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February 5, 2019 | ||
The Spin by Lisa Donovan | ||
The mea culpa from Joe Ricketts, the patriarch of the Cubs-owning family, came shortly after his emails were leaked Monday. The email exchanges in which he writes "Islam is based on 'kill the infidel' a thing of evil" and perpetuates birther theories involving former President Barack Obama drew swift criticism from one of his sons, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts. Mayor Rahm Emanuel also blasted the "ignorance and intolerance." A top business group proposed raising income taxes and taxing retirement income to deal with Illinois' troubled finances. And billionaire ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was in Chicago on Monday night, little more than a week after saying that he's considering an independent bid for president. Welcome to The Spin. |
Emanuel, who's had issues with the elder Ricketts over the years, released a statement Tuesday morning amid the firestorm of reaction to the latest batch of Joe Ricketts' emails, which were first published online by Splinter News. "Joe Ricketts once said that I do not share his values. Truer words were never spoken. The ignorance and intolerance he has espoused are not welcome in Chicago. Those are not the values I learned from my parents, and those are not the values Amy and I have instilled in our children," Emanuel said. "Joe Ricketts should consider himself lucky he has never met my mother. She would teach him a lesson. I am proud not to share his bigoted opinions. Hate has no home in Chicago." Read the full story story here. Emanuel wasn't the only one to blast Joe Ricketts, 77, who released a statement of apology after the emails were published. His own son Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts released a separate statement distancing himself from his dad and saying, "the language and views have no place in our society" and that Joe Rickets is not involved in the baseball team's operations. That said, Joe Ricketts sold 34 million shares of the TD Ameritrade company he founded for about $403 million to cover the equity needed to purchase the Cubs in 2009. This isn't the first time Joe Ricketts' private views and maneuvers have been thrust into the spotlight — and drawn the ire of his children and the mayor. In May 2012, the Ricketts family disavowed a plan presented to Joe Ricketts that would have used $10 million in super PAC ads to link a re-election-seeking President Barack Obama to the controversial statements of his one-time pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Emanuel, Obama's onetime chief of staff, was quick to criticize him then, too. Read that story here. The emails, which include Joe Ricketts calling Islam a "cult," come as his children continue to grow their political footprint. In one of the email exchanges made public, Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts even directs his father to check snopes.com. Todd Ricketts, who lives on the North Shore, is the fundraiser for the Republican National Committee. And Tom Ricketts and sister Laura Ricketts are backing two different candidates in the Chicago mayor's race but have joined forces to oust incumbent Ald. Tom Tunney in the upcoming city election. | ||
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From the Tribune's John Byrne: "Mayoral candidate Bill Daley found himself defending his family's long Chicago political legacy Tuesday against attacks from other candidates who said the city needs a break from its past." Read the full story here. Public policy consultant Amara Enyia pointed to the combined four decades in office as mayor for Daley's father, Richard J. Daley, and brother Richard M. Daley, and said Chicagoans want "a clean break from the status quo, and anything that's tied to the past." Attorney John Kozlar said a vote for Bill Daley will leave the city stuck in its current rut and suggested that Daleys kept getting re-elected "because you guys give out the jobs." Businessman Bill Daley, who worked in the Clinton and Obama White House, responds: "Oh God, you wanted this show, you got it." Former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy tried to come to Daley's defense: "We're not here to pick on Bill Daley. We should be talking about policies." The comment prompted Daley to say thanks, but no thanks — and that he could take the criticism. Businessman Willie Wilson said Daley should get to make his own case. "A son does not take on the father's sins." Background: The back and forth came at the first of two Sun-Times mayoral forums. The newspaper split the candidates into two groups of seven, with the line-ups picked randomly. Preckwinkle's latest ad focuses on her time as a teacher: In another story, Byrne writes: "Toni Preckwinkle argues in her third mayoral campaign ad that her background as a Chicago Public Schools teacher and grandmother of CPS students leaves her with a personal stake in improving Chicago schools." Read the story, check out the ad here. | ||
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On Monday, we offered a look at some of the guests Illinois' congressional delegation is taking to the State of the Union address, which airs tonight at 8 p.m. on the major networks. Click here for a refresher course on whom those elected leaders plan to take, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who said no one wanted his ticket so he's going solo. And here's some new additions from the delegation, who've now finalized their plans: U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, an East Moline Democrat, will be accompanied by soybean farmer Tom Mueller, who's concerned about how the ongoing U.S. trade war with China will affect his family business and others. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, a Matteson Democrat, is taking Diane Latiker, who as founder of the nonprofit Kids off the Block opens her own home to kids for after-school programs and mentoring. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, will take Frank Lagunas, a scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency who was furloughed during the recent partial government shutdown. Meanwhile, former and formerly imprisoned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was on "The View." Here's a clip. He was selling a book of letters his mother, Jacqueline Jackson, wrote to him while he was in prison for looting his campaign fund for personal use. | ||
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When he was booked to appear at a Chicago Ideas event weeks and weeks ago, billionaire ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was billed as hawking his rags-to-riches memoir. That changed when he announced he is considering an independent bid for president. In town Monday night, he reiterated that he wants to run as an independent because a broken two-party system has left little room for compromise on thorny issues — from poverty to immigration — so they're mothballed. And he addressed what he described as an avalanche of criticism from Democrats who say if he goes ahead with the plan, he and the Democratic nominee would split the anti-Trump vote and hand the president a re-election victory. "I promise I will do nothing to be a spoiler … to re-elect Donald Trump," he told the downtown crowd at Venue SIX10. Schultz, who fielded questions from Ariel Investments' Mellody Hobson, who also serves as vice chair on the Starbucks board, said he'd "back out" if he thought that would happen. Read my full story here. | ||
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From the Tribune's Dan Petrella: "A group of Chicago business leaders is calling for $8 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts and a revamped pension funding plan to fix Illinois' financial mess. "In a report issued two weeks before Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to deliver his first budget proposal to Illinois lawmakers, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago calls for increasing the state's individual income tax to 5.95 percent from 4.95 percent and the corporate tax rate to 8 percent from 7 percent. The plan also calls for starting to tax both retirement income and some consumer services." Read the full story here. State Dems eye minimum wage hike: The Tribune's Petrella also writes: "Some Democratic lawmakers are trying to nearly double Illinois' statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour over several years, aiming to give raises to more than a million workers and an early victory to new Gov. J.B. Pritzker." Read his full story here. Chicago charter school teachers launch city's latest strike: From the Tribune's Juan Perez Jr.: "Unionized educators at four Chicago International Charter School campuses said they would go on strike Tuesday, launching the city's second work stoppage at the independently operated campuses after hours of negotiations failed to reach a last-minute contract agreement." Read the story here. City needs election judges: The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners says election judges are needed to staff some North Side precincts for the Feb. 26th municipal election. The pay is $200 for those who complete the training and work on Election Day. You can apply online here. Find the mail-in application here. Twitter @byldonovan | ||
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