McHenry County Blog

Freshman State Senator Dan Duffy, a businessman from Lake Barrington in Lake County, was touted for governor in Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steven Huntley’s column yesterday.

In an piece entitled,

Duffy’s name pops up in the middle of the column, right after the self-dismissals of

• Illinois Supreme Court Justice Bob Thomas,
• Bush HUD Secretary Steve Preston (who?),
• Chicago equity fund chairman Bruce Rauner,
• Congressmen Mark Kirk and
• Peter Roskam, and
• U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Here’s what Huntley wrote:

“State Sen. Dan Duffy of Barrington, a Legislative newcomer, impresses many in the party. He acknowledges hearing suggestions he run, but no one in the party leadership has approached him.

“The party is now evaluating a lot of people and that’s a good thing,” he says. “If party leaders aid, ‘You’re that person,’ I’d have to have a serious conversation with my family and find out if this is the right time for me. Bit we’re not there yet.”

“A jump from newly minted legislator to governor in just two years would be quite a challenge.”

The column continues with former candidates for governor, State Senator Bill Brady, who ran third in the 2006 gubernatorial primary, Ron Gidwitz (4th) and Jim Oberweis, who ran second.

DuPage County Board Republicans, Chairman Bob Schillerstrom and State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, they of the tripling of the RTA sales tax.

Doug Whitley is also mentioned…more favorably than others actively seeking the office.

There was so much in the congressional Labor Department and Health and Human Services budgets this year that I could not download the file. I had to wait for Taxpayers for Common Sense to create a spreadsheet.

This the final of five installments of the projects earmarked by Illinois congressmen, commonly called “pork.”

Some pork is truly atrocious. I’m sure you’ve seen some articles on some such examples. Although I would be very interested in being able to compare campaign contributions from those given grants, that’s a bit beyond my ability at McHenry County Blog.

I also have found some earmarks that are overly broad to put it mildly. I would not be surprised to see some of them be the subject of investigative articles in the future.

But, let’s look at the rest of the projects in just these two budgets for now.

McHenry County’s 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo is in this list.

Just as 8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean earmarked nothing for McHenry County in these two budgets, neither did Manzullo.

None of the piggies’ hams made it across the border, not considered the home base by either United States Representative.

Dan Lipinski

• HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration $285,000 Lipinski – Oak Lawn Family Service, Oak Lawn, IL, for Counseling Services to Village Residents and their Families
• Labor Employment & Training Administration $143,000 Lipinski – Catholic Charities, Chicago, IL, for Veterans Training Services
• Institute of Museum & Library Services $190,000 Lipinski – Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, IL, for Educational Programs

Don Manzullo

• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $238,000 Manzullo – Crusader Clinic, Rockford, IL, for Electronic Medical Records, including Purchase of Equipment
• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $238,000 Manzullo – University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, IL, for Facilities and Equipment

Peter Roskam

• HHS CDC $95,000 Roskam – Access Community Health Network, Martin Russo Health Center, Bloomingdale, IL, to Implement Community-Based Heart Health Program
• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $143,000 Roskam – Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, Glendale Heights, IL, for Facilities and Equipment
• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $190,000 Roskam – DuPage Convalescent Center, Wheaton, IL, for Facilities and Equipment

Bobby Rush

• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $238,000 Rush – St. Bernard Hospital, Chicago, IL, for Facilities and Equipment

Jerry Weller

• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $381,000 Weller, Durbin – Olivet Nazarene University, Boubonnais, IL, for Facilities and Equipment
• HHS Health Resources and Services Administration $238,000 Weller, Durbin – Riverside Healthcare, Kankakee, IL, for Facilities and Equipment

Taxpayers for Common Sense have totaled up the congressional earmarks in the budget bill being voted on this week.

I was reminded of that when I read an editorial cartoon sent to me by my Joplin, Missouri, brother-in-law. It was in the Saganaw News.

Scene: Husband and wife sitting at the breakfast table.

Husband: “Sez here they arrested a D.C. Madam for running a house of ill repute…”

Wife: “They arrested Polisi?”

Below is the list of who got what in this year’s budget, which is due to be passed only about six months after the beginning of the fiscal year. They are listed in descending order from highest to lowest dollar amount of pork projects

• Ray LaHood, 23 earmarks totaling $8,774,250
• Rahm Emanuel, 10 earmarks totaling $6,523,000
• Jerry Costello, 12 earmarks totaling $5,425,175
• Dan Lipinski, 12 projects totaling $4,451,172
• Melissa Bean, 10 earmarks totaling $3,687,314 (one in McHenry County)
• Bill Foster, 12 earmarks totaling $3,095,000
• Danny Davis, 10 earmarks totaling $3,066,014
• Tim Johnson, 8 earmarks totaling $2,806,100
• Jesse Jackson, Jr., 15 earmarks totaling $2,783,500
• Peter Roskam, 12 earmarks totaling $2,655,330
• John Shimkus, 13 earmarks totaling $2,421,750
• Bobby Rush, 8 earmarks totaling $2,073,375
• Don Manzullo, 6 earmarks totaling $2,070,500 (one in McHenry County)
• Phil Hare, 7 earmarks totaling $2,031,000
• Jan Schakowsky, 8 earmarks totaling $1,644,000
• Luis Gutierrez, 2 earmarks totaling $760,000
• Jerry Weller, 7 earmarks totaling $1,243,250

$47.8 million in total.

Eschewing pork were Republicans Judy Biggert and Mark Kirk.

Three retired members, Rahm Emanuel, Ray LaHood and Jerry Weller get credit for projects anyway.

Newly elected Congress folks Debbie Halvorson and Aaron Shock were not listed.

Tomorrow, the bacon our United States Senators brought home.

Barge users get subsidized transportation from the Corps of Engineers on the Mississippi River. Army engineers get to stay on the payroll.

Past environmental sins like the creek that flowed past the old Chicago Stockyards called Bubbly Creek has money thrown at it.

Suburban developers who build homes where a diminished watershed pushed streams out of their beds during rains like last weekends get big money spent to lessen the impact of poor planning.

And congressmen take credit.

Even ex-congressmen like Ray LaHood and Ron Emanuel.

Below is what’s in this year’s budget.

Again I have listed the U.S. House member named first, if there is more than one or if Senator Dick Durbin is also named. Only projects where Durbin is the only congressman identified are listed under his name. There is really no way to know which congressman was most influential in getting projects where more than one is named.

Taxpayers for Common Sense gets the credit for posting the information where I could find it.

Melissa Bean

Corps of Engineers $28,709,000 Bean, Davis, Jackson, Roskam, Rush, Schakowsky, Durbin – McCook and Thorton Reservoirs

Jerry Costello

Corps of Engineers $502,000 Costello, Shimkus, Durbin – Prairie Dupont Levee and Sanitary District and Fish Lake Drainage and Levee District, IL

Corps of Engineers $2,392,000 Costello, Shimkus, Durbin – Chain of Rocks Canal, Mississippi River, IL (Def Corr)

Corps of Engineers $718,000 Costello, Shimkus, Durbin – E. Saint Louis, IL

Corps of Engineers $335,000 Costello, Shimkus – Madison and St. Clair Counties, IL

Corps of Engineers $2,632,000 Costello, Shimkus, Durbin – Wood River Levee, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price Given O&M Costello – Kaskaskia River Navigation, IL

Danny Davis

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 206 Davis – Ping Tom, IL

Dick Durbin

Corps of Engineers $478,000 Durbin – Des Plaines River, Il (Phase II)

Corps of Engineers $125,000 Durbin – E. Saint Louis and Vicinity, IL

Corps of Engineers $2,486,000 Durbin, Bond – Lock and Dam 27, Mississippi River, (Major Rehab)

Corps of Engineers $144,000 Durbin – Nutwood Drainage and Levee District, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 206 Durbin – Squaw Creek (Round Lake Drain), IL

Phil Hare

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 206 Hare, LaHood, Durbin – Emiqoin Preserve, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price O&M Hare – Andalusia Harbor, IL

Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Corps of Engineers $500,000 Jackson, Durbin – Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Second Barrier, IL

Corps of Engineers $4,000,000 Jackson, Durbin – Chicago Shoreline, IL

Corps of Engineers $125,000 Jackson, Lipinski – Cook County, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 1135 Jackson – Indian Ridge Marsh, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 1135 Jackson – Spunky Bottoms, IL

Tim Johnson

Corps of Engineers $96,000 Johnson – Grayville Dam, IL

Ray LaHood

Corps of Engineers $382,000 LaHood – Illinois River Basin Restoration, IL

Corps of Engineers $48,000 LaHood, Durbin – Peoria Riverfront Development, IL

Corps of Engineers No Price Given Sec. 205 LaHood – Meredosia, IL

Dan Lipinski

Corps of Engineers $411,000 Lipinski – S. Fork, South Branch, Chicago River (Bubbly Creek), IL

Don Manzullo

Corps of Engineers $526,000 Manzullo, Durbin – Keith Creek, Rockford, IL

Peter Roskam

Corps of Engineers $5,750,000 Roskam, et al – Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Dispersal Barrier, IL

Corps of Engineers $7,500,000 Roskam, Durbin – Des Plaines River, IL

John Shimkus

Corps of Engineers No Price Given O&M Shimkus, Durbin – Lake Shelbyville, IL

= = = = =
The Algonquin dam was rebuilt by the U.S. Corps of Engineers recently. You see what it looked like last year when it was wide open.

In descending order, there are pictures of Melissa Bean, Dick Durbin (talking to Don Manzullo), Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Don Manzullo.

For the last three days, we have listed the pork found in the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development part of this year’s budget found because Taxpayers for Common Sense posted such congressional earmarks.

The whole list for this part of the budget can be found here.

16th District Congressman Don Manzullo has $570,000 in it for widening Rakow Road, which he announced on February 24th.

Today the first name in our alphabetic listing of congressmen is Ray LaHood and the last is Jerry Weller.

Even though LaHood and Weller did not run for re-election, both have a number of projects in this year’s budget.

Newly-appointed U.S. Senator Roland Burris has none.

And, as Secretary of Transportation in the Barack Obama administration, LaHood will undoubtedly make sure the money he put in his budget will get spent.

The ex-congressmen’s projects, as well as those of Dan Lipinski, Don Manzullo, Peter Roskam, Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky and John Shimkus follow:

Ray LaHood

• Buses and Bus Facilities $104,500 LaHood – Paratransit Vehicles, West Central Mass Transit District, IL
• Buses and Bus Facilities $380,000 LaHood – Replacement of Paratransit Vehicles, Greater Peoria Mass Transit District, Peoria, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $95,000 LaHood – Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL, for Planning and Construction of a New Building that will Highlight the Achievement and Skills of Art, History, Science and Achievement
• Economic Development Initiatives $332,500 LaHood – OFS Healthcare System, Peoria, IL, for Planning, Design and Construction of a Hospice Home

Dan Lipinski

• Buses and Bus Facilities $475,000 Lipinski – Toyota Park PACE Transit Center, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $190,000 Lipinski – Mt. Greenwood Park, Chicago, IL, for Renovation and Rehabilitation of a Playground in the Mt. Greenwood Area

Don Manzullo

• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $570,000 Manzullo – Widening of Rakow Road, McHenry County, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $237,500 Manzullo – City of Freeport, IL, for Relocating Existing Power Lines to Underground Areas and for Streetscaping

Peter Roskam

• Alternatives Analysis $237,500 Roskam – Alternative Analysis for J-Route Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), IL
• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $475,000 Roskam – Busse Woods Trail and IL Route 72 Bicycle Overpass, Elk Grove Village, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $142,500 Roskam – Markham Philip Center for Children, Bloomingdale, IL, for Renovation of the Facility and Construction of an Addition

Bobby Rush

• Buses and Bus Facilities $712,000 Rush – Metra’s Rock Island 35th St. Station Improvements, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $95,000 Rush – Woodlawn East Community and Neighbors Inc. (WECAN), Chicago, IL, for Housing Resource Center, Energy Assistance, After School Programming, Job Referral Service

Jan Schakowsky

• Alternatives Analysis $237,500 Schakowsky, Durbin – Yellow Line Extension, IL
• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $475,000 Schakowsky – Milwaukee Avenue Revitalization Project

John Shimkus

• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $237,500 Shimkus – Design, Engineering, Land Acquisition and Planning for the Cross-town Connector Project at US 76, Godfrey, IL
• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $95,000 Shimkus – Design, Engineering, Land Acquisition and Planning for Extension of Route 162 from Maryville towards Troy, IL
• Transportation, Community and System Preservation $190,000 Shimkus – Mt. Eire-Golden Gate Rd Resurfacing and Expansion, Wayne County, IL
• Economic Development Initiatives $166,250 Shimkus – Illinois Historic Reservation Agency, Springfield, IL, for Renovation of the Tinsley for the Lincoln Bicentennial
• Economic Development Initiatives $95,000 Shimkus – Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission Macarthur Park Blvd Area Study. Springfield, IL, for Development of a Plan Between 1-72 and South Grand

Jerry Weller

• Buses and Bus Facilities $237,500 Weller – Multimodel Center, Normal
• Economic Development Initiatives $47,500 Weller – LaSalle County Easter Seals, Ottawa, IL, for Remodeling and Expansion of the Existing Playground
• Economic Development Initiatives $337,500 Weller – Rialto Square Theatre, Joliet, IL, for Repair and Restoration of the Theater
• Economic Development Initiatives $95,000 Weller – the City of Kankakee, IL, for Streetscaping

There are pages and pages of Illinois congressional earmarks in this year’s Transportation and Housing and Urban Development budgets.

These were found because Taxpayers for Common Sense scanned the pork pages and posted them on its web site.

Unfortunately, it was not a searchable web site, so I scrolled down and tried to pick out all of the Illinois congress critters.

And, guess what?

I found the first pork for McHenry County.

8th District Congresswoman Melissa Bean snagged $475,000 to widen Miller Road in McHenry.

That’s the eastern extension of Bull Valley Road named after former McHenry County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Miller.

(I remember knocking on his door when I ran for McHenry County Treasurer in 1966. He told me Tom Davis was running for precinct committeeman instead of him.)

The projects I found are listed in alphabetical order by congressional member. If both Senator Dick Durbin and a house member sponsored a project, I have put it under the congressman’s or woman’s name.

On top is a lump sum appropriation for Metra with Chicago-area congressmen and ex-congressmen and women’s attached to lines which serve their districts. For some reason McHenry County house member Don Manzullo’s name is missing. (His staff thinks it’s because the McHenry County improvement is up the McHenry line toward Johnsburg.)

I could find nothing in these two budgets suggested by newly sworn in Senator Roland Burris or DuPage County Congresswoman Judy Biggert.

The Transportation and Housing and Urban Development earmarks for Bean, the Metro East’s Jerry Costello, Chicago’s Danny Davis follow:

Capital Investment Grants $24,000,000 Metra

• Jackson, Durbin – Southwest Service Line
• Bean, Jackson, Roskam, Weller, Durbin – Star Line
• Emanuel, Bean, Durbin – Northwest Union Pacific Line, IL
• Roskam, Durbin – West Union Pacific Line, IL

Melissa Bean

Transportation, Community and System Preservation $475,000 Bean – Miller Road Widening, McHenry, IL

Transportation, Community and System Preservation $950,000 Bean – Route 120 Corridor, Lake County, IL

Jerry Costello

Buses and Bus Facilities, $475,000 Costello – Replacement Heavy Duty Transit Buses, Madison County Mass Transit District, IL

Federal Lands (Public Lands Highways) $950,000 Costello – Seibert Road Improvements, Shihol, IL

Danny Davis

Economic Development Initiatives $380,000 Davis – Austin Chamber of Commerce Development and Resource Center, Chicago, IL, for Development of at least 80 Units of Senior Housing

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the projects that our influential senior senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, thought important enough to get money for. And, remember, if he sponsored something with a house member, I listed it under the house member’s name.

Pork in the Forestry Service and pork in the EPA is found in today’s report. Most is contained in the Environmental Protection Agency part of the budget.

Again, McHenry County gets nothing, but 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo inserts $500,000 for the Mt. Morris water treatment plant.

EPA $300,000 Durbin – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project,
Long Creek Township for Water Storage Improvements

EPA $300,000 Durbin – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, Village of Crestwood for water storage improvements

U.S. Forest Service $300,000 Durbin – State & Private Forestry, City of Chicago – Greenstreets

EPA $11,500,000 Emanuel, etc., Durbin, etc. – National Rural Water Association

EPA $280,000 Jackson – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, City of Chicago Heights, Water and Sewer Improvements

EPA $300,000 Johnson, Durbin – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, City of Lexington for Wastewater Treatment System Improvements

EPA $500,000 LaHood – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, County of Peoria, Regional Storm Water Plan Implementation

Bureau of Indiana Affairs $400,000 Steven Lynch – Operation of Indian Programs, National Ironworkers Training Program for American Indians

EPA $500,000 Manzullo – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, Village of Mt. Morris, Wastewater Treatment Plant

EPA $500,000 Roskam – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, Village of Bartlett, Public Well Project

EPA $350,000 Shimkus – STAG Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Project, RE Rural Water System, RE Water Expansion, Richland County

= = = = =
The head shot (on the right) is of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. Below is a body shot of 6th District Congressman Peter Roskam speaking at a pre-primary John McCain rally.

Not once, but twice late Friday afternoon Arizona’s United States Senator John McCain asked all of the veterans in the audience at DuPage County’s Odeum to stand.

They did, the ones with McCain signs waving them.

And, what did he have to say to the veterans besides,

to the “evil” that would strap bombs to retarded women and blow them up, as the news reported today in Iraq?

And, yes, he said “evil.”

Remind you of what President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union?

A plastic card which veterans needing ordinary medial care could use at local doctor’s offices.

McCain read a quote from George Washington saying that the prospect of future soldiers serving our country was dependent on how we treated our veterans.

Clearly, McCain thinks that treatment has not been adequate, mentioning specifically that there would be a lot of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome cases from this war.

From complaints I heard when I was state rep. that would be so much better than the standing in line to get an appointment, as McCain put it, then, standing in line again for the appointment (and I think he had a third line that veterans had to stand in line before seeing a doctor at facilities run by the Veterans Department).

I’m not sure it was before or after a couple with a child in the back of the room supporting Ron Paul for president started yelling their support for their candidate, but McCain answered the illegal alien question by saying that he understood that the borders had to be secured first.

He said that each border state governor would have to certify that the borders were secure. It was the first time I had heard that proposal, but I haven’t watched any of the debates, so maybe he has said it before.

Before McCain took the stage, State Rep. Jim Durkin, McCain’s 2002 Illinois chairman and heading it up again in 2008, gave his reasons for supporting the Senator and made introductions. He mentioned supporters, such as McCain’s Illinois co-chairman Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson, who had been at a rally with McCain in the St. Louis media market earlier Friday, as well as the mid-state honcho, State Rep. Dan Brady, plus others.

The only mistake I noticed was his saying that Antioch’s State Rep. JoAnn Osmond was from McHenry County. (Her late husband Tim used to sit next to me on the Illinois House floor. You’re welcome anytime in McHenry County, JoAnn.)

Then, the microphone went dead.

Durkin tried it the old fashioned way…the way that U.S. Senator Carl Curtis explained it was done in Nebraska before amplification systems when he spoke to Kane County Republicans in the 1970’s.

Durbin’s deputy Illinois chairman Julie Brady of St. Charles spoke second. She started without a mike, but soon someone figured out how to make one work and Durkin handed it to her.

If this woman ever decides to run for public office, her opponents better hope there are not a lot of candidates’ nights.

Should the Democrats pick off former House Speaker Denny Hastert’s 14th congressional district seat this fall as a result of the incredibly bitter primary election, whatever Democrat wins better watch his back if she decides to run.

This mother of four is one effective speaker.

Brady told of her 4-year olds’ asking, “Mommy, do we have to buy guns?” after the second tower collapsed on 9-11.

This is a “security mom” to the max.

Her husband Pat had earlier asked me to take some pictures of her. I was happy to do so.

She and her husband met at the Justice Department in Washington and now live in St. Charles. Her efforts of McCain’s behalf were featured on the front page of Elgin’s Courier-News Thursday. Husband Pat was clearly surprised I had seen the article.

Illinois Republican State Chairman Andy McKenna was in attendance. When he spoke to the crowd, he did not endorse McCain.

But McKenna said, “Illinois would respond a hero like McCain” as the party’s presidential candidate.

Mary Jo Arndt, the party’s National Committeewoman, was also in attendance. National Committeeman Bob Kjellander is supporting Mitt Romney for president.

Congressman Mark Kirk, who works on military intelligence in the Pentagon for his Reserve duty, told of one day of his military training, a day in which he was put in a simulated prisoner of war camp.

He said he thought of how McCain, one of his heroes, had already having been under the kind of pressure that a president faces…while he was prisoner of war.

I found that to be an interesting analogy.

I was standing next to the parents of a Glenview teen who volunteered two nights a week making phone calls for Kirk’s campaign.

He also had made 5,000 calls for his first choice for president, Rudy Giuliani.

5,000 calls!

He’s a junior in high school and wants to go to college in Washington, D.C.

And speaking of converts, former State Senator Roger Keats was at the rally representing the Fred Thompson campaign.

It’s my guess that all legislators attending were introduced. I know I talked to Bloomington’s Dan Brady earlier. There were others and I would insert their names here, if I had Durkin’s list in front of me.

First term Congressman Peter Roskam looked at the audience and proclaimed,

“The DuPage County Republican Party is back.”

Let’s hope he is right, but having three DuPage County state senators vote for a one-half cent sales tax might prove an impediment to recovery.

told me that she didn’t think Romney was representing Mormon principles properly.

All pictures can be enlarge by clicking on them.

More on Sunday.

Here’s where you can find more McHenry County Blog.

Not once, but twice late Friday afternoon Arizona’s United States Senator John McCain asked all of the veterans in the audience at DuPage County’s Odeum to stand.

They did, the ones with McCain signs waving them.

And, what did he have to say to the veterans besides,

to the “evil” that would strap bombs to retarded women and blow them up, as the news reported today in Iraq?

And, yes, he said “evil.”

Remind you of what President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union?

A plastic card which veterans needing ordinary medial care could use at local doctor’s offices.

McCain read a quote from George Washington saying that the prospect of future soldiers serving our country was dependent on how we treated our veterans.

Clearly, McCain thinks that treatment has not been adequate, mentioning specifically that there would be a lot of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome cases from this war.

From complaints I heard when I was state rep. that would be so much better than the standing in line to get an appointment, as McCain put it, then, standing in line again for the appointment (and I think he had a third line that veterans had to stand in line before seeing a doctor at facilities run by the Veterans Department).

I’m not sure it was before or after a couple with a child in the back of the room supporting Ron Paul for president started yelling their support for their candidate, but McCain answered the illegal alien question by saying that he understood that the borders had to be secured first.

He said that each border state governor would have to certify that the borders were secure. It was the first time I had heard that proposal, but I haven’t watched any of the debates, so maybe he has said it before.

Before McCain took the stage, State Rep. Jim Durkin, McCain’s 2002 Illinois chairman and heading it up again in 2008, gave his reasons for supporting the Senator and made introductions. He mentioned supporters, such as McCain’s Illinois co-chairman Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson, who had been at a rally with McCain in the St. Louis media market earlier Friday, as well as the mid-state honcho, State Rep. Dan Brady, plus others.

The only mistake I noticed was his saying that Antioch’s State Rep. JoAnn Osmond was from McHenry County. (Her late husband Tim used to sit next to me on the Illinois House floor. You’re welcome anytime in McHenry County, JoAnn.)

Then, the microphone went dead.

Durkin tried it the old fashioned way…the way that U.S. Senator Carl Curtis explained it was done in Nebraska before amplification systems when he spoke to Kane County Republicans in the 1970’s.

Durbin’s deputy Illinois chairman Julie Brady of St. Charles spoke second. She started without a mike, but soon someone figured out how to make one work and Durkin handed it to her.

If this woman ever decides to run for public office, her opponents better hope there are not a lot of candidates’ nights.

Should the Democrats pick off former House Speaker Denny Hastert’s 14th congressional district seat this fall as a result of the incredibly bitter primary election, whatever Democrat wins better watch his back if she decides to run.

This mother of four is one effective speaker.

Brady told of her 4-year olds’ asking, “Mommy, do we have to buy guns?” after the second tower collapsed on 9-11.

This is a “security mom” to the max.

Her husband Pat had earlier asked me to take some pictures of her. I was happy to do so.

She and her husband met at the Justice Department in Washington and now live in St. Charles. Her efforts of McCain’s behalf were featured on the front page of Elgin’s Courier-News Thursday. Husband Pat was clearly surprised I had seen the article.

Illinois Republican State Chairman Andy McKenna was in attendance. When he spoke to the crowd, he did not endorse McCain.

But McKenna said, “Illinois would respond a hero like McCain” as the party’s presidential candidate.

Mary Jo Arndt, the party’s National Committeewoman, was also in attendance. National Committeeman Bob Kjellander is supporting Mitt Romney for president.

Congressman Mark Kirk, who works on military intelligence in the Pentagon for his Reserve duty, told of one day of his military training, a day in which he was put in a simulated prisoner of war camp.

He said he thought of how McCain, one of his heroes, had already having been under the kind of pressure that a president faces…while he was prisoner of war.

I found that to be an interesting analogy.

I was standing next to the parents of a Glenview teen who volunteered two nights a week making phone calls for Kirk’s campaign.

He also had made 5,000 calls for his first choice for president, Rudy Giuliani.

5,000 calls!

He’s a junior in high school and wants to go to college in Washington, D.C.

And speaking of converts, former State Senator Roger Keats was at the rally representing the Fred Thompson campaign.

It’s my guess that all legislators attending were introduced. I know I talked to Bloomington’s Dan Brady earlier. There were others and I would insert their names here, if I had Durkin’s list in front of me.

First term Congressman Peter Roskam looked at the audience and proclaimed,

“The DuPage County Republican Party is back.”

Let’s hope he is right, but having three DuPage County state senators vote for a one-half cent sales tax might prove an impediment to recovery.

told me that she didn’t think Romney was representing Mormon principles properly.

All pictures can be enlarge by clicking on them.

More on Sunday.

Here’s where you can find more McHenry County Blog.

Tonight is the night that Illinois Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth comes to the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn to announce the award of $1 million in grants to veterans’ advocate John Blanchard’s NASA Education.

Some who watched all her television ads last year when she was running unsuccessfully for Congress against Peter Roskam might be interested in meeting the dynamic young pilot.

A Daily Herald story today reiterates what McHenry County Blog printed last Wednesday.

As the article says,

“A social hour and registration will be from 6 to 7 p.m. (at Crystal Lake’s Holiday Inn, with the program at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event.

“To RSVP, visit www.nasaeducation.org; call the toll-free number at (866) 338-4968; or e-mail an RSVP to Amy Johnson, event coordinator, at amy_johnson@nasaeducation.org.

“Business attire is suggested.”

In this case, “NASA” stands for National Association of Systems Administrators, not the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, although NASA Education does have a “mission control” in its offices.

Pictured are three apartment buildings on Pierson Street between McHenry Avenue and Van Buren. Blanchard has take possession of the two on the ends and intends to use them for veterans’ transitional housing. He hopes to purchase the middle building as well.