Penalties for Underage Drinking

On a cold February night in Oswego, Illinois four teenagers died in a car accident and a fifth teenager dies a week later due to his injuries suffered during car accident. There were a total of nine people in the car that night. The driver was not underage, but the rest were. I won’t go into the details about this horrid event of that night, but those events might lead to new legislation aimed at curbing teenage drinking.

Illinois Republican Tom Cross of Oswego and Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis proposed House Bill 3131, which would suspend the driver's license of a convicted underage drinker for three months, and HB 3327, which would mandate drunken-driving education in driver's education classes.

In the first piece of legislation tied to the Feb. 11 crash that killed five Oswego teens, Weis and state Rep. Tom Cross proposed Monday that anyone under 21 caught drinking any amount of alcohol would face a three-month license suspension.

"Their license is a precious thing," Cross, an Oswego Republican, said. "To lose that is not something they want to do, but, when we're talking about precious, life is precious."

People under the age of 21 convicted of drinking -- but not driving -- are often given three months supervision, meaning they can avoid jail time if they are not arrested again during that time. House Bill 3131 would propose that part of the terms of the supervision would include suspending the underage drinker's license for three months, even if the teen were not in a car.

Usually, legislations propose after terrible events are an overreaction. This time it is not, I fully support two House bills proposed. It would be hypocritical if I did not point out my underage drinking, but this is legislation was law back then I would have lost my privilege to drive for months. I would have made different choices. This legislation won’t solve the problem of underage drinking but, if it stops a few underage drinkers from driving then it has done its job.

What do you think is this legislation to relax, strict or not needed?

IL GOP for Rudy?

Illinois House GOP leader Tom Cross of Oswego will hop on Rudy Giuliani Presidential bandwagon.

This week, Giuliani's campaign is expected to announce that Illinois House GOP leader Tom Cross of Oswego will become its state chairman. More than a dozen state lawmakers and county chairmen also are expected to endorse Giuliani, who has been receiving fundraising help from former Republican governor candidate Ron Gidwitz.

The Chicago Tribune article also mentions that State Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs is John McCain Illinois State chairman for this Presidential campaign. While former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and of Robert Kjellander, the state's GOP national committeeman, are backing Mitt Romney.

Going into the next election cycle, the Illinois GOP continues to be in disarray. With the fall of Dennis Hastert from GOP House leadership, Illinois Republican lacks a clear leader to help rebuild their party. Senator Dick Durbin is up for re-election in 2008 and the Republicans do not have a creditable candidate to run in the race. Several Republican House incumbents will face touch re-elections fights. The possibility of having Senator Obama on the top of Democratic ticket in Illinois as its Presidential candidate will only turn state of Illinois more bluer across the board.

Cartoon of the Day

Coming to a Theater Near You

Defeated Republican Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania wants to bring this Conservative rants to the big screen.

Less than three months removed from his congressional career, the former Pennsylvania senator said in an interview last week that he is planning two film projects in part to counter what he characterized as the stream of left-wing documentaries coming from Hollywood and independent filmmakers.

The first project, Santorum said, would explore the relationship between radical Islam and the radical leftists in various countries around the world, including Latin America. It would be about an hour in length.

The second would be a longer, broader documentary that he said would aim to ''change the culture of America.'' He declined to go into specifics about the proposal.

I doubt Rick Santorum’s movies would have the same impact as Al Gore or Michael Moore’s documentaries. If he is lucky, Fox news will run this documentary and Wal-mart will have this DVD in the special sales bin for $4.99.

Lair

Lets not mix words, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied to the American people and Congress.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals.

The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.

There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political firestorm surrounding the firings.

The documents indicated that the hour-long morning discussion, held in the attorney general's conference room, was the only time Gonzales met with top aides who decided which prosecutors to fire and how to do it.

I know its not shocking news that a Bush official will lie at will.

Bush to Veto Troop Funding

Yesterday, President Bush in front of troops in the White House vowed to veto a bill pass by the House that provides vital funding for the troops. The bill also provides a leadership that is lacking from President Bush White House. Its clear President Bush Iraq policy is a failure; the Republican Party does not have moral conviction to lead the Military and the American people in the efforts in Iraq and war against terrorism. The Democratic Party in the House has offer a clear choice.

Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania



Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania



The Republican Party lead by President Bush are for a prolonged war in Iraq without any end in sight.

The $124 billion House legislation would pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year but would require that combat troops come home from Iraq before September 2008 — or earlier if the Iraqi government did not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep last November, which gave them control of Congress.

"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not."

Indeed.

Quote of the Day

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales takes the low road during a Project Safe Childhood event.

I’m not going to resign. I’m going to stay focused on protecting our kids.

It has gotten so bad for Alberto Gonzales that he has to use the lame defense of ’protecting our kids’ to excuse this behavior in this latest White House scandal.

These people have no shame.