CPAC Chicago, Part 4: Joe Walsh, Randy Hultgren, Straw Poll Results

-By Warner Todd Huston

Finally, in part four we’ll hear from two solid Illinois Congressmen, the 8th District’s Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren of the 14th. We’ll also hear the, perhaps not startling results of the straw poll, the most important question from which was who Romney should pick for his vice presidential candidate (hint, the top picks weren’t any of his one-time rivals for the nomination).

Congressman Joe Walsh


Rep. Joe Walsh gins up the crowd

Joe Walsh of the Illinois 8th District is the one Congressman that the left wants to eliminate more than any other Republican Congressman. This is because Joe has carved out from among his fellows an outsized voice for conservatism. He appears regularly on TV and radio to tout the conservative message. But he’s become a major target of Democrat redistricting and now faces a tough challenge to be reelected in his newly reconfigured 8th District. Me, I think he can easily beat the know-nothing candidate the Democrats have put up against him, but Joe is taking nothing for granted.

One thing is sure, though, Joe Walsh knows how to get a conservative audience in motion.
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CPAC Chicago, Part 4: Joe Walsh, Randy Hultgren, Straw Poll Results”


CPAC Chicago, Part 3: Bobby Jindal, Peter Roskam, Michele Bachman

-By Warner Todd Huston

In part three of our series we’ll take a look at the speeches of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam, and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Bachmann’s speech was quite interesting for its singular focus on a particular jihad-supporting Muslim group that is operating in America today. Bachmann was vehement that Obama ban this group.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal


Gov. Bobby Jindal on the main stage

Jindal is another favorite of the greater conservative movement. He has a very compelling story of immigrant parents that came to America to become part of this great nation to finally see their little son become the most powerful man in their adopted state. It’s the perfect American story, for sure.

Speaking of stories, Jindal has a lot of them especially where it concerns his involvement in the BP Oil spill from 2010. I’ve seen Jindal relate this tale several times and it is always a good one. His description of how the federal government was more interested in observing its silly OSHA than deal quickly with the emergency before them was telling and hilarious — though ultimately sad and infuriating. Since this is standard stump speech stuff of Jindal’s, though, I did not Tweet that segment.

Like the others Jindal started praising the Walker win in Wisconsin. One of his funniest lines was that all the news people were proclaiming that the vote would be so close that it would be a long night for Wisconsin as they tallied the votes. But reality proved that the whole thing was over in a matter of hours with Walker’s landslide. Instead of it being a long night for Wisconsin, Jindal joked that it was instead a “long night at Obama headquarters in Chicago!”
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CPAC Chicago, Part 3: Bobby Jindal, Peter Roskam, Michele Bachman”


CPAC Chicago, Part 2: Richard Mourdock, Chris Christie, Herman Cain

-By Warner Todd Huston

In part two of my coverage of CPACs first Midwestern conference event, we will see some of the high spots of the floor speeches of Indiana Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – always a crowd favorite – and the redoubtable Herman Cain. Cain also visited the media room and I have video of that below the fold.

Indiana Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock

Richard Mourdock is the current Indiana State treasurer but he also just defeated long-time incumbent Senator Richard Lugar for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate from Indiana. He’ll face the Democrat come November. Mourdock has been widely touted as the insurgent Tea Party candidate that beat Lugar, the old line, establishment man.

“No one expected a lowly state treasurer could take out a 36-year Senator! But we DID,” Mourdock said triumphantly.

Mourdock also noted that Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has called him the “Hoosier headache.” Mourdock was rather proud of that appellation.
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CPAC Chicago, Part 2: Richard Mourdock, Chris Christie, Herman Cain”


CPAC Chicago, Wisconsin Praised, Obama Razed — Part One: Rick Santorum, Ron Johnson

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, Friday evening, June 8, 2012, we marked the end of the first CPAC event held in Chicago and what a great event it was. The triumph in Wisconsin was on everyone’s mind but so was Obama’s dismal record. Not just dismal, but according to several speakers, even dangerous. The economy and the election of Romney were focal points but so was foreign policy this day. One theme, though, was constant: Obama has to go.

Because of other things going on and the several press availability sessions, I didn’t catch every speaker in the main hall, but I did hear the speeches of (in this order) former Senator Rick Santorum, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, Indiana Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Illinois Representative Peter Roskam, Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann, and Illinois Representatives Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren. I also heard and recorded the press availability sessions of Herman Caine, Peter Roskam, and Michelle Bachmann and I caught most of Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp’s.

Other notables whose speeches I missed were Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner, and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

The event was a great success with well over 2,000 participants, all seats filled for the most part during the speeches and some great groups like the United Republican Fund, the Illinois Policy Institute, the Heartland Institute, Champion News, and others hosting and participating.

I’ll say a few words about the speakers I did see in the order I saw them and I’ll do this in a few installments so that this won’t be one long, overly taxing post. Now, as each of these speakers appeared before us I live Tweeted their comments, so the following quotes are pulled from my Twitter feed.

But before I do that, each speaker was quite enthusiastic over the win of Governor Scott Walker who defeated an effort by the far left and their union overlords to recall him in Wisconsin. Each speaker praised Walker and crowed about the left’s loss in there. I won’t regurgitate the Wisconsin hunk of each speaker as they were pretty much all the same; exuberant. The essential point was that we are all cheeseheads now.

Rick Santorum


Rick Santorum on the main stage

Former Pennsylvania Senator and recent GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum gave one of his well-crafted, typically workman-like speeches. One of Santorum’s early points was that America is at a “tipping point” and we’d better be there to tip it in the right direction.
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CPAC Chicago, Wisconsin Praised, Obama Razed — Part One: Rick Santorum, Ron Johnson”


Too Many Republican Congressmen Giving Unions Free Tax Dollars

-By Warner Todd Huston

For such a blue state, Illinois has some rather good Republicans in Congress, but on one issue many of them consistently fail. That is in their unfortunate support for Big Labor. The issue of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) is a perfect example of this penchant to support issues dear to the hearts of Big Labor.

Unions love PLAs because the rule forces government construction projects to be conducted under union rules, to pay union pay scales to workers as well as pension payments to the union plans, and requires all work to be controlled by union bosses even if the companies hired to do the work are non-union. With PLAs unions feel they have the best of both worlds because they can still benefit from free government money even when they aren’t hired to do the work. In short, PLAs are a sop to unions.

The main problem with PLAs is that they drive up the costs of government building contracts from word go. This costs us all money and in this era when we need to be cutting back the skyrocketing costs of government adding rules that drive up costs before the first foundation is dug is madness. Worse it is unfair to the largest number of construction companies that aren’t union members as they are forced as a condition of getting the work to pay unions thousands out of their pockets even as they’ll never benefit from union pensions or other programs.

Sadly, too many Illinois Republican Congressmen have been consistently in favor of allowing unions this free government handout. It is probably not a huge surprise that even Republicans in deep blue Illinois might end up bowing to the needs of greedy Big Labor initiatives. But it is not a healthy support regardless.
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Too Many Republican Congressmen Giving Unions Free Tax Dollars”


VIDEO: Senator Mark Kirk on His Rehabilitation ‘Walking Program’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Kirk really sounds good for having had a stroke only 15 weeks ago. I am so relieved to see him doing so well and in such seeming mental competence.

He made a very interesting video about his status…

He has a long way to go, of course, but he seems willing and able.

We here at the blog wish him good health and success in his recovery.


I Can’t Agree With Rockford Tea Party Re. Kinzinger Undervote Plan

-By Warner Todd Huston

I write against what I consider the outrages of the left every day. But occasionally someone on my own side, someone I otherwise support, will cast a boneheaded vote, or say something stupid, or advocate for a wrongheaded policy. I have to address such situations when they occur and this week the Rockford Tea Party is under my microscope for advocating that voters in the newly reconfigured 16th District should undervote (as in not vote) for Congressman Adam Kinzinger in the upcoming general election.

Many Tea Party folks in the district west of Chicago and running down the western side of the state are furious that Kinzinger loped over from his 11th District to primary Congressman Don Manzullo, the current 16th District Representative.

Many of these longtime 16th District residents felt Kinzinger was an interloper and in the analysis of voting records it was without a doubt that Manzullo’s was more conservative than Kinznger’s.

But, let’s face it, since the Illinois Republican Party has over the last 10 years failed so miserably to make any headway in this state and since the Democrats have a deadlock on power it was the Dems that got to control the redistricting and they made a map guaranteed to eliminate some GOP congressman or another. As it happens, Don Manzullo’s number came up this year.

This is galling most especially because the reason we had to redistrict in the first place is because we lost population in this Census and that means we lost a seat in Congress. The reason our population fell is because of the failed policies of the Democrats, yet the Illinois GOP is so feckless that it cannot even make the Dems pay for their failures and the Dems ended up being rewarded with control of redistricting, a control that will safeguard their own political power thereby assuring that Illinois will fall even further into the abyss! Nice going Illinois GOP.

Anyway, back to Kinzinger. As you all know, Kinzinger won his primary challenge against long-time Congressman Manzullo. Kinzinger will now appear on the ballot in November to take office in the newly jigured 16th District.
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I Can’t Agree With Rockford Tea Party Re. Kinzinger Undervote Plan”


Jerry Clarke Announces for 13th Congressional District – He is the Wrong Choice for the GOP

-By Warner Todd Huston

Jon Zahm is hoping that the powers that be will draft Kyle McCarter to fill the about to be vacant — and redistricted — 13th Congressional seat now that Representative Tim Johnson announced that he isn’t going to run for reelection after all (despite that he just won the nomination only a few weeks ago).

With Johnson stepping down but the primaries already over, this means we have no candidate. That being the case the candidate that faces the Democrat in November will be appointed by the State Party to run for the office.

This week we’ve discovered that Jerry Clarke, a little known congressional aide, has announced that he wants the appointment and many assume the establishment GOP will just hand it over to him despite that Clarke has no electoral history and no real resume other than being buddies with the establishment types.

Party Chairman Pat Brady told the press that he will be “fair” with this process, a process that includes his cousin, Dan Brady.
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Jerry Clarke Announces for 13th Congressional District – He is the Wrong Choice for the GOP”


Now Illinois Dems Want Crook They Supported in Primary to Step Down?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Now the very same accused criminal that Chicago Democrats wanted people to vote for in Tuesday’s primary is being pressured to to step down from his office now that he won — pressured by the exact same Democrat officials that told people to vote for him only three days ago. This particular story is a perfect example of how Democrats a). Don’t care what voters want, b). Don’t care if their elected officials are crooks, c). Would rather see criminals in office than see a single Republican win an election.

To recap: Derrick Smith was appointed by the party to take a State Rep seat left empty by another Rep that moved on to a different office. As soon as he got in that office he began soliciting a bribe to fill his pockets. The FBI arrested him and charged him with the crime. Up comes the primary and Chicago Democrats, including Congressman Danny Davis, told Chicago voter to vote for this crook anyway because a criminal in office is better than having any Republican, says Davis and his crook-supporting crew The primary arrives and this crook wins his election. And now that he won

The Democrats’ endgame is to muscle Smith off the ballot and out of the House. Gov. Pat Quinn and Secretary of State Jesse White on Wednesday called on Smith to resign; Davis said Smith should not appear on the November ballot.

Just what is going on here?
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Now Illinois Dems Want Crook They Supported in Primary to Step Down?”


Annual NW Suburban GOP Lincoln Day Dinner — Newt, Roskam, Walsh, Dold, Schock

-By Warner Todd Huston

I attended the annual Northwest Suburban Republican Lincoln Day Dinner March 14 and took a handful of photos for your interest. This year’s special guest speaker was Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, in town making the rounds for his run for the White House.

The program was emceed by WLS Radio personality and political gadfly Dan Proft. Also speaking were Congressmen Joe Walsh (8th District), Robert Dold (10th District), Peter Roskam (6th District), and the keynote speaker was Rep. Aaron Schock (18th District).

I got a bit rushed by the Secret Service, sadly. I had taken a chair just to the right of the stage (audience right, not stage right) and had all my computer gear and whatnot out and in use and the Secret Service decided I wasn’t allowed to be there for what ever absurd reason. I was 5 tables away from the stage and in a corner, not in an aisle. Anyway, they grabbed all my gear and rushed me to the back of the room. Sheese.

Still I settled in and was at least allowed to take my photos. So, as the program began Radio talker Proft began the night with a joke. Not that this is uncommon, for an emcee to start with a joke, but it was an amusing one, so I’ll recount it here.


Dan Proft, WLS Radio

Callista Gingrich

“What is the difference between a Democrat politician in Illinois and a mobster,” Proft asked. The answer: “A pension.”

Proft next introduced Newt’s wife Callista who then introduced the Speaker.


Newt Takes the Stage

Seeing as how this was the Lincoln Day Dinner, Newt began with some words about the 16th President, noting that he was the president of technology for his day. Lincoln held a patent as an inventor, was a railroad booster (and corporate lawyer) and was always keenly interested in new war tech as he led the union to victory.
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Annual NW Suburban GOP Lincoln Day Dinner — Newt, Roskam, Walsh, Dold, Schock”


Rep. Walsh Schools National Park Service Director About Occupy DC

-By Warner Todd Huston

Why does the National Park Service think they should treat Occupy DC with kid gloves? Because they have “occupy” in their name… er… something. At least that is according to the head of the National Park Service, Jonathan B. Jarvis.

8th District Congressman Joe Walsh (R, ILL) wonders why Park Service personnel are not just tolerating the OWSers but actively assisting them and giving them aid for their protests!

Are we paying our taxes so that the Park Service can become part of an anti-American protest movement? Apparently we are.

Congressman Walsh did a great job showing that these OWSers are not something to be coddled.

(H/T Marathon Pundit)


Senator Dick Durbin: Pants on Fire

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Senior Senator, Democrat Dickie Durbin wants you to know that the fact that the Democrats have not passed a full, working budget in over 900 days is all because of those wascally Republicans.

Never mind that the Democrats have had the majority for over three years in the Senate, never mind that before the 2010 midterm elections they had 100% control of both Congress and the White House… it’s all them gosh darn Republican’s fault.

Never mind that they passed the boondoggle healthcare bill that will cause the U.S. to go bankrupt, never mind that Obama has gotten all his little sops to Big Labor to spite the faltering economy, never mind…. well, never mid all the things the Democrats seemed to have no problem getting done, they just can’t get that danged ld budget passed.

The fact is, Democrats are playing politics with one of the only real Constitutional duties they have, creating and passing a federal budget. Yet, the Old Media allows Obama to stand before the American people and pretend that he and his party are the ones interested in fiscal sanity? This is why our politics is so messed up. The Democrats operate on bald faced lies and the Old Media allows them get away with it.
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Senator Dick Durbin: Pants on Fire”


FULL VIDEO: Rep. Walsh Picks 8th District for 2nd Run

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Thursday night I attended the Chicago Tea Party meeting which featured a jazzed up first term Congressman Joe Walsh who came to announce in which District he’d take a crack at running to affect his reelection to Congress. Without stringing you along, Walsh chose the newly redistricted 8th for his run.

The Chicago Tea Party event was held at Chicago’s famous Cubby Bear restaurant right across the street from The Cub’s Wrigley field stadium.

With the Democrats in control of how Illinois’ electoral map was redrawn — due to the fact that the Illinois GOP has practically no power at all in the state — Walsh became the chief target that Democrats wanted to eliminate for 2012. Walsh’s home is currently in his 8th District, but redistricting casts his home into the 14th District, a district that is already represented by Randy Hultgren, also a solid Republican (and also a freshman congressman To boot).


A full House for Joe’s announcement at Chicago’s favorite Cubby Bear Pub

Initially Walsh announced plans to primary Hultgren and run in the newly jiggered 14th District. But as the weeks rolled on that prospect seemed an increasingly dismal idea. To primary another Republican would have meant a very, very bloody primary fight, one that would do neither Hultgren nor Walsh — nor Republicans for that matter — any good at all regardless of who won the primary.

This led Walsh to a hard decision and that is what brought him to the Cubby Bear that night.
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FULL VIDEO: Rep. Walsh Picks 8th District for 2nd Run”


Ex Governor Blagojevich Gets 14 Year Prison Sentence

-By Warner Todd Huston

I won’t waste too much time on this — still it is something that should be put on record here at the blog — but former Democrat Governor Rod Blagojevich has been sentenced to 168 moths, 14 years, in federal prison for his corruption.

In his statement before sentencing, Blagojevich apologized for his “unintended” actions, and said that as governor he should have known better. Rod even had his kids plea for leniency. Judge Zagel didn’t seem to think that the ex-guv’s apology was sufficient enough to lighten the sentence, however.

Sadly, the baneful influence of Blagojevich isn’t over just because he is now headed to prison. “The people that enabled him, all these guys are still in power,” GOP Chairman Pat Brady lamented on WLS radio after the verdict was announced. “As long as you have Mike Madigan and his absentee Attorney General daughter Lisa in office none of these problems will be fixed,” he said.

The Illinois Policy Institute also notes that Blago’s destructive “fiscal legacy is alive and well.”

Rod Blagojevich’s tenure as governor of Illinois will have a lasting effect on the state’s reputation and fiscal condition. From January 2003 to January 2009, Blagojevich made headlines for his sensational comments, political feuds and backroom deals. After being arrested in December 2008 on charges of political corruption, the Legislature removed him from office the following month. He since has been convicted on federal criminal charges.

See the full Ill. Policy Institute report HERE.
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Ex Governor Blagojevich Gets 14 Year Prison Sentence”


REINing Regs In

-By GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy & Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam

“Please don’t challenge us with more rules and regulations from Washington.” That was the plea to President Obama from Rock Katschnig, an Atkinson, Ill.-based soybean farmer and small-businessman at an August town-hall meeting.

While Mr. Katschnig was specifically referencing his opposition to the Administration’s imposed Farm Dust rule, a rule that if implemented would affect America’s 1.8 million farmers, his sentiments have become an all too common refrain from American businesses of all sizes across countless sectors.

Appropriate and responsible regulations are important, helping to keep us safe and our environment clean. Yet Washington has become a red-tape factory stunting job creation with a dizzying amount of federally imposed regulations written by unaccountable bureaucrats with little or no regard for the jobs each will cost.

The sheer amount and breadth of the administration’s proposed regulations make it impossible to address each and every one. Yet we can take action to stop the most excessive and economically-devastating regulations. Right now, the Obama Administration has 4,257 new regulations in the works, 219 of which will cost over $100 million annually – 15 percent more than last year. At a time when job creators are fighting to survive in an already tough economy, thousands of additional regulations will only result in significantly fewer jobs – hitting small businesses particularly hard.
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REINing Regs In”


Rep. Roger Eddy- Total Tax-Paid Compensation of $283,520 Plus

-By Adam Andrzejewski

“IT’S JUST WRONG.”

For 2011, Eddy has a total compensation package funded by Illinois taxpayers of over $283,520 per year. When our Freedom of Information Requests are fulfilled regarding his government health benefits and his accumulated “bank account” of unused sick days, we will update our analysis. We anticipate his annual compensation will exceed $300,000.

For the past 30 years, Roger Eddy has served in public education. Beginning as a teacher and coach, he has lived his new American Dream.

For the past 16 years, Eddy has been the superintendent of rural Hutsonville School District Unit 1. For the past 9 years (2003), Eddy has also been an elected Republican State Representative. The median Hutsonville household income is $32,500. Located four hours south of Chicago, it’s situated in the Wabash River Valley of East-Central Illinois.

Roger Eddy is a poster boy example of Illinois public greed…

Be sure and read the rest of this entry at For The Good Of Illinois.


Illinois Values Voters Forum: Rep. Joe Walsh, State Rep. Morrison, More

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Saturday morning, Dec. 3, I attended an event put on in Carpentersville, Illinois by Allen Skillcorn. The Illinois Value Voters Forum was billed as a forum on social issues, but it was also a great opportunity to have a nice friendly chat with several Illinois politicians on a variety of issues, not just those “values” issues we generally associate with social conservatism.

Results of Straw Poll Below the Fold


The Panel

Panelists included 8th District Congressman Joe Walsh, 54th District State Representative Tom Morrison, former State Rep Penny Pullen (currently of the Life Advocacy Research Project), and Bruno Behrend who was on hand to represent Adam Andrzejewski’s Open The Books Portal Project, a website where you can learn how much your public officials are making off the taxpayers. Along with the panel above, quite a few local officials and candidates in the hunt for the GOP nomination in their district also came out to meet and greet attendees.


Allen Skillcorn introducing Rep. Joe Walsh

Rep. Joe Walsh and Bruno Behrend

The first question posed by moderator Skillcorn was “when does life begin,” a common enough question for the values crowd. Ever the rebel, Congressman Walsh went on a ten-minute discussion on why we need to change Congress to GOP control and why we need to send “the right kind of Republicans” to Washington. But, after the stump speech, he did answer the question: “at conception,” of course.

The rest of the panel generally agreed with that, but I’d like to dwell a bit on Walsh’s stump speech. He reminded us of the fiscal disaster that this nation faces and he said that we should not forget that “the Republican Party helped us get here and we have to say that forcefully and respectfully.”

But Walsh saw a “revolution” stirring with the Tea Party and the 2010 midterm vote, one that has “only just started.”
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Illinois Values Voters Forum: Rep. Joe Walsh, State Rep. Morrison, More”


Kirk/Kinzinger Highlight Dec. 3rd Deadline to Mail Holiday Packages to Troops Overseas

From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, Illinois 11th District)…

USPS Deadline: December 3rd

CHICAGO – With the holidays upon us, U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.-11) today joined with student veterans at DePaul University to highlight the fast approaching U.S. Postal Service mailing deadline to send care packages to U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East.

“This is the season of giving, and we must not forget the brave service members who sacrifice so much for our freedom” Sen. Kirk said. “Every American should make a conscious effort to support them in anyway possible.”

“Having served a few tours overseas, getting something in the mail from home – whether it was a letter or package – always reminded me that my family and friends back in the States were thinking of me,” Rep. Kinzinger said. “Our courageous men and women forgo spending the holidays with their loved ones to answer the call of duty and put their life at risk for the sake of all Americans. We must be especially mindful to show our gratitude for their sacrifice during the holiday season. Their fortitude is the reason for our liberty.”

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Kirk/Kinzinger Highlight Dec. 3rd Deadline to Mail Holiday Packages to Troops Overseas”


Illinois CAT Dealer: Illinois’ Worst Business Climate Getting Worse

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Wednesday I attended a “government day” event at Patten Industries, a 78-year-old Illinois Caterpillar dealer situated in Elmhurst, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The event, led by current General Manager Garrett Patten, featured a discussion on the severely unfavorable business climate in Illinois and why the state is lagging so horribly behind the leading economic indicators of every surrounding state.

Patten Industries has been guided by four generations of Pattens, the company having been founded by B. C. Patten, Sr. in 1933. But Illinois has not been good to the company or its employees over the last decade or so. Unfortunately, the company has gone from employing some 700 employees in 2006 to only about 400 today due to the harsh economic climate in the Land of Lincoln.

This contraction is most certainly not something the Patten family wanted to see happen to their long-standing Illinois-based company. Patten Industries has faced a whole host of negative forces causing them to scale downward. And Patten is just one of many Illinois businesses facing the same problems — problems faced in much less severity by businesses in other nearby states.

Even as many corporations are just starting to see an upturn in their fortunes, Illinois government has set up so many hurdles to growth that other states are either taking our customers or even welcoming Illinois businesses themselves as new residents.

Garrett Patten says that at least three major problems face Illinois businesses. Workman’s comp, labor unions, and corporate taxes.
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Illinois CAT Dealer: Illinois’ Worst Business Climate Getting Worse”


Freedom Works Picks Walsh Over Hultgren for 14th District Primary

-By Warner Todd Huston

Denver, Colorado- Max Pappas, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Freedom Works, has announced that the FW candidate evaluation committee has chosen to support Congressman Joe Walsh in the upcoming 14th District GOP primary.

Pappas appeared at Blogcon 2011 as a member of a discussion panel focused on the suitability of the various 2012 primary candidates when the discussion turned to the Illinois 14th District.

Pappas said that in a survey of 80 votes, Joe Walsh only voted badly on one. “Walsh is with us 99.9% of the time. Hultgren only 60%,” Pappas said.

The only vote that Freedom Works disagreed with Walsh on was his vote favorable to Big Labor. Walsh voted against a right-to-work measure making that the only strike against his record.

Going solely on voting record, then, Freedom Works is supporting Joe Walsh for the 14th District primary.
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Freedom Works Picks Walsh Over Hultgren for 14th District Primary”


We Must Put an End to Medicare Fraud

From the office of Rep. Peter Roskam (R, Illinois 6th District)…

America’s elderly are victims of a crime spree so expansive that on an annual basis exceeds the value of all the cocaine smuggled in to North America. The crime is Medicare fraud, and it is conservatively considered to be a $50 billion industry.
While the federal government intercepts almost 40% of cocaine shipments to the United States, it stands virtually idle in apprehending Medicare fraudsters, recovering just $2.5 billion in fraudulent transactions and improper payments in 2009. Originating disproportionately from the Miami area, according to the FBI in September, “South Florida remains ground zero for healthcare fraud.” The unfortunate reality is that Medicare not only needs significant fiscal reforms to be around for future generations – like through the House Republican Budget: The Path to Prosperity – but its mechanics are also in dire need of substantive reform.

Fortunately, the solution to this crime problem is not to create another “taskforce” or “war on” anything; in part it takes adapting the proven fraud prevention mechanisms of the credit card industry – an industry suffering just .044 percent fraud out of $17 trillion in annual transactions.

This is not a failure of our law enforcement community. It is the product of Medicare’s broken “pay-and-chase” system for reimbursing claims. Medicare does not effectively guard against fraud on the front end — cutting checks without thorough fraud-check measures – so law enforcement officials must pursue fraudulent claims after reimbursement. It is the equivalent of a retail store processing a customer’s credit card approval long after the clothes have left the store. It’s nonsensical.
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We Must Put an End to Medicare Fraud”


Video: Walsh Gets a Bit Testy With Constituent

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Internet tubuals have been heating up with a video showing 8th District Republican Congressman Joe Walsh getting — shall we say — a bit testy with a constituent at a recent townhall.

The townhall was held in North Suburban Gurnee at Uno Bar and Grill and Walsh was being grilled about a lack of banking regulations by at least one voter.

Walsh was having none of it, as you saw. He’s exactly right about his point, too. It was Congress that was the problem, not any lack of banking regulations. I stand with Joe on the idea of getting government out of the economy not, as the voters on the video was trying to urge, get government more involved in the economy.

However, I feel Joe’s comportment was over the top and inappropriate. I support his passion on that issue, but he was simply too harsh in reply.
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Video: Walsh Gets a Bit Testy With Constituent”


Abe Lincoln and His Convicted Felon Pal, Bill Cellini?

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the kind of nonsense that we get with political influence peddling and corruption. A painting that now hangs in the new Lincoln library and museum in our state capitol has a ridiculous tie to long-time Springfield corruption king Bill Cellini, who was just last week convicted on charges of extortion and bribery.

Standing behind Lincoln whispering in his ear is a person that looks suspiciously like the corrupt Cellini.

According to The Southern, Bill isn’t the only Cellini memorialized in paint at the museum. His wife, Julie, is also in a scene depiction Civil War era Washington D.C. Mrs. Cellini is a key benefactor of the museum.
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Abe Lincoln and His Convicted Felon Pal, Bill Cellini?”


Ill. Gov. Quinn Bestows Award at Pro-Abortion Group Event

-By Warner Todd Huston

Steven Ertelt reports that Illinois’ Democrat Governor Pat Quinn has come under fire by the state’s Catholic bishops for agreeing to present a leadership award to a pro-abortion group.

Quinn will present the award at a Nov. 17 event being held by Personal PAC, a pro-abortion activist group that supports pro-abortion candidates in Illinois.

Naturally, this pro-abortion group gave $5,000 to Quinn’s reelection campaign in 2010.
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Ill. Gov. Quinn Bestows Award at Pro-Abortion Group Event”


Gov. Quinn Appoints Muslim Linked to Terror Groups to State Advisory Council

-By Warner Todd Huston

(Apologies, but we had a server switch yesterday and we lost the whole day’s worth of posts.)

Recently Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced the formation of the Illinois Muslim American Advisory Council, a group that will somehow “ensure” that Muslim American concerns are taken into account in state government. Among those appointed by the Governor to this board is ISNA Secretary-General Safaa Zarzour, a man who has been linked to organizations that fund Islamist terrorism.

Zarzour is known as a supporter and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group well known for pushing extremist Islamism and for funding terror throughout the world.

As a site that tracks the murderous efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood notes, Zarzour was an official in a Chicago-area Mosque that donated thousands to several terror groups.
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Gov. Quinn Appoints Muslim Linked to Terror Groups to State Advisory Council”


Illinois Government’s War Against Religious Child Services Continues

-By Warner Todd Huston

Earlier this year the State of Illinois moved to force religious-based children’s services to break their religious principles and give children in their charge to homosexual couples. Organizations such as Catholic Charities have been told by the state that they either break their religious principles or face being shut down by the state. So, pursuant to that agenda, the state has determined that all children currently in the hands of religious adoption agencies need to be removed immediately.

Representing Catholic Charities of three Illinois Roman Catholic Dioceses, the Thomas Moore Society filed an emergency motion to prevent the state from removing all the children in its care. Unfortunately, an Illinois appellate court refused to overturn the trial court’s decision to remove the children during the appeal process in which lawyers are now engaged. (Filings here and here.)

Still, other motions made in the emergency motion were granted. Thomas Moore informs that the matter “is now on an expedited schedule for briefing in the Appellate Court.” The fate of the children remains unknown at this point.
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Illinois Government’s War Against Religious Child Services Continues”


Weekly Republican Address 10/29/11: Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-IL)

Rep. Bobby Schilling delivers this week’s address on House Republicans’ Plan for America’s Job Creators. We know that government must get out of the way of small businesses to let do their job. That’s why we’ve passed bill after bill to reduce burdensome regulations and grow our economy–but the Democratic-controlled Senate refuses to acknowledge them. We can do more, and we can’t wait for the Senate and the President to work with us. Visit http://jobs.gop.gov to see our plan, and see the bills stuck in the Senate at http://majorityleader.gov/jobstracker.


Occupy Chicago Wants to ‘Collapse American Government’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Retired Palatine teacher, Roger Fraser, who makes nearly $8,000 a month in pension benefits off the backs of the Illinois Taxpayer, says that he wants to “collapse American government.”

These people want to “collapse” this country. They want to destroy it and remake it as an alien, communist abomination.

This is why there should be no sympathy for these Occupy-Whatever idiots. They are not Americans. They hate America. Unlike the Tea Party movement, these Occupy people are anti-American to the core.

Remember, these are the sort of people that Democrats like President Obama and Representative Jan Schakowsky are falling all over themselves to support.
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Occupy Chicago Wants to ‘Collapse American Government’”


Is Rep. Walsh Supporter’s Facebook Page ‘Cyber Bullying’ of Rep. Hultgren?

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the Daily Herald’s bloggers is wondering if the attack page against Congressman Randy Hultgren put on Facebook by a Rep. Walsh supporter qualifies as “cyberbullying.” It is an absurd charge, but the page in question is an interesting page of which to take note.

For those unaware, because of Democrat’s having redisticted Illinois and because the state lost a congressman because we lost residents in the last census, Rep. Joe Walsh (currently elected to the 8th District) announced that he will run against Rep. Randy Hultgren (currently of the 14th District). Instead or running again in the newly reconfigured 8th District, Walsh is challenging Hultgren in the 14th District.

Walsh feels he has to do this because his District was turned from a moderately GOp District to a leans Democrat District and because a lot of his constituents were switched over to the 14th district. This out come, where it is Republican against Republican, is precisely what the Democrats wanted. And boy are they getting it.
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Is Rep. Walsh Supporter’s Facebook Page ‘Cyber Bullying’ of Rep. Hultgren?”


Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Paul Ryan (R, Wis) will be headlining a fundraising event next week for Peter Roskam’s re-election campaign. Ryan is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Rep. Ryan is best known for his A Roadmap for America’s Future, a budget proposal favored by many Republicans and conservatives. Ryan has become something of a rock star among conservatives.

Roskam is the Representative of the Sixth Illinois District and is running for reelection. No challenger has announced an effort to face him.

Only in his third term, Roskam rose quickly in the ranks of the GOP and is now the third in line of the House GOP leadership serving as the Chief Deputy Whip.

Tickets for the Oct. 29 cocktail reception and private dinner at Naperville’s Hotel Arista range from $100 (reception) to $2,500 (reception, dinner, photo with the congressmen and “preferential seating”) a piece.

For more information see Roskam’s campaign website: http://www.roskamforcongress.com/.
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Rep. Paul Ryan To Headline Roskam Fundraiser”