Video: Republican running for Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s seat

Despite revelations shortly before the 2012 election, that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) had become so mentally unstable that he believed he was a reincarnated chariot driver, he was still overwhelmingly elected with more than 60% of the vote. Now, just a few months later, he's going to serve significant jail time for using campaign contributions to enrich himself.

Enter Paul McKinley, a Republican who is running for Jackson's old seat. Watch McKinley explain how the Chicago Machine works in less than three minutes.

This guy understands what's going on better than more than a super majority of Congress (both houses):



h/t GWP

Video: Best Political Meltdown ever?

This guy's name is State Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) and he's fed up. Relative to the meltdown, it really doesn't matter all that much why he explodes on the House floor but it's about a bill that is going to raise property taxes on his constituents to deal with the state's pension crisis while Chicago residents skate. As you can see, he's lashing out at the majority party in general and the Speaker in particular.

The reason? His constituents are likely giving him more than an earful back at his district and he wants them to know that he's with them but the Democrats are preventing him from doing what those who elected him to office want him to do. I think this is part theatrics for those constituents but it also comes across as raw emotion.

Frankly, if we had more of this, C-SPAN's ratings would definitely go up.

Via Political Wire, h/t Hot Air:

ALEXI GIANNOULIAS'S ISLAMIC PROBLEM

A huge part of the controversy over the ground zero mosque and the Imam leading the effort - Feisal Abdul Rauf - has to do with where the funding is coming from. As this story continues to get legs, the Democratic Senatorial candidate for Obama's old seat may have to answer for some similarly disturbing sources.

Via Weekly Standard:

The timing of all of this couldn’t be worse for Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias who faces questions of his own regarding who is funding his campaign. Take Mohammed Sahloul for example, who contributed $1,000 to the Giannoulias campaign on June 22.

Sahloul is the former president of the Mosque Foundation, a Bridgeview mosque that has numerous links to terrorist organizations. The Mosque Foundation contributed roughly $400,000 to four Islamic charities that were later shut down by the federal government for links to terrorism. According to the Chicago Tribune, the organizations receiving funds were: the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Benevolence International Foundation, the Islamic American Relief Agency, and Global Relief Foundation.

So in addition to some very questionable dealings between Alexi's bank and Tony Rezko, it appears he's taken money from Islamic groups tied to terrorism. Kinda makes Alvin Greene look better, doesn't it?

h/t to Lucianne

MEET CHICAGO'S ALEXI GIANNOULIAS AND HIS PERFECT STORM

If ever there was a politician in danger of being at the center of a perfect storm he created for himself, it might just be Illinois Senate candidate and current Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D). In April, Giannoulias lost millions of dollars when his family's bank closed; his state is facing a $12 Billion deficit and failing to pay day to day bills; he's been subpoenaed as a witness in the Blagojevich trial; and he's made multiple conflicting statements about his dealings with Blagojevich over Obama's Senate seat.

MONEY WOES

h/t to Red State. Check out Giannoulias' website. Take note of what's right up front and center:

Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias serves as the state’s banker. His primary responsibility is to protect and wisely invest taxpayers’ money.

State lawmakers budget almost all of the tax dollars collected each year, but that money is not spent all at once. At any given time, the State Treasurer manages about $17 billion in state and local funds.

Let that sink in for a minute. As Treasurer, Giannoulias is responsible for managing $17 billion, right? So why is his state failing to pay its daily bills while operating under a $12 billion budget deficit? A better question would be how someone who is failing at his job as miserably as Giannoulias is, coming anywhere close to sniffing a run at a U.S. Senate seat? There's nothing quite like promoting incompetence. In the private sector, such a move would be on par with promoting a Regional Manager who has run his business into the ground, to an executive position. When making money is a priority, that doesn't happen. However, in politics, spending money - other people's money - is the priority and it happens quite a bit.

VIa the New York Times, Alexi has a bit of a problem with his state's finances:

CHICAGO - Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois's comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.

He picks the papers off his desk and points to a figure in red: $5.01 billion.

"This is what the state owes right now to schools, rehabilitation centers, child care, the state university - and it's getting worse every single day," he says in his downtown office.

Mr. Hynes shakes his head. "This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services," he says. "That is obscene."

For more on the bank closure that lost Giannoulias millions, click HERE.

THE BLAGOJEVICH TRIAL

Like Giannoulias, Hynes had aspirations for Barack Obama's Senate seat in 2008 - the one Blagojevich gave to Roland Burris. In fact, on one of the tapes presented at trial, Blagojevich makes reference to four candidates Obama viewed as acceptable. Hynes was on that list along with Tammy Duckworth, Jan Schakowsky, perhaps best known for this rant, and Jesse Jackson Jr.

Speaking of the Blagojevich trial, Giannoulias has made statements publicly that indicate he was being sought out by Blagojevich regarding the Senate seat vacancy that was to be left by Obama in 2008. However, quite curiously, a recorded phone conversation between Blagojevich and his then Chief of Staff John Harris on November 7th, 2008 - three days after the election - reveal that Blagojevich didn't even want Harris to talk to Giannoulias. What's more is that in testimony on June 30th, SEIU official Tom Balanoff testified that Giannoulias expressed interest in the Senate seat when it became apparent Jarret would not be a candidate. Now, here we are in 2010 and Giannoulias is running for that same seat. There is a long line of inconsistencies when it comes to Giannoulias. A partial list can be found at Blago Files.

In listening to the many released tapes of Blagojevich, it became obvious that Chicago politics were eating him up and he wanted out. In light of the recent developments there relative to that $12 billion budget deficit, it would seem Giannoulias has similar motives.

h/t to Red State and Blago Files

AUDIO: BLAGO WANTED A BLACK ALBERT EINSTEIN

During testimony on June 28th in the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, another recorded phone conversation was played for the jury. The headline story seemed to be Blago floating the idea to his Chief of Staff, John Harris, that he appoint Oprah Winfrey to Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Maybe it's just me but I found the more outrageous idea coming from the mouth of Blago was his request for Harris to find him a "black Albert Einstein". Where exactly should Harris have gone to find such a person? I don't know. Perhaps the same place to find another person Rod wanted - Mother Theresa.

CLICK HERE for the audio.

BLAGO TRIAL UPDATE

Remember the name Lon Monk. When Rod Blagojevich was Governor of Illinois, Monk was his Chief of Staff. Monk was to Blago as what Rahm Emanuel is to Barack Obama. Monk was the first witness to testify in Blago's trial last week. Monk testified that he was in meetings with Blago, Chris Kelly (deceased), and Tony Rezko (convicted felon) in 2003 and that some untoward things were discussed.

Via the Chicago Tribune:

Monk said that in May or June of 2003, shortly before Blagojevich’s first big fundraising event as governor, he and the governor sat down with key fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin “Tony” Rezko to talk about appointments to several open positions at state boards and commissions.

Monk recalled that Rezko told the group that “some of these board spots were high profile enough that at a minimum some of these people should be donating $25,000.”

That information was revealed before cross-examination. Blago's attorney, Sam Adam, Jr. grilled Monk on specifics of the meetings with two of Blago's biggest fundraisers - Kelly and Rezko.

Via the Tribune:

One key point of contention was Monk’s inability to remember many specifics of meetings he said he had with Blagojevich and fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin “Tony” Rezko to discuss eight or nine ideas to make money off Blagojevich’s actions as governor.

Adam asked Monk to outline the first deal that he said had been written on an easel by Rezko.

“I can’t remember,” Monk said.

“You said there was a figure written next to it. Tell us the figure?” Adam asked.

“I can’t,” Monk said.

Chris Kelly was Blago's biggest fundraiser; he committed suicide in September of 2009. Rezko was also a very significant fundraiser for the then-Governor. Perhaps more important to Americans in general, Rezko was a close friend of Barack Obama and was involved in a very suspicious real estate deal in 2005, with the current president.

h/t to Blago Files

 

VIDEO: I REALLY LIKE THIS GUY (NO TINGLES THOUGH)

This guy Andrew Andrzejewski portrays extreme passion and while I can't whole-heartedly buy the fact that folks of Polish descent, whose ancestors fled Poland for the U.S. to escape socialism, are actually fleeing back to Poland to escape Obama's brand of socialism here, the point is well-taken. But really, isn't Poland in danger because the Obama-led U.S.A. abandoned their anti-missile defense system?

My guess is it's sentiment borne of Lech Walesa's visit to sponsor him. Everyone's entitled to an occasional bout of overreaction based on having a famous ex-leader of a nation sign onto your campaign.

Nonetheless, based on what I've seen so far, this guy would be an excellent choice for folks from Illinois.

The big takeaway here is the notion that conservatism can defeat socialism without letting things get violent.



Adam's website.

h/t to Gateway Pundit