McHenry County Blog

Here is a press release from the Illinois Tea Party includes an endorsement for State Rep. candidate Danielle Rowe, who is running against appointed incumbent Kent Gaffney and David McSweeney.

ILLINOIS TEA PARTY MAKES HISTORIC FIRST ENDORSEMENTS IN STATE RACES

The Illinois Tea Party is proud to announce our first ever endorsements. While the tea party has played a critical role in electing candidates to Congress and Springfield, the Illinois Tea Party has never endorsed candidates at any level.

Denise Cattoni, State Director of the Illinois Tea Party, said,

“In 2010 we supported candidates who could help stop wasteful spending, runaway deficits and ObamaCare at the federal level.

“But after Springfield politicians raised our taxes in the middle of the night and piled up $8.5 billion in unpaid bills, we’ve been left with no choice but to stand up for the people of Illinois.

“Every local state senate and state representative race will affect the direction of our state, which is why we’re working together to defeat the political establishment in Springfield.

“These candidates are supported by our local tea party groups who know the candidates and their communities best.”

Michael Connelly for State Senate, 21st District

Michael Connelly, then a newly elected State Representative, was the only elected official invited to speak at the first tea party held in Lisle on April 15, 2009. Denise Cattoni, who organized the event, said, “As more than a thousand concerned citizens drove many miles to our small town, we shared the stories with others who knew our country was on the wrong track with unsustainable spending. With passion in his voice, Mike Connelly spoke of serving his constituents by doing his part in bringing the country back to fiscal sanity and conservatives principles.”

Connelly’s record in the General Assembly has remained true to those principles, including being the Chief Sponsor of a bill to repeal the Democrats’ tax increase, HB175. We have no doubt Mike will continue to fight for Illinois families as State Senator of the 21st District.

Danielle Rowe for State Representative, 52nd District

Danielle Rowe

Danielle Rowe is a conservative leader and tireless tea party activist. Rowe’s “Roadmap” of

• repealing the tax increase,
• reforming public sector pensions,
• reducing spending and
• restoring a climate friendly to small businesses

is exactly what our state needs.

Not only is Rowe leading by example on pension reform by refusing to accept a legislator pension, she has pledged to introduce legislation to eliminate legislator pensions completely.

Andrew Gasser

“Danielle Rowe is the real tea party conservative running in the 52nd Illinois State Representative race,” said Andrew Gasser, an Illinois Tea Party Leader from Fox River Grove.

“Danielle is someone who understands what it means to practice fiscal responsibility, constitutional limited government, and free markets here in the 52nd district and in Springfield.

“Make no mistake, Ms. Rowe is not afraid to take on the special interest groups and is going to make an excellent state representative.”

State Senator Sam McCann, 50th District, for Re-Election

Sam McCann was elected to the Senate in a Democratic district in 2010 with the help of the tea party and a strong grassroots campaign. He ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility and he has kept his promises. Senator McCann has been a champion of small business and a consistent voice against wasteful spending in the Senate.

Rhonda Linders, Alton Tea Party Coordinator, said, “We are all being taxed enough already in Illinois. This isn’t about Republicans, Democrats or Independents, it’s about voting for conservative and constitutional values. We continue to trust Senator McCann to represent us in the Senate.”

John Bambenek for State Senator, 52nd District

John Bambenek is a conservative activist and leader who has pushed for fiscal responsibility, budget reform, pension reform and ending corruption. John authored a Constitutional amendment to enact term limits for state legislators, which is critically needed to reform our state. Bambenek recognizes the cause of our budget crisis is politicians continuing to spend money we don’t have and he has pledged to only vote for budgets that are balanced.

Diane Benjamin, Regional Coordinator, Illinois Tea Party, said,”We endorse John Bambenek for State Senate because John understands the issues facing Illinois. Unlike most of the Illinois GOP currently holding elected office, John will be a Senator willing to stand for the citizens of Illinois instead of complacently waiting to be in the majority.”

This is the first in a series of endorsements for Illinois State Senate and State Representative candidates. The mission of the tea party remains to attract, educate, organize, and mobilize concerned citizens to promote fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.

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Algonquin and Crystal Lake Tea Party groups are listed as affiliates.

Part-Time Pundit John Bambenek is taking on State Senators who are planning to make it much more difficult for anyone not considered “media” to do in-depth research about what local governments do by passing Senate Bill 1655.

Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager

The Northwest Herald’s Kevin Craver writes about the issue, too.  Craver says that Woodstock Mayor Brian Sager, widely talked of as a Republican candidate for State Representative if Jack Franks steps aside, testified in favor of the bill. (Woodstock, by the way, won’t put McHenry County Blog on its press release list. I have to file a Freedom of Information request to obtain them and, then, they come five or more days after issuance.  Woodstock’s lack of transparency will make an interesting campaign issue should Sager take the plunge into legislative politics.)

With permission, I reprint Bambenek’s column of yesterday below:

In Illinois, Public Accountability is “Vexatious”

by John Bambenek

Illinois has long earned the reputation as one of the most corrupt states in the union and for reasons too numerous to list here.

However, not content to have reached rock bottom, the Illinois Municipal League (a collection of local government officials) and Lord State Senator Ed Maloney have decided to start digging.

This week is Sunshine Week, a week dedicated to promoting the cause of governmental transparency. It should come as no surprise that transparency is needed in Illinois. However, the Illinois Municipal League and Lord State Senator Ed Maloney believes that is the problem, not the solution.

They have introduced Senate Bill 1645 which would allow local government officials to label any individual who files more than 15 Freedom of Information Act requests in a year, or more than 5 in a month, “vexatious”.

This would then allow them to summarily reject any and all FOIA’s filed by that person.

There is no judicial review of this designation nor any right to appeal.

You see, us taxpayers who want to know more about our government are annoying so they want to be able to shut us down.

To give you an idea of what kind of politician Lord State Senator Ed Maloney is, he earlier this year was embroiled in a controversy for sponsoring legislation that would require all homeschoolers to register with the government.

His stated purpose was that he was worried that people who homeschool their kids were not accountable to any government officials. You read that right, he views his job as enabling government to hold private citizens accountable for their private conduct.

The bad news is that SB 1645 has already passed out of the Senate Executive Committee (the committee where “important” legislation is considered and fast-tracked) by a 10-4 margin. Disappointly, this included two Republican Senator votes (John O. Jones and Luechtefeld). We can just call this coalition the “Pay up and shut up” Coalition for their support of the public’s right to know.

Interestingly enough, the Illinois Legislature does not publish committee votes without a FOIA (would that be “vexatious” too?).

Apparently 10 Senators believe that the public has a right to know what their tax dollars are being spent on… as long as they don’t want to know too much about how they are being spent.

In a rush to get this bill passed and out the door, Lord State Senator Ed Maloney forgot to put a press exemption so the media won’t be labeled vexatious too. It is a humorous twist to an extremely dangerous law.

Freedom of Information Act laws were passed in the wake of Watergate and, oddly, there is no real requirement for government bodies to give taxpayers and voters information on what the government is doing.

Without these laws, the public would lose a significant tool to force governments to disclose how their money is spent.

Apparently, disclosure of these records is a problem for these government officials at the Illinois Municipal League.

During the hearing, many mayors and other local officials took their sob stories to the Legislature and whined:

• “It costs too much”,
• “it takes so much staff time”, and
• “the taxpayers have to foot the bill for these troublemakers”.

At the same time, this same group opposes Senate Bill 37 which would require units of local government to publish financial information and other documents online thus sparing the expense of FOIA’ing these documents to begin with.

In a state known for corruption, anyone contemplating keeping more records under seal because someone is “too nosey” in how their tax dollars should be spent should be rendered politically radioactive.

It certainly does tell us the level of regard they hold voters in (i.e. not much). However, we shouldn’t expect much better from Chicago Democrats. After all, where do you think the President learned his dedication to transparenct from. His colleagues in the Illinois Senate.

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Here is the exception for the media:

“For the purposes of this definition, a request made by news media shall not be considered a vexatious request for records when the principal purpose of the request is (i) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events or (ii) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public.”

Photo from a Rockford Tea Party rally.

The following press release has been received:

Announcing Tea Party Express on April 6th in Rockford, Illinois

(Rockford, Illinois) – March 17, 2010 – Join us for the biggest Tea Party Express national tour to date for one of only two stops in Illinois.

On April 6th at 1 pm in Rockford, Ill (home state to President Barack Obama and Senator Dick Durbin and of course Lincoln and Reagan) the Tea Party Express will stop in Rockford on the Tea Party Express Tour taking the Tea Party message across the nation all the way to the White House in Washington, D.C. on April 15th:

“You, the politicians in Washington, have failed We The People with your bailouts, out-of-control deficit spending, government takeovers of sectors of the economy, Cap & Trade, government-run health care, and higher taxes!

“If you thought we were just going to quietly go away, or that this tea party movement would be just a passing fad, you were mistaken. We’re taking our country back!”

Find the Tollway at Route 20 south of Marengo or Kishwaukee Valley Road going west from Woodstock and you are on your way to Davis Park in Rockford. (Get a more detailed map across Boone and Winnebago Counties, if you take the Kishwaukee Valley Road route. You want to end up on Rockford's Spring Creek Road at the top of this map. There are lots of tricky turns.)

This family-friendly rally encourages all citizens who want lower taxes and less government to participate by bringing their American flags, patriotic attire, and signs to display the spirit of the Colonial Patriots of the 1775 Boston Tea Party, which lead to American Independence July 4th, 1776.

Here's a street map closer to Davis Park.

Re-affirm your commitment to our Constitution and our freedoms by being part of this energizing event on Tuesday, April 6th, 1:00pm, at Davis Park 329 S. Wyman Street in Rockford.

Guest Speakers include:

Joe Walsh at John O'Neill's corn beef and cabbage fund raiser.

RockfordTeaParty will also have a food drive to replenish the Rockford Food Pantry Coalition from 1 pm until the Tea Party Express Buses leave at 4:30.

For more information visit our website.

www.RockfordTeaParty.org

John Bambenek of Champaign on the Illinois Citizens Coalition is is providing free training for people interested in running in the 2009 municipal elections.

“We’ll basically help them navigate the paperwork to file, educate them on campaign finance laws and how to run a solid local campaign,” John Bambenek told me.

“The goal is to get right-minded citizens to run for these offices against the entrenched class of pols who only raise taxes again and again.

“We’re assisting for any race in 2009, school boards, park districts, anything.

Those who would like help may contact Bambenek at jcb@illinoiscitizenscoalition.com

Those who would like help may contact Bambenek at jcb@illinoiscitizenscoalition.com

John Bambenek of Champaign on the Illinois Citizens Coalition is is providing free training for people interested in running in the 2009 municipal elections.

“We’ll basically help them navigate the paperwork to file, educate them on campaign finance laws and how to run a solid local campaign,” John Bambenek told me.

“The goal is to get right-minded citizens to run for these offices against the entrenched class of pols who only raise taxes again and again.

“We’re assisting for any race in 2009, school boards, park districts, anything.

Those who would like help may contact Bambenek at jcb@illinoiscitizenscoalition.com

Those who would like help may contact Bambenek at jcb@illinoiscitizenscoalition.com

John Bambenek, a Downstate conservative blogger from University of Illinois country, has weighed in on the felony hate crime arrests of the two Crystal Lake South High School students.

Originally posted on Part-Time Pundit, I saw it on Illinois Review.

Bambenek points out,

“It should be noted that they have not yet been tried, only charged.”

He argues jail is needed only “where the accused is a flight risk in a serious case and where the accused would pose eminent danger to society if released.”

Then, he cites more heinous crimes for which bail has been granted, for example, murder.

Bambenek adds,

The judge, in commenting on denying bail, said that the girl’s home situation was unacceptable. It’s unclear how a judge can legally take a child out of their home simply because the child shows up in the courtroom for an obnoxious high school prank. We have the Department of Children and Family Services for that. In fact, the judge likely only spent a few moments looking at court documents (that had no home investigation) in making his sweeping judgment about the fitness of the parents. At least DCFS would conduct an investigation before taking custody of kids.

He concludes,

What these girls did was obnoxious, but it is certainly no catastrophic threat to society to have them out of jail. It is unclear whether the judge is using the hate crimes law or something else to enforce these ridiculous bail decisions. It is obvious to every child who is watching that society will treat them like thugs to be looked up than actual human beings. They are guilty until proven innocent. And we wonder why society is raising such dysfunctional adults.

Bambenek also points his readers to The Wild Issue, a web site where, surprisingly, writers also think the girls may have treated too harshly.

Any thoughts from readers?

John Bambenek, a Downstate conservative blogger from University of Illinois country, has weighed in on the felony hate crime arrests of the two Crystal Lake South High School students.

Originally posted on Part-Time Pundit, I saw it on Illinois Review.

Bambenek points out,

“It should be noted that they have not yet been tried, only charged.”

He argues jail is needed only “where the accused is a flight risk in a serious case and where the accused would pose eminent danger to society if released.”

Then, he cites more heinous crimes for which bail has been granted, for example, murder.

Bambenek adds,

The judge, in commenting on denying bail, said that the girl’s home situation was unacceptable. It’s unclear how a judge can legally take a child out of their home simply because the child shows up in the courtroom for an obnoxious high school prank. We have the Department of Children and Family Services for that. In fact, the judge likely only spent a few moments looking at court documents (that had no home investigation) in making his sweeping judgment about the fitness of the parents. At least DCFS would conduct an investigation before taking custody of kids.

He concludes,

What these girls did was obnoxious, but it is certainly no catastrophic threat to society to have them out of jail. It is unclear whether the judge is using the hate crimes law or something else to enforce these ridiculous bail decisions. It is obvious to every child who is watching that society will treat them like thugs to be looked up than actual human beings. They are guilty until proven innocent. And we wonder why society is raising such dysfunctional adults.

Bambenek also points his readers to The Wild Issue, a web site where, surprisingly, writers also think the girls may have treated too harshly.

Any thoughts from readers?