Crunch Time!

In the next day you will be facing the most important election in the 21st century to date.  The economy, our standard of living, our basic liberties - the future of our nation as we know it, will all be at stake.  Your failure to vote is more than a lost vote, it is a vote for the the end of sovereignty.

This election must hand the democrats and the Obama administration a massive blow, not simply a loss.  It will not be enough for Obama to lose a few seats, he must lose each and every contested seat, pure and simple!  Anything short of this will be seen as a victory for his agenda.  If you are not convinced that he has an evil agenda, consider this:

• He has spent the past six months traveling the country, telling citizens that Republicans and Tea Party candidates have been holding back his agenda.  His party has had control of congress, Republicans and Tea Party faithful have had only words, he has had the power.
• He has passed more punitive executive orders than any President before him in their first two years - 43 so far.
• He still has not produced a long birth certificate; university records, medical records, etc.  Recall when the medial demanded Dick Cheney provide medical records before he ran for VICE PRESIDENT?  What are you hiding Mr. President?  It's not rhetorical, I want to know what the hell the President, employed by me, is hiding from me!  I demand his medical records or like any employee not responding to random drug testing, he be terminated!
• Over the past six months, we have heard much less about Cap & Trade.  If it were a program which would truly benefit us all, why wouldn't it be a significant part of the campaign?  Rest assured, if the democrats win, you will hear about it again on November 3rd.  You will hear about it again anyway, but if Republicans win, there is a chance, it can be repealed in January.  But for now, the silence is deadening and this should tell you something.
• If democrats win, the "Bush" tax cuts for the "rich" will cost each of us thousands of dollars in new taxes after the first of the year when they expire.  Trust me, I am not rich.  My bill collectors and the three credit reporting agencies will back me up on this, but it will cost me and you up to $2,000 more each year.
• Obama said he would not raise taxes on the middle class - look at your expenses over the past two years - income taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes; everything has skyrocketed.  If expenses are increased to business, who do you think pays?  Here's a hint - the middle class - the consumer.  
• Job growth as come to a screeching halt and will not start up again until employers know what is going to happen with regards to taxes, health-care and other employer related expenses.

Do not believe the lies.  This man is as bad as bad can be.  He will not be content until each American is living in poverty, dependent on a government controlled only by themselves.  We are not a parliamentary form of government and we do not operate this way.  If you want to retain the representative form of government, you must take the 10, 20 or 60 minutes to get out to vote on November 2.  We must bring this crushing regime to an end and we must do it now before it gains more power.  We must do it now to stop the uncontrolled spending.  We must do it now to restart the job growth.

This might be our last opportunity to save our nation in a peaceful way.  Our freedoms as we know them, may be lost forever if the democrats win and spread their dependency cancer across the nation.  Once people become dependent, it is difficult to show them that freedom is the better way.  As we all know, freedom takes effort and sacrifice.

God Bless America!

The Circus Is In Town

Well, it's that time of year.  The circus is back in town.  No, I am not talking about the Ringling Bros. Circus, though it is also in town.  I am talking about the political circus.  This circus has only two rings.  The democrat and the other democrats. 

On one side we have Pat Quinn - he has been part of the Blago bunch, spending our state into bankruptcy.  Now he is on the television talking about how he is the only choice for Illinois because he cares about the people.  He is going to put a chicken in every pot, give health care to every sick person and a free home to every man, woman and child.  His opponent?  According to Quinn, he is the devil.  He promotes back alley abortions, satan worship and every sort of inhumanity.

On the other side, you have Alexi Giannoulias.  What can be said about this man?  To say anything objective takes a much bigger man than I.  He is on television talking about how Mark Kirk would be a bad choice for the state.  He talks about how Mark Kirk is all about taking care of the rich and depriving the poor.  He accuses Mark Kirk of patronizing his lobbyist cronies. 

Here we have four candidates - Patrick Quinn, Bill Brady, Alexi Giannoulias, Mark Kirk.  Two are running for a position to lead our state from the governors mansion and two to represent the state in Washington D.C.

Bill Brady is a career politician.  He is part of the same ole, same old.  He, in all likelihood will not be the best choice for governor in this state, not because he does not know what needs to be done, he does know.  He talks about it on his commercials.  Cut taxes and cut the heck out of spending.  Because he is an insider, he is not likely to do what needs to be done.  He is not the best choice, but he is the best choice from the two likely winners, particularly because I am not running.  There are two other positive characteristics about Bill Brady - He worked for Ronald Reagan (maybe he learned something) and he is not a Chicago politician!!!

One thing is certain about the governors race, Patrick Quinn is not the choice!  Our state is spiraling into insolvency, unemployment in this once, highly marketable state, is among the highest in the nation.  We boast over 10% unemployment - and this does not include the number of people that stopped looking for work.  Take the military out and we are probably looking at a true unemployment rate of about 19%.  In addition, businesses are fleeing the state in droves, looking for new places to open where taxes are less punitive.  You see, corporations are not against paying taxes, they just do not want to be punished for operating here.  During two years of operating a small business in Illinois under Blago, my corporate taxes tripled, my sales taxes increased by 1% and by profit went from a mere 1% (good for a restaurant in Illinois) to a loss of 24% the year I closed - all attributable to tax increases, minimum wage increases and other punitive fees imposed by the Blago administration. How will a state make money if small businesses cannot succeed to pay taxes?  This is economics 101.

Now, let's look at Alexi Giannoulias.  Let me first say that I am not a fan of Mark Kirk.  This is an election where I will have to hold my nose to vote.  Mark Kirk is the least conservative a conservative can be and still call himself conservative.  Having said this, Alexi deserves to serve in only one kind of federal building - it has bars.  This man is a hoodlum.  His gangster activities would make Al Capone look like a boy scout.  He gave loans to organized crime.  He spent college savings and left parents with nothing for the kids and watched his fraudulent family bank get taken over by the federal government.  His reply?  He was not actively working for the bank at the time.  Come on!  Who do you think you are kidding?  How about this for a question?  Why doesn't Mark Kirk or someone from the media ask Alexi why a punk like him is screwing with this office?  Afraid of being called negative?  Is it better that he keeps bilking people out of their life savings?  The guy is a punk.  He is a lying, cheating, thieving, gangster punk!  He has no business representing the state in D.C. and the last thing the other terrorist gangster punk in the White House needs is one of his buddies to go hangin with on a Friday night.  No good can come from that.

Be sure to get out and vote.  Keep the circus where it belongs - under the tent.

Connecting The Dots

What more do we need to hear about our illustrious President and his wacky adventures?  Since January 2009, what we have seen this person do is nothing short of incomprehensible.  Unfortunately, we may not have seen the worst of it since he is going to push the limits as far as he can before losing control of Congress in November.  We can only hope that there are enough people in Congress to keep him from going out of control. 

In any business training, instructors today use the term "connect the dots" to describe a decision flow or process.  When applying this idea to Obama's Presidency, we can go back to the campaign.  During the campaign, I said over and over again that the fact that this man was a Chicago born politician was reason enough not to vote for him.  He played on the naivety of the ignorant to "Chicago charm" his way into office.  After taking office, he used his corrupted mentality to victimize the American people.  As the days, weeks and months passed, he used his Chicago gang banger attitude to force his agenda on our citizens.  He used his arrogance to push his Marxist policies through without giving citizens or Congress an opporutnity to read the bills.  He has always claimed that he is not part of the Chicago machine, yet he is now sending his Chief of Staff back to Chicago to further his Soviet style take over. 

In other words, Daley...Barack Hussein Obama...Rahm Emanuel...Daley!  All you need to do is connect the dots and we go full circle.  In reality, Rahm Emanuel is probably one of the least respected men in politics.  He has become known for his arrogance, his crude behavior and his lack of tact.  For all intents and purposes, this is man should not have any chance of winning the mayoral race in Chicago.  None-the-less, he is running, fully confident that he can win this election.  Is there any doubt that the fix is in? 

It will be interesting to see how far this candidate can go and how far he will go to win this election.  The bottom line is that Chicago cannot afford to have him at the top no more than the country can.  If there is any justice, my predictions will be wrong and Rahm's decision to run will effectively run him out of Washington, out of Chicago and out of politics.  Then maybe, just maybe; Barack Hussein Obama will come to realize that he is not the King of the U.S., but only one of the subjects, subjected to being the failure that he has time and again, proven himself to be.

A Time For Prayer

Where is the outrage?  Where are the protesters?  Where is the media?  Where are the body bags?

Have you taken the time to notice the massive increase in casualties of our young men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq?  In June alone, the number of American soldiers that died in Afghanistan (100) almost tripled from the prior year.  Last years numbers had increased exponentially from anytime during the Bush Presidency.  So far in July, we have lost over 20 U.S. Soldiers, with 8 being killed overnight.  This comes one day after the news of Afghan soldiers turning on British coalition forces and killing 6 unsuspecting soldiers.

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that the Taliban is back; stronger, larger and more determined than ever to push back the Coalition through violence.  The question is, what has given them this rebirth?  Why can they feel this confident?  How can they persuade Afghan soldiers, previously loyal to the U.S, to switch sides?  Why do they no longer fear the mighty U.S.A?

The answer is simple, you can read many of my previous posts, or I can give you the two word answer - President Obama!  This man is the friend of the Taliban!  This man will bring down the U.S. by any means necessary!  This man is a man to be feared by any God worshiping, freedom loving, constitution loyalist, American!

The icing on the cake came with the news that we have released Gitmo prisoners to Iraq, including Tariq Aziz, Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister under Saddam Hussein.  The news is reporting that 55 former Hussein loyalists will be returned to Iraq, where all will almost certainly face death under the new regime.  Admittedly, this possibility does exist, after all, they did kill Saddam.  Yet, I am not completely sold.  We have seen the new Iraq government make overtures toward Iran for peace and we know what an alliance between Iran and Iraq could mean to the U.S.  By turning these military powerhouses over to Iraq, are we giving this new government a shot of expert military might, directly in the arm? 

These releases are accompanied by previous releases of war prisoners who went right back to the battle field to kill our soldiers.  We know this because some of the former prisoners were later killed in battle, but not before they killed some of our soldiers.  We know this, yet we continue to release prisoners just to repeat the same pattern.  Our soldiers are already handicapped by nature, fighting in one of the most difficult terrains.  The Soviets had already proven the difficulty of winning a war in the Afghan mountains, as they pulled out, many years later, in defeat and in bankruptcy.

The next several months will bring much change in the direction of the war.  If we proceed in our current pattern, we will send the souls of many more of our young men and women to be home with their father, leaving parents, siblings, spouses and children to mourn their loss.  Unfortunately, I do not see this President doing anything to change this pattern.  I do not see him working for the success of the U.S. military.  I do not see him working for the good of our nation; and I do not see his congress doing anything to stop him. 

For the sake of our U.S. armed forces, the families of our soldiers and for our nation; now is the time to pray.  Each morning or evening when you take time to speak to the father, take a moment to ask that he protect our soldiers; comfort surviving family and friends; remove the hate from the hearts of our enemies; and pray that he save our nation.  Join me in doing this every day.

Building A New Illinois, A How-To Lesson For The Governor

Governor Quinn announced yesterday that he would be making cuts to the budget in an effort to bring spending under control in our cash strapped state.  On the surface we might think, good move.  But wait just a minute!  To the skeptical conservative mind, this sounds too good to be true.  After further review, it is too good to be true.  As I will explain, what the governor did, was exactly what I predicted he would do in an earlier post.  If you don't believe me, go ahead, read through them.  Better yet, place some cash on it. I can use the extra money to help pay the taxes we will soon be hit with.  If you need a reminder, here you go:

The state is currently sitting on a $13 billion budget deficit.  This week, the governor announced cuts of $1.4 billion - about 10% of the deficit.  But where did the cuts come from?  Let's take a look.  The governor cut payments to state medicare for the elderly, adult daycare programs, programs for the disabled - both treatment and housing; prisons and law enforcement, public education, and on and on and on...  Notice a pattern?  These are all emotional programs.  These are all programs that will raise the ire of the public and create an uproar which will lead the state's residents to demand tax increases.  The people will insist that these programs are far too important to be cut, so rather than cutting the program, raise state taxes - and he will.

Just how STUPID are we?

Governor Quinn, here is my recipe for cutting the deficit.  You can present this to the General Assembly or the next governor can.  If he doesn't, I just might in 2012 when I run for Governor!  Readers - Let me know your opinion of this plan.

1. We are in a recession, this is no time to spend money needlessly.  Immediately stop all non-essential road construction projects, current and future.  Maintain roads using work release, non-violent prisoners.
2.  New highway connecting I-55 to I-57 can wait until better times.  Shelve this project until then.
3.  All non-essential state spending stops immediately.  All departments submit a budget with 25% cuts to governor, additional cuts for non-essential services are made, as needed, from here.  All corporate credit cards are eliminated and cancelled.
4.  Purchasing manager/director is hired and all purchasing programs and vendor agreements are reviewed and re-negotiated.  No agreements are signed without approval of a well-qualified committee with final approval made by the governor or a designate of the governor.
5.  Any person making unauthorized purchases will be held accountable.
6.  Everyone with a state issued vehicle with personal use privileges is reviewed for validity.  Those without a justifiable reason for this privilege will return the vehicle or lose personal use privileges.
7.  All state employees with salaries above $60k will take an immediate reduction in salary, ranging from 5% to, 25% for the governor of the state.  Elected officials claim to be running to serve the people, not to get rich.  Let them prove it.
8.  State pensions will be eliminated in lieu of private retirement plan (401k).
9.  State employee benefits will be managed by private benefit service and will include employee contribution.
10.  State unemployment and welfare will become digressive, requiring able bodied recipients to obtain some form of employment within 90 days in order to retain benefits.  The state will subsidize employers up to a "liveable wage" for a period of one year and subsidize child care payments to allow single parents to work.  Exceptions would be made on a case by case basis.
11.  The Governor will begin paying rent for staying in the mansion.  If he or she was not the governor, he would be paying rent or a mortgage anyway, right?  Why free room and board now?  I agree it can be reduced, no more than he was paying in his previous career, but it is more about symbolism than cash.  We are in a recession and there should be no free rides for state employees.
12.  Related to 11, the governor should pay for his own food and prepare his meals at home - or pay to eat out.  Why should the taxpayers pay for a staff to cook for the governor?  I think the past two adminstrations have proven that a person governs no better if his hot dogs are cooked by a chef then if the governor himself, pops them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
13.  Eliminate the governors limousine.  The state has hundreds of surplus vehicles at auction at any given time.  Take one out of the auction, paint it black and use it for the governor.
14.  Body guards?  Why are we paying extra staff to protect the governor?  Throughout the year, the state police have hundreds of troopers on desk duty or light duty from workers comp injuries.  Let these troopers drive the governor around.  Put the able bodied troopers on the street where they can do some good.
15.  How often do you notice state police cars changing?  Yet, in several states, troopers are still driving in cars that are much older.  Why can those states keep their cars on the street, but in Illinois, our state police must always have new cars?  I would ask my purchasing manager to research how much we would save by keeping the cars on the street one more year, two more years and three more years.  At what point would we have diminishing returns?
16.  On expressways of the state, people will drive 75 whether the speed limit is 45 or 65.  I would make the state speed limit 75 outside of metro areas at night, 65 during the day.  I would reduce the size of the metro area and I would push the state police to crackdown on drunk and reckless driving and reduce the emphasis on speeding.  Let the motorists do more of the work by reporting the offenders using *999 and reduce the number of troopers on the street.
17.  I will put the city of Chicago on a diet.  The city would be forced to control their spending and crackdown on their crime.  If they cannot take control of the problems they have, the state will deploy the Illinois Guard and bill the city for the service.  Corruption must be stopped throughout the state and this includes the city of Chicago.  If the Mayor will not do it, the Governor will.
18.  I will eliminate the percentage tax rate on fuel and change to a fixed amount.  The percentage rate gives the impression that the state "wants" higher fuel prices because the higher the fuel price, the more money the state earns.
19.  I will introduce massive tax incentives for small businesses (>$250k).  If a business owner cannot turn a profit, they should not have to pay taxes.  Under the current system, the state and federal government take their money off the top, even if it leaves business owners homeless.  The state has no control over federal tax regulation, but they can control the damage that the state will do to a struggling business.
20.  I will outlaw all "roadside safety checks".  This type of Stalinist rule has no place in a free society.  I do not approve of drunk driving or breaking laws of any kind, but the constitution protects citizens against any form of illegal search and seizure.  Roadside safety checks and communist checkpoints are synonymous and must not be condoned in the United States and nobody can provide any justification for such a precedent.

This gives you just a sample of the direction I am going and I believe the state of Illinois must go in order to survive.  There is nothing mentioned here about taking food away from babies or medicine from the elderly.  There is also nothing here about raising your taxes.  What I have detailed here are common sense expense reductions that will save the state billions.  It will end the corruption, the wild office parties and the attitude of "they owe us" in Springfield.  It has built in checks and balances to ensure that when the Chicago politicians and the union heavies come to Springfield with the do-it-or-else mentality, they will be told to hit the road and shown the door, with a boot if necessary. Until someone is tough enough to get in their face, the problems will never get fixed.  Again, if Mr. Quinn is not "man" enough to do it, the next governor better be.  If he or she isn't.  I can assure you, I am!

Where'd The Oil Go?

I have been very busy lately and have not had much time to keep up with the news so I need a little help.  Last time I tuned in, our President was going to kick some ass, our lawmakers were making asses of themselves in public as they lambasted the former CEO of BP (were these the asses the President was referring to?), yet nobody but some BP engineers were doing a damned thing to stop the oil leak.

About that same time, the President joined his lawmaking buddies by making an ass out of himself by giving an inane speech during prime-time, talking about how we need to get over our energy dependency - talk about too little, too late.  Even then, I believe the oil was still pumping.  But wait!  We told 13 countries we did not need their equipment nor their help, so the oil must have stopped, right?  No, the media began, dare I say, criticizing the man they made President of the free world; for not doing enough.  But lately it seems, the criticism has stopped, so the oil must have stopped as well, right?  After all, I hear that Obama is playing golf and enjoying the luxuries afforded him as a peacetime President during great economic times.

Again, I have been busy lately, so clearly, the war is over, our sons and daughters are home and the threat of terrorism is no more!  Though I cannot afford to keep scraps on my table, I assume the rest of the country is living large on the best economy in our lifetime...and of course, the oil has stopped pumping, birds and fish are celebrating and the environmentalists are back to talking to trees in the forest, which they get to by twitching their nose, because we know they do not drive to them; and heaven forbid they should abuse a defenseless horse by riding on it's back.

Back to reality...Mr. President, you can BS some relatively intellectual people with your rhetoric and your sharp tongue and you can impress all of mindless followers with your platitudes.  I will even forgive many of them because they do not understand "Chicago Politics", which is all I needed to know about you to know you were rotten to the bone.

But Mr. Obama, let me make a suggestion that will prove to be valuable and may even help you win re-election (don't worry, if he ever listened to anyone he would have remained a Senator - out of sight, out of mind):  Start listening to the American people and start listening now.  Start acting in their best interest, not yours or that of your cronies.  Do not underestimate the American people and their ability to stand in unity against those that would take away their most precious asset, their freedom!  When people mess with Americans, there are no red states and blue states, there is just one state, and it is red, white and blue!  When this happens, the only thing you will be leading will be the train of democrats out of Washington D.C., in a landslide that will make Ronald Reagan's victory against Jimmy Carter look close by comparison.  However, knowing how you are, if I were you, I would not be signing any contracts for cable if they last longer than two years...and you might want to polish up your resume, though I suspect jobs will be a little tougher to find when you leave office.  One last thing, stop blaming Bush for your incompetence, the state of our union can be blamed on one thing - Obamanomics!  It's good to know that the oil stopped pumping though.

Memorial Day

It has been quite some time since I have posted an update.  Not because there has been nothing to comment on, but because there simply has not been enough time. You see, my employer has taken on the attitude that they can demand anything they want from me, my peers and even my boss - even if it requires us to work 18 hour days, which we often do; because they know we are not going to quit.  Let's face it, they are right!  Welcome to O'Bama's America!

I have not talked to family or friends much at all over the past several months, and the few times I have had an opportunity to speak with someone, their story has been the same - "my boss is working me to death!", but they add, "at least I have a job".  But how can this be when we hear all the time about how the economy is improving?  I just heard this week that the economy is making a "remarkable" recovery.  If I had an extra couple dollars, I might send our President an updated Websters Dictionary, because the definition of remarkable in my copy does not seem to match what I am witnessing every day in my life.

Over the past 27 years in management, I have had the opportunity to advertise for help wanted.  Over the years, the response has ranged from poor to very good.  Among the responses, there were people who had not worked for a long time and there were people who were recently unemployed and there were people who were currently working, but looking for new opportunities.  Last week however, I ran an ad because I am fortunate enough to work in an industry that has not been hit as hard by the economy - at least not yet.  In three days, I received 500 resumes from a full range of backgrounds - recent college graduates to former CEO's.  Of the 500 resumes, I pulled 25 of the "best" to call for interviews.   I spent an entire day interviewing candidates and it was the most depressing day of my career.  I interviewed people who had not had an interview for 6 months, who broke down in tears just because they had an opportunity.  I interviewed people who had sold everything they owned at were at the end of their rope with no idea how they would feed their children if they did not get a job soon.  These same people offered to work for half of what the job was paying, just for an opportunity to have a job.

Is this what we have become?  Is this what O'Bama's America is going to be like?  Is this what the future in America is going to be like?  Will the future in America be about fewer people working endless hours until they drop dead doing the job of two or three people?  If so, what will happen to the millions of people that do not have a job?  Will the government support them?  If fewer people are working, how much will they be taxed for the government to raise enough money to feed all of those unemployed, impovershed people?  At what point will the workers determine the work is not worth the small amount of money the government will let them keep and join the side of the unemployed?

This Memorial Day should be more than ever, a day to honor and memorialize our fallen hero's.  These are the men and women who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom and liberty.  These are the hero's who sacrificed so that Americans would not have to live in O'Bama's America, but rather in America's America!  If there is any doubt that the President of this great nation is an enemy of the people; if there is any doubt that the President is an enemy of the nation; if there is any doubt that this President should be arrested and tried for treason and punished to the full extent of the Constitution, think about this...while every President before him has honored our nation, he has apologized to our enemies for it!  While every President (except Carter) has provided protection and ammunition to our armed forces, he has cut their budget during WARTIME!  While every President has spent Memorial Day weekend honoring our fallen and injured soldiers, he is spending it in Chicago, playing basket ball and having a BBQ.

Despite warning after warning, the ignoramuses in this nation put this devil in the top position of our nation.  Since he has been there, he has lied to, cheated and stolen from every freedom loving American.  He has destroyed the greatest economy in the world and ruined millions of lives.  He is working feverishly to remove every freedom we have held sacred for 234 years.  He is spending his every waking moment on his plan to set your pay and determine how much money is enough for every American, working or not. 

I recently heard a radio talk show host state that he knew O'Bama would be radical, but he never could have imagined that he could have been this radical.  This was someone who is portrayed as a radical conservative talk show host.  WAKE UP!  I have been saying this since early in his campaign.  I have and will continue to say, where radical is concerned, if you can imagine it, he will do it.  This man has no limits!  He is an enemy of the state, he is an ally to radical Islam and he is fighting their war from within our own White House!  Here is the simple fact.  It was said during the days following the September 11 attack that the way for the terrorists to bring down our nation would be by destroying our economy. In all his life, the late Ted Kennedy said only one thing right when he (mistakenly) called O'Bama, "Osama O'Bama". 

The Republicans are cowards and far too naive to do anything about this President.  The Tea Party is making strides, but not enough and not nearly fast enough.  The Whig Party is not getting the press they need.  It is time for all great Americans, regardless of party affiliation, to rise up and call attention to this travesty.  We will painted as crazy, but so were the revolutionaries.  The way for the enemy to defend themselves against the truth is to portray the opposition as unpatriotic or crazy.  Let the facts speak for themselves. 

This Memorial Day, while our President is kicking back over a beer and a brat, take a moment and say a prayer for the fallen hero's.  While you're at it, say a prayer for our nation and for our freedom and for the millions of people who have been victimized by the injustice of this President.  May God Save America!

Heil...Obama?

Last nights vote put an exclamation point on the list of objectives of the Obama administration.  The vote to take our freedoms out of our healthcare decisions underscores where this President is planning to take this country and WE ARE TOO DAMNED STUPID TO SEE IT!!!

Well America, you have given Obama and his 219 hoods the keys to your bank account.  You have given Obama and his 219 hoods the right to tax you into poverty so that your hard work will no longer allow you to be any more prosperous than the lazy entitlement driven, Springer watching, dope smoking, sponges of society that voted this anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-freedom, Marxist jackass into office in the first place.

Let me ask you, just how big does the brick have to be before it finally knocks some sense into you, America?  Don't let these people win.  What can you do?  Obviously phone calls and marches have not worked.  Now it's time to get the media and the opposition working for us.  Shout to the media until they listen and do not let them shut you down.  When they lie, call them liars.  Call upon the Republican leadership to stand up and speak out.  Not they way they have for the past year, but the way they should have for the past thirteen years.  Diplomacy is something you use on your friends. These people are not our friends.  These people aim to destroy our system of government and it is time to stop them in their tracks. 

If we do not save ourselves, nobody will.  We are the last beacon of freedom in the world.  We are all we have.

Republican Debate!!!

As a young, upstart party, the Illinois Whigs are not sponsoring a candidate for Governor in Illinois' election this year, but we will not stand on the sidelines and allow the state to fall into greater distress either.  It is the responsibility of every voter in this state to do the research and select the best candidate to manage our state government for the next four years.  This year's theme could be labeled, "Experienced Need Not Apply"!

This past week, the Republican candidates for Governor met in a debate to discuss their plans, should they be elected Governor of the state of Illinois.  Of the five candidates, they all fell into one of two groups - government insiders and outsiders.  As I listened to the responses to the moderators questions, it did not take long for me to discount the political insiders as simply, more of the same.  Below is my short summary of the candidates from this weeks debate:

Senator Bill Brady - Presented himself as a downstate businessman, but touted his affiliation with the Thompson/Edgar administrations; while both were better than what we have today, neither earned any bragging rights from a conservative standpoint.  Mr. Brady is a political insider and his responses where non-specific and patronizing.  He often spoke of cuts to Medicaid as his primary source of saving taxpayer dollars. Do not be fooled!!! 


This is a classic political game played by politicians.  They present cuts to emotionally charged programs, such as medicaid or subsidized lunch programs as a way to reduce government spending, knowing that neither the public nor it's representatives will ever allow such cuts.  This clears the way for the Governor to come back to the people with a justification to raise taxes.  Mr. Brady, you are no Ronald Reagan.  Count him out!

Senator Kirk Dillard - Same as Bill Brady on Medicaid cuts.  He is an insider from the collar counties and while he does not have dirt on his hands, it just may be that he can afford better soap.  My recommendation is we play it safe and keep him out of Springfield.

Robert Schillerstrom - Words came out of his mouth, but he really did not say anything.  Mr. Schillerstrom was a caricature of a politician.  Watching him speak was not unlike watching Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons) speak when he was running for Govenor.  His spoke in platitudes and rhetoric.  The only thing missing was a baby to kiss.  Mr. Schillerstrom, we know Government is broken, we know they are spending out of control and we know taxes are too high.  What we still do not know, is what you plan to do about it.  Next time, let's hear something specific.  One more thing, while I do not have specific data, my property taxes in DuPage County have doubled in the past 10 years.  Once again, an insider that should be on the outside.

Dan Proft - Until the debate, I really did not know much about Dan Proft, which is a check in his favor.  Clearly and intellectual, Mr. Proft understands the problems of our state and understands the impact of taxation on business.  He also understands the corruption in Cook County and he was the only candidate with the guts to state that he would challenge Cook County, head-on.  Mr. Proft offered an innovative approach to Medicaid spending cuts which includes a means test with co-pays based on income levels.  I was not comfortable with his plan for school choice however as it sounds very expensive, but based on everything else I heard, I would be interested in hearing more details about this program.  Mr. Proft is one of two whom I will consider in the upcoming primary.  Ironically, he is also one of the two political outsiders running this year.  The other is...

Adam Andrzejewski - Another outsider from downstate.  He knows how taxes effect business in Illinois.  He understands that while a 10 cent tax on business may not seem like much to most people, it could mean the difference between success and failure to a small business.  Mr. Andrzejewski has experience running a business and understands how to make difficult and unpopular decisions.  As a business owner, he knows that sometimes making a decision will mean becoming unpopular to those around you.  This is a good quality to have if you are going to take on our state government. While some of his answers where a little weak, I attribute it more to lack of preparation due to his political inexperience than to his lack of knowledge of business.  This is a positive for me. 

With both, Mr. Proft and Mr. Andrzejewski, they provided detailed answers to the moderators questions with details to back up their answers.  The three political insiders had no place but their experience as politicians, to look for answers.  As a result, their answers were disingenuous and political. 

The only candidate missing at the WTTW debate was Jim Ryan.  Anyone living in Illinois for the past 10 years understands Mr. Ryan's record.  He is a great person and probably the most honest of the three insiders.  However, Jim Edgar was an honest Governor as well, but his views were socially conservative and fiscally moderate to liberal - the opposite of how the Whig party believes.  Since he is cut from the same cloth, I believe Jim Ryan will be the same type of Governor.  If we truly want to fix the problems in this state, we must consider taking a serious look at the candidates that are running and make a decision based on the information we have available.  We must make the tough decision, join together and vote for the outsider.

As this is not a Repulican site, I will not endorse a specific candidate, but leave you to make your decisions based on your own research.  But before making a decision, please do your research!

Happy New Year, America!

After working a long week to total exhaustion, have you ever fallen into a deep, almost catatonic sleep, which ends with what seems to be a week long nightmare about a horrible event in your life?  It ends with you waking up with a euphoric feeling of relief enveloping you as you realize it was only a dream.  This is my prayer for 2010.

The year 2009 had been filled with some of the most amazing and unconscionable events we could have ever imagined, both in our state and in our nation.  I pray that whatever made our politicians behave as recklessly as they did last year, ended with the last second of 2009.

As much as we would like to forget, let's take a moment to remember a few of the events that made 2009 a year we are all glad to see come to an end...

1. We entered the year shelling out billions to keep financial institutions in business, enabling them to continue irresponsible lending to those that cannot afford to pay back their loans while tightening restrictions on small business - a recipe for economic failure.

2. We inaugurated a President from a state known for blatant corruption.  A President who is not discreet about his dislike for his country, Christians, the armed forces and freedom.  A President who brought with him to D.C., some of the most corrupt politicians Cook County has produced.

3.  We indicted a Governor who was caught red handed, trying to sell a senate seat vacate by the new President, ensuring the seat would be filled with another corrupt rubber stamp politician.

4.  We witnessed one of Chicago's largest conservative radio stations exploit the celebrity of this corrupt governor by placing him in his own talk show, which he still hosts today. This same station exploited an ex-cop and alleged wife killer until the court prohibited his further exploitation by the media.  One of the rare signs of common sense shown throughout the year.

5 .  Our federal government perverted and violated the literal intent of the constitution by purchasing a majority interest in GM, adding to their corporate holdings after taking over financial institutions. 

6.  The President who promised to keep taxes down for the poor and middle class, pushed one of the largest tax increases in our nation's history with Cap and Trade.  His argument for such a tax increase?  To force oil companies and foreign countries to reduce greenhouse gases by penalizing them.  Who pays the penalty?  You and me!  But through smoke and mirrors, he is able to tax us without calling it a tax. 

7.  The President had taken a major step toward the overthrow of our representative republic form of government, in which we live, by forcing healthcare reform down our throats.  Despite the fact that more than 80% of the nation are satisfied with their current healthcare plan and despite the fact that millions have spoken against a public health insurance plan, our congress or should we call them parliament; ended the year by passing a national healthcare bill.  A 2000 page bill that nobody had been allowed to read or review.  A plan that had to be passed in a special Christmas Eve vote that could not be delayed for a minute more.

8.  Our President, who had to pass a healthcare bill in the dark of a holiday night because it was so urgent, a bill which begins taxing Americans almost immediately, yet does not offer benefits for several years; could not interrupt his golf game in Hawaii, to react to a terrorist attempt in the sky on Christmas Day.  In fact, he waited a full three days to offer any public response, proving once again that his priorities are far more important than the safety of the 300 million people he swore to protect.

9.  We witnessed a terrorist attack on a military base in Fort Hood Texas where too many of our hero's died in the name of political correctness.  The terrorist had a record of questionable behavior, yet rather than risking offending him, we chose to put our hero's at risk and eventually, watch them die.  Our President reaction?  "Don't be too quick to judge".  This is the same President that called policemen stupid and racist, earlier this year before he had all of the facts in the case of a college professor breaking in to his home.  He apologized by bringing them to the White House for a beer.  Now that's class!

10.  The President was asked in August for additional troops to fight the war in Afghanistan.  He waited four months before making a decision to send troops.  In the meantime, we ended 2009 with the highest number of casualties since the war began.  As our understaffed military was being decimated in the deserts of Afghanistan, the President was improving his golf score, proving once again that he cares more about the enemy than he does the American soldier.

11.  The Governor of our fair state, though an improvement over his predeccesor, made the careless decision to let scores of prisoners out of jail early.  As of now, eight have been returned to jail on new crimes.  Good job Mr. Quinn.  The last time a governor released prisoners early, it was speculated that it would ensure his safety when he was prosecuted and sent up the river.  Will 2010 bring us news about Mr. Quinn?  I mean, aside from his defeat because of this negligent move.  The most dissappointing thing I heard about this issue was the Governor blaming the move on his director of prisons.  What happened to "the buck stops here"?

12.  We watched the governors race fill up with many faces in preparation for this years election.  
Unfortunately, too many of them are the same faces.  The same politicians with the same message.  This means, whoever becomes the governor of Illinois, we will have politics as usual.  Will it be Mark Kirk?  The Republican congressman from the liberal northern Cook County suburbs who voted in favor of Cap and Trade?  Will it be Jim Ryan - a nice guy, but a lifetime politician just the same?  The good thing is that since our primary has been moved to February, we will know soon enough who our choices will be.

This list can go on for miles but productive Americans, a.k.a., conservatives do not have time to spend dwelling on the past.  Our mission is to focus on the future.  If 2009 was a nightmare from which I have finally awaken, here is my wish for 2010 now that I am wide awake.

I wish...

1. Republicans in Washington and Illinois will become the fiscal conservatives they claim to be.  They can do this by forcing their ideals for fiscal responsibility onto their democratic counterparts.  When they are met with resistance, don't simply cower but become vocal, forceful and aggressive!
2.  Americans will embrace a new common sense conservatism, realizing that the extremist views will not play in any election.  Stand by your principles, but choose your battles wisely.  Mexican immigration is not a smart battle and is a senseless and polarizing fight.  We need Mexican immigrants and should embrace them as part of our future.  Mexico has given us many good people as many of our military heroes are Mexican immigrants.  There are common sense ways to fight illegal immigration from both, Mexico and Canada, but racism should not be the motivation.  The 9/11 terrorists did not come across the Mexican border, they came across the Canadian border.
3.  Congress will realize their role in our representative republic.  They will stop forcing their socialist views into our lives and will return the power back to the states where it belongs.  The role of the U.S. government is to protect us from foreign enemies.  If the U.S. government can do this successfully, I will be satisfied.
4.  All levels of government would stop spending!  During times of economic hardship, the government can jumpstart an economy by reducing taxes on the people that create jobs - small businesses; and on the people that spend the money - taxpayers.  Government cannot motivate economic growth by creating government jobs, which only redistributes government money from one pocket to another.  Further, government has never been known for efficiency.  The private market will employ three people for every one person the government hires.

This is also not the time to plant flowers, expand highways and repave good roads.  In Illinois, perfectly good roads are torn up and new pavement laid, simply as a way to create public sector jobs.  In the meantime, the fortunate people that have jobs are wasting fuel, sitting in traffic in construction zones.  If you want to save real money, pull the construction crews off of the roads for a couple years and let traffic flow.  Essential repairs can be done at night using contractors - overpaid state workers can be laid off, saving taxpayers millions.

5. Candidates could be wired to polygraph machines anytime they speak.  How refreshing would it be to hear a politician speak the truth?  Imagine having a politician coming out in a campaign commercial with a message like - I will take bribes for my signature!  I will work for my own personal gain because I am running for my future growth.  The people of this state are lemmings and I will lead them where I want them to go.   If they do not follow, I will force them.  I will make promises that I will not keep and do not care how you feel about it.  I will spend millions, entertaining my friends and special interests that can benefit me, because I am special!  If I get any resistance on my spending initiatives, I will blame my opposition for taking food and medicine out of the mouths of children, the elderly and sick because I know this is what makes people think I am good and they are bad.

Followed by a true common sense conservative who will say - 

• I will keep congress in check and hold them accountable for every careless decision they make!  
• I will veto every spending bill they present that does not serve the best interest of everyone from Illinois, not just a chosen few.  If they over-ride my veto, I will shout my objection from the highest point, in the media, on blogs and anywhere else people will be able to see it - and I will name names.  
• I will cut non-essential government spending immediately after walking in to the governor's mansion, starting with the governor's salary.  
• In a state that cannot meet it's budget, a governor does not deserve to make more than $100k.  When the budget is balanced, we can talk about a raise. 
• I will show the door to anyone that offers bribes or uses intimidation to try to get their way.  I will then ask for an investigation of their business practices and force the indictment of anyone found to be anything less than on-the-level. This includes labor unions, lobby groups and special interests.
  
• I will not give in to Cook County politics!  Mayor Daley may run the city, but he does not run the state and his control of the state ends today! 
• I will bring an end to the tollway system - not in 10 years, but in 10 months and the process will begin now!
• I will eliminate all body guards for government officials and use state troopers on workers comp to serve these duties at a reduced salary.
• I will make the education system in the state accountable for their failures.  Education, not political correctness or indoctrination; will become the focus of our school system.  If students cannot read, write, add and subtract; they will not graduate and educators will be penalized with the loss of their certificates.  
• I will reduce the tax burden on businesses to bring business (and jobs) back to the state, but I will not prostitute the state in order to say I brought them here.  
• I will reduce the tax burden on property owners who work hard for what they have and deserve to keep it.  
• I will reduce and balance the budget by spending cuts, not by increasing taxes.  I will not allow the opposition to use children, the elderly and sick as pawns for tax increases or for political gains.  Spending cuts will be made in common sense areas first - that may be all that is needed to balance the budget.
• I will make the state of Illinois one to be admired, not one to be ridiculed.  It will be the benchmark for other states to aspire to, not the butt of late night television jokes.

Such is the position of the Whig Party in Illinois.  The ideals are not exclusive to our party however, they are simply common sense positions.  Any American from any party can share these views and run for governor on this platform and take over the office of the Governor.

As I reflect on the year that just ended, I pray that the negative is behind us.  I start the new year with high hopes and anticipation for a powerful and positive new year.  I pray for God's guidance through the year, that he help our leaders make the right decisions.  I pray that people begin to see the unfortunate results of their negligent decisions.  I pray that this new year brings a new attitude - an attitude based on good, right, ethical, honest and Christian morals.  I pray for our soldiers fighting overseas and for our country and our sovereignty.  I pray that one year from today, I can reflect on the previous year as a year of good dreams and memories, not nightmares.  Finally, I ask that God bless everyone who reads this and ask that you pass the blessing on to everyone you meet.

Happy 2010, God bless and save us all!