Illinois Review

IL GOP State Central Committee meeting moved to Sept 6th

Illinois Review has just learned that the IL GOP State Central Committee conference call expected this week to discuss the presidential candidate selection process has been moved to next Tuesday, September 6th at 5:00 PM.  For more information on the proposal, see IR's "IL GOP Presidential Delegate Selection Process Files Now Available"

The meeting will conducted in person at the Bolingbrook Golf Club.  It is our understanding that the meeting will be opened up to the public.

We have also learned that at least one other resolution will be discussed at the meeting, a proposal that would cause county chairmen to advise and be given the authority to allow or not allow Republican National Hispanic Assembly chapters to exist.  This proposal is reported to have been submitted by IL GOP State Central Committeeman Angel Garcia. 

Secret Deals Damage Illinois GOP

By Mark Rhoads

The bosses will win again this week and the voters will lose. It is always difficult to read tea leaves of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee when they labor so hard to keep their deals as secret as possible.  The committee is 19 indivduals who are not elected by any registered voter (as they were for almost 80 years after World War I.)  For the last 20 years committee members have been "elected" (what an monstrous abuse of that word) by a variety of county chairs and other party officials who are also not elected by voters.

IL state lawmaker crosses state line to marry gay partner

Get ready for another huge Illinois court battle to begin. State Representative Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) crossed the Iowa border last week to marry her lesbian lover Christin Baker in the Mississippi River town of Davenport.  For the two, a same sex civil union allowed in Illinois just wasn't good enough.

According to reporter Carol Marin of the Chicago Sun-Times, Mell has become the first high-profile elected official in Illinois to publicly enter into a same-sex marriage. She is the the sister-in-law of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the daughter of Chicago alderman Dick Mell.

… “Our relationship deserves marriage,” said a beaming Mell, her newly wedding-banded hand resting on Baker’s shoulder Tuesday. “That’s how I feel about it. I mean there was a time in our relationship where it just wasn’t right to call Christin my ‘partner’ or my ‘friend’ . . . or even my ‘civil-unionized partner.’ You know she’s my wife. . . . We deserve those titles, those rights.” …

The Iowa Republican writes:

Daycare is expensive. Enter the Super Nanny State?

The hot news buzz today is that in many states, daycare costs as much or more than college costs.  A group called the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies released a 61-page report entitled "Parents and the High Cost of Childcare".  And guess what it found?  It's expensive to put kids into daycare.

And the ulterior message to us all?  Child care is so expensive, we need the Nanny State to step in.

Now any sharp news observer knows that these big news reports don't just happen.  They're designed and released to soften the public for something the orginating group wants. In this case, it's relief. They want more money for child care workers - a growing number which are joining service worker unions - and they're demanding more funds from their taxpaying neighbors. 

 We say "more subsidy" because the fact that states like Illinois already heavily subsidize child care is hard to find in those 63 pages.  Why?  Because, well, the message clearly is what we do now is just not good enough. And likely, it's an issue that will be pushed in the upcoming political campaign. 

Prez pre-empts next week's GOP prez debate with jobs speech

In your face, GOP.  From the WSJ:

President Barack Obama intends to deliver his much-anticipated speech laying out his jobs agenda and plan to cut the federal deficit on Sept. 7 to a joint session of Congress. Mr. Obama’s timing steps directly on a Republican presidential debate scheduled for that same evening in Simi Valley, Calif.

UPDATE via Twitter:  White House spokesman Jay Carney says debate sponsors "control the timing of it." Clearly expects NBC to delay debate.

Economy and Ethics: top 2 issues on Americans' minds

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 84% of Likely Voters rate the economy as Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election.  That’s up from 74% in early June and 76% in April.  Still, the number of voters who feel this way about the economy has remained fairly consistent since January 2008.  (To see survey question wording, click here.) By a 45% to 35% margin, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on the economy.

Regaining the number two spot in terms of importance is the issue of government ethics and corruption. However, it’s a distant second, with 67% regarding it as Very Important.  For several years, government ethics and the economy ran neck-and-neck as the most important issues on voters’ minds. In September of last year, just before the midterm elections, healthcare rose to the number two spot and stayed there prior to the latest survey. 

As for health care, 65% say that issue is Very Important come the next congressional election.  That finding is down from 79% in early November 2010 and 72% in early April of that year, the first survey conducted after President Obama signed the health care bill into law. 

Walsh: Buffett needs a day job

Freshman Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-8) tells it as he sees it on Bloomberg TV this morning about billionaire Warren Buffett's efforts to hike taxes on the uber-rich. Video below the fold:

Medved in for IFI October 11

Illinois Family Institute is excited to announce the keynote speaker for our annual fall banquet is conservative stalwart Michael Medved!

Medved is a nationally syndicated radio host, best-selling author, and veteran film critic. His daily three-hour broadcast reaches more than 3.5 million listeners on nearly 200 stations across the country, drawing an audience that consistently ranks his show as one of the top ten conservative political talk shows in the United States.

ADA protects alcoholic truckers

Have a drinking problem?  Boss threatening you to get your act together or you'll be fired?  You say you drive for a living?  You should know your rights. 

Alcoholism is listed as a federally-protected disability under the American Disabilities Act, and now even truck drivers are given a pass if found to have a drinking problem. Heritage.org reports EEOC's decision:

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., a trucking company with a service center in Fort Smith, Ark., violated federal law by discriminating against at least one truck driver because of self-reported alcohol abuse, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today. The company should have met its legal obligation to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act while assuring safety, rather than permanently sidelining self-reporting drivers, the EEOC contended.

Yeah, we don't want those truckers with drinking problems to lose their jobs ...

How Obama’s Rules Hold Back Chicago Business

by Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6)

“Please don’t challenge us with more rules and regulations from Washington.”

That was one farmer’s plea to President Barack Obama at a recent town hall in Atkinson. Unfortunately, its become a steady chorus from American businesses of all walks, including in meetings with Illinois businesses on Tuesday.

Appropriate and responsible regulations play an important policymaking role. Yet the Obama administration has turned rule-making into an assault on American businesses and the jobs they create. Right now, 4,257 new regulations are in the works, 219 of which will cost over $100 million annually — 15 percent more than last year.

Just one rule has Chicago White Metal Casting, a Bensenville manufacturer employing 240, fighting to survive in an already tough economy. They’ll soon face a restriction regulating greenhouse gases from stationary sources. After the congressional defeat of cap and trade, the EPA began implementing the job-destroying scheme through regulations. The EPA estimates this regulation will cost businesses $132 million the first year and add EPA oversight to 10,000 new facilities.

Statewide News Headlines

by Zach Pratt for August 31, 2011

• FOIA Tweak Could Make Getting Info Tougher
• Sears Leaders Meet with Senate President
• $46 Million Awarded for Child Development
• Lawmakers Send Electric Rate Bill to Quinn, Quinn Promises Veto
• Quinn's Liquor Control Commission Hires Alderman's Daughter as Secretary

VIDEO: Lone Marine

H/T Proud to be Republican

NEA stands firm on homeschool regs

In her annual National Education Association resolution report, Phyllis Schlafly reviews  an array of resolutions were passed that define the biggest public school teacher union's platform.  No changes were made this year to the NEA's position on homeschooling. 

The NEA stands firm that home schooling parents should be licensed by the state and homeschool students should be assessed according to state curriculum standards, despite homeschoolers faring way above average without those state-imposed guidelines. 

The NEA wants homeschooling to be wholly paid for by the family - no tax credits, no financial assistance.  Oh, and despite the parents paying hefty property taxes to the local schools, the NEA believes home-taught students should not be allowed to participate in the public school's extra-curricular activities. 

IL GOP Delegate Selection Process Files now available

Thanks to the cooperation and sharing of Pubius Forum's Warner Todd Huston, Illinois Review has obtained copies of the proposal before the IL GOP State Central Committee and a pro-con assessment by the IL GOP.  We also have provided a copy of a chart the IL GOP staff put together to explain visually the changes being proposed.

Your comments/ thoughts welcomed ...

Download RESOLUTION RE SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO 2012 NATIONAL CONVENTION[3]

Download Pros&Cons_DelegateSelectionProcess

Download Delegate chart

Gutierrez on new deportation policy:"This is the Barack Obama we have been waiting for"

CHICAGO - U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL-4) held a press conference Tuesday at Illinois Coalition for Immigrants and Refugees Rights' headquarters in Chicago to kick off President Barack Obama's new federal deportation prioritization policy. 

In Gutierrez words, "This is a step in the right direction.  This is the Barack Obama we have been waiting for."

Zogby poll shows Perry at 41, Romney 12 and Paul 11

The results below are from an IBOPE Zogby interactive poll conducted from Aug. 25-29. The likely voter sample size for the Republican nomination is 1,184 likely Republican primary voters.

 

Hyprocrisy? John Bradley voted for tax hike that will cost 4x more than the electricity rate hike

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said that it is "hypocritical" for State Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) to oppose a proposed electricity rate hike while he voted for a 67% increase in the state income tax in January.

“Representative Bradley says that ‘People are hurting and they don't have extra money to pay’ but he cast the deciding vote in favor of the Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton 67% Tax Hike that will cost working families much more than the Ameren rate hike which I also oppose,” said Brady.

The proposed increase in electricity rates by Ameren would cost most households $100 per year. However, the 67% increase in the state income tax will cost a family of four earning $30,000 annually an additional $442 per year.

Ramey arrested for DUI

DUPAGE - Newly-appointed DuPage County GOP chairman and State Representative Randy Ramey was charged with a DUI early Sunday morning, the Daily Herald reports:

“On Sunday morning I was issued a citation by the Carol Stream Police Department for driving under the influence of alcohol,” Ramey said in the statement. “I regret and take full responsibility for my actions, and I am prepared to face the consequences. I am deeply sorry to disappoint my family and my constituents.”

 ... Ramey failed four field sobriety tests, before being taken to the police station, where a breath test recorded a .179 percent blood-alcohol concentration, more than twice the legal threshold.

So just who should pick Illinois RNC delegates?

There's a lot of buzz about a proposal that some say would give the IL GOP State Central Committee unprecedented power to select the presidential delegates that go to the Republican National Committee's Convention next summer.

Illinois Review is working to get more information about the proposal that is coming before the IL GOP State Central Committee which could change the presidential delegate petition, election and selection process. 

We've seen some write for and some against the proposal. For instance, State Treasurer Dan Rutherford wrote a letter to the State Central Committee members and county chairmen against it. Illinois conservative opiner Warner Todd Huston agrees with Rutherford, as do others. 

Channahon village president charged with failing to file tax returns

from the FBI

CHICAGO—The village president of Channahon, which straddles Will and Grundy counties approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago, was charged with failing to file federal income tax returns for four years during which he allegedly earned approximately $250,000 in gross income from two public jobs and a private consulting business. The defendant, Joseph Cook, 45, of Channahon, was charged in a six-count criminal information filed late yesterday, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced today together with Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Know your Constitution

There's nothing more important to a U.S. citizen than being familiar with his or her rights and the perhaps even more important, the boundaries of government. A growing number of Americans are ill-informed about the Constitution of the United States while the government continually pushes on the Constitution's restrictions.

Patrick Henry College's Chancellor Michael Farris has just released a DVD series to teach a traditional view of the Constitution to average citizens. We all need to know what the Constitution says, what the Founding Fathers intended, and about Supreme Court decisions on Constitutional issues, Farris says.  We need to be well-informed enough to recognize when the Constitution is being upheld and when it is being threatened.

Farris is offering the first segment for your perusal below.  For further information, go to http://constitutionreclaimed.com.

Episode 1 - Introduction to the Constitution from Ian A. Reid on Vimeo.

Dr. Bob Tiballi Announces for Kane County Coroner

ELGIN - Dr. Bob Tiballi, founder and administrator of GERMBUSTERS Infectious Diseases of Adults & Children and a former candidate for Kane County Coroner in 2004, said Tuesday he welcomes Rob Russell's announcement today that Russell is joining the GOP primary race for 2012.  

Tiballi  announced his candidacy for the Republican Nomination for Kane County Corner two weeks ago when delivering a speech at the main entrance of the Randall Medical Building, (1710 N. Randall Road, Elgin), a building that Tiballi was involved in planning and constructing. 

Dr. Bob ran in 2004 and was defeated by current coroner, Chuck West who now stands under indictment.  Dr. Tiballi called on West to resign, stating that the office was rendered dysfunctional by the ongoing legal battles over West’s misconduct charges.  Tiballi declared that he would run on a platform of restoring integrity to the office of Kane County Coroner, the same platform he offered in 2004, and will make that issue the foundation of his campaign. 

Daily Herald starts charging for online access

The Daily Herald will begin next week charging for its online access. The cost? $19.99 for 30 days. Here's the reason they give:

“As many newspapers are starting to understand, we cannot afford to give away our content any longer online,” Ray said. “The reason is simple, unavoidable economics. Newspapers all over the country are realizing that they cannot rely solely on the income from advertisers to create and sustain the kind of journalism the community deserves, as new media have taken an increasingly larger slice of the available marketing dollars.”

Websites, i-Pad apps, reporters, editors and all that goes with getting information to citizens does cost - lots. What's your thoughts? Is this good or bad for the Daily Herald? And is this good or bad for the community? If not via subscription, what better way would you prefer online access to news.

Sex offender doctors, health care workers licenses revoked by Dillard law

Springfield – State officials wasted no time responding to a new law sponsored by State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) that will strip the licenses of physicians and health care workers convicted of sexual and violent crimes.

“It was ridiculous that a doctor who had been convicted of sexually assaulting a patient was still allowed to continue practicing medicine. A sex offender is prohibited from driving a school bus, yet a convicted sex offender could have treated a child as a patient. Would you want a sex offender as your obstetrician or gynecologist? Now the law is clear: a convicted sex offender will not practice medicine in Illinois,” said Dillard.

Drop the Labels, We're all Americans

by Jesus Alaniz

In testimony to the Illinois House of Representatives Redistricting Committee just a few months ago, Angel Garcia, a self-appointed “Latino Leader,” said in regard to the proposed districts: “Latinos are still way underrepresented ... We really do need districts where Latinos can actually run and win ... It is of much importance to keep it together as much as we can to be able to attract Latinos to run and when they run that they can have a chance to win and that the community can have a voice.”

I personally believe that Latinos, like any other race, are smart enough, strong enough and charismatic enough to get elected on ideas, philosophies and principles, and I do not believe Latinos need to rely on ethnic ties to see results.

It's Time to Fix the Republican Party from the Inside

by Frank Napolitano

If you have ever wanted the Republican Party to reflect more of your conservative principles, now is your chance. (Ed. Note: this plan works in all counties other than Cook County.)

With the upcoming Republican Primary, the Republican Party will also hold elections for Precinct Committeeman. Precinct maps are drawn based on registered voters, and sizes of precincts can vary, but are usually somewhere in the 1,000 registered voter range.

If you are curious what your precinct map is or who your current Precinct Committeeman is, you can look that info up on your County Election Board website. For DuPage County, you can look up your precinct here. If you don’t personally know, or currently have a Precinct Committeeman, I would suggest running.

How the Conservative GOP Base Can Win

By Mark Rhoads

In almost every GOP presidential cycle with no incumbent running over the last half-century, someone always makes the superficial argument that the party should nominate its most liberal credible candidate in order to appeal beyond its base conservative voters to win over more moderate Democrats and independents.  There are several reasons why this argument is based on a false premise.  Some of them are listed below.

Illinois' credit ratings second to worst

From Barron's cover story report on the "Good, Bad and Ugly" of states' credit ratings asks, "There's hope for states that accept structural change, but pain for those that won't. Are you listening, Illinois and California?" Why do they ask that?  Illinois and California are the worst states in the union.

Perry beats Romney in 5 out of 7 current polls

Real Clear Politics published a polling chart Monday that shows Texas Governor Rick Perry in double digits over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in five out of seven current polls.

In several polls, Sarah Palin came in third, Michele Bachmann fourth and Ron Paul fifth.

Ron Paul is the last of a dying breed

Here's an interesting perspective on Ron Paul's international policy by political commentator Johnathan Riehl.  Does Riehl's perspective change your position on Paul's candidacy? Ron Paul is stirring things up again, drawing fire from many conservatives for his anti-war stance — or is he just being ignored because he won’t toe the line?

He is not my candidate, but I think it is vital to point out what is missing from the discussion. U.S. Rep. Paul represents a long-standing, but endangered strain of conservative thinking about war policy; his views actually used to be fairly mainstream among conservatives.

Unquestioning support of all military action has not always been the political or rhetorical domain of the right. This is a recent development.

Pro-abortion feminists to fundraise for Obama's re-election

Lynn Sweet reports today that radical feminists/abortionists like First Lady Michele Obama, Gloria Steinem and others will be raising funds for Barack Obama's re-election in New York September 20th ...

Joining Steinem and Mrs. Obama will be Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, and Stephanie Schriock, named president last year of EMILY's List, which supports politically viable abortion rights backing female Democratic candidates. Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who attends most major fund-raisers, will also be at the Park Ave. funder.

This will be the must-attend event for the New York area feminist crowd.

Pole-dancing convention spotlights entrepeneurial spirit

If you think the location of next summer's Illinois Republican Party is a quaint, blue-collar southwest suburb, you may be somewhat right, but the Tinley Park Convention Center at I-80 at Harlem Avenue also hosted an eyebrow-raising R-rated convention this last weekend. 

It was the first Great Midwest Pole Dancing Competition and Convention, and the local Patch affiliate covered the event with a straight face, God  bless 'em.

And yes, we know that pole-dancing is a respectable sport and that only fuddy-duddy conservatives would raise eyebrows over the nature of this athletic interest.  The Patch writer quotes a Chicago Heights entrepeneurial accounting business couple that got started their own pole-dancing class in 2005. 

"We were accounting by day and pole-dancing by night," Mary Ellyn Weissman said, and added that her business soon became in such demand, they expanded it to southwestern Frankfort a year later.

Russell to announce candidacy for Kane County Coroner

ST. CHARLES - Rob Russell, Republican, will announce his candidacy for Kane County Coroner at a press conference on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. The press conference will be held at 10:00am in the downstairs Community Room at the PNC Bank, 2600 East Main Street, St. Charles, IL.

Following the announcement will be a brief question and answer session.

Russell brings almost 20 years of law enforcement experience to the office of coroner. His diversified police background (all on the county government level) includes: crime scene investigation, death investigation, patrol, emergency disaster deployment, corrections, court security and community policing. Russell has a Master of Arts in Political and Justice Studies, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, emphasis in Criminology.

Russell resides South Elgin with his wife and four children.

MoveOn.org protests Biggert, then Hultgren with baseless accusations

YORKVILLE - West Suburban MoveOn.Org says they're planning to protest Congressman Randy Hultgren's townhall meeting tonight in Yorkville like they did Congresswoman Judy Biggert's job fair Monday in Romeoville. 

Tonight in Yorkville-Ask Rep. Hultgren your questions about his tax giveaways to the wealthiest & corporations. Jobs Not Cuts. 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 800 Game Farm Rd. in Yorkville.

And Fox News Chicago was at Biggert's job fair to report what happened:

Quinn OKs law giving more time for FOIA responses

In case you missed it, Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation last Friday that gives Illinois government more time to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiries from what they call "recurrent requesters."

To-date government entities were required to fulfill FOIA requests within seven business days or 14 business days with an extension. Under the new law, the government has 21 days to respond to FOIAs, and a undefined "reasonable period" to actually provide documents.

The law goes into effect immediately, and allows the government to now charge taxpayers for the actual costs of retrieving information.

More HERE

Wisconsin Republicans Banned From Labor Day Parade

Progress Illinois is reporting that a Wisconsin union council has banned state Republicans from taking part in this year's Wausau Labor Day parade. Randy Radtke, president of the Marathon County Central Labor Council, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"Usually they've been in the parade, but it seems like they only want to stand with us one day a year, and the other 364 days they don't really care. ...It should come as no surprise that organizers choose not to invite elected officials who have openly attacked worker's rights or stood idly by while their political party fought to strip public workers of their right to collectively bargain."

Governor Perry Attacked for Choosing New Medical Treatment

by Jane M. Orient, M.D

Should Gov. Rick Perry’s choice of medical treatment be between him and his doctor?

Recently, the governor of Texas and presidential hopeful had a bad back treated by injecting some of his very own fat cells, after they had been cultured and treated in a laboratory. The innovative use of a patient’s own adult stem cells is showing great promise in many conditions, including damaged joints.

Even though he is a public figure, Gov. Perry is also a human being and a patient. Should we not wish him well, and thank him for sharing his experience with a treatment that might be of interest to thousands of Americans?

The Los Angeles Times  is instead suggesting that he is a hypocrite for opposing embryonic stem-cell research while getting treatment for himself. Apparently, the Times doesn’t see any difference between sacrificing a human life to extract cells for research or for treatment of somebody else, and taking some of a person’s own cells, with his fully informed consent, to use for his own benefit.

Top 10 Job-Destroying Regulations

D.C. - In an effort to get America on the road to recovery, U.S. House GOP Leader Eric Cantor's office released a list of the Obama Administration's "Top 10 Job-Destroying Regulations" House Republicans will work to eliminate this fall:

• NLRB’s Boeing Ruling (Week of September 12): On April 20, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against The Boeing Company for the alleged transfer of an assembly line from Washington to South Carolina. Yet, not one union employee at Boeing’s Puget Sound facility has lost his or her job as a result of the proposed South Carolina plant. Still, the NLRB is pursuing a “restoration order” against Boeing that would cost South Carolina thousands of jobs and deter future investment in the United States. H.R. 2587, the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act, sponsored by Rep. Tim Scott (SC), would take the common sense step of preventing the NLRB from restricting where an employer can create jobs in the United States.

• Utility MACT and CSAPR (Week of September 19): The Administration’s new maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards and cross-state air pollution rule (CSAPR) for utility plants will affect electricity prices for nearly all American consumers. In total, 1,000 power plants are expected to be affected. The result for middle class Americans? Annual electricity bill increases in many parts of the country of anywhere from 12 to 24 percent. H.R. 2401, the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act, sponsored by Rep. John Sullivan (OK), would require a cumulative economic analysis for specific EPA rules, and specifically delay the final date for both the utility MACT and CSAPR rules until the full impact of the Obama Administration’s regulatory agenda has been studied.

Cisco Cotto to start church in Oak Park

OAK PARK - Cisco Cotto, a favorite conservative Chicago radio talk show host, made a big announcement today about what's next in his life. He's going to start a new church in Oak Park, IL. As Cisco writes on his blog:

Many of you know about my years of study at Moody [Bible Institute]. I felt strongly that God led me there for something specific (other than meeting my wife, though that was cool). Over many years God has been increasing my love of Oak Park and its people. The community is intelligent and engaged. People here care about their fellow man in a way that’s not seen in many places. Over time my love of Oak Park and burden for those in the community have grown deeper and have intertwined.

It became clear about a year ago that God was calling me to plant a church in Oak Park to specifically build relationships with the 40,000 people in this village who are completely irreligious. I started working with the church planting team at the Evangelical Free Church and last week, after an exhaustive assessment process, their team affirmed my call to plant a church in Oak Park. So, the quest to launch and build Village Church of Oak Park begins.

Republicans announce jobs plan focused on cutting regs, taxes

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Monday laid out an ambitious anti-tax and regulations agenda for the fall.

In a memo to rank-and-file Republicans, Cantor said the House will target 10 major regulations for elimination, and will also seek to enact one major tax cut for businesses.

Republicans are offering the agenda as a contrast to President Obama’s jobs plan which is to be formally announced next week and is expected to include stimulus spending.

via thehill.com

Illinois uses your tax dollars to pay sex offenders as baby sitters

Cornelius Osborne may not seem like baby-sitting material. He was convicted of raping two women. A succession of felonies, from robbery to failing to register as a sex offender, repeatedly sent him to prison, state records show.

But over more than two years, the state paid Osborne nearly $5,000 to baby-sit two children, before his latest conviction — for dealing drugs — put him back behind bars.

Osborne, of Chicago, wasn't the only sex offender paid by taxpayers to baby-sit, according to a Tribune investigation that found cases of convicted rapists, molesters and other violent felons given access to children over the past decade. The money comes from a $750 million-a-year program that subsidizes child care for more than 150,000 impoverished Illinois families.

via www.chicagotribune.com

Democrat protest at Biggert town hall is baseless

ROMEOVILLE - Congresswoman Judy Biggert (IL-13) will be protested this morning at a town hall she's holding at the Romeoville Recreational Center, a Democrat announced this morning on Facebook.  The West Suburban MoveOn.org coordinator wrote, "And not one single jobs bill for over 200 days of the GOP controlled House." 

So, for this pro-government liberal, we did some digging and found this list of Republican House job-creating bills on Majority Leader Eric Cantor's website. Everyone of them have been stopped in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate. 

Indeed, these bills may push private sector job growth, not exactly what the protesters are looking for, but these are bills would encourage long term economic expansion that will last past the next federal or state budget approval.

The point is the Democrats' protest at Biggert's town hall has no basis. See below the fold:

Statewide News Headlines

by Zach Pratt for August 29, 2011

• Activists Meet in Chicago
• Some Districts Remain Without Contracts
• Chicago City Pension Funds could lose $1 Million
• Illinois National Guard Sent to Help with Irene Relief, Called Back
• Power Outages Prompt Sente Town Hall Meeting

 

Global warming is making us crazy

Exhausted from getting no sleep because your mattress is stuffed with your life savings?  Weary and depressed with the roller coaster stock market?  Here's where to invest in a business that's about to take off like crazy!  Yes, because of global warming we learn today, the mental health field will be the next boon to struggling portlfolios.  

A report will be released today in Australia confirming that mental health needs are about to skyrocket because of depression and stress brought on by worldwide weather crises, which is caused by global warming. And remember, Al Gore tried to warn us.

The report, A Climate of Suffering: The Real Cost of Living with Inaction on Climate Change, called the past 15 years a ''preview of life under unrestrained global warming''.

Photo Ops and the limits of Hype

by Mark Rhoads

The jury is back and the verdict seems to be that Hurricane Irene might have been over-hyped by TV news outlets because dramatic pictures and fear draw higher ratings during the doldrums of August when far fewer people are normally watching TV.  Industry analysts know that HUT levels (Homes Using Television)are always lowest just before Labor Day because so many people are still on vacation until children have to go back to school.  Prices for commercials are usually lowest at this time to reflect the lower audience.

"Natural disasters," not "economic stimuli"

The Cato Institute has a great piece this morning refuting the Keynesian idea that hurricanes, floods and natural disasters can be a good thing to re-ignite a smoldering economy. It's commonly called the "broken window" theory:

...As economist Sandy Ikeda summed it up last year, the argument is that “paying $100 to replace a broken window somehow creates more prosperity than having an intact window and spending that $100 on something else.” He goes on to ask, as many economists have: If destruction is so good for an economy, why wait for a hurricane or a bombing raid? Why not just bomb your own cities?

As Frederic Bastiat explained the “broken window fallacy,” a boy breaks a shop window. Villagers gather around and deplore the boy’s vandalism. But then one of the more sophisticated townspeople, perhaps one who has been to college and read Keynes, says, “Maybe the boy isn’t so destructive after all. Now the shopkeeper will have to buy a new window. The glassmaker will then have money to buy a table. The furniture maker will be able to hire an assistant or buy a new suit. And so on. The boy has actually benefited our town!”

Reagan, Cash & Hope

H/T Jim Economos

Rick Perry and Whittaker Chambers' baby daughter's ear

There's been a lot of discussion about Texas Governor Rick Perry's off-the-cuff comment that he questioned the Theory of Evolution and supported the concept that public school students should be allowed to hear both sides on the universe's beginnings. Perry told the 7 year old the Theory of Evolution "had some gaps." Critics have tried to use Perry's words to demean the governor's viewpoint, attempting to color him as a radical rightwing fanatic. 

Fact is, Governor Perry's in very good company.  As a Communist spy, one day, author Whittaker Chambers noticed the shape of his baby daughter's ear and it started him on a path reconsidering his worldview.  Whittaker wrote to his children in the foreward of his book Witness:

Media Nostalgic for Katrina: Today on the Teri O'Brien Show

by Teri O'Brien

Now that Hurricane Irene has made landfall, our prayers go out to the millions without power and those living in the aftermath of the storm. On the upside, at least maybe now all the media parasites, who, as usual, seemed to be enjoying this disaster way too much, will leave, taking their stock footage of people using staple guns to board up their homes or arriving at stores to find empty shelves.

For the past six years, every hurricane evokes endless reminiscing about Katrina, which the blood-thirsty, war-loving George W. Bush ignored because as that great philosopher Kanye West succinctly explained he “doesn’t care about black people.” Even Sen. Barack Obama, while claiming to distance himself from Mr. West’s bizarre, race-baiting stream of consciousness brain dump, joined in playing the race card in the post-Katrina recriminations. Never let a good crisis go to waste.

Obama's free-thinking lies

Barack Obama made seven campaign promises in two minutes that's been broken consistently during his first three years in the Oval Office.  Sarah Palin said on her Facebook page Thursday she intends to talk about these lies and more next Saturday at a rally in Iowa.