Marathon Pundit

Friday, September 27, 2013

(CNN video) Obama spending more time with Iranian president than Boehner

If President Obama was really serious about reaching an agreement with House Republicans over the budget and ObamaCare standoff, he'd be talking more to Speaker of the House John Boehner--and less with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

In a previous budget battle, Obama called the GOP "hostage takers." But Iran held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the unhappy Jimmy Carter presidency.

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Democrats

Obama

ILL-inois: Bad bets from Mike Jones and the state lottery

There is so much illness in Illinois. Today I return to the state lottery. Mike Jones, the chief administrator of the Illinois Lottery seems to be hiding his ties to deals that aid the company he once partly-owned, Independent Lottery Research.

Initially, as Fox 32 Chicago reports, no deals when to ILR due to apparent conflicts of interested. But then the firm changed its name to Independent Gaming Research.

And the contracts started coming.

Jones told Fox 32 he had nothing to do with it. But the parent company of the private firm that now runs that state lottery, Northstar, says the hiring of Jones' former firm was done the urging of Jones.

The Better Government Association helped dig up the facts on this story.

From Fox 32 Chicago:

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Senate votes to fund unpopular ObamaCare

Earlier today the Senate passed a stopgap measure that funds both ObamaCare and the federal government. The House bill, on the other hand, doesn't fund the unpopular health care bill.

A government shutdown looms.

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politics

health

universal health care

socialism

obamacare

law

Killing the Golden Nugget goose? Big Labor threatens Vegas-wide strike

Golden Nugget, downtown Las Vegas

Could Big Labor really disrupt dozens of conventions and thousands of vacations in Las Vegas.

That could be their plan, as the Workforce Fairness Institute's Fred Wszolek informs us in the Daily Caller.

On the heels of the city of Detroit filing for bankruptcy, the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, Big Labor apparently has not learned its lesson. Union bosses played a pivotal role in Detroit's demise making unreasonable salary and benefit demands that contributed to nearly $15 billion in unfunded liabilities.

One would think labor bosses would have used the experience to guide their thinking on how they deal with issues related to workers and the economy, but nothing could be further from the truth. Unsatisfied with having taken down the Motor City, once the fourth-largest in the country, union bosses have set their sights on Las Vegas.

Recently, Big Labor bosses in Vegas have made threats that unless they get their way on contract negotiations they will seek a city-wide strike. The Associated Press reported, "The Culinary Union has issued a written warning to Wall Street investors, saying a citywide strike by Las Vegas hotel workers is possible if contracts aren't inked soon with two major companies. The union, which represents some 50,000 bartenders, maids and food servers, has been in negotiations with gambling giants MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. It says union workers are preparing for a 'major labor dispute,' and a strike is imminent unless solid contracts result soon from the negotiations."

More threats, more economic uncertainty, and more demands for payback from union bosses at the expense of workers and business owners. In the last several years, Las Vegas and indeed Nevada have suffered mightily under the slow and stagnant economy. Nevada continues to have a staggeringly high unemployment rate with nearly 10 percent of people out of work. In addition, the state continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Also, the site of the old Stardust Hotel on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip is a construction site that was stalled over five years ago.

Related post:

(Video) Las Vegas and Echelon Place: Obama's America

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Thursday, September 26, 2013

ILL-inois: Quinn's legislator payroll stunt ruled unconstitutional

Old State Capitol

Illinois' inept governor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn, claimed that he was "put on earth" to fix the worst-funded-in-the-nation pension system 525 days ago.

But this summer he put the blame on General Assembly for not coming up with a solution. So he decided to punish them by not paying them.

Both chambers, by the way, are ruled by a Democratic super-majority.

Today a Cook County judge ruled that Quinn's payroll stunt was unconstitutional and he ordered the state treasurer to pay the legislators.

Meanwhile ILL-inois' pension debt--which is $100 billion--keeps growing.

UPDATE Sept 27: Quinn is appealing the decision--and wants the courts to allow him to prevent the lawmakers from receiving their paychecks. Move on, Quinn, you lost, it's time to fix what you were "put on earth" to do.

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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

ILL-inois: Dixon to get $40 million settlement in municipal embezzlement case

Author in Dixon in 2009

For the second time this evening I have to point out that Illinois public corruption isn't just a Chicago thing. One hundred miles to the west is Dixon--the small city's longtime comptroller embezzled over $50 million to fund her lavish horse breeding business.

Until this crime, Dixon was chiefly known as the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan.

But Dixon is going to get much of its money back.

From SaukValley.com:

DIXON – The city reached a $40 million out-of-court settlement this morning with its former auditors and Fifth Third Bank, who the city said were to blame for former Comptroller Rita Crundwell's theft of nearly $54 million over two decades.

Mayor Jim Burke made the announcement this morning during a special meeting of the Dixon City Council, during which the council approved the settlement.

The agreement was reached Friday in Chicago, Burke said.

Including about $10 million more the city expects to receive from the sale of Crundwell's assets, the city could recover about $50 million. The city's attorneys will receive about $10 million from the settlement, meaning Dixon actually would recover about $40 million.

Dixon posts:

ILL-inois: Lawsuit alleges massive East St. Louis vote fraud

People who think Illinois corruption is just a Chicago thing need a serious talking to.

From the Belleville News-Democrat:

A federal lawsuit seeks East St. Louis elections to be conducted by county or state officials until an alleged 5,200 unlawfully registered voters are removed from the voting rolls in the city.

The East St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners conducts all elections within the city and is responsible for purging the voter rolls of residents who have died or moved out of the city. Matt Hawkins, an activist who is president of Civic Alliance of East St. Louis, filed the lawsuit against the Commission on Sept. 11 in federal court.

Election Commission Executive Director Kandrise Mosby said the commission follows state law and conducts purges of the voter rolls every two years. The commission is currently purging the voter rolls and expects to finish in about a month, she said.

Mosby declined to comment further because the litigation is ongoing.

As you will read below, ESL, which is heavily Democratic, has a long history of vote fraud.

Related posts:

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law