CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Republicans seek optimism, lawmakers search for normalcy as Democratic regime prepares to take control of state government – Rick Pearson
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-democrats-springfield-control-20181217-story.html
— DISGUSTING, TRAGIC: Oklahoma quickly becoming medical marijuana hotbed
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-bc-us–oklahoma-marijuana-rapid-rollout-20181222-story.html
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Cupich aide gives ‘talking points’ to priests to counter AG report on sex abuse – Robert Herguth
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/catholic-church-sex-abuse-crisis-blase-cupich/
— No honor in Bill Daley’s proposal to rename Dan Ryan to honor Obama – Mary Mitchell
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/no-honor-bill-daleys-proposal-rename-dan-ryan-honor-president-barack-obama/
— Local Women’s March leaders say Jan. march was never planned, urge small events – David Struett (DIERSEN: Under the Democrats, we already have anti-male and anti-Trump marches. Under the Democrats, how soon, if not already, will we have anti-Protestant marches, anti-conservative marches, anti-patriotic marches, anti-Republican marches, anti-American marches, anti-White marches, anti-older people marches, anti-rich people marches, anti-gun owners marches, anti-German Americans marches, anti-draft avoider marches, anti-those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time marches, anti-etc. marches?)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/womens-march-anniversary-january-anniversary-trump/
DAILY HERALD
— What politicians should do about Illinois’ declining population – Austin Berg
https://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20181227/what-politicians-should-do-about-illinois-declining-population
— Lawmakers, make solving the pension crisis the top priority – Editorial
https://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20181227/editorial-lawmakers-make-solving-the-pension-crisis-the-top-priority
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Are bylaw changes weakening the tollway board, and still keeping them ethical? – Marni Pyke
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20181227/are-bylaw-changes-weakening-the-tollway-board-and-still-keeping-them-ethical
HERALD & REVIEW
— Illinois Agriculture Director Raymond Poe ready to enjoy retirement – BERNARD SCHOENBURG (DIERSEN: Retirement is far less enjoyable when you are forced into it early. My retirement income is only 43% of what my ending salary was in today’s dollars. Further, if you are forced to take early retirement, your critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes use that against you until you die.)
https://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/illinois-agriculture-director-raymond-poe-ready-to-enjoy-retirement/article_beecd0fc-703a-513a-af6b-cbd0f8b521c5.html
QUAD CITIES ONLINE
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: An anti-Rauner says “Rauner leaves legacy of failure.”
https://qconline.com/opinion/columnists/rauner-leaves-legacy-of-failure/article_5b667add-54ba-535d-926c-bdc8b00b7dd8.html
NPR ILLINOIS
— Farm Bill Boosts Money To Rural Areas With Slow Or No Internet – MARY HANSEN
http://www.nprillinois.org/post/farm-bill-boosts-money-rural-areas-slow-or-no-internet#stream/0
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— What Will Jack Franks Do with the Money that Ed Burke Contributed?
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2018/12/27/what-will-jack-franks-do-with-the-money-that-ed-burke-contributed/
PUBLIUS FORUM
— Joseph and Mary Were NOT ‘Refugees,’ ‘Immigrants,’ or ‘Homeless’–Stop Saying They Were – Warner Todd Huston
http://www.publiusforum.com/2018/12/26/joseph-and-mary-were-not-refugees-immigrants-or-homeless-stop-saying-they-were/
NEWSMAX
— Largest Federal Employee Union Doesn’t Support Shutdown – Solange Reyner
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/trump-shutdown-union-federalworkers/2018/12/26/id/895964/
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE
— AMERICAN CRIMINALS’ LOBBY UNLIMITED ACLU: the faithful friend to America’s foes. – Lloyd Billingsley
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272338/american-criminals-lobby-unlimited-lloyd-billingsley
— WHY TRUMP’S WALL IS A MUST And why a “virtual fence” will stop no one. – Michael Cutler
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272349/why-trumps-wall-must-michael-cutler
DAILY CALLER
— POLL: TRUMP APPROVAL REMAINS HIGH AMONG REPUBLICANS, BUT NOT FOR GENERAL ELECTORATE – David Krayden
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/27/poll-trump-approval-high-republicans-low-generally/
— FACEBOOK DINGS DEM OPERATIVES WHO PULLED A FAST ONE DURING ALABAMA ELECTION – Chris White
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/26/facebook-russian-ads-democrats/
— SHERROD BROWN TAKES NEXT STEP TOWARDS LAUNCHING A RUN FOR PRESIDENT — PICKS HIS CAMPAIGN SLOGAN – Molly Prince (DIERSEN: Who does your critics/opponents look down on? My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes look down on workers. They stress that I was a lowly worker 1962-1997. 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://dailycaller.com/2018/12/26/sherrod-brown-2020-slogan-dignity/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown has chosen his campaign slogan for a potential presidential run while he is still mulling over a challenge to President Donald Trump in 2020. Brown, notable for his “rumpled” image and more than 40-year public service tenure in Ohio, is exhibiting his midwestern liberal populism with a concise slogan: “The Dignity of Work,” reported Politico on Wednesday.)
CONSERVATIVE REVIEW
— The cost of the wall is nothing compared to the yearly cost of illegal immigration – Daniel Horowitz
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/the-cost-of-the-wall-is-nothing-compared-to-the-yearly-cost-of-illegal-immigration/
— Encouraging illegal immigration is not compassionate; it’s dangerous – Nate Madden
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/encouraging-illegal-immigration-is-not-compassionate-its-dangerous/
NEW AMERICAN
— ICE Dump of Illegals Highlights Leftist Attack on Detention Policy, Numbers Crossing Border – R. Cort Kirkwood
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/31026-ice-dump-of-illegals-highlights-leftist-attack-on-detention-policy-numbers-crossing-border
AMERICAN THINKER
— Scripture Scholar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, SJW – Jeannie DeAngelis
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/12/scripture_scholar_alexandria_ocasiocortez_sjw_.html
BREITBART
— Sen. Mike Lee Blocks Senate Confirmation of LGBT Activist to EEOC – Dr. Susan Berry (DIERSEN: How has EEOC impacted you? What did you want when you were young? I wanted a successful career in the automotive industry. EEOC ended all that in 1971 when I was 22 when Oldsmobile withdrew a job offer that I had accepted saying that it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. That made me unemployed because Firestone had fired me for accepting that offer. I had to get a job fast because I had a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother. Because of the aforesaid, I accepted a job offer from IRS.)
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/26/sen-mike-lee-blocks-senate-confirmation-of-lgbt-activist-to-eeoc/
BLAZE
— YouTube changed search results to appease liberal writer angry over pro-life videos Who needs government censorship when companies readily stifle speech – Carlos Garcia
https://www.theblaze.com/news/youtube-changed-search-results-to-appease-liberal-writer-angry-over-pro-life-videos
PJ MEDIA
— Opposition to Texas GOP Official Shahid Shafi Is Not Due to Bigotry – ROBERT SPENCER (DIERSEN: Far too many Democrat plant, Libertarian plant, Green plant, and RINO activists, candidates, elected officials, party leaders, major donors, political consultants, etc. a) not only fail/refuse to defend/advance planks in the Republican Party platform, b) they work against those like me who defend/advance those planks.)
https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/opposition-to-texas-gop-official-shahid-shafi-is-not-due-to-bigotry/
PATRIOT POST
— The Crisis of America’s Upper Class – R. Emmett Tyrrell (DIERSEN: What does the “upper class” think of you? According to operatives and dupes who work for my critics/opponents, the “upper class” in my precinct, in Wheaton, in Glen Ellyn, in Milton Township, in DuPage County, and in Illinois hates me.)
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/60238-the-crisis-of-americas-upper-class
REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— Anti-Catholic Senators – Steve Cortes
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/12/26/anti-catholic_senators_139012.html
THE HILL
— Trump’s military moves accelerate GOP search for next McCain – ALEXANDER BOLTON (DIERSEN: Are you a veteran? One thing used against candidates for political and government offices who are male is their not being a veteran. But if you are a draft avoider, that will be used against you tremendously.)
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/422918-trumps-foreign-policy-moves-accelerate-gop-search-for-next-mccain
HUFFINGTON POST
— Homeland Security Chief Faults Parents, ‘Open Border’ Supporters In Migrant Kids’ Deaths Kirstjen Nielsen ordered an overhaul of medical screening procedures at the Mexican border after Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 8, died on Christmas Eve. – Carla Herreria
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dhs-secretary-kirstjen-nielsen-migrant-child-death_us_5c11a49be4b002a46c13f3c3
CNBC
— Trump scolds Democrats over border wall with no government shutdown resolution in sight – Jacob Pramuk
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/27/trump-chides-democrats-over-border-wall-amid-government-shutdown.html
NEW YORK TIMES
— As Shutdown Continues, Resolution May Depend on Definition of ‘Wall’ – Emily Cochrane and Jennifer Medina
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/us/politics/government-shutdown-wall.html
WASHINGTON POST
— Trump claims without evidence that ‘most of the people not getting paid’ in partial government shutdown are Democrats – Felicia Sonmez (DIERSEN: While I worked for the federal government for almost 30 years, virtually all my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were Democrats.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-claims-without-evidence-that-most-of-the-people-not-getting-paid-in-partial-government-shutdown-are-democrats/2018/12/27/afbc992a-09cc-11e9-88e3-989a3e456820_story.html
— Here’s how much the federal minimum wage fell this year – Christopher Ingraham (DIERSEN: When did you work the federal minimum wage? I did 1964-1966.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/26/heres-how-much-federal-minimum-wage-fell-this-year/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: This is a problem for workers at the low end of the wage scale, because inflation — the tendency of the price of just about everything to rise over time — steadily gnaws away at the value of the minimum wage as time passes. The federal minimum was last increased in July 2009, when it was set to $7.25 an hour. It remains nominally at that level today, but in real terms inflation has chipped more than a dollar away from its value: $7.25 in 2009 works out to about $6.19 today. In the past year alone, the minimum wage has lost 14 cents of value, relative to 2009. While that’s bad news for low-end workers, it’s good news for the companies that employ them: an hour of minimum wage labor now costs less, relative to the price of everything else, than it did back in 2009. Employers get to decide what to do with that $1.06 in savings. They could pass it on to consumers, for instance, or they could simply pocket it as profit for themselves and their shareholders. Given that corporate profits are near record levels, it’s safe to assume there’s a considerable amount of the latter going on. Zooming out, all the way back to the inception of the federal minimum wage in 1938, we can see that there’s been a steady decline in the inflation-adjusted value of the wage going back to about 1968, when it peaked at about $11.39 in 2018 dollars.)
USA TODAY
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Trump’s 2017 tax bill will probably mean billions less in donations for charities this year – Bill Theobald
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/26/giving-charitable-groups-bracing-drop-donations-year/2352327002/
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, anti-Americans use young citizens of foreign countries as cannon fodder.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/12/26/immigration-border-security-guatemala-death-child-talker/2413367002/
NEW YORK SUN
— New Attack By Elites On Deplorables – BETSY McCAUGHEY (DIERSEN: Who are the elites in your municipality, in your township/ward, in your county, and in Illinois? How strongly do they attack deplorables, that is, how strongly do they attack those who are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German American, draft avoiders, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time?)
https://www.nysun.com/national/new-attack-by-democrats-on-deplorables/90514/
WBUR
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, Democrats encourage children to engage in LGBTQ activity.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/12/26/lgbtq-education-illinois
NPR
— How Is Trump’s Insistence On A Border Wall Playing To His Base? (DIERSEN: Members of Trump’s base include those who are Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, gun owners, German American, and those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time. Obviously, anti-Trumps want the Republican Party to dump Trump’s base.)
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/26/680139108/how-is-trump-s-insistence-on-a-border-wall-playing-to-his-base
TIME
— Returning Christmas Gifts and Taking a Second Job: Federal Workers Are Already Feeling the Pain of the Shutdown – MAHITA GAJANAN (DIERSEN: How have federal government shutdowns impacted you? I was a federal retiree and Social Security recipient during shutdowns in 2013 and this year. I was an IRS employee during shutdowns in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. I was a GAO employee during shutdowns in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1995, and 1996.)
http://time.com/5488566/government-shutdown-federal-workers-furlough-salary/
NEW YORKER
— Evangelicals of Color Fight Back Against the Religious Right – Eliza Griswold
https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/evangelicals-of-color-fight-back-against-the-religious-right
GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE
— Trump: Most Furloughed Employees Are Democrats – Tom Shoop (DIERSEN: While I worked for the federal government for almost 30 years, viturally all my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were Democrats.)
https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/12/trump-most-furloughed-employees-are-democrats/153811/
DAILY MAIL
— ICE releases another 522 migrants in Texas and New Mexico – bringing total number of asylum seekers released from federal detention facilities to more than 1,000 this week – ARIEL ZILBER (DIERSEN: What if ICE released lots of illegals into your precinct, into your municipality, into your township/ward, into your county, and into Illinois?)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6531935/ICE-releases-522-migrants-Texas-New-Mexico-bringing-total-released-1-000.html
