http://lake.weareillinois.org Lake County Republicans en-us

]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8770 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8770 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:04:15 GMT
I want to thank you for your support. I am greatly honored to have you on my team. Over the past several months, we have earned the trust of so many neighbors and new friends which was in large part why we were successful last Tuesday.

My victory in the primary was achieved because of the hard work of our many supporters, such as you, who dedicated countless hours of their time supporting my campaign for Congress. Our tireless volunteers helped push us to victory by making phone calls to voters, knocking on doors in the district, distributing yard signs and literature and supporting us financially. I am so thankful for all your hard work and support. I would also like to thank those whose vote of confidence will allow me to fight further for small business common sense change in Washington.

While there is reason to celebrate, this week I am getting back to work and gearing up for the general election. The nation will be watching over the next nine months as we prepare for November. We are going to work hard and fight vigorously to keep this seat in the control of a thoughtful, independent leader. I need your support in that fight.

The race ahead of us will be a tough one, but I know that I have what it takes to win. In the months ahead, we will take our strong grassroots campaign to another level. That means meeting face-to-face with tens of thousands of voters in the district, and spreading the word about why I believe I am the best choice for changing the course in Washington DC.

We are looking for help introducing my message to friends, neighbors and colleagues in cities throughout the 10th Congressional District. If you are interested in hosting an event or inviting me to come speak to a group with which you are affiliated give us a call at 847-251-DOLD (3653). Together we can spread the word about our path to a better future and help America “Get Back to Work”.

Again, I am so grateful for the many volunteers and supporters who helped lead us to victory last week. I couldn’t have done it without you. Let’s get to work.

Sincerely,

Robert Dold

To find out more or to get involved with the campaign, please visit www.doldforcongress.comand stay connected by becoming a fan on Facebook and following Bob on Twitter.



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8600 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8600 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:59:49 GMT
Joe distinguished himself from his Republican opponents with a message that is 100% pro-life, 100% pro 2nd Amendment, and certainly not last in importance, provides a workable solution to our economic disaster: his commitment to return our country to the US Constitution’s limits on the activities of the Federal government. That message rang true with the voters, and will be a successful formula for future Republican candidates.

Now it’s time to get to work and inform our 8th District neighbors, Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike, why Joe deserves their votes in November. The shameful record of Democrat Representative Melissa Bean is indefensible. We now have an opportunity to offer to the voters a real alternative to her complicity in the dreadful initiatives and the immensely harmful achievements of the current Democratic Congress.

Let’s unite behind Joe Walsh, and once again elect a Congressman who will make the 8th District proud of the Representative that we send to Washington! The future of this great country depends on our contribution.

Sincerely,

Glenn Garamoni

Republican Precinct Committeeman

Fremont 121


]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8541 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8541 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:06:26 GMT
Tuesday is the next step in what is shaping up to be a great year for republicans in Illinois. No matter the outcome, I am confident that we are going to have better and stronger candidates for every office than the Democrats. Together with the momentum of the voters, this is promising to be an exciting time to be a Republican.

Whoever you are supporting, win or lose, I hope you will join me in supporting the GOP slate to victory in November. Working together we can do great things.


Thanks again

Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8466 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8466 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:53:28 GMT
I'm happy to relay the League of Women Voters, the better Government Association and other government groups announced their fair map amendment initiative. This initiative will dramatically change the way legislative districts are drawn in the state of Illinois.

Under the current redistricting process, politicians have complete control over drawing the boundaries with few restrictions. When the political parties could not agree the balance of power for the next decade would literally be determined by a lottery. While both political parties have benefited from this system the public has not.

The Illinois fair map amendment would be a tremendous step in returning to a system where the voters chose their legislators instead of the legislators choosing their voters. The amendment will open up the process to the public and the media.

The good government groups have a taut job ahead of them they must collect nearly 500,000 signatures from registered voters by the end of April to get the Illinois fair map amendments on the ballot and then they must convince the public to vote for the amendment four to become law.

We need to do all we can to help collect signatures to get this initiative on the ballot. For more information or to download petitions go to www.ILFairmap.com.

Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8068 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=8068 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:14:52 GMT
The elected Lake County Republican officials were heavily represented as were most of the Republican hopefuls for the February 2nd primary.

This was the first event for Chelsea Stanley, the new executive director for the Lake County Republican Federation. By all accounts Chelsea did a wonderful job of filling the big shoes left behind by retiring director Ant Simonian.

Congratulation Chelsea!!!!!!!!



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=7874 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=7874 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:43:01 GMT Under Investigation by the Federal Election Commission

Blagojevich-Democrat, Michael Bond, assigned a case number for potential violations of federal law

LAKE COUNTY, IL – Once dubbed “one of the Blagojevich 26” by the Chicago Tribune, State Senator and 10th District congressional candidate Michael Bond is living up to the Tribune title as he finds himself under investigation by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to file key paperwork required under federal law.

In a letter dated May 26, 2009, Lake County Republican Central Committee Chairman Dan Venturi alerted the FEC of Bond’s failure to file his Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2) within 15 days of becoming a candidate as required by federal regulations. This serious infraction of federal law carries a potential fine to Bond’s campaign committee. Bond would have had to file on or before May 15, 2009 to comply with federal law. The FEC has numbered the case MUR 6195 and is currently investigating.

Bond officially became a candidate for Congress on April 29, 2009 when he issued a press release. The Pioneer Press and Daily Herald, two prominent publications in northern Illinois covered his statement in which Bond said, “After speaking with people in our communities, listening to their ideas and hearing their concerns, I’ve decided to run for Congress.”

Additionally, Bond expended significant funds upon launching his campaign, which requires him to file promptly with the FEC. On April 23, the Washington-based publication Roll Call reported “Bond has tapped John Lapp to do his media campaign, Bennett, Petts & Normington to do his polling and Ed Peavy to do direct mail for the race, according to one source familiar with the arrangement. The source also said a former aide to Rep. Melissa Bean (D), Brian Herman, will manage his campaign.”

On top of contracting with vendors, Bond has expended funds to launch his congressional campaign website. According to domain registry records, an agent for Michael Bond purchased www.michaelbondforcongress.com on April 19, 2009 through the service “GoDaddy.com”. Another sign that Bond’s campaign is expending funds is their draft website that is currently in production. It can be viewed here: http://www.michaelbondforcongress.com/contact.htm.

“Not only is Michael Bond a candidate, but he is expending significant amounts of money to launch his campaign,” said Venturi. “At a time when ethics and transparency are so critical, Michael Bond is not complying with federal law and giving voters the right to see where his contributions are coming from and going.”

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]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6865 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6865 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:34:06 GMT The informational meeting attended by many of the interns was hosted by Lake County GOP Chairman Dan Venturi Saturday morning. In attendance was Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran and County Board Chairman and possible State Senate candidate Suzi Schmidt.

The intern program has already enlisted over 30 students who will spend the summer identifying and recruiting voters. Lake County Republican Chairman Dan Venturi said “the program is part of the plan to run the Lake County Republican Party as a successful political campaign.”
The intern program is coordinated by Tina Keats. Keats brings the experience of many successful campaigns, including the recent landslide victory of State Senator Dan Duffy. Keats said she is “very excited about all the progress the interns have made in a very short period of time.”

Interns will be all around Lake County this summer visiting train stations, parades and community events, interviewing and registering voters. This is a great opportunity for the students to gain valuable political experience while having fun and building the Republican grass roots in Lake County.




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6806 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6806 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:21:21 GMT Lake County Sherriff Mark Curran’s fundraiser raised thousands of dollars for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
On Friday June 5th Sheriff Mark Curran hosted his first Golf Outing as a Republican. The event played at Antioch Golf Course and was sold out with over 40 foursomes and a successful dinner auction that followed. The day was blessed with great weather and many generous supporters.
In addition to bringing in money for Sheriff Curran’s campaign coffers, the crowd also raised over two thousand dollars for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to find the cause of and cure for childhood brain tumors by supporting medical research and provides educational and emotional support for children and families affected by this life-threatening disease.



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6805 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=6805 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:20:07 GMT
As we've been plugging for a few days now, the newly-rejuvenated Lake County Young Republicans sponsored a forum on the impeachment and trial proceedings against Governor Rod Blagojevich at Austin's in Libertyville. The event was well attended by many Lake County Republicans, young and old, moderates and conservatives. All were united, however, in their desire to get the inside scoop on the deliberations and procedures used by the House in their review of the evidence and vote to impeach the Governor.

YR President Collin Corbett emceed the program, which first featured State Reps. Ed Sullivan, Jr., Sandy Cole and Suzanne Bassi, who discussed the impeachment proceedings in the House. Next, State Senators Dan Duffy and Matt Murphy addressed the crowd, although they were not able to talk about the trial in the Senate, since they are essentially the jurors in the trial. Q&A followed.

All in all, a fantastic and well-attended first effort by the YRs. We look forward to much more from this new generation of Lake County Republicans in the weeks and months ahead.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=266174&src=3 ead



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5900 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5900 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:52:58 GMT
Lake County Gains a Republican

What could be an important happening for the Lake County Republican Party unfolded Monday morning, September 15, at a news conference held in front of a packed room at the Lake County Republican Headquarters in Libertyville. It was then that the elected Democratic sheriff of Lake County, Mark Curran, announced his switch from being a Democrat to the Republican side.
Sheriff Curran's switch did not come as a complete surprise. An announcement about Monday's news conference was shared last Friday with the media and members of the Republican Party. Two local Democratic legislators wasted little time in commenting to the media about the defection of Sheriff Curran to the Democratic Party. State Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, who is also the county's Democratic Party chairman, took a wait and see attitude in comments that appeared in the weekend edition, December 13-14, of the Lake County News-Sun out of Waukegan, IL: "With all due respect, I'm not going to comment until after I hear what he has to say." State Sen. Michael Bond of Grayslake, who's first vice chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party, had this statement to make on Saturday, December 13 in the Lake County Daily Herald: that "he's like to hear from Curran if the Democrats let him down in any way."
According to Raymond S. True, Chairman of the Republican Assembly of Lake County, the RALC had been in consultation with Mark Curran, advising him to make the change. Because Sheriff Curran is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-second amendment, and pro-enforcement of illegal aliens, Ray True found Curran to be a perfect fit for the Republican State and National Platforms.
Upon being introduced by Chairman Daniel Venturi of the Lake County GOP, Sheriff Curran spoke for about ten minutes. Curran spoke boldly and clearly about his decision, knowing that in his announcement he would he lose friends and create enemies. To Mark Curran there was only one reason he made the switch. It was a "matter of conscience." His conscience would no allow him to stand as a member of the Democrat Party. Mark Curran had hoped to fight for change within his party, but came to the realization that change was no longer possible in the State or in the Lake County Democratic Party.
Curran told of a time when he approached Democrat leaders at the local level about faith-based programs for jails and found that they wanted nothing to do with them. Such programs were not part of their secular world view. Curran has seen the benefit of such programs instituted and encouraged under the Republican Administration.
In reflecting upon the corrupt machine politics of Chicago, Curran lamented how most state-wide office holders were products of the Chicago Democratic Machine, that the state continues to bail out Chicago, but that it is really the city that runs the state. Where legislators and politicians should exhibit a moral obligation to be good stewards of tax dollars, Curran instead sees graft and deal making. Sheriff Curran pegs Illinois as the most corrupt state in the nation and that this corruption extends to the rule of law. Curran fervently believes that when a nation ceases to be a nation of laws, it spells disaster.
Regarding education in the Chicago Public Schools, $11,000 is spent per pupil, yet the graduate rate is a dismal 50 percent. According to Curran, Waukegan mirrors the dismal graduate rate of the Chicago Public School System (Lake County's Carmel High School charges $8,000 per pupil and has over 90 percent of its graduates go on to college.). Most appalling to Curran is that a recent request to open a charter school in Waukegan was defeated. Mark Curran feels strongly that "machine politics" must be eliminated from schools.
On the timely topic of illegal immigration, Mark Curran told of having empathy for illegal immigrants, but that he also believes in the rule of law. Curran spoke forcefully about the declared status of Chicago as a "sanctuary" city and how this state's propensity to pander to the illegal immigrant community was draining Illinois financially and created serious drug and crime problems. Curran related how in the Lake County jails 25 percent of the inmates are illegal immigrants.
It took courage for Sheriff Curran to declare himself a Republican. He admitted that he has never been a straight party voter. He voted for Jim Ryan, former gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General, and Mike Waller, current State's Attorney, but never voted for Governor Rod Blagojevich. Admirable is that Curran's "conscience" called him to this fight and, according to Curran, "he doesn't get to walk away." He wants to fight the good fight because he feels there is no hope for the party that brought "Silver Shovel," "Pay to Play," and Blogo.
Sheriff Mark Curran views holding office as a public service. He was elected to public office in 2006, having defeated his Republican opponent Gary Del Re. Curran seemed surprised when asked if he had higher state-level aspirations. He sees himself as a humble county office holder.
There was high praise and regard expressed for Mark Curran among Republican office holders present who spoke on his behalf. State's Attorney Michael Waller sees Curran's switch as a good day for the Republican Party here in Illinois. He spoke of Curran as being a good family man, that he believes in community service, that he displays high ethical standards, that he says what he believes, and that we need more men like Mark Curran in the state.
Jim Ryan likewise spoke highly of Mark Curran and described him as a man of character and high moral compass, with a strong respect for life and human dignity, even though Ryan supported Curran's Republican opponent in 2006, Gary Del Ray. To Jim Ryan's credit, he spoke of sleaze as being bi-partisan in Illinois. Ryan attributes sleaze to people without a moral compass. That such office holders think only about the perks, of how much money they can make, and where service takes a back seat. Ryan feels that a principled Republican Party can win and that people still want good and honest leaders.
Other legislators who enthusiastically embraced Sheriff Mark Curran were Congressman Peter Roskam, State Rep. Eddie Sullivan, Jr., and State Senator-elect Dan Duffy. All spoke favorably about Sheriff Curran as a man of strong values and integrity who will hold Democrats accountable for their actions.
Additionally, Congressman Peter Roskam spoke of a public hunger that exists for leaders who are motivated only by the desire to serve. He went on to speak of how the dysfunctional state of Illinois emerged out of a one party system with no accountability. Roskam further believes that Sheriff Curran is joining the Republican Party at a time when there is a great deal of hope and sees Curran is a "gift of vision" among Republican ranks. He further implored Republicans to "circle the wagon" -- to get together and stop fighting with each other.
Sheriff Mark Curran seems to be a perfect fit for the Republican Party. Is Sheriff Curran a different person now that he has joined the ranks of the Republican Party? State senator and Democrat Terry Link seems to think so. Having an "R" connected with Curran's name makes all the difference to the ethically challenged Democrat senator and the party he represents.
I am confident Mark Currran will continue to bring to the sheriff's office the same moral compass which served him so well, and the people of Lake County, while a Democrat, now that he is a Republican.



Nancy J. Thorner Precinct Committeeman, #240, Shields Township (847) 295-1035



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5714 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5714 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:19:04 GMT
Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5672 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5672 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:30:40 GMT
Curran stated emphatically several times that his switch was a "matter of conscience" and he said "My conscience will not allow me to stand by and be a member of the Democratic Party any longer."

The presser was attended by many past and present politicians, including former gubernatorial candidate and AG Jim Ryan, Congressman Peter Roskam, State's Attorney Michael Waller, State Rep. Eddie Sullivan, Jr., State Senator-elect Dan Duffy, former Lake County Board Chairman Bob Depke, County Clerk Willard Helander, County Treasurer Bob Skidmore, Congressman Mark Kirk's Chief of Staff Eric Elk, and Lake County Republican Chairman Daniel Venturi.

Curran spoke for about 10 minutes and said, "I'd hoped to fight for change within the Democratic party, I'd hoped to bring the Democratic party back to the ideals it once stood for. But as I stand here today, I do not believe that it is a possibility. I certainly do not believe that it is a possibility in the State of Illinois, and I certainly do not believe that there is any hope in the Democratic Party in this state or in [Lake] County."

Curran also took a swing at beleaguered Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Democratic party for supporting him, saying "When Rod Blagojevich ran against this man [Jim Ryan], once again, you didn't hear anybody stand up five years ago and say, 'you know what, Rod Blagojevich is nothing other than a hack Chicago politician, and he's not good for the state.' No, they all stood behind him as though he was reformer. It's a boldface lie to think that somebody who comes out of that ward boss system is going to be a reformer. It's a boldface lie, and we should quit telling those lies."

Daniel Venturi
Lake County Republican Chairman




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5671 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5671 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:28:48 GMT

Firearms violations, pregnant employee wrongfully terminated, destruction of evidence and redistribution of controlled substances.


Libertyville, October 30, 2008: An investigation into current County Coroner Richard Keller and practices occurring in the Lake County Coroner's Office under his leadership has concluded this week. The investigation, initiated by Dr. Michael Oster, Candidate for Coroner, was conducted by a private firm including former Illinois State Police Investigators. "While talking to people questions of impropriety kept coming up", said Oster. The investigation centered on four key topics that had been brought to Osters' attention. Throughout the course of the investigation multiple witnesses, including former Coroner's staff / management, were interviewed on the following topics:

Firearms violations: Although Deputy Coroner's are permitted to carry firearms while in the course of their duties, the Illinois State Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) and Illinois Complied Statutes mandate that ALL persons permitted must recertify (re-qualify) on a yearly basis. Information learned through the course of the investigation indicated that Coroner's staff have not met the outlined requirements and are therefore illegally carrying firearms.

Wrongful termination: Witnesses spoke to the fact that in 2005 a female Deputy Coroner's employment was terminated after Keller learned that she was pregnant. Witness statements indicate that she was terminated, not based on poor job performance (although that was the official cause given and documents were altered to reflect as such), but because of the time off that she would require due to the pregnancy, and Keller's unwillingness to be short staffed during her leave.

Destruction / disposal of evidence: Witnesses detailed how since Keller has been in office, multiple occasions have occurred where final disposition of evidence, has been prematurely completed. State Law indicates that evidence in homicide cases be maintained indefinitely. One witness said "His (Keller) lack of cooperation with law enforcement agencies will end up jeopardizing criminal investigations. It's not a matter of 'if'; it is a matter of 'when'."

Redistribution of controlled substances: Witnesses provided investigators with details on how Keller has been redistributing prescription medication, including controlled substances, of deceased individuals to other persons. According to multiple witnesses, Keller ordered staff that any medications collected during an investigation should be placed in a specific container for him and the investigation paperwork should reflect the medications were "disposed of" when in fact they were not. Keller would then take the container when full and redistribute the medications as he saw fit. The FDA prohibits the redistribution of unused prescription drugs dispensed to consumers.


Findings of this investigation, including detailed reports, have been turned over to the Lake County State's Attorney for further review and consideration of criminal charges.


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]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5337 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5337 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:46:20 GMT
Her critics gloss over or choose to ignore the ethical lapses of her opponent whose nominating petition contain over 370 signatures from the now indicted circulator Kenneth Davison and Jerry Knight. A reasonable review would have discovered the flaws in her opponent’s petition. I think this raises a huge question when we are talking entrusting millions of records for her to manage. It is also disturbing that she has never denounced the conduct of those circulator’s or Senator Link whose campaign hired them.

Sally Coffelt has a stellar 28 year record of running an efficient, effective and responsible Circuit Court Clerk's office. As an attorney in Lake County I have many dealings with the Circuit Clerk's Office and its staff. Under the direction of Sally Coffelt, her employees treat attorneys, judges and general public with courtesy and respect.

The Circuit Court Clerk’s office in Lake County has about 150 employees. To say that Sally Coffelt should not be reelected because she's related to five of them is irresponsible. There been no evidence or even allegations of impropriety. All of the circuit court employees are extremely qualified and expected to adhere to the high standards set by Sally Coffelt.

I find it equally irresponsible to disregard the 28 years of tremendous service that Sally Coffelt has given to the taxpayers of Lake County by operating the Circuit Court Clerk’s office responsibly, streamlining her office while protecting the security of vital private information.

Sally Coffelt has demonstrated that she the experience and integrity to run the Circuit Court Clerk’s office and should be re-elected.

Daniel Venturi
Attorney at Law
Lake County GOP Chairman




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5334 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5334 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 07:08:26 GMT Lake County GOP Chairman


Dear Editor;
Reports are that Senator Terry Link is raising Cain, complaining that political signs outside the Lake County Court House are a “huge election violation”. The claim would make sense under the rule that a candidate generally cannot put campaign signs on public property.

The problem is that in 2003 Public Act 93-574 amended Illinois Statue 10 ILCS 5/17-29 adding:

“A person shall have the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on any polling place property while the polls are open beyond the campaign free zone, including but not limited to, the placement of temporary signs.”

You might think that as an experienced politician and the Chairman of the Democrat Party, he would know or at least investigate the law before lodging a formal complaint. But it’s even worse; the public act that created the right to put signs on public property was sponsored by the one and only “Senator Terry Link”.

This just another example of Senator Link’s failed leadership. Remember Senator Link’s disastrous Judicial Sub-Circuit bill that unbeknownst to the sponsor (Senator Terry Link) created three new judicial seats. Then after Senator Link did not like the candidates that were elected, he repealed the legislation and took back two of our judicial seats. Is this the type of leadership we deserve, unfortunately it is the leadership we have under Senator Link. On November 4th send Terry Link a message and vote for Keith Gray for Senate.
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]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5218 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5218 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:32:13 GMT Misleading Mailers Confuse Cook and Lake County Tax Assessment Systems


Libertyville- Illinois- October 21, 2008

Many Lake County residents recently received misleading and erroneous mailers supporting Democrat opponents to Republican Lake County Board members. The mailers for all five Democratic challengers focus on an issue key to Lake County voters: high real estate taxes. The problem is that the suggested solution might work in Cook County, but if the candidates would have done their homework, they would realize that Lake County operates under a different system than Cook County.

The mailers say that if elected to the Lake County Board, each candidate will focus on reducing property taxes by forcing the "County Assessor" to reassess their homes. While in Cook County property assessments are conducted by the County Assessor, Lake County has a different system and property assessments are conducted in each township, by each the respective Township Assessor. The Township Assessor is elected in each township and, unlike in Cook County, does not report to the county board.

The mailers show a lack of understanding by the Democrat candidates that the real estate tax burden is driven by the taxing bodies. Depending on the district, School districts represent 60 to 75% of your bill with the balance being divided between townships, villages, utilities and the County. To assume that putting pressure on the assessor is a magic bullet for the property tax problem in Lake County is just naïve.

Although these mailers claimed to be from the individual Democrat candidates, they appear to be coordinated by the Cook County Democrat machine and not by people interested in Lake County. If only one of the County Board candidates made this mistake, it might be chalked up to inexperience on the part of that candidate, but this same issue is proposed by every Democrat challenger to a county board seat in Lake County. All the mailers appear to have been generated by the same mail house, and many of them do not even have the correct name of the candidate's campaign. One should wonder if the Democrat Candidates even bothered to approve these mailers before they went out.

Dan Venturi, Lake County Republican Chairman, decried the mailings as a blatant example of the Chicago Democratic machine seeking to invade Lake County. "Voters in Lake County need to be on guard and not let the Cook County Democrat machine transform the Lake County Board into a Cook County Board clone, with out-of-control spending, the highest sales tax in the country, the inability to balance their budget and a horrible bond rating."

Venturi also noted that the Lake County Board, of which a majority of the members are Republicans, has a balanced budget and lives within its means, which has resulted in being only one of 35 counties in the country to obtain an AAA bond rating.

The County Board Democrat Candidates that have issued the misinformed mailers include Peter Grant running against Linda Pedersen in District 1, Diane Hewitt running against Randall E. Whitmore in District 2, Melinda Bush running against Larry Leafblad in District 6, Patrice Cary running against Terese Douglass in District 11, Terry Wilke running against Robert E. Powers in District 16, Denise Rotheimer running against Stevenson Mountsier in District 17 and Davita Siegel running against David Stolman in District 20.





]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5175 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5175 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:36:12 GMT New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

''There is a general recognition that the supervisory system for housing-related government-sponsored enterprises neither has the tools, nor the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity and importance of these enterprises,'' Treasury Secretary John W. Snow told the House Financial Services Committee in an appearance with Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who also backed the plan.

Mr. Snow said that Congress should eliminate the power of the president to appoint directors to the companies, a sign that the administration is less concerned about the perks of patronage than it is about the potential political problems associated with any new difficulties arising at the companies.

The administration's proposal, which was endorsed in large part today by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would not repeal the significant government subsidies granted to the two companies. And it does not alter the implicit guarantee that Washington will bail the companies out if they run into financial difficulty; that perception enables them to issue debt at significantly lower rates than their competitors. Nor would it remove the companies' exemptions from taxes and antifraud provisions of federal securities laws.

The proposal is the opening act in one of the biggest and most significant lobbying battles of the Congressional session.

After the hearing, Representative Michael G. Oxley, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced their intention to draft legislation based on the administration's proposal. Industry executives said Congress could complete action on legislation before leaving for recess in the fall.

''The current regulator does not have the tools, or the mandate, to adequately regulate these enterprises,'' Mr. Oxley said at the hearing. ''We have seen in recent months that mismanagement and questionable accounting practices went largely unnoticed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight,'' the independent agency that now regulates the companies.

''These irregularities, which have been going on for several years, should have been detected earlier by the regulator,'' he added.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, was created by Congress in 1992 after the bailout of the savings and loan industry and concerns about regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages from lenders and repackage them as securities or hold them in their own portfolios.

At the time, the companies and their allies beat back efforts for tougher oversight by the Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal Reserve. Supporters of the companies said efforts to regulate the lenders tightly under those agencies might diminish their ability to finance loans for lower-income families. This year, however, the chances of passing legislation to tighten the oversight are better than in the past.

Reflecting the changing political climate, both Fannie Mae and its leading rivals applauded the administration's package. The support from Fannie Mae came after a round of discussions between it and the administration and assurances from the Treasury that it would not seek to change the company's mission.

After those assurances, Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chief executive, endorsed the shift of regulatory oversight to the Treasury Department, as well as other elements of the plan.

''We welcome the administration's approach outlined today,'' Mr. Raines said. The company opposes some smaller elements of the package, like one that eliminates the authority of the president to appoint 5 of the company's 18 board members.

Company executives said that the company preferred having the president select some directors. The company is also likely to lobby against the efforts that give regulators too much authority to approve its products.

Freddie Mac, whose accounting is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a United States attorney in Virginia, issued a statement calling the administration plan a ''responsible proposal.''

The stocks of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae fell while the prices of their bonds generally rose. Shares of Freddie Mac fell $2.04, or 3.7 percent, to $53.40, while Fannie Mae was down $1.62, or 2.4 percent, to $66.74. The price of a Fannie Mae bond due in March 2013 rose to 97.337 from 96.525.Its yield fell to 4.726 percent from 4.835 percent on Tuesday.

Fannie Mae, which was previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, which was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, have been criticized by rivals for exerting too much influence over their regulators.

''The regulator has not only been outmanned, it has been outlobbied,'' said Representative Richard H. Baker, the Louisiana Republican who has proposed legislation similar to the administration proposal and who leads a subcommittee that oversees the companies. ''Being underfunded does not explain how a glowing report of Freddie's operations was released only hours before the managerial upheaval that followed. This is not world-class regulatory work.''

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.





]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5036 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5036 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:18:24 GMT September 30, 1999
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.
''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''
Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''
Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.
Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.
Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.
In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.
Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.
In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.
The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5013 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=5013 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:11:23 GMT
Libertyville, IL: On Thursday, October 1, 2008, Lake County GOP Chairman Daniel Venturi, along with GOP Waukegan Township Chairman David Pfifer, filed a formal complaint with the State Board of Elections against Senator Terry Link as chairman and treasurer of Friends of Terry Link for failure to abide by state campaign disclosure law. The complaint alleges that Link failed to specifically disclose the payments made by the campaign to Link's two indicted petition circulators, Jerry Knight and Kenneth Davison. Knight and Davison have been indicted on multiple counts of perjury and forgery for, among other things, having dead people "sign" Link's petitions.
The complaint first claims that Link never disclosed payments to Knight and Davison on Link's Form D-2, even though Link has admitted they were paid to circulate petitions on his behalf. Link paid Pete Couvall, Democratic Party Vice-Chairman, a “staff salary,” and then Couvall turned around and paid others, including Knight and Davison. As noted in the complaint, the Guide to Campaign Disclosure published by the State Board of Elections states that "any expenditure made to someone who serves as a conduit or 'middle man' for the payment must include a detailed breakdown of the expenditure - showing each recipient of the funds and a description of each expense.” Venturi said that he was concerned this may have been a deliberate attempt to hide the payments to Knight and Davison from the Link campaign.

In addition, the complaint notes that even though a campaign is required to specifically itemize any expenditure of over $150 to any single vendor, Friends of Terry Link had $46,896.71 in un-itemized expenditures for the period ending June 30, 2008 and $40,369.62 for the period ending June 30, 2007. This would have required Link to have made payments to several hundred vendors in each period, which the complaint claims is an "unlikely scenario." Just for comparison, according to the publicly-available D-2's, Link's un-itemized expenditures are over 10 times what Senate President Emil Jones' were.

Venturi said “Senator Link needs to follow the law and be accountable to the citizens of Lake County. This simply the latest incident in a continuing pattern of questionable and/or illegal activity on the part of Senator Link. His continuing refusal to even acknowledge that these are legitimate concerns of Lake County voters is especially troubling, given the rampant ethical issues facing the Democratic leadership in Springfield, including Governor Rod Blagojevich. The citizens of Lake County simply deserve better than what Senator Link is willing to give them.”

# # #



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4988 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4988 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:37:13 GMT as Paid Defense Witness For A Child Molester

Lake County Coroner Richard Keller has used his office to defend a child molester.

Predatory sexual assault of a child is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. In this case, the victim was a five-year-old child, and the defendant, Montel Branch, was convicted of this crime by a Lake County jury. Branch had a long criminal history. On Friday, September 19, 2008, Branch was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Although Montel Branch thankfully was convicted, what was outrageous about his trial was that the paid expert witness for Branch was Lake County Coroner Richard Keller. The Coroner is the second highest law enforcement agent in the County. In fact, the only person that could arrest the sheriff is the coroner. It is astonishing that Richard Keller would use that position to be a paid defense expert witness for a convicted felon in a child molestation case.

Lake County Chairman Daniel Venturi condemned Keller’s actions and called for his resignation.

“The office of Coroner is a full-time obligation, and is not something that you can put on hold to take a side job in a position that compromises the integrity of the office,” said Venturi. “In addition, it has the potential to cause confusion to a jury when the second-highest law enforcement officer in the county appears as a paid witness for the defendant,” Venturi continued.

Almost as offensive is the fact that Richard Keller hired himself out at $100 per hour to work as a defense expert while being paid a six figure income as Lake County Coroner.

“Ironically, even though Richard Keller testified on behalf of the defense, the jury obviously disregarded his testimony and the individual was still convicted of the horrific crime,” said Venturi. “The citizens of Lake County deserve better; they deserve law enforcement officials who will honor their oath of office and advocate for the victims of crime, and not the predators. There is no excuse for Richard Keller's action and he should immediately resign as Lake County Coroner.”

Keller is being opposed in the November election by emergency room physician Michael Oster, M.D., of Gurnee.

# # #



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4987 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4987 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:35:13 GMT

A basic part of our right to freedom of speech is our ability to support the candidates of our choice with political signs. With the election just over 30 days away, it is appropriate to review the commonly-accepted rules of “sign etiquette.” If candidates of all parties, and their supporters, would agree to abide by these basic common-sense principles, we can avoid unnecessary animosity between neighbors and hopefully curb the litter of political signs throughout our communities. As the Lake County Republican Chairman I encourage campaigns on both sides to follow four simple rules of sign etiquette:

Follow the local rules. If the municipality or subdivision only allows signs 30 days before the elections or only on private property, honor their rules.

Never put up signs without permission. If you knock on a door and they are nice to you, that does not mean you have permission; Ask if before you put up a sign!

Never touch or interfere with your opponent’s sign. Do not use your sign to block your opponent’s sign. If you think an opponent’s sign is placed illegally or placed without permission, you do not have the right to remove it. If it is on your property, you have every right to take it down or to call the candidate and have them remove it. But as a candidate, do not touch or interfere with your opponent’s signs.

After the election take down your signs. The most important rule is to take down your signs as soon as possible after the election. If you can get them down the night of the election, do it. But din any event, win or lose, take your signs down within a week of the election. Few things bother the public more than seeing the litter of campaign signs weeks and months after the election.

Following these simple rules says much about the credibility of a candidate. If you don’t honor simple rules as a candidate, why should voters think you will do any better if elected?

Daniel Venturi
Lake County Republican Chairman



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4986 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4986 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:27:36 GMT
I am sending this in response to the letter claiming “outright lies” in my letter pointing out that Congresswoman Melissa Beans is on the wrong side of the domestic energy exploration issue and sent out a taxpayer paid mailer implying she was on the other side of the issue. My letter correctly points out her support for the “DRILL” act that creates a new and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that will likely result in less domestic energy exploration. This point was not disputed. I also pointed out the Congresswoman’s continued opposition to drilling for new sources of domestic petroleum in ANWAR and the Outer Continental shelf.
In the mailer she says her plan will increase drilling in “Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve.” They have been drilling in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve for decades; in fact it was originally established in 1923 by President Harding as the Naval Petroleum Reserve #4 to provide an oil reserve for the naval fleet.
I believe the reference to the Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve was intentionally used to incorrectly imply she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuse “ANWAR.”. Congresswoman Mellissa Bean opposes energy exploration in ANWAR. The current ban prevents drilling on even a very small portion of this 19 million acre reserve. It is estimated that drilling on only a very small potion would produce 10 billion barrels of oil. Congresswoman Mellissa Bean’s position opposing drilling in ANWAR was also not disputed.
In the mailer she also claims her plan will “promote immediate drilling of onshore and offshore public lands.” The mailer does not say the reference to offshore public lands excludes new exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf “OCS.” On July 14th President Bush lifted the executive prohibition on drilling in OCS and called on Congress to lift the congressional moratorium. Congressional action would open access to a new and vast oil resource estimated to be capable of generating nearly 10 years worth of America's current annual oil production. Congresswoman Mellissa Bean said she opposes lifting the congressional moratorium.
My support for more domestic energy is not because of politics, In fact my letter I did not even mention her opponent Steve Greenberg whose comprehensive plan includes limited responsible drilling in ANWAR and taping the vast new recourses on the OCS. My concern is the high cost foreign oil continues to weigh down our economy and our dependence on foreign oil jeopardizes our national security.
Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4620 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4620 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:03:15 GMT CIRCULATORS INDICTED FOR FORGERY, PERJURY

Lake GOP Chairman Dan Venturi Renews Demand
for Link's Resignation as Lake County Democratic Party Chairman

Libertyville - After several months of investigation by the Lake County State's Attorney and the State of Illinois Appellate Prosecutor, a Lake County grand jury has issued indictments of Jerry D. Knight and Kenneth Davison, the two primary individuals that were hired by Senator Terry Link's campaign to obtain petition signatures. Examination of the nominating petitions shows that without the signatures of the indicted circulators, Senator Link would not have had the requisite signatures to even be placed on the ballot. Petitions circulated by Jerry D. Knight and Kenneth Davison account for about 2,700 of Senator Terry Link's 3,378 total signatures.

"As indicated by these indictments, there appears to be a evidence of a clear pattern of fraud associated with the signatures purportedly obtained by these two individuals hired by Senator Link's campaign," said Daniel Venturi, Lake County Republican Chairman. "I am further disturbed to report that the alleged pattern of fraud may affect other Democratic candidates, reaching from one end of the county to the other."

The following Democratic candidates had Knight and Davison as circulators for their own candidacies:

Angelo Kyle, Lake County Board Candidate and failed Democratic primary challenger for State Representative, 60th District: Obtained 700 signatures from Knight and Davison (500 required).

Jim Parks, Candidate for State Representative, 62nd District: Obtained 495 signatures from Knight and Davison (500 required).

Diane Hewitt, Candidate for County Board District 2: Obtained 50 signatures from Knight and Davison (50 required).

Coroner Richard Keller, Recorder of Deeds; Mary Ellen Vanderventer; State's Attorney candidate Michael D. Jacobs; and Circuit Clerk Court candidate Cynthia Purim Haran: Each obtained 270 signatures from Knight and Davison (661 required).

Venturi criticized Senator Link, who is also Chairman of the Lake County Democrat Party, for not conducting his own investigation when the fraud allegations were raised in late 2007. "I am outraged that not one of the Lake County Democrat elected officials whose petitions have been tainted by this fraudulent activity had demanded an investigation. Their silence serves as an endorsement of these fraudulent activities," said Venturi.

"With the Grand Jury's indictment and the coming prosecution of Senator Link's paid minions, this will shed light on Link's blatant disregard for the integrity of the electoral process and likely criminal activity demonstrated by certain members of the Lake County Democrat Party," Venturi emphasized.

"We believe further investigation and prosecution of these activities is crucial to draw attention to this matter to stop the Lake County Democrat Party from continuing to bring Chicago style politics to Lake County," Venturi said. "I am disappointed that Democratic Party leaders have not demanded that Senator Link step down as the Lake County Democratic Party Chairman and, furthermore, I demand that he withdraw from the November ballot. Anything less than that will be viewed by the public as Democratic Party approval of approval of these actions, and will lead to further erosion of the public's confidence in our electoral process."

Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4515 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4515 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:46:25 GMT In the mailer Congresswoman Bean acknowledges “we need a strategic energy policy that reduces our dependency on foreign oil” and touts her support for “the drill responsibly in leased land's” (DRILL) Act. H.R. 6515

The DRILL act creates a new level of bureaucracy and further restricts the number of available new oil and natural gas leases and would cause termination of the many outstanding leases. The intent of this bill may be to encourage immediate drilling, but the result would be that there will be less land available for drilling which is the exact opposite of what the country needs.

But, in her mailer Bean says the DRILL Act; “would spur immediate drilling for new energy in Alaska's national petroleum reserve and pressure oil Companies to begin immediate drilling in 68 million acres of onshore and offshore public lands they are ready have access to.”

As you may know, Congresswoman Melissa Bean has adopted Speaker Nancy Pelosi's “NO drilling in ANWAR or the Outer Continental Shelf” position. It appears, however, that Melissa Bean is trying to falsely imply that she supports more exploration and drilling. The mailer’s reference to Alaska and offshore drilling is an intentional effort to mislead voters into believing she supports finding new sources of domestic oil, when in fact her position is the reverse.

Congresswoman Melissa Bean is entitled to follow party lines and oppose drilling for new sources of domestic petroleum in ANWAR and the Outer Continental shelf. She should not, however, use taxpayer dollars to mislead her district into believing she supports new sources of domestic petroleum.

Daniel Venturi
Lake County GOP Chairman



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4514 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4514 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:35:54 GMT July 17, 2008
By Matthew Murray
Roll Call Staff


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a memo distributed by his campaign on Wednesday, Rep. Mark Kirk (R) said his 2.5-to-1 cash advantage, popularity with Jewish voters and challenger Dan Seals' (D) gaffes will again make him bulletproof in 2008.
Kirk, who beat the marketing consultant by roughly 14,000 votes in the previous cycle, predicted that downtrodden Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) will generate "a strong anti-Democratic headwind" in the North Shore district — despite home-state Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's name at the top of the ballot as the White House nominee.

In the memo, Kirk also appears to portray his general election opponent, who holds a University of Chicago MBA, as a jobless laggard who pays his personal expenses out of his campaign coffers.

"After losing his bid for Congress, Seals did not return to GE Finance and was unemployed," the memo reads. "Near the end of the 2006 campaign, Seals paid himself $25,000 out of his campaign donor funds — an act that is legal but strongly discouraging to donors."

The memo added: "In May, Seals filed his 2008 financial disclosure with the U.S. House showing only $3,300 in earned income through the first quarter of the year.


Ozinga Outraises Halvorson in Quarter

Chicagoland concrete baron Martin Ozinga (R) outraised state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson (D) through July 1, according to second-quarter campaign finance totals. Both candidates are vying to replace Rep. Jerry Weller (R), who abruptly announced his retirement last year after a local newspaper profiled his questionable Central American land deals.

Ozinga, who was recently drafted by local GOP bosses to fill a ballot vacancy, raised more than $800,000. The political newcomer, who has significant personal wealth but has given his campaign only $70,000, has about $670,000 in the bank compared with Halvorson, who raised about $400,000 but had $900,000 in cash on hand going into the homestretch.



2008 © Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.


















]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4348 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4348 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:23:30 GMT
TA's sources over at the Lake County Courthouse tell him that State Representative Sandy Cole (R-Grayslake) today emerged victorious in her objection to the nomination paperwork filed by her would-be Democratic opponent, Terry Hall, in a decision by Judge Ray McKoski. McKoski ruled today that the decision of the local election board which invalidated Hall's nomination paperwork was the correct decision. The Cole objection was filed by Lake County Board Member Bob Powers.

As we discussed a few weeks ago, the gist of the Cole objection was that Hall filed on the last possible day, April 5th, with an address that was not her registered voting address--in fact, it was a "Mailboxes, Etc." type of PO Box address. The Lake County Dems then realized their mistake and tried to withdraw the nomination and refile with her correct registered voting address, but did not do so until April 9th, way after the filing deadline. The panel ruled that the improper address was not merely a scrivener's error, and the petition was therefore invalid. Ironically, the Dems probably made their case even worse by essentially admitting that they erred and tried to fix the mistake by withdrawing and refiling. For more background, see here.

After the decision of the local panel, Ms. Hall wrote a teary-eyed letter to the Daily Herald bemoaning how awful it was that the democratic process would be thwarted by such an objection. Cry me a river, Ms. Hall. Maybe you ought to tell evil chessmaster and Dem Chairman Terry Link what a travesty it was that he objected to the nomination petitions of 59th State Rep GOP nominee Dan Sugrue and 30th State Senate GOP nominee Keith Gray, not to mention Dan Seals' operative's objection to the poor green guy in IL-10, before you go feeling too sorry for yourself. As we've noted often before, Lake County Dems are great at dishing it out, but can't take it too well.

For those of you keeping score of this season's challenges at home, and assuming that the State Board of Elections affirms the decisions of the hearing officer in the Beaubien challenge and the Dem challenge to Dan Sugrue (as we reported here), the score is: GOP 7, Dems 1

52nd Dist. - Mark Beaubien v. Rich Garling = GOP WIN (pending affirmation by SBE)
59th Dist. - Kathy Ryg v. Dan Sugrue = GOP WIN (pending affirmation by SBE)
62nd Dist. - Sandy Cole v. Terry Hall = GOP WIN
30th Senate Dist. - Terry Link v. Keith Gray = GOP WIN
County Bd. Dist. 3 - County Bd. Chairman Suzi Schmidt v. Mark Nielsen = GOP WIN
County Bd. Dist 5 - Bonnie Thompson Carter v. Steve Pearson = GOP WIN
County Bd. Dist. 10 - Diana O'Kelly v. Sari Ann Hurtig = GOP WIN
County Bd. Dist. 20 - David Stolman v. Davita Siegel = GOP LOSS



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4158 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=4158 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:36:27 GMT
NOMINATION CHALLENGE BY LAKE COUNTY DEMS



Libertyville – State Senate Candidate Keith Gray announced his challenge by the Lake County Democrats was stopped dead in its tracks. The State Board of Election, in a hearing held this morning in Chicago, ruled against the baseless objection. Gray stated, “We were victorious against the objection filed, and now our team can move ahead and present our solutions to fix Illinois to folks in the 30th Senate District.”



Keith Gray is a Waukegan businessman and local school board member seeking the office of State Senator to share skills and solutions lacking in Springfield. “When we budget within our households or our businesses, we understand and accept that living within our means is essential. Civic and business organizations throughout Illinois as well as the State Comptroller’s Office continue to warn the General Assembly and the Governor of the ramifications of their disregard for fiscal management. The bottom line is good government starts at the fiscal level – elected officials must be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and that is one thing that sets me apart from my opponent.”



The 30th Senate District runs through Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills, Lincolnshire, Bannockburn, Riverwoods, Lake Forest, Mettawa, Green Oaks, Gurnee, Park City, North Chicago and Waukegan. If you would like to support the Keith Gray Campaign Team with your time, your talent or your treasures, kindly contact Keith Gray for Senate campaign at (847) 680-6680.




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3807 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3807 Fri, 23 May 2008 05:56:29 GMT right for country
A proposal introduced by Rep. Mark Kirk, R-10th, and Peter Roskam of the sixth Congressional District (H.R. 5405) aims to curb the high rate of identity theft in Illinois, especially here in Northern Illinois.

Their proposal: Developing a new tamperproof Social Security Surveillance card that would contain encrypted, machine readable electronic record which would include records of biometric identifiers unique to the individual to whom the card is issued, including a digitized facial image printed on the face of the card. This card would be offered to Americans who opt for it, with the hope that it would eventually become standard across the country.

Even though the bill has not yet left the House, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is already voicing strong objections to the biometric identifiers on the proposed card, claiming it is a back door attempt to slip a national ID card into the hands of a terrified populace.

An April 17 Pioneer Press article about the Kirk proposal relates how police in Mundelein and Waukegan consider the counterfeiting of Social Security cards a growing problem in their jurisdictions. Both support Kirk's proposal as a step in the right direction. The article also spoke of falsified birth certificates, forged driver's licenses and counterfeit Social Security being sold on the streets of Waukegan from anywhere from $100 to $500 depending on the quality and whose selling them.

The Social Security number is one of the main tools used to steal an identity. It is also the easiest document to counterfeit. I applaud Reps. Kirk and Roskam for their insight into their proposal aimed at curbing identity theft which is affecting 10 million Americans. It is also costing businesses and consumers untold billions of dollars a year. ID theft can likewise be devastating to the affected individuals. It can take months to resolve credit problems.

I will apply for the new biometric card when and if it is issued. The encrypted information on the card could prevent me from experiencing the deeds of criminals or those with criminal intent. Rep. Kirk is deserving of your support in his endeavor to protect what is rightly ours alone, our individual identities.

Nancy J. Thorner, Lake Bluff




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3705 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3705 Sun, 11 May 2008 06:24:49 GMT KILL BILL DESIGNED TO ALLOW VOTERS TO RECALL GOVERNOR

Libertyville – State Senators Terry Link (D-Waukegan) and Michael Bond (D-Grayslake) voted today to protect Governor Blagojevich from citizens seeking the right to recall the Governor. Sticking with their buddy Senate President Emil Jones, Link and Bond voted with fellow Democrats and derailed legislation providing citizens an opportunity to recall elected officials that have violated the public’s trust.

This Senate bill was introduced last August by Republican Senator Dan Cronin (Elmhurst), prompted by the questionable actions of Governor Blagojevich. Lake County Republican Chairman Daniel Venturi stated, “This vote comes as no surprise – Senator Link has been voting lock step with Governor Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones since they took over the State in 2003. Link’s tenure in office has more to do with Chicago politics and the perks and power that come with them. This year it’ll be different. Forged signatures alleged on more than two thirds of his nominating petitions and frustrated Democrats calling Republican Headquarters to enlist in his defeat will put an end to his legacy of power politics. As to Senator Bond he has chosen the wrong role models.”



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3607 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3607 Thu, 01 May 2008 16:10:56 GMT
The GOP objection to State Representative Mark Beaubien's opponent will likely not be decided for some time because that is being heard by the State Board of Elections, as his district straddles two counties, Lake and McHenry. On the Dem side, the Dem's objections to challengers Keith Gray (running against Terry Link) and Dan Sugrue also are being heard by the SBE (those districts include Lake and parts of Cook Counties).

The GOP victory against at least three of the four county board Dem hopefuls gives the local GOP a much-needed shot in the arm, after months of dealing with Obama-mania. That, plus the hope that they will be successful in the as-yet undecided challenges, and the Dems' various troubles (Link's petition scandal, Blago's impending indictment, anyone?), gives the Lake GOP hope to carry on the battle, for now.

The Dems, of course, will claim that their defeats today are simply a political hatchet job. But TA hears that the decision of the panel was well-articulated, and if the Dems really feel they got railroaded, they can always put their money where their large mouths are, and appeal to the circuit court. They are also in a poor position to claim that the Republicans are unfairly beating up on their slated candidates, considering the Dems filed challenges of their own (including a challenge to the poor Green guy in the 10th CD).

UPDATED: 3:50 p.m. - TA just learned that we also won on the David Stohlman objection. An old joke, but I'll make it anyway-- What's Terry Link's new area code? 0-4-4. Get it? HAHAHAHAHA!!!




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3543 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3543 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:47 GMT

Kirk leads bipartisan effort calling on Carter to back down from meeting with Hamas leaders
(Click here to watch the video)




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3502 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3502 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:35:27 GMT

BY: Nancy J. Thorner, Precinct Committeeman, Shield Township, #240


The Lake County Republican Federation held its 46th Anniversary Spring Gala on Friday, April 18, at the Marriott Lincolnshire. Federation Executive Director Antonietta Simonian is deserving of recognition and appreciation as the organizer of the successful event attended by 512 Lake County Republican.
The keynote speaker was U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia. He is presently the Chief Deputy Whip for House Republican and as such deals with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a daily basis. Eric Cantor began his remarks by saluting Congressman Mark Kirk of the 10th Congressional District and Steve Greenberg who is running to defeat Democrat Melissa Bean of the 8th Congressional District. Cantor then went on to speak about Kirk as an effective and extremely knowledgeable member of Congress. He and Kirk were in the same incoming freshman class in Congress. Cantor described Kirk as a “2 million dollar” man by the amount of money Kirk is raising to defeat his Democratic challenger Dan Seals. Cantor admonished the group that “Obama-mania” must be stopped from entering Lake County. Mark Kirk must be re-elected to continue his fine work for his district and the nation. Cantor went on to describe Steve Greenberg as one of the “young gun” candidates across the country designated by t he Republican House to assist in unseating their Democratic challengers.
Rep. Cantor defined the upcoming election as a “crossroads” election. The American people might not like long wars. History is also against Republicans in keeping the White House in 2008 -- Since WWII there has been only one time when Republicans have kept control of the White House for more than 8 years at a time (Reagan-Bush 41) -- yet Cantor feels that Republicans have a good chance given that John McCain has vowed to fight in every corner of American. Cantor cautioned that the Democrats will try to pin every thing on Republicans from the economy to housing, and that both problems will be exaggerated, but that Republicans have the advantage because Democrats have no solutions. Cantor told of his work with many Democratic House members who only know how to say “no” when Republicans attempt to allow Americans to keep more or their money or to have more control over their health care. Republicans do have an understanding of that which is broken and they know how to fix it. Republicans in Congress, including Cantor and Kirk, are against ear marks and wasteful spending. As Cantor said, “It should not be about pork but about pay checks. A pro-job agenda is needed. This is a center right county. The American people don’t want higher taxes, more government, or God taken out of the Constitution.”
Cantor ended his remarks by telling all assembled that they should go out and into communities and speak about solutions to issues that are relevant to the lives of the people. As Cantor said, “We don’t need all of the votes, just more than the other side. All we have to do is to outrun the other side and get to the finish line.”
After dinner remarks included those by Rep. Mark Kirk and Steve Greenberg. Rep. Kirk’s opening remarks were about conditions here in Illinois. Kirk is worried about Illinois and expressed sorrow for those Republicans who work in the legislative bodies here in Illinois, despite all of his own problems at the national level. Democrats have pushed through 20 separate tax increases. One Illinois issue of particular concern was how Illinois will lose 4 billion of federal transportation fund money if the state cannot come up with the necessary matching funds.
Kirk spoke highly of his House colleague Eric Cantor as the leading member of the House Ways and Means Committee. In speaking of a Democratic tax proposal that is now in the House, it would represent the largest federal tax increase in the history of the U.S. This tax proposal is know in the House as MOATH -- Mother of All Tax Hikes. Kirk cautioned that the quickest way to harm economic growth is to raise taxes.
Kirk then spoke of what he is up against in his own race in the 10th Congressional District: He will be running against money provided by government unions, trial lawyers, and George Soros-funded ads.
Kirk went on to praise John McCain -- that he will be up and running from day one.
Regarding the war, Kirk said that many wouldn’t mind seeing a defeat in Iraq. He went on to say: “There is no peace if there is a defeat of the U.S.” Kirk described a long-term struggle. The terrorist we are fighting reject the dignity of individuals, the rights of women, and the right to vote. They believe that government should be controlled by religious authorities and not elected representatives. I was extremely pleased when Congressman Kirk went on to question whether the American people will be up to the challenge as they were in past generations to defend our key values, and that these key values are now being tested.
I was impressed by Steve Greenberg’s remarks. He seems to have what it takes to defeat Melissa Bean. Greenberg first stated how proud he was to be a Republican. He thinks of the people who get up and go to work every day. That they are more important than the people in Washington. Greenberg spoke of his own humble background. How his dad had a dream. How his dad was helped along the way so his dream could be realized and passed along. As such he respects hard working folk who send their money to Washington, D.C. They also have dreams that deserve to be realized. Steve feels that the greatness of America derives from the celebration of the process that honors success and make it possible. If elected Greenberg wants to tackle wasteful government spending and eliminate earmarks. Once again, as I was with Kirk’s Iraq war words, I was pleased and encouraged when Steve Greenberg spoke of how by being in Iraq this nation is fighting for the freedom and liberty of millions of people so that they can also be future dreamers. Greenberg’s closing remark was a winner: “There are too many who define success by what they get in the mailbox and not from hard work.”



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3501 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3501 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:20:13 GMT to be applauded
Recently upon reading an announcement about former Vice President Al Gore's green campaign to promote climate change, I remembered an exchange between Rep. Mark Kirk and another during an event held at The Lake Forest Club back in February.

The exchange centered on Kirk's thoughts about global warming. Although Kirk is strong on issues concerning the environment, as noted on his official Web site, I was pleased when Kirk cautioned the questioner not to believe every thing she reads or hears in the news.

All Americans should strive to be good stewards of the environment. Al Gore, however, belongs to the doom-mongering wing of the environmental movement where repeated warnings tell of a global crisis that threatens our survival. Gore's much-heralded movie portrays global warming as a planetary emergency. Now contrast Gore's outrageous and hysterical claims with the view of Weather Channel founder, John Coleman, who last November called global warming the "greatest scam in history."

Are the American people ready to pay higher taxes, lower their standard of living, and give government control over their lives?

Some facts to consider:

* A report by UN meteorologists in April indicated that the mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998. Another report from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that almost all of the ice has come back which was reported lost in Oct. 2007.

* Much has been made of the carbon dioxide that is being pumped out of car tailpipes. Carbon dioxide is an essential element in our life support system. Without carbon dioxide there would be no plant lie or human life.

* The concern over CO2 emissions has given rise to the production of biofuels. It was reported in Science in February, that rather than reducing carbon emissions, it adds to it by a factor of nearly 100. Turning food into fuel for cars has been a major mistake. Ethanol is so costly to produce it wouldn't even make it in a free market without major government subsidies. Mandating the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline has added to the global food crisis and created higher food prices here at home.

* Oil has become a much maligned industry and a high priced commodity, but contrary to public opinion oil independence is a long way off. Hybrid cars are popular, but it could take up to 20 years before hydrogen fuel cells are affordable and reliable enough to market.

* What is the perfect temperature? Warming and cooling cycles have been a part of earth's history. Global warming (climate change) could be called the biggest government power grab in American history. In his book, "An Appeal to Reason", Nigel Larson of Great Britain warns that "zealotry over global warming could damage our earth far more than a possible climate change."

The unproven crusade to save the planet is building a head of steam here in America. Unfortunately our leadership is bending in the wind instead of challenging and refuting claims that would lead to a radical agenda. Future generations of Americans are counting on us to do the right thing.

Nancy J. Thorner, Lake Bluff




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3493 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3493 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:19:49 GMT

I am angry, but I must keep my anger under control as one who knows that anger does more harm than good. I first heard about the Tribune's support for William Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn upon listening to Don and Roma on WSL-890 AM this morning before I even opened the pages of my Tribune.

Yes, there is guilt by association in the case of Barack Obama. So far Obama has not been made to answer the tough questions. This is why he stumbled and was inapt in answering questions about why he won't wear a flag lapel pin or why he continues to regard his hate-filled preacher, Rev.Wright, so highly.

Obama's association with people who wrote about and taught Marxism goes way back to his college days. One such person he met after college in Chicago was Williams Ayers. Ayers never repented for what he did. In fact, Ayers is still proud of what he did in his weatherman days. Only slick lawyers kept him out of jail.

There is a big leftist group in the Hyde Park area in Chicago. It is surprising that the Tribune seems to revere and give respectability to those who express views that are far to the left of center. Credibility is not Ayers to have just because he teaches at universities! Every university has gone left. While we were getting on with our own lives, the Left was busy taking over. Sen. Joseph McCarthy was right and for that he had to be destroyed.

I was embarrassed for the Tribune today. I feel nothing but pity for those at the Tribune who believe Obama should be treated with kid gloves -- that he shouldn't be scrutinized for his past deeds and actions -- that they shouldn't matter. Often said is that a man is who he is because of the company he keeps. Obama's company has indeed been questionable and unsavory throughout the years.

With newspaper readership declining, the Tribune is likely to encounter another slide in circulation because of its unwillingness to dig into the background of one who seeks to become president. Your liberals readers will love you, but not your conservative ones. You have offended them and, as elephants, we don't forget.

As a conservative reader, I will not cancel my subscription to the Tribune. I will instead judge your paper every day as to the way it treats John McCain or other Republican candidates. In giving a free pass to Obama's background, now you must also give a free pass to whatever may be in McCain's past or in the past of other Republican candidates. I know this will not happen, nor should it. The public deserves to know fully about each candidate, Obama included. Shame on the Tribune!

Sincerely,
Nancy J. Thorner
331 E. Blodgett Avenue
Lake Bluff, IL 60044
(847) 295-1035


]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3492 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3492 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:04:41 GMT The devil is always in the details, especially when it comes to filling out paperwork to slate candidates for vacancies in the upcoming election for the established political parties. The Lake County Republicans have taken a very close look at the nominating papers filed by the Lake County Dems and will be objecting to four slated Dem county board candidates and two state representative candidates.

For most of the four county board seats, the flaws in the nominating documents range from appointments by the Dem central committee (instead of a specific committee appointed for each county board district) to lack of proper notice or holding the proper nominating meeting. The races affected are: 3rd District (Mark Nielsen challenging incumbent County Board President Suzi Schmidt); 5th District (Steve Pearson challenging Bonnie Thompson Carter); 10th District Sari Hurtig challenging Diana O'Kelly); and 20th District (Davita Siegel challenging David Stohlman).

The State Rep nomination petitions have even bigger problems-- Sandy Cole's would-be opponent, Terry Hall, originally filed with the wrong address (she used a PO Box at a Mailboxes Etc.) instead of her registered voting address, and then tried to withdraw the papers and refile them with her correct address. So, not only is this new filing not effective to cure the mistake, it would seem by taking this action she admitted the first filing was flawed. Oops.

Mark Beaubien's opponent, Rich Garling, apparently also tried to withdraw a flawed nomination paper, but forgot to withdraw the original flawed petition first--thus, there was no official vacancy when the (second) nominating meeting was supposedly held. Double oops.

You can view the objection petitions here: 3rd District, 5th District, 10th District, 20th District. The House Repubs are handling the objections to the state rep candidates, so that may take a little longer to get up here at the Blog.

In the meantime, TA's snoops over at the County Building reportedly saw Dem operative "Sneaky" Pete Couvall nosing around the building today, and it is quite possible he was laying the groundwork for their own objections against the GOP slate of candidates (Keith Gray-30th District; Bill Anderson-60th; and Dan Sugrue-59th). Who knows if they have identified any legitimate flaws or not, but we will see what's filed today, which is the deadline.

UPDATE- DEM OBJECTIONS "ALL IN THE FAMILY": Among others, Senator Terry Link's goon squad today filed an objection against Link's GOP opponent, Keith Gray of Mettawa. The objecting party is none other than Cynthia Alexander of North Chicago, a well-known Link disciple, who happens to be the daughter of Terry Link's legislative aid, Evelyn Alexander (Cynthia Alexander also filed the objection against Link's primary opponent Jerry Johnson). The Dems also filed an objection against GOP State Rep. candiate Dan Sugrue for the 59th District. The objector? Shelia Schultz of Wheeling, who is State Rep. Kathy Ryg's mom. Mom to the rescue in the 59th!

In addition, Northfield Township Democratic Committeeman Michael Kreloff filed an objection against Green Party candidate David Kalbfleisch, who is the third candidate in the 10th Congressional District race between incumbent GOP Congressman Mark Kirk and Democrat Dan Seals. No big surprise, Kreloff appears to be a pretty big Dem contributor to Seals as well as other candidates. Remember that last time around, Sneaky Pete Couvall was the one who filed the objection and got Kalbfleisch kicked off the primary ballot. Also remember that Couvall was, until the most recent Democratic County Convention, Vice-Chairman of the Lake County Dems.

Wonder if Link was concerned that Couvall is going to be too busy in the upcoming months defending himself in the Link petition-gate scandal to be of any help in following through on these nomination objections.

See Team America 10th for more detais




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3480 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3480 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:53:29 GMT
Candidates to Oppose Link, Ryg and Washington



The Lake County Republican Party is proud to announce three new candidates for the Illinois legislature. Keith Gray, for the 30th Senate District, Dan Sugrue for the 59th State Representative District and Bill Anderson for the 60th State Representative District.



Keith Gray, a Mettawa resident, is the GOP candidate for State Senate in the 30th District. Keith is vice-President of the Rondout school board. Keith is also on the Mettawa Zoning Board of Appeals and the Mettawa Open Lands Association. Keith is the president and owner of Integrated Lakes Management, Inc., an aquatic management and natural area restoration company based in Waukegan. Keith brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, and is a great candidate for State Senate.



Dan Sugrue, a Green Oaks resident, is the GOP candidate for State Representative in the 59th District. Dan is a graduate of Chicago-Kent Law School and has been a sole practitioner since 1998. Prior to 1998, Dan practiced law with the Waukegan firm of Al Salvi & Associates. He has also taught college classes in real estate and real estate investments, and has been an active member of the community. Dan's experience and commitment to excellence make him a strong candidate for State Representative.



Bill Anderson, a Waukegan resident, is the GOP candidate for State Representative in the 60th District. Bill is a well respected attorney, who over the last five years has served on the Waukegan Public School Board. Bill has also served for eight years on the Waukegan Public Library Board. His professional achievements combined with the civic commitment make him an excellent candidate for the position of State Representative.



In addition to candidates Gray, Sugrue and Anderson, Senate Candidate Dan Duffy, State Representative Candidate Timothy Stratton join incumbent State Senator Matt Murphy, State Representatives Mark Beaubien, Sandy Cole, Sydney Mathias, JoAnn Osmond and Ed Sullivan in a team effort to "Fix Illinois".



Lake County GOP Chairman Daniel Venturi stated, "We are excited to introduce our "Fix Illinois" candidates to the voters of Lake County. The Democrats have had five years of complete control of Illinois and they have brought the state to its knees - it's time for change and it begins right here, right now."





]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3389 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3389 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:30:36 GMT

The House of Representatives passed an ethics bill that created an independent office to field complaints and investigate the conduct of members of Congress. I voted for these reforms, but they did not go far enough with regard to Congressional spending earmarks.

Since taking office in 2001, I requested grants to help many programs in my district. My job is to fight for my communities and I do. Last year, I secured:

· A $846,000 grant for the Waukegan Police Department to fight the more than 3,000 gang members operating north of Lake-Cook Road.

· A $335,000 grant for developmentally disabled employment in Northbrook.

· A $245,000 grant for economic development in the second poorest town in Illinois, North Chicago.

I strongly supported each request. But my job also is to fight for our country.

There are some in Congress who abuse the current system. Increasingly, Congress approves low- or no-quality projects throughout this nation.

For every grant to fight gangs in Lake County, the Congress approves a new "Bridge-to-Nowhere" or "monument-to-me" with little public benefit.

Should the taxpayers build a $320 million bridge from a town of 8,000 to an island with a population 50? No.

Should taxpayers foot a $243,000 bill so that school kids in Berkeley, California, can eat gourmet, organic school lunches featuring "Comté cheese soufflé with mâche salad" or "Meyer lemon éclairs with huckleberry coulis?" No.

It is because of these abuses that I became the first House appropriator to enact a moratorium on earmarks until reforms are established that boost transparency, accountability and quality of Congressional spending decisions.

I joined 32 of my colleagues including Senators McCain (R-Arizona), Clinton (D-New York) and Obama (D-Illinois) to back a moratorium with reforms in how Congress spends taxpayer dollars. Chairman Waxman (D-California) and Minority Leader Boehner (R-Ohio) are among major backers in the House.

Many congressional funding requests are worthwhile, but some do not pass the laugh test. We believe key reforms should be put in place before another series of spending bills are written.

I hope my colleagues join me in backing a moratorium on earmarks until we can enact these reforms to improve how taxpayer dollars are spent.

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk

Highland Park




]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3388 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3388 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:27:48 GMT
New Sun Article

Lake County taxes bailing out CTA

February 27, 2008
State Rep. Kathy Ryg recently sent out an explanation of why she supported Mass Transit Bill (House Bill 656). Rep. Ryg correctly points out the bloated CTA pension system was on the verge of collapse.

The bill does reduce some of the outrageous benefits for "future employees" of the CTA. These benefits currently include health-care coverage for life with as little as three years service to the CTA. This is a welcome part of the bill and was embraced by the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois.

The bill also minimally increases Lake County representation on the RTA Board. Chicago and Cook County will still control over two-thirds of the RTA board. The increase is not likely to impact RTA funding decisions.

Our voice on the RTA board is important. For example, the RTA has about $180 million of discretionary money each year. The RTA board traditionally gives about $175 million of that money to the CTA.

Even though the bill has some positive aspects, the major component and the objectionable part is the sales tax increase for Lake County. The bill provides for an additional .50 percent sales tax for Lake County. The increased sales tax is on everything, including food and medicine.

This will be a 200 percent increase on the sales tax charged on food and medicine in Lake County. The bill gives .25 percent for the bail out and .25 percent to Lake County roads and public safety programs.

Rep. Ryg correctly points out our mass transit (including Metra, Pace and CTA) is in part currently funded by a .25 percent sales tax on the five collar counties, including Lake County. The additional .25 percent of sales tax to be paid by Lake County is going primarily to fund the CTA "bail out".

Rep. Ryg is wrong when she says, "The CTA 'bail out' is paid for in the CTA service region." Lake County is paying a substantial amount for the "CTA bail out."

The bill also provides for a 30 percent state match of total RTA revenues, from both sales tax (existing and new) and the new real estate transfer tax. Not only are we sending Lake County tax dollars to Chicago for the CTA, but more of the money we already send to Springfield will be sent to the CTA. This 30 percent match is automatic and has no cap.

Rep. Ryg says the bill will require riders to pay their fare share. The term used is fair box recovery. Under current law, the RTA is required to have a 50 percent fair box recovery. This means the riders must account for at least half of the revenues. The new bill suspends the recovery for five years.

The remaining .25 percent sales tax is for Lake County roads and while I personally supported the question when it came before Lake County voters, Lake County voters overwhelmingly rejected the tax. In both April 2005 and March 2004, the Lake County Board asked the voters of Lake County to approve a half-percent and quarter-percent sales tax increase, respectively.

Both referenda failed. Food and prescription drugs were exempt from the 2005 referenda. HB656 ignores the voice of the people from Lake County and forces the rejected tax on them.

I do not know how to spin HB656 as being in the best interest of Lake County. The objection is not based solely on the fact that we lost our leverage for a capitol improvement bill that Lake County needs to meet our "transportation crisis." The objection is that, again Lake County is forced to pay for the bloated bureaucracies and wasteful spending of Chicago.

Lake County Metra riders were hit with a 10 percent increase on Feb. 1 without fanfare. Thanks in part to Lake County tax dollars, Chicago and the CTA will not see a fair increase for while.

Lake Villa Township Supervisor Daniel Venturi is Lake County Republican chairman Daniel Venturi







]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3215 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3215 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:02:20 GMT By KARL ROVE
February 21, 2008;

In campaigns, there are sometimes moments when candidates shift ground, causing the race to change dramatically. Tuesday night was one of those moments.
Hammered for the 10th contest in a row, Hillary Clinton toughened her attacks on Barack Obama, saying he was unready to be commander in chief and unable to back his inspiring words with a record of action and leadership.
John McCain also took on Mr. Obama, with the Arizona senator declaring he would oppose "eloquent but empty calls for change that promises no more than a holiday from history and a return to the false promises and failed policies of a tired philosophy that trusts in government more than people."
Mr. McCain, too, raised questions about Mr. Obama's fitness to be commander in chief. Mr. McCain pointed to Mr. Obama's unnecessary sabre-rattling at an ally (Pakistan) while appeasing our adversaries (Iran and Syria). Mr. McCain also made it clear that reining in spending, which is a McCain strength and an Obama weakness, would be a key issue.
Mr. Obama had not been so effectively criticized before. In the Democratic contest, John Edwards and Mrs. Clinton were unwilling to confront him directly or in a manner that hurt him. Mr. McCain was rightly preoccupied by his own primary. On Tuesday night, things changed.
Perhaps in response to criticisms that have been building in recent days, Mr. Obama pivoted Tuesday from his usual incantations. He dropped the pretense of being a candidate of inspiring but undescribed "post-partisan" change. Until now, Mr. Obama has been making appeals to the center, saying, for example, that we are not red or blue states, but the United States. But in his Houston speech, he used the opportunity of 45 (long) minutes on national TV to advocate a distinctly non-centrist, even proudly left-wing, agenda. By doing so, he opened himself to new and damaging contrasts and lines of criticism.
Mr. McCain can now question Mr. Obama's promise to change Washington by working across party lines. Mr. Obama hasn't worked across party lines since coming to town. Was he a member of the "Gang of 14" that tried to find common ground between the parties on judicial nominations? Was Mr. Obama part of the bipartisan leadership that tackled other thorny issues like energy, immigration or terrorist surveillance legislation? No. Mr. Obama has been one of the most dependably partisan votes in the Senate.
Mrs. Clinton can do much more to draw attention to Mr. Obama's lack of achievements. She can agree with Mr. Obama's statement Tuesday night that change is difficult to achieve on health care, energy, poverty, schools and immigration -- and then question his failure to provide any leadership on these or other major issues since his arrival in the Senate. His failure to act, advocate or lead on what he now claims are his priorities may be her last chance to make a winning argument.



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3175 http://lake.weareillinois.org/newsdetail.aspx?newsid=3175 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:53:54 GMT
You're Invited! Regional Defending American Dream Summit
Wisconsin Dells - March 12 and 13, 2010…
Time is running out! Register NOW for the Midwest Regional “Defending the American Dream Summit”! Join like-minded folks from throughout the Midwest. Learn more about the value of citizen activism and the tools AFP offers to effect change in your communities.

Listen to dynamic guest speakers like, Steve Moore, John Fund, Herman Cain, Grover Norquist, Dr. David Gratzer, Niger Innis, Lord Christopher Monckton, and many more. Rest assured, the event will be informative and great fun! To learn more and to register for the event go toAmericans for Prosperity web site at www.afpil.org .



]]> http://lake.weareillinois.org/eventdetail.aspx?eventid=3633 http://lake.weareillinois.org/eventdetail.aspx?eventid=3633 Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:10:15 GMT