Take a look at this when heading East on State leaving Rockford

By Derek BarichelloEmailFollow

7:52 am

Congressman Adam Kinzinger is one of 12 House Republicans targeted in an ad campaign a conservative group has launched this week saying President Donald Trump obstructed the impeachment proceedings.

The congressman, however, responded Thursday with a statement calling the impeachment inquiry a distraction from other issues facing the nation.

The digital billboard, which will be on display for a dozen days near 5411 E. State St. in Rockford, features photos of Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani with duct tape across their mouths. It asks "What is Trump hiding?" and says "Rep. Kinzinger, we need the whole truth."

The billboard is paid for by the Republicans for the Rule of Law, which describe themselves as "a group of life-long Republicans dedicated to defending the institutions of our republic and upholding the rule of law."

The group said it is asking why the White House is blocking the testimony of key witnesses in Trump's impeachment inquiry.

"The president doesn't own the government and he's not above the law," said Republicans for the Rule of Law spokesman Chris Truax in a statement.

The House Judiciary Committee took the first steps Wednesday night toward voting on articles of impeachment against Trump, beginning a two-day session at the Capitol. The impeachment inquiry centered on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from Ukraine for his re-election.

Kinzinger, a Channahon Republican, who has been critical of the president's comments on Twitter at times, has said he wants to know what happened with Trump and his communications with Ukraine's president, but he's also said Democrats went too far by starting an impeachment inquiry, stating their motivation is to overturn the election results.

"The articles of impeachment drafted (Wednesday) are the culmination of that anti-Trump fever, leaving us even more divided than before," Kinzinger said in a statement. "There will be another presidential election in 11 months and the voters will have the final say, as was designed by our founders."

Kinzinger believes the impeachment process is a distraction.

Right now, we need to get back to work for the American people," he said. "We need to find solutions to lower drug prices, maintain the incredible job growth and wage increases from this booming economy, and better protect our borders and overall national security. The continued drumbeat towards impeachment has delayed and prevented this work from occurring, and that is a disservice to the hardworking people we serve."

Kinzinger was the lone Illinois congressman targeted in the ad campaign.

The districts of Reps. Greg Walden (Ore.), Mac Thornberry (Texas), Paul Mitchell (Mich.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Fred Upton (Mich.) Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Morris Brooks (Ind.), John Katko (N.Y.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Francis Rooney (Okla.) and Martha Roby (Ala.) also were chosen for the ads.

"We’ve chosen this list of House Republicans as they have shown signs of independence, and we think they might stand up and call on the administration to let the witnesses testify," said Carson Putnam, chief of communications for the Republicans for the Rule of Law.

While not in favor of impeachment, Kinzinger has been critical of the president's comments on Twitter. He called on the president to redact a post referencing "lynching" and called another one of his tweets that mentioned a Civil War-like fracture if the president was removed from office "beyond repugnant." He's also been critical of the president's decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria where they were supporting Syrian Kurds.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Kinzinger votes 83% of the time in line with the president's position.

Kinzinger has no opponent in March's Republican primary in the 16th Congressional District, which covers parts of DeKalb, Will, Winnebago, Ford and Stark counties, and all of La Salle, Grundy, Bureau, Lee, Livingston, Ogle, Putnam, Boone and Iroquois counties. Two Democrats Dani Brzozowski, of La Salle, and Benjamin Baer, of Coal City, are running for the district seat.

The ad accuses Trump of keeping key witnesses from testifying against him in the impeachment inquiry.

"President Trump has been given every opportunity to answer the charges against him," Truax said. "He demands friendly witnesses, yet refuses to allow

his most loyal supporters to testify. He complains the proceedings are unfair, yet refuses to allow his lawyers to participate in the hearings."

In addition, a video with a similar message to the billboard will air as a commercial on "Fox & Friends" in the 16th Congressional District, and will also be promoted online.

"If President Trump really could prove he is innocent of the impeachment charges against him, he would have made some effort to do so by now," Truax said. "If the President really does think the facts will exonerate him, why won't he let those facts come out?"

Above is from:  https://www.mywebtimes.com/2019/12/12/conservative-group-urges-rep-adam-kinzinger-to-take-action-in-impeachment-process/anlh878/

What happened to these early supporters of Pres Trump?

The 1st and 2nd members of Congress to endorse Trump will plead guilty to federal crimes, resign

Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. (R-Calif.) said Monday he will plead guilty to one count of campaign finance violations on Tuesday and hinted he will step down from Congress, typically a precondition for the type of plea deal Hunter is accepting. Hunter is the second Republican member of Congress to plead guilty to federal crimes this fall, following Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), who pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and resigned in October. Coincidentally, Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2016 and Hunter was the second.

Hunter, 42, was first elected to his San Diego district in 2008, taking over from his father, Duncan Hunter Sr., who held the seat since 1980. The Hunter dynasty almost ended in 2016 when the younger Hunter, already under indictment, narrowly won his seat against a political unknown, Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.

Hunter and his wife, Margaret Hunter, initially pleaded not guilty to about 60 counts of campaign finance violations tied to flagrant misuse of campaign funds on personal expenses. Margaret Hunter changed her plea in June and agreed to testify against her husband. Faced with Duncan Hunter's continued denial of guilt, prosecutors disclosed more details in court filings this year, including evidence that Hunter used campaign funds to conduct extramarital affairs with at least five women, reportedly including three lobbyists and two congressional staffers.

Trump had nothing to do with the crimes to which Hunter and Collins pleaded guilty — though he did complain about their indictments. But including last month's conviction of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, at least six Trump campaign associates have pleaded guilty or been convicted of federal crimes — Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, and George Papadopoulos — and his current personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other associates are in the federal barrel now, too.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/1st-2nd-members-congress-endorse-054447472.html

FIAT to reinvest in Belvidere Plant

Fiat to invest in Belvidere plant as part of deal with UAW

The automaker agreed not to close assembly plants during the life of the contract.

CoStar Group

(Bloomberg)—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV clinched a new tentative labor contract with the United Auto Workers by agreeing to double up on a major investment in U.S. production announced earlier this year.

Fiat Chrysler agreed not to close assembly plants during the life of the contract and to invest in its factory in Belvidere, Illinois, east of Rockford, that makes Jeep Cherokee SUVs and employs almost 3,700 hourly workers, people familiar with the talks said earlier.

The fate of the facility had been a subject of speculation because the company eliminated a third shift there earlier this year, dismissing more than 1,300 workers.

The Italian-American carmaker, which said in February it would spend $4.5 billion to boost output of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram trucks, will invest another $4.5 billion over the course of the next four years, Cindy Estrada, a UAW vice president and head of the union’s Fiat Chrysler department, said in a statement. The company will add 7,900 jobs during that span, according to the union.

Fiat Chrysler made the spending and job commitments to the union in the midst of negotiating a merger with Peugeot maker PSA Group. The companies have won over the French state in part by assuring that they can generate synergies without closing any plants. Adding production capacity amid a global slowdown in vehicle sales could be a risky gambit for the combined carmaker.

In a statement, Fiat Chrysler confirmed it had reached a deal with the UAW and said further details will be provided later. The union said its national council will meet Dec. 4 to review the tentative agreement and decide whether hourly and salary members should start voting on ratification beginning Dec. 6.

The UAW and Fiat Chrysler were close to reaching a deal that included $9,000 signing bonuses, people familiar with the negotiations said on Friday, matching what Ford Motor Co. recently agreed to pay senior workers. The union secured $11,000 ratification bonuses from General Motors Co. following a 40-day strike that ended last month.

Above is from:  https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manufacturing/fiat-invest-belvidere-plant-part-deal-uaw

Second Democrat ready to challenge Rep Kinzinger

Teacher Files for Election in 16th District Congressional Race

• Tyler Bachman
• Nov 28, 2019 Updated Nov 29, 2019
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(Benjamin Baer photo)

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An additional challenger has filed for election in the 16th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. The district covers portions of the WSPY listening area.

Benjamin Baer, a social studies teacher at Coal City High School, filed petitions on Wednesday and will run as a Democrat. His filing, currently creates a contested primary.

As WSPY previously reported, Dani Brzozowski of LaSalle, who is the LaSalle Co. Democratic Party Chair, announced her candidacy in September.

Baer said in a post, "as your representative, I would pledge to listen to my constituents and be your tireless advocate in Washington."

Baer additionally said, "I would advocate for improvements in education by de-emphasizing testing, stand for labor movements and measured regulation to protect consumers, and fight for more people to receive health care."

Baer said those initiatives would be paid for, "by promoting a progressive tax structure and closing tax loopholes."

Congressman Kinzinger is now in his fifth term. Primary and general elections take place in 2020.

• Above is from:  http://www.wspynews.com/news/local/teacher-files-for-election-in-th-district-congressional-race/article_b032aab8-11e9-11ea-bf73-a30b4569c2ed.html

No strike for Belvidere Assembly Plant?

Fiat Chrysler Reaches Tentative Labor Deal With United Auto Workers

By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Saturday announced a tentative agreement for a four-year labor contract, a boost for the automaker as it works to merge with France's Groupe PSA <PEUP.PA>.

Italian-American Fiat Chrysler and PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen, last month announced a planned $50 billion merger to create the world's fourth-largest automaker.

The tentative agreement with Fiat Chrysler, which is subject to ratification by the union members, follows contracts that the UAW already concluded with Ford Motor Co <F.N> and General Motors Co <GM.N>.

The deal with GM followed a 40-day strike in the United States that virtually shuttered GM's North American operations and cost the automaker $3 billion.

The UAW on Saturday said the contract with Fiat Chrysler included a commitment from FCA to invest $9 billion, creating 7,900 new jobs over the course of the four-year contract. Of the $9 billion, $4.5 billion was announced earlier this year, to be invested in five plants and creating 6,500 jobs.

Detailed terms of the tentative agreement were not released, but they are expected to echo those under the new contracts with GM and Ford, as the UAW typically uses the first deal as a pattern for the others.

"FCA has been a great American success story thanks to the hard work of our members," UAW acting President Rory Gamble said in a statement. "We have achieved substantial gains and job security provisions for the fastest growing auto company in the United States."

Ratification is not a sure thing. Rank-and-file UAW members at FCA in 2015 rejected the first version of a contract. In addition, a lawsuit related to a federal corruption probe could also raise doubts among union members about the terms agreed.

The federal corruption led GM to file a racketeering lawsuit against FCA, alleging that its rival bribed union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars. FCA has brushed off the lawsuit as groundless.

Under the UAW's deal with GM, the automaker agreed to invest $9 billion in the United States, including $7.7 billion directly in its plants, and to create or retain 9,000 UAW jobs.

Ford's contract included commitments to invest more than $6 billion in its U.S. plants and to create or retain more than 8,500 UAW jobs.

The deals with GM and Ford also created a pathway to full-time employment for temporary workers and left healthcare insurance coverage unchanged.

Both automakers also agreed to signing bonuses, with $9,000 for full-time Ford workers and $11,000 for workers at GM.

(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Above is from:  https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2019-11-30/fiat-chrysler-reaches-tentative-labor-deal-with-united-auto-workers

Trump donated his salary but he made a lot more playing golf?

Trump Has Spent $115 Million On Golf Trips ― Or 287 Years Of Presidential Salary

S.V. Date,HuffPost 4 hours ago

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With his Thanksgiving vacation, President Donald Trump’s golf hobby has now cost Americans an estimated $115 million in travel and security expenses ― the equivalent of 287 years of the presidential salary he frequently boasts about not taking.

Of that amount, many hundreds of thousands ― perhaps millions ― of dollars have gone into his own cash registers, as Secret Service agents, White House staff and other administration officials stay and eat at his hotels and golf courses.

The exact amount cannot be determined because the White House refuses to reveal how many Trump aides have been staying at his properties when he visits them and will not turn over receipts for the charges incurred.

In response to a HuffPost query on Wednesday asking if she knew how many administration officials other than herself are staying at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, during his Thanksgiving stay, and how much it is all costing, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham responded with a one-word answer: “No.”

But lawsuits filed by news organizations and watchdog groups against other executive branch agencies ― the White House is exempt from Freedom of Information Act queries ― have revealed payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, arguably in violation of the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause, which prohibits Trump from accepting benefits beyond his salary from the federal or any state government.

ProPublica, for example, found that Mar-a-Lago charged taxpayers $546 a night for rooms ― three times the per-diem rate and the maximum allowed by federal rules ― for 24 Trump administration officials who stayed there during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017. Taxpayers also picked up a $1,006.60 bar tab for 54 top shelf drinks ordered by White House staff.

The group Property of the People recently revealed payments totaling $254,021 from the Secret Service to various Trump properties in just the first five months of his presidential tenure. Over that period, Trump had golfed 25 times. As of Wednesday, he has spent 223 days at a golf course he owns. If the first five months are an accurate indicator, that means the Secret Service has likely spent nearly $2.3 million in taxpayer money at Trump’s businesses, of which he is the sole owner.

“It’s becoming abundantly clear that Donald Trump uses his presidency as a way to put money into his pocket,” said Jordan Libowitz of the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “The issue isn’t that he likes golf. The issue is that he has spent a huge amount of his presidency making promotional appearances at his struggling golf courses, and leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.”

Trump, like many Republicans, repeatedly criticized then-President Barack Obama for playing golf so frequently during his years in office. “I play golf to relax. My company is in great shape. @BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain,” Trump tweeted in December 2011.

During his campaign for the Oval Office, Trump claimed that as president, he would be too busy working to have time for any vacations at all. “I love golf, but if I were in the White House, I don’t think I’d ever see Turnberry again. I don’t think I’d ever see Doral again,” he told a rally audience in February 2016, referring to two Trump-owned courses. “I don’t ever think I’d see anything. I just want to stay in the White House and work my ass off.”

Despite those remarks, Trump is on schedule to spend far more time on the golf course than Obama did. At this point in Obama’s first term, he had spent 88 days on a golf course. But Trump’s visit to his course in West Palm Beach on Wednesday was his 223rd day at one of his own courses ― two and a half times as many golfing days as Obama.

Further, Obama played the majority of his rounds at courses on military bases within a short drive of the White House, while Trump has insisted on taking numerous trips to visit his courses in New Jersey and Florida, both of which require seven-figure travel and security costs.

A Government Accountability Office report earlier this year found that each Mar-a-Lago trip costs taxpayers about $3.4 million. Much of that is to fly Air Force One and the various cargo planes needed to ferry the president’s armored limousine and other vehicles in his motorcade. Based on the report’s analysis and methodology, HuffPost estimated costs for Trump’s other non-Washington-area golf trips as of May and found that the total had passed $100 million. And that was even before Trump scheduled a June stopover in Ireland ― involving costly and elaborate preparations by the State Department ― primarily to visit and promote his resort in Doonbeg.

Trump’s visit to his resort in Turnberry, Scotland, in 2018 cost taxpayers an extra $3 million beyond what it would have cost had he remained in London prior to leaving for Finland. Of that, $1.2 million was just the expense of renting all the additional vehicles needed by the massive entourage that a foreign trip entails.

Trump’s current trip to Palm Beach is the 25th of his presidency. Wednesday was his 58th day golfing at his course in West Palm Beach. He has golfed 77 days at his Bedminster, New Jersey, course; 77 days at his Northern Virginia course; four times at his Jupiter, Florida, course; three times in Doonbeg; twice in Turnberry; and once each at his courses in Los Angeles and Doral, Florida. Since taking office, he has golfed only twice on a course he does not own, both times in Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during official visits.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-golf-trips-millions-thanksgiving-221349040.html

GM sues Fiat Chrysler

GM sues Fiat Chrysler, alleging union bribes cost it billions

By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co <GM.N> on Wednesday filed a racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV <FCHA.MI> <FCAU.N>, alleging that its rival bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars.

GM also alleged that Fiat Chrysler's former chief executive, the late Sergio Marchionne, was central in the scheme.

The No. 1 U.S. automaker said it will seek "substantial damages" from FCA that it said would be reinvested in the United States to create jobs, but did not specify an exact amount.

The lawsuit comes at a delicate time for FCA, which is working on a planned merger with French automaker PSA <PEUP.PA> and is negotiating a four-year labour contract with the UAW.

"We are astonished by this filing, both its content and its timing," FCA said in a statement. "We can only assume this was intended to disrupt our proposed merger with PSA as well as our negotiations with the UAW."

FCA and PSA last month announced the planned 50-50 share merger to create the world's fourth-largest automaker, seeking scale to cope with costly new technologies and slowing global demand.

GM's general counsel, Craig Glidden, told reporters at GM's headquarters that the lawsuit has nothing to do with the planned merger of PSA and FCA and the automaker does not intend to file suit against the UAW.

PSA declined to comment.

The UAW has targeted FCA last out of Detroit's three automakers for contract talks. UAW workers at Ford Motor Co <F.N> ratified a new contract last week, while GM workers approved a deal in late October that ended a 40-day U.S. strike.

"It (the lawsuit) can't help but complicate the already difficult task of getting a UAW-FCA agreement in place," said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labour and economics at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Michigan.

The UAW said in a statement, "We are confident that the terms of those contracts were not affected" by the actions of FCA or UAW officials. It said it was "regrettable" that these issues can cause doubts about the contracts.

The lawsuit also names as defendants three former FCA executives who have pleaded guilty in an ongoing federal probe into the UAW and FCA. GM said that probe, coupled with its own investigation, resulted in the lawsuit.

RACKETEERING

GM's Glidden said a "pattern of racketeering" by FCA from 2009 to 2015 left GM paying higher wages than Fiat Chrysler, and allowed the latter to use more temporary workers and lower-paid second-tier workers than GM.

"As part of this bribery scheme, and to lock in the competitive efficacy of the purchased benefits, concessions and advantages for FCA, GM was denied similar union commitments and support," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims that among the "benefits, concessions and advantages illegally purchased by FCA" was UAW support for "World Class Manufacturing," a version of Toyota Motor Corp's <7203.T> lean production strategy but adapted to the culture of Italian automaker Fiat.

That system has been credited in part for helping to turn around struggling operations like FCA's plant in Toledo, Ohio, that makes the popular and profitable Jeep Wrangler.

The suit also claims that after a failed bid to take over GM in 2015, FCA corrupted the collective bargaining process by structuring terms through bribed UAW officials that "forced unanticipated costs on GM."

The lawsuit says that under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), FCA would be liable to pay GM three times the actual damages caused, plus interest, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

GM alleges that FCA, under the leadership of former CEO Marchionne, used bribes to UAW officials to corrupt the collective bargaining process from 2009 through 2015. Marchionne died in 2018.

Fiat took control of Chrysler after it emerged from a U.S. government-funded bankruptcy in 2009.

"Marchionne was a central figure in the conceiving, executing and sponsoring of the fraudulent activity," Glidden said.

When GM rejected a merger bid from FCA, the lawsuit alleges Marchionne conspired to negotiate a new four-year contract "designed, through the power of pattern bargaining, to cost GM billions."

The UAW has been the focus of a spreading federal corruption probe.

Gary Jones, the UAW president who recently had taken a leave of absence, on Wednesday resigned effective immediately just hours after the union said it would seek to remove Jones from office, a union source told Reuters.

Jones' lawyer Bruce Maffeo told the Detroit News the decision was based "on his belief that his continuing to serve will only distract the union." A UAW spokesman could not confirm the resignation.

Last week, the UAW's acting president unveiled a series of reforms designed to prevent further scandals.

Glidden said the automaker supports those reform efforts.

(Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit; Additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit, Gilles Guillaume in Paris and David Shepardson in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewisand Leslie Adler)

Above is from:  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gm-sues-fca-alleging-bribery-172805199.html