Governor Pat Quinn Asks If Buying Votes With Taxpayer Money Is A Crime?

Here's a breaking statement from the guys in charge to voters:  "Please don't waste your time reading this stuff."

We think that's terrible advice.

Paying Taxes for Elected Officials: Expected or Epiphany?

Greg Hinz - who broke the Mike Frerichs Tax Dodge story calls Mike Frerichs *actually* paying his property taxes - like EVERYONE else in the State of Illinois - an epiphany.

What do you think?

Should we expect our elected officials to act like the rest of us?  Or are they more elite than us and not held to normal taxpayer standards?

Via Twitter:

Greg Hinz @ Crain's Has The Exclusive: Looks Like Mike Frerichs Came Down From His Ivory Tower And Paid Taxes!?

Be still our heart.  

From Greg Hinz @ Crains:

The Democratic nominee for state treasurer has decided to pay his property taxes after all.

With political foes circling, state Sen. Michael Frerichs has reversed his prior decision not to pay just over $1,800 due for taxes on his legislative office in Champaign and has written a check from his campaign account covering levies due for six years, back to 2008.
After Crain's broke the story about the tax debt last week,"we got together and said 'This is ridiculous,'" Mr. Koutsky said. "We'll continue to appeal it, but in the mean time, let's just pay it."

...Asked why the payment came now — as opposed to any time back to 2008 — Mr. Koutsky said the Frerichs campaign "saw an oversight, and acted on it." 

...The Illinois Department of Revenue earlier had rejected Mr. Frerichs' request for an exemption, citing its ruling in a similar case several years ago involving state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago. The department has encouraged Mr. Frerichs to appeal if he believes he has a case.

...Mr. Frerichs also had failed to pay the tax on his political office, which also is rented from the transit district, until questions were raised. His campaign said it believes that the bill for that tax inadvertently went to the legislative office, which didn't pay it because it was believed to be part of the larger tax dispute.

Emphasis, ours.

This Is NOT The Way Mike Frerichs Wanted To Celebrate His Birthday

 Our favorite latex salesman candidate for Illinois State Treasurer woke up this morning - on his 41st birthday - and took a long, hot shower.  He had to keep his 'crying face' away from everyone.  Our sources sent us this footage:

A birthday is supposed to be a happy day, right?  But, when you're running for State Treasurer and you wake up to reading this complete dismantling of your campaign by Capitol Fax's Rich Miller in Crains, you can't help but take a shower-cry.

From Crains' Chicago Business:

Back in January, state Sen. Michael Frerichs formally kicked off his campaign for Illinois state treasurer and posted a video online touting the fact the he’d ended “free, lifetime health care for state legislators.” 

Actually, Frerichs had voted against that bill in the General Assembly. Frerichs’ campaign had to pull the video and replace it with a new one, even though he’d been planning his formal launch for at least a year. 

In April, Frerichs appeared to flip-flop on his long-standing position that the comptroller’s and treasurer’s offices should be merged. 

“People have said to me,” Frerichs told a WBBM Radio interviewer, “‘Wouldn’t it just be a lot more efficient if we just had one financial officer?’ And I’ve said yes, we could become very efficient, efficient like the city of Dixon, Illinois, who just had one chief financial officer and she was able, from this small little town, over several years to take something like $52 million away from them.” 

Frerichs was quickly forced to restate his support for the office merger.

Then...the Truth Team's video of IEA's 'endorsement' (we use that term lightly based on what they said at the event) made the piece.  You can go read the whole thing yourself.  If you're backing Mike Frerichs, it isn't pretty.