December 2009 Archives

What is it that attracts political wackos to Illinois? Is it the water? Is it we Midwestern folk tolerate just about any nutjob that comes along? Maybe we're just polite. That's it, we're polite Midwesterners. So how does that justify lunatic fringe candidate Andy Martin questioning the sexual orientation of Congressman Mark Kirk in a radio attack ad?

But The Hound believes Martin stepped over the line, even for a guy like Martin. After all, he accused then-presidential candidate George W. Bush in 1999 of having "a cocaine problem". This guy makes the term "loose cannon" much too benign.

Normally, The Hound would ignore such odd manifestations, except Martin has brought Raymond True of Libertyville, chairman of the Republican Assembly of Lake County, into the mix. Martin also maintains there's a "Republican Party homosexual club" and quotes True as saying "Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals."

True was quick to denounce Martin, noting, "Mr. Martin did not contact me in any way before making his announcement. The comments attributed to me are completely false. I request through the media that Andy Martin cease and desist from making any additional statements that are incorrectly attributed to me." Well, that's not going to happen from Mr. Martin, who once was known as Andrew Martin-Trigona.

The Hound checked with some geezers in the office to find out about Republican homosexual clubs in Lake County and they all replied it was news to them. They also scoffed at Kirk being gay. But, then they're geezers.

As for Kirk, the considered front-runner in the Feb. 2 U.S. Senate primary, now divorced after eight years of marriage, issued a statement that he's not gay. And, really, what does it matter? We're on the verge of a new decade where alternative lifestyles are accepted, as long as they're not being lived by hypocrites.

This isn't the first time Kirk has had to tolerate mudslinging in his political career. Those same geezers recalled during the congressman's first campaign he was subjected to much of the same type of stuff issued by the right-wing. Guess they're afraid in 2010 as they were in 2000.

From all the time and energy the president and Congress have spent on health-care reform, you would think Americans are clamoring for it. Outside of a few liberal lobbyists, The Hound never did get the idea the voters were that into health care. But our elected representatives, or at least the Democratic Party's 60 senators, seem to feel this is in our best interests.

And who is The Hound to argue with such an august body?

Yet, there's this nagging feeling that Americans just aren't into health-care reform. A recent Zogby Poll confirmed The Hound's speculation. According to an interactive survey of 3,024 likely voters conducted earlier this month, jobs or the economy were the top domestic priorities. Even among Democrats surveyed in the poll, which has a plus or minus of 1.8 percentage points, jobs ranked first with the economy second.

Overall, 31 percent surveyed said providing jobs for Americans should be the top priority, followed by the economy (26 percent) and national security (13 percent). Where did health care rank? At 10 percent.

Only Democrats, at 19 percent, thought it a high priority. And among crucial independents and those 18 to 30 years old, health care ranked 9 and 8 percent, respectively. From this snapshot in time, it looks to The Hound that the nation is being dragged into health care changes whether we like it or not.

The Hound can't wait to see which senators and representatives in Congress actually run for re-election next year on the platform that they helped pass health-care reform. Especially when the bill comes due.

Just in time for the college bowl season, which kicks off tonight with the New Mexico Bowl pitting Fresno State vs. Wyoming, some members of Congress are still blathering about forcing the NCAA to start a playoff system. It reminds this Hound of what Mark Twain once said of our national lawmakers: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

If Twain were still with us, he'd certainly consider this current Congress national champions in the idiot department. A House subcommittee has approved a bill that would give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to penalize the NCAA if it calls future top-rated BCS games a national championship. Like the one set for Jan. 7 in the Rose Bowl featuring Alabama and Texas.

Don't these characters have more to do than worry about college football? Isn't there two wars going on, a ballooning deficit and a sputtering economy? Perhaps they figure a national playoff system would add jobs. And wouldn't this national playoff system start cutting into the NFL season-ending playoffs?

Much to Congress' chagrin, it looks like the two top collegiate teams will be vying for a national title next month. Time for Congress to take care of it's own legislative agenda and leave football to the professionals, er, collegians.

President Obama is doing his best to help bail out Illinois' financial condition with the announcement the federal government is going to buy the empty Thomson Correctional Center in the northwest part of the state to house terrrorist detainees. So, where's The Hound's check?

Illinois taxpayers paid to build this prison, investing, according to one estimate, as much as $250 million in land and construction costs, plus bond interest which is figured at another $50 mil. Now here comes the feds wanting to buy it to house those War on Terror prisoners now held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Aren't Illinoisans part of the federal government? Won't part of our federal taxes go to pay for the Thomson purchase? Are we being double-taxed on this done deal which only a Democrat schooled in Chicago could come up with?

If anything, Illinois taxpayers deserve a rebate check once the ink is signed and Thomson becomes a federal correctional facility. Especially since our prisons are still overcrowded and we may have to build yet another one to replace Thomson.

So what gives? Where's our public hearings on this process of moving these dangerous terrorists close to prime swine-herd lands? Talk about your pork. What exactly is a prison worth these days, given the feds really, really want this one? Bet Lake County township tax assessors would say it's worth a gazillion.

And what's with Gov. Pat Quinn spouting off about us flatlanders not being afraid "of anybody or anything." The Hound is afraid, afraid of Gov. Waffle. He may decide next week this terrorist prison may not be such a great idea. And there goes all those jobs!

Of course, the burghers of Thomson are welcoming the detainees for the jobs an open prison will bring. They aren't afraid.

But if The Hound lived in Iowa...now that's where fear might be creeping. The closest airport is Clinton, just across the wide Mississippi from Thomson. If the prison was in Iowa, those farmers would drive a hard bargain for the facility and hold out for some real cash. Don't roll over, Gov. Waffle! Be hard-nosed in bargaining to bring terrorists to Illinois.

State Rep. Eddie Washington, D-Waukegan, is beginning to give his primary challenger Angelo Kyle a lesson in the power of incumbency. Washington on Monday was at Roosevelt Park to announce a $100,000 state grant to make some upgrades to the venerable park on Waukegan's South Side. The Hound bets the incumbent has some more money he'll be handing out between now and the Feb. 2 Democratic primary.

That's what lawmakers do. They bring funding back to their district to help their constituents who, hopefully, remember such come Election Day. What has Kyle, a Lake County Board member from Waukegan, brought to his constituents? How about accepting a $1,500 pay hike --- that's 3 percent --- when many voters of the 60th House District didn't get a pay increase. Heck, some even took pay cuts.

The Hound would think that Kyle, who ran unsuccessfully against Washington in the 2008 Democratic primary, would learn something about politics by now. Guess not.

Washington also opened his re-election headquarters in North Chicago over the weekend. On hand were a few elected officials, including Waukegan Mayor Robert Sabonjian, who was elected as an "independent" in April; Waukegan Ald. Tony Figueroa and Park City Ald. Jack Palmeri.

There's a little over a month to the primary and Washington looks in command.

The president's speech the other day on Afghanistan has laid the groundwork for the regional conflict to become Obama's War. Adding 30,000 more boots on the ground, led by a few thousand jarheads who will be in the thick of Taliban Territory before Christmas, President Obama has passed the torch to this adminstration from that of President Bush.

Everyone agrees the Bush administration became distracted with Iraq and blew initial inroads against the Taliban and al-Qaida. So, Obama is on the right tank track, as far as The Hound is concerned. But what's the idea of announcing a date certain --- 2011 --- when we're leaving? Couldn't he have announced an Afghanization plan, like President Nixon did when he took over the conduct of the Vietnam War? Was that too much too ask?

Apparently, because the geezers remember it took Nixon five years to unravel the U.S. out of Vietnam and only after he started trying to bomb North Vietnam into the Stone Age. Or, are the Obamans taking a page from the Nixon playbook and planning to announce a secret peace plan when 2011 comes around, just before the '12 election cycle gets under way?

Only time and Americans' grit to stay in the high elevations of the Hindu Kush in search of Osama bin Laden will tell.

The Hound is starting to get the idea that appointed state Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, is a white tornado. She seems to be everywhere and doing everything since she got named to Kathy Ryg's 59th House District seat by county Democratic boss Terry Link.

That's what happens when you're the new kid in town, much to the chagrin of Democratic primary opponent Buffalo Grove Mayor Elliott Hartstein, and potential GOP opponents Dan Sugrue and Mohan Manian, both of Green Oaks, and Cynthia Hebda of Vernon Hills, whose petitions are being challenged.

But getting back to Sente, that's what happens when you're an incumbent. You get to use that office for name recognition in order to keep that seat safe for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.

To that end, Sente is sponsoring a winter coat drive here, holding a town meeting there, creating advisory committees over there, meeting with business leaders over here. It's a hectic pace, but nobody said seeking election was easy, even though you have Link, who's running for lite gov, on your side.

The Hound figures that's why they make the big bucks and why they're here, there and everywhere.