By: Diane Benjamin The check I received has rebates for both income and property taxes. The amount is immaterial when compared to the Pritzker tax increases, renters don’t get property tax rebates even though property taxes are included in the rent they pay: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzkers-record-24-tax-fee-hikes-taking-5-24-billion-more-from-illinoisans/ Remember Pritzker doubling the gas tax? Adding $50 to the price […]
By: Diane Benjamin I received an email from a friend who’s son is in the medical field. If this is true it is dangerous! Ever have a procedure at a hospital and get billed by not only the hospital but other doctors? That is because they are contracted with the hospital, they don’t work for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Even though law enforcement officials across Illinois are speaking out about this pro-criminal anti-police law the McLean County Democrats posted this on Facebook: This bill was passed in the middle of the night at the end of a lame duck session in January 2021. Conveniently is goes into effect after the November […]
I was just informed Missouri has withdrawn from ERIC too. You have to read the story to understand why! By: Diane Benjamin See this story: https://www.wglt.org/politics-and-government/2022-09-13/voter-roll-purges-are-not-going-to-happen-in-illinois-a-state-election-official-says The story completely falls apart when they get to ERIC: Electronic Registration Information Center. States bought into this tiny group – 3 employees according to their tax returns – […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.illinoissunshine.org/committees/34779/ How much money does her opponent Scott Preston have? https://www.illinoissunshine.org/committees/25061/ Chung is well know for supporting criminals during her time on the McLean County Board. So who is supporting this police hater? The same people trying to get Amendment 1 passed by calling it a Worker’s Rights Amendment. It’s really a […]
By: Diane Benjamin All Illinois has to do is look at the destruction going “green” has caused in Europe. People are going to freeze to death this winter because of fossil fuel shortages. We can’t help out with natural gas because of Biden’s war on fossil fuels. Illinois could be just as bad. Excerpt from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Connect Transit didn’t release financial information at their July 26th meeting because it is year end. They did provide some other interesting information – see PDF pages 28 and following: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/637/07%2026%202022_BoT%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf Passenger trips isn’t the number of people – anyone who has to transfer to another line is counted twice on their […]
By: Diane Benjamin Elections were held Wednesday across the State for the GOP Central Committee. They are the Governing Board of the Illinois Republican Party. The people below were elected – look at how many supported Richard Irvin who lost massively in the Republican Primary for governor. Obviously democrats are running the Republican Party, not […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you don’t know who Rachael Lund is, this will refresh your memory: https://blnnews.com/2020/10/30/who-is-the-real-rachael-lund/ After Lund failed to win her County Board election, Chris Koos appointed her to the Planning Commission. That speaks volumes about Koos, of course the Council has been told their only role is to approve anyone Koos picks, […]
This is a national story I haven’t heard reported locally, of course I don’t watch all the local media. Illinois Governor’s Office Made Secret Payments To Former Campaign Aide After She Was Caught Stealing From Taxpayers, Lawsuit Says Political influence scheme alleged in the very agency dedicated to stopping political patronage The office of Illinois Gov. J.B. […]
By: Diane Benjamin I really didn’t want to post this video today, but I’m going to anyway. Chris Koos made a campaign commercial featuring Normal for JB Pritzker. One would almost think Pritzker was governor when Rivian bought the plant. (He wasn’t) One would think the Feds hadn’t poured printed money into Illinois that helps […]
By: Diane Benjamin I hope you aren’t excited by the “plummeting” cost of gas – that is how one local media described the price trend. Plummeting would be back to $3.00 or less as it was before WAR was declared on fossil fuels. Unaffordable everything is a direct result of that war, the poor and […]
From a new poll conducted by HEARTLAND/RASMUSSEN: See the entire poll and more details at this link https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/heartlandrasmussen-poll-majority-of-democrats-would-abolish-supreme-court-call-it-racist-and-sexist LV is likely voter average. Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court? Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with the […]
By Diane Benjamin Remember when we defeated the Progressive Income Tax amendment? Amendment 1 will be on the November ballot, it must be defeated too. This Amendment hands power to government unions that shouldn’t exist at all. They shouldn’t exist because they elect people to negotiate their own contracts. We just get the bills. Amendment […]
By: Diane Benjamin Ridership was down in May – PDF page 8 PDF page 7 – the May loss was slightly less than $1 million. You can’t make this stuff up: The appropriations bill for Transportation is named: THUD See PDF page 14. It stands for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. Also on the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Parent should be able to trust the schools they send their kids to. Unit 5 has proved they aren’t trustworthy. Remember the DEI employee cackling about what she gets to do? How about their failure to save the training video for the 47 hires to fan out to all the schools and […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember this story? https://blnnews.com/2022/06/21/show-me-the-money/ The Illinois Supreme Court remanded a decision by a lower court back to them regarding Cook County’s use of transportation taxes. The Court stated the Safe Roads Amendment creating a lock box for transportation related taxes applies to Home Rule municipalities too. Source: https://www.normalil.gov/129/Taxes-Fees Normal is in violation […]
By: Diane Benjamin Besides the State of Illinois cancelling the 1% grocery tax and delaying the inflation adjusted gas tax increase until after the November election, you can save on Sales Tax for 10 days. This savings only applies to items they considered school supplies. See the Qualifying and Non-Qualifying items on page 3: https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/publications/bulletins/Documents/2022/FY%202022-24_N0522.pdf#search=Sales%20Tax%20holiday […]
By: Diane Benjamin Thank goodness the primary is over! Congrats to the winners. Before the next onslaught of campaign ads hit, cut the cable cord. Life is awesome without constant lies. The biggest loser is the ILGOP who failed to get Richard Irvin, Kyle Ham, and Rodney Davis elected, probably others elsewhere. Ken Griffin found […]
by: Diane Benjamin Evidently the City Council was told they can’t discuss approving the second pot dispensary or they might get sued. The State legalized it, the State handed a license to guys who mostly (if not all) live in California , the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the location, so the Council was expected […]
By: Diane Benjamin Jeanne Ives: Americans who think they can go through life without being impacted by politics are mistaken, which is why it behooves voters to pay attention to every election. Not voting in a primary today means somebody else gets to pick who is on the ballot in November. Lots of people only […]
By: Diane Benjamin It is vital to know who is funding candidates before you vote for them. The Illinois Republican Party is currently a super minority because of their leadership. They have been quite busy funding weak Republicans so they stay in the super minority. They can blame Democrats for everything while bringing home fat […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) The special meeting Normal called at 5:45 last night was a waste of time. The promised PASER report is still not done, supposedly it will be by the end of June. Chris Koos wasn’t there, neither was Scott Preston or Karyn Smith. The license plate reading camera presentation will have to […]
he’s resigning https://www.hoiabc.com/2022/06/20/local-man-give-up-two-government-posts-seat-illinois-prisoner-review-board/?fbclid=IwAR0GUqW3BxtjgQ9puNZCIYm6Kqtq5IsgyFRh4MvjW_5VbQyzH6c3-Xaidj8&fs=e&s=cl Edgar County Watchdogs has the story: https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2022/06/prisoner-review-board-appointee-must-resign-from-county-board-bloomington-schools/ Excerpt: We would have thought the Governor’s Office and legal counsel would have determined if he worked elsewhere in a capacity that would hinder such an appointment. If he is to keep this appointment he needs to immediately resign from the school and from his […]
By: Diane Benjamin Start with gas taxes: Federal Gas Tax: https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/us-news/2022/03/14/622f1813268e3e976c8b4593.html 18.3 cents per gallon 24.3 cents per gallon for diesel Illinois Gas Tax: https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/taxrates/Pages/motorfuel.aspx 38.2 cents per gallon 46.7 cents per gallon for diesel Both Bloomington and Normal add another 8 cents per gallon, diesel and gas are the same. Every time you fill […]
By: Diane Benjamin Phillip Nelson, former Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture and former Director of the Illinois Farm Bureau, has stated that Candidate Rodney Davis has taken donations from a group who’s mission is directly adversarial to the mission of Illinois’ farmers. We found that Rodney Davis took donations in 2013, 2018, twice […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit Board met back on May 24th: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/586/05%2024%202022_Board%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf Of course they lost over ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Ridership from March dropped 3.31%, maybe because service hours and miles dropped – See PDF page 8. Connect Mobility ridership was down .52%, every ride on their smaller buses had a subsidy of $32.75! […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of going to the Unit 5 School Board meeting last night I was at the Libertarian’s meeting. They had 10 candidates confirmed to appear, most of them didn’t. Jim Fisher, running against Scott Preston for the 91st Legislative District was there, Preston wasn’t. Preston had a friend speak on his behalf, […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Unit 5 School Board is meeting tonight at Normal West – 6:30. Comprehensive Sexual Education is on the Agenda: https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/1482?meeting=531212 I watched most of the Phase II Community Engagement virtual meeting last night. Way too much of the presentation consisted of what Unit 5 could do if they had more money […]
Of course Richard Irvin won’t be there because he isn’t a Republican. Darren Bailey, Gary Rabine, and Jesse Sullivan will meet for one hour starting at 7 p.m. WGN-TV is broadcasting the debate, but so are local stations. See how to watch here: https://wibqam.com/2022/05/23/bailey-rabine-sullivan-to-face-off-tuesday-in-illinois-republican-primary-governor-debate/ I predict these three will split the vote which allows Irvin […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chung is running as a democrat for the 91st District. She is currently on the County Board. The video below proves Chung is unfit to serve in any capacity. Sheriff Sandage addressed her personally at yesterday’s Justice Committee meeting. He read a long list of Chung communicating with and advising inmates in […]
By: Diane Benjamin There is a “lady” running for judge in Kane County who claims to be Richard Irvin’s baby-momma. She has two kids with him – and she HATES Republicans: https://kanecountyreporter.com/stories/624076695-khouri-irvin-s-self-described-baby-momma-kane-county-judicial-candidate-brittany-pedersen-says-she-hates-all-republicans#.Ym7kJgDOdbg.facebook Excerpts: Former Republican State Representative candidate Tonia Khouri says Aurora Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin’s former law partner described herself as his […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yes folks, the Bloomington Council meeting was 4 hours last night. I heard a radio person say something astounding yesterday: We have never been a nation of laws, we are a nation of wills. That explains why some people get away with crimes the rest of us would get life sentences or […]
By: Diane Benjamin March reports for tomorrow’s meeting: https://www.connect-transit.com/file/571/04%2026%202022_Board%20of%20Trustees%20Meeting%20Packet.pdf . Revenue: $115,067.82 Expenses: $1,131,101.01 Operating loss: $1,016,033.19 .Revenue Revenue didn’t even cover Group Health Insurance for the month: $123,949.81 Fixed Route: We don’t know how many people were counted twice because they had to change buses. Connect Mobility: Remember when I reported on “microtransit” from […]
By: Diane Benjamin Local GOP leadership: Remember when this group voted FOR a Candidate Assessment and Accountability Review Committee? https://blnnews.com/2022/02/08/gop-accountability-your-questions-are-needed/ That new committee was flooded with volunteers because grassroot Republicans are tired of democrats running as Republicans. See the ILGOP, at a Lincoln dinner in Sangamon County the only representative allowed to speak was Richard […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you browse the Illinois Board of Education website, they have plans for your kids FROM BIRTH. The below shows the kids belong to them, the parents do not have a right to know anything that happens at school. One things is clear however. Kids struggling with any identity issues are much […]
By: Diane Benjamin I contacted Sen Tammy Duckworth when the left was pushing for legislation enshrining Roe v Wade in Law. This was her response – she wants abortion decisions to remain between a woman and her doctor: I email her again a few weeks later about mandatory vaccines enforced by OSHA. Unlike abortion, she […]
By: Diane Benjamin Unit 5 story: https://blnnews.com/2022/04/01/unit-5-did-esser-funds-inflate-salaries/ The numbers on the graph again come from Open The Books and from the ISBE School Report Card website: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&source2=enrollment&Districtid=17064087025 Enrollment decreased in 2020 and 2021. Employees increased a lot in 2021, but the average salary crashed. District 87 also needs to report where ESSER Funds were spent. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The chart below came from Open The Books. The number of employees and total payroll reported to Teachers Retirement Fund also came from Open The Books. The number of students each year came from this story – note enrollment DECREASED: https://blnnews.com/2022/03/04/unit-5-enrollment-is-decreasing/ Average salary is just Math. Even with enrollment down, salaries saw […]
By: Diane Benjamin School Board meetings operate under 2 different statutes in the Illinois code. First they must comply with the Open Meetings Act which requires agendas be posted 48 hours in advance of meetings. OMA also requires time allotted at every meeting for Public Comment. Most units of government do not respond to people […]
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