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Cruz Vows to ‘Go the Distance’ Ahead of Crucial Indiana Primary With a pivotal vote in Indiana this week, Ted Cruz is vowing to "go the distance," whatever the outcome of Tuesday's primary. "It is an incredibly important state," Cruz said of Indiana on ABC's "This Week." "We are competing hard. I hope we do well here. I can tell you I'm barnstorming the state, we're in a bus with my family, we're doing everything we can to earn the votes of the men and women in this state. We're going the distance. We're competing the entire distance.” Cruz, trailing...

One freshman House Republican is unhappy with Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) decision to give her own response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill.) — who rode a wave of Tea Party support into Congress — said that Bachmann's speech was a "distraction" that gave the media fodder to speculate about division within the Republican Party. "I mean, there is no more Tea Party freshman on the planet than myself, but I'll be the first to say, respectfully, Michele had no business making that speech last night," Walsh said Wednesday, according to Chicago radio station...

Rep.-elect Joe Walsh, a Republican from Illinois, will make good on a campaign promise and forgo government provided health care for himself and his wife in protest of the Obama’s health care plan — in spite of his wife’s a preexisting condition. “I don’t want to burden the American tax payer about my health care bill,” he said on CNN Tuesday. “Right now,” he continued, “the health care system has a real bias against folks who need to shop out there in the individual market. My wife and I now are going to have to go through the struggles that...

Rep.-elect Walsh will turn down government health insuranceBy Jordan Fabian - 12/26/10 04:10 PM ET Another newly elected Republican member of Congress says he will not accept the government-sponsored health insurance plan available to lawmakers. Rep.-elect Joe Walsh (Ill.), who rode a wave of Tea Party support to surprisingly defeat three-term Rep. Melissa Bean (D) in November, said that he does not believe lawmakers should receive the benefits. "I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy healthcare plans," he told the Chicago News Cooperative. Republicans who staunchly opposed President Obama's healthcare reform plan have come under pressure from Democrats...

"The crowd breaks into an impromptu Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the candidates forum between 8th Congressional District (Illinois) candidates Joe Walsh, Melissa Bean and Bill Scheurer at Grayslake Central High School."

(Bean) Wants all absentee and provisional ballots counted "While some absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, Walsh — a self-described Tea Party activist — believes those votes won’t change the ultimate outcome of the election."

"Republican Joe Walsh has defeated incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean for Congress in the 8th District with all absentee and provisional ballots now counted."

Illinois: Democrats' lone redistricting prize is a big one When it comes to redistricting, Illinois is Democrats' prize pig. And it might be the biggest prize on the map for either party. The Democrats control the drawing of the map in only seven states this year. But none of them compare in size or influence to the Land of Lincoln. In fact, in the other six -- Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Arkansas, West Virginia and Rhode Island -- the Democrats already control 25 of 32 congressional seats. That doesn't leave much room for map expansion. Illinois is another story. Republicans just...

Illinois Treasurer and US Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias’s campaign posted a press release titled “Anti-Establishment Wave Should Have Washington Insider Kirk Afraid, Very Afraid” on wednesday. The release warns Republican Congressman Mark Kirk that he faces a “legitimate challenge from the right with Libertarian candidate Mike Labno officially on the Illinois ballot.” As with Republican Senator Bob Bennett of Utah, the anti-incumbent wave is on the brink of taking its next victim this morning as incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska faces the more than likely loss to a conservative challenger from the right. Congressman Mark Kirk, a 10-year...

The U.S. vetoed a controversial Palestinian Authority resolution at the United Nations Security Council as pressure on the administration mounted in the House. A letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to stand up against the resolution condemning Israel quickly racked up signatures in the House on Friday. Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) circulated the letter, which had been signed by at least 110 members, making the rounds beginning Thursday afternoon and again later on Friday. The members responded to reports that a presidential statement condemning Israeli settlements could be

A freshman House Republican on Wednesday singled out "most" liberal American Jews for not being sufficiently pro-Israel.  Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill.) questioned why U.S. Jews have not expressed more outrage over President Obama's demand that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process be based around the 1967 borders, with mutually agreeable land swaps. "The short answer is that most American Jews are liberal, and most American liberals side with the Palestinians and vague notions of 'peace' instead of with Israel’s well-being and security,"  Walsh wrote in an op-ed for the conservative Daily Caller. Walsh, who is Catholic, added that the American Jewish community...

Daily Caller, May 26 - It pains me to say this, but President Obama is not pro-Israel. After last Thursday’s speech, that should be clear. His call for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement based on the 1967 borders should leave no doubt where he stands. The 1967 borders are entirely indefensible. He is not pro-Israel. Political realities being what they are, the president does his level best to say the right things politically and to give the appearance that he is an honest broker in the conflict. But much too often he slips and reveals whose side he’s really on. During...