Sweeny Report
The Sweeny Report takes you into the murky world of local, state and national politics. Political Editor Chuck Sweeny will try to de-mystify things for you — once he figures it out himself, that is. |
 |
1 comment September 2nd, 2008
Germany has gone nuts marshalling everyone (Germans are good at that) to install solar panels everywhere. But solar panels haven’t gained traction in the UK. Now a study comes out that says installation costs take 100 years to recoup. read about it in The Independent and let me know your thoughts.
Add comment September 2nd, 2008
John Borling of Rockford, a Friend of McCain, a delegate to the GOP convention, just called me from the bus stop outside the convention hall in St. Paul:
“We’ve had a marvelous evening. We were sitting very close to Cindy, and President Bush senior and Mrs. Bush.
“It was a night for America, and I think the remarks by Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman were particularly cogent. We were standing up there (with the former POWs) and the Navy Seals.
“The feeling on the floor was of a great humanity, a great sense that our best days can be ahead of us, and that translates to John McCain and Sarah Palin.
“At the end of the day, I believe this team represents the best hope of America, and I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it, and you know what a maverick I am. It’s one maverick suporting another.”
Thus sayest John Borling.
Add comment September 2nd, 2008
Great speech by Fred Thompson at the GOP confab in St. Paul. Too bad he was a lousy campaigner, he would have made a great nominee because he gives a better speech than Obama.
The message was: Republicans are patriotic and do not apologize for America, Mccain is a patriot who will keep our nation strong. Obama is an inexperienced apologist for the US who cares more about what foreigners think of us than what we think of ourselves.
The other message: Democrats are coming to raise your taxes. Great “bucket” analogy: Democrats say, don’t worry, we’re only taking water out of the other side of the bucket, not your side. Or, we’re only going to raise taxes on business, it won’t affect you. So, unless you buy groceries, gas or you work for a business, don’t worry. Good stuff.
Add comment September 2nd, 2008
These are the prepared remarks of Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut:
Thank you for that warm welcome. I am honored to be here.
We meet tonight in the wake of a terrible storm that has hit the Gulf Coast but that hurts all of us, because we are all members of our larger American family.
At times like this, we set aside all that divides us, and we come together to help our fellow citizens in need.
What matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans, but that we are all Americans.
The truth is, it shouldn’t take a hurricane to bring us together like this.
Every day, across our country, millions of our fellow citizens are facing huge problems.
They are worried about their homes, their jobs, and their businesses; they are worried about the outrageous cost of gas and of health insurance; and they are worried about the threats from our enemies abroad.
But when they look to Washington, all too often they do not see their leaders coming together to tackle these problems.
Instead they see Democrats and Republicans fighting each other, rather than fighting for the American people.
Our founding fathers foresaw the danger of this kind of senseless partisanship. George Washington himself — in his Farewell Address to our country — warned that the “spirit of party” is “the worst enemy” of our democracy and “enfeebles” our government’s ability to do its job.
George Washington was absolutely right. The sad truth is — today we are living through his worst nightmare, in the capital city that bears his name.
And that brings me directly to why I am here tonight. What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?
The answer is simple.
I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party.
I’m here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward.
I’m here because John McCain’s whole life testifies to a great truth: being a Democrat or a Republican is important.
But it is not more important than being an American.
Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and special interests that are poisoning our politics.
But only one of them has actually done it.
Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country and our people.
And that leader is John McCain!
John understands that it shouldn’t take a natural disaster like Hurricane Gustav to get us to take off our partisan blinders and work together to get things done.
It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to teach us that the American people don’t care much if you have an “R” or a “D” after your name.
What they care about is, are we solving the problems they are up against every day?
What you can expect from John McCain as President is precisely what he has done this week: which is to put country first. That is the code by which he has lived his entire life, and that is the code he will carry with him into the White House.
I have personally seen John, over and over again, bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face –to reform our campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws, to create the 9/11 Commission and pass its critical national security reforms, and to end the partisan paralysis over judicial confirmations.
My Democratic friends know all about John’s record of independence and accomplishment.
Maybe that’s why some of them are spending so much time and so much money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else.
I’m here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you: Don’t be fooled.
God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man.
If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have taken on corrupt Republican lobbyists, or big corporations that were cheating the American people, or powerful colleagues in Congress who were wasting taxpayer money.
But he did!
If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do something about global warming.
But he did!
As a matter of fact, if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat.
And I’m not.
Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times.
In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.
Contrast that to John McCain’s record, or the record of the last Democratic President, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups and worked with Republicans to get important things done like welfare reform, free trade agreements, and a balanced budget.
Governor Sarah Palin, like John McCain, is a reformer who has taken on the special interests and reached across party lines. She is a leader we can count on to help John shake up Washington.
That’s why the McCain-Palin ticket is the real ticket for change this year.
The Washington bureaucrats and power brokers can’t build a pen strong enough to hold these two mavericks.
And together, you can count on John McCain and Sarah Palin to fight for America and to fight for you! And that’s what our country needs most right now.
What we need most is not more party unity in America but more national unity!
Especially at a time of war, we need a President we can count on to fight for what’s right for our country — not only when it is easy, but when it is hard.
When others were silent, John McCain had the judgment to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground,
John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge, and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor!
Before I conclude, I ask the indulgence of those in this hall tonight, as I want to speak directly to my fellow Democrats and Independents who are watching.
I know many of you are angry and frustrated by our government and our politics and for good reason.
You may be thinking of voting for John McCain but you’re not sure. Some of you have never voted for a Republican before and in an ordinary election, you probably wouldn’t.
But this is no ordinary election, because these are not ordinary times, and John McCain is no ordinary candidate. You may not agree with John McCain on every issue.
But you can always count on him to be straight with you about where he stands, and to stand for what he thinks is right regardless of politics.
As President, you can count on John McCain to be a restless reformer, who will clean up Washington and get our government working again for you!
So tonight, I ask you whether you are an Independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when you vote for President, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.
Vote for the leader who, since the age of 17, when he raised his hand and took an oath to defend and protect our Constitution, has always put our country first.
So, let’s come together to make a great American patriot our next great President!Â
Add comment September 2nd, 2008
Don’t know about you but I’m perplexed that the Rev. James Meeks, a Chicago pastor and member of the Illinois legislature, went ahead with his student boycott of Chicago public schools.
What a great example to set for the kiddies! Stay out of school. That’ll help you get smart.
Meeks says that Chicago public schools, which spend $11,500 per student, are underfunded!!!!!!!! That’s more than Rockford spends! It’s certainly adequate to offer a challenging education.
Meeks isn’t satisfied. He took children north to the New Trier district to register for school, which of course they couldn’t do, probably bewildering the children. New Trier spends $17,500 per student. Yes, they do. But they are taxing themselves more to do it. The way the state school formula is constructed, well-off districts like New Trier get little money from state coffers.
Meeks believes kids shouldn’t be assigned to schools according to where they live. He likens it to apartheid in the old South Africa.
But most Americans of all races want neighborhood schools. It’s what the original desegregation suits were all about — black children were not allowed to go to nearby white schools in their neighborhoods. They sued for the right to attend them. They won.
If Chicago schools were grossly underfunded, I could see making a fuss. But they are not. The fact is, concerned parents scrape money together in Chicago to send their children to private schools, which spend much less per student, so their children can get a better education.
Rather than demand more money, I’d rather see Meeks put pressure on the Democrats to stand up to the powerful teachers union lobby. Demand that they lift the lid on the low number of charter schools allowed. Demand that they pass a voucher law to allow economically disadvantaged parents the choice of where to send their children to school.
Demand merit pay and accountability for teachers.
And finally, work to build a culture of respect for learning from the community, so that adults are constantly reaffirming the fact that education is valuable, and that going to school and doing your best is the only ticket to a better future.
Then, I reckon the Rev. Meeks would see some results. Throwing more money at a dysfunctional school won’t work.
1 comment September 2nd, 2008
Just to set the record straight: I like Sarah Palin. The fact that she was in a separatist party for awhile actually makes me more likely to vote for a McCain/Palin ticket. It shows she’s independent minded, not necessarily independence-minded.
6 comments September 2nd, 2008
Some anoymous (aren’t they all?) blogger wants to know where I discovered that the Palins were members in the 1990s of the Alaskan Indepence Party. I guess he/she thinks I made the whole thing up. No. I don’t make stuff up, and I’m not hiding behind anonymity like most people who post here. You all know who I am, and how to reach me.
Here’s where I read about Sarah’s past connection to the AIP: The New York Times, the Anchorage Daily News, CBS, ABC, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.
You may also watch Palin’s cheery welcoming and affirming video message to the Alaskan Independence Party’s 2008 convention here:
2 comments September 2nd, 2008
This will get me in trouble, but On the Waterfront is getting very stale. It’s too big, too spread out, too expensive, and the bands for the most part are people you can hear around the Rock River Valley in more intimate and less expensive venues.
The festival should be re-purposed. And, as I’ve advocated for years, Rockford should take a cue from Milwaukee and build a festival grounds for future Waterfronts. Permanent stages, concessions and restroom buildings are now a hallmark of Summerfest. The perfect place for this is the old railroad yard south of downtown, largely a ghost town of inactivity and falling down buildings.
Of course, it would require heavy lifting from a mayoral administration that believes in downtown, to transform this piece of nothing into a beautiful fairgrounds and permanent home for OTW and other festivals.
I’m waiting for one of those administrations to show up. Any day now, Godot, eh?
6 comments September 2nd, 2008
To those of you making data-free observations about my Sarah Palin posts pertaining to her original support for “the Bridge to Nowhere” in Ketchikan, and her ability to snag $27 million in earmarks for Wasilla, Alaska when she was mayor.
She was an enthusiastic advocate for the bridge when she RAN for governor. When she became governor she flip-flopped and opposed it. I did not make this up. I got it from the Anchorage Daily News, which you’re probably going to label a member of the elite, east coast New York media.
As mayor, she hired an elite, Washington lobbying firm with close ties to Alaska’s corrupt senator, Ted Stevens, and congressman Don Young. She was able to secure earmarks for things that improved her community.
If you have read any of my columns over the years (which evidently you have NOT) you will know that I am an enthusiastic supporter of earmarks as long as they are for needed projects. I have lamented the fact that our local leaders HAVE NOT been aggressive in securing earmarks, especially our Rockford mayors, who act as if Washington, D.C. didn’t exist.
it’s only been in recent years that the leaders of the Chicago Rockford International Airport have gotten aggressive and formed strong relationships with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and with U.S.Rep. Don Manuzllo, R-Egan, that we’ve gotten earmarks, primarily for the airport and for the U.S. courthouse now going up downtown.
But I think $27 million for a town of under 10,000, as Wasilla is, is a darned good job.
What I wrote, HAD YOU BEEN PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION, drew attention to the fact that Sen. John McCain, who picked her as running-mate, is unilaterally opposed to any and all earmarks. He has not asked for any earmarks for Arizona. He wants to end all of them.
I think this would be a disaster for politically unconnected regions like Rockford. So, yes, I favor earmarks. Which you would have known had you been paying attention.
And no, “Uncle Bouncy,” or whatever your real name is, states cannot negotiate treaties with other nations. One more time, Alaska worked to bring a Canadian company to the state. Governors do this all the time. A company is not a country. repeat that 50 times, please. WE WILL HAVE A TEST.
As Charles Box frequently reminds me, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
1 comment September 2nd, 2008
Why am I writing all this stuff about Sarah Palin? well, it’s obvious that the Republicans didn’t vet her, and John McCain only talked to her briefly. Nobody in Alaska seems to have been asked by the mcCainiacs about her.
So you might say i’m helping to vet the new veep candidate. Hey, somebody’s got to do it.
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | Oct » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
