Illinois Review

Di Leo: California Wildfires Have Nothing on the first Trump-Biden Debate

By John F. Di Leo -

Presidential debates are about many things.  First and foremost, of course, is the result: which candidate performed better; which campaign will do better in the days and weeks to come? 

This is a difficult question. Unlike the debate programs of high schools and colleges, which have specific scoring rules so that victors can be objectively determined, a presidential debate is terribly subjective. One’s personal opinions of candidates and moderators, issues and parties, can’t help but factor into one’s evaluation. 

Nevertheless, they are always informative in some way, and the first presidential debate of 2020 did not fail to produce plenty of notable takeaways: 

‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ Is Just Another Term for Socialism

We are in the midst of an open counterrevolution against liberty and limited government in the United States. This may sound like strong language for dramatic effect. But it is really not an exaggeration in the current climate of political discord and antagonism, admittedly amplified by this being a presidential election year when political parties make hyperbole the norm. An example of this counterrevolution and lean toward socialism may be seen in a recent attack on the classical liberal, free market economist, the late Milton Friedman, in the pages of The New York Times.

Through a good part of the post-World War II era, Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was a leading voice for personal freedom and economic liberty, as well as one of the most internationally prominent economic scholars of his time. His stature as a serious contributor to economic theory and policy discourse was recognized with the awarding of a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976.

Friedman’s A Theory of the Consumption Function (1957) and A Monetary History of the United States (1963), the latter coauthored with Anna Schwartz, established his position as a leading critic of mainstream Keynesian economics, while remaining within the generally accepted modern macroeconomic analytical framework. He helped bring about a “rediscovery” of the quantity theory of money, after “money” had been relegated into being a variable of secondary importance in the “new economics” that had emerged out of John Maynard Keynes’s The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936).

More HERE

Everything you need to know about Amy Coney Barrett

Amy Coney Barrett’s record of judicial rulings and legal writings shows that she holds an originalist view of the Constitution, and it provides a glimpse into her opinions on such diverse issues as religious liberty, national healthcare, environmental regulations, the right to life, and the Second Amendment. Here are the facts about the woman who could replace replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

Biography

Amy Coney Barrett was born to Michael and Linda Coney on January 28, 1972, in New Orleans, where she attended St. Mary’s Dominican High School. Barrett earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Rhodes College in 1994 and a juris doctorate from Notre Dame Law School, where she served as executive editor of the law review and finished first in her class. She clerked for Reagan-appointed D.C. Appeals Court Judge Laurence H. Silberman in 1998-1999 and the following year for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she calls “my mentor.” Barrett went into private practice for two years, then taught for one year at George Washington University School of Law. Since 2002 she has taught at Notre Dame Law School, winning “Distinguished Professor of the Year” three timesand serving as a member of the university’s “Faculty for Life” group.

88% of likely US voters will be watching Trump-Biden debate tonight

CLEVELAND - President Donald Trump will debate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday night at the Cleveland Clinic in the all-important swing state of Ohio.

The vast majority of likely U.S. voters is likely to watch this year’s presidential debates which begin tonight, but they say the debates are less important than they were four years ago.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 88% of Likely U.S. Voters are likely to watch the presidential debates this year, with 67% who are Very Likely to do so. 

Will you be watching? If so, what do you expect to see? 

GOP Senate candidate Mary Burress responds to Vistra Energy closing more Illinois plants

PEORIA - As energy giant Vistra announced a plan for the eventual closing of its Illinois coal plants, GOP Senate candidate Mary Burress is warning that these closures could be just the tip of the iceberg if State Senator Dave Koehler (D-46) and like-minded environmentalists are successful.

 "Today's announcement [by Vistra] will be just the beginning if the radical environmentalist agenda pushed by Dave Koehler becomes law," said Burress. "If Koehler succeeds, every coal plant in the entire state of Illinois would be closed."

Vistra Energy says it expects to retire seven Luminant power plants - five in Illinois and two in Ohio  - of which the company owns a combined capacity of more than 6,800 MW, between 2022 and 2027.

Rossi: Democrat Attacks On Judge Amy Coney Barrett Are Attacks on Our Constitution and Civility

By Randy Rossi - 

The Democrats have reached a new low with their barbaric attacks on President Trump’s outstanding choice to replace Justice Ginsburg in the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Just as they did when President Trump successfully nominated her for the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 3 years ago, they are basing their attacks on her because she is a Catholic who strongly believes in God and our Constitution. That outrageous and barbaric attack on her makes you feel that Democrats are launching an “Inquisition” on people of faith similar to the attacks that were made on Catholic JFK when he ran for president.

Thorner/O'Neil: US Patriots: Beware of election misinformation

 

By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil - 

Media sources and political candidates on the Left seeking favorable political positions, are spewing inflammatory rhetoric about their opponents, throwing out accusations rather than said facts to get your attention.

If you want a preview of what the DNC is planning to do, just listen to what they accuse Trump of doing.

President Trump has obviously become an object of their negativity, foremost to create a feeling of distrust with voters in the upcoming November 3rd election.  Have you ever wondered how our foreign enemies might use the inflammatory statements and insinuations from the Left to our nation’s disadvantage? 

Washington Post, Bezos’s Propaganda Rag, Praises Communist China

In August 2020,The Washington Post—which is owned by the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos—ran a story with the headline: “Trump views China’s Communist Party as a threat. Young Chinese see it as a ticket to a better future.” This is fake news at its worst.

Before diving into the details of this obviously ludicrous article, let me offer a real-world example of one ex-Chinese youth who would vehemently disagree with this outrageous contention.

Several years ago, my parents adopted a little girl from China. She was an orphan (thanks to China’s One Child Policy) who assuredly did not have a “ticket to a better future” because of China’s Communist Party.

In fact, had she not been adopted by my parents, her ticket to a better future in China would have likely included one-way trips to worlds of poverty, prostitution, and pain. Fortunately, she was rescued from a life of despair in a totalitarian dictatorship.

Interestingly, after coming to the United States and learning the language and customs of her new homeland, she has totally disavowed her birthplace. Why, you might ask? Well, according to her, being a youth in China (especially while in a government-run orphanage) was a hellish experience replete with abuse, indoctrination, and despair.

More HERE

Symptoms of the COVID-19 Panic

Christina Herrin, government relations manager of health policy, interviews Twila Brase, RN, PHN on COVID-19 related treatments and government red tape limiting options for patients. The discussion focuses on preventative treatment options, a possible vaccine, mask mandates and regulations in Minnesota that are limiting options for patients.

Never Apologize to the Mob

What once was the start of healthy debate is now just as often a catalyst for personal and professional destruction. “The mob” is out to cancel anyone who crosses it. Paris Dennard describes the problem and offers a solution.

Ridings: The danger in mistaking "respected crackpot" for "scientist"

By Jim Ridings - 

In the early 1900s, the leading medical experts came up with a cure for tuberculosis. The experts put patients outdoors in tents, in sub-zero winter conditions and in blazing hot summer weather. The “tent colony” in Ottawa, Illinois, was in the forefront of this scientific breakthrough.

Needless to say, this did nothing to help their lungs or to cure the then-incurable disease. But it was science.

The people who say we “must follow science” in combatting Covid-19 are well-intentioned. But we know where the path of good intentions leads.

The predictions on Covid-19 have been almost all wrong. We do not have 2 to 4 million dead people in America, and the health care workers and grocery store clerks who come in contact with hundreds of people daily are not dropping dead.

The problem, as Ronald Reagan once said, “It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.”

Di Leo: Biden’s Billions Come With Strings Attached

By John F. Di Leo - 

Joe Biden has been talking about the Biden/Harris campaign's effort to help American manufacturing, in the form of a $700 billion spending bill, essentially a repackaged version of an economic program that Senator Elizabeth Warren ran on in the primaries.

The program, as Mr. Biden describes it, is a combination of $400 billion focused on federal purchases of goods, and $300 billion focused on federal grants and partnerships for research and development.

On the surface, this doesn’t sound entirely bad.  It’s not innovative either; presidents always propose spending programs. President Trump tried very hard to get a large infrastructure spending program passed in his first term, but the Democratic-run House of Representatives wouldn’t agree to a spending program with Trump’s name on it, even though it focused on the very kinds of things – bridges, roads, water and sewer systems, etc. – on which they spend federal money all the time.

Rossi: The “Fake News” Ignores Massive Proof of VP Biden’s Abuse of Power for Family Profit

By Randy Rossi - 

This past week the Senate released a critical detailed report on Democrat VP Biden’s massive abuse of power in order for his son and family to make a fortune from Ukraine, Russia, and China. Because Democrat VP Joe Biden is a candidate running for president, one would think this would be front page news so that voters could be properly informed so that they can make a rational choice in the November elections. Incredibly, most of the “Fake News” which is biased for Democrat Joe Biden and against Republican President Trump never even mentioned it to hide that news from the American people. Neither CNN, the NY Times, the Washington Post, and the majority of liberal news sources even mentioned this critical news once. That horrific bias is a threat to our democracy.

Cultural Marxist Education for the Kids

Is the American education system imposing Marxist beliefs on young Americans?

The results of a survey released last week revealed that two-thirds of 18-39 year-old Americans do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. One-half of the respondents could not name a single concentration camp. One-fourth said the holocaust was a myth and one-tenth blamed it on the Jews.

I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It is very much in line with other recent polls which find that just 27 percent of those under the age of 45 nationally can demonstrate a basic understanding of American history. Additionally, 57 percent  of all Americans don’t know we have nine Supreme Court justices, 60 percent don’t know which countries we fought in WWII, and only 32 percent can correctly name all three branches of government.

Instead of cleaning up its act, the education establishment is doubling down. In fact, America’s children are in the process of having their brains scrubbed clean. Instead of teaching actual history, we are seeing more and more curricula that is pointedly critical of America and its traditional values. Facts are irrelevant. Objectivity is non-existent. Lies are truth.

More HERE

Champaign County Clerk Sends Wrong Polling Location to Voters

According to Illinois Rising Action, last week, Democrat Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons mailed hundreds of voters a voting notice letter that listed the wrong address for their Election Day polling location. According to news reports, the incorrect polling address listed on the letter directed voters to an individual’s home instead of the correct location, the East Bend Township Building.

Clerk Ammons dismissed this critical error and offered no explanation other than he is “taking the necessary steps to clarify the issue.” With only five weeks to go until election day, his response to the latest mistake in the run-up to the November election is unacceptable and demonstrates his complete disregard for the seriousness of his responsibility to oversee an election with integrity.

Ammons must be transparent with the people of Champaign County on the specific actions he is taking to remedy this situation and properly notify voters of their correct voting locations. Ammons must calm the public’s concerns by answering questions surrounding his latest mistake in the run-up to the November election:

• How many voters received a voting notice letter with the wrong address listed?
• What specific actions is your office taking to correct this mistake and ensure these voters are notified of their correct voting location address?

“Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons must be open and transparent and address the questions surrounding this mistake immediately”, said Kayleen Carlson, executive director of Illinois Rising Action. “With just five weeks to go until the election, failing to correct this critical error will put the validity of the November elections at risk.”

This is not the first time Champaign County Clerk Ammons has been at the center of controversy surrounding an election. Following the March 17, 2020 primary election, it was discovered Clerk Ammons was illegally counting ballots before the primary Election Day. It was also discovered that Ammons’s office sent duplicative ballots to voters prior to the March primary. In addition to the controversies surrounding the primary election, just last month Ammons’s office mailed Vote By Mail applications that included an error in the return address zip code on the application that could result in delivery delays of an application for a voter.

Cook County GOP Launches "Stop The Violence, Fire Kim Foxx" Video Ad

Cook County Republican Party Chairman Sean Morrison announced the release of a new video ad today from the Cook County GOP titled, "Stop The Violence, Fire Kim Foxx". The ad is now running on digital, streaming and social medial platforms across Cook County.

Kushiner: Defensive Linemen for Amy Coney Barrett

Communication released Friday by James M. Kushiner, Executive Editor, Touchstone Magazine - 

Amy Coney Barrett: regardless of whether she turns out to be the president’s nominee to the U. S. Supreme Court to replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg, her name has already become a flashpoint in the ongoing culture war.

Many have said that the culture war was lost long ago; I might concede the point, but only to insist that the loss occurred earlier, and certainly no later than January 1973 in Roe v. Wade. Then, the U. S. Supreme Court, the crème del la crème of the American judicial system, 27 years after the Nuremberg trials, declared that a woman had a constitutional right to slaughter any of her offspring in her womb, even to the drawing of the first breath.

In another sense, however, the culture war had already begun through mainstreaming the Playboy, the Pill, and the sexual revolution that followed. But those items in turn arose from an ongoing global pandemic: sin.

Roe was the flashpoint that commenced the most recent culture war, inspiring the pro-life movement, which has not miscarried and continues its clear witness to the humanity of the child. If pro-life activism is a sign of a culture war, the war grinds on. Yes, LGBTQRST agendas have won most if not all contests, yet there is a hidden factor at play called the family.

House GOP leader Durkin's fundraiser endorses Biden/Harris ticket

The fundraiser for Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and her husband aren't voting for Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump, and they're proud of it. They posted it on Facebook for the "Public" to see. 

The Naperville couple's reason? "At the national level, the Republican party has a serious character and ethics problem..." Thus they are voting "accordingly."

The Chirico's are voting for Republicans at the state and local level, however, because there the Democrats have the same problem. 

So, if you're wondering where your donations to the House Republican Organization's are going, at least $4500 a month went to Julie Chirico from April through June 2020 - a Biden/Harris supporter. You know, the presidential candidates the Chirico's feel have less character and ethical problems than Trump?

Shorewood Republican candidate condemns opponent for celebrating anti-police group's endorsement

SHOREWOOD - Shorewood Republican State Senate candidate Thomas McCullagh is appalled that his Democrat opponent Meg Loughran Cappel is boasting her endorsement by Equality Illinois, a gay rights political group that has taken a public position against law enforcement. 

"ENDORSEMENT ALERT: Thank you for your support, Equality Illinois!" Cappel tweeted this week. On the group’s website their CEO Brian Johnson aligns his LBGTQ group with the police protest movement stating “We must never forget that, at its core, Pride is a police protest.”

“The open acceptance of an endorsement from a group that condemns police and supports the very rioters who threaten the fabric of the American Dream, and condemns those tasked with protecting our families and small businesses. It is unacceptable,” McCullagh said in a statement.

McCullagh pointed to an array of police officers being killed recently in reaction to public anti-police demonstrations.

Thorner: GOP candidates picnic with Republican Assembly of Lake County

Lake Co Board member Dick Barr

By Nancy Thorner - 

The annual picnic of the Republican Assembly of Lake County was held on Sunday, September 20, 2020, at a shelter in the Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda, IL.

The main goal and purpose of the Republican Assembly of Lake County is to recruit, educate, train and motivate individuals to run for public office who are irrevocably committed to uphold and fight for Constitutional principles and the preservation of the Republic, State and County.  Glen Garamoni is Chairman.

The RALC meets ten months of the year on the 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Republican Headquarters in Grayslake.  Its next meeting is on November 19th, 2020.

4 Reasons why Illinois should reject the Progressive Tax Hike

SCHAUMBURG - Why would you give an alcoholic a 12-pack and believe he will change his behavior after that beer is gone?

Former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger says that's what Illinois voters will be doing if they vote "YES" to remove the Flat Tax from the Illinois State Constitution on November 3. He explains in a short interview at the Technology & Manufacturing Association in Schaumburg.

Governor JB Pritzker and the Democrat-control state legislature can't seem to understand they need to cut their spending frenzy and determine to cut the budget in order to turn the state's finances around. Instead, they're spending more and more - hoping for a federal bailout.  

Police Leave Big Cities in Record Numbers As Attacks Increase

Police officers across the nation are leaving in record numbers as violent attacks increase and city officials openly side with rioters and tighten restrictions on what officers can do in response to the rising urban violence across the country.

In the latest high-profile incident, two Los Angeles County deputies were shot in their patrol vehicle. The officers reportedly were a 31-year-old female and a 24-year-old male. Both had been on the job barely 14 months.

More HERE

How The 1960s Riots Foreshadow Today’s Communist Weaponization Of Black Pain

How the far-left turns protests into riots. Katherine Gorka writes:

How do we know those are Marxist riots in our streets? That one’s easy: because the organizers tell us they are. In a 2015 interview, Patrice Cullors said she and Alicia Garza, co-founders of Black Lives Matter, are “trained Marxists.”

The second question is more challenging: If you are a Marxist, how do you start a riot? Or, as Methvin posed the question: “What turns an ordinarily trivial city street arrest incident into a gargantuan explosion of mass violence?” After 10 years of research, Methvin found the answer, and he published it in “The Riotmakers.”

The Bigotry of Social Justice

The racialist creed doesn't add up. William Voegeli writes:

Two of 2020’s best-sellers were published in 2018 and 2019, respectively: White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo, and How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi. (DiAngelo, a consultant, is white; Kendi, a professor who recently left American University for Boston University, is black.) It’s strange for books to achieve their greatest commercial success a year or more after publication, but this year’s circumstances are even stranger. In America’s reckoning over race, catalyzed by George Floyd’s death while under arrest in Minneapolis, journalists, entertainers, professional athletes, and corporations have embraced a social justice dogma. DiAngelo and Kendi’s books provide many of its core principles, which distinguish acceptable thoughts and attitudes about race from unacceptable ones. The resulting framework’s first attribute is an unwavering focus on socioeconomic disparities that leave black Americans worse off than whites. Racial inequalities, as Reuters reports, “have proven immune to decades of laws and policies meant to address them.”

Drowning in Pension Debts: Illinois the Outlier

Illinois has the worst pension crisis of any state in the country. It’s the nation’s extreme outlier. Every Illinois household is on the hook for nearly $50,000 in pension debts just for the state alone.

I Love America Too Much to Stay Silent

Nestride Yumga experienced real corruption and civil rights abuses in Africa. Then she came to America, the land of opportunity, education, and freedom. So when Black Lives Matter protests declared America guilty of systemic racism and injustice, she knew she had to defend her adoptive country.

Shutdown Orders Violate Constitution, Federal Judge Rules

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown orders in response to COVID-19 violate the right to assembly under the First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge ruled.

Although mitigation efforts were enacted with good intentions, “even in an emergency, the authority of government is not unfettered,” U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV wrote in his September 14 decision.

The plaintiffs, including small businesses, county governments, and individuals, challenged restrictions on economic activity such as capacity limitations and shutdown orders on “non-life sustaining’ businesses. The plaintiffs did not contest the state’s mask mandate.

“The liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms—in place when times are good but able to be cast aside in trouble,” wrote Stickman. “There is no question that this country has faced, and will face, emergencies of every sort.”

Governments must follow the rules even if it prevents them from doing things they consider essential.

“The Constitution cannot accept the concept of a ‘new normal’ where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures,” Stickman wrote.

More HERE

Is The COVID Death Toll Accurate?

Roughly two-thirds of U.S. residents don’t believe the CDC’s official tally for the number of Covid-19 deaths. This distrust, however, flows in opposing directions. A nationally representative survey conducted by Axios/Ipsos in late July 2020 found that 37% of adults think the real number of C-19 fatalities in the U.S. is lower than reported, while 31% think the true death toll is greater than reported.

The facts show that neither side has an airtight case, but the evidence is more consistent with the theory that less people have died from C-19 than the official figures indicate. Nevertheless, the extent of the possible overcount is unknown, and even if it were as high as 50,000, it would not make a marked difference in key measures of the pandemic’s severity. Hence, debates over the accuracy of the death toll distract from other issues with much greater implications.

More HERE

Does JB Pritzker hate small business? This owner thinks so

CRYSTAL LAKE - Denise Smith, the owner of Smith Physical Therapy and Running Academy, says Governor Pritzker's plan to tax small businesses like hers up to 60 percent more means he hates small business. If Pritzker's Progressive Tax proposal changes the Illinois Constitution to remove the flat tax, there will be no cap to the state income tax rates Democrats will place on businesses like hers. 

Smith is the fourth in a series of stories being rolled out by the No Progressive Tax Coalition, consisting of nearly 30 business organizations - from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce to the Technology & Manufacturing Association. 

DuPage Co state rep faces criticism for controversial comments

WHEATON - "I'm afraid he's afraid of the reaction people might give him," State Rep. Amy Grant said on a recorded fundraising call. "Not because he's Black. But because of the way he talks. He's all LGBTQ." 

She went on. 

"He's just another one of those Cook County people. That's all you're going to vote for is the Cook County, you know another Black caucus," she said. 

Grant's Democrat challenger this time around is Ken Mejia-Beal, who is Black and openly gay. 

Now the DuPage County Democrats are calling for Rep. Grant to end her effort to be re-elected. They're also calling on Republicans to condemn her remarks.

Could a Republican represent Chicago in DC?

CHICAGO - A Republican Congressman ... in Chicago? The conservative-leaning 3rd CD that is represented now by the last pro-life Democrat Congressman Dan Lipinski could go Republican rather than for the Democrat Marie Newman - who is backed by the radical Left in the US House. 

A new poll by Ogden & Fry, taken September 7 and released this week shows incredible gains made by Cook County GOP candidates in the month of August. Most impressive is the IL-03 race between GOP congressional candidate Mike Fricilone and Newman, who defeated Lipinski in the March 2020 Democrat primary.

The Ogden & Fry poll, commissioned by the Cook County Republican Party, shows Fricilone within the 3.6 point margin of error, down to Newman by basically two points, 46.1% to 43.9%, with 10% undecided.

“The poll released today shows what we already have known since the primary election, Socialist Marie Newman doesn’t share the values of the residents of the 3rd Congressional District. Her agenda is ripped directly from the most extreme members of the Washington progressive left including AOC and Bernie Sanders,” stated Fricilone.

It's Sept 24th, and early in-person voting begins today in five IL counties

Early in-person voting starts Thursday in five northern Illinois counties: DuPage, Kane, Will, McHenry and Lake Counties. 

 

For DuPage County early voters, the Fairgrounds will be open from 8 am to 4:30 PM. 

 

To find early voting locations, the Illinois State Board of Elections is providing this online information HERE. 

This BLM Co-Founder and Pro-Communist China Group Are Partnering Up. Here’s Why.

Black Lives Matter partners with Chinese Communists. Michael Gonzalez writes:

Imagine that far-right demonstrators were laying siege to American cities for months, led by activists explicitly calling for an “ethno-state,” and that one of their groups was funded by an outfit involved with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. It would lead the news every day and there would be congressional hearings, right?

And rightly so. The threat of foreign interference in our domestic affairs is a serious matter, whether the suspects are rivals such as Russia or friendlies such as Mexico. This is especially the case if a foreign power were abetting unrest that aims to topple our constitutional order.

Ives reminds IL-6 voters incumbent Casten demands bigger salary

WHEATON - In her latest ad, Republican challenger Jeanne Ives reminds voters in IL-6 that their current Democrat Congressman Sean Casten is insulted by his congressional salary of $174,000 - calling it "peanuts" and begged for more:

Party Platform Comparison 2020

The Family Research Center has put together a Party Platform comparison:

Click HERE to download a PDF of this comparison

Click HERE to download Biblical Principles for Political Engagement

Trump to sign a Born-Alive Executive Order today

President Donald Trump announced today he will be signing a Born-Alive Executive Order “to ensure that all precious babies born alive, no matter their circumstances, receive the medical care that they deserve.” The executive order, once signed, will legally protect babies born alive after a failed abortion. 

An Illinois nurse, Jill Stanek, first revealed in 2000 an aborrent practice at Oak Lawn's Christ Hospital of allowing babies born alive whose parents would rather have aborted them being left alone to die in a soiled utility room. Stanek's efforts to protect those babies were rejected by Illinois' Democrat-controlled General Assembly. She wrote about her experiences with once-Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who adamantly opposed protecting the innocent late term babies.

The full text of the order Trump is signing today has not been released but it is expected to be similar to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act that would provide for criminal penalties for abortionists who fail to provide proper medical care for babies who survive abortions. Democrats in Congress refused to pass this legislation more than 80 times, allowing abortionists to essentially get away with infanticide. Through petition signatures and fax campaigns, Liberty Counsel has delivered over 14,500 names to House and Senate members urging them to support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

Speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, President Trump called this “our sacrosanct moral duty.”

Beckman: History Might Not Be So Kind to RBG

By Hank Beckman - 

As if 2020 hasn’t already provided us with an unusually high number of shocks to the system, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg comes along just as a presidential election was heating up in a nation already deeply divided along partisan lines.

Not since the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01 have we suffered a year that quite matches 2020 in terms of earth-shaking events inflicting fear and uncertainty on the American people.

An impeachment process that was completely partisan and categorically lacking in any criminal activity by the president, a global pandemic with no end in sight and constant rioting in the name of the latest reprobate shot by the police have hit us like a brutal three-punch combination.

FBI says to beware of false election information spread by cybercriminals

D.C. - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an announcement to raise awareness of the potential threat posed by attempts to spread disinformation regarding the results of the 2020 elections. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.

State and local officials typically require several days to weeks to certify elections’ final results in order to ensure every legally cast vote is accurately counted. The increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave officials with incomplete results on election night. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy.

Trump Administration Accomplishments on Life, Family, and Religious Freedom

The Family Research Center has provided a list of accomplishments by the Trump Administration with regard to Life, Family, and Religious Freedom.

Click HERE to download the entire document.

Wirepoints’ baseline reform plan reduces Illinois’ pension liabilities by 40 percent, retirement costs by $5 billion annually

Wirepoints’ reforms roll out existing universities' retirement plan to all state workers while protecting benefits already earned.

CHICAGO – The watchdog site "Wirepoints.com" has crafted a baseline retirement restructuring plan that helps put an end to the state’s public retirement crisis. The plan, largely scored by the state’s actuary, Segal Consulting, brings stability to the state’s finances through a pension freeze that protects workers’ already-earned benefits and means-testing of cost-of-living benefits and retiree health insurance subsidies.

Illinois’ pension burden is insurmountable without reform,” says Mark Glennon, Executive Editor of Wirepoints. “The total unfunded liability for state and local pensions has now reached an unimaginable $420 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service, which provides far more realistic numbers than governments. And many municipalities are in worse shape than the state, especially Chicago. For Chicagoans, combined, overlapping, unfunded pension liabilities per household have reached an absurd $135,000. With so much debt, it’s no wonder Illinois has lost more people than any other state in the country.”

Former Dem governor joins with IL GOP candidate to "end corruption and unify the state"

SHOREWOOD, IL --- Building on a controversial partnership forged when Trump convert former Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared at a fundraiser for Trump-supporting Republican candidate for State Senate (Dist 49) Tom McCullagh, the unlikely pair is working together to "end corruption and unify the state."

“If [Tom McCullagh] gets elected to the state senate on the campaign that he’s been running,” Governor Blagojevich explained, “which has been anti-establishment, to clean up the corrupt system in Springfield, running against an established opponent who’s got the support of the Democratic party establishment behind her, and that party establishment is controlled by Mike Madigan… Tom will have a tailwhip behind him. He will have the voice of the people from his area.”

Why Illinois Is In Trouble – 109,881 Public Employees With $100,000+ Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $14B

Governor Pritzker moans that he will have to cut the state government bureaucracy to balance the budget. Really? The sleuths at OpenTheBooks.com headed by Andrew Andrzejewski just completed an investigative report on how several states - including Illinois - (mis)spend their money.

Illinois - 110,000 Illinois public employees whose salary or pension exceeds $100,000 costs taxpayers $14 billion and this includes:

• Tree trimmers in Chicago make $106,663;
• Nurses at state corrections earn up to $277,100;
• Junior college presidents make $491,095;
• University doctors earn up to $2 million;
• An Illinois family of four now owes more in unfunded pension liabilities ($76,000) than they earn in annual household income ($63,585).

More HERE

Ridings: COVID hysteria will be the mistake of an American generation

By Jim Ridings - 

My favorite children’s fable has always been “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” That is because I have seen it in action almost every day of my life.

In the fable, a vain emperor who loved clothes was approached by con men who promised to weave him the most beautiful outfit ever. The con men told the emperor the thread is invisible to fools. Since the emperor did not want to be thought a fool, he pretended he could see the material and he pretended he could see the clothes when they were finished. The emperor ordered a parade so his subjects could see his beautiful new outfit. The villagers, afraid to look foolish and afraid to cross the emperor, also pretended to see the outfit, even though the emperor was parading around in nothing but his underwear. Everyone complimented the emperor on his new clothes.

Finally, one small boy, who was innocent and honest and who could see and speak the truth, shouted, “But he has no clothes!” At last the emperor and the public admitted they had been duped and there were no new clothes.

Someday, those who worshipfully follow the dictates of the emperor who now rules every aspect of our lives will wake up and see that this emperor has no clothes.

Someday, Americans will realize that the Covid-19 hysteria was the biggest mistake we have made in more than a generation.

Beckman: Netflix's "Cuties" points to cultural drain-circling

By Hank Beckman - 

For the latest evidence that our culture is circling the drain, look no further than the critical reaction to Netflix’s new offering, “Cuties.”

“Cuties” is advertised by the streaming service as a story about a girl rebelling “against her conservative family’s traditions when she becomes fascinated with a free-spirited dance crew,” leading one to believe it’s just another generic coming of age tale.

But the film goes way overboard in its graphic depiction of erotic dancing by a group of 11-year-old girls, played by actual 11-year-olds, living in a Parisian housing project.

Curran brings together two wings of the IL GOP to oppose Durbin

CHICAGO - Republican candidate for US Senate Mark Curran is gaining support from two opposite sides of the Illinois Republican Party: Catholics and evangelicals on one side, and now on the other, the Illinois Log Cabin Republicans - a group that advocates gay rights. 

For the Log Cabin Republicans, Curran is the choice for Illinois over incumbent Dick Durbin.

"Curran will be a champion to help our President in Washington. He advocates a conservative agenda that we support: Limited Government, Healthcare, Border Security," their statement said. "Most importantly, we believe that Mr. Curran will be a voice in Washington to help support inclusion."

Chapter President Ethan Slyder noted “Mark checks all of the boxes when it comes to effective Republican leadership. I am happy to announce that our chapter has voted to endorse Mark Curran for US Senate.”

Public safety has suddenly become a big issue for Illinois voters after the state has watched downtown Chicago and several suburbs experience business-damaging violence and looting in the past summer.

Chapter Vice President Drue Mielke added "Mark Curran’s record of public service defending law and order as former Lake County Sheriff combined with Mark’s commitment to the inalienable, God given right to life of the unborn has earned the Log Cabin Republicans of Illinois' endorsement. It’s time to send a sheriff to Washington!"

On the other side of the "big tent" Illinois Republican Party, the Illinois Family Action gave Curran and 6th CD Congressional candidate Jeanne Ives virtual access to their audience recently - encouraging those that support their conservative values platform to also vote for Curran and Ives. 

IFA is staunchly opposed to Dick Durbin's pro-abortion, anti-religion and anti-family position on their key issues. They support Curran's views on life and Constitutional issues

Judicial Watch Sues State of Illinois for Refusing to Disclose Voter Roll Data in Violation of Federal Law

Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, the Illinois State Board of Elections, and its director for failing to allow public access to its voter roll data in violation of the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

State officials refused to allow the non-profit Illinois Conservative Union and three lawfully registered Illinois voters to obtain a copy of the state’s voter registration list, despite their lawful request for those records under federal law. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on their behalf in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois (Illinois Conservative Union et al v. Illinois et al. (No. 1:20-cv-05542)).

Federal law provides that states “shall make available for public inspection and, where available, photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters.” 

On July 24, 2019, the Illinois Conservative Union sent a public records request under this provision to the Illinois State Board of Elections, requesting information about the maintenance of voter rolls, including the most recent voter registration list for Illinois. The request noted that the records “would be used solely for purposes intended by federal law, namely, to ensure the accuracy and currency of the official list of eligible voters,” the complaint said.

The State Board of Elections denied the request, claiming that only political committees or governmental bodies may receive copies of records. The State Board did allow a few Illinois Conservative Union members to travel to Springfield, Illinois during working hours and afforded them the opportunity to review Illinois’ millions of voter records one at a time on a computer terminal, with no ability to sort or organize records. By this lawsuit the Illinois Conservative Union seeks meaningful access to the records it requested.

More HERE

Charges Dropped Against Romanian Pastor of Illinois Church

The City of Niles has dropped all four “disorderly conduct” citations against Pastor Daniel Chiu of the Romanian church Logos Baptist Ministries. Pastor Chiu received the $800 fine for holding peaceful morning and evening worship services for two consecutive Sundays. 

Liberty Counsel represents Logos Baptist Ministries and Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and will file a petition for cert asking the Supreme Court to review the case in the federal lawsuit against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his unconstitutional executive orders discriminating against churches.

While Gov. J.B. Pritzker removed ALL restrictions on churches and houses of worship when he was previously called to account to the Supreme Court, the High Court ruled that the governor failed to make it absolutely clear that he would not return to the prior executive order. This month Liberty Counsel will file a petition with the Supreme Court to consider the case for a full review since Gov. Pritzker wants to return to his restrictive orders. 

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “It is beyond belief that a pastor would be charged with ‘disorderly conduct’ for peacefully and safely holding a church service. Think about it – a pastor who survived Communist Romania is charged with ‘disorderly conduct’ for holding a church service in America – the Land of the Free. This is shameful. The repression against the church under Communism failed, and it will not succeed here in America.”

From Liberty Counsel

Rossi: The Constitution and History Tell President Trump to Replace Justice Ginsburg

By Randy Rossi - 

It is absolutely amazing to hear Democrats scream at the top of their lungs that President Trump has no legal right to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an election year. They even go so far to say that President Trump should not replace Justice Ginsburg because her last dying wish was that she not be replaced until a new president was elected. Seriously? Where is that in the Constitution?

Multiple Democrats have publicly proclaimed that it would be illegal for President Trump and the Republican controlled Senate to replace Justice Ginsburg during a presidential election year. Those claims are an insult to the Constitution and the intelligence of the American people since the Constitution and history make it perfectly clear that President Trump not only has the legal right to nominate a replacement for Justice Ginsburg, he has the obligation to do so. And the Senate  has the right to approve his nomination.

Oberweis attacks Underwood's refusal to condemn rioting in new ad

Democrat Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) is staying lockstop with the Radical Left in refusing to condemn the violence and looting that's been in the headlines this summer. GOP challenger Jim Oberweis wants the voters in the 14th - which President Trump won in 2016 - to know how in line with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez their representative to the US Congress is. Underwood says the protests are "beautiful." 

Oberweis' campaign made a 500-point ad buy on broadcast TV in the Chicago media market that started Saturday. The buy includes ads on ABC 7, NBC 5, CBS 2, WGN 9, Fox 32, as well as a cable buy across the entire 14th CD.

The ad focuses on comments Rep. Lauren Underwood made during a recent candidates’ interview with the Chicago Sun Times Editorial Board. During the interview she refused to condemn rioting and instead talked about “beautiful protests.”

“Rioting and looting and violence are not ‘beautiful’,” Oberweis said. “I have consistently stood up for law enforcement. I have advocated for defending our police – not defunding them and I have called for an end to the violence. My opponent has been given numerous opportunities to condemn the violence, but she continues to refuse to do so.”

A Shrinking Population: Illinois the Outlier

Illinois is shrinking. It’s losing more people than any other state in the country. Decades of bad policies have made it too expensive to live here. There aren’t enough good jobs. And Illinoisans no longer trust their government. Over the last 10 years, Illinois’ population has declined by 170,000 people, the most in the country. Illinois is the nation’s extreme outlier.