-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is completely put of control. Now it wants to implement new regulations that would destroy 183,000 private sector jobs every year. Yes, even after Obama has destroyed the economy and jobs we do have he wants to destroy even more.
The EPA’s new rules, according to PennEnergy, would be disastrous to our already flagging economy.
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Obama’s EPA Regs to Kill 183,000 Private Sector Jobs a Year”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Over the weekend I was invited to the reenlistment ceremony of Aviation Structural Mechanic, Third Class Petty Officer (AM3) Luis Mejia, a resident of New Lennox. Coming off eight years, Meija, 43, reenlisted for another six and for his ceremony he asked 11th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger to conduct his Monday ceremony.
Mejia served one year at Camp Bucca, Iraq in 2007 and as the congressman and he were talking they realized they served at the same time in the same place in Iraq. “We probably saw each other,” Kinzinger said.
Currently, Mejia serves out of Great Lakes Naval base.
As Congressman Knizinger addressed the friends and family gathered to witness Meija’s reenlistment he noted that this county has “been at war for a decade.”
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New Lenox: Reenlistment Ceremony of Luis Mejia, Officiated by Congressman Adam Kinzinger”
-By Larry Sand
Teacher union boss cherry picks from a biased poll and ends up with the pits.
Cherry picking is a phrase that has become quite popular these days. The term simply refers to advancing a certain point of view by using only data which supports that POV and omitting any contradictory or mitigating information.
A recent illustration of this phenomenon is on display in an article written by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. The ironically titled Back-to-School Reality Check is, in fact, quite short on reality. The article, primarily a pep talk for teachers, uses a recent Phi Beta Kappa/Gallup poll as its motivating source. Early on, Van Roekel tells us,
“73 percent (of the poll’s respondents) said teachers should have flexibility in the classroom.”
I’m all for that. But what the union boss leaves out is that for teachers to have more flexibility they would need to tear up the telephone book-size union contract that dictates every little move a teacher makes.
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Cherry Picking Facts + Bad Polling = Demagoguery”
From the campaign to re-elect Kirk Dillard, Illinois State Senate…
At a recent Republican meeting, Illinois State Representative and Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) endorsed Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) in Dillard’s race for re-election to the 24th Senatorial District.
Citing several pieces of landmark legislation sponsored by Sen. Dillard, including most recently a Internet Portal Act to disclose, on-line and in real-time (www.OpentheBooks.com), every salary, contract, tax break and tax deadbeat, Durkin said, “Sen. Kirk Dillard is the voice of families in Illinois and we must return Kirk Dillard to Springfield so we can draw on his valuable experience in creating jobs to get Illinois working again, protecting our families, controlling our out-of-control state budget and providing accountability in state government.”
Durkin then added, “Kirk knows Western Springs and our area well. He was instrumental in garnering the funds to replace the dilapidated Oak Street Bridge so that area residents have access to Hinsdale Hospital in case of emergency.”
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Assistant Republican House Leader Jim Durkin Endorses Dillard”
-By Warner Todd Huston
My good friend Katy Benningfield has yet another report of the Guilford County, North Carolina GOP headquarters being vandalized and it occurs to me that if this had been a Democrat campaign office the Old Media would have reported this from coast to coast as evidence of those vile, evil, dangerous, violent Tea Partiers. But since it was just a Republican office being defaced the media just yawned .
Benningfield reports that the GOP HQ had the letters “KKK” spray painted on the brick siding and various windows of the building. The county sheriff’s office has been contacted and an investigation is underway…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Ron Paul is not serious about running for president nor is he a serious candidate even were he to be so inclined. But serious or no, he is a horrible candidate regardless.
Now, there may have been a time a decade or so ago when Ron Paul really thought he had a shot at being elected the president of the United States but that time has long ago passed into history. His last several campaigns were not serious efforts.
Let’s take Paul’s unserious campaign effort first, before I get to his amazing unsuitability for the White House.
The idea of having a national campaign organization to propel a candidate to winning primaries is predicated on reaching out to local state and country party organizations, working with them on ideas, and bringing some of those local political operatives into your own primary effort. This practice then extends your influence and helps bring ground troops to your game, folks that are influential in each sector of the country, folks that will presumably bring voters to your candidacy.
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Ron Paul: NOT a Serious Candidate”
From Illinois GOP House Leader Tom Cross…
In response to a series of news reports in the Chicago Tribune on WGN-TV this week, uncovering huge pension hikes under the guise of public service, we filed a bill (HB3813) to close the little known loophole that nets some Chicago city workers tens of millions in pension bumps at the end of their careers.
Click here to watch WGN-TV’s coverage of our bill filling.
Click here to read the Chicago Tribune’s story.
“This is a huge slap in the face to taxpayers that government in cooperation with its employees comes up with a scheme, that is currently allowable under state law, to boost pensions sky-high,” said Cross. “This practice needs to stop—immediately—and we will file a bill today, so that this provision in state law cannot be abused.”
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Cross Files Bill to End Pension Perks”
From the office of Rep. Randy Hultgren (Ill., 14th District)…
A balanced budget amendment (BBA) to our Constitution is a permanent solution to our nation’s fiscal crisis to legally force future Congresses and Presidents to stop spending money they don’t have. Earlier this week I sat down to share my thoughts about a BBA and why it’s so important for the future of our country.
America Speaking Out (ASO), www.americaspeakingout.com, is an online community aimed at giving you a voice and the power to set the agenda in Congress. Through ASO, you can express your opinion about the BBA, which will be voted on in the House this fall.
I encourage you to visit www.americaspeakingout.com now to express your opinion about a BBA. It is through the support of the citizens like you that a BBA will become a reality – bringing much-needed certainty to the small business community, putting an end to the out-of-control spending, and restoring accountability to Congress.
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Video: Speak Out And Support A Balanced Budget Amendment”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Hey, you selfish Americans! What’s this business where you think you deserve to get healthcare when YOU think you need it? What is the deal with your arrogant feeling that you must be treated for your illness right away? I mean, if you were a REAL American, you’d put your selfish needs behind you and wait in line for substandard, hard to get government healthcare. At least so says “filmmaker” Michael Moore.
According to Real Clear Politics, Moore scolded Americans for being selfish in their healthcare choices. Moore was talking Obamacare on the little watched HBO cable show called Real Time with left-wing host Bill Maher.
Read the rest at RightPundits/com.
Congratulations to Herman Cain for his big win of the Florida Straw Poll. In celebration I thought I’d post his TV ad again…
-By Warner Todd Huston
Reuters has a very interesting article detailing the fall of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the modern era. It is a long article, but if you are interested in the way the UAW intends to keep itself relevant to the auto industry on into the future, it is worth the read.
It is also a good article if you want a glimpse of the possible end to the UAW. Its deep financial troubles, its steady loss of members and plants to represent, and its powerlessness to spread its cancer to other auto makers in the south is an ominous warning that the UAW might be headed for the dust bin of history.
Let’s not start popping champagne corks yet, though. We should not count the UAW out, of course, as it is still very powerful. But things are not looking good for the once supremely powerful union.
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The UAW’s Waning Days?”
From the Tom Weber campaign…
Through leadership and common sense, my goal is to set the standard for what being a good steward of the taxpayers’ trust is all about. I will be forward thinking, work to eliminate senseless regulations, and work towards eliminating wasteful spending.
I will be honored to represent my friends, neighbors and small business.
I am a small business owner and have been part of this community my entire life, and I want to help our community thrive once again.
The 3rd District is not only part of my history, but part of my family’s history as well. The Webers have lived and been employers in this community for over 100 years. As I walk the district and speak with people, many are not earning what they did 4 years ago. Many more are having a difficult time managing their own budgets. Any way that we can give the taxpayers relief will help. Its time to get creative to help them. As stewards of taxpayer money we need to learn how to do more with less.
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Tom Weber, Republican for Lake County Board”
-By Frank Hyland
On the night of January 20th/21st, 2009, a large, dark SUV pulled onto the White House grounds and disgorged the deepest, darkest secret of the administration – In addition to Barack H. Obama, his twin brother, Tele P. Obama, resides in the White House and has covertly exercised the responsibilities of the Presidency ever since, whenever he could get away with it. The existence of Tele P., of course, has been kept a closely held secret by the President’s senior staff. But a review of the President’s actions over the past almost-three years has thrown a feared and unwanted spotlight on Tele P. In the process, the reputation of the President’s senior staff, which has been much maligned as a lying bunch of Chicago thugs, has been restored. Just a brief review of the ill-considered, amateurish actions of Tele P. will quickly convince you of his existence:
** Barack told us all this August that he would unveil his Jobs Plan soon, in order to deal with the urgency of the situation. While Barack remained in the White House working feverishly, Tele P. was photographed on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and telling us that he would give the speech when he returned, thereby destroying the sense of urgency expressed by Barack.
** Actually, Tele P. began countering Barack from the very beginning. Tele P. ignored the concerns of the American people and, while Barack was in his office working long and hard on a jobs program, Tele P. emphasized a healthcare reform package and targeted banks and Wall Street.
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Frank Hyland’s Food for Thought: The Most Closely Held Secret”
-By Warner Todd Huston
A middle school in Smyrna, Georgia included in an assignment material that essentially shows 7th grade children that Islamic polygamy is a perfectly legitimate concept and that there is nothing wrong with the strict dress codes used to oppress Muslim women the world over.
The material was presented to the 7th graders at Campbell Middle School as part of a discussion of the school’s dress codes, apparently meant to use the ideas of Islamic culture for women’s clothing as some sort of example to compare how the school regulates clothing for its students in Georgia.
The concepts were presented in the lesson as a letter from a fictional 20-year-old Muslim woman named “Ahlima.” In this letter “Ahlima” tells readers that she wouldn’t mind if her husband took a second wife and also extolled the virtues of the burkha. She claims that American women are “horribly immodest” in the way they dress.
As to polygamy, the fictional Ahlima says, “I understand that some Westerners condemn our practice of polygamy, but I also know they are wrong.”
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Ga. Middle School: Muslim Polygamy Is Normal, Burkas Good For Women”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The pressure for Obama’s Department of Justice to come clean on its part in the murderous program to arm Mexican narco-terrorists is mounting as another GOP lawmaker demands answers.
Representative Lamar Smith (R, Texas) who is the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to Attny. Gen. Eric Holder demanding more information on the part the DOJ had in the failed program to track guns in Mexico.
Smith warned Holder that recent personnel changes would not paper over or hide its culpability in the program variously known as Gunwalker or Operation Fast And Furious. Smith told Holder that he can’t “pin this scandal on a few individuals and expect it to be forgotten.”
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
In a good sign for blogger free speech, a lawsuit against a high profile conservative blog in Illinois has just been tossed out. A political contributor brought the lawsuit over a story about property tax reassessments and political contributions. This is a victory for free political speech as well as a victory for the status of blogs in the world of “journalism.”
I’ve been aware of this story for some time but the folks at Illinois Review, the blog in question, asked me to sort of keep it all quiet. There were all sorts of legal questions being thrown about and since the folks that run the blog don’t have deep pockets and the whole thing was being born at their own expense, they wanted to be sure this whole mess didn’t escalate and hurt them too bad financially.
The lawsuit meant to silence the blog was a convoluted one, to be sure. Illinois Review had posted a story that revealed that former Ill. State Rep. Paul Froehlich (R, Schaumburg) had sought campaign contributions from property owners who had won property tax relief claims that the Representative had assisted in getting settled. But after the story went live, due to the notoriety the county assessors office reversed those tax relief decisions.
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Victory for Bloggers: Illinois Blog Wins Lawsuit”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill., 11the District)…
To Assess Consequences of EPA Regulations for U.S. Energy, Manufacturing & Jobs
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-11) along with Congressman Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) today offered a bipartisan amendment to the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts to the Nation (TRAIN) Act, H.R. 2401. The Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment would give Americans the opportunity to receive an explanation of the costs and job impacts associated with a new EPA regulation on gasoline before it can be enforced. The amendment was adopted and the TRAIN Act passed the House with bipartisan support.
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing a “Tier 3” rulemaking that would further reduce sulfur levels in gasoline to an average of 10ppm – this is a 70 percent change from today’s already low levels. In 2004, Tier 2 rules reduced sulfur by 90 percent from 100ppm to 30ppm. The Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment forces the EPA to ensure that the economic and job impacts of the Tier 3 regulations are thoroughly analyzed and reviewed.
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Kinzinger/Gonzalez Amendment Adopted into TRAIN Act Forces Agencies”
From the reelection campaign of Senator Kirk Dillard…
At the York Township Republican Committeemen meeting, Illinois State Senator and long-time Elmhurst Police Chief John Millner (R-Carol Stream) endorsed Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) in Dillard’s race for re-election to the 24th Senatorial District. Millner is also a Past President of the Illinois Police Chiefs Association.
Calling Dillard one of Illinois finest legislators, and a friend of all of the communities in DuPage County, Millner cited Dillard’s accomplishments, especially in the areas of accountability/transparency, fiscal policies and law enforcement.
“Sen. Kirk Dillard is the voice of DuPage County in Springfield and we must have his valuable experience in stopping the tax, spend and borrowing agenda,” Millner said.
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Former Elmhurst Police Chief Millner Endorses Dillard”
-By Frederick Meekins
Though the event displays the wonder of God and His creation, no minister can hand down an edict one way or the other whether a particular earthquake other than the ones foretold in prophetic passages of Scripture such as the Book of Revelation was an act of retribution and judgment.
Countless congregations no doubt heard from the hyperpious among their number how they were disappointed the quake didn’t result in total destruction and that any not so eager for it all to end aren’t even worthy of the chewing gum stuck under the pew.
In response to the earthquake, it has been admonished that it id God and not government that saves you. But should you need to be pulled from the rubble, is it the direct hand of God doing so or, in the vast majority of instances, is it more likely to be a policeman, firefighter, members of the National Guard or a group of average concerned citizens? Taking this mindset to its natural conclusion, is it therefore wrong to express gratitude toward parents if they do something good for you? Is it wrong to verbalize one’s love to one’s spouse if language can only be used in such an exclusivist and univocal manner? Furthermore, if we are to wait on the direct divine intervention of God to determine what happens to us in such calamitous upheavals, does that mean we should not seek medical attention during times of sickness or to even prepare a meal to stave off hunger?
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Shaking Assumptions Regarding Natural Disasters”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Rep. Darrell Issa (R, Calif.) recently told Greta Van Susteren that he and Senator Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa) are getting “zero percent” cooperation from Obama’s Department of Justice in their investigation into Operation Fast and Furious, Obama’s disastrously failed program that ended up arming Mexican narco-terrorists.
Said Issa, “This has continued to be frustrating that, as the Mexican government tells us publicly, they’re being kept in the dark, we can’t give them information from the Department of Justice. We can only give them information we’re getting from whistleblowers — and we’re getting a lot.”…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Thanks to Illinois Democrats and Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois now sits among the worst states in the country for jobs and business. Texas and North and South Carolina rank as the best.
Illinois is the state with the third worst business climates in the country. Only New York and last rated California are worse in the survey of 322 corporate executives conducted by Development Counsellors International (DCI).
The survey, taken every three years, asks the executives a series of questions meant to discern the most effective tools for marketing and business that leads to deciding where to open new offices and expand business. Executives cited low operating costs and a pro-business climate as the chief reasons for looking upon a state favorably.
California remains the worst state, the survey found.
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Illinois at Bottom of Favorable Business Climate List”
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Heritage Foundation has a post giving a run down of some of the scandals mounting in the Obama administration… you know, the most ethical administration ever? Yeah. That one.
Most of them have to do with Obama’s penchant for crony capitalism. Like the good socialist he is, Obama wants to pick the winners and losers in the world of business so he shovels mounds of the taxpayer’s cash to the companies of pals and donors so that they will… well, apparently so that they will give him money back in donations and then just go bankrupt!
The post at Heritage details the crony capitalist scandals of failed companies like LightSquared and Solyndra.
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Obama’s Mounting Scandals”
-By Alan Caruba
The people who have given us bagels and lox, potato latkes, and chicken soup, in addition to the Old Testament, Albert Einstein, and a list of Nobel Prize winners as long as your arm, are in for yet another interesting week.
Last week, Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian Authority would not make a bid for statehood at the United Nations. That may have had something to do with massive pressure from the United States, Europe, and Saudi Arabia.
You can always trust a Palestinian’s word, right? Wrong. The next day, September 15, Abbas said the PA had changed its mind and would go to the UN Security Council to ask that it grant statehood to Palestine, admitting it as a full-fledged member.
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Five Wars, 63 Years of Terrorism, and Israel Survives”
From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, 11th District)…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed bipartisan legislation known as the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011. Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11), who serves on the Committee and is an original co-sponsor, says the bill would protect domestic cement manufacturing and tens of thousands of American jobs.
Kinzinger made the following remarks in his opening statement:
“Last September, the EPA released new regulations on the American cement industry. These new requirements will cost $3.4 billion, close 18 of America’s 100 cement plants, and leave 20,000 Americans without jobs.
“When this rule is in full effect and the plants are closed, where will America purchase its cement? From China, a country that is producing cement with zero environmental safeguards? With the increased demand in China global hazardous pollution will rise with these new rules.
“This bill gives regulators time to develop practical rules for cement manufacturing facilities and will protect jobs in the cement industry, the manufacturing industry, and the construction industry that could otherwise be sent overseas. Enough is enough. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this bipartisan legislation.”
The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 was first introduced on On July 28, 2011. The legislation would grant federal regulators more time and guidelines to develop achievable rules governing emissions from cement manufacturing facilities. This necessary extended timeline would prevent plant shutdowns, while protecting jobs. Estimates confirm that recent rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could result in shutting down nearly 20 percent of the nation’s cement plants in the next two years, driving up the price of cement, increasing imports, and eliminating thousands of jobs.
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Kinzinger, House Energy and Commerce Committee Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent U.S. Cement Plant Closings and Save Jobs”
From the Illinois House Republican Caucus…
We traveled around Illinois this week introducing our new jobs plan to several communities in an effort to become more competitive with other states in order to retain and grow jobs.
Media Round-up:
We’ve all seen the news. Mounting debt, sluggish consumer confidence, zero jobs created in August – the first time since World War II that the U.S. economy had a net zero jobs created for a month – and the Illinois unemployment rate at a staggering 9.9%, nearly a full point higher than the national average.
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A Blueprint for Illinois Job Creation”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Apparently, crime does pay. New York Democrat Congressman Charles Rangel has been censured by the House of Representatives for corruption but that won’t stop him from getting a wonderful new portrait unveiled in the capitol of the United States of America.
This week Rangel is being allowed the honor of having an official portrait of himself hung in the Longworth House Office Building. It’s a portrait he paid for himself… out of his campaign funds…
Read the rest at RightPundits.com.
I have to apologize to Freedom Works. I stole their video and added the Jake Blues apology scene into it. Freedom Works did not add that scene from the movie, but I just couldn’t resist it.
-By Warner Todd Huston
Obama pretends that he wants to cut regulations and make it easier for businesses to make jobs. Unfortunately, what he says and what he does with his powers to regulate are two very, very different things.
From the Workforce Fairness Institute:
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President Obama’s NLRB & Their Summer Assault On American Jobs”
-By Warner Todd Huston
Now this is the sort of corruption we are used to seeing in Illinois, eh? This week the Chicago Tribune and WGN TV has found up to 23 retired union operatives that are collecting millions in taxpayer dollars because they had pals in government tweak the state’s pensions laws to favor them.
These former government workers that were government union members got pliant politicians to alter the pensions laws to say that their pension remuneration would be calculated not on the lower pay they received when they retired from government, but from the much higher salary they received when they worked as union operatives. These folks worked as union bosses at the same time as working on the clock for government.
The “luck” of former union boss and Dept. of Streets and Sanitation worker Thomas Villanova is a typical example. Villanova last worked full-time for the city in 1989 and made $40,000-a-year. But he was also a union big wig making $198,000 annually upon his retirement in 2008 at age 56. His city pension, it appears, was calculated on the union salary of $198,000 instead of his real salary of $40,000 — itself obviously a no-show job in the first place.
Villanova stands to make millions off the taxpayers.
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Chicago: Union Members Collect Millions in Tax $$ With Sweetheart Pension Deal”