Month: July 2018

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Former Rauner donor gives Pritzker $100K – Rick Pearson
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-morning-spin-monday-20180713-story.html
— Mitchell says Dems moving in new direction – Rick Pearson
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-morning-spin-monday-20180713-story.html
— Aiming to prevent gun violence, proposed laws would extend no-contact orders, allow weapon removal by courts – Robert McCoppin
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-illinois-gun-violence-laws-orders-of-protection-20180713-story.html
— The rise of the pro-choice cheerleaders – Heather Wilhelm (DIERSEN: Overwhelmingly, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have promoted abortion.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-wilhelm-heather-abortion-supporters-supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-0716-story.html
— How to help your adult child leave the nest and succeed – Christina DesMarais (DIERSEN: How old were you when you left the nest and what helped you do that? I left the nest in 1972 when I was 24 years old and bought a new town home in University Park. I might not have been able to do that a) if I had not earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in 1970, b) if Firestone Stores had not hired me in 1970, c) if my financial hardship draft deferment application had been denied, d) if IRS had not hired me in 1971, e) if I had not continued to work for Firestone part-time, and f) if IRS had not promoted me in 1972.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/success/inc/tca-how-to-help-your-adult-child-leave-the-nest-and-succeed-20180709-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Being a fledgling adult is harder in some ways than it used to be. Two years ago, the Pew Research Center reported that, for the first time in 130 years, adults ages 18 to 34 were more likely to live with parents than with a spouse or romantic partner in their own home. And those who don’t go to college face a bleak future. Americans with no more than a high school diploma have fallen so far behind college graduates that the earnings gap between college grads and everyone else has reached its widest point on record, CBS News reported last year. At the same time, rent has increased 64 percent from 1960 to 2014, while household incomes have only increased 18 percent.)
— HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: Don’t miss the chance to secure your future – Terry Savage (DIERSEN: Since we got married in 1978, my wife and I have always saved as much as we could for our retirement. According to my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes, the only reasons why we were able to do that were a) I avoided the draft, b) the federal government grossly overpaid me, c) my wife has always had good jobs, d) we gave up trying to have children, we did not adopt, and we did not become foster parents, and e) my retirement benefits are much too generous. Overwhelmingly, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have spent far more money on “immediate pleasures” than my wife and I have.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/success/terrysavage/tca-yes-you-can-find-a-little-money-to-invest-20180710-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Twenty years ago, the Roth IRA was born as a product of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Unlike with traditional IRAs, you don’t get a tax deduction for your contribution to a Roth IRA. But all the money in the account, including gains, can be withdrawn tax-free at retirement. If only you had jumped in to a Roth IRA at the beginning, you would have a small tax-free fortune today. . .Now, the only question is where you will find the money to invest over the next 20 years. In hindsight, you can certainly see the opportunities that you missed in the past. Was that vacation worth the high pricetag, or would it have been better to invest in a Roth IRA? That closet of outdated clothes? The handbag that you simply had to have? All consumed your future.)
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: QUESTION: What do Democrats view as being “progress?” ANSWER: More dependency on government, more dependency on charity, more LGBTQ activity, more abortion, more mass/illegal immigration, more erosion of First and Second Amendment rights, more booze, gambling, pot, and other vices, more patronage, more political affiliation discrimination, more reverse discrimination, more age discrimination, and more of even worse things.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-grossman-summer-of-1968-20180712-story.html

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Protesters march peacefully a day after fatal police shooting of Harith Augustus – Tom Schuba and Nader Issa
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/chicago-protesters-harith-augustus-march-peacefully-after-fatal-police-shooting/
— Fatal police shooting of Harith Augustus leaves community in anger, anguish, searching for answers – Nader Issa and Tom Schuba and Jon Seidel
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/chicago-police-shooting-harith-augusts-south-shore-leaves-community-anger-anguish-searching-answers/

DAILY HERALD
— Chicago police release video to ease tensions after killing Harith Augustus – Alex Horton
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180716/chicago-police-release-video-to-ease-tensions-after-killing-harith-augustus
— What happens when we build a road – Bob Schillerstrom
http://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20180716/schillerstromg-op-ed-what-happens-when-we-build-a-road
— Employers are finally ready to talk about how much they pay – Rebecca Greenfield (DIERSEN: If I had not been denied my 7th Amendment rights in Diersen v. GAO, I would have presented a jury with many examples in which GAO paid its female employees who had less job-related work experience than I had, less job-related education than I had, fewer or no professional certifications, and/or no professional licenses higher salaries than GAO paid me. I worked for IRS 1971-1980 and for GAO 1980-1997. I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 in 1970 and job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) a job-related professional license when I was 32.)
http://www.dailyherald.com/business/20180715/employers-are-finally-ready-to-talk-about-how-much-they-pay
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Until recently, none of the 170 employees working at Verve, a marketing company, knew what anyone else made. Now, everyone’s salary is listed on an internal document for everyone to see. By 2019, all 1,100 employees at CareHere, a Nashville based health-care company, will know the pay ranges for all positions in the company. Fog Creek, a New York-based software company with about three dozen employees, did the same last year. As did Hired, an online job search network in San Francisco that employs 200 people. Employers have long discouraged talking about money at work, in part because obscuring salary information keeps compensation costs down. But that attitude is starting to change. In a survey of almost 2,000 employers by the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, more than half of the respondents said they plan to increase transparency around pay decisions in the next year. Pay transparency can mean a lot of things. A minority of companies are taking the most extreme approach, where everyone knows what everyone else makes. A larger share of companies are letting employees in on the voodoo behind their pay practices and explaining what goes into compensation decisions. Others are revealing pay ranges for positions and posting that information alongside job listings.)
— Golfers happy with turnout at Senior Open, look forward to next year – Joe Aguilar
http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180715/golfers-happy-with-turnout-at-senior-open-look-forward-to-next-year

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Illinois Manufacturers’ Association chief Greg Baise hanging it up – GREG HINZ
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180716/BLOGS02/180719910
— What the Supreme Court’s new majority means for Illinois’ fiscal mess – Mark Glennon
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180713/ISSUE07/180709917/illinois-fiscal-crisis-could-be-supreme-courts-to-resolve

FOX NEWS CHICAGO
— New Illinois program automatically deducts $ from workers’ accounts, put it in retirement accounts – AP (DIERSEN: 7 percent of my federal salary 1966-1969 and 1971-1997 went into the Civil Service Retirement System.)
http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/new-illinois-program-automatically-deducts-from-workers-accounts-put-it-in-retirement-accounts

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Public schools pay presidents a pretty penny – Julie Wurth
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-07-16/report-public-schools-pay-presidents-pretty-penny.html

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— Durbin not confident Illinois election systems are secure – Brenden Moore
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180715/durbin-not-confident-illinois-election-systems-are-secure
— Jeff Keicher to finish Bob Pritchard’s term in Illinois House – AP
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180716/jeff-keicher-to-finish-bob-pritchards-term-in-illinois-house

JOURNAL COURIER
— Race for governor: Expect money, mud Most expensive governor’s race in history taking a fiery turn – Greg Bishop
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/Race-for-governor-Expect-money-mud-13076385.php

SAUK VALLEY
— Officials keep mum on exact number of union opt-outs
http://www.saukvalley.com/2018/07/13/officials-keep-mum-on-exact-number-of-union-opt-outs/cxzqtr2/
— U.S. official: Russia using social media to divide Americans (DIERSEN: Obviously, anti-Trumps have had great success in dividing members of Group A against members of Group B. Members of Group A are anti-Trump, anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-patriotic, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time and members of Group B are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older people, rich people, gun owners, German Americans, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
http://www.saukvalley.com/2018/07/15/us-official-russia-using-social-media-to-divide-americans/ad1qpu4/
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps use children of illegals born in America against Trump and against America.
http://www.saukvalley.com/2018/07/15/more-us-born-children-could-be-separated-from-immigrant-parents/a3aytmh/

SUBURBAN LIFE
— Women’s Golf: Laura Davies dominant in winning first U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Wheaton – JOSHUA WELGE
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2018/07/15/womens-golf-laura-davies-dominant-in-winning-first-u-s-senior-womens-open-in-wheaton/d1v4h8f/

WAND TV
— New state program will deduct from paychecks to pay for retirement – AP (DIERSEN: 7 percent of my federal salary 1966-1969 and 1971-1997 went into the Civil Service Retirement System.)
http://www.wandtv.com/story/38649244/new-state-program-will-deduct-from-paychecks-to-pay-for-retirement

NORTHERN PUBLIC RADIO
— JB Pritzker Stands By Charges Against Rauner In New Campaign Ad – DANA VOLLMER
http://northernpublicradio.org/post/jb-pritzker-stands-charges-against-rauner-new-campaign-ad

NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES
— Indiana records $100M annual surplus, budget reserve nearly $1.8 billion – Dan Carden
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/indiana-records-m-annual-surplus-budget-reserve-nearly-billion/article_2760e18a-669c-588c-89d3-05d02567ccd8.html

CHICAGO NOW
— Laura Davies Wins Inaugural U.S. Sr. Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club – Sheri Warren
http://www.chicagonow.com/sheri-on-sports/2018/07/great-dame-laura-davies-wins-inaugural-u-s-sr-womens-open-at-chicago-golf-club/

CHICAGO READER
— Rauner leaves no doubt how he feels about gay marriage – Ben Joravsky
https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/07/16/rauner-showers-praise-on-mike-pence-leaving-no-doubt-how-he-feels-about-gay-marriage

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Concerning House Bill 2354, an anti-conservative says “The measure has drawn opposition from the National Rifle Association, which says it limits due process. Rauner’s action will be another test of how he caters to his conservative base.”
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2018/07/16/drama-on-the-south-side-city-club-jaw-dropper-another-royko-helps-the-little-guy-286513
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: An anti-Roskam asks “Where is Peter Roskam?”
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2018/07/16/drama-on-the-south-side-city-club-jaw-dropper-another-royko-helps-the-little-guy-286513

WIREPOINTS
— Why Chicago’s Reported Progress On Pensions And Finances Isn’t Real – Mark Glennon
http://www.wirepoints.com/why-chicagos-reported-progress-on-pensions-and-finances-isnt-real/
— Where Illinois’ skyrocketing pension promises came from – Ted Dabrowski
http://www.wirepoints.com/where-illinois-skyrocketing-pension-promises-came-from-wirepoints-original/

CATHOLIC CITIZENS OF ILLINOIS
— Civil War – Jack Minzey
https://catholiccitizens.org/views/80106/civil-war/

PRAIRIE STATE WIRE
— ‘It’s nonsense’: PR firm owned by state rep’s wife dubbed ‘disadvantaged’ to win giant government contracts – W.J. Kennedy (DIERSEN: Are you disadvantaged? My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that instead of me, the Post Office should have hired a disadvantaged person in 1966, b) that the Post Office should gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that a disadvantaged person could have my job, c) that instead of me, IRS should have hired a disadvantaged person in 1971, d) that instead of me, IRS should have promoted disadvantaged people in 1972, 1973, and 1974, e) that instead of me, GAO should have hired a disadvantaged person in 1980, f) that instead of me, GAO should have promoted a disadvantaged person in 1986, and g) that GAO should have gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that disadvantaged person could have my job and my preferred corner office.)
https://prairiestatewire.com/stories/511487084-it-s-nonsense-pr-firm-owned-by-state-rep-s-wife-dubbed-disadvantaged-to-win-giant-government-contracts
(FROM THE ARTICLE: “Under DBE, any firm owned by a woman or minority is automatically presumed to have faced discrimination,” Wally Zimolong, of Philadelphia’s Zimolong LLC, told Prairie State Wire. “It’s nonsense. You can have a woman or minority from a wealthy family, attending the best schools in the country, yet they are still considered a discriminated party.” Or you can be politically well-connected. Kim Morreale is married to state Rep. Michael McAuliffe, Chicago’s only Republican representative. During McAuliffe’s 21 years in office, Morreale went from being a reporter and news anchor in Rockford to obtaining a director position with the Illinois Department of Transportation under then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The tollway’s board of directors is appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Morreale’s contract with the tollway wasn’t competitively bid. Instead, proposals were vetted and ranked by a committee of tollway executives and an engineering professor, according to the Daily Herald report. Moreover, her client list includes Pace and the City of Chicago, who along with METRA, Chicago Transit Authority and the tollway established a one-stop certification process for DBEs.)

ILLINOIS INSTITUTE
— No Surprise, Leftists Want to Fight Dirty – Laurie Higgins
https://illinoisfamily.org/federal/no-surprise-leftists-want-to-fight-dirty-2/

FOX NEWS
— Coupon dispute prompts white CVS manager to call police on black woman – Bradford Betz
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/15/coupon-dispute-prompts-white-cvs-manager-to-call-police-on-black-woman-report.html

DAILY CALLER
— HOUSE LAWMAKERS TO QUESTION FACEBOOK, ALPHABET, TWITTER OVER POLITICAL BIAS AND CENSORSHIP – Eric Lieberman (DIERSEN: Facebook, Alphabet, Twitter, etc. are anti-Republican companies. They exist to defend and advance the Democrat, Libertarian, and Green party platforms. Needless-to-say, Republicans should not rely on Facebook, Alphabet, Twitter, etc.)
http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/15/facebook-alphabet-political-bias/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Brett Kavanaugh: The End of Leftists’ World – T.R. Clancy
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/07/brett_kavanaugh_the_end_of_leftists_world.html

BLAZE
— Furious liberals lash out at Elon Musk after his significant Republican donation uncovered – Chris Enloe
https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/07/15/furious-liberals-meltdown-sell-teslas-after-elon-musks-significant-republican-donation-uncovered

THE HILL
— Summit begins after Putin keeps Trump waiting (DIERSEN: Who has kept you waiting? I should write a book about those who have kept me waiting.)
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/397124-trump-putin-begin-summit-amid-global-tensions

POLITICO
— Trump has stockpiled cash for his reelection The president’s campaign has $33 million in the bank so far. – MAGGIE SEVERNS
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/15/trump-money-reelection-2020-722413

NBC NEWS
— CVS apologizes after white manager calls police on black customer over coupon “The employees who were involved in the incident will not be working in the store pending the findings of our investigation,” a company spokesman said. – Tim Stelloh
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cvs-apologizes-after-white-manager-calls-police-black-customer-over-n891596

NEW YORK TIMES
— F.B.I. Confidence in Leadership Fell in Year After Comey’s Firing – Matt Apuzzo (DIERSEN: While I worked for GAO 1980-1997, its employees who were Democrat, and especially those who were minority, female, younger, and/or veteran, became increasingly confident and happy that GAO’s Democrat leaders would get rid of the agency’s employees who were Republican, and especially those who were White, male, older, and/or non-veteran.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/us/politics/fbi-confidence-wray-comey-trump-survey.html

WASHINGTON POST
— Downgrading retirees to meet ratings quotas can lead to problems – Karla L. Miller (DIERSEN: In 1989, to help GAO get rid of its employees who were Republican, White, male, and/or non-veteran who had not made GS-13 (currently $96,403) by age 25, GS-14 (currently $113,920) by age 30, GS-15 (currently $134,000) by age 35, and Senior Executive Service (currently $164,200) by age 40, the Democrats who ran GAO instituted their pay-for-performance (PFP) system. Of course, to get rid of me, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for PFP purposes.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/work-advice-downgrading-retirees-to-meet-ratings-quotas-can-lead-to-problems/2018/07/10/a117edb2-6516-11e8-a69c-b944de66d9e7_story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Reader: At the end of every year, my company conducts management reviews, assigning a rating of 1 (unacceptable) to 5 (outstanding) to everyone who was an employee during the year, whether or not they’re still at the company. The performance rating system requires a fixed distribution of workers – a certain percentage at each level every year. While finding workers deserving a “1” rating was relatively easy at first, over time it became a problem to assign “unacceptable” to workers who are perfectly acceptable. To meet the fixed distribution goal, management’s solution has been to assign “1” to workers who retired during the year, regardless of their performance. The retirees won’t see the “1” rating, but they also won’t receive the prorated annual bonus they would otherwise receive for the time they worked in their last year. This seems unethical. What do you think?)

TORONTO SUN
— Slavery – what they didn’t teach in my high school – Larry Elder
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/elder-slavery-what-they-didnt-teach-in-my-high-school

BUSINESS INSIDER
— I retired at 52 with a $3 million net worth — here’s what a week of my spending looks like (DIERSEN: My Democrat GAO superiors’ argument that they did not force me to take their early retirement offer in 1997 when I was 49 years old is absurdly false on its face. In today’s dollars, my GAO salary was $125,325/year, but my Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension is $73,461/year less than that, or only $51,864/year. My CSRS pension is only 41% of my GAO salary in today’s dollars.)
http://www.businessinsider.com/early-retirement-weekly-spending-budget-2018-7

BOND BUYER
— Pension woes take toll on Illinois local government ratings – Yvette Shields
https://fixedincome.fidelity.com/ftgw/fi/FINewsArticle?id=201807121904SM______BNDBUYER_00000164-8f3c-d689-a97e-df3c7ee1_110.1
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The western Chicago suburb of Forest Park became the fifth Illinois community since early last year to suffer a multi-level rating cut from Moody’s Investors Service with pension strains cited a key factor. Moody’s (MCO) dropped the village just west of Chicago three levels to Baa1 from A1. The downgrade earlier this month affects about $7.2 million of outstanding debt. The outlook remains negative. The downgrade “is based on the village’s weakened reserve position, structurally imbalanced operations and a high and growing pension burden.” The village of about 14,000 residents has limited ability to raise local revenues and is dependent on uncertain state revenue sources. In its favor is a growing tax base and modest debt burden. “The negative outlook reflects ongoing operating deficits,” Moody’s (MCO) said. “The village’s pension contributions are also very weak relative to plan funding, pointing to further growth in its unfunded liabilities.”)

WINDY CITY TIMES
— Edgewater CVS racial incident involved gay Republican candidate – Matt Simonette
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Edgewater-CVS-racial-incident-involved-gay-Republican-candidate-/63490.html

TOWLEROAD
— Gay Republican CVS Manager Calls Police on Black Woman for Using Wrong Coupon – Andy Towle
http://www.towleroad.com/2018/07/morry-matson/