Rahm Emanual Gave "Acceptable" Candidate List to Blagojevich

FOX News Chicago is reporting that President-Elect Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual had "multiple" conversations with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris. The discussions included a list of "acceptable" candidates to fill Obama's vacated US Senate seat.

Harris resigned on Friday after being named in the same criminal complaint as the Governor.

"Did Rahm Emanuel who took Rod Blagojevich's seat in Congress have contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did," Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said Friday morning on MSNBC. "They may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you still have to have contact with him."

Obama has denied that he had any contact with Blago and that no members of his staff were involved in deal making.

What do you think? Add your comment below!

Illinois Attorney General, House Speaker: Father and Daughter Conspiracy

Rahm Emmanual, President-Elect Obama's political confidante and new Chief of Staff, once said never let a good crisis go to waste.

It seems that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and her father, Illinois State House Speaker Michael Madigan, agree with Rahm-Bo!

Today's Chicago Sun Times speculates just that:

But if Blagojevich stays put and his saga drags out, then questions inevitably will grow louder about whether delaying impeachment is a tactic by Madigan not to divert political thunder from his daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

On Friday, she took the unprecedented step of petitioning the state Supreme Court to declare Blagojevich unfit for office and remove him, under an obscure rule never used before against an Illinois governor.

"The speculation is that the speaker is sitting back on this so Lisa can take the lead and get ownership on the issue," said one House member who favors impeachment but requested anonymity.

The attorney general made clear Friday that she backs impeaching Blagojevich and noted her legal maneuver would be another front against the governor while lawmakers go about trying to impeach him.

"Attorney General Madigan's call for the governor's impeachment has been crystal clear since the charges against him were announced Tuesday. [Her] filing in the Supreme Court does not take the place of impeachment. Rather, it seeks to bring immediate relief to the people of Illinois," said Cara Smith, a spokeswoman for Lisa Madigan.

By having a prominent role in ousting Blagojevich, the attorney general and potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate further insulates herself from the same type of do-nothing charges that Blagojevich employed against his 2002 rival, then-Attorney General Jim Ryan.

Nothing like Chicago politics to make a scandal out of investigating and correcting a political scandal.

Auto Bailout Fails in Senate Free Market Capitalism Lives

The US Senate failed to pass the Auto Industry Bailout Bill on Thursday night. The United Auto Workers Union failed to concede to reduced wages and benefits.

What does this mean? Let the free market solution work. Capitalistic Darwinism. Survival of the fittest.

Though no one wants to see any hard working American lose his/her job, the fate of the UAW remains hazy. Hopefully, the Big 3 will be forced to enter into bankruptcy which will enable them to renegotiate their debts, dissolve the union and rise above the ashes as stronger, more economically viable companies.

The American Automobile is not dead. The bailout is. It's a necessary evil.

God Bless America. God Bless the Conservatives who stood their ground in the Senate.

RELATED: Check out Slate.com article on Union Work Rules. Highlights another reason for inefficiency at Big 3.

Daschle Officially Named HHS, Will Head New White House Office of Health Reform

In his book, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis", Daschle writes "Most of the world’s highest-ranking health-care systems employ some kind of 'single-payer' strategy - that is, the government, directly or through insurers, is responsible for paying doctors, hospitals, and other health-care providers."

Is this socialized medicine that has given mixed results to Canada and many European countries?

View Daschle's voting record on health care. You decide.

What is single-payer health care?

Will the Senate Vote Down Auto Bailout?

The latest news from Reuter's

It is our opinion that one of the last acts of the current Congress should be a "No" Vote on the current plan.

$15 Billion is money better spent other places. The White House won its battle that the money come from an already existing bill for energy-efficient cars.

The bailout of the banks and financial institutions was a necessary evil to avoid a complete credit collapse that would have doomed the economy even worse than current conditions.

Government involvement in private industry can only spell trouble. We do not need central-planning!

See related post.

Sen. Bob Corker's Republican alternative (from CNNMoney.com) include the following points:

• GM and Chrysler must reduce their debt by two-thirds by March 15, or file for bankruptcy. This would allow them to renegotiate their debt with lenders and bondholders.

• The United Auto Workers union would have to accept significant equity in the companies to help offset future retiree health care payments, instead of cash or other assets the companies were to contribute to union-controlled trust funds that will pay those claims in the future.

• The union would have to accept pay cuts for GM and Chrysler workers to levels paid at the U.S. plants of overseas automakers.

This is what we've argued all along. Why does it cost The Big 3 upwards of 60% in labor to produce a car? The Union contracts MUST be renegotiated through bankruptcy. Tax dollars should not be used as an appeasement to the unions -- or $15 Billion in votes for the Democrats.

Obama/Blagojevich Connection: The Myths. The Facts. The Lies

Sweetness-Light.com/Article from KHQA The article was removed from KHQA website on Wednesday December 10th

• QUINCY, IL — Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled. That's one of Obama's first priorities today. He's meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.

A November 8th story from KHQA alludes to the same.

• QUINCY, IL -- Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.
  Obama met with Governor Rod Blagojevich earlier this week to discuss it. Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement. There’s already been speculation about his selection…from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Junior to Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.
  

Retraction of the story from KHQA

• KHQA TV wishes to offer clarification regarding a story that appeared last month on our website ConnectTristates.com. The story, which discussed the appointment of a replacement for President Elect Obama’in the U.S. Senate, became the subject of much discussion on talk radio and on blog sites Wednesday.The story housed in our website archive was on the morning of November 5, 2008. It suggested that a meeting was scheduled later that day between President Elect Obama and Illinois Governor Blagojevich. KHQA has no knowledge that any meeting ever took place. Governor Blagojevich did appear at a news conference in Chicago on that date.

Michelle Obama's Involvement.

Jesse Jackson Jr on the offensive of his defense.

Is the Liberal Elite Media covering for Mr. Obama again? Why is Blago so upset at Obama in the tapes?

Essay From The New Yorker, July 2008

• That year, he gained his first high-level experience in a statewide campaign when he advised the victorious gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich, another politician with a funny name and a message of reform. Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”

America, we beg you, fight for the truth. What did Obama know?

http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions (A new open forum on the Transition Team website, but questions about Blagojevich are being "labelled inappropiate" and not readily visible.)

Our guess is that he is not personally involved in the corrupt "Pay to Play" Chicago Way but he knows a lot. But, he did come from the Chicago Political Scene.

****Please check this out from Volokh.comThe Blagojevich Timeline: Everything Fits Easily Except Obama's Monday Denial****

Prove us wrong.

Axelrod Endorsed Trading Jobs For Political Favors!

In a 2005 Chicago Tribune op-ed, President-Elect Obama's advisor and "mis-speaker" David Axelrod alluded that Quid Pro Quo politics is acceptable.

• "The democratic process is often messy. Diverse constituencies fight fiercely for their priorities. Their elected representatives use the influence they have to meet those needs, including sometimes the exchange of favors--consideration for jobs being just one."

The op-ed was in response to Fitzgerald's anti-corruption efforts where a number of aides to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley were indicted for conspiracy to give city jobs as political favors.

• Axelrod also wondered if a “system free of political influence … is really desirable.”

From Politico.com

Advisor David Axelrod: "I know he (President-Elect Obama) has talked to the governor."

Did he or didn't he?

Obama Advisor David Axelrod said this on November 23rd:

• "I know he has talked to the governor. There's a whole range of names, many of which have surfaced. And he has a fondness for a lot of them."

President-Elect Obama said this on Tuesday:

• "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening. But as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."

Axelrod retracted his statement after the charges were filed yesterday against Governor Blagojevich, saying he "mis-spoke".

Someone is not telling the truth.

Robert Bork: Obama to Select "Soft-Hearted Liberal Who Will Legislate From the Bench"

President-Elect Obama Governor Blagojevich Valerie Jarrett. What is the Connection?

Read this article on Politico.com. Chicago and Illinois politics have been corrupt for decades.

Corruption, Bribery, Pay to Play is the Chicago Way!

America voted for Barack Obama despite his shady connections. Gov. Blagojevich was counting on a favor from Barack Obama.

The paper trail is dubious. The connections are obvious.

Certainly Barack Obama is not connected to this, right? For the sake of America, we hope the President-Elect has no knowledge of the wrongdoings of Gov. Blagojevich.

Time will tell, you decide. God Bless America.

LATimes: A Brief History of Illinois Corruption

Illinois Governor Arrested: Tried to Sell Barack Obama's Senate Seat

You can't make this stuff up. Another tale from the dark side of Illinois politics.
Governor Rod Blagojevich in FBI custody faces a laundry list of charges.



The allegations include:

• Blagojevich worked with previously convicted defendants and Obama associates Antonin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others to arrange financial benefits in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to state funds.
• Blagojevich threatened to withhold state assistance to the Tribune Co. in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of editorial board members who have been critical of the governor.
• The governor took money from at least one individual in connection with naming a successor for the U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Obama.
• Blagojevich is charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.
• In exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining: A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.
• Placed his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year.

Did the President-Elect know about this? Of course he did, but will get swept under the rug by the media like EVERY OTHER OBAMA ASSOCIATION?!?

More information: Read the full report from the Department of Justice. President-Elect Obama is mentioned 44 times in the full report.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wants a "Car Czar"? Liberal Socialism?

Congressional Democrats and the White House are working on a $15 billion bailout for U.S. auto makers - complete with a "car czar" to oversee the industry.

Great. Let's put more government oversight into the bailout disaster. Anyone qualified to be a Car Czar ought to be CEO of one of the Big 3 automakers.

A governement with a partial ownership of any American company is akin to
central planning, common amongst socialist and communist idealogies.

WikiPedia Defintion of Central Planning:

Economic interventionism or central economic planning is any action taken by a government, beyond the basic regulation of fraud and enforcement of contracts, in an effort to affect its own economy. Economic intervention can be aimed at a variety of political or economic objectives, such as promoting economic growth, increasing employment, raising wages, raising or reducing prices, promoting equality, managing the money supply and interest rates, or addressing market failures. The intervention may to direct, or indirect as in the case of indicative planning. When this economic planning is extensive, the economy is referred to as a planned economy.
Economic interventionism is generally associated with the political left (socialist, left-wing liberal or green parties) which believes that certain market outcomes are undesirable and ought to be mitigated. Economic interventionism is sometimes practised by national conservative parties with the thinking that the free market can damage national traditions, social order, or the authority of the state itself.

You Decide! Good Economic Philosophy? Or Socialism?

Lost McCain Ad You Never Saw

View the John McCain television ad that was never aired. It attacks President-Elect Obama's judgement and character.



The mainstream media never focused on questioning Obama's choice of friends and acquaintances, so it's unlikely this would have mattered.

But we want to know what you think! Do you think the election outcome would have been different if the McCain camp had focused more on Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers and others? Please leave a comment below!

New York Times OpEd: Disgusting, Hateful, Arrogant Proof of Liberal Media Bias

(Click the link above to read the article)

The Times actually published this piece of garbage! Publisher's are free to give book deals to whomever they choose. It's part of the American spirit to venture into any realm we choose. Who are Timothy Egan and the NY Times to be the arbiters of whom should be allowed to pen a book?

Liberal, elite media. That's who.

Then again, who ever said Libs understand free market enterprise, capitalist spirit and free speech. But of course, it's perfectly fine for the Savior Obama to pen anything he wants because he is the poster child for liberalism. Liberals support free speech only when it supports their cause.

Liberals are the party of the working class, right? Not when they slander and attack hard working citizens like Joe the Plumber. But in the elite media's mind, "How dare he question the Chosen One?"

Liberals are also the party of inclusion and acceptance? Not when it comes to Sarah Palin. The Elite New York/Los Angeles fail to recognize that most American's have more in common with Joe and Sarah than with Timothy and Barack.

How dare you use your inalienable right to free speech to attack someone else for exercising his you Liberal Hypocrites!

Egan sounds like another whiny, bitter Liberal pointing out the failures of others to suppress his own insecurities.

We support a full boycott of The New York Times.

Obama: "Economy to Get Worse Before It Gets Better"

President-Elect Obama appeared on "Meet the Press" this morning where he proclaimed: "...when you think about the structural problems that we already had in the economy before the financial crisis, this is a big problem, and it's going to get worse." He reiterated the idea later saying, “Things are going to get worse before they get better.”

And he is probably correct.

The only problem is that this comes one day after his "bold" stimulus package (see post below) where he promised to use a public works program to stimulate the economy. So what is the truth? The economy cannot be repaired by the government or Obama has the answers?

Mr. Obama is in no position to be envied under the current conditions but it would be nice to hear something a little more upbeat from the man who will assume the Oval Office on January 20th.

Later in the interview he added, "We've got to provide a blood infusion to the patient right now to make sure that the patient is stabilized. And that means that we can't worry short term about the deficit. We've got to make sure that the economic stimulus plan is large enough to get the economy moving," he said.

Why can't we worry about the deficit? What happens when the government runs out of money and things still have not improved? Again, is it going to get worse or is the Obama Plan going to "get the economy moving?"

Only time will tell the truth, but Obama and Congress need to stop contradicting themselves saying they are not going to throw money on pork spending while simultaneously talking about a plan that is "large enough" to stimulate growth! “You know, the days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over," Obama said.

Huh? Isn't that EXACTLY what you are proposing?

Adding further chaos, Obama commented on the mortgage crisis, saying “I'm disappointed that we haven't seen quicker movement on this issue by the administration. We have said publicly and privately that we want to see a package that helps homeowners not just because it's good for that particular homeowner; it's good for the community."

Again, helping homeowners who purchased houses they cannot afford is what helped create this mess in the first place. Let's not add fuel to the fire; I'll burn my money in my own oven, thank you.

Enough with the bailouts and government pork and "stimulus". Lower taxes, reduce capital gains taxes, eliminate the "death tax"! Give THE PEOPLE and THE COMPANIES their money back and the government will not have to loan it back to them!