States

Illinois - Sam Adams Alliance - Warner Todd Huston

2011 Sammies Awards, April 8

March 30, 2011 by

From the Sam Adams Alliance…

2010 was the year activists redrew the battle lines in American politics, erasing “R” and “D,” fusing red and blue, blurring conservative and liberal, and creating bright contrast between political professional and citizen.

The Sammies celebrates ordinary Americans who take extraordinary steps to advance our freedoms.

This year, SAM will recognize their achievements with new categories, more prizes, and the best party we have ever thrown!

These extraordinary Americans help all of us relate to citizenship on a personal level, and inspire us all to re-imagine how we can engage in our democracy.

Reserve your spot by clicking here or by calling our office at 312-920-0080.

Featured Speaker, John Stossel of Fox Business

Watchdog. Reformer. Irreverent Messenger. These are not just award categories. They capture the essence of John Stossel, and SAM could not be more delighted to announce John Stossel of Stossel on FOX Business as our keynote speaker at the 2011 Sammies.

Anti-Americanism - Congress - Conservatives - Crime - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Republicans - Rights - Senate - Texas - Transparency - Warner Todd Huston

A Nationwide Movement To Eliminate Voter Fraud Is Born

March 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

This past weekend the first national True The Vote Summit was conducted by the folks that successfully rooted out vote fraud in Harris County, Texas during the 2010 elections. 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.

On Saturday those in attendance heard from True The Vote’s wizened members and learned what the best practices were to “true” the voting process in their own areas. Along with the True the Vote experts attendees also heard from the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund and election law expert Christian Adams. The day’s activities were wrapped up in a neat, if somewhat eccentric bow as those gathered heard an entertaining address by none other than our own Andrew Breitbart.

This event wasn’t just a rally cry for free and fair elections, though indeed it was that. TTV’s Mark Antill, Alan and Colleen Vera, Nancy Geigel, Vickie Pullen and the indefatigable Catherine Engelbrecht gave detailed information on how folks can set up their own poll watcher programs, told the summit goers how to keep the process free of partisanship, and discussed the ins and outs of the legal system they came up against when implementing their 2010 program. I even got a few minutes to let the folks know how to use the Internet and the New Media to help support their efforts back home.

But make no mistake about it. Despite what the left has said about this effort, their goal is not to inject a partisan agenda into our elections but to make sure that every election nation wide is free of fraud. Time and again TTV’s members told of how they worked hand in hand with Democrat poll watchers to make sure that everything was on the up and up during the elections.

Still this hasn’t stopped the left from whimpering.
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A Nationwide Movement To Eliminate Voter Fraud Is Born”

2nd Amendment - Constitution - Delaware - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Freedom - Government - Law - Liberty - Property Rights - Regulation - Rights - Warner Todd Huston

Delaware Stormtroopers Steal Citizen’s Basketball Hoops

March 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the nanny state we’ve built. In Delaware you are not allowed to own a basketball hoop in front of your home and if you have the gall to erect one anyway, why the state’s stormtroopers will come to your home with thousands of dollars worth of cops, trucks, and personnel to steal your poll and backboard. I suppose the kindly state overlords of Delaware would rather kids be sitting in their homes playing video games where they belong, eh?

The video depicts Delaware Department of Transportation crews escorted by state police tearing down basketball hoops in the early morning in two neighborhoods in Claymont. One family engaged in a bit of civil disobedience and stood in the way of the dark overlords of Delaware, the “First State.”

Delaware used to be called “The Blue Hen” state, too. Perhaps that should be changed to the “Mother Hen State.”

In this case the hoop “violated” Chapter 5 of the highways, roads and bridges statutes. Because, you know, basketball hoops are dire threats to the safety of the good people of Delaware.

I have two words for the good folks of Delaware: Second Amendment.
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Delaware Stormtroopers Steal Citizen’s Basketball Hoops”

Budget - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Wisconsin Stops Removing Union Dues From Employees Checks

March 30, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Pursuant to Governor Scott Walker’s new rules, as of Monday the State of Wisconsin is no longer taking union dues out of the paychecks of government workers. The state is also charging more for these employee’s healthcare and pensions.

Even though there is still a question open of a compromised judge’s ruling to set aside the new law, the state is surging forward and implementing it anyway. Because of the legal confusion, some cities are not implementing the law.

The cessation of the state removing union dues will be a great blow to the government unions and will save the state millions of dollars in administrative costs.

Like many states, until this ruling Wisconsin automatically deducted union dues from the checks of state employees and deposited that money straight into the union’s bank accounts. This saved the unions millions of dollars because the union did not have to pay for the administration and accounting costs of taking dues. It also made sure that the unions automatically had their dues money given to them without having to rely on the union members to write a check for dues on their own.
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Wisconsin Stops Removing Union Dues From Employees Checks”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Public Employees Unions - SEIU - Taxes - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

While Illinois Citizens Lose Jobs, More Government Workers Get Union Protection

March 30, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If this isn’t just the way the most corrupt state in the country works, there’s nothing that will show it. As the state of Illinois loses businesses and her citizens lose their jobs by the thousands, government workers in Illinois get richer and government unions are even adding members. Now there’s more government union members in Illinois than ever leaching off a dwindling base of taxpayers.

As the state sinks in red ink, government unions have grown to the point where nearly 97% of the state’s government workers have become unionized with better pay, more lucrative pensions, and richer healthcare than every other average citizen who is forced to pay the government union member’s exorbitant pay.

According to the AP, more than 10,000 state employees have joined unions. This is a four-fold increase over the previous eight years.
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While Illinois Citizens Lose Jobs, More Government Workers Get Union Protection”

Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Hate Crimes - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Pat Quinn - Police - Race - Warner Todd Huston

A Political Cover Up: Gov. Quinn’s Racist Security Man

March 29, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Several news sources have been working for days to get to the bottom of a story that might end up revealing that the head of one of Democrat Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s police security details was involved in a racist attack on several black students in downstate Carlinville. Worse, the story seems to be undergoing a political cover up as news agencies are being stymied in rooting out the details.

Several Illinois newspapers have already printed stories on the alleged incident, but to date no one seems to have been able to pin down all the details. But one thing is sure, Kenneth Snider, a trooper with the Illinois State Police, definitely and rather suddenly resigned from all his political jobs last week.

Until he resigned on March 23, Snider was the head of Democrat Governor Pat Quinn’s southern security force, a $132,000 a year state-paid job. Snider had other political jobs, too, until he resigned from all of them. Up to last week he was chairman of both the Carlinville school board and the Macoupin County Democratic organization. Macoupin County is just north east of St. Louis in Illinois’ south western corner.
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A Political Cover Up: Gov. Quinn’s Racist Security Man”

Adam Kinzinger - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Bobby Schilling - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - House of Representatives - Illinois - Liberals - Libya - Mark Kirk - Military - Peter Roskam - President - Randy Hultgren - Republicans - Senate - Warner Todd Huston

Peter Roskam, Ill. Delegation Mostly Disappointed With Obama’s Libya Policies

March 29, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Despite initially intending to skip a public address, President Obama finally came before the nation last night to speak about his plans and ideas for America’s engagement in Libya. Unfortunately there are more questions than answers still and members of the Illinois congressional delegation are less than satisfied with Obama’s Libya policies.

For one, Peter Roskam (R, 6th), Chief Deputy Whip of the GOP led House, is less than happy with Obama’s televised appearance.

Even though it comes nine days after our military became engaged in Libya, I am pleased President Obama took the opportunity to address the country tonight. Unfortunately many questions still remain. Even with a nationally-televised, widely-promoted speech, Americans still don’t have the answer to a basic and essential question: what is the benchmark for success in Libya?

Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R, 11th) went a step farther yesterday and said that, even though he is not advocating sending troops at this time, we should not automatically rule out sending in American ground troops. “What you end up seeing is when you say we’re never going to send in American troops–you take away that ability to use that as a trump card or leverage.”
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Peter Roskam, Ill. Delegation Mostly Disappointed With Obama’s Libya Policies”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frederick Meekins - Government - Liberals - Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Governor Places Communal Glory Over Individual Worth

March 29, 2011 by

-By Frederick Meekins

In his comments regarding the cancellation of a football game, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell actually let slip the contempt he feels towards the citizens of the United States in general and the people of the Keystone State in particular.

In one remark especially, Rendell posited that the Chinese are to be extolled for the hypothetical situation that they would likely attend a scheduled athletic event despite dangerous weather conditions and march down to the arena on foot in the process.
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Pennsylvania Governor Places Communal Glory Over Individual Worth”

ACORN - Congress - Crime - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - Freedom - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Judges - Law - Liberals - Liberty - President - Regulation - Republicans - Rights - Senate - Texas - Warner Todd Huston

Free and Fair Elections True The Vote Style

March 26, 2011 by 6 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am here in sunny Houston, Texas attending the opening night of the True The Vote Summit and what a night it has been. We heard some inspiring speeches for this sold out event, saw some interesting attendees, and met an awful lot of great folks.

It has been thrilling to see several hundred handpicked Tea Partiers and local concerned citizens from 27 states here to learn how they, too, can stop vote fraud in their own districts using the methods learned the hard way in 2010 by the King Street Patriots here in Harris County, Texas.

You might recall back in Sept. of 2010 when the KSPers discovered an ACORN guy that had registered over 23,000 fake voters for the 2010 elections here in Texas. That was only the beginning of their efforts to root out vote fraud in one of the most corrupt Democrat controlled areas in the state.
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Free and Fair Elections True The Vote Style”

Elections - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - United Republican Fund - Warner Todd Huston

URF Stands with Rep Senger and HB3156

March 25, 2011 by

From the United Republican Fund of Illinois…

Commonsense Bill Supports Women’s Health in Their Time of Need

WINFIELD, IL – The United Republican Fund of Illinois, Inc. (URF) stands with Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville), who has introduced legislation in Springfield that would raise abortion clinics health standards to be comparable to other outpatient surgical centers. This commonsense legislation passed out of the House committee with unanimous, bipartisan support, despite bewildering opposition by the ACLU and women’s rights groups.

“How could anyone that claims to be concerned about women’s health oppose raising reproductive health care clinic standards to a basic level?” URF Executive Director Dennis LaComb said Wednesday. “We applaud Rep. Senger’s logical actions, and urge any lawmaker concerned about their constituents’ health care to support giving Illinois women the best possible medical care during their time of need.”
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URF Stands with Rep Senger and HB3156″

Budget - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Detroit - Ethics - Government - Judges - Labor Law - Liberals - Michigan - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Supreme Court - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Michigan: Teachers Trying to Hide Union Activism in School Email Accounts

March 25, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Michigan’s union thugs have found a new way to hide their on-the-job union activism from the prying eyes of public transparency — or at least they think they have. Activist school teachers are using their state-sponsored email accounts to discuss their strike ideas, their union work slow down ideas and other illegal activities but are claiming that these emails are “personal” and therefore should not be open to Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the state’s budget hawks, government transparency advocates, and the news media.

Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently reported that the Michigan Education Association has sent out messages to its members that they should exclude any emails sent from school-owned email accounts in FOIA requests because they are “personal” emails and are legally not eligible for FOIA requests.
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Michigan: Teachers Trying to Hide Union Activism in School Email Accounts”

Budget - Census - Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Mayor Richard Daley - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Mayor Emmanuel To Cut Number of Aldermen in Half! Self-Serving or Cost Savings?

March 25, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

For his first controversy, Mayor Elect Rahm Emanuel has floated the trial balloon of all trial balloons. He wants to fire half the city’s alderman and replace them with… no one. That’s right, he wants to eliminate half of the city’s aldermen. How’s that for chutzpah?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Emanuel has had some private meetings with Chicago’s sitting aldermen and has point blank asked them what they thought of slashing the number of aldermen from 50 to 25 as a cost-cutting measure.

Naturally everyone knows that if this idea goes through, Emanuel will endeavor to save the jobs of all those aldermen loyal to him. That goes without saying. This would be Emanuel’s way of creating his own rubber stamp city council like the two Mayors Daley did for 60 years with their own bought-and-paid-for city council.
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Mayor Emmanuel To Cut Number of Aldermen in Half! Self-Serving or Cost Savings?”

Budget - Business - Chicago - Cook County - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Government - Illinois - Jobs - Liberals - Mayor Richard Daley - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Mayor Daley: Failed Mayor of Failing City?

March 25, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As his last year in office winds down, Mayor Richard Daley is hailed as one of the country’s most successful big city mayors. Yet the 2010 census reveals that the city lost 200,000 citizens, the city’s budget is millions in the red, and businesses are abandoning the city with alarming frequency. How this equates to success is anyone’s guess.

Steve Bartin who writes for newgeography.com, a website that tracks information about America’s demographic statistics, notes that there are only nine U.S. cities that have more than one million citizens and the 2010 census data shows that only Chicago lost population. Yet, as Bartin notes, stories across the Old Media can’t bestow enough kudos on Mayor Daley’s long tenure as Chicago’s mayor.

It isn’t just the loss of population that marks Daley as a failure, though.
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Mayor Daley: Failed Mayor of Failing City?”

Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - EFCA - Government - Jobs - Labor Law - Liberals - Ohio - Pensions - Public Employees Unions - Senate - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

Ohio Senator Brown: Card Check is Dead

March 25, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Hill newspaper has an interesting quote from Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown. He says the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), of the Card Check bill is a dead issue in the senate this year.

Senator Brown was being interviewed on WVIZ radio in Ohio when he was asked what he thought about the success of the EFCA in the Senate for the 112th Congressional session. “It’s not going to happen now,” the senator said.

If this is true then Big Labor should be extremely upset with President Obama and the Democrat leadership in congress. Will they take out their anger by withholding their enthusiastic support of Democrats in 2012?

One would think that this singular failure of the Democrats to get Big Labor’s most wished for legislation passed would be a deal breaker for labor. After all, labor has spent over $400 million in the last few years on getting Democrats elected and it seems that all that money went for no benefit to them. Labor’s loss of power has grown commensurately with its expenditure on Democrats, anyway.

Like old dogs that cant learn new tricks, though, it is likely that they will double down and try to pump more money than ever into the pockets of pliant Democrats. Like a beaten wife they keep coming back, it seems.
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Ohio Senator Brown: Card Check is Dead”

ACORN - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Tea Party - Texas - Warner Todd Huston

Activists in 23 States Coming Together in Texas to ‘True The Vote’

March 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Note I am leaving for Texas on Thursday morning to attend this event. Just thought I’d repost it from earlier in the month…

Patriots and activists from 23 states are about to gather together on March 25 and 26 in Houston, Texas to attend the True The Vote Summit, an effort to make “true” the electoral system in every polling place in the country, to stop voter fraud, and to quash the intimidation of voters. Organizers hope to make sure that we again have free and fair elections.

A local Harris County activist group named The The King Street Patriots built the True The Vote Summit upon their experiences of attempting to “true” the 2010 election in Harris County, Texas.

Back before the recent election, the KSP got together to try and find out what sort of shape the voting rolls were in Harris County, Texas were. What they found was shocking. Due to its investigation, an ACORN organizer was exposed for having registered over 23,000 fake voters in the county. The story made national news.
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Activists in 23 States Coming Together in Texas to ‘True The Vote’”

Budget - Congress - Energy - GOP - Government, Ill. County - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jobs - Peter Roskam - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Roskam Meets with IL-06 Based Company in Ghana

March 24, 2011 by

From the office of Peter Roskam (R, IL)…

Discusses economic development as part of African fact-finding mission

ACCRA, GHANA – Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) traveled to Ghana earlier this week, leading a fact-finding mission focused on trade, energy, and other economic and social issues in Africa. Monday in Accra, Roskam met with Oak Brook, Ill.-based Opportunity International, a leader in providing financial services to people living in extreme poverty in the developing world.

The group met with Teresa Effie Cooke, head of human resources at Opportunity International Savings & Loan, Ghana. Roskam is leading the bipartisan fact-finding mission, including Congressman Bobby Rush (IL-01), which is being privately sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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Roskam Meets with IL-06 Based Company in Ghana”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Ethics - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Liberals - President - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

VIDEO: Obamacare Debate at Randy Hultgren’s 14th District Office

March 24, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Video of an interesting debate between a pro-Obamacare supporter and one against. This video was taken outside the office of newly minted GOP Congressman Randy Hultgren of the 14th District in Illinois.

Steve Tucker engages a young Obamacare supporter in a very interesting, informative conversation.

It’s a nice civil debate for a change.

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VIDEO: Obamacare Debate at Randy Hultgren’s 14th District Office”

Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Missouri - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Claire McCaskill: Another Example of How Democrats Can Get Away With Anything

March 23, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Back in 2005 Clair McCaskill had a great campaign taunt for her opponent: he used state planes and state funds for
the political use of airplanes all on the taxpayer’s dime. That was bad, she told Missouri’s voters. Now McCakill is the Senator from the Show Me State and guess what? She’s been caught using taxpayer money to fund her own personal flights about the county.

Check out her 2006 political ad:

Notice her money quote: “And we have paid every dime of our taxes.”
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Claire McCaskill: Another Example of How Democrats Can Get Away With Anything”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Judges - Labor Law - Law - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Regulation - Scott Walker - Taxes - Teachers Unions - The Law - Unions - Warner Todd Huston - Wisconsin

Wisconsin Judge Maryann Sumi & Her (SEIU, AFL-CIO) Political Operative Son

March 23, 2011 by 5 Comments

-By LaborUnionReport.com

There’s nothing like a judge’s love for her son to cloud her otherwise-cloudy judgment.

On Friday, unions scored a temporary victory to maintain their ability to collect union dues from Wisconsin public employees when Judge Maryann Sumi (the same judge who refused to order striking teachers back to work in February) issued a Temporary Restraining Order preventing the implementation of Wisconsin’s new law governing public-sector unions.

Via the Wall Street Journal:

Judge Maryann Sumi said a lawsuit filed by the Dane County district attorney had enough merit for her to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the bill while she reviews the case.

This is a problem. Judge Maryann Sumi should have recused herself entirely from the Wisconsin battle due to her inability to be neutral in this case. You see, Maryann Sumi has a clear conflict of interest. Her son is a political operative who also happens to be a former lead field manager with the AFL-CIO and data manager for the SEIU State Council. Both the SEIU and the AFL-CIO have members who are public-sector employees in Wisconsin. In fact, as a federation, the AFL-CIO can boast of several member-unions that represent public-sector employees. Maryann Sumi is hardly an unbiased judge in the matter.
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Wisconsin Judge Maryann Sumi & Her (SEIU, AFL-CIO) Political Operative Son”

Budget - Chicago - Conservatives - Cook County Board - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Former State Senator Quits Illinois, Moves to Texas

March 22, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Wilmette Beacon published a very startling article that reveals so much of what is wrong with the state of Illinois. Roger Keats, a former state senator and a recent candidate for Cook County Board President has announced that he is leaving the state and moving to Texas.

Keats has a long history of fighting corruption in Cook County, but he’s realized that there is no longer any political will to continue that fight in the state of Illinois. It is hopelessly corrupt and Roger Keats feels he’s done his duty, but that duty is finished.

The full text of the Keats’ letter was published in Illinois Review:

GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK

As we leave Illinois for good, I wanted to say goodbye to my friends and wish all of you well. I am a lifelong son of the heartland and proud of it. After 60 years, I leave Illinois with a heavy heart. BUT enough is enough! The leaders of Illinois refuse to see we can’t continue going in the direction we are and expect people who have options to stay here. I remember when Illinois had 25 congressmen. In 2012 we will have 18. Compared to the rest of the country we have lost 1/3rd of our population. Don’t blame the weather, because I love 4 seasons.
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Former State Senator Quits Illinois, Moves to Texas”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Jobs - Republicans - Taxes - Tom Cross - Warner Todd Huston

Restoring Fiscal Sanity, Putting Illinois Back to Work‏

March 22, 2011 by

From the office of Illinois Republican House Leader, Tom Cross…

As the legislative session continues in Springfield, I wanted to take a quick moment to update you on some of the key legislation introduced by House Republican members.

House Republicans are committed to restoring fiscal responsibility and ending the reckless spending in Springfield. We are fighting for meaningful spending caps, researching opportunities to cut spending and working to substantial reforms to save significant taxpayer dollars.

Listed below are some of the measures we are working on and I would like your thought on these so please let us know if you support or oppose these measures.

Repeal the Democrat Income Tax
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Restoring Fiscal Sanity, Putting Illinois Back to Work‏”

Adam Kinzinger - Budget - Congress - Conservatives - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Republicans - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Fighting to Tighten Washington’s Belt

March 21, 2011 by

An Op Ed by Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…

Last year, for the first time in nearly 40 years, the House of Representatives — under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi — failed to pass, or even propose a budget for Fiscal Year 2011. This left Americans without a budget and Democrats without any restraints.

As a result, the American people sent a clear message to Washington last November– cut spending. I came to Washington to do exactly that.

In February, House Republicans passed a long-term CR with $100 billion in cuts. The Senate rejected this proposal, refusing to side with the taxpayers to get our fiscal house in order – leaving Congress to pass a short-term CR with another $4 billion in cuts over two weeks.

On March 15th, the House passed an additional $6 billion in cuts over the next three weeks. The Senate passed this short-term CR two days later for a total of $10 billion in spending cuts. This achievement of permanently cutting $10 billion is a good start, but the cuts will not stop here.

We cannot give up, shutdown and simply hope Senate Democrats will cave. The House only controls one stem of the legislative branch and it’s time for Senate Democrats to work together with the House on a long-term CR that contains significant spending cuts needed to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
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Fighting to Tighten Washington’s Belt”

Chicago - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Republicans - Transparency - Truth in Accounting - Warner Todd Huston

Legislation Calls for More Transparency and Accountability During the Illinois Budget Process

March 20, 2011 by

From the Institute for Truth in Accounting…

(Chicago, March 18, 2011) — State Representative Mike Tryon (IL-64th District) has introduced the Long-Term Accounting Act into the Illinois legislature. The Act calls for increased timeliness, transparency and accountability during the state budgeting process.

“Not knowing the long term consequences of the Illinois budget has put our state $100 billion in the hole,” said Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, which assisted in the drafting of the bill. “We can’t determine the best plan to get us out until we are honest about how big the hole is.”
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Legislation Calls for More Transparency and Accountability During the Illinois Budget Process”

Americans For Prosperity - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - State Government

Success: ‘Pay to Play’ Appointee Careen Gordon Steps Down‏

March 20, 2011 by

From Americans for Prosperity, Illinois…

Thank you to all our members who sent letters to the Senate Executive Committee requesting that they vote on the “Pay to Play” appointment of Careen Gordon.

In four short days, we generated over 5,000 letters to the Senate Executive Appointment Committee expressing outrage at what appeared to be the “Pay to Play’ style of politics that led to the appointment of Careen Gordon to the Prisoner Review Board.

Due to mounting pressure from AFP members such as yourself, the Senate Executive Appointments Committee finally scheduled hearings that were to begin on Thursday March 17th.
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Success: ‘Pay to Play’ Appointee Careen Gordon Steps Down‏”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - Nanny State - Nevada - Warner Todd Huston

Nevada Nanny State Nonsense: Banning Your Candles and Air Fresheners

March 19, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Nevada has a nose for nonsense. This time the stink wafting from the Silver State is not from the back allies of its casinos but from its state house where politicians are sticking their noses in Nevada’s candles and air fresheners. Wallowing in true nanny state stupidity Democrats are considering a bill to ban candles and air fresheners because a tiny fraction of the population is allergic to the scents in them.

Las Vegas Democratic Assemblyman Paul Aizley on Monday presented AB234, which sets restrictions on pesticides, fragrances and candles to accommodate people with chemical sensitivities. Proponents said air fresheners give them migraines or asthma attacks and prevent them from going to the movies or to restaurants. A cocktail waitress at a casino said inhaling the fragrances piped through the ventilation system felt like a concrete slab on her chest.

Someone should consider a bill to ban nosy, buttinski Democrats instead…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
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Nevada Nanny State Nonsense: Banning Your Candles and Air Fresheners”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Illinois - Illinois State Government - Liberals - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Ill House Republicans: We Need to Stop Spending Money We Don’t Have!‏

March 19, 2011 by

From the Illinois House Republicans…

Finally, Democrats who control the Illinois House are starting to listen to what House Republicans have been saying for years and continue to say: We need to stop spending money we don’t have!

Last week the House unanimously passed HR110 establishing a conservative revenue estimate of $33.2 billion, $2 billion less than Governor Quinn is proposing to spend. To get our state’s fiscal house in order we must start by enacting a truly balanced state budget. Passing HR110 was an important first step.

Now that we have established how much money we can expect, the next step is to develop a plan to pay our bills and meet expenses without exceeding our limit. Today several pieces of legislation establishing a framework for reducing spending and paying down bills advanced in the House:
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Ill House Republicans: We Need to Stop Spending Money We Don’t Have!‏”

Budget - Chicago - Children - Dan Proft - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Government - Illinois - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Taxes - Teachers Unions - The Heartland Institute

My Latest for School Reform News: 2011 Looks Good for Reformers

March 19, 2011 by

-By Dan Proft

In political terms 2010 may have been the year of the Tea Party movement, but in policy terms it was the year of school choice. And with courageous reformers at the helm of several states, 2011 could be even better.

Last year, school choice moved beyond the think tanks and policy journals and squarely into popular culture.

The first annual National School Choice Week in late January was a fitting recognition that the issue has been successfully entered the zeitgeist even as education remains mainly (and appropriately) a state and local issue.
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My Latest for School Reform News: 2011 Looks Good for Reformers”

Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - GOP - Government - Liberals - Public Employees Unions - Republicans - Taxes - Teachers Unions - Unions - Wisconsin

Government Shutdowns and Death Threats… Bring It On

March 19, 2011 by

-By Frank Salvato

Maybe you’ve heard this one. What do you get when fourteen Democrat Senators go AWOL from their jobs in Wisconsin? You get fiscal responsibility, the tools to balance an out-of-control budget and a boatload of evidence that the Progressive Left is prone to violence and thuggery over process. Thank you very much and goodnight. Be sure to tip your waiters, waitresses and bartenders on the way out. You’ve been great.

Seriously, does anyone else find it abhorrently hypocritical for Progressives and Democrats to proclaim an abdication of process in the Republican’s out-maneuvering of them on the issue of limiting – not eliminating – collective bargaining rights for public-sector union employees, especially when their own national leadership just jammed Obamacare down our throats? Wasn’t “deem-and-pass” an abdication of “the process?” Weren’t behind closed door meetings used to craft Obamacare; meetings where Republicans were excluded in total, an abdication of “the process?” Wasn’t the democratic “process” abandoned when lawmakers were given a 2,700 page piece of legislation and less than 72 hours to absorb its content?

Spare me the tears about “abandoning the process”…and if you’re a Wisconsin Democrat and a State Senator, dry your eyes in Illinois. Elections, as the Obama Democrats have espoused, have consequences. Remember Mr. Obama’s “I won” and “You can ride with us if you want, but you’ve got to sit in the backseat” comments?
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Government Shutdowns and Death Threats… Bring It On”

Conservatives - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - GOP - Government - Liberals - Michigan - Regulation - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Democrat Election Fraud: Fake Tea Partiers Charged

March 18, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Early in 2010 two former leaders of the Michigan Democrat Party came up with a brilliant idea, one that has just gotten them charged with election fraud.

Back in May of 2010, it was discovered that a new party was circulating petitions to get itself official recognized by the state as an official political party. It was supposed to be called “The Tea Party.” Local activist and blogger, the late Chet Zarko, tracked down who was behind the petition drive and found that this “Tea Party” was being pushed by a group well known to be a fixture in Michigan democrat Party activism. This called into question the legitimacy of this “Tea Party” party.

Eventually it was discovered that the new “Tea Party” party was the brainchild of then Oakland County Democratic Chair Mike McGuinness and Democratic Operations Director Jason Bauer. They intended to use it to cause chaos on the ballot and split the Republican vote by fooling voters into thinking that a “Tea Party” candidate was, well, a Tea Party guy.
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Democrat Election Fraud: Fake Tea Partiers Charged”

Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - Nancy Pelosi - Nanny State - Regulation - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston - Washington D.C.

For Nancy Pelosi It’s Lonely at the… Bottom

March 18, 2011 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Politico has a sad tale to tell about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (I just love that: former. Say it with me, FORMER House Speaker). The once powerful California Representative held a big one-year celebration of Obamacare to show off her keystone legislative victory and like the kid nobody likes, her invites to the party were ignored by all the top Democrats. Not just some of them, ALL of them!

This is a far cry from the power she wielded only months ago. Back in the old days when Pelosi sent out an invite to a press availability, like she did this week with her Obamacare celebration, the entire leadership would dutifully drop anything they were doing and they’d show up to Pelosi’s little show and they’d do it with bells on.

These days, not so much.
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For Nancy Pelosi It’s Lonely at the… Bottom”