Illinois Review

Congressman Davis joins effort to stop White House effort to censor social media speech

WASHINGTON DC -- U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) and 188 Republicans in the U.S. House are urging the Biden-Harris Administration and White House officials to stop coordinating with social media companies to secretly censor speech on their platforms. Davis and Republican leaders are also requesting specific information regarding the White House’s secret program to censor speech they deem as “misinformation."

From their letter to President Biden:

 

“We are concerned that your administration’s actions are undermining First Amendment principles by pressuring private companies to censor free speech. On July 15, 2021, your press secretary, Jen Psaki, announced that your administration is “in regular touch with” social media platforms and “flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” The federal government’s ongoing efforts to pressure private companies to censor speech that it disagrees with is alarming and an affront to the First Amendment.”

Revealing Our Unstoppable Argument Against Socialism

Socialism is the most radical, dangerous, destructive idea in the history of human civilization. I really do believe that, and it’s the core reason Donald Kendal and I founded StoppingSocialism.com in 2018. But, unfortunately, not everyone agrees with us, and most are not willing to take the time to read about the long, bloody history of socialism so that they can see for themselves just how disastrous of an idea it is.

Making matters even worse, the average person’s attention span today isn’t much longer than five minutes. If you can’t explain your position quickly, clearly, and with passion, you aren’t going to reach anyone in the modern era.

How, then, can we convince other people to reconsider socialism, especially younger people, if they don’t understand history, don’t want to take the time to learn the details about socialism, and aren’t hearing the truth about socialism in most schools, including college?

The key to whole debate is to get younger people thinking. You don’t need to win every single argument about every single topic related to socialism and capitalism. All you need to do is challenge people (and not just young people, by the way) to think about the issue and do their own homework. If they have any intellectual curiosity at all, they will look at the data for themselves and see that socialism is train wreck.

More HERE

Media Misrepresents Study Showing Cold Related Deaths Outnumber Heat Related Deaths Ten-to-One

The media is reporting on a new study that heat-related deaths are on the rise. While true, cold-related deaths are falling, leading to far less death overall. The corporate media ignored this part.

The headlines are lying by omission. The report makes clear the number of deaths linked to cold temperatures decreased by more than double the amount that deaths tied to hotter temperatures increased over the period of the study.

More HERE

Is Teaching Critical Race Theory Illegal?

Although there are many reasons schools should avoid critical race theory, as well as various other “critical” theories that promote similar ideas, perhaps the most important is that many forms of critical race theory teaching are likely in violation of federal or state law.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a national law, mandates, “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Because public schools receive federal financial assistance, they are banned from subjecting students to “discrimination under any program or activity,” including in the classroom.

More HERE

GOP candidates respond to Pritzker running for re-election

CHICAGO - Earlier this week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker officially announced he plans to run for re-election - something everyone in Illinois politics already knew - and three announced IL GOP gubernatorial primary contenders responded.

Thorner: Biden’s Door Knocking Project Comes to Lake County, IL

US News photo

By Nancy Thorner - 

After failing to hit their goal of vaccinating 70% of Americans by July 4th, the Biden regime is recruiting left-wing activists to go door-to-door to gather information on who has not been vaccinated and to encourage them to get the jab.

“Now we need to go community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and often times door-to-door — literally knocking on doors to get help to the remaining people protected from the virus.” 

Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller introduces bill to protect college students from abortion drugs

WASHINGTON - Tuesday, House co-lead Rep. Mary Miller (IL-15) along with Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) introduced the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the Founder and Chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, introducing the legislation in the Senate.

The bill would prohibit Federal funds from going to any institution of higher learning that hosts or is affiliated with a student-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortion to students of the institution or to employees of the institution or site.

“Chemical abortions are the future the abortion issue is lobbying for, and I know that as a mother of five daughters, my girls and their peers are the most vulnerable to the chemical abortion industry. The abortion industry does not advocate for women, as they constantly claim to do. They exploit young women but leave them to deal with the consequences and severe potential side effects all on their own,” said Congresswoman Miller. “American taxpayers should not be forced by Democrats to fund the abortion providers in this country directly or indirectly. The Protecting Life on College Campus Act stands up for the many Americans who share a deeply held moral opposition to ending life in the womb.”

This legislation is in direct response to California’s radical chemical abortion pill mandate on college campuses. Starting in 2023, California will require their 34 public universities to provide chemical abortion pills to their students without exception.

LaHood joins bipartisan effort to improve Medicare

Washington, D.C. – Representatives Darin LaHood (IL-18), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Peter Welch (VT-At-large), and Brad Wenstrup (OH-02) reintroduced the Value in Health Care Act, a bipartisan bill that will make commonsense changes to the program parameters of Medicare’s Alternative Payment Models (APMs). The changes will increase participation in these value-based health programs that are designed to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for seniors while lowering costs.

In 2017, a U.S. Health and Human Services Inspector General report found that 98 percent of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), after participating for three years, met or exceeded quality measures and outperformed regular fee-for-service providers on 81 percent of quality measures. However, in 2019, after changes were implemented to the ACO program, fewer providers participated for the first time since its inception in 2012.

Finally, a conservative plan to fix America's broken health care system

Democrats and progressive activists have done a remarkable job of convincing tens of millions of Americans that there are only two ways to fix the nation’s health care system: a single-payer, government-run model, or a public option plan, which would inevitably lead to the creation of the single-payer system. But this is a false choice.

Americans deserve a health care system that can help all people gain access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage. Putting government in charge of health care would undoubtedly improve access for some people, but it would substantially reduce the quality of care for tens of millions of others, and almost certainly lead to severe health care rationing. 

More HERE

Rossi: The Dem’s “Big Lie” That Protecting Vote Integrity Is Racist

By Randy Rossi - 

Any informed American of either party should know that the Democrat’s constant attacks on Republican states that want to protect vote integrity as being racist is a “Big Lie”. The proof of the Dem’s nonsense on this is overwhelming.

First and foremost, let’s look at the facts regarding requiring voter IDs, which Democrats hate. A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 75% of Americans support voter IDs to protect vote integrity including 69% of Blacks that support voter IDs. Even 60% of Democrats support voter IDs while, of course, 89% of Republicans do.

Why do a vast majority of Americans support voter IDs? To protect the integrity of our elections and to protect their votes. Why do Democrat politicians hate voter IDs? Because they want to cheat in elections and get more illegal votes from dead people and illegal aliens to help insure that they control our government!

Stepman: San Francisco Descends Into Lawlessness

By Jarrett Stepman - 

If you don’t like the explosion of violent crime, you’re a racist.

That’s the message sent by a top aide to the San Francisco district attorney to a self-described “Democrat” who had said on Twitter that the jump in crime had made people afraid for their lives and dubious about the city’s future.

The Democrat tweeted that “every single one of my friends right now is considering leaving” San Francisco because of the big increase in crime, adding: “My friends are scared for their children, and their husbands are scared for their wives.”

More HERE

Moore: OPEC and Big Oil’s New Best Friend, Joe Biden

By Stephen Moore - 

The price of oil surged to $75 a barrel the other day under President Joe Biden’s green energy policies. The price was as low as $35 a barrel under former President Donald Trump because he believed in American energy dominance (“Drill, baby, drill”). So, more oil meant lower prices at the pump. It was effectively a massive, multibillion-dollar tax cut for lower- and middle-income earners of tens of billions of dollars a year.

But now, with the exploding demand for energy as the world economy reopens, the self-defeating Biden policy is to curtail oil drilling here at home, which is often done by the smaller and independent “wildcat” drillers. Instead, this administration enriches the major oil companies such as Exxon and Chevron with existing wells that are suddenly more profitable to drill. This is why the gas price at the pump is $3.29 a gallon nationally and above $5 a gallon in California.

Are these higher-energy prices transitory?

More HERE

Stossel: Break Rules

By John Stossel - 

America has so many regulations that today, often the only way to do something new, to create something great, to prosper is to ignore rules.

Minutes before SpaceX launched a rocket, the government told the company that the launch would violate its license.

SpaceX launched anyway.

CEO Elon Musk says that the Federal Aviation Administration has “a broken regulatory structure” and that “there is simply no way that humanity can become a spacefaring civilization without major regulatory reform.”

But reform isn’t likely.

More HERE

Pritzker makes it official: In for a second term

Big news: I’m running for re-election.

We’ve been through a lot, and I’ve been so proud to see Illinoisans come together during the toughest of times. I'm excited to fight for the state I love with @JulianaforLG, and there’s no limit to what we can do going forward. pic.twitter.com/r5UXILlrb3

— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) July 19, 2021

UPDATE: Governor JB Pritzker released a COVID-themed video today announcing his re-election campaign for a second term. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement in response:

“During a global pandemic that required steady leadership, Governor Pritzker failed our most vulnerable in their time of need. When our children missed an entire year of in-person education, Pritzker was silent while political teachers unions forced children to stay home even when the science and CDC said they should be back in school.

"When thousands of Illinoisans were laid off from work, they went weeks without help from Pritzker’s incompetent state unemployment agency. And when our nation’s elderly heroes needed protection from the virus in our state facilities, the tragic mistakes of the Pritzker administration led to the death of 36 veterans at Lasalle Veterans Home. Governor Pritzker’s record on helping Illinois through the pandemic is a failure. I look forward to talking about that and his radical policy agenda out of step with Illinoisans in the upcoming election.”

UPDATE 1x: WATERLOO – Paul Schimpf, Republican candidate for Governor of Illinois, issued the following statement in response to Governor JB Pritzker's re-election announcement:

"Governor Pritzker's reelection announcement today means the voters of Illinois will face a stark choice about the future of our state in 2022. Under the Pritzker Leadership Deficit, he has failed to stand up to corruption, failed to protect our veterans and families, and failed to help overtaxed Illinoisans. In three years, JB Pritzker has demonstrated he has neither the vision nor the leadership skills to unite our state. Simply put, Illinoisans deserve better--they deserve a leader with commonsense who will renew our state."

Where’s Weyermuller? With President Trump at CPAC Texas 2021

By Mark Weyermuller = 

Earlier this month, a regional conservative political action conference commonly known as CPAC was held in Texas, July 9-11, 2021 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. The theme was “America Uncanceled.”  These events are considered the largest gatherings of conservatives in the world.

Shapiro: What Foreign Dissidents Understand About the American Flag

By Ben Shapiro - 

This week, thousands of Cuban dissidents marched against the repressive communist tyranny that has subjugated the Cuban people for three generations. They chanted “Libertad!” and called for the end of the regime. And they carried aloft a symbol of freedom: the American flag.

This isn’t a rarity. It’s a common sight among protesters for freedom worldwide. Before Hong Kong was turned into yet another municipality of the Chinese communist tyranny, freedom-seeking dissidents marched by the tens of thousands, carrying the American flag. When Iranian protesters stand up against the mullahcracy subjecting their nation to theocratic despotism, they refuse to deface the American flag.

They do so for a reason: people all over the world understand that the American flag stands for freedom.

More HERE

Border Encounters

More than 188,000 migrants were stopped along the US-Mexico border last month, according to government data, the highest June total in at least two decades. Border officials have reported more than 1 million encounters in the current fiscal year (which begins in October), the first time that mark has been passed since 2005. 

Of the June total, roughly 34% were migrants who had been encountered within the previous 12 months. Similarly, of the 1 million encounters since October, less than half (about 456,000) were newly encountered migrants. Officials said the large number of migrants who were expelled under pandemic-related public health orders and subsequently attempted reentry contributed to the high overall numbers. See the data here. 

In related news, a federal judge ruled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, referred to as DACA, to be illegal. The Obama-era program defers deportation of certain undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers—an estimated 700,000 children and young adults who were under 16 years old when they entered the US. Under the ruling, current recipients will not be affected and may continue to renew their status, but no new applicants will be allowed.

Riley; Critical Race Theory Is a Hustle

PHOTO: MARY ALTAFFER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Critical race theory may resemble a serious academic discipline, but it’s really just a fancy argument for racial preferences. Jason Riley writes:

A majority of American fourth- and eighth-graders can’t read or do math at grade level, according to the Education Department. And that assessment is from 2019, before the learning losses from pandemic school closures.

Whenever someone asks me about critical race theory, that statistic comes to mind. What’s the priority, teaching math and reading, or turning elementary schools into social-justice boot camps?

Unprecedented Protests in Cuba Deserve America’s Support

Here's why Cubans protesting the regime deserve support from the United States. Mike Gonzalez and James Carafano write:

The people of Cuba stood up on Sunday and took to the streets to demand liberty and an end to 62 years of communist oppression. Thousands took part in unprecedented protests in at least a dozen cities throughout the island.

The term “historical” is so overused it has become a cliché, but it applies perfectly this time. This is the first time in 62 years of tyrannical rule this has happened, and it’s about time the long-suffering people of Cuba get both these demands.

California Fleeing

Some deny the Golden State’s demographic decline, but data make it hard to ignore. Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox write:

Some longtime Californians view the continued net outmigration from their state as a worrisome sign, but most others in the Golden State’s media, academic, and political establishment dismiss this demographic decline as a “myth.” The Sacramento Bee suggests that it largely represents the “hate” felt toward the state by conservatives eager to undermine California’s progressive model. Local media and think tanks generally concede the migration losses but comfort themselves with the thought that California continues to attract top-tier talent and will remain an irrepressible superpower that boasts innovation, creativity, and massive capital accumulation.

Reality reveals a different picture. California may be a great state in many ways, but it also is clearly breaking bad. Since 2000, 2.6 million net domestic migrants, a population larger than the cities of San Francisco, San Diego, and Anaheim combined, have moved from California to other parts of the United States. (See Figure 1.) California has lost more people in each of the last two decades than any state except New York—and they’re not just those struggling to compete in the high-tech “new economy.” During the 2010s, the state’s growth in college-educated residents 25 and over did not keep up with the national rate of increase, putting California a mere 34th on this measure, behind such key competitors as Florida and Texas. California’s demographic woes are real, and they pose long-term challenges that need to be confronted.