Treat Your Mama Right

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all the mothers out there!

Congressman Quigley!

A few days late, but what the heck...

¡ CONGRATULATIONS !
CONGRESSMAN QUIGLEY

Love,
Rosána Pulído

Contribution Limits in IL? Maybe...

I consider myself pretty fortunate to be represented by Senator Heather Steans. In addition to credibly moving progressive issues in Senate, she's asserted herself as a non-nonsense voice for reform in IL government. And, as we're all too aware, Illinois government certainly has it's share of nonsense.

Of particular note is that Senator Steans is the chief cosponsor of SB1768 which would enact campaign contribution limits in IL.

Currently, Illinois is the the wild west of campaign finance, with very little restrictions on who can give and how much. According to current law, a single person, a corporation, or a political action committee can bankroll a political campaign to the tune of endless millions of dollars. The only requirement is that contributions over $150 must be reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections. I'm sure I don't need to illustrate the problems this creates.

Next week, along with State Rep. Harry Osterman, Senator Steans will be hosting a town hall meeting on ethics reform at Loyola University.


It's a Golden Opportunity... For Reform
A town hall meeting on ethics

Host: State Senator Heather Steans, State Representative Harry Osterman, and Loyola University

Date: Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Location: Mundelein Center at Loyola University (1020 W. Sheridan Ave)

Featured Speakers
* Scott Turow, Best-selling author, current member and first chair
of the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission
* Cindi Canary, Executive Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform

Join State Representative Harry Osterman and Senator Heather Steans
for a discussion on ethics reform in Illinois and learn what you can
do to get involved in passing ethics reform legislation in Illinois.

Co-sponsoring organizations include: Northside Democracy for America, Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organization, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, League of Women Voters Chicago, Citizen Action/Illinois, Loyola University, Emanuel Congregation, Rogers Park Community Council, Edgewater Community Council, Loyola Inside Government, Loyola College Democrats, AARP, Alderman Joseph Moore, and more

Congressman Quigley and Rosána Pulído

As if you haven't heard already, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley won the special election Democratic primary to replace Rahm Emanuel for the 5th CD.

Everybody's favorite Minutemen spokeswoman, Rosána Pulído, won the Republican primary.

Say it with me, folks:

"roh-SAH-nuh - poo-LEE-doh"

And remember to roll that "r". She really loves that.

5th CD Forum Fun

On Sunday, I briefly went to the 5th CD Forum sponsored by Northside DFA, DePaul Democrats, and WCPT Chicago's Progressive Talk Radio. I say "briefly" because I had to leave almost right away. My friend had been parking the car and by the time she came in they were over capacity and wouldn't let her in! There was tremendous turnout! And on Superbowl Sunday to boot. Amazing. Northside DFA did a ton of promotion for the event and I'm sure the other groups did as well.

The general consensus seems to be that the large number of candidates hindered the amount of information being presented. I'm all for only inviting only the viable candidates, but I suppose that wouldn't be very democratic, would it? Northside DFA is a lot more fair than I am! ;)

Mike Fourcher has a recap of the frum on Mechanics here.
You can download a podcast of the event here.

I hear there's going to be YouTube video of the forum, but I haven't found it yet.

While I'm at it...I love Edith Piaf, too

Singing "Milord" on an American TV show, first with the translation. This song is my cellphone's ringtone at the moment, so it's always on my mind. Edith Piaf sparkled. If you haven't seen "La Vie en Rose" yet, you absolutely must.

And the Granolaheads shall inherit the earth...

I love this song by Michael Franti and Spearhead, "Say Hey - I Love You". It's my morning get-up-to-it jam at the moment.


I also love this one by Franti, "Have a Little Faith in Me".


What can I say? I'm renewing my love for all things hippie, love, granolahead at the moment. The world needs more of this business, as I've become keenly aware recently.


One Love,

Bridget

Updates

Several self-proclaimed "fans" of my blog have recently called me out on my lack of updates. One suggested I make it my New Year's resolution to update more frequently. So I shall, interesting content or not!

So I've been off of work for 10 straight days at this point and won't be back until January 5th. I have tons of time on my hands, most of my friends seem to be out of town, and I just don't care about making big plans. I fooled around with the idea of joining friends skiing in Wisconsin, but I think I'll wait until early February to plan a ski trip. I've been cooking, working on art projects, hanging out with the peeps who are in town and, of course, catching up on the latest garbage reality TV. Last night I went to a ska show at the Metro, bringing back many fond memories!

My newest favorite reality shows are "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Rob and Big". The Housewives are the most materialistic, petty, hilarious women on TV. Trainwrecks to the core. Rob and Big are two best friends with an English bulldog named Meaty and a mini horse named Minnie. They drive the horse around in their SUV, which seems like it would smell. Rob is a pro skateboarder and Big is a record producer.

We're all waiting to see what happens with Governor Blago. Note that the video I posted of my friend's kid was several weeks before Blago's arrest! Prophetic!