Illinois Review

Di Leo: Greco Sees Double

By John F. Di Leo - 

The minor mob boss from the south of Europe learns about double-entry bookkeeping… coming soon to a western nation near you?

It was a good day for a walk. The sun was shining, the air was clear… the view from Athens, out across the lovely Aegian Sea, had never been so sparkling. So Greco put on his pea coat and fisherman’s cap, clipped his blackjack on his belt and checked his pocket for his switchblade, pulled on his driving gloves and walked outside.

In the old days, Greco had more employees to help with the collection task; he just got the business himself, then sent out his bagmen for the monthly protection money (weekly for some… you might say Greco’s business required certain flexibility in payment plans).

WorldNetDaily's "Most Important Woman in the last 100 Years" - Phyllis Schlafly

ST LOUIS - Friday, World Net Daily announced its pick of "The Most Important Woman in the Last 100 Years." The pick was not Hillary Clinton, US Senator Diane Feinstein, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret Sanger or Betty Friedan.  It wasn't even Sarah Palin, Margaret Thatcher or Ayn Rand.  WND's choice was none other than 88 year old Eagle Forum founder, attorney, author and conservative movement leader Phyllis Schlafly.

Phyllis Schlafly with Congressman Henry Hyde at the 1980 Republican National Convention

Mrs. Schlafly launched into her political activism from downstate Illinois, the same state identified with US presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. In its analysis of her impact on American politics,WND reviews Mrs. Schlafly's historical congressional bid from the Alton Illinois area, when her husband Fred was asked to consider running and the spotlight turned to his wife.

NRA: Feinstein goes for broke with new gun ban bill

The National Rifle Association has analyzed US Senator Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) federal legislation which she plans to introduce January 3rd, 2013, the first day of the next Congressional session. Here's their brief synopsis of how her proposal would affect gun owners and Second Amendment rights:

• Reduces, from two to one, the number of permitted external features on various firearms.  The 1994 ban permitted various firearms to be manufactured only if they were assembled with no more than one feature listed in the law. Feinstein’s new bill would prohibit the manufacture of the same firearms with even one of the features.
• Adopts new lists of prohibited external features. For example, whereas the 1994 ban applied to a rifle or shotgun the “pistol grip” of which “protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon,” the new bill would drastically expand the definition to include any “grip . . . or any other characteristic that can function as a grip.” Also, the new bill adds “forward grip” to the list of prohibiting features for rifles, defining it as “a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip.” Read literally and in conjunction with the reduction from two features to one, the new language would apply to every detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifle. At a minimum, it would, for example, ban all models of the AR-15, even those developed for compliance with California’s highly restrictive ban.

Topinka warns "fiscal cliff" will cost Illinois $1 billion

CHICAGO - Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Friday warned that the economic impact for the state budget could exceed $1 billion if Congress and the President are unable to reach an agreement to prevent the federal government from going over the "fiscal cliff."

Just more than three days before automatic federal spending cuts and tax increases are triggered, Topinka estimated that the combination of expected Social Security payroll tax and income tax increases is expected to hit Illinois pocketbooks, and ultimately lower the state's tax revenues by up to $500 million.

Even more staggering, the fallout from the fiscal cliff threatens to push the state into recession, Topinka said.

UPDATE: Hobby Lobby loses emergency appeal, promises to defy HHS mandate

UPDATE December 28, 2:00 PM CST: Hobby Lobby says it will defy the HHS mandate, risking $1.3 million per day fine. 

Life News reports: “The company will continue to provide health insurance to all qualified employees,” [Hobby Lobby's attorney Kyle] Duncan said. “To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention, as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs.”

“The Green family is disappointed with this ruling,” said  Duncan. “They simply asked for a temporary halt to the mandate while their appeal goes forward, and now they must seek relief from the United States Supreme Court. The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith.”

December 27 - LifeNews reports Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has refused to act favorably on an emergency appeal Hobby Lobby stores filed to stop enforcement of the HHS mandate against it.

After a federal court denied a request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate against the Christian-operated business Hobby Lobby, it took its HHS mandate lawsuit to the Supreme Court. Late yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied its request to block the mandate and the millions of dollars in fines it will be subjected to starting January 1 for not complying.

Sotomayor said Hobby Lobby did not show it met the legal standard for blocking enforcement on an emergency basis, but said the company can continue with its lawsuit in lower court.

Chicago marks tragic 500th shooting victim

CHICAGO - Chicago, one of America's cities with toughest gun control laws, hit the 500 mark of shootings in 2012 Thursday night when a 40-year-old man was shot and killed on the West Side. The next highest number of shootings in Chicago was in 2008, when the number for the year reached 512.

As CBS 7 reports, "Nathaniel Jackson, of the 4700 block of West Armitage Avenue, had the dubious distinction of becoming the city’s 500th homicide victim this year, when he was shot in the head outside a convenience store in the 4900 block of West Augusta Boulevard at about 9 p.m. Thursday. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he died a few hours later."

Medicare eligibility age hike off the table, Durbin says

Illinois' US Senator Dick Durbin says no need to worry about the eligibility age for Medicare being raised - it's no longer an issue in the fiscal cliff negotiations...

WASHINGTON — One of President Barack Obama's Senate allies said Thursday that an increase in the Medicare eligibility age is "no longer one of the items being considered by the White House" in negotiations with top Republicans on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff.

Obama's fellow Illinois Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin, however, told reporters that he did not get the information directly from the president or the White House. But he is regularly apprised of the status of negotiations.

Increasing the eligibility age is a key demand by Republicans seeking cost curbs in popular benefit programs in exchange for higher tax revenues.

Right to Work in Missouri?

JEFFERSON CITY - Legislation to balance collective bargaining for state employees has stirred the right to work discussion in some of the formerly least likely states, such as Michigan and Ohio.  But with lawmakers elected that aren't beholding to state employee unions, and concerned about unpaid pension obligations suffocating any other use of the state's tax revenue, more and more are understanding that teacher's unions, SEIU and AFSCME local union reps just aren't as powerful as they once were.  

Illinois is just south of Wisconsin, where the fight first broke out in 2011, and west of Indiana, where unions are losing power as well. The next state that's energized to begin chipping away at union bondage is the state to Illinois' west - Missouri. The legislation has already been pre-filed, and the right-to-work movement may be facing its biggest challenge to date. 

Cronyism runs deep in Illinois

By Ben VanMetre -

Imagine an Illinois economy so vibrant that companies felt they had to be in Illinois to reach their fullest potential. Imagine a tax environment so competitive that companies across the country battled to get a piece of Illinois real estate. Keep imagining, because this certainly isn’t a reality.

The fact is, Illinois ranks 48th in economic outlook and performance, 48th in net domestic migration and 47th in job growth.

Lawmakers try to make up for Illinois’ shortfalls by steering resources to businesses they think will provide the greatest benefit to the state. State and local government in Illinois pretend they can create a vibrant private sector in the state. They do so by taking money from thousands of entrepreneurs and businesses, cooking up generous tax incentive packages and grants and then giving these handouts to businesses of their choosing.

FISA authority growing concern among citizens

FISA is an unprecedented extension of governmental surveillance over Americans that allows the government to grab all incoming and outgoing international communications without a warrant.

The Illinois pension pot: the less you put in, the less you earn

By Jonathan Ingram -

Wouldn't it be nice to earn 7 to 8 percent interest on money you don't have in the bank?

That's exactly what caretakers of the state's public pension systems assume.

Illinois' five pension systems are expected to pay out more than $600 billion between now and 2045. In order to pay for these benefits, the pension systems would need $159 billion on hand. Not only that – this $159 billion would also need to earn nearly 8 percent investment returns every single year for the next three decades.

But here's the catch: the pension systems have just $62 billion on hand. So even if the pension systems are able to achieve their promised returns, they are missing out on billions of dollars every year in lost investment income.

France's Social Security headed for bankruptcy

WASHINGTON - Warning to Illinois and its state employee pension system, as well as America's Social Security retirement system: You're headed for the same situation as France's:

According to an official report cited in the Financial Times, France's national pension system is going broke, with its deficit expected to grow from 14 billion euros last year to 19 billion in 2017 — a 30% surge. To pay for this, France's COR pension council says unemployment will have to be cut from above 9% to 4.5% and productivity growth raised to 1.8% from about 1%.

It can't happen as long as mega-taxes and vast waves of tax exiles — from France's richest billionaire to actor Gerard Depardieu — continue to flee the country. Sadly, the U.S. is on precisely the same path — with a president hellbent on taxing the rich and, like Hollande, refusing to address runaway entitlements.

France's public debt is near 90% of GDP and its unfunded pension liabilities amount to at least 200% of GDP. But neither tax hikes nor demonizing the rich has done a thing to defuse the entitlement bomb.

More at Investors Business Daily

Illinois' Dick Stephenson a key figure in FreedomWorks shakeup

The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall.

Richard K. Armey, the group’s chairman and a former House majority leader, walked into the group’s Capitol Hill offices with his wife, Susan, and an aide holstering a handgun at his waist. The aim was to seize control of the group and expel Armey’s enemies: The gun-wielding assistant escorted FreedomWorks’ top two employees off the premises, while Armey suspended several others who broke down in sobs at the news.

The coup lasted all of six days. By Sept. 10, Armey was gone — with a promise of $8 million — and the five ousted employees were back. The force behind their return was Richard J. Stephenson, a reclusive Illinois millionaire who has exerted increasing control over one of Washington’s most influential conservative grass-roots organizations.

Stephenson, the founder of the for-profit Cancer Treatment Centers of America and a director on the FreedomWorks board, agreed to commit $400,000 per year over 20 years in exchange for Armey’s agreement to leave the group. ...More HERE

U.S. Chamber Releases Annual List of 2012 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A lawsuit by a driver who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and then sued a victim that he killed tops the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's (ILR) survey of the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012, released today.

"Abuse of our legal system is no joke, and these examples range from the outrageous to the absurd," said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard. "This poll reminds us that as a society, we sue too much. In turn, these abusive lawsuits inflict harm on lives, jobs, and our economic growth."

ILR announced the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012 from votes cast throughout the year by visitors to FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org. The lawsuits were selected from those featured in the website's monthly polls for 2012. The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign is ILR's public awareness effort created to highlight the impact of abusive lawsuits on small businesses, communities, and individuals.

The Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2012 are:

What IR readers are saying about the "fiscal cliff"

Illinois Review's Facebook page is active Thursday, with readers telling us how they're preparing for Congress' expected fiscal cliff, now that negotiations are at a stalemate.  Join the conversation here on IR and there on our Facebook page, "like" us and then tell us - "How do you expect Congress' fiscal cliff to affect your finances?"

Schoenburg: Rutherford has seven on scheduling, event staff

Bernie Schoenburg has written state Treasurer Dan Rutherford has a scheduling, logistics and events staff of seven people. Noted Schoenburg:

The staff members in this part of Rutherford’s operation combine to have more than $470,000 in salary. They include CURT CONRAD, a former executive director of the Illinois Republican Party, as director, making $99,000. Carlson, officially the manager of logistics, is also paid $99,000.

STEVE ETTINGER, logistics and services specialist, had also worked for the state GOP and is paid $52,000. SHIRLEY JOHNSON, manager of event planning, makes $52,500. ROB WINCHESTER, a former president of Associated Builders & Contractors of Illinois and son of BOB WINCHESTER, a member of the GOP State Central Committee, is a logistics specialist paid $67,500. GRANT HAMMER, logistics specialist and candidate for the Springfield Park Board, is paid $52,000. And Springfield Ward 4 Ald. FRANK LESKO, another logistics specialist, is paid $50,000 annually.

More HERE

ING letter to Illinois clients defines civil union financial restrictions

SPRINGFIELD - The urgency Illinois gay rights community is conveying to the Illinois General Assembly about the need to legalize not only civil unions - for same and/or opposite sex couples - but to also legalize same-sex marriages could be rooted in finances.  

In a recent letter to its Illinois clients, the ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company defined the financial differences between civil unions and same sex marriages per Illinois law and how the company sees they are to interpret it concerning their products. The letter spells out how Illinois' civil union act - "the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act" - affects their clients' assets and how the federal Defense of Marriage Act ties the company's hands in distribution and tax policy.

When 260 pastors from liberal mainstream denominations throughout Illinois signed onto backing a same sex marriage bill last week, one pastor said,"“A civil union is kind of like a business partnership — which a marriage is in reality — but there are people who consider a marriage to be something divine and holy."

Gun owner privacy protected in Illinois

CHICAGO - While there's an  outrage over a New York news source making the residences of gun owners public, Illinoisans should recall that their own Attorney General Lisa Madigan directed the State Police to conduct a similar unveiling in March 2011.  When the media filed a FOIA on the list of gun owners, the State Police refused to release the names. 

The Illinois legislature overwhelmingly agreed with the State Police that the names should not be made public, and passed legislation to protect the names of nearly 1 million Illinois gun owners' and their privacy.

Weather Underground co-founder Ayers emphasizes Leftists' access to schools

Schools and communities are where radical Leftist Bill Ayers' told a university class that real "movement-making" goes on, not at the levels of the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon. A student shared Ayers' recent comments with EAGNews in the video below, and below the fold is an important video describing the devastation Ayers' Weather Underground did - 

10 Heritage Facts on the fiscal cliff, debt and spending

Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell put together a list of 10 stunning facts on the fiscal cliff, debt and spending:

• Four years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Fiscal year 2012 concluded with a $1.1 trillion deficit, marking the fourth year of trillion-dollar-plus deficits. Too much spending is the root cause of the federal government’s deep and sustained deficits. At 23 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 and on track to rise further, federal spending is growing at a dangerous pace.
• National debt hit $16 trillion. On September 4, the U.S. national debt hit the $16 trillion mark. We owe more on the national debt than the entire U.S. economy produced in goods and services in all of 2012. Sixteen trillion dollar bills stacked one on top of the other would measure more than 1 million miles high, which would reach to the moon and back more than twice.
• The debt limit was raised by $1.2 trillion. On January 30, the federal government raised its debt limit from a staggering $15.194 trillion to an even bigger $16.394 trillion. This increase was the last one of three granted in the Budget Control Act of 2011, a result of that summer’s debt ceiling negotiations, which allowed for a total debt limit increase of $2.1 trillion.