The Mike Bertelsen Project

Emmett Granado, who is running for the county board in Rock Island County held a taco event in Stephens Park in Moline. It was an excellent day and the food was great. I spoke about new and fresh ideas for Illinois. We need to get Illinois back on track. Rich Morthland, who is also running for the county board, was also there.

The kids sure had fun with a couple of pinatas (top picture).

Bottom picture: Arsenio Granado, Emmett Granado, Mike Bertelsen and Bernie Thiergart.

The Henry County Republicans had their annual drawdown in Colona at the American Legion. An enthusiastic bunch of folks were on hand to see who won $1000. It wasn't me!

Steve Sauerberg (top picture), our U.S. Senate candidate was on hand as was Lawrence Bruckner and several local officials and candidates including Terry Patten, Henry County State's Attorney, Deb Doss, Henry County Circuit Clerk and Dave Johnson, Henry County Coroner, who are up for re-election.

Rick VerHeecke, Henry County Treasurer was there along with several candidates running for the county board. A big thanks to Art Goodrich and Loren Rathjen for their help (middle picture).

The Mercer County Courthouse in Aledo was very honored to receive an historical marker from the Illinois Historical Society. The dedication was Monday, September 15th and there was a nice gathering which included folks from the Illinois Historical Society and Bill Ives, the sponsor for the marker. The marker designates Abraham Lincoln's association with Mercer County.

Mr. Ives is a 1951 graduate of Aledo High School and went on to Knox College and then Harvard Law School. He currently practices law in Chapel Hill, NC.

Historical markers started in Illinois in 1932.

The pictures are from the top: Myself by the marker, Bill Furry from the Illinois Historical Society, Bill Ives and Tom Harris, Mercer County Board Chairman, who was the emcee for the occasion.

The Carroll County Republicans held their "Republican Roundup" on Thursday, September 11 at Buck's Barn between Thomson and Savanna on Route 84. An excellent attendance helped Republicans get into the election spirit.

Those speaking were Republican House Leader Tom Cross, State Senator Tim Bivins, myself, Lawrence Bruckner, candidate for the 71st State Representative seat, and State Representative Jim Sacia along with local candidates and officials.

I spoke about how Barack Obama thought he had the monopoly on change, but he found out that he did not shortly after Labor Day. No one candidate has the monopoly on change, nor does one political party, but the Republican Party is the catalyst for change. If you want change, tell the ballot.

The Rock Island Labor Day parade kicked off at 9:30 with a ton of excitement. We had a great crew and the people along the route were excellent. The pictures are from the top:

Myself, Bernie Thiergart (Rock Island GOP vice chair) and Pat Vershoore (D), state representative from Taylor Ridge.

Chris Bestian, a City of Rock Island paramedic/fire fighter and myself.

The Crew.

After the Milan parade it was off to Orion for their Fall Fest parade. The campaign was there the evening before to take in the goings-on and the Henry County Republicans had a booth in the park. This was the second parade we did in Orion. The top photo is "Governor" a 13 month old Bull Mastiff.....big and lovable....I hope he votes for me! The Model A was full of GOP "fans"!

The Milan Indian Summer Festival was Saturday the 30th with the big parade. A tremendous crowd was on hand to line the route. Our entry was well received as we passed out candy and said hi to many along the way.

With Labor Day we have the opportunity to recognize the importance of the approximately 155 million working men and women in this country who keep our economy chugging along. Times have been so up and down throughout the many sectors of our economy. We have seen jobs leave this nation and go to other countries. We've seen the energy sector frankly take in mountains of money. We've seen the housing sector take a tumble. When will the ups and downs like we have seen end? With the global economy, the ups and downs are more prevalent. I've read various articles about how the economy here in the U.S. is self-healing, but how do we know when the hurt is over. Well, that's easy.....when people are going back to work and staying at work. That's how we know. Service sector jobs also increase.

How is Illinois faring? In the manufacturing sector, the Manufacturers' News, Inc. directory of 2008, Illinois lost 14,357 manufacturing jobs and 425 manufacturers since November 2006. Manufacturers' News reports Illinois is home to 21,503 manufacturers employing 935,032 workers. Illinois ranks 3rd in the nation for number of manufacturing plants and fourth for industrial employment, accounting for 20% of the Midwest's manufacturers and 17% of the region's jobs. MNI surveys manufacturers of all sizes, including small companies.

One way to see how Illinois is doing, is the University of Illinois flash index. The index for August shows that the economy is in a slowdown in growth, just as a slowdown has been seen nationally. There is also concern that a slowing world economy along with the rebounding dollar will slow export growth.