What Is Stopping The Minimum Wage In Illinois?

From out in the Twitters, comes a question for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn:

The official response?

Illinois AFL-CIO Asks Voters To Do Something *VERY* Personal

We don't know how we feel about this request of voters.  Really gives a new meaning to the whole 'organized labor' thing, eh?

Mike Frerichs + Posting His Ballot On Twitter = Felony?

As posted on Mike Frerichs' Twitter handle this afternoon: a selfie (of course!) of voting for himself.

The problem?  According to the Chicago Tribune, it is a felony:

Illinois voters might want to reconsider that picture they posted online of their completed ballots. Turns out, it's considered a felony under state law. 

On Tuesday, people logging into their various social media sites saw photographs others posted of their completed ballots.

The state's election code doesn't explicitly ban photographing ballots, but it does prohibit voting in a way that can be observed by others. Ken Menzel, deputy general counsel for the Illinois State Board of Elections, said posting photos of completed ballots on social media is a clear violation of that provision.

...Its classification as a felony — carrying a one- to three-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of $25,000 — reflects how seriously Illinois officials take the practice.

(emphasis, ours)

Rut-roh.  The Gaffeman strikes again!

Reset the 'days since' counter, guys.

For All You White Sox (And Cardinals) Fans

What's more fun to goof on this fall that Mike Frerichs and his earmuffs and sash?

That's right...The Chicago Cubs.

And Chicago Tribune journalist Kristen McQueary relays a pretty good one on Twitter:

Our take?

Mike Frerichs' Event Last Night Had More Than ZERO People

We have to admit:  we were wrong.  When we pointed out (repeatedly!) that ZERO people were going to his big 'environmental blowout' up on the north shore last night.

In what we are pretty sure is a 'point-proving Tweet', the Frerichs campaign made sure they assembled every single body available at last night's event and gathered them for a photo just to make sure *we* here at the Truth Team know Mike didn't spend last night by himself posting selfies and snapchats.

Here's that "point-proving" Tweet from Mike Frerichs:

Somebody Thinks Really Highly Of Themselves...

Um...yeah....that's it.  Seriously.  You guys nailed it.

It *was* the College Democrats - and all their hard work - who put the bug in Bruce Rauner's bonnet!
That's why he's using a firm in Michigan to make calls!

Mike Frerichs Uses Unfortunate #Hashtag

Over on Twitter, Mike Frerichs - candidate for Illinois Treasurer - continues his downward spiral on social media.  The latest data point is his use of an inappropriate #hashtag in a Tweet about organized labor.

A quick search on Twitter reveals that Mike's use of the #WeAreOne hashtag is running simultaneously with these not-so-pleasant Tweets from other users.  Is this the message Mike Frerichs wants voters to see?

Shouldn't he be more careful? Oh wait.  It *IS* Mike Frerichs' campaign we're talking about here.  They make mistakes like this EVERYDAY.

Jim Oberweis Opens Campaign Office On South Side

From the Twitters:

Help Us Get Over 700 Followers On Twitter

Based on our analytics data, one of the most effective ways in which we get our stories out to the public is via Twitter.  We're over there at https://twitter.com/ILTruthTeam.

As you can see from the above screenshot, we're just 9 followers away from 700.  Can you help us get there?

If you haven't already, follow us on Twitter.  If you're on Twitter, re-Tweet to your friends this story!
Let's get over 700 today!

Mike Frerichs Doesn't Impress Labor, Most Don't Even Pay Attention

Last night, Democrat candidate for Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs re-tweeted this hilarious photo that shows him speaking in front of a group of organized labor.  The problem?  People aren't even paying attention to him!

That must have been *some* rousing stump speech, eh Mike?  I mean...you must have commanded the room.  Everyone was paying close attention to everything you were saying.

Or not.

As evidenced by this guy in pink, he didn't even want to break away from his hand of Euchre to bother to turn around and listen to your prattling on.

If you recall, this is the same campaign that had the 'great event' Tweet heard 'round the state.

Mike Frerichs Bashes Obama, Says Hard To Believe He Graduated From Law School

Well, that didn't take long.  Just a week or so after Democrat Mike Frerichs publicly wished Barack Obama a "Happy Birthday", Mike Frerichs on Twitter comes out with some strong criticism of the President.

Oh.  You're saying that's a different Mike Frerichs?  Not our favorite latex salesman candidate for Illinois State Treasurer?!?

Check Out This First Person Account of Mike Frerichs' Tax Bill on @MikesTaxBill

If you haven't already, go ahead and follow Mike Frerichs' tax bill who has set up a handle on Twitter.

You can find him at https://twitter.com/MikesTaxBill.  (at least we *think* it is a 'him'...)

Thus far, it has been an interesting first-person account of the neglect he's been subjected to by Mike Frerichs, the Democrat Candidate for Illinois State Treasurer and some play-by-play of the things he's overheard in the Frerichs HQ Office about their disdain for doing things the rest of us mere mortals have to do: like paying our property taxes.

Check it out and give it a follow: https://twitter.com/MikesTaxBill

Or tune into the site where you can find out if Mike Frerichs has paid his taxes yet.

Fourth Time's The Charm For Mike Frerichs On Social Media Fundraising Plea?

It takes some folks four times to get things right.   And in most cases, that's ok.  For instance...

My wife goes to the Home Depot and picks four different samples of paint and tries a little bit of each on the wall.

When my college roommate was 'experimenting' with growing fungii in our apartment, it took him four times to get it 'right' and have them survive.

The Cleveland Browns have changed coaches four times in just six years.  

Hell...This guy tried to steal televisions four times just this month from ShopRite.

But...Mike Frerichs, Democrat Candidate for Illinois Treasurer?  

It takes him four times just to get a simple fundraising plea posted to Twitter.  Yep.  Fourth Time appears to be the charm as it has stayed active, while the previous three attempts were aborted.  

It seems that he's always asking for a second chance.  Second chance to cut his campaign video.  Second chance to respond on Israeli bonds.  Second chance to answer on merging the Treasurer/Comptroller in Illinois.  

Apparently...he needs a 'fourth' chance on social these days.

Here it is as it currently sits:

Let us explain:

On Monday afternoon, the Frerichs campaign posted this ridiculous image with these totally unnecessary errors.  Clearly...no one is proof reading things down in Champaign.  

After we pointed out the errors, the folks in charge of social media (we use the phrase 'in charge' pretty lightly because it is clear that it is a bunch of mopes over there), they pulled it down.  

Then..Tuesday, they tried again.  Not once.  But twice more.  Yeah...that means they posted it, deleted it.  Then posted it again.  And deleted it again.  Check out the evidence:

And then they went silent.  A full 24 hours later, they lifted the 'shutdown' directive and tried again by posting the image with some fixes made.  (Note...they still haven't fixed one of the errors, though.  Check out the donation page.  Frozen 'snicker' with no 's' at the bottom.  Smooth move guys!)

And this guy wants to be in charge of our state finances?  Please.  We won't be able to give him four chances to get those investments right will we?  

Mike Frerichs always needs at least two chances to get things right.  Illinois can't afford this many mistakes.  

Correction: The Frerichs Campaign Posted And Deleted Fundraising Tweet TWICE

You can delete Tweets all you want, Mike Frerichs, but you can't take down the cached feed on CapitolFax.com on the lower right.  The truth will find a way to come up for air.

Here, you can see that the Frerichs campaign tweeted out the image at 10:14 am.  Our post pointing out his errors went up at 10:18 am.  They the deleted that Tweet.

Then the re-posted the Tweet at 10:20 am.  To only delete *that* Tweet again.  As it stands right now, they haven't Tweeted again.

Guess they're under 'shut down'?

Wait...The Mike Frerichs Campaign Just Deleted A New Tweet, Again?!?

We were trolling (as we like to do), the @MikeforIllinois Twitter handle just now and saw that they posted a NEW tweet with an updated Fundraising image.  Here's the screenshot below.  See it there at the top of his Timeline?  The must have posted that before they saw our posts about calling them on their errors.

Well...we just clicked on it, and turns out...they deleted *THAT* Tweet, too!

Here's what his Twitter Timeline looks like right now.  Note the Fundraising image/Tweet have disappeared:

Huzzah!  We'll take that as a compliment, Team Frerichs.

Let's call it:  The Mike Frerichs for Illinois State Treasurer campaign is OFFICIALLY social media gun shy at this point.

Illinois Truth Team FTW.

Democrat Mike Frerichs Deletes Fundraiser Tweet With More Errors

Social Media can be a huge asset for political campaigns by marshaling voters around a common cause and candidate.  

It can also be a huge liability.  As evidenced by the Mike Frerichs for Illinois State Treasurer Campaign, they keep making more mistakes and their campaign continues to really show their 'amateur hour' stripes.

The most recent example was a Tweet put out by Mike Frerichs and deleted pretty quickly (you can't find it on his Twitter Timeline  Check it out for yourself.  This was posted yesterday afternoon, but based on the errors, it looks like the Frerichs campaign deleted it).   

To promote a fundraising event the Frerichs Campaign was hosting called "A Pre-Democrat Day Fundraiser", Tax Hike Mike Tweeted out this image that has some 'cute' names for various levels of sponsorship that relate to the Illinois State Fair.  

But..apparently...they REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted folks to pick the "Lemon Shake Up" level, right?  That can be only reason they listed in three times on the invitation?  

We suppose that at least they're learning, as someone at the campaign wised up and deleted the Tweet.  (but..not before we were able to grab a screenshot!)  Guessing something new about this event will go up today.  We'll be watching.

But...we have to ask:  Does nobody proofread this shit down in Champaign?  SRSLY.  

Treasurer's Candidate Mike Frerichs Visits With WVON, But You Wouldn't Know It Based On The Pics

Another day, another misstep from the Mike Frerichs for Illinois Treasurer campaign on social media.  Add this to the pile!

Over the weekend, it looked like Mike had a very busy weekend visiting with voters and advocacy groups around Chicago and the suburbs.  He flailed about on Twitter and Facebook with all of his appearances.  He uses hashtags like a Tween on Instagram.

In one of them...He appears to have been on the radio on WVON this weekend, but based on the care he put forth in the photo he's using on Twitter, you'd hardly know it. 

Check out how his team Tweeted his appearance.  Beautiful pic, eh?  Looks like grass?  

Lisa Madigan Doesn't Understand The Power of Stats

From Lisa Madigan, our Attorney General here in Illinois comes the most useless stat of this political season to try to score some political points on student loans and debt:

So...that means the other 50% went to non-for-profits?

It Ain't Easy Being Tall: The Mike Frerichs Twitter Story

Another day, another post by (or on behalf of) the Mike Frerichs for Illinois Treasurer campaign that gets it wrong in some way.  This time?  Poor Mike needs to stoop down a bit so when his photo posts on the social network, he doesn't get so badly cropped out.

Tax Hike Mike is now the "headless Treasurer candidate" we guess?

Illinois Political Reporters Lament Their Own Decline on Twitter

Statehouse reporters - those folks who cover legislative issues for news organizations around the country are going away.  Unfortunately for voters and taxpayers.  And Illinois is leading the pack (not in a good way).  

From the NYTimes:

The nation’s statehouses lost more than one-third of the journalists devoted to covering legislative matters full time, according to a study released on Thursday morning by the Journalism Project at the Pew Research Center. 

The study, which surveyed all 50 statehouses, found a loss of 164 full-time statehouse reporters since 2003. The total number of full-time statehouse reporters dipped to roughly 300. 

The study defined these journalists as reporters who worked physically in the statehouses. At the same time, nontraditional news organizations added journalists at state houses, including for-profit and nonprofit digital news organizations, ideologically driven publications and expensive trade newsletters catering to lobbyists.

And...the Statehouse Reporters we *do* have in Illinois (rightfully) want you to know about this latest news/study.  They've taken to Twitter to inform all of us on the study.

From Statehouse Bureau Chief for Illinois Public Radio Amanda Vinicky:

From Springfield Bureau Chief @ Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Andrew Maloney:

And...Governing reporter Dan Vock:

The news is troubling for all of us.  How else are we going to stay informed on these increasingly important issues facing Illinois?

We know that you guys can't count on us here at the Truth Team.  The best we can do is some photoshopped giggles and "Most Interesting Man" memes.  That won't cut it when it comes to getting to the bottom of the difficult issues of pension reform and balanced budgets.