FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— An ethics watchdog, such as our state’s legislative inspector general, should know when to say ‘no comment.’ Former judge Michael McCuskey has been talking too much.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/22/patrick-pfingsten-michael-mccuskey-legislative-inspector-general-harry-benton/
— Recall referendum issue seems like Laesch vs. Irvin round two.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/23/column-recall-referendum-issue-seems-like-laesch-vs-irvin-round-two/
— Data centers near O’Hare win nearly $100M in local tax breaks, leaving suburban homeowners to cover the gap.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/23/special-report-data-centers-taxes/
— Mandatory service can renew young people’s faith in America. DD: My initial plan was to enlist and to earn a bachelor’s degree with the GI Bill. But then I saw that my high school neighbor friend in Crete was on track to get accepted by UIC and to commute to/from classes there from his parents’ home. I adopted that plan, I took college preparatory classes, got an ACT score of 24, and I graduated in the upper 20% of my 1966 Crete-Monee High School class. My high school neighbor friend commuted in a new 1965 base Chevelle that his father bought for him. I commuted in a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint that I paid for with money that I earned washing dishes for 28 hours a week during my junior and senior years 1964-1966 and for 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/24/opinion-national-service-renew-faith-america-patriotism/
— For tens of thousands in northwest Indiana, power outages mean much of August has been hell. ComEd took a few days to restore power after Aug. 11 storms. NIPSCO is taking two weeks. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/24/editorial-nipsco-commonwealth-edison-electricity-outages-storms/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: ‘Why is this OK?’ With no power and a spotty generator, every day is a struggle for a family of seven as they approach two weeks without electricity in Northwest Indiana. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/graphics/weather/powerless/12-nights-without-power-in-Gary-Indiana/
DAILY HERALD
— Geneva Concours highlights rare, unusual vehicles. DD: There were three 1972 Corvettes in the concours. I have owned my 1972 Corvette since October 14, 1971.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260823/festivals-and-fairs/a-fashion-show-for-cars-geneva-concours-highlights-rare-unusual-vehicles/
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/great-lakes/5008067-genevais-concours-dielegance-car-show-pics-lots.html
ABC7
— At least 17 shot, 4 fatally, in weekend gun violence across Chicago.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-shootings-weekend-least-16-shot-4-fatally-gun-violence-city-police-department-says/19722721/
NBC5
— A $25-per-hour minimum wage? Some Illinois lawmakers are pushing for it. DD: I did not start earning $25/hour in today’s dollars until I had a) passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from NIU when I was 21 in 1970 and b) got hired by IRS in 1971.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/a-25-per-hour-minimum-wage-some-illinois-lawmakers-are-pushing-for-it/3931575/
CBS2
— Frustration mounts for thousands still without power after deadly Indiana storms. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-indiana-storms-frustration-mounts-thousands-still-without-power/
— Illinois politics are to blame for failure to secure stadium for Chicago Bears in state.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/expert-illinois-politics-blame-failure-secure-stadium-chicago-bears/
WGN9
— Indiana Gov. Mike Braun criticizes NIPSCO over ongoing outages; more than 15K remain without power. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://wgntv.com/northwest-indiana/nipscos-latest-outage-numbers-gary-mayor-provides-update-at-wgn/
WBEZ
— DD: Democrat leaders fight standardized testing because those who have demographics that vote for Democrats get lower test scores than those who have demographics that vote for Republicans. I passed many standardized tests a) to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, b) to earn three job-related master’s degrees, c) to earn six job-related professional certifications, d) to earn a job-related professional license, and e) to get hired by the Post Office, IRS, and GAO. Overwhelmingly, those who took and passed standardized tests with me had demographics that vote for Republicans. The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job.
https://www.wbez.org/say-more-with-mary-dixon-patrick-smith/2026/08/18/should-colleges-and-universities-require-standardized-test-scores-for-admission
NORTHWEST HERALD
— Trump store in Crystal Lake is closing, owner announces – but then seemingly takes it back.
https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2026/08/22/trump-store-in-crystal-lake-is-closing-owner-announces/
PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— What income is needed to live comfortably in Illinois: $244,109 for a family of 4 and $101,587 single
https://www.pjstar.com/story/business/economy/2026/08/24/salary-needed-to-live-comfortably-in-illinois-smartasset/91409434007/
ILLINOIZE
— Will there be gubernatorial debates?
https://www.theillinoize.com/articles/will-there-be-gubernatorial-debates
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Ocasio-Cortez endorses Massachusetts Senate incumbent Ed Markey. DD: I remember attending a meeting with Markey when I worked for GAO in the early 1980s.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4694506/ocasio-cortez-endorses-massachusetts-senate-incumbent-ed-markey-green-new-deal/
— California school district’s curriculum cites Osama bin Laden’s manifesto as proof US ‘targeted Muslim communities.’ DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly give more preference to Muslims.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/4696334/california-school-districts-curriculum-cites-osama-bin-ladens-manifesto-as-proof-us-targeted-muslim-communities/
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
— Inflation Pressures. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for inflation and for everything else that is bad.
https://www.aei.org/featured_data/inflation-pressures/
AMERICAN THINKER
— Colorado to constituents — no guns for you. Colorado leftists attempt an end run around the 2nd Amendment. DD: Colorado today, Illinois tomorrow.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/colorado-to-constituents-no-guns-for-you/
CATO
— Ten Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Arguments for Socialism and Why They’re Wrong. DD: What were you able to do under capitalism? I was able to buy a 1958 Chevy BeAir when I was 16 in 1964 with money I earned doing yard work and delivering newspapers. I was able buy a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint in 1966 with money I earned washing dishes for the minimum wage. I was able buy a new 1968 Oldsmobile 442 in 1967 and a new 1969 Dodge Charger SE in 1968 with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to graduate debt-free from NIU in 1970 owning that Charger with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to buy a new 1972 Corvette in 1971 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS. I was able to buy a new townhome in 1972 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS.
https://www.cato.org/blog/ten-democratic-socialists-america-dsa-arguments-socialism-why-theyre-wrong
CRISIS MAGAZINE
— In Defense of Private Property: Repelling the Rise of Socialism. DD: What were you able to do under capitalism? I was able to buy a 1958 Chevy BeAir when I was 16 in 1964 with money I earned doing yard work and delivering newspapers. I was able buy a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint in 1966 with money I earned washing dishes for the minimum wage. I was able buy a new 1968 Oldsmobile 442 in 1967 and a new 1969 Dodge Charger SE in 1968 with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to graduate debt-free from NIU in 1970 owning that Charger with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to buy a new 1972 Corvette in 1971 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS. I was able to buy a new townhome in 1972 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS.
https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/in-defense-of-private-property-repelling-the-rise-of-socialism
DAILY SIGNAL
— Immigration Under the New Left.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/23/immigration-under-the-new-left/
— Why Are So Many Young People Drawn to Communism?
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/23/why-are-so-many-young-people-drawn-to-communism/
EPOCH TIMES
— Why Are So Many Young People Drawn to Communism?
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/why-are-so-many-young-people-drawn-to-communism-6077478
FOX NEWS
— Socialists don’t believe in liberty of any kind.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403937012112
— Billions spent by key federal agency hasn’t made American dream of homeownership any easier. DD: I bought a new townhome in University Park when I was 24 in 1972. SEE: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/774-Sunset-Ct-5-University-Park-IL-60484/5451474_zpid/ . In today’s dollars, I paid about $180,000 for it and the down payment would have been about $36,000. In today’s dollars, my IRS Revenue Officer salary had just increased from $56,409/year to $68,999/year. The down payment came from what I had earned working for IRS for 15 months and for a Firestone Store part-time for 18 months and full-time for 7 months before that. According to Zillow, the townhome is currently worth $93,700. That says worlds about real estate values in University Park.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/billions-spent-key-federal-agency-hasnt-made-american-dream-homeownership-any-easier-report
NATIONALREVIEW
— Democratic Socialists of America Hate Billionaires — Except Fidel Castro.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/the-democratic-socialists-of-america-hate-billionaires-except-fidel-castro/
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— We Need To Remind Americans Why Capitalism’s Important. DD: What were you able to do under capitalism? I was able to buy a 1958 Chevy BeAir when I was 16 in 1964 with money I earned doing yard work and delivering newspapers. I was able buy a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint in 1966 with money I earned washing dishes for the minimum wage. I was able buy a new 1968 Oldsmobile 442 in 1967 and a new 1969 Dodge Charger SE in 1968 with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to graduate debt-free from NIU in 1970 owning that Charger with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to buy a new 1972 Corvette in 1971 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS. I was able to buy a new townhome in 1972 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS.
https://www.realclearmarkets.com/2026/08/24/we_need_to_remind_americans_why_capitalisms_important_1201914.html
— DEI Refuses To Die.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/08/24/dei_refuses_to_die_154439.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
AOL
— Curfews, drones, and criminal charges: Cities differ on approaches to ‘teen takeovers.’ DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://www.aol.com/articles/curfews-drones-criminal-charges-cities-140006000.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— Moving to Florida. DD: More and more and more of those who are the following are moving to Florida: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/realestate/florida-retirement-residency-taxes.html
USA TODAY
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: The Democrat Party platform is extremely anti-religious. How successful have Democrats been taking over your church?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/22/democrats-use-faith-to-challenge-red-state-gop/91340610007/
USA HERALD
— California Wants Corporations to Confess Their Ties to Slavery — Under Oath. DD: According to Democrat leaders, the more of the following that you are, the more that you are tied to slavery: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. I am all of the aforesaid. In my defense, I stress that even though all my ancestors immigrated during the 1840s and 1850s, they always lived in northeast Illinois, they never were in a position to discriminate against anyone, and they never did discriminate against anyone.
https://usaherald.com/california-wants-corporations-to-confess-their-ties-to-slavery-under-oath/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— A Socialist Surprise in Florida.
https://www.wsj.com/video/wsj-opinion-a-socialist-surprise-in-florida/7780BE57-7ACC-4DD7-A963-30D1C441AB05
FORBES
— Unfair Advantages. DD: What unfair advantages do your critics/opponents say you have? According to my critics/opponents, the following are unfair advantages and I have them: White, male, Protestant, German American, and my ancestors have been in America since 1844. In addition, a) my parents sent me to Missouri Synod Lutheran grade schools 1953-1962, b) my parents provided me with room and board while I attended UIC 1966-1968, weekends during my first semester at NIU in 1969, and the summer of 1969, and c) I avoided the Vietnam War draft. In my defense. neither of my parents attended college, my father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma, my mother never attended high school, and I had to work my way through college.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthgotian/2022/07/19/you-might-be-overlooking-your-unfair-advantage-heres-how-to-find-it/
MARKETPLACE
— Americans are retiring earlier than they’d like to. And not because they can afford to. DD: The more of the following that you are, the more that you should anticipate/expect that you will be forced to retire early: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-poor, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or if you have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/07/24/why-some-americans-are-forced-to-retire-too-soon
NEWS BREAK
— Sen. Duckworth Tells Hegseth to “Find a New Job and Let the Press Do Theirs” After Stars and Stripes Editor’s Firing. DD: Since 2000, my critics/opponents have hinted/implied/argued/shouted at the following that because I am a Republican Precinct Committeeman, they can and they should dictate the content of my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters: the leaders of the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization. I should write about the many big adverse actions that the aforesaid have taken against me since 2000.
https://www.newsbreak.com/combat-rated-361333999/4845203759286-sen-duckworth-tells-hegseth-to-find-a-new-job-and-let-the-press-do-theirs-after-stars-and-stripes-editor-s-firing
ATLANTIC
— High-School Reunions. Social media should have killed them. Instead, they’re popular again. DD: I just learned that my 1966 Crete-Monee High School class is going to have a reunion. Sadly, my interactions with my classmates was dramatically less during my junior and senior years because I spent 28 hours a week during the school years and 40 hours a week during the summer in between washing dishes in the basement of the SS Kresge in Chicago Heights. Sadly, that job did not paint me as being college material. Further, my not being able to run because I had a bone disease kept out of sports.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/09/high-school-reunion-attendance/684097/
Tag: GOPUSA
August 22, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: Gary storm victims fill generators at a gas station, watch DVDs in their car, eat hot lunch at a school. A historic power outage in northwest Indiana has left 52% of Gary’s NIPSCO customers without power for 11 days. We spoke with people about their experiences as they wait for electricity to be restored and debris to be cleared. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/08/21/gary-storm-victims-fill-generators-at-a-gas-station-watch-dvds-in-car-eat-hot-lunch-at-a-school
https://chicago.suntimes.com/weather/northwest-indiana-gary-no-power-storm-recovery
— Many Trump-endorsed candidates landing with a thud.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/08/21/trump-endorsed-candidates-loss-voters-republicans-midterms-s-e-cupp
— Tollway hike will improve infrastructure, save commute time, boost economy. DD: What section of the tollway do you use the most? For me, it is the I-88 section between Naperville Road and Route 59.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/letters-to-the-editor/2026/08/22/illinois-tollway-airplane-toilets-roosevelt-trump-india-israel-animal-cruelty-ice-term-limits
FOX32
— What Illinois voters can expect on the 2026 general election ballot.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-ro8xjcgk3nqfxfrd
WGEM
— U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy makes stop in Quincy.
https://www.wgem.com/2026/08/22/us-senate-candidate-don-tracy-makes-stop-quincy/
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— DD: To vote for Democrats is to promote LGBTQ.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/25-6-million-lgbtq-adults-in-us-transgender-population-twice-prior-estimates-study/
ELMHURST UNIVERSITY
— Four Career Benefits to Completing Your Degree. DD: If I had not 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, I never would have earned $154,682/year in today’s dollars in 1997. IRS would not have hired me in 1971 or promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974. GAO would not have hired me in 1980 or promoted me in 1986.
https://www.elmhurst.edu/blog/four-career-benefits-to-completing-your-degree/
CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/21/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-584/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
JOHN KASS
— Vallas: Anti-Semitism and the Unholy Alliance Between the Far Left and Radical Islam.
https://johnkassnews.com/anti-semitism-and-the-unholy-alliance-between-the-far-left-and-radical-islam/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— According to Google AI, campaign literature pieces cost roughly $290 per 5,000 from specialized political printers. I hope that each of the 17 Republican candidates on the November 3, 2006 ballot in my precinct will provide 400 of their pieces to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) that I can pick them up and hand-deliver them to the 400 residences in my DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton that have at least one registered Republican or Independent voter. That is 7,200 pieces (400 X 17). So far, I have placed 660 DuPage County Election Division-provided mailing labels on 400 DuPage County GOP-provided envelopes. I have split them into five batches and put them in walk order. I want to start stuffing those envelopes with MTRO-provided outstanding Voter Guides and the literature pieces ASAP. I want to start stuffing as soon as I have at least 100 pieces from each of the candidates. As soon as the sample ballot for my precinct is available, I will make 400 photocopies, stuff them, and head out the door. The 18 candidates are Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Solomon, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Bread lines or bread winning? The Democratic Party’s fatal leftward drift.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4692671/democrats-socialism-vs-capitalism-economic-shift/
— Capitalism: The system Gen Z loves to roast but actually needs most. DD: What were you able to do under capitalism? I was able to buy a 1958 Chevy BeAir when I was 16 in 1964 with money I earned doing yard work and delivering newspapers. I was able buy a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint in 1966 with money I earned washing dishes for the minimum wage. I was able buy a new 1968 Oldsmobile 442 in 1967 and a new 1969 Dodge Charger SE in 1968 with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to graduate debt-free from NIU in 1970 with money I earned delivering mail. I was able to buy a new 1972 Corvette in 1971 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS. I was able to buy a new townhome in 1972 with money I earned working for Firestone Stores and IRS.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/4680934/capitalism-system-generation-z-needs-most/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: At its core, capitalism is about private ownership and incentives. You have a right to own your property or ideas. You have the freedom to negotiate in your self-interest and engage in mutually beneficial agreements. Profit and competition motivate you to innovate. No one forces you to. . .Socialism relies on coercion as central planners decide what gets made, how much, and who gets it. Private ownership of land, factories, or businesses is limited or taken over. The government needs taxes, rules, or force to do that. Take Venezuela. History shows that top-down socialist directives and nationalization produced hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine, poverty, and the collapse of public services. Under socialism, where private ownership and property rights do not exist, outcomes get worse, and innovation suffers. This is the classic tragedy of the commons problem. Imagine public transit: filled with litter, graffiti-covered cars, and slow. No private individual cleans it because “it’s the government’s problem,” and government workers are slow to do so because they get paid regardless. When the state or collective controls public services, resources are misallocated, and quality deteriorates.)
NEW YORK POST
— Democrats now overwhelmingly have a more favorable view of socialism than capitalism. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.aol.com/articles/dems-now-favor-socialism-over-205152000.html
— Why 58% of California Democrats lust after socialism. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/21/opinion/why-california-democrats-like-socialism/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Socialism, after all, is an ideology of oppression that’s brought mass death, forced labor, famine and executions to a long list of nations, including China, Cambodia, Vietnam, North Korea, and the former USSR. So … what gives in the Golden State?. . .Socialism (with a smile!) sells in blue enclaves in part because it’s faddish, on trend, of the moment. It’s a shiny object glorified on social media to an audience too young to remember the Cold War –– or the ghoulish history of socialist and communist regimes. It taps into disgruntlement, class envy, entitlement. And it sells utopian fantasies about, when it comes down to it, taking other people’s stuff.)
AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE
— We Must Save America’s Students from the False Promises of Socialism. DD: I avoided Democrat indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://aclj.org/radical-left/we-must-save-americas-students-from-the-false-promises-of-socialism
AMERICAN THINKER
— Illegitimate Elections Will Destroy the United States. ‘Sanctuary city’ secession is tearing the Union apart.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/08/illegitimate-elections-will-destroy-the-united-states/
BREITBART
— Chicago Threw $640M in Tax Dollars at Illegal Migrants Over Two Years.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/21/chicago-threw-640m-in-tax-dollars-at-illegal-migrants-over-two-years/amp/
COLLEGE FIX
— Education Dept. ends disparate impact, dropping requirement to balance racial outcomes. DD: When Whites and males do better on tests than minorities and females, Democrats and RINOs blame Republicans.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/education-dept-ends-disparate-impact-dropping-requirement-to-balance-racial-outcomes/
— Education Department praised for ending outcome-based discrimination rules. DD: When Whites and males do better on tests than minorities and females, Democrats and RINOs blame Republicans.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/bulletin-board/in-washington-post-education-department-praised-for-ending-outcome-based-discrimination-rules/
DAILY SIGNAL
— Ending the Welfare State as We Know It.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/21/ending-the-welfare-state-as-we-know-it/
DAILY WIRE
— Socialist Senate Nominee Called Charlie Kirk Supporters Tools ‘Of White Supremacy.’ DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/socialist-senate-nominee-called-charlie-kirk-supporters-tools-of-white-supremacy
FOX BUSINESS
— Virginia removes over 6,000 noncitizens from voter rolls.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403805538112
FOX NEWS
— Socialism surges among Democrats as party leaders reject DSA agenda. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/socialism-surges-among-democrats-party-leaders-reject-dsa-agenda-pack-fools
— Democrats have built a ‘COALITION OF TRIBAL GRIEVANCES.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQd2F3IEJM8
NATIONAL REVIEW
— The Path Ahead for Welfare Reform.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/the-path-ahead-for-welfare-reform/
PJ MEDIA
— Hegseth Used Slang for Transgender-Identifying Lefties.
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/08/21/pete-hegseth-used-slang-for-transgender-identifying-lefties-and-wokies-lost-their-marbles-n4956398
PRESS BANNER
— Planning Your Financial Future Under Socialism. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://pressbanner.com/finance-planning-your-financial-future-under-socialism/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Bernie Sanders won Santa Cruz County primaries twice and now Ocasio-Cortez, Mandami, El-Sayed and Flanagan gain power. DSA friendly candidates threaten moderate Democrats and independent votes enough to give MAGA a fighting chance in November. Democratic Socialists of America claim 95,000 members. Would socialism look more like DSA dreams, Republican nightmares or Nordic compromises? With threats from right and left, can personal financial planning survive? The DSA Program. In “What is Democratic Socialism,” the DSA proclaims: “We want a democracy that creates space for us all to flourish not just survive and answers the fundamental questions of our lives with the input of all. We want to collectively own the key economic drivers that dominate our lives, such as energy production and transportation.” On the site program.dsausa.org, the DSA shamelessly prophesies: “You work as much as you are able and no more than needed…You have no debt. You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities.” DSA would “Expand public resources to support recreation, learning, and social spaces accessible to all.” Sustainable publicly owned transit and energy replace fossil fuels. Investment, insurance and estate planning here is a question for government, not individuals. Mao’s Ideological Purity. The specter of Maoism transformed Chinese agricultural society down “the road of socialism under the leadership of the party.” So government controlled not only politics and religion, but production, borders, the arts and education. Peasants ate from common kitchens and married according to party needs. Individuals couldn’t even plan their daily dress. Estates of landlords — even poor landlords — and entrepreneurs were confiscated. Seized housing guaranteed housing “rights.” There were no stock or insurance markets and security was greatest for peasants who denounced neighbors publicly and worked harder and longer even when government horribly mismanaged steel production with backyard furnaces. To collectivize agriculture, the party appropriated food to starve tens of millions. Nordic Socialism? In UN World Happiness Reports, Nordics rank the happiest people and surely honest democracy, subsidized education and healthcare contribute. Unicameral legislatures and proportional representation model the DSA’s critique of America’s independent presidency and judiciary. Roughly 30% of the people work in health care, education and government and workers are highly unionized with government settling disputes. Unemployment insurance and government childcare are regular. But Deng Xiaoping brought markets back to China and the Swedish Social Democrats deregulated banking and currency in the 1980s. The financial crisis of 1990-94 resulted in deregulation. Socialists beware: Swedes get vouchers for educational choice and save in subsidized mutual fund accounts. Scandification.com says: “Sweden is a highly liberalized and competitive open-market economy. The country happily trades with countries all around the globe. Most Swedish enterprises are privately owned and pay quite low taxes compared to other parts of the globe.” The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom ranks Sweden ahead of the United States! Questions for Socialists. What happens when socialism meets Amazon.com variety with bleak lifestyle choices? Canadians already venture abroad for delayed healthcare and Moscow bread lines were infamous. And we don’t all enjoy paying for solar panels on dull housing projects. F.A. Hayek says that the task of providing for everyone’s needs or wants while knowing all the human and natural resources is too much for any planning committee without the invisible hand of pricing. Mandami is already challenged delivering free buses. Poor worker motivation challenged Mao to lead constant rallies with art glorifying low-paid production — not short work and environmental purity. The DSO admittedly seeks “…aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.” Nordic countries tax over 40% of GDP versus OECD averages of 33.9%. Like our income tax, burdens start with the rich, but El-Sayed admitted that “you paid a little more in taxes” for free healthcare. Planning is impossible in Maoist China where planners would be lynched. Sweden’s welfare state hosts CFPs and tax planning with market investments flourishes. If Socialism — or Fascism — conquers America, we won’t have so many choices.)
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— Woke 2.0 and the False Promise of Socialist Division.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/08/21/woke_20_and_the_false_promise_of_socialist_division_154432.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Democrats hold more favorable view of socialism than capitalism. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.aol.com/articles/democrats-hold-more-favorable-view-172421000.html
— Gen Z turns against capitalism as DSA takes off. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/6042507-gen-z-capitalism-socialism-sports-betting-gender-political-divide/
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
— Republicans Must Stop Being Democrat-Lite.
https://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-the-gops-problem-in-its-strategies-or-its-policies/republicans-must-stop-being-democrat-lite
CNN
— DD: I often served as a fact checker while I worked for GAO 1986-1997 at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $118,984-$154,682/year.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/17/politics/fact-check-trump-south-korea-cost-sharing-biden
AOL
— How Much Income You Need To Join the Top 10% in Every State. In Illinois it is $296,443/year.
https://www.aol.com/articles/much-income-join-top-10-142011000.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— The Socialist, a Million-Dollar Rowhouse and Unanswered Questions. Differing accounts of where Gustavo Gordillo, a leader of the Democratic Socialists of America, lives are raising doubts about whether the city’s left-wing organizers are ready for prime time. DD: Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to vote for socialism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/22/nyregion/nyc-gustavo-gordillo-democratic-socialist.html
— Journalism and Paywalls. An increasingly hostile environment for independent reporting in the United States and elsewhere has made our job harder, and more expensive. DD: My direct competitors continue to be furious that I have the money, time, motivation, ability, and experience to put together and send out my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletter every day without a paywall, without any advertising, and without any donation requests. All the money that I spend putting the newsletters together and sending them out comes from my Civil Service Retirement System pension, my Social Security, and my retirement savings. Far too many of my direct competitors destroy those like me a) who they cannot manipulate or dominate, b) who refuse to glorify or praise them, c) who refuse to pander to them, d) who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, e) who refuse to cover up their wrong doing, and/or f) who refuse to give them money. I should write about them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/world/journalism-us-colombia-quake.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Some of you have written in, surprised and sometimes annoyed at the prospect of hitting the paywall. I get it. So in today’s newsletter, I want to explain why we need people who can afford it to pay for our journalism. Many of you already do. Thank you.)
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— College Enrollments Are Expected to Plunge. DD: Under the Democrats, anticipate/expect that fewer and fewer and fewer Whites and males will earn college degrees.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/why-college-enrollments-are-expected-to-plunge-a8e00d7d
FORBES
— Employee Engagement. DD: I was far more engaged than my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO coworkers. While I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969, I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree in management. While I worked for the Democrats who ran IRS 1971-1980, I earned an MBA, passed the CPA examination on my first attempt, and almost completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting. While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, I earned a master’s degree in accounting, passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt, became a licensed CPA, served on the Association of Government Accountants Executive Committee for 12 years, served on the Illinois CPA Society Membership Committee for 8 years, earned professional certifications in fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting, and earned a master’s degree in financial markets and trading. None of my Democrat coworkers came close to doing what I did. To get promoted, all they had to do was to be “good little Democrats.”
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2026/08/20/12-employee-engagement-strategies-that-are-working-now/
— Career Slowdown. DD: My Post Office career more than slowed down, it crashed when my Democrat superiors disallowed my sick leave requests when I was 19 in 1968 and 20 and forced me to resign when I was 20 falsely claiming that I was not available to work enough part-time hours. My IRS career more than slowed down, it crashed when I was 25 when my Democrat superiors succeeded in getting rid of the manager who had promoted me when I was 23 (GS-9), 24 (GS-11), and 25 (GS-12). They disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning an MBA when I was 27. They disallowed my education expenses when I was 29. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran. My GAO career more than slowed down, it crashed when I was 31 when my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to take a $23,699 (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS, disempowering the GAO manager who had arranged that transfer, gave me bad job assignments and unfair performance expectations and performance appraisals and kept me off audits of IRS. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31 and my passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination and becoming a licensed CPA when I was 32. GAO finally did promote me to GS-13 when I was 38, but that was only because the manager who arranged my transfer got back into power, assigned me to audits of IRS, and promoted me to GS-13. But when I was 39, they forced him to retire and things when from bad to worse. When I was 40, my career really crashed. They threw me off audits of IRS, gave me a very bad job assignment, very unfair performance expectations, and performance appraisal and ranked me at the bottom of my coworkers for pay-for-performance (PFP). They ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for PFP from then on. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning four more professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48 and my earning a master’s degree in financial markets and training when I was 48. They forced me to retire when I was 49.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2026/02/21/4-tips-to-keep-up-when-your-coworkers-careers-move-faster/
KEISER UNIVERSITY
— Which College Majors Offer the Best Work-Life Balance? DD: My not majoring in accounting from the beginning was one of my biggest mistakes. I erroneously thought that I could never pass the CPA examination. I did pass the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30 in 1979, but by then it was too late. The accounting profession saw me as being far too old to have a successful career in accounting. On top of that, the profession was under tremendous pressure to hire, retain, and promote young minorities and young females.
https://www.keiseruniversity.edu/articles/careers-with-best-work-life-balance/
STANDARD EXAMINER
— DD: When Whites and males do better on tests than minorities and females, Democrats and RINOs blame Republicans.
https://www.standard.net/opinion/national-commentary/2026/aug/21/stossel-racist-tests/
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
— Affordability For All. DD: What did you do to afford things? I took jobs that my peers would not stoop to take. I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://nul.org/news/affordability-all-its-time-rescue-american-dream
FROM OTHER SOURCES
MAYO CLINIC
— Type 2 diabetes over time: What to expect as you age. DD: My prescribed type 2 diabetes pills are: Glimepiride (2), Jardiance, Metformin, and Ozempic. I am using Stelo ( https://www.stelo.com/ ) to monitor my glucose levels.
https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/diabetes/type-2-diabetes-over-time-what-to-expect-as-you-age/
TOPSPEED
— 10 Affordable Cars That Make Perfect Daily Drivers. DD: Chevy Malibu is one of them. My 2021 Chevy Malibu Premier will me my daily driver if my 2018 Chevy Cruze LT is totaled or stolen.
https://www.topspeed.com/affordable-new-cars-for-daily-driving/
August 19, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Chicago Cubs warn Crosstown Classic attendees about behavior after fight breaks out in bleachers.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-cubs-white-sox-game-today-north-side-team-warns-fans-disruptive-behavior-will-not-tolerated-fight-breaks/19699019/
— 7 teens shot, 1 fatally, in separate shootings across Chicago.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-shooting-7-teens-shot-1-fatally-separate-shootings-city-tuesday-night-wednesday-morning/19701723/
CBS2
— Pentagon orders “research security audit” at University of Illinois, 29 other schools.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/department-of-defense-research-security-audit-university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign/
WGN9
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://wgnradio.com/lisa-dent/senator-tammy-duckworth-ice-has-been-detaining-military-and-military-spouses/
WBEZ
— Should colleges and universities require standardized test scores for admission? DD: UIC would not have accepted me in 1966 if my ACT score had not been 24 and I had not graduated in the upper 20% of my class.
https://www.wbez.org/say-more-with-mary-dixon-patrick-smith/2026/08/18/should-colleges-and-universities-require-standardized-test-scores-for-admission
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— CTU sues Illinois Policy Institute, Liberty Justice Center, alleging ‘ongoing smear campaign.’
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/18/ctu-sues-illinois-policy-institute/
— 3 arrested at Wrigley Field during City Series, but none related to viral brawl in bleachers.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/18/man-arrested-wrigley-field-fight/
— Free Illinois tollways? Show us the math, Darren Bailey. But keep the conversation going.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/19/editorial-free-illinois-tollways-show-us-the-math-darren-bailey-but-keep-the-conversation-going/
— The growing political isolation of the Chicago Teachers Union.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/19/editorial-chicago-teachers-union-stacy-davis-gates-illinois-policy-institute/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Pritzker pours $65M into his campaign fund ahead of November elections. While speculation is rampant about whether he will run for president in 2028, the Democratic governor cannot transfer funds from his state campaign fund to run for federal office.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/08/17/gov-jb-pritzker-pours-65m-into-his-campaign-fund-ahead-of-november-elections
— A ‘black book’ lists 34 people banned from Illinois casinos. It’s rarely updated and likely missing names. Answering to Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Gaming Board has added just a dozen names to its “involuntary exclusion” list, as the black book is formally known, in his seven-plus years in office. Why certain nefarious characters are banned while others get a pass is a mystery.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/18/illinois-gaming-board-governor-jb-pritzker-involuntary-exclusion-list-marcus-fruchter-casinos
— Pumpkins, pensions, and the CTU’s ‘cooked’ books. A Chicago Teachers Union lawsuit shines a light on Illinois Policy Institute accusations. Is that smart?
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/08/18/chicago-teachers-union-defamation-lawsuit-illinois-policy-institute-cooked-books
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Giannoulias calls for $22 minimum wage. DD: I did not start earning $20.87/hour in today’s dollars until I was 20 in 1968 and had worked for the Park Forest Post Office for 2 years and I had completed many undergraduate courses at UIC. Before that, I worked for the minimum wage washing dishes 1964-1966. I today’s dollars, it was $13.47/hour.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics-policy/ccb-alexi-giannoulias-minimum-wage-20260818/
CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Del Mar charges Pritzker has ill-served public.
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/jim-dey-gop-candidate-charges-pritzker-has-ill-served-public/article_c80c1df4-abf4-481a-9151-4c6b2037691b.html
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN
— Is the American dream still within reach for young Americans? DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.nbc26.com/politics/economy/is-the-american-dream-still-within-reach-for-young-americans
VERMILION COUNTY FIRST
— Del Mar Encourages Republicans all Over the State to GET OUT TO VOTE, and BE PROUD. DD: What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to get out the vote? As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide their literature to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO voter guide. I have obtained a PDF file from the DuPage County Election Division mailing with labels for the 660 Republican and Independent registered voters in my precinct. I have printed out those labels, affixed them to envelopes provided by MTRO, and put them into five batches. I am now putting them in walk order. I will be stuffing those envelopes with MTRO’s voter guide, literature that candidates provided MTRO, and the sample ballot. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland.
https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/2026/08/18/gop-lt-governor-candidate-aaron-del-mar-encourages-republicans-all-over-the-state-to-get-out-to-vote-and-be-proud/
NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-18/families-struggle-with-the-financial-impact-of-fighting-trumps-deportation-campaign
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-19/groups-sue-trump-administration-over-new-foreign-student-visa-rule
CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
— With $65M infusion, Pritzker has now self-funded $439M since 2018 campaign launch.
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/with-65m-infusion-pritzker-has-now-self-funded-439m-since-2018-campaign-launch/
HINSDALE PATCH
— Hinsdale Conservative Kristina McCloy Claims Role In Bailey Campaign; Campaign Won’t Say. She has denounced Black people, “Mexican parades,” Muslims and the LGBTQ community.
https://patch.com/illinois/hinsdale/hinsdale-conservative-claims-role-bailey-campaign-which-wont-say
WHEATON PATCH
— The Wheaton Concours Car Show will bring exotic cars, super cars, classic coupes and other unique vehicles to Memorial Park on Aug. 22. The family-friendly event will also feature live DJ music and food vendors. Proceeds benefit Special Olympics Illinois.
https://patch.com/illinois/wheaton/see-exotic-cars-classic-coupes-more-wheaton-concours-car-show
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— The breakfast Durbin built.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/08/19/the-breakfast-durbin-built-01041282
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/19/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-794/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/18/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-581/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WIREPOINTS
— Glennon guest on AM560 with Chris Krok discussing CTU lawsuit against Illinois Policy Institute.
https://wirepoints.org/wirepoints-mark-glennon-guest-on-am560-with-chris-krok-discussing-ctu-lawsuit-agains-illinois-policy-and-more/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to replace capitalism first with socialist and then with communism. How strongly are the Republican candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct stressing that? On the Democrat road first to socialism and then to communism, Democrat elected officials ever-increasingly promote more dependency on government. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that to advance under Democrats, all you need to do is to be a Democrat. None of my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO coworkers came close to doing what I did to advance. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license. All my coworkers who my Democrat superiors promoted over me a) were Democrats who had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
ILLINOIS FAMILY ACTION
— The Clean Face of a Dirty Business.
https://illinoisfamilyaction.org/2026/08/the-clean-face-of-a-dirty-business/
ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Pritzker Dumps Another $65 Million Into Campaign as Self-Funding Tops $326 Million.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/pritzker-dumps-another-65-million-into-campaign-as-self-funding-tops-326-million.html
— $42M-Backed PAC Shuts Down With No Statewide Wins After $1.1M Paid to Proft’s Consulting Firm.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/42m-backed-pac-shuts-down-with-no-statewide-wins-after-1-1m-paid-to-profts-consulting-firm.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— The World War II Memorial still has a lesson for us. The Greatest Generation was as varied as the country it saved.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/17/world-war-ii-memorial-still-lesson-us/
— Young Democratic Socialists of America members: Unemployed, but maybe not so educated. Given universities’ long decline, don’t be fooled by survey findings.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/18/young-democratic-socialists-america-members-unemployed-maybe-not/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Trump’s Iran struggle comes through on campaign stump.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/4692031/trump-iran-struggle-campaign-stump-speeches-teleprompter/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— ICE may pay for liability insurance for police who help with immigration.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/4690981/ice-may-pay-liability-insurance-for-police-who-help-immigration-report/
— DSA chapter plans ‘Riots and Uprisings’ reading club to study ‘how people struggled.’
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/4691311/dsa-dc-chapter-riots-and-uprisings-reading-club/
NEW YORK POST
— UC Berkeley’s ban on standardized tests produces failure — as predicted. DD: My Democrat IRS and GAO superiors were furious when I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981 because my Democrat coworkers who they wanted to promote over me either a) failed/refused to take the examinations or b) failed to pass them.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/18/opinion/uc-berkeleys-ban-on-standardized-tests-produces-failure-as-predicted/
AMAC
— Democratic Socialist Plan to Reshape the American Left Through Labor Unions. A DSA pamphlet titled “Why Socialists Should Become Teachers” urges members to take jobs in schools, logistics and health care to push unions further left.
https://amac.us/newsline/the-little-known-democratic-socialist-plan-to-reshape-the-american-left-through-labor-unions
BREITBART
— Moskowitz: My District Has People Who ‘Escaped Socialism’, They Reject DSA. DD: Private sector employers look down on public sector employees. The longer that you work in the public sector, the harder it is to get a job in the private sector. My having been a public sector employee for almost 3 years harmed my efforts to get good job in the private sector after I earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU when I was 21 in 1970. In anticipation of that, as a fallback, I took and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination before I graduated. I would not have become an IRS employee when I was 22 a) if my Firestone Store boss had not rudely fired me because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile and b) if Oldsmobile had not withdrawn that offer because it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. Because I refused to become a Democrat, starting in when I was 25, my Democrat IRS superiors did everything they could to get rid of me. They disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning an MBA when I was 27. They disallowed my education deductions when I was 29. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. They ever-increasing made it clear that they would never promote me to GS-13. Of course, the aforesaid made it ever-increasingly impossible for me to get any kind of job anywhere. Because of the aforesaid, to get promoted to GS-13, I had to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer to GAO. My Democrat GAO superiors did promote me to GS-13, but not until I was 38. They would never had promoted me a) if I had not earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31, b) if I had not passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32, c) if I had not became a licensed CPA when I was 32, and d) if the GAO manager who had arranged my transfer had not gotten back into power.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/18/moskowitz-my-district-has-people-who-escaped-socialism-they-reject-dsa/
CREATORS SYNDICATE
— Socialism in the Open and on the Right.
https://www.creators.com/read/daily-editorials/08/26/socialism-in-the-open-and-on-the-right-30a47
DAILY WIRE
— VERY SAD IF NOT TRAGIC: Trump has again endorsed a Republican congresswoman leading the fight for amnesty on the Right. DD: Unlike Trump, because my parents lacked money, I had to compete against noncitizens for jobs. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-congresswoman-at-center-of-amnesty-fight
DISPATCH
— Affordability and the Problem With Populist Pandering. Lessons from Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump. DD: What did you do to afford things? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://thedispatch.com/article/affordability-trump-mamdani-populism/
FOX BUSINESS
— New York City rent freeze squeezes landlords while DSA targets Gen Z to fuel rise of socialism.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403656155112
FOX NEWS
— Socialist candidates can delete old posts, but they can’t erase their radicalism.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/socialist-candidates-delete-old-posts-cant-erase-radicalism
NATIONAL REVIEW
— Adam Smith’s Warning for America’s New Socialists.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/adam-smiths-warning-for-americas-new-socialists/
NEWSMAX
— An Unexpected Win for Socialist Dems in Florida Senate Primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/vindman-florida-angie-nixon/2026/08/18/id/1266575/
— Colo. Sheriffs, NRA Push Back on New Semiautomatic Gun Law.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/colorado-jared-polis-steven-nowlin/2026/08/18/id/1266556/
PJ MEDIA
— The Democrats’ ‘Big Tent’ With Socialists Is Doomed. Here’s Why.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/08/18/the-democrats-big-tent-with-socialists-is-doomed-heres-why-n4956262
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Trump-endorsed Lauf loses GOP primary for open Donalds seat in Florida.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6033754-catalina-lauf-loses-florida-house-primary/
— Democratic socialist notches surprise win in Florida Senate primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6036787-nixon-vindman-peltola-primaries/
ABC NEWS
— Push to punish parents for ‘teen takeovers’ after brawl at DC Chipotle. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://abcnews.com/video/133100696/
CBS NEWS
— DD: Democrats ever-increasingly promote DEI. To promote DEI is to get rid of those who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dei-policies-company-stock-performance-study/
NEWSWEEK
— Trump-Backed Catalina Lauf Loses Florida Primary Race.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-backed-catalina-lauf-loses-florida-primary-race-12340239
REUTERS
— Trump approval falls to 33%, lowest of his presidency. DD: What is your approval rating? My critics/opponents have always done everything they could to lower my approval rating. They have had their operatives and their dupes take many big adverse actions against me.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-approval-falls-33-lowest-his-presidency-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-08-17/
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
— What Is the Average American Net Worth by Age? DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/what-is-the-average-american-net-worth-by-age
AOL
— DD: When you met your wife, what impressed you about her? Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. After we got married in 1978, she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.aol.com/articles/m-letting-jesus-handle-65-050103000.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— Florida Primary Underscores State’s New Identity as a Republican Juggernaut. Republicans hold every statewide elected office and have drastically swung voter registration in the state. A newly gerrymandered congressional map has added four Republican-leaning seats.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/us/politics/florida-primary-republican-dominance.html
— Yes, Woke 1.0 Was Crazy. Now Where’s the Accountability?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/opinion/woke-liberals-restitution.html
— Google Just Made It Easier for Campaigns to Send You Fund-Raising Emails. DD: I should write about how Google has treated my GOPUSA ILLINOIS website and emails.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/us/politics/google-political-campaigns-email-spam.html
WASHINGTON POST
— DD: Noncitizens vote for Democrats because Democrats give noncitizens tremendous benefits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/18/trump-revives-unverified-claims-noncitizen-voting-2020/
— Key witness in Trump impeachment trial loses to democratic socialist in Florida Senate primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2026/08/18/florida-us-senate-special-primary-election-results-2026-live-updates/
USA TODAY
— Florida Senate primary winner Angie Nixon is a Democratic Socialist. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/19/angie-nixon-dsa-democratic-socialist-florida-election/91364091007/
SCRIPPS NEWS
— Young Americans redefine the American dream as costs rise and priorities shift. DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/economy/young-americans-redefine-the-american-dream-as-costs-rise-and-priorities-shift
NEWS24
— Democratic Socialists of America’s biggest success comes from high-income districts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB3FyQS29tk
— Radical left wants to ‘burn it all down’ amid Democratic Socialists’ rise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on1AX4_idnE
— Privileged Democratic Socialists try to tell voters the system is rigged.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGI3iQug0-o
WEEKLY TIMES NOW
— Democratic socialists trying to tear down the system that has given them success.
https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/democratic-socialists-trying-to-tear-down-the-system-that-has-given-them-success/video/0717f51c1258201dc3bc238c0ad08fa5
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— How Radical Will the Democrats Get? Frustration with the economy is fueling the rise of the DSA, and it may not fade by 2028.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-radical-will-the-democrats-get-8381ee72
— Key Florida Takeaways: A Socialist Upset and Far-Right Flops. In other contests, scandal sinks Cory Mills while Byron Donalds stays on track to make history. DD: My critics/opponents have always demonized me, denigrated me, and condemned me as being far right. My critics/opponents reject some, many, most, virtually all, if not all conservative principles and planks in the Republican Party platform. I should write about my critics/opponents and the conservative principles and planks they reject.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/key-florida-takeaways-a-socialist-upset-and-far-right-flops-51c25c75
— The Young MAGA Socialists Are Here. Many conservatives in Generation Z think the American Dream is gone. Some of us are building it.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-young-maga-socialists-are-here-8c941877
FORBES
— Trump’s Approval Rating Drops 8 Points Among Republicans. More than half of voters said they are worse off financially since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. DD: I have been worse off financially big time since I was 49 in 1997 when my Democrat GAO superiors succeeded in forcing me to retire. In today’s dollars, my GAO salary was $154,684/year, but my Civil Service Retirement System pension has only been $68,640/year in today’s dollars since then, or 56% less.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/18/trump-approval-rating-reaches-second-term-low-in-latest-poll-as-80-think-iran-war-will-drag-on/
MARKET WATCH
— Here’s the net worth you need to start getting ahead in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond in the U.S. About three-fourths of Americans lack the wealth needed to prosper in today’s economy, according to a new benchmark developed by the Aspen Institute. DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-the-net-worth-you-need-to-start-getting-ahead-in-your-20s-30s-40s-and-beyond-in-the-u-s-520c8d72
KIPLINGER
— What Is the Magic Number to Retire Comfortably? The amount you need might surprise you. Are you on track? DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/magic-number-to-retire-comfortably
USA FACTS
— Average wage in Illinois is $63,180/year. DD: In today’s dollars, my IRS salary was $56,409/year in 1971, $68,999/year in 1972, $83,482/year in 1973, and $100,059/year in 1974. I had earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in 1970 and I had started taking four graduate evening business courses a year at Loyola in January of 1972. According to my critics/opponents, I was grossly overpaid.
https://usafacts.org/answers/what-is-the-average-wage-in-the-us/state/illinois/
FEDWEEK
— Guidance Recommends Messaging to Employees about Forced Ratings Distribution. DD: The Democrats who run the federal government use the subjectivity in their rating systems to waste the careers of and to get rid of their employees who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/guidance-recommends-messaging-to-employees-about-forced-ratings-distribution/
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/forced-distributions-will-apply-to-current-ratings-cycle-says-opm/
— Job Candidate Vetting Process at USPS Improved but Still Has Gaps, Says IG. DD: If I had not earned a high school diploma and passed the postal employment test, the Democrats who ran the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/job-candidate-vetting-process-at-usps-improved-but-still-has-gaps-says-ig/
FED SMITH
— Is Your Federal Retirement on Track? DD: Until just before their early retirement “offer” expired on September 30, 1997, my Democrat GAO superiors falsely led me to believe that they were going to let me work until I could take regular retirement when I was 55 in 2003.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/08/18/is-your-federal-retirement-on-track-a-comprehensive-planning-guide/
NEW YORKER
— Why Millennial Professionals Are Embracing Socialism. DD: I avoided Democrat indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-i-became-a-subaru-socialist
— How I Became a Subaru Socialist. By the time Bernie Sanders ran for President, in 2015, I was financially secure. But the previous decade had left a mark. DD: If I had become a Democrat, the Democrats who ran the federal government would have promoted me into their Senior Executive Service, currently $197,200/year, long before I was 40 in 1988. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. I am none of the aforesaid. To get rid of me, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors punished me a) for my not becoming a Democrat, b) for my avoiding the Vietnam War draft, c) for my complaining about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation, and d) for my being an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did including forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-i-became-a-subaru-socialist
CHALKBEAT
— How American higher education helps the rich get richer. DD: My parents were not rich. I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2026/08/18/selective-colleges-have-funding-advantage-study-finds/
INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
— Students’ Roommates. DD: I spent three semesters at University Plaza dormitory ( https://www.uplaza.com/ ) in DeKalb 1969-1970. I should write about the impact that my roommates who University Plaza assigned me had on me.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2026/08/19/students-choices-fueling-polarization-higher-ed
August 17, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
NBC5
— 16 teens arrested at vacant Congress Theater, 1 week after illegal rave. The teens, ages 13 to 19, were all charged with one misdemeanor count for criminal trespassing. The mass arrest comes after a local DJ held an unsanctioned rave at the theater on Aug. 8 that drew several young people. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/16-teens-arrested-at-vacant-congress-theater-1-week-after-illegal-rave/3976097/
— Frustrations grow as power outages persist in NW Indiana after derecho. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/video/news/local/frustrations-grow-as-power-outages-persist-in-nw-indiana-after-derecho/3976247/
CBS2
— 16 teenagers arrested after trespassing inside Congress Theater on Northwest Side. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/16-teenagers-arrested-trespassing-congress-theater/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PICTURE: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/17/ice-out-chicago/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Darren Bailey accepts campaign money from sex offender who’s now pastor, attends service at his church. Victor D. Barr was convicted of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl when she was a Rockford high school student and he was a teacher. He and his household have made three campaign donations to the Republican candidate for governor, who also visited Barr’s congregation in June. Bailey didn’t know Barr’s background and now plans to give the contributions to charity, an aide says.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/17/darren-bailey-campaign-money-registered-sex-offender-victor-barr-pastor-faith-center-rockford
— ALLL OF THE FRONT PAGE: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/08/17/broadview-six-judge-april-perry-trump-vance
DAILY HERALD
— Midwest shows DSA left could take over the Democratic Party.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260816/syndicated-columnists/midwest-shows-dsa-left-could-take-over-the-democratic-party/
WBEZ
— Muslim families look to Arabic immersion education to give their children a foundation in faith and identity. Chicago-area Muslim families are flocking to a small southwest suburban school for its rigorous, play-based curriculum taught entirely in Arabic. DD: Democrat leaders fight assimilation.
https://www.wbez.org/education/2026/05/30/chicago-muslim-families-arabic-immersion-education-faith-identity-bridgeview-quran-mas-blossoms
NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-16/what-are-we-going-to-do-the-mom-of-a-trans-teen-grapples-with-trumps-medicaid-move
— Staying in a job for the health insurance? About 1 in 4 Americans do. DD: The federal government paying 72% of my healthcare insurance since 1966 and then also paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance since 1978 helped me endure tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/22/nx-s1-5902333/health-insurance-jobs-gallup
ILLINOIS TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.illinoistimes.com/news/democracy-rising-rally-held-at-old-state-capitol/
PATRICIA KLADIS-SCHIAPPA FOR DUPAGE COUNTY CLERK
— Burr Ridge park district cancels meet and greet event
https://www.facebook.com/61579580051028/posts/for-immediate-release-burr-ridge-illinois-8162026i-regret-to-inform-the-communit/122178940904986001/
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— State Fair glow meets ethics shadow
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/08/17/state-fair-glow-meets-ethics-shadow-01038943
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Analysis of Catalina Lauf’s Probable Victory in Southwest Florida’s 19th Congressional District.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/16/analyzing-catalina-laufs-probable-victory-in-southwest-florildas-19th-congresisonal-district/
BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— AOC: Cunning and Callous
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2026/08/12/aoc-cunning-and-callous
— Abdul El-Sayed’s Equally Radical Half-Sister Eman Abdelhad. She is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Comparative Human Development.
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2026/08/14/abdul-el-sayeds-equally-radical-half-sister-eman-abdelhadi
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin sees room for leftists in ‘big tent’ party. Summer meeting ends without resolving ICE fight, Israel rift or midterm cash gap.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/16/democratic-national-committee-chair-ken-martin-sees-room-leftists-big/
— Democrats need an agenda before socialists write one for them. Empty opposition to Trump keeps handing energy to the party’s radical wing.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/16/democrats-need-agenda-socialists-write-one/
— Radical Democrats gearing up for woke 2.0. Slogans may change, but the extreme leftist agenda remains.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/16/radical-democrats-gearing-woke-20/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Half of Democratic voters hold negative view of capitalism. DD: How successful have Democrat leaders been promoting socialism in your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/4689225/half-democratic-voters-negative-view-capitalism-poll/
NEW YORK POST
— Dems now favor socialism over capitalism by this overwhelming amount.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/us-news/dems-now-favor-socialism-over-capitalism-by-this-overwhelming-amount-new-poll/
— Gingrich: Iran betting it can outlast Trump if Dems take Congress. ‘Trying to win in America politically’ like North Vietnam.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/us-news/iran-betting-it-can-outlast-trump-if-dems-take-congress-gingrich-says/
— If we don’t face WHY men are giving up on work, America’s future is grim. DD: Democrat and RINO employers ever-increasingly give more preference to young women and to young minorities.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/opinion/if-we-dont-face-why-men-are-giving-up-on-work-americas-future-is-grim/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: This dysfunction leads to higher rates of drug abuse and suicide, both far worse among men than women, as well as “failure to launch” that now sees one in five men aged 25 to 34 living “at home,” markedly more than their female peers. And men who can’t serve as the family’s prime breadwinners tend not to form families at all, driving both the rise in single-parent (almost always a woman) homes and the decline in US birth rates. Demographers predict that by 2038 more Americans will die than be born.)
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
— DD: What do you say to those a) who are able-bodied, b) who refuse to work, and c) who demand welfare?
https://www.aei.org/commentary/are-you-a-bad-citizen/
BRETBART
— Democratic Committee Urges Congress to Defund ICE, Free Illegals.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/17/democratic-committee-urges-congress-to-defund-ice-free-illegal-migrants/amp/
— Democrats Swamp State Legislatures with 250 Pro-Migrant Bills to Obstruct Trump’s Deportation Mandate.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/16/democrats-swamp-state-legislatures-with-250-pro-migrant-bills-to-obstruct-trumps-deportation-mandate/
CAMPUS REFORM
— The new DEI witness protection program at universities. DD: Because of Affirmative Action and because of DEI, that is, because of political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination, those who are the following should anticipate/expect that will always have to do more to advance: conservative, Republican, White, male, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Because I am all of the aforesaid, to advance, I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license. If I had been liberal/moderate, Democrat, minority, female, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, the Democrats who ran the federal government would have promoted me into their Senior Executive Service, currently $197,200/year, long before I was 40 years old. Instead, they wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/new-dei-witness-protection-program-universities-analysis/30401
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Changing the acronym may change the press release, but it does not change the requirements of federal civil rights law. At universities across the country, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices are undergoing transformations that would make the Federal Witness Protection Program proud. Diversity becomes “community.” Inclusion becomes “belonging.” Equity becomes “excellence.” Administrators acquire new titles. Departments get new signs.)
DAILY CALLER
— Chicago Has 7 Times The Murders Of Cities In State That Respects Gun Rights.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/08/16/a-study-in-contrasts-one-city-in-anti-2a-state-has-seven-times-the-murders-as-three-in-a-state-that-respects-2a-rights/
FOX NEWS
— Woke 1 looks TAME compared to Woke 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DfdhvAn5sKa8
— Reince Priebus: Donald Trump is the ‘biggest’ reason why ‘Woke 1.0’ is dead. DD: All my critics/opponents are some degree of woke.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403538809112
— Long Island street takeover erupts as drivers block road, perform donuts, burnouts. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://noticias.foxnews.com/us/long-island-street-takeover-erupts-drivers-block-road-perform-donuts-burnouts-police
HOT AIR
— Chicago Teachers Union’s Sustainable Community Schools Is a Scam.
https://hotair.com/headlines/2026/08/15/chicago-teachers-unions-sustainable-community-schools-is-a-scam-n3817991
TOWNHALL
— If Democrats Win, Trump Will Be Impeached Again.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2026/08/17/if-democrats-win-trump-will-be-impeached-again-n2681343
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Fetterman warns of socialism’s rise in the Democratic Party: ‘This is lunacy’
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6032418-fetterman-warns-socialism-rise/
NBC NEWS
— Tough economy forces Gen Z to rewrite the American dream playbook. Squeezed by high costs, an unwelcoming housing market and uncertain career prospects, younger adults are making hard choices — and getting creative. DD: How many Gen Zers are doing what I did? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I worked two jobs for 18 months. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/gen-z-rewrites-american-dream-playbook-rcna591764
CBS NEWS
— Most Americans believe a free market system is a good thing. Americans are net-negative on socialism. Capitalism is better-liked. But those ideas aside, right now they say it’s harder now to do things like buy a house, raise a family, and to just feel financially secure than for the last generation. Younger people are especially apt to feel opportunities are fewer. So most also call the current U.S. economic system unfair, in terms of the way it works for chances to get ahead. DD: To get ahead under socialists, you have to be a socialist. To get ahead under Democrats, you have to be a Democrat. To get ahead under RINOs, you have to be a RINO. To get ahead under Affirmative Action and DEI, you have to be a female or a minority.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-socialism-economy-political-parties-opinion-poll/
NEWSWEEK
— Best Test Prep 2026. DD: I would not have passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30 in 1979 if I had not a) taken the Becker CPA Review, b) taken graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul, c) earned an MBA from Loyola, and d) worked for IRS for 8 years.
https://www.newsweek.com/readerschoice/best-test-prep-2026
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Becker provides professional education and exam preparation programs for individuals pursuing accounting, finance and business certifications. Best known for its CPA Exam review courses, Becker offers comprehensive study materials, practice questions, lectures and personalized learning tools. Its programs help students and professionals prepare for certification exams while building the knowledge and skills needed for career advancement.)
WASHINGTON POST
— His family fled socialism. He’s trying to spread it. A young Cuban American is selling democratic socialism door-to-door across Miami. But he cannot bring himself to discuss it across his family’s kitchen table.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/16/an-activist-tries-sell-socialism-miami-people-who-fled-castro/
USA TODAY
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for inflation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/grocery/2026/08/10/families-using-credit-grocery-stores-costs/91128536007/
SEATTLE TIMES
— About one-third of single, unemployed Americans have paused dating. DD: What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. See Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on my wife and I at https://gopillinois.com/documents/ Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/one-of-them-was-unemployed-could-they-afford-to-date/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Why White-Collar Workers Can’t Get Ahead. DD: What did you do to get ahead? I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/why-white-collar-workers-cant-get-ahead-a5b4870e
— Democrats Try to End Internal Squabbling.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democrats-turn-focus-to-winning-after-months-of-internal-fights-29c49635
FORTUNE
— Backstabbing is the new office norm: Gen Z and millennials are blame-shifting, snitching, and setting others up to fail—but so are managers. DD: Far too many of my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were backstabbers. Far too many who claim to be religious, conservative, and/or Republican are backstabbers.
https://fortune.com/article/gen-z-millennials-backstabbing-get-ahead-career-new-office-norm-rto-research/
BUSINESS WIRE
— Getting ahead. DD: What did you do to get ahead? I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260324580106/en/New-Employer-Ratings-Reveal-Where-Workers-Actually-Get-Ahead-Role-by-Role
24/7 WALL STREET
— A couple earning $110,000 combined with $65,000 in student debt got Ramsey’s green light to have a baby, thanks largely to $45,000 in imminent PSLF forgiveness. Staying a two-income household is the single variable that determines success. Dropping to $55,000 makes the $2,200 mortgage financially crushing. Jade Warshaw recommends building a faux budget before the baby arrives, modeling both dual- and single-income scenarios with real daycare quotes. DD: According my Democrat GAO superiors, if my wife and I had children, I would not have been able to a) pass the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30, b) afford to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO and earn a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31, c) pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt and become a licensed CPA when I was 32, d) have a home built in Wheaton when I was 35, and g) buy a collector car when I was 40. My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly demonized, denigrated, and condemned my wife and I as being disgusting selfish rich DINKs. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran. They knew full-well that both my wife and I had major fertility problems. They painted themselves as being grossly underpaid. They decried the time and money they spent raising their children. They decried the little or no income that their wives had. Should I write about my Democrat GAO superiors?
https://247wallst.com/personal-finance/2026/08/16/dave-ramsey-tells-couple-earning-110000-they-can-afford-a-baby-but-one-decision-could-change-everything/
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
— Defining a “Good Job” DD: What jobs have you had? Overwhelmingly, when I was young, my peers a) had parents who had more money than my parents did, b) did not have to take jobs let alone take bad jobs, and/or c) viewed the jobs that I took as being bad jobs that they would never stoop to take. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997.
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/wiener/programs/economy/our-work/reimagining-economy-blog/daniel-schneider-defines-a-good-job
SHRM
— What’s the Difference Between a ‘Good’ Job and a ‘Bad’ Job? 10 Dimensions of Job Quality. DD: What about how jobs are viewed? All the jobs that I had were viewed as being bad jobs. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997.
https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/employee-relations/whats-difference-good-job-bad-job
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Level of pay. Stable and predictable pay. Stable and predictable hours. Control over hours and/or job location. Job security. Employee benefits. Career advancement opportunities. Enjoying the day-to-day work. Having a sense of purpose and dignity at work. Having the power to change things that are unsatisfying at work.)
BEST COLLEGES
— 40 Companies That Pay for College With Tuition Reimbursement. DD: I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969, Firestone Stores 1970-1972, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997. Because they did not reimburse tuition or reimbursed only token amounts, I paid lots of my own money for tuition a) to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree from NIU in 1970 (many courses), b) to earn a job-related master’s degree from Loyola in 1976 (16 courses), c) to pass a job-related professional examination in 1979, d) to earn a job-related master’s degree from DePaul in 1980 (12 courses), e) to pass a job-related professional examination in 1981, and f) to earn a job-related master’s degree from IIT in 1997 (14 courses). To add insult to injury and to get rid of me, my Democrat IRS superiors disallowed my education deductions in 1978 outrageously, disgustingly, falsely, and unethically arguing that the courses I took a) did not relate to my job duties, b) did not maintain or improve my job skills, c) were taken by me to get a job in the private sector, and d) qualified me for a new trade or business.
https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/companies-with-tuition-reimbursement/
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
— Student debt: The hidden affordability crisis. DD: Because I worked my way through college, I graduated debt-free with a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in August of 1970 owning a 1969 Dodge Charger SE. Not that I could have gotten a student loan, but if I had gotten one, I would not have been able to a) buy a new 1972 Corvette in October of 1971, b) pay tuition for graduate evening business courses starting in January of 1972, or b) buy a new townhome in September of 1972.
https://www.aft.org/column/student-debt-hidden-affordability-crisis
BUZZ FEED
— Jobs That Are Either Criminally Underpaid Or Wildly Overpaid. DD: According to my critics/opponents, I was always overpaid. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/29-jobs-either-criminally-underpaid-110103399.html
— Turning To Socialism. DD: To get ahead under Democrats, you have to be a Democrat. Because I refused to become a Democrat, I did not get ahead in the federal government. To get ahead under RINOs, you have to be a RINO. Because I refused to become a RINO, I did not get ahead in the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, or Illinois Republican Party.
https://www.aol.com/articles/fox-news-host-blaming-gop-202209000.html
POLITICO
— DD: Some blame Bernie Sanders for Hong’s defeat. I should write about the following who have blamed me and have blamed my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters the most for defeats suffered by Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct since 2000: past and present a) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Illinois Republican Party, TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois, and Illinois Center Right Coalition, b) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, c) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct and their political consultants, major donors, fundraisers, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/13/bernie-sanders-wisconsin-progressives-hong-01037121
AXIOS
— America is quickly becoming Sin Nation. Or, as President Trump put it while discussing prediction markets in the Oval Office last month: “The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.” Why it matters: Once-forbidden vices — weed, gambling and porn — are no longer confined to back alleys or the desert. They’re ubiquitous, digital and spreading at a pace that has outstripped the country’s social and regulatory guardrails. Governments didn’t turn a blind eye to most of this behavior. They encouraged it. We’re scaling sin in real time.
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/12/america-gambling-weed-deepfakes
PSY POST
— DD: As fewer and fewer and fewer men earn college degrees, college women increasingly marry men without degrees. My wife and I got married when I was 29. She was impressed that I earned a bachelor’s degree in management when I was 21 and an MBA when I was 27 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses.
https://www.psypost.org/college-women-are-increasingly-marrying-men-without-degrees-as-college-demographics-shift/
August 16, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/la-voz/2026/08/13/tras-seis-meses-detenida-por-ice-una-vendedora-de-tamales-de-chicago-reconstruye-su-vida
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more Islam.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/08/15/muslim-politics-democrat-trump-el-sayed-mamdani-piker-rummana-hussain
— DD: Democrat leaders always hint/imply/argue/shout that police are racists.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/14/traffic-stops-racial-disparities-chicago-police-department-illinois-department-transportation-driving-while-black
ABC7
— A petition to declare U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra “persona non grata” and have him removed from his post had received more than 104,000 signatures as of Thursday. The petition was launched on Canada’s parliamentary petitions portal, where citizens and residents of Canada can set up petitions to parliament. DD: If/when my critics/opponents set up such a petition against me and against my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters, how many signatures will they get? My critics/opponents blame me and blame my newsletters for all the losses that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000. I should write about my “Republican” critics/opponents who paint themselves as being Democrat Lite, if not RINO, if not Democrat or Libertarian Plant. They do not want Republican candidates, elected officials, and party leaders to defend or promote conservative principles and the following planks in the Republican Party platform: personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, and equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving).
https://abc7chicago.com/story/100000-sign-petition-declare-us-ambassador-canada-persona-grata/19672210/
NBC5
— Power outages in northwest Indiana are so bad you can see them from space. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/power-outages-in-northwest-indiana-are-so-bad-you-can-see-them-from-space/3975848/
RIVER BENDER
— DD: Ever-increasingly, the more of the following that you are, the more government assistance that you get: minority, female, younger, veteran, and/or citizen of a foreign country.
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/illinois-commission-on-equity-and-inclusion-announces-bep–vbp-certification-kickstart-workshop-95943.cfm
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
— Socialism lost in Wisconsin, but it’s winning in the Democratic Party.
https://madison.com/opinion/column/article_cf423347-2ce6-4bcd-b48a-a29010ef9780.html
WMOI
— LaHood, Colleagues Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Expand Access to Low-Interest Mortgages for First-Time Homebuyers. DD: Mortgage interest rates were 7.4% when I bought a new townhome in University Park when I was 24 in 1972. SEE: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/774-Sunset-Ct-5-University-Park-IL-60484/5451474_zpid/ . In today’s dollars, I paid about $180,000 for it and the down payment would have been about $36,000. In today’s dollars, my IRS Revenue Officer salary had just increased from $56,409/year to $68,999/year. The down payment came from what I had earned working for IRS for 15 months and for a Firestone Store part-time for 18 months and full-time for 7 months before that. According to Zillow, the townhome is currently worth $94,500. That says worlds about real estate values in University Park.
https://977wmoi.com/2026/08/lahood-colleagues-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-expand-access-to-low-interest-mortgages-for-first-time-homebuyers/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Democrats plan decade-long strategy to push pro-transgender narrative. DD: How successful have Democrats been promoting LGBTQ in your county, township, municipality, and school district?
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/15/democrats-plan-decade-long-strategy-push-pro-transgender-narrative/
— The Democrat Party, since the presidential days of Bill Clinton, has been moving down a path toward communism.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/15/bold-blunt-socialism-nope-communism-fought/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Johnson launches website to teach young voters about socialism and communism ahead of midterm elections. DD: How successful have Democrats been promoting socialism in your county, township, municipality, and school district?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4688861/mike-johnson-contrast-for-america-tour-midterm-elections/
— The Peter Pan generation chooses pets. DD: My former neighbor Dr. Dan Kiley wrote the Peter Pan Syndrome. SEE: https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-Syndrome-Never-Grown/dp/0380688905
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4667440/peter-pan-generation-chooses-pets-over-children/
— Democratic Socialists lack accountability by not facing the past.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AoDmip0KHh4
NEW YORK POST
— Socialist NY lawmaker Emily Gallagher says shoplifting for ‘biological need’ is OK.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/socialist-ny-lawmaker-emily-gallagher-says-shoplifters-have-a-biological-need-to-steal/
— DD: Democrat leaders dump Bill Maher because he thinks immigrants should assimilate and accept American values and principles.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/15/us-news/bill-maher-thinks-american-values-arent-negotiable/
— Dog owners’ average spending tops $4,000 a year—here’s the cost breakdown. DD: One reason why my wife and I have more money is our never owning pets.
https://nypost.com/lifestyle/true-cost-of-owning-a-dog/
AMERICAN THINKER
— How illegals plunder American billions, in broad daylight. And how Democrats enabled every dollar plundered.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/how-illegals-plunder-american-billions-in-broad-daylight/
— Mass immigration can only work if immigrants are introduced to a common American culture and expected to assimilate.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/08/america-s-stranger-problem/
BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Trump says AOC is misleading voters: ‘The woke will become woke again as soon as they get elected’
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/08/15/trump-says-aoc-is-misleading-voters-the-woke-will-become-woke-again-as-soon-as-they-get-elected-1654961/
BREITBART
— Democratic Socialists Have Been in Party for a While.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/15/progressive-caucus-chair-democratic-socialists-have-been-in-party-for-a-while/amp/
— Rise of Democratic Socialists is a Real Opportunity for the GOP.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/15/mark-levin-rise-of-a-democratic-socialists-a-real-opportunity-for-gop/
— Quarter of Americans Say Most Democrats Are Socialists.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/15/poll-quarter-of-americans-say-most-democrats-are-socialists/amp/
FOX NEWS
— A STEP TOWARD COMMUNISM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3vwDloUkxE
LEGAL INSURRECTION
— EEOC Sues Washington University in St. Louis For Firing Employee Who Complained About DEI Policy. DD: My Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire not only because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination, but because I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/08/eeoc-sues-wash-u-for-firing-employee-who-complained-about-dei-policy/amp/
NEWSMAX
— The growing influence of democratic socialists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqIshMiul4U
PATRIOT LEDGER
— ‘We’re winning:’ Bernie Sanders and DSA see WI, MI results as progress. DD: How successful have Democrats been promoting socialism in your county, township, municipality, and school district?
https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/16/bernie-sanders-dsa-wisconsin-michigan-progress/91276557007/
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— The Woke Right Is Urging The Abandonment Of “Core Conservative Traditional Reaganite Principles.”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/08/15/mark_levin_the_woke_right_is_urging_the_abandonment_of_core_conservative_traditional_reaganite_principles.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— The worse it gets, the better it is: American leftism is thriving on its own failures.
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/6030675-american-left-politics-failure/
ABC NEWS
— 21% of Married Couples Have a Foreign Spouse. DD: All my ancestors immigrated during the 1840s and 1850s from what is now Germany. They all married those who shared their national origin.
https://abcnews.com/ABC_Univision/News/census-report-reveals-21-married-couples-foreign-spouse/story?id=20171171
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The number of mixed-nativity married couple households corresponds with the increase in immigration to the United States over the last several decades. . .As the immigrant population has grown, so has the chance that a native-born person will meet and marry a foreign-born person.)
CBS NEWS
— Federal workers sour on government work. DD: I would not have spent almost 30 years of my life working for the federal government if my high school friend had not asked me to join him to take the postal employment test in 1966. Because I passed, I was a part-time postal employee while I attended UIC 1966-1968 and NIU in 1969. I graduated from NIU in 1970 and accepted the only job offer that I got, to be the Retail Sales Manager in a Firestone Store, a job that not really require a college degree. Potential employers saw me as being draft bait. They did not believe that my application for a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother would be approved. I accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile in 1971, but Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. My Firestone Store boss rudely fired me because I had accepted that offer. Because I had to have a job, I accepted a job offer that I got from IRS. I had taken and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination while I was a NIU student as a backup because federal employees are viewed negatively.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-workers-survey-public-service-job-security/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Nearly two-thirds of U.S. federal workers said they wouldn’t enter public service again, citing eroding job security and benefits, according to a recent poll of active and retired government employees. Respondents’ views overwhelmingly reflected concerns about the current federal climate, rather than regret over having chosen careers in government, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) found in a July survey. The Trump administration has made sweeping cuts to the federal workforce by eliminating jobs and weakening civil service protections. In 2025, the White House announced a number of executive orders to slash government jobs, including a hiring freeze on civilian workers and directives to federal agencies to reduce their rolls. President Trump has said there are too many federal workers, pushing to reduce the size and scope of government while making agencies more efficient.)
NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Democrats are calculating a left turn. The math is inescapable.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/07/2028-democratic-contenders-should-not-misread-primary-results/
USA TODAY
— College should be tough. Michigan’s grade plan coddles students. DD: What harmed your college GPA? For me, it was my working far too many hours delivering mail instead of studying.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/08/16/university-michigan-drops-grades-freshmen-lsa/91285520007/
FORTUNE
— Facing a decadeslong shortage, the FAA has now hired more than 2,000 air traffic controllers after its campaign recruiting Gen Z video gamers promising $155K payday. DD: I did not earn $155,000/year in today’s dollars until after I had a) worked for GAO for almost 18 years, b) worked for IRS for almost 9 years, c) earned three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), d) earned six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and e) earned a job-related professional license (CPA). 3 years after I started working for IRS in 1971, I earned $100,000/year in today’s dollars. I had completed 10 graduate business evening business courses. According to my critics/opponents, I was grossly overpaid.
https://fortune.com/article/why-is-trump-administration-hiring-gen-z-video-gamers-for-air-traffic-control/
FORBES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice including more pot.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherrington/2026/07/21/more-employers-drop-marijuana-tests-despite-rising-positive-results/
— Envy. DD: My Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates in the federal government were filled with envy. They always painted themselves as being underpaid. They were ever-increasingly furious at my and my wife’s ever-increasing income and net worth. To turn them against me, my Democrat superiors stressed a) the new cars that I bought when I was 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 29, etc., b) the real estate that I bought when I was 24, 25, 27, 29, and 35, c) the collector cars that I bought when I was 40 and 45, d) the college degrees that I earned when I was 21, 27, 31, and 48, e) the professional certifications that I earned when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, f) the professional license that I earned when I was 32, g) the vacations that my wife and I took, h) etc. Some of them circulated copies of Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on me and my wife. SEE https://gopillinois.com/documents/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolelipkin/2024/04/30/how-to-keep-envy-at-bay-by-creating-a-positive-workplace-culture/
— Better Safe Than Sorry Kills Your Career. DD: I knew that I was taking a big career risk when I suggested myself to be the subject of a “One Person’s Finances” article in Money Magazine when I was 28 in 1977. SEE: https://gopillinois.com/documents/ But my Democrat IRS superiors had made it very clear that they would never promote me to GS-13. They had ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976. They had gotten rid of the IRS manager who had promoted me when I was 23, 24, and 25. They had disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25. SEE: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-180010.11-0 If you were me, would you have taken that risk?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2026/08/15/why-better-safe-than-sorry-kills-your-career-making-success-harder/
BLOOMBERG
— Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ Pitch Meets Affordability Frustration. DD: What did you do to afford things? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-08-15/trump-golden-age-pitch-meets-affordability-frustration-video
FORD FOUNDATION
— The Working Class. DD: I define the working class as being wage earners who earn less money. I was a member of the working class for 33 years. To earn more money, I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, I never earned more than $154,682/year in today’s dollars. According to my critics/opponents, I was both grossly overpaid and an abject career failure.
https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/the-backbone-of-america-understanding-the-working-class/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The term “working class” often evokes narrow and outdated images in American culture. But in reality, today’s working class is often primarily defined by education rather than occupation: individuals without a four-year college degree. By that measure, the working class constitutes over 60% of the U.S. labor force—more than 93 million people as of 2023. This group is not only large, but richly diverse: Roughly 53% are non-Hispanic white, 13% Black, and 25% Hispanic. Approximately 44% are women.)
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
— Reskilling. Did you reskill? I certainly did. When I was 40 in 1988, to get rid of me, my Democrat GAO superiors made it very clear that they would never again assign me to audits of IRS. Because of that, I applied for and got accepted into their audit group that audited federal financial industry regulators in 1990. The leader of that group made it very clear that she wanted everyone in that group to have a master’s degree in finance. Because of that, I started taking graduate evening finance courses at IIT in 1992 and earned a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in early 1997. But in August and September of 1997, she led her superiors’ successful effort to force me to retire. She gave my Black subordinate my job and my preferred corner office. He did not have a master’s degree in finance. He had less job-related education than I had. He had less job-related work experience than I had. He had one job-related professional certification while I had six. I had no job-related professional license like the one I had. She would not have had to do that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, veteran, or younger.
https://www.library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/want-workers-to-reskill-show-them-who-they-can-become
PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
— Undermining independence and eroding transparency: Examining Schedule Policy/Career reclassifications. A Partnership analysis of recent federal job postings suggests that Schedule Policy/Career reclassifications reach far beyond policy-influencing roles. This apparent expansion runs contrary to the Trump administration’s statement that reclassifications were largely limited to the “highest-ranking career positions outside of the Senior Executive Service.” DD: As a GS-13 GAO Analyst, I had absolutely no policy-influencing roles. I had to do what my superiors told me to do and I did that. But that was not good enough for them.
https://ourpublicservice.org/know-the-facts/blog/examining-schedule-policy-career-reclassifications
PBS
— Forced Retirement: What is it and what can you do about it? DD: I should write about forced retirement. I have almost 29 years of direct experience.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/chasing-the-dream/2019/03/forced-retirement/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The loss of a career can feel like a death. The resulting grieving process is similar to that following the death of a friend or loved one. The five stages in the process of grieving a loss after death and they’re similar for grieving after an involuntary retirement: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Denial: You can’t believe this is really happening. You feel paralyzed. Anger: Once the shock has worn off, you begin to feel angry toward your company, supervisor and the world. For many retirees, the job is how they define themselves. When this is taken away, they feel frustrated and angry that they’ve lost their identity. Bargaining: You might want to try to get your job back, even with reduced pay, hours or responsibilities. This rarely works. Depression: Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness take hold and the future looks bleak. Acceptance: When your anger and depression are no longer consuming, you accept your new reality and begin to develop plans to make the most of your life. Each individual passes through these stages at his or her own rate and may move back and forth through some of the stages. The Suddenness of It All. A major problem of forced retirement is the lack of time to plan because of the suddenness of the termination. When someone voluntarily retires, there has been time to think about the future. Do you want to kick back and have a leisure filled retirement? Or do you plan to continue in some form of work or volunteerism? Is there some life passion you’ve been waiting to fulfill? The forced retiree hasn’t had the chance to think about these things. Work provides us with five important functions the forced retiree will suddenly lose. How will you deal with the changes in your financial situation? What about the time management and structure to your day that has been a major part of your working life? What will happen to the status you had and the recognition, reputation and sense of achievement that came with it? Where will you find the sense of usefulness you felt at your job? And how do you replace the social connections that are gone from your everyday life? These losses can lead to feelings of emptiness, shame, embarrassment and worry. You can feel like a failure.)
SHRM
— DD: Democrat and RINO employers reject E-Verify. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997. Many, if not most, if not virtually all of my peers would not have stooped to take the aforesaid bad jobs that I took.
https://www.shrm.org/mena/topics-tools/news/everify-proposal-could-create-new-hr-bompliance-burden
POLITICO
— Democrats finalize 2028 calendar that moves racially diverse states to the front. South Carolina will kick off a presidential primary process, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/15/democrats-finalize-2028-calendar-that-moves-racially-diverse-states-to-the-front-01038875
POLITIFACT
— How PolitiFact selects facts to check. DD: I often served as a fact checker while I worked for GAO 1986-1997 at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $118,984-$154,682/year.
https://politifact.com/video/how-politifact-selects-facts-check/
BUZZ FEED
— Why One Income Could Buy A House In The 1950s But Not Today. DD: My father died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21 in 1969. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. My mother stayed home and raised me and my brother. He never bought a house. He rented from his parents. First, an apartment above their hardware store in Crete 1945-1954, and then their home at 1286 Wood Street in Crete. The lower rent he paid helped him afford sending me and my brother to Missouri Synod Lutheran grade schools.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/victoriavouloumanos/people-debating-about-why-inflation-is-getting-worse
AXIOS
— College loses its monopoly on the American Dream. DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/15/college-bachelors-degree-shift-ai-america
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly shout at everyone that they cannot advance without massive government assistance. I never fell for that. Instead, to advance, I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://nul.org/news/affordability-all-its-time-rescue-american-dream
FROM FOREIGN SOURCES
INDEPENDENT
— Meet the British former detective giving US churches AR-15s to defend against shooters. DD: What are churches in your county, township, municipality, and school district doing to defend themselves?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-church-assault-rifles-simon-osamoh-protection-shootings-b3032594.html
August 12, 2016
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Illinois and Chicago campaigns defy conventional monied wisdom.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/12/column-illinois-chicago-campagins-defy-convention-washington/
— Backlash against Meta’s smart glasses grows. DD: Republican Precinct Committeemen should consider wearing them to document threats against them when they hand-deliver sample ballots, campaign literature, and voter guides in their precinct.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/11/meta-smart-glasses/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The social media giant dominates the market for smart glasses, which allow people to capture photos and videos, listen to music, take phone calls and ask questions to an artificial intelligence assistant. Some people are using the glasses — which look like a pair of regular spectacles — to record people without their knowledge and publish the videos on social media. The users secretly videotape and share what happens when they try to pick up women. Now, a growing number of people are worried they could be covertly recorded at the gym or even during sex. The backlash has prompted Meta to update its glasses to address privacy concerns, and some places have banned them, adding to the angst surrounding technology that’s rapidly evolving. It’s too early to tell whether the criticism will dent sales of smart glasses, said Jitesh Ubrani, a director at the market research company IDC.)
— If you’re not wealthy, you’re making concessions on big-ticket purchases. Consumers are OK with not getting the fancy car. Homes? That’s a bigger problem.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/12/jd-power-zillow-auto-cars-homebuyers-housing-rich/
DAILY HERALD
— The persecution of Anthony Fauci, a public servant. DD: I should write about federal employees who have had big adverse actions taken against them, what those adverse actions were, who took those adverse actions against them, and those who could/should have come to their defense but did not, and why.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260812/syndicated-columnists/the-persecution-of-a-public-servant/
FOX32
— USDA: SNAP enrollment drops by 5.3 million following new work rules – State-by-state breakdown. DD: Democrat leaders want as many people as possible on SNAP because people on SNAP vote for Democrats.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/snap-fewer-recipients-after-new-rules-implemented
PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— Tracy labels Iran war costs ‘required sacrifices.’
https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/11/don-tracy-calls-iran-war-costs-required-sacrifices/91263175007/
EVANSTON NOW
— Uihlein family giving $35M to NU football.
https://evanstonnow.com/uihlein-family-giving-35m-to-nu-football/
FOX ILLINOIS
— DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, their top priority was hiring, retaining, and promoting Democrats who were minority, female, younger, and/or veteran.
https://www.foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/researchers-advocates-rail-against-governments-efforts-to-end-workforce-data-collection/article_36c0db76-e1b3-51f4-9ca6-0c160b2045d6.html
NPR ILLINOIS
— Trump-backed Mike Lindell loses primary for Minnesota governor to Lisa Demuth.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-11/trump-backed-mike-lindell-loses-primary-for-minnesota-governor-to-lisa-demuth
WGLT
— New Illinois law empowering sexual assault survivors runs into shortage of female officers.
https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-08-11/new-illinois-law-empowering-sexual-assault-survivors-runs-into-shortage-of-female-officers
WFMD
— Chicago’s South Side is drowning in excuses, dependency and decay.
https://www.wfmd.com/2026/04/28/chicagos-south-side-is-drowning-in-excuses-dependency-and-decay/
RACE AND EQUITY PROJECT
— Nowhere to go: Chicago teens on ‘takeovers,’ curfews, and lost community spaces. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers? When you were a teen, what did you do when you were not in school? I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivered mail 1966-1969.
https://www.raceandequityproject.org/article/chicago-teen-takeover-police-hyde-park-community-spaces
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— DNC plans a Chicago bootcamp.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/08/12/dnc-plans-a-chicago-bootcamp-01034396
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/12/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-789/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/11/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-576/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
JOHN KASS
— Democrat Socialist of America: The Threat is Real.
https://johnkassnews.com/democrat-socialist-of-america-the-threat-is-real/
ILLINOIS REVIEW
— 10 Criminal Complaints Filed Against Federal Agents Over Operation Midway Blitz as DHS Calls Effort a ‘Political Stunt’
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/10-criminal-complaints-filed-against-federal-agents-over-operation-midway-blitz-as-dhs-calls-effort-a-political-stunt.html
— Why Are the Courts Clogged? Ask the Democrats Who Created the Crisis.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/why-are-the-courts-clogged-ask-the-democrats-who-created-the-crisis.html
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE
— Pritzker record: He added $300 million last year to Chicago pension woes.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-added-300-million-last-year-to-chicago-pension-woes/
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Double-Dipping, Something Illinois Legislators Won’t Stop. DD: My critics/opponents have always been furious a) that I earned both Civil Service Retirement System and Social Security credits a) while I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969 and b) for IRS and Firestone Stores 1971-1972.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/11/double-dipping-something-illinois-legislators-wont-stop/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Under socialism, all you need to do to advance is be a socialist. Under Democrats, all you need to do to advance is be a Democrat. If I had listened to socialists, I would have become a Democrat. That would have discouraged me from doing what I did to advance. To advance, a) I worked my way through college, b) I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree (management), c) I earned three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), d) I earned six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and e) I earned a job-related professional license (CPA). All of my coworkers who my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors promoted over were Democrats. None of them came close to doing what I did to advance. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Who do your critics/opponents blame problems on? My critics/opponent blame problems on conservatives who are White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, have more money than they do, and/or have more professional credentials than they do. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Men (not) at work: Social instability looms as men shun the labor force. DD: Since the 1960s, Democrat and RINO employers have ever-increasingly focused on hiring, retaining, and promoting women, and especially women who are minority and/or younger.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/12/men-not-work-social-instability-looms-men-shun-labor-force-analysts/
— Blame colleges for the socialist conquest. They recruit and tolerate Jew-hating professors, students.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/11/blame-colleges-socialist-conquest/
WASHINGTON FREE BEACON
— Abdul El-Sayed Proclaimed ‘Obligation’ To Follow Sharia Law Until the Day He Dies.
https://freebeacon.substack.com/p/abdul-el-sayed-proclaimed-obligation
NEW YORK SUN
— Abdul El-Sayed’s Success Is Owed to Western Values and American Meritocracy That He Seeks To Abolish. He is one of the luckiest people to ever live, and an extremist by choice.
https://www.nysun.com/article/abdul-el-sayeds-success-is-owed-to-western-values-and-american-meritocracy-that-he-seeks-to-abolish
AMERICAN THINKER
— Learn to listen, listen to learn. Leftists today aren’t interested in respectful exchanges of viewpoints, or in offering rationales for their own ideas. Socialism is but a step toward communist oppression. Among the dangers it promotes is the abolition of popular dissent. DD: Under socialism, all you need to do to advance is be a socialist. Under Democrats, all you need to do to advance is be a Democrat. If I had listened to socialists, I would have become a Democrat. That would have discouraged me from doing what I did to advance. To advance, a) I worked my way through college, b) I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree (management), c) I earned three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), d) I earned six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and e) I earned a job-related professional license (CPA). All of my coworkers who my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors promoted over me were Democrats. None of them came close to doing what I did to advance.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/learn-to-listen-listen-to-learn/
— The Diversity Blindspot. The Arday illusion: academia’s shameful infatuation with the diversity poster boy.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/08/the-diversity-blindspot/
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY
— The Upward Mobility Act is a Step Forward on Welfare Reform. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://americansforprosperity.org/policy-corner/the-upward-mobility-act-is-a-step-forward-on-welfare-reform/
BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Trump administration has lost nearly 17,000 immigration rulings. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/08/11/report-trump-administration-has-lost-nearly-17000-immigration-rulings-1654342/
BLAZE
— DEI’s favorite trick: Failure proves discrimination. DD: Democrats shout at those who fail that Republicans caused their failures.
https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/deis-favorite-trick-failure-proves-discrimination
BREITBART
— Pritzker: Trump ‘Put People in Harm’s Way to Save Himself’
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/11/pritzker-trump-put-people-in-harms-way-to-save-himself/amp/
CAMPUS REFORM
— University of Illinois Chicago offers clinicians $5K stipend, abortion training fellowship. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more abortion.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/university-illinois-chicago-offers-clinicians-5k-stipend-abortion-training-fellowship/30380
CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— The Biggest Myth About H-1B Is That It’s ‘Broken.’ DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://cis.org/Miano/Biggest-Myth-About-H1B-Its-Broken
DAILY WIRE
— David Crowley Stuns Socialist Frontrunner In Wisconsin Dem Governor Primary. The result marked a dramatic reversal from pre-election polling.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/david-crowley-stuns-socialist-frontrunner-in-wisconsin-dem-governor-primary
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
— What’s Wrong with Personal Responsibility? DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://www.aei.org/commentary/whats-wrong-with-personal-responsibility/
FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM
— A License to Kill on American Highways. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.fairus.org/opinion/license-kill-american-highways
FEDERATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
— Why States Should Ban Universal Basic Income Schemes. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://thefga.org/research/why-states-should-ban-universal-basic-income-schemes/
FOX BUSINESS
— A working-class party without workers. Why are leading Democrats welcoming socialists into their big tent.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/larry-kudlow-working-class-party-without-workers
— Socialists are going to give the GOP the Senate.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403227460112
FOX NEWS
— Democrat establishment strikes back as socialist candidate downed in battleground primary. Milwaukee County Executive backed by Gov. Tony Evers will face Republican nominee Tom Tiffany in the general election.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wisconsin-governor-primary-crowley-hong
— Socialists are preparing to come for EVERYTHING you have. DD: The more that you have, the more that you should fight socialism. Anticipate/expect that the less that people have, the more that they will fight for socialism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcEeda5C8Ug
— Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403230468112
HERITAGE FOUNDATION
— Why the U.S. Has a Culture of Dependency. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and-inequality/commentary/why-the-us-has-culture-dependency
LEGAL INSURRECTION
— FAA’s Gamer Recruitment Campaign Scores Over 2,000+ Air Traffic Controller Candidates. Hopefully, the rest of the FAA’s air traffic control enhancement plan will prove as successful.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/08/faas-gamer-recruitment-campaign-scores-over-2000-air-traffic-controller-candidates/
MINDING THE CAMPUS
— America’s Universities Are Still Shutting Out Conservative Faculty. Campuses are ideologically imbalanced, hostile to dissent, and unwilling to reform. Secretary McMahon’s call for accountability is much needed.
https://mindingthecampus.org/2026/08/11/americas-universities-are-still-shutting-out-conservative-faculty/
PJ MEDIA
— DSA on Illegals: ‘You Don’t Have to Have Papers to Have Power.’ DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/08/11/dsa-on-illegals-you-dont-have-to-have-papers-to-have-power-n4956025
— Can Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ride the socialist wave to lead Democrats in 2028 amid party shifts?
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/08/11/is-there-one-democrat-who-can-ride-the-socialist-wave-to-2028-n4956039
REASON
— Americans Grow Increasingly Dependent on Government Payments. Many citizens of the land of the free are hooked on government checks. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://reason.com/2024/10/04/americans-grow-increasingly-dependent-on-government-payments/
TOWNHALL
— Democratic Socialists Are Officially Part of the Democratic Party.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jtyoung/2026/08/12/democratic-socialists-are-officially-part-of-the-democratic-party-n2681026
U.S. HOUSE
— More Americans Dependent on Welfare Checks, at the Expense of Work. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/01/08/new-report-shows-more-americans-dependent-on-welfare-checks-at-the-expense-of-work/
— Growth of the Welfare State. DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://oversight.house.gov/release/grothman-opens-second-hearing-on-examining-the-growth-of-the-welfare-state/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC NEWS
— Charlotte police chief proposes expanding curfew to combat ‘teen takeovers.’ DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers? When you were a teen, what did you do when you were not in school? I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivered mail 1966-1969.
https://abcnews.com/US/charlotte-police-chief-proposes-expanding-curfew-combat-teen/story?id=135544849
NEW YORK TIMES
— If you’re single and unemployed, it may make sense to prioritize job hunting. But that doesn’t have to mean putting your life on pause. DD: I met my outstanding wife at a Presbyterian singles event. She is Catholic and I am Missouri Synod Lutheran. What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. See Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on my wife and I at https://gopillinois.com/documents/ Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/business/dating-unemployed.html
— Optimizing your life. Instead of focusing solely on retirement savings balance, workers should figure out how they want to spend their time. DD: I spent a tremendous amount of my time and my money a) working my way through college, b) earning a job-related bachelor’s degree (management), c) earning three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), d) earning six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and e) earning a job-related professional license (CPA). My wife and I focused on saving money for child raising expenses, but when our fertility problems ended that, we focused on saving for our retirement.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/business/retirement-plan.html
WASHINGTON POST
— How today’s generation is turning homebuying on its head. DD: Extremely few of my peers did what I did. I bought a new townhome when I was 24 in 1972. SEE: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/774-Sunset-Ct-5-University-Park-IL-60484/5451474_zpid/ . In today’s dollars, I paid about $180,000 for it and the down payment would have been about $36,000. In today’s dollars, my IRS Revenue Officer salary had just increased from $56,409/year to $68,999/year. The down payment came from what I had earned working for IRS for 15 months and for a Firestone Store part-time for 18 months and full-time for 7 months before that. According to Zillow, the townhome is currently worth $93,200. That says worlds about real estate values in University Park.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/nar/how-todays-generation-is-turning-home-buying-on-its-head/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump vs. Socialism: Which Do Voters Revile More? The midterms were the Democrats’ to lose. With candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, they just might.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-vs-socialism-which-do-voters-revile-more-2d0d0d10
— The GAO Precedent for Fed Independence. DD: GAO is not independent. GAO is non nonpartisan. Virtually all, if not all GAO employees are Democrats. When I was 31 in 1980, I was one of the last Republicans GAO hired. GAO wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. GAO would not have done that if I had been A democrat, minority, female, or veteran.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-gao-precedent-for-fed-independence-b7b37cc4
— AOC for President? Don’t Rule It Out. As Democrats flirt with socialism, she’s a serious candidate.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/aoc-for-president-dont-rule-it-out-084f5619
FORBES
— Millennials Want Workplace Diversity. Why Don’t They Ask For It? DD: To promote diversity is to dump meritocracy.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adiaharveywingfield/2026/08/12/millennials-want-workplace-diversity-why-dont-they-ask-for-it/
FLORIDA POLITICS
— Kat Cammack, Greg Steube line up behind Catalina Lauf in contentious CD 19 Primary.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/812950-kat-cammack-greg-steube-line-up-behind-catalina-lauf-in-contentious-cd-19-primary/
FLORIDA CAPITOLIST
— Early turnout builds ahead of Florida primary. Catalina Lauf is the founder of Defense of Freedom PAC and has two previous runs for congress in Illinois. Jim Oberweis previously served in the Illinois Senate from 2013 to 2021 and has several unsuccessful runs under his belt in Illinois.
https://thecapitolist.com/early-turnout-builds-ahead-of-florida-primary/
HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTION
— DD: To promote Affirmative Action and DEI is to dump meritocracy.
https://www.hcamag.com/us/specialization/diversity-inclusion/us-boardrooms-are-rapidly-dropping-diversity-rules-hr-cant-ignore-the-fallout/585762
EDUCATION NEWS
— Merit or seniority? Teachers question TSC promotion scoring. Teachers are calling for greater emphasis on merit, competence and measurable performance in TSC promotions. DD: All my coworkers who my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors promoted over me were Democrats a) who had less education than I had, b) who had less work experience than I had, c) who had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) who had no professional license like the one I had.
https://educationnews.co.ke/merit-or-seniority-teachers-question-tsc-promotion-scoring/
EDUCATION NEXT
— DD: The Democrat Party platform a) discourages personal responsibility and b) promotes dependency on government.
https://www.educationnext.org/whats-wrong-with-personal-responsibility/
JD SUPRA
— Illinois’ Menopause Equity and Care Act Expands Employment Protections.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/illinois-menopause-equity-and-care-act-9912689/
August 11, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: Pritzker and Bailey spar over Trump tariffs and farm economy at ag forum.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/10/jb-pritzker-darren-bailey-ag-forum/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/10/column-democrats-democratic-socialism-progressives-donald-trump-red-scare-page/
SHAW LOCAL
— ‘This race is winnable’: Bailey calls on La Salle County Republicans for support in quest for governor’s chair. Candidate stopped in Mendota for appearance in Sweet Corn Fest Grand Parade.
https://www.shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/2026/08/10/this-race-is-winnable-bailey-calls-on-la-salle-county-republicans-for-support-in-quest-for-governors-chair/
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Governor candidates fight for the farmers vote.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/your-local-election-hq/illinois-gov-candidates-agriculture/
CAPITOL CITY NOW
— Illinois Republicans fight for name recognition.
https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-il-republicans-fight-for-name-recognition/
CHICAGO PARENT
— These are the 10 best places to raise a family in Chicagoland. Explore the top family-friendly suburbs in Chicagoland with great schools, low crime rates and affordable housing. DD: If your municipality is not on the list, why is that?
https://www.chicagoparent.com/how-do-i/these-are-the-10-best-places-to-raise-a-family-in-chicagoland-cbd38771
CHICAGO READER
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://chicagoreader.com/city-life/chicago-gay-games-2006/
BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/08/10/chicagoans-alleging-crimes-by-ice-agents-seek-police-help-after-feds-fail-to-act/
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Is Wisconsin becoming Illinois north?
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/08/11/is-wisconsin-becoming-illinois-north-01032223
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/11/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-788/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/10/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-575/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Dangers of issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. States that weaken CDL standards put American families at deadly risk.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/10/dangers-issuing-commercial-drivers-licenses-illegal-aliens/
— Trump says Democrats are electing ‘jihadists.’
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/10/trump-says-democrats-electing-jihadists/
— Young adults are having trouble finding potential spouses. DD: I met my outstanding wife at a Presbyterian singles event. She is Catholic and I am Missouri Synod Lutheran. What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. See Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on my wife and I at https://gopillinois.com/documents/ Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/10/young-people-looking-love-wrong-places/
— Ceuta invasion another step toward a Muslim Europe. Americans can ill afford to be smug.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/10/editorial-ceuta-invasion-another-step-toward-muslim-europe/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Rainbow reds are more dangerous than communists of old.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/4680978/rainbow-reds-more-dangerous-communists-no-god-debasing-science-pampered/
— Too conservative. DD: According to Democrats and according to RINOs, I am too conservative, that is, I promote too many conservative principles, that is, I promote too many planks in the Republican Party platform. Most commonly, they reject the personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/4681101/new-fusionism-blueprint-uniting-gop/
— AOC, 2028, and the coming of woke 2.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/4682228/aoc-2028-woke-1-socialist-democrats/
— Democrats try to dodge ‘Woke 1’
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/4681169/the-democrats-crazy-woke-1-dodge-past-comments-trailing-candidates/
— ‘We have to smash the state’: The Left prepares for war.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/in_focus/4681140/we-smash-state-left-prepares-war/
WASHINGTON FREE BEACON
— Move Over, Thanksgiving: Francesca Hong Hosted ‘Feast of the Feminine.’
https://freebeacon.substack.com/p/move-over-thanksgiving-francesca
NEW YORK POST
— DSA darling Francesca Hong doesn’t just want to cancel Thanksgiving — here’s all her nuttiest takes ahead of pivotal Wisconsin primary.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/10/us-news/dsa-darling-francesca-hong-doesnt-just-want-to-cancel-thanksgiving-all-her-nuttiest-takes-ahead-of-pivotal-wisconsin-primary/
— Democratic socialists will act like communists once elected.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/10/opinion/fresh-proof-that-democratic-socialists-will-act-like-communists-once-elected/
— Judge Wayne Ozzi derails Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax. DD: I had a second home in the Outer Drive East building in downtown Chicago 1974-1978, but only because I would have had to suffer a big loss if I had sold my University Park townhome.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/10/opinion/judge-squelches-mamdanis-enemies-list-but-the-socialists-have-still-put-you-on-notice/
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— Do Hegseth’s Reforms to Military Universities Go Far Enough? Wokeness isn’t the only problem at war colleges and service academies.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/do-hegseths-reforms-to-military-universities-go-far-enough/
BLAZE
— Socialism’s favorite bait-and-switch.
https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/socialisms-favorite-bait-and-switch
DAILY CALLER
— Woke 2
https://dailycaller.com/2026/08/11/duke-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-woke-1-crazy-francesca-hong/
DAILY SIGNAL
— Far-Left Democrats Lose to Far-Far-Left DSA Challengers.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/10/far-left-democrats-far-far-left-dsa-challengers/
DAILY WIRE
— America’s Professors Break Century-Long Precedent To Go Full Socialist.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-professors-break-century-long-precedent-to-go-full-socialist
FOX BUSINESS
— Let’s not punish the rich.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403158657112
FOX NEWS
— Socialist tax-the-rich plan to face NY judge. DD: Who wants you to pay more taxes and why? My critics/opponents have always wanted me to pay more taxes. Their justifications include a) my having avoided the Vietnam War draft, b) my having worked for the Post Office 1966-1969, for IRS 1971-1980, and for GAO 1980-1997, c) my being a federal retiree since 1997, d) my getting promotions in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1986, e) my wife and I giving up trying to have children without trying IVF, our not adopting, and our not becoming foster parents, and f) me and my wife having itemized. According to my critics/opponents, I have always had more income because I benefit from discrimination against those who share their demographics.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403179217112
— Will Wisconsin be the place that stops socialism?
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403165635112
— Mamdani clashes with Democratic Socialists’ push to abolish police and prisons. DD: Of course, criminals vote for socialist candidates.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/mamdani-clashes-democratic-socialists-push-abolish-police-prisons
GREENWALD
— The tactic of AOC and her allies to giggle away the ‘craziness’ of Woke-era abuses should not be tolerated. The so-called “Woke 1” period is not something to laugh off. It was a repressive and destructive mob rule which unjustly destroyed careers and requires a reckoning.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-tactic-of-aoc-and-her-allies
HERITAGE FOUNDATION
— Some Migrants Hate America on Arrival.
https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/some-migrants-hate-america-arrival
INSTITUTE FOR FAMILY STUDIES
— It’s still not good for man to be alone. New research on the state of men in America shows the benefits of marriage, family, and work.
https://wng.org/opinions/its-still-not-good-for-man-to-be-alone-1786340259
JONATHAN TURLEY
— “Niceness as Whiteness”: Professors Denounce Niceness as White Privilege.
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/08/11/niceness-as-whiteness-professors-denounce-niceness-as-perpetuating-white-privilege/comment-page-1/amp/
NEWSMAX
— Democrats Are Embracing Communism.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/russell-fry-democrats-communism/2026/08/10/id/1265670/
— ICE Arrests Hit Record Highs.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/tom-homan-newsmax-ice/2026/08/10/id/1265685/
TOWNHALL
— Congress Can Still Act on Birthright Citizenship.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeremy-beck/2026/08/11/congress-can-still-act-on-birthright-citizenship-n2680998
— A Staten Island judge has blocked a tax hike on second homes proposed by Mamdani. DD: I had a second home in the Outer Drive East building in downtown Chicago 1974-1978, but only because I would have had to suffer a big loss if I had sold my University Park townhome.
https://townhall.com/news/josephchalfant/2026/08/10/new-york-judges-halts-mamdanis-aggressive-socialist-policy-n2681015
— Wisconsin Will Stop the Socialist Wave.
https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/08/10/tom-tiffany-wisconsin-will-stop-socialism-n2680967
— Did Abdul El-Sayed Really Say This About White Truck Drivers?
https://townhall.com/news/amy-curtis/2026/08/10/abdul-el-sayed-afraid-of-white-truck-drivers-n2680973
WESTERN JOURNAL
— The House’s Push to Purge LGBT Propaganda from Children’s Shows.
https://www.westernjournal.com/houses-push-purge-lgbt-propaganda-childrens-shows/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— DD: The more problems that Democrats and RINOs have, the more likely that they will a) blame capitalism for their problems and b) want socialism to solve their problems. What did you do to avoid problems? I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree (management), three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and a job-related professional license (CPA).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdSicnRRBC0
AOL
— Illinois breaks top 20 best states to live in. DD: The more of the following that you are, the better that Illinois is for you: liberal/moderate, Democrat, RINO, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, veteran, poor, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally.
https://www.aol.com/articles/study-illinois-breaks-top-20-175518000.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— Homeland Security Intensifies Pursuit of Noncitizens on Voter Rolls.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/us/politics/noncitizens-vote-crackdown.html
— Women’s Share of Top Military Promotions Falls as Hegseth Blocks Nominees. DD: All my coworkers who were women and who my Democrat superiors promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/upshot/military-promotions-women-hegseth.html
— Now Coming to a Black Media Outlet Near You: Mayor Mamdani. Zohran Mamdani’s “all of the above” media strategy, which encompasses ethnic media, influencers and content creators, has led to a recent Black media blitz. DD: Everyone sees how the following treat me and treat my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters: past and present a) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Illinois Republican Party, TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois, and Illinois Center Right Coalition, b) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, c) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/nyregion/black-media-mamdani.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Trump administration takes aim at website listing diversity scholarships. DD: My critics/opponents have always used my not getting scholarships against me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/08/10/trump-administration-takes-aim-website-listing-diversity-scholarships/
USA TODAY
— $110,000 needed to afford a typical US home in 2026. DD: What did you do to buy your first home? I bought a new townhome in University Park ( https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/774-Sunset-Ct-5-University-Park-IL-60484/5451474_zpid/ ) when I was 24 in 1972. In today’s dollars, I paid about $180,000 for it and the down payment would have been about $36,000. In today’s dollars, my IRS Revenue Officer salary had just increased from $56,409/year to $68,999/year. The down payment came from what I had earned working for IRS for 15 months and for a Firestone Store part-time for 18 months and full-time for 7 months before that. According to Zillow, the townhome is currently worth $92,200. That says worlds about real estate values in University Park.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/08/05/income-needed-afford-typical-us-home-2026-redfin-report/91185869007/
— As Trump drastically rolls back rules for Head Start, some Republicans are wary. DD: My critics/opponents have always used my parents’ sending me to kindergarten at Trinity Lutheran Grade School in Crete in 1953 to falsely hint/imply/argue/shout that they were filthy rich.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/09/head-start-trump-rfk-jr-preschool-senate-republicans-alarmed/91213407007/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong’s Wisconsin Primary Lead Alarms Establishment Democrats. Party insiders worry Hong would lose the general election for governor in November.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democratic-socialist-francesca-hongs-wisconsin-primary-lead-alarms-establishment-democrats-e3b9a1ce
— How to Plan for the Staggering Costs of Fertility Treatments. The amount of money spent can rival a house purchase or college tuition. It’s crucial for couples to figure out the financial equation ahead of time. DD: In 1989, my Democrat GAO superiors pulled out all the stops to get rid of me. That included their viciously demonizing, denigrating, and condemning me for my wife and I giving up trying to have children without trying IVF. They stressed that my wife’s health insurance covered the costs. They ignored/dismissed/belittled our doctor’s advising against it because we both had major fertility problems. They viciously demonized, denigrated, and condemned our not adopting and our not becoming foster parents. They painted themselves as being grossly underpaid. They decried the time and money they spent raising their children. They decried the little or no income that their wives had.
https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/fertility-treatment-costs-planning-976703b7
FORTUNE
— We have a happiness-segregated society by marriage. DD: My Democrat IRS superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were furious when I got married when I was 29 in 1978. To get rid of me, they had ever-increasingly painted me as being so bad that I would never get married. They were especially furious because my wife had a good job. SEE: https://gopillinois.com/documents/
https://fortune.com/2026/08/10/americans-unhappy-marriage-rates-peltzman/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The first instinct is to blame money, but Peltzman says it’s not that simple. Yes, while grocery bills and gas prices have soared, blaming the affordability crisis would make sense if the unhappiest Americans were the ones getting squeezed hardest. But Peltzman’s data says the opposite. The people who fell furthest after 2020 were the ones who had the most going in: white, high-income, college-educated, right-leaning Americans. “The affordability business is not an upper-income kind of concern,” he said. “It’s a lower-income kind of concern, and the upper-income people have been hit hardest in the happiness crash. “Any story which says that it’s inequality,” Peltzman said, “those kind of stories are not consistent with the facts.” ‘We have a happiness-segregated society by marriage’ Married people are still, on net, happy. Unmarried people, about 45% of American adults, are now, on net, unhappy. “The only people who are positive, where there’s a clear positive balance in happiness, are married people,” Peltzman said. “We have a happiness-segregated society by marriage.” The obvious next question is whether this is just the marriage rate falling and the crash is only picking that up. It isn’t. The marriage rate itself hasn’t moved in 15 years: “It’s 55/45, and it’s been that way,” Peltzman said. Marriage rates did decline for decades, from the 1970s through the early 2000s, and in an earlier paper, Peltzman found that decline explained most of the happiness slide that came before the pandemic. But that slide had already leveled off well before 2020. The country’s split between married and unmarried adults going into the crash is the same split as today. What changed was not how many people are married, but how much worse it now feels to be unmarried, while married people mostly held their ground.)
— Jamie Dimon says Gen Z is wrong to give up on the American Dream—but admits it’s dying for the bottom 20% of households. DD: Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. He almost always worked second jobs to pay the family’s bills. He died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21, My mother never attended high school. All my grandparent spoke German. I had to work my way through college.
https://fortune.com/2026/08/10/jamie-dimon-gen-z-giving-up-american-dream-wrong-understandable/?ref=biztoc.com
BUSINESS INSIDER
— Job loss. DD: After my Democrat GAO forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, I soon gave up searching for a job appropriate for someone with my work experience, education, professional certification, and professional license because my Democrat GAO superiors had damaged me so much. Prior to their forcing me to retire, they had a) always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, c) delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, d) kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 13 years that I worked for GAO, and e) forced me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980.
https://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-single-mom-part-time-garden-new-perspective-2026-8
WEEK
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://theweek.com/politics/should-democrats-embrace-democratic-socialists
FLORIDA POLITICS
— Super PAC’s new CD 19 ads warn voters: Don’t let Catalina Lauf ‘Illinois our Florida.’ In the Republican Primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, “Illinois” is now a verb. A week after loading three out-of-state candidates into an AI-generated clown car, Southwest Florida First is back with ads aimed at just one of them: Catalina Lauf. DD: My critics/opponents in DuPage County have always stressed that I did not move to DuPage County until I was 29 in 1978.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/812570-super-pacs-new-cd-19-ads-warn-voters-dont-let-catalina-lauf-illinois-our-florida/
ALTERNET
— Former GOP chair Michael Steele: Republicans are socialists — but only for themselves.
https://www.alternet.org/trump-farmers-2677684186/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: President Donald Trump is accusing Democrats of being “communists” and “socialists,” but as a former Republican National Committee chair pointed out on Monday, he supports socialist policies… as long as they benefit Republican constituencies like farmers. “People fundamentally do not understand socialism,” MS NOW commentator and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele said on Monday. “They do not understand communism. What is it — the median grade level in the United States is eighth grade. Okay? We’re not teaching civics. We’re not teaching world history. We’re not teaching the fundamentals of how all of this comes together. So these terms from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s are being thrown out into the ecosystem.” He then mentioned Trump’s proposed $17.3 billion bailout to farmers, a group that has been disproportionately economically harmed by his tariffs, his mass deportations and his war against Iran. “Y’all know the Farm Bill is socialism; y’all know that, right?” Steele said.)
LAW
— DD: Democrats and RINOs use Affirmative Action and DEI to get rid of Republicans.
https://www.law.com/article/almID/900005518698/
— STOP THE CLOCK ON AGE RETIREMENTS. DD: Federal employees under the Civil Service Retirement System and who are the following are forced to retire as soon as they are eligible, that is, when they are 55 and have 30 years of service: conservative, Republican, White, male, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. I am all of the aforesaid. I became eligible for early retirement when I was 45 in 1993. My Democrat GAO succeeded in forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997 when their early retirement “offer” expired. I would not have been eligible for regular retirement until I was 55 in 2003. They made it very clear that if I did not take their “offer,” they would make those 6 years a living hell for me. They would constructively demote me, give me adverse transfers, give me unfair performance expectations, give me unfair performance appraisals, and even worse things. SEE: https://www.law.com/article/almID/53G5-97S1-JBM3-R0DM-00000-00/https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf
FED SMITH
— Beyond One Senate Race: What AFGE’s Endorsement Reveals About Federal Employee Unions. AFGE’s endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed highlights the political role of federal employee unions and raises questions about representing a non-partisan workforce. DD: Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. Many if not most of them a) paint themselves as being “in need” and b) blame Republicans for their many problems. While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, none of my coworkers did what I did. I earned a) three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), b) six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and c) a job-related professional license (CPA).
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/08/10/afge-endorsement-federal-unions-senate-race/
PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
— Civil Service Protections. DD: Democrats run the federal government. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. I am none of the aforesaid. To get rid of me, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors punished me a) for my not becoming a Democrat, b) for my avoiding the Vietnam War draft, c) for my complaining about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation, and d) for my being an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid. Federal employees who are the following have no Civil Service protections: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did including forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://ourpublicservice.org/know-the-facts/blog/merit-systems-protection-board-mspb-removal-conditions-retaliation-protections
HIGHER EDUCATION DIVE
— Elite colleges are returning to the SAT and ACT. Will others follow? Top-ranked colleges and the Trump administration are embracing the exams, but that doesn’t mean test-optional policies are falling out of favor everywhere. DD: UIC would not have accepted in 1966 if my ACT score had not been 24 and I had not graduated in the upper 20% of my class.
https://www.highereddive.com/news/elite-colleges-are-returning-to-the-sat-and-act-will-others-follow/827299/
DAILY KOS
— DD: Democrat leaders continue to reject the fact that in 2024, voters elected Trump and gave control of the House and Senate to Republicans.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/10/800082538/community/forget-the-socialist-scare-americas-crisis-is-capitalism-without-democracy/
August 8, 2026
If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— GAO: DOGE’s claim of $110B in savings was vastly inflated and riddled with errors. DOGE couldn’t verify 96% of reported grant savings, a review found. DD: If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it, there would have been no need for DOGE and my Democrat GAO superiors would not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did.
https://abc7chicago.com/story/doges-claim-110b-savings-was-vastly-inflated-riddled-errors-gao/19641452/
WGN9
— Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s media tour in the wake of the Harry Benton scandal did little to restore top House Republican Tony McCombie’s confidence in the Illinois House leader.
https://wgntv.com/news/politics/wgn-the-point-politics-chicago-illinois/illinois-house-gop-leader-not-swayed-by-speaker-welchs-apology-tour/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Darren Bailey’s running mate Aaron Del Mar maintains abortion is ‘sin against God.’ Del Mar railed against Illinois’ abortion laws during a six-minute speech in Springfield this week, and said Gov. JB Pritzker is “willing to murder millions of babies.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2026/08/07/aaron-del-mar-darren-bailey-abortion
https://www.wbez.org/politics/2026/08/07/aaron-del-mar-darren-bailey-abortion
SHAW LOCAL
— Joliet GOP candidate for secretary of state Diane Harris hopes to capitalize on Giannoulias’ run for Chicago mayor. ‘Is this what the voters are voting him in on – to be secretary of state for three months? ‘
https://www.shawlocal.com/news/2026/08/08/joliet-gop-candidate-for-secretary-of-state-hopes-to-capitalize-on-giannoulias-run-for-chicago-mayor/
NORTHWEST HERALD
— McHenry Outdoor Theater to host private cannabis-themed event. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. In 2019, I led the successful effort to ban the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2026/08/08/mchenry-outdoor-theater-to-host-private-cannabis-themed-event/
ROYS REPORT
— Wheaton College hid a predator for decades. Now his victims are speaking out.
https://roysreport.com/wheaton-college-hid-a-predator-for-decades-now-his-victims-are-speaking-out/comment-page-1/
CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/07/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-574/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Republicans Should Stop Preaching to the Choir. Stop Waiting to Win and Start Learning How.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/08/republicans-should-stop-preaching-to-the-choir/
GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Socialism destroys motivation. Being a socialist is like being a Democrat. Under socialism, all you need to do to advance is to be a socialist. Under Democrats, all you need to do to advance is be a Democrat. To advance, none of my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO coworkers came close to doing what I did. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree (management), three job-related master’s degrees (business, accounting, and finance), six job-related professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and a job-related professional license (CPA). All my coworkers who my Democrat superiors promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) no professional license like the one I had. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Political parties exist to help elect candidates who can and will defend and advance their platform. The Republican Party platform is conservative. What are the Republican candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct doing a) to defend and advance conservative principles and the personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks in the Republican Party platform and b) to oppose liberal principles including the following planks in the Democrat Party’s platform: promotion of dependency on government and charity, LGBTQ, abortion, mass/illegal immigration, vices, diminishment of Second Amendment rights, and Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, wokeness/wokeism, race and gender based preference giving, patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination? – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE
— The Muslim Brotherhood: A Clear and Present Danger.
https://illinoisfamily.org/islam-sharia/the-muslim-brotherhood-a-clear-and-present-danger/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Republicans must counter the lies of socialists with inspiration and truth. DD: Capitalism is what made America great. If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/6/republicans-must-counter-lies-socialists-inspiration-truth/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Universities are fueling the radicalism in American politics.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/4679553/universities-fueling-radicalism-american-politics/
WASHINGTON FREE BEACON
— Electric Vehicle Exec Identified as CCP Member Has Given $450K to Democrats This Campaign Season—Including $71K for Senate Nominees Juliana Stratton, Roy Cooper. Stratton, running to replace retiring Sen Dick Durbin, welcomed CCP-tied firm to Illinois as lieutenant governor.
https://freebeacon.com/china/electric-vehicle-exec-identified-as-ccp-member-has-given-450k-to-democrats-this-campaign-season-including-71k-for-senate-nominees-juliana-stratton-roy-cooper/
NEW YORK POST
— NY 3rd-5th graders fail basic reading tests with more than half not even proficient. DD: My parents sent me to Missouri Synod Lutheran grade schools 1953-1962. My parents and teachers promoted personal responsibility. That put me on track to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/07/us-news/more-than-half-of-ny-3rd-5th-graders-fail-reading-proficiency-tests-data/
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
— States Can Strengthen Families and Fight Welfare Dependence and Fraud. DD: What are the Republican candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct doing to fight dependency on welfare?
https://www.aei.org/commentary/states-can-strengthen-families-and-fight-welfare-dependence-and-fraud/
AMERICAN THINKER
— Democratic socialists seek to cripple American AI. Democratic Socialists of America have organized a national campaign this summer against AI and data centers under the “Ecosocialism Transition Committee.” DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/democratic-socialists-seek-to-cripple-american-ai/
COLLEGE FIX
— Duke Law School illegally discriminated against white, Asian applicants, DOJ finds.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/duke-law-school-illegally-discriminated-against-white-asian-applicants-doj-finds/
FOX BUSINESS
— Kellyanne Conway: The GOP needs to show why socialism is bad, not just say it. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403016350112
FOX NEWS
— DNC is in shambles amid rise of socialism. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403035978112
— Socialism leads to a failed, third-world state. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403030022112
— Democrats have capitulated to socialism. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6403023974112
NATIONAL REVIEW
— The Unwelcome Return of Sentimental Socialism.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/the-unwelcome-return-of-sentimental-socialism/
— Who Really Speaks for the Working Class?
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/who-really-speaks-for-the-working-class/
NEWSMAX
— GOP to Cast Midterm Convention as Case Against Socialism.
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/gop-midterm-convention-dallas/2026/08/07/id/1265428/
NEW AMERICAN
— Democratic Socialists of America Now Controlled by Communists. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://thenewamerican.com/us/politics/ex-dsa-member-democratic-socialists-of-america-now-controlled-by-communists/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CBS NEWS
— Trump’s firings of federal officials set stage for next test of presidential power. DD: Diersen v. GAO ( https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf ) reaffirmed the federal government’s power to fire not only its employees because they are active members in class action lawsuits that charge its agencies with political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, or retaliation, but also because they are Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-firings-federal-workers-presidential-power/
AOL
— It’s not them; it’s you: Why you’re failing at online dating. DD: I met my outstanding wife at a Presbyterian singles event. She is Catholic and I am Missouri Synod Lutheran. What helped you become marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $110,066/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971. See Money Magazine’s 4-page February 1978 article on my wife and I at https://gopillinois.com/documents/ Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.aol.com/articles/not-them-why-failing-online-115630000.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— Fact-Checking Trump. DD: I often served as a fact checker while I worked for GAO 1986-1997 at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $118,984-$154,682/year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/us/politics/trump-iran-war-toll-oil-fact-check.html
— Republicans Cannot Possibly Let Congressman Max Miller Go On. DD: Have you wanted to run for a government office? Since I was 49 years old in 1997, my DuPage County critics/opponents have falsely hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I wanted to run for DuPage County Auditor. To discourage/stop me from considering doing that, they have taken many big adverse actions against me. I should write about my DuPage County critics/opponents and the many big adverse actions that they have taken against me. Of course, they ignore/dismiss/belittle/badmouth what did to help elect and to reelect Jim Rasins DuPage County Auditor in 2000 and 2004 and Bob Grogan in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. My critics/opponents base their false accusations against me on my being highly qualified for the office. I became a licensed CPA. I passed the CPA and Certified Internal Auditor examinations on my first attempt. I earned professional certifications in fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting. I worked for IRS for almost 9 years as a Revenue Officer, the last 5 1/2 years at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $100,059-$113,402/year and I worked for GAO for almost 18 years as an Analyst, the last 11 years of at the GS-13 Step 1-10 Levels, currently $118,984-$154,682/year. I have master’s degrees in business, accounting, and finance. I first visited the DuPage County Auditor’s office in 1986 when I became the Membership Director for the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Chicago Chapter (CC). I remember recruiting Rasins to speak at an AGA CC event.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/opinion/max-miller-moreno-ohio-congressman.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Democrats are calculating a left turn. The math is inescapable. Recent primary results could steer presidential hopefuls in the wrong direction for 2028. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/07/2028-democratic-contenders-should-not-misread-primary-results/
— George F. Will: DSA socialism is Peter Pan politics for sandbox revolutionaries.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/07/dsa-zohran-mamdani-infantilism-todays-socialism/
— The federal government has just radically changed the way it measures higher education outcomes. Now for the first time, all programs that participate in the federal student loan program will be held accountable for the earnings of their graduates. DD: After earning a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in 1970, earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, earning a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, becoming a licensed CPA in 1981, earning four more job-related professional certifications in 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997, and earning a master’s degree in finance from IIT in 1997, my IRS salary was salary in today’s dollars $56,409/year in 1971, $68,999/year in 1972, $83,482/year in 1973, $100,059/year in 1974, and $113,402/year in 1980 and my GAO salary was $89,703/year in 1980, $108,533/year in 1981, $118,984/year in 1986, and $154,682/year in 1997.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/ripple/2026/07/16/measuring-competencies-modern-economy/
NORTH STATE JOURNAL
— The inadequacy of opposing socialism. DD: If elected, sooner or later, all the Democrat candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct will replace capitalism with socialism, that is, they will destroy your municipality, your township, your county, Illinois, and America.
https://nsjonline.com/article/2026/08/joecks-the-inadequacy-of-opposing-socialism/
OGLETREE DEAKINS
— Indiana’s New FAIRNESS Act Bars Employers From Employing Undocumented Immigrants. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://ogletree.com/insights-resources/blog-posts/indianas-new-fairness-act-bars-employers-from-employing-undocumented-immigrants/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Fewer Workers Keep Unemployment Low. DD: After my Democrat GAO forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, I soon gave up searching for a job appropriate for someone with my work experience, education, professional certification and professional license because my Democrat GAO superiors had damaged me so much.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/jobs-report-unemployment-rate-labor-force-70e22c6c
24/7 WALL STREET
— 56% of Workers Plan to Retire at 65 or Later. The Average American Is Out at 62, and Not by Choice. DD: I should write about forced retirement.
https://www.aol.com/articles/56-workers-plan-retire-65-160832000.html
— Retired School Principal Discovers Pension and 403(b) Together Just Triggered a Medicare Hike. DD: My wife and I pay much more for Medicare because of IRMAA.
https://247wallst.com/personal-finance/2026/08/07/retired-school-principal-discovers-pension-and-403b-together-just-triggered-a-medicare-hike/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The Social Security Fairness Act restored full benefits for millions of public workers but can push retirees past the $109,000 IRMAA threshold. Crossing the IRMAA cliff by even $1 raises Part B premiums from $203 to $284 monthly, plus a $15 Part D surcharge. Roth conversions and Qualified Charitable Distributions up to $105,000 annually are the two tools to shrink MAGI before RMDs begin at 73.)
MONEY & MARKETS
— Private Sector vs. Public Sector. DD: I worked in the private sector for 10 years, then in the public sector for 30 years, and concurrently in both for 2 years. According to my critics/opponents, the public sector grossly overpaid me. In today’s dollars, when I was a postal employee for almost 3 years 1966-1969 and then an IRS employee for almost 9 years 1971-1980, my salary increased from $19.57/hour to $113,402/year. In my defense, during that time, I earned a bachelor’s degree in management, I earned an MBA, I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt, and I almost completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting. In today’s dollars, my IRS salary was $56,409/year when I was 22 in 1971, $68,999/year when I was 23, $83,482/year when I was 24, $100,059/year when I was 25, and $113,402/year when I was 31. In today’s dollars, my GAO salary was $89,703/year when I was 31, $108,533/year when I was 32, $118,984/year when I was 38, and $154,682/year when I was 49. I earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt and became a licensed CPA when I was 32. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. I earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. If I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran my Democrat superiors would have promoted me into their Senior Executive Service, currently $197,200/year, long before I was 40.
https://moneyandmarkets.com/private-sector-jobs-support-58-percent-of-population/
BLOOMBERG LAW
— Civil Service Protections Benefit the Public, Not Just the Feds. DD: Democrats run the federal government. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. I am none of the aforesaid. To get rid of me, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors punished me a) for my not becoming a Democrat, b) for my avoiding the Vietnam War draft, c) for my complaining about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation, and d) for my being an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid. Federal employees who are the following have no Civil Service protections: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did including forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/legal-exchange-insights-and-commentary/civil-service-protections-benefit-the-public-not-just-the-feds
CENTER FOR RETIREMENT RESEARCH
— Married Women are Upwardly Mobile. Singles – not so Much. DD: Things that continue to impress me about my outstanding wife include that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions, and then for MacNeal Hospital, and then for Central DuPage Hospital. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://crr.bc.edu/married-women-are-upwardly-mobile-singles-not-so-much/
BALLS AND STRIKES
— Upwardly Mobile Black People. DD: My Democrat GAO superiors certainly made my Black subordinate upwardly mobile when I was 49 in 1997. They forced me to retire and gave him my job and my preferred corner office. He had less education than I had. He had less work experience than I had. He had one professional certification while I had six. He had no professional license like the one I had.
https://ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics/disparate-impact-trump-going-away-except-in-this-one-situation-haha/
FEDERAL NEWS NETWORK
— Veterans’ preference, merit hiring and the federal government’s obligation to follow the law. DD: Because I was not a veteran, but more significantly, because I avoided the Vietnam War draft, my Democrat Post Office, Firestone Store, IRS, and GAO superiors used the veterans’ preference to waste my career and to get rid of me. I should write about my many Democrat superiors and supervisors who took many big adverse actions against me. All my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me and who were Democrat veterans a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) had no professional license like the one I had.
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2026/08/veterans-preference-merit-hiring-and-the-federal-governments-obligation-to-follow-the-law/
AFGE
— Largest Federal Employee Union Endorses Illinois’ Juliana Stratton for Election to U.S. Senate. DD: I was a union member for almost 12 years. If had been Democrat or a veteran, the National Treasury Employees Union would have come to my defense when my Democrat IRS superiors disallowed my education deductions in 1978.
https://www.afge.org/publication/largest-federal-employee-union-endorses-illinois-juliana-stratton-for-election-to-us-senate/
FROM OTHER SOURCES
EXP REALTY
— FOR SALE IN MY PRECINCT: 25W451 Plamondon Road, Wheaton: $3,300,000
https://leeernst.exprealty.com/details.php?mls=103&mlsid=12664021
(FROM THE LISTING: A once-in-a-generation opportunity to own one of Wheaton’s most prestigious and architecturally significant estates. Tucked away on an ultra-exclusive private lane and backing directly to the legendary Chicago Golf Club-the oldest 18-hole golf course in North America-this remarkable residence offers a setting that simply cannot be replicated. Few homes anywhere can claim a backyard bordering such a historic and revered golf course.)
July 29, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Rep. Fred Crespo: Did Illinois’ Speaker of the House normalize sexual harassment?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/29/opinion-illinois-house-speaker-sexual-harassment-emanuel-chris-welch/
— Milwaukee makes a bid for laid off Chicago Public Schools teachers. DD: While Republicans dramatically downsized GAO while I worked for it 1980-1997, employers did not bid for the GAO employees who were dumped. Those employees were overwhelmingly White, male, and/or older.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/28/milwaukee-seeks-cps-teachers/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/28/operation-midway-blitz-lawsuit/
— JB Pritzker and Rahm Emanuel are on a collision course in the 2028 presidential race.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/29/column-jb-pritzker-rahm-emanuel-2028-presidential-race-washington/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: As Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch navigates a new crisis, an older scandal remains unresolved.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/07/28/illinois-house-speaker-emanuel-chris-welch-harry-benton-michael-j-madigan-sexual-harassment-inquiry
DAILY HERALD
— Schaumburg Township Republican Organization to hold annual picnic Aug. 2.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260728/local-politics/schaumburg-township-republican-organization-to-hold-annual-picnic-aug-2/
— Second arrest made in Wheaton carjacking.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260728/crime/second-arrest-made-in-wheaton-carjacking/
— FRONT PAGE WITH PICTURE: Around 170,000 ComEd customers remained without power Tuesday. As of 2:15 p.m., there were still 29,870 customers without power in DuPage County. DD: I bought a whole house backup generator in 2011. I should write about my Wheaton critics/opponents who have demonized/denigrated/condemned my decision the most.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260728/news/dupage-was-hit-hard-tornado-confirmed-in-glen-ellyn-straight-line-winds-strike-carol-stream-dow/
— The practical struggle for relevance: Campaign finance picture shows the challenge of being taken seriously.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260727/editorials/daily-herald-opinion-the-practical-struggle-for-relevance-campaign-finance-picture-shows-the-chall/
(FROM THE EDITORIAL: Our Russell Lissau’s campaign finance update for the November election last Sunday painted a grim picture for Republican candidates at the state and federal level in Illinois. Even more important is the grim picture it forebodes for American politics broadly. First, consider the immediate circumstance. As Lissau reported, Democratic candidates are overwhelmingly better fortified financially than Republicans, with many of their coffers swelling with $1 million or more. For the GOP, only one candidate reports having saved more than $100,000. In such a setting, Republican candidates cannot hope to keep pace with their opposition in getting their message out to voters through public appearances, online and broadcast advertising or other avenues. As a result, in the manner of a vicious circle, potential donors are holding onto their money, which only deepens the candidates’ predicament. College of DuPage political science professor Melissa Mouritsen described the situation in chilling terms. “This little cash so late in the game,” she said, “means few are taking them seriously.” It is troubling enough when a candidate in even one race is so irrelevant that he or she is not taken seriously. When the condition applies to a large body of candidates or even an entire party, that is a disturbing commentary on the state of our politics and the health of our democracy. Nor does the situation involve simply a lack of money. To an even greater extent, it involves the ability of some candidates to amass too much money, often from sources with much to gain from political favor. In such cases, the vicious cycle works in reverse, steadily expanding the war chests of candidates with an already decisive edge. Even before the 2010 Citizens United decision threw open the doors to unrestricted political donors and donations, many political observers fretted about the influence of money in politics. Sixteen years later, the situation is reaching a state of crisis. This crisis is exacerbated by another political factor — this one, too, enabled by a compliant Supreme Court seemingly indifferent to the quality of American self-government. It is the remaking of political boundaries that allows a party in power to tilt voting outcomes in its favor, commonly known as gerrymandering. To be sure, the Trump-shackled Republican Party suffers from certain self-inflicted ailments related to failures on traditional issues like guns and butter. But even discounting those, gerrymandering and all-but-unrestricted campaign fundraising have combined to put Republicans in Illinois in a life-or-death struggle for relevancy. This is not exactly a surprising or new observation, and its opposite is abundantly present in states like Republican-entrenched Florida, South Carolina and many more. But what is surprising is that more candidates of both parties are not rebelling against the conditions that so threaten the health of our political system. The solutions to gerrymandering and financial inequity among campaigns are not simple, and likely demand the difficult and complicated intercession of constitutional amendments. So, it is understandable that politicians avoid the complex, ugly work of producing systemic change and instead shift their messaging toward topics that involve people’s lives more directly and immediately. But it also should be obvious, as Republicans in Illinois offer ample evidence, that getting those messages out — not to mention getting them across — is growing more difficult by the year. At some point, and we urge candidates to make it soon, we’ve got to begin building more prominent messages about the fundamental scaffolding required to take seriously discussions of those direct and immediate issues.)
STATELINE
— Undocumented immigration population reached as high as 15.8M, report finds. Numbers from 2024 may have dropped under Trump administration policies. DD: How many millions of their illegals are Democrats harboring in Illinois, in your county, in your township, in your municipality, in your school district, and in your precinct?
https://stateline.org/2026/07/29/undocumented-immigration-population-reached-as-high-as-15-8m-report-finds/
WAND TV
— Republicans decry a new Democratic Socialists of America platform as Dem primaries split the party. A new platform from the progressive Democratic Socialists of America is sparking Republican attacks.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/republicans-decry-a-new-democratic-socialists-of-america-platform-as-dem-primaries-split-the-party/article_7c4bd890-debf-5618-99c4-52b366e74066.html
NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: To get more votes from those who have less money, Democrat candidates ever-increasingly promise to ever-increasingly use government a) to take more money from those who have more money and b) give that money to those who have less money. It is called redistribution of wealth.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-07-29/to-win-over-working-class-voters-democrats-need-to-stop-talking-about-democracy
WGLT
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly push more pot.
https://www.wglt.org/2026-07-28/how-cannabis-effects-our-sleep-and-our-dreams
PEOPLE’S RESOURCE CENTER WHEATON
— Urgent Need: 3 tons of food lost at PRC Wheaton. The power on our Wheaton Campus is restored. We are replenishing what we lost with donations of avocados, clementines, corn, bell peppers, onions, and watermelon. DD: I bought a whole house backup generator in 2011. I should write about my Wheaton critics/opponents who have demonized/denigrated/condemned my decision the most.
https://www.facebook.com/peoplesresourcecenter/posts/the-power-on-our-wheaton-campus-is-restored-however-due-to-yesterdays-power-outa/1460225049475009/
ILLINOIS PATCH
— Over 214,000 Still Without Power Across Chicago Area After Monday’s Severe Weather. ComEd said that 80 percent of outages should be restored by noon on Wednesday. Damage/tornado surveys are happening Tuesday. DD: I bought a whole house backup generator in 2011. I should write about my Wheaton critics/opponents who have demonized/denigrated/condemned my decision the most.
https://patch.com/illinois/across-il/over-214-000-still-without-power-across-chicago-area-after-mondays-severe-weather
CWB CHICAGO
— Migrant detained after allegedly dragging CPD officer with car, biting cop during arrest.
https://cwbchicago.com/2026/07/migrant-detained-after-allegedly-dragging-cpd-officer-with-car-biting-cop-during-arrest.html
WINDY CITY TIMES
— The unapologetic queer history at the new Obama Presidential Center.
https://windycitytimes.com/2026/07/28/opinion-the-unapologetic-queer-history-at-the-new-obama-presidential-center/
PRITZKER
— Dangerous Darren Bailey. He’s too extreme for Illinois. DD: According to my critics/opponents, I am too extreme for my precinct, for Wheaton, for Milton Township, for DuPage County, and for Illinois. I challenge my critics/opponents to put their charges against me in writing and to give me an opportunity to respond.
https://www.dangerousdarrenbailey.com/
POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Petition season fuels mayoral suspense.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/29/petition-season-fuels-mayoral-suspense-01014573
CAPITOL FAX
— Illinois NOW: ‘We should be able to trust that men in leadership, who claim to want to protect women, will actually do so’
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/28/illinois-now-we-should-be-able-to-trust-that-men-in-leadership-who-claim-to-want-to-protect-women-will-actually-do-so/
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/29/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-780/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/28/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-565/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
CHICAGO CONTRARIAN
— The Red Dawn of Realism: Why Brandon Johnson’s Base Is Fleeing Chicago’s Progressive Circus.
https://www.chicagocontrarian.com/blog/red-dawn-realism-brandon-johnson-chicago-progressive-circus
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Tracy rips Stratton for liberal policies, not committing to debate.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_fc3a8aec-95de-47e7-ac47-255b9e423dc6.html
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Two Assistant State’s Attorneys Represent Private Client Using Courthouse Recourses– “Felonious Official Misconduct” Claimed in Suit
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/22/two-assistant-states-attorneys-represent-private-client-using-courthouse-recourses-felonious-official-misconduct-claimed-in-suit/
— Corbett Offers Video of Tuesday Night Questions from Listeners and His Answers
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/22/corbett-offers-video-of-tuesday-night-questions-from-listeners-and-his-answers/
— Ultra-Low-Temperature Cryogenic Systems Announce Facility in Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park — 21 New Jobs
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/ultra-low-temperature-cryogenic-systems-announce-facilty-in-illinois-quantum-and-microelectronics-park/
— In Public Comment, Kelly Liebman Keeps Pressure on County Board on Home Rule
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/in-public-comment-kelly-liebman-keeps-pressure-on-county-board-on-home-rule/
— Corbett Comments on State Police Killing Mother in St. Clair County
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/corbett-comments-on-state-police-killing-mother-in-st-clair-county/
— Feds Take Down Woman Who Embezzled from a Sports Team Booster Club
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/feds-take-down-woman-who-embezzled-from-a-sports-team-booster-club/
— What’s Happening to Illinois Ex-Pats Running for Congress in Florida?
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/whats-happening-to-illinois-ex-pats-running-for-congress-in-florida/
— TSA Screening Will Be Faster as New Imaging Process Is Implemented
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/tsa-screening-will-be-faster-as-new-imaging-process-is-implemented/
— Don Tracy, GOP Candidate for the U.S. Senate Releases Video
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/don-tracy-gop-candidate-for-the-u-s-senate-releases-video/
— Building Solar Farms Could Require Much Less Manpower
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/building-solar-farms-could-require-much-less-manpower/
— Female Highland Park Coyote Sentence to Nine Years for Forcing Illegal Aliens into Indentured Servants
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/female-highland-park-coyote-sentence-to-nine-years-for-forcing-illegal-aliens-into-indentured-servants/
— Bailey Finally Addresses Issue Suburbanites Can Relate To: Tolls
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/bailey-finally-addresses-issue-suburbanites-can-relate-to-tolls/
— District 300 Tax Hikers Vote 7-0 to Ask Voters for Permission to Borrow
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/district-300-tax-hikers-vote-7-0-to-ask-voters-for-permission-to-borrow/
— Woodstock Man One of Six Arrested and Kept in Jail for Running Brothels
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/24/woodstock-man-one-of-six-arrested-and-kept-i-jail-for-running-brothels/
— A Pension System Better Than State and local Government Employees
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/25/a-pension-system-better-than-state-and-local-government-employees/
— GOP Leader Calls for Common Sense at the Federal Drug Administration
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/25/gop-leader-calls-common-sense-at-the-federal-drug-administration/
— Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Don Tracy Criticizes Opponent’s Party’s Tax and Salary Hikes
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/25/republican-u-s-senate-candidate-don-tracy-criticizes-opponents-partys-tax-and-salary-hikes/
— Credit Will Be Given to Park Grant Requests That Seek Inclusive Designs That Go Beyond Minimum Accessibility Standards
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/25/credit-will-be-given-to-park-grant-requests-that-seek-inclusive-designs-that-go-beyond-minimum-accessibility-standards/
— Video of Apparition in McHenry County
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/26/video-of-apparition-in-mchenry-county/
— The Second Amendment Explained by Man Who Signed All Four Founding Documents
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/26/the-second-amendment-explained-by-man-who-signed-all-four-founding-documents/
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Abortion pills don’t empower women. They empower abusive men.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4665054/abortion-pills-empower-abusive-men-pressure-deception-into-pill-popping/
1819 NEWS
— Tuberville bashes Mamdani’s plan for government-run grocery stores, says customer base will be illegal aliens.
https://1819news.com/news/item/tuberville-bashes-mamdanis-plan-for-government-run-grocery-stores-argues-customer-base-will-be-illegal-aliens
AMERICAN ENTERPISE INSTITUTE
— Lessons from the 1996 Welfare Reform Law Approaching Its 30th Anniversary. DD: Because voters who receive welfare vote for Democrats, Democrat leaders put as many voters on welfare as they can. What did you do to avoid being on welfare? I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.aei.org/commentary/lessons-from-the-1996-welfare-reform-law-approaching-its-30th-anniversary/
BREITBART
— Retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon says “hate” and ‘stupidity” are motivating the citizens who oppose his support of a cheap labor bill for the rural economy– even as multiple other GOP representatives are quietly quitting the amnesty push. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/28/hate-stupidity-rep-bacon-slams-citizen-opposition-to-visa-workforce-bill/amp/
— Democrat-run Chicago Blames Trump for 7 More Grocery Store Closings.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/28/nolte-democrat-run-chicago-blames-trump-for-7-more-grocery-store-closings/
COLLEGE FIX
— Professors push ‘antiracism’ therapy to train ‘white allies’ at psychology conference. DD: I should write about my White critics/opponents who promote hatred against Whites to curry favor with non-Whites. I should write about my male critics/opponents who promote hatred against males to curry favor with females. I should write about my older critics/opponents who promote hatred against older people to curry favor with younger people. I should write about my “heterosexual” critics/opponents who promote hatred against heterosexuals to curry favor with LGBTQers. I should write about my “conservative” critics/opponents who promote hatred against conservatives to curry favor with liberals and moderates. I should write about my “Republican” critics/opponents who promote hatred against Republicans curry favor with non-Republicans. I would focus on the aforesaid who have had their operatives and their dupes take the most/biggest adverse actions against me.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/professors-push-antiracism-therapy-to-train-white-allies-at-psychology-conference/
DAILY SIGNAL
— Mamdani’s Tax List Reveals the Dark Side of Socialist Class Warfare.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/28/mamdani-tax-list-socialist-class-warfare/
FOX NEWS
— The welfare state broke Black families. Work can help restore the dream. Rooftop Revelations: Mothers on Chicago’s South Side are completing electrician training and passing the police exam to escape dependency.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/welfare-state-broke-black-families-work-restore-dream
FOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
— Fake and Stolen Identities Lead to Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Welfare Programs.
https://thefga.org/research/fake-stolen-identities-welfare-programs/
LEGAL INSURRECTION
— University at Buffalo Dental Orientation Includes DEI-Focused Required Training.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/07/university-at-buffalo-dental-orientation-includes-dei-focused-required-training/amp/
— NYC Democrat Socialists Say They’re Coming For The School Kids. “They are emboldened by their win in the New York City Mayor’s race, and they’re going straight for the children.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/07/nyc-democrat-socialists-say-theyre-coming-for-the-school-kids/
NEWSMAX
— Dems Open 12-Point Lead on Healthcare. DD: The federal government paying 72% of my healthcare insurance since 1966 and then also paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance since 1978 helped me endure tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/healthcare-rasmussen-democrats/2026/07/28/id/1264290/
TOWNHALL
— Here’s Chicago’s Latest Solution to Crime on the Subway.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/07/29/chicagos-solution-to-crime-on-the-subway-n2680286
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
THE HILL
— Corporate boardroom diversity sinks to lowest in more than a decade. DD: The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job. All my coworkers who they promoted over me were Democrats who were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. They all a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) had no professional license like the one I had. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://thehill.com/business/5995257-corporate-boardroom-diversity-sinks-to-lowest-in-more-than-a-decade-analysis/
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— The Trump administration wants soldiers to consider becoming truck drivers when they leave the military to help replace the tens of thousands of immigrant drivers who lost their licenses in a crackdown this year. A new campaign launched Friday will promote programs that let veterans who recently drove large military vehicles skip the required skills test for a commercial driver’s license. Other soldiers can attend a commercial driving school during their last six months of active duty. The GI Bill will also pay for 100% of commercial driver’s license training and for some people even pay a housing allowance while they are in school. DD: I often drove postal trucks while I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969.
https://www.wftv.com/news/business/white-house-wants/ZBOS2L2IPI7NDPRNHPDJEKBWXU/
ABC NEWS
— Trump lobs insults at political opponents, press during rescheduled White House correspondents’ dinner. DD: My critics/opponents have their operatives and dupes lob insults at me. I should write about the biggest insults lobed at me at Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Illinois Republican Party, TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois, and Illinois Center Right Coalition events since 2000.
https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-attend-rescheduled-white-house-correspondents-dinner-friday/story?id=135027808
NEW YORK TIMES
— FRONT PAGE: A California Beach City Struggles to Cope With Rowdy Outsiders. More than 400 people were arrested in Newport Beach on the July 4 weekend after a social media “takeover” got out of hand. Now the city is trying to figure out how to stop it from happening again. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/newport-beach-california-teen-takeover.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Whom will Democrats nominate in 2028? The scales just tilted. The DNC’s primary schedule is set to favor the establishment. South Carolina leads the way.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/28/dnc-proposes-2028-primary-schedule-that-could-hurt-socialists/
— DD: Because voters who receive welfare vote for Democrats, Democrat leaders put as many voters on welfare as they can. What did you do to avoid being on welfare? I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/ripple/2026/07/27/clinton-welfare-trump-big-beautiful-bill/
USA TODAY
— Trump says the northern border is weak.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/07/29/trump-us-canada-border-what-its-like/90832679007/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2026/07/22/ice-killing-maine-texas-dhs-records-misconduct/90959563007/
— Almost anyone can be an ICE agent now. That’s a problem. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement hiring push lowers the bar for recruits, including reduced training, slower background checks and lower physical abilities. DD: IRS would not have hired me to be a Revenue Officer when I was 22 in 1971 if I had not had a bachelor’s degree in business and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination. The first 6 months I worked for IRS was in classroom training.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/12/03/ice-hiring-border-patrol-jobs-immigration-agents/87483770007/
SEATTLE WEEKLY
— When newspapers go, partisanship grows and lies are believed. DD: Do you help fill voids? I do. I put together and send out GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters every morning and often in the evening too. Those newsletters help fill tremendous voids in government and political news and commentary reporting from a conservative perspective in Illinois, DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton. My critics/opponents reject many conservative principles and many planks in the Republican Party platform, most commonly, its personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks. They are anti-conservative if not conservative-haters. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those who have lots of government, political, financial, and/or religious clout in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois.
https://www.seattleweekly.com/2026/07/28/when-newspapers-go-partisanship-grows-and-lies-are-believed-the-free-press-initiative/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Trump Has a Point About the Smithsonian. Its American history museum has become an instrument of left-wing culture warriors.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-has-a-point-about-the-smithsonian-ac436cc4
— The Welfare State That Ate Britain. The new Prime Minister learns he has narrow fiscal running room. DD: Because voters who receive welfare vote for Democrats, Democrat leaders put as many voters on welfare as they can. What did you do to avoid being on welfare? I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/u-k-welfare-state-treasury-disability-payments-andy-burnham-d09c9fa7
— Supersizing Your Retirement Account. DD: IRS and GAO employees have to file financial disclosure reports with their superiors annually. As I worked for the Democrats who ran IRS 1971-1980 and GAO 1980-1997, they were ever-increasingly envious/furious at what I and then what my wife and I had saved for our retirement.
https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/retirement/the-everyday-guide-to-supersizing-your-retirement-account-8e914e8e
BLOOMBERG LAW
— Professors Notch Court Wins Over States Banning ‘Woke’ Teaching. DD: To promote wokeness/wokeism 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. My critics/opponents promote wokeness/wokeism.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/professors-notch-court-wins-over-states-banning-woke-teaching
PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
— Merit Systems Protection Board 101: Individual cases, including agency elimination, restructuring, probationary employees and more. DD: Federal employees who are the following have no Civil Service protections: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did including forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://ourpublicservice.org/know-the-facts/blog/merit-systems-protection-board-mspb-cases-agency-elimination-restructuring-probationary-employees
MORNING POLITICS
— Senate Confirms Jay Clayton as Intelligence Chief on Party-Line Vote. The former SEC chair and Manhattan prosecutor takes over 18 spy agencies with no career intelligence background. DD: Democrats do not want Republicans to audit Democrats. The Democrat GAO Audits the Democrat IRS. To force me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut to transfer from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors outrageously, disgustingly, and unethically ignored/dismissed/belittled/badmouthed a) what I had learned working for IRS’s Collection Division for almost 9 years, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 Levels, currently $100,059-$113,402/year, b) my having passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, c) my earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, and d) the fact that much of what I did for IRS was similar to what I would do for GAO. They kept me off audits of IRS’s Collection Division for all of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO but did let me work on audits of IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division for 3 years. They would not have wasted my knowledge of IRS if I had been a Democrat, female, or veteran.
https://www.morningpolitics.com/articles/senate-confirms-jay-clayton-as-intelligence-chief-on-party-line-vote
FED SMITH
— TSP Millionaires Hit New Record as Markets Rebound in Q2. A record 224,420 federal employees and retirees now hold $1 million or more in their TSP. Here is how the numbers shifted in 2026. DD: My Civil Service Retirement System pension and my retirement savings are dramatically less because my Democrat superiors wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/07/27/tsp-millionaires-hit-new-record-as-markets-rebound-in-q2/
AARP
— What to Do If You Can’t Afford Your Health Insurance. DD: The federal government paying 72% of my health insurance since 1966 and then also paying 72% of my wife’s health insurance since 1978 helped me endure tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthcare/cant-afford-health-insurance/
MANHATTAN INSTITUTE
— New York City’s Migrant Crisis A Case Study of Welfare Magnet Effects. DD: How successful have Democrat leaders been attracting welfare recipients to your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct? I should write about their success in attracting welfare recipients to DuPage County, Milton Township, Wheaton, Wheaton Warrenville School District 200, and my precinct.
https://manhattan.institute/article/new-york-citys-migrant-crisis-a-case-study-of-welfare-magnet-effects
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
— Why It’s So Hard to Catch a Master Manipulator. DD: My critics/opponents have their operatives and their dupes destroy those like me a) who they cannot manipulate or dominate, b) who refuse to glorify or praise them, c) who refuse to pander to them, d) who refuse to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, e) who refuse to cover up their wrong doing, and/or f) who refuse to give them money. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those who have lots of government, political, financial, and/or religious clout in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-at-any-age/202412/its-remarkably-hard-to-catch-the-master-manipulator
LGBTQ NATION
— Gen Z adults are staying away from churches because of Trump.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/gen-z-adults-are-staying-away-from-churches-because-of/
FROM OTHER SOURCES
CONSUMER REPORTS
— How to Buy a New Car. DD: I have bought many new cars since I was 17 in 1966.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/buying-a-car/how-to-buy-a-car-in-todays-challenging-market-a7648220054/
July 28, 2026
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
ABC7
— Ethics report expected to scrutinize IL House Speaker Welch’s handling of harassment complaints.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/report-expected-detail-illinois-house-speaker-emanuel-chris-welchs-handling-harassment-complaint-harry-benton/19586740/
CBS2
— 3 men charged with stealing, vandalizing automated license plate reading cameras in Lisle.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/3-men-charged-stealing-alpr-cameras-lisle/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Illinois GOP’s anemic fundraising underscores its life in the political wilderness
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/28/darren-bailey-jb-pritzker-margaret-croke-juliana-stratton-don-tracy/
(FROM THE EDITORIAL: Money talks, particularly in politics. And, right now, campaign donations are underscoring just how much of a one-party state Illinois has become. Democrats are dominating Republicans not just in the marquee races, but nearly every statewide contest. Consider the assets of our two major-party gubernatorial candidates. Incumbent JB Pritzker started July with over $3.1 million in his JB for Governor campaign fund. Republican Darren Bailey, on the other hand, began the month with less than $128,000. The fact that enthusiasm isn’t high given that Bailey lost to Pritzker in 2022 likely explains some of the disparity. So does billionaire Pritzker’s ability to self-finance — he has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars of his own fortune across his gubernatorial campaigns and seeded this reelection effort with another $25.5 million last fall. Not helping either is the shadow of an unpopular Trump administration. With conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein opting to observe from the sidelines, Republican funding has dried up. We’d argue that perhaps this is a prime opportunity for someone with more moderate conservative instincts to swoop in and fill the gap — Uihlein’s cash was both a blessing and a curse, as it tended to come with strings attached. In 2022, Uihlein gave more than $12 million directly to Bailey, doubling down on his commitment to oust Pritzker by pouring $42 million into an outside super PAC. This cycle, he has largely stayed out of statewide races. Among Bailey’s largest donors is former 2022 gubernatorial candidate Gary Rabine, who chipped in $25,000; a large sum, to be sure, but unless Bailey can start courting similar investments from other folks it won’t bridge the gap. But it’s not just the competition for governor, as Tribune reporting laid out last week. Don Tracy’s U.S. Senate bid has drawn far less financial support than his opponent, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. Stratton emerged victorious in a challenging primary thanks in large part to $10 million from Pritzker. From April 2025 through June 2026, Stratton accepted roughly $5.3 million in general-election campaign contributions, according to FEC records. Tracy’s campaign, on the other hand, took in less than $2.5 million from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, including a $2 million personal loan he made to his own campaign. In the race for comptroller, Democratic nominee Margaret Croke has double the cash on hand compared with her Republican opponent. In spite of this vast gulf, this is currently the most competitive race for a constitutional office, based on fundraising. The bigger question isn’t whether the GOP can close the fundraising gap, but whether Illinois’ increasingly one-sided political landscape is healthy for voters, who benefit most when both parties are capable of mounting a serious challenge. We don’t think so. When one party no longer worries about losing elections, the incentives change. The pressure to compromise weakens. Difficult reforms become easier to postpone. The opposition becomes less capable of forcing uncomfortable but necessary debates. That truth is made evident repeatedly. Weak political competition doesn’t affect only elections — it affects governing. A recent headline in this paper read, “Illinois Democrats’ single-party rule and diminished GOP may shield Springfield from Benton scandal reforms.” That’s our sad reality. Whether it’s Springfield’s failure to confront Illinois’ property tax burden, billion-dollar spending plans that avoid structural reform, or another legislative session that produces hundreds of new laws with comparatively little attention paid to tackling our most pressing fiscal and economic challenges, our lopsided state government isn’t yielding the results Illinois needs. A more competitive political playing field would offer voters something they’re perpetually lacking these days: Options. A little variety, which is said to be the spice of life. Or, in politics, the push and pull needed to rein in the worst impulses of both sides. It’ll take funding to give voters more of a choice in November. But cash requires confidence. And the Illinois GOP isn’t doing enough to inspire it.)
— Andy Shaw: The side of Illinois JB Pritzker would rather ignore.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/28/opinion-darren-bailey-jb-pritzker-illinois-bureaucracy/
— Chicago shouldn’t give up on addressing food deserts.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/28/editorial-save-a-lot-south-west-side-yellow-banana-grocery-food-deserts/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders want as many voters as possible on SNAP because they vote for Democrats.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/07/27/illinois-sees-16-drop-in-snap-enrollment-one-year-after-food-program-overhaul
DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260727/news/daughters-fight-for-release-of-their-mother-a-green-card-holder-arrested-in-des-plaines-by-ice-last/
ALTON TELEGRAPH
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Godfrey-to-discuss-video-gaming-cannabis-kratom-14444276.php
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Trump defends his sweeping tariffs and watches ‘America First’ drag races during Michigan stop.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/business/ap-trump-is-set-to-defend-his-economic-policies-in-michigan-where-new-canadian-tariffs-may-sting/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Trump visited a sprawling General Motors facility in the Detroit suburb of Milford that is a testing ground for its vehicles. He pumped a fist after watching a trio of drag races that involved muscle cars and luxury vehicles like the Corvette Z06, Cadillac Escalade V, and EV Hummer — events the announcer promised were “all America First power.” It was the kind of thundering speed the president is expecting at an IndyCar race in Washington next month, which is part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.)
25 NEWS NOW
— Area lawmakers weigh in on speaker’s handling of allegations against disgraced representative.
https://www.25newsnow.com/2026/07/28/area-lawmakers-weigh-speakers-handling-sexual-harassment-allegations-against-disgraced-representative/
ADVANTAGE NEWS
— GOP makes political push in House races amid lawmaker controversies.
https://www.advantagenews.com/news/local/gop-makes-political-push-in-house-races-amid-lawmaker-controversies/article_93f65954-1401-4498-8eb7-17992d93e599.html
CAPITOL CITY
— Brad Cole to retire from IL Municipal League. Rockford mayor Tom McNamara will succeed him.
https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-brad-cole-to-retire-from-il-municipal-league/
BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote mote LGBTQ.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/07/27/taylors-tacos-is-offering-tacos-and-lgbtq-representation-on-the-west-side/
NIC FLOSI
— Chicago man led police on 100 mph chase after Wheaton carjacking.
https://www.aol.com/articles/chicago-man-led-police-100-123804000.html
POLITICO ILLINOIS
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/28/governors-unlikely-group-chat-01013209
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/28/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-779/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Support for Cessation of Treating Illegals Better Than American Citizens.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/27/support-for-cessation-of-treating-illegals-better-than-american-citizens/
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— DD: Pritzker ever-increasingly promotes more hatred.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_ad83d3c8-b90c-4305-84a9-572daef08c00.html
ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE
— Illinois sales taxes near top in U.S.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-sales-taxes-near-top-in-u-s/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— The Lingering Miasma of Marxism. No matter how many times it’s defeated, the politics of resentment always has an audience.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-lingering-miasma-of-marxism/
AMERICAN THINKER
— Imagine America under Sharia.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/07/imagine-america-under-sharia/
BLAZE
— Rush University Medical Center still promoting DEI and trans ideology despite federal funding.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/trans-dei-hospital-federal-funds
BREITBART
— Wikipedia Labels Feminists Opposing Transgenderism Like J.K. Rowling ‘Exclusionary’
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/07/27/terf-war-wikipedia-labels-feminists-opposing-transgenderism-like-jk-rowling-exclusionary/
COLLEGE FIX
— UBuffalo dental school forces freshmen through DEI training on ‘structural marginalization’
https://www.thecollegefix.com/ubuffalo-dental-school-forces-freshmen-through-dei-training-on-structural-marginalization/
DAILY CALLER
— US Medical Schools Still Promote DEI Efforts.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/27/university-iowa-medical-school-dei-do-no-harm/
DAILY WIRE
— ‘A Car Plowed’? NYT Shredded For Sanitizing Muslim Terrorist Attack. “Was the car a Chevrolet radicalized Muslim?”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-car-plowed-nyt-shredded-for-sanitizing-muslim-terrorist-attack
FOX NEWS
— GIANNO CALDWELL: We marched for every family blue city politicians left behind. The people of Chicago deserve leaders who show up, not just at election time, but when it matters most.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gianno-caldwell-marched-every-family-blue-city-politicians-left-behind.amp
— Trump admin targets woke schools accused of hiding students’ gender transitions from parents.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-targets-woke-schools-accused-hiding-students-gender-transitions-parents
NATIONAL REVIEW
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/vice-in-america-the-new-issue-of-nr-is-out/
TOWNHALL
— Chicago Residents Are Livid After Losing More Grocery Stores.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/07/27/7-grocery-stores-shut-down-in-chicago-n2680171
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
NEW YORK TIMES
— Vice and the Crisis of Liberalism. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/vice-liberalism-addiction-gambling-drugs.html
— DD: When you graduated from college, what frustrated your job search? For me, it was employers seeing me as being draft bait. They did not believe that my application for a financial hardship draft deferment would be approved. Further, my GPA was not that great because I had spent far too many hours working instead of studying. Further, I had the stigma of having been a federal employee for almost 3 years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/business/college-graduates-job-market.html
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— America Is Awash in Vice. Gambling, drugs and pornography were once held at bay by the country’s Judeo-Christian moral consensus. Not any more. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/america-is-awash-in-vice-a720daac
— It Bears Repeating: Your Life Is in Your Own Hands. DD: What do your critics/opponents hold you personally responsible for? My critics/opponents hold me personally responsible for my being forced to retire when I was 49 in 1997 and for all the other adverse actions that my Democrat superiors took against me. They hold me personally responsible for all the adverse actions that the defendants in the lawsuits I filed and their lawyers have taken against me. They hold me personally responsible a) for my being thrown off the Illinois Republican Party State Convention Platform and Resolutions Committee in 2024, b) for my being stopped from serving as the Republican fundraiser for Wheaton Independence Day parades and fireworks in 2021, c) for my precinct being gerrymandered in 2015, d) for my being dumped from my TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairmanship position in 2012, e) for my being dumped from the Illinois Center Right Coalition (ICRC) Steering Committee in 2007, f) for my almost being censured by ICRC for my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters in 2006, g) for my being dumped from my Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO) webmaster position in 2004 and 2010, and h) for my being defeated 69 to 13 when I ran for MTRO Treasurer in 2004.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/it-bears-repeating-your-life-is-in-your-own-hands-a46aeee9
FORBES
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2026/07/17/where-is-cannabis-legal-a-guide-to-all-50-states/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2022/09/29/mr-vice-guy-meet-the-hedge-fund-vulture-who-made-120-million-betting-on-casinos-and-cannabis/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2021/12/31/forbes-vices-awards-2020-circa-downtown-vegas-first-new-casino-in-40-years/
TIME
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders have always used demographic data to get rid of Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://time.com/article/2026/07/22/trump-administration-eeoc-worker-demographic-data-requirement/
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
— The Case for Prohibiting Vice. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/case-prohibiting-vice
DEFENSE SCOOP
— Hegseth directs removal of underperformers. DD: My Democrat superiors always hinted/implied that I underperformed and that was why they took adverse actions against me. They always used the subjectivity in their performance systems against me. In my defense, extremely few of my Post Office coworkers earned a job-related bachelor’s degree like I did. Very few of my IRS and GAO coworkers earned job-related master’s degrees and professional certifications like I did. None of my coworkers earned a job-related professional license like I did. All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) had no professional license like the one I had. My Democrat GAO superiors used the subjectivity in their performance appraisal systems to a) force me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, b) always rank me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, c) delay my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, and d) force me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. My Democrat IRS superiors used that subjectivity to never promote me beyond GS-12, disallow my education deductions in 1978, and disallow my travel vouchers in 1974. My Democrat Post Office superiors used that subjectivity to force me to resign in 1969 and disallow my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://defensescoop.com/2025/10/02/dod-civilian-employee-removal-procedures-underperformers-hegseth-tata-memos/
PSY
— What influences teens’ career expectations? DD: My father’s often decrying his not having a college degree had a big impact on me. It motivated me to work my way through college and to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-teens-career.html
ATLANTIC
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more vice.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/11/american-vice-national-character/684785/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/legalized-gambling-marijuana-use-addiction/673028/
ECONOMIST
— Knowing what your colleagues earn. DD: Federal employees have always known what their superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates earn, that is, what GS Grade and Step they were. My GAO, IRS and Post Office superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates always saw that those who my Democrat superiors promoted over me a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.economist.com/business/2025/01/23/knowing-what-your-colleagues-earn
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
INDIA TIMES
— Four in 10 employees admit sabotaging colleagues to get ahead. DD: To get promoted, my Democrat GAO, IRS, and Post Office coworkers sabotaged me. They stressed that I was conservative, Republican, draft avoider, Protestant, German American, Crete resident 1948-1972, Wheaton resident since 1978, and my ancestors had been in America since 1844.
https://hrme.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/four-in-10-employees-admit-sabotaging-colleagues-to-get-ahead-survey-finds/132574317
JUSTICE FOR ALL
— India: Caste And Implications. DD: What Caste were you born into? Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. He almost always worked second jobs to pay the family’s bills. He died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21, My mother never attended high school. All my grandparent spoke German. I had to work my way through college. Nevertheless, my critics/opponents have always outrageously, disgustingly, falsely, and unethically painted my parents as having been filthy rich. They have always known full-well that I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those whose parents were the wealthiest.
https://www.justiceforall.org/india-caste-and-implications/