Hello Chicago Clout fans and I want you to take interest in what could be best described as Judicial Misconduct. I could also call this story much to do about nothing until Clout takes over. I'll tell this story as fair as I can, but as a City of Chicago employee, I hope I can explain what happens when someone has clout. I stumbled upon this story as I am working on several police misconduct cases while we speak. Many misconduct cases are sweep under the rug when a cop has clout. I have witnessed several black kids getting their heads beat by Chicago Cops and nothing was ever done. I have also watched many brave cops complete their duty without as much as a thank you. That goes with the territory in Chicago. The two decades of Daley and his henchmen has destroyed our faith in Chicago Government. The current problem is the clowns Daley put in charge are the same goofs promoting more of their kind into positions of power. The circle of stupidity continues. The taxpayer keeps getting slaughtered with lawsuits and disgruntled workers. I am hoping Chicago Clout Michael Volpe can do an in-depth interview with Kevin Duffy and or his Attorney Blake Horwitz of Chicago.
Here is the story short form, the Kevin Duffy story with-out giving away personal details. There is a large office complex in Park Ridge and next to it is a large condominium Complex with multiple floors. At least four that I can remember as a friend of mine lived there. (March of 2008) Officer Kevin Duffy was parked in the office building parking lot late at night. He alleged he was smoking a cigar. He was in his personal vehicle. He was standing outside his car and as best I can tell, walking around puffing on the cigar. There are small shrubs and some small trees at the site. Some video evidence exists but it is not available for some reason. It seems in documents; Catherine Habercorn was worried four stories up in the air about Kevin's car and Kevin in the parking lot. It seems Catherine Haberkorn was so scared about this mystery man in the office parking lot, she had her daughter "at a high rate of speed" chase Kevin to get his License Plates. Some of the documents also accuse Kevin flashing his headlights into a "forth story residence". How in the hell is that possible? I think at best it might have been possible his tires might have squeaked on the smooth blacktop when he made a turn since he had a new car.
So it looks like a simple story and we all go home? No, Judge Catherine Haberkorn has clout and Kevin Duffy does not. Several branches of investigative authorities put the poor guy through the ringer which almost destroyed his career. I am not surprised many of the official reports have spelling errors and conflicting statements. Chicago Clout is going to closely watch the upcoming election of Judge Catherine Haberkorn. I hope the media takes a closer look at this loose cannon. Many Judges hide behind their robes and misuse their power. Enough is enough. Patrick McDonough
Chicago School Teachers Strike, Rahm Emanuel and Mitt Romney new pals
We at Chicago Clout Support the City of Chicago Union Teachers. You are my friends. All Chicago Union Workers have your back and will continue to show our support. Do not give up your rights to Rahm Emanuel and his new friend MItt Romney. I hope Chicago Teachers teach Rahm Emanuel some class some day. Photo by Patrick McDonough.
The Chicago Way is to Deny Voters a Choice at the Polls by Jay Stone
Sixty Percent of State Legislative Candidates from Chicago Ran Unopposed
The way the Chicago machine churns out votes and victories is unconstitutional and unAmerican. The Chicago machine can't deny citizens their right to vote because election fraud of this kind is too obvious. Instead the Chicago political mafia devised a more devious and subtle way to maintain its death grip on the City of Chicago and state of Illinois politics. The machine put its people in charge of elections to keep candidates who are unaffiliated with the machine from appearing on the ballot. In the elections between 2004 and 2010, Chicago voters had two options in 60% of the state representative and state senate races: either vote for the machine candidate or not vote at all. The machine's philosophy is, "You have your right to vote as long as you vote for one of ours."
The Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE) and the Illinois General Assembly who empowered the CBOE are responsible for so many state legislative candidates running unopposed. The machine's legislators in the state capitol passed a law to deliberately give the CBOE a disproportionate number of state representative and state senator elections to conduct and certify.
There is a reason why the machine wants the CBOE to conduct as many elections as possible; a third generation machine politician named Langdon Neal is the CBOE chairman. Neal's law firm has received over $100 million in suspicious no-bid city contracts and Neal himself has collected over $11 million in fees to lobby the same politicians whose elections he conducted and certified. When non-machine state legislative candidates file to run against machine candidates, Neal and his CBOE underlings apply election laws created by machine legislators to deny non-machine candidates ballot access. In other words, Illinois state legislators protect their jobs with anti-competition election laws that they wrote and passed.
Neal has earned an estimated income of $30 to $40 million off of taxpayers during his 16 years as CBOE chairman. Neal has a huge, personal financial incentive to use his CBOE authority to rule in favor of machine politicians because the elected officials Neal certified to hold office are steering no-bid contracts his way and provide cozy lobbying relationships for him and his clients.
Chicago's population of 2.7 million people comprises 21% of the 12.9 million Illinois residents. And yet, the CBOE is in charge of 34% of the state representative and state senator elections (60 state legislative districts under CBOE authority divided by 177 total Illinois state legislative districts = 34%). The corruption that starts at the top of the CBOE with Chairman Neal's suspicious no-bid contracts and lobbying business ends with the machine candidates running unopposed 60% of the time. The CBOE's systematic denial of non-machine candidates' ballot access is one of the main reasons why Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan has remained Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives for 27 years in spite of Illinois being in the worst financial shape of any state in the nation.
CBOE Denial of Candidates' Ballot Access Comes from State Law
There are two main state laws that expanded the CBOE's authority to deny ballot access to non-machine candidates. The first law gave the CBOE the right conduct and certify elections when only part of state legislative district is in Chicago. If a portion of a ward or even a part of a precinct is in Chicago, a state law (See 10 ILCS 5/6-26, 3. Jurisdiction) gives the CBOE jurisdiction over the election. The CBOE is the only election board in the state of Illinois that conducts elections outside of the election board's territory. Thanks to this special jurisdictional state law for the City of Chicago, the CBOE has the authority over several more state legislative races each election season.
The second state law that increased the CBOE's power allows the CBOE to conduct quasi-judicial hearing. Previously, the circuit court determined whether or not candidates were granted ballot access. Currently the CBOE hires hearing officers to review an objector's challenge to a candidate's nominating petitions prior to each election. CBOE honchos make sure that they only hire hearing officers who follow orders and decide election cases in favor of the machine's candidates whenever possible. For example, CBOE hearing officers recently invalidated 72% of the signatures that nine Republican candidates submitted to the CBOE. Consequently, the CBOE denied ballot access to all nine Republican candidates, and now nine Democrats will not have an opponent in the November, 2012 election.
52% of Democratic State Senate Candidates Ran Uncontested between 2004 and 2010
Tables 1 and 2 summarize all state senate elections between 2004 and 2010. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Chicago's Democratic candidates for state senate had no opposition. No Republican candidate under the authority of the CBOE had the luxury of running for state senate unopposed. Given that Democrats have ruled Springfield for so long, a high percentage of uncontested Democratic state senate candidates is not surprising. Democrats continually passed election laws, such as the two laws that expanded the CBOE's power, to insure their candidates for state senate ran unopposed.
Contested and Uncontested State Senate Elections1
Year
Total Elections
Contested Elections
Uncontested Democrats
Uncontested Republicans
2010
6
2
4
0
2008
16
7
9
0
2006
14
9
5
0
2004
8
3
5
0
2004 to 2010 totals
44
21
23
0
Table 1
2004 to 2010 State Senate Elections in Percents
Year
% of Uncontested Democrats
% of Uncontested Republicans
2010
67%
0%
2008
56%
0%
2006
36%
0%
2004
53%
0%
2004 to 2010 total percent
52%
0%
Table 2
58% of State Representative Candidates Ran Uncontested between 2004 and 2010
Tables 3 and 4 summarize all of Chicago's state representative elections between 2004 and 2010. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of the Democratic candidates for state representative had had no opposition. Six Republican candidates for state representative were lucky enough to run unopposed. Nonetheless, a Democratic candidate for state representative is 15 times more likely to have no opposition than a Republican candidate.
Contested and Uncontested State Rep Elections
Year
Total Elections
Contested Elections
Uncontested Democrats
Uncontested Republicans
2010
39
11
26
2
2008
39
12
26
1
2006
39
19
18
2
2004
39
17
21
1
2004 to 2010 totals
156
59
91
6
Table 3
State Representative Elections in Percent
Year
% of Uncontested Democrats
% of Uncontested Republicans
2010
67%
5%
2008
67%
3%
2006
46%
5%
2004
54%
3%
2004 to 2010 total percent
58%
4%
Table 4
Referendums: Another Way the Machine Denies Voters their Right to Self-Govern
The denial of the voters' right to choose doesn't end with 60% of the machine's state legislative candidates running unopposed. As with candidates, the same is true for referendums. The Illinois General Assembly–which Chicago machine legislators rule with absolute authority–made sure the people of Chicago could not enact their own laws through a referendum. According to state law, Chicago referendums can only be advisory, not binding. The state law that limits Chicago referendums to only advisory information is most likely unconstitutional because citizens have a right to self-determination.
Limiting the number of referendums to three per election is yet another way the machine denies voters their right to self-govern. Recently the three referendum limit per ballot law was used to stop the grassroots movement of an elected school board. When Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his puppet aldermen heard a referendum for an elected school board in the works, they pushed through three meaningless referendums. Since state law only allows three advisory referendums on any given ballot, Chicago residents will not be able vote for or against an elected school board.
The Chicago Way Must End
Democratic state legislators are not winning their elections based on their ability, merit, or selfless public service. Manipulating election laws is the sole reason Democrats control the Illinois General Assembly. The longer Democrats are in power, the more they will continue their practice of using election laws to suppress or eliminate their political opposition.
The General Assembly has performed poorly for years,. Rather than holding the general assemblymen more accountable for their lousy job performance, Democratic state legislators have made it increasing more difficult to challenge them. The U.S. trend is to reduce the obstacles for candidates to access the ballot. Instead Illinois legislators aligned with the machine have purposely made ballot access more difficult. As the research in tables 1 through 4 show, the more restrictions state legislative candidates faced, the more Democratic candidates ran unopposed on election day.
The people of the state of Illinois will know the Chicago way is ending when nearly all of the candidates for state representative and state senate have an opponent. For the Chicago and State of Illinois political nightmare to end, voters need more than a few token candidates at the ballot box. The courts have reaffirmed numerous times that voters and candidates have an inalienable right to free speech and campaign for public office. Now more than ever the honest people of Illinois need to hear the voices of candidates and voters who are unaffiliated with the Chicago machine.
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Chicago Board of Elections Refused Nine Republicans Ballot Access
Notes
1. To collect the data from tables 1 through 4 visit the CBOE's website. Click here, and select the "General Election" for 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. Next select the district for each state senate and state representative election.
The CBOE doesn't include candidates' political party when it lists general election results. For contested general elections view the preceding primary election to determine each candidate's party affiliation. Conducting an Internet search by a candidate's name is another way to determine the political party of a candidate.
About the Author
Jay Stone is neither a Democrat, nor a Republican. Jay is an independent who supports political competition, accountability, fairness, and good, honest government.
Special Thanks to Jay Stone and his father Alderman Stone for their unwavering support, Patrick D. McDonough 48th Ward Chicago, Illinois 60640
Another few thousand reasons to NOT VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA
Chicago Board of Elections Refused Nine Republican Candidates Ballot Access
CBOE Threw Out 72% of the Republicans' Signatures
As with fish, the Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE) is rotting from the head down. The Cook County Circuit Court is currently deciding whether or not to remove CBOE Chairman Langdon Neal from office. During his 15 year tenure, CBOE Chairman Neal has personally earned $30 to $40 million from numerous and substantial conflicts of interests. Neal's law firm received over $100 million from the same public officials whose elections he conducted and certified. It doesn't stop there. Neal personally collected over $11 million in fees for lobbying the mayor and aldermen whose elections he previously oversaw.
In spite of the intense scrutiny of Neal's private legal business conflicting with his election commissioner duties, Neal continues to abuse his election authority. Recently CBOE Chairman Neal and his underlings denied ballot access to all nine Illinois Republican state legislative candidates who filed to run against Democrats in November, 2012. The boundaries for these nine legislative districts are partially or completely in Chicago
Illinois election law requires state representative and state senator candidates to submit a minimum number of signatures for their names to appear on the ballot. The number of required signatures varies with each candidate's district. Three of the nine Republican candidates-Scott Campbell, George MaAyteh, and Tom Morris-needed a minimum of 1,000 valid signatures and the remaining six candidates needed at least 500 valid signatures (see table below).
CBOE Chairman Neal and two other CBOE commissioners had the final authority to determine the validity of the signatures submitted by all candidates. The CBOE commissioners denied ballot access to all nine Republican candidates for the very same reason: insufficient number of valid signatures.
Republican Signature Statistics1
Candidate
Valid Signatures Invalid Signatures Percentage of Invalid Signatures
Gregory Bedell
408
397
49%
Scott Campbell
498
2,112
81%
Juan Diaz
172
472
73%
George MaAyteh
357
1,525
81%
Paul Minervino
325
724
69%
Thomas Morris
444
1,005
69%
Roy Pletsch
423
1,086
72%
Evelyn Reid
428
163
28%
Kimberly Small
239
1,077
82%
3,294 is the total number of valid signatures
8,561 is the total number of invalid signatures
72% is the total percentage of invalidated signatures
The fact that the CBOE denied all nine Republican candidates ballot access is highly suspicious. Invalidating an average of 72% of the Republican candidates' signatures warrants a criminal investigation. One or two Republicans with 72% invalid signatures would be a startling statistic. But 72% as an average for all nine Republican candidates can only mean the CBOE was biased in favor of the Democrats and prejudiced against the Republicans.
The CBOE preventing non-machine candidates' names from appearing on the ballot has been going on for years. Sixteen years ago Barack Obama ran unopposed for the Illinois state senate because the CBOE invalidated 62% of Obama's four opponents' signatures.
The Democratic Controlled State Legislature and the CBOE are in Cahoots
The CBOE commissioners, the circuit court judges who appointed the them, the City of Chicago executive branch who hired CBOE employees, and Democratic state legislators are all important parts of the Chicago machine. Each facet of the Chicago machine plays a role in denying the Republican candidates ballot access.
The Illinois state legislature wrote the law that established the appointment of the three CBOE election commissioners. In fact, according to Illinois election law commissioners must maintain their partisanship or face removal from office. The election law states that if either the Democratic or Republican party is not represented on the election board, then the circuit court must remove one commissioner and replace him or her with a commissioner from the unrepresented party. The problem has been that the Republican party has not had any true representation on the CBOE board for over 25 years. In other words, the circuit court judges are failing to follow Illinois election law. Circuit court judges don't want to appoint a true Republican election commissioner because it would make it more difficult for the CBOE board to deny ballot access to non-machine candidates.
The Illinois election law that requires the circuit court to appoint partisan, Chicago election commissioners is outdated. Chicago doesn't hold partisan elections any more. In 1994 the city switched from partisan elections to non-partisan elections. Candidates for aldermen, city clerk, city treasurer, and mayor do not run with any party affiliation. Hence, the election law that requires partisan Chicago election commissioners does not accurately reflect the city only holding non-partisan elections to elect its public officials.
The same political machine bosses who control the elections for state senator and state representative also control the elections for Cook County judges. Since these circuit court judges are beholden to the machine bosses who put them on the bench, circuit court judges appoint whomever the machine honchos want as CBOE election commissioners. Circuit court judges must obey their machine bosses when dealing with the CBOE or the judges will face the wrath of the machine when they are up for reelection.
The Democratic state legislators who are members of the machine write the election law that the CBOE applies to each candidate and each election. The CBOE's interpretation of Illinois election laws depends on a candidate's status with the machine. CBOE commissioners liberally apply Illinois election laws in favor of machine candidates every chance they can. On the other hand, CBOE commissioners narrowly apply Illinois election law to stop non-machine candidates from appearing on the ballot when it is the least bit feasible. Since the nine Republican candidates dared to defy the Chicago machine by merely attempting to run for public office, the CBOE evaluated their signatures with the strictest possible standards.
It seems obvious that candidates making it on the Chicago ballot has more to do with the candidates affiliation with the machine then it does with the U.S. Constitution or Illinois election law.
Biased CBOE Election Commissioners is Not Enough to Favor the Machine
It's not just the CBOE election commissioners who show favoritism to machine candidates. As with CBOE election commissioners many of the 124 CBOE workers were hired at the behest of influential Chicago machine honchos. From 1988 to 2004 the Daley administration illegally hired thousands of workers, including those working at the CBOE. Chicago patronage workers' jobs depended upon them campaigning for Mayor Richard M. Daley and Daley's favored candidates. Voters are still feeling the effect of the job rigging scandal that gave Daley and his allies an insurmountable advantage at the polls. Fair and competitive Chicago elections are impossible as long as a majority of CBOE employees continue to take orders from their machine sponsors.
The Democratic controlled Illinois state legislature established an extremely adversarial and onerous signature validation process for the purpose of helping the CBOE deny non-machine candidates ballot access. Because Democrats at the CBOE control ballot access, the more state legislators wrote election laws to make it difficult to access the ballot, the more it benefited Democratic candidates. The November, 2012 election is a perfect example. As a result of the CBOE denying nine Republican candidates ballot access, nine Democratic candidates will now run unopposed.
If Illinois Democratic state legislators spent as much time working on the state's fiscal problems as they did conniving ways to protect their machine and political offices, the state of Illinois could dig itself out of the massive debt incurred by these self-serving Democratic public officials.
Related Article
Obama's Win at All Cost Strategy Violated His Four Opponents' Civil Rights
Notes
To view the CBOE decisions on the nine Republican candidates, click here. Their names are listed in column 3. To read the CBOE decisions for each Republican candidate, click the word "Decision" that is highlighted in blue on the left-hand side of the page.
The number of valid and invalid signatures listed in the table comes directly from the CBOE's decisions. A candidate's percentage of invalid signatures was determined by the following formula: the number of the candidate's invalid signatures divided by the total number of signatures the candidate submitted. The CBOE listed the total number of each candidates' signatures in its descions. The total number of each candidate's signatures can also be derived by adding the valid signatures in column 2 with the invalid signatures in column 3. Enjoy Jay Stones hard Work, Patrick McDonough
Chicago is not ready for Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel's Tricks Jay Stone
Obama's Strategy to Win at All Costs Violated His Challengers' Civil Rights
The Chicago Board of Elections' Biased Decisions Eliminated Barack Obama's Four Opponents for State Senate
Political pundits often joke about Chicago corruption: "Vote early, vote often." "Chicago is where the dead resurface to vote." The Chicago machine has controlled the Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE) since the early 1990s. To insure that Cook County Circuit Court judges would receive favorable treatment from the CBOE when they ran for office, local judges appointed a corruptible, third generation Chicago machine politician named Langdon Neal to head the CBOE. Neal is infamous because his law firm received $101 million in no-bid government contracts from the same politicians whose elections he conducted and certified.
With influential members such as Langdon Neal in charge of the CBOE, the machine no longer needs the dead to vote or voters to stuff the ballot boxes. The Chicago political mafia found a much easier way to win their elections. The political hacks in charge of the CBOE use their election authority to stop candidates who are unaffiliated with the machine from appearing on the ballot. Machine candidates have an unimpeded path to public offices because they often run unopposed-like Barack Obama did when he won his first election in 1996.
The machine's henchmen working at the CBOE showed Barack Obama's four 1996 state senate opponents no mercy. The CBOE ruled that 62% of the signatures that these opponents submitted with their nominating petitions were invalid. Two of Obama's state senate challengers were so outraged, they filed federal court lawsuits. However, the two Obama opponents who sued could not present the evidence nor make the arguments below because in 1996 ballot access information wasn't readily available on the Internet. Whether it is a future U.S. presidential candidate or candidates for other offices, unjustly denying anyone their inalienable right to run for office is unconstitutional and no laughing matter.
Obama Chose a Surrogate to Do His Dirty Work
According to Chicago election laws, a challenger must come forward to object to signatures on nominating petitions. Because candidates want to make it appear that they respect their opponents' and constituents' civil rights, they appoint a trustworthy surrogate to challenge their opponents' nominating signatures. During Obama's 1996 state senate primary race, it was Obama campaign worker Ron Davis who acted as Obama's surrogate. The fact that Harvard law school graduate Barack Obama chose Ron Davis instead of himself to knock his four opponents off the ballot shows that Barack Obama was steeped in dirty Chicago politics from the inception of his political career.
Ron Davis' name appeared as the objector to the nominating petitions of Obama's four opponents, but there is little doubt it was Barack Obama who provided Davis with a lawyer. According to CBOE records, a lawyer represented Davis through the entire objection process that eliminated Obama's four challengers. Attorney Thomas Edward Jones represented both Barack Obama and Ron Davis in one of Obama's challenger's federal court lawsuits.
Altogether, Obama's four opponents submitted 5,865 signatures. Obama and Davis's lawyer had to carefully scrutinize all 5,865 signatures before the attorney for the Davis-Obama state senate campaign filed formal objections with the CBOE. Because the Davis-Obama lawyer challenged more than 4,000 of Obama's opponents' 5,865 signatures, the attorney needed to attend a minimum of two or three full days of hearings while the CBOE compared the signatures from Obama's opponents with the signatures that the CBOE had on file.
The CBOE was Prejudiced in Favor of Obama
The names of Barack Obama's four 1996 state senate primary opponents are as follows: Gha-is F. Askia, Marc Ewell, Ulmer D. Lynch Jr., and Alice J. Palmer (See Table 1 below). The four candidates who wanted to run against Obama turned in 529 to 1,142 signatures more than the legal requirement of 757. Yet an insufficient number of valid signatures was the reason all four of Barack Obama's opponents were denied the opportunity to run against the future president. Obama's four opponents were not frivolous candidates seeking publicity. Who knew in 1996 that first-time state senate candidate Barack Obama would be elected president of the United States in 2008?
Obama's 1996 State Senate Primary Opponents1
Candidate's Name
Signatures Submitted
Invalid Signatures
Percent of Invalid Signatures
Gha-is F. Askia 1,899
1,211
64%
Marc Ewell 1,286
615
48%
Ulmer D. Lynch Jr. 1,100
770
70%
Alice J. Palmer 1,580
1,023
65%
5,865
is the total number of signatures of the four Obama challengers
3,619
is the total number of invalid signatures for the four Obama challengers
62%
is the percentage of invalid signatures for the four Obama challengers
Table 1
The CBOE's rejection of 62% of Obama's state senate opponents' signatures is quite a revealing and shocking statistic. It wasn't just one of Obama's opponents who allegedly turned in a majority of bogus signatures. Remember the 62% invalid signature rate is for all four Obama opponents. There is not an election board in the U.S. that invalidates candidates' signatures anywhere close to the 62% that Obama's opponents endured.
More Proof the CBOE was Biased in Favor of Obama
No objector came forward to challenge Obama's state senate signatures; hence, no one knows the number or percentage of invalid signatures Obama might have submitted to the CBOE when he filed for state senator in 1996. The invalidation of Obama's opponents' signatures at a rate of 62% certainly suggests the CBOE was biased in his favor. However, there is more compelling proof that the CBOE gave Obama special treatment. The percentage of invalid signatures was significantly lower for candidates who ran in other state senate and state representative districts at the same time as Obama (Table 2).
Richard D. Taylor was the only other state senate candidate who was denied ballot access by the CBOE for invalid signatures at the same time CBOE election commissioners were denying Obama's four challengers ballot access. CBOE election commissioners determined that 43% of Taylor's signatures were invalid. However, Taylor's invalid signatures were 19% fewer than the 62% average for Obama's four opponents.
The election laws that determined the validity of the candidates' signatures in Table 2 and of Obama's four opponents in Table 1 are one and the same. Richard Cowen, Michael Hamblet, and Annette Hubbard were the same election commissioners who ruled on all four Obama cases and the 10 election cases listed in Table 2. Cowen, Hamblet, and Hubbard decided the challenges to 9 of the 10 candidates in Table 2 within 14 days of deciding the election cases against Obama's four opponents.
1996 State Legislature Candidates2
Candidate
Total Signatures Invalid Signatures
Invalid Percent
Sabrina Barker
497
200
40%
Ronald Gaines
996
237
24%
James Haring
1,518
661
44%
Audrey Kenner
822
251
31%
Larry McKeon
924
309
33%
Mable McMiller
600
171
29%
John Pollack
385
111
29%
Derome Stovall
421
149
35%
Richard Taylor
725
314
43%
David Zalewski
539
281
52%
7,427
is the total number of signatures from candidates
2684
is the total number of candidates' invalid signatures
36%
is the percentage of candidates' invalid signatures
Table 2
The CBOE's Questionable Decisions Made Barack Obama the Chosen One
The CBOE declared 62% of Obama's four opponents' signatures invalid, yet the CBOE deemed that only 36% of 10 other Illinois legislative candidates' signatures were invalid. The figures of 62% and 36% were the result of the same CBOE officials using the same Illinois elections laws to evaluate candidates' signatures during the same period of time. Barack Obama's candidacy in one legislative race is the key variable that is different.
The invalid signature difference of 26% between Obama's opponents and the 10 other Illinois state legislative candidates clearly shows the CBOE was biased in favor of state senate candidate Barack Obama or prejudiced against Obama's four opponents. There is no other way to explain why the CBOE deemed so many more of Obama's four opponents' signatures were invalid other than the fact that Barack Obama was the CBOE's chosen one.
Obama opponent Alice Palmer was highly educated and politically experienced. In fact, Palmer was the incumbent state senator when the CBOE denied her a chance to run for reelection. Palmer graduated with a master's degree in urban studies from Roosevelt University and a PH.D. in education administration from Northwestern University. Given Palmer's political experience and education, other than the CBOE commissioners and employees' favoritism of Obama, it's hard to comprehend why Palmer failed to reach the 757 valid signatures that were necessary for her name to appear on the ballot. Palmer never forgot Obama's mistreatment of her; Palmer was a Hillary Clinton delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Indeed, the CBOE and the machine honchos wanted Barack Obama in the state senate and they were ready to violate his opponents' civil rights if necessary. Table 1 shows that candidates Askia, Ewell, Lynch Jr., and Palmer combined to turn in two and half times the amount of legally required signatures; thus, the CBOE needed to invalidate a high percentage of them in order to stop the four from appearing on the ballot with Obama. State senate candidate Obama needed the CBOE to invalidate his opponents' signatures at a rate of 62% and that was what Obama got. Had Obama needed his opponents' signatures invalidated at 70% or 75%, he would have gotten that from the CBOE.
Obama was the machine's choice for state senator, and the CBOE made sure Obama assumed office without facing any Democratic primary opposition. Obama's state senate district voted 80% Democratic in the general election. When the CBOE handed Obama an uncontested primary victory, the CBOE guaranteed Obama an Illinois state senate seat.
Indeed the lessons Obama learned from his first state senate election remain with him. Obama extended the CBOE's unchecked power and corruption while in the White House. President Obama suspiciously invited CBOE Chairman Langdon Neal to the White House nine days before Neal decided an election case in favor of Obama's former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Barack Obama has a reputation as a civil rights icon, but there is no record of Barack Obama making any effort to change the onerous signature requirements needed to run for political office or the ballot access process that allowed him to run unopposed in his very first election. As a state senator, Obama was in a position to write a senate bill to make it easier for candidates to reach the ballot. Moreover, the CBOE would have been obligated to follow any Illinois election law that Obama championed through the Illinois legislature. Barack Obama neither wrote such a bill nor championed such a cause.
Related Article
The Chicago Board of Elections Refuses to Let Nine Republican Candidates on the Ballot
Notes
1. To view the CBOE records on Barack Obama's four state senate primary opponents, click here and scroll down to 1996. You'll see Obama's objector Ron Davis' last name listed three times in column 2 and three Obama opponents' last names listed in column 3 on the bottom of page 49. Obama opponent Askia's name is listed in column 3 at the top of page 50. To read the CBOE's decisions concerning the four Obama challengers, click the word "Decision" that is highlighted in blue on the right-hand side of the page.
The number of signatures filed and the number of signatures the CBOE invalidated are clearly stated in Gha-is F. Askia and Marc Ewell CBOE decisions.
The CBOE did not include the total number of signatures that Ulmer D. Lynch Jr. filed nor the total number of signatures the CBOE invalidated. Therefore, these numbers were deduced from the CBOE's decision. According to the CBOE decision, Lynch Jr. had 350 signatures on the 14 sheets that the CBOE did not review. This means Lynch Jr.'s petition sheets had 25 signatures on each sheet (350 signatures ÷ 14 sheets = 25 signatures per sheet). Lynch Jr. filed 44 sheets with 25 signatures. The total number of signatures on Lynch Jr.'s 44 petition sheets was 1,100 signatures (44 petition sheets x 25 signatures per page =1,100 signatures).
During the CBOE's examination of Lynch Jr.'s first 750 signatures, the CBOE accepted 222 signatures and rejected 528 signatures (30 sheets x 25 signatures per sheet = 750 signatures and 750 total signatures – 222 valid signatures = 528 invalid signatures). The CBOE deemed 70% of Lynch Jr.'s signatures invalid (528 invalid signatures ÷ 750 total examined signatures = 70% invalid signatures).
At this point the CBOE stopped Lynch Jr.'s hearing because it was mathematically impossible for him to reach the legal requirement of 757 signatures. Because Lynch Jr. could not reach the legal minimum with his remaining signatures, the CBOE did not review Lynch Jr.'s last 14 petition sheets. CBOE's 70% rejection rate of Lynch Jr.'s signatures was extrapolated to include all of Lynch Jr.'s 1,100 signatures, including the Lynch Jr. signatures on the 14 petition sheets that the CBOE did not examine.
The CBOE's Alice Palmer decision did not state the number of Palmer's invalid signatures because Palmer withdrew from the race against Barack Obama after the CBOE invalidated nearly two-thirds of the signatures she filed. There are numerous stories circulating the Web about the Obama-Palmer feud, and her dropping out of the 1996 state senate race. For starters, click here or here.
The Obama camp made unfounded claims that Palmer circulators sat around a table and fraudulently signed voters' names to her petitions. Obama supporters have offered no evidence or proof to support their "round tabling" accusations against Palmer. Obama's supporters' unproven vote fraud accusation against Palmer is an attempt to justify denying her ballot access. Obama backers need to recant their vote fraud claims and apologize to Palmer unless they can provide solid proof of Palmer's vote fraud.
2. To view the information on the 10 legislative candidates who filed their petitions at the same time as Barack Obama, click here. The files I reviewed start with state senatorial candidate Schreiner, 4th name from the bottom listed on page 48, and end with state senatorial candidate Anderson III, 4th from the top on page 50. Several names listed were frivolous candidates who only submitted 1, 7, 16, etc., signatures when several hundred signatures were required. Frivolous candidates were not included in Table 2 because the CBOE did not need to examine the signatures to know that frivolous candidates did not meet the minimum signature requirements to appear on the ballot.
Michael "Shipping Boy" Tierney looking for more at Local 130?
Mike “Packing Boy” Tierney has made himself almost inseparable at the Plumber’s Union and is tagging along with Tim Coyne, a candidate for Business Manager. I was just told Mike Tierney was following along like a lost puppy, trying to be helpful to Coyne. I do not understand why, but let’s look at possible motivations. After a complete failure at the City of Chicago, Mike Tierney was last at the O’Hare Airport. One might ask, after one investigation after another, Mike would just skip town. Mike Tierney moved up the ladder thanks to lots of packing. He started as a ditchdigger and a mailroom boy, but became a ranking supervisor at the City. Somewhere along the line, Mike obtained a Plumber’s License. He never spent a day as an Apprentice. Mike Tierney said under sworn oath that Caulkers are better than Plumbers. Mike was a Caulker. Mike made it through many scams at the Water Department directly under his thumb. Bribes for overtime, a heroin ring, Hired truck scandal, and a notebook computer confiscated by the OIG. Mike was part of tens of thousands of dollars accepted by people wanting to become judges in Chicago. It is one hell of a racket. Mike is part of a developing scandal illegally issuing Plumbing Licenses to his 36th ward pals. It is truly amazing how many times Mike walks away from lawsuits and major scams right under his nose. It does pay to know judges. After a full City pension under his belt and an easy Airport job, Mike is packing away to get a do nothing Union job. Mike likes wearing Union garb like he knows plumbing. Tim Coyne should learn the old adage his pal, James Sullivan will soon learn, sleep with dogs and wake up with fleas. How many pensions does Mike need and why? Why is he putting on the old “I am really concerned eyes”? I hope he stops ratting out his employees to cover his own azz. I hope he quits his scams and leaves a job to real honest to goodness plumber that knows the trade; guys that can do the plumbing in their own house. Watch this story unfold folks, it will be a whopper.
U.S. Congressman Danny Davis and Plumber's Local 130 Integrity Team
The Integrity team consists of three Plumber’s Local 130 candidates that want to be your next officers. What is Integrity? 1. Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship’s hull.
4. Something the current Business Manager of Local 130 does not understand.
Many members of Journeyman Plumber’s Local 130 need a credible team to fix the current of cloudy water that has set record levels of un-employment at the Union. Time to put membership back to work at any cost. Explosive revelations have undermined the future of Plumber’s Local 130. I hope you enjoy this picture of John Swietczak, Michael McGann, and Michael Schmidt with Rep. Danny Davis. Additional meetings with Governor Quinn, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Alderman, and black leadership continue for the next few weeks. Many leaders in State, Local, and municipal government are very interested in what is being brought to the table. Photo by Patrick McDonough. P.S. Gavin of the Plumber’s Union was again invited to debate the issues live at CAN-TV in Chicago in ten days. See ya there.
Chicago Journeyman's Local 130 rocked by a new slate tonight
Much of the union political passage of power has been done behind closed doors for decades. Plumber’s Local 130 had a tradition of fine leadership; the members were last well served by Gerald M. Sullivan, a true powerhouse and man of distinction. Gerald was seceded by James Sullivan, a sneaky weasel if ever there was one. Many of the membership challenged Jim’s leadership, and then just walked away. I have never seen a greater amount of union trained member’s working for non-union companies until now. To stop this destruction of the union, age barred James Sullivan from further damage. Many union members were expecting business as usual with the anointing of Jim Coyne as Business Manager. If Jim was not challenged, the same ways of doing business at 1400 West Washington might continue. I met with the Integrity Team that is issuing an election against Tim Coyne. I really think this is more of a kick in the ass of the status quo, than an actual anti-Coyne sediment. Plumbers are very pissed off in Chicago. James allowed many unqualified folks to join the union, his school prepped unqualified candidates for the Plumber’s Exam. This lead to the termination of Dean Slawek, a former Chicago Water Department ditch digger. I also contacted Rahm Emanuel’s camp at City Hall, they assured me they are willing to work with the new management team assembled by Chicago Inspector John Swietczak. This is a great opportunity for Plumber’s Local 130 to change direction and get thing right for the membership. I confess I have never seen the members of Local 130 so agitated in front of the union hall tonight. The insider’s click better open their eyes and listen to the issues or they will be left with nothing. I also met some old friends I knew when I was a member, they are voicing the same issues I have but refuse to stop the insanity.
The two leaders and officers of both parties are going to face off May 24, 2012 at Can-Tv in Chicago live. I have invited members of the press and two Aldermen to attend and ask questions. Remember, if you do not show up, I will have a replacement for you. Photo by Patrick McDonough
John C. D'Amico smells another pension, James Sullivan's posterboy?
Chicago Plumber’s Local 130 needs a new Business Manager and they also need new business agents. The seniors are going to get a large reduction to the pension and everyone is keeping it mum until after the election. Retirees are asked to make sure they elect the same guys without realizing they are possibly in store for a major reduction in monthly payments. The progressive party is jokingly referred to the “unemployment party”. The existing management at the Chicago Plumber’s union needs a shakeup. There was no money for hats at the last St. Pat’s Day parade. Times are really bad. The only thing they got right was a St. Pat’s Queen that was Irish for a change. I think John D’Amico should be fired from the City of Chicago due to the fraud in obtaining a Plumber’s License, than James Sullivan should be thrown in jail. The Chicago’s Local 130 union made a major mistake in taking over other locals. Times were good and folks got greedy. The Chicago Unions need to get their act together before it is too late. John D’Amico needs to explain why he does not show up to work at the Jardine Plant. He has a nose for politics and pensions
Ex-Chicago Alderman Patrick "Phat" Levar uses non-union company for home repairs
The Chicago Plumber’s Union has enjoyed many events with former Alderman Levar in attendance. In fact, Chicago Clout has pictures of Patrick Levar with his green Plumbers Local 130 hat on his head. I never did like Pat Levar because I though he was a piece of shit. I had pictures of Pat Levar with the old North District Superintendent and City Sewer Vactor on political flyers. Pat Levar would visit the North District Yard around the “Hired Truck” days. Around April 17, 2012, a non-union roofing contractor was working on Levar’s house. I asked the contractor what union affiliation they belonged to. The roofing company management confirmed they are in fact non-union. Lately, the Chicago roofers union ran a series of ads making the public aware of their existence. Pat Levar shit in their face by accepting union money for politics, and then hiring scabs at his house. I hate to swear, and I do not very often on this website, but Levar is a big fat piece of shit. There is no lost love between Levar and me, but I called this scumbag out years ago. I think Jim Sullivan should ask for all the donations back from this goon. Photo by Patrick McDonough