Free Republic

Taxpayers who have fallen behind on their paperwork -- way, way behind -- have a $2 billion incentive to get caught up. The IRS owes more than $2 billion to more than 1.7 million people who never filed tax returns for 2002. Half could get checks worth more than $570. To collect the refunds, taxpayers must file a 2002 tax return before this year's April 17 filing deadline. The IRS urges taxpayers to check their records and seize the opportunity to claim their money. The IRS gives people three years to claim a refund before it becomes the property of...

On Bloomington's AM1230 Rush was pre-empted by Blago's State-of-the-State address. While waiting for Blago to enter the radio announcer, speaking in the hushed voice of a golf or bowling program, said "And on the Democrat left side of the platform we have the Superintendant of Schools and State Treasurer Judy Barr-Topinka" Then in a parenthetical voice he said. "Ron Gidwitz, Jim Oberweis and other detractors of the governor are not in attendance in the chamber." Eisendrath and Brady not mentioned by name. Of course, Brady, a St Sen, was there. Blago proposes a capital construction program. His KeenOH gambling expansion...

The Real Issue Is Turnout - Ralph Conner All American citizens of good will can see the value in encouraging Black voters to break through their voting lethargy and apathy--without using allegations of institutionalized racism as an excuse for self-disenfranchisement, failing to vote when you have the rock-solid right to do so. Last April, in my own bid for re-election as mayor of Maywood, Illinois, turnout was less than 25 percent in a community that is 90 percent African-American. It disturbs me deeply to know only one-quarter of the eligible voters in my community chose to exercise this essential right....

Trib's Zorn points to IR in today's "Land of Linkin'" Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune points out Illinois Review on his blog today. After mentioning fellow conservative blogger Tom Roeser in a piece entitled Land of Linkin' (wish I'd have thought of that!) Zorn writes, Fran Eaton's politics aren't my own either. But Eaton, formerly of the now pining-for-the-fjords Illinois Leader, is now appearing on the new Illinois Review blog. It promises to be the "crossroads of the conservative community." Thanks, Eric . . . a mention means a lot . . . Link: Chicago Tribune | Eric Zorn....

Below is the cumulative poll results from a dozen CONSERVATIVE websites mostly visited by conservatives and by conservatives who are interested enough in conservative politics that they go to conservative web sites and participate in those web sites. That they are conservative is evident by the 88% to 95% hard conservative positions on issues... Nov ANWR and lack of backbone in US Senate.Rice . . . 4966 (38.6%) Giuliani .1281 (10%) Bush . . . 1112 (8.7%) Cheney . . 1021 (7.9%) Allen . . . 999 (7.8%) Thompson . 720 (5.6%) Gingrich . 678 (5.3%) Romney . . .452...

Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907. "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But. this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else...

Immigration vs Out-Sourcing has been the choice I've presented here in the past. Just a couple updates. It is ever more difficult to find American IT workers. I'm 62. Many in my generation are retiring with no American to replace them. Watch for companies to do more outsourcing of IT jobs to domestic consulting firms. Those consulting firms will be as unable to find Americans as their client companies have been. Those domestic consulting firms then have the same choice their client had: Either hire immigrants or sub-contract/sub-outsource to India. Either way, the client companies that need the work done...

Gary Skoien fired.

What is terrorism? Is it not the attempt to create a feeling of terror in others? Terrorism does not win with a body count; nor with the occupation of land as traditional wars do. The terrorists have accurately assessed the situation. Western culture and civilization depend on rational thought .... facts and logic. The terrorists win when they can cause all or part of western civilization to abandon rational thought and resort to irrational responses. It does not matter to terrorists which irrational button they push or which illogical response they get. To cut and run is irrational. To "Go...

Former Illinois House Republican Minority Leader Lee A. Daniels’ long-time chief of staff Michael Tristano faces federal charges of mail fraud, theft and extortion conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office announced Thursday morning. “Using the state payroll to bankroll campaign workers and steering state grants in return for private political benefits is a fraud upon the citizens of the citizens of Illinois who have a right to expect honest government,” Fitzgerald is quoted as saying in an office press release. “Public servants must understand that the law requires them to separate political activities from government functions and that public office...

I've commented on many threads about the lack of citizens to fill unskilled, skilled and IT jobs. Recently several people have emailed me inquiring about political activism jobs. I went to www.conservativejobs.comwww.conservativejobs.com lists 223 jobs (197 fulltime, 26 partime). I found it interesting that for a movement that claims middle-America, 50% of the jobs were in the DC Beltway. With 5% of the population, my Illinois had no jobs listed. The Illinois GOP is in desperate need of an executive director and entire staff. The State Party Chair is leaving no stone unturned to find an executive director.... except he...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion.In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defended the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered...

The nature of government is that there will always be more demands on the public purse than there are resources. This explains why politicians spend their days plotting new ways to raise revenue because the more they raise, the more votes they can buy. The consequence of this is that over time, once rational folks who win elective office gradually convert from a taxpayers’ frame of reference to a tax raiser’s mindset. This capitol city version of the Stockholm syndrome is infuriating for taxpayers because politicians get paid to spend their days dreaming up new ways to raise their share...

Plan may cut food stamps for some. Chicago(AP) - More people will fall off the federal food stamp rolls if the state follows through with a plan to close 25 regional offices of the Department of Human Services, an advocacy group said. Only 67 percent of Illinoisans who are eligible for federal food stamps receive them, Illinois Hunger Coalition Executive Director Diane Doherty said. About 20 members of the Coalition protested the planned cuts Wednesday outside the department's regional office in Chicago.More people would apply for and receive food stamps if Human Services had a bigger staff, Doherty said.Illinois is...

I am just amazed. The covers have been ripped off. Jack Ryan and George W. Bush have more than an election fight on their hands. They have are in a fight for democracy.Two years ago, I was kidnapped from a safe life of being a stay-at-home mom with three young adult children and whisked to a new life in the strange land of the media.As a result, I see things differently now, looking at what I read - and don’t read - everyday from a unique perspective to give our readers news and angles the mainstream media doesn't present.While gathering...

Feb, 2004, Federal District Court judge Charles R. Norgle dismissed "without predjudice" a lawsuit bought by descendants of slaves seeking reparations from corporations they say profited from slavery. The legal implications of this lawsuit have been argued at length in many venues. As a result, I have been led to some personal ruminations on this issue.I have always been mystified by racial grievance mongers who pontificate on the glorious Nirvana that their lives would be had they only been left in Mother Africa, notwithstanding the general quality of life there. Since most American blacks have some measure of Caucasian genealogical...

Multiethnic kids must list 1 raceBrandon is 7 with an afro, green eyes, skin the color of caramel.He is white, like his father; black, like his mother. In Champaign Community Unit School District 4, he can't be both.Officials infuriated his parents by sending a letter last year saying they must identify Brandon on school paperwork by only one race or ethnicity. "Multiethnic," the district's term for students of mixed heritage, was no longer an option.

School Reform The U-46 Question: Which are Better, Small or Large School Districts? A group of concerned citizens have organized "Better Schools for All" with the aim of breaking up Elgin (IL) based school district U-46 into smaller, more responsive and more effective school districts. Follow this link to a statement from FTN and links to some of the research compiled by the citizens of "Better Schools For All." It is certainly no surprise that the Elgin teachers union is opposed to the break up. Teacher unions are famous for standing in the way of any institutional reform that might...

More than a million Internet users will be invited to vote in a virtual Democratic primary next week. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has built an extensive network of Internet-savvy supporters, is expected to get the most votes in the MoveOn.org primary. . . . The primary begins Tuesday and voting lasts for 48 hours. - Associated Press, 6/20/03

CHICAGO -- "Our efforts will cover the expanse of Illinois," Robert Oliver, Illinois liaison for the African-American Republican Leadership Conference told reporters today. Oliver says that the AARLC will work to encourage black voters throughout the state to support Republican candidates and traditional causes. "Blacks are beginning to see that they are promised a lot of things before an election, but they are forgotten about until the next election," he said. The AARLC plans to sponsor voter registration drives, candidates' schools, campaign schools, grassroots activist schools, and perhaps even begin a political action committee for black conservatives who want to...