Spotlight

On this edition of Spotlight, Monte Larrick, John Biver and David Smith continue their discussion about the primary election last month, including the great conservative candidates down ballot, educating misinformed voters, and a summary of the results from down ballot races.

Reviewing the vote totals from the primary, the fact of the uptick in Democratic Party ballots cast versus the down tick in Republican ballots cast, Monte stated -- "If you're a Republican it sounds like we're in big trouble in November."

Dave responded that Republicans are in trouble at the top of the ticket since two Democrat billionaires are running against each other (Dave referred to Rauner as a Democrat on the basis of his support of the radical left's social agenda). Both men are super rich, pro-abortion, and have money to burn. But, Dave emphasized, "We need to come out and fight for the down-ballot races. We cannot afford to sit this one out or ignore it -- we need to put some good people across the finish line and add to the pro-life caucus in Springfield."

Dave said that the battle is especially important in the state house of representatives, where just three or four pick-ups is critical: "We can stop a lot of the garbage -- the cultural Marxist agenda that is being pushed in Illinois."

Monte Larrick raised the issue of what was need to change things in Illinois. The answer discussed was an aggressive messaging so Illinoisans can learn the facts. Dave Smith pointed out that the reason Jeanne Ives lost the primary was "because people were uninformed." Too many people vote on emotion without hearing the facts that would change their viewpoint.

Also discussed was the victory against recreational marijuana legalization in Arizona, how Leftists continue to over-step on issues where the public is not with them (such as boys using the girls' locker rooms), and the effort to dilute the abortion parental notification law in Illinois (another issue a majority of the public does not support).

Should pro-family voters support Rauner in November? How dire is the situation in Illinois -- is it hopeless or is there a path out of Illinois' cultural and fiscal mess? Listen to this extended podcast to hear the answer.

Monte Larrick sits down with the IFA's Executive Director David Smith and IFA's John Biver to discuss the results from the last month's election, including voter turnout from both sides, Jeanne Ives' narrow loss, and why we need to show up in November to help local candidates despite the two men at the top of the ballot.

While the turnout for this primary was the highest it has been since 2002, a closer look at the numbers reveals bad news for Republicans. The Democratic turnout was 325,000 voters higher in 2018 than that party's most recent competitive gubernatorial primary in 2010, while Republicans were down 138,000 votes from their most recent competitive primary four years ago.

David Smith pointed out a few of the factors which probably contributed to the lower GOP turnout. In 2014, the Leftist union organization Illinois Education Association encouraged their members to vote in the Republican primary to support then candidate Kirk Dillard. Bruce Rauner's negative onslaught against Jeanne Ives also no doubt discouraged participation in the primary. Rauner's lies left many voters thinking they didn't have a good option and thus they decided note to vote.

Another contributing factor is the sad fact that the Chicago metro area's unique position as being the only similarly-sized metro area in the country that has lost population during each of the past four years.

An interesting development also discussed was the fact that approximately a third of the vote was cast during the overly-generous early voting period in Illinois. Later developments during the campaign season were completely missed by those who chose to cast their votes before each campaign had the chance to make their case and defend against unfair attacks.

Both Smith and Biver weighed in on the laudable campaign run by first time statewide candidate Jeanne Ives, who closed an early polling 45-point deficit into a 1.5 point margin of victory for Rauner. Ives spent $5 million, while Rauner spent $50 million.

Much of that $50 million spent by Rauner was spent on disgraceful ads that were even acknowledged as lies by liberal news media commentators.

Both Smith and Biver agreed that Rauner's failure to spend his millions to move public opinion to support necessary policy changes in Illinois will rank as his biggest failure as governor. They also agreed that the GOP would be better off without him, and see his possible defeat in November as a good thing for the future of the Republican Party, whose mission includes bringing reformation to Illinois and saving the state from complete disaster.

Also discussed was the upcoming critically important Republican Party county conventions where both GOP county chairmen and State Central Committee members will be elected by elected Precinct Committeemen.

IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

David Smith, the executive director of the IFI and IFA, recently sat down with Larry Jacobs, the Managing Director of World Congress of Families, and the International Organization for the Family, at a recent IOF pro-family breakfast in Rockford.

They discuss the mission of the IOF at the United Nations, the Sexual Revolution, Muslims, birth rates, and procreating, and the LORD's command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1; Gen 35:11).

Dave Smith starts off with the big question for Larry Jacobs regarding his work -- "why" do it? Jacobs answers: "As you know not only here in Illinois but around the world the family is just facing attack."

“The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” Believe it or not, Jacobs says, the United Nations' said that" in their 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16(3). The IOF began "The Article 16 Initiative," which "seeks to preserve, protect, and promote the family as society’s 'natural and fundamental' unit."

"Beauty, truth, and goodness," Jacobs explains, "even in Greek philosophy these things, virtues are about what it means to be human." "Family, and life and the protection of unborn life -- and sexuality rightly understood -- all these things are intimately tied together."

There are a lot of victims of the sexual revolution, Jacobs says, and "we need to prevent future victims."

The next World Council of Families Conference is going to be held in Eastern Europe in September. All of Europe is facing a demographic problem -- not enough babies are being born. "The continent is dying," Jacobs says. Global population is expected to peak in 2050 and then begin to decline. "The future of society is the birth rate." Smith and Jacobs discussed God's command to "be fruitful and multiply."

https://www.profam.org/article-16/

State Representative Peter Breen joins Monte Larrick on this edition of our weekly podcast to comment on the State of Illinois funding abortions and the Illinois governor's race. Representative Breen is an attorney with the Thomas More Society, who represents Mr. Daleiden (the undercover videographer) before the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to Rep. Breen, “Our greatest threat right now as a people of life, of faith, is losing hope and thinking we’ve lost.”

The battles continue in Illinois, for example, on the issue of taxpayer funded abortion. While the pro-abortion community celebrated Bruce Rauner’s signing HB 40 into law, the money appropriated for it must be voted on every year. While HB 40 has many moving parts that people are not aware of, Breen said, pro-lifers are not without avenues of attack to keep the pressure on against taxpayer funded abortions becoming “normalized.”

When asked by Larrick what “normalized” means, Breen explained that one thing the Leftists like to do is say that “the law is settled” in a particular area. In fact, nothing is settled, Breen said, as long as one side doesn’t surrender.

Larrick and Breen also discussed SB 1564, the right of conscience bill that Rauner also signed into law. This law forces pro-life medical personnel to give referrals on procedures they find morally objectionable, such as abortion.

“We’re in a good place right now” regarding this issue, Breen said, since an injunction has been issued regarding the Illinois law, and the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the California version of this law. “We are very much hopeful that the Supreme Court of the United States will give us a ruling that will put an end to all this business.”

The two men also discussed the fascinating case of David Daleiden, an undercover videographer who has revealed some of the abortion industry’s ugly secrets, such as the sale of baby parts. Breen said that the videos that have not yet been seen by the public (due to a court order) are some of the best yet.

Also discussed was free speech on Illinois college campuses and what anti-baby advocates are going to be backing next in Illinois.

The discussion focused on next Tuesday’s primary election, and began with Dave Smith, Laurie Higgins, and John Biver highlighting incumbent Bruce Rauner’s deceitful campaign ads attacking his opponent Jeanne Ives.

Higgins’ recent masterful article outlines the five big lies in “Rauner’s Deceitful Campaign Ads.” The claims are “absurd,” she said in the podcast, and #1 on the list, that “Ives is a career politician,” is just plain silly. As Higgins wrote:

Truth: The 53-year-old Ives began her career in the Illinois State House in January 2013, so she just completed her 5th year in Springfield. Rauner just completed 3 years in Springfield. If Illinoisans are foolish enough to re-elect Pinocchio, will he be a “career politician” in a mere two years?

Three of the lies -- that Ives supports Mike Madigan’s 32% tax increase, opposes freezing property taxes, and is supported by “the same union bosses who back Mike Madigan” are so deceitful, Higgins said, that they alone should disqualify Rauner from being reelected.

In the ad’s “half-truth,” the Rauner ad claims that Ives’ courage to vote against a lousy bill put forth by the Democrats to make Republicans look bad meant she was against legislation supporting a narrowly defined property tax exemption. In fact, as Higgins said, the conservative Illinois Policy Institute called the bill a “campaign gimmick,” and the president of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois said the bill would have shifted “the burden to other property taxpayers.”

Democrats sponsored this bill for show. It was an attempt to deceive voters, and Ives was the only Republican to stand on principle, refusing to play along with the Democrats’ repellent manipulation of voters.

As Higgins wrote, “Rauner’s half-truth reveals the whole truth that Ives is the best person to be the next governor of Illinois.”

Dave Smith brought attention to the Illinois Family Action comparison piece that pro-family voters can use to help spread the word about the differences between Ives and Rauner. The piece can be found here, and the efforts of pro-family voters are more critical than ever so more voters can learn the truth about Rauner’s lies.

Also discussed in the podcast is the Republican primary for Attorney General, where seasoned lawyer Gary Grasso is running against former Miss America Erika Harold. Smith and Biver expressed disappointment in Harold’s failure to fill out candidate surveys from pro-life and pro-family organizations. While neither candidate was endorsed by IFI, both Smith and Biver encourage a vote for Gary Grasso based on his refusal to use the A.G.’s office to defend Illinois laws that are unconstitutional. (Two examples of unconstitutional can be read about are SB 1564 and HB 217.

Higgins, Smith and Biver also touched upon the decision by some would-be conservative leaders to avoid endorsing Ives over Rauner. Their “cowardice or foolishness,” as Higgins said, show how the Illinois Republican Party is being “corrupted from within.” Higgins’ excellent article detailing the possible reasons for their “outrageous” decision can be read here.

The discussion closed with an overview of a handful of important state legislative primary races.

In a recent presentation at his home church, David Smith delivered an exhortation on the biblical argument against recreational pot.

Laurie Higgins and John Biver join this week's podcast with David Smith. They discuss the ongoing push in Springfield to pass a bill which would celebrate the LGBT movement in school curricula K-12, the Delaware proposal where students "may self-identify their race or gender identity at school, and, there will be no requirement that parents be notified if the child communicates to the school that their parent would be not supportive."

They also discuss the champion female wrestler in Texas who is transitioning to a male taking cross sex hormones and steroids, and the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment).

The first legislation they address is what Laurie Higgins wrote about a couple of weeks ago – this was her opening paragraph:

While conservatives squeak “uncle” about the “social issues” from the dark recesses of their homes and churches where they hide, the jackbooted Left marches boldly forward obsessed with making the “social issues” the central plank of everything. They’re especially obsessed with transforming the hearts and minds of other people’s children using taxpayer-funded government schools in which they have an audience of cultural captives.

If passed, this “Inclusive Curriculum” bill will require that any “book or book substitute that will be used as a text or text substitute” include the “role and contributions” of homosexuals and of men and women who adopt opposite-sex personas (also known deceptively as “transgender”). In other words, all materials used in schools must address the roles and contributions of people who define themselves by their disordered sexual desires.

Including, Higgins added in the podcast, “men and women who impersonate the opposite sex.”

Dave Smith points out how early the propagandizing of the children now begins -- if kindergarten.

Because of this, Smith and Higgins agreed that it is time for churches to tend to the creation of K-12 schools, or at least to helping parents pay for private school tuition. Churches should see this as a new mission field -- why?

Higgins answers: “If we lose kids on these sexuality matters, whether it’s the whole trans ideology or homosexuality -- if we lose them on this we lose them as Christians because they will have to reject scripture.”

On the topic of the trans ideology, Higgins said that if a society now believes that a man can be born into a woman’s body, “this is a revolution the likes of which the world has never seen.” And “conservatives,” she said, “are not getting the profundity of this revolution.”

Take action on SB 3249 sponsored by Senator Heather A. Steans (D-Chicago), and HB 5596 Representative Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), call your state senator and state representative! The Springfield capitol switchboard is (217) 782-2000. Or click HERE.

Ann Scheidler, the Executive Vice President of the Pro-Life Action League, joins Monte Larrick to discuss the Sanctity of Life in Illinois.

Since HB 40 (taxpayer funding for abortion) has been enacted,  a new Planned Parenthood has popped up in Flossmoor, with an abortion clinic in the works for Rockford, with rumors of three or four additional abortion mills surfacing throughout the state.

With Republican governor Bruce Rauner signing HB 40 and permitting taxpayer funded abortions, it is expected that the number of abortions will greatly expand in Illinois. "We need to fight that," Scheidler said. How? "We need to get more involved on all levels."

We must elect more pro-life legislators, she explained, so it is important to get involved in the primary election which takes place on March 20th. Pro-life voters not only need to get out and vote but encourage all their pro-life friends and family members to do the same.

"We have to change the culture in Illinois -- and that is a one on mission for all of us to tackle," Scheidler explained. "It is an educational process" -- we need to talk with friends and family -- and sometimes pastors even need to be educated about what is happening in the political and governmental arena.

The expansion of Planned Parenthood in Illinois was also discussed, and how as in Aurora, a giant new building was opened in Flossmoor without many residents knowing it was going to happen.

With taxpayers now paying for abortions, there are expected to be upwards of 12 to 15 thousand more abortions a year. Since qualifying for Medicaid in Illinois is easier than many states, the bill to taxpayers for so many abortions is going to be huge.

Larrick and Scheidler also discussed Jeanne Ives challenge to Bruce Rauner in the Republican primary election. Ives is a committed pro-life candidate, while Bruce Rauner supports the continued killing of the unborn -- now with tax dollars available to do so.

"Find out where the candidates stand on life," Scheidler said, "it is the most important issue."

On this edition of Illinois Family Spotlight, Monte Larrick speaks with Julaine Appling, the President of the Wisconsin Family Council, about what has happened in Wisconsin with Governor Scott Walker, and what could happen with a true conservative Republican governor in Illinois.

Early in the conversation, Julaine Appling stated her premise:

“Everything rides, rests, rises, falls on families. Whether you’re talking about a community, a state or a nation. And so when these families are prosperous, thriving -- I’d define it this way -- when these families are independent of government, the state is in a good position."

"And how do families get independent of government?," she asked? "One of the ways is through family sustaining jobs.”

"We need to exercise Christian stewardship," Appling stressed: “As Christians in particular," she said, "we need to take it upon ourselves to get informed…to be a committee of one to reach out to at least ten other people…”

"I’m told you can’t legislate morality. The reality is, every bill that’s signed into law, whether its at the state level or the federal level, or an ordinance at the country or city level, it’s someone’s view of what’s right and wrong. Who is sitting in the governor’s office makes a huge difference about what is viewed as right and wrong, good and bad in the state.”

“The hope of our national is in our families -- our mom and dad natural families who are bringing up the next generation…”

Pinocchio Rauner has astoundingly deceitful campaign ads about campaign rival Jeanne Ives running on Fox News and appearing like stinkbugs and cockroaches in the mailboxes of the good people of Illinois. Let’s take a quick look at the putrescent propaganda that I found stinking up my mailbox...

Read more HERE.