ICYMI: Bob Dold: We cannot forget or forgive Hamas’ atrocities

CHICAGO — The Chicago Tribune published an opinion piece from former Congressman Bob Dold on Sunday on the atrocities Hamas has committed against the Israeli people and the apologists for Hamas’ actions in the Illinois Democratic Party. 

See his full OpEd here and check out excerpts below: 

No matter your gender or your race, your age, your politics or your religion, one common thread that unites nearly all of us is the recognition that while war is hell on both its combatants and its unintended victims, warfare that’s intentionally targeted on civilians is not warfare at all. It is genocide. And that is what Hamas, as a terrorist puppet of Iran, attempted to ignite on Oct. 7 in Israel. That must never be forgotten, and it cannot be forgiven.

Yet – just hours after Hamas engaged in a targeted slaughter of everyone from infants to the elderly while raping and kidnapping countless young women – 16 Illinois elected officials issued statements decrying the violence while simultaneously placing the blame for it squarely on the Jewish victims themselves, echoing the words of those who decry not the existence of violence but the existence of Israel itself.

ILGOP Statement on Legislators Refusing to Condemn Hamas Actions

ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement regarding 16 Illinois legislators unwilling to condemn Hamas actions in Israel:

“The Hamas attack and slaughter of young people at a concert, and their massacre of families, children, babies, and grandparents in southern Israel is an evil atrocity. There can be no justification for the unprovoked slaughter of innocents, and the hate that permeates ideologies that nonetheless seek to justify evil.

That is precisely what 16 Democrat leaders did earlier this week.


The inability of these elected officials to call out evil as evil, and their disgusting attempt to justify evil, should disqualify these individuals from holding public office in Illinois.

We call on Governor Pritzker and all Democrats of good faith to disavow this statement and to call on the individuals that made it to either withdraw and apologize or retire from public life.

Hate should have no home in Illinois — and the Democrat Party should not be a safe haven for those who would justify the slaughter of innocents.”

ILGOP Chairman: “Johnson’s Border Trip Won’t Fix the Problem”

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced this week that he will travel to the southern border to “assess” the migrant situation, the same week that it was discovered Governor JB Pritzker is asking President Biden for additional resources to fix the problem Pritzker himself invited.

While Mayor Johnson’s attention should be focused on resolving the crisis here in Chicago, he will instead be heading to a border where he has no jurisdiction, no authority, and no way to fix (or should we say exacerbate) Joe Biden’s failures.

Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement in response:

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, and that is exactly what we have seen from Democrats Pritzker and Johnson as the migrant crisis has grown worse and worse. Mayor Johnson’s border trip won’t fix the Biden migrant crisis, just add more lip service. Governor & Mayor – it’s time to admit that the Democrat Party’s failure to secure the border has put the well being of Chicagoland and its citizenry in harm’s way.”

Governor Pritzker, DCFS & the [Un]SAFE-T Act

2020
“We’ve replaced personnel. We put in new policies and procedures. And, very importantly, we have outside advisors and monitors that are helping us to figure out what more needs to be done.Because this is maybe the important thing that government does it protect the most vulnerable people, the defenseless people in our society and the kids who are in the DCFS system, as well as the many who don’t get identified to DCFS.”
 – Governor Pritzker, January 2020

Fast forward 3 years.

2023
Chicago Tribune
: Marc Smith, head of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s embattled child welfare agency, announces resignation

“Marc Smith was appointed to director of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services by Gov. J.B. Pritzker shortly after the governor took office in 2019. The announcement of Smith’s impending departure comes a little more than a week after the state’s auditor general issued a scathing report on the agency that among other things cited significant delays in reporting abuse and neglect to local prosecutors, other state agencies and to officials at children’s schools.”


We wonder what irrevocable damage to Illinois and individual crime victims will be as apparent as his DCFS failure now is when 3 years from now, we look back on Governor Pritzker’s signing of the [Un]SAFE-T Act.

WTAS: The Illinois Migrant Plan is No Plan At All

CHICAGO — After months of campaigning on lofty promises and challenges to red states dealing with the worst of Joe Biden’s border crisis, the plan that Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plans to handle the migrant crisis in Illinois has become clear: there was no plan.

Now, tensions flare among Democrats as Illinoisans are fighting for their own recognition in a state that has prioritized political points for JB Pritzker over the wellbeing of its own residents.

Take a look at the aftermath of Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson’s “plans.”

Politico
: Tensions flare as migrant buses ramp up

There’s finger-pointing: Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa lashed out at Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday, saying it’s “shameful” that the state isn’t doing more to help. “I get frustrated because I wonder how many of Gov. JB Pritzker’s senior staff are scouting locations on a daily basis to make sure that we’re living up to our responsibility as a sanctuary state,” Ramirez-Rosa said during a heated five-hour meeting of the council’s immigration committee.

Ramirez-Rosa was responding to Pritzker questioning the city’s plan to build tented cities for the non-stop flow of asylum seekers.

.The underlying issue: Neither the city of Chicago nor the state of Illinois have the money reserves to handle the migrant crisis and the federal government has done little to help.

From the mayor’s office: “Local governments aren’t equipped with the amount of coordination and capacity needed to meet the moment,” Pacione-Zayas said. “When you’re talking about thousands of people daily, there’s no way our local government can staff up. It’s like asking somebody to make creme brulee by rubbing two sticks together.” She said the crisis could imperil some programs supported by the new mayor.


NBC Chicago
: Chicagoans, aldermen question city’s response to migrant crisis

A small group of protesters gathered at Daley Plaza, demanding answers from Mayor Brandon Johnson regarding the city’s $29 million deal with the security company GardaWorld to build winterized base camps for migrants.

“I don’t think winterized tent city is going to solve anything,” said participant Nino Brown.

“I’m very torn by this crisis, because I think this crisis is eating away at the good will of the people of the city of Chicago,” Ald. Pat Dowell, of the city’s 3rd Ward, said. “I think the more buses we see, the more anxious we get.”

With resources stretched thin and the need for even more funding, some aldermen say the line needs to be drawn.

“We need to say we can’t take no more, why won’t nobody say that out of their mouth, out of this administration,” 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor said. “We can’t keep taking buses.”


Associated Press: Hundreds of migrants live inside Chicago O’Hare International Airport as city grapples with how to house them

Hidden behind a heavy black curtain in one of the nation’s busiest airports is Chicago’s unsettling response to a growing population of asylum-seekers arriving by plane.

Hundreds of migrants, from babies to the elderly, live inside a shuttle bus center at O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 1. They sleep on cardboard pads on the floor and share airport bathrooms. A private firm monitors their movements.

Like New York and other cities, Chicago has struggled to house asylum-seekers, slowly moving people out of temporary spaces and into shelters and, in the near future, tents. But Chicago’s use of airports is unusual, having been rejected elsewhere, and highlights the city’s haphazard response to the crisis. The practice also has raised concerns about safety and the treatment of people fleeing violence and poverty.

Continuing Corruption: Meet Melissa Conyears-Ervin

CHICAGO – Welcome back to Continuing Corruption, the series about how the Illinois Democrat Party is filled with people who say one thing and do another. Our series was supposed to wrap up at the end of the summer, but the Democrat Party just keeps giving us content, and who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth? This week we’re talking about Chicago’s City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who is now being accused of misconduct and ethics violations.

Those allegations? Brought on by her own employees.

The claims came to light when a letter, written by a Chicago attorney on behalf of the former employees, was published by the Chicago Tribune. The letter alleges that Conyears-Ervin consistently misused city resources and funds for her personal benefit. An elected leader who is supposed to be a steward for the city’s finances was supposedly requiring staff to perform personal tasks — such as planning her daughter’s birthday party or grocery shopping — and of trying to force a bank the city does business with to issue a mortgage on her husband’s aldermanic office. You know, things that are necessary for the city of Chicago.


This investigation has led to the seizure of computers and documents from her office.

And you know the worst part? In 2021, those two former employees got $100K in a settlement after they rightly sued for wrongful termination. Just another example of taxpayer dollars being used to clean up a corrupt politician’s mess instead of benefiting the city.

The investigation is now focused on whether criminal political corruption was involved, particularly regarding allegations that Conyears-Ervin pressured the bank named in the story, a city business partner, to participate in her personal financial matters.

Conyears-Ervin is currently campaigning to be the Democrat nominee for Illinois’s 7th Congressional district, and we don’t see this investigation helping her election odds, but knowing the Illinois Democrat Party? Who can say.

Coming soon to Chicago: Biden buses filled with thousands of migrants

CHICAGO — Videos from San Diego show migrants from countries like China and Pakistan being let go, with some already setting sights on their new destination: Chicago.

It’s no secret Chicago’s illegal immigrant crisis is going from bad to worse, but for Illinois Democrats trying to balance their sanctuary state policies with the growing unhappiness in Chicago communities, you have to wonder how Brandon Johnson and J.B. Pritzker feels watching Joe Biden’s border patrol drive even more bus loads of people towards the Windy City?

The crisis is growing. Chicago families are struggling to understand why Johnson and Pritzker are dedicating hundreds of millions to welcome thousands of illegal immigrants to Illinois when their own families struggle to make ends meet.

All this begs the question. As Brandon Johnson and J.B. Pritzker watch this video, are they comfortable with the Biden administration sending even MORE illegal immigrants their way?

Another School Choice Opponent Sends Child to Private School

CHICAGO — A prominent union leader calling to end school choice has revealed they send their child to a private school… no you’re not having deja vu or seeing double. We’re not talking about Stacy Davis Gates either, this week we’re talking about Sean Denney.

Sean Denney, the Director of Government Relations for the Illinois Education Association (IEA), has been a prominent opponent of school choice options in the state. Shockingly (or perhaps not so shocking now), Denney has exercised this very choice in his own household while advocating against school choice for low-income families.

Has lightning struck twice or are the alleged lead activists for public school teachers abandoning the principles they’ve claimed to hold for years? Think about this: two of Illinois’s top activists for public school education have more or less admitted that they have failed, choosing better educational opportunities for their children while opposing access to those same education programs for under-resourced families in Illinois.

Stacy Davis Gates, President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), has been an outspoken critic of school choice, even characterizing it as “racist.” Yet, it has been discovered that she sends her own child to a private, Catholic high school in Chicago.

The Invest in Kids Act, a program that provides scholarships to underprivileged students for private school education, is a subject of debate solely because of people like Davis Gates and Denney. While some continue to oppose it, statistics show that it enjoys bipartisan support, with 63% of Illinoisans and 69% of Black respondents expressing support for school choice.

IL Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Rochford Fundraises for Democrat Candidates

On Saturday, Rochford violated the Illinois Supreme Court’s Code of Judicial Conduct by being the keynote speaker at the Lake County Democratic Women PAC’s annual fundraiser.

NORTH CHICAGO — This past Saturday, September 9, Rochford was the keynote speaker at the Lake County Democratic Women Political Action Committee’s annual fundraiser. The fundraiser’s online donation page states ticket sales will benefit the PAC, whose purpose, according to their filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections, is “to support the election of Democratic women candidates in Lake County, IL.”

The Illinois Supreme Court’s Code of Judicial Conduct (Canon 4, Page 48-50) is clear: sitting judges who aren’t up for election shall not speak at political functions supporting the election of candidates:

“Except as may be specifically authorized in the context of judicial election campaigns, Rule 4.1 prohibits judges and judicial candidates from “publicly” endorsing or making “speeches” on behalf of political candidates or organizations.”

“Paragraphs (A)(2) and (A)(3) prohibit judges and judicial candidates from making speeches on behalf of political organizations.to prevent them from misusing the prestige of judicial office to advance the interests of others.”

As recently as 2021, the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee issued a clear opinion on this very issue: “…an incumbent judge who is a judicial candidate may appear as a guest of honor at a political party’s fundraising event, but a judge not presently a candidate is forbidden from doing so.”

The Code of Judicial Conduct makes clear why these ethics rules for judges are so important: “Public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary is eroded if judges or judicial candidates are perceived to be subject to political influence.”

“Illinois voters deserve a fair and impartial state Supreme Court that’s free of and from politics, which does not appear to be the case here,” – Illinois Republican Party Executive Director Shaun McCabe

Davis Gates Cries Foul Despite Budget Nearing 20% of State Spending

CHICAGO — After news broke of CTU President Stacy Davis Gates transferring her son to a private school, institutions she previously referred to as “the choice of racists,” Davis Gates defended her position claiming disinvestment in schools in the South and West sides.

In the last 10 years, 6 of which Davis Gates has been in CTU leadership, the CPS budget has nearly doubled, from $5.3 billion to $9.4 billion. For context, that is nearly 20% of the size of the ENTIRE STATE’S budget of $50 billion dollars. Per WBEZ, that translates to $13,200 per each of 403,000 students in 2013, and today that number is $29,400 for each of 322,000 students.

If disinvestment is the problem, as Davis Gates claims, it has happened right under her nose in the last 6 years she has been in CTU leadership. Between 2019 and 2022 – while Davis Gates was in CTU Leadership – enrollment declined at a rapid clip, with a nearly 10% drop in enrolled students.

If the Union’s focus is, as their website says, “advancing and promoting quality public education, improving teaching and learning conditions, and protecting members’ rights,” then it is clear that Davis Gates has failed.

Maybe some of that $2,415,000 of member contributions transferred to their PAC for political donations should have gone to actually working for better schools.