CNN tried to find out if Congress was keeping to its promises of openness and transparency by asking all 435 U.S. Representatives for their earmark requests for the 2008 budget. Only 31 responded and 68 just declined, the rest didn’t return calls. Two of the thirty-one were Rahm Emanuel and Tim Johnson — the only ones from Illinois to respond.

If you’re interested in asking your reprensentative what they’re planning on spending our money on, you can find phone and fax numbers at Contacting the Congress.

Responses to the earmarks request from CNN’s complete response list.

Update: As noted in the comments, some Representatives have released their earmark requests after this report.

(via blogging.la)

We’re having an election on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 and here are the candidates for alderman, with links to their official websites (if available). Struck-through candidates are listed as off the ballot by the Chicago Elections Board as of 2/15/07. Candidates are listed in ballot order. Incumbents are marked with an asterix.

If you aren’t sure what Ward you live in, you can find out on the Chicago Election Board site.

For bonus fun, find the two candidates whose websites are MySpace pages.

The list is long, so it’s after the jump:
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So the Democrats won the House and Blago is back for another 4 years. What does this mean for Illinois? It does mean we lose the speaker of the house. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of Denny; however, there is no denying that Hastert represented his district well and brought in money for a number of local projects. As for Blago, I’m pretty sure he’ll be indicted before his term is up. But that’s not all.

Technorati Tags: Election, Government

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Just in case you missed this little gem from Hastert’s press conference in response to the Foley scandal:

“What we need to do is start talking about the issues.

Our friends on the other side of the aisle really don’t have a story to tell. And maybe they’re resolving to another way to — to — another political tactic.”

Denny Hastert, 10.05.06

Cross-posted to my friends call me nikkos

Previous mocking of Hastert by yours truly: here, here and here.

Okay, so we don’t know what Denny knew or when he knew it. Fair enough. Something tells me within the next week or so, we’ll know more. But did anyone catch the article in the Trib with this little gem:

He went on to suggest that operatives aligned with former President Bill Clinton knew about the allegations and were perhaps behind the disclosures in the closing weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections, but he offered no hard proof.

“All I know is what I hear and what I see,” the speaker said. “I saw Bill Clinton’s adviser, Richard Morris, was saying these guys knew about this all along. If somebody had this info, when they had it, we could have dealt with it then.”

What I’d like to know is when did Denny start smoking crack. I mean, seriously, his answer to this whole scandal is Clinton did it!?!?! Isn’t that shtick getting a little tired? We get it: Republican’s don’t like Clinton. But here’s the thing, Denny, clean up your own party’s pederast assholes and stop trying to blame everything you do wrong on someone else and take some responsibility.

Not that I ever believed it, but so much for the party of “personal responsibility”. Puh-lease.

Cross-posted without further comment to my friends call me nikkos.

Illinois Republican and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is under fire as part of the Foley Sex Scandal that is rocking D.C. Will he resign, as the very conservative Washington Times newspaper demanded in an editorial today? You can read that editorial and all the interesting comments from fellow Chicagoans that will surely follow on the Chicago Tribune blog The Swamp.

We’ve been long overdue for a good sex scandal, but you can count on the politicians in Washington D.C. to come through when things get dull. Will former wrestler Hastert be the next to fall as a result? What did he know and when did he know it? Can honor and dignity ever be restored? I think you know the answer.

Republicans can’t stop talking about how “robust” the economy is, which makes sense if you are a member of the Republican-run Congress, whom just gave themselves a nice pay raise, or a member of the upper echelon of White House staffers, whom also gave themselves a pay raise. Yes folks, Karl Rove just got a raise. And it’s our tax dollars that comprise his salary.

Meanwhile, in the real world, regular folks continue to work for a pittance at places like Wal-Mart, primarily because the Republican-led Congress refused- again- to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage was last increased under Clinton. That was a long time ago (and after years of Bush rule, it certainly feels longer).

Via americablog, Truthdig and the Trib’s “The Swamp,” I find Illinois’ Rahm Emanuel sticking it to the man.

You may also recall that the Speaker of the House, one Denny Hastert, pledged that fiscal responsibility would return to Washington. I seem to recall some intrepid blogger (whose name escapes me) repeatedly calling “bullshit” on Hastert’s claims…this is yet one more example.

Read Emanuel’s righteous smackdown- delivered on the floor of the House, after the jump…
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On Wednesday, the FBI raided Hastert’s boyhood home, seen above.

ABC News’ Brian Ross is reporting that Denny Hastert is under investigation in connection with the ever-widening Jack Abramoff scandal. How’s that ethics reform comin’ now, Denny?

This is particularly interesting given Hastert’s strong opposition to the FBI raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson, who allegedly took a $100K bribe and hid the remaining $90K in his freezer.

Why would Hastert, Speaker of the House and a Republican, give political cover to a disgraced Democrat? Well, maybe because Denny himself senses that the FBI may come a’ knockin’ on his door sometime very soon. Nah, that couldn’t be it- I’m sure this is just one big coincidence. (For my take on what the Jefferson scandal tells us about both the Republican and Democrat parties, go here).
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Denny Hastert and Congressional Republicans Debate the New Lobby Reform Bill.

Remember when I wrote “Denny Hastert Thinks You Are Stupid?”

The essence of that post was a jab at the porcine legislator from Illinois for his, I alleged at the time, shameless claims to lead “lobby reform” through the Republican Congress, the very same Republican Congress which has been chronically guilty of- wait for it!- lobbying abuses.

I believe I compared Hastert to Pappy O’Daniel in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

I believe I asserted this was equivalent to the “inmates running the asylum.”

(I think I may have saved the “fox guarding the henhouse” cliché for another post.)

All in all, I asserted that Denny Hastert must think we are stupid if he thinks we, the voting populace, will believe him when he claims he will spearhead lobbying reform.

Well let’s check in on old Denny, you know, see how that re-form is a’comin’…

…apparently not so good, according to the Washington Post:

“Remember lobbying reform? The Hill was so nervous about the Abramoff scandal that even Denny Hastert was talking about greater disclosure, ending earmarks and perhaps limiting freebie travel. Now that the Abramoff furor has died down, the leadership is backtracking on almost every point. The House passed a watered-down bill yesterday that contained such stinging provisions as ethics training for lawmakers. So members of Congress will be able to continue to stuff bills with home-district pork, often as a favor to the interest groups that finance their campaigns. Talk about a formula for corruption.”

Hmmm, maybe nikkos isn’t so crazy after all?

Cross-posted to my friends call me nikkos.