2010 Election

Annual fundraising totals for Governor Blagojevich (from Tom Kacich):

2007 -- $2.43 million raised
2006 -- $11.4 million
2005 -- $6.56 million
2004 -- $5.91 million
2003 -- $5.29 million
2002 -- $19.1 million
2001 -- 3.3 million

Please note - in 2007, Blagojevich also paid about $1 million in legal bills out of that $2.4 million raised, he has less than $1 million left in the bank, and he's stated publicly that he plans to run for re-election in 2010.

Good times.

CapFax is teasing a poll that has Gov. Blagojevich's positive/negative at 20/63.  Rich has also been saying for a few weeks that he's been told that Blagojevich is certainly running for re-election in 2010.

Go here for more, with more promised for tomorrow.

At this point four years ago, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was in the midst of an unparalleled fundraising binge, raising almost $15 million for his 2006 re-election campaign.

Has pressure from Federal investigators caused him to postpone or eliminate a similiar fundraising effort this year, in preparation for 2010?

Scofield told me the same thing when I called him about this over a month ago. He also claimed that Blagojevich had put off his annual funder because of the overtime session fights. So far, though, I haven’t heard of any major fundraising activity yet.

The governor has shown time and time again that he can raise lots of cash at the drop of a hat, so I’m not sure this means too much. Then again, the longer he waits to raise money, the more speculation will abound that he may not be running for a third term, which will make him a lame duck in some minds.

Jake Parillo has some great ideas for how a GOP candidate could use the internet and technology to better position themselves for a 2010 campaign for Governor in Illinois.  Included:

7. Create and iterate. Repeat. With the freedom of this new organization and the right folks involved, this group should be empowered to think “big” and get creative. The costs are mostly in staff related expenses. Treat it like a minor start-up within the campaign. Give them the autonomy to do what they want and the results will help the overall campaign as long as the right person is running the operation and has the clearance from the top to get the most out of this setup. What kind of staff do you need? I dunno. Say: 1 on camera talent, one dynamo who can film/edit, one generalist on the web, an engineer or two, and some outreach folks.

There’s all the other pieces of the web that fit into different parts of the campaign like list building, email distribution, fundraising, text messaging, messaging overall, and volunteer development. Those are important, but that’s blocking and tackling. In 2 years everyone will be doing that stuff. The really fun part of being in a campaign would be to be the first to create this new news/reporting bureau within a campaign. Start on the ground floor. Do it right and the impact would be huge.

Of course, I'm more pessimistic than he is - I don't think any of the GOP candidates will even consider such a high level of online activity.  Instead, we'll get more straw polls at the State Fair.

Gov. Blagojevich has been quietly pushing a plan to increase taxes on employers in Illinois.  Crain's has a very interesting article that talks about the planned new structure and its potential impact on Illinois government revenues and the job creation climate in Illinois.

You should read the whole thing, but I wanted to cherry-pick some quotes for your attention:

Gov. Blagojevich's proposal — the gross-receipts tax — has been tried elsewhere. Ohio and Texas recently adopted such a tax, but only as part of a broader restructuring in which other, more onerous taxes were eliminated. Michigan just junked its gross-receipts tax after gripes that it put its firms at a competitive disadvantage.

Michigan has one of the highest unemployment rates in America - some of which is clearly due to the downturn in the American automobile industry.  But why would we want to mimic any of their policies that may have been a contributing factor to 7%+ unemployment?

And:

Mr. Johnson, the former revenue director, raises another concern: research indicating that about 70% of the cost of levies such as a gross-receipts tax either are passed on to consumers or forced onto workers in the form of lower wages, he says.

It's going to be sold as a tax on employers, but it's going to hurt private sector investment in Illinois, and much of the cost is going to passed onto consumers and workers.  How is this a good idea?

Another:

Mr. Miller figures his tax bill would almost quadruple if Illinois supplants its corporate income tax with a 1% gross-receipts tax, reducing his after-tax profit by more than 20%. In addition, he predicts the cost of raw materials he buys in Illinois would rise as suppliers try to pass on the costs of their own gross-receipts taxes.

"You have to understand where we are already: Illinois is our highest-cost place to do business," says the president of the 117-year-old family-owned firm, which employs 223 in Illinois and 91 elsewhere. If a gross-receipts tax is enacted, "we won't expand the Illinois plant and we will look to reduce things we do in Illinois."

One more:

Gregory Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers' Assn., adding that the group will consider any proposal but is prepared to fight its passage in the General Assembly [said,] "I hope the governor is candid enough to just say that he needs $3 billion more for new spending."

That's right - this isn't the result of a deficit, or to pay back money swiped from pension plans or medical providers.  This is for new spending on new programs.

Please read the whole thing.

I apologize for the spammy feel of this as my first blog entry at IlliniPundit, but we at The Minority Report decided that a splash was in order.

Give TMR a look, click "About" and "Who", and join up if you want.

Especially, take note of Barack Who?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Minority Report Blog Launched

Los Angeles, February 1, 2007 - Bloggers today unveiled The Minority Report Blog (theminorityreportblog.com). The site will bring a decidedly different perspective on political news and events as seen by numerous seasoned blog contributors.

The Minority Report Blog views are generally aligned with Republican policies and conservative political perspectives. However, the site provides an opportunity for serious comments from users across the political spectrum. It will also provide links to political news headlines and other related sites of interest.

"We saw the relegation of Republican party to minority status as an opportunity' said The Minority Report Blog founder Steven Foley, "An opportunity to provide commentary from a different perspective with the aim of regaining the majority and holding it".

The blog and more information can be found at: theminorityreportblog.com

Contact:
Steven Foley or Administration @
The Minority Report Blog

Administration@theminorityreportblog.com

The Gov wants universal preschool, new college scholarships, and a grant program to reduce grade school class sizes - all at a time when we can't make our pension contributions.

Apparently there is dissension in the Dem ranks in the GA, and AFSCME has been running an ad campaign trying to get their priorities funded.

Dems, is it too early to be looking toward the Lisa Madigan campaign of 2010?

Back in September, Instapundit and Truth Liad Bear put together a movement to try and secure reductions in Congressional pork projects to pay for the massive costs of Federal Aid for rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

Unexpectedly, freshman celebrity Sen. Barack Obama, in this op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, seems to be embracing the concept.

It's time for a return to responsibility in the budget process.

I know there are Democrats who don't want to give up spending, Republicans who don't want to give up any tax breaks for the wealthy and members of both parties who don't want to give up pet projects back home, but now is a time for shared sacrifice. Americans want members of both parties to put all options on the table to start solving this problem.

I believe that we can quickly find $100 billion for Gulf Coast reconstruction with a balanced approach that finds half the money in spending cuts and half the money in the delay and repeal of tax breaks, primarily for millionaires.

To cut $50 billion in spending, we could put a two-year moratorium on all pet projects and other local spending. We could defer projects such as the $10 billion mission to Mars or eliminate unnecessary business subsidies.

We could drop funding that gives private companies extra incentives to participate in the new Medicare drug program--as the Senate already has agreed to do, though the White House has refused thus far.

We could save Medicaid money by increasing the rebates that brand-name drug manufacturers owe the program.

Rather than this measured approach, some in Congress have advocated indiscriminate across-the-board cuts. This is an irresponsible approach.

In their own budgets, Americans don't cut back on essentials such as food, heating and health care before first forgoing luxuries, and Congress shouldn't either.

Others intent on cutting spending have pointed to Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" as a wasteful project. I agree and believe that it represents the first type of project we should cut. But it's wrong to single out one state's pork project. If we're serious about shared responsibility, let's eliminate all pork projects in all states.

While I think he spends too much effort promoting tax increases, at least he's advocating serious spending cuts, too.  Kudos to Sen. Obama, and let's hope that other legislators in Illinois will follow suit.

(Oh, and for the record: I support the Fiscal Watch Team Offset Package.  Let's see if the Ecosystem scans can pick that up.)

I've seen nothing mentioned locally, but according to ArchPundit, Senator Barack Obama will be hosting a pair of town hall meetings in East Central Illinois:

Thursday, August 18, 2005
CHAMPAIGN:
Time: 12:45 P.M.
Location: Illinois Terminal, 4th Floor, 45 E. University

DANVILLE:
Time: 2:45 P.M.
Location: Danville Area Community College, Vermilion Hall Room 306, 200
East Main Street

Given the schedule, I'd bet each event will last roughly an hour. I wonder if the Champaign County Health Care Consumers will pack the room like they did to Congressman Tim Johnson on Monday?

The News-Gazette Sunday had an article that points out how Barack Obama has kept a low profile in Washington while maintaining rock star status across the country. Obama was able to go through last year's Senate race without raising any red flags regarding his liberal positions. Back to back scandals by millionaires Blair Hull and Jack Ryan gave Obama the luxury of campaigning as the nice guy and sweeping to a huge electoral victory.

So far, Obama hasn't shown any inclination to put his left foot to far forward. Aside from his rather odd comparison of his upper middle class roots with Abraham Lincoln's remarkably difficult life, Obama has made no missteps.

But now Obama has his first major vote to show Illinois voters just where he will align himself. If he votes against John Roberts for the Supreme Court, he will demonstrate that he is part of the fringe of the Democratic Party. If he votes for Roberts, he'll manage to hold onto the facade of moderation that much longer.

Obama was put into office by the far left wing of the Democratic Party. I'll be surprised if he bucks them and votes to put the eminently qualified Roberts on the bench.