Welfare Skanks, Obama Effigies & French Thought Police: Headline Potpourri #12

-By Frederick Meekins

Albert Mohler’s sidekick Russel Moore denounced the Obama Effigy as “Satanic”. Was this theologian as outspoken in condemning similar outrageous attacks against other political figures such President Bush and Sarah Palin? More importantly, would he now care to speak out against the Founding Fathers for similar protests against King George during the Revolutionary War, or is this form of protest only immoral when directed against a Black person?

New York City health officials in a pamphlet are teaching junkies the proper method for shooting up dope. Yet it must be pointed out that this is the jurisdiction where scholastic bakesales are on the verge of prohibition and where, if city officials had their way, table salt would be frowned upon apparently more now than hard narcotics.

French thought police plot to invade private homes. This is to be done in the name of preventing “psychological violence” by criminalizing robust domestic verbal disagreements. However, what advocates of this law might not be telling you is that, to the left-leaning man-haters out there, this offense consists of little more than simply disagreeing with a woman, verbally boring into a woman during a spat started by a woman, or merely speaking to one when they’ve basically told you to shutup.
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Welfare Skanks, Obama Effigies & French Thought Police: Headline Potpourri #12″


Eagle Forum Ill. Primary Endorsements

Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum has made some endorsements in the 2010 Illinois primary.

Here is what the EF folks have thus far…

US Senate

US Congress

Lt. Governor

State Comptroller

State Senate

State House


Chgo Trib Wants ‘Reform,’ Yet Endorses Machine Candidates

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Dec. 27th, the Chicago Tribune sternly scolded our Illinois political class saying that we need “reform” in Illinois. The Trib announced that with all the past corruption they’d had “enough.” And they promised to launch a “pre-primary push to elect better” politicians.

Well, who could disagree with that? Illinois has one of the most corrupt, most indebted, least transparent, most inbred political scene in the country. It is rife with corruption on both sides of the political divide and we are ripe for change. So, yes, we all can agree with the Chicago Tribune that we need to clean up this political cesspool. The “Chicago Way” that has now invaded Washington D.C. should be eliminated back here at home.

So, hear, hear, Chicago Tribune. We agree. You are a fast friend to the weak and downtrodden. A champion of the common man. A paragon of reform, etc., etc.

Yep, all that horn tootin’ was great, Trib. So, let’s see how you did with picking candidates to endorse
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Chgo Trib Wants ‘Reform,’ Yet Endorses Machine Candidates”


Unintended Consequences: Balkanizing the Internet

-By Scott Cleland

The big missing part of the policy debate over how to best ensure continuation of an open Internet, i.e. through existing policy or the FCC’s proposed preemptive regulations, is what makes the Internet universal?

The Internet is near universal because it is entirely voluntary. All of the Internet’s signature elements are voluntary, not mandated by government(s).

Internet Protocol (IP) is a networking protocol that became universal precisely because it offered the ability for everyone to communicate in basically the same “language.” No one was required to use/adopt IP; people voluntarily adopted it because it was better and offered the most universal networking opportunity. Moreover, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), whose “mission is to make the Internet work better,” is an entirely voluntary collaborative process that functions outside of any government(s) control.

The Domain Name System (DNS), essentially the Internet’s address system, rapidly became universal precisely because people voluntarily recognized its essential value and adopted it. No country owns, controls or approves the Internet’s addresses; it’s a voluntary market process.
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Unintended Consequences: Balkanizing the Internet”


14th District: Hultgren Signs Club For Growth’s ‘Repeal It’ Pledge

From the Randy Hultgren for Congress campaign…

State Senator Randy Hultgren today signed the Club for Growth’s “Repeal It” Candidate Pledge. In doing so, Senator Hultgren promised to the voters of Illinois’ 14th Congressional District that he would work to repeal any government takeover of health care.

“I have consistently opposed the Obama/Pelosi plan to nationalize our health care,” said Hultgren. “Congressman Bill Foster stood with Nancy Pelosi and against the people of Illinois when he voted for this terrible legislation.”
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14th District: Hultgren Signs Club For Growth’s ‘Repeal It’ Pledge”


5th District: David Ratowitz Picks Up Two More Endorsements

From the David Ratowitz for Congress campaign…

“David Ratowitz brings experience from multiple sectors of the economy, credibility from serving his nation in the Army, and the courage to make the IL-5th not only respectable again, but winnable for Republicans.”

CHICAGO – January 14, 2010 – U.S. House candidate David Ratowitz (IL-5) has received the endorsements of Republican Liberty Caucus of Illinois and Loyola College Republicans officer Brian Williams.
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5th District: David Ratowitz Picks Up Two More Endorsements”


Book Review: What Are These Tea Parties About, Anyway?

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new book about the Tea Party movement — and a movement it really is — will soon be hitting the shelves. “A New American Tea Party” penned by John M. O’Hara, one of the many folks that helped bring us some of those protests in early 2009, is a book that hopes that the reader will come away understanding and appreciating the Tea Party movement as a truly grassroots happening, a spontaneous outpouring of interest backed by true red, white and blue American ideals.

Author O’Hara, himself an early Tea Party organizer in Washington D.C. and the Chicago area, answers several questions with the book: what sparked the Tea Parties; is the name “Tea Party” itself a proper sobriquet; what do they mean; what does the future hold; and how do you make more?

The first thing one might notice is that O’Hara writes in a crisp, conversational style with short subchapters. This makes it ideal for reading bits at a time. This is not a dense treatment and I think his style makes the book very accessible to people of all ages — without talking down to the young or dumbing it down for the more advanced reader.
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Book Review: What Are These Tea Parties About, Anyway?”


Why This Conservative Wants Harry Reid to Stay Right Now

-By Warner Todd Huston

Of course it would serve Senate Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Democrats right if they found Reid hounded from the Democrat leadership or even from office over his racist comments made about President Obama back during the presidential campaign. After all the faux charges of racism that the left has used to hound Republicans from office, it would be sweet revenge to turn it on Harry Reid. But as a conservative, I do not want to see Reid hounded from his Democrat leadership position and I most especially don’t want him to leave office before the 2010 elections.

Does that sound hard to understand? You might ask why a conservative woud want to protect Harry Reid? Well, it’s all about politics, my friend.
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Why This Conservative Wants Harry Reid to Stay Right Now”


Our Interview With Republican David Ratowitz, 5th District Candidate for Congress

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last Sunday on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism my cohost and I, Ann “Babe” Huggett, interviewed 5th District Congressional candidate David Ratowitz. The 5th District is the Chicago seat that Rham Emanuel once held. Ratowitz is a former Army Ranger and is now a Chicago lawyer. His website is www.ratowitzforcongress.com.

For more of our shows go to our BlogTalRadio page at Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism.


10th District: Peraica Endorses Dold

From the Bob Dold for Congress campaign…

Robert Dold’s message of bringing small business common sense change to Washington is resonating with voters across the district. Adding to the high-charged momentum that continues to build at the Dold campaign, Robert picked up a key endorsement Sunday from Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, who endorsed Robert for his small business background and his ability to restrain reckless spending and create jobs in Washington.
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10th District: Peraica Endorses Dold”


The Left: Bending Over Backwards to Excuse Racism

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new book about the 2008 presidential election has made quite a stir with its revelation that Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) chose some, shall we say, unfortunate wording when referring to then candidate Barack Obama in some “private” discussions with reporters during the late presidential campaign.

In the book Game Change penned by John Heilemann and Mark Halprin, Harry Reid is quoted as saying that people supported Obama because he was “light skinned,” and because he exhibited no “Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” This implies that Reid thinks dark skinned Negroes cannot win election.

Before the quote was widely known, though, on Saturday Harry Reid rushed an apology to the press, one quickly accepted and downplayed by now President Obama. Both prepared to move forward as if nothing happened. Republicans have pointed to this as a fine example of a double standard. They recalled that Senator Trent Lott was hounded out of leadership in 2002 for making some complimentary remarks about Senator Strom Thurmond at his retirement party. Republicans have now gone on to call for Reid’s removal as Senate Majority Leader in a similar vein to Lott’s situation. Naturally Democrats have demurred from demanding that Reid step down and Republicans are calling this a classic example of the left’s double standard. It is clear that incidents such as this are used to destroy Republicans but similar incidents when involving Democrats are swept under the rug.
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The Left: Bending Over Backwards to Excuse Racism”


Interview With Randy Hultgren Candidate for 14th Congressional District

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week I spoke to candidate for Congress Randy Hultgren (R, DuPage County) who would like to win your GOP nomination for the 14th Congressional District. The 14th District encompasses the cities of Elgin in the east, westward toward DeKalb, Dixon and Sterling and as far south west as Coal Valley. The shape of the district is like that of a gas pump handle with the nozzle headed westward.

Attorney and business owner Randy Hultgren is currently the 48th District State Senator elected to that position in 2007. In 1999 he was elected to the State House and served there until elected to the Senate. Hultgren has been involved in state politics for 20 some years.

On his website, Hultgren says he’s running for Congress because he believes “we need real conservatism in Washington,” and that he’s proud to call himself a “real Conservative.” (Website: http://hultgrenforcongress.com/)

I began my time with Senator Hultgren noting that the filed of candidates for the 14th District was once pretty large but that in the last month it has been winnowed down to two candidates: himself and Ethan Hastert, son of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. It is well known that the national party and folks like Newt Gingrich have announced their support of Hastert and I wondered what Mr. Hultgren’s reaction was to this fact.
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Interview With Randy Hultgren Candidate for 14th Congressional District”


Economic Recovery: Plight of the Fundamentals

From the David Ratowitz for Congress campaign…

The following is U.S. House Candidate David Ratowitz’s response to President Obama’s January 8 address on the U.S. economy and December job losses. Material can be reprinted verbatim or in part as needed.

Two months ago, the Democrat-controlled Congress told us that the recession was over. For 30 glorious days, the stimulated economy produced more than one new job for every 54,000 unemployed Americans. Then came December, when Americans, in a holiday spending frenzy fueled by low interest rates and a 48.6 percent surge in monthly Social Security and unemployment payments, created a better than expected shopping season. The result: 85,000 more jobs lost.
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Economic Recovery: Plight of the Fundamentals”


Getting Control of Congress, Permanently

-By John Armor

We are now experiencing a disconnect between national political leaders and the citizenry. Public support for congressional actions is low and falling, as are the president’s numbers. Public opposition to the health care bill, now passed in different forms in the House and Senate, is at 59% and rising.

In various ways, the people are strongly indicating that they think Congress is out of control and needs adult supervision. Particularly galling is the revelation that Senate leaders bought critical votes on the health care bill by dumping hundreds of millions in special benefits into states whose senators had withheld support — until they got their bribe.

In answer to the public outcry, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shrugs and says that any senator who “does not seek as much as he can” for his own state isn’t doing his job.
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Getting Control of Congress, Permanently”


2nd District: Isaac Hayes Says ‘Harry Reid Needs to Go’

From the Isaac Hayes for Congress campaign…

The following statement was released today by Rev. Isaac C. Hayes, the GOP nominee for Congress in IL-2, in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s racial remarks about Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”:

“We will not accept a double standard. Sen. Harry Reid must go” said Hayes. “When Sen. Trent Lott’s was the Majority Leader, Sen. Obama called for him to step down. ‘The Republican Party itself has to drive out Trent Lott. If they have to stand for something, they have to stand up and say this is not the person we want representing our party.’ I call on president Obama to take this same position with a member of his own party. This is the second revelation in the past few months of questionable racial remarks from Sen. Reid and we will not continue to tolerate it.”

For more information, go to: isaac4honesty.com


Time: Conflating Big Spending With ‘Moderate’

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the tricks that the Old Media consistently uses to paint conservatives as walking on the dark side is to call Republicans who lean left “moderates,” while those who lean to the right are “right wing” or “hardcore” Republicans. This media-speak reserves the harsher words for conservatives and makes anyone on the right seem like an extremist, yet paints the center-left as being on the side of the angels.

It’s a subtle flavoring of rhetoric that leads the reader to a prearranged conclusion as opposed to a reporting of the facts. A recent Time Magazine article by Tim Padgett on the Republican primary Senate campaign between Florida’s Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio is a perfect example of this.

To Time the primary fight between Rubio and Crist is apparently one of light versus dark, the evil extremist “right wing” siding with Rubio against the nice, “inclusive” moderates supporting Crist. But with this characterization, Time is misrepresenting the political battle between Rubio and Crist. Unfortunately for Time’s agenda, the argument in Florida between Rubio and Crist has little to do with moderates, inclusion, or big tent politics but has everything to do with economics. Rubio is a fiscal conservative while Crist, the incumbent governor, has been a profligate spender.
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Time: Conflating Big Spending With ‘Moderate’”


DOJ Rejects Broadband Market Failure Thesis

-By Scott Cleland

In a filing to the FCC on the National Broadband Plan, the DOJ Antitrust Division, the U.S Government’s leading expert in assessing the state of competition in communications markets, implicitly rejected net neutrality proponents’ core thesis of broadband market failure.

This DOJ filing, which represents the most recent U.S. Government expert assessment of broadband competition, could make it extremely difficult for the FCC to legitimately conclude in the coming months the factual opposite — broadband market failure.

Without a sound factual finding of broadband market failure, it also could be extremely difficult for the FCC to legally justify preemptively mandating common-carrier-like regulations on un-regulated broadband information service providers in the FCC’s pending open Internet proceeding.

Let’s review the DOJ’s core broadband competitive conclusions, which are relevant to the alleged broadband market failure thesis and the FCC’s open Internet proceeding.
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DOJ Rejects Broadband Market Failure Thesis”


New Hampshire Makes to Outlaw Federal Agents?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Imagine a state law that says that any federal agent that comes into said state and runs afoul of a new state law should be considered a felon! Well, that is what New Hampshire is about to do if HB1285 passes during the coming 2010 legislative session.

HB1285 is another one of those laws that exempts all firearms and firearms accessories that are made in a state from certain federal restrictions if they remain in that state. Several states have made attempts to implement these 10th Amendment laws and New Hampshire intends to be one of the next to do so.

Thus far Montana and Tennessee have passed their own firearms freedom acts and thirteen or so other states have introduced or are introducing laws that exempts local firearms industries and accessories as well as in-state firearms owners from overweening federal gun banning laws.
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New Hampshire Makes to Outlaw Federal Agents?”


The Janus Face of the Progressive Democrats

-By Frank Salvato

“Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see the things thou dost not.” – William Shakespeare

America, when exactly did we come to tolerate politicians lying to us – bald-faced –about things that actually matter? When did we start to put up with being lied to by our elected officials and accepting it as the status quo? When did we come to accept that disingenuous political spin was just part of the process; that deceiving the electorate was tolerable…at any level? I ask because as I try to reconcile the “hope and change” propaganda with the actions of the Obama Administration, well, let’s just say the campaign rhetoric appears to have been crafted by P.T. Barnum.

Examples of intellectual malfeasance exist on both sides of the aisle but it is dramatically more prevalent on the political Left and since the Progressives have hijacked the Democrat Party it has gotten worse. There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by where news comes out of Washington DC that is literally unbelievable.
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The Janus Face of the Progressive Democrats”


Patrick Hughes: Senate Candidate Calls for Term Limits

A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is vowing term limits.

Businessman Patrick Hughes says the seat for which he is running has turned over regularly over the last two decades, but that’s not the norm. “What’s happened with this Senate seat is unusual, and maybe beneficial for the people of Illinois, but across this country and in Congress, it’s entrenched interests,” he said. “You know how difficult it is to beat an incumbent typically, and that just leads to people being in Washington for too long.”

Hughes says if he’s elected, he’ll work to enact term limits for everyone. As for himself, he says he wouldn’t serve any more than two terms.
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Patrick Hughes: Senate Candidate Calls for Term Limits”


Sen. Ben Nelson: Say, Maybe We Shudda Waited on Healthcare ‘Reform’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Every week we are seeing another Democrat deciding not to run for re-election or one that is switching parties to the GOP all due to the wild, left-wing overreach indulged in by the Obama Administration and its cohorts in Congress. Connecticut’s Senator Chris Dodd is only the latest heavy hitter Democrat that is looking for an “exit strategy,” if you will. And with all these pols looking to jump ship, the infamous 60th vote on healthcare, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, suddenly finds that bringing healthcare to a vote so soon was a bit of a mistake!

On Wednesday, Nelson, a master of the understatement, told the Fremont Tribune, “I think it was a mistake to take health care on as opposed to continuing to spend the time on the economy.”

Right after that statement, Nelson pronounced the maiden voyage of the SS Titanic “a bit of a flub,” said that Amelia Earhart made a “miscalculation” in her flight plan, and decided that founding the city of Pompeii at the foot of a volcano was probably “misguided.” But he still thought that his 60th vote for Obamacare was a good one.

So much for his judgment!
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Sen. Ben Nelson: Say, Maybe We Shudda Waited on Healthcare ‘Reform’”


Tea Party Debate Continued: My Reply to Steve McQueen of BigGovernment.com

-By Warner Todd Huston

In what I suppose is round three, I’d like to take a moment to reply to the criticism of my Tea Party article which was titled “Tea Parties: The Biggest Mistake We Could Make in 2010.” That criticism is penned by my fellow BG contributor, Steve McQueen whose piece titled “For Tea Parties, Bigger Is Not Better” I think missed my point. Worse I feel his piece helps the left to further splinter the right in a small way.

Certainly we on the right need an open and vigorous debate about what the Tea Parties are and how to make the best use of them, but we should have this discussion in the spirit of cooperative debate instead of the sort of isolated attacks employed by McQueen. What I mean is that if Mr. McQueen had some issues with my piece and questions about my meaning, the proper strategy would have been to email me and ask. We could then have had a debate, and perhaps joined together in a piece for BigGovernment.com that would clarify both our positions in the best effort toward harnessing the Tea Party energy to the best effect. Instead he rushed to print without a single attempt to contact me. This, I believe, only helps the left in that it gives the appearance of internal strife instead of a united front. After all, I would guess that Mr. McQueen and I are both after the same end goal of success of conservative principles in government and society alike.

In my piece I spoke of mistakes and this I think is another one of them. Too many of us Internet pundits are talking past each other and are too quick to look for that next “thing” that will get us noticed. Too often we are “Frumming” each other, in other words always attacking each other. Instead of seeking to find common ground so that we can build up our side we are sniping at each other.

Still, I think McQueen makes a few perfectly agreeable points despite that he so badly misconstrued my actual reason for writing my original piece. But like many out there that only read my provocative headline and didn’t bother to actually read the rest of the piece, McQueen assumed I was attacking the Tea Party movement itself. In fact, there is not one stitch of criticism of the actual Tea Parties in my piece. I have no complaints about them except in as much as questioning how we harness their energy going forward.
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Tea Party Debate Continued: My Reply to Steve McQueen of BigGovernment.com”


Illinois Panel Votes to ‘Close’ Thomson Readying it for Guantanamo Terrorists

-By Warner Todd Huston

This afternoon the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted 7-4 to formally close the Thomson Correctional Center. The next step could be to sell the facility to the federal government in order for Obama to deposit in the midst of Illinois citizens the dangerous terrorists from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detainee facility.

This decision is but a stepping stone toward the eventual sale of the prison to the federal government. The panel only serves in an advisory capacity so this decision does not finalize any deals.
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Illinois Panel Votes to ‘Close’ Thomson Readying it for Guantanamo Terrorists”


10th District Robert Dold: Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant

From the Robert Dold for Congress campaign…

Now that a new year is upon us and the February 2nd primary election is just 27 days away, the people of the 10th District will soon have the opportunity to bring change to Washington by electing a new Congressman who will stand up and fight on issues such as ethics and government transparency. As President Obama enables Congress to trample public interest by hiding behind closed doors during the final talks of the health care bill, it becomes even more evident that we need to elect Congressional leaders committed to open and accountable government.
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10th District Robert Dold: Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant”


5th District: Twitterview with U.S. House Candidate David Ratowitz

From the Ratowitz for Congress campaign…

U.S. House candidate David Ratowitz (IL-5) is conducting a live Twitterview tomorrow (1/7). The event is open to both media and the public. Find out how David is leveraging the nationwide 2010 conservative comeback and advancing the freedom message in a high-profile, Chicago Machine stronghold like Illinois District 5.
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5th District: Twitterview with U.S. House Candidate David Ratowitz”


Obama Wants Guantanamo Detainees To Suffer

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is now nearing the one-year anniversary of the day Obama claimed that Guantanamo would be shut down. With all his rhetoric on the facility, I thought that Obama was all about the “humane” treatment of the terrorists being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility? Right? I mean, wasn’t Obama all we-weed up that the treatment that prisoners get in the Guantanamo facility is equal to “torture”?

Of course, Obama signed an executive order that is supposed to close Guantanamo by January 22, 2010 — not that this will happen on time as promised, it being just another in a long line of lies and broken promises issued by candidate Obama. But one of the chief reasons that everyone on the extreme left wants Guantanamo to be closed is because these bleeding heart, self-hating nuts are so sure that the facility constitutes some sort of living hell on earth for those detained there.

This being the case, one has to wonder why it is that Obama wants to take these prisoners from the “hell” of Guantanamo and put them in a facility in Illinois that will be far, far worse? That’s right, the living condition in Guantanamo is like paradise compared to what they will be forced to endure in Illinois.
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Obama Wants Guantanamo Detainees To Suffer”


Disbursements by the Lower House will get Very Serious Attention in 2010

-By Vince Johnson

This scoop brought to you by G. R. Vince Johnson, Veteran WW II and Korea

On June 3, 2009 Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the Statement of Disbursements for the House of Representatives be published online as part of her continued commitment to increase governmental transparency and accountability. You can use the surfing info appearing above the red line to review and evaluate these disbursements.

The report consists of 3,379 pages listing details of disbursement made by the House of Representatives during July, August and September 2009. (4th Quarter of Fiscal 2009)

Pages 2801, 2802 and 2803 list the names, titles and salaries for 87 professional staff members on the Committee on Financial Service Chaired by Barney Frank. Total salaries paid during the 4th quarter were $2,080,547 which means the average annual salary for each staff member on Barney Frank’s committee is $95,657. Example: Thomas G. Duncan, General Counsel received $42,674 in salary during July, August and September 2009. This amounts to a salary of $170,696 a year. (Barney’s annual salary as a Representative is $174,000.)
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Disbursements by the Lower House will get Very Serious Attention in 2010″


8th Dist. Candidate Joe Walsh: Obama’s Homeland Security Sec. Revealed ‘Shocking Level of Naivete’

From the Walsh for Congress campaign…

Illinois 8th District Congressional candidate Joe Walsh says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has revealed a shocking level of naivete that provides legitimate reason to question her ability to protect our nation. “Secretary Napolitano’s comments and actions following the failed Christmas Day terrorist bombing reveal genuine reasons to doubt her ability to protect America from a shrewd, inventive enemy.”

Joe Walsh continued, saying, “Americans of all political ideologies are justified in doubting Napolitano’s experience and competence. Her lack of accountability is shocking and we deserve an explanation.” As a life-long advocate for limited government and a vibrant private sector, Joe Walsh intends to be a loud, forceful voice for his constituents. Joe was born and raised in the heart of the Eighth District, growing up in a family of nine children. He and his wife Helene together have five children.
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8th Dist. Candidate Joe Walsh: Obama’s Homeland Security Sec. Revealed ‘Shocking Level of Naivete’”