McHenry County Blog

Michael Stanard leans out of his red pickup truck with his logo, a take-off of the old Standard Oil one, to greet Corey Stohlquist at Marengo's Settlers Days Parade.

McHenry County Board candidate Michael Stanard explains what a 5% cut in the county budget would mean in terms that his 13-year old could understand in the following press release:

A SIMPLE, EASY & PAINLESS WAY TO END THE COUNTY BOARD BUDGET DILEMMA

If my 13 year old daughter or yours, for example, was receiving a $20.00 allowance, and if her allowance was reduced by merely 5%, she could certainly make do with nineteen dollars, instead of twenty.

Our teenager might whine a bit at first, but she would soon realize and quickly agree to help mom and dad with the household budget. After all, only one dollar less would not put much of a crimp in her lifestyle.

The 2012 County Board budget will amount to $254,000,000.

That is, the County Board spends over 24 million each month – $695,890 – each and every day.

If we were to make a 5% cut, across the board, in every agency and every department, the savings would amount to $12,700,000 – almost 13 million dollars, per year.

This could be accomplished without the painful surgical removal of entire programs that are critically important, desirable or otherwise emotionally charged.

Like our 13 year olds, 5% less would not put a crimp in the County Board’s life-style.

Is a solution that would obviously work for a 13 year old too simple and easy?

Click the sign-up link in the email below and here's what you will see.

Here’s the message that was sent out by MoveOn.org asking people to show up Congressman Peter Roskam’s Bloomingdale office at noon on Tuesday. One would assume that similar messages were sent concerning demonstrations at all the other Republican congressmen’s offices.

MoveOn member, This weekend, it became 100% clear that Republicans would rather see America default, Social Security checks stop going out, the stock market plummet, and unemployment soar than give one inch on their position: that the very richest people and most profitable corporations shouldn’t pay one penny more in taxes.

Even after the president offered Republicans a debt-ceiling deal most MoveOn members probably consider unconscionable—with trillions in cuts, even to Medicare and Social Security—Speaker Boehner still walked away from the table.

Our only chance to move the Republicans is to make sure that the dire consequences of their actions are laid directly at their feet. So with other leaders of the American Dream movement, we’re putting out an urgent call for every patriotic American to show up outside Republican congressional offices on Tuesday at noon to deliver a crucial message: “Don’t destroy the American Dream.”

We need to show up in force and let Rep. Roskam know that we’ll hold him accountable for his position and for the consequences to our economy.

Can you drop by Rep. Roskam’s office on Tuesday at Noon?

Yes, I can drop by on Tuesday!

We’ll follow up with all the details and a link to print your own “Don’t destroy the American Dream” signs to bring to Rep. Roskam.

Then you just have to show up on Tuesday here:

150 South Bloomingdale Road, Bloomingdale, IL 60108

We need to show as much public concern as possible, so please pass this along to anyone else you know who could join in on Tuesday. This is a moment when we need to bring together the vast majority of Americans who find the Republicans’ position immoral.

Let’s get out there on Tuesday and let Republicans like Rep. Roskam know that crashing the American economy in order to protect tax giveaways for the rich is unacceptable.

Click here if you can drop by Rep. Roskam’s office on Tuesday at noon:

http://civic.moveon.org/debtdropby.html?id=29154-19007439-6BjsRyx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Elena, Tate, Robin, and the rest of the team

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Peter Roskam will be Algonquin Township’s congressman, if the Democrats’ remap withstands a still-unfiled Federal court challenge.

A message from State Rep. Mike Tryon to his constituents:

Friends,

As the General Assembly heads into its final weeks of the legislative session, I wanted to update you on some important pieces of legislation.

Budget talks are taking center stage this month and I will continue to provide a voice of fiscal conservancy in the Illinois House.

Mike Tryon

It appears that Governor Quinn is still out of touch with the realities of today’s economy and remains an advocate for runaway spending.

At home in District 64 and across the state I have seen firsthand how families have responded to the current economic conditions by getting by on less and I believe they want their government to do the same.

I will not support a budget that further increases debt.

Significant budget reductions are in order if we are ever to make Illinois a financially-stable state.

To that end, I will do my best to advocate for programs and agencies which rely on state funding, but will be a vocal supporter of initiatives that

• reduce waste,
• eliminate outrageous salary increases for State employees and
• fairly address the failing pension system.

Last week two key votes took place on controversial issues in the House.

HB 148 would have permitted people 21 and older to carry guns if they were properly registered and had completed eight hours of training, including target practice. Applicants would have also needed to pass a background check and a review of their mental health history. The bill came up six votes shy of the 71 affirmative votes that were needed to bring Illinois in line with the 48 states that currently allow concealed carry in some form. I was a co-sponsor of this bill and will continue to fight for the Second Amendment rights of all Illinois citizens. Another high profile vote last week regarded the medical use of cannabis.

HB 30 would have created a three-year pilot program to allow people with certain medical conditions to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana from registered non-profit dispensaries. I voted against the bill because I still have significant concerns about federal enforcement of medical vs. recreational marijuana and also about how the drug would be distributed.

Over the last few months I served as chief sponsor of several bills that passed through the House and which now are pending in the Illinois Senate. Here is a summary of a few of those bills:

• HB 308 would protect the quality of groundwater in Illinois by providing regulation of the installation of geothermal heat pump systems. The construction of these systems can impact nearby septic systems and water wells, creating a risk to the water supply, and proper regulation would prevent potential problems. Twenty-nine other states protect their groundwater by providing some form of registration or licensure of closed loop well contractors.
• HB 309 would expand the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal (ITAP) to include information about the recipients of gubernatorial and legislative member initiatives. State law does not currently prescribe procedures to be followed in the administration of these grants, and HB 309 would provide full and complete disclosure to the public about gubernatorial and legislative member initiatives and hopefully eliminate the misuse of public funds by listing the expenditures in a searchable database.
• HB 3103 would further expand the ITAP to include all floor and committee roll call votes from the House of Representatives and Senate. The bill would make State government more accessible to the people of Illinois and hold legislators accountable for their attendance and activity, or lack thereof.
• HB 2915 also enhances transparency to the taxpayers of Illinois by adding the salary, insurance benefit, and pension/annuitant payment information for all State employees of the legislative branch of government. This would include members of the House and Senate. The bill would also provide that the ITAP must include a database of all current State grants, sorted separately by grantee name, awarding agency, grant value, and the purpose for which the grant is awarded and also a public forum and commenting interface on the site.
• HB 1101 was filed in response to Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to sell the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal Bureau of Prisons last year. There are substantial public policy implications in selling any valuable piece of State property, and I believe the General Assembly deserves to have a say in large transactions like these. Under this bill the Governor would be required to seek General Assembly permission before selling any state asset with a value of $1 million or more.
• HB 2558 would address the perceived financial issues that arose during the recent corruption trial of the McHenry County State’s Attorney. The bill would mandate that when a sitting public official is investigated and tried on charges, the courts would look to other public prosecutors to do the work. The bill would also require that the scope of the investigation be well-defined and that county boards be given estimates on costs so they could plan for the expense. The bill would also allow county boards to receive itemized bills for the fees.

As always, do not hesitate to call or email me if you have additional questions or if you would like to discuss any other issue. I can be reached at (815) 459-6453 or via e-mail at mike@miketryon.com.

Best Regards,

Michael W. Tryon, State Representative, District 64

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I have searched in vain for Senate committee votes.

Freshman "Tea Party Stars" Steve Southerland (R-FL) and Joe Walsh (R-IL) at the beginning of Christine Armapour's ABC Sunday interview show "This Week."

Four freshman Tea Party Republican “Stars” were interrogated by ABC’s Christine Armapour Sunday morning.

This Left Stream Media host relentlessly pushed the left wing agenda of the Barack Obama Administration. You can find the entire nine-minute video here.

A shorter, three-minute version put on YouTube is here.

One of the four was the 8th Illinois District’s Joe Walsh. The others were Steve Sutherland (R-Florida), Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R- NC).

About raising the debt limit, Walsh replied, “I wish they got as excited as all of the debt that they are piling on the backs of our children and grandchildren.”

“Business as usual in this town is no longer going to exist,” Walsh said concerning raising the debt limit. “The American people sent us her because in a large way they recoiled about all this spending here.”

“There’s got to be something structural on the spending side,” Walsh added, referencing the Balanced Budget Amendment he recently introduced.

Florida Republican Allen West argues that Federal spending should be no higher than 20% of Gross National Procduct. He said President Obama is on track to see 24$ to 26% of what we produce being spent by the Federal government.

“I don’t believe in leadership by fear and intimidation,” former member of the Armed Forces West asked for automatic spending cuts when the debt ceiling was being approached.

Rep. Renee Ellmers' degree in nursing made her the natural person to

Rep. Renee Ellmers, a Registered Nurse from North Carolina, defended the changes in Medicare to “save Medicare.”

“It saves money for Medicare over time and actually increases coverage.”

The Moderator then pushed for the Administration’s goal of higher taxes.

“You raise revenue by growing the economy,” Walsh replied.

"You raise revenue by cutting taxes," Joe Walsh told the ABC audience.

“Every time we’ve cut taxes, revenue has gone up,” Walsh said as moderator Christine Armapour insisted that taxes had to be raised.

"Every time we cut taxes, revenue goes up," Joe Walsh said.

She came back for a second bite and Walsh calmly criticized “your profession hasn’t gotten on him more,” allowing him “a re-do.” Why the pass for President Obama for not leading on entitlement reform.

Reporters don’t answer questions, of course, and she didn’t defend the indefensible.

"I may lose 2012, but I'm not going to lose me in the process "Steve Southerland (R-FL) told the ABC audience.

“Great leadership means you sometimes have to take hits…I may lose 2010, but I’m not going to lose me in the process,” Florida’s Southerland said, concluding the show.

Here’s what McHenry resident Steve Stanek wrote the Chicago Sun-Times about those folks in Springfield

To the editor:

“Down in Springfield, it’s fool-the-taxpayer time,” the Sun-Times wrote (“If this is reform, what’s with the loopholes?” editorial, May 29). When is it not fool-the-taxpayer time?

On top of their sham campaign reform, Gov. Quinn and certain lawmakers want a “temporary” income tax increase in place of Quinn’s permanent 50 percent increase, which apparently cannot win enough votes to pass.

Remember, a “temporary” income tax increase became permanent under Gov. Jim Edgar.

That move was supposed to fix the state’s budget. Instead, budget woes have multiplied.

Tax increases simply enable more of the corrupt and wasteful spending that plagues this state. Tell the conniving manipulators who run Illinois no more tax increases!

Steve Stanek

The letter from Skokie’s Rick Singer isn’t bad either. Click to enlarge.

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The snake oil salesman is from a 50-year old cartoon on YouTube, “Make Mine Freedom,” a “Moving Minutes” Production by John Sutherland for the Extension Division of Harding College. It’s a defense of capitalism.