Americans for Prosperity applauds Governor Quinn for opening an online comment portal offering the general public an opportunity to view and comment on the states budget dilemma.
On March 10, 2010 Governor Quinn will be making his annual budget address. Governor Quinn has made it clear that he believes the only way out of the states financial mess is to raise our taxes.
Americans for Prosperity strongly disagrees!
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Americans for Prosperity: A Message to Governor Quinn”
CHIGAGO – February 25, 2010 – Four Chicago-based Republican candidates will host a joint fund-raiser on Thursday, March 4 at 6:00 p.m. at The Stretch, 3485 North Clark St. in Chicago. Illinois state hopefuls David Anderson, Adam Robinson and Scott Tucker will join federal candidate David Ratowitz in a mass muster of support for their individual General Election campaigns.
Admission to the event is two-tier: $30 covers cash bar and appetizers; $60 includes appetizers and open bar from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The public is welcome; no RSVP is required.
Promotional opportunities are available for third-party organizations. Prospective event sponsors are asked to contact Caitlin Huxley, 312-841-0172 or CaitlinHuxley@gmail.com. Co-sponsors currently include Chicago Young Republicans and Illinois Log Cabin Republicans.
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Republican Challengers in Chicago Unite for March 4 Fund-raiser”
SPRINGFIELD – February 24, 2010. Officials from Governor Pat Quinn’s Administration today announced that, for the first time in Illinois’ history, the public can actively participate in the state’s budgeting process. The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) today launched www.budget.illinois.gov, a Web site that allows Illinois residents to provide feedback that will be used to shape the state’s fiscal year 2011 budget.
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Illinois Budget Now Online, Governor Wants YOUR Comments”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Estimates of voter participation proved that the February primary didn’t garner much interest. With less than 30 percent of registered voters turning out to nominate those that will run in November, moving the primary to February was obviously a bad move. Of course, this year’s primary was moved up to February in a 2007 bill that was meant to give Barack Obama a boost in 2008. But several bills meant to move the primary back to its traditional third Tuesday in March schedule have been introduced in Springfield.
State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D, Northbrook) wants the primary moved right back to its old date in March and has introduced a bill in the Illinois House to do so.
It was passed the committee unanimously and heads to the full House soon.
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Bill Proposals Move Ill. Primary Back to March”
Students at the University of Illinois are announcing the official formation of a Registered Student Organization, the aim of which is to fumigate the Urbana campus of partisan and corrupt administrators. In reaction to a scandal wrought at the hands of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Renee Romano and her staff in the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations (OIIR), ‘I Deserve Better’ is striving for a refreshed administration of integrity and mutual respect so that the campus may finally move beyond an era of clout. The group will advocate for the replacement of Vice Chancellor Renee Romano and Associate Vice Chancellor Anna Gonzalez and will call for a full review of their offices and financial endeavors. Those at ‘I Deserve Better’ believe that in a time of extreme economic hardship, when students and their families are asked to give more and faculty and staff are asked to work for less, that runaway administrative costs and malfeasance are exceptionally intolerable.
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Students Launch “Illinois Deserves Better” Organization to Combat Partisan Administrators”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Republican Joe Walsh won his party’s nomination for the Illinois 8th District Congressional seat this February. He’ll face Democrat incumbent Melissa Bean in November. But as of right this minute he’s broke.
Mr. Walsh is fond of calling himself the “tea party candidate,” but with his empty campaign coffers this is an excellent time to ask the question: can the tea party groups that endorsed him help him raise money?
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Can Tea Party Help 8th District Candidate?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Former Representative Tammy Duckworth has told the Illinois Democrat Party that she would rather stay employed at the Veterans Administration than be Lt. Governor.
Can’t say I blame her.
Democrat Duckworth lost her seat in the House of Representatives to Republican Peter Roskam in 2006. In 2009, she accepted the position of Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
She’s smart to eschew the offer of the powerless and pointless position of Illinois Lt. Gov. If her desire is to help veterans she sure as heck can’t do that as the Lt. Gov.
Smart lady, for sure.
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Tammy Duckworth Says ‘No’ To Dem Offer of Illinois Lt. Gov”
-By Warner Todd Huston
We are still waiting to find out who the heck will be our Illinois GOP nominee for Governor. Bill Brady still leads Kirk Dillard by 247 votes but it looks like we won’t know for sure until March 5.
One of the sad things abut this election, though, is that only 760,000 Republicans participated in the primary for governor. Unfortunately for the GOP nearly a million voters voted for the Democrat’s gubernatorial candidates (912,695 votes). This tells me that the GOP has less of a chance to win this election just on that basis alone.
So, we still wait.
-By Warner Todd Huston
It’s doomsday, the end of the world… at least that is what our wonderful Illinois politicians are telling us about the state budget. They’re just going to HAVE to raise taxes, they say. Naturally, not a one of these drunken sailors are considering the real solutions: Cut spending and get rid of unions.
An obviously left-wing group calling itself the “Civic Federation” is making news here in Chicago for calling for massive tax hikes to cure the state’s budget woes. Yeah, that’s real “civic” minded of them, isn’t it?
Granted this group claims that they want public employees unions to pay for more of their own undeservedly rich healthcare benefits and they claim that cuts in spending are needed. But by calling for taxes to be raised, this proves these people really don’t care about solving the budget shortfalls, it only shows that they are just another left-wing tax raising group that will, in the end, be willing to look the other way while our criminal Illinois Pols pretend at budget cuts without ever really enacting any. We all know darn well that if these drunken sailors in Springfield get higher taxes their spending will simply increase accordingly.
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It’s a Budget Crisis Says Ill. Government”
-By John Myers of Catalyst Chicago
In Government and Policy A downstate legislator is pushing a proposal to free schools from some of the state’s unfunded mandates as a way to ease the burdens of districts as they grapple with the current fiscal crisis.
HB 4711 would allow districts to ignore regulatory mandates that lack clear funding sources — with several notable exceptions, such as special education and the school lunch programs. One example: Requiring that two-way radios be installed on each school bus.
HB 4711 passed out of the House Education Committee on a bipartisan 13-5 vote Thursday, but it has a long way to go before it becomes law. Desperate district leaders support the idea, but teachers’ unions are wary of it, saying that it is too broad and unclear.
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Unfunded Mandates Bill Part of Larger School Funding Push”
From the David Ratowitz for 5th District Congressional campaign…
“It’s time that we made the Chicago Machine fight – and lose – on its own home turf.”
WASHINGTON – February 20, 2010 – U.S. House candidate David Ratowitz this week proclaimed his high-profile Illinois District 5 a bellwether of Republican success nationwide and his organization in ideal position to focus opposition resources close to home to limit Democrat victories elsewhere. “A win in Illinois 5,” Ratowitz said of the infamous district formerly represented by Rahm Emanuel and indicted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, “is a win for Republicans nationwide.”
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David Ratowitz: A Win in Illinois’ 5th CD Is a Win for Republicans Nationwide”
From the Joe Walsh for 8th District Congressional campaign…
Republican Responds to Rep. Bean’s Daily Herald Interview
(Lake Zurich, Illinois) – February 20, 2010 – Joe Walsh, Republican candidate for Congress in the Illinois 8th, today said “Melissa Bean is amazingly out-of-touch with her constituents. She arrogantly dismissed the economic hardships most of her constituents are going through right now and she dismisses their anger and activism at speaking up against this government’s spending,” in response to Beans’ comments published Feb. 19 in the Daily Herald.
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Walsh: Wow, Bean just doesn’t get it”
Something extraordinary happened yesterday. The Democrat controlled State Senate led by Democrat John Cullerton discussed our state fiscal crisis. What was extraordinary about it is that they met in secret and locked out the press, the cameras and the public. You read that right, they dealt with state business (and likely their massive tax increase plans) in a backroom.
Despite our Constitution requiring the Senate to meet in the open and the intent of the Open Meetings Act to require it, they discussed the mess they caused and how they’ll take more of our money behind closed doors. They have no shame.
Democrat called it a “joint caucus” meeting, so he says it’s ok. I could put on a black cape and run circles under the rotunda and call myself Batman, that doesn’t make it true. But Democrats like Cullerton get away with word games because they have *complete* power in the legislature. So does Mike Madigan, and that is the problem.
How do you deal with a problem like Mike Madigan?
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Put Back Amendment: Support the Mike Madigan Retirement Act of 2010″
-By Warner Todd Huston
A new study has been released by the University of Illinois in conjunction with the Better Government Association that details Cook County’s disgusting history of political neer-do-wells calling it a true “culture of corruption.” (Download .pdf of report)
“More than 140 people have been convicted of corruption in county-related cases since 1970,” the study finds.
Featured are tales of bribes, ghost payrolls, sweetheart deals, rip-offs, and the “wholesale subversion of the judicial system.”
“This rogue’s gallery of corrupt individuals is just the tip of the iceberg,” said the BGA’s Andy Shaw, “because, for every one of those convicted, there may be a dozen or more people who narrowly escape the justice system, not to mention all the clout-related conflicts of interest. It is truly a ‘culture of corruption.’”
Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be getting any better but kudos to the BGA for publishing the study. It goes to show how much of a failure our county government is.
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Chicago’s Corruption Tax”
-By Norvell S. Rose
In a recent column for CNN.com, fiery political analyst Roland Martin urged the President of the United States to get down and dirty with his political adversaries. Like, you know, jump ugly and go all street thug on ‘em. Clearly spoiling for a fight — and with a curious, chest-bumping homage to the nasty culture of radical rappers — Martin wrote:
Obama’s critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let ‘em know that if they aren’t with you, they are against you, and will pay the price.
Interesting, isn’t it, that the supposedly respectable Mr. Martin would implore the President to act like a notorious criminal. That he would champion scandalous behavior and embrace violent vengeance of the sort promoted by despicable gangsta rappers.
Of course, the outspoken Roland Martin is certainly not a lone liberal voice when it comes to exhorting President Obama to get tough, even get dirty, but get the job done. The job of crushing his critics and forcing his radical agenda on a resistant populace. Policy by raw power, not by reasoned persuasion.
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Will Obama ‘Go Gangsta’?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
If you’ll recall, just last week I spoke of fake Republican Angelo “Skip” Saviano, State Rep from Elmwood Park. Well, Skippy has again proven his complete lack of Republican credentials with his latest apostasy. With this vote Skippy has once again proven to be a RINO (Republican In Name Only) that we’d be better off to be rid of in Illinois.
With his no vote on HB 4744, ol’ Skippy has not only voted to allow a governor, any governor, to sell state properties without prior approval of the people’s representatives, but he’s also basically given Democrat Governor Quinn the go ahead to sell the Thomson State Correctional facility to the federal government in order to allow terrorist to come live amongst us there.
That’s right, Skippy Saviano pretends to be a Republican but has voted to allow a Democrat to bring terrorists to live here.
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This GOP Fakir Votes For Terrorists in Illinois”
-By Warner Todd Huston
According to the Pew Center on the States, Illinois’ public employee’s pension system is in the worst shape of all states. The Associated Press reported that pensions in Illinois are underfunded and over promised.
Illinois was rated the most troubled pension system during the study period, with a 54 percent funding level and a total liability of more than $54 billion.
Proof once again that public employee unions are antithetical to good government. The reasons these pensions are in such poor shape are twofold. One is that they are far, far too generous (fault: unions) and two is that even when the money does go into these accounts the state legislature raids the funds for general usage (fault: politicians). Both reasons are failures of government.
What this state needs to do first thing is to start a two tiered system. Since the pensions are protected by law, we need to accept that we are saddled with current pensions. But any new employee and all employees not yet vested should have their undeserved benefits massively cut.
The state should also look to offer as many buyouts at lower costs as it can. Early retirements might help the bottom line, too.
But taking care that future benefits are not so undeservedly high is the most important thing here.
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Pension Failure in Illinois Worst in Country”
Alexi Giannoulias has a very shady past yet the Illinois Democrat Party is still running him for the Senate. But the Illinois GOP has a few question for the nominee…
"Voters want to know about his role in his family’s struggling Broadway Bank, and Giannoulias promised he’d provide those details after the Feb. 2 primary election. "If I’m fortunate enough to make it out of the primary, we can have that conversation," he said. His plan now seems to be to stonewall until November." – Chicago Tribune Editorial, February 12, 2010
CHICAGO – Today marks the 20th day of Alexi Giannoulias’ silence since promising reporters he would answer questions surrounding his role in the near-collapse of his family’s Broadway Bank.
Ill. GOP Says: Put Alexi on the Phone!”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Say, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to pay any tolls when you are driving to work each day, or as you are running errands, or starting a vacation trip? Well, if you want to get out of paying tolls like all the other poor schlubs around you on the roadways, get a job with the tollway authority. Do that and your tolls are on the house… they may even throw in a car!
The Chicago Trib did an investigation and found out that more than 90% of the tollway’s work force gets free tolls. Not only that but 55 of its “critical” execs get free cars to go along with their free tolls.
And the cost?
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More Abuse By Illinois Toll Way Employees”
-By Warner Todd Huston
State Senator Kirk Dillard has said that he won’t ask for a state-wide recount of February’s primary votes unless he trails presumptive nominee Bill Brady by less than 100 votes.
After that Tuesday night, Bill Brady only led Kirk Dillard by 400 some votes and now that lead is down to 250. But there are still some downstate votes left uncounted. I wouldn’t guess that Dillard will pick up too many downstate votes.
What ever happens in the next few weeks, one thing should be said about the way Mr. Dillard has conducted himself during all this. He’s been quite even tempered and grown up about it all, I must say.
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Dillard Won’t Contest, Unless…”
From the Truth in Accounting folks…
Illinois Budget Transparency Group Makes Recommendations to Springfield Legislators
This past fall, Sheila Weinberg and Ralf Seiffe met with the Illinois House Bi-Partisan Task Force on Budget Reform in Springfield to discuss the views of the Illinois Budget Transparency Group on ways to refine the calculation of Illinois’ annual budget.
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Truth In Accounting Update”
PUBLIC NOTICE: Everyone’s cordially invited to our in-person fundraiser held by David Anderson, David Ratowitz, Adam Robinson & Scott Tucker. All of whom are working on Chicago’s north side to fight corruption & keep the Democratic machine at bay. They’re all coming together for 1 night to hold this event.
This event will be held at The Stretch on Clark just south of Addison.
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Northside Republican Candidate Fundraiser!”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Chicago’s WBEZ Radio has a nice blog set up. Naturally there aren’t any conservatives there. Take Cate Cahan’s recent report on Mayor Richard “King” Daley’s appearance at the 16th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards, for instance. She so missed the point, she so badly spun it in the wrong direction, that it is a laughable attempt to salvage something positive for the left-wing out of Mayor Daley’s mocking of the anti-war movement from the podium.
In his own inimitably garbled grammar, from the podium, Daley passionately delivered the following mocking of the anti-war movement:
“Where are the anti-war people? Where are they? They disappeared! What happened? I thought war was evil? Where are the people that believed in their heart against George Bush? [mockingly] ‘We’ve have to organize and walk down Michigan Avenue and Clark Street!’ What happened? I thought they believed in their heart? Oh, we won the election. Now we go home. What happened to America?”
(Hear the audio at the WBEZ page.)
It is glaringly obvious that Mayor Daley is calling these antiwar protesters hypocrites. They’ve won the election with Obama in office, da Mayor is saying, so now they’ve gone home ignoring the fact that Obama has continued “Bush’s” several wars.
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Mayor Daley Rips Anti-War Hypocrites: ‘We Won the Election. Now We Go Home.’”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Sun-Time’s Carol Marin wondered if the Green Party was on the rise in her latest article on Sunday. While I think she made a mountain out of a mole’s hill, she did offer an interesting observation about the other two parties: people are losing faith and interest in them.
As I said, her discussion of the Green Party was of mild interest. The Greens have succeeded in getting the over 10% vote that has allowed them to become an official Illinois political party. But it hasn’t really amounted to any real political success. I doubt anyone in the U.S. will ever have to fear the Greens making any real headway. America is too sensible for such nonsense.
But at the end of her piece Marin did have something interesting.
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Are the Greens Rising in Chicago?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Alderman Eddie “Buttinski” Burke wants to ban styrofoam containers in the City of Chicago. I have a better idea, let’s ban these idiot Aldermen instead.
Of course, Eddie doesn’t give a crap about any styrofoam containers. He only wants to create a new revenue stream for the city by inventing a fine if anyone happens to use them after he banned them. He’s proposing a $300 to $500 fine. Thanks nanny Burke.
Once again we get another braindead Alderman trying to justify his cushy, unnecessary job by taking on things he has no business taking on. But these half-wits have been doing this for decades. We’ve had bans on all sorts of things and proposed bans on hundreds more. We had that dolt Alderman Joe Moore (I think his last name is properly spelled Mooreon) who proposed a Foie Gras ban that everyone ignored and ended up being rescinded. Even Eddie “Buttinski” Burke tried to ban horse poop, or something, a few years ago.
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Another Chicago Alderman Wants to Ban Something”
From the Ratowitz for 5th District Congress campaign…
Illinois 5th District Republican challenger, frustrated with ‘jobless recovery,’ gathering feedback for alternate economic plan.
CHICAGO – February 15, 2010 – Illinois District 5 U.S. House candidate David Ratowitz today announced that his campaign will undertake a three-month “Small Business Listening Tour.” The initiative, slated to kick off in early March, will involve an extended series of individual consultations with area entrepreneurs, culminating in a proposed economic recovery plan that aims to bolster the disenfranchised small business sector.
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U.S. House Candidate David Ratowitz Announces Small Business Listening Tour”
-By Warner Todd Huston
My headline is a statement of fact. Democrats don’t trust Americans because they are always looking for ways to cut them out of the process. Here we have another example of that axiom proven out.
Illinois State Senator James Meeks, the Reverend Meeks, parades around as a man of the community, a man of the people, a man that wants to lead the folks to take control of their own lives through government.
In keeping with his commitment to give power to the people… Meeks has introduced a bill that would take more power away from the people and give it to the state. Yeah, it does make Meeks a hypocrite if you were to actually believe his lies about “power to the people” and all.
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Democrats Don’t Trust Americans”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Greg Hinz, the lefty columnist from Crain’s Chicago Business, has a quick post on our presumptive GOP nominee for Governor that doesn’t put him in the best light. It seems that Mr. Brady is a tad sketchy on American history, sadly.
After being asked by the media if his running mate, the 27-year-old Jason Plummer, was too young to be a proper Lt. Governor candidate, Brady said this:
“How old was Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Constitution?” Mr. Brady asked. “Age isn’t the only barometer of qualification.”
Ugh. Brady needs to read a few history books as there are several things wrong with this statement.
First of all Jefferson was 33 when he penned the first few drafts of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Secondly, the Constitution was written in 1787, just over ten years later and by then Jefferson was in his 40s.
Thirdly, Thomas Jefferson had precisely zip to do with the Constitution. It was written while he was an Ambassador to France. Jefferson wasn’t even in the country at the time!
Columnist Hinz missed that third fact, as well.
Sigh. It’s such a shame that so many Americans just plain have no clue about American history. In this case a man who would be Governor and another in the media that thinks he’s in a position to critique him.
Maddening. Simply maddening.
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Oh Lord, Bill Brady Goofs American History”
-By Warner Todd Huston
There has been some loose talk around conservative circles in Illinois about finding a more conservative candidate to run against both Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk for the Illinois Senate in November. But the time for this was during the primary and that time is now passed. If we wanted a more conservative candidate than Mark Kirk we should have nominated him on February 2. A third party candidate at this time will only elect the mob banker, Alexi Giannoulias, to the Senate.
The only thing that wouldn’t make my statement above untrue is if a more conservative, third party candidate can mount a seriously funded campaign and can build a state-wide coalition over the next few months. By seriously funded, I’m talking at least four million dollars. The likelihood of this is remote at best.
And here is the thing: if a serious conservative candidate was able to get four million dollars together in only three months that candidate would have done so last October or November and would have been on that primary ballot.
It should also be pointed out that the state GOP will not be helping anyone but Kirk. Any insurgent candidate would have to build a state-wide network, or already have one, that could best the entire GOP establishment in order to run a credible race.
With Patrick Hughes out of the campaign due to his primary loss, there is no one else with the name recognition, state-wide network, or money to mount a serious campaign. Would that there was one.
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A Conservative Candidate to Face Kirk and Giannoulias in Nov? Better Be Careful!”