Doug.Bach Interim State Coordinator Location: Wheaton, IL Last login: 11/14/09 RSS feed
Hey there, my name is Doug, and my profile somehow was deleted. I'll take in stride as a glitch of the new C4L IT staff working through some bugs and assume it wasn't a targeted strike by the dept of Homeland Security.
I had been politically disenfranchised for some time before realizing that there was actually a politician who has been fighting for decades on behalf of things I didn't even know were fair game in politics. That man of course is Ron Paul, and since discovering his message, I have been pretty excited about getting the word out. When I'm not ranting about the government's fiscal irresponsibility, imperialistic aggression, and general moral delinquency, I can be found building forts, kayaking, and brainstorming ways to get myself off terrorist watch lists.
Posted by Doug.Bach on 11/18/09 Last updated 11/18/09
Last Saturday, Savannah Liston and the Winnebago County Campaign for Liberty hosted a debate for 5(ish) candidates for governor. See full details of the event here, and watch the full video below.
Debate participants include:
Bruno Behrend - Policy Director on behalf of Adam Andrzejewski (Republican)
Lex Green (Libertarian)
Dan Proft (Republican)
Randy Stuffelbeam (Constitution)
Michael White (Independent)
Thanks to all candidates for participating, and to Savannah for a wonderful job organizing!
I'm leaning towards Stufflebeam. Andrzejewski is my second choice, but he doesn't sound like he's willing to properly stand up to the nationalized gov't in D.C. the way that it is now necessary.
I support Adam, he's the only one in the GOP that has any real ideas and the record to show he's not just saying things to get elected.
I think he'll stand up to DC, the problem is that the waters are murky on what a governor can do. I've had a few conversations with lawyers and others about this. It's unclear what can be done. Not that nothing can be done, it's just that the best path forward hasn't been figured out. Those conversations are happening though.
10:00 - Biden's response to the claims of government incompetence highlighted in my last post. I'll leave it to you to decide if this is a satisfying response to these charges.
15:00 - Biden infuriates me with these scare tactics and blatant lies.
Biden says:
"Had we not bailed out the largest banking institutions in the world, there would have been a depression - flat out."
Fair enough, he's probably right. But what he fails to mention or realize, is that we have not actually dodged any bullets by postponing the pain. I ask all supporters of the administration's policy of too-big-to-fail, bailouts, stimulus, and moral hazard, to challenge themselves with one simple question: When we end up in a depression despite the massive government spending - will you then listen to the Austrian explanation, or will you still continue to blindly drink the cool-aid you're handed?
Biden says:
"Economists across the board, from conservative to liberal economists all agree that you could not let [the banks] go under."
Good point, Joe. No economist has ever opposed the bailouts or the stimulus. Good thing you're not a liar. The saddest part of this whole thing is that all people like Biden need to do is continue repeating their lies, and most people will never understand they are the victims of the biggest robbery in the history of the world -- Pretty sad when even the MSM starts to get it.
As Matt Hawes pointed out yesterday, the government's stimulus spending tracker on Recovery.gov has been incredibly successful in not only creating jobs, but also in creating entirely new Congressional Districts that don't exist. But certainly Illinois is above this nonsense, right? Wrong.
The Illinois Policy Institute has run several pieces on this topic. . .
the Illinois Institute of Technology was awarded $97,900 to "purchase a high performance computer cluster" and related software. One job was listed as saved and/or created. By what means? The associated "job creation" entry surmised: "I think the vendor of the computer equipment can retain about one job for this amount of purchase."
Consider the $1,434,853 public housing construction award for the Granite City Housing Authority. Under "job creation" it notes "ARRA funds have resulted in the creation of 3.24 full time individuals." Yet the Housing Authority lists 61 jobs under "number of jobs." It's a big leap from 3 jobs to 61 jobs, yet the 61-job figure was used in calculating the statewide total of 24,448 jobs created.
and most recently another Funky Stat just posted today
For Illinois, the vast majority of jobs created/saved in the 18th congressional district, which is represented by Representative Aaron Schock (R). With 16,996.7 jobs created/saved in the 18th district. . .
A closer look at the details shows that 14,233.5 jobs created/saved in the 18th came from the Illinois State Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, which is located in Springfield.
Whether this is just another example of government incompetence or something more sinister is not something I care to waste my energy thinking about, but what I would like to point out, is that the only reason we even know about this unacceptable waste of our resources is because of the transparency in the process - and they know we can see this! Just imagine what kinds of games the Federal Reserve must be playing, given not only the enormous power they have in controlling our nation's supply of money and credit, but more importantly, that the Fed wields this power in almost absolute secrecy!
I realize I am preaching to the choir, but if this relatively tiny example of what the government does with our money when we are watching, we should seriously reevaluate just how terrified we ought to be of what they are doing with our money behind closed doors.
Posted by Doug.Bach on 11/18/09 Last updated 11/18/09
The US National debt hit $12 trillion on November 17, 2009. That's $38,974 for every man, woman, and child in the country.
For those of you keeping track, yes, this brings us dangerously close to our obviously meaningless debt limit of $12.104 trillion. I think Zero Hedge said it best: Uh-oh.
For those of you really keeping track, it was exactly 8 months ago on May 17, 2009 that the debt hit $11 trillion.
Poll: Over / Under $13 trillion in the next 8 months (July 17, 2010)?
Want to take back your country? Start in your own backyard! If the Campaign for Liberty can place liberty-minded committeeman in every precinct in the country, we can position ourselves to restore our liberties from the bottom up.
What does a committeman do and how does this help us take back our country?
Represent the party's voters at the county central committee convention to elect the county central chairman and its officers. The precinct committeeman casts a total number of party votes, (weighted vote), as cast in the precinct at the recent primary election
Attend and become involved in the party's Township meetings
Become a voter registrar and register all qualified constituents
Appoint and fill vacancies of election judges for the precinct polling place
Provide candidate and election information to the voters
Circulate petitions for candidates prior to the primary election
Become familiar with the elected officials and legislatures so the concerns of the voters can be passed on to them
This is why the position is so important. By circulating petitions for candidates and providing candidate and election information to the voters, the precinct committeeman can influence which hopeful politicans can even get on the ballot and also what message is sent to voters regarding their representativs.
Sound interesting? Give the below article a quick read, and if you think you're ready to take the plunge, get to work getting your signatures in by November 2nd! Don't like the Republican party? No problem! The Campaign for Liberty wants to see liberty-minded committeemen representing all parties, so pick your favorite and go nuts!
10 Days left to run for Republican Committeeman
Posted: October 23, 2009
By Doug Ibendahl
There is still time to be a part of the Republican Renaissance in Illinois. In fact if new people don't step-up, it won't happen.
The last day to circulate and file petitions to get on the February 2nd Primary Ballot is Monday, November 2nd. So there are 10 days left.
In all Illinois counties (except for Cook) every Republican Precinct Committeeman spot is up for election in the February 2nd Primary. There are several thousand of these volunteer spots statewide and many are currently unfilled.
Precinct Committeemen aren't elected in Cook County but the 30 Republican Township Committeeman spots are also up for election on February 2nd.
You've probably noticed that our State Party doesn't actively recruit Committeemen despite a huge vacancy rate around the state. In other states it's a given that the State GOP recruits, but not here. That's why we're picking-up the slack through the Republican Renaissance Project.
Don't just sit back and let another election slip away folks. This party belongs to you as much as it does to the old party pooh-bahs.
You have until the close of business on November 2nd to gather and file petitions for any office on the ballot in February. In the case of Republican Precinct Committeeman - you only need 10 valid signatures to get on the ballot. You could easily get twice that number (as a cushion) in half a day.
And just shoot me an email at dibendahl@ilryp.org if you still have any questions.
Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. He is Co-Founder of Republican Young Professionals (RYP).
I think being a Precinct Committeeman is one of the most important things a C4L member can do. In Wheeling Township(Cook County), the Township Committeeman Ruth O'Connell was willing to make anyone who asked that lived in the township a precinct committeeman!
In Chicago none of the positions (ward committeemen) are up until 2012, but some of us are talking about this, and would very much like to know how it all goes in other counties and around the state. Based on the way this article describes their lack of recruitment, if anything, we are saving a dysfunctional party from it's own dysfunction.
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson
Campaign for Liberty is a 501(c)4 lobbying organization which neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office and claims no responsibility for the actions of individuals or groups of individuals who use the Campaign for Liberty logo or name or who may claim to act as representatives of the Campaign for Liberty without prior written consent of the Campaign for Liberty. [?]
Interim State Coordinator
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