McHenry County Blog

Not only was State Rep. Jack Franks spanked by the Chicago Tribune Sunday, but Chuck Sweeney, the political columnist for the Rockford Register-Star took negative notice of his Com Ed tree removal legislation, House Bill 3884.

The Rockford Reg-ster-Star got "Chainsaw Jack" to blame his tree massacre bill on a constituent concerns for a four-day power outage after last summer's storm.

After hostile reaction from those who consider quality of life quite an important reason for living in McHenry County, Franks has figured out his bill to allow chainsawing every tree within 20 feet of an electric line “too severe.”

That sounds like his reaction to the blowback from his co-sponsorship of the bill to allow red light cameras.

He even features a video on his web site on the issue.

It reminds me the “NOT ME”-themed cartoons of Family Circus.

Opposition came from municipal leaders, the McHenry County Defenders the Fleming Road Alliance and The Land Conservancy of McHenry County.

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County had this to say about "Chainsaw Jack" Franks' bill- "From community character and property rights perspectives, this bill is a disaster. If passed, it has the potential to literally destroy the character of communities by giving the power companies the right to REMOVE trees that they deem a hazard -- regardless of whether or not that tree might be a 200 year old oak that was there long before their company (or the state of Illinois) even existed." "

The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County picked up on the email alert from Lisa Haderlein of The Land Conservancy of McHenry County and sent our one of their own, which you see in part below:

“There is a bill in the Illinois House that would give the electric utilities the authority to remove any trees that can grow taller than 25 feet and are growing within 20 feet of their lines.”

Haderlein characterized the bill as “the ComEd Clear Cut bill.”

Franks told Sweeney, ““I’m not happy with the way it was drafted, that’s why I didn’t call it for a vote,” said Franks.”

Right.

The outcry from your constituents and potential constituents had nothing to do with your rapid retreat, your backing and filling.

The Chicago Tribune used the same movie title in one of its editorial headlines about "Chainsaw Jack" Franks' Com Ed clearcut bill.

The final two sentences in Sweeney’s column about his talk with “Chainsaw Jack” seems to refer to McHenry County Blog:

“Franks strongly objects to some bill opponents who are calling him ‘Chain Saw Jack.’

“’I don’t want to have clear-cutting going on,’ he said. ‘I live on a farm with a forest in back. No one can question my conservation credentials.’”

Well, maybe it’s not Franks’ “conservation credentials” that should be questioned.

Maybe it’s his judgment.

But, if the tool fits, maybe the nickname is appropriate.

What an argument for term limits and, lacking that, a Republican opponent who will knock on the door of every home with a tree within 20 feet of a power line and tell the owner, “‘Chainsaw Jack’ introduced a bill that wold have allowed Commonwealth Edison to chop down your tree without even telling you, let alone getting your permission.”

Can’t say I’ve ever seen this before.

Politician A quotes Columnist A in an attempt to gain support in campaign against Politician B.

Politician A takes Columnist A’s words completely out of context.

Columnist A gives Politician A a whooping!

Politician A is Congressman Adam Kinzinger.

Politician B is Congressman Don Manzullo.

Columnist A is Rockford Register-Star political guy Chuck Sweeney.

Rockford Register-Star political columnist Chuck Sweeney wrote a critical piece about Congressman Adam Kinzinger's quoting from his columns out of context.--way out of contest. Click to enlarge.

Here’s part of Sweeney’s column today:

“Kinzinger’s campaign sent out a “Dear Friend” letter, under his signature, that slammed his March 20 primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan. Imagine my surprise when I read this paragraph from Kinzinger:

“A Rockford Register Star columnist recently said Congressman Manzullo’s voting record bears resemblance to ‘that of Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank.’ No, it wasn’t Barney Frank’s record but it was actually the voting history of my opponent, Congressman Don Manzullo.”

I’m the Rockford Register Star columnist he quoted. He took me wildly out of context.

Kinzinger took six of my words and gave them a totally new meaning. Here’s what I really said in my Jan. 22 column:

“Kinzinger and Manzullo are engaged in a fight-to-the-finish duel about who is more conservative. And Kinzinger is characterizing Manzullo’s record as something resembling that of Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank.”

Then I added this to drive my point home:

“I’m sure Rockford’s liberal activist-in-chief Stan Campbell would be flabbergasted to hear that. You’ll excuse me while I try to stop laughing. The local ‘liberalati’ (a new word, feel free to use it!) have been criticizing Manzullo as a right-wing extremist for ages.”

The Rockford Register-Star Building

Chuck Sweeney, the political editor of the Rockford Register-Star came up with something I have not seen elsewhere:

“I never cease to be amazed at how brain dead the national political debate has become.

“Consider President Barack Obama’s news conference last Wednesday, in which he railed against tax breaks for corporate jet buyers.

“These rich fat cats should pay up, he said six times.

“Problem is, it’s HIS tax break.

“Obama came up with it to save and create jobs in the domestic general aviation industry.

“The tax credit was in the 2009 stimulus bill, and it was a darned good idea.

“But it’s only worth $3 billion, or about a week and a half worth of the unwinnable (ask the Brits and the Russians) Afghanistan war.

“To borrow from a famous John Kerry line: Obama was for the corporate jet tax break before he was against it.”

He also comments in the column on the loss of Rockford political power under the Illinois Democrats’ reapportionment map.

The Rockford Register-Star’s Political Reporter Chuck Sweeney Something called had an interesting rumor about a potential Democratic Party candidate against Republican Congressman Don Manzullo in his Sunday column.

Instead of having an under-financed 2008 general election opponent, Manzullo will face Robert Abboud, village president of Barrington Hills, Sweeney reports.

While Abboud runs his own company–RGA Labs–now, if memory serves me correctly, the nuclear engineer used to work for Commonwealth Edison.

Abboud is probably best known for being his father’s son. The elder A. Robert Abboud was President of the First National Bank of Chicago and, later, the Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

You can read Abboud’s political views in the Rockford column. I’d suggest reading the comments, too, some of which Abboud replies to.

What Sweeney did not mention is that Retired General John Borling may run for Congress as an independent this time, instead of as a write-in candidate as he did in 2006. (Borling did next to nothing in McHenry County and garnered 76 write-in votes. Manzullo got 66% of the votes cast in McHenry County.)

Whether that would cut into Manzullo’s base or the Democratic Party’s base will take some pretty sophisticated polling to figure out.

Someone named Sean on The Swing State Project laid out this strategy for an Abboud victory:

What a Democrat must do to win the district is not that hard. They must run at least even in the small counties along the Wisconsin border like Boone, Stephenson, and hold Manzullo to about 53% in Jo Daviess, 55% in Carroll, and to 58% in Ogle. As for the big population centers, they have to win big in Winnebago county(about 57%), and hold Manzullo to 56% in the district’s portion of McHenry county.

While Abboud now lives in Barrington Hills, he grew up in Fox River Grove, where his father was quite active in reform politics.

Abboud and his wife Patricia gave $2,520 to Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks in 2006, a year when Franks had no opponent.

The Rockford Register-Star’s Political Reporter Chuck Sweeney Something called had an interesting rumor about a potential Democratic Party candidate against Republican Congressman Don Manzullo in his Sunday column.

Instead of having an under-financed 2008 general election opponent, Manzullo will face Robert Abboud, village president of Barrington Hills, Sweeney reports.

While Abboud runs his own company–RGA Labs–now, if memory serves me correctly, the nuclear engineer used to work for Commonwealth Edison.

Abboud is probably best known for being his father’s son. The elder A. Robert Abboud was President of the First National Bank of Chicago and, later, the Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

You can read Abboud’s political views in the Rockford column. I’d suggest reading the comments, too, some of which Abboud replies to.

What Sweeney did not mention is that Retired General John Borling may run for Congress as an independent this time, instead of as a write-in candidate as he did in 2006. (Borling did next to nothing in McHenry County and garnered 76 write-in votes. Manzullo got 66% of the votes cast in McHenry County.)

Whether that would cut into Manzullo’s base or the Democratic Party’s base will take some pretty sophisticated polling to figure out.

Someone named Sean on The Swing State Project laid out this strategy for an Abboud victory:

What a Democrat must do to win the district is not that hard. They must run at least even in the small counties along the Wisconsin border like Boone, Stephenson, and hold Manzullo to about 53% in Jo Daviess, 55% in Carroll, and to 58% in Ogle. As for the big population centers, they have to win big in Winnebago county(about 57%), and hold Manzullo to 56% in the district’s portion of McHenry county.

While Abboud now lives in Barrington Hills, he grew up in Fox River Grove, where his father was quite active in reform politics.

Abboud and his wife Patricia gave $2,520 to Democratic Party State Representative Jack Franks in 2006, a year when Franks had no opponent.