McHenry County Blog

A press release from the Illinois Republican Party:

Probably inspired by publicity about the 25th anniversary of the appearance of “Where’s Waldo?” the Illinois Republican Party ran a contest called, “Where’s Tammy?”

On Tuesday, the Illinois Republican Party announced David Rogers of Bloomingdale, IL as the lucky winner of its contest to hear Tammy Duckworth speak this Thursday, September 27.

Mr. Rogers will fly to California tomorrow, enjoy a one night’s stay and dinner, then have the rare chance to hear Tammy Duckworth speak Thursday at Santa Monica College.

“We’re thrilled that a lucky 8th district resident will finally have a chance to hear Tammy Duckworth in person and potentially ask her a question,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady.

“We wish more voters from the 8th District could enjoy this exclusive opportunity to hear Tammy Duckworth. The people from

• Trinity Lutheran in Roselle, Rainbow Academy in Carol Stream, and
• the League of Women Voters

would have had this same opportunity, but Duckworth declined to address those organizations when her and Walsh were extended invitations.”

“Tammy Duckworth is free to chose the voters of California over those in the 8th District,” Brady continued.

“But if she’s going to claim she will represent the people of the 8th better than Congressman Walsh, she should spend more time in the district publicly addressing the concerns of voters. Hopefully she can get a fresh start when Dave Rogers of Bloomingdale makes the trek to California to finally have a chance to hear her speak and ask a question.”

Contest winner Dave Rogers stated, “I’m excited to finally have the chance to hear Tammy Duckworth.

“She hardly comes into the district, and when she does it comes with little public notice for people to attend.

“I hope I can finally get the chance to ask her a question about where she is on the issues since I’ve heard so little up to this point. I also won’t mind enjoying Los Angeles for a day.”

Since I hadn’t gotten a reply from the McHenry County Republican Party to my request for a list of Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention in Tinley Park, I decided to make my own list.

I didn’t meet the couple on the left who are sitting next to Dave Hubbard.

I know I missed one man and his wife (maybe you can identify them in the photo above), but below are the people I recognized are listed in alphabetical order:

• Pam Althoff, McHenry
• Beck Cress, McHenry
• Jerry Davis, McHenry
• Larry Emery, Crystal Lake
• Andrew Gasser, Fox River Grove
• Shawn Green, Huntley
• Damon Hill, Woodstock
• David Hill, Crystal Lake
• Michele Hill, Woodstock
• Cameron Hubbard, Crystal Lake
• Dave Hubbard, Crystal lake
• Prat Kata, Lake in the Hills
• John Landon, McHenry,
• Sharon Meroni, Barrington Hills
• Cheryl Meyer, Lake in the Hills
• Doug Meyer, Lake in the Hills
• Anna Miller, Cary
• Betty Miller, Crystal Lake
• Bob Miller, Cary
• Nick Provenzano, McHenry
• Michael Smyk, Marengo
• Cal Skinner, Lakewood
• Michele Skinner, Lakewood
• Paul Slebodea, Oakwood Hills
• Demetri Tsilimigras, Cary
• Cathy Tryon, Crystal Lake
• Mike Tryon, Crystal Lake
• Fred Wickham, Crystal Lake
• Mark Widhalm, McHenry

Let me know if I missed anyone.

Wonder why the Libertarians who went to the Illinois Republican Convention are dissatisfied with the folks who ran the Tinley Park gathering?

I couldn’t find a way to ask for permission to reprint the following, but I wanted you to have a chance to see why Ron Paul supporters are not happy with the GOP Establishment:

Ron Paul delegate appointment at the GOP convention…

Some Illinois residents on this board may have seen this story floating around.

As Parliamentarian for the Illinois Ron Paul campaign, I thought you guys might be interested in what really happened at the Illinois GOP convention.

About 85,000 Illinoisans voted for Ron Paul in the primary (about 10% of the electorate) and we wanted to appoint 6 delegates for the national convention out of 69 to represent those 85,000 (Illinois is winner take 57 and 12 are appointed at the convention).

In fact, we had 250 state Ron Paul delegates who were at the convention (20% of the delegates).

These state delegates all vote to appoint the national delegates at the coming national GOP convention.

It was me and a friend of mine (law students) against 8 Romney attorneys.

On Friday, the committee hosted an open meeting on selection of delegates but rejected our motion to put delegates up for a vote among the committee … but seeing as we had no committeemen and (it was all but impossible for a Ron Paul supporter to get on this committee… this all was expected. I informed the campaign as much.

The 250 Paul delegates attended the committee meetings but kept running up to me “saying, they did this, can they do that?”

With a heavy heart, I had to say yes every time. But I knew we had one shot on Saturday and we had our plan ready to go a week prior.

Saturday was the official convention where the delegates all voted.

And the speakers at the convention went on a tirade against Mike Madigan (who I agree rules by virtual fiat) and gave a presentation on how government in Illinois ices people out of the process in which Mike Bost spoke. You might remember him from this video that went viral: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5lKk-Iq_sM&feature=related )… and so right AFTER that, this happened….

• –> the Ron Paul wing’s written motion to put up 6 Ron Paul delegates for a floor vote was ruled out of order because we had only 37 (we had 41 but they said 4 didn’t count) out of 50 signatures by Chairmen delegations

Let’s put that ruling into context…

• –> They refused to release the modified rules for putting forth motions until 11:20am
• –> We were required to make the motion at 11:20am
• –. The doors opened at 11:20am
• –> They modified the rules to require 500 photocopies of the motion be submitted (which we knew beforehand due to a brave patriot getting us an early copy)
• –> We submitted our motion to put up our delegate slate for a vote w/ every single requirement sans the signatures.
• –> They invalidated 4 signatures for some unexplained reason
• –> They had instructed everyone not to sign our motion and chairmen were afraid to sign our motion who otherwise would.
• –> Our motion (to put 6 out of 69 delegates for Ron Paul up for a majority vote)was ruled out of order based on not enough signatures.

How is someone supported to make 500 photocopies of a motion at 11:20 am when the doors open and ruled are released at 11:20am?

Why do 500 photocopies of the motion need to be submitted?

Had the motion been entered, a delegate would have been allowed the opportunity to debate it on the floor and this all would have been on the record.

This was one of two walkouts at the Illinois Republican Convention in Tinley Park. I don't know whether it was because of the rejection of the Ron Paul delegates' desire for 10% of the at-large delegates or the failure to consider direct elections of State Central Committeemen (and the addition of elected State Central Committeewomen). The sign is for Evanston Township.

I will let you draw your own conclusions about the process.

When the doors opened at 11:20am, we RAN to the front of the hall in front of 1,000s of delegates to present our motion.

They immediately asked us for the 500 copies and it was great knowing the look on their face when they found out we actually had the 500 copies.

This meant they had to consider the motion and had to be on the record objecting to it.

They even denied it verbally on record and did so after their anti-Madigan tirade.

We now have a paper trail of this.

= = = = =

Politics ought to be a game of addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division.

Being allocated 10% of the at-large delegates does not seem like an unreasonable expectation to me.

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Thanks to Dave Diersen’s GOPUSA Illinois for pointing me to this content.

Today, the Illinois Republican Party is holding its day at the State Fair. Busloads are people are heading that way as I write this article.

When I went, it was called Governor’s Day. That was back in Jim Thompson’s time.

We would go to the lawn of the State Fair Superintendent’s on-site home and eat lunch before the Governor would speak.

I remember one year when I ate with State Rep. Harlan Rigney’s family. The Red Oak farmer had been a 1970 Con-Con delegate before being elected state representative in 1972, the same year I first won.

One of the highlights was to be Thompson’s signature of a bill that would eliminate the sales tax on farm machinery. The argument this northwestern Illinois Republican offered was that business was going to Iowa, where no sales tax was charged.

“Cal, this is tax relief I can see on my kitchen table,” he told me as we chowed down. Harlan had such an engaging grin.

Reminding me of this is an email I received from the Illinois GOP rolling out its Dismiss Quinn web site.

Dismiss Quinn promotion on the Illinois GOP email.

I am amused that the actual web site has something missing on the promotion in the email.

Top of the page of the Dismiss Quinn web site.

Notice the difference?

“Donate Now.”

And, of course, those wishing change in state and local government could help their cause by sending a check to the candidate whom they most wish to be victorious.  It doesn’t have to be a big one.

I remember the $15 check I received from a woman in Wonder Lake in 1972.

McHenry County State’s Attorney Bill Cowlin had commented to the Elgin Courier-Review in an article written by Algonquin’s Marion Gallery that electing me would be like “putting a fox in the chicken coop.”

She had received my first mailing, which, of course, asked for contributions.  On the part she returned was a drawing of a fox.

Receiving it certainly made my day.

Every one-on-one race in which there is an incumbent boils down to a referendum on the incumbent.  The challenger is essentially irrelevant.

Notice that there is no mention of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady on what I have reproduced above.

It’s all about the suitability of appointed incumbent Pat Quinn’s service.  Some of us remember when he used to be a reformer, listing the names annually of the Double Dippers of Illinois.

The Coalition for Political Honesty.

That’s what he called his organization.

Now he takes the Double Dippers’ money to get elected.

Here is what the Illinois GOP approved regarding economic development in its party platform:

A CALL TO RESTORE THE ILLINOIS ECONOMY

The Republican Party deplores the budgetary gridlock with which the Governor and the General Assembly’s majority Democrats have brought disrepute on Illinois government and instituted uncertainty as the watchword for our state. Businesses take note of such wrangling and indecision and, despite our state’s natural advantages in location and infrastructure, turn to other states for expansion and office or plant siting.

• We advocate a pro-growth orientation for our state’s economic policies, subjecting proposed legislation or regulation to analysis as to its impact on economic growth for Illinois and rejecting any proposals which would impose a negative impact.

• The Republican Party stood united in 2007 to defeat Gov. Blagojevich’s “gross receipts tax” proposal and continues to stand against tax increases on the people and businesses of Illinois.

• We call on the Republican delegations in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate to present an alternative budget, reflecting our principles, to engender debate on spending and to move along the process of enacting a budget for Fiscal Year 2009.

• Illinois Republicans understand that taxing businesses translates into fewer jobs, less investment and higher consumer prices. Therefore Republicans not only oppose higher general taxes but will consistently fight the multitude of tax and fee increases which are bleeding Illinois employers and destroying jobs.

• We deplore the re-enactment of the Illinois death tax during Gov. Blagojevich’s first term, some 20 years after Republican leadership in our legislature had abolished it, and we call on the General Assembly and the Governor to do away with this unjust tax on Illinois families, family businesses and farms.

• Illinois Republicans share the alarm of our fellow citizens over the escalating prices of gasoline and note the contribution of federal, state and local taxes – including state and local sales taxes – to our state’s disastrously high ranking in at-the-pump prices for gasoline. We call on the General Assembly and the Governor to abate these taxes on gasoline and to appeal to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for sensible changes in the EPA’s gasoline formulary rules in order to alleviate the cost of refining gasoline for the greater Chicago market.

= = = = =

The photographs you see were taken after the Decatur convention adjourned. Delegations were encouraged to take their counties’ signs home. Seen above at the signs of the St. Clair County and Tazewell County Republican Central Committees being readied for the trip home. The Casey’s gasoline price was taken over the convention weekend.

Here is what the Illinois GOP approved regarding economic development in its party platform:

A CALL TO RESTORE THE ILLINOIS ECONOMY

The Republican Party deplores the budgetary gridlock with which the Governor and the General Assembly’s majority Democrats have brought disrepute on Illinois government and instituted uncertainty as the watchword for our state. Businesses take note of such wrangling and indecision and, despite our state’s natural advantages in location and infrastructure, turn to other states for expansion and office or plant siting.

• We advocate a pro-growth orientation for our state’s economic policies, subjecting proposed legislation or regulation to analysis as to its impact on economic growth for Illinois and rejecting any proposals which would impose a negative impact.

• The Republican Party stood united in 2007 to defeat Gov. Blagojevich’s “gross receipts tax” proposal and continues to stand against tax increases on the people and businesses of Illinois.

• We call on the Republican delegations in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate to present an alternative budget, reflecting our principles, to engender debate on spending and to move along the process of enacting a budget for Fiscal Year 2009.

• Illinois Republicans understand that taxing businesses translates into fewer jobs, less investment and higher consumer prices. Therefore Republicans not only oppose higher general taxes but will consistently fight the multitude of tax and fee increases which are bleeding Illinois employers and destroying jobs.

• We deplore the re-enactment of the Illinois death tax during Gov. Blagojevich’s first term, some 20 years after Republican leadership in our legislature had abolished it, and we call on the General Assembly and the Governor to do away with this unjust tax on Illinois families, family businesses and farms.

• Illinois Republicans share the alarm of our fellow citizens over the escalating prices of gasoline and note the contribution of federal, state and local taxes – including state and local sales taxes – to our state’s disastrously high ranking in at-the-pump prices for gasoline. We call on the General Assembly and the Governor to abate these taxes on gasoline and to appeal to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for sensible changes in the EPA’s gasoline formulary rules in order to alleviate the cost of refining gasoline for the greater Chicago market.

= = = = =

The photographs you see were taken after the Decatur convention adjourned. Delegations were encouraged to take their counties’ signs home. Seen above at the signs of the St. Clair County and Tazewell County Republican Central Committees being readied for the trip home. The Casey’s gasoline price was taken over the convention weekend.

ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY FOR OUR CITIZENS

While the threat of terrorism is certainly a significant aspect of safety for Illinois citizens, day-to-day safety and security of our local communities is also critical. A majority of the crime committed in Illinois is by repeat offenders. We need to ensure that crime is aggressively prosecuted and prison sentences are carried out.

We call on Gov. Blagojevich to end the state’s moratorium on carrying out of duly adjudicated death sentences.

Even with more faithful execution of our laws by law enforcement from the street to the judicial bench, citizens will remain at risk to criminal acts in their homes, their neighborhoods, their businesses and in going about their everyday lives. Illinois Republicans note with shock and dismay the growing climate of violence in Illinois’ largest city and call upon Gov. Blagojevich and the General Assembly to enact such policies as may permit law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, their families, their property and their businesses. Specifically, we endorse:

• Continued use of the Firearm Owners Identification system and use of criminal and mental background checks by licensed firearms dealers;

• State pre-emption of local ordinances which impede the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms (see the Second Amendment to the US Constitution);

• We strongly endorse and support the 2^nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. We believe every citizen (American) has the right to keep and bear arms. No state, city or local law should be allowed to infringe upon this law; and

• Enactment of “Concealed Carry” legislation offering permits to properly trained, law-abiding citizens to bear concealed weapons for personal protection.

• We call upon the legislature to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for Illinois Prison closure/ construction policy. The plan should be a five-year, ten-year and twenty-year plan for prison usage, closure and openings. We call upon the state to assist affected communities with an economic development strategy that will introduce alternative employment opportunities in those communities.

= = = = =
This yard sign was displayed throughout the convention. My wife thought it should have a slightly different message. If you look at the photo below, you can see McHenry County delegates trying to find room to sit. The bottom photo shows what you would have seen had you not been a delegate. It is a view from the back of the convention floor.

ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY FOR OUR CITIZENS

While the threat of terrorism is certainly a significant aspect of safety for Illinois citizens, day-to-day safety and security of our local communities is also critical. A majority of the crime committed in Illinois is by repeat offenders. We need to ensure that crime is aggressively prosecuted and prison sentences are carried out.

We call on Gov. Blagojevich to end the state’s moratorium on carrying out of duly adjudicated death sentences.

Even with more faithful execution of our laws by law enforcement from the street to the judicial bench, citizens will remain at risk to criminal acts in their homes, their neighborhoods, their businesses and in going about their everyday lives. Illinois Republicans note with shock and dismay the growing climate of violence in Illinois’ largest city and call upon Gov. Blagojevich and the General Assembly to enact such policies as may permit law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, their families, their property and their businesses. Specifically, we endorse:

• Continued use of the Firearm Owners Identification system and use of criminal and mental background checks by licensed firearms dealers;

• State pre-emption of local ordinances which impede the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms (see the Second Amendment to the US Constitution);

• We strongly endorse and support the 2^nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. We believe every citizen (American) has the right to keep and bear arms. No state, city or local law should be allowed to infringe upon this law; and

• Enactment of “Concealed Carry” legislation offering permits to properly trained, law-abiding citizens to bear concealed weapons for personal protection.

• We call upon the legislature to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for Illinois Prison closure/ construction policy. The plan should be a five-year, ten-year and twenty-year plan for prison usage, closure and openings. We call upon the state to assist affected communities with an economic development strategy that will introduce alternative employment opportunities in those communities.

= = = = =
This yard sign was displayed throughout the convention. My wife thought it should have a slightly different message. If you look at the photo below, you can see McHenry County delegates trying to find room to sit. The bottom photo shows what you would have seen had you not been a delegate. It is a view from the back of the convention floor.

I posted the right to life and immigration planks of the Illinois Republican Party Platform previously.

Guess it’s time to start at the beginning. Here’s the preamble:

Our Platform

PREAMBLE

We, the Illinois Republican Party, Since the election of 1860, the Republican Party has had a special calling – to advance the founding principles of freedom, opportunity, and limited government and the dignity and worth of every individual. Illinois Republicans have provided critical leadership, to this Country and those causes, from Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan, from Everett M. Dirksen to Henry J. Hyde.

These principles form the foundation of both an agenda for America in the year 2008 and this Platform for our Party. They point us toward reforms in government, a restoration of timeless values, and a renewal of our national purpose.

We commit ourselves to the values that strengthen our culture and sustain our nation: family, faith, personal responsibility, and a belief in the dignity of every human life.

We offer not only an agenda but also a vision of a welcoming society in which all who yearn for freedom and human dignity have a place. To all law-abiding Americans, particularly immigrants and minorities, we send a clear message: this is the party of freedom and progress, and it is your home.

We are the party of the open door to those who share our principles, determined to strengthen the social, cultural, and political ties that bind us together and make our country the greatest force for good in the world. Steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we recognize, as did Ronald Reagan, that members of our party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions on issues but who will not compromise on our shared bedrock principles. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect.

We seek to be faithful to the best traditions of our party. We are the party that ended slavery, protected life, granted homesteads, built land grant colleges, and moved control out of Washington, back into the hands of the people. We believe in service to the common good – and that good is not common until it is shared.

Our vision is one of clear direction, new ideas, civility in public life, and leadership with honor and distinction.

To the citizens of Illinois, we commit ourselves to the following:

• To conduct ourselves in such a way as to rebuild the public trust in the Republican Party and in government as institutions of public service and not personal gain;

• To do all in our power to strengthen the families of Illinois;

• To protect the fundamental right to life and dignity of every human life;

• To provide a foundation for job creation and business expansion across the State and reduce regulations and taxes that smother the free market;

• To enlist Illinois in defending America’s borders;

• To endorse necessary resources and appropriate strategies to combat terrorist attacks and to fight and win the war on terror;

• To make our communities safer through reducing crime and drug use;

• To safeguard our way of life through adoption of sensible energy resource policies;

• To promote Illinois’ advantage as a transportation hub for the nation;

• To create an environment in which our public schools will become the best in the nation;

• To reduce the size of government and the number of citizens dependent upon government;

• To ensure that high quality health care is available through the private sector throughout our State in both rural and urban areas;

• To restore fairness and balance to a legal system that has become unfair and unbalanced;

• To safeguard Illinois’ fundamental crop – our agricultural sector; and

• To maintain our stewardship of our natural resources through scientifically sound and economically balanced initiatives.

= = = = =
The top photo is of the DeKalb County delegation. The one below is of the convention hall before it filled up.

I posted the right to life and immigration planks of the Illinois Republican Party Platform previously.

Guess it’s time to start at the beginning. Here’s the preamble:

Our Platform

PREAMBLE

We, the Illinois Republican Party, Since the election of 1860, the Republican Party has had a special calling – to advance the founding principles of freedom, opportunity, and limited government and the dignity and worth of every individual. Illinois Republicans have provided critical leadership, to this Country and those causes, from Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reagan, from Everett M. Dirksen to Henry J. Hyde.

These principles form the foundation of both an agenda for America in the year 2008 and this Platform for our Party. They point us toward reforms in government, a restoration of timeless values, and a renewal of our national purpose.

We commit ourselves to the values that strengthen our culture and sustain our nation: family, faith, personal responsibility, and a belief in the dignity of every human life.

We offer not only an agenda but also a vision of a welcoming society in which all who yearn for freedom and human dignity have a place. To all law-abiding Americans, particularly immigrants and minorities, we send a clear message: this is the party of freedom and progress, and it is your home.

We are the party of the open door to those who share our principles, determined to strengthen the social, cultural, and political ties that bind us together and make our country the greatest force for good in the world. Steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we recognize, as did Ronald Reagan, that members of our party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions on issues but who will not compromise on our shared bedrock principles. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect.

We seek to be faithful to the best traditions of our party. We are the party that ended slavery, protected life, granted homesteads, built land grant colleges, and moved control out of Washington, back into the hands of the people. We believe in service to the common good – and that good is not common until it is shared.

Our vision is one of clear direction, new ideas, civility in public life, and leadership with honor and distinction.

To the citizens of Illinois, we commit ourselves to the following:

• To conduct ourselves in such a way as to rebuild the public trust in the Republican Party and in government as institutions of public service and not personal gain;

• To do all in our power to strengthen the families of Illinois;

• To protect the fundamental right to life and dignity of every human life;

• To provide a foundation for job creation and business expansion across the State and reduce regulations and taxes that smother the free market;

• To enlist Illinois in defending America’s borders;

• To endorse necessary resources and appropriate strategies to combat terrorist attacks and to fight and win the war on terror;

• To make our communities safer through reducing crime and drug use;

• To safeguard our way of life through adoption of sensible energy resource policies;

• To promote Illinois’ advantage as a transportation hub for the nation;

• To create an environment in which our public schools will become the best in the nation;

• To reduce the size of government and the number of citizens dependent upon government;

• To ensure that high quality health care is available through the private sector throughout our State in both rural and urban areas;

• To restore fairness and balance to a legal system that has become unfair and unbalanced;

• To safeguard Illinois’ fundamental crop – our agricultural sector; and

• To maintain our stewardship of our natural resources through scientifically sound and economically balanced initiatives.

= = = = =
The top photo is of the DeKalb County delegation. The one below is of the convention hall before it filled up.