Free Republic

In the two years that Gregory Jaczko has led the nation's independent nuclear agency, his actions to delay, hide and kill work on a disputed dump for high-level radioactive waste have been called "bizarre," `'unorthodox" and "illegal..." An inspector general's report released last week exposed the internal strife under Jaczko. The internal watchdog said he intimidated staff members who disagreed with him and withheld information from members of the commission... The tactics disclosed in the investigative report are just the latest in a saga unfolding since President Barack Obama put the former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the...

State Sen. Kyle McCarter is poised to launch a primary challenge to GOP Sen. John Shimkus in Illinois’ 15th District later this week, according to GOP sources. The news shouldn’t come as a complete surprise. McCarter has been openly discussing the possibility with fellow Illinois Republicans since at least August, when I wrote about him in The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report. In the last few days, McCarter has been calling various Republicans across the state and has unveiled a new campaign logo (noticeably void of the office he intends to seek) at the Little Egypt parade in Salem on...

In politics, seeing unfair & unfounded attacks against elected officials & candidates is all-to-common, and (despite myths to the contrary) has been so, since our nation began. One paradigm shift that has definitely taken place, of late however, is the hostility towards religion - especially Christianity - in the public arena. Still, I have been extremely-surprised, seeing the nature of the attacks, against U.S. Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL).... ======> Read the full blog entry... ...and then take action (see below)!! --------------------------------- The election, for Chairman of the powerful U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee, is being held THIS TUESDAY (11/30).I'm...

GOP ready to fight over global warmingBy Steve Hargreaves, senior writer November 22, 2010: 7:02 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's no secret that many Republicans are deeply skeptical of global warming. "The earth will end only when God decides it's time to be over," Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., said while quoting the Bible in a House hearing last year. "This earth will not be destroyed by a flood." Shimkus is now one of four contenders to head the House Committee on Energy and Commerce when the Republicans take the reins in January. Also vying for the leadership post:...

John Shimkus: Say what you want, I love this guy.

18th District When you are the youngest member of Congress and have looks like those of Aaron Schock, you are going to attract attention. Schock, the 29-year-old Peoria Republican whose district includes a portion of Springfield, has been celebrated in magazine profiles, featured on “Top Chef” and, in general, celebrated as the new star of young conservatism. But more impressive than Schock’s celebrity is his mature and cautious take on it. Sure, says Schock, he’s attracted attention. But celebrity will mean nothing if he does not construct a solid record to back it. And besides, he notes, appearances on TV...

Shimkus walked on Obama: 'Frustrated' Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who yelled at President Barack Obama during his address to Congress this week, wasn't the only one unhappy with what he heard. Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, walked out. "Congressman Shimkus was frustrated that the president was not offering any new ground and left with just minutes remaining in the speech,'' spokesman Steven Tomaszewski said today in response to our question about the late-speech walk-out.

More from the Bowels of Liberal Democracy: Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL) and Belarus Matthew Raphael Johnson The increasing violence and arrogance of the Regime is directly correlated to its insecurity. For all its ranting about its successes and, of course, its “inevitability,” the regime is facing some very difficult times. Overwhelming debt, a lost war in Iraq, outsourcing of some of its more satisfying jobs, alienation of rural areas, increasing fuel prices, and substantial foreign competition from the developing India-China-Russia axis, the Regime, like a spoiled child, lashes out in hatred. The latest attack comes from a half-witted Congressman who...

WASHINGTON - A congressman who is a key figure in the House page scandal conceded Friday that Republicans have mishandled the matter. "I think there's stuff that everybody would have done differently" in hindsight, said Rep. John Shimkus (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., after he testified for more than three hours before the House ethics committee. The panel is investigating former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s sexually tinged Internet communications with teenage pages over several years. Shimkus chairs the board that oversees the House page program, and he intervened last fall to stop Foley from e-mailing a former...

WASHINGTON -- By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON -- The chief congressional overseer of House pages, who says he tried to stop ex-Rep. Mark Foley from e-mailing a Louisiana page in late 2005, is ready to explain his actions to House investigators. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., scheduled for questioning Friday before the House ethics committee, says he kept the two other House members overseeing the pages in the dark as he confronted Foley last fall. Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, said he was following the wishes of the boy's parents by not telling the other members. A...

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday. The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in...

U.S. Congressmen Want Russia to Acknowledge Illegal Occupation of Baltics MosNews The House of Representatives’ Committee on International Relations has received a resolution project to get an acknowledgement from Russia that its occupation of the Baltic states was illegal. The resolution authors are John Shimkus (R-IL) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). They have urged Russia to make a “clear and unequivocal statement on acknowledgement and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation of the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991,” Kommersant newspaper wrote. Shimkus and Kucinich head the Baltic Caucus in the U.S....

For once, Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) and the Illinois GOP delegation are in agreement: Both are relieved that he's decided to leave the Senate. "A great burden has been lifted off my shoulder," Fitzgerald said in a brief interview: "I've made my son's first and second Little League game in a row." Other congressional Republicans who clashed repeatedly with Fitzgerald during his single Senate term sounded even more sanguine about his departure. "Peter was his own worst enemy," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.). "Peter has no friends in our delegation. He never reached out to the delegation." Fitzgerald announced over...

Gekas On the Ropes? By Lauren W. Whittington At a closed-door meeting Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Davis (Va.) told party leaders that Rep. George Gekas is the only GOP incumbent currently trailing in tracking polls, sparking efforts to aid the endangered Pennsylvanian in his race against Rep. Tim Holden (D). The 72-year-old Gekas, facing his first serious re-election challenge in two decades, is battling Holden, 45, in a race set up by redistricting. Davis' assessment was backed up by a recently conducted Democratic poll that showed Gekas trailing Holden by 10 points. The survey, conducted Sept. 19-21...

Phelps' Poll Shows Him Even With Shimkus A new Democratic poll in the 19th district contest between Reps. John Shimkus (R) and David Phelps (D) showed the race in a statistical dead heat. The poll, conducted for Phelps' campaign by Alan Secrest of the Alexandria, Va.-based polling firm Cooper & Secrest Associates, found Phelps at 40 percent and Shimkus at 38 percent, a lead within the survey's 4 percent margin of error. The poll surveyed 504 likely voters Sept. 4 and 5. It also found Shimkus held a 75 percent to 68 percent name-identification advantage over Phelps. In the gubernatorial...