Illinois Review

Hughes blasts Kirk attack ad

from the Hughes for U.S. Senate campaign

US Senate candidate Pat Hughes is distancing himself from any perception that he's associated with the Kirk attack ads...

"Republican voters will not support Mark Kirk in the primary because of his liberal voting record, in particular his vote on cap-and-trade. This morning's controversial radio ad is just another personal attack that has no place in this primary and should not be taken seriously by voters."

Amazing Science

by John Brown's Ghost

Every once in a while, I read something that makes me go "wow, that is cool". Today is one of those days.  Please read the excellent article and discovery contained here before going on.

The article describes the way that the sun and it's magnetic field protect us from the solar winds and cosmic radiation by way of the heliosphere and the corresponding heliopause. Our solar system is running through an interstellar cloud that physicist say "should not exist".

While that last statement might sound like a denigration of the scientists that are looking into this, it is not. It is pretty exciting stuff and deserves praise. The greatest discoveries of our lifetime and over the last few centuries were often made by accident or by "discovering" something that just should not be.  The scientists here looked at something that "should not be" and got curious. That curiosity led to some interesting finds. THAT is the way that scientific exploration should occur.

Revolting ad must be pulled

by Chris Robling

An ad for a federal candidate ran this morning on WLS. It is an example of bigotry, prejudice and sleaze. While there is no doubt the federal candidate sponsoring the ad -- whose name will not be mentioned -- may say what he said, there is equally no doubt that we as conservatives can univocally denounce it.

I do, and I call on the sponsoring federal candidate to pull the ad. If you hear the ad, I hope you will join me.   

Ads challenge US Senate candidate's sexuality

A controversial political ad challenging Republican US Senate candidate Mark Kirk's sexuality is airing today on a few Chicago radio stations.  Read transcript HERE.

Make your pick in 10th CD GOP primary

Maybe you don't live in Illinois' 10th CD, but with the retirement of incumbent Mark Kirk, five locals are vying for the opportunity to succeed Kirk -- State Rep. Elizabeth Coulson, business man Robert Dold, physician Arie Friedman, businessman Dick Green and Paul Hamann -- in a race that could effect us all.

Since Kirk is running for US Senate this year, national Democrats are giddy over the 10th CD race, seeing it as a real possibility of a Democratic gain in 2010, in contrast to the expected national get-rid-of-the- Dems' election year.

So who's the best GOP candidate in 2010?  Make your pick -- whether you've in the district or not, you can vote in Illinois Review's soon-closing poll.  Get your vote in now.

(Note from IR:  Thanks for the heads up, Paul ... We meant the 10th, not the 8th CD!)

Board of Review primary candidate Morrison defends GOP creds

Just because you vote like a Democrat and donate like a Democrat, doesn't necessarily mean you're a Democrat, Republican primary candidate for Cook County Board of Review Sean Morrison contends.  And, the Cook County Board of Elections agreed in a November 23 decision, voting in a 2008 Democratic primary shouldn't knock a candidate off the Republican primary ballot.

So ballot petition objections raised by an associate of Republican Wheeling Township Assessor and primary candidate for Board of Review Dan Patlak were overruled, and both Sean Morrison's and Dan Patlak's names will appear on the February 2, 2010 Republican ballot in Cook County.

And Morrison resents anyone suggesting he's not a bonafide, loyal Republican.

"No Climate Tax" pledge signers increase to 13 IL congressional candidates

Americans for Prosperity-Illinois continues to accumulate "No Climate Tax" pledges from candidates vying for their party's nomination in the February 2, 2010 election.  Thus far, 13 Illinois Congressional candidates have promised if elected they would not support legislation such as Cap and Trade, which, the non-partisan AFP contends, would set up a "climate tax."  Those Congressional candidates that have signed the pledge thus far are:

• Isaac Hayes - Candidate - 2nd District
• David Ratowitz - Candidate - 5th District
• Dirk Beveridge - Candidate - 8th District
• John Dawson - Candidate - 8th District
• Chris Geissler - Candidate - 8th District
• Maria Rodriguez - Candidate - 8th District
• Joe Walsh - Candidate - 8th District
• Robert Dold - Candidate - 10th District
• Dick Green - Candidate - 10th District
• David McAloon - Candidate - 11th District
• Henry Meers Jr. - Candidate - 11th District
• Bobby Schilling - Candidate - 17th District
• Aaron Schock - U.S. Representative - 18th District

Cut the Power of the Family Courts

by Phyllis Schlafly

Do you think judges should have the power to decide what religion your children must belong to and which churches they may be prohibited from attending? We have long suspected that family courts are the most dictatorial and biased of all U.S. courts, routinely depriving divorced fathers of due process rights and authority over their own children, but this December a Chicago judge went beyond the pale.

Cook County Circuit Judge Edward Jordan issued a restraining order to prohibit Joseph Reyes from taking his three-year-old daughter to any non-Jewish religious activities because the ex-wife argued that would contribute to "the emotional detriment of the child." Mrs. Rebecca Reyes wants to raise her daughter in the Jewish religion, and the judge sided with the mother.

As Joseph Reyes' divorce attorney, Joel Brodsky, said when he saw the judge's restraining order, "I almost fell off my chair. I thought maybe we were in Afghanistan and this was the Taliban." The lawyer is appealing.

Top 10 Illinois conservative stories in 2009

Top Ten Stories for 2009 include Rod Blagojevich's ousting, Barack Obama's swearing in, the Alsip cemetary scandal, the Budget dilemma, alleged killer Drew Peterson and the Thomson prison controversy, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday. 

So Illinois Review wants to know what stories our readers pick for 2009?  What story was important -- either for good or for bad --  for the Illinois conservative community in the past year? 

AFP exposes proposed financial regulations

provided by Joe Calomino

Amidst the constant din of the health care and cap-and-trade debates, another big government overreach is underway.  A new package of financial regulations is moving through Capitol Hill largely unnoticed and unscrutinized. AFP’s policy associate Joseph Walker examines the various bills and discusses their potential consequences for the financial sector and the broader economy.

Click to read AFP’s latest policy paper: The Knee-Jerk Bureaucratic Response to the Financial

Iranians demand end to corrupt regime

While Americxans are relaxing on a Sunday during a two-week long end of the year holiday, Iranians are in the streets of Tehran, demanding an end to the country's corrupt regime. Tehran is "in fire and blood," protestors report. Sunday, opposition leader Mousavi's 20 year old nephew was killed by government security forces. Gateway Pundit has posted this new video on his website:

Ten things Americans want from their elected officials

In Chapter 4 of  his book What Americans Really Want ... Really, pollster Dr. Frank Luntz gives free political advice for elected officials and candidates.  Here's 10 things Luntz says Americans want from their elected officials:

1.  To be genuine in everything you say
2.  To be genuine in everything you do
3.  To bring back the gerund - an active verb, the "ing," i.e. doing, working, changing
4.  To create and publicize a "getting things done" checklist
5.  To ask people what they think, and listen to their answers
6.  To acknowledge voters' frustration and empathize with it
7.  To indiviualize, personalize and humanize your communication with voters
8.  To admit a mistake
9.  To show a passion for your work and the people you serve
10. To say "Thank You" and show appreciation

So, do you agree with Dr. Luntz' list?  Is there something he left out?  Or something he lists that's not that important to you?  Give us examples of state or fedearl lawmakers you know that understand what Americans want from their elected officials.

Loony Lib Lawsuit: Bad Soy for Bad Boys

by Sam Pierce

Thank goodness there are such well-meaning nutjobs out there, who can fight for those who are among the most pure and helpless. The innocent victims of the Illinois Prison System deserve advocacy when nasty taxpayers attack. Who among the the numerous libtard groups will take the lead, will take up arms to battle the grave injustice? The poor fellows, after all, have enough to bear given the fact that society has so unjustly imprisoned them. I ask again, who? Who will rise to the noble occasion and smite the cruel taxpayer?

The hero of this tale might not be who one would expect. He is not the typical Hollywood Castro fan, who speaks out on behalf of the poor victimized cop killer. He is not the usual bleeding heart weenie whose primary concern is the freedom of convicted sex-offenders. He is not even the libertarian who wants the prison commissaries stocked with the good Antigua ganja. The angelic inmates, so wrongly held for misunderstood transgressions, seek a new kind of hero... or a new age hero.

Abstinence dumped for "teen pregnancy prevention"

According to Sunday's Washington Post, teen abstinence programs will soon be extinct, due to lack of federal funding.  Teaching abstinence simply does not work, critics say, and although there's an item in the Senate health care budget that could be used to encourage positive, non-sexual activity among teens, conservatives aren't going to get the money because teaching abstinence-only is ineffective.

The delightful Sherlock Holmes

A visit to Victorian London will be fun and entertaining if you take a few hours to see Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law in "Sherlock Holmes" over the holidays. It wasn't the most compelling or inspirational film of 2009, but it's the kind of escape flick movie-goers are flocking to during culturally stressful times.  

The movie "Sherlock Holmes" is delightfully action-packed, witty and interesting. Director Guy Ritchie's version of Holmes isn't quite Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's, but it is likely to renew interest in the classics, and that's a good thing. 

Hint while watching: Be aware of details, Holmes' trademark. Details do matter. And as for the obvious link between the fictional Sherlock Holmes' alleged cocaine use and Downey's coke-snorting past, there's none on screen.

If you liked Newman and Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," you'll like Downey and Law in "Holmes." Only one big difference between the movies, though, and that's the ending. Look for a sequel with the mention of the mysterious and elusive Professor Moriarty in the closing scene.  

More to come from United States Senate

H/T IR Reader Corey Walters

Not much holiday cheer from Bright Start

Liberal, power-drunken Democrats in Illinois have no shame.  Instead of admitting their serious error in investment judgment that led to thousands of Illinois families with college bound students losing millions in the state's Bright Saving college fund, they encourage well-meaning relatives to entrust them with more.  Indeed, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is offering a holiday special for Bright Savings' participants to encourage their relatives to also invest in the state's college savings program.

But nowhere do they make it clear that Oppenheimer Funds was involved in ripping off trusting parents and grandparents up to half of the money they've already invested -- altogether $150 million lost by 192,000 Illinois families.

Christmas Day terrorist events remind of jihadists' determination

Two Christmas Day events -- a video of a Taliban-held US soldier and an attempted bombing of a Northwest Airline flight from Amsterdam to Detroit -- served as reminders of the ruthless nature and determination of Islamic radical jihadists to destroy Western culture.  For Illinoisans the events emphasized the seriousness of Barack Obama and Governor Pat Quinn's plan to open the Thomson prison to house Taliban and al Qaeda loyalists.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Dana Summers

Illinois Review Back on Saturday

In celebration of Christmas, Illinois Review will not be posting tomorrow. We'll be back on Saturday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Merry Christmas from Illinois Review

We at Illinois Review want to thank you for giving us the gift of your support and readership for the last four years. We're going to focus for a couple of days on our families and encourage you to do the same. There's crucial days ahead in Illinois in 2010. Sometimes we'll agree, often we'll disagree, but Illinois Review will be here to experience it all with you. Merry Christmas all.

Coal for Christmas from the Senate

from Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell

This morning just after 7 AM EST, the United States Senate passed, again on a straight party-line vote, President Barack Obama’s health insurance bill. Originally scheduled for a 9 PM vote tonight, the bill’s Senate passage is a welcome Christmas gift for a beleaguered White House. However, as the First Family jets off for Hawaii, the American people, liberals, moderates, and conservatives are all saying this bill is closer to a lump of coal in their stocking than real health care reform.

The American Public Does Not Want This Bill: When the American people first turned their attention to President Obama’s health care plan, bare majorities of the American public told pollsters they supported his health care reform plan. But as the debate wore on, and the American people looked past the rhetoric and examined the details of Obama’s proposal, support for the legislation steadily declined. By mid July, more Americans opposed than supported the plan. Now that the House and Senate have both approved separate versions of the bill, strong majorities of Americans now oppose Obama’s plan.

Kirk goes on record in support of energy tax

by Nancy Thorner

The Illinois Family Institute recently issued a 2010 Voter Guide that was compiled after requesting responses to ten questions from U.S. Senate candidates, U.S. Congressional District candidates, and candidates running for state office. This two-page guide can be viewed and downloaded at www.illinoisfamily.org 

Upon locating your Congressional District on the right hand side of the site, you will be rewarded with a listing of your District candidates along with those running for the governorship and state legislative offices. Since I reside in the 10th District, I went to the 10th District listing in the lineup of Congressional Districts.

In surveying the sheets, my attention was drawn to the way U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk responded to the ten questions posed to all Congressional District and Senate candidates. Kirk's responses were more in keeping with the way Democrat candidates responded to the 2010 Illinois Policy Institute poll.

Capitol Christmas display site of political stunt

Last year, Illinois Review pointed out the atheist sign added to the Illinois Capitol's Christmas display, and commented that the sign was met with silence while Christians in Washington State protested outside their capitol building and demanded its removal. 

"The national media will surely pick up on this story next week when they converge on Springfield as lawmakers decide whether or not to impeach federally-indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich, won't they?" we wrote in December 2008.  "And will the Christians of Illinois look weak when this becomes national news?"

Through the efforts of conservative Christian activists Dan Zanoza and Jim Finnegan, a nativity scene was added three years ago to the Capitol rotunda's lone Christmas tree.  Then last year, the atheist sign mocking Christmas was added along with a Festivus pole honoring a non-holiday first celebrated on a Jerry Seinfield episode.  This year, a sign from the ACLU upholding freedom of religion was added. 

Fr. Pavone Says Reid Health Care Bill is a Gift Americans Won't Accept

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, the largest pro-life ministry in the Catholic Church, issued the following statement on this morning's passage of the Reid health care bill in the Senate.

"Apparently a Senate bill that unleashes unprecedented funding for abortions is the Senate's idea of a Christmas gift," said Fr. Pavone. "Given that taxpayers oppose public funding of abortion by a three- to-one margin, perhaps next November Senators will learn just how offensive their gift is. Beginning immediately, Priests for Life is mobilizing voters to put the right to life first in every election."

U.S. Senate's Christmas Gift to America: Abortion for All, at Taxpayer-Expense

In response to this morning's passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act introduced by Senator Harry Reid (D- Nev.), Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following statement:

"On Christmas Eve, the U.S. Senate gave Americans a gift no one wants: abortion for all, at taxpayer- expense. Even more tragic, they can thank self- described 'pro-life' senators like Ben Nelson, Bob Casey, Jr., and Harry Reid for paving the way for legislation that will open the floodgates for the greatest expansion of government-backed abortion since Roe v. Wade.

"Today's vote was a career-affecting vote. The senators who voted to advance this legislation should consider themselves on notice. Votes have consequences, and the Susan B. Anthony List will use all the resources at our disposal to educate their constituents about today's result. As this debate moves forward, pro-life House members would do well to consider the impact of their own votes. Abortion is never good for women, and it should never be a legitimate aspect of any 'health care' debate.

Durbin and Burris vote to pass US Senate's Obamacare

The US Senate Democrats passed the 2000+ page health care bill this morning with a 60 to 39 vote along party lines (Sen. Jim Bunning was absent).  Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin and Roland Burris, of course, voted with their Democratic colleagues.  While celebrating their victory,The Hill points out what a cold reception some have awaiting them for the Christmas holidays:

Perhaps most remarkably, [Harry] Reid succeeded in spite of his own troubled political fortunes at home. Like another central figure in the healthcare reform effort facing an uphill reelection battle next year, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Reid’s Senate career could be over before the bill’s major provisions take effect.

Let's hope so.  In the meantime, this battle's far from being over.  A growing number see several dead-ends ahead.

List of "Sweetheart Deals" Made by Senate Majority Leader

Prepared by Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives:

Just when you thought secret deals with the industry, closed-door meetings and Chicago-style backroom politics couldn't get any worse... they did. According to Reid, "A number of states are treated differently than other states. That's what legislation's all about: compromise". Really? Rather than thoughtful policy, H.R. 3590 is the result of Democrat desperation and includes countless political handouts. In an effort to meet an artificial holiday deadline, the bill itself has come to look like a Christmas tree with goodies for all Democrat holdouts.

While over 10 states receive special deals, Senators from neglected states should be appalled, as their home state constituents will wind up paying for those "sweetheart deals" in other states, resulting in higher costs for their already-strapped Medicaid programs.

Click here to read entire message.

Thomson purchase could be delayed until 2011

Barack Obama's plan to shut down GITMO may be delayed until 2011, thanks to Congressional Democrats that refused to include in the latest  military budget legislation the $200 million requested by the White House.  State Senator Bill Brady suggests the Thomson Correctional Center should have a $350 million price tag. The New York Times writes today:

Abortion moves center stage, thanks to health care debate

Wednesday, Chicago's Red Eye featured an unusually even-handed analysis of the life issue by featuring Millennial pro-abortion and pro-life activists, including Corrina Gura, who works for Forest Glen's Pro Life Action League.   

The 26-year-old is one Millennial who opposes abortion in all instances at a time when the hot-button topic has become a sticking point in the national debate over the health care bill. It's a major concern among young adults on both sides of the issue--57 percent of women who had abortions in 2004 in the U.S. were in their 20s, according to a report last year by the Guttmacher Institute, which studies sexual and reproductive health.

Merry Christmas, Mao

Ben Nelson's betrayal

by Jill Stanek

I received this question from a friend on Facebook:

So, Jill, what happened with Nelson? You and other pro-life leaders were advising people to be "calm" and to thank him, and all indications now are that he prostituted his vote like so many others. How do you know who to trust?

My friend was speaking about a blog post I wrote Dec. 11 encouraging pro-lifers to maintain support of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-NE. In that post I relayed an e-mail received from Democrats for Life's president, Kristen Day, assuring everyone Nelson was unwavering in his refusal to vote for any health-care bill excluding a Stupak-like pro-life amendment:

The Most Significant Vote of the Decade

by Bill Pascoe

Did you feel that disturbance in The Force? The one that took place about 3:35 this afternoon?

At 3:20 p.m., Independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont -- acting as the presiding officer of the Senate -- called a vote on a point of order against the health care overhaul bill.

Fifteen minutes later, Sanders closed the vote, and the matter was done. The Republicans finally got the vote they've been needing all year long.

Every Senate Democrat (plus the two Independents, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and Sanders) went on record declaring that the so-called individual mandate that is the heart of the health care bill -- that is, an unprecedented federal mandate that requires individuals to purchase a product in the private market, on pain of taxation should they choose to disobey -- does not violate the Constitution.

Continue reading The Most Significant Vote of the Decade.

Senate Deal: Compromise or corruption?

Must have been tough for CBS to do a story on Democrats' corrupt dealings to get Obamacare passed. For Illinois, the question is what did the second-in-charge Dick Durbin or his embarrassing Illinois sidekick Roland Burris get for their home state? Burris brags about getting funds for ACORN-like groups, and that's about all. We haven't yet heard from Durbin about what he got out of it. 

But the point all of them seem to miss is that the Democrats brokered deals for votes with our hard-earned tax dollars. What do you call that? Compromise or corruption?

ISRA: Ryan declares war on law-abiding gun owners

In reaction to IL GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan's response to the AP's primary questionnaire, the Illinois State Rifle Assocation sent out the following notice blasting the former Attorney General:

In an Associated Press wire story released yesterday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan pledged to sign a ban on “Assault Weapons” and promised to veto any “Concealed Carry” legislation that reaches his desk.

In making these pronouncements, Jim Ryan was very clear that he would wholeheartedly support legislation that would result in the ban and confiscation of most of the guns in your safe. You would have two choices – either surrender your banned firearms to the police, or the police will be kicking down your door to take them. Ryan could not have made the point any clearer.

Ryan was equally clear about your right to defend yourself...

IL GOP gubernatorial candidates on gun rights

An Associated Press questionnaire revealed Illinois' seven GOP gubernatorial candidates' responses on an assault weapons ban -- a question that gun rights advocates use to interpret candidates' views on the Second Amendment.  Four opposed, one said without more information, the question was "difficult to answer", two said they'd sign such legislation if certain criteria was met: 

Hey Sucka: What's with Your Racist Computer? Life in Obama's "Post Racial" America

by Teri O'Brien

Throughout year’s presidential campaign some of us watched the LSM (Lame Stream Media, a phrase coined by me, and as I noted recently, appropriated by Bernard Goldberg. You’re welcome, Bernie) swoon over the possible election of the first “African-American” president, and noted an irony. Since B. Hussein Obama’s mother was white, his designation as an “African-American” could result only from applying the racist Jim Crow rules that were an unfortunate part of America’s past.

So, the guilty white liberals who walked around with Obama bumper stickers plastered all over all their stuff to proclaim to all the world “I SOOO hate that icky racism!!” were relying on a test born of racial prejudice to paint their golden child as The One. Let me do what I am known for, and just say it: our first affirmative action president was elected because of his race. This phony, unaccomplished narcissist has always been the Jed Clampett of white guilt. He learned early that he had struck a gusher, and he has worked it for all he could ever since.

Brady statement on Thomson hearing

from the Brady for Governor campaign

Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor and member of the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA), released the following statement today:

After taking a tour of the Thomson Correctional Center in northwestern Illinois and listening to testimony at the COGFA hearing today, my position remains; Thomson Correctional Center should be opened and used to confine state inmates, not be sold to the federal government to house international terrorists.

ABC 7 Reports on Thomson Prison Hearing

Roland's "Night Before Christmas"

When you think it couldn't get more embarrassing for the people of Illinois, our Democratic junior senator Roland Burris reads to the world his version of "The Night Before Christmas," ending with the clever line, "Better coverage for us all, even those on the right!" Ho, ho, ho, ho...Merry Christmas, Illinois!

4 More Communities Ban Video Gambling

Last night four more City Councils voted to ban video gambling machines. 

• Morton, IL Board bans video gambling
• Arlington Heights -- With one resident calling video gambling "the crack cocaine of gambling," the Arlington Heights village board passed an ordinance outlawing video poker in the village .
• Park Ridge City council on a consent calendar voted tonight Monday Dec. 21 to ban video poker.
• Darien City Council approved an ordinance banning video gambling machines on December 21.

ILCAAAP can supply local officials with informational packets about video gambling, including studies and articles about the costs and problems associated with this form of gambling.  Please let us know when your county and/or community is planning to vote on video gambling so we can share this information with your local officials.   Go to the website www.ilcaaap.org for a listing of communities and additional information or e-mail ilcaaap@sbcglobal.net

Don't worry, everyone will be paying for abortions, HHS sec says

H/T Hot Air

Over 800 protest Gitmo detainees in Thomson

Bloomberg reports this afternoon that over 800 protesters gathered in front of Sterling High School this afternoon, voicing opposition to Obama's plan to transfer terrorists held in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba to the Thomson Correctional Center. 

“I don’t want terrorists in my backyard,” said Diane Bishop, 52, a real estate appraiser who drove two hours from her suburban Chicago home to attend the hearing at a high school in Sterling, Illinois. “It’s too close to home. They shouldn’t be in the United States.”

The hearing started at 2:00 PM and with 50 persons signed up to testify, it is expected to go into the evening hours. 

Burris got ACORN funding in exchange for his Obamacare vote

Well, this solves a question that's been in the back of our minds since the U.S. Senate Democrats all got in line and supported Harry Reid's version of Obamacare - even the "public-option-or-nothing" claim of Illinois' own Roland Burris earlier in the week. The Monday morning 1:18 am vote on cloture passed with all 40 Republicans voting "No" and all 60 Democrats voting "Yea," even the do-or-die, public option Roland Burris.

The "Chicago Way" struck again, evidently. While the US Senator Ben Nelson betrayed his prolife position and voted for abortion funding, Nebraska will no longer have to match federal funds for Medicaid coverage. That story is being reported over and over.

But only in the Weekly Standard do we find what Burris got for his constituents - not for Illinoisans, mind you, his constituents - the people at ACORN. ACORN?  Yes you read that right, ACORN (or whatever other name you want to call the enterprise). Here's what he said: 

So why Did Harry Reid Do It?

by Mark Rhoads

Under the normal old rules of politics of yesteryear, few Senate Majority Leaders would try to force members of the party caucus to sign a suicide pact to vote for a monstrously expensive and controversial bill on a straight party-line vote. This time, the Democrats could not even peal off Sen. Olympia Snowe (RINO-Maine).

The Real Clear Politics average of all polls on Dec. 22 shows that only 38.4 percent of voters approve of the Democratic Health Care Reform Bill from what they know about it and 51.0 percent are opposed.  Not all of the opponents are free-market conservatives who worry about how expensive or socialistic the bill is and what freedoms it destroys. Some of the opponents are progressives (aka liberals) who think the bill does not go far enough to provide a single- payer system. 

Sweetheart Deals for Obamacare votes, but not for Illinois?

How Bill Foster wins: no mistakes and plenty of money

by Bill Baar

My neighbor the GOP activists stops over last week with literature on various candidates in Feb's primary but nothing on Hastert vs. Hultgren. I asked why and he winced saying Hastert's going to win. I said yeah but he's going to lose to Foster. Too much pain among GOP stalwarts after the Dad's resignation then backing Oberweis, and too much distaste among suburban women (and others) to the Hastert+Oberweis names. My activist-neighbor replied, "Foster's hasn't made mistakes and he's got lots of money. It's gonna be tough".

Tough in a year the GOP should win handily. How in the world does the GOP in the Illinois 14th manage this kind of mess?

Baar's West Side blog

Why the Cook Co. Board of Review race is so important

The Cook County Board of Review is an elected position that gets little media attention, most thought of as a pencil-pushing, non-political county position with little or no influence.  It's true the job gets little media attention, but it's a very political job with a huge amount of influence.  In a day when property values -- both residential and commercial -- are plummeting, the assessed value of a building and its resulting property tax bills take on mounting significance. 

The Board of Review consists of three members that serve a Supreme-Court-like function, hearing property assessment disputes from owners and their lawyers that were not settled at lower levels.  Lawyers focused on appealing property values are normally paid according to the amount they save in the appeal, commonly one-third of the amount their clients save.  So attorneys have a huge self-interest in getting favorable decisions from the Board of Review, and it behooves an attorney to make sizeable contributions to Board of Reviews' candidate's campaigns.

That's why current Board member Joe Berrios' campaign war chest is so interesting, and why Berrios -- who is also the chairman of Cook County Democrats -- has plenty of money to give himself a promotion in 2010 to the even more influential position of Cook County Assessor.  He's been listening to appeals for decades.  With his new position he'll be making the assessments -- and holding one of the most powerful positions in Cook County, and the state of Illinois.

Obamacare spokesman says citizens who disagree are neo-nazis

When Bush was President, the Democrats told us disagreement and debate was patriotic. Now its racist. Care to comment?

Democrat Monique Davis owes $500,000+ in back rent

According to the Sun-Times, a new report shows that Democrat State Rep. Monique Davis "has been occupying a rent-free Chicago Board of Education building for seven years and owes more than $500,000 in rent, leaseholder taxes, and penalties."

Given the usual Democrat entitlement mentality, it is little wonder that Davis is incensed by the request for taxpayer reimbursement. After all, Davis is a former Chicago Board of Education administrator and member of the Illinois House Education Committee, which gives her the right to steal.

"I have not done anything wrong,'' Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times. Yup, just what another Democrat - Rod Blagojevich - keeps saying.