Quinn for Illinois

CHICAGO – Once again, Comptroller Dan Hynes has shown his disrespect for Democratic voters and disdain for truth by releasing yet another negative, deceptive and just plain nasty campaign commercial.

Hynes’ attack ads are clearly calculated to exploit the fears of voters by misstating the facts and distorting Governor Pat Quinn’s record, in an attempt to distract Democratic voters from his own failures as a manager and regulator. Instead of attacking, Comptroller Hynes should be explaining why he employs lawbreakers while failing to meet his responsibilities to Illinois consumers and taxpayers.

Hynes Gave Slap on the Wrist to Cyber-Saboteur David Pippy – Comptroller Hynes should explain why a politically well-connected employee, David W. Pippy, received only a “reprimand” after Mr. Pippy admitted using state computers, on state time, to conduct a years-long stock price manipulation scheme that cost Illinois shareholders millions of dollars. 

For more than three years, Mr. Pippy apparently used the Comptroller’s office in Springfield as the headquarters of an ongoing securities fraud. Investigators have identified Mr. Pippy as the source of thousands of scurrilous and untrue rumors posted anonymously on on-line financial sites – rumors that sent stock prices plummeting, and cost small companies and investors millions of dollars. Taxpayers want to know why they continue to pay the salary of someone who apparently used State of Illinois equipment, on State time, to sabotage Illinois investors.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/business/AP-IL-Comptroller-Stock-Attacks.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=pippy&st=cse

Hynes Campaign Hired William Norels, Who Stole $100,000 in State Grants – After making prison release programs his signature campaign issue, Comptroller Hynes admitted he gave a $60,000-a-year part-time consulting job in his own campaign to William Norels, a former offender. Norels was convicted of stealing $100,000 in state grant money – tax dollars that were intended to help inner-city businesses expand and create new jobs. Norels was released from prison early after serving nine months of a two-year sentence.

In Hynes’ unrelentingly negative attack ads, someone convicted of a non-violent offense and released from prison before completing his or her sentence is a “dangerous criminal.” But in Hynes campaign office, someone convicted of a non-violent offense and released from prison before completing his or her sentence is a “consultant.”

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1982210,CST-NWS-hynes10.article

Hynes Failed to Protect Consumers from $100 Million Funeral Fund Loss – Hynes continues to stonewall consumers and business owners about the Illinois Funeral Directors Association Pre-Need Trust Fund – a Madoff-style Ponzi scheme that flourished for almost a decade under the Comptroller’s direct supervision.

The basic issue is simple: In 2001, Dan Hynes learned that the IFDA’s pre-need trust fund was losing money. In just one year, the fund balance had dropped from an $18 million surplus to a troubling deficit.  Yet legal filings and newspaper accounts show that Hynes waited eight long years before taking action to protect consumers. As a result, an estimated $100 million from 50,000 Illinois consumers vanished from the fund, and hundreds of family-owned funeral homes throughout Illinois are facing serious financial losses – even bankruptcy.

http://www.sj-r.com/editorials/x998782415/Our-Opinion-Hynes-owes-answers-about-pre-need-fund

Hynes Ignored Warning Signs at Burr Oak Cemetery – In 2001, Hynes brushed off warnings about irregularities and illegal withdrawals from a cemetery trust fund held by Perpetua Holdings of Illinois as the company was applying to buy historic Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. Later, Hynes failed to act promptly when consumers complained that Perpetua Holdings did not properly deposit money into trust funds set up to provide longterm cemetery maintenance.

Only in 2009, after scandal erupted when the bodies of African-Americans were found dumped in unmarked graves, did Hynes move to revoke the cemetery’s license to receive consumer funds. Overwhelmed by complaints from shocked, grieving family members, Hynes claimed that his office lacked the expertise to oversee the cemetery industry, as required by law.  

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/burr-oak-cemetery.html

Hynes’ Chronic Lateness in State Audits Harms Bond Rating – Illinois’ Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the 2008 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2008, was released on July 10, 2009. The Government Financial Officer’s Association has set a six-month standard for the issuance of the state’s annual reports, and the Institute for Truth in Accounting rates Illinois one of the six worst states in tardy filings of the annual financial report.

The Comptroller’s tardiness was mentioned by Moody’s Investors Service as a contributing factor in the rating agency’s decision to drop the state’s credit rating in April 2009.

Instead of producing a long series of attack ads, Comptroller Hynes should focus on his own responsibilities as a manager and public servant. As Governor Pat Quinn always says: “He who slings mud, loses ground.”