FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Federal employees in Chicago react to confusion over ‘disrespectful’ Musk email request. Trump administration also looking to sell off a number of government-owned buildings, including a couple in Chicago. (COMMENT: I worked in the Kluczynski building 1973-1980 for IRS and then for GAO 1980-1981. If I was still working for GAO, my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates would have killed me by now figuratively if not literally.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/federal-employees-chicago-react-confusion-disrespectful-president-donald-trump-elon-musk-doge-email-request/15952453/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Some people working in the Kluczynski federal building were walking on eggshells Monday morning. One 40-year Treasury Department veteran did not want to go on camera, but called the current climate “overwhelming and mentally distressing.”)
FOX32
— USPS rallies against Trump’s possible agency takeover. “Fight like hell” is what USPS workers are saying in response to President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the agency. (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969.)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1598376
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly crow about their success in manipulating and in dominating religious leaders.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1598601
WGN RADIO
— OPM tells HR leaders that response to Musk is ‘voluntary’
https://wgnradio.com/news/opm-tells-hr-leaders-that-response-to-musk-is-voluntary/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— US refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war, splitting with European allies in UN votes
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/us-russia-ukraine-war/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Former two-term Gov. Jim Edgar diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/former-gov-jim-edgar-pancreatic-cancer/
CHICAGO SUN-TMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: Trump’s cozying up to Russia comes as ‘slap in the face’ to Ukrainian Americans in Chicago. “It’s a betrayal of that ideal that I believe made America what it is — a place in the world where those that don’t have hope can look forward to hope,” said Walter Tun, whose Ukrainian parents immigrated to the U.S. after World War II.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/ukraine/2025/02/24/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-war-third-anniversary-chicago-ukrainians
— Passengers at O’Hare know flying is safe, but some have concerns after plane crashes (COMMENT: I often flew out of O’Hare a) as a GAO employee 1980-1997 and b) with my wife on her business trips to luxury resorts 1978-1992.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/02/24/air-travel-safety-anxiety-transportation
DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE: Sooner or later, if not already, under the Democrats and under the RINOs, everyone in America will a) be handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250224/news/new-building-expands-peoples-resource-centers-capacity/
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly spin everything negatively against Trump.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-whats-ahead-medicaid/medicaid-funding-cuts-could-hit-illinois-hard
SOUTHERN
— Democrats outline playbook to target House Republicans on Medicaid, budget and DOGE
https://southernillinoisnow.com/2025/02/25/democrats-outline-playbook-to-target-house-republicans-on-medicaid-budget-and-doge/
SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— New bill would raise age in which Illinois seniors need to take a driving test
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/state/2025/02/25/new-bill-would-raise-age-illinois-seniors-need-to-take-driving-test/79226496007/
CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Did Pritzker’s ‘Nazi’ ploy have intended effect for 2028?
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/jim-dey-did-pritzkers-nazi-ploy-have-intended-effect-for-2028/article_ec56f494-f2e5-11ef-9823-e7e608d77383.html
STATELINE
— No property tax on new homes? Rockford considers extending 3-year program (COMMENT: My wife and I had a home built in Wheaton in 1984. I should write about our fight to get its assessed valuation lowered because of construction defects and unrecorded easements. SEE: https://casetext.com/case/diersen-v-joe-keim-builders-inc )
https://www.mystateline.com/news/local-news/no-property-tax-on-new-homes-rockford-considers-extending-3-year-program/
NPR ILLINOIS
— U.S. Office of Special Counsel asks for stay of terminations of six probationary federal employees fired over the past two weeks. (COMMENT: When I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 years old in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors were furious that could not just fire me because I had served my probationary period working for IRS.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-24/federal-watchdog-agency-intervenes-in-trumps-purge-of-probationary-employees
AXIOS
— Illinois schools will teach LGBTQ+ history despite federal pushback
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/02/25/illinois-schools-transgender-history-curriculum
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/25/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-461/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Pritzker’s budget proposal maintains spending levels on abortions (COMMENT: To vote for Democrats is to promote abortion.)
https://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/extra/news/pritzker-s-budget-proposal-maintains-spending-levels-on-abortions/article_f47e1142-8cb7-547c-90c3-911d68a72187.html
WIREPOINTS
— Beyond the Nazi accusations. What you should know about Gov. Pritzker’s budget address
https://wirepoints.org/beyond-the-nazi-accusations-the-many-deflections-in-gov-pritzkers-2026-budget-address-wirepoints/
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Lakewood Set to Give Golf Discounts to All Sorts of Insiders
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/lakewood-set-to-give-golf-discounts-to-all-sorts-of-insiders/
— Fourth Mailing by Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Danijela Sandberg
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/fourth-mailing-by-algonquin-township-road-commissioner-danijela-sandberg/
— Politico Covers McHenry County GOPAC Fundraiser Featuring Lara Trump
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/politico-covers-mchenry-county-gopac-fundraiser-featuring-lara-trump/
— McLaughlin Calls Out Democrats for Again Seeking to End Flat Rate Income Tax
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/24/mclaughlin-calls-out-democrats-for-again-seeking-to-end-flat-rate-income-tax/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— I am a platform Republican. To run for an office as a Republican is to obligate yourself to defend and advance the Republican Party platform if elected. I help elect Republican candidates because if they are elected, they are obligated to defend and advance the Republican Party platform. But sadly, if not outrageously, if not disgustingly, if not tragically, after they are elected as Republicans, far too many fail/refuse to defend/advance the Republican Party platform. But nevertheless, I continue to help elect them because Democrat elected officials are much worse. There are many RINOs, but there are virtually no DINOs. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What if you were ordered to report what you accomplished during the last 7 days? I put GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sent them out. Between Tuesday, February 18, and Monday, February 24, they included links to 522 articles. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump and against those who share Trump’s demographics: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America foe a long time. More than 77 million voted for Trump. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— GAO is supposed to be doing what DOGE does, plus much more. Bur GAO is just a shell of what it once was. That is because Gingrich gutted GAO instead of reforming it. Because of that, my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Before that, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for them, and forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS in 1980. GAO did not unionize until 2007. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— The federal government is not nonpartisan. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who despise/hate Republicans. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, to retain, and to promote Democrats. I should write about that. I would use as examples the three federal agencies that I worked for: GAO 1980-1997, IRS 1971-1980, and Post Office 1966-1969. I would use as examples the adverse actions that the aforesaid took against me to waste my career and to get rid of me because I was a Republican who complained about their use of budget cuts, up-or-out, subjectivity in job assignment and performance appraisal systems, and Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, race and gender based preference giving, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination to not hire Republicans, to not retain Republicans, to not promote Republicans, and to get rid of Republicans. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Have you been collateral damage? I want to believe that my big GAO employment problems 1980-1997 were simply collateral damage caused by Republican budget cuts. But Hastert and my Republican U.S. Senators and Representatives not coming to my defense in Diersen v. GAO argues against that. It argues that they did not really oppose GAO’s political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. It argues that they rejected the equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) plank in the Republican Party platform. According to my critics/opponents, they did not come to my defense because they believed that I was a bad employee. In my defense, while I worked for GAO, I earned two job-related master’s degrees, five job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. Previously, while I worked for IRS, I earned a job related master’s degree and a job-related professional certification. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— How much religious, political, government, and/or financial clout do your critics/opponents have. My critics/opponents have tremendous religious, political, government, and/or financial clout in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois. Because of that, virtually no one has come to my defense since I moved to Wheaton in 1978. Everyone especially fears my critics/opponents who I have sued and their lawyers. They are especially wealthy, vicious, and vindictive. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Musk forges ahead with DOGE demand for list of federal workers’ tasks. Says failure to respond a second time could result in firing.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/25/elon-musk-forges-ahead-doge-demand-list-federal-workers-tasks/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Defunding the teacher trainers
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/3328504/defunding-teacher-trainers/
AMERICAN CONSERVAIVE
— The Distraction of Mexico’s 10,000 Troops. The Mexican president must disband her country’s network of NGOs that bring millions of illegals to the U.S. border. (COMMENT: To send people into a country illegally is an act of war.)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-distraction-of-mexicos-10000-troops/
BREITBART
— Governors Ask President Trump to Let Them Import Foreign Workers
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/24/governors-ask-president-trump-to-let-them-import-foreign-workers/
— Survey Reveals Trump’s Mass Deportation Policy Has 62% Approval
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/24/nolte-survey-reveals-trumps-mass-deportation-policy-has-62-approval/
DAILY CALLER
— GOP Senator Suffers Brain Bleed After Slipping On Ice (COMMENT: Brain bleeds are very serious. The one that I suffered slipping on ice picking up newspapers on my driveway stopped me from putting GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sending them out for a while. I still have not fully recovered and I probably never will.)
https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/25/gop-senator-suffers-brain-bleed-after-slipping-on-ice/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer suffered a brain injury Sunday afternoon after slipping on ice in the backyard of his North Dakota home. Cramer, 64, said he was hospitalized and diagnosed with a “severe concussion, a seizure and a slight brain bleed” in a statement posted to Facebook Monday evening. He said he did not know when he plans to return to Washington, D.C., but that he could return quickly for a critical vote if necessary.
DAILY SIGNAL
— DOGE Follows GAO in ‘Identifying Trillions of Dollars Lost’ (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997.)
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/02/24/comer-doge-follows-gao-identifying-trillions-dollars-lost/
EPOCH TIMES
— US Votes Against Ukraine-Drafted UN Resolution Seeking Full Russian Withdrawal (COMMENT: What does the Republican Party platform say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-votes-against-ukraine-drafted-un-resolution-seeking-full-russian-withdrawal-5815380
— Afrikaners Stand in Line for Trump’s Refugee Offer. Tens of thousands of white Afrikaners want to move to the United States to escape alleged racial persecution in South Africa. (COMMENT: But if a Democrat or RINO is elected U.S. President in 2028, America will immediately go back to discriminating against Whites, that is, America will immediately reinstate Affirmative Action and DEI.)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/afrikaners-stand-in-line-for-trumps-refugee-offer-5813397
FOX NEWS
— Noem ends Biden-era use of controversial app to allow migrants to board flights, except to self-deport. Trump ordered the shutdown of the CBP One app to parole migrants last month.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-ends-biden-era-use-controversial-app-allow-migrants-board-flights-except-self-deport
— Woke actors have toxic empathy
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369283984112
NATIONAL REVIEW
— Trump Agency Heads Ignore Musk’s Ultimatum to Federal Employees, in Farcical Episode
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/trump-agency-heads-ignore-musks-ultimatum-to-federal-employees-in-farcical-episode/
TOWNHALL
— ‘Did Not Know It Was Even Possible to Go That Low’: You Won’t Believe Chicago Mayor’s Favorable Ratings
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2025/02/24/did-not-know-it-was-even-possible-to-go-that-low-you-wont-believe-chicago-mayors-approval-rating-n2652711
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— The federal government is not nonpartisan. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who despise/hate Republicans. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, to retain, and to promote Democrats. I should write about that. I would use as examples the three federal agencies that I worked for: GAO 1980-1997, IRS 1971-1980, and Post Office 1966-1969. I would use as examples the adverse actions that the aforesaid took against me to waste my career and to get rid of me because I was a Republican who complained about their use of budget cuts, up-or-out, subjectivity in job assignment and performance appraisal systems, and Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, race and gender based preference giving, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination to not hire Republicans, to not retain Republicans, to not promote Republicans, and to get rid of Republicans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-america-s-civil-service-must-remain-nonpartisan/ar-AA1thDR8
CBS NEWS
— Trump praises Musk for email threatening termination to federal workers (COMMENT: Of course, my critics/opponents would stress to Trump a) that I was a federal employee for almost 30 years and that I was a union member for almost 12 of those years, b) that I never made GS-14 and that I was forced to retire early even though I had three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license, and c) that I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://www.cbs19.tv/video/news/local/president-donald-trump-praises-elon-musk-for-email-threatening-termination-to-federal-workers/501-1e6be9de-a762-47cb-9db2-38ebc643c5e8
MSN
— Trump Didn’t Campaign on Decimating the Federal Government (COMMENT: Trump got elected by promising to defend and advance the Republican Party platform.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-didn-t-campaign-on-decimating-the-federal-government/ar-AA1zHNDh
— 10 Fast Cars From The ’60s That No One Talks About (COMMENT: The list includes 1962 Chevy Impala SS. I owned one 1989-2005. My Democrat GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were furious that I bought and owned that collector car.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/10-fast-cars-from-the-60s-that-no-one-talks-about/ar-AA1zB6kv
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Ex-Secret Service agent and conservative media personality Dan Bongino picked as FBI deputy director (COMMENT: One of my close friends during the 1960s and 1970s was a Secret Service Agent.)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-bongino-patel-cad5f4ea22ada9768ea90a08168568d1
NEW YORK TIMES
— Musk deepened the confusion and alarm of workers across the federal government Saturday by ordering them to summarize their accomplishments for the week, warning that a failure to do so would be taken as a resignation. (COMMENT: What did your accomplish during the last week? I put GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sent them out. Since Tuesday, February 18, 2025, they included links to 522 article.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/elon-musk-email-federal-employees.html
— America and Russia Are on the Same Side Now
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/opinion/russia-europe-trump-vance.html
DALLAS NEWS
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly analogize illegals to runaway slaves.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/02/25/why-are-christians-fleeing-persecution-among-trumps-deportees/
ORLANDO SENTINEL
— DeSantis creates a Florida DOGE to audit universities, local governments (COMMENT: GAO is supposed to be doing what DOGE does, plus much more. Bur GAO is just a shell of what it once was. That is because Gingrich gutted GAO instead of reforming it. Because of that, my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Before that, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for them, and forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS in 1980. GAO did not unionize until 2007.)
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/02/24/desantis-to-create-a-florida-doge-to-audit-universities-local-governments/
KXLY
— USPS workers rally against Trump (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC18AT46N70
KGET
— Federal employee unions expand lawsuit to Musk firing threat if they don’t justify work (COMMENT: I was a union member while I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969 and for IRS 1971-1980. If GAO had been unionized when I worked for it 1980-1997, I might still be a GAO employee.)
https://www.kget.com/video/federal-employee-unions-expand-lawsuit-to-musk-firing-threat-if-they-don%e2%80%99t-justify-work/10484134/
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
— Analyzing DOGE actions one month into Trump’s second administration (COMMENT: I want to believe that my big GAO employment problems 1980-1997 were simply collateral damage caused by Republican budget cuts. But Hastert and my Republican U.S. Senators and Representatives not coming to my defense in Diersen v. GAO argues against that. It argues that they did not really oppose GAO’s political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. It argues that they rejected the equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) plank in the Republican Party platform. According to my critics/opponents, they did not come to my defense because they believed that I was a bad employee. In my defense, while I worked for GAO, I earned two job-related master’s degrees, five job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. Previously, while I worked for IRS, I earned a job related master’s degree and a job-related professional certification.)
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/democracy-governance/analyzing-doge-actions-one-month-trumps-second
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Even if legal and institutional safeguards eventually rein in some of the collateral damage, it will take years for government to recover from the shocks of his tenure.)
FAST COMPANY
— Democrat and RINO employers use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91282124/a-practical-guide-to-doing-dei-work-in-a-hostile-era
NPR
— U.S. votes against a U.N. resolution urging Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine (COMMENT: According to Democrat and RINO leaders, if you support Trump, you support Putin. But what does the Republican Party platform say about this? Trump got elected by promising to defend and advance the Republican Party platform.)
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/g-s1-50473/un-ukraine-resolution-russia
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In a win for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the U.N. General Assembly on Monday adopted two resolutions calling for an end to the war, while rejecting a U.S. draft that never mentioned Moscow’s aggression. Instead, both resolutions make clear Russia was the aggressor. The United States, reflecting the extraordinary turnaround under President Donald Trump, joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution. The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own resolution after Europeans succeeded in amending it. It was a setback for the Trump administration in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.)
NEW YORK MAGAZINE
— Trump Didn’t Campaign on Decimating the Federal Government
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-didnt-campaign-on-decimating-the-federal-government.html
ACLU
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump and against those who share Trump’s demographics: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America foe a long time. More than 77 million voted for Trump.
https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/state-and-local-governments-are-saying-no-to-trumps-radical-agenda
WORKERS WORLD
— Black History Month, every day!
https://www.workers.org/2025/02/84011/
ECONOMIC TIMES
— IRS will lay off roughly 7,000 employees amid tax filing season in Trump downsizing spree (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran IRS 1971-1980.)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-irs-layoffs-will-lay-off-roughly-7000-employees-amid-tax-filing-season-in-trump-downsizing-spree-10-point-explainer/articleshow/118448606.cms
Tag: DuPage
February 24, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Father Pfleger, faith leaders call for boycott of Target after company scales back DEI initiatives (COMMENT: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly crow about their success in getting religious leaders to do their bidding. The Democrat Party platform is extremely anti-religious.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/target-boycott-father-michael-pfleger-among-faith-leaders-calling-consumer-company-scales-back-dei-initiatives/15942947/
NBC5
— ‘Dark MAGA’ spreads as conservatives embrace Musk’s influence on Trump. The black “Dark MAGA” hats made popular by Elon Musk was heavily noticeable at an annual gathering of conservative activists.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/dark-maga-spreads-conservatives-musks-influence-trump/3681062/
CBS2
— Oak Park seeks to regulate hemp-derived THC products (COMMENT: Pot pushers want THC to be regulated because THC sales cut into pot sales.)
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/oak-park-illinois-regulate-hemp-derived-thc-products/
FOX32
— Musk email to federal employees met with resistance (COMMENT: Because GAO is part of the legislative branch, if I was still working for GAO, I presume that I would not have gotten Musk’s email. But if had gotten his email, I would have stressed specific things that I did to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government. See https://www.google.com/search?q=gao+analyst+%22position+description for a description of what GAO Analysts do. During my last 11 years at GAO, I worked at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $117,807-$153,151/year.)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/elon-musk-email-federal-employees-trump-what-did-you-do-last-week
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been directed to tell the Office of Personnel Management what they accomplished over the last week. Elon Musk, who’s been tasked with slashing federal spending, said they must reply within 48 hours or risk losing their jobs. Key federal agencies from the FBI and State Department to the Pentagon have instructed their employees not to comply.)
WBEZ
— Chicagoans mark three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the administration in Washington grows critical of Ukraine, hundreds waving flags filled the Wrigley Building plaza downtown Saturday to call for an end to the war.
https://www.wbez.org/politics/2025/02/23/ukraine-war-putin-zelenskyy-trump-nato-chicago
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Donald Trump threatens one of their own
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/23/democratic-governors-after-trump-threatens/?clearUserState=true
— The more planks in the Republican Party platform that a group promotes, the more that RINO leaders hint/imply/argue/shout that that group is an extremist group if not a hate group. Illinois Center Right Coalition (ICRC) and TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois promoted all the planks in the Republican Party platform. I should write about my critics/opponents who did the most to destroy ICRC and TAPROOT. I would focus on those who are still in power.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/23/chicago-police-extremism-task-force/
— Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, the more of the following that you are, the less likely that you will be hired, retained, and/or promoted: citizen of America, heterosexual, Republican, conservative, White, male, older, married, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or if your ancestors have been in America for a long time.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/opinion-end-racism-dei-affirmative-action/
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/column-republican-voters-donald-trump-page/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: Soon, if not already, everyone in health care in America will be more and more and more of the following: citizens of foreign countries, non-conservative, non-Republican, minority, female, younger, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/02/24/illinois-medical-school-amissions-race-affirmative-action-black-hispanic-students
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Trump and Musk take aim at Loop’s Kluczynski, Metcalfe buildings (COMMENT: I worked in the Kluczynski building 1973-1980 for IRS and then for GAO 1980-1981.)
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/trump-and-musk-take-aim-loops-kluczynski-metcalfe-buildings
SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— Overcoming sexual stigma: Springfield massage therapist shares experiences, hardships (COMMENT: Illinois Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote prostitution.)
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/local/2025/02/24/how-unlicensed-massage-parlors-sexually-stigmatize-massage-therapy/79187661007/
WCIA
— Trump, Musk aren’t the first to make deep cuts: Clinton-era initiative saved billions (COMMENT: During the Clinton-era, I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO. They used Clinton budget cuts to get rid of their Republican employees like me who were conservative, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or had ancestors who had been in America for a long time.)
https://www.wcia.com/news/national/trump-musk-arent-the-first-to-make-deep-cuts-clinton-era-initiative-saved-billions/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The Clinton administration also worked with Congress to authorize $25,000 buyouts for federal workers and ended up eliminating what Kamarck said were more than 400,000 federal positions between 1993 and 2000 through a combination of voluntary departures, attrition and a relatively small number of layoffs.)
NPR ILLINOIS
— Democrats say “CPAC is an annual meeting of conservative leaders” and ask “How’s it changed in recent years?” (COMMENT: From what I see, CPAC has ever-increasingly moved more toward Libertarianism.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-22/cpac-is-an-annual-meeting-of-conservative-leaders-hows-it-changed-in-recent-years
— Democrats say “Two conservative events show how Trump has created a divide in the Republican Party.” (COMMENT: Trump got elected by promising to defend and advance the Republican Party platform. What Trump does against that platform divides the Republican Party.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-23/two-conservative-events-show-how-trump-has-created-a-divide-in-the-republican-party
WREX
— Democrats ever-increasingly push more pot.
https://www.wrex.com/news/illinois-senate-to-be-presented-with-bill-that-could-stop-police-from-searching-a-vehicle/article_c91efbd2-f25b-11ef-8879-0b0dd6cd474e.html
NORTHERN PUBLIC RADIO
— What does Trump’s pick for labor secretary tell us about his priorities for workers? (COMMENT: I should write about what picks by Republican leaders say about those leaders. I would focus on the leaders of the Illinois Republican Party (IRP), DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) and the Republican leaders of Illinois, DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 2000. Ever-increasingly their picks reject more and more and more planks in the Republican Party platform. Ever-increasingly, their picks paint themselves as being Democrat-Lite, if not anti-conservative, if not anti-Republican. I would focus on those leaders whose picks took the most/biggest adverse actions against me. MTRO leaders fired me as MTRO webmaster in 2004 and 2010. Wheaton leaders fired me as a member of the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee in 2011 and as the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades in 2021. IRP leaders fired me as a member of the IRP State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2024. Republican leaders had their operatives and dupes fire me as a) an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member in 2004, b) an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee in 2007, and c) as the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman in 2012.)
https://www.northernpublicradio.org/2025-02-23/what-does-trumps-pick-for-labor-secretary-tell-us-about-his-priorities-for-workers
UIC TODAY
— FEBRUARY 17, 2015 FLASHBACK: Circle Back, UIC Forward: UIC remembers its roots (COMMENT: I attended UIC 1966-1968.)
https://today.uic.edu/circle-back-uic-forward/
AXIOS CHICAGO
— Why the Obama Presidential Center is immune to Trump’s cuts
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/02/19/obama-presidential-center-immune-trumps-spending-cuts
ILLINOIS EAGLE
— State rep calls for equity in funding for HIV in Black community
https://illinoiseagle.com/2025/02/22/eaglets-state-rep-calls-for-equity-in-funding-for-hiv-in-black-community/
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— How Pritzker’s speech was written
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/02/24/how-pritzkers-speech-was-written-00205688
— A Trump visit (COMMENT: I used to attend such Republican events and post such reports on them, but not as detailed. But I stopped because leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party ever-increasingly punished me for doing that. I should write about the aforesaid leaders. I would focus on those still in power.)
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/02/24/how-pritzkers-speech-was-written-00205688
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Lara Trump, the former co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of the president, visited Illinois on Friday making a bold statement that Illinois could turn red in 2028 — and she revealed some insight about President Donald Trump’s executive moves. She had stats: “Donald Trump in 2016 got 38 percent of the vote here. In 2020, 40 percent of the vote. In 2024, he got 45 percent of the vote in the state of Illinois. I want you guys to understand something. We are about to turn the state of Illinois in the next presidential election to a red state,” Trump told a crowd of 500 at Venuti’s Italian restaurant in Addison. The event was a fundraiser for McHenry County GOPAC. Lara Trump also offered a glimpse into the thinking of the president’s recent executive actions. During his first term, she said, the president was told repeatedly, “You need to fit into this specific mold. And so he tried to fit into that mold, and he got a lot of great things accomplished.” That changed in his second term: He’s “looking at things differently,” Lara Trump said. The president “isn’t trying to fit in that mold anymore. He said, ‘You know what? I’m going to come into this White House, and I’m going to do things my way this time.’” ABC 7’s Liz Nagy has more. SPOTTED: Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie and Republican state Reps. Martin McLaughlin, John Cabello, Jed Davis, Regan Deering, Bradley Fritts, Amy Grant, Jeff Keicher, Patrick Sheehan, Dennis Tipsword, Dan Ugaste and Tom Weber. Also in the room: Former state Sen. Darren Bailey, who’s mulling a run for office again. “Stay tuned,” he says.)
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/24/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-460/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— What do your critics/opponents do? My critics/opponents focus on stopping me from sending out GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters, and failing that, they focus on stopping everyone from reading my newsletters. I should write about my critics/opponents and the biggest adverse actions that they have had their operatives and dupes take against me since 2000. I would focus on my critics/opponents who are still in power. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopollinois.com
— Are your critics/opponents anti-Trump? My critics/opponents are anti-Trump if not Trump-haters. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those who have taken the most/biggest adverse actions against e since 201`5. I would focus on those who are still in power. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Because GAO is part of the legislative branch, if I was still working for GAO, I presume that I would not have gotten Musk’s email. But if had gotten his email, I would have stressed specific things that I did to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government. See https://www.google.com/search?q=gao+analyst+%22position+description for a description of what GAO Analysts do. During my last 11 years at GAO, I worked at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $117,807-$153,151/year.- Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— The more planks in the Republican Party platform that a group promotes, the more that RINO leaders hint/imply/argue/shout that that group is an extremist group if not a hate group. Illinois Center Right Coalition (ICRC) and TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois promoted all the planks in the Republican Party platform. I should write about my critics/opponents who did the most to destroy ICRC and TAPROOT. I would focus on those who are still in power. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— During the Clinton-era, I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO. They used Clinton budget cuts to get rid of their Republican employees like me who were conservative, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or had ancestors who had been in America for a long time. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— I should write about what picks by Republican leaders say about those leaders. I would focus on the leaders of the Illinois Republican Party (IRP), DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) and the Republican leaders of Illinois, DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 2000. Ever-increasingly their picks reject more and more and more planks in the Republican Party platform. Ever-increasingly, their picks paint themselves as being Democrat-Lite, if not anti-conservative, if not anti-Republican. I would focus on those leaders whose picks took the most/biggest adverse actions against me. MTRO leaders fired me as MTRO webmaster in 2004 and 2010. Wheaton leaders fired me as a member of the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee in 2011 and as the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades in 2021. IRP leaders fired me as a member of the IRP State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2024. Republican leaders had their operatives and dupes fire me as a) an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member in 2004, b) an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee in 2007, and c) as the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman in 2012.)
— Who are the members of the conservative news media in Illinois? What are their positions on me and on my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters? According to my critics/opponents, me and my newsletters cause all their problems, all of your problems, all of my problems, and all of everyone’s problems. They want to stop me from sending my newsletters out, and failing that, they want to stop everyone from reading them. Everyone in Illinois sees how members of the conservative news media in Illinois treat me and treat my newsletters. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Why is DOGE needed? I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO for almost 18 years 1980-1997. Fewer and fewer and fewer of my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinate were Republicans. Toward the end, virtually none were Republicans. If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it in the 1990s, there would be no need for DOGE today. The Democrats who ran GAO used Gingrich’s budget cuts to get rid of the agency’s few remaining Republican employees including me. Federal agencies run by Democrats do not want Republicans to audit them. Federal agencies run by Republicans do not want Democrats to audit them. Solutions include requiring half of GAO’s employees and its audit teams to be Republicans and half to be Democrats. When auditing agencies headed by Democrats, the lead auditors would be Republicans. When auditing agencies headed by Republicans, the lead auditors would be Democrats. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Anticipate/expect that ever-increasingly, if you are a Republican in Illinois, the more of the following that you are, the more that hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters like Pritzker will call you a Nazi: conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or if your ancestors have been in America for a long time. To call someone a Nazi in America today is like calling someone a Jew in Germany during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Pritzker ever-increasingly makes it clear that he is going to get rid of all Republicans in Illinois once and for all. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) paint Republicans as being oppressors and b) paint Democrats as being protectors. According to Democrat leaders, Republicans oppress those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, LGBTQ, non-rich, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, citizens of foreign countries, boozers, gamblers, stoners, criminals, etc. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
WIREPOINTS
— New Trier High School Led On Woke Education. It Should Lead The Way Out.
https://wirepoints.org/new-trier-high-school-led-on-woke-education-it-should-lead-the-way-out-wirepoints/
BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are, Wheaton College Lefties
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/02/21/come-out-come-out-wherever-you-are-wheaton-college-lefties
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Danjela Sandberg Mails in Support of Her Candidacy for Road Commissioner on Tuesday
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/22/danjela-sandberg-mails-in-support-of-her-candidacy-for-road-commissioner-on-tuesday/
Danijela Sandberg Makes Second Mailing in Campaign to Remain Algonquin Township Road Commissioner
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/danijela-sandberg-makes-second-mailing-in-campaign-to-remain-algonquin-township-road-commissioner/
— You Won’t See Stories Like This about McHenry County Restaurants
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/you-wont-see-stories-like-this-about-mchenry-county-restaurants/
— Durbin Holds Lonely Protest
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/durbin-holds-lonely-protest/
— Rob Parrish Mails before Election on Which He Is Not on the Ballot
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/22/rob-parrish-mails/
— Reaction to Pritzker’s Announcement That Lake Michigan Shall Henceforth Be Called “Lake Illinois”
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/reaction-to-pritzkers-announcement-that-lake-michigan-shall-henceforth-be-called-lake-illinois/
— The Censures of Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk – Part 7
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/the-censures-of-algonquin-township-supervisor-randy-funk-part-7/
— Pritzker Hit New Low with Nazi Charge, According to Jewish News Syndicate
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/pritzker-hit-new-low-with-nazi-charge-according-to-jewish-news-syndicate/
— The CBS Gal Who Thinks Freedom of Speech Led to the Nazi Holocaust
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/23/the-cbs-gal-who-thinks-freedom-of-speech-led-to-the-nazi-holocaust/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— GOP States threaten fines and jail time for local officials who resist Trump’s immigration crackdown. (COMMENT: What is Pritzker doing to stop enforcement of federal immigration laws in your county, township, municipality, and school district?)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/23/gop-states-threaten-fines-jail-time-local-officials-resist-trumps/
— Patel tells FBI employees to ignore Musk’s email on work reporting, for now
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/23/kash-patel-tells-fbi-employees-ignore-elon-musk-email-work-reporting/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Pentagon tells personnel not to respond to Musk-backed accomplishments email
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense/3327666/pentagon-tells-personnel-not-respond-musk-accomplishments-email/
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— The Mellon Foundation’s Assault on American History. The organization bankrolls the deconstruction of our heroes and founding principles.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-mellon-foundations-assault-on-american-history/
AMERICAN THINKER
— The AP’s feelings get hurt; it’s a First Amendment crisis!
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/the_ap_s_feelings_get_hurt_it_s_a_first_amendment_crisis.html
— Lies, damn lies, and statistics—or, in the case of Democrats, polls
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/lies_damn_lies_and_statistics_or_in_the_case_of_democrats_polls.html
BREITBART
— Jane Fonda Uses SAG Life Achievement Award Speech to Push Hollywood to Resist Trump: ‘Woke Means You Give a Damn About Other People’ (COMMENT: To be woke is to promote more hatred against Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2025/02/23/jane-fonda-uses-sag-life-achievement-award-speech-to-push-hollywood-to-resist-trump-woke-just-means-you-give-a-damn-about-other-people/
— More Artists and Celebrities Canceling Shows at Kennedy Center to Protest Trump (COMMENT: Overwhelmingly, increasingly, artists and celebrities are anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-heterosexual, anti-non poor people, anti-Protestant, anti-German American, and/or anti-those who have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2025/02/23/more-artists-and-celebrities-canceling-shows-at-kennedy-center-to-protest-trump/
DAILY SIGNAL
— What Has Changed in the Darien Gap Under Trump’s Presidency?
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/02/23/darien-gap-migration-slows-from-torrent-trickle-under-trump/
FOX NEWS
— Musk’s demand that fed employees list their accomplishments roils workforce: ‘Mass civil disobedience’ ‘This is a good opportunity for mass civil disobedience,’ Democratic Rep. Sean Casten posted to X.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/musks-demand-fed-employees-list-accomplishments-roils-workforce-mass-civil-disobedience
— CPAC attendees say Trump ‘activated’ new media conservatism (COMMENT: Who are the members of the conservative news media in Illinois? What are their positions on me and on my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters? According to my critics/opponents, me and my newsletters cause all their problems, all of your problems, all of my problems, and all of everyone’s problems. They want to stop me from sending my newsletters out, and failing that, they want to stop everyone from reading them. Everyone in Illinois sees how members of the conservative news media in Illinois treat me and treat my newsletters.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/watch-cpac-attendees-trump-activated-140716949.html
LEGAL NSURRECTION
— Reports of the Death of DEI are Greatly Exaggerated (COMMENT: I should write about how DEI continues to be enforced in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois.)
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/video-reports-of-the-death-of-dei-are-greatly-exaggerated/
— American Bar Association Temporarily Suspends DEI Enforcement (COMMENT: I should write about how DEI continues to be enforced in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois.)
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/american-bar-association-temporarily-suspends-dei-enforcement/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Hegseth responds to blowback over Friday night Pentagon purge
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5159850-defense-secretary-hegseth-defends-firings/
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Georgia and other states threaten fines and jail time for local officials who resist immigration crackdown
https://www.wabe.org/georgia-and-other-states-threaten-fines-and-jail-time-for-local-officials-who-resist-immigration-crackdown/
MSN
— Trump Sparks Firestorm By Sending Illegals to Guantanamo
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/appalling-trump-sparks-firestorm-by-sending-migrants-to-guantanamo/ss-AA1zu3Ht
— Trump Wants To End the EV Tax Credit — Are EVs Still Worth Buying? (COMMENT: I have ordered a 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T EV. What positions do my critics/opponents have on that?)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/trump-wants-to-end-the-ev-tax-credit-are-evs-still-worth-buying/ar-AA1yACUF
ABC NEWS
— Fired Joint Chiefs chairman posts farewell message (COMMENT: Because my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, I did much more than post a farewell message, I sued them. SEE: https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf )
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/trump-2nd-term-live-updates/?id=119115308
CBS NEWS
— Homan says he’s “bringing hell” to sanctuary city Boston
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/immigration-tom-homan-president-trump-sanctuary-city-boston/
NEW YORK TIMES
— Some Trump Officials Push Back Against Musk’s Ultimatum to Workers
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/elon-musk-email-federal-workers.html
— Does Elon Musk Still Care About Selling Cars? Mr. Musk, one of President Trump’s main advisers, has not outlined a plan to reverse falling sales at the electric car company of which he is chief executive.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/business/elon-musk-tesla-trump.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The chief executive’s polarizing social media posts and work in the Trump administration were driving away customers, prompting some employees to leave and making it harder to recruit new talent to Tesla, the manager said, according to an audio recording of the meeting reviewed by The New York Times. . .Some investors said that Mr. Musk’s lack of interest in selling cars was apparent in how little he had said about Mr. Trump’s initiatives that could hurt Tesla’s sales. The chief executive of Ford, Jim Farley, last week said that some of Mr. Trump’s plans to repeal Biden era incentives for electric cars could force the company to lay off workers. But Mr. Musk has said nothing publicly about them.)
— Prison Officials Detail Treatment of Trans Inmates Under Trump Gender Order (COMMENT: Inmates who say that they are LGBTQ should be housed with other inmates who say that they are LGBTQ.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/us/trump-trans-women-prison.html
— Trump Just Fired 6,700 I.R.S. Workers in the Middle of Tax Season. That’s a Huge Mistake. (COMMENT: I was involved in IRS’s 1974 tax season big time. Have you ever phoned IRS with a tax question? If you did during the 1974 filing season, the IRS employee who answered your call was one of my subordinates. Back then, as a 25-year-old GS-11 (currently $82,655/year) IRS Revenue Officer, I supervised all of the IRS employees, which included a rotating staff of about 90 IRS Revenue Agent trainees, in IRS’s new downtown Chicago office who answered taxpayer questions using IRS’s new tollfree CentiPhone system. Because of my job performance, the IRS manager who had given me that developmental opportunity and who had promoted me in 1972 and 1973 promoted me to GS-12 (currently $99,069/year) in 1974.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/opinion/irs-taxes-trump.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/23/panama-united-states-migration-trump/4518008e-f226-11ef-acb5-08900d482a27_story.html
— Trump announces conservative podcaster Dan Bongino as FBI deputy director. The appointment of Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and NYPD officer turned conservative radio host, puts a second Trump ally at the top of the agency.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/02/23/dan-bongino-fbi-deputy-director-trump/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump Paralyzes the U.S. Wind Power Industry. The president, who despises wind turbines, has paused federal permits and leasing for such projects, putting company plans in limbo.
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/trump-paralyzes-the-u-s-wind-power-industry-21fd4c7a
FORBES
— Democrat and RINO employers ever-increasingly use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2025/02/23/how-leaders-are-unpacking-trumps-anti-dei-actions/
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
— Trump and Musk cite fraud, but what does a government audit really look like? (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO for almost 18 years 1980-1997. Fewer and fewer and fewer of my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinate were Republicans. Toward the end, virtually none were Republicans. If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it in the 1990s, there would be no need for DOGE today. The Democrats who ran GAO used Gingrich’s budget cuts to get rid of the agency’s few remaining Republican employees including me. Federal agencies run by Democrats do not want Republicans to audit them. Federal agencies run by Republicans do not want Democrats to audit them. Solutions include requiring half of GAO’s employees and its audit teams to be Republicans and half to be Democrats. When auditing agencies headed by Democrats, the lead auditors would be Republicans. When auditing agencies headed by Republicans, the lead auditors would be Democrats.)
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/0224/trump-musk-government-fraud-doge
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Every year, the federal government could be losing between $233 billion and $521 billion to fraud, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). At the high end, that is about 8% of the $6.75 trillion the federal government spent in its last fiscal year. . .If the GAO were to initiate an agency audit, it would use a standardized process that involves gathering the right group of people, meeting with interested parties to iron out goals and get feedback, collecting and examining evidence, reviewing comments on drafts and findings, and writing a comprehensive report. In all, the process might take nine months. “It’s a really rigorous process,” says Rebecca Shea, a director in GAO’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service. “Every word in the report, every line, every number, is indexed and referenced. It is tied back, linked back, to a piece of evidence that we have collected.” DOGE, by contrast, has started down a much different path. Instead of deliberation, it has moved with entrepreneurial speed. Instead of the fact-checking rigor of a GAO audit, Mr. Musk has made unsubstantiated claims, some of which have turned out to be false. “Nobody’s going to bat a thousand,” he told reporters in a recent press briefing. He promised to quickly fix any problems.)
NPR
— Democrats say “Two conservative events show how Trump has created a divide in the Republican Party.”
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/23/nx-s1-5300044/two-conservative-events-show-how-trump-has-created-a-divide-in-the-republican-party
GOVERNING
— The Unacceptable Risk Sanctuary Cities Pose for Public Safety. The consequences of sanctuary policies extend far beyond the ideological debate surrounding immigration enforcement. These policies enable criminal networks to make communities more dangerous.
https://www.governing.com/urban/the-unacceptable-risk-sanctuary-cities-pose-for-public-safety
DAILY CAMPUS
— Anticipate/expect that ever-increasingly, if you are a Republican in Illinois, the more of the following that you are, the more that hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters like Pritzker will call you a Nazi: conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or if your ancestors have been in America for a long time. To call someone a Nazi in America today is like calling someone a Jew in German during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Pritzker ever-increasingly makes it clear that he is going to get rid of all Republicans in Illinois once and for all.
https://dailycampus.com/2025/02/24/trump-and-hitler-drawing-the-parallels/
INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
— Democrats used to promote integration. Now they promote segregation.
https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2025/02/24/colleges-must-stand-new-segregationists-opinion
AXIOS
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) paint Republicans as being oppressors and b) paint Democrats as being protectors. According to Democrat leaders, Republicans oppress those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, LGBTQ, non-rich, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, citizens of foreign countries, boozers, gamblers, stoners, criminals, etc.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/23/trump-attacks-dei-diversity-disability
DAILY MAIL
— Pam Bondi’s brutal three-word response to Democrat governors refusing to deport illegal migrants
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14427009/pam-bondi-three-word-response-democrat-governor-deport-migrants.html
February 22, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— President Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump speaks at McHenry County fundraising event
https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-politics-president-donald-trumps-daughter-law-lara-trump-speaks-mchenry-county-gopac-fundraising-event/15943990/
— Trump clashes with Democratic governor at White House event: ‘See you in court’
https://abc7chicago.com/post/maine-governor-janet-mills-president-donald-trump-clashes-executive-order-banning-transgender-athletes-womens-sports/15943839/
NBC5
— Judge blocks Trump administration from terminating DEI-related grants. The court ruling also prevents the Justice Department from bringing any enforcement actions against contractors and grant recipients who have such programs.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/judge-blocks-trump-administration-from-terminating-dei-related-grants/3680425/
— A look at Trump’s latest executive orders as he signs more than 70 in first month. This week, measures surrounding IVF, federal regulation and benefits for immigrants were among the newest additions.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/a-look-at-trumps-latest-executive-orders-as-he-signs-more-than-70-in-first-month/3680178/
FOX32
— Pritzker receives pushback for comments comparing Trump and the MAGA movement to Nazi Germany. (COMMENT: If you are a conservative Republican and White, male, older, Christian, and/or German American, the more demographics that you share with Hitler, the more that Democrat and RINO leaders hint/imply/argue/shout that you are a Nazi. Hitler was White, male, older, Christian, and German American.)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1597352
(FROM WIKIPEDIA: The religious beliefs of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, have been a matter of debate. His opinions regarding religious matters changed considerably over time. During the beginning of his political career, Hitler publicly expressed favorable opinions towards traditional Christian ideals, but later deviated from them. Most historians describe his later posture as adversarial to organized Christianity and established Christian denominations. He also staunchly criticized atheism. Hitler was born to a practicing Catholic mother, Klara Hitler, and was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church; his father, Alois Hitler, was a free-thinker and skeptical of the Catholic Church. In 1904, he was confirmed at the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Linz, Austria, where the family lived. . .Toland offers the opinion that Hitler “carried within him its teaching that the Jew was the killer of God. The extermination, therefore, could be done without a twinge of conscience since he was merely acting as the avenging hand of God …” Michael Rissmann notes that, according to several witnesses who lived with Hitler in a men’s home in Vienna, he never again attended Mass or received the sacraments after leaving home at 18 years old. In a speech in 1932, Hitler declared himself “not a Catholic and not a Protestant, but a German Christian”.)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/22/transgender-trump-executive-order-chicago-impact/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote immigrants. Democrat leaders want immigrants because immigrants vote for Democrats. RINO leaders want immigrants because RINO leaders want cheap labor.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/2025/02/21/elaine-soloway-family-refugee-story-russa-immigration-aslyum
DAILY HERALD
— Democrats had mixed reactions last week to Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget address
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250222/news/majority-party-democrats-had-mixed-reactions-last-week-to-gov-jb-pritzkers-budget-address-with-le/
SHAW LOCAL
— Gary Sinise & The Lt. Dan Band return to Cantigny in Wheaton this summer Saturday, July 12
https://www.shawlocal.com/thescene/2025/02/22/gary-sinise-the-lt-dan-band-return-to-cantigny-in-wheaton-this-summer/
RIVER BENDER
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly encourage citizens of foreign countries to have their children born in America. Democrat leaders see those children as being soldiers in their army. Democrats have declared a Second Civil War against Republicans.
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/duckworth-and-rosen-introduce-born-in-the-usa-act-legislation-79938.cfm?
WAND TV
— IL Democrats celebrate Pritzker’s budget, GOP criticize Governor for ‘Nazi comparison’
https://www.wandtv.com/news/statehouse/il-democrats-celebrate-pritzkers-budget-gop-criticize-governor-for-nazi-comparison/article_7b08d028-ef16-11ef-ba5b-efc1d3148209.html
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Trump says he may take control of the US Postal Service. (COMMENT: To force me to resign in 1969 when I was 20 years old, my Democrats Park Forest Post Office superiors falsely claimed that I was not available to work enough part-time hours. I was available to work every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, holiday, and every day that NIU was not in session. Previously, they denied my sick leave requests in 1968 and 1969.)
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-trump-says-he-may-take-control-of-the-us-postal-service-heres-what-to-know/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WIREPOINTS
— People in neighboring states are getting tax cuts. Gov. Pritzker has never offered Illinoisans the same relief.
https://wirepoints.org/people-in-neighboring-states-are-getting-tax-cuts-gov-pritzker-has-never-offered-illinoisans-the-same-relief-wirepoints-on-wls-ramblin-ray-show/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— What are Affirmative Action (AA) and DEI? They are tools that Democrats and RINOs use to get rid of Republicans. I should write about how my Democrat superiors in the federal government used AA and DEI to waste my career and to force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. I should write about how RINO leaders of the following used DEI to get rid of me: a) Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party leaders, b) Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois leaders, c) conservative leaders, and d) religious leaders. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— How would your life have been different if Trump had ended Affirmative Action and DEI earlier? For me, it would have been much more difficult for my Democrat superiors in the federal government to take adverse actions against me and to force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Because I earned three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license, the federal government would have promoted me into its Senior Executive Service before I was 40 years old in 1988. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— How has DEI impacted you, that is, how has race and gender based preference giving impacted you? Since the 1960s, my critics/opponents have used DEI to get rid of me. I should write about that. I would focus on a) my Democrat superiors in the federal government, b) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party, c) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders. I would focus on the big adverse actions that the aforesaid would not have taken against me if I had been a minority or female. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Have you been fired? My Democrat Post Office superiors fired me in when I was 20 years old in 1969. My Democrat Firestone Store boss fired me in 1971. My Democrat GAO superiors fired me in 1997. My RINO Milton Township Republican Organization leaders fired me in 2004 and 2010. My RINO American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter leaders fired me in 2004. My RINO Illinois Center Right Coalition leaders fired me in 2007. My RINO Wheaton Chamber of Commerce leaders fired me in 2011. My RINO TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois leaders fired me in 2012. My RINO Wheaton leaders fired me in 2021. My RINO Illinois Republican Party leaders fired me 2024. I should write about those who have fired me and the pretexts that they used. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Did you get scholarships? Since I was 17 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have used against me my not getting any scholarships. According to them, my not getting any scholarships proves that I am academically deficient and that my parents were filthy rich. They have always stressed that I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class and that my ACT score was only 24. In my defense, I stress that even though I had to work my way through college, I went on to earn three master’s degrees, six professional certifications, and a professional license. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on how much money their parents had. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What are your demographics? If I had been a minority or a woman when I was 49 years old in 1997, I would have been able to get a job appropriate for my work experience, education, professional certifications, and professional license. I had worked for GAO for almost 18 years. I had worked for IRS for almost 9 years. I had earned three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance). I had earned six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting). I had earned a job-related professional license (CPA). – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com)
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Judge pauses parts of Trump orders aimed at dismantling DEI
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3326999/judge-pauses-parts-trump-dei-orders/
— Noem deputizes State Department employees as immigration officers (COMMENT: I worked for IRS as a Revenue Officer for almost 9 years. Will Trump deputize IRS Revenue Officers as immigration officers?)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/3323486/kristi-noem-deputize-state-employees-dhs-immigration-officers/
NEW YORK POST
— No going back: The left will fail in trying to reverse Trump’s DEI death sentence (COMMENT: How has DEI impacted you, that is, how has race and gender based preference giving impacted you? Since the 1960s, my critics/opponents have used DEI to get rid of me. I should write about that. I would focus on a) my Democrat superiors in the federal government, b) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party, c) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders. I would focus on the big adverse actions that the aforesaid would not have taken against me if I had been a minority or female.)
https://nypost.com/2025/02/21/opinion/the-left-will-fail-in-trying-to-reverse-trumps-dei-death-sentence/
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— Trump Should Lead A World Summit Against Illegal Immigration. Now is time to internationalize the campaign against illegal immigration.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-should-lead-a-world-summit-against-illegal-immigration/
BREITBART
— Attorney General Pam Bondi warned leftist mayors and governors that if they don’t comply with the law and work with federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants, they will be sued. (COIMMENT: Federal Law Trumps State And Local Law.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bg9yVmbd2k
COLLEGE FIX
— Federal agency halts scholarship program at HBCUs following Trump’s DEI crackdown (COMMENT: Since I was 17 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have used against me my not getting any scholarships. According to them, my not getting any scholarships proves that I am academically deficient and that my parents were filthy rich. They have always stressed that I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class and that my ACT score was only 24. In my defense, I stress that even though I had to work my way through college, I went on to earn three master’s degrees, six professional certifications, and a professional license. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on how much money their parents had.)
https://www.thecollegefix.com/federal-agency-halts-scholarship-program-at-hbcus-following-trumps-dei-crackdown/
EPOCH TIMES
— Trump Considers Merging US Postal Service With Commerce Department. ‘We’re losing so much money with the Postal Service, and we don’t want to lose that kind of money,’ Trump said.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-considers-merging-us-postal-service-with-commerce-department-5814303
FOX BUSINESS
— Citigroup pulls back on diversity in job hiring as Trump administration dismantles DEI nationwide. Citigroup CEO announced in a memo that a diverse job candidate slate is no longer required. (COMMENT: If I had been a minority or a woman when I was 49 years old in 1997, I would have been able to get a job appropriate for my work experience, education, professional certifications, and professional license. I had worked for GAO for almost 18 years. I had worked for IRS for almost 9 years. I had earned three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance). I had earned six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting). I had earned a job-related professional license (CPA).)
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/major-bank-pulls-back-diversity-job-hiring-trump-administration-dismantles-dei-nationwide
NEW AMERICAN
— Noem Ends TPS for 520K Haitians; Almost 1M Illegals No Longer Have Status
https://thenewamerican.com/us/noem-ends-tps-for-520k-haitians-almost-1m-illegals-no-longer-have-status/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CNN
— At CPAC, the MAGA base is skeptical of Trump’s Big Tech alliance
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/22/politics/cpac-tech-trump-musk/index.html
REUTERS
— Scenes from CPAC
https://www.reuters.com/pictures/scenes-cpac-2025-02-21/
CNBC
— Trump, DOGE mass job cuts: Federal workers’ money questions answered
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/21/trump-doge-mass-job-cuts-federal-workers-money-questions-answered.html
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Experienced workers, not just rookies, get cut as Trump slashes probationary employees. (COMMENT: To deal with Republican-led budget cuts, while I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, they protected their employees who were Democrat, minority, female. younger, or veteran from adverse impacts and made their employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and or non-veteran pay the price.)
https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2025/feb/22/experienced-workers-not-just-rookies-get-cut-as/
CNN
— Trump administration fires top US general and Navy chief in unprecedented purge of military leadership (COMMENT: Have you been fired? My Democrat Post Office superiors fired me in when I was 20 years old in 1969. My Democrat Firestone Store boss fired me in 1971. My Democrat GAO superiors fired me in 1997. My RINO Milton Township Republican Organization leaders fired me in 2004 and 2010. My RINO American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter leaders fired me in 2004. My RINO Illinois Center Right Coalition leaders fired me in 2007. My RINO Wheaton Chamber of Commerce leaders fired me in 2011. My RINO TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois leaders fired me in 2012. My RINO Wheaton leaders fired me in 2021. My RINO Illinois Republican Party leaders fired me 2024. I should write about those who have fired me and the pretexts that they used.)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/trump-fires-top-us-general-cq-brown/index.html
NBC NEWS
— Mass federal layoffs deliver a gutting one-two punch to America’s veterans. Veterans who lost their government jobs say they also have to worry about the potential fallout from cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, many of my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were veterans, and at times, most, if not virtually all were veterans.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mass-federal-layoffs-deliver-gutting-one-two-punch-americas-veterans-rcna193127
NEW YORK TIMES
— Frustrated Democrats Urge Leaders to Show More Fight Against Trump. Voters, activists and even some governors, like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, are growing exasperated with congressional Democrats’ restrained approach.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/democrats-trump.html
— How Federal Employees Are Fighting Back Against Elon Musk. Some civil servants are using whatever levers they have to resist the orders of the world’s richest man, both in public and behind closed doors. (COMMENT: If I was still a federal employee, my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates would have killed me by now figuratively if not literally.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/federal-employees-elon-musk.html
— At CPAC, Leaders of the Global Right See a New World, Led by Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/cpac-trump-liz-truss-orban-germany-spain.html
WASHINGTON POST
— ‘Lifting’ becomes ‘leveling’: Companies reframe DEI amid Trump upheaval. With private-sector policies in the government’s crosshairs, businesses are ditching representation goals and focusing on inclusion. (COMMENT: I should write about how my Democrat superiors in the federal government used Affirmative Action and DEI to waste my career and force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/21/trump-business-dei-policy-rebrand-representation-goals/
— Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board. Experts say the move would likely violate the law. Trump said Friday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would be “looking at” the mail agency.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/20/trump-usps-takeover-dejoy/
USA TODAY
— Tracking federal layoffs 2025: Impacted agencies include IRS, FAA, TSA and more
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/21/federal-layoffs-2025-list/79415517007/
— Trump keeps teasing a third term, but his fans at CPAC don’t back him on that
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/02/22/trump-third-term-steve-bannon-cpac/79468835007/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Debt Has Always Been the Ruin of Great Powers. Is the U.S. Next?
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/debt-has-always-been-the-ruinof-great-powers-is-the-u-s-next-02f16402?page=1
BUSINESS INSIDER
— Trump administration fires raft of top military officers in unprecedented purge
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-fires-raft-pentagon-leaders-in-unprecedented-purge-2025-2
FORBES
— Trump Celebrates Efforts To End ‘Lawless’ DEI Policies Put In Place By Biden (COMMENT: I should write about how my Democrat superiors in the federal government used Affirmative Action and DEI to waste my career and force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBwKM9YIUP8
— Citigroup Rolls Back Diversity Initiatives—Here Are All The Companies Cutting DEI Programs (COMMENT: I should write about how my Democrat superiors in the federal government used Affirmative Action and DEI to waste my career and force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/02/21/pepsi-rolling-back-diversity-initiatives-here-are-all-the-companies-cutting-dei-programs/
NFFE
— What is happening to the federal workforce under Trump, updates and information you need (COMMENT: I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I was a union member for almost 12 of those years. I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://nffe.org/nffe_news/what-is-happening-to-the-federal-workforce-under-trump-updates-and-information-you-need/
FEDERAL NEWS NETWORK
— Impacts of federal layoffs will be felt for years to come, good government group warns (COMMENT: I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I was a union member for almost 12 of those years. I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/02/impacts-of-federal-layoffs-will-be-felt-for-years-to-come-good-government-group-warns/
FEDERAL NEWS NETWORK
— DoD to fire 5,400 probationary employees next week, with hiring freeze to follow (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, the agency was almost always under Republican-imposed hiring freezes and promotion freezes.)
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2025/02/dod-to-fire-5400-probationary-employees-next-week-with-hiring-freeze-to-follow/
ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
— A snapshot of the federal workforce that is now under attack from the Trump administration (COMMENT: Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who are hell-bent on getting rid of Republicans. I should write about that. I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I would focus on the many big adverse actions that my Democrat superiors took against me to get rid of me.)
https://www.epi.org/blog/a-snapshot-of-the-federal-workforce-that-is-now-under-attack-from-the-trump-administration/
CONVERSATION
— Trump’s moves to strip employment protections from federal workers threaten to make government function worse – not better (COMMENT: The more of the following that federal employees are, the fewer protections that they have: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, non-union member, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.)
https://theconversation.com/trumps-moves-to-strip-employment-protections-from-federal-workers-threaten-to-make-government-function-worse-not-better-248086
ABP
— Pentagon To Layoff 5,400 Employees As President Donald Trump And Elon Musk Continue To Downsize Federal Agencies. So far, over 20,000 workers have been laid off and multiple programs have been dismantled across the US government from foreign aid to financial oversight.
https://news.abplive.com/business/pentagon-to-layoff-5-400-employees-as-president-donald-trump-and-elon-musk-continue-to-downsize-federal-agencies-1753184
MANILA TIMES
— Undocumented Filipinos in US up for deportation as Trump cracks down on illegals
https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/02/22/news/undocumented-filipinos-in-us-up-for-deportation-as-trump-cracks-down-on-illegals/2060620
February 21, 2025 Evening Edition
WHITE HOUSE
— When There Are No Illegal Immigrants, There Is No Need for Shelters
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/02/when-there-are-no-illegal-immigrants-theres-no-need-for-shelters/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Father Pfleger, faith leaders call for boycott of Target after company scales back DEI initiatives
https://abc7chicago.com/post/target-boycott-father-michael-pfleger-among-faith-leaders-calling-consumer-company-scales-back-dei-initiatives/15942947/
— Judge blocks Trump’s executive order ending federal support for DEI programs
https://abc7chicago.com/post/dei-judge-blocks-president-donald-trumps-executive-order-ending-federal-support-diversity-equity-inclusion-programs/15943426/
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration
https://abc7chicago.com/post/11-year-old-jocelynn-rojo-carranza-dies-suicide-days-chatter-rumors-ice-raids-gainesville-isd-school/15942540/
WGN9
— Fired IRS employee Vanessa Marie Rollins searching for health insurance after recent cancer diagnosis (COMMENT: I worked for IRS in its downtown Chicago office in 1971 and 1973-1980, its Harvey office 1972-1973, its 63rd & Halsted office in 1973, and its Joliet office 1973-1974.)
https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/chicago-irs-federal-job-cuts-trump/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Judge blocks Donald Trump’s executive order ending federal support for DEI programs
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/21/judge-trump-dei-programs/
DAILY HERALD
— Darby Hills’ appointment to state Senate on hold as Republicans reopen applications for McConchie’s seat
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250221/illinois-state-politics/republicans-reopen-applications-for-mcconchies-suburban-senate-seat/
SOUTHERN
— Fired IRS employee decries irony of being hired to ‘make the IRS ‘more efficient’ (COMMENT: The purpose of GAO’s audits of IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) that I worked on for GAO for 3 years was to help IRS CID close the tax gap.)
https://southernillinoisnow.com/2025/02/21/fired-irs-employee-decries-irony-of-being-hired-to-make-the-irs-more-efficient/
RIVER BENDER
— Duckworth Slams SecDef Hegseth’s Order to Cut Defense Budget by Eight Percent for the Next Five Years (COMMENT: SEE: Downsizing the U.S. General Accounting Office at https://www.gao.gov/assets/Downsizing_at_the_U.S._General_Accounting_Office.pdf )
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/duckworth-slams-secdef-hegseths-order-to-cut-defense-budget-by-eight-percent-for-the-next-five-years-79912.cfm
(FROM THE GAO REPORT: In 1995, Congress sent a legislative branch appropriations bill to the President, which he signed, that reduced the fiscal year 1996 budget of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) by 15 percent. At the same time, Congress indicated that it would be calling for an additional 10 percent
reduction in GAO’S budget for fiscal year 1997. In order to accommodate those reductions, GAO determined that it would have to trim its workforce
from the fiscal year 1995 level of approximately 4,350 employees’ to 3,500 employees (a loss of 850 positions) by the beginning of fiscal year 1997.)
FOX ILLINOIS
— Kristi Noem deputizes hundreds of State Department agents for immigration enforcement
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/kristi-noem-deputizes-hundreds-of-state-department-agents-for-immigration-enforcement-dhs-department-of-homeland-security-trump-mass-deportations-illegal-immigration-ice
NEWS CHANNEL 20
— MAGA is ‘a Nazi movement’: Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe arrested at city council meeting (COMMENT: Under Pritzker’s lead, anticipate/expect that those in Illinois who voted for Harris (3 million) will ever-increasingly call those who voted for Trump (2.4million) Nazis.)
https://newschannel20.com/news/nation-world/maga-is-a-nazi-movement-former-nfl-punter-chris-kluwe-arrested-at-city-council-meeting-california-huntington-beach-city-council-minnesota-vikings-president-donald-trump-politics-make-america-great-again-red-hat-swastika
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Virtually all federal employees are Democrats. Democrat leaders ever-increasingly glorify and praise them because of Trump budget cuts.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-trump-administration-looks-to-slash-hud-workers-tackling-the-housing-crisis/
WGLT
— IRS cuts over 6,000 jobs in the middle of tax season
https://www.wglt.org/2025-02-20/irs-cuts-over-6-000-jobs-in-the-middle-of-tax-season
WOC 1420
— Former John Deere Employee Sues For Age Discrimination (SEE: Diersen v. GAO at: https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf )
https://woc1420.iheart.com/content/2025-02-21-former-john-deere-employee-sues-for-age-discrimination/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: A former John Deere employee is suing the agricultural equipment maker for age discrimination. Sixty-one year-old Terence Murphy of Geneseo, Illinois says he was fired last summer after 26 years, and his job filled days later by a 33 year-old woman. In the suit, Murphy says his performance ratings were excellent. He says the new hire had no prior experience in the position, and lacked his credentials. Murphy’s attorneys say statistics show Deere fired employees over age 60 at a rate 7.5% higher than those under age 40. Deere & Company says it can’t comment on pending litigation.)
WQAD
— Employment law experts break down age discrimination lawsuit against John Deere (SEE: Diersen v. GAO at: https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf )
https://www.wqad.com/article/money/business/john-deere/john-deere-wrongful-termination-lawsuit-age-discrimination/526-5c13b394-2ec9-4933-b724-eb26b9746e13
CHALKBEAT CHICAGO
— Illinois schools chief tells districts to follow state law, not Trump threats (COMMENT: Federal Trumps State Law.)
https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/02/21/illinois-schools-chief-says-keep-teaching-black-history-after-trump-letter/
CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/21/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-253/
— ILGOP calls out Jewish governor for ‘vile, antisemitic attacks”
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/21/ilgop-calls-out-jewish-governor-for-vile-antisemitic-attacks/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
ILLINOIS GOP
— ILGOP Responds To Pritzker’s Vile, Antisemitic Attacks
https://illinois.gop/category/news/
(THE PRESS RELEASE: Lost in the shuffle of the grandstanding and hypocrisy from Governor Pritzker’s budget speech was the dangerous, divisive rhetoric he used – comparing President Trump and the Republican Party to Nazi’s. During Wednesday’s budget speech, Pritzker referred to Nazi’s six times, painting an inaccurate and dangerously partisan picture of the Republican Party. As Pritzker continues to prepare for his 2028 run for President, ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi released the following statement: “JB Pritzker stoops to a new low and needs to be condemned by both Democrats and Republicans. His disgusting and repulsive attack on Republicans and this administration comes at a time when President Trump and Republicans are supporting Israel and the Jewish people as they defend themselves from barbaric terrorists. Meanwhile, JB Pritzker is standing with criminal illegals and further dividing our great nation. At the Illinois Republican Party, we continue to fight with the Trump Administration to combat an unprecedented wave of antisemitism and will always call out Pritzker’s repulsive language. Bottom Line: In their effort to combat vile, antisemitic attacks like those by Governor Pritzker on Wednesday, President Trump and Republicans are fighting antisemitism in the United States.)
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Those who have demographics that vote for Democrats benefit from DEI. Those who have demographics that vote for Republicans are harmed by DEI. Demographics that vote for Democrats are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, poor, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. Demographics that vote for Republicans are conservative, White, male, older, married, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors have been in America for a long time. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Stopping the illegal alien invasion. January was the lowest month of people illegally crossing the border since May 2020.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/20/stopping-illegal-alien-invasion/
EPOCH TIMES
— Trump Fires Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Charles Q Brown. Trump will nominate Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to replace the general.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-fires-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-chair-charles-q-brown-5814407
FOX BUSINESS
— Chicago resident says his city believes it’s ‘more important’ to take care of illegals than Americans
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6369166557112
— Red state businesses put on notice if they intentionally hire illegal immigrants: ‘Stiff penalties’ The bill would give the Montana prosecutors resources to enforce the law.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/red-state-businesses-put-on-notice-intentionally-hire-illegal-immigrants-stiff-penalties
NEWSMAX
— Military Bases to Be Used to House Illegals
https://www.newsmax.com/us/immigration-deportation-ice/2025/02/21/id/1200023/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
NBC NEWS
— Elon Musk becomes a new power center at CPAC. The tech billionaire stole the show Thursday, a surprise guest who wielded a chainsaw to symbolize his government cuts.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/elon-musk-becomes-new-power-center-cpac-rcna193097
— At town halls, Republicans feel the heat from Trump and Musk’s firing and cutting spree. The White House said the incidents represent just a handful of critics. Others noted similarities to earlier backlash against disruptive moves in Washington.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/town-halls-republicans-feel-heat-trump-musks-firing-cutting-spree-rcna193164
CBS NEWS
— White House pushes back on criticism of Trump spending cuts
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/white-house-pushes-back-on-criticism-of-trump-spending-cuts/
MSNBC
— Not all Republicans want Musk’s chainsaw approach to spending cuts
https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/joe-not-all-republicans-want-musk-s-chainsaw-approach-to-spending-cuts-232576069725
USA TODAY
— What is DOGE dividend check? Will Illinoisans get a $5,000 stimulus check?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/02/21/will-illinoisans-get-5000-doge-stimulus-check-heres-what-to-know/79440259007/
— More than one way to slice a workforce: How Trump’s cuts differ from Clinton’s.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/21/clinton-trump-federal-workers-jobs/79306710007/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In the wake of mass layoffs under President Donald Trump’s new administration, some have compared the government-shrinking initiative to a 1990s effort under President Bill Clinton, when about 400,000 jobs were cut from the federal workforce.)
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Illinois Cancels Henry Hyde. Progressives stripped the late GOP Congressman’s name from a courthouse over abortion.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/dupage-county-democrats-henry-hyde-courthouse-illinois-abortion-hyde-amendment-bffcbb8d
POLITICO
— AP sues Trump officials after being barred from some White House events. The lawsuit says First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/21/associated-press-lawsuit-trump-officials-white-house-00205504
JEWISH NEWS SYNDICATE
— Who is calling who a Nazi? “Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s comparison of the Trump administration to the Nazi regime is deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” said Rabbi David Katz, executive director of the Israel Heritage Foundation.
https://www.jns.org/who-is-calling-who-a-nazi/
February 18, 2025 Evening Edition
WHITE HOUSE
— EXPANDING ACCESS TO IN VITRO FERTILIZATION; ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL AGENCIES
https://www.whitehouse.gov/news/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— ‘We are the patriots’: Chicago federal employees protest mass firings in Federal Plaza (COMMENT: I have always been a Republican. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats. I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I share many demographics with Trump. If I was still a federal employee, my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates would have killed me by now figuratively if not literally.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/18/federal-employees-protest-mass-firings/
— Trump administration gives schools a deadline to end DEI programs or risk losing federal money
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/18/trump-schools-end-dei-programs/
— Trump signs order to study how to expand IVF and calls for ‘radical transparency’ from government
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/18/trump-will-sign-new-executive-orders-while-his-first-joint-tv-interview-with-musk-airs-in-prime-time/
— Soon, if not already, under the Democrats and under the RINOs, everyone in America will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/dupage-naperville-homeless-winter-emergency-shelter/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Democrats ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/la-voz/chicago-immigration-resource-guide
— Trump’s Friday firings leave EPA Chicago office with fewer scientists, staff. Dozens of probationary employees were cut because they didn’t have job protections.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2025/02/18/trump-fires-epa-chicago-scientists-staff-environmental-protection-agency
DAILY HERALD
— Suit asks court to block appointment of McConchie successor in Senate
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250218/illinois-state-politics/suit-asks-court-to-block-appointment-of-mcconchie-successor-in-senate/
— College of DuPage board names top pick for president
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250218/news/college-of-dupage-board-names-top-pick-for-president/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: COD Trustee Andrew Manno, who co-chairs the presidential search committee, told the board last month that it had selected about a dozen or so candidates to appear before the committee for interviews. The committee held those interviews over a span of two days — “over long, long hours” — and was able to narrow the search down to four candidates, Manno said in January. Both the board and the committee agreed to follow a “hybrid confidential approach” to “ensure that COD has the best quality candidates that the country has to offer,” Manno said previously.)
ABC7
— Judge declines to immediately block Elon Musk or DOGE from federal data or layoffs
https://abc7chicago.com/post/white-house-claims-elon-musk-does-not-run-doge-new-filing/15925645/
— Democrats ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-leaders-speak-undocumented-business-owners-deportations-illinois-hispanic-chamber-commerce-offers-legal-adivce/15926782/
NBC5
— Republicans consider cuts, work requirements for Medicaid. Eighty million U.S. adults and children are currently enrolled in the nearly-free health care coverage offered to the poorest Americans.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/health/republicans-consider-cuts-work-requirements-medicaid/3677068/
CBS2
— Mentoring program helping Black high school students prepare for college success (COMMENT: To get rid of me, my Democrat IRS superiors got rid of my IRS mentor who promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974. To get rid of me, my Democrat GAO superiors got rid of my GAO mentor who arranged for my transfer from IRS in 1980 and was finally able to assign me to audits of IRS and to promote me in 1986.)
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/onegoal-mentoring-program-black-high-school-students-college/
FOX32
— Illinois federal employees protest against Trump’s layoffs. Federal workers held a rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago, protesting planned layoffs under President Donald Trump. The Trump administration offered buyouts to nearly 2 million federal employees, leading to 75,000 resignations. Thousands of probationary workers, including EPA employees, were fired without warning, sparking outrage. (COMMENT: I have always been a Republican. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats. I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I share many demographics with Trump. If I was still a federal employee, my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates would have killed me by now figuratively if not literally.)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-federal-employees-protest-against-trumps-layoffs
WTTW
— Are You a Federal Worker in Illinois? We Want to Hear From You. (COMMENT: Would WTTW be interested in hearing about how my Democrat GAO superiors used Republican-led budget cuts to waste my career and to force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997?)
https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/17/are-you-federal-worker-illinois-we-want-hear-you
— Fired EPA Workers in Chicago Rally Against Trump’s Mass Government Layoffs
https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/18/fired-epa-workers-chicago-rally-against-trump-s-mass-government-layoffs
— Democrats ever-increasingly push more pot.
https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/18/committee-advances-bill-ban-vehicle-searches-based-smell-cannabis
VERMILION COUNTY FIRST
— Chief Budgeteer Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) joined Illinois Senate Republican Leader Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove) and Deputy Leader Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) to call on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to commit to transparent accounting of taxpayer spending and to deliver a budget that does not include tax increases on Illinois families and businesses in tomorrow’s address.
https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/2025/02/18/illinois-senate-republicans-call-for-no-new-taxes-transparent-accounting-in-budget/
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Illinois Republican Senate members say Democrats state budget is flawed
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/watch-live-illinois-republican-senate-members-discuss-budget/
— Florida is rushing to enforce new immigration laws.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-florida-is-rushing-to-enforce-new-immigration-laws-heres-what-to-know/
FOX ILLINOIS
— Trump’s border czar says ICE arrests way up, illegal border crossings way down
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/trump-effect-has-migrants-thinking-twice-about-crossing-the-border-white-house-says-illegal-immigration-border-security-politics-ice-arrests-public-safety
WQAD
— Democrats ever-increasingly promote more abortion
https://www.wqad.com/video/news/politics/illinois-politics/planned-parenthood-of-illinois-offering-medication-abortion-pills-through-app/526-3295b9a7-c293-4033-9d3d-4a4e89a2c287
— Democrats ever-increasingly push more pot.
https://www.wqad.com/video/news/politics/illinois-politics/illinois-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-vehicle-searches-based-on-smell-of-cannabis/526-3f033835-2d5d-4df9-b093-e19bb4879010
CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
— Eliminating immigrant spending, boosting education funding top Senate Republican budget priorities. Gov. JB Pritzker set to give budget address Wednesday.
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/eliminating-immigrant-spending-boosting-education-funding-top-senate-republican-budget-priorities/
BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
— Residents, Advocates Fear An Encampment Clearing As Tensions At Gompers Park Rise. Though the city said a planned March 5 moving event doesn’t mean the encampment will be cleared, similar events have led to the dismantling of tent cities, advocates said.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/18/residents-advocates-fear-an-encampment-clearing-as-tensions-at-gompers-park-rise/
CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/18/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-250/
— Poll unsurprisingly finds Trump/Musk and their actions unpopular in Illinois, except for a close division on immigration (COMMENT: 2.4 million in Illinois voted for Trump/Vance.)
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/18/poll-unsurprisingly-finds-trumpmusk-and-their-actions-unpopular-in-illinois-except-for-a-close-division-on-immigration/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Bill would eliminate property taxes for Illinois homeowners after 30 years of residency (COMMENT: I have lived in Illinois for more than 76 years and in Wheaton for almost 47 years. I have paid real estate taxes for more than 52 years.)
https://www.aol.com/bill-eliminate-property-taxes-illinois-213600444.html
— Pritzker to deliver proposed Illinois budget amid mounting spending pressures
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_d154e64e-ee38-11ef-ad97-eb573b7a9e65.html
— Government efficiency caucus formed
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_1951acf4-ee41-11ef-8dfc-47160dadc270.html
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Because Secret Service Clearance Is Required Wednesday Deadline to Buy Tickets to See Lara Trump at McHenry County/Joe Tirio Fundraiser
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/because-secret-service-clearance-is-required-wednesday-deadline-to-buy-tickets-to-see-lara-trump/
— Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Danijela Sandberg’s Opponent Prematurely Declares Victory
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/algonquin-township-road-commissioner-danijela-sandbergs-opponent-prematurely-declares-victory/
— Illinois Policy Institute Tees Up Opposition to Progressive Income Tax Proposals by Democrats
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/illinois-policy-institute-tees-up-opposition-to-progressive-income-tax-proposals-by-democrats/
— Looks Like I Was Wrong on Netflix Subject for “Monsters – Season 3”
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/looks-like-i-was-wrong-on-netflix-subject-for-monsters-season-3/
— Grafton Township Republican Party Issues Endorsements for Township Trustee
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/grafton-township-republican-party-issues-endorsements-for-township-trustee/
— Another View of the Replacement Process for State Senator Dan McConchie
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/another-view-of-the-replacement-process-for-state-senator-dan-mcconchie/
— The Censures of Algonquin Township Supervisor Randy Funk – Part 2
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/the-censures-of-randy-funk-part-2/
— McHenry County Administrator Peter Austin Gets 5.3% Raise
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/18/mchenry-county-administrator-peter-austin-gets-5-3-raise/
ILLINOIS RECORD
— A leaked Video shows the Illinois GOP seemingly lying about their 2024 election get out the vote impact
https://www.illinoisrecord.com/p/a-leaked-video-shows-the-illinois
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Illegal immigrants now paying up to $30,000 as cartels raise prices under Trump
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/18/illegal-immigrants-paying-30-000-cartels-raise-pri/
WASHINGTON EXAMINAR
— CPAC theme: ‘America is back on track’
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/3322407/cpac-theme-america-back-on-track/
AMERICAN WIRE
— Biden admin doled out 10 BILLION to illegals in just one year, shocking probe finds
https://americanwirenews.com/biden-admin-doled-out-10-billion-to-illegals-in-just-one-year-shocking-probe-finds/
CENTER SQUARE
— New guidance seeks to end use of ‘race preferences, stereotypes’ in school admissions
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_127ef2e4-ee26-11ef-a6c4-878910db08f2.html
— IRS tax gap grows to $600 billion as DOGE looks for savings (COMMENT: I worked for GAO for 3 years 1986-1988 on audits of IRS Criminal Investigation Division efforts to close the tax gap.)
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_ecd0de72-ee0c-11ef-848d-ebb54839938d.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: As billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency take a look at one of the federal government’s most-disliked agencies, the Internal Revenue Service, some point to a persistent problem: the tax gap. The tax gap is the difference between what taxpayers pay the IRS voluntarily and on time and what they actually owe the IRS. The projected annual gross tax gap for tax year 2022 was $696 billion, with about $90 billion of that paid late or through IRS enforcement, according to the IRS.)
DAILY WIRE
— Education Dept Slashes $600 Million In Grants Promoting ‘Divisive’ Ideologies. Grants had been training teachers in CRT and gender ideology.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/education-dept-slashes-600-million-in-grants-promoting-divisive-ideologies
FEDERALIST
— United States Should Encourage Less Migration, More Stability
https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/18/former-refugee-the-united-states-should-encourage-less-migration-more-stability/
FOX NEWS
— Vance to speak at CPAC’s opening day. CPAC, which dates back to 1974, is the nation’s oldest and largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vice-president-jd-vance-speak-cpacs-opening-day
NEW AMERICAN
— Noem to Illegal Aliens and Would-be Illegals: Get Out, Stay Out, and Don’t Cross the Border
https://thenewamerican.com/us/immigration/noem-to-illegal-aliens-and-would-be-illegals-get-out-stay-out-and-dont-cross-the-border/
NEWSMAX
— If you have a criminal record, you can’t stay here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt8YhNBsLVc
OPEN THE BOOKS
— CASH FOR MIGRANTS: FEMA NOT THE ONLY AGENCY SPENDING BIG. The Office of Refugee Resettlement has faced questions over transparency, conflict of interest.
https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/5f0bfa8c-91b1-4477-baa5-b98ecf340a76?lid=q5u4w2bhnmbt
TOWNHALL
— Homan Has the Perfect Response to AOC ‘Educating’ Illegals on How to Evade ICE
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2025/02/18/tom-homan-aoc-update-n2652391
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CBS NEWS
— Trump says he may impose auto tariffs of around 25%
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-auto-tariffs-25-percent/
NEWSWEEK
— Inside the Five-Star Hotel Where Deported Migrants Are Awaiting Their Fate
https://www.newsweek.com/inside-five-star-hotel-where-deported-migrants-are-awaiting-their-fate-2032899
USA TODAY
— Student asks Supreme Court to say he can wear T-shirt saying ‘There are only two genders.’ In past decisions, the Supreme Court has allowed students to wear arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War but not to hold up a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/16/supreme-court-student-two-genders-t-shirt-free-speech/78390509007/
LEADER
— IRS tax gap grows to $600 billion as DOGE looks for savings (COMMENT: I worked for GAO for 3 years 1986-1988 on audits of IRS Criminal Investigation Division efforts to close the tax gap.)
https://www.myleaderpaper.com/news/national/irs-tax-gap-grows-to-600-billion-as-doge-looks-for-savings/article_e3f7dd85-5ace-5b39-a934-9d543adda481.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: As billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency take a look at one of the federal government’s most-disliked agencies, the Internal Revenue Service, some point to a persistent problem: the tax gap. The tax gap is the difference between what taxpayers pay the IRS voluntarily and on time and what they actually owe the IRS. The projected annual gross tax gap for tax year 2022 was $696 billion, with about $90 billion of that paid late or through IRS enforcement, according to the IRS. The problem has been around for decades and is growing. From 2014 to 2016, the IRS estimated the tax gap was about $496 billion each year, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.)
ABP
— How Big A Problem Are Illegal Indians For US? 11 Insights From Johns Hopkins Study.
https://news.abplive.com/news/world/how-big-problem-illegal-indians-us-11-insights-johns-hopkins-study-1752190
February 16, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season (COMMENT: I was involved in IRS’s 1974 tax season big time. Have you ever phoned IRS with a tax question? If you did during the 1974 filing season, the IRS employee who answered your call was one of my subordinates. Back then, as a 25-year-old GS-11 (currently $82,655/year) IRS Revenue Officer, I supervised all of the IRS employees, which included a rotating staff of about 90 IRS Revenue Agent trainees, in IRS’s new downtown Chicago office who answered taxpayer questions using IRS’s new tollfree CentiPhone system. Because of my job performance, the IRS manager who had given me that developmental opportunity and who had promoted me in 1972 and 1973 promoted me to GS-12 (currently $99,069/year) in 1974.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/what-are-propationary-employees-irs-is-set-lay-off-thousands-middle-2025-tax-season-many-await-refunds/15915432/?cmp=emc-wls-news-headlines-2/16/2025
NBC5
— Mexico’s President Sheinbaum offers sarcastic response to Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ comment
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/mexicos-president-sheinbaum-offers-sarcastic-response-to-trumps-gulf-of-america-comment/3641113/
— Sikh communities fear immigration raids as Trump ends sanctuary for temples
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/sikh-communities-fear-immigration-raids-trump-ends-sanctuary/3675500/
— AP reporter, photographer barred after ‘Gulf of Mexico’ dispute
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/trump-denies-media-access-gulf-of-mexico-first-amendement/3675490/
CBS2
— Trump administration face criticism from European allies after Vance speech
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/trump-administration-face-criticism-from-european-allies-after-vance-speech/
FOX32
— Poll: Increasing number of Democrats say party should become more moderate
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/democrats-moderation-gallup-poll-2025
WGN9
— Here are the agencies purging federal employees (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, because of Republican imposed budget cuts, they ever-increasingly purged their employees starting with those who were Republican and then those who were White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or had ancestors who had been in America for a long time.)
https://wgntv.com/news/nexstar-media-wire/here-are-the-agencies-purging-federal-workers/
WGN RADIO
— Should the IRS be abolished? (COMMENT: I worked for GAO on audits of IRS for 3 years while I was at the GS-13 Step 1-3 Levels, currently $117,807-$125,661/year. I worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year.)
https://wgnradio.com/lets-get-legal/should-the-irs-be-abolished/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season (COMMENT: During the 1974 tax season, I was responsible for assuring that all the phone calls that came into IRS’s new tollfree number in the Loop were answered promptly and correctly.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/15/irs-probationary-workers-tax-season/
— The US auto industry will fall behind if it retreats from electric vehicles (COMMENT: I have ordered a 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T EV.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/editorial-the-us-auto-industry-will-fall-behind-if-it-retreats-from-electric-vehicles/
— Zelenskyy calls for ‘armed forces of Europe’ as EU leaders bristle at new US policies on Ukraine
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/15/ukraine-armed-forced-of-europe/
— Trump’s reciprocal tariffs will overturn decades of trade policy
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/15/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-2/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: ‘Whole different level.’ The Illinois-Indiana political divide widens amid Trump 2.0, from immigration to DEI to LGBTQ rights.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/16/illinois-indiana-political-divide-widens-trump-immigration-dei-lgbtq-rights/
— Federal plan to reduce government office space could be a blow to Chicago, where selling properties wouldn’t be easy (COMMENT: I worked in the Kluczynski building 1973-1980 for IRS and then for GAO 1980-1981.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/16/federal-office-space-chicago/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE IN THE NAPERVILLE SUN: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, homelessness will ever-increasingly increase.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/dupage-naperville-homeless-winter-emergency-shelter/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Democrats ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/lgbtq/2025/02/15/hundreds-gather-outside-lurie-childrens-hospital-to-protest-youth-gender-care-change-i-want-my-healthcare
ST. LOUIS TODAY
— White South Africans gather in support of Trump and his claims that they are victims of racism
https://www.stltoday.com/news/article_419396d2-eb99-11ef-a041-830ca4999d70.html
BELOIT DAILY NEWS
— Trump tours Boeing plane to highlight aircraft maker’s delay in delivering a new Air Force One
https://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/illinois-news/trump-tours-boeing-plane-to-highlight-aircraft-makers-delay-in-delivering-a-new-air-force/article_789b296d-0e0d-5460-8c0f-19d1085a855c.html
NPR ILLINOIS
— Anticipate/expect that ever-increasingly, Democrat and RINO leaders will negatively analogize Trump to Nixon.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-15/after-watergate-congress-curbed-the-presidency-now-trump-is-testing-those-limits
WAND TV
— Trump tours Boeing plane to check out features that would be on overdue new Air Force One aircraft
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/trump-tours-boeing-plane-to-check-out-features-that-would-be-on-overdue-new-air/article_6c73d2e6-5d71-581e-8683-60dbf3479e7f.html
NEWS CHANNEL 20
— Springfield sees rise in gambling addiction amid booming video gaming revenue
https://newschannel20.com/news/local/springfield-sees-rise-in-gambling-addiction-amid-booming-video-gaming-revenue#
FOX ILLINOIS
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use health care professionals to demonize, denigrate, and condemn Trump. Sooner or later, if not already, everyone in health care will be Democrat, citizens of foreign countries, minority, female, younger, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time,
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/health-care-professionals-warn-trump-medical-research-cuts-could-impact-lifesaving-efforts
— Student who moved to DC for internship finds out Trump’s federal freeze canceled it. (COMMENT: EEOC cancelled my career in the automotive industry. In 1971, when I was 22 years old, my Firestone Store boss rudely fired me when I told him that I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that job offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. That directly resulted in my accepting a job offer from IRS. I had passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination in 1970 and I had to have a job to help support my mother and brother. My father had died suddenly in 1969.)
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/student-who-moved-to-dc-for-internship-finds-out-trumps-federal-freeze-canceled-it-doge-elon-musk-department-of-transportation-donald-trump-federal-government-internships-university-of-cincinnati-graduate-school
WSIL TV
— IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season. The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans, and cuts could come as soon as next week. (COMMENT: My Democrat GAO superiors and supervisors were furious that they could not use probationary employee procedures to get rid of me in 1980 because I had already survived my probationary period when I worked for IRS.)
https://www.wsiltv.com/news/national/irs-will-lay-off-thousands-of-probationary-workers-in-the-middle-of-tax-season/article_97d05354-732c-5dd5-8b09-a7be5df80852.html
WGLT
— EEOC seeks to drop discrimination case after Trump executive order (COMMENT: If Trump had been President in 1971, my entire life since then would have been completely different. EEOC cancelled my career in the automotive industry. In 1971, when I was 22 years old, my Firestone Store boss rudely fired me when I told him that I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that job offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. That directly resulted in my accepting a job offer from IRS. I had passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination in 1970 and I had to have a job to help support my mother and brother. My father had died suddenly in 1969.)
https://www.wglt.org/2025-02-15/eeoc-seeks-to-drop-gender-discrimination-case-after-trump-executive-order
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Democrat and RINO leaders use DEI is to replace Republicans like me who are conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time with Democrats and RINOs who are not the aforesaid. So far, Democrat and RINO leaders have used DEI to a) waste my federal career and force me to retire early, b) end my service as the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) webmaster in 2004 and 2010, c) end my bid to serve as the MTRO treasurer in 2004, d) end my American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board membership in 2004, e) almost get the Illinois Center Right Coalition (ICRC) to censure me for my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters in 2006, f) end my ICRC Steering Committee membership in 2007, g) end my Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee membership in 2011, h) end my TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairmanship in 2012, i) gerrymander my precinct in 2015, j) end my service as the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades and fireworks in 2021, and k) end my service on the Illinois Republican Party State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2024. I should write about the Democrat and RINO leaders who had their operatives and their dupes take the aforesaid adverse actions against me. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Far too many say that they are religious, conservative, and/or Republican, but do little or nothing to defend or advance religious, conservative, and/or Republican principles. What do you say to the aforesaid who work against those like me who defend and advance religious, conservative, and/or Republican principles? Should I write about them? Should I focus on those who read my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters to get information to use against me? Should I focus on those who have taken the most/biggest adverse actions against me? – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What quotas/goals/targets do Democrats have for turning students in your school district into sexually active LGBTQers at each grade level?
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Senate Republican warns that Trump’s downsizing of federal workforce will do ‘more harm than good’ (COMMENT: Downsizing GAO did more harm than good.)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/15/senate-republican-warns-trump-downsizing-federal-w/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— What would a Harris-Walz administration be doing right now?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/3320673/what-would-a-harris-walz-administration-be-doing-right-now/
NEW YORK POST
— Corporate America’s lame attempts to dress up DEI is plainly laughable (COMMENT: To promote DEI is to get rid of Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.)
https://nypost.com/2025/02/15/business/corporate-americas-lame-attempts-to-dress-up-dei-is-plainly-laughable/
AMERICAN THINKER
— Political backlash and public outcry have prompted a compromise between Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican legislators on Florida’s immigration policy, following a prolonged dispute over how to handle illegal aliens.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/02/the_trump_act_the_worst_named_legislation_ever.html
— No More Mr. Nice Guy
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/02/no_more_mr_nice_guy.html
— False claims: universities can’t make them anymore
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/false_claims_universities_can_t_make_them_anymore.html
BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Finger-wagging NY AG Letitia James rages about ‘unelected’ Elon Musk
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2025/02/15/finger-wagging-ny-ag-letitia-james-rages-about-unelected-elon-musk-1522939/
BREITBART
— Much of Illinois Chafes Under Chicago’s, Governor’s Support for Migrants (COMMENT: Sooner or later, the lower that the income is in your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct and the closer that you are to Chicago, the greater that the negative impact of illegal immigration will be.)
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/15/much-of-illinois-chafes-under-chicagos-governors-support-for-migrants/
— Fire-Ravaged California Spending Nearly $10 Billion on Health Care for Illegal Aliens
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/15/fire-ravaged-california-spending-nearly-10-billion-on-health-care-for-illegal-aliens/
— NYC to Sue Trump Administration over $80 Million in Funding Revoked for Migrant Shelters
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/15/report-nyc-to-sue-trump-administration-over-80-million-in-funding-revoked-for-migrant-shelters/
FOX NEWS
— Florida Speaker Daniel Perez: We stand with President Trump on illegal immigration crackdown. Illegal alien criminals will find no sanctuary in the Sunshine State.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/florida-speaker-daniel-perez-we-stand-president-trump-illegal-immigration-crackdown
— At 50, SNL should drop the woke, get back to the joke. The show can once again be funny, if only it will stop preaching at us.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-50-snl-should-drop-woke-get-back-joke
— Department of Education warns that public schools must remove DEI policies or lose federal funding. ‘Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,’ the letter reads.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/department-education-warns-public-schools-must-remove-dei-policies-lose-federal-funding
NATIONAL REVIEW
— Wheaton College Is Abandoning Its Conservative Alumni
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/wheaton-college-is-abandoning-its-conservative-alumni/
NEW AMERICAN
— Universities Get Rich Off Illegal Migrants; 408,000 Currently Enrolled (COMMENT: UIC accepted me in 1966, NIU in 1969, Loyola in 1972, DePaul in 1976, and IIT in 1992, but from what I see, if there had been as many illegals back then as there are now, they would have been accepted instead of me.)
https://thenewamerican.com/us/universities-get-rich-off-illegal-migrants-408000-currently-enrolled/
NEWS BUSTERS
— CNN Lets Pro-Gay Activist Complain About Trump on Transgenders
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2025/02/15/trying-erase-cnn-lets-pro-gay-activist-complain-about-trump
NEWSMAX
— Dems Tie the Hands of Law Enforcement
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/law-enforcement-dems/2025/02/15/id/1199228/
TOWNHALL
— Here Are the Top DOGE Takedowns So Far (COMMENT: By far, Newt Gingrich’s biggest takedown was GAO. I was collateral damage.)
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2025/02/15/doge-week-round-up-n2652105#google_vignette
TRUMP VANCE
— Should I authorize Elon Musk & D.O.G.E. to audit the IRS? (COMMENT: I worked for GAO on audits of IRS for 3 years while I was at the GS-13 Step 1-3 Levels, currently $117,807-$125,661/year. I worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year.)
https://secure.winred.com/trump-national-committee-jfc/lp-hf-email-presidential-poll-v6
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
YAHOO
— Wall Street’s diversity dilemma deepens as JPMorgan’s Dimon sounds off on ‘stupid’ DEI expenses
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-streets-diversity-dilemma-deepens-as-jpmorgans-dimon-sounds-off-on-stupid-dei-expenses-143000294.html
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— White South Africans gather in support of Trump and his claims that they are victims of racism (COMMENT: Anticipate/expect that Democrat leaders will come down on Americans whose ancestors homesteaded. My ancestors on my father’s side homesteaded a 240-acre farm in southeast Crete Township in 1854.)
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2025/02/15/south-africa-trump-supporters/78739407007/
CBS NEWS
— Trump tours updated Boeing plane to highlight delay in delivery of new Air Force One
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-air-force-one-tour-boeing/
NEW YORK TIMES
— Charlie Kirk
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/magazine/charlie-kirk-american-right.html
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly crow about their manipulation and domination of religious leaders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/us/trump-usaid-christian-aid.html
WASHINGTON POST
— ICE struggles to boost arrest numbers despite infusion of resources. Trump has ordered a wartime effort to increase deportations, but ICE statistics show arrests have dipped so far this month.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/02/15/ice-arrests-immigration-deportations/
— Scholz blasts Vance’s support for Germany’s far right. Some see the Trump administration actively promoting political extremism in the West. (COMMENT: Ever-increasingly, since 1999, RINO leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party have demonized me, denigrated, and condemned me as being far-right, as being an extremist.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/15/vance-germany-afd-scholz-weidel-far-right/
USA TODAY
— Fired federal workers say ‘cold and cruel’ cuts upended their lives (COMMENT: My cold/cruel/nasty/vicious Democrat GAO superiors forced me retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Before that, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes, delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, and forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS. Before that, my cold/cruel/nasty/vicious Democrat IRS superiors never promoted me beyond GS-12, disallowed my education deductions, and disallowed my travel vouchers. Before that, my cold/cruel/nasty/vicious Democrat Post Office superiors forced me to resign and before that, disallowed my sick leave requests.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/16/federal-workers-trump-musk-firings/78728081007/
WEST ORLANDO NEWS
— Florida Senator Rick Scott and Republicans Introduce Dismantle DEI Act (COMMENT: What are the Republican elected officials who represent you in your county, township, municipality, and school district doing to fight DEI?)
https://westorlandonews.com/florida-senator-rick-scott-and-republicans-introduce-dismantle-dei-act/
STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS
— Musk’s DOGE pays visit to IRS as millions file tax returns (COMMENT: I worked for GAO on audits of IRS for 3 years while I was at the GS-13 Step1-3 Levels, currently $117,807-$125,661/year. I worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year.)
https://san.com/cc/elon-musks-doge-pays-visit-to-irs-as-millions-file-tax-returns/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Musk’s cost-cutting agency is reviewing the IRS’s operations. DOGE is focusing on reducing non-essential contracts and scrutinizing the agency’s expanded workforce. Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Ron Wyden, have criticized Musk’s efforts.)
FORBES
— ‘It Can’t Be America Alone’: Hegseth Touts Work With Allies To Counter ‘Ascendant Chinese Threat’ (COMMENT: In WWIII, which countries will side with China against America? They will include those countries that are a) sending their citizens into America illegally and/or b) are keeping their citizens in America illegally.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLpL4__2Ql8
FINANCIAL REVIEW
— As Trump tries to kill DEI, Labor moves to lock it in
https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/as-trump-tries-to-kill-dei-labor-moves-to-lock-it-in-20250212-p5lblw
INDIA TODAY
— Return Of ‘DUNKIS’: Two Flights With Deported Indian Illegals From US To Land In Amritsar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te8bJPi9mH4
— Legs chained, hands cuffed: Indian deportee on 2nd US flight recounts ordeal
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/us-migrant-flight-illegal-indian-immigrants-deportee-claims-legs-chained-hands-cuffed-military-plane-amrtisar-2680787-2025-02-16
TIMES OF INDIA
— Trump Blasts ‘Woke’ U.S. Media In Rare Joint Interview With Elon Musk
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/international/theyve-failed-trump-blasts-woke-u-s-media-in-rare-joint-interview-with-elon-musk/videoshow/118286894.cms
SKY NEWS
— Democrats used to promote integration, but now they promote segregation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txOCBET5Ij4
February 15, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC NEWS
— Cracks in a Sanctuary City: How immigration agents are making arrests based on local police data
https://abc7chicago.com/post/cracks-sanctuary-city-how-ice-immigration-agents-are-making-arrests-based-local-police-data-despite-illinois-trust-act/15908159/
— Elgin moves to ban sale of THC products (COMMENT: Pot sellers oppose THC products because THC products compete against pot.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/elgin-thc-ban-push-city-council-grants-preliminary-approval-edibles/15905902/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PICTURE: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/15/chicago-immigration-court-hearing/
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use DEI to get rid of Republicans.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/daughters-target-ceo-dei-efforts/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s $158,000/year state pension suspended following conviction (COMMENT: Are you in line to get a pension? Are you getting a pension? I got in line for a Civil Service Retirement System pension when I was 18 years old in 1966. Even though it is dramatically reduced because my Democrat superiors wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, it is $66,780/year. My critics/opponents have always been furious that I get the aforesaid pension. In my defense, I worked for the Post Office for almost 3 years 1966-1969, IRS for almost 9 years 1971-1980, and GAO for almost 18 years 1980-1997. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree in 1970; job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997; job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997; and a job-related professional license in 1981.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/michael-madigans-state-pension-suspended/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Anger, chaos, confusion as federal workers face mass layoffs. As layoff notices were sent out agency by agency, federal employees from Michigan to Florida were left reeling from being told that their services were no longer needed. (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, Republicans shrank the agency from more than 6,000 employee to less than 3,000 employees. My Democrat GAO superiors punished me severely for that.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/donald-trump/2025/02/14/federal-workers-mass-layoffs-trump-musk-doge
— Letter: Mayor Johnson acts like a dictator
https://chicago.suntimes.com/letters-to-the-editor/2025/02/14/mayor-brandon-johnson-dictator-president-trump-elon-musk-economy-canada-rfk-jr-doge-coders
— Corrupt voters elect corrupt candidates.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/2025/02/14/illinois-lawmakers-use-your-power-to-rein-in-political-corruption
DAILY HERALD
— Barrington Hills trustee Darby Hills to fill McConchie’s seat representing Illinois’ 26th Senate District
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250214/illinois-state-politics/barrington-hills-trustee-to-fill-mcconchies-seat-representing-illinois-26th-senate-district/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Hills’ background includes experience as an arbitrator, mediator and Cook County assistant state’s attorney, focusing her efforts on child welfare. She also worked as a labor and employment attorney at Jackson Lewis LLP on behalf of corporations. “Darby’s dedication to children and families, along with her experience as a prosecutor and local leader, make her an invaluable addition to our team,” said Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove. “She brings a deeply personal perspective to the fight for Illinois’ most vulnerable children — one that will drive real change in Springfield.” As a village trustee, Hills has advocated for keeping taxes low, responsible budgeting, and accountable government. In Springfield, she will work to create a pro-business environment that supports local job creators and strengthens Illinois’ economy, according to the release.)
— Judge orders Democrat on ballot for York Township supervisor (COMMENT: In your precinct, which offices are on the April 1 ballot, who are the candidates, and which ones are Republican?)
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250214/local-politics/judge-orders-democrat-on-ballot-for-york-supervisor/
SHAW LOCAL
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly use Trump’s tariffs to promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/2025/02/15/we-might-just-have-to-weather-the-storm-how-trump-tariffs-could-affect-the-illinois-valley/
RIVERSIDE BROOKFIELD LANDMARK
— How to vote in Brookfield and Riverside’s local elections. Voters will decide the makeup of local governing agencies, including village, school and library boards. (COMMENT: What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to help elect Republican candidates on the April 1 ballot in your precinct? I am going to hand-deliver their campaign literature and a marked copy of the sample ballot to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one registered Republican or Independent voter. But according to my critics/opponents in the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), DuPage County Republican Central Committee (DCRCC), and Illinois Republican Party (IRP), that will cause those candidates to lose many votes a) because I am “too conservative” b) because I do not share their hatred against Trump, c) because my demographics are terrible, d) because MTRO, DCRCC, and IRP leaders have taken so many big adverse actions against me, and e) because Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois have taken so may big adverse actions against me.)
https://www.rblandmark.com/2025/02/14/how-to-vote-brookfield-riverside-local-elections/
NPR ILLINOIS
— Anticipate/expect that Democrat and RINO leaders will ever-increasingly say that everything that Trump says and does causes chaos.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-14/trump-firings-cause-chaos-at-agency-responsible-for-americas-nuclear-weapons
— Democrat and RINO employers ever-increasingly use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-14/trump-has-gone-after-dei-programs-but-dei-consultants-say-demand-was-already-dropping
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Trump administration begins sweeping layoffs with probationary workers, warns of larger cuts to come (COMMENT: My Democrat GAO superiors and supervisors were furious that they could not use probationary employee procedures to get rid of me in 1980 because I had already survived my probationary period when I worked for IRS.)
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/ap-trump-administration-lays-off-probationary-government-workers-warns-others-of-large-cuts-to-come/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WIREPOINTS
— Illinois’ government-anointed electric bus maker is a bigger fiasco than we knew
https://wirepoints.org/illinois-government-anointed-electric-bus-maker-is-a-bigger-fiasco-than-we-knew-wirepoints/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly use against Trump a) everything that he says and does, b) everything that he has said and done, and c) his demographics. My critics/opponents ever-increasingly use against me a) my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters since 2000, b) my demographics, and c) what I did as the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades and fireworks 2005-2021, as the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman 2005-2012, as the Milton Township Republican Organization webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, as a member of the Illinois Republican Party State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2008, as an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, as the Milton Township coordinator for Pat O’Malley’s Republican gubernatorial primary campaign in 2002, and as the plaintiff in lawsuits that I have filed. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
NEW YORK POST
— Obama, Biden endangered flights by rejecting whites for air-traffic controller jobs
https://nypost.com/2025/02/14/opinion/obama-biden-endangered-flights-by-nixing-whites-as-air-traffic-controllers/
— Hey, Congress: Make government great again — by turning Trump’s reforms into law
https://nypost.com/2025/02/14/opinion/hey-congress-make-government-great-again-by-turning-trumps-reforms-into-law/
AMERICAN WIRE NEWS
— Homan sets DOJ probe of AOC in motion over webinar on how illegals can avoid ICE
https://americanwirenews.com/border-czar-homan-sets-doj-probe-of-aoc-in-motion-over-webinar-on-how-illegals-can-avoid-ice/
BREITBART
— FBI Points Out It Sent ‘Thousands of Agents’ to Help Deport Illegals
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/14/fbi-points-out-it-sent-thousands-of-agents-to-help-deport-illegals/
DAILY CALLER
— US Army Says It Will ‘No Longer’ Accept Transgender Applicants, Support Sex-Change Procedures
https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/14/us-army-no-longer-accept-transgender-applicants-bans-sex-change-prodcedures/
DAILY SIGNAL
— F-minus: a tale of two cities’ school districts
https://readlion.com/f-minus-a-tale-of-two-cities-school-districts/
DAILY WIRE
— U.S. Army Bans Transgender-Identifying Individuals From Joining, Halting All Trans Medical Procedures. Trump and Hegseth are crushing wokeness in the military.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-army-bans-transgender-identifying-individuals-from-joining-halting-all-trans-medical-procedures
LAW ENFORCEMENT TODAY
— Elon Musk prescribes LIFE IN PRISON for people who conducted transgender operations on minors! “Children cannot consent. That is why there are laws protecting minors. Those who perpetrated this evil should be in prison for life.”
https://lawenforcementtoday.com/email-letters/let-rev-bm-1776pac-2025-02-13
NEWSMAX
— Slavery Reparations Advocates Are Real Racists
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/owens-slavery-reparations/2025/02/14/id/1199188/
WESTERN JOURNAL
— White House’s Valentine’s Day Card for Would-Be Illegal Aliens Goes Viral
https://www.westernjournal.com/white-houses-valentines-day-card-illegal-aliens-goes-viral/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
NBC NEWS
— Latino Republicans walk tightrope between supporting Trump and advocating for ‘law-abiding’ immigrants. Florida Republicans sent letters to Trump officials over deportation worries for some immigrants but did not oppose the policies, “which in Washington is equivalent to a wink and a nod,” one strategist said. (COMMENT: To come into a country illegally and/or to stay in a country illegally demonstrates gross disrespect for the rule of law and for that country. Of course, illegals argue that Democrats and RINOs invited them to come in illegally and to stay illegally.)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-immigrants-republicans-latino-voter-concerns-deportation-rcna192029
CBS NEWS
— Protests at Stonewall National Monument after “LGBTQ” changed to “LGB” on government website
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/stonewall-national-monument-protest-trans-queer-references-removed/
REUTERS & NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY
— Nearly 10,000 fired as Trump, Musk step up assault on US agencies & Deregulation by Firings’: Breaking Down the Cuts to Financial Oversight & Trump, Musk escalate purge as thousands fired across federal workforce (COMMENT: Have you been fired? I was fired as a) a member of the Illinois Republican Party State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2024, b) the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day Parades and Fireworks in 2021, c) the chairman of TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois in 2012, d) a member of the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affair Committee in 2011, e) the webmaster for the Milton Township Republican Organization in 2010 and 2004, f) a member of the Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee in 2007, g) a director of the American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter in 2004, h) a GAO employee in 1997, i) a Firestone Store employee in 1971, and j) a Post Office Employee in 1969. I should write about those who orchestrated the aforesaid firings and why they did that.)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thousands-fired-trump-musk-take-ax-us-government-offices-2025-02-14/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/business/trump-deregulation-firing.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/14/trump-musk-purge-thousands-federal-workers-fired/78606349007/
YAHOO NEWS
— Anticipate/expect that Democrat and RINO leaders will ever-increasingly say that voters regret voting for Trump. I should write a book about those unsuccessful Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct since 2000 who blame me and my blame my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters the most for their defeats. I would focus on those candidates who blame what I did as a) the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades and fireworks 2005-2021, b) the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman 2005-2012, c) the Milton Township Republican Organization webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, and d) an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/maga-farmers-teachers-latest-groups-170840726.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Vance Tells Europeans to Stop Shunning Parties Deemed Extreme (COMMENT I should write about leaders of the following who demonized TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois and Illinois Center Right Coalition as being extreme: Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization. I would focus on the aforesaid who had their operatives and their dupes destroy the aforesaid organizations.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/world/europe/vance-europe-immigration-ukraine.html
— Layoffs Expand at Federal Agencies, Part of Trump Purge. Mass firings have rocked multiple agencies as President Trump and Elon Musk ramp up plans to drastically slash and reshape the federal work force.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/us/politics/energy-department-layoffs.html
— Democrats become government employees and stay government employees to advance the Democrat Party platform, pure and simple.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/nyregion/adams-prosecutor-danielle-sassoon-profile.html
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote mote illegal immigration.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/opinion/immigration-republicans-democrats-crisis.html
— Trump Cracks Down on Diversity Initiatives Celebrated in His First Term
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/us/politics/trump-diversity-education-department.html
— Trump Wields U.S. Power With Unclear Economic Consequences. The president sees the U.S. economy as a powerful lever against other countries but there are risks to that approach.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/trump-economy-threats.html
— State Dept. Suspends Plan to Buy Armored Teslas. Vehicles made by Elon Musk’s company were on a purchase list issued before Donald Trump was inaugurated and before Mr. Musk became one of the president’s top advisers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/us/politics/state-dept-armored-teslas.html
WASHINGTON POST
— My critics/opponents despise/hate cars, and especially American nameplate cars, and more especially muscle cars, and even more especially Corvettes. I have owned my 1972 Corvette since I was 23 years old in 1971.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/01/27/debunking-the-myth-of-the-american-love-affair-with-cars/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Corey B. Brooks: Trump’s Colorblind Message Energizes Black Americans. Self-reliance, stable families and education will lift neighborhoods like mine to untold heights.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-colorblind-message-energizes-black-americans-upward-mobility-913b5206
— How Zoning Ruined the Housing Market in Blue-State America (COMMENT: My DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton is extremely diverse in terms of household income and home values.)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/how-zoning-ruined-the-housing-market-in-blue-state-america-3fa94568
— Trump Somehow Lowers the Temperature in Washington. Democrats still attack him, but they’ve reverted from catastrophizing to ordinary partisan rhetoric. (COMMENT: As I hand-deliver campaign literature and a copy of the sample ballot for the April 1 election to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent voter, I will assess the progress that Democrats and RINOs are having promoting more hatred against Trump.)
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-somehow-lowers-the-temperature-in-washington-political-rhetoric-second-term-bee3c094
— DOGE’s Federal Job Cuts Threaten Republican Districts Too. The workers Elon Musk seeks to cut are everywhere, including in politically red areas. (COMMENT: Democrats run the federal government. To deal with budget cuts, they first get rid of their employees who are Republican, and then their employees who are White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or who have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/federal-workers-doge-job-cuts-maps-988416ec
ATLANTIC
— Democrat and RINO leaders falsely claim that government employees cannot be fired for their political views. If had been a Democrat, my Democrat superiors would not have wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997 notwithstanding my being White, male, old, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and my ancestors have been in America since 1844.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/employee-firing-first-amendment/681702/
NAACP
— To get more votes from Blacks, anticipate/expect that Democrat leaders will ever-increasingly promote reparations. To get more votes from Blacks, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that Republicans cause all the problems that Blacks have, and especially Republicans like me who are conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. I should write a book about that. I would focus on the success that my Democrat GAO superiors had turning my Black subordinate against me 1990-1997. They stressed to him that I was all of the aforesaid, and that in addition, I lived in Crete 1948-1972 and in Wheaton since 1978. They stressed to him that his pre-GAO work experience was more directly related to our group’s financial industry audit work than mine was. They dismissed, belittled, and badmouthed a) what I had learned completing 14 graduate courses in financial markets and trading at IIT 1992-1997 and b) my having become a Certified Financial Services Auditor in 1996.
https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-praises-reintroduction-historic-reparations-bill-during-black-history-month
February 14, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Trump administration begins mass layoffs across multiple federal agencies (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, the agency ever-increasingly shrank because of Republican-led budget cuts. My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly punished me for that. I was one of the last Republicans who GAO hired. GAO audits IRS. The Democrats who ran GAO in 1980 let me transfer from IRS when I was 31 years old, but only if I took a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars. They could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job. My qualifications included having a) passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, b) almost completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul, c) earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976, and d) worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year. To further punish me for Republican-led budget cuts, my Democrat GAO superiors a) delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes, and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trump-administration-begins-mass-layoffs-multiple-federal-agencies-sources/15903559/
NBC5
— Local businesses concerned about DEI rollbacks as Illinois AG releases guidance (COMMENT: Democrat and RINO employers use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.)
https://www.nbcchicago.com/top-videos-home/local-businesses-concerned-about-dei-rollbacks-as-illinois-ag-releases-guidance/3674153/
FOX32
— Trump’s Illinois approval rating: New poll sheds light on president’s favorability (COMMENT: How strongly do the following approve of Trump: a) the leaders of the Illinois Republican Party and your Republican county, township, and ward party organizations, b) the Republican leaders of your county, township, municipality, and school district, c) the Republican candidates on the April 1 ballot in your precinct, and d) your Republican Precinct Committeeman?)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/trump-illinois-approval-rating-new-poll
(FROM THE ARTICLE: President Donald Trump’s approval rating in Illinois stands at 45%, slightly higher than his election day numbers. Trump’s support grew in suburban Cook County and the collar counties but remained steady in Chicago. The poll highlights a gender gap and varied opinions on Trump’s early policy moves.)
— Durbin slams RFK Jr. as ‘unqualified, unfit, and dangerous’ after health secretary confirmation
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-senator-slams-rfk-jr-unqualified-unfit-dangerous-health-secretary
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Brandon Johnson, brooking no diversity of opinion, summons his inner Donald Trump. Chicago’s mayor is taking precisely the wrong lessons from his administrative failures
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/editorial-brandon-johnson-donald-trump-loyalty/
— Democrats ever-increasingly use DEI to get rid of Republicans
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/14/opinion-dei-trump-administration-free-speech/
— Reader: Illinois should follow President Donald Trump’s example and cut the waste (COMMENT: Democrats and RINOs oppose cutting government waste because Democrats and RINOs benefit from government waste. Democrats and RINOs do not want Republicans like me to fight government waste. GAO fights government waste. I would not have survived as a GAO Analyst for almost 18 years 1980-1997 if I had not a) earned master’s degrees in business in 1976, in accounting in 1980, and in finance in 1997, b) passed on my first attempt the CPA examination in 1979 and the Certified Internal Auditor examination in 1981, c) became a licensed CPA in 1981, d) became a Certified Fraud Examiner in 1990, Government Financial Manager in 1994, Financial Services Auditor in 1996, and Forensic Accountant in 1997, and e) worked for IRS for almost 9 years 1971-1980, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/letters-021325/
— Mayor Johnson’s public food market idea leaves us hungry for details
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/editorial-mayor-johnsons-public-market-idea-leaves-us-hungry-for-details/
— What to know about the federal workforce under President Trump (COMMENT: GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized in 1997, I might still be a GAO employee.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/president-trump-federal-workforce-explainer/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The civilian federal workforce, not including military personnel and postal workers, comprises about 2.4 million people. While a chunk of federal workers, about 20%, are in Washington, D.C., and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, more than 80% are distributed outside the region. . .Civil servants are the vast majority of federal workers. They’re generally hired through an application process and have strong protections once in their positions. Political appointees, who number roughly 4,000, serve at the discretion of the president and can be dismissed at will by the chief executive. . .“Civil servants tend to be in their jobs as careers, some of them for decades,” said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who worked in President Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration when about 426,000 federal jobs were cut over more than eight years in a deliberative effort aimed at reinventing government. . .It’s not easy to fire the vast majority of federal workers — they have considerable job security with a long legal history. Federal employees who are not political appointees have strong protections designed to prevent political whims from clearing out the workforce. The protections have grown over time, under leadership of both major political parties. “The president definitely has his work cut out for him,” said Donald Kettl, a professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Federal workers are entitled to due process, which means they can challenge disciplinary actions through a formal process. They have to be notified of the allegations against them and allowed to respond and present their side. “You have to build a record to fire somebody, and that doesn’t often happen,” Kamarck said. . .Federal workers have union representation, but, unlike those of many industries, they do not have the power to strike. Federal workers also can’t bargain over pay, because salaries are set in law. Federal unions can bargain over working conditions and basic protections for their members. Recently, unions have battled over remote working conditions, which they’ve successfully bargained for in the past and Trump is working to sharply reduce. “There also are some limits about what they can bargain over, so, for example, they can’t bargain over what the policy of their agency is,” Super said. “That’s a matter for the political process to work out, but they can bargain for things that affect workers on their jobs and their well-being.”)
— Trump administration begins sweeping layoffs with probationary workers, warns of larger cuts to come (COMMENT: My Democrat GAO superiors and supervisors were furious that they could not use probationary employee procedures to get rid of me because I had already survived my probationary period when I worked for IRS.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/trump-administration-lays-off-probationary-workers/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Trump, pensions, health care among pressure points as Gov. JB Pritzker crafts state budget. Uncertainty in federal funding under President Donald Trump’s administration has made a tough state budget season even more difficult for Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats who control Springfield.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfield/2025/02/14/jb-pritzker-budget-proposal-donald-trump
— Aviation, COPA chiefs out after Johnson vows to purge disloyal staff (COMMENT: My critics/opponents demand blind loyalty and destroy those like me who they cannot manipulate or dominate, who refuse to glorify and praise them, who refuse to pander to them, who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, who refuse to coverup their wrongdoing, and/or who refuse to give them money.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2025/02/13/aviation-commissioner-retiring-jamie-rhee-ohare-midway-mayor-brandon-johnson-clean-house
DAILY HERALD
— EDITORIAL: Removing Henry Hyde’s name from Wheaton courthouse feels petty. Because it is.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250213/editorials/daily-herald-opinion-removing-henry-hydes-name-from-wheaton-courthouse-feels-petty-because-it-is/
— Elgin moves to ban sale of THC products (COMMENT: Money spent on THC products, booze, gambling, prostitution, and other vices is money not spent on pot.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250213/news/elgin-moves-to-ban-sale-of-thc-products/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use illegals and students to promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250213/news/this-is-a-safe-environment-amid-fears-of-deportation-sweeps-schools-work-to-protect-students/
CARROLL COUNTY NEWS
— Early voting begins for April 1 election (COMMENT: What offices are on the April 1 ballot in your precinct? Who are the candidates? Which ones are Republican?)
https://www.mycarrollcountynews.com/news/article_b1cc4bac-ea21-11ef-a282-2ff1c3444292.html
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— The more demographics that voters have who vote for Republicans, the more that Democrats and RINOs discriminate against those voters. Demographics that vote for Republicans include: conservative, White, male, older, Protestant, German American, and have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/politics/ap-given-christianitys-dominance-in-us-trump-raises-eyebrows-with-anti-christian-bias-initiative/
NPR ILLINOIS
— Trump administration was set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-12/trump-administration-was-set-to-purchase-400-million-worth-of-armored-teslas
— Trump hired Musk as a special federal employee. Here is what that means. (COMMENT: I was just a regular federal employee. But notwithstanding tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors to waste my career and to get rid of me, I survived for almost 18 years and got promoted to GS-13 Step 10, currently $153,151 year.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-13/trump-hired-musk-as-a-special-government-employee-heres-what-that-means
— Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, homelessness will ever-increasingly increase.
https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2025-02-13/statewide-counting-the-unhoused
— A federal worker tried to take Trump’s ‘Fork’ resignation offer. Here’s what happened
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-14/a-federal-worker-tried-to-take-trumps-fork-resignation-offer-heres-what-happened
— Immigration poll shows growing support for restrictions, but deep divisions remain (COMMENT: Democrats want immigrants because immigrants vote for Democrats. RINOs want immigrants because RINOs want cheap labor.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-14/immigration-poll-shows-growing-support-for-restrictions-but-deep-divisions-remain
NPR ILLINOIS & WEEK
— As Chicago strengthens immigrant protections, downstate officials split on sanctuary laws (COMMENT: Ever-increasingly, according to Democrat leaders, those who are the following are discriminated against by Republicans and protected by Democrats: liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-rich, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, in America illegally, boozers, gamblers, stoners, criminals, etc.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2025-02-13/as-chicago-strengthens-immigrant-protections-downstate-officials-split-on-sanctuary-laws
https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/02/13/chicago-strengthens-immigrant-protections-downstate-officials-split-sanctuary-laws/
WAND TV
— Attorney General Raoul joins coalition proving DEI guidance for businesses (COMMENT: To promote DEI is to promote discrimination.)
https://www.wandtv.com/news/attorney-general-raoul-joins-coalition-proving-guidance-for-businesses-on-diversity-and-inclusion/article_7d3937ce-ea3f-11ef-8955-0341fccb6b8c.html
RUSS STEWART
— DEMOCRATS BESEECH SEN. DURBIN: TIME TO STEP ASIDE IN 2026
http://www.russstewart.com/articles/2025/01-29-25.html
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/14/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-456/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/13/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-248/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Ever-increasing, when push comes to shove, Democrats and RINOs make it clear that they are anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-Protestant, anti-German American, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
WIREPOINTS
— Chicago Public Schools is so corrupted, both morally and financially, that it begs for an intervention like DOGE
https://wirepoints.org/chicago-public-schools-is-so-corrupted-both-morally-and-financially-that-it-begs-for-an-intervention-like-doge-wirepoints-on-wls-ramblin-ray-show/
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Illinois State Corporate Tax Rate Second Highest in the Nation, How the Personal Property Tax Made It So and How It Could Have Been (and Still Could Be) Different?
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/illinois-state-corporate-tax-rate-second-highest-in-the-nation-how-the-personal-property-tax-made-it-so-and-how-it-could-have-been-and-still-could-be-different/
— Crystal Lake Grade School District Follows Cary’s Lead on Possible Contacts with ICE
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/crystal-lake-grade-school-district-follows-carys-lead-on-possible-contacts-with-ice/
— DuPage Appearance of Lara Trump Sponsored by McHenry County GOPAC
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/dupage-appearance-of-lara-trump-sponsored-by-mchenry-county-gopac/
— Movie Tentatively Titled “The Lottery” Being Shot in McHenry County
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/movie-tentatively-titled-the-lottery-being-shot-in-mchenry-county/
— Reick Explains Attack on Home Schooling, Plus Private Schools
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/reick-explains-attack-on-home-schooling-plus-private-schools/
— Salvi Name Still Potent in Northwest Suburbs, But Joe Salvi No Longer Seeking the Senate Appointment
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/salvi-name-still-potent-in-northwest-suburbs/
— Madigan Loses $13,170 Monthly Pension
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/madigan-loses-13170-monthly-pension/
— Three McHenry County Nursing Homes Fined by Illinois Public Health Department
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/three-mchenry-county-nursing-homes-fined-by-illinois-public-health-department/
— Chinese Companies Indicted for Trade Secret Theft from Aurora Company
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/chinese-companies-indicted-for-trade-secret-theft-from-aurora/
— $1.5 Million Food Stamp, that is, SNAP Fraud
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/13/1-5-million-food-stamp-that-is-snap-fraud/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Trump’s spending pause exposes extreme reach of federal government. Uncle Sam pays for up to 40% of states’ expenses. (COMMENT: To what extent are those in the following dependent on government spending: your county, your township, your municipality, your school district, and your precinct?)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/13/trump-spending-pause-exposes-extreme-reach-federal/
NEW YOR POST
— AOC shares tips on how illegal immigrants can evade ICE: ‘Do not open your door’
https://nypost.com/2025/02/13/us-news/aoc-shares-tips-on-how-illegal-immigrants-can-evade-ice-do-not-open-your-door/
BREITBART
— Former GAO Head David Walker: What DOGE Is Doing ‘Needs to Be Done,’ But Needs More Transparency (COMMENT: Who does Trump want the next head of GAO to be? Walker headed GAO 1998-2008. Walker could have, but he did not a) rescind GAO’s forcing me to retire in 1997 or b) settle Diersen v. GAO. Therefore, Walker further promoted patronage, political affiliation, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination in GAO.)
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2025/02/12/fmr-gao-head-what-doge-is-doing-needs-to-be-done-but-needs-more-transparency/
— New York ‘Doing Everything They Should Do’ by Tipping Off Illegals
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2025/02/13/hispanic-caucus-chair-new-york-doing-everything-they-should-do-by-tipping-off-illegals/
— New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D): ‘We Need’ Illegals Who Haven’t Committed Further Crimes, ‘That Is Part of Who We Are’ (COMMENT: To come into a country illegally and/or to stay in a country illegally is to demonstrate gross disrespect for the rule of law and for that country. Of course, illegals say that under Biden’s policies, they came into America “legally” and/or that they are staying in America “legally.”)
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2025/02/14/adams-we-need-illegals-who-havent-committed-further-crimes-that-is-part-of-who-we-are/
— Hegseth: Woke Generals ‘Will Have a Different Job in Due Time’
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/13/exclusive-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-woke-generals-have-different-job/
EPOCH TIMES
— IRS to Be Audited by DOGE. IRS collects trillions in taxes. (COMMENT: Democrat and RINO leaders do not want Republicans to audit IRS. I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO on audits of the Democrats who ran IRS for 3 years 1986-1988 while I was at the GS-13 Step 1-3 Levels, currently $117,807-$125,661/year. I had worked for the Democrats who ran IRS for almost 9 years 1971-1980, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year. I agreed to take a $23,472/year pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer, that is, a downgrade from GS-12 Step 5 to GS-9 Step 10, because the Republican GAO Staff Manager (Bill) who had arranged the transfer promised me that he would assign me to audits of IRS and that he would rapidly promote me back to GS-12 Step 5 and then to GS-13. But my Democrat GAO superiors immediately replaced Bill with a nasty/vicious Democrat Staff Manager (Dave) who despised Republicans and especially Republicans who shared my demographics. Dave kept me off audits of IRS, gave me bad job assignments and unfair performance expectations and appraisals, and delayed my promotions back to GS-12 Step 5. But then, in 1985, Dave had to have major heart surgery and go on extended sick leave because of his heavy drinking. That enabled Bill to assign me to audits of IRS and to promote me to GS-13 in 1986. But then, Dave came back from sick leave and a) forced Bill to retire in 1987, b) threw me off audits of IRS in late 1988, c) gave me an extremely bad job assignment and unfair performance expectations and appraisal in 1989, and d) ranked me at the bottom of my coworkers for pay-for-performance (PFP) purposes in 1989. But thankfully, Dave’s efforts to get rid of me moderated because my Congressman Henry Hyde came to my defense. But Dave nevertheless succeeded in a) keeping me off audits of IRS for the rest of my GAO career, b) always ranking me in the bottom of my coworkers for PFP, and c) forcing me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. If Dave had not taken the aforesaid adverse actions against me that he did, I would have always been assigned to audits of IRS and I would have been promoted to GS-13 sooner and then to GS-14, currently $139,211-$180,974/year, and then to GS-15, currently $163,749-$195,200/year, and then to Senior Executive Service, currently $195,200/year.)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/irs-to-be-audited-by-doge-trump-says-5809719
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The IRS will be audited by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), President Donald Trump said on Feb. 13. “The Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everybody else,” Trump told reporters at the White House in Washington. He said that just about every federal agency will be examined by DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk. “They’re doing a hell of a job. It’s an amazing job they’re doing,” Trump said. “I call it the force of super-geniuses, but it’s building, and you know they go up, and they talk to some of the people about certain deals, and they get all tongue-tied because these people get it. They’re very smart people. We need smart people.” The IRS declined to comment on the remarks. Trump was responding to a question about how DOGE reportedly arrived at the IRS on Thursday and whether he wanted to close the IRS. Trump said he did not expect the IRS, which is currently processing 2024 taxes, to be shuttered. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said on social media platform X, owned by Musk, that his office has heard that DOGE is at the IRS. “That means Musk’s henchmen are in a position to dig through a trove of data about every taxpayer in America. And if your refund is delayed, they could very well be the reason,” Wyden said. After DOGE accessed U.S. Department of Treasury payment systems earlier in the year, a group of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the acting IRS commissioner asking what confidential information DOGE had requested from the IRS and how many taxpayers had had their confidential information accessed by DOGE. Separately on Thursday, senior IRS executives were instructed to identify all contracts that were nonessential for termination, according to an internal email. The email said that the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages most government contracts, is demanding they review consulting contracts under their purview and determine whether they can be justified. The GSA deems a contract nonessential if it “merely generates a report, research, coaching, or an artifact,” the email says. “Consistent with the goals and directives of the Trump administration to eliminate waste, reduce spending, and increase efficiency, GSA has taken the first steps in a government-wide initiative to eliminate non-essential consulting contracts.” The GSA did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.)
FEDERALIST
— Advocating For Asylum Seekers Made Me Less Sympathetic To Illegal Migrants
https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/14/advocating-for-asylum-seekers-made-me-less-sympathetic-to-illegal-migrants/
NATIONAL REVIEW
— AOC Webinar Teaches Illegal Immigrants How to Avoid ICE Deportation
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/aoc-webinar-teaches-illegal-immigrants-how-to-avoid-ice-deportation/
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— Homan: “AOC Is Going To Be In Trouble Now” For Delivering Webinar On How Illegals Can Evade ICE Apprehension
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/02/13/tom_homan_aoc_is_going_to_be_in_trouble_now_for_delivering_webinar_on_how_illegals_can_evade_ice_apprehension.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CNN
— RAHM EMANUEL JOINS CNN
https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/02/13/rahm-emanuel-joins-cnn-as-senior-political-and-global-affairs-commentator/
REUTERS
— Thousands fired in US government as Trump, Musk purge federal workers (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, the agency ever-increasingly shrank because of Republican-led budget cuts. My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly punished me for that. I was one of the last Republicans who GAO hired. GAO audits IRS. The Democrats who ran GAO in 1980 let me transfer from IRS when I was 31 years old, but only if I took a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars. They could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job. My qualifications included having a) passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, b) almost completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul, c) earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976, and d) worked for IRS for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year. To further punish me for Republican-led budget cuts, my Democrat GAO superiors a) delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes, and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mass-firings-federal-workers-begin-trump-musk-purge-us-government-2025-02-13/
CBS NEWS
— U.S. is deporting African and Asian migrants to Panama in diplomatic breakthrough
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-deportations-panama-african-asian-migrants/
NEW YORK TMES
— Democrats say “Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/opinion/trump-college-academia-woke.html
USA TODAY
— Musk, Trump degrade federal workers as they put them out of work. It’s sadistic. (COMMENT: What is your opinion of federal employees? From what I see, employers and just about everyone else have a negative opinion of past, present, and future federal employees. I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/02/12/elon-musk-donald-trump-federal-workers-jobs-cruelty/78428472007/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump’s EEOC Firing Will Likely Prevail in Court. The justices’ precedents imply that he has the power to dismiss officials of ‘independent’ agencies. (COMMENT: How has EEOC impacted you? I became an IRS Revenue Officer when I was 22 years old in 1971 because my Firestone Store boss had rudely fired me. He did that because I had told him that I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that job offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint.)
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/youre-fired-trump-says-the-justices-will-likely-agree-officials-dismissed-supreme-court-precedent-9b40b529
— Trump Layoffs Push Federal Workers Into Tough Job Hunt. Companies have pulled back on white-collar hiring, limiting options for government workers. (COMMENT: What is your opinion of federal employees? From what I see, employers and just about everyone else have a negative opinion of past, present, and future federal employees. I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/federal-workers-jobs-doge-37b761cd
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The Trump administration’s effort to slash the federal workforce is pushing employees into a challenging job market, where their age and lack of corporate experience can hold them back. Federal workers are also facing an environment where hiring for white-collar jobs has slowed. Despite the availability of state and local government jobs, many of these positions take place outside offices and aren’t a good match for federal workers’ experience.)
FORBES
— Jamie Dimon Reportedly Says He’ll Cut Some ‘Stupid’ DEI Costs At JPMorgan Chase (COMMENT: If Affirmative Action and DEI had been implemented earlier/faster, Dimon would have made to where he is now.)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/02/13/jamie-dimon-reportedly-says-hell-cut-some-stupid-dei-costs-at-jpmorgan-chase-here-are-all-the-companies-rolling-back-dei/
FORTUNE
— Democrat and RINO employers use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://fortune.com/2025/02/14/companies-rolling-back-changing-dei-meta-target-fortune-500-diversity-equity-inclusion-policies/
HUFFINGTON POST
— Ever-increasingly, since the 1960s, the Democrats who run the federal government have used Affirmative Action and DEI a) to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, and/or younger and b) to get rid of their Republican employees who are White, male, and/or older.
https://www.aol.com/trump-trying-federal-workforce-whiter-003612069.html
ECONOMIC TIMES & NDTV
— “Will Take Back Verified Illegals”: PM Modi On Illegal Immigrants | PM Modi’s US Visit (COMMENT: How many of those who are in America illegally share you national origin?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqg2zhKkSUo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSm7bjhqMMA
INDIA TODAY
— Impact of US immigration raids on Indians: What visa applicants need to know. Many Indians planning to relocate to the United States have been left anxious after Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegals. As deportation of undocumented immigrants continues, here’s how people applying for work visas can avoid complications.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/impact-of-us-immigration-raids-on-indians-what-visa-applicants-need-to-know-2679998-2025-02-14
GUARDIAN
— Trump administration sparks outcry as it continues to gut federal workforce. Major union as well as federal worker advocacy group condemn moves to fire probationary employees as thousands told to leave.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/feb/14/trump-musk-federal-government-layoffs-jd-vance-ukraine-latest
February 13, 2025
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Sanctuary cities pose an unacceptable risk to public safety
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/13/opinion-sanctuary-cities-public-safety/
— Democrats try to move on after ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s conviction as GOP calls for greater state ethics reforms
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/12/democrats-try-to-move-on-after-ex-speaker-michael-madigans-conviction-as-gop-calls-for-greater-state-ethics-reforms/
DAILY HERALD
— Hayes endorses Tinaglia to succeed him as Arlington Heights mayor (COMMENT: Since 2004, my critics/opponents have stressed that Jim Rasins did not endorse me for Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) Treasurer when he did not run again in 2004. They stressed that I had known Rasins since the 1980s and that I had worked hard to help elect him DuPage County Auditor in 2000 and to help reelect him in 2004. They knew that I had recruited Rasins to speak at an Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Chicago Chapter event in the 1990s. They ignored, dismissed, belittled, and badmouthed my qualifications. I had served as the AGA Chicago Chapter Treasurer 1983-1986. I had served as the Illinois Center Right Coalition Treasurer since 2003. I had worked for GAO 1980-1997, the last 11 years of which at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $117-807-$153,151/year: I had worked for IRS 1971-1980, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $99,069-$112,280/year. I had passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979. I had earned a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul. I had passed the Certified Internal Auditor Examination on my first attempt and became a licensed CPA in 1981. I had become a Certified Fraud Examiner in 1990, Government Financial Manager in 1994, Financial Services Auditor in 1996, and Forensic Accountant in 1997. Since 2004, my MTRO critics/opponents have stressed that I got only 13 votes in that MTRO Treasurer election while my opponent got 69 votes. They I should write about my MTRO critics/opponents. I would focus on those who have taken the most/biggest adverse actions against me.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250212/news/hayes-endorses-tinaglia-to-succeed-him-as-arlington-heights-mayor/
ABC7
— Some new-arrival Venezuelan migrants in Chicago face threat of deportation. President Trump moves up timeline to April to revoke temporary protected status.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-immigration-news-new-arrival-venezuelan-migrants-face-threat-deportation-no-temporary-protected-status/15899205/
NBC5
— Trump administration considering using defense funding to ramp up deportations. The administration has been unhappy with the current pace of immigrant arrests and deportations, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget has been a factor.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/trump-administration-considering-using-defense-funding-to-ramp-up-deportations/3672999/?os=io..ref%3Dapp&ref=app
WGN9
— Durkin talks Madigan verdict
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elsCv9KLiF4
WTTW
— Trump Says He Wants the Department of Education Closed ‘Immediately.’ What That Could Mean for Illinois
https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/12/trump-says-he-wants-department-education-closed-immediately-what-could-mean-illinois
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— What to know about the federal workforce under Trump. Since President Donald Trump began his second term last month, he has focused on dramatically reducing the federal workforce at a breakneck pace.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/business/ap-what-to-know-about-the-federal-workforce-under-trump/
— Democrats and RINOs use Affirmative Action and DEI to discriminate against Christians, and especially against Christians who are Protestant.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/politics/ap-given-christianitys-dominance-in-us-trump-raises-eyebrows-with-anti-christian-bias-initiative/
WAND TV
— Migrants with work permits could become firefighters under new plan in Illinois
https://www.wandtv.com/community/migrants-with-work-permits-could-become-firefighters-under-new-plan-in-illinois/article_bd88074c-e97c-11ef-b76b-d77fe5a5d046.html
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/13/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-455/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON FREE BEACON
— At the University of Michigan, DEI Now Hides in Office of ‘Community Culture’
https://freebeacon.com/campus/exclusive-at-the-university-of-michigan-dei-now-hides-in-office-of-community-culture/
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— Trump Should Cancel the Diversity Visa Program. Ending the green card lottery needs to be a top immigration priority for the president.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-should-cancel-the-diversity-visa-program/
BLAZE
— Trump tears down the woke iron curtain.
https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/trump-tears-down-the-woke-iron-curtain
BREITBART
— Former GAO Head David Walker: DOGE Should Look at COVID Payments, Wouldn’t Surprise Me if There Was a Trillion in Fraud, Abuse
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2025/02/12/fmr-gao-head-doge-should-look-at-covid-payments-wouldnt-surprise-me-if-there-was-a-trillion-in-fraud-abuse/
— New York isn’t alone when it comes to granting driver’s licenses to immigrants without legal status (COMMENT: The list includes Illinois.)
https://www.breitbart.com/news/new-york-isnt-alone-when-it-comes-to-granting-drivers-licenses-to-immigrants-without-legal-status/
EPOCH TIMES
— Trump Says Putin Agreed to Start Negotiations to End Ukraine War. Trump also discussed the plans with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy is due to meet with Vice President Vance on Feb. 14.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-announces-productive-call-with-putin-on-russia-ukraine-peace-talks-5808724
MEGYN KELLY
— Massachusetts City Flouts Trump Executive Orders, Votes to Become a ‘Sanctuary City’ for Trans People
https://www.megynkelly.com/2025/02/12/worcester-massachusetts-votes-to-become-sanctuary-city-for-trans-people/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Democrats and RINOs use DEI to get rid of Republicans.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5141877-trump-musk-advocacy-campaign/
REUTERS
— US judge clears the way for tens of thousands of federal workers to take Trump buyout
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-allows-trump-proceed-with-government-employee-buyout-2025-02-12/
MSNBC
— Trump and Musk were wrong about government employees – they actually want to work (COMMENT: I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 years old in 1980 because GAO’s mission is to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government. The importance of that mission a) enabled me to withstand for almost 18 years tremendous efforts by my Democrat GAO superiors to waste my career and to get rid of me and b) motivated me to complete the requirements for master’s degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination in my first attempt in 1981, become a licensed CPA in 1981, become a Certified Fraud Examiner in 1990, Government Financial Manager in 1994, Financial Services Auditor in 1996, and Forensic Accountant in 1997 and to earn a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-and-musk-were-wrong-about-government-employees-they-actually-want-to-work/vi-AA1yWCyV
NEW YORK TIMES
— The federal employees Trump has purged, so far (COMMENT: The Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997 gave purge lists to all of their new managers of their Chicago office. Of course, I was at the top of all of those lists because I am conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and my ancestors had been in America since 1844.)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/11/us/politics/trump-musk-doge-federal-workers.html
— Democrat teachers promote DEI
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/nyregion/trump-dei-executive-orders-schools.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Trump closes down federal worker buyout offer after judge lifts hold (COMMENT: What is your position on buyouts and early retirement offers? In 1993, the Democrats who ran GAO “offered” $25,000 buyouts and early retirement to get rid of their employees who were Republican, older, White, male, non-veteran, GS-13, and/or had 25 years or more of federal service. I was “eligible,” that is, I was “targeted” because I was all of the aforesaid. They succeeded in forcing me to retire in 1997 when I was 49 years old just before their “offer” expired. If I had not succumbed, I would not have been eligible for regular retirement until 2003. Their forcing me to retire wasted what I had learned a) working for GAO for 18 years and for IRS for 9 years, b) earning three job-related master’s degrees (finance-1997, accounting-1980, and business-1976), c) six job-related professional certifications (forensic accounting-1997, financial services auditing-1996, government financial management-1994, fraud examination-1990, internal auditing-1981, and accounting-1979) and d) earning a job-related professional license (CPA-1981).)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/12/trump-federal-worker-buyout-court-hearing/
— Trump wants to substantially cut the federal workforce. Here’s what it looks like. While federal hiring has increased in recent years, federal workers, as a share of all Americans workers, remains at a historic low.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/12/federal-workers-trump-doge-cuts/
FORBES
— Democrats and RINOs use DEI to get rid of Republicans.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aparnarae/2025/02/13/the-state-of-dei-practitioners-navigate-a-shifting-landscape/
NPR
— Trump ignites political firestorm in South Africa over Afrikaner asylum status offer (COMMENT: Because Democrats and RINOs use Affirmative Action and DEI to discriminate against Whites in America big time, it makes no sense for Whites to immigrate to America.)
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/13/nx-s1-5294345/trump-ignites-political-firestorm-in-south-africa-over-afrikaner-asylum-status-offer
HUFFINGTON POST
— Trump Ordered A Federal Hiring Freeze. Previous Ones Backfired. GAO found that earlier hiring freezes actually made government services less efficient. (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO for almost 18 years, the agency was almost always under Republican-imposed hiring freezes and/or promotion freezes.)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-federal-hiring-freeze_n_678fe14de4b02903dff7d61f
GAO
— U.S. Comptroller General (COMMENT: Who does Trump want the next U.S. Comptroller General to be and why?)
https://www.gao.gov/about/comptroller-general
(FROM THE POSTING: Gene L. Dodaro became the eighth Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on December 22, 2010, when he was confirmed by the United States Senate. He was nominated by President Obama in September of 2010 from a list of candidates selected by a bipartisan, bicameral congressional commission. He had been serving as Acting Comptroller General since March of 2008. . . The Comptroller General of the United States heads the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an agency within the legislative branch of the federal government. The Comptroller General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the Comptroller General, the Congress establishes a bipartisan, bicameral commission to recommend individuals to the President. The Comptroller General’s term of office is set statutorily at 15 years and they are not eligible for reappointment.)
INDIA TODAY
— Indians seeking asylum in US grew 470% in 5 years
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/indians-seeking-asylum-in-us-grew-470-in-5-years-study/ar-AA1yU0hE
February 12, 2025 Evening Edition
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Mike Madigan found guilty on 10 counts in partial verdict, not guilty on 7 counts. Republicans, Democrats denounce corruption that brought Madigan down.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/mike-madigan-news-jury-illinois-house-speaker-corruption-trial-reaches-consensus-17-charges-deadlocked-6-others/15897869/
— Senate confirms Gabbard as Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans fall in line
https://abc7chicago.com/post/tulsi-gabbard-senate-votes-nomination-trumps-director-national-intelligence/15897871/
FOX32
— Pat Brady reacts to Madigan’s guilty verdict
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1592230
WTTW
— Judge Clears Way for Donald Trump’s Plan to Downsize Federal Workforce With Deferred Resignation Program
https://news.wttw.com/2025/02/12/judge-clears-way-donald-trump-s-plan-downsize-federal-workforce-deferred-resignation
WBEZ
— PBS shutters DEI office. The public broadcaster says it is closing its Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office to comply with a recent executive order from President Donald Trump.
https://www.wbez.org/media/2025/02/12/pbs-shutters-dei-office
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Reader: Removing late Rep. Henry Hyde’s name from DuPage courthouse is ‘terrible and petty’
https://chicago.suntimes.com/letters-to-the-editor/2025/02/12/removing-henry-hyde-name-dupage-courthouse-wrong-blagojevich-donald-trump-suenos-ymca
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Michael Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy, wire fraud
https://chicago.suntimes.com/madigan-trial-news/2025/02/12/mike-madigan-trial-jury-deliberation-write-through
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Madigan jury sends a message — to all of America
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/michael-madigan-jury-sends-message-ethics-greg-hinz
KWQC
— Illinois GOP leader McCombie said Madigan’s guilty verdict ‘sober day’ for state
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx98bYXzi4A
NPR ILLINOIS
— Pritzker emerging as one of Trump’s most vocal Democratic critics
https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2025-02-12/pritzker-emerging-as-one-of-trumps-most-vocal-democratic-critics
FOX ILLINOIS
— White House ‘not satisfied’ with number of ICE arrests
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/white-house-not-satisfied-with-number-of-ice-arrests-illegal-immigration-customs-enforcement-migrants-president-donald-trump-sanctuary-cities-white-house-border-czar-tom-homan-sex-trafficking-ring-gang-tren-de-aragua-gangs
CAPITOL FAX
— Roundup: Madigan, McClain trial verdict
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/12/roundup-madigan-mcclain-trial-verdict/
— Madigan/McClain verdict react (Updated)
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/12/madigan-verdict-react/
— Madigan/McClain trial verdict cheat sheet
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/12/madiganmcclain-trial-verdict-cheat-sheet/
— Madigan jury has come to a unanimous decision on 17 counts, deadlocked on 12 counts
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/12/madigan-jury-has-come-to-a-unanimous-decision-on-17-counts-impasse-on-12-counts/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WHEATON RECORD
— Alumni Sign Letter of Complaint After Vought Controversy. Social media posts congratulating Russell Vought on his new position with the Trump administration sparked controversy.
https://thewheatonrecord.com/2025/02/12/alumni-vought-controversy/
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Illinois House GOP demands ethics reforms after Madigan guilty verdicts
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_201ead3e-e97d-11ef-a7f8-3b73f27018ea.html
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— My Wife Bought Champagne When Investigation of Madigan Began Pledging Not to Open It Until He Was Convicted, Now’s the Time
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/my-wife-bought-champagne-when-investigation-of-madigan-began-pledging-not-to-open-it-until-he-was-convicted/
— Press Release from U.S. Attorney on Mike Madigan Conviction
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/press-release-from-u-s-attorney-on-mike-madigan-conviction/
— House Republicans Point to Suzanne Ness’ Huge Contributions from Mike Madigan
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/house-republicans-point-to-suzanne-ness-huge-contributions-from-mike-madigan/
— Schakowsky Outlines District Impact of Social Security Expansion Law Giving Higher Retirement Benefits to Government Employees
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/schakowsky-outlines-impact-of-social-security-expansion-law-giving-higher-retirement-benefits-to-government-employees/
— Election Cartoon
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/election-cartoon/
— February 21st Is Day Lara Trump Speaking at McHenry County GOPAC Event
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/february-21st-is-day-lara-trump-speaking-at-mchenry-county-gopac-event/
— About the Proposed Commuter Service to Rockford through Huntley
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/12/about-the-proposed-commuter-service-to-rockford-through-huntley/
— LaHood Criticizes Blagojevich Pardon
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/11/lahood-criticizes-blagojevich-pardon/
— Wilcox Files Domestic Abuse Bill
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/11/wilcox-files-domestic-abuse-bill/
— Trump Pardon of Blagojevich Minimizes Problem with Illinois Corruption
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/11/trump-pardon-of-blagojevich-minimizes-problem-with-illinois-corruption/
— Challenges to FOID Card Requirement’s Constitutionality Continue
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/11/challenges-to-foid-card-requirements-constitutionality-continue/
— Schakowsky Demonstrates at Treasury Department
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/11/schakowsky-demonstrates-at-treasury-department/
— Former State Rep. DeLoris Doederlein Honored by Kane County Republicans
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/10/former-state-rep-deloris-doederlein-honored-by-kane-county-republicans/
— DeWitte Outlines Latest on Illegal Aliens
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/10/dewitte-outlines-latest-on-illegal-aliens/
— Schakowsky Defends Federal Employees
www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/10/schakowsky-defends-federal-employees/
— Illinois Compared to Indiana
https://https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/09/illinois-compared-to-indiana/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— The Associated Press exposes its hate for Trump … again
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/12/associated-press-exposes-hate-trump/
— U.S. government employees overwhelmingly back Democrats. In politics, nothing indicates loyalty more than where people put their money. (COMMENT: While I was a federal employee for almost 30 years, virtually all my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were Democrats.)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/11/u-government-employees-overwhelmingly-back-democra/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The federal workforce has become an integral part of the Democratic Party power structure, rivaling the liberal mainstream media, billionaire donors and the activist nonprofits they fund as its most important political ally. This is why Democrats are proclaiming a guerrilla street revolution. They want to stop President Trump and point man Elon Musk from downsizing their army and from surgically removing liberal agenda offices, agencies and leaders — a force it took Democrats years to put into place. Mr. Musk immediately targeted the U.S. Agency for International Development and its exporting of woke ideologies. Federal election records show that USAID personnel contributed $240,000 to the Kamala Harris campaign in the 2024 election cycle and just $999 to Mr. Trump. Of USAID’s top 20 funded candidates, just one was a Republican. President Biden used executive orders to open the southern border to drug cartel-smuggled migrants, to rewrite Title IX for men in women’s sports and to repay students’ delinquent loans without congressional approval. Democrats cheered. They warn Mr. Trump not to downsize the U.S. government, as our national debt reaches $36 trillion, or we’ll impeach him again. OpenSecrets.org, which tracks campaign donations, shows that government workers bankroll Democrats in large ratios. In politics, nothing indicates loyalty more than where people put their money. Employees in the government’s 15 Cabinet-level departments, such as Defense, State and Justice, contributed over $9 million to candidate Harris compared with $1.6 million to Mr. Trump. Looking at federal employees collectively would put them in the top 12 of Harris donors. “One of the reasons the left gravitates to the bureaucracies is because they know it allows them to exercise unaccountable power,” Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told me. His group has uncovered government misconduct by aggressively pursuing Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. Mr. Fitton added, “History shows effective conservative government reformers will be targeted, isolated, harassed, smeared and destroyed. And public employee unions necessarily have an interest in bigger government, which means they are allied with and support leftist and Democratic Party politicians.” For example, when IRS whistleblowers came forward to testify about Mr. Biden’s family corruption, agency higher-ups smashed them. Special Agents Joe Ziegler and Gary Shapley testified to the House Ways and Means Committee in 2023 that the Justice Department blocked their probe of Hunter Biden into income tax fraud. In December, the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that protects against whistleblower reprisals, concluded that the two were the victims of illegal gag orders and workplace retaliations by top IRS officials. IRS employees donated $644,000 to Democrats and $135,000 to Republicans in the 2024 election cycle.)
— ‘Reverse flow’: Illegal immigrants streaming back home after being blocked by Trump’s border
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/12/reverse-flow-illegal-immigrants-streaming-back-hom/
NEW YORK POST
— Trump says he wants ‘con job’ Education Department closed ‘immediately’
https://nypost.com/2025/02/12/us-news/trump-says-he-would-like-education-department-closed-immediately-but-needs-buy-in-from-congress-unions/
— DOJ announces lawsuit against New York, Hochul and state AG James over ‘sanctuary’ status
https://nypost.com/2025/02/12/us-news/attorney-general-pam-bondi-announces-doj-lawsuit-against-new-york-hochul-and-state-ag-james-over-sanctuary-status/
— Federal judge allows Trump to push forward with buyouts for government workers after 65K accept offers
https://nypost.com/2025/02/12/us-news/federal-judge-allows-trump-to-push-forward-with-buyouts-for-government-workers/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CBS NEWS
— Attorney General Pam Bondi announces lawsuit against New York over immigration enforcement
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorney-general-pam-bondi-immigration-enforcement/
— Judge allows Trump’s deferred resignations plan for federal workers to proceed
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-allows-trumps-deferred-resignations-plan-federal-workers-to-proceed/
CNN
— Government watchdogs fired by Trump sue to get their jobs back
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/politics/inspector-general-lawsuit-fired-trump
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Eight inspectors general whom Donald Trump fired from their federal agency watchdog posts are suing for their jobs back, adding to the legal scrutiny over Trump’s first weeks of decisions in the White House and raising questions about his political intentions. They say that Trump shouldn’t have been able to fire them in late January without first notifying Congress and that the White House ignored regulations around their removal that existed to protect them from political interference and retribution. The administration’s “actions have inflicted substantial damage on the critical oversight ethos of transparency, truth-telling without fear or favor, and respect for the rule of law,” the lawsuit, filed in Washington, DC’s federal court on Wednesday, states. The lawsuit is the latest among more than four dozen filed in federal courts to challenge swift, early executive actions by the Trump administration. Many of the lawsuits, like Wednesday’s, allege that Trump’s White House is depriving Congress of some of its power. The IG’s case adds to a pile of challenges from government workers the Trump administration has removed from various posts — especially those in independent or non-political roles. The dismissals also raise questions over Trump and temporary government adviser Elon Musk’s adversarial approach to existing, long-established federal corruption watchdogs, at a time Trump and Musk are dismantling parts of the government, citing in part a desire to root out corruption. Trump’s dismissal of 18 IGs happened in the first week of his second term, when the watchdogs each received two-sentence emails titled “White House Notification” from the Office of Presidential Personnel. The reason they were given was “changing priorities,” which is not a sufficient reason under the law, their lawsuit claims. Soon after, the IG’s government email access was shut off, and they couldn’t return to their office buildings. “Their purported removals were legal nullities, and so they remain the duly appointed IGs of their respective agencies, unless and until the President lawfully removes them in compliance,” attorneys for the eight IGs wrote. “Plaintiffs’ integrity has been baselessly maligned publicly, with the abrupt and unlawful nature of their purported removals incorrectly implying that plaintiffs have done something wrong when in fact they have each done nothing but uphold the values of their positions and the IG community,” the suit adds. The IGs allege Trump has told Congress – as is required by law – nothing. The lawsuit instead points out the president commented to the press some IGs “were not doing their job.” Trump fired a 19th inspector general, the USAID’s watchdog, this week. The inspectors general, in positions across many government agencies, work to find and prevent waste, fraud and abuse within federal departments. The IGs say their work is non-partisan and ultimately saves taxpayers billions of dollars, protects vulnerable Americans’ rights and safeguards national security, according to the complaint. Those whom Trump fired include IGs at crucial departments including Defense, Health and Human Services, State and Veterans Affairs who say their work has saved the agencies millions of dollars. One of the IGs who is suing, Phyllis Fong, had been in her position at the Department of Agriculture for more than 20 years. After Fong was told she was fired, she continued to go to work, “recognizing that her termination was not effective because it failed to comply with the IG Act’s requirements,” her attorneys wrote, until her federal badge was deactivated and her computer and phone were taken back by the Department of Agriculture. Several of those who are suing had worked under Trump during his first term in the presidency, and one, Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the Small Business Administration, had been Trump’s nominee for the post in 2018. The other IGs who are suing are: Robert Storch of the Defense Department; Michael Missal of Veterans Affairs; Christi Grimm of Health and Human Services; Cardell Richardson of the State Department; Sandra Bruce of the Education Department; and Larry Turner of the Department of Labor.)
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Are Trump’s Attempts to Overhaul the Federal Workforce Legal? Personnel moves will face a range of tests in court.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/are-trumps-attempts-to-overhaul-the-federal-workforce-legal-f36cb5c0
RASMUSSEN REPORTS
— Birthright Citizenship: Majority Want Limits
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/trump_administration_second_term/birthright_citizenship_majority_want_limits