Donna More is more of the same -- if not worse

As readers know, I support Kim Foxx in her effort to unseat discredited Cook County State's Atty. Anita Alvarez, who covered up the Laquan McDonald murder. But Foxx is not the only one running. There's also Donna More.

I actually think More, who claims to be a "progressive Democrat," would be More of the same -- if not worse than Alvarez.

I mean, what kind of progressive Democrat makes big contributions to Bruce Rauner's and Eric Cantor's campaign war chests? More, whose family wealth alone could transform her into a contender, has also given money to Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald and the disgraced John Ensign. In fact, all of her federal giving history has been to Republicans. 

Friday, More lifted the cap on donations to candidates in the primary race by handing herself a $250,000 contribution (Sun-Times).

More is also a big Rahm Emanuel supporter. She donated heavily to Rahm's campaigns, thinks he should remain in office, and defends him in the video cover-up scandal.

More is a throwback to the Jon Burge era. She was a deputy prosecutor under former Mayor Daley, when he was the State's Attorney. While she denies any direct connection or handling any of the Burge torture cases, it's doubtful that she, or anyone else in Daley's office, had no inkling of what was going on.

In Carol Felsenthal's article this week in Chicago Magazine, she boasted that there was one project at the State’s Attorney’s Office where she got to meet Daley. You might remember that it was Daley who looked the other way while Burge and his crew were torturing confessions out of hundreds of black men.

In 1990, she became the top lawyer for the mob (oops, I mean the) Illinois Gaming Board. And for the last 20 years, since leaving the gaming board, she has represented big gambling interests like WMS Gaming (sued over $1.5 billion merger deal) and Mandalay Resorts (just fined $500k by Gaming Commission in drug, prostitution scandal), who contribute heavily to her campaign.

She's currently Managing Partner of Fox Rothschild's Chicago Office.

More makes light of the connection.

“This is not the 1940s or the 1950s,” she says. “Some gaming companies are run by Harvard business graduates."

OK, I'm relieved. You?

What are the take-aways from Cantor loss?

Cantor was too far "left" for the Limbaugh Party and not anti-immigrant enough. 

I'm still trying to get a handle on Cantor's defeat in Va.'s bright red 7th Cong. Dist. The obvious is that Cantor, the most conservative member of the GOP House leadership, was just too far "left" and not anti-immigrant enough for the Limbaugh Party.

It's too bad, in a way. Cantor was one of my favorite foils here at Small Talk. It was back in January that Cantor launched a verbal attack on newly-elected N.Y. Mayor Bill de Blasio and went to bat for his hedge-fund school reformer friends in N.Y. I noted then that

“America is in the midst of an education revolution," [Cantor told] the Brookings Institute, referring to the unfettered growth of privately-run charter schools and school vouchers going to private and church-run schools.The real irony has this self-proclaimed anti-Washington, anti-gummint, local-control advocate trying to bully a city mayor and a local school district.

I love the way these guys always frame themselves as r-r-revolutionaries. Wasn't that the battle cry of the two nazi crazies who murdered the two cops in Las Vegas after coming off the Bundy ranch?

They pinned onto the other officer's body a note saying something to the effect of "this is the beginning of the revolution."

I guess Cantor's revolutionary days are just about over.

While it was only one low turn-out primary in one state (Lindsey Graham beat T-baggers easily in S.C.), it demonstrates the potential power and discipline of the gun-toting racists and anti-government, anti-abortion, anti-gay, and anti-immigrant groups, who have been encouraged by recent perceived victories, court decisions, and the Obama administration's retreat in its confrontation with Bundy's racist militia. 

The Cantor defeat was a sign that,  despite Citizens United and the best efforts of the Koch Bros., big money campaigns don't always win, especially in a low turn-out election. I would qualify that last comment by pointing out that Cantor's opponent David Brat, who teaches courses on Ayn Rand at Randolph-Macon College, was the beneficiary of millions of dollars worth of free right-wing radio time (in particular Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham gave loud support to Brat), underwritten by the Koch Bros.

Cantor's defeat could open  new possibilities for Democratic candidates to make inroads in red Tea Party states. But unlike the Tea Party, an independent, Democratic movement can't be a white one organizationally or ideologically, and must have labor out in front. Neither can it be just a progressive tail on a Democratic Party dog.

It's worth noting that education issues played an important role in Cantor's defeat. Like Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, Cantor was an outspoken supporter of Common Core Standards, which have become a litmus-test issue for conservatives who view the national guidelines as usurping local control of schools. In the congressional campaign, Brat criticized Cantor for supporting centralized educational reforms, including Common Core. This Tea Party victory could be a nail in Bush's presidential hopes, giving more or less a free ride for Hillary Clinton or whoever.

As I pointed out in my Bridging Differences dialogue with my friend Deb Meier, I hope my fellow progressive critics of Common Core don't go looking for allies among the likes of Brat and the Koch Bros. crew. It should go without saying ... but it doesn't.

Notes from the bottom of the barrel

Note to Cong. Eric Cantor -- Hope you are enjoying your junket to Davos and relaxing after working so hard to cut our unemployment benefits. Must be great skiing this time of year. But next time you and Rory grab some coffee over at the Kongress, be sure not to leave the receipt on the table.  Folks back in Virginia might get pissed. You don't want to wind up like your pal, Bob.

Note to Dinesh D'Souza -- You probably shouldn't have Tweeted that racist remark about Obama and Trayvon Martin. Shit like that sometimes comes back to haunt you.

Note to Arne Duncan -- Careful what you write about PISA test scores representing "a national failure". Remember, it's your Race To The Top and we're about 6 years into it. Readers may put 2 and 2 together.

Note to self -- Self, be sure and register today for the upcoming NPE Conference in Austin. Anthony Cody says they're filling up fast and only a few rooms left at conference rate. Remember, your Movement Building panel starts at 11:15 on Saturday, March 1.

To be attacked by Eric Cantor is a good thing

Eric Cantor's ratings in the dumper.

Cantor's attack shows that Mayor de Blasio is on the right track. The wing-nut House Majority Leader is simply going to bat for his hedge-fund school reformer friends in N.Y. who have been riding high and raking in public dough under Mayor Bloomberg.

Cantor fancies himself a r-r-revolutionary storming the anti-government barricades in the name of privatization of all public space. He obviously wishes he was old enough to have experienced the '60s.

“America is in the midst of an education revolution," he tells the Brookings Institute, referring to the unfettered growth of privately-run charter schools and school vouchers going to private and church-run schools.The real irony has this self-proclaimed anti-Washington, anti-gummint, local-control advocate trying to bully a city mayor and a local school district.

He's really upset about BdB's promise to make charter operators pay rent for use of public school space. "This move could devastate the growth of education opportunity in such a competitive real estate market like New York City,” he moans.
Cantor appears to have suddenly joined the war on poverty. While working to block every piece of anti-poverty legislation in Congress over the past 6 years, Cantor now claims that,

 "School choice is the surest way to break this vicious cycle of poverty and we must act fast before it is too late for too many.”

He threatens de Blasio:

“Our committees in the House will remain vigilant in their efforts to ensure that no one, no one from the government, stands in the schoolhouse door between any child and a good education.” 

Umm, Cong. Cantor, aren't you "from the government"? What the hell are you doing, coming up from Dixie  telling New Yorkers how to run their schools? You would do better to stay at home in Va. where your party's candidates are currently railing against school desegregation and where your own approval ratings have fallen to 27%. 

And the "schoolhouse door" reference, calling up images of Gov. Wallace really won't fly. Cantor is currently touting the Louisiana Scholarship Program, a school voucher initiative championed by Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) that was the target of a lawsuit by the Justice Department over claims that it impeded desegregation efforts.


BdB has the right answer for Cantor.

“The Republican agenda in Washington doesn’t even scratch the surface of the inequities facing more than a million children in our public schools,” he said in an e-mailed statement. “It’s a dangerous philosophy that turns its back on public education — and it has failed many times before. What public school parents want — and I know because I’m one of them — are real investments that lift up all our kids. That will take big, bold, progressive ideas. And that’s exactly what the people of New York City just voted for.”