December 15, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Nearly 23% of Illinois high school students say they drink. DD: If I had been a drinker, a) S.S. Kresge would not have hired me to wash dishes, b) my ACT score would have been lower, c) I would not have made it into the upper 20% of my class, and d) UIC would not have accepted me.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/alcohol-report-illinois-department-of-health/

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— DD: Anticipate/expect that under Pritzker, homelessness will ever-increasingly increase in Illinois.
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/local/2025/12/15/gov-pritzker-announces-2m-in-state-funding-to-help-with-unhoused/87774489007/

WSIL TV
— Illinois’ first report on alcohol use reveals concerning trends
https://www.wsiltv.com/news/illinois/illinois-first-report-on-alcohol-use-reveals-concerning-trends/article_87bae20e-07b9-4e2e-8eea-86410235228b.html?

CITIES 92.9
— Illinois Freedom Caucus raises new questions about noncitizen police officer
https://www.cities929.com/2025/12/15/watch-illinois-freedom-caucus-raises-new-questions-about-noncitizen-police-officer/

CWB CHICAGO
— Man wearing ankle monitor attacked 3 women days after judge refused to detain him
https://cwbchicago.com/2025/12/man-wearing-ankle-monitor-attacked-3-women-days-after-judge-refused-to-detain-him-documents-show.html

DAILY ILLINI
— Trump administration moves to end student loan forgiveness program. DD: I could not have gotten a student loan. My ACT score was only 24. I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class. I could not run because I had a bone disease. My eyesight could not be corrected to 20/20. I was 1-A for the Vietnam War draft. I was not a minority or a female.
https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/university-news/2025/12/15/trump-student-loan-forgiveness/

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/15/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-436/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

FREEDOMS JOURNAL
— Symbolism Is Not Salvation: A Black Conservative Response to Chicago’s Reparations Push
https://freedomsjournalinstitute.org/blog/2025/12/15/symbolism-is-not-salvation-a-black-conservative-response-to-chicago-s-reparations-push

ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE
— Reclassifying Marijuana Ignores Science and Endangers Families
https://illinoisfamily.org/marijuana-2/reclassifying-marijuana-ignores-science-and-endangers-families/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Conservatives line up against Trump’s marijuana downgrade. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/15/conservatives-line-trumps-marijuana-downgrade/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Reclassifying marijuana will not make America great again. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3917642/reclassifying-marijuana-will-not-make-america-great-again/
— Democrats blame guns, not evil, for Bondi Beach and Brown University shootings
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3917487/democrats-blame-guns-not-evil-bondi-beach-brown-shootings/

BLAZE
— ‘Rents will come down’ — but not in sanctuary cities
https://www.theblaze.com/news/rents-come-down-sanctuary-cities

CAMPUS REFORM
— 5 times higher ed pushed socialism in 2025
https://www.campusreform.org/article/5-times-higher-ed-pushed-socialism-in-2025/29080

FOX BUSINESS
— Sanctuary cities accused of shielding dangerous offenders from ICE enforcement
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6386509733112

FOX NEWS
— Leaked lessons from first-year University of Illinois education course show extreme left bias: ‘Just so wrong.’  Student whistleblower shares PowerPoints from first semester education class riddled with far-left messaging.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/leaked-lessons-from-first-year-university-illinois-education-course-show-extreme-left-bias-just-so-wrong

FOX SPORTS
— Chicago radio host rips Cubs player for Turning Point event attendance, likens it to ‘Nazi-adjacent pep rally.’  Matt Shaw attended Kirk’s funeral during the season. DD: People’s attitudes toward Kirk and toward his assassination say a lot about them.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chicago-radio-host-rips-cubs-player-turning-point-event-attendance-nazi-adjacent-pep-rally

TOWNHALL
— NBC News Stirs the ‘Systemic Racism’ Pot
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2025/12/15/nbc-news-systemic-racism-in-certain-activities-n2667899

WESTERN JOURNAL
— Chick-fil-A Doubles Down on Wokeness After Getting Backlash for Gay ‘Marriage’ Stunt
https://www.westernjournal.com/chick-fil-doubles-wokeness-getting-backlash-gay-marriage-stunt/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

WASHINGTON POST
— Chicago has lost its mind. The city’s fiscal situation is dire, and Mayor Brandon Johnson is determined to make things worse.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/15/chicago-budget-brandon-johnson-taxes/

FORBES
— DD: Anticipate/expect that under Pritzker, homelessness will ever-increasingly increase in Illinois.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQiCy48UMhQ

BANKING RATES
— 5 Expensive Items Everyone Should Sell Before Retiring. DD: When my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, I owned two collector cars, a 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS and 1968 Dodge Charger R/T. I held on to them until 2005. I wish I still owned them.
https://www.aol.com/finance/5-expensive-items-everyone-sell-000608065.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: “One of the first things I suggest to clients is to take a hard look at their vehicles,” said Kevin Marshall, CPA and personal finance professional at Amortization Calculator. That dream car in the garage or the second SUV might have been exciting at one point, but it also carries weight — insurance premiums, maintenance costs, and repairs that never come cheap. “Retirement often brings fewer commutes and a slower pace, so why keep paying for something that spends most of its time sitting still?” He’s seen people sell an extra car and use the money to fund an entire year of travel or home improvements. “It’s not about downsizing — it’s about reallocating your resources to what actually brings you joy now.”)

JD SUPRA
— DOJ Promulgates Final Rule Removing Disparate Impact Regulations Under Title VI. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders use disparate impact to get rid of Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, nonpoor, nonveteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. According to Democrat and RINO leaders, when those who are the aforesaid succeed, it is because they benefit from discrimination against those who are not aforesaid. According to my critics/opponents, because I am all of the aforesaid, a) I owe all of my successes in life to my benefitted from discrimination against those who are not the aforesaid and b) I should pay the price of Affirmative Action and DEI.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/doj-promulgates-final-rule-removing-7150551/

PEW RESEARCH
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/12/15/growing-shares-say-the-trump-administration-is-doing-too-much-to-deport-immigrants-in-the-us-illegally/

MOTHER JONES
— Trump Is Hellbent on Crushing Federal Unions, But They’re Still Kicking. DD: My critics/opponents despise/hate past, present, and future federal employees, and especially those who are, were, or might be union members. I was a union member while I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969 and for IRS 1971-1980.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/trump-doge-layoffs-federal-unions-busting-resistance-strike-protest-collective-bargaining-rights/

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.