Sen. Obama, Evangelicals and the community of faith

It has been interesting to read about the response of some evangelicals to Sen. Obama being invited to speak at an AIDS conference sponsored by Pastor Rick Warren. Apparently due to the Senator's stand on abortion and some other issues some feel he should not be invited to speak.

How this helps Senator Obama.

The hardcore evangelicals who use issues like abortion as a litmus test were never going to be Sen. Obama supporters anyway.

However a larger set of American Christians I think will respond positively because I suspect that to some extent they have started to grow tired of the role of faith in public life being reduced to stands on a select number of social issues.

I really feel this is going to be the key for Democrats in reaching out to evangelicals and Christians in general, using faith to explain why people and by extension their governments have a responsibility to help others. That the role of faith and morality is not just to judge but to aid. Look at who is still a work down in the areas hit by last years storms, it's the church. Why, because they have the organizations to get the job done, yes. But also because their members have a real desire to serve. Sen. Obama speaking about how the church can and should serve to make the world a better place will be an effective message.

You don't need to get a large number of people on your side, even a small percentage can make a huge difference. I think Sen. Obama has a unique opportunity to frame the discussion on faith and public policy and it seems he realizes it.

OneMan

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Bollywood Friday - It's a "Thriller"!

I've been MIA the past week or so due to Thanksgiving and work completely dominating my time. A friend was thoughtful enough to send me this gem when he ran across it.

FAR scarier than MJ managed to pull off, don't you think? ;)

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More DCFS Deaths

The Belleville News-Democrat has done a splendid job turning over the rock under which the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services hides its blunders.

Last Sunday reporters George Pawlaczyk and Beth Hundsdorfer unleashed stories about DCFS lapses that led to the deaths of children worthy of the Chicago Tribune or Sun-Times.

Whether related or not, Governor Rod Blagojevich’s DCFS Director Rich Samuels resigned the week before publication. Samuels refused to be interviewed for the articles.

Yesterday, McHenry County Blog wrote about a 1979 death that might have been prevented by DCFS in Crystal Lake.

Here’s the guts of this week's story:

The News-Democrat found that 53 children died between September 1998 and January 2005 after DCFS workers and employees of contracted private agencies committed serious errors, made questionable judgments, and failed to follow department regulations.

The editors know you won’t want to read their stories. Here’s what they say,

Reading our series about 53 children who died as the result of botched DCFS cases is a distasteful accompaniment to toast and orange juice at breakfast, we know. Many people probably put the series down and never picked it up again. It's human nature to want to avoid or ignore difficult topics like this.

And actually, that's exactly how some people at the Department of Children and Family Services hope you reacted. If they had their way, the details of child death cases would never be made public. They like it that most records are sealed. A number of the workers worry about "heater cases" -- cases that can result in negative press. No negative press, no problem.

You can read the details of the deaths here.

A mother tells of how DCFS failed to protect her son here.

An article debating whether it the police could do a better job than case workers is here. The comments below the article, especially the ones from those in the know about DCFS are fascinating. Astounding is the number of times there was absolutely no discipline.

12 dead children could not be identified. The reporters ask for assistance.

Of course, DCFS is doing a review.

What happened to the caseworkers?

… out of the 50 cases that had substantial errors, not one worker was fired. Just seven workers were suspended, and then for relatively short times.

Sounds like not much has changed since 1979.

As the editors say,

But it's not that DCFS can't get rid of bad employees, it's that its leaders don't have the will to do it. It's easier for DCFS to avoid and ignore difficult situations, also, than to fix things.

Does that sound like any other public institution?

Claudia from Iowa wrote in the comments to the editorial entitled, “Hold DCFS Accountable,

I am a licensed master level social worker who also has a BA in Psychology and Sociology. I agree the system has to change but as I am reading these cases it seems that most of them were investigated several times with the same sad result! Even after many cases were investigated the workers involved only received a slap on the hand even when THEIR mistakes resulted in death!! Making these cases public is a great step.

There are a lot more good comments.

First posted on McHenry County Blog.

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Powerful African-Americans and Bill Dock Walls

An email from Bill "Dock" Walls reads,

Typically, I ignore my opponent's fundraising efforts and concentrate on my own. I even attempted to ignore the Daley fundraiser scheduled for Thursday evening. However, local Print, Radio and Television news media sources have made it virtually impossible to do so. Over the past several days, the particulars concerning this fundraiser have been reported, over and over again.

The first two paragraphs of the following news article highlight the danger. The only difference is we will not sit idly by and watch history repeat itself. We will highlight the contradiction and call attention to the fact that Chicago is a tale of two cities.

Join us Thursday evening as we picket outside the entrance of this planned fundraiser.

Thursday, November 30, 2006, 6:00 PM 1301 North Astor (Astor and Goethe) Astor is 2 blocks west of Lake Shore Drive

Then links me to this ST story by Fran Spielman about a fund raiser on the Mayor's behalf organized

...by two powerful black women. Peoples Gas president Desiree Rogers and Johnson Publishing CEO Linda Johnson Rice....

Walls offended by powerful African-Americans supporting a Mayor who, as Spielman writes, is a

...17-year incumbent battered by the Hired Truck, city hiring and minority contracting scandals

He sorta has a point.

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George Ryan Free Until Appeal Over

When I read that former Governor George Ryan was granted his wish to stay out of jail pending completion of his appeal, I wondered who made the decision.

They are Frank Easterbrook, Terrence Evans and Diane Sykes.

Not having watched the appellate court, I have no grasp of the roles these folks play.

But, once the decision comes down, it if is not in his favor,

the grant of bail pending appeal will end automatically, without waiting for this court to issue its mandate.

Of interest is that “Volume II” of Ryan’s appeal is being kept secret from the public.

What can that be about?

First posted on McHenry County Blog. Photo from trial evidence.

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First Judge Thomas and Now Father Stepek - Defame and Be Sued!

Class Action Lawyers bent on bankrupting every Catholic diocese in the name of protecting the innocent deserve greater scrutiny from the media, trial lawyers, insurance companies, and Catholics. Like The Simpson's Lionel Hutz every opportunity to bring charges is a Lotto ticket. Until now. Maybe, Father Stepek's stand will reverse this trend to blanket charges against dioceses in the hope of a jackpot.

This morning's Daily Southtown article by the estimable Stephanie Gehring deals with a priest accused of sexually molesting two boys ( now men) suing his two accusers.

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/152649,291nws3.article

Note the tone taken by career pettifogger Jeff Anderson at the end of the article. Anderson, has bankrupted many a Catholic Diocese in this country and has set up shop here in Chicago, where pickings are plentiful.

The Catholic Church in America thanks to its gutless and PC addicted bishops have helped 'cottage-industry' ambulance chasers get MEGA rich on the suffering of young kids abused by priests, the inablity of the American Church to take responsibilty for predator priests, and the universal climate of shaken faith. Priests who molested young boys and girls were protected by bishops more concerned with PC and propriety opened the door for a a cottage industry that allows any priest, any man wearing a stiff-collar, vulnerable to an accusation and any diocese open for a looting.

All one needs to do is accuse a priest of sexual misconduct and a Lotto Ticket is printed by Class Action Suit Anderson.

I hope that Father Stepek not only goes after his accusers but also the industry that encouraged them.

Send Predator Priests to Pontiac, Michigan City, Terra Haute, Westville, and other penal garden spots, but do not allow shameless opportunists to get rich by bankrupting a Church.

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Schools Fighting TIFs

I noticed a Chicago Tribune article on Monday by Susan Kuczka about more school districts fighting a Tax Increment Financing district.

Other school districts may have been ahead of Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 and High School District 155. If so, I wasn’t paying attention because my tax bill was not in jeopardy of being hiked by a mayor and city council whose fate I have no influence over.

If you are new to the subject of TIFs, it’s a method through which cities and villages can grab all increased tax revenue from property for 23 years (or even more, if they can get the General Assembly to pass an extension).

The taxes that school, park, junior college conservation and other tax districts, including county and township governments are frozen for that period of time.

All the extra revenue goes to city government to dispense pretty much as they wish within the TIF district. The city fathers and mothers talk about using it for “infrastructure,” but in Elgin developers have gotten massive direct subsidies to make their river front housing developments more profitable.

In any event, Monday’s Tribune headline read

Mall not worth tax loss, school officials say

That’s pretty much what District 155 said about the Main Street and Route 14/Vulcan Lakes projects. District 47’s board only authorized opposition to the Vulcan Lakes district.

Why?

Ironically, it was not because the two school districts would lose any tax dollars.

While they would not get the increased tax revenue from the TIF districts for the next 23 years, since both are below their maximum tax rates because of the ratcheting down effect of the Property Tax Cap, both would just raise their tax rates on everybody.

That means you and me and everyone else living in any tax district to which the TIF district properties pay taxes would have our tax rates and, therefore, bills hiked so the city fathers and mothers can play economic development games with the real estate tax dollars being diverted from the TIF.

In Lindenhurst, a town of 14,000, village officials was a town center. Quaintly, they will call it “Village Green.” It will be on 190 acres at the intersection of Route 45 and Grand Avenue.

Not exactly a shabby location.

Grayslake High School District 127, Woodland Grade School District 50 and Millburn Grade School District 24 are objecting. The schools estimate a tax loss of $141 million over the 23 years to local tax districts.

In Crystal Lake’s case the schools forced a 3/5-majority vote for approval on one of the TIF districts.

In neighboring Cary, the Village President Steve Lamal marshaled other tax districts having less at stake and managed to put down Grade School District 26’s and District 155’s revolt. Not that the village president had to worry about whether the vote were a simple or a 3/5-majority.

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Photo is of the old Cary village hall on Route 14 that is now in Cary's new TIF district.

This was first posted on McHenry County Blog, where an exploration of State Rep. Jack Frank's attempt to elect a Democrat to the McHenry County Board continues.

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You can't spell Christkindlmarket without Christ

From the AP (via the Chicago Tribune):

Worried that ads for "The Nativity Story" would offend non-Christians browsing in the traditional German Christkindlmarket in the heart of downtown, the city asked the German American Chamber of Commerce to reconsider New Line Cinema, which made the film, as a sponsor. The group then told the studio it would not be part of the bazaar that began Thursday.

Read the whole story when you have a chance, but let me give you the highlights, as well as my (admittedly unoriginal) take.

“Christkindl” literally means “Christ child” in German. So you have to wonder why the Mayor's Office of Special Events feels that advertisements for a story about the Christ child would be “insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market” named for Him (or him, if you prefer).

“Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Office, said the city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another” (emphasis added). This is a City that has a public college named after Malcolm X and an expressway named after a Bishop. Apparently the city isn’t concerned about appearing to endorse the Nation of Islam or the Church of God in Christ with these taxpayer funded public properties. So why are they concerned that advertising space purchased by a private film study would appear as an endorsement of Christianity?

I think that the City's unreasoning attempt at "political correctness" is far more offensive to many more citizens than any inclusion of Christ's story in the Christkindlmarket would have been. I’d love to hear your thoughts, but I’d love even more for you to share your thoughts with the City and the GACC:

Mayor's Office of Special Events
moseinquiry@cityofchicago.org

German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest
info@gaccom.org

To read more or post comments, visit my blog

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Taxes and Local Control

In my district, and most of the ones around me, you can pick any issue you would like, and I all but guarantee you that, these days, it takes a back seat to the issue of skyrocketing property taxes.

While we can debate ad nauseum the root cause or real fix for the problem, in the interim we are presently trying to lessen the dramatic negative impact that these taxes are having on residents in Cook County. (And by the way, to the extent that higher taxes result in less disposable consumer income, this is a problem for local businesses as well.)

We are hoping to call the "7% bill" for a vote this week, and everybody concerned can acknowledge that it will be a close vote. Yesterday, Crain's outlined a Civic Federation report on this issue, which stated in part:

Chicago homeowners would face a median increase of 36.4% in their 2006 property tax bills — up from 10.6% otherwise — if the General Assembly does not extend a 7% annual cap on most residential assessment hikes, according to a new report by the Civic Federation. Business groups say the cap shifts the tax burden to them, but the the Chicago tax-policy group says the value of residential property is growing so fast that, even with the cap, the median bill for industrial property will drop 10.8%, with a 4% median decline on office and retail buildings. The federation supports a three-year extension of the cap. (emphasis added)

As to the cries of doom from the opponents of the bill, I proffer this tidbit from the Tribune's article on the issue:

But the study found that commercial, industrial and apartment properties in Chicago are already expected to see their taxes go down in 2007, with or without the cap in place. Taxes on those properties would drop even further if the law were allowed to expire and more of the burden were shifted back to homeowners. (emphasis added)

Although it is not a replacement for comprehensive reform of the property tax system, the `7% cap' has contributed residential stability to the Cook County property tax system by both limiting and smoothing annual increases in the taxable value of homestead properties," the report says. "The Civic Federation believes that the benefits of the [law] outweigh its costs in terms of tax burden shifted to non-homestead properties and homestead properties that are appreciating slowly."

Interestingly, what I find most telling about the issue has nothing to do with taxes. People, especially conservatives, are always talking about local control. Here we have a bill that is rooted in that very concept. There is nothing mandatory about the bill, it is opt-in legislation that allows a county to implement the provisions if it so chooses. Those county officials eventually have to stand before voters and answer for their actions.

It is hard to imagine a Representative from another county arguing that allowing Cook (or any other) County to implement this measure would negatively impact their constituents. During my ten years in the Legislature, I have supported countless local control measures for other regions. I hope that my colleagues will allow us to take those steps necessary to address our issues now.

Sometime soon, when I am not under the weather, we can take up the whole debate of how we assess properties, how we fund schools, etc. I just don't have the energy or time to really delve into it now.

To read, or post, comments, visit Open House

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Looking for Tribune's Rahm Emanuel's Hired Truck References

The only Illinois congressman I remember being mentioned in any of the Hired Truck scandal indictments was Rahm Emanuel.

Remember that Sunday piece where the Chicago Tribune wrote a whole section about how he guided the Democratic U.S. House candidates to victory. It took 9 pages on the Tribune internet site.

I searched every one of them for a "Hired Truck" reference and couldn’t find a reference to the Hired Truck scandal mentioned once. (I didn’t read the massive piece yet, but my search surely did not find the words “Hired Truck,”)

Why is that important?

The Hired Truck guys apparently helped get him elected in his Democratic Party primary against class act former State Rep. Nancy Kazak.

That’s what is said in the May, 2005, plea agreement of Water Department’s Director of Finance and Administration Gerald Wesolowski. Wesolowski was one of Donald Tomzak’s assistants.

Oh what McHenry County Blog does with its spare time.

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It's Always About the Children in Illinois - Ain't It?

I always get a kick out of the folks doing the Emmet Kelly for the TV cameras whenever Illinois public school issues surface and along with the long-suffering frown of the down trodden souls is the 'shout-out' for more tax-dollars - 'It's All About the Children! Don't You People Care About The Children?'

The next best public school related TV wide -angle shot and sound bite comes during the annual strike of teachers at Whitebread School District 637530- NIYEEIYAN, when a person who appears to take every meal and snack fired from a sling-shot throwing down the Emmet Kelly with aplomb and mewling 'It is Only About the Children!'

This morning The Chicago Tribune treated us with this Thanksgiving Day morsel about the good folks who lead the educators, who love the children, who can't do enough with the tax-dollars stuffing the treat bowls at Districts around Illinois.
In essence the story tells us that school CEOs from the Mean Streets of Wilmette, Hinsdale, and Hard-Scrabble DuPage yank down in excess of $ 300,000 per annum. It's all about the children. http://www.chicagotribune.com/

I have a pretty solid knowledge that my boss, the CEO of an inner city Catholic high school for boys ( 100% African American), operates on a balanced budget, zero deficit, receives ZERO Archdiocesan subsidy, accepts EVERY student who wants to attend Leo High School - no one is turned away: We ain't Iggy, Never have been; Hell, many Leo guys got tossed from Iggy - is paid less than a back-hoe operator for Local 150 and that is without the Bennies. This CEO oversees an operation that sends 93% of its graduates on to West Point, Northwestern ( Hi, Akim!), University of Chicago, Loyola, DePaul, & etc. Bob Foster says 'If we don't need it we can't afford.' If something is needed that will benefit 'his guys' (Bob never says 'the children')no stone goes unturned until that program, apparatus or gizmo can be paid for - he does not use a credit card. Illinois Rep. Mary Flowers has helped Bob Foster pay for an after school boxing/academic program run by Mike Joyce. Last week, the Leo Boxers raised over $ 40,000 to help fight Breast Cancer at Chicago's Park West - it's a round world in the square ring. That is just a small example of what school choice could do.

If Illinois tax-payers really want to say 'enough is enough.' it is time to get serious about genuine school choice - VOUCHERS. The things Rep. Dan Cronin
and other genuine legislators who want to see an end to Illinois public school hemoraging of cash. Of course the Emmet Kelly Imitators live by the dictum that 'enough is not a feast.'

Happy Thanksgiving, Neighbors! This year, in between the cranberry triffle and the return for the dark meat sandwich - about eight minutes for me - give serious thought to School Choice - it makes for competition ( Hell, St. Rita and Mt.Carmel proved that last week and will again this weekend) and it will save Illinois some dough.

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Now It Gets Interesting

Everybody knew that it was coming, the only question was when. The answer is now. From Crain's:

Trial lawyers on Monday filed a much-anticipated lawsuit seeking to overturn the law that limits jury awards for medical malpractice victims.

The plaintiff in the suit alleges a doctor at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in west suburban Melrose Park botched the delivery of her daughter in October 2005. The 13-month-old suffered permanent brain damage from of lack of oxygen during delivery and must be fed through a tube, the lawsuit says.

As I have previously stated, while I believe that there is a shortage of doctors in parts of our state, and while I agree that malpractice rates are higher than they should be, I do not believe that either of these facts were caused by our previously-existing malpractice laws.

It has been a bedrock principle of our legal system to have faith in an empaneled jury to assess and award damages in tort cases. To artificially limit such awards in an arbitrary manner is an unwarranted deviation from this core principle that was driven by politics and economics rather than any sense of constitutionality or jurisprudential logic.

For those who support the caps, I hope that the legal briefs that are filed on your behalf proffer a better argument than this one:

“If this rollback succeeds, it will drive doctors from the state and medical care costs will skyrocket,” Peter Eupierre, president of the Illinois State Medical Society, said in a statement.

It's safe to say that all sides are eager to see this issue litigated and resolved by the courts. And while that resolution won't come quickly, it's a good bet that whatever the court decides, this issue is far from over.

To read, or post, comments, visit Open House

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Attention Wal-Mart shoppers: John Edwards coming to Chicago to discuss new book

Former senator John Edwards, who got into trouble last week for participating in a conference call for Wake Up Wal-Mart on the same day one of his staffers called Wal-Mart to cut into line so the Edwards family could get their hands on a coveted Playstation 3 device, will be in Chicago next week to discuss a book he edited, Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives

Edwards' partner in last week's Wake Up Wal-Mart call, Chicago resident Sen. Barack Obama, is being urged to run for president by John Edwards. Of course the former presidential and vice presidential candidate may run for president as well in 2008.

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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With a Capital C

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Robert Sorich, the number two guy in Mayor Richard Daley's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was sentenced today to 46 months in jail. His conviction last Spring made the point that tying public jobs to political performance is illegal all by itself; there is no need for the feds to show that anybody took a bribe or other personal payment to encourage trading public quid for private quo. And now his sentencing shows that judges take this kind of crime seriously, too. Judge David H. Cour noted that "The offense is corruption - corruption with a capital C," adding that "for people to owe their jobs to political advancement rather than performance on the job stinks."

The verdict should also be a warning to anyone else considering or currently tying public benefits to political actions. What's striking about the Hired Truck scandals that have, so far, culminated in this sentencing is that the underlying criminal acts took place at the same time that Operation Safe Road was convicting people of nearly identical acts at the Secretary of State's office. Some of the allegations in Hired Truck indictments even took place after other City employees had been indicted. Some day soon, we hope, insiders everywhere, at the state and local levels, will get the message that it's just not worth it, that no one is immune, and the feds are looking for this stuff. And, so far, the feds' record is better than the Bears'.

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Thanksgiving is an Illinois Initiative! Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all Illinois partisans and non-partisons. This great National Holiday is rooted in Illinois and seeded as a 'faith-based' initiative - this will really make the ACLU gag on its cranberries.

www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/303/Thanksgiving_and_the_Eucharist.html

Here is a nice link to Abe Lincoln and the religious aspect of this most American and Illinoisan of Holidays!

President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.


Abraham Lincoln , 1863




Happy Thanksgiving!

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Bob Kjellander

Today's Trib Editorial,

So: How best to solve this mystery of why the Illinois GOP is still stuck with Bob Kjellander?

Not much of a mystery, you say? The answer is too obvious? Kjellander should summon an ounce of self-respect and resign his committeeman post before he does any further damage?

No kidding

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Abortion and Gay Marriage

Not excatly Illinois but these are issues that impact rebuilding the GOP in this State.

A while back, Lexington in the Economist wrote A heretical proposal why overturning Roe v Wade could be good for Democrats.

The main reason, alas, why Democrats will stick by Roe is simply because it is a totem in the culture wars. Why should pro-choice forces surrender any ground? That argument makes sense if you want to defend “choice” right into the ninth month, as some zealots do. But for most Democrats who merely want to keep abortion legal under most circumstances, that right would be more secure if it carried democratic legitimacy.

Embracing the democratic process would send a powerful signal that the Party of the People has rediscovered its faith in the people. Relying on judges to advance the liberal agenda allowed conservatives to seize the mantle of populism. Roe has given Republicans a free ride: they can claim to oppose abortion in the comfortable knowledge that it will never be banned. But imagine if Roe were overturned. How many Republicans would vote for a ban on abortion that only one in five Americans support? The conservative coalition would be split asunder.

Democrats still clinging to the totems when it comes to abortion, and (and with same sex marriage in Mass where they're fighting putting it on the ballot), but Barone blog explains how the South Dakota vote (prompeted I'd wager by having Alito and Roberts on the court) has removed abortion as a litmus test issue,

Prolifers should learn from South Dakota that they aren't going to be able to ban abortion entirely, at least not in any but a few small places. Prochoicers should be noticing that the restrictions that legislatures have been placing on abortion do not prevent abortions from being generally and widely available. Voters even in South Dakota have shown themselves unwilling to agree with prolifers that abortion is morally entirely unacceptable. But voters who have supported restrictions on abortion have shown themselves unwilling to agree with those prochoicers who consider the provision of abortion an unalloyed moral good. The status quo is not acceptable to the rigorous purists among us, and is probably not entirely congenial to most of us. But it seems to be acceptable to the great majority. And so it may be that the abortion issue will be less of a motive force, on both sides, in our politics.

The Republican-Conservative consensus on the social issues should on Scalia's comment,

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage.

For me, that's the conservative principle worth fighting for. The lesson for the GOP in Illinois is taking these issues to the voters means first of all not demonizing the opponents and next realizing when the majority decides moral issues; we're going to get middling-resolutions. They may not be particularly moral resolution but unless you're arguing putting these decisions back into the hands of judges, it's going to be the best you can get.

I'd stick with Justice Scalia and put my trust in the people of Illinois.

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Bollywood Friday-Bollywood killed the Video Star

From the classic 80's Bollywood flick, "Disco Dancer".

Ohh-WAH-Ohh-WAH!! These Bollywood pseudo-covers of American pop music are absolutely priceless.

All I have to say (and you should, too) is...BANG, BANG!

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Was Thomas Trial About More Than His Reputation?

Tucked away in (Elgin’s) Daily Courier-News and the Northwest Herald’s articles on Illinois Chief Justice Robert Thomas’ victory over Shaw Newspaper-owned Kane County Chronicle (sister paper of McHenry County's Northwest Herald) were tid-bits that may have importance for future hotly-contested judicial races.

Consider this statement from Thomas attorney Joe Power, found in reporter Matt Hanley’s Daily Courier-News article:

We're hopeful this will stop the mudslinging in judicial races. On a whole, journalism is very good and very important to Americans. But the First Amendment doesn't protect lies.

and

This should send a message to special-interest groups and renegade journalists that this is no longer tolerated in this state or country. All they had to do was print some sort of retraction. And they wouldn't do it.

The Northwest Herald got a similar quote from Power:

It shows it will not be open season on the judiciary. This sends a message that special interest groups and renegade journalists are not going to be allowed to take their shots at judges.

Could something more be at stake in this case than the damage to Justice Thomas’ reputation?

The 2004 losing candidate for Illinois’ southernmost Supreme Court district, Gordon Maag, a trial lawyer-supported Democrat, sued those opposing his candidacy for the type of criticism he received for $110 million, claiming defamation.

According to the Madison County Record, the campaign flyer in question was entitled,

In Southern Illinois the 'Wheels of Justice' have ground to a screeching halt

and claimed it "cost him the election and future income," again, according to the Record.

Maag just lost in the appellate court.

The Record quotes James A. Knecht’s opinion as saying,

We understand plaintiff's outrage with the flyer. The flyer is full of disparagement and innuendo unbefitting a campaign for judicial office. Disagreement with a judge's decisions is acceptable and criticism is to be expected. Expressing such disagreement and criticism in an inflammatory and unreasonable manner is unseemly and unproductive and has no place in what should be a reasoned debate on differing judicial philosophies.

And, there’s much more along this line in the article.

Might Bob Thomas’ case be used to tone down campaign charges made by judicial opponents who are not part of the media?

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Posted first at McHenry County Blog where the water fight article is not about firemen.

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Patti and Rezko

Patti's $47K Rezko deal is the Sun Times headline.

I just wonder how many combinations of names with Rezko will be seeing in the future. We've already had Obama Rezko... I just wonder how many more are to come.

You got to wonder how long the ST sat on these records too.

The chain of events in December 2002 and January 2003 is detailed in records obtained by the Sun-Times. It's the first record of Patti Blagojevich making money off a Rezko deal around the time Rezko began seeking favors from the governor.

I hate it when MSM is vague like this.

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Pay Raises Pass

Not the minimum wage but the pay raise for General Assembly members and Constitutional officers. Base pay for lawmakers will now go from $57,619 to $63,143 plus all the extra money they get from committees etc. At least they are keeping up with the average teacher salary. The Governor's starting salary goes from $150,691 to $165,138. The starting salaries of the Attorney General and Secretary of State will increase from $132,963 to $145,711, while the starting salaries of the Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer will increase from $115,235 to $126,283.

The State Journal Register had the story with a link to the roll call. Taxpayers needed 30 Yes votes to stop the pay raise from happening. We only got 25. The roll call is indeed interesting.

Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-24, Westmont) - Present
Sen. Carole Pankau (R-23, Bloomingdale) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Edward Petka (R-42, Plainfield) - Present
Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-22, Elgin) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Peter Roskam (R-48, Wheaton) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Todd Sieben (R-45, Geneseo) - Present
Sen. John Millner (R-28, St. Charles) - NV, Didn't vote
Sen. Wendell Jones (R-27, Palatine) - Nay (In favor of raise)
Sen. Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (R-31, Zion) - Nay (In favor of raise)

19 Democrats voted Nay, in favor of giving themselves a raise, a cost of around $5 million more per year. And the state can't pay healthcare providers what they owe them and we don't have enough psychiatric beds for the mentally ill.

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Thomas Verdict - More

It might be interesting to read what the competitors wrote about Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Robert Thomas’ court victory over a Shaw newspaper in Kane County. Shaw also owns the Northwest Herald, which ran its own account of the verdict.

Yesterday's article on McHenry County Blog suggested that more might be at stake than Thomas' reputation.

Now, let's look at what the jurors said.

The Daily Herald article, entitled,

Why a jury gave chief justice $7 million

by Tona Kunz is particularly interesting.

…the Kane County Chronicle’s management was negligent in its oversight of fromer columnist Bill Page,

the first paragraph summarizes.

Here’s what the Daily Herald reporter wrote about the jury deliberations:

Jurors raised concerns over the fact those involved in the columns, including Thomas, were not called for comment.

“Like it would be with any of us - if we were accused of being unethical, we would want to have a voice,” said Ken Sotern, a St. Charles merchandising manager.

“To me it kind of seemed Mr. (Greg) Rivara didn't do his job and didn't care,” said Kelly Groves, a workers compensation claim specialist from Aurora, referring to the Chronicle's managing editor who approved the columns for publication.

“We all understand and respect the confidential sources. We just felt that if (the newspaper) had done a little work they would have been able to find something to back it up and not just rely on confidential sources for allegations that large,” Groves added.

“It wasn't that he should not have printed the article, it just seemed he needed to take a little time so he had something to back it up.”

The Chicago Tribune, a minor competitor to the Northwest Herald, added,

"To have your integrity questioned in front of your family and the world, that was the most important part," said juror Ken Sotera, 46, of St. Charles.

Juror Kelly Groves, 26, of Aurora, said the jury blamed the Chronicle more than Page because the newspaper should have done more to verify the information.

"We all understand and respect confidential sources," Groves said. "We just feel if they would have done a little work they should have been able to substantiate this without confidential sources."

Northwest Herald reporter Kevin Beese included this from jurors:

“It was all about integrity,” said Ken Sotern of St. Charles, a member of the jury. “The way the confidential sources [used in the columns] were handled said a lot. There was no one who ever came forward to substantiate [what was written].”

(Interesting how the three papers spell the man’s name two different ways.)

The Northwest Herald continued,

Sotern noted that when articles or columns break news of wrongdoing, such as the allegations of lesser Gorecki sanctions in exchange for Spence support, an official investigation or some other action follows. He said that when no investigations or other media stories followed Page’s columns, it raised questions for members of the jury.

Juror Rick Shaw of St. Charles [no connection to Shaw Newspapers] also said the lack of support regarding the columnist’s confidential sources weighed heavily on the minds of jury members.

“Someone needed to provide information to go along with those statements,” Shaw said. “Someone needed to testify to the sources’ information. There needed to be some suggestion that [at least] some of the information could be confirmed.”

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NPR covers Obama-Rezko real estate deal

It's taken a while, but the Barack Obama-Tony Rezko real estate deal is finally catching fire outside of Illinois.

Earlier today, National Public Radio's Morning Edition covered the controversy, and yesterday, Michelle Malkin mentioned it on her blog.

The audio piece is three and a half minutes long.

NPR was tough on Obama, I expected a softball piece. Good for them. Their reporter, David Schaper, mentioned that the cash to make the down payment on Obama's South Side Chicago mansion came primarily from the advance he got from his book deal. As I've noted before, Obama received a large book-advance from his publisher while a senator-elect, not a senator--this allowed "St. Barack" to skirt senate ethics rules.

To comment on this and other posts, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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DuPage County Board Budget Priorities - Smoke And Mirrors

[Cross-posted at WurfWhile.com.]

Recently there has been discussion in local newspapers and blogs about DuPage non-profit organizations advocating a cigarette tax among other solutions to the county budget cuts and deficit. I understand why the non-profits are doing it - and I don't blame them. Faced with elimination, like the University of Illinois Extension in DuPage that provides necessary pesticide information as well as serves an integral part of the 4-H program that over 400 DuPage kids participate in, or the massive 60% cut to not-for-profit community service grants, or the cutting in half of Access DuPage funds providing critical health care to uninsured DuPage residents who can't get it elsewhere - faced with cuts like these, non-profits would be irresponsible not to advocate a preferred tax increase by the DuPage County Board they depend on for their funding.

But what is responsible for non-profits facing draconian cuts that will devastate members of the DuPage community they serve, is totally irresponsible for the all-Republican DuPage County Board, which got us into this fiscal mess, and which seeks an easy out through "sin taxes" and expanding budgets instead of better prioritizing budget spending. The County Board's penny-wise, pound-foolish effort doesn't pass even rudimentary scrutiny.

First, the cuts they're making to non-profit and social service groups do not even begin to substantially plug the holes in their half-billion dollar budget with a roughly $50 million shortfall over the next two years accord to today's Daily Herald.

Second, the cost of the cuts exceeds their savings. Here are two examples:

Access DuPage

Access DuPage is a partnership of DuPage area hospitals, physician and social service groups and county government started in 2001 that served 11,700 low-income, medically uninsured residents in DuPage County in its first three years. In 2004 hospitals and doctors donated over $12.7 million in care. Yes, that's right, DuPage County's $350,000 leverages over $12 million - but the county board plans to cut that in half to $175,000. With the number of uninsured people rising, it is likely we need more access to health care in DuPage, not less. Cut back on Access DuPage's low-cost care (including preventative care) and the low-income people Access DuPage serves will end up in local hospital emergency rooms for medical conditions that could have been treated much more cheaply earlier. The DuPage families, employers and others that depend on them will suffer too.

University of Illinois Extension

The University of Illinois Extension agricultural program, something some DuPage residents many not be aware of, is an incredible deal that more than pays for itself. Over 400 plus kids in 4-H require the Extension program for 4-H to exist - but even without 4-H programing, the extension is critical to DuPage - and a bargain at $100,000 a year.

The emerald ash borer, a beetle that kills ash trees, is one of the terrible pests that the U of I Extension in DuPage is mobilizing against to prevent local devastation. What kind of damage could this beetle, that has destroyed 20 million ash trees in the Midwest since 2002, do in DuPage? According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources a lot! Here's what it could do to Woodridge, a single relatively small part of DuPage,

"In 1996, Woodridge, IL (a 15 year Tree City USA community) received a grant for IDNR to conduct an inventory of their community forest. Based on the results of this inventory, this Illinois medium sized community (population 33,000) had a tree population of approx. 8,000 public trees. At the time of the tree inventory 25% of the public trees were ash. Therefore, if the Emerald Ash Borer were to infect all of the public-owned ash trees, Woodridge would loses [sic] 2000 trees. According to the survey the majority of the ash trees are now from 8- 18 inches with an average size of 12 inches. Using an estimated average for tree removal cost of $500 per tree to remove all ash trees, the potential cost for removing all ash trees in Woodridge would be: $1,000,000. Using the Northern Illinois tree replacement (purchase and planting) price of $400 per 3 inch diameter tree, it would cost an additional $800,000 to implement a tree for tree replacement policy. Therefore, EAB could cost Woodridge [an] estimated $1.8 million to remove and replace all public-owned ash trees should they become infected.
....
Suburbs and DuPage County Public Spaces were inventoried. According to 'Urban Forest Structure: The State of Chicago’s Urban Forest' by David J. Nowak, USDA Forest Service, in NE Illinois Cook and DuPage County suburbs there are 4,132,100 ash trees planted. If tree removal and replacement costs combined are $800 then the estimated cost to Illinois suburban communities would be: $3,305,680,000 or over $3 billion."

So, for DuPage County's $100,000 in funding of the Extension we get

- $100,000 in matching state funding

- $750,000 in services that includes
-> Horticultural industry support for local businesses and residents
-> after school and summer programs for at-risk youth; and
-> numerous education programs in nutrition and other areas for over 25,000 young people and adults.

- 4-H programming

- Protection against millions or billions of dollars of damage to DuPage ash trees

The DuPage County Board found room enough in the budget to increase their salaries this year. It's time they start really earning the money. They can start by noticing that you really don't save money by cutting relatively small programs that leverage tax dollars to provide many times their money's worth.

I'm not a smoker and am not an apologist for smoking - but given the Republican County Board's history of spending new found taxpayer money instead of controlling budgets, it seems unlikely that taxing the declining number of smokers is much of a solution. It's time to look outside of cutting the small, underfunded county social service programs and on to bigger issues in the budget. Until they do that, all the County Board is doing is using smoke and mirrors to avoid real spending problems. DuPage residents, and the non-profits that serve them, deserve better.

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Little Village Lawndale High School Principal Martha Irizarry: We are a part of a struggle

Her words as reported in the People's Weekly World in appreciation of Citgo's $400,000 grant for a health clinic at the Little Village Lawndale High School,

Dr. Juliet Bradley of the Dr. Jorge Prieto Community Health Center, a partner with the project, told the gathering of the importance of the school-based clinic. “Students every day deal with migraines, asthma, seizures, eating disorders, anxiety and depression, and they need somewhere to go during school hours,” she said.

One of the school’s four principals, Martha Irizarry, thanked Citgo for the donation. “We are a part of a struggle,” she said, “and now I see we are being supported, our dreams continue. Thank you so much. So many lives will be touched because of this.”
[***]
Venezuela’s general consul in Chicago, Martin Sanchez, told the World that this project is an “expression of friendship and solidarity between the two people.”

In 1918, Lenin wrote on the importance of Accounting and Control for the Socialist Revolution.

The state, which for centuries has been an organ for oppression and robbery of the people, has left us a legacy of the people’s supreme hatred and suspicion of everything that is connected with the state. It is very difficult to overcome this, and only a Soviet government can do it. Even a Soviet government, however, will require plenty of time and enormous perseverance to accomplish it. This “legacy” is especially apparent in the problem of accounting and control—the fundamental problem facing the socialist revolution on the morrow of the overthrow of the bourgeoisie.

Part of the struggle in Chicago and Illinois is making sure the money doesn't go unintentionally into someone's pocket. I hope there's an audit attached to this grant. Lenin would have wanted it that way.

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Abandoning the House Floor

Today the Illinois House will meet at the Old State Capitol.

The last time that happened was in the summer of 2000, when the GOP, led by Gov. George Ryan decided that the gas tax needed to be cut because fuel prices were so high. I think the members convened in the Auditorium of the Michael J. Howlett Building. Wasn’t the plaster being repaired in the House chamber then?

In the veto session of 1973, House members met in the same auditorium for the veto session. Only then it was called the Centennial Building. Both the House and the Senate were undergoing major renovations. House Speaker Bob Blair and Senate President Bill Harris, Republicans both, were going to leave a legacy. Of course, neither knew of the debacle facing the GOP in 1974.

With the State Senate meeting in the Old State Capitol then, the biggest item on the agenda was passage of the Regional Transportation Act.

I knew suburbanites were in trouble after Blair briefed at a Capitol caucus in one of the old committee meeting rooms (where the press room is now, I think).

Blair outlined the bill. I think he had figured out that he couldn’t pass the bill without a public referendum.

As an outspoken (really?) freshman who had argued against the RTA on the House floor in June when Blair had last presented and quickly withdrew the bill, I asked,

Will any amendments be allowed?

The Speaker answered something like,

Of course.

I thought about his answer and asked a follow-up question:

Will any be accepted?

Blair’s answer was short and to the point:

No.

I immediately walked down to the Legislative Reference Bureau to get them started on amendments.

Only one amendment was adopted. It was from my seatmate Bill Maher. It required the RTA Board to be re-apportioned according to population every decade. That has been done just once since then. Lake County’s David Barkhausen sponsored that bill after the 1980 census.

I think we had upwards of a 100 amendments in the works when Blair got someone to move for an immediate vote at about number 70.

My favorite, which did not get presented on the House floor, would have required the state to pay for subscriptions to each of the four daily Chicago newspapers for every household in the 6-county area. All four papers were staunchly in favor of taxing the suburbs to pay to subsidize commuters riding trains downtown.

I figured their real reason for their support was that one could not read a paper while driving a car. (And, yes, my tongue was deeply in my cheek when I asked for the amendment to be drafted.)

The RTA and CTA are back again, of course, seeking still more of a bailout from the suburbs. They unleashed their latest ”woe is me” round of whining the couple of days before the election.

= = = = =
The photos are of the Illinois House chambers, taken in May of 1974. This was after the fall 1973 renovation, which saw the chairs and carpet turn blue and a brass plaque put on the front of the podium saying W. Robert Blair was Speaker when it occurred. Some ways said that the carpet and chairs were blue so they would match Blair’s eyes. Both photos can be enlarged by clicking on their images.

In the top photo, Blair is speaking. Can you find these Republicans?

· Pate Philip in the aisle
· Adeline Geo-Karis in the second row
· Jim McCourt and Bill Kempiners, next to Geo-Karis in the aisle
· John Grotberg sitting next to Geo
· John Porter right behind Blair’s head
· John Friedland with his hand’s behind his head next to Porter
· Is that Bud Washburn sitting next to Don Deuster standing across the aisle from Blair?
· Tim Simms on the phone leaning back in his chair in front to Washburn and Duester
· Is that Paul Randolph on the aisle in front on Simms?
· Harry Leinenweber standing in the aisle holding up his hand
· Bill Walsh, Dick Walsh and Joe Ebbesen looking up at Blair seated right in front of him
· Next to Ebbesen, Vince Malloy looking straight ahead
· Ginny Macdonald and Herb Huskey, to Blair’s left
· Al Schoeberlein to Macdonald’s right
· Is it Charlie Claybaugh on the back row with white hair?
· Gene Schlickman sitting to Claybaugh’s left
· Tom McMaster, standing talking to Clarence Neff
· Cissy Stiehl in the back row behind Ron Griesheimer
· Mary Lou Kent sitting next to Stiehl
· Babe McAvoy standing near the middle of the entrance doors in the back
· Is Joe Sevcik standing behind the back row with the black background?
· Is Elmer Conti the last person seen on the left of the back row?
· Carl Soderstrom’s back in the front row center

Of the Democrats, can you spot the following?

· Jack Williams leaning on a desk on from the center aisle
· Is it Ike Sims standing up in the back row?
· And next to him, is it Louie DiPrima?
· John D’Arco having just climbed the steps
· Harold Washington sitting behind Deacon Davis, both on the aisle
· John Fary in front of Davis (no, you can’t see his drawer full of little bottles of liquor)
· Gene Barnes in the second to the last row, one seat in from the aisle (I don’t see a TV set, so the Watergate hearings must not be on.)

If you can help identify the ones I have missed, that would be appreciated. I’m having trouble with the back row, the person leaning back with hands behind his head behind Blair, the man next to Mary Lou Kent on the center aisle in the back, the man standing in front of Bill Kempiners in the center aisle,

And, if I have misidentified some, please let me know.

The second photograph has more Democrats. There is a Cal Skinner, Jr., I don’t recognize standing up, facing left, in the foreground.

Here’s what I see:

Romie Palmer is standing in the aisle facing Republicans
Standing two rows in front of John Fary on the Democratic Party side is Glenn Schneider
Art Berman standing up next to Fary

I need major ID help here.

The angle does not show Henry Hyde, who was in the back row near the men’s room.

= = = = =
The buttons are from the 1974 campaign. The official one of the opposition committee, kNOw RTA, is the cheap clip-on. Note that folks are invited to buy 20 for $1 by writing State Rep. Don Totten. The "NO RTA" button (which appears larger than it is) was produced by someone who thought out "kNOw RTA" button was too soft, I guess.

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A new day in Illinois and a new chance for children in poor schools

[Cross-posted at www.djwinfo.blogspot.com]

The first day of veto session feels like the first day of school -- a lot of excitement to see old friends and a feeling of anticipation of something big around the corner.

The big news is that the freshman class (to continue the analogy) will be a supermajority for Democrats in the Senate. That's exciting.

It's particularly exciting because it means the 37 men and women of the Senate Democratic Caucus are now just as important as the Blagojevich Administration when it comes to setting budgets and policies. When a consensus is reached by the Senate Democratic Caucus, it is the public will and can override a veto by the Governor. That's a very big deal and represents a tremedous shift in power over to the 37 Senate Democrats. Particularly because President Jones is said to be very open to representing the consensus of his caucus, that means the sparkling opportunity and heavy responsibility of implementing progressive policies lies on the shoulders of the 37.

The biggest opportunity for social and economic progress is raising the state's 3% income tax and with the extra three billion or so buying better educations for the hundreds of thousands of children in poor neighborhoods who suffer from poorer schools and worse teachers.

There has been no significant progress on this front in at least a decade in the state, and the predictable result of kids dropping out from poor school districts and robbing them of the American promise of equal opportunity has blighted another generation.

For the last four years, Governor Blagojevich's clear opposition to any increase in the state's income tax has stymied efforts to raise the 3% income tax and buy better educations with the money (as well as provide some property tax relief -- a secondary concern in the scope of problems in my opinion).

Unfortunately, Governor Blagojevich decided to reiterate his pledge not to raise the state's 3% income tax.

Fortunately, the 37 Senate Democrats need not consider the Governor's veto as relevant to their consensus.

And very fortunately, some of the bright freshmen Senators campaigned on raising the income tax (and providing property tax relief).

(As a quick digression, the freshman class of Democratic Senators will likely be considered a major 'impact' class. Michael Frerichs, Michael Bond, Dan Kotowski and Michael Noland will be policy-oriented legislators who will have an immediate impact on crafting progressive policy. I haven't met Linda Holmes, but I've heard very good things about her too. And on another digression, Michael Bond and his campaign staff should be giving lessons on how to run a field operation -- it was the most sophisticated campaign I've ever seen).

Of course, many Republican Senators have long understood the need to raise the state income tax and (more importantly to their constituents) cut the local property tax. The potential defection of a handful of Democratic Senators who might calculate their districts won't support a 5% state income tax can and should be made up by Republican Senators, particularly representing poorer rural districts, to withstand an expected veto.

And keep in mind: 10% of voters last week cast their votes for a candidate who explicitly called for a 5% income tax. That's extraordinary. That's about as close to a mandate as a tax increase can ever get. And that means that the potential blowback is likely rather low (at least in those districts, like Senator Syverson's and Senator Luechtefeld's where Rich Whitney earned around 25% of the vote. 25%!).

Put another way, 60% of voters supported a left or center-left candidate.

If there was ever a time for a 5% state income tax, 2007 is it.

And while the dynamics of the House may not have changed significantly, the Speaker and I'd venture a majority of the House Democratic caucus have expressed support for a tax swap. The House did pass a tax swap bill out in the late 90s only to suffocate from Pate Philip's Senate opposition.

There's still quite a bit of consensus-building to do: what accountability reforms need to be included with the billions in new spending, what tax cuts (either property or low-income) need to be included and what group of legislators can take the lead on crafting this consensus are all unanswered questions. But the future for poor Illinois children has not been brighter in a long time -- so long as our legislators decide that they have the opportunity and responsibility to craft a legislative consensus around a 5% income tax. The Governor's leadership on progressive policy (such as with the indexed minimum wage hike) will be in different arenas.

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Obama, Edwards to address union-backed Wake Up Wal-Mart

Senator Barack Obama must be seriously considering a 2008 presidential run. His fellow Democrat, former Senator John Edwards is generally assumed to running in 2008.

Tomorrow, both men will be playing up to the hard-left (remember them?) Democratic base by participating in a conference call with Wake Up Wal-Mart.

That group is a fully-funded project of the United Food & Commercial Workers. Wal-Mart's stores are non-union, but so are the stores of its chief competitor, Target.

Wake-Up Wal-Mart is headed by Paul Blank, the former national political director of Howard Dean's failed presidential campaign.

This past summer, Wake Up Wal-Mart organized a bus tour across the country to spread its anti-Wal-Mart message. At many of the stops, Democratic politicians attended rallies that accompanied the bus tour.

So it's hard to see where the United Food & Commercial Workers, Wake Up Wal-Mart, and the Democratic Party begin and end.

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

Related posts:
Deaniac Paul Blank says Wal-Mart "Has officially declared war on the Democratic Party"

Anti Wal-Mart bus tour in Chicago Saturday with Cong. Jan Schakowsky

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Justice Thomas Wins Libel Suit

Robert Thomas, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, may own a newspaper.

Or a chain of newspapers.

Or, maybe, the chain of newspapers that owns McHenry County's Northwest Herald has really good insurance.

McHenry County Blog has just been told by two reliable sources that the jury has given Thomas pretty much what he asked for.

$7 million in total.

$5 of the $7 million was for damages to reputation.

Thomas had sued for libel and under false light statutes claiming that Kane County Chronicle columnist Bill Page had falsely claimed he had worked a deal to lessen the penalty against Kane County State’s Attorney Meg Gorecki in return for political support for a judicial candidate.

Thomas won both the libel and false light counts.

And the jury ruled that the columns were published with actual malice.

The Northwest Herald is the most important of Shaw’s newspapers it has almost 39,000 circulation. The Kane County Chronicle has about 14,000 circulation.

Published first, of course, on McHenry County Blog.

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Rough Week for Republicans

I'm writing today for three reasons:

1) I don't own a gun permit.

2) I ran out of sleeping pills.

3) You can't get an honest razor anymore - just those disposable things that will only scratch you up a bit.

What a night last Tuesday was! Fortunately, I've been there before. While I was still a teenager I was a volunteer coordinator for Congressman Bob McClory - in the election of 1974, the Watergate election. It got better from there - until last Tuesday.

I am deeply saddened that some great candidates got swept away in the tide that washed across the country, but not entirely surprised by the outcome. Throughout this cycle the book, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, kept running through my mind. A lot of our guys had become indistinguishable from the guys we replaced 12 years ago. The commercials by both national parties were an abomination. They were not just negative, not just melodramatic, but downright macabre - like a trailer for The Texas Chainsaw Massacres. It made me ashamed.

In 1996 Bob Dole, who had once been dubbed the 'tax collector for the welfare state' campaigned haplessly as a born-again tax cutter. It lacked credibility coming from him. This cycle many Republicans ran gamely on behalf of a fiscal restraint we have not exercised in about six years. When your actions don't match your rhetoric, it's hard to win.

I have always been suspect of the vaunted Republican turnout machine. Ideas and performance drive elections. Everything else is a side dish. That 'machine' was a myth created by Democrats to explain why their ideas lost previously. Republican operatives ate it up because it made them seem more important than the actual candidates and ideas. Well, we didn't have a turnout machine in '94, but we had ideas and principles that we gave more than lip service to.

I am equally contemptuous of the glib assumptions of some Republicans that we will take it all back in two years and of some Democrats that they will now rule for a generation. A good rule to live by is when you have just gotten clubbed like a baby seal, you're not as bad as you think you are - and when you've just scored a huge victory, you're not as good as you think. Events will intervene - and ideas and performance will carry the day in the long run. I'm also contemptuous of the critics among Republicans who want to shoot the wounded. Most such critics have not done anything positive of any great weight. They're usually part of the problem; not part of the answer.

It seems to me that three things carried this election. First, the culture of corruption attack found its mark. We Republicans sure don't look like the bold idealists we were a decade ago. On more mundane matters, our performance did not match our rhetoric - the profligate spending had more of an effect than just profligate spending: it called into question our entire credibility. Do we mean what we say or are we just another group that will say anything to win? And finally it was, indeed, a referendum on the war on terror.

On the former two items, we Republicans are very much in need of serious reform. We deserved the rebuke we got. The latter is a matter of principle, which I would not change a bit. If Nancy Pelosi turns out to be right that terrorism is not a war to be won, but a situation to be managed, the Democrats will govern for a long time. If terrorists are an implacable foe bent on world domination (as I believe) the Democrats tenure will be very short. But if Republicans expect to fill the vacuum that would ensue, we will have to be a lot more honorable, a lot more principled, a lot more visionary than we have been in recent years.

A part of me wished that, just this once, the phrase 'none of the above' would have been on the ballot. If it had, I suspect both Republicans and Democrats would have good cause to gnash their teeth.

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Rahm Emanuel - Getting Less Respect from the Sun-Times

Did Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg know about Congressman Rahm Emanuel’s having given exclusive access to the Chicago Tribune before he wrote Monday’s column?

Tucked in his lead piece, entitled,

HEY ELVIRA: NO CUTTING

is this sentence:

And it turns out that the kid’s also been working the corridors of power in Washington, trying to win special favors for his mon, like a wee Latino Rahm Emanuel.

The story is about Saul Arellano’s being sent by his mother to lobby congressmen for a private bill to allow his mother to stay in the United States even though she has twice entered illegally. (This is the woman who holed up in a storefront Methodist Church run by a former leftwing street activist who graduated from an Ivy League college.)

Also posted at McHenry County Blog, where you can read my take on the Tribune's advice to the GOP.

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Lincoln Bicentennial Commission playing with Lincoln Logs

In the latest print edition of the National Review, author John J. Miller writes about the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009. A commission to commemorate the milestone was appointed about a decade ago, and Miller is not impressed with what the group has accomplished.

From his article:

"We're still in the early stages," admits Harold Holzer, a co-chairman of the commission along with Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Ray LaHood, both of Illinois. "We may be a bit behind schedule." Time is running out. The commission expects the Lincoln festivities to begin in February 2008--a little more than a year from now.

(I visited the Lincoln birthplace site in Kentucky last month, and was reminded about this by the staffers there.)

More from Miller:

The panel's fundamental problem is its composition, its 15 commissioners are appointed by the president or Congress. A few of the lend the body some gravitas. Holzer is an impresario among Lincoln enthusiasts, Gabor Boritt is a prominent scholar, and Frank J. Williams is chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and the author of well-regarded books on Lincoln. The rest are a mishmash of politicians, academics, and patronage appointees. Jean T. D. Bandler is a social worker whose claim to fame is that she is the daughter of Paul Douglas, who was a senator from Illinois in the 1950s and 1960s. Sen. Jim Bunning, the Kentucky Republican, holds a seat on the commission, but rarely attends its meetings.

Bunning is possibly the worst Republican senator in Congress.

Let's take a look at some of the other commission members.

Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.--Why was he appointed to the commission? Anyone? I guess for the same reason Durbin, Bunning, and LaHood were. Lura Lynn Ryan: Yes, the wife of the soon to be imprisoned former governor of Illinois. I know why she was appointed, George insisted on it. Julie Cellini: Her husband is Bill Cellini, a bi-partisan piggish feeder at the trough of Illinois government.

Yes, I'm aware Mrs. Cellini is the on the board of directors of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, and that Mrs. Ryan is the former president of the museum's foundation, but no sober-minded person can possibly believe that they got those positions without consideration of who their spouses were.

Last words from Miller:

The money isn't exactly rolling in. The commission refuses to say publicly how much cash it has raised, but as of several months ago, it had not even reached six-figure territory, let alone millions or tens of millions of dollars. "If you have an imagination deficit, a financial deficit will follow," says a source familiar with the commission's workings.

February 6, 2011 will mark the centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth. As far as I know there isn't yet a commission appointed to celebrate the Reagan centennial. I'm sure something will come to pass--and if it does, it will go well. Nancy Reagan won't tolerate a failure.

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Blue's Anatomy

While still coming out of a post-election haze and getting prepared for veto session, I wanted to attempt to briefly distill a couple of thoughts on the election.

First the big picture - Illinois and the rest of the country have never looked more blue. And while there is no doubt that the war played a large factor in the equation, I think that the result smacks of a more fundamental happening as well.

For a number of years now, I have been on the State Legislative Advisory Board of the Democratic Legislative Council, which is essentially the nesting place for centrist Democrats. I have aligned myself with the DLC because I believe that they are spot on in recognizing that the majority of our population resides in the ideological center and not on the respective fringes. I think that this election has ratified that belief.

For a number of years now, the Republican Party had been very effective in appealing to the centrist nature of many Americans, and the results were evident. But lately, for myriad reasons, the R's have been drifting to the right, and in so doing, they have left a void in the center. This has been especially evident in Illinois where moderate Republicans find themselves vilified, and abandoned, by their more conservative brethren.

This year, the Democratic party, under the national direction of my Congressman, Rahm Emanuel, acted decisively to seize this middle ground, on issues ranging from social policy to immigration to national security, and in so doing, made unprecedented gains. Locally, Illinois is bluer (sp?) than it has been in seventy years.

(On an aside, Rahm's efforts resulted in one of the funnier opening sentences I have ever seen in a political story:

Democrats across the country owe a big chunk of their new electoral success to a nine-fingered, ballet-dancing inspiration for a “West Wing” character with a reputation as a jerk.

Although technically, it's nine and one-half.)

I think that voters are becoming less likely to blindly follow party labels, and will increasingly support those candidates who espouse a message that resonates with them. This independence can be readily witnessed the ward where I live on the north side of Chicago where the results were all over the place. The results for some of the races are as follows:

L. Madigan 83%
Fritchey 80%
Blagojevich 59%
Stroger 46%

Now this ward had essentially no field operation in this election cycle, so I think that it provides a relatively objective view into the mindset of local voters. In the past, it would have been unheard of to see this much variance in party support, let alone a Republican carrying a major race like County Board President. These results show that at least for the near future, the rules of engagement have changed, with neither party being able to take any voting bloc for granted.

What remains to be seen is if the Democratic party will be mindful enough of the source of their fortunes to navigate a path that may not be as far left as some in the party may like. At the same time, it will be interesting to watch if the local Republican party recognizes the futility in trying to force an overly dogmatic approach onto a common-sense, mainstream electorate.

In both Washington and Springfield, the actions over the next six months could well chart the future for years to come.

UPDATE - I uncharacteristically didn't get to the Sunday papers until just now. Rick Pearson and John Chase have a very good article on the very subject of the Illinois Republican Party potential search for the center.

To read, or post, comments, visit Open House

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Why Judy Baar Topinka Lost

This is in response to the Alan Keyes vs. Judy Baar Topinka numbers post below. I started to write this as a comment, but it became quite long so I thought better of it. Also, I think that these numbers are very telling of "what went wrong with Judy" and can spark a constructive conversation.

The only thing that the Keyes vote can ever tell me (as a political organizer) is the number of hardcore Republican or conservative voters in any given area. In other words, the folks who would rather not vote than vote for a Democrat. There's really not many other reasons why people would have voted for Keyes. Sure, you'll have a few people who may have voted for him for other reasons (such as a friend's recommendation or a personal connection), but those numbers are insignificant. My first question to myself upon speaking with a Democratic candidate in an area outside of Chicago is "What's the Keyes vote?". Pretty useful. Thanks for that, A.K.

The big difference between Keyes and Topinka is that Keyes was as conservative and religious as they come, while Topinka was quite moderate, especially on the wedge issues. While Keyes was everything movement conservatives could hope for on the issues front (I'm sure they weren't happy about his wackiness), Topinka failed to shore up that base because she ran against the grain of conservative issues, mainly of the wedge variety (guns, God, gays). I would be willing to bet that you'll find a larger amount of Stufflebeam write-in and Whitney "right to carry" voters in the Keyes voter base areas.

Rule number one in campaigns is to shore up your base first. The question then comes up as to who Topinka's base really was and how they worked to support her. We know it wasn't the Keyes voters or the hard D voters, so those can be immediately eliminated from the equation. The trouble for Judy was that these bases tend to be more politically involved, experienced and motivated. They are the people that are far more likely to act as evangelists on behalf of their preferred candidates. They are the people that influence the "5 minutes a week of thinking about politics" voters. They will likely log many unpaid hours knocking on doors and making calls. Topinka did not appeal to either of them.

So now we are left with the elusive "middle voter" base, which is really not a base at all. This is a generic term for a large group of voters that do not fit neatly into a little box and are motivated by a wide variety of issues. They are actually a huge number of very specific subgroups. It is difficult to get a handle on these people and "shore them up" because they are incredibly diverse. A campaign would need to shore up each of the specific subgroups without ticking off the others in order to do that, which is difficult to do within the timeframe of a campaign. We all know that campaigns have three very limited resources (time, people, and money) and these resources can be depleted in no time trying to get a handle on "the middle".

Add to this the fact that "middle voters" tend to care much less about the political process, a campaign then has the feat of trying to get these people to listen and actually care about what the candidate has to offer. And should the campaign actually manage to do this, the likelihood is slim that these people would act as evangelists and advance the campaign. The whole process of working on the middle and not at least throwing bones to each of the hard bases is altogether inefficient as a strategy to win.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that ALL voters, especially the middle, tend to vote for people they like and identify with as a person. So, the fact that Judy is who she is didn't work well to create a broad base of support. What may have worked for Judy to shore up a good-sized chunk of the "middle vote" would have been if she was...not Judy! Her funky look with the lime green suits, flaming red hair, and heavy makeup was essentially out of the mainstream. And the average person would never dream of saying things about someone like "he has slick, beady eyes" in public. Changing her image never would have worked as she has been in the public eye for a long time. If she had, it would have been seen as disingenuous and would have worked against her.

Judy lost for a variety of reasons, but mainly because she tried to appeal to the middle (when she herself was not part of the middle) and because she wrote off the conservative base. If she had thrown a bone to the conservative base, perhaps relying on the ultra-conservative Birkett to do it, she may have won.

My two cents. Please discuss.

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Enough said

Election results:
Judy Baar Topinka: 1,323,902
Alan Keyes: 1,390,690

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The Trib's House that Rahm build

I'm not even linking it because everyone who reads Illinoiz will know about it. It's great fun to read. I used to think of myself as a DLC style Democrat, so this is just a wonderful image,

"I know your field plan. It doesn't exist," he [Emanuel] recalled saying. "I've gone around the country with these races. I've seen your people. There's no plan, Howard."

You gotta wonder though, if this is true,

He [Emanuel] did it, in large measure, by remaking the Democratic Party in his own image.

and then if this goes south,

This no-holds-barred politics came naturally to Emanuel. In the 1980s he joined the campaigns of Sen. Paul Simon and Mayor Daley, proving adept at raising money. (Daley would later return the favor by fielding city patronage workers to help Emanuel win his first congressional election in 2002; that get-out-the-vote operation is now part of a federal investigation.) [Baar's empahsis]

Then maybe this whole new house comes tumbling down sooner-rather-than-later. That would be a very bad thing. So as I said with Obama-and-Rezko, tell me it ain't true.

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Chris Lauzen's post mortum

An email from Lauzen.

Number 3 is a balance. I think the solution there is Justice Scalia's position: "It is blindingly clear that judges have no better capacity than the rest of us to determine what is moral".

Abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cells research should all be decided in legislatures and not by courts. That makes sense and it's a stand that's unmistakable.

Here's the Senator's ideas,

1. "Allow us to vote" for our Republican Party leaders just like Democrats do and just like Republicans used to do before 1986. I sponsored and unanimously passed SB600 out of the State Senate in April 2005. I have waited patiently for House Republican Leaders to ask for a vote. Democrat Speaker Madigan and Majority Leader Currie have acquiescenced to allow a simple up-or-down vote in the House. I now call upon Representatives Tom Cross, Tim Schmitz, and Pat Lindner to use their House Republican Leadership power to call SB600 for a vote during Veto Session within the next three weeks.

How in the world can a Republican precinct committeeman ask a neighbor to help grow this party, if our leaders do not demonstrate enough respect for that person's opinion to allow them to vote for the equivalent of the party's board of directors? We're fighting a war in Iraq in part for this basic principle of democracy.

2. "Clean up our act" by prohibiting party leaders from working as paid lobbyists on the side. Although it's getting old to be reminded of George Ryan's crimes by a Governor who has been in power for four long years and has more federal investigations directed at his administration than Ryan had, Republicans should have no party leader or elected official who is using his or her political influence and inside information to enrich himself and his friends.

3. "Emphasize traditional values and sound policy principles" rather than being distracted by position and power. A solid majority of citizens and voters in this country believe that every innocent human life is a gift from God and should be protected by society from destruction. They recognize that less government means more freedom. We are confronted by bad people so we need strong national defense externally and conscientious public safety internally. And, a durable majority of hard-working people know that the strongest social unit in the world is the traditionally family. As another Illinois-born Republican Ronald Reagan said, "...now is the time to speak in bold, unmistakable colors, not in timid pastel shades."

What social conservatives have to remember is while many (if not most) agree, ...a durable majority of hard-working people know that the strongest social unit in the world is the traditionally family. It's an option no longer available for a growing number of single-parent lead households.

Further more of us are going to live the majority of our time alone. A majority of us will grow up in families that don't look traditional. Everyone will agree about the value of the traditional family, but many will not live in one.

It's that reality that in fact sparks much of this debate. It's a reality social conservatives are going to need to understand and learn to speak too, understanding that people live in realities, and not ideals.

The Republican position should be Scalia's: Judges shouldn't make these calls. That means legislatures do it and they need to be aware they shouldn't sound like Judges either.

xp Bill Baar's West Side

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National Review's Byron York looks at Obama-mania

As mentioned by The Wolf of Guards of Magog in the comments section, Byron York explores Obama-mania in the latest print edition of the National Review.

Sen. Barack Obama has an interesting and unique background. But what of his accomplishments?

As York writes:

When he was ten, Obama returned to Hawaii, where he lived with his grandparents. He went to Occidental College, and then to Harvard Law School. He ended up in Chicago, working in community activism and teaching at the University of Chicago. In 1996, he won election to the Illinois state senate; in 2004, he won his current seat.

A success story, certainly, But compelling? Perhaps exotic, as Obama himself sometimes called it, but not the stuff of John McCain. In presidential race, Obama will have to rely on more than his biography.

Anything missing in that biography? Well, "St. Barack" has never really run anything. Yet this man is being seriously considered as a viable candidate for president.

In his two years as a US Senator, St. Barack has gotten just one bill enacted into law. Now that his party is in the majority, legislation with his name on it will have a much easier path out of committee.

But the Iowa caucuses are in fourteen months. It's hard to work as a senator when you're chowing down on pizza at a Casey's General Store with some farmers in Cedar Rapids.

But he's got Oprah's vote.

To comment on this and other posts, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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44th State Rep. District: Parke Out

Looks like it is finally over folks, and Terry Parke is out.

From Cook County Clerk David Orr's website:

Rep. In Gen. Assembly, 44th

2 candidates -- vote for 1

Precincts Counted: 75 of 75 (100.00%)

Candidate Votes % Fred Crespo 10198 52.39% Terry R. Parke 9269 47.61%

Alot of folks are going to be writing about Madigan's late involvement, which clearly put Crespo over the top, but Crespo wouldn't have had a shot if he hadn't done such a great job of building a coalition of women, Latinos, African Americans, Indians & Pakistanis, Koreans and Chinese and other new emigrants in the district to augment the core of labor Democrats and former city dwellers.

Parke was vulnerable because, like districts in the south and north suburbs that were once GOP strongholds and are now firmly in Democratic hands, the 44th District is no longer the homogenous, conservative monolith it once was. Times and people have changed, and Terry Parke has stubbornly (the Chicago Tribune editorial board descibes him as "arrogant") refused to change with them, unlike his neighbors to the north, Susie Bassi and Sid Mathias, his neighbors to the east, Carolyn Krause and Rosemary Mulligan, or his neighbor to the west, Ruth Munson.

Republicans will no doubt make Crespo a top target in 2008, but if Crespo can cement the coalition he has built, add to it with independents, and the national Democrats can manage to prove that they can do a better job of solving public problems than the GOP (which should not be hard to do), then the seat should be as solidly Democratic as seats in the south and north suburbs have become. The biggest risk for Crespo is overplaying to the more conservative elements in his district and fragmenting the coalition he's built, but if he stays in the mainstream of his districts values, he should be fine.

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Time for Denny's Statue

Now that United States Representative Dennis Hastert has announced his intention to retire from his leadership position, it is time for the Illinois General Assembly to appropriate money to build a statute to this longest serving Republican House Speaker.

During the late 1970’s I drove through Greene County and saw a statue. I was surprised to find that it was of a United States House Speaker.

When Denny was elected Speaker, I suggested to State Rep. Tom Cross that there should be a statue of Denny.

It would be appropriate for it to be in the State Capitol, but Tom and I concluded that in front of the firehouse on Route 47 in Yorkville would be the place it should stand.

Before he was House Speaker and before the 1992 re-apportionment, he represented the Coral Township part of McHenry County.

For more McHenry County Blog, click here.

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Bollywood Friday - "Lakshmi"

"Lakshmi Baava" from the movie "Lakshmi". This song has been stuck in my head all week!

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Stufflebeam Getting 87%-93% of Write-In Votes for Governor

In the six election jurisdictions I found that list which write-in candidates for governor got how many votes, Randy Stufflebeam is receiving 87% to 93% of the write-in votes.

Now not a lot of folks cast write-in votes. That's for sure.

I thought that write-in totals would not be available until canvassing was completed in each election jurisdiction.

Turns out that the City of Peoria’s election commission and a couple of others have them on the web already. (Thanks to Rich Miller for the lead.) More report the total number of write-in votes and their percentage to the whole.

Of course, there weren’t very many write-in votes. The lowest percengtage I found was 4/10ths of 1% in Pulaski County. The highest was 3.3% in Ogle County, where Stufflebeam campaign manager Eunice Conn lives.

Randy Stufflebeam got almost 91% of the 244 gubernatorial write-in votes in the City of Peoria, trouncing hometown candidate Tim Neiukirk, who probably had more fun in the campaign than any other candidate. Check out his videos. They are fun to watch.

The results follow:

222 – Randy Stufflebeam, the Constitution Party candidate
15 – Timothy Ross Neiukirk
6 – Mark Robert McCoy, the Libertarian Party candidate
1 - Angel Rivera

Less than one percent of the votes were write-in votes. Stufflebeam got only 0.72% of the total votes in Peoria, but over 91% of the write-in votes. Green Party candidate Rich Whitney received 14.1%. The city was carried by Judy Topinka with 44.5%. Rod Blagojevich got 40.7%.

In Peoria County outside of the city, Stufflebeam received another 214 votes--93% of the write-in votes there. Again YouTube candidate Tim Neiukirk was runner-up among the write-ins with 14 votes. Marvin J. Koch, Jr., got one vote.

In Sangamon County outside of Springfield, Stufflebeam got 271 votes. Neiukirk got 11 votes. McCoy received 8 votes, while Chris McClure got 7. Rivera and David Lewis Sito each got 1. 0.72% of the votes for governor were write-ins.

Stufflebeam carried 91% of the write-in votes, but only 0.72% of those voting wrote-in a candidate for governor. Topinka won big time: 68% to Blagojevich’s 20.8% to Whitney’s 10.9%.

For Crawford County, I’m a bit confused. Stufflebeam is credited with 55 votes and Crystal Laker Mike Shorten with 1, but then there is a line that says there are 50 write-in votes. Go figure.

Douglas County saw 0.71% cast write-in ballots for governor. Stufflebeam got 37 of the 42 or 88% of the total.

LaSalle County saw almost 1.1% of its gubernatorial votes cast by write-in for a total of 355 votes. Stufflbeam received 136 votes, with 12 in Freedom Township. (That’s the most I have seen in a precinct.) McCoy, Nieukirk and Albert (Barney) Sloan got 7 votes apiece. I cannot account for the other 198 votes. Dividing Stufflebeam’s 136 votes by the total reported by name would indicate that he got almost 87% of the write-in votes for governor.

Stufflebeam filed 4,382 signatures on his petitions to get on the ballot as the Constitution Party candidate.

For what I found out about the number of write-ins in the other election jurisdictions, go to McHenry County Blog, where this was first posted, of course.

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Jesse Jackson Jr. boasts he could've beaten Daley for mayor in '07

Yeah, it's just one poll, but a survey by ABC 7 Chicago and the Daily Herald from late last month had Daley leading Jesse Jackson, Jr. by an overwhelming margin of 66% to 25%.

Yesterday, Jesse, Jr., the son of the famous civil rights leader, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Of course I think I could beat Mayor Daley."

Meanwhile, in the shameful Chicago Democratic tradition of nepotism in running for elective office, Junior's wife is considering a run for a Chicago aldermanic seat next February.

To comment on this and other posts, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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If This is the "Real Rahm" - First One's On Me!

I am a stunted provincial ( Read- Should not leave the Block) and my world view never really leaves the south side. I lived fourteen years in Indiana but I could not get the hang of saying 'MELK and KRICK' - I thought it was a law firm - and not Milk, a dairy product and Creek, a tiny flowing body of water. I have never understood how driving real fast and making endless left-hand turns 'speaks to the soul in Man.'

As I rarely understand the geography and anthropology north of Madison Ave., I have long labored under the delusion that Rahm Emanual was a Progressive - The one's who raptly listen to NPR, watch WTTW even when it's The Antique Roadshow All Day Every day, and actually think that Don Rose is a sharp political insider. That's me. What the Hell do I know.

Along comes this post about the real Rahm in Steve Rhodes' Beachwood Reporter. Steve's Blogazine is always a great and fun read and almost always politically dodgey - skewed for 'long-haired men and short-haired women.' To my provincial instincts reading Beachwood Reporter's like a kid in 1920's Peotone, Il. reading National Geographic articles about LapLandic Sexual Customs - 'something's in there that I think I'll Like!' Boy, Howdy!

Here's the Link:
http://beachwoodreporter.com/

Steve always has a great and entertaining line-up of news and fact-candy. Here is a wonderful eye-opener about the "Real Rahm." The author is a true Progressive. Reads Granta and pretends to read Thomas Pynchon.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com//sheldon-drobny/the-truth-about-rahm-eman_b_33795.html

Hey, Rahm I am sorry for calling you a Progressive. Let me buy you a tall one at Keegan's to make up. Really, I'd never let any one get away with calling me a Progressive. No Sweat on that Score - That and the Bulls' trolling for my Hang Time and Man-Sized Game!

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Homeless in Springfield

I know an empty mansion Mayor Davlin could use.

From Illinois Times via the Unitarian Universalist blog: Z's Journal of Thoughts,

“They [homeless] are good for the politicians and the politics in this town,” she says. “It gives them something to talk about.”

“The mayor, the City Council, and the powers that run the city get together, conjure up grand ideas with big words, and throw money to study the problem. They then publish it in the newspaper and pat themselves on the back about how they are solving homelessness.”

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Freeranger news: Green Party candidate's performance makes for easier future ballot access in Illinois

Much was made in this election cycle of "freeranger" candidates, such as independent politicos like Joseph Lieberman, or third party challengers like Green Party candidate Rich Whitney in Illinois.

Lieberman won, but will caucus with the Democrats. Whitney lost in Illinois' governor's race, in fact he finished a distant third. However, since he received more than 5 percent of the vote, the entire Illinois Green Party benefits. The state now recognizes it as a major party, and will need far fewer petition signatures to qualify for future Illinois ballots.

Bad news for the Democrats. Good news--not that it's huge, for the embattled Illinois Republican party.

To comment on this and other posts, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Where are they now?

You know, those people like Eric Zorn and the blog commenters and campaign operatives that were saying a vote for Whitney is a wasted vote. Where are they now? What's the justification this week?

Back in the summer, when the Blagojevich/Madigan double-team were trying to disenfranchise what turned out to be almost 350,000 Illinois voters by kicking Rich Whitney off the ballot using questionable tactics and unbelievable arguments, Blago supporters were saying "a vote for Whitney is a vote for Topinka". You know they were, we all heard if we were listening.

Then comes Labor Day and down the stretch the tables turned and it was Andy McKenna, the Chair of the Republican Party of Illinois, and Judy Baar Topinka herself that were saying "a vote for Whitney is a vote for Blagojevich".

So which is it? Are they both right? Was a vote for Whitney a vote for Blagojevich or a vote for Topinka? Make up your minds people, you can't have it both ways.

As it turns out, a vote for Whitney was a vote for Whitney, imagine that. All of them were wrong and you shouldn't need any more evidence than the reality of what happened. Both the Rs and Ds were making the same claim trying to scare away people from voting for the person they really wanted.

So when you hear that argument again, which you certainly will in Illinois, don't buy it for a second. It's complete nonsense and you have more than 350,000 people in Illinois backing you up on that. Your vote belongs to you to give it to who you want. It doesn't belong to the candidate with the "best" chance to win. It doesn't belong to the candidate 11% down in the polls. It doesn't belong to the R or D, it belongs to you. Use it the way you want to.

cross posted at my new location - jefftrigg.com

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What a Difference Media Coverage Makes

The Northwest and Daily Heralds did not give congressional write-in candidate retired General John Borling the time of day.

It was different in the Rockford media market.

The Rockford and Freeport papers treated him with respect.

The local talk radio shows let him on the air, even with incumbent Republican Don Manzullo. He got television time.

Borling had enough volunteers to put yard signs on highway rights-of-way.

And, the Rockford Register-Star reported Wednesday, he got 9% of the vote.

At 9:30 p.m., Manzullo had 62 percent of the vote in Winnebago County, Auman had 28 percent, and Borling had 9 percent.

That is quite an accomplishment and bodes well for a third-party candidacy in 2008.

162 votes were cast as write-ins for Congress, according to the McHenry County Clerk's web site.

The Northwest and Daily Heralds did not give congressional write-in candidate retired General John Borling the time of day."

Also posted on McHenry County Blog, where you can read why I think the General Assembly should authorize a statue of Denny Hastert.

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Pat Perez and the Chevy Luminas

Democrat Pat Perez won the Kane County Sheriff's race.

Now, let's see what he does with those Chevy Luminas given to Sheriff's Office staff as perks.... gas fill up included.

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Ask an Austrian

Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard,

Conservatives won't want to hear this, but the Republican who maneuvered his way into the most impressive victory of the election was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Okay, he's sui generis. But he won a landslide victory after moving to the center, while holding onto conservatives by not hiking taxes. Just think if he were eligible for the White House in 2008. Even (some) conservatives would be clamoring for him to run.

Where is Illinois's Arnold?

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So, Why Did David McSweeney Lose?

Those who have been reading McHenry County Blog may be able to guess the reasons I think that Republican challenger David McSweeney lost to Congresswoman Melissa Bean.

There are two main reasons:

1. McSweeney’s gender. After watching how women run against men in this part of Illinois since I ran for McHenry County Treasurer in 1966, I have concluded that when a woman runs against a man that the woman gets about a 5-percentage point lead just for being a woman.

Why?

Maybe because most of the politicians convicted in Illinois since the 1960’s have been men, not women. Maybe you have a better explanation.

Republicans could not afford to concede those 5-percentage points.

2. The second reason is that McSweeney refused to go on the attack on the abortion issue. A candidate can’t sit still while his opponent relentlessly beats him up.

Yet that’s what McSweeney did as Bean ran week after week after week of ads putting a negative spin on his position on abortion.

Now, how could McSweeney have gone on the offensive?

Simple.

Get permission to run the ultra sound footage that was on the air in the abortion referendum in South Dakota. (You can find the ad here.) Have a woman outlining Melissa Bean’s position on abortion. Define her with a living, moving baby in a mommy’s tummy.

Here’s something that could be said (which I am sure can be improved upon):

Melissa Bean is so radical that she thinks this little girl’s mother should be able to abort her…even now.

If you think this baby should fear death, vote for Melissa Bean. That’s the choice Bean stands for.

There is a third element that I think, but do not know, did not happen. I don’t believe that McSweeney put together a volunteer corps that equaled Bean’s. It’s so much easier to let the postman be one’s precinct volunteer than it is to recruit volunteers.

What do you think of this analysis?

= = = = =
You can read about the first Democrat (calling himself a Democrat) being elected to the McHenry County Board, see the NRA McSweeney Sun-Times bag and other stories McHenry County at McHenry County Blog.

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2006 Judicial Contests: Same Interests, Different Result, Same Outcome?

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Fundraising in the Fifth District Appellate Court race, as in the last Fifth District Supreme Court race, was dominated by tort interests. In both races, the Republican drew most of his resources from national tort reform organizations, often funneled through the state Party, while the Democrat drew most of his resources from personal injury plaintiff's lawyers, sometimes funneled through the state Party. Unlike in 2004, this time it appears that the Democrat won. But once again, voters in the area were subjected to an aerial barrage of negative attack ads that ultimately undermine the stature of the judiciary. And tort cases make up only a small part of the Court's docket.

Illinois' campaign finance laws require disclosure only; there are no limits on how much interests can give. In reaction to the 2004 Supreme Court race, the legislature changed the laws about giving by non-profits. But this race makes plain that donors can continue to mask their identity. The American Justice Partnership gave $305K directly to one candidate without disclosing where they raised that money. Unless the AJP discloses its donors, these contributions may be in violation of Illinois law. But giving by the Institute for Legal Reform and plaintiff's lawyers to the state parties, most of which quickly made its way to the candidates, apparently broke no state rules, even though it effectively shielded the original source of the money. Illinois law does not provide adequate oversight of conduits to make disclosure work in a timely manner.

Other judicial contests fit the pattern, though we're still crunching the numbers. Below are preliminary tallies for the Fifth District Appellate Court race; final counts won't be available until early next year. Late contributions, some of which may include pass through money, might not be reported until early next year. Several pass through donors, including the state parties and JUSTPAC, were involved in more than one judicial race.


Top Contributors to McGlynn from posted Pre-Election Reports and A-1’s
$10,000 or More 7/1/2006 – Midnight 11/7/2006

Total Reported Fundraising by McGlynn: $2,239,808

Top Donors to McGlynn


Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $1,204,000 Illinois Republican Party
Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $305,000 American Justice Partnership
Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $201,000 JUSTPAC
Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $120,000 American Tort Reform Association
Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $40,000 Illinois Chamber of Commerce PAC
Apl5 McGlynn, Stephen $15,805 Illinois State Medical Society PAC

Money Available for pass through to McGlynn (these donors were also active in other judicial races)

IL State Rep Party $1,875,000 Institute for Legal Reform

JUSTPAC $140,000 American Tort Reform Association
JUSTPAC $100,000 American Justice Partnership
JUSTPAC $60,000 Illinois Chamber Political Action Committee
JUSTPAC $25,000 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
JUSTPAC $25,000 Caterpillar Inc
JUSTPAC $20,000 Pfizer Pac
JUSTPAC $17,000 Reagan Club of Illinois
JUSTPAC $11,000 Cassens Transport
JUSTPAC $10,000 Peoples Energy PAC
JUSTPAC $10,000 Allstate Insurance Company

Top Contributors to Stewart from posted Pre-Election Reports and A-1’s
$10,000 or more 7/1/2006 – Midnight 11/7/2006

Total Reported Fundraising by Stewart: $1,047,221

Top Donors to Stewart

Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $314,366 Democratic Party of Illinois
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $58,290 Southern & Central Illinois Laborers
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $32,000 M & R Testing Company/Ronald Osman
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $16,050 Illinois Federation of Teachers COPE
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $15,000 Power Rogers & Smith PC
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $15,000 Corboy & Demetrio PC
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $15,000 Cooney and Conway
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $15,000 Clifford Law Offices PC
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $12,500 Market Street Bancshares Inc.
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $12,075 12th CD DemState Central Com Fund
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,916 Womick Law Firm Chartered
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,660 Keefe, Jr., Thomas Q
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 IL State AFL CIO COPE
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 Callis, Lance
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 Anesi Ozmon Rodin Novak & Kohen Ltd
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 AFSCME Illinois Council 31
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 Foote Meyers Mielke & Flowers LLC
Apl5 Stewart, Bruce $10,000 Simmons-Cooper

Money Available for pass through to Stewart (these donors were also active in other judicial races)


Democratic Party of IL $50,000 Thomas Q. Keefe Jr. PC
Democratic Party of IL $50,000 Diab & Bock
Democratic Party of IL $50,000 Simmons Cooper LLC
Democratic Party of IL $25,000 Korein Tillery LLC
Democratic Party of IL $15,000 Freed & Weiss LLC
Democratic Party of IL $15,000 ILTrial Lawyers Association PAC

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Sprout

The Democratic steamroll was the big news of the day in Illinois, but not unsurprising given the overshadowing unpopularity of Pres. George W. Bush. The other big story of the day is that Green Party candidate Rich Whitney garnered 10% of the vote statewide, while spending less than $40,000. Whitney's performance -- and the loyalty of Whitney supporters -- could redefine the political battle between the two major parties in Illinois over the next four years.

I think the loyalty of the Green voters tells us they weren't simply voting against Topinka and Blagjevich out of disgust (an assumption that I and many others made and got wrong) but actually hold to some core reform values and are willing to back candidates that reflect them. There is a reform movement sprouting in Illinois.

Yes, the Green Party has secured it's place on the ballot, but don't look for them to put forward a winning statewide ticket in four years, unless they can recruit a self-funded candidate who can also carry the reform mantle. Instead, what is more likely to happen is what usually happens when a reform movement sprouts from a third party: one of the major parties co-opts their agenda and the third party fades into the history books. Clinton's ability to pass Ross Perot's balanced budget is a great example. Look for Democrats and Republicans to woo those reform voters by putting forth their own reform agendas.

The ball is clearly in Democrats' court. If they can pass a government ethics reform agenda and an education reform agenda -- the top two issues of the Whitney campaign -- they will have a lock on Illinois for years to come. If Democrats stumble, Republicans will have the opportunity to make the case that Democrats are obstacles to reform. Of course, Republicans had the opportunity to make that case this year and blew it, in part because their education funding proposals were half-hearted, and also because their candidates were not credible on the ethics issues: Topinka, Rutherford and Radogno all tried to make ethics central issues in their campaigns, and in each case those efforts blew up in their faces because of their ties -- however tenuous -- to the GOP's corrupt past.

For Republicans to take advantage of any Democratic shortcomings, they must clean house and put forth a slate of fresh faces. It's a Herculean task, one that I'm not sure Republicans are up to. Still, Democrats would be wise to nip that opportunity in the bud by advancing a reform agenda, and should look carefully at Whitney's performance by legislative district to see where there are opportunities to add to their legislative lead. Start recruiting candidates now, force Republican incumbents to vote on key wedge issues now -- like the assault weapons ban, school funding reform, utility rate freeze -- and give yourself 18 months instead of three to build winning campaigns across the state. Given the huge money advantage Democrats should have and the Presidential turn-out advantage for Democrats, Democrats could pick up as many as half-a-dozen seats in the House and 1-2 more in the Senate in 2008.

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Todd projected to Win

With 78% of the precincts reporting, Illinois Shadow is projecting Todd the Stoller the winner in the race for Cook County Board President.

“Crying Tony needs to swallow the hard truth. He lost…Jr. won,” declared Burt Nobles, supervisor of the Cook County election board.

Upon hearing the sad news, six Peraica 1099 contract workers, and one small child, marched to the Chicago Tribune demanding to “let us in” .

“How can we not get elected? Obviously, the Tribune failed us,” said five-year-old Dan Proft. “The Tribune Company had the ability to rename the paper the Chicago Peraica, and they did nothing.”

A stunned Bruce Dolt muttered something about falling circulation and then mentioned his multi-colored socks that he wears on election night.

Stunned and confused, Proft told reporters that they would continue to march, and eventually, blame every Chicago institution for Crying Tony’s loss.

“Don’t think the Art Institute is blameless,” said Proft. “Yeah, like they have real art inside. It is a front for the machine, and we know it.”

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This was the Machine rolling

Beavers in the Sun Times,

"This was the Machine rolling," said Ald. William Beavers (7th), who has been Stroger's muscle and who won his own seat Tuesday on the County Board.

I think it's going to turn out to be a very tough time for Liberals and Progressives in Illinois.

Here's Madigan's Steve Brown in the Trib,

"It's a good referendum on Democratic policies," Brown said.

Under the trio of Chicago Democrats—Jones, Madigan and Gov. Rod Blagojevich—the social agenda over the last four years included laws bolstering gay rights, requiring equal pay for women and increasing the minimum wage—something the governor made clear he hoped to do again.

As Illinois politics sinks under indictments and fiscal crisis, they're going to have to ask themselves if the deal with the rolling Machine was worth it, because these prizes look only symbolic to me. The getting-in-bed with the Machine will make them pay an awful price, starting with scandals that will continue to tarnish Obama's national bid.

As for the GOP, when your at the bottom, the only way is up. I just wish JBT had said early on she was badly mistaken about Peter Fitzgerald.

xp Bill Baar's West Side

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It's time to stop collecting campaign cash. Time to lead by example.

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

A coalition of eight reform organizations challenged Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday to work as hard at passing sweeping campaign reforms as he did at winning reelection.

The coalition called on Blagojevich to dissolve his campaign committee as quickly as possible and to impose a moratorium on his own campaign fundraising until the General Assembly passes the campaign finance reform legislation proposed by Blagojevich 18 months ago.

"The election is over and Gov. Blagojevich should turn his attention immediately to bringing fairness to the state's election system and honesty to government," said Cynthia Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR). "Creating ethics commissions and inspectors generals was an important reform in his first term, but Gov. Blagojevich's pledge to 'rock the system' with campaign finance reform proved to be nothing but empty rhetoric."

In addition to ICPR, the coalition includes the Better Government Association, the League of Women Voters of Illinois, Protestants for the Common Good, Illinois Common Cause, Citizen Advocacy Center, Illinois PIRG and the Sunshine Project.

"During his first campaign, Gov. Blagojevich ran on a reform agenda," said Terry Pastika, Director of the Citizen Advocacy Center. "During his second campaign, Gov. Blagojevich defiantly stated his 'campaign practices are by the book.' Unfortunately, playing by the book offers no reassurance to voters when the system is broken. By dissolving his campaign committee and imposing a political fundraising moratorium on himself, until he passes his proposed campaign finance reforms, Gov. Blagojevich can lead by example."

"It is time for him to put the Blagojevich fundraising machine in storage and to put the full force of his persuasive powers behind convincing legislators to enact the campaign financing reforms he says he favors," said Rev. Jennifer Kottler, Deputy Director of Protestants for the Common Good. "If trust in our system is to be restored, and it must, the Governor must lead by example. Our elected officials must be seen as moral public servants; the perception cannot be that they are bought and paid for by special interests."

"For more than a year, the governor has told voters he backs legislation that would end 'pay to play' in state government by banning all campaign contributions by corporations and labor unions and setting limits on how much individuals can contribute to campaigns," said Jay Stewart, Executive Director of the Better Government Association. "The Governor's proposal mirrored much of what the reform community has advocated for years. Unfortunately, he didn't do anything to try to pass it in the General Assembly."

"At the time, the Governor was sitting on a $10 million campaign treasury, and legislators viewed his plan as disingenuous and a buffer against scandals that have become the focus of federal investigations," said Kent Redfield, Director of the Sunshine Project. "But by dissolving his campaign committee and imposing a moratorium on his own fundraising, the playing field will be leveled, and there can be a legitimate opportunity to change the rules of campaigning in Illinois."

"If he should decide to run for a third term in the 2010 election, he and all the candidates should do so under a new system," said Paula Lawson, President of the League of Women Voters of Illinois. "If Illinois enacts these sweeping reforms, he could end the moratorium and begin raising funds under the new rules, like all other candidates."

Here are some of the key elements of the Governor's 2005 proposal (SB1822):

Prohibit campaign contributions by corporations and labor unions, a ban already in place at the federal level and in most states.
Limit contributions by individuals to $2,000 per candidate in each election and $5,000 to political action committees and political parties.
Place a ceiling of $40,000 on the aggregate of contributions by an individual in any election cycle.
Limit contributions by political action committees to $5,000 per candidate in each election.
Increase the detail of personal financial information to be made public by state officials.
Increase public information about lobbyists' contracts and activities.
Require a one-year wait before retiring legislators and former state employees could become lobbyists.
Increase enforcement powers of the State Board of Elections, require audits of campaign finance reports filed by candidates and PACs, and require quarterly disclosure of campaign contributions by candidates.

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McSweeney Not Doing Well Enough in McHenry County to Win Contest

My rule of thumb is that a Republican needs to win 60% of the vote in 2-way statewide contest to have a chance of winning statewide.

David McSweeney, Republican challenger to Congresswoman Melissa Bean, is trailing Bean by 48 votes. Bean has 10,711 votes, ahead of McSweeney's 10,663.

The percentage spread is 46.72% for Bean to 46.51% for McSweeney.

Moderate anti-war Party candidate Bill Scheurer, who, has garnered 1,528 votes, 6.66% of the vote.

Only 2 of the 69 McHenry County precincts have not reported in.

Assuming that Scheuer does as well in Lake and Cook Counties as he is in McHenry County, those who wish to run for partisan office as a member of the Moderate Party will be able to do so without gathering enormous numbers of signatures.

I believe it was a bad day for Republicans," McSweeney repeated again and again on Channel 7 after conceding.

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Walkin’ Around Money in St. Clair County?

Just wondering.

Looking at the big money being reported to the State Board of Elections today and up popped

· $10,000 for the St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee from the Larkin law firm,
· $10,000 from Korein Tillery,
· $5,000 from the Illinois Pipes Trade PAC and
· $5,000 from Bruce Cook.

Undoubtedly some readers know who these folks are.

Given the convictions for buying votes in the 2004 election, I wonder where this late money is going.

And, there’s a lot more from local candidates committees last week.

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Today's the day - UPDATED

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

All of the ads, all of the fundraising, all of the campaign speeches and policy papers and soundbites and debates all come down to one thing: Election Day. If you haven't voted already, and media reports suggest that thousands of Illinoisans have voted early this time, the polls are open now until 7 pm this evening. The State Board of Elections' website can help you get in touch with your local election authority, who can help you find your polling place.

NOTE: Sporadic problems in polling places in Cook and Kane counties have resulted in at least two court orders that polling places be held open beyond the statutory 7 pm closing time. It is highly unusual for polling places to remain open beyond 7 pm, and most polling places will likely close at the regular time. However, if you think you might be late to the polls, contact your local election authority, to see if your polling place is among those that will stay open late.

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Does It Ever Get Too Weird? Stay Tuned!

John Ruskin over at Illinois Review posted an article from the Chicago Tribune that studied the growing influence of the Unification Church among African American Churches in Chicago with the formation of the American Clergy Leadership Conference.
Very fine articles and good balanced coverage by reporters Alexander and Ramierez.

Last spring the Chicago Tribune studied the Unification Church's Fish Empire and its place in Chicago. Moon sure sells some tuna! Interesting stuff, especially when one considers the high regard Chicago's progressive community places on the man who crowned the old Rev. and his Missus way back in 2004. The Rhetorically Challenged Congressman, Danny K. Davis, is a long time friend of the powerful Korean Jimmy Swaggert. If progressive means hooking up to a religion that calls for the cross to be buried out back and thinks that 'eventually' the skin of African Americans will be less black, hold the phone Cupcake!

With important Aldermanic elections following close on the heels of this latest embarrassment of an election. It might be a good time for voters to connect some dots. The Artificial Grassroots Travelling Show seems to be gearing up to unseat some incumbants - I know some progressive activists and blogers who are taking a serious run at finding posers and suits to fill as reform candidates. As the old saying goes ' Who's with you?' My neighbors will call the tune in my Ward. We have our own home grown nut-bags and they are harmless real estate speculators. To the good folks bagging their carpets for another trip south to 'change the direction of the country' - meet the neighbors, they'll be gracious and welcoming; they probably won't make eye contact. That's a Good thing.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61932-2004Jun22.html

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Unopposed Franks' Stake in Nov. 7th

This summer and fall, State Rep. Jack Franks has been knocking on doors for two women—Congresswoman Melissa Bean and his former employee Mary Margaret Maule, who is running for county board from McHenry north.

Franks told me he would have knocked on doors in every precinct before election day.

And I heard he sent an endorsement mailing for Maule this past weekend.

Franks political action committee and his father have provided almost one-fourth of the money that Maule has reported receiving--$2,250.

The Republican incumbent that has been targeted is McHenry’s Pete Merkel. Merkel thinks that Maule’s main argument, that he holds two public jobs, is straight from Franks.

With Franks and the GOP having seemingly cut a non-aggression deal in which neither he nor Crystal Lake’s Mike Tryon. Franks has used his time and resources to help other Democrats.

Even though I think one of her leading issues—using the public animal shelter money for the private Turning Point—shows a lack of understanding of the functions of county government, it will still make sense to many people. Several of her issues are quite legitimate ones, e.g., the “belly up” loan made by the county board and covered up from December 1st until after the primary election and the sign ordinance for small businesses in unincorporated areas.

Even the double- dipping charge has been used successfully in McHenry County and may work today. When Patricia Floeter ran against County Board Chairwoman Dianne Klemm, Floeter won, in my opinion, with her anti-double-dipping signs. I really wonder why Maule didn’t use a similar campaign technique. Of course, she may not have been a resident back then.

This is not to say that Maule herself has not run an excellent campaign. She told me the third week of September that she thought she had knocked on 5,000 doors. She certainly could have added at least a thousand since then.

If she wins, she can take great pride in her accomplishment.

If she loses, because of her close identification with her employment by Jack Franks, State Rep. Jack Franks will have lost, too.

Who else but McHenry County Blog would look at county board races like this. More on the Perry Moy race, too.

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Fundraising Update 11/6

Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Recent campaign finance reports show that, as of 4pm today, a 10th legislative contest has crossed the $1 million threshold. With the addition of the 101st District contest between incumbent Bob Flider and challenger Dick Cain, five contests for House seats and five for Senate seats have candidates with combined fundraising in excess of $1,000,000. Previous elections have seen no more than 7 contests cost that much. The expensive races are:

52nd Senate (Myers/Frerichs/Parnarauskis): $1.9M
49th Senate (Richey/Demuzio): $1.6M
34th Senate (Syverson/Lewandowski): $1.2M
42nd Senate (Wintermute/Holmes): $1.1M
22nd Senate (Roth/Noland): $1.1M

107th House (Granberg/Cavaletto): $1.7M
92nd House (Spears/Schock): $1.4M
91st House (Smith/Dagit): $1.4M
71st House (Boland/Haring): $1.3M
101st House (Flider/Cain): $1.1M

The 5th District Appellate Court race continues to grow. Appointed incumbent Steve McGlynn holds a 2:1 fundraising advantage, but Circuit Court judge Bruce Stewart reported $50K over the weekend. Combined, the race stands at $3.3M since the candidates declared. So far, the Illinois Republican Party has given McGlynn $1.2M, while spending just $300K on Judy Baar Topinka, their nominee for governor. The McGlynn spending came in two donations, each made within days of receiving comparable infusions from a U.S. Chamber organization, the Institute for Legal Reform.

Other observations:

* Most legislative leaders seem to have put a little money behind each of their candidates. House Republican Leader Tom Cross is the exception: he put two really big bets on challengers ($200K to Steve Haring and $138K to John Cavaletto) rather than give middling amounts to all of the candidates he's been supporting. We'll see tomorrow how that worked for him.

* Rep. Mike McAuliffe reported $719.49 from the House Republican Campaign Committee for "payroll." Former House Republican Leader Lee Daniels shuttered the old HRCC last January; HRCC showed no expenditure that would account for this listing. It's probably HRO giving to McAuliffe, who just got nostalgic about the name.

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Marathon Pundit Ill. gubernatorial race prediction: A win by Topinka

First of all, if you want a good rundown on predictions in other races, I recommend Richard Baehr's prognostications in the American Thinker.

Baehr made no prediction in the Ill. gubernatorial race.

I'm going out on a limb--although I admit I'm biased--by predicting a narrow victory by Republican Judy Baar Topinka and her running mate, Joe Birkett. Why? After all, only one poll, by Copley, has Judy reasonably close, trailing incumbent Rod Blagojevich and his running mate, Patrick Quinn, by four percentage points.

In some polls, but not the Copley one, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney has crossed the double-digit threshold of poll support. But that was before this weekend's revelation that Whitney was less than forthcoming about his past leadership role in the Socialist Labor Party. Look for Whitney's election day support--the only one that counts--to trickle down to about five percent.

Where will that protest vote--and really, that's what's Whitney's support has been--go to? To Topinka. Some voters may hold their nose while doing it, but Judy will get the majority of the former Green vote. After all, the recent news stories with the names of disgraced Blagojevich fundraisers such as Stuart Levine and Tony Rezko are still bouncing around the heads of Illinois voters.

The last words I'll leave to Blagojevich--from his 2003 inaugural address:

I will govern as a reformer.

Blagojevich lied, and Illinoisans will hold him accountable.

To comment on this and other posts, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Pregame Show

1. While there have been a lot of strange election-related happenings going on in the last week, this one sticks out:

Peter Garza, the Republican candidate for Cook County sheriff, picked up an endorsement Sunday from a Democratic stalwart, the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In a statement, Jackson pointed to Garza's accomplishments as an investigator in the state's attorney's office, including investigations that led to arrests of a child sex offender and three people for environmental crimes.

Garza, 47, will face Democrat Tom Dart, Sheriff Michael Sheahan's chief of staff, Tuesday. Sheahan, who is retiring, endorses Dart, 44.

In full disclosure, Tom Dart is a friend and former colleague. That aside, I also think that he will be a tremendous Sheriff. And while I'm sure that there is a back story here, I'm not sure what it is, or why the Reverend would want to do this just two days before the election. What a business.

2. As an informal observation, if you want to get a sense of what is happening in the County Board President race tomorrow, you might be well-served to keep an eye on some of the west side wards. There has often been tension between south side and west side African-American leaders, and it will be 'interesting' to see what Stroger's performance looks like on the west side tomorrow. If for, whatever reason, he does not rack up south side-esque numbers on the west side, he may be in for a long night.

3. We will handily pick up the one state Constitutional office that we do not presently occupy.

4. Bean, Duckworth, Seals - we get 2 out of 3.

5. You have to hand it to the Tribune, when they want to make a strong editorial statement, they don't mess around.

6. Judging from the weather predictions around the state, I don't see the weather being much of a factor tomorrow. It's going to be about as warm of a day as we get for General Elections, and other than some rain in Southern Illinois (which likely hurts Topinka), I'm seeing no Tom Skilling impact tomorrow.

7. To the extent that they have been paying any attention to it, this has been a mentally draining election cycle for the general public. Even as a public official, my mind is numb from the shear volume and vapid content of political ads. Most of these ads make the Geico lizard and Man Law commercials seem like PBS content by comparison. (You have to love those Man Law ads by the way)

8. In all sincerity, and even though he never responded to my letter, my baseball cap gets tipped to my opponent for running a credible campaign.

To read, or post, comments, visit Open House

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GOP Push for Scheurer

I finally got my hands on two mailings made by the Illinois Republican Party that must be the ones driving the Melissa Bean supporters nuts.

I have no idea which one came first, but I thought you might find them of interest.

Oh, yes, before I start, let me tell you that Bill Clinton has been calling Democrats in the 8th congressional district urging them to vote for Bean. President George Bush is calling those who have voted in Republican primaries urging a David McSweeney vote. Not being in the 8th district, I only got a call from Laura Bush asking me to vote for Judy Baar Topinka.

The first 8th district mailing has a picture of Congresswoman Bean waving. These words are written in a circle:

DON’T KEEP GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES

At the bottom right above the address section is

If you believe in ANYTHING…she’s not the candidate for you.

The other side of the large post card has a traffic sign at the bottom pointing both ways.

On the left is an attractive is a photograph of Bill Scheurer. Here’s the text:

HEAD LEFT…

Bill Scheurer
If you want to pull out of Iraq…he’s your man.

Bill Scheurer wants to end the War in Iraq immediately…

Scheurer wants to pull out our troops as soon as possible…And he wants to “restore Constitutional liberties.”

The positions are footnoted from his web site, as of 9/13/06, but the end quote mark is missing.

On the right is a photo of David McSweeney at a desk. Here are the words underneath:

BE RIGHT

David McSweeney…Let’s finish the mission and bring our troops home safely.

David McSweeney believes that we should support our troops 100%…And provide the best equipment availability for our military.

McSweeney wants to help the Iraqi government stabilize
and take control.

At the bottom under the sign pointing left and right, it says,

E LE C T David McSweeney as Our Congressman.

The second piece is more complex.

The first three panels are about aviation safety.

"Plane. Wrong."

That's what the first page says. A jet is between the two words, which are positioned above its wings.

The same photo of Bean waving is used on the second page. It is obviously doctored to make her look fuzzy.

"If you believe in ANYTHING...she's not the candidate for you," is the headline on the second page.

Page 3 talks abouit how "Bean voted to cut funding for aviation security."

Opening up the second panel (third page) and a smiling Bill Scheurer is looking at you with the headline:

Bill Scheurer…
If you want to withdraw from Iraq immediately…he’s your man.

Immediately below is a repeat of the message above:

Bill Scheurer wants to end the War in Iraq immediately…Scheurer wants to pull out our troops as soon as possible…And he wants to “restore Constitutional liberties.”

McSweeney appears below, also with the same message:

BE RIGHT

David McSweeney…Let’s finish the mission and bring our troops home safely.

David McSweeney believes that we should support our troops 100%…And provide the best equipment availability for our military.

McSweeney wants to help the Iraqi government stabilize
and take control.

And, you can catch up on what Scheurer is doing today, plus what Democrats are doing to win county board seats at McHenry County Blog.

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It's official: Topinka deserves to lose

If there was one lingering doubt about whether I was wrong to support Rich Whitney instead of Judy Baar Topinka for governor, all questions were answered by what I heard her say tonight at an appearance in Bloomington/Normal Springfield, namely that Rob Blagojevich has perhaps spent more time at Wrigley Field than at the State Capitol:

"Maybe he ought to run for manager of the Cubs. They're a bunch of losers too and they need the help."

And she was booed. At her own rally.

How absolutely symbolic of her clueless campaign. I mean, exactly how many votes did she think she'd pick up by saying that?

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I fully expect to read tomorrow that she also made a crack about the Bears losing to the Miami Dolphins, then topped it all off with a few dead baby jokes.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

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It's all Rovian

Gerard Baker writing in The Austrialian.

There is compelling evidence now that John Kerry is a kind of Manchurian Candidate of Democratic politics.

It seems entirely possible that at some point in his career he was seized by a youthful Karl Rove, brainwashed and programmed to kill off, at crucial moments in American history, the Democratic Party's political prospects.

[***]

The party's leaders, such as Nancy Pelosi, who will become Speaker of the house, is among the most left-wing of house Democrats. On economics, the party has abandoned Clintonian pragmatism for naked populism.

The glimpse of Democratic leadership afforded by Kerry's intervention probably came too late to deprive the party of a majority in at least one and possibly both houses of Congress next week. But as Democrats prepare the celebrations, most know their problems are just beginning

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Beachwood Election Guide To Throwing The Bums Out And Smashing The Machine

Dear Beachwood:

I'm completely stumped on a few races.

I really want to send the Republicans in Congress a message, but it looks like all of the local races involve sending the Democrats a message. I'm torn. Voting Republican actually makes my skin crawl, although I've done it a few times in the past in extraordinary cases.

I've met Judy Baar Topinka a dozen times, but I just can't get myself to vote for her. I won't vote for Blago (didn't last time either . . . I abstained, although I do like Pat Quinn. Should I vote for indictment? I'm leaning Green Party here, even though I know he can't win.

As for Cook County Board . . . I can't and won't vote for Stroger . . . but a Republican? Is there a third choice? I'm leaning toward abstaining.

My congressman is Mark Kirk, who is a decent man (I've met him many times), but he voted for the Iraq War. I'm voting for Seals.

I can see why so many people don't bother voting . . . and it's not because we're uneducated about politics. It's because the more we learn, the less we want to vote.

Aaargh. Help us.

- Stumped and Torn

Dear Stumped and Torn:

Help is here.

Indeed, the elections this year are all about sending messages . . . or more like, sending the same message but to members of both parties: We've had enough. Don't shy away from voting against candidates with glee this year, instead of voting for candidates. Consider it a first step toward reclaiming our democracy.

Governor: Rich Whitney. If the frickin' Rockford Register Star had the guts to endorse the man, why can't you? He's polled as high as 15 percent in recent days despite operating in a virtual media blackout. He's right on the issues and every indication is that he's honest. Nobody owns him. And you know what? There's no reason to think he'd be anything but a fine governor - unlike his two opponents. Sure, the General Assembly would stiff him at every turn. What else is new? That's just one more reason why you should vote against tyrannical House Speaker Michael Madigan if you live in his district. Vote for the stooge he put up as his "competition." It's time to say you've had enough. Go Green.

Lt. Gov: You don't get to vote separately for this office, but it is worth keeping in mind that Judy Baar Topinka's running mate comes out of the infamous DuPage County criminal injustice machine. Pat Quinn becomes governor if/when Rod Blagojevich gets indicted/convicted. Whitney's running mate, Julie Samuels, is, as far as we know, the least compromised.

Secretary of State: Vote Rutherford (Republican) or Karen Young (Green). Jesse White might be popular, and he might employ a troupe of tumblers as the greatest name-recognition gimmick the state has seen, but he's still a Machine Hack who sees nothing wrong with tripling his daughter's salary, among a series of hiring scandals that have marked his tenure.

Attorney General: Lisa Madigan might be Michael Madigan's daughter, and the way she rode her father's strong-arm tactics into the office is indefensible, but she's done a relatively decent and honest job and might even make a fine governor or U.S. senator one day - if she would only tell her dad to cool it. My suggestion: Skip this race. Madigan will win in a walk. You will be on record as having voted neither for nor against her. So you kind of send her a message, but you don't turn her out of office.

Treasurer: Vote Radogno or Schlorff. Radogno appears to be a relatively solid, respected legislator. I don't know that this office is particularly sensitive to political ideology. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias supposedly has a batch of new ideas for the job, but how many new ideas are we looking for in a state treasurer? Barack Obama endorsed Giannoulias because Giannoulias gave him a ton of money, which tells you something about Obama. Giannoulias appears to be an arrogant, careless, overly amibitious, rich 30-year-old who has never seemed to adequately address the questionable loans given out by his bank.

Comptroller: Dan Hynes is in much the same spot as Lisa Madigan; both ascended to state office in large part due to their political families, but both have performed admirably in office. Like Madigan, Hynes is a potential future governor (and unlike Madigan, already a failed U.S. senate candidate). Hynes has been candid about the state's finances - in particular contrast to the sitting governor. I see no reason not to vote for him.

Cook County Board President: If Tony Peraica becomes the accidental county board president by virtue of the Democratic Machine's shenanigans, then so be it. The Machine must be destroyed; it is immune to reform. Don't be fooled: There is nothing to fear from a President Peraica. Not voting in this race is not an option (unless you don't live in Cook County, though maybe even then). Todd Stroger and his puppetmasters (Richard M. Daley, Barack Obama, Dick Durbin, Bill Beavers) must be stopped. A Todd Stroger victory would be the ultimate insult. Don't let it happen. Please. I beg you.

Sixth Congressional District: I don't live in this district, but if I did I would consider not voting. I can't stand Tammy Duckworth - she is a Dick Durbin/Rahm Emanuel creation who has nothing unique to say about Iraq despite her service there. If she hadn't lost her legs, she wouldn't be a candidate. If she had lost her legs and had something worthwhile to say about the war, like, say, Ron Kovic, she'd be a fine candidate. But that's not the case. Christine Cegelis got screwed. Meanwhile, Peter Roskam doesn't deserve the job if only because of the poor judgement shown in using a photo of himself in a Speedo in one of his television ads. What is he thinking? If you're a Dem, write in Cegelis. If you're a Repub, write in yourself. If you're independent, write in Stufflebeam, even though he doesn't live in the district. Neither does Duckworth.

Eighth Congressional District: I don't live in this district either (I live in the Fourth), but I can't stand Melissa Bean or David McSweeney. Vote your party and go home and throw up.

Other House Races By District:

* First: Bobby Rush is in bed with the telecoms. Send him a message.
* Second: Jesse Jackson Jr. is the smartest of the bunch. Send Daley a message.
* Third: Dan Lipinski is quite possibly even more disgusting than Todd Stroger. You know what to do.
* Fourth: I have mixed feelings about Luis Gutierrez, but he's been on fire this year on immigration and City Hall corruption. See Jackson.
* Fifth: My impression is that Rahm Emanuel is one of the most cynical, power-hungry politicians on the planet.
* Seventh: Danny Davis seems like a decent - if sometimes misguided - sort. Don't vote.
* Ninth: I don't have a fix on Jan Schakowsky, but I doubt she deserves your vote.
* Tenth: Mark Kirk is a smart guy who would have a brighter future as a national leader if moderate Republicans were more in vogue. I haven't followed Dan Seals's campaign, but up to now he hasn't gotten much support from Emanuel, who has the keys to the party's cash, so that's in Seals's favor. Vote your party. Or your conscience. Either way.
* Eleventh: Jerry Weller is a walking, talking, sitting conflict-of-interest. You know what to do.
* Twelfth: I have no idea who incumbent Jerry Costello is.
* Thirteenth: Judy Biggert is a captive of corporate interests, as far as I can tell. Doesn't Corporate America own enough public officials?
* Fourteenth: House Speaker Dennis Hastert is a greedy dick who thinks anyone who is against tyranny at home is soft on terrorism. Or at least pretends to think that. He has gotten a free ride long enough. Send him home.
* Fifteenth: I have no idea who incumbent Timothy Johnson is.
* Sixteenth and Seventeenth: You know, I just don't care. Really.
* Eighteenth: Ray LaHood is Hastert's mouthpiece - and not a very good one. Send him a message.
* Nineteenth: John Shimkus was in charge of the congressional page program. If anyone should pay, it's him.

Cook County Board of Review: Brendan Houlihan.

Judges: Judges, people. Find out who to vote against.

These views represent me and me only; I will not foist upon you the illusion that an editorial board has come to these conclusions after considered reasoning and study, as the daily papers try to do, instead of telling you that in the end the publisher comes into the room and rips up all the work that has gone before him in order to satisfy personal and business agendas which readers are never let in on, making endorsements one of the most fundamentally dishonest things newspapers do.

Cross-posted at The Beachwood Reporter.

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Rich Whitney and Daniel DeLeon

I belonged the Socialist Pary of Frank Zeidler back in College in the 1970s. I left, or sort of fell out of it, when I graduated in 1976.

Rich Whitney belonged to he much older -but still existing- Socialist Labor Party founded by Daniel DeLeon back in 1877 . The Socialist Party and IWW eclipsed the SLP in the first decade of the 20th century.

Yet it lingered on. It was a fixture on the new left in the 60s and 70s when elderly members and younger converts like Whitney would show up with copies of The People. The SLP's current National Secretary, Robert Bills, writes to Illinois Times of Whitney's eighteen year history with the SLP.

PARTY OUT OF BOUNDS
There are two types of lies: lies of commission and lies of omission. Green Party gubernatorial candidate Richard Whitney told little green lies of both types when Terry Martin of the Illinois Channel asked him two direct questions during a recently televised interview: “What is your history? What party have you identified with over your adult life?”

To these questions Whitney replied: “I’ve always been independent-minded. I’ve never been a member of the Democratic or Republican parties. . . . I actually have been a Green for over 10 years now, because I helped found . . . our local in 1996 . . . . I’ve been always very much involved in third-party kind of politics in trying to get us out of this stranglehold of the two party system.” (Watch the video at http://www.whitneyforgov.org)

Fact is that the 51-year-old candidate and 10-year veteran of the Green Party belonged to the Socialist Labor Party for 18 years, from 1975 until 1993. There’s nothing wrong with being a Socialist, at least I don’t think so. There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind about being a Socialist. However, there is something wrong about a candidate asking for your trust while concealing the truth when asked: “What is your history? What party have you identified with over your adult life?”

Green and yellow really do go together.

Robert Bills
National secretary
Socialist Labor Party of America

I've changed my mind on Socialism but I'm proud to have known Frank Zeidler and grateful for the brief time I spent with the SP. So I'm not Yellow about having been Red.

In fact, Bush's ownership society ideas seem awfully close to the pension fund socialism comrades like Whitney and I argued about back in the 1970s. So maybe I'm still one.

PS Let me add a link to the Illinois Channel where you can find the interview with Whitney.

I'd be awfully curious to know Julie Samual's political past too.

xp Bill Baar's West Side

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"Jesus Saves. TASERS Kill."

When I first heard of the police of Jerseyville having killed a disturbed teen named Roger Holyfield with a TASER stun gun earlier this week, my thoughts went to the McHenry death of a man after local police used a "non-lethal" method to subdue him.

Saturday, the Chicago Tribune ran a front page story on the “5 foot-7, 130-pound” youth whose main office seems to have been carrying a Bible and a cell phone, screaming, “I want Jesus,” and not following police instructions after a person called the Jerseyville, Illinois, police. State Police soon arrived.

The teen was handcuffed and shocked twice with the TASER.

Holyfield was scheduled to be baptized the next day.

The Tribune writes “one of his friends at the funeral wrote in orange on a black Dodge truck,”

Jesus saves.
Tasers kill.

The original story in the Belleville News-Democrat said,

Police officers responded around 8:56 p.m. Saturday to the 600 block of South State Street to find a man holding a Bible and a cordless phone yelling, "I want Jesus!" The subject was later identified as Holyfield.

Officers attempted to speak to Holyfield, but he became combative toward officers and would not respond to verbal commands, police said.

Holyfield was warned several times to stop being combative or risk being Tasered, police said. Even after the device was initially used, Holyfield continued to be combative and rolled around, dislodging the Taser probes. Holyfield continued to resist officers and the Taser was deployed a second time. Holyfield then physically pulled the probes out, police said.

The Belleville paper cites an Associated Press story that says

Tasers have been either cited as a contributing factor or the cause of death in more than 180 people since 1986.

You can find out what the Democrats are doing locally on McHenry County Blog.

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Thinking of Going Green on Tuesday? Think Again

An Open Letter To Fellow Illinois Environmentalists

We will have three choices for Governor when we go into the voting booth on Tuesday. We all know, however, that when all is said and done Tuesday night, either Rod Blagojevich or Judy Barr Topinka will have been elected Governor of Illinois for the next four years.

I agree with much of the platform of the Illinois Green Party, and as a fellow environmentalist, I’m sure you do too. I also believe that our best hope for enacting these policies and programs is to vote for Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday.

As environmentalists, we have to ask ourselves, who would we rather have leading our state, as we face continuing assaults on our environmental laws in Washington, and as we face major decisions of our own about energy policy, clean air, clean water, and natural areas protection?

Rod Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor ever to stand up to the owners of Illinois’ coal plants, some of the heaviest hitters in Illinois politics, and force them to clean up their act. Cleaning up old, dirty coal plants has been at the top of the agenda for the Illinois environmental community for decades, but Blagojevich was the first Governor to act on these concerns. On November 2nd, the Illinois Pollution Control Board approved his proposal to cut 90% of coal plant mercury by 2009 – much deeper and faster cuts than proposed by President Bush. Blagojevich stood up to another powerful lobby, hospital owners, and ordered them to shut down the 11 hospital waste incinerators in the state spewing dioxin, mercury, and other toxins into our air. Eight of them are now closed, and the remaining three are expected to close soon.

Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor to aggressively promote wind power. His energy plan calls for 10% of our electricity to come from wind by 2015. He has committed to powering the state’s buildings in Springfield entirely by wind energy. His energy plan also includes $100 million to promote “cellulosic” ethanol development, and new programs to conserve energy.

Our rivers and streams are cleaner today than four years ago, thanks to Blagojevich’s requirement that all new wastewater plants include phosphorus controls. Clean water advocates have sought action on nutrient pollution for many years from Illinois EPA, but Blagojevich was the first Governor to act on the clear evidence that nutrient overload is choking many of our state’s waters. Blagojevich continues efforts to reform the Facility Planning Area process to protect high quality streams from poorly planned development. He is moving to address Illinois’ longstanding lack of any program to regulate water withdrawals, to make sure we have enough clean water for drinking and for wildlife.

If it were not for Rod Blagojevich’s vetoes of bills to let dirtbikes and four-wheelers into our state parks, they undoubtedly would be roaring through some of our parks today. When the Bush Administration proposed logging and selling off parts of our Shawnee National Forest, Blagojevich objected, and those threats never materialized. Blagojevich supported efforts to pass the Illinois Wetland Protection Act, and is committed to working to fill the wetland protection gap left by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Finally, Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor, and first Midwest Governor, to commit to serious action to confront global warming. He has signed a binding commitment to reduce state government’s emissions of greenhouse gases by 6% by 2010, and launched an effort to develop a greenhouse gas regulatory program for the state. The cap and trade program recently adopted by California is being studied closely as a possible model for Illinois.

To be sure, environmentalists have had their differences with the Blagojevich administration. We have opposed new pulverized coal plants that the administration has supported, and we will continue to do so. Blagojevich is not the first Illinois Governor to champion the Illinois coal industry, and he will not be the last. We are encouraged that the Governor’s energy plan does not include any plans for further pulverized coal plants, but instead focuses coal development resources on promoting gasified coal plants, which are far cleaner than pulverized plants, and at least have the potential to capture their carbon emissions. The Green Party platform promotes the same policies.

There is no question that the state’s budget problems have had an impact on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources ability to carry out its mission. It is important to note, however, that these problems began with significant losses during the Ryan administration due to early retirement, and while they did worsen during the beginning of the Blagojevich administration, they have also begun to improve, thanks to increasing appropriations and staffing levels in recent budgets. We are confident that this trend will continue, and that the IDNR will continue to build strength as the state’s fiscal health improves.

Blagojevich is the only Illinois Governor ever endorsed by the Sierra Club. I certainly agree with the majority of the Green Party platform, but it is also clear that of the three candidates in this race, none has come close the record of environmental achievement of Governor Blagojevich.

Historically in Illinois, state government’s goal in protecting the environment has too often been to do the minimum to comply with the law. While bureaucratic cultures do not change overnight, more and more Illinois is asking “What’s the best we can do?” instead of “What’s the least we can do?” This is the beginning of a remarkable change for Illinois, particularly set against the backdrop of what is happening to the environmental protection framework of our federal government.

As Illinois environmentalists, and as citizens of the planet, we need that trend to continue. We need to reward innovation and initiative when it comes to the major energy and environmental policy questions of our time. We cannot afford to revert to an era where we did the minimum Washington asked of us, especially now.

Rod Blagojevich’s environmental accomplishments have earned him the support of this green voter. I urge you to consider the record, be proud of the fact that your state is becoming a national leader on the environment, and reward this initiative with your vote on Tuesday.

Jack Darin

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Cong. Schakowsky's husband Creamer released from prison

Robert B. Creamer, admitted check-kiter and husband of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, was released from federal custody yesterday.

Creamer pleaded guilty to fraud and served five months at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was while he was executive director of the Illinois Public Action Council that Creamer kited the checks. Although she was not implicated in her husband's scheme, Schakowsky was a member of the IPAC board of directors while the financial shenanigans were taking place.

Just as what happened when Creamer surrendered himself to authorities in June, the mainstream media has ignored his release from the hoosegow.

Schakowsky, a liberal Democrat, represents me in Congress. I'll be voting for the Republican candidate, Michael P.
Shannon.

To comment on this post or others, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Manzullo Makes 6th Mailing

I should have been posting them all, but, suffice is to say, Don Manzullo is using the money he has accumulated over the years to try to retain his 16th congressional district seat.

He is running against Democrat Dick Auman who probably has a better ground game than Manzullo. The congressman is apparently trying to counter with the carpet bombing of mailboxes.

Manzullo still has a sign presence in the district that stretches back to his original victory in 1992. In fact, on a trip to Wisconsin in early October, the only sign I saw was one for Manzullo on Route 14 in Harvard north of the cow.

Democratic Party challenger Dick Auman has enough signs in Crystal Lake to allow me to remember how to spell his name.

The wild card, which must be driving Manzullo nuts, even if I’ve never heard of a write-in candidate winning a congressional race, is retired General John Borling.

He must be preparing to run as independent on the ballot in 2008.

Borling is making lots of noise and putting up lots of signs on rights-of-way in the Rockford area, while making no perceptible impact in McHenry County, which contains, what, a quarter of the district’s vote.

= = = = =
Candidate photos are from their web sites. Road side signs from a trip to Rockford.

Posted with a a lot more localized political stories on McHenry County Blog, the blog that doesn't shut down on weekends. Find out what the Dems are doing locally.

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Bollywood Friday - Fighting Disco Dancer!

Who needs "Fighting Dems" when we could have a Fighting Disco Dancer? Somebody vet this guy for office.


p.s. Bollywood is silliness. This is important.

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Blagojevich-Topinka-Whitney and Bean-Scheurer-McSweeney races show the need for ranked ballots

There are three high-profile three-way races in Illinois. Both of them show what an antiquated election system we still use and the need to modernize our elections to allow for ranked ballots.

In one of the most hotly-contested congressional races in the country, incumbent Melissa Bean (D) is challenged by David McSweeney (R) and Bill Scheurer (M). Scheurer is running on a progressive platform and is thus a threat to the Bean campaign much more than the McSweeney campaign. Bean looks like the likely victor and is running on a DLC Democratic record (embrace most of the Bush tax cut and free trade agenda) with the implied calculation that her affluent northwest suburban district likes economic policies that benefit higher incomes. For voters who don't like the Bush tax cuts or corporate-backed free trade policies or the Iraqi occupation, it's a tough pill to swallow: vote for the guy with the platform you agree with and risk electing the guy you really don't agree with or vote for the woman who is with you about half the time and send the message that it's OK to embrace most of the Bush economic agenda.

[UPDATE: Scheurer is also pro-life, so there's a potential pull from GOP base voters as well. Thanks Skeeter]

Most progressives are sucking it up in order to elect a Democratic majority, but imagine the consternation if McSweeney wins and the margin of victory is half of the Scheurer vote.

This is all because we don't have a runoff election to ensure the winner earns a majority of the vote. And because we don't have a runoff, the majority of voters can split the vote (in this case between Bean and Scheurer) allowing a candidate to get elected that the majority of voters rejected (in this hypothetical, McSweeney). That's dumb. But it happens a lot.

The solution is to have a runoff election, like most municipalities do. A better solution is to hold an instant runoff election.

On Tuesday, Oakland, Minneapolis and Pierce County (WA) will all vote to implement instant runoff voting. I think they will all win. They would join San Francisco, Burlington VT, Ireland and Australia by using instant runoff voting.

Here are the campaign websites (with a particular link to the neat flash demonstrations of IRV on each site if they have one -- they are worth checking out).

Oakland
Minneapolis
Fun flash demonstration on how IRV works called Elect-A-Date
Pierce County, WA
Their flash demonstration

Ranked ballots with instant runoff voting is a little more resonant, perhaps, in the gubernatorial race where both the Blagojevich and Topinka campaigns believe the Green Party's Rich Whitney's campaign is pulling away their voters. Rich Miller is making the point that all eyes for the last four days of the campaign should be on the 10-15% of the electorate that are now (pollsters say) planning to vote for Whitney to see which way they will break as it becomes clear that Whitney won't win.

The trouble is, lots of voters would like to vote for a 6% income tax in exchange for more money for schools and a lower property tax as well as send a message for cleaner government, but do have a preference between Topinka and Blagojevich.

Our stupid voting system doesn't allow that to happen. So the major parties actively discourage third party candidates from getting on the ballot which is a major draw of resources for everyone (as an election lawyer, I might benefit from that, but it is a waste).

If Whitney gets more than 5% of the vote, and he almost certainly will, this problem will get a lot worse, because then the Green Party will become an established party in Illinois and thus get access to the ballot by filing for a Green Party primary election. That will likely create lots of three-way races in 2008.

The demand for a modern voting system like instant runoff voting is growing in Illinois. And while I'm a proud Democratic Party member, I also believe we're better off with a multi-party system and three or four candidates on the ballot instead of one or two.

I'm curious what others think about our election system now given three candidates on the ballot and whether we ought to hold a runoff or instant runoff in the future.

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Updated Numbers 11/3

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Couple of new reports since yesterday and seeing as it's the final weekend, we thought we'd run a quick list of races. If totals are unchanged from yesterday, we wont' list them here; this is for new totals only. We're also listing some races we didn't list yesterday; there are a bunch of legislative races that aren't in the top five but are still getting a fair amount of media interest. For the first time, we're also posting numbers for the Cook County Board President's race.

Here're the updates, as of 2:30pm today. We'll mark candidates with new totals with an *asterix*.

Contested Appellate Court Races
(Fundraising totals from formation of the PAC through November 3 2:30pm)
3rd District Central IL = $484,000
Michael Powers* (R) $304,000
Vicki Wright (D) $180,000
5th District/ Southern IL = $3,199,000
Stephen McGlynn (R) $2,215,000
Bruce Stewart* (D) $984,000


In legislative races, the biggest gainers since yesterday are Michael Bond at $58K, Aaron Schock at $44K, and Kurt Granberg at $41K. Most of the big money at this point in the race comes in transfers from the legislative leaders.

Senate Races
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 3 2:30pm)
22nd Senate - NW Suburbs = $1,061,000
Billie Roth (R) $475,000
Michael Noland (D) $577,000
31st Senate - N Suburbs = $788,000
Suzanne Simpson * (R) $412,000
Michael Bond * (D) $376,000
33rd Senate - NW Suburbs = $883,000
Cheryl Axley (R) $367,000
Dan Kotowski (D) $516,000
34th Senate - Rockford = $1,191,000
Dave Syverson * (R) $698,000
Dan Lewandowski * (D) $494,000
46th Senate - Central IL = $703,000
Ernie Russel * (R) $477,000
David Koehler (D) $225,000
49th Senate - Central IL = $1,646,000
Jeff Richey (R) $274,000
Deanna Demuzio * (D) $1,372,000
52nd Senate - Champaign/ Urbana = $1,893,000
Judith Myers * (R) $856,000
Michael Frerichs (D) $1,035,000
Joseph Parnarauskis (S) $1,000

House Races
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 3 2:30pm)
44th House - W. Suburbs = $491,000
Terry Parke * (R) $386,000
Fred Crespo (D) $105,000
71st House - Quad Cities = $1,146,000
Steven Haring * (R) $387,000
Mike Boland * (D) $758,000
75th House - Eastern IL = $595,000
Jason Briscoe (R) $223,000
Careen Gordon (D) $372,000
92nd House - Peoria = $1,403,000
Aaron Schock * (R) $928,000
Bill Spears * (D) $475,000
101st House - Decatur = $966,000
Dick Cain * (R) $360,000
Robert Flider (D) $606,000
107th House - Centralia = $1,666,000
John Cavaletto * (R) $578,000
Kurt Granberg * (D) $1,087,000


Topinka reported $200K in transfers from the Party, while Blago reported $25K from the "Michael Bloomberg Org" of New York City. Rich Whitney isn't showing new income, but his running mate, Julie Samuels, activated her political committee yesterday.

Gubernatorial Candidates
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 3, 2:30pm)
Governor = $22,569,000
Rod Blagojevich (D) $16,621,000
Judy Baar Topinka (R) $5,919,000
Rich Whitney (G) $29,000


Even on top of his apparently unsecured $500K loan, Todd Stroger continues to pull in large contributions, including $50K from DPI.

Cook County Board President
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 3, 2:30pm)
Both Candidates = $2,829,000
Todd Stroger (D) $1,713,000
Tony Peraica (R) $1,116,000

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Blago on the Tube

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Think you've seen a lot of TV ads lately for Gov. Blagojevich? You're not alone. Nielsen Media Research yesterday released a national survey that found that our governor has run more ads than most candidates for governor this year. He's #3 on the list, with 11,388 spots aired between August 1 and October 15, a time frame that ignores the 3,582 spots he ran last April, May, and June in Chicago, and any downstate Springtime ads that may have run. By contrast, Republican Topinka has run just 4,096 spots, according to Nielson, and none last Spring, according to our research.

As ICPR reported earlier, TV news stations have largely abdicated coverage of campaigns and elections, devoting less time to candidates than to intros and teasers in a typical half hour broadcast. TV ads fill that void, and Blagojevich has used his enormous campaign warchest to define the terms of the campaign with these spots.

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Downstate Judicial Races Leave Records in the Dust

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Note - We put this release out earlier this morning, which is to say the numbers are a tad stale by now. Many of these candidates have since filed A1s, including Democratic Appellate Court candidate Bruce Stewart for $125K, Republican House candidate John Cavaletto for $20K, and Sen. Judy Myers and House candidate Dick Cain for $14K each. So it goes with moving targets! Check back to ilcampaign.org for regular updates.



Downstate Judicial Races Leave Records in the Dust
9 Legislative Contests Pass $1M Mark

With one weekend left in Campaign 2006, fundraising in judicial and legislative races is off the charts. Spending by two candidates battling to fill a vacancy on the 5th District Appellate Court in southern Illinois has obliterated the $567,000 record for General Election spending in an appellate court race in Illinois, and quite possibly the national record for appellate contests. The fight over one Circuit Court seat in the Metro East area also seems headed for record-breaking spending.

In addition, five Senate races and four House races have crossed the $1 million mark, and at least three others are poised to break that threshold. Large contributions from labor unions, especially teachers, and tort reform organizations are driving the totals. Previous election cycles have seen no more than 7 legislative races break the $1 million mark.

Among judicial races, two stand out for their fundraising: the 5th District Appellate race in southern Illinois and the race for the Kardis vacancy in Third Circuit, also in southern Illinois. Both look to be replays of the 2004 5th District Supreme Court race: a proxy war between tort reform advocates and trial lawyers. The race in this Appellate Court district, which stretches from the Metro East area to the Indiana border, already appears to have broken the record for spending in a state Appellate Court contest. Most of the money in the race is going for TV attack ads. Surveys taken right after the 2004 Supreme Court race in the same area found that judicial elections conducted this way do severe damage to popular confidence in the judiciary. (See ICPR’s website for the surveys)

Contested Appellate Court Races
(Fundraising totals from formation of the PAC through November 2 9am)
3rd District Central IL = $476,000
Michael Powers (R) $296,000
Vicki Wright (D) $180,000
5th District/ Southern IL = $3,063,000
Stephen McGlynn (R) $2,215,000
Bruce Stewart (D) $847,000

The Circuit Court race in Madison and Bond counties between Don Weber and David Hylla has surged past half a million and will likely break a record for Circuit Court races in Illinois. Circuit Court races rarely draw this kind of interest from financial donors. With no guarantee that the winner will even be assigned to hear personal injury cases, both candidates for the Kardis vacancy are drawing heavily from personal injury interests, plaintiffs for the Democrat and defendants for the Republican. The race for the Moran vacancy in the same Circuit is far more typical of Circuit Court races.


Third Circuit Court Races (Madison and Bond Counties)
(Fundraising totals from formation of the PAC through November 2 9am)
Kardis Vac / Madison & Bond Co. = $629,000
Don W. Weber (R) $233,000
David A. Hylla (D) $395,000
Moran Vac / Madison & Bond Co. = $210,000
James Hackett (R) $61,000
Barbara Crowder (D) $149,000


Some of the legislative races in the targeted districts are expected to break state records. What all of these expensive legislative races have in common is gigantic transfers from the legislative leaders. Indeed, the four legislative leaders have raised a combined $17.6 million for the General Election, and to date have transferred $11.2 million to aid their candidates. While these numbers are floating targets, ICPR estimates that Senate President Emil Jones retains the highest balance going into the final weekend, with $2.2 million in cash available; followed by Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson at $1.6 million; House Republican Leader Tom Cross at $1.4 million, and House Speaker and Democratic Party Chair Michael Madigan at $1 million.

Top Legislative Races
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 2 9am)
52nd Senate - Champaign/ Urbana = $1,879,000
Judith Myers (R) $843,000
Michael Frerichs (D) $1,035,000
Joseph Parnarauskis (S) $1,000
49th Senate - Central IL = $1,629,000
Jeff Richey (R) $274,000
Deanna Demuzio (D) $1,355,000
34th Senate - Rockford = $1,155,000
Dave Syverson (R) $682,000
Dan Lewandowski (D) $473,000
42nd Senate - Aurora/Plainfield = $1,111,000
Terri Wintermute (R) $501,000
Linda Holmes (D) $610,000
22nd Senate - NW Suburbs = $1,039,000
Billie Roth (R) $475,000
Michael Noland (D) $564,000
107th House - Centralia = $1,605,000
John Cavaletto (R) $558,000
Kurt Granberg (D) $1,047,000
92nd House - Peoria = $1,356,000
Aaron Schock (R) $884,000
Bill Spears (D) $471,000
91st House - Peoria = $1,329,000
Daryl Dagit (R) $482,000
Mike Smith (D) $847,000
71st House - Quad Cities = $1,101,000
Steven Haring (R) $368,000
Mike Boland (D) $773,000
101st House - Decatur = $952,000
Dick Cain (R) $347,000
Robert Flider (D) $606,000

In contrast to the hyper-expensive, targeted contests, most legislative races throughout the state are dominated by a single candidate who will far outspend any opponent they may have. Almost half of all House races are uncontested, meaning that voters have no choice when they arrive at the polling booth. Many of those that are contested are not seriously challenged, as Illinois’ legislative map, drawn by a partisan Commission, discourages competition. The vast majority of incumbent legislators will be returned to office with little or no opposition.

In statewide races, Democrats continue their financial dominance. Even as one poll shows the gubernatorial race to be a dead heat, Gov. Rod Blagojevich enjoys a three-to-one fundraising advantage. Most of the money raised by statewide candidates has come in very large increments from donors who gave more than $10,000. Contributions of this size are banned in most other states and for all federal candidates. Because Illinois law places no restrictions on giving, some candidates have become reliant on very large donors.

Statewide Candidates
(Cash on hand June 30 plus fundraising totals from July 1 through November 2 9am)
Governor = $22,315,000
Rod Blagojevich (D) $16,572,000
Judy Baar Topinka (R) $5,714,000
Rich Whitney (G) $29,000
Atty General = $3,029,000
Lisa Madigan (D) $2,935,000
Stewart Umholtz (R) $94,000
David Black (G) No committee
Secy of State = $3,335,000
Jesse White (D) $2,414,000
Dan Rutherford (R) $920,000
Karen “Young” Peterson (G) No committee
Comptroller = $1,445,000
Dan Hynes (D) $1,265,000
Carole Pankau (R) $179,000
Alicia Snyder (G) No committee
Treasurer = $3,678,000
Alexi Giannoulias (D) $2,808,000
Christine Radogno (R) $869,000
Dan Rodriguez Schlorff (G) No committee


The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR) is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization conducting research and advocating reforms to promote public participation in government, address the role of money in politics and encourage integrity, accountability and transparency in government. The late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon founded ICPR in 1997.

The Sunshine Project is based at the University of Illinois at Springfield and is funded by the Joyce Foundation. Its goal is to increase public awareness and understanding of the role of money in Illinois politics.

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Racist Bashing of Perry Moy

While McHenry County Board member Perry Moy was attacked obliquely in a Democratic Party door-to-door piece and newspaper insert I am analyzing in 3-part series entitled, “Picking on Perry,” a direct mail piece that arrived yesterday deserves the light of day now.

It is from Moy’s county board opponent James Kennedy, an 11-year trustee of Lake in the Hills and a policeman for 26 years (16 as a supervisor), according to the McHenry County Democratic Party web site. (Photo of Kennedy is from the same web site.)

Here’s what I know about Perry Moy. He and his mother immigrated to the United States from China. She bought a restaurant in McHenry. I asked for her vote in 1966 when I was running for County Treasurer. Perry developed an interest in public affairs and contributed amounts big enough to catch the attention of the Northwest Herald. The restaurant had apparently been quite successful.

In 1992 Perry strongly supported congressional candidate Don Manzullo, whose family also owned a restaurant. In 1994 Perry and his then-wife Mimi hosted soon-to-be House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a reception at their home.

At that time I discussed with Mimi how Perry ought to run for public office.

I disagreed.

Perry did run for county board in 2002 and won. He has sided with the Establishment on pretty much everything policy and political. Some criticize him for that.

But, he had the boldness to run against Jack Franks before the divorce proceedings were completed. The divorce publicity certainly did not enhance Perry’s prospects for victory.

That challenge probably earned him the honor of being a bull’s eye in this year’s campaign, however.

But, as I looked at Kennedy’s “hit” piece I thought back to Mimi’s comment about racial prejudice in McHenry County.

Look at Perry’s face. He’s frowning. He looks more threatening than the most evil Chinese villain you’ve ever seen on a “B” movie. Maybe it's the villain from the next installment of "24."

“Is this guy a member of the Chinese mafia?” casual voters might ask themselves.

The demonizing picture makes me think that the Democrats don’t have strong enough issues to take him down. They need to demonize him and are using his race to help do so.

Plain and simple, this is a hate campaign.

Under the unflattering photo are the words,

Reckless
Careless
Insulting

Now, those who know Perry know that he is usually smiling.

He’s the guy behind the counter of his Plum Garden booth throughout McHenry County.

The Democrats do attack his county board record with regard to the animal shelter purchase, but all the other policy attacks are on the county board in general, not on Perry.

Here’s what they say:

Perry Moy is the author of the shoddy report that led to the $3.5 million animal shelter fiasco in Crystal Lake. Taxpayers and neighbors of the proposed facility are outraged. Moy’s own Republican allies call his behavior “insulting.”

The only other policy attack is against a $146,000 loan from county-controlled economic development money that went belly up.

“I wasn’t even on the board when the loan was made,” Perry told me.

The third major item points to an IRS lien on the Moy residence because “$88,500” was not paid in a timely fashion. A tiny reproduction of the lien is reproduced on the address side of the mailing.

“The taxes are paid,” Perry told me.

Oh yes, this immigrant American is also criticized for urging “the Federal Government to loosen oversight of aliens coming into this country to make it easier for his restaurant to earn even more profits.”

I wonder if this pamphleteer is bold enough to say that Perry is not paying the minimum wage to his employees.

Perry’s reaction:

They are attacking me with blatant lies and they link me--which is very disturbing--to the darkest day that this country has ever faced and that’s 9-11. They tie in the immigration concerns we have as a nation and this hints of profiling and could be defined as a hate crime.

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John Laesch on Republican Torture Politics

Eating lunch today and saw Laesch's second commercial .

My first thought was if Republican Torture Politics are creating more terrorists, then it seems to me like an immediate pull out from Iraq is the order of the day.

Next was to wonder if Laesch, in his time as an Intelligence Officer, used intelligence obtained coercively? If he thought terrorists fighting outside the Geneva Concention's rules-of-war were entitled to give just the name, rank, and serial number required by the Convention?

Or would he have drawn a line further out on what could be coerced and how during interrogation? He must have some thoughts based from his MI training here.

Which took my mind to the image of Mr. Faleh in Laesch's ad. The hooded prisoner with fake electrodes attached to him. Back when a Mr. Qaissi was posing as Mr. Faleh, the NYT's told us the real prisoner had been released and disappeared,

Meanwhile, it is not clear what happened to the real hooded man, Mr. Faleh. An Army spokesman said he was released from American custody in January 2004. Tribal leaders, and the manager of a brick factory next to the address where prison records say he lived, said they had never heard the name. Besides, they said, detainees often make up identities when they are imprisoned. Mr. Qaissi's attorneys said they have not attempted to search for him.

Finally I recalled one of the most impressive things I saw working in the Army. It was the Spec 4 in charge of the GIs in my computer room leading them in training on Wednesday afternoons. Once they went through exercises on ethics using case-studies like: you're a sole American Military Advisor to Commandte X in the jungle. The Commandte proceeds to slice off the ear of a prisoner. What do you do? You have no authority here, your just an advisor, and a lonely one at that among the Commandte's men.

These guys would discuss the cases and it was impressive to see them work solutions to this stuff. Almost embarrassing really because they looked up to me as the college educated computer programmer.

When the Taguba report came out and I read this citation at the end, I knew the Army was still doing the training.

4. (U) The individual Soldiers and Sailors that we observed and believe should be favorably noted include:

a. (U) Master-at-Arms First Class William J. Kimbro, US Navy Dog Handler, knew his duties and refused to participate in improper interrogations despite significant pressure from the MI personnel at Abu Ghraib.

b. (U) SPC Joseph M. Darby, 372nd MP Company discovered evidence of abuse and turned it over to military law enforcement.

c. (U) 1LT David O. Sutton, 229th MP Company, took immediate action and stopped an abuse, then reported the incident to the chain of command.

These guys are real heros to me. They knew the Army rules. They knew the moral boundaries. They saw line crossed and they acted. They're pretty impressive Americans Soldiers.

That's where Laesch's images on Republican Torture Politics took me.

xp at Bill Baar's West Side

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Obama and Rezko

Kass and Brown today on Obama's connection with Rezko.

It's hard to understand why Obama thought this would go unnoticed.

The books, his wife's six figure job with U of C Hospitals, now this... tell me it ain't so, because it's looking like plain greed now.

Greed is something I understand, but I'm baffled Obama would have associated with Rezko; even just casual contact. The guy is political-poison and we've known it for years.

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Why the TV Attacks on Pelosi?

Wasting money or planting seeds?

That’s the question that ran through my mind as I watched the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee spend oodles of dollars bashing House Democratic Party Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Such few people in the 8th congressional district must know who Pelosi is.

So, why waste money on a “guilt by association” campaign against Melissa Bean, if most voters don’t even know who Pelosi is?

All I can come up with is that the national congressional GOP folks are using David McSweeney’s campaign to build negative name identification for Pelosi, so that, just in case she becomes House Speaker, they can do real damage in 2008 in their comeback attempt.

McHenry County Blog also discusses the Democrats' assault on the county board.

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Three public questions that I saw on a ballot...

1) For the health and saftey of children and the entire community, shall the state of Illinois enact a comprehensive ban on the manufacture, sale, delievery, and possession of military style assault weapons and .50 caliber rifles?

2) Shall Illinois enact legislation in 2007 to increase the minimum wage for Illinois workers from $6.50/hr to $7.50/hr?

3) Shall the United States Government immediately begin an orderly and rapid withdrawal of all its military personnel from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and Reserves?

Interesting. Perhaps with the exception of the second one these quesitons are ideologically loaded.

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Mayor Daley to Kerry: Apologize

John Kerry won all fifty of Chicago's wards in the 2004 presidential election. The city's mayor, Richard M. Daley, is a Democrat. And he's another Democrat calling for Senator John Kerry to apologize to apologize for his "botched joke" comments.

From the Chicago "Free registration required" Tribune:

Mayor Richard Daley, whose son is a soldier, said today that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) should say he is sorry for telling students that they will "get stuck in Iraq" if they don't make the most of their educational opportunities.

The remark was "uncalled for," Daley asserted. "I think he should apologize." Kerry suggested that "they are dumb and they are stupid and that is why they went into the military, and they are over in Iraq," the mayor said. "He owes them an apology (and) all their families."

If the comment was meant as a joke, it was "a sad joke," he said.

To comment on this post, please visit Marathon Pundit.

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Duckworth, Bean & AARP Dance the Social Security Two-Step

One of my favorite lines from post-Sorkin West Wing comes in an episode about the policy and politics surrounding Social Security. In a one-on-one conversation, Bartlet tells Toby:

“you can't save Social Security without cutting benefits or raising taxes, and this is the largest meeting in Washington where anyone's ever admitted it."

Though the show is fiction, that statement couldn’t be any truer. The only other option is to reform Social Security, and fundamentally change the structure of the program, as President Bush proposed doing last year.

If only today’s real Democrats were as honest in public as their fictional standard-bearers are in private. Tammy Duckworth is vehemently opposed to reforming or structuring the program; and, according to a recent press release, she is also opposed to raising taxes or cutting benefits. So how exactly does she plan to save it? According to her website, by “solving the nation’s exploding federal budget deficit.”

I’m sorry, but can someone please explain how that – as unquestionably worthy and necessary a step as that may be – will solve the fundamental problem facing Social Security, which is that more money will soon be going out than will be coming in to replace it. Yes, we must pay back the money borrowed from the Trust Fund. But that is an oversimplified, temporary solution that only delays the inevitable.

Given that, I’m inclined to say that, when the AARP asked in their candidate questionnaire "will you support a balanced Social Security plan to continue the program's guaranteed benefits for future generations?” Tammy Duckworth lied by answering yes. She doesn’t seem to support any such plan.

You would think that the AARP might be angered by a candidate answering yes and then renouncing any plan that resembles their own stated definition of “balanced” (which according to their website, includes “additional contributions from high income workers with modest adjustments in future benefits can maintain guaranteed Social Security benefits for future generations"). Instead, they have assisted Duckworth, and her 6th District counterpart, Rep. Melissa Bean, in backpedaling their responses - explaining how answering yes to that question doesn’t necessarily mean that they support raising taxes or reducing benefits.

With their own positions sufficiently mirky, both Duckworth and Bean, with the help of AARP are hoping that they can shout "we're for saving it and the Republicans are for dismantling it" loud and often enough to avoid giving the voters of the 6th and 8th District the straight answers they deserve before Election Day.

Cross Posted at Grand Old Partisanship

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Dennis Byrne - The Instincts of a Newsman and the Heart of a Voter

I miss the real newsmen of Chicago - Ray Coffey, Nick Von Hoffman, Jack Mabley and Bill Gleason. These were the reporters who had real instincts for where the story would surface.

Ray Coffey is the only journalist who reported from Khe Sahn who actually stayed at Khe Sahn and he is a member of the Khe Sahn Society. Ray went there because he knew something was up. Self effacing and professional - never a swash-buckling blow-hard, like Mike Royko, Ray Coffey broke the news and moved on; in fact, Ray Coffey once confronted Mr. Royko after being Hectored by the later day Hecht and Mr. Royko's bowels turned to water. True story - it's in a current Royko biography.

Another great one, Dennis Byrne still keeps his oars in the water over at the
Chicago Tribune . Today, Mr. Byrne breaks the story on the very long and obnoxious Campaigns by a group of political activists in Rahm Emanuel's stable. They have been applying their talents and treasure to various campaigns outside of Chicago. Mr. Byrne, great news work! Ray and the other giants are missed. Nice to still have you around.

Hey, Remember when Chicago had a newspaper?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0610300224oct30,0,1845121.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed

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Regrets, I have a few.

You ever wonder if Sen. Meeks looks in the mirror or sees Whitney's numbers and thinks. "I could have pulled it off". I think he could have created a true three-way race.

OneMan

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