McHenry County Blog

The following was written by my former colleague Penny Pullen. She serves as state president for Eagle Forum of Illinois and is active in Republicans of Wheeling Township.

“No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”

Penny Pullen

These true words were written in a 19th-century New York court decision, and they are still true today.

It is of some comfort that we have reached the midpoint in the General Assembly’s election-year session without yet being clobbered by a tax increase.

But no Illinois citizen can afford to assume our lawmakers will not yet commit what would appear to us as a rash act of political suicide. A lot of factors go into the collective decisions that beset us from Springfield.

Here are some realities that “we the people” do not automatically grasp:

• The hallways, chambers and offices of a Capitol building are constructed with a unique brand of highly resistant insulation. (It’s only a façade, but it’s convincing to those who enter the cocoon of a legislative session, and too seldom is it penetrated by an aroused citizenry.)
• Lobbyists not only have access to lawmakers to present the unique point of view they are paid to offer; they also have built relationships with the senators and representatives over sometimes years or even decades. (How many ordinary citizens have even bothered to meet their elected lawmakers, let alone developed a relationship?)
• Special interest groups dominate the campaign fundraising for those who hold the power to aid, abet or hinder their particular interest. (Have ordinary citizens shown themselves helpful when the going gets rough, or have they sat out the necessary process of offering financial backing to a candidate who’s doing the right thing?) Campaign contributions are no guarantee that a lawmaker will vote in line with the contributor, but they certainly and understandably open the door to friendly conversation, which can be just one step away from persuasion.
• Gov. Quinn is determined to raise our taxes, and he can wield power to get what he wants. (It’s up to “we the people,” for whom he has always claimed to be speaking, to make clear that this year, on this question, Pat Quinn does not speak for us!)
• Unique tactics are available to the governor, and he is using them: Never before have legislators’ landlords been stiffed by the state for legislative office rent, making the legislators themselves logical participants in the “Enough-already – let’s-raise-taxes-to-ease-the-pain” coalition. (Yes, that looks to the ordinary person like an oxymoron, but the governor is inflicting pain on certain segments – like the government schools lobby – for the express purpose of getting them to beg for a tax increase.)

Having been an elected State Representative for 16 years, I can tell you this: Anything can happen when the legislature is in session; it doesn’t have to make sense to “we the people.”

But, an aroused, engaged citizenry – even if only for these critical days and weeks (though sustained engagement is so much better!) – can produce enough angst in a re-election-driven legislator to bring him to his senses.

The single worst thing a citizen can do right now, though, is to assume that, this being an election year, we’re safe from legislators doing dumb things.

That New York judge knew what he was talking about.

Pressure will fill the House and Senate chambers in Springfield all the way to adjournment, be that May 31 or July 15; the real question is, whose pressure?

Will pressure from the voters exceed pressure from the usual sources of power?

It’s up to “we the people.”

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Penny Pullen served in Springfield from 1977-1993 as an elected State Representative and was a member of the House Republican Leadership from 1983-1993. She authored the legislation which, in 1983, repealed the state inheritance tax and was the leading Springfield lawmaker on pro-life reforms and on public health strategies to contain the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

A Message From Illinois State Representative Michael W. Tryon  |  District 64
March 19, 2010

Dear friends,

Mike Tryon

With an unprecedented budget deficit of $13 billion facing Illinois, it’s no secret that things need to change in Springfield.

The wrong solution is to propose a tax increase. Gov. Quinn’s proposal would increase the income tax by 33 percent and would result in an, on average, a $1,000 tax increase per household.

To saddle the families of Illinois with an even greater tax burden, when many are struggling to make ends-meet, would be irresponsible.

The fact is, this crisis was created by years of irresponsible spending and complete financial incompetence. If we are serious about addressing the deficit, and erasing the mistakes of the past 10 years, we must immediately enact a number of responsible, reasonable budget cuts and reforms.

For example, I have proposed legislation called the Truth in Accounting Act of 2010 which will move Illinois to full accrual accounting standards. This will put everyone involved in the budget process on the same page by offering a real look at the fiscal condition of the state.

I’m also supporting efforts to reform the Medicaid system which will result in more than $2 billion in savings to the state.

Under Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Medicaid spending alone increased by almost 50 percent, from $9.5 billion to $14 billion, in only four years. We need to repeal some of those expansions, and include other reforms, such as residency requirements and a renewal process for Medicaid recipients.

Unfortunately, for reasons that I cannot understand, House Speaker Mike Madigan has refused to allow these bills and others like them, to be heard for a vote. These are common sense, bipartisan approaches to reforming state government.

I urge you to contact both Gov. Pat Quinn and Speaker Mike Madigan to ask them to support responsible budget cuts and reforms to reduce the deficit and move our state forward.

Governor Pat Quinn                Speaker Mike Madigan
207 State House                   300 State House
Springfield, IL 62706              Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0244                     (217) 782-5350

Looking for Volunteers

Groups and individuals throughout the state are already feeling the affects of the state’s budget crisis, and many have contacted my office directly to ask for help. It is our hope to respond to these questions and requests as quickly as possible. To help us accomplish this we are looking for volunteers to help us work through all the correspondence we have received.

If you are interested in helping or know someone who is, such as a high school or college student looking for an internship, please contact my office at mike@miketryon.com or 815.459.6453.

As always, do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding state issues.  It is an honor to serve you in Springfield.
Sincerely,

Michael Tryon
State Representative – 64th District

Yesterday while picking my son up at school a little after 2 o’clock, I heard the female newsreader talking about Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed “one percent” income tax increase.

Did whoever wrote the script pass junior high school math?

Those who have darker views of this gross mistake might wonder if WBBM management is trying to frame the 33% income tax hike issue in a manner that might dampen down opposition.

You know whenever a news source says the increase is “one percent” or even “one percentage point” that it is trying to minimize the magnitude of the increase.

If a news source uses both “33%” and “one percentage point” in its report, then it’s attempting to describe what’s happening in a more rational manner.

This is not the first instance of media bias on this issue that I have noticed.

Yesterday, I pointed to three liberal news sources in which Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed 33% income tax hike was described as a “one percent” increase.

My research was incomplete.

Since then, I have found that Chicago’s Public Broadcasting Station is similarly math impaired.

Take a look for yourself at the headline below:

Click to enlarge.

I’ll pay a 1% increase; they can pay the 33%.
Call it a penalty for not learning junior high school math.

Here we go again.

The liberal apologists in the media are promoting the Governor Pat Quinn’s 33% income tax increase as a “one percent increase.”

Maybe it’s not their liberal bent.

Maybe they have problems with math.

The first notice of this impairment I heard was on WBBM News Radio 78 while picking up my son from school just after 2 PM. The announcer led into the tax hike story by saying it was a

“one percent increase.”

The reporter on the story got it right.

He identified it immediately thereafter as a “33% increase.”

Charles Thomas incorrectly describes Governor Pat Quinn's proposal as a "one percent increase."

hen, on the ABC Channel 7 newscast, Charles Thomas, the man who replaced Andy Shaw, said it was

a “one percent increase.”

Capitol Fax had this incorrect story up from shortly before Governor Pat Quinn's 33% income tax hike proposal was made.

I later noticed that Rich Miller at Capitol Fax Blog headlined his income tax article with the incorrect “one percent tax hike for schools.”

Specifically:

Budget address live blog – Quinn proposes one percent tax hike for schools

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010
• Have at it in comments. Thanks.

That was just before Quinn’s noon speech.

Added later:

* I’m told that the one percent tax surcharge would bring in somewhere between $2.8 and $3 billion. Wish I knew that when I was on live TV and was asked the question cold.

None of the readers for over six hours pointed out that Governor Pat Quinn's proposal was for a 33% income tax hike, not the 1% hike Rich Miller pomoted with his incorrect headline and description.

It was not until more than SIX hours later that anyone corrected Miller:

- Elin – Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:13 pm:A one percent tax increase would bring in far less than $2.8 billion or $3 billion. A 33 percent tax increase, on the other hand…

And, as of over nineteen hours after it was originally posted, it remains incorrect.

But, it served its purpose, if, indeed, it was deliberate and not a mistake.

Reporters and political opinion leaders all over the state were told it was a “one percent tax hike.”

Can it be that reporters really so bad at very simple math?

Maybe so.

Even the Chicago Sun-Times got it wrong:

Even the Chicago Sun-Times wrote one percent was the size of the tax hike. Message to liberal tax hikers: one percentage point divided by three percentage points equals 33%, not 1%.

Article announcing Govenor Pat Quinn plans to propose taking away 30% of the amount of income tax revenue sharing now provided cities and villages.

When city leaders read this Tribune article saying that Pat Quinn expects them to “share the pain,” there will be gnashing of teeth.

Apparently Quinn has decided to cut the $1 billion a year income tax revenue sharing by 30%. That will save $300 million, of course.

The cities got a cut of the income tax when the deal was put together by Republican Governor Richard Ogilvie way back in 1969.

It never made sense to me.

Why should local officials get a pot of money without taking any heat for hiking taxes?

10% of the total amount collected?

Better to take any heat little that comes with raising taxes, e.g., the 75% Crystal Lake city sales tax hike that Mayor Aaron Shepley and six of his city council members (all but Jeff Throsen) supported.

Not today.

Today I heard this ever-so-positive ad on radio driving to pick up my son from school.

But Friday night’s and Saturday’s phone calls were something else.

A woman’s voice comes on the answering machine:

The Jason Plummer campaign for lieutenant governor was calling, but Jason wasn't on the phone. It was a woman criticizing rival Matt Murphy.

“Hello. I’m calling with an important election alert about Matt Murphy’s campaign for lieutenant governor.“Matt Murphy would like you to believe that he’s opposed to taxes when in fact the opposite is true.

“According to the National Taxpayers United of Illinois, last year Matt Murphy voted to raise taxes four times.

“What was he thinking about?

“Tell Matt Murphy we can no longer afford his bad judgment and tax increases by telling his campaign for lieutenant governor, ‘No thanks!’

“Paid for by Plummer for Illinois.”

Who paid for the phone call was barely audible.

First of all, the phone call means that Murphy is the only candidate for lieutenant governor who has a chance of beating Plummer.

Or, maybe it means Murphy was running ahead of Plummer in Plummer’s polling.

You don’t take the chance of alienating voters, as this phone call did my wife, by going negative… unless you think that’s the only way to win.

Both candidates are attractive, but obviously Murphy, who has served on the Harper College Board and in the state senate has more experience. Even I, at the same age as Plummer, had more experience when I ran for state representative. (I had worked for the better part of a year in the United States Budget Bureau—now the Office of Management and Budget—and four years as McHenry County Treasurer.)

My guess is that Plummer’s polling showed Murphy ahead.

I decided to do some research on the NTU scorecard mentioned in the robo-call.

Here are the four times Murphy voted “wrong,” according to NTU President Jim Tobin:

• House Bill 405 – allows the government of a park district to increase the property tax for aquarium, park and museum maintenance by 600%, if voters passed a referendum.
• Senate Bill 345 – allows county governments to raise local sales taxes for the purpose of public safety and road construction/maintenance, if voters passed a referendum.
• House Bill 1921 – imposed a 25 cent charge to every disposable cigarette lighter.
• Senate Bill 837 – doubles the tax surcharge for 911 calls place in Chicago from $1.25 ro $2.50. This $8 million increase will be used to “fund non-Chicago infrastructure and vague, wasteful ‘anti-terror’ project,” Tobin write.

You can decide their importance.

Plummer, it should be noted, has the advantage first-time candidates always have; they have not had to take any votes on any issue.

But, Friday night’s negative call was not enough.  There was another one Saturday while I was out passing out my recommendations and literature for every candidate I could find.

It came after a Matt Murphy phone call:

“Hi. Matt Murphy here again asking for your help in electing Andy McKenna as our governor. Andy and I worked together to fight Governor Quinn’s enormous tax increase and showed how we could balance the budget without raising taxes.“Meanwhile, Jim Ryan and Kirk Dillard have no trouble raising taxes.

“Ryan supported a $5½ billion tax increase and Dillard, like Todd Stroeger, voted for a $500 million suburban sales tax increase. And when asked about raising taxes in the past said, quote, ‘What’s the big deal? It’s not that tough,’ unquote.

“I know Andy McKenna can balance the budget and not raise taxes.

“So, please join me in supporting Andy McKenna for governor and, of course, Mike Murphy for lieutenant governor.

“Thank you for your time.

“Paid for by McKenna for Illinois.”

Next came another negative call from Jason Plummer Saturday from the same woman:

“Hello. I’m calling with an important election alert about the Matt Murphy campaign for lieutenant governor.“Matt Murphy would like you believe he is for real ethics reform when, in fact, he continues to display bad judgment by taking questionable contributions directly or indirectly from state contractors.

“What was he thinking?

“Tell Matt Murphy we want to clean up the corruption in Springfield by telling his campaign for lieutenant governor ‘No thanks’ on election day.

“Paid for by Plummer for Illinois.”

This time the “paid for” tag line was easier to understand.

While I was out knocking on doors in my precinct Sunday, my wife answered a positive call about Plummer.  No details, just the tone.

And, today, I received my first phone call from Molly Murphy.

Apparently the tax hike charge from Plummer merited a response.

Molly wanted me to know that her Dad Mike Murphy “cares about my future.”

She said he had never voted to raise taxes.

“It’s not easy to be a kid,” she said, “but he’s always’ been there for me.”

State Senator Kirk Dillard

State Senator Kirk Dillard has been endorsed by the Illinois Education Association.

That’s a good thing for him.

The IEA can put people on the street when it wants to and certainly can get the word out to its members.

It could also cough up good money, if it desired.

Here’s what the Chicago Tribune’s Clout Street Blog attributed to IEA President Ken Swanson in its story about the announcement:

“We believe at the end of the day, (Dillard) is interested in finding reductions and efficiencies that make sense.

“But if and when that’s not enough, he can pragmatically reach out to the other leaders and work out a (revenue) solution that’s good for the state.”

That sounds as if this teachers’ union leader thinks Dillard will support an income tax increase.

That would mesh with Dillard’s refusing to promise not to increase taxes.

Before he got the IRA endorsement, he called such pledges “gimmicks” on TV and in this interview. (I never signed such a pledge.)

As he said in the WTTW debate, he might want to rearrange the tax mix and he does favor increasing some source of revenue to pay for a road, school, etc., building program.

Thursday, the mailing below came from opponent Andy McKenna, who has taken the “no tax hike pledge.”

"WILL THESE CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR RAISE TAXES?" the headline asks. (Don't you find all capital letters difficult to read?)

"WE CAN'T TRUST RYAN AND DILLARD'S RECORDS ON TAXES," this headline reads and gives details of Jim Ryan's support of a $5,5 billion (income) tax hike and how Kirk Dillard raised sales taxes $500 million. Left unsaid were that the sales tax hike was for the Regional Transporation Authority to bail out the CTA. (Click to enlarge any image.)

State Senator and now candidate for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor Matt Murphy while speaking against the Democrats 67% income tax hike proposal earlier this year.

The following press release has been received from the campaign of State Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine). He is running for the lieutenant governor spot on the Republican ticket in the February 2nd primary. He has endorsed gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna.  You may remember I was favorably impressed with his comments on the Senate floor during the debate on the Democrats’ attempt to hike income taxes 67%.

Radogno Endorses Murphy for Lt. Governor

Murphy secures both House & Senate GOP Leader’s Endorsements

CHICAGO – Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno today endorsed State Senator Matt Murphy for Lieutenant Governor.

“I am supporting Matt Murphy for Lieutenant Governor because I believe he is the right candidate with new ideas to help Illinois through the current financial crisis,” said Radogno.

“Matt Murphy has a proven track record of leadership and accomplishment in the state senate and I know he will take those same qualities to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.”

Radogno also noted that it was Senator Murphy who authored legislation to cut both the income and corporate tax rate and, as a member of the Deficit Reduction Committee, led the charge to cut $3 billion in wasteful spending from the state budget to avoid a tax hike.

Murphy has also secured House Republican Leader Tom Cross’ endorsement along with over twenty members of Illinois’ General Assembly, including Senator’s Brad Burzynski, John O. Jones and Dale Righter, and State Representatives Mark Beaubien and JoAnn Osmond who are both members of Republican House leadership.

Lake County Republican Chairman Dan Venturi and Northfield Township Republican Chairwoman June O’Donoghue have also personally endorsed Murphy’s campaign. The Republican Township Organizations of Addison, Barrington, Cuba, Evanston, Palatine and Schaumburg have also voted to give Murphy their endorsement.

“I am honored to receive the support of my good friend, Christine Radogno and with her help, we will win the primary in February and we will continue this momentum through November,” said Murphy. “As I travel around Illinois, I am proud of the support we are receiving from all corners. I am running for Lieutenant Governor because I believe we can do better for Illinois.”

Matt is a member of the Illinois General Assembly representing the 27th Senatorial District, a graduate of The John Marshall Law School and is a practicing attorney in Chicago.  He and his wife, Julie, have four children and live in Palatine.

It’s after Labor Day.

That’s when McHenry County State Representative Jack Franks said he was going to decide what he was going to run for.

Will it be governor?

Since Franks is against an income tax hike and Governor Pat Quinn and State Comptroller Dan Hynes are both on record as being in favor of an income tax hike, there is an opening.

A Democrat against an income tax hike?

When I was running against Rod Blagojevich in 2002, he came out against an income tax increase. 

And Franks says he’s against an income tax hike.

There would be that little matter of feeding the Democratic Party interest groups, however.

And he has just been named a

by Jim Tobin’s National Taxpayers United of Illinois. 
 
He ranks as high as any Republican!

Or will he run for state representative, the “walk in the park” option?

Or lieutenant governor, an office, he might very well be able to pick off?  But will he be willing to stake his future on a tax hike promising Quinn or Hynes?

He could run for one of the financial offices where he could use his banking background?

In any event, it’s past Labor Day.

Folks are waiting in McHenry County. 

Vacating the legislative seat could set off quite a primary election among Republicans.  Maybe a Democrat will even file to replace Franks.

= = = = =
In the photo of the Rod Blagojevich Impeachment Committee hearing, State Rep. Jack Franks shakes hands with U.S. Senator Roland Burris after Burris’ testimony.