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*** UPDATED x1 - Dold “responds” *** Some stats and facts to keep in mind, and some hyperbole to avoid

Thursday, Nov 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Melineh Kano, executive director of Refugee One] said Wednesday that 21 Syrian refugees have been approved by the federal government to enter the United States and are currently waiting in other countries — such as Egypt and Lebanon — for travel and living arrangements to be finalized before coming to Illinois. It’s unclear how the process will play out in light of Rauner’s announcement.

In the 12-month period ending in July, 131 Syrian refugees were resettled in Illinois, mostly in the Chicago area, Kano said. […]

Out of the approximately 800,000 refugees who have been resettled in the United States since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, only three individuals have been detained and questioned by authorities for questionable affiliations — detainments that have not resulted in convictions, she said. […]

Jessica H. Darrow, a University of Chicago lecturer who has made a career out of studying refugee issues, said that attempting to use refugee status as a ruse for terrorist activity would be extremely hard to do.

“These people end up in a camp type setting with nothing, in a tent, sometimes for 10 years at a time,” she said. “It’s a pretty tough journey to travel and have that be a false route.”

She also said security screeners rely on skepticism until proven wrong when examining the back stories of potential refugees. Screeners, she said, look at it like this: “OK, you’re here in this chair trying to game the system and gain access to our country under false premises, and we’re going to believe that until you can prove to us that you’re not lying.”

I personally know several people (Iraqis) who’ve immigrated here under the refugee program. The process is not easy, to say the least.

* Press release…

WASHINGTON— Today, Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) released the following statement after House passage of H.R. 4038, the America Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act, which pauses the Obama Administration’s refugee resettlement program:

“The first and most important Constitutional duty of the federal government is protect the homeland. Last week’s tragic massacre in Paris was a wake-up call. In the days since, ISIS has declared its intention to carry out terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C. and New York City. This bill is simple: pause the refugee resettlement program until the Administration can verify with 100 percent certainty that we know who exactly is entering our country and what their intentions are. The bipartisan vote today proves that this is not a partisan issue—this is a national security issue. President Obama should do the right thing and sign this bill into law to ensure the continued safety of all Americans.”

* I’ve asked Congressman Roskam’s staff how any government can guarantee anything with “100 percent certainty.” You will recall that US Sen. Mark Kirk quickly backed off his demand for “100 percent assurances” yesterday when I pressed the issue.

I’ve also asked Congressman Bob Dold’s staff to explain the same thing regarding his demand for “absolute certainty.” So far, I’ve received only a snarky off the record response. It didn’t please me.

I’ll let you know if either man responds.

*** UPDATE *** From a Congressman Dold aide…

The only thing that’s guaranteed as of now, according the President’s own FBI Director, is that the United States does not currently have the ability to thoroughly vet the backgrounds of people claiming to be Syrian refugees. Today a bipartisan, veto proof majority of the House told the Administration that they need to fix these problems to protect the American people. In the wake of vicious ISIS attacks that have slaughtered hundreds in Paris, Beirut and in the Sinai, the notion that Members of Congress shouldn’t be demanding far better from our government is preposterous.

Move to strike as non-responsive.

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* It’s not that I oppose the bill that passed the US House today. I don’t know enough about it either way, and some congressmen in the president’s own party are clearly frustrated with non-cooperation from the White House on this issue.

I don’t even oppose the concept of a temporary pause in Syrian refugees while the program is given a once-over. The allegations by some of playing into the hands of the terrorists just because some folks want to circle back and check the strength of the doors is just way over the top, as is this…

Defying Gov. Bruce Rauner and his chicken-hearted closed border policy for Syrian refugees in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks, Burke and his fellow aldermen sent a loud message that Chicago will not join in the fear-mongering.

The chest thumping on both sides is beyond ridiculous.

* How about we all get back to something that we have some control over, like the budget? Remember that?

A whole lot more Illinoisans are being hurt by that problem than could ever be hurt by a few refugees.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Is Illinois’ “climate change” for real?

Thursday, Nov 19, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller

* From Americans for Prosperity Illinois on Tuesday…

Today the non-partisan Tax Foundation released its 2016 State Business Tax Climate Index and Illinois has jumped 8 spots, from 31st to 23rd largely due to the end of corporate and individual income tax increases first imposed back in 2011. The rate reduction is the major reason for this 8 spot jump, showing how Illinois improve its efforts to attract jobs. Americans for Prosperity Illinois fought to preserve the expiration of the tax hikes in 2014 and will continue to advocate for a better climate for competition, including a lower tax burden.

“Illinois’ leaders should take note of this report,” said AFP Illinois State Director David From. “Our state is now in a better position to compete for jobs because we have a better business environment than in years past. However, this report also shows that the massive tax hikes being advocated by many in Springfield will have the effect of making the Land of Lincoln a worse climate for job growth. AFP Illinois will continue to educate citizens on the importance of limited government and lower taxes in order to make Illinois the economic engine of the Midwest.”

Americans for Prosperity Illinois is the state’s foremost group of grassroots activists advocating for limited government and economic freedom.

* The Wall St. Journal chimed in with its usual cluelessness…

The College Football Playoff rankings are intensely contested by teams and their fans. This week the Tax Foundation released its tax policy equivalent, which ought to be a major embarrassment for the blue state conference. […]

The trophy for most-improved this year goes to Illinois, which jumped to 23rd from 31st—no thanks to Democrats in Springfield. The Tax Foundation notes that the leap occurred “due to the sunset of corporate and individual income tax increases” that Democrats “first imposed in 2011 as temporary levies to address the state’s backlog of unpaid bills.” First-year Republican Governor Bruce Rauner has let the income-tax rate lapse to 3.75% from 5% and the corporate rate to 7.75% from 9.5%, though Democrats are trying to push them back up.

Keeping taxes low is critical to turning around the Prairie State, which trails its neighbors in economic growth. Would that liberal state politicians cared as much about their tax ranking as colleges do about their football standings.

Actually, it was the Democrats who let the tax hike sunset after Rauner demanded it.

And Rauner has been saying for months that he’s willing to raise the tax rate to 4.75 percent - a tiny bit below where we were a year ago.

Also too, where is the business boom and rising state revenues from the lowered tax rates here?

* The reality is, unlike the NCAA rankings, the myriad tax rankings out there have little to no value. We were just below the middle of the pack before the tax expiration, and yet we were losing population and jobs. We’re just above it now and yet the BLS numbers aren’t great. The October BLS state-level numbers haven’t been published yet, but BLS showed a strong national surge last month. Let’s see how Illinois does in those rankings.

*** UPDATE *** October’s report is pretty decent news for a change. We have 4 percent of the nation’s population, but got 5 percent of last month’s 271,000 new jobs…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that Illinois’ nonfarm payroll employment gained +14,100 jobs and the unemployment rate in October held at 5.4 percent, based on preliminary data released by the Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). October’s gain follows four consecutive monthly declines. Illinois’ average job growth since the employment recovery began in January 2010 remains below the national average, however, and employment will not recover from the 2007-2009 recession until December 2016, according to IDES analysts. The nation is currently 3.1 percent above its prior peak level of employment.

“For 2015, job growth this month was the strongest since February and it is positive that we reversed the four-month decline preceding these numbers. Our job growth rate, however, continues to lag behind the nation,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “While the unemployment rate remained unchanged in October, our workforce participation rate edged up slightly as more people entered the labor force and more people found jobs during the month.”

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