From Bill Brady for Governor and the Illinois GOP…
Pay hikes for state government executives during a fiscal crisis is outrageous, but Governor Quinn? He defends his executive pay hikes, telling viewers on Chicago Tonight, “… that’s how it works.”
If Pat Quinn is serious about controlling state spending, he should immediately enact a wage freeze on state government payroll, and reverse his pay hikes for his executive staff today.
From the Illinois Review YouTube Channel:
U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock joined U.S. House candidates Joel Pollak and Isaac Hayes in pumping up a Chicago Young Republican VIP reception Friday night before joining over a thousand CYRs in the group’s 2010 Summer Membership bash at Chicago’s Cubby Bear, across from Wrigley Field.
-By Warner Todd Huston
In connection with my ChicagoNow.com Publius Forum site, I have once again been asked to appear at the WGN radio studios in beeeoootiful downtown Chicago tomorrow morning.
Hitting the airwaves at about 11AM, Saturday morning I’ll be again meeting hosts Alex Quigley and Amy Guth for a half hour of politics talk.
If you aren’t in the Midwest where the WGN 720 AM blowtorch can reach, you can always listen live on the Internet tubuals at: http://www.wgnradio.com/.
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I’ll Be on Chicago’s WGN Radio on Saturday Morning, 11AM”
From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…
CHICAGO: Republican nominee for Illinois 2ndCongressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign after failure to prosecute the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation during the 2008 election.
“The Justice Department’s refusal to prosecute the terrorist actions of the New Black Panther Party for its 2008 intimidation and threatening vitriol outside a Philadelphia polling place is criminal affirmative action. This selective justice paradigm was exposed during the testimony of J. Christian Adams – a former U.S. Prosecutor assigned to the Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission – who testified he was told ‘cases are not going to be brought against Black defendants for the benefit of White victims.’
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Hayes Calls for A.G. Holder to Step Down”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Democrats might be right. It’s obvious that Americans have become a stupid people. Our schools have disgorged students who have fallen to the bottom of the barrel in literacy, math and science scores, late-night comedians have no lack for citizens on the street that have no cue about law or history, and as voters…. well, as voters we’ve been stupid enough to elect people like James Traficant, John Edwards, Robert “KKK” Byrd, “Benedict” Arlen Specter, Pete Stark, or for that matter Jimmy Carter and Barack Hussein Obama. We need help and what better entity than government to rescue us? So, we need some new rules so that Americans can be better controlled.
I’ve gotten this great idea from Richard “King” Daley, Mayor of Chicago, who has decided with his newest stab at gun control that we need to institute mandated firearm training classes for every Chicago gun owner as well as costly yearly licensing fees. This is a brilliant idea. So much so that I think we can expand on this idea in order to have a better, more orderly society.
Plainly Daley and his Democrat cohorts need to implement these “training” mandates on a wider basis. Not only will we have a better trained citizenry, but we’ll have billions of dollars flowing into the treasury from the high fees that such classes must invariably entail. And jobs? Why, think of how many jobs will be created by these new policies. We’ll need millions of low-level, perfunctory clerks, classroom instructors, and paper pushers to get this all off the ground. And what could be better than more education and more money in the form of hidden taxes going to fill the pockets of government officials?
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New Federally Mandated Literacy Tests to Buy Newspapers, Religion Classes to Attend Churches, Others”
From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…
CHICAGO: Republican nominee for Illinois 2ndCongressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement following testimony from the Rod Blagojevich trial placing Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. at a meeting where cash in exchange for the U.S. Senate Seat was discussed,
“Today, we again heard damaging testimony belying Congressman Jackson’s claims of innocence in the Blagojevich Senate Seat scandal. We can now place Mr. Jackson at the head of the table when this conspiracy was first discussed. According to testimony by Rajinder Bedi, on October 27, 2008 he met with Congressman Jackson and his supporter Raghu Nayek at the 312 Restaurant in the loop. During this meeting at which Jackson was present, Nayek asked Bedi to send word to Blagojevich that he would raise a million dollars for Blagojevich if he would appoint Jackson to the Senate seat.
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(2nd District) GOPs Hayes: ‘Jackson at Head of Table When Blago Bribe Conspired”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Many businesses across Illinois are trying to stave off closing their doors by cutting salaries and hours for employees. Some aren’t so luck and are laying off thousands of workers. Add to that dismal outlook that the state’s budget is billions in the red and politicians are so at loggerheads on how to solve the crisis that no budget can be agreed upon.
Cue accidental Governor Pat Quinn whose job, as he sees it, has been to warn Illinois that we are broke, that we can’t afford the many programs we have, that the poorest of us are at risk and that taxes will have to be raised to “fix” it all.
It’s a very bleak picture, indeed. Bleak, that is, unless you are one of Quinn’s staffers. In that case you are living high off the hog and getting an up to 20 percent raise in salary thanks to the Governor’s generosity… oh, and at the taxpayers expense, of course.
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Gov. Says Ill. is Broke, but His Staffers/State Workers Get Big Raises”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The sniping between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is beginning to get to full steam these days and Democrat Giannoulias isn’t handling it all very well. As a bank executive, he’s gone from dissembling about his efforts to loan mobsters $20 million that his bank then lost, to now as a candidate lying about his desires to raise taxes.
The latest Giannoulias gaffe comes as a result of his announcement of his tax returns. It seems that he declared a personal business loss that negated his entire tax bill and so Giannoulias paid no federal tax in 2009. Yet, as Mark Kirk says, even as Giannoulias wants to raise all our taxes, he skates by himself without paying any at all!
For his part, the Ginnoulias campaign says that the candidate never said he wants to raise our taxes. They say that Kirk is lying about it. This newest claim makes Giannoulias himself to be a “flat out” liar as far as Illinois political watchdog Rich Miller is concerned. After all, Miller has the video to prove that Giannoulias has said that he wants to raise taxes.
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Ill. Dem Senate Candidate Giannoulias a ‘Mob Banker,’ Now ‘Flat Out’ Liar”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The GOPs Robert Dold just picked up a strong endorsement. Former Congressman John Edward Porter has announced his backing of Dold who is running for Porter’s old 10th District Congressional seat.
Porter initially backed Party favorite Beth Coulson in the primary and could have just taken a pass on this election, but he did chose to endorse Dold giving the first time candidate the seal of party approval.
Porter said of Dold: “Robert Dold is an independent Republican who mirrors the values of the 10th District. He will be a voice for common-sense, small-business thinking with a moderate stance on social issues such as choice and the environment.”
For more information on the Dold campaign, visit his website at: www.doldforcongress.com.
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Fmr Congressman Porter Endorses Dold for 10th District”
-By Warner Todd Huston
In shockingly quick order last month, Yorkville resident Robert Lea raised 5,000 signatures in only two weeks to challenge incumbent Kendall County Sheriff Richard Randall in the November general elections.
Randall did not dispute the petition, so it appears that Lea will be on the ballot in November.
Randall had no opposition in the GOP primary earlier this year but has faced increasing opposition among citizens of the county over a sexual harassment lawsuit between Deputy Sheriff Terry Tichava and his onetime assistant Lisa Easi which was recent settled for an undisclosed sum.
Sheriff Randall has come under increasing pressure for his decision to stand by Deputy Sheriff Tichava instead of firing him and/or disciplining him. This opposition obviously aided Lea in his whirlwind gathering of signatures.
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Robert Lea is IN: GOP Challenger to Kendall County Sheriff Randall Makes Ballot”
From the Illinois Policy Institute
Santelli Rant, Part Deux
“Stop spending! Stop spending! Stop spending!” Earlier this week, CNBC reporter Rick Santelli (of “Tea Party” fame) offered some sound advice to the government—and some entertaining television.
Speaking of Spending…
Yesterday, Governor Pat Quinn addressed the state on a painful topic: Illinois’s disastrous budget. (We forgive you if your eyes just glazed over.) The bad news: The state budget is, yes, still a disaster. The good news: The Institute went through the governor’s speech, highlighting what you really need to know. Check out Kristina Rasmussen’s budget cheat sheet, along with our proactive budget solutions, here.
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Ill. Policy Institute: Addicted”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Daley’s temper tantrum against guns continues, but at a much subdued pace. With its recent McDonald v the City of Chicago ruling the Supreme Court of the United States essentially made Daley’s outright gun ban unconstitutional so the mayor has had to retrench and come up with new onerous rules to try and limit guns in his kingdom.
As always, the Chicago City Council rubber stamped Richard “King” Daley’s whims — why do we have a city council anyway?
The new rules do show the mayor’s defeated position, however, as they are much less stringent than his previous mandates. Daley also shied from insisting that there be a one-gun limit and also dropped the idea of expensive and onerous insurance requirements for gun owners, the latter an idea popular with many gun banners.
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Daley’s Newest Stab at a Gun Ban”
From Americans For Prosperity, Illinois…
Chicago, Illinois – The Illinois chapter of the grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP-IL) and it’s over 30,000 statewide members express great disappointment in Governor Quinn’s failure to VETO the states unbalanced budget.
“Over the last several weeks Americans for Prosperity and its members have written several hundreds of letters requesting the governor to Veto the budget forcing lawmakers to do their job. “Today, Governor Quinn had a chance to do just that. Unfortunately, Governor Quinn failed to do his job” said state director Joe Calomino.
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Governor Quinn Pretends to Cut State Spending, Quinn Passes on a Real Balanced Budget”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Doug Ibendahl has a very sad discovery at RepublicanNewsWatch.com. He looked up the amount of Republican committeeman positions in the state of Illinois and then added up the number of GOPers filling those positions and came up with a startling fact. 51% of those seats remain vacant.
Despite all the excitement for GOP politics across the country, it seems that Illinois Republicans aren’t nearly as excited.
Ibendahl, though, urges more citizen involvement in the political process and posts about a way you can get involved. Take a quick click over to RepublicanNewsWatch.com and learn how you can become involved.
-By Warner Todd Huston
While the media has been all aflutter about Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk’s bio flap, even as the media has been sternly shaking a finger at the man he’s somehow raised $2.3 million in campaign cash.
According to the Kirk campaign he raised $1 million in June alone as the news over his bio inflation was at its height.
So far, Kirk has raised $9 million for the race and is starting some new TV ads.
Even With Troubles GOPs Kirk Raises $2.3 Mil”
From the office of Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica…
CHICAGO, IL — Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16) issued the following statement regarding the .5 percent reduction in the Cook County sales tax, which goes into effect today:
“This is an important step forward for Cook County taxpayers, who are struggling to make ends meet amidst rising unemployment and a growing tax burden.
“But it is only a first step.
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Peraica Statement on County Sales Tax Decrease Going into Effect”
Joel Pollak, GOP candidate for the 9th District, has his first web ad for your approval.
From the Dan Patlak for Cook County Board of Review campaign…
Wheeling—Cook County Board of Review candidate Dan Patlak has announced the grand opening of his new “Education Center” located on his web site at www.ElectPatlak.com. The Education Center possesses an array of pages for taxpayers to explore that include links to county and state property tax related departments, an “Ask Dan” section where taxpayers can pose their own questions, a listing of townships currently open for appeal to the County Assessor, a description of property tax exemptions available to homeowners and a variety of other information about the property tax system in Cook County.
“This campaign is about empowering individual taxpayers,” said Patlak. “Our Education Center provides information to property owners so they will have the ability to determine whether they are paying an appropriate share of the overall tax burden. It also encourages them to think about where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent. An informed citizen is a good citizen and as a Commissioner at the Board of Review I plan to continue educating taxpayers about how the system works and how they can be sure they are paying no more than their fair share,” concluded Dan Patlak.
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Property Tax Education Center Now On-Line”
Chicago’s NBC affiliate has the full video of Mark Kirk’s press conference where he finally addressed his resume puffing over the last few years.
Are you satisfied with the apology?
-By Warner Todd Huston
The International Union of Operating Engineers and the Laborers’ District Council of Chicago have voted to walk off the job Wednesday night leaving roadwork on the Eisenhower expressway stalled and travelers inconvenienced.
The union is demanding a 5 percent raise each of three years to come. Employers counter offered 1 percent. Currently workers make $35.20 an hour for the laborers and up to $45.10 for the operating engineers (machine operators).
As it happens, while the construction trades are seeing up to 40 percent unemployment, these roadworkers are demanding a 5 percent a year increase for a three year contract. Interesting that the union doesn’t see the economic situation all around them and don’t find themselves grateful they are working at all.
Also remember, these people are extorting you and me for their 5 percent a year luxury. After all, they are working to rebuild state roads and are being paid by our tax dollars.
Apparently, grateful thy name is not union!
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Chicago Roadworkers Vote to Go On Strike”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that union leader Thomas Balanoff of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was contacted by President Obama to act as a go-between to help Obama friend Valerie Jarrett secure his vacated Illinois Senate Seat when now former Governor Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder.
Balanoff appeared as a witness at the Blago corruption trial today. He said that Obama called him the day before he was elected president.
“Tom, I want to talk to you with regard to the Senate seat,” Obama told him.
Balanoff said Obama said he had two criteria: someone who was good for the citizens of Illinois and could be elected in 2010.
Obama said he wasn’t publicly coming out in support of anyone but he believed Valerie Jarrett would fit the bill.
“I would much prefer she (remain in the White House) but she does want to be Senator and she does meet those two criteria,” Balanoff said Obama told him. “I said: ‘thank you, I’m going to reach out to Gov. Blagojevich.”
Balanoff testified that Blago broadly hinted that he’d love to be offered the top spot at Health and Human Services, but Balanoff also said he couldn’t deliver that.
Obama appointed Jarret to a position at the White House after the election.
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Obama Used Union Middle Man For Blago Bribery”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Well we’ve got a case of another journalist that turned into a political operative that now wants to go back to being a journalist. And would you be surprised that the journo/politico/journo redux is a Democrat? I would hope you wouldn’t because the right leaning journo to politico hardly ever happens (though it has been known to).
This time it’s one Bob Reed former Chicago reporter and editor of Crain’s Chicago Business turned mouthpiece for Illinois Democratic Governor Pat Quinn. Reed quit the journalism trade to head up Pat Quinn’s communications office when he was Lt. Gov. and stayed with him when he became Illinois’ accidental governor upon the elimination of Rod Blagojevich from his lofty, bribe riddle heights. Now Reed wants to go back to being a journalist and has resigned from Quinn’s staff to pursue new opportunities.
Interestingly, Reed termed his employ in the guv’s office as just another journalistic “assignment.”
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Another Journo Turned Politico Turned Journo Again”
Israeli Ambassador: ‘Tectonic Shift’ between Israel and U.S. Diplomats
Roskam Visit to Israel Next Week
From the Press Shop of Congressman Peter Roskam (R, ILL): In case it wasn’t already obvious, Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren made it clear this weekend. As reported by Laura Rozen at Politico: “Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren is reported to have told Israeli diplomats that the U.S. and Israel are experiencing a “tectonic rift,” not a temporary crisis… According to the Israeli diplomats, Oren said … ’Relations are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart,’”…. Oren noted that contrary to Obama’s predecessors – George W. Bush and Bill Clinton – the current president is not motivated by historical-ideological sentiments toward Israel but by cold interests and considerations…”
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Peter Roskam Working to Keep Ally Israel Close”
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica has “three positive things” that County government will be bringing us over the next few months..
-By Warner Todd Huston
Mark Kirk has really made himself look foolish and if he loses this election it will be because of his ridiculous missteps on his biography. Why he felt the need to overstate his bio is anybody’s guess, but he did it. And not just once but at least five times. Politico details the bio inflation Kirk has perpetrated in a new piece headlined “Five questions for Mark Kirk .”
They say that Kirk was “once a favorite,” intimating that his stock has dropped. That is essentially true, but in my estimation Kirk has plenty of time to get past this if he handles it right and I think he’s still the favorite even with this foolishness because Alexi “the Mob Banker” Giannoulias has equally problematic bio problems — not the least of which was the $20 million that he and his bank lent to two known mobsters that never paid back the loan.
Politico presents five questions that they feel that Kirk must answer in a straightforward manner or expect to lose credibility as a candidate.
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Politico: Five Questions for Mark Kirk”
From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…
CHICAGO: Republican nominee for Illinois 2nd Congressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement following today’s Supreme Court decision overturning the Chicago handgun ban:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision will allow residents being held hostage by urban terrorists the opportunity to defend themselves, their families and property. With 26 people being shot in Chicago this past weekend and 50 the week before, it is quite apparent the Chicago gun ban is not working.
“Gangs don’t honor gun bans so infringing on the 2nd Amendment right of law abiding citizens only leaves them defenseless against violent offenders. In communities across Chicago urban terrorists must now think twice before entering private property.”
This statement appears on the Citizens for Isaac Hayes website at:
www.isaac4honesty.com
-By Warner Todd Huston
At long last the 2nd Amendment has been considered a personal right per the Supreme Court of the United States. In McDonald v the City of Chicago the Supreme Court has ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that Chicago’s gun banning laws are not in keeping with the right to self-defense as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. After 200 some years we are finally accorded our rights officially. Further, the Court found that the 2nd Amendment was meant to protect the very people that Mayor Richard Daley and his comrades are trying to forcibly disarm: black Americans. (See PDF of Decision)
The decision threw out the Seventh Circuit ruling upholding Chicago’s gun ban and ordered the Seventh to revisit its decision. This new ruling does not specifically strike down Chicago’s gun ban but the opinion leaves little room for the Seventh to up hold Mayor Richard Daley’s gun banning efforts.
One of the main questions before the Court was whether or not the 14th Amendment served to shore up the rights in the 2nd. The Court found that it did, indeed. In fact, it is interesting to note that the ancestors of the very people that the 14th Amendment was meant to specifically protect — newly freed slaves, called freemen — are today those that Mayor Richard Daley and others like him want to disarm. Daley and his ilk want to disempower blacks and other minorities and tie them plantation-like to their government authority.
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2nd Amendment Rights Finally Considered a Right for Black Chicagoans Too!”
From the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – A group of taxpaying citizens dissatisfied with government spending and expansion are planning a Taxed Enough Already (TEA) rally to be held in Palatine, Illinois. This peaceful rally is part of a national movement to increase public awareness of the spending of trillions of dollars which will leave our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren a devastating and ruinous debt they must re-pay.
This family-friendly rally encourages all citizens throughout the suburban area who want lower taxes and less government to participate by bringing their American flags, patriotic attire, and signs to display the spirit of the Colonial Patriots of the 1775 Boston Tea Party, which lead to American Independence July 4th, 1776. Re-affirm your commitment to our Constitution and our freedoms by being part of this energizing event on Saturday, July 3rd, 2:00pm to 4:30pm, at Volunteer Plaza in Palatine at the intersection of N. Northwest Hwy (Route 14) and N. Hicks Road.
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Announcing Palatine Taxed Enough Already Rally on July 3rd”
From the Ratowitz for Congress campaign (5th District)…
U.S. Congressional Candidate, David Ratowitz (IL-5) praises SCOTUS for upholding the 2d Amendment Rights of Chicagoans and urges Chicago’s City Council to respect the rights of law abiding citizens.
Chicago, IL, June 24, 2010– Long time transparency and pro-liberty advocate Candidate for U.S. Congress from Illinois’ 5th Congressional District, David Ratowitz supports the Supreme Court’s decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago.
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Supreme Court protects Chicagoans 2d Amendment Rights by Overturning Unconstitutional Handgun Ban”
-By Warner Todd Huston
I have been saying this for years, and now so is GOP candidate for the Illinois 11th District Congressional seat, Adam Kinzinger. In a recent Morris Daily Herald article Kinzinger said that the nation should prioritize nuclear power as one of the solutions to our energy woes.
Kinzinger told the *Morris Daily Herald that he would support building more nuclear power plants, he wants the country to further explore reprocessing spent fuel and supports developing a national long-term nuclear waste storage facility.
Essentially, the program would increase the nation’s number of nuclear stations and establish a long-term repository for storing nuclear waste. Also, the plan would follow Europe’s lead in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for reuse, reducing the amount of waste in storage.
“I think the powerhouse, when it comes to nuclear energy, is to be able to go out and say, ‘Hey, look, we have three nuclear plants in our district, people in our district are employed, it’s safe, they are supportive, and it produces a lot of electricity,” he said in response to questions by the news media.
After all, here we are in the United States claiming that we are in the middle of an energy crisis yet Democrats, liberals and enviro-Nazis have put up roadblock after roadblock to stop the pursuit of energy independence in the form of nuclear power.
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11th District: Kinzinger Says Nuclear Power the Answer”