Illinois Review

Thorner/Boese: The Left's Glaring Disregard for the Constitution Looms in Impeachment Effort

By Nancy Thorner & Al Boese - 

David B. Rivkin, Jr. and Elizabeth Price Foley, two Constitutional Scholars, lay out with clarity, the case against the process being employed by the House Democrats and sanctioned by their Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Rivkin and Ms. Foley practice appellate and constitutional law in Washington. Rivlin served at the Justice Department and the White House Counsel's Office during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations.  Foley is a professor of constitutional law at Florida International University College of Law.

Their lengthy 2100 word article, This Impeachment Subverts the Courts, published in the WSJ on Saturday, October 26, 2019, presents a comprehensive and legally supported case against the procedure Adam Schiff and his committee members have created and followed in their Impeachment quest of Donald Trump.

Aside from the lack of public evidence of a qualifying crime ( Remember, The Constitution permits impeachment only for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” ), there is also a well-defined procedure and sequence based on all previous impeachment attempts; utterly ignored by Schiff and company.

There is also conflict and tension between evidence seeking and the legality of such demands that much will be rejected by the Trump Administration and consequently tested by appeals to higher level courts.

Where’s Weyermuller? Celebrating A Political Halloween 2019

By Mark Weyermuller - 

My front lawn Halloween decorations in the northern suburbs of Chicago have been called the scariest in the state of Illinois. What’s scarier then politicians?  For the past 15 years, we have had orange lights, plastic pumpkins, air blown characters and full sized figures of celebrities, candidates, and elected officials.

President Donald J. Trump is back watching over the yard. He looks over at the democratic candidates including Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and his young son, Hunter Biden. Warren is wearing some Native American attire including a tomahawk which memories of her claim of being an Indian. Hunter Biden stands near his dad holding what appears to a wad of money, perhaps Ukrainian dollars?

Di Leo: Al-Baghdadi's Unnecessary Decade of Mass Murder

By John F. Di Leo - 

At the time of his death, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been an active jihadist for about thirty years.  He had been the supreme commander of what is now known as ISIS for almost ten years, when, on October 26, while fleeing a US Special Forces raid at his latest hiding place in Syria, he committed suicide to avoid being captured alive (taking a couple of his own wives and children with him in the explosion).  

President Trump announced the successful termination of this enemy commander on Sunday morning, and because he teased it in advance by Twitter, and announced it so publicly, the mainstream media could not help but report it.  

What the media has managed to keep quiet about, however, is something else rather important - and relevant - concerning sl-Baghdadi’s history:

Public Pensions: An Economic Time Bomb

Who cares about public pension liability? Well, you should – after all, it’s the reason entire cities and even states are facing bankruptcy. Joshua Rauh, professor of finance at Stanford and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, paints a startling picture of just how broken the public pension system really is, and what will happen if we continue to ignore it.

Why and How the U.S. Should Stop Financing China’s Bad Actors

Roger W. Robinson, Jr., Chairman, Prague Security Studies Institute

The following is adapted from a speech delivered at Hillsdale College on September 9, 2019, during a conference on the topic, “Understanding China.”

In the early 1980s, I served on President Reagan’s National Security Council. Prior to my time at the White House, I was a vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank, in charge of its USSR and Eastern Europe division. It was my job to assess the creditworthiness of the countries in that part of the world, and I had come to realize that the Soviet Union had relatively modest hard currency income—and that what little it had came largely from the West.

In 1982, the Soviets had an empire stretching from Havana to Hanoi, but their hard currency revenue totaled only about $32 billion a year—roughly one-third the annual revenue of General Motors at the time. They were spending about $16 billion more annually than they were making, with the funding gap—the USSR’s life support—being financed by Western governments and banks.

Trump in Chicago to address nation's police chiefs; Chicago chief disses POTUS

Trump at O'Hare (photo by Deb Kraulidis)

CHICAGO - Monday, President Donald Trump will be addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police at McCormick Place and raising campaign funds at Trump Tower. 

Trump spoke to police chiefs in Orlando Florida at their 2018 convention - but Chicago's own Chief of Police Eddie Johnson says he will not welcome the president because he does not hold Chicago's values. 

"As police officers, our job is to be the voice or the voiceless and ambassadors to the communities that we serve," he said. "I can't in good conscience stand by while racial insults and hatred are cast from the Oval Office, or Chicago is held hostage because of our views on New Americans."

Thorner: The late Michael Uhlmann's inspiring message in dark times

By Nancy Thorner - 

 

Joseph A. Morris, partner in the law firm of Morris & De La Rosa, with offices in Chicago and London, alerted me to the death of Michael M. Uhlmann, 79, on October 8, 2019. Initially, I wondered who Michael M. Uhlmann was and why his death was reported with sorrow by Mr. Morris?

 

In the announcement Morris noted that Michael Uhlmann was a Professor of Government in the Division of Politics and Economics at the Claremont Graduate University. He was also an alumnus of the Reagan White House, where Morris and Uhlmann became good friends.  Uhlmann had also served at the Department of Justice under President Ford.

Beckman: Leftist things that make you go...hmmm?

By Hank Beckman - 

In any policy debate, questioning our intelligence is a favorite tactic of leftists. It’s right up there with charges of bigotry, greed, and dishonesty/hypocrisy to fire up their base. (They’ve developed a new accusation in recent years, that their adversary of the moment is the dreaded white male, but that’s for another column)

So maybe our brilliant friends across the aisle could help us out and explain a concept that, at first glance, seems rather hard to understand.

Warning! Coming to a Republican District Near You!

If these leftist cadres haven't yet infiltrated a Republican district near you, they are coming.

By Mark Alexander -

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories." —Thomas Jefferson (1781)

Recently, there was a "near miss" in the conservative state of Tennessee. It involved our second-largest conservative county — and it exposed a well-planned strategy by a socialist cadre of outside "community organizers" endeavoring to turn a Republican congressional district Democrat. They didn't conjure this up on their own.

Seattle Declares Math Oppressive. Expect Same in Illinois.

The Seattle public schools have developed a new “ethnic studies” curriculum that tells students that mathematics is a tool of oppression. Sure, some of us thought that back in junior high school, especially when we didn’t get around to doing our homework. But to have this view endorsed by the schools is remarkable. Robby Soave reports at Reason:

Halloween Climate Scare #10: Al Gore Says the Polar Ice Cap Will Disappear by 2013

This is the first of 10 videos by the Heartland Institute highlighting false climate scares by climate alarmists. This one shows how Al Gore was COMPLETELY WRONG about the polar ice caps disappearing in the summers, starting in 2013. Happy Halloween! And find real scares this year, not fake ones the climate alarmists have foisted on your children.

To see the other video, click HERE

Di Leo: With Chicago Teachers on Picket Lines, Students Don’t Miss a Meal

By John F. Di Leo - 

Ever since the dawn of the age of unions, it has been a given that, even if society allows the concept of strikes against private business, it is illogical to allow striking against the government.

Government employers are special cases, with monopoly status, providing necessary services (at least in theory).  Everyone knows you cannot allow employees of the military, the police, the fire stations, the schools, the gas and electric utilities, etc. to strike.  Society simply is no longer civilized, after awhile without these building blocks of a safe and civil society.

Lyons manufacturer speaks out on USMCA

Zach Mottl, Congressman Grothman, dairy farmer Dave Daniels and moderator Curtis Ellis

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI - Wednesday, Lyons IL's 4th generation manufacturer Zach Mottl, a Wisconsin congressman and a dairy farmer told an audience gathered at ULINE Industries in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin that the Trump Administration's pending trade deal was urgent for Americans employed in manufacturing and agriculture. 

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has been stalled in the US House for months, and the new deal - which most trade specialists acknowledge is better for the US than former President Bill Clinton's North American Free Trade Agreement was - could be squelched until after the 2020 election. At least, that's what Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to be working towards.

Club for Growth goes after Lauren Underwood

WASHINGTON DC - The conservative Club for Growth has launched digital advertisements in four key Congressional Districts, including Illinois' 14th CD. They point is to encourage voters to tell their 2018-elected representatives to "stop supporting the phony impeachment process and instead start solving problems. Part of the reason they picked IL's 14th CD is it is among four districts nationwide whose seats were flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2018.

“Democrats know they can’t win in 2020 with a socialist agenda so instead of winning at the ballot box, they are throwing a Hail Mary with the impeachment process,” said Club for Growth President David McIntosh. “Representatives Katie Porter, Xochitl Torres Small, Abigail Spanberger, and Lauren Underwood were elected promising moderation and independence, and voters deserve better than their toxic and reflexive allegiance to the Democrat’s Socialist agenda.”

Thorner: Will we keep our Republic in 2020, or will we bow to Socialism?

By Nancy Thorner - 

If you missed the latest 3-hour Democrat debate on Tuesday, October 15th, you are to be envied. Although Anderson Cooper, who was joined by fellow CNN host Erin Burnett and NY Times national editor Marc Lacey, warned the twelve contenders that if they spoke over their allotted 75 seconds, the time would be deducted later, it never happened.  What’s more, they all knew that would never happen.

Listening to twelve Democrats trying to prove they are deserving of your vote and blaming Republicans and President Trump for everything wrong in the world was far from an enjoyable experience. That is not to say President Trump is perfect, that he has never made a mistake, but name a single President who after serving several years in that top position could claim themselves perfect, except perhaps Barack Obama, who in May of this year told an audience at a  Las Vegas tech conference that his presidency had been "scandal-free."

Climate Change Curriculum in Med School?

It has never been easy to become a medical doctor, but today, the nation’s best and brightest have to do more than graduate college with straight A’s, ace their MCATs, and spend considerable time and money applying to med school.

If top students are fortunate enough to reach the herculean goal of getting into medical school, they must then spend the next four years dodging progressive politics that are seeping into the medical school curriculum at an alarming rate. There is now a push—backed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations— to add climate change to a medical student’s already packed course load. A coalition of nearly 200 medical schools supports this move.

‘True North’ Outlines 14 Conservative Principles

The Heritage Foundation has introduced a set of 14 conservative principles. the outset of the influential think tank’s annual President’s Club meeting in Washington. Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James said the laser-focused definition of conservatism in the document, called “True North: The Principles of Conservatism,” is designed to unite the movement. 

“While good conservatives may have differing viewpoints about some aspects of conservatism, there are certain fundamental principles where we must remain resolute. These are our True North principles,” James said in an email to Heritage staff announcing the set of conservative principles.  

“They’re called True North because they represent a fixed direction on which to stay focused, regardless of which way forces may be pressuring us,” she said. 

Here is the full list of “True North” principles for conservatism:

The Left Targets Supreme Court With ‘Packing’ Threat, ‘Shortlist’ of Activist Nominees

Perhaps encouraged by Democratic senators in August warning the Supreme Court to “heal” itself or face restructuring, one progressive group has doubled down on advocating court-packing, while another liberal group this week released a “Supreme Court shortlist” of 32 prospective judicial nominees for a future Democratic president, filled mostly with activists but only a few judges.

Republican Mike Unes announces retirement from IL House

CANTON - Thursday afternoon, the 5-term state representative from Canton, Illinois announced he would not be seeking re-election in 2020. Republican State Rep. Mike Unes wrote on his Facebook account:

Today I am announcing that I will not seek a 6th term in the November 2020 election. I plan to complete my current 2-year term which ends in January 2021.

Members of Previous Generations Now Seem Like Giants

Many of the stories about the gods and heroes of Greek mythology were compiled during Greek Dark Ages. Impoverished tribes passed down oral traditions that originated after the fall of the lost palatial civilizations of the Mycenaean Greeks.

Dark Age Greeks tried to make sense of the massive ruins of their forgotten forbearers’ monumental palaces that were still standing around. As illiterates, they were curious about occasional clay tablets they plowed up in their fields with incomprehensible ancient Linear B inscriptions.

Union Laws Possibly Being Rewritten

Facing dwindling membership in a booming economy, U.S. labor unions are backing a comprehensive legislative package that, if enacted, would rewrite key provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act working its way through Congress is a radical proposal, says Brian Hayes, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins and a former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported on July 30.

"It would radically change the NLRA, legislatively overrule hundreds upon hundreds of NLRB and federal court decisions, and completely rewrite fundamental U.S. labor law and policy," Haynes told the SHRM.

"The PRO Act is a legislative grab bag of virtually every modification to the NLRA that organized labor has sought for decades," Haynes said.

More HERE

Why Portland’s Homeless Problem Is the Worst in the Nation

Portland, Oregon's homeless problem is exacerbated by bad policy. Joel Griffith and Douglas Blair write:

Mental illness is now more common among the homeless in Oregon than in any other state. According to a study from 2016, 35-40% of homeless adults in Oregon suffer from some form of mental illness.

Talgo: 5 Reasons Warren’s Policies Would Undermine Our Freedom

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, known to tell a tall tale or two, is climbing to the top of the totem pole for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.Warren, who has a tortured history of embellishing her autobiography, is gaining a tribal following as she veers left. She’s gone off the reservation to attract a whole bunch of “Warren warriors” who will support her to be the next commander in chief.

Cook Co dentist files religious freedom complaint against IL abortion law

Dr. Richard Mantoan at prolife rally outside the Flossmoor Planned Parenthood (IL Review photo)

CHICAGO - Monday, the Thomas More Society filed a complaint against Illinois’ Reproductive Health Act with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

The complaint was filed on behalf of a south suburban dentist, Dr. Richard Mantoan and his dental practice, Southland Smiles, Ltd. Both companies sponsor small group health insurance plans for their employees and offer a number of policy options purchased through BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois.

Thorner/O'Neil: To avoid future failures, the wisest look to the past

By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil - 

It has been said that ultimately history has proven to be the greatest teacher.

That seems a worthy claim, because it allows us to examine the strengths and weaknesses of former generations, as well as current ones, to determine what has proved to be the more effective laws, who have been the more admired officials, and which world leaders proved to be successful and those who did not.  

History deals with facts; it reveals reasons for successes and the causes of failures. While it is not a perfect way to determine the best path for our future, it is undeniable that history does provide important facts to help our present generation avoid mistakes made by past generations to set the best course for America’s future.

GOP candidate emerges in IL's 15th CD

Congressman John Shimkus (IL-15) announced recently he's retiring and won't be running for re-election in 2020. There have been lots of speculation as to who would step forward in Illinois' very conservative downstate 15th CD - and thus far, it's been relatively quiet. 

Until Wednesday.

Unions Trapping Children in Unsafe Schools

The federal government just released a report about schools that concludes what anyone who has ever ridden a public bus, used a public bathroom or stood in line at the DMV could tell you: Private is better.

The survey, “School Choice in the United States: 2019,” released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), found, as the Cato Institute’s Neal McCluskey put it so perfectly, “School choice rules!”

“Safety first” isn’t just a sensible rule of thumb to heed before starting a construction project or hitting the ski slopes. It’s also a primary element for children to be able to learn and thrive in classrooms. How can a student concentrate on math lessons when his or her mind is on the upsetting words the bullies said at lunchtime? Or how can a student focus on the intricacies of Shakespeare’s prose when he or she is distracted by the fight the gang is having in the hallway?

More HERE

Now That ‘Sesame Street’ Is On HBO, PBS Doesn’t Need Tax Dollars

PBS doesn't need to keep getting public money. Jonathan S. Tobin writes:

PBS stations also long ago ceased being “educational TV.” They still run children’s programming, documentaries, and upscale British dramas. But their time is also taken up with the flotsam of broadcasting history such as “The Lawrence Welk Show.” Most of what PBS offers can be just as easily found elsewhere on the expanded universe of the digital dial.

That’s part of the reason “Sesame Street” left PBS for the greener pastures of HBO. The switch enabled Children’s Television Workshop to produce more new episodes every year. The notion that “Sesame Street” needed government handouts was always ridiculous since it was, on its own, profitable enough to support itself or be lured to a new spot where it could better flourish.

Squad Backing Sanders Is Good News for Trump

“Squad” members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have reportedly agreed to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. for president, a move that will boost Bernie’s chances of winning the Democratic Party’s presidential primary race while simultaneously crushing his chances of beating Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.

Ocasio-Cortez and Omar have won immense praise from virtually every corner of the mainstream press and among the most extreme leftists in the Democratic Party. Both have been key players in promoting the “Green New Deal,” the most economically dangerous policy proposal offered in modern American history. (Sanders cosponsored Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal resolution in the Senate earlier in 2019.)

Among other things, Comrade Ocasio-Cortez’s GND would have the country abandon all fossil fuels over just a 10 year period, eliminate air travel, kill cows to halt climate change, provide “free” college, impose a single-payer health care system, and create a federal jobs guarantee.

More HERE

Frederick Douglass: From Slave to Statesman

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, but through his own heroic efforts became one of the most influential advocates for freedom in American history. His journey, a tale both agonizing and inspiring, should be known by everyone. Timothy Sandefur, author of "Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man," guides us through Douglass’ amazing life.

Evolution: Bacteria to Beethoven

For a century Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been as unquestioned as Newton’s theory of gravity. But science never stops asking questions. Or at least it’s not supposed to. Stephen Meyer, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, takes up the challenge in this video. Are there questions about the origins of life that Darwinism can’t answer?

He witnessed the genesis of the exodus. Now he's joining it. Byrne exits Illinois.

By Dennis Byrne - 

So long, Illinois. Goodbye, Chicago.

Here, I was born and raised. Schooled and worked. Practically my entire life has unfolded in Chicago and close by.

As a kid, I rode on Chicago street cars and the wooden "L" cars before there was a CTA. Took the old North Shore Line to high school and college. Flew out of Midway Airport when it was the nation’s busiest and before there was an O’Hare. Caddied in Northfield and labored over a North Avenue knitting mill’s steam table. I’ve worked for three Chicago daily newspapers. I love Chicago. Chicago is my town.

But I’ve had enough. Fed up. I’m gone.

There are as many reasons for leaving as there are people fleeing, the weather not being the least of them. But little is to be done about Chicago’s weather. Unlike how the city and state have been ravaged. By the greedy, incompetent and power-hungry. By the boodlers, gonifs and crooks who fancy themselves as the feudal lords and we their vassals. By public employee unions that have turned the idea of “public service” into a joke on the taxpayers, who, in fact, have become the public servants. By voters whose party loyalties, ideologies and self-serving have made Chicago not just a national laughingstock, but a dangerous place.

More HERE

Rossi: 56% Increase In Young People's Suicide Rates

By Randy Rossi - 

What a tragedy. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) just released a new study that reports that suicide rates for young Americans (10-24) are up 56% in the last decade. Why isn’t that front page news? More young people now die from suicide than by homicides.

What is causing this disaster? The decline of the family and the destruction of the traditional moral values which have been the foundation of a happy life for thousands of years are the cause of this disaster. The single biggest disaster is the decline of the family. In 1960, only 5% of American kids were raised without their father. Today, 41% are. My criminology professor told our class  49 years ago that 70% of kids raised without their fathers lived a life of crime or poverty. That is a disaster. According to a WSJ Op-ed today “Political Correctness Is Bad for Kids” written by a psychoanalyst, only 33% of US liberals “Agree that marriage is needed to create strong families”. No wonder suicides are up for young people. On top of that, studies have shown that 26% of young people are depressed because social media dominates their lives. If they don’t get enough “likes” from their Facebook “tribe”, they are depressed. It used to be that strong families, a belief in God, believing in our traditional American values, watching “Father Knows Best”, physically hanging around with good friends, self-reliance, and actual achievements made us happy and fulfilled our lives. Sadly, in our new politically correct world, all those things are under attack by liberals for being too judgmental in our politically correct culture. Instead, too many of our kids are bombarded every day with immoral trash on social media, TV, games, movies, and music.

Thorner/Boese: Trump's retreat from Syria, a no-win situation

By Nancy Thorner & Al Boese - 

While many pundits and Republican and Democrats legislators have gone hysterical over President Trump’s Syrian pullout, President Trump really had no choice, that is, according to Mark Langfan, a Florida-based attorney, Chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) who specializes in security issues, but to employ his own “Samson Option.” For Trump, faced with a no-win situation, decided to be a modern-day American Samson by knocking over everyone’s toys and theories.

According to Langfan, Trump is cleverly seeing to it that Russia needs Israel to keep Iran at bay or lose Syria to the Iranian octopus. Trump is also sending other messages to the Middle East Arab countries.

Following is Trump's American "Samson Option" as excerpted and adapted from Langfan's original report.

Mark Zuckerberg Leans on Free Speech While Defending Facebook’s Ad Policies

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back Thursday against critics who believe his company’s new advertisement policies will allow politicians to lie and misinform voters ahead of the election.

Zuckerberg defended the new ad policy, which largely exempts politicians from Facebook’s fact-checkers, during an interview with The Washington Post, telling reporters that Americans probably don’t want a company being the arbiter of what is fact and what is lie.

“People worry, and I worry deeply, too, about an erosion of truth,” he said ahead of a speech at Georgetown University. “I don’t think people want to live in a world where you can only say things that tech companies decide are 100% true.”

More HERE

Wind Industry Soon Poised for Decline

A new report says impending government decisions could soon result in a sharp decline in expansion of wind power.

The news comes as the industry is expected to experience record growth in 2019 and 2020 and seven states are about to double their wind capacity in the near term,

Tariffs Could Block Wind

A report by the energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie predicts wind capacity in the United States will experience its largest growth ever in 2019 and 2020, with installed capacity predicted to expand to 121 gigawatts (gw) from 97 gw.

Despite such already planned increases, the industry’s long-term growth prospects are cloudy, says Wood Mackenzie’s report.

Socialism, Not Climate Change, Is the Real Threat

The threat of socialism is far greater than climate change. Emma Roberts writes:

The hysteria over climate change has gone so far that many students my age are striking — skipping school every Friday to protest global warming. And they’re demanding that Washington, D.C., fix it.

Washington has many, many things that it needs to fix, and many responsibilities and duties to uphold. Global warming, however, is not one of them. Studies show that if the U.S. fully implemented the Green New Deal, the temperature of Earth would decrease by no more than 0.097 degrees Fahrenheit over a span of 30 years.

But the price of electricity would increase by almost 10 times its current amount. The price of gasoline would increase astronomically, so that drivers would have no choice but to drive Priuses and Teslas.

CA Approves Broadest Gun Seizure Laws in U.S. Is Illinois Next?

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved some of the strictest gun laws and gun seizure powers in the U.S. Friday, signing into law 15 different pieces of gun legislation.

Newsom has reinforced a “red flag” law that enables educators, employers and co-workers to inform on gun owners and request that a restraining order be placed on them — if they are believed to be a danger to themselves or society, according to the Associated Press.

The bill was deemed to be too extreme even for Newsom’s predecessor, former Gov. Jerry Brown, who was also an enthusiastic advocate of gun control. Brown vetoed the legislation twice.

More HERE

Making Headlines for the Gospel in Chicago

On Wednesday, September 18, Mauck & Baker hosted a press conference in Millennium Park to announce its lawsuit against the City of Chicago on behalf of four Wheaton College students (and inevitably all Americans) who want the freedom to exercise their First Amendment rights in a traditional public forum.

"The City of Chicago has decided to make up out of thin air a bunch of rules dividing Millennium Park into eleven 'rooms.' These 'rooms' are then off limits, except one out of the eleven, are people allowed to give speeches and hand out literature," attorney John Mauck explained. "It's an attempt to say this is an indoor building where you can't come and talk freely because now we've called them 'rooms.' But that doesn't make sense. It's open air, it's an open park, and that's what we'll be arguing."

Progressivism is an Imposter

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” This became an often-repeated popular line after its use in the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke. A 1950s Florida prison warden (played by actor Strother Martin) says those words after an insolent remark by one of the prisoners (played by Paul Newman) results in the warden lashing that prisoner with a whip.

In the film, the message the warden is clearly trying to get other prisoners working on a chain gang to understand is that if you do not do as you are told or if you talk back to those with physical power over you, there will be consequences. Words, in other words, do matter, and you better make sure you understand what they are saying.

But being sure what meaning or message that words convey is not always unambiguous. This becomes a problem in any exchange of ideas when what you think the other person means by the words they are using is not what they have in mind. And sometimes the ambiguity surrounding the use of a word might even be intentional.

More HERE

San Francisco’s False Solution

The San Francisco homeless problem can't be simply solved with more money. Erica Sandberg writes.

If Benioff wants to be a hero, it is within his substantial means to achieve something that few others can afford—and which San Franciscans at large would embrace. He could assemble like-minded billionaires, tech giants, and other successful businesses, encourage their buy-in, and create a private organization dedicated to direct homeless services. They might open accessible and enticing substance-abuse and psychological-counseling centers that offer skills training, jobs, and even residences, such as those created in Colorado. The group could work with police, residents, and merchants instead of against them.

The Electoral College Matters

Under the Electoral College system, presidential elections are decentralized, taking place in the states.

Critics of the Electoral College say they simply want to elect the president the way we elect most other officials.

Every state governor is chosen by a statewide popular vote. Why not a national popular vote for president?

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 asked themselves the same question, and they rejected a national popular vote along with several other possible modes of presidential election.

The plan they adopted is found in Article II, Section 1: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.”

So, what are the beneficial effects of choosing our presidents through the Electoral College?

More HERE

Illinois Baptist State Association Joins Two Lawsuits

The Illinois Baptist State Association will join two lawsuits involving religious liberty issues for the purpose of protecting Southern Baptist churches in the state. The IBSA Board of Directors voted to participate in the litigation in its fall meeting Sept. 10. One case involves zoning regulations that prohibit churches and church plants from being located in certain areas of a city. The other contests requirements that churches and religious institutions cover the cost of abortions for their employees. Both were approved by acclamation.

“Legislation in Illinois continues more and more to be an affront to our religious beliefs,” Executive Director Nate Adams told the Board prior to their vote. “These are just two examples. In the years that I’ve been with IBSA, I’ve never before asked you to join litigation.”

In the first, the Board authorized IBSA to engage in litigation in partnership with the Chicago-based law firm of Mauck & Baker that proactively challenges zoning restrictions in Illinois municipalities which do not currently allow religious institutions such as churches or church plants in certain zones of their cities. The restrictions are in violation of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).

D211 Parents group calls "All Hands on Deck" before crucial Thurs nite school board meeting

PALATINE IL - Boys, girls, those questioning their gender and those identifying themselves as genders different than their biological sexes will likely be sharing locker and rest rooms after District 211's board meeting scheduled for Thursday night.

D211 Parents for Privacy - who has been resisting the effort for four years - is calling for an "All Hands On Deck" response to Thursday night's meeting.

No-Fly for Life: Illinois Rep. Proposes Radical Travel Ban

By Tony Perkins - 

Apparently, it's not enough that Illinois passed one of the most shocking abortion laws in America. Now, they want to punish states who don't.

State Representative Daniel Didech says it's not a "boycott," per se, but his bill outlawing travel to pro-life states could have fooled us. The idea behind his H.B. 3901 is to put the hurt on places like Alabama, Georgia, and other states where leaders listened to voters and took great strides to protect the unborn. Now, in retribution, Didech thinks Illinois employees should either be outlawed from going to those states on business -- or forced to pay for it out of their own pockets.

Thorner/Lehr: Debunking Popular Climate Myths about CO2

By Nancy Thorner & Jay Lehr - 

If you believe the debate over global warming has ever been about science, or for that matter climate, you have been conditioned, through formal education or through reports warning of doom and gloom, to believe what others rightly describe as a world-wide hoax concocted to unite the world under a single socialistic government where there is no capitalism, no democracy, and no freedom.

Why is exposing the truth so important? Because it has everything to do with the redistribution of wealth and the establishment of political agendas aimed at destroying the foundation of eastern democracies and free markets. Accordingly, it is therefore critical for everyone to become informed so free and open debate can exist, rather than the suppression and falsification of actual scientific climate data.

U.S. Postal Service Must Embrace Reform

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors has reached a quorum for the first time since 2014. Finally, USPS can take much-needed action to stem multi-billion-dollar annual losses, which threatens the very future of USPS mail delivery.

However, the board shouldn’t seek more revenue by forcing USPS to raise rates on its package delivery customers. If done, this could cripple the growing e-commerce sector and probably wouldn’t actually bring in more revenue. In other words, USPS should consider more innovative methods so it can meet the many challenges that lie ahead.

In thinking and writing about postal issues for more than 20 years, I’ve come to conclude that right now the key to postal reform is getting the postal service to focus time, attention, and resources on using its ubiquitous national network for final mile delivery of mail and packages.

In case you aren’t aware, the financial state of USPS is dire. For fiscal year (FY) 2018, USPS operating revenues of $70.8 billion couldn’t cover its $74.7 billion in expenses, so it ran a $3.9 billion deficit. The USPS FY 2019 deficit is on track to reach $8 billion. Since the board’s last quorum, USPS has bled $30 billion. USPS hasn’t broken even since 2006.

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UPDATE x1: Ives joins Crenshaw in response to Casten's ‘Racist’ attack

UPDATE x1: Dem Sean Casten, who ousted a GOP 6th CD incumbent in the 2018 Blue Wave, smeared a GOP colleague as a "racist" this week - and GOP candidate for the IL-6th CD Jeanne Ives responded to Casten Wednesday.

“As Rep. Crenshaw indicated, when they can’t beat you, they have to brand you,” said Ives. 

"One might also ask," Ives said in a statement, "if Casten believes it is racist to propose illegal immigrants not be allowed to vote, does Casten propose we change the law and allow for non-citizens to vote? It wouldn’t be racist if he supported the existing law on the matter, correct?"

WASHINGTON DC -  Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) fired back on Tuesday after his Democratic colleague, Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) attacked the Texas congressman as a “racist” when he was asked by a constituent to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) anti-Semitic remarks.

Di Leo: A Free Economy, from Door to Door and from Coast to Coast

By John F. Di Leo - 

When I was growing up in Chicago’s northern suburbs, one of our local heroes was the late, great W. Clement Stone, founder of Combined Insurance. 

I recall being an awestruck college volunteer with the Young Republicans, manning the registration table at a Republican state convention, when Clem Stone came up to chat with us.

His story was the stuff of legend: starting from nothing during the Great Depression, selling insurance door-to-door, and from that humble beginning, he became the multimillionaire founder of one of the great Illinois corporations.

A Vaping Ban Won’t Solve The Problem, It Will Only Make It Worse

Getting rid of vaping will do more harm than good. Julie Gunlock writes:

Traditional smoking—especially among teens--is going down. This is likely in part because kids who want to experiment with smoking are trying vaping instead of traditional, combustible cigarettes. And while many teens do vape, many don’t do it habitually and others vape nicotine-free vape liquid, which means they’re not vulnerable to addiction. Still, everyone wishes kids would abstain entirely from smoking anything, but if teens are going to experiment, it’s better to do so with something that’s less addictive and less harmful.

And vaping is far less harmful. E-cigarettes have been in the marketplace for more than a decade and in that time, the broad consensus is that vaping is much less harmful than traditional cigarette smoking. In 2015, Public Health England declared e-cigarettes to be 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Even former FDA administrator (and harsh critic of vaping) Scott Gottlieb has recognized their efficacy in helping smokers quit, saying his agency “...saw them as a less harmful alternative to cancer-causing tobacco for addicted adult smokers.”