Sunday Headlines

Check back today.  If any new polling data out, we’ll post. 

Think you’re done with politics for awhile after Tuesday?  Think again!  You’ll get to follow the Chicago Mayoral race with Rahm Emanuel, and locally, City Council races begin.  Not to mention some others. . . . in the court/justice system perhaps?

Here are some national headlines.  Enjoy your Sunday.

Voter Unrest Echoes ‘94, Poll Shows – Jon Cohen & Dan Balz, Washington Post
Prepare for a New American Revolution – Janet Daley, The Telegraph
Can the Dude Abide? – Maureen Dowd, New York Times
Obama Scoops, But Dems Left Holding the Bag – John Kass, Chicago Tribune
A Rally Signifying Absolutely Nothing – David Zurawik, Baltimore Sun
In Nevada, It’s a New Ground Game – Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
Yes We Can….Change It Back – Sherman Frederick, Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Grand Old Plot Against the Tea Party – Frank Rich, New York Times
A Majority, If the GOP Can Keep It – Bob Barr, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democrats Blaming the Victims – Nolan Finley, Detroit News
The Looming Rare Earths Train Wreck – Robert Bryce, RealClearScience
Why Big-Time CEOs Make Terrible Politicians – Michael Hiltzik, LA Times
What to Watch for on Tuesday – George Will, Washington Post
Will Politicians Stay in Denial? – Margaret Wente, Globe & Mail
3 Unorthodox Things Obama Can Do to Fix Economy – Noam Scheiber, TNR
Why the Stimulus Hasn’t Helped – Jeffrey Miron, Harvard University
GOP Moneywomen Look Like Self-Financed Flops – Eleanor Clift, Newsweek
RCP Election 2010: Outside Group Makes OR-4 Race Competitive

Editorials

With 9.6% Unemployment, 2% GDP Won’t Do – Investor’s Business Daily
Britain, France Offer Previews for U.S. – Houston Chronicle
Keep Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House – San Francisco Chronicle
ObamaCare and Voters – Wall Street Journal

 REAL CLEAR POLITICS VIDEOS:

Swing Voters Are Flocking To GOP

Are GOP expectations too high? We’ll find out Tuesday.

This from Wall Street Journal as “Swing Voters Are Flocking To GOP”

The Democrats’ final push to woo undecided voters appears to have fizzled, potentially putting dozens of competitive House races beyond reach and undermining the party’s chances in at least four toss-up Senate seats, according to party strategists and officials.

Independents, a crucial swing bloc, seem to be breaking sharply for Republicans in the final days of the campaign.

One nonpartisan prognosticator, Stuart Rothenberg, said Friday he thought the Republicans could pick up as many as 70 House seats—something no party has achieved since 1948. The Republicans need 39 seats to take the majority. Fading Democratic support among independents is also keeping alive the GOP’s longer-shot hopes of taking the Senate.

EDITOR’S NOTE ON BRADY ADS

I deleted the story about Chicago and other media questioning the Brady ad buys; looks like a total Quinn set-up job on a non-story; as one commenter noted; several outlets have already taken back the “story”.

Quinn’s campaign looks desperate.  I do want to add in DK’s prediction that O’Donnell will win in Delaware. 

Downtown Biz Group To Slash Paid Staff?

The Pantagraph and other sources are reporting today that the Downtown (Bloomington) Business Association (DBA) has apparently come to the conclusion that some of their paid staff members will have to be cut to make ends meet soon.

The DBA, which received $175,000  in support from the City this year, has been maintaining an office and small staff to keep the DBA projects going for some time.  That funding agreement, launched in 2006, was only planned to run for 5 years–and 2011 marks the end of the agreement. In addition, the special Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding for Downtown has also now expired, leaving the DBA with only $90,000 in funding for the coming year.  Not enough to keep several paid staff members on the payroll, pay the rent, the phone bill, etc.  They have had one full time and two part time staff on hand to date.

The DBA said at its meeting yesterday that the cuts in staffing will mean programs like the Saturday Farmers Market and the Tour De Metro will have to be staffed next summer by volunteers.

That’s going to prove to be a real problem, Downtown watchers say.  The Farmers Market has grown tremendously over the years and it takes a lot of staffing to pull off week after week. It’s far more complicated than just supervising vendors setting up their tents. The DBA paid staff have made the Farmers Market a premier event, an event patronized by thousands of McLean County residents on a regular basis. 

Without ongoing paid staff support, will the Farmers Market be able to make it? Will volunteers be able to do the job? Where will the volunteers come from? Nobody knows for sure today.

The Farmers Market will be one program seriously affected perhaps by DBA staffing cuts.

Meanwhile, the DBA, and its mission to help lift Downtown Bloomington out of its perennial appearance of “doldrums” (deserved and not deserved), is in serious question. 

Efforts to get property owners and businesses on board for a special “service tax” in the area have all but collapsed in the last few months.  Many property owners just don’t want to pay the proposed “tax” or “fees.”  The DBA has tried to demonstrate the value of such a “tax”–including continued support of the DBA Office– but many Property Owners just aren’t buying the deal.  Even though services like garbage pick up and snow removal would be provided to the Property Owners as an “included” service for the fee–and they wouldn’t have to pay for these things individually anymore– the owners are largely balking.

And politically, the Bloomington City Council just doesn’t seem willing–at least right now–to continue to support the DBA with more financial aid.  They’re already getting enough heat from constituents about Spending in general, they don’t need this target on their backs now, some say.  Even long time Downtown Supporters on the Council admit “selling” continued funding of the DBA to the public is almost politically as likely as funding the building of a downtown Hotel right now.   Downtown needs both–a Hotel and a DBA organization–but who wants to pay for it? Nobody.  Not in these tough times, that’s for sure. 

And certainly not with the 2011 COB elections coming up in just a few months.  Several incumbent council members, including David Sage and Karen Schmidt, are going to have opponents. Opponents who are already campaigning against “the rubber stamp five” (whomever that is supposed to be!).  Opponents who no doubt are going to be lobbing fire bombs at any notion of public funding of Downtown promotional efforts.

Many say that the progress that has been felt in the Downtown Development sphere in the last five years has come about only because of the Herculean efforts of the DBA.  With the DBA cut off at its knees, what will happen to Downtown now? 

Will any of the Council incumbents, challengers, or the Mayoral candidates, have the foresight–no, the guts–to come out in support of continued funding of DBA activities? 

Just when you thought all the “controversy” had been mercifully bled out of Downtown Bloomington—we get this.  So stand by everybody. Get your Comments ready.  You’re going to be HEARING ABOUT this alot over the next six months, we predict.

Pennsylvania Senate: Looking Better for Toomey as Independents Break Republican

The last poll in the race for Senate in Pennsylvania put a scare in the National GOP, not to mention candidate Toomey.

The last one had Sestak taking a slim one-point lead.

New data out yesterday has Toomey up by 7 points as Independents are breaking for Republicans.

Toomey back on top in Pennsylvania

New polling data indicates that Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Pat Toomey has regained the lead he held for months, thanks largely to continued strength among independent voters.

After Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak closed the gap recently to take a narrow lead in the competitive race, Toomey surged back ahead this week, according to the state’s two largest polling institutes. A Franklin & Marshall College survey released Wednesday morning showed Toomey leading by seven points among likely voters, 43 percent to 36 percent.

That finding substantiated movement in the Muhlenberg College daily tracking poll, which swung 11 points in the span of a week—from a 3-point edge for Sestak last Wednesday to an 8-point lead for Toomey on Tuesday. That advantage leveled out to five points in the tracking poll on Wednesday.

By all accounts, the race remains close as the candidates enter a homestretch packed with furious retail campaigning. A Reuters poll earlier in the week showed the race tied, with each candidate winning 46 percent of likely voters.

But taken together, the latest polling data seemed to signal that Sestak’s surge was in large part due to solidified support among his own party, and that Toomey was still performing well with the critical bloc of independent voters.

Rep. Dan Brady wants a probe into late-mailed military ballots

This issue of many of the State of Illinois election offices missing the state-mandated deadline to send overseas military ballots is so important, it’s making national headlines, including The Drudge Report.

Local area St. Rep. Dan Brady is leading the charge to investigate this matter further:

Lawmakers May Probe Late Military Ballots

SPRINGFIELD  –  Illinois may not be finished investigating those late military ballots.

Members of the House Elections Committee say they’re considering formal hearings into how and why 36 counties missed the deadline to send ballots to deployed servicemen and other overseas voters.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said there is clearly something wrong when one-third of local election offices miss a federal deadline to ensure soldiers and sailors have their votes counted.

“At least let’s have some kind of inquiry…and let’s review, find out what happened for sure, and then take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”

Brady said over 2,800 ballots were sent out late, and it remains to be seen if those ballots will all be returned on time.  And State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, D-Des Plaines, said that will be one of the deciding factors if lawmakers hold hearings or hold a more formal inquiry.

Employers in U.S. Start Bracing for Higher Tax Withholding

From Bloomberg:

Employers in the U.S. are starting to warn their workers to prepare for slimmer paychecks if Congress fails to vote on an extension of Bush-era tax cuts.

“I’ve been doing payroll for probably close to 30 years now, and never have we seen something like this where it gets that down to the wire,” said Dennis Danilewicz, who manages payroll services for about 14,000 employees at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. “That’s what’s got a lot of people nervous. All we can do is start preparing communications with a couple of different scenarios.”

Link to complete article here:  Employers in U.S. Start Bracing for Higher Tax Withholding

Illinois Political Poll Update

LATEST POLL – CHICAGO TRIBUNE

FOR GOVERNOR      Brady (R) +4  *  Key indicators:  Brady increased in collar counties, Quinn’s numbers there declined.  Ditto with Independents

US SENATE       Kirk (R)  +3

TREASURER  Rutherford (R) +3

COMPTROLLER, SEC. OF STATE, ATTORNEY GENERAL    Topinka (R) , White (D) , Madigan (D) -double-digit leads

Political Weekly Review and the Latest Polls

Almost as interesting as the election results, will be an anlaysis of the polling numbers, who got it right and who missed the mark.

McPundit has run an official poll; but as of today predicts Brady for Governor by 8 points; and Kirk for US Senate by 4 points.  Kinzinger for Congress by 12.  Call it the woman’s intuition poll.

Rasmussen has Brady by 8; Pantagraph (owners) has Brady by 4 (within the margin of error)

THE AVERAGE OF SEVERAL POLLS FROM RCP HAS:

 BRADY +4.4 : Link here for complete details for Illinois Governor poll average details

KIRK +2.7 . . link here for Illinois U.S. Senate poll average details

Check back later today for any new updates on polls for Governor/Senate/Congress.

RACE FOR GOVERNOR

Quinn’s friend introduces him by calling Brady a racist and homophobic 

Governor Quinn, whether he’s 8 points behind or 4, didn’t need the help from Senator Ricky Hendon over the week-end, and is doing damage control today.  Hendon introduced Quinn yesterday at a Baptist Church, labor-packed event by saying:

“Let me tell you a couple things. I’ve served with Bill Brady. I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon told the crowd. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be $3 an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”

More later, check back. . . enjoy this beautiful day.

Here are some national headlines to tide you over:

The Democrats’ Confidence Man – Dana Milbank, Washington Post
Time to Listen to the American People – Matthew Continetti, Weekly Std
Obama Not Getting Credit for Good Deeds – Frank Rich, New York Times
Paul Krugman is at It Again – Jeremy Warner, Sunday Telegraph
Think This Economy is Bad? Just Wait – Greg Ip, Washington Post
Can Dems Still Win? – Stanley Greenberg & James Carville, New York Times
Big Labor’s Big Mistake in 2010 Elections – Mary Kate Cary, US News & WR
Blue-State Governor w/Red-State Qualities – George Will, Washington Post
Our Long-Run Deficits Are Simply Unsustainable – Christina Romer, NYT
A Witch Hunt for Bigots Singes U.S. Media – Debra Saunders, SF Chronicle
Climate Change Folly – Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
The Political Class is Out of Touch – Charles Murray, Washington Post
Ohio Dems Struggle on Ground Game – Chuck Raasch, Cincinnati Enquirer
Drunk on Power – P.J. O’Rourke, Weekly Standard
The New and Confused Attacks on Progressivism – David Greenberg, Slate
Schumer Knows When to Shut Up – Charles Hurt, New York Post
Eastern Islam & ‘Clash of Civilizations’ – Robert Kaplan, Los Angeles Times
Latest Polls: OH Gov, Sen | MA Gov | CO Sen, Gov | FL Sen | CA Gov, Sen
RCP Election 2010: Whitman Looks for One Last Surge in California

Editorials

The Historic Keynesian Infrastructure Kick That Wasn’t – The Economist
Voters Should Stay the Course in 2010 – Boston Globe
The Constitutional Objection to ObamaCare – Orange County Register
Health Reform Will Give Americans Real Security – New York Times

SOURCE

So Whatcha Doing Tonight?

UPDATE FROM MCPUNDIT:  I hope you all took writer of this post,  J. Myers advice and went to the game last night! In overtime, Prairie Thunder won and remains UNDEFEATED.  I’m even excited and I know nothing about hockey!

Looks like it is going to be a rainy October Saturday here in Central Illinois–kind of a Blah Day—so what ARE you doing tonight for some fun and excitement? 

If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary in your life  (pass on the movies, pass on going bowling again with the kids) consider coming out for the 2011 inaugural season weekend with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder.  If you have never been to a Thunder hockey game before—and many haven’t—tonight is as good a time as any to give Professional Ice Hockey in McLean County a chance.

The Thunder play the Odessa Texas JACKALOPES tonight, game start at 7:05 pm at the US Cellular Coliseum downtown on South Madison Street.  What’s a jackalope you may wonder? In the Southwest the jackalope is a mythical animal that is half jack rabbit and half antelope.  Having lived in Santa Fe, I can tell you that jack rabbits down there are indeed so big—as big as poodles—that it’s not hard to imagine one or two sprouting horns!

Tickets are just $11 per person (adults and kids) and you can buy tickets just before the game in the indoor ticket sales area at the East entrance of the Coliseum.  A family of four can enjoy the game for just $44.

Parking is easy.  There are several $5 per car lots directly across the street from the Col.  You can also park in the Col parking garage next door. Free parking is available up and down South Madison Street–and don’t be put off by the “looks” of the Old Warehouse District neighborhood–it’s a perfectly safe place to be really, “industrial” as the neighborhood may look.

For the best experience, plan to arrive at the Coliseum at about 6:30.  That will give you 30 minutes to park, get your tickets, buy some snacks, and get to your seats before the National Anthem.  If you plan to eat at the restaurant inside the Col, add 30-40 minutes to this schedule and arrive just before 6:00 pm.

If you don’t know beans about Hockey, don’t worry about it.  Even clueless, it’s a fun and fascinating game to watch and you can depend on hocket die-hards seated around you to help explain what is going on.  Mostly, you’re going to watch the Thunder players do some amazing fast skating as they knock the puck up and down the ice, trying to get it into the goal.  It looks like an impossible task, and it’s true that scoring doesn’t happen very often.  When it does–wow–how did they do that?

And oh yeah, fights do occur.  Hockey is a full contact sport–like football, only with wooden sticks.  In this case, when one hockey player “offends” another, they often settle scores by taking a swipe at each other. In football, that results in a Personal Foul and 15 yards.  In hockey—shrug.   Anyway, the fights don’t last long and they don’t seem too serious—nothing that a growing child couldn’t cope with.

Even if you don’t “get” hockey, it only takes a few minutes to get into the game.  Prairie Thunder fans make a lot of noise and draw their fans together into a tight family.  You can get swept up into this sport very quickly.   And becoming a loyal fan of the Thunder means never having to wait too long between Home Games since the Thunder have a much longer season (than say the Extreme or the Cornbelters) and often play two or three games a week.  This means never having to say you’re bored:  If you are home twiddling your thumbs on a Tuesday night, yup, chances are good the Thunder are playing downtown.

If you’ve never even been inside the Coliseum, this is also a chance to inspect What The Bloomington City Council Wrought just five years ago.  For all the grief the Col takes politically, it is still one of the nicest indoor stadiums in the Midwest.  It’s beautiful inside and even the bitterest critics of the Col are impressed and indeed proud of how spectacular the arena is.   The seats are very comfortable.  Reasonably priced food and beverage vendors line the concourse and there is a full bar and restaurant on the western end, second level: the food is great.   Team merchandise is located in a booth just off the East entrance.

Yes, beer is often consumed during the game, both in cups and plastic bottles.  The Coliseum security people are very good about making sure that the fun stays fun and the drinking doesn’t get out of control.  It’s a scene that won’t scar kids for life or put anyone in danger. 

As for the Thunder’s record, well, admittedly our Hockey team hasn’t done as well perhaps as our Indoor Football team. While the Extreme have made it to the playoffs frequently in their five year history (including a League Championship second place finish in 2008-09) the Thunder have had some real ups and downs.   This season has the Thunder very hopeful however, as they are starting with a new coach and many new players.  The team management seems bound and determined to bring some bling to Bloomington Pro Hockey this year.  So many say this is the year to start following the Prairie Thunder.

So if the rain today will keep you from slaving for hours out in the yard and you’re bored with television by Supper Time, well, why the heck not wander downtown tonight and give the Bloomington Prairie Thunder a spin!

POST GAME  UPDATE:    Prairie Thunder wins 2-1 in an exciting overtime match!  Oh, and a correction:  we played the Odessa Jackalopes Friday night. The Tulsa Oilers were defeated at this game.  Next home game is next Friday,  Oct. 29  against the Evansville Icemen.  Get tickets now at http://www.prairiethunderhockey.com/tickets/