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

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In last year’s federal budget, Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky introduced and then withdrew what appears to have been a multi-million dollar earmark for the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a now-defunct nonprofit that claims to have provided first aid training for nearly two million students, many of them in the Chicago Public Schools.

Problem #1: Three years earlier, SALF had been the subject of a series of hard-hitting ABC7 Chicago investigative reports that raised serious questions about every aspect of the organization: its founder, its operations, and its funding.

Problem #2: The Chicago Public Schools can’t or won’t produce records that support SALF’s claims.

Problem #3: Rep. Schakowsky won’t answer easy questions like these:  What was the dollar amount of her intended earmark for SALF? Why was she funding a non-profit that years before had been the subject of four scorching ABC7 exposes? What’s her relationship with the charity’s founder/president Carol J. Spizzirri, a convicted shoplifter who obtained millions in federal and state funds over the years? Does Rep. Schakowsky think SALF should be investigated in order to determine if those millions were properly spend?

The Progressive Politician

Jan Schakowsky’s district is north of Chicago and includes Evanston, Skokie, and west to Des Plaines. She’s the Democrat’s Chief Deputy Whip in the House and serves on the Steering and Policy Committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, and chairs the House Select Committee on Intelligence’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. A member of the Democratic Progressive Caucus, she’s considered one of the most liberal members in Congress.

The Discredited Foundation

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“As Speaker, I want every citizen of Illinois to know this is a people’s Legislature — we are here to serve the public, openly, honestly and with the highest standards. I am accountable only to you”, says Speaker Madigan’s own website.

Chicago Democrats have run Illinois into the ground. Since Rod Blagojevich became governor in 2003, Illinois state government has spent roughly $500 billion dollars (yes nearly half a trillion).  Yet, we are:

1. 48^th in job growth
2. 36^th in education
3. Leading the nation in youth violent crime
4. 3^rd in the nation in gambling revenue.

Last year, over 700 manufacturing companies left Illinois.  Over the last ten years, 750,000 people left the state, many of them high income earners.

Illinois does not quantify even basic financial information- such as the number of state programs.  In October, 2007, the Illinois Auditor General issued a report saying that, “Illinois does not have a comprehensive, consistent list of state programs”. Lacking basic data has led to a lack of legal spending control.  For example, the Illinois constitution requires a balanced budget, yet we face a $13 billion budget deficit.  For all we know, much of the money could have been stolen, as we are deficient in even fundamental fraud controls.  Last summer, the Auditor reported that “the state has a material deficiency” of fraud control on “all federal awards”.  The scope of this statement covered $17 billion in spending! Where did the money go?

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When ACORN was caught stacking voter rolls with fake names leading up to the 2008 election, we stood up and took notice. Maybe an aberration, maybe part of a plan to undermine our system of elections. On Election Day, Black Panthers were inside a Pennsylvania polling station intimidating voters. They ultimately got off and the prosecutor who went after them was “reassigned”. Still, maybe it is simply coincidence. What if a high-profile state Attorney General argued that voters have no right to vote in secret?

I’m not talking about Card Check, I’m talking about the voting all of us do in every election. Consider the following words argued in Champaign County Court in Illinois by the Illinois Attorney General’s office headed by Lisa Madigan:

While plaintiff attempts to suggest to the Court that there is a fundamental right to a secret ballot, no such right exists. (bottom of Page 11 of pleading)

The Attorney General’s office argues that the United States Constitution, nor any fundamental right, protect a voter from being able to vote in secret. In effect, this means that it is only out of mere courtesy that the government doesn’t simply sit in the voting booth with you making sure you are making “fully informed decisions”.

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