Illinois Review

Parents unhappy with time spent on standardized tests, new poll shows

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Parents of school-age children are unhappy with the amount of time spent on standardized tests and have strong opinions on other controversial education policies, including Common Core and school vouchers, according to a new national poll released Thursday.

The Schooling in America Survey, released annually by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and Braun Research, includes a statistically representative sample of school parents. It found 44 percent of those parents said children spend too much time preparing for and taking assessments; 22 percent said too low, 30 percent said the focus is about right, and 5 percent had no opinion.

IRS Violated Law With Missing Emails, Top Archivist Says

By Josh Siegel - 

IRS officials broke federal law by failing to report the loss of two years’ worth of emails sent and received by Lois Lerner, the former official accused of being behind the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, the government’s top archivist testified yesterday.

The Internal Revenue Service violated the Federal Records Act by not telling the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration about the missing Lerner emails, Archivist of the U.S. David Ferriero said at a hearing on the targeting scandal held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“They did not follow the law,” Ferriero said.

SEC seeks restraining order against Illinois city’s bond sale

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking an emergency restraining order to prevent a Chicago suburb from selling bonds this month, alleging in court documents filed on Tuesday that the city and its comptroller misused bond proceeds and schemed to defraud investors.

In a complaint filed against the town of Harvey, Illinois, and the comptroller, Joseph Letke, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the SEC also demanded a jury trial – an unusual request in the SEC’s current crackdown on the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market.

Harvey is “exploring a new issuance of bonds as soon as late June 2014,” the SEC said.

Read more

Illinois' fastest-growing cities?

What are Illinois’ fastest-growing cities?

According to a ranking by Nerd Wallet Finance, Chicago Heights is No. 1, followed by Melrose Park, Champaign, Woodstock, Rolling Meadows, Berwyn, South Holland, Normal, Glen Ellyn and Des Plaines. (The top southwestern Illinois city was Belleville at #22.  Alton was #101.)

Many of these are blue-collar towns that don’t often get on a list like this, says Maggie Clark, the author of the study. “We do get some surprising results, and I think people are really interested in that. When you strip away assumptions that people make about places, you get a lot of interesting results, and we’ve seen that across states. We’ve done this study now in four states and it’s been real interesting to see some of the results,” she said.

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Mokena lays to rest PFC Aaron Scott Toppen

MOKENA - Tuesday, the southwest suburb of Mokena laid to rest a hometown hero - 19 year old Aaron Toppen, a private in the U.S. Army that was killed along with four others in Afghanistan earlier this month.

The townspeople lined the streets when Toppen's body was delivered last weekend, and they lined the streets once again with flags in hand Tuesday as a horse-drawn hearse carried the body from Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park to Mokena's St. John's Cemetery. 

 

Rhoads: Democrat voters Save Cochran

By Mark Rhoads - 

A huge surge of thousands of African-American Democrats voted in the GOP Primary Runoff in Mississippi to save Sen. Thad Cochran from his primary opponent State Sen. Chris McDaniel.  Under the strange Mississippi law, as long as a Democrat did not vote in the June 3 Democratic primary, he or she was eligible to vote in the Republican run off.

Polls before the election showed McDaniel leading Cochran but only among Republican voters and the primary was not limited to just those voters.  Click here for the story of how Democratic voters were decisive in saving Cochran from defeat.

Illinois threatens to ‘fire’ moms and dads caring for disabled children. Replace with unionized state workers.

By Paul Kersey -

In 2003 and 2009, governors Rod Blagojevich and Pat Quinn, respectively, issued executive orders to unionize parents who receive a modest Medicaid benefit to help pay for the cost of caring for their disabled children. Suburban Chicago mother Pam Harris has bravely taken this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court in what could be a landmark case, Harris v. Quinn.

As if unionizing these parents isn’t bad enough, now the state has threatened to “fire” some of them and replace them with state workers. One of these parents is Deborah Teixeira, the mother and at-home caregiver to her daughter Juliet.

Juliet suffered a severe brain injury in a car accident when she was 17 years old. She is now 37, and hasn’t known a life outside of her mother’s full-time care since the accident.

The government body controlling her modest benefit doesn’t seem to care.

Illinois spends $1 million on condoms

By Kristina Rasmussen -

Even though Illinois state government is essentially broke, it apparently knows how to have a good time.

In 2013, Illinois state government awarded two contracts totaling more than $1 million for the procurement of condoms and lubricant.

The bid solicitation document requested a variety of condoms, including “extra large” and even some in “assorted colors.” No ribbing was allowed – only “smooth surface” condoms were permitted.

Lubricant, however, was to be provided in “assorted flavors.” Scents were optional.

All in all, the state bid out for 4,453,000 condoms and 374,000 bottles of lubricant.

Rauner supports minimum wage hike under certain circumstances

Photo: Maria Nagle, The Pantagraph

ROANOKE - GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner says he has no problem with a November ballot measure that will ask Illinois voters whether the state should increase the minimum wage.

"The voters are going to be allowed to make their voices heard on a nonbinding referendum. I'm supportive of that," he said Tuesday. 

Rauner also said he'd support raising the minimum wage under two scenarios: If it were increased nationwide; and/or if it were tied to pro-business reforms in Illinois.

During the Republican primary, Rauner said he would lower the state's minimum wage from $8.25 to the federal rate of $7.25. When recordings of Rauner saying he was “adamantly, adamantly against raising the minimum wage" went public, he later clarified his remarks, saying he would support an increase, but only under certain circumstances.

Some business leaders oppose raising the minimum wage, saying it would kill jobs and make Illinois less competitive with states where the rate is lower.

"That's exactly why I don't support raising the minimum wage if we do nothing else," Rauner said Tuesday. "We would support raising the national wage up to Illinois' (rate) ... so that we're all on a level playing field."

More HERE

Dillard claims enough support for his next government job

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard says he has enough support to be elected chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) at its meeting today.

Dillard told the Tribune he believes he has the backing of a supermajority of RTA board members as well as the bipartisan support of Chicago and suburban county political leaders and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“I like a challenge and I think (being RTA chairman) is my way to give back to a state that I love,” Dillard said, when asked why he wants the post. “I think having a word-class transit system is critical to Chicago and all of Illinois.”

Dillard gave up his Illinois Senate seat to run for governor. The RTA position will provide him an additional taxpayer-funded pension.

New sensors will scoop up 'big data' on citizens in Chicago

Rendering of a data-collecting sensor box. (Douglas Pancoast/Satya Mark Basu)

The curled metal fixtures set to go up on a handful of Michigan Avenue light poles later this summer may look like delicate pieces of sculpture, but researchers say they'll provide a big step forward in the way Chicago understands itself by observing the city's people and surroundings.

The smooth, perforated sheaths of metal are decorative, but their job is to protect and conceal a system of data-collection sensors that will measure air quality, light intensity, sound volume, heat, precipitation, and wind. The sensors will also count people by observing cell phone traffic.

Some experts caution that efforts like the one launching here to collect data from people and their surroundings pose concerns of a Big Brother intrusion into personal privacy.

In particular, sensors collecting cell phone data make privacy proponents nervous. But computer scientist Charlie Catlett said the planners have taken precautions to design their sensors to observe mobile devices and count contact with the signal rather than record the digital address of every device.

More HERE

The Untold, Racist Origins of ‘Progressive’ Labor Laws

Samuel Gompers

By Horace Cooper -

Most Americans take for granted that the minimum wage and the 40-hour work week came about as a result of an effort in the early 20th Century to improve the lives of working Americans. Not true. In fact, these measures were rooted in the racism of the era and were part of an effort to benefit white workers at the expense of black tradesmen. The policies helped create persistent high unemployment among blacks—and shed a light on the real motivations of so-called Progressives.

“The Caucasians . . . are not going to let their standard of living be destroyed by negroes, Chinamen, Japs or any others.” — Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), 1905

With support from labor unions, politicians and bureaucrats often intervene in labor markets, creating laws and regulations that (they say) are needed to improve wages and working conditions for working people. The truth is that many of these efforts do harm to the economic interests of blacks, particularly black males. Most people would be surprised to learn that this harm to blacks has historically not been an unintended consequence of these pro-union policies, but the intended result.

Allen: To the members of the Washington elite, we’re ALL children

By Dr. Steven J. Allen -

Are they idiots, or do they think the American people are idiots?

As a resident of Washington, DC, and as a journalist who has covered politics for 41 years, I often get asked that question. Do the President’s defenders really believe that the e-mails of Lois “I take the Fifth” Lerner were lost in a horrible, coincidental accident – e-mails that vanished, along with backups and backups-of-backups, 10 days after a Congressional inquiry about IRS targeting of the President’s political opponents? Do the environmentalists and the EPA allies, who are frantically seeking to justify their regulatory War on Coal, really not know what carbon dioxide is (that it’s a harmless gas that people exhale)? Do the Progressives have any consciousness of how ridiculous their claims are, on one subject after another – the reason for the sudden influx of children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border (it’s, uh, the sudden appearance of gang violence in Latin America), that 20 percent rape rate on America’s college campuses, the supposed benefits of Obamacare, the claim that “Al Qaeda is on the run,” and on and on.

For good examples of the ways in which they insult your intelligence, see last week’s Senate hearing on the e-cigarette industry.

Michelle Obama a 'no' on U.S. Senate, but may consider a White House Run?

While Michelle Obama has made it clear she's not interested in challenging U.S. Senator Mark Kirk in 2016, a new book is speculating that the First Lady may be considering a run for the White House.

Best-selling author Ed Klein is releasing a new book this week called “Blood Feud”. It claims to chronicle the nasty political war between the Clintons and the Obamas.

In this book Klein writes of a possible White House run by the current First Lady.

According to a report on WashingtonTimes.com:

Mr. Klein goes on to chronicle that during the golf match [with Barack Obama], Mr. Clinton talked about his wife’s presidential qualifications — and was taken off guard when Mr. Obama, at one point, said: “You know, Michelle would make a great presidential candidate, too,” as quoted by a Clinton family friend.

“Bill was speechless,” the Clinton family friend is chronicled as saying. “Was Barack comparing Michelle’s qualifications to Hillary‘s? Bill said that if he hadn’t been on a mission to strike a deal with Barack, he might have stormed off the golf course then and there.”

Mr. Klein wrote that Mrs. Clinton later asked Mrs. Obama if she were considering a run for the White House — and Mrs. Obama said she hadn’t made up her mind, but that it was a possibility, the New York Post reported.

Given talk about Hillary Clinton's health, the talk may not be that far-fetched.

H/T: Norvell Rose

Stantis: Killing US Citizens

By Scott Stantis -

At long last the Obama Administration has been forced to release the (heavily redacted) memo from the Department of Justice that grants them the right to kill any United States citizen they deem an imminent threat. Never mind that the language in the memo is a lot like the closing scene from the first  "Indiana Jones" film. You know, where Indy is assured that the Ark is being studied by "top men". In the memo, unnamed "top intelligence officials" decide who is an immediate threat. Oh, and they can do this on American soil btw.

Citing racist policies, Chicago Public Schools lowers bar on discipline

Photo: Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is officially changing its Student Code of Conduct so fewer kids get suspended and expelled.

The move comes after a government study concluded that African American and Latino students are being suspended at disproportionate rates.

“It’s [Chicago's] the strictest zero-tolerance policy that I’ve ever seen in the country,” CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in a conference call with reporters on Monday. “We have a broad range of suspendable offenses. For example, we’re the only major school district that allow(s) for out-of-school suspensions for cell phone use.”

A student activist group that has worked for several years to eliminate the zero-tolerance policy called the move a step in the right direction, but argued more work needed to be done to reduce police presence in schools.

The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the proposed changes during Wednesday’s monthly meeting.

More HERE

Oberweis calls on Durbin to support special prosecutor for IRS scandal

SUGAR GROVE - State Senator Jim Oberweis today called for a special prosecutor to investigate the growing IRS scandal after revelations that key emails allegedly were lost and hard drives destroyed.

Oberweis said last night's House Oversight Committee hearing demonstrated that the IRS has no intention of getting to the bottom of the scandal.

"The patience of the American people is wearing thin," said Oberweis. "There is nothing more abusive to the people than an abusive Internal Revenue Service and this administration has demonstrated it is incapable of getting to the bottom of the scandal."

A growing number of observers have called for a special prosecutor, including the Chicago Tribune and Detroit News.

Oberweis said it is deeply suspicious that IRS officials suddenly announced last week that crucial emails that are the subject of various investigations were said to be missing.

Oberweis called on his opponent Dick Durbin to support the special prosecutor. Durbin was among the Democratic senators who pushed the IRS to target innocent conservative organizations for special scrutiny. He made no such requests to scrutinize liberal organizations.

"Dick Durbin said the IRS scandal was a serious matter and that we should get to the bottom of it. I think he should agree that when crucial evidence turns up missing it is time to call in a special prosecutor," Oberweis said.

Activists claim Illinois University's Lech Walesa Hall could increase gay suicides

By Matt Lamb - 

Following comments last year by Poland’s former president about homosexual members of Parliament, some students at Northeastern Illinois University are pressuring the school to rename a building that bears his name.

The public university in Chicago renamed an academic building “Lech Walesa Hall” in 2009 to honor the former Polish leader for his role in the downfall of communism. The press release from the event touted the university’s connection to the Polish community, including its student exchange programs with universities in Poland.

In an interview in March 2013, a reporter asked Walesa where gay members of Parliament should sit. He replied, “No minority should climb all over the majority. Homosexuals should even sit behind a wall, and not somewhere at the front.”

Gay-rights groups on campus responded by protesting the naming of the hall. According to multiple articles on CNN’s iReport citizen-journalism website by Mike Lackovich, a gay student at the school who organized a protest against the hall’s name two weeks ago, the administration has disregarded requests for a name change.

Lackovich claims that keeping Walesa’s name on the hall could potentially lead to an increase in suicides by gay students, and that honoring him is analogous to burning crosses or swastikas on campus. He chided the administration for continuing the “homophobia” and argued that President Sharon Hahs would be OK with a “Hitler Hall” on campus.

More HERE

Kirk demands Obama provide answers on Guantanamo release

WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, along with Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have sent a letter to President Obama expressing their strong concern regarding the release of five high value prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. This release, the Senators wrote, defies Section 1035 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the recommendations of a panel of experts established by President Obama's Executive Order 13492. 

The Senators also expressed concern with the remaining 149 Guantanamo Detainees, and requested that none of these prisoners be released until further notice and a full investigation of the exchange is conducted.

A copy of the letter is below:

IRS Admits Wrongdoing, to Pay $50,000 in Leaking of Marriage Group’s Tax Return

Two years after activists for same-sex marriage obtained the confidential tax return and donor list of a national group opposed to redefining marriage, the Internal Revenue Service has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to settle the resulting lawsuit.

The Daily Signal has learned that, under a consent judgment today, the IRS agreed to pay $50,000 in damages to the National Organization for Marriage as a result of the unlawful release of the confidential information to a gay rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, that is NOM’s chief political rival.

“Congress made the disclosure of confidential tax return information a serious matter for a reason,” NOM Chairman John D. Eastman told The Daily Signal. “We’re delighted that the IRS has now been held accountable for the illegal disclosure of our list of major donors from our tax return.”

More HERE | Image Source

State elections chief says independent map referendum "not going to make it"

SPRINGFIELD - Jesse Smart, Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Elections doesn't think the group pushing for a referendum on the non-partisan drawing of legislative maps will be able to produce enough signatures in time to get on the November ballot.

Yes for Independent Maps is trying to validate enough signatures out of an initial sampling to keep its ballot initiative alive.

Smart says nearly 32,000 of the signatures are from people who signed more than once and others that don't make the cut.

"A lot of them you can't even read at all," Smart says. "A lot of them are not from Illinois. There's just many, many sloppy (entries) which I'm sorry for."

Smart says the reason there were such wide discrepanies in the number of ballots that examiners were allowing - is geography. Smart says the signatures collected in Central Illinois were largely collected properly and deliberately, those in the Chicago area - done by hired name collectors in some cases - were not.  

"We can go on this all summer and they're not going to make it," Smart told reporter Eric Stock. Smart says he expects the board will be taken to court by one side or the other, regardless of how it rules.

Abortionist Denied Hospital Privileges in WI After His IL Abortion Biz Shut Down

Former Rockford, IL abortionist Dennis Christensen

By Cheryl Sullenger - 

MILWAUKEE, WI - An abortionist who routinely posted vulgar signs mocking Christianity and pro-life supporters has been denied admitting privileges at three hospitals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he relocated after the State of Illinois shut down his filthy abortion business in Rockford citing serious health and safety violations.

Dennis Christensen, now of Affiliated Medical Services (AMS) in Milwaukee, reported that his applications for hospital privileges were denied after U.S. District Judge William Conley ordered him to follow up on his applications as part of a suit challenging the 2013 Wisconsin law that requires abortionists to maintain hospital privileges within 30 miles of their abortion facilities.

Christensen’s associate at AMS and co-plaintiff, Bernard Smith (photo right), was also denied hospital admitting privileges.

The two abortionists joined with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in pursuing a legal challenge to the new law and earlier received an injunction that has so far kept them in business. The trial in the case concluded on May 30. A ruling from Judge Conley is pending.

Andrzejewski demands College of DuPage freeze property taxes and student tuition

Adam Andrzejewski, Chairman of For The Good of Illinois gave public comment at a recent College of DuPage budget meeting. Andrzejewski argued that College of DuPage's Spending $72 million surplus is enough to rebate a full year of property taxes or provide free student tuition. He called on the board to do just that.

State of Illinois may have spied on citizen cellphone calls since 2008

SPRINGFIELD - They can hear you now and they probably could hear you eight years ago.

Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act appear to show that the Illinois State Police may have had access to cellphone eavesdropping equipment since 2008. 

That year, the documents published online appear to show, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich authorized the Illinois State Police to quietly purchase cell phone surveillance equipment for over $250,000.

The documents, which cover a period between 2008 and 2012, were obtained and first published online last week by Scott Ainsile, a freelance “data pilgrim” based in the United Kingdom.

ACLU-IL told Illinois Review Tuesday that they and other sources are working to verify the accuracy of the documents published online.

"It appears that the ISP has had access to a cellphone surveillance system for years," Ed Yohnka of the ACLU said. "We weren't aware the State Police had that equipment until late last week when the documents appeared online."

"We have great reservations as to how the equipment is being used if they do have it," Yohnka said. "This equipment scoops up lots of information on innocent people, and without warrants being issued."

UPDATE x1: N-word controversy boils over into GOP fundraiser

Dan Proft of WLS 890 AM and Joe Walsh of WIND 560 AM

UPDATE x1: Joe Walsh contacted IR with the following comment:

"Dan Proft and I are on the same team in Illinois fighting for freedom and limited government. We disagree here. I respect Dan's opinion, but I believe there is a big difference between calling someone an offensive term and having a discussion about those very offensive terms, which is what I did on my radio show last week and what I will continue to do to combat political correctness.

I didn't want this disagreement to overshadow the great work being done by the Plainfield Township Republican Organization. They will have a great fundraiser."

-----------------------

Tomorrow's Plainfield Township GOP Fundraiser that was to feature radio talk show hosts Dan Proft and Joe Walsh will now be featuring Proft only.

Sources tell Illinois Review the change came after Proft informed the organizers that he would not share the stage with Walsh.

When asked, Proft told IR: 

"It is very simple. I am not going to participate in events with individuals who think it is okay to purposely and repeatedly use the N-word and other racial epithets as part of what they believe is appropriate public (or, for that matter, private) discourse.

People can and should think freely, speak freely and freely associate as they like. I choose to reject the thinking and the language Joe Walsh unapologetically evinced and freely not associate with it."

AM 560 WIND took Walsh off the air in mid-broadcast last Thursday when the former congressman used the N-word while discussing racial slurs and the U.S. Patent Office's cancellation of the Washington Redskins trademark. Walsh has since returned to the air.

Walsh had not comment. However, Plainfield Township GOP Chairman Tim Kraulidis told Illinois Review Proft did not make demands about Walsh, and that Walsh told them he was planning to attend his parents 60th anniversary celebration instead.

Proft's statement, however, seems to indicate definite tension between the two radio personalities.

Higgins: The Left’s Problem with Logic

By Laurie Higgins - 

The Left has either a problematic inability to think analogically and logically or a Machiavellian willingness to pretend they don’t.

When I compared the rationalizations that religious leaders offered for their refusal to stand against the Nazi regime to the rationalizations contemporary pastors offer for their refusal to stand up against homosexuality-affirming ideologues, the Leftsaid I likened homosexuals to Nazis.

When I suggest that the Left’s recasting of marriage as an institution centrally constituted by subjective experiences of erotic and romantic love leads ineluctably to the legalization of incestuous marriage, the Left says I claimed homosexuality per se is analogous to incest per se.

It’s one thing to accuse a regular Joe or Jane, like me, of poor thinking, it’s quite another to accuse someone of the intellectual stature of British theologian N.T. Wright of such intellectual failures, which is just what Sarah Moon did. Fortunately, another thinker far better than I am has exposed the non-sense of Moon and so many of her ideological compeers.

In a post titled “How Arguments (Do Not) Work,” Matthew Franck takes Moon to the intellectual woodshed (concluding with a dollop of humor):

Olympia Fields officials out of loop on federal plan to house immigrant minors

OLYMPIA FIELDS - The news that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was assessing a local facility to temporarily house unaccompanied alien children that had come into the U.S. from Central America was a total surprise, a village official told Illinois Review Monday.

"The mayor called me about it 6:47 am Monday morning, and we were surpised to hear about it as much as our residents were," Village Administrator David Mekarski told Illinois Review. "We want the people of Olympia Fields to know that we weren't hiding anything - we simply didn't know about it until this morning."

Mekarski said the city began getting media requests about the federal government's intentions to move children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras into a local facility that is owned by a Pentecostal church. The All Nations Assembly, which has available residential quarters on its 20 acre property, had been approached by HHS and informed they were being considered for emergency arrangements.

"The property is unique, and it does have room and facilities that could be used to care for numerous residents, but there's a lot of building code and occupancy requirements that the All Nations would need to meet before anyone could move in," Mekarski said. 

After all the buzz created by Congressman Randy Hultgren informing Chicago area media of HHS plans to use the Olympia Fields facility for the immigrant children with little or no adult supervision to be provided housing and care, the HHS notified Hultgren's office Monday morning they were no longer considering the former monastery at 203rd and Governor's Highway as a potential site.

The Truth about the Vietnam War [video]

Did the United States win or lose the Vietnam War? We are taught that it was a resounding loss for America, one that proves that intervening in the affairs of other nations is usually misguided. The truth is that our military won the war, but our politicians lost it. The Communists in North Vietnam actually signed a peace treaty, effectively surrendering. But the U.S. Congress didn't hold up its end of the bargain. In just five minutes, learn the truth about who really lost the Vietnam War.

Andrew Klavan: I'm Make-Believe Outraged! [video]

Andrew Klavan, expresses his make-believe outrage at the basic facts of reality.

Robin Kelly promotes June as "Pride Month"

CHICAGO - Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-2) represents Illinois south suburban district that Jesse Jackson Jr represented before he went to federal prison for misappropriating campaign funds. The 2nd Congressional district is home to Chicago's black religious community, where voters overwhelmingly hold to traditional family values taught in their doctrinally-conservative churches. 

So when Kelly promoted June declared as "Pride Month" to her Twitter followers Sunday afternoon, it created some discussion among those 2nd CD voters that will be picking between Kelly and Republican candidate Eric Wallace in November. 

"People in this district aren't shy about defending their religious beliefs, and insisting on the right to exercise them," Eric Wallace of Flossmoor told Illinois Review. "Robin Kelly demonstrated that she's focused totally on staying in line with the president's agenda, rather than listening to the people in her district. No one's interested in being scolded by Ms. Kelly for not being politically correct enough." 

Kelly's tweet celebrated Illinois new gay marriage law and Obama's declaration of LGBT Pride month.

Thorner and Ingold: "Where Does the Presidency Go From Here?"

By Nancy Thorner and Ed Ingold - 

The PBS Newshour on June 18 at 6:45 p.m. EST, presented a topic for debate that should be non-partisan in nature: "How much power can the president wield by sidestepping Congress?  Gwen Ifil presented the following introductory remark:  "This week, the White House has announced three separate executive actions dealing with gay rights, the environment, and manufacturing, raising the question, in the midst of partisan gridlock, how much can the president do without Congress?" 

It was Jeffrey Brown of PBS who conducted the June 18th PBS program debate between Jonathan Turley, Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, and Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.  Brown prefaced the start of the Turley/Waldman debate by informing listeners how President Obama has been expanding executive action, something Obama promised to do earlier this year when he said:  "We're not just going to be waiting for legislation in order to make sure that we're providing Americans the kind of help they need.  I have got a pen and I have got a phone."  

Brown continued his preliminary debate remarks by relating how President Obama has followed through on a wide range of issues, including equal pay for women, student loans, and more recently carbon pollution, with the result that every time the president does he faces backlash from those who peg him as an imperial president.

Where's Weyermuller? Sunday afternoon picnic hopping in northeast Illinois

By Mark Weyermuller - 

After spending Sunday morning with the family, I headed out to three picnics Sunday afternoon, starting  with a old fashioned backyard party sponsored by the Republican Women of Park Ridge.  It was hosted by Susan Sweeney and GOP Chairman Charlene Foss-Eggemann from Maine Township.

The featured speakers were Jim Oberweis and Mel Thillins, with about 75 folks in attendance. The group meets monthly at the South Park Recreation Center with more information at republicanwomenofparkridge.com. 

 

Illinois private schools to now hold annual safety drill reviews

CHICAGO - Saturday, Illinois Governor Quinn signed into law a measure that will require the state's private schools to hold annual meetings with local law enforcement and fire departments to review the school's emergency plans.

State Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Oak Lawn) told Illinois Review Monday that the required drill reviews are not meant for home schools, but for traditional private schools like the many in his district that are affiliated with the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese.

Home schools in Illinois are considered the same as private schools, so some concerns were raised on whether parents would be required to now adhere to this law.

"We have no intention of home schools having to put together an exit strategy or safety drill for the students taught in their homes," he said. "We don't need the local fire department okaying whether they exit through their family rooms or somewhere else."

The section of the Illinois School Code where SB 2710 will be added defines a "private facility" as exempting home-based schools.

Reeder: They don’t write no good.

By Scott Reeder - 

A bit of hay is being made, over a grammar error that will appear on the ballot this November.

It seems, no one caught the improper use of the word “their” in the text of the proposed ballot question.

The measure asks, “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to require that each school district receive additional revenue, based on their number of students, from an additional 3% tax on income greater than one million dollars?”

Of course to be grammatically correct the word “its” should be used instead of “their” because “each school district” is singular.

I can see one hundred copy editors I’ve known clucking their tongues in unison and shaking their heads.

My old high school English teacher Miss Finch will probably enter the voting booth red pen in hand ready to correct the ballot and hand it back to the election judge marked “F.”

Illinois is a place where legislators talk about raising literacy standards – but don’t practice them.

Of course the problem with this ballot question goes far beyond grammar.

Rhoads: Update on Mississippi Primary

By Mark Rhoads - 

Conservative and Tea Party backed-State Sen. Chris McDaniel appears to be leading the establishment incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cocrhan in polls of Republican voters by six poiints and also appears to have the momentum. But there is no guarantee that only Republicans will vote in the runoff on Tuesday, June, 24. The reason is the odd election law in Mississippi does allow Democrats to vote in the GOP nomination runoff race as long as they did not vote in the Democratic primary on June 3rd.

Governor recruits volunteers to fill doctor shortage in Illinois

PEORIA - Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation aimed at bringing doctors and nurses out of retirement to help as volunteers in free medical clinics.

The law takes effect immediately, allowing 500 retired health professionals to get volunteer licenses at no cost. The law waives fees for the first 500 volunteer licenses and then allows for a fee waiver or reduction. The law also applies to dentists, physician assistants and optometrists.

Quinn also signed into law a measure allowing dentists to give flu vaccines under certain circumstances.

GOP leader in Illinois House resigns

SPRINGFIELD - Representative JoAnn Osmond, a Republican from Antioch, submitted her resignation from the Illinois House of Representatives on Friday afternoon. It is effective July 1st.

The 68-year-old Osmond was appointed in December 2002 to replace her late husband, Tim, who died of a heart attack at age 53. She said last summer she would not seek another term this fall.

Osmond is the ranking Republican on the House Human Services Committee and serves on the Public Safety Appropriations Committee.

The race to replace Osmond features business manager and certified public accountant Sheri Jesiel - a Republican - and Democrat Loren Karner.

HHS reverses decision to house illegal alien children at Olympia Fields

OLYMPIA FIELDS - A facility in Olympia Fields that was being considered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to temporarily house Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America was crossed off the list of potential sites Monday morning.

An HHS assessment of the former monastery "found that the facility would not meet our requirements for the unaccompanied children effort. Consequently, we will not pursue that site further," Fatima A. Cuevas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation, wrote in an e-mail.

The HHS' decision followed a social media outcry over the weekend initiated when Congressman Randy Hultgren (IL-14) notified Illinois media that HHS was considering a site in south suburban Olympia Fields as a potential location to house children from Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala that crossed the border without adult guardians. 

“This week, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contacted me, announcing preliminary steps being taken to begin moving Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) to locations in Olympia Fields, Illinois, as well as other locations throughout the Chicagoland area," Hultgren said in a statement.

"We should immediately halt this effort. It is an ill-conceived stop gap solution that will only exacerbate the terrible situation for these children. Moving these children further away from the border unnecessarily elongates their legal limbo at orphanage-style federal facilities while they undergo removal proceedings."

Hultgren's release started a snowball effect as Illinois Review picked up the story, and national news aggregator Matt Drudge added the story to his popular website. No other Chicago media picked up the story.

Libertarian candidate files for gubernatorial bid

SPRINGFIELD - The Libertarian Party submitted petitions Monday morning with the State Board of Elections to put a third candidate for governor on the November ballot. Chad Grimm of Peoria is running with A.J. Cummings for lieutenant governor.

"Illinois is in a fiscal disaster. The Republicans and Democrats have created a mess, but they have no solutions for a fix," the campaign's website says. The site lists these items as Grimm's priorities:

• Phase out government employee pensions that will actually put more money in their pockets
• Stop the income tax increases to expire in 2015, and work to eliminate state income tax altogether
• End Illinois' war on guns 
• End Illinois' war on marijuana

In the 2010 governor's race, Democrat Pat Quinn won over Republican Bill Brady by less than one percent. Third party Independent candidate Scott Lee Cohen garnered 3.64 percent of the vote, a difference-making number for Quinn's ultimate victory.

Walsh ramps up grassroots for fall campaigns

Front L-R: Sen. Jim Oberweis, wife Julie, Pastor Corey Brooks, Joe Walsh and wife Helene 

WAUCONDA - Radio talk show host Joe Walsh's disagreement last week with WIND 560 AM management over the appropriate use and discussion of ethnic slurs didn't affect his listeners' enthusiasm, other than to apparently ignite it.

An emotional discussion about the Washington Redskins turned sour Thursday night, but was settled when Walsh returned to the air Friday night. 

Sunday afternoon, 300 folks - most wearing Walsh Freedom Fighter t-shirts - responded to Walsh's call for his audience to step up and get involved. Grassroots activists spent the day knocking on doors and making phone calls for candidates that, Walsh says, "promote freedom and limited government." Grassroots activists came from all over Illinois - including a group from Princeton Tea Party and Chicago volunteers with black community leader Pastor Corey Brooks.

Others crossed state boundaries from Wisconsin and Indiana to promote a list of candidates Walsh has vetted and endorsed, including

• IL State Senator Jim Oberweis – Candidate for US Senate
• Ramiro Juarez – Candidate for IL State Rep District 44
• Rod Drobinski – Candidate for IL State Rep District 62
• Steve Reick – Candidate for IL State Rep District 63
• Jeff Meyer – Candidate for IL State Rep District 43
• Kevin Wiley – Candidate for DuPage County Board District 6
• Don Wilson – Candidate for Illinois State Senate District 30

A glaring omission from Walsh's list of endorsed candidates is Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner and his running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti. 

"The Rauner campaign did not want the Walsh Freedom army to walk with their literature yesterday," Walsh told Illinois Review Monday. "Hopefully, we will moving forward."

South Dakota GOP calls for Obama impeachment

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Two-thirds of the U.S. Senate would have to validate a U.S. House vote to impeach the president, a very unlikely scenario with the Democrats in control of the Senate.

But that reality didn't dissuade the South Dakota Republican Party from passing a resolution at its state convention Saturday calling for the impeachment of President Obama, according to The Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

"Therefore, be it resolved that the South Dakota Republican Party calls on our U.S. Representatives to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States," the resolution reads.

Gallup poll shows Americans have little faith in media

CHICAGO - Maybe it's not so much what news is covered, it's what is not covered that has caused confidence in media to dip to its lowest levels ever. A Gallup poll in early June showed that Americans simply don't trust the media anymore than they do the neighborhood gossip. The Daily Signal reports:

Confidence in American newspapers has fallen to less than half of what it used to be at its apex. In 1979, 51 percent of Americans placed their confidence in print institutions, but today only 22 percent express confidence in newspapers.

While news sites have reached newfound prominence on the Internet, their confidence ratings continue to lag behind. Internet news sources garnered 22 percent of American’s confidence in 1999 at Gallup’s only previous measure. Fifteen years later, confidence remains anemic at 19 percent.

Where's Weyermuller? Hangin' with Mr. Las Vegas, Mr. WIND AM560

CHICAGO - Illinois Review's roving citizen journalist Mark Weyermuller sent in two selfies he's taken over the weekend, and they really need no explanation other than to say he ran into "Mr. Las Vegas," star performer Wayne Newton while at the Cubs game at Wrigley Field this week, and ...

Democrats Wasserman-Schultz, Schakowsky raise funds for Schneider

HIGHLAND PARK - Focused on making minimum wage a key issue for the upcoming 10th Congressional District, Democrat women met at the exclusive Highland Park Country Club for a $100 per plate luncheon Sunday afternoon for Democrat freshman 10th CD U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider. 

Schneider is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Bob Dold, who's working to win back the 10th CD seat.

DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and her House colleague Jan Schakowsky were the draw Sunday afternoon for Women for Brad. Wasserman-Schultz tweeted this photo and comment as the luncheon neared conclusion:

O'Brien: House GOP shuffles just to dance to the same tune

By Teri O'Brien - 

Last week, after Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor's recent primary defeat and resignation as Majority Leader, the GOP's theme song could have been The Who's "We Won't Get Fooled Again," as in "meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, beloved by Silicon Valley and, despite his vociferous denials, enthusiastic supporter of amnesty for illegals, is the new Majority Leader.

In an interesting coincidence, like many of you, I find myself feeling like Kevin McCarthy, not the guy in Congress, but the actor, or rather the character that he played in the classic film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." He could clearly see the terrifying destruction of his perfect American town by an alien invasion, which so many of his friends and neighbors could not. Many of them decided there was no point in resisting, passively assenting to and becoming part of the takeover. 

Schilling: Why I'm running to get back to Congress [video]

ROCKFORD - Bobby Schilling of Moline, Illinois is running to regain his seat in Congress representing Illinois' 17th CD. After serving in Congress from 2011 to 2013, he shared some of his passion for the state of Illinois and 17th CD constituents with Illinois Review last week ... 

Social Conservatives in a Quandary over IL Gubernatorial Race [video]

While Governor Quinn is open in his support for socially liberal policies. GOP nominee Bruce Rauner has been avoiding the subject all together leaving pro-family leaders uneasy.

Rhoads: Hope in Virginia & Mississippi

By Mark Rhoads - 

In an average of polls, Tea Party-supported State Sen. Chris McDaniel appears to be leading long-time incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran by six points in the runoff election for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination set for next Tuesday.  There is at least once strong similarity betweeen the Mississippi Senate primary and the House primary last week in Virginia where Rep. Eric Cantor lost his seat. In both races the incumbents tried to convince voters on the idea that their Washington, DC experience and their ability to bring home pork barrel projects were reasons for voters to back them.

Mark Kirk to visit New Trier Republicans' Wine & Cheese event Sunday

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk with State House 17th candidate Kathy Myalles

By Mark Weyermuller - 

The New Trier Republican organization will be holding their Annual Wine and Cheese (and Oberweis ice cream) tomorrow (Sunday, June 22, 2014) in Winnetka at Indiana Hill Park.  It's on Winnetka Avenue, just east of Green  Bay. Admission is $15 for members, $25 for non members, kids are free.  There is a great playground there so bring the kids, that is those future voters. 

Senate Candidate Jim Oberweis will be attending along with State Rep candidate Kathy Myalles (17th).  Also expected to attend are Bruce Rauner's running mate , Evelyn Sanguetti. Along with Dan Patlak from the Cook County Board of Review. It should be an all star line up of conservative republican leaders. 

Mark Nerhoff and Bob Dold  are also on the list of possible attendees along with yours truly.  See you there! 

The NTRO is headed  by Committeeman Bill Cadigan. More information go to this link, http://ntro.org/wp/2014/06/08/wine-and-cheese-and-ice-cream/

Stantis: The Illinois Vulture

By Scott Stantis -

Michael Madigan has been Speaker of the Illinois State House of Representatives for over 30 years. In that time he has molded a state constitution that all but guarantees the powerful stay powerful and the rest of us? Well, you know....