From the Campaign Office of Dan Proft for Governor
(Chicago, Illinois) — In response to the announcement that Bob Schillerstrom is dropping out of the race for governor and endorsing Jim Ryan, conservative Republican candidate for governor Dan Proft released the following statement:
I want to congratulate Bob Schillerstrom for running a spirited, policy-oriented campaign.
He was a worthy adversary and is a class individual.
However, his support of Jim Ryan serves only to crystallize the choice for Republican primary voters on February 2nd. Are we going to turn back the clock or are we finally going to usher in a new generation of forward-looking leadership for our party and our state?
Are we going to propose a more orderly going-out-of-business sale for our state or take up the cause of bringing policy revolution to state government?
Will fear lead us to tolerate the status quo or will we muster the courage to advance the candidate who will turn Springfield upside down?
Chris Christie in New Jersey. Scott Brown in Massachusetts.
Who will lead the revolution in Illinois?
Jim Ryan? He is a fine man but, please, be serious.
If you want policy revolution in Illinois, Dan Proft is your candidate for Governor.
Showing posts with label proft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label proft. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday, November 16, 2009
Proft Wins New Trier Township GOP Endorsement
From the Campaign Office of Dan Proft for Governor
Saturday, November 14, 2009
(Chicago, Illinois) – This morning, the New Trier Township Republican organization endorsed conservative Republican Dan Proft for Governor.
Despite a crowded field of seven candidates, Proft garnered the most votes on the first ballot, tying with Andy McKenna on the second ballot, resulting in a dual endorsement of Proft and McKenna.
“I'm deeply honored by this very important win for our campaign, winning this endorsement on Andy McKenna's home turf,” said Proft. “I want to thank Committeeman Tolbert Chisum and the entire New Trier Township Republican Organization.”
“In order to win in November, our party’s nominee must be able to run strong and win in suburban Cook County. This endorsement is a strong signal that those working in the precincts in Cook believe I am the candidate whose message is best connecting with their neighbors.”
“Just like the Schaumburg GOP, who endorsed my candidacy last week, the New Trier GOP gets it," added Proft. "To win in 2010, our party must present qualitatively different leadership. We must take the fight to the entrenched political class in Springfield, those Chicago Democrats whose policies have destroyed our state’s economy, on behalf of people who play by the rules and who have been gamed by a state government they finance. And we must bring policy revolution to Springfield—tax cuts and spending caps; school choice in K-12; market reforms of Medicaid; restructuring of state pension systems; and conservation of our transportation infrastructure. This is the only way back for our party and our state.”
Saturday, November 14, 2009
(Chicago, Illinois) – This morning, the New Trier Township Republican organization endorsed conservative Republican Dan Proft for Governor.
Despite a crowded field of seven candidates, Proft garnered the most votes on the first ballot, tying with Andy McKenna on the second ballot, resulting in a dual endorsement of Proft and McKenna.
“I'm deeply honored by this very important win for our campaign, winning this endorsement on Andy McKenna's home turf,” said Proft. “I want to thank Committeeman Tolbert Chisum and the entire New Trier Township Republican Organization.”
“In order to win in November, our party’s nominee must be able to run strong and win in suburban Cook County. This endorsement is a strong signal that those working in the precincts in Cook believe I am the candidate whose message is best connecting with their neighbors.”
“Just like the Schaumburg GOP, who endorsed my candidacy last week, the New Trier GOP gets it," added Proft. "To win in 2010, our party must present qualitatively different leadership. We must take the fight to the entrenched political class in Springfield, those Chicago Democrats whose policies have destroyed our state’s economy, on behalf of people who play by the rules and who have been gamed by a state government they finance. And we must bring policy revolution to Springfield—tax cuts and spending caps; school choice in K-12; market reforms of Medicaid; restructuring of state pension systems; and conservation of our transportation infrastructure. This is the only way back for our party and our state.”
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Proft: What Veterans Day Means to Me
From the Campaign Office of Dan Proft for Governor
"I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Captain Nathan Hale, a 21-year old officer in the Continental Army and a Yale man, uttered those famous words upon his execution at the hands of British forces.
233 years later--and in all the years in between--those words define the spirit of America's servicemen.
Our young men and women in the armed forces are quite a precocious bunch by trade.
They choose to answer a transcendental calling. They fill the void left by the patriots of previous generations to provide the vigilance required to preserve freedoms that may be God-given on paper but have always been hard-won in practice. They have an innate sense of history that evades the comprehension of tenured faculty at many of our nation's universities.
How many 20-year-olds do you know who are prepared to sacrifice their dreams and lay down their lives to advance the rights and dreams of strangers? The only ones I have ever met have been in uniform.
Their love of country has often and ashamedly gone unrequited. But no matter how many times our soldiers were under-funded in battle and under-rewarded at home, they have steadfastly served as exemplars for what America is and should be.
As someone who never served in the military, I know that not even Steven Spielberg can convey a true appreciation for the valor, the sense of honor, and the shared experience of America's freedom warriors.
Veterans Day for me then is a time to recall the sacrifice, honor the memory, and celebrate the lives of Nathan Hale and the tens of millions of American soldiers, including my departed grandfather, who for nearly two-and-a-half centuries have formed the soul of the greatest nation the world has ever seen.
+++
Consider Operation Homefront-Illinois
Over the last couple of years, I have had the privilege to serve on the board of Operation Homefront-Illinois. Operation Homefront is a national non-profit with 30 state chapters that serves active duty military families with a spouse overseas and wounded warriors coming home. I currently serve as the Board Chairman of the Illinois chapter.
Our niche in the constellation of exceptional charities that serve military families is to provide tangible constituent service to Illinois servicemen and their families. We’ll get a leaky roof repaired, replace a broken water heater, pay a cell phone bill, get the transmission replaced in the family car: the exigencies of everyday life that many of us take for granted but present urgent challenges to military families.
Working with Homefront has been both an uplifting and a frustrating experience. The uplifting part is the toughness of military families who sacrifice so much and desire very little in return. The uplifting part is seeing volunteers come forward to help organize and run events like our Back-to-School Backpack Brigade program where we distribute school supplies to children of active duty military in Illinois.
The frustrating part has been to witness the struggles military families have in Illinois, particularly when those struggles come as the direct result of political leaders at the state and federal level who fail to keep our promises to our veterans. We want to do more.
I would invite you to learn more about Operation Homefront-Illinois by visiting: www.operationhomefront.net/illinois.
We cannot content ourselves to remember our veterans solely on holidays. Please consider getting involved to support Operation Homefront-Illinois, your local VFW post or American Legion hall, or another organization that serves our military families in your community.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Dan Proft
Candidate for Governor
"I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Captain Nathan Hale, a 21-year old officer in the Continental Army and a Yale man, uttered those famous words upon his execution at the hands of British forces.
233 years later--and in all the years in between--those words define the spirit of America's servicemen.
Our young men and women in the armed forces are quite a precocious bunch by trade.
They choose to answer a transcendental calling. They fill the void left by the patriots of previous generations to provide the vigilance required to preserve freedoms that may be God-given on paper but have always been hard-won in practice. They have an innate sense of history that evades the comprehension of tenured faculty at many of our nation's universities.
How many 20-year-olds do you know who are prepared to sacrifice their dreams and lay down their lives to advance the rights and dreams of strangers? The only ones I have ever met have been in uniform.
Their love of country has often and ashamedly gone unrequited. But no matter how many times our soldiers were under-funded in battle and under-rewarded at home, they have steadfastly served as exemplars for what America is and should be.
As someone who never served in the military, I know that not even Steven Spielberg can convey a true appreciation for the valor, the sense of honor, and the shared experience of America's freedom warriors.
Veterans Day for me then is a time to recall the sacrifice, honor the memory, and celebrate the lives of Nathan Hale and the tens of millions of American soldiers, including my departed grandfather, who for nearly two-and-a-half centuries have formed the soul of the greatest nation the world has ever seen.
+++
Consider Operation Homefront-Illinois
Over the last couple of years, I have had the privilege to serve on the board of Operation Homefront-Illinois. Operation Homefront is a national non-profit with 30 state chapters that serves active duty military families with a spouse overseas and wounded warriors coming home. I currently serve as the Board Chairman of the Illinois chapter.
Our niche in the constellation of exceptional charities that serve military families is to provide tangible constituent service to Illinois servicemen and their families. We’ll get a leaky roof repaired, replace a broken water heater, pay a cell phone bill, get the transmission replaced in the family car: the exigencies of everyday life that many of us take for granted but present urgent challenges to military families.
Working with Homefront has been both an uplifting and a frustrating experience. The uplifting part is the toughness of military families who sacrifice so much and desire very little in return. The uplifting part is seeing volunteers come forward to help organize and run events like our Back-to-School Backpack Brigade program where we distribute school supplies to children of active duty military in Illinois.
The frustrating part has been to witness the struggles military families have in Illinois, particularly when those struggles come as the direct result of political leaders at the state and federal level who fail to keep our promises to our veterans. We want to do more.
I would invite you to learn more about Operation Homefront-Illinois by visiting: www.operationhomefront.net/illinois.
We cannot content ourselves to remember our veterans solely on holidays. Please consider getting involved to support Operation Homefront-Illinois, your local VFW post or American Legion hall, or another organization that serves our military families in your community.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Dan Proft
Candidate for Governor
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Proft Calls For 'Merit-Based Opportunity' Admissions for University System
From the Campaign Office of Dan Proft for Governor
Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft today proposed a new admissions policy for the University of Illinois, calling the current system which favors applicants of the politically-connected another example of a government system that is fixed.
Click here to watch the video of Dan Proft deliver his remarks at today's news conference.
"Sadly, we must add our great state university to the long list of Illinois systems that aren't broken, but fixed," said Proft, speaking to reporters at the Chicago Hilton.
Proft criticized politicians who are calling for top administrators at the University to resign. "If anyone should have to resign, it should be those who applied the pressure, not those who succumbed to it," he said.
Arguing that such calls "miss the point," Proft said that "our focus should be on how to end this shameful practice and guarantee to future applicants to the University of Illinois that the bar for admissions is based on merit, achievement, and hard work - not on who you know."
Rather, Proft said, the goal should be to remove the incentive to influence the admissions process. Calling his new policy a "Merit-Based Opportunity" standard, Proft proposed that all applicants' names be replaced with identification numbers.
"All that an admissions official will be able to discern from an application is the student's academic and extracurricular achievements - as it should be," said Proft. "This proposal means that even if a politically-connected individual demands special consideration for a particular applicant, the admission officials would be unable to comply."
The policy in place now, said Proft, allows politicians to use the threat of reduced funding to force university administrators to accept unqualified applicants with political connections. "Simply getting rid of university officials who went along to get along will not do that. It is not fundamentally a personnel problem. It is a system problem," he said.
"Under my vision for admission policy, the phrase 'Straight from the G' no longer carries any influence at our great university," said Proft, referring to one released university law school e-mail that revealed the request to admit an unqualified student came from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Proft compared his new policy to the way the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducts its auditions by having musicians perform from behind a curtain.
"This removes any incentive a judge might have in considering anything other than a musician's ability," said Proft. "There is no reason why we cannot apply this policy for university admissions."
Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft today proposed a new admissions policy for the University of Illinois, calling the current system which favors applicants of the politically-connected another example of a government system that is fixed.
Click here to watch the video of Dan Proft deliver his remarks at today's news conference.
"Sadly, we must add our great state university to the long list of Illinois systems that aren't broken, but fixed," said Proft, speaking to reporters at the Chicago Hilton.
Proft criticized politicians who are calling for top administrators at the University to resign. "If anyone should have to resign, it should be those who applied the pressure, not those who succumbed to it," he said.
Arguing that such calls "miss the point," Proft said that "our focus should be on how to end this shameful practice and guarantee to future applicants to the University of Illinois that the bar for admissions is based on merit, achievement, and hard work - not on who you know."
Rather, Proft said, the goal should be to remove the incentive to influence the admissions process. Calling his new policy a "Merit-Based Opportunity" standard, Proft proposed that all applicants' names be replaced with identification numbers.
"All that an admissions official will be able to discern from an application is the student's academic and extracurricular achievements - as it should be," said Proft. "This proposal means that even if a politically-connected individual demands special consideration for a particular applicant, the admission officials would be unable to comply."
The policy in place now, said Proft, allows politicians to use the threat of reduced funding to force university administrators to accept unqualified applicants with political connections. "Simply getting rid of university officials who went along to get along will not do that. It is not fundamentally a personnel problem. It is a system problem," he said.
"Under my vision for admission policy, the phrase 'Straight from the G' no longer carries any influence at our great university," said Proft, referring to one released university law school e-mail that revealed the request to admit an unqualified student came from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Proft compared his new policy to the way the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducts its auditions by having musicians perform from behind a curtain.
"This removes any incentive a judge might have in considering anything other than a musician's ability," said Proft. "There is no reason why we cannot apply this policy for university admissions."
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