Archive for August, 2009
August 11th, 2009
Tired of all the hype surrounding the health care bill? Me, too. Unfortunately, that’s about all we’re hearing, from both the right and the left.
Please read the bill. It’s easy to do, but it will take some time, because it’s more than 1,000 pages long. Find it at www.thomas.gov., the Library of Congress Web site.
For instance, one of the mantras repeated on rightwing shock radio (WROK being Rockford’s more notorious example) is that the government will force the taxpayesr to pay for coverage of illegal aliens.
Here’s what the bill says:
SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.
August 10th, 2009
“Organizing For America,” which is President Obama’s permanent campaign, sent me an e-mail Sunday, urging me to visit my congressman, Don Manzullo, a Republican, and urge him to support health care reform, which the White House is now calling insurance reform.
They told me:
“All this week, OFA members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you.
“We’ll provide everything you need: the address, phone number, and open hours for the office, information about how the health care crisis affects your state for you to drop off (with the option of adding your personal story), and a step-by-step guide for your visit.
“According to our records, you live near Rep. Don Manzullo’s office in Rockford, IL. “
August 5th, 2009
I’m doing more hunting, and from what I can gather Fitzgerald has been appointed chairman of a group he was already a member of. I believe he was appointed to that group by President Bush. So far I’ve seen nothing to indicate he’s losing his job as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. I’ll keep following it.
This story was in Main Justice on July 30– Here’s part of it:
Patrick Fitzgerald, the top prosecutor in Illinois’ Northern District, has been named interim chairman of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC).
Patrick Fitzgerald (DOJ)
In his new role, Fitzgerald will be the lead voice for the U.S. attorney community. It’s the latest high-profile assignment for America’s prosecutor, who has been busy overseeing the prosecution of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), bringing down mortgage fraudsters, and fighting with journalists.
H. Marshall Jarrett, director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, made the announcement earlier this month in a memo to the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys.
The committee, which represents the views of the nation’s top prosecutors and molds law enforcement policy, has dwindled in size as Bush-era appointees have headed for the exit. Fitzgerald replaces Karin Immergut, the former U.S. attorney in Oregon, who stepped down as chairwoman this month to become a state judge. (Fun facts: Fitzgerald and Immergut share the same birthdate — December 22, 1960 — are both from Brooklyn, and attended Amherst College together.)
Fitzgerald’s assignment is significant. It means the U.S. attorney community now has a chief ambassador with some staying power. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) recommended Fitzgerald for another term, an overture that was well-received by Attorney General Eric Holder.
August 5th, 2009
A regular letter writer and op-ed contributor to the Register Star called Editorial Page Editor Wally Haas Tuesday and said “Obama has just fired Patrick Fitzgerald,” meaning that President Obama had let go U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the Chicago-bsed federal prosecutor who locked up disgraced former governor George Ryan, Tony Rezko, and is currently preparing to try a corruption case against Rod Blagojevich, the latest disgraced former governor.
Well, Wally asked if I’d heard about Fitzgerald. I said no. We both began searching online resources, newspaper sites, did Google searches. Nothing on Fitzgerald.
I wondered where the man heard what appeared to be a non-story. AS far as I can determine, it was rightwing ranter Sean Hannity’s radio show. I listened to the nighttime rebroadcast of the hysterical anti-Obama screamer and he tossed out a line saying Obama was reassigning Fitzgerald to a Justice Department post.
If that really happened, it would have been front-page news in Chicago — and there was no mention of anything. So until otherwise informed, I’ll assume this was only news on Hannity’s show. You’re a Great American.
August 5th, 2009
When I was a kid my parents sent me to St. Patrick’s School, back when that school had 972 students, and was the largest school in the Rockford Diocese. We had two sites in those days — the early 1960s — the “new building” on School Street and the old school on Royal Avenue, which housed 7th and 8th grades.
As the Catholics left the area, the school gradually dwindled to no more than a couple hundred students when the church pulled the plug in the ’90s.
It’s been sad to see the sturdy School Street building, constructed in 1953-54 with another wing added in 1958, empty of school kids all these years. The church has kept it up and running, and has used it for various purposes. So it it hasn’t been allowed to fall apart and is still in good shape.
Tonight I drove by the old school — and it was lighted like a Christmas tree. There were people inside, turning it into — a school! Ah yes, the same green chalkboards were there. Green boards? Yes. It’s St. PATRICK’s School, after all.
The old St. Pat’s will become the Galapagos Charter School later this month.
Does my heart good to see my old school back on line again. I hope the new kids enjoy the building. I know I did.
August 1st, 2009
U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, has pushed for sometime for his legislation that would provide government cash in the form of dealer vouchers to anyone buying a new car — any new car. Democrats didn’t like that, and instead came up with “cash for clunkers,” a program to provide $4,500 to people who trade in certain old, gas-guzzlers for new, fuel-efficient models. The program was so successful that it ran out of its original $1 billion allocation in less than a week. Congress rushed Friday to send in another $2 billion.
But Manzullo says the program’s runaway success proves there is a pent-up demand for new cars and urges once again that the program be expanded to include all new car purchases, regardless of trade ins. His plan would provide $5,000 to anyone who buys a new car. The voucher would be applied at the dealership.
Manzullo says every million in new vehicle sales creates a total of 60,000 jobs throughout the economy, provides $750 million in taxes to the U.S. government, provides $1.4 billion in sales taxes to the states, and saves $1.4 billion in unemployment payments, food payments, job retraining costs and COBRA medical insurance costs.
Manzullo voted in favor of Friday’s bill to give “cash for clunkers” an additional $2 billion.
Next Posts
