By: Diane Benjamin The State of Illinois stole the ability of downstate counties to deny green energy projects for any reason. If Chicago needs electricity, the state authorizes the raping of prime farmland downstate. The developer of the proposed eastside solar farm can not be stopped unless a lawsuit against the State of Illinois for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Remember the 1% Sales Tax approved by voters last March? Remember the investigation into election interference by the school districts? https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/mclean-county-sheriff-investigating-alleged-election-interference The sheriffs office completed their investigation – the report has been sitting in the State’s Attorneys office for awhile now. Does Ericka Reynolds think people are going to forget about it? […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.dhs.state.il.us/2024 Healing Grants 184 organizations across Illinois received grants to engage in racial healing activities: This description is on the grant award: Anti-racism is racism. It requires discrimination in order to promote others who haven’t earned it. My original FOIA was to the Comptroller’s Office. After playing games with extensions for 3 […]
By: Diane Benjamin See an event tomorrow at the bottom. Rent/stabilized controls in New York City has led to 61,000 vacant apartment (2021). The number doubled in one year because landlords aren’t allowed to raise the rent for new tenants. https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/10/19/60000-rent-stabilized-apartments-vacant-warehousing-nyc-landlords-housing/ That story has lots of reason for why apartments are vacant. This excerpt describes […]
By: Diane Benjamin This story epitomizes why people flee Illinois and ignore local media: https://www.wglt.org/illinois/2025-07-07/housing-funding-cut-in-illinois-budget-as-homelessness-increases Title: Housing funding cut in Illinois budget as homelessness increases Illinois just passed the biggest budget ever – $55.1 billion. Excerpt: “Last year homelessness increased 116% in the state of Illinois,” Doug Kenshol, co-founder of the Illinois Shelter Alliance, told […]
C. Steven Tucker has worked in the health insurance industry for many years. The entire story has to be read to understand Medicaid. Excerpts: Firstly, the OBBBA reduces Medicaid spending by about $1 Trillion over the next ten years. That seems like a lot but not when compared to the $1.9. Trillion the federal government spent on health care […]
By: Diane Benjamin Additional information on this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/07/07/is-terri-ryburn-still-living-at-spragues/ From Open The Books Note: These numbers are MONTHLY.
By: Diane Benjamin Do people making laws, like completely eliminating fossil fuels by 2025, ever bother with facts? Wind turbines don’t work without fossil fuels. If the goal was to decrease the temperature, solar farms aren’t the answer. They actually increase the temperature. This link is highly scientific, like using photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy production […]
By: Diane Benjamin This is a great story for Independence Day: I’m Finally Hanging My American Flag (hint: read that link – I can tell how many do!) Growing up, I was taught to dislike the American flag and all that it represented. This year, for the first time, I hung one outside my house. […]
A reader sent this link to go with the others: https://chicagocitywire.com/stories/665322583-lurie-s-children-s-hospital-administered-irreversible-sex-change-interventions-on-at-least-145-patients-says-new-report By: Diane Benjamin The 1% Sales Tax increase approved by Mclean County for schools includes more mental health counseling. You don’t want to let these people anywhere near your kids. New program: The @lurieccr refers to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. The link on […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) See all Boards and Commission here along with a link to apply: https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/government/boards-commissions Some diversity and new blood on Boards and Commission is badly needed. 2) I recently looked up a house that just went under contract. This was on Redfin, progressives want you to be too afraid of the weather […]
Part 2: https://blnnews.com/2025/06/18/olympia-schools-district-facts-part-2/ By: Diane Benjamin This story has facts needed for the NEXT story. If you want the best possible chance of fleecing taxpayers you put a referendum to increase taxes on the Primary ballot where few people bother to vote. The Mclean County schools did that on April 1st to get a 1% […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Biden illegals are dangerous because they weren’t vetted. Estimated are 500,000 have criminal warrants or convictions in the country they came from. Illegals weren’t given health exams. They weren’t forced to take the COVID vaccine like many citizens were, many have no vaccinations. Why does the left want to keep everyone […]
By: Diane Benjamin I was off 1 day getting a letter from Public Access closing my Request for Review with IMRF: https://blnnews.com/2025/06/05/bloomington-is-still-spiking-pensions-2/ Facts: -My FOIA was filed with IMRF on April 28th -On May 8th I sent IMRF a Past Due notice and got NO response from them -I filed with Public Access on May […]
By: Diane Benjamin I used a file from this website: https://budget.illinois.gov/#:~:text=Interactive%20Budget&text=Click%20here%20to%20be%20taken%20to%20the%20page. That might be the budget Pritzker proposed, but since the dollar amount was about the same as what was passed these items are probably still in it. I used the Operating Budget Detail Excel spreadsheet. I uploaded it to GROK and asked it to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois is taxing people out of the State. Since the left never has enough money, the latest scheme is to tax services like haircuts that have always been exempt. The State thinks they can raise another $2.7 billion from you. A report in 2021 claimed Illinois has 8,923 taxing bodies, at least […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois layoffs: https://www.illinoisworknet.com/LayoffRecovery/Pages/IllinoisWARNData.aspx What’s the explanation for this one? Click on the blue – “plant closure”. . Medicaid cuts, if passed, only apply to illegals and able-bodied people capable of working but chose not to. Medicare isn’t being cut unless the recipient is here illegally. Maybe Pritzker’s budget that doesn’t provide free […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Bloomington (and Normal) placed 20th on a list of worst places to live in Illinois for retirees: https://consumergravity.com/worst-towns-retirees-illinois/ Two reasons are listed. Healthcare costs are higher than the national average and you have to travel to get specialized care. The second reason given is Public Transportation that doesn’t fully meet the […]
By: Diane Benjamin One day residents are told they have to opt out of electric aggregation 40% rate increases by May 7th. Now WGLT is reporting via the Ecology Action Center (EAC) residents should wait and maybe opt out later: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-04-29/ecology-action-centers-advice-wait-and-see-about-electric-rates Meanwhile Corn Belt Electric customers won’t have the huge increases – unless the State […]
By: Diane Benjamin 1) Did everyone miss this in yesterday’s story on the comments made by retired judge Knecht? https://blnnews.com/2025/04/28/laws-apply-to-judges-too/ Knecht thinks ICE should have operated in secret, behind closed doors, instead of attempting to arrest a criminal illegal at the courthouse. This isn’t government “For and By The People”. It is how most of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is why judges should NEVER be retained. They end up thinking they are gods. Trump was elected to get criminal illegals out of the country. Obstructing the President’s performance of his duties deserves justice. Remember when states wanted to deport illegals and the Supreme Court told them immigration enforcement was the […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2025-03-27/photos-faculty-demonstrate-on-isu-quad-ahead-of-possible-strike A strike is threatened by tenured and tenure-track facility at ISU. Do you know what ISU costs (before any financial aid)? The cost per year goes up from here – click on other majors: https://financialaid.illinoisstate.edu/paying/2024-2025-undergraduate/index.php Remember the lady with a Masters Degree in Communications who can’t afford rent? Does she have […]
By: Diane Benjamin After canceling meetings and not holding one since last November, Bloomington’s Welcoming America Commission is scheduled to meet March 17th. See the agenda here: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/cityblm/03cef3b70a67f5a84ee7d2d354dfc60a0.pdf The Bloomington Council passed a Welcoming City ordinance to prevent radicals from passing sanctuary city status. That doesn’t matter since Illinois is a Sanctuary State thanks to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois is already a high tax state. Add another 1% Sales Tax and we might make it to number ONE! The 1% Sales Tax isn’t just a penny – it’s another penny added to all the other pennies you already pay. https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494 From Wallet Hub: . Click the link to see all […]
By: Diane Benjamin ILLINOIS! https://www.illinoisworknet.com/LayoffRecovery/Pages/IllinoisWARNData.aspx February isn’t over, those numbers might go higher. No one is guaranteed a job. That includes Federal employees when the national debt is: By the time you click this link it will be higher: https://www.usdebtclock.org/ These layoffs are only for companies with 75 or more fulltime employees. The smaller local […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois Democrats (math challenged) are again pushing for a progressive income tax to fleece high earners. See this story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_a03a425a-f088-11ef-966a-23bfc0c98a8b.html?a Since the left keeps trying to tax the rich simply because they earn more than average, they have no concept of what happens when that is enacted. Facts and a clear history […]
By: Diane Benjamin 2 very recent stories prove the title. Local corruption big or small will never be prosecuted locally. Start with this one: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_0d368a40-efa7-11ef-9603-b321af6933ea.html What the local school districts put on their website to convince you to approve a 1% Sales tax was illegal. Evidence of that is the language was changed when people […]
By: Diane Benjamin Continuation of this story: https://blnnews.com/2025/02/17/aclu-of-illinois-government-controlled/ I hope by posting this information you realize Illinois uses your tax dollars to further agendas they didn’t state when they ran for office. It also shows NGO’s like the ACLU claim to protect civil liberties while actually only protecting rights government endorse. Finding payments made by […]
By: Diane Benjamin If you haven’t been paying attention you haven’t noticed the ACLU doesn’t exist to protect your rights. They exist to protect the rights government thinks you should have. A good example is lawsuits against Red States for gerrymandering while not suing Illinois for the same thing. Have you heard of the Roger […]
By: Diane Benjamin Few people probably know the McLean County Treasurer’s website has years of payments to every taxing district they collect property taxes for: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/590/Taxing-Dist-Distribution-Settlement-Shee Someday if I really want a huge project I could compile tax payments to EVERY unit of government on your tax bill. If someone wants this project, or at […]
By: Diane Benjamin Today we celebrate both Martin Luther King and the inauguration of Donald Trump. It is fitting that both fall on the same day. We will now return to King’s dream of judging individuals on the content of their character instead of installing the unqualified in positions of power. Equity is dead. People […]
By: Diane Benjamin See this Center Square story: https://shorturl.at/kAu7S Democrats, activists push to decriminalize sex work in Illinois Excerpts: Members of the Sex Worker Advisory Group, or SWAG, said a bill to be filed in the 104th General Assembly that started last week will modernize existing laws and will prioritize the safety, privacy and dignity […]
Since Illinois Progressives exist to provide jobs for government employees and therefore votes, the position of the current Illinois flag keeps rotating. They want to make it has hard as possible to keep the current flag. Wasting money is more fun. By: Diane Benjamin 1) More on the Eastland Mall story: https://blnnews.com/2025/01/12/what-really-happened-at-eastland-mall/ If the police […]
By: Diane Benjamin Try not to laugh while reading this. After all Krystle Able is an elected Democrat on the McLean County Board. She also wants to be Normal’s Township Supervisor earning close to $90,000 a year before benefits if she’s elected April 1st. She posted this on Facebook. If she didn’t want people to […]
By: Diane Benjamin https://illinoiscomptroller.gov/financial-reports-data/data-sets-portals/chartsgraphs/asylum-seekers The Illinois Comptroller’s office lists spending on “asylum seekers” at: $478,000,000 + $144,026,636 = $622,028,636. Meanwhile the Illinois budget doesn’t balance. The House and Senate have one last lame duck session. Disastrous legislation frequently materializes because post election they don’t care about your opinion. Pritzker wants to keep every illegal and […]
By: Diane Benjamin A 1% Sales Tax increase will be on the April 1st ballot. An organized effort to defeat it needs to start now. Your property taxes will not go down. Schools soak up every dime they can and just change the rules on producing education results. Can you afford more taxes? https://www.usdebtclock.org If […]
By: Diane Benjamin Bleeding heart liberals don’t believe in personal responsibility. They use government to redistribute your money for votes. Rights come from God, not government. Government changes it’s mind depending on who is in charge and how much money they have. The right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness never change. How […]
By: Diane Benjamin The election isn’t over under Congress counts the Electoral College votes. The Illinois Secretary of State announced all electoral votes would be cast for Kamala Harris. She won Illinois so they should go to her. Alexi Giannoulias “forgot” Illinois signed a compact with 16 other states to cast all electoral votes for […]
By: Diane Benjamin The below is from the State Board of Elections website: https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/DownloadVoteTotals.aspx Below are the Illinois vote totals from Presidential Elections in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. Three of the four years show 70% of registered voters voted – 2012 and 2016 were before 40 days of early voting. 2020 shows the same […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois Governor Pritzker doesn’t understand why Harris lost the election. He’s doubling-down on promoting transgender ideology for minors. Most kids outgrow gender dysphoria. Pritzker wants to permanently maim kids too young to buy cigarettes or alcohol, sign contracts, legally work, or do anything adults can do. Will parents finally get mad when […]
