Illinois Review

Illinois Congressman Gutiérrez admits new Dem voters is real reason for amnesty

WASHINGTON DC - Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D) inadvertently tipped the Democratic Party’s hand Friday on why they're pursuing amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.

While appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Gutiérrez spoke about going to the White House later in the day to “negotiate” how the president, with a stroke of the pen, can legalize up to 5 million illegal immigrants.

As BizPac reported, President Obama‘s expected executive action will, in effect, not only nullify the immigration laws of the United States, but serve to create a legion of brand new Democrat voters.

“Let me just say in about an hour, I’m going over to the White House,” he said. “I’ll be meeting with Jeh Johnson and the Chief Legal Counsel to the President of the United States. ...We are going to sit down and we’re going to negotiate additional terms and avenues the president can use and prosecutorial discretion, and I think we can get three or four or maybe even five million people.”

Schimpf poll indicates Illinois voters disinterested in social issues

Paul Schimpf at a recent press conference with GOP House Leader Jim Durkin

WATERLOO - Paul Schimpf, GOP candidate for attorney general, released polling results to the Sun-Times last Friday. According to Schimpf, the results indicate that the race between him and Democrat Attorney General Lisa Madigan may be closer than many think.

Schimpf's poll of 800 likely voters, included "push poll" questions, which are subtley designed to influence the poll-takers' responses.

The sampling, which was 42% Democrat, 33% Independent and 25% Republican, found that 46% intended to vote for Lisa Madigan, while 37% would vote for Schimpf. Seventeen percent (17%) didn't know.

In the same poll, 40% said they intend to vote for Republican Bruce Rauner, 34% for incumbent Governor Pat Quinn, and 26% didn't know.

Schimpf's poll also asked questions about concealed carry, abortion, and gay rights. Overall the poll indicated 2014 Illinois voters are not concerned about social issues.

The poll showed the state divided on gun rights - 44% said a candidate opposing concealed carry would make them more likely to support the candidate while 43% said a candidate opposition to concealed carry would make them less likely to support the candidate.

On the topic of abortion, 51% of the polled said they were more likely to support a strongly pro-choice candidate and 29% said they would be less likely to vote for a strongly pro-choice candidate. 

Those polled indicated being strongly pro-life would negatively affect their likelihood to vote for a candidate - 29% said it would make them more likely to support a candidate if he or she was strongly pro-life, while 35% said they would be less likely to support the candidate if he or she was strongly pro-life. 33% said the position on life didn't matter at all.

And on the topic of gay marriage, 20% was more likely to vote for a candidate that opposed gay marriage while 25% were less likely to support him or her. 55% said the candidate's position on gay marriage didn't matter. 

Feud over Obama protests sends Wisconsin police chief on leave

CAMPBELL, WI - While this situation hasn't yet erupted in Illinois, just to the north, one law enforcement authority is in hot water over actions he admits taking against a local Tea Party leader.

A feud between Campbell, Wisconsin, Police Chief Tim Kelemen and local Tea Party Leader Greg Luce started last fall, when Luce started organizing protests against Barack Obama on an interstate overpass.

Kelemen worked to persuade the city council to ban overpass signs. In response, Luce urged Tea Party and First Amendment supporters to deluge the chief's phone and email with opposition. 

Police Chief Kelemen then began signing up Luce on websites for federal health care, homosexual dating and pornography. Luce responded by filing a federal lawsuit, accusing the police chief of restricting his First Amendment right to free speech and stealing his identity.

The police chief told investigators he "didn't think what he was doing was that big of a deal," but Kelemen was put on paid leave.

Gov. Quinn to live off equivalent of minimum wage as campaign stunt

Gov. Pat Quinn agreed on Sunday to briefly live on the equivalent of a minimum-wage salary as he rallies support for a Nov. 4 Illinois ballot measure on the issue.

The Democrat made the pledge at a campaign event focused on the nonbinding ballot question, which asks voters if the minimum wage should be raised for people over age 18 from $8.25 to $10 by 2015.

“There’s a principle as old as the Bible,” Quinn told supporters at the Federal Plaza in Chicago. “If you work 40 hours a week, if you’re doing your job, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty.”

Read more

Chicago Police Sergeant Harasses Red Light Cam Protesters: You’re Just as Bad as Gang Members

CHICAGO (RebelPundit) - Chicago Police Sergeant Herbert Brown, Jr., told red-light camera protesters they needed a permit to put ‘slanderous’ messages on their signs and compared the protesters to “gang members” this past Saturday.

The officer was dispatched to a protest against the city’s controversial red light/speed cameras on Chicago’s South Side and according to one protester, Sergeant Brown arrived in “belligerent” fashion to “take charge” of the demonstration. A YouTube video posted of the exchange shows Brown telling the demonstrators they are “just as bad” as “gang members.”

Scott Davis, candidate for Alderman in the 44th ward and staunch opponent of the city’s red light/speed camera program, told RebelPundit that Brown changed his harsh tune once he realized he was being recorded—but that didn’t stop him from continuing to harass the protesters, and at one point threaten to arrest to Davis.

The video picks up in the middle of the encounter:

More at RebelPundit HERE

Zender: Congratulations Amazon, You Sold Out Women’s Health for Money

By Emily Zender - 

Amazon has now wiggled its way in to receive a cut of the abortion industry’s multibillion-dollar profits. In January, Amazon began quietly selling Plan B, an abortion-inducing drug taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. Amazon began selling the abortion drug for about $17 – well below the $32 manufacturing cost according to a Princeton research study.

Today, the average price of Plan B on Amazon is about $44. Selling the abortion drug isn’t the only way Amazon is making money off of women’s bodies. While investigating the ability to purchase Plan B from Amazon, advertisements for a plan… “C” appeared below the product. The advertisements, strategically shown to customers who are viewing Plan B on Amazon, are paid advertisements for Illinois abortion clinics. 

If your $44 Plan B doesn’t work, here’s your plan C: an abortion that on average costs $421. Couple the advertising income from the abortion industry with the profits from selling Plan B and Amazon has a brand new income stream.

Colion Noir on Chicago gun violence and Chicago gun laws [video]

Colion Noir examines the high rate of violent crime that is terrorizing Chicago and the need for action to help neutralize it.

Illinois communities scramble to find road salt for coming winter

CHICAGO - The State of Illinois is fraying at the edges. Further proof of that comes today as it was announced that nearly 200 Illinois communities are scrambling to find road salt in preparation for winter. A demand that will inevitably lead to significantly higher prices, which will lead to increased financial burden on taxpayers.

The Illinois Department of Central Management Services this month informed many city and county officials in charge buying road salt that no vendors responded to their requests for bids.

More than 560 communities participated in the solicitation for road salt bids. Department spokesman Mike Claffey says 367 communities received bids from salt vendors and 195 did not. The department has offered to seek new bids from vendors, but has also told public works departments to explore other alternatives.

Rauner sees IL GOP majority in eight years

SPRINGFIELD - Speaking to Sangamon County Republican committeemen this weekend, gubernatorial Bruce Rauner confirmed what political writers have been saying for the last few days - he's planning on changing the state's Republican Party with a rebuild from the precinct level up.

And that organization will produce a majority party in eight years, he said.

“We’re going to rebuild our Republican party from the grassroots up in every county. We’re going to take seat after seat in the General Assembly, and eight years from today we’re going to be celebrating. We’re going to be the majority party,” Rauner told the crowd, the State Journal Register reports.

He later defended the statement as “very realistic."

“Limited government, low taxes, individual liberty and personal responsibility. Many Democrats believe in that, independent voters believe in it and if we build the Republican party on that, that’s a unifying message,” he said.

Rauner is putting his money where he's focused. Besides giving the Sangamon GOP over $10,000 in the past few months, Rauner and his wife Diana wrote checks to the Illinois Republican Party for $10,500 each in the last quarter, and the Citizens for Rauner Committee transferred $550,000 into the IL GOP's coffers during the same time. 

GOP has midterm engagement advantage, but less than in 2010

According to the Pew Research Center, the Republican Party holds a clear advantage in voter engagement in this fall’s midterm elections. However, GOP voters are not as enthused and engaged as they were at this point in the midterm campaign four years ago, prior to the Republican Party winning control of the House of Representatives, or as Democratic voters were in 2006, before Democrats gained control of Congress.

The latest Pew survey, conducted July 8-14 among 1,805 adults, including 1,420 registered voters, finds neither party has an advantage in voter preferences. Currently, 45% say if the election were held today they would support the Republican in their district or lean toward the Republican, while 47% favor the Democrat or lean Democratic.

More HERE

Religion Remains a Strong Marker of Political Identity in U.S.

PRINCETON, NJ - Even as overall party identification trends in the U.S. have shifted over the past six and half years, the relationship between religion and party identification has remained consistent. Gallup finds that very religious Americans are more likely to identify with or lean toward the Republican Party and less frequently identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with those who are moderately or nonreligious.

More HERE

Rhoads: Income inequality is bad, right?

By Mark Rhoads - 

A CBS News story on FaceBook says the CEOs for fast food chains make 1,000 times the amount that workers do. This is supposed to make us mad at the injustice of that fact and it does make me very mad.

Last year I made $1,000 to give a speech at a small univeristy that I prepared original research for. Last year Hillary Clinton made $12 million to give speeches, so she made 12,000 times my earnings for similar work.

So how do I get government to force Hillary and Bill to share their wealth with me so that the income gap between us is not so massive? How do we force other one percent super-rich "progressives" such as George Soros, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and others to share their excess wealth with minimum-wage hourly workers? Do super-rich progressives really believe in redistribution of income? Prove it.

Jewish students in Chicago shown photos of ovens and told to 'get in’ by classmates

By Kyle Olson - 

CHICAGO – A school principal has been reassigned after a series of shocking bullying incidents that targeted Jewish students.

DNAinfo Chicago reports Ogden International School of Chicago principal Joshua VanderJagt asked to be reassigned because “challenges” arose after two students – one 14 years old and one 8 years old – suffered repeated threats by classmates.

The challenges surrounded allegations from Ogden parent Lisa Wolf Clemente that her 14-year-old and 8-year-old sons were bullied at both campuses by classmates for their Jewish heritage.

The Gold Coast resident said her teen son was shown photos of ovens and told to get in during lunch periods, intended as a reference to the Holocaust.

At the Streeterville campus, Wolf Clemente said her 8-year-old was invited to join a team called “Jew Incinerator” on the popular game app Clash of Clans. The team was allegedly created by Ogden eighth-graders.

In a screenshot provided by parents, the team description reads: “We are a friendly group of racists with one goal — put all Jews into an army camp until disposed of. Sieg! Heil!”

After the incidents, the bullies were suspended for two days – one in school and one out of school. They were also barred from “eighth grade graduation ceremonies,” according to the news service.

More HERE

Stantis: Obama's focus

By Scott Stantis -

It's a fine line between focus and oblivious. Perhaps a restart button? Oh....wait.....

Over 7,800 state employees made over $100K last year, up by 1,200

Nearly 1,600 more state workers collected $100,000 or more from the state in 2013 than topped that figure just a year earlier.

However, the increase could be a short-lived phenomena, according to state agencies where most of the biggest increases in the $100,000 club occurred.

Many of them said that making good on back-wage increases that had been withheld from unionized employees helped drive up the figures.

Read more

Despite violating gift ban, Illinois state fair manager keeps government job

SPRINGFIELD - A manager of the Illinois state fair has been fined for soliciting and accepting free beer tickets. Executive Inspector General Ricardo Meza's office released a report Monday detailing violations against Amy Bliefnick, who is manager of the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.

Meza says Bliefnick accepted at least 120 tickets last year. Tickets are worth about $4. Rednour was fined $5,000.

New Illinois Taxi Industry PAC Flexes Muscle in Uber Battle

The new Illinois taxi industry PAC has opened its wallet.

The Chicago-based Illinois Transportation Trade Association, a trade group representing the taxicab industry, formed its political action committee at the end of May with a planned annual budget of $1 million to help defend itself politically against the onslaught by rideshare companies, such as Uber.

In May, the taxi PAC put $200,000 in the bank.

Now they’re ready to spend.

Read more

Sobieski: Dems Wrong -- 2008 Law Does Not Allow Alien Child Invasion

IL Congressman Luis Gutierrez arrested in May 2010 at a pro-immigrant protest

By Daniel Sobieski - 

Border Crisis: A new report shows the vast majority of unaccompanied minors aren't unaccompanied at all, have family members inside the U.S., are not victims of human trafficking and thus can be deported immediately.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and other Democrats have repeatedly made the argument that Republicans shouldn't complain about the current border invasion since it was a 2008 law that automatically entitles minors from noncontiguous countries to asylum hearings before they face deportation.

Gutierrez and his liberal colleagues in Congress and the media should read the law to find out what's in it.

As the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) points out in a recent report, under the definition of what constitutes an unaccompanied child (UAC) in the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, most children from countries other than Canada or Mexico do not qualify to stay here while they await a hearing.

According to CIS, the law says that to receive the UAC designation the illegal alien must be under 18 and without "a parent or legal guardian in the United States." Yet, CIS notes, about 90% of the non-Mexican and non-Canadian children pouring across the border are placed with family members or guardians in America.

ISIS Crucifies 8 Christians in Syria for Apostasy From Islam

Various sources have received independent confirmation from inside Syria that these men were former Muslims that had converted to Christianity. They were not ‘..rebel fighters from a rival faction..’ as many news outlets are reporting.

Each of the 8 men were charged with the crime of apostasy for renouncing Islam and converting to Christianity. When confronted by the ISIS members, they refused to “revert” to Islam.

This is the “only” reason they were crucified. According to Islamic jurisprudence, crucifixion is a method of death reserved for Christians. They do not crucify other Muslims.

*See additional confirmation of apostasy here:

source(‘s): 
https://twitter.com/green_lemonnn/status/482892044223127552/photo/1

https://twitter.com/hashtag/eiil

http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-crucifies-eight-rival-rebels-being-too-moderate-will-display-bodies-three-days-syrian-1614864

Emanuel welcomes unaccompanied child migrants to Chicago

CHICAGO - Mayor Rahm Emanuel is opening the door to an expected 1000 children that may need a home in America after they leave Central America without their parents.

“The influx of unaccompanied child migrants is a growing humanitarian crisis that we can no longer ignore,” Mr. Emanuel said in a statement, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

“While we have our own challenges at home, we cannot turn our backs on children that are fleeing dangerous conditions,” he said. “We will do our part to ensure that these children are given access to services and treated fairly and humanely,” the Tribune reported.

Democrats commit to Raise Illinois' minimum wage

US Rep Schakowsky signs wage hike pledge while Durbin, Quinn, White and others look on

CHICAGO - "A vote for a Democrat is a vote to hike Illinois' minimum wage" was the prominent message at a press conference held in Chicago Sunday. Top Democrats from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin to Governor Pat Quinn, Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, Secretary of State Jesse White, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and more were on hand to back "Raise Illinois," a coalition focused on raising the state's minimum wage.

Illinois has one of the nation's highest minimum wages at $8.25 per hour, but an advisory referendum will be on the November 4th ballot as to whether the minimum wage should be raised to $10 per hour. Others are calling for it to be raised even higher, to $15 per hour.

Murray Center closing delayed, becomes topic in gov race

CENTRALIA - Despite a federal judge's declaration that Centralia's Murray Center could close, residents' family members have time to consider options because the closure is on hold, officials told The Southern this weekend.

"We will have more information in the coming weeks and will continue to be in constant communication with all parties involved," said Department of Human Services spokeswoman Januari Smith. "This will be a long process and the focus right now is on re-starting discussions with parents about all the living options that are available."

The judge also said in his ruling that the state developmental center must work with the residents' family members to obtain a workable setting for all involved. That's given the family members some room to breathe before they are forced to consider alternatives. 

Ridgway church rebuilding after 2012 tornado destruction

St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Ridgway was destoyed in the Feb 29, 2012 tornado

RIDGWAY - A downstate Catholic congregation is rebuilding two years after a tornado destroyed their place of worship. 

A new foundation was just poured for the new building that will hold 400, but the Ridgway church's original foundation will be worked into the new worship center as a place for prayer, as will a surviving marble altar and church bells.

The St. Joseph's Catholic Church will have a new name and new faces. When the new building is ready, it will be called the St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks Parish, in Ridgway, Illinois - one of the first buildings to be named after the first Norh American saint canonized in 2012. Three local parishes will join together when services commence later this year.

Photo and more at TheSouthern.com.

Senate Republicans ask public opinion on medical marijuana rules

SPRINGFIELD - State regulatory agencies are in the midst of finalizing rules to implement Illinois' medical marijuana law, and Illinois Senate Republicans want to know the public's opinion.

The Senate Republican website offers these choices in its survey:

• Marijuana is a drug – not medicine – and it should be illegal.
• Marijuana has a legitimate use for pain treatment and other medical purposes and should be available for medical – but not recreational – use.
• Marijuana should be available for recreational use by adults over age 21.
• Not sure.

They also ask readers to predict how Illinois public policy will eventually end up on the issue of legalized marijuana. 

Medical marijuana advocates are commonly active in polls like these, giving lawmakers a public opinion reference to back their eventual position. Also taken into consideration  during the rulemaking process are comments made at public hearings, as well as direct lobbying efforts among General Assembly members of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, or J-CAR.

Korn's Brian Head Welch reviews in Orland Park his changed life story [video]

ORLAND PARK - Nu metal band Korn's Brian Head Welch told his life story to Parkview Christian Church's Pastor Tim Harlow last week at the National Association of Christian Church's annual convention held at the church's Orland Park facility.

"Oh wow, God is so not religious or legalistic," he said when he was contemplating after being gone eight years whether he should return to Korn. Now, he says, the band's known as "The Holy Rollers." 

"It's just crazy what God's doing," Welch said. Now Christians among the bands regularly meet for Bible study. 

The video Welch refers to several times one of the videos in the "I Am Second" series -  

Rhoads: Eisenhower Expressway Sign

By Mark Rhoads - 

Fifty years ago in 1964, a private individual paid for a billboard on the Eishenhower Expressway just east of Austin Boulevard.  The sign showed a large picture of Sen. Barry Goldwater and the slogan, "In you heart you know he's right."  

In 1965 the sign was changed to read "In time you will know he was right."  By late 1967 when President Johnson had lost popularity due to the war in VietNam and inflation and taxes at home, the sign was changed one last time to read, "Now you know he was right."

Di Leo: A Constitution is Ratified – The Long Road from Nevis to New York

By John F. Di Leo - 

Reflections on the anniversary of New York’s ratification of the Constitution of the United States

On July 26, 1788, the New York State Ratifying Convention voted – by a slim margin of 30 to 27 – to ratify the Constitution of the United States, essentially re-joining the nation that was now in the process of being reorganized. The people of New York City celebrated with the greatest parade of the era, marching through Manhattan Island to cheering crowds. The old New York establishment may have disliked the new Constitution, but the people of America’s fast-growing metropolis certainly saw its potential.

It had been a long, hard road, uphill all the way, as thirteen colonies joined to overthrow the yoke of the British crown, struggled through an impoverished federation, and finally found their way to a revolutionary form of government that would both secure personal liberty and enable economic prosperity. One could argue that the road began far away, years before, in the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis.

Rhoads: No Mystery to Bad Summer Movies

By Mark Rhoads - 

Some Hollywood producers seem surprised by the bad box office reports this summer. Why should they be surprised? Their movies have been awful and the trailers cannot hide how bad they are. What is really so amazing is that bad movies make as much money as they do. For two hours of special effects with no plot it seems many people just want to hide from the heat in an air-conditioned theater at the mall. Their expectations are so low that the AC is enough to make them content.

It is easy to make a very bad movie. All you need is a nonsense screenplay, mediocre actors, bad directors, and no plot at all. It is also desirable to have as few English lines as possible because the international audience has no problem watching car crashes and explosions that do not need translations or sub titles. What do IR readers think? Why do you think the summer movies have been so bad?

Christie brings Rauner $2.5M from Republican Governors Association

Chris Christie and Bruce Rauner at Chicago's Portillo's | Chicago Sun Times photo

CHICAGO - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came to Chicago Friday bearing a $2.5 million campaign fund boost to Republican Bruce Rauner from the Republican Governors Association. 

Christie, who now heads the RGA, told Chicago reporters the gift was "a down payment," and that more funds would be coming. He said the RGA sees the Illinois gubernatorial race as one of the nation's most important in 2014.

The RGA already sent $750,000 to Rauner the day after he won the March 18th GOP primary, and a few weeks later another $750,000. 

Altogether in 2010, the RGA sent nearly $8 million to boost Bill Brady's bid to beat Governor Pat Quinn. Brady lost by less than two percentage points.

Niles city council allows gun shop despite anti-gun moms' protests

Standing room only at Niles city council meeting on gun range|Chicago Tribune photo

NILES - Northwest suburban shooting sports enthusiasts are happy that Tuesday night the Niles Village Council voted to approve a special use permit that would allow a retail firearm store and range to open in an industrial area of town.

"It would be an understatement to say that the ISRA is pleased with the village council vote," commented ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. "We look forward to partnering with the operators of the new shop and range to help bring high-value training and competitive shooting opportunities to the near northwest suburbs. Such opportunities have been severely lacking in recent years and we're confident that the village council vote marks the opening of a new chapter for the shooting sports in suburban Chicago." 

Tuesday night's action marked the third time that the shop/range proposal had been voted on since first being advanced earlier this year.

Huckabee to headline August 21st event for Darin LaHood

PEORIA -- Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and cable news host, will be featured at State Senator Darin LaHood's (R-Peoria) annual Sizzle and Swizzle fundraiser on August 21st at Brewers Distributing in north Peoria. 

The 44th Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee was one of the longest serving governors in his state’s history. He now hosts the number one weekend talk show on the Fox News Channel. Huckabee came in second behind John McCain in the 2008 Republican presidential primary is deciding whether to run again in 2016.

"As Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee achieved a strong record on tax cuts, fighting political corruption and improving the business climate. As a potential 2016 republican presidential candidate, I am honored to welcome Governor Huckabee to Peoria to support my campaign," LaHood said.

Chicago area fast food workers threaten to escalate wage demands

Photo by M. Spencer Green/AP

CHICAGO - Fast food workers say they're prepared to escalate their campaign for higher wages and union representation, starting with a national convention on Friday and Saturday at an expo center in Villa Park, Illinois.

The agitators are asking the approximately 1000 attendees to do "whatever it takes" to win $15-an-hour wages and a union, said Kendall Fells, a representative of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The union has been providing financial and organizational support to the fast-food protests that have taken place in Chicago and across the country, as well as a protest outside this year's McDonald's Corp. shareholder meeting in Oak Brook, Illinois that resulted in more than 130 arrests.

"I don't think $15 will make me rich. ... I just want an apartment for my family and be able to have my kids in their own room, to not have to wait for the washing machine or the bathtub, and I don't want to be behind on bills if I take time off or get sick," said Nancy Salgado of Chicago, who claims to earn minimum wage after 12 years with the company.

"If we've got to stop working and shut down (restaurants) to get it, that's what we're going to do," she said.

Roskam Speaks in Solidarity with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) spoke on the House floor in solidarity with the thousands of Christians being persecuted throughout the Middle East.

“Radical Islamists have a phrase: ‘First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.’ Those who call for Israel’s destruction are the same radicals who are persecuting Christians throughout the Middle East.”

“Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith doubled worldwide [in 2013] from the previous year. Others have been kidnapped, forcibly converted, or exiled, while churches and holy sites have been destroyed.”

“Iraq’s Christian community has dropped from 1.5 million people in 2003 to only 200,000 today. And in Mosul—home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities—ISIS militants have overrun the city and they’re using this Arabic symbol, painting it on homes to identify Nazarenes, or Christians. They’re told to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or be executed. And now, almost no Christians remain in Mosul—a city with a 2,000-year relationship with the Christian faith. And the situation is dire in Syria and elsewhere.”

“Middle East Christians need our prayers, our support, and our voices, and I’m proud to stand with those who follow the Nazarene.”

Hultgren Supports Elimination of Marriage Penalty

WASHINGTON DC – Illinois Congressman U.S. Randy Hultgren (R-14) today supported passage of the Child Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2014 (H.R. 4935) a bill which raises the phase-out threshold for the $1,000 child tax credit for joint filers and ties the child tax credit to inflation.

“According to the Department of Agriculture, the cost of raising the typical child is $13,600 per year through age 17, and it keeps rising by more than 4 percent each year. Our current child tax law fails to take these rising costs into account, and it penalizes married parents,” said Hultgren. “Through this legislation, let’s continue to strengthen the middle class and support the institution best suited to encourage a stable society and economic security for individuals: the family.”

Reeder: Why a 113 year-old Illinois company wants to become Swiss

By Scott Reeder - 

SPRINGFIELD – I picked up my vacation photos at Walgreens the other day.

And I didn’t hear any French, German or Italian spoken.

How surprising.

I’ve read that the Deerfield, Ill.,-based drugstore chain is considering becoming a Swiss corporation.

I’ll admit the thought of a company that is essentially an American icon becoming a foreign corporation gives me pause.

After all, Walgreens is one of Illinois’ premier companies.

The law's interest in contracts and marriage [video]

Ryan Anderson explains the difference between law’s interest in contracts and marriage.

And about the redefinition of marriage.

Businesses don't leave the U.S. because of lack of patriotism

By Curtis Dubay - 

President Obama will deliver a speech today railing against corporate inversions. That is the process whereby a U.S. business merges with a foreign business and moves the new joint business’s headquarters to the foreign country. Inversions have been a hot topic recently because well-known businesses such as Walgreens, Pfizer, and Medtronic have been looking to engage in the process.

The president, like others before him, decried this practice because he believes it displays a lack of patriotism. However, inversions have nothing to do with love of country. They are all about U.S. businesses keeping up with their global competition.

When a U.S. business inverts it continues paying the same amount of tax it always has on its U.S. income. Any business, no matter where headquartered, pays the 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate – which is the highest corporate tax rate in the world — on income earned within our borders.

Cavuto vs. Schakowsky on Minimum Wage Debate [video]

Democrat U.S. Senator John Walsh plagiarism, color-coded

WASHINGTON DC - Montana's Democrat U.S. Senator John Walsh, is in the news for plagiarizing a large portion of his final paper towards his master's degree. The New York Times highlighted the portions that Walsh copied without attribution (red) and the portions he copied with improper attribution (yellow). About a third of the paper was just straight up lifted from others' works, including the final recommendations and conclusion, which is basically the grand finale.

H/T: FlowingData

Oberweis Talks About Dick Durbin’s Bully Tactics [audio]

ROCKFORD - After noticing a trend of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin using his position to bully and intimidate regular citizens and business owners across the country, 1440 WROK discussed the issue with Jim Oberweis, who is running against Durbin.

In the past few years, Durbin has targeted e-cigarette makers, energy drink makers, Hollywood award shows, for-profit colleges, supporters of ALEC, radio stations, Walgreens, and Abbott Labs, plus instructed the IRS to investigate American Crossroads to “put others on notice” that he was watching them.

The most recent controversy involves Sen. Durbin writing threatening letters to Walgreen executives as the company discusses a corporate inversion to escape the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world here in the United States. Oberweis weighed in on the matter:

We’ve got a timely situation now with the fact that corporations are, in some cases, looking to reduce their tax burden by acquiring companies that are headquartered in other nations…Durbin’s solution to that is to propose more complex taxing and to require companies to jump through hoops that he believes are the right hoops in order for them to collect these newly created tax breaks. My answer is we need to simplify our tax code and bring it in line with the rest of the world so corporations want to be in the United States.

Below is the full interview:

Illinois Governor says he's 'deeply concerned' about illegal children

CHICAGO - Speaking to reporters on the campaign trail, Gov. Pat Quinn (D) said he's "deeply concerned'' about the welfare of unaccompanied children who've crossed the border into the United States.

He spoke about his concern after federal data was released Thursday showing Illinois has already received this year 305 unaccompanied children that illegally crossed U.S.-Mexico border.

Quinn, who supports abortion and opposes parental notification, says "leaders of conscience must cooperate to protect the vulnerable" and described Illinois as "prepared to help in whatever way necessary to preserve the well-being of these children."

Thorner: Heartland Challenges, Dismantles UN's Climate Change Finding

England's Lord Monckton has addressed all nine International Conferences on Climate Change

By Nancy Thorner - 

Climate change hysteria has become the mantra of U.S. government since Al Gore's 2006 Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. The latest is that the U.S. Defense Department has embraced Al Gore's message. According to a Defense Department official, Daniel Chiu, "All Pentagon operations in the U.S. and abroad are threatened by climate change." Chiu, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development, gave this additional warning to senators at a hearing on Tuesday, July 22: 

The effects of the changing climate affect the full range of Department activities, including plans, operations, training, infrastructure, acquisition, and longer-term investments. By taking a proactive, flexible approach to assessment, analysis, and adaptation, the Department can keep pace with the impacts of changing climate patterns, minimize effects on the Department, and continue to protect our national security interests.

Sen. Rubio coming to Chicago. Says traditional marriage supporters face ‘Growing Intolerance’

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio | Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Sen. Marco Rubio, (R-FL), warned in a speech Wednesday that there was a “growing intolerance” toward those who support traditional marriage.

Speaking at the Catholic University of America, Rubio cited various instances of intolerance:

We have seen the push to remove the CEO of Mozilla because, in 2008, he made a small donation to support Proposition 8 in California, which would have upheld the traditional definition of marriage. We have seen the CEO of Starbucks tell a shareholder who supports traditional marriage that he should sell his shares and invest in some other company. And we’ve seen Chick-fil-A attacked and boycotted due to its CEO giving an honest answer to a question regarding his deeply held religious beliefs.

“I promise you,” Rubio added, “that even before this speech is over, I will be attacked as a hater, a bigot or someone who is anti-gay.” ...More HERE

Senator Rubio will be in the Chicago area on Friday, August 1. He is being hosted by Sandy and Ken Blood and Carol and Jerry Boose.

Michelle Obama bemoans money in politics, asks Chicago donors for ‘big, fat check’

CHICAGO - At a Chicago fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Thursday night, First Lady Michelle Obama endorsed Pat Quinn for governor. She also blasted special interest groups that funnel money to Republicans.

“So, yeah, there’s too much money in politics. There’s special interests that have too much influence. But they had all that money and all that influence back in 2008 and 2012 and we still won those elections,” she said.

She then told the guests to "write the biggest, fattest check you can" to help Democrats in November.

The First Lady also listed the issues Democrats will be campaigning on over the next few months, including: minimum wage hike, global warming, employer-mandated birth control and Common Core curriculum.

“I want to be really clear with my friends: If you think folks who work 40 or 50 hours a week shouldn’t have to live in poverty in the wealthiest nation on earth, if you believe in science and you care about the planet that you’re leaving for your kids and grandkids, if you don’t want women’s bosses making decisions about their birth control, if you want your kids to have quality preschool and the college education they need to fulfill every last bit of their God-given potential, then you need to step up.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are hitting town on Friday to raise money for Democrats and Republicans respectively.

Video of Naperville, Illinois street fight hits the web

NAPERVILLE - Listed as the fourth "snobbiest mid-sized cities in America" with the second highest average income, Naperville, Illinois became the location of another street fight that broke out in the city's downtown area Tuesday night.

Naperville police broke up the fight as the videographer Rob Raziel Walsh - and those around him - egged on the fighters, yelling "Eww, kill him!"

You stay classy Naperville.

Post by Rob Raziel Walsh.

30,340 Unaccompanied Minors Released Across Country; 300 In Illinois

By Ulysses Arn - 

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, responding to numerous media inquiries, congressional probing, and demands from Governors across the nation has released a listing of how many unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors have been released to sponsors for all 50 states and US territories.

From the start of this year through July 7th, 30,340 illegal immigrant minors, most crossing into the US along the Rio Grande valley in Texas from Central America, have been handed over to the custody of a parent, relative, or family friend already in the US.

More than 3,000 of these unaccompanied minors were sent to Florida, New York, and California each. Maryland and Virgina each have over 2,000. Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and New Jersey each have more than 1,000 unaccompanied minors in the care of sponsors in those states.

Texas which has taken the brunt of the influx of nearly 60,000 unaccompanied minors since October of last year is also the leader when it comes to how many minors have been released to a sponsor with more than 4,000.

Illinois, which has at least 748 illegal immigrant minors being sheltered in the city of Chicago alone according to Sen. Mark Kirk, also has 300 more who have been released to a sponsor.

O’Hare Worker Arrested For Stealing Military Foot Lockers

James Matthews (Credit: Chicago Police)

CHICAGO – An employee at O’Hare International Airport was charged with theft after he allegedly stole items from military foot lockers that were meant to be shipped overseas.

James Matthews, 41, of Sauk Village, was charged with two felony counts of theft, police announced early Friday.

About 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, Chicago Police and the U.S. Postal Service Inspector saw Matthews taking mail, a military foot locker that contained a laptop, and other stolen items from flights to the post office, police said.

More HERE

Feds seek to extradite Emanuel’s ex-comptroller from Pakistan

Amer Ahmad | Photo: Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Federal prosecutors are seeking to extradite Amer Ahmad, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s former City Hall comptroller, from Pakistan, where Ahmad fled — using a fake passport — after pleading guilty last year to public corruption charges in Ohio.

Ahmad, 39, has admitted in Pakistani court that he forged documents to flea to his parents’ homeland. He remains jailed in the city of Lahore.

It’s unclear whether the extradition papers filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus mean Ahmad will be back here anytime soon. A top official with the Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan’s version of the FBI, told the Chicago Sun-Times last month that Ahmad could be sentenced to prison in Pakistan for illegally attempting to enter the country.

More HERE

Higgins: Foolish Journalists Attack NFL Coach Tony Dungy

By Laurie Higgins - 

The Chicago Tribune must have an expansive anti-discrimination hiring policy that prohibits discrimination based on foolishness because the paper hires a boatload of foolish writers. The feckless Trib writer ‘o’ the week is sports writer Steve Rosenbloom who penned an embarrassing piece about the admired football coach Tony Dungy. To be clear, it is Rosenbloom—not Dungy—who should be embarrassed.

Rosenbloom was in high self-righteous dudgeon over what Dungy said when asked if he would have drafted openly homosexual NFL player Michael Sam. Dungy replied, “I wouldn’t have taken him. Not because I don’t believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn’t want to deal with all of it.”

If Rosenbloom had taken a deep breath and done some research, he would have discovered that the “it” in Dungy’s statement, which has caused such moral indignation among the “tolerant,” did not refer to  Sam’s sexual predilections. Rather, “it” referred to the distraction of the media circus that is following Sam, including a now-postponed reality television program for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Yes, Dungy wanted to avoid the very distraction that led Sam himself to postpone his reality show. In a May 16 statement, Sam’s agent Cameron Weiss said that an agreement had been reached with the OWN network to postpone the show in order “to ensure no distractions to his teammates.”

Rosenbloom’s presumptuous and error-ridden editorial beckons for a smidge of rebuttal—that is, a small rebuttal to small-minded, superficial thoughts common to the Left.

More HERE

Congressman Davis working at McDonald's

From Congressman Rodney Davis:

Post by Rep. Rodney Davis.

H/T: CapFax