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Johnathan Krohn, Awesome Speach at CPAC!

Posted March 2, 2009

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So much for suggesting that our young children are not getting a good education. Jonathan Krohn,13, speaks at CPAC on February 27, 2009.This young man knows more than Congress, the President and the Supreme Court combined. I hope that the politicians will actually listen to him. He might be the only hope to save our country.

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A Republican Road to Economic Recovery

Posted March 2, 2009

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Obama’s proposals – the good, the bad, and some better alternatives.

Inheriting countless challenges, Congress and the Obama administration have moved quickly on many fronts to implement their economic agenda. After two months of drastic interventions, has hope replaced fear, and confidence pushed aside uncertainty? Hardly.

David Gothard

The budget the president released last week, however, does provide some certainty about where we are headed: higher taxes on small businesses, work and capital investment.

Add to this the costly burdens of a cap-and-trade carbon emissions scheme and an effective nationalization of health care, and it is clear that the government is going to grow while the economy will shrink. In a nutshell, the president’s budget seemingly seeks to replace the American political idea of equalizing opportunity with the European notion of equalizing results.

A constructive opposition party should be willing to call out the majority when it falls short. More important, Republicans must offer alternatives. In this spirit, here is what I would do differently:

- A pro-growth tax policy. Rather than raise the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6%, it should be dropped to 25%. The lower tax brackets should be collapsed to one 10% rate on the first $100,000 for couples. And the top corporate tax rate should be lowered to 25%. This modest reform would put American companies’ tax liability more in line with the prevailing rates of our competitors.

We’ve seen 10 years of growth in our equity markets wiped out in recent months, while 401(k)s, IRAs and college savings plans are down by an average of 40%. The administration and congressional Democrats want to raise capital gains tax rates by a third. Instead, we should eliminate the capital gains tax. It supplies about 4% of federal revenues, yet it places a substantial drag on economic growth. Individuals already pay taxes on income when they earn it. They should not be socked again when they are saving and investing for their retirement and their children’s education.

Capital gains taxes are a needless burden on investment, savings and risk-taking, activities in short supply these days. Getting rid of this tax could help establish a floor on stock prices and stem the decline in the value of retirement plans by increasing the after-tax rate of return on capital.

Democrats oppose this, playing on emotions of fear and envy. But while class warfare may make good short-term politics, it produces terrible economics.

- Guarantee sound money. For the last decade, the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policy has helped fuel the housing bubble that precipitated our current crisis. We need to return to a sound money policy. That would end uncertainty, help keep interest rates down, and increase the confidence entrepreneurs and investors need to take the risks required for future growth.

I believe the best way to guarantee sound money is to use an explicit, market-based price guide, such as a basket of commodities, in setting monetary policy. A more politically realistic path to price stability would be for the Fed to explicitly embrace inflation targeting.

Transcripts from recent meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings suggest that the Fed may already be moving in this direction. This would be an improvement over the status quo: It could help combat near-term deflation concerns while also calming the market’s longer-term inflation fears.

- Fix the financial sector. A durable economic recovery requires a solution to the banking crisis. There are no easy or painless solutions, but the most damaging solution over the long term would be to nationalize our financial system. Once we put politicians in charge of allocating credit and resources in our economy, it is hard to imagine them letting go.

The underlying structural problem at our financial institutions is the toxic assets infecting their balance sheets and impairing their operations. In order to help purge these assets from the system, we need a government-sponsored, comprehensive solution, but one that is transparent and temporary, and which leverages — rather than chases away — private-sector capital.

The general idea is to establish an entity or fund to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions and then hold them until they could be sold once the market has recovered. The Treasury has announced its intention to use capital from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, along with financing from the Fed’s soon-to-be operational Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, to set up such an entity. It will be a tall task to get all the details and incentives right, but the administration’s general strategy appears to be sound.

A good model for this government-sponsored entity is the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which helped clean up bank failures in the wake of the savings-and-loan crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s by absorbing and selling off bad bank assets. The circumstances of today’s financial sector are different, but the goals of our current efforts should mirror the general merits of an RTC-like entity. We should aim to recoup a portion of our initial expenditures, and we should leave only a fleeting government footprint on the financial sector and the economy.

- Get a grip on entitlements. With $56 trillion in unfunded liabilities and our social insurance programs set to implode, we must tackle the entitlement crisis. President Barack Obama deserves credit for his recent efforts to build a bipartisan consensus on entitlement reform. But we can’t solve the entitlement problem unless we acknowledge why the costs are exploding, and then take action.

I have proposed legislation, called “A Roadmap for America’s Future,” that would bring permanent solvency to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. By transforming these open-ended entitlements into a system with a defined benefit safety net for the low-income and chronically ill, in conjunction with an individually owned, defined contribution system for health and retirement, we can reach the goal of these programs without bankrupting the next generation. It would also show the world and the credit markets that we are serious about our debt and unfunded liabilities.

Republicans can help Washington become part of the solution, not part of the problem. We can do this by pushing to enact tax policies that boost incentives for economic growth and job creation, focus the Fed on price stability, fix our banking system to get credit flowing again, stop reckless spending, and reform our entitlement programs.

Our economy is begging for clear leadership that inspires confidence and hope that the entrepreneurial spirit will flourish again. Our goal must be to offer Americans that leadership.

Mr. Ryan, from Wisconsin, is ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee and also serves on Ways and Means.

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OBAMA’S TWO-WEEK RECAP

Posted February 23, 2009 Comments Off

1. The American people elect a black president with a total of 42 days experience as a U S Senator from the most politically corrupt state in America whose governor is ousted from office. The President’s first official act is to close Gitmo and make sure Terrorists civil rights are not violated and murder unborn babies.

2. The U.S. Congress rushes to confirm a black Attorney General, Eric Holder, whose law firm we later find out represents seventeen Gitmo Terrorists and calls us racist cowards.

3. The CIA Boss, Leon Penetta with absolutely no experience, has a daughter Linda we find out, that is a true radical anti-American activist who is a supporter of all the Anti-American regimes in the western hemisphere.

4. We got the most corrupt female in America as Secretary of State; bought and paid for.

5. We got a Tax Cheat for Treasury Secretary who files (or fails to file) his own taxes.

6. A Commerce Secretary nominee who withdrew due to corruption charges.

7. A Tax cheat nominee for Chief Performance Officer who withdrew under charges.

8. A Labor Secretary nominee who withdrew under charges of unethical conduct.

9. A Secretary HHS nominee who withdrew under charges of cheating on his taxes.

And that’s just the first two weeks . . . but who’s counting.

America is being run by the modern-day Three Stooges ~ Barrack, Nancy, and Harry ~ and they are still trying to define stimulus.

Stimulus is where the government gives a smidgen of your tax dollars back to you making you feel so good about yourself [stimulated] that you want to run out to Wal-Mart and buy a new Chinese-made HDTV and go home and watch Telemundo!

One Big Ass Mistake, America

The Liberal Agenda — Hideos or What!!

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History 101 – Liberals and Conservatives

Posted February 21, 2009 Comments Off

For those that don’t know about history … Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the Conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these Liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy Liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years Conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern Liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the Liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today’s lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self.

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Huckabee Names Spendulus The Congressional Relief Action Program

Posted February 17, 2009 Comments Off

Huckabee names the spendulus bill the Congressional Relief Action Program. What a load of [CRAP]…

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Just Say No To Big Government!

Posted February 11, 2009 Comments Off

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have”

- Thomas Jefferson

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Is Taxation Voluntary?

Posted February 10, 2009 Comments Off

Harry Reid seems to think so as do so many of the Democrats in Congress. Reid makes it perfectly clear that paying taxes is voluntary in the following interview.

I actually believe this is true. The tax code states that “…only citizens while living abroad” are required to pay taxes not “citizens living and working at home” I have studied this for some time. The original tax act of 1913 imposed a tax on all “income” of an individual or corporation. In 1916 the wording was changed after the 1913 act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. It has never been worded differently invariably because the taxation of income is an enslaving tax and therefore unconstitutional.

With all of the unconstitutional spending going on in Washington, it is more important than ever to begin a tax revolt and stop sending money to the bureaucrats in Washington. Support your state’s economy directly and not the unwise spending of the federal government.

SUMMARY

The Federal Income Tax Act of 1913 contained a sweeping, all-inclusive definition of “income”, it being the clear intention of Congress at the time to apply the “income tax” to all American citizens living at home or abroad. However, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brushaber substantially affected the government’s interpretation of the definition of “income” within the meaning of the fundamental law, and “to whom” and “where” the income tax could apply.

The Brushaber Court specifically concluded that the 16th Amendment gave Congress no new powers of taxation. The Brushaber decision prompted Congress to revise the 1913 Act, and via Section 25 of the Federal Income Tax Act of 1916, amended 1917, declared that the “income” subject to the 1913 Act was not the same “income” to be taxed under the 1916 Act. But, what was the purpose of this change in the language, and by extension, the legal effect of the 1916 Act? UNFORTUNATELY, CONGRESS DID NOT EXPLAIN WHAT WAS MEANT BY SECTION 25.

One theory of the meaning of § 25 of the 1916 Act is based on location, that Section 25 removed the application of the un-apportioned direct “income” tax on salaries, wages and compensation of ordinary Americans living and working at home, leaving the application of the un-apportioned direct “income” tax on salaries, wages and compensation of non-resident aliens and American citizens living and working abroad. This, it is argued is the reason that not a single federal income tax act since 1916 has ever mentioned the imposition of an un-apportioned direct “income” tax on the salaries, wages and compensation of citizens “at home,” although the same acts repeatedly mention citizens abroad and particularly those in the insular possessions.

Evidence of this solely external, “locational” application of the un-apportioned direct “income tax” on salaries, wages and compensation is demonstrated in several ways. First, the IRS Commissioner has been delegated via T.D.O.s published in the Federal Register authority to administer an un-apportioned direct tax on salaries, wages and compensation only in the area external to the boundaries of the 50 states of the Union.
If the Commissioner has been delegated authority to administer an un-apportioned direct tax on salaries, wages and compensation in the area internal to the boundaries of the 50 states of the Union, that authority has not been published in the Federal Register and is therefore a secret, so it could not concern American citizens “at home,” without violating their due process Rights.

Further, federal income tax returns are allegedly required to be filed at IRS service centers. But the Administrative Procedures Act demands that any part of an agency’s field structure which affects the domestic American public must be published in the Federal Register. The absence of publication in the Federal Register of these extremely important parts of the IRS field structure further indicates that the service centers do not legally affect the domestic American public and can, therefore, be ignored by the ordinary American wage earner living and working at home.

But perhaps the most compelling proof of the “locational” application of the federal income tax in the manner noted above is derived from analysis of the IRS’ compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The federal income tax is imposed via § 1 of the IRC. But the “information collection request” applicable to this section is Form 2555, entitled “Foreign Earned Income.” Further as shown by the OMB control number assigned to 26 C.F.R. § 1.6091-3, the specific tax return required to be filed at service centers is Form 1040NR. And a “TIN” can only be obtained by a non-resident alien; see Form W-7.

Another theory of the meaning of Section 25 of the 1916 Act is that it is based on classifications of people, distinguishing between aliens and citizens, imposing no un-apportioned direct tax on the salaries, wages and compensation of American citizens, no matter where they live and work, but authorizing an un-apportioned direct tax on the salaries, wages and compensation on resident aliens working here and on employees of the federal government who voluntarily agreed to labor for the government.

Countering the “location” theory and in support of the “classification” theory is the argument that the fundamental law prohibits the imposition of an un-apportioned tax directly on the salaries, wages and compensation of American citizens, no matter where they may be living and working, and there is no Supreme Court ruling that an un-apportioned tax can be imposed directly on the salaries, wages and compensation of American citizens living and working abroad.

Most Americans believe that today, the tax scheme of the 1913 act is still in effect, but the truth of the matter is that it is not.
In fact, the present tax scheme is the exact opposite of the 1913 tax scheme, created by the 1916 act amended by the Act of 1917.

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Universal Healthcare Quality Of Service Example

Posted January 28, 2009 Comments Off

Universal healthcare, the liberal Democrat’s socialist medical plan is going to be a hard pill to swallow with examples such as the following from Brazil. The proposed $825,000,000,000.00 economic stimulus package includes $600,000,000.00 just to “prepare our country for universal healthcare”. What does that mean? Is that bribery money to buy the healthcare professionals and doctors? Is this the change we need? $600,000,000.00 would go a long way to providing healthcare insurance premiums directly to those that need to pay for health insurance or are uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions as opposed to “preparing us” for larger bribes and coercion.

I have been sick to my stomach since Friday when I first read about this beautiful young Brazilian model having contracted a blood infection and then, following complications, having her hands and feet amputated. It stuck in my mind that her career would be over or maybe not. Perhaps she could still model cosmetics, I was hoping.

On Saturday morning, I saw the following news at FOX News and could not get it out of my mind. I wondered why? There had to be a reason. Did the doctors screw up? Was this medical malpractice by mis-diagnosing the infection in the first place? Or, was this simply a case of universal healthcare gone bad. I believe the latter is true. Miss Bridi was incorrectly diagnosed with kidney stones and sent home. Had they correctly diagnosed the urinary tract infection, this young lady would be alive and recovering today.

An inferior healthcare system is what we can expect our current system to become. I don’t think this is what the people want. They need affordable healthcare but the cost of allowing the government to run the program is way too high.

Model Dies After Losing Hands, Feet to Urinary Tract Infection

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Officials say a Brazilian model whose feet and hands were amputated because of an infection has died. marianabridi-4

Officials said in a statement early Saturday that 20-year-old Mariana Bridi’s condition deteriorated overnight. She died at 2:30 a.m.

The Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat said in the statement she died from complications related to a generalized infection. It was caused by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to be resistant to multiple kinds of antibiotics.

The beauty pageant contestant was suffering a generalized infection that forced the amputation of her hands and feet earlier this week because the flow of oxygen to her limbs was reduced.

Bridi was not breathing on her own and was undergoing hemodialysis at a hospital in the city of Serra, the secretariat said.Bridi twice was a finalist in the Brazilian stage of the Miss World beauty pageant, according to local media, and participated in the 2007 Miss Bikini International contest.

Bridi fell ill in December and doctors originally diagnosed her with kidney stones, local media said. But her condition worsened and doctors then diagnosed a urinary tract infection that spread. She was hospitalized on Jan 3.

Once she was hospitalized, doctors discovered septicemia had set into her limbs, cutting off circulation.

They were forced to amputate.

Septicemia is the presence of bacteria in the blood. It’s a serious, life-threatening infection that rapidly gets worse. It can arise from infections throughout the body, including infections in the lungs, abdomen, and urinary tract, the National Institutes of Health said on its Web site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Model Clings to Life After Losing Hands, Feet to Urinary Tract Infection

Friday, January 23, 2009

A Brazilian model whose feet and hands had to be amputated because of an infection is clinging to life at an intensive care unit in southeastern Brazil.

Mariana Bridi’s condition deteriorated overnight and was changed from “serious” to “very serious” on Friday, the Espirito Santo State Health Secretariat said in a statement.

The 20-year-old beauty pageant contestant is suffering a generalized infection that forced the amputation of her hands and feet earlier this week because the flow of oxygen to her limbs was reduced.

“The only thing that matters now is her life,” boyfriend Thiago Simoes told Globo TV’s G1 Web site.

Bridi is not breathing on her own and is undergoing hemodialysis at a hospital in the city of Serra, the secretariat said.

Bridi twice was a finalist in the Brazilian stage of the Miss World beauty pageant, according to local media, and participated in the 2007 Miss Bikini International contest.

Bridi fell ill in December and doctors originally diagnosed her with kidney stones, local media said. But her condition worsened and doctors then diagnosed a urinary tract infection that spread. She was hospitalized on Jan 3.

Once she was hospitalized, doctors discovered septicemia had set into her limbs, cutting off circulation.

They were forced to amputate.

Septicemia is the presence of bacteria in the blood. It’s a serious, life-threatening infection that rapidly gets worse. It can arise from infections throughout the body, including infections in the lungs, abdomen, and urinary tract, the National Institutes of Health said on its Web site.

Since the amputation, Bridi da Costa suffered an internal hemorrhage and had another emergency operation Wednesday afternoon.

Officials have also reavealed that she has a rare blood type and needs donations.

“This is a desperately sad story and we are calling on potential donors to come forward and give blood,” Henrique Fontes, executive director of Miss World Brazil, told Agence-France Presse this week.

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Change We Can’t Trust; The More Change They Claim, The More Things Stay The Same

Posted January 22, 2009 Comments Off

This is the liberal agenda that we have to look forward to and must fight for the next four years. These assholes will do anything to promote this agenda and, short of baring arms and fighting a civil war, we have little voice in stopping them. We can’t even get the minority members of the Republican party to march in step together to oppose this bullshit. I’m so sick of it and its only been two days.

Following are two articles by Amanda Carpenter published at Townhall.com. I’m republishing them here to show how disgusting these assholes are and to what extent they will go to further their pathetic land robbing agenda. So much for helping out middle-class Americans. Take their homes and businesses for unneeded and unnecessary airport expansion. How about locking up land, and energy reserves, so that those reserves cannot be produced. This, my friends, borders on treason in my book. There is no end to how far they will go to usurp our constitutional right to “life”, “liberty” and “the pursuit of happiness”.

Harry Reid’s Land Grab

Amanda Carpenter
Saturday, January 10, 2009

Update: The U.S. Senate passed the bill Sunday by a vote of 66-12.

It’s hard to pinpoint the worst part of the public lands legislation bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling up for an under-the-radar Sunday vote.

The 1200-page, pork-laden, $10 billion proposal locks up millions of acres of energy-rich property by designating it as environmentalist-friendly “federal wilderness” area where not even as much as a bicycle would be permitted to travel across the land. Many of these areas recently became available when the ban on domestic drilling in Western states expired last fall and the liberal left couldn’t muster the courage to keep it in place due to rising energy prices. Now Democratic leaders are using different legislative strategies to put a new kind of ban in place.

One Republican House staffer put it this way: “Reid is going to make it federal land so no one can touch it. He’s locking up the equivalent of ANWR.”

The bill, S.22 “Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009,” would cordon off more than 3 million acres from energy leasing by restricting various areas as “federal wilderness” or “wild and scenic” river ways.

Since the price of gasoline has dropped and attention has diverted to other matters, such as President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, Leader Reid has made the land grab a priority and is calling members of the Senate back to Washington on Sunday to rush it through. And the bill, which is basically an omnibus compilation of pet projects and land seizures sponsored by individual House members and senators, has wide-ranging, bipartisan support since it helps many of them secure support from stakeholders in their home states and districts.

For example, one piece of the bill that has drawn the ire of the Wall Street Journal is a provision sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.). He’d like to make a robust, container shipping port located in his district’s Taunton River into a scenic tourist destination. This would have the liberally convenient side effect of killing a proposal to create a terminal to import liquefied natural gas.

Then, as to be expected in an omnibus bill, there’s the pork. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.) is requesting $461 million to legally settle a dispute over the San Joaquin River with the environmentalist group Natural Resources Defense Council. The money would be used for a water project that has the “minimum goal” of restoring 500 salmon to the river. (That’s nearly $1 million per fish!) Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D.) wants $5 million to fund a “Wolf Compensation and Prevention Program” to assist property owners use “non-lethal” measures to prohibit wolves from killing their livestock.

The lands bill chief opponent Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.) argues it’s foolish to add acreage to the federal government’s responsibility when it can’t even properly manage treasured properties like the Statue of Liberty or National Mall appropriately. And, “we’re not exactly suffering from a shortage of wilderness,” his spokesman John Hart said in a conversation with Townhall.

Coburn has drafted 13 amendments to the bill, but Reid is not allowing him to offer a single one of them. One of them is a common-sense measure to just require that the current maintenance backlogs of government property be brought up to date.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) is urging his fellow Republicans to just skip the vote, as a means of opposing the bill and drawing attention to the fact it’s been more than 120 days since Reid allowed a GOP amendment to be accepted on the floor.

Several Republicans, however, have their own projects in the bill making it a difficult vote to skip. Republican Sen. John Barasso of Wyoming, who is typically a reliable conservative vote, has a provision tucked away in the bill to withdraw 1.2 million acres of state land from mineral leasing and energy exploration, where 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 331 million barrels of recoverable oil are estimated to exist.

Mayor Daley Seizes Land for Unfunded Project

Amanda Carpenter
Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has kicked hundreds of families out of their homes and relocated a cemetery full of buried bodies to build a whopping $15 billion airport expansion Chicago residents oppose, airlines don’t want and he doesn’t have the money to build.

The kicker is that Daley stands a solid chance of getting a good chunk of the boondoggle funded in Washington’s forthcoming stimulus bill under Barack Obama’s pledge to dramatically increase infrastructure spending.

The “O’Hare Modernization Project,” signed by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2003, has enabled the city to seize 433 acres of land from surrounding villages under a special “quick-take authority” power given to Daley by the state. The city even uprooted a 108-year old cemetery, requiring families to find a new home for the 1,500 bodies resting there, in the process of taking some of its first tracts of land.

Bensenville, a middle class suburban community that borders the airport on the south and west corners, is one of those villages. So far, the city of Chicago has taken 600 parcels of land from Bensenville, representing 15 percent of the village’s total area. 533 of those parcels were single-family homes. Approximately 90 of them were businesses.

“It’s all been snatched up,” said Bensenville City Manager Jim Johnson, who opposes the project. Johnson is now trying to prevent the demolition of those homes because proper guarantees have not been made for the health and safety of the community.

While that battle is being waged in court, all that’s left are essentially vacant buildings, many of them livable homes in good condition. [Click here to see a web video of the area.]

Last fall, OMP completed its first phase, which involved the construction of a new $565 million runway and tower on the airport’s north side. At the time, airlines seemed supportive of the project in public appearances and threw a lavish party to celebrate in September. The festivities included outdoor tents pitched on the runway, refreshments. Mayor Daley even timed his speech so that a plane would land during the address—a grandiose move mocked by local reporters.

“That’s United,” Daley said during his speech. “I want to thank them for landing during my speech. Perfect. That’s a great shot for TV.”

Behind-closed doors, however, airlines were unsupportive of the project, calling it “inappropriate” and “ill-conceived” in letters to the Federal Aviation Administration. American, United, Delta, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and ANA-All Nippon told the FAA the plan was flawed in documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune in November.

One unnamed Delta Air Lines executive even called the plan an “impulsive grab for [tax] funds.”

The airlines were specifically opposed to request made by the city to FAA to approve a tax increase on passenger ticket sales to raise $182 million to pay for second phase of the project. Daley has also sought federal grants from the FAA.

Others have criticized OMP for including an extra $2 million to create 15-acres of protected wetlands for environmentally-friendly efforts like sheltering the state’s endangered black-crowned night heron. Daley’s insistence the project is completed by 2014 so that the airport can accommodate tourists traveling to Chicago in 2016 for the Summer Olympics, has also been ridiculed. (A site for the games has not yet been selected).

“We’d like to put a knife in this project,” City Manager Johnson said. “It is not about providing aviation capacity, it is not about providing any services for the traveling public and the taking of this property is unnecessary because the project doesn’t work and they don’t have the money to fund it.”

Mayor Daley doesn’t seem too concerned about these issues raised. He recently said he would bypass state legislators to lobby the federal government for funding under President-elect Obama’s $800 billion stimulus bill.

“Mayors are going directly to the federal government,” he recently told reporters. “They have to. We can’t wait. You can’t allow Springfield to take your money, hold the interest, then eventually give it to you in the middle of winter. You’ll never get the job done in the middle of winter,” Daley told reporters.

“That’s how you do creative financing,” he added.

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