Brady OK with schools opting to teach creationism

Brady OK with schools opting to teach creationism
BY DAVE McKINNEY
CXopyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
October 5, 2010
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/2775202,bill-brady-evolution-creationism-100510.article


GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady said Tuesday he would not stand in the way of a public school board should it want to teach creationism.

"My knowledge and my faith leads me to believe in both evolution and creationism," Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady told the Sun-Times editorial board.

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady said Tuesday he would not stand in the way of a public school board should it want to teach creationism.

“I believe knowledge is power, and I believe local school districts should establish the curriculum when it comes to those things,” Brady told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board in a wide-ranging interview session with running mate Jason Plummer.

A chunk of the hour-long session delved into social issues, with Brady stating his opposition to laws authorizing civil unions for gays and lesbians and legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, his unwillingness to expand abortion rights and his desire to lift a moratorium on executions.

Brady was asked repeatedly about his personal views on intelligent design.

“My knowledge and my faith leads me to believe in both evolution and creationism,” he said. “I believe God created the earth, and it evolved.”

Creationism generally teaches that the Bible is historically and scientifically accurate, and the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

Gov. Quinn’s campaign said Brady’s position on evolution and his comfort in allowing local school districts to decide whether to teach creationism is not favored by a majority of Illinoisans.

“I think it’s way out of step with Illinois voters,” Quinn running mate Sheila Simon said.

Gov. Quinn has attempted in campaign commercials and mailers to portray the state senator from Bloomington as out-of-touch socially with most Illinois voters.

On budget issues, Brady avoided stating specifically what programs he would cut to achieve his stated goal of a 10-percent reduction in state spending but said “Medicaid savings can be greater than 10 percent.”

Brady voiced opposition to allowing slot machines at racetracks or more casinos and vowed a pro-business agenda that would create “at least 300,000 or 400,000 jobs” during his four years in office, if elected.

Meanwhile, Brady’s running mate, Plummer, fended off repeated questions about his refusal to release his personal income tax returns, which has been an issue for him since emerging from the February primary.

Doing so, he said, would violate “confidential financial information” involving friends and family, who are co-investors in his family’s Downstate lumber business. Further, it represents a “double-standard” given other elected officials in Springfield have not released their tax returns, he said.

Quinn and Simon have released their income tax returns, while Brady has allowed reporters to inspect his tax returns without offering copies.

“When you have national publications claiming we have elected officials in Springfield that shape public policy, spend taxpayer money, making millions upon millions of dollars in the private sector, and we don’t see their tax returns, I just find it interesting that mine are of such interest,” Plummer said.

Simon, who has attacked Plummer’s secrecy in the past, renewed the criticism.

“It’s not too much to expect from a candidate for statewide office [that] their priority would be statewide office and representing the people of Illinois rather than protecting their family’s business interest,” said Simon, whose late father, U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, would divulge tax records that showed how much income she made as a teen-age babysitter and how much her adolescent brother made from his paper route.

“It says his priorities are different than mine and the governor,” Simon said of Plummer. “We’ve disclosed this without being asked and disclosed it fully.”