One Illinois Guy Who Won’t Be At TeaCon 2011

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, there is one local Illinois activist that apparently won’t be at this weekend’s TeaCon 2011, but not for want of trying. Bill Kelly, one-time candidate for Illinois Comptroller — he came in second, by the way — has told me that he’s been barred not only from getting media credentials for the event, but even from buying a ticket.

Kelly has a page on the Washington Times community section blogs and was told by the Times that he could get media creds representing them at TeaCon, but when he went to the event staff with his request TeaCon organizers denied his credentialing.

Kelly feels that people at WIND radio, one of the event co-hosts, put the kybosh on his credentials because of a recent dust up between Kelly and Senator Dick Durbin not to mention another dustup between Kelly and local TV reporter Jay Levine.
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One Illinois Guy Who Won’t Be At TeaCon 2011″


Dirty Tricks in the 52nd District State Senate Race?

-By Warner Todd Huston

One question has arisen in the race for the Illinois State Senate in the 52nd District: why is GOP Sen. Leader Christine Radogno getting involved in a local primary to the reported tune of some very tall cash? And why is she supporting a guy that supports civil unions and tax hikes?

The GOP primary race is between activist Champaign small business owner John Bambenek and 63-year-old Champaign County Board Member Al Nudo. And in this race there are some clear differences between the two candidates.

For instance, Bambenek is much more in line than Nudo with the ideals of the last crop of GOP Congressmen that were elected from Illinois in 2010. Bambenek’s ideas would find echos in Randy Hultgren or Bobbie Shilling. Nudo, on the hand is much more a social and fiscal “moderate.”

Certainly Al Nudo, running claiming the need for “bipartisanship” in Springfield, is thought of as the “moderate” candidate in the race. “I work with both sides. There’s issues you can take from both sides,” he recently told the Daily Illini.
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Dirty Tricks in the 52nd District State Senate Race?”


Does Government Regulate Too Much?‏

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

Recently, I spoke on the House floor about what regulatory uncertainty is doing to small business owners like Rock Katschnig, a farmer and resident of the 14th District.

Unfortunately, Rock’s situation isn’t unique – I’ve heard similar stories over and over again as I travel throughout the area.

That’s why this fall, I’m joining my colleagues to fight for a pro-growth environment where small businesses and job-creators can hire new workers and invest without fearing what Washington will do to them. Our efforts are focused on creating a reasonable, stable regulatory environment that gives our economy the confidence it needs to grow.
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Does Government Regulate Too Much?‏”


Is Fast and Furious Obama’s Watergate?

-By Warner Todd Huston

If you want a comprehensive rundown of the debacle that is Obama’s disastrous Operation Fast and Furious scandal, you could click on every article linked at the bottom of my F&F entries here at Right Pundits. Orrrrr, you could go to Forbes and read the comprehensive wrap up of everything known about F&F in a well written piece by Frank Miniter.

One of the things that Miniter notes is something that can’t be stressed enough. The guy that replaced BATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson, the first fall guy that the Obama administration has tried to pin this mess on, has been replaced by a guy that was just as involved in this scandal as Melson…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Obama Ignores F&F Questions From Latino Media, Also F&F Guns At Texas Crime Scenes

-By Warner Todd Huston

At a recent press availability for Latino press outlets, President Obama evaded questions about why he and his regime won’t reveal how deep the murderous Operation Fast and Furious goes in his administration and why he won’t even help Mexican authorities track down the guns he allowed to “walk” into their nation to kill Mexican citizens.

You sure can’t say that the Department of Justice didn’t come by its penchant to stonewall questions over its criminal culpability in Operation Fast and Furious. It’s obvious they are being directed to stonewall and avoid questions by the president if his actions at the presser are any indications.

During the roundtable event Obama was asked about the disastrous program but his answers were evasive and non-responsive…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Garofalmania: A Mental Condition

-By Warner Todd Huston

Truth of life number one: logic is anathema to left-wingers. Recently on the little-watched Current TV cable station, so-called “comedienne” Janeane Garofalo disgorged one of the most perfect examples of this truth of life that can ever be used as prima facia evidence.

Speaking about the rise of Herman Cain’s bid for the GOP nomination for president, Garofalo released the “logic” of the left.

First a word about Mr. Cain. In case you have been living under a rock for the last year, Herman Cain is a businessman, a talk show host, a former executive of several multi-billion dollar companies, he is a man with a long list of degrees and such. Herman Cain is running to become the Republican nominee for president. He has for the last several years been a mainstay at Tea Party rallies all across the country and draws big, enthusiastic crowds among these conservative activists. He’s a powerful speaker and really knows how to wind up an audience. Lately he’s won several straw polls and is ranked no less than the number 3 candidate to take the Republican nomination. He is also black.

So, here is the tortured “logic” that Garofalo used to explain why Republicans are loving this guy — this black guy.
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Garofalmania: A Mental Condition”


MSNBC Guest: Solyndra is Bush’s Fault! (Despite Truth)

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a recurrence of its bout with Bush Derangement Syndrome, MSNBC recently relied on a left-wing, green activist to assert that the whole Solyndra scandal was really started by George W. Bush. Yep, it’s Boosh’s fault once again. Of course, the facts speak otherwise, but let’s not let truth get in the way of a good left-wing trope, shall we?

On the Friday September 23 episode of MSNBC Live, host Thomas Roberts was discussing the wasted loan of half a billion in tax dollars to the later bankrupt green company Solyndra and he brought on a the left-winger to address the mounting scandal plaguing the Obama administration. Naturally Thomas and guest were desperate to find someone other than Obama to blame this mess on. And who better to blame than the left’s favorite fall guy, George W. Bush?

Thomas had showed a video clip of Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R, Fla) who called the loan “waste” and “corruption,” but Thomas next went to left-wing, green activist Dr. Mijin Cha who earnestly told the audience that, “the administration actually didn’t do any wrongdoing, right,” because “this loan was begun under the Bush administration.”

Sorry, Cha Cha, but you’re wrong.
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MSNBC Guest: Solyndra is Bush’s Fault! (Despite Truth)”


The $14,000 Question: Was Senator Jacobs Bought by Big Energy?

Albracht: “If Governor Quinn has a dog in this fight, Senator Jacobs has four.”

MOLINE, IL–Despite a veto from Governor Quinn, Senator Jacobs continues to lobby for SB1652, also known as the “Smart Grid” bill, which would allow energy companies to automatically raise their rates over the next ten years without oversight from the Citizen’s Utility Board. Opponents to this bill have argued that this would put an unfair burden on the consumer.

Senator Jacobs recently told Continue reading


The $14,000 Question: Was Senator Jacobs Bought by Big Energy?”


Polls Show Ohio and Penn. Voters Say Obama Doesn’t Deserve Reelection

-By Warner Todd Huston

CNN is reporting that Obama “has his work cut out for him” if he wants to get reelected in 2012 and a poll of Ohio and Pennsylvania is the evidence.

There has been a lot of speculation on how bad things are looking for The Obammessiah these days. Even Democrats are afraid that it is looking bad for Obama winning a second term…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


NYTimes Sunday Review Again Pushes Lie that Billionaires Run Tea Party

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is a lie that serves as the left’s basic narrative for the birth of the Tea Party movement and this weekend it was The New York Times’s turn to push that lie claiming that the Tea Party is “led by veteran conservative activists and bankrolled by billionaires.” This bull hockey (yes, I said bull hockey) can’t be debunked enough, because to undermine the legitimacy of the Tea Party movement, extremists and left-wingers that pretend to be journalists push this lie for all its worth.

Left-wing Georgetown Professor Michael Kazin, who masquerades as a history professor by day, penned this latest piece for the Times pushing the left’s favorite false narrative about the Tea Party movement. The piece, lamenting the loss of the spirit of activism and protest in the American left, revealed a professor paid for by our tax dollars longing for the days of the violent, anarchist protests of the early 20th century.

Kazin cries that the left has lost its umpf and wails that “the Tea Party rebellion” has instead come to the fore.
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NYTimes Sunday Review Again Pushes Lie that Billionaires Run Tea Party”


What Guns Were Made For: Homeowner in Philly Attacked By Mob

-By Warner Todd Huston

A homeowner in Philly was attacked by a mob of racist black “youths” that broke into his home apparently looking to kill white people. This is exactly the situation that the Second Amendment was made for.

The Philly Inquirer reports that “dozens of youths” marauded into a sleepy Philly neighborhood to find white teens to beat up or kill reportedly because an African-American was attacked on a playground nearby.

Don’t you love how the newspaper reports the makeup of the crowd? It’s just “dozens of youths” instead of what it really was, an army of black criminals intent on mayhem and murder. Police even said that it wasn’t just “youths,” either, but people into the thirties at least.

Mark LaVelle was standing outside near his home when two 13 or 14-year-old white boys ran up to him fearful that the mob would come after them. Once the crowd saw LaVelle with the two boys, they did, indeed, turn their attention to the three.
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What Guns Were Made For: Homeowner in Philly Attacked By Mob”


Kosher Tea Unites Tea Partiers With Jewish Community

-By Warner Todd Huston

Freedom Works initiated Kosher Tea, a way to connect Tea Party groups with Jewish groups in order to facilitate some common efforts on conservatism, pro-Israel policies, and economic freedom.

www/KosherTea.org
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Kosher Tea Unites Tea Partiers With Jewish Community”


State Senate Candidate Arie Friedman Comments on Illinois Deepening Debt

From the campaign for State Senate of Arie Friedman…

“The news for job-seekers and employers in Illinois just doesn’t seem to get any better,” said Dr. Arie Friedman, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 29th District, southeast Lake County and Wheeling, Palatine, Northfield and New Trier Townships in northern Cook County.

“The jobs climate in our state is closely tied to the fiscal condition of the state government itself,” said Friedman, “as Illinois continues to rate red alerts about the state budget deficit and the state’s growing debt.”

Friedman cited Monday’s report by the Civic Federation documenting Illinois’s deepening debt, even in the wake of increased state revenue from the personal and corporate income tax hikes passed by Springfield Democrats in January.
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State Senate Candidate Arie Friedman Comments on Illinois Deepening Debt”


Dancing With The Haters: DWTS Slam on Tea Party

-By Warner Todd Huston

Even Dancing is not safe from left-wing attacks on Tea Partiers, sadly. Tonight on the venerable dance show, fashion makeover maven Carson Kressley thought it would be a hoot to make fun of over half the voters in America with an attack on how he thinks Tea Party activists smell.

On tonight’s Dancing With The Stars, funny guy Carson Kressley hit the screen wearing a gorilla mask. Taking it off he snarked, “It still smells like a Tea Party.”

So, what are we to make of this nonsense? Is Kressley saying that Tea Party activists smell like gorillas?

Are we supposed to be laughing at that, now?

So, what do Democrats smell like? Maybe Europeans? How about reds?

I wonder what dance partner Anna Trebunskaya, who was born in Russia, thinks about that? I wonder how ABC will take attacking so much of its audience?

Whatever Anna or ABC thinks of it the bigger questions is, what do you Tea Partiers think? Maybe you can ask ABC yourself?

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Dancing With The Haters: DWTS Slam on Tea Party”


Documents Revealed: Tax Money Used to Buy Guns for Fast & Furious

-By Warner Todd Huston

Fox News has a shocker of a piece about how U.S. tax money was used to buy guns to be used in the failed policy of shipping guns to Mexican narco-terrorists.

New documents have been revealed to show this newest outrage…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


The ‘Solar Decathalon’ That Needed a Gas Generator for Cloudy Days

-By Warner Todd Huston

What happens when the sun refuses to shine on a PR event for solar power…

Yeah, look to the right under the sign. Yep, that’s a gas generator powering the “solar” sign.

Brett Jacobson was alerted to this hilarious example of the unviable nature of solar power as a reliable source of energy.

It was too deliciously funny to ignore.
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The ‘Solar Decathalon’ That Needed a Gas Generator for Cloudy Days”


Obama’s EPA Regs to Kill 183,000 Private Sector Jobs a Year

-By Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is completely put of control. Now it wants to implement new regulations that would destroy 183,000 private sector jobs every year. Yes, even after Obama has destroyed the economy and jobs we do have he wants to destroy even more.

The EPA’s new rules, according to PennEnergy, would be disastrous to our already flagging economy.
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Obama’s EPA Regs to Kill 183,000 Private Sector Jobs a Year”


New Lenox: Reenlistment Ceremony of Luis Mejia, Officiated by Congressman Adam Kinzinger

-By Warner Todd Huston

Over the weekend I was invited to the reenlistment ceremony of Aviation Structural Mechanic, Third Class Petty Officer (AM3) Luis Mejia, a resident of New Lennox. Coming off eight years, Meija, 43, reenlisted for another six and for his ceremony he asked 11th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger to conduct his Monday ceremony.

Mejia served one year at Camp Bucca, Iraq in 2007 and as the congressman and he were talking they realized they served at the same time in the same place in Iraq. “We probably saw each other,” Kinzinger said.

Currently, Mejia serves out of Great Lakes Naval base.

As Congressman Knizinger addressed the friends and family gathered to witness Meija’s reenlistment he noted that this county has “been at war for a decade.”
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New Lenox: Reenlistment Ceremony of Luis Mejia, Officiated by Congressman Adam Kinzinger”


Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin Endorses Dillard

From the campaign to re-elect Kirk Dillard, Illinois State Senate…

At a recent Republican meeting, Illinois State Representative and Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) endorsed Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) in Dillard’s race for re-election to the 24th Senatorial District.

Citing several pieces of landmark legislation sponsored by Sen. Dillard, including most recently a Internet Portal Act to disclose, on-line and in real-time (www.OpentheBooks.com), every salary, contract, tax break and tax deadbeat, Durkin said, “Sen. Kirk Dillard is the voice of families in Illinois and we must return Kirk Dillard to Springfield so we can draw on his valuable experience in creating jobs to get Illinois working again, protecting our families, controlling our out-of-control state budget and providing accountability in state government.”

Durkin then added, “Kirk knows Western Springs and our area well. He was instrumental in garnering the funds to replace the dilapidated Oak Street Bridge so that area residents have access to Hinsdale Hospital in case of emergency.”
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Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin Endorses Dillard”


GOP HQ in NC Vandalized… Again… Where’s Media?

-By Warner Todd Huston

My good friend Katy Benningfield has yet another report of the Guilford County, North Carolina GOP headquarters being vandalized and it occurs to me that if this had been a Democrat campaign office the Old Media would have reported this from coast to coast as evidence of those vile, evil, dangerous, violent Tea Partiers. But since it was just a Republican office being defaced the media just yawned .

Benningfield reports that the GOP HQ had the letters “KKK” spray painted on the brick siding and various windows of the building. The county sheriff’s office has been contacted and an investigation is underway…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Ron Paul: NOT a Serious Candidate

-By Warner Todd Huston

Ron Paul is not serious about running for president nor is he a serious candidate even were he to be so inclined. But serious or no, he is a horrible candidate regardless.

Now, there may have been a time a decade or so ago when Ron Paul really thought he had a shot at being elected the president of the United States but that time has long ago passed into history. His last several campaigns were not serious efforts.

Let’s take Paul’s unserious campaign effort first, before I get to his amazing unsuitability for the White House.

The idea of having a national campaign organization to propel a candidate to winning primaries is predicated on reaching out to local state and country party organizations, working with them on ideas, and bringing some of those local political operatives into your own primary effort. This practice then extends your influence and helps bring ground troops to your game, folks that are influential in each sector of the country, folks that will presumably bring voters to your candidacy.
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Ron Paul: NOT a Serious Candidate”


Cross Files Bill to End Pension Perks‏

From Illinois GOP House Leader Tom Cross…

In response to a series of news reports in the Chicago Tribune on WGN-TV this week, uncovering huge pension hikes under the guise of public service, we filed a bill (HB3813) to close the little known loophole that nets some Chicago city workers tens of millions in pension bumps at the end of their careers.

Click here to watch WGN-TV’s coverage of our bill filling.

Click here to read the Chicago Tribune’s story.

“This is a huge slap in the face to taxpayers that government in cooperation with its employees comes up with a scheme, that is currently allowable under state law, to boost pensions sky-high,” said Cross. “This practice needs to stop—immediately—and we will file a bill today, so that this provision in state law cannot be abused.”
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Cross Files Bill to End Pension Perks‏”


Video: Speak Out And Support A Balanced Budget Amendment‏

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

A balanced budget amendment (BBA) to our Constitution is a permanent solution to our nation’s fiscal crisis to legally force future Congresses and Presidents to stop spending money they don’t have. Earlier this week I sat down to share my thoughts about a BBA and why it’s so important for the future of our country.

America Speaking Out (ASO), www.americaspeakingout.com, is an online community aimed at giving you a voice and the power to set the agenda in Congress. Through ASO, you can express your opinion about the BBA, which will be voted on in the House this fall.

I encourage you to visit www.americaspeakingout.com now to express your opinion about a BBA. It is through the support of the citizens like you that a BBA will become a reality – bringing much-needed certainty to the small business community, putting an end to the out-of-control spending, and restoring accountability to Congress.
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Video: Speak Out And Support A Balanced Budget Amendment‏”


A REAL American Would Wait Longer For Gov’t Healthcare

-By Warner Todd Huston

Hey, you selfish Americans! What’s this business where you think you deserve to get healthcare when YOU think you need it? What is the deal with your arrogant feeling that you must be treated for your illness right away? I mean, if you were a REAL American, you’d put your selfish needs behind you and wait in line for substandard, hard to get government healthcare. At least so says “filmmaker” Michael Moore.

According to Real Clear Politics, Moore scolded Americans for being selfish in their healthcare choices. Moore was talking Obamacare on the little watched HBO cable show called Real Time with left-wing host Bill Maher.

Read the rest at RightPundits/com.


The UAW’s Waning Days?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Reuters has a very interesting article detailing the fall of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the modern era. It is a long article, but if you are interested in the way the UAW intends to keep itself relevant to the auto industry on into the future, it is worth the read.

It is also a good article if you want a glimpse of the possible end to the UAW. Its deep financial troubles, its steady loss of members and plants to represent, and its powerlessness to spread its cancer to other auto makers in the south is an ominous warning that the UAW might be headed for the dust bin of history.

Let’s not start popping champagne corks yet, though. We should not count the UAW out, of course, as it is still very powerful. But things are not looking good for the once supremely powerful union.
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The UAW’s Waning Days?”


Tom Weber, Republican for Lake County Board

From the Tom Weber campaign…

Through leadership and common sense, my goal is to set the standard for what being a good steward of the taxpayers’ trust is all about. I will be forward thinking, work to eliminate senseless regulations, and work towards eliminating wasteful spending.

I will be honored to represent my friends, neighbors and small business.
I am a small business owner and have been part of this community my entire life, and I want to help our community thrive once again.

The 3rd District is not only part of my history, but part of my family’s history as well. The Webers have lived and been employers in this community for over 100 years. As I walk the district and speak with people, many are not earning what they did 4 years ago. Many more are having a difficult time managing their own budgets. Any way that we can give the taxpayers relief will help. Its time to get creative to help them. As stewards of taxpayer money we need to learn how to do more with less.
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Tom Weber, Republican for Lake County Board”


Ga. Middle School: Muslim Polygamy Is Normal, Burkas Good For Women

-By Warner Todd Huston

A middle school in Smyrna, Georgia included in an assignment material that essentially shows 7th grade children that Islamic polygamy is a perfectly legitimate concept and that there is nothing wrong with the strict dress codes used to oppress Muslim women the world over.

The material was presented to the 7th graders at Campbell Middle School as part of a discussion of the school’s dress codes, apparently meant to use the ideas of Islamic culture for women’s clothing as some sort of example to compare how the school regulates clothing for its students in Georgia.

The concepts were presented in the lesson as a letter from a fictional 20-year-old Muslim woman named “Ahlima.” In this letter “Ahlima” tells readers that she wouldn’t mind if her husband took a second wife and also extolled the virtues of the burkha. She claims that American women are “horribly immodest” in the way they dress.

As to polygamy, the fictional Ahlima says, “I understand that some Westerners condemn our practice of polygamy, but I also know they are wrong.”
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Ga. Middle School: Muslim Polygamy Is Normal, Burkas Good For Women”


More Pressure on Obama’s DOJ OVer Fast & Furious

-By Warner Todd Huston

The pressure for Obama’s Department of Justice to come clean on its part in the murderous program to arm Mexican narco-terrorists is mounting as another GOP lawmaker demands answers.

Representative Lamar Smith (R, Texas) who is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to Attny. Gen. Eric Holder demanding more information on the part the DOJ had in the failed program to track guns in Mexico.

Smith warned Holder that recent personnel changes would not paper over or hide its culpability in the program variously known as Gunwalker or Operation Fast And Furious. Smith told Holder that he can’t “pin this scandal on a few individuals and expect it to be forgotten.”

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.