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President Barack Obama today announced three nominees for federal judgeships in Illinois: Sara Lee Ellis and Andrea R. Wood for the Chicago-based Northern District and Colin Stirling Bruce for the Springfield-based Central District.
"I am honored to put forward these highly qualified candidates for the federal bench," Obama said in a statement. "They will be distinguished public servants and valuable additions to the United States District Court."
The nominations must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. ...More HERE
In some of its reports on Saturday night’s White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD), the Associated Press chose to edit one of President Obama’s own gags. The AP strangely edited out the word “Muslim” in one of Obama’s self-referential jokes.
Early in his comments on April 26, President Obama made reference to his young life with a joke and a visual image projected on the video screen.
The President joked that everyone loves Michelle and mentioned that she has even appeared on magazine covers. The President said he also appeared on a magazine cover and showed a humorous mock magazine cover on the video screens. The faux cover showed the President golfing on the cover of “Senior Leisure.”
President Obama then said, “These days I look in the mirror and have to admit, I’m not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be. Time passes, you get a little gray.”
This joke must have been too insensitive for the AP in some of its reports, however. ...More HERE
Following Walter Payton College Prep's refusal to play Gwendoly Brooks College Prep. last weekend because of safety concerns, the Brooks baseball team suffered a politically correct amount of emotional trauma.
Never one to miss exploiting something negative - no matter how small - Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended Brooks' Monday night game. And, according to reports, those who attended felt the mayor's visit was "enough to heal hurt feelings."
"Just his presence here made the community feel like they're somebody," said Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Principal D'Andre Weaver. "It made them feel respected and loved."
Apparently there is crying in baseball. Or at least whining, along with hot dogs, cracker jacks, and politicians acting like children themselves.
ROCHELLE - Former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said Monday he was retiring from public life to spend more time with his family. Guess his family's into high speed rail, eh?
Tuesday, GOPAC picked Machesney Park's state rep as the only Illinoisan on the national Republican group's 2013 Emerging Leader list.
GOPAC announced its 2013 Emerging Leaders, comprised of promising state legislators who have shown a commitment to limited government ideals being implemented by Republicans at the state level throughout the country, leading to more private sector jobs, more effective government at lower costs, and increased prosperity.
SPRINGFIELD - At a press conference held Tuesday in Springfield, several Republicans asked a fair question, "Why isn't the fracking bill moving?" Neighoring Indiana is moving ahead on the New Albany find and could be soon bringing into Indiana up to $100 million a day. The Republicans questioned why House Speaker Mike Madigan hasn't moved the bill forward when fracking rigs are ready to roll in Illinois.
"It's happening across the Wabash River in Indiana," State Rep David Reis (R-Effingham) told reporters, "Why not here?"
The question Rep Reis asks is a fair one, he said, because "It's not because we don't have an industry ready to go, they are. And it's not because we haven't met with environmental concerns. We have."
A copy of State Sen. Kwame Raoul's conceal carry legislation was obtained by the Associated Press. According to AP, Raoul's plan would require an applicant provide a "proper reason" for wanting to carry a gun and be "of good moral character."
A Democrat admitting the existence of moral standards is almost as hard to fathom as the idea that Illinois politicians want to determine everyone else's "moral character"?
At last week's Heartland Institute luncheon, John R. Lott, Jr., also tackled the divisive topic of gun control. His book, At the Brink: Will Obama Push Us Over The Edge?'s Chapter 3 focuses on the gun controversy under the title, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered." Another of Lott's books, More Gun, Less Crime, which has become a game-changing best seller, was described in Part 1 by Heartland's Communications Director Jim Lakely, as a book that "fills the hearts of liberals with dread."
Lott's description of a new level of unprecedented intensity by the Obama administration in its involvement in state politics was disconcerting. In Colorado state legislator arms were twisted to gain their votes for gun control. Because of this action seven state legislators switched votes, enough to get all four gun control bills passed in the Colorado State House. Vice President Biden promised to campaign for those legislators who voted for the gun control bills.
WASHINGTON DC - Frustrated that the Republican-controlled U.S. House is successfully blocking on initiative after another, at a White House press conference Monday, the president threatened to take his ball and go home. Literally. The Hill reports -
"Maybe I should just pack up and go home," Obama said. "Golly."
The president acknowledged that he had struggled to pass a bill to repeal the sequester or implement new gun controls, but said he was "actually confident there are a range of things that we're going to be able to get done."
A couple of weeks ago on The Teri O'Brien Show, we, along with many of you, questioned the value of having people like the Tsarnaev family in this country. Other than murdering four people, and seriously injuring a couple hundred others, please remind me again, what exactly did these "hard-working immigrants" who we're always hearing add to the vitality of our economy actually contribute? It appears that the only one actually working was the American-born wife of the elder Tsarnaev brother. I guess under the insane Nancy Pelosi, Tom Vilsack, Steny Hoyer test, the rest of this sorry bunch helped stimulate our economy tremendously. How? By receiving welfare, of course!
From the Boston Herald, in a story by Chris Cassidy:
The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section 8 housing from 2002 to 2012, the Herald has learned.
Al Jazeera America is hiring 800 U.S. journalists, including six reporters and producers in Chicago. Officials from the news channel, which plans to begin broadcasting in July or August, have been meeting with news organizations and advertisers in Chicago this week to promote its launch.
Al Jazeera got its start in January when it purchased Current TV from former Vice President Al Gore, for $500 million. ...More HERE
President Obama has officially bid farewell to his outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. After 35 years in public service, including 14 as an Illinois congressman and more than four as transportation secretary, the liberal Republican said he plans to retire and spend time with his family while collecting his rather sizable state and federal pensions. ...More HERE
Proponents of a progressive income tax in Illinois claim that another multibillion dollar tax increase would finally give lawmakers enough revenue to fill the state’s massive budget hole. Americans for Prosperity recently put together some data showing that higher taxes aren’t needed to curb Illinois’ budget deficit.
In fact, states that don’t have an income tax manage to stay out of the red, and many are even operating with budget surpluses. Texas, for example, currently foresees an $8.8 billion surplus over its current two-year budget cycle.
WASHINGTON - In advance of next week’s scheduled vote on The Working Families Flexibility Act, the National Republican Congressional Campaign is calling on Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) - through targeted paid online ads – to explain her continued opposition of Republican efforts to allow private sector workers the same comp time flexibility government workers enjoy.
From USA Today: “The banner ads will be featured on over 100 websites popular among women and geo-targeted to be viewed by residents in 20 Democratic-held congressional districts targeted by the GOP for 2014. The House Republican campaign operation is increasing its use of niche digital ad marketing for the upcoming election cycle. They used a similar strategy targeting Democrats on the unpopular automatic spending cuts known as sequester in March.”
SPRINGFIELD - Last week, House Republicans unveiled a four-bill package to reduce welfare waste, fraud, and abuse in Illinois that House Democrats refuse to move forward. The common sense proposals would:
require all LINK cards (food stamps and other Illinois welfare benefits for eligible recipients) to carry an identifiable photograph, as has been required for decades on drivers’ licenses;
ban the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) aid money to purchase alcoholic beverages, lottery tickets, firearms, firearm ammunition, performance admission tickets, gambling games, and the rental of appliances or furnishings (such as big-screen TV sets); and
suspend public aid benefits to inmates at State correctional facilities and recipients with outstanding arrest warrants.
The bill numbers are HB 133 (Cavaletto), HB 2490 (Cabello), HB 2784 (Bost), and HB 3174 (Cabello). The efforts were presented in various Downstate press conferences on Tuesday, April 23. While most taxpayers want their hard-earned dollars to be spent wisely by the state, Democrats are holding up the progress of any of the measures to reform the state's financially-strapped public assistance system.
CHICAGO - Former State Senator Rev. James Meeks' voice is featured on a robo-call going into homes in Chicago and the south suburbs, urging residents to call their state representatives to stand firm opposing the gay marriage effort. Funded by the National Organization of Marriage, a coalition of black pastors is working together with Hispanic Protestant pastors and the Chicago Archdiocese to preserve the traditional definition of marriage in Illinois law.
All are concerned that despite the bill's provision that pastors will not be forced to officiate over gay marriage ceremonies, the law does not clearly protect religious freedoms for business people, non-profit agencies and individuals that religiously object to same sex marriage. Currently, Rev. Meeks is heard on African-American Coalition calls going to voters in State Representatives Bob Rita (D-Blue Island), Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) and Art Turner's (D-Chicago) House districts:
Washington could do a number of things to improve the economy. Here are three especially relevant now: (1) reverse the New Year’s tax hikes that are already hurting economic growth, (2) take steps, even modest ones supported by both parties, to reduce the unfunded long-term obligations of entitlement programs and get us on a path to balance the budget in 10 years (because adding debt slows the economy), and (3) repeal, or at least delay, Obamacare, whose crushing mandates and costs are destroying jobs and trampling on the religious liberty of employers from Hobby Lobby to social service ministries to homeless shelters.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant Illinois a 30-day extension on concealed carry. Her filing is HERE.
As reported by Rich Miller, "Madigan has to file her petition for certiorary by May 23rd, while the spring session is still in session and several days before the June 9th appellate court deadline is imposed on the state."
Meanwhile, the NRA has released this video aimed at women:
The Illinois Senate approved more than 120 bills this week in anticipation of the April
25 deadline to move Senate bills to the Illinois House for review by lawmakers
in that chamber.
On April 23, the Senate approved legislation I
sponsored with Transportation Committee Chairman Martin Sandoval (D-Cicero)
that will increase Illinois’ speed limit to 70 miles per hour (mph) on tollways
and interstate highways. This change will bring Illinois in line with most of
the rest of the country. The interstates were designed for a higher rate of
speed, and currently, there are 34 states with speed limits of 70 mph or
higher. All of Illinois’ neighboring states, except Wisconsin, have speed
limits of 70 mph. Fifteen states have speed limits of 75 mph and one state has
a speed limit of 85 mph.
Senate Bill 2356 provides public safety enhancements
in the form of a lowered threshold upon which the penalty for speeding is
increased from a petty offense to a misdemeanor. The bill now moves to the
House of Representatives for further consideration.
SPRINGFIELD - With only three other states having legalizing online gambling, the powerful Senate President John Cullerton is pushing Illinois to be the fourth. The expansion would ban gambling industry campaign contributions and add more responsibility for Lottery Director Michael Jones, set up a new executive director of online gaming, an Online Inspector General and yet more controversy for a state agency already at war with Northstar, the private lottery provider.
[Governor Pat] Quinn has shot down several attempts at gambling expansion in the state, but indicated he could support a current bill with a few exceptions. He believes the idea of online gambling was slipped into the measure at the last-minute and it needs further review.
Senate President John Cullerton is expected to wipe online gaming from the current legislation and push it as a separate issue, according to the State Journal-Register.
In several attempts to bring more casino revenue to the state, legislators have tweaked the language of an expansion bill. The latest includes a ban on campaign contributions from the gaming industry and sets aside funds for education, as Quinn requested.
Tens of thousands of New York City children opened their test booklets earlier this month to discover something very disturbing — they were being tested on things they were never taught. While children were disappointed and bewildered, their parents’ outrage at the difficulty and length of the tests has fueled a growing movement against the Common Core learning standards, on which these new tests were based.
Most teachers are supportive of Common Core, a national movement designed to foster the critical thinking and depth of knowledge many American students now lack. Yet New York State’s rush to implement the new standards, along with the Bloomberg administration’s obsession with high-stakes testing and its failure to provide a curriculum to help children meet this new challenge, have helped foster the growing opposition. ...More HERE
WHEELING - The 19 year old Charlie Kirk, who founded the national fiscal watch group Turning Point USA is spotlighted Monday by his hometown political news reporter. Kirk, who's been featured on numerous Fox Business and Fox News shows over the past year, is going to Harper College and appears to be a natural pundit ...
As a high school junior in 2010, Charlie Kirk volunteered for Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's campaign merely, he laughs, because they shared the same name (they aren't related).
But a perfect storm of sorts was beginning to brew, and his rejection from West Point served as a push to enter head-first into politics, an arena where, it turns out, he's a natural.
Part 1: Heartland Institute features John R. Lott, Jr., noted economist and author of a game-changng bestseller on guns
As part of the Heartland Noontime Author Series, The Heartland Institute presented John R. Lott, Jr. and his new book, "At the Brink: Will Obama Push Us Over The Edge," on Wednesday, April 24.
Not only is John Lott, Jr. a noted economist who has held research and or teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Yale University, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, but he is also a writer, having published 100 articles in academic journals. Lott is also an author of seven books and a Fox News contributor that writes weekly columns for the same.
When John Lott was asked why he appeared on Piers Morgan, CNN Piers Morgan Tonight on December 21, 2012 following the massacre in New Town, Connecticut, most certainly knowing ahead of time what his treatment would be, Lott explained it as a trade-off. It was Lott's hope that he might get across a couple of points to Piers Morgan listeners that they might otherwise not have had a chance to hear.
Republicans State Senator Bill Brady, Bruce Rauner, State Senator Kirk Dillard, and State Treasurer Dan Rutherford are the four leading contenders to enter the IL GOP gubernatorial derby and all four made an appearance at the Whiteside County Lincoln Day Dinner Friday in Rock Falls.
Brady, who bested Dillard in the 2010 primary, but not Pat Quinn for the governor’s seat, said he wanted to finish the job he started, citing advice he received from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Brady lost to Quinn by about 30,000 votes.
“He told me he wouldn’t have won the second time, if he didn’t lose the first,” Brady said. “The attack ads stick more when you are not that well known, and that influences the undecided voters.”
I want to thank IR readers who have asked how to order my new history of Illinois from 1854 to 2012. The book is called Land of Lincoln, Thy Wondrous Story: Through the Eyes of The Illinois State Society and the ISBN number is 9780915463954. It can now be ordered directly from the publisher, Jameson Books in Ottawa, Illinois, by calling 1-800-426-1357. The price from Jameson is $29.95 postage paid. The book has 512 pages including never-before-published-photos and an index of 2,000 persons. Readers will find many biographies and colorful stories about Illinois politics in both parties over a span of 158 years of state history.
Was Kermit Gosnell an anomaly? Not if the findings in Live Action’s first released video are any indication.
Dr. Emily’s Women’s Health Center is a late-term abortion clinic located in the Bronx section of New York City, where a wincing 41% of pregnancies end in abortion. A Live Action investigator who was 23 weeks pregnant – with a potentially viable baby – visited this mill for shocking results.
The abortion counselor is caught on tape describing in gruesome detail how the baby is removed and instructs the investigator to “flush” the baby down the toilet if he or she is accidentally delivered at home before the final stage of the two-day abortion procedure.
“If it comes out, then it comes out. Flush it. … If anything, you know, put it in a bag or something or somewhere and bring it to us.” The first Live Action video is below, the rest of this story is on www.JillStanek.com
CHICAGO - Residents of State Rep Marcus Evans' 33rd District held a town hall this weekend to discuss the right to carry in Illinois, and pushed for their right to carry in Chicago and Cook County, where lawmakers are considering an exemption to allow local authorities to determine who should receive carry permits. The residents attending the town hall said they want the same Constitutional right to protect themselves that the rest of the state will have.
The panel was hosted by WVON talk show host Cliff Kelly, Chicago police officer Richard Williams' starting at the 5:00 point in the YouTube below. "As a policeman, I can't guarantee that I'll be there to protect you. It's your right and responsibility to protect yourself," Williams said.
On YouTube, six other 15 minute segments show other town hall panelists and a segment for audience questions.
Hundreds of hourly employees of fast food restaurants and clothing shops,
radicalized by the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago, walked off the job
last week, to protest the fact that the minimum wage isn’t a “living wage,” to
encourage further unionization, and especially, to do their day’s service to
the Democratic Party that keeps them in bondage.
This periodic saber-rattling of the
American Left – about the alleged “need” to force other people to pay employees
more than they think a job is worth – masquerades as a show of solidarity with
the underpaid denizens of America’s lower class. But it’s malicious and destructive, as it warps the public understanding of the market, and it
undermines a desperately-needed understanding of the right paths needed to
reach the American Dream.
Friday’s economic growth numbers continued the disappointing trend that many clichè repeating news readers have dubbed with the irritating phrase “the new normal,” with a pathetic 2.5%. While reporting on this rotten economy, the Lame Stream Media attempts to cover for Barack Obama and the destructive effects of his policies by blaming the sequester, a decline in government spending that amounts to a rounding error, and which, as they always conveniently neglect to mention, was Obama’s idea.
While we serfs struggle in Obama’s economy, the political glitterati continue their endless whirl of celebrity-studded, luxurious parties, dinners and self-congratulatory celebrations, including last night’s White House Correspondence Dinner aka "the Nerd Prom," an annual Hollywood-Washington mashup that gets more embarrassing every year. The One took the occasion to perform an alleged “comedy” routine, which has been greeted by the sycophantic stenographers in the press as delightfully self-deprecating, but which on closer examination is just more on the same finger in the eye to the bitter clingers.
Last week former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw chided his former colleagues in the Washington press corps for their childish (my word not his) obsession with celebrity culture at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. The super lame dinner on Saturday night, April 27, only proved Brokaw was too mild in his criticism. Wannabe comedian-in-chief Barack Obama auditioned for his future career as a stand-up comic as a room full of media sycophants rubbbed shoulders with such pillars of public policy as Conan O'Brien, Michael Douglas, Stephen Spielberg, Barbra Sreisand, George Lucas, Sharon Stone, Julia Dreyfus, Kevin Spacey, Katy Perry, and Nicole Kidman. Apparently the real giants of American intellectuals such as Lindsay Lohan and Kim Khardashian did not have time to come this year although both have attended in the recent past.
At Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner, late night comedian Conan O'Brien unveiled a spoof about a new political TV miniseries - via Wall Street Journal
SPRINGFIELD - "Comprehensive sex ed" is a term that is circulating around the Illinois Capitol these days, and normal, self-respecting adults - like those that work and are elected to serve the Illinois public - may have difficulty understanding what that really means.
Indeed, those Illinois lawmakers that voted last week to move Illinois sex education away from the "birds and bees" to more "medically-accurate" and "age-appropriate" taxpayer-funded sex information may be shocked to learn exactly what those terms mean in the context of 21st century sex education. Maybe State Rep Kay Hatcher (R-) who normally votes fairly conservative wasn't fully aware of what she was advocating when she stood on the House floor and said Illinois' sex education should be updated from its last update in the 1980s.
In the 1980s, Illinois promoted abstinence first. It gave public school high schoolers basic anatomical information and then gave them reason after reason to wait until marriage to experiment with sex and encouraged them to pursue education, sports and other extra-curricular activities rather than sex. But Planned Parenthood and the sex-obsessed culture mocked and ridiculed that "marriage first" sex ed, and experimentation took over. Planned Parenthood became a billion dollar industry marketing contraceptives, HIV testing, sex information and abortion.
The sex education "update" that Rep. Hatcher was advocating Illinois may turn our readers' cheeks pink - and we're fairly certain that when they see what Planned Parenthood is doing around the nation under the guise of "medically accurate" and "age appropriate," at least some of those that voted for "comprehensive sex education" programs in Illinois may hang their red faces in shame.
Here's the truth about what Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and other "liberated" organizations are advocating taxpayers fund. It pains and embarrasses us to have to share with Illinois Review readers, but this is what the Illinois Senate may very well approve and pass on to Governor Quinn under the guise of "updated" sex ed.
Call us prudes, but we suggest you do not allow your children to watch this video produced by American Life League because, well, what Illinois children will be learning if HB 2675 is passed would be considered pornograhic, illicit and contributing to the deliquency of a minor in any other circumstance. God's gift of sex perverted and demeaned and used as a gateway drug to creating a generation of depressed, distressed and obsessed sex addicts.
"According to multiple sources at Chicago Public Schools, [GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce] Rauner in 2008 picked up the phone and called [then-CPS CEO Arne] Duncan on behalf of his daughter, who was trying to get into Payton [College Prep]," Greg Hinz reports for Crain's.
"There only was one problem, the sources say: Her test scores, academic record and other factors weren't good enough to get her into Payton.
"According to a report by CPS Inspector General James Sullivan that has not been released to the public, the younger Ms. Rauner had good scores, very good scores. But not quite good enough. Her application was denied. So dad called Mr. Duncan, a Duncan aide called the Payton principal and she was admitted, graduating last June." ...More HERE
In Part 1, "Immigration Reform a Monstrosity," it was revealed that the business community and labor unions hashed out a new work-visa program to allow up to 200,000 low-skill workers to come to the U.S. Furthermore, that the legislation creates a framework for legalization of an estimated 11 million people unlawfully present in the U.S., as well as to anyone who was present in the U.S. before 2012, with no proof required to prove that applicants have been here for several years. And let's not forget the four senate Gang of Eight members, Republicans Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio and Democrats Charles Schumer and Michael Bennet, who couldn't resist helping themselves to a piece of the pie. But what about input from the law enforcement community?
In testimony from ICE Union President Chris Crane at the Senate Judiciary Hearing on April 23, Crane made this comment:
After the Republican dominated U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to transfer FAA funds in order to alleviate furloughs of American air traffic controllers, Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger said the following:
“All across the country, Americans have been forced to suffer through hours of needless flight delays that could and should have been avoided. However, the administration chose to put politics ahead of people and implement the sequester cuts in the most painful manner possible.” Kinzinger said. “It is time for the Obama Administration to end this manufactured crisis and focus on reviving our stagnant economy and growing opportunity for all Americans.”
When we track Barack Obama's statements on abortion back to his days as an Illinois State Senator, it is fair to say that his views are far more extreme than most people who call themselves "pro-choice" and we have to wonder why. Obama's intellectual dishonestly on this issue often leads him to choose to be willfully obtuse about the basic facts of biology and human reproduction.
Friday, Barack Obama vowed to protect Planned Parenthood at the nation's biggest abortion provider networks' annual conference in DC. LifeNews.com reports:
“No matter how great the challenge, no matter how fierce the opposition, there’s one thing that the past few years have shown,” said President Obama, “that Planned Parenthood is not going anywhere. It’s not going anywhere today. It’s not going anywhere tomorrow."
He continued: “As long as we’ve got to fight to make sure women have access to quality affordable healthcare, and as long as we’ve got to fight to protect a women’s right to make her own choices about her own health, I want you to know that you’ve also got a president who’s going to be with you fighting with you every step of the way.”
SPRINGFIELD – April 26, 2013 – With recent flooding in various communities throughout the state, Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford wants to remind flood victims that aid is available through the treasurer’s Disaster Recovery Linked Deposit Program.
Disaster Recovery helps residents, businesses and farmers obtain low-interest loans to recover from weather-related damage to their property. After a loan is approved, the state makes a deposit into the financial institution which helps lower the interest rate to the borrower, effectively making the repairs more affordable. The maximum interest rate for qualifying borrowers is 2.36 percent for a two-year loan and 2.69 percent for a three-year loan for the month of April 2013. The rate is locked in for the duration of the period. The program caps the interest rate at 3 percent for qualified borrowers at participating financial institutions.
YORK, IL - The banks of the Wabash River in Downstate Illinois continue to rise as the 100 residents of York, Illinois in Clark County face the highest water levels in a generation.
Congressman John Shimkus' staff posted these photos of the devastation on Facebook Friday morning:
The Illinois Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation to improve the state’s maximum speed limit to 70 mph. The legislation, Senate Bill 2356, was introduced by freshman state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove, and was approved by a 41-6 margin.
Illinois currently has one of the lowest speed limits in the entire country. In the Midwest, only Illinois and Wisconsin have a maximum speed limit lower than 70 mph.
Have you ever witnessed at the grocery store an individual purchasing alcohol or lottery tickets with a link card? I have. Have you ever heard of an individual using a link card as a tool to bail them out of jail? I have, and I confirmed this instance with local law enforcement.
The current welfare system in Illinois is misused and abused. The welfare system is intended to provide assistance to individuals who need it most. Taxpayer funds should not be used to purchase alcohol, lottery tickets, or be used as a get out of jail free card.
Small-business owners in Illinois are more pessimistic about the economy and their retirement prospects than their peers nationwide, according to a new survey by the American Express Open Small Business Monitor.
Only 25 percent of small-business owners — defined as owners of companies with fewer than 100 employees — in the state say they're on track to save for retirement, compared with 37 percent across the country.
About 40 percent of small-business owners in Illinois say their outlook on the economy and business prospects is positive, compared with 54 percent nationally.
State officials have temporarily halted funding to the United Neighborhood Organization, contending the large charter school operator violated terms of a $98 million grant by hiring contractors who are related to one of the group's top executives.
The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity informed the politically connected organization of the decision in a memo Thursday, citing "an appearance of a conflict of interest." The move puts the brakes on about $14 million in funding — the state already has paid $84 million. ...More HERE
The company that bought the Illinois-based Twinkie, HoHo and Ding Dong brands out of bankruptcy is gearing up to reopen plants and hire workers, but it won't be using union labor.
Hostess Brands LLC—Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management LLC's new incarnation of the baking company that liquidated in Chapter 11—is reopening four bakeries in the next eight to 10 weeks, aiming to get Twinkie-deprived consumers the classic snack cake starting in July.
Chief Executive C. Dean Metropoulos said the company will pump $60 million in capital investments into the plants between now and September and aims to hire at least 1,500 workers. But they won't be represented by unions, including the one whose nationwide strike sparked the 86-year-old company's decision to shut down in November.
"We do not expect to be involved in the union going forward," Mr. Metropoulos said in an interview Wednesday.
CHICAGO - Illinois' Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-04) and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan (R-01) were in Chicago Monday, preparing the way for a bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform plan. Gutierrez has said their plan will be "moderate" compared to the Senate's Gang of 8 plan. Some for the the agreement are beginning to emerge through Washington sources. They're reporting the House compromise plan:
Nearly doubles the maximum number of guest-worker visas, which was set at 200,000 in the Senate bill.
Makes the minimum number of years it would take an person living in the U.S. illegally to gain citizenship 15 in the House bill, compared to 13 years in the Senate measure.
Creates a decade-long provisional legal status for illegal immigrants to work in the U.S., pay back taxes and learn English while the government works to meet benchmarks for securing the southern border. In the Senate bill, illegal immigrants given the provisional legal status must wait 10 years to obtain a green card for permanent status and then another three to apply for citizenship.
State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) has introduced legislation that would place public sector union contracts online for 14 days prior to approval by a school board, legislature, or city council. "It's utter nonsense" for elected representatives to have no time to review a contract before voting on it, she told Illinois Review during an interview.
