Tag: pension

GOP
— Mainstream Media Accountability Survey (DIERSEN: I should conduct a similar survey on the mainstream media in Illinois.)
https://gop.com/msm-media-accountability-survey-new

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— If you are a conservative Republican, what discourages you from helping elect Republican candidates? For me, it is the candidate’s failure/refusal to defend/advance a) the traditional family, right to life, immigration, Second Amendment, and the rest of the planks in the Illinois Republican Party (IRP) platform and/or b) the illegal drugs, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving), and the rest of the planks in the Republican Party platform. For me, it is the candidate’s failure/refusal to oppose the promotion of dependency on government, dependency on charity, LGBTQ activity, abortion, mass/illegal immigration, diminishment of Second Amendment rights, booze, gambling, pot, and other vices, patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. In Illinois, the more actions that “Republican” activists, candidates, elected officials, party leaders, major donors, political consultants, etc. take against the IRP platform, the more that they shout that they are really Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, or RINOs. To get votes from Democrats, from Libertarians, and from Greens, “Republican” candidates who run as RINOs, that is, who run as anti-Republicans, want Republicans to oppose them. Which candidates on the November 6, 2018 ballot in your precinct are you going to help elect? Which of those candidates really do not want you to help elect them? Which of those candidates really want you to oppose them? – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Pot pushers push pot.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/canadian-marijuana-tilray-pot-us-ipo-canada/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Rauner embrace of Trump means more questions about president – Rick Pearson
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-bruce-rauner-donald-trump-20180719-story.html
— BEYOND DISGUSTING, BEYOND TRAGIC: Toronto official: Decriminalize all drugs – Amanda Coletta
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune/20180720/281754155106230
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: An anti-Trump asks “Has Trump violated his oath of office and committed treason?”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-trump-treason-oath-of-office-0720-20180719-story.html
— Do multicultural societies breed violence? – Amanda Erickson (DIERSEN: Ever-increasingly, Democrats hint/imply/argue/shout at minorities that Republicans are White supremacists, Nazis, KKK members, haters, racists, sexists, bigots, and even worse things who should be gotten rid of. Of course, that breeds violence against Republicans. Ever-increasingly, for their self-defense, Republicans are buying firearms and ammunition.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-multicultural-societies-violence-dutch-foreign-minister-0720-20180719-story.html
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, Democrats promote Islam.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-bc-us–muslims-and-midterms-20180716-story.html
— FRONT PAGE WITH COLOR PICTURE: HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: Chance buys local website, raps news Chicagoist had been dormant since November – Robert Channick (DIERSEN: Which individuals, which organizations, which companies, and which governments will Chance use the Chicagoist to destroy?)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-ent-chance-the-rapper-releases-new-tracks-20180718-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Chance, who at times has clashed with Chicago news outlets over their coverage of him, offered some insight into his media aspirations through his lyrics in “I Might Need Security,” saying he “bought the Chicagoist just to run you racist (expletive) out of business.”)
— Audit rips Illinois’ oversight of group homes for adults with disabilities – Christy Gutowski
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-met-illinois-group-home-audit-20180719-story.html

DAILY HERALD
–DIERSEN HEADLINE: Facebook is a Democrat website. Democrats want Facebook to do more to get rid of individuals, organizations, companies, governments, and countries that are conservative.
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180719/zuckerberg-clarifies-statements-on-treatment-of-holocaust-deniers
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: An anti-Trump demonizes, denigrates, and condemns Trump.
http://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20180720/trumps-true-colors-arent-red-white-and-blue

FOX NEWS CHICAGO
— High-ranking state official leaves job with 144 unused vacation days worth $137k (DIERSEN: Federal employees are limited saving 30 days vacation days. When my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to take their early retirement “offer” in 1997, my payout for 30 unused vacation days was $14,461 in today’s dollars. My Democrat superiors in the federal government a) discouraged me from using vacation days and b) encouraged me to give my unused vacation days to my coworkers who had health, and/or other problems.)
http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/high-ranking-state-official-leaves-job-with-144-unused-vacation-days-worth-137k#/

CBS2
— Metra Struggles With Broken Air Conditioning Units, Crowding On BNSF Line – Vince Gerasole (DIERSEN: I rode this line 1992-1997 on days when I attended graduate finance night classes at IIT at 565 West Adams Street.)
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/07/18/metra-struggles-with-broken-air-conditioning-units-crowding-on-bnsf-line/

WTTW
— How Transparent and Accountable Are Chicago, Cook County Governments? – Amanda Vinicky
https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2018/07/18/how-transparent-and-accountable-are-chicago-cook-county-governments

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Legal fight over Janus decision drenched in ruthless politics – Jim Dey
http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/2018-07-19/jim-dey-legal-fight-over-janus-decision-drenched-ruthless-politics.html

WCIA
— Jeanne Ives, who gave Bruce Rauner a run for his money in the GOP gubernatorial primary, got a standing ovation from a packed room at a fundraiser for the National Rifle Association. – Raquel Martin
https://twitter.com/WCIA3Raquel

GOTHAMIST
— Chance: “I bought the Chicagoist just to run you racist bitches outta business.” – JEN CARLSON
http://gothamist.com/2018/07/19/chance_the_rapper_chicagoist.php

CHICAGO READER
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Democrats use Harith Augustus to hint/imply/argue/shout that Whites who support the Second Amendment are racists.
https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/07/20/does-the-second-amendment-apply-to-black-people

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Casten v. Roskam – Shia Kapos
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2018/07/20/super-pac-gives-aldermen-a-boost-emanuel-gets-emotional-and-the-eternal-power-of-the-kennedys-288841
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Debate drama “Live!” If you like those modern, live musical TV productions, where big-name actors put it all on the line, then you’re going to love the debate drama that Fox 32 has planned for next week. The station is teaming up with the Lincoln Forum to hold a live-audience Q&A between Republican Congressman Peter Roskam and Democratic challenger Sean Casten on July 26. The audience will get to ask questions of the candidates. Digital viewers can submit questions via the Fox 32 social media pages. Anything can happen! The moderator is Fox 32’s Political Editor Mike Flannery. Think of him as the John Legend of political theater. He’ll be guiding a cast of characters—the long-established Republican (Roskam), the scientist/entrepreneur who’s not afraid to take shots at the veteran (Casten) and a group of eager, breathless political savants (in the audience) Hillary Clinton won this predominantly Republican Sixth District. “This is the kind of district that Democrats have to win to take the House,” Flannery told me. “If Roskam is able to hold this seat, then that substantially brightens the prospects that Republicans might hold the House.”)

ILLINOIS CARRY
— Sens Nybo, Curran, Rooney, and Rep Breen win the coveted Giffords endorsement
http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69544

REPUBLICAN NEWS WATCH
— Hysterical Ninnies owe President Trump an apology – DOUG E. IBENDAHL
http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=14541

WIRE POINTS
— Overpromising has crippled public pensions. A 50-state survey – Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner (DIERSEN: QUESTION: Why do employers in the public sector give their employees more generous pensions than employers in the private sector give their employees? ANSWER: Since the beginning of time, public sector employees have been viciously demonized, viciously denigrated, and viciously condemned as being lazy, stupid, and worse things. Consequently, to get and retain employees, public sector employers have had to give their employees more generous pensions.)
http://www.wirepoints.com/overpromising-has-crippled-public-pensions-a-50-state-survey/
— Dear Trustee Jones and similar Wirepoints critics: Name-calling and censorship won’t protect you from numbers and facts – Mark Glennon (DIERSEN: I should write a similar article about my critic’s/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes.)
http://www.wirepoints.com/dear-trustee-jones-and-similar-wirepoints-critics-name-calling-and-censorship-wont-protect-you-from-numbers-and-facts-quicktake/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Kimberly Jones is a trustee of Maine Township, Illinois. Because her comment about us at Wirepoints, made at an open board meeting, is pretty representative of what we hear from those who don’t like us, let me respond, to her and her kind. At a township board meeting last month, she said, ”Wirepoints is not a legitimate newspaper and is a political propaganda paper, not something that should be brought up in a governmental body.” (1:14 mark.) She was responding to a particular Wirepoints article from February by my colleague Ted Dabrowski highlighting how much taxes had increased and how little private sector incomes had risen in the township. Her “argument” is really just a variation of “arguments” all too common. They’re usually comprised of little more than ad hominems and some way to muzzle us is often the hope. Ms. Jones, you can start by going through our article to see that all our data came from credible, official sources. Which ones were wrong? What evidence do you have to the contrary? We spend extraordinary amounts of time trying to get our facts and numbers right. We use original sources and link to them whenever possible. We routinely publish opinions and analyses we don’t agree with. Our work has been cited approvingly in Barron’s, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and many other publications. If we get something wrong we correct it, though I’m proud to say we’ve published nothing with a material error I know of in the five years we’ve been around, despite the complexity of what we cover. As for us being political, all of us at Wirepoints forego any campaign activity and political support, but if being fiscal realists is political, so be it. We wear that on our sleeves. We make no effort to hide our contempt for politicians, both Democrats and Republicans like you, who stand against reforms needed to restore Illinois and its municipalities to financial stability. Above all else, we believe in freedom of expression and the marketplace of ideas, especially in government forums like your board meeting at which you think our research should be suppressed. So, to you and others who offer nothing beyond name-calling, put up or shut up. And as for any call for us to be banned from township meetings or anywhere else, drop dead.)

ILLINOIS NEWS NETWORK
— Months before Election Day, some voters get a new state rep: Jeff Keicher – Scot Bertram
https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/months-before-election-day-some-voters-get-a-new-state/article_158b3c10-8ad5-11e8-bade-5307e628a97c.html

DAILY TORCH
— Rubbing SALT in the wound – Printus LeBlanc (DIERSEN: Roskam should increase the $10,000 SALT cap to $20,000 for married filing jointly.)
http://dailytorch.com/2018/07/rubbing-salt-in-the-wound/

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Trump’s strategic war on the media – Jennifer Harper
https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/19/inside-the-beltway-trumps-strategic-war-on-the-med/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Voters already know that President Trump has confronted a hostile news media, which has produced an unprecedented amount of negative coverage aimed at his campaign, presidency and administration for three years. The practice ultimately may backfire on the press; Americans dislike the media almost as much as the media dislikes Mr. Trump. Almost. Meanwhile, the president continues to maintain an adequate arsenal of ways to counter his journalistic foe. Mr. Trump has a fearless staff. He has a productive relationship with a handful of very powerful news organizations which support him. He bypasses the mainstream media with tactical tweets and social media outreach, issued at all hours. Most importantly, perhaps, Mr. Trump is an irresistible newsmaker and a hands-on master at creating a nimble counternarrative; he both infuriates and fascinates those journalists who attack him, squawk at one another — then race to craft a story. This has been going on since that pivotal moment when Mr. Trump announced his intention to run for president on June 16, 2015. “Politicians are all talk and no action. They will not bring us, believe me, to the promised land,” he told the crowd. But wait, there’s more. Mr. Trump also continues to issue his own substantial public opinion polls, as he has done since his campaign. The latest version is a collection of 27 questions, described by Mr. Trump in the public outreach as a “Mainstream Media Accountability Survey to show the media that the American people are fed up with the Fake News Machine.” He is succinct. Among the questions: “Do you believe the media disdains conservatives?”; “Do you believe the media fails to report on Democrats’ scandals?”; Do you believe that the media purposely tries to divide Republicans in order to help elect Democrats?”; “Do you believe that the Republican Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable?”)
— Trump: Democrats have ‘a death wish’ with the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement – Gabriella Muñoz
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/19/donald-trump-democrats-have-a-death-wish-with-the-/

INDEPENDENT JOURNAL REVIEW
— A Study Found Conservatives Believe Their Life to Be More Meaningful – MADISON DIBBLE (DIERSEN: What do you do to make your life more meaningful? I spend all the time and money necessary to send out a GOPUSA ILLINOIS email each and every morning and evening. I serve as Republican Precinct Committeeman. I raise $2,500 each year from DuPage Republicans to help sponsor Wheaton’s Independence Day parades and fireworks. My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their focus on discouraging me from doing the aforesaid.)
https://ijr.com/2018/07/1110589-conservatives-meaning-life/

NEW YORK TIMES
— FRONT PAGE HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: Once-Nimble Facebook Trips Over Calls to Control Content – Farhad Manjoo (DIERSEN: Of course, my critics/opponents have always wanted to control the content of my GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails. They have failed doing that. But they have succeeded in ended my TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairmanship, my Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee membership, my Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster service, my Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee membership, and my American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board membership.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/technology/facebook-misinformation.html

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— (State pensions are) Doomed A new study shows that benefits are rising faster than GDP in most states. – Editorial
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-your-pension-is-doomed-1532042985
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Pension costs are soaring across the country, and government unions blame politicians for “under-funding” benefits. Lo, if only taxes were higher, state budgets would be peachy. The real problem, as a new study shows, is that politicians have promised over-generous benefits. In a novel analysis, the Illinois-based policy outfit Wirepoints compared the growth of state pension liabilities relative to state GDP and fund assets. Most studies have examined “unfunded” pension liabilities, which is the difference between current assets and the present value of owed benefits. But this obfuscates the excessive pension promises that politicians have made.)
— Trump’s Pick for IRS Gets Senate Panel Backing If confirmed by the full Senate, Charles Rettig would run the tax agency until November 2022 – Richard Rubin
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-pick-for-irs-gets-senate-panel-backing-1532046099
— Companies Commit to Job Training in White House Initiative President Trump’s executive order aims to spur new investments for U.S. workers – Vivian Salama and Vanessa Fuhrmans (DIERSEN: My Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates in the federal government always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that the undergraduate and graduate courses that I took a) were not job-related, b) did not help me carry out my job duties, c) were taken by me to get a job in the private sector, and d) were a distraction.)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-to-sign-executive-order-on-job-training-1531998000
— House GOP Push to Extend Tax Cuts Meets Resistance in Senate – Richard Rubin (DIERSEN: Roskam should increase the $10,000 SALT cap to $20,000 for married filing jointly.)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-gop-push-to-extend-tax-cuts-meets-resistance-in-senate-1531992600
— FRONT PAGE: America’s Factory Towns, Once Solidly Blue, Are Now a GOP Haven A generation ago, Democrats represented much of the country’s manufacturing base. Now, it’s in GOP hands, a swing remaking both parties – Bob Davis and Dante Chinni (DIERSEN: Ever-increasingly, anti-Trumps side with foreign countries and their citizens against America and against its citizens.)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-manufacturing-towns-once-solidly-blue-are-now-a-gop-haven-1532013368

AMERICAN BANKER
— Bank CEO’s fire-and-rehire maneuver reaps windfall at taxpayer expense – Kevin Wack (DIERSEN: At least in prior years, GAO would help its employees who did not make GS-13 (currently $96,403) by age 25, GS-14 (currently $113,920) by age 30, GS-15 (currently $134,000) by age 35, and Senior Executive Service (currently $164,200) by age 40 get jobs with agencies that GAO audits, usually with federal Inspector General offices. SEE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Inspector_General_(United_States) To get rid of me, the Democrats who ran GAO’s Chicago office once hinted that they might do that  for me, but only if a I agreed to take a downgrade to transfer.)
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-ceos-fire-and-rehire-maneuver-reaps-windfall-at-taxpayer-expense

USA TODAY
— HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: Prosecutors tell of infiltration Alleged spy moved in conservative circles – Ashley May (DIERSEN: I should write a book about past and present Democrat plants, Libertarian plants, Green plants, and RINOs in the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Milton Township Republican Central Committee, TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois, Illinois Center Right Coalition, etc.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/19/maria-butina-accused-russian-spy-who-allegedly-offered-sex-power/799333002/
— A Texas nonprofit that helps immigrants has rejected a $250,000 donation from Salesforce, saying it won’t be part of what it calls an attempt by the company to buy its way out of an ethical quandary over its contracts with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. – Elizabeth Weise
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/07/19/immigration-nonprofit-rejects-salesforce-money-over-ethics-backlash/797550002/
— Democrats work hard to stay united – Eric C. Bauman (DIERSEN: I should write a book about past and present Republican Party leaders in Wheaton, in Glen Ellyn, in Milton Township, in DuPage County, and in Illinois who focused/focus on driving out of the Republican Party those like me who support the traditional family, right to life, immigration, and the rest of the planks in the Illinois Republican Party platform.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/07/19/california-democratic-party-democrats-work-hard-stay-united-editorials-debates/804359002/

GALLUP
— Immigration Surges to Top of Most Important Problem List – Frank Newport
https://news.gallup.com/poll/237389/immigration-surges-top-important-problem-list.aspx