The Senate ethics committee has "admonished" Senator Roland Burris for all the lies that he's handed them in his testimony over his involvement in disgraced and impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich's pay-to-play scandal in Illinois.

As Blago was making his last pass around the drain over his countless illegal activities as Illinois Governor he appointed Roland Burris to the Senate seat that Obama left behind when he won the 2008 general election for the big seat in Washington.

Burris claimed, of course, that he played no part in the cash for a senate seat scandal. The truth, though, seems to be a bit different than the gauzy world that Burris inhabits.

Ed Morrissey gave us a nice, succinct set of bullet points to flesh out what Burris did to deserve this admionishment:

• Burris lied to the Illinois legislature about speaking to Blago’s brother Robert, and then lied about why he lied
• Burris lied about agreeing to raise funds for Blagojevich while discussing appointment
• Burris covered up a solicitation for $10,000 from Blago’s brother
• Burris covered up his promise to cut a check for $1500 to Blago

…yeah, seems to me he deserves a bit more than a mild rebuke to me, too!

Rosanna Pulido, staunch defender for unemployed American citizens in her district, expressed outrage this afternoon at Luis Guterriez's Amnesty reform bill, to be introduced some time this month. "With unemployment in Illinois at 10% and rising, our nation's legal law abiding citizens do not need more competition for jobs", Rosanna said. "It is irresponsible public policy".

53 rallies have been held across the country this week protesting the Obama administration's amnesty for undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, along with a promise of tougher enforcement and a streamlined legal immigration system. In other countries, if you enter their borders illegally, you could be shot or thrown in prison. Cross the border into America, you get a drivers license, Social Security card, welfare, Food Stamps, bank accounts and credit cards, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in Springfield and Washington and a voter registration card. All paid for by the Illinois taxpayer.

What we should be thinking about is the safety of our citizens. Chicago is attracting undocumented criminals that put the safety of our law abiding legal citizens at risk. The Chicago Sanctuary City ordinance prevents all Chicago's City employees, including the Chicago Police, from communicating with federal immigration agencies. This applies to all known criminals: gang members, drug dealers even child molesters. If a Police Officer stops a suspect who doesn’t speak English, has no passport or any form of ID and that Officer has reason to believe the suspect is an illegal alien, he is prohibited from speaking to Immigration authorities. Once an illegal alien offender is in the court system he is released back onto the street putting your life and the lives of your family at risk.

"We should be concentrating on getting our economy back on track and helping families get back to work", said Rosanna. "We should be protecting the safety of our citizens. Chicago already has serious problems with crime and taxpayer money going to undocumented immigrants. Guitierrez should be concentrating on the concerns of everyone in Chicago, not just for illegals who are benefiting much more already than they would in any other country."

Rosanna Pulido is running for Congress in the Illinois 5th District. You can visit her website at http://rosannapulido2010.com

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady announced his education plans for the state of Illinois. Below is an excerpt:

My plan to reform education in Illinois starts with a clean break from the rigid educational structure of today with the elimination of the State Board of Education. Doing so will give local school officials, teachers and parents a greater voice in the operation of their local schools. I will restructure our educational bureaucracy by creating a streamlined, efficient and smaller department truly accountable to the Governor and thereby the people of Illinois. This downsized department under the Governor will administer the financial disbursement of resources, helping school districts in a way that will ensure more dollars go to the classroom and not to educational administration expense. The Brady plan for greater parental involvement and greater student achievement includes:

• Eliminating the cap on charter schools in Illinois, allowing an unlimited number of charter schools to operate in Illinois at any given time. Doing away with the cap would also lift the geographic constraints currently imposed on charter schools. Current legislation limits the number of charter schools to 120 at one time -- 70 in Chicago, 45 for the rest of the state and 5 devoted to re-enrolled high school drop-outs.

• Increasing tuition tax credits by 50 percent a year. As it stands now, an eligible Illinois household can receive a maximum $500 in education expense tax credits a year. * · Empowering school boards by action or parents by referendum to open their school district to vouchers, allowing state tax dollars to follow the student. The voucher would be at a minimum level equal to the pupil state support of that school district.

• Allowing every high school student in Illinois the opportunity to achieve in their high school years a two-year associate degree through cooperative efforts between the state's 49 community college districts and regional offices of education. This would ensure students graduate with a better education and more prepared to pursue a higher education in a four-year institution or enter the workforce.

For far too long, our state has fallen behind nationally and internationally," said Brady. "We have graduated students, in many cases, with a subpar education and a lack of skills needed for the workplace today. We can accelerate our students' chance at success with a program that integrates our secondary schools and our community colleges. I unveiled the plan this morning at the Chicago International Charter School's West Belden Campus, a K-8th grade institution in Chicago's Austin-Belmont-Cragin neighborhood. West Belden is a shining example of the educational opportunities Illinois children need and deserve. My plan also includes preservation of the home school system. 
As Governor, I will continue to ensure that parents who decide to school their children at home remain independent of state oversight and free of any bureaucratic requirements. I will do all I can to make Illinois the strongest supported home school state in the nation.

Well, little Todd Stroger is at it again. With the Cook County Board now having been given more power by the State Legislature to overturn Stroger's veto, the junior Stroger is now claiming it's all about racism.

On an upcoming episode of "Connected to Chicago," WLS radio's Bill Cameron found Board President Stroger whining that it's all about racism instead of his wild tax hikes. WLS is advertising its upcoming episode with this following Stroger quote:

If this was a Southern town it would be like an old fashioned lynching.

Stroger goes on to claim that he was told by the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune that they are "out to get me." Cameron, though, reports that the Chicago Tribune denies that such a conversation ever took place and that they are not out to get him as the paranoid Stroger claims.

President Stroger has been widely criticized for raising the sales tax in Cook County to the highest rate in the entire country. Currently, the County Commissioners are attempting to roll back this tax hike half a cent. Now, with their new power to overcome a veto, it is far more likely that Stroger will not be able to stall the rollback effort as he has the last few times. And now that he has less power to keep his giant tax hike in place, now it's all about racism.

So, let's review: Stroger loses some powers by a ruling from the state legislature. Suddenly Stroger sees "racism" all around him. Sound like sour grapes?

Yeah, I thought it did.

All Republican members of Illinois' Congressional Delegation have signed the following letter to President Obama:

Dear Mr. President:

According to the Chicago Tribune, your Administration may transfer up to 200 Al Qaeda terrorists from their detention facility in Guantanamo Bay a prison in Thomson, Illinois, 150 miles from Chicago.

If your Administration brings Al Qaeda terrorists to Illinois, our state and the Chicago Metropolitan Area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization.

Furthermore, since Thomson is located in the Northern District of Illinois, any civilian prosecution of Al Qaeda terrorists would occur in Rockford or downtown Chicago.

As home to America's tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target.

The United States spent more than $50 million to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to keep terrorists away from U.S. soil. Al Qaeda terrorists should stay where they cannot endanger American citizens.

As elected officials in the State of Illinois, we urge you to put the safety and security of Illinois families first and stop any plan to transfer Al Qaeda terrorists to our state.

Rep. Peter Roskam
Rep. Mark Kirk
Rep. Judy Biggert
Rep. Tim Johnson
Rep. Don Manzullo
Rep. Aaron Schock
Rep. John Shimkus

Statement from Congressman Peter Roskam on the disclosure this morning from Democrat Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias that he received a National Security Council (NSC) briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois:

“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides for open and transparent consideration.”

Background:

“Most importantly I had a chance to talk to the National Security Council folks.” – Senate Candidate Alexi Giannoulias (WLS 890 AM’s “Don Wade and Roma Show”, 11/20/2009)

The full audio of the interview can be found at the link below.

(6:30 mark)

Roma: “Have you been briefed on this by the White House or since you are a state constitutional officer has Governor Quinn briefed you?

Giannoulias: “We’ve spoken to their offices, I’ve gotten some packets of paper, and I’ve read them. Most importantly I had a chance to talk to the National Security Council folks.”

(3:50 mark)

Giannoulias: “I’ve had a chance to talk to some folks on the National Security Council and they’ve told me that today, in this country federal prisons securely house approximately 350 inmates already including 35 already in Illinois and the U.S. military has demonstrated the ability to house those inmates, so I’ve heard some facts from them.”

CLICK HERE for audio.