Illinois Review

After 10 years, IR wishes you and yours a Happy New Year 2016!

Illinois Review published its first news story in November 2005 - and it seems like a lifetime ago. We look forward to an exciting new year, launching our second decade of providing interesting news to you, our readers throughout Illinois and the nation.

Thank you for your faithful support and encouragement over the past 10 years. We wish the best of everything to you and yours as we launch into 2016.

Happy New Year! 

Carson makes major campaign changes

Washington insider Barry Bennett left the Carson campaign Thursday

WASHINGTON DC - Political strategists Barry Bennett and Doug Watts walked away from Dr. Ben Carson's presidential campaign Thursday, leaving in charge Major General Bob Dees, U.S. Army, Retired, as campaign chairman and Ed Brookover, who formerly served as senior strategist, to serve as campaign manager.

Dr. Carson commended Bennett and Watts on their efforts, which had Carson in a race with Donald Trump for over a month. After two debates and some unfortunate gaffes on public policy, Carson began plunging in the polls. He's now in sixth place, and hoping to find renewed energy to climb the polls again.

Illinois to enact 237 new laws at midnight

SPRINGFIELD - While the overall perception of the Illinois state legislature's 2015 session is that nothing was accomplished because the state budget has yet to be agreed upon, there are 237 new state laws that will go into effect tonight a midnight.

There's a new law punishing employers for not paying men and women equally. 

Equal Pay Cover All Employers (P.A. 99-0418, HB 3619)
Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003 with a two-tiered civil penalty system for employer violations. An employer with fewer than 4 employees that violates the Act is subject to $500 for a first offense, $2,500 for a second offense, and $5,000 for a third or subsequent offense. An employer with 4 or more employees is subject to $2,500 for a first offense, $3,000 for a second offense, and $5,000 for a third or subsequent offense.

There's a new law that requires high school students to study civics - question is, when and why was it not required?

Caprio to launch national church outreach voting effort in 2016

CHICAGO - Religious people will be voting en masse in 2016 - and they'll be making a difference in the winners and losers, Chicago social conservative Paul Caprio, head of Family PAC, NewsMax reported Thursday.  

Caprio says he's about to unveil a program that will reach 180,000 Christian churches nationwide to get six million more Christian voters to the polls in 2016 than in 2012. The project will be called the "Religious Freedom Project."

Dick Uihlein hands $2.5 M to Proft for Super PAC

CHICAGO - Radio talk show conservative Dan Proft has once again been entrusted with a portion of U-Line founder Richard Uihlein's shipping product fortune. Wednesday, Uihlein wrote a check for $2.5 million to the Liberty Principles PAC, a four-year-old independent expenditure committee whose chairman and treasurer is Proft, who ran for Illinois governor in the GOP 2010 primary. 

Rhoads: Campaigns Based on Anti-Reason

By Mark Rhoads - 

The level of debate in American politics for all parties across the ideological spectrum has been corrupted dramatically in recent years by the widely accepted abandonment of reason. The second definition of "reason" in most dictionaries is "the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic."

But politicians in both parties now think that logic does not drive the hearts and minds of most voters, emotion does. Campaigns based on emotion only, without any appeal to logic, drive the public policy debate to the lowest common denominator of ideas. In a democratic republic, we hope the opinions of all citizens will be respected. But that does not mean that all opinions are entitled to be given equal weight as informed or reasonable opinions.

Illinois ranks midway among most heavily armed states

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois averages 9.2 guns per 1000 people, placing it at #28 among 44 states included in a CBS study on which states have the most firearms. The study was based on the 2013 census and the ATF’s National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

CBS' study showed that the state with the lowest ratio of guns per persons to be New York with 3.3 guns per 1000 people. The highest ratio was Wyoming, with 195.7 guns per 1000. 

Schlafly unveils omnibus budget scheme to import more replacement workers

ST LOUIS - Conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly says she found it unbelievable that the recent budget measure which recently passed Congress opens the door to thousands of immigrants to converge on America soil via work visas. 

But after scouring, she found that the rumor was true on Page 701 of a 2009-page budget bill that Congress members were given a mere 24 hours to review:

Di Leo: Climate Change and the Lessons of a Winter Storm

By John F. Di Leo -

On Monday, December 28, 2015, Chicagoland was hit by a particularly unpleasant ice storm.

No, not a blizzard – we get them every year – this was an ice storm, the kind where you’re peppered by tiny bits of ice as you walk or run to your car, the kind that leaves inches of slush and ice on the ground instead of nice soft snow. The kind that’s even more painful, even more dangerous, than most snowstorms. The kind that weighs down power lines, causing them to collapse and leave whole towns without power.

It wasn’t the worst of the storms that hit the country this week, however. Other areas got snow, lots of it. Other areas got rain, as much as a foot in one day. Other areas were hit by dozens of fatal tornadoes.  No, we Chicagoans don’t have anything to complain about.  We know how to drive in snow; we know how to dress for it.  Many others had it far worse than we did, this week at least.

But for many, the oddity of this weather system – particularly after a mild December and a generally mild year overall for some regions, raised the issue – yes, a political issue – that “weather is changing these days,” that weather is somehow different now than it used to be.

Northwestern U Ob-Gyn Professor encourages digoxin to avoid live birth abortions

CHICAGO - Chicago's Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is highly respected worldwide. So when a medical instructor in the school's obstetrics and gynecology department makes public statements about the quandary abortionists find themselves in regarding whether to end a baby's life before or after abortion, his colleagues listen. 

"We do recommend feticidal injections after a certain gestational age, but interestingly, only because we don’t believe that we can guarantee at the extremes of gestational age, depending on dating, that [they] won’t be subject to resuscitation against the patient’s wishes," said Northwestern University associate professor Cassing Hammond, M.D., at a National Abortion Federation conference in San Francisco.

Hammond's comments at the 2014 conference were secretly recorded by the Center for Medical Progress. He suggests that Northwestern University is teaching their Ob-Gyn students an abortion technique in which babies are injected with life-ending digoxin while still in their mothers' wombs, presenting a lifeless infant when born, rather than abortionists dealing with the dilemma of a baby born alive, possibly needing to be resuscitated.

Rhoads: In the BB gun tragedy, parents also matter a lot

By Mark Rhoads -

A grand jury declined on Monday to charge white Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann, who fatally shot a 12-year black child Tamir Rice when he was holding a toy pellet gun in 2014. The decision concluded more than a year of investigation into a case that added to national outrage over white officers killing African-Americans.

Within minutes of the news bulletin from the Grand Jury, legal news commentators on MSNBC were speculating that the family of Tamir Rice could bring a wrongful death civil suit against the Cleveland Police Department because the 911 dispatcher did not pass on some speculation by the 911 caller that the gun might be fake. But the caller also said the gun might be real. In all respects, the gun looked real because the child had apparently removed the orange plastic muzzle clip that would indicate it was a toy gun.

Congress' approval rating drops to 9%

WASHINGTON - Republican incumbents in the U.S. House shouldn't be kicking back and enjoying the holiday season if they're interested in returning to D.C. in January 2017. Voters - including members of their own party - aren’t pleased with the Republicans’ control of both chambers of Congress this past year.

Just 10% of Likely U.S. Voters think Congress’ performance is better now that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are run by the GOP. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 47% think congressional performance is worse, while 37% rate it as about the same as it has been in the past. 

Dold boasts 10 accomplishments for IL's 10th CD

Congressman Robert Dold (IL-10) was sworn back into office January 2015 after defeating one-term incumbent Democrat Brad Schneider in November 2014. Dold is facing re-election in November 2016, and like every other member of Congress, is in need of campaign contributions - preferably before the nearing December 31st reporting deadline.

While Dold stood firmly as one of the few Republican House members in support of taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, despite reports of baby body parts selling, his campaign doesn't mention that in an email to supporters boasting his 2015 accomplishments:

Pritchard: Time to review Illinois' educational system

Students from Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb visited with Rep. Pritchard

By State Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Sycamore) - 

The end of the year is a customary time to reflect upon what went right during the year and to make plans for improving what didn’t go so well.  Since I serve on a number of House Education committees, I have been thinking about our educational system--from early childhood to college.  I will be holding one of my Educational Advisory Council meetings later in January to review the year and invite you to participate in the discussion. 

Where's Weyermuller? Attending Church & Watching Protests on Christmas Eve

By Mark Weyermuller - 

My family and I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas tradition of attending the children's pageant at Fourth Presbyterian Church on the Magnificent Mile. It was a beautiful evening with temperatures in the high 40's on Michigan Avenue in the center of Chicago.  The church had about 2000 people attending a service full of scripture, traditional hymns, and a candlelight singing of Silent Night.

 

Just outside and across from the church, a protest was taking place closing down Michigan Avenue.

Chicago public school students protest their … FREE cafeteria food

As Dave Huber of The College Fix reports, students at Chicago’s Roosevelt High School are “fed up,” to quote NPR’s Scott Simon, with their free cafeteria food. And the students aren’t going to take it. In fact, they’re boycotting the gratis grub.

The Daily Times reports:

“We want our school to be better,” Jacquez Conwell, a junior at Roosevelt High School participating in the student protest of the “crap” meals, told HuffPost. “It’s not fair for us kids, us teenagers, to go through the day where we’re not satisfied. And if we’re not satisfied, we’re not learning anything and we’re not focused.”

Conwell is one of many Roosevelt students participating in a campaign that’s been titled The School Lunch Project.

Late last month, students debuted their website featuring photos of unappetising food they’ve been served at school, including images of still-frozen fruit cups, spoiled produce and questionable meat.

...“Lunch time is the time where you eat and enjoy your free time,” the students’ website reads. “It’s supposed to be the place where students get the best healthy lunches like salads, sandwiches, fresh fruits, etc. Instead they give some gross, unhealthy food.”

Every student gets a free lunch (if they want) in Chicago schools so that, as NPR notes in its report on the boycott, there is no stigma for low-income students.

Illinois taps emergency agencies to cope with flooding in the south, icing north

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois residents are facing flooding in southern sections of the state and freezing rain, ice and high winds in the northern part of the state Monday. The Illinois authorities are cautioning drivers to stay off the roads if at all possible.

“Road conditions are hazardous in many areas of the state, so if you can postpone travel plans today that would be best,” said IEMA Director James K. Joseph.

Although Governor Bruce Rauner is out of the country, vacationing with his family over the holidays, the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Springfield was activated Monday morning to ensure state personnel and equipment are ready to be deployed quickly if needed to help local emergency responders as they deal with flooding and winter weather.

Six states plunging quicker than Illinois in fiscal death spiral

Illinois is in big budget trouble, but if there's any good news, it is that Illinois' financial condition isn't the worst in the nation, a new study released Monday from Open the Books says.

The study was done by comparing the number of state and local government workers, as well as pension and Medicaid recipients, to the number of private-sector and federal workers in each state. 

Illinois' ratio doesn't top New York or California in Open the Books'  "FeedMe Ratio," where the states' ratios exceed 100.  

Illinois' FeedMe score is 81 and a half government workers for every 100 private sector and federal workers. 

The interactive map follows:

Medical marijuana becomes second career for retired Illinois cops

CHICAGO - The medical pot business has drawn a number or retired cops. In fact, the Associated Press has identified no fewer than 17 in Illinois, many of whom have outsized influence—from a trustee of the state's chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police to one-time undercover narcotics officers.

The pull of such post-police jobs extends well beyond Illinois. But industry members in Illinois and beyond say the state is unusual in the degree to which former law enforcement officers are not just working security but taking hands-on roles with patients and leading marijuana businesses.

Arguing their transformation from law enforcement to pot proprietor is about good public policy and not about money, the taxpayer-funded pensioners are lining up to leverage their connections for lucrative second career.

For example, Terrance Gainer, a former Chicago homicide detective and Illinois State Police director told AP that he was swayed in part by "the sea change in society and our attitudes" toward the drug and the possibility of big business. He now advises Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries.

Other players in Illinois include retired Will County Circuit Judge Robert Livas, co-founder of a company licensed to open two Chicago-area dispensaries. Another is a former Chicago-area assistant state's attorney who is now vice president of a company that owns a dispensary. There's also Arnette Heintze, a former U.S. Secret Service senior executive and Terry Hillard, who spent five years as Chicago's top cop. Both are partners at a Chicago consulting firm that advises medical marijuana growers and retailers.

More HERE

Trump ties Pope Francis as second most admired person in new Gallup Poll

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is just as admired throughout the world as Pope Francis - a new eyebrow-raising survey released Monday shows.

Barack Obama is the most admired man for 2015 in the new Gallup poll, and Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman for the 20th year in a row.

Sharpton Says Rahm Must Go

Left-wing activist Al Sharpton called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is vacationing in Cuba, to step down because of his poor management of race and policing in Chicago.

“You talk about a crisis on steroids,” Mr. Sharpton said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. “You are in the middle of a recall vote, they are circulating petitions in Chicago to recall you, the state legislature is going to have to deal with it and you don’t even come back? This is the height of either insensitivity or lack of intelligence or arrogance, or a reasonable combination of all three.

Asked if Mr. Emanuel could continue in his job, Mr. Sharpton replied: “I don’t see how he can continue governing now…now I think he’s gone beyond the point where he can even govern…certainly from where I sit he should [step down] because [the people] have clearly said ‘how do we trust this kind of administration to correct when you have this going so far off track and you’re not even showing up and dealing with it.’”

More HERE

Walsh: I was Trump before Trump

MCHENRY - Radio talk show host Joe Walsh told Facebook followers Monday morning he was saying Trump-like things five years ago when he was a congressman from Illinois - something people wanted to hear. 

"I was Trump before Trump," the bombastic Walsh wrote. "I went to Washington 5 years ago to speak my mind and I didn't care if I offended anyone. Because of that, the media tried to destroy me. Trump's microphone is too big for the media."

Arn: Democrat State Reps Want SCOTUS To Take Away Right To Keep And Bear Arms

By Ulysses Arn - 

Three Chicago Democrat state Representatives have introduced a resolution that asks the Supreme Court to over turn the Heller ruling, among others, and find that the 2nd amendment doesn't give an individual that right to keep and bear arms.

State Representative Emanuel Welch, Pamela Reaves-Harris, and Jaime Andrade jr. are pushing the measure.

HR 0855 blames the Heller ruling for the proliferation of gun violence in city's such as Chicago saying, "The Heller decision and other pro-firearm industry court rulings have resulted in a proliferation of guns in numerous communities and have diminished the security and freedom of our citizens to enjoy a life free of gun violence."

$1 Million in cash found in Massachusetts lawmaker's safe deposit boxes

MASSACHUSETTS - Last week, more than $1 million of cash, in small bundles, was found in safe deposit boxes belonging to a disgraced former Massachusetts state representative.

At least $750,000 in cash wasn't found in shoe boxes in a Springfield hotel, like the late Secretary of State Paul Powell's was in 1970. Another cache of $50,000 was found in Powell's state office. His estate was finally found two years later to have a cash value of more than $3 million, plus 61,290 shares of stock in seven Illinois racetracks.

Illinois loses more total population in past year than any other state

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois is in a steep population tailspin, census data shows - and there are multiple reasons why it's happening.

Illinois is in second place for the most people moving to other states in the past year. That’s according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this week. Domestic migration data from July of 2014 to July of 2015 has more than 105,200 people fleeing Illinois for other states. That exceeded the number of people coming to Illinois from other countries, which was over 37,600.

The Land of Lincoln welcomed over 156,400 newborns but had over 104,200 deaths. When all factors are combined Illinois saw a total population loss of nearly 22,200 people over the past year, leading all other states that saw population declines. Meanwhile New York led the country with nearly 158,000 people leaving for other states in the past year.

Newly-enacted Parental Notification law saves 500 babies in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - Earlier this week, the Illinois Department of Public Health released its data from 2014 showing that the abortion rate for minors fell by nearly 28% from the year prior, representing over 500 lives.

The Mauck & Baker Law Firm in Chicago attributes those numbers to the state's newly-enacted parental notification law.

"This precipitous drop occurred in the first full year that the Illinois Parental Notification Act of 1995 went into effect," the firm said in a press release. "The law requires abortion clinics to simply notify parents 48 hours in advance of when their minor daughters are seeking to have an abortion. Both the law and medicine agree that the health and well-being of minors are best served when their parents and guardians can help them with such weighty and life-altering decisions."

A Pause to celebrate the Birth of the Christ Child

Join us as we at Illinois Review pause to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child - the Son of God - who grew to sacrifice himself for our shortcomings and to redeem us from deserved eternal punishment to everlasting life.

Starkehaus: The reason for the season…Merry Christmas

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

Jonah Goldberg has written an article posted on NRO entitled, "But there's more than one front in the 'war on Christmas.'" His thoughts about attacks on public displays of Christian values are especially useful for understanding this phenomenon because Goldberg wasn't raised in a Christian household but celebrates Christmas mostly in recognition of his mother's Presbyterian background.

Goldberg's summation:

"While it's absolutely true that there are sincere and committed Christophobes and joyless atheistic boobs out there, one of the major culprits is capitalism itself. I like capitalism — a lot. Heck, the best Christmas present I could get would be a Scrooge-like conversion on the part of the president after a visit from the Ghost of Socialism Past. But the downside of capitalism is that it will, eventually, encourage the commercialization of everything sacred."

Di Leo: Christmas Shopping in Chicago - In Line or Online, How Times Have Changed

By John F. Di Leo - 

If you regularly drive north from Chicago to Milwaukee on I-94, as I do, you have watched Amazon’s Kenosha distribution center grow by leaps and bounds. The parking lot is full, day and night, as it is in online retailers’ similar facilities all over the country nowadays.

They may be on the outskirts of a metro like the Kenosha one, or in the heart of town, like Amazon’s 26 urban fulfillment centers in Houston, New York, San Francisco, Miami and Atlanta, often saving a blighted neighborhood by new construction and new jobs that no other business could justify bringing there.

The Christmas season is responsible for some of the current bustle, of course, but these places don’t disappear after the New Year. This presence – a new business model enabled by the internet – is here to stay.

Weyermuller: Politics, Nativities, Camels, and A Charlie Brown Christmas 2015

By Mark Weyermuller - 

I love the Christmas season especially the Christmas decorations and lawn displays. Last year, I started a social media project of posting a different nativity scene a day on Facebook during the holiday season. This year I got a little more carried away posting plastic mangers, air-blown manger scenes, mini-mantle mangers. There was even one of a church service with live animals reenacting the birth of Jesus Christ.

The service at the Trinity United Methodist Church of Wilmette included a live donkey, five sheep and an 1800 pound camel. All the animals were brought through the middle of the church as the children's pageant was presented.

Rhoads: Push Back, Say Merry Christmas!

By Mark Rhoads -

For many years I have refused to endorse the secular affectation dating time as "BCE" for "before common era" or "CE" for "common era" because it tries to erase two thousand years of common usage of "B.C." for "Before Christ" and A.D. for "Anno Domini" meaning in the year of our Lord.  It is an attempt to re-write history which is a crime against intellectual honesty based on a false notion of political correctness and inclusiveness.  

In the article linked below, Jewish radio host Dennis Prager explains why he thinks it is so important for Americans who are both Christians and Jews to say "Merry Christmas" and NOT "Happy Holidays" in order to push back against aggressive secular fanatics and protect the rights of believers before they disappear. 

SEE PRAGER'S ARTICLE HERE.

GOP candidates line up behind Democrat state rep's recall effort

SPRINGFIELD - Sixteen Republican state legislative candidates have formed an ad hoc coalition to back Democrat State Rep. LaShawn Ford's proposal that would allow Chicago voters to recall Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Six State Senate candidates and ten State House GOP candidates all say if elected, they would co-sponsor Ford's legislation and push for its passage.

State Senator agrees to pay $23k to 38 underpaid employees

HARVEY - The town of Harvey is one of Illinois' poorest, struggling Chicago suburbs, and local business owners added salt to Harvey's economic wounds by underpaying their employees over $23,000. 

The business is the Beggar's Pizza in Harvey, and the owners are State Senator Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey) and his brother. Harris is not only a state senator, he is on the Democrats' March 2016 primary ballot, running for US Senate against Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth and NAACP executive Andrea Zopp. 

The  Illinois Labor Department officials fined Harris for underpaying dozens of employees of his pizza restaurants, but Harris and the state reached an agreement in court and he will be repaying back wages to 38 employees.

Franklin Graham leaves GOP in disgust over Planned Parenthood funding

WASHINGTON - Evangelist Franklin Graham has announced he is abandoning the Republican Party in disgust over the move by the GOP-led Congress last week to pass a budget that Graham said was “wasteful” and provided funding for Planned Parenthood, which he compared to the Nazis, the Religion News Service reports.

Illinois wins Forbes' "Lump of Coal" award for 9th worst tax idea of 2015

WASHINGTON - Tax Vox's Lump Of Coal Awards For The 10 Worst Tax Ideas Of 2015 listed in Forbes includes Illinois - not so much for Illinois' fiscal craving for higher taxes, but more so because the state legislature and the governor have not yet come to a budget agreement. 

On one hand, Illinois was paired up with Pennsylvania because neither state has an FY 2016 budget.

9. Illinois and Pennsylvania. At least Michigan passed a budget. In Illinois, Republican Governor Bruce Rauner wants to reduce business costs while the Democrats who control the state legislature want to raise taxes and cut spending. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf wants to raise taxes and GOP state legislative won’t go along. Meanwhile, the fiscal year is now six months old and neither state has a budget.

On the other hand, Illinois was near the bottom of the top 10 listing of worst ideas. It could be much worse, according to Tax Vox. The lump was also presented to those that passed the ridiculously low $305 billion Highway Spending measure that will barely touch the need for repairing the nation's ailing infrastructure, most of which will have to come from somewhere else - like more debt.

Thorner: UN climate change deal "toothless, delusional," Heartland Institute says

By Nancy Thorner -

The Heartland Institute sent a delegation of climate scientists and other expert to Paris in early December to attend the United Nations' 21st Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), at which time they conducted a counter-conference, held news conferences, and attended official and unofficial events in Paris.

Given the presence of 40,000 environmentalists, politicians, bureaucrats, and professional protesters who attended COP-21, the ratio to the Heartland delegation (1,000 to 1) could have presented a daunting and impossible task. Nevertheless, the Heartland delegation made sure sound science, real economics, and common sense were heard in Paris. 

New Omnibus budget funds immigration programs that compromise U.S interests

WASHINGTON DC - Tidal waves are still hitting congressional districts in the wake of last week's $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Budget vote. The pro-legal immigration group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) scoured the bi-partisan budget agreement and found that it leaves intact "dangerous and illegal Obama immigration policies" that the Republican leadership claimed to oppose while "selling out on essential protections" for American workers.

Among the provisions of the omnibus bill that FAIR says "compromises the interests of the American people:" 

Madigan to face primary challenger Jason Gonzales next March

CHICAGO - House Speaker Mike Madigan will face at least one challenger on the 2016 Democrat primary ballot March 15th that wasn't put up by the Speaker's minions, says Jason Gonzales of Chicago.

Gonzales, 41, whose resume includes post-graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, isn't hesitant to criticize the powerful head of the state's Democrat Party.

"I’m taking on an ambitious and desperately needed project: I'm running against Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, a 45-year incumbent who has been the longest serving House Speaker in US history and bears much of the blame for our state's dire financial condition and Illinois’ $113 billion pension crisis," Gonzales wrote in an mass email last Friday.

Skillicorn criticizes Madigan choosing party fundraising over budget negotiating

EAST DUNDEE – House Speaker Mike Madigan reportedly chose to host a fundraiser last week rather than attend a budget meeting with Governor Rauner, and his decision has at least one candidate for State House hopping mad.

State Board of Elections' filings show the Speaker collected over half a million dollars from union reps and trial lawyers Thursday, December 17 - the same day another budget meeting was scheduled.

“Speaker Madigan has repeatedly pledged to work ‘respectfully and cooperatively’ with the governor,” Republican candidate for State House 66th Allen Skillicorn of East Dundee said. “We are six months into a budget crisis. How can speaker Madigan place campaign fundraising above performing his basic constitutional duties for the State of Illinois? It’s shocking.”

A-1 reports filed with the State Board of Elections detail over $500,000 in itemized donations to Madigan-controlled campaign committees. Donor totals between the three Democrat-linked funds Dec. 17 include:

UPDATE x1: Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly says Donald Trump is America's last hope

See UPDATE x1 below the fold 

ST LOUIS, MO - If World Net Daily's quotes from an exclusive interview with conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly are what they seem to be, businessman Donald Trump just received a coveted endorsement. 

“He does look like he’s the last hope [for America],” WND reports Schlafly said. “We don’t hear anybody saying what he’s saying. In fact, most of the people who ought to be lining up with him are attacking him. They’re probably jealous of the amount of press coverage he gets.

Foster: Marter needs exposure and money to pull off an upset over Kirk

By Howard Foster -

I had an conversation with Senatorial candidate James Marter on what I consider to be the major domestic issues: immigration and public sector unions. I’m pleased to report he’s intelligent, well-informed and far better from my perspective than incumbent Mark Kirk.

On the all-important and current question of immigration Marter, a software developer from far west suburban Oswego, wants big changes. He’d like to see the level of legal immigration cut by 90% from the current level of a million per year. He rejects the notion that the U.S. has a shortage of workers. He believes Senator Kirk’s vote for the 2013 immigration reform bill, which has caused headaches for Marco Rubio in the presidential race, means he is siding with business and against American workers.

FDA loosens restrictions on gay men donating blood

WASHINGTON - No longer will a male blood donor be asked if he has ever had sex with another male since 1977, nor will a female blood donor be asked if she has had sex with a male that had sex with another male in that same time frame, the Federal Drug Administration announced today.

Instead, the question asked of only of male blood donors will be if they've had similar sexual encounters within the past 12 months. If they haven't, they will be allowed to donate blood.

Trump leads at 30 percent in Illinois

CHICAGO - Donald Trump is the pick for 30 percent of those planning to vote in Illinois' March 15th primary, a new poll commissioned by the Sun-Times shows, putting him way ahead of all others.

Following Trump are Sens. Ted Cruz at 15 percent and Marco Rubio at 13 percent.

Bost boasts 12 town halls in the 12th CD

WASHINGTON - Freshman Congressman Mike Bost (IL-12) disappointed constituents when he voted with the Republican majority to pass Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's $1.1 Trillion budget last Friday. Only two Republican U.S. House members from Illinois voted against the budget: Randy Hultgren and Darin LaHood.

However, Bost is pleased with his office's efforts to reach out to those constituents via town halls:

Lindsey Graham suspends 2016 presidential bid

WASHINGTON DC - After consistently polling at the bottom of the GOP candidates, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is suspending his presidential run, he told supporters on a conference call Monday, and posted this YouTube: 

His announcement came on the same day as the deadline hit for him to remove his name from the South Carolina primary ballot, a date that had been closely watched amid speculation that the low-polling Graham would want to avoid a potentially poor performance in his own state’s contest.

“I was hoping not to have to make this call, but I think the time has come for me to suspend my campaign,” he said as he opened the call.

More HERE.

House Speaker Michael Madigan skips leaders' meeting

Interview with Pastor Doug Wilson [video]

Theologian and pastor Doug Wilson was interviewed by Pastor Derek Buikema.

Cruz Christmas parody infomercial to appear on SNL

NEW YORK - Saturday Night Live will feature a parody infomercial from Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz' presidential campaign Saturday night: 

The only two GOP groups where Trump isn't leading

RALEIGH, NC - According to the latest polling among Republican voters, billionaire businessman Donald Trump is way ahead of any of the other presidential candidates - except for two subgroups: Tea Partiers and "very conservative" voters, Public Policy Polling says ...

There are only two groups of the electorate Trump doesn't lead with- the closely related groups of Tea Party and 'very conservative' voters.

Walker: The Wisconsin Comeback

By Scott Walker - 

Middle-class taxpayers are better off in Wisconsin today than we were five years ago.

Many of our political opponents seem to be frustrated with the positive progress being made in our state (see Rep. Daniel Riemer's Dec. 10 column ). Thankfully, the facts point to a true comeback story.

A recent revised report from the federal government shows that the unemployment rate in Wisconsin is the lowest it has been since the spring of 2001. The 16,600 new jobs created in the month of October is the best monthly jobs gain since April of 1992 and the best October since at least 1990. And the 45,100 new private sector jobs added October over October is statistically significant.