AFP’s “Wasteful Spending” ad holds President Obama accountable for sending billions of taxpayer dollars to “green energy” companies overseas, even while Americans suffer with rising energy prices and a lack of jobs.
Learn more: www.americansforprosperity.org
-By Warner Todd Huston
An exciting opportunity to join a nation-wide effort to “true” our voting system is happening in Houston, Texas. The 2012 True The Vote National Summit is happening on April 27 and 28 and if you want to be part of the leading voter integrity project in the nation you should be there, too. (Register to attend today)
The first national True The Vote Summit was conducted by those who in 2010 successfully rooted out vote fraud in Harris County, Texas. In 2011 folks from 27 different states were in attendance to learn how the Harris County effort was conducted in hopes of replicating the same back home, but with the hard lessons already learned by their hosts.
Last year’s summit was wildly successful and this year a new schedule of speakers will help inform and educate those in attendance on the state of our elections system today and what needs to be done to correct the major problems we are experiencing.
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National Election Integrity Event, Houston, Texas April 27, 28″
(Courtesy of Americans for Prosperity)
Washington, DC – Today Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s premier advocate for economic freedom, released a very special “Happy Birthday” message to honor President Ronald Reagan on his 101st birthday. The 60-second television spot contrasts Reagan’s optimism, prosperity, and belief in freedom with the broken promises and class-warfare rhetoric of President Obama.
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips said, “On Reagan’s birthday, I can’t help but miss the President more than ever. His vision for America contrasts so sharply with the big-government waste and cronyism that will be the legacy of the Obama Administration.”
Called “Two Visions,” the ad compares and contrasts quotes from the two presidents, showing the stark difference in their view of what America should be.
“It’s important to remind ourselves what a terrific difference a great leader can make in this country,” Phillips continued. “President Reagan knew that free market policies would result in millions of new American jobs, exploding personal incomes, with broad-based prosperity and optimism for our nation. However President Obama’s approach is just the opposite – more taxes, more government, and job killing regulations – all in pursuit of his own liberal ideology.”
The ad culminates with the message: Happy Birthday, President Reagan. We miss your optimism, your love of America, and your belief in the power of freedom. The ad release coincides with social media advertising and grassroots action.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Today on her radio show, Dana Loesch told her audience about being disinvited to an event hosted by the Illinois Policy Institute over the weekend.
I detailed this story here: Appearance by Andrew Breitbart Employee Canceled By Illinois Policy Institute
-By Warner Todd Huston
Last Friday, The Illinois Policy Institute disinvited Dana Loesch, the editor of Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism site, from a breakfast event that was to be held over the weekend on Saturday.
The Illinois Policy Institute was holding the event in conjunction with the Independent Women’s Forum and Smart Girl Politics and was to be a “discussion on women, liberty, and America’s future.”
Loesch was disinvited due to a small controversy over what she said Friday on her Saint Louis-based radio show on KFTK 97.1 FM. Loesch took umbrage over those criticizing U.S. Marines that were filmed urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Loesch was incensed at those complaining about the conduct of our soldiers and went into one of her patented rants about how she didn’t care if our solders urinated on the corpses of our enemies. “I’d drop trou and do it too,” she said of the incident.
Loesch went on to say, “Do I have a problem with that as a citizen of the United States? No I don’t.”
During the rest of that Friday many progressive sites (like Politico) went after Loesch for her comments.
Loesch herself has said that the left’s attack on her is all unfair. “There is a difference in advocating for the Marines to break the law, which I didn’t do, and defending them from overly-dramatic hysteria,” she said.
Sadly, this faux controversy gave the Illinois Policy Institute cold feet for the weekend breakfast meeting and they told her she was no longer welcome at the event. Worse, the group never even made a public comment on the disinvitation. They just, in the dead of night, disinvited her.
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Appearance by Andrew Breitbart Employee Canceled By Illinois Policy Institute”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On Tuesday, December 13 a rally was held near the LBJ Library at the University of Texas, Austin to highlight the attack on election reforms launched inside by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder went to Texas to denounce the Lone Star State’s voter ID laws and claimed that simple voter ID laws were somehow discriminatory. Holder ominously claimed that he would use the power of his office to “enforce civil rights protections” during the upcoming 2012 elections.
Outside the LBJ Library nearly 200 citizens gathered to hear a multi-racial panel of six speakers denounce Holder’s partisan attempts to push the administration’s agenda to turn a blind eye to continuing voter fraud that consistently favors candidates from the Democrat Party.
The rally was sponsored by the Houston-based True The Vote, a grass roots voter integrity project staffed by volunteers. True The Vote is a nation-wide organization that has affiliates across the country, every day citizens interested in the integrity of the elections in their home district.
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Austin: Successful Rally to Oppose AG Holder’s Attack on Election Reforms”
-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.
-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
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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”
A thank you to our veterans for the sacrifices they’ve made in the name of freedom featuring comments from Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Don Stenberg, Dan Liljenquist, and Adam Hasner.
Freedom Works debuted this great video for Veteran’s Day while we were in Denver this past weekend. It is now up at Youtube and, even though the holiday is past, I thought I’d feature the video today.
-By Warner Todd Huston
As each day passes we see more of the violence, theft, property destruction and anti-Semitism of these Occupy-Whatevers. We are learning that these Occupy events are run by ACORN, big labor and various anti-American groups such as communists, socialists, and what have you.
Worse there are instances of rape going on at these events and the Occupiers refuse to help the victims find justice by involving the police.
So, why are Democrats and the Old Media still falling all over themselves in love with these haters at the Occupy events?
Well, one group tired of the hate is Freedom Works.
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Reject the Occupy Wall Street Haters!”
-By Warner Todd Huston
John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, penned an op ed in the Chicago Tribune touting what he claims is the common ground between conservatives and the Occupy Wall Street leftists who have trickled into the streets across the country. I hate to say it, but his op ed was puzzling and its base concept — that conservatives and these Occupy nuts should work together — is incredibly off base.
Before I get into Tillman’s points, though, let me say that I generally support the good works of the Illinois Policy Institute. I’ve covered many of its events in the past, I’ve worked closely with some of its members, and I’ve met Mr. Tillman many times at many events. I repost the Institute’s email blasts on my sites, as well.
I will continue with my support of the Illinois Policy Institute (don’t call them IPI because some other organization has that trademarked and they get mad) despite this disagreement with Mr. Tillman. They often do very good work.
OK, now that that’s out of the way… Tillman, my friend, you are soooo wrong!
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Ill. Policy Institute CEO Tillman Is Just Plain Wrong About ‘Occupy’”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Governor Scott Walker was the worst devil the unions could imagine. They targeted him and Wisconsin’s Republicans mercilessly earlier this year. Fortunately, the unions and their Democrat handmaidens lost most of these battles.
But now some results are being seem from the efforts to curtail the un-democratic, unearned power of Wisconsin’s government employee unions. A new effort by the MacIver Institute and Americans for Prosperity is showing the world where these policies have succeeded in making things better in Wisconsin.
This is a lesson for Illinois and every other blue state. We can fix our problems, too. But it means defeating entrenched, un-American union power and their bought and paid for Democrats.
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Wisc.: Walker’s Union Reforms Are Working! (A Lesson for Illinois)”
From Lake County Right to Life…
(Grayslake, IL—October 19, 2011) Lake County Right to Life joins the Illinois Family Institute and numerous other pro-life, pro-family organizations in opposing Illinois HB 3027, the new sex education bill. The bill is supported by Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, NOW, and numerous other Illinois pro-abortion organizations. The bill will be taken up in the fall veto session, which begins on October 25. HB 3027 has already been passed by the Illinois Senate.
HB 3027 mandates that every public school teaching sex education in grades 6 – 12 must teach comprehensive sex education. Lake County Right to Life has numerous major problems with this bill, including:
It mandates curriculum promoting abortion, stating that it is legal, safe, and parents don’t have to know about it.
It calls for “medically accurate” sex education, but the curriculum misinforms students by telling them that “morning after pills” don’t cause abortion.
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HB 3027 Will Promote Abortion, Force out Abstinence in Sex Education”
From the Illinois Policy Institute…
I had a direct encounter with the Occupy Wall Street protesters as I was on my way home the other night. The Illinois Policy Institute’s office is a block north of their Chicago base at Jackson Boulevard and LaSalle Street, so I’ve been walking through the crowd almost daily as I go about my business. But I recently stopped and had a real discussion.
It was delightful.
I asked what it is they were upset with and why were they vilifying corporations, noting that their umbrellas, cardboard signs and the ink used to write their anti-corporation messages all were made by corporations.
Like others, I’ve seen the news reports about their supposed demands: a $20 minimum wage, forgiveness of all debt and a socialist-style health care system. As the leader of a free market think tank, it will come as no surprise that I do not support those solutions; they are not economically sound.
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Ill. Policy Institute: A Direct Encounter with Occupy Wall Street Protesters”
Did you know that when it comes to public school teachers in Illinois, paying their own way to retirement isn’t the norm? We took on the task to find out just how much taxpayers can save if all teachers were to pay their required share into the state pension system.
An investigation by the Illinois Policy Institute found that as the state grapples with a public pension shortfall in excess of $86 billion, teachers in nearly half of the state’s 867 public school districts contributed nothing from their weekly paychecks to their pensions. Instead, school districts – and by extension, taxpayers – paid the entire 9.4 percent employee contribution toward these teachers’ pensions, as well as the required employer contribution.
During the 2009-2010 school year alone, taxpayers across Illinois could have saved more than $400 million if teachers had paid their legally required share. Taxpayers deserve to have this $400 million back in their pockets. If you agree, go to our facebook page and like our latest post and leave a comment too. Click here and it will take you there.
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Ill. Policy Institute: Nearly 1/2 of IL teachers contribute nothing toward pensions”
-By Warner Todd Huston
John Fund visited with Robert Bluey of the Heritage Foundation to discuss why voter ID laws are good in general but also good for minorities.
Visit The Scribe for more info.
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John Fund on Why Voter ID Law is Good for Minorities”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Phil Kerpen has a warning for you, America. He wants to alert you to the fact that Barack Obama is using his powers to create regulations to undermine Congress, ignore voters, and “radically transform America.” But Kerpen also has some good news. There’s a way to stop this left-wing assault on our country. You can find out what that something is in his new book, Democracy Denied: How Obama is Ignoring You and Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America — and How to Stop Him.
For this book — his first if I am not mistaken — Kerpen, the Vice President for Policy at Americans for Prosperity, has decided no less than to save the Republic. Of course, it’s an uphill battle to beat back the war that has been launched against America for sure.
Why is it an uphill battle? Because the way our country is being torn down is happening in the most subtle way possible. Worse, it is all being done with such ersatz legality, a legitimacy so seemingly ironclad, that most Americans are completely unaware of what is happening. And when they are aware of it they imagine there is nothing wrong with it all.
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How Obama Is Bypassing Democracy, Congress and YOU”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Andrew Thomason of the Illinois Statehouse News agency has a pair of stores on the criminal syndicate that is unions in the Land of Lincoln this week that have to be seen to be believed. In fact, these stories and the ones like them we’ve seen for the past several months in Illinois are proof positive that unions should be illegal for government employees.
In one story, Thomason reports the tale of Michael Johnson, a corrupt teacher out to milk the taxpayers dry by collecting $209,379.43 in pension benefits while at the same time also collected $324,785 from a separate Illinois pension fund. And so far this crook has already collected $1.1 million of our tax dollars on top of the $198,105 a year he makes for “part-time work” for the school district.
This is called double dipping. Johnson was able to do this because he worked at one job in Illinois education, “retired” from it, then took a second job in the same field. This means he gets two pensions to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, likely totaling up to millions by the time he dies. All paid for by the taxpayers of Illinois.
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Abuse: Union Leaders Pull Down Millions in Public Pensions in Illinois”
From the Illinois Policy Institute…
Chicago high schools have long held a tragic reputation. Now, a new group of schools is telling a different story: Students citywide can compete academically when given the chance and a choice.
The Institute’s newest report on education shows that when it comes to ACT scores, nine out of 10 of the top-scoring, open enrollment high schools in Chicago are charter schools. Many of these schools are posting ACT scores previously unheard of for high poverty high schools in Chicago.
And there’s reason to be even more optimistic about these encouraging trends. That’s because this July, Gov. Quinn signed a piece of legislation that will open the door to numerous additional charter schools in Chicago, as well as downstate.
This shows once again that charter schools – by giving parents and students more options in their education – improve the quality of education for everyone in the state of Illinois.
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Ill. Policy Institute: 9 of the Top 10 are Charter Schools”
America has heard a lot of talk about the “Buffett Rule” — President Barack Obama’s plan to make the tax code more “fair” by permanently raising taxes by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, with most of the burden falling on families and businesses earning more than $250,000 per year. But if he wants to talk about “fairness,” he should look at how much top income earners already pay in taxes, as the chart below shows:
In a new paper, Heritage’s Curtis Dubay explains that the supposed “fairness” of the new rule is anything but fair:
To President Obama, it is “fair” to raise taxes on families and businesses earning more than $250,000 a year by raising their income tax rates and limiting their deductions. That must also mean he believes that they currently pay too little in taxes.
Yet the data show the highest-earning families and businesses already pay the lion’s share of the federal income tax burden. According to the IRS, the top 1 percent of income earners—those earning more than $380,000 in 2008—paid more than 38 percent of all federal income taxes while earning 20 percent of all income. The top 10 percent ($114,000 and above) earned 45 percent of income and paid 70 percent of all taxes. At the same time, the bottom 50 percent of income earners—those earning less than $33,000—earned 13 percent of all income and paid less than 3 percent of federal income taxes.
Read more of Dubay’s paper, “The Buffett Rule: Fair to No One,” at Heritage.org.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Freedom Works initiated Kosher Tea, a way to connect Tea Party groups with Jewish groups in order to facilitate some common efforts on conservatism, pro-Israel policies, and economic freedom.
www/KosherTea.org
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Kosher Tea Unites Tea Partiers With Jewish Community”
From the Illinois Policy Institute…
Poverty is on the rise in Illinois. In 2010, almost 2 million Illinoisans lived in poverty – the highest number since 1992. What have politicians proposed to reduce poverty and put Illinois back to work? Unfortunately, only increased spending and higher taxes.
You and your family are affected everyday by failed,
government-centric policies handed down by Washington to Springfield.
But after the pain of the recession and the absence of a real recovery, we all know there’s no way more government spending will turn the economy around. In fact, higher taxes are only going to hurt struggling families.
If you’re tired of footing the bill for politicians’ reckless ways, check out my latest blog about Obama’s most recent effort to employ the same tax, spend and borrow policies that have sunk the state’s economy for years.
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Ill. Policy Institute: IL has the most people in poverty since 1992”
From For the Good of Illinois…
We opened the books. We posted the payroll and pensions of virtually every public employee from every level of Illinois government. Click here to visit the new website.
Open the books on your local taxing body. See how they are spending your property, sales, and income taxes. Then, please forward this email to your entire address book.
Our purpose was to help you answer a simple question, “How much does my government cost?” For the first time in history, you can quickly and privately find an answer.
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State of Illinois Salaries Posted Online – The Books Are Open!”
From Lake County Right to Life…
(Grayslake, IL—September 7, 2011) Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, where immigrants are forced into prostitution or slave labor. Since 2000, with the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the Department of Health and Human Services has operated anti-trafficking programs, providing them through nonprofit partner organizations. From the beginning, faith-based organizations were in the forefront of these efforts, instrumental in developing ATIP (Anti-trafficking in Persons Program) and providing a large percentage of services. Now changes in HHS grant requirements will exclude some of these very organizations from participating in the programs.
Between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked in the U.S. annually, about 1/3 of them children. Coalition partners identify victims, raise public awareness and provide services such as food, shelter, legal assistance, income assistance, mental health services, English language training, employment assistance and health care.
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New Federal Policy Hinders Fight Against Human Trafficking Penalizes Faith-Based Groups Over Abortion Stance”
From the Institute for Truth in Accounting…
Chicago, (September 6, 2011) — Today the Institute for Truth in Accounting and the Comeback America Initiative (CAI) announce that Hon. David M. Walker, CAI Founder and CEO, and former Comptroller General of the United States, has joined the Institute’s Advisory Board.
‘We are honored to have David Walker as our first Advisory Board member,’ said Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of the Institute. ‘I have worked with David for years on bringing truth and transparency to the federal government.’
‘David’s wealth of knowledge and expertise in government finance and accounting will help the Institute take a leadership role in the national dialogue on government fiscal matters,’ stated Roger Nelson, chairman of the Institute and former vice chair of Ernst & Young. ‘We look forward to continuing to work with CAI to bring honest financial reporting and accountability to all levels of government.’
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Hon. David M. Walker Joins the Institute for Truth in Accounting Advisory Board”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Thanks to the profligate spending in Washington D.C., each American citizen’s share of the debt is now up to $31, 871, as you can see by the chart below…
But that is nothing compared to where it will be in just a few short years. As the chart shows if things continue the way they are now, by 2032 each American’s share of the debt will soar to over $100,000. And by 2050 each American’s burden will be closing in on $300,000.
These are the result of Washington’s drunken spending sprees and the unfunded mandated spending that politicians continue to push. Without entitlement reform and a way to cut spending, the United States of America will default. There simply is no way to maintain these wild levels of spending.
This chart can be found in the Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Budget Book which features charts on federal spending, revenue, debt and deficits, and entitlement programs.
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Dear American, You Owe the U.S. Gov’t $31,871″
From the Illinois Policy Institute…
Many of you are familiar with FOIA requests: they allow engaged citizens to request public documents. State requirements ensure governments provide these documents in a timely manner.
But on Friday, Gov. Quinn signed a bill that weakened these rules. Now, governments will be allowed to characterize citizens as “recurrent requesters.” If a citizen requests more than 15 documents in a month or 50 in a year, government entities no longer need to respond promptly.
This law punishes citizens who pay close attention. Instead of creating new obstacles for the very people who are most engaged in holding our government accountable, we should be celebrating their efforts.
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Illinois Policy Institute: That is SO Illinoying!”
I met Mr. Seiffe many times, though I never interacted much with him. Still, he was a staple around Republican politics for years here in the Chicagoland area. Mr. Seiffe passed away this week from a heart attack.
John Tillman worte a great little memorial of Seiffe, so instead of me fumbling my way through an accounting of his great work, I’ll Joh Tillman of the Illinois Policy Institute speak to the matter…
The liberty movement lost a great friend when Ralf Seiffe died unexpectedly yesterday morning. Ralf was truly of one life’s unique characters that come along all too rarely. Ralf was a joyful lover of life, people, history, culture and, of course, liberty. Ralf was a fountain of creativity. He always had a breadth and depth of knowledge on his many brainstorms, but what was so amazing to me was that he always knew more pertinent and interesting information about my crazy ideas than I did. Not only that, he could add value to the idea of the guy on the bar stool sitting next to us on a Friday afternoon at Hackneys.
One day, Ralf’s business partner, Richard Lorenc, a friend of mine and former colleague, came to me and said, “I was thinking of starting a business that would bring people of modest means together who love liberty and help them aggregate their giving power to create an impact on the liberty movement.”
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Illinois Activist, Writer, Ralf Seiffe, RIP”
From Americans for Prosperity – Illinois…
Are you frustrated with the direction our country is going in? Are you ready for real conservative change that will get our economy moving again?
Join Americans for Prosperity, United to Restore Freedom, and the Joliet Tea Party for a special “Candidate and Campaign Management” workshop on Saturday, September 10th at 9:00 a.m. conducted by the prestigious Leadership Institute.
The campaign and candidate workshop is designed to help develop potential candidates and community activists to run for office. The campaign and candidate workshop focuses on personal and political preparation to help advance a candidate or cause of your choice.
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AFP: Help Advance Conservative Change”
From the Illinois Policy Institute…
Last week in Seattle, I had the pleasure of watching John Tillman accept the Roe Award at the State Policy Networks’s annual meeting. The Roe Award pays tribute to those in the state public policy movement whose achievements have greatly advanced the free market philosophy.
The activities and impact recognized by the Roe Award were truly a team effort. That team is made up not only of our top-notch staff but also the donors who underwrite our work and the liberty leaders who champion the changes that will lead to a better Illinois.
That team includes you. Thank you for helping the Institute’s work take flight by reading our research, forwarding innovative ideas to friends and family and demanding that elected leaders embrace policies built upon liberty and respect for the individual.
Together, we can keep changing hearts, minds and laws.
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Ill. Policy Institute: John Tillman Wins the Roe Award”