10th District, Dold for Congress: We Can Do Better

From the Dold for Congress campaign (10th District)…

It is once again Federal income tax season in the United States and this April is a reminder of the problems we face. For a large number of Americans, 2009 represented a year during which many made less than in previous years compared to their expenses. Yet we worked harder than ever and made sacrifices to meet the obligations of both our families and our nation. But those in Washington, DC who are charged as responsible custodians of our tax dollars have not met our sacrifice with the same diligence and seem disconnected from the reality of what it takes to earn those dollars. We now find ourselves facing the reality that we may be the first generation of Americans who leave to our children a country worse off than the one we inherited. We cannot and will not accept this. We can do better.
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10th District, Dold for Congress: We Can Do Better”


Tell the Insiders Not to Play Politics With Your Property Taxes: Text REFORM to 77007

From Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica…

This week the focus is on federal Tax Day — the deadline for us all to file our federal income taxes.

And, yes, while federal taxes are burdensome and growing, we must not forget about the tax shenanigans going on right here in Cook County.
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Tell the Insiders Not to Play Politics With Your Property Taxes: Text REFORM to 77007″


2nd District: GOP’s Isaac Hayes Gets City News Endorsement

From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of City News. This endorsement by a community paper sends a strong message that the status quo is unsustainable. Empty promises and political corruption have persisted for too long at the expense of economically distressed communities. Illinois 2nd District needs new leadership, new ideas and a new face.”

Endorsement from City News

“The City News, an African American owned newspaper which circulates in Kankakee, Will and Southern Cook Counties today endorsed Republican candidate Isaac Hayes in Illinois’s 2nd Congressional District race.
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2nd District: GOP’s Isaac Hayes Gets City News Endorsement”


More Between Candidate Isaac Hayes and Mayor of University Park

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few days ago I related an incident between Republican candidate for Congress Isaac Hayes and the Mayor of University Park, Alvin McCowan. Hayes claimed that Mayor McCowan freaked out on him at a recent networking event and kicked him out of a public place after Mr. Hayes had been scheduled to appear there. Apparently, though, the incident is still roiling.

Mayor McCowan is still name calling and mouthing off about this whole thing, it seems. The Hayes campaign released a message from McCowan that shows how much of a creep McCowan is. It starts with punk-act name calling and race baiting, too. What a cretin.

Someone is so desperate for news that the fabricated messages persist. So I suppose Hayes’s white campaign leaders can just come into UP and be disrespectful and talk to the mayor in a disparaging tone and that’s suppose to be acceptable. Then they use the Black press to bring down real Black leaders who have not sold out as Hayes has just to try to get elected. Another Allen Keyes. Stop being blinded.

Glad this race-baiting jerk is taking the high road, eh? Sheese. And this guy is an elected official!
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More Between Candidate Isaac Hayes and Mayor of University Park”


Chicago Alderman Feasts on Asian Carp: Bottom Feeder Eats a Bottom Feeder

-By Warner Todd Huston

I just hate cannibalism like this when one bottom feeder eats another. West side Alderman Walter Burnett (27th Ward) joined the Fox News Chicago team to eat some Asian carp per his ridiculous suggestion early last week that “the poor” could eat the Asian carp and cure the problem that Lake Michigan faces over the invasive species.

For those unaware of the trouble with the bony Asian carp, the fish has been rapidly invading Illinois waterways and is headed straight for Lake Michigan. The Asian carp has no natural predators here and scientists think that the fish will wildly over populate and drive out other, native species.

But, Oh Alderman Burnett has the most ingenious solution. He says that “the poor” can eat them up and keep their population down.

Yes. He’s serious.
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Chicago Alderman Feasts on Asian Carp: Bottom Feeder Eats a Bottom Feeder”


Bill Brady Still Leading in Polls

GOP Gubernatorial Bill Brady is still leading Gov. Pat Quinn 45 to 38 percent even as all the media wags keep claiming that Brady is “too conservative” to win in Illinois.

Brady appeared on Fox News Sunday…

As to the so-called “Mr. Republican,” former Governor Jim Edgar, this man is no Republican and never was. He’s the supreme RINO that should simply go away. He hasn’t held office for over a decade at this point and his left-wing counsel is not wanted.


Ex-Gov Edgar Roots For Amnesty for Illegals

-By Warner Todd Huston

The state is abuzz with the announcement by former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar that he is now in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants. At a press conference sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Edgar came out to chastise Republicans for fighting against illegal alien lawbreaking.

During the event, Edgar said that the GOP is making a big mistake to seem so antithetical toward immigrants and that immigrants have “brought a vitality to the Illinois economy.”

He went on for sometime about how wonderful immigrants are and that we need to work toward “comprehensive immigration reform.” It is easy to assume that Edgar wants total amnesty. But does he?

Sadly, Edgar was full of wonderful platitudes and kind words for illegals, but he was a far sight short of any actual policy suggestions. What did he mean to do with all these illegals? He just didn’t say.
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Ex-Gov Edgar Roots For Amnesty for Illegals”


The Breast… uh, Best… of ‘Chicago Republicans’

-By Warner Todd Huston

A tempest in a tea pot has roared into Chicago and this time it edges toward the risque. Riling the tongue cluckers is a website called Chicago Republicans which featured a post that ostensibly was to be about taking John Edwards and Bill Clinton to task for their exploitation of women. But the text of the post isn’t what is raising eyebrows. The photo accompanying the blog post shows some very healthy… er… lungs, if you will, of a very pretty woman.

The post titled The Female Century vs The Hetaerae Century & The John Edwards “Affair” features an artsy photo by Russian photographer Vyacheslav Potemkin of nude model Natasha Volkova and has tongues wagging all across the nets tonight. The post was written by Lumi Boldovici a Romanian immigrant and blogger at the Chicago Republicans site.
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The Breast… uh, Best… of ‘Chicago Republicans’”


Illinois Policy Institute: Baby Steps

Rod…You’re Fired!
He put up a valiant effort, but alas, our embattled ex-governor Rod Blagojevich ultimately couldn’t hack it in Donald Trump’s New York boardroom. In case you’ve missed it, you can watch Blago’s “Celebrity Apprentice” dismissal here—and you can watch Rod’s earlier antics on the show (including getting mistaken for Donny Osmond) here.

In Case You Missed It…
The Institute earned a shout-out in today’s Wall Street Journal editorial, “In Praise of Illinois” (and yes, you read that headline correctly). Click here to read the Journal’s take on Springfield’s recent “baby steps” to pension reform, complete with perspective from our executive vice president Kristina Rasmussen.
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Illinois Policy Institute: Baby Steps”


Video: Peraica Explains the ‘Borrowing Scheme’ of Cook County Board

Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica provides an update from the April 6, 2010 Cook County Board meeting. On tap is a discussion of Cook County property tax assessments, as well as a massive borrowing scheme involving the issuance of $740 million in bonds.

Needless to say, Commissioner Peracia opposes this corrupt bargain.


Tea Party Express Hits Rockford, Illinois

-By Warner Todd Huston

No posts have emerged from me today because I was away for most of the day witnessing the Tea Party Express as it rolled into rolled into Rockford, Illinois.

Rockford is situated about 90 miles west (and a bit north) of Chicago in Northern Illinois. It’s a region that has been hit particularly hard by this recession and has the highest unemployment rate in a state that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

The Tea Party Express is ranging across the country in an effort to keep the Tea Party spirit alive. If you want to find out if the Tea Party Express is coming to a town near you, check out the itinerary at www.teapartyexpress.org.

The Rockford Tea Party folks had hoped to get 1,000 Illinoisans to attend their rally, but there was at least 2,000 that actually came (some say 3,000) so they most certainly met their goals. These were some great Constitution-loving Americans that were very concerned about the downward direction that their country is taking. These people were worried, of course, but all seemed buoyed by their shared fellowship in patriotism. These are all great Americans. With citizens like this, we may yet bring our nation back from the brink of the leftism that is destroying Europe… unless Obama, his regime and their co-conspirators can help it.

The pre-event was held by the Rockford Tea Party folks (www.rockfordteaparty.org). And they had a nice line-up of local Illinois pols and political folks.
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Tea Party Express Hits Rockford, Illinois”


Illinois Rep. Halvorson: Tea Partiers are ‘Fringe’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Attention citizens of Illinois 11th Congressional District. If you have attended a Tea Party event or are inclined to support them YOU are a “fringe” element according to your Representative, Debbie Halvorson.

Halvosron’s office told CBS News Channel 2 in Chicago, “The voters in the 11th District are not easily influenced by the rhetoric of fringe organizations like the tea party.”

On the other hand, Halvorson’s opponent is very appreciative of the support he’s gotten from tea party groups. Adam Kinzinger (www.electadam.com) has been very much in touch with the tea party movement having attended some events and worked with them to get the word out there about his campaign.

But the solid fact remains, Illinois, that your representative in Congress dismisses you as a fringe element. I’d say that this flies in the face of the facts on the ground when we have protests that country over that regularly turns out thousands of attendees.

Just as in its day the anti-war groups represented a sizable number of Americans and just as they had their effect on the debate about the war on terror, the tea party groups represent an even larger swath of everyday Americans who are similarly having their own effect on the public debate.

But here is the very eft-wing Halvosron pooh-poohing a sizable number of her own constituents saying that they are “fringe” and not worth worrying about.

vLike many Democrats she may well ind just how mistaken she actually is in November. But even now it is looking like she should be paying attention as the latest poll shows Mr. Kinzinger is leading with a large majority.
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Illinois Rep. Halvorson: Tea Partiers are ‘Fringe’”


Unions Killing Chicago Convention Biz

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Chicago Tribune has an editorial that shocks for the outrageousness that is the corruption and overcharging that unions have forced upon the convention business at Chicago’s McCormick Place. It is so bad, the costs are so outrageously higher in Chicago, that conventions are fleeing the city in droves (as we’ve discussed here several times).

But even though we understand as a matter of course that unions are bad for everyone, it is still shocking to see just how bad they are in Chicago. In fact, the Trib notes that convention organizers are charged fully 40% more in Chicago than they are anywhere else. Yes, it’s almost half again as much to put on a convention in Chicago than anywhere else in the nation. Even left-wing infused San Francisco costs less to set up conventions!
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Unions Killing Chicago Convention Biz”


Ill. Rep. Hare Buying Stock in Wool Industry

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few days ago Rep. Phil Hare told some of his constituents that he didn’t care about the U.S. Constitution and that he was going to help push through Congress Obama’s un-Constitutional take over of our healthcare anyway. Unfortunately for Hare he was being video taped as he said it.

Today it has been revealed that Rep. Hare has invested heavily in the U.S. wool industry. To that end he’s made a nice little video for us where he addresses this whole Constitution thingie…

You are wondering about the “wool,” right? Well, obviously he’s invested heavily in wool because he’s trying to pull an awful lot of it over the people’s eyes with THIS little extravaganza of back peddling!

In his video Hare laments the “gotcha” form of politics that resulted in his first YouTube special. All I can say is they can’t have “gotcha” unless there was something to “got,” there Rep. Hare!

But ya gotta give the Hare credit. This was a quick like a bunny video posted to try and stem the tide of his plummeting reputation. And just before the Easter Bunny makes his rounds, Hare lays this egg on us!

Finally, I am thankful to Hare for his military service. But I am compelled to note that General Benedict Arnold served us well for several years, too.
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Ill. Rep. Hare Buying Stock in Wool Industry”


The Democrats ‘Mob Banker’ With $20 Million in Loans to Criminals

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is bad enough that current State Treasurer and Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is now well-known as the mob’s favorite banker with revelations of his $20 million in bad loans to various mobsters and convicted felons — so much money that his family bank is now about to go belly up over it all. But what is worse is that the Illinois Democrat Party purposefully backed this shady operator as its 2010 candidate for Senate!

Illinois Democrats are so arrogant that they imagined that they could pick the dirtiest candidate they could find, one with a possible criminal history worse than that of their recently resigned knife wielding Lt. Gov. candidate Steve Cohen, and the voters would just mindlessly go to the polls and vote the party line. And perhaps they are right. We’ll see.

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Giannoulias’ failing bank loaned the $20 million to Michael Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos even as they were about to be trundled off to serve federal prison sentences.
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The Democrats ‘Mob Banker’ With $20 Million in Loans to Criminals”


Tea Party Express Rolling Into A Town Near You

From Adam Andrzejewski’s For The Good Of Illinois

April 5 and 6, the Tea Party Express will be stopping in Illinois.

First stop, Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield at 6pm on Monday.

Second stop, Davis Park in Rockford at 2:30pm on Tuesday.

The Tea Party Express is a national bus tour, which hosts tea party rallies all across the nation. The bus launched from Sen. Harry Reid’s hometown of Searchlight, NV on March 27th and will conclude in Washington, D.C. on Tax Day – April 15th.
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Tea Party Express Rolling Into A Town Near You”


Hayes on the Unemployment Report

From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…

CHICAGO – The Republican Nominee for Illinois 2nd Congressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement today:

“For the past year, Americans have suffered the collateral damage of unemployment due to a deaf ear from partisan ideologues who were more concerned with taking over the health care industry than putting people back to work. Still it appears Democrats haven’t gotten the message as they are now seeking to take over the energy industry. This administration’s number one priority should be jobs, jobs, jobs. Americans recognize this political power grab at their expense and they will deliver pink slips to Congressional Democrats in November.”

For more information on Isaac Hayes’ run, please go to: www.isaac4honesty.com


Illinois, Tell Speaker Madigan to Open the Books!‏

From Adam Andrzejewski’s For the Good of Illinois…

On March 24, House Leader Tom Cross joined me in calling for a forensic audit of state spending. House Resolution 1057 requires the Auditor General to begin a forensic audit of state spending covering the Blagojevich/Quinn administrations.

We introduced HR 1057 with four goals in mind:

  • Stop Governor Quinn’s Income Tax Hike
  • Cut Spending
  • Eliminate Waste
  • End Corruption

In 2007, Auditor General William Holland issued a report indicating that the State of Illinois “…does not have a comprehensive, consistent inventory of programs.” This report highlighted that state government is so cumbersome and disorganized it could not prepare a list of programs it funds and operates on a daily basis.

Speaker Madigan, Open The Books!
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Illinois, Tell Speaker Madigan to Open the Books!‏”


Ill. Policy Institute: Working for the man‏

A “First Step”
If you thought the passage of the expansive new health care bill was a pretty big deal, you might want to hold on to your hat. On the “Today” show, President Obama recently told Matt Lauer that it was simply a “first step.” You can watch by clicking here.

Workin’ For the Man…
Each year, the Tax Foundation releases the dates of Tax Freedom Day, which reveals how many days of the year we spend working to pay off state, federal, and local taxes. Here in Illinois, it falls on Sunday, April 11, meaning we work 101 out of 365 days just to pay taxes. Ouch.
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Ill. Policy Institute: Working for the man‏”


Sam Adams Alliance: 2010 Sammies Winners Announced‏

From the Sam Adams Alliance…

Sam Adams Alliance is excited to announce the winners of the 3rd annual Sammies award ceremony. The awards honor activism in six categories, and the awardees were chosen following a months-long contest and nationwide search.

The theme of this year’s Sammies, “We Are All Activists Now”, draws inspiration from the last year’s historic burst of political engagement, manifest in tea parties, town halls, and a surge of citizen leadership at the state and local levels.
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Sam Adams Alliance: 2010 Sammies Winners Announced‏”


Walsh: ‘I’m NOT A Career Politician’

From the Joe Walsh for Congress campaign (8th District)…

With just 48 hours left before our quarterly filing deadline, I am asking you today to contribute $ 20.10 to our campaign for Congress to commemorate this historic year in which we take our country back.

We are going to take it back from those in Congress like my opponent, Melissa Bean, who have built their careers by serving special interests rather than their constituents’ interests.

We are going to take it back from those who seek to contract our personal freedoms and expand government’s control over our lives.
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Walsh: ‘I’m NOT A Career Politician’”


LAST CHANCE TO REFORM ILLINOIS: Put-Back Petition Deadline Extended to April 19th!‏

From the Putback Amendment effort…

For months, the campaign for true reform of Springfield has taken heart in every county in the State of Illinois. Voters on all sides of the political spectrum are fed up with the culture of corruption in Springfield. The Put-Back Amendment provides the only constitutional way to reform state government without waiting on entrenched political insiders to “permit” reform to take place.

The Put-Back Amendment is the only amendment which enacts term limits for legislators, ends gerrymandering (where politicians draw maps to ensure their reelection), ensures fair elections with crucial reforms to end political games in keeping people off the ballot, and decentralizes legislative power so no longer will the two legislative leaders have complete control of the legislature. More information on what the Put-Back Amendment does is available here.
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LAST CHANCE TO REFORM ILLINOIS: Put-Back Petition Deadline Extended to April 19th!‏”


PROillinois: New Pension Plan Idea Debuts

MADIGAN PENSION BRIDGE NOT FAR ENOUGH

PROillinois New Grassroots Campaign to Unshackle Local Governments From Unfunded State Pension Mandates

(March 30 – Northbrook, IL) Runaway government employee pension costs is the hot topic, with average taxpayers and the press starting to take notice of this looming public finance disaster. A more dramatic, yet simple pension reform effort known as “the PROillinois plan” is gaining momentum, and is being promoted by a grassroots group of Illinois residents and local government leaders who want to put an end, once and for all, to the unworkable Springfield practice of dictating to local governments the retirement benefits paid to local government employees.
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PROillinois: New Pension Plan Idea Debuts”


The New Dem. Lt. Gov. Candidate’s Anti-Catholic Song

-By Warner Todd Huston

On March 27, Jeff Finley of the Pioneer Press made an interesting discovery when looking up info on the Democrat’s new pick for Lt. Governor, Sheila Simon. Apparently Sheila’s 5-piece, all-girl band named the Loose Gravel Girls has an anti-Catholic, Pope bashing song in its play list.

The song titled “Pope Knop” (that’s pronounced Kuh-Nope) seems to be about a four-year-old girl that has somehow become a Pope that is “drawing with markers on the Vatican floor” so that “going to church will never be a bore.”

The song starts out with some pseudo Catholic liturgy type music and then segues into a piano driven, banjo plucking little tune that features a bouncy beat and a slide whistle apparently to denote that it is supposed to be “funny,” I guess.
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The New Dem. Lt. Gov. Candidate’s Anti-Catholic Song”


State Refuses to Pay for Blago Portrait

-By Warner Todd Huston

Indignity upon indignity has been heaped upon our one-time Governor, Rod “They’re Out To Get Me” Blagojevich. And now one more link has been added to his Marley chain burden. The state legislature is refusing to pay for the oil painting of Blago to hang in the hall of governors in Springfield.

SAY IT AIN’T SO!

Of course, Rod is certainly free to pay for the portrait himself, but the state’s politicos decided in an 85-23 vote last week that the state would not pay for the sitting.

The Senate-bound bill does not ban an ousted governor from bankrolling the project out of pocket, which could cost as much as $25,000, the bill’s top backer said.

Oh, the humanities. Poor Rod. The dude can’t catch a break… of course, there’s that whole he-deserves-it thing, too!


Bean The Progressive

From the Palatine Tea Party…

March 29, 2010 – Beans healthcare vote of “yes” is just another vote among other votes over the last year which the voters in her district continue to reject. Her voting record is that of a far left progressive. This is not a progressive district and she continues to follow the failed policies of the Obama administration and Nancy Pelosi.
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Bean The Progressive”


Loyola Republicans Present The “Truth” of Global Warming by Christopher Horner

Chris Horner will be on Loyola University Chicago’s Lake Shore Campus located in beautiful Rogers Park on April 28th to discuss the truth behind global warming and extreme environmentalism.

Chicago, IL– Mar 28, 2010 – The Loyola University Chicago College Republicans are proud to announce the selection of Christopher C. Horner as our honored year-end lecturer. Mr. Horner will be presenting “The ‘Truth’ Behind Global Warming.”
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Loyola Republicans Present The “Truth” of Global Warming by Christopher Horner”


Onion Skewers King Daley

-By Warner Todd Huston

This just in, The Onion News Service has just skewered Richie “King” Daley for his newest effort to “modernize Chicago’s outdated graft programs.”

The Onion did a masterful job satirizing the corruption of Chicago in this post, I have to say. The stuff they put in Mayor Daley’s mouth is classic.

“It’s been business as usual for too long in Chicago, and now it’s time to find more efficient ways to misuse authority for personal gain,” said Daley, who has served as Chicago’s mayor since 1989. “We must modernize our illegitimate activities right now, today, before it becomes impossible for public officials to act in my best self-interests.”

While this may be funny to folks outside of the Chicago area, it is all too easy to believe for those of us sentenced to dwell in “King” Daley’s corrupt little world.

Kudos to The Onion for its satire, but shame on Chicago for allowing the corruption that is so easy to satirize.
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Onion Skewers King Daley”


Bigger danger of healthcare bill: the arrogance of Congress

-By Eric O’Keefe

Health care supporters in Congress clearly defied the will of voters. Will we hold them accountable?

We may never fully know the damage that will be done by the massive health care bill Congress passed on Sunday, but one thing is certain: It will lead to lower-quality care at higher costs.

Dozens of new health boards will come on line in the next few years, as bureaucrats gradually take control of our health care system. Who knows how many bright college students will decide to avoid medical careers because they don’t want to follow orders from these bureaucrats?
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Bigger danger of healthcare bill: the arrogance of Congress”


Me on ChicagoNow Radio on Chicago’s WGN

-By Warner Todd Huston

Just got back from the big city, downtown Chicago. I appeared in studio at WGN Radio AM 720 this morning on the ChicagoNow Radio show with host Sarah Spain.

I appeared with Blake Dvorak who operates The Voting Booth on ChicagoNow. It was a great time. Take a listen, won’t you?

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