Time to Resign: Lake County Democrats Unable to Substantiate Campaign Allegations Against Incumbent Board Members

Well, well, looky here. Remember during the fall 2008 campaign, when the GOP members of the Lake County Board found themselves under attack from a group of Dem challengers? The Dems all used basically the same claims in some very misleading (lying?) campaign material that had some obvious errors as to how taxes are assessed in Lake County, as we reported back in October. Moreover, the campaign mailers asserted that there were "sweetheart property tax cuts for political insiders which force all other taxpayers to pay more." You can see one of their false campaign mailers here.

Well, the Dems might have just thought this was acceptable "smear" politics, as seems to be business as usual down in Chicago. But, thankfully, Lake County is not Chicago (not yet) and the Lake County Board members took this allegation seriously, and had it investigated.

Oh, my, say the Dems! Who would have ever thought that someone would actually make us back up our campaign claims! No one is supposed to have to do that. We simply sling mud out there and see what sticks, without regard to the truth.

Well, not this time, folks. The County Board Chairman, Suzi Schmidt, asked Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller to investigate. According to Waller:

"We asked those County Board members to provide us with facts and detailed information to corroborate their allegations," Waller wrote. "Christopher Kennedy, an attorney representing the four County Board candidates we contacted, responded on their behalf. He advised us that the four candidates we contacted had no factual information or evidence to substantiate their allegations."

As noted in an article in the News-Sun this morning, the candidates whose literature included those claims were Davita Siegel of Buffalo Grove, Peter Grant of Antioch, Melinda Bush of Grayslake and Terry Wilke of Round Lake Beach.

Of the four Dem candidates, two won: Bush beat GOP incumbent Larry Leafblad of Highland Lake, and Wilke beat GOP incumbent Bob Powers of Round Lake Beach.

Bush and Wilke should immediately resign. You can't be elected on a lie and expect to have the respect and trust of the people you govern. Of course, that's not going to happen. Even Round Lake Mayor Bill Gentes didn't drop out of the 26th District State Senate race when he was caught dead to rights in a lie over his employment situation. Luckily, in that race, the right candidate, Dan Duffy, won.

For the County Board, alas, it looks like we're stuck with a couple of liars.

While Obama Plans to Rob Our Kids and Grandkids, Rahm Plans to Steal Your Vote

While most of the country is preoccupied with the debate over the great Generational Theft Act of 2009 and how Obama answered (or didn't answer) questions in his first prime time press conference, something much less obvious and potentially more sinister is happening behind the scenes of the Obama administration.

Quietly, very quietly, Obama has decided to move responsibility for the next U.S. Census (you know, that exercise every ten years that tells us how many congressmen each state is entitled to, and how federal dollars can be allocated for many programs) from the U.S. Commerce Department to... yep... the White House. And who's going to be in charge of this formerly non-partisan government responsibility... yes, that most partisan of partisans... Rahm Emanuel.

Why is the politicizing of the census function taking such a high priority with the Obama administration that it is being done in the first three weeks? How about worrying about Iran or North Korea?

Thankfully, GOP congressmen from Utah are trying to blow the whistle on this scheme before it's too late. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told FOX News on Monday that "This is nothing more than a political land grab."

The Fox News article that first alerted me to this issue also had this:

"The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers. Many federal funding formulas depend on them, as well as the whole fabric of federal and state representation. Partisans have a natural impulse to tilt the playing field in their favor, and this has to be resisted," Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, told FOX News in an e-mail.

"I've always remembered what Joseph Stalin said: 'Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.' The same principle applies to the census. Since one or the other party will always be in power at the time of the census, it is vital that the out-of-power party at least be able to observe the process to make sure it isn't being stacked in favor of the party in power. This will be difficult for the GOP since I suspect Democrats will control both houses of Congress for the entire Obama first term," Sabato said.

What prompted this move by Obama? Most likely he or some in his administration may have had second thoughts about Obama's appointment of a Republican senator, Judd Gregg, to the post of Commerce Secretary. As noted in the Fox News article:

Critics note that the method of counting can skew the census. Democrats have long advocated using mathematical estimates, a practice known as "sampling," to count urban residents and immigrants. Republicans say the Constitution requires a physical head count, which entails going door-to-door.

Gregg, the new GOP appointee, is against 'sampling'. Curious, there was not talk of moving the census responsibility when New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (a Dem) was to be in charge of Commerce... But now, this change is a top priority of the Obama administration?

Dear Leader takes control, comrades. Welcome to Amerika.

Weekend Update: Given "Spendulus" or Zombies, I'll Take the Zombies

(Photo: AP/Chris Nakashima-Brown)

Happy weekend, folks, we made it.

Well, it's a welcome respite from the cold weather here on the North Shore, but apparently it's not going to last all that long. Winter ain't over yet, folks.

In any event, I was trying to decide if the big news of the morning was the apparent compromise in the U.S. Senate over the "spendulus" bill, or a funny story in the Tribune about pranksters from Texas to Indiana that have decided to start hacking into those roadside electronic construction signs and reprogram them to actually give some helpful warnings, such as "CAUTION: Zombies Ahead".

Getting back to the serious stuff, here's a great piece in the Wall Street Journal that does a good job of explaining in very simple terms why President Obama's apparent belief that any government spending is a 'stimulus' is dead wrong:

Speaking to a House Democratic retreat on Thursday night, Mr. Obama took on those critics. "So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? (Laughter and applause.) That's the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That's the point. (Applause.)"

So there it is: Mr. Obama is now endorsing a sort of reductionist Keynesianism that argues that any government spending is an economic stimulus. This is so manifestly false that we doubt Mr. Obama really believes it. He has to know that it matters what the government spends the money on, as well as how it is financed. A dollar doled out in jobless benefits may well be spent by the worker who receives it. That $1 of spending will count as economic activity and add to GDP.

But that same dollar can't be conjured out of thin air. The government has to take that dollar away from someone else -- either in higher taxes, or by issuing new debt in the form of a bond. The person who is taxed or buys the bond will have $1 less to spend. If the beneficiary of that $1 spends it on something less productive than the taxed American or the lender would have, then the net impact on growth will be negative.

So, is any government spending a good thing, no matter how untargeted, or how pork-laden it is? Clearly not. As we have said many times here before, government doesn't create jobs, the private sector creates jobs. There's just too little of that in this bill for my taste. Of course, our friend Ellen of the Tenth thinks that there's not enough bloat in the proposal.

This whole situation bears some uncanny resemblance to what I remember happened just after 9/11, when everyone was so concerned about further attacks on U.S. soil that Homeland Security was given tons of money to spend on security measures whether or not many of them were actually needed, or wise expenditures. But the government tends to be reactionary, and is often too concerned that by acting in a more measured, calculating way, it will be accused of doing too little, too late. But, we should remember never to confuse motion with progress.

Given overblown and bloated government spending (mostly on non-job creating social programs) and zombies, I'll take the zombies.

New GOP Leaders: Dan Duffy

The second in our occasional features on new GOP leaders brings us to newly-minted GOP State Senator Dan Duffy, 42 (middle, between Keith Gray and Steve Greenberg). If you haven't met Dan yet, you're in for a treat if you do: he's the prototype for a new kind of leader for the Republicans: young, energetic, a business-oriented, can-do attitude, and a talent for figuring out what works and then running with it. (full disclosure- Dan was a college classmate and fraternity brother at Augustana college. And, actually, his brother Mike was one of my law partners. Small world. Of course, if you have 8 siblings, like Dan, they are going to get around)

As noted in the Daily Herald this morning, Dan outraised his opponent, Round Lake Beach Mayor Bill Gentes by $638,000 to $157,000. A large chunk of that came from the Illinois State Republicans who were bound and determined not to let retiring Senator Bill Peterson's seat fall into Dem hands. On the other hand, early on, Gentes was favored by the Dem machine and seen as the guy who could do it. So, if anyone tells you that Gentes was a lay-down, don't believe it. The credit for winning this race belongs to Dan and his team, who spent hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours doing voter identification and other grassroots activities that made sure that by election day, Dan knew exactly where he was.

Dan knew he was going to win even before Gentes self-destructed by being caught in a lie about getting fired from his job. But that's not to say Dan had a big head. Far from it. Rather, it's a testament to the power of knowledge, voter identification and a well-organized GOTV effort. Running the table with the newspaper endorsements also helped. They tend to know a winner when they see one.

Dan, Keith Gray, and others like them are the bright young future of the GOP. Nicely done.

Eugene Kryczka Drops Out of Antioch Township Assessor Race In Face of Petition Scandal (UPDATED)

This just in... TA hears that Eugene Kryczka, the Democratic challenger for Antioch Township Assessor, has pulled out of the race in the face of accusations from his opponent that fake and dead people's signatures appeared on his petitions. More on this as it develops.

UPDATED 02/05/09: The News-sun has an article this morning. Kryczka cites personal reasons for pulling out the of race:

Kryczka said he could not afford to continue the race. He had missed too much time from work and he did not want to put his company in jeopardy in this bad economy. He had promised to self-finance his campaign and not take contributions.

The Daily Herald had only a minor note, here. As much as I like the Herald, I'm just a bit concerned about a double standard here. If it was a Republican caught up in this scandal and quit the race under these circumstances, I think the media (and not just the Herald) would be relentless in covering this story and would not be nearly so circumspect in connecting the dots.

Seriously- does anyone really believe Kryczka's lame explanation? The race barely gets off the ground, and the time commitment all of a sudden took you by surprise? Oh, and it's right after you're accused of forgery? Coincidence, coincidence, I'm sure.

Note to candidates: Once your petitions are in, if you don't want to work hard at the campaign, you don't. Maybe you'll win, and maybe you'll lose. But you are the master of your own destiny.

Well, I don't think Kryczka's pulling out of the race will have much effect on the State's Attorney's investigation. Forgery is forgery, so we'll see what comes out of this. All I can say is that the Dems need to take a class in either ethical petition circulation (with Terry Link sitting in the front row, taking notes), or they better improve their forgery skills, and stop copying names out of the phone book or obits.

New GOP Leaders: Featuring Keith Gray

A new feature we're going to be doing here from time to time is highlighting new Republican leaders on the local scene. Today's choice is Keith Gray, who ran against State Senator Terry Link (D-Waukegan) in the 30th Senate District. The Daily Herald ran a piece on Gray in this morning's paper; check it out here. Among other things, the Herald noted that Gray is spoiling for a rematch with Link in the next senatorial election in a few years.

Keith is a great guy, and exactly the kind of candidate the Lake County GOP is looking for: articulate, smart, experienced. In his match-up against Link, Keith did not fare well as far as the numbers went, but such is to be expected when going up against the seasoned leader of the Lake County Dems, who could call on essentially unlimited resources. Keith's campaign focused heavily on some of Link's negatives, which some might criticize in terms of strategy, but when a candidate is accused of having dead people sign his petitions, it's a little hard to ignore the elephant in the bedroom. At the least, it made for some great campaign materials.

Look for more of these features here soon on some of the best and brightest of the new crop of GOP leaders, such as Dan Duffy, Dan Sugrue, Tim Stratton, and others.

For today, let's play Campaign Manager: if you were running against Link in 2012, what would you do to depose the king once and for all?

More Dead People Surface on Petitions in Lake County

What is it with some Lake County Democrats who simply can't seem to keep the dead from rising to sign their petitions? As TA regulars know, State Senator Terry Link has been dealing for months with the fallout from accusations that his nominating petitions contained both falsified names of the living and those of the simply deceased. Just last week, one of Link's campaign workers pleaded guilty to numerous counts of perjury in a plea bargain. The state appellate prosecutor, for some reason, bent over backwards to make sure the press knew that he thought Link was not involved in the actual crime. But more on that another day, perhaps.

The story for today, however, is that more allegedly falsified names and dead folks have appeared on the nominating petitions of yet another Lake County Democrat; this time, it's Antioch Township Assessor candidate Eugene Kryczka. As reported by the News-Sun, incumbent Antioch Township Assessor Heather Kufalk-Marotta noticed the names of several people she knew to be deceased, along with numerous signatures that she felt were obviously fake. She has turned the evidence over to the Lake County State's Attorney.

TA heard about this over the weekend, and understands that State Senator Michael Bond is the prime force behind Kryczka's candidacy, as he continues his behind-the-scenes political empire building in Lake County. For anyone who wasn't aware, Bond was very evident in the last round of elections as the force behind many of the county board challengers (and fairly nasty about it to boot, TA hears). Bond reads from the same playbook as his political godfather, Terry Link, which is basically to build up political capital by helping lower-level politicians into office that he thinks will be beholden to him in the future.

TA also hears that the alleged attempts at fabricating the signatures were not even done as well as they were done in Link's case. Sad, sad, sad.

The article did not mention if the State Appellate Prosecutor has already cleared Terry Link of any wrongdoing, but if we're lucky, he won't get the case and Michael Waller will investigate.