From the Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education Coalition…
Thanks to all of you who helped to send over 5,500 emails via our “No Taxation Without Education” campaign. Unfortunately, we got taxation without education and just a “promise” from our Governor to include $250 million for education in this year’s budget. Of course, we won’t believe that until it’s in writing. There was some support for increased money for education in the state senate, led by the Black Caucus, but we were told in Springfield that Mike Madigan and the House were not supporting additional money for education or anything else and wanted new revenue to go towards paying off our roughly $15 billion in debt and $8 billion in late bills, and that’s what we got. There was another opportunity for education money through the cigarette tax which would have generated $377 million for education but this was voted down in the House as well with only 51 legislators in support, and 60 votes needed to pass. While this isn’t the outcome we wanted, this $6 billion in new revenue to pay down our debt will likely result in fewer cuts to CPS next year. Clearly, we can’t be content with this and we need to continue to do everything we can to advocate for improved and sustainable funding for education in Illinois.
As you all know, we are currently 49th in the nation in terms of state spending on education. Our state covers roughly 30% of the cost of educating a child, as compared to about 50% on average. Local municipalities are left to fund the rest through property taxes, resulting in unsustainable and inequitable funding.
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Update on the Tax Increase”
Bobby Rush always did have a lot of stones. He went from being an outlaw and criminal member of the Black Panthers in Chicago to being a legitimate, elected Congressman from the self-same city. Now Rush is hiding behind both the crime in Arizona and Martin Luther Kin, Jr. in order to push his anti-constitutional gun grabbing agenda.
One would think that once you were the collateral damage of an assassination attempt, you’d be much less apt to be issuing death threats of your own to people. Sadly, shooting victim J. Eric Fuller was not so sensitive as one might think his experience would make him. At a townhall meeting Saturday, an incensed 
Lincoln Chafee was the bane of conservative talk radio when he was the RINO Senator from Rhode Island. Now that he is a newly minted “independent” and has become the Governor of the Ocean State, Chafee is in a position to take his revenge on the medium. And boy has this petty man used his power to do just that by banning his state employees from talking to talk radio.
Majorities in 99 out of 102 counties voted for his opponent, however Governor Pat Quinn declares that he has a mandate to raise our taxes. If the State of Illinois spent what we currently sacrifice in taxes prudently and ethically, the Governor and his enablers in the Legislature might be able to make their case against my assessment that we are “taxed enough already”.
And so it begins. Now that the 2010 midterms are done and the Tea Party has shown itself to be a real political force, the GOP establishment is making plans to undermine Tea Party power and reassert its own RINO, country club control of the party. It’s happening in New Hampshire, anyway, as it seems as if outgoing NH Republican Party Chairman John Sununu is engaging in a whisper campaign against Tea Party backed Jack Kimball who is vying to become the next GOP chairman for the Granite State.
As President Obama clucks his tongue at America for “pointing fingers” and “assigning blame” in our political debate, and as his friends on the far left ignore him and point their fingers and assign blame to the Republicans, Tea Partiers, and Sarah Palin, at least one union chief in Detroit is doing his part to add to the political vitriol by charging anyone that disagrees with him with being a “human rights violator.”
She didn’t know anything about the bill. She never read it. She hadn’t been given any cheat sheets, facts sheets, talking points, or mass emails on the bill. But in true, corrupt Chicago fashion, she voted “yes” on it just as she was told to do by her corrupt party bosses.
It must be nice to be School Board Member Michael Linder of Grayslake, Illinois. He seems awfully lucky to have landed a plum new job, paid for by the taxpayers of Lake County. Awfully lucky, indeed. In fact, he’s so lucky that one suspects an insider deal was made to get him that plum job.
Last night in Arizona someone planned a memorial service and a pep rally broke out. In a wildly inappropriate display of mirth, rock star adulation, screams from the crowd and raucous applause the purported memorial service held at University of Arizona for those that fell at the hands of a crazed shooter earlier in the week went badly awry Wednesday night.
Well, it’s the old “glass houses” story, isn’t it? AFL-CIO boss 
Russell Geisler was an Illinois State Representative from the 105th District… for one day.
Rahm Emanuel is not the union’s favorite man. He has had union detractors since his days pushing the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) during the Clinton administration. Since then there have been other clashes between Emanuel and unions even as he served President Obama as his Chief of Staff. Now, as he takes after the Chicago teachers union, he seems to be tweaking unions yet again as he runs for the top seat in City Hall here in Chicago.