The old Contract with America brought Republicans a decisive victory in the 1994 Congressional elections, something they'd like to do again. But eventually it sparked a backlash when New Gingrich was ousted as House Speaker and GOP rank and file found out how much fun it was to spend federal money.
That history didn't seem to resonate with the three dozen citizens who turned out to tell Manzullo their views. Since conservative media personality Glen Beck was cited as an authority several times it was apparent more of the choir than the general congregation had turned out for the Conressman's camp meeting.
Complaints were wide-ranging but largely fell into four broad areas. One was jobs creation. Folks said they'd like to see some, especially in manufacturing.
On the other hand, taxes were something people said they had plenty of now, thanks.
Immigration was a topic that came up more often than anything else, but only as an economic problem rather than a social one. Speakers saw immigrants as a drain on revenue and a deficit source.
Unexpectedly missing from the list were complaints about the collapse in housing prices. No one said he was happy about it but when the housing market came up it was in connection with deficit spending again, particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subsidies to prop up prices from falling further.
There was one surprise complaint. A lot of people (comparatively) said they were unhappy with schools, particularly their perceived tendency to promote white-collar education, see item one above.
Manzullo had met with a similar group in Harvard earlier Friday and after the Algonquin meeting he blazed off for a third one at the Algonquin Township offices in Crystal Lake.
In the pic: Algonquin real estate attorney Beverly Stanis said federal props for banks and real estate were "the equivalent of theft." She was one of about three dozen who turned out for Don Manzullo's "America Speaking Out" town meeting.
