Symbols of a Scandalous GOP in Illinois

The House of Scandal has published some wonderful research regarding every member of the House. It proves that they have allowed Illinois to become a colony of Texas. Voting percentages are calculated through cq.com between Jan. 1 2004 and March 31 2005. Contributions are found on Tray.com.

06th CD

Henry Hyde voted with Tom DeLay 95% of the time.

10th CD

Mark Steven Kirk voted with Tom DeLay 91% of the time.

11th CD

Jerry Weller has taken $4,520 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that he voted with Tom DeLay 93% of the time.

13th CD

Judy Biggert has taken $1,764 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that she voted with Tom DeLay 92% of the time.

14th CD

Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, voted with Tom DeLay 100% of the time.

15th CD

Timothy Johnson has taken $25,000 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that he voted with Tom DeLay 87% of the time.

16th CD

Donald Manzullo voted with Tom DeLay 92% of the time.

18th CD

Ray LaHood voted with Tom DeLay 92% of the time.

19th CD

John Shimkus has taken $21,934 from Tom DeLay's ARMPAC. No surprise that he voted with Tom DeLay 90% of the time.

Each one of the Illinois GOP Congressional Delegation except for the Speaker (although it is his job to control the voting for his soldiers) is guilty of the following:

1. Each voted to weaken the ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom DeLay (H Res. 5, Roll Call #6, 1/4/05).
2. When Republicans realized it was "impossible to win the communications battle" over the gutted ethics rules, all of them flip-flopped and voted to put the old rules back into place (H Res. 241, Roll Call #145, 4/27/05).
3. When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by strengthening ethics rules, all of them voted to make sure it never even came to an up or down vote (H. Res. 153, Roll Call #70, 3/15/05). John Shimkus, Tim Johnson, Jerry Weller, Donald Manzullo, Judy Biggert, and Mark Kirk voted TWICE (H. Res. 213, Roll Call #106, 4/14/05).

Jerry Weller and Dennis Hastert also voted to allow Tom DeLay to continue serving as Leader even if he is indicted. Tom DeLay's behavior is not the kind of leadership that should be REWARDED. Obviously it should be punished.

Although, Rep. Hyde is retiring, his voting record is still important for IL-06. Peter Roskam is his heir apparent. He has already proven to his constituents that Tom DeLay is the alpha and omega of his political life.

Rep. Shimkus just announced that he is cosponsoring H.R. 1070, the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005. Dr. Bagwell has responded quite well to this latest development:

[. . .] I am not opposing this because it has to do with God or any one religion. Here is the thing. Shimkus is a religious fanatic. What this proposed law in effect does is outlaw the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers are the main body of secular thinking that forms the framework of the constitution and American Law. In nearly every one of the papers non-American thinking in referenced and non-English thinking and cases are referenced. The Federalist Papers form the framework of separation of church and state.

Throughout history American lawyers, legislators, and judges have referenced non-American philosophers and jurists in their arguments, hearings, and decisions. The Shimkus backed law would require all case law to pass a kind of no-nothing test. A test of purity of thought, purity of legal bloodline, an inquisition of the origins of an argument based on a test of the nationality of thought. This is at the heart of facist thinking, this is at the heart of intolerance. One recalls Hitler’s admonition to his scientists against Einstein’s "Jewish physics." The tests established by the Shimkus backed legislation is in the same line of deluded thinking.

Our founders read the great philosophers. Shimkus would like to purge the englightenment in favor of a Spanish style inquisition of American legal thought.

Members of Congress are supposed to work for the good of the public trust not Tom DeLay and certainly not religious fanaticism. To them the integrity of the House means so little that they would sacrifice it to defend Tom DeLay. They only care about the integrity when cable news is covering it. The final message from this group is simple: Instead of a bipartisan effort to get government working for Americans, they stand for cronyism and partisan politics. Families working hard to improve their quality of life deserve better than this kind of lock-step government-for-hire.