Illinois Review

UPDATE x1: US House passes bill requiring universal background checks before all gun sales

UPDATE X1: Congressman Darin LaHood and Adam Kinzinger also voted against HR 8. See their statements below:

DC - Wednesday, in a 240 to 190 vote, the US House passed legislation mandating federal criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions.  It is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Illinois U.S. Congressman Mike Bost released a statement before the vote declaring his opposition to both HR 8 and upcoming HR 1112:

"The gun control legislation being considered this week infringes on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and does absolutely nothing to stop incidents of mass violence,” said Bost.

IL US Sen Tammy Duckworth dubs newborn protection "heartless, extremist"

DC - Mother of a two year old and 10 month old, Illinois' US Senator Tammy Duckworth attacked a proposal to protect babies born alive as a "political stunt"... "steeped in ignorance and misogyny."

The measure is part of the Right's "long march to strip women of their rights," Duckworth said. "Heartless, extremist policies ..."

Chicago could elect first black, gay woman mayor in April runoff

Lori Lightfoot (r) with spouse and daughter

CHICAGO - "“It’s not every day that a little black girl in a low-income family from a segregated steel town makes the run-off to be the next mayor of the third-largest city in the country," so wrote the top vote-getter in Chicago's mayoral election Tuesday night. 

Lori Lightfoot, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, won 17% of the vote Tuesday among historical low voter turnout. Second to Lightfoot is Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who won 16%. Next in line with 15% was former Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley, backed by business, but rejected by the voters.

Only the top two will be on the April ballot in the Chicago mayoral runoff, and both are African-American women. If Lightfoot wins in April, she will be Chicago's first openly gay mayor. Her spouse, Amy Eshleman, and Lightfoot have a 10 year old daughter.

Former Facebook employee unveils tactics to squelch conservatives in new video

James O'Keefe reached out to a Facebook employee that led to her termination, she says in a new Project Veritas video released Wednesday.

Editorial: End Birth Day Abortions

Twenty years ago, an OB GYN nurse at Oak Lawn's Christ Hospital picked up a Down Syndrome baby boy lying on a shelf in a soiled utility closet. He'd been left there to die because his mother agreed to induce labor to expel the imperfect child. Jill Stanek held the baby for 45 minutes until he breathed his last breath and his little heart stopped. She then crossed his little arms, wrapped him and delivered him to the hospital morgue. 

That day started Jill on a crusade to do something about it. In an effort to end birth day abortion, she sought help from the hospital officials, the Illinois Attorney General, the Illinois General Assembly. She testified before the Illinois Senate - a committee upon which then-State Senator Barack Obama sat. He grilled Jill, insinuated her story was a lie and proceeded and succeeded to block and then water down a reasonable measure to protect babies like the little one Jill held that are born alive. 

As we all know, Obama went on to become president with the help of Illinois' abortion industry.

Beckman: Maybe the media needs Strange Land's "Fair Witness" standards?

By Hank Beckman - 

I think I know what ails our national press corps. Many news outlets are in dire need of a Fair Witness.

Fair Witnesses were characters in Robert Heinlein’s science fiction classic, Stranger in a Strange Land.

Licensed, legally trained and required to have photographic memories, they were so dedicated to the concept of reporting only what they actually saw—with absolutely no conjecture on their part—that when one Fair Witness was asked what color a particular building was, she replied, “It’s white on this side.”

Where’s Weyermuller? At CPAC 2019 in DC

Mark Weyermuller with other Illinois conservatives at CPAC 2019

By Mark Weyermuller -

This week I’ll be at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C.  it will be held February  27 till March 3, 2019. CPAC is the largest gathering of conservative activists in the country with over 10,000 expected to attend.

Millennials: Quit Demanding Socialism, We’re Already Footing The $22 Trillion Debt

The U.S. national debt now exceeds a mindboggling $22 trillion and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports it will continue to increase because the federal deficit is projected to exceed “$1 trillion each year beginning 2022.” In fact, CBO projects the nation’s debt held by the public will increase to “150 percent of GDP in 2049—far higher than it has ever been.”

No doubt, for young Americans, the debt is downright daunting. Although it is easy to pin the blame for the debt debacle on previous generations and politicians for underfunding and raiding entitlement programs, this is only part of the problem.

Millennials should be well aware and outraged over the never-ending government spending bonanza. However, they ignore this giant elephant in the room every election.

More HERE

Dr. Singleton: Jumping Into Medicare For All With Eyes Wide Shut

By Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD -

The unveiling of the ballyhooed House of Representatives Medicare for All Act of 2019 bill will be met with chants of “equal healthcare for all!” While the country will be forced into a government-run program, the limousine liberals and champagne socialists will keep their array of medical care choices — whether on or off the record.

Universal child care is the wrong approach

Childcare for all? Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed to a new plan for universal childcare, about which Aparna Mathur, Abby McCloskey, and Angela Rachidi write:

First, just because something is expensive does not mean the government should subsidize it for everyone. Support should be targeted to families for whom the cost prohibits working or directly results in compromised quality of care. The more income-targeted the approach, the fewer unintended consequences that result and the less support to families that can pay for child care on their own.

CNBC’s ‘Children Cost Too Much’ Story Sparks Major Backlash

A CNBC story touting the cost savings of not having children sparked a major backlash, with parents on Facebook and Twitter writing personals testimonies about the blessings of childrearing.

The story’s original title read, “You can save half a million dollars if you don't have kids,” although it eventually was changed to a slightly less offensive, “Here’s how much you save when you don’t have kids.”

The story’s arguments reflected the headline.

“Your friends may tell you having kids has made them happier,” it read. “They’re probably lying. Research shows that parenthood leads to a happiness gap. Maybe that’s because the pleasures of parenthood are outweighed by all the extra responsibilities, housework and, of course, the costs. Maybe that’s why Americans are having fewer children than ever before. Just how much can you expect to save if you don’t have kids?”

More HERE

Government report reveals CBO was scandalously off in Obamacare estimates

The Congressional Budget Office was wrong about the mandate—by about 460 percent. Philip Klein reports:

CBO estimates about the importance of an individual mandate to a national healthcare scheme prodded President Barack Obama into including the unpopular provision into the law in the first place. The mandate projections also played a key role in President Trump’s two major legislative initiatives. The fact that the CBO assumed 14 million could lose coverage mainly due to the elimination of mandate penalties helped kill the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, while its later assumption that 13 million fewer insured individuals would mean less spending on subsidies from the federal government helped get the 2017 Republican tax cut across the finish line by improving the budgetary math. Yet those incredibly influential estimates now appear to have been wildly off.

Illinois near the top of 2019’s most sinful states

Red states and blue states may like to point to one another as the source of all that is wrong with the U.S., but the truth is that each of the 50 states has its own virtues and vices. For example, Missouri has the worst drug use problem. And it certainly comes as no surprise that Nevada is the most gambling-addicted.

But the cost of state sins is something we have to share as a nation. Gambling alone costs the U.S. about $5 billion per year. That’s nothing compared to the amount of money we lose from smoking, though – over $300 billion per year. Harmful behavior on the individual level can add up to staggering economic costs on a national scale.

Source: WalletHub

More HERE

Future of homeschooling: Less religious, more regulated?

The homeschooling movement in America is experiencing potential changes in its religious makeup and new challenges from government regulation.

Steven Craig Policastro, founder and executive vice president of the International Association for Creation, told The Christian Post that in recent years, the biggest change in state-sponsored resistance to homeschooling has been a “shift” from attempts to ban homeschooling to “extremely oppressive” regulations.

“Opponents of home education have realized that since they are unable to make homeschooling illegal, they can at least attempt to place extremely burdensome regulations on parent-led, home education to make it difficult or nearly impossible,” said Policastro.

More HERE

Illinois Democrats prepare to kick pension can down the road - and why not?

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois' is drawing more and more national attention - and it isn't for good reasons. Illinois has become a leading indicator for other states and what not to do if they want their residents to be happy and prosper. 

This time Forbes writer Elizabeth Bauer tries so hard to contain her disgust and dismay with Illinois' pension system and the state's new governor's solution - or perhaps it would be better to say "wound covering." 

Bauer says the evidence is in. Democrats aren't concerned about pensions being appropriately funded. Instead, they're looking at the situation as early participants in a pyramid scheme - the kind of financial structure in which those that started the scheme are the only ones that come out smelling good.

Democrats maneuver Cook County Board of Appeals to rob suburbanites of fair representation

Cook Co Board of Appeals Commissioner Dan Patlak

CHICAGO - The Cook County Board of Review was expanded from two to three commissioners in 1996 due to the hard work of then-south suburban Republican State Rep. Maureen Murphy and State Senator Patrick O'Malley. Together, the two of them pushed through the board's restructuring during that very short two year stint when Democrat Speaker Mike Madigan was not in power. Their goal was to give Cook County residents outside Chicago more resources and more fairness when appealing their property taxes. 

It has taken Cook County politicos over 20 years, but they've successfully watered down the influence suburban Republicans fought so hard to gain in property tax assessing. And it was accomplished in the way only Chicago Democrats would have the brazen gall to achieve - by stealing resources and staff from the Republican region. 

Problem is Maureen Murphy has gone on to her just reward in heaven and Patrick O'Malley is retired and enjoying life in Florida. Who will step up to fight for Cook County suburban property owners this time?

Where’s Weyermuller? Viewing new pro-life film “Unplanned”

By Mark Weyermuller - 

A prescreening of the movie "Unplanned"  was featured last Wednesday at Park Ridge's Pickwick Theatre. The film - to be released to the public in late March - is based on the 2011 book by former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson. The movie re-enacts how Johnson resigned from her position after watching an abortion via ultrasound to become a pro-life activist.

Thorner: Today's National Sovereignty Threats on Par with WWII's

Ambassador Szabo

By Nancy Thorner - 

Dr. Laszio Szabo, Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, was the only world leader that believed prior to his 2016 election that Donald Trump was America's best choice for this nation and the world.

Ambassador Szabo's remarks, presented at the recent "Gathering of Eagles" in St. Louis centered on the challenge of mass, unchecked immigration.

Following Ambassador Szabo’s account, Eagle Kitty Werthmann and Eagle Pastor Michael Sust spoke of their WWII experiences during which the nation’s sovereignty was likewise threatened.

Is Your Mayor Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Mayors in more than 100 US cities have announced plans to transition their electrical power systems to 100 percent renewable by 2050. They propose replacement of traditional coal, natural gas, and nuclear generating stations with wind, solar, and wood-fired stations. But none of these mayors has a plausible idea of how to meet their commitment.

In December, Cincinnati became the hundreth US city to commit to 100 percent electricity from renewable sources, with a target to achieve this goal by 2035. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley stated, “It has become clear that cities will lead the global effort to fight climate change, and Cincinnati is on the front lines.” Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson also pledged to reach 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050 as part of the city’s 2018 Climate Action Plan.

But these announcements appear to be a folk tale worthy of the Brothers Grimm. In 2018, renewables provided less than 3 percent of Ohio’s electricity, which came 47 percent from coal, 35 percent from natural gas, and 15 percent from nuclear generators. Mayors Cranley and Jackson appear to have failed to consider the cost or scale of their energy change commitments.

More HERE

Green New Deal would destroy American Dream, create American Nightmare

The non-binding Green New Deal resolution supported by socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York and many fellow Democrats in Congress – including some running for president – makes absolutely no sense. It is a fantasy based on hopes and dreams with no basis in reality.

There’s never been a more economically destructive, job-killing, environmentally harmful, costly and impractical proposal that has drawn so much support from members of Congress and White House hopefuls.

Not only is the Green New Deal impossible to achieve. Just trying to accomplish its absurd and harmful goals could send our nation into another Great Depression, throw millions of Americans out of work, and turn the American Dream into a nightmare.

More HERE

The Wealth of Families: The Realization of Adam Smith

By James M. Kushiner, The Fellowship of St. James -

The Enlightenment may claim many successes because of science and technology, but it failed economics. John D. Mueller argues in his 2010 book Redeeming Economics: Rediscovering the Missing Element, that modern Enlightenment views of economics suffer from the omission of factors that had previous been considered central to a complete understanding of human economics.

Basically, there are four activities key to classical human economics, as developed by Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle and Augustine: Humans produce, exchange, distribute, and consume goods.

Adam Smith, considered the father of modern economics, says Mueller, simplified this scheme, eliminating two of the four elements, distribution and consumption. Rather than focusing on marketplace supply and demand and price, which "produce" and "exchange" deal with, "economics is essentially a theory of providence. It mostly concerns human providence, describing how we provide for ourselves and other persons we love, using scarce means that have alternate uses." (3-4) Mueller proceeds to present economics in detail on three levels of operation: personal, domestic, and political, because, we are, as Aristotle put it, "rational, matrimonial, and political animals." (5) The matrimonial is the domestic level.

Federal Early Childhood Education, Care Don’t Benefit Kids. Here Are the Facts.

Will universal child care become universal pre-school? That’s an even worse idea, writes Lindsey Burke writes:

Although the Warren plan talks about day care subsidies rather than “preschool” subsidies, the reference to “curriculum standards” suggests the effort will be about more than child care for parents.

Warren’s plan reportedly calls for “requiring child care providers that receive federal funds [to] meet standards similar to those that now apply to Head Start.”

Well, Head Start is far from a success story when it comes to participant outcomes.

Hollywood: 'Abortion is an act of violence'

Abortion, according to Hollywood, is “an act of violence.”

That’s the conclusion of the makers of “Unplanned” after the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, gave their movie an “R” rating.

The MPAA, noted directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, issued no caution for profanity, nudity, sex or violence, “except for violence directly associated with the abortion process.”

The restricted rating was for “some disturbing/bloody images.”

More HERE

New: Taxpayer-Funded Abortions on the Rise in Illinois

Illinois Democrat women argue for taxpayer funded abortions in Illinois

By Michael New - 

In September 2017, Bruce Rauner, then governor of Illinois, generated a firestorm when he signed a bill, HB 40, mandating taxpayer funding of abortion for low-income women through the state’s Medicaid program. He was the first governor to mandate taxpayer funding for elective abortions; in other states where elective abortions are funded through Medicaid, the policy came about either through a court order or an administrative ruling.

During his election campaign, Rauner had said he was “pro-choice” but also had promised not to change abortion policy. Pro-life constituents were justifiably outraged by his betrayal, and they believed that HB 40 would contribute to a rise the number of abortions paid for with taxpayer dollars. New data from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services show that those concerns were well founded.

America Wants Legal Immigrants

Virtually everyone knows America has a big illegal immigration problem. But we also have a legal immigration problem: Current U.S. immigration policy is not serving the best interests of America. Is there a way to protect American citizens and still welcome newcomers to our shores? Reihan Salam offers an insightful solution.

How 'Liberalism' Came to Mean Its Opposite

Over time, words sometimes change their meanings or connotations.

Think of the words naughty and nice. Apparently, naughty originally meant to have or be nothing (naught or zero), but then it took on the extra sense of something being worth nothing, until finally a person who was considered worth nothing became a bad individual, or at least someone who is mischievous — as in, what a “naughty boy,” with an accompanying wink.

On the other hand, a nice person, it seems, early on meant someone who was ignorant, but then took on the added meanings of being a silly or foolish person. By the 1700s, it had its more current meanings of an agreeable or pleasant person. Though it can be used sarcastically — for instance, with the phrase “Oh, yeah, that’s ‘real nice’” meaning something said or done that is rude, disrespectful, or nasty toward another.

The same thing has happened with the word liberalism. Friends and foes have changed its meaning several times over the last couple of centuries, and in the eyes of some its content and connotation have been transformed beyond recognition.

More HERE

Taxes on Tippy Tippy Top

Freeloaders? Chris Edwards, using IRS Data on the top 400 taxpayers in the nation, examines Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim that billionaires are freeloaders who don’t pay their fair share:

The Top 400 paid $29.4 billion in federal income taxes in 2014, an average of $74 million each. These “freeloaders” together paid enough to more than fund the budgets of NASA and the EPA that year ($26 billion).

Democrats push to make Illinois most radical pro-abortion state

SPRINGFIELD - As if the abortion industry is competing among states to see which will be deemed the "most radical," Illinois Democrat lawmakers are gathering around the ultimate abortion package now moving in the Illinois General Assembly with no barricade in sight.

The Thomas More Society says House Bill 2467 and Senate Bill 1594 is a package of “the most radical ... abortion legislation that has ever been introduced in Illinois, and…the most radical proposed in any state to date."

SOTU 2019 and American Medicine

While President Trump called for unity and cooperation in his 2019 State of the Union address, the views of the audience showed a sharp and bitter divide, especially on issues affecting the health and medical care of Americans. Most striking was the solid bloc of Democrat “suffragettes” clad in white like Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

When the President congratulated women for their increased representation in Congress, this bloc rose to its feet to applaud uproariously, as if the home team had scored the winning touchdown in the high-school championship game.

Otherwise, the women mostly sat sullenly with arms crossed, or even displayed overt and in-your-face derision. They sat, as did Speaker Pelosi, while Sen. Bernie Sanders scowled eloquently, during the standing ovation for the President’s promise that America would never become a socialist country. The President had just observed that Venezuela, once the richest country in South America, had become a pit of abject poverty and despair under socialist rule. No sign of compassion have Democratic Socialists shown for women rooting through trash seeking food for their children, and no trace of concern about the refugees fleeing into Colombia and other neighboring countries.

More HERE

Di Leo: George Washington, A Man in Full

By John F. Di Leo - 

On February 22, we celebrate George Washington’s Birthday.

Other holidays celebrate whole classes of people – Independence Day commemorates the Founding Generation… Veterans’ Day celebrates all who have served in our armed forces; Memorial Day thanks those who made the ultimate sacrifice in that service.  

But Washington’s Birthday is different, because on this day, we’re focused on one man. As well we should be.

We’ve had 45 presidents now, and tons of military leaders, in our nation’s quarter of a millennium of history.  Why is President Washington singled out?  Could it really be just because he was first?

Thorner/Ingold: Don't be fooled by fake headlines

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold - 

The enemy of "We The People" really is the mainstream media.  They will manufacture a train wreck if they can't find a real one. As such, headlines are powerful weapons.  Headlines changes the way people read an article and the way they remember it.

Psychologists have long known that first impressions really do matter—what we see, hear, feel, or experience in our first encounter influences the way we process the rest of it.  By drawing attention to certain details or facts, a headline can affect what existing knowledge is activated in your head.

The Toxic Warren Wealth Tax

The administrative burdens of a wealth tax would be significant. Richard Epstein writes:

The wealth of the superrich includes not only publicly trade stocks and bonds that have precise market values, but also working assets such as interests in start-ups that are not traded at all. Those business interests are typically not alienable, and their valuation can fluctuate extensively over time. Banks are reluctant to lend against assets in new ventures that have a high chance of going bust. Similar valuation problems frequently arise for people who have complex interests in legal, medical, or banking practices; their wealth, too, is not in readily taxable form. Accordingly, income tax law has made the sensible decision never to tax annually the increment (or decrement) in value of these interests. Instead, that income is taxed only when it is converted into cash or marketable assets. [...]

Electric Cars Are Still Toys for the Wealthy

You can add plug-in electric vehicles to the list of items that last week’s low temperatures left in the cold.

Amid hype that these expensive, battery-operated cars are the vanguard of a fossil fuel-free age, their cold-weather shortcomings reinforce their image as a subsidized toy for wealthy suburbanites.

As temperatures and wind chills plummeted to the -20s and -30s across the Midwest, Tesla owners began tweeting that the car’s travel range sharply decreased and that its interior would not warm up. Some owners weren’t even able to open the car door because the electric entry mechanism froze up.

More HERE

Why "Medicare for All" Would Mean Quality Care for None

In a CNN interview on January 28, Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris came out in brazen support for Medicare-for-All, i.e.single-payer healthcare in the US.

Confronted with pushback from all those to the right of Bernie Sanders, she has since backpedaled, with an adviser saying “she would be open to more moderate reform plans.”

Nevertheless, the fact that a Democratic frontrunner unequivocally supported a government takeover of health insurance should be worrying to all Americans.

More HERE

Cold Outbreaks Not Caused By Global Warming

What do heat waves, floods, droughts, rising sea level, forest fires, hurricanes, African wars, mass extinctions, disease outbreaks, and migration from South America and the Middle East have in common? They are all, according to climate activists, caused by man-made global warming. And this, in turn, is supposedly caused by rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels as a result of our fossil fuel use. They might as well add alien invasions to the list because it is all nonsense.

The scare has risen to such a level of absurdity that, on February 1, journalist Andrew Revkin reported in an article for National Geographic that, “Many stories in recent days highlighted studies concluding that global warming is boosting odds of cold outbreaks.”

MN Rep. Omar's Anti-Semitism is just CAIR's Anti-Semitism

Pull on the string of Rep. Omar’s anti-Semitism and you go right back to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Rep. Ilhan Omar defended the anti-Semitic Black Israelites hate group in January. In February, she was originally scheduled to speak at an Islamic Relief USA dinner alongside IRUSA’s Yousef Abdallah who had endorsed violence against Jews and described former Governor Chris Christie “down on his knees before the jewish lords and masters… only money makes stuff like this happen.”

Abdallah’s comments were very similar to the anti-Semitic Twitter slurs that got Omar in trouble.

That’s not a coincidence. Omar’s worldview, including her anti-Semitism, was shaped by a familiar network of Islamist organizations which control life for most Muslims in the United States.

In March, Rep. Omar is headed to California to speak at CAIR’s Los Angeles dinner. There she will appear alongside CAIR’s Florida boss Hassan Shibly who has defended Hamas and vocally praised Hezbollah. “Israel & it’s supporters are enemies of God and humanity!” he had tweeted.

More HERE

Smollett and Burke: Will the Chicago Way finally come to light?

CHICAGO - First it was the report that anyone in Chicago's upscale Streeterville neighborhood would say in public they were in "MAGA country." Then it was the story that two guys with masks beat up a person walking on a Streeterville sidewalk, targeting a known "Empire" star on a -10 degree night. Then it was that the two yelled racist and homophobic slurs while they tied a noose and poured bleach on their victim. 

Anyone of those reports would have caused anyone with any knowledge of Chicago to scratch his head. 

But that was before Jussie Smollett's story went viral, and everyone who was anyone in the "blue check" Twitter world chimed in with sympathy and agreement - it was all Donald Trump's fault - his and the "deplorables" that put him in office. 

Disgusting. Terrible, media personalities and Democrat presidential wannabes clucked.

Pritzker's plan: Balance budget on backs of Illinois' rich, gamblers and potheads

SPRINGFIELD - Not only will Illinois employers be forced to pay starting employees nearly double what they are required to be paid now, Illinois employers that have more successful businesses will be paying even more - if Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats are successful in changing the state's constitution. 

The required change will be moving away from the state's flat tax, to a progressive one, costing successful business owners and higher-paid employees more as their taxable income grows. 

In addition to the progressive tax, Gov. Pritzker wants to expand gambling and legalize pot in order to rake in more tax revenue. It's uncertain whether his proposals will cover the $3.2 billion budget deficit the state faces, much less neglecting to correct the state's serious pension dilemma or its billions in unpaid bills.

Rhoads: State Sen. Lottie O'Neill's astute 1962 prophecy

The lady at left in the picture below is the late State Sen. Lottie Holman O'Neill (R-Downers Grove) (1878-1967) Lottie was a friend of my mother columnist Mary Gurrie Rhoads. At her right in the picture is the late  Phyllis Schlafly sitting with Lottie at the 1956 Republican National Convention. In this picture Lottie was 78 and Phyllis was 34.

Lottie was a conservative Republican who was the first woman elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1922 and the first woman elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1950.  My youngest sister just gave me a letter from Lottie dated Sept. 5, 1962 that shares Lottie's concerns about the Judicial Blue Ballot that was set for a ratification vote in November 1962.

Beckman: Is anyone still MADD about drunk driving?

By Hank Beckman - 

Is Mothers Against Drunk Driving still around? We haven’t heard from them much in recent years, but with drunk driving still common, one would think they’re still operating.

But in this age of journalists being, shall we say, somewhat less than rigorous about applying the old if-your-mother-says-she-loves-you-check-it-out standard, I thought it best to at least find out if they were still around before citing them in a column.

So I consulted my research assistant, Dr. Google (PhD, everything). Sure enough, MADD is still fighting the good fight against the carnage on our nation’s roadways that comes with irresponsible consumption of adult beverages.

Illinois employers to pay $15 starting wage

Gov. Pritzker signing $15 starting wage measure |Pritzker's Facebook page

CHICAGO - Tuesday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker agreed with the Democrat super majority in the General Assembly to raise the state's starting wage from $8.25 to $15.00 per hour over the next six years.  Illinois workers will have the highest starting wage in the Midwest by 2025. 

Along with the higher wage requirement, benefits will also be higher. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wages are two-thirds of employers' costs. Benefits add another one-third for business owners.

Thorner/O’Neil: Indoctrination, not Education, standard through college

By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil - 

There is a growing concern that our children and grandchildren that attend public schools today, especially at the college and university level, are being unduly and purposely influenced to a specific political viewpoint of its faculty rather than facts and/or opposing views that allow students to decide issues based on more information rather than relegating them to a single undisputed viewpoint decided for them.

Ideas Illinois releases new anti-Dem ad

CHICAGO - Once the CEO of the Illinois Manufacturing Association, Greg Baise is now focused on new ideas to put "Illinois back on the right track." Ideas Illinois is a 501c4 that released a new video Wednesday morning - just before Governor JB Pritzker presents his budget plans to Illinois General Assembly Wednesday morning. 

Baise's new project will lead the fight against the Democrats' progressive tax proposal and support Illinois businesses which, for the most part, have little substantial influence in Springfield these days.

Rossi: 2020 Election - IQ Test for America!

By Randy Rossi - 

The 2020 elections will be an IQ test for Americans to see if they still deserve a democracy. Anybody who is paying attention to politics has seen a massive attempt by Democrats over the last two years to convert America from a land of freedom and capitalism to a socialist nation in which the federal government will control every aspect of our lives from light bulbs to steaks and hamburgers. Sadly, far too many Americans are not paying attention or are being misled by a highly biased media which only 32% of Americans have confidence in per multiple polls. To those that are not paying attention, I remind them of Pericles’ opinion of that when he said, “Any citizen who does not pay attention to politics has no right to live in Athens”. Amen!

Our National Debt Just Hit $22 Trillion. Will Congress Finally Take It Seriously?

The national debt is now $22 trillion. Justin Bogie writes:

At more than 107 percent of gross domestic product, as a share of the economy the gross national debt is higher than it has been since 1947. The debt has been higher only three times in U.S. history, all in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

If the national debt were divided among every person in the U.S., each of us would owe more than $67,000.

Although those numbers are staggering, they are projected to get worse.

The CBO’s latest budget and economic projections estimate that over the next decade the country will add another $12.2 trillion in debt. That’s almost $30,000 in new debt per person on top of the $67,000 already owed.

California must pay pro-life pregnancy centers $399K , judge rules

California must pay three pro-life pregnancy centers and a conservative law firm $399,000 in legal fees and other costs after a state law meant to force pregnancy centers to promote abortion was struck down.

Last October, California’s Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency (FACT) Act was declared unconstitutional, with a district court granting a permanent injunction against the law.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry Hatter for the Central District of California issued an order Monday saying that California must pay the Pregnancy and Family Resource Center of San Bernardino, His Nesting Place of Long Beach, Birth Choice of the Desert in La Quinta, and the Liberty Counsel $399,000.

More HERE

Bitter, Partisan Liar Writes a Book

Like a con proud of his crime, Andrew McCabe cannot help himself from boasting of his misdeeds.

The disgraced former acting head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, bereft of his government pension, seeks to make a buck through a tiresome, tell-some book at the expense of the man who pushed for his firing. Therein, the unelected bureaucrat boasts of plotting to overturn the will of the American people.

The text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two key members of McCabe’s cabal, indicate that this plot preceded the actual election. “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk,” Strozk wrote Page about a conversation regarding the Republican candidate in McCabe’s office. “It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”

More HERE

IL loses gun manufacturer, 120 jobs to Iowa

MILAN - Over 120 Milan Illinois jobs will be moving north and across the Mississippi River into Iowa. Lewis Machine and Tool will be taking to Eldridge Iowa a new contract to make 15,000 firearms for the country of Estonia. LMT, set to open in Iowa in April, already provides firearms to 45 other European countries.

The Illinois State Rifle Association pointed to the Illinois General Assembly's anti-gun initiatives as a key reason LMT is heading northwest.

UPDATE x1: Democrat state rep calls for homeschool families to be investigated by DCFS

UPDATE x1: Rep. Bristow tabled this bill Tuesday, February 19, 2019. 

ALTON - A second term Democrat from Alton Illinois wants - among other things - families that homeschool to register with the State, undergo investigations by the Department of Children and Family Services, have their homeschool curriculum approved by the State Board of Education. 

State Rep. Monica Bristow of Alton introduced a bill last Friday that would authorize the Child Protective Service Unit of the DCFS to "investigate the home in which the home schooling will occur to ensure there is no suspected children abuse or neglect in the home."

Aurora victim's widow shares her faith in midst of sorrow

AURORA -  Terra Pinkard, wife of Henry Pratt Manufacturing Company's plant manager Josh Pinkard, who was one of five employees killed last Friday in a west suburban Aurora shooting, shared her faith on Facebook in the midst of shock and heartache.

“Things that mattered yesterday do not matter today. I will praise the Lord for giving me this mountain of a man. I will praise the Lord for the children we have together," Mrs. Pinkard wrote. "And I will cry out to God during this immense time of sadness and need. Please remember us in the coming days, months, and years. We are scared and are trying to catch our breath and just putting one foot in front of the other.”