“Serving in public office is a money-making enterprise that opens up all kinds of legal and illegal means of self-enrichment, whether it’s the sleazy practice of acting as lobbyists while holding office or taking bribes to pass legislation that will enrich others. The people of Illinois are simultaneously tired of and resigned to it.”

Jim Dey: “(Gov. JB Pritzker) said ‘we’re trying to address the problem of a single mother who shoplifted diapers for her baby’ and then was ‘kept’ in jail for six months because she couldn’t pay her bond. ‘That’s what SAFE-T is about,’ he said. Actually, that’s what the governor wants voters to think the SAFE-T Act is about. But it’s not. Abolishing the bond system could have potentially deadly consequences few defenders of the law want to discuss — at least not before the election.”

Democrats in both Illinois and Pennsylvania — especially Chicago and Philadelphia — are facing backlash for their approach to law and order amid spikes in crime. In Illinois, Republicans have been hammering Democrats for being soft on crime in recent weeks. However, Democrats in the state have backed off their 2020 efforts to defund the police amid rampant crime, with Chicago leaders slightly increasing the city’s police budget.

Candidate for Attorney General Tom Devore said this issue of whether or not offenses are bailable or not bailable is an issue for the judiciary – not the legislature and not the executive branch.

“Governor JB Pritzker, the Daddy Warbucks of political hypocrisy, attacked several legislators this past week, demanding that they resign from office. One is State Senator Emil Jones III, a Pritzker critic, who is facing federal bribery charges. The charges against Jones are similar to charges filed against several other legislators, but Pritzker has not urged them to resign. But should an elected official who manipulated his real estate information to significantly reduce his property taxes also resign from office?”

Two former teachers ultimately pushed out of their jobs for blowing the whistle about political indoctrination in American school systems spoke to The National Desk about their experiences and what this all means for future generations. Tony Kinnett, a former science director in the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) system, and Frank McCormick, who spent 12 years teaching before he was pushed out of the Waukegan Public Schools system located outside of Chicago, both went on to establish organizations — Chalkboard Review and Chalkboard Heresy — which push back against the politicization of our nation’s school systems.

“The big loser in all this is the Daily Herald, which lost an incalculable amount of respect for its integrity that it may never regain because of its active participation in a tsunami of viral disinformation during dangerous times. Pritzker prevailed and was able to keep the focus off other important campaign issues. And Proft got attention for himself and his radio show and a platform to say things like calling Pritzker a “bedwetting, spoiled brat.”

Bailey’s persistent anti-Chicago rhetoric presents a political quandary for the candidate: His criticism of the city and its Democratic leadership is cheered by his hard-right supporters, but he also needs the support of voters in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs to win in November.

Madison County State’s Attorney Haine said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office has made false statements about state’s attorneys being able to request defendants held without bond once the new legislation is in place. Haine said prosecutors will only be able to ask a judge to hold a limited group of defendants without bond. Pritzker sent a letter to Haine on Friday in response and said Haine is defending a “criminal justice status quo” where accused murderers, domestic batterers, rapists, and other dangerous criminals “can buy their way out of jail pending trial if they have enough money.”

So far, such gambling is legal in only six states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware and Connecticut. But panelists at the conference predicted three or four additional states could soon adopt internet gambling, including Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and New York.

Illinois will sell $2 billion worth of soybeans and $600 million worth of corn to the island nation. Taiwan continues to rank as Illinois’ second leading corn trading partner and third leading partner in purchases of soybeans.