Rasmussen on WASen: Rossi and Murray tied

In Washington's US Senate race, the Democrats find themselves defending another seat they thought was a lock just a few months ago.

Republican Dino Rossi leads incumbent Democrat Patty Murray 48 percent to 47 percent according to Rasmussen--well within the poll's margin of error.

Technorati tags: senate gop Republican

Report from Joel Pollak's Chicagoland Business Forum

Yesterday morning Joel Pollak, the Republican candidate for Illinois' Ninth Congressional District, hosted a business summit and panel discussion at the Holiday Inn in Skokie.

The theme of the breakfast, although no one phrased it as such, was Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign promise: To get government off the backs of the American people. And business.

Michael Aronstein, the president and CEO of Marketfield Asset Management spoke by telephone, he summarized the Obama administration's policy as "closing down opportunity instead of opening it up."

They're making things worse.

A couple of months ago Vice President Biden was touting "Recovery Summer." Biden might want to give Tom Gimbel a call. He's the president and CEO of LaSalle Network, a staffing a recruiting firm who told us "a jobless recovery is not a recovery at all." Illinois' unemployment rate has been over 10 percent for months; in Cook County alone, 265,000 people are collecting unemployment benefits.

Worse, Gimbel says, temp-to-perm hiring is drastically down. I was taken on as a temporary worker ago in 2000, they liked what they saw and hired me full-time--ten years later I'm still working there. But now fewer people are getting the opportunity I received. Businesses are especially cautious hiring workers in difficult economic times, temp-to-perm is considered a safer process to hire. But not safe enough, I guess.

But capitalism still manages moves on, which is why Joel's brother, Nathan, changed careers--he previously worked for Oracle. He opened his own business four months ago, the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco. Nathan went from working for someone else to hiring others--he has created 18 jobs so far.

San Francisco is not considered a business-friendly environment, so it did not surprise me when Nathan told us, "Our restaurant opening was delayed four months because of an inconsistency between the building department and the fire department over the material we used for a wall." Yes, 18 jobs have been created, but they would have been created four months earlier had the two departments worked in unison.

Lettuce Entertain You is a Chicago-based food service firm which operates over 70 restaurants in eleven different states. Jay Stieber is the executive vice president and general counsel for them. He decried the anticipated expenses surrounding ObamaCare and the legislation's 1099 rule.  Union card check, which Stieber says is on the backburner of Congress, is something  Lettuce and virtually every other business opposes.  But the incumbent, Democrat Jan Schakowsky--supports it. It's a jobs killer. Card check is part of the grossly-misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, and that bill contains a binding arbitration clause that can kill a business.

Simply put--in my opinion Schakowsky is more interested in her union cronies rather than creating jobs.

Schakowsky has championed her role in passing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Rich Woldenberg, the chairman of Learning Resources, related his experience with having the expense--legal counsel, package redesign and the like--in adding consumer warnings that now need to be included in rock samples and fossil samples  he sells because they might contain lead. They should not be eaten! I mean, sheesh, even children know not to snack on rocks. As for fossils, well, that trilobite from the Paleozoic Era just might give you food poisoning, right?

As for that act, before its passage, Woldenberg said., "We had to master 80 pages of rules." Now they have to master--if such a thing is possible--3,000 pages.

Robert Enriquez, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State, knocked the Democratic incumbent, Jesse White, for taking pride in running the nation's largest SoS office. Illinois is the nation's fifth most populous state--something is wrong, here, folks. Enriquez pledges to make his office more friendly to business if he wins.

As for Pollak, if he prevails I will have a congressman representing me who is on the side of the job creators. We don't have that now.

Technorati tags: politics Democrats economy unemployment Illinois Politics Illinois joel pollak Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky jobs recovery summer skokie labor unions obamacare card check

Giannoulias Broadway Bank lie round-up

Try as he might, but Alexi Giannoulias, the Mob Banker, is going to have a very difficult time spinning himself out of his latest mess.

From a Mark Kirk campaign press release:

Alexi Giannoulias seems to be telling voters one thing, and the Internal Revenue Service another" – CBS News

"Just give it to us straight" – Chicago Sun-Times

Just give it to us straight
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial
September 30, 2010
Last summer, Chicago Sun-Times reporters asked U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias a direct question: When did you stop working at the Broadway Bank, which folded earlier this year?

At issue was a Feb. 14, 2006, $22.75 million loan to a company called Riverside District Development LLC, whose owners included now-convicted political fixer Tony Rezko.

It was a direct question. We wish we had gotten a direct answer: May, 2006 -- after the loan.

Giannoulias Scandal Coverage
NBC Chicago
September 29, 2010
Remember, previously, Alexi Giannoulias maintained that he was gone from his family's Broadway Bank by the end of 2005. That was long before its collapse, and before a controversial loan in 2006 to convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko.

Giannoulias Scandal Coverage
Fox Business
September 29, 2010
But he told the IRS that he worked 500 hours in 2006, which actually saved him $2.7 million in taxes.

The Politics Fix on Giannoulias Scandal
MSNBC'S Hardball
September 29, 2010
He's been pounded by his Republican opponent Mark Kirk for his tenure at that bank, which lent money to mob figures before collapsing earlier this year. And this latest issue likely won't help his campaign.

Giannoulias defends resume discrepancy
WGN
September 29, 2010
On the campaign trail, Giannoulias says he left his executive job at his family-owned Broadway Bank in 2005; but IRS documents show that he stayed through May, 2006, after the bank made some controversial loans.

By claiming earnings from that year, Giannoulias was able to pocket a $2.7 million personal tax deduction last year, when the bank collapsed.

Bank work meant big tax break for Giannoulias
Associated Press
September 29, 2010
Democrat Alexi Giannoulias qualified for a $2.7 million tax break by telling the IRS he worked at his family's bank in 2006, although he had assured voters he left the troubled bank months earlier.

The candidate for President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat had previously said he left his "day to day" duties at the bank in September 2005 to prepare to run for state treasurer. That put him at arm's length from the bank's decision in 2006 to do business with political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Questions Persist About Giannoulias, Broadway Bank
CBS
September 29, 2010
A published report says U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias seems to be telling voters one thing, and the Internal Revenue Service another about how long he was at his family's troubled Broadway Bank.

In campaign ads, Giannoulias says he was gone from the bank by late 2005. But the Chicago Tribune reports he took a $2.7 million tax deduction last year, after reporting working hundreds of hours at the bank in 2006.

Giannoulias facing new questions about role in family bank
CNN
September 29, 2010
Giannoulias has long insisted that in 2005 he left his senior position at Broadway Bank, which collapsed earlier this year as a result of its troubled loan business. Giannoulias, himself a former loan officer there, has largely sought to avoid culpability for the firm's collapse by arguing he left the bank before its troubled deals were struck.

But, according to Wednesday's Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias' IRS returns last year show the Democrat was permitted to take a $2.7 million deduction as a result of working at least 500 hours for the bank in 2006 – contradicting his repeated claim he had washed his hands of the troubled family business months earlier.

Alexi Giannoulias' ever-changing story changes yet again
Capitol Fax Blog
September 29, 2010
Giannoulias' campaign has been claiming he took a paid leave of absence in September of 2005. But a guy taking a paid leave worked 30 hours a week? That's some raw deal…

…My head is spinning from all these story changes.

Hint to Alexi: Try telling the truth from the beginning and then sticking with it. That's a whole lot easier.

Hey Alexi, Give Us A Tax Break, Too.
NBC Chicago
September 29, 2010
Democrats are always carping about tax breaks for the wealthy. So here's what Alexi Giannoulias should do if he's elected to the Senate: introduce a bill eliminating the loophole he used to avoid paying taxes this year.

According to today’s Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias was able to take a $2.7 million tax deduction from losses on his stake in Broadway Bank because he worked there at least 500 hours for five of the last 10 years. The Tribune article focused on the fact that Giannoulias was still logging hours at the bank in 2006, even though he's always insisted he left his post as senior loan officer in 2005 -- before the bank approved a loan to Tony Rezko.

Family bank good for Giannoulias' taxes, bad for his campaign
Chicago Tribune
September 29, 2010
U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias tells voters he was gone from his troubled family bank by late 2005, but that's not what he told the Internal Revenue Service. Giannoulias was able to take a $2.7 million tax deduction last year because he reported working hundreds of hours at Broadway Bank in 2006…

…Most recently, Kirk criticized Giannoulias for trying to claim he wasn't involved in the bank when Broadway approved a controversial loan for a project headed by Rezko, who was convicted in the federal corruption probe of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration. Giannoulias' answer has been that he wasn't involved in the bank when the loan was approved in February 2006.

More bad news for Giannoulias: In the latest PPP poll, his Republican opponent, Mark Kirk, has a four point lead over him.

Technorati tags: Illinois illinois politics Senate Alexi Giannoulias business banking finance politics news legal Democrats Chicago republicans elections

Kucinich threatens to sue Joel Pollak for defamation over blog post

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a denizen of the far-left along with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), it threatening to sue Schakowsky's GOP opponent, Skokie lawyer Joel Pollak, over a blog post on his campaign web site.

Pollak, whom this blog entusiastically endorses, needn't worry--he has no concept of money. While Kucinich was mayor of Clevlend in the 1970s, the city became the first to go into defalut since the Great Depression.

From a Pollak campaign press release:

NILES, IL - Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has threatened to sue the Pollak for Congress campaign for defamation over a blog post written by 9th district Republican challenger Joel Pollak.

Pollak's blog post calls upon incumbent Democrat Jan Schakowsky to return campaign contributions she has received from the far-left J Street organization, which was recently revealed to be funded by foreign sources and George Soros.

The blog post also describes an antisemitic pamphlet that Pollak received at his campaign office. The pamphlet praises J Street, its executive director, and Rep. Kucinich (D-OH) for their opposition to Israel and to what the pamphlet alleges is a global Jewish conspiracy.

Pollak's blog post does not target Rep. Kucinich in any way, nor does it assert or imply that he or his campaign created or authorized the pamphlet.

Pollak shrugged off the threat. "They have no case. Rep. Kucinich ought to confront the author of the antisemitic pamphlet directly."

The blog post is available at:

http://www.pollakforcongress.com/2010/09/28/give-back-the-j-street-cash/

Technorati tags: Congress Illinois illinois politics chicago republicans elections news joel pollak Israel Schakowsky Jan Schakowsky Kucinich democrats elections Ohio Clevelandohio politics