February 25, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Federal employees in Chicago react to confusion over ‘disrespectful’ Musk email request. Trump administration also looking to sell off a number of government-owned buildings, including a couple in Chicago. (COMMENT: I worked in the Kluczynski building 1973-1980 for IRS and then for GAO 1980-1981. If I was still working for GAO, my Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates would have killed me by now figuratively if not literally.)
https://abc7chicago.com/post/federal-employees-chicago-react-confusion-disrespectful-president-donald-trump-elon-musk-doge-email-request/15952453/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Some people working in the Kluczynski federal building were walking on eggshells Monday morning. One 40-year Treasury Department veteran did not want to go on camera, but called the current climate “overwhelming and mentally distressing.”)

FOX32
— USPS rallies against Trump’s possible agency takeover. “Fight like hell” is what USPS workers are saying in response to President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the agency. (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969.)
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1598376
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly crow about their success in manipulating and in dominating religious leaders.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1598601

WGN RADIO
— OPM tells HR leaders that response to Musk is ‘voluntary’
https://wgnradio.com/news/opm-tells-hr-leaders-that-response-to-musk-is-voluntary/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— US refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war, splitting with European allies in UN votes
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/us-russia-ukraine-war/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Former two-term Gov. Jim Edgar diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/02/24/former-gov-jim-edgar-pancreatic-cancer/

CHICAGO SUN-TMES
— ALL OF THE FRONT PAGE: Trump’s cozying up to Russia comes as ‘slap in the face’ to Ukrainian Americans in Chicago. “It’s a betrayal of that ideal that I believe made America what it is — a place in the world where those that don’t have hope can look forward to hope,” said Walter Tun, whose Ukrainian parents immigrated to the U.S. after World War II.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/ukraine/2025/02/24/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-war-third-anniversary-chicago-ukrainians
— Passengers at O’Hare know flying is safe, but some have concerns after plane crashes (COMMENT: I often flew out of O’Hare a) as a GAO employee 1980-1997 and b) with my wife on her business trips to luxury resorts 1978-1992.)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/02/24/air-travel-safety-anxiety-transportation

DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE: Sooner or later, if not already, under the Democrats and under the RINOs, everyone in America will a) be handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20250224/news/new-building-expands-peoples-resource-centers-capacity/

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly spin everything negatively against Trump.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-whats-ahead-medicaid/medicaid-funding-cuts-could-hit-illinois-hard

SOUTHERN
— Democrats outline playbook to target House Republicans on Medicaid, budget and DOGE
https://southernillinoisnow.com/2025/02/25/democrats-outline-playbook-to-target-house-republicans-on-medicaid-budget-and-doge/

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
— New bill would raise age in which Illinois seniors need to take a driving test
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/state/2025/02/25/new-bill-would-raise-age-illinois-seniors-need-to-take-driving-test/79226496007/

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Did Pritzker’s ‘Nazi’ ploy have intended effect for 2028?
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/jim-dey-did-pritzkers-nazi-ploy-have-intended-effect-for-2028/article_ec56f494-f2e5-11ef-9823-e7e608d77383.html

STATELINE
— No property tax on new homes? Rockford considers extending 3-year program (COMMENT: My wife and I had a home built in Wheaton in 1984. I should write about our fight to get its assessed valuation lowered because of construction defects and unrecorded easements. SEE: https://casetext.com/case/diersen-v-joe-keim-builders-inc )
https://www.mystateline.com/news/local-news/no-property-tax-on-new-homes-rockford-considers-extending-3-year-program/

NPR ILLINOIS
— U.S. Office of Special Counsel asks for stay of terminations of six probationary federal employees fired over the past two weeks. (COMMENT: When I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 years old in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors were furious that could not just fire me because I had served my probationary period working for IRS.)
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-02-24/federal-watchdog-agency-intervenes-in-trumps-purge-of-probationary-employees

AXIOS
— Illinois schools will teach LGBTQ+ history despite federal pushback
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/02/25/illinois-schools-transgender-history-curriculum

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/02/25/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-461/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Pritzker’s budget proposal maintains spending levels on abortions (COMMENT: To vote for Democrats is to promote abortion.)
https://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/extra/news/pritzker-s-budget-proposal-maintains-spending-levels-on-abortions/article_f47e1142-8cb7-547c-90c3-911d68a72187.html

WIREPOINTS
— Beyond the Nazi accusations. What you should know about Gov. Pritzker’s budget address
https://wirepoints.org/beyond-the-nazi-accusations-the-many-deflections-in-gov-pritzkers-2026-budget-address-wirepoints/

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Lakewood Set to Give Golf Discounts to All Sorts of Insiders
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/lakewood-set-to-give-golf-discounts-to-all-sorts-of-insiders/
— Fourth Mailing by Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Danijela Sandberg
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/fourth-mailing-by-algonquin-township-road-commissioner-danijela-sandberg/
— Politico Covers McHenry County GOPAC Fundraiser Featuring Lara Trump
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/25/politico-covers-mchenry-county-gopac-fundraiser-featuring-lara-trump/
— McLaughlin Calls Out Democrats for Again Seeking to End Flat Rate Income Tax
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/02/24/mclaughlin-calls-out-democrats-for-again-seeking-to-end-flat-rate-income-tax/

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— I am a platform Republican. To run for an office as a Republican is to obligate yourself to defend and advance the Republican Party platform if elected. I help elect Republican candidates because if they are elected, they are obligated to defend and advance the Republican Party platform. But sadly, if not outrageously, if not disgustingly, if not tragically, after they are elected as Republicans, far too many fail/refuse to defend/advance the Republican Party platform. But nevertheless, I continue to help elect them because Democrat elected officials are much worse. There are many RINOs, but there are virtually no DINOs. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What if you were ordered to report what you accomplished during the last 7 days? I put GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sent them out. Between Tuesday, February 18, and Monday, February 24, they included links to 522 articles. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump and against those who share Trump’s demographics: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America foe a long time. More than 77 million voted for Trump. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— GAO is supposed to be doing what DOGE does, plus much more. Bur GAO is just a shell of what it once was. That is because Gingrich gutted GAO instead of reforming it. Because of that, my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Before that, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for them, and forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS in 1980. GAO did not unionize until 2007. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— The federal government is not nonpartisan. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who despise/hate Republicans. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, to retain, and to promote Democrats. I should write about that. I would use as examples the three federal agencies that I worked for: GAO 1980-1997, IRS 1971-1980, and Post Office 1966-1969. I would use as examples the adverse actions that the aforesaid took against me to waste my career and to get rid of me because I was a Republican who complained about their use of budget cuts, up-or-out, subjectivity in job assignment and performance appraisal systems, and Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, race and gender based preference giving, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination to not hire Republicans, to not retain Republicans, to not promote Republicans, and to get rid of Republicans. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Have you been collateral damage? I want to believe that my big GAO employment problems 1980-1997 were simply collateral damage caused by Republican budget cuts. But Hastert and my Republican U.S. Senators and Representatives not coming to my defense in Diersen v. GAO argues against that. It argues that they did not really oppose GAO’s political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. It argues that they rejected the equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) plank in the Republican Party platform. According to my critics/opponents, they did not come to my defense because they believed that I was a bad employee. In my defense, while I worked for GAO, I earned two job-related master’s degrees, five job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. Previously, while I worked for IRS, I earned a job related master’s degree and a job-related professional certification. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— How much religious, political, government, and/or financial clout do your critics/opponents have. My critics/opponents have tremendous religious, political, government, and/or financial clout in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois. Because of that, virtually no one has come to my defense since I moved to Wheaton in 1978. Everyone especially fears my critics/opponents who I have sued and their lawyers. They are especially wealthy, vicious, and vindictive. –  Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Musk forges ahead with DOGE demand for list of federal workers’ tasks. Says failure to respond a second time could result in firing.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/25/elon-musk-forges-ahead-doge-demand-list-federal-workers-tasks/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Defunding the teacher trainers
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/3328504/defunding-teacher-trainers/

AMERICAN CONSERVAIVE
— The Distraction of Mexico’s 10,000 Troops. The Mexican president must disband her country’s network of NGOs that bring millions of illegals to the U.S. border. (COMMENT: To send people into a country illegally is an act of war.)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-distraction-of-mexicos-10000-troops/

BREITBART
— Governors Ask President Trump to Let Them Import Foreign Workers
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/24/governors-ask-president-trump-to-let-them-import-foreign-workers/
— Survey Reveals Trump’s Mass Deportation Policy Has 62% Approval
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/02/24/nolte-survey-reveals-trumps-mass-deportation-policy-has-62-approval/

DAILY CALLER
— GOP Senator Suffers Brain Bleed After Slipping On Ice (COMMENT: Brain bleeds are very serious. The one that I suffered slipping on ice picking up newspapers on my driveway stopped me from putting GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sending them out for a while. I still have not fully recovered and I probably never will.)
https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/25/gop-senator-suffers-brain-bleed-after-slipping-on-ice/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer suffered a brain injury Sunday afternoon after slipping on ice in the backyard of his North Dakota home. Cramer, 64, said he was hospitalized and diagnosed with a “severe concussion, a seizure and a slight brain bleed” in a statement posted to Facebook Monday evening. He said he did not know when he plans to return to Washington, D.C., but that he could return quickly for a critical vote if necessary.

DAILY SIGNAL
— DOGE Follows GAO in ‘Identifying Trillions of Dollars Lost’ (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997.)
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/02/24/comer-doge-follows-gao-identifying-trillions-dollars-lost/

EPOCH TIMES
— US Votes Against Ukraine-Drafted UN Resolution Seeking Full Russian Withdrawal (COMMENT: What does the Republican Party platform say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-votes-against-ukraine-drafted-un-resolution-seeking-full-russian-withdrawal-5815380
— Afrikaners Stand in Line for Trump’s Refugee Offer. Tens of thousands of white Afrikaners want to move to the United States to escape alleged racial persecution in South Africa. (COMMENT: But if a Democrat or RINO is elected U.S. President in 2028, America will immediately go back to discriminating against Whites, that is, America will immediately reinstate Affirmative Action and DEI.)
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/afrikaners-stand-in-line-for-trumps-refugee-offer-5813397

FOX NEWS
— Noem ends Biden-era use of controversial app to allow migrants to board flights, except to self-deport. Trump ordered the shutdown of the CBP One app to parole migrants last month.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-ends-biden-era-use-controversial-app-allow-migrants-board-flights-except-self-deport
— Woke actors have toxic empathy
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369283984112

NATIONAL REVIEW
— Trump Agency Heads Ignore Musk’s Ultimatum to Federal Employees, in Farcical Episode
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/02/trump-agency-heads-ignore-musks-ultimatum-to-federal-employees-in-farcical-episode/

TOWNHALL
— ‘Did Not Know It Was Even Possible to Go That Low’: You Won’t Believe Chicago Mayor’s Favorable Ratings
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2025/02/24/did-not-know-it-was-even-possible-to-go-that-low-you-wont-believe-chicago-mayors-approval-rating-n2652711

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— The federal government is not nonpartisan. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who despise/hate Republicans. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, to retain, and to promote Democrats. I should write about that. I would use as examples the three federal agencies that I worked for: GAO 1980-1997, IRS 1971-1980, and Post Office 1966-1969. I would use as examples the adverse actions that the aforesaid took against me to waste my career and to get rid of me because I was a Republican who complained about their use of budget cuts, up-or-out, subjectivity in job assignment and performance appraisal systems, and Affirmative Action and DEI, that is, race and gender based preference giving, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination to not hire Republicans, to not retain Republicans, to not promote Republicans, and to get rid of Republicans.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-america-s-civil-service-must-remain-nonpartisan/ar-AA1thDR8

CBS NEWS
— Trump praises Musk for email threatening termination to federal workers (COMMENT: Of course, my critics/opponents would stress to Trump a) that I was a federal employee for almost 30 years and that I was a union member for almost 12 of those years, b) that I never made GS-14 and that I was forced to retire early even though I had three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license, and c) that I have been a federal retiree for more than 27 years.)
https://www.cbs19.tv/video/news/local/president-donald-trump-praises-elon-musk-for-email-threatening-termination-to-federal-workers/501-1e6be9de-a762-47cb-9db2-38ebc643c5e8

MSN
— Trump Didn’t Campaign on Decimating the Federal Government (COMMENT: Trump got elected by promising to defend and advance the Republican Party platform.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/trump-didn-t-campaign-on-decimating-the-federal-government/ar-AA1zHNDh
— 10 Fast Cars From The ’60s That No One Talks About (COMMENT: The list includes 1962 Chevy Impala SS. I owned one 1989-2005. My Democrat GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were furious that I bought and owned that collector car.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/10-fast-cars-from-the-60s-that-no-one-talks-about/ar-AA1zB6kv

ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Ex-Secret Service agent and conservative media personality Dan Bongino picked as FBI deputy director (COMMENT: One of my close friends during the 1960s and 1970s was a Secret Service Agent.)
https://apnews.com/article/trump-fbi-bongino-patel-cad5f4ea22ada9768ea90a08168568d1

NEW YORK TIMES
— Musk deepened the confusion and alarm of workers across the federal government Saturday by ordering them to summarize their accomplishments for the week, warning that a failure to do so would be taken as a resignation. (COMMENT: What did your accomplish during the last week? I put GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sent them out. Since Tuesday, February 18, 2025, they included links to 522 article.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/elon-musk-email-federal-employees.html
— America and Russia Are on the Same Side Now
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/opinion/russia-europe-trump-vance.html

DALLAS NEWS
— Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly analogize illegals to runaway slaves.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2025/02/25/why-are-christians-fleeing-persecution-among-trumps-deportees/

ORLANDO SENTINEL
— DeSantis creates a Florida DOGE to audit universities, local governments (COMMENT: GAO is supposed to be doing what DOGE does, plus much more. Bur GAO is just a shell of what it once was. That is because Gingrich gutted GAO instead of reforming it. Because of that, my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997. Before that, they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for them, and forced me to take a $23,472/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS in 1980. GAO did not unionize until 2007.)
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/02/24/desantis-to-create-a-florida-doge-to-audit-universities-local-governments/

KXLY
— USPS workers rally against Trump  (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran the Post Office 1966-1969.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC18AT46N70

KGET
— Federal employee unions expand lawsuit to Musk firing threat if they don’t justify work (COMMENT: I was a union member while I worked for the Post Office 1966-1969 and for IRS 1971-1980. If GAO had been unionized when I worked for it 1980-1997, I might still be a GAO employee.)
https://www.kget.com/video/federal-employee-unions-expand-lawsuit-to-musk-firing-threat-if-they-don%e2%80%99t-justify-work/10484134/

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
— Analyzing DOGE actions one month into Trump’s second administration  (COMMENT: I want to believe that my big GAO employment problems 1980-1997 were simply collateral damage caused by Republican budget cuts. But Hastert and my Republican U.S. Senators and Representatives not coming to my defense in Diersen v. GAO argues against that. It argues that they did not really oppose GAO’s political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination. It argues that they rejected the equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) plank in the Republican Party platform. According to my critics/opponents, they did not come to my defense because they believed that I was a bad employee. In my defense, while I worked for GAO, I earned two job-related master’s degrees, five job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. Previously, while I worked for IRS, I earned a job related master’s degree and a job-related professional certification.)
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/democracy-governance/analyzing-doge-actions-one-month-trumps-second
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Even if legal and institutional safeguards eventually rein in some of the collateral damage, it will take years for government to recover from the shocks of his tenure.)

FAST COMPANY
— Democrat and RINO employers use DEI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91282124/a-practical-guide-to-doing-dei-work-in-a-hostile-era

NPR
— U.S. votes against a U.N. resolution urging Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine (COMMENT: According to Democrat and RINO leaders, if you support Trump, you support Putin. But what does the Republican Party platform say about this? Trump got elected by promising to defend and advance the Republican Party platform.)
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/g-s1-50473/un-ukraine-resolution-russia
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In a win for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the U.N. General Assembly on Monday adopted two resolutions calling for an end to the war, while rejecting a U.S. draft that never mentioned Moscow’s aggression. Instead, both resolutions make clear Russia was the aggressor. The United States, reflecting the extraordinary turnaround under President Donald Trump, joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution. The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own resolution after Europeans succeeded in amending it. It was a setback for the Trump administration in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.)

NEW YORK MAGAZINE
— Trump Didn’t Campaign on Decimating the Federal Government
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-didnt-campaign-on-decimating-the-federal-government.html

ACLU
— Hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Trump and against those who share Trump’s demographics: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America foe a long time. More than 77 million voted for Trump.
https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/state-and-local-governments-are-saying-no-to-trumps-radical-agenda

WORKERS WORLD
— Black History Month, every day!
https://www.workers.org/2025/02/84011/

ECONOMIC TIMES
— IRS will lay off roughly 7,000 employees amid tax filing season in Trump downsizing spree (COMMENT: I worked for the Democrats who ran IRS 1971-1980.)
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-irs-layoffs-will-lay-off-roughly-7000-employees-amid-tax-filing-season-in-trump-downsizing-spree-10-point-explainer/articleshow/118448606.cms

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.