Sunday, January 29, 2017

Trump Canards

duck à l'orange
Q:What special code name has the Secret Service reserved for President Trump?
HINT: Think of your favorite cartoon character.
A:Donald! Duck!

Haha, like a Baby Huey incarnate, Donald J Trump smashed his way through his first week in the Oval Office, breaking all records. Among the collateral damage from President Trump's rampage was Lake County Vestigial Congressman, Peter Roskam:
Environmental advocates protested at U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam's office Monday, speaking out about fears that the Trump administration will reverse progress made to protect the globe from climate change. About 200 people crowded into a conference room down the hall from Roskam's office at DuPage Airport in West Chicago holding placards that read "Follow the science" and "Climate Action Now." The protest was timed to occur during Trump's first 100 hours as president.
Environmental activists protest in suburbs to send message to Trump
A Sierra Club member told the Chicago Tribune that ...
"Roskam is not exactly a climate change proponent. He has a bad record when it comes to this environmental issue."
Environmental activists protest in suburbs to send message to Trump
The Congressman's office issued a swift statement: "Peter Roskam has taken meaningful action already to combat global warming. He introduced legislation that would stop production of 80 commercial jets at Boeing. That adds up to 80 fewer fossil fuel burning airliners in the skies today!"

Still unanswered is why Cong. Roskam maintains his constituent office in a County Airport. Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Take a Run for Your Money

rainbow coalition Note to those Ops vowing to make good on a promise to renounce their citizenship and move north of the border. It has come to your LakeCountyEye's attention that Wisconsin is not a foreign country. Who knew?

For those who will ride out the next four years in the USA, there is, however, hope. The Penultimate President of the United States, Barack Obama, has a parting message for you:
If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.
Sweet: Obama's goodbye — 'Yes we can. Yes we did.'
Will everyone who heard President Obama's call to action, please step forward? Because David McSweeney has a message for you as well:
Not so fast, there, Kaputnik!
Haha, McSweeney, Lake County's puffed-up State Representative, wants to make it harder for you to run for office -- not easier:
State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, introduced another House bill this week that would prohibit new legislators elected or appointed after Nov. 6, 2018, from participating in the retirement system.
Lawmaker, officeholder pensions may fade away
Independent authorities agree. Combine Governor Bruce Rauner's attempt to stop payment of legislator salaries with McSweeney's bill to eliminate legislative pensions, then the only people left who could run for State office would be millionaires and billionaires. Like Bruce Rauner and David McSweeney.

A spokesman for former President Obama acknowledged the problem: "Absolutely. And we encourage everyone to grab a clipboard, get some signatures, run for office, and win the lottery!"

Note to Ops: You can't win if you don't play.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Go Fly a Kite

Perhaps laboring under a misapprehension that Hillary Clinton is the new President, Congressman Peter Roskam wants to send Chicago jobs overseas. Roskam hopes to kill a deal between Boeing and the government of Iran. According to Crain's ...
U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam has resumed his efforts to shoot down Boeing's deal to sell billions of dollars of passenger aircraft to Iran.
Roskam revives effort to block Boeing's Iran deal
And according to CNN ...
Iran Air took delivery last week of the first of 100 jets it has ordered from Airbus (EADSF). The first of 80 aircraft from Boeing (BA) are scheduled to arrive in 2018. The badly needed jets will reconstitute Iran's decrepit commercial aircraft fleet, which has been languishing under decades of Western sanctions. Peter Roskam, a Republican member of the House, introduced a bill on Friday to initiate an investigation by the Trump administration's Director of National Intelligence into Iran Air and the nation's other airlines. If Iran Air or any other airline were to be found to support the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or foreign terrorist organizations, the airline would be added to the U.S. sanctions list and be prevented from receiving new aircraft or U.S.-made parts. That would effectively freeze the sale of jets from Boeing to Iran.
Congressman renews push that could kill Iran jet deals
Roskam, Lake County's vestigial congressman, is no stranger to travel abroad. Here's a photo from a recent Roskam visit to Europe and the Middle-East ...

Roskam Leads Chicago Delegation to Poland, Israel
Note to Peter Roskam Congressional-Travel Ops: If you kill the Boeing deal, your boss can always fly on a French-built Airbus.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Human Trafficking Here and Elsewhere


Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy
The Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as "modern day slavery (that) involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex." It is considered to be the third-largest criminal activity in the world, behind drugs and arms trafficking, and is estimated to be a $32 billion industry. A panel of experts will discuss the scope of the problem and ways to address the issues and work towards solutions.
  • Sunday
    Jaunary 22, 2017
    2:00 pm
  • The Stevenson Center on Democracy
    25200 N St Mary's Rd
    Mettawa (Libertyville), IL 60048
    847-816-7433
  • $15
    No Charge for Students

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Shouldn't Happen to a Dog

2nd amendment remedy On the Internet, no one knows you're dodging the voters. Haha, according to the Daily Herald ...
The Mundelein village board on Monday voted to formally ask state lawmakers to amend the Illinois Animal Welfare Act and prohibit the inhumane treatment of dogs in commercial breeding facilities. The move comes less than two months after the board approved new rules for pet stores -- rules that weren't as strict as those sought by animal welfare activists and some trustees. Instead of forbidding the sale of dogs and cats from commercial breeders, the board in November decided Mundelein pet stores must obtain special village licenses and publicly display breeding information about the dogs and cats they sell.
Mundelein asks state to prohibit cruelty to dogs by commercial breeders
As readers of this blog are doggedly aware ...
A Shaggy Dog Story
... the Village of Mundelein had failed, last year, to pass an ordinance banning the sale of puppy-mill dogs.

The Mundelein Village board however was able to pass, this week, the buck back to Springfield. One source told your LakeCountyEye: "Let the State outlaw those dogs. Mundelein needs all the sales tax revenue it can get."

It is unknown if the the Mundelein village board also voted to formally ask state lawmakers to raise the Illinois DUI ceiling "up a couple notches".

Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Just the Facts, Mr Roskam

Note to Ops: It doesn't matter how much fake news you put into circulation, you can never keep up. Haha, a good fake news story is a mix of assorted facts blended with some handpicked fiction.

For instance, everyone knows that Lake County vestigial Congressman Peter Roskam had a run-in with the House Office of Congressional Ethics. So it is not enough to report simply that ...
The office, which was formed in 2008, had initiated a probe in recent years into whether Roskam had improperly accepted a trip to Taiwan for his wife, Elizabeth, as a gift in 2011.
Lester: Roskam won't say where he stood on ethics vote
You also need to ice the story with ...
The case was later dropped, and Roskam has denied any improper behavior.
Lester: Roskam won't say where he stood on ethics vote
Roskam may have denied any wrongdoing, but the case had not been dropped by Office of Congressional Ethics. In fact, the OCE found there was substantial reason to believe that Roskam violated Federal law, and referred the case to the House Ethics Committee:
95. The government of Taiwan could not have paid for Representative Roskam's travel expenses under MECEA because Representative Roskam's spouse traveled with him on the trip to Taiwan. The Chinese Culture University could not have paid for Representative Roskam's travel expenses as a private sponsor of the trip because the University did not organize or conduct Representative Roskam's trip to Taiwan.

96. The Board therefore finds that there is substantial reason to believe that Representative Roskam accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan from an impermissible source, resulting in an impermissible gift, in violation of federal law and House rules.

III. CONCLUSION

97. The OCE Board recommends that the Committee on Ethics further review the allegation, as there is substantial reason to believe that Representative Roskam accepted payment of travel expenses for an officially connected trip to Taiwan from an impermissible source, resulting in an impermissible gift, in violation of federal law and House rules.
Report on Rep. Peter Roskam


Report on Rep. Peter Roskam
Of course it is much easier just to say that Roskam's case was later dropped, than to explain that the case was sent to the House Ethics Committee for further review.

Which is why just about everyone is doing it these days. Fake news is much easier to produce than the real thing!

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Ethical Questions

playing to the papersPeter Roskam, is in an ethical bind. The Daily Herald found out that Roskam is one of the Republican Congressmen who want to jettison the House Office of Congressional Ethics.

Roskam, Lake County's vestigial Congressman, had at least one run-in with the watchdog agency:
The office, which was formed in 2008, had initiated a probe in recent years into whether Roskam had improperly accepted a trip to Taiwan for his wife, Elizabeth, as a gift in 2011.
Lester: Roskam won't say where he stood on ethics vote
No surprise but, Peter Roskam is now playing them close to the vest:
Alex Warshawsky of Palatine says he was "insistent" in seeking an answer from U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam's office on where the congressman stood on declawing the House Office of Congressional Ethics, but aides would not tell him how Roskam voted. "Some pretended they didn't know what I was talking about. Others flat out didn't answer my questions," said Warshawsky, a constituent of Roskam's 6th Congressional District. I had a similar experience trying to get an answer in several conversations with Roskam staffers after Politico reported Roskam spoke to the Republican caucus in favoring of weakening the office.
Lester: Roskam won't say where he stood on ethics vote
One staffer advised your LakeCountyEye: "Don't waste your time trying to contact Mr Roskam. He's in ... uh ... Taiwan."

That's all your LakeCountyEye has. Nothing to see here.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

An Ethical Lapse

no shoes no socks no service Will all the Republican Congressmen who voted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics please step forward?

Not so slow there, Peter Roskam!

Haha, the first order of business at the new 115th Congress was to put their independent ethics watchdog to sleep -- and Congressman Peter Roskam was happy to oblige. Roskam is no fan of Congressional ethics oversight because, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, he ...
apparently still is pouting because the Office of Congressional Ethics looked into a trip that he and his wife took in 2011 to Taiwan. There were legitimate questions about who picked up the tab. The House Ethics Committee decided to let the matter drop, but at least the public was made aware of the issue. Under the new rules, the allegations would have been kept secret.
House GOP bawling like Old Chicago aldermen
Roskam is Lake County's vestigial Congressman. How will his desire to deep-six the Office of Congressional Ethics play with his constituents? Stay tuned!

UPDATE: The same Republican House Legislators agreed the next day to scrap the plan. This occurred after the transition team for President-Elect Trump issued a Tweet:
Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Close Enough for Government Work

POTII It has come to your LakeCountyEye's attention that the next President of the United States will be Donald J Trump. Who knew? Well, your LakeCountyEye knew. And as far back as 2011.

It was more than 5 years ago that your LakeCountyEye predicted that Joe Walsh would be the next President of the United States:
Walsh may be a longshot to get the Republican presidential nomination. But he would be following a long line of GOP presidential trailblazers. Like Donald Trump.
Walsh for President!
Granted, former Lake County Congressman Joe Walsh is not Donald Trump. But who is Walsh other than a poor-man's Trump?

The similarities, in fact, are striking:
Joe
Walsh
Donald
Trump
No Government Experience
White Guy
You're Fired!
"If Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket."
Ex-Wives
Short Fingered Vulgarian
Twitter Storms
Expensive Hair
Foreclosures
Big Blowhard
Alt-Right of Attila the Hun
OMG
Like money in the bank. Your LakeCountyEye: predicting the future since no later than 2011!