In an alarming May 24, 2020 article titled “Scoop: Inside the Secret Talks to Overhaul the GOP Platform,” published by Axios, political reporter Jonathan Swan exposed the behind-the-scenes efforts of the socially liberal son-in-law of President Trump, Jared Kushner, to change the GOP platform so that it reflects Democrat views. While the radical overhaul of the GOP platform—and, therefore, the GOP—is the brainless-child of Kushner, the nitty gritty of the subversive project has been assigned to Bill Stepien, second in command for Trump’s re-election campaign, just under Brad Parscale.

According to Swan, Kushner has been working on this secret “radical overhaul” of the GOP platform with Trump’s campaign officials for the past six months. This radical overhaul includes reducing the size of the platform from 58 pages to 1 page, a perhaps Herculean task but otherwise untroubling. Who doesn’t like brevity?

No, it’s not Kushner’s desire to reduce the platform’s size that should concern conservatives. It’s what he seeks to eliminate that should raise the antennae and hackles of conservatives. I bet those with culturally sensitive antennae have already guessed what socially “progressive” Kushner wants to jettison.

But before we get to that, let’s take a moment to reflect on another subversive project of Kushner’s: criminal justice reform. Daniel Horowitz more accurately refers to it as “federal jailbreak legislation,” and he places Kushner at the center of the effort to set criminals loose in our communities. Remember Kushner’s role in this as you watch thugs loot and burn down American cities.

Swan reports that in a December 2019 meeting, Kushner told his band of revolutionaries—that is, both “senior White House and campaign staff”—that  “more of their policies should be drawing people to the party, so they ought to eliminate alienating language.” So far, so good. The GOP should aim for non-alienating language in its platform.

Ah, but there’s the rub. Kushner doesn’t mean profane, obscene, harsh, boorish, or hateful language. He means language that expresses principles, values, beliefs, or assumptions regarding sexuality that “progressive” Americans hate.

Swan makes clear Kushner’s intent:

As an example of language that would alienate voters, Kushner said that he didn’t want to see anything about “gay conversion therapy” in the 2020 Republican platform. The 2016 Republican platform did not explicitly mention gay conversion therapy, but it included this line: “We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.” Gay Republicans were furious because they viewed it, accurately, as a coded endorsement for the widely condemned practice that’s rejected by major medical associations and whose use on minors is banned in many states and some other countries.

Can’t have any “language” that infuriates “gay Republicans” now, can we. According to Kushner, their fury dictates Republican policy.

Space does not permit a discussion here of what is either ignorantly or deceitfully identified as “gay conversion therapy” in order to ban all forms of counseling to help those who experience unchosen, unwanted homoerotic attraction. That will have to wait for another day.

What’s most important to note is that Kushner wants to eliminate language that supports the right of parents to decide what kind of therapy or treatment their same-sex attracted or gender-dysphoric children receive. This should trouble every parent who believes they—not the state or leftist-controlled medical and mental health organizations that have abandoned both common sense and science—know what’s best for their own children.

Let’s hope the presumptuous, unelected Kushner doesn’t pursue a secret project to eliminate other “alienating language,” because there is a boatload of alienating language in the GOP platform.

You know what else alienates and infuriates homosexual RINOs? This language in the GOP platform really chaps their hide:

Traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a free society and has for millennia been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values. We condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, which wrongly removed the ability of Congress to define marriage policy in federal law. We also condemn the Supreme Court’s lawless ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which in the words of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, was a ‘judicial Putsch.’

You know what alienates Americans who cheer abortion? They’re alienated by this language from the GOP platform:

we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. … We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare.

You know what alienates those who believe the U.S. Constitution is an infinitely flexible document with no fixed meaning or who think it’s hopelessly outdated? This language in the GOP Platform alienates them:

the Constitution was written not as a flexible document, but as our enduring covenant.

You know what alienates those who support “progressive” judicial activism? This language in the GOP platform alienates them:

A critical threat to our country’s constitutional order is an activist judiciary that usurps powers properly reserved to the people through other branches of government. Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law expressed within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including the inalienable right to life and the laws of nature and nature’s God.

You know what alienates Americans who think the world is ending in 12 years? They’re alienated by this language in the GOP platform:

The Democratic Party’s campaign to smother the U.S. energy industry takes many forms, but the permitting process may be its most damaging weapon. … We support the development of all forms of energy that are marketable in a free economy without subsidies, including coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, and hydropower.

You know what alienates those who want universal healthcare? They’re alienated by this language in the GOP platform:

Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act of 2010: Obamacare.

You know what alienates those who favor open borders? They’re alienated by this language in the GOP platform:

Illegal immigration endangers everyone, exploits the taxpayers, and insults all who aspire to enter America legally. We oppose any form of amnesty for those who, by breaking the law, have disadvantaged those who have obeyed it.

Kushner doesn’t really seek to “eliminate alienating language.” He seeks to eliminate language that reflects assumptions, beliefs, values, and principles that he opposes. If he agrees with the assumptions, beliefs, values, and principles reflected in the GOP platform, he’s A-OK with “alienating language.”

Take ACTION: Click HERE to contact the Republican National Committee to urge them to protect the 2016 GOP platform from liberal activists. There is no need to radically redevelop the GOP platform. Keeping the strong planks for the sanctity of human life, traditional marriage and family are nonnegotiable.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Jared-Kushner-The-Wolf-in-Sheeps-Clothing-Hovering-Too-Near-Trump.mp3

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Maybe everyone knew this but me. If not, you better be sitting down for this one.

Though not required by law, Illinois provides a program of benefits called Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility(MPE). MPE “offers immediate, temporary coverage for outpatient healthcare for pregnant women…. There are no co-payments or premiums in MPE.” MPE, which takes effect immediately and remains in effect for 30 days after the month in which it takes effect, provides “outpatient services like prenatal checkups, doctor visits, lab tests, prenatal vitamins, medicine, specialty medical care, eye care, dental care, emergency room care, mental health and substance abuse services, transportation to get medical care and other services.” The reason for the added emphasis will be clear momentarily, but first some troubling words about eligibility.

Buried in the bowels of government documents where few dare to tread is a document titled “Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility Instructions for Providers,” which lists the eligibility requirements for MPE—eligibility requirements that might enrage surprise taxpayers (emphasis mine):

1. Family Size:

Family size is considered when determining whether the pregnant woman meets the income standard for MPE.  Family is defined as the pregnant woman, her unborn child(ren), her husband, and children/stepchildren under the age of 19 living in her home….

2. Income:

In order to be considered eligible for MPE, the family income must be at or below the established standard.  The woman’s declaration of the family income is all that is needed for the MPE provider to complete the MPE application.  Proof of income is NOT needed for completion of the MPE application….

3. Pregnancy:

The woman’s declaration of pregnancy is all that is needed for the MPE provider to complete the MPE application.  The MPE provider’s authorized signature on the MPE application is sufficient to establish eligibility for MPE; no other verification is necessary.  An expected delivery date or the number of fetuses is not required on the MPE application….

  A woman does not need to be a citizen or documented immigrant to qualify for MPE.

 Proof of citizenship is not required for MPE eligibility.

Legal immigration status does not affect eligibility for MPE.

A social security number is NOT required for MPE eligibility…. 

4. Attestation of State Residency:

The applicant must attest to whether she is or is not an Illinois resident. Do not require verification of state residency.

According to this document, any woman who resides anywhere—including an illegal immigrant—could come to Illinois, claim to be an Illinois resident, claim to be pregnant, claim to be impoverished, and immediately receive coverage at taxpayer expense for  “doctor visits, lab tests, prenatal vitamins, medicine, specialty medical care, eye care, dental care, emergency room care, mental health and substance abuse services, transportation to get medical care and other services,” for up to 60 days, all without any documentation proving legal immigration status, residency status, pregnancy, or income level.

But there is a yet another concern to which lawmakers and legal eagles should respond in light of Pinocchio Rauner’s legislative baby (HB 40), which requires Medicaid to cover abortions: Since MPE covers outpatient healthcare, including doctor visits, lab tests, medicine, specialty medical care, mental health services, and “other services,” and since abortions are legal in Illinois through all nine months for mental health reasons, could a pregnant woman—including an illegal immigrant who resides in another state—who applies and receives MPE coverage go to a Planned Parenthood and obtain an abortion through Medicaid?

Lawmakers in the bankrupt state of Illinois could easily amend MPE eligibility requirements to require proof of legal immigrant status, proof of Illinois residency, proof of income, and proof of pregnancy—you know, in the service of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Illinois citizens should demand they do so or boot them out.

When discussing these requirements with former State Representative Jeanne Ives, she pointed out that “new abortion clinics opened in Illinois last year and more are in the works. The new Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Flossmoor is located less than 15 miles from the Indiana border and right off of I-80. Planned Parenthood plans to profit off the Illinois taxpayer by exploiting victims from out-of-state.”

And while Illinoisans are taking up this issue with their state senators and representatives, they should ask them why MPE considers a baby in the womb to be a “child” with healthcare needs but child-killing abortion advocates do not.

Take ACTION: Please speak out!  Click HERE to send a message to your state senator, state representative and to Gov. Pritzker. Ask them to stop targeting innocent pre-born persons and vulnerable women in Illinois. Ask them to vote against HB 2495. Please also ask them to vote against HB 2467, which will gut the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995.

File a Witness Slip in opposition of both anti-life bills. Click HERE to oppose HB 2495. Click HERE to oppose HB 2467.

Instructions – fill out your name, address, email, and phone number. If you aren’t representing a group, leave Section II blank. Select Opponent in Section III. Select Record of Appearance Only in Section IV. Agree to the terms and click Create Slip.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/MPE_Abortion.mp3

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SpeakOut Illinois 2019

Join us on March 9th in Oak Brook for the annual SpeakOut Illinois conference!  This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America, plus Jackie Bedore of Benet Academy, and a panel of pro-life pastors.

Learn more here…