The honeymoon is definitely over for Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live.
Everything new is old again...or something like that. My guess is that when this neon sign went up sixty or so years ago, it was viewed as garish and tawdry. Unless you are a slave to political correctness, it's seen as classic Americana.
And the union people crawled away.
A few minutes ago, 60 Senate Democrats--but no Republicans--voted to proceed with debate on the Harry Reid health care bill. 
Quite a few liquor stores on Michigan's Upper Peninsula call themselves "Party Stores," such as this one in Seney. I don't know if fairly recent use of the word "party," as in "Let's Party," comes from the U.P., but I won't rule it out.Saturday could be a pivotal day in the history of our republic. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says there are 10 things you should now about the Senate health care bill:
Below is just a portion of a great editorial written by the Omaha World-Herald. It has one person in mind, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).
Roland Burris (D-Blagojevich), who nominally represents me in the United States Senate, at best got a hand-slap from the Senate Ethics Committee for giving evasive and dishonest answers when he explained how he ended up getting appointed to Barack Obama's former seat.
By the shores of Gitche Gumee, 
Yes, sometimes even the Marathon Pundit can't think of anything to say.
If you oppose Gitmo North in Illinois, as I do, then please sign an online petition here.
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I support the work that the Illinois Policy Institute does--and I'm humbled that they chose my most recent Chicago trade show post as a must read for today.
Despite the plethora of "Putting America Back To Work" signs across Illinois, our state unemployment rate is now at 11 percent, the highest in over 26 years. One year ago it was at 6.8 percent. 
Get on the blue highways, follow the blue highways
This Republican Senators' video reminds us that Americans don't want higher taxes and health insurance premiums. 
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'Cause that union man's got such a hold over me
Adam Andrzejewski's campaign released a poll that shows Jim Ryan leads the other Republican candidate for Illinois governor. 
As I wrote yesterday, our national debt exceeded $12 trillion. Today, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is suggesting we do something about it.
Sault Ste. Marie has been mentioned more than any other city in Upper Peninsula Upventure. But I've neglected to mention who founded it, Father Jacques Marquette, who came to the New World as a missionary in the late 1600s.Yesterday the United States reached an unhappy milestone, or if you prefer, millstone. Our national debt went over the $12 trillion mark. 
The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 12-5 to repeal half of the hated "corruption tax," which stuck Chicagoans and suburban Cook residents (such as myself) with the nation's highest sales tax. This is the third time that the board has voted to scale back the [...]
Seven days ago I appeared on CBS 2 Chicago. Jay Levine interviewed me about union price gouging at Chicago's McCormick Place convention center. I was hoping that the story would make a difference reverse the trade show exodus from Chicago. 
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a Republican, has suggested merging several state universities, which would cut the number of public colleges in his state from eight to five. 
In many ways, Alexi Giannoulias is channeling Barack Obama as he runs for the US Senate. He mentioned Obama five times during his when he declared his intention to run for the president's old seat, one of his earliest supporters was Obama's favorite union, SEIU, he even [...]
Michigan's economy has been in a free-fall for several years. The Great Lake State has the nation's highest unemployment rate. More than any state, Michigan needs jobs. 
Yes, we all know that politics is a bloodsport in Illinois. But it's worse than that. Forget the ends justifying the means: In recent years in the Land of Lincoln, all there has been is means. And meanies. And of course the Democratic kind, Blue Meanies. Yeah,' [...]
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) voted sensibly, in my opinion, when she cast a "nay" vote on ObamaCare last weekend. South Dakota is a conservative state, and with its large Native American population, many of its residents have at least second-hand knowledge of the failure of government-run [...]
As I explained in my Brief History of Copper Mining post, had it not been for a border dispute between Ohio and Michigan, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan probably would have ended up as part of Wisconsin. For the first 119 years of statehood, ferry service across [...]
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan, who is endorsed by this blog, issued the following statement about the proposed transfer of Guantanamo Bay terrorists to Thomson, Illinois.
Well the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
As you feel their breath as they whisper 
Yes, I am aware that Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is not on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, the two Saults were one town. 
For over sixty years, the my alma mater, the University of Illinois, and Northwestern University fought on the football field for the honor of taking home the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk. 
This week's Obama administration "Friday news dump" was the announcement that five 9/11 plotters, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be tried in a civilian court in New York. 
"Like Shakespeare's Hamlet, President Obama can give a great speech. But like the doomed prince, as Charles Krauthammer brilliantly pointed out, Obama cannot make up his mind about important things. Such as the war we are fighting in Afghanistan.
Lake Superior flows into Lake Huron via the St. Mary's River. But the river, which has a stretch of rapids, is not navigable, so the Soo Locks were constructed. And when I say "high labor costs," I'm talking about union labor costs. And the Chicago Tribune certainly knows better, and its ridiculous that they omit that from their report.
Since today is Veterans Day, I thought I'd take a look at "old" New Fort Brady.
It's a somber Veterans Day this time around--the Fort Hood terrorist's killings are or course the reason.
This morning Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gave a speech on the floor of the Senate about Veterans Day.
On the occasion of finding yet another of those Barack Obama economic stimulus "campaign signs," I'd like to post an excerpt from a column by Steve Huntley in today's Chicago Sun-Times:
Among the jobs that Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill boondoogle were supposed to create were "green jobs," for the new economy that the president and other lefties envisioned. Just as those "saved" postitions that are largely fictional, the Heritage Foundation tells us, those green jobs are [...]
My mother told me never to dine at a restaurant with an "Eat" sign outside of it. Such establishments, she warned me were "greasy spoons," or as my high school cross country coach called them, "greezie spoons."
Among the reasons the Democrats cited in passing the $787 billion stimulus was that it would create jobs. The first clue that something was amiss with that bill was when President Obama began crediting the stimulus for "saving" jobs--even though there is not a method to determine [...]
I didn't get a chance to dine at Covington, Michigan's Hardwood Cafe, but I like the name of this business.
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Following a three-guitar solo by Rick Nielsen, Rockford, Illinois' Cheap Trick plays a rousing version of "Dream Police." 
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Tune in to CBS 2 Chicago tonight if you are anywhere near the city. Jay Levine just got done interviewing me about unions and Chicago trade shows.
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