Illinois Review

Di Leo: From Minimum Wage to Maximum Damage

By John F. Di Leo - 

The halls of Congress are ringing with the siren song of an increased minimum wage. Politicians who don’t have employees of their own promised their constituents fat sums of other people’s money during the campaign, and now they feel it’s time to delivery on the promise, by mandating that other companies raise the hourly wage they pay their employees. 

And it’s not just a raise, it’s a standard, a new flat number from coast to coast and border to border, determined arbitrarily, because it sounds neat and feels generous. 

The proposal on the table is to more than double the current federal minimum wage, from $7.25 to $15.00 per hour. On what is this new number based?  On the fact that several big cities have mandated this number, so the politicians can use their number and absolve themselves of responsibility for coming up with a proposal themselves. 

Di Leo: Joe Biden, Strategic Thinker?

By John F. Di Leo - 

Thoughts on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve…

Americans have always been encouraged to be savers.

This isn’t just a recent thing, from the do-it-yourself investment gurus of the late 20^th century. It goes back to our very beginnings as a people: When Benjamin Franklin used various versions of the saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned” in Poor Richard’s Almanac in the mid-18^th century, the concept was already a century old.

One of our first political arguments as a nation under the Constitution was on the question of how best to incorporate and utilize banks; our Founding Fathers knew that if our nation was to succeed, it would need to learn how to save, to invest, to capitalize. 

We also learned – early on – that saving isn’t just about money. Even in Colonial times, you would harvest your crops in the fall, then save them throughout the year to come, until the next harvest.  You preserve pork or fish with salt, so that you can eat for weeks or months without slaughtering animals every day.

Di Leo: Joe Biden's Needle Over the Line

By John F. Di Leo - 

On Tuesday, November 2, the Democratic Party suffered a serious electoral walloping.  Republican gains - in states and districts we were long told were solid blue - showed that a public horrified by the tyrannical Biden/Harris/Pelosi/Schumer regime is indeed able to channel that horror into effective action in the voting booth.

Some would expect the Democratic Party leadership to regroup after being dealt such a stern lesson… but not our Democrats.  No, the lesson they took from this election was that they can expect to be turned into a minority party in 2022, so they had better make the most of the fourteen months that remain in their reign of error.

They therefore sped up their timetables on a number of unwise programs, including the vaccine mandate, massive “settlements” to illegal aliens, and a $1.2 trillion “infrastructure plan.”  All of them outrages. All of them the product of a government that has lost its tether to reality.

Di Leo: Sundae Time with Basement Joe - A Weekend in Rome

By John F. Di Leo - 

 

Introduction: Imagine, if you will, an alternate universe in which a confused old man - Joe Buckstop - stumbles into the presidency, and spends his entire term in his basement. Each evening, an aide walks downstairs and serves him his evening snack, and engages him in conversation about current events, in a losing effort to keep the old man's mind somewhat sound. Tonight's episode is an excerpt from the ongoing series, "Evening Soup with Basement Joe," by John F. Di Leo, a fictional chronicle of the events of 2021, a political satire available in paperback or eBook from Amazon.

 

"Buona Sera, Signore! Are you ready for your gelato, signore?"

 

"Huh? What's that? Who's there?"

 

"Vittorio, Signore. From the Embassy in Roma.  Vittorio Humberto."

 

"Well, which is it?"

 

"I beg your pardon, signore?"

Di Leo: Port Congestion, from the Perspective of a Hammer

By John F. Di Leo -

There is an old saying: to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is truly the only point of view from which the administrations recommended “solution” to current port congestion makes any sense.

Consider this: at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the largest containership ports in the United States, a massive influx of volume over the past year has caused perpetual congestion. With volumes consistently 30% to 40% above the norm over the past year or so, these ports simply cannot handle the volume.

It has now become common for 50 to 100 ships to be sitting at anchor at a time, out in the Los Angeles harbor and beyond, awaiting open berths.

In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris regime has directed the seaports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to immediately implement a draconian surcharge scheme: Any container not moved promptly, regardless of owner, contractor, or other controller, shall be saddled with a fee schedule starting at $100, compounded daily (ie. day one, $100, day two, $200, day three, $300, etc.), so that every shipment will cost its customer thousands of dollars more.

If industry interpretations of the preliminary announcements are correct, every single ocean container arriving in LA will be fined many thousands of dollars, potentially even tens of thousands of dollars, all to be passed on to importers and obviously, therefore, to consumers… for something completely out of their control in any way.

Di Leo: Sundae Time with Basement Joe - Foreign Travel and Ancient Lessons

By John F. Di Leo - 

Introduction: Imagine, if you will, an alternate universe in which a confused old man - Joe Buckstop - stumbles into the presidency, and spends his entire term in his basement. Each evening, an aide walks downstairs and serves him his evening snack, and engages him in conversation about current events, in a losing effort to keep his mind hale. Tonight's episode is an excerpt from the ongoing series, "Evening Soup with Basement Joe," by John F. Di Leo, a fictional chronicle of the events of 2021, a political satire available in paperback or eBook from Amazon.

 

"Buona Mattina, Signore!"

 

"Huh? Don't they have anybody around here who speaks English?"

 

"Yes, signore, I speak English... but it is Rome, and we always greet people in Italian here, even if the conversation is in English. You know the old saying, 'When in Rome,' eh?"

 

"What saying is that?"

 

"Well, you know, ahh, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, you know, signore?"

Bost discusses Dems' removal of Hyde Amendment in latest federal spending spree

Di Leo: Sometimes, the Price Tag is Just a Distraction

By John F. Di Leo - 

Let’s say it would cost $5.5 trillion dollars to wipe out your city by planting landmines under all the streets and sidewalks.

Another proposal on the table is to wipe out the city by buying old poison gas on the dark web, and planting it in public buildings and public places when crowds are expected; this proposal only costs $3.5 trillion.

A third proposal, only just recently promulgated, would involve the hiring of foreign mercenaries to shoot up the place; they work cheap, by comparison, and the bill is expected to only range between $1.5 and $1.75 trillion to wipe out the town this way.

I won’t bother to ask you which of the three is the most responsible choice, because, Gentle Reader, you know that the price tag isn’t the main issue here; the real issue is the end game, the horrible goal of wiping out the town.  The method, the price tag, even the perpetrators don’t matter; the very goal is domestic terrorism, and it must be opposed.  At any cost, without compromise.  We must stop this effort.

Illinois Review contributor John F. Di Leo featured with Mark Vargas on AM 560 The Answer's "Mark My Words"

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - John F. Di Leo - a longtime contributor to Illinois Review - was featured Sunday night on Mark Vargas' "Mark My Words" AM 560 radio show. Di Leo spoke about the current hot topic "Supply Chain Crisis."  John's part in the show starts at right 51:49 below ...

John, a transportation expert for over 30 years, was also recently featured in the Technology & Manufacturing Association's News Bulletin on the topic of the Supply Chain Crisis.

Di Leo: Evening Soup with Basement Joe: Solyanka Soup and Inflation Woes

 

By John F. Di Leo -

Introduction: Imagine, if you will, an alternate universe in which a confused old man - Joe Buckstop - stumbles into the presidency, and spends his entire term in his basement. Each evening, an aide walks downstairs and serves him his bowl of soup, and engages him in conversation about current events, in a losing effort to keep his mind hale. Tonight's episode is an excerpt from the ongoing series, "Evening Soup with Basement Joe," by John F. Di Leo, a fictional chronicle of the events of 2021, a political satire available in paperback or eBook from Amazon.

 "Good evening, sir! I have soup!"

 

"And I have a headache. Leave me alone."

 

"Don't you want your soup, sir?"

 

"Of course I want my soup. Just don't want to talk to anybody."

 

"Oh, I see. Dale Carnegie is alive and well, I see."

 

Di Leo: Supply Chain Advice Upon Joe Biden's Request, in a Year of Disaster

By John F Di Leo - 

The global supply chain, and particularly the North American supply chain, have been in crisis for about a year. There are a lot of reasons for this, almost entirely government-created, end it appears that the federal government has finally noticed it.

Joe Biden has been a lifeguard, lawyer, city councilman, senator, and vice president. While it’s hard to tell what he is now, he has gone public with a request to hear from the American people on this matter, and he has said that he will welcome advice. It would be a first for him, but we will try, anyway.

Let’s begin with the big picture. We go to the store, and we see empty shelves. We look at our harbors, and we see dozens of ships, often backed up for weeks, waiting for a berth. We go to our factories, and we see assembly lines idled for lack of components, injection molders idled for lack of resin, stamping lines idled for lack of steel.

US Census shows nearly 4 in 10 US adults live alone

From The Christian Post - 

About four out of 10 adults in the United States are living without a romantic partner, which is part of a growing trend, according to a new report by Pew Research Center.

Using census data, Pew noted in a report Tuesday that 38% of U.S. adults in 2019 were neither living with a spouse or other romantic partner, which was an increase from the 29% reported in 1990.

By contrast, 53% of adults in 2019 were married, representing a decline from the 64% reported in 1990. Meanwhile, 6% of adults were co-habitating in 2019, up from 4% in 1990.

"The growth in the single population is driven mainly by the decline in marriage among adults who are at prime working age," Pew Senior Researcher Richard Fry and Pew Director of Social Trends Research Kim Parker wrote in an analysis.

Di Leo: Evening Soup with Basement Joe: Knoephla and the Per-Mile Road Tax

 

By John F. Di Leo - 

Introduction: Imagine, if you will, an alternate universe in which a confused old man - Joe Buckstop - stumbles into the presidency, and spends his entire term in his basement. Each evening, an aide walks downstairs and serves him his bowl of soup, and engages him in conversation about current events, in a losing effort to keep his mind hale. Tonight's episode is an excerpt from the ongoing series, "Evening Soup with Basement Joe," by John F. Di Leo, a fictional chronicle of the events of 2021, a political satire available in paperback or eBook from Amazon.

"Hey, boss! You ready for your soup?"

"What are you yelling for?"

"Because I'm still on the stairs, boss! If I whispered, you wouldn't hear me!"

"Just bring me my soup!"

"Settle down, boss. I'm working on it.... Okay. Made it... You have too steep a staircase for my bum knee, boss. You need to install an elevator."

"Come on, man! Stop complaining and bring me my soup!"

Di Leo: From Big Banker to Big Brother: Your $600 and You

 
By John F. Di Leo - 

The federal government has always required large personal bank transactions to be reported, just in case. I remember that number being $10,000… Somewhere along the way, it was increased to $20,000. With inflation, that makes sense.

Why the requirement? Because large cash transactions might be an indicator for black market activity, such as drug dealing, contract hits, political bribery, etc.

Americans have a healthy distrust of government. We don’t want every personal transaction reported to the feds, but we understand the need to report some. With inflation, we expect such numbers to be periodically revised upward.

We certainly do not expect them to be revised downward.… But that’s just what will happen if the Democrats’ tyrannical Build Back Better Act is somehow passed into law.

Di Leo: "$3.5 Trillion or $5.5 Trillion?" Is Entirely the Wrong Question to ask

By John F. Di Leo - 

“Hey, do we have seventy-five bucks each?”

“Seventy-five bucks?”

“Yeah, seventy-five bucks each.”

“You mean for you and me, so it’s $150?”

“Well, it’s for the kids too, so it’s $375, total.”

“Oh.  Well….  I don’t know… Depends.”

“Can we do it or not?”

“Well, I don’t know, when would we need it? Is this for today?”

“I’m thinking, we could charge it… or you could volunteer for some overtime for a couple weeks… or I could hock Grandpa’s watch….”

“Well, it depends.  Tell me… What’s all this for?”

Job Creators Network lawsuit endorsed by GOP gubernatorial candidate

WOODSTOCK – The Job Creators Network (JCN) is preparing a lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate on companies with 100 or more employees, a move Gary Rabine, a JCN Board member, endorses.

“Biden’s Administration, the Administration that Pritzker & AOC support is off their rockers! Their main goal seems to be kill jobs, kill freedom, and tax more!" said Rabine in a statement issued last Friday.

Rabine said as one of the founding board members of Job Creators Network, he endorses their lawsuit against Biden.

"We have been a strong voice against terrible regulations that kill jobs but this mandate by Biden might be the most aggressive, freedom crushing bill that we have ever seen. If we allow this, what freedom will we give up next?" Rabine said.

"Our businesses at the Rabine Group have amazing people who are like family to us, and some will choose not to take this vaccine for their own personal reasons. Some of these invaluable people will choose to leave the small businesses they call home to work for a smaller company that doesn’t fall under the mandate. Some of them will move to a state that fights for their freedom against a tyrannical federal government. How many more Illinoisans can we afford to chase out?" 

Di Leo: The Biden/Harris Budget-Breaker and the Power of Energy

By John F. Di Leo - 

On Tuesday, August 10, AD 2021, the U.S. Senate passed an “infrastructure” bill, of which less than half was actually infrastructure, and which contains a siphon clause that enables the administration to largely disregard the law entirely and spend the money on whatever it wants to.  It is less a spending bill than a blank check bill.

But the part of this operation that may need the most comment is the aspect that furthers the so-called Green New Deal, both in this bill and a follow-up spending bill, also inaccurately being passed off as an infrastructure bill.

The issue at hand is energy, as political a commodity as there has ever been.

Di Leo: Mr. Biden Goes for a Test Drive

By John F. Di Leo - 

On May 18, 2021, Joe Biden took a day-trip.

Sad to say, this in itself is rather remarkable, since hundreds of thousands of his fellow Americans, of similar age, have been forbidden the luxury of day-trips for over a year, as lockdowns have trapped senior citizens in their nursing homes and senior communities of all kinds for the past 14 months.  

 

But Mr. Biden’s circumstances are special, so he was able to get out, and even to visit a state with one of the toughest lockdowns - and the least constitutional restrictions - in the country: the automotive manufacturing center known as the state of Michigan.

Di Leo: Economics in One Kitchen

By John F Di Leo - 

Last week, our family’s 20 year old electric hand mixer died.  We can’t complain; it lasted a long time, and got a lot of use. But it did mean that it was time to go shopping.

Now, we do a lot of research on many of the products we buy; a cheap hand mixer, however, did not feel like it merited that kind of research. I just headed to Walmart, expecting to grab one and go.

I was surprised by two things in this shopping trip: both a larger selection than I expected, and a narrower choice of countries of origin than I would have thought possible a few years ago.

Thorner: America won't be rescued with Dems' bailout plan; future generations will pay

By Nancy Thorner - 

On March 4, 2021, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)   forced the Senate floor staff to read the entire Democratic coronavirus relief bill -- “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” bill -- before the vote took place in the Senate, arguing it would give senators time to craft amendments and for Americans to learn the details of the legislation. As Johnson stated in his appearance on News Max's Greg Kelly show on March 9, 2021, the bill took 10 hours and 44 minutes to read. 

Following the reading, the Senate, where Democrats have effective control, passed its version of the bill after a marathon Saturday overnight session.  It eliminated or pared back some provisions in an original House bill, including an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. 

The House of Representatives is planning to take up the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The chamber's expected approval will enable Joe Biden's signing of the legislation into law later this week.

Thorner: Global Currency Reset on the Horizon

By Nancy Thorner - 

(Ms. Thorner expresses her opinions in her editorials, not necessarily those of Illinois Review) 

The theory behind the Global Currency Reset is that the US Dollar (USD) would lose its position as a reserve currency because the US is overly leveraged and becoming less competitive compared to resource-rich emerging economies.

After all, the value of a currency is a barometer of people’s trust in the government and its ability to repay debts. If there is no trust, then you don’t have money. What you have instead is a collection of portraits of long-dead presidents.  

According to  James Rickard , via the Daily Reckoning in his article of 2/26/21, The Great Reset Is Here.

Rickards goes on to explain:

Thorner: Will 2021 Be Politically Worse Than 2020?

Photo by Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange

Op-Ed by Nancy Thorner - 

This was a dismal year politically, yet we weren't as close to one world dictatorship and total financial, moral and demographic collapse as we are now with the prospects of a Biden/Harris administration. 

Unfortunately, the surprise election of Trump in 2016 just hindered the 2030 globalist agenda drive by just over four years for a one-world dictatorship.

Trump's pardons were reviled by those on the Left, yet NY Governor Cuomo gave Christmas pardons and commutations to illegal aliens and murderers.

See here the 29 people Trump pardoned or gave commutations to in the final weeks of his presidency. They included son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles, and his 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort and Republican political operative Roger Stone. Earlier, Trump issued pardons for four Blackwater guards convicted of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians, former GOP lawmakers Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins and two figures in Robert Mueller’s probe of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

 

Although Governor Cuomo’s pardons to illegal aliens and murderers are far more reprehensible than those granted by Trump, they will never get major media publicity any more than drug deaths are far more common than Covid deaths in San Francisco.

Tax Foundation's Business Tax Climate Index ranks Illinois as 36 out of 50 states

llinois' tax climate isn't the worst in the nation, but it's likely to change after the Democrat majority passes more tax hikes in 2021. 

In its 2021 evaluation, the Tax Foundation gives Illinois an overall tax climate rating of 36 - but that's before the tax hike threats lawmakers are making before the upcoming legislature session.

Illinois ranks third from the lowest - #48 - in the Foundation's Property Tax rank. 

The Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index enables business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, the Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.

For more information, see www.taxfoundation.org 

DeVore: Lawful citizens cannot be ordered to stay at home

Rep. Bailey with Thomas DeVore - DailyLine.com photo

SORENTO - Downstate attorney Thomas DeVore represented State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) when he challenged Governor Pritzker's edict to restrict activity after his initial 30 day COVID Executive Order expired, and the governor renewed time and time again. 

DeVore won the case for Bailey as an individual, but the governor continues to issue what many consider unlawful edicts concerning COVID and public health measures. With the COVID positive cases on the rise once again, Pritzker is threatening yet another shutdown to stem the number of cases. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked Chicagoans to stay home more, but did not attempt to demand they go along. 

Pritzker, however, is stronger in his more recent threats of shutting the state down.

The idea provoked a strong reaction from DeVore on his Facebook page: 

I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way right now. If any of you sumbitches start crying about any “stay at...

Posted by Thomas DeVore on Thursday, November 12, 2020

A word from attorney Thomas DeVore

Attorney Thomas DeVore has been counseling bar and restaurant owners in Illinois on how they can stay open despite Governor Pritzker's expanding second COVID shutdown wave.

He's represented State Rep. Darren Bailey in his lawsuit to limit the governor's powers and he's encouraged restaurants like the FoxFire restaurant in Kane County to win a temporary restraining order and keep their doors open. Here's what DeVore posted on his personal Facebook page Friday:

I need to explain something to all of you. If you have noticed recently, a great many business owners, politicians,...

Posted by Thomas DeVore on Friday, October 30, 2020

Thorner: Ways in which 2020 election differs from 2016 signals Trump victory

2016 photo

By Nancy Thorner -

Biased polling to raise money, discourage the Republican vote and hide voter fraud has been a weapon for Democrats all my life. This year incentives to jigger polls have never been greater for a Democrat Establishment who fears their colleges, cities, and states will go broke without a federal bailout that depends on the Democrats at least holding the House.  But fundamental polling problems will cause even the best like Trafalgar to underestimate Trump support.

There are about 12% more registered voters this year over 2016. Did they get a call?  Pollsters still mostly call landlines. In 2016, about 50% had landlines, in 2020, that percentage is down to about 37%. Did the many millions that have switched to cell phones get a call?  How many pollsters call only registered voters instead only those that voted the last 4 out of 5 elections? Polls have been wrong around the world because they get librarians, teachers and unemployed “activists” to respond, while plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. (blue collar folks) refuse to talk to them.

A net of one sixth of people asked refuse to answer polls when they are voting for Trump, only 6% refuse to say Biden, 23% refuse to answer, Trump. That means only 77 % of Trump vote is there but 94 % of Biden vote is there for pollsters.

Di Leo: A President, a Diagnosis, and Welcome Clarity at Election Time

By John F. Di Leo - 

From the moment that President Trump was diagnosed with symptoms of the China virus, the punditry has declared that this news “fundamentally changes the race.”

But why?

Yes, the President would have to work out of Walter Reed Hospital for a few days instead of from the Oval Office... And the president will have to take a break from his wonderful campaign rallies...

But that is all. In fact, the cancellation of his rallies means he can do even more from the White House, without all that time spent in travel from state to state. The President has excellent surrogates to campaign in his place; he can continue to focus on his job, a luxury few candidates are afforded in the weeks before an election.

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.

How the Media Drives Radical ‘Wokeness’

“Fake news” isn’t the only media problem in 2020.

An important analysis in media trends of the past decade shows how activist journalism is promoting radical racial “wokeness.”

There was a time when the woke ideology was firmly ensconced in the ivory tower and limited to radical corners of our university system. But now it’s everywhere, and America seemingly can’t stop talking about race, racism, and anti-racism all the time.

More than that, the George Floyd protests have turned into the 1619 riots, where the very idea of America is being called into question as a part of some grand racial reckoning.

But where is all of this coming from?

An in-depth analysis at Tablet magazine from Zach Goldberg, a doctoral candidate in political science at Georgia State University, shows that at the very least, America’s most elite media institutions have been the conduit for these ideas to become ubiquitous.

More HERE

Di Leo: Healthcare and Lockdowns in 2020 America

By John F. Di Leo -

Public policy is about choices.  It’s about recognizing the differences between different policy decisions, and forecasting the difference in potential results from those decisions.   

For example: 

What's the difference between getting diagnosed with heart disease in March or April and getting a stent or a bypass done and living another 25 years...  

...or not going in, because everyone's scared to go to the hospital because of COVID-19, and having a fatal heart attack in June or July? 

Di Leo: The Masked Face and the Public Square

By John F. Di Leo - 

In the fall of 1951, Galaxy Science Fiction serialized one of Robert A. Heinlein’s tales, which was eventually published as The Puppet Masters.  The story concerned an invasion of earth by small, flat, incredibly-fast-breeding aliens that could attach themselves to a human’s back and take over his mind completely.  

Though humanity eventually eradicates the threat, the book closes with the decision that life will never be the same. Due to the risk that these creatures might return, mankind must change the way it lives.   

We must forever change the way we dress and greet each other; clothing must expose the back, and greetings must include turning around to show the other person that you’re not controlled, much as the modern handshake developed from the medieval display of an open hand to show you weren’t brandishing a weapon.

Di Leo: June 4th - A Reminder That Some Wars Never End

By John F. Di Leo - 

In the mid-19th century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels popularized a new slant on utopian mob rule. 

There had been mob rule before – the rivers of blood in 1890s Paris predated Marxism by half a century – but what Marx and Engels popularized was a theory of permanence and universality. 

They imagined a global linkage between all the desperate, violent, bloody moments of history, and told their acolytes that their own individual quests to become commissars of their own towns were part of something bigger.  Even if they lost, they were part of the march of history toward worldwide “dictatorship by the proletariat.”

Former Illinois state senator about COVID-19: "It's a lie to pretend that government can protect you"

CHICAGO - "It's a lie for government to pretend it can protect you," former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) said this week in an video-recorded interview with Illinois Review. "It's an embarrassment [that elected officials responded as they did] - that's not American, it's not the people we are. We should never let this happen again this way."

"As things have become clearer that this is not going to kill five million Americans," Rauschenberger said. "I think there's been a slowness to address the real issues. We should be focused on the vulnerable, and let the rest of society get back to work, back to school and get on with their lives," Rauschenberger said. 

The 6 min interview:

Di Leo: The Retail Model – From National Anchor to the Corner Store

 
By John F. Di Leo - 

For years, friends walked through the mall, chuckling as they passed that funny counterculture store, on their way to the department store that served as an anchor at that end of the mall.  They only came for the big department store, for its holiday sales and gift cards, and the licensed sweatshirts and jackets that they wore everywhere. 

They never noticed, but they often passed another group, going the other way.  That group would enter at the department store entrance because they liked parking there, but they’d never shop in it; they liked the little boutiques down the aisles; that’s where they spent their time.

Across the mall, on the other end of the wheel, another couple of friends headed toward the sporting goods store, never noticing the couple passing them in the other direction, headed for the health food store or the “natural crafts” shop halfway down the aisle.  For years, these stores had all been the source of smiles, or maybe sneers, from each other’s respective customer bases.

Di Leo: A Day at the Mall - back when shopping was fun

By John F. Di Leo - 

For at least two hundred years, one of the goals of the retail industry has been to make shopping fun – to make a trip to the general store, or the downtown retail district, or the indoor mall an enjoyable, even entertaining experience.

Stores are designed with an eye to bright colors and comfortable surroundings. Malls have been built with stages in the wings, so they could bring in high school choirs for Christmas caroling, or personal appearances by pop stars or children’s TV performers. Department stores like Nordstrom’s, and grocery stores like Mariano’s spend the money for both a fine piano and a live pianist to entertain the shoppers as they go by.

None of these measures really add anything to the value of that pair of earrings or cufflinks, that candelabra or easy chair, that case of wine or bag of groceries for which you came. 

But these various forms of decoration and entertainment work together to draw you to that store or mall in the first place, and then to inspire you to stay and shop some more. And the longer and more frequently you’re there because you’re comfortable, the more you’ll buy.  A win-win, for both the store itself and the economy at large.

Thorner/Ingold: If We Open, Will They Come?

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold -

A 1989 movie, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, told of a farmer who heard a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in a field. “If you build it, he will come,” referring to Shoeless Joe Jackson, banned from baseball following the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal.

We’re all hearing voices clamoring for the country to open for business following nearly two months in pandemic shutdown. We are assured that if we do this, the economy will rebound like a home-run baseball. It is one thing to allow businesses and stores to resume operations, but recovery depends on consumers. The question is, “If we open, will they come?”

Di Leo: Playing the Coronavirus Lottery in 2020

 

Illinois has participated in public (government-run) lotteries for decades, and it has caused us to think about statistics in a different way.  No matter whether you're talking about a good thing (like getting a big payout due to randomly-generated numbered balls in a box) or a bad thing (like getting a potentially lethal dose of a nasty virus), it's still all about understanding the odds.

How do we, in our daily lives, manage these choices, as reported statistics change?  How does government respond to such numbers, and how should it?  Should public officials be dispassionate in analyzing such data, and can they be, when after all, even public officials are human too, after all (most of the time, anyway)?

John F. Di Leo of Illinois Review explores the question in the American Thinker HERE:

Di Leo: Living a May Day in a Shuttered World

By John F. Di Leo - 

For centuries now, even millennia, May 1 has been a very big day.

Ancient Romans, Etruscans, Greeks and Celts had seasonal festivals as May began, celebrating the coming of summer… modern European countries have May Day carnivals, flower sales, and dances.  The Catholic Church considers May the month of Our Lady, a special time of devotion to that greatest of mortal role models…  for kids, May is the winding down of the school year, and for adults, it is the long-awaited beginning of planting season (here in the north, at least).

And so of course the Left had to go and ruin it. 

Ever since the mid 1800s, the Left has tried to take over the First of May, calling it International Workers’ Day.  Each year, the communists call for a general strike on May 1, and 2020 is no different.  As so much of the country is on shutdown for the Wuhan Virus, they may well try to take some credit for it this time… and perhaps they should.

Di Leo: Reality, Risk, and Responsibility

By John F. Di Leo - 

Whenever people question the wisdom of the possibly-well-intentioned “stay at home” orders, there are those who scream "But this Virus is REAL! It really KILLS people!" – and accuse others of denying its reality.

So, let’s start today with a clarification:

We know.   We agree. COVID-19, also known as the Wuhan Flu or the CCP Virus, is certainly real. It certainly does kill some people.

Di Leo: Healthcare and the Market, in a Time of Crisis

By John F. Di Leo - 

In a market economy, when there is a public need, the private sector will attempt to meet it.  That’s the beauty of the profit motive, after all: it’s an incentive to produce.

If people want food prepared for them, other people open restaurants.  If people want to purchase clothing, other people open factories to make it and stores to sell it.  If people want to live in a house, then architects and construction companies will build houses (and condos and mansions too) to sell to them.

And, by the same token, if people want a cure for a disease, businesses will arise to meet that need as well.

Di Leo: The Painter and the Shutdown

By John F. Di Leo - 

As we watch our jobless claims skyrocket, our businesses close, and our government print currency in an effort to make us feel better about it, this may be a good time to take a step back, and consider what economic activity really is, at its heart.  What is money?  How is wealth created?

It’s a complex question, but as bureaucrats crank up their printing presses and argue about where to send those crisp new dollar bills, we may be better off taking a step back and considering the subject “from 30,000 feet,” as the saying goes.

The Parable of the Painter

A man bought $10 worth of paint and canvas, and went to spend a sunny day at a local park.  He set up his easel at a spot with a good view, and went to work on a scene.

At the end of the day, just as he was finishing up, a passerby saw his work, and was impressed. The passerby paid him $500 for the painting, on the spot.

This is wealth creation.  The painter – through use of his creativity and skill – transformed $10 worth of materials into a $500 product in the span of a single day.

Di Leo: Thanks to COVID-19, American Left awakens to human life value

Recent Korean Wedding - from commisceo-global.com

By John F Di Leo - 

There are politicians, media figures, and pop-culture influencers, too, jumping on the coronavirus scare, warning of its dangers, and perhaps, using it to demonstrate their bona fides as caring individuals, dedicated to the protection of human life.

Largely due to the western world’s foolish dependence on mainland China as a source for both finished goods and components for manufacturing elsewhere, the coronavirus is currently causing a global short-term economic downturn. There should be no reason for this trouble to be lasting - if we keep our heads -but it is almost certain to be destructive if an economic panic gains traction due to these inflated health-related fears.

Over just a couple of weeks’ time, we have seen major conventions and trade shows canceled, and both personal and business travel plummet.  Now, even local activities like sporting events and concerts, some that don’t even attract international travel, are being threatened with cancellation as well, threatening the viability of the always-fragile hospitality and retail industries.

Di Leo: Michael Bloomberg Raises Question of the Year

By John F. Di Leo - 

The most important question raised in the Democratic Party’s South Carolina debate did not concern such foolish measures as Medicare-for-All, reparations for slavery, or Joe Biden’s imbecilic exaggeration about murder statistics (150 million murders in the USA? Really?).

The key issue of the day was only mentioned in passing, by Michael Bloomberg, of all people, and it was immediately set aside… and of course, he got it wrong.

Michael Bloomberg tried to make a case for his nomination, on the grounds of his own extensive business experience… and his own long and happy collaboration with Mainland China. He talked about the importance of dealing with Red China, as if this interdependence is a given, because, as he said, “our economies are inextricably linked.”

Di Leo: Georgia Day, and the Story of America

By John F. Di Leo -

On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe disembarked from the Anna, a ship full of British settlers, at a site near present-day Savannah, officially founding the settlement that became the Georgia colony.

Georgia was the 13th colony to be established, of the group that became the United States of America, 43 years later.

Just like its neighbors, Georgia was built by British settlers who were to spend the following generations building farms and ranches, towns and cities, churches and businesses.

Di Leo: Global Lessons from a Chinese Quarantine

By John F. Di Leo - 

The horror in today’s news is the Coronavirus, an apparently highly-contagious illness that originated in Wuhan province, in Mainland China.

We may eventually find out for certain how it started… whether it was caught from live animals in wet markets, as the Chinese government wants us to believe, or if it was the result of biological warfare research that unintentionally (or even intentionally?) escaped the lab, as many suspect. We hope that cures and vaccines will be found quickly, though such things are woefully unpredictable.

St. Rep. Wilhour: Illinois should not ignore in-state solutions to energy production

By State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham) - 

When we return to Springfield later this month, one of the issues on the table will be energy.

Since the Legislature has adjourned, there has been a big push for so-called green energy solutions. The solutions they are highlighting would dramatically increase the cost of energy in Illinois and threaten the availability of reliable sources of energy during those peak times when more power is needed.

Negotiations are under way to dramatically change the way energy is produced in Illinois. The Governor, along with environmental groups, want Illinois to go to 100 percent renewables by 2050.

Di Leo: Trump's Phase One Trade Deal - Even bigger US win than first thought?

By John F. Di Leo - 

The American Left (along with the never-Trumpers who claim to be on the Right) are trumpeting two new studies, which reveal the shocking truth that the American people are paying President Trump’s punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, not the Chinese.

Well… Whoop-tee-doo. That’s a newsflash. About as much of a shock as learning that the sun rises in the east.

Illinois cannabis industry faces what McDonald's is facing ... union organizing demands

DES PLAINES – Not only are union activists pushing worker organization at blue state McDonald's, they're demanding workers in pot companies organize, just as Illinois is counting down to recreational legalization on January 1, 2020. 

From workers at the Des Plaines'-based Cresco Labs, a press release was issued Monday am:

Di Leo: Red Meat and Fast Food on the Campaign Trail

McDonald's employees in Illinois won $15 minimum wage; now demand unions 

By John F. Di Leo -

Speaking in Los Angeles recently, former Vice President Joe Biden - desperate to actually earn the top spot in the polls that he currently enjoys from name recognition and the vacuity of his opponents - tried to polish up his bonafides with Big Labor, throwing out this bit of red meat to the shop stewards:  

“There is only one way you can fight back power,” Joe Biden shouted to his crowd. “That is with more power, and that’s union power… we should unionize McDonald’s!”

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.

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.