Text YOUCUT2 to 68398and tell Eric Cantor, Peter Roskam and the GOP leadership that YOU want cuts in federal spending.
Come on, people. This is a representative democracy and our representatives need to know WE are serious about cutting the budget. Encourage them to cut, cut, cut!
-By Warner Todd Huston
Well, finally our Illinois governor did something I agree with. Pat Quinn abolished a state funded office. If only this wasn’t the first and likely the last time he’ll do such a thing.
On Sunday, Quinn signed an order to abolish the state office of education, a complete waste of money, an office from which former Superintendent Charles Flowers embezzled over $400,00 to fill his pockets.
The agency did nothing of use, really, at least nothing that other agencies couldn’t easily do instead and that is precisely what will now happen. Duties this useless office performed will go back where they belong.
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Quinn Abolishes Wasteful Office of Education”
From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…
Today’s subpoena of Congressman Jackson by disgraced ex-governor Rod Blagojevich is the latest development in the ongoing drama called Chicago Way politics. Mr. Jackson claims he will tell the truth, but the truth is that the day after he met with Rod Blagojevich, the former governor was arrested. The truth is that Mr. Jackson is ‘Senate Candidate 5’ in the criminal indictment and his representative ‘Individual P’ offered to raise $1.5 million in exchange for the Senate seat.
Illinois’ Second District deserves better than corrupt politicians who engage in pay-to-play schemes while unemployment in the 9th Ward is 30% and the poverty rate in Ford Heights is 53%. Our country needs citizen legislators who are not entrenched in the system of corruption and have the integrity to put their constituents first.
All I can say is I love this guy…
-By Warner Todd Huston
Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady was cornered by NBC Chicago News and asked his reaction to the shameful misuse of power by the Highland Park schools that last week announced that they were banning a girls basketball team from attending a tournament in Arizona.
His first comment was a good one, one I’d like to see more often from our politicians. “I certainly respect the school district’s right to make decisions, I believe in local control.” That is exactly right. He went on to say, “just hope they haven’t overstepped rationality in this case.”
And so, according to his logic, he is clearly saying that the locals are the ones that should go to their school board meeting and either approve of disapprove of the superintendent’s politically motivated decision.
“They’re punishing students for something they think is important and using them as a political pawn. I don’t think that’s right.” By “they” Brady meant the school administrators. and he’s right, here. These two Highland Park superintendents are using these poor kids as a political pawn. It really is disgusting.
Brady finished up with, “The whole immigration issue just drives to the problem we have at the federal level. Immigration is a federal issue. It’s not a state by state issue. And the failure of this administration, and arguably even past administrations, to come up with a long-term solution to this just drives wedges in our society that we don’t need at this time.”
Again, exactly right. Brady came off very well on this issue.
Gov. Candidate Brady on Highland Park School Arizona Boycott”
Here is Bill Brady’s first TV buy…
Press Release: Bill Brady shares his plan for growing jobs with a new commercial that begins airing today in the Chicago area.
The commercial will air through a significant buy on broadcast and cable television. Brady talks directly to voters about his plan to hold the line on taxes and pursue job-creating policies in the state. He also reiterates his commitment to term limits and contribution limits.
“I know voters in the Chicago area want to hear more about my vision,” Brady said. “I’m going to continue spending a great deal of time in the city and suburbs and will do everything I can to hear concerns of people here and talk about my goal to bring a clean break to the state.”
Brady is pushing for campaign contribution limits, capping individual campaign contributions at $4,800 for a primary-general election cycle and prohibiting union and corporate contributions. He also is calling for term limits to ending control of the General Assembly by a powerful few.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Remember the toothless “Coffee Party USA” effort, the astroturf effort created by Obama operative Annabel Park? Remember that supposed “non-partisan” effort to get folks involved in the political debate that was created by Democrat operatives? Yeah, that one. Well, we have another example of that faux “independent” spirit popping up here in Chicago with the choice of a Lt. Gov. running mate made by independent Gubernatorial candidate Scott Lee Cohen.
On Monday, Cohen chose Baxter Swilley, his former campaign manager, as his running mate for Lt. Governor. Paradoxically, Cohen said of Swilley, “He wasn’t my first choice, but he’s the best choice.”
For his part, Swilley claims to be just as independent as Cohen (read outside the Democrat Party). But this couldn’t be farther from the truth as all his experience is inside the Democrat Party as a lobbyist and insider operator. Tom Mannis at Chicago News Bench had a pretty good summary of Swilley’s Chicago Democrat resume back in March. In fact, he was even the organizer of a Chicago “Coffee Party” event. From John Ruberrry reminded us all of Mannis post revealing Swilley’s coffee party connection. “It’s a ticket that is full of beans,” scoffed Ruberry.
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Illinois ‘Independent’ Lt. Gov. Candidate Full of Beans”
-By Warner Todd Huston
In the deep blue sea of the People’s Republic of Chicagoland, Sarah Palin shined like a light of liberty among the darkness of Mayor Richard “King” Daley’s perverse domain. Palin brought hope into the home of President Obama’s cynical “Chicago Way” style of politics, and I was there to witness the May 12 show.
Sarah Palin was her usual effervescent self, upbeat and positive about this great country and happy to appear before us. She reveled in her “aw shucks” persona built from regular Americana, a style that has made her dear to the hearts of so many Americans from coast to coast.
The show started with a little patter between Big John Howell and Amy Jacobson, the morning radio talkers from Chicago’s WIND AM. One of John Howell’s musician buddies performed a few songs for us and I have to say he was pleasant to listen to. Finally, just before the Governor addressed us, the ever avuncular and impressive Guy Benson — who has a Sunday evening show on WIND — entertained us with some political humor.
Then, when the giant curtains parted to reveal the governor, the applause was almost deafening so the evening started with an electric jolt. She immediately asked all U.S. military veterans to stand for recognition to a huge round of applause for her recognition and for ours of our vets.
One of the early things that Governor Palin brought up was this idiotic business of Highland Park High School whose administrators suddenly canceled its girls basketball team trip to Arizona. The team had won the right to play in a tournament for the first time in 26 years. Why was it canceled? Only because the tournament is in Arizona and school administrators are mad at the state. Disgustingly, these school chiefs are using these girls to advance their own political agenda. Palin was amazed that this school was ignorant enough to say Arizona is not a worthy place for their girls to visit yet the school is still sponsoring a trip to China! “Do you know how girls are treated in China,” Palin asked. Then to great applause she suggested that those girls might have to “go rogue.”
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Report: May 12, 2010 Sarah Palin In Chicago”
From the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – In response to the letter Melissa Bean wrote to the constituents in district 8 dated April 16, 2010. We will respond to each of her statements Melissa Bean made based on emotion with factual responses where she stated the following:
“Taxpayer expect accountability. Health Insurance reform is as important to America’s fiscal health as it is to our physical health. Currently the U.S. spends twice as much, as a percentage of GDP, than other industrialized nations on health care, while an estimated 45 million people are uncovered. At a time when our nation’s debt exceeds $12 trillion, H.R. 3950 provides the most significant deficit reduction in more than a decade. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, this bill cuts our federal deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years…”
Firstly, we know of no economist, actuary or accountant in the private sector that would ever attempt to score the cost of a piece of legislation (certainly one of this size) out over a 20 year period and we’ve already exposed the “fuzzy math” used by this administration to hide the REAL cost of this legislation. President Harry Truman’s famous words apply perfectly to the scoring of this legislation. He said : “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. In 1965 the Fed projected that costs for Medicare Part A would be $9 Billion. It ended up costing $67 BILLION! The Medicaid special hospital subsidy was supposed to cost $100 MILLION. Instead the real cost was $11 BILLION! That’s ONE HUNDRED TIMES GREATER!
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Melissa Bean’s Healthcare101 – Part 9 of 13″
Led by Carol Marin, the Chicago public television station conducted an interview with GOP Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady that is worth watching to gain some small measure of the man.
Chicago’s WTTW Interview With GOP Gov Candidate Bill Brady”
From Adam Andrzejewski of For the Good of Illinois…
When it comes to Illinois politics, something just doesn’t add up.
Last week, the Illinois House voted down landmark school choice legislation introduced by Sen. Meeks (D). This decision denies 22,000 children from Chicago’s worst-performing and most-overcrowded elementary schools the opportunity to transfer to private or parochial schools.
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When Does 2 + 2 = 5? Illinois Doesn’t Add Up”
From the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – In response to the letter Melissa Bean wrote to the constituents in district 8 dated April 16, 2010. We will respond to each of her statements Melissa Bean made based on emotion with factual responses where she stated the following:
“With this legislation, insurance companies will be banned from dropping coverage or increasing rates arbitrarily after a claim from an employee. Premium increases will be more predictable as they will need to be justified bases on paid claims.”
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Melissa Bean’s Healthcare101 – Part 7 of 13″
-By Warner Todd Huston
I think Bill Brady will be a fair governor if he wins office in November. But he’s never going to get there unless he stops making all these foolish mistakes on the way to election day. Already he’s made at least three faux pas that alone are not that bad but added together they make his campaign look hapless, un-tethered to common sense. So far it’s just not very effective campaigning.
Right out of the box, as soon as he won the primary, Brady pushed forward with a bill to re-open a mass puppy killing facility for a veterinarian from his district. Brady obviously felt that re-opening the puppy euthanasia facility would be an economic boon to his home district as well as sever to help a local constituent. But what ever the reason that Brady supported this bill, the fact that one of the first things he did after he won his party’s nomination for governor was to announce a bill for killing puppies en masse is just an inept move.
Should Brady have still been just a State Senator, few would have made too much of this bill but that he had become the nominee for his party that safe anonymity goes away. The Old Media was sure to pounce on such a tone deaf, misstep. And pounce they did. The result was that Brady backed off his support for re-opening the puppy gas chamber. This messy situation could have been avoided if his campaign was on its toes.
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Could Someone PLEASE Take Control of Bill Brady’s Campaign”
-By Warner Todd Huston
On May 6 the Bloomington Pantagraph took an odd swipe at GOP candidate for the 11th Congressional District Adam Kinzinger’s military service in a brief story that reported that he’d been called to active duty.
Kinzinger, a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, was called to active duty and the paper duly reported that fact in a short report. But an odd thing happened between the editor and printer. First of all the paper didn’t detail Kinzinger’s rank, bad enough I know. But the 6 short paragraph story ended with this line:
He often touts his military experience on the campaign trail in the once reliably Republican district.
Just what the heck is all that supposed to mean? Kinzinger “touts” his military experience? Does he not really have any such military experience, Pantagraph? Are you claim he is lying or making more of it than it is? Do you have any examples of Kinzinger making light of his service or using it unduly? Why the negative connotations here? Unless, of course, you have an ulterior motive of place doubt in the reader’s mind?
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Bloomington Paper Takes Odd Swipe At Kinzinger’s Military Service”
-By Warner Todd Huston
CBS News decided that if certain aspects of the race for Illinois Senate between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi “The Mob Banker” Giannoulias threaten to make news, why the good folks at CBS Channel 2 News will just refuse to cover it.
I have to say, I find it interesting that CBS News has decided what it will deign to cover and what it won’t. I am wondering if the rest of us hoi polloi were to chose that track at our places of employment. Don’t like mowing a lawn, cleaning a toilet, doing that boring expense report, talking to the boss… well, follow the Channel 2 method and just refuse to do that part of your job!
Must be nice to pick and choose the parts of your job that you will deign to do, eh?
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CBS News (Chicago): The ‘We Won’t Report The News if it Hurts Democrats,’ News”
From the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – In response to the letter Melissa Bean wrote to the constituents in district 8 dated April 16, 2010. We will respond to each of her statements Melissa Bean made based on emotion with factual responses where she stated the following:
“Across the district, I’ve heard of countless health care challenges families have been struggling with: A mother fearing for her son’s life because he’s hit his lifetime cap on benefits at age 14, contemplating bankruptcy to provide him care. A man unable to start his own company because his pre-existing condition makes it impossible to afford health insurance in the individual market. Moms and dads who have been laid off from work, dreading the expiration of COBRA benefits and access to health insurance for their families. I’m proud to have voted to end these uniquely American stories.
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Melissa Bean’s Healthcare101 – Part 4 of 13″
From the Ratowitz for Congress campaign (5th District)…
David Ratowitz, Republican Candidate for Illinois’ 5th Congressional seat, demands accountability from Democrats in Congress for their failure to safeguard the Gulf Coast
U. S. Congressional Candidate, David Ratowitz (IL – 5), claims “Democrats in Congress have spent the last four years rehashing lost political fights of the past instead of governing 21st Century America. We have the capability to contain and minimize damage from an oil spill, Democrat failures to realistically address America’s energy policy are the cause of the current oil spill calamity.”
5th District Ratowitz: Democrats in Congress Failed to safeguard the Gulf Coast”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Well, it seems to be official. Former Democrat Lt. Gov. primary winner, Scott Lee Cohen, is running for governor as an independent.
Cohen told Fox News that he is “tired of waste and mismanagement” in Illinois government. and that is why he’s running. He told the media that he may not be perfect, but he’s been honest with the people.
Cohen needs to get 25,000 signatures on his petition by June 21 to have his name added to the ballot.
It ought to be interesting, eh?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Last December Joe Walsh, the primary winner for the GOP nomination for the 8th District Congressional seat, lost his campaign manager Keith Liscio. Liscio quit the Walsh campaign over unpaid consulting fees adding up into the thousands. Now two more top campaign operatives are quitting Walsh’s campaign adding to worries of financial problems, missed filing dates for federal paper work, and other questions of Walsh’s suitability for office.
Richard Cape and Ted Livengood, the campaign manager and field director respectively, have announced that they are quitting the Walsh campaign. In a recent email to supporters and media both the pair have also said they no longer endorse his candidacy. In the email are listed quite a few questions that have come to trouble Cape and Livengood about candidate Walsh.
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Troubles Mount for Walsh Campaign (R, 8th District) — Walsh MUST Step down NOW!”
From the Ratowitz for Congress campaign (5th District)…
David Ratowitz, Republican Candidate for Illinois’ 5th Congressional seat, demands to know: where does Mike Quigley (D IL-5) stand on taxing retirement savings?
U. S. Congressional Candidate, David Ratowitz (IL – 5), wants to know: “where does Mike Quigley stand on taxing retirement savings? Just this week, Democrats in Congress said they wanted to tax IRA and 401(k) retirement accounts. Obviously, Mike Quigley doesn’t care about us, otherwise he would oppose tax increases that target our retirement savings and destroy jobs in the District.”
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5th District Ratowitz: Where Does Rep. Quigley Stand on Taxing Retirement Savings?”
From the Walsh for Congress Campaign (8th District)…
8th District Republican Congressional Nominee spent an hour last night speaking with, listening to, and answering questions from more than 100 Eighth District residents at a candidate forum last night.
“I am not a perfect candidate,” Walsh said, “But I am the perfect candidate to defeat Melissa Bean,” he said to great applause from the audience.
“I wasn’t the establishment choice,” Walsh said. “And the fact that I am neck-and-neck with Rep. Bean in the polls makes those who benefit from the status quo nervous. That’s okay. I’m not going to make the same mistakes Melissa Bean has made by putting her political party ahead of her district. You elected me and it is your interests that will fight for and your values that I will represent in Congress.”
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Walsh: Not a Perfect Candidate, but the Perfect Candidate to Defeat Melissa Bean”
From Americans for Prosperity, Illinois…
We’re at the time in the legislative cycle when the Illinois General Assembly will engage in a flurry of activities that may produce bills the public and for that matter lawmakers have never seen, bills that may request spending of billions of our tax dollars, bills that can become laws in a blink of an eye. Next week brings along certain legislative deadlines for the reading and passage of “Substantive” bills.
Please contact your lawmakers today.
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Illinois, The Time to Act is Now!”
-By Doug Ibendahl, Republican News Watch
The Illinois General Assembly is tentatively scheduled to adjourn by May 7th (a week from this Friday). That’s an early date, and it may not happen, but that’s the goal.
It’s a good time to make another push for final passage of SB600. Recall the bill passed overwhelmingly in the State Senate last year. We still need House passage.
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Call the neighbors and wake the kids, it’s SB600 time!”
From the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – In response to the letter Melissa Bean wrote to the constituents in district 8 dated April 16, 2010. We will respond to each of her statements Melissa Bean made based on emotion with factual responses where she stated the following:
“After deliberate review of the final legislation in relation to (the concerns of the people of the 8th district) I supported it (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) because it will provide the health care security, affordability and choice families and businesses seek, while utilizing the private market-not a government takeover-and yielding a significant federal deficit reduction of $1.3 trillion…”
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Melissa Bean’s Healthcare101 – Part 2 of 13″
From the Palatine Tea Party…
In response to the letter Melissa Bean wrote to the constituents in district 8 dated April 16, 2010. We will respond to each of her statements Melissa Bean made based on emotion with factual responses where she stated the following:
“After deliberate review of the final legislation in relation to (the concerns of the people of the 8th district) I supported it (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) because it will provide the health care security, affordability and choice families and businesses seek, while utilizing the private market-not a government takeover-and yielding a significant federal deficit reduction of $1.3 trillion…”
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Melissa Bean’s Healthcare101 – Part 1 of 13″
From Adam Andrzejewski and For the Good of Illinois…
Thanks to you, we’re winning the fight to Open the Books!
Over the past couple weeks, advocates of transparent and accountable government in Illinois have been winning more and more small victories.
Quinn’s canoe czar, $85,000 per year, STOPPED!
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Adam Andrzejewski: Illinois Can’t Afford Quinn”
-By Warner Todd Huston
HotAir.com posted an excellent side-by-side video from Fox News that shows the lengths that the left goes to in order to excuse the common every day violence, hate and criminal actions of folks from their own side.
Take a look at this excellent report…
This ignoramus, hypocrite that Fox News dredged up to represent the left is typical of the back bending gymnastics indulged by the Old Media and the left — one in the same, I know. This is typical in the way they denigrate the perfectly peaceful Tea Party protests while excusing the lawless, criminal actions of the left’s protesters — in this case the recent pro-illegal immigrant criminal protesters in Arizona.
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The Left’s Lies About ‘Peaceful’ Immigration Protesters”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Fox News Chicago ran a piece on 8th Congressional District Republican candidate Joe Walsh who topped a field of five candidates in the primary. They found that Walsh’s campaign never filed his financial disclosure forms as required by federal election law. The Fox correspondent pointedly asked Walsh, “how come you didn’t file your personal financial disclosure forms as obligated by federal election laws?”
Fox News also found a couple of local pols that said they would ask Walsh to resign his primary win if these things were not figured out. Of course, neither of the guys they found supported Walsh during the primary, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they’d immediately jump to calling for Walsh to quit the race.
But my biggest problem with these stories about Walsh’s financial troubles is that they never came before the primary. They’ve all come after the primary. Even I wrote about Walsh’s financial troubles before the primary and I don’t have the investigative tools that TV and newspapers do! Yet all these high falutin’ Old Media outlets in Chicago ignored the issue until Walsh won the primary.
It is hard not to imagine that the Chicago media waited to “report” these matters until after the primary specifically so that they could hurt the Republican pickup of this seat.
Walsh’s campaign did file the disclosure forms and paid a $200 fine after Fox News brought it to their attention. Walsh says it was but an oversight. Here I’ll make no judgment, you decide.
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Chicago Fox Attacks 8th District Candidate Joe Walsh”
Some Lake County Republicans are sponsoring a meet the candidate event on Wednesday 28 from 7PM to 9PM. There you can meet candidate for the 8th District Joe Walsh.
Illinois 8th Congressional District Republican Challenger Joe Walsh Talks Back
JOE WALSH “Talks Back”
No Holds Barred on the issues .. Have Questions? Ask Joe!
Is Congress Really Representing “We The People”?
Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The South Barrington Club
Street: 3 Tennis Club Lane
City/Town: South Barrington, IL
For Information Call Carol Ann Parisi 847-496-5400 or email Hangnloose@comcast.net
Directions: http://www.mapquest.com/mq/2-Xz1b
From the Walsh for Congress campaign (8th District)…
(Grayslake, Illinois) – 8th District Republican Congressional Nominee Joe Walsh today promised that, if elected, he would introduce legislation to tie the salaries of members of Congress to the median household income level in the United States.
Rank-and-file members of Congress make $174,000 annually. According to the Census Bureau, the median household income in the U.S. is $50,233 (2007).
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Walsh Proposes Indexing Congressional Salaries to Median Household Income in the US”