ABC7
— Illinois COVID-19 Update: IL reports 8,009 cases, 133 coronavirus deaths. New COVID-19 variant may already be circulating in Illinois, Dr. Arwady says.
https://abc7chicago.com/health/il-reports-8009-covid-19-cases-133-coronavirus-deaths-/9229960/
— Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady announces resignation effective late Thursday night
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/senate-republican-leader-bill-brady-announces-resignation-/9231043/
NBC5
— Sen. David Perdue Quarantines After Contact With Someone Infected With Covid, Days Before Georgia Runoff – Hannah Miao
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/business/money-report/sen-david-perdue-quarantines-after-contact-with-someone-infected-with-covid-days-before-georgia-runoff/2405886/
FOX NEWS CHICAGO
— ‘Patients are dying like flies’: California nurse in ICU begs the public to stop being careless
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/patients-are-dying-like-flies-nurse-in-icu-begs-community-to-stop-being-careless
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— 133 more Illinois coronavirus deaths with positivity rate trending upward into new year. Since COVID-19 claimed its first Illinois victim March 16, an average of about 57 people have died with the virus every day — or about one fatality every 25 minutes. – Mitchell Armentrout
https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/12/31/22208068/illinois-coronavirus-cases-deaths-vaccine-pritzker-covid-19-dec-31
— Illinois corruption wins if the players change but the rules remain the same. With two important votes on Jan. 13, the Illinois House can dismantle not just the Mike Madigan Machine, but the system that gave him his unprecedented power. – Matt Paprocki
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/12/31/22207045/illinois-politics-corruption-speaker-michael-madigan-springfield-house-matt-paprocki
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— After giving up GOP leadership post, three-time candidate for governor Bill Brady resigns from the Illinois Senate – RICK PEARSON
https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-bill-brady-resigns-illinois-senate-20201231-u5vv2lrrgvhnbg56arq2if2tou-story.html
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: A hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-hater says “A fearless look ahead after a dreadful year.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/eric-zorn/ct-column-predictions-news-sports-2021-zorn-20201231-zrhr5q4dmndg3ddpjrlw442uha-story.html
— Stimulus will help, but problems remain for Lake County residents impacted by coronavirus downturn – STEVE SADIN
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/ct-lns-lake-county-stimulus-st-0101-20201231-jvdfl4gnmzgpnh4cgecdsdvjpm-story.html
— Illinois expunges nearly half a million cannabis cases as part of legalization – ROBERT MCCOPPIN (DIERSEN: What unfair advantages have you had in life? My critics/opponents would hint/imply/argue/shout that my not using pot gave me unfair advantages in life. If I had been a pot user, a) the Post Office would not hired me in 1966, b) Firestone Stores would not have hired me in 1970, c) Oldsmobile would not have offered me a job and IRS would not have hired me in 1971, d) IRS would not have promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974, e) GAO would not have hired me 1980 and promoted me in 1986, f) UIC would not have admitted me in 1966, g) NIU would not have admitted me in 1969 and I would not have graduated in 1970, h) Loyola would not have admitted me in 1972 and I would not have graduated in 1976, i) DePaul would not have admitted me in 1976 and I would not have graduated in 1980, j) IIT would not have admitted me in 1992 and I would not have graduated in 1992, k) I would not have gotten married in 1978, l) I would not have passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, m) I would not have passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, n) I would not have bought new cars in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, etc., o) I would not have bought real estate in 1972, 1974, and 1976, p) my wife and I would not have bought real estate in 1978, 1984, and 2020, q) I would not have bought collector cars in 1989 and 1994, r) etc. I should write a book about pot users who hint/imply/argue/shout that I would have been much more successful in life if I had been a pot user.)
https://www.chicagotribune.com/marijuana/illinois/ct-illinois-marijuana-pardons-expungements-20201231-mrhs3n7tsvchthlfexg3c5zdwm-story.html
DAILY HERALD
— Suburbs seeing another uptick in COVID-19 cases – Jake Griffin
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20201231/suburbs-seeing-another-uptick-in-covid-19-cases
— Is a slate a political party? The answer could decide fate for 2 Mount Prospect candidates – Steve Zalusky
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20201231/is-a-slate-a-political-party-the-answer-could-decide-fate-for-2-mount-prospect-candidates
CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Dozens received COVID shots from spoiled vials. The vaccinations—part of a batch a “bad actor” pharmacist left out of refrigeration at a Wisconsin hospital—may not be effective, Advocate Aurora officials say. Now law enforcement is involved. – STEPHANIE GOLDBERG
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/health-care/dozens-received-covid-shots-spoiled-vials
SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— Illinois Senate minority leader resigns from office; Bill Brady won’t reveal reasons – Dean Olsen
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2020/12/31/illinois-senate-gop-leader-resigns-office/4102929001/
BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPH
— Bill Brady announces resignation from Illinois Senate
https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/bill-brady-announces-resignation-from-illinois-senate/article_6c4454bd-6819-50e5-89ef-97e1384648da.html
— Reaction to state Sen. Bill Brady’s New Year’s Eve resignation – Kade Heather, Kelsey Watznauer
https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/reaction-to-state-sen-bill-bradys-new-years-eve-resignation/article_6c4454bd-6819-50e5-89ef-97e1384648da.html
WGLT
— Bill Brady Resigns From Illinois Senate, Leaves Door Open For Another Run – RYAN DENHAM
https://www.wglt.org/post/bill-brady-resigns-illinois-senate-leaves-door-open-another-run#stream/0
CANTON DAILY LEDGER
— Whither the GOP in Illinois? – Jim Nowlan
https://www.cantondailyledger.com/story/opinion/2020/12/31/there-era-where-party-organization-mattered/4099368001/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Written in quill pen (not literally; it was 1965), my master’s thesis was about “Leaderless Politics: The Illinois Republican Party.” Not much has changed. That was an era when party organization mattered. My thesis was that when Republicans lost control of the governorship, the party became leaderless. Not much has changed. Back then, political patronage provided party leaders with influence over elections. My research showed that under GOP Gov. Bill Stratton (1953-60), 83 of the state’s 102 Republican county chairmen held state jobs. Guess who ran the party? Without a governor and jobs, the party was rudderless. First, TV in the 1960s and now billionaire self-funders and donors have replaced political party organizations as the primary conduits to the voters. Patronage is mostly gone, by Supreme Court dictum. Political parties have traditionally had three basic functions: Set forth a platform of values and policies for voters to consider; Recruit attractive candidates, and Work to nominate the candidates in the primary and then get them elected, so they can implement the platform inside government. The Illinois Republican Party does little of this anymore. The role of party platforms has been underappreciated. Party leaders used to wrestle over platform planks at their conventions. The platforms, by a kind of osmosis and over time, provided helpful cues for voters. That is, the GOP favors small business, while the Dems are for the working stiffs. Most of that is gone today, and voters are adrift, captivated yet confused by a Tower of Babel issuing relentlessly from the internet. The Illinois state GOP is a paper tiger. It has no money nor clout over county parties. The county parties are mostly toothless as well. There are exceptions. For example, county GOP chairs Jan Weber in Henry and Aren Hansen in Grundy have in recent years almost singlehandedly turned local offices from Dem to GOP. Mary Brookhart in McDonough County also has a strong county party; her team knows how to get out the vote. The Illinois GOP is at present recruiting a new statewide party chair. Different from a number of states that have large, professional staff and paid chairs, the Illinois party has but one staffer (very sharp Derek Murphy) and a volunteer chair. With megabucks ex-Governor Bruce Rauner gone, the state party has barely two nickels to rub together. The struggle for party control, as if it mattered, is apparently between a Trump-thumping faction versus an “establishment” faction, neither with a clear platform. The old adage that “all politics is local” is no longer true. Successful local candidates in small town and rural Illinois tend to feel they must pay more than lip service to the Trump brand of nativist populism. This effectively leaves lifestyle tolerant, pro-choice, balanced budget, free market, business-friendly folks like me outside the party, or so I feel. What does the future hold for the Illinois GOP? I expect to see Trump 2024 signs soon replacing the thousands of the 2020 versions on lawns and farmyards across mid-America; however, insiders I talk with predict the Trump brand will fade rather quickly, as he likely becomes ensnarled in nasty tax and legal problems. Over the past half century, Republican leaders have also seen their base slip away, literally. Since about 1970, two million or so whites have departed the state in net terms, replaced largely by Latinos and, to a lesser extent, Asian-Americans. When I was a state legislator in 1970, 12% of Illinois residents were of a minority group; today, it is 36%. From 1977 to 2003, the Illinois GOP enjoyed a 26-year, unbroken string of Republican governors. In contrast, this year Joe Biden clobbered Trump in Illinois 57-40 percent, in what pundits call a firmly Blue state. The big prize in 2022 will be the governor’s mansion, not that anyone lives there anymore. Gov. JB Pritzker is considered vulnerable, following his botched, disastrous campaign for increased taxes on high earners, and because of the unenviable role he has in trying to corral COVID-19. In a district on the edges of metropolitan Chicago, GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger has been critical of Trump while supportive of his policies. He appears to be positioning himself for a run for higher office – governor, close observers report. I also find state Senators Jason Barickman of Bloomington and Sue Rezin of Morris attractive. Both are smart and capable, and might have some appeal in the suburbs. But they and other aspirants from the political ranks must nowadays almost expect outsider megabucks sorts to crash into the GOP’s party. The race will be wide open, and the leaderless state GOP will be but a bystander.)
WILLIAM J KELLY
— 2021 is the Year Americans Take Their Country Back
https://www.williamjkelly.org/news/#kelly-2021-is-the-year-americans-take-their-country-back
WASHINGTON TIMES
— Sangamon County allows indoor dining to governor’s chagrin – AP
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/dec/31/1-illinois-county-allows-indoor-dining-to-governor/
— Mitch McConnell: Democrats want ‘socialism for rich people’ with $2,000 checks – David Sherfinski
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/dec/31/mitch-mcconnell-democrats-want-socialism-rich-peop/
ACCURACY IN MEDIA
— CNN chief admits he will not cover Biden administration fairly – Ella Carroll-Smith
https://www.aim.org/aim-column/cnn-chief-biden/
— Biden, Harris ignore Black Lives Matter after campaigning on racial justice. Only using them for winning? – Julia Johnson
https://www.aim.org/aim-column/biden-harris-ignore-blm/
BREITBART
— Over 4,100 People Shot in Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago in 2020 – AWR HAWKINS
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/12/31/over-4100-people-shot-in-mayor-lightfoots-chicago-in-2020/
BLAZE
— Republican congressman claims Trump’s base is turning against him, calls fundraising from election a scam. Kinzinger accused politicians of raising money by giving Trump supporters false hope. – Carlos Garcia
https://www.theblaze.com/news/kinzinger-trump-claims-scam
DAILY CALLER
— New Jobless Claims Decrease To 787,000, Economists Expected 828,000 – THOMAS CATENACCI
https://dailycaller.com/2020/12/31/new-jobless-claims-decrease-below-economists-expectations/
DAILY SIGNAL
— Enough Already With Using Cartoons and Cookies to Sell LGBTQ Agenda to Kids – Nicole Russell
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/12/30/enough-already-with-using-cartoons-and-cookies-to-sell-lgbtq-agenda-to-kids/
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE
— Democrats Destroyed All the Savings of Americans Three Times Over And added a Broken Glass Belt to the Rust Belt. – Daniel Greenfield
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/12/democrat-destroyed-all-savings-americans-three-daniel-greenfield/
THE HILL
— Pence asks judge to toss GOP lawmaker’s bid to overturn election results – JOHN KRUZEL
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/532273-pence-asks-judge-to-toss-gop-lawmakers-bid-to-overturn-election
WASHINGTON POST
— Trump 2024? Only one president has returned to power after losing reelection. If President Trump runs again in four years, he would be trying to follow in Grover Cleveland’s footsteps. – Ronald G. Shafer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/12/28/grover-cleveland-trump-non-consecutive-terms/
— The first millennials turn 40 on Jan. 1. That’s old enough to sue for age discrimination. – Andrew Van Dam (DIERSEN: In 1988, when I was 40 years old, I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged my GAO superiors with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. They had a) given me unfair performance expectations and appraisals, b) made it clear that they would never promote me beyond GS-13, c) gotten rid of my mentor in 1987, d) kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 9 years that I worked for GAO, and e) forced me to take a $20,157 (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. The Democrats who run GAO get rid of their employees who are Republican, White, male, and/or non-veteran who they do not promote to GS-13 (currently $101,176) by age 25, GS-14 (currently $119,559) by age 30, GS-15 (currently $140,634) by age 35, and Senior Executive Service (currently $170,800) by age 40. Extremely few GAO employees make the aforesaid promotion deadlines.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/29/millennial-age-discrimination/
LOS ANGELES TIMES
— Republicans won half of California’s U.S. House seats they lost in 2018. Here’s how – JENNIFER HABERKORN
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-12-20/republicans-recaptured-half-of-californias-u-s-house-seats-lost-in-2018-heres-how
USA TODAY
— ‘Wild Protests:’ Police brace for pro-Trump demonstrations when Congress meets Jan. 6 to formalize Biden’s win – David Jackson and Matthew Brown
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/31/elections-protest-dc-police-brace-donald-trump-demonstrators/4097472001/
WALL STREET JOURNAL
— GOP Senator Josh Hawley Says He Will Force Votes on Joe Biden’s Win. Joint session of Congress to meet next week to certify electoral votes. – Lindsay Wise
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-senator-says-he-will-force-votes-on-bidens-win-11609348249
— Trump Administration Extends Ban on H-1B and Other Work Visas, Green Cards. Renewal of a policy criticized by businesses leaves incoming Biden administration with another immigration dilemma. – Michelle Hackman
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-extends-ban-on-h-1b-and-other-work-visas-green-cards-11609455695
NEWSWEEK
— As Trump Supporters Plan Mass Election Protest, Businesses Prepare for Possible Violence – MATTHEW IMPELLI
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-supporters-plan-mass-election-protest-businesses-prepare-possible-violence-1558334
ABC HARRISBURG
— The states people left in 2020 — and why (DIERSEN: Democrats run Illinois. They focus on driving out of Illinois those who are Trump supporters, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, heterosexual, married, non-poor, homeowners, gun owners, Christian, Protestant, Italian American, German American, and those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)
https://www.abc27.com/news/the-states-people-left-in-2020-and-why/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Illinois experienced a similar population decline, dropping from 12,667,017 residents to 12,587,530 in 2020 — a nearly 80,000-person decrease. It’s the seventh year in a row the state has seen such a decline, and the Census Bureau estimates that more than a quarter-million people have left the state in the past decade — about triple the losses of other states. “Illinois’ record population loss is a symptom of declining public and private investments. Rising pension debt coupled with an increasing tax burden have raised costs for Illinoisans,” Illinois Policy Institute chief economist Orphe Divounguy told The Pantagraph. “It’s become clear that Illinois leaders are not committed to changing course. Every year taxes go up, and yet there are fewer and less reliable services.” Other theories attribute the decrease to a general decline in national population growth, thanks to lower birth rates, less immigration and, perhaps, deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
STATEHOUSE FILE
— Social media played a big role in connecting candidates with voters – LaMonte Richardson Jr. (DIERSEN: Facebook is a Democrat website.)
http://thestatehousefile.com/43667/social-media-played-a-big-role-in-connecting-candidates-with-voters/
PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE
— Will Biden Presidency Change Age, Gender Stereotypes?
https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2020-12-30/womens/will-biden-presidency-change-age-gender-stereotypes/a72646-1
GOVERNING
— Democrats Need Progressive Voters. Blaming Them Should Stop. – JABARI SIMAMA (DIERSEN: One could say “Republicans need conservative voters. Blaming them should stop.”)
https://www.governing.com/now/Democrats-Need-Progressive-Voters-Blaming-Them-Should-Stop.html
RHOADES TEAM
— FOR SALE: 534 WEST ROOSEVELT ROAD, WHEATON – $750,000
http://www.rhoadesteam.com/homes-for-sale-details/534-W-ROOSEVELT-ROAD-WHEATON-IL-60187/10164188/34/
