Archive for March, 2010

Is Water a Human Right or a Commodity?

by , posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Two days ago I arranged to have dinner with Dr. Vincent Gaddis, a professor at Benedictine University and resident of Aurora, IL.  Admittedly, the opportunity allowed me to procrastinate

on my next health care post here at the Progressive Fox, but I got a little more than that out of the experience.  I had met Dr. Gaddis at several of his speaking engagements covering topics from healthcare to his latest speech, “The United States: Leading Jailer of the World.”

We started off talking about the idea that corporations are buying more and more of our state-owned assets; from prisons to parking meters.  Then, for some reason we started talking about water, a life necessity, being sold as a commodity. 

There is talk in Chicago suggesting that Mayor Daley wants to privatize Chicago’s water system.  I told him about Citizen Action to Protect Our Water, a growing grassroots group in Chicago that seeks to stop any water privatization efforts, and he shared some disturbing news with me.  Gaddis said that T. Boone Pickens, who has been purchasing water rights in southern parts of America, now owns water rights to over 65 billion gallons of water!  I did a quick Google search and found this article on the topic.

Before we parted ways, Dr. Gaddis invited me to attend a symposium on the topic featuring Fred Pearce, author of the book, When the Rivers Run Dry: Water, the Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century.  I think it will be a fascinating conversation and I hope all who read this can attend.  The event is free and open to the public. Click on the flyer reproduced above for more details.

Krasna Student Center, Benedictine University, Lisle, IL
Friday, April 9th, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

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Quinn-Simon: It is Official

by , posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 7:34 am

By now most political insiders already know that green yard signs will read, Quinn-Simon for the November 2010 election cycle.  My perspective on the selection process might be slightly different from others, so, I decided to pen my own version.  I covered the initial candidate selection process last week.

Crowds of Turner and

Krishnamoorthi supporters were shivering in the cool morning air when we arrived at The Inn in Springfield around 9:35 a.m. on Saturday morning.  These were the only campaigns that seemed to mobilize supporters.  In advance of this morning’s event, I only know of three candidates who were working phones up until the last minute to get votes.  Sheila Simon and Dirk Enger were calling all committeemen and Raja Krishnamoorthi seems to have invested about six weeks of time calling, e-mailing and snail mailing all of the 38 State Central Committee (SCC) members, was still calling for support.

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Health Reform: Theirs and Ours

by , posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 7:33 pm

Corporate health “reform” has gotten the

congressional votes it needed and the public relations spin is on. Now that the “deeply conservative” Barack Obama [1] and his fellow corporate Democrats have pushed their big business-friendly measure –- devoid of any public insurance option to counter the power of the insurance oligopoly –- through the House and Senate, the reigning bipartisan U.S. political-media culture is pushing two childish narratives: the “liberal” Democratic one of an “historic” people’s victory and the “conservative” Republican one of a dangerous and “socialist” “government takeover.”

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Is Sheila Simon Governor Quinn’s top pick for Lt. Governor?

by , posted on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 at 6:48 pm

This afternoon I received a call from Sheila Simon, one of the 16 finalists in the Lt. Governor selection process.  Simon said that she was one of Governor Quinn’s top picks and wanted to know if that would influence my vote.

I told her that the Democratic Party needs to restore some integrity and go back to being a party that lives up to our promises. That being said, I’ve already given my word to Dirk Enger that I would nominate and support his candidacy.

I have been around long enough to put two and two together and it would not surprise me if Governor Quinn will announce his support for Sheila Simon tomorrow.

Governor Quinn has indicated that he will weigh in regarding his preference in this matter before Saturday and Mike Madigan has stated that he would honor Quinn’s wishes.

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Pierog Officially Launches Campaign for State Senate

by , posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 am

All are invited to attend Corinne Pierog’s official campaign launch on Sunday, March 28 at Manhattan’s American Grill, located at 300 S. Schmale Road in Carol Stream, From 4:00-7:30 p.m. A suggested donation of $35 per person or two for $60 is requested for this informal, informative gathering to support Pierog’s noteworthy bid for Illinois State Senate, 28th District.

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Lieutenant Governor Candidate Selection Process Attracts the “Best of the Best” Candidates

by , posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 9:21 am

On Saturday, March 20th, I took careful notes while attending one of the six public forums used to select a Democratic Lieutenant Governor.  I was at the Bolingbrook location, where 20 of the 40 anticipated applicants showed up to audition.

As a political activist and candidate, I have been to literally hundreds of coffees, fundraisers, rallies, press conferences and political events as part of the grueling process of running for public office.  Based on this experience, I think I can state with some authority that the first-round selection process used to vet potential candidates to be Governor Quinn’s running mate brought out the best candidates I have ever seen in a room full of people seeking public office. 

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Help Choose Our Next Lieutenant Governor

by , posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 10:02 am

I want to thank everyone who voted to elect me as the Democratic State Central Committeewoman for Illinois’ 14th District in this past February 2010 election.  If you voted for my opponent because you liked her platform better than mine, I would like to hear some of those ideas and I want you to know that I am also here to serve you.

When I ran for this seat, I had no idea that I would be in a position to help select the next Democratic nominee to run for Lieutenant Governor in Illinois.  After Scott Cohen won the nomination on February 2, a past arrest record was used to pressure him to step down. 

This decision by Mr. Cohen puts the 38 Democratic State Central Committeewomen and Committeemen in a unique position to help slate the Democratic nominee to run on the ticket with Governor Quinn.

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