Illinois Review

NYTimes admits Planned Parenthood's nefarious beginnings

The documentary Maafa 21 continues to make headlines and draw attention to the eugenic roots of the notorious, yet taxpayer-funded, Planned Parenthood.  Yesterday's New York Times surprisingly spotlighted the issue, writing that black leaders are pushing for the group's defunding as more and more learn of PP's origination:

Scholars acknowledge that Sanger did ally herself with eugenics, at the time a mainstream movement, but said she believed that birth control, sterilization and abortion should be voluntary and not based on race. She was also allied with black leaders like W.E.B. Du Bois and Dr. King, who praised her efforts to bring birth control to black families.

“It’s unfair to characterize those efforts as racially targeted in a negative way,” said Ellen Chesler, a historian and Sanger biographer, who is now on the board of Planned Parenthood.

"Iceberg dead ahead"

The state of Illinois' budget crisis is comparable to the moments before the Titantic hit the iceberg, Southtown Star's Phil Kadner writes today, with the captain, Governor Quinn, sequestered in his cabin and House Speaker Mike Madigan at the wheel.  Madigan stands, unflinching Kadner writes, as the ship appears to head for destruction.  Kadner dramatizes:

Certainly, if the danger were as serious as it appears, he would do something. He would not want to be known forever as the man at the helm when the ship crashed.

I close my eyes. Rub them hard. Open them again.

Yep, it sure looks like an iceberg to me.

But there is no panic in Madigan's eyes and the hint of a smile on his lips. Is he a madman or a genius?

Pierce: Lindsey Graham, Backdoor Carbon Crusader?

by Sam Pierce

It is a good thing that John McCain's LEFT hand man, Lindsey "just shut up" Grahamnesty isn't up for re-election this year. Since he is not, he does not have to engage in the disingenuous charade (like some candidates) of pretending to suddenly be against Cap and Trade. Lindsey is free to carry on with the appeasing of the enviro-statist left unfettered, footloose, and fancy free.

Of course, everything is not green peaches and non-dairy (cows produce methane, after all) cream for Lindsey and his fellow energy taxing muskrateers Joe Lieberman and John Heinz-Kerry. It has become evident that the proletariat in general is not quite as stupid as they had hoped. Imagine the horror of these Washington D.C. elitist bozos as they became aware that many citizens actually realize what Cap and Trade would mean to their wallets. Lindsey, Lieberman, and Lurch could never have expected the unwashed masses to realize that if the federal government implemented a law that would effectively raise the price of everything manufactured, transported, or requiring the use of energy in any way, then the desired outcome would occur! It just so happens that although these three stooges may not realize it, the economy is already bad and the notion of the federal government killing even more jobs rubs some of the electorate the wrong way.

The Long Long Long Count

By Mark Rhoads

I have closely followed Illinois primary elections since 1964 and once served as Republican Co-Chair of the Illinois Election Laws Study Commission (1977-1983).  I helped to write the legislation that created the Illinois State Board of Elections in 1972.  With the notable exception of the long Orange paper ballot for the at large House election in 1964, I have never seen either official statewide vote counts or unoffical news accounts of any Illinois primary come in as slowly as the as yet unannounced and unconfirmed totals from the Feb. 2, 2010 primary.

Seiffe: A Modest Proposal on Public Pensions

by Ralf Seiffe

There’s a lot of talk about increasing income taxes in Springfield. Democrats, and even rubbery Republicans, confess they have no other idea on how to fix the giant hole in Illinois’ fiscal situation.  What appears to be missing is any nexus between the cause of the problem and the possible solutions.  Until that connection is made, any tax increase will simply increase state spending without remedying the causes of the problem. Smart Republicans and Democrats who can spell “Michigan” should insist the General Assembly make that connection before voting for any tax increases.

The Pew Center for the States has investigated some 400 pension and healthcare funds operated by the states and found these plans had actuarial underfunding to be at least $1 Trillion. Their report is here. Of the financial disasters exposed by this report, Illinois has the dubious distinction of being one of the worst with only about half its pension fund promises actuarially funded. Indeed, of the total debt Illinois faces, pension underfunding explains 91% of it, according to a chart based on data from state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. All tolled, the state’s obligations will reach $130 billion by this year’s fiscal year end, according to www.illinoisisbroke.com.

Blago featured in Mark Kirk's new ad

Red light camera ban to be heard Tuesday

State Senator Dan Duffy (photo right) will be presenting his case as to why red light cameras should be banned in Illinois next Tuesday in a Senate Transportation subcommittee. Anyone who's spent any time at the Capitol knows with a wink and a nod what pushing a bill off into "subcommittee" means -- that the bill's had a brick put on it, and it ain't goin' anywhere. 

But SB 2466 may not be your average DOA "sent to subcommittee" legislation this year.

Is Madigan backpedaling on income tax?

Illinois Radio Network is reporting that Madigan's backpedaling -- or at least giving the illusion -- that the income tax increase he hopes for isn't a sure thing:

A tax hike isn't likely, but a new Democrat lieutenant governor candidate is. House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) is not saying if he and Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) have advised Gov. Pat Quinn to leave an income tax hike out of his budget proposal. But he is hinting that it's a non-starter. He reminds lawmakers that Quinn's tax hike proposal won only 44 votes last year, far short of what it needed to pass.

Blair House health summit stirs protests

by Joe Calomino

As the White House put on a "bipartisan" health care summit, AFP protesters stood outside the Blair House calling for Congress to scrap the proposed health care take over.

Organizing Kids for Obama

by Phyllis Schlafly

President Barack Obama's budget has added more than $100 billion of federal taxpayers' money to what is called "education," so that means it will be spent by alumni of the Saul Alinsky school of radical community organizing and/or the Chicago Democratic machine. We're indebted to Pamela Geller of AtlasShrugs.com for exposing the shocking use of some of these funds.

Obama is using the public schools to recruit a private army of high-schoolers to "build on the movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda." We now know that Obama's "agenda" is to move the United States into European-style Socialism.