Free Republic

I think we need to meet as conservatives to get ideas on how to save our beautiful state. It was going well until Blago took over in 2002. I'm thinking January 9th. Downtown Chicago.

The Democratic primary will be bloody. It will take no great political prognostication to figure that out. Todd Stroger, the encumbent, is vulnerable and the Democrats know it. That's why there are no fewer than four challengers ready to take him on. Stroger is best known for sticking the County with the highest sales tax in the country. Local news stations have featured stories of cushy jobs going to friends and family. Then, there's the story of Tony Cole. Cole was his basketball playing buddy when Stroger offered him a job in the County. Not three months into his tenure,...

There's a smell test that I usually use when a politician invokes the deity into a political debate. Does it seem out of place? Is this something that the politician does consistently or are they suddenly invoking the deity? For instance, Bill Clinton could be found at church only when there was political heat on him. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, evokes the lord a lot and so if she were to evoke the lord I wouldn't be quite as skeptical. (though, I understand that this would give her more license)

The Chicago Sun Times has the latest in a string political corruption revelation in an area in which this appears common place. Patronage workers with the Cook County Forest Preserve District are seeing more green these days -- in their paychecks. With people everywhere facing tough financial times, the 28 forest preserve patronage workers who've been on the payroll since 2006 all got hefty raises in the following two years, an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found. They're among 38 forest preserve workers who are exempt from the Shakman court order that bans political...

The Chicago Sun Times has the latest in a string political corruption revelation in an area in which this appears common place. Patronage workers with the Cook County Forest Preserve District are seeing more green these days -- in their paychecks. With people everywhere facing tough financial times, the 28 forest preserve patronage workers who've been on the payroll since 2006 all got hefty raises in the following two years, an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found. They're among 38 forest preserve workers who are exempt from the Shakman court order that bans political...

Patronage workers with the Cook County Forest Preserve District are seeing more green these days -- in their paychecks. With people everywhere facing tough financial times, the 28 forest preserve patronage workers who've been on the payroll since 2006 all got hefty raises in the following two years, an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association has found. They're among 38 forest preserve workers who are exempt from the Shakman court order that bans political hiring in city and county government.

The state is freezing $2.35 million in grant money for Cook County President Todd Stroger's job training program after a probe raised questions about spending and accounting practices at the office.

Glen has David Freddoso on the show. He was explaining how Obama has not fought corruption in Chicago, his example was the election of Todd Stergen(sp?). He was mid sentence and all of a sudden Glen is back on the screen at the start of the segment. We never again see David talking about the above specific incident. They totally edited it out. I swear I'm not on something, both my wife and I saw it. If anyone is recording the show and can push the segment out to youtube that would be much appreciated. Thanks

When Cook County Board President Todd Stroger introduced his cousin Donna Dunnings as the county's new chief financial officer last year, they each boasted of the savings taxpayers would realize. She would take a salary far less than the previous CFO. That was then.

My commentary from September after John Stroger's godson Orlando Jones committed suicide... http://urqmedia.com/proft/contentview.asp?c=201006 (If it comes to pass) The trial of Lacy Thomas--former director of Cook County Hospital under John Stroger before absconding to Vegas-- is something inquiring minds in Chicago should watch.

CHICAGO - Tax hikes, proposed clinic closings and claims of racism plagued a Cook County Board meeting on Tuesday. Commissioner William Beavers charges white members of the board are ganging up on president Todd Stroger to block his agenda. "If this was a white man in power right now, they wouldn't be fighting (Stroger) like this," Beavers said, raising his racial conspiracy theory at a seemingly pointless county finance committee meeting where commissioners grew testy and interrupted each other. Beavers claimed that Tony Peraica hates all black people, saying, "All black elected officials he hates -- he don't like 'em."...

Orlando Jones, the top aide and godson of former Cook County Board President John Stroger, parlayed his connections into a lucrative career as a behind-the-scenes government consultant with ties stretching from Chicago to Springfield and Las Vegas. But in the last year, his quiet, insider role had brought him under more scrutiny of law enforcement, and on Tuesday he met with his lawyer to discuss how to refute allegations that he was involved in a contract scheme at a Las Vegas public hospital. A day later, Jones, 52, was found dead on a beach in southwest Michigan, and authorities said...

The ongoing two-act comic tragedy now playing at the Cook County Board dramatizes Yogi Berra's famous observation: "It's deja vu all over again." Stroke-stricken John Stroger sent a letter resigning his presidency last week. His successor is set to be selected by board commissioners on Wednesday. Within weeks after Stroger was stricken on March 14, Ald. Todd Stroger began positioning himself as the heir apparent for his father's post. That's when I began seeing deja vu, too. After the death of Harold Washington 19 years ago, there was a power struggle among African-American politicians over who would succeed Chicago's first...

Rude, race-baiting questions are not my first choice in the journalistic quiver. But I couldn't help firing a few at Tony Peraica, the Republican candidate for president of the Cook County Board. Tony, just when are you going to turn into an evil white racist? In September or October, when you'll be known as a man bent on disenfranchising African-American voters, like the rest of those Republicans? "Excuse me?" Peraica said. We were sitting in the quietly exclusive atmosphere of CND Gyros during an interview on Wednesday. It's quietly exclusive because it's not expensive enough for most politicians, leaving taxpayers...

If you want to discover how a perfectly healthy pink state turns into a lasting blue one, look no further than Illinois.For years, Republicans often won statewide and federal elective offices. But thanks to a bungling party "leadership" way out of touch with its constituency, Tuesday's primary election to select a GOP nominee for governor presents voters with indecision, disappointment or disgust. Among the candidates, "I don't know" has made a strong showing.We columnists have raked this field of candidates to the point of tedium, but why not? Why should Republicans be forced to choose among marginal, inexperienced, unqualified or...