Schock News

Rising star and Republican Congressman Aaron Schock, Peoria, who previously served in the Illinois legislature, is getting some more play in the press. Michael Sneed, Sun Times:

...a fiscal conservative who practiced what he preached when he was an Illinois legislator.

• • Translation: "He stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Springfield because it was clean and inexpensive," said a Sneed source. Rooms were about $35 a night plus tax.

And a fellow Illinois legislator, Democrat Susana Mendoza, tells Sneed a nice story about him. Rep. Schock appeared on FoxNews Friday with a Democrat colleague in the US House to push for a break in the payroll tax to help small businesses create jobs:

P.S. In contrast, former Illinois combine legislator from the same district, now Obama Transportation Sec. and good buddy of Rahmbo, Ray LaHood. Tribune piece today. This is the part I find apt:

In Illinois, some see LaHood as overly cozy with the political establishment. Tribune columnist John Kass, among others, has criticized LaHood for political support he received from Republican dealmaker and state asphalt pavement association leader William Cellini, now indicted on corruption charges.

"I find the selection of Ray LaHood troubling in a lot of ways," said former state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin). "His longtime association with Bill Cellini, the Illinois Asphalt [Pavement] Association and the Springfield Republican leadership make me question whether this is change we can believe in." Rauschenberger is a former rival of LaHood's for the 2006 Republican gubernatorial nomination, a contest both eventually quit due to fundraising difficulties.