May 21, 2013

Dear Fellow Conservative,

I wish it wasn’t necessary for me to write you this letter. There are many things personally and professionally that I would like to devote the rest of my life to. And to be perfectly honest with you, politics isn’t one of them.

But just like you, as somebody who loves my country, I refuse to turn my back, close my eyes,  cover my ears, shirk my responsibility, and pretend that everything is all right. You and I both know that everything is not all right. And the recent scandals coming out of Washington – the IRS, AP, Benghazi – prove that it is only getting worse

What do all of these things have in common? For starters, liberal one party rule – local, state, and national. But even more so, Chicago machine Democrat party rule. And the one person who is at the heart of everything that is wrong in our country today is none other than our own U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Now I wish I could be in your living room right now talking with you about this face to face. But time will simply not permit that. I am wrestling right now with a very important decision. I am considering running in the Republican primary to challenge Dick Durbin for the U.S. Senate in 2014. And let me be very clear, I am not asking you for a single dime. I am asking you for something much more valuable – for your careful consideration of my record, your advice as to how I should proceed, and your prayers.

It’s hard to believe but I have known many of you for 20+ years dating back to 1992 working on Pat Buchanan’s campaign for President in Illinois. (For those of you who are more recent friends, watch my video documentary, “A Conservative in Chicago.”) Many of you were with me in ’94 when I ran for Congress against former Black Panther Defense Minister Bobby Rush. I knew it was a racially gerrymandered congressional district but, as you know, I am not one to shy away from a fight.

My experience in 1994 also taught me another valuable lesson; that we need more conservatives in media and entertainment. After the campaign, I started a production company from scratch and today it is an Emmy award-winning TV production company. Conservatives should never have ceded the entertainment industry to the left.

But the election of Barack Obama and the birth of the Tea Party movement inspired me to rejoin the political frontlines of activism. And, in 2010, I ran statewide for Illinois comptroller in order to open the books and expose the insider deals. That race opened more doors. I began as a contract columnist for national publications and a contributor to the American Spectator and Breitbart.com. I used my radio show on AM 560 WIND to go after Rahm Emanuel on the issues – the issues the mainstream media didn’t intend to cover. That infuriated the mainstream media too.

The Illinois GOP wasn’t doing anything to challenge Rahm Emanuel in his race for mayor in 2011. So I joined the challenge to Rahm’s petitions on the basis of residency and teamed up with the great Dick Morris to produce an ad campaign against him. Why? Because no one else was.

The point is: The deck may be stacked up against most Republicans in Illinois – but that doesn’t mean you cede tough elections to Democrats. That’s why this election calls for the right candidate with the right convictions, creativity, and tactics.

I have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have the courage of my convictions, the creativity to get our message out in a hostile media environment, and the courage to take it to our opponent face-to-face.

It is clear now that we are in an unconventional fight for the future so it is an unconventional but principled fighter that we so desperately need.

Thank you for your consideration. Please feel free to contact me directly to share your thoughts at 312-768-8683.

Faithfully,

Chicago, Illinois, May 20, 2013 – Today, Republican activist William J. Kelly is calling for an investigation into Sen. Dick Durbin’s role in the IRS scandal.  He has issued the following statement:

Senate Democrats have called for congressional hearings into the IRS targeting of conservative organizations for special government scrutiny calling it “an outrageous abuse of power.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, was among those calling for congressional action.

But Senate Democrats – including Durbin – must also be investigated for their role in exerting pressure on IRS employees to target select groups for scrutiny. Once a special prosecutor is named, all senatorial email communications and phone records connected with this scandal must be released and made available to the public.

Some of the IRS abuses include special audits of conservative and tea party organizations, holding-up applications for tax exemptions, and demanding detailed personal information about donors, employees, and members of the organizations. The “fishing expedition” raises serious questions about the use of governmental power to punish the President’s political enemies.

Last week, Durbin compared the IRS’ thug tactics to “the worst days of Richard Nixon’s administration.” But Durbin has been publicly involved in pressuring the IRS to investigate conservative groups since the targeting practice began in 2010.

In his October 11, 2010 letter to IRS Commission Shulman, Durbin wrote:

“One organization whose activities appear to be inconsistent with its tax status is Crossroads GPS, organized as a (c)(4) entity in June. The group has spent nearly $20 million on television advertising specific to Senate campaigns this year. If this political activity is indeed the primary activity of the organization, it raises serious questions about the organization’s compliance with the Internal Revenue Code…

I ask that the IRS quickly examine the tax status of Crossroads GPS and other (c)(4) organizations that are directing millions of dollars into political advertising, and respond with your findings as soon as possible.”

Exactly what other (c) (4) organizations did Sen. Durbin mean? Was this an isolated incident or was he more deeply involved in pressuring the IRS to investigate his political or ideological opponents? What kind of pressure did he apply? What did he know? Who did he talk to?

On Tuesday, Tea Party and conservative groups will be protesting outside IRS offices around the country.

Now I am calling on them to protest outside Sen. Durbin’s Chicago offices as well.

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William J. Kelly is a longtime Republican activist and former 2010 candidate for Illinois comptroller. He is the president of an Emmy award-winning TV production house with offices based in Chicago. Kelly’s encounter with Sen. Durbin went viral in 2011 and received national attention.

Capture of Illinois Policy Institute’s Direct Message on Twitter

Capture of Illinois Policy Institute’s Direct Message on Twitter

Chicago, Illinois, May 9, 2013 – So how has the Illinois Policy Institute used its 501c3 tax-exempt status lately? To inform and debate Illinois’ broken pension system? No. To pontificate about educational choice and reform? No. To use its official Twitter account to message personal attack pieces against yours truly to its “followers?” To manufacture the hateful attacks in the first place?

The answer is “yes” and “yes.”

The poorly-written attack piece, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like William Kelly” was posted by John Dyslin, a staffer for Commissioner Dan Patlak at the Cook County Board of Review, and appeared in an unregulated sign-up blog online. Yesterday, the Illinois Policy Institute was caught private messaging the piece on Twitter shortly after the hate piece went “live.” Some of the messages were forwarded to me.

Other than a comparison of me to Julie Andrews in ”The Sound of Music,” (weird), the piece was all hate-based vitriol, misleading and false statements, and made-up things I never said. Dyslin’s writing would never pass journalistic muster – in a newsroom you can’t make-up quotes to fit your story. Hate pieces are like that.

Illinois Policy Institute has long portrayed itself as an organization above the fray. But the reality is that it has a history of attacking people behind-the-scenes. John Tillman, Dan Proft, and others in the Illinois GOP political establishment have attacked real conservatives for years. Moreover, they have misused some tea party leaders to help them attack good people. They view the tea parties as something they can control for their own political purposes.

But this time, IPI has publicly been caught in the act of sowing personal attacks. Illinois Policy Institute donors, you have been put on notice about how this organization and its leaders really conduct themselves when they believe no one is looking. It’s reputation is now forever tarnished. Whatever credibility it had, is gone.

So how did this latest round start?

For the past week, Illinois Policy Institute has been furious over a blog I wrote in Chicago Now about the financial interests of key staff in the virtual charter school plan – a plan that could extract $16 million in local tax dollars. Yes, that’s $16 million in Illinois tax dollars that IPI’s staff would control.

Illinois Policy Institute has been asking its subscribers to oppose the new bill that would put a one year moratorium on virtual charter schools – and yet it has never disclosed to them its financial interest in the charter plan. That’s why I wrote the blog.

So, steaming over my column, Illinois Policy Institute sent a threatening email to Chicago Now demanding the blog be taken down. The organization also pressured a tea party group into disinviting me from speaking last weekend. After all, that’s the role of a tax-exempt non-profit i.e. to censor conservative columnists and prevent them from speaking at tea party rallies.

Illinois Policy Institute’s John Tillman and Dan Proft are also livid because I was responsible for helping to upset the rotten applecart known as former GOP Chairman Pat Brady, who resigned Monday.  You see Brady, who was appointed by Illinois Policy Institute board member and fundraiser Andy McKenna, is a key Tillman-Proft ally.

It doesn’t bother me that the Illinois Policy Institute is mourning Pat Brady. He deserved to go. I’m glad I made sure he did. Brady’s resignation must have been the final straw for Tillman and Proft.

In all of this, a serious issue is Illinois Policy Institute’s relationship with John Dyslin. Dyslin lists in his bio that he is a “Liberty Leader” for the Illinois Policy Institute. So did Illinois Policy Institute direct him to write the personal attack piece so they could promote it to their lists? That’s a pretty safe bet and it is a misuse of their 501c3 tax-exempt status.

Dyslin has written other personal attack pieces against me whenever I have dared criticize Illinois Policy Institute’s operations – again likely at IPI’s direction.

According to For the Good of Illinois’ Open the Books Portal, Dyslin’s day job is as a $46,000 a year staffer at the Cook County Board of Review. For months, I’ve seen Dyslin’s posts on Facebook and Twitter during the day when he is supposed to be working on behalf of Cook County taxpayers. Commissioner Patlak should definitely conduct an internal investigation on Mr. Dyslin’s internet “activities” and release the results to the public.

Like many, I have my detractors. But I can also tell you that for years, before I ever penned a word of criticism, I reached out to work with every single one of them over and over again. My hand was bit off every time. I can tell you that all of them have taken aim at me first and always from behind – a cowardly form of attack. I attack from the front and out in the open. I criticize what they “do.” They attack me “personally.” They scream that “I burn bridges.” I will tell you that they burned them first. There weren’t any bridges left to burn.

Dyslin has posted on Facebook that John Tillman, Dan Proft, Jack Roeser, and Sheriff Mark Curran have been in contact with him regarding the article.

What these “detractors” don’t like is that when they attack me, I fight back. What these “detractors” don’t like is that I have shined a spotlight on their bad or unethical behavior. Here’s a solution for them: stop doing bad, unethical things.

I have been an ardent conservative and anti-tax activist for more than 20 years. I have confronted corrupt liberal Democrats at every turn. I also haven’t been afraid to call out corrupt members of my own party. In all of that time, I have never hesitated to put myself, my reputation, and my safety on the line. It didn’t scare me to challenge Rep. Bobby Rush for Congress back in 1994, to challenge Rahm Emanuel or his petitions for mayor on the basis of residency in 2011, and I am sure as hell not scared of the ethically-challenged Illinois Policy Institute.

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William J. Kelly is a conservative columnist with national publications including the Washington Times Communities and the American Spectator. He is the founder of an Emmy award-winning TV production house with offices in Chicago. For more information about William Kelly, watch the “Conservative in Chicago.”

Urges Open Process to Elect New GOP Chairman

Chicago, Illinois, May 7, 2013 – William Kelly, a leader in the conservative Republican movement in Illinois, commented today on the resignation of embattled former Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady.

“There are times in politics when you wish you weren’t right,” Kelly said of his months long effort to have Brady replaced.   Kelly was the first conservative leader to call for Brady to step down more than a year ago. “Pat Brady had the mistaken idea that the party worked for him, instead of the other way around.”

Kelly, a conservative columnist for national publications, said that the media has predictably turned the crisis in Brady’s failed leadership into a crusade for their own agenda.  “The media has consistently blown the gay marriage issue out of proportion,” Kelly said. “The hard-cold truth about Pat Brady’s failed era as party chairman is a story about a world-class ego being put before the well-being of the Republican Party.”

Kelly, a long-time leader on conservative issues, said that even more egregious than Brady betraying the party on a key issue, the former chairman foolishly and routinely inserted himself into party primaries-always against the conservative candidate, and worse yet, was the architect and mastermind of the disastrous statewide performance in the 2012 election.

“The party lost four congressional seats, and enough legislative seats to provide Democrats a veto-proof majority in both the Illinois Senate and House,” Kelly said.  “It was a defeat of historic proportions. There was no message, no plan, and no path to victory under Brady’s leadership.  It’s as if Pat Brady piloted the Hindenburg right into the Titanic.”

“It is time for the Illinois Republican Party to come together,” Kelly said.  “The way forward to party unity and victory is to pick a new leader who actually believes in what the party stands for, can effectively communicate that message, and leaves personal grudges out of the electoral process.”

Kelly, a potential candidate for statewide office in 2014, said he has no preference on who the party picks to replace Brady but says that the process should be an open one with full transparency and an opportunity for all candidates to present their credentials.   

“I stand ready to work with the new party chairman to unite the Republican Party to defeat Democratic candidates in Illinois, which should be the one and only mission of the new chairman.”

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According to the email from the apologetic tea party organizer:

As many people know, I take the defense of our First Amendment freedoms very seriously.  I have ever since President Clinton had me arrested back in 1993 for daring to ask him about the middle class tax cut.  You only learn to value freedom when it is taken away from you. I was very young at the time and didn’t understand how the federal government could abuse its power. The mainstream media was more than happy to sweep the incident under the rug.  It was all by design – I wasn’t arrested at the scene but four hours later federal agents surrounded my home.  Fox News did not exist yet but Rush Limbaugh, the National Review, and conservative columnist Dennis Byrne did and they called out Clinton for his abuse of power. That’s the power of conservative media.

Those members of the media stood up for me and I will never forget that. We all need someone to stand up for us. To tell the other side of the story. To inform us so that we can act.  That is the reason we need to have more conservatives in the media.

The six month ordeal to fight the charges defined who I am and taught me that we have no choice but to fight evil wherever we find it.  I have fought back ever since.

That is also why I - early on – became friends with Andrew Breitbart and became a contributor to Breitbart.com.

Andrew was the reason why my encounter with Rahm Emanuel and CBS reporter Jay Levine went viral. He defended me when I was under attack by the mainstream liberal media – despite the fact that Levine was caught-on-tape threatening me for asking Rahm a question. He came to my defense when AM 560′s Amy Jacobson - who despised Andrew – attacked me on the air.  AM 560 WIND – the so-called conservative radio station in Illinois – caved into the pressure too and soon I was off-the-air. He was angry when WIND wouldn’t allow me to cover TeaCon for the Washington Times Communities and called the station to yell at them. And all because I dared to ask a question Rahm didn’t want to be asked. But isn’t that what we, as conservative media, do?

We have to continue to ask questions. If the Illinois Policy Institute thinks it can control the discussion, every tea party person should be up-in-arms. If we can’t question things, then we aren’t truly free.

What happened also just proves that I am right about the ethical problems at this organization. I am not the first to question Illinois Policy Institute, its president John Tillman and Dan Proft.  Other media have questioned the operation and that of its connected organizations, including the Illinois Opportunity Project, which exists to fund Dan Proft for Governor, his PACs and pays him a consulting fee. And, make no mistake, what Illinois Policy Institute and surrogates for John Tillman and Dan Proft are doing with this virtual tax school grab deserves to be questioned.

That’s why I make no apologies for questioning Illinois Policy Institute officials. In fact, I am emboldened to write even more.

Those of you who are reading this blog – you can do something too.

Call or write the Illinois Policy Institute and ask them the tough questions about this virtual school charter plan. Ask them what they will be doing with the $16 million in state tax dollars they are vying for? Ask them if they will control jobs, salaries, and contracts to vendors? Ask them why they haven’t disclosed their financial interest in the plan in any of the news blasts they have been issuing to school choice activists? Ask them why they are promoting K12, Inc. – a for-profit company – that has a failing record in education? Ask them if school choice means the choice between a bad public school and an even worse virtual one? Ask them why they have a board member connected to dirty Cicero president Larry Dominick and mob-connected figures like Jeff Pesek?

The questions about the Illinois Policy Institute are just beginning.  After all, that’s what the First Amendment is all about.

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William J. Kelly is a conservative columnist with the Washington Times Communities and contributes to the American Spectator and other publications. He heads-up an Emmy award-winning TV production house with offices in Chicago. He is a former 2010 statewide candidate for Illinois comptroller.

Apparently, the piece is being tweeted out by the Illinois Principals Association and school district superintendents. So angry Illinois Policy Institute representatives contacted the website’s editors and demanded that the story be taken down immediately. It is important to see what organizations like the Illinois Policy Institute do behind-the-scenes.  This is a copy of one of the threatening and disparaging emails sent.

The problem with saying something isn’t true is that you have to prove it is false. Illinois Policy Institute can’t magically waive its wand and make facts it doesn’t like go away. As President Ronald Reagan once said, “facts are stupid things.” That’s why the article stands as is – without any correction. It is also why the Illinois Policy Institute must explain itself. And “no, that’s not true” is not good enough when the hard facts suggest otherwise.

So let’s go through Illinois Policy Institute’s grievances one-by-one:

First, they say its officials don’t have a financial interest in this multi-million dollar virtual school plan. But Virtual Learning Solutions, the entity that will govern the Illinois Virtual Charter School, lists Ted Dabrowski, Illinois Policy Institute’s Vice President of Policy as its secretary and Eric Kohn, whose wife is the institute’s Senior Manager of External Relations, as its treasurer. So what is their real interest here?

Illinois Policy Institute says that its officials will not manage the virtual charter school. But Virtual Learning Solutions is named as the organization that will govern the charter school entity for 18 school districts. So what does that mean? Will Illinois Policy Institute officials control jobs? Vendor contracts? The millions in Illinois tax dollars the virtual charter will receive? Who will be salaried? Are we really supposed to believe they get nothing out of this?

Second, they dispute the $8,000 per student figure – that’s in Illinois tax dollars from local school districts. They say “the amount of money that the virtual academic program will receive per student will be determined by the Illinois Charter Commission and that amount has yet to be determined.” That’s just double talk. The $8,000 is the amount per student that Virtual Learning Solutions has requested as part of its proposal. VLS projects a few thousand students by year five if the virtual charter is approved. So $16 million in state tax dollars is right on target.

Most puzzling of all, a representative for Illinois Policy Institute says that Eric Kohn, treasurer of Virtual Learning Solutions, “never had any contracts with Cicero President Larry Dominick” and that he “never served as the personal spokesperson for Jeff Pesek.”

But Eric Kohn was Operations Manager for Dan Proft’s Urquhart Media and benefitted from no-bid contracts from Cicero president Larry Dominick and Jeff Pesek. That’s a fact. He has been the spokesperson for Jeff Pesek and the Morton school district 201 for years – and was quoted in newspaper articles for Pesek as recently as the end of 2012. Kohn still works out Dan Proft’s offices for Urquhart Media in Chicago, where he operates other non-profit organizations, including the Chicago office of America’s Future Foundation and other groups. All of this information is in Kohn’s LinkedIn bio and in internet sources. Kohn submitted a much thinner bio – minus his Cicero connections – to the 18 school boards. (See Page 207).

There is more in Kohn’s background that should raise red flags. Kohn is the treasurer of one Fiscal Accountability PAC - a PAC started by Illinois Policy Institute president John Tillman and is an a consultant with Merc Strategies, which received thousands of dollars in fees from Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC. Proft has long been partnered with the Illinois Policy Institute and is a paid consultant to Illinois Opportunity Project, which also donates to campaign for governor, his PACs, and candidates.

Did K12, Inc. even bother to vet Kohn and his background? K12, Inc. has enough problems with lawsuits and scandals - did they really need this connection to a corrupt Chicago suburb and its mob-connected figures?

And if there isn’t any problem, why be so dishonest about  all this? Isn’t Illinois Policy Institute supposed to be about honesty, integrity, and transparency? Or maybe its not.

All of this is an issue because Illinois Policy Institute and its sister organization, Illinois Opportunity Project, have been lobbying against HB 494, legislation that creates a one year moratorium on online schools. To use tax-exempt organizations to lobby against legislation that an organization’s staff has a vested interest in – that raises significant conflict-of-interest concerns. Yet, Illinois Policy Institute never mentions its vested interests in Illinois Virtual Charter School in any of the staff written articles, on news websites, or in email blasts to subscribers.

Illinois Policy Institute needs to finally come clean for the benefit of school choice advocates, for parents, and their children. I am sure they would welcome the change.

Dishonesty is never good public policy.

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Dear Fellow Republicans,

There has been some “controversy” about the State Central Republican Committee meeting on April 13. But out of respect for the victims of the bombings at the Boston Marathon  and their families, I waited to speak about it.

Now it is time to put the protest in its true perspective. Make no mistake about it: April 13th was a major turning point for Illinois Republicans. To the everyday Republicans that came to speak out, let me say how very proud I am of you.

GOP chairman Pat Brady’s arrogance was on full display as he – one again – disrespected rank-and-file Republicans. He lied. He denied public comment until after executive
session. He told people that it would be 20 minutes and, instead, made people wait three hours to deliver a two minute statement. Even grandmas in wheelchairs and
walkers. He called the police again and again and treated Republicans like less than animals.

Here is the full account of what happened with links to video.

But an amazing thing happened that day: Republicans stood up and made their voices heard. We bore witness to why the Illinois GOP continues to fail. People took photos,
posted comments on Facebook, tweeted, and shared videos – and people saw with their own eyes what really transpired. Pat Brady may have some good friends and supporters
in the liberal media – but pictures and video don’t lie. Republicans made a difference and finally things may be beginning to change.

Now, there are some who were upset about the chanting and the protest. To those people, I say that this is just the beginning. Pat Brady and some of the members
of the State Central Committee have lied to Republicans for too long. Brady has made it his mission to work against conservatives, sabotaging them behind-the-scenes.
He has divided the party. What kind of GOP Chairman calls the police on little old Republican ladies?

No, GOP Chairman Pat Brady has no right to civility after what he had done to hurt Republicans.

What happened on April 13th is what we, as conservatives, need to do more of – not less. We have been “respectful” for too long and have been taken advantage of.
We haven’t engaged in enough protest to keep the pressure on GOP leaders on issues ranging from pension reform and taxes to drivers licenses for illegal immigrants
to Obamacare. That’s why we have GOP leaders helping Democrats pass bad legislation. And that’s why, if we hope to win elections in 2014, we cannot stop our protest  until GOP Chairman Pat Brady resigns – now and not later.

Voters deserve a two party system. They deserve a real Republican Party in Illinois – not one that has ceased to be relevant. Voters deserve more than a choice between
the Democrats and a corrupt Republican Party controlled by donors to Rahm Emanuel and riddled with cronyism.

The 2014 elections are just around the corner. The governor’s office and a U.S. Senate seat are at stake. We cannot let GOP Chairman Pat Brady spoil any more elections
for Republicans this time around.

Please sign up for our mailing list and consider making a contribution to our efforts
today.

Regards,

William J. Kelly