Illinois Review

Madigan in the news: Power. Privilege. Politics

CHICAGO - Illinois Policy Institute's Austin Berg sent out an email to subscribers Tuesday, explaining the group's take on the news that a meeting including Speaker Mike Madigan was recorded by then-Chicago Alderman Danny Solis. Solis was reportedly cooperating with an FBI investigation.

Berg writes: 

The federal investigation that led to Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s indictment also extended to the most powerful political player in the state, a new report reveals.

The FBI secretly recorded a business meeting between Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan and a hotel developer who had been directed to Madigan’s law firm by Ald. Danny Solis, according to an affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Solis announced he will not seek re-election earlier this month following news that he had secretly recorded dozens of conversations with Ald. Ed Burke.

An FBI agent writes a sentence in the report that has exploded statewide, Berg writes:

Illinois safest state for animals, not human babies

SPRINGFIELD -  While Illinois has some of the toughest laws to protect innocent animals from human cruelty, they're not nearly as protective of human babies still in their mothers' wombs.

The 2018 U.S. Animal Protection Laws Rankings Report issued annually by the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranks Illinois as the safest state for animals in the nation. 

"Holding strong at the top for eleven years, Illinois has maintained its rank as first in the nation for animal protection laws," the report says. Illinois is followed by Oregon (2), Maine (3), Colorado (4), and Massachusetts (5).

Letter to Editor: The IL GOP has the nerve to ask for donations?

By Brad Baber - 

Yesterday I received a letter from IL GOP chairman Tim Schneider asking for a donation. In the letter is a litany of excuses as to why Republicans lost big in the 2018 election, but nowhere in the list did he put any of the blame on the IL GOP or Bruce Rauner. Let’s get back to that in a minute.

The previous IL GOP chairman, Pat Brady openly advocated against the platform of the party. He was an ally to Illinois Democrats, and solely advocated for his own agenda, not that of IL Republican voters. He was confronted many times for his treasonous acts towards IL Republican voters and finally forced out when his presence was no longer tenable.

Thorner: Illinois native leads effort to unveil hidden government spending

Adam Andrzejewski (l) with Ed Martin (r) of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum

By Nancy Thorner - 

It is not only right, it is crucial that taxpayers know exactly how the money the government demands from them is spent.  It is also critical that those taxpayers interact with those making spending decisions.

That's the underlying motive for what Adam Andrzejewski does with the non-profit group he founded in Illinois several years ago. It's making a difference.

Rossi: How the GOP Needs to Sell the "Wall" to Voters

By Randy Rossi - 

It is absolutely amazing for informed Americans to watch Democrats successfully stall adding to the “wall” on our southern border that has successfully protected American sovereignty for decades where it exists. Presented properly, the facts for a “wall” are so overwhelming it should be a “no brainer”! Sadly as is so often the case, the GOP is absolutely right on the issue but they have done a poor job of selling their case to the voters while the Democrats as usual are wrong on the issue but they have done a great job of selling their destructive position that goes against all Americans.

The GOP needs to explain why a “wall” is good for all Americans with hard and simple facts that a vast majority of Americans would immediately understand and realize impacts them. First and foremost the GOP needs to explain how illegal immigration hurts them and their children. Hard facts from FAIR show that illegal immigration costs American taxpayers over $100 billion a year by using our health care, schools, and legal and police resources to support between 11-12 million illegal immigrants that broke the law to be here. What every American citizen and legal immigrant should understand is that in addition to that cost, illegal aliens are taking away those critical and limited medical and education resources from them and their kids. Massive teaching resources are being diverted from their kids to illegal immigrants which hurts their kid’s educations. We all wait longer in emergency rooms because illegal aliens go there for free healthcare at our expense. This is a big deal that hurts all of us.

Why Trump Won

Were you shocked at the results of the 2016 American presidential election? Most people were, but Stephen Harper was not one of them. Here, the former Prime Minister of Canada explains the trends that foreshadowed Trump’s victory and left many political elites looking wildly out of touch.

Gov. Pritzker Wages War on Ideal Climate

Newly-elected Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said “I believe in science” in his inaugural address but then promptly said he would take action to combat ideal climate conditions for Illinois crops. Trumpeting false and debunked climate scare tactics, Pritzker signaled he would take action to restrict carbon dioxide emissions and fight the recent climate conditions that have fostered record crop output on a nearly annual basis.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects Illinois farmers will set new records for yields per acre for corn and soybeans. Although wheat yields did not set a new record in 2018—unusually cold March and April temperatures stunted growth—farmers achieved record wheat yields in 2016 and 2017.

Government Sites Promote Obama Climate Policies

Donald Trump might be the official head of the federal executive branch, but climate alarmists embedded in numerous executive departments apparently don’t care about such things as democratic elections. Two years into the Trump administration, career bureaucrats continue to promote blatantly political climate propaganda on executive branch websites, including numerous statements that directly contradict Trump’s policies and past statements.

There is no justification for any administration to subvert the presentation of objective science on official federal websites or championing one side in a contentious scientific debate. There is even less justification for over-the-top, anti-science alarmist climate propaganda to dominate executive branch webpages in defiance of the current chief executive’s policy positions.

More HERE

Green New Deal Is an Old Socialist Plan

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, D-N.Y., “Green New Deal” is the most radical and destructive policy proposal offered by a member of Congress in decades. Not only would it destroy roughly 3.4 million jobs related to the fossil fuel industry by eliminating nearly all fossil fuel use by 2030, it would also require “upgrades” to every home and business building in the country and the creation of single-payer health care, a “basic income” program, and a federal jobs guarantee, among many other left-wing policies.

With the backing of Ocasio-Cortez, what was once thought to be a fringe policy idea has gained significant momentum in recent months. At least 40 members of the House have said they support the Green New Deal, and eight likely Democratic presidential candidateshave also said they support most or all of the plan, including Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee and Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Humans Have Minimal Impact on Atmosphere

Global warming activists argue carbon-dioxide emissions are destroying the planet, but the climate impacts of carbon dioxide are minimal, at worst. Activists would also have you believe fossil-fuel emissions have driven carbon-dioxide concentrations to their highest levels in history. The Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency went so far as to classify carbon dioxide as a toxic pollutant, and it established a radical goal of closing all of America’s coal-fired power plants.

Claims of unprecedented carbon-dioxide levels ignore most of Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history. Relative to Earth’s entire record, carbon-dioxide levels are at historically low levels; they only appear high when compared to the dangerously low levels of carbon dioxide that occurred in Earth’s very recent history. The geologic record reveals carbon dioxide has almost always been in Earths’ atmosphere in much greater concentrations than it is today. For example, 600 million years ago, when history’s greatest birth of new animal species occurred, atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations exceeded 6,500 parts per million (ppm) — an amount that’s 17 times greater than it is today.

More HERE

Governor Pritzker warns to wear mittens and warm leg coverings during polar temps

CHICAGO - Illinois is about to go through a polar vortex that will send the northern part of the state into record-setting minus 0 temps - and Governor JB Pritzker sent out an emergency message - including a list of things to wear dressing for the cold:

Dressing for the cold

If you need to be outside, the following suggestions will help keep you warm and protect your body from excessive heat loss. 
• Wear several layers of lightweight clothing rather than one or two layers of heavy garments. The air between the layers of clothing acts as insulation to keep you warmer.
• Cover your head. You lose as much as 50 percent of your body heat through your head.
• Wear mittens rather than fingered gloves.
• Wear warm leg coverings and heavy socks or two pairs of lightweight socks.
• Wear waterproof boots or sturdy shoes that give you maximum traction.
• Cover your ears and the lower part of your face. The ears, nose, chin, and forehead are most susceptible to frostbite. Cover your mouth with a scarf to protect the lungs from directly inhaling extremely cold air.

Make sure you have enough needed medications, oxygen, diabetes testing equipment and other medical supplies needed for several days. Talk with your health care provider about scheduling daily or frequent medical care such as dialysis, cancer therapy and other appointments.

Here's the rest of the governor's warning:

New York writer calls for $33 minimum wage

CHICAGO - In the first six months of his term, Illinois' new Governor J.B. Pritzker says he plans to implement to work with the Illinois legislature to enact a $15 statewide minimum wage. The city of Chicago's current minimum wage is $12 per hour, and the state's is $8.25.

With a like-minded Democrat super-majority in both Capitol chambers, Pritzker's effort would make Illinois have the highest minimum wage in the Midwest.

But even if it passes, there may be more expected in the days ahead. A columnist opined in the New York Times earlier this month that New York's $15 minimum wage isn't high enough. She's calling for $33 per hour.

Di Leo: From Outsourcing to Insourcing – The Hot New Trend?

By John F. Di Leo - 

As business publications look back on the first half of the Trump administration – in particular, on the trade war that ratcheted up in 2018 – they are bound to conflate politically-motivated changes with non-political ones.  This may be partially unavoidable; there is after all a political aspect to everything, and with tariffs on top of everyone’s mind for a full year, such things certainly do play a part.

But it’s going too far – much too far – to assume that such changes are completely, or even primarily, caused by shifts in public policy.  Often, business world changes are overdue, and political shifts may just give rhetorical cover for a decision that’s been postponed too long already.

As just one example, the January 24 edition of the Economist led with a feature with the gripping title, “The Steam has Gone Out of Globalization,” which includes the perfunctory message that “Mr. Trump’s trade war” is a part of the cause, while otherwise acknowledging the truth that this change has been ongoing for at least a decade.

Illinois' gun law proposal "Orwellian," new senator says

EDWARDSVILLE - Newly-sworn in State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) says House Bill 888, which forces law-abiding citizens to give Illinois state agencies access to their personal social media accounts for merely considering exercising their constitutional right to own a firearm stems from an "Orwellian" mindset.

“It’s shocking that big-government liberals think the people of Illinois would be OK with granting government agencies the ability to snoop through their social media platforms,” Sen. Plummer said.  “This ‘Orwellian’ mindset is frightening and something that all Americans, regardless of their partisan affiliation, should be on guard against. In America we care about individual rights and privacy.”

See Illinois Review's STATE POLICE TO REVIEW SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE GUN PURCHASES WITH NEW PROPOSAL

Thorner/Ingold: Dawn 'Bin Laden' Style Raid Takes Roger Stone Into FBI Custody

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold - 

On Friday, January 24th, the country saw news that Roger Stone, long-time Republican strategist and campaign consultant to Donald Trump had been indicted and arrested by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's witch hunt, but Trump says Roger Stone didn't work for him 'anywhere near election'. This is the latest in a long string of political "hits" against top Trump campaign officials. What was different today, however, is that video from Stone's arrest looked more like the capture of a drug lord or known terrorist. In a ludicrous move, Stone's home was swarmed by dozens of FBI agents and vehicles in full SWAT gear.

Rossi: The Illinois GOP Needs a Strategic "Reboot"

By Randy Rossi - 

Any successful business executive knows that if you get beaten badly by your competitors, it is time to do a strategic reboot so that you can accomplish your mission and your goals. After seeing the results of the last election in which the GOP in Illinois essentially got wiped out in a “Blue Wave”, it is clearly time for the Illinois GOP leadership to do a major strategic reboot so we can win again and save our state from disaster. After all as Einstein said many years ago “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

The problem is that doing a successful strategic plan means that you have to be brutally honest with yourself and identify you legitimate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Many organizations have a hard time doing this because you have to admit that your organization has flaws. I know that this process works because I ran a successful manufacturing company that won Industry Week Magazine’s “Plant of the Year Award” which means that were one of the top manufacturers in all of North America. That brutal strategic planning process was critical for our success. When I retired I was asked to run for Precinct Committeeman by Republicans in Lake County and I was elected. My biggest shock in that process was to see how behind the times the Republican Party of Illinois was. They had the right ideas and values but they executed them the “Good Old Boy” way which was out dated, ineffective, and a path to failure.

Only 7 percent of millennials support Democratic Party’s position on abortion

Ninety-three percent of millennial-aged Americans do not subscribe to the official Democratic Party platform on abortion, according to a newly released survey by a pro-life student group.

The poll, released Monday by Students for Life of America's Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, found that only 7 percent of millennials surveyed supported taxpayer funding of abortions and abortion without any legal restrictions. This contrasts with the stated position of the Democratic Party on the issue of abortion.

More HERE

Poll: 6 in 10 Americans want Roe v. Wade changed to allow abortion restrictions

More than six in 10 Americans say they want the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade to be reinterpreted to allow additional restrictions on abortion, a new survey has found.

A new survey of over 1,066 adults aged 18 and older conducted last week and released on Tuesday asked participants what they would want to happen if the Supreme Court one day reconsiders the 1973 ruling, a possibility that some abortion advocates fear with the slight conservative majority of the bench.

More HERE

Government Octopus Threatens Economy

If government did less, then there would be less disruption from a government shutdown. Chris Edwards writes:

The shutdown is affecting activities that the government needlessly monopolizes—such as air traffic control. It is affecting activities that the government needlessly regulates and subsidizes—fromSmuttynose’s beer labels in New Hampshire to Betty Gay’s home repairs in Kentucky.

And it is needlessly harming a large group of people that it has micromanaged for far too long—American Indians. “The shutdown has hit Native American tribes especially hard because so many of their basic services depend on federal funding,” notes theWashington Post. Education, health care, road maintenance, and other services on reservations are often run by the federal government or run by tribal employees paid by the federal government.

Calling family 'family' sparks meltdown for Google workers

Calling family “family” has sparked a meltdown among workers at Google, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation, including one who lashed out at company officials for their “disrespectful way to speak.”

 

The Daily Caller cited insider documents provided by a source who insisted on remaining anonymous.

The revolt began when a company official was talking to employees about features of Google’s Unicorn product that continually use the word “family” as a synonym for “household with children.”

“That employee posted an extended rant, which was well-received by his colleagues, on why linking families to children is ‘offensive, inappropriate, homophobic, and wrong,'” the Daily Caller said.

More HERE

City council bans new churches from downtown

The American Center for Law and Justice is warning a South Carolina city to lift its ban on new churches in its downtown district or end up in court.

Gaffney, South Carolina, Mayor Henry Jolly and the city council adopted a zoning ordinance that specifically excludes religious organizations from occupying commercial or store-front buildings in the town’s downtown district if those sites previously were retail.

In a letter, ACLJ warned that the federal law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent prevent the city from discriminating against religious groups.

More HERE

Restaurant Fined $7,000 for Telling Biological Male Not to Use Women’s Restroom

A D.C. restaurant was fined $7,000 by the city this week after it tried to stop a biological male customer who identifies as female from using the women’s restroom. 

The restaurant also must post a sign declaring that “all individuals are allowed to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity or expression.”

The controversy started last year, when Charlotte Clymer, a transgender woman who was born male, entered the women’s restaurant at Cuba Libre, a Cuban restaurant in the District of Columbia. An employee followed Clymer into the restroom. A manager even asked for Clymer’s identity. 

After being told to leave, Clymer – an activist with the Human Rights Campaign – called police. The D.C. Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. 

More HERE

Even After Janus, Unions are Still Wrongly Forcing Speech on Public Employees

The fight against forced union fees isn’t over. Trey Kovacs reports:

Despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that forcing public workers to pay union fees as a condition of employment goes against First Amendment free speech rights, public employees are still forced to associate with a union and let the union speak for them, no matter how strongly an employee disagrees with that speech.

Dues or no dues, the vast majority of state laws still deem government unions as “exclusive representatives” that speak on behalf of all employees at a workplace, including nonmembers who have refused to join the union.

Gov Pritzker: "Trump attacks immigrants, Illinois welcomes them."

Patch photo

AURORA — Illinois new Democrat Governor JB Pritzker spent his first two weeks in office pleasing specific groups that supported his 2018 campaign to unseat Republican Bruce Rauner: public sector unions, abortion advocates, environmentalists and immigrant rights groups. 

Thursday in far west suburban Aurora, Pritzker signed an executive order "strengthening" Illinois commitment to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

State police to review social media before gun purchases with new proposal

BUFFALO GROVE - Illinois residents' comments on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere on the web that the State Police finds a problem could keep that person from owning a gun. That is if Democrat freshman from Buffalo Grove State Rep. Daniel Didech's HB 888 becomes law. 

Filing his first two bills Friday, Didech chose to focus on measures that could limit gun owners' rights. The first one would prohibit a person convicted as a stalker from buying a gun. The second would require law enforcement to review social media accounts before issuing a FOID card. The measure would also allow social media comments to provoke FOID card revocations. 

Illinois offers utility bill assistance to furloughed federal workers, unemployed and students

EAST DUNDEE –Friday, Illinois - which is over $8 billion behind in its bills - offered utility bill assistance to federal workers on furlough due to the shutdown, unemployed and students living away from home.

"If your last thirty day income has been affected by the federal shutdown, if you lost your job, if you are a student living away from home struggling to pay your utility bills, the state's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) said in a press release.

All that's nice, said State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee), but it could cost up to $100 million in aid. How will all this be paid for?

New York, Illinois in competition to "glorify" baby killing?

New York's Gov Cuomo signed the abortion bill immediately after passage 

CHICAGO - Governor Pritzker celebrated the 46th Anniversary of legalized abortion with Planned Parenthood and abortion-supporting Personal PAC alongside Tuesday as he issued an executive order with the aim of making Illinois the nation's most progressive "reproductive rights" state. 

That's an exaggeration, you say? Here's Executive Order 2019-5's opening sentence: "Whereas, the Office of the Governor is committed to ensuring that Illinois is the most progressive state in the nation for protecting women's reproductive rights ..." and goes on to say just how that will be done. 

The very same day that Pritzker signed his executive order to implement fully a measure signed into law by previous GOP Governor Bruce Rauner , New York surpassed Illinois by making it legal to end the lives of unborn babies up until their birth.

Trump announces government to open until Feb 15th, negotiations to continue

"In a short while, I will sign a bill to open our Government for three weeks until February 15th. I will make sure that all employees receive their back pay very quickly." —President Trump pic.twitter.com/LeD58JeyK0

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 25, 2019

Illinois' Latino LGBTQ rights group pushes inclusion in history curriculum

SPRINGFIELD - A person's sexual orientation being different other than his or her biological sex would be the key reason he or she would be included in the proposed "Inclusive Curriculum" bill, says ALMA Chicago in a tweet Friday. 

"Our students need to learn that LGBTQ people have played important roles in our history," and that should be required in the history curriculum, the tweet says.

The Illinois Senate passed a similar measure in 2018. It was not called for a vote in the Illinois House. Now Democrats have super-majorities in both chambers.

ALMA - the Association of Latinos as Motivating Action - says its purpose is "to fight for the rights of the Latino Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning community by advocating for fairness and equality."

28 Illinois nursing homes fined during 2018's last quarter

One of 28 nursing homes fined in 2018's last quarter

SPRINGFIELD – Twenty-eight Illinois nursing homes violated the state's Nursing Home Care Act during the last three months of 2018, a report from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said this week. The fines were made public on the IDPH's website.

The facilities listed below were cited with type “A” violations of the Nursing Home Care Act and processed between October-December 2018.  An “A” violation pertains to a condition in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious mental or physical harm will result, or has resulted.

A facility may contest an assessment of a penalty by sending a written request to the Department for hearing, IDPH spokesperson Melaney Arnold said in an email. Upon receipt of the request the Department shall hold a hearing.

Instead of a hearing a facility may, Illinois law says, within 10 business days after receipt of the notice of violation and fine assessment, transmit to the Department 65% of the amount assessed for each violation specified in the penalty assessment.

The “Green New Deal” Is a Fiscal Fantasy

In the 1950s, effective average federal taxes were only 17 percent. Milton Ezrati weighs in on the arguments for a 70 percent top tax rate to fund a “Green New Deal”:

 [Paul] Krugman and [Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez] play fast and loose when it comes to the country’s prosperity under high tax rates. It’s true that the United States prospered with a top rate of 70 percent and higher in the mid-twentieth century. But the tax code then included loopholes that drastically reduced the amount of income subject to those rates. All the tax cuts since then have closed those loopholes. One can forgive Ocasio-Cortez for missing the difference, as she has consistently shown economic and historical ignorance, but Krugman should know better.

Rhoads: When Hollywood was Funny and Clean

By Mark Rhoads-

As a lifelong Laurel and Hardy fan, I looked forward to seeing the new biopic movie Stan & Ollie starring perfectly cast Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy.

I was not disappointed when I saw the film last Tuesday night this week. Of course, I realize that this comedy pair performed their art during a more innocent time in the America of the 1920s to the 1940s. But the contrast with the vulgar so-called "comedy" offerings of Hollywood today is so dramatic that one cannot help but long for that more innocent time.

Google Manipulated YouTube Search Results for Abortion, Maxine Waters, David Hogg

In sworn testimony, Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Congress last month that his company does not “manually intervene” on any particular search result. Yet an internal discussion thread leaked to Breitbart News reveals Google regularly intervenes in search results on its YouTube video platform – including a recent intervention that pushed pro-life videos out of the top ten search results for “abortion.”

The term “abortion” was added to a “blacklist” file for “controversial YouTube queries,” which contains a list of search terms that the company considers sensitive. According to the leak, these include some of these search terms related to: abortion, abortions, the Irish abortion referendum, Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and anti-gun activist David Hogg.

The existence of the blacklist was revealed in an internal Google discussion thread leaked to Breitbart News by a source inside the company who wishes to remain anonymous. A partial list of blacklisted terms was also leaked to Breitbart by another Google source.

More HERE

What It Takes to Become a Millionaire

What’s the difference between America’s millionaires and the rest of us? Chris Hogan, author of Everyday Millionaires, and his research team interviewed over 10,000 millionaires to find out, and what they discovered exploded a number of common myths.

The FBI Tramples Our Political Order

Who will investigate the politicization of the FBI? The Federal Bureau of Investigation, reported the New York Times this week, investigated whether President Trump is a threat to national security. That, writes Rich Lowry, is not how our political system is supposed to work:

As part of the executive branch, the FBI should brush up on the powers of the chief executive. The president gets to fire subordinate executive-branch officials. He gets to meet with and talk to foreign leaders. He gets to make policy toward foreign nations. Especially important to the current investigation, he gets to say foolish, ill-informed, and destructive things.

Pritzker obligates Illinois to uphold Paris Climate Agreement environmental regs

Gov Pritzker signs Illinois onto Paris Climate Agreement regs - Photo via Twitter

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR JB PRITZKER'S OFFICE -  

Surrounded by environmental advocates in the state capital’s Southwind Park Wednesday, Governor JB Pritzker took executive action joining the U.S. Climate Alliance, becoming the 18th governor to uphold the environmental protections despite President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

"I ran on a bold agenda to protect our environment, help our workers thrive and build the 21st century economy our state deserves, and now I’m taking action to join the U.S. Climate Alliance and stand on the side of science and reason," said Gov. JB Pritzker. "I’m proud to join the bipartisan coalition of governors and states committed to upholding the provisions of Paris Climate Agreement. While the president is intent on taking us backwards, I will work hard every day to move our state forward. We know that climate change is real. We know it’s a threat. And we know we must act."

Once Republican, IL CD #6 now represented by social Leftist Sean Casten

WHEATON - The Blue Tsunami that hit Illinois in November 2018 swept Illinois' 6th CD far into deep Leftist political waters. Tuesday, the 6th's new representative to U.S. Congress publicly declared his support for transsexuals in the U.S. military and Illinois' expanding abortion policies. 

"I stand with Planned Parenthood," Casten declared in a photo tweeted by Planned Parenthood. Later his own Tweet declared the U.S. Supreme Court taking a step backward.

Democrat Sean Casten shocked comfortable Republicans in DuPage County, when he handily ousted incumbent Republican conservative Peter Roskam - who succeeded conservative icon Henry Hyde representing the district.

Thorner: Despite contrary claims, study finds marijuana more dangerous to teens than alcohol

By Nancy Thorner - 

Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show of October 17, 2018, during a segment titled, Should America Legalize Pot?, debated with Mason Tvert of Marijuana Policy Project about Tvert's claim that smoking marijuana is less dangerous than drinking alcohol. 

Having thought about this claim for some time I was not surprised, as were the researchers, who found after studying 3,826 students over four years in and around Montreal, Canada, that cannabis has greater short- and long-term negative consequences than alcohol on the memory function of teens in four crucial areas, resulting in life-long brain damage.  The results of this study were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in October of 2018.

Pritzker's order to promote state-funded abortions met with mixed reactions

Personal PAC leads "thank you" drive for Pritzker's EO

SPRINGFIELD - Governor J.B. Pritzker's effort to expand state-funded abortion services announced on the 46th anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision legalizing abortion faced praise from the state's enthusiastic abortion supporters and criticism from pro-lifers.

“On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I’m proud to declare under my administration, the State of Illinois will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing the right to choose for every single woman,” Governor JB Pritzker said at a press conference.

The new governor issued an executive order Tuesday, ensuring that the abortion funding bill former Governor Rauner signed into law would be fully implemented. Illinois will now be pursuing expectant mothers that may be considering aborting their unborn, and informing them Illinois taxpayers will pay for the procedures.

Di Leo: The Kids of Covington – More Than Just A Media Fail

By John F. Di Leo - 

Imagine a tour group, composed of children or teenagers – visiting a big tourist town like New York or Los Angeles – hanging out politely in front of a well-known local tourist attraction like the Statue of Liberty or Times Square, waiting for their tour guide to take them to the next stop.

They’ve enjoyed their trip so far – it’s been an exciting, though too-short visit (aren’t they always?) – and now they’re ready for the last leg of the trip home.  They’re in a good mood as they wait where they were told to wait, patiently and peacefully, until their bus arrives.

Now imagine not one, but two other groups – of adults – selecting them for abuse.  For over an hour, one group shouts vulgarities at them, unprovoked.  They can tell what school the kids attend, because – as is customary with tour groups – they are wearing hats or shirts that identify their school, to help keep the group together so the chaperones can take quick counts and ensure that nobody gets lost.  And this group of piggish adults taunts them, hoping to provoke them into a confrontation. 

In an attempt to remain calm and peaceful as they wait for their bus, the kids start chanting their school cheers, hoping to drown out the taunts and forget what’s happening, as they wait, ever more anxiously, for their bus to arrive and free them from this unexpectedly miserable end to an otherwise great trip.

Illinois senator witnesses mall shooting, encourages tougher gun laws

ORLAND PARK - Illinois State Senator Elgie Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) was shopping with his family Monday night when shots rang out at Orland Square Mall - killing an 18 year old high school senior and wounding another person. The shooter escaped the mall and is still being sought Wednesday morning.

Officers say both the victim and the shooting suspect attended Rich Central High. Reports say the two argued in the mall's food court when shots rang out. Senator Sims, his wife, and two daughters were shopping at the Justice clothing store when shots rang out. 

Sims responded immediately by telling people in the store to "get back, get down, get in the back and behind the counter because we didn’t know where the shooting was." Then, Sim told the Sun-Times Tuesday, "I came from behind and crawled behind the register and got the front doors locked.”

The shooting victim lay on the floor outside the Justice store, Sims said. “We stayed there [in the store] while they worked on him. I kept everyone in the back of the store so nobody — so the kids — didn’t have the chance to see him being worked on.”

Daily Show Calls Religious Freedom 'Crazy' While Mocking Karen Pence's Christianity

Recently, The Daily Show followed CBS’s lead in trying to shame VP Mike Pence’s wife Karen after it was announced that she would be returning to teaching art to students at a Christian school in Northern Virginia. Because the school is Christian, it holds Christian policies for its students and faculty. Apparently that’s a shocking thing in 2019, as host Trevor Noah took aim at Pence and America’s “crazy” right to religious freedom.

The very short segment began with Noah taking cheap shots at the Pence’s relationship.

More HERE

Polling Shows Ocasio-Cortez’s Rising Fame

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is better known than many potential presidential contenders, including Beto O’Rourke.

Since August, she has seen a 14-point increase in the share of voters who have an opinion on her.

More HERE

America: The new Socialist frontier

It seems that socialism is like an infectious disease that everyone has to get ill from to develop immunity. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn pointed out, “For us in Russia, communism is a dead dog, while for many people in the West, it is still a living lion.”

This dead dog, expelled from Russia, acquired a new life in the United States and regained vitality to become a living lion within the Democratic Party.

The 2018 Democratic victory in the midterms brought new Marxist arrivals to the House of Representatives who are interpreting the elections as an endorsement of socialist policies. They dropped all the pretenses — no liberals, no progressives — they are proud Marxist-Leninists driven by the ideology and committed to converting this country into the United Socialist States of America.

More HERE

Best Way to Protect Air Travel From the Shutdown: Reduce Washington’s Role

Why are air traffic control and airport security federal responsibilities?That’s a question raised by the government shutdown, writes David Ditch:

The Department of Transportation’s air traffic control system and the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration are both caught up in the shutdown due to spending bills for their respective departments not yet having been signed into law.

As a result, many travelers are facing longer security lines, and air traffic control employees are voicing complaints about having to work without pay.

While most shutdown discussion revolves around casting blame and creative ways to prevent shutdowns from taking place, Americans should instead consider whether the federal government should be responsible for so many aspects of day-to-day life.

After 18 months, Palos Township trustee refuses to bow to Arab Community's demands

PALOS HILLS - The Facebook comments of a township trustee 18 months ago riled Chicago's southwest suburban Muslim community into demanding that trustee resign, but she has refused to step down. Since then, representatives from Chicago's southwest suburban Arab community have successfully stopped the township board from conducting public meetings.

When Hindu-American Hermant Patel learned about the continuous meeting disruptions, he gathered together friends that drove with him from Chicago's northwest suburbs to support Palos Township Trustee Sharon Brannigan.

On December 10th, when Patel and friends arrived at the meeting, representatives from the Arab Community of the South West Suburbs took over, including sitting in the trustees' board seats. Patel used his phone to video what went on, including his own reactions, "We support Sharon - we support democracy!"

How Illinois teachers' union honored Martin Luther King Jr's memory

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, the Illinois Federation of Teachers posted on Twitter Monday a quote Dr. King allegedly made to the Illinois AFL-CIO state convention in 1965, proclaiming the importance of labor unions:

"The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress." 

Thorner: Pro-lifers challenge Chicago Planned Parenthood's Roe vs. Wade celebration

Life supporters outside Planned Parenthood's Roe vs Wade celebration - Mark Weyermuller photos

By Nancy Thorner - 

On the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C., four days after Chicago's 2019 March for Life was held on Federal Plaza with a record number of 8,000 plus pro-lifers in attendance to celebrate life, Chicago's Planned Parenthood held a fundraiser at Morgan Manufacturing. They celebrated the Supreme Court's ruling of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion 46 years ago this week.

Two Sides of a Holocaust: A March for Life & a Retreat from Conscience

James M. Kushiner, Exec. Dir., The Fellowship of St. James - 

The 46th Annual March for Life was last week. I participated in the Chicago March for Life last Sunday. A few hundred counter-demonstrators held signs and made noisy protests either about separation of church and state or the so-called right of a woman to "choose."

The pro-abortion protestors seem to want to silence pro-life marchers. They certainly tried to do that in Chicago last Sunday, banging on drums and shouting through bullhorns so that marchers on the edge of the crowd had a hard time hearing the pro-life speeches that were being made. Is it a violation of freedom of speech when others drown you out?

I've sometimes wanted to ask a pro-abortion protestor a few questions:

Planned Parenthood President: Abortion Is ‘Our Core Mission’

The new president of Planned Parenthood took to Twitter Tuesday to finally confirm her organization’s “core mission” is abortion.

“First, our core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion and reproductive health care,” she said. “We will never back down from that fight – it’s a fundamental human right and women’s lives are at stake.”

For years, Planned Parenthood has gone out of its way to present itself as the trusted healthcare provider of American women – one that is worthy of over half a billion dollars in taxpayer funding. The organization has also insisted – using a since-debunked statistic – that abortion represents only a mere three percent of its services.

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