Election 2022 Recap

Written by David E. Smith

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

With GOP Leaders Like Greg Hart, Babies & Families Don’t Need Enemies

Written by Laurie Higgins

Greg Hart is a Republican member of the DuPage County Board who hopes to become the next board chair. In a slick and startling campaign video (see below), Hart obscenely used his visibly pregnant wife to make the case for his election as a pro-choice GOP candidate. You read that right. Greg Hart wants residents of DuPage County—the second largest county in Illinois—to know that he fully supports the legal right of his wife to have had the “choice” to kill their living “son” (Hart’s term).… Continue Reading

RINOs and Never-Trumpers Help Leftists Destroy America

Written by Laurie Higgins

In the past year, we saw anarchists savagely beat innocent people in the street; take control of city blocks; incinerate police precincts; burn Bibles; attack churches; loot businesses; tear down federal monuments; deface public property; and parade naked in front of, hurl obscenities at, and even assault police officers.

We saw Democratic mayors and governors command law enforcement to stand down while the lawless destroyed communities and livelihoods.

We saw Democratic governors ban socially distanced corporate worship of God while permitting shoulder-to-shoulder street protests and riots—riots that were praised by Democrats in our neighborhoods, halls of Congress, and press as “mostly peaceful protests.”… Continue Reading

Pinocchio Rauner’s Staffer Tells Conservatives to Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter the GOP

Written by Laurie Higgins

A former staffer for Pinocchio Rauner wasted no time telling conservatives to abandon all hope. In a commentary appearing in Friday’s Chicago Tribune, Patrick Wohl tried to scare the Illinois GOP away from any rightward movement. Scaremonger Wohl ominously warned, “The Illinois GOP needs unity, not a race to the right.” That’s code language for “Abandon the social issues, you idiot right-wing lunatics!”

How about this for a revision: “The Illinois GOP needs unity on the entire GOP platform, not abandonment of the parts of it ignorant RINOs and Libertarians don’t like.”… Continue Reading

Illinois Republicans Set National Record for Losing Elections

Written by John Biver

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.

“A Taxing Discussion” (Spotlight#051)

John Biver, the Special Projects Manager for the Illinois Family Institute, joins Monte Larrick and David Smith to talk about the recent tax increase coming from Springfield.

The second half of the show, due to technical difficulties, had to be redone without Monte. However, Dave and John discuss statements made on the IPM (Illinois Public Media) podcast known as the 21st by Illinois state representative from the 110th district Reggie Phillips (R-Charleston) and former governor Jim Edgar (R-Illinois).… Continue Reading

Five Consequences of Illinois’ Bad Budget Deals

Written by Ted Dabrowski and John Klinger

Illinois politicians are notorious for making deals in the middle of a crisis that end up being good for the political establishment but destructive for Illinois residents and taxpayers. It’s no coincidence that the author of the famous quote “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste” – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel – hails from Illinois.

Now Illinois is in the midst of its worst fiscal crisis ever, and yet another bad deal is on the horizon.… Continue Reading

Term Limits: While Not A Panacea, Quinn & Rauner Advance Worthy Proposals (Part 1)

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

“Spend-To-Stay” Alive and Well in Illinois

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

Squabbling, Jockeying for Topinka’s Job

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