FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Border shelters relieved the pressure during migrant surges. Under Trump, they could become a target (COMMENT: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more illegal immigration and paint themselves as protectors of their illegals.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/border-shelters-trump/
— No Jan. 6 disruptions are expected as Trump’s win boosts Republicans’ faith in elections — for now
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/no-jan-6-disruptions-expected/
— MAGA takes on Elon Musk’s ‘tech bros’ and their need for immigrant labor (COMMENT: Employers want cheap labor. All my employers would have hired immigrants instead of me if they could have. Immigrants work for less money and they are positively stereotyped. Those who share my demographics are negatively stereotyped. I fought against that negative stereotyping a) by earning a job-related bachelor’s degree and three job-related master’s degrees, b) by earning six job-related professional certifications, and c) by earning a job-related professional license.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/column-h-1b-visas-elon-musk-maga-page/
— Chicago, once again, ranks among the worst in the nation for traffic congestion. (COMMENT: What Chicago traffic congestion have you faced? I commuted to/from UIC from my patents’ home in Crete 1966-1968, first in my 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint, a poor man’s GTO, and then in my 1968 Oldsmobile 442.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/chicago-traffic/
— State senators file bills addressing school districts, veterans benefits and sex trafficking
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/state-senators-file-bills-addressing-school-districts-veterans-benefits-and-sex-trafficking/
— Higher Social Security payments coming for millions of people in public service jobs from bill that Biden signed (COMMENT: My Social Security is dramatically reduced because I get a Civil Service Retirement System pension. I paid into Social Security while I washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automobile assembly line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, and pumped gasoline 1971-1972.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/05/higher-social-security-payments/
FOX32
— Thornton Township schedules emergency meeting over insurance crisis
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1571785
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— If your school is not in the Ivy League, it’s as if you don’t matter at all (COMMENT: According to my critics/opponents, degrees from non-Ivy League universities are worthless, that is, a) my 1997 master’s degree from IIT in financial markets and trading is worthless, b) my 1980 master’s degree from DePaul in accounting is worthless, c) my 1976 MBA from Loyola is worthless, and d) my 1970 bachelor’s degree from NIU in management is worthless.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/01/06/opinion-universities-ivy-league-bias/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Cheers to surgeon general’s plan for cancer warning labels on alcohol (COMMENT: Most, if not virtually all of my older White male critics/opponents are/were big drinkers. While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, many of my older White male Democrat superiors were big drinkers. Their leader wasted my career and got rid of me. He forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO. He gave me bad job assignments and unfair performance expectations and appraisals. He turned my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates against me. He delayed my promotions. He kept me off audits of IRS except 1986-1988. He forced my mentor to retire in 1987. He always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes. He had his operatives and his dupes force me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. If he had not gone on extended sick leave in 1985 because of his very big drinking, my GAO mentor would not have been able to assign me to audits of IRS in 1986 or to promote me to GS-13 in 1986. But he came back in 1987 and forced my mentor to retire.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/editorials/2025/01/06/cancer-warning-labels-alcohol-health-cigarettes-surgeon-general-vivek-murthy-dry-january
ABC7
— Higher Social Security payments coming for millions of people from bill that Biden is signing (COMMENT: My Social Security is dramatically reduced because I get a Civil Service Retirement System pension. I paid into Social Security while I washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automobile assembly line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, and pumped gasoline 1971-1972.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/social-security-us-higher-payments-coming-millions-people-bill-biden-is-signing/15757648/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The bill rescinds two provisions – the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset – that limit Social Security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government. The Congressional Research Service estimated that in December 2023, there were 745,679 people, about 1% of all Social Security beneficiaries, who had their benefits reduced by the Government Pension Offset. About 2.1 million people, or about 3% of all beneficiaries, were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in September that eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision would boost monthly payments to the affected beneficiaries by an average of $360 by December 2025. Ending the Government Pension Offset would increase monthly benefits in December 2025 by an average of $700 for 380,000 recipients getting benefits based on living spouses, according to the CBO. The increase would be an average of $1,190 for 390,000 or surviving spouses getting a widow or widower benefit. Those amounts would increase over time with Social Security’s regular cost-of-living adjustments. The change is to payments from January 2024 and beyond, meaning the Social Security Administration would owe back-dated payments. The measure as passed by Congress says the Social Security commissioner “shall adjust primary insurance amounts to the extent necessary to take into account” changes in the law. It’s not immediately clear how this will happen or whether people affected will have to take any action.)
NBC5
— Social Security Fairness Act signed into law by Biden, enhancing retirement benefits for millions
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-fairness-act-signed-by-president-biden/
FOX32
— Democrats ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1571622
CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/01/06/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-429/
FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
WIREPOINTS
— Politicians expect Illinoisans to accept the unacceptable and believe the unbelievable, 2025 is the year to change that.
https://wirepoints.org/politicians-expect-illinoisans-to-accept-the-unacceptable-and-believe-the-unbelievable-2025-is-the-year-to-change-that-wirepoints-on-with-jeff-daly-of-wzus-decatur-radio/
— As Illinois politicians keep pushing progressive tax schemes, other states keep dumping them.
https://wirepoints.org/as-illinois-politicians-keep-pushing-progressive-tax-schemes-other-states-keep-dumping-them-louisiana-is-the-latest-wirepoints/
CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Illinois GOP says lame duck bill allows illegal immigrants to cloak name change
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_498a3068-cbbd-11ef-8c1f-3b04b211a1dc.html
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOOG
— Projected 2025 McHenry County Employee Compensation
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/01/04/projected-2025-mchenry-county-employee-compensation-av-bo/
— Projected 2025 McHenry County Employee Compensation: Bu-Ci
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/01/05/projected-2025-mchenry-county-employee-compensation-bu-ci/
— U-Haul Annual Report Shows Illinois Moves Up from 49th to 48th Most Renters
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/01/05/u-haul-annual-report-shows-illinois-moves-up-from-49th-to-48th-most-renters/
— Russian Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children Echo of Communists’ Abduction of Children during the Greek Civil War after World War II
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/01/05/russian-kidnapping-of-ukrainian-children-echo-of-communists-abduction-of-children-during-the-greek-civil-war-after-world-war-ii/
— Former Public Official Predicts Tax Hike
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/01/05/former-public-official-predicts-tax-hike/
BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— Biden Gives Awards to Four Unfit Americans
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/01/02/biden-gives-awards-to-unfit-americans
ILLINOIS REVIEW
— IL House GOP Leader Tony McCombie Joins ‘Woke’ Left, Supports Insurance Coverage for Men’s ‘Cervical’ Exams and Women’s ‘Prostate’ Screenings
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/01/il-house-gop-leader-tony-mccombie-joins-woke-left-supports-insurance-coverage-for-mens-cervical-exams-and-womens-prostate-screenings.html
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES
YAHOO
— 11 Politicians Who Worked In Fast Food (COMMENT: The list includes Rodney Davis, Rahm Emanuel, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Paul Ryan, and Scott Walker. I worked in fast food 1964-1966. I washed dishes in the basement of the S.S. Kresge in Chicago Heights part-time during my junior and senior years at Crete-Monee High School and full-time during the summer in between. With the money that I earned, I bought a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint, a poor man’s GTO, in May of 1966, that I used to commute to/from classes at UIC from my parents’ home in Crete.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/11-politicians-worked-fast-food-133028407.html
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Pope Francis is anti-Israel because he’s anti-Western civilization
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jan/5/pope-francis-anti-israel-anti-western-civilization/
— On fighting LGBTQ evil, it’s one step forward, two steps back
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jan/3/fighting-lgbtq-evil-one-step-forward-two-steps-bac/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— DOJ civil rights division poised to fight ‘woke agenda’ under Trump administration (COMMENT: While worked for the federal government 1966-1969 and 1971-1997 and after, DOJ promoted Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, it promoted patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. I should write a book about that.)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3270981/doj-civil-rights-division-fight-woke-agenda-trump/#google_vignette
— Biden admin spent millions on DEI grants for K-12 schools
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3276822/biden-admin-spent-millions-on-dei-grants-for-k-12-schools/
— According to Democrat and RINO leaders, those who have demographics that vote for Democrats are victims of those who have demographics that vote for Republicans.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3273101/will-trump-see-reduced-minority-crime-victimization-again/
AMERICAN THINKER
— A DEI FBI covers for terrorists and Biden (COMMENT: DEI Democrats run the federal government. To be DEI is to be anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-Protestant, anti-German American, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time. I worked for DEI Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years. Because I was all of the aforesaid, they did everything that they could to waste my career and get rid of me.)
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/01/a_dei_fbi_covers_for_terrorists_and_biden.html
— California is not only gaining illegal aliens; it’s still losing native Californians
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/01/california_is_not_only_gaining_illegal_aliens_it_s_still_losing_native_californians.html
BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Kinzinger finally fesses up: ‘I’m probably closer to a Democrat now’ (COMMENT: For what I see, sooner or later, all my critics/opponents who claim to be religious, conservative, and/or Republican will come out as Democrats.)
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2025/01/06/kinzinger-finally-fesses-up-im-probably-closer-to-a-democrat-now-1514020/
BREITBART
— Senate Majority Leader John Thune Told Trump Pete Hegseth Has Votes to Be Confirmed (COMMENT: I knew that I did not have the votes to be the Milton Township Republican Central Organization (MTRO) Treasurer in 2004, but I ran anyway. I got only 13 votes while my opponent got 69. Back then, my fellow MTRO members blamed me, blamed my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters, blamed my Illinois TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois leadership, and blamed my Illinois Center Right Coalition leadership a) for George Ryan’s problems, b) for Jim Ryan’s loss to Blagojevich, c) for Andy Mckenna’s primary loss to Jack Ryan, d) for etc. I should write about those MTRO leaders back then who promoted the most hatred against me. I would focus on those who continue to promote hatred against me.)
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/05/report-senate-majority-leader-thune-told-trump-pete-hegseth-votes/
DAILY CALLER
— Biden Curses At Reporters Amid Bizarre Rant About Immigrants
https://dailycaller.com/2025/01/05/joe-biden-curses-rant-donald-trump-immigrants-white-house-reporters/
— Bourbon Street Massacre Is What ‘Globalize The Intifada’ Looks Like
https://dailycaller.com/2025/01/05/opinion-bourbon-street-massacre-is-what-globalize-the-intifada-looks-like-hammer/
DAILY WIRE
— Thune: Republicans Need To Be ‘Realistic’ About How Many Deportations There Will Be. Thune said the top priority needed to be deporting all the criminal illegal aliens first.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/thune-republicans-need-to-be-realistic-about-how-many-deportations-there-will-be
— Tom Homan: Trump Will Deport Venezuelans Regardless Of Whether Or Not Venezuela Takes Them Back. Homan highlighted examples of when Trump put pressure on other countries to take their illegal aliens back.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-homan-trump-will-deport-venezuelans-regardless-of-whether-or-not-venezuela-takes-them-back
FOX NEWS
— Musk renews harsh rebuke of Dems who rejected deporting sex offenders: Vote out ‘every one’ ‘There is no excuse,’ Musk posted to X.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/musk-renews-harsh-rebuke-dems-who-rejected-deporting-sex-offenders-vote-out-every-one
NEWSMAX
— Biden’s Own Data Debunks His Great Economy Narrative
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/economy-narrative-fraud/2025/01/05/id/1193916/
TOWNHALL
— New Orleans Collapsing Under the Weight of Wokeness
https://townhall.com/columnists/saraharnold/2025/01/06/new-orleans-collapsing-under-the-weight-of-wokeness-n2650009
FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES
CNN
— Pope appoints Trump critic to be archbishop of Washington, DC (COMMENT: Ever-increasingly the Pope paints himself as being anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-Protestant, anti-German American, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/europe/robert-mcelroy-archbishop-washington-intl/index.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a vocal defender of migrants and critic of Donald Trump’s first administration, as the next archbishop of Washington, DC. Cardinal McElroy, 70, is a strong supporter of Francis’ priorities on refugees, the environment and welcoming LGBTQ Catholics. He will succeed Cardinal Wilton Gregory, 77, who was the first African-American Archbishop of Washington, DC. Francis also appointed on Monday the first female leader of a Vatican department. Sister Simona Brambilla will become prefect of the Holy See’s religious life office, which has responsibility for nuns, monks and friars. Early in Trump’s first term, then-Bishop McElroy gave a speech in Modesto, California, specifically referencing Trump and urging Catholics to become “disruptors” of the anti-immigrant agenda. “We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families. We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need,” he said. And after Trump’s first election victory in 2016, McElroy lamented “a profound sickness in the soul in American political life” and that it would be “unthinkable” for Catholics to “stand by while more than ten percent of our flock is ripped from our midst and deported.” Brambilla, who is from Monza, northern Italy, qualified as a nurse before entering her religious community, has a doctorate in psychology and has worked as a missionary in Mozambique. She has until now been serving as the number two at the Vatican office that she will now lead. The pope also appointed a cardinal, Ángel Fernández Artime, as “pro-prefect” of the department, who will work with Brambilla. During his pontificate, Francis has sought to appoint more female leaders inside the church’s central administration, although there have been calls for him to go further with the role of women in the church becoming an urgent topic of discussion. According to the Vatican, from 2013 to 2023 the percentage of women working for the Holy See and Vatican City State rose from 19.2% to 23.4%.)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington received the highest US civilian honor (COMMENT: I should write about those who the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), DuPage County Republican Central Committee (DCRCC), and Illinois Republican Party (IRP) have honored since 2000. I should write about the adverse actions that MTRO, DCRCC, and IRP have taken against me since 2000.)
https://apnews.com/article/biden-medal-of-freedom-clinton-soros-denzel-washington-4b19a363d3058ac3b8107e2002b93651
MSN
— 46% of U.S. College Students Oppose Mandatory DEI Courses (COMMENT: While I worked for the Democrats who ran IRS 1971-1980 and GAO 1980-1997, they required all their employees to take DEI courses. Those courses promoted hatred against Republicans.)
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/46-of-u-s-college-students-oppose-mandatory-dei-courses-new-study-reveals/ar-AA1wULUM
YAHOO
— Top states where Americans moved to – and from – in 2024 (COMMENT: Illinois not taxing retirement income is one reason for retirees to stay in Illinois.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-states-where-americans-moved-222125614.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: New Jersey, Illinois and New York had the highest outbound migration, with many leaving for retirement or to be closer to family.)
NEW YORK TIMES
— Democrats and RINOs use DEI to destroy Republicans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/opinion/biden-administration-diversity.html
USA TODAY
— The Senate’s top Republican questioned on Sunday how easy it will be for President-elect Donald Trump to launch a “mass deportation” of at least 11 million immigrants living in the United States without authorization. (COMMENT: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly crow a) that they have flooded America with so many millions of their illegals that it is futile to deport any of them, b) that they will immediately return, and c) that America is ever-increasingly dependent on them.)
https://www.aol.com/realistic-deport-everybody-top-senate-220448600.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: “Is it realistic to deport everybody? I mean, there’s a lot of people in this country who are here illegally,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” A mass deportation of 1 million people per year could cost $88 billion annually, according to the nonpartisan American Immigration Council. It would require an unprecedented ramp-up of law enforcement staffing, detention capacity, immigration courtrooms and flight accessibility. Pew Research estimates there are 11 million immigrants in the United States without authorization. The vast majority don’t have a criminal conviction, and their individual situations can vary dramatically, from asylum-seekers who crossed the border to people who flew in on a tourist visa and overstayed. Among them are some 1.3 million immigrants who have already been issued removal orders but remain in the country, either because of a lack of U.S. removal resources or because some countries refuse to take the immigrants back. Trump has promised the “largest deportation program in American history.” Mass deportations were the centerpiece of his reelection campaign.)
FREEMAN
— OCTOBER 4, 2024 FLASHBACK: Generac sends team to help residents of the Carolinas. Almost 1 million remain without power after hurricane. (COMMENT: I need electricity to put GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and to send them out every morning. My 13-year-old 20KW Generac failed and I have replaced it with a 24KW Generac. To assure that I can put the newsletters together and send them out every morning, I have a backup internet service provider and backup commuter systems.)
https://www.gmtoday.com/the_freeman/business/generac-sends-team-to-help-residents-of-the-carolinas/article_09605ef4-92a9-5dbf-bce0-9b8f02fccbd7.html
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Long the Star Pupils, Girls Are Losing Ground to Boys. Girls have suffered greater test-score declines than boys. (COMMENT: Far fewer females than males took the many tests that I passed. I took and passed the Post Office employment test in 1966 and the Federal Service Entrance examination in 1970. I took and passed all the tests needed to earn a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in 1970, an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997. I took and passed on my first attempt the CPA examination in 1979. I took and passed on my first attempt the Certified Internal Auditor examination in 1981.)
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/test-scores-girls-boys-learning-loss-db020858
— Critical Race Theory Is an Inversion of History. Tribalism and racism were universal until Britons and Americans developed a new way of thinking. (COMMENT: According to my critics/opponents, I owe all my successes in life to my benefitting from discrimination against those who do not share my demographics, that is, those who are liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. 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. I had to work my way through college. Further, since the 1960s, laws have ever-increasingly required everyone to give more and more and more preference to those who do not share my demographics, that is to discriminate more and more and more against those who share my demographics.)
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/critical-race-theory-is-an-inversion-of-history-tribalism-racism-empire-slavery-6334d784
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The accusations made in closed training sessions are astonishingly venomous: Arrogant white supremacy is ubiquitous; white rage results when that supremacy is challenged; whites hold money and power because they stole it from other races; systemic racism and capitalism keep the injustices going. All of this is based on categorically false assumptions about the past. We need only look at how the modern idea of our common humanity originated and developed to see that critical race theory has everything backward. A realistic history tells us that the thinkers and engineers of the Anglosphere, principally England and the U.S., are the heroes, not the villains, of this story, while the rest were laggards, not leaders. For most of recorded history, neighboring peoples regarded each other with apprehension if not outright fear and loathing. Tribal and racial attitudes were universal. That’s a long way from the orthodoxy of our own time, which holds that we are all one human family. Before that consensus arose, a charge of racism made no sense. By today’s standards, everyone was racist.)
FORBES
— Democrats and RINOs use DEI to destroy Republicans.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paologaudiano/2025/01/05/costcos-rebuttal-reveals-the-mindless-cost-of-anti-dei-efforts/
FRONTIERS
— The Relationship Between Work During College and Post College Earnings (COMMENT: My GPA suffered because I worked my way through college. I graduated from NIU in 1970. My salary in today’s dollars was $55,850/year in 1971, $68,315/year in 1972, $82,655/year in 1973, $99,069/year in 1974, $112,280/year in 1980, $117,807/year in 1986, and $153,151/year in 1997. But I earned job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997; job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997; and a job-related professional license in 1981.)
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00078/full
FED SMITH
— Legislation Repealing the WEP and GPO Signed Into Law. President Biden has signed legislation that repeals the WEP and GPO into law. What will this mean for retired federal employees?
https://www.fedsmith.com/2025/01/05/legislation-repealing-the-wep-and-gpo-signed-into-law/
WASHINGTON MONTHLY
— Free College for the Working Class (COMMENT: Because I had to work my way through college, my GPA suffered. While I attended UIC 1966-1968 and NIU in 1970, I worked all the part-time hours that I could delivering mail in Park Forest.)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/01/05/free-college-for-the-working-class/