March 28, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Democrat leaders say that Illinois has too many townships and that Pritzker-backed bills to prune them should get action.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/27/township-consolidation-pritzker-springfield/

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote Jenner & Block
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/jenner-block-should-stand-strong-against-trump-order-hinz

CHICAGO CRUSADER
— Rep. Davis: ‘We’re in a social war vs. Trump and his puppeteers’
https://chicagocrusader.com/rep-davis-were-in-a-social-war-vs-trump-and-his-puppeteers/

ABC7
— Illinois AG joins calls for unity against Trump administration’s retaliation on law firms
https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-attorney-general-kwame-raoul-joins-calls-unity-trump-administrations-retaliation-law-firms/16092800/

NBC5
— Prices of new cars expected to rise with tariffs, but by how much?
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/prices-of-new-cars-expected-to-rise-with-tariffs-but-by-how-much/3707990/?amp

CBS2
— Chicago car dealers, repair shops prepare for new Trump tariffs on imported vehicles, car parts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwGdSl4PNlQ
— Chicago car dealerships say President Trump’s auto tariffs will trickle down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYDvdFxUaPI
— Chicago car dealerships, repair shops brace for Trump’s tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-car-dealerships-repair-shops-trump-tariffs/

FOX32
— Chicago mayor fires back at border czar’s ‘reprehensible’ threats to prosecute him over ICE raids
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-mayor-fires-back-border-czars-reprehensible-threats-prosecute-him-over-ice-raids
— Trump cuts finding for Illinois health departments
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1615467
— How dependent on federal spending are your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct?
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1615467

WTTW
— Chicago Muslim Civil Rights Group Condemns Trump’s Immigration Crackdown of Pro-Hamas Students
https://news.wttw.com/2025/03/27/chicago-muslim-civil-rights-group-condemns-trump-s-immigration-crackdown-pro-palestinian
— Federal Judge Struggles With Scope of Relief for Fired Federal Employees in Lawsuit Filed by Illinois, Other States. My critics/opponents despise/hate federal employees and federal retirees. They not only do not want me to get any relief for my being forced to retire, they object to my Civil Service Retirement System pension and the 72% federal health insurance subsidy that my wife and I get.
https://news.wttw.com/2025/03/27/federal-judge-struggles-scope-relief-fired-workers-lawsuit-filed-illinois-other-states
— Trump Administration Blocks More Than $400M in Funding for Illinois Health Programs
https://news.wttw.com/2025/03/27/trump-administration-blocks-more-400m-funding-illinois-health-programs

WBEZ
— Cuts to public health program hit Illinois
https://www.wbez.org/wbez-newsletter/2025/03/27/the-rundown-cuts-to-public-health-program-hit-illinois

HERALD REVIEW
— Illinois Democrats vow to defend state elections law against Trump’s executive order
https://herald-review.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_e589cc97-f517-5f8b-b137-e97de33bfead.html

NORTHERN STAR
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ
https://northernstar.info/124222/opinion/banning-same-sex-marriage-is-unconstitutional/

WCIA
— Anti-abortion groups aim to end Planned Parenthood funding and suggest Musk’s DOGE to get it done
https://www.wcia.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-anti-abortion-groups-mount-effort-to-strip-planned-parenthood-funding-ahead-of-supreme-court-hearing/
— What to do if you can’t pay the taxes you owe. I worked for IRS’s Collection Division for almost 9 years. I worked on audits of IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division for 3 years.
https://www.wcia.com/news/business/ap-business/ap-what-to-do-if-you-cant-pay-the-taxes-you-owe/

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— How dependent on federal spending are your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct?
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/top-stories/federal-funding-cutbacks-public-health/

NPR ILLINOIS
— How dependent on federal spending are your county, township, municipality, school district, and precinct?
https://www.nprillinois.org/health-harvest/2025-03-27/trump-administration-blocks-more-than-400m-in-funding-for-illinois-health-programs
— What percent of foreign students are anti-conservative, anti-Republican, and/or anti-American?
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-03-28/u-s-revokes-hundreds-of-visas-to-repress-student-activism-and-hhs-cuts-jobs
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-03-28/trump-administration-advances-immigration-crackdown-on-foreign-student-protesters

CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
— Despite Trump order, Illinois won’t require voter proof of citizenship. April 1 elections being conducted under existing state, federal law. Illegals vote for Democrats.
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/despite-trump-order-illinois-wont-require-voter-proof-of-citizenship/

AXIOS CHICAGO
— Democrat leaders promote hatred against Tesla to promote hatred against Musk to promote hatred against Trump.
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/03/28/tesla-takedown-protests-chicago-sales-drop-illinois

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/03/28/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-484/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/03/27/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-277/
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/03/27/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-483/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly make it clear that they reject Trump’s election and they reject the rule of law. Constructively, they have declared a Second Civil War against Republicans and illegals are their soldiers in their army.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_363fe78a-b06d-4550-a904-325f3792401f.html

JOHN KASS
— How Corporate Media Narratives Distort Reality About Ukraine
https://johnkassnews.com/how-corporate-media-narratives-distort-reality-about-ukraine/

WIREPOINTS
— Do Illinois and Chicago really need to sweeten Tier 2 pension benefits? My critic/opponents hold against me big time my getting a Civil Service Retirement System pension and the federal government paying 72% of my and my wife’s health insurance premiums. I should write about that.
https://wirepoints.org/do-illinois-and-chicago-really-need-to-sweeten-tier-2-pension-benefits-wirepoints-in-the-chicago-tribune/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Embarrassing displays of media blindness
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3361771/embarrassing-displays-media-blindness-katherine-maher-npr/

NEW YORK POST
— Trump more popular than ever – percentage of Americans who think country is on the right track ‘through the roof’
https://nypost.com/2025/03/27/us-news/trump-more-popular-than-ever-percentage-of-americans-who-think-country-is-on-the-right-track-through-the-roof-says-cnn-analyst/
— Trump orders elimination of ‘anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian institutions. Democrat leaders are ever-increasingly anti-American. Democrats run the federal government. Co, The de
https://nypost.com/2025/03/28/us-news/trump-orders-elimination-of-anti-american-ideology-from-smithsonian-institutions/

CAMPUS REFORM
— Bill to require public colleges offer ‘medication abortion’ advances to Illinois House
https://www.campusreform.org/article/bill-require-public-colleges-offer-medication-abortion-advances-illinois-house/27747

FOX NEWS
— Criminal illegal aliens face justice for the first time in years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjyTrtqPiN8

LIFE NEWS
— Planned Parenthood Gets $2 Million of Our Tax Dollars Every Single Day
https://www.lifenews.com/2025/03/28/planned-parenthood-gets-2-million-of-our-tax-dollars-every-single-day/

NATIONAL REVIEW
— ‘Restoring Meritocracy’: Trump Administration Cuts DEI as Factor in State Department Promotions
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/restoring-meritocracy-trump-administration-cuts-dei-as-factor-in-state-department-promotions/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CNN
— Trump signs executive order ending collective bargaining rights for many federal workers. GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized, and if the union had come to my defense, my Democrat GAO superiors could not have taken the many big adverse actions against me that they did.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/28/politics/executive-order-collective-bargaining-national-security/index.html

REUTERS
— US car buyers face higher prices, less choice under Trump’s tariffs
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-car-buyers-face-higher-prices-less-choice-under-trumps-tariffs-2025-03-28/

AOL
— Broad Categories Of Government Workers Eligible To Lose Civil Service Protections. Because Democrats run the federal government, constructively, federal employees who are Republican have no Civil Service protections. If I had been a Democrat, my Democrat superiors would not have and could not have taken the many big adverse actions against me that they did. The more of the following that Democrat federal employees are, the more Civil Service protections that they have: minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.aol.com/broad-categories-government-workers-eligible-212903755.html
— Democrat leaders ever-increasingly highlight Republican federal employees who have been harmed my Trump’s actions. Since the 1980s, Democrat leaders could have highlighted how I have been harmed by Gingrich’s budget cuts. While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, Gingrich ever-increasingly cut GAO’s budget. GAO was almost always under hiring and/or promotion freezes. My Democrat GAO superiors used Gingrich’s budget cuts to take many big adverse actions against me. I should write about that.
https://www.aol.com/finance/heart-just-sank-former-federal-120300308.html

NBC NEWS
— Vance and second lady visit Greenland amid Trump takeover talk
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/live-blog/trump-administration-vance-greenland-musk-doge-live-updates-rcna197448

NEW YORK TIMES
— Auto Stocks Rattled as Investors Assess Hit From Trump’s Tariffs
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/business/auto-trump-tariffs-stocks-futures.html
— Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of Government. An executive order signed by the president would cancel collective bargaining for hundreds of thousands of workers. GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized, and if the union had come to my defense, my Democrat GAO superiors could not have taken the many big adverse actions against me that they did.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/us/politics/trump-unions-executive-order.html
— FRONT PAGE: What Happens to Your Brain When You Retire? What helps you stay sharp? For me, it includes putting GOPUSA ILLINOIS together and sending them out every day.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/well/mind/retirement-brain-mental-health-tips.html

WASHINGTON POST
— Trump issues executive order to eliminate ‘anti-American ideology’ from Smithsonian. The executive order also calls for the replacement of memorials and monuments removed since 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025/03/27/trump-issues-executive-order-eliminate-anti-american-ideology-smithsonian/
— Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies. Democrat leaders ever-increasingly highlight Republican federal employees who have been harmed my Trump’s budget cuts. Since the 1980s, Democrat leaders could have highlighted how I have been harmed by Gingrich’s actions. While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, Gingrich ever-increasingly cut GAO’s budget. GAO was almost always under hiring and/or promotion freezes. My Democrat GAO superiors used Gingrich’s budget cuts to take many big adverse actions against me. I should write about that.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/27/federal-worker-layoffs-government-agencies/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Federal officials are preparing for agencies to cut between 8 and 50 percent of their employees as part of a Trump administration push to shrink the federal government, according to an internal White House document obtained by The Washington Post that contains closely held draft plans for reshaping the 2.3-million-person bureaucracy.)

LOS ANGELES TIMES
— Trump executive order targets the Smithsonian over ‘divisive, race-centered ideology’
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2025-03-27/trump-executive-smithsonian-museums-race-public-monuments

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Trump Warned U.S. Automakers Not to Raise Prices in Response to Tariffs
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-automaker-prices-warning-928bc7a9
— Trump’s Giant New Car and Truck Tax. He’s dead set on remaking the economy on his import substitution model.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-auto-tariffs-general-motors-usmca-e7d72e04
— The Federal Workers Who Are Not Quite Fired, Not Quite Working. Thousands of people fired then rehired by the Trump administration remain in limbo. ‘They want to get rid of us one way or another.’  All my Democrat superiors in the federal government always wanted to get rid of me because I was a Republican, but more so because I was conservative, White, male, older (born in 1948), Vietnam War draft avoider, Protestant, German American and my ancestors have been in America since 1844, but even more so because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, religious discrimination, and national origin discrimination, but even more so because I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with some of the aforesaid discrimination when I was 40 years old in 1988.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/trump-federal-employee-layoffs-rehired-plans-06e85f78

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.