Moveon.org national is polling its members on whether to support or oppose the president's health insurance reform plan. Their email offers some links:
The links weight the poll toward a "Yes." I didn't see a real cogent argument against the bill, but Howard Dean in The Hill last week made some policy and political arguments to kill the bill. While a few provisions have changed in the last 75 days, he explained his reasning in this interview with Stephanopoulos back in December, which includes a clip of Tom Harkin on Rachel Maddow:
What do we think? Is Dean right? or Harkin? How should I vote?
Its that time again, "Election Time," Now as a active voter its my duty to learn about who is running for office. Now first up is the 5th District Dem. Commissioner Race: Deborah Sims vs Sheila Chamlers-Currin
On Thursday night at a neighborhood bar in Andersonville, lobbyist Leo Smith - husband of State Senator Heather Steans - infiltrated his wife’s challenger’s fundraiser event, drank at the bar alone for an hour, and then belligerently stormed candidate Jim Madigan, swearing and speaking in non sequiturs.
On Thursday, December 10, 2009, The Call (a neighborhood gay bar in Andersonville) held a small fundraiser to support Democratic candidate for the Illinois State Senate, 7th District, Jim Madigan.
Democratic Metropolitan Water Reclamation District candidate Todd Connor filed his nominating petitions on Monday with a whopping 22,000 signatures--a move that will undoubtedly grab the attention Cook County political insiders.
Candidates for this under-the-radar office need 7,981 signatures--more than required for a gubernatorial candidacy.
Connor, 31, a Progressive Democrat and first-time candidate, was unable to secure official backing from the Cook County Democrat Party regulars but pulled-off an impressive party-like petition drive that will put the slated candidates on notice.
“This grass roots effort highlights the hardworking, energized nature of my campaign. We are educating voters and talking about new ideas ... ," said Connor, a former Navy officer and Illinois Inspector General.
The Cook County Democrats slated incumbent commissioners Barbara McGowan and Mariyana Spyropoulos and newcomer Michael Alvarez.
Backing Connor is an impressive list of progressive politicians: Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (D-4th), U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston), State Senator Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest), State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer (D-Chicago) State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), Alderman Tom Tunney (D-44th), former State Senator Carol Ronen (D-Chicago), State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston), Northfield Township Committeeman Mike Kreloff, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (D-Chicago).
(Since our calendar, that we never really used, is out on semi-permanent loan ... - promoted by wegerje)
8/14/09 – FRI. – KENDALL DEM WOMEN FREE WINE & CHEESE EVENT, OSWEGO The Kendall County Democratic Women President Chrisi Vineyard invites all to join the KCDW at a complimentary meet and greet wine and cheese event on Friday, August 14, from 5 to 8pm, at Second Opinion Health Foods, 4551 Route 71, in Oswego.
When Democrats are campaigning to turn DuPage blue (TM), often times Republicans will respond by pointing to the state government in Springfield as an example of what it would be like if Democrats took over the county.
But digging into the memory hole, we discover that Democrats only recently took over Illinois. Rod Blagojevich, who took office in 2003, was the state's first Democratic governor since 1977. The General Assembly went Democratic in 1996 and the State Senate didn't follow until 2003.
That's why some Daily Herald articles from about fourteen years ago reprinted on the Democratic Party of DuPage County web site are still pertinent today.
Court documents showed that Addison Township Republican Committeeman Patrick J. Durante and Itasca attorney James Schirott worked a deal with Primadonna Resorts Inc. to receive about $10 million each over 20 years if the firm they represent secured a riverboat casino license in Illinois, a report published this week said.
Durante, an aide to Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Wood Dale, and Schirott, who represented Senate President James "Pate" Philip during legislative remap battles several years ago, confirmed the payment arrangement. But some state legislators and gaming officials said Tuesday they were disturbed at he appearance of the influence-purchasing the arrangement suggests.
It is TIME to not feel ashamed to live in "Crook County" anymore. It is TIME for the second largest County in the US to no longer be a punchline. It is TIME to start to roll back the hereditary monarchies (Stroger, Daley, Madigan, Hynes, etc.) in Illinois. It is TIME for progressives in Illinois to get full-on behind Toni Preckwinkle for President of the Cook County Board.
Smart? Indeed - AB and AM from U of C. Not givin' those away for clout. Progressive? Check how many times she's voted against Daley and with us on our key issues - and with people like Joe Moore. Start with the living wage for example. Gets things done? She inherited over 3,000 empty lots in her Ward and I think the total now, after 18 years, is down to like 30. That's not talking about change, that's change we can see.
Yes there are some Congressional races to be concerned about, a few, and Gov. Quinn of course, but progressives in Cook County have a chance to make real change. It is freakin' TIME my friends. (more below) tonipreckwinkle.org
Cross-posted from City Barbs for whatever might be helpful to others in connecting the dots in their towns.
“I can tell you right now how to shave $10 million off the city budget,” a DeKalb business person told me recently.
How?
“Privatize everything.”
It’s an extreme view redolent of anti-union sentiment and we will not be hearing pronouncements from city hall about contracting out for basic services anytime soon, I’m sure.
However, that doesn’t mean privatization isn’t going to happen in DeKalb. Due to ongoing budget woes, some version of it may stumble in through the back door.
Dealing with multiple obligations and volunteered tasks, haven't had the time to write here as much as I'd like. I posted my counter-predictions to Russ Stewart on Gapers Block, which Sandra saw. I feel pretty good about that analysis in hindsight, spot-on on winning %, ## the minor candidates would pull, the race being Fritchey v. Quigley, and how Quigley could win. I also believe that my belief about higher turnout than expected was validated; some here predicted low 30s, the Quigley camp's estimate was highest at 35,000-45,000, but in reality Democratic turnout was almost 55,000.
Wanted to share some insights from the Quigley camp (one of the cool things about a 12-person race, the victory parties have high ratio of good conversations).
An additional candidate forum for the various candidates running for Congress in the March 3 Special Primary Election in the 5th Congressional District will be held this coming Saturday, January 31 at 5 pm.
The district's voters are cordially invited to attend this Candidate Forum, to be hosted by The American Muslim Taskforce and the Illinois Committee for Honest Government (ICHG). The forum will be held at the American Islamic College, located at 640 W. Irving Park Road in Chicago (corner of Irving Park Road and Marine Drive), just west of Lake Shore Drive.
(Candidate diary. Has to be promoted. :) - promoted by wegerje)
My name is Lynn Fazekas. If you've had an account at Prairie State Blue for any length of time, you already sorta know me, since I've been blogging here under the name "yinn" (FWIW, my real nickname) for about three years. I decided to wait to post a candidate diary until after my ballot petition was filed--which I did Tuesday--but have been eager to get to it.
I hope to have the support of the PSB community in this endeavor.
(I'm promoting this as I will all other candidates' posts in this race, if they post here on PSB - promoted by BobB)
The incomparable Michael Jordan did amazing things when he first reached the NBA. Even if you’re not a sports fan, you’ve probably seen the videos.
But even Michael Jordan didn’t win an NBA championship until he had a team that provided him with the support to take his game to the next level.
My point is simply this: Achieving success that makes a lasting, unmistakable impact can’t be accomplished by one person, even if that person is amazingly gifted.
President-elect Obama is blessed with the vision to see a new way of governing and the skills to energize people to work towards that goal, but he can’t do it alone.
Many of the ways a partisan election official can influence the outcome of an election are within the law. We saw that this year in Sangamon county.
Last year Sangamon county used Populex voting machines that alerted a voter when they skipped voting in a race, also known as an undervote. This year we used a new ballot counting machine that has the ability to give a similar message alerting voters that they skipped a race. An ES&S fact sheet for the ballot counting machines used in Sangamon County states:
In the event of overvoted and undervoted situations, the Model 100 can immediately return the ballot to the voter, displaying the specific race in question in the LCD display. Voters may then instruct the Model 100 to "Accept" or "Return" the ballot through the simple push of a button.
So what's the difference between Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam?
Image, of course. In politics, image is everything. Voters are supposed to ignore the wizard behind the curtain.
Mark Kirk says that he's a moderate, but he has the same voting record (in this regard) as Peter Roskam. Mark Kirk says that he's independent, but he has the same loyalty towards the president and his party as Peter Roskam.
Peter Roskam will tell you that he's a conservative. At least he's honest about it. But that's probably because Roskam has stronger ties to his district than Mark Kirk. Roskam represents what he believes his district wants. Kirk pretends to.
Ramsin Canon here, political columnist over at GapersBlock.com. (You can find archives here: Archives ).
GapersBlock is launching a new local and state politics themed topical site, along the lines of our arts, food, books, and music sites. Give our exploding readership and the limits of what I can contribute, I am here to seek potential contributors interested in writing "diary-style" posts about local, state, and occasionally national politics.
We've recruited a great team of contributors from all over the political spectrum and hope to add more.
If you're interested in contributing, please e-mail me (with a link to diaries you've contributed here, or other writings) at ramsincanon ||at|| gmail ||dot|| com.
(In the vein of "you can't tell the players without a scorecard", here's an interesting venture that could become a very useful resource. - promoted by wegerje)
Yesterday a team of about a dozen people launched Cloutwiki.org, Chicago's first on-line political encyclopedia. The site, built on the same software as Wikipedia, contains entries on the background and history of every Chicago Alderman and Democratic Committeeman. Ultimately we plan to have entries on every elected official and political leader in Cook County.
Our team's goal, led by myself and Chicago attorney Jay Paul Deratany, is for the wiki to provide basic information on who's who in Chicago, and who is friends with who. While there are many more political players in Cook County than the fifty alderman and Democratic Ward Committeemen we started with, as we add entries to the wiki, we hope the site will become a reference and a game changer. Want to know who got someone into office? Someday you'll find out by checking the Cloutwiki first.
And we're looking for writers too! Take a look a the site, and if you think you can contribute an entry or two, please sign up to be an author. We'd love to have you on our team!
A good government is transparent with financial activity, empowers citizens to be a part of the process, and the leaders of a good government are accountable for their decisions. Transparency creates the environment for good government and Illinois school districts are the leading models of the movement. School districts are spearheading the "Transparency Test" in Illinois government.
Aurora, Bond County, Bourbonnais, Carpentersville, Elmhurst, Herscher, Genoa, Kingston, Harlem, Huntley, Mahonet- Seymour, Mundelein, Niles, Green Oaks, Oak Park, Ottawa, Palatine, Braidwood, Sherrard, Valley View, Waukegan, West Chicago, and Wheaton-Warrenville in addition to the community colleges of College of DuPage and Illinois Valley Community College- are leading Illinois in the good government movement. These schools practice what they teach in their classrooms. Is your school on the list?
Illinois citizens are generous to public education. Spending $22 billion to educate 2 million children this year, Illinois property taxes are the 8th highest in the country! Where is the money being spent? Transparency of financial information provides the answer.
Online posting builds trust by showing taxation with information.
This is about a relatively new but promising resource for Illinois activists at the local level. It's called For the Good of Illinois and the goal is simple: Help community activists take steps for greater transparency in local government. Its mission:
For The Good Of Illinois was founded to empower regular people with the means to change how politics is practiced in Illinois state government. We want to rekindle the spirit of public service among our elected officials.
Everyone has a role to play. Government will be accountable to citizens who demand transparency. This is why grassroots organizing is so important. We're working to return Illinois to its roots: the citizen.
We suggest fellow citizens adopt the philosophy of, "Not On My Watch!" and do something now to move Illinois in a different direction. ForTheGoodOfIllinois.org provides a simple road map to do this.
With all of our time and talent, we want to make Illinois right again - for regular people.
The founder is Adam Andrzejewski, whose father ran twice (1976, 1978) for state representative against George Ryan. He's always wondered how things might be different now if his dad had won, and his answer is to criss-cross the state to train activists, especially of the "budding" sort, in how to achieve gains in government transparency with a bottom-up approach. Andrzejewski envisions an "Open Book Revolution."
Crossposted at DK, TPM, MyDD, and Swing State Project
Last Monday July 21st Sarah Topy and her staff at the Scott Harper campaign were looking forward to a week of data processing, fundraising and preparing for a big push in August after the immensely successful event they organized called "13 for the 13th" on July 13th, the single biggest Dem canvass ever held in IL-13.
There was a lot of file updating yet to do and wouldn't you know Monday was the day the state guys finally had the new voter file ready to download. The new VAN basically updated and transformed all our files to new software and it was an all day procedure installing it. The files were still offline Monday night when I showed up at campaign HQ to make some calls. Rich Caparrell the field director was in Maryland for a much deserved long weekend off. We had another canvass scheduled for Saturday but volunteer turnout was expected to be light in the middle of vacation season and especially so soon after the big effort on July 13th. It wasn't downtime but it's as close as they'll get in the next few months on Harper's campaign.
Well that was the plan anyway, but it wasn't to be. Read on for how those best laid plans went out the window in an instant and what happened next.
