Morning Spin: Congressional hopeful Ramirez-Rosa blasts ‘corporate Democrats’

Dec. 11--Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a candidate for the congressional seat held for now by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, said there's been a convergence between Republicans and Democrats on economic issues that is making people angry.

"I feel like there are so many Democrats, which I would call corporate Democrats, and they're essentially the Republicans from the 1970s and 1980s," Ramirez-Rosa said Sunday on WGN-AM 720.

"We have a mayor who is a leading Democratic national figure," he said of Rahm Emanuel, "but when you look at the policies that the council and the mayor have put forward, they benefit Wall Street. They benefit the few at the expense of many, and there's sweetheart contracts, there's crony capitalism going on. So in many ways, people are fed up of seeing Democrats act the same way as Republicans."

Ramirez-Rosa is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and briefly was state Sen. Daniel Biss' pick as a running mate in the race for governor before being kicked off the ticket.

Ramirez-Rosa said there are differences between Democrats and Republicans, particularly when it comes to Democrats working to ensure women's reproductive rights, gay rights and immigrant rights. (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel is scheduled to appear on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

*Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public schedule.

*The City Council's Aviation and Finance committees will meet, with Finance scheduled to consider a $31 million settlement for Englewood Four's wrongful conviction.

*City Treasurer Kurt Summers will speak to the City Club of Chicago.

*Biss will unveil a "Letting Illinois Families Excel" platform at Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago.

*The week ahead: On Tuesday, the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate will meet, and Erikson Institute CEO Geoffrey A. Nagle will speak to the City Club of Chicago. Illinois House committee will hold another hearing about state health care contracts. On Wednesday, the City Council and Cook County Board both meet.

From the notebook

*Durbin says criticism of lack of DACA action premature: Some of the more liberal members of the Democratic Party have used social media to criticize Illinois' two Democratic U.S. senators for supporting legislation to continue to fund government, without having protected the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy.

DACA was established by President Barack Obama's administration as a method of preventing deportation of about 800,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as minors. President Donald Trump rescinded the policy but gave Congress until March to fully enforce it.

Senate Democratic leaders have said they will not back a longer-term government funding measure unless a DACA fix is part of the measure. But it was not part of the short-term spending measure Congress approved last week.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said: "We said we would vote for that CR to fund the government for two weeks as long as it was clean, which meant all the issues are being postponed for 14 days."

Durbin said he needed time to finish the DACA legislation, known as the Dream Act.

"We're working with the Republicans to do that now. My goal is to get it done this year," he said. Of those criticizing him, Durbin said, "They're anxious. So am I. But I have work to do and I want to get it done next week."

Duckworth said, "We are committed to the full Dream Act, and it needs to happen this year." (Rick Pearson)

*Berrios foe Kaegi picks up more support: Two African-American congressmen on Sunday endorsed asset manager Fritz Kaegi over incumbent Joe Berrios in the Cook County assessor's race.

The support of U.S. Reps. Danny Davis of Chicago and Robin Kelly of Matteson is significant, given that they are established Democrats and Berrios is chairman of the county party. They added their voices to a number of independent Democrats who have already endorsed Kaegi in the race.

Berrios has come under some fire in the African-American community in the wake of Tribune and ProPublica-Tribune investigations into property assessments that have shown high error rates, as well as a tendency to give expensive properties a break at the expense of poorer homeowners.

The congressmen, joined by suburban U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, all made mention of the assessment issue. Other issues, such as hiring relatives in his office and accepting contributions from lawyers who filed assessment appeals, also have dogged Berrios during his two terms in office.

In addition to Berrios and first-time candiate Kaegi, property tax consultant Andrea Raila also has filed nominating petitions for the March 20 Democratic primary. (Hal Dardick)

*Claypool, from the archives: Chicago Public Schools chief Forrest Claypool's resignation on Friday could mark the end of his time on the political stage.

That provided an opportunity to look at the beginning. The first time Claypool is mentioned in the internal Chicago Tribune archives is in a 1989 story about then-mayoral candidate Richard M. Daley.

Daley was being criticized by an interest group for reportedly saying at an event: "You want a white mayor to sit down with everybody."

Controversial, obviously.

Here's where Claypool factors in. From the Tribune story at the time: "Daley was hounded by questions about the remarks all day, and by mid-afternoon, two campaign aides, Forrest Claypool and Marj Halperin, said they had reviewed the videotape and concluded that he had used words out of order. Daley's standard line in his stump speech goes: 'What you want is a mayor who can sit down with everybody.'"

The Tribune story continues: "What Daley ended up saying, the aides believe, was: 'You want a what mayor who can sit down with everybody.' The word 'what,' they believe, sounded like 'white.' "

Daley, of course, went on to win that election, and a bunch more after that, despite his language struggles.

*On the "Sunday Spin": Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests were state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, on net neutrality and voter data security; Ald. Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, on his bid for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 4th District; and Tribune reporter Hal Dardick on Cook County races and the inspector general's report on Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool. The "Sunday Spin" airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN-AM 720. Listen to the full show here.

What we're writing

*Emanuel tries to dig out, look ahead to third term bid.

*Why Claypool had to go as Emanuel's CPS chief.

*Claypool resigned after being accused of ethics probe cover-up.

*City abruptly settles "code of silence" lawsuit during closing arguments after lawyers admit disclosure failure.

*City proposes $31 million settlement for Englewood Four's wrongful conviction.

*Durbin, Duckworth endorse Pritzker, try to show Dem unity amid divisions. Over the weekend, the Illinois Federation of Teachers backed him too.

*O'Hare "Fly Quiet" plan advances -- now it's up to federal officials to approve.

*O'Hare restaurant workers vote to strike, but timing of a walkout is unclear.

What we're reading

*Teen program combats violence by challenging macho stereotypes.

*"SNL" cold open: Kids wonder if Al Franken, Roy Moore and Trump are on Santa's naughty list.

*"Crisis mode:" As boomers age, a shortage of caregivers.

Follow the money

*The Illinois State Board of Elections tracks candidates who have withdrawn their candidacies or had their petition signatures challenged. You can follow those here and here.

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Roy Moore says allegations are "ritual defamation."

*Prominent Alabama Republican Sen. Shelby says he couldn't vote for Moore.

*The aftermath of the Franken resignation.

*California fire intensifies.

*More security in schools after Sandy Hook shooting.

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