Illinois Review

Why Did Obama Endorse Rahm Emanuel And Not Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia?

By Howard Koplowitz - 

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia would appear to be the kind of candidate U.S. President Barack Obama would happily support for Chicago mayor. Garcia is a Mexican immigrant from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and is a Chicago community organizer, as Obama was. But Garcia is challenging incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff. Political observers say the president had no choice but to back Emanuel’s re-election bid.

“Anyone who knows anything about Obama’s earlier career in Chicago politics knows that were he not president, he would be supporting Chuy,” said Jeremy Mayer, an associate professor at the School of Policy, Government and International Affairs at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. “If you look at Obama’s record as a progressive, he was not part of the Rahm Emanuel wing of the Democratic Party. If you look at the kind of profile Obama had as a state legislator in the Chicago universe, he was far to the left of where Rahm Emanuel is. He was not someone who is tight with big money the way Rahm Emanuel and Wall Street got along.”

But Obama was bound by allegiance to back Emanuel for a second term: “A president who doesn’t do whatever he can, who doesn’t help whoever’s loyal to him is breaking a rule in American politics,” Mayer said.

More at IBT | Image Source

State Rep. Sosnowski: Public Notices and Common Sense Savings

By State Rep. Joe Sosnowski - 

As the Illinois Legislature searches for ways to provide taxpayers relief, everything must be on the table. That is why I have introduced House Bill 261, which will remove the state unfunded mandate requiring local units of government to publish public notices in newspapers. HB261 will save local units of government and taxpayers’ money by allowing public notices to be placed on government websites instead of in newspapers.

I believe this is a common sense reform that increases government transparency. Local governments can easily spend tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on these publications. The internet is a more cost effective approach and allows everyone increased and continual access to information.

This is the 21st century after all. The least we can do is bring our requirements up to the 20th century.

Congressman Davis staffer picked to replace state Rep. Rich Brauer

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Tim Butler, a staffer for a U.S. Congressman Rodney Davis, has been chosen to replace a state Rep. Rich Brauer who accepted a job from Gov. Rauner as assistant secretary at the Illinois Department of Transportation.

A committee made up of central Illinois Republican selected Butler Saturday in Springfield from a list of 13 applicants. A news release Saturday called Butler a "strong, compassionate voice" for the state. He will be sworn in this week.

Another Rauner Link to Ohio Dark Money Network

WASHINGTON DC - Russ Choma of OpenSecrets.org reports that the mysterious Ohio nonprofit that attacked the GOP primary opponents of Bruce Rauner has been linked to a network of political operatives with close ties to Rauner’s general election campaign.

The Ohio group in question is the Mid America Fund. Formed in January 2014 as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, it began attacking every Republican candidate for Illinois governor — except Rauner — within days of its formation. The attacks raised eyebrows because of their similarity to the Ohio-based Jobs & Progress Fund, which attacked Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock — another potential Rauner rival — a year earlier. As OpenSecrets reported, the nonprofit had very close ties to one of Rauner’s top campaign operatives.

When Mid America got involved in the 2014 Rhode Island gubernatorial race, state law forced it to disclose its funding sources. It was then that Mid America Fund reported it had received $735,000 from Government Integrity Fund, another Ohio-based politically-active nonprofit that shares a board of directors with the Jobs & Progress Fund.

The disclosures created a link to a set of organizations with ties to Nick Ayers, one of Rauner’s top campaign consultants.

As reported by Illinois Review, one of Ayers' companies, Target Enterprises, worked for the Rauner campaign. It also worked for Ayers' cousin David Perdue, another wealthy businessman who ran and won the Georgia governorship last year. The Perdue race was helped by attacks on his primary opponent Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), which were funded by the same Jobs & Progress Fund that played a role in the Illinois GOP primary.

The attacks on Kingston were made by a super PAC called Citizens for a Working America, an Ayers client. It received its funding from Jobs & Progress and the Government Integrity Fund, which, it turns out, Ayers has also worked for.

Some examples of the close ties Ayers has with these Ohio groups can be found in Choma's story HERE.

Choma concludes: "There’s strong circumstantial evidence that it is more than a coincidence that these particular outside groups targeted opponents or potential opponents of Rauner — Ayers worked for Rauner and he also worked for groups that appear to either be funding or closely connected to both Jobs & Progress Fund and Mid America Fund."

OpenSecrets Story HERE

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Jerry Costello ranked 2014's top ex-member donor

WASHINGTON DC - Politicians never fade away, they just keep making money off the system. Most lawmakers who retire (voluntarily or involuntarily) have money left in their campaign accounts and leadership PACs — money that can be used to "help" those who are still in the game, and thereby collect favors to be used later as they making more money as non-profit "advocates" or K Street lobbyists.

Jerry Costello, a Democrat who represented parts of southern Illinois for two decades, was 2014’s top ex-member donor. Costello still had over $1.1 million in his campaign account as of the end of 2014 despite giving out more than $160,000 over the course of the cycle.

The top 2014 cycle donors among former members of the 110th, 111th, and 112th Congresses include Democrats as well as Republicans, and veterans of both the House and Senate.

Source: OpenSecrets.org

More at OpenSecrets HERE

Unlikely Hero Does the Right Thing After Hundreds Pass Right On By

Would you help a homeless child on the streets, or would you just keep walking by – like hundreds of people in New York did?

In this heartrending video, a boy dresses up in a ripped t-shirt and jeans and poses as a homeless child on a busy New York City street for hours to see people’s reactions.

Scott Walker's response to a heckler brought crowd roaring to their feet

Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) received several standing ovations when he addressed the gathering of conservatives at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

But, the moment that seemed to get the most enthusiastic reaction from the overflowing crowd was when a heckling protester tried to interrupt Walker’s speech. Without missing a beat, Walker brushed the heckler off by going “off script,” and the crowd reacted with a thunderous ovation:

Americans Were Asked If They Think Obama Loves America. He May Not Love the Results.

A recent poll created by YouGov questioned the public’s opinion over President Obama’s level of patriotism, specifically asking “if Obama loves America.”

The data was categorized into three different political ideologies: Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Democrats and Republicans’ answers mostly toed their party’s line.

The most surprising insight, however, was the divided opinions of Independents:

YouGov included demographic information in the data polled, giving a deeper insight into the responses. According to Politico: "A plurality of Americans surveyed — 47 percent — said Obama loves America, but the rest of respondents said they don’t believe the president does or that they weren’t sure."

More HERE

Vince Vaughn Makes Plunge Into Icy Water of Lake Michigan

CHICAGO - Comedian Vince Vaughn took a graceful plunge into Chicago's Lake Michigan at a fundraiser for the Special Olympics on Sunday.

Mark Levin to Obama: We Are Not A ‘Nation of Immigrants’

WASHINGTON DC - In his fiery speech at CPAC, author and radio talk show host Mark Levin scorched President Obama, calling out the President’s unilateral action on amnesty.

Levin, a lawyer and constitutional expert, took Obama to task for his continuous rhetorical references to the United States as a nation of immigrants, which have been used to undermine his opponents who don’t support amnesty.

Full video below:

Murphysboro petitions state legislature to be named BBQ Capitol of Illinois

MURPHYSBORO, IL - State Representative Terri Bryant and Mayor Will Stephens of Murphysboro Illinois are petitioning the Illinois Legislature to declare Murphysboro the BBQ Capitol of Illinois. Acclaimed BBQ Pit Masters Mike Mills and Pat Burke reside in Murphysboro, and the town is the home of the annual Praise The Lard BBQ Cook Off that is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and the Memphis Barbecue Network. The Travel Channel named Murphysboro as one of 8 "BBQ Paradise" locations in the United States.

Pat Burke was inducted into the BBQ Hall of Fame in 2014. He has competed in over 255 BBQ contests and has taken home 185 grand championships, more than any living person. Murphysboro is the home of Cairo BBQ sauce, and formerly home to Brown's BBQ, Whitt's BBQ, and many others. In 1993 Former President Bill Clinton ate 17th Street BBQ while aboard Air Force one.

Suicide Attack Boat Hits Model U.S. Aircraft Carrier during Iranian Naval Drill

In this video, aired by the Iranian Tasnim News Agency, a suicide attack boat is seen hitting a replica of a U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz during a drill carried out on February 25 by the IRGC navy.

Fundamentals of Budget Process

In a Capitol Hill Campus event, David Primo, Associate Professor at the University of Rochester and senior scholar for the Mercatus Center, and Patrick Louis Knudsen, a former long-time policy director for the House Budget Committee, held a discussion on the congressional budget process.

Civil Servant Ministries Prayer Calendar

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Springfield-based Civil Servant Ministries (CSM) is praying through their 2015 prayer calendar.

CSM exists to engage the political arena with the hope of the gospel. The Illinois-based organization is focused upon state-level government and have been ministering in the State Capitol for 7 years. 

Di Leo: Illegal Immigration - Inflated Uproar Over A Single Issue?

By John F. Di Leo - 

With an illegal alien population of about 20 million or so, in a nation of over 300 million, one might ask, why on earth are we so focused on this single issue? After all, 20 million is less than ten percent of our population.

This nation is suffering. The real issues we need to address include joblessness, drug abuse, gang crime, a crippling national debt, an incredibly expensive but ever-worsening education system, rampant vote fraud, severe military threats from abroad… and many more. These are issues that affect everyone in our entire country, not just ten percent of us!

In this context, why on earth have we allowed the problem of what to do about illegal aliens, at most less than ten percent of our population, to dominate our political discourse?

Rhoads: K Street Nominates Jeb Bush

By Mark Rhoads -

In their typically clumsy manner, establishment Republicans are laboring to make the nomination of Jeb Bush seem "inevitable" in the media by following the playbook of Hillary Clinton in the other party. Or is it the same party? The one called the Republicrats or the Demoblicans? 

Is Rauner urging Wilson to support Emanuel, or is he not?

CHICAGO - Governor Bruce Rauner has asked former Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson to endorse Rahm Emanuel in the April 7th runoff, Sun-Times Michael Sneed reports Saturday. Wilson came in third in Tuesday's mayoral primary with 10 percent of the vote.

Sneed hears Gov. Bruce Rauner has called former mayoral candidate Willie Wilson twice to encourage him to endorse Mayor Rahm Emanuel in April’s runoff election.

Rauner and Wilson are expected to meet Saturday. Wilson supported Rauner in his gubernatorial campaign last year, and in turn Rauner appointed him to his transition committee.

Republican Rauner and Democrat Emanuel have longtime personal ties, so it's not unbelievable that Rauner is pushing for Wilson to urge the black community to support Emanuel over runoff opponent - backed by the Chicago Teacher's Union and SEIU - Chuy Garcia.

But that's not the case, Rauner told NBC News Friday.  He told NBC he's staying out of the race:

Emanuel and Rauner are friends and worked together during Emanuel's time as an investment banker.

But asked Friday about the mayoral runoff, the Republican governor told reporters: "I'm staying out of it."

Whom do we believe?

Where's Weyermuller? At a Speakeasy with Chicago Young Republicans

Left to right, Angel Garcia, IL GOP Chairman Tim Schneider, Scott Davis & Stefanie Linaires

By Mark Weyermuller - 

Brando's Speakeasy was the site of the Chicago Young Republicans monthly business meeting on South Dearborn Street this week. This bar, in the Fisher Building, is known for karaoke, martinis, and mangia.

This week's theme was networking, politics and fun. The event was organized by CYR President Jeff Halm.

Stantis: Aaron Schock

Rep. Bost speaks on behalf or Rep. Davis' amendment to HR5.

Sharpton Interrupts Speech To Address O’Keefe at NAN Rally

Following the negative comments directed at the Reverend Al Sharpton by the family and representatives of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, James O’Keefe went to Al Sharpton’s weekly National Action Network to question the Reverend. Before being “compelled” to leave the rally by several very large men standing over him, the good Reverend directly addressed O’Keefe and another Project Veritas journalist mid speech. A visibly flustered Sharpton said that O’Keefe was clowning and accused him (and the right wing in general) of distorting, exaggerating, and lying.

Old Democrat white guy repeats worn out talking points for Axelrod's IOP

CHICAGO - The University of Chicago's Institute of Politics found aging, former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley and asked him about political gridlock and his counsel to young people who feel frustrated by electoral politics. Bradley, who personifies today's Democrat party, repeated talking points that may have seemed fresh in 1978, but seem sadly detached and discredited today.

Schock repays for office redecorating

WASHINGTON DC - The Associated Press has learned that Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock has personally reimbursed the government $40,000 for renovations to his congressional office, which was modeled after the TV show "Downton Abbey."

Schock had told reporters that he intended to personally pay for the decorating, like he did for his previous office. Financial records obtained by the AP show that Schock paid $35,000 earlier this month to the owner of the decorating firm, Euro Trash. He paid $5,000 more on Thursday.

Schock has been under scrutiny for using an office expense account to pay for the redecorating, as well as taxpayer and campaign funds for flights on donor-owned planes and concert tickets.

The Washington Post was first to describe the office decorations. A left-wing watchdog group has requested a House ethics review of the congressman's spending.

State's outdated driver's licenses could keep Illinoisans from flying

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Illinois is working on a plan to bring state driver's licenses up to federal security standards before new air travel restrictions kick in next year.

Currently, Illinois licenses and identification cards do not meet minimum standards mandated by the Real ID Act, which passed in 2005 in the wake of 9/11. If the Department of Homeland Security does not grant Illinois an extension, residents would need additional identification like a passport or face additional security checks to get on planes.

The act aims to thwart efforts by terrorists, con artists and immigrants in the country illegally to obtain government-issued identification. Arguments about costs, privacy and whether the additional information would actually reduce threats have delayed implementation of the law for more than a decade. 

A major feature of Real ID is the verification of birth certificates, which Illinois currently does not require. The information is electronically scanned and stored in a federal database, and data can be shared easily among states and the federal government.

More from the Chicago Tribune | Image: Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune

Judge won't delay sentencing for ex-Illinois Rep. Farnham

CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge in Chicago is refusing to delay sentencing for ex-Illinois Rep. Keith Farnham on a child pornography conviction despite an illness that soon could take his life.

Judge Edmond Chang says in an order filed Friday that the Democrat seems "physically capable" of attending the hearing. He adds there are "victim interests at stake" in sticking to the March 19 sentencing date.

Farnham's been under house arrest. He pleaded guilty to transporting child pornography and faces a maximum 20-year prison term.

Defense lawyers asked for the delay, citing Farnham's pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that damages lung tissue. They say he likely has less than six months to live.

Prosecutors opposed a delay. They said one victim who "made allegations against defendant personally" intended to speak at Farnham's sentencing.

Stantis: Rahm's humble pie

Poll finds Emanuel near 50%; undecided voters breaking toward Rahm

CHICAGO - Chicago Retail Merchants Association (CRMA) has released findings from a poll indicating Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is at or over the 50% required to win the Chicago mayoral election were the election to be held today.

The poll results find Emanuel at 48.65%, Garcia at 37.72% with undecided voters at 13.63%. However, when undecided voters were asked to make a decision, nearly 21% chose Emanuel while 15% chose Garcia. The mayor holds a commanding lead among likely female voters but his lead is narrow among males. In addition, when asked who would be better at creating jobs, Emanuel holds his lead with women and his support among men jumps substantially. Likewise, the mayor has a healthy lead among likely African-American and Caucasian voters. Garcia, however, holds a large lead among Hispanics while the candidates are split among Asian voters. The poll was conducted by We Ask America on Wednesday, February 25th, collecting responses from 1,138 likely voters with a margin of error of ±2.91%.

"While there are six weeks before Election Day, it would appear that Mayor Emanuel is in a strong position with likely Chicago voters," said Rob Karr, President, Chicago Retail Merchants Association. "When voters are asked about their perception of which candidate would be better at creating new jobs in Chicago, the numbers mirror each candidate's overall support, indicating this is a major factor in voters' opinions."

Starkehaus: Thursday at CPAC 2015

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

A number of dynamic would-be presidential nominees spoke Thursday at the CPAC convention in Maryland. Given the audience, all potential candidates stayed right of center in their messaging as they courted the voters attending the nation's largest annual conservative convention.

The day's list of prominent speakers began with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The style of Christie's discussion was pretty unusual to say the least. He shared the stage with talk show host Laura Ingraham. They then went through what appeared to be an overly rehearsed interview session with the potential presidential candidate answering questions posed by Ingraham. Rather than engaging the audience, the contrived setup came off as something akin to an infomercial. The leitmotif seemed less likely to improve Christie's gravitas with conservative voters and more likely to hurt Laura Ingraham's, I'm sorry to say.

Christie did unabashedly pronounce himself a prolife candidate and offered as an example his success in eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood from the NJ budget. He stated that he is experiencing what he termed "implementation regrets" over the Common Core.

CEO of Illinois-based John Deere Challenged for prohibiting employee civic/political engagement

MOLINE, IL - At Wednesday's annual meeting of John Deere shareholders in Moline, Illinois, the National Center for Public Policy Research criticized the industrial giant for refusing to protect its employees from potential termination if they engaged in civic and political activities on their own time with their own resources.

In response, the company's CEO Samuel Allen pledged to reconsider Deere's policies and positions on the matter.

The exchange follows a legal battle in which Deere petitioned the federal Securities and Exchange Committee for the right to remove a National Center shareholder proposal on a non-binding resolution advising management of its view of the wisdom of enacting employee conscience protections.

"As it stands, many John Deere employees face potential discipline for engaging in private political and civic activities," said National Center Free Enterprise Project Director Justin Danhof, Esq. "Deere's actions to-date, such as fighting us at the SEC, suggest that no policy change is imminent. But I am hopeful that now, with the attention of the CEO, the company's human resources and legal teams will reevaluate the issue and protect Deere's employees."

The genesis for the National Center's Employee Conscience Protection Project occurred in April 2014 when the CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich, was forced out of his job because he had donated to a 2008 California referendum that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Since last April, the National Center has approached dozens of major American corporations asking each to voluntarily add an employee conscience protection policy for its workers.

Andrew Klavan: Good News, Beheaded Christians

Andrew Klavan, takes a look at President Obama's belief that no religion is responsible for terrorism. Sure, everywhere you look now days savages screaming Allahu Akbar are raping, murdering, decapitating and burning innocents, but hey, Christians did something bad way back a long time ago too!