bridget in the sixth

Roskam Votes Against Unemployment Extension

2009-09-23T20:20:00.003-05:00

Millions of unemployed Americans will be breathing a sigh of relief this week. The House just voted overwhelmingly to extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks to people in 27 states where unemployment rates top 8.5%, among them Illinois.

The roll call is here.

ILLINOIS

Democrats — Bean, Y; Costello, Y; Davis, Y; Foster, Y; Gutierrez, X; Halvorson, Y; Hare, Y; Jackson, X; Lipinski, Y; Quigley, Y; Rush, X; Schakowsky, Y.

Republicans — Biggert, Y; Johnson, Y; Kirk, X; Manzullo, Y; Roskam, NO; Schock, Y; Shimkus, Y.

NOTICE ANYTHING UNUSUAL?? Yeah, me neither! Yet again, Creepy Pete Roskam votes against the interests of his district. Not only that, he is the ONLY member of the IL GOP House delegation to vote against it. If you check out the link, you'll also notice that some of the most conservative members of the House voted FOR the extension. Among them the ENTIRE Indiana GOP delegation and the infamous anti-immigrant crusader, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.

I'm from that neighborhood. I've spent the better part of my 31 years in that neighborhood. I know an awful lot of people there and A LOT of them are out of work and in a very tough spot.

SHAME on you, Pete Roskam. You've really outdone yourself this time.

Hat tip to Adam Doster over at Progress Illinois.

Who will challenge Creepy Pete in IL-06?

2009-09-01T17:24:00.004-05:00

So petitions have started and apparently there isn't a Democrat yet running in IL-06. Jill Morgenthaler has told me said she needs significant support from DC in order to run. I'm assuming that means she needs significant support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as well as other Democratic and progressive-leaning PAC's and institutions.

In other words, these fools better not leave her hanging if she decides to take on ol' Creepy again. Last time around, it was pretty apparent that she didn't get the kind of resources and institutional support allocated to Tammy Duckworth's campaign in 2006. She was largely left to fend for herself as a first time candidate. It went as well as could be expected, even in the year of President Barack Obama. A badly planned and executed campaign will turn out badly, almost without question.

So far as I can tell, Jill Morgenthaler is our best bet to beat Creepy Pete. I'm hoping she runs.

Treat Your Mama Right

2009-05-10T20:46:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all the mothers out there!

Congressman Quigley!

2009-04-09T08:31:00.002-05:00

A few days late, but what the heck...

¡ CONGRATULATIONS !
CONGRESSMAN QUIGLEY

Love,
Rosána Pulído

Contribution Limits in IL? Maybe...

2009-04-08T15:08:00.005-05:00

I consider myself pretty fortunate to be represented by Senator Heather Steans. In addition to credibly moving progressive issues in Senate, she's asserted herself as a non-nonsense voice for reform in IL government. And, as we're all too aware, Illinois government certainly has it's share of nonsense.

Of particular note is that Senator Steans is the chief cosponsor of SB1768 which would enact campaign contribution limits in IL.

Currently, Illinois is the the wild west of campaign finance, with very little restrictions on who can give and how much. According to current law, a single person, a corporation, or a political action committee can bankroll a political campaign to the tune of endless millions of dollars. The only requirement is that contributions over $150 must be reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections. I'm sure I don't need to illustrate the problems this creates.

Next week, along with State Rep. Harry Osterman, Senator Steans will be hosting a town hall meeting on ethics reform at Loyola University.

It's a Golden Opportunity... For Reform
A town hall meeting on ethics

Host: State Senator Heather Steans, State Representative Harry Osterman, and Loyola University

Date: Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Location: Mundelein Center at Loyola University (1020 W. Sheridan Ave)

Featured Speakers
* Scott Turow, Best-selling author, current member and first chair
of the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission
* Cindi Canary, Executive Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform

Join State Representative Harry Osterman and Senator Heather Steans
for a discussion on ethics reform in Illinois and learn what you can
do to get involved in passing ethics reform legislation in Illinois.

Co-sponsoring organizations include: Northside Democracy for America, Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organization, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, League of Women Voters Chicago, Citizen Action/Illinois, Loyola University, Emanuel Congregation, Rogers Park Community Council, Edgewater Community Council, Loyola Inside Government, Loyola College Democrats, AARP, Alderman Joseph Moore, and more

Congressman Quigley and Rosána Pulído

2009-03-05T22:35:00.003-06:00

As if you haven't heard already, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley won the special election Democratic primary to replace Rahm Emanuel for the 5th CD.

Everybody's favorite Minutemen spokeswoman, Rosána Pulído, won the Republican primary.

Say it with me, folks:

"roh-SAH-nuh - poo-LEE-doh"

And remember to roll that "r". She really loves that.

5th CD Forum Fun

2009-02-03T12:06:00.004-06:00

On Sunday, I briefly went to the 5th CD Forum sponsored by Northside DFA, DePaul Democrats, and WCPT Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio. I say "briefly" because I had to leave almost right away. My friend had been parking the car and by the time she came in they were over capacity and wouldn't let her in! There was tremendous turnout! And on Superbowl Sunday to boot. Amazing. Northside DFA did a ton of promotion for the event and I'm sure the other groups did as well.

The general consensus seems to be that the large number of candidates hindered the amount of information being presented. I'm all for only inviting only the viable candidates, but I suppose that wouldn't be very democratic, would it? Northside DFA is a lot more fair than I am! ;)

Mike Fourcher has a recap of the frum on Mechanics here.
You can download a podcast of the event here.

I hear there's going to be YouTube video of the forum, but I haven't found it yet.

And the Granolaheads shall inherit the earth...

2009-01-02T15:47:00.004-06:00

I love this song by Michael Franti and Spearhead, "Say Hey - I Love You". It's my morning get-up-to-it jam at the moment.

I also love this one by Franti, "Have a Little Faith in Me".

What can I say? I'm renewing my love for all things hippie, love, granolahead at the moment. The world needs more of this business, as I've become keenly aware recently.

One Love,

Bridget

While I'm at it...I love Edith Piaf, too

2009-01-02T16:05:00.004-06:00

Singing "Milord" on an American TV show, first with the translation. This song is my cellphone's ringtone at the moment, so it's always on my mind. Edith Piaf sparkled. If you haven't seen "La Vie en Rose" yet, you absolutely must.

Updates

2008-12-28T14:27:00.002-06:00

Several self-proclaimed "fans" of my blog have recently called me out on my lack of updates. One suggested I make it my New Year's resolution to update more frequently. So I shall, interesting content or not!

So I've been off of work for 10 straight days at this point and won't be back until January 5th. I have tons of time on my hands, most of my friends seem to be out of town, and I just don't care about making big plans. I fooled around with the idea of joining friends skiing in Wisconsin, but I think I'll wait until early February to plan a ski trip. I've been cooking, working on art projects, hanging out with the peeps who are in town and, of course, catching up on the latest garbage reality TV. Last night I went to a ska show at the Metro, bringing back many fond memories!

My newest favorite reality shows are "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Rob and Big". The Housewives are the most materialistic, petty, hilarious women on TV. Trainwrecks to the core. Rob and Big are two best friends with an English bulldog named Meaty and a mini horse named Minnie. They drive the horse around in their SUV, which seems like it would smell. Rob is a pro skateboarder and Big is a record producer.

We're all waiting to see what happens with Governor Blago. Note that the video I posted of my friend's kid was several weeks before Blago's arrest! Prophetic!

Eartha Kitt has passed

2008-12-26T15:22:00.001-06:00

Eartha Kitt has passed away from colon cancer. What a shame. She was wonderful.

Mission Accomplished!

2007-04-18T15:01:00.001-05:00

So I succeeded in sweeping the floor with Jim Nesbitt in Aurora's 3rd ward yesterday. Stephanie Kifowit was reelected with 72.3% of the vote and won nearly every precinct by at least a 3 to 1 margin. The exception was Nesbitt's home precinct which she won by 15 votes. The final results are:

STEPHANIE KIFOWIT 1029 72.3%
JAMES R. NESBITT 391 27.5%
Write-in 40 4 0.3%

Nesbitt ran a pretty dirty campaign, accusing Stephanie of all kinds of things that she didn't do. He ran a full mail program with 5 or 6 pieces of mostly negative mail (they were all negative, but some had a positive blurb about Nesbitt) created by the popular Strategy Group mailhouse. He was woefully uninformed about Stephanie's record and turned to blatant lies when it appeared that he wasn't doing so well.

Like a mentioned briefly before, there were some very strange dynamics in this race and some very powerful people involved. Openline Blog has some speculative background on this issue, though I am not sure how accurate any of it is.

All I know is that it seems very weird to me that various members of Michael Madigan's staff were involved here and were spotted on election day. I wish I knew what this was all about.

Her victory was the result of a lot of hard work from a broad coalition of folks in the community. This includes the Association of Professional Police Officers of Aurora, Aurora AFSCME, the Aurora Letter Carriers Union, the Aurora Boilermakers Union, and many other dedicated volunteers, Republicans and Democrats alike.

Much love to Marilou and Fernando Chapa for lending us the use of the Chapa Realty office and phone system. The Chapa family are the best!

UPDATE:

Precinct by precinct vote totals:

Stephanie Nesbitt
Precinct 1 = 94, 16

Precinct 2 = 139, 28 (Stephanie's home precinct)

Precinct 3 = 176, 159 (that's mostly Hometown, where Nesbitt lives)

Precinct 4 = 118, 36

Precinct 5 = 100, 20

Precinct 6 = 91, 27

Precinct 7 = 89, 32

Precinct 8 = 131, 46 (heavily canvassed by the police union and major Hispanic GOTV push by the Boilermakers)

Precinct 9 = 8, 1 (note that only 1 person voted in 9 in the primary!)

Precinct 10 =83, 26

Total votes cast in primary = 659
Total votes cast in general = 1424

46% increase in total voter turnout

Total votes cast for Kifowit in primary = 390
Total votes cast for Kifowit in general = 1029

38% increase in total Kifowit voter turnout

UPDATE:
Madigan's staff denied any involvement in this race. They said all of their folks were in Chicago.

"L" is for Blago

2007-07-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

Fellow DuPage activist Seth Arkin of Operation Turn DuPage Blue saw Blago at the Cubs game the other day. His reaction is quite appropriate, though he claims he was just saying that the Cubs are #1. Uh huh.

Showing some discretion

2007-08-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

With the upcoming AFL-CIO Presidential debate just days away, people are buzzing about what is or is not appropriate behavior at the event. The AFL-CIO has not endorsed and isn't expected to do so anytime soon. Because of that, the AFL-CIO members, for whom this event is being held, have been asked to show some discretion and not campaign for any particular candidate at the event.

Union endorsements are handled in a particular, organized fashion by their members. Knowledgeable political candidates are aware of this and show respect towards the members by honoring their processes.

Given that, one has to wonder why IL-14 House candidate John Laesch finds it an appropriate thing to do to spend his and his volunteers' time at the debate fleecing union members who have not endorsed him for political donations.

In a comment entry he posted on the Daily Kos blog, John describes how he plans to do just that at the AFL-CIO debate on August 7th:

"Hey, I have tickets to the Aug. 7th Presidential debate (hosted by the AFL-CIO) if you want to come out and canvass for Laesch.

We are going to be looking for small $25 contributions from union members - I am a Union Carpenter and they should be supportive of our candidacy.

Call the office 630.385.8568 if you want to come... this afternoon we are distributing petitions for ballot access.

Cheers,
jdl"

Democratic Congressional Candidate (IL CD 14) www.john08.com We The People - It Says It All!
by John Laesch on Sun Aug 05, 2007 at 07:40:59 AM PDT

One would think that John Laesch, as a union member, former campaign staffer, and failed congressional candidate, would be well aware of the endorsement processes that unions employ. I suspect he is and is simply choosing to disrespect the process.

Daniel Biss kicks it off!

2007-08-19T21:31:00.001-05:00

Hmm, I am not sure if "kicks it off" is something that normal human beings say. Anyway...

Today my good friend Luis and I joined Northside DFA for Daniel Biss' kickoff rally and petition canvass. Daniel is the Democratic candidate for 17th District State Rep.

With the place packed to the rafters, Daniel was given rousing endorsements by Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Debra Shore, Rep. Lou Lang, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

I have to admit that I was wondering what kind of turnout Daniel would get given the torrential downpours earlier in the day. Luckily, it didn't seem to deter a soul! I suppose that's how it goes when people consider a candidate truly "one of their own".

Daniel has been working towards the same goals as so many of us for years now.
He truly is one of ours.
I am proud and excited to support his run for state rep. and I'm looking forward to contributing to his big WIN in November '08!

Jilly's Devil Page: America's Next Top (Cult) Model

2007-09-23T12:26:00.000-05:00

If you haven't yet checked out Jillian's blog (my crazy sister), you really should. Her latest post is based upon the premise that "America's Next Top Model is a picture perfect example of cult indoctrination practices".

Or perhaps her story of stalking Lynda Carter under the el tracks is more up your alley.

Truly fascinating crap!

So if you're in the mood for something far wittier and far more evil than my blog, check out Jillian's Devil Page.

Congressman Foster in the House!

2008-03-09T18:47:00.005-05:00

I haven't been posting much here because I've been busy helping out with Bill Foster's victorious run for Congress in IL-14. When I have posted, it's been at Prairie State Blue, where there's more people to talk to. Also, Georgia10 from DKos frontpaged one of my posts from PSB here. There's also a lot more bandwidth being chomped up over at PSB, so you may have trouble with the site.

I've posted over there how proud I am of Illinois Democrats coming together to get Bill elected, but it's definitely worth mentioning again. People from every corner of the state and every campaign organization or club came out to pound the pavement and make calls, including our very own Democratic candidate in IL-06, Jill Morgenthaler. This victory truly does belong to every last one of us who yearn for change in our government and won't settle for less.

Last night, after the polls closed, I spent several hours at the Aurora Election Commission watching the returns unfold with everyone's favorite Republican blogger, OneMan, who is a very cool guy. He was crushed over Oberweis' miserable defeat. I gloated for a bit but, being me, felt kind of bad for OneMan after a while (that's him in the photo).

Stupid Kiddie Political Tricks

2008-11-26T15:24:00.001-06:00

My friend Steve's adorable son, Ian, tells us about Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich.

Blue Colorado!

2008-11-07T15:39:00.002-06:00

Working on the election with the AFL-CIO in Colorado was a ton of fun! We worked our behinds off and won the state for Obama AND brand new Senator Mark Udall. We were able to defeat 2 out of the three ballot amendments we were working against, effectively saving Colorado from becoming a "right to work (for less)" state.

Like all campaigns, I made some great friends and I'll miss hanging out with them. I have plans to visit DC for the inauguration and stay with them, which is definitely something to look forward to!

I'm in Denver until Sunday, staying with family and seeing the sights. I've quickly figured out that "the sights" are few and far between in Colorado once Rocky Mountain National Park and ski resorts are weeded out. I suppose I could go to a mega-church and bask in the insanity, but I think I'll pass. At this point, I just want to hang out with the family and stare at the wall.

One of the most remarkable things about Denver is the sunshine. I have been here nearly three weeks and it's not been cloudy more than once or twice. No wonder people are unbelievably nice to each other here! They're drunk with happy sunshine.

I'll be glad to be home on Sunday. At the top of my to-do list is finding a new place. The Clubhouse has lost it's quaintness and is now just claustrophobic. Especially since I have decided to adopt a KITTY!!!!! I've been on Petfinder.org like it's porn. I have my eye on several beautiful, blue kittens. I just can't quit the magical blue kitties.

Off to Denver

2008-10-18T23:38:00.002-05:00

As if this blog wasn't dead enough lately, I will be going to Denver for the next two weeks on behalf of my union. I'll be working with the AFL-CIO's Labor 2008 political operation to elect Barack and Mark Udall as well as defeat 3 anti-labor ballot referenda. I'm super excited, but a little sad that I'll be missing a fabulous Bollywood themed Halloween bash. I so, SO was looking forward to getting decked out in a sari and bindi with jingly jewelry. *sigh* These things just don't happen very often.

I'll also be missing my usual election night party circuit with my bestest political hack buddies and the company of a new friend. Chicago is the place to be on e-day.

Nevertheless, I am super excited to be in a swing state! That's where all the action is and I am nothing if not all about action. And scandal. Though I don't know if we want scandal in CO this year.

I'll keep ya'll posted.

Free Eggs to a Good Womb!

2008-10-14T15:08:00.003-05:00

As a friend recently remarked, this video displays nicely a "right-wing douche" Peter Roskam is. Way to go, Colonel Morgenthaler! I'm a fan of this one.

Creepy Pete Roskam sliming it up again

2008-09-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Rep. Peter Roskam has been making the claim that Jill Morgenthaler is tied to Tony Rezko. I hadn't heard about this until today when I received a statement from Jill's campaign. So, for the record, here it is:

"Despite repeated attempts by the Roskam campaign to link Tony Rezko to Jill Morgenthaler, Morgenthaler has NEVER met, spoken with, taken money from or in any way dealt with Tony Rezko.

Roskam and the Illinois Republican Party are engaging in the kind of dirty, dishonest campaigning that has made so many Americans skeptical of the political process. Rather than defending his voting record, Roskam is trying to distract the voters of the 6th District with blatant lies and is trying to sully Jill Morgenthaler’s honorable career of service to our nation and our state."

Captain Tollway

2008-08-21T08:26:00.003-05:00

And the prize for lamest superhero in the state of Illinois goes to...

CAPTAIN TOLLWAY.

Barack Rickrolling

2008-08-15T10:47:00.001-05:00

Never gonna give you up...

Illinois Review Unknowingly Promotes LGBT McCain Event

2008-08-08T21:15:00.001-05:00

Oops! Hahahaha.