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Did you hear about the Oregon health inspector who shut down a seven-year-old girl’s lemonade stand? How about the California mayor who put the kibosh on a three-year-old’s vegetable stand?

Sure they’re both big-time buttinskys, but this month top honors go to the top cop who busted a guy who was offering free rides to keep drunk drivers off the road.

Presenting Reason.tv’s Nanny of the Month for August 2010: Quincy, Illinois Police Chief Rob Copely!

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In a time when the State of Illinois has reached an all time financial low, it is pushing out state grants to build train/bus stations where they aren’t needed. The state is dangling a $6 million grant in front of my hometown, Quincy, IL to build a new station. Coincidentally, the state owes almost that exact amount of money to our local school system. Building multi-million dollar train stations while school districts, hospitals, and non-profits are threatened to the point of closing their doors is, well, insane.

But, I digress. A ll politics is local and the ‘leaders’ of the City of Quincy would rather take the $6 million grant than see someone else get it. That’s nuts! The high road doesn’t seem to play a role in this conversation. Just over a month ago I went to the Quincy City Council and asked them to return the money to the state and to send a message that this kind of spending in tough economic times was preposterous. I further explained that this was an ethical issue, not a political one.

It seems the concern of our local government is more about the disposition of the “free money”, than the ethical dilemma that such a project represents in dire economic times.

Logical people would see this as an opportunity to let the State of Illinois know that grants (free money) should positively affect the communities it is trying to reach by ending up where the existing needs lie, like paying delinquent payments to our schools, for example.

Carol Knowles, State Comptroller Dan Hyne’s Spokewoman was recently quoted as follows:

“Illinois ended the year in the worst fiscal position in it’s history,”

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As you know, last week SEIU staged a protest at the home of an attorney for Bank of America. On a quiet Sunday in the Maryland suburbs of DC, SEIU sent 500 protesters onto the front lawn of the home of Greg Baer, a former Treasury official in the Clinton Administration. Mr. Baer wasn’t at home but, unfortunately, his 14 year old son was. The protesters succeeded in terrorizing the boy.

Let me quickly digress to point out that Bank of America is SEIU’s largest creditor. Under the leadership of Andy Stern, SEIU leveraged itself to the hilt, largely to support Democrat campaign efforts, and now owes the bank around $100 million. The loan payments are likely playing havoc with the union’s finances. (Rich that SEIU thinks it has a credible voice on financial reform, given that their own behavior is a set-piece for much of what went wrong.) Coincidence that the bank is the target of a comprehensive and coordinated protest from the union? (Dear Bank of America, Call the loan. Today.)

There is much to say about this protest, but the most fascinating part to me is the role played by the police. It seems the DC police followed/escorted/shadowed the protesters into Maryland. They may or may not have notified the Maryland police, who may or may not have been on the scene while the protesters stormed private property and terrorized a teenage boy. Yesterday, Megyn Kelly of FoxNews interviewed law enforcement officials from DC and Maryland and asked many specific, hard hitting questions.

I’m not going to say the law enforcement officials are lying in this interview. They parse their words expertly. When Ms. Kelly backs them into a corner, they shift the focus to irrelevant parts of the story. But, saying they aren’t lying here is a distinction without a difference.

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Jim Hoft sent in this video of a child he spoke with in Quincy, IL. The child appears to know more about The Constitution than the Obama administration.

One priceless quote: “That was very rude!”

We Shall Overcome!

As a member of a very successful Tea Party in Quincy, Illinois it is my distinct honor and privilege to offer my thanks and congratulations to this astroturf response to the tea parties. This hard hitting website has taken the MSNBC format to a new level. Hit us again guys, because while you spend never-ending union dollars attacking Tea Parties, we are repairing the change you said we could believe in, one candidate at a time.

This tiny group of Tea Bashers says its mission is “To prevent the Tea Party’s dangerous ideas from gaining legislative traction.” You might want to watch something other than the mainstream media. In case you haven’t heard, we have already gained legislative traction, which I’ll venture a guess that this was the reason for the emergency birth and delivery of your premature website.

We can’t think of a better way for organized labor to spend its time and money. I am so thrilled with your approach I may donate to your cause myself.

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Arrogance, thy name is Sen. Dick Durbin. Big Government contributor Bob Gough has a breaking story at his news site, Quincy News.org. It seems Sen. Durbin is upset that a local media outlet informed the public that their Senator was going to be in town to discuss health care.

A spokesman for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) has said the senator’s office will no longer send media information to Quincy’s oldest radio station.

Mike Moyers, general manager/vice president of STARadio Corporation, which owns WTAD-AM (930), said Christina Angarola of Durbin’s Chicago office called WTAD on Monday to inform them they would no longer be included on the list of those receiving news releases from the senator when he plans to visit West-Central Illinois.

Moyers said Angarola was not pleased that WTAD chose to make public the time and place of Durbin’s September 4^th visit to Quincy’s Blessing Hospital to hold a meeting on health care with officials from the hospital, Quincy Medical Group and politicians Quincy Mayor John Spring and State Senator John Sullivan (D-Rushville).  

The news release sent by Durbin’s office on the afternoon of September 3^rd said “NOTE: The times and locations of these events are for media planning purposes only and should not be published or aired in any form.”

Angarola did not respond to an e-mail from QuincyNews.org for comment.

Moyers said he believed it was important for the public to have the opportunity to approach Durbin on the health care issue when he was in Quincy, regardless of the directive in the e-mail.

“I’m disappointed the senator and his office have chosen to silence the press,” Moyers said.

Read the full story here.