President Obama's Prime Time Pressers: more like a speech than a press conference

Obama’s Prime Time Pressers: A speech with questions

From a public policy perspective, there were a number of things wrong with last night’s Presidential press conference. A good press conference elicits useful information; identifies and challenges the President on any of his weak spots; educates the media and the public on important public policy issues and engages the President on the issues. Lacking these traits, a President Obama prime time press conference seems more like a speech, interrupted by occasional questions from the media. [This was noted by Dick Morris and Bill O'Reilly on Fox's O'Reilly Factor last night]. In this post, I will assess the nature and style of the questions that were asked of President Obama last night.

Included, below, in Appendix 1 to this post, are the transcribed questions, in the order they were asked last night.

Poor shot selection by the media

When you read over the entire set of questions asked last night [See Appendix 1, below], an obvious flaw is shot selection. In the President’s first two prime time press conferences since his inauguration, he did both in about an hour, and took thirteen questions each time. His pattern has been to set these up in a way that makes follow-ups difficult, but he will entertain them. Thus, the media should have a pretty good idea, beforehand, that very few questions will be asked. So, the priority ones should get asked early in the presser.

Last night was a repeat of the President’s first two prime time pressers, thirteen questions asked in about a fifty five minute presser (including about an eight minute introductory statement).

President Obama: Conductor in Chief

In all three prime time pressers, the press conference was well orchestrated by the President. He has a list of thirteen people to call on, and he follows that script, to a T, calling on the pre-selected media member in the order listed on his cheat sheet. The press goes along with these procedures and they don’t bother to raise their hands. Why do that? The President doesn’t respond to raised hands; he responds to his cheat sheet.

This protocol was established when Obama was President-Elect and held the pressers in Chicago. According to reliable sources, the press to be called upon are notified the night before. One reason, it is said, is to avoid the embarrassment to the President and the media organization of a media member being called upon, but not showing up- for some reason. Also, the media don’t have to prepare needlessly—if the President has a script and follows it—and notice is given to the media

Chris Matthews on Zombie-like media

Chris Matthews asked one of his guests last night, in his post-Presser Hardball show, why the media were so zombie-like at the pressers [Matthews said the media at the pressers "are like dead people" and the pressers are "so-boring." Matthews’ guest [Lawrence O’Donnell] argued this is because Obama has so much to say, knows so much and his answers "may be designed to put you to sleep." Obama is indeed quite smart and informed. However, the real reason for the zombie-like appearance of the media is that 90 % of the media have nothing to do there.

Paraphrasing Ollie North’s lawyer’s self-description at the Iran-Contra hearings, most of the media at the Obama pressers are kind of like potted plants. Unlike a real press conference, where media members try to keep up with the flow, clamor to be called upon and shout out sharp questions, here—they sort of “mail it in.”

Bad questions from the White House media

And, many of the press questions at the Obama pressers are ineptly phrased and ill conceived. The basics of a good press conference question is that it (1) gets to the heart of the issue, (2) challenges the person being questioned from the opposite side. Thus, if Obama got elected on Bush’s bad economy, you might want to have five of your collective thirteen questions on the economy. If Obama tends to be left, then, in general, media questions should come from the right— even as questions to President Bush should have come from the left.

Let’s apply the above theory to see if we can do some re-writing of the White House Press Corps’ questions. The numbers correspond to the order and number in the Appendix, below, of the actual questions asked:

Re-writing the questions for the White House media

1. Jennifer Loven from AP started her question with “Can you talk about” That is like starting your cross examination of a witness with—“Can you talk about.” Not a good idea. Loven should have asked, “As soon it was clear that the swine flu was spreading, in large part, from Mexico, don’t you think you and your public health officials should have decided to close the border with Mexico, including all air, rail and auto traffic with Mexico.” It would have been a tough, provocative question and we would have learned something from the President—would the border closing really have been like “closing the barn door after the horse had gotten out.”

2. Deb Price of Detroit News states, “Have you determined that bankruptcy is the only option to restructure Chrysler.” Well, clearly that is not the case because that is not what they are doing. And, the President said that. Moreover, Price should have asked, “Shouldn’t you, and President Bush before you, have let Chrysler go into bankruptcy. If you had done that, don’t you think you would have saved the taxpayers billions of dollars and we would have been much closer to having a viable, pruned down version of Chrysler coming out of bankruptcy right now, and that entity would have been a more secure provider of jobs in the auto industry than is currently the case.”

3. Jake Tapper of ABC News on torture. Even though Tapper is asking the question to Obama from the left, it is still a good question (although not as good as No. 4 in the Appendix below, from CBS’ Knoller, who asked his question on torture from the right.). However, Tapper should have gone one step further. Instead of asking only—do you believe the previous administration sanctioned torture, he should have tacked on this one: Do you believe that Attorney General Holder should prosecute those who sanctioned torture. When the President objects and says he “doesn’t want to prejudge that,” Tapper should state, “this is a policy matter, doesn’t the buck stop with you on public policy?”

The question that should have been asked last night

Finally, only one of the questions last night touched on the economy, and it didn’t get to the core issue, which is the potential negative impact, long term, of the out-sized Obama deficits on the economy. Someone should have asked this one:

The George W. Bush deficits, about which the Democrats complained vigorously, were about 3% of GDP until the last year of the Bush Administration. The Obama deficits, during much of the next decade, are projected at about 9% of GDP. Are you concerned about crowding the private sector out of private investment, with private capital being used to finance the Obama federal government deficits?

Maybe Fox’s Major Garrett will get called on next time and he can ask the above question.

ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN each had a question last night. But, not FNC. And, although FNC carried the speech, the Fox broadcast channel did not. A coincidence, no doubt.
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Appendix 1- Questions asked by media at President Obama’s April 29, 2009 Press Conference

1. President Obama: And with that, I will start taking some questions. And, I’ll start with you, Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, AP]

Question: Thank you, Mr. President. With the flu outbreak spreading and worsening, can you talk about whether you think it's time to close the border with Mexico, and whether -- under what conditions you might consider quarantining, when that might be appropriate.

2. President Obama: Deb Price of Detroit News. Where is Deb? Good to see you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. On the domestic auto industry, have you determined that bankruptcy is the only option to restructure Chrysler? And do you believe that the deep cuts and plant closings that were outlined this week by General Motors are sufficient?

3. President Obama: Jake. Where's Jake? There he is. [Jake Tapper, ABC News]

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. You've said in the past that waterboarding in your opinion is torture. And torture is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Do you believe that the previous administration sanctioned torture?

QUESTION: Sorry, sir --

MR. OBAMA: I'm sorry.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: Do you believe the previous administration sanctioned torture?

4. President Obama: Mark Knoller [CBS Radio]
.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Let me follow up, if I may, on Jake's question. Did you read the documents recently referred to by former Vice President Cheney and others, saying that the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques not only protected the nation but saved lives? And if part of the United States were under imminent threat, could you envision yourself ever authorizing the use of those enhanced interrogation techniques?

5. President Obama: Chuck Todd [NBC News].

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Want to move to Pakistan. Pakistan appears to be at war with the Taliban inside their own country.

MR. OBAMA: Right.

QUESTION: Can you reassure the American people that, if necessary, America could secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and keep it from getting into the Taliban's hands, or worst-case scenario, even al Qaeda's hands?

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: But in a worst-case scenario, the military -

MR. OBAMA: I'm not going to engage in --

QUESTION: -- the U.S. military could secure this nuclear --

6. President Obama: Jeff Mason [Reuters].

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. One of the biggest changes you've made, in the first 100 days, regarding foreign policy, has had to do with Iraq. But do the large- scale -- is the large-scale violence there right now -- does that affect the U.S. strategy at all for withdrawal? And could it affect the timetable that you've set out for troops?

7. President Obama: Chip Reid [CBS TV NEWS]

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. On Senator Specter's switch to the Democratic Party, you said you were thrilled. I guess nobody should be surprised about that. But how big a deal is this really?

Some Republicans say it is huge. They believe it's a game changer. They say that if you get the 60 votes in the Senate, that you will be able to ride roughshod over any opposition, and that we're on the verge of, as one Republican put it, one-party rule.

Do you see it that way? And also, what do you think his switch says about the state of the Republican Party?

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: Is the Republican Party in the desperate straits that Arlen Specter seems to think it is?

8. President Obama: Ed Henry [CNN News]

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be giving the commencement at Notre Dame, and as you know, this has caused a lot of controversy among Catholics who are opposed to your position on abortion.

As a candidate, you vowed that one of the very first things you wanted to do was sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as you know, would eliminate federal, state and local restrictions on abortion. And at one point in the campaign, when asked about abortion and life, you said that it was above -- quote, "above my pay grade."

Now that you've been president for a hundred days, obviously your pay grade is a little higher than when you were a senator. (Laughter.) Do you still hope that Congress quickly sends you the Freedom of Choice Act, so you can sign it?

9. President Obama: Jeff Zeleny [New York Times].

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving in this office, humbled you the most and troubled you the most?

MR. OBAMA: Let me write this down. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Surprised.

MR. OBAMA: All right. I've got --
QUESTION: Troubled.

MR. OBAMA: I've got -- what was the first one?
QUESTION: Surprised.

MR. OBAMA: Surprised.
QUESTION: Troubled.

MR. OBAMA: Troubled.
QUESTION: Enchanted.

MR. OBAMA: Enchanted. Nice. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: And humbled.

MR. OBAMA: And what was the last one, humbled?
QUESTION: Humbled.
Thank you, sir.

MR. OBAMA: All right. (Laughter.) Okay. (Laughter.)

10. President Obama: Lori Montenegro [Telemundo]

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, when you met with the Hispanic Caucus a few weeks ago --

MR. OBAMA: Yes.
QUESTION: -- reports came out that the White House was planning to have a forum to talk about immigration and bring it to the forefront.

MR. OBAMA: Yup.
QUESTION: Going forward, my question is, what is your strategy to try to have immigration reform? And are you still on the same timetable to have it in -- accomplished in the first year of your presidency?
And also, I'd like to know if you're going to reach out to Senator John McCain, who is Republican and in the past has favored immigration reform.

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: (Do you see accomplishing it ?) in the first year of your administration?

11. President Obama: Andre Showell [BET]. There you go.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. As the entire nation tries to climb out of this deep recession, in communities of color the circumstances are far worse. The black unemployment rate, as you know, is in the double digits, and in New York City, for example, the black unemployment rate for men is near 50 percent.
My question tonight is, given this unique and desperate circumstance, what specific policies can you point to that will target these communities? And what's a timetable for us to see tangible results?

12. President Obama: Michael Scherer of Time.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. During the campaign, you criticized President Bush's use of the state secrets privilege, but U.S. attorneys have continued to argue the Bush position in three cases in court. How exactly does your view of state secrets differ from President Bush's? And do you believe presidents should be able to derail entire lawsuits about warrantless wiretapping or rendition if classified information is involved?

13. President Obama: Jonathan Weisman [WSJ], you get -- you get the last word. Where are you? There you are.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir.

MR. OBAMA: Yeah.

QUESTION: You are currently the chief shareholder of a couple of very large mortgage giants. You are about to become the chief shareholder of a car company, probably two.

I'm wondering, what kind of shareholder are you going to be? What is the government's role, as the keeper of public -- public trusts and bonds in -- in soon-to-be public companies again

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: And could you shape the products and services that are on offer?
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Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with Senator Steans about budget deficits and education reform, a show with conservative activist Joe Morris about SB600 as a litmus test for reformers, a show with Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows.
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Better than Chris Wallace w/Arlen Specter: Berkowitz w/Sen. Heather Steans on deficits and education reform, Cable and Streaming

This week's Chicago metro suburban edition of "Public Affairs," features State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago). The show airs in 24 suburbs tonight and in 10 other North Shore suburbs on Wednesday and Friday night. The show airs in Chicago, Aurora and Rockford next week. Please go here for detailed airing schedules, a summary of the topics discussed and a partial transcript of the show.
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You can watch the show with Senator Steans 24/7 on your computer.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com.
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"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
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Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with Senator Steans about budget deficits and education reform, a show with conservative activist Joe Morris about SB600 as a litmus test for reformers, a show with Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows.
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Better than Chris Wallace with Sen. Durbin: Berkowitz w/ Sen. Hendon on Taxes, minimum wages, minority unemployment and vouchers; Cable and Streaming

Jeff Berkowitz: You want more exemptions? There are already some in there.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago)[Watch Hendon here].: I want more exemptions. I believe that people who are making less than two hundred thousand dollars [a year] should not pay [more income tax], and those who are making more-
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Jeff Berkowitz: My point is, you've got to do something to change this. You heard Senator Bill Brady say this: it’s the last six years of Democratic rule, the culture of corruption and a culture of unfriendliness to business-- that causes the unemployment rate to be higher in Illinois than the national average... What is Illinois doing wrong-- why do they have a higher unemployment rate than their neighboring states or the average across the nation?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: One thing that I agree with Bill and others on is that there's a tax-the corruption tax…
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Jeff Berkowitz: I'm not saying it's all because of the Democratic party. I'm just saying, Democrats and Republicans have treated state employees and their pensions very well. You know that. One thing you're changing for the future employees.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago] : Exactly. One thing the Democrats are doing now is changing [pension benefits] for future employees. The unions don't like it, but we know that it's something that we need to do.
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The "Public Affairs," show, featuring State Senator and possible Lt. Guv candidate Rickey (Hollywood) Hendon (D-Chicago) airs tonight in its regular cable scheduled slots throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21(CANTV, aka Chicago Access Network TV) and in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, ACTV-10, aka Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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You can also watch the show with Senator Hendon on your computer.
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The show with Senator Hendon was taped on April 5, 2009.
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The "Public Affairs," show, featuring State Senator and possible Lt. Guv candidate Rickey (Hollywood) Hendon (D-Chicago) also airs throughout the City of Rockford (and in surrounding areas) this Thursday night, April 30 at 8:00 pm on Cable Ch. 17. Surrounding areas reached by Ch. 17 include Byron, Cedarville, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Mount Morris, New Milford, Portions of Ogle County, Oregon, Polo, Stillman Valley, Winnebago, Portions of Boone County and Poplar Grove.
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Jeff Berkowitz: You're supporting that increase in income tax?

State Sen Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago]: I believe that if we couch it right, and we do the proper exceptions, that we could do an income tax increase this year. The exemptions are what makes the difference.

--Hendon: increase taxes only on those earning more than 200K

Jeff Berkowitz: You want more exemptions? There are already some in there.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: I want more exemptions. I believe that people who are making less than two hundred thousand dollars [a year] should not pay [more income tax], and those who are making more-

Jeff Berkowitz: Should not pay any more taxes? Because right now a family of four earning fifty seven thousand doesn't pay higher taxes, but a family of four earning more than fifty seven thousand does pay a higher tax under the Quinn plan, right?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: It's a little higher than that. The way we see the numbers, you know everybody-

Jeff Berkowitz: So what do you see? A family of four earning what plays a higher tax?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Over a hundred thousand.

Jeff Berkowitz: And you want to change that. You think a family of four earning a hundred thousand shouldn't pay higher taxes. You want to see only a family of four earning over two hundred thousand [to pay higher taxes]?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon[D-Chicago]: In that range.

Jeff Berkowitz: And you think folks would support that, in the Senate?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Not necessarily, we're couching it all together.

Jeff Berkowitz: You talked with Pat Quinn about this?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: We've talked to Pat.

Jeff Berkowitz: What is Pat saying? Is he open to this?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Here is one thing people need to understand about Governor Quinn: he doesn't want to raise taxes. He just understands that we need new revenue, and he's looking at all the options. This is not something that he was just dying to do, like Blagojevich was saying.

--The Senate Republicans alternative to an income tax increase

Jeff Berkowitz: Just this week, [Senator] Matt Murphy and others who were on the Deficit Reduction Committee--Carole Pankau--other Republican senators--they held a press conference. They said, you don't need to raise taxes, because they proposed cuts--or at least improvements in management in--Medicaid and some other contributions from state retirees. They total to three and a half billion to four billion dollars, which is as much as Pat's getting from the individual income tax increase. This is a start, but they said you can take this, not raise the income tax, at least on individuals, not raise it on corporations, and you'll be basically the same.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: You know-

Jeff Berkowitz: I got that right, right? That's what they said?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago] : You got it right.

Jeff Berkowitz: That's what they said. And you disagree with that?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: They said the same thing on the federal level. Keep the Bush tax cuts, keep these tax cuts--and look what happened.

Jeff Berkowitz: Let's keep this focused on the state level.
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State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Let me make a succinct point on the tax situation and what Matt said. And, he is a friend of mine. It's easy to talk stuff on the outside. It's tougher to govern. They never say what they want to cut. We can cut, we can cut. Well, who do you hurt when you cut? How do you say to a retired employee who's put in thirty or forty years of their life into state government, now we're going to cut your healthcare?

--Senators Murphy and Hendon: Any common tax ground?

Jeff Berkowitz: We're asking for increased contributions. These state retirees are making out, some would say, pretty well.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: We had twenty-eight years of Republican governors, so if they're making out pretty well, they made out that well under the Republican governors.

Jeff Berkowitz: I'm not saying it's all because of the Democratic party. I'm just saying, Democrats and Republicans have treated state employees and their pensions very well. You know that. One thing you're changing for the future employees.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago] : Exactly. One thing the Democrats are doing now is changing [pension benefits] for future employees. The unions don't like it, but we know that it's something that we need to do.

Jeff Berkowitz: You can change some of the contributions for healthcare for current employees--that's permitted, apparently, by the Constitution.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: I just don't think we can get to the [budget savings] numbers that Senators Pankau and Murphy think we can get at. It needs to be a combination of things, Jeff.

Jeff Berkowitz: How much do you think we can get to from the Medicaid proposals that they made?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: I think you can get to about half of it without hurting people-

Jeff Berkowitz: About two billion dollars?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: A little less, because I'm not into the business of hurting the people of Illinois. We need to generate jobs and get the economy going, but we don't need to hurt the people of Illinois while we do it.
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---State income tax increases and unemployment

Jeff Berkowitz: Some people are going to get hurt in terms of paying higher taxes…The Republicans are going to say that if you raise the income tax, individual and corporate, you're going to have on the corporate level, one of the highest taxes in the country. You're going to cause unemployment, and that hurts people who don't get jobs. You understand? You understand that argument?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago]: Absolutely. If you know my history, I'm an anti-tax Democrat. I was the first to come up with getting rid of the gasoline tax-

Jeff Berkowitz: Is there such? Isn't that an oxymoron?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: No, there is such a thing!
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Jeff Berkowitz:…The argument that [Senator Bill] Brady put forward, that Matt Murphy's put forward, that Pankau's put forward--even Dave Syverson, who on this show a year or two ago said maybe a tax increase was necessary, to deal with payments--not for new programs, but just paying off [old bills from] providers--but it sounds like he's not for an increase in taxes now, so it sounds like the Republican Party is united on that. But they're pointing to the unemployment effects. That is, if you raise the income tax on the individual level and you raise the corporate tax to be higher than most other states, businesses are going to go elsewhere, fewer jobs here, you've got to be concerned about that.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: I agree with them about the corporate tax. I'm the sponsor of the bill to bring the movie business back. How did we bring the movie business back? We gave them a tax credit. We gave them a tax break. And now they're shooting movies in Illinois.

Jeff Berkowitz: But now Quinn says that all these tax breaks are why he has to raise the tax rate-- because there are too many loopholes. He would call your tax break a loophole.
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Hendon wants “tweaks” in Quinn tax increase

Jeff Berkowitz: Back to the budget. You're supporting this income tax increase that Quinn has proposed--

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Not necessarily.

Jeff Berkowitz: If you can get more exemptions.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: [Quinn] has to tweak it. He has to change it.
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--Hendon wants to “manage government better.”

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago]: With expanded exemptions, he'll get less revenue. But I'm okay with that.

Jeff Berkowitz: …If he gets less revenue, does he have to do something else to close a portion of the [budget] hole?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: We can mange better. We should manage better.

Jeff Berkowitz: Some of that would be better Medicaid management?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Across the board, I see waste…

--More than an 8 billion dollar deficit for the coming fiscal year?

Jeff Berkowitz: Do you agree with his assessment that there's a four billion dollar deficit in the current year?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Yes, I do.

Jeff Berkowitz: Eight billion dollar [deficit] next year?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Maybe even higher. If the economy doesn't turn around. And, if the United States of America stays in Afghanistan and Iraq, it's going to be very difficult to turn the economy around. If it doesn’t turn around on the national level, it’s going to be very difficult to turn around here in Illinois.

--Why Illinois has more unemployment than the national average

Jeff Berkowitz: But the unemployment rate's higher in Illinois generally, right? It has been at least, as long as I've looked at it for the last few years.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago]: …And I'd say it’s even higher than the numbers. There is a large segment, especially in my community, where I believe [the unemployment rate] is forty to fifty percent.

Jeff Berkowitz: Right, and certainly higher in the African-American community, which is a good part of your district.

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: Right. Much higher. I go all the way to downtown, but I have a large neighborhood where no one is working.

Jeff Berkowitz: Part of the reason, some would say, is that there's a higher minimum wage in Illinois than there is in the country at large. The higher minimum wage tends to cause employers to hire fewer people. So Illinois jacks up its unemployment rate [by raising the state minimum wage]. Right now the unemployment rate in Illinois across the whole state, not just in your district, is about 8.0 % percent, right? But the national rate has just gone to eight percent [from 7.5%] as we tape on April 5th, so I'm betting [when] we get the Illinois unemployment figures, they'll probably be 8.6%. [Ed. Note: The national unemployment rate is now 8.5 %; The Illinois unemployment rate is now 9.1 %]

State Sen. Rickey Hendon [D-Chicago]: I think they'll be double digits.

Jeff Berkowitz: My point is, you've got to do something to change this. You heard Senator Bill Brady say this: it’s the last six years of Democratic rule, the culture of corruption and a culture of unfriendliness to business-- that causes the unemployment rate to be higher in Illinois than the national average. I understood your point… but what we're saying is… if the Illinois unemployment rate is higher than the national average, something should be done about that. What is Illinois doing wrong-- why they have a higher unemployment rate than their neighboring states or the average across the nation?

State Sen. Rickey Hendon: One thing that I agree with Bill and others on is that there's a tax-the corruption tax…
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Public Affairs thanks Amy Allen, one of its interns, for preparing a draft of the above partial transcript of our show with State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago).
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For more about State Senator Rickey Hendon, the topics covered in our show with Senator Hendon (and another partial transcript of the show with Sen. Hendon), please go here.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
*******************************************************************
Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with Senator Steans about budget deficits and education reform, a show with conservative activist Joe Morris about SB600 as a litmus test for reformers, a show with Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows.
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Better than Obama's Wednesday Presser: Berkowitz w/Senator Steans on Charters, Vouchers, State Budget deficits and Dem Brand dilution; Cable/Streaming

Jeff Berkowitz: But Senator Murphy and his Republican allies…are saying instead of raising the income tax, do the …Medicaid reform, managed care and I guess he’s suggesting that in 2009-10 you can realize that [savings], you’re saying you can’t. That’s the difference between you and Matt?

Senator Heather Steans [D-Chicago][Watch Steans here]: I think it takes probably time to get into that. I do think it probably takes time to actually achieve all those savings because you have—I mean, implementation, there’s always start up times on these things and I also believe you still don’t get to the seven billion dollars in savings that you need from doing all of that so I think…[Ed. Note, of course, Gov. Quinn’s proposed income tax increase also doesn’t, by itself, generate “the seven billion dollars in added revenue necessary to cure the state government deficit projected for 2009.-10].
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Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago): I think, though, there is a real danger when we try to set up a system that is outside the public school system.

Jeff Berkowitz: What’s the danger? Why is that a danger?

Senator Heather Steans: You know I am a big fan of the public school system and competition within that so I prefer the charter school model for that reason.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, isn’t your concern about the kids in the public schools rather than the public schools per se?

Senator Heather Steans: Because there’s always going to be kids whose families aren’t going to be advocating for them in the same way and getting them necessarily into a voucher school or into a charter school and we’ve got to make sure that we’re raising the bar for all of the kids in our public education system...
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This coming week’s Chicago metro suburban edition of Public Affairs features State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) [See below for the Chicago metro suburban, City of Chicago, Aurora and Rockford airing schedules for the show with Senator Steans]. Watch Steans debate and discuss State budget spending, tax increases, deficits, education and school choice, caps on charter schools, state employee pensions, issues with show host and executive legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz.[A more detailed description of the show's topics is included, below]
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The "Public Affairs," show with Senator Steans can be watched on your computer.
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Jeff Berkowitz, show host and producer, and executive legal recruiter, debates and discusses with second year Illinois State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) a variety of state legislative issues, including how to fix Illinois' budget deficit; tax increases, spending, healthcare and pension issues; education funding and reform issues, e.g., school choice-school vouchers; charter schools; having state regulators focus on education outcomes, rather than inputs; campaign finance reform, ethics, public corruption, the Blago legacy and the Democratic Brand;

Prior to becoming a legislator last year, Senator Steans had extensive city, county and state government experience, including working with Democrat Paul Vallas at CPS and Republican Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin. Senator Steans has an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, a Master's Degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and she lives in the Lakewood-Balmoral area of the 7th District with her husband and children. For more about Senator Steans, please go to www.SenatorSteans.com.
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--How many kids are enough to attend Illinois' charter schools?

Jeff Berkowitz: With 30 Charter Schools in the City of Chicago, roughly what percentage of the [Chicago Public School] students are in Charter schools? Ballpark.

State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago): I would say, five to ten percent.

Jeff Berkowitz: I think that would be high. I think it’s more like two to three percent. [Ed note: Turns out Senator Steans was right, charter school students make up about 6% of the CPS enrollment, see here].

State Senator Heather Steans: Is it really. They have lots of campuses, though.

Jeff Berkowitz: …If I am right, and it’s two to three percent

State Senator Heather Steans: And I really don’t know the number.

--Lifting the legislative cap on the number of Charter Schools

Jeff Berkowitz: and you only increase the cap in Chicago of Charter Schools by 50% to 45 schools, even with more campuses—at the end of the day, I don’t think you are going to get even to 10% of the total students—in terms of how many attend charter schools…and no less than an authority than Arne Duncan, former Superintendent of the CPS

Senator Heather Steans: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: Now Secretary of Education. He said one thing he liked so much about charter schools is parents want them. And [Duncan] could tell that because there are these long waiting lists. [See here].

Senator Heather Steans: There are indeed.

--Real School Accountability

Jeff Berkowitz: So, isn’t that the accountability [we are looking for]. Do we need someone else to tell us its good [when] the parents are lining up- they want more charter schools, fewer of the [traditional] public schools. . I think the proponents of charter schools would say it is a good thing that you want to raise the cap

Senator Heather Steans: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, I think they would say either raise the cap much more, so that you could potentially be talking about 20 to 30 % of the kids attending charter schools, or lift it completely. Do you see that reasoning…Look, kids can’t wait. If they are not learning how to read, it doesn’t do them a lot of good to say, “Oh, in twenty years, we’ll get this right.” You’re sympathetic with that argument, right?

--Getting enough kids into the right learning environment

Senator Heather Steans: No, I understand the argument. But, there’s…I think we also have to figure out, you’re never going to get all kids into a charter school environment. Not going to happen.

Jeff Berkowitz: It doesn’t have to be into a charter school. The next argument would be to say, why not voucher schools. Why not take that $16, 000 and say to parents if you want, go to the private school of your choice. So…now you have charter schools, you have voucher schools and you have public schools all competing side by side. And, when you give $16,000 in purchasing power to each public or private school student, you will see many new schools start up, attracted simply by the profit motive, but if they don’t perform…the schools would not get the money [because] the parents would go somewhere else. That’s competition. You believe in competition, right?

--Charter schools or voucher schools: A danger to kids?

Senator Heather Steans: I think, though, there is a real danger when we try to set up a system that is outside the public school system.

Jeff Berkowitz: What’s the danger? Why is that a danger?

Senator Heather Steans: You know I am a big fan of the public school system and competition within that so I prefer the charter school model for that reason.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, isn’t your concern about the kids in the public schools rather than the public schools per se?

Senator Heather Steans: Because there’s always going to be kids whose families aren’t going to be advocating for them in the same way and getting them necessarily into a voucher school or into a charter school and we’ve got to make sure that we’re raising the bar for all of the kids in our public education system. There’s ways of doing that that we have not fully been exploiting. One of the problems that we have, too, now is that the model of the school has changed enormously over the last 50-60 years. What we expect a school to manage. All the social work. All the other requirements—keeping kids safe. There’s so many other expectations that we put on a school now…
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--Has the Democratic brand been destroyed?

Senator Heather Steans: No, I don’t think—

Jeff Berkowitz: Because by Rod Blagojevich, by Roland Burris—Is there a corruption issue, aura that’s plagued the Republicans with George Ryan. Has that ball been transferred now-- that aura, that taint-- been transferred to the Illinois Democratic Party via Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris.

Senator Heather Steans: Great question; we also produced Barack Obama and I think people are pretty happy with him and think he is a very straight guy.

Jeff Berkowitz: He’s gone; he’s no longer in Illinois politics.

Senator Heather Steans: Yeah, but he’s

--The Blagojevich legacy

Jeff Berkowitz: I’m talking about Illinois politics now. I’m not talking national political parties. You’re going to have a guy or lady running for Governor, whose got to run, in a sense, on that legacy—that Blagojevich legacy.

Senator Heather Steans: I think most voters understand…that corruption in Illinois is not a party issue? …You know, Adlai Stevenson said, over 50 years ago, He’s a fellow Princeton alumni, he said, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness, except in Illinois where it is next to impossible.” 50 years ago and sadly, that still sort of very much applies…
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Achieve the Medicaid savings in place of an income tax increase

Jeff Berkowitz: The Republican group on the deficit [reduction] legislative committee led by Senator Matt Murphy said there is something like 2 to 3 billion dollars [per year] in medicaid cuts alone that he could find [to substitute for the income tax increases]. Does that sound right?

Senator Heather Steans: Yes, they did come up with that.

Jeff Berkowitz: You are familiar with that?

Senator Heather Steans: I am familiar with that, correct.

Jeff Berkowitz: Do you agree with Matt?

Senator Heather Steans: Well, I think those will take—I am not sure you could certainly realize all of those kind of cuts in a year. I do think there are some savings that could be found. I do believe that we’ve had a primary care, managed system in place in this state that we could be expanding to much greater degree and reaping more benefits from that, more savings…

Jeff Berkowitz: But Senator Murphy and his Republican allies…are saying instead of raising the income tax, do the …Medicaid reform, managed care and I guess he’s suggesting that in 2009-10 you can realize that [savings], you’re saying you can’t. That’s the difference between you and Matt?

Senator Heather Steans [D-Chicago]: I think it takes probably time to get into that. I do think it probably takes time to actually achieve all those savings because you have—I mean, implementation, there’s always start up times on these things and I also believe you still don’t get to the seven billion dollars in savings that you need from doing all of that so I think…[Ed. Note, of course, Gov. Quinn’s proposed income tax increase also doesn’t, by itself, generate “the seven billion dollars in added revenue necessary to cure the state government deficit projected for 2009.-10].
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The "Public Affairs," show with State Senator Steans was taped on April 19, 2009.
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Public Affairs Chicago Metro suburban airing schedule:

The show featuring State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) is airing this coming week in the North and Northwest Chicago Metro suburbs in its regular slot:

Tuesday night at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, parts of Inverness, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wilmette

and Tuesday night at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 35 in Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Glenview, Golf, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Schaumburg, Skokie, Streamwood and Wheeling.

and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Bannockburn, Deerfield, Ft. Sheridan, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods and Winnetka.
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Chicago and Aurora:

The "Public Affairs," show featuring State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) will also air throughout the City of Chicago one week from this coming Monday night i.e., May 4 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21(CANTV, aka Chicago Access Network TV) and that same night on cable in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, ACTV-10, aka Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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Rockford:

The "Public Affairs," show featuring State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) , will also air throughout the City of Rockford (and in surrounding areas) a week from this coming Thursday night, May 7 at 8:00 pm on Cable Ch. 17. The surrounding areas reached by Ch. 17 include Byron, Cedarville, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Mount Morris, New Milford, Portions of Ogle County, Oregon, Polo, Stillman Valley, Winnebago, Portions of Boone County and Poplar Grove.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
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Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with Senator Steans, a show with conservative activist Joe Morris, a show with State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), a show with State Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), a show with State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), a show with then IL 5th CD Dem nominee--Cook County Cmsr. Mike Quigley (who recently won the April general election to replace Cong. Rahm Emanuel), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows. And, see here for very recent postings on our Youtube page.
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Better than Carol Marin w/Stroger:Berkowitz w/ Senator Hendon on School Vouchers, Deficits, Taxes, Jobs, Guns, Abortion and more; Cable and Streaming

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Jeff Berkowitz: If that’s the case—[that the CPS now spends 16K per kid per year and under vouchers, that’s the amount that parents would have available to spend on their kid’s education], would you like to give your parents [in your district] the $16,000 voucher and say, go to the school of your choice—there would be private schools that would arise—

State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago): If it was $16,000, yes, but— [Watch Senator Hendon here]
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Jeff Berkowitz: Teachers' unions don’t want it [the cap on charter schools] lifted. Are you afraid to stand up to the teachers' unions?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’m not afraid to stand up to you, let alone the teachers' unions.
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This week’s Chicago metro suburban edition of Public Affairs features State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) [See below for the Chicago metro suburban, City of Chicago, Aurora and Rockford airing schedules for the show with Rep. Hendon]. Watch Hendon debate and discuss State budget, unemployment, tax, spending, deficit, education and school choice, healthcare, pension, SB600, gays, guns, God and abortion issues with show host and executive legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz.[A more detailed description of the show's topics is included, below]
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The "Public Affairs," show with Senator Hendon can be watched on your computer.
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--Does State Senator Hendon support fully funded school vouchers for his District?

Jeff Berkowitz: If that’s the case—[that the CPS now spends 16K per kid per year and under vouchers, that’s the amount that parents would have available to spend on their kid’s education], would you like to give your parents [in your district] the $16,000 voucher and say, go to the school of your choice—there would be private schools that would arise—

State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago): If it was $16,000, yes, but—

Jeff Berkowitz: Would you do that?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: But, my number [of what I think CPS is spending per kid per year] is much lower than that—

Jeff Berkowitz: If we could prove that to you, then you would do it. Okay?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: Let me make my point—because we don’t want parents to have to pay the balance, who can’t afford to pay the balance. So, if the private school is, let’s just throw a number out there, $8,000, and you are only getting $6,000 [for the school voucher].

Jeff Berkowitz: There are a lot of private schools [in that tuition range] and that’s where it is now [often], private scholarships give those folks [that level of aid].

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I have more charter schools than any other district and I believe in them.

Jeff Berkowitz: If you could do it, you’d consider school vouchers?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’d have to look at it very hard.

Jeff Berkowitz: No, no, no. So, now you’re backing off.

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’d have to look at it very hard.

Jeff Berkowitz: Charter schools, there’s a limit.

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’m not going to be on your show and lie. That wouldn’t be good. I’m going to tell the truth. I’d have to look at vouchers very hard but I have more charter schools than anyone else.

--Does Senator Hendon want to lift the cap on charter schools? Increase the cap? Does he believe in charter schools?

Jeff Berkowitz: But, the state sets a limit in Chicago. There can only be thirty charter schools [in Chicago].

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’m for lifting it.

Jeff Berkowitz: Lift the limit completely.

State Senator Rickey Hendon: Well, I’m not going to just throw any number out there.

Jeff Berkowitz: Why. Just lift it. Why have the state legislature control the number of charter schools?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I think there should be a number on it. But, right now, I have more—

--Is Hollywood Hendon afraid of the teachers’ unions?

Jeff Berkowitz: Teachers unions don’t want it [lifted]. Are you afraid to stand up to the teachers' unions?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: I’m not afraid to stand up to you, let alone the teachers' unions.

Jeff Berkowitz: Forget me, I’m not—

State Senator Rickey Hendon: You’re much more powerful than the teachers' unions.

Jeff Berkowitz: No, the teachers' unions are much more powerful, you know that.

State Senator Rickey Hendon: Public opinion and those of you who have access to the media are more important than any particular union or organization.

--Should Chicago’s residents be allowed to possess guns in their homes?

Jeff Berkowitz: Guns. You have a lot of unsafe areas. A lot of people in your district I’m sure would like to be able to [own handguns]—

State Senator Rickey Hendon: We have to get them off the streets—

Jeff Berkowitz: No, but they would like to have a handgun in their home to protect themselves.

State Senator Rickey Hendon: No problem with me. I’m on the west side [of Chicago]. I’d be a fool to say-

Jeff Berkowitz: Tell the Mayor that he should change the law so that… the people you represent...in your District, should be able to own a handgun to protect themselves, you agree? [ Watch Berkowitz discuss Chicago's Handgun ban with Mayor Daley here ].

State Senator Rickey Hendon: All the way, absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: You told the Mayor that?

State Senator Rickey Hendon: Absolutely, and I’m telling all your people that, right now, all your viewers.

Jeff Berkowitz: Because, he has a guy to protect him. [Mayor Daley’s] got an armed guard.

State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago): I’m not the Mayor’s guy. You know I’m independent of Mayor Daley. [But,]I can work with him.
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Topics discussed and debated on the show with Senator Hendon include the following:

How did Gov. Quinn do in his first 65 days? President Obama in his first 75 days. Is there a 4 billion dollar deficit in Illinois’ 08-09 fiscal year? 8 billion dollar deficit for 09-10? Does Hendon support an increase in the individual income tax? The corporate income tax? Will there be a capital plan; should the capital plan be deferred until next year’s budget is resolved. What would it take for Rep. Hendon to support the Quinn income tax increase? Modify the exemptions so that only a family of four with an income of more than 200K will pay a higher tax? Are there the votes to support such an income tax increase? Are the state Senate Republicans right in their contention that Medicaid managed care and other reforms can save two to four billion dollars a year for the State? Does Hendon support proposed reductions in state employee pension benefits for future state employees?

Would an increase in the corporate income tax in Illinois cause an increase in unemployment? Is the unemployment rate in Illinois already higher than the national average? If yes, why is that the case? Is the unemployment rate among Illinois’ African-American community much higher than that for whites? If yes, why is that the case?

Should Illinois Republicans be able to elect their State Central Committee members directly (SB600), or should the township and ward Republican committeemen be permitted to make those selections? Was Democrat Hendon involved in that legislation, which recently passed the Senate? Why?

Is a Quinn-Hendon ticket a possibility? Is the Democratic party “In-crowd,” supporting Giannoulias, Madigan and Hynes for U. S. Senate, Governor and Attorney General Democratic party nominees, respectively?

What are the most important things for Rep. Hendon to focus on for his District? Should we lift the state legislative caps on the number of charter schools in Chicago (30), the suburbs (15) and downstate(15)? Should we have school vouchers? Should people in Chicago be allowed to own and possess handguns in their own homes?

Is it time for someone not named Daley to be Mayor of Chicago? Who should the Dems put forward as their U.S. Senate nominee in 2010? Their nominee for Cook County Board President? Is the African-American community more conservative on the Gays, Guns, God and Abortion issue than their elected representatives? If yes, why is that? Is Rep. Hendon more conservative than people think? Is Rep. Hendon in favor of same sex marriage? Is he 1000 % Pro Choice?
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The "Public Affairs," show with State Senator Hendon was taped on April 5, 2009.
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Public Affairs Chicago Metro suburban airing schedule:

The show featuring State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) is airing this week in the North and Northwest Chicago Metro suburbs in its regular slot:

Tonight (Tuesday) at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, parts of Inverness, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wilmette

and Tonight (Tuesday) at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 35 in Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Glenview, Golf, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Schaumburg, Skokie, Streamwood and Wheeling.

and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable Channel 19 in Bannockburn, Deerfield, Ft. Sheridan, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lincolnshire, Riverwoods and Winnetka.
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Chicago and Aurora:

The "Public Affairs," show featuring State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) will also air throughout the City of Chicago this coming Monday night, April 27 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21(CANTV, aka Chicago Access Network TV) and that same night on cable in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, ACTV-10, aka Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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Rockford:

The "Public Affairs," show featuring State Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) , will also air throughout the City of Rockford (and in surrounding areas) a week from this coming Thursday night, April 30 at 8:00 pm on Cable Ch. 17. The surrounding areas reached by Ch. 17 include Byron, Cedarville, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Mount Morris, New Milford, Portions of Ogle County, Oregon, Polo, Stillman Valley, Winnebago, Portions of Boone County and Poplar Grove.
*******************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
*******************************************************************
Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with State Rep. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), a show with State Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), a show with State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), a show with then IL 5th CD Dem nominee--Cook County Cmsr. Mike Quigley (who recently won the April general election to replace Cong. Rahm Emanuel), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows. And, see here for very recent postings on our Youtube page.
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Better than Stephanopoulos w/Rahm Emanuel: Berkowitz w/R Guv candidate and Senator Bill Brady on Dem Party culture of corruption; Cable and Streaming

Post-Game Interview with Senator Bill Brady, April 5, 2009: [Watch Sen. Brady's Game Interview]

Jeff Berkowitz: Would you actually lower the …individual income tax?

2010 Republican Guv. Primary candidate and State Senator Bill Brady [R-Bloomington]: I don’t know that we could realistically do that at this point in time.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, you would certainly not increase it?

State Sen. Brady: No.

Jeff Berkowitz: And, the corporate income tax, you would certainly not increase it?

State Sen. Brady: No, absolutely not.
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Jeff Berkowitz: And, you think you can do that, actually have property tax relief?

State Sen. Brady: I do.

Jeff Berkowitz: Without raising the income tax?

State Sen. Brady: I do. As we rebuild this economy and bring the jobs back to Illinois, 700,000 jobs that we’ve lost. Each job brings with it approximately $5200 in revenue, just for the state.
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Jeff Berkowitz: …If you could have no minimum wage, federal or state, would you think that would be a good idea.

State Sen. Brady: Times are different, we don’t need a minimum wage.

Jeff Berkowitz: You don’t need a federal minimum wage or a state minimum wage?

State Sen. Brady: No. People are going to work at their own free will at the price they think they’re worth. Government doesn’t need to be involved in that.
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The "Public Affairs," show, featuring State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary Guv candidate Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) airs tonight in its regular cable scheduled slots throughout the City of Chicago at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21(CANTV, aka Chicago Access Network TV) and in Aurora and surrounding areas at 7:30 pm on ACTV-10. The Aurora station, ACTV-10, aka Aurora Community Television, Comcast Cable Ch. 10, reaches all of Aurora, Bristol, Big Rock and parts of Oswego, Sandwich, Sugar Grove and Montgomery.
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You can also watch the show with Senator Brady, in his 16th year in the General Assembly, on your computer.
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The show with Senator Brady was taped on April 5, 2009.
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The "Public Affairs," show, featuring State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary Guv candidate Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) also airs throughout the City of Rockford (and in surrounding areas) this Thursday night, April 23 at 8:00 pm on Cable Ch. 17. Surrounding areas reached by Ch. 17 include Byron, Cedarville, Cherry Valley, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Mount Morris, New Milford, Portions of Ogle County, Oregon, Polo, Stillman Valley, Winnebago, Portions of Boone County and Poplar Grove.
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Game Interview with State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary Guv candidate Bill Brady:

--A culture of corruption in the Illinois Democratic Party?

Jeff Berkowitz: Will the deciding issue be, if you do get the nomination for the Republican party, and you are running in the general election, say against somebody like Pat Quinn, Lisa Madigan or Bill Daley… for governor…is the deciding issue social issues or fiscal issues?

State Sen. Brady [R-Bloomington]: I think first of all you've got to--you can't ignore this culture of corruption, the Chicagoland culture of corruption that has put a black eye on Illinois.

Jeff Berkowitz: How does it relate to Pat Quinn?

--The Blagojevich-Quinn administration?

State Sen. Brady: He was part of the Blagojevich administration.

Jeff Berkowitz: He was not-

State Sen. Brady: Wait a second. Pat Quinn was quoted as saying, at the re-election of Blagojevich-Quinn, that Rod Blagojevich was an honest man who only did things in the best interest of the people. Now, he served with him four years.

Jeff Berkowitz: When did he say that?

State Sen. Brady: Just before the election.

Jeff Berkowitz: In 2006?

State Sen. Brady: Yes.

Jeff Berkowitz: He was running with the guy. You understand. You make accommodations. He was the lieutenant governor running for re-election.

--Did Pat Quinn speak out about Blagojevich when he should have?

State Sen. Brady: You don't make accommodations when it comes to corruption.

Jeff Berkowitz: You think he should have criticized his running mate?

State Sen. Brady: Absolutely, sure.

Jeff Berkowitz: You would have done that?

State Sen. Brady: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: But you know they hadn't talked for a year, year and a half before [Blagojevich] was arrested.

State Sen. Brady: Whose fault is that?

Jeff Berkowitz: Well, I mean Quinn was speaking out and Blagojevich didn't want to talk to him.

State Sen. Brady: It takes two. But the fact of the matter is, if we're going to move this state forward, you've got to remove this black eye and this culture of corruption.

Jeff Berkowitz: Culture of corruption.

State Sen. Brady: And then we've got to focus on rebuilding Illinois' economy. We are the greatest state in the nation.

--Did Sen. Brady speak out about Kjellander and Cellini when he should have?

Jeff Berkowitz: Wait, Bill Cellini, wasn't he indicted at the same time, recently, with Rod Blagojevich and the other Dems? Bill Cellini is a big Republican, right? [See here for discussion of indictment of Republican insider Cellini, included with Blagojevich, et al indictment handed down earlier this month]

State Sen. Brady[R-Bloomington]: Mmmhmm.

Jeff Berkowitz: In fact, he's downstate. Do you know Bill Cellini?

State Sen. Brady: I've met him.

Jeff Berkowitz: You got any association with Cellini?

State Sen. Brady: No.

Jeff Berkowitz: Have you ever spoken out against Cellini?

State Sen. Brady: I've never had an opportunity.

Jeff Berkowitz: Have you ever spoken out against Kjellander [See here for a Berkowitz interviw with Kjellander about, among other things, Kjellander's famous $809,000 fee and his MO]?

State Sen. Brady: I've asked Bob to resign.

--The Daley Ryan Combine

Jeff Berkowitz: But should it be stronger? I'm just saying--you said Quinn didn't do enough to separate himself from Blagojevich. Have you done enough to separate yourself from Cellini and Kjellander and all those Republican partners to the Combine? You know the Combine, right?

State Sen. Brady: I know of it. Let's face it--one of the problems some people have with me--people who have been around for a lot longer time than you and I have-- is that I'm not part of the old school. I'm a relatively independent conservative who speaks to his own values and issues. And that's the kind of governor I'll be.

Jeff Berkowitz: So you're not part of the Republican-Democrat Combine [aka previously as the Daley-Ryan Combine] that John Kass talks about?

State Sen. Brady: No.

--The No New Taxes Pledge

Jeff Berkowitz: All right, so you're a conservative, you're running for Governor on those principles. Are you taking the pledge that you would not increase the income tax or the sales tax during your first four years, if you were Governor?

State Sen. Brady: I have.

Jeff Berkowitz: You've taken that, and you'll take it again?

State Sen. Brady: I have and I will.

--School Vouchers-School Choice

Jeff Berkowitz: You’ll support school vouchers, or no?

State Sen. Brady[R-Bloomington]: You know, I think there's places for vouchers.

Jeff Berkowitz: Would you support school vouchers in Chicago?

State Sen. Brady: I have.

Jeff Berkowitz: Not have you, but would you going forward? Would you go forward and say- they should have a choice, those parents, school choice-school vouchers, in Chicago, where the schools are failing?

--Uncapping the number of Charter Schools

State Sen. Brady: I think they do. Absolutely. If they cannot succeed in those schools, then we need to use every tool possible--be it charter schools, which are doing very well, be it vouchers--

Jeff Berkowitz: Right, but there's a cap. There's a cap on charter schools in Chicago.

State Sen. Brady: You're right.

Jeff Berkowitz: Would you as a governor say-- I am going to the legislature and say, lift the cap? If it's 30 schools in Chicago, 15 in the suburbs, 15 downstate?

State Sen. Brady: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: Lift it completely, as many charter schools as we want.

State Sen. Brady: Absolutely.

--Taking on the teachers’ unions ?

Jeff Berkowitz: You would take on the teachers' unions? Because you know they would not like that, Bill.

State Sen. Brady: I don't know if we have to take on the teachers' unions.

Jeff Berkowitz: Well, if they're on one side-

State Sen. Brady [R-Bloomington]: I would want to work with the teachers' unions, and work with them to provide the same educational opportunities that children get in every other state in the nation. We need to make a lot of progress. The graduation rate of students in Chicago is horrific. I don't call it taking on. We've got a lot of good teachers who are members of those unions.

Jeff Berkowitz: You have to reform those schools.

State Sen. Brady: We have to reform and we have to make our schools better-

--Merit Pay for Teachers?

Jeff Berkowitz: Merit pay?

State Sen. Brady: Certainly a consideration.

Jeff Berkowitz: What do you mean a consideration? Would you favor merit compensation? Would you favor paying those teachers who perform better than the ones who don't? Would you favor paying them more—favor paying teachers more who perform better?

State Sen. Brady [R-Bloomington]: I favor empowering school boards and parents to make those kind of decisions that work best for their local school. I don't believe that Washington DC nor Springfield-

Jeff Berkowitz: We have to interrupt, just to say, I'd like to thank Bill Brady, who is a candidate for Governor in the Republican primary. We're taping this on April 5th. [The primary is] coming up in February unless the party bosses change that. And, that’s coming up in February, 2010. How do they get in touch with you, Bill?

State Sen. Brady: www.BradyForIllinois.com

Jeff Berkowitz: All right, just go to that website and you can find his smiling face there. He's been, as I said, a state senator for the past seven years, before that, state rep, for eight years. Where'd you graduate from school?

State Sen. Brady: Illinois Wesleyan and Central Catholic High School.

Jeff Berkowitz: So you're a downstater.

State Sen. Brady: Bloomington is home.

--Brady spending time upstate?

Jeff Berkowitz: But you're spending a lot of time upstate these days.

State Sen. Brady: It's a big state, and there's a lot of people up here.

Jeff Berkowitz: You'll come back and discuss the issues?

State Sen. Brady: I enjoy your show, I have always done it.

Jeff Berkowitz: Number one issue, culture of corruption and fiscal issues?

State Sen. Brady[R-Bloomington]: Let me say, it’s not just the the culture of corruption, We have to clean Illinois up but we also have to rebuild our economy.
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Public Affairs thanks Amy Allen, one of its interns, for preparing a draft of the above partial transcript of our show with State Senator and Republican Primary Guv candidate Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).
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For more about State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary Guv candidate Bill Brady and the topics covered in our show with Senator Brady (and another partial transcript of the show with Sen. Brady), please go here.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
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Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with State Rep. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), a show with State Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), a show with State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), a show with then IL 5th CD Dem nominee--Cook County Cmsr. Mike Quigley (who recently won the April general election to replace Cong. Rahm Emanuel), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows. And, see here for very recent postings on our Youtube page.
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Gov. Pat Quinn appoints Dr. Quentin Young and hires Daniel Biss: emerging gubernatorial campaign themes? Lessons from Obama?

Gov. Quinn starts fumigating the scandal plagued Health Facilities Planning Board with old ally Dr. Quentin Young

Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) showed up this morning as an observer at a presser held by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn(D) on the 15th Floor of the Thompson Center in Chicago to announce Quinn's appointment of eighty-five year old, long-time liberal "single payer," advocate, Dr. Quentin Young, as Chairman of the scandal plagued Health Facilities Planning Board. The scandals involved, among others, now convicted felons Stu Levine and Tony Rezko, as well as impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich [See here and Read here and listen to this morning's Richard Steele WBEZ interview with Quinn ].

Gov. Quinn: "Out, Out, damn Blago spots."

Governor Quinn, although nominated separately from Blagojevich in the 2002 and 2006 Lt. Gov. Democratic Primaries, was Blagojevich’s Lt. Gov. running mate in both the 2002 and 2006 general elections, and Quinn may have been closer to Blago during the 2006 campaign than many would say was warranted by the objective facts on the ground. The association with Blagojevich has tarnished Quinn’s image a bit, and you can bet Attorney General Lisa Madigan, if she runs in the Dem primary against Quinn, will raise that issue. Of course, the sins of the father may be visited on the daughter, as Speaker Mike Madigan co-chaired the 2006 Blagojevich re-election campaign with Mayor Daley, notwithstanding the contempt shared by Madigan and Daley for Blago. And, of course, any Republican Guv nominee will also target the Blago-Quinn history, should Quinn get the nomination.

Populism redux- the fumigators

On the other side of the coin, both Dr. Young and Gov. Quinn project a populist, reformer image. Both walked across the state of Illinois in 2001 [as Quinn’s press release put it today] “to promote decent healthcare for everyone.” One can imagine Quinn and Young, locked arm in arm, going door to door in an effort to “fumigate state government,” and that will be a major theme of a Quinn’s campaign. Today’s appointment of Dr. Young is just one such effort of what we will be seeing on a much larger scale as the 2010 Guv campaign unfolds.

Daniel Biss, North Shore Wunderkind?

Back to Daniel Biss. He made a splash as a web fund raiser in his ultimately failed 2008 campaign against six-term Republican incumbent State Rep. Beth Coulson (R-Glenview) in the Democratic/Independent 17th District. The 17th District, which includes a portion of Chicago’s affluent North Shore suburbs, is a seat that Speaker Mike Madigan thought he had re-districted in 2001 to be too Democratic for even the very moderate Republican Beth Coulson to survive (Coulson’s critics, e.g., Family Pac’s Paul Caprio, call her a RINO, i.e., Republican In Name Only).

Coulson’s 2002 scare

But, in 2002, Coulson, running as a two term incumbent in what was a largely new district, won her closest race to date [674 vote margin] against Pat Hughes [See here]. In an appearance on Public Affairs during that race, Coulson, who takes her independence very seriously, declined to endorse even her very moderate Republican congressman Mark Kirk. Some say Speaker Madigan was convinced that Pat Hughes (a Catholic male) had the wrong religion and gender for the district and he came back in 2004 with a Jewish female nominee for the 17th, Michelle Bromberg.

Speaker Madigan’s mistake

Perhaps Bromberg had the right gender/religion for the district, but she had everything else wrong for the district and she got spanked badly in 2004 by Coulson, who was running against a ticket led by the ever popular Barack Obama, who spanked the ever unpopular Maryland import, Alan Keyes, to win Illinois’ open U. S. Senate seat with 70% of the vote.

In 2006, the Speaker had sort of given up on the 17th District, and the Dems went with Judith Rae-Ross to try to turn that seat blue. With too few resources, she was spanked badly by Coulson.

Biss gives Speaker Mike one more shot in 17th

In 2008, Biss , a young Jewish, male intellectual (then Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago) who won the hearts and minds of the progressive wing of the local Democratic Party and did quite well at raising money, including on the web, was thought by many to be just what the Dems needed to finally remove Coulson. After all, Obama was now running for President and he would be quite a motivator with long coattails for the independent minded 17th to go firmly Democratic. Biss had the right religion, if not the right gender for the District. He also had the smarts that Bromberg lacked and that are valued in the 17th. Further, Biss had the youth that Judith Rae-Ross lacked. In short, it was said that Biss had many, if not all, of the right traits, including energy and over-all appeal, to finally unseat Coulson.

Yet, when the votes were counted, Biss lost by 3%, or almost 1600 votes, more than double the margin that Hughes had lost by in 2002. After six years of trying, the Dems and Speaker Mike appear ready to throw in the towel in the 17th District, at least until they can perhaps re-district that baby even more Democratic in 2012. Of course, to do that, it would be helpful for the Dems to keep the Governor’s mansion Democratic. The mansion is now physically occupied by a Democrat, Pat Quinn, not just spiritually as it was under Blago [All concede that the Democrats, with a veto proof Senate majority and an almost veto proof House majority, will continue to control the Illinois legislature for purposes of redistricting in 2011]

Biss, in need of more re-districting for 17th

To maintain their total control of re-districting in Illinois, the Dems need to keep the Governor’s mansion in their column. That effort to keep Quinn, or the Democrats, in the Guv mansion may help explain Daniel Biss’ more than casual interest in this morning’s presser at the Thompson Center in the Loop. [Further, if Kirk runs for the U. S. Senate, then State Rep. Coulson probably runs for the open 10th CD seat; At that point, Biss has a good shot at the open 17th Dist. seat—and Speaker Mike finally prevails in the 17th, most likely].

Biss: from the University of Chicago to 39K at the Governor's office.

Biss told this journalist, before this morning’s press conference, he has just started working in the Governor’s office as a policy advisor, with a focus on “electronic democracy.”

The Governor’s press office confirmed late this afternoon that Biss is no longer an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago and that he is working full time in the Governor’s office, as a policy advisor, earning 39K per year.

The camera shy Pat Quinn and Daniel Biss

Biss, however, declined the opportunity to do a video interview after the presser was over. That’s one thing about Biss. Seems to be a bit camera shy. Perhaps that’s a drawback in politics.

About a year before the November, 2008 general election, this correspondent spoke with Biss and his handlers about scheduling a time for Daniel Biss to appear on “Public Affairs.” We would have thought Biss would be a candidate who would want to get his message out early and often, especially against the very popular and very well known State Rep. Coulson. Biss and his handlers assured the Public Affairs host he would do the show, but it would have to wait until “later on in the campaign.” But, later never came for Biss—in terms of agreeing to do the show.

Biss’ boss, Gov. Quinn, has also never done “Public Affairs,” either as Lt. Gov. or Gov., notwithstanding many invitations to do so. With 83 K in his campaign fund, you would think Quinn could use some earned media.

Lessons from Obama

In contrast to Quinn and Biss, Barack Obama appeared on the “Public Affairs,” half hour political interview show five times, first as a state senator discussing racial profiling and racial profiling legislation in 2001 and then as a potential and actual U. S. Senate Candidate discussing domestic, foreign and cultural public policy issues in 2002-2004 [Watch here for Obama-Berkowitz interview clips and review of same by New York Times].

Further, State Senator (and later U. S. Senator) Obama did many post-campaign event video interviews with “Public Affairs,” host Berkowitz in 2002-04 and post press conference and other video interviews in 2005-06. Of course, as we all know, Barack Obama went from the State Senate to the U. S. Senate to the Office of President, essentially in a short six year interval.

In terms of appearing on political interview shows, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from Obama by Biss, Quinn—and others: Do the Berkowitz show and you, too, could be President. We look forward to interviewing Biss and Quinn in their new jobs.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
*******************************************************************
Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with State Rep. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) about hot state legislative issues and politics, a show with Bill Brady, State Senator and 2010 Republican Primary candidate for Governor, a show with State Senator and likely 2010 10th CD candidate Susan Garrett(D-Lake Forest), a show with State Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), a show with State Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), a show with then IL 5th CD Dem nominee--Cook County Cmsr. Mike Quigley (who recently won the April general election to replace Cong. Rahm Emanuel), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows. And, see here for very recent postings on our Youtube page.
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