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The woeful state of Chicago Public Schools' finances, which has led to teacher and staff layoffs and criticism about budget priorities, will bring protesters to today's monthly Board of Education meeting and to City Hall. **SNIP** CTU President Karen Lewis said in a statement that the blame for layoffs and school closings isn't with pensions but rather the district's "heavily financed corporate school reform agenda." The union and other critics have blasted city spending on DePaul's basketball arena and privately run schools like charters. "It is time CPS ended its reign of error and got back into the business of...

City officials acknowledged Tuesday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plans to update the city's assault weapons ban and toughen penalties for some firearms violations near schools will have only limited impact on the gun violence plaguing parts of Chicago. That didn't stop the ordinances from advancing despite complaints from some aldermen that the measures don't go far enough. The Emanuel administration is pushing through the changes after the General Assembly's passage of a statewide concealed carry law and amid criticism he has been getting from parents of children who will have to walk through violent neighborhoods this fall because he closed...

July 9, 2013 Psaki Runs from Question About ‘Vanity Fair’ Benghazi Article Washington Free Beacon Staff State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked by a reporter to reconcile former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s famous Benghazi question with claims in a new Vanity Fair article Tuesday in a State Department press conference.Psaki’s response was a predictable State Department refrain, stating “this has been all addressed” by the Accountability Review Board before quickly moving on:REPORTER: And when Secretary Clinton famously asked about Benghazi, “was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would go kill some...

While raising money for Bill Clinton (who signed the Defense of Marriage Act) in 1992, Rahm Emanuel proclaimed “Gays are the next Jews of fundraising.” I’m not 100 percent sure what he meant by that, but Democrats have certainly grabbed onto gay issues as a fundraising lever. Democrats today are using the gay marriage ruling as a way to raise money, my colleague Paul Bedard writes. Obama’s core network of fundraisers included many gay men and women who were also gay-marriage activists. I wrote on this after Obama spurred a fundraising boom by announcing his support for gay marriage.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes to keep gunslingers away from public schools, buses and “safe passage” routes by creating a city ordinance with stiff fines for weapon offenses. The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of CPS’ closing of 49 elementary schools under a plan to tackle low enrollment. Most of the schools are on the West and South Sides.The closings have prompted CPS to expand the number of protected safe-passage routes that students take to school. Parents are concerned that their children will have to cross gang boundaries on their way to new schools. The ordinance, which the mayor intends...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to start reducing health insurance coverage next year for more than 30,000 retired city workers and begin shifting them to President Barack Obama's new federal system. The move is aimed at saving the city money Once the phaseout is complete, those retired workers would have to pay for their own health insurance or get subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The city-subsidized coverage is particularly important to retired workers who aren't yet eligible for Medicare Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said the uncertainties of the...

THE TARGETING PAPER TRAIL BEGINS: Soon as they occupied the WH, Obama and the Chicago con artists (a) took control of the US Census; (b) Obama placed his COS Rahm Emanuel in control of the US Dept of the Treasury (the IRS). THE DOTS CONNECT Obama told voters "Tea Parties were a threat to democracy." His mouthpiece, Valerie Jarrett, said the O Team "would not forget" which Americans did not worship Obama. BACKSTORY WSJ REPORT--On Jan 20, 2009 Timothy Geithner was appointed Obama's Secy of the Treasury. But within three weeks, the obama White House tightened its grip on Treasury....

CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave Rick Perry a Chicago-style greeting Monday, challenging the Texas governor to remember the reasons for his visit to Illinois — a jab at Perry's presidential debate forgetfulness. "I hope when he comes he remembers all three of his reasons," Emanuel said. "Because it will be a real test for him." Perry was in Illinois Monday to encourage businesses to move to Texas and was scheduled to address a Chicago business convention Tuesday. Emanuel made pointed reference to a campaign gaffe Perry committed while running for president. At a Republican debate late in 2011, Perry...

Almost exactly a year after Chicago's surging homicide rate caught the nation's attention, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy rolled out statistics Monday that showed a dramatic drop in the number of killings. At the same time, they tried to allay safety concerns in the wake of a weekend fight involving more than a dozen young people on the Magnificent Mile.

Seven people were injured in an overnight shooting at a record release party at a nightclub in Chicago's South Side Gresham neighborhood. Police said three men opened fire inside Mr. G's Supperclub on the 1500 block of West 87th Street around 1:15 a.m. A fight had started at the release party for a local rapper, police said, and three men pulled out handguns and fired into the crowd.A 19-year-old woman was struck and taken to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn. Six men, mostly in their 20s, were also wounded. Only one was transported by ambulance.

A prominent member of Chicago’s homosexual community claims Barack Obama’s participation in the “gay” bar and bathhouse scene was so well known that many who were aware of his lifestyle were shocked when he ran for president and finally won the White House. “It is common knowledge in the Chicago gay community that Obama actively visited the gay bars and bathhouses in Chicago while he was an Illinois state senator,” Madsen told WND. “Nobody who knew Obama in the gay bar scene thought he could possibly be president,” said DuJan. DuJan, founder and editor of the Hillary Clinton-supporting website HillBuzz.org,...

EDITOR’S NOTE: The links in the following report may contain offensive language. Ravi Baichwal is not going to like this: Three-thousand people fought, looted, rioted, assaulted, cursed, threatened, hurled racial epithets and vandalized a Chicago neighborhood over the weekend. And all of them were black. Baichwal, a news anchor for the ABC affiliate in Chicago, says anyone who notices that is “an idiot.” Repeated examples of black mob violence in Chicago are “not riots,” Baichwal said. “It’s disaffected youth for sure,” and anyone who disagrees is “just race-baiting.” Baichwal was commenting on an epidemic of more than 450 cases of...

And only 2% 'strongly approve' of Chicago mayor   (Newser) – Maybe it's a good thing Rahm Emanuel is reportedly considering a presidential run—because he isn't doing so hot in Chicago. The mayor's approval rating has plummeted so far it's within spitting distance of Congress, according to a new Crain's/Ipsos poll, which showed only 19% of respondents approving of or even leaning toward approving of the job he's doing—and only 2% of Chicagoans strongly approving—while 50% at least lean toward disapproval. That's a big fall from September, when the public was roughly split, with 34% approving and 33% disapproving....

Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel might make a go for 2016, two well-connected Democrats tell Lloyd Grove—as long as Hillary doesn’t. And the potty-mouthed Chicago mayor could win.Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is said by well-connected Democrats to be considering with the idea of running for president if Hillary Clinton opts out of the 2016 race. It’s unclear who raised the subject—Emanuel or the donors—and the mayor’s press secretary didn’t offer any clarity on who said what to whom. However, Tarah Cooper sent a photo of Emanuel's scrawl on yellow legal paper vowing "not ever" to run for "for...

Chicago police are no longer responding in person to 911 calls reporting vehicle theft, garage burglary or simple assault in a change aimed at freeing up officers to deal with more serious crimes. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, the change came into effect on Sunday and also covers crime where the victim is "safe, secure and not in need of medical attention" and the offender is "not on the scene and not expected to return immediately." Chicago authorities are hoping the change frees up more officers to attend to the most serious crimes, such as serious assaults...

--IMAGE HERE-- The National Conference of Democratic Mayors wants more gun control and they are frustrated that, because of gun owners like you who vote, they cannot achieve it through legislation. So … they have a backup plan. They are going to use taxpayer dollars, in the form of contracts to supply law enforcement agencies, to threaten manufacturers who do not voluntarily enact their draconian proposals. And they are not trying to hide their agenda. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who leads the group, proudly announced the details of the plan after the NCDM meeting in January. “When we were lobbying...

President Barack Obama is coming to Minneapolis on Monday, Feb. 4, to advance his proposals to reduce gun violence, which is a little bit like taking a boat out into the middle of the ocean to discuss the risk of fire in Joshua Tree National Park. Why doesn't he go to Chicago, where there is gun violence? And then, once in Chicago, why wouldn't he discuss that city's problem of gang violence? In fact, so long as he has the itch to take his bully pulpit on the road, Chicago is the natural, ultimate stop. Why, it is ground zero....

In a candid and honest response to a question at a town hall on February 2nd, 2013, Representative Hunter says that because the Black community has more crime than White communities, they have been historically kept from having guns. Representative Hunter must be given credit for not being sure that the approach has worked. Here is a transcript of that portion of the video. Chicago Town Hall, 3rd Legislative District: At 1:38:35 to 1:39:40, State Representative Ken Duncan, when asked why do 49 states have concealed carry legislation and we don't, says: " The City of Chicago, Historically their opposition...

The Chicago Police Department hopes to free up the equivalent of 44 officers a day by no longer dispatching cops for certain crimes, like burglaries and car thefts in which the offender is no longer at the scene and no one is in immediate danger. Police confirmed the change, which takes effect Sunday. Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told aldermen last year he was considering a move in that direction. The change is not related to plans by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and McCarthy to shift what they indicated was as many as 200 officers from administrative duties to beats so more...