Referred to by the General Assembly doorkeeper as ‘His Excellency,’ Governor JB Pritzker and his entourage entered the House Chamber where he gave his annual Illinois budget address on Wednesday, February 18^th.

For the next fiscal year, Gov. Pritzker is proposing an additional $1 billion in spending — along with new taxes to pay for it. Don’t be surprised if the General Assembly adds even more to the budget — and the taxpayers’ tab.… Continue Reading

The hope in a “Red Wave” election didn’t come to fruition in November. The work to flip the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to Republican control produced mixed results.

The GOP barely gained control of the U.S. House, which means Nancy Pelosi will no longer be the Speaker of the U.S. House, and third in line to the presidency.

Of our state’s 17 Congressional seats, three downstate districts have Republican representation, as we lost one to redistricting and one to a Democrat candidate in the newly redrawn 13^th district in central Illinois.… Continue Reading

This article addresses a ballot measure that Illinois voters must vote on this election cycle.
We urge voters to reject Amendment 1, a constitutional amendment that
would elevate collective bargaining rights in the Illinois Constitution,
allowing government union contracts to override state law.

The organized labor movement helped to build the United States of America to be the greatest country in the world.

Once workers were protected with laws many take for granted today, like the 40-hour work week, overtime pay and the ability for front line workers to organize, the American middle class was established and thrived through most of the 20^th Century.… Continue Reading

On June 28, 2022, Illinois will hold primary elections. One hundred and thirty-three days later is the general election on November 8, 2022. Through Illinois Family Action, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many excellent candidates who are running for state and federal offices. Lord willing some of these excellent candidates will win and take office.

The two most significant elections are the race for Governor and U.S. Senate. Do conservative, God-fearing candidates have any chance of defeating two abortion-loving candidates – JB Pritzker and Tammy Duckworth?… Continue Reading

Every political campaign’s dream is to get potential voters to glance at piece of mail they find in their mailboxes, then their hearts pound quicker if those voters stop and read the mailing cover. Then they hope the voter will open the piece and read what they want those voters to know – either good stuff about their candidate or bad stuff about their opponent.

And that’s all besides the great money the printer gets for doing the mailer, the piece designer gets for putting it together and the political consultants commonly get for, well, being campaign consultants.… Continue Reading

Supposedly, Albert Einstein gave this definition for insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Whether Einstein actually said this or someone else conceived it, it is a profound definition.

Does this definition apply to all situations? What is the context that needs to be considered? Are we as Christian conservatives in Illinois guilty of insanity?

I am going to answer this question in two ways: first in the negative and then in the positive.… Continue Reading

Why aren’t Republicans pounding the lectern with righteous indignation about violent gun felons being let off easy by the judicial system the same way Democrats engage in cerebral gyrations over guns? Democrats have sob stories for their gun control agenda. Republicans need to look no farther than Chicago as the poster child for criminal control.

On June 23, 2017, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stood beside then-Gov. Bruce Rauner and celebrated the passage of a bill stiffening sentences on gun felons.… Continue Reading

State Representative David Welter (R-75th Dist.) is promoting some town hall meetings next week in Morris, Plano, Wilmington, and Seneca so that he can “listen to your feedback, your questions, and concerns.” We thought you, a conservative pro-family voter in this district, should know how your local state representative has been voting in Springfield.

For a number of important reasons, we believe your local official, Rep. Welter, has failed us. (See this flyer for more information.)… Continue Reading

Over the summer State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) announced that she is officially running for the 14th Congressional District (map) in hopes of challenging freshman U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) in the November 3, 2020 General Election. At the time of this writing, the Republican primary election (March 17, 2020) will include candidates James Marter (R-Oswego), State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove), and four other lesser known candidates.

It is our unequivocal opinion that Sen.… Continue Reading

In the past couple months, much has been written about the future of the Illinois Republican Party. Our situation couldn’t be worse. After a vicious March Primary and disastrous losses in the November election, the Illinois Republican Party (IL GOP) remains divided, with leadership refusing to take responsibility for the current situation.

The IL GOP needs new leadership to unite the Bruce Rauner and Jeanne Ives factions of the Party and to stand behind our State and National Platforms if it hopes to interest and draw voters.… Continue Reading

A week has passed since an ABC-7 interview revealed that, during the campaign, Governor Bruce Rauner actively sought someone to run in his stead. While Rauner’s lack of enthusiasm for re-election was not a surprise for grassroots Illinois Conservatives, what is shocking is the lack of any strategic action and transparency on the part of IL GOP Leadership.

While facing one of the most critical election contests in recent Illinois history, in which the financial well-being of millions of Illinois citizens hung in the balance, the entire leadership was absent and silent.… Continue Reading

Another election has come and gone. A number of states saw a noticeable political shake-up. For pro-life/pro-family conservatives in Illinois, things went from bad to worse.

As promised last week, Monte Larrick and I are once again joined by Richard Hartian, Chairman of Illinois Family Action, for this episode of Spotlight.

Moving on from the post-mortem of What went wrong? to a discussion of Where do we go from here? – Hartian, Smith, and Larrick consider what Illinois might look like under a Democrat-controlled statehouse led by J.B.… Continue Reading

A good number of folks–especially on social media–are asking why I continue to refuse to vote for the incumbent Republican governor even in the wake of the Sam McCann betrayal. It’s pretty straight forward. I believe that Bruce Rauner is more dangerous to the conservative cause than J.B. Pritzker could ever be.

Bruce Rauner, the leader of the Illinois Republican Party, has severely damaged the conservative cause and has battered the GOP brand in inconceivable ways over the past four years.… Continue Reading

This past weekend, incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner appeared on the Flannery Fired Up political program on Chicago’s local Fox32 station (WFLD). During this thirty-minute weekly program, political reporter Mike Flannery went one-on-one with Rauner, covering a number of state issues.

What caught my attention and got me fired up was their discussion about the structural imbalance of the Illinois state budget. In their exchange, Rauner had the audacity to complain that healthcare costs for state employees are “out of control,” rightly saying that it healthcare is “broken.”… Continue Reading

Written by Laurie Higgins

Fictional 21^st Century Woman at her “reveal” party:

Mom, Dad, Family, Friends, there’s something inside me!  Lol, no, it’s not a tumor. It’s a human. It’s got boy DNA (so, not me. lol). I just need to find out if he’s defective. Oh, and I’ll revisit my life goals and career path, check my bank account, and meditate on how I feel about him. If I choose to let him live, y’all can call him a baby! 

Evidently, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has learned nothing from the razor-thin primary election. Instead, he’s doubling down on his pro-abortion, pro-“transgenderism” and pro-sanctuary state policies, suggesting that signing them into law was the “right” thing to do.

In a speech yesterday, he almost admits mistakes but asserts that his mistakes were, in reality, evidence of his over-zealous commitment to courage in the pursuit of right action.  In other words, he’s trying to spin his anti-conservative policy decisions as “courageous.”… Continue Reading

Illinois Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Whether it is reaching enough Illinoisans with the facts about the dire fiscal state of Illlinois or about the terrible consequences of the misnamed “Equal Rights Amendment,” GOP leaders can’t seem to make use of the many teachable moments that occur weekly in Illinois politics.

One such teachable moment presented itself in a shocking investigative report by the Chicago Tribune on pervasive child sexual abuse within the Chicago Public School system that exposed that “Over a decade, police investigated more than 520 cases of juvenile sexual assault and abuse in Chicago’s public schools.”… Continue Reading

In this week’s podcast episode, Illinois Family Institute lobbyist Ralph Rivera and contract lobbyist Mark Johnson join Monte Larrick to discuss some of the action, and inaction, that occurred during the spring Illinois General Assembly session.

Rivera and Johnson weigh in on Illinois’ new budget, the possibility of a tax increase after the November election and the House resolution proposing a progressive income (“fair tax”) plan, as well as the danger of an even greater Illinois Exodus than we’ve experienced to date.… Continue Reading

Illinois Family Action wants to provide an update regarding the upcoming leadership vote tomorrow of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee (SCC).

The Illinois GOP SCC is the state party’s governing board, with one member chosen from each congressional district. Those elections took place last month at county party conventions across the state. Tomorrow, the SCC will meet to elect a party chairman for a four-year term.

The reason this committee and the party chairman is important is that the quality of messaging, candidate recruitment, and support are dependent on the quality of the party leaders.… Continue Reading

Three Illinois conservatives who have a keen understanding of politics were asked by Illinois Family Action to comment on the upcoming meeting of the Illinois Republican Party’s State Central Committee on May 19th.

A lot is at stake — here are just two related items. First, there’s the question of the establishment’s tampering with the county party State Central Committee elections last month. The outcome of one of the races is being contested.… Continue Reading

Many eyes instantly glaze over at the mention of “grassroots” level politics. Conservatives who don’t look to government or the political arena for their sustenance, tend to prefer to leave the fray to others.

In Illinois, that is a problem. The fiscal and moral mess of our state doesn’t exactly attract the best and brightest into the arena. Yet our can be flipped if those silent conservatives across the state (and yes, even in Chicago) step up and join the fight.… Continue Reading

GOP County…what? Conventions? Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know about them. The tired old guard Illinois Republican Party establishment didn’t want you hear about the conventions. The attendance of rank-and-file platform-supporting Republicans in this state would not have been good for them and they knew it. In fact, in Cook county the convention was run as a closed-door session where the party rules were not followed — you can read about one example here.… Continue Reading

Tomorrow at Republican Party County Conventions across the state, conservatives will be engaging in the battle. I have never been more encouraged about the prospects for the success of those supporting the right policy reforms within the next few years than I am now.

When Bruce Rauner signed HB 40 and made it legal for pro-aborts to use your tax dollars to fund the murder of unborn babies, several Republican leaders in our General Assembly condemned Rauner and supported a challenger against him in the primary.… Continue Reading

Written by John Biver

On this edition of the IFA Spotlight podcast, Monte Larrick, John Biver and Dave Smith continue their discussion about the primary election last month, including the great conservative candidates down ballot, educating misinformed voters, and a summary of the results from down ballot races.

Reviewing the vote totals from the primary, the fact of the uptick in Democratic Party ballots cast versus the down tick in Republican ballots cast, Monte stated — “If you’re a Republican it sounds like we’re in big trouble in November.”… Continue Reading

Reviewing the vote totals from the primary, the fact of the uptick in Democratic Party ballots cast versus the down tick in Republican ballots cast, Monte stated — “If you’re a Republican it sounds like we’re in big trouble in November.”… Continue Reading

Monte Larrick sits down with Dave Smith and John Biver to discuss the results from the last month’s election, including voter turnout from both sides, Jeanne Ives’ narrow loss, and why we need to show up in November to help local candidates despite the two men at the top of the ballot.

While the turnout for this primary was the highest it has been since 2002, a closer look at the numbers reveals bad news for Republicans.… Continue Reading

Many Fiscal conservatives need to be talked off the ledge since President Donald Trump signed the massive $1.3 trillion budget that Congress dumped on his desk.

Unfortunately, President Trump signed the bill, though he is listening to those who wanted him to veto it.

Trump isn’t Bruce Rauner, who claimed on election night last week that he “heard” the message 48.6% of Republican voters voiced by siding with Jeanne Ives.… Continue Reading

Following every election cycle the analysis of the data is an Olympian event. Some of the opinions are gold medal worthy, a lot of the rest are, for the sake of those pontificating, luckily forgotten.

The only constant from one election cycle to the next is that political consultants, many of them shady to say the least, profit handsomely win or lose.

At Illinois Family Action, our look at the results of the March 20th primary have only begun.… Continue Reading

A lot can be said in a matter of a couple of minutes as State Representative Tom Morrison demonstrates in this short video endorsing Jeanne Ives for governor.

Election day is this coming Tuesday,  and Ives is going to need every vote the pro-family community can help her get. Unlike so many primary races, this time conservatives have a genuine choice: genuine conservative Jeanne Ives or failed governor Bruce Rauner who has struck out on all 44 of his “turn around agenda” items and signed into law some of the most radical social policy legislation in the country.… Continue Reading

Higgins’ recent masterful article outlines the five big lies in “Rauner’s Deceitful Campaign Ads.” The claims are “absurd,” she said in the podcast, and #1 on the list, that “Ives is a career politician,” is just plain silly. As Higgins wrote:

Truth: The 53-year-old Ives began her career in the Illinois State House in January 2013, so she just completed her 5th year in Springfield.

In 2014, Business Insider wrote about the fact that Bruce Rauner had an extramarital affair with his current wife Diana Rauner (who was “set to be married” to another man at the time) while his wife was pregnant with their third child. It was a messy situation to say the least. Here is Elizabeth Rauner’s attorney James Feldman in one excerpt from the article:

Our client, Beth, has three small children.

The Chicago Tribune writes that “The (Paul Simon Institute) survey found Bruce Rauner, the first-term governor, leading his Republican challenger, three-term state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton, 51 percent to 31 percent, with 18 percent undecided or favoring someone else.”

Before Ives’ supporters allow defeatism to creep in, here’s a word on polling from the American Association of Public Opinion Research: “[E]ven the best public opinion poll is only a snapshot of public opinion at the particular moment in time, not an eternal truth.”… Continue Reading

Ann Scheidler, the Executive Vice President of the Pro-Life Action League, joins Monte Larrick to discuss the Sanctity of Life in Illinois.

Background

Since HB 40 (taxpayer funding for abortion) has been enacted,  a new Planned Parenthood has popped up in Flossmoor, with an abortion clinic in the works for Rockford, with rumors of three or four additional abortion mills surfacing throughout the state.

With Republican governor Bruce Rauner signing HB 40 and permitting taxpayer funded abortions, it is expected that the number of abortions will greatly expand in Illinois.… Continue Reading

Polls–you know ‘scientifically conducted’ data collection, organization and dissemination that agrees most heartily with the conclusions crafted prior to research collected, organized and disseminated–have given Illinois its lofty position on what has been designated the “Right Side of History.”

The same such research sent people to the ovens in the last century and slaughtered millions of unborn American humans since 1973.

Illinois, the biggest laughing stock real estate on the continent, is usually on the “Right Side of History,” but people and businesses move away or avoid Illinois altogether.… Continue Reading

The 2018 Republican primary for Illinois governor is unique when you consider the ideological differences between the candidates and the dramatic difference in the size of their bank accounts.

Bruce Rauner is a social policy Leftist, Jeannie Ives is a pro-family conservative. Bruce Rauner has tens of millions of his own money to spend on his campaign. Jeannie Ives must raise every dollar she can to compete.

During the founding era of our country, the flow of information was obviously all word of mouth — neighbors talking to neighbors, friends to friends.… Continue Reading

A new ad for the Jeanne Ives for Governor campaign titled “Rauner’s Friends” brings attention to the support Bruce Rauner is receiving from radical left-wing organizations like Personal PAC.

The ad points out that Personal PAC has spent four million dollars “helping Mike Madigan defeat conservatives.” Why would a pro-Madigan political action committee that opposes conservatives support a Republican governor for re-election?

The ad explains: “Personal PAC is a pro-abortion group with the history of also funding Planned Parenthood.”… Continue Reading

Read more HERE.… Continue Reading

Last week the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, columnist Eric Zorn, columnist Rex Huppke, and “reporter” Kim Janssen all took shots at gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives’ campaign ad.

The Ives campaign released an ad that criticized policies using actors to depict the constituencies Bruce Rauner serviced through his boneheaded Leftist decisions, and Leftists became apoplectic. Actually, they mainly cared about the depiction of a cross-dressing man—or what the Left risibly calls a “transwoman” to conceal the existential and immutable reality of his sex.… Continue Reading

The Illinois House seat that gubernatorial candidate Jeanne Ives is vacating has three GOP candidates vying to replace her. Ryan Byrne, Amy Grant and Burt Minor are on the primary ballot in the 42nd house district. At least two of those house candidates have chosen sides in that primary race for Governor.

Burt Minor is supporting Bruce Rauner’s reelection and Amy Grant has endorsed Jeanne Ives.

Only Amy Grant responded to the IFI Voter Guide questionnaire, and earned an endorsement from IFA.… Continue Reading

The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass recently interviewed conservative Republican candidate for Illinois governor Jeanne Ives. Their conversation helps listeners get to know the West Point graduate Ives as well as where she stands on the issues that face Illinois taxpayers.

Bruce Rauner is a failed governor that needs to be defeated, Jeanne Ives told John Kass. They discussed the press conference Ives did with Brian McCann, the brother of Dennis McCann who was killed by a drunk driver who also happened to be an illegal alien (John Kass wrote about the incident here).… Continue Reading

The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass recently interviewed conservative Republican candidate for Illinois governor Jeanne Ives. Their conversation helps listeners get to know the West Point graduate Ives as well as where she stands on the issues that face Illinois taxpayers.

Bruce Rauner is a failed governor that needs to be defeated, Jeanne Ives told John Kass. They discussed the press conference Ives did with Brian McCann, the brother of Dennis McCann who was killed by a drunk driver who also happened to be an illegal alien (John Kass wrote about the incident here).… Continue Reading

It is not easy to decide which is worse: watching the Illinois Democratic Party candidates for governor debate, be interviewed individually, or slogging through their fantasy-filled TV ads or campaign websites.

Generally speaking, those vying for the top job in Illinois on the Democratic side agree that —

• our state doesn’t currently raise enough in taxes,
• K-16 schools and health care are underfunded,
• recreational marijuana legalization won’t be a problem but a positive,
• more money for early childhood education is needed,
• free college tuition isn’t an insane notion,
• state taxpayers should contribute more so state employees can continue to enjoy an above average retirement income and health care benefits,
• the federal government should be ignored when it comes to immigration law,
• and rich white men are bad.

In this age of fake news it is problematic to cite big media reports as source material. Nevertheless, when State Representative Dave McSweeney says that Governor Bruce Rauner supported a tax increase if it was part of a “grand bargain,” then there is a good chance many of the links below are more factual than not.

Rep. McSweeney has been the most outspoken critic of Rauner of anyone in the General Assembly, and he didn’t wait for others to go public with their criticism — he led the way.… Continue Reading

Here is one definition of the expression “any given Sunday”:

It comes from American professional football, which is played (mainly) on Sunday. The full adage goes “on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team,” meaning that a weaker team still has a chance against a stronger opponent. A related sports phrase is “you have to play the games (to determine the outcome).”

The IFI series on Identity Politics and Paraphilias continues to highlight one of the many the opportunities that the American political left has given the American political right.… Continue Reading

The Springfield Nativity Scene Committee* (SNSC) recently held its annual opening day ceremony for their privately sponsored and funded display depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.  This display marks the 10th straight year that this display has had a place in the center of the State Capitol Rotunda.  This is possible, thanks in large part to the help of the Thomas More Society, including our guest Tom Brejcha. … Continue Reading

Surviving War, But Not The Veterans’ Home
Since July 2015, 13 residents of a veterans’ home in west central Illinois have died
from Legionnaires’ disease. Eleven families are suing the state for negligence.

Typically this kind of governmental failure cannot be blamed on a guy who just took office less than three years ago. However, among the most publicized accomplishments of the Bruce Rauner administration is that fact that state-funded social services got short shrift during the two-year state budget impasse.… Continue Reading

Illinoisans have a lot to be proud of — we live in a beautiful state in the heart of America. Our people are hardworking, our soil is among the most productive in the world, our transportation systems are first rate, we have a world-class city and hundreds of great small towns. The list could go on and on.

But to our shame is our state government. Illinois is at or near the top on a lot of bad lists: corruption, tax burden, unfunded liabilities, and debt.… Continue Reading

When Jeanne Ives announced her primary campaign challenge to Governor Bruce Rauner this week, one of the most common questions was — can she overcome Rauner’s incredible war chest which contains tens of millions of dollars of his own money?

The question that came to my mind was — do Illinois conservatives who support Ives realize that they have a role to play in her campaign? Never before have the grassroots taken on a such an enormous responsibility than what they have between now and the March primary election.… Continue Reading

Because the Illinois Republican Party nominated a radical left-winger in 2014 who has demonstrated an inability to lead, three years into his term Illinois finds itself worse off than when Governor Bruce Rauner took office.

What happens when that aforementioned Republican governor is willing to spend millions of dollars of his own money to purchase support? We’re witnessing the answer as candidate Bruce Rauner meets with county party chairmen and offers them assistance — in the form of money, candidate training, website support, etc.… Continue Reading

Prayer, Pastor LeFlore said, “is required because an awakening is necessary for the darkness to be overcome.… Continue Reading

They discuss how to awaken churches in Illinois, activate young people, and how to pray for leaders such as Governor Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Monte pointed out the reality of the many roadblocks that currently exist in Illinois, and Pat stressed that true change requires unity among Christians regarding prayer and participation in the political process.… Continue Reading

Politics has changed within the past two years and that is a very good thing. If you’re a conservative and don’t think much of President Donald Trump, you cannot deny he’s someone who wishes to get things done. Not a common trait among conservative politicians, at least not since Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich left the field.

Here in Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner has behaved in such a way that conservatives are finally waking up, speaking up, and stepping up.… Continue Reading

It all started with “sanctuary cities.” Back in September, thanks to Republican in Name Only, Governor Bruce Rauner, Illinois became a “sanctuary state.” In this, Rauner is on the same page as Chicago’s Leftist mayor: state and local law enforcement are now prevented from making an arrest based solely on immigration status.

The Democratic Party’s goal of importing more future Democratic Party voters from other countries took yet another step forward when a federal judge ruled that the country is a “sanctuary nation.”… Continue Reading

When it comes to taxpayer funding of for-any-reason abortions in Illinois, Governor Rauner and his anti-baby colleagues have won a battle, but not the war.

“We’re going to be on offense,” the video report begins. And longtime conservatives in Illinois will be thrilled to hear those words from a member of the Illinois State House of Representatives, Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard).

Very rarely over the past few decades have conservatives gone on offense inside the Illinois GOP or regarding any public policy.… Continue Reading

The following Bill of Particulars was unanimously endorsed today by representatives of 20 statewide pro-life and pro-family organizations at a meeting in Chicago.

Bill of Particulars

Whereas the 2016 platforms of both the national and Illinois Republican parties clearly state their opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion.

Whereas the Republican members of the Illinois House and Senate have expressed their united opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion as expressed in House Bill 40.… Continue Reading

Now that prominent conservatives are seeing Governor Bruce Rauner for who he really is, we arrive at a genuinely dramatic moment in a state where the Republican Party’s failures have paved the way for Leftist policies to ruin the state.

After signing several outrageously left-wing bills into law, an increasing number of rank and file conservatives and elected political leaders are finally seeing the truth about Governor Rauner. This gives conservatives in Illinois the opportunity to get their act together.… Continue Reading

“Governor Rauner is done…he will not be governor in January 2019,” State Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) told Monte Larrick in this week’s bonus Illinois Family Spotlight podcast.

With Gov. Bruce Rauner’s signing of HB 40’s taxpayer funding of abortion, Breen said that Rauner can no longer make an effective case for his leadership. Breen explains that HB 40 is one of the worst bills ever to be signed into law in Illinois, and it happened even though Rauner looked Breen in the eye, shook his hand, and pledged to veto it.… Continue Reading

It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for the pre-born in America. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed HB 40, allowing for taxpayer funding of abortions. In Washington, D.C., Republicans still haven’t gotten their act together regarding their promised defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Here is Dr. Susan Berry writing a rather simple sentence:

Republicans have presented themselves to Americans as a pro-life party, and promised to defund Planned Parenthood once they had control of the House, the Senate, and the White House.

Earlier this month, the Illinois General Assembly approved a school funding bill compromise that Governor Bruce Rauner supports. The Illinois News Network reports:

“For far too long, too many low-income students in our state have been trapped in underfunded, failing schools,” Rauner said in a statement. “The system needed to change. We have changed it. We have put aside our differences and put our kids first. It’s a historic day for Illinois.”

The deceitful media has talked a lot about electoral “collusion” on the national level, but there is a clear case of collusion here in Illinois and we haven’t heard a peep about it.

During the Spring session of the Illinois General Assembly, Democratic lawmakers passed  House Bill 40, on a party line vote (62-55 in the House on April 25th and 33 to 22 in the Senate on May 22nd).… Continue Reading

Politico recently reported that Governor Rauner’s “ongoing struggle with the politics of a controversial abortion bill hasn’t gone unnoticed by potential opponents.” A Democrat opponent in the 2018 gubernatorial race, J.B. Pritzker, has capitalized on “Rauner’s indecision with HB 40 by releasing a new statewide TV ad where the billionaire Democrat declares if he’s elected, HB 40 will be the first bill he signs.”

This comes on the heels of Pritzker, along with the bill’s sponsors, making a video about dropping off 4,000 postcards to Gov.… Continue Reading

In 1993, when President Bill Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), its boosters claimed that it would solve, once and for all, a plethora of problems plaguing the nation’s voter registration rolls.

However, like many ballyhooed efforts, the Motor Voter Law, as it is best known, resulted in an even crazier system, with such absurdities as millions of people registered in more than one state and cemeteries full of active “voters.”… Continue Reading

The Illinois News Network reported some big news about a new national “political power” record that was set this week:

Illinois’ longest serving House speaker is now the United State’s longest serving statehouse speaker.

The title was held for years by a South Carolina politician from the 1970s, but the title now goes to Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan.

Madigan has been speaker of the Illinois House every year since 1983, except for two years in the 1990s when Republicans were in the majority.

In this week’s Spotlight podcast, Monte and Dave talk with IFI lobbyist Ralph Rivera and Special Project Coordinator John Biver about a bill to advance and enable gender confusion in the state of Illinois. Sponsored by State Representative Greg Harris (D-Chicago), HB 1785 would allow gender-dysphoric persons to falsify their birth certificates, which are both legal and historical documents.

This will have consequences with regard to the relentless cultural assault on physical privacy through the sexual integration of previously sex-segregated spaces.… Continue Reading

The fee that supports 911 systems across the state is going up under a law that lawmakers approved against Gov. Bruce Rauner’s wishes.

The law also keeps the 911 services operational statewide.

Outside of Chicago, phone users are going to pay $1.50 a month for 911 service. Chicago’s 911 fee will jump to $5 to pay for pensions, not 911 service.

State Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard), said it’s not that lawmakers wanted to end 911 services, they just wanted to settle on fair fees.… Continue Reading

As you know by now, over the Independence Day weekend, the Illinois General Assembly passed a massive tax hike for families and businesses. When Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed the proposal, the Illinois Senate and House quickly overrode his veto. What does that mean for taxpayers? Well, the personal income tax rate has now increased by 32 percent, surging from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, and the corporate rate has jumped from 5.25 percent to 7 percent.… Continue Reading

Every time state spending increases and taxes are raised, Republicans and conservatives issue statements expressing disappointment and disgust with those who played a part in making it happen. For many of us watching this Illinois tax and spend train wreck year after year, these statements are tiresome.

Bad things happen. Our side reacts to those bad things with statements.

These pages have outlined and linked to other articles explaining that Illinois’ problem is a simple math problem.… Continue Reading

Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) of Illinois believes that his state is on the verge of “banana republic territory” because the state faces an imminent financial crisis. As described in a story published by The Fiscal Times on June 12:

Last week, the state marked the second full year in which Gov. Bruce Rauner and a combative Democratic legislature were unable to agree on a new operating budget. The state Senate the week before rejected a House-passed budget measure premised on a $7 billion revenue shortfall after Rauner threatened to veto it.

The anti-baby forces are already out in full force as they stake a claim to your tax dollars to pay for their abortions. Using the dishonest and tired rhetoric of a “war on women,” the death industry seeks to punish legislators who voted against HB 40, a bill that would remove all restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion.

One case in point is that of State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), who was featured in one ad, asking people to call his office to ask him why he didn’t “stand up for women’s rights.”… Continue Reading

Over the weekend veteran Chicago news reporter Bill Cameron had Pat Brady as a guest on his weekly program and podcast. Yes, that Pat Brady — the disgraced former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, who was hired by the radical ACLU to convince weak-kneed and malleable Republicans to vote for marriage redefinition in 2013. On Monday, a friend brought it to my attention in an email and asked:

“Why does Bill Cameron go to a disgraced Republican who was chased out as GOP chairman for a supposedly conservative reaction to Donald Trump’s first few months as POTUS?

J. B. Pritzker is a billionaire venture capitalist, philanthropist and attorney from Chicago–and as of a few days ago, he is an announced candidate for governor of Illinois. He is heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune and a guy who can compete with millionaire Chris Kennedy when it comes to campaign dollars. In fact, Pritzker has said that he will self-fund.

Pritzker, 52 years old, is estimated to be worth about $3.4 billion dollars.… Continue Reading

Written by Carol Ostrow

Even as Gov. Bruce Rauner continues to strive toward a potential state budget solution, House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) “delays and offers nothing,” the Chicago Tribune recently reported while continuing its coverage of Illinois’ hemorrhaging finances.

Editors at the newspaper have bemoaned the probability that the ringing in of the spring legislative session means “still more menacing news to Illinois,” stating that the newest proof of systemic breakdown lies neither in the impotent stopgap spending plan, nor in the recent mass outmigration from the Land of Lincoln, where population losses recently exceeded those of any other state.

Written by John Biver

Last time we wrote about Daniel Biss, an Illinois state senator who has declared his candidacy for governor in the Democratic Party’s primary. Today we’ll introduce two more:

• Bob Daiber of Marine, Illinois, former teacher, current Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools.

• Chris Kennedy of Kenilworth, a real estate investor, former Chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and member of the Kennedy family.

Bob Daiber, 60 years-old, from downstate Marine, Illinois (just east of Edwardsville), entered the race for governor back in February.… Continue Reading

Twenty months is a long time in politics. Like it or not, here in Illinois, that is how long the campaign for governor will be. In November 2018, Illinoisans will once again be going to the polls to elect or re-elect someone to run the executive branch — and that race is already underway. There are five Democrats who have announced their candidacy, and several more are rumored to be considering a run.… Continue Reading

Written by John Biver

Pat Hughes from “Upstream Ideas” recently recorded a scathing short video slamming state Senate Republican Minority Leader Christine Radogno for her participation in the crafting of a budget “compromise” which includes a tax increase on Illinois families. That video can be seen here: ‘Republican’ Minority Leader Radogno Looking Out For Herself Not You.

It should be noted that Sen. Radogno has been the senate GOP leader since 2009, and was recently reelected to that position by her fellow Republicans.… Continue Reading

Written by Pat Hughes

It’s bad enough that, after decades of Mike Madigan’s leadership, the state can’t pay its bills. But now, his daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, wants to take away the ability of state workers to pay their own bills.

Throughout the bitter dispute over the state budget, Madigan-Nemesis Governor Bruce Rauner has worked to keep the state government running so that core services are not completely shut down. The Governor has made clear that paying state workers for work that they do, while working to pass a balanced budget, is a top priority.… Continue Reading

Written by the Chicago City Wire

The Illinois Policy Institute is proposing a budget conservative group leaders contend would put an end to the state’s nearly two-year impasse, closing a $7.1 billion deficit without adding any new taxes.

Written by Sara Burnett
Associated Press

The state where both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton used to live is still reliably Democratic when it comes to picking a president.

But drill a little deeper and it’s clear the political map changed, with more counties flipping from Democrat to Republican just as they did in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, helping Donald Trump become president.

While Trump won a smaller percentage of the state’s overall vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012 due to dismal support in Chicago and its suburbs, he won a dozen more counties than Romney.… Continue Reading

We’d love to have your feedback!  Email us HERE.… Continue Reading

Written by John Biver

Former Governor Pat Quinn, a fixture on the Illinois political scene for decades, has been on the statewide ballot many times, and also served as State Treasurer and Lt. Governor. Earlier this month, Reboot Illinois’ Matt Dietrich wrote this:

Before serving as governor from 2009 to 2015, Pat Quinn was known as a rabble-rousing reformer who, most famously, led a 1980 citizen initiative that cut the membership of the Illinois House by one-third.

Written by John Biver

Former governor Pat Quinn agrees with Bruce Rauner, the guy who made him a former governor, when it comes to term limits. While Rauner continues to press for term limits for state legislative and statewide offices, Quinn has launched an effort aimed at the City of Chicago’s mayor. More on those proposals later. First, a few comments on the issue itself.

Limiting the years a person can serve in important political offices isn’t new.… Continue Reading

Written by Eric Kohn

Rich Miller wants Bruce Rauner to surrender.

This has been a theme of Miller’s since shortly after Rauner was inaugurated.  [Recently] in a guest column at Reboot Illinois, he used the loss of two high profile Rauner-backed primary candidates to renew his call.  Miller begins with this sentence:

It’s almost impossible to make a deal with somebody who won’t accept reality.

Let’s talk about reality.

Miller is correct that Rauner lost two races where he had made a significant investment.  … Continue Reading

Written by John Kirkwood

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted;
the indifference of those who should have known better;
the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most;
that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
~Haile Selassie

When it comes to the voice of pro-life leaders and legislators in Illinois, it’s not a cat that’s got their tongue, it’s an 800-pound elephant named Bruce Rauner.… Continue Reading

If you’re a close reader of the two Chicago metro dailies, you know both the Sun-Times and the Tribune are reluctant to talk much about Chicago’s dire financial situation. The one exception is when the union members in the press are trying to help the union candidate for mayor, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. Then, they’re quick to point out that Rahm Emanual is a rich guy, who hangs out with other rich guys like Gov. Bruce Rauner.… Continue Reading

Four years ago, State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) walked into a state office and announced he didn’t want a pension.

“I got a blank look in response. The General Assembly has an incredibly generous pension plan, and I was told I was the first legislator to choose not to participate in more than 14 years. I guess I was a trend-setter because today one-fifth of the General Assembly doesn’t participate,” the Palatine Republican said.… Continue Reading

Written by John Jay

Liberal media pundits are up to their usual tricks by chastising proposed budget cuts as “hurting our most vulnerable” in typical boogeyman alarmist fashion.

Anytime a reformist finally gets elected to clean up a decades-long mess that’s been simmering in any state capitol, state bureaucrats and progressives dig in to resist any change of the status quo.

Step in the Chicago Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg:

Illinois was 50th out of 50 before.

Written by Russ Stewart

Remember that old verity, you get what you pay for? Often, you don’t. In Illinois politics, however, you pay for what you get, and the candidate who pays the most is the candidate who gets.

Bruce Rauner is Illinois’ governor because during 2014 he raised $78,191,560 and spent $58,426,802. Roughly $25 million of his receipts came from his own pocket. Self-funding, in essence, bought him the governorship.

Rauner beat Pat Quinn 1,823,627 to 1,681,343, getting 50.3 percent of the vote and winning by a margin of a margin of 142,284 votes.… Continue Reading

Written by Scott Reeder

Last week, Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed a budget that trimmed funding for state universities.

The reaction of university bigwigs?

Jack up tuition and protect the bureaucracy at all costs. And I mean at all costs.

Look no further than the comments Illinois State University President Larry Dietz made to WEEK TV news:

“Budget cuts at that level would have an impact on many areas of University operations and there are many issues on the table for discussion.

Written by Mark Fitton

With nearly 7,000 units of government, Illinois is No. 1 in the nation, and that’s an honor Gov. Bruce Rauner would like some other state to enjoy.

The governor recently signed an executive order creating a task force charged with streamlining government functions.

Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti will lead the group, which will be made up of representatives from local governments, school districts and members of the legislature from throughout the state.… Continue Reading

Written by Russ Stewart

Death can be extraordinarily beneficial to an ambitious politician. Death creates openings, and openings are opportunities.

The death of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka creates a tantalizing opening. The question in political circles is, who gets her job, a caretaker or a keeper?

Having been re-elected to her second term on Nov. 4, Topinka’s death on Dec. 10 creates two thorny legal issues — who appoints her successor, and for what duration?… Continue Reading

Written by Russ Stewart

The outcome of Illinois’ gubernatorial race proves anew that any mother’s son can grow up to be governor, provided that he can self-fund $28 million and raise another $60 million.

Republican Bruce Rauner‘s win also reaffirms another pearl of wisdom: Bad always gets worse. If Illinoisans thought that state government was incompetent and leadership was dysfunctional under the Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton Democratic regime, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2018 campaign for governor started on Nov.… Continue Reading

Written by John Biver

Glenn Poshard’s pension is high — and he’s not alone. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Chuck Neubauer, Patrick Rehkamp and Sandy Bergo of the Better Government Association:

One of the big problems Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner will face is what to do about the state’s public pension crisis.

He doesn’t need to go any farther than a member of his own transition team, Glenn Poshard, to get a close-up look at some of the factors fueling the crisis.

Written by Pastor John Kirkwood

Written by Russ Stewart

Michael Madigan is a political genius, a durable Democratic leader, a successful and wealthy lawyer, and a horrendously dysfunctional speaker of the Illinois House.

Mayor Richard J. Daley once babbled some nonsense that “Good government is good politics.” He should have known better, as he spent a decade in Springfield, where the operative philosophy is “good politics may be good government, but if it’s not, so what?” Grasping, clutching and holding power is endemic.… Continue Reading

Written by Russ Stewart

The Nov. 4 election, for Democratic politicians in Chicago, will be a “UPS moment.” Which committeemen among the 50 Chicago wards will deliver, and will their delivery be decisive and intimidating?

With Chicago politicians already heavily focused on the Feb. 24, 2015, municipal election, and those with statewide ambitions intensely pondering the state landscape for 2016 and 2018, the 2014 vote will, to use that old expression, “separate the men from the boys.”… Continue Reading

Written by IllinoisReview.com

Written by Russ Stewart

Illinois is an anomaly. It is “The Land of Lassitude.” Voters are passive, partisan and forgiving. In state government, there are no checks and balances to Democratic abuses, ineptitude and favoritism.

In any other state, when a governor is impeached, indicted, convicted and imprisoned, the party of that incumbent would be shamed, tarnished and ousted. Not in Illinois.

In any other state, when one party controls all the levers of government — governor, both houses of the state legislature and the supreme court — and that party fails to govern effectively, voters would hold them accountable and they would be ousted.… Continue Reading

Written by IllinoisReview.com

GOP gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner says he has no problem with a November ballot measure that will ask Illinois voters whether the state should increase the minimum wage.

“The voters are going to be allowed to make their voices heard on a nonbinding referendum. I’m supportive of that,” he said Tuesday.

Rauner also said he’d support raising the minimum wage under two scenarios: If it were increased nationwide; and/or if it were tied to pro-business reforms in Illinois.… Continue Reading

Maybe Illinois voters should vote for the liberal candidates for treasurer and comptroller who are at least honest about their party affiliation?

Written by IllinoisReview.com

Treasurer Judy Baar-Topinka won’t be the only Republican in this year’s Chicago Gay Pride Parade Sunday. NBC’s Ward Room checked with the parade organizers and found that at least one other statewide GOP candidate – Tom Cross – will also participate.

Cross, who is running for state treasurer, was one of three Republicans in the Illinois House that voted to legalize gay marriage in Illinois.… Continue Reading

Written by Doug Ibendahl

There’s a certain long-time best-seller out there which famously claims: “No man can serve two masters . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Assuming that claim is true, Bruce Rauner strikes me as a guy who got in line for mammon, and then went back for seconds.

Full disclaimer here in the interest of not arousing the stable of attorneys Rauner Inc. likely has on retainer. I know absolutely nothing about Mr.… Continue Reading

From the IllinoisReview.com blog:

Just as the year end campaign fund drive closed for 2013, Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary candidate Bruce Rauner and his wife Diana each maxed out in the GOP treasurer’s primary race by writing $5300 checks to former House Minority Leader State Rep. Tom Cross (Plainfield).