NBC5
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “Investigations Look at Trump’s Life From All Angles. Five people in Trump’s orbit have pleaded guilty to charges in the continuing Mueller probe.”
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Investigations-Look-At-Trumps-Life-From-All-Angles-502870181.html
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— White House prepares for government shutdown as GOP lawmakers struggle for alternative – Erica Werner, Damian Paletta, Lisa Rein
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-government-shutdown-spending-white-house-border-wall-20181215-story.html
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “Trump has led a lot of organizations. Nearly all of them are now under investigation.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-oganization-investigations-20181215-story.html
— Sears gets Bankruptcy Court approval for up to $25.3 million in bonuses to top employees – Lauren Zumbach (DIERSEN: Working for GAO during the 1980s and 1990s was very similar to working for Sears today. Starting in 1989, to retain its employees who were Democrat, minority, female, and/or young, GAO used the extreme subjectivity in its pay-for-performance system to give bonuses to its employees who were Democrat, minority, female, and/or young.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bonuses-bankruptcy-court-1215-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection in October, said it needs to able to offer the extra cash to encourage key employees to stick with the company as it attempts to restructure, according to court filings. . .“Under these circumstances, it would be understandable if many key employees are asking themselves whether they should be seeking other opportunities,” Sears said in a court filing last month. However, the retailer “cannot afford this uncertainty — however understandable it may be,” according to the filing. The company has already “suffered significant employee attrition” in the past month, including the departure of the chief operating officer of its Sears Home Services business and five other employees who would have been eligible for bonuses, Sears said in a separate court filing this week.)
— ‘Saturday Night Live’: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Alec Baldwin return for ‘It’s A Wonderful Trump’ – Danielle Turchiano
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-snl-it-s-a-wonderful-trump-20181216-story.html
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Petition challenges: Where 11 mayoral hopefuls stand in fight to stay on ballot – Rachel Hinton
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/petition-challenges-11-chicago-mayoral-candidates-fight-to-stay-on-ballot/
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “Investigations look at Trump’s life from all angles.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/donald-trump-investigation-personal-life/
DAILY HERALD
— Kasich would prefer competing for presidency as a Republican – AP
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20181213/news/312139823
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: What are “favorable demographics?” Does your school district have “favorable demographics?”
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20181215/butler-elementary-district-53-uses-teamwork-personalization-to-achieve-growth
PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— Rauner baffles to the end – Doug Finke
https://www.pjstar.com/news/20181215/statehouse-insider-rauner-baffles-to-end
BELLVILLE NEWS DEMOCRAT
— In a year Republicans did well in Southern Illinois, why does the St. Clair County GOP struggle? – JOSEPH BUSTOS
https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article222944235.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Brennan said, however, she got “zero” help from the St. Clair County Republican Central Committee in her unsuccessful run for the county board. . .However, some Republicans point to issues within the local party itself as to why the GOP couldn’t gain ground in the county. Sources with ties to the party said most of the local efforts went toward pushing for the re-election efforts of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and Gov. Bruce Rauner, which left little to no resources to help with the local races. Ed Cockrell is among the local Republican County Board candidates to say the local party didn’t help local candidates, such as with raising money or sending out mailers. . .Duane Henson, a Republican who ran for county clerk, and has served as a precinct committeeman, said some worked harder than him, and he worked harder than other candidates, but candidates who ran countywide all did about the same. “At the end of the day, we were all a couple thousand votes of each other,” said Henson, who chose to self fund his campaign. Henson wouldn’t comment on the leadership of the party. He did say he also has heard the suggestion of putting efforts into smaller races to develop candidates. “You focus on the smaller races and if you could get into some of the school boards and so forth and make some effective changes there, then you could get your message out and work your way up, (but) that takes several election cycles,” Henson said. Henson said there was brainstorming sessions among the candidates during the campaign and the party organized participation in parades leading up to the election. “Could we be better organized? Sure. I think there’s always room for improvement.” Party leaders however, are looking to see what can be done better the next go-around. “I know they’re doing a lot of analysis, some people who are a little higher up in party that me, have been discussing … what’s our path moving forward, what can we do different, what have we done wrong? You do that after anything,” Henson said.)
QUAD CITIES ONLINE
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: DISGUSTING, TRAGIC: Pot pushers push pot.
https://qconline.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-make-illinois-pot-law-model-for-nation/article_e4c6ca64-fbc4-5ebb-9c90-bba0cfbb7cb0.html
WAND TV
— Illinois cities receive $13.7M to reduce lead in homes – Jessica Dobson
http://www.wandtv.com/story/39650575/illinois-cities-receive-137m-to-reduce-lead-in-homes
NPR ILLINOIS
— High On The Highway: Challenges With Marijuana DUIs – MADELYN BECK
http://www.nprillinois.org/post/high-highway-challenges-marijuana-duis#stream/0
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Investigations undermine Trump presidency: ‘It weakens your friends and emboldens your enemies’- AP (DIERSEN: To get rid of me, my Democrat IRS superiors opened investigations of my expense vouchers in 1974 and my income tax returns in 1978. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran.)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/16/donald-trump-investigations-undermine-presidency/
— ‘Democrat spin machines’: Trump says one-sided news coverage should be tested in courts – Alex Swoyer
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/16/donald-trump-says-one-sided-news-coverage-should-b/
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Rudy Giuliani: Any Trump payoffs to women were aimed at protecting his children and marriage – Caitlin Yilek
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/rudy-giuliani-any-trump-payoffs-to-women-were-aimed-at-protecting-his-children-and-marriage
BREITBART
— Bill: Lawmakers Must Pay Sexual Misconduct Settlements Out-of-Pocket – Penny Starr
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/15/bill-lawmakers-must-pay-sexual-misconduct-settlements-out-of-pocket/
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE
— PARENTS WHO TAKE CHILDREN THROUGH THE DESERT, NOT THE BORDER PATROL, ENDANGER THEIR LIVES – Daniel Greenfield
https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/272253/parents-who-take-children-through-desert-not-daniel-greenfield
AMERICAN THINKER
— Stop Equating Every Immigration Situation with the Holocaust! – Rabbi Aryeh Spero
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/12/stop_equating_every_immigration_situation_with_the_holocaust.html
THE HILL
— Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine): Nothing wrong with Republicans challenging Trump in 2020 – ALICIA COHN
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/421576-gop-senator-nothing-wrong-with-republicans-challenging-trump-in
CNN
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “His worst nightmare: Trump’s life under a legal microscope.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/15/politics/donald-trump-robert-mueller-investigations-russia/index.html
ABC NEWS
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Trumps say “Investigations look at Trump’s life from all angles.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/part-trumps-life-investigation-59842548
NEW YORK TIMES
— Mulvaney Called Trump a ‘Terrible Human Being’ in 2016 – Maggie Haberman
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/us/politics/mulvaney-trump-terrible-human-being.html
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Americans are divided according to political party on their views of the economy and the Trump presidency, a new WSJ/NBC News poll found. – Aaron Zitner
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-mixed-feelings-about-economy-trump-presidency-wsj-nbc-news-poll-finds-11544968800
— Fight Over Voter Data Roils Democrats Ahead of Election The party is trying to catch up with Republican efforts to collect and store voter data – Julie Bykowicz
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fight-over-voter-data-roils-democrats-ahead-of-election-11544899956
CLARION LEDGER
— Family breakdown explains social unrest – Star Parker
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/12/16/family-breakdown-explains-social-unrest/2302739002/
TUCSON DAILY STAR
— Immigration Attitudes: Americans’ deep political divide creates fraught territory – Perla Trevizo
https://tucson.com/news/state-and-regional/americans-deep-political-divide-creates-fraught-territory/article_e3b280a2-fd6d-11e8-8fe0-57a88b1a7958.html
FOX 8
— South Carolina pastor defends decision to buy wife $200,000 Lamborghini SUV, says ‘not a penny’ was used from church (DIERSEN: If you might buy a new SUV, what might you buy? I might buy a new Jeep Cherokee Limited FWD ($30,950) with V6 ($1,745), Luxury Group ($1,195), Floor Matts ($220), Block Heater ($115), and Destination Charge ($1,495).)
https://myfox8.com/2018/12/14/south-carolina-pastor-defends-decision-to-buy-wife-200000-lamborghini-says-not-a-penny-was-used-from-church/
ATLANTIC
— America Needs to Restore Dignity of Work – Marco Rubio (DIERSEN: My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes look down on wage earners. I was a lowly wage earner 1964-1997. I did yard work and delivered newspapers 1962-1964; washed dishes 1964-1966; cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966; delivered mail 1966-1969; worked on an automobile assembly line and as a security guard in 1970; sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971; pumped gasoline 1971-1972; collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980; and audited federal agencies 1980-1997.)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/help-working-class-voters-us-must-value-work/578032/
MOTLEY FOOL
— 2 in 5 Americans Spend More Money in Retirement Than Expected In doing so, they risk running out of savings down the line. – Maurie Backman
https://www.fool.com/retirement/2018/12/15/2-in-5-americans-spend-more-money-in-retirement-th.aspx
(FROM THE ARTICLE: We’re often told to expect our expenses to go down in retirement, and generally speaking, retirees do spend less than their nonretired counterparts. While the average working American over 40 spends $2,993 a month on discretionary expenses, the average retiree spends just $2,008, according to data from Global Atlantic Financial Group. That said, nearly two out of five retirees are spending more money during their golden years than expected, so they risk prematurely depleting their nest eggs and struggling to keep up with expenses in the future. If you’d rather not land in a similar boat once it’s your turn to retire, the solution is simple: Understand what sort of lifestyle your savings will buy you in the future, and save more before retiring if it isn’t enough.)
ROLLING STONE
— Paul Ryan Wants More Immigrants, as Long as They Look Like Him Ryan has championed a bill that would allow more Irish immigrants to come to America – PETER WADE
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/paul-ryan-irish-immigration-769807/
DAILY MAIL
— Paul Ryan under fire for rushing out more than 10,000 visas to Irish nationals before leaving office when refugees and asylum seekers are being detained and rejected from the border – MICHAEL NAM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6500413/Paul-Ryan-attacked-rushing-10-000-visas-Irish-nationals-leaving-office.html
