Lake County Coroner Richard Keller Warns of Zombies

Lake County Coroner Richard Keller, M.D., who is under investigation by the Lake County State's Attorney for his involvement with a death attributed to an overdose at a private methadone clinic for which Keller used to be the medical director, took time out from his job to warn us of the dangers of zombies on his blog.

We're not sure why.

Maybe he's concerned about the antics of Dan Seals' New Media director Max Temkin, who claims to be one of the founders of the college game "Humans vs. Zombies." Max is pretty sensitive to criticism about 'Zombies,' though, so please be kind in comments, folks.

Mark Kirk Health Care Townhall Looks At Reform Alternatives

A popular line of argument among Democrats lately is that if you're not for ObamaCare, you must be against reform.

Hogwash.

Just because we're not interested in the public option, single-payer concept, fines for non-participation, or other ill-conceived aspects of the Democrats' preferred health care overhaul doesn't mean that Republicans don't think it needs to be fixed; however, we could start with a few common sense ideas such as tort reform (shhh... don't tell the trial lawyers), streamlining medical databases and the flow of information, ending defensive medicine practices, and so on.

Enter Congressman Mark Kirk, who is trumpeting a reform plan that engages alternative approaches to health care reform that won't break the bank.

Yesterday, Kirk hosted yet another town hall (this time in Northbrook) to discuss his alternative reform plan. Reports the Daily Herald:

Kirk's plan, proposed by a group of Republicans who position themselves as moderates, focuses heavily on enhancing tax-free health savings accounts and providing tax subsidies for purchasing coverage.

Kirk also wants to allow people to buy insurance from plans anywhere in the country and impose limits on awards in malpractice cases, among other reforms.

Much of the proposal is unlikely to gain much traction in the Democrat-dominated Capitol.

But it is an alternative Kirk hopes voters will support as he has made his opposition to Democratic health care reform a centerpiece of his Senate primary bid, holding town halls across the state as well as several teleconferences.

Kirk was keen to make sure those in attendance Tuesday knew he was not against "reform," just Obama's version of it.

"I believe we should not have the quick answer on health care. We should have the right answer," he said. "We think we really ought to have reform."

Just because we don't want ObamaCare doesn't mean reform isn't a good idea. Don't make me repeat this for the slow learners.

Kirk and Roskam Team Up Against ACORN and SEIU

Got this press release this evening. Watch video of Congressmen Kirk and Roskam here. The Sun-Times covers the story here.

Here's the graphic that illustrates the relationship between ACORN and SEIU:

Kirk, Roskam Urge Census Bureau to Reconsider
Using ACORN Sister Organization to Recruit Census Workers

Research reveals web of financial ties between ACORN and SEIU; SEIU Local 880 formed by ACORN, rents office from ACORN front group while another finances ACORN “election efforts”; U.S. Census recently cut ties with ACORN but partnership with SEIU remains

CHICAGO – Illinois Congressmen Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam today urged the U.S. Census Bureau to end its relationship with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a sister group to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) – a relationship intended to recruit SEIU workers for the 2010 census. Also joining Congressmen Kirk and Roskam was Congressman Patrick McHenry (N.C.-10), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.

The U.S. Census Bureau delegated work to outside groups for the federal 2010 census. Following the release of undercover videos showing ACORN workers helping a fake pimp and prostitute illegally secure housing, the Census Bureau terminated its partnership with ACORN. The House and Senate voted to block federal funding for ACORN and ACORN-related affiliates, including SEIU. While the Census Bureau terminated its partnership with ACORN, it left its close connection with SEIU intact.

“Given SEIU’s co-location with ACORN in Chicago and SEIU’s intimate financial relationship with ACORN, we should take action to protect the public from the corruption of the 2010 census,” Congressman Kirk said. “To defend the integrity of the process, the Census Bureau should end its close relationship with ACORN’s close sister organization, the SEIU.”

"ACORN and the SEIU have a long web of connections in Chicago and around the country, and there's simply no place for a group so closely connected to ACORN to be part of something of such national importance as the U.S. Census,” Congressman Roskam said. “In this time where this Congressional Majority is running record deficits, ACORN should have no place cashing checks from the American taxpayer. We were promised a more open and honest government--that means keeping ACORN from the federal trough."

"With the decision to end its affiliation with Acorn, the Bureau has shown its desire for a census of the highest integrity,” Congressman McHenry said. “This is an opportunity to follow through on that commitment."

Official filings show that SEIU, referenced in the U.S. Attorney’s indictment of Governor Rod Blagojevich, contributed more than $4 million to ACORN and its affiliates since 2006. According to recent Department of Labor filings, the SEIU employs ACORN Founder and ACORN International Chief Organizer Wade Rathke. Mr. Rathke was recently exposed for running a cover-up of an embezzlement scheme run by his brother.

In Chicago, SEIU Local 880 and SEIU Local 1 contributed more than $230,000 to ACORN groups in Illinois and Texas since 2006 – the most recent to “support election efforts.”

SEIU Local 880, which until recently boasted it was founded by ACORN, used an ACORN e-mail address on its Web site and tax filings, was co-located with an ACORN “tax center” and employed the former president of ACORN Illinois, according to official records. Recently, the IRS terminated is relationship with ACORN tax preparation offices.

In a 2006 end-of-year report issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, SEIU Local 880 recounted working with ACORN to reelect Governor Blagojevich and referred to ACORN as its “sister organization.” A new report issued by the Committee in July reports SEIU and SEIU Local 880 are official members of the “ACORN Council,” according to whistleblower documents acquired by the Committee.

Earlier this year, SEIU Local 880 became “SEIU Health Care Illinois and Indiana”, located on the floor below ACORN Housing’s national headquarters and rents its own space from an ACORN front group called the “Chicago Organizing and Support Center” (COSC).
Official documents show COSC registered at two addresses – one in Chicago (at the same address as SEIU Local 880/ACORN) and one in New Orleans (at the same address as ACORN New Orleans). The Illinois Secretary of State’s Web site shows COSC’s incorporation status was revoked on September 11, 2009 – one day after the ACORN videos surfaced. The Louisiana Secretary of State shows the group’s status active but not in good standing for failure to file its annual report. The House Committee on Oversight’s July report also named COSC as a member of the “ACORN Council.”

Enclosed please find the congressmen’s letter to the Census Bureau along with research material on SEIU-ACORN links.

###

September 28, 2009
Robert M. Groves
Director, U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C. 20233

Dear Director Groves:

In February 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). According to the Census, partner organizations “play an important role in making the 2010 Census successful” and “help recruit census workers.” Following the release of undercover videos showing ACORN employees helping a fake pimp and prostitute illegally secure housing, the Census Bureau terminated its partnership with ACORN.

"Unfortunately, we no longer have confidence that our national partnership agreement is being effectively managed through your many local offices,” you wrote to the president of ACORN on September 11, 2009. “For the reasons stated, we therefore have decided to terminate the partnership.”

On September 17, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 345-75 to prohibit federal funding for ACORN and ACORN-related affiliates, i.e. organizations that share directors, employees, or independent contractors with ACORN, have financial stakes in ACORN, or whose finances, whether federally-funded, donor-funded, or raised through organizational goods and services, are shared or controlled by ACORN.

Due to your concern for the activities of ACORN’s “many local offices” and the action taken by Congress to prohibit taxpayer funding for ACORN-related affiliates, we are writing to request that you immediately terminate your Census 2010 partnership with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

On October 15, 2008, National Public Radio reported:

ACORN's biggest union backer, the Service Employees International Union, gave more than $4 million to the community organization and its affiliates from 2006-07, according to Dept. of Labor filings. One SEIU local union, the Illinois Homecare Workers and Home Childcare Providers, sprouted from ACORN's organizing efforts and pays rent to ACORN.
On September 16, 2009, the Washington Times reported that SEIU national president Andy Stern serves on ACORN’s advisory council. According to his own Web site, ACORN Founder Wade Rathke is the “Founder and Chief Organizer” of SEIU Local 100.

According to recent filings with the Department of Labor for calendar year 2008, Rathke is employed by SEIU – a union part of the U.S. Attorney’s indictment of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Rathke was also recently exposed as part of a cover-up to conceal an embezzlement scheme run by his brother.

In Chicago, SEIU Local 880 and SEIU Local 1 contributed more than $230,000 to ACORN groups in Illinois and Texas since 2006 – the most recent to “support election efforts.”
SEIU Local 880, which used to boast it was founded by ACORN, used an ACORN e-mail address on its Web site and tax filings, was co-located with an ACORN “tax center” and employed the former president of ACORN Illinois, according to official records.

In a 2006 end-of-year report issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Local 880 recounted working with ACORN to reelect Rod Blagojevich and referred to ACORN as its “sister organization.” A new report issued by the Committee in July reports SEIU and SEIU Local 880 are official members of the “ACORN Council,” according to whistleblower documents acquired by the Committee.

Earlier this year, SEIU Local 880 became “SEIU Health Care Illinois and Indiana”, which is located one floor below ACORN Housing’s national headquarters and rents its own space from an ACORN front group called Chicago Organizing and Support Center (COSC).

Official documents show COSC registered at two addresses – one in Chicago (at the same address as SEIU Local 880/ACORN) and one in New Orleans (at the same address as ACORN New Orleans). Surprisingly, the Illinois Secretary of State’s Web site shows COSC’s incorporation status was revoked on September 11, 2009 – one day after the ACORN videos surfaced. The Louisiana Secretary of State shows the group’s status active but not in good standing for failure to file its annual report. The Committee of Oversight’s report also named COSC as a member of the “ACORN Council.”

We support your decision to terminate the Census Bureau’s partnership with ACORN to protect the public good and defend the integrity of the Census. Given SEIU’s co-location with ACORN in Chicago and SEIU’s intimate financial relationship with ACORN, you should take action to protect the public from the corruption of the 2010 census.

To defend the integrity of the process, the Census Bureau should end its close relationship with ACORN’s close sister organization, the SEIU.

Sincerely,

Mark Kirk
Member of Congress

Peter Roskam
Member of Congress

cc: Hon. Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce

Ant Simonian Retires; Bill Cadigan Nabs Endorsements from Steve Rauschenberger, Patrick Collins, In 10th District Announcement

There was certainly a lot going on this weekend, and I have to say that I really felt some energy among the local GOP that seems to have been lacking for some time. Maybe this is a sign of better times ahead.

Lake County Republican Federation: First, the Lake County Republican Federation held its 48th annual meeting at Conway Farms Country Club in Lake Forest. I have been going to that breakfast meeting for about 10 years and it was a bigger, and more enthusiastic crowd, than I can ever remember. Of note, longtime Executive Director Antonietta "Ant" Simonian passed the ED torch to Chelsea Stanley, who will take up her duties at Lake County GOP Headquarters later this week. Ant received a long and loud standing ovation from the assembled crowd in recognition of her years of service carrying water for the elephant.

For those of you who know Ant, you know that she has been the heart and soul of the Lake County Republicans for the past decade, and earlier. But if you know Ant, you also can predict that after a bit of a rest, she will no doubt be back in Lake County politics in some capacity, so watch this space for her next move. Good luck and best wishes to Chelsea, who I know will do a great job, even though she has enormous shoes to fill.

Bill Cadigan Announces: As we noted here earlier last week, Winneka Attorney Bill Cadigan officially announced for the 10th District race to succeed outgoing Congressman Mark Kirk. Cadigan was present at the Federation breakfast meeting on Saturday, at which former Asst. U.S. Attorney (and the guy who put former governor George Ryan behind bars) Patrick Collins was the keynote speaker. Cadigan and Collins then hotfooted it over to Olive - Mary Stitt school in Arlington Heights, where he made his official announcement and received endorsements from Collins, former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger, and popular and well-respected Wheeling Township Supervisor Mike Schroeder.

8th Congressional candidate Maria Rodriguez to host a Town Hall meeting

Here's some news from the campaign of Maria Rodriguez:

LAKE COUNTY, IL - Maria Rodriguez, candidate for the 8th Congressional District will host a Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, Sept. 26th at 1600 Milwaukee Ave, (Rt. 83) in Lake Villa at Noon. State Senator Dan Duffy(R-26) will join Ms. Rodriguez; State Representative Ed Sullivan(R-51) had planned to be there but told TA that he had an unavoidable family conflict for Saturday.

The purpose of the meeting is to hear the opinions and concerns of the 8th district residents regarding urgent issues including healthcare. The meeting will be an open forum for any and all concerned constituents.

Rodriguez currently serves as President of the Village of Long Grove and has worked closely with Duffy and Sullivan on various regional issues.

"I am grateful for their endorsement and look forward to many more town hall meetings to discuss federal and state issues." When asked why she chose to run for congress in this election, Rodriguez said, "I am running because members of Congress have lost touch with the people. They are not listening and that is unacceptable to me. Congress is considering legislation that will fundamentally change health care and energy and will have a major impact on job growth in the United States. These decisions should be vigorously debated and consider the will of the people. That is why I am starting my campaign with an open forum where everyone is invited and all views are welcomed."

Rodriguez was recently elected to a second term to lead the Village of Long Grove and has an economics degree from the University of Illinois.

Winnetka Attorney Bill Cadigan to Officially Announce for 10th Congressional District

Team America has learned that Winnetka attorney Bill Cadigan, whom we previously profiled here as a potential candidate to seek the GOP nomination for Mark Kirk's congressional seat representing the 10th congressional district, has decided to officially jump into the race.

Cadigan will officially announce his candidacy this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at a press event in Arlington Heights, at Olive - Mary Stitt School, which was Cadigan's elementary school when he was growing up in the district.

Cadigan joins a fairly crowded field on the GOP side, which now includes State Representative Beth Coulson and businessmen Bob Dold and Dick Green. A few other names continue to be thrown about, like attorney Jim Koch, failed mayor candidate Pat Bird, and former Deerfield police chief Pat Anderson.

I asked Cadigan what sets him apart from the GOP pack, and he responded that his Washington experience is one thing that no other GOP contender can match.

"I can start the job on day one," he explained. As a former staffer for long-time 10th District congressman John Porter, Cadigan exphasized that, "I know the job in Washington, and I know the district aspects of the job. No one needs to show me where committee rooms are."

Notably this is a similar message to what Congressman Mark Kirk (another former Porter staffer) campaigned on in 2000, which he of course won in an even more crowded primary race.

Cadigan also emphasized his deep roots and connection with the 10th District, having grown up in Arlington Heights, and now living in Winnetka, and that he believes his political views and values are very much in keeping with the voters in the 10th.

Cadigan's campaign website is now up and running, so check it out.

Fundraising Key For Illinois U.S. Senate Race; Q3 Reports Will Be Critical

This week, a number of blogs and news articles have revisited the issue of Congressman Mark Kirk's vote over the Cap and Trade bill and wondered whether Kirk's vote will hurt him with conservatives. I think there must have been a lull in the health care debate, since this issue seems to have sprung up again. Even the Daily Herald looked for a few local GOP opinions on the issue to supplement an AP story. I tend to agree with what Lake County GOP Chairman Dan Venturi had to say, which was:

"There's still grumbling, absolutely," Dan Venturi, Lake County Republican Party chairman, said Friday. Venturi adds, however, that Kirk has addressed the matter in a number of public forums and isn't hiding from the issue.

"I think it's the Democrats trying to revitalize a divisive issue," Venturi said. "If they can weaken him in the primary, that would be to their advantage."

Team America was also queried by the DH, and here's what we had to say:

Mettawa resident Larry Falbe, who authors Team America's 10th District blog, said the initial vote startled some Republicans.

"The shock and surprise of most Republicans has long since worn off and they've turned their attention to more pressing issues like health care," Falbe said. "He (Kirk) has worked very hard to explain his position."

This blog has always been more about politics than policy, so while others seem very interested in the debate over whether Congressman Mark Kirk can lure conservatives to his side in the primary based on his ideology, I wanted to remind everyone that a critical component of this campaign is going to be raising enough money to compete with the Democrats in the general election.

So far, it seems clear that Mark Kirk is the only Republican candidate that has any hope of raising the probably $20 million that it will take to be competitive in this race. The Q3 cutoff date for raising funds (September 30th) is coming up awfully fast, and it will be very telling as to what Kirk's GOP competitors will report on the filing deadline October 15th.

So far, from what I can tell from the FEC website (although it can be hard to navigate and I'm never 100% certain I'm interpreting it right), no other GOP candidates had raised enough money ($5,000) to have to report to the FEC as of Q2. While I suspect many of Kirk's competitors will have raised enough pittance to at least file a report, I will be shocked if anyone comes even close to the 7 figures that Kirk will no doubt be reporting.

It's a simple fact that it takes money to compete in politics and get your name and message out. Unless one or more of Kirk's competitors starts raising some serious dough, it's not hard to see where this primary race is headed.