Free Republic

Illinois poverty on rise since 2010; four counties at greatest risk, says report Caitlin Wilson The number of Illinoisans living in poverty has risen steadily since 2010, with nearly 15 percent of residents living at or below the poverty line, a new report says, the highest mark since 1960. The Social Impact Research Center (SIRC) released a report detailing the statistics surrounding poverty in Illinois, finding that Illinois “has plenty of room for improvement” in comparison to other states when it comes to residents living in poverty, and that 14 of the state’s counties have more than 20,000 residents in...

Some Democrats are planning to boycott the speech Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver to Congress in March on the basis of false charges. A phony narrative has been ginned up, alleging that “protocol” was breached in the invitation, and that the White House is justified in shunning the PM of our closest ally, the only Middle East democracy. Ed Lasky was among the very first to point out that the White House was indeed notified of the planned invitation before it was issued, trashing the narrative that protocol was violated and the president cruelly blindsided. Now, writing...

Republicans voice support for Netanyahu congressional speech Top Republican leaders took to public and private channels Thursday to expose a coordinated campaign by the Obama administration to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his acceptance of an invitation to speak before Congress, according to conversations with multiple lawmakers and leading pro-Israel insiders. The statements, many of which were obtained by the Washington Free Beacon in conversations with leaders in Congress, come in the aftermath of a widely cited New York Times report in which Obama administration officials accused Netanyahu of breaking diplomatic protocol by agreeing to speak before receiving...

You could conclude from the hot political bombast across frigid Illinois that Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to destroy public sector labor unions, starving them of fees from state workers. Or you could conclude that Rauner wants to end what he calls a corrupt bargain between unions and Springfield politicians that's crushing taxpayers. As the governor and organized labor square off, their battle to control the narrative — their battle for your approval, really — is ferocious. Rauner on Monday issued an executive order to free state employees who don't belong to unions from paying fees that support union operations. He...

BREITBART | When Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) accused Republicans opposed to spending federal funds to implement President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty of threatening the nation’s security, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) had to set the record straight on Thursday. Senate Democrats have used the filibuster and blocked the House’s Homeland Security spending bill, which funds the department except for Obama’s executive amnesty, three times, and Sessions said Democrats like Durbin are putting Obama’s executive amnesty, which also undermines the country’s security, ahead of funding the department. Earlier in the day, Durbin said he has “been trying to understand what is holding...

If you care at all about the players on the Jackie Robinson West Little League team, don’t call them champions. They aren’t. Wednesday’s announcement by Little League International that the team has been stripped of its U.S. title and all its wins from the 2014 Little League World Series tournament is all the proof you need. These are not champions. To say otherwise is a disservice to these kids, and they’ve already been handed a disservice big enough to last a lifetime. So don’t say, “It’s OK, kids, you’re still champions in our eyes.” Don’t say, “We don’t care, you...

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the polarizing civil rights activist, is calling for Little League International to return the U.S. championship to the 12-year-olds from Jackie Robinson West, mere hours after Little League stripped the team of its title. And if that doesn't happen, Jackson said Wednesday afternoon, he may take legal action. Jackie Robinson West — consumed in a vortex of allegations involving ineligible players and illegally redrawing its league boundaries — became a feel-good story in Chicago and across the country on its run to the Little League World Series. An all-black team that was supported by MLB players, Jackie...

Little League officials announced Wednesday morning that Jackie Robinson West, the 2014 U.S. Little League World Series champions, have vacated their wins and been stripped of their title thanks to the use of ineligible players. In essence, they attempted to build a Little League all-star team by bringing aboard players from Chicago districts outside of their own, and a neighboring league caught on and reported as much to Little League officials.According to Evergreen Park officials -- the neighboring league which caught on to the illegal roster -- Jackie Robinson West spent their 2014 "manipulating, bending and blatantly breaking the rules for...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois residents might not be able to use their driver's licenses at airports starting in 2016. The Daily Herald reports the licenses don't meet requirements set by the 2005 Real ID Act that were meant to increase security. Illinois doesn't require a birth certificate to get a driver's license, which Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt said is one of the law's mandates. Haupt said state legislators would have to approve funding for changes to driver's license requirements. He said he's not sure how much it would cost, but the Secretary of State's office previously estimated...

New Republican Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois is taking on the most powerful special interest in the state - public employee unions - and he's getting some support from Democrats. In truth, Rauner has little choice. Public union pensions are out of control. The pension crisis in Illinois is easily the worst in the nation and the Rauner administration is already looking for ways to cut benefits - a move that would have been considered sacrilegious previously but is now being considered even by Democrats. Also, Rauner issued an executive order: prohibiting unions from collecting so-called fair share fees from...

tates: Illinois entrepreneur turned governor Bruce Rauner ends the practice of forced union dues for government workers who don't want to join a union as he pursues right-to-work zones to promote growth. In Illinois, they're called "fair share" dues collected from workers said to benefit from the collective bargaining of the unions they're in thrall to, whether they want to join or not, moneys collected by force to pay for that representation. "Fair share" is a favorite mantra to liberals, but not to newly elected Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. He believes that there's nothing fair about extorting money from people...

WHEREAS Gov. Bruce Rauner issued a sweeping executive order Monday "respecting state employees' freedom of speech," and WHEREAS this order began with 26 "Whereas ..." paragraphs, many of which mistily invoked the violated rights of public sector workers who are now "forced against their will" to fund "activities to which they object," and WHEREAS our patience for hand-waving, smoke screens and general rhetorical folderol is limited ... THEREFORE let's cut the rubbish. Rauner's order isn't animated by empathy or some fastidious concern with constitutional fine points. It's animated by a desire to put public employee unions into a death spiral,...

And so it begins. Gov. Bruce Rauner fired his first shot Monday in his campaign to give all Illinois workers the right to choose to work for less money. Rauner’s legally dubious executive order relieving state employees of the requirement they pay union dues was a loud declaration the new governor aims to restore Illinois to prosperity — by undercutting the organizing power of its work force. The governor’s initial targeting of public employee unions was no surprise given his election rhetoric, but his use of an executive order to impose his will seemed to catch everyone off guard. “I...

"CHICAGO (CBS) — State workers who do not agree with their union’s political activities would not have to pay dues under an executive order signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner."

Six Bosnian immigrants have been charged in the U.S. for allegedly supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Department of Justice said Friday. The suspects, five of whom were arrested in the U.S., are all charged with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, the DOJ said in a statement. They were identified as Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, who live in St. Louis County, Missouri; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34 of Schiller Park,...

Birthday - Ronald Reagan, (1911-2004) the 40th U.S. President, was born in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan spent 30 years as an entertainer in radio, film, and television before becoming governor of California in 1966. Elected to the White House in 1980, he survived an assassination attempt and became the most popular president since Franklin Roosevelt. http://api.ning.com/files/vaBRVGKu-A9RXBvuSC2bW9jktb2za5*YNqm-EoauRFt*S0RfHMrvBi6KFKDz8pQXRaIlIBlRw7C37JsI7Ep5rZ2o-gdRA957/RonaldReagan.jpg

Illinois still lays claim to the worst recession recovery in the nation. According to the BLS household survey, there are still 216,000 fewer Illinoisans working than when the Great Recession began, the worst of any state and one of only 22 states that still have fewer people working than when the recession started. .... The business-establishment survey for the 2008-2014 period shows 114,000 fewer payroll jobs in Illinois than when the recession began, the second-worst record of any state, and one of only 15 states yet to break even on the recession. Only New Jersey is down more payroll jobs....

In a sometimes heated meeting with Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., several House Democrats expressed anger Wednesday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s acceptance of a Republican invitation to address Congress next month. Some of the seven lawmakers—all of whom are Jewish and strong supporters of Israel—urged the prime minister to postpone the speech or hold it somewhere other than Congress, participants said. They told Ambassador Ron Dermer that Netanyahu was unwise to accept a GOP invitation that bypassed President Barack Obama, and to schedule the speech only two weeks before Netanyahu seeks another term in Israel’s elections. The meeting’s purpose...

On Jan. 22, Jason Hammond accepted a noncooperating plea deal from prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois: He will serve 41 months for his role in an organized assault on a casual dining establishment in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park. On May 19, 2012, Hammond and 17 others stormed the Ashford House restaurant with bats and hammers, interrupting lunch and leaving 10 people injured. But instead of years in jail, America should perhaps consider sending Hammond a thank-you card. He is not to be confused with his twin brother, Jeremy Hammond, who is serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison...

Though President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle still have two years left in the White House, their foundation has come up with a bold slogan for their next chapter: “Eight years is only the beginning.” When they leave on Jan. 20, 2017, Obama will be only 55 and his wife, who turned 51 on Jan. 17, will have just celebrated her 53rd birthday. Not that I ever doubted it, but the Chicago-based Barack Obama Foundation‘s revamped website, which went live Friday, makes it clear the Obamas intend to maintain a robust public presence in the decades to come. The...