" Given that Johnson has proven that he is in bed with the insurance companies, I suspect that Gill will have an uphill battle winning the seat. Johnson won't have any difficulty accumulating a huge war chest with money from that industry. Elections seem to be won on who can raise the most money these days, and the insurance companies have deep pockets. We have the best representative money can buy, and I don't see that changing any to soon. "

" Johnson has been a poor Representative from day one. He has never put the interest of the people of the 15th district first and has always made his decisions based on those corporations funding his campaigns. How this man continues to win surprises me. The people of central Illinois need to open their eyes and see that Johnson is not there for you, he's there for only himself and will sell you out for the highest bidder. "

" Johnson voted against the bailouts which I agree with. He also votes against big government issues most of the time. He voted against extending the Patriot Act and against many increases in unnecessary DC spending. He doesn't have the smoothest bedside manner, but all in all, I think he's doing a pretty good job and he votes the way he says he will. I may not like everything he does but that's to be expected by anyone holding office. As far as being bought by "industry" money, I found no evidence of that in his donation lists. Most of the PAC money is by labor institutions. "

" I was in attendance at a very small gathering with Dr. Gill in Urbana Sunday afternoon. I didn't realize that it was a newsworthy event. I asked him about Futuregen, which he supports & claims that Tim Johnson voted against funding. He also favors civil rights for Hispanics, Gays, Lesbians, & Labor Unionists. He supports health care reform, NOW. (He is an E.R. physician). He supports term limits, which he claims Tim Johnson opposes even after accepting money from the term limits P.A.C.
Dr. Gill also stated that he supports universal free higher education & claimed that enough money was lost on the Iraq War to send every "B" average high school student to college forever.
I think the creeping "socialism" is a good thing (people before industry) - good luck in the 15th District. "

" U.S. Rep. Johnson Applauds DOE Action on FutureGen
07/14/09

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Timothy V. Johnson issued the following statement today upon the U.S. Department of Energys issuance of its Record of Decision on FutureGen.

This is an important milestone in the evolution of this project, Rep. Johnson said. This is a fulfillment of a promise by DOE that certifies that these plans meet all environmental requirements. The decision further allows work to proceed on site-specific design in Mattoon, a site that will showcase to the world our ability to burn coal cleanly and run our power grids independent of foreign oil.


http://timjohnson.house.gov/?sectionid=1&sectiontree=&searchkey=futuregen+vote&location=-1


1.Johnson, Durbin Seek Apology from DOE
2. Reps. Johnson, Shimkus, Costello Praise Futuregen; Congressmen Cite Cooperation, Collegiality in Bringing Plant to Mattoon
3. Rep. Johnson, Delegation Push FutureGen; Delegation Letter to Coal Review Board Urges Ongoing Support

And this is just but 3 times Johnson has supported Futuregen. There are many more to go with these. So, if your candidate is already lying about stuff, well, I think we have enough of that in DC already. "

" Gill is NOT lying. The point is this: Mr. Johnson has frequently SAID supportive things about FutureGen. But when the chips were down, Johnson voted against the funding of it, which came through President Obama's stimulus bill. Had Johnson's vote won the day, there would be no FutureGen. You are lying when you accuse Gill of lying. This is a very important point, and it ought not be distorted by anybody-- Mr. Johnson voted against the funding of FutureGen. "

" "But when the chips were down, Johnson voted against the funding of it, which came through President Obama's stimulus bill."

So, since Johnson was against Obama's ridiculously obese "stimilus" (spending our grandkid's paycheck) bill and FutureGen was a just miniscule part of that, you are going to stand by someone who states (I mean LIES) that Johnson's against FutureGen? You know what happens in these splittin' hair discussions....everybody ends up with very long noses and very bad hair. My point is that I am sick of all of these politicians lying their way into office. We don't need any more of that. If this guy is the better pick of the candidates, why would he have to decieve us on Johnson's true position on FG? I mean if you were looking for a new washer & dryer would you agree to to buy the entire Sears franchise just so you could have them? NO? Neither would I and neither did Johnson. "

" Not at all inconsistent for the sitting representative to applaud a project & vote against it. How about term limits? Not as critical, but a fair measure of character, none the less. "

" Oh, Becky-- so much to respond to.
First, you stated, in describing contributions to Mr. Johnson: "Most of the PAC money is by Labor institutions." Did you think that no one else could look up the info? ADM, Ameren, American Hospital Association, Anheuser-Busch, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Lyondell Chemical Company-- these are among the donors to Mr. Johnson, these are the people who fund him and for whom he works. You call these "labor institutions"?? Dr. Gill received 95% of his funding from individual donors in the last quarter, while Mr. Johnson received 23% of his funding from individuals. That speaks volumes for me. I want a representative who's funded by ordinary Americans.

Mr. Johnson voted against extending the Patriot Act? There wouldn't have been a Patriot Act if not for representatives like Mr. Johnson, who voted for it in place in the first place! FLIP FLOP!

As for your comments regarding FutureGen: are you saying that you oppose the stimulus, but that you're for FutureGen? Because you and Mr. Johnson can't have it both ways. You can't say "Bad stimulus bill, except for the part that's good for MY local economy." There are a lot of good projects in many Congressional districts. Tens of thousands of teachers and construction workers are employed today because of the stimulus bill (and thus not drawing unemployment benefits funded by you). I think that what Dr. Gill is saying is this (and he's NOT making this up): it's improper for Mr. Johnson to brag about himself to deficit hawks AND to brag that he brought FutureGen to town-- that's the disingenuousness of a career politician. He can appropriately receive the plaudits of the deficit hawks, but in doing so, he must not be applauded by those who support FutureGen-- in siding with the deficit hawks, and maintaining a firm stance in the party of "NO", he rejected funding FutureGen. Dr. Gill is perfectly correct and appropriate to point this out-- it may cost him votes from those who oppose all govt spending, but he ought not to lose votes among supporters of FutureGen-- he supports it, and he understands the need to fund it, for it actually to come into being. "

" Come on now Becky. Politicians of both parties say they are for something to their constituents and turn around and vote against it, using all sorts of justifications. The biggest concern from most politicians is their our reelection, and they will do anything they can to achieve that goal. You constantly talk about the need for term limits, and then turn around and support a career politician running against new blood. That seems rather inconsistent with what you usually preach. Don't take this as a personal attack, that's not my point. You usually make some good arguments, but I think you missed this mark on this one. "

" HP: "You constantly talk about the need for term limits, and then turn around and support a career politician running against new blood"

First of all I've never advocated term limits and second of all I'm not supporting Johnson. I'm just pointing out that everyone is falling for the same ol campaign routine where they cherry pick opponents "bad deeds" and take them out of context by looking bad. Yes, I am for new blood and that's why I vote for any candidate that isn't dem or rep when I can. As far as term limits, that's why we have elections. "

" Becky, I thought you had recommended term limits on others posts. I'll take your word that you haven't, and if that's the case, I apologise for my remarks. "

" As for your comments regarding FutureGen: are you saying that you oppose the stimulus, but that you're for FutureGen? Because you and Mr. Johnson can't have it both ways.

Yes I am and yes we can. FG was in the planning long before the stimulus bill was even thought of so why couldn't we remove it from the bill and vote on it on it's own? Why is it a must that it has to be included in the stimulus bill? "

" "Mr. Johnson voted against extending the Patriot Act? There wouldn't have been a Patriot Act if not for representatives like Mr. Johnson, who voted for it in place in the first place! FLIP FLOP!"

I agree wholeheartedly that the Patriot Act should have been shut down as soon as the idea was spoken aloud in DC but it was passed by, what, 98% of DC at the time? Now that it's time is up it's up for extension votes and Johnson voted against it. At least he got that much going for him. What did Obama do? He voted FOR IT! Our troops are still in the ME after he PROMISED to bring them home and he is keeping all of Bush/Cheney's secrets still secret. He hasn't reestablished hapeous corpus and he's still for eliminating posse commitus. So, I don't see much difference between either party any more. They are both for illegal war, behmouth government and way too much control over our lives. I'm not even a big Johnson fan and all I was trying to do is open everyone's eyes that BOTH parties need to go. "

" Becky, I'm convinced you'd be a backer of Dr. Gill if you ever went and listened to him. I've heard him bash BOTH major parties, and I've heard him say that the 2 parties lock out everyone else. It take 20 TIMES as many signatures to get on the ballot as an indy as it does to get on the ballot as a Dem or Repub-- there's something seriously wrong w/that, and Gill recognizes that as very wrong.

There were 66 principled House members who voted against the Patriot Act in 2001, and I have little doubt Gill would have stood proudly with them. And PS-- Gill is not running for president against Obama! :) "