Free Republic

Sneed exclusive . . . New York is where they’d rather be. So let’s cut to the chase. Sneed is told by impeccable sources that President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, want to live in New York when they leave the White House. “They want New York, plain and simple,” said a top Sneed source who asked to remain anonymous — but has a relationship with the Obamas. “It’s not an unusual decision,” added the source. “The Clintons moved to New York after Bill Clinton left the presidency. It’s a happening place.” “They love the vibe in New York...

'Game The system’? Nonprofits, Including Farrakhan-Tied Group, Enjoy Windfall From Farm Subsidies Published March 09, 2014 FoxNews.com, Emily Boyd Walker Several nonprofits that have little to do with farming or are in poor standing with their local governments have been receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies over the past decade, federal records show. They include an Islamic charity tied to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a Midwestern group devoted to waterfowl habitat, and a major conservation group with few farms to its name. The group tied to Farrakhan, called the Three Year Economic Saving Program, has...

Everyone missed what is now, in hindsight, a crystal clear signal that the White House knew that the buffalo chips were about to hit the fan; and that they are very worried.On April 21, the White House announced that Neil Eggleston would be the new counsel to the president. It didn't get much notice, but in light of recent events, it's a really big deal.

Despite it being the year of our Lord 2015, at least one CHIditarod participant seemed to think it was OK to wear blackface. Event organizers apparently told him to remove the makeup, but people who believe blackface to be OK do not strike me as the type willing to listen to reason. The man was part of the #TooSoon team, a group that ostensibly dressed in an intentionally offensive manner. The man in question was dressed as Bill Cosby — why limit yourself to just blackface when you can make rape jokes in the process — and was joined by...

Does Gov. Bruce Rauner's pension math add up? Is it possible to cut spending $2.2 billion immediately, save taxpayers $100 billion over 30 years, protect everyone who's already retired and amortize $111 billion in unfunded pension liability without pushing current state workers and teachers into near-poverty when they retire? I spent most of the past week trying to get an answer to that question, talking to Rauner's team, independent financial experts and key lawmakers. My tentative conclusion—I say “tentative” because deciphering actuarial tables makes nuclear physics look simple—is: probably not.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Just as the weather warms up, it's test time for Illinois students. All are required to take the Partnership for Assessment for Readiness for College and Careers, known as PARCC. Many parents want to opt out of the new standardized test, but legally they can't; only students can refuse to take it. Now, some state lawmakers have introduced legislation letting parents make the decision, known as House Bill 306. "It will give parents the right to write a letter on students behalf opting student out of standardized tests," says Rep. Will Guzzardi. HB 306 also says schools...

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...

Signers include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sens. Susan Collins and Mark Kirk and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie BakerMore than 300 veteran Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants have filed a friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage late Thursday. The amicus brief, organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, was filed for the four same-sex marriage cases the Court will hear on April 28 that could legalize the unions nationwide. In 2013, Mehlman marshaled a similar effort for the case that overturned California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage...

An Illinois high school principal is defending his decision to exclude white students from a “Black Lives Matter” event held at his school. On February 27th, Oak Park and River Forest High School principal, Nathaniel Rouse, hosted a “Black Lives Matter” event exclusively for black students. The assembly was intended to culminate Black History Month with a discussion on race relations. Approximately 350 black individuals attended the event. When white students attempted to attend the assembly, however, they were denied entry. Parents who were upset over the school’s decision to exclude non-black students from the event voiced their opinion to...

Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois held a “Black Lives Matter” assembly last week, but banned anyone who was not African American from attending. Oak Park is just outside of Chicago. White students who tried to attend were physically barred from entering the auditorium where the meeting was taking place. Parents of these students said that their children were turned away when they tried to enter. However, Principal Nathaniel Rouse, who organized the event and is black, is not backing down from his decision to exclude other races. Not only that, but by banning “whites,”...

(Reuters) - A BNSF Railway [BNISF.UL] train loaded with crude oil derailed on Thursday afternoon in a rural area south of Galena, Illinois, with two of the tank cars catching fire, according to local officials and the company. The incident marks the latest in a series of derailments involving trains hauling crude oil, a trend that has put a heightened focus on rail safety.

Though Congress this week just barely funded the Department of Homeland Security because of a continuing row over immigration reform, a big business group here hasn't given up the cause. In fact, it's scheduled an event next week with some very big-name politicians in hopes of rallying the troops. The March 9 rally, formally being called a roundtable discussion, is being put together by the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, headed by Exelon Chairman Emeritus John Rowe. Among those whose offices say they will attend are Gov. Bruce Rauner and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. Among the others the organizers say have...

"Burn Down The Mission" Elton John

On Wednesday evening Feb. 25, Justin Cowart, a geologist and amateur astronomer from Alto Pass, Illinois figured he’d have a crack at it. Cowart didn’t have much hope after hearing the news that the comet may very well have crumbled apart after the manner of that most famous of disintegrators, Comet ISON . ISON fragmented even before perihelion in late 2013, leaving behind an expanding cloud of exceedingly faint dust. Cowart set up a camera and tracking mount anyway and waited for clearing in the west after sunset. Comet D1 SOHO was located some 10° above the horizon near the...

Currently, 61 members of Congress have confirmed they will not attend the speech. Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) California Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) — “I am disappointed Speaker Boehner chose to irresponsibly interject politics into what has long been a strong and bipartisan relationship between the United States and Israel. As President Obama has noted, it is inappropriate for a Head of State to address Congress just two weeks ahead of their election. I agree that Congress should not be used as a prop in Israeli election campaigns,...

ities: The problem with socialism, Margaret Thatcher once noted, is you eventually run out of other people's money. In progressive Chicago, that's hit home as Moody's has cut its credit rating to two grades above "junk." Chicago's finances are staggering under the weight of an unfunded pension liability that Moody's Investors Service has estimated at $32 billion, eight times the city's operating revenue. Chicago has a $300 million structural deficit. And Illinois law requires the city to up its 2016 contributions to its police and fire pension funds by $550 million. "This is an unfortunate wake-up call for anyone still...

Casimir Pulaski Day is a holiday observed in Illinois on the first Monday of every March in memory of Casimir Pulaski (March 6, 1745 – October 11, 1779), a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born in Poland as Kazimierz Pułaski. He is praised for his contributions to the U.S. military in the American Revolution and known as "the father of the American cavalry".More

(Tim Brown)  Don’t you love it when ordinary citizens bring justice to bear on corrupt politicians? Isn’t it even sweeter when our veterans do it? Well, that was what two military veterans did in Illinois to the Clark County Park District Board last year. Illinois, like many states, is filled with corrupt politicians from the state legislature on down to the city and county level.So, what are those that these corrupt public servants supposed to do about it? Two of them took action.Kirk Allen and John Kraft, nicknamed the “Watchdogs,” decided that it was time to hold county public servants...

An OfficeMax call center in Peru is closing its doors, beginning layoffs in March, according to two sources. Layoffs should be completed in November. A news story in 2013 indicated 275 people worked at the Peru facility. Employees on Thursday were instructed not to speak to the media about the layoffs. OfficeMax merged with Office Depot in 2013. As previously reported, the combined company disappointed state lawmakers by locating its headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla. (Office Depot’s longtime home) and pulling out of Naperville, where OfficeMax had been headquartered. OfficeMax workers have dealt with uncertainty about their jobs for the...

A full list of the Democrats who have confirmed they're missing the speech follows: SENATE - 4 members Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) HOUSE - 26 members Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.) Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.) Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.) Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.) Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas) Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)...