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The Three Republicans Who Are Running as “Democrats” in the March 20th Primary Election

by , posted on Saturday, February 17th, 2018 at 11:12 pm

The Kane County Board is composed of 24 district-elected members (10 Democrats and 14 Republicans) and one at-large executive (Chris Lauzen – Republican). In the March 20,  Democratic Primary Election, Democrats in at least three districts will have, sadly, an opportunity to vote for a Lauzen-backed Republican who is running as a Democrat.  In a 4th county board district race in Elgin, a progressive Democrat is challenging a regular Democrat who votes with Lauzen for his austerity budget.

Republican Chris Lauzen has not shied away from his overt effort to infiltrate the Democratic Party with Republican candidates.  There have been at least two newspaper articles on the topic. The Daily Herald reports, “Chairman Lauzen backing some Democrats in Kane Board Races.”  The Beacon News (Trib affiliate) hits the nail a little more squarely on the head with their story, “Lauzen helped recruit candidates challenging Democrats running in Kane County primary races.”

Here is a letter that Chris Lauzen wrote to Republicans and his supporters in the district’s that he is targeting to change.

Meet the real Democrats and their Republican challengers below.

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Why this veteran is supporting Traci Ellis

by , posted on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018 at 10:00 am

* Initially posted on the Progressives of Kane County Facebook page

When I enlisted in the US Navy in August of 1995 I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  I did not swear an oath to pledge to a flag or stand during the national anthem.  My pledge was to uphold a legal document that this nation’s democracy was founded on by a group of idealists who wanted a more equal form of government.  Traci Ellis pic 2

The flag debate was recently re-visited when U-46 (Elgin, IL) School Board member, Traci Ellis made a controversial statement abou the flag.  But that is not the purpose of this blog.

I am hoping the readers of this short essay ask themselves an important question – “why do I say the pledge or why don’t I say the pledge?”  Plato said that the unexamined life is not worth living.  So, if you are a flag pledger and anthem stander, “why?”  If you sit, kneel and refuse to repeat with the rest of the herd, “why?”   (more…)

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“NO TPP” Signs Became Banner of Resistance on the Floor of the Democratic Convention

by , posted on Sunday, July 31st, 2016 at 11:57 am

Sanders Delegates Started To Change the Conversation on TPP at DNC:

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NO TPP signs become banner of resistance during Democratic convention

I will never forget the rush that swept through me on my first night at the Wells Fargo Center while looking into a sea of “NO TPP” signs that quickly became the banner of resistance to the oligarchy that surrounded us on the convention floor.  I panned the 180 degrees and looked at the thousands of Democratic insiders, wealthy donors, and lobbyists that watched us chant “No T-P-P!” from their seats and VIP boxes above us.  We were not supposed to be here – this was not our party, yet, we were here.  Thank you Bernie Sanders!  The Democratic Party is still loyal to their corporate donors, but we silenced the pro-TPP voices at the Democratic convention.

Despite the fact that the convention hall was filled with “NO TPP” signs, neither President Obama (who supports the TPP), or Democratic nominee Clinton (who, as of today, opposes the TPP) mentioned the words, “TPP” in their prime-time speeches before the assembly of delegates and party leaders at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week.

Speaking in favor of the TPP would have caused a loud, “boo” from delegates.

Speaking against the TPP would have caused the wealthy corporate donors hiding in VIP boxes to tightly grip their wallets.

The speakers, just like the Democratic platform, remained silent on the TPP issue.  The real victory is how we used an interruption strategy to help shape the narrative on the convention floor despite the fact that it was a highly orchestrated, four-day charade with endless anti-Trump speeches, very few votes, and zero meaningful discussions or debates.

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Hillary Clinton Refuses to Unify the Democrats on the TPP – July 9th DNC Platform Meeting Update

by , posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2016 at 2:24 pm

During the DNC platform committee meetings, Hillary Clinton surrogates stood with their presumptive nominee in opposing any efforts to take a clear stance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and better unify the party.

You can watch the C-SPAN debate on Amendment 93 here at roughly 18:30 in the C-SPAN video – Day 2, Part 1.

The first round of TPP discussions came when Lee Saunders (AFSCME), a Clinton surrogate, initiated Amendment 93, that opposed free trade agreements that do not have protections for workers’ rights and environmental standards. The Saunders amendment did not specifically state opposition to the TPP.

Ben Jealous (former NAACP President), a Sanders surrogate, jumped on the opportunity and sought to amend the Saunders amendment by adding the words, “and that’s why we oppose the TPP.” The parliamentary procedure by Jealous created a vote on the full Saunders Amendment plus the words, “and that’s why we oppose the TPP.” The Jealous Amendment failed.

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We need to undercut President Obama’s TPP at the Democratic Convention

by , posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2016 at 7:07 pm

At the last Democratic Party Platform Committee meeting in St. Louis, Secretary Clinton’s surrogates on the platform committee voted to keep the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) off of the platform agenda.  We also saw the language and strategy that they are employing to allow the Clinton campaign to quietly shift positions on the TPP; giving the Obama Administration one last chance to pass this disastrous trade bill.

According to the Washington Post, during the platform meeting, Rep. Elijah Cummings (Clinton) said, “I don’t want to do anything as he ends his term to undercut the president of the United States.”

Dr. Cornel West (Sanders) effectively countered Cummings when he said, “the responsibilities of citizenship should transcend loyalty to the president.”

I would like to go a step further – We need to undercut President Obama’s TPP.  It is not good for America or working people anywhere in the world.  It is not good for the environment.  The TPP extinguishes democracy; replacing it with corporate government. We don’t need the TPP.  The president is wrong and he needs to reverse his position on the TPP.  The time to send this message is at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.  If you need to read more about the TPP, this in-depth analysis from Public Citizen titled, “Secret TPP Text Unveiled: It is worse than we thought,” is worth the read.

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Empty Rhetoric or Will President Obama Propose Legislation to Strengthen Social Security?

by , posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 at 11:54 am

Mr. President where is your legislative proposal to increase and strengthen Social Security?

As the National Democratic Party Attempts to steer their corporate candidate into the white house, they are now openly wooing progressive voters with empty rhetoric.  The first salvo of false promises comes from the sitting president.  Sandwiched between 2008 and 2016 rhetoric promising to increase Social Security, the president actually proposed cutting Social Security as part of a “grand bargain.”

Please sign my petition that calls on President Obama to introduce legislation that would back up his campaign rhetoric.  Watch this video of Bernie Sanders defending Social Security after proposing legislation that accomplish President Obama’s rhetorical goals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxPesrGOEcc 

 

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School Board President Annette Johnson verbally abuses District 131 Staff

by , posted on Monday, April 18th, 2016 at 5:48 am

This is an audio file of District 131 President Annette Johnson verbally assaulting and threatening district employees.  When I was elected, I had heard rumors of this kind of behavior, which Annette’s supporters call, “passionate.”  But, this smoking gun proof is downright scary.

There should be no room for bullying – students bullying each other, teachers bullying students, administrators bullying staff and, the board bullying either staff or administration.

Please sign my petition calling for Annette Johnson to resign.

Sadly, District 131 has had enough bad ink spilled over Ms. Johnson’s antics.  And, my preference was to resolve this issue quietly.  I asked Ms. Johnson to resign.  She said that she would not. So, our only hope now is that we put enough community pressure on her to vacate her position on the board.

Annette is a lawsuit waiting to happen.  Worse yet, if District 131 board members are serious about finding a new administrator that can move the district forward, they need to recognize that it will not happen as long as this reckless behavior is driving the district’s decision-making.  For the good of the district, I will happily remove this post when she resigns.

People gave me a hard time when I called on Denny Hastert to resign in 2006 after he covered up sexually inappropriate behavior between Representative Mark Foley and a young male page.  I know that where there is smoke, there is typically fire.  It turns out that I was right about Denny Hastert.

And, I am confident that the tape recording of Ms. Johnson is not an isolated incident.  If you have witnessed this kind of behavior with Ms. Johnson, feel free to leave an anonymous post.  If you have the courage to share it with the rest of the board, better yet.  I recognize that Johnson uses terror-tactics to drive fear into those she seeks to control.  Indeed, she verbally assaulted me one night after I voted against her wishes over the expulsion of a kid.

Or, feel free to contact me or any other board member if you have experienced this kind of behavior – 630.878.7454.

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Oswego RTW: Rauner’s right-to-poverty zone

by , posted on Monday, March 30th, 2015 at 1:55 pm

The Illinois AFL-CIO received notice that the Oswego Village Board will consider a Bruce Rauner initiated resolution supporting the creation of a Right to Work Zone in Oswego. Besides being illegal under the National Labor Relations Act, right to work zones create a “race to the bottom” pitting community against community and further erode the gains made by the Illinois middle class.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued an opinion explaining that Illinois law does not authorize or recognize right to work zones created by any unit of local government in Illinois.

Please contact the members of the Oswego Village Board today (phone and email below) and let them know that Right to Work in any form is wrong for Illinois.

Call To Action! Please pass along this message to people who can attend this Tuesday night’s Oswego Village Board Meeting.
The Oswego Village Board, under the President’s Report, will be presenting a resolution in support of the Rauner “turnaround plan”, known also as “enterprise zones” or “right-to-work zones”, for review and discussion this Tuesday, March 31st , @ 7 pm immediately following the Committee of the Whole, which starts at 6 pm. Oswego Village Hall, 100 Parkers Mill, Oswego, IL.

PUBLIC FORUM IS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING. YOU MUST SIGN IN TO SPEAK.

http://www.oswegoil.org/PDF/2015.03.31regvb.pdf .

If you cannot attend, call Steve Jones @ 630-551-2360 and ask him to remove this resolution from Tuesday’s agenda.

Oswego Village President:
Brian LeClercq
bleclercq@oswegoil.org
630-554-1555

Oswego Village Board of Trustees:

Tony Giles
tgiles@oswegoil.org

Terry Michels
tmichels@oswegoil.org

Gail Johnson
gjohnson@oswegoil.org

Pam Parr
pparr@oswegoil.org

Judy Sollinger
jsollinger@oswegoil.org

Scott Volpe
svolpe@oswegoil.org

To leave a voicemail for any of the Village Board of Trustees, please call the Village’s main number at 630-554-3618.

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Two January Events Focus on Charter Proliferation/Privatization

by , posted on Wednesday, January 8th, 2014 at 3:16 pm

In Chicago Rahm Emanuel has closed 50 “underutilized” public schools and is rapidly replacing them with charter schools.  The unelected board of education (CPS) will consider 21 total charter applications on January 22nd.

Additionally, a stacked, special “charter school funding task force” put together by Springfield lawmakers and led by State Rep., Dan Burke, will come out with their “findings” prior to the general assembly returning to session (Jan 28th).  We expect that Dan Burke will be recommending more money for charter schools – big surprise (possibly at a Jan 13th task force meeting).  And, what a waste considering that the “too broke to pay the bills and pensioners” general assembly gave UNO (in Dan Burke’s district) $98 million dollars that was wasted on scandal-riddled construction projects.

The hedge fund managers and their politicians (Rahm, Rauner, Madigan, etc.) are not going to stop their privatization assault on public schools so we need to push back. You can help by attending and bringing a friend to either the Jan 14th event in Chicago, or the second event in the suburbs scheduled on Jan 23rd.

Event details and flyers are below the fold. (more…)

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Thanksgiving Walmart Solidarity Action at Aurora Walmart – Pay a Living Wage

by , posted on Friday, November 29th, 2013 at 8:20 am

About 35-40 activists braved the cold on Thanksgiving evening at the Walmart on the corner of Butterfield Rd. and Kirk Rd. in Aurora, IL.   Thanks to the Northern Illinois Light Brigade (NILB), we had beautiful, lighted signs that shoppers and ongoing traffic could see.  The signs read, “Living Wage Now!” and “Fight for $15”  You can check out some of the photos that will eventually be loaded to the NILB Facebook page.

The action was peaceful and our really cool lighted signs earned a number of honks from holiday travelers.  There was a bit of controversy when we approached the Walmart store.  A number of security guards attempted to stop us from taking up a spot in front of the store and told us that “we had to leave now or they would call the police.”  We stayed for 3-5 minutes and chanted, “Low Pay is not OK” and “hey-hey, ho-ho, the poverty wages have to go!”

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