Illinois Review

Di Leo: Springfield – The City That Banned Capitalism

By John F. Di Leo - 

Perhaps we should begin by acknowledging the fact that the headline isn’t exactly true.  Springfield is a reasonably normal small town in the American Heartland, with a normal enough distribution of conservatives, liberals and moderates.

But Springfield is ruled by Chicago, the King Kong of Illinois politics, which, for all its good points (and yes, there are many), simply can’t help being utterly destructive to everything within reach.  And because of its size, its reach is far-ranging indeed.

So, while Springfield, as the seat of Illinois government, theoretically rules Illinois, Chicago’s powerful and virtually unanimous Democratic legislative delegation rules Springfield.

And the more desperate Chicago gets, confronted with fleeing residents, disappearing employers, and an increasingly impatient and demanding grubber list, the more Chicago acts like King Kong in the movies, smashing everything in sight, a danger to friends and enemies alike.

St Rep Steve Reick's firsthand report on special session [video]

SPRINGFIELD - Rep. Steve Reick's (R-Woodstock) first year as a state lawmaker has been memorable, including the latest development - a 10 day special session to bring together the first state budget in three years.

Illinois tax hikers plan phone-in tax hike demand next Tuesday

SPRINGFIELD - Groups that depend upon tax dollars to pay their employees and provide their executives' salaries are organizing a phone in to the State Capitol next Tuesday. 

"Join the R[espect] B[udget] C[oalition] for a statewide call-day on Tues, June 27th to demand an #ILBudgetNow with new, permanent revenue," a Tweet says. 

Illinois Policy Institute calls for lawmaker pay delay until budget passage

CHICAGO - If you didn't do your job for three years in a row, would you still have one? Probably not - except maybe if your family owned the business ... or if you were an Illinois lawmaker. 

But not everyone's shrugging their shoulders in frustration and defeat over the ridiculous state of finances Illinois finds itself in. Illinois Policy Institute is calling for an all out pushback on stubborn Democrat lords - those that refuse to work with Republicans to make systemic changes in order to head the situation towards correction.

While the Chicago media is blaming Governor Rauner for not being a pushover and acquiescing with Lord Madigan's demands, Illinois taxpayers are applauding Republican efforts to get to the root of the issue.

What self-respecting Democrat would WANT to be governor under The Boss?

Chicago Tribune's political opinion writer John Kass has everyone in stitches with his latest column raising the question about why any self-respecting Democrat would spend his or her raised funds to run for governor in Illinois. It's a fair question - sure, one could be elected in a Blue State, but he or she would be a fool to think he or she would actually be allowed to run the executive branch as he or she sees fit. 

For Pete's sake, the only person that actually does run the state of Illinois has run it for over three decades - House Speaker Mike Madigan (who is also the Illinois Democrat Party's longtime chairman - who else?). 

Op-Ed: Illinois' Fiscal Dumpster Fire Is a Lesson

Gov. Rauner called it a "banana republic," then proceeded to capitulate to Democrat demands

By Allyne Caan / Patriot Post - 

If you recently bought a lottery ticket in Illinois, the odds are stacked against you — way against you. The Land of Lincoln has gotten itself into such a financial pickle that it may not even be able to pay out lotto winnings, meaning the chance of striking it big would be, literally, zero.

Years of fiscal mismanagement have finally caught up with Illinois, and the state is now facing $130 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities and nearly $15 billion more in debt. And because of certain court-ordered payments the state is required to make, the Illinois comptroller recently sounded the alarm that mandated bills will equal 100% of the state’s monthly revenue. In case the obvious needs emphasis, this is a problem.

It’s so bad even Republican Governor Bruce Rauner didn’t mince words. “We’re like a banana republic,” he said recently. “We can’t manage our money.”

Thorner: Do Billionaires Control Political Parties on Both Sides of the Aisle?

By Nancy Thorner - 

Is it right for billionaires, whether Democrats or Republicans, to have so much clout and influence over individuals and organizations within their respective political parties? 

The Koch Brothers come to mind as big donors for Republican and Libertarian organizations and individuals, while Soros and the 200 organizations he funds are part of a force which is dead set on trying to destroy the Trump presidency.

Prager University: Why You Love Capitalism

Do you use an iPhone? Watch Netflix? Listen to Spotify? Then you love capitalism and can't stand big government. How do we know?

Not even the lottery is safe in Illinois' broken down financial state

 

 

Illinois is grappling with a full-fledged financial crisis and not even the lottery is safe – with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner warning the state is entering "banana republic" territory, Fox News is reporting today.

Facing billions in unpaid bills and pension obligations, the state is hitting a cash crunch that is rare even by Illinois standards.

A top financial official just warned 100 percent of the state's monthly revenue will be eaten up by court-ordered payments. Rauner is calling a special session of the Democrat-led General Assembly in a bid to pass what he hopes will be the first full budget package in almost three years.

And Illinois will – literally – lose the lottery if the budget fails. 

More HERE.

Thorner: Higher Property Taxes, Lower Home Values and Increased School Spending Plague Illinoisans

By Nancy Thorner -

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Illinois averaged more than 40,000 permits for new single-family houses per year prior to the so-called Great Recession. Compare that to 2016 when Illinois issued just over 10,000 single-family houses permits. The 75% drop observed is the worst in the nation. 

Record-setting 13 attending military academies from IL District 14

CAMPTON HILLS — U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) is proud to announce that a record number of students from the 14th Congressional District, 13 cadets in all, have been selected to attend the United States military service academies beginning July 1.

Where's Weyermuller? Watching Des Plaines "Opt Out" of $13 Minimum Wage Law

By Mark Weyermuller - 

Cook County recently passed a new law requiring all employers to pay a minimum wage of $13.00 an hour by the year 2020. As of today, over 60 villages and towns in the county have voted to "opt out" of this law, which goes into effect July 1st.

Di Leo: Money is Fungible ... Especially in Cuba

By John F. Di Leo -

Reflections on the Trump Administration's changes to our Cuba policy

In 1959, following six years of organized Marxist-Leninist rebellion, mostly run by Fidel and Raul Castro and their partner Che Guevera, the Battista government of Cuba was overthrown and Fidel Castro claimed dictatorial powers, which he eventually turned over to his brother Raul, in 2008.

The Castros spent their sixty years not only oppressing their people – robbing, raping, beating, imprisoning, torturing, and killing, as all communist governments do – but they also spent those years, particularly the years before the collapse of the Soviet Union, spreading violent revolution across the third world.  They spent thirty years as the might, partnered with the Kremlin’s money, leading revolutions in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia.

In all those years, many other formerly communist governments have changed people and philosophies. The Soviet Union broke up, and many of its former vassal states have embraced free markets and free people.  Several others outside the Former Soviet Union have as well… but Cuba never did.  Cuba is still run by Raul Castro, the mass murdering enforcer of the 26th of July Movement of the 1950s. 

Governor Rauner: A budget compromise I can sign

SPRINGFIELD - From the Old State Capitol, Governor Bruce Rauner told Illinois taxpayers Tuesday evening that a "compromise" budget proposed by Senate Republicans was one he could sign. The legislature will return Wednesday for a special-called 10-day session to come up with a budget agreement before the new fiscal year starts July 1.

Broadcast live on Facebook, Governor Rauner said "Last week we reviewed a compromise budget plan that I can sign - one that we can all support."

If that happens, it would be the first state budget agreed upon by the Democrat majority and the Republican governor since he was sworn in in January 2015.

Rhoads: When Diversity is a Code Word for Coercion

By Mark Rhoads - 

Billy Bean was an openly gay former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres. Since 2014 Bean has worked as vice president and special assistant to the MLB Commissioner with the unofficial title of "Ambassador for Inclusion."  Who can argue with the idea of inclusion?  Bean's specific mission is to "support diversity" and support the "LGBT Community" at all levels in organized baseball.

Township businesses file class action lawsuit after skyrocketing property taxes

Shutterstock Photo

Business property owners in a downstate community have filed a lawsuit with the county after their property taxes skyrocketed by up to 400 percent in one year. 

The class action lawsuit on behalf of the more than 500 business properties in Mattoon Township claims the county hired an inexperienced assessor to update their property values, which hadn't been updated since 2000. If true, this would violate state law.

Plaintiff Robb Perry says they're seeking nearly $1 million that was collected in higher taxes last year in a federal class action suit.

"It's not because we're just whining about taxes," he said. "This is just ungodly wrong. It's just wrong."

Perry said Coles County reassessed the one township and left the others, leading to massive hikes on Mattoon businesses, while others actually dropped.

More HERE

Emoluments Lawsuits Are a Monumental Distraction

The Emoluments Clause lawsuits have no merit. A number of citizens and organizations, as well as the District of Columbia and Maryland, have sued alleging that President Trump has violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Those lawsuits, writes Ilya Shapiro, are “frivolous,” “nonsense,” and “a waste of time and resources”:

“[T]he Emoluments Clause is a stopgap against the risk that foreign powers will try to curry favor by bribing U.S. officials with gifts and other baubles. (Maybe even titles of nobility, which are prohibited for all Americans by another constitutional provision.) To be sure, a politically motivated decision by a foreign government to give preferential permitting or land acquisition terms to a Trump construction project could be a favor worth millions of dollars. 

“But is booking suites at a Trump hotel or holding a conference at another Trump facility really a bribe? So long as payments are made at market rates – not ‘here’s 100 million dollars for a room with a view’ – I don’t see how they could. Whatever the Emoluments Clause protects against, arms-length business transactions ain’t it.

“Indeed, to hold to the contrary would be to disqualify businessmen with a diversified portfolio from the White House. That can’t be the case; George Washington himself was a wealthy landholder who engaged in business with foreign nationals.”

More at Cato Institute

When Transparency Really Means Tyranny

When you hear the word "transparency," what comes to mind? Maybe words like openness and honesty. But David French, Senior Writer for The National Review, shows how progressive activists, under the guise of "transparency," are ruining the lives of many good Americans.

Amazon Eats Up Whole Foods as the New Masters of the Universe Plunder America

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LYNE LUCIEN/THE DAILY BEAST

Unlike our old moguls, the new Masters don’t promise greater prosperity but a world where most people are to be satiated by a state-provided basic income and occasional ‘gig’ work.

By Joel Kotkin - 

“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” —Justice Louis Brandeis

With his $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has made clear his determination to dominate every facet of mass retailing, likely at the cost of massive layoffs in the $800 billion supermarket sector.

But this, if anything, understates the ambitions of America’s new ruling class, almost entirely based in San Francisco and Seattle, as it moves to take over industries from entertainment and transportation to energy and space exploration that once thrived and competed outside the reach of the oligarchy.

Brandeis posed his choice at a time when industrial moguls and allied Wall Street financiers dominated the American economy. Like the oligarchs of the past, today’s new Masters of the Universe are reshaping our society in ways that could, if unchallenged, undermine the foundations of our middle-class republic. This new oligarchy has amassed wealth that would impress the likes of J.P. Morgan. Bezos’ net worth is a remarkable $84.7 billion; the Whole Foods acquisition makes him the world’s second richest man, up from the third richest last year. His $600 million gain in Amazon stock from the purchase is more than the combined winnings of Whole Foods’ 10 top shareholders.

More HERE

Thorner/Ingold: A Pound of Prevention

By Nancy Thorner & Edward Ingold - 

The shooting incident in the Virginia ball park was barely over before politicians began crying for gun control. Governor McAuliffe of Virginia claimed that 93 million Americans are subjects of gun violence each day. He did correct this to say 93 Americans, which includes suicides (50%) with the balance mainly gang violence in large Democratic cities. However this mistake illustrates the casual regard anti-gun activists have for facts, causes and solutions. “Too many guns”, says McAuliffe, “Too easy to get without background checks.”

The shooter in Virginia came from Illinois, which has among the most strict gun controls. He possessed a Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID), needed to possess or purchase firearms or ammunition. The guns were purchased legally, which would require a Federally-mandated background check. These requirements don’t seem to have any effect on gang members, so perhaps things need to be made more illegal. For criminals, guns are tools of their trade. No matter how many ordinary citizens are denied their right to “Keep and bear [carry] arms,” criminals will find a way.

Illinois Policy Institute's 7 reasons why state budget proposal fails taxpayers

CHICAGO - Chicago-based Illinois Policy Institute has reviewed the budget proposal that the Illinois General Assembly will be considering next week when they return to the state Capitol at Governor Rauner's beckoning. 

The Institute says the proposal will not serve the state's taxpayers well, and gives seven reasons, including: 

1. It hits Illinoisans with over $5 billion in tax hikes.
2. It creates a property tax “freeze” time bomb.
3. Its spending cap isn’t coupled with reforms.
4. It agrees to adopt an expensive education funding plan that won’t help student achievement.
5. It forces state taxpayers to bail out Chicago teacher pensions.
6. It enacts pension “reforms” that are unconstitutional and will perpetuate Illinois’ crisis.
7. It offers few structural spending reforms.

For details on those points, visit the blog post HERE.

Where's Weyermuller? Celebrating President Trump's birthday on Flag Day

By Mark Weyermuller - 

This past Wednesday was Flag Day along with President Donald Trump's 71st birthday. The Northwest Side GOP Club in Chicago held a birthday party at Revel Tavern on Northwest Highway. Republican Committeeman Matt Podgorski organized the event with over 200 in attendance. It featured Todd and the Ten Pins Band, a raffle, free hot dogs,  and a huge Trump birthday cake. 

Thorner & Ingold: What about those Trump tapes? Much ado about nothing

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold -

Did President Trump record his meetings with Director Comey, or did he not? That is the question burning in the minds of Democrats. More important, it had a profound effect on Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee. Comey’s testimony was honest, if not perfectly forthright. 

Rep. Ives calls for state budget that spends less than revenue projections

WHEATON - Rep. David McSweeney (R-South Barrington) isn't alone in his resistance to the idea of making hardworking Illinois taxpayers pay more just to keep the state's luxurious political class comfy - State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) made a public statement on her Facebook page today in opposition to a budget with an income tax hike and no meaningful reforms.

Rep. Ives prefers a budget that spends just a little less than what the state expects to take in.  A novel idea among the state's political elite:  

Rauner calls lawmakers back to Capitol for 10-day special budget session

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner wants everyone back at the Capitol - now that a "compromise" budget is in the works, he said Thursday. State lawmakers are being summoned for a 10-day special session starting next Wednesday.

Rep McSweeney resists GOP floor leader's income tax hike push

GENEVA, IL - If the governor and the heads of the GOP House and Senate caucuses are softened up and ready to Illinois taxpayers under the bus with another income tax hike, there's one state rep that's determined to resist the plan: state Rep. David McSweeney (R-South Barrington):

"Raising taxes will kill jobs and hurt families. Any Illinois Republican who supports a tax increase is a tax collector for government bureaucrats and the Cellini family's shady warehouse lease," McSweeney said in a statement Wednesday. "We need to stop the madness and cut spending, not raise taxes." 

McSweeney's comments were in response to a story in the Kane County Chronicle, wherein a fellow Republican - State Rep. Steve Andersson of Geneva - pushed for a tax hike during an emergency town hall in his district. 

State rep calls for forensic audit of Illinois' $15B in unpaid bills

EAST DUNDEE - State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) says it is time for a forensic audit of Illinois' unpaid bills - some reported to have been waiting for three years.

"According to the Comptroller’s office, Illinois owes $15.1 billion in unpaid bills.  This backlog is growing every day. It is telling that over a third of the money or $5.6 billion is owed to Chicago-based vendors," Skillicorn said in a statement issued Thursday. "It is an opportune time to conduct a forensic audit of the backlog to ensure that only truly legitimate expenses are paid and I am publicly calling on Comptroller Mendoza to do so. 

IL Senator blames Leftist rhetoric for attack on U.S. Congress members

ROCKFORD - Republican State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) voiced his outrage with the radical Left's rhetoric that likely aggravated the Belleville native that shot at Republican members of the U.S. Congress Wednesday morning in Alexandria, Virginia. 

While not an official comment, Senator Syverson's Facebook post was clear: he blames "credible" personalities as Liberal leaders that led the way to James Hodgkinson's attack:

Rhoads: Honoring athletes is a dumb White House tradition

By Mark Rhoads - 

News reports indicate that members of the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors do not want to visit the White House because of their dislike for President Donald Trump.

A few days ago, President Trump did receive the 2016 Clemson University NCAA champion football team at the White House. Last Jan. 16, only a few days before he left office, former President Barack Obama hosted the Chicago Cubs for their visit. Apparently the tradition of inviting sports teams to The White House goes all the way back to 1865, when President Andrew Johnson invited two amateur teams to visit.

UPDATE x1: Shooter from Belleville was a Sanders supporter, Trump hater

BELLEVILLE - The man Capitol police and Scalise security shot in defense of Congress members practicing for the annual baseball game Wednesday morning was reportedly a strong supporter of Bernie Sanders and a critic of President Donald Trump. The shooter, who has since died in the hospital from gun shot wounds, is from Belleville Illinois.

His Facebook Page showed the following on March 22, 2017: 

Heavy.com reports Hodgkinson wrote on his Facebook page: 

“Bernie is the Only Candidate in Decades that Really Cares about the Working Class. … Bernie is a Candidate of a Lifetime. We Need Bernie in the White House. Bernie is the Only Candidate Talking about the Issues.”

Sanders has not responded to the shooter’s support of his campaign, but tweeted, “Our prayers go out for a full recovery of Rep. Scalise, the congressional aides and police who were injured. We’ve got to stop the violence.”

UPDATE x1: "Illinois Tattler" also found on Hodgkinson's FB page that he was angry with Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner: 

IL Congressman Davis at bat when shooting started; shooter from Belleville

WASHINGTON - Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis (R-13) was at bat when the tragic baseball field shooting started in Alexandria. The SunTimes reports: 

“I never thought I’d go to baseball practice and get shot at,” said Rep. Rodney Davis R-Ill., who was at bat Wednesday morning when a gunman started shooting at GOP lawmakers practicing for their annual charity congressional game.

“I was at bat. I was hitting. I heard a loud bang,” Davis said, talking at the Capitol, still in his scoffed practice clothes. “It felt like somebody…dropped a big piece of metal. The next thing I heard was ‘everybody run, he’s got a gun.'”

Di Leo: A Look at President Trump and the State of the Nation, on his Birthday

By John F. Di Leo -

President Donald J. Trump was born on June 14, 1946, a day also celebrated as the birthday of the Continental Army (1775) and the United States Flag (1777).  It’s a good day to be a patriot.

At this writing, as he celebrates his 71^st birthday, Donald Trump has been in office for less than five months.  If the 100-day mark in a presidency is too early to judge a presidency, then so is this, so we mustn’t try.  There is still room for almost all possible outcomes at the end of his four years (or  eight).

It is, however, a reasonable time for some analysis of where we stand so far in this presidency, what the lessons of 2016 are, and what should brace ourselves for in the years to come. 

Where's Weyermuller? With 2000 Patriots at Walsh Freedom BBQ 2017

(l to r) Mark Weyermuller, Stephanie Trussell, Joe Walsh and Diane Shapiro 

By Mark Weyermuller -

The conservative movement is alive and well in Illinois in 2017. This past Saturday marked the largest rally to date for Walsh Freedom as Joe and Helene Walsh hosted over 2000 patriots Saturday at their Lake County Farm. Joe Walsh is a former congressman and host of a syndicated radio show on WIND 560-AM.  The event focused on supporting police officers with buttons handed out saying "Thank You Blue."

Thorner: Heartland speaker warns Millennials to take healthcare and health insurance seriously

By Nancy Thorner - 

 

At a free forum event at The Heartland Institute headquarters on Wednesday June 7, Charlie Katebi – a fellow in health care reform at the Millennial Policy Center at the Liberty Group in Denver – spoke on the topic of “A Health Care Agenda for Millennials.” Katebi, who also writes for the Federalist, explained how America’s health care system is rigged against Millennials.

Di Leo: An Evening in Oslo, and a World Aflame

The creators of "Oslo" were honored Sunday night at annual Tony Awards

By John F. Di Leo - 

I am sickened – admittedly, not for the first time – by the theater community’s embrace of a new play called Oslo, which won a couple of Tony awards this week.

Now, I have no idea how well-written and well-acted the show is.  Obviously, if it won Tony awards, we can assume that it was both well-written and well-acted.

But the content of such a celebration is utterly destructive… and the giddy pacifist fools cheering its success don’t even realize what a damaged ideology they are championing.

Democrat Party's Sanders condemns Christianity

CHICAGO - Bernie Sanders was in Chicago over the weekend, rousing the socialist "People's Summit" with condemnations of not only President Donald Trump but the Democrat Party. 

But the 2016 Democrat presidential wannabe that many say was cheated out of his party's nomination, started his condemnation crusade earlier in the week by insulting a confirmation candidate because of his Christian beliefs.

In the Washington Times, Robert Knight wrote about Sanders comments at a Senate hearing for Russell Vought, President Trump's nominee to be deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget: 

Thorner: Radical environmentalists blame Heartland Institute for Trump's Paris accord decision

By Nancy Thorner - 

In announcing his decision in the Rose Garden on June 1st to end the United States' affiliation with the Paris climate agreement, President Trump said:  

The Paris climate accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers…and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production.

The Tyranny of the Administrative State

By Philip Hamburger - 

What’s the greatest threat to liberty in America? Liberals rail at Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration and his hostility toward the press, while conservatives vow to reverse Barack Obama’s regulatory assault on religion, education and business. Philip Hamburger says both sides are thinking too small.

Like the blind men in the fable who try to describe an elephant by feeling different parts of its body, they’re not perceiving the whole problem: the enormous rogue beast known as the administrative state.

Di Leo: A City of Casualties – The Results of Rampant Crime

At the corner of West Madison and North Cicero Avenue

By John F. Di Leo - 

In just the first five months of 2017, there were over 233 murders, and well over 1300 more victims of shootings who survived… in the city of Chicago alone.  And almost every day, we see some alderman, mayor or police chief proudly saying that things are getting better – this statistic or that one is improving, so even though we need to get better, we should be happy that our “smart policing” is succeeding so well.

And yes, this is in a city of two and a half million people, in which the spokesmen know these statistics, so they know the city’s on track for over 3000 wounded or killed this year (and remember, not all the woundings get reported).

When there’s a terrorist attack overseas, we hear people like London Mayor Sadiq Khan saying that such dangers are now “part and parcel of living in a world class city,” and our politicians rightly ridicule such an apparently casual acceptance of such risks.  But here in the states, we have politicians implying the same about non-terrorist violence – about the gang shootings, domestic abuse, robbery violence and such that makes up the bulk of these 3000 annual victims in Chicago alone.

Despite Sen. Manar's plea, SB 1 IS a Chicago bailout, Rep. Reick says

Chicago Magazine photo of CPS' Washburne School

SPRINGFIELD - The latest stats from the Illinois State Board of Education show that eighty-six percent of Illinois' students graduate from high school. Of them, only twenty-five percent were deemed “college-ready” in math, science, reading and English. Forty-nine percent had to take remedial courses in community college.

The problem isn't teaching methods, resources, student interest or administrations, we're led to believe. It's money - or the lack thereof. 

So the Illinois Democrat majority solved the problem before they left Springfield May 31st, and they're pressuring Governor Rauner to sign into law what the Dems say is the state system's fix-it proposal - SB 1. 

Illinois bonds hit hard after Medicaid ruling

CHICAGO - Illinois general obligation bond prices plummeted and yields soared in the U.S. municipal market today, a day after a federal judge ordered the cash-strapped state to find more money to pay Medicaid providers, Reuters reported Thursday.

Morris/Thorner: Which President Colluded with Russia?

By Joe Morris and Nancy Thorner - 

Reporters have always been dependent on unnamed sources for their scoops.  That is especially the case in Washington where whistleblowers are afraid that if they come out of the shadows, their corrupt superiors will exact revenge on them.

But, clearly, things have gotten out of hand ever since Donald Trump was inaugurated. Those people are no longer in the business of trying to do the honorable thing for the sake of the nation. Both they and their partisan allies in the media and the corridors of Congress have no other agenda other than to stop Trump in his tracks and thus destroy Trump's presidency, at a time when Islamic terrorism must be confronted, and health care and tax reform must be addressed in order to grow this economy and create jobs.

Another Amazon center opens in Romeoville

Photo by WJOL.com

ROMEOVILLE - Governor Bruce Rauner was among several dignitaries that celebrated the opening of another Amazon fulfillment center in Illinois - this one located in west suburban Romeoville. 

Manufacturer, State Senator and possible Ambassador to Kenya: Kyle McCarter

SPRINGFIELD - At the Illinois State Capitol, Senator Kyle McCarter is the only elected official that is also a manufacturer – one that knows from personal experience how state laws and regulations can positively (or negatively) affect small businesses. 

In downstate Lebanon, McCarter is known as the founder and president of Custom Product Innovations and Custom Coating Innovations, two manufacturing companies that employ 25 local residents.

Thousands of miles away in East African Kenya, McCarter and his wife Victoria are revered as the directors and key benefactors of a medical clinic, an elementary school and an orphanage.

And if that weren't enough, McCarter's name is now being circulated for consideration to be the United States' ambassador to Kenya.

Illinois Dems demand Governor sign on to combat global warming

SPRINGFIELD – Thursday, Illinois’ Democrat constitutional officers such as State Treasurer Mike Frerichs and other top elected officials jumped in with radical environmentalists to demand Governor Bruce Rauner join the United States Climate Alliance after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.

More bad news: Illinoisans' income growth in last 10 years is low, very low

By Michael Lucci - 

Illinois is home to the worst personal income growth in the United States over the Great Recession era, and tax hike proposals in the Illinois General Assembly would only make this worse.

Rogers & Coats say they "never felt pressured" to interfere in investigations

WASHINGTON DC - Neither the National Security Agency Director nor the Director of National Intelligence have ever felt pressured by President Donald Trump or any other administration official to do anything "illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate." The two made those assurances during a U.S. Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning at the U.S. Capitol. 

Heartland Institute to discuss America's healthcare dilemma on YouTube LIVE

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - At its new headquarters in northwest suburban Arlington Heights, the conservative think tank Heartland Institute will hold a forum Wednesday afternoon on the topic of "A Health Care Agenda for Millennials, featuring Charlie Katebi.

Chicago violence up, carbon emissions down

CHICAGO - If you're of the mindset that climate change is the biggest threat to mankind, you're likely going to be happy that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is focused on lowering the city's carbon emissions while the city's neighborhoods are the nation's most deadly.

Thorner/Ingold: Trump Rejects Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold -  

President Trump announced on Thursday, June 1, 2017 that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Accord, unilaterally and without reservations.  As stated by President Trump:  

It is time to exit the Paris accord and time to pursue a new deal that protects the environment, our companies, our citizens and our country … It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with many, many other locations within our great country, before Paris, France.