Articles by John Biver
By John Biver
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08.19.17
Most everyone has heard about “sanctuary cities” during the past few years due to the attention they received during the presidential election. But have you heard of sanctuary states? How about sanctuary government buildings? Governor Bruce Rauner has agreed to...
By John Biver
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08.10.17
A Federal District Court has granted a preliminary injunction in a right-of-conscience case, the controversy of which the Illinois Family Institute has been following for several years.
The religious liberty defending law firm of Mauck & Baker, LLC is reporting some very good news out of that Federal District Court regarding an Illinois law mandating that pro-life medical personnel provide their clients with positive information about abortion services:
By John Biver
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08.09.17
Before citing a few facts and linking to a few articles from the Illinois Policy Institute, let me outline reality in simple terms: the pensions systems cannot be fixed. They need to be shut down, taxpayers should be cut free from the scam, and the state government should get out of the pension business. After decades, it has proven incapable of being trusted with tax dollars for employee pensions.
By John Biver
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08.03.17
Government employee compensation expert Bill Zettler, has had some great lines over the years. “Economics always wins,” is among his best. Despite the wishes and dreams of people on both the political left and political right, the day of accounting always comes. We are at that day right now as taxpayers face hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liability...
By John Biver
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07.29.17
In preparation for the recording of an IFA Spotlight weekly podcast, executive director Dave Smith asked me to do some research about the Illinois government’s employee pension problem. For me, it is not a fun topic to delve into because...
By John Biver
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07.18.17
Two important pieces of legislation are awaiting Governor Bruce Rauner‘s action — to sign, or to veto — and both bills should be vetoed!
For him to do this, he needs to hear from the Illinois’ pro-life and pro-family community. ...
By John Biver
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07.06.17
The Illinois State House was back in session during the afternoon of July 6th to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a 32 percent permanent tax hike on Illinois families (SB 9). This tax grab also raises the corporate income...
By John Biver
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07.01.17
State government summer re-run season is underway at the Illinois capitol building where both political parties are cooperating to send our state further into the fiscal abyss.
Midnight came and went as we closed out the month of June without a budget being signed into law, so Illinois has begun its third straight year without one.
By John Biver
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06.29.17
The nation’s leading source of information on U.S. charities announced it will modify its use of a controversial “hate group” designation in listings for some well-known and broadly supported conservative nonprofits. Thankfully, more and more Americans -- even those on the political left -- are learning the truth about the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center.
By John Biver
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06.23.17
Last October the Illinois Family Institute brought attention to the “Free Speech Fairness Act.” Now faith leaders from around the country, including IFI's executive director David E. Smith, are signing a letter addressed U.S. Congressional leaders calling for the passage of the bill. This letter was delivered earlier this week...
By John Biver
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06.16.17
A recent Barna Survey said church attendance has been declining nationwide over the past 10 years. While the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area ranked as America's most de-churched, eight of the top 10 "post-Christian" cities in America are all in the Northeastern United States. In Illinois, Chicago came in at number 19, the Quad-cities area at 50 and Champaign-Springfield-Decatur in the center of the state came in at 55 on this ominous list.
By John Biver
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06.13.17
In an interview posted at the Accuracy in Media website, Colonel Allen West delivers what conservatives have come to expect from him since his arrival on the national political scene back in 2010 when he was elected to Congress from Florida.
By John Biver
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06.12.17
Majorities in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly recently flunked the kind of science test that used to be given to grammar school students. The question, which just a few years ago was not controversial, was “can a man...
By John Biver
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06.09.17
It’s a sad tale of two cities.
The news out of Washington, D.C. this spring is that President Donald Trump and the Republican majorities in Congress plan on cutting taxes. The unsurprising news out of Springfield, Illinois is that General...
By John Biver
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05.30.17
Not long ago we reminded people that scientific evidence proves that unborn babies feel pain when being aborted. As an extension of that question, we asked: In light of continuing federal funding of abortion (despite GOP promises to end it) -- what do those 535 members of the United States Congress feel?
Below is a video that runs less than five minutes. We challenge you to not feel anything while watching it.
