McHenry County Blog

A jobs announcement that

• Melissa Bean,
• Bill Foster,
• Pat Quinn and
• Alexi Giannoulias

won’t highlight.

500 good paying new jobs.

Caterpillar makes excavators in Aurora.

In a liberal Democrat’s Congressional district.

So where in Illinois did Caterpillar, headquartered in Peoria, decide to build a new plant to build more excavators?

Nowhere in Illinois.

They decided on Victoria, Texas.

How much money was given to Caterpillar to incentivize them to locate those jobs in Victoria?

$300 million?

$200 million?

$100 million?

None of the above.

It was a $1.18 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Yes, for a measly 1million dollars, 500 good paying new jobs went to Texas.

Democrats from Foster, Bean, Giannoulias to Quinn can chalk this up to as a failure to get 500 new good paying jobs to anywhere around here and anywhere in Illinois.

Illinois Democrats seem to take voters for granted where they don’t have to work to bring good jobs to Illinois.

With new capacity in Texas, once the facility is up and running, you can bet over time, jobs will be shifted more to Texas and less in Aurora.

The prior week Caterpillar announced a plant expansion in North Carolina and 325 new jobs to build skid loaders.

Expanding in North Carolina, but not Illinois.

Not in a liberal Democrat Bill Foster’s district. By voting for Obamacare, he cost Caterpillar a huge earnings hit.

Illinois Democrats like Foster, Bean, Giannoulias and Quinn all favor and support aggressive tax raising policies and aggressive unionism. Something Caterpillar is obviously saying they don’t need more of.

Foster wouldn’t help Cat and voted for changes in tax law that punished Caterpillar and pushed huge costs onto Cat. You can bet Cat couldn’t care what Foster had to say if he even bothered to be involved with this new jobs decision.

Groundbreaking for the 600,000 sq. ft. plant will be in September according to Texas Governor Perry’s press release.

Texas Governor Perry is a Republican. So Illinois Democrats lost 500 new good paying jobs to a Republican politician for a measly $1 million.

It appears Democrats in Illinois don’t have a job creation strategy.

Maybe that’s why the Illinois Chamber of Commerce endorsed Republican Bill Brady for governor.

Losing these new jobs is an enormous failure of first-term Democratic Party Congressman Bill Foster, as Aurora is in his district.

It shows how out of touch he is with a huge employer in his area.

It may become the largest local issue in the Congressional campaign.

One that Randy Hultgren can point to as an obvious new jobs failure when campaigning against liberal Democrat Foster.

It’s pretty easy for people to conclude Foster is inept at this jobs and economy stuff.

How could a Republican do worse?

Losing 500 new jobs that could have been in Illinois, McHenry County or in Aurora to Texas is Rod Blagojevich-like incompetence as a politician.

Perhaps Republicans can rally working Democrat voters to select the Republicans.

Both Democrats Melissa Bean and Bill Foster voted on Tuesday for a $10 billion giveaway to the teachers unions, along with a $16 billion bailout spending to the states.

The politics included cutting serious dollars from food stamps.

To show how the Democrats are into free spending now with “savings” much later you have to look at when the “savings” will happen.

The spending is immediate to maximize the political benefit, but the food stamp cuts won’t go into effect until 2014, well after the next presidential election in 2012. The food stamp program is officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

It’s a blatant political payoff to the unions.

This is Bean’s and Foster’s politics, which Republican challengers Joe Walsh and Randy Hultgren are working hard to point out to voters.

I pointed out Monday how the teachers unions alone will rake in at least $83 million in more teacher dues as a result of this giveaway.

You can expect any mainstream or local newspaper coverage to omit the $83 million union dues part that can fund Democrat campaigns for the November election.

The idea that enormous giveaways to the unions are going to create economic growth with taxpayer money giveaways to unions is absurd on face value and any serious, objective analysis.

Penalizing the poorest Americans to the tune of $57 per month for a family of four to pay for it is political arrogance.

Illegal immigration and not seriously enforcing immigration laws are favored as a practical matter by Bean and Foster.

What they won’t tell Democratic Party voters is how 11 million illegals have forced down wages for millions of working Americans.

An obvious example is one of restaurants able to hire cheap workers rather than hire legal ones who they may have to give higher wages and benefits to.

Here’s one way it’s done.

Small businesses can withhold federal taxes from illegal’s pay checks and never turn in the deducted money to the government. If you turnover the illegals so they don’t stay working there too long, an owner can use the excuse, if ever caught red-handed, that it was a bookkeeping error for that one person, for example.

Think of who now owns the typical convenience store, gas station or dry cleaning business.

Think these owners want the flood gates of illegal immigration to stay open and are willing to reward liberal Democrats with campaign contributions for doing so.

For some reason social justice for liberal Democrats like Bean and Foster means having American wage levels being suppressed in the real marketplace.

It’s supply and demand.

No wonder teens can no longer find summer jobs.

Certain job openings, when they occur, are being slotted for illegals.

When Democrats call for immigration enforcement, at the same time with both hands they are preventing the feds from actually doing so.

Illinois Dems, Bean and Foster, learned a lot from the Blago playbook of politics – you are for, whatever you say you are for.

For example, Blago will prove his innocence by testifying at his own trial.

It will happen, until it doesn’t.

Obviously the Dems are betting any poor people won’t believe Dems voted to cut food stamps because it won’t happen for a few years.


Thanks to Capitol Fax Blog for the link to Public Opinion Strategies memo describing its poll findings in the 11th district race between Democrat incumbent Debbie Halvorson and challenger Adam Kinzinger.

51%-40% for the Republican with the ratio getting better as the less interested voters are pealed off.

Rich Miller, who writes Capitol Fax Blog, cautions that the same pollster was way off in the November election two years ago.

This is the second incumbent Democrat to come out on the short end of an internal poll run by a Republican opponent.

But this is the second incumbent whose opponent’s pollster finds in trouble.

The first was Phil Hare, who represents northwestern Illinois’ 17th District south of 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo. Hare’s opponent is Bobby Schilling.

The question locally is whether 14th District incumbent Bill Foster and 8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean are in danger as well.

Do challengers Randy Hultgren and Joe Walsh have a chance?

In the 11th district, Glen Bolger writes,

“…26% saying things in the country are going in the right direction and 68% believing the country has gotten off on the wrong track.”

A generic Republican would have won the district 48%-32%, with 20% undecided, in early August.

With regard to Halvorson’s image, the pollster reports her favorables are now at 35% favorable, lower than her 39% unfavorable rating.

This might be significant in Bean’s race, since it shows a woman, with her built-in advantage of about five percentage points, can lose favor, if there is enough negative light shined on her.

In Halvorson’s case, I believe the negative publicity has come from her misplaced criticism of Republican Adam Kinzinger’s war record.

The challenger got reassigned after the primary election, but his web site was not updated.

“Big deal!” I think the constituency concluded while also deciding that Halvorson’s criticism was far too harsh.

No similar negative publicity has resulted for Bean.

And, Bean has had the advantage of hundreds of thousands of dollars of favorably television ads over three elections. Halvorson is in her first term, having replaced Republican Jerry Weller in the Illinois Barack Obama landslide.

There’s something call a “new person” rating. Apparently, it refers to the number of people who think a new person would be best for the office.

Halvorson now has a 33% level of support against 55% wanting a new person.

Methodology for the survey?

400 likely voters having a margin of error of +4.9% in 95 out of 100 cases.

National Public Radio reports on a 1,200 person poll taken in 70 U.S. House of Representative districts considered swing districts.

Three from Illinois—Bill Foster’s, Debbie Halvorsen’s and Melissa Bean’s—were included.

The results nationwide showed voters selecting Republicans over Democrats 49% to 41%.

The relevant part of the story for McHenry County residents follows:

“…the newest poll may also show that Bean is vulnerable.”

Republican Joe Walsh and Green Bill Scheurer are challenging Bean in the 8th District race.

Last night The Rothenberg Political Report published an article headlined,

IL14: Hultgren Even With Foster in Own Poll

The 300 likely voter poll showed a statistic tie with Randy Hultgren at 45% and Bill Foster having 44%.

Not a lot of undecideds.

The Terrance Group poll was taken Monday and Tuesday at Hultgren’s behest.

Other polls show Foster with a favorability rating of 40%-41%. Personal ratings for foster were 40%-33%, while Hultgren’s were 22%-4%.

55% thought the district needed a new congressman. The generic Republican/Democrat breakdown was 47%-36%.

Both Bush and Obama carried the district with 55% of the vote in the most recent presidential elections.

Perhaps, southern McHenry County Republicans should be thinking about helping Hultgren south of McHenry-Kane County border.

While national Beltway observers don’t think much of Joe Walsh’s chances of upsetting Melissa Bean in the 8th congressional district, one respected commentator has described GOP candidate Randy Hultgren’s chances against incumbent Democrat Bill Foster (south of the McHenry-Kane County line) as a “pure toss up.”

While Hultgren reports his best fund raising quarter yet, the cash on hand ratio of incumbent to challenger is over 10-1, about the same ratio as seen between Bean and Walsh.

Here’s Hultgren’s spin:

The Momentum is Shifting!
Great news from the campaign trail!

This week non-partisan political analyst Stu Rothenberg came out with his latest House race rankings, and he’s moved Rep. Bill Foster’s seat closer to the Republican column, calling it a “Pure Toss Up!”

Additionally, thanks to the huge outpouring of support from around the district, our campaign had its best fundraising quarter yet!

I want to thank you again for the support you have provided my campaign for Congress in the 14th District!

I feel a deep commitment and responsibility to the people of our community to be a Congressman who represents you and your values. The election in the fall represents an opportunity to choose between two very different value systems and two very different visions for our future.

• My vision seeks to accelerate business and job growth. Bill Foster and Nancy Pelosi want government to grow.
• My vision empowers the individual. Bill Foster and Nancy Pelosi favor empowering government.
• My vision values freedom. Bill Foster and Nancy Pelosi value “collectivism.”
• My vision includes an understanding that taxes and regulation are a burden on the entrepreneur. Bill Foster supported Nancy Pelosi in passing enormous tax increases on small business and burdened them with unnecessary regulation.

Our country is at a crossroads. Our choice in the upcoming election will have implications not only for our children but for their children as well. I believe we can win the House back and restore fiscal responsibility for our children’s sake. I am confident that we can prevail in helping to shape America’s future and make sure its best days are ahead of her. To move in that direction, I need your help.

We will face a well-funded Bill Foster in the fall campaign. Mr. Foster has already been supported financially by special interests eager to have him continue to do their bidding. Therefore our campaign has to effectively communicate its message through YOU!

You can be a critical part of our message delivery through simply sharing the message of our campaign and why you believe in it. We plan to provide you with information over the next several months so you can share the clear differences between me and Mr. Foster with your friends and neighbors.

Your next step in helping the campaign is sharing this email with people you believe should know about the issues in this campaign. Our goal is to have a well-informed group willing to share why they care so much about our country’s future.

I continue to be humbled by your support.

Best regards,

RANDY HULTGREN
Candidate for Congress

A press release from 8th Congressional District Republican candidate Joe Walsh alerts me to polling results for both the 8th and 14th Districts. Melissa Bean is the incumbent Democrat Walsh is challenging.

Democratic Party candidate Bill Foster is the candidate from south of the McHenry County line being challenged by State Senator Randy Hultgren.

Here’s the Walsh press release that led me to We Ask America’s web site:

Poll Shows Walsh Ahead of Bean

(Lake Zurich, Ill)–A poll conducted by We Ask America two weeks after the primary shows Joe Walsh leading incumbent Melissa Bean 38.33% to 37.61%.

The sample size of 827 people was based to match the demographics of the district with a margin of error around ±3.40%.Green Party candidate Bill Sheurer received 3.97% while 20.19% were unsure.  We Ask America is a non-partisan polling company that surveys more than 4 million people each year.

The results for the 14th District show Republican Randy Hultgren leading Democrat Bill Foster 37.82% to 36.47%.  Green Party candidate Daniel Karis 4.53%.

The poll was taken about two weeks after the early February primary election.

The polling firm explained its technique like this:

“As with all of our polls, the participants were selected to match the demographics of the district we called, and were selected from our propriety database of likely voters. The margin of error for each is around ±3.40%.”

Sent last night after the health care vote in the U.S. House, State Senator Randy Hultgren, the Republican challenger to 14th District Democrat Bill Foster, this press release says Foster is “bought and paid for” by the Service Employees International Union.

Bill Foster’s Vote Betrays the Trust of the 14th District

Dear Friend:

Tonight, Bill Foster dealt the 14th Congressional District a devastating blow!

Foster’s vote to takeover health care doesn’t only run contrary to the wishes of his constituents, it delivers on the commitment he made to HIS real boss, Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union.

In the Washington Post this week, Stern boasted of the debt owed to SEIU by Foster saying that “Foster, who we ran a significant independent expenditure for, we’re telling him what it is our workers thought they were working for him for” in reference to the Pelosi/Reid health care bill.

It is clear, by the admission of SEIU to the Washington Post of access and influence, that Foster is bought and paid for by special interests at the expense of the residents of the 14th Congressional District!

Not only did Foster commit this heinous act of multi-generational theft, harming residents of Illinois by taking away Medicare benefits to seniors and shifting unknown costs to our children and grandchildren, he also committed another heinous act against the unborn.

In a later vote, Foster voted to uphold Nancy Pelosi’s commitment to government-funded abortion!

I am fighting to serve in Congress so that we STOP the special interest buying spree of Congress, STOP the government from paying for abortions and STOP the abuse of the taxpayer’s money!

Please support me in my fight against this union-funded, out-of-touch liberal who puts the interests of the SEIU and Nancy Pelosi before the interests of you by donating $5, $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford to contribute.

Thank you for your help in this crucial fight for our future!

Sincerely,
Randy Hultgren

P.S. I need your support today to stop these horrendous pay-for-play tactics being used by my well-funded opponent!

Like sharks smelling blood in the water, candidates are surfacing hoping to kill re-election chances of Blue Dog Democrats.

The thought first came to me when 8th congressional district Barrington native Joe Walsh announced he would seek the GOP nomination against Melissa Bean.

Now State Senator Randy Hultgren is running for Congress in the 14th district south of the Kane County line against Democrat Bill Foster.

What both candidates have in common is that they have run campaigns before. Hultgren for DuPage County Board, state representative and state senator; Walsh for Congress against Sid Yates and for state rep. Hultgren won, Walsh didn’t, but it gave them both experience in the type of race that someone who wants to be a congressman would find helpful.

I don’t see lots of money that Hultgren has raised, but his campaigning skills are honed.

Walsh obviously did not defeat the long-term Chicago Democrat in the 1996, but that race and one for state rep. would have developed campaign skills. He probably accurately reports that his fund raising skills will be quite helpful in what will probably develop into a multi-million campaign (at least on Bean’s part and necessary on Walsh’s part, if he is to win.)

Others seeking the 14th District nomination are Jeff Danklefsen of Geneva, Elburn’s Ethan Hastert, Mark Vargas of St. Charles and Bill Cross, from Shabbona. It should be noted that Hultgren is from the eastern edge of the district, which may not be an advantage.

Those announced in the 8th District are Maria Rodriguez the Long Grove village president, John Dawson of Barrington and Greg Jacobs of Mundelein

The demonstration is planned for Randall Road from 11-1 on Saturday.

It will stretch from Crystal Lake to North Aurora.

Since most of Randall Road runs through 14th District Congressman Bill Foster’s district (from the McHenry-Kane County line south), my guess is that the protest is aimed at convincing this Blue Dog Democrat not to vote for the most radical health care changes that have been proposed by President Barack Obama.

Below are the groups and locations down Randall Road to the Algonquin Commons:

GROUP LOCATIONS ALONG LIBERTY TRAIL

Ackeman Rd. to Angela Lane, Crystal Lake

• We the People group(Crystal Lake) JeffTipps,jam@paragonmicro.net
• Cary Americans Care group, Debbie Asprooth

Miller Road to Acorn Lane, LITH

• McHenry County Campaign for Liberty, Chris Jenner
• Fox Valley Campaign for Liberty, Laura Jenner

Acorn Lane to W. Algonquin Rd., LITH

• Patriots United, Karen Ulrich, 630-967-8784, www.patriotsunited.com
• Lake Zurich 9-12 Patriots
• Dorian Cindy and a group of friends
• Carla & Friends–Lake Zurich

W. Algonquin Rd. to County Line Rd., Algonquin

• Algonquin Tea Party, Gail Covenah

County Line Rd. to Corporate Pkwy., Algonquin

• United We Stand, Kim Brown
• Palatine Tea Party Group Gail Linn 312-590-8336

Huntley Rd. to Binnie Rd., Carpentersville

• Carpentersville Tea Party, Martin Miller
• Minutemen Midwest, Diane Evertsen
• Chicago Minuteman Project, Ev Evertsen