 First on the agenda was an energetic speech by Jill Morgenthaler, a
retired U.S. Army colonel who served in Korea, Berlin, Bosnia and
Iraq; handled disaster recovery during the San Francisco earthquake
of 1989; and was the recent 2008 Democratic nominee for Illinois'
6th Congressional District.Morgenthaler began by lamenting: "What
gets me is how the GOP loves to blame the unions for the mess. I
don't know about you, but I drove here on roads built by the unions,
in a car made by the unions; my children were taught by members of
the unions; I got my mail from a member of the union; and I was
treated by a nurse of a union."
She went on to say, "How do we, as Democrats, get our heads
around what we are facing?
"You've heard of three R's? Reading, writing, and arithmetic.
With what the Republicans did to our schools, we're lucky if our
kids know the three R's. Tonight, I want to address the three R's of
Republicanism that directly impact us and our families.
"Revoke health care and return us to the insane system. Insurance
companies have free rein and soon, I predict, will decide that life
itself is a pre-existing condition. Revoke housing and meals for
seniors. If they have their way, they will revoke Medicare and
Social Security.
"Ruin: Ruined our schools with No Child Left Behind. The
MacArthur Foundation found that not one school, not one school in
the nation, benefited from No Child Left Behind. All it did was
cripple our teachers and hurt our children, ruined our economy with
greed, lack of control and bailout. Tonight we stand on the brink of
ruin through the default of the government.
"Refuse: The 'Party of No' has refused women cancer screenings
and mammograms, veterans housing and mental health care, and equal
pay for equal work for women and minorities."
Morgenthaler concluded: "As Abraham Lincoln, our nation's most
respected Republican, Illinoisan and president, once said,
'Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the
people.'"
Next on the agenda was Illinois 52nd District state Sen. Mike
Frerichs. He was personally asked by Durbin to stand in for him for
the evening. Frerichs spoke of Durbin's long-held belief that our
United States has been made strong over the years with the
Republicans and Democrats offering their best ideas and choices for
meaningful and workable compromises -- yet, sadly, this seems no
longer to be the case. Rather, the fractured Republican Party is now
holding both the Democrats and even their own leaders hostage by
refusing to work out the critical national debt issues in a
meaningful and workable fashion that takes all Americans into
account.
Frerichs pointed out what many of us know about which president
holds the record for the most debt-ceiling increases -- Ronald
Reagan. He raised the debt ceiling 18 times and tripled our national
debt during his eight years in the White House. And, President
George W. Bush raised the debt ceiling nine times and doubled the
national debt. Freriches summarized by saying: "Apparently, the only
way to keep Republicans focused on cutting the deficit is to keep
them out of the White House and out of the majority. Once they start
running things, they forget."
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Frerichs said that defaulting on our obligations -- not agreeing
on a plan to raise American's debt limit by Tuesday night -- has not
ever been done before, "not during the Depression, not during World
War II, never."
Frerichs went on to say: "Every American will be hurt because the
cost of home mortgages will go up... the cost of car loans will go
up... the cost of student loans will go up... interest on credit
cards balances will go up... It's like a 'default tax' on every
family in America." He pointed out that this default will "damage
American's standing as the world's economic leader."
Frerichs put forth the numbers: "Next month -- August -- the
federal Treasury will have $172 billion on hand, and it will have
bills totaling $306 billion. Washington will have about 55 percent
of what it needs to pay our bills. That means we'll have to choose:
Does the government send out Social Security checks -- or paychecks
to soldiers? Do we pay Wall Street bond holders -- or pay for
veterans' health care? Do we pay our creditors in China -- or do we
help American families with Pell Grants and extended unemployment
benefits?"
Frerichs concluded by reminding us that while "a lot of senators
and congressmen are saying, 'I will never vote to raise the debt
limit,' they have already voted for the spending that now makes it
necessary to raise the debt limit. They voted for a war that is now
costing us $10 billion a month. They voted for the Bush tax cuts
that overwhelmingly benefit millionaires and billionaires. Those tax
cuts are the cause of 40 percent of the deficit."
Concluding the evening speaker slate was Bill Houlihan, Durbin's
downstate chief of staff, who thanked everyone for their wonderful
turnout and interest in local, state and national politics and
provided a succinct closing remark that every time an agreeable
compromise is almost on the books for a vote, the "Republicans move
the goal posts for extra yardage."
[By PHIL BERTONI]
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