November 2, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Local restaurants offering free meals to SNAP recipients who’ve lost their benefits
https://abc7chicago.com/post/illinois-snap-benefits-november-wooden-paddle-lemont-la-grange-locations-offering-free-pizza-lost/18101012/
— Obamacare enrollee sees premium spike as sign-ups begin: ‘This will devastate us’
https://abc7chicago.com/post/affordable-care-act-obamacare-enrollee-sees-health-premium-spike-sign-ups-begin-during-government-shutdown-2025/18100578/

CBS2
— With SNAP benefits up in the air, Chicago charities and businesses step in to help
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/snap-benefits-up-in-the-air-chicago-charities-businesses-help/

WGN9
— What salary is considered ‘upper class’ in 2025? It depends on who you ask. DD: I was a federal employee for almost 30 years. Federal employees have always been demonized, denigrated, and condemned as being grossly overpaid and that their benefits are far too generous. In today’s dollars, when I was 49 years old in 1997, my GAO GS-13 Step 10 salary was $153,151/year. But to get that salary, I had passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination in 1970. I had worked for GAO for almost 18 years and for IRS for almost 9 years before that. I had earned a job-related bachelor’s degree in 1970 and job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997. I had earned job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997. I had earned a job-related professional license in 1981.
https://wgntv.com/news/what-salary-is-considered-upper-class-in-2025-it-depends-on-who-you-ask/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Boomers, or those born after World War II and through 1964, were most likely to say a salary between $100,001 and $250,000 is considered “upper class.” Thirty-five percent of the boomers surveyed, who are all at or near retirement age, said surpassing six figures was enough. Twenty percent thought you needed far more than that, deeming only a salary above $500,000 an “upper class” wage. Millennials’ answers weren’t too different from boomers’ opinions. About 37 percent of millennials surveyed (or people born between 1981 and 1996) said earning between $100,001 and $250,000 would make for an upper-class household. Meanwhile, the youngest generation surveyed had more modest opinions on what constitutes wealth. More than a third of Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, many of whom are just entering the workforce, said earning between $75,001 and $200,000 qualified as “upper class.”)

WBEZ
— In Chicago, a Halloween weekend of immigration arrests and violence
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/02/nx-s1-5594866/chicago-evanston-ice-border-patrol-protest-immigration-illinois

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Border Patrol’s strong-arm tactics are the new norm in Chicago as Trump moves to sideline ICE leadership
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/border-patrol-chicago-trump-ice/
— Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget pitch blames ‘Trump Deficit,’ but Chicago’s money woes found elsewhere
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/mayor-brandon-johnson-budget-trump-chicago-money-woes/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mayor-brandon-johnson-budget-pitch-110000518.html
— Government shutdown threatens to delay home heating aid for millions of low-income families
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/government-shutdown-home-heating-aid/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Pritzker dropped an F-bomb in his criticism of Trump administration education policies last month before Illinois’ largest teachers union. DD: For Democrats, education exists to crank out good little Democrats.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/illinois-governor/2025/11/02/pritzker-trump-f-off-video

DAILY HERALD
— Wheeling board could ban ICE operations on village property
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251102/local-politics/wheeling-board-could-ban-ice-operations-on-village-property/

HERALD
— Will County schools receive 1500 Spanish-language books to promote literacy and inclusion. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly discourage assimilation.
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2025/10/31/will-county-schools-receive-1500-spanish-language-books-to-promote-literacy-and-inclusion/

FOX ILLINOIS
— Trump suggests Rep. Ilhan Omar return to Somalia after her video praising her homeland. DD: What percent come America to turn America into their motherland? What percent come to America to destroy America?
https://foxillinois.com/news/nation-world/trump-suggests-rep-ilhan-omar-return-to-somalia-after-her-video-praising-her-homeland

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— Illinois Dems’ Halloween Trick: Ghoulish Suicide Bill
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/10/31/illinois-dems-halloween-trick-ghoulish-suicide-bill

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— ‘No Kings’ protests mock democracy, not defend it. Having lost at the ballot box, Democrats now try to win through noise, lawsuits and street theater.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/2/no-kings-protests-mock-democracy-defend/
— Gerrymandering, migration and political violence set the stage for America’s great unraveling. Political tribes redraw maps, rewrite morals and remove opponents until ballots no longer matter.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/2/gerrymandering-migration-political-violence-set-stage-americas-great/
— Christian colleges betray the faith they once defended. Liberal theology and woke politics have replaced prayer, repentance and fidelity to God.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/2/christian-colleges-betray-faith-defended/
— SNAP benefits in jeopardy as government shutdown drags into fifth week
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/2/snap-benefits-jeopardy-government-shutdown-drags-fifth-week/

NEW YORK POST
— Pervasive social-emotional learning brings Big Brother to the classroom
https://nypost.com/2025/11/02/opinion/pervasive-social-emotional-learning-brings-big-brother-to-the-classroom/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Kirk’s Vision Is Needed In Our Public Schools
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/11/kirk_s_vision_is_needed_in_our_public_schools.html
— How ‘Racist’ Was Pre-Civil-Rights-Era America?
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/11/beyond_the_cotton_field_how_racist_was_pre_civil_rights_era_america_really.html

LEGAL INSURRECTION
— Michelle Obama: From Princeton to the White House — and Still No Gratitude. DD: Things that I am grateful for include my being able to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/11/michelle-obama-victim/

PJ MEDIA
— The Twin Problems of Illegal Aliens and Unqualified Truck Drivers. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://pjmedia.com/eric-florack/2025/11/02/the-twin-problems-of-illegal-aliens-and-unqualified-truck-drivers-part-two-n4945513

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

REUTERS
— DD: Chicago Democrat leaders ever increasingly protect their illegals and their criminals.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/were-not-violent-city-chicago-locals-take-ice-block-by-block-2025-11-02/

CBS NEWS
— Trump says ICE raids “haven’t gone far enough”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-ice-raids-havent-gone-far-enough-60-minutes/
— Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says airport delays are “going to get worse” as shutdown drags on.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-duffy-transportation-secretary-delays-shutdown-air-traffic-controllers/
— Rising concern over government shutdown impact on economy, Americans personally
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-poll-shutdown-impact-economy-personal/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Why Companies Are No Longer Hanging On to Employees. The practice of ‘labor hoarding’—holding on to employees for fear of not being able to get them back later—has reached its end. DD: My Democrat superiors in the federal government wanted to get rid of me because I failed/refused to become a Democrat. They wanted to get rid of me more when I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. They really wanted to get rid of me when I became an active member in class action lawsuit that charged them with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/layoffs-labor-market-92a069c6
— Palantir Thinks College Might Be a Waste. So It’s Hiring High-School Grads. Tech company offers 22 teens a chance to skip college for its fellowship, which includes a four-week seminar on Western civilization. DD: If I had not had a bachelor’s degree in business, Firestone Stores would not have hired me in 1970 and IRS in 1971. If I had not had an MBA and passed the CPA examination on my first attempt, GAO would not have hired me in 1980.
https://www.wsj.com/business/palantir-thinks-college-might-be-a-waste-so-its-hiring-high-school-grads-aed267d5
— The Growing Divide in the Rainbow Coalition. More gay people are speaking out against the gender ideology of trans and queer activists. DD: My critics/opponents promote LGBTQ.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/the-growing-divide-in-the-rainbow-coalition-1128015b

FORBES
— Trump Immigration Rule Could Make H-1B Visa Holders Too Costly To Hire. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/11/02/trump-immigration-rule-could-make-h-1b-visa-holders-too-costly-to-hire/

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.