this state that they will not raise taxes.”

While some of his opponents continue to flip-flop on whether they will raise taxes, McKenna’s opposition to tax hikes has been clear for years including his collaboration with Republican Leaders Tom Cross and Christine Radogno to defeat Governor Quinn’s jobs-killing income tax hike.

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle.  It was founded in 1985 by Grover Norquist at the request of President Ronald Reagan.  Since ATR first sponsored the Pledge in 1986, hundreds of U.S. Representatives, more than fifty U.S. Senators and every successful Republican Presidential candidate have all signed the Pledge.

With the primary election coming up in about five weeks, active citizens are starting to think more seriously about narrowing down their choices for contested offices.

At Zane Seipler’s fund raiser Wednesday night, for example, one person concluded that Andy McKenna was the most likely to be able to win the November election. Not a perfect candidate, but considering one needs three elements to win a campaign—issues, money and a candidate—his opponents don’t seem likely to put it together as well.

Now, National Taxpayers United of Illinois’ campaign arm, Tax Accountability, has put out its recommendations, I listed the ones that will be on area ballots.

U.S. Senate

• John Arrington – R
• Robert Marshall – D

U.S. Congress

• 8th District (McHenry, Lake and Cook) – Joe Walsh
• 14th District (Kane, DuPage and points west) – Randy Hultgren

Governor

• Adam Andrzejewski

Lt. Governor

• Dennis Cook – R
• Jason Plummer – R
• Randy White – R

State Senate

• Chris Lauzen – R (Northern Kane County)

State Representative

• Tim Schmirtz – R (Northern Kane County)
• John O’Neill – R (Jack Franks’ district)

Matt Murphy met with local supporters at Nick's Pizza on July 9.

I guess I’ve slipped off State Senator Pam Althoff’s press release list, but, fortunately, I discovered on < that one of McHenry County’s legislators is endorsing her colleague Matt Murphy for Lieutenant Governor.

Murphy started off running for governor, then hooked up with former GOP state party chairman Andy McKenna and switched to the second spot.

His first campaign appearance in McHenry County, as far as I know, was on July 9th at Nick’s Pizza in Crystal Lake.

He was a national convention delegate candidate for Fred Thompson in 2008.

He favors a structural change in the General Assembly that I promoted in my 2002 Libertarian Party gubernatorial campaign—Term Limits for Legislative Leaders.

In the debate when Illinois Senate Democrats passed a 67% income tax hike, Murphy was a true star.

Murphy is from Palatine.

News reports said that former Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Jim Ryan wanted the coveted last spot who vastly out-polled my Libertarian Party candidacy but succumbed to serial liar Rod Blagojevich chickened out today.

Again.

As I have shared previously, when I was in grad school at the University of Michigan, I found a paper than analyzed the impact of ballot order on election results.

The researchers looked at paper ballots for a Michigan city near Detroit. In races of six or more, first place was worth an extra 10%. Second and last place on the ballot were worth another 5%.

There are seven people running for the Republican nomination for governor.

Worst place on the ballot was next to last.

That’s where Jim Ryan ended up.

He blinked at 4:18 PM this afternoon.

Andy McKenna filed seven minutes later.

We won’t know who gets the justifiably coveted first place on the ballot until the lottery, but we know that McKenna didn’t blink and file before any other GOP gubernatorial candidate.

Inexplicably, political consultant Dan Proft filed even earlier than Ryan at 3:26.

A pollster for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Schillerstrom called yesterday afternoon.

Schillerstrom is DuPage County Board Chairman.

The pollster wanted to know if I would vote for Schillerstrom for governor.

I told her, “No.”

She didn’t ask why, but, if she had I had an answer.

I would have told her that I was really disturbed that he balanced his DuPage County budget by getting most of his county’s state senators to vote to triple my RTA sales tax.

The bill that eventually passed, after an amendment (allowing collar county board’s to use the quarter of a percent sales tax offer of free road money for collar county boards to be diverted to public safety purposes) was added.

That allowed Schillerstrom to forego an already-on-the ballot countywide referendum to raise sales taxes one-quarter of one percentage point for law enforcement to fill his budget hole. (Winnebago County passed such a referendum in 2002.)

Schillerstrom’s intervention was so egregious that he was taken to the wood shed by Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna at the Decatur state convention last June.

That made Schillerstrom hopping mad.

It stung so much most DuPage County Republicans walked off the convention floor.

Later my wife and I got a letter from Schillerstrom about it.

Schillerstrom let his state senators take the heat.

He got “free money.”

How ironic that one of them, Kirk Dillard is also running for the Republican nomination for governor.

But, the pollster was onto her next question. No time for an explanation on my part.

She asked if I would be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew I knew he had lowered property taxes seven ten years in 10 years.

I told her, “Yes.”

Would I be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew he had cut $200 million in wasteful spending?

I told her, “Yes.”

The final question was whether I would be more likely to vote for Schillerstrom if I knew DuPage County had passed “comprehensive ethics reform.”

I told her, “Yes.”

Do you see television and radio ads coming out of this survey?

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The photo of DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom comes from the Young Republican Candidates’ Bar-B-Que held in Barrington Saturday, August 11, 2009.