Illinois Review

Only Liberty Can Loose the Gordian Knot of Health Care Reform

Michael Hamilton, Consumer Power Report - 

In the final edition of the Consumer Power Report, learn how large-scale reforms of the United States’ health care system are a Gordian knot that only a renaissance of liberty can loose. Our knotty health care system (which is also a considerably naughty system) is engaged in a great tug of war. If you expand health insurance coverage to the poor, you impoverish the masses. If you swing wide the gates for uninsurable people to buy health insurance, you shut the door on healthy people wanting inexpensive, catastrophe-only insurance. These are policy knots. There are others. READ MORE

Families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants devastated by Rauner commitment to sanctuary law

Dennis McCann (r) was killed in Chicago in 2011 by an illegal alien now hiding in Mexico 

CHICAGO - Three men whose loved ones were killed by persons living illegally in Illinois have tried time and time again, but Governor Rauner refuses to speak with them about the sanctuary bill he reportedly promised immigration groups he would sign into law. 

The report by immigration groups saying Governor Rauner promised to sign SB 31 is "very disturbing to thousands of family members in the United States that mourn daily because their loved ones were killed by illegal aliens," one of the family members told Illinois Review Friday. 

Three Illinoisans - namely Eric Brady who lost his wife on New Years Day in Champaign County, Ray Tranchant from the Danville area, who lost his daughter and Brian McCann, whose brother from Chicago was killed by an illegal alien  driver - have made repeated requests to meet with the governor to no avail.

Does Rauner know how SB 31 could detrimentally affect Illinois? We asked 4 questions.

CHICAGO - Immigration advocacy groups are reporting Friday morning that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has committed to signing into law a bill that would make every public school, daycare center, preschool, public university, nursing home, hospital and medical facility in Illinois a sanctuary location for illegal aliens avoiding law enforcement. The bill also includes motor vehicle offices and court houses.

With the state in such dire financial straits, and the governor and his staff wholeheartedly fighting to correct the state's fiscal condition, ignoring the $4.6 billion the approximate 550,000 illegals cost the state each year seemed uncharacteristic. 

So Illinois Review reached out to the Federation for American Immigration Reform with a few questions about the effect SB 31 could have on the state of Illinois - in case Governor Rauner or his staff had not taken time to speak with experts opposing the measure.

Di Leo: Dining in Cook County: Just a Sandwich Today

By John F. Di Leo - 

On the way in to the office today, I made my first retail food purchase in Cook County since the new Democrat Tax kicked in. I stopped at a fast food place for a sausage biscuit for breakfast.

I usually order a drink with it, but not today; I was in Cook County. A simple drive-through order that’s normally about two bucks, or maybe three (depending on the size of the drink) was just a dollar plus tax.

Most Cook County residents are making the same kind of decision nowadays, as we switch to making our grocery purchases, fast food stops, and restaurant dining options take place on the other side of the border, in Lake, Kane, DuPage, or Will, or even in Indiana.

These changes will sometimes move a fifty or hundred dollar order across the line, but sometimes just a little two dollar order like mine this morning. Big or small, they all make a difference.  If I had been thirsty, I would’ve waited, and stopped on the DuPage end of my commute.  But I wasn’t especially thirsty, so I stopped in Cook County and just had the sandwich.  

Rauner commits to signing sanctuary bill

SPRINGFIELD - A group of pro-immigrant advocates met with Governor Rauner and say that he committed to signing SB 31, making every public school, hospital and more community sites places where employees are forbidden to ask citizenship status. 

That includes any Secretary of State office in Illinois - where drivers licenses are issued and voter registration takes place. (READ the four questions Illinois Review asked FAIR) 

From a press release issued today: 

Illinois conservatives to gather August 18th & 19th in Elmhurst

ELMHURST - Illinois conservatives are plentiful, but they're just not well-organized, and the Leftist media so rarely includes conservative perspectives that many are misled to believe conservatives are extinct in the Land of Lincoln.

But conservatives are really not that rare in Illinois, they just need to know who each other are and meet up to encourage one another, says Carol Davis - the co-founder of West Suburban Patriots. That's why she and Janet Shaw started the ball rolling on a long overdue gathering of Illinois conservatives. 

The event, "Strategy 2017: From Outrage to Action," will be held August 18 and 19th at the Diplomat West Banquet Hall in Elmhurst, IL.

Cook County sugary drink tax kicks in

COOK COUNTY - Despite lawsuits, delays and protests, the Democrat-controlled Cook County Board of Commissioners finally got their one cent per ounce sugary drink tax into effect Wednesday. 

If the drink is purchased with a SNAP card, there's no tax hike added. Only if the drink is paid for with cash, credit or debit (and the like) cards. Here's how the tax works:

• Bottled sweetened beverages (soda, sports drinks, flavored water, energy drinks, pre-made sweetened coffee and tea with less than 50% milk content, etc.) – the tax rate is $.01 per ounce of sweetened beverage and is calculated on the fluid ounces contained in the bottle or can.           
• Sweetened beverages produced from syrups using a beverage dispensing machine and powders using a beverage dispensing machine or by hand mixing (fountain drinks, lemonade, etc.) – tax is applied to the total amount of beverage that the syrup or powder will make per the manufacturers’ directions.

• For example, a 5 gallon bag of syrup will make 3,840 ounces of beverage – at tax rate of $.01 per ounce of sweetened beverage, the tax for that bag of syrup is $38.40.

Add that new little tax to the state's new 32% income tax hike, the new five cent per gallon gasoline tax hike and, well, there's an air of discontentment and frustration in Cook County today. 

Here's what one person found on her lunch tab today when she ordered a fountain drink at the Qdoba in Schaumburg: 

Di Leo: Illegal Aliens and the Challenge of Statistics

By John F. Di Leo -

Illegal aliens are in the news again this week.

With over 20 million in the country (and yes, that may be a conservative estimate), it’s actually amazing they aren’t in the news every week… but there has long been something of a media blackout on this problem outside of the times when the Democratic talking points focused on them, as when the Obama administration tried, again and again, to convince the nation to just give them all citizenship. (For some people, nothing is too outrageous if it involves a large enough voting block).

This week, the case that propelled the issue to headlines was of a rapist, robber, and addict named Sergio Jose Martinez, caught in Portland, still committing crimes after having been deported twenty – yes, twenty – times before.

Illinoisans, knowing we have over half a million illegal aliens in our state, and massive crime as well, must read such stories and ask ourselves: How many Sergio Jose Martinezes must we have of our own?

Taxes Are Killing Small Businesses

Did you know that U.S. businesses are taxed at one of the highest rates in the developed world? How bad is it? And why should you care? Watch this short video to find out.

Thorner: Are we willing to accept political correctness for common sense in the military?

By Nancy Thorner - 

With a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, July 26, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military will not accept openly transgender individuals. By so doing, Trump reversed an Obama administration policy directive. Earlier this July, Defense Secretary James Mattis had said he would delay new admissions of openly transgender Americans into the military until Jan. 1 on the advice of military brass. Trump’s announcement, however, at least for the time being, appeared to seal the matter. 

There are, however, Republican members of Congress who believe that taxpayers should pay for castration and vaginal construction for transvestite males, double mastectomies of healthy breasts for male-posing women and hormone therapy and all else that goes with it.  The Hartzler Amendment to the House appropriations bill would have stopped the military from paying for the procedures related to sex changes after Obama executive order, but all the Democrats in the House, and 24 Republicans, kept this amendment from passing.  

As promised, Governor sends back to legislature amendatory veto on school funding bill

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois will achieve historic education funding reform if the Illinois General Assembly upholds changes Gov. Bruce Rauner issued in the form of an amendatory veto to the school funding bill, his office said in a statement Tuesday. 

“It doesn’t matter where you come from or who your family is. With a great education, you can go anywhere in life and be whomever you want to be. You can grow up, get a good job and provide for your family. That’s why the changes I have made to the education funding bill are so important,” Gov. Rauner said.

The governor's suggested changes are substantial, but they still won't fix the school funding system's dysfunction, said State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton). 

Bellock to retire after serving ten terms in Illinois House

WESTMONT– State Representative Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale) announced Tuesday that while completing her tenth term in the Illinois House, she will not seek re-election in 2018. 

"She will continue to focus on serving her constituents and continuing her work on improving access to quality health care for every Illinois family and strengthening the safety net for the state’s most vulnerable residents until the completion of her current term in January 2019," a statement from her office said.

Bill making every Illinois school, hospital, nursing home a sanctuary location sits on Rauner's desk

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is facing backlash on the controversial school funding bill he amendatory vetoed Tuesday. But while the media is focused on that particular hot potato, another one is cooking on the governor's desk, as well.

Will the governor sign into law a bill making every school, hospital, DMV center and nursing home a location where persons illegally residing in America can harbor from law enforcement officials? 

School Choice Could Be Reducing Crime, Studies Show

Teresa Mull, School Choice Weekly - 

More and more studies suggest increased education choice may result in a decreased crime rate. According to an article in the American Spectator, there is growing evidence that giving parents the ability to choose their child’s school can reduce crime and all the associated costs alongside it.

Fewer kids in trouble with the law, more kids learning, lower costs for taxpayers? Sounds like a win, win, win … unless you’re a member of a teachers union, in which case some would say you celebrate criminality. READ MORE

The War On Cars [Prager U video]

There is a war against cars in America. Regulators want Americans out of cars and onto trains, buses, and bicycles. Why? Because of what cars represent -- freedom. Automotive expert Lauren Fix ("The Car Coach") explains.