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.

And here is the real kicker: The Chicago Machine would not be able to run rough-shod over the rest of the state without what I see before my very eyes as I sit here. There are at least seven Democratic senators from Downstate who can’t really engage in the conversation because the first day of session they abdicated the possibility of ever being a true voice for Downstate when they voted for a president of the senate from Chicago. They choose Chicago over Downstate every time. If you take the time to do the math, you will find that if you deduct those seven senators from the Dem side and replace them with legislators who will work for and vote for their districts, we would have a majority (with at least a 31:28 ratio).

And then we would not have what is happening right now on the senate floor. Billions of dollars of appropriations being voted on with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN WRITING TO REFERENCE.

I would say that this is very much like the actions of a Banana Republic, but that would be an insult to Banana Republics everywhere. The question isn’t why Illinois is BROKE, but rather, how have we been able to stay afloat over the past decade with such BROKEN leadership. And the same people who got us here, are still in control.

It is imperative to our futures and the futures of our children and their children that we replace what is broken in Springfield if we are to ever cease being broke.

If you want to change the Thinking in Springfield, you will have to change the Thinkers.

I pray that God blesses us all because after what I have witnessed today, we certainly need it.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and to work for you

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

We are mostly a cynical lot. We long ago left Illinois when it became clear that the GOP was mostly concerned with catching scraps falling from the Big Government Democrat table. But, we are encouraged by this new aggressiveness. We may even visit the state again if they keep this up.

GOP Chairman Pat Brady, you are a hero. Good luck with your fundraiser and, good luck finding this “republican” candidate.

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.

One thing’s for sure: if Rahm runs for mayor, he will be leaving a gaping hole in the Obama White House. Yes, he’s profane and brutal and a huge jerk. But he’s also the only guy in this White House who is a true political animal and not a pure ideologue. Obama, David Axelrod, and Valerie Jarrett—the three remaining in the Bama Inner Circle—are complete, true-believing Saul Alinsky devotees. For them, the top-to-bottom remaking of America as a wealth-redistributing, socialist state trumps everything, including politics, polls, and even re-election. Rahm is a dedicated Democrat, but he’s not stupid. He tried to throw the brakes on Obamacare and Obama’s misguided Ground Zero mosque comments, as well as other off-the-wall Obama policies. He’s the only character in this White House that could possibly save it from itself.

But he wants out big time. The rats are bailing on the sinking ship: first key economic advisers Christina Romer and Peter Orszag said sayonara. Now Rahm is about to wave goodbye. There will be others after the November election.

This White House will miss Rahm. For all his faults—and they are legion—he was, God help us, the only voice of reason in there.

Soon, he’ll be Mayor Rahm. Hey Chicago: you’ve got that to look forward to.

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.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

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.

EAGtv caught up with Crenshaw to hear about why she’s running and what she’s fought for to improve education.

Author’s note: AJ Wilhelmi (the Democratic candidate) and the Chicago Machine best gird for a tough fight.  Crenshaw and a whole lot of citizens have your number.

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.

The businesses and homeowners will be protected, as they are in every federal takeover. Rather, those with the most to lose from ShoreBank’s failure will be its board, its political patrons, and the developers who hoped to profit from its “iconic” status.

This is not the first time that property developers have played a key role in a Chicago political scandal.

Property developer Tony Rezko, a fundraiser for both Barack Obama and former governor Rod Blagojevich, is currently in federal prison on corruption-related charges. During his career, he was involved in many condominium projects in the city, including one that Obama helped him build by urging state funding for the project.

The plot thickens. At the ongoing Blagojevich trial, Ali Ata, the former head of the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA), testified last month that Rezko arranged for him to be appointed to the IFA by helping him pay off the governor.

The current chair of the IFA, Bill Brandt, has been one of the most vociferous proponents of a ShoreBank bailout, and may even have suggested a state-level bailout to ShoreBank, rather than the other way around.

There is another Rezko connection to ShoreBank: Howard Stanback, who serves on one of ShoreBank’s boards, once worked for Rezko at New Kenwood LLC–the same development company that Obama had assisted.

(Rezko’s partner at New Kenwood was Obama’s former boss, Allison S. Davis; Stanback also chaired the Woods Fund, where Obama served along with Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground.)

Until now, the role played by property developers in ShoreBank’s demise has been hidden from all but a few insiders and key officials at the Federal Reserve.

A few days ago, Tim Geithner responded to a request by Schakowsky and other Chicago Democrats by giving ShoreBank an 11-week extension. Before, it needed to raise enough capital to avoid closure by May 21; now, it has until August 6. (How many homeowners get that kind of break?)

Republicans in Congress have pushed for an investigation into the White House’s role in trying to secure a bailout for ShoreBank. Yet we also need a public forensic audit of the bank.

Is there a Rezko connection? Are there developers with ties to the Chicago machine who would be protected by a bailout? What are the connections, if any, to Obama, Schakowsky, and other Chicago politicians?

We need to know–now. At the very least, we can already dismiss Schakowsky’s false excuse that the bailout is for the poor. It is nothing more than Chicago-style corruption on a national scale.

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.

I encourage the NAACP to confront and condemn the explicit racist behavior of groups like the New Black Panther Party and to acknowledge the racial politics played by the Chicago Machine Democrats.

Chicago Machine Democrats claim to be the party of diversity and inclusion, yet if you are a Black, conservative Republican mother, with a professional background in accounting, supported by the tea party movement, Chicago Machine Democrats do not encourage this type of diversity. Instead they unjustly knock you off the ballot and then talk about the lack of diversity in the Republican party and the tea party movement. The NAACP plays right into this scam.

I encourage NAACP members and convention delegates to attend a tea party event and get first hand knowledge about the true purpose of the tea party movement: limited government, fiscal responsibility, and individual liberty. The NAACP needs to leave the racism where it belongs – with the Chicago Machine Democrats.

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.

I am truly humbled by the ground swell of support, since my article was published.  This started with other moms, volunteers, and frustrated citizens.  The local tea parties have organized several protests.  National radio shows, blogs, and political news sites started covering the story and now we are receiving support from around the nation.  This campaign has become One Nation Against The Chicago Machine!

People have died defending the right to vote.  Soldiers are dying right now is the sands of Iraq and the hills of Afghanistan.  Yet the Chicago Machine would rather engage in tyranny, than have to win an election based on their record!  If we do not protect our freedoms at home, why are we dying for them abroad?  Rests assure America, we will not back down.  With your help, we will defeat the Chicago Machine in the 43rd Illinois State Senate district, and in Washington DC.