Illinois to Lay Off Thousands of State Workers

Pat Quinn better watch out or Junior Hoffa may soon declare war on him.

A decision made by Gov. Pat Quinn may leave thousands of state workers without a job by the end of the week.

The cuts are coming in the face of a budget deficit that doesn't leave enough money to pay the workers, a source told the Chicago Tribune. Quinn also plans to close a prison, juvenile detention center and homes for the mentally ill.

Such heartless cruelty, closing homes for the mentally ill.

Naturally, Obama's buddies plan to sue Obama's home state. Now that's some change for you.

If no cuts are made, several agencies will run out of money by spring, Quinn says.

The state's largest government employee union, AFSCME, promises to sue if the layoffs are made, much like they did over blocked pay raises.

Maybe if Illinois was wise enough to elect a competent governor, like Wisconsin and Ohio have recently, they mihgt not be in this mess.

That Magical Obama Touch: Illinois Leads Nation in Job Losses

Those record tax increases in the middle of the Obama Depression sure didn't help things.

In a trend that continues to worsen, more Illinoisans found themselves unemployed in the month of July.

Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. After losing 7,200 jobs in June, Illinois lost an additional 24,900 non-farm payroll jobs in July. The report also said Illinois’s unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent. This marks the third consecutive month of increases in the unemployment rate.

Illinois started to create jobs as the national economy began to recover. But just when Illinois’s economy seemed to be turning around, lawmakers passed record tax increases in January of this year. Since then, Illinois’s employment numbers have done nothing but decline.

Data released today by the bureau confirms this downward trajectory. When it comes to putting people back to work, Illinois is going backwards. Since January, Illinois has dropped 89,000 people from its employment rolls.

Maybe they should move to Texas or Wisconsin, states with real leadership where they're actually creating jobs.

Hey, How About Rahm Emanuel For Senate in Illinois?

Not that far-fetched. The current Democrat candidate is damaged goods and it would be quite embarrassing to see Barack Obama's Senate seat fall into Republican hands after The Swimmer's seat went GOP in Massachusetts. I guess the current occupant of the seat isn't an option.

We're hearing that Team Obama is increasingly eager to throw the Democratic Senate candidate from Illinois, Alexi Giannoulias, under the bus and replace him with someone who can win. The news gets worse and worse for the former wonderboy of Illinois politics. Mr. Giannoulias's family bank, Broadway Bank, collapsed and was seized by federal regulators. Now there are allegations of bank fraud. No wonder Democrats in the state are hyperventilating.

Mr. Giannoulias lags behind Republican Mark Kirk in money and in the polls, though he still has the support of the senior senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin. But the White House wants the "Obama seat" to remain in Democratic hands. Mr. Giannoulias is unmistakably seen as damaged property.

One intriguing idea being considered: Force Mr. Giannoulias out of the race and replace him with . . . Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel is still popular in Illinois and there was a big push to get him handpicked as the Obama successor back in late 2008. Democrats have used the shaft-and-shift strategy before, as in New Jersey in 2002 when they dumped a walking wounded Bob Torricelli as their Senate candidate a few weeks before Election Day.

Republicans, of course, are perfectly happy with the current field. "We want Giannoulias to be the Democratic candidate," says Republican Illinois House member John Shimkus. "We hope he doesn't dive too much in the polls at this point." But he also adds: "Our biggest worry would be that they replace him with Lisa Madigan." Ms. Madigan, the state's attorney general and daughter of the long-time speaker of the Illinois House, has so far said "no" to constant entreaties to run for Senate. Mr. Kirk has told me: "Lisa is the one Democrat I would not want to run against."

Dick "The Turban" Durbin Subpoenaed In Blagojevich Trial

And the hits just keep on coming for the Democrats.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says he's been subpoenaed by Rod Blagojevich's defense attorneys to testify at the ousted Illinois governor's upcoming corruption trial.

Durbin discussed the subpoena during an appearance in Chicago on Friday — a day after Blagojevich's lawyers asked a federal judge to issue a subpoena to force President Barack Obama to testify.

Now Obama needs to get worried. Durbin is spineless wonder and if the prosecutors get on the right train of questioning Barack could find himself on the same side of the bus he has thrown so many others under.

Dick Durbin, improving the tone of politics in America since 1983.

Hey Barry, starting to feel a little heat? Durbin was one of the first to beg Obama to run for president. If you played real close attention to that url of the petition you have seen it was from George Washington University in Washington D.C.

Dick also took some heat when he called for the resignation of Roland Burris, whom Blagojevich appointed to take over the empty seat of Obama in the Senate. It is a sordid and tangled web of deceit and corruption in Illinois politics and this trial could prove to be an interesting sideshow to the upcoming rerun season on television.

'Raise My Taxes! Raise My Taxes! Raise My Taxes!'

Unlike tea parties, these labor thugs need to bus in their protesters, most of them state employees who apparently have plenty of free time on their hands, to try and make it look as if they have support. Why on earth they need to ask to have their taxes raised is anyone's guess. Just sit back and wait for all of Obama's tax increases to kick in and that should suffice.

Thousands of protesters bused down by labor unions and social service advocates rallied at the Capitol today in an attempt to pressure state lawmakers into raising the income tax to avoid more budget cuts.

A spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White estimated the rally crowd at 15,000, with more than 12,000 marching around the building. That would appear to make it the largest Capitol protest since the Equal Rights Amendment crowds a quarter-century ago.

Bus after bus pulled up on streets surrounding the Capitol complex and dumped sign-waving protesters clad in purple, green, red and blue shirts that represented a show of strength from a variety of public employee unions and dozens of groups that formed what they named the “Responsible Budget Coalition.”

"Raise my taxes! Raise my taxes! Raise my taxes!" they chanted, lined up shoulder to shoulder for a few hundred yards stretching a street in front of the Capitol.

"These 177 people who have a job don't want to do their job," said Henry Bayer, head of the Illinois chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, referring to the number of lawmakers in the House and Senate. "Yes people are hurting, that's why we need a tax increase....If you try to leave town without doing your job we're going to chase you."

Hmm. Sounds like these angry, raucous protesters are threatening people. Paging Frank Rich!

Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate -- taking it from 3 percent to 4 percent --- to prevent cuts in state spending. Quinn has suggested that education will bear the brunt of the cuts, although that would have to be negotiated with the General Assembly.

Lawmakers, however, are leery about voting to raise taxes during a sluggish economy with an election less than seven months away. At the Capitol, it's thought that the earliest a tax increase vote will come is after the November election.

So organized labor showed up in force at the Capitol today to pressure lawmakers to change their minds.

Of course like most union slugs after a few minutes of protesting they get to doing what comes naturally: sitting on their asses waiting for someone to feed them.

These labor clowns just do not seem to understand that in a recession tax increases are anathema to the general public, and even to a good portion of politicians who realize the electoral bloodbath that is on the horizon. Yet they're so greedy and selfish and so anxious to get more of our money they could care less.

It's all about them.

'Doomsday is Here for the State of Illinois'

First comes doomsday in Illinois. Then probably for the rest of us.

In order to crawl from beneath crushing debt and reach fiscal solvency, Illinois legislators must choose from a series of options that range from bad to worse, according to a prominent watchdog group.

The Civic Federation wants to launch an intervention that includes significant budget cuts and the largest tax increase package in Illinois history, all in an effort to save the state from a $12.8 billion budget deficit.

“Doomsday is here for the state of Illinois,” said Laurence Msall, Civic Federation President, to the Sun-Times.

The group says it would support a state income tax increase from 3 percent to 5 percent. It also recommends the state tax retirees’ pension and Social Security checks be taxed for the first time at the same rate as workers’ paychecks. They want another $1 increase on a pack of cigarettes and to eliminate $181 million in corporate tax breaks.

If implemented, the Federation's recommendations could shave off $8 billion, but there is a catch.

In order to implement those increases, the Civic Federation says unions should pay more toward their pensions and health care -- but the unions aren't interested.

Of course the unions aren't interested. They care only about themselves. It's the rest of the taxpaying public that has to support these goons.

Another Fine Democratic Nominee in Illinois

They really know how to pick a winner out in Illinois.

Scott Lee Cohen -- a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor -- was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife to a former live-in girlfriend's neck, newly obtained court records show.

The misdemeanor charge against Cohen was dropped weeks later when the woman -- who had just been found guilty of prostitution -- failed to show up to testify, according to those records.

This isn't the only piece of information Republicans might try to use against the Democratic gubernatorial ticket, the other half of which was being sorted out as Gov. Quinn and Dan Hynes ran neck-and-neck with ballots still to be counted.

Cohen's Oct. 14, 2005, arrest came five months after his wife filed for divorce and convinced a judge to give her a temporary order of protection, records show. A status hearing in the divorce case took place Wednesday, hours after Cohen's election-night triumph.

Cohen -- who records show also had federal tax troubles that he says he has settled -- denied in a written statement that he ever hurt the ex-girlfriend or his family. Cohen disclosed his domestic violence arrest when he announced his candidacy, but the details about the knife and prostitution case didn't surface in the campaign, as Cohen was considered a longshot.

"It was a difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce, and I fell in with the wrong crowd," Cohen said. "I was in a tumultuous relationship with the woman I was dating. We had a fight, but I never touched her."

Still, Cohen's problems, "sound at least as bad as Jack Ryan's," a Democratic strategist said. After winning the 2004 GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Ryan stepped down from the ticket after sexually charged revelations from a divorce case.

A divorce case that was sealed, by the way, but mysteriously became public. Still, how they can compare this to Jack Ryan is beyond the pale. Sure, Ryan might have been a little kinky, but he wasn't putting a knife to anyone's throat or having tax problems. Though considering the abysmal shape Democrats are in these days, abuse of women and tax problems may be a resume enhancer.

Reached for comment, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel expressed incredulity at the idiocy of Illionois Democrats.

Are they fu--king retarded?

Hot Air links. Thanks!

Illinois Governor Shows Why Gitmo Prisoners Shouldn't Be Sent There

Just a little oops. Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL), who took over after Rod Blagojevich left office to pursue a reality show career or something, released some 1700 prisoners before they were supposed to.

Hey just a minor inconvenience to the folks of Illinois, right? I wonder what would have happened if, say, some guests of that new prison being proposed to house Gitmo detainees had been on the list?

Of course it isn't much worse then the current policy of releasing them back to the countries in which they received their advanced degrees in jihadism, but at least we had them out of the country.

The inmates were set free after an unannounced change in prison practice ... that Quinn now calls a "big mistake." He blamed his Corrections director, Michael Randle, but did not fire him.

The new policy gave prisoners 6 months of "good time" just for entering the jail. Hell I am surprised the guards even had time to close the cell doors before these guys were being released.

Corrections stopped requiring them to serve at least 61 days and gave them up to six months' good-conduct credit, or "meritorious good time," immediately upon entering the lockup, before they had a chance to display any kind of behavior.

Democrats want to treat terrorism like a law enforcement issue, but they already screw that up so bad I certainly wouldn't feel any safer, no matter how many guarantees I get from former Gitmo prisoner defense attorney and now US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Hey, How About Another Kennedy In the Senate?

Despite Harry Reid's premature pronouncement that Ted Kennedy has been cured, there's no guarantee that we'll have a Kennedy in the Senate in the not too distant future. So obviously there might not be any time to waste in getting another one in there.

No, not Caroline, you know. That nascent bid went up, you know, in flames.

No, it isn't the former heroin addict Robert F. Kennedy Jr., either. He's too busy trying to cobble together a coherent sentence, cleaning up the Hudson River, and trying to turn the lights out on New York state by shutting down Indian Point.

And no, it's not Ted's spawn, Patches, the Rhode Island Congressthing last seen whacked out on Ambien and driving erratically.

So who is it? Why, a Kennedy nobody has really quite heard much of before by the name of Christopher, and you'll never guess whose seat he's got his eye on.

In their master plan to have a family member elected to federal office from every state in the Union, another Kennedy is considering a run for the U.S. Senate.

Word out of Chicago today that Chris Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy once of New York, nephew to Ted Kennedy currently of Massachusetts, cousin to Caroline Kennedy also of New York, is seriously pondering a run at the Illinois Barack Obama Senate seat in next year's election.

That seat is currently occupied by Roland Burris, who is not a Kennedy and was appointed by Rod Blagojevich, the ex-governor planning a new career in reality TV unless he goes to prison for allegedly trying to auction off his nomination to fill the Obama seat.

Also not a Kennedy. Neither is Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, who used to hold the North Side Chicago House seat willed to him by Blagojevich when he became governor with the help of his wife's father, probably Chicago's most powerful alderman. Also not a Kennedy.

Chris Kennedy is president of the Merchandise Mart, an ancient office/showroom edifice and family investment in downtown Chicago that makes the Pentagon look like a minor condo complex.

Kennedy's interest, reported by our colleague Mark Silva, could chase away some of the other contenders for the Democratic nomination like Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, daughter of Illinois House Speaker John Madigan. Also not Kennedys.

Which is not to say that Illinois' famous Democrat politics is not run by family clans.

Burris is a longtime Illinois Dem loyalist who worked his way up, is now the U.S. Senate's sole African American and has never lost to a Republican. However, he is older, disliked by Harry Reid and Illinois' other Democratic senator, Dick Durbin, no great fundraiser or speaker and is tainted by his Blagojevich ties.

So if he's smart -- and there's no guarantee of that once you spend time in D.C. -- he'll step out of the way next year and let the next generation of Illinois Democrats march in. And he'll get put in some lucrative commission job or reap a pile of state legal business to shut up about it.

Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose father Mayor Richard M. Daley was not a Kennedy either but loved them and did provide the 8,000 or so votes from somewhere that gave John F. Kennedy his narrow White House electoral win over Richard M. Nixon in 1960, has already said Chris Kennedy is a big name.

So that signal has gone out.

Enemy Combatant Sent to Illinois for Trial

He'll probably be received warmly in the Home Office of Hopenchange. Maybe he can break bread with Bill Ayers while he's there.

An accused al-Qaida sleeper agent held for 5-1/2 years at a Navy brig in South Carolina will soon be sent to Illinois for trial in civilian court, a move the government has fought for years saying terror suspects caught in the U.S. could be held indefinitely without charges.

Two people familiar with the case of Qatar native Ali al-Marri said Thursday the government plans to transfer him to the civilian court system. One of them said he would be charged with providing support to terrorists. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because it's a pending criminal case.

The transfer could avert a Supreme Court hearing in April and a subsequent ruling that would govern other cases against accused terrorists. Al-Marri's transfer is the first signal of how the Obama administration is likely to handle accused terrorists, a significant shift from the strategy of the Bush administration.

Since shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, government lawyers argued that the president has the wartime authority to send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen—or legal resident like al-Marri—and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

Putting al-Marri into the federal court system follows a similar move made by the Bush administration with another enemy combatant, Jose Padilla. Padilla, once held at the same brig as al-Marri, was eventually convicted of terror-related charges in federal court in Florida.

The decision on al-Marri was reported separately Thursday by the Web sites of The Washington Post and The New Yorker magazine.

Al-Marri was the subject of one of President Barack Obama's first official acts, signing an executive order for "a prompt and thorough" review of al-Marri's continued detention.

Roland Burris and the Chicago Way: 'Who Walks Away From $1.2 Million?'

It didn't take long for the skeletons in Roland Burris' closet to start coming out.

Roland Burris, Illinois' newest senator, likes to talk about his years of service to the people of the state and his steadfast refusal to engage in the politics of favors.

He rarely discusses one milestone in his long public career: a record $800,000 campaign loan he received in his 2002 run for governor. Nor is he quick to mention the man who made the loan, businessman Joseph Stroud, who provided most of Burris' financial support—$1.57 million in all—for that failed bid.

So why did this businessman go to Burris?

The businessman made it clear he had called on Burris, then a private citizen, because of Burris' political résumé. "There is an appropriate person to go to who was formerly a state attorney general here in Illinois, I believe, to properly secure prosecution of a crime," he testified in the ex-employee's lawsuit.

Burris testified that Stroud's contributions bought him no special access and he denied an allegation in the suit that Stroud had offered Burris $20,000 if the former employee were charged with eavesdropping because of tape recordings she made.

So how much total was "loaned"?

During Burris' campaign, Stroud's support accounted for more than 70 percent of Burris' political fund. The $800,000 loan remains the biggest single gubernatorial contribution since records went online in 1994, state elections officials said.

Stroud made a second loan of $400,000, of which Burris repaid $6,000, for a total of about $1.2 million in loans to Burris' gubernatorial race, state election records show. Stroud also provided $375,000 in cash and in-kind donations like airtime on WJYS, billboard ads and staff.

Politicians don't always repay campaign loans, but the amount of outstanding debt in Burris' case brought scrutiny from Illinois legislators last month when he appeared at a hearing over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's possible impeachment.

Burris has yet to pay back a dime of these loans.

You try not paying back $1.2 million in loans to somebody and see what happens. Perhaps there were some favors involved?

"Who walks away from $1.2 million?" Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said in a recent interview, later adding, "It's just human nature to think that with a loan of this nature that there is a monetary and a personal indebtedness to this individual."

Asked about Stroud at the time of the donations, Burris only would say he is a "friend," telling reporters, "That's all you need to know."
Burris met Stroud at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Burris said in civil-suit testimony. He said he helped to place Stroud's wife, Yvonne, on the board of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Curious how most of the MSM is ignoring this story .

Illinois School District Nixes Veterans Day

H/T to Neal Boortz who found this story.

One school district in Illinois has decided to take Veterans Day off the calendar of holidays for the future with the explanation that the students just don't understand the significance of the day.

School board members in District 300 have taken away a school holiday next year claiming students don’t understand the meaning behind the day.

Here are some questions for the school district. Who is responsible for teaching the children what this day means? If the students are not taking the day off, can we expect that instead the schools will tie in their teaching on this day to Veterans Day like they incorporate black heritage themes in the month of February to everything? Will any special recognition be given during the day to veterans? Or is the intent of the school district to completely wipe the observance of this day from the collective memory of their future community organizers?

They say they will honor veterans during class on that day but I remain skeptical.

And this is why.

A national tour featuring decorated veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't be stopping at Forest Lake Area High School today as planned, after school leaders abruptly canceled the visit.

Steve Massey, the school principal, said the decision to cancel was prompted by concerns that the event was becoming political rather than educational and therefore was not suitable for a public school.

Beck Holds Blago's Feet to the Fire (VIDEO)

Today on Glenn Beck's show, Blago continued his magical mystery media tour, and unlike his other appearances, the interviewer this time (Glenn) actually didn't lob softballs at him. Tomorrow is part 2 of Glenn's interview, so we'll post that one then.



Here are my two favorite screen caps.





I love Beck's honest facial expressions. Priceless!

'It's Our Duty to Clean Up the Mess and Stop the Freak Show That's Become Illinois Government'

Good luck with that. If the freak show ever ended Springfield would be a ghost town.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has betrayed the public trust and should be removed from office, top lawmakers said Friday as the Illinois House opened debate on whether to impeach the governor, an unprecedented step in state history.

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie said Blagojevich has "forfeited his right to hold office. He should be impeached."

She noted that he hasn't given the people of Illinois an explanation for the corruption charges filed against him by federal prosecutors that include allegations he schemed to profit from his power to name President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate.

It will take a simple majority vote to impeach the second-term governor. If he is impeached, Blagojevich would then face a trial in the Senate. If convicted there, he would be removed from office.

Republican leader Tom Cross was one of many lawmakers who called the Blagojevich scandal "an embarrassment" that has made Illinois a national laughingstock.

"It's our duty to clean up the mess and stop the freak show that's become Illinois government," said Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat.

Lawmakers hope the proceedings will help improve the state's reputation.

My advice to Blagojevich is simple. Make impeachment your legacy and cash in like Bill Clinton. Also, move to New York and have your wife run for the Senate in 2010.

All in the Family: Mrs. Blago Gets a Cushy Job

The deal making in Chicago just keeps on keeping on. Patti Blagojevich has herself a job, care of a business associate of Roland Burris.

Her job? Raise money to repay a state-backed deal.

"Why did the Chicago Christian Industrial League hire Patti Blagojevich?

“Who better than the first lady of Illinois?’’ said Judy McIntyre, the charity’s former executive director, who hired the governor’s wife five months ago. “Here’s someone whose name would be immediately recognizable and would open doors.’’

The charity needed money to repay a $10.8 million it obtained from ShoreBank with help from the Illinois Finance Authority — a state agency created by Blagojevich’s husband — to build a $25 million homeless shelter.

“Everyone knew we were looking for someone to raise money because of the debt,’’ McIntyre said. “They only raise about $1 million a year, they need to raise $2 million.’’

Blagojevich is paid $100,000 under a one-year contract that began Sept. 1.

$100,000 for a year's worth of making a few phone calls and putting the arm on some rich people? Nice work if you can get it. So how did this part-time real estate agent get such a prime assignment?

Gery Chico, who was another potential Senate candidate, said he helped Blagojevich get the job. But Chico said he wasn’t trying to sway the governor to appoint him to the Senate seat he tried to win four years ago, when he lost to Obama in the Democratic primary.

“Her husband had mentioned that she needed work,” Chico said. “I talked to her. I had to know what she was thinking about. She said she was very interested in children’s issues and women’s issues as well. I thought it would be a good fit.’’

Chico said he asked McIntyre to interview Blagojevich. McIntyre had worked at City Hall when Chico was Mayor Daley’s chief of staff.

After consulting with Good, McIntyre said she hired Blagojevich. She said she didn’t need — or seek — approval from the entire board, whose members include Fred Lebed. Lebed runs a lobbying firm with Roland Burris, whom the governor appointed to Obama’s Senate seat. Lebed has said he had nothing to do with Blagojevich getting hired.

All in the family, indeed.

Illinois Supreme Court Rejects Blago Fitness Claim As He Prepares for News Conference

The incredibly weak case of Attorney General Lisa Madigan has been dismissed.

The Illinois Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's fitness to hold office.

A spokesman said Wednesday that the court rejected the challenge without comment.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan had argued Blagojevich's legal and political troubles are keeping him from performing his duties.

And now Rod Blagojevich is set to break his silence. Get the popcorn ready.

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports from Chicago: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will likely hold a press conference toward the end of this week, ABC News has learned.

The embattled governor, arrested last Tuesday, has yet to respond to charges that he tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

Instead, the reclusive lawmaker has stayed silent, only saying that he looks forward to speaking at the appropriate time.

Is it any wonder why everyone in Illinois has been trying to tarnish guy as being out of his mind? They know he can brings the whole machine down with the things he knows and they want to get it out there that he can't be trusted. Maybe, But can you trust any of them?

Meanwhile, a federal informant claims Blagojevich used to be a bookie. Which begs the question: Why would he go into such a disreputable profession as politics?

'I Am Changing Parties As a Matter of Conscience'

After much soul-searching over the avalanche of Democrat corruption consuming his state, Mark Curran had a moment of clarity and did the only courageous thing: He became a Republican.

Flanked by some of the state's most prominent Republicans, Democratic Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran announced Monday he is joining the GOP.

"I am changing parties as a matter of conscience," Curran said at a news conference at the Lake County GOP headquarters in Libertyville.

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), former Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan and state Rep. Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein) joined Curran at the event, where the name of embattled Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was raised frequently.

Curran, who was elected sheriff two years ago, said he had been contemplating a move to the GOP well before Blagojevich's arrest last week on corruption charges.

"It was a process," said Curran, who signaled his changing allegiances last September when he endorsed longtime Republican State's Atty. Michael Waller for re-election.

May he be the first of many.

Normally the heroic tale of the little guy braving the entrenched corrupt machine and crossing over would be lauded with glowing profiles, trips across the talk-show circuit and honorees such as the Profiles in Courage Award.

Instead, Curran probably will have his life ruined by the forces of tolerance.

Blagojevich Hints at Special Election

We suggested this the other day, and it's a good idea. Of course the Democrats will never go for it since they're deathly afraid of allowing the people to decide. They need to portray Blagojevich as an unhinged lunatic and jettison him ASAP.

Hopefully he drags this out and starts blabbing all.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich hasn't ruled out signing a bill creating a special election to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat, his spokesman said Monday, the first hint the embattled governor may loosen his grip on the seat.

Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges he tried to profit from his power to choose Obama's replacement and shook down businesses seeking state deals.

While Blagojevich hasn't seen a proposed special election bill he hasn't ruled out the possibility of signing such a bill, spokesman Lucio Guerrero said early Monday without elaborating.

The governor, meanwhile, remained defiant and returned to work Monday to sign a tax credit bill after earlier seeing off his wife, Patti, and the couple's two daughters.

The Legislature was to meet Monday afternoon to consider special election legislation, but lawmakers also were likely to discuss impeaching Blagojevich.

"The General Assembly must move to impeach Rod Blagojevich immediately," said DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett, a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2010.

"We should have started yesterday," agreed Rep. Jack Franks, a Democrat.

What's the big hurry? Are these people afraid Blago might start telling all?

You bet they are.

A Kennedy to Replace Obama?

Don't we already have enough Kennedys in our government? On the other hand, I guess it makes sense in Democrat circles to replace royalty with royalty.

Is Chris Kennedy, the son of the late, great U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a possible entrant on the list to fill Presidentelect Barack Obama's Senate seat?

• • To wit: Sneed hears Kennedy's name has been wafted into the inner circle of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who would be the guy who chooses Obama's replacement if Gov. Blagojevich resigns.

• • Quoth Dem politico Jay Doherty, a Kennedy confidant: "It would give Pat Quinn the answer to the puzzle before him if he becomes governor."

• • The upshot: Word is Kennedy, who is also the nephew of Sen. Ted Kennedy, a major Obama supporter, is likely to accept if asked.

• • Hmmm: Wouldn't that be something: An offspring of the legendary Kennedy line as a senator from Illinois? Stay tuned.

Here's a better idea. Scrap this whole appointment business since it's so obviously tainted already and hold a special election. Of course that will never happen since the Democrats couldn't bear the notion that Illinois voters, maybe finally fed up with the corrupt Democrat Machine, could possibly elect a Republican.

Can't have that.

Thanks to Hot Air for the link.

Quagmire! Illinois More Unsettled Than Iraq: 'Sinks Deeper Into Chaos Over Scandal'

Just a taste of things to come, apparently, as we usher in the dawning of the Age of Obama. A state that appears to be on the verge of collapse. Guess they'll be lining up for a bailout before long. I can see it now. Bailout: Chicago Machine Edition.

CHICAGO – Illinois plunged deeper into turmoil Friday over disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich as the attorney general asked the state's highest court to strip the governor of his powers, billions of dollars in bills went unpaid and lawmakers moved closer to impeaching the scandal-plagued politician.

But Blagojevich showed no sign of backing down. He took time to pray with ministers at his home and signed a bill that extends insurance coverage for autistic kids, sending a sign to his critics that he's still in charge.

In the midst of it all, the state headed toward an extraordinary constitutional showdown. Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the Supreme Court to declare Blagojevich unfit to serve, likening his corruption scandal to a debilitating illness as she ramped up pressure on the governor to resign. The move seeks to hand power over to the lieutenant governor.

"I recognize that this is an extraordinary request, but these are extraordinary circumstances," Madigan said.

It is the first time in Illinois history that such an action was taken. The attorney general is applying a rule that was intended to cover cases in which a governor is incapacitated for health reasons.

The Democrat is "unable to serve as governor due to disability and should not rightfully continue to hold that office," according to the motion. "His ability to provide effective leadership has been eliminated, and the state government is paralyzed."

The attorney general, also a Democrat, asked the court to strip the governor of his duties until possible impeachment proceedings and his criminal case run their course. If he does not step down and is not impeached or convicted, Blagojevich could go to the court and ask to be reinstated.

The scandal has also begun to impede state business, Madigan said.

Illinois has billions of dollars in unpaid bills, including payments to Medicaid patients, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and schools, and the state has approved $1.4 billion in short-term borrowing to keep cash flowing. But before the borrowing takes effect, Madigan said she has to certify that there is not any legal proceeding threatening the ability of the governor to hold his office.

In light of Friday's filing by her office, Madigan said she can't sign that.

"We will not be able to move forward on it until we have a different governor," Comptroller Dan Hynes said.

The state's inability to pay the bills has "a horrible ripple effect," the comptroller said. He said that pharmacies that count on state reimbursements could shut down, and suppliers could stop delivering food to Illinois prisons or letting state troopers buy gasoline. Businesses waiting for the state to pay its bills could lay off workers or simply go bankrupt, Hynes said.

"If our backlog gets worse, people are going to stop providing services," he said.

Thanks to one-party rule, they'll have no Republicans to blame.

Meanwhile, the murder rate is up yet again in the community Obama organized.

Chicago Police released crime statistics for the month of November Friday, showing an overall increase in both violent and property crime. The sharpest increase was in murders -- up 16.8 percent from last year.

Compared to the same period last year, violent crimes -- including murder, robbery and aggravated assault -- increased by 2.6 percent overall, according to a release from News Affairs, citing preliminary statistics.

Other violent crimes, such as criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery decreased, the release said.

The biggest violent crime increase was in murders, up 16.8 percent from November 2007. Guns were used in more than 80 percent of November's murders and almost 50 percent had gang-related motives.

Most of those killed in gang violence, 72 percent, had prior records. Of the killers, 90 percent had prior records. Nearly half of those killed knew their killers.

Hope! Change! Gangland murder!

According to the most currents records, 302 American personnel have been killed in Iraq in 2008.

In the Land of Hopenchange, at last count it's 482.

Some murders occurred a little more than a mile from Obama’s home in the southside neighborhood of Kenwood. The violence has tempered joy over his election, officials said.

“It’s a tragedy that people are dying,” said Jody Weis, 50, Chicago’s police superintendent. “It does mar an otherwise tremendous celebration.”

Obama wasn’t available to comment on the recent upsurge in Chicago murders, said Reid Cherlin, a spokesman for his transition office.

In a speech last year at a Chicago church, Obama called for more police to combat gangs, more after-school programs for vulnerable children, and more attention among parents to the needs of young people.

So far this year, murder has claimed more lives in Chicago than during all of 2007. The total stood at 482 on Dec. 4, up from 443 last year. It’s the most since 2003, when 601 people were murdered. The record was 970 homicides in 1974, said Monique Bond, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.

The rate of one homicide for every 5,878 residents compares with one in 11,322 for Los Angeles as of Nov. 29 and one in 17,294 for New York as of Nov. 30, according to U.S. Census Bureau data and local police. Chicago’s population is 2.83 million.

So nice to see the inspiration and leadership Obama and his gang of corrupt Democrats have brought to Chicago.