December 1 Morning Edition

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Democrats must revisit the ‘deplorables’ if they want to stem Trumpism – Ron Grossman (DIERSEN: From what I see, ever-increasingly, Democrats do not want to revisit deplorables, they want to destroy deplorables. Deplorables are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German American, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-met-trumpism-deplorables-20171121-story.html
— Cover star: We’re imagining the conversation in the governor’s office this morning went something like this: Gov. Rauner, first the good news: You made the cover of a national conservative magazine. Now, the bad news: National Review’s headline was “The Worst Republican Governor in America.” And, well, the cover is, um, quite something. They drew you with a large cartoon head, and you’re wearing a leather jacket after just crashing your trademark motorcycle. You can read the piece here, but it’ll cost you two bucks unless you’re a subscriber (in which case you probably already knew about it). For the too long, didn’t read crowd: It’s your standard-issue coastal clip job. One tidbit: Rep. Jeanne Ives is called a “credible conservative challenger and wonky state representative.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-cook-county-soda-pop-tax-20171201-story.html
— Radio talk show host Dan Proft’s Liberty Principles PAC put out a Speaker Madigan-themed attack mailer hitting House Republican leader Jim Durkin as he battles a primary challenge from Burr Ridge Village President Mickey Straub. Check it out here.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-cook-county-soda-pop-tax-20171201-story.html
— Supreme Court could let states allow sports bets – Phil Rosenthal (DIERSEN: Gambling is a vice. Democrats and Democrat plants, Libertarians and Libertarian plants, Greens and Green plants, and RINOs promote vice. Republicans oppose vice.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/ct-spt-sports-gambling-supreme-court-rosenthal-20171130-story.html
— The Taxpayer Hush Money Fund protects sex abusers in Congress – Editorial
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-congress-sexual-harassment-hush-money-20171128-story.html
— Tax issues could become royal pain – Adam Taylor (DIERSEN: My wife and I have paid the marriage penalty big time since got married in 1978.SEE: https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/11/25/will-tax-reform-get-rid-of-the-marriage-penalty.aspx)
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-tribune/20171201/281827169089198
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG COLOR PICTURE IN THE NAPERVILLE SUN: Dan Rather warns Naperville audience of ‘dark’ times, need to heal country’s rift – David Sharos (DIERSEN: Anti-Trumps do not want to heal any kind of rift. They want to get rid of individuals, organizations, companies, governments, and countries that are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German American, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-nvs-dan-rather-naperville-st-1201-20171130-story.html
— GOP leader says they have enough votes to pass tax bill – AP
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-senate-tax-bill-20171201-story.html

 

DAILY HERALD
— Teaching and enforcing civility among public officials – Editorial
http://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20171130/editorial-teaching-and-enforcing-civility-among-public-officials
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG COLOR PICTURES: DIERSEN HEADLINE: Those who are anti-men crow over their success in turning women against men. Those who promote LGBTQ activity are overjoyed.
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20171201/suburban-women-fired-up-about-new-wave-of-female-candidates

 

WTTW
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: DePaul glorifies and praises a) those who come to America illegally, b) those who stay in America illegally, and c) those who bring others to America illegally.
http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/11/30/daca-repeal-puts-med-students-murky-waters

 

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— LGBT advocates seek to scuttle a vital Constitutional right – Travis Weber
http://www.sj-r.com/opinion/20171130/counterpoint-lgbt-advocates-seek-to-scuttle-vital-constitutional-right

 

NORTHWEST HERALD
— McHenry County lawmakers, anti-abortion groups sue state over taxpayer-funded abortion measure – DAN McCALEB
http://www.nwherald.com/2017/11/30/mchenry-county-lawmakers-anti-abortion-groups-sue-state-over-taxpayer-funded-abortion-measure/aaw3tse/

 

SOUTHERN
— Once a skeptic, Sen. Durbin says he’s ‘impressed’ by HUD Secretary Carson’s early performance – MOLLY PARKER
http://thesouthern.com/news/local/acha/once-a-skeptic-sen-durbin-says-he-s-impressed-by/article_b9b11294-a5b5-5f66-be7a-fa873b9ea1bf.html

 

NORTHERN PUBLIC RADIO
— Gov. Rauner Pitches Cutting Taxes And Slashing Regulation In DeKalb Speech – SUSAN STEPHENS
http://northernpublicradio.org/post/gov-rauner-pitches-cutting-taxes-and-slashing-regulation-dekalb-speech

 

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Three Local State Legislators Join Pro-Life Groups to Delay Implementation of Tax Paid Abortions
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2017/12/01/three-local-state-legislators-join-pro-life-groups-to-delay-implementation-of-tax-paid-abortions/

 

CAPITOL FAX
— Another one of those weeks for Gov. Rauner
https://capitolfax.com/2017/12/01/another-one-of-those-weeks-for-gov-rauner/

 

GOPUSA
— Hush Fund: Make Congress’ harassment settlements public
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=34258

 

NEWSMAX
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps are overjoyed that Kinzinger says “Trump’s Anti-Muslim Retweets Didn’t Help Fight Terrorism.”
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/muslim-retweets-adam-kinzinger-terrorism/2017/11/30/id/829110/

 

DAILY CALLER
— Congress Paid Out $100K Of Taxpayer Money To Settle Male Staffers’ Harassment Claims Against Disgraced Democrat – Peter Hasson
http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/30/report-congress-paid-out-100k-of-taxpayer-money-to-settle-male-staffers-harassment-claims-against-disgraced-democrat/

 

THE HILL
— White House maintenance orders reveal cockroaches, ants and mice infestations – JOHN BOWDEN
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/362644-white-house-maintenance-orders-reveal-mice-infestations

 

NEW YORK TIMES
— Republican Tax Bill Hits Snag Over Deficit Concerns – Thomas Kaplan, Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/us/politics/republican-tax-bill-moves-closer-to-senate-passage.html
— Generation Grumpy: Why You May Be Unhappy if You’re Around 50 The generation of people born 1962 to 1971, now in what are typically peak earning years, are finding they are not doing as well as they might have expected. – Robert Gebeloff (DIERSEN: How much money a) do you expect to earn, b) are you earning, or c) did you earn during your “peak earning years?” Since 1997 when I was 49 years old and my Democrat GAO superiors succeeded in forcing me to take their early retirement “offer,” I have earned $1,454,723 less in today’s dollars, that is, my GAO salary would have been $2,480,319, but my Civil Service Retirement System pension has been only $1,025,596, or $1,454,723 less.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/upshot/income-us-generations-survey-satisfaction-wealth.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: As people get older, they tend to become more at peace with their finances, survey research shows. But not the current crop of middle-aged Americans. Let’s call them the Grumpy Middle. They are unhappier than previous generations. And they’ve been this way for years. Typically, people 45 to 54 are more likely than others to say they are “pretty well satisfied” with their financial situation, according to the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey. Then the generation born between 1962 and 1971 started to reach their current age range — and bring their longstanding economic dissatisfaction with them. By 2016, as middle-aged Americans, they were 12 percent less likely to say they were satisfied financially, and 18 percent more likely to say they were unhappy.)
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps focus on turning Britain against Trump, that is, against America.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/opinion/britain-trump-tweets-visit.html
— HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: After Prejudice in Russia, Hope and Home in U.S. – Emily Palmer (DIERSEN: In the U.S., Illinois, DuPage County, Milton Township, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and my precinct, members of Group A promote prejudice against members of Group B. Members of Group A are anti-Trump, anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-patriotic, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors and members of Group B are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German Americans, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/nyregion/after-fleeing-anti-semitism-in-russia-finding-hope-and-a-home-in-the-us.html
— Without Obamacare Mandate, ‘You Open the Floodgates’ for Skimpy Health Plans – Reed Abelson (DIERSEN: Unless you are extremely wealthy, the less health, dental, and vision insurance that you have, the more that you force others to pay your major medical bills.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/health/health-insurance-obamacare-mandate.html

 

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Think of Tax Reform as the Trump Family’s Christmas List Billionaires will find extravagant goodies in their stockings. Everyone else gets lumps of coal. – Alan S. Blinder (DIERSEN: Are you going to get an extravagant goodie or a lump of coal?)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/think-of-tax-reform-as-the-trump-familys-christmas-list-1512086885
— FRONT PAGE: China’s Tech Giants Have a Second Job: Helping Beijing Spy on Its People Tencent and Alibaba are among the firms that assist authorities in hunting down criminal suspects, silencing dissent and creating surveillance cities – Liza Lin and Josh Chin (DIERSEN: My critics/opponents want to “silence dissent.” They have lots of religious, government, political, and financial clout. They dominate the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, Milton Township Republican Central Committee, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Milton Township, DuPage County, Illinois, etc.)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-tech-giants-have-a-second-job-helping-the-government-see-everything-1512056284

 

USA TODAY
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Sexual harassment went unchecked for decades as payouts silenced accusers – Nathan Bomey and Marco della Cava
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/12/01/sexual-harassment-went-unchecked-decades-payouts-silenced-accusers/881070001/

 

FED SMITH
— House Votes to Double Probationary Period for New Feds – Ian Smith (DIERSEN: My Democrat GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were furious that when I transferred from IRS to GAO in 1980 when I was 31 years old, that because I had been under a probationary period at IRS, I was not under a probationary period at GAO. Nevertheless, they did everything that they could to get rid of me. They forced me to take an $18,847 pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer. GAO audits IRS. They kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO. They gave me unfair performance expectations and unfair performance appraisals. They assigned me to work for, to work with, and to supervise the office’s most problematic employees. They did not promote me beyond GS-13. They always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes. They forced me to retire in 1997 when I was 49 years old, and even worse things. In my defense, I completed the requirements for a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, became a licensed CPA in 1981, a Certified Fraud Examiner in 1990, a Certified Government Financial Manager in 1994, a Certified Financial Services Auditor in 1996, and a Forensic Accountant in 1997. In addition, I completed the requirements for a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997.)
https://www.fedsmith.com/2017/11/30/house-votes-double-probationary-period-new-feds/

 

MOTLEY FOOL
— Will Tax Reform Get Rid of the Marriage Penalty? Married couples with two working spouses often have to pay a higher tax rate than if they were single. – Matthew Frankel (DIERSEN: My wife and I have paid the marriage penalty big time since got married in 1978.)
https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/11/25/will-tax-reform-get-rid-of-the-marriage-penalty.aspx

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.