-By Warner Todd Huston
CNN is reporting that Obama “has his work cut out for him” if he wants to get reelected in 2012 and a poll of Ohio and Pennsylvania is the evidence.
There has been a lot of speculation on how bad things are looking for The Obammessiah these days. Even Democrats are afraid that it is looking bad for Obama winning a second term…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
A homeowner in Philly was attacked by a mob of racist black “youths” that broke into his home apparently looking to kill white people. This is exactly the situation that the Second Amendment was made for.
The Philly Inquirer reports that “dozens of youths” marauded into a sleepy Philly neighborhood to find white teens to beat up or kill reportedly because an African-American was attacked on a playground nearby.
Don’t you love how the newspaper reports the makeup of the crowd? It’s just “dozens of youths” instead of what it really was, an army of black criminals intent on mayhem and murder. Police even said that it wasn’t just “youths,” either, but people into the thirties at least.
Mark LaVelle was standing outside near his home when two 13 or 14-year-old white boys ran up to him fearful that the mob would come after them. Once the crowd saw LaVelle with the two boys, they did, indeed, turn their attention to the three.
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What Guns Were Made For: Homeowner in Philly Attacked By Mob”
From the campaign for State Senate of Arie Friedman…
“The news for job-seekers and employers in Illinois just doesn’t seem to get any better,” said Dr. Arie Friedman, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 29th District, southeast Lake County and Wheeling, Palatine, Northfield and New Trier Townships in northern Cook County.
“The jobs climate in our state is closely tied to the fiscal condition of the state government itself,” said Friedman, “as Illinois continues to rate red alerts about the state budget deficit and the state’s growing debt.”
Friedman cited Monday’s report by the Civic Federation documenting Illinois’s deepening debt, even in the wake of increased state revenue from the personal and corporate income tax hikes passed by Springfield Democrats in January.
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State Senate Candidate Arie Friedman Comments on Illinois Deepening Debt”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Over the weekend I was invited to the reenlistment ceremony of Aviation Structural Mechanic, Third Class Petty Officer (AM3) Luis Mejia, a resident of New Lennox. Coming off eight years, Meija, 43, reenlisted for another six and for his ceremony he asked 11th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger to conduct his Monday ceremony.
Mejia served one year at Camp Bucca, Iraq in 2007 and as the congressman and he were talking they realized they served at the same time in the same place in Iraq. “We probably saw each other,” Kinzinger said.
Currently, Mejia serves out of Great Lakes Naval base.
As Congressman Knizinger addressed the friends and family gathered to witness Meija’s reenlistment he noted that this county has “been at war for a decade.”
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New Lenox: Reenlistment Ceremony of Luis Mejia, Officiated by Congressman Adam Kinzinger”
-By Larry Sand
Teacher union boss cherry picks from a biased poll and ends up with the pits.
Cherry picking is a phrase that has become quite popular these days. The term simply refers to advancing a certain point of view by using only data which supports that POV and omitting any contradictory or mitigating information.
A recent illustration of this phenomenon is on display in an article written by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. The ironically titled Back-to-School Reality Check is, in fact, quite short on reality. The article, primarily a pep talk for teachers, uses a recent Phi Beta Kappa/Gallup poll as its motivating source. Early on, Van Roekel tells us,
“73 percent (of the poll’s respondents) said teachers should have flexibility in the classroom.”
I’m all for that. But what the union boss leaves out is that for teachers to have more flexibility they would need to tear up the telephone book-size union contract that dictates every little move a teacher makes.
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Cherry Picking Facts + Bad Polling = Demagoguery”
From the campaign to re-elect Kirk Dillard, Illinois State Senate…
At a recent Republican meeting, Illinois State Representative and Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) endorsed Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) in Dillard’s race for re-election to the 24th Senatorial District.
Citing several pieces of landmark legislation sponsored by Sen. Dillard, including most recently a Internet Portal Act to disclose, on-line and in real-time (www.OpentheBooks.com), every salary, contract, tax break and tax deadbeat, Durkin said, “Sen. Kirk Dillard is the voice of families in Illinois and we must return Kirk Dillard to Springfield so we can draw on his valuable experience in creating jobs to get Illinois working again, protecting our families, controlling our out-of-control state budget and providing accountability in state government.”
Durkin then added, “Kirk knows Western Springs and our area well. He was instrumental in garnering the funds to replace the dilapidated Oak Street Bridge so that area residents have access to Hinsdale Hospital in case of emergency.”
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Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin Endorses Dillard”
-By Warner Todd Huston
My good friend Katy Benningfield has yet another report of the Guilford County, North Carolina GOP headquarters being vandalized and it occurs to me that if this had been a Democrat campaign office the Old Media would have reported this from coast to coast as evidence of those vile, evil, dangerous, violent Tea Partiers. But since it was just a Republican office being defaced the media just yawned .
Benningfield reports that the GOP HQ had the letters “KKK” spray painted on the brick siding and various windows of the building. The county sheriff’s office has been contacted and an investigation is underway…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
From Illinois GOP House Leader Tom Cross…
In response to a series of news reports in the Chicago Tribune on WGN-TV this week, uncovering huge pension hikes under the guise of public service, we filed a bill (HB3813) to close the little known loophole that nets some Chicago city workers tens of millions in pension bumps at the end of their careers.
Click here to watch WGN-TV’s coverage of our bill filling.
Click here to read the Chicago Tribune’s story.
“This is a huge slap in the face to taxpayers that government in cooperation with its employees comes up with a scheme, that is currently allowable under state law, to boost pensions sky-high,” said Cross. “This practice needs to stop—immediately—and we will file a bill today, so that this provision in state law cannot be abused.”
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Cross Files Bill to End Pension Perks”
From the office of Rep. Randy Hultgren (Ill., 14th District)…
A balanced budget amendment (BBA) to our Constitution is a permanent solution to our nation’s fiscal crisis to legally force future Congresses and Presidents to stop spending money they don’t have. Earlier this week I sat down to share my thoughts about a BBA and why it’s so important for the future of our country.
America Speaking Out (ASO), www.americaspeakingout.com, is an online community aimed at giving you a voice and the power to set the agenda in Congress. Through ASO, you can express your opinion about the BBA, which will be voted on in the House this fall.
I encourage you to visit www.americaspeakingout.com now to express your opinion about a BBA. It is through the support of the citizens like you that a BBA will become a reality – bringing much-needed certainty to the small business community, putting an end to the out-of-control spending, and restoring accountability to Congress.
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Video: Speak Out And Support A Balanced Budget Amendment”
-By Warner Todd Huston
A middle school in Smyrna, Georgia included in an assignment material that essentially shows 7th grade children that Islamic polygamy is a perfectly legitimate concept and that there is nothing wrong with the strict dress codes used to oppress Muslim women the world over.
The material was presented to the 7th graders at Campbell Middle School as part of a discussion of the school’s dress codes, apparently meant to use the ideas of Islamic culture for women’s clothing as some sort of example to compare how the school regulates clothing for its students in Georgia.
The concepts were presented in the lesson as a letter from a fictional 20-year-old Muslim woman named “Ahlima.” In this letter “Ahlima” tells readers that she wouldn’t mind if her husband took a second wife and also extolled the virtues of the burkha. She claims that American women are “horribly immodest” in the way they dress.
As to polygamy, the fictional Ahlima says, “I understand that some Westerners condemn our practice of polygamy, but I also know they are wrong.”
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Ga. Middle School: Muslim Polygamy Is Normal, Burkas Good For Women”
-By Warner Todd Huston
In a good sign for blogger free speech, a lawsuit against a high profile conservative blog in Illinois has just been tossed out. A political contributor brought the lawsuit over a story about property tax reassessments and political contributions. This is a victory for free political speech as well as a victory for the status of blogs in the world of “journalism.”
I’ve been aware of this story for some time but the folks at Illinois Review, the blog in question, asked me to sort of keep it all quiet. There were all sorts of legal questions being thrown about and since the folks that run the blog don’t have deep pockets and the whole thing was being born at their own expense, they wanted to be sure this whole mess didn’t escalate and hurt them too bad financially.
The lawsuit meant to silence the blog was a convoluted one, to be sure. Illinois Review had posted a story that revealed that former Ill. State Rep. Paul Froehlich (R, Schaumburg) had sought campaign contributions from property owners who had won property tax relief claims that the Representative had assisted in getting settled. But after the story went live, due to the notoriety the county assessors office reversed those tax relief decisions.
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Victory for Bloggers: Illinois Blog Wins Lawsuit”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill., 11the District)…
To Assess Consequences of EPA Regulations for U.S. Energy, Manufacturing & Jobs
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-11) along with Congressman Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) today offered a bipartisan amendment to the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts to the Nation (TRAIN) Act, H.R. 2401. The Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment would give Americans the opportunity to receive an explanation of the costs and job impacts associated with a new EPA regulation on gasoline before it can be enforced. The amendment was adopted and the TRAIN Act passed the House with bipartisan support.
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing a “Tier 3” rulemaking that would further reduce sulfur levels in gasoline to an average of 10ppm – this is a 70 percent change from today’s already low levels. In 2004, Tier 2 rules reduced sulfur by 90 percent from 100ppm to 30ppm. The Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment forces the EPA to ensure that the economic and job impacts of the Tier 3 regulations are thoroughly analyzed and reviewed.
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Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment Adopted into TRAIN Act Forces Agencies”
From the reelection campaign of Senator Kirk Dillard…
At the York Township Republican Committeemen meeting, Illinois State Senator and long-time Elmhurst Police Chief John Millner (R-Carol Stream) endorsed Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) in Dillard’s race for re-election to the 24th Senatorial District. Millner is also a Past President of the Illinois Police Chiefs Association.
Calling Dillard one of Illinois finest legislators, and a friend of all of the communities in DuPage County, Millner cited Dillard’s accomplishments, especially in the areas of accountability/transparency, fiscal policies and law enforcement.
“Sen. Kirk Dillard is the voice of DuPage County in Springfield and we must have his valuable experience in stopping the tax, spend and borrowing agenda,” Millner said.
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Former Elmhurst Police Chief Millner Endorses Dillard”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Thanks to Illinois Democrats and Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois now sits among the worst states in the country for jobs and business. Texas and North and South Carolina rank as the best.
Illinois is the state with the third worst business climates in the country. Only New York and last rated California are worse in the survey of 322 corporate executives conducted by Development Counsellors International (DCI).
The survey, taken every three years, asks the executives a series of questions meant to discern the most effective tools for marketing and business that leads to deciding where to open new offices and expand business. Executives cited low operating costs and a pro-business climate as the chief reasons for looking upon a state favorably.
California remains the worst state, the survey found.
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Illinois at Bottom of Favorable Business Climate List”
From the Illinois House Republican Caucus…
We traveled around Illinois this week introducing our new jobs plan to several communities in an effort to become more competitive with other states in order to retain and grow jobs.
Media Round-up:
We’ve all seen the news. Mounting debt, sluggish consumer confidence, zero jobs created in August – the first time since World War II that the U.S. economy had a net zero jobs created for a month – and the Illinois unemployment rate at a staggering 9.9%, nearly a full point higher than the national average.
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A Blueprint for Illinois Job Creation”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama pretends that he wants to cut regulations and make it easier for businesses to make jobs. Unfortunately, what he says and what he does with his powers to regulate are two very, very different things.
From the Workforce Fairness Institute:
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President Obama’s NLRB & Their Summer Assault On American Jobs”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Now this is the sort of corruption we are used to seeing in Illinois, eh? This week the Chicago Tribune and WGN TV has found up to 23 retired union operatives that are collecting millions in taxpayer dollars because they had pals in government tweak the state’s pensions laws to favor them.
These former government workers that were government union members got pliant politicians to alter the pensions laws to say that their pension remuneration would be calculated not on the lower pay they received when they retired from government, but from the much higher salary they received when they worked as union operatives. These folks worked as union bosses at the same time as working on the clock for government.
The “luck” of former union boss and Dept. of Streets and Sanitation worker Thomas Villanova is a typical example. Villanova last worked full-time for the city in 1989 and made $40,000-a-year. But he was also a union big wig making $198,000 annually upon his retirement in 2008 at age 56. His city pension, it appears, was calculated on the union salary of $198,000 instead of his real salary of $40,000 — itself obviously a no-show job in the first place.
Villanova stands to make millions off the taxpayers.
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Chicago: Union Members Collect Millions in Tax $$ With Sweetheart Pension Deal”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Back on August first the whole country was waiting for the House of Representatives to raise the debt ceiling and offer a continuing resolution to prevent a feared government shutdown. That was done with the support of 95 Democrats who claimed they were desperate to prevent that shut down. (Relevant amendment)
However, in a follow up vote on Sept. 21 on another bill (H R 2608), 89 of those same Democrats reversed their vote and have essentially voted in favor of a government shut down by voting “no” on the latest continuing resolution to keep the government’s doors open.
Of course, Democrats voted against this bill because increases in budgets (such as that for FEMA) were offset with cuts in other areas. Democrats simply want to increase spending without the fiscally responsible act of cutting spending elsewhere.
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Did 85 Democrats Vote In Favor of Government Shutdown?”
-By Warner Todd Huston
News today had it that two Cook County Commissioners have refused to take the agreed upon furlough days as required by the 2011 budget, days meant to save the county money. Both William Beavers and Earlene Collins have both refused to take the 10 days off.
Collins claimed on Chicago’s WLS AM 89 radio that she shouldn’t have to suffer the indignities of the cut in salary that the days off would mean. She says her base pay has never risen since she was first elected to office and that she has already cut out much of her office allowances and other staffing funds so she should not have to take a cut in pay, too.
In fact, claims Collins, she’s already made cuts that amount to more than the some $9,000 that her 10 day furlough would add up to.
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Cook Commissioners Refuse to Take Furlough Days?”
From the office of Rep. Randy Hultgren (Ill., 14th District)…
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
“This week, the Palestinian Authority may attempt to have the United Nations vote on the question of Palestinian statehood; this is not only misguided, it is a stunning violation of the spirit of the Oslo Accords,” said Hultgren. “We find ourselves at this crossroads due to a failure of leadership on behalf of President Obama. Had the President been a more effective leader, he would have issued his veto threat at an earlier date, in time to influence and shape international opinion against any change in Palestine’s status at the UN.
“I had hoped that the President would use his speech before the General Assembly today to lay down a clear marker of his support for Israel. Instead, he once again chose the route of moral equivalence, falsely blaming Israel for the peace process’s lack of progress.
“I have always believed that our relationship with Israel is unique in world history, and critical to both countries. Those beliefs were reinforced when I had the opportunity to visit Israel and meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu in May. President Obama must stand up this week not only for Israel and the Israeli people, but also for a commitment to the peace process and the rule of law.”
-By Warner Todd Huston
I spoke to Rep. Joe Walsh in Lake Villa, Illinois this past weekend and one of his first questions to me was about running against Hultgren in the new 14th District. Obviously the question was weighing heavily on him that weekend.
I told him it would be a tough fight but that I felt Joe had gone a long way to get his name recognition up in his first big year in D.C. Other than that, I had no advice on whether or not Joe could win there.
Well, now Congressman Walsh has made the final decision and will run against Republican Randy Hultgren in the new 14th District.
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Rep. Walsh WILL Run Against Hultgren in the New 14th District”
-By Illinois GOP House Leader Tom Cross
For nearly 100 years, Modern Drop Forge employees have been manufacturing metal forging tools in Blue Island. In August, the company announced it was moving to Indiana and taking 240 jobs with it. The reason: Illinois’ “poor business environment”–specifically, workers compensation laws and high taxes.
How many more companies and good jobs are we willing to let go before we get serious about workers compensation, regulatory, tort and tax reform?
In January, after Illinois’ governor and Democrats in the General Assembly passed the largest income tax hike and corporate tax hike in state history, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels actively began recruiting Illinois businesses. He isn’t alone. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey came to Illinois and ran TV ads after the tax vote marketing his state to businesses.
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Illinois Jobs Need to be Job One”
From the campaign of Cliff Surges for Illinois State Senate, 33rd District…
The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Illinois is ranked among the three worst states for business, according to a survey of U.S. corporate executives. Illinois’ business climate consists of many more problems than a 67% income tax increase. Career politicians statewide have failed to properly address worker’s compensation, spending reform, and have continued with government barriers to job creation.
“The last thing people in the 33rd Senate District need is another career politician in Springfield. Voters need a State Senator with experience and knowledge in creating jobs, paying our bills, and improving our economic climate,” says Clifford Surges.
Current leadership has come up short and has promoted a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that remove barriers to job creation. People in the 33rd State Senate district, who live from Geneva and St. Charles up north to Crystal Lake and Huntley, demand better.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama’s Department Of Justice claims that Texas redistricting is somehow “unfair” because Democrats have lost power. Therefore the DOJ is going to take the state to court over its new map. Yet, in Illinois, the Democrats have decimated Republican districts and slighted several Hispanic districts, yet the DOJ has turned a blind eye to pleas for redress there. This all tends to prove that Obama’s DOJ is less about “fairness” and more about politics. Sadly, Obama is playing politics with justice.
Only days after his inauguration in 2009 President Barack Obama warned Republicans that he wasn’t much interested in what they had to say on policy. In a meeting with congressional leaders he told Republicans “elections have consequences” and “I won.” Obama apparently wanted to stress that those that win elections should set the agenda and run the table. To echo Rep. Joe Wilson, Obama lied.
Take Texas, for instance. Thanks to two years of one failed Democrat policy after another and after two years of a sustained assault on American values, an attack on our business community, capitalism, and an avalanche of regulations quashing any chance of an economic recovery, the political landscape of Teas turned a deep, deep red in the 2010 midterm elections.
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Texas Redistricting: Forget About ‘Justice,’ Obama’s DOJ is ALL About Politics”
From the office of Rep. Peter ROskam (Ill., 6th District)…
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06), issued the following statement in response to the President’s debt plan:
“It is disappointing that with our economy on the verge of a double-dip recession President Obama is proposing trillions in higher taxes. Small businesses are already begging for mercy from Washington’s high tax and regulatory environment. Higher taxes – and the uncertainty caused by the threat of them – is the last thing American small businesses and job creators need to endure. It’s unfortunate but this latest proposal is predictably sad and sadly predictable from an Administration that has over-taxed, over-regulated, and over-spent our way to nine-percent unemployment and $14 trillion in debt.”
Roskam Statement on Obama’s Debt Plan”
-By Doug Ibendahl
In 2010 there were a total of 6,705 precincts in Illinois. (That’s across the state’s 101 counties other than Cook County. Cook has a unique legal structure and neither political party elects Precinct Committeemen there as explained below.)
Of those 6,705 precincts: 3,440 had no one running for Republican Precinct Committeeman in 2010. That’s a 51% statewide vacancy rate.
It also represents a major lost opportunity for thousands of Republicans and our entire Party. It’s unacceptable, and it’s a big reason why good Republican candidates are losing winnable races to the Democrats in Illinois.
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Run for Republican Precinct Committeeman”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Mike Quigley, the Democrat Congressman from the Chicago area’s 5th Congressional District thinks he needs to apologize for America. Why? Well, because we have been so darn evil towards Muslims and all, dontcha know? And why are we so mean to Muslims? It’s because Republicans want to cut the budget.
It looks like Quigley has taken a page out of President Obama’s world apology tour playbook by going back to his district to attend the American Islamic College Conference in Chicago where he felt compelled to apologize for America.
After a long winded wind up saying that the “war” we are experiencing between the diverging ideas about the economy is an “ideological war,” and it’s one that is causing us to somehow lash out against Muslims! Never mind that Muslims declared war on the U.S. long before the U.S. had any major economic troubles. He capped that surreal assessment with his grand apology…
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Illinois Congressman Apologizes to Muslims for Being Discriminated Against”
-By Larry Sand
President Obama has talked a good education reform game, but when push comes to threats, he is above all a good union man.
On August 25th, AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka uttered a few words that seemed to resonate with President Obama. He said, “The AFL-CIO has not yet decided if it will participate in next year’s Democratic National Convention, as labor union members ponder whether President Obama has earned their support.…” He said the major economic speech the president has planned for early next month will tell union members what they need to know about whether he will be worth supporting.”
Trumka has a history of following through on his threats. As president of the United Mine Workers in the spring of 1993, he wanted to ensure that no one would be able to find employment as a miner without paying union dues to the UMW. Accordingly, he proceeded to order more than 17,000 mine workers to walk off their jobs, and told the striking miners to “kick the sh– out of every last one” of their fellow employees and mine operators who resisted union demands. UMW thugs dutifully responded by vandalizing homes, firing gunshots into management’s offices, and cutting off the power supply to another mine, temporarily trapping 93 miners underground.
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Obama, Teachers Unions and Tax Evasion”
From Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill., 8th District)…
Last week, I announced that instead of attending Obama’s political speech, I would host a small business job forum. I told you I would not be a political prop in Obama’s latest campaign game.
It looks as though I have been proven correct.
The Democratic National Committee just released their latest web ad promoting Obama. What is the topic? You guessed it: Obama’s joint session. The video is titled “14 Months”, the remaining time until the next election. As reported by “The Daily Caller”, it is evident the ad’s purpose is to raise money for the democrats.
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Rep. Walsh: Obama’s Jobs Speech, It Was Political”