http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport 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. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:24:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Not all Republicans have lined up in opposition to the federal government buying Thomson state prison and using it as a federal maximum security prison with a separate wing for Taliban and Al Qaida terrorists currently housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Obama has pledged to close ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/17/sacia-strongly-supports-plan-to-buy-thomson-prison-for-gitmo-detainees/ U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan, joined the Bachmann-Levin Overdrive rally Thursday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, to denounce the Democrats' 1,990 page health care bill, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi will call for a vote Saturday. (Bachman is U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, and Levin is neocon radio host Mark ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/06/manzullo-to-pelosi-tear-up-this-bill/ Dan Hynes,  who is running for governor against Gov. Pat Quinn in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary, is running a TV ad that features a statement Quinn made at an April 23 meeting of the RRS Editorial Board. (Hynes is the Illinois comptroller.) In the snipped of the meeting Hynes' ad ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/04/hynes-ad-hits-quinn-on-tax-quote-he-made-at-register-star-editorial-board/ Before anyone starts crowing about Democrat Bill Owens' win in New York's 23rd Congressional District, he did win with 49 percent, a large minority, but still a minority. This was more a grudge match between moderate and conservative Republicans for the soul of the party; Owens was the beneficiary by default. This ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/04/muddled-message-in-new-yorks-23rd-congressional-district/ Tuesday's off-year election victories for Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey should send a caution signal to Democrats who run Congress and President Obama: You've gone too far left, come back to the center-right, where the majority of the country's voters are. Frankly, I'm horrified at the Democrats' idea of health ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/03/voters-tell-democrats-youve-gone-too-far-left/ It's become an item of faith among conservative commentators that Ronald Reagan's 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall -- "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" -- resulted in the actual wall coming down two years later, when he was out of office. That  is not how former President George H. W. ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/11/03/bush-41-gives-gorbachev-the-most-credit-for-berlin-walls-tumble-in-1989/ I see that Winnebago County is synchronizing the traffic lights on Perryville to make it easier for drivers to go from north to south and vice-versa. That's nice. Now, whatever happened to the synchronized lights on East State Street? Remember, it wasn't that long ago when the city of Rockford ballyhooed ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/10/31/whatever-happened-to-east-state-street-traffic-light-syncrhonization/ Congressman Don Manzullo, R-Egan, has filmed a video of himself, commenting on the House Democrats' 1,990 page health care reform bill. Manzullo doesn't like what he's reading. The bill contains a hefty tax on medical appliances, which will add to the cost of health care for everyone, he says. It ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/10/30/manzullo-makes-video-critique-of-democrats-1990-page-health-care-bill/ Excellent Oct. 29 column by Peggy Noonan on the inability of government to be imaginative enough to solve problems. In short, whether it's state, local or federal, our leaders dont' have a clue. Read it HERE: http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/10/30/peggy-noonans-column-is-right-on-the-mark/ Want to read the new, House of Representatives health care bill? It was just introduced today. The new bill has nearly doubled in page-count from the old one. The new bill, which does contain a mild version of a public option, is a whopping 1,990 pages. And if you have a ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/sweenyreport/2009/10/29/read-the-new-house-of-reps-health-care-bill-all-1990-pages-worth/