Taking On the Chicago Machine: An Interview With Candidate Tom Tresser

I first met up with Tom Tresser when I went to my first Olympics townhall event in the summer. Tresser lead the citizen activist group, No Games Chicago. They opposed the bid, as most have probably figured out. Tresser represented No Games, and their position, in the forum. Here’s how I described Tresser’s best argument that night:

Tresser, on at least five occasions, referred to Daley by the moniker corrupt. No one supporting the bid ever challenged this characterization. Instead, their defense was that the bid was a private non profit effort that is separate from the mayor’s office

The corruption in Chicago’s City Hall was the number one reason to oppose the Olympics coming to this city. While the Olympics aren’t going to be here, the corruption is a major reason, the corruption hasn’t gone away with it. In fact, it’s a part of daily political life in the city of Chicago, the County of Cook, and the state of Illinois in its entirety. (more…)

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Tags: Andy Shaw, Chicago City Council, Chicago Olympics, Chicago Privatization, Chicago Way
Posted Dec 30th 2009 at 5:01 pm in Politics, State Politics | 4995051 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvolpe/2009/12/30/taking-on-the-chicago-machine-an-interview-with-candidate-tom-tresser/Taking+On+the+Chicago+Machine%3A+An+Interview+With+Candidate+Tom+Tresser2009-12-31+01%3A01%3A29Michael+Volpe

Here We Go Again: Rostenkowski, Health Care and the Original Town-Hall Protest

Back in 1989, the Democrat House, led by Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, passed the ‘Catastrophic Health Care Act.’ The Act promised to expand coverage and benefits, financed by a surcharge on senior’s existing Medicare benefits. Passage of the Act sparked on outcry from seniors. CBSNews goes back into the archives to find footage of one of the protests.

The report forgets to mention that Congress quickly repealed the Catastrophic Act in response to the voter backlash. Something current Members of Congress might want to keep in mind.

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Tags: Catastrophic Health Care Act, Dan Rostenkowski, government health care, health care reform, Medicare Advantage
Posted Nov 7th 2009 at 12:38 pm in Congress, Healthcare, Politics, Tea Party | 2708231 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/11/07/here-we-go-again-rostenkowski-health-care-and-the-original-town-hall-protest/Here+We+Go+Again%3A+Rostenkowski%2C+Health+Care+and+the+Original+Town-Hall+Protest2009-11-07+19%3A38%3A32Publius