Posts tagged ‘Pat Quinn’
by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
The war on the middle class continues to be waged on both sides of the aisle. This is less of a comprehensive blog about the topic and more of a call to action. After America more or less lost our manufacturing base and moved to a service economy that exports bad debt as our main source of GDP, Wall Street types decided to start making profits off of government services. In Illinois, this means that the fight to protect our education system from Wall Street profiteers is on. An Oregon-based organization is pushing legislation that will deter the best and brigthest from teaching and ultimately enter Illinois’ schools into the race to the bottom.
State Representative Keith Farnham, an Elgin Democrat, is holding a town hall forum at the Gail Borden Public Library (270 N. Grove St., Elgin, IL) on Wednesday, Dec. 29th at 7:00 p.m.
Representative Farnham is on the education committee and it is important that he hear from teachers, parents and community activists before returning to Springfield in January. It is believed that this legislation is being put together in a hurry and that it is part of a backroom deal (Republicans will get a large part of their anti-middle class agenda in exchange for a tax increase). It is expected to pass before January 11th, 2011 (when the new assembly takes office).
This bill does not have an official number yet, but here is a screen capture of part of the copy that I obtained. Click the pic to read the most significant part. Click the link to read the entire bill.
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Tags: education, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Keith Farnham, legislation, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Stand for Children, teachers
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by John Laesch, posted on Saturday, December 4th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
While the Illinois General Assembly has yet to create jobs, pass a balanced budget, or find a way to fund the $80B pension liability, they did a very courageous thing during veto session by passing a civil unions bill. This strikes me as one of the biggest “change” votes taken by the ILGA and perhaps the biggest act of courage in my memory. It was a positive step forward for residents of Illinois as we seek to join other states who view equality as a centerpiece for social and economic justice.
In the 21st century, I find it hard to believe that there are still people in Springfield and Washington who honestly feel that some in our society should be treated like second class citizens in the eyes of the government. But, some still voted “nay.” You can see the entire Senate vote here. You can see the entire House vote here.
If you agree that this is a good step for Illinois, please call or write members in the Fox Valley to let express appreciation or disappointment. Altough he has delayed signing the bill until 2011, it is expected that Governor Quinn (312-814-2121 / Online Contact Form) will sign the bill. It probably does not hurt to send the Governor a note to thank him for his support of equality. See list of Fox Valley Representatives below.
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Tags: Chris Lauzen, civil unions, Fox Valley, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Kay Hatcher, Keith Farnham, legislation, LGBT, Linda Chapa LaVia, Linda Holmes, Mike Fortner, Mike Noland, Pat Quinn, Tim Schmitz, Tom Cross
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by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 7:34 am
By now most political insiders already know that green yard signs will read, Quinn-Simon for the November 2010 election cycle. My perspective on the selection process might be slightly different from others, so, I decided to pen my own version. I covered the initial candidate selection process last week.
Crowds of Turner and
Krishnamoorthi supporters were shivering in the cool morning air when we arrived at
The Inn in Springfield around 9:35 a.m. on Saturday morning. These were the only campaigns that seemed to mobilize supporters. In advance of this morning’s event, I only know of three candidates who were working phones up until the last minute to get votes. Sheila Simon and Dirk Enger were calling all committeemen and Raja Krishnamoorthi seems to have invested about six weeks of time calling, e-mailing and snail mailing all of the 38 State Central Committee (SCC) members, was still calling for support.
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Tags: 2010 elections, Art Turner, Dirk Enger, Illinois, Illinois Democratic Party, Jasper St. Angel, Lieutenant Governor, Megan Drilling, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Sheila Simon
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by Jennifer Laesch, posted on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
This afternoon I received a call from Sheila Simon, one of the 16 finalists in the Lt. Governor selection process. Simon said that she was one of Governor Quinn’s top picks and wanted to know if that would influence my vote.
I told her that the Democratic Party needs to restore some integrity and go back to being a party that lives up to our promises. That being said, I’ve already given my word to Dirk Enger that I would nominate and support his candidacy.
I have been around long enough to put two and two together and it would not surprise me if Governor Quinn will announce his support for Sheila Simon tomorrow.
Governor Quinn has indicated that he will weigh in regarding his preference in this matter before Saturday and Mike Madigan has stated that he would honor Quinn’s wishes.
Tags: 2010 elections, Dirk Enger, Illinois, Illinois Democratic Party, Lieutenant Governor, Pat Quinn, Sheila Simon
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by John Laesch, posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
On Saturday, March 20th, I took careful notes while attending one of the six public forums used to select a Democratic Lieutenant Governor. I was at the Bolingbrook location, where 20 of the 40 anticipated applicants showed up to audition.
As a political activist and candidate, I have been to literally hundreds of coffees, fundraisers, rallies, press conferences and political events as part of the grueling process of running for public office. Based on this experience, I think I can state with some authority that the first-round selection process used to vet potential candidates to be Governor Quinn’s running mate brought out the best candidates I have ever seen in a room full of people seeking public office.
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Tags: 2010 elections, Dean Koldenhoven, Dirk Enger, Illinois, Illinois Democratic Party, Lieutenant Governor, Pat Quinn
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by Fox Valley For Quinn, posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
100 Days of Reform
Because Rod Blagojevich is still looking for a post-political TV gig, the title of this blog post should probably be 100 days of reform and leadership under Governor Pat Quinn.
Following the attempted sale of Barack Obama’s Senate seat and the subsequent removal of pay-to-play Rod, Illinois voters have had a taste of democracy under Pat Quinn. You all weighed in on Blagojevich and you deserve an opportunity to weigh in on the Quinn reform agenda.
We have had more progress under Governor Pat Quinn than we did under both of his predecessors who are, or will be in jail. We will use the space below to highlight Quinn’s 108 days of success, make a case for keeping Governor Pat Quinn and encourage Speaker Madigan to get behind Quinn’s reform agenda.
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Tags: 2010 elections, campaign finance reform, Governor, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Reform Commission, John Cullerton, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, pay-to-play, Rod Blagojevich
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by Downtowner, posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Originally posted at Fireside 14, Prairie State Blue, Open Left and MyDD.
What happens in Podunk shouldn’t stay there. Or at least if it does, the Democratic Party Establishment, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party, the Blue Dogs among us, will have won one more unrecorded battle against those of us who want real change.
What’s happening most immediately in the IL-14 corner of Podunk (a term I use here to describe anything not directly inside the DC Beltway) is a primary and a special primary on Tuesday, between the DC insider “pick” for our district, an attorney who is a relative newcomer to both politics and our area, and John Laesch, the nominee against Denny Hastert last time out, and the only progressive in the race.
At this point, I’d call it a significant bellwether for the upcoming Congressional elections that virtually no one outside of IL-14 is paying much attention to in the glare of the presidential race, as well as a bellwether event in the battle for control of the party. So while I don’t expect this diary to get much attention, I want to leave a record of what has happened in this primary. Bellwethers, however unobserved at the time, sometimes have a way of becoming useful history for those who follow.
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Tags: 2008 elections, Bill Foster, Blue Dogs, Democrats, Dick Durbin, IL-14, Illinois, John Laesch, Pat Quinn, Pete Giangreco, Phil Hare, progressives, Rahm Emanuel, Special election, Steny Hoyer, Tammy Duckworth, The Strategy Group, U. S. House
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