GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - June 27, 2008
GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips for June 27, 2008 includes news and commentaries on the following topics:
- McCain, Obama, Blagojevich, Schillerstrom, Birkett, Radogno, McKenna
- Republican Party candidates, campaigns, and events
- Republican Party platform issues including promoting a strong national defense, respect for the rule of law, individual responsibilitiy, traditional values, etc.
- Illinois budget problems and more...
LOS ANGELES TIMES
-- Sen. Obama might be just Obama without law written by Sen. McCain - Andrew Malcolm
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Funny how things go around and come around. In his initial run for the U.S. Senate in 2004, this fellow Barack Obama, who we seem to be hearing a lot about these days, was one of the very first beneficiaries of the so-called millionaire’s amendment that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Thursday. Obama’s main Democratic primary foe that year was Blair Hull, a wealthy investor who poured $28 million of his own money into the campaign. But under that same national campaign finance law, Hull’s immense personal spending on himself released Obama from the $2,100 per donor cap then in effect. And it allowed him to raise his own campaign money in increments up to $12,000 per donor. That national campaign finance law was co-written by another now familiar name, John McCain, the senator from Arizona. Now, McCain is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who will face Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, on Nov. 4 to become president of these United States. Talk about unintended consequences. Some analysts believe that Obama might well have lost that crucial first step onto the national political stage without the financial boost he received from McCain's law allowing him to gather . . . sums in excess of that $2,100 cap. He certainly would have been unable to finance statewide television advertising. And then, talk about luck, an Illinois court also helped Obama further when it unsealed Hull’s divorce filing, allowing Chicago newspapers to report embarrassing details about the millionaire’s marriage at about the same time as the ads for this fresh Obama face began airing. But, wait! His luck wasn't over. In the ensuing general election, Obama faced Republican millionaire investor Jack Ryan. But, would you believe it, an alleged sex scandal involving his ex-wife forced him out of the race. And the Illinois GOP -- talk about desperate -- turned to that political powerhouse, Alan Keyes, who was destroyed by newcomer Obama.)
-- McCain seeks to reassure conservatives in Ohio - Peter Wallsten and Bob Drogin
ABC7
-- OUTRAGEOUS: Gov says he won't stop contributions from state contractors - Andy Shaw
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=6230828 (Includes video clip)
CBS2
-- Did Rezko Witnesses Lie? Or Did Governor? New Court Documents Show Blagojevich Denied Having Conversations Described By Witnesses - Mike Flannery
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/blagojevich.rezko.case.2.758300.html (Includes video clip)
-- McCain: Chicago Gun Ban Infringes On Rights Obama: 'What Works In Chicago May Not Work In Cheyenne'
DAILY HERALD
-- During the 1990s, DuPage County was the face of Republican Party dominance in Illinois politics. Now, not so much. But two county officials are often mentioned as possible candidates for statewide office in 2010. State's Attorney Joe Birkett recently told the Daily Herald he's considering a run for either governor or attorney general. He narrowly lost the attorney general race to Democrat Lisa Madigan in 2002 and was the lieutenant governor nominee on the GOP ticket that lost in 2006. County board chairman Bob Schillerstrom also seems to have increasingly fancied himself a political player in recent years. Most recently he helped put votes on the mass transit bailout in exchange for getting a state-approved sales tax hike in DuPage that bailed out his budget. So here's the question: Come November 2010, do you think either Birkett or Schillerstrom will be on the statewide ballot? Feel free to elaborate. - John Patterson
-- Governor asked to raze raises before cutting other programs - John Patterson
-- Fledgling DuPage economic group needs cash - Jack Komperda
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
-- Illinois lawmakers: ruling to make it tougher to pass gun restrictions - Jeff Meitrodt and Rick Pearson
-- Millionaire's amendment decision won't impact Illinois much - David Mendell
-- U.S. investigators interviewed Blagojevich on 'multiple occasions,' court document says Judge in Rezko case releases filings about governor -
-- VERY SAD: HITLER, STALIN, AND OTHER DICTATORS AGREE: Repeal the 2nd Amendment - Editorial
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: VERY SAD: Chicago Tribune promotes illegal immigration, amnesty, more guest worker programs, again
-- Anonymous newsmakers - Timothy McNulty
(FROM THE ARTICLE: A few readers have claimed it is hypocritical for me to support limited anonymous sourcing in reporters' articles while opposing anonymous postings on the chicagotribune.com comment boards. I see protecting those who need protection as a legitimate concern. The anonymous postings, however, allow the cowardly mob to conceal themselves as they spread hate and falsehood. Anonymity is a worldwide issue. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, visited the Tribune editorial board last week and discussed how the Internet, for all its glorious democratization, has also become a "superhighway for hate." He said Google and Yahoo and other Internet providers have not been able to find an acceptable way to reduce the widespread electronic hate speech without becoming censors. Few want regulations or legislation that endangers free speech. The ADL was instrumental in passage of an "anti-mask" law in Georgia in 1951, aimed at the Ku Klux Klan. Anonymous posting, especially the virulent ones that are racist and anti-Semitic, are, to my mind, the modern equivalent of wearing a mask. We ought not to allow it.)
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
-- Court blows away gun ban 5-4 VOTE Ruling D.C. law is unconstitutional triggers lawsuit challenging Chicago's curbs -- but experts doubt significant change here soon - Abdon Pallasch
-- FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH COLOR PHOTO OF BLAGOJEVICH: Who lied, witnesses -- or gov? REZKO TRIAL Feds reveal he denied pay-to-play remarks described by 2 in court
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: NOT SURPRISING: Deborah Douglas blasts Obama's critics
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: VERY SAD: Chicago Sun-Times editorializes against Second Amendment rights, again
SOUTHTOWN STAR
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Kristen McQueary promotes Radogno
NAPERVILLE SUN
-- Choose DuPage wants more jobs for county Organization: $5.5M should be enough to push initiatives - Paige Winfield
WHEATON SUN
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: The Wheaton Sun knows full well which Republican candidates and elected officials will walk in Wheaton's 2008 Independence Day parade because its Wheaton reporter, Hank Beckman, reads the GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails every day. Outrageously, the Wheaton Sun article on the parade does not include anything about which Republican candidates and elected officials will walk in the parade. Outrageously, the article does not include anything about Republicans sponsoring the Chicago Highlanders or Cub Scout Pack 64. Outrageously, the Wheaton Sun, which acts as an agent of the Democrat Party, promotes its bias against Republicans.
OTTAWA TIMES
-- Election awareness, forum Saturday
LAKE COUNTY NEWS SUN
-- Vote Republican - Phil Collins
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/opinions/letters/1025360,5_4_WA26_LETTERS_S1.article
(THE LETTER: I heard Sen. Barack Obama say that the 2008 elections should cause change and I agree. We can change the government by electing more Republicans. Democrats control the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Illinois Senate and Illinois House. If Illinois voters want to change the government, we'll ensure that Republicans regain control of those four houses. If that happens, those politicians will decrease tax rates, decrease spending, defend us from terrorists and discourage illegal immigration.)
ILLINOIS REVIEW
-- Illegal immigration: Stop the Debate, it's not welcomed - Rosanna Pulido
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Dave Gorak makes some additional points about illegal immigration
-- Sen. Obama Has Skillfully Played Not One, But Many Different Race Cards - Mark Rhoads
TOM ROESER
-- See How the Archdiocese Cowed Pfleger? Back Bigger than Ever and on “Good Morning America!” . . . Fr, Andy Greeley Explains It All for You - Russert and Hesburgh Should Have Been Bishops. Figures.
CAPITOL FAX
-- What do you think the chances are that Sen. Radogno runs? What do you think the chances are of her winning the primary? - Kevin Fanning
REPUBLICANS FOR FAIR MEDIA
-- Does the "O" in FOX Stand For Obama? Softball interview with Obama May Mislead Public - Daniel T. Zanoza
ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE
-- VIDEO CLIP: VERY SAD: Gay Agenda -- Shapes U.S. Politics
-- VERY SAD: Chicago Gay Pride Parade 2008 - Arlene Sawicki
POLITICO
-- Meet the make-believe political strategists of TV -
CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
-- Jigsaw Politics: The Congressional Hotbeds - Bob Benenson
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Illinois: The fact that favorite son Obama will be the Democrats’ presidential nominee makes Illinois (21 electoral votes) one of the safest states for his party in November’s election. Obama gives Democratic strategists hopes for a “coattails” effect in the state’s host of six competitive House races. They are playing defense in two of these contests and are staging takeover bids for four Republican-held seats in a delegation in which they currently hold a 11-8 edge. The seat most vulnerable to takeover is the Republican-held 11th District, left open by retiring seven-term GOP Rep. Jerry Weller . Already benefiting from a blue-chip recruit in Debbie Halvorson, the majority leader in the Illinois Senate, the Democrats got a gift when the original Republican nominee dropped out of the race a couple of weeks after the primaries. The Republicans since have picked Martin Ozinga, a concrete company executive, as their replacement nominee, and he could ultimately make the race more competitive, but it is currently rated by CQ Politics as Democrat Favored. The Democrats’ other major takeover bid is in the 10th District, in the northern suburbs of Chicago. GOP moderate Mark Steven Kirk , one of the few Republicans to represent a district that favored Democrat John Kerry over President Bush in 2004, is also one of the nation’s best-funded incumbents. But he faces a rematch with the Democrat, business consultant Dan Seals, who gave Kirk a tough race in his 2006 debut as a political candidate. Democrats also are staging longer shot bids against 6th District freshman Republican Rep. Peter Roskam and for the 18th District seat left open by seven-term Republican Ray LaHood. Democrats are defending the seat that scientist/businessman Bill Foster won in a stunning special election upset this March. The 14th District seat he won had been held for two decades by Republican J. Dennis Hastert, the former House Speaker, who resigned his seat last year. Foster faces a rematch with dairy company executive Jim Oberweis, who is now burdened by four losses in major electoral contests this decade. Republicans are making another run at Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean , who has won two terms in the affluent, GOP-leaning 8th District in suburban Chicago because of her business background, campaign skills and relatively centrist image. She faces a challenge from Republican businessman Steve Greenberg. Both Bean’s and Foster’s races are rated Leans Democratic.)
CROSSWALK
-- This Time the Religious Right is Right - Sandy Rios
CBS NEWS
-- Priest (PFLEGER) Who Mocked Clinton Stands By His Message - Scott Conroy
WALL STREET JOURNAL
-- State Farm Sponsors Hispanic Voting Drive - Miriam Jordan
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Some conservative critics are wary of the campaign because Latinos have tended to support the Democratic Party. State Farm doesn't have a political action committee and doesn't give money to any campaigns, a spokesman said, though it is likely that executives and employees associated with the company have given to both parties' candidates.)
-- Conservative Leaders Urge McCain To Speak Out on Social Issues - Elizabeth Holmes
MOTOR TREND
-- 'Vette Owners: Drive Your Corvette to Work Day is June 27
(DIERSEN: Sadly, because of the anti-conservatives at GAO's Chicago Office and their supporters, I do not have a paid job to drive to. Further, sadly, if I was still working at GAO's Chicago Office and they found out that I had driven a Corvette to work, they would say that evidenced my bad judgment, evil motives, and disrespect for their planet earth.)
MID AMERICA MOTORWORKS
-- OUTSTANDING: National Corvette Day Official! - Mike Yager
(DIERSEN: CO-SPONSORS INCLUDED: Costello, Johnson, Kirk, LaHood, Lipinski, Manzullo, Roskam, and Weller SEE: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:1:./temp/~bd8DIN:@@@P|/bss/110search.html|)
(THE PRESS RELEASE: We very excited to announce that last night, June 25, 2008, the U.S. Congress approved the vote, presented by Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL), to declare June 30th a National Day of Recognition for Corvette! As the longest running, most widely respected production sports car in United States history, the Chevrolet Corvette is more than a material possession. It is truly a symbol of American pride. In January, Mid America Motorworks launched a grassroots movement to honor America’s True Sports Car with a National Day of Recognition. Because the Corvette first rolled off a Flint, Michigan assembly line on June 30, 1953, we asked that June 30th be declared National Corvette Day. Be sure to remember your favorite sports car this Monday!)
DIERSEN: "It's the economy, stupid." It is obvious that Democrats are driving America's economy down to elect Democrats on November 4. Needless-to-say, it is very sad that so many are going to vote for members of a political party that drives America's economy down to elect its members. Democrats believe that "the end justifies the means." Real Republicans believe in the rule of law and they advance the Republican Party platform.
