GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - August 20, 2007
GOPUSA Illinois Daily Clips for August 20, 2007 includes news and commentaries on the following topics:
- Immigration activist Elvira Arellano arrested in LA and deported to Tijuana
- McHenry County Immigration discussion heats up
- McCain's immigration stance affects prez bid
- Schoenberg features potential U.S. Senate candidate Jim Nalepa
and more . . .
USA TODAY
-- McCain: Immigration stance hurt campaign
(THE ARTICLE: Sen. John McCain said Sunday that his support for immigration changes hurt his presidential candidacy because people were not convinced that it would secure the border. He also said his campaign, faced with staff departures and lackluster fundraising, is bouncing back. "We are back on town hall meetings, and enthusiasm is there. And we're going to be just fine in my campaign," the Arizona Republican said on CBS' Face the Nation. "Every campaign has its ups and downs." McCain said he is the most qualified of all the candidates in either party to take on radical Islamic extremism. He is scheduled to speak today in Kansas City, Mo., at the 108th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.)
NASHUA TELEGRAPH
-- Cox, Huckabee, Paul, and Tancredo help cook up cash at Hillsborough County Republican Committee’s annual fundraiser at Alpine Grove in Hollis, more than 500 pay $18 each to attend - Joseph Cote
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Tancredo said he did have a rock and sling he’s counting on. “It’s called illegal immigration,” he said. “We’re going to throw that stone every chance we get.” Tancredo said illegal immigration has been a top issue for him during his nine years in Congress, and he’s the only candidate who has consistently called for the deportation of illegal immigrants. Cox echoed that. “Three words: Enforce the law,” he said to a round of applause. Perhaps the most agreed upon topic, though, was Clinton. Cox described himself as the “perfect anti-Hillary.” Huckabee said he wanted to be the Arkansas governor who beat Clinton for the presidency rather than the one who married her.)
SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Bernard Schoenburg reports on Jim Nalepa
(FROM THE ARTICLE: That’s no joke Some jokes work, and some jokes don’t. I think it’s safe to say that JIM NALEPA of Hinsdale, who is considering a run against Durbin in 2008, told one that didn’t quite work last week as members of the Republican State Central Committee and Illinois Republican County Chairmen’s Association gathered at a hotel to start off Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to take this opportunity and hush the crowd a bit, and like to take a moment of silence in remembrance of a great American. Dear Lord, please watch over your humble servant whose memory we honor today. He brought a lot to this great nation, and mourn your loss, along with our governor, Roderick (sic) Blagojevich, whose idol you are, Elvis Aaron Presley, on (the) 30th anniversary of your death.” I would say kind of a shocked silence ensued. “Well, I thought I was going to get a laugh out of that one,” he said — and at least people chuckled at that line. “I’m a far better political speaker than I am a joke teller,” he said later, “and I would rather have the former than the latter.” In his prepared remarks about Durbin, Nalepa, who twice ran for Congress in the 1990s against then-U.S. Rep. BILL LIPINSKI, D-Chicago, took a distinctly tougher tone. He called the Springfield Democrat “a politician who revels in the cheap shot” and “who has become a national embarrassment.” “Senator Durbin wants to provide scholarships to illegal aliens and send them to our colleges. I want to build the fence and secure our borders,” Nalepa said. “Senator Durbin compares men and women at Guantanamo to Nazis, and I call them heroes.” Nalepa said in an interview later that he does not condone torture or illegal acts by Americans. But he thinks Durbin’s Senate floor comments in June 2005 comparing the treatment of some prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to that meted out by strong-arm regimes ended up “tarring our every single American man and woman in uniform with the same brush.” And he found Durbin’s apology “lukewarm at best.” Nalepa, 50, a West Point graduate who now runs an executive recruiting firm, also said he thinks Durbin is “a mouthpiece for the hard-core left.” Nalepa, who rose to captain and whose six years of active duty included three years in Germany, where he was with combat-oriented units, says he participated in the U.S. rescue mission in Grenada in 1983, where he was public affairs officer. He said Lipinski, during campaigns, made light of that job — but shouldn’t have. “I don’t want to characterize myself as the heroes that are in Iraq, but whether you’re a cook or whether you’re a mechanic, whenever you put on America’s uniform and you’re in a combat zone, you’re in the line of fire,” Nalepa said. While Nalepa hasn’t formally announced for the nomination, two announced candidates — ANDY MARTIN of Chicago and Dr. STEVE SAUERBERG of Willowbrook — also spoke. Sauerberg called Durbin “the most liberal and divisive senator in this nation.” MICHAEL DALY, spokesman for Durbin, said it’s not yet time to respond to specific allegations from possible nominees. “These people are running against one another, not Senator Durbin,” Daly said. “When they’re finished deciding who’s going to run and who the nominee is, we’ll have plenty of time for this debate.”)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
-- OUTSTANDING: Elvira Arellano arrested in L.A. Deported to Tijuana, pastor says -
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Rick Biesada, director and founder of the Chicago Minuteman Project, lauded the arrest, but he said it came a year too late. "I was wondering why the police were dragging their feet," he said. "By not going in there and getting her, other illegals were going to churches seeking sanctuary. Now we're going to have hell to pay in this country trying to extract these people.")
-- Blagojevich raises lawmakers' pay, ire Move seen as bid to secure health deal -
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), a budget expert whose Senate GOP caucus opposed funding the pay raises, charged Blagojevich with using his health-care proposal as a political cover "to justify breaking a campaign promise" to stop the raises. She suggested that the governor was trying to buy off lawmakers by saying he would give them pay raises and expect them to support what he wanted.)
DAILY HERALD
-- McHenry County immigration debate going public -
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Rosanna Pulido, the project’s director, said the group chose McHenry County for Saturday’s event in memory of three county residents whose violent deaths in 2006 it blames on illegal immigration. Verna Corcoran, an 83-year-old Marengo woman, was killed in her home May 14 by a man in the country illegally. The next week, Jon Fiala of Huntley died when his motorcycle was struck by an illegal immigrant driving drunk on a county highway. A month later, Dean Knospe of Crystal Lake died when his motorcycle was struck by a suspected drunken driver who was in the country illegally after being deported three times previously. “If these people were not allowed in the country, those citizens might very well be alive today,” Pulido said. “The argument (against deportation) is that it’s wrong to separate families, but they’re separating Americans from their families. Nobody is talking about that.” . . . . Inside the hotel, Beck will speak about how local law enforcement can fight illegal immigration. He will be joined at the podium by representatives of Choose Black America, a national African-American group opposed to illegal immigration. Pulido pointed to the group’s involvement as a response to claims her organization is racist. “It’s the same old rhetoric, that we’re the Ku Klux Klan,” she said. “Perhaps they should ask Choose Black America why they’re coming to a Ku Klux Klan meeting.”)
-- Dems lay into Obama - Eric Krol
-- Obama criticizes fellow Democratic candidates -
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/illinoisstory.asp?id=341529
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/illinoisstory.asp?id=341529
-- How do we sign up for illegal status? - Mary Robins, Arlington Heights
(THE LETTER: Do we contact our state senators, or the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien? If my understanding of the bill recently passed by the Senate is correct, an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, to become a citizen, is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and am anxious to get the process started before everyone else figures it out. I’m excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that we can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family as we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005. Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, I would save several thousand dollars per year. Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver’s license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. I wonder who would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms.)
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Cyndi Loza argues that if taxpayers do not subsidize the cost of birth control for low-income college girls, they will get pregnant
DAILY SOUTHTOWN
-- When Jones broke word on budget, he shook base of capitol politics - Rich Miller
ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH
-- Blagojevich's plan to expand health care unlikely to survive - Eric Potter
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Officials, including Comptroller Dan Hynes, D-Chicago, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, have questioned the constitutionality of a plan that calls for spending more money where the Legislature has not appropriated it. And even though a special rule-making committee must approve whatever changes Blagojevich proposes, many lawmakers still see the move as an end-run around the Legislature. "This is not the right process to have a dramatic debate on universal health care. It's not the right place," said Rep. Brent Hassert, R-Romeoville, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, a 12-person committee of lawmakers that establishes the rules by which state agencies implement state law. "To have 12 members of JCAR start deciding public policy,
that's not a good precedent, either.")
that's not a good precedent, either.")
NAPERVILLE SUN
-- DuPage County adjusts election calendar
(THE ARTICLE: A change in state election law that has moved up the presidential primary in Illinois by six weeks also is creating changes to DuPage County's election calendar. The DuPage County Election Commission is pushing up the county's dates since the Illinois General Assembly changed the 2008 state primary to Feb. 5. With the change, candidates have been able to circulate nominating petitions since Aug. 7, and the filing period for federal, state, county and judicial candidates will begin on Oct. 29 and conclude Nov. 5. Absentee voting will be done by mail Dec. 27 through Jan. 31, and in person Dec. 27 through Feb. 4. Early voting will begin Jan. 14 and continue through Jan. 31. "We want to make sure that everyone who wants to participate in the coming election is aware of these new deadlines," said Bob Saar, the election commission's executive director. For more information call the election commission at 630-407-5600.)
ILLINOIS REVIEW
-- Clarification About Oberweis Team - Fran Eaton
(THE ARTICLE: In yesterday's post entitled: Oberweis vs. Lauzen: The Bloodsport Begins, it was inferred that Dan Proft may be involved in the Oberweis campaign because of his partnership with Oberweis consultants Jeff Davis and Bill Pascoe. However, according to Dan Proft - who contacted Illinois Review today - this is not the case. Said Proft: "I have nothing to do with and absolutely no involvement with the Oberweis campaign, or any other campaign for that matter. Urquhart Media is not the general consultant of record of that campaign. Jeff Davis and Bill Pascoe are involved but formed a separate entity precisely because I desire no involvement and want it to be clear that I have none. . . . I have not talked to Oberweis; I have not attended a single campaign meeting; neither I nor Urquhart Media is being compensated by the Oberweis campaign. I have similarly not spoken with Lauzen or his campaign. In other words, again, I am in no way, shape or form involved in that contest and I adamantly desire no involvement." Fair enough. We take Mr. Proft at his word. Davis' and Pascoe's Victory Media Group may share partners, personnel, and office space with Urquhart Media, but Proft has never discussed with his officemates and associates the Oberweis campaign. Sort of like believing Hastert's staff moving to the Oberweis team doesn't really constitute an endorsement.)
KANE COUNTY CHRONICLE
-- 14th Congressional District: 'A time for new leaders to emerge' - Paul Dailing
(FROM THE ARTICLE: House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Plainfield, said losing Hastert was a change, but not an insurmountable problem, for the Republican Party. “All teams, corporations, go on transitions. People leave,” Cross said. “It will be time for new leaders to emerge.” And one of the major battlefields where those leaders could emerge could be Kane County. “I’ve been told that 65 percent of the population of the 14th Congressional District is in Kane and Kendall counties,” said state Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, who previously said he would run if Hastert doesn’t, but hadn’t officially announced as of Friday. “I think [the area] is very important.” . . . Three of the announced candidates – Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, Fermilab physicist Bill Foster and attorney Jotham Stein – call the Tri Cities home. Foster lives in Batavia, Stein in St. Charles and Burns in Geneva. The two who have not yet officially announced – Lauzen and dairyman Jim Oberweis – both hail from Aurora. A focus on one area – even the most populated one – could be dangerous for a candidate, Burns said. “You don’t run to represent the 14th Congressional District and focus on one area of the district,” he said. . . However, Lauzen said the core values – if not the rural versus suburban lifestyles – are the same through the 14th Congressional District. “I find that a lot of the values that we hold dear in the Fox Valley are shared across the rest of Illinois,” Lauzen said.)
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
Teri O'Brien gives outstanding presentation at TAPROOT picnic - Dave Diersen
Teri O'Brien gave an outstanding presentation at the TAPROOT annual picnic yesterday, Sunday, August 19, in Westmont. She fielded many outstanding questions from the attendees. Attendees included Mike Blodgett, Wally Brown, Don Castella, Carolyn Connell, Karen Diersen, Pat Garrey, Bob Graham, Rich Johns, Judge John Kinsella, George Kocan, Vern McCarthy, Frank Penn, Marilyn Rickert, and Don Smith.
