Democrats: The Party Of Fraud

The FTC recently cited several cancer charities for fraudulent practices.  The charities gave false promises and misused funds for personal use.

The managers of the Cancer Fund of America used the proceeds to take vacations, give themselves high salaries, new cars and directed very little to the actual treatment of cancer.

This comes just two weeks after it was revealed that the Clinton Foundation has been doing exactly the same thing, but an FTC case has yet to be opened. This sounds very much like the way Bill and Hillary Clinton use the money from their Clinton Foundation.  Only ten percent of the $252 million raised from 2011 to 2013 went to charitable grants.  Instead they give their employees elaborate salaries, pay for their travel on private jets, expensive hotel rooms and so on. 

The dollar amounts are there for everyone to see.  It is interesting to note that while private cancer charities are being pursued by the FTC, so far the Clintons have not been investigated.  Voters may wish to think about the different treatment Beltway Democrats receive from these Federal agencies.  It may be useful to keep in mind that Federal agency employees support Democrats in elections and that JFK started Federal unions with an executive order #10988.   Lawyers for the IRS gave money to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.   Inquiring minds may begin to see a connection here
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The Clintons are not alone in their practice of misrepresenting their intentions to spend money.  Last August Lisa Madigan, the Democrat Attorney General of Illinois, announced that she won a lawsuit against Bank of America and Countrywide for bilking Illinois residents during the mortgage crisis.  This bank, she asserted, was misleading innocent mortgage applicants, who ended up losing a lot of money and often lost their homes.  She specifically stated that the monetary judgment of $300 million was intended for Illinois residents who were the victims of mortgage application fraud.

Via: American Thinker

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Democrats Count on Good News Out of Illinois Primaries

One week after a disappointing loss in the closely watched Florida special election, national Democrats expect brighter news from the top race to watch in Tuesday’s primaries in Illinois, where the party hopes to cut into Republicans’ House majority.

In one of Democrats’ top targeted districts in the country, Ann Callis is likely to prevail in the 13th District Democratic primary. That would set up a competitive race against freshman Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., in a swing district that stretches across the state.

Davis’ primary challenge from a former Miss America has received far more national press. But it’s Callis, a former Madison County judge and top recruit of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who has had the bumpier ride to the nomination — and Republicans believe she will emerge weakened for the general.

Illinois is the second state to host primaries for the 2014 midterms. But among the various federal races on Tuesday, including the GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the 13th features nomination fights with the greatest impact on the general elections in November.

The DCCC plucked Callis for the race early on and recently named her to its Red to Blue program, which identifies the party’s strongest candidates in the cycle’s most competitive races. The party is banking on Callis to give Davis a run for his money in a district that President Barack Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney each received 49 percent of the vote in 2012. After a 1-point win by Davis last cycle, the seat is again hosting one of the marquee House contests.

First, though, Callis faces physics professor George Gollin on Tuesday. While Republican and Democratic operatives alike predict Callis will earn the Democratic nod, some say the primary did her no favors in a race that was always going to be an uphill climb in November.

Gollin forced Callis to spend significant resources for the primary, including $96,000 on TV, according to a source tracking media buys. Callis has raised more than $800,000 so far and had $449,000 in cash on hand with less than two weeks to go in the primary.

Callis was actually outspent on the airwaves by Gollin, who dropped $122,000 on district-wide TV advertising, according to the same source. Gollin has also notably received endorsements from a handful of newspapers in the district, plus the Chicago Tribune, which all hit Callis for a lack of depth or candor regarding where she stands on the issues.

Should Callis win Tuesday, Republicans are almost certain to use those non-endorsements against her as the cycle progresses.

Via: Roll Call

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Grieving Father Receives OfficeMax Mailer Addressed ‘Daughter Killed in Car Crash’

Mike Seay of Antioch Illinois received a mailer from OfficeMax recently, one of the many random pieces of mail that get slid through the slot every day. But something was very wrong with this one: it was addressed to “Mike Seay, Daughter Killed in Car Crash or Current Business.”

Seay’s 17-year-old daughter Ashley was killed in a car crash last year.

“Why would they have that type of information?” Seay asked. “What purpose does it serve anybody to know that? And how much other types of other information do they have if they have that on me, or anyone else? And how do they use that, what do they use that for?”

Seay contacted the manager of OfficeMax’s call center, and eventually received a statement from the company:

“We are deeply sorry that Mr. Seay and his family received this mailing from us, and we are reaching out to Mr. Seay to convey our sincerest apologies on this unfortunate matter. This mailing is a result of a mailing list rented through a third-party provider. We have reached out to the third-party mailing list provider to research what happened. Based on a preliminary investigation today we believe this to be an inadvertent error; and we are continuing the investigation.”

This is all the more reason to do away with mailers entirely.

Via: Mediaite.com

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Illinois governor signs pension overhaul into law

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed landmark legislation Thursday to reform Illinois' massively-underfunded pension system, though the new law is certain to face threatened lawsuits by labor unions.

The overhaul, approved by the General Assembly this week after years of delay and inaction, cuts benefits for most employees and retirees. It has a June 1 effective date, but could be delayed by the legal challenges.

Quinn, who often signs new laws in celebratory public events, signed the pension bill Thursday afternoon in a private ceremony. It was a mark of how politically sensitive the issue is in Democrat-controlled Illinois, with hundreds of thousands of public employees and retirees across Illinois being negatively affected.

Illinois' $100 billion shortfall in funding employee retirement benefits is considered the worst pension crisis in the nation. For decades, while other states dealt with similar problems, Illinois lawmakers and governors skipped or shorted payments to their state's five pension systems. It led to repeated downgrades of the state's credit rating and diverts millions of dollars from education and social programs.

Via: Fox News Political

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ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL REQUIRES PARENTS TO SELF-IDENTIFY AS LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE

OAK FOREST - An assignment sent home from an Oak Forest, IL high school government class is raising eyebrows among parents who are shocked by the questionnaire they and their children are required to fill out. The questionnaire (below) has the parents identify their positions on a number of highly-charged issues, and then places them on a "political spectrum."

The survey is from the textbook "U.S. Government 2", published by the "The Center for Learning". It is part of Oak Forest High School's Common Core curriculum, which according to the school district's website is to ..."provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them."

In Stage 1 of this particular unit, students are to match political philosophies with political parties, debate a political/social/economic issue from their viewpoint on the political spectrum and identify the viewpoint of a social issue on that spectrum.

In Stage 2, the students are to conduct a "Political Spectrum Interview" (questionnaire above) "...with someone 40 years old or older." The specific curriculum instructions are as follows:

Parents of some of the students told Illinois Review they fear possible retribution on their children if they refuse to complete the survey. However, each had determined not to do so.

Via: Illinois Review

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In states' latest battle with organized labor, Illinois public unions target Democratic lawmakers

The latest battle between organized labor and states trying to fix huge budget problems by cutting pension costs has surfaced in Illinois, where public union leaders are waging an all-out effort to stop the Democrat-led campaign.

Details of a plan reached last week appear to show state legislative leaders are attempting to solve Illinois' $100 billion pension crisis in part by changing workers' retirement age, reducing automatic pension increases and limiting their collective-bargaining privileges.

Union leaders argue the plan to help the under-funded pension plan, which appears to have bipartisan support, seems no different than the one the General Assembly rejected earlier this year.

“It’s an unfair, unconstitutional scheme that undermines retirement security,” the We Are One Illinois labor coalition said last week as details of the plan emerged. "It’s no compromise at all with those who earned and paid for their retirement benefits. In fact, reports suggest the leaders have repackaged Senate Bill 1 and barely bothered to disguise it.”

Rank-and-file state lawmakers were briefed on the plan Friday, and a vote could come as early as this week.

Via: Fox News

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Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s Approval Ratings Deep Underwater

A New Poll By Democratic Firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) Finds That 60 Percent Of Illinois Voters Disapprove Of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s Job Performance And Just 34 Percent Approve. (Public Policy Polling Poll, 557 RV, 4.2% MoE, 11/22-25/13)

• “Only 34% Of Voters Approve Of The Job Quinn Is Doing Compared To 60% Who Disapprove, Tying Him For The Third Most Unpopular Governor In The Country.” (Press Release, “Illinois Governor’s Race Looks Like A Toss Up,” Public Policy Polling, 11/26/13)

Quinn Is In A Statistical Dead Heat Will All Four Of His Republican Rivals. (Public Policy Polling Poll, 557 RV, 4.2% MoE, 11/22-25/13)

PAT QUINN MAY BE UNPOPULAR BECAUSE HE RAISED TAXES 67 PERCENT AFTER PROMISING THAT HE WOULDN’T

During Pat Quinn’s 2010 Reelection Race, His Budget Director Told Bloomberg NewsThat They Would Probably Increase Illinois’ Income Tax From 3 Percent To 5 Percent In January 2011, A 67% Increase. “Illinois, which is in its worst financial position ever, will raise the income-tax rate in January to address its deficit, Governor Pat Quinn’s budget director said. Lawmakers will likely increase the personal tax to 5 percent from 3 percent, generating $6 billion of new revenue, the budget director, David Vaught, said in an interview. The legislature failed to address the deficit this year because of the pending November election, he said.” (Darrell Preston, “Illinois Will Probably Raise Income-Tax Rate To 5%, Budget Director Says,” Bloomberg News, 7/28/10)

Quinn Quickly Denied That He Supported The 67% Tax Increase, And Vowed That He Would Veto Any Attempt To Raise The State’s Income Tax Rate Above 4%. “At a July 29 news conference, Quinn denied a published report claiming he planned to raise the state’s income tax by 2 percentage points. A 1 percent increase, Quinn said then, ‘is all that I propose and all that I support,’ an audibly irritated Quinn said. ‘I’m going to veto anything that’s not my plan.’” (Mike Riopell and Kerry Lester, Quinn Reneges On Vow To Veto 5% Tax,” Chicago Daily Herald, 1/12/11)

• Quinn: “I Have Proposed A 1% Surcharge For Education This Year. That Is All That I Have Proposed And All That I Support.” (Gov. Pat Quinn, Press Conference, 7/29/10)
• Quinn: “I’m Going to Veto Anything That Isn’t My Plan.” (Gov. Pat Quinn,Press Conference, 7/29/10)

Via: GOP.com

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Only 'hundreds' enroll in Illinois exchange

Only hundreds of people enrolled in the Illinois health insurance exchange in October, state officials said today, offering the first glimpse into an online marketplace that has been vexed by glitches.

Insurance carriers have told state officials that hundreds of consumers signed up in October, confirmed Jennifer Koehler, director of the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. But she and Cristal Thomas, Illinois deputy governor, cautioned that it was just a guess since federal officials haven't yet provided enrollment figures.

“We do not know,” Ms. Thomas said. “If we have to guess we would guess probably in the hundreds.”

Before the launch, Illinois officials predicted that about 486,000 individuals and small business in Illinois would buy health insurance in 2014 on the exchange, a key part of the Affordable Care Act to tamp down rising health care costs.

The state officials and Michael Gelder, senior health policy adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn, briefed reporters today about the exchange at a fellowship in Chicago held by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

The news isn’t much better elsewhere around the country. Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa released figures today that indicated just a handful of people in Washington, D.C. had enrolled for plans from two carriers as of the end of October. Two other carriers had not enrolled anyone, they said.

"With data from D.C.'s four participating health plans in, there's been a whopping five people enrolled in the city's exchange," Mr. Hatch said, according to a statement. "That's right, five. Whether it's significant problems with the website, people being forced off the coverage they had or skyrocketing costs, these numbers are even more proof of what a disaster Obamacare is and why it should be delayed."

Via: Chicago Health Care Daily

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Issues Split CA GOP Delegation in Congress

Typically, congressional delegations can be divided into two camps, Republicans and Democrats. Some smaller states — such as Massachusetts or Rhode Island — are only represented by one party. But more populous states like Texas and Illinois typically bring both Republicans and Democrats to the House, even if the state as a whole is decidedly blue or red. The California House delegation, for example, is composed of 38 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

Partisan congressional delegations typically stick together, as they share not only a party and general political ideology, but the interests of the state they represent. But as the chasm between moderates and conservatives grows, California’s Republican delegation is slowly becoming more of two delegations.

Consider how different California Republicans handled (and are handling) two of the most politically charged issues in our country today.

First, consider the government shutdown. All of California’s Republicans voted to defund, and then to delay, Obamacare — prompting the shutdown to occur. But as the days went on, and it became clear that Republicans were taking a political hit for closing the government over Obamacare, some Republicans began to openly criticize their party.

Rep.  Devin Nunes of Tulare, a moderate, compared his fellow Republicans to terrorists, calling them “lemmings with suicide vests”:

“They have to be more than just a lemming. Because jumping to your death is not enough. …

“You have this group saying somehow if you’re not with them, you’re with Obamcare. If you’re not with their plan — exactly what they want to do, you’re with Obamcare. It’s getting a little old.”

The real test came on Oct. 16, when the House voted on a clean continuing resolution, which reopened the government without any changes to Obamacare. The delegation split almost perfectly in half.

Eight Republicans voted in favor of reopening the government, Reps: Ken Calvert, Paul Cook, Darrell Issa, Kevin McCarthy, Buck McKeon, Gary Miller, David Valadao and—not surprisingly—Devin Nunes.

Seven Republicans voted against reopening the government, Reps: John Campbell, Jeff Denham, Duncan Hunter, Doug LaMalfa, Tom McClintock, Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce.

Via: California Political Review

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