Chicago Republicans

Democrat Lt. Governor Candidate Scott Lee Cohen Resigns Amid Scandal

Statement by William J. Kelly, Executive Director of Rebuild Illinois

Scotty, we hardly knew ye!

Scott Lee Cohen, the Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor never even got elected to a full term and Second City’s already working on the musical. The Democrats were so eager to get rid of him, they did everything but hold a knife to his throat.

Aside from the reports of Cohen’s abuse of his ex-wife and the accusations that he held a knife to his ex-girlfriend’s throat (prostitute or not), I don’t know why Governor Pat Quinn is complaining. He has proven this year that he doesn’t really want reform. Having Cohen on the Democratic ticket could have had some positive upsides. If Quinn was really desperate for a bridge loan, he could have just had Scotty taken him down to the pawn shop on Clark Street. How much are Abe Lincoln artifacts going for these days? I mean, at Cohen’s pawn shop, you wouldn’t get market value but still. With Illinois on the brink of insolvency, these times call for creativity.

In terms of creativity though, Scott Lee Cohen also falls short. Cohen’s a betting man. He used two million of his pawn shop proceeds to buy the lieutenant governor’s seat and won the primary with no media scrutiny. However, in terms of pioneering pay-to-play politics, Blagojevich beat him to it. It is a good thing Rod Blagojevich didn’t know Scott Lee Cohen in 2008. Blago wouldn’t have sold Obama’s seat, he probably could have pawned it instead.

Illinois needs campaign finance reform now. We need to enact laws that prevent pay-to-play politics and spending caps across the board. We need full transparency and an end to all legal loop holes that circumvent campaign finance laws. In Illinois, state Republicans have proposed HB5008 to limit campaign contributions from legislative leaders and their caucus committees and political parties. Quinn’s reform bill only made House Speaker Michael Madigan and other elites even more powerful. This law puts no monetary limit on leaders and political parties during the general election. Governor Quinn, what kind of reform is that?

Unless Pat Quinn is ready to pass a real reform bill, he may want to keep Scott Lee Cohen’s pawn shop number handy for future reference.

Kudos to Dennis Miller's radio show, last week a fan called in suggesting a season of "Survivor" where Republican and Democrat camps take on each other.  I've embossed it a bit but think this makes a great metaphor for society and the direction our country is going.  Check him out at:  http://560wind.townhall.com/pages/dennismiller

Imagine this for a season of "Survivor" - liberals in one camp, conservatives in the other.  Both are left to fend for themselves in some remote area of the world where the bare essentials are difficult to find.

Can you picture the outcome?

The Conservative camp uses the forest to build log cabins.  The Liberals camp is afraid of disturbing Mother Nature so they sleep in the rain.

The Conservative camp digs a well for fresh water.   The Liberal camp tries to collect rain water but soon realizes they need to take large leaves from plants to do that and there may be some endangered insects living on the plants so they go thirsty.

The Conservative camp fashions spears and bows and arrows to hunt wild game.  The Liberal camp eats nuts and berries.  Before dying of lack of protein, ACORN airlifts in tofu, then bills the US government.

The Conservative camp manufactures soap from animal fat (from the hunt).  The Liberal camp neglects all hygiene to better become one with the land.

Right before the end of the show, Barack Obama parachutes in, takes 50% of what the Conservative camp accomplished and gives it to the Liberal Camp in the name of social justice and declares them the winner!

The title liberal is not well meant.  Let’s get that straight from the beginning.  By liberal I mean someone lacking personal convictions, willing to flap with whatever breeze best suits their needs at any given moment.  Let’s also be clear that I wish him no harm – I wish him, as improbable as it may be, a complete recovery; this isn’t personal.

In May 2008 Senator Kennedy announced that he suffered from a malignant brain tumor.  Since then his medical care has included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.  I can’t help but wonder whether, as a 77 year old man, presumably near death, he would receive such treatments under ObamaCare or if he’d be given a pain pill instead because of his limited, remaining Quality of Life Years.

For those of you who may not know, ObamaCare, in its current form, includes QOLYs (pronounced qua-lees) as a determining factor for who gets healthcare and who doesn’t.  Basically, an elderly person would be less likely to receive life improvement or even life saving care because of the expense relative to the amount of time left in their life to enjoy the benefits of said care.  A panel of government employees would make the decision about funding treatment, for a specific patient – this is one item in ObamaCare that has lead to the term Death Panels.  I digress.

Since last year Senator Kennedy has spent most of his time resting at his Hyannis Port estate.  Last week the Senator wrote letters to Massachusetts state leaders urging them to pass a law allowing for the governor, Deval Patrick (D), to appoint a replacement should he be unable to serve.  Current Massachusetts law requires a special election which may take five months to carry out.

The Senator claims this would allow for a speedy replacement so Massachusetts citizens wouldn’t have to wait for representation.  Illinois’ Senator replacement issues aside, most states employ the model Ted Kennedy requests.

All of that is fine and dandy until you realize that Massachusetts did use that method until 2004.  Five years ago the Senator urged state officials to change the law to allow for a special election, changing the mode of replacement to that from direct gubernatorial appointment.  “Why?” you ask.  If Senator John Kerry had won the 2004 Presidential election, then Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) would have selected the replacement.  He almost certainly would have appointed a Republican.

To his credit (major credit, if you ask me), Governor Romney signed the bill into law under the belief that a special election would be more fair.  However, now that there’s a Democrat in the governor’s office, general anti-Democratic party feelings are seen all over and polls show Dems lagging behind Republicans everywhere, Senator Kennedy wants it switched back.

What a sleaze-ball – I mean, honestly.  Here we see another example of a liberal using whatever rationale best suits them to get what they want.  First it was “fairness” now it’s “speedy replacement for representation” all based on what suits the Democratic party, politically, at that moment in time.

On a final note, how many of you think Senator Kennedy will soon head to Canada, France, Great Britain or Cuba for his health care since our system is so bad?  Yeah, I don’t think so either.

Congressman Raymond Eugene Green, better known as Gene Green, represents the 29th district of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He's done so since the district was created after the 1990 census.  He lives in one of the rare liberal enclaves of the Lone Star State.  It's so liberal that our party didn't even present a candidate to oppose him in 1998, 2002 or 2004.

To his great credit, Representative Green voted in favor of the Iraq War and has steadfastly voted against any measures to provide insurgents with a timetable for our withdrawal.  In other words, he opposes telling our enemies when we plan to pack up and leave.  That's a good thing.

To his shame, however, Representative Green voted against requiring voters to present a valid ID before voting.  Clearly, ACORN members must love him.  Even in Chicago, with one of the most corrupt political systems in history, I must show my drivers license before voting.  One must ask what sense it makes to not require that you prove you're on the registered voter list before you vote.  That is not, however, the point of this blog.

We've all heard about the tactics suggested by the White House to Dems for running healthcare town hall meetings:  select smaller venues, restrict access to one doorway, have a larger than normal police presence, employ a "raffle" to decide who asks questions, limit it to a certain number of questions, etc.  While probably not in the playbook, I give kudos to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, another Dem from Texas for handling the situation in a unique way - take calls on your cell phone!  That's right, during a time-limited healthcare town hall meeting Representative Lee twice stepped aside to take a phone call on her cell.  She did NOT extend the duration of the town hall meeting to make up for the lost time.

I digress.  Representative Green has found another, unique method for dealing with town hall meetings.  His office announced that all those attending must present a valid photo ID or they will not be allowed in.  On the surface, this seems fine - if you're in his district you should have access over those who don't.  However, how does this jive with the notion that those showing up to vote for him don't have to prove they live in his district before voting?  His office has yet to explain this discrepancy.  I wouldn't hold my breath for an answer.

It's just one more example of getting away with being unfair because you have a D after your name.

Sources:

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335056550700351&src=ADARTCL

www.newsbusters.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Green

This article is in many ways like several of my previous articles concerning a government that cannot govern or city managers that cannot manage.  The latest outrage in a City and State full of outrages is the construction of the Centennial Pavilion in Millennium Park.  It was supposed to open on June 19 and stand for four months.  It just opened on Tuesday, but with a drastically changed design.  The city paid for one design, couldn’t manage to get that design done, changed it several times and then settled for whatever could be done 6 week past due. 

 

Actually, the real questions should not revolve around the time and difficulties in opening. Voters should be asking their elected officials and the appointed overseers why we have wasted city money that could have gone to school or infrastructure, or even the troubled Olympics instead of some giant art thing that is not going to be on display.  The idea that we continue to re-elect the same people to run the city is obscene.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.  Why is the city even concerned that there is corruption, clout at the universities or mismanaged public works when the voters keep supporting the same people. 

 

The construction of this monstrosity of art is in tribute to Daniel Burnham of Burnham Harbor fame.  He is actually the man who created the World’s Columbian Exposition; better known as the Chicago World’s Fair.  It is rather unfair to the memory of a man who created great buildings and a World’s Fair for his monuments to be so far behind schedule that they will not be on display.  He was not a man who asked for the World’s Fair to be postponed; he completed his charge on time.  Unfortunately, that belief on following through with the commission does not exist in modern Chicago.  Burnham is supposed to have said, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood...Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.”  We should write an addendum to that; finish your work on time.  The city of big shoulders relies on past glories to overshadow the current problems.  While accomplishments of the past are important to remember, the current city should draw inspiration from the past glories, not relegate them to a museum.  In this case an important lesson can be learned.  The lesson is that the Chicago of the past and Burnham followed through on time and that should be a new mantra. 

 

Late is all the rage at Millennium Park.  The Park itself opened 4 years after the Millennium.  

Every now and then I refer to urbandictionary.com to define some word or phrase that has entered our lexicon because, as a 42 year old, I have no idea what it means.  Similar to Wikipedia, this site allows users to add and edit content.  It is, more or less, self regulating.  It allows visitors to vote on a definition with thumbs up or down to indicate whether or not the masses agree with the noted meaning.  Last week I used this resource again and found their word-of-the-day to be Pullin a Palin.

Per this site, it means, "Try to get as much media coverage as you can as a Public Official...Then critisize those who factually check out your conduct, deeds and lack of intellectual capacity and hypocricy."  By the way, the misspellings of ‘criticize' and ‘hypocrisy' are not he fault of this blog's author.

This was followed by the word Palin which may mean, "An applicant lacking even basic job skills" or "adjective used to describe a person underqualified for a given task. Also used to denote an idiot, or small-town redneck."

Liberals, ever afraid of a true conservative at the ballot box, continue to attack at every corner.

I decided to check out if there were any negative posts about Obama and someone had posted Pullin an Obama.  It contained the following as a definition,

"Using your charisma to deceive others. AKA Player. Pullin an Obama - Telling people on one coast one thing and another coast something else. Telling people that you wont raise taxes on incomes, but then raising taxes on everything else so you still have to pay more. Telling everyone you are going to run things from the middle, but still putting in the most liberal and socialistic agenda ever. Saying you have no relations to people, but actually they are the ones that got you started. Making 4 million and only donating $4,000.00 to charity. Complaining about the previous president's spending and multiplying his debt by 4 in the first 100days of office. Forgetting that you are half white and focusing on the black side, because that is what will get you the power you hunger for. Saying you are a loyal and faithful American, but going overseas and telling them how sorry you are and awful America is."

I say, truer words never spoken!  Only a few people have voted on this definition, if everyone reading this blog visited www.urbandictionary.com and searched for Pullin an Obama and voted thumbs up, what a statement that would be!  Remember, thumbs up means you agree with the definition.  If the spirit moves you, look up Palin or Pullin a Palin and feel free to vote thumbs down.

That's a featured story headline from the July 8, 2009 edition of USA Today.  While only about $17 billion of Porkzilla, I mean, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known simply as, the Stimulus Bill, has actually been delivered to local governments, the vast majority has gone to areas that supported the President last November.  Keep in mind that the Stimulus Bill contained $787 billion in spending which means that five months after being signed into law just over 2% has actually been delivered.  Can someone explain to me, coherently, why we had to rush this through Congress?  I digress.

USA Today performed an analysis of the money delivered thus far.  Counties that supported Obama last year have reaped twice as much money per person from the administration's stimulus package as those that voted for his Republican rival.  The reports show 872 counties that supported Obama received about $69 per person, on average. The 2,234 that supported McCain received about $34.

However, we have no need to worry - "There's no politics at work when it comes to spending for the recovery," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says.  This boggles the mind and begs the question, "Just how dumb does Obama think we are?"

Perhaps we're not dumb, but, he knows that the state run media (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, etc.) will overlook this story.  Kudos to USA Today for digging to learn the truth about stimulus spending and for having the onions to print a story that casts aspersions on the President.

However, it didn't begin and won't end with the Stimulus Bill.  USA Today also looked into existing federal allocations and changes Obama made.  They found that, according to spending reports from the U.S. Census Burea, the counties that voted for Obama collected about 50% more government aid than those that supported McCain.

What's really at work here?  For anyone who grew up in Illinois, especially around Chicago, it's simple - payoffs.  Obama is rewarding those counties that supported him in hopes of getting their vote again and punishing into submission those that didn't.  Whenever the discussion among friends leads to the dirty style of Chicago politics I counter with, "Thank goodness no one from Chicago ever rose to national political prominence!  Oh, wait . . ."  I think I'll bring this article along for the next dialogue.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-08-redblue_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-07-07-stimulus_N.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009

I was Executive Director of the Cook GOP back in 2007 when, Tom Lyons,  long-time head of the Cook Democrats died after battling a long illness. Lyons had been Chairman of the Cook Democrats since 1990.

With the vacancy, several Democrats ran for the position. Joe Berrios announced early and claimed to have it locked up. Recently indicted Alderman Isaac Carothers made some phone calls to black committeemen and decided he could win it. And State Rep. Lou Lang decided to throw his ring in the hat.

There was the typical public political spin on each campaign and self-righteous promises on how each would make the party more open and transparent.

The meeting to elect the chairman was to be held at the Allegra Hotel. This was of interest to me because it was only two blocks from our office. I decided to go. I wasn't sure if they would let me in, but I figured since I was wearing a suit I would see if I could just walk right in.

On the walk over, I was figuring what I would say if someone pointed me out as a Republican in their midst or if their sargeant-at-arms would stop me from even entering.

It turns out, the meeting was open to the public and I was more than welcome. I sat in the first of three rows of chairs for spectators to observe with more than casual interest. I was new to politics and I wanted to see what made these political powerplayers tick. I felt like the room was going to fill with 50 political Warren Buffetts. Who were these political titans who have locked out Republicans in Chicago from all public office? And why do they all dress like Al Capone?

What I saw has provided personal motivation since. The room was filled with ass-kissing sycophants, kooks, overweight flunkees and blundering nitwits. I was stunned. I kept saying to myself, "We're losing to THESE guys? THESE guys? How is this possible?"

Upon reflection, I realized we were losing to a group of people only dedicated to themselves. They are as disinclined to believe in Democrat ideology as Republican. They overran both parties simply because they were willing to lie, cheat, and steal. They put their own shills in Republican committeeman spots, they used illegal patronage positions to destroy reform candidates, and had a history of persuading the dead to vote when necessary.

They do have 3-4 smart puppetmasters like Mike Madigan or John Daley, but their team is made up of unmotivated yes-men willing to cross ethical boundaries for a paycheck. The broken systems, such as failing schools, corruption and public violence, only perpetuate the self-serving creation of  dependent voters.

The vaunted Chicago Democrat machine monsters are delusionary phantasms; there are just lots of them. Joe Berrios eventually won in an uncontested race with Carothers and Lang singing his praises. It would be interesting to know what they got out of the backroom deal.

How is it no Republicans have ever met the most politically active Republican Committeeman?

13th Ward Republican Committeeman Robert P. Famiglietti not only won his Committeeman's race but has also ran for state representative in the last two 22nd district races. That is quite some work to win only 12% of the vote.

During the 2008 election cycle, Republican signature requirements were so low, more than half the wards required less than 20 signatures. The rule of thumb to survive a ballot challenge is to submit two and half to three times the number of required signatures. The 2008 election calendar is no longer available, but Famiglietti probably needed 11-13 signatures or 20-30 to be safe. He did not want to take any chances. He submitted over 550 signatures.

When a "Republican" candidate in Chicago files 50 times the required number of signatures, it stands out. Most Committeemen either gathered their own signatures or maybe had the assistance of one or two other people. Robert P. Famiglietti had over a dozen "volunteers" getting his signatures. He had so many volunteers, he did not even circulate any himself.

Speaker of the House Mike Madigan also happens to live in the 13th ward. Madigan also happens to be the state representative in the 22nd district. And as it turns out, the circulator's of Famiglietti's petitions also happen to be members of Madigan's 13th ward organization.

Famiglietti and his wife voted Democrat until he was on the ballot as a Republican. Also, the only Famiglietti political contribution was a $150 donation to Lisa Madigan from Famiglietti's wife.

Chicago Democratic ward bosses have long had a history of running "their people" in the Republican spots to ensure their victory and prevent any Republican activity in their ward. They hire and control both Democrat and Republican election judges and either suppress Republican activity or plant their own shill.

During the 2008 campaign, the Chicago Tribune had this to say:

Robert P. Famiglietti of Chicago is listed as the Republican candidate here, but it looks like he was put up by the Democrats. They pulled the same trick with Famiglietti in 2006. Madigan is endorsed-but we wish the Democrats would stop the ballot tricks.

Until recently, the Chicago Republican Party was in the complete control of Democrats and Democrat shills. In my first organizational meeting in 2004, I heard one GOP committeeman casually refer to Frankie Perez and Ray Casciano as "Joe Berrios' guys." Berrios is a Democrat commissioner at the board of review as well as chairman of the Chicago Democratic Party.

We all know what is going on. It is the responsibility of the Republican Party to defend their offices. Fine, we will accept that. But the offensive actions of the Democrats is an extremely poor choice. They control every elected office in the city. Republicans have nothing to lose.

So, shouldn't the Republicans run people in the Democrat primary?

The above picture explains why Republicans are considered as corrupt as Democrats in Illinois. Visual impact! Anyone with even a modest amount of common sense knows sex sells. Marketing has been abusing this knowledge for decades.

News outlets have also for decades been pushing an equally compelling narrative with violence and disaster. Editors are constantly quipping, "If it bleeds, it leads."  

The power of tens of thousand years of hard-wired instinctual response (survival and reproduction) is difficult to overcome, even for the most erudite elite. The above picture was specifically chosen because it is a blunt example of the power of visual impact. If you are honest with yourself, you have looked at the picture at least twice and will probably look at it again, at least once, before checking out the Drudge Report.

The Republican problem is the heartbreaking death of the six Willis children. In 1994, a piece of metal fell off a semi-trailor truck and pierced the gas tank of the Willis van. Upon impact, the Willis van exploded and all six children were burnt to death in a horrifying inferno. The driver of the van, Ricardo Guzman, had received his trucking license by bribing someone at the Illinois Secretary of State's office while George Ryan was SOS.

To say the visual impact of six small children burned to death is extremely powerful is an understatement. Six million is a statistic, but everyone can identify with six. And they were the children of an ordained minister. Visually, the Willis family represents everything good and innocent. The accident launched the US Attorney's investigation which resulted in George Ryan's conviction.

The public backlash because of the Willis accident was swift and complete, voters swept Republicans out of all statewide offices. It sent the Republican party free-falling into a bottomless pit from which we are yet to recover.

There is no penance that can expiate Republicans for the Willis accident, but the sad fact is Democrat corruption in Illinois is levels of magnitude worse. Aside from the Willis tragedy, Republican corruption would not make the Democrat corruption radar.

"The Chicago Democrat machine has systematically abused the public trust to a degree not seen before in modern America."          - Steve Boulton, Vice-Chairman Chicago GOP.

 If Ryan was inexcusable, Blagojevich was corruption on steroids. For every government dollar directed for Ryan's benefit, $10,000 were directed to Blagojevich.

Voters still do not understand the cost of corruption. The theft of public funds does not explode a gas tank, never-the-less, lives as still eventually destroyed. Is a slow, drawn out tortured death not the same as a quick one? There is no monetary equivalent for the visual impact of the Willis children on the public psyche. Illinois has been a twisted political experiment where Republicans have been rendered helpless and the Chicago Democrat hacks have overgrown all government institutions raising corruption to levels only seen in the third world.

How many Chicago Public School children will be incarcerated, killed, or deprived of a fruitful life because of Democrat corruption? If the ratio is 1 to 10,000, how many lives are slowly being destroyed by the Democrats.

Hopefully, 15 years is enough to let the pain of the Willis accident fade enough to re-elect Republicans. The real corrupt guys, the Democrats, need to be excised like a corruption tumor. The lives of Chicago's children are equally as important as the Willis children. Let's save them.