Illinois Review

Di Leo: The Chicago Dictionary, Volume Seven

By John F. Di Leo - 

It has recently surfaced that a large number of once well-known English words are suffering from a severe shortage of definitions.  We will do our best to help alleviate this condition.

Bike path:

        A scenic obstacle course for basement dwellers.

Carbon footprint:

        The image left behind by the jackboot of the Left on society’s neck.

Economy:

        The place where medieval doctors and modern bureaucrats inject the needle, when it’s time to start bleeding the patient.

Fertile farmland:

        A beautiful place to cover with Chinese solar panels and windmills.

Free market:

        An endangered species.

Free lunch:

        Ain’t no such thing.

Free fall:

        Sure, but Winter’s gonna cost ya…

Bailey Promises to Protect Police Pensions, Calls for Death Penalty for Cop Killers

ILGOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey with FOP officials

O'FALLON IL — Wednesday, farmer and businessman Darren Bailey promised to stand with Illinois law enforcement and work to help them do their jobs and keep Illinois safe. Bailey promised to protect police pensions and called for reinstating the death penalty for cop killers.

Governor JB Pritzker has all but declared law enforcement the enemy. His signature legislation made Illinois the first state in the country to completely eliminate cash bail and will make it harder for police members to do their jobs. As a result, police are leaving the force in record numbers. Illinois police are understaffed, overworked, and under-appreciated. 

“Make no mistake: Governor Pritzker bears direct responsibility for this crisis,” Darren Bailey said. “It’s time for a change. Let me tell you how different things will be under a Bailey administration. We will invest in training and staffing. We will work to improve working conditions across the state to ensure we can hire and retain great officers. We will repeal the absurdly named SAFE-T Act and no cash bail. We will protect our police officers’ pensions.”

CTA crime problem begs for real deterrence: Half-measures won’t do – Wirepoints

Wirepoints' Matt Rosenberg

Wirepoints' Matt Rosenberg writes: 

Violent crime on Chicago’s transit system, the CTA, is chewing up the scenery. Fatal shootings, armed robberies of passengers, and now, passengers fighting back. With knives.

Does risk management for CTA riders mean carrying a knife for self-defense? It’s starting to look that way.

It starts with stuff big and small.

First, there is the tolerance of everyday crime on trains. People smoking frequently, and no enforcement. Injection drug use, and no enforcement. Open drug markets, and no enforcement. Then there’s stunning lenience of Cook County judges who have released dangerous criminals back to the street. Some have been charged with new and heinous crimes on CTA trains, platforms, and buses or outside stations.

Is the CTA a microcosm of all that’s gone wrong in Chicago? It’s beginning to look like it. More technology and manpower are needed to catch CTA criminals but without more prosecutions and tougher punishment, it’ll only be window dressing. 

Read Rosenberg's take on the situation on Wirepoints

NorthShore health care workers settle for $10M in religious discrimination case

CHICAGO, IL – Friday, Liberty Counsel settled the nation’s first classwide lawsuit for health care workers over a COVID shot mandate, for more than $10.3 million. The class action settlement against NorthShore University HealthSystem is on behalf of more than 500 current and former health care workers who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate. The agreed upon settlement was filed today in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois.

As a result of the settlement, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 to compensate these health care employees who were victims of religious discrimination, and who were punished for their religious beliefs against taking an injection associated with aborted fetal cells.

This is a historic, first-of-its-kind class action settlement against a private employer who unlawfully denied hundreds of religious exemption requests to COVID-19 shots.

Biofuels Likely Produce Net Harms on Balance

When one accounts for the decline in vehicle fuel economy from using biofuels and their various negative environmental impacts, it seems reliance on biofuel may provide fewer benefits than claimed by its proponents. Accounting for its effects on fuel economy, air quality, and food prices, biofuels likely produce net harms on balance.

More HERE

Biden Wants to Extend Obamacare Subsidies Beyond the Law

By prevailing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to propose a rule to “fix” the so-called “family glitch” regarding Obamacare subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Biden administration is pursuing an extra-legislative rewrite of the statute, a move almost certain to be challenged in court.

The family glitch refers to a provision in the 2010 ACA that sets parameters for determining who qualifies for subsidized coverage on the newly created Obamacare exchanges.  Under the law, any American without access to an employer-based health insurance plan deemed “affordable” under criteria laid out in the statute qualified for subsidized coverage on the exchanges.

More HERE

Bidenvilles: America’s New Emblem of Decay

American cities are becoming disaster areas because of misguided policies. Simon Hankinson writes:

In French, a “bidonville” is a shantytown. A “bidon” is a large container, like the giant yellow vegetable oil bottles used to carry drinking water in developing countries.

I’ve seen plenty of shantytowns in cities from India to Togo; they are an unfortunate consequence of rapid urbanization.

What surprised me when I came home to Washington, D.C., a few months ago was seeing shantytowns both outside the State Department, where my old office was, and Union Station, near my new office.

Biden fixates on nonexistent 'climate crisis' while ignoring actual problems

Given his absolutely abysmal approval ratings and the approaching midterm elections, one would hope  Biden would change course and address the actual problems that are ravaging the American people instead of climate change.

More HERE

IL GOP to elect state central committee members Wednesday night

SPRINGFIELD - Wednesday night could be history-making in the Illinois Republican Party as party organizations meet to pick their county Republican chairmen, county party officers, and regional state central committee members at county party conventions.

The IL GOP's State Central Committee (ILGOP SCC) could look very different from the current group - and IL GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey has stirred controversy with unprecedented endorsements in at least four races.

Bailey endorsed Chris Cleveland in the 5th CD race for SCC between Cleveland, former Cook County IL GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar, and incumbent SCC member Jack Dorgan. He also endorsed LaSalle County IL GOP Chairman Larry Smith in the 14th CD race between Smith and Raquel Mitchell. 

Bailey also endorsed Chad Weaver in the 17th CD over Kent Glazier, and Ben Stratemeyer of Centralia over Rhonda Belford in the 12th CD. Darren Bailey's wife Cindy is running along with Stratemeyer as Deputy Committeewoman.

In the 9th CD, Sally Nyhan Davis has been recommended by Rep. Mary Miller and her husband, state Rep. Chris Miller. 

There's speculation among party insiders that the party rank and file is rejecting those that backed the Irvin candidacy in 2022, and want the IL GOP not to take a similar political strategy in future campaigns.

The contestants for State Central Committee to be decided Wednesday night are:

Di Leo: The Final Months of a Bad Employee

By John F. Di Leo - 

If you work in the business world long enough, you will notice that an employee reveals the most about his own personal work ethic, not when he starts out, not when he’s angling for a bonus or promotion, but at the end, when he gets a new job and gives his two weeks’ notice, or when he starts training his successor as he reaches retirement.

How hard does he work those final weeks? Does he still put the company first, or does he just phone it in?  Or does he stuff his briefcase with office supplies, raid the petty cash drawer, and pilfer the prototype cabinet every evening before he goes home?

If he really gives it all he’s got, right up to the last day, then there’s a role model to remember with love.

The same goes for political leadership when it has had its walking papers served on Election Day, or even when that eventuality becomes evident, months in advance.

More, here:

Thorner: Why We Are Stressed Out, In Case You Thought You Were Alone

By Nancy Thorner - 

A lot of us are feeling overwhelmed.  In addition to our jobs and kids, who can keep up with all that is happening in the realm of politics under the Biden/Harris Administration?

The following list, compiled over the last several weeks, at least tells me that I am justified in feeling overwhelmed and from time to time stressed out.

*An elected US president who is senile and unable to project a strong and favorable image of this nation to world leaders.

 

*The overrunning of our borders by illegals (one which raped a 10-year-old in Ohio). 

 

*The Soviet-style Jan. 6 congressional trial of people expressing their rights as citizens to protest.

 

*Crashing stocks and bond blowouts.

Stossel: Where’s the Beef?

By John Stossel - 

How can it be that with so much cattle in America, we sometimes can’t buy meat?

At the beginning of the pandemic, Costco, Wegmans and Kroger limited purchases of beef. Hundreds of Wendy’s outlets ran out of hamburgers.

“How the hell can this be?” says Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in my new video. “They (Wendy’s) were out of hamburger, yet you could see cattle from the drive-thru!”

It happens because of stupid government rules.

More HERE

Sexual Liberation in Public Schools

Los Angeles Unified School District adopts radical “trans-affirming” programming and instructs teachers to work toward “the breakdown of the gender binary.” Christopher Rufo
writes:

Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted a radical gender-theory curriculum encouraging teachers to work toward the “breakdown of the gender binary,” to experiment with gender pronouns such as “they,” “ze,” and “tree,” and to adopt “trans-affirming” programming to make their classrooms “queer all school year.”

I have obtained a trove of publicly accessible documents from Los Angeles Unified that illustrates the extent to which gender ideology has entered the mainstream of the nation’s second-largest school district. Since 2020, the district’s Human Relations, Diversity, and Equity department has created an infrastructure to translate the basic tenets of academic queer theory into K-12 pedagogy. The materials include a wide range of conferences, presentations, curricula, teacher-training programs, adult-driven “gender and sexuality” clubs, and school-sponsored protests.

Parker: Why Are Blacks Still on Board With Biden?

By Star Parker - 

New polling from Pew Research and from NY Times/Siena College, released a few days apart, cast similarly dismal pictures regarding the popularity of President Joe Biden.

Overall approval for Biden from NY Times/Siena College stands at 33% and from Pew 37%.

However, both polls show approval for the president much stronger than the national average among minorities.

The NY Times/Siena college poll shows Black approval for Biden at 62%, which, according to the Times, is higher than “any other race or ethnicity, age group or education level.”

Per Pew, Black approval for Biden stands at 57%.

More HERE

Bailey endorses Cleveland bid for IL GOP State Central Committeeman

State Sen Darren Bailey and wife Cindy (New York Times photo) 

CHICAGO - This week's Illinois Republican Party county conventions will involve electing IL GOP state central committeemen, county party chairmen and party secretaries - an event that could be pivotal in the future of the ILGOP. 

Over the weekend, state Senator Darren Bailey, who won the IL GOP party nomination on June 28th, voiced his opinion about who he'd like to see represent the 5th Congressional District on the IL GOP State Central Committee. 

Bailey sent out an endorsement of Chris Cleveland, the former chair of the Chicago Republican Party, that said,

Will County GOP group calls for rejection of Ozinga and Mitchell at county convention

Raquel Mitchell

Rep. Ozinga

WILL COUNTY - A source calling themselves the Will County Republican Chair is calling on Will County Republicans to reject State Rep. Tim Ozinga for Will County GOP chairman and Raquel Mitchell for the district's IL GOP state central committeeman for one reason - they endorsed Richard Irvin in the contentious 2022 IL GOP gubernatorial primary. State Senator Darren Bailey won the IL GOP gubernatorial primary nomination on June 28th.

The call is left over bitterness and anger with Republican Party leadership that rejected the party's base and jumped on board with Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin - partially because of the Griffin money that Irvin was able to pull in.

The group wants accountability for the way the IL GOP primary was handled. They want the voting members of the party to make their unhappiness with the Irvin backers known at this week's county Republican conventions where county chairman, secretary and state central committeemen will be picked for the next four years.

"We all remember watching the negative, vindictive and slanderous campaigning by the Irvin campaign during our Primary, right?" the email says. "PERSONAL attacks were made on our friends and our truly grassroots and conservative candidates."

Cook County GOP files General Election slate with over 30 candidates

CHICAGO, IL - Monday, the Cook County Republican Party and Chicago Republican Party slated over 30 candidates for the November General Election, including 11 women and 16 minority candidates. More specifically, five county-wide office seekers, three Cook County Board of Property Tax Review candidates, nine Cook County Commissioner candidates, seven Illinois State Senate candidates and 17 Illinois State Representative candidates.

 

They join the 35 Cook County & Chicago Republicans already on the ballot for offices ranging from Illinois State Legislature, MWRD and Cook County Commissioner who were on the ballot for the June 28 primary election.

 

"We are very proud of the efforts of our candidates and volunteers who stepped up to collect over 8,000 signatures in just 14 days to place the largest number of Republican candidates running in Cook County in more than a generation. Cook County voters are demanding a choice at the ballot box. They will now have a clear choice in November," stated Cook County GOP Chairman Sean Morrison.

First Children in US Test Positive for Monkeypox, CDC Chief Says Both Had Contact with Gay Men

From the Western Journal

Two children in the U.S., a toddler in California and a non-resident infant in Washington, D.C., have been diagnosed with monkeypox, according to news reports.

Officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced the cases on Friday.

According to Axios, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky broke the news during a virtual event with The Washington Post. Both children had been in contact with “individuals who come from the men-who-have-sex-with-men community, the gay men’s community,” Walensky said, according to Axios.

More HERE. 

New Poll: Young Voters Want United Nations, Not U.S. Government, to Protect American Citizens’ Civil Rights

Since 1789, when the Constitution was officially ratified, the U.S. government has retained total dominion over domestic issues like protecting the civil rights of American citizens—as it should. However, most young Americans think this is an antiquated notion and would rather have international organizations oversee that American citizens’ civil rights are safeguarded.

According to a new poll conducted by The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports, 53 percent of young voters (aged 19 to 39-years-old) believe the U.S. government should surrender its sovereignty over the protection of American citizens’ civil rights to the United Nations.

More HERE

Fight Fire With Fire

What Florida gets right about using controlled burns to prevent damaging wildfires, and what California could learn from it. Tate Watkins writes:

The largest wildfire in New Mexico history was set by the federal government. In April, a prescribed burn carried out by the U.S. Forest Service escaped about four hours after being set. The fire was intended to reduce hazardous fuels and the risk of wildfire, but it became a conflagration that burned more than 340,000 acres.

The Forest Service made many mistakes during the out-of-control burn, including following outdated plans, lacking sufficient manpower and other resources, and failing to monitor weather adequately or anticipate rapidly changing wind and humidity. There is no excuse for such negligence. Fire ecologists and forestry experts agree, however, that the pace and scale of prescribed fire use are nowhere near sufficient to combat growing wildfire risk. The federal government must search for ways to get more "good" fire on the ground when and where it can be done safely, and traditions in Southeastern states, as well as recent Western examples, offer lessons in that respect.

Millions of Americans hooked on Medicaid, food stamps — and Biden’s to blame

In recent weeks, President Biden has continued his longstanding and deceptive tradition of claiming his administration has ushered in an era of unprecedented economic growth.

Although it’s true that millions of jobs have been recovered since Biden entered the White House, few, if any, were the result of his administration’s efforts to “fix a broken COVID response” or the passage of the costly, inflation-inducing American Rescue Plan.

The vast majority of jobs recovered were the direct result of the development of COVID-19 vaccines – an achievement that occurred under the Trump administration, not Biden – and because state governments, not the White House, finally came to their senses in 2021 and reversed course on numerous draconian policies that had kept much of their economies closed throughout 2020.

Most importantly, Biden’s misleading claims make no mention of the myriad economic crises now brewing as a direct result of Democrats’ reckless policies, including the millions more Americans who are hooked on government welfare programs despite relatively low unemployment and more than 11 million job openings.

More HERE

Di Leo: Eight Critical Steps to Restore the Republic

By John F. Di Leo - 

It is expected – unless the vote fraud is even worse than usual this time – that the Republicans will win back both the US House and the US Senate in November 2022.

This is not certain, and nobody should count their chickens before they’re hatched, though every poll points to it.

Even so, it’s not too soon to talk about what the next GOP Congress needs to do.  And this time, some of the absolute musts are unusual.

Thorner: Remembering Rush Limbaugh

By Nancy Thorner - 

Do any of you have room in your portfolio to buy an estate for $175 million?  That is the minimum in the price range for Rush Limbaugh’s family home in Palm Beach.  The house alone has 24,000 square feet, including seven bedrooms and a dozen bathrooms.  It also has a gigantic library, a putting green and direct access to the beach, should you decide to not swim in the big pool. Two other homes are connected to the estate.  

Limbaugh’s net worth was around $800 million.

Why Do Democrats and Young Americans Despise the Constitution?

According to a new poll by The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports, most Democrats and young Americans believe the U.S. Constitution is “racist,” “sexist,” and should be “rewritten.”

 

In fact, per the poll of 1,025 likely voters, 57 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of liberals believe the Constitution is “rooted in racism,” and 64 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of liberals say the Constitution is “a sexist document that gives men advantages over women.”

Among likely voters aged 19 to 39 years old, a similar pattern emerges. For instance, 49 percent of young voters think the Constitution is awash in racism and 54 percent believe the document is inherently sexist.

Perhaps most concerning, 49 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of liberals think the Constitution “should be mostly or completely rewritten.” Likewise, 51 percent of young voters believe the Constitution should be mostly or entirely discarded and replaced with an updated version.

On the other hand, most Republicans, Independents, conservatives, moderates, as well as middle-aged and older voters continue to hold the Constitution in high esteem.

More HERE

Court Orders Biden White House To Cough Up Top Officials’ Communications With Big Tech

A federal court in Louisiana ordered the Biden administration to turn over communications senior officials had with tech companies Tuesday.

Federal District Court Judge Terry Doughy of the United States District Court in the Western District of Louisiana issued the order granting discovery sought by Republican Attorneys General Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana. Schmitt and Landry sued the Biden administration on May 5, claiming that members of the administration colluded with social media companies to suppress debate on a number of issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election and more.

The attorneys general were seeking any communications and documents between the Biden administration and tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Twitter.

More HERE

New Poll on Supreme Court Is Both Heartening and Disturbing

Despite assertions to the contrary being widely disseminated by most of the mainstream media—based upon a recent poll conducted by Gallup—a new poll from The Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports clearly indicates a majority of Americans support the Supreme Court.

Interestingly, Gallup’s press release from June 23 is very misleading, stating, “Americans’ confidence in the court has dropped sharply over the past year and reached a new low in Gallup’s nearly 50-year trend. Twenty-five percent of U.S. adults say they have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court, down from 36% a year ago and five percentage points lower than the previous low recorded in 2014.”

Majority of Democrats, young people want to abolish Supreme Court

A majority of Democratic voters believe the Supreme Court is a racist, sexist institution that ought to be abolished, according to a new poll commissioned by the Heartland Institute. And in a clear threat to the court’s future, almost as many people ages 19 to 39 feel the same way.

The national survey of 1,025 US voters split strongly down party lines, with 53% of Democrats in favor of abolishing the current Supreme Court and replacing it with a “new, democratically elected … court with justices chosen by the American people directly,” and 33% “strongly” in favor. Just 21% of Republicans and 38% of independents favored the proposition. 

A majority (54%) of people ages 19 to 39 wanted the court abolished. Overall, just 37% of total voters agreed, according to the Rasmussen poll conducted on July 6 and 7, almost two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion.

More HERE

 

 

Physicians, Heal Thyselves

The American medical system is in trouble. Scott Yenor writes:

Trust in American institutions is at an all-time low. Fewer Americans trust their elected officials, journalists, or business leaders to do what is best for the country than at any time in the past. Perhaps the decayed institutions do not deserve the public’s trust.
Congress seems unable to pass laws or budgets or to oversee the executive branch. Administrative bureaucracies are often captured by industries and narrow interests.

The press no longer holds public officials accountable for misdeeds and lies; it promotes its own preferred narratives instead. Universities have become ideology factories. America’s military has waged several wars ineffectively; it has lower standards for admission than in the past. Our public schools achieve less at greater cost than in the past. No college professor honestly thinks students are better than they were a generation ago, nor are the college professors as well educated. Fewer movies have compelling plots or character development.

70 CTA employees made more than $200,000 in 2021

(The Center Square) – A transit employee in Chicago made more than $300,000 in 2021, making him the highest-paid employee for the system.

Andre Cruz, a signal maintainer for the Chicago Transit Authority, made $302,075, according to transit payroll records. His hourly base pay was $56.55, which would be $117,624 a year for working 40 hours a week.

Seventy of the CTA’s 10,289 employees made more than $200,000 in 2021, with line workers, signal maintainers and ironworkers being the most common. 

According to Glassdoor, a website that provides national salary information, the average total pay for a signal maintainer is $64,759.

“Signal maintainers are responsible for installing, maintaining, repairing, and inspecting signals related to subways, trains, and rail systems,” according to Glassdoor.

CTA did not respond to questions about the salaries.

Biden’s Economy: Steering Us Into Recession

President Joe Biden has made a disaster of the American economy. E.J. Antoni
writes:

If you’re having trouble making it from paycheck to paycheck, you’re hardly alone. A majority of Americans tell pollsters they feel the economy is not in good shape and getting worse.

People are now demonstrably poorer than when President Joe Biden took office. Although wages have risen, prices have risen much faster.

Worse, these are self-inflicted wounds. To find their source, look no further than the man steering the ship: Biden. On his first day in office, Biden grasped the helm and turned it hard to port—that is, a sharp left turn. In doing so, he turned the economy into the wind.

Thorner: The Eagles' "Hotel California" updated for Newsom's Socialist Dystopia

By Nancy Thorner -

Unnoticed by many was the visit of CA Governor Newsom to the White House to attend meetings when President Biden was abroad in the Middle East. Was Newsom house hunting while Biden was away?

 

As reported in the Washington Examiner:  "California Gov. Gavin Newsom looked right at home at the White House on Wednesday while President Joe Biden was out of town."

 

"Newsom was walking to a door to the White House when a reporter asked him how he was feeling. After a few exchanges, Newsom waved off the reporter and said, "See you in a bit," before heading inside."

 

Are the Leftists getting the sheeple all lined up for when they dump Joe and Kammie?  Leftists have become pros at enacting what Edward Bernays set forth in shaping public opinion.  Edward Bernays is known as the Father of Public Relations and Propaganda.  As the nephew of Freud, Bernays made a Profession out of shaping public opinion.

The DEI Regime

Every Fortune 100 company has now adopted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programming. Christopher Rufo writes:

“The chief business of the American people is business,” President Calvin Coolidge once said. One hundred years later, Americans’ chief business increasingly is managing racial and sexual politics through the ideology of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

I have surveyed the programming of every Fortune 100 company and have confirmed that all of them have now adopted so-called DEI programs. These initiatives are no longer limited to high-technology firms in the coastal enclaves; they have spread to traditionally conservative sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, insurance, and oil and gas. The result is clear: every major corporation in the United States has submitted to DEI ideology and begun to make it a permanent part of its legal and human resources bureaucracy.

Whitehead: 11 Of The Biden Administration’s Greatest Failures So Far

Image CreditThe White House/Flickr

By Beth Whitehead - 

From historic failures internationally to crises at home, the Biden administration makes every single thing it touches worse.

It’s no exaggeration: Joe Biden is bringing the country down in a tailspin. From historic failures internationally to crises at home and dropping approval ratings, Biden’s administration makes every single thing it touches worse.

Taken alone, each of these failures is pretty damning, but as a whole — or at least even just this small sampling — they reveal the degree to which our 46th president is a danger to America’s well-being.

The Democrats’ Failure Is Complete

Photo: Chris Kelponis-Pool/Getty Images

Joe Biden once dreamed of an FDR-size domestic-reform agenda. But the collapse of negotiations in Congress on the compromise of the compromise of that agenda will ensure he achieves nothing of the sort — not Roosevelt-size, not Obama-size, nor even Clinton-size. (Bill Clinton managed to increase taxes on the rich, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and create a health-care benefit for poor children.) In addition to losing its chance to address any domestic social need in an enduring way, the administration is also having imperiled its global leadership on climate change and a global corporate minimum tax, two measures that hinged on Biden getting his own country’s house in order.

More HERE

Election Integrity: 50% Think Cheating Likely in Midterms

Many voters still believe cheating affected the 2020 presidential election, and a majority fear the upcoming midterm elections could be tainted by cheating.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and The National Pulse finds that 52% of Likely U.S. voters believe it is at least somewhat likely that cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, including 36% who think it is Very Likely. Forty-three percent (43%) don’t believe it’s likely cheating affected the 2020 outcome, including 30% who say it’s Not At All Likely. These findings are similar to previous surveys in May and March. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Fifty percent (50%) of voters think it is at least somewhat likely there will be widespread cheating that will affect the outcome of this fall’s congressional elections, including 24% who say it’s Very Likely. Forty-one percent (41%) don’t believe cheating is likely to affect the November midterms, including 22% who say it’s Not At All Likely.

More HERE

Illinois Democrats ignore majority with new abortion-without-permission policy for minor girls

SPRINGFIELD - Once again, it appears Illinois' Democrat control is on the wrong side of yet another social issue.

Last month, Illinois instituted a way for girls under 18 to get abortions without notifying their parents or guardians. The new policy is in a state where body piercings on minors are not allowed without adult permission, and tanning beds are banned for minors.

Even many voters that call themselves “pro-choice” on the issue of abortion have concerns when underage girls are involved, a new Rasmussen poll found.

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and Real Impact finds that 64% of Likely U.S. voters believe that abortion providers should be required to notify parents before performing abortions on girls under age 18. Only 25% oppose parental notification requirements, while another 11% are not sure. 

The issue of abortion and minors made headlines this month in the case of a 10-year-girl in Ohio who had an abortion after authorities say she was raped by an undocumented immigrant. Voters are divided on whether abortion providers should be required to notify law enforcement before performing abortions on pregnant minors who are younger than the age of consent.  Forty-three percent (43%) favor such a notification requirement, while 40% would not require notification of law enforcement in cases involving underage pregnant girls. Another 17% are not sure.

Illinois State Police broaden definition of "Clear and Present Danger" in FOID card applications

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois State Police (ISP), under the direction of Governor Pritzker, submitted an emergency rule change to the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office implementing broader use of clear and present danger reports that can bar applicants from receiving a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card or revoke a current FOID card. The rule change allows for the use and maintenance of historic clear and present danger information even if the subject was not actively seeking or holding a FOID card at the time a Clear and Present Danger report was made and allows for use of these reports in possible future evaluations.

"Since 2013, administrative rules have unnecessarily limited and complicated the ability of the Illinois State Police to consider Clear and Present Danger information over time," Governor Pritzker's office said in a press release Monday. 

For example, the former administrative rule required a Clear and Present Danger to be “impending”, “imminent”, “substantial” or “significant.” Clear and Present Danger under state law however is more broadly defined requiring “physical or verbal behavior, such as violent, suicidal, or assaultive threats, actions, or other behavior…” This emergency rule will now allow the Illinois State Police to consider a broader range of information by simply applying the statutory definition of Clear and Present Danger. These emergency rules also will clarify ISP’s authority to use and retain Clear and Present Danger reports to the fullest extent allowed by state and federal law.

The Illinois State Rifle Association has been asked for a response to this development.

Lefty scholar flees progressives' "real chilling effect" -- and joins free-market think tank instead

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

If you know the names Ruy Texeira and the American Enterprise Institute, you’d probably never put the two of them together. Surprise! Texeira, who has long been a fixture on the Left, has suddenly landed at the free-market AEI.

What gives? It turns out that Texeira is opting for diversity rather than “diversity,” as Politico explains this morning. It ends a nearly 20-year run at the Center for American Progress that Texeira help found, but where he now experiences a “real chilling effect” on debate and policy:

More HERE

Thorner: Gardening dangerous; Bug-eating not so much

By Nancy Thorner - 

The U.K. has issued an ‘urgent warning’ that gardening can cause heart disease by exposing you to harmful soil pollutants!  So, now they want you to be afraid of growing your own food too.  These non-Einsteins are also actually recommending you wear a face mask while gardening, if in close contact with the soil. 

Also make sure to wear a full biohazard/hazmat suit when you go out to water your tomatoes, right after you get your Covid booster #86. 

Of course, eating the glyphosate-laden, high fructose corn syrup, GMOs, trans-fats-filled foods, antibiotic-laden CAFO animals, ad nauseam, are just dandy.  

So why not enjoy eating the soldier fly grubs and other insects?  Signaling the future of food supply is the world's largest insect protein farm being built in Decatur in central Illinois.  

And to get you ready for the bug-eating changeover, Hollywood Learjet leftists have been paid a gazillion dollars to help the gullible, media-addled types to eat bugs, such as Nicole Kidman talking about how delicious the grubs are here.

 What countries do eat bugs?

 

U.S. News & World Report reports that numerous countries eat bugs.

 

Cited in the report are some of the countries and the type of insects they snack on in Ghana, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Japan.

She Nails It

Civic Education and American Renewal

It is not an intrinsic indictment of today's national government to say that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution would not recognize it. They were, after all, revolutionaries who threw off the mother empire on the battlefield and threw off the Articles of Confederation behind closed doors. They neither asked nor sought either unthinking or eternal submission. The question is whether their wisdom and the endurance of their handiwork merit deferential respect.

Lincoln thought they did. He explained at Cooper Union that we are not "bound to follow implicitly in whatever our fathers did." That "would be to discard all the lights of current experience—to reject all progress—all improvement." However:

Tradition: A Guide to Social Survival in the 21st Century

Heidi and Moshe—two young Princeton University scholars, one secular and cosmopolitan, the other religious and Zionist—are bickering. What's the big surprise? They hold diametrically opposing worldviews. They argue whether Jews should adopt or reject their national identity. "How can you justify your narrow tribal loyalty?" asks Heidi, a student in the faculty of humanities. "Isn't the lesson of the Holocaust that we Jews must never put our parochial interests ahead of others' interests? We should know better than anyone what happens when that lesson isn't learned." Moshe, a young Ph.D. in mathematics, is rendered speechless. He was not prepared for that blow. He sat before her, as he later testifies, "slack-jawed, staring at her uncomprehendingly." Forty years later, as a professor emeritus of computer science at Bar-Ilan University and chairman of the Kohelet Policy Forum, Moshe Koppel published his detailed response to Heidi in his book Judaism Straight Up: Why Real Religion Endures, also aptly translated to Hebrew by Alon Shalev with the participation of Tsur Erlich as Living Like a Jew: Why Tradition Will Continue to Bury the Prophets of Its Demise.

Koppel’s world is split between tradition and modernity, between Jewish ethnicity and Western cosmopolitanism, between religious faith and scientific research. He is at home in each of these realms, yet they seem to represent "different facets of [his] social, religious, and intellectual experience." The book is intended—though not explicitly described as such—to serve as a guide to the perplexed of this generation. There are those who shut themselves up in a communal ghetto behind religious walls, rejecting modernity, and there are those who, due to this confusion, detach completely from tradition as outdated and meaningless. Koppel seeks a model for a balanced Judaism committed to Jewish law but not afraid of enlightenment.

The Left-wing Insurrection Intensifies

It’s only insurrection when the other side does it! For one and a half years, the Left and its media allies have peddled the narrative of a Republican insurrection. Meanwhile, Democrats and their supporters burn federal courthouses, attack property rights and the rule of law, and now call the Supreme Court illegitimate after its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson.

This isn’t just a few fringe voices. Prominent legal analysts and authors are calling the Court illegitimate. The chair of the Democrat National Committee has pulled out the bullhorn to condemn the Court. Writers at Teen Vogue, whatever one thinks of Teen Vogue, have also used their cultural clout and reach to spew their propaganda. The “mainstream” of the Democrat Party and their allies are calling the Court illegitimate; they have joined the very far-left that have been saying this for decades.

Conservatives trust few news sources

Medium graphic

From GOP News Feed - 

In all, 66% of Democrats trust the 42-year-old cable news network, which transformed into an open, inveterate foe of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party under the leadership of former CNN President Jeffrey Zucker. Only 11% of Republicans say they believe CNN’s reporting, creating a gaping 55-point gap in viewer trust between the parties.

A similar discrepancy occurs with CNN’s closest rival, MSNBC, which is deemed reliable by 52% of Democrats and only 9% of Republicans.

So where do conservatives go for news? The Daily Wire survey found 

The poll seems to show a rightward tilt from U.S. citizens as a whole. Americans overall were more than twice as likely to say they get their news primarily from “conservative news websites” than from “liberal or progressive news websites” (12% vs. 5%, respectively).

More HERE.

Thorner: Tragic Shooting Death of Ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe

By Nancy Thorner - 

Several days after the Highland Park shooting, ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe was shot.  As al Jazeera puts it, "largely gun-free Japan...Japanese gun-ownership restrictions do not allow private citizens to have guns.” 

Reuters reported the following on July 8, 2022: 

“NARA, Japan, July 8 (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving leader of modern Japan, was gunned down on Friday while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking a country where guns are tightly controlled and political violence almost unthinkable.”

“Abe, 67, was pronounced dead around five and a half hours after the shooting in the city of Nara. Police arrested a 41-year-old man and said the weapon was a homemade gun.”

The House of BlackRock

BlackRock is the wealthiest and most influential investment management firm on Wall Street, with more than $10 trillion in assets under its stewardship. Its influence, however, does not end in the corporate and financial realms. In fact, for years, the Larry Fink-led behemoth has cultivated political alliances and hired individuals with high-level government connections while it has developed unprecedented and highly lucrative strategic partnerships with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Yet, upon a thorough investigation of White House visitor logs and other relevant documents, it appears BlackRock’s influence runs deeper than ever. Our most important finding reveals that one of BlackRock’s top executives not only has deep personal relationships with Biden administration staff, but has himself been a frequent visitor, meeting repeatedly with staff from the Office of Cabinet Affairs and the National Security Council.

More HERE

Where’s Weyermuller? At Chicago’s March For Life 2022 Celebrating the Dobb’s Decision

(Illinois Review brings you news you get nowhere else) Photos: Mark Weyermuller

By Mark Weyermuller - 

Last Saturday, pro-life supporters gathered at the federal plaza in Chicago for a rally and a march. After a number of speakers, about 2000 people marched north on Dearborn then back south on Michigan Avenue. The downtown streets were filled with people attending the Taste of Chicago in Grant Park. 

Rossi: Suicide by Voter Apathy

By Randy Rossi - 

The one thing we can all agree on is that the state of Illinois is in serious trouble. The crime rate for the state and especially in Chicago is up dramatically. Illinois has been listed as one of the worst 5 states in America in its handling of Covid. People and corporations are fleeing Illinois and moving to more business friendly states which will cause serious damage to our economy. The American people know that America is in serious trouble. A recent Rasmussen poll reported that only 24% of Americans think our country is headed in the right direction. And a new Fox poll shows that only 39% of Americans are proud of their country vs. the 69% who were proud of our country in 2011. The bottom line is that our great country and the state of Illinois are in serious trouble which should motivate all patriotic and responsible citizens to go out and vote to replace the bad politicians that have caused this massive damage to our state and our country and replace them with good and responsible politicians.

The EPA Is Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

There are lots of happy reports on the Supreme Court’s ruling throwing out EPA’s so-called Clean Power Plan. Some go so far as to suggest that EPA is barred from regulating power plant CO2 emissions.

It is not quite that simple and the result is rather amusing. EPA is still required to regulate CO2 under the terms of the Clean Air Act, but that Act provides no way to do that regulation. The Clean Power Plan attempted to expand an obscure minor clause in the Act to do the job but SCOTUS correctly ruled that the clause does not confer that kind of massive authority.

EPA is between a rock and a hard place. It should tell Congress that it cannot do the job and needs a new law, along the lines of the SO2 law added to the Act in 1990, curbing emissions. But such a law has zero chance of passing in the foreseeable future.

EPA is stuck. What they will now do is anybody’s guess. Enjoy their dilemma!

More HERE

Billionaire Climate Elites Have Their Own Rules

Billionaire climate scolds with mansions, private jets want to tell rest of us how to live.

Progressives have long wanted to tax unrealized gains from billionaires’ stocks, bonds, land holdings, homes, artwork, cars, yachts and other property. As appealing as this sounds, the scheme would be vastly complicated and unworkable. In the absence of sales, who would evaluate current values – and how?

But the frustrations we “commoners” have with the ultra-rich are understandable – especially when they lecture us about eating less “climate-altering” beef, avoiding $5.00 gasoline by buying $60,000 electric vehicles, and bankrolling “experts” who say we should live in 650-square-foot apartments. 

So it’s entertaining when some of those billionaires start arguing about who is more saintly (and sanctimonious) when it comes to preventing the alleged Climate Crisis.

More HERE