The tragedy of Illinois' statewide elections -- the poor voters!

Broadway Bank, the clout-heavy insider institution smothered in controversy that financed the Giannoulias family, shut down this week. But while it's doors may have closed in one respect -- to be opened and managed by the Federal Government -- it's closing opens a huge and ugly door on the truth about the elections this November.

The poor voters. We get screwed by the Republicans. We get screwed by the Democrats. We get screwed by the Health Insurance robber barons. And we get screwed by the Banks and their credit card rip-off schemes. And now we get screwed again by being denied a decent choice among the disarray of pathetic and poorly qualified candidates running for statewide office this November.

No politically motivated Tea Party Movement pandering to the egos of some maniacal Conservative Republican nut jobs like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin can save us.

We should be screaming about the poor quality of many of the candidates we're being force-fed, but voters are so pathetic themselves they won't even bother to vote. So whose fault is it?

Look at the election "field of screams."

For the race for U.S. Senate, our choice is Alexi Giannoulias, a candidate who made no mark of any significance in the office of Illinois Treasurer, his first real elective office. He did nothing there, except defend the banks and the credit card companies. Now, he wants to be our U.S. Senator, in the seat once held by President Barack Obama and now held by lame duck U.S. Senator Roland Burris.

What is Giannoulias's credentials? He is a basketball pal of President Obama. Not one great idea to helpt he taxpayers. Not one principled stand against the bankers -- obviously because he comes from a banking family that has a history of high profile controversial insider deals. How much money did the Giannoulias family take from Broadway Bank before it shut down? I read someplace they took more than $70 million. Paid themselves first.

And now Giannoulias wants to be our Senator.

No way. No how. And I am a Democrat.

On the other hand, who is our alternative choice. Self-serving PR-savvy double-talking flipflopper Congressman Mark Kirk who built his career exploiting the Iraq War where he served as a celebrity pilot in a reserve unit in the conflict. Not a hero. He just served. For us regular people who served in the military, we barely get a thank you. For Mark Kirk the politician with the mouth that never stops bragging, he wants to use his routine performance in the military -- he did what he was supposed to do and nothing more (which is sadly more than most of the people screaming for war over the past eight years have done), and now he expects to be rewarded with the high-paying powerful job of U.S. Senator.

No way. No how.

Then look at the equally pathetic race for Governor, filling the vacancy left by the scandal-plagued blow-hard and arrogant former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Although he was unfairly treated by the U.S. Justice Department and the Illinois Legislature, the fact is Blow-hard Blagojevich made it all possible with his stupid public comments and his selfish political style.

We're supposed to believe that his successor -- and his former running mate -- Pat Quinn is going to set the boat straight and get this state back on its feet from the deep hole the state's political leaders have dug for the taxpayers over the years by caring for themselves and not caring for the interests of the state's economically deprived citizens.

Quinn is pathetic. A hypocrite. It's all about him. His career. he has been trying so hard to get to the top he has forgotten how to be a reformer. He's arrogant just like everyone of his predecessors and who knows what controversies he will step in when given the reigns of power.

His tax increase is the WORST idea. Instead of tightening his belt and cutting the fat from HIS administration, he's already stripping funds from communities across the state, crippling the budgets of many of the programs the people of Illinois need to survive, and placing the burden of the economic catastrophe we have in Illinois created by Pat Quinn, Alexi Giannoulias, Mark Kirk and all of the statewide elected officials on the shoulders of the taxpayers who never had a chance to begin with.

The elections and the government on the state level are rigged.

No way. No how.

And then there is Bill Brady, the downstate Senator. Such a sad missed opportunity when he was elected instead of State Senator Kirk Dillard, the one person who offered this state hope. Dillard could easily defeat Quinn. Brady cannot. In fact, every time Brady opens his mouth, he "steps in it" and you know what the "it" is. Here is a guy who is so rich that he refuses to release his income taxes. Why? He says because he wants to protect his business partners.

Well, if you really wanted to protect your business partners, you NEVER would have run for public office to benefit yourself. What have you EVER done as a State Senator besides moo with the rest of the herded legislative cows?

Brady is playing a cheap game of deception when he says he will releases his income taxes for three hours only for the viewing of reporters, at his Springfield offices. Not release them to the public. He doesn't want to public to know what he has done and how rich he is and how much he has profited. God forbid we might discover something shady about his business conduct and the only way to know if a politician is "clean" is to see their full tax returns.

The legislature should make it mandatory that candidates for public office should be REQUIRED to release their income tax forms as a part of their filing and all of their subsequent income tax forms MUST be filed ON TIME and in every year they hold public office OR are running for public office. To do anything less is a slap int he face of the voters.

No way. No how.

So who do we vote for? The pathetic third parties who want to tell that one of their candidates "won" 10 percent of a vote in some past election. That's not winning. That's losing by a landslide and it's a reflection on their inability to convince voters of their programs.

We're screwed.

Our only hope is this:

1 -- The Democrats force Giannoulais to step down and replace him with someone else. If they don't Illinois will be stuck with Kirk for six years of misery and suffering and poor leadership. Kirk is a conservative fanatic trying to appease voters with his phony "I'm a moderate Republican" BS.

The sad irony here is that Burris has proven to be the BEST US Senator this state has had in a long time. He has voted his conscience and on what's best for the citizens. All that BS about him being tainted because he was appointed by Blow-hard Blagojevich is Balgojevich Baloney.

2 -- Pat Quinn needs to get his act together and do some serious rethinking of everything he holds dear. Otherwise, we will get stuck with Brady, another Republican insider who will destroy this state through inept leadership and partisan political agendas. Blagojevich was right about Quinn, but not in a caring way for the taxpayers, rather, because it made him feel good about the mess he helped create for himself.

As for the rest of the candidates running for public office. None of them mean a hill of beans if they don't have th guts to stand up and tell the voters what needs to be said. They are so afraid of creating enemies they just want to slink past and win office. They don't want to rock the boat at all. They just want to get back in office, because the only place safe in today's economy is in an elected office where health and pension benefits come almost free picked from the low-hanging taxpayer funded broken state branches.

At least this year, voters who don't waste their time caring about the miserable state of our government and politics will have a legitimate excuse to stay home and let the insiders take everything and destroy everything all at the same time.

We'll be talking about this topic on my radio show this week beginning Monday morning at 8 am. Call in, if you care. Snooze if you're happy with the garbage we call statewide government.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Pat Maher candidacy in 17th District may have helped chip away at cousin Hynes' victory

Many people were surprised that Patrick Maher did so well in the Democratic Primary for the 17th Cook County District, but Maher was always the 800 pound gorilla in the election. He won the right to face-off with  Republican Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman, the two term incumbent who has built a very strong record during the past two years fighting to reduce taxes for taxpayers.

Maher's win should not have been surprising, though. He is the first cousin of outgoing Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, who waged a powerful fight against lame incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn. Pat Maher's father, Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher, is the brother of Dan Hyne's mother, Judy Maher Hynes. (I have to say the Hynes' family is one of the best. I voted for Dan, despite trepidation over the 19th Ward headlock of Orland Township.)

The 19th Ward controls Orland Park like a Russian satellite republic, and Orland Park and Orland Township are the heart of the bowling alley 17th District which stretches northward from Orland up to Wheeling Township  and north of Orland Township where Maher's chief challenger Dr. Victor Forys and Donna Sanders. Sanders and Forys split the Democratic opposition vote enough to leave Maher, from the south, with the edge. Sanders is from Orland Hills and her vote totals reflect Maher's weakness going in to the November elections. her supporters will most likely not support Maher and will back Gorman.

But the real key to Maher's success was the Dan Hyne's candidacy for Governor. The Hyne's campaign tied Maher to their hip in the 17th District and 19th Ward precinct captains focused on the district while Hyne's Democratic allies throughout the state worked the rest. In fact, some believe that Hynes, who lost the race against Quinn -- hard to believe but it happened -- lost that race specifically because so many resources were diverted from the one cousin's race to the other.

If Pat Maher wasn't in the race last Tuesday, Dan Hynes might have better apportioned his resources, and funds that were diverted into Maher's coffers would have gone to help Hynes.

The anti-Maher forces in the 17th District siphoned off 11,495 votes that were clearly pushed to the Quinn camp. Hynes only lost to Quinn by about 7,000 votes statewide. Half of that loss, I think, comes from the 17th Cook County District. if Maher had not been in the race, Quinn's allies would not have focused on that district behind Forys and Hynes would have won more votes, narrowing the margin to be "re-countable."

As obnoxious as Quinn is -- declaring victory without having all of the votes counter, Hynes is out for the count. Quinn's future rests not on whether Hynes decides to challenge the results but on who wins the Republican party nomination. if Kirk Dillard comes up from behind to defeat Bill Brady, Dillard would be the strongest candidate to beat Quinn. Brady, being from downstate, might not be able to use that to his advantage the way he did in the primary with all of his rivals coming from DuPage county or Northern Illinois.

Forys had the endorsements of most of the high profile candidates around Quinn, including Quinn himself specifically because of the Hyne's battle. but Quinn has not coattails, only the muscle of Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who is the real governor of Illinois and who would want either a Republican to occupy the executive mansion or a weak Democrat like the showboating PR savvy Quinn.

Another factor in the race was the role of Gorman rival Tony Peraica, whose district will be wiped off the map by fellow commissioners next year after the election. Peraica is the least liked on the board, but he doesn't care about that. Peraica was one of Thompson's strongest allies and helped divide Republicans on the premise they would rather lose a Republican district than come together behind a good incumbent.

Isn't that the sorry state of the Illinois Republican Party overall.

Gorman will have a tough fight on her hands with Maher, but everyone who stands up against higher taxes the way Gorman did against the Stroger tax Machine, always has a tough fight.

Here's some notes below on election results from Cook County Clerk David Orr's office, and financial disclosure totals filed for the last half of 2009, plus A1 donations during the 30 days before the primary election.

17^th District Cook County Board race votes

RACE                                                VOTES CAST                Committeeman Race/Orland

County Bd. Commissioner 17th Dist. Republican     21,221 total votes    6,438 votes

278 of 278 Precincts Reported

%                     Votes               Elizabeth ''Liz'' Doody Gorman (REP)

56.22%             11,930

%                     Votes               Mark Thompson (REP)

43.78%               9,291

County Bd. Commissioner 17th Dist. Democratic     24,004 total votes    3,767 votes

278 of 278 Precincts Reported

%                     Votes               Patrick Maher (DEM)

52.11%             12,509

%                     Votes               Victor Forys (DEM)

26.35%               6,326

%                     Votes               Donna Sanders (DEM)

21.53%               5,169

County Bd. Commissioner 17th Dist. Green Party  108 votes

278 of 278 Precincts Reported

%                     Votes               Richard Dalka (GRN)

47.22%             51

%                     Votes               Matthew J. Ogean (GRN)

52.78%               57

Funds

Maher

Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period	$99,876.03
	Total Receipts	$34,247.63
	Subtotal	$134,123.66
	Total Expenditures	$47,029.71
	Funds available at the close of the reporting period	$87,093.95

Plus $2,000 in 30 days before election

Forys

Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period	$0.00
	Total Receipts	$72,703.55
	Subtotal	$72,703.55
	Total Expenditures	$69,963.43
	Funds available at the close of the reporting period	$2,740.12

$3,800 raised in 30 days before primary and $15,000 loan to himself

Thompson

Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period	$266.99
	Total Receipts	$1,000.00
	Subtotal	$1,266.99
	Total Expenditures	$601.38
	Funds available at the close of the reporting period	$665.61

Plus a $20,000 loan

Gorman

Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period	$107,009.58
	Total Receipts	$162,622.64
	Subtotal	$269,632.22
	Total Expenditures	$197,538.94
	Funds available at the close of the reporting period	$72,093.28

Also $1,000 raised in 30 days before primary

-        -- Ray Hanania

      www.RadioChicagoland.com

Big Democratic guns turnout for Forys in 17th Democratic race

It's not the highest profile political battle in the news media but it is the one with most twist, turns and political pedigree issues. People are lining up in the 17th Cook County Board District, a seat held by Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman who over the past few years has risen to become one of the county's most aggressive champions of taxpayer rights.

Gorman, a Republican, is being challenge by two Democrats who will duke it out in the February 2 Democratic Primary before facing the Gorman juggernaut. They are Pat Maher and Dr. Victor Forys. Maher and Gorman are local rivals from Orland Township. Gorman is the Orland Township Republican Committeewoman and Maher is the President of the Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD). He is also the son of Orland Village Clerk Dave Maher, who is a $75,000-a-year employee of the Cook County Court system, under Stroger's watchful political patronage (Administrative Assistant Level V for the county courts). Forys comes from the northern part of the 17th District.

Forys, who raised large sums of money in the congressional race to succeed Rahm Emanuel in the 5th District, lost to former Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley. But next week, Quigley will join Gov. Pat Quinn and County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who has worked closely with Gorman to fight Todd Stroger's repressive 1 percent sales tax, will come out swinging to endorse Forys, not Maher, in the Democratic Primary. What happens after that primary is anyone's guess.

FIGHTING FOR TAXPAYERS

There are a lot of big issues in the 17th District. Gorman has been on the right side of most during her two terms in the office. She has distinguished herself as a persistent champion of taxpayer rights, winning three major battles for taxpayers.

The first was last year when Gorman was the only county commissioner to challenge a $190,000 county loan to controversial Regional Schools Superintendent Charles Flowers. Flowers budget has since come under scrutiny. A report by the auditor general shows that Flowers has since mismanaged millions of dollars in funds. His office has an annual budget of about $1 million and is reportedly more than $1 million in debt. The audit shows that Flowers has borrowed money to pay for all kinds of expenses, without proper records, but he insisted he has repaid everything.

Gorman was the only voice to challenge Flowers' poor leadership. But this past June, the entire County board joined Gorman to repudiate Flowers and reject the loan and acknowledge Gorman's leadership.

Gorman also has been a key leader in the fight to repeal Stroger's repressive 1 percent sales tax that is chasing Cook County businesses into neighboring counties. Although Stroger prevailed when Deborah "The Hack" Sims flip-flopped supporting the repeal and then denying the repeal the 14 votes needed to override Stroger's anti-taxpayer veto, the fight has become a voter mantra that is expected to drum Todd Stroger out of office in February when he faces off with Congressman Danny K. Davis, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown among many others.

Normally, so many challengers benefit the incumbent, but a recent Chicago Tribune poll shows that Stroger has an approval rating of only 10 percent, lower than the 13 percent for impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

But Gorman's determination to set the county right for taxpayers doesn't end with that high profile sales tax fight. This week, the county board approved an ethics ordinance hailed by the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that forces lobbyists (and candidates for public office who lobby) to disclose the jobs of their relatives on government payrolls to help shine light on insider sweetheart deals that are often the heart of the county's government practices.

19th WARD TIES CAUSE TURMOIL

Stroger's plight and the race for governor are impacting this race directly. Stroger is the son for former Cook County Board President John H. Stroger, who often received huge campaign donations from the nation's top bond counsel, Chapman and Cutler. It so happens that Tom Hynes, the patriarch of 19th Ward politics, is of counsel to the firm, one strong link between the 19th Ward and Stroger, and a reason for the Hynes' family to dislike Gorman, who also has some strong ties to the 19th Ward.

Tom Hynes is a close relative of Patrick Maher through his father, Dave. And, of course, Tom Hynes is the father of  Dan Hynes, the Illinois Comptroller who threw his hat in fast to challenge beleaguered Gov. Pat Quinn.

It's the 19th Ward Hynes honchos who have been working hard over the past several years to install Pat Maher at the OFPD and to take control of Orland Park, which is distinguishing itself as one of the southwest suburbs more monied and affluent communities. They back another Democrat, Paul O'Grady, who took over as Orland Township Supervisor. O'Grady relied heavily on his 19th Ward ties and had 19th ward precinct captains working the election polls this past Spring.

Quinn, Quigley and Suffredin will make their endorsement of Forys at a Forys fundraiser Sept. 29 at White Eagles in Chicago, 6839 N. Milwaukee Ave. Maher just had his own fundraiser at O'Callaghan's, at 29 West Hubbard Street in downtown Chicago, too. The keynote celebrity there was, of course, Tom Hynes. 

I reached out to Maher, who was surprised when I informed him his colleague on the OFPD James Hickey is circulating petitions to challenge State Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the 37th House District. McCarthy is a staunch ally of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who is backing Quinn. Hickey told me he'll discuss his candidacy with me when he gets all his signatures. (Maher says he's supporting McCarthy and he's not supporting Hickey, though many say they are very close.) 

When asked if  Tom Hynes was his "keynote speaker," Maher emailed me back, saying: "Tom Hynes was not my keynote speaker.  He did show up and it was greatly appreciated.  I don’t have all the details but I am quite sure that the guy Liz had go spy on my event (which we all saw) could concur that I had about 70 to 75 coming in and out, not counting staff. Not too bad for something I put together about two or three [weeks] ago downtown where I don’t live or work.  I did not collect the money so I really have no idea how much was collected plus some was mailed in which I did not see either."

(I asked Liz Gorman and she said she had no idea and didn't care.)

Gorman will host her fundraiser this week Thursday (Sept. 17) at Sam McGuire's, which is in the 17th District. Maher has another fundraiser planned for Oct. 9 at Fox's in Orland Park. he's expected to have the backing of Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin, the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman.

Gorman is already leading the pack with donations. Maher's campaign disclosures include many contractors who do business with Orland Park and the OFPD, friends of his father and the mayor, no doubt. Forys has funds from his professional contacts and past election supporters. I'll have a detailed analysis of everyone's recent disclosures in an upcoming post.

                                                      

In the meantime, the cross-dynamics of this battle reflect the complex lines that crisscross some of the biggest races in the news, for county board president and for Illinois governor, and intersect with some big family and Chicago political names.

-- Ray Hanania

19th Ward targets Madigan's legislative soft spots in February primary: Hickey goes after McCarthy

Newly elected Orland Fire Protection District Trustee and home mortgage broker James P. Hickey apparently is changing his focus from the Orland Fire Protection District and now its his political agenda that is on the fast track. He has set aside the ambitious agenda he once set out to help improve the OFPD and has his sights on something bigger and better.

Hickey, who just won election to the OFPD, has his petitions on the street seeking nomination in the Democratic Primary against one of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan's stalwarts, Kevin McCarthy, who has represented the 37th District since 1997. (I haven't had a chance to speak with Hickey to find out if he is circulating them or if backers are trying to draft him.)

It's amazing how political egos go right to the top and public service goes right out the window in cases like this. Sources say Hickey is boasting, accurately, that his huge win in the OFPD race this past Spring shows how "powerful" he is.

Hickey's term in office at the controversy-plagued OFPD runs until 2015. I am not sure if this is some kind of twisted strategy to help Pat Maher -- who IS related to Orland Village Clerk David Maher (the Maher's are very sensitive to people claiming to be relatives as we saw recently) -- by fielding candidates and bringing out the Democratic vote in the 17th District where Maher apparently is running against Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman? Maher has to first defeat Dr. Victor Forys who has a knack of raising huge funds. He did respectfully in the recent race for Rahm Emanuel's vacated Congressional seat which was won by independent County Commissioner Mike Quigley.

Are Maher and Hickey are working together? Their petitions are being circulated together.

But maybe Hickey and Maher don't understand the Madigan powerhouse. The fact is Mike Madigan doesn't take challenges like this lightly. While I have hammered Madigan in the past, the fact is Madigan is tight with Gov. Pat Quinn who succeeded impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Hickey is being backed by the 19th Ward which has its tentacles all over Orland Park and Orland Township and were rock-solid behind the candidacy of another recent victor, Paul O'Grady in the surprise Orland Township election victory.

But it's Hickey, a young recent entrant who has been fired up by his election victory who is promoting himself as the future of Orland Park and its ties to the 19th ward. (The Maher's, who backed Hickey, are related to 19th Ward honchoes including the one I have always admired the most, Tom Hynes. Hynes' son, Dan Hynes, now the Illinois Comptroller, is running for governor against Pat Quinn, Madigan's candidate.)

Is the Hickey candidacy a subtle message to Madigan from the 19th Ward because Madigan is not backing Hynes?

Madigan doesn't need any subtle messages. The guy is supremo when it comes to politics and strategy. You don't go up against him and expect to have a future in politics, if you are smart.

The protagonists will all be together at the Tinley Park parade today. Gorman has been invited by Tinley Mayor Ed Zabrocki to walk with his government officials. Maher is expected to be there and watch for Hickey's petitions to be circulating. 

Here's the vote turnout for the OFPD elections. Despite a big ego, Hickey barely won 50 percent of the district vote. Cindy Nelson Katsenes, a former OFPD trustee who has challenged Maher's rule there, came second.

James P. Hickey 3958 49.57%

Cynthia Nelson Katsenes 1539 19.28%
Robert K. Brennan 1119 14.02%
Christopher Ciciora 959 12.01%
John Jacobsma 409 5.12%

-- Ray Hanania

http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Lisa Madigan says she's not a candidate and that's big news: what does it say about those left who are running?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alexi Giannoulias: Who?

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

The public: They are left out in the cold.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com