Alright fellow GOP'ers...we need to be left out on this one. That's because this question goes directly to Democrats.
Why do you like Mike Frerichs?
I want serious answers...and don't even bring up Judy Myers. Tell me which issues Frerichs supports that you do too that make him your guy.
I want serious insight here...ÂÂ
I voted for some Democrats in the last non-primary. THERE IS NOTHING THAT MIKE FRERICHS DOES AS AUDITOR THAT I LIKE. HE IS INEPT and POTENTIALLY INCOMPETENT. It is good that he is looking for another job because from my perspective he is performing poorly at his current position as auditor.
Crickets. Crickets. Crickets.
I want serious answers”¦ I want serious insight here”¦
I want you to shut up. How's that for serious insight?
"I want you to shut up. How's that for serious insight?"
The Frerichs supporters become a little testy when asked to list any of his accomplishments.
What's amazing is that accomplishments weren't even solicited (so, it's hard to explain the testiness and name-calling that usually elicits)...just "why do you like Mike Frerichs?" And not a single genuine answer.
Oh my god there aren't too many democratic replies. Maybe its cause this is a republican blog.
Why he's my guy? Cos he's not a Republican, and I trust the Democrats to screw stuff up less than the GOP.
Mike Frerichs was one of the first people to raise a red flag about the financial crisis at the Champaign County Nursing Home.
Don't believe me? Scott Tapley knows I'm right.
Back before the 2004 election, Frerichs warned the County Board of the impending crisis at CCNH. True to form, Tapley wrote a N-G letter-to-the-editor criticizing Frerichs for "barking up the wrong tree" by focusing on CCNH finances.
He went on to question Mike's motives for "squawking about the nursing home deficits." Unbelievably, Tapley even scolded The News-Gazette for believing Mike's warnings about "crises that don't exist."
If Frerichs says the sky is blue, there are those who will say it's red and attack him for not knowing his colors. Later on, they'll even attack him for not saying it's blue in the first place. We've seen a lot of that on this site in the past, and we'll see a lot more of it before November.
Any Democrat who drives Republicans this crazy has to be doing something right!
To "I Like Mike":
If Frerichs is such a "voice of warning" about the financial crisis at CCNH, why doesn't his audits for the past TWO YEARS reflect it?
"If Frerichs says the sky is blue, there are those who will say it's red and attack him for not knowing his colors. Later on, they'll even attack him for not saying it's blue in the first place. We've seen a lot of that on this site in the past, and we'll see a lot more of it before November."
Plase give me one example of that happening on this site.
Alright fellow GOP'ers”¦we need to be left out on this one.
Oh well. Another rule broken, another example of GOP corruption. Just can't help yourselves, can you?
George Ryan, Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Richard Nixon ...
I can't help myself.
Dan Rostenkowski, James Traficant, Hillary Clinton, William Jefferson, and budding dem from California Francine Busby.
Gordy,
Actually, I was surprised myself at how easy it was to accomodate your request!
Just two days ago, LV attempts to ridicule Frerichs because his warning about the nursing home was not up to LV's high standards. In doing so, however, s/he quotes the warning contained in this year's audit report:
Local Voter Says:
June 5th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Quote Frerich's letter report, “It is clear that several years of increasing budget deficits at the Nursing Home must be reversed so that the facility doesn't significantly affect the health of the County.”ÂÂ
Then, just this morning -- only two days after LV specifically quotes Frerichs' CCNH warning in this year's report -- s/he claims that Frerichs gave no such warning at all over the past 2 years:
Local Voter Says:
June 7th, 2006 at 7:35 am
If Frerichs is such a “voice of warning” about the financial crisis at CCNH, why doesn't his audits for the past TWO YEARS reflect it?
This is exactly the kind of absurdity I'm talking about. Frerichs drives you guys nuts, and a lot of you seem to lose all sense of reason and proportion when you go after him. Voters seem to understand this -- they seem to recognize that Mike's a smart, hard-working guy who cares about our community, despite the increasingly hysterical and unfounded attacks against him.
ILM,
Thanks for the example. I wouldn't characterize it that way, but it meets the criteria.
So why can't anyone answer the question that was posed for this thread, "Why do you like Mike Frerichs?"
Brawler first says "shut up" and then later bizzarely rambles about Republican corruption. Wow.
Yes Yes whines "this is a Republican blog" but still can't come up with something positive to say about Mike.
The Squire likes Mike because he's not a Republican. Don't go overboard on your praise there Squire.
And finally Frerichs has to post anonymously as "I Like Mike" (no one else but Frerichs would be able to quote exact comments that Tapley made two years ago) in a lame attempt to rewrite history and then babble about unfounded Republican attacks.
If Frerichs is the only one who like Frerichs, why do the Dems vehemently support this guy so much? Is the local party so weak that he's all they have?
After he loses another election, what will they support him to run for next?
I think Dems like the fact that he scares the pants off of you guys so much.
So this is the only reason you can come up with? Funny, I see Judy fairly frequently and she never appears to be too scared to me.
I have known Mike for years. He sure don't scare me, and I like to
see him shake in his pants. He is not as strong as you Dems think.
I think this as a very interesting race, and you people seem to not
know him very well. If he was half as good as he thinks, he maybe
would then be someone to vote for. Not scare at all. Know him as
a baby.
then why is this race even competitive if hes so horrible?
you apologists are great. Frerichs says something about the nursing home in his letter and you classify that as some sort of warning about the nursing home. Hey folks. Read the post below it. The county had to fork over $900,000 already this year to the nursing home. Frerichs' letter acts as if there hasn't been any impact on the county's financial health. He's clueless, and if his cut and paste financial reports don't convince you of that you're not very bright.
"then why is this race even competitive if hes so horrible? "
This race is not competitive. Frerichs is already toast, as his "walk the county" stunt clearly illustrated.
Actually, I'm able to quote Tapley because I have this secret source called The News-Gazette. I'm not Mike (I'm much too short to be a Frerichs), but if it helps you sleep better to think I am, then be my guest. Same thing for the idea that Mike's "toast".
By the way, of the 21 responses above, over half were from Republicans trashing Mike or trashing those of us who actually answered the question. Is it any wonder most Dems don't bother?
The letter "I Like Mike" refers to was published in April 2005 (not before the 2004 election).
Here it is:
"I would like to congratulate County Auditor Mike Frerichs for finally trying to become a watchdog of Champaign County's finances. Unfortunately, he's barking up the wrong tree.
"The nursing home deficits that Frerichs claims surprised him have been discussed repeatedly at county board finance committee meetings. Maybe Frerichs was paying more attention to his PDA than to what was being said at those meetings.
"Some county board members believe the real reason Frerichs is squawking about the nursing home deficits is to retaliate against the nursing home director over the county's recent purchase of a human resources software package. Frerichs has been sharply and emotionally critical of county administrators because he felt inadequately informed about the process used to select the vendor for that purchase.
"If Mike Frerichs wants to be better informed about what's going on inside county government, he could try paying attention at meetings and spending more time at the Brookens Administrative Center. And if the News-Gazette wants to avoid writing articles about crises that don't exist, they could start sending a reporter to County Board meetings again."
I wrote the letter after an April committee meeting at which former CCNH nursing home director Jeremy Maupin informed the county board that favorable developments in census count would result in a breakeven budget for the CCNH instead of the budget deficit that Maupin (not Frerichs) had predicted would occur until the new nursing home could be built/occupied.
While significant subsequent deterioration in the CCNH's finances has resulted in larger deficits than Maupin predicted, I still find valid the criticism of Frerichs for being surprised at the possibility of a deficit in 2005 and laugh at "I Like Mike" for trying to credit Frerichs for being "one of the first people to raise a red flag about the financial crisis at the CCNH."
By the way, we're all still waiting for some reasons Democrats like Mike Frerichs...
Don't you Republican bloggers get it? Even the Democrats who read IP aren't going to respond -- not with the nastiness you all display with such frequency.
You keep on spending your time writing nasty things about Mike, and praise Judy (but don't talk about her getting one of George Ryan's jobs by stepping down from the State Senate early after she lost election). Then you can keep thinking the Mike is 'toast', keep spreading the lies that you want, and then on election night, we'll see what happens.
Mike's smart, and even though the News-Gazette no longer covers the County, if it did, I think you'd see it reporting that Mike was doing his job well.
But go ahead, you all just keep thinking that Mike's toast, and the rest of us will toast to a new Democratic State Senator at 7 pm on November 7th.
intermitent,
Looking forward to seeing you at Brookens Nov 7.
It is interesting how Dems such as "intermitent [sic] blogger" are so confident that Mike is doing a good job...yet never can come up with specifics.
All this thread was supposed to be was a list of reasons "Why Dems like Mike Frerichs"...so, "he's doing a good job" can be one, but how about something specific. How about naming an accomplishment he can claim is all his own...just one would suffice.
I have some reason. Mike today is braving the cold and wet weather to pick up garbage on that road outside of Saint Joseph. He doesn't have to be doing this, yet he is.This tells me he would be an excellent senator, and would help take care of garbage if elected.
We're up to five reasons Dems like Mike, now...still waiting for some substance, but here's what we have so far:
Mike picked up garbage on the roadside.
Mike is doing a good job.
Mike is not a Republican.
Mike raised red flag about financial crisis at CCNH.
Mike is smart, hard-working and cares about our community.
Mike scares the pants off you [Republicans].
One more reason:
Mike is from Champaign County.
Mike doesn't allegedly need 18 more months of service before he gets a better state pension or better post retirement health insurance (unlike Ms. Myers), and he doesn't have any political deals made to step down mid-term if elected and give up his State Senate seat to Mark Shelden (why do you suppose we didn't see a primary, from somebody who also suddenly became so interested in remaining the County Clerk and has no ambition? Also notice our U.S. Congressman suddenly got into the endorsement game and Mark just happened to be his campaign manager) Please, the motives are very transparent. This from the same Congressman who wanted to get Winkel into the U.S. Attorney's office and probably wanted to try and stick Mark into the vacancy back then too. Thank the Lord that little plot didn't work out, but there on to the next "vacancy" ploy already.
Do tell me, why in the world would somebody who is also already retired, who already was in the State Senate want to step back into that headache unless it was just to accommodate some other long term motive or plans? There's no long term future with Myers and she represents the past and the old ideas we've already seen.
Varble,
Are you going to finally quit obsessing over Shelden once you move out of the county? It's really not healthy to hold on to such bitterness.
So you claim Myers represents the past and the old ideas we've already seen. You failed to point out any new ideas that Frerichs would bring to the table. Not one. Nada. Zippo. In fact not one poster on this entire thread could point to a credible reason to elect him.
And while you're so worked up with your conspiracy theory, didn't Frerichs get appointed to the auditor's office upon the mid-term resignation of the Dem party chair, Gerrie Parr? Why aren't you upset over that conspiracy?
I don't agree with vacancy appointments and think there should always be a special election if more than 50% of any elected term remains.
One of Mike's new ideas I agree with is a cap on sales tax for gasoline if the price goes beyond $2.50 a gallon as well as the research initiative he supports with taxes levied off gasoline sales. This is different than a simple "tax holiday" proposal made by the GOP several years ago.
I also think a positive factor is that he's young enough to serve the district well for a long time instead of for just a few years. Again why on earth would you be running for office at age 67 after retiring unless there was some other long term GOP strategic planning going on? And don't tell me some BS about "oh she just suddenly had the urge to serve the people again"...um, wrong answer. It's very obvious to anyone doing a very simple analysis that Myers is doing it to further another agenda.
That wasn't a "new idea." Frerichs himself said in a NG article that he stole that idea from others - both the research part and the tax cap part. No new ideas there.
And it's pretty sad in my opinion that Frerichs is using the crazy village idiot to spread false rumors about an opponent. Pretty sad indeed.
Oh, didn't know I was crazy or an idiot, I'll have look into that after the twin cities goes smoke-free, but thanks for your kindness. I also don't work for any political candidate, as my blog has been there for a long time and I write about many things.
Amazing how you (and others) immediately resort to ad hominem personal attacks against me instead of addressing the content of what was stated. Happens every time Gordy and that is why people don't participate and re-affirms everything everyone already knows about this blog.
Mr. ChampaignAmerican,
Take off the tin foil hat. And as far as Judy Myers goes, you don't know her, that's obvious. She isn't in thick with Tim Johnson or Mark Shelden. You must be kidding. There isn't any reason for her to work this hard to hand it over to people outside Vermilion County she barely knows. She loved being in the senate. As far as being in her 60's, excuse me, but people can be just as smart and healthy as those younger.
Varble - At least the leaders of this blog have the guts to keep incendiary comments like yours online. Can you say the same? Maybe that is why this blog has so many commenters and yours has hardly any. Yes, there are plenty of attacks on this blog, but everything is out in the open. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the furnace.
And you're not kidding anyone with your claims that you aren't connected with Frerich. You donated $250 to his campaign.
I donated to his campaign and it's a public record, but am not employed by it (unlike this blog here). I've also given money to plenty of other causes and persons throughout my life, does that mean I'm "working" for them, no don't think so. So "Joey" who are you and who are you connected to if you want to talk about everything being out in the open? Everything is out in the open that is except your identity, which allows you the luxury of making cowardly insults and ad hominem personal attacks.
And this, my friends, is why IlliniPundit banned this guy from posting.
You can't fool us Matt. Judy Myers gave you the 250 to give to Frerichs to make Mike look like an idiot. You are one sly dude.
OK, I just saw this.
A few points:
1. When Senator Myers hired me, neither she nor I knew that I would be posting on this blog - that happened a few weeks later. Senator Myers has never instructed me to post something here, and if she did, I'd probably refuse. Everything I post here is my opinion. If I want you to know how Senator Myers feels about something, I'll quote her or more likely point you to an article on her website.
2. Senator Myers is running for a four-year term in the State Senate. When I interviewed with her, I asked her why she was running, and her answer was the was concerned about the future of the state, and the amount of debt the state was going to pass on to her grandkids. She makes essentially the same statement in just about every speech she gives. So that's one reason why she's running, and it's a good one. I'll let her continue to discuss all the rest of her reasons.
3. Senator Stan Weaver was 77 years old when he left the State Senate, and was an excellent Senator. To discuss someone's age as if it's a limiting factor is both rude and impolitic. But please continue to do so, as it will continue to increase Senator Myers' support.
4. I was very involved in the candidate recruitment process after Senator Winkel retired. There was/is no deal between Mark Shelden and Judy Myers. I'm not going to speak for Mark Shelden, but he could have announced his candidacy soon after Winkel retired, but did not, choosing instead to wait until everyone could agree on one candidate, and stating so publicly: 9/27/05: "I think within a couple of weeks everything will have worked itself out, but I don't think there's any crisis mode here," Shelden said. "We need to get the party unified behind the best candidate and then move forward."
5. Senator Myers is going to win in November, and when she does, she's going to serve at least a full four-year term.
6. Congressman Johnson and Senator Myers met in November to discuss how they could work together to win this Senate seat. Congressman Johnson has been supportive of her efforts for months, both in terms of advice and in his public speechs. To say that his endorsement last week was somehow connected to a deal for an early retirement by Senator Myers and an appointment of Mark Shelden is a bald-faced lie, and an illogical one at that. The people who spread such rumors are liars, and are lying because the growing strength of the Myers campaign is causing them to be desperate.
7. Despite the false and malicious nature of the rumors posted here, I'm not going to delete them. I think I've sufficiently rebutted them, and I have the facts on my side, which makes it easy to counter silly, illogical and desperate statements such as these.