A Facebook posting from Illinois State Senator Sam McCann:

I am at my desk here on the floor of the IL Senate. We are in the midst of voting on FY2012 Budget Bills. You may ask yourselves how I have time to make this post when I perhaps should be weighing the merits of the facts contained within the individual bills so that I can make thoughtful, educated votes, for you, the taxpayers for whom I work. And you would be wise to ask that question. And I have the answer for you: I have NO BILL LANGUAGE TO READ!!!!! You are reading correctly. The bills we are voting on are AMENDMENTS to previously filed bills (many of which are SHELL Bills to begin with).

The Amendments become the Bills themselves. And it was JUST MINUTES ago that the Chicago Democratic Machine-controlled Democrat Caucus came out of a back room filing these bills AND immediately calling them for votes. Not only has there NOT been a week or three days or 24 hours or even one hour of SUNLIGHT on any of this budget language, there has not even been one minute. NOT ONE MINUTE!!!! They not only have not had time to print it out, it DOES NOT EVEN EXIST IN THE ELECTRONIC RECORD. Not only can I not pull up the language or any analysis on my “special Senate computer”, there is nothing on the IL General Assembly website.

Furthermore, I don’t believe there is anything even on the rank-and-file Democrats’ desks, either. It is all talking points from their leadership. I am not trying to sound partisan. I was elected by the people of the 49th District and I work for ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE 49TH District. I wake up in the morning and am proud to consider myself an American and an Illinoisan before anything else. But I have to tell you something: this is sickening. It is appalling. At a time when the People of the state are demanding balanced budgets and wise stewardship of their tax dollars, the majority party is choosing to continue to engage in bullying and blind-voting instead of conversation and negotiation.

(more…)

One of us here at Big Government cut his teeth in Illinois politics. We could bore you with many stories, but trust us, IL House Speaker and Democrat State Party Chair Michael Madigan is the greatest, and most ruthless, practitioner of the political dark arts in the country. Really. People in DC think they know politics, but they are in kindergarten compared to what happens in the Wards of Chicago.

Anyway, Speaker Madigan is facing an “opponent” this November with the awesome Tom Clancy-esque name of John Patrick Ryan. (It’s the Bridgeport neighborhood…it happens.) Only thing is, no one can find this “opponent.” He hasn’t established a campaign committee, held any events or, even, ever voted in a GOP primary.

So, the IL GOP is doing something about this. They are raising money for Ryan’s campaign. More than that, they will actually run a campaign for the “Republican.” (Speaker Madigan is not going to like this.)

PatrickJohnRyanFundraiser

(more…)

In the Mother of All Political Machines, there will be a changing of the guard. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, scion of the most ruthless and relentless political machine in American political history, has announced that he will not seek a whopping SEVENTH term. Wants to retire, he says. Interesting. Daleys don’t retire. They just stay in office, abusing power, forever.

But this Daley has decided to bow out, for some real reason we’ll find out later. That means Chicago will be getting a new mayor soon. And that new mayor just may be…Rahm Emanuel?

Obama’s Chief of Staff is a Chicago boy. He was a Clinton White House senior adviser, a Chicago-area Congressman, and head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee before his current gig. By the way, he’s just not that into his current gig. He was into it when they were riding high, but now that Obama’s sucking salt, he’s dying to get outta there.

So, he’s going to run for mayor of Chicagoland. And he’ll win, because Chicago is Chicago. Beautiful city, ridiculously stupid politics. In Chicago, if you’re not indicted, you’re not invited.

(more…)

Cedra Crenshaw proved to be too quick to be the latest victim of the Chicago Machine.  She’s running for the Illinois state Senate as a Tea Party Republican, and Democrats did their best to keep her off the ballot.

Though the district is reportedly 2-1 Democrat, she’s still making them sweat and they tried their best to find anything to prevent voters from having a choice – even stooping so low to nit-pick about wording on Crenshaw’s petition.

Crenshaw has been fighting, sometimes alone, for public school accountability and parental choice.  It’s those types of leaders that make the power brokers nervous.

If wording on a petition could defeat Crenshaw, then Democrats and power brokers in Chicago and Springfield wouldn’t have to answer to voters for their record.  So sad, Machine: Crenshaw will be given the opportunity to hold the entrentched power to account.

(more…)

For months, we have been told that ShoreBank deserves a bailout because it serves poor communities. We have been assured by ShoreBank’s patrons, such as Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), that allowing the federal government to take over the bank will put borrowers in those communities at risk.

Now, as the truth has begun to emerge, it is becoming clear that ShoreBank’s troubles did not begin in poor communities at all.

Robin Sidel of the Wall Street Journal reports that ShoreBank’s financial problems may partly stem from loans made to condominium developers and builders in parts of town beyond its traditional focus on the city’s South Side.

If ShoreBank deserves help because it is the “iconic community development bank,” as Schakowsky recently claimed, what was it doing lending money to condo kings, and why should taxpayers bail it out?

If the ShoreBank is taken over, Schakowsky claims, “the losers will be these low-income communities and the businesses and the homeowners that they serve.”

That was never true.
(more…)

As the NAACP prepares to condemn the tea party movement for phantom “explicitly racist behavior”, the Department of Justice and the NAACP overlook actual instances of explicitly racist behavior by the New Black Panther Party. Blatant disregard for actual racist behavior shows the NAACP to be nothing more than a tool of hard leftists; hard leftists who are intent on creating exploitable divisions.

I know from personal experience that the tea party movement is mainstream. Americans of all ethnic, economic and political backgrounds have been rallying and running for office because they want a government that works for the people. I am one of those Americans-and I am Black.

After being slated as a candidate in Illinois’ 43rd State Senate District, I gave my first public speech at a tea party rally and have spoken at several more since then.

With just two weeks to gather signatures, dozens of people from the tea party movement circulated my petitions. I turned in over 2100 signatures in just 19 days to get on the ballot.

The support I have received from the tea party movement since getting on the ballot has been overwhelmingly positive. Supporters have donated their time and money. They have participated in precinct walks, protests, phoning, and they even packed a hearing room to support me.

The hearing room is significant because one group of people have not been supportive of my ballot access – Chicago Machine Democrats. The Chicago Machine unleashed their top election lawyer, Michael Kasper, to unjustly knock me off the ballot on a party line vote by the Will County Board of Elections. My team has appealed the decision in circuit court and we are confident the ruling will be overturned. I have yet to hear from the NAACP about this injustice to my campaign and the voters of Illinois’ 43rd State Senate District.

(more…)

Last week, I reported how the Chicago Democrat machine had injected itself into neighboring Will County in attempt to knock me on the ballot. My candidacy against a legacy politician, the specially appointed AJ Wilhelmi, was too much of a threat to the status quo in Illinois. Today, the Will County Board of Elections is expected to decide whether I can stay on the ballot; whether the voters of my district will face a competition or a coronation this November.

A few short weeks ago, I was a former accountant, auditor, and stay at home mom.  The trifecta of mortgage, marriage, and motherhood catapulted me into the conservative I am today.  A few Republican reformers noticed my local activism.  They asked me to fill an empty ballot spot against a Democratic incumbent State Senator who is a rubber stamp for the same Chicago Machine that put Obama in the White House.

Despite the fact that the district is 2-1 Democratic, my opponent’s party has hired one of the premier elections attorneys to attempt to knock me off the ballot on technicalities.  These same technicalities have been rejected in court wherever they have been tried.  This attorney has worked for the likes of Obama, Bill Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, etc. The Democratic board deciding the case has simply stalled.  They are attempting to run out the clock.  They have waited six weeks to merely decide if my opponent’s case has any merit.  For six weeks our campaign has been in limbo not knowing how they are going to decide on two simple points.  Time is of the essence in a campaign.  While I always knew that politics was an ugly sport, I was not prepared for the lengths the Democrats would go through to try and sabotage my campaign.  I was One Mom versus the Chicago Machine!

I say, “was” because that has all changed.

(more…)

In October, 2009, at an Illinois GOP Governor Candidate Debate, moderator Chris Robling opened the debate with the line, “The on-going concern of the State of Illinois is in question!”  He was right, and the primary reasons Illinois is such a mess is the Chicago Democratic Machine.  This engine of self-dealing, corruption, and greed was powerful enough to put forth one of its own get him elected president.

It’s ironic then, that this powerful machine is trembling in fear of Cedra Crenshaw, a conservative, middle class, African-American mother in Will County, Illinois!

Why is the machine afraid?  Because a new class of leadership is starting to develop.  These new leaders threaten to end the shell game of taxes, politics, and patronage. Cedra Crenshaw is one of those new leaders, and she’s is running for state senate against one of the Chicago Machine’s rubber-stamp apparatchiks.

She’s  an accountant who wants to spearhead a forensic audit of Illinois state government.  A former auditor at Deloitte and Touche, Cedra supports an audit of the half a trillion dollars of Democrat controlled state spending during the blow-off historic corruption of Blagojevich/Quinn.  The Democrat Machine- contractors, politicians, and patronage army- stand in naked fear of the result that such an audit would bring.

Such an audit would fumigate thousands of campaign cash-for-patronage hires in agencies, boards and commissions; rescind bloated, rigged bid or mis-awarded contracts; stop the stealing, waste, and legalized graft that do-nothing, ribbon-cutting pork hounds like Cedra’s opponent  -  Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi -  thrive on…at your expense.

(more…)

During the 1996 Illinois Senate race, an aspiring Chicago politician hired skilled attorneys to exploit election rules and challenge his primary opponents’ right to be placed on the ballot. This novice politician was Barack Obama who cut his teeth on Chicago politics and effectively removed his opponents from the ballot.

Not much has changed in Chicago since 1996 – politicians are still looking out for special interests, increasing taxes, and creating hurdles to keep legitimate candidates from the ballot.

I am Cedra Crenshaw and I am running for the Illinois Senate in the 43rd District. Until a few months ago, I was just one mom in a process of political evolution. After a brief career in auditing, my husband and I started a family and thus began the trifecta of marriage, mortgage, and motherhood which catapulted me into the conservative that I am today. I stepped from being reactive to pro-active when I ran for Precinct Committeeman this past February. I wanted to carry the message of conservatism to my neighbors and help influence my local party with my principles and values – but I’m just one mom.  I’m one mom who waited for someone to step forward and challenge incumbent State Senator Arthur Wilhelmi and force him to defend his record, which has helped to decimate this state. But no one came forward and I’m not waiting any longer. I’m going on offense. And today I’m one mom who is taking on the machine of Chicago patronage politics as represented by Senator Arthur Wilhelmi.

When I arrived on the scene as one mom against the Chicago political machine, it didn’t take career politicians and their hired help long to line up a challenge to my candidacy.

The Will County Electoral Board has heard a frivolous objection filed by Joliet resident Robert L. Davis which challenges the signatures on my nominating petitions. My opponent, State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi is represented by Michael Kasper, who is one of the country’s top election attorneys. Kasper’s client list includes former President Bill Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Rep. Michael Madigan, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Phil Hare and, that once aspiring Chicago politician, President Barack Obama.

(more…)

As we watch Obama practice Chicago-style politics, it’s time to answer the question the old media ignores. Who were the key people in the Chicago Machine who helped advance Obama to power? We’ll start at the top.

In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley gets the spotlight while Alderman Edward Burke runs the show. Burke is Chicago’s longest serving Alderman, first elected in 1969.  He chairs the City’s Finance Committee.  He also chairs the Judicial Slating Committee for the Cook County Democrat Party. Since there are no Republican judges at the circuit level, Burke is de facto head of the Judicial Branch of Chicago’s government. Burke was an early Obama supporter.

Burke’s campaign chest is impressive. In 2008, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Burke “has more money in his four campaign funds than the combined total of all 49 other Chicago aldermen, more even than Mayor Daley’s $2.9 million.”

The City of Chicago website acknowledges Burke’s power:

As Chairman of the City Council’s powerful Committee on Finance, Alderman Burke holds the city’s purse strings and is responsible for all legislative matters pertaining to the city’s finances, including municipal bonds, taxes and revenue matters. Alderman Burke became Chairman for the second time in 1989. He previously served from 1983 to 1987.

Anyone aspiring to a position of power in the Cook County Democrat Party must have Burke’s approval.  He’s the Machine’s gatekeeper.

(more…)

Washington News Observer interviewed Congressman Steve King (R-IA) on Obama’s senior advisor – Valerie Jarrett.

Ms. Jarrett has known President Obama for several decades and moved to Washington, DC following the successful election of her candidate. Currently, Ms. Jarrett is is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs.