Illinois Review

With Leaders Like These

State Senator Bill Brady is the leading Republican in the Illinois Senate. State Representative Jim Durkin is the leading Republican in the Illinois House. At a time like this, these individuals should be operating as the courageous and loyal opposition to the Democrat ruling party, which currently controls every aspect of state government.

Instead, they've relegated themselves to virtual press conferences occasionally held more than a month after the Governor executed a historic Executive Branch power grab. And even then they show themselves impotent and ignorant of the most basics tenets of our Constitutional Republic.

Case in point, when the mainstream media asked their predictable question about participants and signage at the weekend rally in Springfield, Brady and Durkin displayed their obtuseness. (transcript below the fold)

Based on their select criticism (and silence) today and previously, below is how Sen. Brady and Rep. Durkin seem to define freedom of speech.

Below is FREE speech to Brady, Durkin, the Dems and media.

Below is FREE speech to Brady, Durkin, the Dems and media.

Below is FREE speech to Brady, Durkin, the Dems and media.

Below is HATE speech to Brady, Durkin, the Dems and media.

In the United States, ALL speech is free speech - whether you like what is said, or not. Someone please inform Brady and Durkin.

With leaders like these ...

(transcript of Brady's and Durkin's response below)

40% more likely to continue homeschooling after COVID shutdown ends

Homeschooling may not be as difficult and unrealistic as many have thought - at least that what a surprising number of families have discovered during the 2020 COVID shutdown.

A RealClear Opinion Research survey of 2,122 registered voters shows that support for educational choice is strong, and that a significant portion of parents are more likely to pursue homeschooling opportunities after the lockdowns end. The results show that 40% of families are more likely to homeschool or virtual school after lockdowns, and that 64% support school choice and 69% support the federal Education Freedom Scholarships proposal.

Here's what they were asked about homeschooling ... 

Are you more or less likely to enroll your son or daughter in a homeschool, neighborhood homeschool co-op, or virtual school once the lockdowns are over?

Their responses: 

More Likely: 40.8%
Less Likely: 31.1%

"Chicago Thuggery" directed at Romanian Churches

CHICAGO - Chicago is drawing national attention with the way Mayor Lori Lightfoot chose to deal with Romanian churches that held services Sunday. She ordered "no parking" for nine blocks around the churches. Liberty Counsel, a legal team defending the churches' First Amendment rights, is calling Lightfoot's behavior "mob-like thuggery." 

They write: 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has engaged in mob-like thuggery against the Romanian churches that have begun to meet in-person. Even though these churches have their own private parking, and their members don’t park on the street, the mayor ordered “No Parking” signs along the streets for nine blocks around the churches. 

On Sunday, Mayor Lightfoot blocked off nine blocks around the churches posting “No Parking” signs, hoping she would get the neighbors mad at the church. However, the churches are not using street parking with their limited services. The aldermen sent letters to the neighbors of the churches instructing them not to park on the street from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The letters stated the reason for the “No Parking” signs was due to the Romanian churches holding limited services.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The actions by the Illinois Governor and Chicago Mayor are reminiscent of mob-like thuggery. These pastors lived under Communist Romania, and now the suppression of the church and their faith has come to their adopted homeland. The outrageous action by Mayor Lori Lightfoot is putting people in danger. These heavy-handed tactics are unconstitutional and will not succeed.”

READ MORE HERE

Where’s Weyermuller? Reporting on Chicago COVID-19 protest

By Mark Weyermuller - 

As states around the country begin to open up, Illinois appears to be stuck in a COVID shutdown that may never end. This week, neighboring states Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa all began opening what Illinois' governor deems "non-essential" businesses - including bars, dine-in restaurants, small retail shops, gyms, nail salons, and hair stylists.

Yet similar businesses in Illinois remain closed.

Opinion: Why Does Pritzker ignore pandemic law former state Senator Barack Obama sponsored?

Opinion by former State Senator Ed Petka (R-Plainfield) - 

Did you know that Illinois Law requires that a private place or business could only be closed or shut down by the consent of the owner or by a court order?

Did you know that there had to be written notice within 48 hours of the shutdown order of their right to a hearing in a court ?

Did you know that you had a right to a free attorney if you were unable to afford one at this hearing?

Did you know that the government had to obtain a court order that specifically stated how long the shutdown would last?

Did you know that the state of Illinois could only obtain this court order by proving with clear and convincing evidence that the health of the public is significantly endangered if those places and businesses remain open and that all other reasonable means to correct the problem have been exhausted and that no less restrictive alternative exists?

Sen. Rezin opposes Pritzker's latest "rule"

Illinois State Sen. Sue Rezin issued the following statement on Governor Pritzker's new rule that would charge businesses with Class A misdemeanor for violating his stay-at-home order.

“It is inexcusable for the Governor to unilaterally impose new penalties on hard-working business owners who have already suffered greatly due to this pandemic. For the Governor to sidestep the legislative branch and threaten Illinoisans with jail-time or a $2,500 fine for trying to make a living is completely unacceptable.

“I anticipate these emergency provisions will be hotly debated in this week’s JCAR meeting. I look forward to standing up for the citizens of our state and opposing this total overreach of power."

Rep. Wehrli Denounces Pritzker Rule that Criminalizes “Non-Essential” Businesses that Reopen

NAPERVILLE— Late on Friday, Governor JB Pritzker quietly issued an emergency rule that would allow for criminal penalties, including jail time, for small business owners who reopen their doors while the Governor’s current stay home order remains in place. In response to the emergency rule, Assistant House Minority Leader Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) has issued the following statement:

“Rather than announcing his intention to issue this outrageous new rule during his Friday 2:30 press conference, Governor JB Pritzker waited until late in the day Friday to quietly issue a rule that would make it a jailable offence for businesses to violate the provisions of his stay home order. This is the same man who gave the green light to releasing 1,400 criminals from correctional centers, yet now he wants to make criminals out of desperate small business owners who are doing what they have to do to keep their businesses afloat. It’s preposterous.

Letter to Editor: I am writing because I am angry

Letter to Editor: 

I am writing because I am angry. Not at you, but at this whole situation. We didn’t shut the economy down for ebola or swine flu. They purposefully shut it down to ruin the economy. As if they haven’t been a pain in the a** enough already since President Trump won. These sorry-a**ed Democrats are becoming tyrannical.

What law says that we have to wear masks? Governor Pritzker does not make the law, the Legislature does. You are supposed to quarantine sick people, not healthy people. 

Who is fighting for the people of LaSalle County?  Why does the Governor have all this power?  He is supposed to be working for us!

Rep. Skillicorn: Recall resolution on the table if Gov. Pritzker fails to fix unemployment claims website

Crystal Lake, IL – State Representative Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) says Gov. JB Pritzker needs to fix the Illinois Department of Employment Security website and if the Governor doesn’t get it fixed, he will file a resolution to recall the Governor’s election.

“For the past two months, the site has had all kinds of technical issues causing delays and frustration for thousands of Illinois residents trying to file for unemployment benefits and now the processing system is making private information publicly available,” Skillicorn said. “Managing this site is the one job and the one responsibility the Governor has in all of this and he can’t even do that. The level of incompetence here is incredible. He needs to stop frolicking around in Florida and Wisconsin with his horses and get to work to do the one thing the state can actually do to help citizens – process their unemployment claims.”

Skillicorn said if this is not resolved soon, he will file a recall resolution.

Rep. Cabello sounds the alarm on new criminalization of non-compliance with health rules; calls on legislature to take action

MACHESNEY PARK– State Representative John M. Cabello (R-Machesney Park) is publicly objecting to rule changes made by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) that criminalizes non-compliance with IDPH regulations. The changes would empower local health officials to “…institute prosecutions or proceedings…” against violators of health rules. It also directs county State’s Attorneys to “…prosecute all persons…violating or refusing to obey the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Health”.

The rule changes also call for heavy fines and charges under a Class A Misdemeanor for any violators. Additionally, the rule under 20 ILCS 2305/2(k) states: “Any person who knowingly or maliciously disseminates any false information or report concerning the existence of any dangerously contagious or infectious disease in connection with the Department’s power of quarantine, isolation or closure order is guilty of a Class A Misdemeanor”.

“The Constitution of the United States is under siege here in Illinois,” Representative Cabello said. “We have a dictator Governor who is weaponizing our Department of Public Health to treat our citizens like criminals. The pure irony lies in the fact that the Governor is doing this at the same time that he is commuting sentences for murderers and rapists. The greatest danger today from the COVID-19 is the alternative universe that is being created here in Illinois.”

Illinois Policy Institute writer says Pritzker should stall automatic pay raises for state workers

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, its subsequent economic shutdown, and the need for emergency funding, a staff attorney and labor policy director for the Illinois Policy Institute said Gov. J.B. Pritzker should freeze automatic pay raises for state workers.

“Pritzker should join other Democratic governors in postponing automatic pay raises, which would free up funds for needy Illinoisans and potentially preserve state workers' jobs in the long run,” Mailee Smith said in a op-ed piece on the Illinois Policy Institute website.

Smith said almost 1.5 million residents of Illinois – representing 24% of the state’s workforce – are vulnerable to layoffs and reduced hours because of the pandemic. Over 1.09 million filed unemployment claims in the past eight weeks.

Smith said government employees are set to receive at least two raises. On July 1, a general increase in pay of 2.1%, which will cost the state $47 million, will take effect. Additional "step" increases for an additional year of service also will cost the state at least $214 million.

More HERE

Illinois business owners could do jail time under Pritzker's new emergency rules

Illinois business owners found guilty of violating the governor's stay-at-home-orders could land in jail for up to a year under new emergency rules filed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker late Friday.

Under executive orders issued by the governor, restaurants haven't had dine-in guests since March 16. Pritzker then issued an executive order March 21 closing all businesses to the public that he considered nonessential. The order was extended twice, from April 7 to April 30, and now through the end of May.

Pritzker has insisted local and state police will enforce his orders, but also emphasized they'd educate and seek voluntary compliance. The governor has also said someone could be charged with reckless conduct for violating his orders and that he has the power to revoke state business licenses and withhold tax money from local governments.

More HERE

Thorner: Response to Chinese coronavirus reveals true authoritarian bent of anti-American globalists

Bill Gates

By Nancy Thorner - 

When the State shuts down millions of private businesses but doesn’t lay off a single government employee, it's not about your health.

When the State puts YOU in a jail cell for walking in a park with your child because it’s too dangerous but lets CRIMINALS out of jail cells for their health, it’s not about your health.

When the State tells you it's safe to go to Home Depot, but too dangerous to go to your local hobby store, it's not about your health.

When the State prevents you from buying cucumber seeds because it's dangerous, but allows in person lottery ticket sales, it's not about your health.

When the State tells you it's dangerous to go golfing alone, fish alone or be in a motor boat alone, but the Governor can get his stage makeup done and hair done for five TV appearances a week, it's not about your health.

Illinois Sheriffs fire back at Gov. Pritzker: 'We're not going to be threatened'

Gov. JB Pritzker sent a firm warning to local law enforcement choosing not to enforce the stay at home order with what some may call a threat, from litigation to loss of funding.

“Challenges that will be brought to local law enforcement to local governments and to businesses that open," Pritzker said. "Because they are putting people at risk, they're making their communities unsafe, and they’ll be subject to liabilities as a result."

The Illinois Sheriffs' Association released a statement in response to the governor, saying sheriffs are locally elected and they think the loss of funding from the CARES Act would be retaliation.

The statement said:

“Illinois Sheriffs have been elected by their local citizens to keep their communities safe, a trust that every sheriff and sworn law enforcement officer holds dear. It is outrageous that the Governor is threatening retaliation against these leaders and the men and women of their offices. He is insulting heroic police officers, corrections officers and local voters.”

"We’re not going to be threatened," said Illinois Sheriffs' Association Executive Director Jim Kaitschuk. "The threats associated with a loss of funding, specifically, when we're talking about the federal CARES Act, that money was specifically designated to units of local government, to think now that we can have that money pulled away."

More HERE

100,000 Businesses Have Permanently Collapsed Under Pandemic Lockdowns

More than 100,000 small businesses have permanently shuttered within just two months as pandemic lockdowns devastated the nation’s economy landing 36 million Americans out of work, according to a new survey this week.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard University, Harvard Business School and University of Chicago discovered at least 2 percent of the nation’s small businesses are now gone after conducting a representative survey of more than 5,800 enterprises between May 9-11.

“The broad conclusion of our research is that a lot of small businesses which make up a big share of U.S. employment have daily limited resources and are under a fair amount of financial distress,” said Illinois economist Alexander Bartik who co-authored the study.

Limited cash and limited time for conditions to change, Bartik told The Federalist, could drive up that number significantly in the days to come. The team of economists found that the median small business with expenses exceeding $10,000 a month had only enough resources to stay afloat for two weeks. About 75 percent of those surveyed, said they didn’t have the resources to last more than two months.

More HERE

The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths

Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. Our metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over counts even some of these cases and the government has created financial incentives for this misreporting. Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives.

“The case definition is very simplistic,” Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health, explains. “It means, at the time of death, it was a COVID positive diagnosis. That means, that if you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means, technically even if you died of clear alternative cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it’s still listed as a COVID death.”

Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer and the limits of science

There have been many responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in all spheres of life from businesses, educational institutions, churches, and within close intimate human relationships. Most of these responses have arisen spontaneously as people’s duties to protect themselves and others, both individuals and communities, have become plain to them. Government at all levels has also acted, imposing a series of sometimes necessary but often arbitrary and capricious restrictions on economic and social life. Protests from citizens concerned with the economic and social impact of these restrictions have taken place from Michigan to California. The concerns of protesters are varied and, as with any mass movement, some are more reasonable than others. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., and Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., have both argued that the restrictions imposed are somehow beyond politics and matters of “science.”

Rossi: The Insanity and Massive Pain of the COVID 19 Shutdown

By Randy Rossi - 

We have just learned that 3 million more Americans have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment because of the COVID 19 shutdown bringing the total of unemployed Americans to 36 million. That will crush our economy and the lives of those millions of Americans for years. As a result, experts say that because of the depression caused by losing their jobs and potentially losing their homes and cars, 77,000 more Americans may die from suicide, drug overdoses, and severe alcoholism this year.

As bad as all that pain is, it gets worse. We have just added $3 trillion of debt to our nation to help those 36 million unemployed Americans and the 1 million businesses that are at risk of going out of business. That massive debt will get much worse as federal and state income taxes and state sales taxes rapidly decline because nobody is buying anything as they hide in their basements. That huge debt could bankrupt our country and it will be an incredible burden on our kids and grandkids for decades. If you were worried about Social Security and Medicare going bankrupt before the COVID 19 crisis, you are going to be scared to death when you see what this additional debt will do to all of us!

Orland Park mayor calls for redrawing of "Restore Illinois" COVID plan's regional boundaries

I

ORLAND PARK - Orland Park is a southwest suburb of Cook County - thus, the requirements Governor JB Pritzker has set up for his Restore Illinois re-opening plan thrust the village into the same health region as Chicago - the deadliest COVID area in the state.

That determination could destroy Orland Park's economy - as it could any of the towns and villages within the Chicago region - as Pritzker's plan would keep small businesses and many services closed and unavailable to the public.

Orland Park's Mayor Keith Pekau released a video clearly laying out why Orland Park should be allowed to open businesses and restore its ability to host a healthy economic environment. Pekau says in the video that 100% of Orland Park's COVID death have been in long term healthcare facilities - pushing for seniors and immuno-compromised persons to be protected while allowing the general population to return to its normal activities, with appropriate precautions.

Mayor Pekau: 

GOP state lawmakers propose limit on Governor 30-day disaster declarations

PALATINE — Two Republican lawmakers have introduced bills that would require Governor Pritzker's recurring disaster declarations to those that are agreed upon by the General Assembly. The measures could be considered next week, when the Illinois legislature will meet in Springfield.

State Senator Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) and State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) filed the bills because state statutes specifically allow one 30-day disaster proclamation - and the governor has extended his powers into the end of May despite his first proclamation starting March 9.

Thorner/Ingold: If We Open, Will They Come?

By Nancy Thorner & Ed Ingold -

A 1989 movie, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, told of a farmer who heard a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in a field. “If you build it, he will come,” referring to Shoeless Joe Jackson, banned from baseball following the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal.

We’re all hearing voices clamoring for the country to open for business following nearly two months in pandemic shutdown. We are assured that if we do this, the economy will rebound like a home-run baseball. It is one thing to allow businesses and stores to resume operations, but recovery depends on consumers. The question is, “If we open, will they come?”

Congress should prevent govs from keeping federal funds from local municipalities, IL delegation says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Illinois' five Republican US Congress members called on Congress to protect local municipalities from governors withholding federal funds as leverage to demand they keep small businesses closed due to the COVID crisis. 

U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (IL-18), John Shimkus (IL-13), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Rodney Davis (IL-13), and Mike Bost (IL-12) sent a letter Friday to Congressional Leadership urging that Congress take action to prevent governors from withholding federal funds appropriated by Congress for local municipalities that allow their small businesses to reopen in accordance with federal health guidelines, but ahead of arbitrary timelines outlined by states.

Following last week’s announcement of the “Restore Illinois” plan by Governor Pritzker, the Illinois Republican delegation heard from mayors, sheriffs, county board officials, and constituents with deep concern that the current guidelines outlined by the state will cripple the livelihoods of communities downstate.

Sutter: Coronavirus and a Possible Vaccine

By Daniel Sutter - 

President Trump recently announced “Operation Warp Speed,” a plan for a novel coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020.  I welcome the announcement because the greatest impediment to a vaccine now is the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process. Speedy development of a vaccine is not without precedent.

The FDA vaccine approval process starts with animal testing to evaluate safety and the production of antibodies followed by three phases of human testing.  First is a very small sample to test safety; vaccines sometimes induce immune system reactions which damage organs.  If judged safe, two rounds of randomized control trials ensue involving hundreds and then thousands of participants.

Only a safe and effective vaccine will benefit Americans.  A vaccine will likely be part of returning life to normal.  An ineffective vaccine may unleash another COVID outbreak and thousands of deaths.

Can this be accomplished quickly?  Dr. Anthony Fauci has repeatedly stated that developing a vaccine will take 12 to 18 months; other experts suggest years.  History shows otherwise, at least in one case.  In 1957, a new strain of influenza, the Asian flu, was detected in Hong Kong in April.  Dr. Maurice Hilleman, chief of respiratory diseases at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, wanted a vaccine ready before it reached the U.S.  When the flu arrived four months later, forty million Americans had been inoculated.  The pandemic claimed 70,000 American lives, but the total likely would have been much higher without a vaccine.

More HERE

Trump Delays Summer Fuel Switch

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is delaying the normally required shift to cleaner-burning summertime gasoline in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic having caused plummeting demand that has left pipelines, refineries, and storage tanks full of winter-grade fuel.

The EPA requires refiners, distributors, and retailers to switch over to production and sale of low-volatility gasoline each year in advance of the summer driving season, to reduce the formation of smog.

More HERE

‘The 1619 Project’ Tells a False Story About Capitalism, Too

The 1619 Project distorts history, especially the history of capitalism. Allen Guelzo writes:

The 1619 Project imagines Southern slaveholders were practicing “capitalism” simply because they made money. But slavery had been around since antiquity—long before anything resembling capitalism existed. And what the South saw in its plantations wasn’t capitalism but the opposite. Writing in 1854, the pro-slavery propagandist George Fitzhugh described slavery as “a beautiful example of communism, where each one receives not according to his labor, but according to his wants.”

“Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written,” reads the headline of Ms. Jones’s prize-winning essay. “Black Americans have fought to make them true.” The latter part is true, but the former isn’t, and attempting to replace the nation’s ideals with a false and destructive story is no way to do history. The 1619 Project can wave its Pulitzer as credibility insurance, but credibility isn’t the same as truth. Pulitzers have been handed out before—to the Times’s Walter Duranty and the Washington Post’s Janet Cooke—only to collapse under the weight of falsehood.

Free Speech Alliance: Facebook Oversight Board Is Packed With Liberals

The Free Speech Alliance (FSA), a coalition of more than 60 conservative organizations, released a statement about Facebook's new Oversight Board and efforts to decide what content should be taken down from the site.

The FSA declared, “Conservatives warned from the start that any new oversight mechanism was fraught with danger. Our fears were well founded. This new board will damage Facebook more than it can imagine.”

More HERE

How Planned Parenthood Is Benefiting From COVID-19 Pandemic

Staying home is supposed to keep people safe. But for unborn babies, even lockdowns have their risks.

Any house can be an abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood wants people to know. You just have to call for pills.

“It’s actually a silver lining in this pandemic,” acting Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill-Johnson insisted to Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman. “Planned Parenthood and many other health providers have actually been able to really lean into telehealth infrastructure and provide service.”

To the country’s biggest abortion business, the “silver lining” of the coronavirus is more deaths—more innocent, unborn, child fatalities made possible by its money-hungry network.

More HERE

Pritzker to face another lawsuit - this one from Will County

MOKENA - Will County Board member Steve Balich says in a YouTube Wednesday that he just left his attorney's office - Bruggemann & Hurst in Mokena Illinois - after filing a federal lawsuit against Governor Pritzker and the state of Illinois for damages.  

Will County GOP Chairman George Pearson, Will County Board member Steve Balich, pet groomer Samantha L. Palya, a non-essential worker Amanda Hameran are all co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed with the US District Court Northern District of Illinois - Eastern Division.

"I've gotten all kinds of calls from businesses complaining about why they're not open," Balich said. "I don't have a good answer. People are suffering, people of my district are crying out to me to do something. So I filed this lawsuit." 

Pritzker faces lawsuits from two Republican lawmakers, as well as three Springfield business people: a hair salon owner and a restaurateur with two establishments. The cases argue the governor has neither constitutional nor statutory power to implement consecutive 30-day COVID-19 state of emergency orders. 

The Will County complaint focuses on the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment and the state of Illinois' Article 1, Section 15: 

Grundy County Board calls on Pritzker to change "Restore Illinois" health region boundary

GRUNDY COUNTY - Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema posted the following resolution on his Facebook page Tuesday night, saying the Board unanimously supported the effort. 

 

The resolution calls on the Governor to remove their county from the same "Restore Illinois" region as Cook County and Chicago, and add it into the plan's North-Central Health region:

 

Rep. Sosnowski: Governor's "Restore Illinois" data-driven plan simply ignores data

By State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) - 

You can’t take everything you read at face value. A headline in the May 6 edition of the Rockford Register Star is a case in point. “Deemed a ‘hot spot’ last week, Winnebago County ranks in top 20 COVID-19 cases per capita” could not be more misleading.

In truth, Winnebago County as with most of IL, other than a handful of counties in and around Chicago, has very low COVID-19 per capita infection and mortality rates. As of the May 6 report provided by the Winnebago County Health Department (the same day of the Register Star headline in question), we had a total of 734 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths.

Consider this: as of May 6, Winnebago County recorded approximately 1,100 deaths this year. Of those, only 22 were attributed COVID-19, with a vast majority of these over the age of 70 and with other serious health ailments.

Database Swells to 1,285 Proven Cases of Voter Fraud in America

All-mail elections have received heightened attention in the media these past few weeks. Prominent liberals highly endorse the idea, claiming it allows people to do their patriotic duty without risking being infected by the coronavirus.

In reality, without rigid safeguards to prevent fraud, misuse, and voter intimidation, absentee ballot fraud—while it may occur sporadically—already has affected the outcome of elections in states and counties across the country. 

Just look at the 2018 congressional race in North Carolina that was overturned by the state election board. Or the mayor of Gordon, Alabama, who was removed from office last year after his conviction for absentee ballot fraud.

Although talk of voter fraud may be increasing because of the stakes in the 2020 election, The Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database has been around for four years. With the addition of our latest batch of cases, we are up to 1,285 proven instances of voter fraud.

More HERE

Must Read: Reopen Society and Shut Down Moral Narcissism

Moral narcissists are helping to make sure America’s COVID-19 lockdown continues in full force, shaming anyone who objects, refuses, questions, or even simply voices concerns or complaints.

I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasn’t Already is the title of Roger Simon’s fascinating 2016 book on the subject of moral narcissism. Simon described this particular kind of narcissism as a “far more lethal form” that is destroying “our families, friendships, workplace atmosphere, and democratic republic.” That kind of lethality infecting the “cure” for a pandemic could certainly produce an outcome much worse than that of the virus itself.

Simon describes the feelings of the moral narcissist this way:

What you believe, or claim to believe or say you believe—not what you do or how you act or what the results of your actions may be—defines you as a person and makes you “good.” It is how your life will be judged by others and by yourself…

If your intentions are good, if they conform to the general received values of your friends, family, and co-workers, what a person of your class and social milieu is supposed to think, everything is fine. You are that “good” person. You are ratified. You can do anything you wish. It doesn’t matter in the slightest what the results of those ideas and beliefs are, or how society, the country, and in some cases, the world suffers from them. It doesn’t matter that they misfire completely, cause terror attacks, illness, death, riots in the inner city, or national bankruptcy. You will be applauded and approved of.

We’re supposed to think that the continued shutdowns over the coronavirus are good. Those who dare to ask about the science and models behind lockdown orders, the increasing collateral damage to our economy, or the difference between dying with or dying of the virus, much less the deaths that are happening because of the shutdown—receive swift judgment from the moral narcissists. Not in the form of factual or intelligent answers, but rather, questions framed to shame:

Don’t you care about granny? Do you want more people to die? Is the economy more important to you than people’s lives?

More HERE

Wirepoints analysis reveals 92 percent of Cook County COVID-19 victims had pre-existing conditions

Ted Dabrowski President, Wirepoints - 

More than 90 percent of COVID-19 victims in Cook County had pre-existing medical conditions, according to a new Wirepoints analysis of a Cook County Medical Examiner database.

Wirepoints' findings are important because no Illinois government has yet to publish any detailed comorbidity data. We recently wrote about Gov. J.B. Pritzker's failure to publish statewide data in: Who’s most at risk for COVID-19 and why isn’t Illinois publishing that data?

The medical examiner’s database showed COVID-19 as the primary cause of death for 2,300 people in Cook County. Of those, more than 2,100 were shown to have at least one underlying condition as a secondary cause of death. Those conditions, also known as comorbidities, included hypertension, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. There were no secondary causes reported for 191 deaths.

Understanding who is most at risk – and who is not – is central to a public understanding of the virus. It’s also central to helping decide when and how to open up our economy and schools. What Cook County’s and other comorbidity data across the country implies is that the risk of death for healthy Illinoisans is far lower than Gov. J.B. Pritzker might lead people to believe based on his protracted lockdown and drawn out reopening plan.

Cook County reports that of the 2,303 victims where COVID-19 was listed as the primary cause of death, 92 percent had one or more comorbidities.

Hypertension affected 1,070 victims, or more than 46 percent of all deaths. Diabetes impacted 973 victims, or 42 percent of the total. Pulmonary disease was part of 397 deaths, or 17 percent. And 215 of those deaths, about 9 percent, were accompanied by obesity or morbid obesity.

Woman dies during childbirth after doctors refused to examine her during COVID-19

Just days after complaining about “incompetent doctors” on Twitter, a Black and Puerto Rican first-time mom died during childbirth at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. She was just 26 years old.

On April 17, Amber Isaac tweeted, “Can’t wait to write a tell all about my experience during my last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors at Montefiore.” In the early morning hours of April 21, during an emergency C-section, Isaac’s heart stopped. Her partner Bruce McIntyre III said her death was “100 percent preventable.”

According to McIntyre, Isaac’s platelet levels had been dropping since February, but doctors wouldn’t see her in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the fact that she was seven-months pregnant, instead of bringing her in to be examined, doctors told her to buy her own blood pressure monitor.

More HERE

Rossi: History’s Warning That Our Great Republic Is At Risk

As Edmond Burke said 250 years ago, “Those that don’t know history are doomed to repeat it”. Therefore we should all pay attention to John Adams’ warning “There hasn’t been a democracy yet that hasn’t committed suicide”. I have been to John Adam’s home and saw his library of 14,000 books that he used to study the 2,400 year history of democracy (at his time) to understand why every democracy eventually failed and the average life of a democracy is 200 years. He did this to help him write the Massachusetts Constitution which was a foundation of the U.S. Constitution. John Adams knew the risk of democracy and he said that he would be thrilled if ours lasted 150 years!

The bottom line is that all democracies are fragile and doomed to eventual failure. Alexander Tytler who lived at the same time as our Founding Fathers also studied the history of democracies and identified the repetitive pattern of failure called the Tytler Curve which you can see below. It should scare the heck out of everybody because it is so logical and we can easily understand that pattern. Take a look at the Tytler Cycle and ask yourself where America is right now on that cycle:

 

Ludwig von Mises and COVID-19

The collectivism virus need not destroy us, if we immunize ourselves with the philosophy of liberty and market liberalism.

Everyone is hoping for the light at the end of the tunnel with the coronavirus crisis. There are few who are not exhausted with fear of the illness, and with worry and despair about the economic disaster caused by the government lockdowns and stay-at-home dictates. So, eyes are turned to a post-coronavirus world and what it will be like. How will America and most of the rest of the world recover from this nature-created and man-made-exacerbated catastrophe? 

U.S. state governments are tentatively promising or implementing openings of the societies over which they rule. People are being allowed to take walks in parks and do some shopping for more than politically defined “essentials.” Retail businesses and manufacturing enterprises are being permitted to open and function on limited and regulated bases. Traveling to places close to home and much more afield are slowly starting to occur for more people. 

But notice the presumption is all of this, that just as the federal and state governments dictated the closing of America, those same governments must design and determine the how and the when of America being “opened” once again. That individuals could and should decide on when and how to interact with others in society, to make their own precautionary judgments concerning degrees of risk and forms of trade-offs to choose among is brushed aside under the presumption that human beings, without directing command and control from those in political power, are simply too irresponsible and unthinking.

More HERE

Lies About Israel Lead to Lies About Everything

Why would someone like Sebastian Cevallos, a university student in Ecuador, care about Israel? You'd think this tiny country on the other side of the globe from where he lives would have no bearing on his life. But it does. Here’s why.

Syverson: Time to Reopen Illinois

By State Sen. Dave Syverson - 

We know the economic costs of this Covid-19 lock-down has been devastating on working families and small business; many who will never recover.

We are just now starting to see the warned about social impacts as a result of these leader’s decisions to shut the state down as they did. Disturbing data is emerging that, during the lock-down, we are seeing increases in depression, domestic violence, drug and alcohol use, suicide, and child abuse. We may well find out as Francis Bacon said “the remedy was worse than the disease.”

It is becoming clearer that the projected Covid-19 health impact; while devastating, has not been near what the “models” and “theories” had indicated and therefore, it is time for Illinois to reopen.

Would there be an increased potential risk with reopening the state now vs. 2 weeks from now or July 1? That is debatable. However, what is not debatable is the negative impact that staying closed is having on the economy and social/mental health of our families, and yes we all understand that until a vaccine is in place or the public has built up sufficient immunity, some commonsense social distancing guidelines will need to be part of the reopening.

We have seen other states that closed later and opened sooner that had fewer negative Covid-19 impacts than Illinois. One of the reasons for the higher negative results in states like Illinois, maybe as a result of the unintended consequences of the early decision to close small business, retailers, and restaurants, thereby resulting in the “herding” effect of record numbers of people into a few box stores. This may have been one of the reasons that lead to the spike of Covid seen in urban areas. Reopening the state would naturally distance people away from big box stores and move them into small retailers and restaurants where social distancing was occurring before the forced shut down.

I believe science will eventually determine that the “Sweden Model” would have been a better course of action for our state to have taken. While we cannot go back and implement that model, we can use that model going forward. That model is simple; open businesses now, social distance, good hygiene, and concentrate efforts on protecting those at risk.

What Will Happen If We Open Up?

The idea of “flattening the curve” was to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. It was a delaying tactic, with no prospect of ending the disease.

If the country re-opens for business, there will be more cases of COVID-19 reported, and more deaths. And the more tests we do, the more cases we will find.

If the country remains locked down, there will be more cases of COVID-19 reported, and more deaths. There will also be increasing economic devastation, which itself causes deaths, and many more deaths from other medical conditions that have been untreated.

If an epidemic starts in one or a few locations and is promptly identified, it can be contained. But COVID-19 was probably circulating worldwide for at least a month before it was recognized. That’s how as many as half the people in certain places got antibodies.

More HERE

Illinois unemployment hits an estimated 1 in 5 workers

New U.S. Department of Labor data shows an additional 74,476 Illinoisans filed for unemployment the week ending May 2, bringing total new jobless claims to 950,029 since COVID-19 began shutting down the economy.

The sudden halt in economic activity following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order to close “non-essential” businesses has caused the state’s unemployment rate to surge to an estimated 19.6%, or a total of 1.23 million workers when those idled since COVID-19 are added to those out of work before the pandemic. For context, the state’s unemployment rate – not seasonally adjusted – peaked at 12.2% during the Great Recession.

More HERE

Plainfield Law Firm says Pritzker's EOs impair fundamental rights; points to Obama-sponsored law

Updated Tuesday, May 12th - 

CHICAGO - In 2004, when state senator in Illinois, former President Barack Obama sponsored legislation that led to the "Illinois Emergency Management Act" - the same Illinois Department of Public Health policy guideline from which Governor JB Pritzker claims to have derived authority to issue his COVID-19 Executive Order 2020-10. 

Obama's 2004 legislation passed the Illinois Senate and House unanimously - but the key points of his bill placed epidemic guidance into the hands of the Illinois Department of Public Health, not the governor's office.

In a piece entitled "Barack Obama’s Sponsored Law Makes Governor Pritzker’s Stay-at-Home Orders Advisory," the Ivec Law Firm of Plainfield, Illinois suggests Pritzker's Executive Orders threaten Constitutional rights.

"To put into our context, Governor Pritzker has issued executive orders which impair a number of fundamental rights," Ivec's legal assessment says.

The Illinois Emergency Management Act - in Illinois statutes as 20 ILCS 3305/18 - states that emergency services and disaster agencies established under the act shall execute and enforce the orders, rules and regulations as may be made by the Governor. However, it does not say the citizens or businesses of our State are under the same obligation. [Ed.notation added]

"In short, the Governor cannot exercise more authority than that given to the Illinois Department of Public Health, who is the supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation," Ivec Law Firm says. "This power is limited by our Constitution and by both Statute and Regulations."

Conservative group posts resources challenging Gov Pritzker's COVID Emergency Orders

CHICAGO - The Illinois Conservative Union has posted on its website a resource page or Illinois citizens and business owners on how to deal with Governor Pritzker's Emergency Order COVID-19 shutdowns. 

"Using the COVID virus pandemic as an excuse, one man –Governor JB Pritzker– has held the entire state of Illinois hostage for many weeks," the website says. "Pritzker has issued unlawful Executive Orders, arbitrarily shut down businesses and churches, and caused people to be imprisoned in their homes. Examination of the United States Constitution, the Illinois Constitution and Illinois statutes reveals that Pritzker does NOT have the legal authority for his actions." 

The group then lists resources, and warns that "This is not legal advice. For expert legal counsel, consult an attorney."

Key points the group lists include:

Grundy County Board considers Pritzker mixing them in with Cook Co on regional COVID 19 plan

GRUNDY Co - Grundy County's eastern border is 65 miles west of Chicago Illinois, is Trump Country with its largest town being Morris with 15,000 residents. Still, they've been drawn into the Restore Illinois plan as part of the same COVID-19 "health region" Chicago is in.

That puts the county at a disadvantage, and Grundy County Board members will be voting on a resolution asked to be moved into the Governor's declared North-Central Health Region.

Cook County hosts nearly 50% of the state's population and its COVID-19 cases. 

Grundy County Board Chairman Chris Balkema shared his thoughts during the Law and Justice Committee meeting last Thursday, recorded by WCJG radio station, saying,  "We need to see a whole lot more data before being lumped into Cook County and such..." 

GOP US House Leader endorses Oberweis in 14th CD race

SUGAR GROVE – Telling news reporters Monday morning that the U.S. House should be back in D.C., saying "Two blocks from the US Capitol, you can get coffee or tea...It's time for Congress to get to work,"  Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also endorsed Jim Oberweis.

McCarthy says the 14^th Congressional District race is one of the most important races in the nation and it is critical for voters to get behind Jim Oberweis to defeat Lauren Underwood and her radical agenda for the nation.

“Jim Oberweis is a common-sense leader who understands the big government solutions being offered by Lauren Underwood and her political mentor Nancy Pelosi will do tremendous harm to our nation,” McCarthy said. “Jim’s character and tireless work ethic is exactly what’s needed on Capitol Hill. Make no mistake about it — the pathway to a change in leadership in Congress runs through the 14^th District. I proudly endorse Jim Oberweis for Congress and I can’t wait to hit the campaign trail with him.”

Di Leo: Alexander Hamilton and the Life of a Loyalist Academic

By John F. Di Leo - 

Reflections on the anniversary of the closure of King’s College and the flight of its dean…

On May 10, 1775, Dr. Myles Cooper was on top of the world. As President of King’s College in New York City for the previous dozen years, he was in the inner circle of British leadership in New York, responsible for the education of many of the finest students in the Americas, spokesman for loyalist thought in an age of rebellion.

But by the morning of May 11, driven out of the college in the dead of night by an angry mob, he was lucky to escape with his life. The philosophical tide was turning in these colonies – against the Hanoverian King and his puppets in Parliament, and against their proud and blind local acolytes who seemingly littered polite society at the time.

UPDATE x1: Lake Co Board Chairman encourages COVID-19 violation snitching

UPDATE x1: Lake County Board member Dick Baar requested Illinois Review clarify details concerning  the county's Pandemic Emergency Orders. 

...The County Board did not meet. That Zoom event was a Town Hall hosted by [Board] Chairwoman Sandy Hart, completely separate from the County Board, who had nothing to do with the meeting, and were not consulted, in whole, at all with regard to the planning nor messaging of the event.

I, for one, do not agree at all with encouraging anyone to snitch on hard working businesses, who are desperately trying to hold on during these trying times.

Any recommendations made during that meeting were made under the control of Chairwoman Sandy Hart, and do not reflect any official statement, resolution or action performed by the Lake County Board, to my knowledge.

LAKE County, IL - The Lake County Board met via Zoom this week, and encouraged citizens to report COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Order violations.

The violations the Board wants citizens to report include:

Day after blasting Trump on CNN, IL Gov Pritzker's office reports close staffer COVID-19 positive

CHICAGO - Sunday, IL Governor JB Pritzker was on CNN's "State of the Union" blasting the Trump Administration for their lack of assistance during the COVID-19 crisis.

Monday, a staffer working in close contact with Pritzker tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a release Monday. Pritzker will now be self-quarantining per doctor's orders, and his nearly 20 Chicago staffers in the Thompson Building will now be working from home "for an appropriate isolation period." Daily press conferences will continue on the Governor's Facebook page.

Thorner: What others are saying about life in America after Covid-19

By Nancy Thorner -

As written by Gary D. Barnett in his article dated May 9, 2020, The Coronavirus Response: The Ultimate Goal is Control of All Humanity:

Propaganda is the most useful tool of those that desire to hold power over others, and for the global ruling class, this equates to power over all.

It is first necessary to create some sort of broad chaos or crisis in order to present a particular scenario meant to initiate fear. This will immediately trigger the herd mentality in the masses, and an escape toward safety will be sought. The next step once the herd is gathered is to first offer protection, and then to offer a solution to guarantee future safety. Once the herd accepts this premise, control by small outside forces becomes possible. As long as the propaganda continues and is accepted by the herd, which requires a continuance of fear, the more control that will evident.

This is exactly what has happened as of late due to a false pandemic called Covid-19. . . As freedom disappears, resistance will lessen, regardless whether the loss of individual freedom is accomplished by voluntary reaction or by force.

Weyermuller: When did Church Become “Non-Essential?”

by Mark Weyermuller - 

For several weeks now, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has declared “non-essential” businesses cannot open in Illinois to help "mitigate" the spread of COVID-19.  He is calling it a “stay-at-home” order.

What exactly is an "essential" business?  Thousands of businesses in Illinois are open and thriving.  Those businesses include Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Menards, Walgreens, CVS, Costco, 7-11, "to go" restaurants, grocery stores, bike shops, car washes, dry cleaners, liquor stores, and cannabis dispensaries. 

Elgin church pushing back against Illinois stay-at-home order

Another church in Illinois is pushing back against Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, and phases of re-opening the state, saying they refuse to wait.

“It’s incumbent on every state official in Illinois to remember the constitution does not take a break during the pandemic,” Jeremy Dys, First Liberty Institute, said. “The first amendment didn’t sign a doctor’s note and hand it in and take the day off it still applies and is in full force and effect.”

Dys, who is with a national religious freedom law firm, sent a letter to the governor, as well as the Kane County Board, state’s attorney, and sheriff, on behalf of Northwest Bible Baptist Church in Elgin.

“If you’re allowed to shop down the grocery aisle, gather in the plumbing section of Home Depot, you should be able to safely gather in person at your church,” Dys said.

The church said it will require face masks, and take parishioners temperatures as they enter, seat families six feet apart in every other row of pews, use a deposit box for offerings, close child care and Sunday school, and ask those 65 and older to stay home.

More HERE