Illinois Republican Representative Joe Walsh takes it hard to President Obama. Mr. Walsh says that Obama is lying and he wonders if the president even has any clue about how the country works.
Walsh asks, “Have you no shame sir?” …
It’s about time someone in Washington talks straight about this budget mess.
Joe Walsh represents the current 8th District.
-By Warner Todd Huston
This story has so much to hate, it’s hard to figure out where to start. It has sports, it has a nice guy (not to be hated) and it has the idiots at the IRS… or maybe just speculation from a newspaper about the idiots at the IRS.
Anyway, some of you that follow sports might have seen that baseball great Derek Jeter made his 3,000th hit at Yankees Stadium in New York a few days ago. A fan named Christian Lopez caught the thing and after the game, this nice young fellow gave the ball back to Derek so that he’d have a memento of his big achievement.
Now, this is part of the story that is not to hate. This young fan did not have to give back the ball. Further more, this ball could have been worth quite a bit of money on the odious sports collectibles market. By being a nice guy and giving the ball back to the player he might have gipped himself out of a bunch of money.
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Sports Fan Might Be Ripped Off By IRS”
-By Warner Todd Huston
If the House Republicans can’t even get rid of one of the most odious examples of nanny statism in the age of Obama, what exactly are they worth? On Tuesday, Rep. Joe Barton (R, Texas) failed in his effort to repeal the incandescent light bulb ban idiotically signed into law by Nanny G.W. Bush.
Barton failed with his The Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act (HR 2417)on a 233-193 vote. A two-thirds majority was needed for passage.
Only five Democrats crossed ideological lines to vote in favor of the bill to repeal the idiotic light bulb ban. Worse, ten Republicans joined the Democrats.
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Nanny State Wins: Light Bulb Ban Repeal Fails in House”
-By Warner Todd Huston
“Big News,” folks. Ron Paul has decided to retire from his 18-term House seat to “focus” on his next futile run for the GOP nomination for the presidency.
This morning, on his Facebook page, Rep. Paul made the following announcement:
Big news! I have decided not to seek re-election for my House seat in 2012 and will focus all of my energy winning the Presidency. My hometown newspaper The Facts will be running the exclusive story very shortly.
Paul has decided that his run for the White House needs to take precedent… or he just really wants to retire. He is 75-years-old, after all. He likely realizes that he will come no closer to winning the nomination than he ever has before. I mean, can he be so stupid as to imagine he really has a shot?
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Count Down Begins Until We Are Rid of Ron Paul”
-By Warner Todd Huston
CNN is reporting that the “Christian right” and the Tea Partiers are still nowhere near supporting Mitt Romney’s bid for the GOP nomination for president. Romney’s flip flopping on abortion, his full-on and continued support for his disastrous Romneycare health plan in Massachusetts prompting fear that he will end up supporting Obamacare if he wins, and other flip flops in his record have kept conservatives of many stripes away from supporting him.
Rightfully so, I should hasten to add.
Of course, Romney is leading far and away in most of the polls with Michele Bachmann currently coming in a distant second, so it is interesting to see the base still leery of a Romney candidacy. One has to wonder how the polls can show Romney so far ahead if CNNs report is correct on the base and it’s feelings against Romney. Perhaps these polls are really only based on name recognition even still and the real race has yet to begin…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
So, once we get past the vague, gut feeling that not much was done in this past legislative session, we can look over the last several months and assess what Springfield done for us all. As the state was distracted by yet another trial for Rod Blagojevich (this time a successful one) our elected officials were at loggerheads on many issues. But with the Democrats having such a hammerlock on power, most everything went their way. And, in some cases “their way” was no way at all.
For instance, the general assembly once again failed to address pension reform. Like the Sword of Damocles, the pension mess hangs over the heads of every single citizen of Illinois. Sadly, we cannot blame only the Democrats, here, as there has been a complete lack of political will (and courage) on both sides of the aisle to take on this issue. In fact, many of the problem legislators are those Republicans whose districts have a large population of state workers and are swayed by the government unions to which they belong.
Some think the pension mess will be brought up during the coming veto session. There is no timeline for such an action, though.
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Illinois Legislative Session Wrap Up”
From the Chicago Tea Party…
TEACON 2011: Midwest Tea Party Convention in the Chicago Area
Is the Tea Party Movement united and ready to influence the 2012 election? The Chicago Tea Party is very proud to be hosting an event to help educate, engage and energize tea party members from across the Midwest to prepare for 2012. We are hosting a two-day Midwest Tea Party Convention, TEACON 2011, September 30 – October 1, 2011 in Schaumburg, IL. This will be the largest tea party event in the country this fall. TEACON will feature great speakers, valuable training and interactive breakout sessions for tea party activists, conservatives, libertarians and Americans who want to make a difference in 2012.
You can learn more about the event and purchase your tickets for TEACON 2011 at www.teaconmidwest.com. The fun begins Friday night.
Andrew Breitbart, author of Righteous Indignation and publisher of BigGovernment, BigJournalism, BigPeace, BigHollywood and Breitbart.com, will take a break from saving the world to be part of our kickoff reception on Friday night. You’ll have a chance to meet Andrew during the reception in addition to hearing him speak. Conservative comedian and Fox News Contributor Steven Crowder will provide the entertainment for the evening.
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Midwest Tea Party Convention: Beck, Breitbart and You”
-By Warner Todd Huston
America is fast coming to a crossroads from which there will be no return if we take the wrong path. Do we take the road that leads away from America and toward a Euro-esque way of governing? Do we cast aside our American character and bury our great nation in a grave of socialist-styled authority? Do we damn our progeny to a failed superstate that violate every tenet of our original ideals?
I say we do not. I say we reject the Democrat’s Euro-esque ideas and refocus ourselves on American exceptionalism. Our federal system has strayed far from our founding ideals and we may soon find that its time for a new Declaration of Independence from a tyrannical government that has usurped power from proper authority.
Since it was just Independence Day over weekend (and I waited until it was over on purpose so as not to obviate from that celebration), I offer this new Declaration as a rallying cry to all those willing to return to our true American character…
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A New Declaration of Independence for a New Revolution”
-By Daniel Clark
In a June 21st piece at National Review Online, Rich Lowry suggests that Republicans are becoming increasingly disdainful of former president George W. Bush. He’s probably right about that, and it’s a shame.
Conservatives have always had our differences with Bush, which is why we were unenthusiastic about him during the 2000 primaries, despite his being opposed by a fairly weak field of candidates. Bush was liberal on illegal immigration. He was already promising massive new federal spending on education. He insulted his own voting base by declaring himself to be a “compassionate conservative,” a term seemingly derived from his father’s “kinder, gentler” drivel. He foresaw a more active role for government than any Republican presidential nominee ever should.
Still, we knew all this about him before he even won the nomination. It’s not as if he, in liberal parlance, “grew” in office, like Richard Nixon did. The Dubya who was inaugurated in 2001 was the same Dubya who left office in 2009. It’s not logical for mainstream conservatives who supported him during his reelection campaign to now denounce him as if he’d been their enemy all along. Unless they’ve been listening to the pollsters, that is.
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Unmisrememberizing Dubya: GOP Should Reclaim GWB”
-By Warner Todd Huston
I am happy to say that Rep. Joe Walsh (R, IL) has been doing a great job of taking it to the president and the Democrats since he went to Washington. Here is yet another media visit by Rep. Walsh…
You can help support Joe at: http://walsh.house.gov/
-By Frank Salvato
I have often written about “the bright shiny thing,” an event that is sure to catch the mainstream media’s and public’s eye while, in fact, something much more important is taking place. It is a common practice amongst politicos from both sides of the aisle, but a practice heavily employed by the Progressive Left. Movies have even been made about it. Wag the Dog comes to mind as a perfect, albeit fictitious, example of the execution of a “bright, shiny thing” strategy.
The Obama Administration, having completely annihilated any claim to being a “transparent” government, uses the “bright, shiny thing” strategy with an artful, even if nefarious, prowess, doing so while maintaining plausible deniability. As a life-long student of Chicago politics, to watch this administration employ the “bright, shiny thing” strategy is to watch an exercise in political beauty, even if it is being employed to usurp the founding philosophies of our nation, while paying short-shrift to the United States Constitution.
The Obama Administration’s use of the “bright, shiny thing” strategy has been one of subtle consistency. Shortly after Mr. Obama’s election, then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, was quoted as saying,
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Legislating Through Regulations”
Herman Cain takes it to Obama…
Meanwhile, even the lefty Washington Post says that Obama’s latest press conference had numerous “missing facts.”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Just yesterday, President Obama used the bully pulpit to scold the Senate about breaking for the July Fourth holiday. In his White House presser, the president told Congress that they should stay in DC and work just like he does. So, the Senate decided to stay and work. The Republican leadership even offered to host the president in a meeting to help work on those important issues the president seems to think need special attention.
So, what happened? Did the president happily bound off to meet with Senate Republicans so that they can work on these important, important issues? Did he give the GOP a hearty congratulations for listening to his entireties and for getting down to work?…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
My friend Iowahawk recently Tweeted (@iowahawkblog) an interesting fact:
“91 of 435 US representatives and 40 of 100 US senators are over the SS retirement age. 15 members of Congress are over 80.”
So, why are these people telling all of us that we need to retire at 65 while they are sticking in there long past their “sell by” date?
Just wondering.
-By Warner Todd Huston
According to a McClatchy-Marist poll from Wednesday, Texas Governor Rick Perry is the Tea Party favorite to be president of the Untied States in 2012.
Perry has not made any announcement of running as of yet, but he comes in above Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and the others either announced or mulling still.
The poll shows that Perry garners 20% support with Mitt Romney coming in second at 17%. Palin comes in third at 16% while Michele Bachmann rings in at 12%.
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
I attended the great RightOnLine 2011 event this year and had a chance to have a sit down with Stephen Bannon, the director and mastermind behind the new Sarah Palin biopic The Undefeated.
And for those of you in Chicago, Anne Leary over at Backyard Conservative has a great idea. Let’s help bring The Undefeated here to Chicago!
Go to webpage and VOTE NOW to bring the film to Chicago, or anywhere, for that matter. On the The Undefeated vote now page you input your zip code so that the tallies can be seen by area by the film folks.
Check out MarathonPundit’s post, too.
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Interview With Director of New Sarah Palin Movie, The Undefeated”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) is trying to break heavy with the Tea Partiers — and for that matter his own party — by encouraging Republicans to include massive tax hikes in the on going budget discussions in congress this year.
Coburn appears to feel that a tax hike simply must be part of the discussion to get a deal this year simply because the Democrats control both the White House and the Senate. Apparently Coburn is afraid that a deal must happen this year or the U.S. will become a third world nation over night.
Unfortunately, Coburn’s ideas on the budget have no historical basis at all. Tax hikes have never helped raise a down economy. It seems Coburn is far more interested in the relative success of a deal to solve our economic situation than in what a tax hike means for both the country and his party and whether it will even work or not.
Coburn is fighting both his party and several anti-tax advocacy groups like Americans for Tax Reform.
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Senator Coburn’s Ahistorical, Unworkable Tax Hike Plans”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Michele Bachmann, a representative from Minnesota, has finally thrown her hat in the ring. As of Monday, June 27, Bachmann made it official in front of a crowd in Waterloo, Iowa.
It is no mistake that she did so in Iowa, either, Bachmann has been polling quite well in Iowa coming in near the top of the heap along with long-time candidate Mitt Romney. Interestingly, neither Romney nor Bachmann have been campaigning too heavily in Iowa as of yet and Bachmann is a late comer to the race on top of that…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
From the office of Rep. Peter Roskam (R, IL)…
We’re at a crossroads in America. The Obama economy continues to underperform: 9.1% national unemployment, 14 trillion in debt, and a potential double-dip recession on the horizon. Even with all of America’s assets, endless potential, and the unrelenting American spirit, this Administration has led our country astray with one failed policy after another.
Americans are tired of the Obama Administration’s continual underperformance and seemingly never-met expectations: an $800-billion failed “stimulus” and the promise that summer 2010 would be “recovery summer.” Yet, even in the face of proven failure and a weak economy, the Democrats that run Washington continue to cheerlead for their failed policies.
Just weeks ago, Democrat National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz actually told NBC’s Meet the Press that Democrats have “turned this economy around.”
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Roskam: The Dems Are Out of Touch”
-By Rev Michael Bresciani
I have heard of starting an article with a disclaimer but never with an apology. It isn’t so much about breaking new ground in journalism but it is about respect for all our candidates that causes me to say that they all seem like a group of the very best gentlemen and ladies and all deserve to be heard out and considered.
I have enough trouble trying to get Americans to see that while the economy and jobs may be on the top of the list as a campaign war cry that is not all there is to the restoration of America. We must return to the rule of law and stop trying to quash every inference to God from our schools, public discourse and everyday life. Need I mention the abortion scourge and our plunge into unbridled immorality yet once again?
Our moral strength is inextricably entwined with our economic well being. This is a fact I have been pounding away at for years even as I have watched our nation teeter and scramble like so many blind men stumbling and falling just trying to find the door.
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Sarah Palin: America’s Real Frontrunner; Still on the Back Burner?”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Jerry Halterman, owner of HR Imaging Partners Inc. in Ottawa, IL and U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) joined David Asman on America’s Nightly Scoreboard to discuss how the Administration’s failed policies have created more government regulation and a lack of confidence to expand business.
This interview comes on the heels of Rep. Kinzinger’s small business roundtable with members of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce. Kinzinger hosted the roundtable to listen and discuss business owner’s ideas to create economic certainty in order to leave future generations with a strong, thriving economy. The roundtable confirmed the recent National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) report, which stated confidence of small businesses has dropped into recessionary levels. Small business owners from Ottawa, IL claimed taxes and regulations contribute to the continued uncertainty over our economy.
-By Frank Salvato
Greece, the cradle of democracy, is experiencing chaotic violence at the hands of Socialists and anarchists. That country’s Socialist government has come to a moment in time – like most Socialist and Marxist enterprises – when the system has failed. The promises of the Nanny State and prefectorial centralized government have come up empty and “the people” are angry as a result. Of course, “the people,” the ones who, today, are refusing to realize that you can’t bleed a turnip, are exactly the ones who are to blame for the situation they are in. If the citizenry of the United States of America isn’t careful and willing to make some painful adjustments, economically, we may be starring this future directly in the eye.
Today, We the People – we Americans, stand at a moment in time when a very hard decision needs to be made; honestly, the fate of the nation rides upon it. We can either follow the path of the Socialist Greeks; the path that has led them to national bankruptcy, debt and that nation’s unenviable position as the fuse for a global economic chain reaction that would send the world into the depths of an economic abyss the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Great Depression, or we can feel a good deal of pain in the form of sacrifice so that our country might continue to exist for future generations.
At this crossroads, We the People find ourselves confronted by some very uncomfortable questions. Are we willing to push ourselves back from the “feed trough” of government dependence? Are we willing to embrace self-imposed personal responsibility, charity and self-reliance? Or are we too uncaring of our nation’s well-being that greed is somehow justified; too narcissistic to abstain from the too easy to attain government entitlement; too self-absorbed and addicted to the “I’ve got mine, to Hell with you” machinations of the Progressive “Me Generation”?
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Greece Is the Word”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…
Washington, D.C. – The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) serves on, yesterday passed the North American-Made Energy Security Act, H.R. 1938, with bipartisan support by a vote of 33 to 13. Kinzinger issued the following statement:
“What does the Keystone XL pipeline mean for the United States? For starters it means reducing our addiction to foreign oil and creating directly and indirectly more than 100,000 jobs.
“It means 1.3 million barrels of oil from our friends to the North, which means we will need less oil from the Middle East, less oil from Venezuela, less oil from countries we can no longer rely on.
“And, it means $5.2 billion in new property tax revenue for bankrupt states.
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Kinzinger Supports Bill to Increase North American Energy Production”
-By Daniel Clark
In September of 2000, Republican congresswoman Helen Chenoweth-Hage of Idaho attended a public hearing about wildfires at the University of Montana. It was there that a young environmentalist stormed to the front of the lecture hall, shouted, “you are the greatest threat to the forest,” and struck her with a pie filled with rotten salmon. After his removal, a recess had to be called so that Rep. Chenoweth-Hage could clean all the fishy bits out of her hair and clothing. That’s what happens to people who try to sit down and reason with liberal activists.
This is a lesson that corporate executives never seem to learn. Every time some interest group demands to have a “dialogue,” they come running to show their eagerness to get along. In the end, they always get walloped with the proverbial rancid salmon pie, but they never see it coming, no matter how often it happens. The latest example of this involves a protest by Greenpeace against Mattel, manufacturer of the Barbie doll. If the connection between the two is not apparent to you, that’s only because you are sane.
Eight Greenpeace members rappelled down the side of the company’s headquarters, and unfurled a banner featuring Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, saying, “Barbie, it’s over. I don’t date girls that are into deforestation.” The accusation is that the packaging Mattel uses for its dolls is destroying the “rain forests.”
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Mattel Lacks Mettle: Another Victim of Liberal ‘Dialogue’”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Representative Adam Kinzinger made what is in my opinion a principled vote on the pair of resolutions concerning the authorization and funding of Obama’s mission in Libya today. His principles however ran counter to the Republican’s conventional wisdom on this and he was one of only eight Republicans to do so in one case.
The first resolution that came to a vote was H.J.Res.68 – Authorizing the limited use of the United States Armed Forces in support of the NATO mission in Libya. It was introduced by extremist, left-wing Democrat Alcee Hastings (D, Florida). The resolution was meant to give cover to President Obama’s military involvement and hoped to give Obama up to a year of extra time to stay in Libya without further authorization.
Kinzinger voted with the Democrats on this, but I feel he did so in keeping with his support of the mission as opposed to his desire to aid Democrats. He supports this mission and that is that. Whether you agree with the effort or not, I think Kinzinger stayed true to his ideals and did not use this vote to play politics with the issue. (Kinzinger voted “yea” along with eight other Republicans: Dent; Dreier; S.King; P.King; McCotter; Rivera; Rogers of Michigan)
**BELOW, see video of Kinzinger’s floor speeches and a transcript of his comments**
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Rep. Kinzinger Defies GOP Opposition to Democrats War Resolution”
-By Warner Todd Huston
A few weeks ago, Herman Cain said that he wasn’t worried about facing Mitt Romney, but he was worried about facing Mitt’s money. Today, Politico reports that Romney has a huge advantage over the other Republican candidates with a campaign war chest they can’t duplicate.
If his one-day fundraiser in May that brought in $10 million is any indication, Romney seems to be on target to raise nearly $40 million for the 2012 election and the primaries that precede it. The campaign is low-balling that figure by saying that he will only reach about $20 million, but even to me that seems low…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Senator Ron Johnson (R, Wis.) commented in advance of the President’s speech on manufacturing and is here to tell President Obama, “the government doesn’t create jobs, it creates debt and it is the private sector that creates long-term, self-sustaining jobs.”
Today the President is traveling to Pittsburgh to talk about manufacturing. As a person who spent 31 years building a successful manufacturing company, I am curious what President Obama might say about manufacturing. He has little personal experience in manufacturing or business. He has very few members within his administration with success in manufacturing or the private sector.
President Obama needs to change his way of thinking. He needs to realize that government doesn’t create jobs, it creates debt. It is the private sector that creates long term, self-sustaining jobs.
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Sen. Johnson: Obama and his Administration Have ‘Little Experience in Manufacturing or Business’”
From the Office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, IL)…
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke out on the floor of the House in support of H.R. 2021, the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011. This bipartisan legislation would ease the permitting process in order to increase domestic energy production opportunities, reduce our addiction on foreign oil and create American jobs.
“The American people are beginning to understand that this Administration and its agencies are having real consequences and real impacts on the unemployment rate, on the joblessness and on the price we are paying on a barrel of oil and a gallon of gasoline,” said Kinzinger. “Every dollar that a gallon of gasoline increases, it is a regressive tax on Americans. Meanwhile, we sit around and argue while bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. have their way.”
Development in two of Alaska’s Arctic seas (the Beaufort and Chukchi), which contain up to 27.9 billion barrels of oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, could deliver up to 1 million barrels of oil per day of domestic energy.
Congressman Kinzinger represents the Eleventh Congressional District which is home to three nuclear power plants, hydropower plants, ethanol and biodiesel plants, and an oil refinery. The district embodies the all-of-the-above approach to energy that Kinzinger stands for. Nuclear energy production alone employs more than 2,500 people through the Illinois Valley.
My fiend Bob Weeks (Voice of Liberty in Wichita) takes Robert Greenwald and Bernie Sanders to task over their incredible statements about Social Security…