Unions Top the $1 Billion Club in California Political Spending

March 11, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, California, Campaign Finance, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Free Trade, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, Lobbyists, Media, Media Bias, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, SEIU, Senate, Socialism, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The California Teachers Association spent $211,849,298 on lobbying and political spending to get its way in California in 2009. Along with the CTA, the Calif. State Council of Service Employees and 13 other organizations spent a total of one billion dollars on political lobbying of the State House at Sacramento. All of these special interests have helped push California to the brink of insolvency.

But, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the two unions mentioned above far and away top the spending of the other top lobbying spenders in California. The next closest in spending was the Big Pharma clocking in at $104,912,997 on its political spending with various and sundry Indian casino groups whose spending was in the less than $85,000,000 range.

Commission Chairman Ross Johnson said in a press release, “This tsunami of special interest spending drowns out the voices of average voters and intimidates political opponents and elected officials alike.”
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Lies, Damned Lies, and Expert Testimony

March 11, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Computers, Democrats/Leftists, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, History, Inernet, John Armor, Liberals, Media, Media Bias, Net Neutrality, Taxes, Technology | No Comments

-By John Armor

Before we get rolling, a pet peeve. Entirely too many reporters are too lazy to check their quotes. Time and again, they will say in their lede that “some wag referred to lies, damned lies, and statistics.” No, no, no. That was not “some wag;” that was the greatest of all American humorists, Mark Twain.

Twain’s Autobiography attributes the quote to the quick-witted British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali. But Disraeli’s biographers can find no trace of it. Apparently, Twain attributed it to someone else who was conveniently dead, to fend off attacks for using that shameful word, “damned,”

I’ve modified the Twain quote to apply to recent hearings before the Federal Communications Commission. I’ve testified before a handful of federal hearings. I’ve attended dozens of such hearings. And I’ve never heard more lying, by more people, not even from sitting through an entire day of traffic court and hearing the infinite reasons why each particular motorist was not guilty.
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Truth in Accounting: Governor - You Can’t Balance Illinois’ Budget By Borrowing Money

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Pat Quinn, State Government, Taxes, Truth in Accounting, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

From Truth in Accounting…

Institute for Truth in Accounting Issues Guide to Honest Budgeting

March 11, 2010 — To help citizens determine if Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget is truly balanced the Institute for Truth in Accounting has published “Are We Unbalanced? - A Guide to Reviewing Governments’ Budgets”.
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Just One More Scam

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Chicago, Dan Scott, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Taxes, Vote Fraud | No Comments

-By Dan Scott

While reading an article on low tax Texas vs. high tax California, it reminded me of the quickly dropped issue of the US Census. Last year’s scandal revolved around President Obama making some of his White House flunkies overseers of the Census.  We all understood the implications of a highly partisan administration attempting to influence the outcome of the count.  That being some states will be winners and others losers when it comes to the House of Representatives, along with federal funding.  Given the predilections of this politician, padding the count is the Chicago way.

I would like to draw everyone’s attention back to something we have lost sight of regarding the Census.  The counting that is done is without respect to citizenship.  When the Founding Fathers wrote the provision of the Census into the Constitution, the intent was to count people who were current citizens or becoming citizens by virtue of choice, i.e. voting with their feet to live here.  In today’s environment, we have some 13 to 20 million people illegally residing within the borders of our country who for the most part are economic sojourners with little desire for the responsibilities that come with citizenship.  Furthermore, most of these people are here due to the incompetence of our government in securing the borders and to add insult to injury recently those (DHS) who enforce the laws have intentionally turned a blind eye to their presence.  In all cases, local political officials have misused their positions of power to attract as many of these people as possible by refusing to and in most cases obstructing the enforcement of the law.
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Quinn’s Wants 1% Income Tax Hike ‘For Education’

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Bill Brady, Budget, Chicago, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Government, Ill. County, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Pat Brady, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

In his budget speech, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is proposing a one percent hike in the state income tax in order to”restore our education budget to current levels.” A one percent increase is like a 33% increase if the tax goes from a flat tax of 3% to one of 4%.

In his speech (beginning on page 10) Quinn addresses the education budget. Sadly, Quinn’s proposal does nothing to address why the problem has arisen in the first place.

Quinn asks for no necessary cuts, he asks for no union concessions, he makes no effort to tighten our education belt in Illinois. Quinn should be slashing the unnecessarily lavish benefits that teachers unions force out of the state, hundreds of useless administrators should be fired and their positions eliminated. The whole education establishment needs to be assessed for it excess. Those imagining that the “fix” is just to pump more money into these failing schools are fooling themselves.

But Quinn is doing nothing but treading water with the state’s education establishment when he should be demanding a bottom to top review of the waste of public education in Illinois.
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How will Bean Vote for The American Death Panel?

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, House of Representatives, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Joe Walsh, Melissa Bean, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Tea Party, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

From the Palatine Tea Party…

(Palatine, Illinois) March 10, 2010 - We the People reject this government takeover of 1/6th of our United States economy to government run healthcare which Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are proposing. The government can not run anything successfully without running deficits. Saying the healthcare bill is deficit neutral is nonsense and the American people know it. Does Bean know the will of the people which live in her district and knows what is best for our families? If so, how was it measured and by whom?
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A Vote for Melissa Bean Will Cost You $3,900

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Illinois, Joe Walsh, Liberals, Melissa Bean, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

From the Walsh for Congress campaign…

(LAKE ZURICH, IL)– Rep. Melissa Bean’s stubborn refusal to reject the federal government takeover of our health care system will cost the average 8th district resident $3,900, so says a study on the proposed Obamacare legislation by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI). IPI Study
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Liebau on Unions: ‘The System is Unsustainable’

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, California, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Free Trade, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Jobs, Liberals, Media, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, State Government, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Carol Platt Liebau posted a piece on RealCleaPolitics.com that also clangs the warning bells over the unsustainable situation that the various states find themselves in between their public employees unions and the states’ fiscal obligations. She focuses on California, but nearly every state in the union is quickly approaching the mess California is in.

Liebau writes of the effort that the teachers union in California led to get kids as young as five-years-old out of school so that they could be bussed to the state capitol in Sacramento in order to protest school budget cuts. Me, I think she races by this outrage too quickly.
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150 Convicted County Officials in Obama’s Chicagoland Area

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Crime, Economy/Finances, Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Better Government Association (www.bettergov.org/), a beleaguered Chicago-based watchdog group that has its work cut out for it, recently released its “Hall of Shame” report that details the nearly 150 county officials that have gone to jail for corruption in Barack Obama’s home county of Cook. And that doesn’t even include the over 100 Chicago officials, a city also situated in Cook County, that has also gone to jail over the last few decades.

Because of the high amount of corruption and the large and ever growing roster of jailed county officials, in its press release, the BGA bitingly asks, “[I]s it any surprise this multi-billion dollar labyrinth of governmental entities is referred to disparagingly as ‘Crook County?’”

The scams took place over the past four decades in the courts; the offices of the Assessor, Sheriff and Treasurer; and the President’s Office of Employment and Training. They involve bribes, payoffs, rip-offs, padded contracts, ghost payrollers and the wholesale subversion of the judicial system. The perpetrators include elected officials at the highest and lowest levels of city, county and state government; judges, lawyers and lobbyists.

Sadly, the BGA finds that the corruption in Cook County government is widespread and “not confined to a single unit of government.” This corruption was found in such departments as the Cook County Board President’s office, the employment offices, the highway department, the sheriff’s offices, the assessor and the treasurer’s offices as well as the Clerk of the Circuit Court. In fact, the BGA found that corruption is endemic throughout the government and no one ever seems to be held accountable.
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8th District, Joe Walsh to Bean: Learn from Lipinski and vote NO

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Campaign Finance, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Joe Walsh, Liberals, Melissa Bean, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

From the Walsh for congress campaign…

(LAKE ZURICH, IL)– Today, Republican Congressional nominee Joe Walsh called on his opponent, three-term incumbent Melissa Bean, to learn from her Illinois Democrat colleague Dan Lipinski and vote “NO” on Obamacare.

Illinois U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a Democrat who represents the 3rd district, has joined the ranks of other Congressional Democrats displaying the courage to vote with their conscience– not their party.
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How Quick the Message Fades

March 10, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Republicans, Senate, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Frank Salvato

It is stunning to find out that there are still some elected officials in Washington DC – especially on the Right side of the aisle – who don’t fully understand the message being sent by the American citizenry regarding their grotesque spending addiction. No, I’m not talking about earmarks or pork barrel spending, which in and of themselves should be egregious enough to warrant defeat in the next election. I am referring to how US Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) was thrown under the bus when he demanded that his fellow Senators actually allocate existing funds for a program they wanted to implement.

As reported by Fox News:

“Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning had been holding up action for days but conceded after pressure intensified with Monday’s cutoff of road funding and extended unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the jobless.

“Bunning wanted to force Democrats to find ways to finance the bill so that it wouldn’t add to the deficit, but his move sparked a political tempest that subjected Republicans to withering media coverage and cost the party politically. Bunning’s support among Republicans was dwindling, while Democrats used to being on the defensive over healthcare and the deficit seemed to relish the battle.”

In other words, Bunning was trying to do what the American people are demanding – that government be fiscally responsible; that government stop adding to the deficit; that Congress stop spending borrowed money – and the Congressional Republicans threw him under the bus, frightened of how supporting his effort would “appear.”

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Dear America, Admit That You’re Stupid! Love, Nancy

March 9, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Communism, Congress, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, GOP, Government, Corruption, Health, House of Representatives, Liberals, Nancy Pelosi, President, Senate, Socialism, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The founding fathers debated bills for weeks. They then wrote them, referred them to committee’s of style and prose, brought them back to the floor, debated them again, wrote newspaper articles about them, went home to their districts to discuss them, and finally passed them — or not — after much deliberation.

Today’s Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wants us to just pass a bill so that later we can “find out what is in it.”

Here’s what the zombie from San Francisco said about Obamacare today:

“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention–it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

Why can’t we know what’s in the bill before you pass it, Nancy? Or are you afraid that once people find out the horrors contained in this abortion of a bill they might not want it passed? In fact by nearly every accounting the American people don’t want this communist take over of one-sixth of the economy to proceed.

Of course, communists and socialists don’t care what the people have to say about anything. They, after all, know best, right? That’s why Nancy and her coven in D.C. just want us to shut up and let them pass this witch’s brew.

So let this Congress lumber forward like the living dead to pass a bill that will materially alter the relationship that citizen has to government in these great United States. Let Nancy “Fright Night” Pelosi destroy the United States as we know it…

On second thought, let’s not. Call your Congressman and Senator today and tell them you do not want this destructive bill passed in your name.
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Roskam Calls for Incremental Health Reform Changes

March 9, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, GOP, Government, Corruption, Health, House of Representatives, Illinois, Peter Roskam, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

Rep. Roskam participated in a live interview with WGN News’ Mark Suppelsa and discussed President Obama’s health reform proposal. Roskam urged the President to start over and work on a bill that focuses incrementally on cost as a way to increase access to health insurance.

From WGN Chicago, Channel 9

Rep. Lipinski Dem. of Illinois Says He’s a ‘No’ On Obamacare

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Chicago, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Government, Corruption, Health, House of Representatives, Illinois, Liberals, President, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Congressman Daniel Lipinski has confirmed to John McCormack of the Weekly Standard that he is now a “no” vote on Obama’s healthcare debacle.

Lipinski is a pro-life Democrat that is associated with the block that Bart Stupak (D, Mich.) says will vote “no” over the fact that the Obamacare plan has public funding for abortion in it.

Add Congressman Dan Lipinski of Illinois to the coalition of pro-life Democrats standing firmly with Bart Stupak in the fight over taxpayer-funding of abortion in the health care bill. Asked if the congressman is “open to voting for a health care bill that lacks the Stupak amendment,” Lipinski’s spokesman Nathaniel Zimmer replied in an email to THE WEEKLY STANDARD: “No. Congressman Lipinski will not vote for a health care bill that provides federal funding for abortion.”

Lipinski represents the 3rd Congressional District which is situated in a south central part of Cook County.
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Dear Chicago Taxpayer, You Owe Us a Pension so Pay Up

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Chicago, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Jobs, Liberals, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, State Government, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Civic Federation is reporting that every Chicago resident is on the hook for 444 percent more in unfunded retirement pension benefits to city workers than they were a decade ago.

The watchdog Civic Federation said Monday that the funding deficit for the 10 largest Chicago-area public pension funds soared from $3.4 billion in 1998 to $18.5 billion in 2008, the last year for which figures are available.

This is the fault of both politicians for spending the money instead of investing it as well as unions for “negotiating” ever higher and undeserved benefits with each new contract.

But no matter who is at fault, I’d guess that all the perpetrators imagine that the federal government should bail them out when the inevitable collapse arrives.

That way neither the unions nor the profligate democrat politicians will ever have to pay any substantive price.

Only one problem: the US government doesn’t have the cash or credit, either.

I foresee the collapse of pensions all across the county and millions of people that thought they had retirement available for them will find out that it doesn’t exist. A major mess will soon come to town and no one can prevent its arrival.

Both rank and file Democrats and their unions and politicians deserve all the pain coming their way, too.
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The Coming Union Pension Plan Collapse

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Jobs, Liberals, Pensions, Public Employees Unions, Socialism, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

At the blog YidWithLid.blogspot.com Sammy Benoit has posted an interesting piece about the mess befalling so many failing union pension funds across the nation. The post includes a very useful chart that shows the trouble in which some of the largest union pension funds find themselves.

The upshot is that these pensions are on the verge of total collapse which will leave millions of retiring union members and those already retired bereft of the pensions that they had assumed would carry them into their golden years.

The list is extremely scary. This is a disaster for many people. But what is the solution? Naturally the unions are hoping that government is the solution. But the problem with a government bailout is that should a bailout happen the unions will not learn the important lesson that they should learn from the necessary collapse, necessary to reign in their excess. Sadly, many will be hurt by this reigning in of unions, but these same members should never have allowed their unions to get so out of hand in the first place!

So, courtesy of YidWithLid…
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Panic on Wall Street?

March 8, 2010 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, Capitalism, Communism, Democrats/Leftists, Dr. Don Boys, Economy/Finances, Free Trade, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Lobbyists, Socialism, Stimulus, Taxes | 1 Comment

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

One of the oldest French banks, Société Générale, tells clients how to prepare for potential global collapse within the next two years according to a headline in London’s Telegraph, Dec. 2, 2009! That was a “global” collapse! And some of my friends suggest that I am an extremist! Yes, I have said that panic (an out-of-control response to economic collapse) was coming to the U.S. and the world economy not because I am a prophet but because I can connect the dots. Moreover, I expect the panic to reach Main Street where chaos will reign.

For a few years, I have been warning that panic is coming to the market. When that happens, everyone will know because Main Street will feel it bad. When the stock market was over 10,000 and gold was under $300.00, I told a stockbroker friend that the market would fall to 5,000 and gold would go to $2000. Recently, I told him I was fearful that he might have jumped from his penthouse apartment because of market volatility and massive fluctuations. Not yet, but he’s sitting on the ledge! Most brokers say that now is a great buying opportunity, but if you keep dealing with a broker that’s what you will be–broke. Others say, “go with the flow,” but you will likely go down the drain!

I have been trying to get people to get out of the market (unless they have taken precautions) for almost ten years, but they heard talk of a 36,000 Dow (from people who benefited from such talk) and what do I know! Some friends and subscribers did cash out and have called or written to thank me. Others stayed in hoping to recoup their losses. I think every investor should take advantage of any temporary market surge to minimize their losses–cash out. After all, something is better than nothing. The panic hasn’t started yet! Wait until masses of people call their mutual fund and get a recording or a constant busy signal! If you can’t reach them, you can’t sell. When everyone runs for the exit at the same time, many people are trampled in the stampede. Don’t get caught.
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Gov’t Employees Now Make More Than Private Sector Workers

March 7, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Lobbyists, Media, President, Public Employees Unions, SEIU, Socialism, Taxes, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The news we have been warning you about is in. Government workers on average exceed the pay scale of those in private industry. The unsustainable situation is here. It is now clear that Bill Clinton was a bit premature when he said that the “era of big government is over.” Sadly he didn’t count on the era of big Obama to come.

One word explains why this upside down situation has come to fruition: unions.

USA Today is reporting that “the number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession.” The paper finds that workers at the high end of the salary scale are well represented in government. I’d say overly represented.
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Panic on Main Street?

March 6, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Democrats/Leftists, Dr. Don Boys, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Regulation, Taxes | No Comments

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

U.S debt is massive, now well over $12 trillion; that is $40,000 plus for every person in America! It is not unthinkable or unprecedented although unlikely that the government could default and repudiate all debts including Social Security obligations, Medicare coverage, and military pensions along with all foreign debts. If that happened, millions of over-fifty people would storm the White House and Congress producing anarchy and maybe a Second American Revolution. Emulating the Reign of Terror in France in the 1790s, they might bring back the guillotine for procrastinating, privileged, and prevaricating politicians. Remember that the bloody French Revolution was precipitated by a looming bankruptcy as the politicians spent far more than their income. “But that could never happen here,” says the naïve one. Of course not!

When Argentina defaulted on their financial obligations in the amount of $145 billion which they owed various banks, bondholders, and international entities, it caused ripples there and in the U.S. Major U.S. and European banks are using a lot of red ink in recent days in their bookkeeping departments!
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8th District Walsh: Dirty Rangel Money Should Go to Charity Not Bean for Congress

March 5, 2010 | Filed Under Budget, Campaign Finance, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, House of Representatives, Illinois, Joe Walsh, Liberals, Melissa Bean, Republicans, State Government, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

From the Walsh for Congress campaign…

(Lake Zurich, Illinois) - Apparently, ‘I already spent it’ is a good enough reason for keeping dirty money, at least for Rep. Melissa Bean.

Bean is refusing to give back or to charity the $28,000 she received from Rep. Charlie Rangel who is under investigation from the House Ethics Committee for accepting lavish vacations from special interest groups with business before the powerful House Ways and Means committee while serving as chairman. He is also being investigated for failing to report assets, including his interest in a Dominican Republican guest unit, according to the Daily Herald.
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