Free Republic

Chicago Obama library bids in trouble; foundation has 'major concerns' with U. of C. proposal Posted: 12/30/2014, 12:45pm | Lynn Sweet WASHINGTON — The Barack Obama Foundation has major problems with the University of Chicago bid for the Obama presidential library and museum and is uneasy about the bid from the University of Illinois at Chicago, leaving Columbia University in New York the front-runner for the project. A source close to the foundation told me that the University of Chicago bid is in jeopardy because it does not own — and has no definite path to acquiring at present —...

The teenage son of Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the victim of a robbery outside the mayor’s Lakeview home Friday night, a spokesperson from the mayor’s office confirms. Police were called to the 4200 block of North Hermitage at 10:05 p.m. Friday for a report of a robbery on the street where there would normally already be a police presence. Emanuel’s 17-year-old son went out to make a phone call when he was jumped by two men who stole the teen’s cell phone.

The campaign of a Democratic challenger to former-Obama-WH-Chief-of-Staff (and incumbent Chicago mayor) Rahm Emanuel -Chicago Alderman Bob Fioretti- commissioned a poll this month to kick off his 2015 Chicago mayoral campaign...  Intended to measure the mood of the world's largest cowtown in the twilight of Rahmbo's first term, the news wasn't good for the snotty former ballerina: 49% of participants had an unfavorable opinion of 'sitting in morning traffic'51% had an unfavorable opinion of Fox News52% had an unfavorable opinion of Mayor Emanuel58% had an unfavorable opinion of the Green Bay Packers So those polled (500 Chicagoans) hate Mayor Emanuel a bit...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday dropped another financial bombshell on Chicago’s 25,000 retired city workers and their dependents: their monthly health insurance premiums will be going up by a whopping 40 percent — in spite of a pending lawsuit and a precedent-setting Illinois Supreme Court ruling. Last year, Emanuel announced plans to save $108.7 million a year by phasing out the city’s 55 percent subsidy for retiree health care and forcing retirees to make the switch to Obamacare. For the city, the Year One savings was $25 million. For retirees, that translated into an increase in monthly health insurance premiums...

(Chicago) Mayor Emanuel is vowing to phase-in a higher minimum wage in Chicago than Springfield politicians are planning for the entire state. Rahm says he’ll push for a $13 minimum wage in Chicago even if the state enacts its pending ten dollar minimum wage.

Rahm Emanuel is pushing back against suggestions that violence in his city is out of control, touting new statistics that show violent crime is down in Chicago “The narrative is: We’re the murder capital. Not close,” the Chicago mayor said during an interview with POLITICO. When asked about perception of crime in Chicago, Emanuel was quick to note that he is most concerned with the opinions of his city’s residents about the safety of their communities. But the mayor still seems frustrated with the media, which he feels is focusing on individual incidents of crime without telling the whole story.

Recent polls show Karen Lewis, the Jabba the Hut-like leader of Chicago’s Teachers shown above the odds-on favorite to unseat Rahm Emmanuel and become the next Mayor of Chicago. And this is the reality: the old JFK bargain, where White Liberal Democratic elites govern and give out special favors to Blacks (and Hispanics) in exchange for votes is ending. Chicago’s “FIRE” interests (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) had a good long run. But demographics is everything. Why indeed should Black populations with the majority or near majority of votes and most active voters (and least vulnerable to double/triple voting prosecutions)...

The high-rise at 500 N. Lake Shore Drive is the second-most expensive in the city, with rents for a one-bedroom apartment approaching $3,000 a month, well beyond the reach of most Chicago residents. But that's not too much for the Chicago Housing Authority, which has used federal tax dollars to pick up most of the tab for four lucky residents in the year-old building, with its sweeping views of Lake Michigan, a concierge and a dog-grooming center. The tenants moved in over the past two years as part of a push by the CHA to expand its housing voucher program...

For the past couple of weeks, Karen Lewis has been saying she is “seriously” considering running for mayor. It turns out voters are taking the fiery Chicago Teachers Union president’s potential candidacy seriously as well. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel probably should, too. At least that’s what a surprising new Early & Often Poll suggests. If the mayoral election were held today, the lightning rod union leader who was the architect behind a 2012 teachers’ strike would beat Emanuel by 9 percentage points in a head-to-head contest, the survey found.

Residents from Chicago’s South Side expressed frustration Friday over President Obama’s attention to prioritizing the illegal immigrant crisis at the border over their city’s escalating violence. During a protest outside the Chicago Police Department some residents called for the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy over their failure to address the violence – and even Obama’s as well, according to Rebel Pundit. “Barack will go down as the worst president ever elected, Bill Clinton was the African-American President,” one resident told Rebel Pundit. “President Barack needs to pay attention to Chicago, if he cannot pay attention...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel earlier this month insisted that his brand of gun control should spread nationwide, but this past weekend’s Windy City body count – with six dead and more than 20 wounded, according to this morning’s Chicago Sun Times – does not instill public faith in his strategy. Earlier this month when Mark Glaze stepped down as executive director of Michael Bloomberg’s “Everytown for Gun Safety,” he told the Wall Street Journal, “when a mass shooting happens…nothing that we have to offer would have stopped that mass shooting (in Santa Barbara).” Late last month, Washington CeaseFire President Ralph...

<p>A gunman fired into a crowd at a South Shore strip mall Monday night, striking two teenagers and four adults, according to police....</p> <p>For Tamesha Ginn, a lifelong South Shore resident who heard the gunfire from her porch, the shooting reflected changes her neighborhood has gone through in the years since her childhood.</p>

Five people were killed and at least 15 others have been wounded in separate shootings across the city since Friday evening, including eight shot within the first 30 minutes of June. The most recent fatal shooting happened early Sunday in the Austin neighborhood, when a teenage boy was killed and five others were wounded. The six were standing in a group at the intersection of West Ferdinand Street and North Lavergne Avenue about 12:30 a.m. when several shooters emerged from a nearby alley and opened fire, police said.

I know this isn’t really much of a shock: but Nancy Pelosi is, once again, uttering nonsense. This time, her aimless string of platitudes was focused (and I use the word “focused” rather loosely) on immigration reform. Like many of her progressive allies (in both parties) she rambled about the need for America to create a “path to citizenship”. Nancy, we already have a path to citizenship… And generally, the first step to becoming a US citizen isn’t breaking our Federal immigration laws. According to CNS News: “As a country, we cannot, let me say, we cannot prohibit a path...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is facing criticism after reports emerged this week that his motorcade was caught speeding and violating other traffic laws at least 20 times since 2012. City vehicles carrying Emanuel were spotted speeding near schools and parks and running red stoplights just shy of two dozen times since 2012, WLS-TV reported this week. The station tracked Chicago’s red light and speed cameras and discovered that the city vehicles known to chauffer Emanuel around regularly break critical traffic safety laws. Infractions included a February incident in which speed camears caught both of Emanuel’s vehicles going more than 10...

May 5, 2014 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Red lights? Speed limits? They're apparently not a problem if you are driving the mayor of the city of Chicago. Despite Rahm Emanuel's contention that red light and speed cameras are "all about safety," the ABC7 Eyewitness News I-Team learned those same cameras regularly catch the mayor's motorcade running red and speeding. The city's website catalogs all red light and speed camera violations regardless of who you are. The I-Team ran the plates of the two city vehicles in which Emanuel is chauffeured around Chicago. Since 2012, the cameras have caught the mayor's motorcade...

Shootings on the city's South and West sides left two people dead and at least five others wounded late Tuesday and early this morning. About 9:50 p.m., two men were shot in the 7900 block of South Vincennes Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood. Two assailants approached on foot and started shooting, police said. A witness told relatives the two had been inside the restaurant when the two walked in.

In a previously unpublicized transcript from 2004, the Illinois State Senate specifically linked then US Senator-Elect Barack Obama with corrupt politician and Rod Blagojevich ally Emil Jones Jr. More than simply connecting the two, the transcript specifically calls Jones Mr. Obama's "mentor" and his "political godfather." The transcript was written on November 8, 2004, soon after Mr. Obama was elected to the United States Senate. Ironically, the subject of the section in which the soon-to-be Senator was linked to Jones was written in praise of Mr. Obama. The quote comes from Senate Resolution 716, which was in place to congratulate...

Notes and memos just released by former President Bill Clinton's library reveal that the administration's political team schemed to use the immigration issue to defeat Republicans. Just months into the new administration, memos were swapped inside White House offices discussing how to use immigration to knock out Republicans in California, Texas, New York and other states. In one memo to former Clinton deputy Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago, a top aide wrote, “Immigration will be one of the top two or three issues in the California governor's race in 1994, and I suspect the issue will be significant in...

President Obama on Monday said he has selected W. Neil Eggleston to become chief counsel, adding the expertise of a veteran attorney who was involved in some of the most heated legal battles of the Clinton administration. Eggleston, a white-collar defender who is now at Kirkland & Ellis, will replace departing White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler in mid-May. "Neil brings extraordinary expertise, credentials, and experience, to our team," Obama said in a statement. "He has a passion for public service, is renowned for his conscientiousness and foresight, and I look forward to working closely with him in the coming years."...