Jennifer Fuller of WSIU Radio talks with Green Party candidate Rich Whitney of Carbondale at the DuQuoin State Fair. Fuller asks Whitney how he would manage the state’s $13 billion budget deficit, create jobs, and grow the Illinois economy.
By Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for Governor
Let’s be candid. If you identify yourself as a conservative, your first inclination will probably be to vote for Republican candidate Bill Brady in the Illinois governor’s race. I understand that. He covers some of the basic conservative talking points: cutting spending, holding the line on taxes, “pro-life,” pro-Second Amendment, pro-business.
That’s the rhetoric. Now let’s look at the substance of his positions and see how they compare with my own.
Carbondale, IL— Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney blasted the latest proposal by his Republican challenger State Senator Bill Brady today. In one of the few times that he has given any insight into his budget plan, Brady suggested that if elected governor, he would press for greater tax cuts for businesses.
“Brady is now trying to bring back ‘Reaganomics’ at the state level, forgetting that Ronald Reagan gave us the highest federal deficits in our nation’s history at the time,” Whitney commented. “We can’t afford any of Bill Brady’s fuzzy math and a new experiment in ‘trickle down economics’ when we know that doesn’t work. We need real solutions to the budget crisis.”
Whitney elaborated that “one problem is that Brady will be destroying even more public sector jobs due to the higher deficit and his proposed spending cuts, which will have a spillover effect on private sector retailers, causing even more job losses. There is no reason to believe that the plan will create more jobs than it will destroy.”
“Second, we know from experience at the federal level that some employers will game the system by either claiming the tax credit for jobs they were going to create anyway, or by firing permanent employees and then rehiring ‘new’ employees, or in some cases, every couple of months repeating the process and hiring new temporary employees to fill the same positions and grab as many of the tax credits as they can. Thus, they will not really be creating a net increase in employment. It will be next to impossible to police such practices to stop abuses, especially by a state government that is already strained to the breaking point.”
Whitney concluded that “from start to finish, this is a horrible proposal. It is bad for the budget, bad for the economy and bad for working people. Under the guise of being a jobs plan, this really amounts to another taxpayer subsidy for private profiteering and big business. That’s Bill Brady’s real agenda. Working people shouldn’t fall for this snake oil. I remain the only candidate who actually has a plan.”
Carbondale, IL—Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney released a statement today on this week’s Rasmussen’s Poll that only referred to Whitney as an “other” candidate.
“Such polling is plainly not legitimate and is apparently aimed at persuading voters to follow a favored candidate, not inform voters about their collective opinions. There is a sizeable difference between asking a respondent whether he or she will vote for ‘Rich Whitney, Green Party,’ or asking the respondent if he or she will vote for ‘other’. Real voters respond to names and party affiliations. That’s one reason why a Rasmussen poll can find that there is only 6 percent support for ‘other,’ while a Public Policy Polling poll shows 11 percent for Rich Whitney. Obviously, only the more complete poll is accurately gauging voter support.
“This polling can only further Rasmussen’s reputation for inaccuracy and bias toward more right-leaning candidates. It apparently has an agenda and is not being objective. No reputable media source should use their polling or report their so-called ‘findings’ until they clean up their act.
“At best, Rasmussen is completely out of touch with what is really happening in the Illinois race for governor. At worst, they are intentionally trying to bias voters in favor of the Republican candidate.”
Carbondale, IL— Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney reacted with suspicion to the recent staff changes in Governor Pat Quinn’s administration. On August 13, Quinn terminated the employment of Executive Inspector General James Wright. On Sunday, August 22, Quinn’s Chief of Staff Jerry Stermer resigned after using his state email address for campaign correspondence.
“I applaud Chief of Staff Stermer for acting appropriately. Anyone can make a mistake and he did the right thing by recognizing that he had committed an ethical violation, and reporting it promptly” Whitney remarked.
“However, this now raises questions about the timing of Governor Quinn’s termination of Inspector General Wright ten days ago, since that occurred on the same day that Wright recommended that the Attorney General file a complaint against Stermer with the Executive Ethics Commission. Governor Quinn owes the people of Illinois an explanation for the firing of James Wright.”
Whitney concluded that “Illinois is still suffering from both the practice and the reputation of being a state in which ethics is a new concept. Firing one of the state’s top ethics enforcers on the same day that he takes action against one of the governor’s top aides doesn’t help matters. At a minimum, it appears to be another example of poor judgment on the part of the incumbent governor. I’m not sure how Quinn can keep running for office at this point. It’s kind of hard to run after you’ve shot yourself in the foot as many times as he has.”
From Pantagraph.com:
SPRINGFIELD — Green Party candidate for governor Rich Whitney went on the attack Monday, saying Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn has “peaked” and can’t beat Republican state Sen. Bill Brady.
At a Springfield news conference, Whitney referenced recent independent polls that have shown Brady leading the race for Illinois governor. Whitney urged voters who don’t want to vote for Brady to vote for him instead of Quinn.
“He’s peaked,” Whitney said of Quinn. “He can only go down.”
Read the rest of this article here.
Carbondale, IL—Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney today released a position briefing on 20 crucial issues in Illinois. The positions include (they follow this release):
State Budget Taxation Economy & Job Development
Education Public Pensions Government/Public Sector
Gambling Death Penalty Legalization of Marijuana
Conceal & Carry Public Safety Campaign Finance Reform
Ethics in Government Redistricting Running the Executive Branch
Reproductive Rights Immigration LGBT Rights
Environment Militarism and War
Whitney poll numbers are rising in the latest Public Policy Polling that came out last week. He registered 11 percent in that poll showing Republican Bill Brady ahead of incumbent governor Pat Quinn.
Rich Whitney said, “This issue briefing covers some of the most crucial issues that Illinoisans care about. For instance on the controversial issue of taxes, Whitney asserts, “The issue is not whether we need an income tax increase; the issue is how we make our tax system fairer.”
On the issue of ethics in government, Whitney said, “…that all non-policy-making state jobs be selected on the basis of objective criteria by an independent bureau. I also promise to appoint an Inspector General from an opposition party, to prevent and root out illegal job patronage and help remove the cloud of corruption over our state.”
On the very crucial issue of education, Whitney was forthright in stating, “I want to go beyond the current budget dilemma and make a major public investment into education, so that we can achieve the goal of providing high quality educational opportunities for all, not only from pre-K – 12, but beyond.”
Rich Whitney makes his and the Green Party’s agenda clear in this briefing. Some items are more controversial than others, but the briefing document clearly draws a line in the sand between Whitney and the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor.
Carbondale, IL—Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney will hold two events this Monday, August 23rd, with representatives from the organization Move to Amend in Springfield. Move to Amend is a consortium of over fifty organizations that are rallying against the creation of the classification of corporate personhood.
The day will begin with a meet and greet with supporters from Noon to 1 PM at the Trout Lily Café. During the event, Mr. Whitney will address the crowd regarding the current campaign and touch on such topics as campaign finance reform and the Blagojevich trial. Mr. Whitney will be joined by Laird and Robin Monahan. They are two brothers who are walking across the United States to raise awareness about the need for a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood. Mr. Whitney will then hold a joint press conference with members of Move to Amend from 1:30 PM to 2 PM in the Blue Room at the Illinois State Capitol.
“I am delighted to be able to participate in these two events with the Monahan brothers” Mr. Whitney explained. “This presents a great opportunity for my campaign to highlight the fact that we don’t accept corporate campaign contributions in any form. This is especially timely given the recent attention on the issues facing Illinois politics that were highlighted by the Rod Blagojevich trial. Move to Amend is helping to shed light on the dangers of too much corporate power in the political arena and I am happy to be able to hold these two events with them.”
Carbondale, IL—Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney will celebrate the opening of his newest campaign office this Saturday, August 21st, in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. The grand opening celebration will take place from 2 PM to 4 PM at 516 E. 47th Street. The Whitney campaign also has offices in the Logan Square area of Chicago and in downstate Carbondale. Members of the media and the general public are invited to attend.
Dubbed the “Black Metropolis” in the early part of the 20th century, the area has been referred to as the center of African-American culture in the city of Chicago. For Whitney, the location for the new facility made perfect sense. “The new office on 47th street addresses a number of needs for both the campaign and the residents of Bronzeville. Currently, we have very little name recognition in this part of the city. By basing our South Side operations in this office, we will be able to effectively increase our presence in a large part of the city. Furthermore, we will be able to contribute to the revitalization of the neighborhood by opening this office.”
Whitney concluded that “this historic part of Chicago has been ignored for too long by the politicians of Illinois. These residents are an energetic and valuable part of Illinois. This new office will allow them to voice their concerns to our campaign directly and give them the valuable tools that will empower them to help change Illinois politics for the better.”
Carbondale, IL— Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney was selected by 11 percent of those who responded in the latest poll by Public Policy Polling. Republican State Senator Bill Brady and incumbent Governor Pat Quinn weighed in at 39 and 30 percent respectively.
Mr. Whitney stated that “I am encouraged by the latest polling numbers, which demonstrate that we continue to make steady progress as Illinois voters begin paying more attention to the race and the issues that affect them. This also demonstrates that other polling organizations, which continue to omit my name and party as a choice for respondents, are not conducting a legitimate poll. Such polls would have the effect of biasing the outcome of the election, not predicting it.”
“We still have a lot of work to do. But our campaign is working very hard, and as we open a second office on Chicago’s South Side, and begin preparing media advertising to supplement our other outreach, we can expect our numbers to continue to rise” Whitney added.
The candidate made a pledge of bringing in the “best and brightest” people to work in his administration.
Whitney pointed out yesterday’s conviction of former Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich and a looming second trial as a major reason why he would make a better governor. Whitney said, “I will play it by the book and not succumb to pay to play politics.”
He reiterated that “In my administration there will be a change for the good of Illinois politics.”
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