by Trey Mays http://www.truthdispatch.com/the-truth-about-government-shutdowns/?goback=%2Egde_4400754_member_274182654#%21 The Obamacare exchanges are set to be implemented on October 1, and the debt ceiling limit is set to expire soon. These two events in American politics cause a great deal of fervor and emotions with the Left and the Establishment misrepresenting the Tea Party position. The Left and the Establishment try […]
How many members of the military have to die before they are allowed to protect themselves? This story was posted after Fort Hood. Soldiers disarmed http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/soldiers-disarmed November 13, 2009 – 10:00pm In March 1993, under President Bill Clinton, the Army imposed regulations forbidding military personnel from carrying their personal firearms. For the most part, […]
The State’s Attorney has sent a letter to the Library Board asking them to explain the allegations of the September 4th meeting that violated the Open Meetings Act. See this story for details: http://blnnews.com/2013/09/05/the-illegal-library-board-meeting/
by: Diane Benjamin According to Mayor Renner, the total circulation at the Bloomington Public Library has increased from 600,000 to 1,500,000 from 2005 to 2012. The bad economy may be the reason, but an analysis of why hasn’t been done. Regardless, the Library Board thinks they need to build an east side annex. A new […]
by: Diane Benjamin In 2011 Scott Oglesby was fired from the Bloomington Police force. Last May I read the entire arbitration report and wrote about it here: http://blnnews.com/2013/05/06/the-real-story-of-scott-oglesbys-firing/ Scott Oglesby was mostly cleared through arbitration, but City Attorney Todd Greenburg and a majority of the City Council refuse to drop the case and are appealing. Mayor […]
Written by Alex Newman http://flyoverpress.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/draft-australia-reining-in-climate-schemes-after-voters-reject-carbon-tax/?goback=.gde_4400754_member_273744157#! In the wake of a crushing defeat last week for the climate alarmism-promoting Australian Labor Party, which imposed the deeply unpopular and expensive “carbon tax” credited by analysts for the conservative coalition’s victory, authorities in Australia are preparing to dismantle and consolidate the myriad global-warming schemes spawned under the […]
Complete list of mandates: http://www.isbe.net/IMTF/pdf/instructional_mandates_list.pdf The school district teaches character education, which includes teaching of respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, and citizenship in order to raise pupil’s standard of good character. Family Life. If any school district provides courses of instruction designed to promote wholesome and comprehensive understanding of the emotional, psychological, physiological, hygienic and […]
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Susan Ohanian of Charlotte, a longtime teacher and author of 25 books on education policy and practice. Her website is at http://www.susanohanian.org. Selected questions: Origin of the Common Core 22. Do you think that the fact that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spent several hundred million dollars […]
A Pantagraph reporter stopped a Dewitt County Board meeting because the board failed to post the agenda 48 hours before the meeting as required by the Open Meetings Act. Good for them. The meeting was illegal. The question is when did the Pantagraph decide laws matter? A reporter attended an illegal board meeting at the […]
Governor Quinn’s “Indian H1B visa” Problem This is the continuation of the story we have been investigating for 9 months. It’s not over yet! Springfield – Edgar County Watchdogs http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2013/09/governor-quins-indian-h1b-visa-problem/ Our work has been beyond reproach and it now appears the level of forked- tongue deception reaches levels well beyond the County Governments where we […]
by: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow night you can attend a show with Wayne Brady for the low low price of $54-$85 a ticket. For the math impaired, that $108 a couple to $170 a couple. Hopefully the $108 isn’t in the balcony where you have to be very short or be able to imitate a canned […]
It is such a shame the Pantagraph has so few readers now that nobody writes Letters to the Editor anymore. The paper is forced to print old stale editorials from other sources to fill the page. So sad. Of course, there is always a chance they don’t want your opinions heard. Meanwhile, try listening to […]
One alderman sent a note: While initially expensive, these cans will provide for automation which will save money in the long term. Update #2. the author of this story needs to do more research. Some of the facts stated are not correct. I’m told there is no $50 fee. Also, statements and quotes are either […]
by: Diane Benjamin During a discussion of the future needs of the City at the Administration and Finance Committee held on August 5th, the following was presented by the Finance Director, Ms. Silva. As usual, Alderman Fazzini lives in a world of bubbles and candy where everything is wonderful and the City needs to spend […]
by Diane Benjamin When I filed the latest Open Meetings Act violation against the Library Board (http://blnnews.com/2013/09/05/the-illegal-library-board-meeting/), I made it clear to the Attorney General’s Office that 2 previous Open Meetings Act violations were still outstanding – one from over a year ago. What good does having a State Office charged with protecting the citizens […]
by: Diane Benjamin Both Jim Edgar and Jim Thompson openly support Kirk Dillard for governor. According to http://www.openthebooks.com/ MONTHLY pension received: Jim Edgar: $11,574.84 received since 2001 11, 575 X 12 mths = $138,900 per year x 12 yrs (so far) = $1,666,800 of which he contributed a total of $164,657 Jim Thompson: $11,246.86 received since […]
Is County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen finally tired of covering for Michele Anderson – County Auditor? Anderson is involved in yet another dispute where her judgement is questioned, according to today’s Pantagraph. Normally these disputes don’t make the news because Matt Sorensen makes sure they are settled without the public ever knowing. Anderson thinks she […]
House GOP Leaders Prepare “Hug It Out” Strategy to Fund Obamacare. Eric Cantor is always looking for new and imaginative ways to screw conservatives. He has Pete Sessions (R-TX), as Rules Chairman, helping him with his latest creative way to screw conservatives. I’ve already well documented Pete Sessions’s increasingly bitter attitude toward Ted Cruz and staggering contempt […]
The Illinois GOP and the establishment GOP in DC have no desire to defund ObamaCare. They will not fight unless we force them to. Read the story below. This is only the beginning! Please contact your reps and Leadership: Please Call!! Speaker John Boehner: (202) 225-0600 Rep.Eric Cantor: (202) 225-2815 Sen. Mitch McConnell: (202) 224-2541 Sen. Dick Durbin: (202) 224-2152 […]
An event you won’t regret attending! You may not know the name, but you certainly know the topic — illegal immigration and amnesty. Dennis Michael Lynch has made two documentaries titled They Come to America I : The Cost of Illegal Immigration and They Come to America II: The Cost of Amnesty. Mike Huckabee has called his work “remarkable,” and […]
The county says they are always looking for money. Not surprising when you look at this chart. The information is from OpenTheBooks.com 2001 Wages: 24,678,157 2011 Wages: 33,433,451 That’s around a 33% increase in wages in 10 years. 2001 spending: 49,690,795 2011 spending: 81,260,567 That’s around a 61% increase in total spending in 10 years. […]
by: Diane Benjamin A friend of mine is in the Army, stationed in Germany. His family is with him and they do a lot of travelling around Europe. They have been to numerous beautiful and historic places. His Facebook page has a ton of great pictures. I was kidding him last week about how he […]
Rumors abound that stage hands, technical staff, whatever they are called are unionizing at the BCPA. Is this why Carol Struck was hired? or is this a case of the rich getting richer? Is somebody keeping secrets? Local government non-transparency is showing. BTW, I hear the Pantagraph has apologized to Judy Stearns for the article […]
by: Diane Benjamin The Bloomington City Council was NOT consulted about the choice of Carol Struck to be interim head of the BCPA. They weren’t even consulted on whether the BCPA needed an interim manager. Just like the money given to the West side churches for the summer youth program, the BCPA has never been […]
The next shot in the Illinois-ObamaCare scandal (Woof-Woof): http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2013/09/somebodys-lying/ Posted by Kirk Allen on September 5, 2013 Illinois Health and Family Services, under the direction of Julie Hamos, might want to take a long weekend and figure out who needs fired for lying to the public. In this FOIA request/response I wanted to know who paid for the wining […]
More coverage on the findings of our Watchdog team: http://www.wandtv.com/story/23355753/watchdog-report-claims-state-it-jobs-could-be-outsourced Watchdog Report Claims State IT Jobs Could be Outsourced Posted: Sep 05, 2013 11:19 PM CDT CHICAGO – A government watchdog organization claims up to 100 state IT jobs could soon be outsourced. Adam Andrzejewski, who published the report as founder ofOpenTheBooks.com explains that Cognizant Technology Solutions, the […]
Goodbye cheap electricity! 12 nuclear plants on the chopping block These aging reactors are most at risk of an early demise as the nuclear power industry struggles to compete in America’s new energy landscape. By Bruce Kennedy, MSN Money Clinton — Clinton, Ill. On its website, Exelon (EXC) describes its Clinton Power Station in Illinois as one of […]
Meet John Kraft and Kirk Allen – Edgar County Watchdogs. http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/ These 2 guys have been working with Adam Andrzejewski and me to expose the Illinois Medicaid processing scam and the outsourcing of Illinois jobs to India. If you missed the stories, here is the latest link: http://blnnews.com/2013/09/03/the-next-shot-in-the-illinois-obamacare-scandal/ There were more developments yesterday, you will find […]
by: Diane Benjamin Yesterday at 4:30pm around 7 members of the Bloomington Library Board met illegally. The Open Meetings Act requires all meetings to be posted in advance and open to the public. The agenda must also be posted. The only reason the Pantagraph and WJBC attended was because they were tipped off to the […]
Select quotes from this story: http://www.newswithviews.com/iserbyt/iserbyt120.htm There is nothing new about vouchers/choice. The idea of vouchers/choice has been around for a long time. Here is a quote from George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) of the socialist Fabian Society of England, who said, “Nothing will more quickly destroy independent Christian schools than state aid: their freedom and […]
by: Diane Benjamin According to the City: Commerce Bank is the City’s p-card vendor. Staff is authorized to use the p-card to make purchases for City business. The program began January 15, 2008. Sincerely, Renee Gooderham Records & Information Manager So, at least some City employees have a City Credit Card. I was […]
Our kids deserve better and the Federal Government is breaking the 10th amendment by handing money to cash-strapped states to implement Common Core. The 10th Amendment prohibits the Federal Government from being involved in education. Local schools should make their own decisions! Inform yourself by watching this video: http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/stop-common-core-video-series/ Common Core can ONLY be stopped […]
If you missed the previous post: http://blnnews.com/2013/08/29/thank-you-fox-news/ Adam Andrzejewski Founder, openthebooks.com Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-andrzejewski/implementing-obamacare-by_b_3861333.html Implementing ObamaCare by Outsourcing Illinois Jobs to India CHICAGO- While everyone debates the policy points of ObamaCare, few understand that billions of dollars in IT contracts are wrapped inside the law. To meet federal mandates, states must upgrade […]
by: Diane Benjamin Shouldn’t elected officials be in charge of City business? Why does a City Manager get to write the agenda for Council meetings and then hand a packet to the elected representatives a few days before the meeting – often with 400-500 pages? Then, items without any previous discussion, are supposed to be […]
Written on Tuesday, September 3, 2013 by Nick Adams “America is great because America is good. If America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” These were the words of the prescient philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville. And, on first glance, they may suggest that President Obama’s desire to strike Syria militarily, is […]
Now it can be said who WJBC discussed hiring and then changed their mind: Benjamin Yount. Yount would have been a return to the days when WJBC ruled the airwaves with good content and conservative talk. In case you don’t remember, it was a long time ago. WJBC used to be the top rated AM […]
by: Diane Benjamin 2 friends of mine became US citizens last week! They immigrated here legally over 10 years ago. They have a daughter who was born here. The husband has been working on a Green Card since arriving, they applied for citizenship last year. They were surprised to be approved so quickly. They never […]
Proof: Obamacare Raised Family’s Insurance by $600 per month! Posted 08/28/2013 | AMAC Authors http://amac.us/obamacare-rate-shock-an-amac-members-experience by Andrew Mangione – Many of you are familiar with my updates on AMAC’s activity on Capitol Hill and other topics that I’m privileged to bring to you here and in our other forums. I recently received a disturbing piece of […]
