Was Dem State Rep. Karen May against legislative pay raises before she was for it, or vice-versa? We're not quite sure, but we're trying to figure it out.
May, an 8-year incumbent, released a statement touting her support of House Joint Resolution 132, urging the Senate to reject legislative pay raises. She further states on her political website that she voted against the pay raises, and urged her colleagues to do the same. However, her GOP opponent, Timothy Stratton, a lawyer from Glencoe, claims that Rep Karen May in fact was one of only eight other legislators to actually vote in favor of the 2008 pay raises.
Stratton claims that May previously supported legislative pay raises until the issue was raised by Stratton in this election cycle. Stratton says that, in fact, May supported a 10% pay hike for herself in 2007 with Senate Bill 241.
Stratton claims that May previously supported legislative pay raises until the issue was raised by Stratton in this election cycle. Stratton says that, in fact, May supported a 10% pay hike for herself in 2007 with Senate Bill 241.
As the 'other blog' likes to say, the facts are stubborn things, and the voters will ultimately decide if they accept her explanation. Stratton recalls that, first, Karen May said she pushed the wrong button when she was voting. More recently, Stratton says he learned from an editor at the Pioneer Press that Karen May now claims that someone else pushed her voting button. So, which is it?
Sound fishy to you? It does to us too. State Reps have the ability to change their vote before the vote closes so if someone else pushed the button, or if Karen May really pushed the wrong button, why wasn’t it corrected? Is it because the intention all along was to vote with Speaker Madigan in approving the 2008 pay raises just as she did in 2007? The record is clear. These are serious questions and demand a response from Karen May. It’s kind of hard to pin her down on this issues, however, as Tim Stratton has tried to get Karen May to agree to a series of town hall forums to debate the issues in the District. Karen May has refused to give voters the opportunity to question her. Stratton proposed five town halls.
Stratton had this to say: “Voters should ask Karen why she voted to accept the pay raise just a few weeks ago when she was one of only a handful of legislators to do so. She also voted to accept a similar 10% pay hike back in 2007.” Stratton continued, “My opponent is doing an-about face on the issue of pay raises now that it has become an issue in this campaign. Her record on this issue is clear and now she is misleading the voters by making up a voting record that simply does not exist.”
“I am glad however, that she now agrees with my position that the State is in no condition to give politicians another pay hike when Illinois families are suffering under the tax and spend policies of the Springfield and Cook County politicians," Stratton said. "I will be a constant advocate for Illinois families on real issues that matter to our district. Voters can hold me accountable and I will actually take my votes seriously when in Springfield.”
There you have it. It sure seems like these guys would learn. Terry Link and the petition scandal, Dan Seals and his Rangel money problems, and now Karen May and her fabrication of her own voting record.
Stratton had this to say: “Voters should ask Karen why she voted to accept the pay raise just a few weeks ago when she was one of only a handful of legislators to do so. She also voted to accept a similar 10% pay hike back in 2007.” Stratton continued, “My opponent is doing an-about face on the issue of pay raises now that it has become an issue in this campaign. Her record on this issue is clear and now she is misleading the voters by making up a voting record that simply does not exist.”
“I am glad however, that she now agrees with my position that the State is in no condition to give politicians another pay hike when Illinois families are suffering under the tax and spend policies of the Springfield and Cook County politicians," Stratton said. "I will be a constant advocate for Illinois families on real issues that matter to our district. Voters can hold me accountable and I will actually take my votes seriously when in Springfield.”
There you have it. It sure seems like these guys would learn. Terry Link and the petition scandal, Dan Seals and his Rangel money problems, and now Karen May and her fabrication of her own voting record.
Stratton is another one of the GOP's rising stars, and promises to give May a spirited race. For more information on Tim Stratton check out his website at www.timforillinois.com
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10 comments:
The roll call vote from the Illinois State Legislature website on the payraise vote stated: MAY: Y. Only one of 8 who voted Y.
Time for change!
Louis G. Atsaves
Karen May is the ultimate phony. Like Obama, she's always looking ahead to the next office she can attain. No sooner had she been elected to the HP City Council than off she went to Springfield. Her record there? Totally undistinguished. And as for this latest vote: she needs to be held accountable for her vote and not the excuse that she pressed the wrong button. Louis is more than right: change from this wacky woman is in order. My hunch, however, is that she's so entrenched that it won't happen UNLESS more attention is made to her record, or lack of one in Springfield.
Republicans should read this:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/
article/economist/108425
May has to be one of the least intllectually impressive public officials around.
Most of my fellow Democrats laugh at her behind hr back - ironic because there is a big gap between her intelligence and the general sophistication of people from Highland Park.
She is there because smarter Dems from the area don't want the job of hanging with corrupt people like Link and Blagojevich.
There are quite a few Dems I know supporting Stratton. He is a pretty moderate and common sense guy and relates well to the District. He is a fiscal conservative that is focused on the economy and the issues that matter. May has lost touch (if she was even in touch) and is so singularly focused on the environment that she looses focus on the other important issues like the economy, job growth and taxes. Karen May is a good advocate for the environment but we need an effective advocate for the FISCAL ENVIRONMENT of the state above all else at this time in our history. She would be a great not-for-profit advocate but unfortunately she comes up short in substance for the rough and tumble world of Springfield politics.
Maybe it’s time for her to retire if she cannot tell the difference between a green button and a red button. Vote responsibly or get out. Just stop with the silly excuses. Next it’ll be “my dog pushed the button”.
In the early 1990's the unions and looney left losers got tired of getting their butt kicked and started using soccer moms as props. People like Lauren Beth Gash, and this woman, who if you've spent 5 minutes with her, has the intellectual capacity of a cruton.
Now that we have had 8 years of Democratic failure it is becoming clear she is a mere facade for failure. She should stick to the senior pta circuit. She's entrenched though and it will be tough for a GOP man to beat a jewish woman in this enviornment.
Karen May is not jewish herself. She is just married to a jewish man. Tim has a tough race for sure but he is working hard and I see him everywhere. He's knocking on doors and calling and has been since April or so...
Tim Stratton has an uphill battle, to say the least. He is, by far, the person we need to send to Springfield to replace this half wit. Karen May and Susan Garrett are the Bobsy Twins. Perhaps it's more accurate to call them Charley McCarthy and the Dummy. That said, she's not only entrentched in this district, she's a clever enough woman to keep her face and her case for support in front of a more than adoring community. I haven't seen a thing from Stratton so I don't know what his message will be. Karen May is the darling of the Pioneer Press folks. Uphill battle doesn't begin to describe what's ahead for Stratton. Too bad, since he does offer just what we need to help begin to fix the mess in Springfield.
There are many things I like about Mark, without his ability to survive we would be stuck with a daddy/mommy commie like Lauren I am too good for Gephardt's staff Gash, or Dan.
But what I don't like about him is his attention to local politics. Porter and Rumsfeld never had to deal with the b.s. of Dans aside from Mikva, because they gave a shit about local politics. Mark might not have to raise 5 million to beat back interns every year if he told McKenna and Eric Elk to get an agenda together and to build some strong county organizations. You'd think with all these local republican operatives out of power, and not playing in this presidential campaign that once again is not happening in illinois, he'd have some people to help him and this guy stratton out. The navy needs him, but so does his party, and it wouldn't hurt to have strong state senators to back him up here locally rather than tanning salon advertisements like susan garrett raising money and the yahoos.
Frustrating...
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