NBC5
— Weekend Shutdown Talks Led by Pence to Go Into a Second Day Democrats and Republicans agreed that little progress was made during Saturday’s two-hour session – Catherine Lucey and Lisa Mascaro
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/White-House-Congress-Government-Shutdown-503940981.html
ABC7
— Talks to resume after Trump says shutdown could last ‘years’ – AP
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/talks-to-resume-after-trump-says-shutdown-could-last-years/5020262/
— JB Pritzker will be sworn in later this month, giving Democrats controls of the legislature and state house (DIERSEN: Democrats have made it very clear a) that they want to dive out of Illinois individuals, organizations, and companies that 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 and b) that they want to promote welfare, dependency on government, dependency on charity, LGBTQ activity, abortion, mass/illegal immigration, booze, gambling, pot, and other vices, abolition of the First and Second Amendments, patronage, political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, retaliation, and even worse things.)
https://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/illinois-democrats-have-control-of-state-government-can-they-get-work-done-503953241.html
CBS2
— Man Attacked And Robbed By Teenagers At Illinois Medical District CTA Station – Jeremy Ross
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/01/05/man-attacked-and-robbed-by-teengers-at-illinois-medical-district-cta-station/
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Democrats head to Springfield with historic control — can they get work done? – John O’Connor
https://chicago.suntimes.com/cannabis/illinois-democrats-capitol-agenda-springfield-marijuana-general-assembly/
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Shakedown City: Employers and Chicago’s corruption tax – Editorial
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-burke-kickback-chicago-restaurant-20190104-story.html
— Toni Preckwinkle’s administration hired Ald. Edward Burke’s son to nearly $100K-a-year county job – Gregory Pratt
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-preckwinkle-administration-hired-ed-burke-son-20190104-story.html
DAILY HERALD
— Democrats take power in House; impeachment talk flares – AP
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20190104/news/301049954/
— How technology baffled an elderly Congress in 2018 – Avi Selk (DIERSEN: Will the Democrats pass age limits for elected officials, for example, a limit of age 30 for municipal, township, ward, county, and other local government officials, age 35 for state officials, and age 40 for federal officials? The federal government gets rid of its employees who are Republican, White, male, and/or non-veteran who do not make GS-13 (currently $96,403) by age 25, GS-14 (currently $113,920) by age 30, GS-15 (currently $134,000) by age 35, and Senior Executive Service (currently $164,200) by age 40. Extremely few federal employees make the aforesaid promotion deadlines.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/business/20190105/how-technology-baffled-an-elderly-congress-in-2018
(FROM THE ARTICLE: If you’re trying to recall what your members of Congress accomplished in 2018, the answer is: They grew older. The 115th Congress was already one of the oldest in history when it convened at the dawn of the Trump administration — average age 58 in the House, 62 in the Senate, 90 billion or so in the relativistic time scale of the online generation, in front of which Congress spent much of the year embarrassing itself. By the time the 115th hobbled into extinction at the end of 2018, artifacts from its attempts to engage the younger folk and their digital ways lay strewn across the internet like the fossil record of an obsolete species. . .These hearings were livestreamed to the general populace, more than half of whom are under 40, many of whom were horrified to discover that a country being revolutionized by technology is apparently overseen by people whose worldview calcified in the previous century.)
NORTHWEST HERALD
— Navy veteran announces 2020 run to unseat Lauren Underwood Constituent alleges voting misconduct by Underwood – ALEX ORTIZ
https://www.nwherald.com/2019/01/04/navy-veteran-announces-2020-run-to-unseat-lauren-underwood/awnhrbs/
BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPH
— Central Illinois congressmen call for compromise, border security – LENORE SOBOTA (DIERSEN: What compromise offers have you received? In 1997, when I was 49 years old, my Democrat GAO superiors hinted that they might let me work until 2003 when I would be eligible for regular retirement if I happily agreed to be constructively demoted, if not literally demoted. GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized in 1997, I might still be a GAO employee.)
https://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/central-illinois-congressmen-call-for-compromise-border-security/article_8a6edf57-5bba-5a6b-a5ee-5c5428d30dae.html
PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— Last hurrah for the lame ducks – Doug Finke
https://www.pjstar.com/news/20190105/statehouse-insider-last-hurrah-for-lame-ducks/1
— Sports betting no panacea for Illinois – Editorial
https://www.journalstandard.com/news/20190105/our-view-sports-betting-no-panacea-for-illinois
SOUTHERN
— WSJ: Trump prefers word ‘strike’ to ‘shutdown’ (DIERSEN: Overwhelmingly, federal employees are Democrats.)
https://thesouthern.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/wsj-trump-prefers-word-strike-to-shutdown/video_d18421c5-70fc-5725-8b8d-62f4ae17440a.html
BELLEVIEW NEWS DEMOCRAT
— Airports seeing rise in security screeners calling off work – AP (DIERSEN: While I worked part-time for the Park Forest Post Office 1966-1969, I worked many more hours because my coworkers called in sick.)
https://www.bnd.com/news/business/article223973290.html
ALTON TELEGRAPH
— Marijuana legalization effects pondered by Madison County health committee – Riley Newton
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Marijuana-legalization-effects-pondered-by-13511283.php
MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Comparing Illinois Government Workers with Those of Other States
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/05/comparing-illinois-government-workers-with-those-of-other-states/
— Jack Franks Hypocrisy re Double-Dipping: Bad for Thee, OK for Me
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/05/ack-franks-hypocrisy-regarding-double-dipping-bad-for-thee-ok-for-me/
— Burke and Quid Pro Quo
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/05/burke-and-quid-pro-quo/
— Skillicorn To Continue Spotlighting Rumored Gas Tax Hike by Lame Duck General Assembly
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/05/skillicorn-to-continue-spotlighting-rumored-gas-tax-hike-by-lame-duck-general-assembly/
— Discussing Selection of Committee Chairmen, Chicago City Council and McHenry County Board
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/05/discussing-selection-of-committee-chairmen/
— State Rep. Allen Skillicorn View of Republican Party’s Future
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/04/state-rep-allen-skillicorn-view-of-republican-partys-future/
— Comparing Chicago’s Weak Mayor Form of Government with McHenry County’s Weak Chairman System
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/04/comparing-chicagos-weak-mayor-form-of-government-with-mchenry-countys-weak-chairman-system/
— Franks: “It’s Much Ado about Nothing”
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/01/03/franks-its-much-ado-about-nothing/
GOPUSA
— Self declared radical Ocasio-Cortez talks 70% tax rate, dancing and lip+hoops
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=61954
— Ilhan Omar becomes first person to wear hijab in Congress
http://www.gopusa.com/?p=61905
— USS John C. Stennis holding Heathen religious services in carrier chapel
http://www.gopusa.com/uss-john-c-stennis-holding-heathen-religious-services-in-carrier-chapel/
DAILY CALLER
— CNN PANEL GETS HEATED WHEN FORMER TRUMP ADVISER SAYS SOME FEDERAL WORKERS TREATING SHUTDOWN LIKE ‘A PAID VACATION’ – Scott Morefield
https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/05/cnn-stephen-moore-don-lemon-shutdown-paid-vacation/
AMERICAN THINKER
— An old leftist trick to smear the right from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her adoring press – Monica Showalter
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/an_old_leftist_trick_to_smear_the_right_from_alexandria_ocasiocortez_and_her_adoring_press.html
CNN
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Trump-haters promote hatred of Trump.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/government-shutdown-personal-stories/index.html
REUTERS
— Trump’s attorney general pick says he did, in fact, register for draft – Andy Sullivan, Mark Hosenball (DIERSEN: Did you avoid the draft? I should write a book about those who have punished me the most a) for my getting four student draft deferments 1966-1970 and b) for my getting a financial hardship draft deferment 1970-1971. They have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that instead of me, the Post Office should have hired a veteran in 1966, b) that the Post Office should gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that a veteran could have my job, c) that instead of me, IRS should have hired a veteran in 1971, d) that instead of me, IRS should have promoted veterans in 1972, 1973, and 1974, e) that instead of me, GAO should have hired a veteran in 1980, f) that instead of me, GAO should have promoted a veteran in 1986, and g) that GAO should have gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that a veteran could have my job and my preferred corner office.)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-justice-barr/trumps-attorney-general-pick-says-he-did-in-fact-register-for-draft-idUSKCN1OY02U
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Historians told Reuters that Barr would have been required to register for possible military service when he turned 18, a time when the government was drafting roughly 300,000 people per year to serve in Vietnam. Barr changed his response after being asked about it by one of the senators on the committee, a Justice Department representative said. “I registered for the selective service at 18, as required, and was subject to the draft,” Barr wrote on Thursday in a letter to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, the new chairman of the committee, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat. Men who do not register for the draft face fines of up to $250,000 and a prison term of up to five years. They also are barred from most federal jobs, according to the Selective Service System, which registers men for possible compulsory service. “I can’t imagine a scenario in which (Barr) would not have been required to register,” Kansas University history professor Beth Bailey said. Barr, 68, said he initially told lawmakers he had not registered because he is now too old for compulsory military service. He will have a chance to explain the mix-up when he appears before the Judiciary Committee for confirmation hearings on January 15 and 16. Many prominent U.S. politicians — including Trump — have struggled to explain why they did not serve in the Vietnam War, which bitterly divided the United States.)
— Upbeat employment report underscores U.S. economic strength – Lucia Mutikani
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/upbeat-employment-report-underscores-us-economic-strength-idUSKCN1OY0AU
WASHINGTON POST
— Federal workers — in a panic about their pay — apply for unemployment – Michelle Singletary
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/03/federal-workers-panic-about-their-pay-apply-unemployment/
KVOA
— Initiative for 2020 ballot in works to eliminate property tax for Arizona seniors – Priscilla Casper
https://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2019/01/04/initiative-for-2020-ballot-in-works-to-eliminate-property-tax-for-arizona-seniors/
NPR
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Democrats use “Businesses That Rely On Federal Workers” to get Trump to compromise.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/05/682333198/not-out-to-lunch-businesses-that-rely-on-federal-workers-suffer-the-shutdown
NEWSWEEK
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Trump-haters promote hatred of Trump.
https://www.newsweek.com/when-will-furloughed-federal-employees-be-paid-bills-pile-1280484
GUARDIAN
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Anti-Americans oppose The Wall.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/05/donald-trump-government-shutdown-democrats-wall
