Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Attacks Apple iPad

April 20, 2011 | Filed Under Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Computers, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Inernet, Jesse Jackson, Liberals, Socialism, Technology, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Chicago area Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. is apparently as fickle as he is uninformed about economics and the Constitution both. In March we saw him praising the Apple iPad as technology so important that he wanted to have the federal government buy one for every American student. Only a month later he was calling the iPad a destroyer of American jobs. Talk about a whiplash inducing turn around.

In March, Jackson was pleased to announce a brilliant idea to put a provision into the Constitution that gives every student an iPad and a laptop computer. After a week of ridicule, Rep. Jackson doubled down on that plan saying that the iPad had so fundamentally altered education that it should be a right.

And now, only a month later Jackson has made a complete turnaround on the iPad calling it a destroyer of American jobs.
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Remarks from the 2011 Chicago Tea Party Tax Day Rally

April 19, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Conservatives, Constitution, Cook County, Dan Proft, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Republicans, Tea Party | Comments Off

-By Dan Proft

Snow in Chicago in April. Some might view this as simply the unpredictability of Chicago weather. Others might attribute it to climate change. I, however, believe this to be a prophecy foretold: Rahm Emanuel has been elected Mayor of Chicago and Hell is freezing over.

Welcome tea partiers. To paraphrase our President, you are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration and the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan, two Illinois sons who forever changed the world and our understanding of it with their simple but unyielding commitment to the idea that liberty is the birthright of every human being.

The leadership emanating from Illinois more recently hasn’t been quite to that standard. This is also the year we take note of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s 40th year of driving business and jobs out of Illinois. And this year is the 14th anniversary of Barack Obama’s first “present” vote in the Illinois State Senate.

But I have hope for change.
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Obama’s Media Passover: Rep. Walsh Takes it To The Media

April 18, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, CNN, Congress, Conservatives, Cook County, Economy/Finances, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Joe Walsh, Journalism, Lake County, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, President, Republicans, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Joe Walsh (R, 8th District), a Tea Party backed Congressman from Illinois, slams the Old Media on why Obama has been allowed to present not one, but two budgets without the media saying a word about it.

Exactly right, Joe. If any Republican president had issued a budget that failed to win any support and then was forced to make a second run at it, the media would be talking about nothing else but “the president’s first failed budget plan.” The media would be repeating this drumbeat over and over until even the second budget would be DOA because the president would have been so undermined.

But in this case, Obama failed miserably with his first budget offering and has come back to the table with a second one and the media has been wholly silent on the first failure, giving Obama a total pass on the debacle and treated as if his second proposal is the only one he’s ever presented.
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Tax Day Tea Party Now Even Bigger: Cain, Grover, Cisco – 4/18‏

April 16, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Taxes, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

The 2011 Chicago Tax Day Tea Party on Monday, April 18 at noon in Daley Plaza has grown even bigger. Businessman, tea party star and Presidential Candidate Herman Cain is now set to speak at the rally. Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform and one of the original authors of the Contract with America will also speak in Chicago on tax day. But that’s not all. We’ll also be joined by Cisco Cotto and Dan Proft from WLS AM-890.

Let us know you’re coming by registering here. You can also RSVP on Facebook here.

Herman Cain, Grover Norquist, Cisco Cotto and Dan Proft will round out an already stellar group of speakers, liberty leaders and regular people who are making a difference. The confirmed speakers at the event include:
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Wasteful Referendum Defeated in Suburban Lamont

April 13, 2011 | Filed Under Americans For Prosperity, Budget, Chicago, Children, Conservatives, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, DuPage County, Economy/Finances, Education, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

One of the election day success stories enjoyed by Americans for Prosperity, Illinois, occurred in nearby Lamont. A wasteful school referendum was defeated in Lamont and AFP was at the forefront of educating voters on the facts as they went to the polls.

Residents of Lamont had become tired of seeing their taxes go up every single year while the District constantly cried poor, so due to requests from residents, AFP – Illinois began an effort to understand exactly why the budget and the taxes for Lamont’s School District 113a have been constantly rising for every one of the last eleven years.

Upon investigation, AFP discovered that while revenues for the district have risen 50% over the last eleven years, the District’s spending has risen 77% during the same time.
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Chicago School Accuses Parents of Poisoning Children

April 13, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Children, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Freedom, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Liberty, Public Employees Unions, Regulation, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The nanny state in the people’s republic of Chicago rears its ugly head once again where a school principal has accused parents of trying to poison their own children with “unhealthy” bag lunches. And so, in her infinite wisdom, Principal Elsa Carmona had banned all lunches brought from home. I guess it’s just a coincidence that the school gets more federal money for lunches served by the school, eh?

Little Village Academy Principal Carmona, you see, is better and smarter than the vile parents of the children for whom she is the keeper… at least she thinks she is, anyway. She has determined that kids are not getting healthy lunches from parents, so she’s decided that kids can only eat the bland pabulum she serves in her school cafeteria.
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Chicago’s City Worker Union Members Get Free Chauffeur Perks

March 31, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Mayor Richard Daley, Public Employees Unions, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Let’s say your job is as a traveling salesman or a construction worker and you work at different locations throughout the year. Wouldn’t it be nice to get your own free chauffeur service to get back and forth to work? That way you could just drive yourself to one location a day and then have your chauffeur take you back and forth to your work site. Nice, huh? Well, apparently that is what’s going on in Chicago for city worker union members and taxpayer’s are paying $18 million a year for this union perk.

According to an investigation by Inspector General Joe Ferguson, at least 200 city truck drivers only duty is to drive other city workers back and forth to work sites. Outside of that one duty, these truck drivers sit and do nothing for the rest of the day as they wait for workers that are actually working to finish their jobs. These “workers” are essentially paid chauffeurs.

Ferguson recommended that one of the city workers actually involved in working at the work site could drive the trucks instead of having highly paid union members sitting around while other workers actually worked.
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Mayor Emmanuel To Cut Number of Aldermen in Half! Self-Serving or Cost Savings?

March 25, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Census, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Mayor Richard Daley, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

For his first controversy, Mayor Elect Rahm Emanuel has floated the trial balloon of all trial balloons. He wants to fire half the city’s alderman and replace them with… no one. That’s right, he wants to eliminate half of the city’s aldermen. How’s that for chutzpah?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Emanuel has had some private meetings with Chicago’s sitting aldermen and has point blank asked them what they thought of slashing the number of aldermen from 50 to 25 as a cost-cutting measure.

Naturally everyone knows that if this idea goes through, Emanuel will endeavor to save the jobs of all those aldermen loyal to him. That goes without saying. This would be Emanuel’s way of creating his own rubber stamp city council like the two Mayors Daley did for 60 years with their own bought-and-paid-for city council.
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Mayor Daley: Failed Mayor of Failing City?

March 25, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Mayor Richard Daley, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

As his last year in office winds down, Mayor Richard Daley is hailed as one of the country’s most successful big city mayors. Yet the 2010 census reveals that the city lost 200,000 citizens, the city’s budget is millions in the red, and businesses are abandoning the city with alarming frequency. How this equates to success is anyone’s guess.

Steve Bartin who writes for newgeography.com, a website that tracks information about America’s demographic statistics, notes that there are only nine U.S. cities that have more than one million citizens and the 2010 census data shows that only Chicago lost population. Yet, as Bartin notes, stories across the Old Media can’t bestow enough kudos on Mayor Daley’s long tenure as Chicago’s mayor.

It isn’t just the loss of population that marks Daley as a failure, though.
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Chicago’s Most Notorious Priest Finally On Way Out?

March 21, 2011 | Filed Under Catholicism, Chicago, Christianity, Cities, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Liberals, Race, Religion, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Father Michael Pfleger is as far from the image of a parish priest as can be imagined without crossing the line into absurdity. He is a loud-mouthed activist that has spent a 30-year career calling people he doesn’t like names, spewing race tinged “sermons,” liberally tossing out the race card, and engaging in extremist political causes. Not the model priest, for sure.

Pfleger has vexed the Catholic Archdiocese in Chicago for years and rumors have constantly swirled that he would be removed from his position as the pastor of Saint Sabina, a Catholic Church on Chicago’s south side. Church leaders have constantly been under pressure to do something about this troublemaking priest.

Father Pfleger has indecently involved himself in numerous political causes. His favorite activism is to organize news camera grabbing pickets. He’s picketed TV shows, business owners, and companies. He’s called gun shop owners murderers and Threatened their lives, he’s tried to get radio stations shut down, and he’s erected billboards attacking musicians.
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Municipal Elections Early Voting Started March 15

March 18, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cities, Cook County, Elections, Government, Illinois, Uncategorized, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Municipal elections are here again. Throughout Cook County folks are running for village trustee, alderman, library board member, village president… all sorts of local offices are up for grabs.

Early voting has already started for the April 5th election. Early voting runs from March 15 to March 31.

If you need to find out where you can vote early check out the Early Voting Locations list on the County Clerk’s website.

If you aren’t sure who is running in your local jurisdiction, go to the Cook County Clerk’s Virtual Ballot page and see who is running for what in your area.

AND DON’T FORGET TO VOTE
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Criminal Element: Ill. Democrat Was Convicted Felon Before Being Elected

March 17, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cities, Cook County, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Lisa Madigan, Michael Madigan, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It has been revealed that Illinois State Representative Robert Rita was a convicted felon before he ever ran for office for the fist time, a violation of state law. Being a convicted felon should have barred him from even running for office.

Lee Williams of the Illinois Policy Institute tells us that Rita, a Blue Island Democrat and a five-term state rep., has always been ineligible to seek elected office, absent a pardon.

Rita was convicted of DUI and attempted bribery in Nye County, Nevada in 1991. Lee Williams reports that this was confirmed by Jamie Kostiuk, a Nye County records clerk. Hard copies of the files, though, could not be located.

Lee Williams, however, tracked down some other sources of the conviction.
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Chicago Tea Party: We Won The Ronald Reagan Award

March 12, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Congress, Conservatives, Cook County, Economy/Finances, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From the Chicago Tea Party…

We are very proud and humbled to tell you that the Chicago Tea Party Patriots were honored with the Ronald Reagan Award at CPAC 2011 in Washington, DC. The Ronald Reagan Award is CPAC’s highest honor and we’re one of only four tea party groups in the entire country to receive it. This is a group award recognizing all of your efforts over the past year. Congratulations to everyone.

CPAC says of the award: “From the beginning, the annual Ronald Reagan Award is given not to the generals of the movement, but to the soldiers, the men and women working in the trenches who sacrificed, and in so doing set an example for others. In past years, the award – which is our highest – has gone to grassroots organizers, taxpayer advocates, and those whose names may not be household names, but whose work has affected us all.” The American Conservative Union is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization and their CPAC conference is the largest annual gathering of conservatives.
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Cook County Board Of Review Progress Report‏

March 4, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Cook County, Cook County Board, Dan Patlak, GOP, Government, Illinois, Property Taxes, Republicans, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From the office of Dan Patlak, Cook County Board of Review…

It has been two months since my swearing in on December 6th and I thought it would be appropriate to reach out to give you a progress report.

Following our victory in November, our first order of business was to assemble a staff that would have as its main focus, serving the needs of the residents of the 1st Board of Review District as well as all residents of Cook County. We have assembled a team capable of serving resident needs by bringing on board individuals with a variety of backgrounds, experience and education. Among our new hires is a former Township Assessor and Board of Review analyst, a certified residential appraiser, two law school graduates, a former County Commissioner, three MBA’s with strong business backgrounds and a CPA. We also have several individuals with strong technology backgrounds. Among our group, we have individuals who are fluent in Spanish, French, German, Greek, Polish, Hindi, Punjabi and Arabic to support the diverse needs of our taxpayer population.

Ill. State Sen. Rickey Hendon Suddenly Resigns

February 24, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a surprise move State Senator Rickey R. Hendon of Chicago has announced that he is resigning his 5th District seat at the state capitol. Hendon has held his seat since 1993.

Hendon denies claims that he is resigning over any “federal problems,” but it is interesting that he should resign after information on people tied to him was demanded by a grad jury only last December.

The federal grand jury is investigating misuse of Illinois state grants as part of “an official criminal investigation.”
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Congrats to John Garrido’s 45th Ward Leading Vote Tally

February 24, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Alderman Pat Levar of Chicago’s 45th Ward served six terms on the city council but announced last November that his health was bad enough that he didn’t want to run for his seat again and would retire. This announcement started a mad scramble for someone to fill his seat.

The powers that be decided that Marina Yolanda Faz-Huppert, a union operative, would be the anointed one to take Levar’s seat. But the elections proved that those “powers” are not as all powerful as they must have imagined because Faz-Huppert ended up getting the lowest vote count among the leaders of a crowded field.

The biggest vote getter was Chicago Police Lt. John Garrido with John Arena coming in second and these top two vote getters will head to a runoff election on April 5th.
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Rahm Emanuel Wins Chicago Mayoral Election

February 23, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Illinois, Liberals, Rahm Emanuel, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many of Chicago’s political punditry class imagined that Rahm would win election without a runoff, yes, but perhaps only just. Turns out they were wrong. Emaneul didn’t “just” win his 50% plus one vote, but received about 55% of the vote.

Emanuel’s closest opponent, Gery Chico, only got about 25% of the vote. Chico had hoped to hold Emanuel to less than 50% which would have caused a runoff election.

“Thank you Chicago for this humbling victory,” Emanuel said in his victory speech. “All I can say, you sure know how to make a guy feel at home.”

So, there we have it. Rahm Emanuel is the next mayor of Chicago. Long live the new king.
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Chicago Tea Party to the Rescue‏

February 22, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Children, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Taxes, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

From the Chicago Tea Party…

Thank you

Thank you to the hundreds of Tea Party Patriots from Chicago and across the state of Illinois who traveled to Madison on Saturday to defend the taxpayers and parents of Wisconsin. We organized car pools, drove our friends and neighbors and paid our own way to get to the rally. We weren’t bused in by Organizing for America, SEIU, or the Democrat National Committee. This is a critical battle in the fight between freedom and big government and it will be repeated in state after state across the country.

Here is what is at stake in Wisconsin: will we live in a country where we have individual liberty, economic opportunity and a government that lives within its means, or will we live in a country where public sector unions buy our elected officials with our own tax money and government spending bankrupts our children and grandchildren? We can’t afford to lose this one in WI, and we took a giant step forward this weekend.
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Chico Calls for Same-Day Permitting

February 19, 2011 | Filed Under Business, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Gery Chico, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Regulation, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From the Gery Chico for Chicago Mayor campaign…

Under Chico, slow pace and brick wall of bureaucracy would no longer stifle job growth

(CHICAGO) Mayoral candidate Gery Chico today pledged to make 24-48 hour permitting a reality in Chicago city government. Chico would inject a new sense of urgency and speed in the notoriously slow permitting process.

“Thanks to the new digital economy, commerce is moving faster than ever. It’s time to move government up to speed,” Gery Chico said. “We’ll break down the brick wall of bureaucracy and make the city permitting process move faster so we can bring more businesses to our city and create more jobs for our citizens.”
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Emanuel’s hard truths turn out to be cynical lies

February 18, 2011 | Filed Under Business, Chicago, Cook County, Economy/Finances, Elections, Gery Chico, Government, Illinois, Liberals, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From the Gery Chico for Chicago Mayor campaign…

(CHICAGO) In the wake of today’s Chicago Sun-Times report that once again proves Rahm Emanuel will say and do anything for power, Gery Chico denounced Emanuel’s cynical attempt to mislead voters about his pension position. While Emanuel has made his plans to slash existing pensions for city workers well known in editorial and business elite circles, this week he sent personal letters to city workers promising to protect their pension benefits, according to the Chicago Sun Times report.

“Rahm Emanuel is once again proving himself to be a pathological evader of the truth,” Gery Chico said. “When he needs donations and editorial support, he talks tough about slashing existing pensions but when talking directly with the city workers who depend on those pensions, he promises to protect their benefits. Either way, you can’t believe a thing this guy says.”

Emanuel’s desperate, dishonest letter to city workers comes just days before Feb. 22 as the Chico campaign is surging to the runoff. For more information, visit GeryChico.com.

Union Rhetoric Against Rahm Emanuel Heats Up

February 17, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Free Trade, Gery Chico, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

At a recent rally for Chicago Mayoral candidate Gery Chico, the head of the Operating Engineers Local 150, James Sweeney, said that Rahm Emanuel was a “Judas” to the union cause. Now Emanuel, himself Jewish, is attempting to make this common phrase into some sort of anti-Semitic attack on him.

During the rally, Sweeney attacked Emanuel’s long record of supporting the North American Free Trade Act (NATFA) that he helped Bill Clinton pass in the 1990s.

We don’t need to be told that there’s an economic problem, we live it every day. Rahm Emanuel doesn’t live it, he’s nothing but a Wall Street Judas… a bag of silver that he collected when he went and passed NAFTA. That’s exactly what he is.

For his part Emanuel is saying the whole thing is “blatantly antisemitic.” But come on. It is obvious that Sweeney had no intent to inject any anti-Semitism into his campaign rally when he said that Emanuel was a Judas to unions. Using the term Judas is a common term that properly fits any situation and isn’t just a Jewish reference.
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VIDEO: Speeches Given at Illinois GOP Reagan Dinner Gingrich, Bolton, Kirk, Rutherford

February 10, 2011 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Chicago, Congress, Conservatives, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Foreign Policy, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Illinois State Government, John Bolton, Liberals, Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, President, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Ronald Reagan, Senate, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last weekend I attended the Ronald Reagan 100th birthday dinner held by the Illinois Republican Party. I filmed all the speeches given and I am finally done making the video for these speeches. I did not get Ill. GOP Chairman Pat Brady’s address, but I did get the others.

In order of appearance, the dinner featured Senator Mark Kirk, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Congressman Mike Pence, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, and finally Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford.

I do not have Santorum’s comments here because he went on so long YouTube won’t accept my video upload because it is too long. If I remember, next week I will split his video in half and try again. Chicago talk show hosts Don Wade and Roma also appeared, but their bit was fluff and I did not bother recoding it.

The sound isn’t the best in the world, but it is at least intelligible.

Senator Mark Kirk At The Illinois Reagan Dinner

More of Rahm’s Union Troubles

February 9, 2011 | Filed Under AFL-CIO, Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Police, Public Employees Unions, Rahm Emanuel, SEIU, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the race for the Chicago Mayor’s office we have seen quite a lot of evidence that Chicago’s union bosses are not big Rahm Emanuelites. This week we got another hint in that direction as several more unions came out in support of Emanuel’s most serious opponent, Gery Chico.

The Chico campaign added a group of Chicago unions to its previous announcement of endorsements from the Chicago Firefighters and Police unions, a growing coalition that Chico says shows that he has “growing momentum with working families.”

Labor organizations that endorsed Chico today include the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 9, Sheet Metal Workers Local 73, Ironworkers Local 1, Laborers’ District Council of Chicago & Vicinity, Painters District Council #14 and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 11, together whose membership encompasses more than 60,000 hard working men and women in the Chicagoland area.

It is interesting to see the unions shy from the Emanuel campaign since Rahm is the presumed heir apparent to the Daley crown not to mention that Rahm has Barack Obama’s overt support. The air of a winner coupled with the favor of a Democrat president is usually more than enough to get unions to line up like good little lemmings. But this is clearly not the case with Rahm Emanuel.
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Former Chicago Bears support Chico for Mayor and Super Bowl plan McMichael: Chico is one tough guy (And introducing Chico iPhone App)

February 7, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Gery Chico, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

From the Gery Chico for Chicago Mayor campaign…

(CHICAGO) Campaigning today at Manny’s Deli on the near Southside, Gery Chico received the support of two former Chicago Bears, one of whom played a key role on the 1985 Super Bowl Championship team.

Steve McMichael and Bruce Herron- part of the Bears’ legendary defense for several years- both said they believe Gery Chico is the most qualified, honest candidate to lead Chicago in a new direction.

“If Gery Chico was an ’85 Bear, I would have wanted him by my side blitzing because he is one tough guy,” said Steve “Mongo” McMichael. “Just look at what he did for education in the 90s! He’d make a great mayor.”
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VIDEO: Short Interview With Illinois Senator Mark Kirk

February 7, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Egypt, GOP, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Mark Kirk, President, Republicans, Senate, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

On February 5, 2011, I attended the Illinois GOP Ronald Reagan 100th Birthday Diner and there I had the opportunity to have a quick few minutes with Illinois Senator Mark Kirk. I asked him about some of the issues of the day, chiefly the Egypt question.

I also spoke with a few other GOP notables that night. Unfortunately, I only got a scant few minutes with them all.

WGN’s Dean Richards: An Example of Chicago’s Rahm-Devoted Media

February 7, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Gery Chico, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Journalism, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Radio, Rahm Emanuel, Talk Radio, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

WGN AM 720 radio is one of the biggest radio stations in the country. It is traditionally one of Chicago’s most listened to radio stations and commonly tunes in as Chicago’s number one station. At least for the past few decades, WGN radio has also been the leading liberal station in the city. One thing WGN is not, however, is either edgy or independent of thought where it concerns Chicago’s ruling class. As a rule WGN is soldout all down the line to whomever is “the” Chicago guy.

This weekend Dean Richards, one of WGN’s weekend guys, employed the sort of “analysis” of Chicago’s mayoral election that tends to speak of what the station evidently feels must be the outcome of the election It was a not-so-subtle hint that Rahm Emanuel is the choice to take City Hall.

Richards took a segment of his weekend radio program to discuss the mayor’s race and the specific topic centered around candidate Gery Chico’s first major TV ad against Emanuel.
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Seen at the Illinois Reagan Dinner…

February 6, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Conservatives, Cook County, GOP, Government, Illinois, Illinois State Government, President, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

I just got home from the Illinois GOP Ronald Reagan 100th Birthday dinner and before I turn info the night I wanted to give a quick account of some of the folks I ran into this evening.

Seen tonight was 6th District Representative Peter Roskam, the Chief Deputy Whip. I also saw Adam Andrzejewski, chief of For The Good of Illinois and former Illinois Gubernatorial candidate, John Garrido candidate for 45th Ward Alderman, Dave Dierson of the famous GOPUSA daily email report, former candidate for Attny General Steve Kim, former 59th District candidate Dan Sugrue, activist John Bambeneck, John Tillman and the folks from the Illinois Policy Institute, Fran Eaton and the folks at the United Republican Fund as well as Illinois Review and many others (as I remember more, I’ll add them later).

A few old blogger friends were also in attendance…

From left to right: Paul Miller, Myself, John Ruberry of MarathonPundit, and Paul Mitchell of Thoughts of a Regular Guy

Adam Andrzejewski (center) and John Garrido and his lovely wife
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Illinois Celebrates Ronald Reagan’s 100th

February 5, 2011 | Filed Under Bobby Schilling, Chicago, Conservatives, Cook County, GOP, Government, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Joe Walsh, John Bolton, Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, Pat Brady, President, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Ronald Reagan, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am here tonight at the Illinois Republican Party celebration of Ronald Reagan’s 100 birthday. The event is being held at the Hilton on the Mag Mile, Michigan Avenue, downtown Chicago. Tonight we’ll be seeing a small retinue of stars in the GOP firmament. Senator Mark Kirk, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, Congressman Mike Pence (Indiana), former Penn. Senator Rick Santorum, former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, with closing remarks by Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford.

It is a packed house with over 600 diners enjoying the evening.
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Chico’s New TV Ad: ‘Voters, pay the Rahm Tax’

February 5, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Gery Chico, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, Rahm Emanuel, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From the Gery Chico for Chicago Mayor campaign…

(CHICAGO) Mayoral candidate Gery Chico began airing a new TV ad today warning Chicagoans about the Rahm Tax, Rahm Emanuel’s latest scheme to raise taxes on a whole new range of services that working families depend on every day.

Illinois Democrat’s Attempt to Register Homeschoolers Like Criminals

February 3, 2011 | Filed Under Chicago, Children, Constitution, Cook County, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Senate, Sex Offenders/Rape, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Treating homeschooled children like criminals that need to be tracked by the state, Democrat Illinois State Senator Ed Maloney of Chicago has introduced SB 136, a bill that requires all non-public school students to register with the State Board of Education.

The summary of the bill reads:

Amends the School Code. Requires the parents or legal guardians of children attending non-public schools, a defined term, or private or parochial schools to annually register their children with the State Board of Education, in conformance with procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education.

So, apparently this Democrat thinks that to be allowed to homeschool their own children Illinois parents have to register with the state, registering themselves like sex offenders, their every move tracked as if they are some threat to the state.
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