Union Organizers Work 1 Day As Teachers, Get $100K+ in State Pensions

-By Warner Todd Huston

Two union organizers that represent the Illinois Federation of Teachers were able to secure millions in state pensions by working one day as a teacher here in Illinois. This outrageous abuse of the state pension system is exactly why government unions should not be allowed to exist.

The Chicago Tribune has the story of Steven Preckwinkle and David Piccioli who took advantage of a loophole to enrich themselves off the backs of the taxpayers written into law just for them by pliant Democrat politicians.

The crony legislation enabled the unionistas to quickly get state teaching certificates, work one day as a substitute teacher, then count their years as union operatives to qualify them for pension benefits from the state.
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Union Organizers Work 1 Day As Teachers, Get $100K+ in State Pensions”


Occupy Chicago Sign: ‘Dear Rich Straight White Dudes, F**K Off’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Like the rest of the large cities in the US, Chicago is currently suffering with small pockets of Occupy protesters and their ever-present signs. And like every other big city these signs are often misspelled, sometimes profane, commonly anti-capitalist, occasionally anti-Semitic, almost always anti-American, not to mention merely ignorant of the facts. But one thing that is the same in every protest, at least in the media reportage of same, is that the worst of the signs go unseen by the general American news consumer.

Chicago blogger John Ruberry took his trusty camera downtown to the Windy City and captured some pretty representative signs the like of which were similar signs seen at Tea Party events would have made the nightly news programs for their outrageous messages.

For instance, there’s the one I note in the headline of this piece.

Now imagine if a Tea Party sign said something like, “Dear Gay Blacks, F**k Off.” The media would have lost its tiny hive mind over such a blatantly ignorant sign. It’s been two years of Tea Party protests and there’ve been few signs as blatant as the dozens seen at many of these Occupy-Whatever events.
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Occupy Chicago Sign: ‘Dear Rich Straight White Dudes, F**K Off’”


Media Tries to Make Rick Perry a Birther

-By Warner Todd Huston

The left-wing media’s newest attack on Rick Perry is an attempt to make him into a “birther” — one of those folks that think Barack Obama is not a natural born American, a requirement to become our president. This new attack, though, is almost Clintonian in its careful avoidance of the truth.

The main attack started in a Parade interview featuring Texas Governor Rick Perry, but is being taken up as the cause célèbre by the left-wing, George Soros-funded attack dogs at Media Matters, Think Progress, and TPM as well as sites like Mediaite. But this “story is, as they say, all smoke and no fire.

In the interview Parade directly asked whether Perry thought Obama was born in the United States. Perry’s actual answers were, “I have no reason to think otherwise,” and “It doesn’t matter. He’s the President of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue.”
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Media Tries to Make Rick Perry a Birther”


HB 3027 Will Promote Abortion, Force out Abstinence in Sex Education

From Lake County Right to Life…

(Grayslake, IL—October 19, 2011) Lake County Right to Life joins the Illinois Family Institute and numerous other pro-life, pro-family organizations in opposing Illinois HB 3027, the new sex education bill. The bill is supported by Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, NOW, and numerous other Illinois pro-abortion organizations. The bill will be taken up in the fall veto session, which begins on October 25. HB 3027 has already been passed by the Illinois Senate.

HB 3027 mandates that every public school teaching sex education in grades 6 – 12 must teach comprehensive sex education. Lake County Right to Life has numerous major problems with this bill, including:

It mandates curriculum promoting abortion, stating that it is legal, safe, and parents don’t have to know about it.

It calls for “medically accurate” sex education, but the curriculum misinforms students by telling them that “morning after pills” don’t cause abortion.
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HB 3027 Will Promote Abortion, Force out Abstinence in Sex Education”


Obama Appointee: Cash For Clunkers Was A Bad Idea

-By Warner Todd Huston

Austan Goolsbee was once considered an up-and-coming light in the world of economics. Then he put himself into Barack Obama’s orbit and turned himself into a political hack with no principles at all. Now he’s trying to redeem himself by backing away from some of Obama’s “economic “fixes” that failed so spectacularly.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Goolsbee admitted that the Cash for Clunkers program and the home buyer tax credit passed in 2009 were “short term gimmicks” that did not help heal the economy…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Suspected Terror Supporter Attacks Jews at Occupy Chicago

-By Warner Todd Huston

Chicago’s RebelPundit came across some of those nice Occupy Chicago folks wishing good thoughts for all the kind participants at the protest… they kindly wished that Israel be destroyed.

Worse, one of the guys these Occupy-Whatevers allowed to speak is a suspected funder of Middle Eastern terrorists.

Just like the left, eh? Haters, racists, and anti-Semites galore.

Note also that a Chicago TV station was filming the event. Note also that said film was never aired in Chicago.

The “news,” you see, don’t want to discredit the Occupy-Whatevers as much as they can avoid it.
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Suspected Terror Supporter Attacks Jews at Occupy Chicago”


Media’s Confusion about Mormonism – Journalists’ Poor Theologians?

-By Rev Michael Bresciani

Dr. Robert Jeffress said Mormonism has “never been considered a part of mainstream Christianity.” He indicated that he thought Mormonism is a cult at the Values Voter Summit on Friday October 7, 2011. His statement has ignited a firestorm of controversy and questions. From the forthright Fox News to the feckless far left media, questions like “did he go too far” are circulating around the media like a deadly tornado. What is it all about?

It would be easy to simplify it all by saying that for years most of mainstream Protestantism has held Mormonism as a cult, so Jeffress was not wrong. But here we will ask the question of just why Mormonism is viewed this way.

Volumes have been written that deal with the theological problems with Mormonism, which is why I will not presume to settle it here in one article. What is needed is some clarity and some history so it can be understood just how mainstream Christianity came to these conclusions.

Journalists generally don’t make great theologians and that can be seen in their repeated misuse of terms they obviously do not understand. The terms used most often are, heresy and cult.

While it is possible for some sects to be such aberrations of standard Christianity that they are labeled as cults it is not the best or normal usage for this term. A cult is adherence to a person or teaching that usually has no connection to Christianity or the Bible at all. Manson, Aum Shinrikyo, Scientology, Jonestown, are good examples of cults that never had Christian foundations or if they did they were completely discarded for something else.

The second most often misused word is heresy. Here is a word with a clearer definition but a broader application, the misuse of this word is rampant, even among the best Christian minds of the day.
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Media’s Confusion about Mormonism – Journalists’ Poor Theologians?”


Arie Friedman Comments on Disappointing Illinois Jobs Report

From the Friedman for State Senate campaign…

“Illinois continues to lead the nation in jobs lost since Springfield Democrats raised the state income tax in January,” Dr. Arie Friedman, said Friday, commenting on the latest statistics released by the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Friedman is seeking the Republican nomination for the State Senate in the 29th District, which extends through southeast Lake County and takes in parts of Northfield and Wheeling Townships and a small section of Palatine in Cook County. The district’s senator, Susan Garrett, announced her retirement this summer.

“From the time those tax hikes on families and employers passed in January,” Friedman said, “Illinois’s employment picture has demonstrated shocking weakness. We led the nation with 24,900 job losses in the month of July and continue to lead in the overall number of jobs lost this year. Illinois has lost 92,785 jobs during the first nine months of 2011,” he noted.
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Arie Friedman Comments on Disappointing Illinois Jobs Report”


Grabowski Announces for Ill. 3rd Congressional District

Richard Grabowski has announced that he will seek to unseat Dan Lipinski in the Third Congressional District in 2012.

Grabinski, from Hometown, Illinois a south suburb of Chicago, is a first time candidate. He says he’s from the “real world working class” and works as a Materials Supervisor at a suburban manufacturing company.

His campaign website says that Grabowski, “cares deeply about the uncertain path our state and federal government leaders have chosen to lead us down. He’s stepping up to the plate for our state, our southland communities and our 3rd congressional district at a time when we are in dire need of good, uncorrupted leadership in Washington DC and here in Illinois.”
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Grabowski Announces for Ill. 3rd Congressional District”


FBI Pressed to Say Which F&F Gun Used to Kill Border Agent

-By Warner Todd Huston

After these many months, the FBI is still stonewalling the congressional committee investigating Obama’s Fast and Furious program that illicitly armed Mexican narco-terrorists. One particular bit of info the FBI refuses to confirm concerns the guns from F&F found at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Agent Brian Terry.

This week Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Darrell Issa (R, Calif), sent a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller demanding definitive answers about the F&F guns found at the scene of the border agent’s murder. Issa specifically wants to know if any of them were used to kill the agent…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Bad News for Obama: His Big Lead in Illinois Narrowing

-By Warner Todd Huston

A Southern Illinois newspaper reports what should be an ominous warning for Obama occurring in Illinois, his homestate. His margin of victory is narrowing in the one state that everyone assumes he should have in the bag.

In 2008 Obama won his homestate by 25 points against John McCain. That is landslide proportions, for sure. But a new phone survey cuts that huge lead to only 8 points when measured against Mitt Romney, for one, a little more against the other GOP candidates.

Obama did best against Perry, with 50.8 percent of respondents reelecting the president and 32.8 percent choosing the Texas governor.

Obama did the worst again Romney, with 46.1 percent to 38.5. Against Cain, the former chief executive officer of Godfather’s Pizza, the percentage was 46.3 percent for Obama against 34 percent for Cain.

Finally against Ron Paul, Obama had a showing of 49.3 percent against 30.3 percent.

Sure Obama is still winning handily against the GOP nominees but that once monumental lead is now cut more than in half in many cases.
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Bad News for Obama: His Big Lead in Illinois Narrowing”


Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Paul Ryan (R, Wis) will be headlining a fundraising event next week for Peter Roskam’s re-election campaign. Ryan is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Rep. Ryan is best known for his A Roadmap for America’s Future, a budget proposal favored by many Republicans and conservatives. Ryan has become something of a rock star among conservatives.

Roskam is the Representative of the Sixth Illinois District and is running for reelection. No challenger has announced an effort to face him.

Only in his third term, Roskam rose quickly in the ranks of the GOP and is now the third in line of the House GOP leadership serving as the Chief Deputy Whip.

Tickets for the Oct. 29 cocktail reception and private dinner at Naperville’s Hotel Arista range from $100 (reception) to $2,500 (reception, dinner, photo with the congressmen and “preferential seating”) a piece.

For more information see Roskam’s campaign website: http://www.roskamforcongress.com/.
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Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser”


Bi-Racial Tea Party Group Harassed by GA Capitol Police, Occupy Wall Streeters Given Pass to Break Laws

-By Warner Todd Huston

There has been a lot of talk comparing and contrasting the Tea Partiers and these Occupy-Whatever people. But in Georgia we can see a stark difference. Tea Partiers are law-abiding citizens while the Occupy Atlantans are law breakers. Sadly, Capitol Police in Atlanta have sided with the Occupiers and against Tea Partiers.

At the very least the Capitol Police in Atlanta have definitely been treating these two groups unequally. These officers of the law have turned a blind eye to law breaking by the Occupy folks allowing them to do anything they want but did not extend that courtesy to those Tea Party groups that also protested at the Georgia Capitol House.
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Bi-Racial Tea Party Group Harassed by GA Capitol Police, Occupy Wall Streeters Given Pass to Break Laws”


Hultgren Statement on September Illinois Jobs Report

From the office of Rep. Randy Hultgren (R, Illinois 14th District)…

Geneva, IL – U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today released the following statement regarding the September unemployment report released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

“Today’s report that unemployment has increased to 10 percent is a clear sign that the state’s private sector has lost faith in the tax-and-spend policies espoused by leaders in both Washington, DC, and Springfield,” said Hultgren. “At the state level, I encourage leaders to work quickly to address the ever-growing pension crisis, the budget deficit, and late payments to state contractors.

“In Washington, I urge Harry Reid and the Senate to pass their first budget in more than 900 days and for them to act on the more than a dozen pro-growth, pro-job bills that have been passed by the House. We must restore the confidence of the private sector so small businesses will begin to grow and hire once again. ”

http://hultgren.house.gov/


Ill. Policy Institute: A Direct Encounter with Occupy Wall Street Protesters‏

From the Illinois Policy Institute…

I had a direct encounter with the Occupy Wall Street protesters as I was on my way home the other night. The Illinois Policy Institute’s office is a block north of their Chicago base at Jackson Boulevard and LaSalle Street, so I’ve been walking through the crowd almost daily as I go about my business. But I recently stopped and had a real discussion.

It was delightful.

I asked what it is they were upset with and why were they vilifying corporations, noting that their umbrellas, cardboard signs and the ink used to write their anti-corporation messages all were made by corporations.

Like others, I’ve seen the news reports about their supposed demands: a $20 minimum wage, forgiveness of all debt and a socialist-style health care system. As the leader of a free market think tank, it will come as no surprise that I do not support those solutions; they are not economically sound.
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Ill. Policy Institute: A Direct Encounter with Occupy Wall Street Protesters‏”


A Hate Crimes Double-Standard‏ in Illinois

From Liberty Counsel…

Pro-Family Leaders Question Double-Standard on Hate Crimes – Homosexual Attackers Threaten More Violence against Illinois Christian School

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Illinois – A coalition of ministers and pro-family advocates is questioning the double-standard on “hate crimes” in the wake of an attack Saturday against Christian Liberty Academy (CLA) – which was threatened with more violence if it continues to host conservative groups like Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH).

Assailants threw two large paver bricks through the glass doors of CLA with a note, “This is just a sample of what we will do if you don’t shut down Scott Lively and AFTAH.” On a left-wing Chicago website, the alleged attackers took credit for the crime and wrote:
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A Hate Crimes Double-Standard‏ in Illinois”


Wash. Post: ‘Blue Collar Whites Support OWS’ — But DO They?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Greg Sargent of the left-leaning Washington Post is all a flutter over a new poll that he claims proves that blue collar whites support the Occupy Wall Street “movement.” But Sargent does not report the fact that the poll he cites is pretty misleading.

Sargent claims that the argument that the “theatrics” of these nutty anti-American protests is thought to chase away support from the average American citizen for OWS protests. But the new poll, Sargent contends, proves this wrong…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Assassination Threat Against Illinois Congressman?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Why would anyone want to kill 17th District, Illinois Congressman Bobby Schilling? The shocking threat against Schilling’s life was revealed this week as the FBI has been called in to investigate.

The Hill reports that Schilling received an email threat that featured an offer of $75,000 reward for his assassination.

The email threat against Schilling states, “I will pay $75,000 for ASSASSINATING Illinois Congresswoman (sic) Bobby Schilling and any US Congressman, US Senator and FBI, CIA and NSA DIRECTORS and their FAMILY MEMBERS regardless of their age,” according to local news reports.

Schilling is the father of ten children and owns a successful pizza business in Moline, Illinois. This is his first term in office.
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Assassination Threat Against Illinois Congressman?”


Politico Tries to Smear Herman Cain With Bad Pizza

-By Warner Todd Huston

Politico unleashed an incredibly misleading smear job on Herman Cain this week by attacking “his” Godfather’s Pizza in a faux taste test in both written and video form. The idea was to see if Herman’s pizza was a good product. Naturally the taste testers hated the pizza. But is Godfather’s Pizza really Herman’s pizza? Of course not.

Politico assembled a taste-testing panel made up of a Democrat operative, a Republican operative, and a food blogger. Three pizzas were presented in a blind tasting and the result was that the Godfather’s pizza was deemed the worst of the bunch.

But was this a straight forward, unbiased test? Hardly.
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Politico Tries to Smear Herman Cain With Bad Pizza”


Occupy Wall Streeters: Communists, Anti-Capitalists And now Rapists?

-By Warner Todd Huston

We know that the Occupy Wall Streeters are extremists in nature and far outside the American norm. We know they are communists, they hate capitalism, they are against the U.S. Constitution, American history and character, and believe in all sorts of wacky, fringe stuff. But thanks to Occupy Cleveland, we now see that they are rapists, too.

Nice, eh?

A young female student attending the Occupy Cleveland protests told police that she was raped by a male protester who was assigned to the same pop-up tent as she by the idiots in charge of the Occupy event.
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Occupy Wall Streeters: Communists, Anti-Capitalists And now Rapists?”


Dold Announces the Creation of an Economic Innovation Zone at Naval Station Great Lakes and Lovell Center

From the office of Rep. Robert Dold (Ill., 10th District)…

NORTH CHICAGO, IL – Today, U.S. Congressman Robert J. Dold (IL-10), Lake County Board Chairman David Stolman, members of Lake County Partners and Naval Station Great Lakes, announced a new project at Naval Station Great Lakes and Lovell Center that would create an innovation zone designed to address the high unemployment throughout the region.

“I am pleased to announce today that with the help of Lake County Partners, North Chicago will be at the center of an economic innovation zone,” said Dold. “This will help to address the high unemployment throughout the local community and be a resource in which local officials, businesses, and community leaders can come together and implement an effective strategy to bring jobs to North Chicago residents.”

Rep. Dold is a third-generation resident of the 10th District of Illinois. As a small business owner, he has faced many of the challenges confronting business leaders today and is using that firsthand experience in Washington to help find ways to create more jobs and strengthen the economy. For more information on his work in Congress, visit: http://dold.house.gov/


Another Empty Obama Promise: Fast And Furious Screw Ups Will Pay

-By Warner Todd Huston

Obama has made a specialty out of the bald-faced lie, more so than any president in modern history. Obama has issued more pronouncements, floated more false claims and told more tall tales than any president and he’s done it again in an upcoming interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper where the President tries to fool America into imagining that he will be the one to hold accountable those that “screwed up” in Fast and Furious.

This is a joke since from day one he and his administration has lied, stonewalled, and covered up every aspect of their part in F&F.

Obama’s tells Tapper…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Herman Cain Leading in Palatine Straw Poll

-By Warner Todd Huston

A gathering of Tea Partiers in Palatine, Illinois held a straw poll of 38 attendees and Herman Cain came out on top. The group met to watch Tuesday’s GOP debate.

38 Republican primary voters attended a “viewing party” in Palatine, IL on Oct. 18, 2011 for the Republican presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas on CNN. Compare these results to the straw poll for a very similar group last week after the debate in New Hampshire. Herman Cain expanded his lead with this group. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich remain close to each other, and Michele Bachmann picked up some support. Rick Perry continued to decline.

This poll of a small group of Tea Partiers may seem sort of meaningless. Maybe on its face it is but this poll seems to reflect what Tea Partiers and conservatives are feeling throughout the movement, so this is a pretty good snapshot of where we stand today.
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Herman Cain Leading in Palatine Straw Poll”


Reform Illinois Pensions Now!

-By Warner Todd Huston

Springfield must reform pensions now or our children will pay.

According to Illinois Is Broke, “The 30-second spots, in English and Spanish, will begin airing on Tuesday, October 18th and are scheduled to run through the veto sessions, which begin October 25th. The television campaign will be supplemented with a billboard, print and radio campaign, timed to coincide with the legislative sessions. In addition to nightly newscasts, the spots will run during sporting events, and programming such as 60 Minutes.”

Connect with Illinis is Broke on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IllinoisIsBroke

Follow them on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/IllinoisIsBroke
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Reform Illinois Pensions Now!”


We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent New York Times article revealed that the Pentagon briefly considered engaging in cyberwarfare at the outset of the actions in Libya, but decided against it for a variety of reasons. This reminds us all that as a nation we really need to discuss the use of cyberwarfare. The first question asked must be: should a president be able to simply order such an attack on his own hook?

The Times noted that one of the concerns about the use of cyberwarfare is how it would be justified under the War Powers Resolution of 1973?

One unresolved concern was whether ordering a cyberattack on Libya might create domestic legal restrictions on war-making by the executive branch without Congressional permission. One question was whether the War Powers Resolution — which requires the executive to formally report to lawmakers when it has introduced forces into “hostilities” and sets a 60-day limit on such deployments if Congress does not authorize them to continue — would be required for an attack purely in cyberspace.

One would think that the answer to this would be somewhat obvious — though nothing seems obvious in Constitution-based discussions, sadly.

We know that the Founders vested in Congress the power to declare war not in the president. They wanted to avoid a repeat of the historical outrage of a King’s untrammeled powers to declare wars without the consent of the people and their duly elected representatives.
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We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too”


President Continues to Play Politics With the Economy

The GOP Senate’s video this week is about the bipartisan opposition to President Obama’s most recent stimulus proposal (#Stimulus2). Senate Republicans believe Congress should follow the bipartisan path it recently pursued when it passed the Colombia, South Korea, and Panama free trade agreements (#TradeMeansJobs) and focus on passing other measures that will free businesses to grow and create jobs.