Progress Illinois

The Capitol Fax blog is reporting that U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-8) is continuing to make waves in D.C. The 8th congressional district Tea Partyer announced plans this week to run in the 14th congressional district, against Republican Randy Hultgren, and also commissioned some polling in the district of another fellow party member.

The Tea Party Republican is also making news for his recent assessment that the media is going to great lengths to "protect" President Obama because he is the first black U.S. president. 

Read more »

So there you have it: every member of the Illinois Republican delegation to the House of Representatives is on board with turning Medicare into a voucher program by 2022, shifting more of the cost of the health care onto seniors. All of the Republican members of the House from Illinois approve of cutting the top federal income tax rate by another 10 percent. They're all ready for a vast restructuring of the Medicaid program, a move that will shift more responsibility for health care for the poor and disabled to the states, likely leading to further reductions in that program. Earlier today all members of the Illinois Republican delegation voted, in other words, for GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's 2012 budget resolution. The final tally in the House was 235-193. The budget plan will die in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Read more »

Republicans assume control of the U.S. House today and their members, new and old, couldn't be more excited to shrink America's growing national deficit. On WLS' Don Wade and Roma this morning, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam recounted a conversation he had with one of his new colleagues who entered Congress with no political experience. "As one of these fellas told me ... 'I am not going to sit by and let a group of people squander the prosperity of my children and grandchildren without a fight.'" Listen (the full interview is available here):

If protecting America's youth from future debt payments is a top priority of the GOP, their actions this week sure don't reflect that mission. For starters, Brian Beutler is reporting that the new House rules penned by the caucus "exempt some of their biggest legislative priorities from deficit consideration." These include both the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, which were temporarily extended during the White House deal late last year, and ludicrously expensive changes to the estate tax. Republicans are also keen on repealing the new health care reform law, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will reduce the federal deficit by $143 billion over the next 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the decade after that. (It will also insure some 30 million Americans.) Luckily, Democrats in the Senate and White House will block any effort to peel back coverage. They might also want to teach Roskam and his friends the definition of "squander."