Illinois, Ahem, Chicago and the Second Amendment

Posted on 30/03/2012 by Grumpa Joe
Gun laws fail safety test: Greens

Gun laws fail safety test: Greens (Photo credit: publik16)

It finally arrived, i.e. my Firearms Owner’s Identification Card (FOID). At my age, one wonders why I need such a thing. For a couple of reasons: 1. I fear the country being so divided politically and racially that there will ultimately be a civil war. I want to own some heavy-duty firepower, and ammunition, in case I have to protect my family.  2. My sweet little ninety-three year old Aunt Marie handed me a package and said, “I want you to have this, it belonged to John.” John is her deceased bachelor brother who lived with her.

The “this” is a pistol. I reluctantly accepted, and in so doing became an outlaw;  it is illegal to own a firearm in Illinois without a FOID.

The day the FOID arrived, I decided to brush up on Illinois gun laws. Now that I have the FOID I can actually buy bullets and load the gun. I don’t want to be an outlaw anymore.

I Googled Illinois gun laws and got the official fifteen page long document. Several pages list the many ways it is legal to carry an unloaded weapon. The safest involves casting the unloaded weapon into a block of concrete.  All other lawful transport systems are just as onerous.

Before I put the matter to rest, there was another thing I needed to know, can I get a permit to carry the gun on my person? The simple answer is no. There is a bill moving through the legislature called the Family & Personal Protection Act, HB5745 proposed by Rep Brandon W Phelps. This beauty is forty-five pages long and as complicated as the PPAHA (Obama Care) “you have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.”

I did see one section in an older document that allowed policemen, security guards, service people, mayors, and legislators to carry legally. If that is correct, solving the nine murders that occurred on Saint Patrick’s day is simple; charge the aldermen and the mayor with the crimes. The rest of us are in compliance and don’t carry.

This brings me to a question that bothers the heck out of me. If it is so unlawful to carry a loaded gun in Illinois, how come we have so many gun related crimes in the state?  If we already have the toughest gun laws in the country and they don’t have any effect on gun related crimes, why are the socialist powers fighting so hard to get more control? The answer is simple, the Illinois leaders do not believe in the US Constitutional right to bear arms. The ultimate plan is to brain wash us into bowing before them when they arrive to take over our homes. I’ll be ready.

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Dear Senator Durbin: Do You Get It?

Posted on 10/09/2009 by Grumpa Joe

My Flag Cries Everyday

Dear Senator Durbin;
Thank you for responding to my letter regarding your inability to hold town hall meetings with the people of Illinois. I appreciate that you are a busy man and prefer to receive input from the select few who will support your own views.
It takes courage to stand before a group of angry voters who are disappointed in their representative’s performance. I see by your actions that your character is not what I had always thought it to  be. I thought you were a strong leader who was concerned for all the people of Illinois. I see by your actions that I was wrong to assume that.
I am an American who believes that his country is sacred because it was founded on the principles of personal liberty. I see big government taking those liberties away from us faster than it takes a toilet to flush. I believe you and President Obama do not get it. It, being the fact that I am not alone. How can you possibly legislate when you do not know the mood of your constituents? By not hearing us out face to face at town hall meetings you cannot possibly know how we feel. Sure an angry constituency can become unruly, but only if their Senator gives them a standard line created by the bureaucracy in Washington. Tell the town hall people you understand their needs. Tell them that you will go back to Washington to stop wreckless spending, become fiscally responsible, and not vote for bills that are so long and impossible to understand, that a bevy of lawyers would have trouble doing so.
Here are some of the points I wanted to talk to you about:
1. Health Care Reform is needed, but not what is spelled out in HR3200. I do not want you to support HR3200.
   Come back with something that will not take money from Medicare to fund it. The President so eloquently told us that he will only eliminate waste from Medicare; some five hundred billion dollars worth. Yet, when he asked the entire government to eliminate waste from their budgets they could only come up with one hundred million dollars. Do you really expect me to believe that you and President Obama are capable of finding, and eliminating that much waste? That kind of reasoning is exactly why town hall meetings get noisy.
Take out the part about setting up every school with Planned Parenthood centers.
Add wordage that is specific to not funding abortions. Specify the word abortion, and not sneak it in under the radar as a medical procedure.
Add words that ban government operated public option health care system.
 In other words, HR 3200 is not worth the paper it is written on. Do not vote for HR 3200.
2. Legislate tort reform now, don’t wait for a reform bill.
3. Eliminate the barriers to private sector competition by allowing insurance companies to cross state lines with their plans.
4. Pass legislation that requires the president to obtain congressional vetting and approval on his “czars.”

Need I go on some more, or do you get it? If you can address these issues in a rational logical way, and not in a party controlled response, I will regain my faith in your ability to serve as my Senator.

Respectfully yours,
Grumpa Joe

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Charity Begins At Home

Posted on 03/04/2009 by Grumpa Joe

My Flag Cries EverydayA very good friend of mine sent this to me today. I have to share it with you. I checked out the links they are legitimate.

Why doesn’t Rahm Emanuel pay property taxes???

According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home of four-term Democrat Congressman and new White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, DOESN’T EXIST.  While the address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this home.

The Cook County Assessor’s and Cook County Treasurer’s online records indicate that Emanuel’s Chicago neighbors pay between $3,500 and $7,000 annually. However,  Illinois Review has been unable to locate any evidence that the former Clinton advisor and investment banker is paying his fair share of Cook County’s notoriously high tax burden.

 

Why wouldn’t 4228 North Hermitage property owners  Rahm Emanuel and wife Amy Rule pay property taxes?  One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their personal non-profit foundation called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation“.  As the “non-profit foundation’s” headquarters, their home could be exempt from paying property taxes!  Get a load of this . . .

 

 

In January 2007, “USA Today” reported on Emanuel’s foundation:
The “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Trust” was formed in 2002, when the Chicago lawmaker was first elected. The former Clinton White House aide and his wife, Amy Rule, ARE ITS ONLY DONORS!  Emanuel was an investment banker after serving in the White House.  The trust reported having $2,900 on hand at the end of 2005, after receiving $34,000 from Emanuel and donating more than $31,000.
During the past three years, Emanuel’s “charity” gave nearly $25,000 to the Anshe Emet Synagogue (a private school that the Rahm/Rule children attend), and $15,000 to the foundation run by former president Bill Clinton. It also gave $14,000 to Marwen, a Chicago charity that provides art classes and other educational help to low-income children.  AMY RULE IS ON MARWEN’S BOARD.
So what does this mean?  It means he doesn’t pay any property taxes and he gets income tax write-offs by donating $25,000 to the synagogue and other amounts of money to his “Foundation”.  This allows HIS KIDS TO ATTEND SCHOOL TUITION-FREE and allows him to write off a lot of person expenses.  What a racket!  Take all your income and donate it back to yourself via tax exempt organizations where you can spend it as expenses to operate your car, pay the electric and water bills, etc.  I guess if you are a hypocritical liberal Democrat who advocates raising taxes on everyone else, this is all permissible. 
Emanuel’s home at 4228 is one of the largest in the neighborhood, with a side yard that appears to be a vacant lot, making the Emanuels’ property the largest portion on the block.  Other North Hermitage Avenue homes on Emanuel’s block are valued in the $500,000+ range . . . his home is valued at OVER A MILLION TAX-FREE DOLLARS (see it here at Zillow:  Zillow Real Estate Search Results: 4228 North Hermitage.

 According to the Cook County Treasurer’s web site, the Chicago owners of nearby 118-year old 4222 North Hermitage pay almost $6,800 in real estate taxes annually.  The family at 4224 North Hermitage pays $6,000 each year in property taxes.  But the Rahm/Rule family and their bogus “foundation” pay NO PROPERTY TAXES AT ALL!
President Obama – himself a connected, Chicago insider who has benefited from questionable land deals (i.e., his Chicago home in Hyde Park, which was acquired with a little help from his buddy Tony Rezko) – may find it difficult to explain why his very own Chicago-based Chief of Staff doesn’t pay property taxes like the “little guys”.  Or perhaps allowing his wealthy friends to avoid taxes is part of Obama’s trickle down redistribution economics.  It’s certainly the kind of “change” we Illinoisians can believe in.  We’re quite familiar with it here in the federal indictment land of Blagojevich, Madigan, Jones, Cellini, Rezko, Kerner, Walker, Ryan, etc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This may be legal, but is it ethical?

 

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Dear Representative Halvorson:

Posted on 20/02/2009 by Grumpa Joe
This is my response to a letter received from State of Illinois Representative Deborah Halvorson.(Her letter is included below in it’s entirety.)
Dear Representative Halvorson.
The so called stimulus bill is nothing more than a gift to Obama to implement his campaign promises. It will not stimulate the economy. You are wrong in your decision. Time will tell. I don’t believe you or the Senate is responsible enough to spend the money wisely. You will spend the money to stay in office.
Here are my recommendations to you and your group:
1. Take a salary cut of 50% as a show of leadership and example.
2. Pass legislation to limit congressional and senate service to two terms maximum.
3. Pass legislation to make it mandatory to have one Democratic and one Republican Senator from each state.
4. Pass legislation to split the House of Representative to  fifty fifty between Republicans and Democrats. In states where there is an odd number of congressmen, give the odd man to the party of the majority.
5. Pass an ethics bill that is effective, and will fire Congressmen and  Senators who are found to violate any provision of the bill..
6. Reduce the size of all governrnent departments by 20%. The private sector is cutting jobs like crazy, but the government never cuts. This is totally unfair.
7. Instead of spending money, try paying off the deficit. Bill Clinton did that and according to him the economy flourished.
8. Cut out using the government aircraft for travel. Use only commercial carriers; the President included.
9. Balance the federal budget. When tax income does not cover expenses, cut spending to balance what we have.
10. Pass legislation to eliminate spending  federal money on abortion and contraception.
11. Do not pass any legislation unless there is a provision in it to find money to pay for it
You see Representative Halvorson, I don’t buy anything you stand for.
Please resign to minimize further embarrassment to the citizens of Illinois. 
Respectfully,
Grumpa Joe
*****************************************************************************************************************************************

Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to the economic recovery legislation recently passed by Congress. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter. I understand many of your concerns regarding this legislation. Even supporters of the economic recovery plan acknowledge that it is not perfect, however, legislation resulting from compromise and negotiation rarely is. Like you, I am worried by the high price tag of the plan, but there are safeguards in the bill to ensure that the money will be spent wisely. The plan contains no earmarks and taxpayers will be able to track expenditures on a public website.

 

We are in the midst of the most severe economic crisis in decades. In some communities in our district, the unemployment rate has already reached double digits. I have heard from many constituents who are struggling to pay their bills and to feed their families. We need urgent action to start addressing the crisis. Economists across the ideological spectrum estimate that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create or save over 3 million jobs. This goal will be reached by investing in our country’s urgent infrastructure and energy needs. Throughout the 11th Congressional District, there are aging schools that need renovation, crumbling roads and bridges that need repair and rural communities that lack access to modern high speed internet. By investing in infrastructure projects that will address these needs we will create new jobs in Illinois and throughout the country.

 

The economic recovery plan also includes one of the largest tax cuts in American history. By providing significant tax relief that will put money in the pockets of 95% of working Americans, the plan will once again start growing our economy. The road to economic recovery will not be easy. History has shown us that big problems often require big solutions. The recovery plan is expensive, but this is the price we will have to pay to turn our economy around.

 

Again, thank you for contacting me. I always appreciate receiving feedback from my constituents. Please feel free to contact me again in the future regarding any matter of concern to you. Also, please visit my website, http://www.house.gov/halvorson, for regular updates on what is happening in Congress.

 

 

Sincerely,

Z

Debbie Halvorson

MEMBER OF CONGRESS

My Flag Flies Everyday

My Flag Flies Everyday

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It May Be Too Late!

Posted on 12/12/2008 by Grumpa Joe
My Flag Flies Everyday

My Flag Flies Everyday

What a marvelous opportunity for the Illinois Republicans to make a major step forward in the state. That is, if there are any professed republicans in the state. The arrest of the current governor, Rod Blagojevich, opens the door for exciting new things to happen. Blago got into the position only because the previous governor, Republican George Ryan was going to jail. Blagojevich’s republican opponent, Judy Baar Topinka didn’t stand a chance against the stain left by Ryan.

If there is an honest, God fearing, republican with the integrity and desire to lead a state run amok with graft, fraud, and thieves, I implore him/her to take action now.  It is a joke in this state that the people who are right for the job will never take the lead, and those that want the job, we the electorate, don’t want. We always wind up chosing between the lesser of two evils.

I would take the job, under the following conditions. I don’t want to raise money, I don’t want to campaign, and I don’t want to work my way up the system through the good old boy network of ass kissing politicians. I know this doesn’t sound plausible, but that’s the only way I’d take the job. I know I could clean up the state and balance the budget in a short time. I wouldn’t be very popular, and I’d need body guards.

Cleaning up Illinois would require cleaning up Chicago. Anyone familiar with Chicago history knows the political machine that runs the city got started sometime before the great Chicago fire.  That means there is a tradition of over a hundred years to break. It is more than a tradition, it is a culture. The second culture that has to be broken is the Cook County government, which is closely tied to the Chicago machine, lastly there is the downstate group which is totally removed from the north.

It is questionable as to how much a governor can do to break this monopoly. He is one man against many hundreds who are elected into the jobs. There are many more loyal patronists who have been appointed to jobs because of connections. The network is huge. A governor can, however, lead by example and root out corruption by pushing the State’s Attorney. He can even solicit help from the Federal State’s Attorney, as is happening right now.

Our state is not alone in this regard, we are only better at corruption than the others. Recently, our elected leaders have been failing to cover their tracks. They are more blatantly open about the way they do business, and are becomming easier to trip up.

Illinois politics resembles the lawlessness  of the Old West. Before a territory became a state, there were no laws, no sheriffs, and no judges. The strongest  men ruled, and got what they wanted with intimidation and the power of the gun. In the modern case, the political men rule by intimidation, and the power of  money.

Blagojevich openly, and blatantly became goevernor not for the good of the people of Illinois but for the good of Rod Blagojevich. He fits the finest tradition of Illiois governors.

It is my guess that president elect BO is involved by association. He is a true Democrat, and therefore into the operation of the machine. His many questionable associations, and by admission that he is a believer in the Democratic Party make his denial of any knowledge of Blagojevich’s activities to sell his Senate seat questionable.  Isn’t is funny that BO officially resigned from his senate seat early to give the governor ample time to find a replacement?

I pray the federal politicians not learn to operate by the same rules as  Illinois. It may be too late.

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