Illinois Review

We Gather Together to ask the Lord's blessing

The traditional hymn often identified with Thanksgiving says,

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing
He chastens and hastens His will to make known
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing
Sing praises to His Name, He forgets not His own

 

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine
So from the beginning the fight we were winning
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

About the holiday set aside by President Abraham Lincoln, Scholastic.com writes: 

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting. Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.

We at Illinois Review ask our readers to join us in continuing to boldly ask the Lord's blessing on our nation and state, while making note of the all-important second verse's words: 

So from the beginning the fight we were winning
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

Family Research Council outraged with Chick-Fil-A over 2017 donation to anti-Christian group

In 2012, a gunman was prompted by Southern Poverty Law Center's website listings

Family Research Council learned Thursday that Chick-Fil-A donated $2500 to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which works to defame organizations that promote and adhere to traditional Christian values. The shooter that attacked FRC's D.C. office in 2012 told police he chose to attack FRC after seeing their name on the SPLC website. 

The media source Townhall.com found this 2017 entry among pages of charitable donations made by the Chick-Fil-A Foundation that year - to organizations from Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, high schools, to recently controversial groups such as the Salvation Army and Association of Christian Athletes:

 

Family Research Council's name is not among those that received donations in 2017.

The following was released Thursday (11/27) from Family Research Council:

Thorner: Equal Rights Amendment Challenges Our 10th Amendment

Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly led opposition to the ERA in the 70s

By Nancy Thorner - 

The Equal Rights Amendment is a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would eliminate any legal distinction between men and women, even when it makes sense to do so based on their biological differences. 

 

This is a far cry from how Alexis deTocqueville perceived Americans understood and thought about the equality of the sexes in 1840, as noted in Alexis deTocqueville's Democracy in America, volume 2 (1840): 

 

“It can easily be imagined that by trying hard in this way to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded; and that from this crude mixture of the works of nature only weak men and dishonest women can ever emerge.

 

While in the past gender used to refer to whether an individual was male or female, in 2019 there are 202 genders. In the LGBTQ community, 17 genders are sited. 

The Dark Art of Framing

Why do intelligent people – sometimes even our friends and family members – continue to fall for the Left’s false narrative? Jeff Myers, President of Summit Ministries, offers some compelling insight into the ways in which the Left manipulates words and emotions, and what you can do to protect yourself. This video was made possible through our partnership with Summit Ministries.

Fracking Saved $1.1 Trillion

Increased Shale Development Led To $900 In Annual Savings To Every American Family

A new report prepared by Kleinhenz & Associates for the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program shows increased oil and natural gas production from hydraulic fracturing  (“fracking”) has saved American consumers $1.1 trillion in the decade from 2008 to 2018. This breaks down to more than $900 in annual savings to each American family, or $9,000 in cumulative savings.

These savings come from the lower cost of natural gas due to increased production. According to the report, “natural gas as measured using the average Henry Hub price has declined from a 2008 high of $8.86 to an estimated 2018 price of $3.16.” For households in the lowest economic quintile, the bottom 20 percent, the lower price for natural gas amounts to a savings of 2.7 percent of their annual income. “This is equivalent to a raise of 2.7% for the poorest households,” the report states.

More HERE

Still More Fiddling While Forests Burn

What if someone said they planned to burn down your house, but it’s for your own good? They need to study how houses burn, so they can build better computer models to predict future home fires. In the future, therefore, that might help you.

Asinine as that sounds, it is precisely what the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) proposes to do, first in southern Utah and northern New Mexico, then in Georgia and South Carolina. It is part of an incredible scheme called the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment (FASMEE). The agency says it needs to study the behavior of giant, fast-moving forest fires, so it plans to set several of them, on purpose, starting this month.

More HERE

Wis. Elections Panel Sued for Not Cleaning Up Voter Rolls

Wisconsin is in a legal battle over election integrity. Mark Hemingway writes:

Federal law also requires states to keep voter rolls accurate, and an excess of voter registrations is known to contribute to voter fraud, such as “double voting” – a single person casting more than one ballot because they are registered in different precincts. Nonetheless, keeping voter rolls current appears to be a widespread national problem. A 2012 Pew Study found that 2.75 million Americans were registered to vote in more than one state.

The latest federal data show eight states and the District of Columbia have voter registrations exceeding 100%, meaning that there are more voter registrations on file than citizens of voting age that live there. In total, 38 states have one or more counties where voter registration rates exceed 100%. Wisconsin is one of only 12 states that doesn’t appear to have an excess of voter registrations anywhere in the state.

San Francisco’s New Anti-Police D.A.

San Francisco's new D.A. is bad news for the rule of law. Erica Sandberg writes:

Boudin’s platform of decarceration and ending the “criminalization of poverty” clearly appealed to many San Francisco voters, though the city’s growing public-order woes hardly suggest over-policing or aggressive prosecution of crime. A spate of car break-ins has reached epidemic proportions, with roughly 70 smash-and-grabs happening daily. Boudin has responded by pledging to address the “root causes” of crime—addiction and homelessness—but San Francisco already spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on human services, and the problems continue to worsen. His key promise regarding car burglaries is to put the city in the business of fixing the smashed windows at a discount—essentially a gesture of defeat.

Five GOPers file to succeed Rep. Terri Bryant

SPRINGFIELD - When State Senator Paul Schimpf decided not to run for a second term in 2020, it started a political movement that is resulting in a five-way GOP primary for the 115th State House seat. 

Monday morning, five Republicans filed to fill the 115th House seat State Rep. Terri Bryant will be vacating to be elected to Senator Schimpf's soon-to-be empty seat. 

Bryant succeeded GOP Congressman Mike Bost (IL-12) in his Illinois House seat when he was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 2014. 

The five GOPers vying to succeed Bryant are:

Illinois' "Conservative Caucus" core files in Springfield

Musgrave, Bailey, Skillicorn, Murphy and Halbrook at Charlie Parker's Diner in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD - After filing for the March 2020 GOP primary Monday morning, conservative state representatives Mike Murphy, Allen Skillicorn, Darren Bailey and Brad Halbrook enjoyed breakfast together with first-time GOP House candidate Cory Musgrave.

Possible 3-Way Dem Primary in IL's 3rd CD; Fricilone files for GOP

SPRINGFIELD - As of Monday morning, three Democrats and one Republican filed petitions for Illinois' 3rd CD primary in 2020. Incumbent Democrat Dan Lipinski will be challenged once again by Democrat Marie Newman - who narrowly lost to Lipinski in the 2018 Democrat primary. However, a third Democrat filed as well - Rush Darwish.

Republicans Ives, Kinzler file in 6th CD

Jeanne Ives, Jay Kinzler 

SPRINGFIELD - Despite former LT Gov Evelyn Sanguinetti deciding to drop out of the 6th CD GOP primary early on, there will still be a 6th CD GOP primary in 2020.

Monday morning, both former State Rep. Jeanne Ives and emergency room physician Jay Kinzler filed petition signatures to challenge first term Democrat Congressman Sean Casten next November. 

Two of possibly 10 Republicans ready to file for 2020 Durbin challenge

SPRINGFIELD - There's talk throughout the state of possibly ten Republicans who want to challenge Democrat U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in November 2020, but only two were ready to file petitions Monday morning as the State Board of Elections' door opened: former Lake County sheriff Mark Curran and Springfield area oncologist Tom Tarter:

Thus far, 7 GOPers file to oust Dem Lauren Underwood in IL's 14th CD

SPRINGFIELD - Thus far, seven Republican candidates have submitted petitions to challenge first term Democrat incumbent Lauren Underwood in 2020 in a district in which Donald Trump won in 2016. 

Today begins the filing of candidates in both Republican and Democrat Parties to compete in the March 17, 2020 Primary election - and candidates lined up at Springfield's Board of Elections to be the first to submit their petitions of candidacy. 

The Illinois 2020 campaign officially begins with getting one's name on the ballot - although it takes a campaign and organization of sorts to accumulate those valued petition signatures.

Di Leo: Augusto Pinochet: Standing Alone in the Brezhnev Era

By John F. Di Leo -

Born in Valparaiso, Chile, on November 25, 1915, the great Latin American leader, General Augusto Pinochet.

The very idea of referring to a Latin American ruler as “great” is a rarity. So many of the rulers south of the United States have been vicious, not just recently, but since ancient times. From the Incas and Aztecs of old to the Fidel Castros and Nicholas Maduros of the present, Central and South American rule has traditionally resulted in permanent poverty, usually awash in blood.

Augusto Pinochet is the exception.

Rossi: Welcome to America's 2nd Civil War!

By Randy Rossi - 

Democrats first declared war on America in 1861 when their Confederate Army opened fire on Fort Sumter. Their goal was to break apart the USA so that they could continue to enslave African-Americans on their southern plantations for profits. As a result 600,000 Americans died and over 1 million were wounded.

Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace

Who do people consider to be less ethical or honest than either telemarketers or used car salesman? If you said Washington politicians, you’d be right on the button. According to Gallup News Services, members of Congress are right at the bottom of perceived ethical behavior and honesty.

Every year Gallup issues the results of a public opinion survey concerning people’s views about the degree of honesty and ethical behavior in a variety of professions and occupations in the United States. Its last such survey was released in December 2018.

According to Gallup’s questioning of adults over 18 years of age, living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 58 percent of respondents held low or very low opinions of Congressmen’s ethics and honesty. Only 8 percent held high or very high positive views concerning the honesty and ethics of those holding a Congressional office.

The State Is Not Your Proxy

A few days ago, it was my pleasure to spend two hours listening to the ideas and concerns of a well-educated and politically informed – dare I say socially privileged – self-described socialist. A Bernie supporter, of course. I tried not to argue back but rather listen and learn. Sadly, there wasn’t too much there that I found challenging or new but I tried to understand nonetheless.

Her soliloquy began with the usual complaints about the very rich. Millionaires. Billionaires. They should not exist.

More HERE

Public Schools Are Failing Students

New standardized test scores have been released, and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called the results of the federally mandated National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam “devastating.”

“For the third time in a row since Common Core was fully phased in nationwide, U.S. student test scores on the nation’s broadest and most respected test have dropped, a reversal of an upward trend between 1990 and 2015,” reports Joy Pullmann of The Federalist. “Further, the class of 2019, the first to experience all four high school years under Common Core, is the worst-prepared for college in 15 years, according to a new report.”

More HERE

63% Support Religious Freedom at Work, Survey Finds

Most Americans support a broad definition of religious freedom and accommodation of minority religious beliefs in the workplace, despite a growing sense of polarization in the public square, according to a new study.

In light of unrestricted locker room access for transgenders, D 211 parents offered privacy option

PALATINE - Parents of students attending District 211's five high schools are being made aware that when the second semester starts in January, the new policy of opening locker rooms to transgender students will be in effect. 

Last Thursday night, the District 211 board - which oversees five high schools, including Conant, Fremd, Hoffman Estates, Palatine and Schaumburg - decided males identifying as females and females identifying as males may have unrestricted access to either sex locker rooms.

But parents also should know their students have options concerning privacy.

Di Leo: JFK, C.S. Lewis, and the Power of the Press

By John F. Di Leo - 

On November 22, 1963, after a two-year illness, the great author C.S. Lewis died at his home in England.  He was a lifetime scholar, a professor at Oxford for over thirty years, and author of many of the greatest books of the 20th century in several different genres: theology, fantasy fiction, science fiction, as well as the scholarship of English literature.  As the author of the popular bestsellers The Screwtape Letters and the Chronicles of Narnia, he was certainly among the most famous writers on earth at the time.

Less than an hour after his death, however, half a world away, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was a war hero, writer or coauthor of a couple of popular books, and a charismatic young senator when he was elected president in 1960. Just 2.5 years into his first term, Kennedy remained a beloved figure despite a few major policy failures. Between the fact of his personal popularity and the fact that he would be succeeded by the notoriously corrupt leftist Lyndon Johnson, the nation was horrified by his murder. It is no exaggeration to say that much of the world was plunged into mourning.  

Morrison casts lone vote against Cook County FY2020 budget

CHICAGO -  The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to approve the FY2020 Cook County Budget by a vote of 15-1.

The lone vote of opposition was cast by Commissioner Sean Morrison from the suburban 17th District.

“The 2020 Budget continues to grow both the size and scope of county government and does not do enough to reduce the county’s unfunded pension obligations and other legacy debt obligations. As a result, I cannot support this budget,” Morrison told his colleagues.

Thorner: A Constitutional Convention would open an unresealable can of worms

By Nancy Thorner - 

The Article V movement is a movement to try to change the U.S. Constitution, with the promised assurance that if we only change the Constitution, many of our nation's problems will be solved.

Others are convinced that holding a Constitutional Convention would create a complex, troublesome situation that would produce considerable subsequent problems. Similar to opening a can of worms that would be impossible to re-seal. 

Wisely, the Wisconsin General Assembly chose not to be a part of a growing and misguided conservative effort to open that problematic can.  

LaHood: US Jobs, GDP and farmers wait for Speaker Pelosi

PEORIA - Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) voiced his opinion about the Democrats' impeachment plot Thursday as the U.S. House headed home for Thanksgiving.

"Once again, Democrats are putting politics over progress," he tweeted, as House movement on the US Mexico Canada Agreement sits idly waiting for Speaker Pelosi's nod to move forward.

Rossi: Proof "The Fake News" Is the Enemy of the People

By Randy Rossi - 

The horribly biased and dishonest reporting of Ambassador Sondland’s testimony at the Democrat’s impeachment inquiry is rock solid proof that the “Fake News” is indeed the enemy of the people. There is nothing more important or impactful to our country than an impeachment process, especially if one political party (Dems) is trying to overturn the vote of the people. At this critical time, it is the news media’s sacred role to make sure that the American people have the facts and truth to make a critical decision that has a massive impact on our country.

Reality Check: Fixing the National Debt

The United States is now one of the most indebted countries in the world. The national debt is $23 trillion and is projected to grow to 150 percent of national income in coming years. Think tanks of different persuasions agree that this growth in debt is not sustainable, but there is little consensus on how to “fix the debt”; most proposals are unrealistic and misleading.

More HERE

Carrying Firearms for the Kids

A report released last week by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center on “targeted school violence” doesn’t add much to what we already knew. Nearly every attacker “experienced negative home life factors.” Most were victims of bullying and had a history of school disciplinary actions. The perpetrators typically had a grievance and a plan, which usually involved the use of a gun. But ultimately the report finds, “There is no profile of a student attacker, nor is there a profile for the type of school that has been targeted.”

As Stephen Sawchuk writes in Education Week, the analysis generally confirms the conclusion of the agency’s 2002 publication on school safety that “checklists of characteristics supposedly common to school shooters were not helpful in preventing violence.”

Green Energy Guts More Than Oil Jobs

Oil workers are not the only people who will lose their jobs if we try to replace fossil fuels with so-called “green energy.” Coal miners, pipe layers, natural gas workers and people in related industries will also suffer. But it will go much deeper than that.

American blue-collar workers in manufacturing jobs, who have been enjoying a historic boom under President Trump, will likely lose their jobs due to higher energy prices and manufacturing costs. Manufacturing is energy intensive. That means low-cost, reliable energy is essential to manufacturing and blue-collar jobs.

More HERE

AOC’s ‘Just Society’ a Socialist Sham

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), no stranger to socialist rhetoric, recently released her plan to create “A Just Society.” According to AOC, “A Just Society legislation aims to combat one of the greatest threats to our country, our democracy, and our freedom: economic inequality.”

AOC’s plan includes the following six planks: HERE

Internet Sales Taxes Harm E-Commerce

For years, states shied away from implementing internet sales taxes on persons or businesses without a physical presence in the state. However, this all changed in June 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Dakota’s internet sales tax law in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. In effect, the ruling overturned the 25-year-old “physical presence” standard set in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota.

The Wayfair decision upturned decades of sales tax laws and opens the floodgates for a torrent of new sales taxes that states can impose on online businesses and consumers. In response to the decision, Alaska local governments are considering a new plan that would allow cities and boroughs in the state to collect from online purchases. Alaska, which has no state sales tax, would become the first state where local governments would be allowed to collect internet sales tax revenue.

More HERE

China and the Other Kind of Disinformation

There’s a great deal of talk today about fake news and disinformation. Almost always, the object of the disinformation is someone or something that’s receiving allegedly undeserved criticism. That’s not the only way disinformation can work, however. Sometimes it can “frame” an object in a positive manner.

As the Russian/Soviet intelligence agencies developed the art of disinformation into what they called a science, it was every bit as important to be able to cast a positive light on an entity or individual (usually the reigning leader) as it was to be able to put someone in a bad light.

It looks like China is engaged in a similar disinformation effort, especially when it comes to carbon emissions and climate change. The effort has been going on for some time.

More HERE

Smollett files counter suit against Chicago officials

CHICAGO - The city of Chicago and specific police officers are being sued by actor Jussie Smollett after he was accused of faking a hate crime during Chicago's record-breaking arctic blast last winter.

Smollett’s lawyers filed their two-count counterclaim late Tuesday, the Sun-Times is reporting. The lawyers delivered a 49-page response to a lawsuit first filed by the city, which seeks to recover $130,106 for the investigation it conducted after Smollett made his allegedly false claim in January.

Those mentioned in the lawsuit include the Chicago Police Department, detectives Michael Theis and Edward Wodnicki, CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson, and bodybuilding brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo.

Di Leo: International Trade Is More Than Just China

By John F. Di Leo - 

The trade war between Mainland China and the United States is in the news.

From the business pages to the front pages, day in and day out, there is a focus on the punitive tariffs that the Trump administration placed on Chinese goods on top of our regular import duties, on the retaliatory tariffs that China put on American goods on top of their own regular duties, and on the general toll that this trade war is taking on the American economy.

One might be forgiven for imagining that this argument with China was the only front in the effort to improve America’s economic position… but one would be mistaken.

How LGBTQ Education Is Gaining in Tax-Funded Schools, From Pre-K on Up

LGBTQ education is making serious inroads in public schools. John Murawski writes:

The drive to include LGBTQ-related teaching material has gained tremendous momentum during the last few years but it has been percolating for decades, although not without pushback. On one level it reflects the nation’s recent embrace of gay marriage and transgender rights, which has emboldened corporations and local governments to publicly display pride flags, and straight people to express solidarity by announcing their preferred pronouns. The embrace of inclusive history mirrors a trend to revoke so-called “no promo homo” laws that forbid mentioning homosexuality in sex-ed classes. Arizona repealed its law this year and Utah did so in 2017, leaving a half-dozen states with such laws on the books. South Carolina’s statute, for example, says sex ed “may not include a discussion of alternative sexual lifestyles” and prohibits mentioning “homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases."

How Big Government Hurts Women

Government-mandated employee perks might sound like a good way to help out working women, but, in reality, these programs do more harm than good. European women are already paying the price, and American women might be next. Carrie Lukas, President of Independent Women’s Forum, explains how keeping the government out of the workplace goes a long way toward keeping women in it. For more information on Independent Women's Forum visit IWF.org

Blackouts, Fires, High Gas Prices: Who Wants to Live in California Today?

California is plagued by dysfunction. Ian Lovett writes:

Long known as the home of easy living, with its beaches and year-round sunshine, California is increasingly seen as a difficult place, where the government and corporate institutions can’t reliably offer basic services. Some residents are questioning whether they should leave as a result.

California has the highest gas prices in the country. Housing prices are the second-highest in the nation, triggering a statewide lack of affordable housing.

Homelessness is surging in the state’s major cities, despite billions spent by state and local governments to combat the problem. A drought, which gripped the state for more than seven years, left some towns without clean water.

How A Russian’s Grocery Store Trip In 1989 Exposed The Lie Of Socialism

Communism's failures were exposed by a trip to the grocery store. Jon Miltimore writes:

On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.

Yeltsin, who had a reputation as a reformer and populist, “roamed the aisles of Randall’s nodding his head in amazement,” wrote Stefanie Asin, a Houston Chronicle reporter. He marveled at free cheese samples, fresh fish and produce, and freezers packed full of pudding pops. Along the way, Yeltsin chatted up customers and store workers: “How much does this cost? Do you need special education to manage a supermarket? Are all American stores like this?”

What's Congressman Casten doing to resolve these problems?

WHEATON - "Tell Congressman to stop the impeachment," an internet ad funded by the Club for Growth released last week says.

With health care costs rising, drugs poisoning our communities, turmoil across the globe not being addressed by the Democrat-controlled U.S. House, nothing's been done to straighten out these issues, the ad says. 

The Democrats' distraction from those issues is the impeachment that Sean Casten fully supports.

Rep. Chris Miller: Governor’s police and fire pension ‘reform’ not the solution Illinois needs

OAKLAND – A plan to consolidate 650 downstate pension funds passed the Illinois General Assembly during last week's veto session, but that plan was met with skepticism from many Republicans that simply don't trust Illinois Democrat fix-it schemes.

State Representative Chris Miller (R-Oakland) says he voted against the Governor’s scheme to consolidate the 650 downstate police and fire pension funds because giving the state control of local pension funds sounded more like a scam than a reform.

“I have heard from many of my local police and fire departments and the idea of turning the management of their pension funds to the state of Illinois is something they have zero interest in seeing happening,” Miller said. “It may be the greatest reform in the history of reforms, but there is no trust in the state to manage these funds. It is just like what President Reagan said, ‘the nine most terrifying words in the English language are I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Should the US open its doors to "climate migrants" and their additional CO2 emissions?

CHICAGO - Heartland Institute's Justin Haskins responded to Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the US should open its doors to at least 50,000 "climate migrants" each year on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show last week: 

After Illinois' 2018 passage, ERA supporters push measure that could endanger women

D.C. - Laws at the state and federal levels that specifically protect women are endangered - thanks to state lawmakers in Illinois that voted to support the Equal Rights Amendment last year.

Laws that provide protections and benefits that can only be taken advantage of by females could be overturned if wording that requires men and women be treated equally are amended to the U.S. Constitution. Laws that require nursing areas for breastfeeding women, special protections for pregnant employees and other benefits of which only women can take advantage could be disqualified. so speculated Eagle Forum Illinois' lobbyist in 2014. 

Constitutional attorney Sharee Langenstein said "The ERA would prevent states from making any distinction between men and women. WIC would be gone. Protections for pregnant and nursing women would be gone," Langenstein said. "Women would be drafted, and would be put on the frontlines at the same rate as men. Women already have 'equal protection' under the law. Why do we need to strip away our equality in favor of androgyny?"

The issue took another step towards reality last week. With Illinois passing the ERA last year, the ERA movement boasts they are one state away from the required number of states to amend the Constitution.

Constitutional attorney Sharee Langenstein said "The ERA would prevent states from making any distinction between men and women. WIC would be gone. Protections for pregnant and nursing women would be gone," Langenstein said. "Women would be drafted, and would be put on the frontlines at the same rate as men. Women already have 'equal protection' under the law. Why do we need to strip away our equality in favor of androgyny?"

The issue took another step towards reality last week. With Illinois passing the ERA last year, the ERA movement boasts they are one state away from the required number of states to amend the Constitution.

IL GOP launches "Illinois Democrat Crime Ring" website

CHICAGO - "The Democratic Party of Illinois is nothing more than a vehicle for no talent cronies and grifters to reward friends, wield power, and personally profit from public office." 

Those are the introductory words found on the IL GOP's new website www.Demcorruption.com to expose epidemic of Democrat corruption.

It goes on. 

"Each week brings with it news of federal investigators engaging in a wide-ranging corruption probe that has already yielded indictments for two Democrat state legislators and the most powerful Chicago alderman, among others. The ongoing stream of FBI warrants and subpoenas tell the story of a political machine run amok, engaging in blatant, wide-ranging corruption without concern for consequences," the intro says.

Rossi: AG Barr's Sneak Preview of Explosive IG Report

By Randy Rossi - 

Any American paying attention to the Dem’s attempt to impeach Donald Trump in their “Stalinistic” impeachment hearings regarding a “Perfect” phone call Trump had with the new president of Ukraine has to wonder why they are spending so much time and American resources to go down this ridiculous path. Anybody who has actually read the transcripts of that call knows that President Trump said and did nothing wrong and the president of Ukraine said multiple times that the call was pleasant and he felt absolutely no pressure from President Trump. Why is “Comrade” Shift using this immoral, shameful, and dictatorial process which will clearly fail to try and impeach President Trump?

Thorner: The Deep State's Unconstitutional Political Game

By Nancy Thorner - 

Why would specific, politically powerful Democrats want to drastically change the U.S.A.? 

Our current government, as observed through the Marxist influencers within the Democrat Party, are proposing and leading this nation into one that our forefathers warned us against?   Legislators in the Democrat Party disrespect and purposely demean President Trump and have likewise convinced many registered Democrats that Trump was not duly elected as president.

It is a given that the Democrat Party's platform and plans for this nation are at odds with those promoted by the Republican platform and President Trump; nevertheless, verbally disrespecting a duly elected president of the United States should not be centered on “feelings,” nor about party preference.  All American citizens have a responsibility to respect election results as set forth in our Constitution.  It is the Electoral College, not the popular vote, that determines presidential elections.

14th CD GOP candidate Jerry Evans proposes plan to stop human trafficking

WARRENVILLE - Republicans in the 14th CD will have an array of candidates to choose from next March if every one that has declared an interest in challenging Democrat Lauren Underwood gets on the 14th CD's GOP primary ballot. 

That remains to be seen - but one GOP candidate that hasn't made much noise yet - Jerry Evans - released a detailed plan to combat human trafficking Monday. Evans' ideas to stop human trafficking include:

What Happened to California Republicans? A Lesson for Illinois' GOP.

Originally printed by The Daily Signal

By Victor Davis Hanson - 

From 1967 to 2019, Republicans controlled the California governorship for 31 of 52 years. So why is there currently not a single statewide Republican officeholder? California also has a Democratic governor and Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. Only seven of California’s 53 congressional seats are held by Republicans.

In 1994, then-Gov. Pete Wilson backed Proposition 187, which denied state social services to undocumented immigrants. The spin goes that it backfired, alienated the Hispanic community, and thus marked the road to Republican perdition.

Not quite.

2019 Illinois Corruption Tracker

Illinois is the second-most corrupt state in the nation, according to the University of Illinois-Chicago. And corruption costs the state economy at least $550 million per year. But the size and scope of government corruption is nothing new for Illinoisans.

What is new? Powerful Illinois lawmakers, Chicago aldermen, local mayors and business interests are involved in what appears to be one of the most wide-ranging federal corruption investigations in state history.

The Illinois Policy Institute has developed a report that is a continuously updated list of individuals and organizations that have been questioned, targeted, investigated, indicted or convicted as part of law enforcement’s anti-corruption activity in Illinois in 2019.

Check it out HERE.

China Poised to Benefit If Ukraine’s Western Relationships Fray

Ukraine is vital to U.S. national security. Nolan Peterson writes:

China has been steadily increasing its economic clout in Ukraine through a broad gamut of infrastructure investments and other economic initiatives. This year, China overtook Russia as Ukraine’s top trading partner, underscoring a landmark shift in economic ties between Kyiv and Moscow.

Ostensibly, China is grooming Ukraine to become a key node in Beijing’s One Belt, One Road trade route across Asia to Europe. China also has its eyes on Ukraine’s military hardware and agricultural exports.

52 Trillion Reasons to Oppose M4A

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a leading contender for her party’s 2020 presidential sweepstakes, recently released her long-awaited Medicare for All plan. Warren estimates her grandiose plan would cost a mind-blowing $52 trillion over its first decade, give or take a trillion.

But wait, it gets better—or much worse, depending on your political perspective. According to Warren, who has a long history of telling tall tales, “My Medicare for All plan gives everyone good insurance and cuts their health care costs to nearly zero - without increasing middle-class taxes one penny.” Obviously, this seems way too good to be true. 

Actually, Warren’s entire plan, including her absurd assertion it will be “paid” for, is patently ridiculous on its face. As Ronald Reagan would say, “There you go again.”

More HERE