Illinois Review

Take the Pledge To Stop Stupid Republicans From Undercutting the President

By Lee Newcom

You need to immediately sign the pledge to the National Republican Senatorial Committee to express your anger at the cut-and-run Republicans who are turning on the President.  This is being joined by hundreds of bloggers around the nation, including heavyweights like Hugh Hewitt.  Sign that pledge HERE.

UPDATE: 11-26 11:30 PM  More than 23,000 people have signed the pledge to stop stupid Republicans in Congress from undercutting the President.  That's in just about 36 hours.  If you have not done it yet, add your name!

Parental notification coincidences

by Jill Stanek

The IL Supreme Court issued parental notification rules last September 20, instructing AG Lisa Madigan to tell a federal judge to lift the injunction on the 1995 law. 

I had a feeling Madigan was stalling to give Rep. John Fritchey's repeal bill time to work through the system.

So four months later - coincidentally - Fritchey introduced his repeal bill January 18, and Madigan announced January 19 she would indeed follow the Supremes' instructions, "ask[ing] the federal court to give the state's circuit courts time to train their staff to handle the new procedures," according to the Chicago Tribune.

Enough time for Fritchey to keep the bloodgates open.   

The current law would ensure a little girl got help from the authorities if she turned up pregnant.  Fritchey's bill would allow her pedophile to get her an abortion before anyone was the wiser.

Should his bill pass, I hope Fritchey will be able to sleep at night, knowing some little girl somewhere isn't, thanks to him.

Obama Muslim connection denied

Obama insists he didn't go to Muslim school and wants everyone to know the truth. . . he's on the rampage to debunk the dreaded "madrassa allegation."

Don't get sidetracked on this little radar blurp, folks. . . I 've been saying this for days. . .  Obama's Muslim thing is a red herring . . . it's his current church affiliation and pastor we should all be concerned about.

A great marriage is . . .

Okay, all you traditional family values readers. . . We agree that the one-man/one-woman marriage is the accepted norm.  We know well that American society is built upon the bedrock of strong marriages.   

Describe what you think a great marriage is. . .

Stumped? 

Syverson Wants To Hike Income Taxes

Berkowitz has it.  Sen. Syverson also says he wouldn't sign a pledge to constituents to oppose any and all tax increases:

"Jeff Berkowitz: Is that a problem with the Republican image? Should Republicans take the pledge? Would you take the pledge not to raise the income or the sales tax?

Sen. Dave Syverson: No.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you don’t believe in that?

Sen. Dave Syverson: No, because as a conservative, it doesn’t mean that you’re—it means doing the right thing. Every generation in this country, the leaders have sacrificed so that the next generation could have a better life. This is the first generation we have elected officials who are saying: we don’t care about the next generation. We’re going to spend today. We’re going to..."

There's just one problem.  Syverson took the pledge in 1992 and has been listed as a signatory since.  I confirmed that Americans For Tax Reform has his pledge on file. Here's the list of all state signatories.

Now, 1992 was awhile back, but if he can't recall such a solemn pledge then perhaps he's been in office to long.

Mandatory HIV testing proposed for all IL school children

Should every child be tested for HIV with their routine school physicals?

State Rep. Mary Flowers thinks so. 

If the legislation passes, every child in Illinois will be given a test before entering school.  The files would be kept confidential.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 262 children under age 12 and 552 between the ages of 13 and 19 are HIV victims. 

$400,000 School Superintendent Saga Continues

by Cal Skinner

First let me concede that the Elgin School District 46 is the second largest in Illinois. In the 1970’s I represented its west side in the Illinois House.

But, surely there is a disconnect between the school superintendent, the school board and the taxpayers.

Today those who run the Elgin Schools displaced those in Carpentersville District 300 in the “Let’s Criticize the Schools” coverage in the upper Fox River Valley.

IR Question: The State of the Union

IR Question:  What was the most important issue President Bush addressed in the State of the Union speech Tuesday night?  Do you agree or disagree with what he was advocating?

Let's hear from you . . .

Hastert to endorse Romney

Did he call home first?

Link: The Politico.

Sources inside former Gov. Mitt Romney's camp tell The Politico that they've picked up yet another major Washington endorsement: former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The Illinoisan is set to publicly endorse Romney today.

Romney has cultivated the congressional wing of the GOP in an effort to cast himself as the consensus alternative to Sen. John McCain. Although the former Speaker is now just a rank-and-file member of the House, his support of Romney is a strong indicator of where much of the anti-McCain Republican establishment is headed. Also helpful to Team Mitt, Hastert still retains significant goodwill within the House GOP Conference and will serve as an effective surrogate before members. Stay tuned for a bit more reporting on Romney's congressional outreach efforts.

Doesn't love mean never having to say you're sorry?

Actor Isaiah Washington of TV's Grey's Anatomy told gay activists yesterday that he's sorry and won't ever do it again. . . that is he won't use the word "faggot."

Bush to Seek Cutback in Gas Consumption

In tonight's State of the Union address, President Bush is expected to push for a cut in gas consumption as part of his efforts to end dependence on foreign oil.  He's also expected to discuss the need for more troops in Iraq and point to several other initiatives: 

UPDATE: Not so fast . . . "Choose Life" may not yet be a choice

Not so fast, adoption supporters, you may not have a choice to have the "Choose Life" license plates on your cars and vans this year, after all.

FOX News is reporting that Secretary of State Jesse White's office will appeal Judge Coar's decision to the 7th U.S. District Court of Appeals.

The SOS's office contends they cannot authorize specialty licenses, only the General Assembly can. 

Isn't that why the lawsuit was filed in the first place?

Brownback Reintroduces Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act

WASHINGTON Jan. 22 /Standard Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require those who perform abortions on unborn children 20 weeks after fertilization to inform the mother seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child feels pain.

"It is a scientific, medical fact that unborn children feel pain," said Brownback. "We know that unborn children can experience pain based upon anatomical, functional, physiological and behavioral indicators that are correlated with pain in children and adults. Mothers seeking an abortion have the right to know that their unborn children can feel pain."

Superintendent Holds Elgin School Board “Hostage” for $400,000

I can hardly believe the lead story in Elgin’s Courier News today. Elgin’s District 46 school superintendent, someone named Connie Neale, told the school board she wanted a hefty raise, plus a “10-20% tax-free bonus on top of her current $242,000 salary,” according to school board member Daniel Rich.

Reporter Erin Calandriello wrote of the board members being told that Neale had networked across the state and nation and thought she could easily be hired elsewhere for more. Quoting Rich, reporter Calandriello wrote,

This means Neal will be making “around $400,000 next year.”

Rich pointed to her compensation package, which includes a car, disability insurance, health insurance, a cell phone and teachers retirement fund contributions, among other benefits.

A brief history of the "Choose Life" effort

What do Senator Barack Obama, Senate President Emil Jones, House Speaker Mike Madigan, State Rep. Jack Franks have in common? 

They all opposed Choose Life license plates, dubbing the effort to raise money for adoption as "contentious."

What do Bears' owner Virginia McCaskey, retired businessman Jim Finnegan, businessman Joe Walsh, now-State Senator Randy Hultgren, Rev Scott & Janet Willis and Dan Proft have in common? 

They led in the effort for "Choose Life" license plates.

An ignored letter from Rev. Scott & Janet Willis

March 10, 2003

State Representative Jack Franks
Illinois State Capitol
Springfield, Illinois 62706

RE: "Choose Life Illinois " license plates

Dear Representative Franks:
Recently we learned of an effort in Illinois to ratify specialty license plates promoting adoption. We support the "Choose Life" license plates initiative.

Life is very precious to us. We believe that adoption should be promoted in Illinois. A specialty plate endeavor that draws in financial support to increase visibility and accessibility of adoption for parents in difficult situations is an honorable effort.

Jack Franks Off the “CHOOSE LIFE” License Plate Hook

by Cal Skinner

As chairman of the committee to which the “Choose Life” license plate bill was assigned, Bull Valley’s State Representative Jack Franks has angered pro-lifers by refusing to allow it to reach the House floor for a vote.

He has been vulnerable to a political attack that he is against adoption, since that is where all of the money raised above the cost of the plates would go. The proponents of the Choose Life license plates in Illinois went to court saying that they were being discriminated against.

And, in an opinion dated January 19th, Federal Judge David H. Coar, ruled in favor of the Choose Life folks and against Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. By doing so, Judge Coar has eliminated the need for legislative action on the issue, thus letting legislator Franks off the hook.

You can read the opinion, which is provided by Capitol Fax Blog.

To qualify for the issuance of the Choose Life plates, organizers have to sell 850. Think the pro-lifers won’t be able to do that? 35,000 have signed a petition saying they want them. And the judge had a good sense of timing, didn't he?

Cross-posted on McHenry County Blog.

For Obama, Race is His Ace in the Hole

by Teri O'Brien

Yesterday’s Chicago Obama aka the Chicago Sun-Times ran a flowery Valentine to the Mrs., which attempts to portray her as just another poor, hard-working, high-achieving South Side girl, rather than the daughter of Democrat precinct captain, and well-connected veteran of the Daley machine that she is. In this puff piece, we learn that the former Michelle Robinson and her brother---are you ready for this?—actually had to do chores when they were growing up! You’ve got to be impressed with that, unless, of course, like 99% of us, you did, too.

My favorite part of the article was not the part about the future Ms. Man-god scrubbing the sink and cleaning the toilet in her family home, as touching as that was, but the part about her senior thesis.

Presidential Hopefuls Unlikely To Be Tort Reformers

by Ed Murnane

The presidential campaign field is filling quickly but tort reform advocates shouldn't spend much time looking for a candidate who will give reform as high a priority as current President George W. Bush.

Bush, a strong reform advocate as governor of Texas, placed medical malpractice and class action reform high on his list of objectives and was successful in pushing the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, which he signed on February 18, 2005.

Obama Muslim connections is a red herring

by Fran Eaton

Come on, folks.  Obama's childhood Muslim connections is a red herring.   There's something much more sinister and dangerous about Obama's current religious affiliations.  Obama pictured with Wright (right)

This morning, the Chicago Tribune acts as a public relations firm for Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr.  Nowhere in the puff piece is a mention of Wright's black supremacy teachings, his pro-Palestinian rhetoric, nor his vile hatred of George W. Bush.

Barack Obama opposes civil rights for babies

In a Southern Illinoisan story today about Obama's liberal voting record while in the Illinois Senate, Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs either ignorantly or purposely confuses Obama's crusade against protecting the civil rights of babies born alive.

For the records, a baby is a "fetus" until she leaves her mother's body.  Immediately upon birth, she is a "human baby," and should have the same rights any other American has. 

Barack Obama spoke in committee and on Illinois' Senate floor against treating BABIES as humans if they were born alive.

Gibbs' absurd assertion that every abortion would have been criminalized with the enactment of a state Born Alive Infant Protection Act is a bold-faced lie.    If that were true, the federal version of the legislation would have been thrown out upon signing in 2002.  Instead, the law passed constitutional muster and is in effect today.  And so is a state version  . . . since Obama left Illinois.

Iraqi Surge All Ready Paying Dividends?

It seems just the announced new strategy for Iraq is all ready beginning to pay some dividends according to this mornings SJ-R:

"Iraq’s prime minister has dropped his protection of an anti-American cleric’s Shiite militia after U.S. intelligence convinced him the group was infiltrated by death squads, two officials said Sunday.

In a desperate bid to fend off an all-out American offensive, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last Friday ordered the 30 lawmakers and six Cabinet ministers under his control to end their nearly two-month boycott of the government. They were back at their jobs Sunday."

Does this mean the new counter insurgency policy, in the end will be successful?  No.  But it does mean that some of the incentives on the ground have shifted.  It's a sign that we can be taken seriously.

Illinois State Troopers Save Baby Noah in New Orleans

by Cal Skinner

My friend Penny Pullen reports in her weekly Life Advocacy Briefing that Illinois State Troopers were the ones who pulled the frozen embryos. Since it has an Illinois angle, I thought you might be interested.

Is God Shouting?

PERHAPS AS A WAKE-UP CALL TO SENATORS and/or a rebuke to the majority of US Representatives, a baby boy was born into a Covington, Louisiana, family last week.

The birth of Noah Benton Markham made news because the eight-pound-plus babe was rescued from the New Orleans flood 16 months ago in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when little Noah was in the early stages of his life – an embryo awaiting development in a frozen state, housed, along with 1,400 other waiting embryonic human beings, in a tank of liquid nitrogen.

26 Years Ago "I Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear..."

By Lee Newcom

Twenty six years ago yesterday Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.  Thus entered in a time of national pride, unparalleled economic expansion that lasts to this day, and the beginning of the end for the global tyranny of communism.  Today we face a new "ism," who's goal is no less than the destruction and domination of our democratic way of life, global fascist Islam.  It will take moral courage and tenacity to keep this enemy from plunging our our world into a new, darker day, that may last more than a generation.  In a day when even some Illinois Republicans are shrinking from the fight, for the preservation of their political careers, Reagan's words from his first inaugural inspire:

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.

God bless the memory of Ronald Reagan.  The text of his first inaugural is HERE.  A inspirational read.

IL gun packin' activist rides off into the sunset

Frustrated by what appears to be four long years of more and more gun control in Illinois, Concealed Carry's John Birch told the Trib he's headin' for IL's border to get out of town sans a dramatic High Noon gunfight.

The colorful years of John Birch fighting Chicago's political gun stealers appears to be drawing to a close, as he rides off into the sunset. . .

Where's Obama's Web? Check the Sun-Times

You gotta chuckle a little . . . Vermonters for Obama are bemoaning the fact that although Obama announced his run this week, he well, he just hasn't got a real website up and reaching out to bloggers like, well, like Hillary is doing . . .

So, Vermonters for Obama lists eight different national sites where Obama fans can read about their hero and, presumably, be bolstered and energized. . .

EMILY's List endorses Hillary . . . duh!

Hillary had no more taken a deep breath at the end of her Saturday announcement she is running "to win," that radical pro-abortion EMILY's (Early Money Is Like Yeast) List sent out a raving endorsement, throwing out the gauntlet on the abortion issue and surprising no one . . .

The Good Ol' Days of the IL GOP

After reading Dave Diersen's report on the grilling John Tsarpalas evidently endured at the TAPROOT meeting in DuPage County yesterday morning, I was drawn back in my mind to just a few years ago. . .

Imagine the IL GOP sending its former Executive Director Brad Goodrich to a meeting of DuPage County's staunchest conservative Republicans three years ago.  Goodrich would have never, never been within city blocks of a known conservative Republican meeting of any sort.  And he most certainly would have answered none of the questions posed to Tsarpalas yesterday.

At the time, only Brad Goodrich and RNC National Committeeman Bob Kjellander's names were on the org's checkbook.  Now, weren't those the "good ol' days"?

All this to say this -- a few things have changed for the better at the IL GOP. 

That's all I'm sayin' . . . 

Zogby says Obama leads in NH

Link: Zogby International.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a first-term senator who rocketed to national stardom in 2004 after a show-stealing speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and a national book tour last fall, enjoys support from 23% of Granite State Democrats. Tied close behind are New York Senator Hillary Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who each win 19% support. No one else is even close.

On the Republican side, maverick Sen. John McCain leads with 26% support, six points ahead of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a race where the two with reputations for independence outdistance the field in a state where independence is a valued trait. In a distant third place is former Gov. Mitt Romney, who led neighboring Massachusetts for one term before leaving office just over two weeks ago.

Lisa Madigan Softens Image on Abortion

by Cal Skinner

Attorney General Lisa Madigan had the hardest of images among pro-lifers when she first ran for statewide office in 2002.

The rumor was that she would try to shut down crisis pregnancy centers. Not only didn’t she take any such step, which would have completely outraged the pro-life community, but now she has taken action that will please pro-lifers.

Lisa Madigan has agreed to do her job to enforce the soft parental notice law that was passed in the mid-1990’s.  (Here's how an underage pregnant girl could avoid the law.)

Politics certainly makes strange bedfellows, as the cliché goes.

Cross-posted on McHenry County Blog

Believe in Global Warming or Else

By Mark Rhoads

Let's agree for the sake of argument that the study of long-term climate change is an important area of research that needs to be approached with intellectually honest intentions and evaluated with honest data that is hopefully free of influence from pre-determined political agendas.  If it is so completely obvious to all scientists that the Earth is warming in all places at a much faster rate than one hundred years ago, then why would it be necessary to bully doubters into accepting a premise that should be taken for granted?

Last year some senators started beating up on Exxon-Mobil for funding private research by dissenting scientists who question the degree to which human activity affects enhanced "greenhouse gas" emissions over a long period of time.  Other scientists have been slammed for asking if the measurements of the atmosphere 100 years ago are accurate enough to be relied on today when the measuring instruments are so different.  This week a TV station weatherman for the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama is being threatened with having his certification as a meteorolgist taken away only because he too questioned the degree to which human activity is responsible for warmer temperatures.

Everything you ever wanted to know about ComEd rate increase

Associated Press' Ryan Keith performs a public service announcement by asking everything you ever wanted to know about the ComEd rate increase, but were afraid to ask . .  .

Link: SaukValley.com - Serving Dixon, Sterling & Rock Falls.

SPRINGFIELD - Millions of Illinoisans are paying higher electric rates in 2007, thanks to the end of a 10-year price freeze. Lawmakers talked about stopping the increases but haven't agreed on how. The situation raises some important questions for consumers:

Madigan moves on parental notification

by Fran Eaton

Got notice of AG Lisa Madigan's move to request a federal judge lift the 10-year pause on enacting the parental notfication law last night when Sun Times' reporter Scott Fornek emailed me, looking for a response.

Scott left a voice mail, apologizing for not giving more time to get back to him for a quote, but said they all learned of this late on Friday, and were scrambling to get the story in before deadline.

Hmmm....I thought.  Brilliant strategy, Lisa.  You finally decide to set into motion something you had no choice to do.  Tough for a "pro-choice" woman to do the right thing, and push for enactment of a law that has set dormant for over ten years.  Now 12 year olds will need to tell their parents (or, sadly, grandparents)  if they intend to have a medical procedure with far-reaching physical and psychological implications.  A no brainer.

This is a bittersweet development for the prolife movement in Illinois. 

First, the AG made the move official when media impact would be minimal . . . following the example of Bill Clinton when in the middle of the night he signed the federal Defense of Marriage Act into law.  The right thing to do, but done at a time that would tick off the fewest in her or his political base.

Second, she didn't stipulate a time line for actual enactment.  The AG asked that time be allowed to set up the procedure for judicial bypass, the big bugaboo the Supreme Court refused to draw up for the past decade and kept the law from being enforced.

Third, if it wasn't for the leadership of Supreme Court justice Bob Thomas, the law would still be sitting dormant.  Thomas was the one whose staff drew up the rules and set this protection for minor girls into action.  It wasn't Lisa Madigan who asked for this, it was placed on her desk by Thomas.

Fourth, this isn't over.  As Planned Parenthood and the ACLU clearly stated,  a bill has already been introduced that would effectively remove any adult close to the situation from being notified (and note, this is not consent, but mere notification).  The new bill may be voted upon and signed into law by the Governor before Illinois finally begins to force this long-awaited parental notification law.

All in an attempt to protect our daughters . . . and our granddaughters.  As if it was controversial or freedom-robbing to protect our children from harm. . .

Whomping of Kane-McHenry County School District Continues

If District 300 thought my article was tough on them, I surely wonder what they thought after they read Thursday’s articles in the Northwest and Daily Heralds.

Northwest Herald reporter David Fitzgerald gives this quote from Huntley School Board member Larry Snow, who warned that the student growth figures were way too high before the referendum:

They took the worst case secenario and used it as the projection District 300’s board and administrators wanted the media and public to believe that there was a student enrollment population explosion crisis of 7,200 students looming on the immediate horizon. There wasn’t.

And, the Northwest Herald even acknowledges that Snow said that before last March’s vote.

Obama: A view from the Left

A critical view of Barack Obama, from the Left:

Barack Obama knows how to manipulate with grandiose speech that sounds eloquent but means little. He has not offered to revoke the Patriot Act. He has not offered to strengthen the Endangered Species Act. He has not offered medical care for all. He is not green or progressive and is more attuned to his Caucasian half than his status as a person of color.

Barack Obama is a master of pretense. Like the Democratic Party itself, he leans far to the right of the political spectrum, and only challenges the President and the Republicans on the basis that he wants their job and their policies, feeling he can outperform them in enacting essentially the same agenda as the Republicans.

Link: Home / Headlines / The Audacity of Pretense -- The Politics of Barack Obama - Media Monitors Network (MMN). .

Brownback to kickoff presidential bid Saturday

Watch Senator Brownback's Presidential Campaign Kickoff Announcement Speech LIVE Tomorrow...

United States Senator
Sam Brownback (R-KS)

Will announce his intention to run for President of the United States tomorrow in Topeka, KS.

You can watch this historic event LIVE at 1:00 PM EST tomorrow morning on C-SPAN.

Please spread the word to your friends and family so they can also tune in. Thank you!

When:

C-SPAN Live Coverage of Senator Brownback's Announcement
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Coverage Begins: 1:00 PM EST
Coverage Ends: Approximately 1:35 PM EST

Congress Should Reject New Taxes and Curb Exploding Entitlements

Link: Congress Should Reject New Taxes and Curb Exploding Entitlements.

The nation's fiscal problems are not the result of inadequate taxation. Federal tax revenues are surging into the Treasury, and the tax burden is already scheduled to increase under current law. With no changes to current tax policies, the tax burden on the American people will reach a record high in 2026 and continue to rise thereafter. Rather than add new taxes, Congress should focus on curbing the projected growth of taxes and crafting a serious strategy to reform and constrain entitlements. For now, Congress should: Reject tax rate increases and impose no new taxes; Reject any increase of the Social Security wage cap; Make the Bush tax cuts permanent; and Fix and then repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

Reverse Spin » Barack to call McCall?

Great job, Dan Curry, on spinning the web from Blagojevich to a New York politician Carl McCall to presidential hopeful Barack Obama.  .  . which proves the point, how can you be a successful Democratic politician in Illinois and NOT be touched by sleaze?

Link: Reverse Spin » Barack to call McCall?.

McCall’s connection to Obama might be through Barack’s confidant John Rogers Jr., who runs Ariel Capital Management, a company that recently kept its Blagojevich pension work despite poor performance after unprecedented lobbying. McCall serves on Ariel’s board of directors. If Obama says it was a mistake in retrospect to have associated so closely with Rezko when it was known that he was under suspicion, is calling on McCall a walk down that same road?

Blogs4Life Conference features IR contributor Jill Stanek

Link: Blogs4Life.

It's time to make final plans for Blogs4life, the second annual conference of pro-life bloggers. The event is hosted by the Family Research Council on Monday, Jan. 22, prior to and after the March for Life in Washington DC and will be show live, over the internet.

The conference program has expanded and is filled with noted pro-life leaders including: Tony Perkins (President, Family Research Council) Ramesh Ponnuru (National Review Online Senior Editor) David Prentice (Senior Fellow, Family Research Council) Peter Samuelson (President, Americans United for Life) Joe Scheidler (Founder, Pro-Life Action League) – tentative Paul Schenk (National Pro-Life Action Center) Bobby Schindler (Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation) Jill Stanek (WorldNetDaily Columnist, Pro-life Speaker)

And So It Begins | Clinton Attacks Obama

The Clinton machine has begun to ramp up. Its focus: Obama of course.

Very interesting reading. See here.

Obama and Durbin oppose grassroots' activity amendment

Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to amend the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 to allow grassroots activists the right to organize efforts in favor of (or in opposition to) pending federal bills without suffering exorbitant fines.

How did Illinois senators Obama and Durbin vote on Senator Robert Bennett's (R-Utah) Amendment #20 to SB 1? 

Despite phone calls and faxes asking they support Amendment #20, they both voted NAY.

The amendment passed anyway, 55-43.

The trial lawyers want more

by Ed Murnane

As we begin 2007, Illinois' business owners and health care providers continue to be As we  begin 2007, Illinois' business owners and health care providers continue to be burdened by a lawsuit system that is still imbalanced heavily in favor of the trial lawyers.

And yet the trial lawyers want more.

Check out new IR poll: What's the most pressing issue before the IL GA in 2007?

Voice your opinion as to which issue is most important in 2007 today on Illinois Review's new poll . . . located in IR's left hand column.

BTW, in case you missed the final tally IR readers said Chicago's Mayor Daley is the most powerful Democrat in Illinois with 50% of the vote.  House Speaker Mike Madigan (and head of state Democrat Party) came in second at 39.7%. 

The state's least powerful Democrat, IR readers said, is the Governor.  Even State President Emil Jones eked out Blago, 5.9% to the governor's 4.4%.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2007; By the President of the United States of America -- A Proclamation

From this year's proclamation:

Among the most basic duties of Government is to defend the unalienable right to life, and my Administration is committed to protecting our society's most vulnerable members. We are vigorously promoting parental notification laws, adoption, abstinence education, crisis pregnancy programs, and the vital work of faith-based groups. Through the "Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002," the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," and the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004," we are helping to make our country a more hopeful place.

New Poll Has Barack Obama Leading Hillary Clinton

CBS2Chicago reports a new poll that puts Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton. 

Why?

It's simple, Northwestern University's Garry Wills says.  Americans could handle an male African-American president easier than a female.

Fascinating.  Britain's Margaret Thatcher was a female and a conservative.  She just wasn't an angry feminist. . .

Link: cbs2chicago.com - New Poll Has Barack Obama Leading Hillary Clinton.

After a lifetime studying America and American politics, Wills believes that Americans are more likely to elect an African-American president than a female president. “In some ways, people are more afraid of feminism than of blacks,” Wills said.

Scoop: Flotsam & Jetsam: Obama's 2004 Speech Revisited

Link: Scoop: Flotsam & Jetsam: Obama's 2004 Speech Revisited.

Unfortunately, Obama's 2004 speech wasn't all that good. One can't read it without a sense that it wasn't the all too familiar cliches that appealed to the media and voters as much as the fact that they were being delivered by a black man. What Obama did was to say absolutely nothing that a centrist white voter would find offensive or nerve troubling. Not a hint of Jackson, Sharpton, Farrakhan or King. The speech consisted of 2341 words (including the applause credits listed in the transcript). These broke down into the following: 15% - A description of Obama's family 7% - Standard cliches about the U.S. 10% - Standard warm and fuzzy anecdotes 16% - Words in praise of the candidate, John Kerry 8% - Cliches about hope 15% - We're all in this together, there's nothing much to argue about

La Hood, Johnson: Proven Liars

by Greg Blankenship

The House of Representatives voted to raise taxes nearly $8 billion today. According to Dan Clifton of Americans for Tax Reform this the first time in 16 years a Republican has voted to raise taxes.  Of the 192 Republicans who took the tax pledge to oppose tax hikes 28 members lacked the personal integrity to keep a written  pledge to their constituents.  Today we learned what Cong. Tim Johnson and Ray La Hood think of their constituents. It wasn't even a tough vote.

It's All About Politics

by Greg Blankenship

I've always approached Iraq more with grim determination rather than outright approval.  If in your judgement, as President, in the aftermath of 9-11 you think finishing off Iraq and preventing its use as a terror base should be US policy, that's fine.  Just engage to win.

The first indication that we were'nt engaging to win was the adherence to the WMD argument  simply because it was the one argument that the bureaucracy agreed upon.  That doesn't exactly show strength of backbone especially when an entire list of good, maybe or maybe not sufficient, rationales were ignored.  What was worse however, is a strategy memo that I vaguely re-call from James Carville and Stan Greenberg. It basically argued that if Democrats were going to take back power, then they were going to have to be against the war.  That's what made me more anti anti-war and it continues to drive my take on the war on terror today.  More evidence for the rationale that this is more about politics and not about policy appears in WT's "Inside the Beltway:"

Armed Aldermen

Cal Skinner

And women. The latest example is Arenda Troutman. “She just wanted to feel safe,” says the friend who gave it to her.Now, if she had been smart enough to register it, she would have been legal.

That’s because Chicago aldermen have given themselves the right to carry guns. If you an ordinary resident of Chicago, you cannot protect yourself. But your alderman can. So, don’t get too uppity. I knew one alderman who got elected to the General Assembly who was armed in Springfield. 

I don’t know if he took his gun with him to the chamber, but during the 1970’s another Chicago legislator most assuredly did. Do you know which, if any, state representatives and senators are carrying guns today?

Et tu Jon Stewart?

By Mark Rhoads

Well that was quick.  Comedy Central's Daily Show host Jon Stewart is seldom confused with being a cheer leader for the Republican Party.  So if he is making fun of a Democrat, its either because he favors another Democrat or he wants to make fun of the main stream media (aka MSM).  It is probably the latter motivation that was behind Stewart's mocking report on Sen. Barack Obama yesterday. Stewart introduced his Obama story with the sound of a choir singing with angelic voices. This sound of the choir, Stewart said, alterted people that the main stream media was about to annoint some announcement from Sen. Obama who is the current media darling.  Stewart then showed a clip of Obama's web site announcement and started to tear up when Obama said that he would be running for president because "you" deserve it.  Stewart said, "First Time Magazine names me person of the year and now Sen. Obama tells me I am the reason he is running, I am overwhelmed."