Category: Democratic News

Lieberman Must Go!

Posted on by TL

This just in today from Brave New Films:

Joe Lieberman is a war hawk, plain and simple. He staunchly supports George Bush’s War in Iraq and John McCain’s plan to stay in Iraq for 100 years. But Lieberman’s new alliance with the Republican Party runs even deeper. He has endorsed and stumped for McCain, wants to be the star of the Republican National Convention, and has even served on a 527 group that smeared Barack Obama with a nasty attack ad.

And yet Lieberman still holds a top rank within the Senate Democratic Caucus as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The Senate Democratic Steering Committee needs to know just how much of a conflict of interest this is. That’s why we created Lieberman Must Go.

Watch the video: http://bravenewfilms.org/watch/19924842/43061?utm_source=rgemail

Here’s what you can do: Sign our petition today and tell the Senate Democratic Steering Committee to strip Lieberman of his leadership role in Congress. Then, e-mail this video to everyone you know and spread it on sites like Digg and elsewhere.

Recently in Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall suggested that the best way to limit Lieberman is by encouraging the Steering Committee to render him powerless in 2009. Lieberman must go, and you can make that happen by donating to Brave New Films today.

Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Team

I’m happy to give them a spot on Turning Left.  I agree…

Joe Lieberman Must Go!

Bill Daley wants to be your governor, Illinios

Posted on by TL

Bill Daley has been talking to all the right people, working to position himself for the 2010 Democratic nomination for governor of Illinois. Brother of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Bill took a shot at the governor’s mansion in 2002. According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Bill Daley flirted with a race for governor in 2002 only to be bullied out by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), father-in-law of Gov. Blagojevich.

Mell threatened to dirty up the mayor’s brother with talk of Bill Daley’s divorce and Daley’s stint as president of Amalgamated Bank.

With federal investigators swarming over the Blagojevich administration, the governor’s former fundraiser Tony Rezko now a convicted felon and Mell now estranged from his son-in-law, Bill Daley is apparently looking to scratch his lifelong political itch.

Well, Blagojevich has certainly become quite the itch.

I’m willing to take a look at Daley.

Daley has name recognition in his own right.  He served as Secretary of Commerce in President Bill Clinton’s second administration.  In July 2000 he became chairman of Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign.

This man has a respectable history already, and throws his hat into a crowded field.

For years we’ve heard talk that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was planning a run for governor.  Madigan is exceptional.  I’ve heard her speak on a number of occasions.  While her father is very well-connected, Lisa is not Speaker Mike.

Lisa is not a Todd-Stroger-wannabe, running just because daddy already holds office.  Neither is Bill Daley running because of his brother.

If these two throw their respective hats into the ring, Democrats are in for quite the ride.  Democrats will have two very respectable candidates to consider.

Personally, I’ll probably offer my support to the one who does not go negative first.

Meet Chris Coleson, the new Jared

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Chris Coleson tipped the scales at 278 pounds in December. The 5-foot-8 Coleson now weighs 199 pounds and his waist size has dropped from 50 to 36.

His diet?

McDonald’s.

Yup.

The Virginia man lost 80 pounds in six months by eating nearly every meal at McDonald’s:

Not Big Macs, french fries and chocolate shakes. Mostly salads, wraps and apple dippers without the caramel sauce.

Proof that we can lose weight, no matter where we eat, if we watch what we eat.

Amazing.

Walter Jacobson says he’s innocent

Posted on by TL

I like Walter Jacobson.  I’ll admit that.

He changed my opinion of Madonna years ago, after she gave birth to her first child.

He said, on the air, “I like Madonna,” after a brief assessment of Madonna’s entirely responsible opinions on raising children.

Jacobson was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, according to the Chicago Tribune:

Police got a 911 call reporting that a vehicle was seen swerving after hitting a parked vehicle. Police said they responded to the scene and, using a description of the striking vehicle and its license plate, found Jacobson, 70, who submitted to a field sobriety test.

“He was taken to the [Near North] District, where a Breathalyzer test was administered,” said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. “It was determined that he had exceeded the legal alcohol intake limit.”

I like Walter, but I don’t like people who drive under the influence.  A dear friend’s father is currently near death after being struck by a drunk driver, so I have no sympathy for those who drink and drive.

In all honesty, I hope Walter comes to terms with what he did, and doesn’t do it again.  If he’s in denial, then I hope the judge sees that, and takes his license.

It’s not worth it, Walter.  Stay off the road.  Don’t be “the guy” who strikes and kills the innocent.

‘Unflappable’ Todd Stroger gets an angry earful

Posted on by TL

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger finally met with taxpayers in the northwest suburbs Monday, and it wasn’t pretty.  Some elected officials in the area had threatened to secede from Cook County in the face of Stroger’s $426 million tax hike.

The Chicago Tribune tells the story, and it must have been quite a scene, with a state Senator chiming in (He’s a Republican, but, these days, that doesn’t matter):

Many in the audience listened politely, but they were there to show their anger.

“We are now starting to feel that we are now starting to get gouged,” said state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), who introduced legislation that would make it easier for Palatine to secede from the county. “Do you really understand the competitive disadvantage you’re putting the northwest suburbs to?”

Palatine is looking at seceding from Cook County.  The Chicago Trib. calls this a long shot, and I’m sure it is.  But, wow.  Talk of secession in Illinois merits attention, even in a state already inundated with so many overlapping governmental bodies that even the most radically liberal and staunch conservatives weep trying to figure out where respective jurisdictions begin and/or end.

Back to the Chicago Trib.:

The secession movement in Palatine was a long shot at best, but it illustrated a belief by some suburbanites that Stroger wasn’t serving them and didn’t understand the economic harm a sales tax creates in border towns where shoppers can cross into another county for lower rates.

At Monday’s meeting at Harper College, the crowd applauded when Nancy Golemba, 48, of Inverness, said, “I think Cook County represents the residents of Chicago.”

As someone writing from the south suburbs, I applaud Nancy Golemba’s comment.  We have lived in Chicago’s shadow for far too long.  The Cook County Board should represent, well, Cook County.  But all too often, Chicago gets the nod when it comes to the board defining policy.

Stroger, who remained unflappable, said “people don’t trust politicians . . . and that’s they way this job works.”

He also said people near a county or state line sometimes get pinched by a sales tax increase.

Easy for Todd Stroger to say.  Someone else gets “pinched” while Chicago grows.

Well, that’s been happening far too long already.

It’s not that we don’t trust politicians, President Stroger.  In fact, we elect them in our respective suburbs.

Many just don’t trust you.

Rezko’s Plan for a Third Airport

Posted on by TL

Tony Rezko allegedly tried his hand at starting a “pay-for-play” third airport in Will County.

I had my doubts the first time I read this, but, knowing Rick Bryant, this report is accurate.

Bryant writes in eNews Park Forest:

Two years ago – before Rezko’s indictment and trial – the Congressman and I (as executive director of the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission) were invited to meet with state officials about the third airport, a project we’ve championed for 14 years.

At the time, the governor was running for re-election and facing angry south suburban leaders who were running a massive ad campaign criticizing Blagojevich for reneging on his promise to build the airport.

Feeling heat from his voter base, the governor agreed to have two of his top aides meet with Jackson and ALNAC.

At the last minute, however, there was a change of plans.  Instead of meeting with the Governor’s aides, we would be meeting with Tony Rezko.

So, on Sunday, June 25, 2006, at the Chicago Four Seasons Hotel, Rezko showed up by himself.  He said he could offer gubernatorial support for ALNAC’s airport plan – if the governor were allowed to make key appointments to ALNAC’s Board.

Wow.  It’s worth it to read Bryant’s entire commentary.

To be honest, I tire of the back-and-forth sniping between Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson.  Both are good people.  That’s not the issue.  But both, at times, have postured unnecessarily over the Third Airport, bringing each other down in the process.  Thankfully, Bryant, a top aide to Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., only takes a backhanded slap at Halvorson in this piece.

ALNAC’s model for building the airport comes with built-in accountability and ethics designed specifically to eliminate kickbacks and graft, thus creating 15,000 private-sector jobs at a low-cost airport that will attract low-cost carriers during this challenging economy.

Rezko’s model and the Senate bill would turn ALNAC’s innovative plan to construct a privately funded, publicly accountable, low-cost airport into a taxpayer-funded, pay-to-play, high-cost airport.

Bryant’s point, however, is clear enough: a third airport would be much less expensive and more accountable to the public under ALNAC.

I simply find it astounding that Rezko tried to put his finger in the third airport pie.

How Hillary got her groove back

Posted on by TL

“Today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can!”

With those words, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton ended her historic run for the White House and endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States. Senator Clinton said everything she needed to say, and more, with her sound endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president Saturday.

While some supporters called for Clinton to form a third party and challenge both Democrats and Republicans for the White House, there’s no indication that Mrs. Clinton took any of these ideas seriously.

Instead, Mrs. Clinton graciously thanked her supporters, strongly urging them to support Obama’s candidacy.

To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.

Some have said Hillary dallied too long on her campaign, that she should have spent more time talking about Barack.

But those words ring hollow.  Her supporters stood by her even as she spoke Saturday, and this was their time as much as it was hers.

This has been an extraordinary primary campaign season.  For the first time in the history of the United States, a woman and a black man stood as the front-runners overall in the primaries.  Both Clinton and Obama top John McCain in national polls throughout the primary campaigns.  Senator Clinton stood strong until she decided that it was time to suspend this campaign, and endorse another.

I would caution Democrats who might resent Hillary staying in the campaign as long as she did.  Some, I know, have become angry that she didn’t “get it” like they thought she should and bow out, leave the once crowded stage so Barack could concentrate on November.

But I disagree.

What she did, in fact, was extraordinary, and we owe her our gratitude.  Senator Clinton fought.  This was not ego — this was history in the making.

Hillary did not “get her groove back” by endorsing Senator Obama.

The Senator from New York had it all along.

The Oberweis Reality Tour: Bush on Steroids

Posted on by TL

The way Jim Oberweis sees it, he just needs one more chance to explain himself to the voters. After a past unsuccessful bids for the United States Senate and Illinois governor, Jim simply feels he hasn’t had the chance to really tell the voters who he is. So, he’s going to try to explain himself again to the voters as he makes an attempt to unseat Congressman Bill Foster in the 14th Congressional District.

Before we take the “Oberweis Reality Tour” together, let’s first listen to Jim:

“The opportunity is there,” Oberweis said during a visit to The Courier News. “If we can explain to voters where we are on the issues … I believe I’ll win. I do believe my views represent the majority of views in the 14th District. But we didn’t do a very good job of communicating our views.”

Jim doesn’t want this fall’s campaign to turn ugly and negative. He wants to tell you who he really is.

“It became well-known that my opponent was going to portray me as a George Bush clone,” Oberweis said. “I didn’t think there was any way they could possibly do that. I was wrong.”

So, Oberweis was just misunderstood.

I don’t think so. The reality is, Jim Oberweis is George Bush on steroids, and the voters in the 14th Congressional District need to watch out.

Let’s start with Oberweis’ Final Solution on immigration: send back the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants immediately. Perhaps he’ll even throw in a carton of milk for the bus ride back. According to the ArchPundit:

Oberweis staked out the hardcore send back 12 million people immediately and no exceptions kind of policy and not only embraced the position, but embraced fairly radical anti-immigrant activist organizations.

Most amazing is that John McCain, long a reasonable voice on the immigration debate embraced Oberweis as McCain’s flip flop to the dark side of several issues continues.

Oberweis is a Board of Director for NumbersUSA which is one of the leading right wing anti-immigration groups.

He’s spoken at Illinois Minutemen meetings such as this one on May 6, 2006 mntmn017.wav

And despite railing on the businesses using undocumented workers, Oberweis Dairy never wondered why the company cleaning for them could afford to do the work they were doing. Turns out the contractor were paying below minimum wage for undocumented workers.

According to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, two undocumented workers brought a complaint to the Illinois Department of Labor against Oberweis Dairies for violating Illinois and federal minimum wage laws and failing to fully pay its employees:

Meet Rosa Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra — two undocumented workers who live and work in northwest suburban Chicago. Rosa, who is 41, and Jorge, who is 34, were both hired on May 1, 2005 to clean three Oberweis Dairy stores. The stores are located at 9 East Dundee Road, Arlington Heights, 1405 Palatine Road, Hoffman Estates, and 30 South Roselle Road in Schaumburg.

In fact, according to the ICIRR, these workers were paid less than half of minimum wage to clean Oberweis’ Ice Cream Stores:

“Mr. Oberweis has exploited these workers twice,” says Joshua Hoyt, Executive Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “First he exploited them for cheap labor, and then he exploited them by demagoging their illegal status for cheap votes. We have asked that the Illinois Department of Labor conduct a full investigation into Mr. Oberweis’ employment practices. No one likes a hypocrite,” Hoyt continued, “and Mr. Oberweis’ hypocrisy just shows how our economy is powered by the labor of undocumented immigrants like Rosa and Jorge.”

So, we need to deport 12 million people, but, in the meantime, it’s okay to hire them to do our dirty work?

Who’s cleaning your toilets, Mr. Oberweis?