Democratic congressman John Murtha (PA-12th) died of complications following gall bladder surgery in a Virginia hospital today. He had served in Congress for 36 years, most of his time there from a heavily gerrymandered district that ensured his tenure. Good coverage of his life history is summarized in this article — Rep. John Murtha, Iraq war critic, dies at 77:

Born June 17, 1932, John Patrick Murtha delivered newspapers and worked at a gas station before graduating from Ramsay High School in Mount Pleasant….

He left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines, where he rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C., and later served in the 2nd Marine Division.

Murtha moved back to Johnstown and remained with the Marine Reserves until he volunteered to go to Vietnam. He served as an intelligence officer there from 1966 to 1967 and received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

After his discharge from the Marines, Murtha ran a small business in Johnstown. He went to the University of Pittsburgh on the GI Bill of rights, graduating in 1962 with a degree in economics.

He served in the Pennsylvania House in Harrisburg from 1969 until he was elected to Congress in a special election in 1974. In 1990, he retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel.

“Ever since I was a young boy, I had two goals in life—I wanted to be a colonel in the Marine Corps and a member of Congress,” Murtha wrote in his 2004 book….

Clearly, he realized his two goals.

His later career was characterized by pork for friends and relatives, government favors in return for campaign contributions, allegations of corruption (he was an unindicted co-conspirator in ABSCAM), and untruthful criticism of our troops.

The mainstream media conveniently forget the sins of self-serving polititians when they depart this life, and deliver positive eulogies. So the fact that Murtha was a participant in ABSCAM, and saved his own bacon by testifying against fellow bribe-taking congressmen, is glossed over. A little over six months ago, upon Teddy Kennedy’s passing, the newsreaders gave him a pass on his cowardly abandonment of Mary Jo Kopechne, whom he left to drown in his car after a drunk-driving accident. Maybe John and Teddy can shovel coal together.

The feds are spending $2.5 million of your money for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl broadcast on CBS this Sunday to urge folk to fill out their 2010 census forms. And that’s not all. Census Day is April 1st, so between January and May they will squander a $133 million advertising budget of your tax dollars on this pricey propaganda.

To add insult to injury, the government is running these ads in 28 different languages. Illegal aliens will be counted, resulting in more Congressmen — more representation — for areas that do not enforce the law of the land. These high population areas will also receive more government resources.

You can view the schmaltzy ads from the Census Bureau here.

You can see a copy of the ten question form here.

Are you hopping mad? FOXNews is running a poll on whether this is a worthwhile use of resources.

Do You Buy Into Census Bureau’s Super Bowl Ad?

• Yes. The census is very important and it’s money well spent.
• Not sure – I know the census is important, but there’s got to be a better way.
• No. What a complete waste of my money – is anyone listening?!
• Other (post a comment)

You can go here to vent. Then you can view the results of the tally so far.

Right now “complete waste” is running at 93%. And there are 24 pages of angry comments…

Obama has apparently violated an FBI ban on release of security information to save his own face. He lost a ton of credibility when the Christmas bomber was mirandized in the middle of a valuable information dump and clammed up.

Later, the FBI got the fellow talking again, revealing the details of upcoming attacks on US targets in country and abroad. But the fact that the terrorist was once more spilling his guts was supposed to be kept under wraps, at the specific mandate of the FBI director (and, we should add, as standard operating procedure).

But the Obama team released that information to reporters. It looks like an intentional and knowing breach of security intended to help the President save face for his earlier blunder. As in, OK, so he made a big mistake, but in the long run it didn’t make any difference.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), Vice Chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, fired off a letter to Obama today:

….In the realm of national security, sometimes it is necessary to withhold critical information from the public that may be used by our enemies to harm the American people.

Accordingly, I am deeply disturbed with the official handling of vital national security information regarding the recent cooperation by the Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab. On Monday afternoon, the leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee received notification from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concerning Abdulmutallab’s recent willingness to provide critical information. FBI officials stressed the importance of not disclosing the fact of his cooperation in order to protect on-going and follow-on operations to neutralize additional threats to the American public; FBI Director Bob Mueller personally stressed to me that keeping the fact of his cooperation quiet was vital to preventing future attacks against the United States. Handling this information in such a sensitive manner struck me as entirely appropriate.

Twenty-four hours later, however, White House staff assembled members of the media to announce Abdulmutallab’s cooperation and to laud the events that led to his decision to cooperate with law enforcement personnel. This information immediately hit the air waves globally and, no doubt, reached the ears of our enemies abroad.

At the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Annual World Wide Threats Hearing Tuesday, the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI Director, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency all stated they believe terrorists will attempt another attack on America within the next few months. I cannot understand, Mr. President, why the sudden cooperation by Abdulmutallab would be broadcast publicly to the media in detail when your intelligence chiefs are unanimously warning that another attack on our country is imminent. The release of this sensitive information has no doubt been helpful to his terrorist cohorts around the world.

It is deeply disturbing to me that the Intelligence Committee would be advised of sensitive information, and told of the vital imperative to keep such information secret for the sake of national security, only to see this information – less than twenty-four hours later –broadcast to the world from the White House. This distortion of the congressional notification process suggests that other considerations are taking precedence over keeping timely and sensitive information away from our enemies….

Robert Gibbs admitted bending the rules, but averred that this was done to “contextualize” the issue for reporters:

On Tuesday, the Senate intelligence panel hosted Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller, among others, on current and projected threats on the United States that included a discussion of the decision to give Miranda rights to Abdulmutallab. In the conversation, it was revealed that he was now talking.

Afterward, administration officials briefed reporters about cooperation by Abdulmutallab, who was read Miranda rights after just 50 minutes of interrogation about his attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas.

Gibbs said that briefing — and no other held by administration officials — uses information that shouldn’t be released. However, he conceded that the briefing to reporters on Tuesday was called in order to “contextualize” information released during the Senate hearing that Abdulmutallab was talking again to interrogators.

If an ordinary citizen spilled such beans, he or she would likely go to jail. But this president thinks he is above such rules, and can do this with impunity. Worse, he cares more about his image with reporters than the security of our country.

Note the underlying logic of this calculated decision to expose security info to reporters — that the president’s first mistake doesn’t matter because things came out all right in the end. Excusing mistakes that can be cosmetically covered is a Democratic thought pattern. Democrats care only about how things look and what they can get away with. That may sometimes be a strategy for short term success, but never holds up over the long haul.

On the other hand, Republicans are more data driven — they care how things really are in addition to some concern about appearances. They may be pragmatic, but they are more principled. That is a better strategy for shaping governance over the long term.

While the current flap between Kit Bond and Robert Gibbs is seen by many in terms of what happened — security briefing and security breach — the important lesson is the difference between the ideas and ethics that drive the two sides, and the effects those values can have on our country long-term.

Related:

NRO: The Corner — The Saga of Abdulmutallab, Underwear Bomber:

It is bad practice to tell the world that a terrorist has agreed to spill the beans on his fellow terrorists who are still walking around free overseas. That is, of course, unless the principal motivation is to try to save political hides at home, even at the expense of actually finding the terrorists Abdulmutallab worked with.

Liberal media personnel who “bend” the truth have not been faring well this month. Have you noticed?

First, we learned that Air America has finally been taken off life support. The leftwing talk radio network started programming on March 31, 2004 but failed to operate profitably. Mounting debts resulted in filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 13, 2006, with original capital lost. Brothers Stephen and Mark Green bought the outfit for $4.25 million on March 6, 2007 but in less than three years their investment is also kaput. Live programming ended on January 21 last month and all remaining operations ceased on January 25. We need not feel too sorry for the first and second rounds of owners — liberals do not believe in profit and capitalism anyway, or so their politics would lead us to believe.

Keith Olbermann is not doing well either, and many predict that he will soon be departing the scene. It won’t be his first failure. A sportscaster for the first twenty years of his journalistic career, he left ESPN amid controversy in 1997. He then became a sports anchor for Fox Sports, but was canned by Rupert Murdoch himself in 2001. Next he lost his job covering the 2008 election for MSNBC after maligning a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terror attack. This week the buzz is all about the possible end of his cable TV hour-long show Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

Daily Finance — Is America Getting Over Keith Olbermann?

In the important demographic of adults 25 to 54 — the group advertisers are looking to reach — Countdown was down 44% year-over-year in January. It averaged 268,000 viewers in that demo, only 3,000 more than Nancy Grace’s show on HLN, and 12,000 more than CNN’s Campbell Brown. Fox News’s O’Reilly Factor dominated the hour with 964,000 viewers age 25 to 54, and was the only cable news show in the time period to increase its audience, by 55%.

Los Angeles Times — Countdown begins for end of Keith Olbermann’s ‘Countdown’??

Remember Keith Olbermann? He was the one-time must-see anti-Bush ranter who helped rescue MSNBC (yes, it’s still on at night) from even worse oblivion years ago. Well, quietly last month while no one was looking, hardly anyone was watching Keith Olbermann anymore….

NPR Blog — ‘Countdown With Keith Olbermann’: Could The End Be Near??

…one of the memes of the day seems to be that Countdown with Keith Olbermann isn’t doing so well ratings-wise and might soon be history.

KO has made his way by being an unprincipled, irrational and untruthful attack dog. Those who live by the sword die by the sword.

And then there is Katie Couric, who tried to parlay a cutsie face and short skirts into a serious prime-time news anchor career. She is a newsreader, not a news reporter, and so has been way overpriced at $15 million per year. This past Monday morning, CBS execs made cuts to Katie’s staff and salary, as well as cuts in many other areas, due to declining ad revenues:

Much of Ms. Couric’s staff would not [return]. Dozens of employees—including staff members in D.C., San Francisco, Miami, London, Los Angeles and Moscow—were being let go. The changes were effective immediately. There would be no buyouts. According to one longtime staff member, the network had long ago negotiated away most of the severance clauses in staff members’ contracts….

And Drudge reports:

COURIC FACES PAY CUT; DEEP LAYOFFS HIT CBSNEWS
Wed Feb 03 2010 09:11:21 ET

CBSNEWS anchorwoman and 60 MINUTES contributor Katie Couric faces a dramatic pay cut at the network, insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

CBS boss Les Moonves is determined to save money and trim expenses — from top to bottom — at the former crown jewel of broadcasting.

Couric, the highest paid TV news personality in history, commands over $14 million a year, plus bumps for non-EVENING NEWS appearances.

But her salary is now in the direct line of fire, network insiders explain, and a populist backlash against Couric’s cash is said to be forming inside the newsroom.

“She makes enough to pay 200 news reporters $75,000 a year!” demands a veteran producer. “It’s complete insanity.”

The angry source continues: “We report with great enthusiasm how much bankers are making, how it is out of step with reality during a recession. Well, look at Katie!”

She may not last at CBS, according to the New York Post:

With a little more than a year to go on her contract, Katie Couric is dressing up her resumé. The CBS anchor, now 53, is facing a huge pay cut in her unprecedented $15 million-a-year salary. More importantly, her bosses at CBS have not yet said whether they want to keep her — at any price….

No matter, the idea of paying Couric eight figures to anchor a news show that is in last place does not sit well in the upper echelons of CBS News, where her hiring as TV’s first female anchor is seen as a noble but failed experiment….

Here’s what Katie Couric looks like, posing for Harper’s Bazaar:

Here’s what a real news anchor looks like:

The Feds are looking for ways to seize retirement plans, IRAs, and 401Ks to finance their deficit spending. We first posted about this last August, when Republican US Representative John Carter (TX-31st) brought up the subject at a Tea Party Town Hall with his constituents.

Representative Carter informed the crowd that talk has been bandied about Congress to appropriate every state’s pension plans into the bankrupt Social Security System.

The current plan is much more egregious. The administration is looking at private plans, which are vulnerable to government takeover because they were developed under federal tax deferment guidelines. While this may seem preposterous, most of us would have thought that government seizure of banks and auto companies was preposterous before Obama redefined civil liberty.

Talk show host Neal Boortz posted about this in today’s Nealz Nuze:

THE GOVERNMENT WANTS YOUR RETIREMENT

….This, to me, is one of the most dangerous schemes currently slithering through the crevices and dark spots of the Imperial Federal Government in Washington. What am I talking about? What I believe to be plans by the Obama administration to, in effect, seize your retirement funds and use them to finance their deficit spending. Remember … there are more than $3 trillion dollars sitting out there in individual retirement, IRA and 401K plans. Politicians just cant stand the idea of this much money sitting out there in private investments … out of the grasp of politicians. So …. Something needs to be done. And sure enough, something is going to be done. The Treasury Department and the Department of Labor were going to start taking comments on ways to promote the idea converting 401(k) savings and IRAs into annuities or other steady payment streams….

A Request for Information Regarding Lifetime Income Options for Participants and Beneficiaries in Retirement Plans under the Freedom of Information Act was filed by Phyllis C. Borzi, Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor and others on January 27, 2010. A copy of that document (the request) has triggered the current discussion. You can read it here. Ostensibly, she is concerned about the welfare of the workers:

The purpose of this notice is to solicit views, suggestions and comments from plan participants, plan sponsors, plan service providers and members of the financial community, as well as the general public, to assist the Agencies in evaluating what steps, if any, they could or should take, by regulation or otherwise, to enhance the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a stream of lifetime income after retirement.

Let us deconstruct this. Here’s how it would work. The government would seize the $3 to $4 trillion in assets currently invested in retirement plans. The government would now own all the assets, having taken them out of the private sector. That would be in return for a promise that the government would make timed payouts — monthly or whatever — to the pensioners over the coming years. The government has already betrayed the public trust by spending the assets in the social security trust fund, leaving worthless IOU’s as placeholders. Now they want to do this with our employee retirement plans and our personal retirement investments.

Are they actually talking about seizing the assets? Yes. Here are the thinly disguised words:

The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the “Agencies”) are currently reviewing the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the plan qualification rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to determine whether, and, if so, how, the Agencies could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement….

This plan may appeal to many timid souls, who are concerned about seeing their retirement assets shrink in a declining stock market. They may prefer to give a lump sum to the government now, in return for a promise of a fixed annuity that they can depend on. That is, of course, the traditional rationale for purchasing annuities. But the government can, at will, print money like it was toilet paper, so that although the dollar total of the annuity payment remains the same, its real value and purchasing power are substantially eroded.

So it is “six of one and half a dozen of the other.” Either you try to manage your own assets and watch the stock market decline, or you trust the government and let them shrink the value outside of your control. Either way, the government is the culprit robbing the people of what they have earned. The only way out is to keep control of your own assets, and replace the thieves in Washington with some fiscally responsible legislators.

The idea has been around for awhile. The filing of the information request in late January has revived the discussion. We should never let our guard down!

Related:

Washington’s Blog — Will Obama Seize Americans’ 401k and IRA Funds?

There is a rumor floating around that Obama will seize Americans’ retirement funds, like Argentina and some other countries have done. Two investment newsletters – Green Chip Review and The Mining Speculator – have recently claimed that the 401k seizure is a sure thing.

Bob Bauman — Obama: Curbing American Freedom

Long term Obama needs trillions more to finance his comprehensive program transplanting European-style socialism to America. That includes government-run health uncare, federal control of education, handing over faltering auto companies to unions, selectively bailing out his Wall Street campaign contributors and buddies, nationalizing banks, confiscating private pension funds and stimulus for all.

Carolina Journal — Dems Target Private Retirement Accounts

Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts “including 401(k)s and IRAs” and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration…. The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.

US News & World Report — Would Obama, Dems Kill 401(k) Plans?

I hate to use the “S” word, but the American government would never do something as, well, socialist as seize private pension funds, right? This is exactly what cash-strapped Argentina just did in the name of protecting workers’ retirement accounts… Now, even Uncle Sam isn’t that stupid, but some Democrats might try something almost as loopy: kill 401(k) plans.

House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created “guaranteed retirement accounts” for every worker.

Politics Daily — Obama, Dems Seek to End 401(k) Plans

Democrats want to seize the money that workers currently invest in their 401(k) plans and replace the popular retirement savings accounts with a one-size-fits-all government sponsored retirement account. Under the scheme, Americans would be forced to transfer all of their hard earned retirement savings from their 401(k) to the government.

And here is some material appended from our earlier post — It’s Not a New Idea:

From the Friday, January 29, 1993 issue of the Washington Post we have this article (archived by the Seattle Times) — Budget Cuts Vs. Social Security — Tap Pension Funds Worth $4 Trillion, Panel Tells Clinton — Employers Sense Danger ‘Once They Get Taste Of This’:

A bipartisan government commission yesterday recommended to the Clinton administration that it launch an aggressive effort to tap the retirement funds of millions of Americans to help pay for rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and highways and give the economy a lift.

President Clinton has indicated past support for the concept, which would represent an unprecedented effort by the federal government to deal with its budget woes by turning to the more than $4 trillion in cash, stocks and other investments held by pension funds.

Some opponents in the pension industry, who worry about protecting retirees, said they fear Congress might revoke the generous tax treatment afforded pensions if they actively oppose the initiative.

The recommendations by the congressionally chartered Infrastructure Investment Commission, which has had the strong support of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., include establishing the National Infrastructure Corp. It would be a new government-sponsored corporation that would encourage at least $30 billion in investment by pension funds. Several billion dollars in seed money for the new corporation would come from a new energy tax now under consideration.

Energy tax. Sound familiar?

And two people who watched the Democratic convention in 1996 said:

I was absolutely horrified to hear the Democrats propose at their convention that the government should take money out of private pension funds to sink into yet more federal programs.

The Democrats have already raided the Social Security fund to pay for their unending government spending. We do not need them ruining our pension funds the same way!

This is another Democrat scheme to take even more of our money without having to face public opposition to tax increases. We already have to work over four months a year just to pay the taxes on our wages – we should not have to sacrifice our pensions, too!

Vote against the Democrats and Clinton while you still have money in your pension fund, or you may not have any pension fund left when you retire.

The Argentine government seized control of the private pension funds in that country last fall. At that time the Telegraph considered the possibility that other countries would follow suit — Argentina seizes pension funds to pay debts. Who’s next?, October 21st, 2008:

Here is a warning to us all. The Argentine state is taking control of the country’s privately-managed pension funds in a drastic move to raise cash.

Should we worry about our pensions?

It is a foretaste of what may happen across the world as governments discover that tax revenue, and discover that the bond markets are unwilling to plug the gap. The G7 states are already acquiring an unhealthy taste for the arbitrary seizure of private property….

10:19PM  Full Metal Patriot — Congress is planning to raid EVERY state’s pension funds to prop up Social Security. This blogger has done some background research, and reminds us of earlier attempts to “redirect” retirement assets:

This rumor definitely caught my attention. After doing a little investigation, it looks like it’s entirely true. Last year, House Democrats were contemplating abolishing 401(k) tax breaks and redirecting those funds into a new system of government-controlled retirement accounts to which all workers would be forced to contribute. And more information about the Democrats’ immoral plans to ransack every American’s personal retirement has been reported on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, and Carolina Journal. Now that they control both houses of Congress and have a big-government socialist in the White House, it looks as though Democrats are ramping up their machinations.

Update August 23, 9:13AM:  A reader sends this link, possible reason for the federal government to get into a fight with the states; from the Financial Times — Pension funds back buy-out fight over bank deals:

A coalition of large US state pension funds has backed the private equity industry’s opposition to new rules on takeovers of troubled lenders, saying the plan would have a “chilling effect” on attempts to revive the country’s banking system.

The warning by funds from states including New York, New Jersey and Oregon, which manage billions of dollars on behalf of public workers and are big investors in private equity, will strengthen the buy-out industry’s lobbying against the proposed measures….

Update August 23, 9:13AM:  Canada Free Press — Government seizing your IRA and/or 401k and rolling it over into the bankrupt Social Security Administration: And Then They Came For My IRA:

….when one mentions the idea of this government seizing your IRA and/or 401k and rolling it over into the bankrupt Social Security Administration, the usual reaction — even after all the evidence of the last six months — is scoffing. “They wouldn’t dare,” I heard from one individual. “There would be a revolt,” said another. Still someone else commented, “If you think there was outrage over this health care bill, let them try that!”

Well, maybe, but given the arrogance of these Statists, that is a natural next step. It is one that has been floated before, and don’t think that it has gone away. Consider that individual retirement accounts, be they private or corporate, have been accumulated tax free. In the eyes of Obama, Pelosi, Reid, et al, that translates into you getting away with something. Somehow you got “free” money. We’re talking about accounts totaling hundreds of billions (possibly trillions) of dollars! Believe me, they’re salivating….

After what we have witnessed so far this year, anything is possible today in America. And even if they don’t actually do it, imagine how much windfall revenue would accrue to the federal government if the American people only thought they were going to do it. An executive for a large Midwestern company told me: “I would pull every dime out of my 401k, pay the taxes and penalties and stick the cash in my mattress before I would let those (expletive deleted) have it!”

Could that be the plan?

The returns are in from yesterday’s primary elections in the state of Illinois. The US Senate seat formerly held by Barack Obama will be in play this fall. It is currently being kept warm by Roland Burris, who was appointed to fill the remainder of Obama’s term by disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich under dubious circumstances.

In the five-person Republican primary, current US Congressman Mark Kirk (IL-10th) won in a landslide:

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk — 56%
Developer Patrick Hughes — 19%
Retired circuit judge Donald Lowery — 9%
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency researcher Kathleen Thomas — 7%
Former city alderman John Arrington — 3%

The three-way Democratic primary was closer:

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias — 39%
Chicago City Hall inspector general David Hoffman — 34%
Former Chicago Urban League Chief Cheryle Jackson — 19%

Those are the facts and figures. But what is especially interesting is the way that the Democratic primary in-fighting has given the Republicans an advantage. Although he emerged the winner, Giannoulias was left covered with the stink of corruption by primary opponent Hoffman, who ran ads tying the Giannoulias banking family to the now-imprisoned Obama confederate Tony Rezko.

So going into the general election this fall, Illinois voters are confronted with a US Senate seat

• currently filled by the now disgraced and ousted former Democratic governor Rod Blagojevich,
• held by an Democrat who has already been admonished by the Senate Ethics Panel for “buying” the appointment, and
• sought by Democrat Giannoulias, who was Vice President and senior loan officer at the family’s now troubled Broadway Bank tied to the Rezko scandal.

On the other hand, the Republican candidate is

• currently a US Congressman and
• a Naval Reserve intelligence officer who has been in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq as our nation confronts the terror threat.

What was unthinkable a couple of months ago is now a hot topic — that Republicans might capture the US Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama in this fall’s general election.

The Washington Times — Senate race set

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat Mr. Obama once held. He will face Republican Mark Kirk, a moderate five-term congressman who is likely to question the 33-year-old Mr. Giannoulias’ experience and judgment.

Losing the Senate seat in the increasingly Democratic-leaning state would be a bigger personal embarrassment for Mr. Obama than Republican Scott Brown’s upset victory last month in Massachusetts for the Senate seat held for decades by the late Edward M. Kennedy….

Republicans hope to win the Senate seat … in November by exploiting Democratic turmoil and scandal, including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s ouster over corruption charges that include the allegation he tried to sell Mr. Obama’s seat.

Politics Daily — Is Obama’s State up for Grabs?

Never ending ethics scandals and the near insolvency of the state government burst the bubble of any post Obama euphoria months ago. On Saturday, Chicagoans awoke to these stories: a suburban mayor sentenced for bribery; a Chicago alderman taking a bribery plea deal, and a former alderman learning he may face prison time for a real estate kickback scheme.

Illinois Democrats are splintered and frazzled in the wake of the impeachment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who will be tried this summer on federal public corruption charges for, among other items, trying to auction off Obama’s seat….

…Republican governor victories last year in Virginia and New Jersey, and the stunning loss earlier this month in Massachusetts of the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy to Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown have moved Illinois to the top of the GOP priority list.

Massachusetts furthered emboldened the Republicans; they knew they had an Illinois senate game months ago….

FOXNews — Ill. Primary Sets Up Showdown for Obama’s Seat

Kirk is the first serious GOP Senate nominee Illinois has seen in years. Seven of the last nine U.S. Senators elected from this state have been democrats. Democrats hold every major state office. But, while the president is personally popular here, his policies are not.

Unemployment is over 10%, corruption runs rampant, and like the federal budget, the state budget has massive deficits. Taxes are sky high and voters are furious….

OK, dear readers, just look at the pictures of the two candidates. If you didn’t know anything else about them, but just had this one glance, which one would you vote for?

The Democratic candidate is the one on the left. ‘Nuff said.