December 16, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Hundreds of Chicagoans contribute campaign money in hotly contested mayoral election . . . in New York City?  The Nov. 4 general election between New York mayoral candidates Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa drew interest from across the country, including Illinois, where more than 800 people contributed over $70,000 to candidate campaign funds. Mamdani won the race on a progressive platform that’s drawn comparisons to Brandon. DD: Mamdani is not progressive, he is socialist.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/12/16/illinois-chicago-campaign-contributions-new-york-mayor-candidates-zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-curtis-sliwa
— DePaul University lays off 114 staff members. The Lincoln Park-based school said it’s facing financial headwinds due to a significant drop in enrollment among international graduate students, an increased demand for financial aid and the rising costs of benefits.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/15/depaul-university-layoff-cuts-chicago-lincoln-park

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders use vandalism of Evanston Church Nativity scene to promote more hatred against Republicans.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/nativity-smashed-mary-evanston-church/
— What the mayor can do to address the rise of anti-Jewish crime in Chicago. DD: Democrats run Chicago. Chicago residents are overwhelmingly Democrat. Enough said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/opinion-antisemitism-chicago-solutions/

DAILY HERALD
— Kane County officials: Police can’t enforce new law banning civil immigration arrests at courthouses
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251215/news/kane-county-officials-police-cant-enforce-new-law-banning-civil-immigration-arrests-at-courthouses/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PHOTOS: The mainstream news media is ever-increasingly nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251215/nation-and-world-politics/another-blue-wave-napervilles-lauren-underwood-working-to-make-it-happen-while-republican-fights/

WGN9
— Local ‘Worst of the Worst’ list includes serious crimes, also traffic and weed offenses
https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/local-worst-of-the-worst-list-includes-serious-crimes-also-traffic-and-weed-offenses/

FOX32
— Illinois invests $2M to strengthen fight against homelessness. DD: The Democrat Party platform promotes homelessness.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1756794

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Illinois Republicans look for SAFE-T Act changes after Governors comment
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/safe-t-act-pre-trial-release-concerns/

FOX ILLINOIS
— Trump again says he is considering reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous drug. ‘So we are looking at that very strongly,’ Trump said. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-again-says-he-considering-reclassifying-marijuana-less-dangerous-drug

WAND TV
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly fight getting rid of SNAP fraud.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/trump-administration-says-it-needs-to-fight-snap-fraud-but-the-extent-of-the-problem/article_8ec03628-6e2b-5bd1-9050-d73bcc9eeb89.html

WCIA
— IDPH releases first-ever report on alcohol use in Illinois. Nearly 23 percent of Illinois high schoolers reported consuming at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days. DD: If I had been a drinker or a pot smoker, 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.wcia.com/news/health-news/idph-releases-first-ever-report-on-alcohol-use-in-illinois/

NPR ILLINOIS
— Springfield receives $2 million to address homelessness. DD: The Democrat Party platform promotes homelessness.
https://www.nprillinois.org/springfield-il/2025-12-15/springfield-receives-2-million-to-address-homelessness

INDIANA STUDENT DAILY
— Indiana University Turning Point USA membership increases significantly after Kirk assassination. DD: Who heads Turning Point USA in Illinois, in your county, in your township, in your municipality, and in your school district? If I had been active in Republican politics when I was in high school, the Democrats who ran the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. If I had been active in Republican politics while I attended UIC and NIU, the Democrats who ran IRS would not have hired me in 1971. If I had been active in Republican politics while I took graduate courses at Loyola and DePaul, the Democrats who ran GAO would not have hired me in 1980.
https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/12/charlie-kirk-turning-point-indiana-university-iu-news

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Pritzker slams Trump’s rhetoric on Reiner
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/12/16/pritzker-slams-trumps-rhetoric-on-reiner-00692394

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/16/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-649/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— QUESTION: What motivates mainstream news media owners, leaders, employees, and advertisers? ANSWER: Electing and reelecting Democrat candidates and defeating Republican candidates. I base that mainly on my serving as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000. Since 2004, GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters have included links to more than 530,000 articles. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Questions Swirl as GOP Candidate Gabby Shanahan Hands Out Policy Awards to GOP Legislators While Taking Party Cash
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/12/questions-swirl-as-gop-candidate-gabby-shanahan-hands-out-policy-awards-to-gop-legislators-while-taking-party-cash.html
— Illinois Republican grassroots activists are voicing growing frustration – not just with State Rep. Norine Hammond’s latest staged photo-op, but now with Aaron Del Mar’s response that many believe let her off the hook.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/12/grassroots-furious-after-del-mar-plays-nice-following-hammond-photo-op-controversy.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

NEW YORK POST
— Top Zohran Mamdani fundraiser celebrated anti-NYPD slurs, said US should be ‘punished for its sins.’  DD: Immigrants to America ever-increasingly stress that their hands are clean, that is, that their ancestors were not responsible for slavery in America. I have always stressed that while all my ancestors immigrated during the 1840s and 1850s, they have always lived in northeast Illinois.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/15/us-news/top-zohran-mamdani-fundraiser-celebrated-anti-nypd-slurs-said-us-should-be-punished-for-its-sins/

BREITBART
— Machado: “Hundreds Of Thousands” Will Return To Venezuela Once Maduro Goes. DD: If/when Republicans regain control of Illinois, how many Republicans will return to Illinois?
https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2025/12/15/maria-corina-machado-says-hundreds-of-thousands-venezuelans-will-return-home-once-maduro-goes/amp/

CAMPUS REFORM
— 5 times higher ed pushed socialism in 2025. DD: While I earned four college degrees, I escaped such pushes by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/5-times-higher-ed-pushed-socialism-2025/29080

CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— The H-1B Tsunami: Why the U.S. Must Act to Protect American Jobs, Security, and Prosperity. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://cis.org/Siddiqui/H1B-Tsunami-Why-US-Must-Act-Protect-American-Jobs-Security-and-Prosperity
— Were Refugees Resettled under Biden Properly Vetted? A look at the process suggests potential hazards.
https://cis.org/Report/Were-Refugees-Resettled-under-Biden-Properly-Vetted

DAILY CALLER
— Left-Wing Podcaster Jennifer Welch Says With Straight Face Charlie Kirk Justified His Own Murder. DD: Your reaction to Kirk’s assignation says more about you than anything that you can say about yourself.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/12/15/left-wing-podcaster-says-with-straight-face-charlie-kirk-justified-his-own-murder/

DAILY WIRE
— Mamdani And The Expanding Army Of DEI-Trained Social Workers. For the far-left, this is about growing the ranks of credentialed supporters of DEI in public institutions, especially schools.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdani-and-the-expanding-army-of-dei-trained-social-workers

FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM
— Chicago Wants Money for Lawbreaking. FAIR shows city has no standing to object to Trump’s funding cutoff.
https://www.fairus.org/press-release/misc/chicago-wants-money-lawbreaking

FOX NEWS
— AOC’s luxury spending binge in Puerto Rico reignites questions about ‘socialist’ brand: ‘Peak hypocrisy.’ DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, everyone gets free housing, free food, free clothing, free medical care, free childcare, free transportation, free education, free everything. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, you do not have to work unless you want to. More and more and more in America are falling for that.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aocs-luxury-binge-puerto-rico-reignites-questions-about-socialist-brand-peak-hypocrisy.print
— Trump admin launches ‘MerryChristmas.gov’ to roll out 12 days of federal gifts as Christmas comeback ramps up. DD: The Post Office would not have offered me a job when I was 18 years old in 1966 if it had not gotten a budget increase for the 1966 Christmas rush.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-admin-launches-merrychristmas-gov-173246390.html

TOWNHALL
— The Destructive Force Enabling Mayhem. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly side with those who hate conservatives, hate Republicans, hate Americans, hate Whites, hate males, hate older people, hate heterosexuals, hate married people, hate non-poor people, hate Protestants, hate German Americans, and/or hate those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors have been.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffdavidson/2025/12/16/the-destructive-force-enabling-mayhem-n2667942
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In assessing the weekend from hell, as Islamic terrorists grabbed headlines worldwide – with Jews being slaughtered on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Jews being massacred at Brown University in Providence, and U.S. soldiers and a staff member murdered in Palmyra, Syria – what is the enabling force behind such mayhem? Spoiler Alert: It’s Leftists. As demonstrated each and every day, leftists in America – Democrats and the fakestream media which carries their water – are anti-Western civilization.)

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— Fewer MAGA Republicans ‘strongly’ support Trump. DD: What makes someone a Trump supporter? Their giving money to Trump? Their attending his rallies? Their voting for candidates he endorses?
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5649278-maga-republicans-donald-trump-approval-drop/

REUTERS
— Ford takes $19.5bn hit amid electric vehicle retreat as Trump policies bite. Company to scrap several electric models and focus on gas and hybrid as US president pulls support for EVs.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/15/ford-electric-vehicles-trump

NEW YORK TIMES
— Trump Confronts a Backlash of the Reasonable
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/opinion/trump-swing-voters-approval-rating.html
— Rob Reiner Fought for Democrats, and They Loved Him Back. The Hollywood star was an unusually hands-on activist and donor, whose deep understanding of politics set him apart from other celebrities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/us/politics/rob-reiner-democrats-politics.html

WASHINGTON POST
— MAGA leaders warn Trump the base is checking out. Will he listen? Trump’s advisers say he is preparing to hold near-weekly rallies to spend more time with the base, but he has faced criticism from within MAGA in the meantime. DD: What makes someone a member of Trump’s base? Their giving money to Trump? Their attending his rallies? Their voting for candidates he endorses?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/15/trump-base-maga-midterm-voters/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, everyone gets free housing, free food, free clothing, free medical care, free childcare, free transportation, free education, free everything. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, you do not have to work unless you want to. More and more and more in America are falling for that.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/15/reckoning-over-capitalism/

NEW YORK SUN
— New ‘Animal Farm’ Adaptation Sparks Backlash Over ‘Woke’ Retelling
https://www.nysun.com/article/new-animal-farm-adaptation-sparks-backlash-over-woke-retelling

USA TODAY
— DD: The mainstream news media ever-increasingly exists to drive Trump’s approval rating down.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/14/trump-economy-inflation-affordability-hoax/87725036007/
— DD: Gun laws do reduce gun violence. The fewer people that have guns, the more emboldened that criminals are.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/12/15/australia-gun-laws-bondi-beach-shooting/87771943007/

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
— Effort to overhaul ‘woke’ college accreditation system raises questions about politics and power. DD: For Democrats, education exists to crank out good little Democrats.
https://www.ajc.com/education/2025/12/effort-to-overhaul-woke-college-accreditation-system-raises-questions-about-politics-and-power/

WEEK
— Trump signs executive order classifying fentanyl as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’
https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/12/15/trump-signs-executive-order-classifying-fentanyl-weapon-mass-destruction/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Orwell Gets an Orwellian Rewrite. What is ‘Animal Farm’ without a focus on communist tyranny?
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/orwell-gets-an-orwellian-rewrite-83635dcf
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly force EVs on everyone.
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/can-u-s-automakers-compete-with-chinese-evs-while-focusing-on-gas-guzzlers-1b10c881
— A New Journal Opinion Offering. Free Expression writers will focus on life, culture and politics. DD: Will the WSJ invite me to be one of their Free Expression writers? I am completely independent. No one pulls my strings. I have been the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-new-journal-opinion-offering-free-expression-97c5c341
— Trump Criticizes Rob Reiner After His Death. Democrats and some Republicans said the president went too far in his social-media post.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-rob-reiner-death-comments-4ab536d1

FORBES
— DD: Democrat and RINO employers use disparate impact a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees. According to them, when 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 succeed, it is because they have benefitted 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 big time.
https://theweek.com/politics/doj-civil-rights-disparate-impact-discrimination-bondi
— Alarming Update On Student Loan Forgiveness Posted By The Education Department. DD: My critics/opponents have always stressed that 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 had not demonstrated any leadership potential. Further, I was not a minority or a female.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2025/12/15/alarming-update-on-student-loan-forgiveness-posted-by-the-education-department/

FAST COMPANY
— ICE is spending millions on ads to recruit new agents. DD: I was rudely fired by my Firestone Store boss when I was 22 years old in 1971 because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying that it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. Because I had to have a job to help support my mother and brother, I accepted a job offer from IRS. What if the only job offer I had gotten was from ICE?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91460777/ice-is-spending-millions-on-ads-to-recruit-new-agents

MIT MANAGEMENT
— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrat and RINO employers will ever-increasingly use AI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ai-reinventing-hiring-same-old-biases-heres-how-to-avoid-trap

HR GRAPEVINE
— DD: Democrat and RINO employers use budget cuts a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.hrgrapevine.com/us/content/article/2025-12-15-journalists-of-color-question-recent-media-layoffs-amid-dei-purge

NPR
— DD: What is your attitude toward federal employees and federal retirees? I was a federal employee for almost 30 years and I have been a federal retiree for more than 28 years. My critics/opponents have always despised/hated federal employee and federal retirees. I should write about that. They believe that federal employees are grossly overpaid, that federal pensions are much too generous, and that their benefits are much too generous. In my defense, I would not have become a postal employee when I was 18 in 1966 if my high school friend had not asked me to join him in taking the postal employment test. I would not have become an IRS employee when I was 22 in 1971 if my Firestone Store boss had not fired me because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile, an offer that Oldsmobile withdrew because it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint.
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/15/nx-s1-5620842/how-a-va-social-workers-life-has-changed-since-leaving-the-job

THOMAS REDICK
— “Time for Trump’s Patriotic Reparations” is an Urgent Call for Trump to Finally Enact Reparations for Black Americans. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders promote Affirmative Action (AA) to get votes from Blacks. Since the 1960s, AA has been reparations. Since the 1960s, Democrat and RINO leaders have forced those who are the following to pay the price of AA: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Because I am all of the aforesaid, my Democrat superiors in the federal government forced me to pay the price of AA big time. It all culminated when I was 49 years old in 1997 when they forced me to retire and gave my job and my preferred corner office to my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like I had.
https://www.pr.com/press-release/955740

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

DAILY MAIL
— Fury over family-friendly film adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm that blames capitalism and has a happy ending
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-15384471/Fury-family-friendly-film-adaptation-George-Orwells-Animal-Farm-blames-capitalism-happy-ending.html

FROM OTHER SOURCES

WORLD ATLAS
— 12 Best Places to Live in Illinois. DD: Wheaton is not one of the 12. Why is that?
https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/12-best-places-to-live-in-illinois-2025.html

AUTO GUIDE
— These 11 Classic Cars Are A Good Investment. DD: If I had more money back in 2005, I would not have sold my 1968 Dodge Charger R/T to buy a 2005 Corvette. I had far less money in 2005 because my Democrat superiors wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.autoguide.com/auto/featured-articles/s-10-photos-of-bmw-s-futuristic-vision-neue-klasse-x-concept-44610355
(FROM THE ARTICLE: 1968–1970 Dodge Charger — $91,450  With roughly 40,000 R/Ts built and available Hemi power up to 425 hp, the second-gen Charger remains muscle-car royalty. More than half its owners today are Gen X or younger.)

HOT CARS
— America’s Oldest Surviving Car That Makes The Country’s Most Reliable Cars In 2025. DD: If I was in the market for a SUV, I would consider Buick.
https://www.hotcars.com/americas-oldest-surviving-car-brand-makes-most-reliable-cars/

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.