McHenry County Blog

The second trial of disgraced ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich is but an echo of the first.

Who cares the second time around?

in mid-December, 2009, there was a spoof on Saturday Night Live. Before the actor took the stage, there was a photo of a grim Blagojevich with the word "Arrested" under it.

It’s not front page news.

No Saturday Night Live skits about his hair and swear words.

“If Illinois politicians think you are too corrupt, you’re too corrupt,”

said Seth in December of 2008.

This past week there was another echo.

A bill passed that would prohibit state officials from putting their names on things. It was sponsored by State Rep. Chris Nybo (R-Elmhurst). Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) originated the legislation.

The target was the signs over Illinois toll collection booths.

When Blagojevich was impeached, Tollway officials did not even give Pat Quinn the opportunity for the photo op he undoubtedly desired.

Quinn did follow the example of his role model, Governor Dan Walker, for whom he was a ghost employee in the Department of Local Government Affairs.

The sign Governor Rod Blagojeich had erected over Illinois toll booths.

When the Department of Transportation changed the entry signs to the State of Illinois to remove Blagojevich’s name, Quinn followed Walker’s excellent example.

"Welcome to Illinois" sign with Governor Rod Blagojevich's name.

The current "Welcome to Illinois" sign does not have Governor Pat Quinn's name.

He left his name off.

Way back in 1973, I was so impressed this newly-elected Republican sent the newly-elected Democrat a letter of praise.

Quinn deserves similar praise.

During the 1970′s State Rep. Harold Washington managed to form a coalition with suburban Republicans like myself over the issue of how Chicago Park District money was spent.

He discovered that more was spent in white than in black areas and introduced legislation to equalize such expenditures.

He got the bill passed the House, but I don’t remember its outcome in the Senate. Probably it failed at least the first time, because I think I remember two House debates.

Now, suburban Republican state senators like Dan Duffy and Matt Murphy have formed a coalition with the Rev. and State Senator James Meeks on the issue of school vouchers.

It is a crime that with all the money taxpayers pour into Chicago schools that so few kids get educated.

After trying his best to raise the state income tax, Meeks decided that taking part of the State Aid to Education and giving it to parents in poorly performing schools might do the job.

The result was a joint effort that succeeded in the Senate, but got shot down in the Illinois House, thanks, in part, to McHenry County State Rep. Jack Franks. (That won’t lose him many votes here, but it will continue his relationship with the state’s teacher unions, who consistently support his candidacy.)

Too bad for poor minority kids in Chicago.

But, the suburban Republican-Chicago Black relationship has been forged at least in the State Senate.

Evidence of that is the YouTube you see here. It features State Senator Dan Duffy, who represents the central eastern part of McHenry County, speaking at the Rev. Meeks’ Chicago church.

Here is how Duffy explains what happened:

There has been a lot of negative talk about Springfield and the extreme partisan politics that is common in Illinois.

State Senators Dan Duffy and James Meeks hug before Duffy speaks. Matt Murphy, to the right, had already faced the same welcome.

However there is also a behind the scenes story of a strong, bi-partisan relationship that is developing between some Republicans and Democrats.

Some Republicans visited Rev. Meeks church early last month in and effort to support his school voucher / opportunity scholarships bill.

Rev. Meeks also discussed red light cameras at the service.  Even though the bills discussed have not passed yet…momentum is growing and support is building on both sides of the aisle.  This is just the beginning of the debate for these issues.

John Cullerton during his Democrats successful attempt to pass a 67% income tax hike through the Illinois Senate.

Hearing Palatine’s State Senator Matt Murphy question why legislative leaders had state paid vehicles brought back the memory of how the practice started.

Mike Madigan was House Speaker, of course.

He and fellow Democrats were abolishing the quasi-independent Legislative Investigating Commission.

Legislators who controlled realized they could get publicity by uncovering corruption.

That’s the group who revealed the bookie operation out of the Pinemoor Hotel across the street from the First Congregational Church in Crystal Lake.

So, Madigan, et al, decided to get rid of the agency.

But the agency had investigators.

Those investigators had cars.

Who ended up with the cars?

You get one guess.

That’s right.

The legislative leaders.

At first they were used to get leaders to and from the airport.

Heaven forbid that they drive between their homes and Springfield like ordinary legislators.

From reading of Cullerton’s son’s arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, I see the sedans have been upgraded to a SUV.

Lord Acton’s famous quote, the shorthand of which comes to mind:

“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Algonquin Township 19 Republican Precinct Committeeman Joe Stecker must have endorsed Kirk Dillard for governor because he got almost twice as many votes as his nearest competitor Andy McKenna.

Take a look at the results for governor in these 2 of 68 Algonquin Township precincts (listed in ballot order and excluding electronic, absentee and early votes);

• Dillard 35
• Brady 6
• Schillerstrom (who dropped out and endorsed Jim Ryan) 0
• Andrzejewski 8
• Proft 12
• Ryan 17
• McKenna 20

In my Algonquin Township Precinct 7 there were radically different results.

• Dillard 13
• Brady 5
• Schillerstrom 1
• Andrzejewski 7
• Proft 8
• Ryan 9
• McKenna 30

For lieutenant governor, Algonquin 19 turned out this way:

• Tracy 5
• Plummer 35
• White 4
• Cole 4
• Murphy 31
• Cook 4

In Algonquin 7 the paper ballot votes were

• Tracy 1
• Plummer 18
• Cole 3
• Murphy 31
• Cole 6

In Algonquin 19, Congressman Mark Kirk won 59 to 16 for Hughes to 10 for Lowery to 5 for Martin. I don’t have totals for Arrington and Thomas. Sorry.

In Algonquin 7, the totals were Kirk – 38, Hughes – 11, Thomas – 9, Lowery – 5, Martin – 4, Arrington – 2.

In any event, as virtually everyone predicted Kirk is victorious.

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 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.

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.

While the McHenry County Young Republicans met Sunday in Crystal Lake’s Veterans Acres for a Petition Party, they will meet tonight at 7 PM at the upscale 1776 Restaurant on Route 14 in Crystal Lake.

The YR weekly newsletter reports that the following candidates attended their Petition Party:

• Congressman Don Manzullo
• State Senator/Gubernatorial Candidate Matt Murphy from Palatine
• United State Senate Candidate Ed Varga from Richmond
• McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren
• McHenry County Treasurer Bill LeFew
• McHenry County Board Members/Candidates

= = = = =
Gubernatorial candidate State Senator Matt Murphy can be seen in the red shirt to the left of the top photo and on the left hand side facing right in the bottom picture. Sheriff Keith Nygren is sitting at the picnic table in the top shot looking right. His wife Marge is sitting across from him. Standing behind Nygren in that same picture is County Treasurer Bill LeFew. STAR 105 FM radio newsman Stew Cohen is standing next to LeFew, facing the end of the table. YR Jon Heideman, who is running for Republican precinct committeeman in Nunda 19, is in the foreground right looking away from the camera. He was the grill master.

In the bottom photo, McHenry County Board candidate John Jung is center right facing right next to Brent Smith. Again, you can see YR Jon Heideman’s back in the foreground left.

Details below are provided by youngish Republican Joe Stefani, a newly-elected member of the Algonquin Library Board:

“Last night I was invited to sit down for dinner with State Senator Matt Murphy along with several other younger Republicans from McHenry County at Nick’s Pizza & Pub in Crystal Lake.

“The only things I have heard about State Senator Murphy before last night was what I had read in the press, so I took a few minutes before going last night to do some research on Murphy and thought carefully on what I was going to ask him.

“With myself I have to think about locally what his impact will be but also in Rockford, where my minor league baseball team will begin playing next season.

“I’ve met a lot of candidates in my day, but Murphy floored me in a way that no others had.

“He was extremely personable like no other I met before, answered numerous challenging questions but most importantly, he actually did something that very few candidates have done so far in Illinois on the Republican side, he painted a picture for all of us there and actually made it one we could actually believe in and not one full of false promises.

“State Senator Murphy said he was on a mission to make Illinoisans proud of their state once again.

“After last night, I think that this guy might be the new face of the Republican party here in Illinois.”

McHenry County Blog has written this article about Murphy’s Senate floor opposition to the Democrats’ 67% income tax hike bill, Senate Bill 744.

Murphy is from Palatine.

A 50% income tax hike was not high enough. Slot machines in every convenience store and tavern wouldn’t tempt enough people.

Senate Democrats caved into the Rev. and Senator James Meeks’ goal and voted 31-27-1 to raise income tax rates 67%, plus putting sales taxes on 39 services, including internet service providers, cable television, photocopying, private clubs, dating services, oil exchange and goodness knows what else, except sponsor Senator John Cullerton told the Senate that barbers had been left alone.

I guess they talk so much they are dangerous.

Speaking against the bill were

• Lake Barrington’s Dan Duffy
• DuPage County’s Kirk Dillard
• LaSalle’s County’s Gary Dahl
• Okawville ‘s David Luechtefeld
• Dixon’s Tim Bivens
• Bloomington’s Bill Brady
• Chenoa’s Dan Rutherford
• Palatine’s Matt Murphy

Silent was Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno.

By far the most effective was Matt Murphy.

He is in the Ronald Reagan of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

His best line was,

“To me this is a prescription to win the race with Michigan to the economic bottom of this nation.”

Murphy began by asking that people disagree agreeably, that they not take the debate personally.

Next he moved onto the fact that Illinois is “one of 7 states with fewer jobs than we had ten years ago.

“That means $4,000 in lost taxes for every job we don’t have.

“The people in this state are leaving. They are assessing the value of the American Dream and are sadly finding it someplace else.

He said the proposal was “the highest tax increase in Illinois history.

Then, he compared Illinois with Michigan.

Murphy warned Democrats that the promise of property tax relief held out by Senator Meeks and others in promoting Senate Bill 750 would backfire, just as the lottery did.

People heard Zeke Giorgi tell them that the lottery would solve the problem of funding education and were surprised when it did not. (In fact, the lottery was passed to fund the Regional Transportation Authority in 1974, which Murphy apparently did not know or his point would have stronger. The lottery was not earmarked for education until the mic-1980′s when the next generation of legislators got tried of complaints that it wasn’t going to education.)

Murphy was referring to the so-called “tax swap” part of the bill.

People will think,

“My property tax bill is finally going down.

“It’s not.

“It’s going up.”

Had Murphy (or anyone else) a longer perspective, they might have pointed out that (and I’m virtually certain I am correct here) have pointed out that the property tax credit used to be 10%, but was cut back to 5% in order to use the money for something else in the budget.

“Be careful. Be careful,” he said.

He again assuaged the feelings of the bill’s supporters.

“I appreciate the Senate, the intentions of the (supporters of the bill).

“If you look at Governor Quinn’s budget, it balances.”

“You can come up with cuts (to balance the budget).

“I did my homework. I didn’t share it, Mr. President. I didn’t share it,” referring to Senate President John Cullerton’s chiding of Republicans for not coming up with suggested cuts.

“You can make the cuts.

“You don’t have to raise taxes.

“To fund the pension, you may have to short term borrow.

Referring to the bill, Murphy concluded by saying,

“This is a dagger hanging over the head of everyone in Illinois.”

There were so many other good arguments by Republican senators.

But it’s late and I’m tired. Maybe I’ll find time to give some of the other speeches justice tomorrow.

If the House doesn’t decide to follow the Senate Democrats’ lead and try to mortally wound Illinois.

I do want to tell you that Murphy’s demeanor and presentation impressed me the most.

Is he running for governor?

Oh, yes.

With Rockford Republican Dave Syverson leading the way for the GOP, Lake County’s Terry Link managed to pass his bill to put casinos in Waukegan, Rockford, Danville and Chicago. The vote was 30-28-0. It failed the first time up.

State Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Rochelle), who represents part of the Rockford area, verified the vote, that is, made sure the 30 votes necessary to pass a bill in the Senate really were on the floor.

The Senate lists the bill being debated on its web site as it broadcasts debates. Senate Bill 174 was the 67% income tax hike and service sales tax imposition bill. Senate Bill 744 was the casino bill. Murphy has a photo with the casino bill’s number under his name because he spoke against that bill.