UPDATE 3/8/22, 10:50AM CST: Today is International Women’s Day, and a question asked in POLITICO Illinois Playbook this morning about the “best campaign speech” brought Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s (D, AZ) “Disease of Division” speech as the most recent example of the best campaign speech, or any speech. This speech genuinely inspired me and observing International Women’s Day, I couldn’t think of a better example then Sinema’s speech nearly two months ago.
Please listen to Sinema’s speech, in its entirety.
From the desk of John Lopez: With today, January 13, 2022, being the official kickoff to the 2022 election cycle in Illinois, being the first day to circulate petitions, the floor speech by the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema, is a speech for the ages.
Given President Biden was less than an hour when he’d be on Capitol Hill to attempt to convince the 50-member Senate Democratic majority to alter the rules for the Senate filibuster to pass so-called voting rights legislation, Senator Sinema, in her nearly 20-minute speech today, made it clear to President Biden and all Americans she is not budging.
She gave full context why and it’s something all should watch/listen to and learn.
Currently, her and Senator Joe Manchin (D, WV) are meeting with President Biden at the White House for another round of arm-twisting with the two holdouts to any change in the Legislative Filibuster.
While no one is going to agree with everything anyone says, and Sinema’s speech is no exception, she makes clear, in spite of her support for the two bills on voting rights which have passed the House, she will not alter Senate rules on the Filibuster.
What do McHenry County Blog readers think?
She chooses Country over Party.
She chooses the essential function of the Senate as the Cooling Saucer over Party.
She points out all the things the Democrats and Harry Reid broke that McConnell found useful.
The latest broken toy is the House current select committee. Pelosi broke that toy, and now, providing the Republicans return to control, McCarthy has promised that now HE will exercise a veto over Committee Members going forward.
So many broken toys and door locks by the Democrats.
✌️😎
Some might say the onus then is on Republicans to fix the damage, to repair the broken windows and doors.
But when you have tenants like these…..
It’s like asking Israel to give back the Golan Heights.
This week, Republican Senator Tom Cotton gave a speech in the U.S. Senate defending the filibuster and why it is needed. At the end of the speech, he said that every word and context of the speech was from a speech that Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer had given in the Senate many years ago.
Democrats are the ultimate group of hypocrites.
You have to wonder why Schumer is still free to roam around the Senate as a Senator and ask why he was not charged, convicted and put in jail. In March of 2020, he threatened two U.S. Supreme Court Justices while standing in front of the Supreme Court Building in Washington D.C. Following is a report on this from NBC:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/rare-rebuke-chief-justice-roberts-slams-schumer-threatening-comments-n1150036
“March 4, 2020, 4:09 PM CST / Updated March 5, 2020, 6:11 AM CST
By Pete Williams
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts publicly chastised Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday over comments Schumer made outside the Supreme Court as the justices were hearing a case on abortion rights.
Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested that President Donald Trump’s court appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, “won’t know what hit” them if they vote to uphold abortion restrictions. He spoke during a rally on the sidewalk in front of the court building.”
bred… are you committed to protecting the filibuster, even when the Republicans are in charge?
2 people who KNOW the CHEAT IS ON… and don’t want anything to do with it… ! they will be dragged thru the court systems NEXT after obydumb gone!!! for this under handed CHEAT this Not my PREZ and gang want to perpetuate
AGAIN YOU GOV SUCKS LEAVE MY VOTING RIGHTS ALONE!!!
Good in theory since democracy is evil and the filibuster is a check on democracy, but the whole idea that we are going to get rid of division is ignorant. America is going to divide further and collapse. Maybe(?) this postpones the collapse for a little while, but who knows if that is even preferable (many would even argue it’s not preferable). Basically, her action is right given the correct premise that governing through simple majority is AWFUL, but the premise that underlines that one — that the US of A can be united, healed — is, in my opinion, incorrect. The filibuster itself does not help in terms of curing the “disease of division” that she is talking about. It only retards metastization, it does not actually heal anything.
I mostly dropped in for two announcements.
1. There is another perennial candidate running for U.S. Senate: Jimmy Lee Tillman II. This is the newest entry into the U.S. Senate field. Not a huge game changer and I’d still consider Bobby Piton to be the front runner, but it is news. If he can get the signatures, he’ll be on ballots in McHenry County presumably along with Piton and several other candidates. Tillman is the third African-American to announce he’s running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The others are Peggy Hubbard and Eric Wallace.
2. I’m having serious doubts about John’s claim that someone is going to run against Catalina Lauf in the 11th district U.S. House of Representatives Republican primary. I just realized that Michael Koolidge, who is running against Marter and Lombardi in the 14th district Republican primary and who claims to have raised 100k in a short period of time (much more than Marter or Lombardi), has somebody mentioned in his campaign committee whose name is Robert Phillips III and this same name from the same place called Dublin, Ohio, and with the same phone number is also involved with keeping records for Lauf’s Defense of Freedom PAC and many other PACs.
Phillips *may* have something to do with Axiom, which if I recall had something to do with Governor Youngkin. Whether he does or doesn’t, I have found his name attached to many other PACs so I’m pretty sure this guy Mr Phillips knows some people and could be described as a “somebody.”
So, John, what I’m questioning is why people in D.C. would allegedly, according to you, be thinking about running someone against Lauf, when:
a) Lauf seemed to be who D.C. people were pushing last time around and she had more out of state campaign donations than any other candidate.
b) It sounds like Lauf is connected to some pretty big movers and shakers (she was in the RNC video for crying out loud), so why would movers and shakers be plotting against her?
It is now the 15th.
Just when the heck is this “candidate x” going to announce?
You said after New Year.
It’s been over two weeks and now petition circulation has begun.
Still, I have heard no announcement nor is there anything listed on the FEC’s website.
I am suspecting that there is no candidate x.
Lauf is going to sail through the primary without any serious competition and then lose to Foster.
I have more to say about this, but would appreciate a response from John Lopez before saying more.
Correcting, I do have news about the “candidate Xs” for IL-11, and will post the article about my findings tomorrow.
I found conclusive evidence I will share appropriately.
But will respond here on a couple of points Correcting mentioned in his questions for me.
Michael Koolidge & Compliance consultants
The Robert Phillips, III in IL-14 who works for the firm who appears on Catalina Lauf’s Defense of Freedom PAC is a “compliance consultant”.
The firm, HenryAlan is owned by Axiom Strategies, who bought the Ohio-based firm a couple of years back.
In Federal campaigns nowadays, compliance with the FEC filings is usually outsourced, and all these consultants do is make sure all reporting to the FEC is done correctly.
These consultants appear as “treasurer” and/or “custodian of records” on the federal candidates FEC Statement of Organization filings.
While Lauf uses HenryAlan for her PAC, she’s using a firm out of Wisconsin called 9Seven Consulting for her congressional campaign this year.
Not uncommon for congressional campaigns in the same race to use the same compliance consulting firms, including Georgia-based PDS Compliance.
There’s no conflicts-of-interest because the purpose for these people is to be in “compliance” with the FEC Act.
Some will double/include help with Financial Disclosure statements, too.
“Lauf seemed to be who D.C. people were pushing last time around and she had more out of state campaign donations than any other candidate.”
FALSE!
The D.C. people were NOT pushing Lauf in IL-14 in 2020.
Yes, she had a couple of PACs donate to her primary campaign, but the established Republicans in D.C. were working against Jim Oberweis and were pushing both Sue Rezin or Ted Gradel.
Remember the Congressional Leadership Fund’s dummy super PAC and their nearly $1 million worth of independent expenditures against Oberweis in early March of 2020?
Problem, Gradel had failed to gain enough traction to compete because he only ran one TV commercial in early March, and Rezin ran out of money and was not on TV in last two weeks before the primary.
Oberweis was able to win in spite of finishing under 26% of primary vote in crowded field.
Lauf video at RNC
The RNC video was in late August, and was the Trump campaign’s, not Trump himself, to feature the Lauf sisters during a filler spot between speeches at first night of convention.
“It sounds like Lauf is connected to some pretty big movers and shakers (she was in the RNC video for crying out loud), so why would movers and shakers be plotting against her?”
She knows some movers/shakers, as I pointed out in the Alex Bruesewitz article.
But, it’s one thing to “know” a mover/shaker, it’s another thing to be openly supported by endorsement by these high profile people.
Apart from Congressman Madison Cawthorn, no other member of Congress has endorsed Lauf.
She’ll have her backers, but the candidate Xs will have their big-name backers, too.
But one must ask, Lauf declared for IL-11 on December 7.
Why has no one else jumped on the Lauf bandwagon and endorsed her openly now a month into her IL-11 campaign?
That’s all I can say for now, but trust me, the two IL-11 candidate Xs will come forward soon, very likely after the news from Richard Irvin announcement on Monday dies down after next week.
There is a conspiracy theory about why you might be telling a tall tale about “candidate x” but I haven’t known you to purposely lie before so will take your word again that this/these candidate(s) will announce soon. If they don’t make an announcement by the end of this month, a lot of people are going to be asking you questions. Once February begins, there’s only going to be 6 weeks until petitions have to be turned in!
“Remember the Congressional Leadership Fund’s dummy super PAC and their nearly $1 million worth of independent expenditures against Oberweis in early March of 2020?”
I had that in mind although it’s hard to see exactly who benefits the most from that. It was money against Oberweis, but who was the alternative supposed to be? It was a crowded primary. IMO, Lauf and Gradel would have benefited most. It depends what your angle is though. If you don’t like Oberweis because you see him as unelectable, maybe you would have gone with Rezin. But if you don’t like “politicians” then you wouldn’t switch from Oberweis to Rezin, you’d go with Gradel or Lauf. (Lauf ended up finishing ahead of Gradel.) The anti-Oberweis PAC wasn’t quite the smoking gun.
The reason I think Lauf was backed by D.C. types is because look at all the media appearances she made in 2019 and 2020! No other candidate had nearly the exposure that she had. I figured that was because people inside the beltway liked her, not just because she worked in the Trump administration for 7 or 8 months. I figured memos had to have been circulated on the inside saying, “this is our gal, help her out.” Had Sue Rezin gotten the media fluff up that Lauf got in that primary, she would have defeated Oberweis and Underwood might not be in congress right now.
The RNC video still shows Lauf is well liked by insiders. It’s not like you or Cal were in the RNC video, but Lauf was, and what has she really accomplished to be worthy of being on national TV as bred winner has pointed out before? She worked for the Rauner campaign in 2018… How can one have accomplished so little but end up on national TV? Nobody in the local GOP knew who she was until she ran for congress!
On endorsements, is this really a high profile race? Foster is favored to win. Some people don’t like attaching their name to candidates who are going to lose. Scott Pressler who is a high profile name was helping Lauf when she was intending on running against Kinzinger, so maybe she would have gotten more help if that scenario would have played out but now it’s a completely different race. The only person she is running against is Pierce who doesn’t seem like a major/serious candidate.
Or it’s possible Lauf doesn’t want endorsements from figures like MTG because she’s thinking about the general election? You are probably aware of this, but the Trump brand is somewhat controversial. Always was and especially is now. That’s a lean Democrat district. She might feel that certain endorsements would do more harm in a general election than the benefit she would get in a primary, which she likely has locked up anyway.
If people in the beltway are panicking about Lauf, how are TWO candidates going to stop her? (This is a rhetorical question — I’m not blaming you personally, John, but am questioning the wisdom of the insiders if this is their plan.) Maybe they don’t have smart people? “We must stop Lauf. Erm, quick! Give money to this guy! Or maybe that guy! I don’t know!” Isn’t that going to split the vote of the people who don’t like her?? It only takes 400 signatures to get on the ballot. Pierce might get on the ballot as well. So you could have 3 people running against Lauf splitting the vote. Like I’ve said before, the alternative better be a celebrity and/or millionaire because Lauf has some name recognition and she has 6 figures in the campaign bank! That makes her the de facto front runner. If it is some politician, she’ll play the “he’s a politician” card.
ok there is one weak part of my argument. She already is running as the Trump candidate so why not take endorsements? It could be that people just don’t care about that election much. Or maybe they don’t want to associate with someone who will eventually lose (to Foster)? Or maybe they don’t think she’s too bright? idk there are possible explanations, John, other than everybody is waiting for someone else to hop in the race to endorse them. What is the strategy even going to be? The insiders are afraid she is going to lose a general so…
If they run as more pro-Trump than her how is that going to help them win a general election if that is their concern about her? If they run as establishment type elections she will call them politicians.
It’s understandable why people don’t like her.
I’m not saying she should be the candidate to go against Foster, just that it appears she will win the primary.
ooks like a checkmate to me, unless the candidate running against her is very high profile but if there are multiple candidates who make the announcement the vote will be split.
This 11th district primary will end up being a huge resource drain for Republicans considering Foster is likely to win no matter what.
Makes more sense to help King get elected in a tossup district.
Or how about finding ANYBODY who is going to run in the 13th district?
That too is likely unwinnable, but it’s at least an open seat and the Democrat is a carpetbagger — not like Foster who is an incumbent and has almost 4 MILLION DOLLARS!
She’s kinda queer.
https://www.thelily.com/kyrsten-sinema-is-bisexual-and-claims-no-religion-but-identity-was-a-nonissue-in-her-winning-senate-race/
That’s a 3-year-old article Sick of Orcs, and given her stance against changing the filibuster rules, along with Joe Manchin prevents President Biden and leftist Democrats from taking complete control of our freedoms, you better thank God Sinema does what she does in respect to protecting our freedoms.
Ideas and principles are what matters. People are individuals.
Lopez, don’t freak. You gonna censor me too?
Is the ‘3 year old article’ true? I never heard the queergirl Senator renounce her degeneracy. Maybe she did to you.
Lopez, I’m kinda sick of cuckservatives.
Yes, let’s worship Synema, bc you said so.
The day is coming when the country centripetally comes apart. All the signs are here.
Maybe you and the neocons can arrange for a nuclear war.
I really mind people who simultaneously paper over societal decay yet claim to be conservatives. Join Hultgren and Pence in la la land.