Free Republic

Republicans in Illinois are crying foul that Gov. J.B. Pritzker could be financially benefiting from the coronavirus pandemic following reports that his family’s investment firm has a stake in two companies doing tests for the contagion. Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider said in a statement to Fox News that the Pritzker Group – the family firm run by the governor’s brothers – “controls the companies that are making millions off the pandemic” and called on the Illinois Democrat to divest any interest he had with the firm. "Let's be clear - Governor Pritzker and his family are clearly profiting off...

The problem with assessing political candidates is you never really know what they're like until they get ahold of power. And by then, of course, it's too late. The decent ones wield power with restraint and humility. They understand the limits have their own wisdom -- human wisdom -- and they also understand the inevitability of unintended consequences, which are the rule. They know they won't be in charge forever, and so they tread lightly. But the bad ones, they go crazy. And the more power they get, the crazier they go. Power is the drug they've been searching for....

. . .After Implementing the “Massachusetts Model” Monday, May 18, 2020 - Governor, Office of the Chicago - Building on a robust, statewide effort to ensure Illinois can safely reopen, Governor Pritzker announced the Illinois Contact Tracing Collaborative, a locally-driven approach to scale up contact tracing in Illinois. "With Illinois' daily availability of testing among the best in the nation, we want to grow our voluntary contact tracing so we can further control and reduce the rate of spread of COVID-19 and stop outbreaks in their tracks," said Governor JB Pritzker. The state is immediately engaging two local health departments...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has filed an emergency rule to punish businesses that open to customers in defiance of his illegal lock-down orders. Violators could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which is a fine between $75 and $2,500. Additionally, this emergency rule extends the governor’s emergency authority from 30 days to 150 days.

President Donald Trump singled out Gov. J.B. Pritzker in an interview on Sunday for Illinois' coronavirus response. Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business asked Trump how he would decide which states and cities will receive federal financial support, to which he called out local Democratic leaders. Trump accused Pritzker of money being the motivating factor for the his response to the pandemic, the president claiming he "knows the family." "He wants money because, you know, let's make up for the 25 years and some very bad current years," Trump said. Both leaders have previously traded attacks on how their respective governments...

It appears the Governor is realizing his Executive Orders are not laws and they violate people’s Constitutional rights. What is the norm in Illinois when elected officials get exposed for violating the law? Change the law. In this case, change the rules and make criminals out of the very people that are the economic engine in this state. Not only do these new suggested rules invoke criminal penalties, but they also are to last 150 days and are being pushed through in an Emergency provision for such rule changes, meaning the public has little say about it. Let that sink...

Americans are growing tired of Democrat petty tyrants and their anti-Constitutional edicts. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told “Good Morning America” on Friday "it is unlikely the city will be able to fully reopen and be back to normal until a “cure” is made for the Wuhan coronavirus and distributed to the public." Democrat Lockdowns Will Ensure Trump/Republican Sweep In November. Illinois Gov.J.B. Pritzker, says only two people to a boat during the Chinese coronavirus unending emergency, no matter how big the vessel it is, no matter if the occupants are of the same household. He also says don’t ask...

The medical examiner’s database showed COVID-19 as the primary cause of death for 2,303 people. Of those, 2,112 were shown to have at least one underlying condition as a secondary cause of death. Those conditions, also known as comorbidities, included hypertension, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. There were no secondary causes reported for 191 deaths. This finding is important because Gov. J.B. Pritzker has refused to release any statewide comorbidity data as part of his official Illinois Department of Health releases. Wirepoints asked for data directly from the governor’s office on April 21st, but we were told it was not...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker defended Sunday his cautious economic reopening plan, which leaves schools and many businesses shuttered until the novel coronavirus is all but defeated, saying the state will be unable to return to normal “until we’re able to eradicate it.” “The truth is coronavirus is still out there. It hasn’t gone anywhere,” Mr. Pritzker said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “So we all are going to have to change the way we do things until we’re able to eradicate it.”

As Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker tries to meet goals for daily COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, he’s not banking on any help from the federal government, he said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper. “I have not been counting on the White House because there have been too many situations in which they’ve made promises not delivered,” Pritzker said. “Very recently they promised a lot of swabs. They’re supposed to arrive today, the first shipment of those. I’m looking forward to that. But what we’re doing is we’re going it alone, as the White House has...

An Illinois legislator on Wednesday filed a second legal challenge to Pritzker saying the Democrat governor’s emergency powers are limited to 30 days and that Pritzker therefore had no right to extend his March 21 order through the end of May. But not all Illinois residents are equal. Governor Pritzker recently sent his wife and kids to Florida during the state stay-at-home orders.

Jonathan Turley, a liberal constitutional scholar at George Washington University, wrote Saturday that some Democrats were using the coronavirus pandemic to demand China-style restrictions on free speech. In the op-ed, published in The Hill, Turley criticized “the politicians and academics who have called for the censorship of social media and the internet,” including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Hillary Clinton, and others: The only thing spreading faster than the coronavirus has been censorship and the loud calls for greater restrictions on free speech. The Atlantic published an article last week by Harvard Law School professor Jack Goldsmith and University of Arizona...

Make no mistake about this: You are now being conditioned by Democrats and their corrupt toadies in the U.S. news media to accept fascism in your lives and to demean anyone who dares protest the irrational, brutish edicts coming down from Democrat governors and mayors as dangerous racists who want to kill you. Check out this report from California yesterday. There, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who on Friday shut down all of the beaches and state parks in his domain, on Saturday surrounded the state Capitol building with police fully-armored in riot gear to deal with a peaceful assembly of...

“I talk to my fellow governors, Republicans and Democrats, and we’ve shared ideas with one another about how to keep people safe. We’ve gotten some guidance from the CDC that has been helpful, but much of what came out of the White House for many weeks was not helpful. We needed the White House to lead on the Defense Production Act to help us get swabs and VTM, and reagents, and that hasn’t much happened.”

As the bailout-seeking billionaire Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker resists lawsuits saying his lockdown order extension exceeds his authority and is unconstitutional, his wife jets to their estate in opened-up Florida to enjoy life without being arrested for leaving the house. Meanwhile Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot keeps barbershops and hair salons closed under penalty of imprisonment as she visits her own hair stylist on the grounds she is “the public face of Illinois” and must look her best. Both deem themselves more important than the people they represent. Laws are for the little people. It’s good to be king and queen...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot is threatening citations and potential jail time to residents failing to comply with the stay-at-home order as house parties continue to be held across the city. With the weekend bringing warm weather, Chicago police broke up multiple large gatherings Friday night, including a house party with 150 guests. "When you go out and party, when you go home to your momma, your grandma, or anybody in your household who has an underlying medical condition, you are bringing death to their doorstep," Lightfoot said. She said authorities are aware of more parties and gatherings planned...

On April 23, Illinois's Governor Pritzker proclaimed that "the projections are clear. If we lifted the stay at home order tomorrow, we would see our deaths per day shoot into the thousands by the end of May, and that would last well into the summer." When questioned on what projections those were, Pritzker refused access to the models. Some simple math reveals why. Pritzker provided no dates or numbers, so let us assume that "thousands" means at least 1,000 and "well into the summer" means at least August 6 (halfway through summer), 67 days from June 1. He said "by...

Two independent sources inside Governor Pritzker’s administration have confirmed that their boss plans to keep Illinois closed until after the July 4th weekend. Neither official would talk on record, but both echoed the same potentially bad news for Land of Lincoln residents. And they cited the governor’s risk-aversion for his paralysis in making moves to open Illinois for business. Last week, Jay Robert (aka Judgement: Bad) extended his Executive Order and related “rules” and other edicts through the end of May. However, the gov. has already faced one successful lawsuit blocking his unconstitutional restrictions. Additionally, a number of sheriffs and...

ROCKFORD - An Evangelical Christian church in Lena, Illinois, is suing Governor “JB” Pritzker for discriminating against churches and people of faith with his latest stay-at-home executive orders issuing and enforcing unconstitutional edicts during the coronavirus pandemic. Thursday, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a federal complaint and motion for temporary restraining order on behalf of The Beloved Church and Pastor Steve Cassell with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Rockford. Cassell and his church have been forced to shut down due to Pritzker’s Executive Orders. They were issued “cease and desist” orders and have...

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The State of Illinois has released 146 sex offenders statewide, including 3 considered “sexually dangerous persons” convicted in Winnebago and Ogle counties. The State of Illinois released a list of almost 4,000 inmates released from prisons, including 64 convicted of murder. A list released by the state shows each inmate who had their sentence commuted by Gov. JB Prtizker or were released early by the Illinois Department of Corrections. Dennis Secrist, 74, and Brett Singley, 40, who were convicted of sex crimes in Ogle County, and Daniel Anderson, 71, who was convicted in Winnebago County, were...