Illinois Review

Discouraged about the way things are? There's training for that ...

PALATINE - Conservatives fed up with the way things are at the federal, state and local levels can simply gripe and complain, or they can do something constructive that can change the political environment. 

The renowned Leadership Institute will be offering training classes in Illinois over the next several weeks - from northern Illinois' Palatine (January 23) and Lake County all the way south to Effingham. 

These trainings will cover the most important topics for running winning campaigns, especially in our political environment in Illinois. Session topics will include:

• Strategic Research
• Developing a Campaign Plan
• Fundraising
• Message Development
• Communicating Effectively with Voters
• Grassroots Voter Contact
• Paid Voter Contact

Don't know where/how to start making a difference? The experience the training instructors offer will encourage you - you can make a difference! All for a mere $25 per person. It's worth it! 

Here's the list of sessions coming up.

Di Leo: Dear Lawmakers: An Open Plea for a New Beginning

By John F. Di Leo - 

As federal and state governments begin their next terms, there may be a feeling of a new beginning, a clean slate.   

Bills that had been introduced but not passed in the last session are gone forever, needing to be reintroduced from scratch or abandoned.  Campaign promises get transformed into bills, newbie candidates walk into the brick wall of the real world when they first encounter the smoke-filled rooms of their party caucuses. 

It might be useful for some in government, who have perhaps not studied civics for twenty, thirty, or even fifty years, to have a refresher course.  So, in no particular order, here are a few of the fundamentals that most of our politicians have forgotten: 

Update 1x: Prolife hero Joe Scheidler dies at age 93

Illinois Review photo from August 2015

Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, passed away Monday morning at age 93. A hero to the prolife movement for decades, Scheidler's leadership and commitment to unborn babies will be sorely missed, but has been multiplied by countless others, due to his example.

Scheidler is best known for being the target of an abortion industry lawsuit, NOW v Scheidler.

The landmark case went to the US Supreme Court three times and through which he secured the rights of pro-life advocates across the United States to witness for life and protest outside of abortion clinics.

Schneider’s iconic involvement with life advocacy helped birth the Thomas More Society - a national not-for-profit law firm actively involved in preserving the sanctity of human life and protecting the rights of life advocates.

UPDATE 1x: From Illinois Right to Life -

Black Lives Matter touts IL's law enforcement overhaul measure

CHICAGO - Black Lives Matter - Chicago is pleased with the massive law enforcement overhaul bill that passed during the last hours of the Illinois General Assembly's 101st Session last week. "Historic win for the people!!!!" the group's Facebook page posted hours after its passage.

BLM-Chi posted the Coalition to End Money Bond's explanation, "Since 2016, communities across Illinois have been rigorously organizing to end the racist and classist use of money bond. Today, after years of work by the Coalition to End Money Bond and the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, and following a nationwide uprising demanding racial justice last summer, the state legislature has just passed the Pretrial Fairness Act as part of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ criminal justice reform bill, HB 3653 SFA2. Among other things, this bill will overhaul the state’s pretrial justice system and end the use of money bond in its entirety. It also makes many people ineligible for pretrial incarceration. Governor JB Pritzker is expected to sign the bill into law."

But for those concerned about law enforcement and public safety, the assessment of HB 3653 Amendment 2 is very different.

Rossi: Stanford Study and Others Prove Covid-19 Lockdowns Don’t Work

By Randy Rossi - 

We now have massive proof that the incredibly destructive Covid-19 lockdowns imposed on Americans primarily by Democrat governors which has caused massive pain and suffering for tens of millions of American adults and 55 million children do not reduce the spread of Covid-19 or reduce the number of deaths from Covid-19.

Think about that for a minute. Since our governors (mostly Democrats) started imposing complete lockdowns on schools, “nonessential businesses” including tens of thousands of restaurants and bars, and churches in March; over 73 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits and 55 million children have been kicked out of schools. They did these shutdowns without having scientific proof that these shutdowns would reduce Covid-19 deaths and/or reduce the spread of Covid-19.

This has not only caused massive pain for 128 million Americans, it has actually killed thousands of Americans through massive increases in suicides because of depression, drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, etc. all caused by those shutdowns that cost people their jobs and forced them to isolate themselves from humanity. A scientific report showed that 25% of young people aged below 21 considered suicide because of these shutdowns!

German Leaders Condemn Social Media Censorship, Call for Regulation of Big Tech

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not a strong supporter of President Trump over the past four years, recently described the decision by Twitter to ban Trump’s account on the digital platform as “problematic.”

According to Merkel’s spokesman, “The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance … Given that, the chancellor considers it problematic that the president's accounts have been permanently suspended.”

Jens Zimmerman, a member of the German Parliament, described the situation in similar terms.

“It [the Twitter ban] is problematic because we have to ask on which basis was it made, on which laws and what does it mean for the future actions of social media platforms?” said Zimmerman.

More HERE

Free Speech? Forget It.

If you are skeptical about climate change claims and have a prominent position, the New York Times will attack you. It will minimize your credentials, call you a “denialist,” sensationalize your comments, and never consider the quality of your research.

Here is the latest “news”:  David Legates and Ryan Maue, scientists with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, have been moved from the White House and reassigned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where they had previously been employed.

What did they do to cause this downgrading?

They posted what the New York Times called “debunked scientific reports” on a ”climate denial” website (sponsored by a private research group, the Center for Environmental Research and Earth Sciences or CERES). They did this without the approval of Kelvin Droegemeier, head of the science and technology office.

Strangely enough, Droegemeier heard about the posting only through the media.

More HERE

IL Congress member signs onto effort to remove Christian influence from American culture

WASHINGTON DC - The name of a Congressional member that represents Illinois' 6th CD - which includes what was once known as America's center of Christian Evangelism, Wheaton College, where the late evangelist Billy Graham attended college - is included among a group demanding President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris remove Christian influence from the nation's culture. 

"We urge you to lead our nation on a path that revives the Founders’ vision of religious freedom in our government and promotes a unifying patriotic pluralism—not dogmatic religious chauvinism—in American society," states the Secular Democrats of America within a 28-page list of demands. "We believe that this is a moment not only to enact policies to advance constitutional secularism but to position the Democratic Party to take back the mantle of religious freedom and pluralism from the Republican Party." 

The document, presented to the Biden-Harris transition team by Representatives Jamie Raskin and Jared Huffman, was endorsed by Representative Jerry McNerney. Those three are listed as founding members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus - one of which is Illinois Congress member Sean Casten (IL-6).

The document calls on Biden to make the following changes:

Dr. James Dobson: Where Do We Go From Here?

OPINION/Christian Newswire/ -- Open letter written by Dr. James Dobson to his friends and supporters:

Dear Friends,

These are momentous and dangerous days for our country and its people. When I last wrote to you in late December, this was my opening statement:

America faces the possibility of catastrophic change. By the time you receive this letter, you will know what I can only speculate about today. Everything depends on two legal developments: first, whether or not the US Supreme Court addresses the legitimacy of the presidential election on November 3rd; the second depends on the outcome of two runoff elections in Georgia, scheduled for January 5th. On these two turning points hang the future of our great nation, and eventually, the world.

Well, we now know the outcome of these two critical contingencies. First, on December 11, 2020, the Supreme Court refused to consider a carefully prepared case brought by the State of Texas and eighteen others. It was titled Texas v. Pennsylvania, et al. Sadly, the highest court in the land didn't review a word of the overwhelming volume of evidence. Seven of the nine Justices decided that the states lacked "standing."  Though I am not a lawyer, I join my voice with millions of citizens who are profoundly disappointed and alarmed by the Court's failure to do its duty. The integrity of elections is a foundation of the democratic process, yet the one institution that could have sought the truth lamely punted the ball away. A new Quinnipiac University poll says 38 percent of voters believe there was widespread fraud during the November election between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. Nevertheless, the issue remains unresolved and will be a blight on the history of this great nation.

Illinois faces worst population loss since World War II

CHICAGO - Illinois has been losing population for seven straight years, but the drop was historic last year – 79,487 residents left, the most since World War II and the second largest of any state in raw numbers or percentage of population, according to a study just released from the Illinois Policy Institute:

From July 2010 to July 2020, Illinois has lost a grand total of 253,015 residents, more than triple the amount lost by any other state during that time. This is roughly equivalent to losing the combined populations of Naperville and Peoria. On a percentage basis, only West Virginia lost a greater share of its state population over that time.

While data scheduled to be released in February 2021 will shed light on the main drivers of population loss in 2020, historical data shows domestic outmigration – moving to and from other states – has been the sole driver of population decline. Major reasons Illinoisans are choosing to leave the state are for better housing and employment opportunities, both of which have been hindered by poor public policy in Illinois. Nearly half of Illinoisans have thought about moving away, and they said taxes were their No. 1 reason.

Now, more than ever, Illinois needs to foster an environment where its residents can thrive. The wrong answers are adding new taxation, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker did in 2019 with 20 new taxes and fees, tried to do in 2020, with the failed “fair tax,”and is threatening to do in 2021, with a state income tax increase of up to 20%. Illinoisans are leaving – a message Pritzker and state lawmakers ignore at everyone’s peril.

Read the rest HERE.

Weyermuller: Chicago March For Life 2021 plans car parade

From the 2020 Chicago March for Life

By Mark Weyermuller - 

This year the March for Life Chicago will be a car parade. It starts at noon on Saturday, January 23, 2021. Cars will start at Saint John’s Cantius Church, located at 825 North Carpenter Street in Chicago, Illinois. Participants can pick up signs for their cars there.

The car parade route will go downtown past the Thompson Center, Federal Building and end up at the Southside Pregnancy Center located at 3759 East 95th Street in Evergreen Park, Illinois. Organizers are asking people to make a cash donation there, or drop off a box of diapers. Those interested in participating can drive in the parade, or watch from the parade route seen on map below.

The Next Border Crisis Will Be Biden’s

"President-elect" Joe Biden's attitude toward the border will create another crisis. Charles Fain Lehman writes:

President-elect Joe Biden sparked outrage among activists when, a month before Inauguration Day, he retreated from his promise to unravel President Trump’s restrictive immigration regime on Day One. Instead, he suggested, the Biden administration would undo Trump’s actions over a period of months, thus avoiding a rush of “2 million people on our border” and the ensuing chaos in the opening days of his presidency.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics show that apprehensions at the southern border were at an eight-year high in October and November; December data will likely reflect similar activity. A new wave of migrant caravans, including a group that launched an unsuccessful trek from Honduras, is of particular concern.

The Importance of Civic Education in a Creedal Nation

American ideas won't survive without better civics education. Mike Sabo writes:

“Civic knowledge is an indispensable element of what it means to be a good American,” Princeton University professor Robert George maintains.

George’s paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Syria, and his maternal grandfather emigrated to America from southern Italy. His father fought in World War II, first in Normandy and Brittany and then in Germany and Austria. Despite their different life experiences, George says, they were bound together by their “allegiance to the principles of republican democracy as set forth in the Declaration and the Constitution.”

Public Outcry Causes FDA to Backtrack

As the fear of coronavirus swept the world, panic buying went into full swing. Suddenly, toilet paper and hand sanitizer became hot commodities that were difficult to find. The high demand for these products, and limited workforce availability because of the virus, resulted in severe shortages as companies were unable to meet the increased demand.

Fortunately, the United States is home to thousands of breweries and distilleries that had the ability to turn alcohol originally meant for consumption into a usable denatured hand sanitizer. When demand for hand sanitizer skyrocketed, several distilleries stepped up to the plate and implemented novel processes to mass produce the much-needed sanitizer. Virtually overnight, these companies produced, packaged, and delivered thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer to the American people. 

For their patriotic efforts, this is how these companies were thanked: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new regulations and fees for organizations operating as “monograph drug facilities” – producing over-the-counter drugs. This includes the hundreds of distilleries that stepped up, putting profits aside to mass produce hand sanitizer. For the fiscal year of 2021, the FDA fees for hand sanitizer producing facilities is $14,060. 

More HERE

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives responds to Dems rejecting Madigan as Speaker

WHEATON - Via Facebook, former State Rep. Jeanne Ives, a Republican that served the DuPage County area commented Wednesday on Mike Madigan being rejected for another term as Speaker of the Illinois House.

She emphasized, "It is good Madigan is out of office. But all of the Democrats who have voted for him for years before and voted for the policies that have bankrupted Illinois should be out of office as well. Illinois needs to change direction 180 degrees. That won't happen under Welch. The moving companies will have another banner year in 2021 in Illinois."

Here's Ives' statement in full:

US House votes to impeach Donald Trump for second time, LaHood explains why he voted No

WASHINGTON - The US House voted Wednesday to impeach Donald Trump for the second time. One Congressional Republican member voted in favor of the impeachment article declaring President Trump incited violence with false claims claiming he won the election by a landslide.

In a vote with 221 Democrats and 10 Republicans voting yes, and 197 voting no, the US House referred impeachment to the US Senate. 

Via text, Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood gave Illinois Review reasons why he voted against the measure, and his views on other hot topics conservatives are discussing throughout the state: 

1). Today, I proudly voted to NOT impeach President Trump. We should be using this time to bring our nation together and heal the partisan divisions. Unfortunately, Democrats believe that cancel culture and impeachment are the path to unity and healing. Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat colleagues have once again decided to put political games before the people. I have ZERO interest in taking part in this. I stand with President Trump🇺🇸.

2). The censorship of conservatives and Republicans by Big Tech has to STOP! I support and will vote to repeal the Section 230 protection for these tech companies. Censorship, wokeness, political correctness, it all points in one direction – authoritarianism, cloaked as moral righteousness. It’s not who we are as Americans. I will do all I can to fight Big Tech and their criminal censorship! 

3). Rioters and protesters who broke the law and attacked the US Capitol need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Likewise, the criminal activity of BLM and Antifa need to be held to the same standard and accountable. Those BLM and Antifa perpetrators and anarchists should be equally prosecuted for their criminal activity and un-American actions. Unfortunately, there is a clear double standard when the Left incites violence. This needs to end.

In a formal press release, LaHood's office explained his vote with more information: 

In less than seven days, we will inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. We should be using this time to bring our nation together, heal the partisan divisions, and move forward with a peaceful transfer of power. As I have listened to constituents on both sides of the political spectrum this week, a common frustration and anger are evident among many Americans. In this moment of escalating tensions, Congress must rise above the division and help heal our nation.

As I stated last week, our Constitution is clear in laying out Congress' obligation to count and certify the Electoral College votes. I also believe our Constitution does not envision impeaching a President without an adequate investigation or hearings. Our democratic system is predicated on due process and a thorough review of the underlying facts and evidence. Congress has yet to even receive a full briefing by the appropriate federal authorities on the events that occurred surrounding the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. 

I oppose impeachment. Pushing articles of impeachment days before the inauguration will only inflame and further divide our country.

The impeachment article that passed the US House includes this wording:

IL GOP claims credit for Madigan removal

After Illinois Republicans flipped four seats in the House, defeated the progressive income tax, defended Congressman Rodney Davis, and defeated a Madigan lackey on the Illinois Supreme Court for the first time in state history - House Democrats finally realized that Madigan must go," the IL GOP Facebook post said. "Our electoral victories in 2020 - powered by YOU - forced Madigan out." 

What do you think?  

Madigan's reign reviewed

SPRINGFIELD - State Rep. Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) is now "former Illinois House Speaker" after serving 36 years leading the Illinois Democrats and determining Illinois' finances and political climate. Wednesday, his Democrat caucus chose State Rep. Chris Welch as the new speaker. 

The issues surrounding Madigan are many and were thoroughly discussed in a documentary "Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics" made public by the Illinois Policy Institute - featuring former Madigan colleagues, political opponents and a family member:

UPDATE x1: IL Dems push through statewide "Defund the Police" bill in wee hours

UPDATE x1: Illinois Democrats - who hold the majority in both the House and Senate - pushed through this "Defund the Police" bill Wednesday morning at 4:30 am - hours before the 102nd General Assembly was sworn in. More information coming Friday on Illinois Review. 

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois' law enforcement community is warning Illinois citizens about a bill they say would effectively defund the police in Illinois. HB 163 could be heard in the state Senate as soon as Monday during the Illinois General Assembly's "lame duck" session that ends January 13. 

A coalition of law enforcement groups issued a statement late last week saying “reforms” that are part of House Bill 163 as amended would "destroy law enforcement's ability to keep communities safe." The authors of the legislation are not law enforcement professionals, the groups say, and the bill was drafted without law enforcement input, and because of that the "long-term unintended consequences of this legislation would be dire."

The Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition said they recently enumerated its Safe Communities plan, a sensible approach to modernizing Illinois law enforcement, but House Bill 163 as amended would lead to unsafe communities in Illinois.

"We urge the Illinois General Assembly to avoid making a sudden, rash decision in the Lame Duck Session and instead work carefully with all stakeholders to truly examine what needs to be done regarding law enforcement in Illinois," the group said.

The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge, FOP Labor Council, FOP Chicago Lodge 7, Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police formed the Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition and have been working on strategies since summer to improve community safety and enhance the trust between community members and law enforcement.

The leaders of the Illinois effort - the Democrats' Black Caucus - intends Illinois law enforcement changes to be dramatic. The Illinois Sheriffs' Association list the following 32 changes in the 611-page bill: 

Illinois Right to Life applauds Wednesday's US Supreme Court ruling

CHICAGO - Illinois Right to Life applauds Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the Trump Administration can enforce a Federal Drug Administration rule requiring women to pick up mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug, in person at approved health care facilities.

The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the rule, claiming that the ability to receive the chemical abortion drugs through the mail was necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

US Supreme Court's Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority in the 6-3 ruling, stating that the matter in question was not whether the rule placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions, but rather, “[W]hether the District Court properly ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift those established requirements because of the court’s own evaluation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Illinois Right to Life Executive Director, Amy Gehrke, responded to the Supreme Court decision, saying, “This is a commonsense ruling that will not only protect women, but their unborn children, as well. Mifepristone, used in chemical abortions, is unlike any other drug in that its sole purpose is to take the life of a tiny human. In addition, a significant number of women experience life-threatening side effects after taking the drug.”