Sunday, March 15, 2009

Better than a Quinn-Madigan primary debate: Berkowitz joins Bruno Behrend on Roeser's radio show this evening to discuss taxes, spending & deficits

Jeff Berkowitz will join Bruno Behrend, radio personality and conservative activist, as a guest tonight on Tom Roeser’s weekly, Sunday, call-in radio show, Political Shoot-out, WLS 890 AM Radio, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
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You say you don't live within the WLS broadcast area? Not to worry. You can go here to listen to the program, live, on the web.[You may encounter some technical problems in signing on-- allow five minutes, or so, for following the prompts for technical difficulties, and you should be able to hear WLS live on the web] See here for Tom’s Blog which has Tom's thoughts on a great many matters, political and otherwise.

Upset with something Berkowitz said on his show [www.PublicAffairsTv.com] or the [Public Affairs YouTube.com page], something he wrote on this blog or just the way he looks? Tom Roeser’s show on Sunday night is your chance to fire back. A free fire zone, so to speak. Also, you can help shape the show and its topics by calling in with your questions and comments—312-591-8900. Obama mamas, Jindahl reformers, Mckenna critics and defenders Democrats, Republicans, 700 Billion dollar Bailout promoters, Libertarians, Independents, Communists [no collect calls, please], Palin critics, Palin groupies, Biden cheerleaders, gun grabbers, backstabbers, gun clingers, gun slingers, outside agitators and others are, of course, all welcome.

Tonight's show may touch on:

--Is Gov. Pat Quinn's constitutional officer colleague," Attorney General Lisa Madigan, getting "fired up and ready to go," to challenge Quinn for the Gov position in 2010?

--Is Joe Birkett's time for leadership in the Illinois Republican Party still viable. Will he run for Guv in the 2010 Primary? Taking on Sen. Bill Brady? Ron Gidwitz? Doug Whitley? Others? Will the base forgive Joe for joining the Topinka ticket in 2006?

--Do the Republicans in Illinois have anyone who can win the race for U. S. Senator in 2010? Cong. Kirk? State Sen. Murphy (R-Palatine)?

--Who wins a Kirk-Giannoulias U. S. Senate face-off?

-- Is Lisa Madigan an unbeatable candidate for Governor in the Dem. Primary? What philosophy, if any, does she have about government? tax cuts? education? Does she need one if she has 3.5 million dollars in cash on hand? Does AG Madigan engage in Pay to Play or do contributors give her money purely out of their devotion to "Good Govenment."

--Will there be an income tax increase in Illinois in 2009? Will Quinn own it? Defend it? Benefit from it?

--Would such a tax increase demonstrate political leadership by Quinn? Or, would it elect Lisa Madigan? Can Lisa Madigan oppose a tax increase that her father, Speaker Mike, facilitates and promotes?

--Will Senator Burris tough it out until the end of his term in 2010? Could he win a three way primay race with two strong white opponents? Giannoulias and Bill Daley? Would President Obama endorse Giannoulias in that race?

--What will it take for the Illinois Republican Party to become the party of ideas? Somebody realizing they could take some ideas from the Illinois Policy Institute? Somebody realizing they could take some ideas from the Heartland Institute? Has a candidate already started to do that?

--Who would be next in line among the Republicans to run for Governor if that's how that decision were made? Joe Birkett? Who does Bob Kjellander want there? Who does Bill Cellini want there? Is the Illinois Combine alive and well? Is the Pope Catholic?

--Will Illinois Republicans be able to unite around the new Senate Republican Leader Christine Rodogno, and the continued leadership of House Republican Leader Tom Cross, both of whom are moderates, at least on social issues.

--Can Andy McKenna, Jr. hang on as State GOP Chairman for another year? Or, did his opposition this week to SB 600 doom in with the party activists?

--Will State GOP Chairman Andy McKenna, Jr. be kicked upstairs soon? After two State general election disasters under the "Leadership of McKenna," are the money guys getting restless? Are there any money guys left in State GOP? money ladies? bag ladies?

-Is WTTW's Chicago Tonight in need of an aggressive political interviewer to boost its sagging ratings and its lack of balance? Which cable TV personality in the Chicago Metro area could meet that need?

--Did Chicago Tonight manage to do its 100th consecutive interview of a liberal book author this week? Do conservatives not do book tours in Chicago? Or, does the Chicago Tonight staff just not read the books of those authors?

--Were several Chicago Tonight journalists hospitalized this week after breaking their arms while trying to pat themselves and each other on the back for the "great job they do," of balanced reporting and interviewing?

--What examples would Chicago Tonight give of ideological diversity among their interviewers?

--Was it politically correct, politically incorrect or just plain reflective of blatant political and cultural bias for WTTW's Chicago Tonight to have a panel composed of Laura Washington, Delmarie Cobb and Cheryl Corley last month to assess Senator Burris' future

-- Was Daley responsible for Fritchey's loss in the 5th CD Dem. Primary? Was it intentional?

--Was putting Palin on the ticket a major mistake by McCain?

--Did Sarah Palin demonstrate she has insuffient knowledge of domestic and foreign policy issues to be the Republican front-runner for 2012

This reporter doesn't know the topics for tonight—they are determined by Mr. Roeser, with some incisive suggestions, no doubt, by his lovely, energetic and intelligent wife Lillian. However, an educated guess is that the questions will consist of various Illinois, national and Obama transition issues, possibly selected from the above, or below, questions, some of which are holdovers from prior episodes of "Political Shootout," or "Public Affairs."

Of course, you can call and ask any of the below questions or whatever you like. As with University of Chicago Ph. D. prelim questions in economics over the years, many of the questions on Political Shoot-out stay the same each week, only the answers change [or do they?]. And you are Free to Choose, so to speak, as this is the land of Milton Friedman, the late, great Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics from the University of Chicago [WWMFS, i.e., what would Milton Friedman say? is the question we classically ask, followed with:

--Could Paul Vallas win as a Republican candidate for Governor?
Could he get out of the Primary?

--Does the Chicago Public School system spend more than $16,000 per kid per year to try to educate kids? Did Arne Duncan tell the truth about this? Does Ron Huberman tell the truth about this? If not, why not?

--Will the Illinois Republican Party restore its brand by opposing the Quinn income tax increase? Will Cross and Radogno keep the party united on this issue?

--Is Obama's cautious nature both his strength and his weakness?

-- Did RNC Chairman Michael Steele do a good job of speaking to the DuPage County Republicans (and to the media) last month? Why didn't the Tribune and Sun-Times cover the event? Did Cong. Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park, 10th CD) do a good job of speaking at the event?

Did Steele make a mixtake when he criticised Rush Limbaugh? or, was it a mistake to apologize to Rush? Did Steele make a mistake when he spoke recently of a woman's individual choice on the abortion issue?

--Will Kjellander be indicted? Cellini convicted?

--Will U. S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald be promoted? be removed? fall off a horse?

--Will Al Sanchez be convicted? If he is, will he sing? Would that not be sweet music to Daley's ears?
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
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Recently posted shows on the Public Affairs YouTube page include the fastest five minutes on the web- a New York Times video about Obama-Berkowitz, a show with IL 5th CD Dem nominee--Cook County Cmsr. Mike Quigley (who is now extremely likely to win the
April general election to decide who replaces Cong. Rahm Emanuel), the second fastest five minutes on the web- a segment of Bill O'Reilly with Berkowitz discussing a clip of Obama from 2002 on Blagojevich and many more shows. And, see here for very recent postings on our Youtube page.
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