McHenry County Blog

It’s a dreary day and when this article showed up  from the Crystal Lake Tea Party, I was intrigued enough to read the piece.

It was written by Ulysses S. Arn and is entitled,

Occupier vs. 29 year old Tea Party Patriot: a tale of two very different people

It tells of Sean Hannity’s interview of Harrison Schultz, an unemployed Occupy Wall Street organizer, a self-identified anarchist, who didn’t want a job unless it paid $80,000 to $100,000 a year.

Lots of student debt, in sociology grad school even though his attendance isn’t keeping him out of war the way perpetual enrollment gave exemption from the Vietnam War.

Harrison Schults, Occupy Wall Street organizer.

Schultz whines worse than his friend’s 6-month old baby, Arn, organizer of the 3rd Anniversary Rockford Tea Party celebration, writes, “Whereas, I am a responsible taxpaying adult whose is trying to save the country from parasitic drones like Harrison.”

The YouTube Hannity May 1, 2012, interview is a hoot.

Illinois Conservatives is Arn’s favorite web site.

Joe Walsh

Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh is off to Rockford for the third time I have noticed in order to participate in a third anniversary celebration of the local group.

Here’s what I found in an email:

“Hey Rockford Tea Party…

“We’re having a big outdoor 3-year Anniversary Tea Party celebration at Sinissippi Park on April 15th starting at 1 pm in the Band Shell.

“Guest Speakers include:

• Congressman Joe Walsh
• Congressman Bobby Schilling
• Pastor Don Lyon [a former Congressional candidate and John Anderson]
• Northern Illinois Tea Party Leader Jane Carrell
• Rockford Tea Party Co-Coordinator Ulysses S Arn
• Illinois Conservatives Leader Zach Oltmans
• Illinois State Rep Rich Moreland

“Please make signs and bring them!”

Rockford folks at a Tea Party demonstration.

= = = = =
Note that Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who beat hometown favorite Don Manzullo, is not scheduled to speak.

In light of Congressman Don Manzullo’s loss to Adam Kinzinger, a freshman deemed

• more liberal that Manzullo by every organization that did a ranking and
• more compliant with national House Republican Leadership’s wishes, as evidenced by Eric Cantor’s contributions and support to him,

Rockford Tea Party leader David Hale is polling those on his email list about whether he should run for Congress.

The Tea Party folks in the 16th District that were not shills for the Republican Party endorsed and worked for Manzullo.

In an email headed, “Is Adam Kinzinger your real choice for Congress?” Hall asks recipients to answer a series of questions.

Take a look at them:

A Run For Congress

1. Would you support a Tea Party Conservative Independent for Congress against Adam Kinzinger? Yes, No
2. Would you support David Hale for such a run? Yes, No
3. Would you provide financial support? Yes, No
4. Would you volunteer for his campaign? Yes, No
5. Would you help him obtain signatures for petitions? Yes, No
6. Would you invite him to speak to your friends, neighbors, small group or community group? Yes, No
7. Do you want David Hale to run for Congress in the 16th Congressional District in the November General Election? Yes, No
8. If you are willing to support David Hale for Congress please write you name, phone number and valid email address in the box below and complete this survey.

Joe Walsh at the Huntley Area Tea Party

An email message from the Rockford Tea Party:

Hello Tea Party…

We are pleased to announce that Congressmen Joe Walsh will be speaking at our Feb. 18th, 10 am Rockford Tea Party meeting in downtown Rockford at the Library.

Walsh has been a prominent Tea Party Congressmen, and has made headlines across the nation for his opposition to most of the agenda of Barack Obama.

At times Walsh has stood alone or with very few other members against Obama’s agenda.

He has been one of the few members of Congress who has stuck closely to Tea Party values of

• Fiscal Responsibility,
• Limiting Government and
• protecting Economic Freedom for all Americans and Small Businesses.

After Congressmen Walsh speaks our local County Board Members will take your questions regarding the many critical issues that are facing county voters and how the upcoming Primary Election will be critical in solving those problems with the best possible County Board Members being elected to those positions.

Congressmen Walsh will need to leave by 1045 so our meeting will start promptly at 10 am so please come as early as possible to get seated and ready to go. Thanks much!

Into my inbox today arrived the results of the Rockford Tea Party online Presidential survey.

To its credit, the organization reveals the number of participants–281.

As you can see most were Republicans.  Two-thirds self-identified themselves as such.

Significantly, however, the Rockford Tea Party has attracted a large percentage of Independents.  Twenty-five percent said that was what they were.

“Other” was a high 8.2%.  Considering the concentration of Libertarians in Rockford and looking at the high support of Presidential candidate Ron Paul in the poll (he ran first), my guess is that most of these were supporters of the Libertarian Party.

Party affiliations of thoes participating in the Rockford Tea Party Presidential Poll

Ron Paul won more votes in the Rockford Tea Party poll than anyone else. He got almost 29% of the vote.

Second was Ron Santorum with 22%.

Newt Gingrich came in third with 18.5%.  I would note that the poll started while Gingrich was riding high…before he declared that he would be the Republican Presidential nominee.

Michele Bachmann had 13.9%.

Rick Perry got 7.8%, beating Mitt Romney’s 6.8%.

Only John Huntsman was lower than Romney with 1.8%.

The winner was Ron Paul. Rick Santorum ran second.

Before the Occupy Wall Street folks got any traction, Moveon.Org sponsored a demonstration at Route 14 and Woodstock Street in Crystal Lake in front of Don Manzullo's office. It was August 10, 2011. Can anyone identify any participants?

The Rockford Tea Party invites folks to a counterdemonstration near Congressman Don Manzullo’s Rockford office tomorrow about noon.

The stimulus is the local contingent of Occupy Wall Street, as you can see in the email below:

Tomorrow Thursday Dec 1st, the real people behind the Occupy Movement will be demonstrating outside Don Manzullo’s Office. Move-On.ORG and Occupy will be protesting and getting their message out. When we show up we get our message out also which is a vastly different and much more realistic and honest message than that of the Occupy Mobs. Please plan to attend our Counter Protest Tomorrow at 12:15 outside Manzullo’s Office.

Local MoveOn.org members to protest outside Manzullo’s office Dec. 1

Online Staff Report Rock River Times

At 12:15 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, local members of MoveOn.org will hold a speak-out outside of U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo’s office to demand he stop protecting tax breaks for the millionaires on Wall Street and start standing up for the 99 percent.

The speak-out is part of a national day of action taking place at congressional offices across the country to demand that Congress focus on creating jobs and making the tax system work for all Americans, not just the super-rich.

Manzullo’s office is at 415 S. Mulford Road, Rockford.

The day of action comes as Congress is gearing up to vote on a payroll tax cut that would extend tax cuts for middle-class families and pay for them by imposing a tax on income over $1 million.

MoveOn members will be telling their stories at this event and presenting written letters to Manzullo

The speak-out is being organized by the new American Dream Movement. The American Dream Movement is a growing movement inspired by protests in Wisconsin.

In one of the first tangible indications that Illinois Tea Party leaders intend to take an active part in congressional primary elections is the press release below from Rockford Tea Party leader David Hale:

TEA PARTY CONSIDERS 16TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATES

Illinois Tea Party leaders from county and area Tea Parties throughout the proposed 16th Congressional District met in LaSalle on Saturday to consider their choices for 16th District Congressman. The leaders discussed incumbents and prospective candidates and what they’re looking for in a candidate.

Don Manzullo

It is rumored that current 11th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger may consider a run against longtime Conservative (20 year most conservative Congressional voting record in the lllinois delegation), and very highly-regarded Don Manzullo in the 16th.

Redistricting placed Kinzinger’s home in Chicago’s 2nd District, a seat held by Democrat Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Unlike state representatives who must live in their districts or move their residence within a certain time of being elected, congressmen are not required to live ‘in district’ and it’s not clear whether Kinzinger, if elected, would move to where his constituency lives.

Attendees of the Tea Party meeting majority voted Kinzinger was not their first choice for the 16th District seat.

The turmoil attending the remap has motivated Tea Party organizations to be proactive in considering preferences in the race, not waiting for decisions from the twelve Republican County Chairmen involved. Chris Arndt, Co-Chair of Bureau-LaSalle Tea Party led the meeting and commented: “If anyone is out there and giving serious thought to representing the 16th as a free market, constitutional fiscal conservative, please identify yourself!”

The new 16th Congressional District in Illinois

The Democrat-drawn 16th District map greatly alters the old boundaries of the district removing Stephenson and Jo Daviess Counties to the northwest, dipping south and west to include Bureau and LaSalle Counties and southeast to Putnam, Iroquois, Livingston and Ford Counties.

To the northeast, portions of Grundy and Will Counties are included.

Kept within the boundaries of the 16th are Lee, Ogle and parts of Winnebago and Boone Counties.

The new 16th District juts east at its southernmost point to the Indiana line.

The western half of the City of Rockford was “deeded” to the 17th Congressional District which includes the Quad Cities.

The aim of the Democrat redistricting process is to reverse the 2010 election which gave Republicans a 25 seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democrats are hopeful the new Gerrymandered district map will permit Democrats to win 5 of the 25 needed national congressional seats from Illinois in the 2012 election.

The coalition of 16th Congressional District Tea Parties may be reached at this email address:  ilbltp@gmail.com

–
David Hale
Coordinator, RockfordTeaParty
www.rockfordteaparty.org

A press release from Joe Stefani, President of the Rockford Foresters Baseball Team:

FORESTERS TO HOST TEA PARTY NIGHT

FEATURING TWO CONGRESSMEN

ROCKFORD, IL – June 17, 2011 – The Rockford Foresters Baseball Team announced today it will be hosting “Tea Party Night” at the game on Saturday, July 9 at 6pm at Historic Marinelli Field in Rockford. Special guests for the night include Congressman Joe Walsh and Congressman Bobby Schilling, both of Illinois.

The night will start at 5:15 pm where the Rockford Tea Party, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will address the crowd.

At 5:30pm, Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling will take the field in a home run competition to benefit charity.

Before the game, both Congressman Schilling and Congressman Walsh will be throwing out ceremonial first pitches.

Joe Stefani holds a press conference in Rockford.

Congressman Walsh represents the 8th district of Illinois, which includes parts of McHenry and Lake County, was elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman. Walsh is a Tea Party conservative activist and is a consistent guest on national news media shows.

Congressman Schilling represents the 17th district of Illinois, which includes the Quad Cities. Elected in 2010 by beating an incumbent Congressman, Schilling is a restaurateur and has 10 children.

“The Rockford Foresters are honored to be hosting Tea Party Members from across the State of Illinois in addition to Congressman Walsh and Congressman Schilling,” said Majority Owner/President Joe Stefani.

“This is a great opportunity for members of the community to come out and meet tea party favorite Congressman Walsh as well as Congressman Schilling, who will be representing the Rockford area in the future with the new Congressional maps.”

Tickets for the game and pre-game activities are free and can be obtained by calling the Rockford Foresters box office at 815-312-2115 or by emailing tickets@rockfordforesters.com.

About the Rockford Foresters:

The Rockford Foresters are a member of the Midwest Collegiate League, which is a summer collegiate wood bat league that is based in Northern Illinois and Indiana. Going into their second season, the team comes off winning the league’s championship. The Rockford Foresters play at the historic 2,357 seat Marinelli Field, which is owned by the Rockford Park District. The Rockford Foresters are owned by majority owner Joe Stefani, who is the youngest majority owner of a sports team in the United States, in addition to a group of shareholders.

Rockford Tea Party camerman follows the arrow to interview two Wisconsin State Senators leaving the Clock Tower Inn to return to Madison yesterday afternoon.

The Chicago Tea Party email says, “Patriots are gathering together tomorrow in Madison, Wisconsin to counter protest the riots led by Organizing for America.

“While the Wisconsin led Republican house and governor tries to put their fiscal crisis to bed, unions are rioting and democratic leaders are on the lamb.

“There will be a counter-protest tomorrow at Wisconsin’s state capital, from Noon - 3 p.m.”

Crystal Lake Tea Party’s Mary Alger emails,

“I have inquired about a bus round trip to Madison tomorrow….cost $25 round trip….cash only payable when boarding. Need 56 people to fill the bus otherwise cost will increase….email mills24@sbcglobal.net, to make reservations. Must know by 4P today to secure bus.

“Go, if you can.”

A couple of Democrats were sighted by the Rockford Tea Party cameraman at the Clock Tower Inn Thursday afternoon.

The rhetoric being used by the union members and supporters is harsh, even though liberals were advocating civility a couple of weeks ago when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot.

The Wisconsin State Senator who would not give the time of day to the Rockford Tea Party citizen-jorunalist.

An email from the Rockford Tea Party tells of catching up with two Wisconsin State Senators yesterday afternoon at the Clock Tower Inn where I guessed they would go in order to avoid any possibility that the Wisconsin State Police could find them and return them to Madison.

The Democrats were abandoning their state to buoy Illinois’ economy in order to keep a bill hated by union members from coming to a vote.  Their absence meant there were too few State Senators to comprise a quorum.

At the time I wrote this (about 9 AM Friday), 31,646 people had viewed the video.

Here’s the email:

Hello Tea Party…

This afternoon has been a whirlwind. At about 4 pm I found out the Democrat Senators who had been sought in Wisconsin for abdicating their Constitutional Responsibility in Wisconsin had fled to Rockford.

I caught up with them and here is the video.

That’s not the end of it.

It seems like this thing has taken a life of its own all over the net and apparently tomorrow it will be in the constant News Cycle on Fox News.

Mark Levin talked about us today and it is already on Glenn Beck’s The Blaze Website and Andrew Brietbart’s Big Government website.

It is literally blazing across the internet. Fun times folks.

Two Wisconsin State Senators were caught leaving Rockford’s Clock Tower Inn.

Neither would identify themselves.

The first Wisconsin Democratic Party State Senator was willing to engage the citizen-journalist.

The first, a well-spoken man, was at least willing to defend his boycotting his legislative floor as doing his job.

“I’m leaving right now to do my job in Wisconsin…My job today is to delay a vote on a piece of legislation the people of the state have said we have not have time to consider the consequences.”

Asked his position in the Senate, he was non-responsive.

The second a white-haired man refused to say anything.

From his demeanor, I’d guess he was from a strongly one-party legislative district.

He certainly was not used to dealing with tough questions.

= = = = =

If you can identify either State Senators, please share that information in the comment section or email me directly.

The Rockford Register-Star identifies the polite State Senator as Jim Holperin.  A reader thinks the white-haired one is Bob Jauch.