WGN: The Download with Justin Kaufmann
The following interview was aired on WGN on February 23, 2016. A link to the article can be found here.
Justin Kaufmann: So, y’know, we’re going to be joined by Congressman Mike Quigley in just a second here. We’re sitting in his district here at Pequod’s. The Fightin’ Fifth, the Fightin’ Fifth. This is a historic congressional district.
Mike Fourcher: It’s always fightin’ something…
JK: Always fightin’ something… Let’s talk about the significance of the fifth district.
MF: Alright well, y’know, the fifth district has had some of the most interesting people, right? So the guy who had the job right before him, Rahm Emanuel, the guy who had the job before Rahm, Rod Blagojevich…
JK: Right!
MF: Wow, interesting, huh. Not a, not a good trend. And before Rod Blagojevich, was Mike Flanagan.
JK: Right.
MF: The last Republican to be a Congressman in Chicago, Mike Flanagan, beat Dan Rostenkowski in an upset in 1994.
JK: This was when Rostenkowski was going to jail, though…
MF: Well… yeah…
JK: Yeah, sure.
[Laughing]
MF: Sure. Y’know he went to jail in his last year and lost. So, y’know…
JK: But before that, long time served by Dan Rostenkowski.
MF: Congressman for like, forever.
JK: Ways and Means.
MF: Yeah, he was chair of the Ways and Means and all that other great stuff.
JK: Well let’s do, let’s bring in Congressman Mike Quigley. The fifth district, Mike Quigley is in Washington, D.C. Congressman, thanks for being here; we’re live at Pequod’s.
MIKE QUIGLEY [via telephone]: Hey! Great to be on here in my neighborhood. Go to Webster Street, watch a movie and bring home a Pequod’s Pizza.
JK, MF [simultaneously]: There you go!
MF: Good plug!
JK: Getting name-checked by the Congressman! We had a big… we’ll start… Y’know… You were a part of one of the bigger Chicago news stories here in the last couple weeks, the Blackhawks going to the White House.
MF: Right.
HOST: So tell us about that experience, being there and uh, with the President, uh, honoring, once again, the Blackhawks.
MQ: Y’know I gotta lead up with the week before, I was on Air Force One with the President, and he talked about why the Blackhawks were special. He said, “hey, your team, they’re up there with the Patriots and the Cardinals, the other great dynasties,” and he talked for a long time about how it all starts with great management.
JK: Wow…
MQ: So we’re at the White House and, besides being such a great festive mood, you got the sense from the management guys there, that this wasn’t the culmination of a great sense of accomplishment, but that they were in the midst of it, that this is going to go on for a while, and they were obviously… very good mood about that.
JK: I would imagine that. I mean, just the concept that a team in Chicago, besides I guess the Chicago Bulls, are in the middle of a dynasty. It’s gotta be something to be such a big fan of it. I mean I would assume that you’re all over it and letting everybody know in Washington that, y’know, the Blackhawks are legit.
MQ: Oh, it’s a lot of fun. It’s my only pushback with Cardinals fans. I ask them to show me their rings… oh wait!
MF: Nice, nice, nice.
JK: Well, Congressman let me ask you about today. Sort of some big news coming out of Washington, the President announcing that he wants to close Guantanamo Bay. This is, was a campaign promise back in 2008 and as he wraps up his two terms; finally getting around to it. What’s your reaction to the announcement today?
MQ: Well it’s the right thing to do, whether we can pull it off is an entirely different thing. We got to remember that General David Petraeus and Colin Powell, among others, are saying, have said that closing Gitmo is in the best interest of The United States. That there are hundreds of international terrorists, and a lot of other scary people currently housed in U.S. Super Max prisons, no one’s ever escaped those prisons, it would save money, and it would take away a recruiting tool for terrorists. It’s the right thing to do, but as we’ve seen in the six or seven years that it’s been floated, a lot of people are not above scaring people with this and using it in an unfortunate way to push back.
JK: Well how does he get it done? Obviously pushing and bringing it up now – is this the right political time to do it?
MF: And, Congressman, the Congress passed a bill a couple years ago that blocks anybody moving from Guantanamo to the mainland. Isn’t that right?
MQ: Well there are various measures that have been passed that have gone back and forth. I think he’d like to do it by Executive Action, probably doesn’t think he can do it because of that measure, but I think he’s hoping that Congress changes its mind. I sadly don’t see that happening. You asked if it’s the right political time, but you gotta ask yourself, what else can he do? The President has about 10 months left in his term, I know he has a burning passion to get more done, and this is one of those on his bucket list.
JK: Go ahead, Mike.
MF: Getting back to that, is there any willingness within Congress in order to allow him to have any final things on his agenda? Or are the Republicans just going to block every last move?
MQ: Well I think, unfortunately most of these measures are going to be blocked. I think that Speaker Ryan is a smart person politically, I think that’s why the government wasn’t shut down, I think that’s why you saw a two-year budget deal. I think he’s trying to show that the mainstream Republican establishment can’t govern, in juxtaposition with his far-right, which right now there’s a lot of mainstream Republicans than most of the rest of us. What does that mean?, we’re going to accomplish other things as a result of… y’know I’m not sure, we should’ve done immigration reform a long time ago. There’s a long list of things there that we should’ve done, I’m not sure we get most of those things done or if the Senate’s going to get anything done on a Supreme Court nominee, but he we hope for the best.
JK: You know, today, more Republican leaders stepped forward saying “we’re not even going to listen, don’t even nominate anybody because you’re not going to get anybody through.” You being in Congress as a Democrat, what’s your reaction to the continuing back and forth about the appointment of a Justice for President Obama?
MQ: You gotta remember we’re talking about what’s going to be at least a year vacancy. I wish no one harm but let’s understand that we have a lot of Justices who are getting quite old, how long do we want to go without a full Supreme Court under those circumstances? In the final analysis sometimes both parties misbehave in the same sort of area, and I’d like to get to a point where we all agree we’re not going to do something like this or put horrible riders on must-pass appropriations bills, but as we get close to the election I guess the gloves come off.
JK: Yeah, right! We’re going to let you go here because we’re live at Pequod’s and we got some stuff lined up. But I do want to say, y’know, at the beginning of the show I was talking about my newfound hatred for the Nashville Predators. The Hawks played the Predators on Thursday, what’s your take on the game?
MF: Are you pro or con Predators? [laughing]
MQ: Yeah look, I despise any owner who ways we’re going to put restrictions on this because we don’t want [hosts clap]… Hey, if your fans are so loyal, where are the jerseys?! Y’know, show up! Buy the tickets. Y’know, just because you’re embarrassed that you don’t have real fans, don’t take it out on us. [Hosts laughing] You got the ultimate payback which was in 2010, let’s just remember, Hawks were down in that game when Kane scored with what?, two seconds to go, tying it up, tied it up, put it into overtime, they overcame a major penalty on Hossa, and they came back and beat ‘em. The best revenge is living well.
JK: Congressman Mike Quigley thanks for joining us from Washington tonight! [Clapping]
MQ: Enjoy the pizza, guys.
JK: There you go, Congressman Quigley. Live here at Pequod’s. We’re going to take a quick break when we come back we’re going to talk about whether or not you’re going to get your money back from your red light or speeding ticket…