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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, told President Obama Thursday he’d like to interview seven current and former administration officials who may know something about a spate of national security leaks. The request follows suggestions by lawmakers a day earlier that they’re interested in potentially pursuing a congressional investigation into the leaks, on top of the Department of Justice-led probe. “Concern about these leaks knows no party line. When national security secrets leak and become public knowledge, our people and our national interests are jeopardized. And when our enemies know our secrets, American lives are threatened,” Smith said in...

The nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was indicted Monday for involuntary manslaughter in the 2004 death of a 21-year-old man outside a Chicago bar, and a grand jury is continuing its inquiry into whether authorities covered up or impeded an investigation of a relative of the city's most powerful man. Richard Vanecko, 38, was indicted by a Cook County special grand jury in the death of David Koschman of Mount Prospect. Koschman died days after he fell and struck his head during a fight with Vanecko outside a bar in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.

As a young single woman, Michelle Robinson was a fixture in the home of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who along with Rev. Jeremiah Wright “arranged” her marriage to Barack Obama, according to sources in Chicago who know the couple. Jackson’s daughter, Santita, is still one of Michelle’s best friends. “It all relates back to Trinity and to the Jesse Jackson orbit of blacks here in Chicago who gave Obama legitimacy and helped him establish his identity as a black man,” Robyn explained. “The political left wanted to push a black to the presidency, and the key operatives in the...

Myths And Metaphors "[New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie has in recent days tried to make President Barack Obama a synonym for 'Chicago ward politics' even though Obama has never been a part of that club in any real sense of that term," Carol Marin writes for the Sun-Times. I'm not sure his best pals Tony Rezko and Emil Jones would agree. Or these folks. Or Rod Blagojevich, whom Obama endorsed twice. Or any of the opponents he knocked off ballots. Or the poor constituents he left behind. What more would he need to do to be part of the club?...

In a curious column the Sun-Times' Mark Brown denies that President Obama has much to do with Chicago Politics. Curious because the preponderance of evidence that Brown offers is that President Obama is a typical Chicago politician, working in league with donors and other politicians to fleece their consituents and taxpayers. Here’s Mark Brown arguing against himself

Two people have been killed, and at least 24 other people -- one of them a 12-year-old girl -- have been wounded in shootings across the city since Friday afternoon. About 1:26 a.m. Sunday, Devon Paramore, 33, of the 8600 block of West 87th Street, was shot in the back and right armpit in the 1300 block of 13th Street and later pronounced dead at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. The other fatal shooting occurred at 9:09 p.m. on Friday in the city’s Far South Side Pullman neighborhood, where police said they found an unresponsive 16-year-old boy...

By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois. O’er they prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois . . . or something like that. In elementary school, we had to learn the Illinois state song. Even more incredibly, we had to know the Star Spangled Banner and the Pledge of Allegiance before they were outlawed by liberals in all 57 states. I’m giving up my age here, but I grew up under the real Mayor Daley, not today’s cheap imitations, in Mayor Daley’s Chicago. As a child growing up in a politically engaged household, I was aware at an early age that Illinois...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: For the longest time, I, on this program, incurred the wrath of millions of you by suggesting, because you thought I had chosen sides, I still haven't chosen sides. You thought that I had it in for Romney when I pointed out that -- in my view, based on my instincts, my gut, study, my knowledge of who the left is -- I thought they wanted Romney as the nominee all along. I thought that's what Occupy Wall Street was all about was to set up Romney as the guy they were protesting. Romney is the kind...

Earlier this month, the city of Chicago wrote a check for $399,950 to the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights group located in Bellevue, Wash. The check was a reimbursement for legal fees the foundation incurred in the McDonald v. Chicago case, which resulted in the United States Supreme Court overturning the city’s ban on handguns. “The city lost that action,” said Julianne Versnel, the foundation’s director of operations. “

Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlashBy JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 2/8/12 1:01 PM EST Two top advisers to President Barack Obama — both Catholics — warned him of the potential for controversy over his decision to require religious organizations to cover contraceptives in their health insurance plans. Vice President Joe Biden and former White House chief of staff Bill Daley both told the president that the decision would be cast as a government intrusion on religious freedom and that it could alienate Catholic voters in swing states, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The decision has whipped up a frenzy of criticism...

The last moderate leaves the Obama administration. Barack Obama has burned through his second chief of staff, Bill Daley. It was thought that Daley would remain on board until after the next election but that is not to be and Daley's departure is the opening salvo in what promises to be a war. Charlie Gasparino tells us why Daley left and what it means: a hard left turn. The announcement that Bill Daley will step down as President Obama’s chief of staff is further proof that as the 2012 election approaches, Obama is embracing his inner leftist on anything...

According to some child psychologists, there is a demonstrable tendency among children who have been victimized by bullies to progress to becoming aggressors themselves. Another symptom associated with bullies is a pronounced tendency for such persons to also be braggarts. It does make you wonder. What exactly happened on the playground at recess when Rahm Emanuel was growing up? When it was announced that Bill Daley was leaving the position of White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel came to the defense of his successor at the White House. Emanuel was quoted as saying, “Historically, the modern Chief of Staff...

Carney downplays friction as cause of Chief of Staff Daley's resignationBy Amie Parnes - 01/10/12 12:52 PM ET White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters to take William Daley's decision to resign "at face value" despite news reports that suggest that the departing chief of staff felt marginalized in recent months. Daley, who is leaving the White House at the end of the month, said he wanted to spend more time with his family in Chicago. "These jobs are tough," Carney said, comparing time at the White House to dog years. Carney credited Daley for helping President Obama navigate...

In a trade that made a lot of sense for Democrats, Chicago Mayor Richie Daley decided to take a powder as Mayor-for-Life in October 2010, while Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel succeeded Daley as mayor of the big, broken city by the lake. The player to be named later in the trade was William Daley, Richie’s brother. Bill Daley took Emanuel’s place as chief of staff with the charge to be the White House’s bridge to the business community. The Obama administration was hoping that Daley’s business savvy would help them repair a rocky relationship with big business- and...

Washington - When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois. And as she prepared to become first lady, Mrs. Obama naively wanted to delay a move into the White House for six months, so her daughters could finish the school year. Her initial thought was to "commute" to the White House from her South Side home. And Marty Nesbitt, one of President Obama's best friends, had been recruited...

Maggie Daley, the wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and a gracious promoter of the city's cultural and educational programs, has died. She was 69. (born July 1943) Maggie Daley, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, died Thursday night, family spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard told The Associated Press. Daley had been a reserved and dignified presence at her husband's side during his 22 eventful years as mayor. When she first learned she had breast cancer in June 2002, Daley said she was shocked. "But you pick up and you move on. ... I'm not alone here....

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is dumping all three city members of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority — including former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew — in a housecleaning that could set the stage to renegotiate the White Sox lease, modify its restaurant deal and, possibly, have the state acquire and renovate Wrigley Field.

Ahead of what is expected to be a bruising re-election fight, President Obama is shaking up his White House staff—again. Bill Daley, who was hired as Obama's chief of staff less than a year ago, is ceding some of his management duties to Pete Rouse, a longtime Obama adviser who initially filled in as interim chief of staff when Rahm Emanuel exited the post in October 2010. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the management shuffle, cast the move as something of a demotion for Daley, who has drawn ire from both Democrats and Republicans in recent months over...

Media Outlets Struggle To Describe White House Chief Of Staff Bill Daley’s Demotionby Colby Hall | 7:39 am, November 8th, 2011 The nation is just waking up today to learn the rather huge political news that Chief of Staff Bill Daley‘s role at the White House is changing, with many outlets reporting that he is moving into a more of a “big picture” or “ambassador” role in the Obama administration. The news of Daley’s evolving role at the White House, however, is just about as unclear and muddied as the administration’s detractors claim the White House policies to be; is...

WASHINGTON—William M. Daley was hired to help resuscitate Barack Obama's presidency after deep Democratic losses in 2010. Ten months into his tenure as chief of staff, Mr. Daley's core responsibilities are shifting, following White House missteps in the debt-ceiling fight and in its relations with Republicans and Democrats in Congress. On Monday, Mr. Daley turned over day-to-day management of the West Wing to Pete Rouse, a veteran aide to President Obama, according to several people familiar with the matter. It is unusual for a White House chief of staff to relinquish part of the job. A senior White House official...

After reading the news and watching the videos of Sharon Bialek, the Herman Cain accuser, I noticed that many of the articles mentioned that Bialek was fired or let go ” from the NRA’s educational foundation.” However, none of them mentioned why. Being let go or fired is more serious than simply being laid off. I wonder why there is no mention of the reason she was fired? This might give more insight into her character and whether she is a trustworthy person or not. Why was she fired? Does anyone know or has anyone seen a report as to...

Bill Daley vents frustration with Congressional Democrats, RepublicansReuters 3:47 p.m. CDT, October 28, 2011 A top aide to President Barack Obama expressed frustration Friday with his fellow Democrats as well as Republican members of Congress for resisting the White House's domestic agenda. The comments by Obama's chief of staff William Daley, made in an interview with the Politico newspaper, could add to tension that has arisen between Obama and some congressional Democrats. “On the domestic side, both Democrats and Republicans have really made it very difficult for the president to be anything like a chief executive,” Daley told Politico. “This...

The White House is ordering a review of loan guarantees made by the Energy Department after a California solar company that got a half-billion-dollar federal loan went bankrupt. Congressional Republicans have been investigating the bankruptcy of Solyndra Inc. amid revelations that federal officials were warned it had problems but nonetheless continued to support it...

WASHINGTON — White House chief of staff William Daley has told President Barack Obama he will stay until after the 2012 re-election campaign but then wants to go home to Chicago, a senior administration official said today. Daley, formerly an executive at JPMorgan Chase, became Obama’s top aide in January. He is the brother and son of former Chicago mayors. Daley’s plans were first reported Monday by Mary Ann Ahern of WMAQ-Channel 5 in Chicago. The chief of staff said: “I made a commitment to the president through his re-election, which I’m confident he will do, and then my wife...

Here is a memo/wake-up call to Occupy Wall Street: 1.) Obama's former White House COS Rham Emanuel: Did not have an MBA or prior banking experience, yet made $16.2 million dollars as a banker according to Wikipedia. New White House COS Daley: former big banker. 2.) Obama supported the TARP bill. 3.) Obama promised that his administration would be bereft of corporate lobbyists; yet at least 16 former lobbyists of some super-sized corporations apparently were hiding at the back entrance to the White House, because as soon as Obama took office they slipped into his administration. 4.) Obama received boatloads...

Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration. And his city pension is more than modest. It's the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That's roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives. In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give...

On debt deal, Daley tells Blitzer: "We are optimistic" CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down in an exclusive interview with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley to discuss the current debt negotiations.....

Daley: D.C. 'dysfunction' hurts jobs By: Mike Allen July 10, 2011 10:23 AM EDT White House Chief of Staff William Daley told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour on “This Week” that questions about whether political leaders “have the guts to stand up and do the tough things” is “one of the wet blankets on this economy.” Daley, speaking after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled the plug on a $4 trillion bargain that would have reformed entitlements in conjunction with raising the debt ceiling, said President Barack Obama will continue to push for the biggest deal possible. “This president is committed to...

UPI) -- Former U.S. Rep Dan Rostenkowski, who rose to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and went to prison in disgrace, died Wednesday. He was 82. Rostenkowski died at his summer home in Powers Lake, Wis., after a long battle with cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported. A onetime Washington political insider and power broker, Rostenkowski represented his Chicago 5th Congressional District in Congress for 36 years, rising to head the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee that rewrote the 1986 U.S. tax code. The son of 32nd Ward Democratic Alderman Joseph Rostenkowski, Daniel was first elected...

As Wisconsin heads toward lifting a ban on carrying concealed weapons, researchers at the University of California-Davis have turned up some unsettling information about those who may take advantage of the law. In a study using 15-year-old data -- the most recent available -- published online in the journal Injury Prevention, the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program says those who carried concealed weapons or who had confronted someone with a gun were twice as likely to be heavy drinkers than non-gun owners. Gun owners who drove with loaded weapons were four times more likely to hop behind the wheel...

It was supposed to be the White House’s latest make-nice session with corporate America — a visit by Chief of Staff William M. Daley to a meeting with hundreds of manufacturing executives in town to press lawmakers for looser regulations. But the outreach soon turned into a rare public dressing down of the president’s policies with his highest-ranking aide. President Barack Obama is using his weekly media message to ask for patience while the economy recovers. He says the recession didn't happen overnight and won't end that way either. (June 11) President Barack Obama is using his weekly media message...

Body language expert Tanya Reiman told Bill O’Reilly recently that Obama lied – He was no friend of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Reiman said that Obama had “contempt in his eyes” and displayed it with his body language when he was with Benjamin Netanyahu. It was obvious. Narcissists don’t like being challenged. Now we know the rest of the story…Obama went into a rage after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lectured him on his suicide plan for Israel. NewsFavor reported, via Doug Ross: Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that...

Daley Can Take $1.1 Million With Him Unlike his brothers, lawyer Michael and banker Bill, Mayor Richard M. Daley didn’t use the family name to amass wealth. He used it to amass power. But now, the mayor has a chance to convert his power into wealth. Which is what being a Chicago politician is all about, after all. Because he chose not to run for re-election, Daley still has $1.1 million in his campaign fund. In 1998, the General Assembly banned politicians from converting leftover campaign money for personal use. But, of course, the law included a grandfather clause, so...

The rope line stretched from the Washington Street entrance to City Hall, wound its way past the City Clerk’s office and continued to the bank of elevators servicing the fifth floor. Surprisingly, the expected overflow crowd never fully materialized. There was a modestly respectable afternoon turnout that inched forward at a leisurely pace, but not much more. A private reception for invited guests had occurred earlier in the day. Mayor Richard M. Daley welcomed visitors to his office, shaking hands and posing for photographs one last time yesterday. Some of the mayor’s morning guests were even entertained by the Shannon...

Daley requests bodyguard detail after leaving office MICHAEL SNEED sneed@suntimes.com Last Modified: May 5, 2011 12:16AM Bodyguard brouhaha? Sneed has learned Mayor Daley is requesting a retinue of at least three — around the clock — Chicago Police bodyguards from his mayoral security detail to accompany him into the private sector! † Sneed also hears whispers Mayor Daley, who retires May 16, wants two vehicles at his disposal; one for himself — and one for his wife, Maggie. † The request for personal security by Mayor Daley, concerned about serious safety threats, resulted in “the Chicago Police Department contacting the...

Chicago Democrats with close ties to Barack Obama have been implicated in a massive cover-up of sexual abuse and human trafficking (1) targeting black children in poor neighborhoods. The allegations have emerged from a series of lawsuits brought by abuse victims and their families. The crimes span a period of at least 40 years, and involve torture, kidnapping, gang rape and sexual enslavement of hundreds of African-American children. Through the years, victims coming forward to report these crimes have faced harassment and threats from private investigators (2) and city police. (3) These abuses unfolded during the long reign of the...

Mayor Daley tried Friday to answer the $18 million question posed by his inspector general: why City Hall tolerates having 200 motor truck drivers “paid to do nothing” but drive crews to their work sites and wait in the vehicle until they finish. “It was a 1985 or `83 [work rule]. ... It was prior [to the Daley years]. You should have reported that,” said the mayor, who took office in 1989. Daley was asked why he did not negotiate an end to the costly rule during 22 years of negotiations with the Teamsters Union. “You have to give and...

Only Chicago lost population. Congratulations to Mayor Daley and the whole Democratic party machine who caused a net loss of 200,000 people.

Pay no attention to the words behind the constitution, because the constitution right now is just a bumper sticker anyway. Whether passing Obamacare, or taking us to war against Libya, the Obama administration never calculates whether their actions are legal, but only if they can get away with them. That’s the Chicago Way. Obama, the One, brought the Way with him to DC courtesy David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley. The important thing with the Chicago Way is to “coexist,” make things work and not worry about little things like rights and wrongs. With the Chicago Way, justice tends...

The Daley’s of Chicago, always a family of ignorant, power hungry thugs, appear to have added murder to the list of their timeless contributions to the Windy City way of life. On April 25th, 2004, 21 year old David Koschman and four friends were drinking in Chicago’s downtown. Upon exiting a club, Koschman bumped into someone from another group which had been covering the bars. A moment later, a member of that party struck Koschman, driving his head into the street causing brain damage from which the young man never recovered. His mother buried him 20 days later, disconnecting life...

The University of Chicago has decided to destroy the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan in Hyde Park. That's the University of Chicago I know and do not love. When I wrote of the violence and corruption my friends and lovers endured in Hyde Park in the late 60s, I was taken to task because the Hyde Park the Obamas inhabited was different from the Hyde Park I described. Fair enough. But some said that it was not only different, but also better, by which they mean, let's tell the truth, richer and whiter. Several commenters got it right, however, so...

Homicide case involving Daley nephew closed without charges BY TIM NOVAK, CHRIS FUSCO, FRAN SPIELMAN AND CAROL MARIN Staff Reporters Last Modified: Mar 5, 2011 02:04AM For the first time, the Chicago Police said Friday they know who hit David Koschman and knocked him to the ground in a drunken confrontation in the Rush Street area, leading to his death from a brain injury 11 days later — but they’re not telling.

Daley: U.S. a 'country of whiners'By Rick Pearson, Tribune reporter 9:36 p.m. CST, March 3, 2011 Retiring Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday contended America is a "country of whiners" that's spent the last four decades fearing the impact of foreign governments on the nation's economy instead of showing the confidence and sacrifice to lead on a global stage. Daley also said he believed taxpayers can no longer finance the current level of government and suggested priorities need to be placed on municipal services that can be privatized or outsourced to cut costs. The comments by the veteran mayor, who is...

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has spent nearly his entire life around powerful Republican politicians. So imagine his surprise when he learned that his birth certificate bears the John Hancock of one of the 20th century’s most powerful Democrats: the late Chicago mayor and Democratic Party boss Richard J. Daley. posted using frpa

Mayor Richard Daley today launched his final push in office for state and federal gun-control measures and vowed to continue those efforts "as a private citizen as well." He proposed four new state criminal laws aimed at reducing gun violence and vowed to battle bills that would bar cities and villages from enacting gun-control measures and allow citizens to carry concealed weapons. "We are ready for this fight," Daley said, after noting his long history of anti-gun violence efforts during nearly 22 years in office.

Congressman told FBI he asked for -- and got -- free home upgrades ### Convicted political fixer Tony Rezko gave U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez free upgrades on a riverfront town house after the congressman asked for them, Gutierrez told the FBI, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Gutierrez's comments to federal agents in a previously undisclosed 2008 interview contradict what the congressman told the Sun-Times in 2006 about the purchase. "I walked in with my wife -- as any other consumer could have -- and purchased the unit at the listed price, with no considerations," the Northwest Side congressman said then,...

Chicago-style politics is infamous for kickbacks, dead people voting, and thuggery. Alas, it is not just a relic of the past. In fact, witness recent stories of Chicago city workers being hired or promoted based on how well they got voters to the polls and not how well they did their official jobs, children getting admitted to prestigious city schools based on political connections, and the granting of city contracts. Unfortunately, I know first hand more than I would like about Chicago politics. A decade ago, I was working at the University of Chicago Law School as an Olin Fellow,...

Members from the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition gathered in New York this morning to advocate for a simple solution to cutting down on gun violence: just adhere to the existing laws already on the books. The group, lead by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, released a press statement this morning calling for the government to crack down on background check loopholes. They are pushing for a stricter enforcement of the 1968 gun law that prohibits people with a history of drug abuse, criminal activity, or mental illness, from buying guns.

Since his party's November shellacking, President Obama has worked hard to show America that he is not anti-business, notably by picking General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and Chicago banker Bill Daley for prominent posts in his administration. But their selection does not mean Obama is "pro-business," at least as the term is commonly understood. The president is no champion of open markets and free competition. His idea of being friendly to business means more government subsidies and corporate-government cooperation, both of which are mother's milk to Immelt and Daley. Obama joined Immelt on Friday at a GE plant in Schenectady,...

Earlier this month, President Obama announced William Daley (brother of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and former executive at JP Morgan Chase) as his new chief of staff, replacing Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel. Less well known is the fact that Mr. Daley was a member of the board of trustees for Third Way, which bills itself as an "influential think-tank that creates and advances moderate policy and political ideas." Therefore, last week's release by Third Way of a domestic policy memo outlining a plan for "Fixing Foreclosure-gate" may well be a trial balloon for the Obama administration's next set of...