More McHenry County Blog

Here's is the Palatine student's email to Scheurer:

I am a student who grew up in Palatine in the 8th. I consider myself a progressive and have always voted for liberal (usually Democratic) candidates. I've been disappointed in Congresswoman Bean's voting record and have been pleased with what I've learned about Bill's position on the issues. While I prefer Bill to Bean, I certainly don't want to do anything to put one of the Republican candidates in office.

What I want to know is why Bill Scheurer has decided to run as an independent rather than challenge Bean in the primary. Practical? Ideological? I think that he offers a good alternative to Bean, but people are always going to struggle with the whole "throwing away your vote" or "voting for Scheurer is like voting for the Repub" thing.

I'm also a part of a blog called SoapBlox/Chicago. I'd like your permission to post a response there. I'd also encourage you to check it out if you have the time.

Thanks.

Eric V.

What follows is Scheurer's reply:

Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 3:36 PM
Subject: Re: Website contact / question

Eric,

Thanks for your note. I enjoyed visiting your blog.

We thought long and hard about going into the primary. However, most of my supporters agreed that it would be better to take our campaign into the general election instead. There are several reasons for this.

One of the reasons for this decision is that both, the Democratic incumbent and the Republican challenger, are basically out to appeal to the same, corporate conservative voting block. They support the interests of the wealthy over working families, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, the bankruptcy bill, estate tax repeal, millionaire tax cuts, the Enron/Halliburton energy bill, the flag amendment, the Mexico-wall, CAFTA, and other such Republican positions. This does not offer much of a choice to voters. At some point, we have to force the system to start offering better choices to voters.

Another related reason was that we felt our prospects for winning the general election were better in a 3-way race -- where the other two candidates would be splitting the same votes, rather than in a head-to-head against the Republican candidate (who would have all those votes to his or herself).

We realize that my presence in the race almost guarantees a loss by Bean, and that we have to accept some of the responsibility for this outcome. However, the Democratic Party and Bean herself will bear the greater responsibility for any temporary setback -- should we not win enough votes for my candidacy to prevent this seat from going back into Republican hands for the next two years.

The Democratic Party still does not understand why it keeps losing elections. Even with the current meltdown of the Republican regime due to its unprecedented levels of incompetence and corruption -- the Democrats gain little ground. This is because they have conceded the battlefield,before the battle even begins.

The Democratic Party keeps acting like there is a right-wing majority in this country (and in our district), and that the only way to not lose is to accommodate this phantom voter block. This leads them to offer candidates whom their core supporters can only regard as being "the lesser of two evils" at best.

Well, guess what? The Republicans have candidates that their core supporters enthusiastically embrace! So, who is going to win and lose these elections? Our feeling is that Bean almost certainly would lose her 2006 re-election bid, even without me in the race.

She has betrayed the core supporters who put her in office in the first place. It is not just organized labor. Progressives of all stripes are completely disenchanted with her, including an ever-growing block of peace voters. She traded all this for the marginal middle, a truckload of corporate cash, and newspaper praise.

Listen to her most vocal supporters. What can they say about her? All you hear is -- she is a Democrat, and will vote for the Democratic leadership. There is nothing else they can say! I am not minimizing the importance of ending Republican rule. But really -- can they honestly expect her to win with something like that? When McSweeney and Salvi have their adoring legions of enthusiastic support -- for them, and their positions.

Melissa Bean is still running against Phil Crane. Well, guess what? Phil Crane lost 37% of his vote in a Republican primary to an unknown, unfunded challenger -- with no campaign organization and no support. People knew -- on both sides of the aisle -- that Phil Crane had been there too long.

Bean appeared Republican enough (and, accurately so) for some people to let Crane go and give her a try. But now, the Republicans will have a real Republican. They don't need her anymore. While, the Democrats do not have a real Democrat. They don't want her anymore. (Even the party loyalists don't really want her. They just don't want a Republican more. How can she win like that?)

So, what we patiently try to explain to people who care about the Democratic Party is that Bean is the real spoiler in this race, not me. This statement is not made in arrogance, and I understand -- at first, it seems absurd, in view of the party apparatus behind her. But, that poor machine will not be enough for her to win. A vote for Bean is a vote for the Republican.

I am not claiming to act in the interests of the Democratic Party. Nor, do I claim to be a great candidate, as an alternative to her. What is clear to me, and to my growing list of supporters -- is that Bean is not the right person to keep this seat out of Republican hands. And, it is becoming highly doubtful to a rising tide of people around the country -- that the Democratic Party itself is moving in the right direction to keep this country out of Republican hands.

The Democrats have not yet learned that the Republicans seized power by playing to their base, not by running away from it. As long as the Democrats keep marginalizing their base, taking them for granted, or worse, discrediting them -- they offer diminishing hope to the problems of one-party rule in our country.

Bill Scheurer

The Peace Majority Report
www.PeaceMajority.org

Bill Scheurer for Congress
www.BringOurTroopsHome.com

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

McSweeney targets road improvements for Routes 14, 31 and 47. The mailing says, "As our next Congressment, David McSweeney will be an active leader in working to ensure the successful completion of projects in our communities and finding the best solutions that improve our everyday lives."

During my last two terms in the Illinos General Assembly, I was the Republican Spokesman on the House Appropriations Committee that handled the Department of Transportation budget. I know how hard it was to direct road money to McHenry County. Now, with the strong possibility that McSweeney would be serving with a Democratic Party governor (Yes, advantage Blagojevich at this point), I think McSweeney will find it harder than this mailing suggests to have a significant impact on the road building process.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

McSweeney trots out his heaviest two endorsements on this panel--McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren and McHenry County Republican Central Committee Chairman Bill LeFew (he puts County Treasurer first in his description). Both have countywide influence, but neither live in the 8th congressional district.

Also listed are Donna Schaefer, McHenry Township Supervisor and Ringwood village President Rick Mack, a Metra employee, who is touted as the Vice Chairman of the County Central Committee and chairman of the McHenry Township GOP.

Each give the reason for endorsing McSweeney.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

 
Here is the education mailing from GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron Gidwitz that arrived today. This is the "glitter" side. For the "guts" of the proposals, click here. 

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

Here's is Kathy Salvi's press release:

Mundelein, Illinois –Kathy Salvi, Republican candidate for Illinois' 8th Congressional District, has received the endorsement of the Republican National Coalition for Life. The Republican National Coalition for Life is a national organization committed to assisting pro-life candidates. Kathy Salvi has now received three national pro life organization endorsements with RNCL joining SBA and Eagle Forum. Kathy has also been endorsed by pro-family advocates Phyllis Schlafly and Penny Pullen.

"I am proud to have earned the support of such a dedicated organization. I look forward to working with them to win this campaign and thus restore a strong, pro-family advocate to the families of Illinois' 8th District."

"The endorsement of the Republican National Coalition for Life adds to the continued momentum of my campaign going into the final four weeks of this primary campaign. I look forward to carrying this momentum through the primary to victory against Melissa Bean in November."

Kathy Salvi is an attorney who lives in Mundelein with her husband, Al, and their six children. She will focus on issues important to the families of Illinois' 8th District including fighting taxes, controlling spending, traffic gridlock, the war on terror, and upholding conservative values.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

 
This is what you see when you open the mailing. The same points made here are made inside in the center of the mailing.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
McSweeney's mailing sets the stage for his message on national security in this panel.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
McSweeney breaks national security into three parts:

properly equipping our troops,
increasing intelligence capabilities and
securing our borders.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
A "photo op" with the president.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

Byron Referendum Committee It will “provide support for public questions to be presented to the voters of Byron Community Unit School Dist 226,” according to its February 16th organization papers.

Vision 81 This committee will be supporting “School District 81 Referendum in Schiller and Franklin Park” its initial filing of February 16th said.

Citizens for Classrooms popped up in Naperville. It backs Indian Prairie’s $130 mil bond issue and was first reported on Feb. 7th.

204 the Kids – Naperville PAC to To support the passage of the Indian Prairie School District building referendum formed January 12th.

Citz for Riverside Brookfield High School was organized on January 24th “support bond referendum for Riverside Brookfield High School.”

SJOHS Referendum Committee is supporting the SJOHS Building Referendum. The St. Joseph’s PAC was organized on January 24th.

Committee to Preserve River Forest Schools Formed on December 21, 2005, the PAC had only a token $100 at the end of the year.

Citizens for District 103 Formed on Dec. 20th, the PAC says it will “support educational excellence in District 103 Schools,” but does not mention a specific referendum It had collected only $42 by the end of the year.

District 96 Referendum Comm This Long Grove PAC supporting the passage of a Education Fund tax hike identified itself last year on December 16th, relatively early for such a committee.

Plano New ERA Committee This PAC is going to “support the passage of a school building referendum to build an addition to Plano High School.”

There are probably more which I will discover between now and the election, but this is a start.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

Here is the rest of the press release:

While Blagojevich started a two day sweep of the state, GOP primary candidate Judy Baar Topinka announced a proposal for campaign finance reform that does not address the root cause fueling “pay to play” politics in Illinois – political contributions.

“Until we prohibit contributions from all corporations and unions and limit donations from individuals and political committees, we are going to have loopholes that will allow people to profit at the taxpayers’ expense,” stated Brady.

“I have introduced legislation for strict limitations on campaign contributions to eliminate the incentive for corruption in government. My campaign finance reform prohibits all donations from corporations and unions and limits contributions from individuals to $2,000 and donations from political action committees to $5,000 per election cycle.

“I have proposed a requirement that all state bond sales be competitively bid. I have proposed awarding no-bid contracts to political contributors and likewise banning holders of no-bid contracts from making political donations, and I am glad to see that Judy has embraced at least that part of my ethics reforms,” Brady explained

“Both Rod Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka want to hide behind blame shifting and political rhetoric while avoiding public debates which would allow the people of Illinois to really see what they stand for and would bring to the table.

“If they really want to let Illinoisans know where they stand, they should agree to debate their opponents in every media market and every university town in the state. Then, everyone from Waukegan to East St Louis would have a chance to hear how Rod plans to dig us out of the fiscal nightmare he’s created and why Judy is considering tax increases.

“It's going to take more than populist platitudes to bring reform to Illinois. I offer real change for Illinois, change that will improve our business climate, better educate our children and eliminate the Blagojevich Administration's pay-to-play politics.

“Rod Blagojevich fooled the people of Illinois four years ago, and they're paying the price today. I don't think they're going to let themselves be fooled again by him or by a treasurer unwilling to make decisions unpopular to her donors. Throughout my campaign, I have offered real answers to the challenges facing Illinois, from tax relief to campaign ethics reform.”

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

After the debate Topinka didn’t stay around for media questions. She went into a side room. The rest of the candidates waited outside. Martin started singing,according to the Sun-Times,

"Judy, Judy, come out and play with all the boys."

More than once.

Since he started the pile-on, the Tribune finally mentioned Martin’s name in something other than its profile and its poll results story, noting,

A fourth candiate, perennial candidate Andy Martin, began mockingly singing Topinka's name in an effort to draw her out. Gidwitz laughed to those standing around him that the Republican race had reached “a new low."

ABC TV’s Andy Shaw described the scene this way:

"She is manifestly unqualified to be a governor. She has run a poor campaign for the nomination and she would be a disaster in a contest with Blagojevich," said Andy Martin, (R)-candidate for governor.

Republican fringe candidate Andy Martin launched the verbal assault on the GOP frontrunner, state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, at the end of an otherwise genial debate on public radio, and after Topinka left the room, the others accused her of running away from her record as a political insider who has taken hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars from companies that do business with her office.

In the Sun-Times, Fran Spielman wrote,

The run-for-cover strategy backfired.

When Topinka ducked out, her four opponents -- Gidwitz, Jim Oberweis, Bill Brady and Andy Martin -- had a field day attacking her and the sweeping ethics package she unveiled over the weekend….

"I'm not budging until Judy comes out," Martin said. Then he broke out into song:

"Judy, Judy, come out and play with all the boys."

Finally, Topinka emerged.

"The boys had enough time to beat up on me behind my back," she said. "I'm the front-runner. I expect to get all sorts of abuse."

And, here is Martin’s description of what happened:

More importantly, at the WBEZ debate this morning I attacked Topinka and called her a disaster for the Republican Party and unfit to lead the campaign in November. Straight up. My own attacks ignited a firestorm of similar remarks by the other campaigns.

Topinka’s behavior at WBEZ today was bizarre, pathetic, totally inappropriate and sadly predictable. How can she claim she is the best qualified candidate to go up against Blah Bah Blago when she goes into hiding at the slightest attack? I rumbled, Judy tumbled, and the race has become jumbled.

Just when our ever-resplendent media corps was writing off everyone else and declaring Judy the winner, we have a wide open primary and I am driving my tank right into the middle of the battle. The media better wake up because the voters are going to leave them behind in this campaign.

I proved at today’s WBEZ debate that I am the only candidate who can run-and-gun, fight quickly and attack extemporaneously, all of which drives Judy nuts and rattles her handlers. Her séance in the control room was the stuff of Guerilla Theater,” Martin will claim.

Eric Krol of the Daily Herald described the scene this way:

At that point, Brady noticed Topinka wasn’t there. “Judy should answer this. Where is she? Where is she? Judy?” Brady said.

Bagel-munching perennial candidate Andy Martin then started singing for her return.

“Judy, come through the door. Don’t say nevermore.”

CBS’ Mike Flannery also referred to Martin’s singing:

The four repeatedly called on Topinka to join them, including Martin, who at one point broke into song to entice Topinka to make an appearance.

Probably because he has nothing to lose, Martin was the leader in the attempt to deprive Topinka of her “queen of the hill” status.

 
Tink is one of my wife’s favorites. I wanted a photo of this tee shirt, but didn’t want to tell her about. She might have bought it.

When we arrived home from Disney World, I learned that she had bought a blanket with the same image. 

“Over the course of his three years as Governor, all of Rod Blagojevich’s initiatives have been based on borrowing and spending in the midst of a large budget deficit,” said Churchill. “While the Governor may tout the initiatives brought forth by his administration, the sad reality is that virtually all of them have been financed through borrowing. In the meantime, Illinois healthcare providers are still feeling the pressure from the large Medicaid payments owed by the state. Under this Governor, our Medicaid debt has nearly doubled from approximately $1 billion at the end of FY ’03 to nearly $2 billion at the end of FY ’06. This problem is not going to simply go away by ignoring it. We have got to buckle down, pay off our debts and begin living within our means.”

To make matters worse, said Churchill, the percentage of state revenues now just going to pay our debt service payments has nearly doubled from 4.73% to nearly 7%. Furthermore, we are heading into year two of the Democrats’ five-year, $3.5 billion pension raid, said Churchill. For every pension dollar Democrats diverted, taxpayers will have to pay $11 back, for a total cost of $38 billion, added Churchill.

Churchill stated that although the Governor’s universal pre-school and college tuition tax credit ideas are good, the state has current obligations that haven’t even been met yet. We haven’t fully funded schools and the Governor is asking for new programs, noted Churchill. It would be better to use any cash to pay overdue bills to hospitals and pharmacies or to put money into the state’s troubled pension systems, said Churchill.

“The Governor wants to sell the 10th riverboat license and use that money to restore funding to the pension systems,” said Churchill. “The problem is that no one knows when that license will be able to be sold. That may not happen for another five or ten years. We need to find a way to fund the pension systems today. If, in the future, the 10th riverboat license is actually sold, we can consider using the revenue from the sale to fund new programs.”

For more information, please contact Representative Robert W. Churchill at (847)838-6200.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

  

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

“They argue that the honest services charges [of the mail fraud statute] are ‘non-starters,’” the judge continues, “because the government does not allege that there was any personal gain by the Defendants at the expense of the City of Chicago or City residents.

“The problem with this case is not that the Defendants stood to gain” Judge Coar wrote. “Vigorous campaigning is makes for a healthy democracy.

“The problem is that the Defendants abused their positions as public officials in order to reward and encourage partisan campaigning.

“By creating a complicated system that ensured preferred candidates would be rewarded with jobs and promotions in exchange for political support, the Defendants were no longer providing their honest services to the City that employed them or the City’s residents…The conduct, as alleged in the indictment, can support a charge of mail fraud.

”The misuse of office and ensuing harms are particularly egregious in this case:
the Defendants created and supported an alternative, hidden system of hiring for non-policy jobs that allowed them to use the City payroll as a personal bank account whose sole purpose was rewarding those who were politically useful, at the expense of both the City—the entity stuck with the bill—and the populace—the entity that was misled about the hiring process via issuance of false certifications of hiring was apolitical. The public was manipulated into believing that hiring for non-policy positions was not political.”

“The argument that the public gained and was not harmed by rewarding employees for their political work is quite beside the point,” the Federal judge added. “Some choices, however, are clearly made not to benefit the City or its populace but rather the decision makers and those who the decision makers favor. Defendants, who are alleged to have instituted a system of hiring that is virtually the antithesis of public representations about City hiring, are hardly in the position to evade responsibility for subverting the employment process on the grounds that their system—in their opinion—led to what they consider favorable results.”

 
To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 
This mailing was made at the very end of the 1992 Republican primary campaign between Palatine Village President Rita Mullins and State Rep. Bernie Pedersen. Pedersen did not approve or even see the mailing before it was mailed on behalf of the United Republican Fund.

Pedersen was targeted by Illinois' pro-abortion forces. From the contents of this mailing you can see that Mullins' campaign was not exactly one to be proud of.

Mullins, still Palatine Village President, is running in the Republican primary to replace State Sen. Wendell Jones this year.

To read the rest of the mailing click here, here and here. 

(Don’t tell me they already are, because Christine Tobin and I filed a $5,000 Freedom of Information lawsuit to obtain them and lost. Whose payroll were Tom Cross staffers on the Friday before the 2004 primary? Was one or more doing the same thing that Lee Daniels’ may very well be accused of earlier?)

(Of course, the U.S. Attorney could subpoena the records, but corruption like this is so far down the corruption food chain and Patrick Fitzgerald has such an immense workload--being deliberately increased by Washington--that the culture of corruption probably continues, albeit usually in a less blatant form than before.)

Other suggestions:

· Term limits for legislative leaders.

· If one really wants to have a chance of figuring out when hanky-panky is going down, require legislators, their staffs and lobbyists to file their contacts with lobbyists every day and have lobbyists do the same concerning legislators. To minimize the record-keeping load on the legislators, require lobbyists to file an electronic report each day and to give the lobbyed legislator a card containing the information to be filed to give to the Clerk’s office when session starts the next morning. Of course, nowhere will a legislative majority want to provide evidence of such contacts. Too much campaign fodder.

· The actual cost of providing state provided plane trips for the favored few between home and Springfield and elsewhere should at the very least be reported. (Who files with Mike, Emil, Tom and Frank? That’s a major perk and, if you don’t think so, try driving four hours twice a week to get to work.)

· Illinois doesn’t have a “members only” gym where ex-members can lobby them, as is the case in Washington. They do have a “members only” part of the Capitol basement restaurant where some eat with lobbyists. Others just go there to get away from lobbyists. It probably would be helpful to ban lobbyists from eating in the Ratskeller…unless the lobbyist-legislator contact reporting, explained above, is enacted.

· Ban legislative spouses from lobbying the legislature and serving on appointive state agency boards.

· Prohibit former legislative staffers from immediately lobbying their former bosses. That’s just an excuse to pay legislative staffers less than they are worth.

· Ban gifts, meals and travel provided by lobbyists to staffers.

· Ban gifts, including meals, to legislators. Considering the mentality of some that they should never be expected to pay for anything, I think that is important. In Illinois, my State Senator Jack Schaffer advocated legislators’ forfeiting part of the daily tax-free allowance when legislators do not pay for their own meals. You can see the logic. Why should state government reimburse one for a meal that a lobbyist paid for? (Whatever part of the allowance remains unspent goes tax -free right in the legislator’s pocket.)

· Full lobbyist disclosure. Reveal how much they spend on what, whom and where.

· Campaign finance reporting should be required at least monthly for those months when the General Assembly is meeting. Large contributions should have to be reported electronically within two days year-round, the same as right before an election. Voters ought to be given a chance to see if the timing of contributions is coincidentally right before or right after votes in which the contributor has an interest.

· Give legislators and their constituents enough time to read the bills being considered. Now, at the end of the session, the content of bills has to be on the computer system for a mere one hour before a vote can be taken. And, of course, there’s no way to know when such posting occurs…even for legislators…without continually monitoring the system. Effectively, this procedure denies legislators, the pubic—and even lobbyists—the ability to monitor the progress of legislation.

· How about a legislative ethics committee to which the public could make complaints. (Complaints should probably not be made public within some period before an election.) In Illinois, if an ethics committee exists, I don’t remember its meeting during the 1990’s. (There was a 1970’s complaint brought against Democratic Party Minority Leader Gerald Shea (Riverside) by State Rep. Gene Schlickman for Shea’s being paid by the Medical Society while sponsoring its bill. The Ethics Committee voted to exonerate Shea. Only six House members did not concur in the recommendation. (Susan Catania, Dick Mugalian, Gene Schlickman, John Sharp and me. Can’t remember the other one.)

· Floor amendments should be allowed to be offered and, more importantly, voted upon, without having to ask the Speaker, “Mother, May I?” The Illinois House had this privilege before Speaker Mike Madigan pulled the noose around the necks of House members so tight that he now has to give permission for an amendment to be even considered on the floor. Turning back the Illinois clock on this abominable practice would be a major step in the direction of good government.

· Now, is limiting campaign contributions “reform?” Most editorial writers think so…and they should…because it would give them more power. Every player in the political arena wants more power. I’m sure that many think having me as the Libertarian Party candidate for governor in 2002 was not good for the process. Regardless, I would not have been able to run if contributors had been limited to the congressional limit of $2,100. Without the support of two wealthy individuals, the irritation of someone like me without the necessity to kowtow to power party leaders would have been missing. And, I guarantee you that the retired IT guy and the retired Merc member would not have been as dangerous to the honesty of state government as GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan’s good buddy law school study partner and largest contributor, now indicted, Stuart Levine would have been.

· Finally, I believe the dispersion of power among disparate and overlapping local governments is a large reason for corruption in Illinois. No one can watch all of the local governments to which one pays property taxes. The local daily newspaper in McHenry County does not cover township governments, for instance. They have some of the highest paid public officials (outside of schools). There are lots of small villages that rarely see a reporter. Consolidation of governments will not guarantee more honesty, but it will mean there are fewer officials to watch.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

"I support several specific plans.

AHPs

I favor health plans promoted by organizations such as the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Associated Health Plans (AHPs) would allow small businesses to band together across state lines to find more affordable plans. Since most workers are employed by small businesses, this will give the small business employer the same bargaining power big businesses have in negotiating with health insurance companies.

AHPs will allow millions more Americans access to affordable health care. I would lead the effort to bring affordable health insurance to every employee of a small business through AHPs.

Legal Reform

Legal reform is another area where an impact can be made by the federal government.

I support legislation which would prohibit a plaintiff in any tort case from forum shopping. Forum shopping is where a plaintiff picks a state or jurisdiction that is pro-plaintiff. The plaintiff should be required by federal legislation to file his case where the incident occurred.

I support loser pays legislation, which provides that the loser of a medical malpractice case must pay the opponent's costs. I also support limits on punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish tortfeasors for violating important national policies. For example, if a national or international corporation knows its product will kill patients, but hides that fact from the USFDA, a federal punitive measure is appropriate, but should be limited. The limit should be $500,000.

These are all areas which need federal legislation because they involve either national policy goals, or they involve matters which can only be handled by the federal government.

I do not support, however, the federal government telling the states how to run their courts. I support states' rights. Elected representatives of the people of a state should be allowed to have control over how their state court system operates. One exception, in my opinion, is if it involves a matter which can only be accomplished by the federal government. Another is a matter involving national policy goals, such as drug safety.

For example, a single state cannot prohibit a plaintiff from filing in a different, pro-plaintiff state. Only the federal government can accomplish this.

MSAs

Expanding the successful medical savings account (MSA) program (which I use for the employees of my law firm) will help a lot.

A Medical Savings Account (MSA) is a form of individualized health care benefit. An MSA is a tax-advantaged personal account from which an individual pays their health care bills. It is usually accompanied by a high-annual-deductible ("catastrophic") insurance policy which pays 100% of health care bills above the deductible. The amount put into the MSA each year is generally less than the annual insurance deductible. MSA funds which are unspent as of the end of the year can be kept in the account to pay health care bills in future years. Or, the individual can draw from the account for non-medical reasons, but she must pay taxes if this is done.

In other words, an employer puts money, pre-tax, into an account for her employees. Catastrophic insurance is purchased from these monies, and the MSA becomes the employee's bank account for future medical expenses. In my experience, employers love it (I do, I get to deduct 100% of my contributions), employees, of course, love it , and the medical providers, who get paid immediately, love it. Let's expand it!"

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

DRH- D.H. Horton, new owner of Cambridge Homes seems to have a 16.7% profit margin on its homes. (A 25.8% gross profit is reported in its Summary Consolidated Financial Information and Operating Data. I subtracted sales and administrative cost to derived a 16.7% profit before taxes.) It is the largest homebuilder in the country, according to its September 8, 2005, SEC Registration Statement S-3/A.

Attached homes at Algonquin’s Winding Creek Luxury Townhomes are priced from $263,080 to $317,510. The homebuilder will earn about $43,000 profit on its cheapest townhouse.

Another area builder, Centex reports its “home building operating margin was 16.8%” in the quarter ended December 31, 2005.

It did not make contributions to District 300’s tax hike committees since 2000, but is building the Canterbury Place attached homes in Algonquin and Sweetwater in Woodstock. Its web site says its Algonquin “base plan prices (range) from $196s-$237s.” Profit on the lowest price model would be about $33,000.

Using Pulte’s 2004 net profit margin of 14.5%, Pulte would earn about $43,000 on its cheapest Carpentersville model.

Pulte Homes reports on page 18 of its 2004 Annual Report says “selling, general and administrative expenses” as a percentage of revenue were 14.5%.

Pulte is selling homes in Carpentersville at its two subdivisions Prairies and Meadows of Winchester Glens. The price at the Prairies start at $362,990 for the cheapest home and starts at $419,990 for the most expensive model. At the less expensive Meadows, the low-end starts at $297,990. The highest priced model without add-ons is $331,990.

If Pulte’s profit margin remains as high as it was in 2004, the profit on the lowest priced home in District 300 would be about $43,000.

Realen, owned by Orleans Homebuilders SEC # (0000038570) had a gross profit from July through Sept, 2005, of 22% on page 18 of an SEC filing.

I couldn’t find the net profit, but, let’s assume that it is over 10%.

If so, a sale of the cheapest home in Lake in the Hills’ Cheswick Place. No prices are listed on the web site, but my guess is over $200,000, based on the competition.

R. Chad Dreier, CEO of Ryland, ranked number 481 in the Fortune 500 list, in SEC filing # 1-8029 reported that the pretax homebuilding margin was 17.7% for the fourth quarter of 2005, compared to 14.8% for the fourth quarter of 2004. Jan. 24, 2006.

In the 2004 Annual Report: Gross profit margins from home sales are reported to have been 23.2%. Subtracting the 9.6% sales and admin yields a net profit margin of 13.7%. Rylan reported the strongest gross margins in California, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Mid-Atlantic, Orlando and Twin-Cities.

Timber Trails Townhomes in Gilberts range from $209,350 to $235,350. At the more recent 17.7% profit margin, Ryland would make over $43,000. Ryland is also building more expensive single family homes and town homes at Gilberts Town Center.

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.

 
 

 

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here. 

 

To return to McHenry County Blog, click here.