Some of my dem friends recently were harshly criticizing the TEA Party and warning that Bambenek, who is running against Michael Frerichs, would take the Champaign County Republicans too far to the right.  While I am still getting to know John Bambenek, it is not too hard to learn about him as he was a blogger and opinion writer for the Daily Illini. 

For all the unflattering things being said about the TEA Party, I found it interesting that John Bambenek has a soft spot for welfare programs, as noted here where he advocates for a tax hike that would have increased the Champaign Township tax rate > 100% in 2006.  The N-G came out against the tax hike and the tax hike proposal lost convincingly in the voter booth by a 2-1 margin. 

Abernathy (then Township Supervisor) had already increased spending significantly before asking voters for the 100%+ tax hike.  She had increased general assistance spending from $56k to $210K and medical bill assistance from $35k to $70k.  According to the N-G opinion piece on November 3, the township's once substantial reserves had been almost wiped out while Abernathy blamed the township's financial woes on tax caps.   Bambenek did note in his DI article that a court order required Abernathy to draw down reserves. 

For all the negativity directed to the TEA Party of late, John Bambenek has demonstrated that he is willing to go against conventional conservative wisdom.  He disagreed with the N-G editorial board and disagreed with the voters as he advocated for tax hikes to support more welfare spending.   After reading John's article, it appears that my dem friends who were warning me about this "crazy TEA Party guy", don't fully appreciate how compassionate he really is. 

Bambenek did mention that that was one of the very few tax increases that he supports.