Illinois Whig Party - Not Just a Third Party, A Party For The Rest Of US!

The Taxman Cometh, The Governor Taketh

2012-02-10T22:52:00.000-08:00

As the wrought iron grip of tyranny continues to spread over the nation with the President forcing his will on the American people, we must not forget from where he came. Yes, right here in our own back yard where we keep the rest of our compost. Of course, more and more, we are learning that our own Governor appears to have spent a good share of his time digging for treasures in the heap as well.

Before you judge me as being mean spirited, I am not disparaging these two men without cause. The news of this week was enough to send any freedom loving American into a fit of anger. The worst of them of course is our beloved President. This man feels he has the right to tell a religion based hospital that they must provide free birth control and abortions. Excuse me? I have always said that this man believes he is mightier than the Almighty, but this is taking it to an extreme. Mr. Obama, just who do you think you are? It is one thing to mess up the lives of 300 million American people, and though God is an awesome and forgiving force, rest assured, God is not a push over. Unlike you, God tells Satan what he will do, not the other way around. My advice to you Mr. Obama, is to come back down to earth and pick a fight with someone your own size because no matter how big you think you are, this is one fight you will lose. If you choose to challenge the creator of man, you will prove to many others what I already knew - that you are not a good person and are not interested in doing good for anyone except yourself. Enjoy it while you can because eternity lasts a long time.*Author's Note Below

Now, Mr. Quinn. Unlike our President, I give our Governor kudos for all of the work he has done for our troops. The Governor has really stepped up and supported our soldiers as much or more than any leader - certainly more than our President. I also give the Governor kudos for calling out Blago before anyone else ever suspected this crooked Governor of any wrong doing. Governor Quinn began to show his support falling off very early in the process if you watched close enough. That is about the end of my support for Governor Quinn. Everything since has been boilerplate Democratic party tax, rule, spend.

The latest came this week when Governor Quinn announced a plan to have all gun owners in Illinois register and pay a fee for their firearms. I am sure he is doing it to "save at least one life." My first thought was that I should rush out to register my guns and pay my fees before the lines get too long. After-all, once the 150,000 gang bangers in Cook County hear about the new law, the lines will be down the block. Then I realized, that's right, gang bangers have illegal firearms. So my position now is simply, Mr. Quinn, when you can prove that all of the gang bangers have registered their firearms and paid their fees, call me. Until then, I'll just say no thanks.

Here is the thing. Once you register, the state now knows what you own and where you keep it making it easier for them to take it when they decide to confiscate it...and be sure that day will come. Here is the other thing...suppose your legally registered handgun is stolen and used in a crime, the police recover the gun, but not the criminal. Who do you think the police and the lawyers will be going after? You are now at the very least, held liable because you failed to secure the firearm properly, causing it to be used to hurt or kill another person. Don't think it will happen? Are you really willing to take the chance?

The US Constitution gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms. It does not say that citizens must register arms with the government and pay a fee. It does say however, that citizens have a right to protect themselves from a government that has gone wild. If the government can control your right to protect yourself from the government (we are not talking about building an militia here), wouldn't you be giving up this right by registering your firearm?

The Governor will say it is to protect people from getting hurt needlessly by keeping track of who owns firearms. Are people really that stupid? It serves two purposes, it raises revenue and puts government in control of citizens rights to bear arms. Once again however, the law abiding are the victims. Those who follow the law would pay the fees and suffer at the hand of government. It is the gang bangers, the killers and the thugs who are doing the killing and none of these people will be standing in line to register their handguns and pay their fees; and neither would I. In all honesty, I do not personally own a gun, but this is my choice. I do however, fully support the right for every law abiding citizen to own a gun if they so choose.

Governor Quinn, I think you need to take another look at the US Constitution. It's cold this weekend and the football season is over. Let me know how it turns out.

*Author's Note:

After posting this entry, it occurred to me that people of all types may read this. Unfortunately, I am concerned that some people who may not be quite stable may read this blog and misinterpret my intentions. Because of the nature of the two subjects, I felt it necessary to add this note.

My statement that "eternity lasts a long time", is simply meant to say that, as with the rest of us, Mr. Obama will be called upon to answer for his actions on judgement day, which I hope is many years from now. I do not support, encourage or wish any harm to come to this, or any American President, past or present! My lack of support for his policies is clear and obvious, but like it or not, he is the President of the United States and the only way I would encourage anyone to challenge his authority is through the democratic process, which takes place this November; by voting for his whoever challenges him.

I believe that an act against an American President, by an American citizen is an act of treason. An act against an American President by a person who is not a citizen of the United States, an act of terrorism. Furthermore, my position on gun control is in support of the American way of life and the rights of the American people. I believe that people who carry their argument to an extreme and use their rights to commit acts against the country they claim to love, only serve to fuel the argument for those who wish to take away the rights of law abiding citizens.

Fueling the Occupy Movement

2012-02-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

By now everyone has heard about the Occupy movement sweeping the country with their radical activities and their disorganized antics. From what I can see, this group is made up of a mix of people from all walks of life. The most notable of the members are those that are pushing for socialism, fueled by the democratic party. This small sect is demanding that government take care of them, cradle to grave, by taking money from the rich and giving to those who refuse to do their part - thereby balancing out the classes. The people in this group have no idea what their message is or what their goals are. They just shout their mantra about punishing the rich.

There is another group within this movement who we do not hear much about. These are the people who have worked hard their entire lives and are now being victimized by government and the banking industry. Unfortunately, this group will not be successful within the Occupy movement because they have been overshadowed by the socialist radicals who have pirated the organization. It is this group though, which has a true gripe against the "system" as the banking industry has transitioned over the past 20 years from a friend of the community, into a much darker, more punitive industry; not unlike the IRS. That is, they will gladly take your money, but do not expect anything more!

There was a time when your neighborhood bank would work with you through hard times, assisting with financial planning, loan repayment and so forth. Those days are gone. Over the past several years, the federal government has provided the banking industry several tools to assist homeowners with mortgage modifications. The federal reserve has allowed banks to borrow money for free, and recently announced that they will continue to allow banks to borrow money for free. That means the interest and fees banks charge you for the loan will essentially flow to their bottom line. Now, try to modify your mortgage.

In my case, a business sale gone bad (because of government restrictions) had resulted in me assuming a significant amount of debt. The government's role in this was that I could not legally require proof of citizenship or residency from the buyers. When the buyers skipped out on the business and the lease, my attorney informed me that I could not take action against the buyers because they did not have legal authority to be in the US. The debt is now legally mine. As a responsible, albeit, pissed off American, I have been paying the debt and will continue to pay the debt until I die.

The banks role in this mess is when they refinance my home, which was almost paid off, at a rate of 7.75%. They did not require any proof of income, tax forms, nothing, just a signature. In hindsight, at the time the house was worth far more than the loan so the bank had little risk. While I question the banks ethics in the process now, I accept responsibility for signing the paperwork back then.

Today, times are tougher, bills are higher and values lower. At the end of the month the bills just barely get paid and debts are not being reduced. The high mortgage payment is what seems to be causing the problem, so I assume, if I can modify the mortgage, I can work toward reducing my overall debt. Now I should add, I do not live extravagantly - basic cell phone, no home phone, no air conditioning, 1000 sf home, 1 car (paid off), basic cable/internet ($24/mo. combined).

So I call my mortgage company, which is also my bank and request to apply for the home loan modification. They ask me if I would consider selling my home? I explain that this has been my home for 20 years and I do not want to sell my home. They ran some numbers and told me I cannot afford my home even under the home loan modification program, that my only choice would be to sell my home. I told them that their answer was not acceptable - I know what I can and cannot afford. I have not missed a payment, though I have been a week or two late, but have never missed a payment. Then I was told that my only option was to sell my home or eventually face foreclosure - again, never missed a payment and now they are threatening to take my home.

This is the banking industry hard at work for it's customers. After all, why would they want to modify a loan which they are collecting almost 8% on? My question is, with the millions of foreclosed homes in their inventory, why would they not be willing to take a little less each month if it will keep on less home from being foreclosed? If they truly care about their customers, why would they be so willing to put a person out of a home they have lived in for 20 years? If their Actuaries can tell me today that I cannot afford my home at my current income, why couldn't they tell me this 5 years ago when I refinanced and was making 1/3 of the salary I am making today? Does the banking industry not have a fiduciary responsibility to protect their customers financial interest?

There was a time when the banking industry assisted their customers reach their financial goals. There were personal bankers who spoke to the customers with $10 in their accounts the same way they spoke to their customers with $10,000 in their accounts. Over the years this has changed and the banking industry has become not only a collector of debt, but a significant creator of debt. Where they at one time would provide cashiers checks for free to their customers, they now charge $5 or more. At one time they would use discretion when charging overdraft charges. I actually was charged $35 for overdrawing my account by 35 cents.

If banks cared about their customers, why don't they provide classes to teach people how to create a household budget? Why don't they provide free Quicken software? The provide free Turbotax software, but that is only so their customers will direct deposit their refund checks into their bank. If they cared about their customers, why don't banks take more of an interest in helping their customers out of trouble during hard times rather than punishing them?

I find it sadly amusing how banks treat their customers no different than the government treats the American taxpayer. Interestingly, the government does not treat the banks the same as they treat the American taxpayer. In fact, the bank I have been dealing with would not be in business today if the government had not provided them a significant bailout a couple years ago. Think about it...the bank went to the government and said, "I cannot make my payments, can you give me money so I do not lose everything?" The government said, "sure, how much?" This past weekend, I went to the bank and said, "I can make my payments, but it is becoming increasingly difficult, can you work with me to make it easier?" The bank said, "Take a hike!"

I would like to say that it was my tax money that bailed them out, but in reality because of my losses I have not paid much in taxes for the past few years, but there are many, many taxpayers who had paid in to the government so Bank of America can be around to put more hard working people out of their homes for another day.

Mute Newt?

2012-01-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

He was the Speaker of the House when the Republicans controlled Congress in the mid 90's. He crafted the Contract with America. He is handily an intelligent, albeit direct and politically incorrect candidate. His platform is generally fiscally conservative and socially moderate - I did say generally. Yet, his party is throwing him, head-first, into the political shredder. Instead, the GOP is pushing to place Mitt Romney on the ballot against Obama in the general election. What happened to the one time GOP hero that would cause the GOP establishment to turn their back on the Newt, instead opting for a known fiscal and social moderate such as Romney?

The answer is simple - all of the above. In this day of oversensitivity and political correctness, there is no place for a politician like Newt. The GOP is certain that in a contest between Newt and Obama, the GOP does not stand a chance. Frankly, I don't believe the GOP has a chance in a contest between Romney and Obama either. Most people looking for change will see Romney as being too close to Obama and decide they would rather stay with the devil they know.

The only hope for our nation is to have a radical shift. While I am not convinced that either Romney nor Gingrich will bring about the shift we need, I do believe that Newt will create a greater shift than Romney. As for his personality? Newt has a questionable past, to say the least. I am not comfortable with the way he has conducted himself with respect to his relationships, but I also do not know the entire story and more importantly, who am I to judge how he and his partner's conducted their private business. I can have my opinion, but it is only my opinion based on what we are told in the media. I judge the candidate based on his/her platform, what they say and more importantly, what they have done.

Newt states that poor people should become janitors in schools and he is labeled a racist. I am caucasion, grew up in a "poor" household which did not collect aid. To earn money for clothes, I worked as a janitor assistant in the high school during school vacations. I am not ashamed nor offended by Newt's comments. In fact, I learned at 14 years old that hard work built character. What's more, I did not get into trouble, did not take drugs and never had to dodge bullets. Because of my the decisions I made early in life, I managed to work for 30 years before I ever experienced what it was like to be unemployed. Even after being unemployed for the first time in my life, I still worked part-time at a much lower pay rate because it was the thing to do. Fortunately, after 8 months, I returned to work full time in a career position.

Newt talks about stopping spending in government. Again, we blast him for taking food from the very young and the very old, but he did not say this. He is only saying that out of control spending must end in government - we cannot spend what we do not have. What is wrong with this statement? My checkbook runs out of money, I cannot spend anymore. There is nothing magical here, it is simple arithmetic. Newt can promise a chicken in every pot and a Porsche in every driveway. This may make the voters feel good, but it will not happen, so what is the point? Remember back to the day Obama was elected when people celebrated in the streets and made statements about how they would not have to pay for there houses now because Obama was the President? Well, they were partially correct, which is why banks are now foreclosing on millions of homes.

At the end of the day, a candidate can promise anything and throughout history they have. In 2012, America in the condition it is in, needs to wake up and face reality. Newt is giving us a tiny reality check with his candor. Granted, he is a long time politician and far from honorable, but among the people we have to choose from, I believe he is sprinkling less sugar than the others. As a party, the GOP should think about the nation and back the candidate who will do the most and be the best for the nation. As citizens, we need to understand that we will have to take our medicine - today, tomorrow or a month from tomorrow. We can keep dreaming and vote for the candidate who promises to make those dreams come true, making the cure much worse down the road or we can start treating the problem now by voting for the candidate who will begin to turn things around. It all rests on whether you want to enjoy today and pay dearly tomorrow or pay less today and look forward to a much brighter tomorrow.

Four More Years? Really?

2012-01-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

What has happened to the intellect of the American people? Is the government poisoning our water supply? Is the media placing subliminal messages in our television programs? Are aliens coming into our bedrooms at night and placing stupid chips in our brains?

The GOP is going through the ritualistic primary campaign which takes place every four years when a President of another party, has spent the past term dancing on the floor of the oval office. The difference this with the GOP primary from a Democratic primary however, is that the media tends to dig up every bit of dirt on each GOP candidate. Magically, the media can turn even the most innocent of issues into a scandalous event, the likes of which the nation has never seen.

By contrast, the most horrific scandals of a democratic candidate can just as magically be turned into innocent, uneventful, back page drivel. We know for example, that Obama had attended a church for several years and was close friends with the pastor, who was blatantly racist, anti-Semitic and anti-American. In a recorded sermon which Obama attended, he said, "not God bless America, God Damn America!" But we did not hear about this on an interview the night before the election - or any other night.

We also know that a good friend and neighbor of Obama was a 1960's radical who set off bombs in this country to protest the Vietnam war. In a book he authored, he wrote that he was sorry he did not do more damage. Where was this reported? We also know that Obama had ties to convicted felon Tony Resko, but again, back page news.

However, let the ex-wife of a GOP candidate come out with a story about her husband, 13 years divorced; this makes the headlines. Less noted in this was the fact that without her husband's knowledge, she was accused by the FBI for attempting to sell his influence for $10 million. She said she didn't know anything about it, but admitted that she met with "the man".

Now we have people saying that they will vote for Obama if Newt is nominated on the GOP ticket because they want to teach the GOP a lesson. Well, the Whig Party is here to teach the GOP and the Democratic Party a lesson too, but we are not stupid about it. The simple fact is, the nation will not survive four more years under Obama and people need to wake up.

Since he has become President, Obama has blown our nation's debt into hyperspace - nobody living today will ever see this debt disappear through normal spending cuts. We are literally on the verge of total financial collapse and people must begin to understand what the consequences of financial collapse can mean for our nation. Unemployment in this country is close, if not higher than it was during the great depression. We hear about unemployment falling to 9%, but this is only the report of new claims - it does not include those who have fallen off, those who stopped looking for work, the unemployed military, and so on. True unemployment is well over 20%. If you do not believe me, test the theory - run a help wanted ad offering minimum wage. Ten years ago, you would not receive one call. Today, you will have graduate students lining up.

Since Obama has taken office, we have seen prices on food, gas, utilities, taxes - everything you need to live; go through the roof. Investments and housing prices however, have fallen and will continue to fall. During the previous three administrations, yes this includes Clinton, the economy went up...and down. There were good times and there were bad times. Gas prices rose and then they fell. People did not sweat when things turned bad because they knew it would get better. Under this President however, we have seen nothing but bad and worse.

Obama's new world order! The move by this President to create global treaties with everything from currency to citizen's rights is what frightens me the most. There is and never has been a question in my mind that Obama is an enemy of the US Constitution. Since taking the office, Obama has mocked our system of government time and time again by his constant refusal to show his birth certificate - who among us would have any problem showing our birth certificate. Obama still has not produced his college records. He has bypassed the constitutional process several times by pushing through more executive orders than any President before him, again mocking the purpose of the executive order. With the power of the executive order, this President will sign away our freedom entirely at the rate he is going.

What makes the worst of the worst even more disgusting however, is the arrogance of the President. This, more than anything is what makes me wonder how anyone in this country can even consider supporting this person for a new term. For those who remember, during the recession of the 70's, our worst President (to that point), Jimmy Carter, empathized with the suffering of the American people. He dialed down his thermostat, wore sweaters, cut back on fancy White House dinners. He spoke to the American people and said that he would not spend money on extravagances and vacations while the citizens were suffering.

Though Obama has seen more people lose their jobs than any President in recent history; and though he has orchestrated an economy which has placed more people on public assistance than any President in US history and though more people are losing their homes than under any President before him; he still manages to play more golf, take more vacations and work a shorter day than any President before him. I do not even need to mention the private trips and staffs of 50 that the first lady has taken around the world.

Everything I talk about above relates to the nation as a whole. Everything I care about is the future of the rights and freedom of all Americans. I am not about pushing for a candidate that believes in only the issues that I believe in or supports only the causes that I support. First and foremost, I want a candidate that will abide by the oath of office and support and defend the Constitution of the United States. If we do not have that person in the White House, nothing else matters!

As a Whig Party Chairman, I agree that our government from the smallest level to the highest, must be reformed. I believe the Whig Party is the party with the platform to fix the problems in this country and all of it's 50 states. In this case however, we have a fire that is burning out of control and we must first put out the fire before we can think about cleaning up the mess.

Barack Obama, The Emperor With No Clothes!

2011-04-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

The President released the long form of his birth certificate, proving once and for all that he is a natural born citizen. This puts to rest all of the speculation and concern of the paranoid conservatives who ever questioned our President. To put it better, in the President's words, it put's to rest all of the "silliness"! The President released the long form because the issue had become a distraction. He said it had been a fringe issue and only recently moved into the mainstream.

Really Mr. President? Do you really feel that American's are silly because we want to be certain that our President is a natural born citizen as the Constitution requires? If so, you obviously do not put much credibility in the American people nor are you very loyal to the Constitution, the most sacred of our national documents; which you vowed, with your hand on the Bible; the most sacred of documents, to support and uphold.

Fringe issue? Have they removed news channels from the oval office? Do you not listen to anything except your IPod? I have been hearing about the birth certificate issue since the campaign - in the mainstream media! Yeah, they downplayed the issue, just as they do with all of your issues, but they talked about it none-the-less. However, now after almost three years of running our nation into the gutter and driving us from a level of world leader to a level on par with Great Britain or (gag) France, you are now hearing the calls for accountability regarding your citizenship?

When you ran for the office in 2008, the election was virtually handed to you on a silver platter. Throughout the campaign and during the first two years of your administration, you did as you wished and answered to no one. Your arrogance (or ignorance) was overwhelming and disturbing and threatening to all who love this nation. It is assumed that you felt you were invincible. Why the change now? Are you finally hearing the calls from the people for accountability Mr. President, or can it be that your advisers are reading the polls and finally telling you Mr. Emperor, that you are not wearing any clothes?

Economics 101

2011-04-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

You only need to scroll down to earlier posts to read what I said in February would happen and it is happening right now! The President has essentially shut out the Republicans recommended cuts (which were a joke to begin with) and proposed smaller, less painful cuts. You see, he does not want to hurt the American people. What a great guy.

Instead, he wants to raise taxes on those evil rich people - you know, the people that own businesses and make millions, well hundreds of thousands, well maybe $90,000 or $60,000 per year. We'll let him give us the number later - after the budget is passed and no doubt, before it is seen by anyone. It appears those evil rich people like your neighbor who has been working 90 hour, 7 day weeks and keeping people in his community working; well he has not paid his fare share. Why? Because he still has some left to buy a $35,000 car or invest some of his money in his retirement account or send his kids to college. Bad, bad, rich business person! So now he has to pay more! And pay he will. But so will the rest of us.

What this genius in Washington D.C. fails to understand is that when gasoline is $5/gallon, milk is $3.50/gallon and eggs are $2.00/dozen; the economy will suffer because people will have less to spend on other things - cars, homes, luxuries, restaurants and so forth. When people spend less money on those items, the owners of those businesses have to reduce their costs. The first place they start is? Right, labor. They cannot cut rent or electricity and the cost of goods runs is relative to sales so those items are only cut to the extent that sales have fallen, but you cannot purchase 500 hamburgers and sell 600. You can however, have 3 people making those 500 hamburgers instead of the 6 you had making 600. They will work hard, but because they need to pay their IPhone bill, they will be happy to do it.

Now, take the formula to the next level, food is up, gas is up and unemployment increases. Now, let's throw in a stiff tax on the business person, heck he can afford it because our President said so. Remember, the business person already cut labor because of the earlier problems, but he still must pay rent, utilities and other "fixed" costs, many of which are provided courtesy of our local, state and federal governments. So his only option is to cut labor more. Now 2 people are making those 500 hamburgers and one more person is out of work. Of course, it would not work this way. What would actually happen at this point, I know because I've been here, is that the business person will realized that even without any labor, he still will not be able to pay for those 500 hamburgers and he will close his doors.

With this business closed, everyone is out of work. The suppliers lose all of the business and the uncollected money from the closed business. The rental agency loses any overdue and future rent and each of these businesses lose revenue and have to make adjustments accordingly. Keep in mind, they are also hit with the tax increase. I might mention, while the rental agency and the suppliers will lose their money, the government will stop at nothing to collect what they are owed from the business person that they helped to put out of business using their own internal mob. They're called the IRS and they will take the last crumb out of the business owner's babies mouth to collect what they feel is theirs - with penalties and interest.

It does not take a genius to figure this out. It is simple economics with a little common sense mixed in. People cannot spend what they do not have and when people stop supporting the economy, the economy collapses. Mix high prices on basic items - fuel and food, add taxes on people that contribute most to economic growth - businesses and wealthy (people that have money to spend) and it equals less money to fuel the economy. Now, if you were able to reach this site, you probably can understand this equation. If you know anyone that cannot reach this site or does not understand the equation, please educate them. There will be a test on this subject and it will be taken at the next election. Start studying now about the Modern Whig Party and what they will do to save America.

Where Is The Outrage?

2011-03-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Late last week the U.S. began launching missles into Libya from our battleships. This is part of a NATO effort to bring down Ghadaffi and his kin who have been ruling this one-horse country since, well a very long time. Ghadaffi, you will recall, is a crazy man who had attacked innocent Americans and killed some of our service men while they slept in their barracks at night during the 80's. The late and great President Reagan responded with a wake-up call to his home one morning. Unfortunately, he survived while one of his children perished. This move by our nation's greatest President in modern time served to put Ghadaffi in his place. He quickly learned that the American's were not to be messed with; and he left us alone from that point forward.

Lately, as Ghadaffi, and much of the world learns that we are not the strong nation we once were, he has come back out of his cacoon and began to flutter his wings. Yes, he has done some pretty bad things and yes, he has made some inflammatory statements. Yet he has not built up the guts to tempt fate by messing with us again. Not yet anyway. Perhaps this weekends attack will serve as a reminder of the past and he will once again go into his shell. That is, unless this morning's Carter-esqe crash of a military plan starts him thinking that maybe we are not as strong as we once were; and frankly, we are not!

Now about this attack on Libya...I have been looking for the protesters, the rage from the media, the angry opponents shouting, "illegal war" and "no blood for oil", but the voices appear to be silent. I may have been away from the television and radio for a while and may have missed it, but is there justification for this attack that we did not have in Iraq? Let me do some math - We sold Iraq chemical weapons and Saddam threatened to use them against us. Saddam was killing his people; slaughtering them and burying them in mass graves. Saddam was threatening Kuwait and Israel and overall peace in the middle east (if there is such a thing). Saddam violated or ignored 16 (give or take) UN resolutions which offered him more than enough opportunity to come clean and disclose all that he was hiding. So we attacked and liberated the country.

In Libya, another crazy man is essentially fighting a civil war with his own people - and a few outsiders here and there. He is not threatening to take over anyone elses country and he is not launching missles against detractor nations. He is basically fighting for his life, a fight which he will eventually lose on his own. However, we and others felt the need to attack the country in an effort to liberate them from themselves, in the name of NATO. This is akin to NATO launching an attack against a Tea Party Rally in D.C. - people in their own country, protesting against the leadership of their own country. Though we are sending our soldiers to fight and die, nobody appears to be bothered as they were during the Iraq war.

If anyone still does not believe there is a double standard in our country, it is time to pull your head out of the sand. This is one attack that our soldiers should have been watching from their flat screens while enjoying dinner with their families. Where are the protesters? Where are the angry mobs? Where is the outrage?

Between The Lines...

2011-02-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

So the Republicans presented their budget to the President over the weekend with all of the pomp and circumstance. They cut a few million from here and a few million from there. On paper, it all looked good. Of course, the cuts were in areas that are sure to raise the ire of the voters - construction projects, food stamps, medical for the elderly - the hot button issues. If you have not figured it out by now, this is a strategy our lawmakers use to present cuts that give the appearance that Congress is serious about reducing waste, but they know will never pass. It is also called window dressing.

To add insult to injury, the President came out and said the cuts are not deep enough and added more cuts - adding his own cuts which he knows will never see the light of day. Then he threw in a some spending - high speed rail, for example. The President used this strategy to show that he is moving toward the center - he is for ALL people.

Now here is what will happen...

The high speed rail will probably pass because, well, it costs money and Congress loves to spend money. This will give all of these lawmakers something to go home with and say, "I brought jobs to the state." But these are government jobs and government jobs do not grow an economy. They simply take money from one taxpayers pocket and "redistribute" it.

The spending cuts? Who is willing to stand up and say they will pass? Who can name one person in Congress that will be willing to go home and say, "I am the reason you do not have food stamps". Good luck with that.

Now, if I am right, that will mean, much more government spending, period! Oh, there may be a token cut here and there, but nothing near the level discussed on the weekend talk circus. The problem is, until we propose and enact serious cuts, the problem will continue to worsen. I admit, a high speed rail would be a great benefit to the country, but we just cannot afford it! I would like to have a landscaping service take care of my lawn, but just because I want it, does not mean I should have it. Like the high speed rail, I know if I have a landscaping company take care of my lawn, it will put people to work, it will benefit the neighborhood and it will make my life more convenient.

It is time for this President, this Congress and frankly, this media to get serious about the budget and stop "working" the American people. When we talk about spending freezes, let's talk about freezing ALL spending! The job of the U.S. government is to keep us safe. Provide for our military, keep them stocked and keep them safe so they can keep us safe. Everyone else should have their budget cut absolute necessities and nothing more - no private jets, no first class tickets, no cell phones, no extravagances at all! Heck, Jarod lost a lot of weight eating at Subway and you can eat there for $10/day. Cut the per deim to $10/day. Nobody in Washington will starve. If they need staples or paperclips, bring some from home. After every penny has been cut, and only after every penny has been cut; then should Washington look at cutting other programs.

The media can help by emphasising the non-emotional cuts a little more and the emotional cuts, such as social programs, a little less. I know they are just reporting the news, but all of us share the responsibility to bring this country out of our financial mess and as long as the media is working against our progress, we will never be able to move forward. It is not about suppressing the media, it is about shared responsibility.

As for the rest of us, listen carefully to what is being reported, but be careful to read between the lines. Rest assured, whether Republican or Democrat, they all have their agenda. Regardless of what is said on talk shows or campaign trails, the proof is in the pudding. These people are in it for themselves.

Deny, Deny, Deny!

2011-02-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to my most recent post, the news continues to usher in more of the same uncertainty that leads me to believe we are heading for one of the most eye-opening wake up calls of our time.

It started this week with news out of Egypt that protesters are jubilant about the decision by Hosni Mobarak to vacate his position and turn the country over to a new, yet to be named, leadership. The media is touting this as a victory for democracy and a chance for freedom in Egypt. I am all for the spread of democracy throughout the world, but we are talking about Egypt here, the neighbor of Israel - Islam's greatest enemy! Anyone who believes there is not a group of radicals preparing this very minute to make their move on Egypt is simply dillusional. With Palastine on one side and Egypt on the other, what chance would Israel have?

In this case, who will be the one to come to Israel's defense? Ordinarily, it would be the U.S., but with the standing President, I am not so sure. If we defend Israel if such an offensive should occur, it would cost even more money that we do not have. If we fail to defend Israel, what option would Israel have to push back the enemy? Israel has nuclear capabilities and who would blame them for using them when forced into a corner? The Mobarak government may not have been the ideal form of government, but it worked in that part of the world and say what you will, he continued to honor the Egypt - Israel Peace Treaty, which brought an end to a war between Egypt and Israel.

The news of last week brings an uncomfortable level of uncertainty to this region and may hasten changes in the U.S. as well. This is definitely one to watch.

The other interesting, yet troubling bit of news was from the budget talks in D.C. The Republicans proposed $61B in cuts to the budget. I guess we can call it a start, but hardly enough to pay down a $1.5T deficit. It is like paying $10 toward your credit card debt when the minimum payment due is $75. We continue to pay interest on the interest and the debt.

With the proposed cuts in place, there will be very noticeable changes across many sectors - state and federal - construction projects will stop which means people will be put out of work; government assistance will end or be reduced to some people and programs will shut down. If the proposed cuts are passed, they will be noticed. The problems are: 1. I do not believe Congress will allow them to pass - again, they do not want to upset their constituency. 2. As difficult as they are, they are not deep enough to save the country.

This is exactly what my last post talked about. The changes this nation will require to save us from ourselves are going to be so devastating, so drastic and so earth shaking that they will never happen. At least not until we have no other choice - when we hit rock bottom! What the people do not realize is that we can tighten our collective belts now, help each other through a period of very difficult times - 5, 10 years and come out much better on the other side, but we are all too selfish; all too greedy! Instead, by fighting to keep the luxuries we all feel we deserve, we will all collectively destroy the economy of the nation and bring the country to it's knees. This recovery will take much longer and the nation that rises out of the ashes will be a much different nation than the one we destroyed and that is not necessarily a good thing.

The news is coming at us very quickly today. Events are happening at a pace that is difficult to maintain. You can look at history and justify everything that is happening today with comparisons of similar times in the past, but the variable today is that people are taxed at a level much higher than at any time in the past. Whereas in the past there was always more to take, the same cannot be said for today. The only solution to the problems today is deep, painful cuts in government spending like nothing we have ever seen before; deep cuts in taxes to drive the economy and bring business back to the nation; and a no-nonsense approach to defense - if we are going to fight, do it hard, do it cheap, do it fast and come home, or don't do it at all!

A State of Denial

2011-02-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Denial is a very tragic thing and the consequences of denial are equally tragic. Have you ever known a person who had a very sick relative? You knew the person was dying, but their close loved ones or spouse insisted they would recover? It tore you up inside to think of the pain that person would endure when they finally realized the truth, probably too late to prepare themselves for the loss. Some would say that it is good to remain positive, which I agree is true - to a point, but it is also true to prepare for the inevitable.

Such is the case with the state of our state and our nation. Many, many people are walking around assuming things will get better. It will soon be like the good old days when everyone was working and money was growing in accounts like dandelions in a field. The "haves" had everything they wanted and the "have nots" were given what they wanted by the government.

Fast forward to 2011 when the "haves" are struggling to keep what they have earned and the "have nots" are not going to be able to look to the government much longer for the luxuries they feel they deserve, or the necessities the need, like food or a home. My point is simple. It is time we realize that the country is simply not the thriving bounty it once was. The government does not have the cash it once had, borrowed or otherwise. Our state (and many others) has driven itself into bankruptcy and is looking to the taxpayer to bail it out. We are taxing our residents to death and it will not help bring us out of trouble.

Add to this, the fact that our nation is placed itself into a debt, the like of which we have never seen and we can never pay. What are we going to do about it? Tax people and tax corporations! As a nation, we now have the largest corporate tax of any nation in the world! What effect do you suppose this will have on business growth in the U.S.? The worst part is that the problem has only begun and will only get worse and nobody seems to notice or care. Not yet anyway.

Just in the past 24 hours, I purchased a gallon of milk on sale for $2.88 at the local grocery store. This same gallon of milk was only $1.99 one year ago. I purchased gas for the car at $3.29/gallon today, in February - a time of year when gasoline is usually the lowest price. What does this say about the price of gasoline in peak driving season, $4.50? $5.00? What will happen to the economy when people have to pay $5.00 for a gallon of gas? That gallon of milk will be $3.50 or $4.00. This would be a 100% increase since one year ago. Now, imagine if everything delivered by truck to market increases by 100%, what would that do to an already fragile economy? Okay, let's call it extreme, but if we look at only 20% which is not only realistic, but very likely, the economy will fail. The reality is if the inflation rate climbs to 20%, it can easily go to 100%. Of course there are always government price caps if the inflation rate climbs too fast, but we know what that did in the 70's. Farmers dumped milk rather than sell to market and let crops rot in fields. That will happen again.

Some people may think I am an alarmist, but nothing I am saying here is dreamt up out of a science fiction novel. This has happened before at some level in this country or other countries. The difference is, as a nation, our citizens have never been taxed so much and our government has never been so deep in dept when it occured in the past. During the 70's, the tax burden was not so high that the citizens could not afford to pay a little more. Today, taxpayers are paying 50% or more of their earned wages on some form of taxes or government fees. The government cannot take much more without depleting the fuel that keeps the econony rolling. The fact is, the well has run dry and the piper must be paid.

At a time when government, both national and state, should be cutting spending as much as possible - not just feel good, window dressing cuts, but real deep, painful cuts. Our lawmakers continue to spend, continue to try to win the favor of the voters by handing out more money for programs we cannot afford. The way I see it we only have one option though it may be too late already to save us from total economic disaster in this country. Our state and federal governments MUST begin to act as if they were a business in bankruptcy, spending only the money that is absolutely necessary to maintain operations. Where there is an opportunity to save a buck, take it. This is not about trillions anymore, it is about every single penny. This means government paid cell phones - gone! Government paid vehicles - gone! Government paid events of all kinds - gone! And don't forget to turn off the lights at the capitol building when the last lawmaker leaves at 4PM either. As Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned". Let's take a lesson from the past!

If we continue to live in this state of denial, we will soon wake up to a stock market that will make the crash of '29 look like a fender bender, $3.00/gallon gas, the good old days and change for a dollar, the punchline to a joke. If we continue to live in this state of denial, we will soon be staring at a much different country, a much different way of life and the day will come very soon when even the most blind of us will wake up one morning and ask, "what happened"?

Time to Pay...and Pay We Will!

2011-01-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

Governor Quinn was inaugurated with all of the pomp and circumstance of a BBQ in a blizzard. His administration is rolling out the largest tax increase in our state's history, making Illinois the state with the highest income tax in the nation. Great job voters!

Now, what more should we expect in our state over the coming months and years? Lets see, we have Richard Daley fleeing the Mayors office before the city implodes under loads of debt he created in anticipation of his failed 2016 Olympic bid. To counter the massive debt, the city will have no choice but to turn to the state for more money. The state will have two choices - let Chicago fall into ruin or hand out more cash, which will of course, come from each and every one of us. If the state gives the city the money, ten cents on every dollar will go to help the city and ninety cents will line somebody's pocket.

To add to this disaster, the state is going after business, big and small, for more tax money. Governor Quinn did not learn anything from Blago's destruction of business in Illinois. As Blago taxed big business, big business fled the state and took jobs with it. As Blago taxed small business, small businesses closed and put more people out of work and homes. Now Quinn is going to try to build a new mouse trap. The only trouble is, he is using the same design.

I am amazed that people voted for a man who promised higher taxes. I am even more amazed that people criticized me for scrutinizing Quinn for wanting to raise taxes rather than cut spending as a means of bringing business back and reducing state debt. For those who enjoy paying high taxes, you are in the right state. For those who wish to give all of your earnings to the state, you will love the next several years here in Illinois.

As for our state handbook, a few things will need correcting however. The state once known for it's steel and automotive industries will now be the state of a new, robust industry - repossessions and foreclosures. A state which once touted Ford, Chrysler, AT&T, Caterpillar and Navistar as it's largest employers, will now list Illinois Department of Employment Security as the largest employer. The state that once listed the cardinal as it's state bird, will now list the resident as the state bird as millions are seen flying out of the state to find hope and opportunity in another state. To be fair to those traveling through our state, I feel it only fair to properly warn them. Therefore, I reccommend that all signs entering Illinois should be changed to read, "Welcome to Illinois, Beware of Tax Rates, Lock your doors and hold on to your wallet near any state facility!" Signs leaving the state should read, "Thanks for visiting Illinois, you may think you got away, but you have to come back through to get home!"

For no reason other than the greed of a few narcissistic politicians, we have watched the Land of Lincoln turn into the Destination for Disappointment!

Crunch Time!

2010-11-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-22T05:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-06-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-01-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

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!

Too Little, Too Late? Never Too Late to Pray!

2009-12-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

President Obama announced this week that he would send an additional 30,000 Marines to Afghanistan, in answer to a request by General McChrystal from several months ago. I guess Mr. Obama is expecting a hardy hand-shake and a pat on the back. However, before we line the streets with ticker tape and name a expressway after him, let's analyze this delayed decision.

This year, the US suffered almost twice as many war fatalities as in 2008, more than double 2007; and when you compare previous years, the numbers are even more staggering. If you look at the lower chart, you will see that many of the fatalities came, ironically, after General McChrystal asked for an increase in troop force. If this does not make you angry, the number of wounded in 2009 jumped to almost 1300 soldiers from less than 600 in 2008. Again, most of the wounded came in the latter part of 2009, which has not ended.

What does this say about our commander in chief? What does this say about the way he feels about our young men and women who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to give up their homes, their families and their freedom; to give up their way of life to serve their country so each of us can continue to enjoy the lifestyles we have come to know and expect?

This is a President who has spoken about how we take our minority youth for granted by giving them military service as the only option to make it in the world. This is a man who associates with people who have blamed our country for sending minority children to war while "rich white children" can go to college and live the good life. This is the man who would send the young latino man to his death, when all the young man wanted was to join the Marines as a way to earn an education while providing for his family back home. A young man who would have had a chance if the President had not taken this decision so lightly. Mr. President, as a conservative, let me tell you; an American soldier is a American and they all bleed red. You may care about skin color, but a true American does not care. We just want all of our soldiers kept safe!

We have young men and women from all parts of the nation - black, brown, yellow and white; who join the armed forces for many reasons; but primarily for love of country. These young people deserve much more than this kind of treatment. These young people deserve our respect and admiration. They deserve our support and prayers. But most of all, they deserve the leadership of a commander who cares about the country, at least as much as the soldiers themselves. I do not believe they have that in the current commander in chief.

We have lost many young men and women this year to war, both by enemy fire and by suicide. While we are all preparing for this festive time of year and planning our events with family and friends, I ask that each of us take a moment each day to ask our Lord to bless the soldiers and their families and lift them up in these difficult and often, lonely times.

If you are able, perhaps you can open your home to a soldier and/or his family for Christmas dinner or adopt a soldiers family so their children can have a gift to open. During these economic times, many of us do not have much extra, but how much would it take to set an extra place at the table? I am fortunate to have a Marine and his wife staying with me - he is also a very good friend from before he enlisted. He is home now on inactive reserve, but can be called back anytime. This will be his first Christmas home and I will be honored and blessed to host him and his family.

Together, we will pray for those that are still away from their homes and the people they love; and especially for those who have come back injured or gone home to their final rest. This will be a Christmas season unlike others. It will be much simpler, much more subdued and much more focused on the reason for the holiday - to celebrate the birth of our savior and to praise him for bringing us together and keeping us free and safe. I ask that all Christians join me in this daily prayer vigil. May God Bless our soldiers, their families and may God Bless America; and each of you; and everyone you meet each day.

Year	US	UK	Other	Total
2001	12	0	0	12
2002	49	3	17	69
2003	48	0	9	57
2004	52	1	7	60
2005	99	1	31	131
2006	98	39	54	191
2007	117	42	73	232
2008	155	51	89	295
2009	302	99	87	488
Total	932	236	367	1535

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2001	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	4	12
2002	10	11	9	5	1	3	0	1	1	6	1	1	49
2003	4	7	12	2	1	3	2	4	2	4	6	1	48
2004	9	2	3	3	8	5	2	3	4	5	7	1	52
2005	2	1	6	18	4	27	2	15	11	7	3	3	99
2006	1	17	7	1	11	18	9	10	6	10	7	1	98
2007	0	14	5	8	11	12	14	18	8	10	11	6	117
2008	7	1	8	5	17	28	20	22	27	16	1	3	155
2009	15	15	13	6	12	25	45	51	40	59	18	3	302

No Guts, No Liberty!

2009-12-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, I will be the one to say it. I may be making pebbles out of boulders by Christmas, but it has to be said and nobody in the media seems to have the nerve to say it. Not even the Fox conservatives, save Mark Levin.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have been taken over by a tyrannical government and YOUR freedom is in the balance!

Our senate is currently debating a health-care bill which will cause your insurance premiums to skyrocket and your coverage to decrease. The elderly, currently dependent on Medicare, will see their benefits decrease. YOUR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS will DIE because the government will no longer provide the care they need to stay alive! They will however, provide doctor assisted suicide for those who do not want to suffer into their later years. This is not so clearly detailed in this monstrosity of a health-care bill! The Republicans have tried to bring this bill back to the table for re-tooling, but the democrats have slammed the door on their faces. This bill is 2000 pages of BS lined in democratic rhetoric, which can be summed up simply by telling Americans to bend over and grab your ankles. Folks, this government is OUT OF CONTROL!

While you are hanging your Christmas wreath this year and raising your glass to toast the birth of our Lord and Savior, take a moment and pray for the salvation of your brothers and sisters. This may be the last year you will be able to do it legally in the United States of America. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will get off your butt and do something about it. This is not something you can wait for someone else to fix. There is no knight in shining armor that will come in to rescue us. We (the U.S) were the last of the freedom fighters in the world. When freedom collapses in the U.S., it collapses the world over, and there will be no turning back.

Sleeping With The Enemy?

2009-11-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

I know this is a site for Illinois party politics, but the federal government is giving us so much fodder to write about and fear that it cannot and SHOULD NOT be ignored...

Yesterday it was announced that we will be bringing Guantanamo prisoners to New York to stand trial for terrorist activities. Talk about returning to the scene of the crime. There is so much wrong with this, I do not know where to begin.

First, these are not American citizens - how can they be protected under our Constitution, or more importantly, why?

Next, they are prisoners of war, not criminals who commited criminal acts. The rules of war are much different than the rule of law under the American Constitution. I am not a lawyer, but I have to believe laws regarding admission of evidence and national security will likely be compromised.

Most importantly, our government is placing the largest American city in danger of another serious terrorist event. With the world focused on New York City, it will once again become a target to any individual or group wishing to make an anti-American statement.

Every day we go to our jobs or to a business where we witness people making assinine decisions. When we see these examples, we wonder to ourselves, "how could anyone be so stupid?" Well, this is one of those examples. Of all of the possible decisions our government could have made, good or bad; they have chosen the worst possible decision. Now I have to ask, how can they be so stupid?

There is little question about our President's ties to his Muslim past. Frankly, I do not care what religion he chooses to follow. I do not care what he believes or does not believe. For those who use the race card, let me set the record straight; I do not care about his skin color. What I care about is how his decisions affect our nation and our sovereignty. Let the facts speak for themselves...

We already know that the President was a Cook County politician. This fact alone brings his integrity into question. Not to say that all Cook County politicians are dishonest, but let history speak for itself. We also know that the President is a liar. Yes, I said it and I can prove it! He is a LIAR! He claimed to have little to do with questionable characters in Chicago - one a racist, the other a terrorist. Of course, that had been proven a lie several times over. Then, in speech after speech he has insisted that under his proposed health care program, we would be able to retain our private coverage. In fact, we cannot. If we make any change at all to our private plan, we will be forced to switch to the government plan. If we change jobs, we will be forced into the government plan. Eventually, everyone would be on the government plan.

1. Obama claims to be an Ivy League scholar, but has not produced a single piece of paper to prove it.
2. Obama claims to be a natural born Citizen of the United States, but refuses to release his birth certificate.
3. Obama has not produced a single medical record.

There are too many unknowns about this President. There are too many unanswered questions and inconsistencies. There is far too much America bashing with this President and there is far, far too much terrorist patronizing with this President. We have our soldiers fighting a very dangerous enemy in the hills of Afghanistan, under-manned and under-protected. Our General in charge of the operation, appointed by Barak Obama has asked for additional troops, but has yet to receive a decision by the President for extra help. The President says he wants to make the right decision so he will need to think about it. That is like telling a drowning man that you are not sure whether to throw the life preserver in over-hand or under-hand, so you will not throw it at all until you make the right decision. All the while, our soldiers are dying in the battlefield at a greater rate than at anytime throughout this war.

At what point will we start asking the tough questions? At what point will we say, "enough is enough!"? At what point will we ask the President who side he is fighting for? It was announced that Fort Hood Terrorist, Nidal Malik Hasan stated that his faith came before his country. At what point will we ask the President if he feels the same? After all, it was also announced, but not widely publicized, that Hasan served on one of Obama's transition committees. At what point will we ask the President if he is an American with the interest of the American people and the security of the Constitution as his priority; or if he is an illigetimate puppet for the Muslim extremists, put in place to destroy our nation?

It is about time this President begins showing the American people that he stands for the American principles. I think it is about time this President begins to be and American. I think it is about time our Congress start asking the tough questions including, is it time to impeach and prosecute? I think it is time for our elected officials to do their job! I think it is time for Congress to ask, is this man our President or are we sleeping with the enemy?

SHOUT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD!

2009-11-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Do you know how rat poison works? The poison is set out, the rat eats it and gradually, over time, the rat will bleed to death. It is a slow, miserable, death. Such is the state of the health care system in our nation today. As of this morning, the House of Representatives passed "Obama's Death to Free Choice Health care Bill". It is the first dose of poison on our way to the death of health care as we know it in our nation.

More important than the passing of this bill are the much bigger, covert issues. As citizens, we need to think very hard about these issues. Diligence will be the ammunition in this fight and complacency, the enemy. First, after a summer of countless Tea Party protests, the likes of which this country has not seen in decades; after myriad polls indicating that as many as 89% of Americans are satisfied with the current health care program - after America had spoken LOUD AND CLEAR, their government - let me repeat, their government - the government of the people, by the people and for the people; has ignored the demands of their bosses. How does this differ from what took place in Iran over the past summer when the people of Iran protested the corrupt election in their country. Their government refused to accept the will of the people too.

The President, the Speaker of the House; and Congress have perverted the Constitution of the United States and commited treason against their nation. They have violated their oath to serve the people and do the will of the people. They have committed the most haineous crime against the people and the Constitution they swore to serve! If you do not consider this a coupe, what will it take? Tanks in the streets? Checkpoints? Imprisonment of protesters? Opposition?

This past week, we witnessed two traditionally democratic states turn conservative with the election of conservative governors. This reinforced what I have always known - that Americans are generally a fiscally conservative people with moderate social views. Moreover, they are not the far left socialists that the current administration represents. So, one should wonder, why did this message not make it's way to the White House on Tuesday? Some say it is arrogance. Some believe that the current administration simply believes that Americans are stupid and will forget Tuesday's election by next November when the Congress is up for grabs. It is a possibility, but if I were a sitting senator up for re-election next year, I would not want to take that bet. So if it is not government arrogrance, than what is it? I am not sure, but I have my theories. Suffice to say, be vigilent, be vocal, be skeptical and be on-guard.

We as Americans face many threats around the world. Do not be too sure that the greatest threat to our soveriengty is not residing in our White House today. We must continue to protest. When the government ignores our protests, we must protest louder. If they still do not listen, then we must get louder. In 1776, we had the shot that was heard around the world. In 2010, let's have the "SHOUT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD"!

Gambling Your Future?

2009-08-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, Illinois permitted the first riverboat casino to open, allowing people to bet their financial future on a roll of the dice. Since the first casino opened, others followed. People flocked to the riverboat casinos for an opportunity to win a fortune. Let's face it, it is a good time. Food, drinks, colored lights, noises; literally something for all the senses.

Gambling has a darker side, however. First, many, many, people spend money they do not have for a chance to win money, often leaving pennyless. Frequently, the very people seen in a casino cannot afford to be there, spending a very limited income on an unlikely dream. These particular people become a greater burden on the state, aka, the taxpayer. These people turn to the federal government for help with mortgages they cannot pay. These people compromise the welfare of their children and the sanctity of their homes. These people are not the people we hear about on the 9PM news. We hear and see the people with large amounts of disposable income, who are willing and can afford to throw it away, pun intended.

Another dark side of the gambling boat phenomena is the conflict between unhealthy desires and religion. Simply put, it is sinful to gamble, yet many "Christians" spend millions of dollars being hipicrats to their faith and their God. DOn't get me wrong, many people gamble - a friendly bet on a game, or who will win on American Idol, lottery tickets, or the best one, playing Bingo in a church. I have even gambled from time to time in a nickel/dime game of cards. For the most part, I hope and believe that I, and people like me, will be forgiven for our "human frailties". If a person spends a life savings or the grocery budget, gambling on a boat; I am not as confident. It is their choice and I will not judge.

Now, the state of ILlinois is asking to expand gambling around the state. They want to add poker machines in public places, additional gambling boats and other opportunities for lives to be destroyed. The state looks at this as an opportunity to make fast money to cover budget shortfalls. In other words, the state is doing the same thing as the millions of tax payers - betting on a get-rich-quick scheme. The only problem is, while it is a gamble for the taxpayer to jump on a boat; the risk to the state is not quite as high. The state will make money.

Logic tells us, if the state can make money off of people willing to spend their money, why not let them? Here is why. The more money the state makes, the more they spend. In all liklihood, some of the millions the state is making off of gamblers, is returned to the gamblers in the form of financial aid, food stamps, etc. To test the validity of the claim, consider that the more gambling opportunities we have added in the state, the higher the deficit has become. Is there a way to validate this theory? Possibly. But it is not necessary because whatever cause and effect their may be, the reality is that the state is going broke despite the ridiculously high property, sales, tobacco, income and many other taxes we are paying.

The solution to our financial problems is not to go to the people for more money, beit in the form of involutary taxation or voluntary spending on gambling, the solution is to reduce spending! WHen we run out of money in our household budget, responsible people do not go to their neighbor and order them to give them money. Responsible people stop spending. We criticize people for burying themselves in credit card and other debt, yet the state is the best example of fiscal irresponsiblity.

As taxpayers, we must force our state government to turn off the faucet and stop spending. We must tell them that sponsoring and spreading dangerous vices throughout the state is not an acceptable way to solve our financial problems. We must insist that our government practice the morals they claim to have when they run for the office they now hold. We must make this happen and the best place to send the message is in the voting booth. We already know that the current group of politicians setting up to run for office are just more of the same people, from the same club, that will do the same thing. The time could not be better to fill the governor's mansion that Abraham Lincoln once slept in, with a governor that stands for common sense conservatism. The Illinois Whig party, the original party of Abraham Lincoln, will bring fiscal responsiblity back to government. If you are tired of the same corrupt, political non-sense, join the Illinois Whig party now and start to make a difference.

SIgn up at Illinoiswhig.org or Modernwhig.org

Eat Snacks, Pay Tax...

2009-08-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

From the book of "Tax 'em till it hurts"; Illinois has decided to impose a tax increase on virtually every consumer in the state. Starting September 1, if you eat snacks or drink coffee or tea; you will not be required to pay a painfully higher sales tax. The only exception is for snacks made with flour and food that requires refrigeration.

The state answered complaints by saying, it is not a tax increase; just a reclassification of consumables. Your budget will not know the difference. In short, up to now, if you purchased snacks, prepared coffee or tea, you were taxed at the food rate of about 2%. After September 1, these items will now be charge tax at the highest rate, which varies from city to city. In Chicago for example, you can pay as much as 13% tax for your Snicker Bar.

Have not heard anything about this? Probably not, since publicity would make the Governor look bad. By imposing this tax on business and charging it via retail purchase, the consumer will believe it is a retailer imposed price increase. Of course, if you purchase your Snicker bar at a Walgreens or Jewel, you can see the tax on the receipt; if you are inclined to look. If however, you purchase the food from the vending machine at your office, it will only appear as a price increase.

This tax as stealth as it is, is no accident. Our governor knew what he was doing. He will instantly raise several million dollars to spend on luxuries, waste, useless projects and other necessary initiatives; and most residents will be none the wiser.

As citizens of this state, we need to mark this down in our book so we remember when Pat Quinn asks for your vote next year. The state of Illinois has been hit hard by the recession. We are home to major manufacturers, such as Chrysler, Ford and Caterpillar - all of whom have been hit hard and seen thousands of employee layoffs. If it were necessary to raise funds for the state to cover expenses, the middle of a major recession is not the time to do this. So here are some alternatives I would suggest...

When the money runs out, stop spending!
When lobbyists and special interests ask for money, just say NO!
Keep the governors limo for a few thousand more miles...better yet, sell the limo and buy a Ford Focus!
Turn off the lights in the governor's mansion.
Instead of extravagant catered dinners for your "business" events, buy a box of burgers at the grocery store and toss them on the grill. I can even agree to a slice or two of cheese - processed American.
Instead of staffing the Secretary of State License Facility with a deadbeat at every station, have them learn to multi-task, like every other working stiff in the state. If you can run a cash register, I am confident you can be taught to take a picture.

Here's the bottom line...until you cut every penny of unnecessary spending out of the budget, I do not want to hear a word about increased taxes, reclassification of goods, revenue enhancement plans or whatever the buzzword of the day might be. If the state is taking money out of my pocket, there is only one word for it, TAX!

A Sign Of Things To Come???

2009-08-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

The life of a party chairperson is weighed down with many things. Among them, I must do research constantly so I can be somewhat knowledgeable about the things I talk about here. My research today, brought me to the GoArmy.Com website. Don't ask me why; I just want to know what my military is doing around the world.

I was floored by a job posting I found on this website. The Army is recruiting soldiers to work in internment and resettlement camps. At first I thought, well, we have POW camps in Afghanistan, Iraq and who knows where else. Then I thought, most of those camps are protected by the Marines - the worlds hardest working and toughest of our Armed Forces. THen again, I do not recall hearing them called internment camps. The last time I heard that term when used in an American military context, was in history class when I learned about the Japanese internment camps that were opening on our soil, during world war II.

During his campaign, Barak Obama talked of a national security force. Like the healthcare mess, he painted it pretty and covered the smell with rosey words. However, when I heard "national security force", a chill ran down my spine. THe Gestapo and KGB were national security forces.

We are hearing the arrogant and insulting comments made by the Obama administration, when describing the overwhelming opposition to the proposed healthcare plan. We can see YouTube videos from Town Hall Meetings around the country where honest, hardworking Americans are asking simple questions and looking for honest answers, only to be shouted down by the speakers or carried out by security.

Fellow Americans, if our lawmakers are bold enough to thumb their noses at voters with legitimate concerns and questions, you can rest assured, this plan will be passed, regardless of what you and I think. It will be forced upon us just as sure as communism was forced upon Eastern Europe. The politicians do not care what you think.

So I ask, what is the intention of these internment camps? Are they for foreign POW's or are they for the decenters here in this country? Are they for people fighting against our principles or are the for the people fighting to uphold our principles.

I am not Paul Revere and I am not sounding the alarm, but as an American, I am opening my eyes much wider and watching very close. If you care about your way of life, it is time for you to open your eyes as well. We are at a turning point in our place in history. How we vote and how we participate in the process will determine how this chapter will be written in history books of the future.

The Inmates Are Running The Asylum

2009-08-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

We live in the great State of Illinois. We enjoy four seasons every year, we can drive a couple hours and see anything from the second largest city to cattle grazing. It is a state with a down-to-earth, home-town attitude. It is a state that has the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears and many other minor league teams (joking).

However, it is not all bliss here in Illinois. We have a State government which has been managed and manipulated by Cook County corruption. Despite the fact that our state is populated with 13 million people, we are controlled by the 3 million that reside in Cook County. From it's politicians to it's labor union leaders to it's special interests, there are 10 million people who are forced to pay punitive taxes and are subject to laws and regulations for the sake of the 3 million residents in Cook County. Actually, it is not the residents that are forcing us to suffer, but the far-too-many criminals running the Cook County government that are holding the rest of the state hostage.

For example, gang crime is increasing at a frightening pace in Cook County, yet the citizens of Illinois are not given the right to carry concealed weapons. How much would crime be affected if you can carry a handgun for your own protection or for the protection of your friends and family? How likely would it be for a punk to confront you if he did not know whether or not you were packing heat?

Chicago is now in a battle with Wal Mart over the addition of another store into the city. Wal Mart and the people in the neighborhood would love to have a store where they can work and purchase goods at a competitive price. Yet, the labor unions have used their power to influence the City of Chicago, not to allow Wal Mart to open in the city. So what's next? The people in this neighborhood continue to live off the government and shop at a corner grocer, paying prohibitive prices for everyday goods?

The next governor of this state must be prepared to face the city of Chicago and the labor unions head-on and withhold funding until they are convinced that ethics, not greed or corruption, must be the law of the state. It's time to tell the gangsters running the city, that their days of reigning by threats and influence are over. It's time for the people of this state to elect someone with the courage to "just say no!"

Who Do You Want To Manage Our State?

2009-07-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

Is our current Governor, Pat Quinn, doing what you want or expect him to do? Is he running government in this state as well as it should be run? What else should he be doing? What is he doing wrong? What is he doing right?

I'll admit, he is a far cry better than the crook who preceded him, but is he good enough? I have my thoughts and I will share them in a weekend blog post, but I want to hear what everyone else thinks? Now is the time to join this blog and make your comments known.

The Future of Illinois

2009-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic how Illinois was the Land of Lincoln and the home of Ronald Reagan, yet in 2009, the conservative movement is flailing like a fish out of water here in the heartland of America?

Illinois is a very large state with a diverse culture. However, when most people think about Illinois, the think about Chicago and Cook County; the birthplace of political corruption, dating back to the early part of the 20th century. Just in my life, Illinois politics has been tainted by the likes of Dan Walker, George Ryan, Dan Rostenkowski and Rod Blagojevich. Frankly, I am not confident about the integrity of Jim Thompson either. These politicians have muddied the image of our fine state and tattooed their crossbones on the minds of people the world over.

What do they all have in common? They are all Chicago or Cook County politicians. They care only about lining their pockets. Most of our neighbors in Illinois have common sense, conservative beliefs. From the farmers in the southern part of our state who work tirelessly to keep their family farms a going concern, to the small business owners in the counties throughout the state who just want to see a dream come true. Yet, our political direction is dictated by a few greedy, corrupt people who hold their constituents hostage for their vote or buy them with promises of a better life. All they have to do is vote Cook County Democrat and the state will take care of them.

We witnessed the latest Cook County politician to join the list of "all about me" politicians with Mark Kirk's announcement that he would run for senate in 2010. So our early choice is Mark Kirk, representing the Republicans or Alexi Giannoulias on the Democratic ticket. Once again, two Cook County politicians, two liberals and two more people to cause the people of Illinois to lose faith in the future of Illinois.

Mark Kirk has been a strong supporter of the Democratic party - which makes up most of his constituency. His most recent display was his vote for Cap and Trade - one of 7 Republicans to vote for this, the highest energy tax ever to be levied on the American people. Alexi Giannoulias comes from a family of bankers who have as questionable a past as Al Capone.

Unfortunately, these will be our likely choices - unless some down-to-earth, every man (or woman) from downstate decides to take a bold and brave move to launch a campaign for the sake of the rest of us in Illinois.

I cannot guess if this yet unknown person will take the plunge, but everyone in this state must make their dissatisfaction known early and often to the Kirk campaign. Mark Kirk must remove himself from this race and make room for someone who cares less about how many Ben Franklin's he can line his pocket with and more about how many Lincoln loyalists he can line his campaign with.

Wake Up Call!

2009-07-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the DuPage Whig Party Blog. The Modern Whig Party was started by a group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Today's Whig Party is the original party of Lincoln, reborn to address the careless behavior of both, the Republican and the Democratic Parties.

As Americans, we are facing challenges to our freedom, unlike anything we have seen in this country for more than 230 years. It is no longer acceptable to sit back and accept what our lawmakers push through as laws and policy. Voter apathy is the weapon politicians will use to destroy our way of life! Your aggressive participation in the process is the sword that will slay the beast of socialism. It is no longer enough to talk about the challenges to our liberty at the water cooler. All Americans must join the fight for their freedom and liberty.

If you are a fiscally conservative, disenchanted Republican or a Moderate Democrat who believes that common sense should guide our government, the Modern Whig Party is your new home. Take the first step toward positive change by joining the Modern Whig Party. Visit Modernwhig.com for more information and to become a registered member of what will be the Party of America's salvation. God Bless and Save America!