-By Warner Todd Huston
The newest Publius podcast explores America’s classical founding rooted in tradition.
Conservatives
Guitierrez Amnesty Plan a Disaster, focus should be on American jobs
Rosanna Pulido, staunch defender for unemployed American citizens in her district, expressed outrage this afternoon at Luis Guterriez’s Amnesty reform bill, to be introduced some time this month. “With unemployment in Illinois at 10% and rising, our nation’s legal law abiding citizens do not need more competition for jobs”, Rosanna said. “It is irresponsible public policy”.
53 rallies have been held across the country this week protesting the Obama administration’s amnesty for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, along with a promise of tougher enforcement and a streamlined legal immigration system. In other countries, if you enter their borders illegally, you could be shot or thrown in prison. Cross the border into America, you get a drivers license, Social Security card, welfare, Food Stamps, bank accounts and credit cards, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in Springfield and Washington and a voter registration card. All paid for by the Illinois taxpayer.
Continue reading “
Guitierrez Amnesty Plan a Disaster, focus should be on American jobs”
Patrick Hughes Featured on Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund Website This Week
Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund is feating Senate candidate Patrick Hughes as well as sponsoring a poll on who Illinois voters prefer: Kirk or Hughes.
If you are a Hughes supporter, be sure and stop by the 2010 Race Spotlight: Illinois page and cast your vote for Patrick Hughes.
There you’ll see that Mark Kirk is trailing Democrat Alexi Giannoulias by three points. This is the ideal opportunity for a fresh, conservative face to find his footing in Illinois and Patrick Hughes is just such a candidate.
DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund reaches out to conservative state candidates that might look worthy of support and offers some campaign dollars. Hughes certainly fills that bill, as well.
Illinois Governor 2010: One Man’s Perspective
I had an interesting correspondence with Grant Noble of Lake Forest this weekend and he gave me the permission to post his thoughts on the 2010 Governor’s race. Mr. Noble is a former Republican precinct committeeman, Lake County coordinator for Steve Baer and other conservative statewide candidates, and is the former field director of Family PAC Illinois and Republicans for Poshard. (Glen Poshard was the 1998 Democrat candidate for Gov. that ran against the corrupt George Ryan, only our latest Ill. Gov. that ended up in jail. I let Grant know that I voted Poshard that year, too. It was the first time I didn’t vote Republican for a state wide office in my life as I just couldn’t stomach the corrupt Ryan.) — WTH
Illinois Governor 2010
If you want the Illinois income tax to go to 5% (minus a token property tax cut/increase in the personal exemption), then both major Democrat Governor candidates will gladly do that in 2011. If you want Chicago Democrats to control the Illinois legislature for the next 10 years and lose at least 2 Illinois Republican Congressmen to stop the Obama juggernaut, then allow the Democrats to control redistricting without a Republican Governor to veto their map. So that leaves the present Republican gubernatorial field.
Adam Andrzejewski is a nice guy but simply doesn’t have the business or political experience to be Governor. He has some money, but not enough to win a statewide primary. Jim Ryan has done little since being Illinois Attorney General other than leaving his law firm and seeing one of his chief aides convicted of corruption. After two colossal failures, the Ryan name is poison in Illinois politics.
As Du Page County Board President, Bob Schillerstrom spent big and raised taxes. As a strongly pro-choice candidate, he’ll fracture the Republican coalition. I supported Andy McKenna in his 2004 U.S. Senate primary run, but he was a mediocre candidate then and has been a bad Illinois Republican Party chairman since. If he wanted to run for Governor, McKenna should have resigned his party position immediately after the 2008 election and started his campaign then, not far too late in September 2009.
Continue reading “
Illinois Governor 2010: One Man’s Perspective”
ISI Conference Part Three: More British Than the British!
-By Warner Todd Huston
This is the final installment my three part report on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s one day conference on The Roots of American Order. So here is part two of mine titled Lift a Glass to the Past: America Rooted in Tradition or a New Covenant? (Click for parts one and two)
After a break for lunch, Mark C. Henrie took up America’s Britishness. Henrie wrote the ISI’s A Student’s Guide to the Core Curriculum that explains the value of a traditional core of studies in Western civilization and his session reflected that study.
Capitalizing on Birzer’s citation of Edmund Burke who praised the colonist’s essential Britishness, Henrie made the point that America is best understood not as a break from tradition but as the culmination of a long series of continuous ideals that range back through Western history, specifically through England.
Henrie says that we get four essentials from England.
- The English language and literature
- The common law and a respect for the rule of law
- A desire for self government
- Manners and a social order
One of the questions that researchers have often wondered is why American English and British English are essentially the same? Why didn’t America reinvent English for its own purposes in the same way the Dutch altered German, for instance? Henrie says that the reason is that the focal point of language in the colonies was contained in the King James Bible and that pervasive reliance on a single source of language arrested any development of a widely diverging American version of English. We Americans inherited the English language through the Bible.
Continue reading “
ISI Conference Part Three: More British Than the British!”
ISI Conference Part Two: Christ in Our Soul
-By Warner Todd Huston
This is part two of my three part report on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s one day conference on The Roots of American Order. So here is part two of mine titled Lift a Glass to the Past: America Rooted in Tradition or a New Covenant? (Part one can be seen here)
The second speaker of the day was Brad Birzer who regaled us on America’s Judeo-Christian History.
Bizer began his session by noting that historian Donald Lutz discovered that the founders used Christian references in their pre-war writing far more than any other source. St. Paul was the most referenced New Testament figure with Micah 4:4 being the most referenced Old Testament verse.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
On this Lutz quotation, though, I want to clarify something. Many have bandied about the claim that Donald Lutz said that 34 percent of the founder’s writing contain direct Biblical citations. This claim is not altogether true. On the other hand, it is not something to quickly dismiss as fans of the Enlightenment influence want to do, either.
Continue reading “
ISI Conference Part Two: Christ in Our Soul”
Lift a Glass to the Past: America Rooted in Tradition or a New Covenant?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Is the United States a grand experiment, a new covenant invented out of whole cloth by the fertile minds of the founders from never before seen ideas or is it a nation spawned from deeply rooted traditions of western thought? This was the question posited in a one-day-long conference on classicism in America’s founding sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) and held in Skokie, Illinois, a near northern suburb of Chicago.
The short answer is that the liberal mindset that holds that we should invent the USA anew with each succeeding generation is an erroneous conception of what the United States was meant to be when it was founded. Sure America has some ideas never before seen by political man, but at heart, America is rationalism informed by tradition, not some amorphous mélange of constantly changing ideas.
The founders created a new nation based heavily on Western ideas through British tradition, not one based solely on rationalist thinking. As they struggled to set their new nation on its new Constitutional course, for instance, the words of Founder John Dickinson of Delaware served as their benchmark.
Let experience be our only guide. Reason may lead us astray.
An intimate crowd of 60 some participants enjoyed four separate addresses by lecturers associated with ISI. Appearing behind the lectern were Bruce Thornton, Professor of Classics at Fresno State University; Brad Birzer, Professor of History at Hillsdale College; Mark C. Henrie, Senior VP and Chief Academic Officer of ISI; and E. Christian Kopff, Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
In these three installments, I will lay out what we talked about at this interesting one-day conference.
Part One: How it all Began
Continue reading “
Lift a Glass to the Past: America Rooted in Tradition or a New Covenant?”
Where Does Ratowitz Stand on Immigration?
-By Warner Todd Huston
**UPDATED** 11/15 2:30 PM
Over at the always interesting Cao’s Blog there is a spot ‘o controversy over the candidacy of David Ratowitz who is running as a Republican to take the Chicago based 5th District Congressional seat that Rahm Emanuel once occupied. In the election timeline, we’ve arrived at the infuriatingly common stage where every candidate in the state is running around challenging everyone else’s petition signatures and Cao feels that Ratowitz is acting the hypocrite with his actions in this case.
If you want all the ins and outs of the petition challenge argument Cao makes, I suggest you go on over and visit the posting. As for me, it doesn’t much interest me. There is a far more important part of the story that Cao talks about after the petition discussion that I find far more important.
First, though, I will agree with those that find the whole petition challenge milieu one of the most vexing aspects of the Chicago Way style of Illinois politics — one repeated all across the country not being a strictly Chicago phenomenon, granted. Petition challenges are usually petty, niggling, cynical, and strikes against the whole one-man-one-vote ideal where a candidate throws his hat in the ring and the people decide his suitability to serve them.
But, that annoyance aside, one of Cao’s commenters, Jim Fuchs, made an excellent point on the whole subject.
Continue reading “
Where Does Ratowitz Stand on Immigration?”
17th District Rep Race: GOP Dirty Tricks Edition
-By Warner Todd Huston
Glenview resident Phil Collins is running for the 17th District’s State Rep seat (District Map) and he’s racked up some great endorsements so far for a first time run for office.
Collins has been endorsed by Tony Castrogiovanni, the vice chairman of the Cook Co. Republican Party; Eric Wallace, a co-chairman of the Cook Co. Republican Party; Ken Arnold, a former 3rd vice chairman of the Lake Co. Republican Central Committee and 8th Dist. congressional candidate in 2006 and ’08; Peter Karlovics, a former chairman of the Warren Township, Lake Co. Republican Party; Liz Eilers, the secretary of the Illinois Center Right Coalition and Central Illinois Field Director of Adam Andrzejewski for Governor; and the Chicago Minuteman Project.
An impressive list of endorsements for a first timer, for sure. But one name you’ll notice is missing in that list is that of incumbent State Rep Beth Coulson (R). Coulson announced that she is not running for reelection to her State Rep seat and will instead seek Mark Kirk’s Congressional seat since Kirk is abandoning that seat to run for the Senate. As she leaves her stint in the state legislature, Coulson made it known that she is supporting another candidate for the 17th, Hamilton Chang. And because Coulson is the incumbent, the state party under Pat Brady is backing her choice.
And so the dirty tricks begin.
Continue reading “
17th District Rep Race: GOP Dirty Tricks Edition”
The George W. Bush Institute: Free Markets, Small Government… Since When
-By Warner Todd Huston
Get ready because I am going to slap George W. Bush around a little bit. Now, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t like I hated him. After all I voted for him twice. There was a lot that Bush did that I supported, mostly on the security and war fronts. But, I really stood against his domestic agenda almost completely. I was against no child’s behind left alone — er, I mean no child left behind — I was against the bailouts and against the drug benefit for seniors program. I disagreed with his “compassionate conservatism” narrative because it really was just an excuse for a little less big government than what the Democrats full-blown socialism would have been. About the only thing he wanted to do that I supported, the privatization of Social Security, he never pushed hard enough to implement.
With that in mind, George W. Bush made his first major appearance before the general public today in a speech announcing the George W. Bush Institute, a new public policy think tank to be housed in the Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Bush wants his new institute to foster free market policies, small government thinking, education, global health and “human freedom”… to which I have to ask, so where were you for eight years on these things Mr. Bush?
During his speech, Bush said that with the $700 billion bank bailout he implemented in the waning days of his presidency he “went against” his free-market instincts. He said it was one of the “most difficult” decisions of his presidency. I’d say he failed the test. Juxtaposing his bailouts with the free-market, small government policies that he wants his new institute to push causes one to raise an eyebrow, of course. How do past actions jive with his future policy ideals?
Continue reading “
The George W. Bush Institute: Free Markets, Small Government… Since When”
Kirk Denies He’s Going Right With Palin Request
-By Warner Todd Huston
Mark Kirk is denying that he’s trying to angle rightward in the run up to the GOP primary next year with his recent reaching out to Governor Sarah Palin to secure her endorsement for his candidacy.
“I think I am who I am. I am a social moderate, fiscal conservative. But this is a big race and we are building a broad coalition and it will be, for a Republican candidacy, a center-right coalition, but for me, I haven’t changed my views.”
This is, of course, rather interesting. Kirk is reaching out to conservatives by courting one of their idols in Sarah Palin, yet is also claiming he hasn’t changed his views. It makes one wonder just why a conservative would want to vote for him if he isn’t even interested in paying lipservice to their causes?
In essence, Kirk is saying vote for me… and I’ll ignore all you stand for. After all Kirk’s record is more often center left than center right.
Continue reading “
Kirk Denies He’s Going Right With Palin Request”
Obama and Democrats Don’t Understand ‘Sacrifice’
-By Warner Todd Huston
The jihadi movement has never made any bones about the fact that it intends to destroy western civilization from within using the West’s own principles as weapons against it. This is why, for instance, that radical Islamists have been angling to institute Sharia “law” inside England and Canada and to a lesser extent in the U.S.A. But this effort isn’t even necessary when, in the U.S. for instance, a large part of the political class cannot even agree upon what the word “sacrifice” means for its own, much less find themselves able to define the terms of enemies to their civilization. What does terrorism, Sharia, or radicalism mean when Democrats cannot even properly understand what “sacrifice” means in the context of what happened at Fort Hood, Texas?
On November 7, it was reported by the New York Daily News that President Obama shamefully exploited the murderous Hasan’s crime in Texas in an effort to flog his healthcare bill in Congress.
According to the Daily News President Obama “invoked the Fort Hood shootings in an emotional appeal to Democrats to pass health care reform.” The Daily News followed this statement up with a quote from New Jersey Democrat Rob Andrews.
Continue reading “
Obama and Democrats Don’t Understand ‘Sacrifice’”
It’s 3 Straw Poll Wins in a Row for Andrzejewski
-By Warner Todd Huston
Over the weekend the Federation of Illinois Young Republicans (FIYR) held its annual convention in Bolingbrook. There a straw poll of members was conducted and once again outsider candidate Adam Andrzejewski won. This is the third straw poll in a row that Andrzejewski has won.
On October 19, Andrzejewski won the McLean County Freedom Coalition Straw Poll in Bloomington and on Nov. 2 he won the Concerned Citizens of America straw poll held in Rockford. Andrzejewski also won the September straw poll held at the governor forum sponsored by the United Republican Fund.
For information on the campaign visit www.adamforillinois.com/.
Continue reading “
It’s 3 Straw Poll Wins in a Row for Andrzejewski”
Ill. Governor’s Debate Video
-By Warner Todd Huston
Watch the Illinois GOP Governor’s debate from November 5, courtesy of the Illinois GOP.
Pat Brady, Ill. State Party Chairman, opened with a statement on the state of the state and what the Illinois GOP intends to do henceforth. After that the party began to the tune of the Alan Parson’s Project classic, “Eye in the Sky.” (A bit corny, but it’s all in good fun) Finally WGN Radio’s Chris Roebling, debate moderator, started the night’s event.
Participating are Adam Andrzejewski, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, Andy McKenna, Dan Proft, Jim Ryan, and Bob Schillerstrom.
Chgo Trib’s Bios of Ill. GOP Senate Candidates
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chicago Tribune has put out a few short bios of the current candidates for Illinois Senate on the GOP side of the aisle. And I do mean short. They are more like just an announcement of the candidate’s campaign than a bio. They contain links to the candidates web resources, though. Nonetheless, here are the links:
Not yet covered is Kathleen Thomas‘ campaign.
Continue reading “
Chgo Trib’s Bios of Ill. GOP Senate Candidates”
Steve Rauschenberg: Why is Ill. 46th in Job Creation?
Steve Rauschenberg (R, Elgin) is talking jobs for the Illinois economy. Rauschengerger says in his new video, “For Illinois to have a strong future we need strong job growth in Illinois and today we don’t have it.”
Steve Rauschenberger is running to regain his old Senate seat in the 22nd District which encompasses part of DuPage County and western Cook County.
(Cross posted at RedCounty.com)
Nov. 7th Chicago Tea Party Near Midway Airport
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chicago News Bench gives us the skinny on a Tea Party event coming this weekend:
The next big Tea Party in the Windy City will be one mile away from Midway Airport, in the Wentworth Park neighborhood (map). It’s over by dere…
DETAILS:
On Saturday, November 7, Noon – 2:00 p.m.
Wentworth Park, 5700 S. Narragansett (map) (at W. 57th Street)
Hot coffee, hot chocolate and bottled water will be available.
Contact: Catherina Wojtowicz, (312) 662-8666,
ChicagoTeaPatriots@Gmail.com and ChicagoTeaPatriots website
Jim McMahon writes:
We have a great line up of speakers and entertainment. We will also host an open mic session so if you have something you would like to share, please feel welcome! We will be convening in the heartland of Congressman Dan Lipinski’s district — the ONLY democratic congressman in the state of Illinois who is poised to vote NO on socialized medicine!
Do YOU Want to Do Something About Obamacare?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Are you itching to join the fight to help stop Obamacare? Well a coalition of free market groups have come together to offer voters a way to get involved in the fight. It’s called HighNoonForHealthcare.org.
This site gives you tools to write, call and tweet Congress to urge them to stop Obamacare.
The website is sponsored by quite a few groups. Groups such as the National Taxpayers Union, The American Conservative Union, the Hispanic Leadership fund, The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and many, many more.
Click on the image below to go right to this resource:
Last Thoughts on SPN 2009
-By Warner Todd Huston
Some final thoughts on the State Policy Network‘s 17th Annual Conference.
It was invigorating to be able to share a conference with so many folks of like mind, a conservative, free market, liberty-minded mien. And with nearly 500 participants, the biggest conference they’ve yet had, it was something very worth attending if you are interested in furthering these sorts of policies among the various states.
But I have to say one thing that this conference proved and it is something that is, in the end, detrimental for the country. This was a 500 person conference where each participant spent no less than $1,000 to attend, many spent far more. There we saw free market think tanks from every state all trying to find ways to defeat the extreme Obama left. We have all this effort, all this money, all this time spent to defeat liberalism all in evidence at the conference. While that is good because it needs to be done, the sad thing is that it has to be done in the first place. The fact that this conference gets bigger every year and that more and more people from across the country have created state policy organizations to fight the un-American left is sad, when you get right down to it.
Continue reading “
Last Thoughts on SPN 2009″
Mark Kirk’s Yo Yo Campaign (Plus Did He Ask for Palin’s Support or Not?)
**Now with Updates**
-By Warner Todd Huston
Only a few months ago, Representative Mark Kirk voted for Cap and Tax… er, I mean Cap and Trade. Conservatives and Republicans in general lit into Kirk with a vengeance. Then he started running for the Senate and at a subsequent September 5 campaign stop he reversed himself and decided he wouldn’t support Cap and Trade.
Kirk is not a strong pro-life supporter, he is bad on the Second Amendment, Kirk is only middling on free trade, and he has drifted back and forth on sometimes support for Obama’s left-wing, big spending agenda in Washington.. though he is sometimes good on national defense. In all, Kirk is not quite as bad as N.Y. 23’s Dede Scozzafava, but he is no Illinois Dough Hoffman if you want a current analogy.
Now comes a November 4 report by the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza that Kirk sent a memo to Fred Malek attempting to get Governor Sarah Palin’s endorsement for his (Kirk’s) Senate run. Cillizza claims that this Kirk request shows Palin’s power and Kirk’s worries for his campaign.
Continue reading “
Mark Kirk’s Yo Yo Campaign (Plus Did He Ask for Palin’s Support or Not?)”
SPN 2009 Conference: Final Day
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Wednesday session began with a breakfast address by James K. Glassman the former Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State during the George W. Bush administration. He spoke on Internet freedom (as opposed to net neutrality) and expressed his hope that a thousand Internet flowers would bloom without onerous regulation squelching it all. (I’ll add some photos later once I return home. All the camera stuff is packed up for the trip home at his time)
Mr. Glassman is about to begin his new role as the executive director of the forthcoming George W. Bush Institute to be housed in Dallas, Texas at the soon to be built G.W. Bush library.
I asked him if he could keep in mind the danger that state taxation presents to the Internet and urged him not just to focus on the federal threat that the Obama administration is presenting at this time. He agreed and I am hopeful that this subject will form a part of his future strategy.
Continue reading “
SPN 2009 Conference: Final Day”
State Policy Network Conference Update
-By Warner Todd Huston
I have been ensconced in meetings on grassroots organizing, fundraising, tech and all sorts of things here at the SPN 17th annual conference in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina organized by the State Policy Network. I have to thank my host Adam Radman, Programs and Communications Manager of Americans for Tax Reform, for giving me this great opportunity to network with state policy organizations from every state of the Union.
The opening speech was given by Robert Levy, Chairman of the CATO Institute. He spoke on Libertarian-conservative perspectives on federalism, the enumerated powers in the Constitution and the possibilities of tort reform. Annoyingly a fellow in the audience asked of Levy why we should favor federalism over liberty. Levy patiently explained that the talk he gave was narrowly constrained on the topic and wasn’t in any way meant to posit that federalism was more important than freedom and liberty. There’s always one in the crowd, isn’t there?
Continue reading “
State Policy Network Conference Update”
The 17th Annual State Policy Network Conference
-By Warner Todd Huston
The first half of this week I’ll be attending the State Policy Network’s annual meeting, this year in Asheville, North Carolina. It is being held at The Gove, a fantastic (and huge) hotel/resort complex here in the beautiful North Carolina hills.
I will be attending all sorts of interesting seminars on the New Media, organizing, funding, etc. It’s a pretty jam packed schedule, so I am not sure how much time I will have for reporting back.
The Gove is a testament to American can-do spirit that has been stifled by government today. This humongous complex was built by a family in a years time with the aide of one steam shovel and a crew of men with mules, pulleys, and ropes.
In any case, I hope to get back to the hotel here and write a bit about the first day later tonight.
____________
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.
He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Big Wigs
Dan Proft whacks away at newcomer to the Governor’s race, Andy McKenna:
Andy, if the wig fits, wear it
Illinois is in a quiet state of crisis. I say a quiet crisis because through years of corruption and neglect, the conditions have been created for Illinois’ financial collapse. The day of reckoning has not yet come but the numbers clearly indicate that it is coming if evasive policy action is not taken.
When it comes and those left in Illinois are forced to confront $20 billion in structural debt and $80 billion in unfunded pension obligations, the consequences won’t be quiet at all. The cacophony will be heard in every business and every home in Illinois, its percussion will be felt by every family and it will resonate through generations.
This campaign has been beating the drum to call attention to the quiet crisis that has been cultivated by Chicago Democrats and ignored or papered over by go-along-to-get-along Springfield Republicans, and I will do so again.
Continue reading “
Big Wigs”
Right To Work Prez Calls Out Newt’s Hypocrisy
-By Warner Todd Huston
National Right to Work President Mark Mix is calling on Newt Gingrich to rescind his endorsement of Dede Scozzafava, the liberal candidate chosen by New York’s GOP powermen for the special election for the 23rd District Congressional seat. The reason? Scozzafava is a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act and Newt has said he isn’t.
Liberal Republican Scozzafava has announced her support of the EFCA and its card check feature, a bill that will give unions a free hand to intimidate workers during the election period for voting on union representation. On the other hand, Newt Gingrich is in such opposition to card check that he once sponsored a petition against the EFCA.
Back in March, Gingrich created a video for American Solutions decrying card check and informing the viewers that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost with card check. Newt strongly supported the American Solution petition drive titled Freedom Not Fear drive.
Continue reading “
Right To Work Prez Calls Out Newt’s Hypocrisy”
MSNBC: Pushing the Claim that Republicans Were Against 1964 Civil Rights Act
-By Warner Todd Huston
On MSNBC on October 27, Rachel Maddow interviewed Jane Hamsher, well-known Hollywood roustabout and left-wing blogger for FireDogLake.com. The subject was the progress of Obamacare in the Senate and Senator Joe Lieberman’s warning that he might join a Republican filibuster of the Baucus bill if it contained the so-called public option.
During the discussion, however, Hamsher went off on a tangent about the 1964 Civil Rights Act and made the allusion that the famed anti-civil rights Dixiecrats joined Republicans to stand in the way of civil rights during the 1964 debates.
Maddow: Let me ask you about the statistic I attributed to you in my intro there – I know you have been doing some digging on this issue – of a Democrat joining a Republican filibuster. How, how unprecedented would a move like this be for Senator Lieberman?
Hamsher: Well, we have seen a number of the other party cross overs…well we remember the Dixiecrats joining the Republicans in the sixties on civil rights filibusters …
Naturally, host Maddow did not correct Hamsher’s misleading claim that the GOP stood in the way of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In reality, Republicans were great supporters of the legislation. Leave it to MSNBC to continue the left’s favorite myth that Republicans are against civil rights for blacks.
Of course, the truth is that the 1964 Civil Rights Act saw strong Republican support. In fact, of the total number of Republicans then serving in Congress support never dipped below 70% on any of the final vote counts. The original House version got 80% GOP support, the Senate version got 82% and the final vote in the House was 82% of Republicans in support. On the other hand, Congressional Democrats never saw higher than 69% of its membership in support of civil rights for blacks.
Continue reading “
MSNBC: Pushing the Claim that Republicans Were Against 1964 Civil Rights Act”
Efforts for Reform: The Put Back Amendment
-By Warner Todd Huston
Gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrezejewski and several other key leaders joined Main Street Campaigns in endorsement of the Put Back Amendment ( www.PutBackAmendment.com) on Thursday, October 29, 2009.
“The people of Illinois have waited long enough for reform. Voters are tired of legislative loopholes and political practices that lead to unfair policies and corrupt our government,” said Main Street Campaigns Executive Director Will O’Brien, a Democrat.
“The time has come to give Illinoisans the chance to truly change and reform the infamously corrupt system we have had for far too long,” said John Bambenek, author of the amendment and Main Street Campaigns Political Director.
The amendment will feature four needed reforms to clean up state government, including:
- Term Limits
- Seven-Day Public Viewing of All Legislation
- End Gerrymandering
- Equal Ballot Access
View the amendment at www.PutBackAmendment.com.
Continue reading “
Efforts for Reform: The Put Back Amendment”
Former Ill. GOP Chair McKenna Announces Bid for Guv
-By Warner Todd Huston
Well, he’s done it. Yesterday former State GOP Party Chairman Andy McKenna formally announced his bid to snare the GOP nomination for governor.
McKenna has launched his campaign with a video he is calling “Hair Today,” a slam on former Governor Rod Blagojevich’s well-known, finely-coiffed hair. The ad also highlights the governors that have ended up in prison for their corruption.
Yucking it up, for sure.
Ask me, McKenna is no solution to Illinois’ troubles. As the past GOP party chairman, McKenna presided over the loss to the party of every major state office and he led the party to a new level of irrelevancy in the Land of Lincoln. And the way he’s handled this campaign is already suspect.
Continue reading “
Former Ill. GOP Chair McKenna Announces Bid for Guv”
Clueless Arizona GOP Heavies Demonizing Bloggers?
-By Warner Todd Huston
My friend Ken Marrero over at Blue Collar Muse has posted an interesting if not entirely infuriating story about GOP officials coming down on other officials and certain county employees for having the gall to talk to those eeeevil Arizona bloggers that have been doggedly reporting the corruption stories of county officials.
GOP officials of Maricopa County have been in a bit of trouble recently having been accused of wasteful spending, power grabs and criminal investigations. Marrero even notes that there is a Twitter feed used to needle these officials called CorruptAZSupes.
The barbs have been coming fast and furious and County Manager David Smith has decided to try and stop the bleeding. So, did Smith decide to clean up the Supervisor’s office? Nope. He’s decided to attack Republicans that have talked to the press and the bloggers. Classic shooting the messenger mistake.
Continue reading “
Clueless Arizona GOP Heavies Demonizing Bloggers?”
Ill. Repub. Assembly Endorses Candidate That Quit Weeks Ago
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Illinois Republican Assembly proudly announced today, October 27, that it is endorsing DuPage County resident Peter Breen in his race for the Illinois House seat in the 41st District.
Great.
One problem: Breen quit the race on October 6.
The IRA was enthused by Breen’s candidacy because he “has been involved in pro-life issues to enforce the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.” I was also heartened to hear of Breen’s positions and with his role as the executive director of the Thomas Moore Law Society I also felt he was an attractive candidate.
Unfortunately, we won’t get a chance to vote for Mr. Breen… at least not this time. Breen announced on October 6 that he has decided not to give up his work with the Thomas Moore Law Society and is, therefore, abandoning his campaign for the 41st District House seat. He explained why on his campaign blog:
Continue reading “
Ill. Repub. Assembly Endorses Candidate That Quit Weeks Ago”