Tag: Icky poo

State Representative

Allen Skillicorn: Memories of Bad Ideas

Lisa

I wrote about this on Facebook back in August and October 2016. Skillicorn here is looking at Underwood’s seat in 2020 I hear. Good time to dig this up and rehash.

August 30, 2016:
Here Skillicorn and friends are talking about turning public schools into CORPORATE charters. A “revolutionary idea”. PFT! Actually, Skillicorn sits mostly silent at his own townhall while Proft rambles on. Proft likes to refer to the American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC) for facts and figures.

See where it is going? Corporate run schools K-12 do not have to follow state education guidelines. They can choose their own books. Own curriculum. They still get your tax $$ while they groom your kids into good little worker bees. Chip away at teacher morale by imposing impossible test result expectations. They get penalized if test scores drop. Demoralize them and they will quit. Break up unions. Send it all into free fall then privatize it!

October 13, 2016:
I went to the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum at Jacob High School tonight. I wrote up a question for Skillicorn v. Zettler: Please explain their thoughts on charter schools especially how they align or differ from ALEC’s model. Skillicorn said he did not know what ALEC’s model is.

Did you see that video above?

He thinks charters lead to better ideas and he supports that. He referenced Khan Academy and my eyebrows hit the ceiling. Khan Academy is FREE. Geared towards a world class education.

 

State Representative

Allen Skillicorn Supporting the Crass Politicization of Religion

Lisa

Allen Skillicorn is working to simultaneously bring the GOP and Project Blitz playbooks to our district. He wants “In God We Trust” displayed in public schools. So much for the separation of church and state.

He filed House Bill HB3871 with the Clerk  on August 20.

I think, if this bill gets signed into law (which it probably won’t any time soon), that the motto should be displayed by mounting currency with the motto on it next to currency lacking the motto. This way it can encourage discussion and students can learn about the actual bigoted history of these four words.

 

 

 

State Representative

Representative Allen Skillicorn Mutes Constituents on Social Media

Lisa

In 2016, Justin Timberlake posted a selfie on his Instagram of him preparing to vote. This resulted in a torrent of news articles expressing concern that young voters might not know it could be illegal to take a picture inside their polling place. The same concern extended to ballot selfies. While not illegal in all states, both types of photography were, and still are illegal in Illinois.

During this nationwide awareness effort, Allen Skillicorn, then candidate for Illinois Rep 66th District, posted a picture of his ballot, inside his polling place, to his public FB page. I had a polite exchange with him about it and it was clear that he knew it was illegal. When he brushed it off citing pending legislation to change the law, I told him he was setting a bad example for young voters. Then Skillicorn muted me on FB. I am his constituent and I have been muted ever since.

This July I spoke to Representative Skillicorn at the Crystal Lake Independence Day parade. I asked him directly why he has muted me. I also asked if he received my emails on the subject.  He confirmed that he had. He went on to tell me that his FB is his private property and he could mute or block whoever he wanted.

I informed him that there is a case in which the ACLU has filed suit against a Governor on behalf of constituent who had been blocked on social media, and a Federal Judge recently upheld a ruling against Donald Trump for blocking certain critics on Twitter. I told Representative Skillicorn I would share info on these legal cases with him.

I am an elected Precinct Committee Person and I have a public FB page. On July 9 I posted articles to my public FB referencing the two legal cases for Representative Skillicorn. This is when I discovered that he had made comments on my public FB just a few weeks before. Representative Skillicorn apparently enjoys the freedom to post on my public FB page while he keeps me, a constituent, muted on his.

Elect Nancy Zettler State Senate 33rd Disistrict

WARNING! Don DeWitte Gains Backing of NFIB – Wants You to Vote Against Your Own Best Interests

Lisa

Don DeWitte, former Mayor of St. Charles, is the Republican candidate for Illinois State Senate in the 33rd District. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has endorsed him. On his Facebook page on August 27, 2018 DeWitte wrote:

“Great news!! I am proud to have received the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business in the race for the 33rd Senate District! I look forward to working with the NFIB to make sure that small businesses are supported across Illinois in the coming years.”

DeWitte is PROUD of NFIB? Let us unpack, shall we?

NFIB claims it is an advocacy group that supports small business. Truth is that it directs the majority of its attention to corporate interests. NFIB also benefits from nice BIG contributions from Freedom Partners – a conservative, “free market” promoting, nonprofit – which is operated by board members with long time ties to the Koch Brothers.

NFIB claims it is “nonpartisan”, however, during the 2012 campaign cycle, the organizations campaign contributions went overwhelmingly to Republicans.  Additionally 100% of the organization’s advertising budget supported Republicans and/or opposed Democrats.

NFIB opposed the idea that people with disabilities should have the right to fully participate in all aspects of society. It called the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (civil rights act) “an expensive headache to millions” and “a disastrous impact on many small businesses struggling to survive.” (1)

NFIB was the lead litigant in a failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The organization  continues to work towards its repeal. Perhaps this is because in 2011 NFIB accepted a substantial donation from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) which is a large health insurance lobbying group.

Wendell Potter knows first hand how organizations like NFIB and AHIP operate.  Potter is the author of Deadly Spin. As the head of PR at CIGNA, his job was to create fear based spin to deceive the public. Potter became a whistleblower and he is now an outspoken advocate for healthcare reform. He writes:

“AHIP in 2011 gave the NFIB $850,000 to finance an effort to persuade Congress to repeal a provision of Obamacare that will actually help many uninsured people afford coverage. NFIB is a nonprofit that calls itself the voice of small business but which I know from my days in the insurance industry has often been a voice for my former bosses.”

DeWitte is proud of the backing of NFIB which wants you to vote against your best interests. It is time to reject this nonsense. Organizations like NFIB  hurt ALL Americans. 

Elect candidates like Nancy Zettler – Democratic candidate for Illinois State Senate in the 33rd District – who see through the message laundering, have a clear view on healthcare and want to reduce the influence of special interest groups that negatively affect We the People.

  1. Mandel, Susan. “Disabling the GOP”, The National Review November 6, 1990, Vol. 42 Issue 11, pp. 23–24