Congressman-Elect Walsh to Sit on Three Committees

From the office of Congressman-Elect Joe Walsh (8th District)…

Washington, DC. – Congressman-elect Joe Walsh (R, Illinois-8) will be a busy man during committee time in the 112th Congress that begins in January. The Republican Steering Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has assigned Walsh to three committees: Homeland Security, Small Business, and Oversight and Government Reform.

“I am proud to accept these positions, and I thank the Steering Committee for entrusting me with these responsibilities. I believe that these committees will allow me to advocate for the issues that I campaigned on and those issues which are important to my constituents in the eighth district,” Walsh said.
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Congressman-Elect Walsh to Sit on Three Committees”


The Village of Palatine Passes Its Own Cap and Trade Ordinance – Part 2

From the Palatine Tea Party…

The Village of Palatine Passes Another Cap and Trade Ordinance

(Palatine, Illinois) – The Palatine Village Council is following in the footsteps of the Obama Administration moving his progressive agenda forward at the local level. At the Village Council Meeting on December 13, 2010 the village unanimously passed its own version of Cap and Trade Ordinance without the “trade”. This would generate additional revenue to offset the Village of Palatine’s 2011 budget shortfall.
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The Village of Palatine Passes Its Own Cap and Trade Ordinance – Part 2″


40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools

-By Warner Todd Huston

Liberals love to claim that the public school system is the shining success story of the American political system. And even when the schools break down in effectiveness, liberals double down on their support for them and insist that we spend ever larger chunks of the taxpayer’s money to “fix” them.

Of course, even as liberal politicians constantly extol the virtues of the public schools they are quietly sending their own kids to private schools. These hypocrites don’t seem to mind sending the public’s kids to subpar, failing schools but they’ll be damned that they’ll do so with their own kids.
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40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools”


America Held Hostage‏

-By Dan Proft

Why am I always the last to know?

Apparently earlier this week the American people were taken hostage.

Thankfully President Samuel L. Jackson intervened to negotiate our release.

Explaining his philosophy when it comes to engaging hostiles, the President said, “I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. In this case, the hostage was the American people and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”
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America Held Hostage‏”


Rep-Elect Joe Walsh Comments on Importation of Guantanamo Bay Terrorists to Illinois

From the office of Congressman-Elect Joe Walsh (8th District)…

Today Rep.-elect Joe Walsh made the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s plans to import Guantanamo Bay terrorists to Illinois:

“It is imperative that terrorists from Guantanamo Bay not be brought to Illinois. Such action would pose a grave national security threat and create unnecessary challenges in the war against Al Qaeda. As the only member from Illinois serving on the Committee on Homeland Security, I will make this one of my top priorities on the committee.”
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Rep-Elect Joe Walsh Comments on Importation of Guantanamo Bay Terrorists to Illinois”


Illinois Republican State Central Committee Meeting Report

I’ve attended one of these meetings in the past and to tell the truth, the Party does not take much effort to make what goes on there relevant to anything in the general electorate. Then,. after the public session they shoo everyone out and have the private leadership meeting and the public is not invited.

Anyway, this year Doug Ibendahl attended the one held in Bolingbrook and posted a report on Republican News Watch.

Here is an excerpt…
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Illinois Republican State Central Committee Meeting Report”


Ill. Policy Institute: Tax Hikes for Christmas

From the Illinois Policy Institute…

Governor Pat Quinn and House Speaker Mike Madigan want to stick a lump of coal in your stocking this holiday season — in the form of a lame-duck tax hike. They’re spoiling to raise taxes before the new General Assembly is sworn into office in mid-January.

Despite receiving less than 50 percent of the popular vote, Governor Quinn believes he has a “mandate” to pad his public employee union friends’ pockets while sticking Illinois families with the bill.

We’ve been here before. Remember 2009, when everyone said a tax hike was “inevitable”? Well, we stopped it then and, with your help, we can stop it again.
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Ill. Policy Institute: Tax Hikes for Christmas”


Illinois to the Elderly: Retire Somewhere Else, Will Ya?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Guess which state is the single worst state to try and retire in? Yup. Illinois.

TopRetirements.com, a site that tracks the best values for retirees, recently posted its top ten worst states to retire to and Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois tops the list of the worst. California comes up a close second worst.

Of Illinois the sites says, “Illinois’s fiscal health could be the worst of any state, which is what tipped the scales. It has even borrowed money to fund its pension obligations.”
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Illinois to the Elderly: Retire Somewhere Else, Will Ya?”


Rahm Says He’s a Chicago Resident, But Filed 2009 Taxes as Non-Resident

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not only did Rahm Emanuel file his 2009 taxes returns as a non-resident of the City of Chicago, but once people began questioning his Chicago residency and biloxing up his run for the Mayor’s office, he quietly went back and amended his taxes to say he was a resident.

If that doesn’t seem like an admission that he wasn’t a real citizen, what is?

According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel filed his 2009 tax returns as a “part-year resident” of Illinois instead of a full-time resident as he had moved to Washington to take Obama’s offer of becoming his chief of staff.
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Rahm Says He’s a Chicago Resident, But Filed 2009 Taxes as Non-Resident”


SAM Examines Tea Party Culture

From the Sam Adams Alliance…

As part of our new “Green” Energy series, we unveiled today our latest research: a study of the Tea Party as a cultural institution. SAM’s Chris Stolte explored this idea in a piece he wrote for the Daily Caller.

Tea Culture: This party is not just about politics
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SAM Examines Tea Party Culture”


(Video) Townhall Meeting With Mark Kirk and Randy Hultgren, Saint Charles, Illinois

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Dec. 11, 2010, I attended a townhall meeting held in the 14th Congressional District featuring Congressman-elect Randy Hultgren and newly minted Senator Mark Kirk. The event was held in the theater of a local high school in Saint Charles, Illinois.

The afternoon started out with an address by Senator Mark Kirk who already was sworn in for an interim term and will be starting his first full term as senator in January. After Kirk finished his opening remarks, Mr. Hultgren spoke and then there was some time for questions for the audience.

Kirk spoke for a strong defense, he spoke for fiscal responsibility and he spoke against the DREAM Act. For his part, Mr. Hultgren didn’t have much to say past his recently successful campaign talking points. But that is to be expected since he has not yet been to Washington to be involved in the issues in our nation’s capitol. Hultgren won’t take office until Jan. 5. Both men strongly spoke in favor of repealing Obamacare.

I have video of both men’s comments. I took the video with my hand-held Flip cam so it may be a bit shaky here and there. (And on the Kirk video I had to set the camera down for half a minute to turn my phone off as I got a call in the middle of his remarks. I thought I had turned it off, but obviously forgot to do so! So my apologies there.)

Here is the video of the two gentleman’s remarks…
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(Video) Townhall Meeting With Mark Kirk and Randy Hultgren, Saint Charles, Illinois”


Why Is Illinois So Corrupt?

Chicago Magazine asks why Illinois is so corrupt. My answer: Democrats. Still, Shane Tritsch has a great article here.

Why Is Illinois So Corrupt?

-By Shane Tritsch

When federal agents arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich two years ago—interrupting what the U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree”—Robert Grant, head of the FBI’s Chicago office, offered a succinct analysis of the day’s events. “If [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States,” he said, “it is certainly one hell of a competitor.”

Given the abundance and variety of political scandals in the state, it’s hard to disagree. Over the past 40 years, about 1,500 people—including 30 Chicago aldermen—have been convicted for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, tax fraud, and other forms of corruption, according to Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Three former Illinois governors have gone to prison, and a fourth soon could be locked up if a jury convicts Blagojevich in his upcoming retrial on corruption and conspiracy charges.

Still, it’s hard to find empirical data that confirm Illinois as the king of crookedness. The U.S. Department of Justice tracks federal corruption convictions through its Public Integrity Section. Examinations of department data from several recent ten-year periods show that Illinois has mostly ranked among the top ten states in federal corruption convictions per capita, though two years ago it fell to an almost respectable 18th—which may demonstrate the limitations of such studies. In any case, these tallies reflect only the subset of wrongdoers cloddish enough to have gotten caught. And the cohort of crooks is merely the tip of the viceberg, so to speak, in a state where pitifully weak campaign finance and ethics laws are so easy to game legally. Considering the totality of government chicanery in Illinois—from the illegal to the merely questionable—the political consultant Don Rose concludes, “It’s fair to say we’re among two or three states that would vie for the honor [of most corrupt].”

But if that’s true, how did Illinois and Chicago get so good at being so bad…

Read the rest at ChicagoMag.com.


Illinois School Uses ‘Stimulus’ $$ For Raises and Bonuses While Raising Property Taxes

-By Warner Todd Huston

Arrogance is an ugly thing. But it seems that Grayslake School Board Superintendent Ellen Correll has it in spades. Not only did she and four other board members vote to increase its tax levy on the community, but she also announced that she used federal “stimulus” money to dole out raises and bonuses to teachers and administrators.

The school board claims that it needs to raise the tax levy by 8.3 percent because of shortfalls in operating costs. Tax rates are limited on existing properties and is capped by law so due to this the tax hit on older properties would not be as great as 8.3 percent. New properties, however, are not capped.

But in this economy, who can afford property taxes to go up yet again? As school board member Michael Carbone said in his comments, statistics show that in 2009 one in three houses sold in the district were in distress and in 2010 it was 50%.
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Illinois School Uses ‘Stimulus’ $$ For Raises and Bonuses While Raising Property Taxes”


Rahm’s Little Spy

-By Warner Todd Huston

Walter Jacobson of Channel 2 News reports that Rahm Emanuel sent a spy to one of his opponent’s events. Gery Chico had a community meeting with various representatives of the community in attendance but one fellow was loathe to be fully identified as the rest were. Turns out he was a spy for Emanuel.

Chico held a meeting for community leaders to talk issues. One by one they introduced themselves and identified the community groups they represent.

All except for one man who said only that his name is Jim, and that he was there to observe and learn.

That seemed odd, so Jim was watched and seen tape recording the meeting.

When asked about it, he admitted it was not quite true he was there to observe and learn — but to record the meeting for Rahm Emanuel.

And there you go. Just another example of Chicago-style politics.

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Rahm’s Little Spy”


Four Out of the Race for Chicago Mayor

-By Warner Todd Huston

The man that is renting Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago house announced today that he’ll drop his bid to run against the former White House chief of staff.

Emanuel tenant Rob Halpin told reporters that the financial burden — as well as the legal hurdles — of running for mayor was simply too much for him to incur.

The board of elections also removed three candidates from the ballot due to the candidates not having enough ballot signatures to satisfy the minimum requirement of 12,500 signatures.

The three removed were M. Tricia Lee, only had 700 valid signatures; Jay Stone, had a mere 246; and Ryan Graves had duplicate signatures.

With Lee’s removal from the ballot, that puts Rahm Emanuel in the second spot on the ballot.

Certainly many more will be removed as time rolls onward, but here is the list as it stands now:
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Four Out of the Race for Chicago Mayor”


Joe Walsh Launches Listening Tour (8th District)

From the office of Congressman elect Joe Walsh, 8th District…

I will launch a series of town hall meetings across the district during the month of December. I expect the meetings to give my constituents an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns. Please check the schedule below for dates, times, and locations. These meetings are open to the public and all opinions are welcome.

Please forward this e-mail to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, especially those who may not have voted for me. I would like this to be an opportunity to hear the concerns of the 8th District regardless of political viewpoint.

Joe Walsh,
Congressman-elect of the 8th District
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Joe Walsh Launches Listening Tour (8th District)”


Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel

-By Warner Todd Huston

Most Chicagoans are assuming that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will become the next mayor of Chicago. But while the perception might satisfy many folks in the Windy City, at least one powerful Democratic sector isn’t so sure they are happy with the whole idea. Chicago’s union leaders are not very fond of the distempered former Chief of Staff.

Big Labor has been put off on Emanuel since he helped Bill Clinton get the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passed in the 1990s when Emanuel was a Congressman from Chicago’s 5th District.

Emanuel also has a history of dissing Big Labor. At least he’s put other interests ahead of Big Labor enough times that labor leaders are not overly fond of the diminutive candidate.
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Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel”


Chicago Democrat Machine Thwarting the Vote Again: Trying to Force 45th Ward GOP Candidate Off Ballot

-By Warner Todd Huston

John Garrido is running to become Chicago’s 45th Ward Alderman and the left-wing, Chicago Democrat machine is not happy about it. Machine thugs are attempting to force Mr. Garrido, a Chicago Police Lieutenant, off the ballot with more of their silly ballot objections.

Democrats have spent billions over the years filing objections and challenges to their opponent’s petitions and candidacies all in an attempt to prevent the voters from being allowed to make their own decision.

The Garrido campaign has issued this statement:
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Chicago Democrat Machine Thwarting the Vote Again: Trying to Force 45th Ward GOP Candidate Off Ballot”


Chicago Cops/Firemen Retire as Millionaires

-By Warner Todd Huston

There really is no excuse for any public servant to retire with a pension worth $1.3 million dollars of the people’s tax money. None. But that is precisely what happens in the City of Chicago according to Chicago’s Civic Committee.

Crain’s Greg Hinz reports that the Civic Commission sent an email blast out to its members late last week reporting that the typical Chicago Fireman who retires after 20 years of service will make $1.3 million in pension benefits. Cops make a bit less at $1.2 million.

These public servants can also retire at age 50, almost two decades earlier than the rest of us. This means that these retired city officers can potentially live one third of their lives or more on the public dime. After 20 measly years’ service.

Now, I certainly realize that cops have a high stress job. I also realize that both policemen and firemen can be called upon to put their personal safety, even their lives, on the line (though by no means do all of them do so). But these pensions are an impossible corruption of our system. No one deserves such luxury on the backs of the poor taxpayer.
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Chicago Cops/Firemen Retire as Millionaires”


Video: Who Is Chicago Mayoral Candidate Gery Chico?

I have to hand it to the Chico campaign. As Gery Chico runs for Chicago Mayor, they are out of the box in full force and getting to the bloggers, too. Heck, I’m not even a Democrat and am getting their campaign press releases. Good job to the Chico shop! Good media outreach so far.

Here is their latest effort meant to introduce the candidate to those who may not know him.


EPA Delivers Holiday ‘Sucker Punch’ to U.S. Economy

From the Heartland Institute…

While we were all preparing to see family and friends over the Thanksgiving, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency was exploiting the holiday lull to sneak through new regulatory “guidance” that threatens to inflict further damage to the U.S. economy. The Heartland Institute has been on the case since the EPA gave the public just 15 days (with a long holiday weekend smack dab in the middle) to weigh in on the process. You can see all of Heartland’s coverage at this link.

A post at Heartland’s policy blog, Somewhat Reasonable, also outlines the situation. I pass this information along in case you want to share with your readers this attempt to get “cap” without the “trade” implemented by bureaucratic fiat, after the real bill flopped in Congress. You can also get a sense of what’s happening by reading below my signature.
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EPA Delivers Holiday ‘Sucker Punch’ to U.S. Economy”


Roger Ebert As Black Hearted as His Disease is Cancerous

-By Warner Todd Huston

One would think that a fellow as ravaged by cancer as Roger Ebert would find his soul a bit less rancorous toward others. One would think that a man that has had such pain would not wish pain on others. But Roger Ebert is a liberal. Pain and hate is what they do.

Proof of this is in the latest hatred that spewed from Roger Ebert’s keyboard over the Thanksgiving holiday. While everyone else was enjoying family and thanking God for their bounty, this black-souled, venom-spitting, hatemonger was taking a little time out of his holiday to wish ill on others. Worse he was doing so in the name of thanksgiving.

The hateful Ebert wrote the following tweet on his Twitter account on thanksgiving:

Today let us give thanks for the right of trial by jury. Especially Tom Delay’s jury.

Now, no matter what you think about Tom Delay, it is sure that Thanksgiving is not the day to be reveling in someone else’s tribulations. The day of Thanksgiving is not the day to be spewing hatred on others. It is the day to be thankful to God for one’s own blessings.
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Roger Ebert As Black Hearted as His Disease is Cancerous”


Come One, Come All: 20 Candidates for Chicago Mayor

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s a veritable cornucopia of candidates for the 2011 race for Chicago Mayor. From the infamous, to the locally well known to the completely obscure (so obscure I can’t even find any info out about them), these are the 20 folks that filed to run for mayor. And where known I added their website.

Carol Moseley Braun – Former U.S. Senator, Hyde Park resident
http://carolforchicago.com

Gery J. Chico – Former President of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Public Schools, Downtown Chicago (Loop)
www.gerychicoformayor.com

Danny K. Davis – Current U.S. Representative 7th District, Austin Neighborhood
http://dannykdavis.com/

Wilfredo De Jesus – Senior Pastor of New Life Covenant Church in Humboldt Park, Logan Square
www.dejesusformayor.com

Miguel Del Valle – Chicago City Clerk, Belmont
www.delvalleformayor.com

Rahm Emanuel – Former U.S. Representative 5th District, West Town, White House Chief of Staff
www.chicagoforrahm.com

Ryan Graves – Engineer with the Dept. of Water Management, Lakeview
www.gravesformayor.com

John Hu – Real estate broker, Rush and Division
http://citizenmayor.net/index.html

M. Tricia Lee – Children’s book author, business consultant, Archer Heights
www.mtricialeeformayor.citymax.com

James T. Meeks – Current Illinois State Senator 15th District, West Pullman
www.jamesmeeksformayor.com

Jay Stone – Hypnotherapist, West Ridge
http://stoneformayor.com

William Walls III – Community Activist, former aide to Mayor Harold Washington, Galewood
http://wallsformayor.com

Patricia Van Pelt Watkins – Community Activist, CEO of Target Area Development Corp., E. Garfield Park
www.patriciaforchicago.com

Fredrick K. White – City Employee, Logan Square
www.fredrick-k-white.com

Roland W. Burris – Chatham, Former Senator

Tyrone Carter – Austin, Music Producer, Author

Rob Halpin – Businessman (famous for being the tenant living in Rahm Emanuel’s house), Lakeview

Tommy Hanson – Real estate broker, River North

Fenton C. Patterson – ??, Englewood

Howard Ray – ??, Humbolt Park
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Come One, Come All: 20 Candidates for Chicago Mayor”


Mayoral Candidate Gery Chico’s Chicago City Hall Transparency Ideas

-By Warner Todd Huston

When Mayor Richard “King” Daley got himself a one billion dollar infusion of cash by selling the parking meters in the city (yes, I said one BILLION) everyone thought it was such a great deal. Gery Chico tells us that all this money is nearly gone and spent already. He wants city hall to be more transparent and if he becomes mayor that’s what he says he’ll do.

From the Chico Press release:
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Mayoral Candidate Gery Chico’s Chicago City Hall Transparency Ideas”


Democrat Hires Entire Family to Run Town of 200 Residents (Media Forgets to Mention He’s a Democrat)

-By Warner Todd Huston

Newly elected Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski is leaving the office of mayor of the Village of McCook, Illinois. Now, a few weeks after the election, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that he and his father before him have filled village government with relatives from top to bottom raking in a combined $350,000 in yearly salary (not including benefits), tax money elicited from a tiny village of only 200 some residents.

Naturally, in another installment of the “name that party” game, the Chicago Sun-Times seemed to somehow forget to mention in its coverage of this outrageous nepotism that Tobolski is yet another corrupt Democrat who is only in government for personal enrichment and to dole out goodies, high paying jobs, and pension benefits to his relatives.

Also just as naturally, the Chicago Sun-Times somehow forget to release this story before the recent election. Obviously the Times didn’t want to hurt the election chances of this Democrat on Nov. 2.
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Democrat Hires Entire Family to Run Town of 200 Residents (Media Forgets to Mention He’s a Democrat)”


County Gov’t Update: Property Tax Info and More

From the office of Timothy O. Schneider, Cook County Commissioner…

Property Tax Information

Residents should have received their 2009 2nd installment property tax bills last week. The property tax bills are due December 13, 2010. Many people in the Northwest suburbs noticed an increase in their property tax bill this year. The Illinois Department of Revenue set a record high multiplier of 3.3701 to bring assessment in line with the rest of the state, up more than 13 percent from last year. When the General Assembly extended the 7 percent homeowners exemption the amount of the exemption decreased from $26,000 to $20,000.

It is important to remember that Cook County has not raised its property tax levy for 16 years. In addition, please note your property tax bill is now itemized, detailing exactly where your tax dollars are being spent (school district, municipality, township, county, ect.).
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County Gov’t Update: Property Tax Info and More”


Answers for ILGOP Start with Asking the Right Question

-By Dan Proft

I recently attended a speech by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which he inadvertently provided some advice for the Illinois Republican Party.

Blair recounted a conversation he had with a fellow MP after his Labour Party had lost their fourth national election in a row in 1992. In the wake of that defeat, his frustrated colleague lamented to Blair, “What the heck is wrong with the voters of England?”

This anecdote is better told with an upbeat British accent but Blair’s point was that the better question at the time was, “What the heck is wrong with the Labour Party?” Five years later, Blair led a new, centrist Labour Party that won a landslide victory and maintained power for the ensuing decade.
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Answers for ILGOP Start with Asking the Right Question”


Walsh Wins by 290 Votes in Ill 8th

-By Warner Todd Huston

The ballots are finally all counted for the race for the 8th Congressional District in Illinois. Congratulations goes to Republican Joe Walsh who beat incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean by a scant 290 votes.

The vote tally has yet to be 100 percent certified, but it looks like Walsh is the winner.

This is quite a pickup for the GOP, too. Not only did party wonks assume that Walsh never had a chance to win this race and therefore didn’t give Walsh much help, the other side was so sure that Bean was a shoo in to be returned to Congress that they didn’t spend much money on her race either.

This one is a shock to just about everyone. One suspects even Walsh is surprised.

So, congrats to Congressman elect Joe Walsh, 8th District.
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Walsh Wins by 290 Votes in Ill 8th”


Blago Calling Emanuel In Next Trial?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rod Blagojevich is saying he fully intends to bring Rahm Emanuel into court as a witness in the next phase of his corruption trial.

“Rahm is going to be a central witness in this case for us,” Blago told Fox News Chanel commentator Geraldo Rivera.

Geraldo wondered if this would be a major distraction for Rahm Emanuel next year as he runs for mayor as the second Blago trial will be occurring at the same time as the mayoral contest.

This is one thing that could portend trouble for an Emanuel run for City Hall. Of course, Emanuel has to get past the charge of non-residency and the perception that he is a carpetbagger from Washington, too. But… you know…

Anyway, if you want to watch a master of desperate spin, heeeeeeres Rod:

It most certainly will be interesting, though, to have a major candidate for mayor who is in the middle of a campaign for City Hall to be dragooned into a corruption trial. If the other candidates for mayor don’t press Emanuel to answer to just how much of Blago’s corruption Rahm knew about, when he knew it and how much of it he was involved in — and by extension the president himself — they don’t deserve to be on the ballot themselves!

Lastly, there is something amusing about a Chicago Mayor in a corruption imbroglio before he even gets elected, too. If that isn’t a typically Chicago mess, what is?
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Blago Calling Emanuel In Next Trial?”