Free Republic

If Republicans are to win future presidential elections, they must add Latino voters to their midst. In this respect, bad news and good news comes from a recent Pew Hispanic Center study. The bad news is that these voters are most likely to identify with Democrats; the good news is that their party loyalty is shallow and their political viewpoints defy easy categorization. And a question mark should be given the GOP--to ask whether its conservative base is willing to accept changes that would build Latino acceptance. The study was conducted on 4,213 adults 18 and older. The study notes...

The Illinois Republican Liberty Caucus met today, Sat, Feb 8 at Leona's Hillside Restaurant. We had lively discussions on many issues, and on methods to effectively communicate those issues. I hope everyone enjoyed meeting each other. Certainly for me the highlight was meeting face to face friends with whom I have chatted on the web for a long time. We had 15 people present from Springfield, Peoria, DeKalb, Warrenville, Palos, Evergreen Park, LaGrange Park, Berkeley, Streamwood, Hanover Park, Chicago, Niles, North Chicago. Joe Hedrick, Jack McInerney, George Kocan, Bill Hogan who had just come from the ICRC - Illinois Center...

All Illinois FReepers are invited to the first Illinois meeting (in person) of the Illinois Republican Liberty Caucus.Sat Feb 8 3-5 pmLeona's Hillside Restaurant 4431 Roosevelt Rd, Hillside IL 60162 1 mile south of Eisenhower-I290 xway halfway between Mannheim Rd and Wolf Rd, both of which have expressway exits.Effective use of the internet in politics will be one of the topics of discussion. And, of course, it is a chance to meet in person people with whom we chat.

A janitorial firm headed by a former national president of Operation PUSH could lose public school business based on charges it joined a scheme to falsify minority subcontractor work on more than $4.6 million in fencing contracts won by a once-prominent Democratic fund-raiser, officials said Tuesday.

Chicago police investigators cleared two men in separate cases of homicide, after self-defense claims were substantiated, according to police.Shortly after 1:00 a.m. Sunday, a 29 year-old man reportedly knocked at the door of Alexander Padilla of the 2000 block of North Spaulding Avenue, according to police department News Affairs spokesperson Officer Thomas Donegan. The man, identified as Gilbert Matthews of the 4900 block of West Eddy, then kicked in the door and began firing a handgun at Padilla who jumped behind a couch and grabbed a weapon of his own.Donegan said Padilla returned fire, striking Matthews in the chest. Matthews...

Frank Aguilar: A New Face From CiceroFrank Aguilar will be sworn in for his first term as state representative next week. (Ilinois)....AGUILAR: Growing up for me was fun - as far as I knew. I grew up in the Pilsen neighborhood in the city of Chicago. It was 1960, the gang issue was not then what it is now. I went to Catholic school and grew up in a family where faith was important. ....In Pilsen we had a one room apartment and considering the family was getting bigger and the gangs were starting to get worse, we moved to...

CHICAGO -- In a contentious and rare mutual appearance, the three candidates for south suburban's State Senate District 15 slugged it out on Chicago area's WYLL AM 1160's last Thursday.,?p> The debate reflected the race that is heating is up between incumbent Democrat State Senator William Shaw, and challengers Republican Thornton Police Chief Phil Arnold and Rev. James Meeks, pastor of the Salem Baptist Church and heir-apparent of Jesse Jackson Sr's group Operation PUSH.....The leading issue discussed on the afternoon was education. Senator Shaw stated that taxpayers will willingly fork over greater amounts of tax dollars to support education initiatives....

Civil rights hero turns back on movement October 1, 2002 BY REED BRANSON JACKSON, Miss.--Four decades after breaking the color barrier at the University of Mississippi, the iconoclastic James Meredith is pursuing what he believes is a more critical mission: the used-car rental business. In a worn two-story brick garage near the railroad tracks west of downtown here, Meredith, 69, answers his telephone and scans a white board with a roster of 10-year-old Fords, Pontiacs and Hondas printed in blue ink. ''It's $100 a week, or $350 a month,'' he tells a caller between interviews with reporters from around the...

Aug. 12, CNN aired "breaking" news conference to update viewers on a matter it considered of global importance: the medical condition of Jason Priestley -- On Aug. 12, more than 700 mourners from across the country gathered to mark the tragic murder of Kris Eggle -- a 28-year-old National Park Service ranger who was gunned down near the U.S.-Mexico border last week. Not a single national network or cable news station mentioned the memorial service or the outrageous circumstances of Eggle's death. Several Border Patrol veterans and immigration officers e-mailed me with the same frustrated plea: Where's the media? Why...

Immigrants automatically deported under a law ruled illegal by the Supreme Court could not return to the United States under new rules proposed by the Justice Department. The rules triggered by a June 2001 Supreme Court decision would allow immigrants convicted of certain crimes before 1996 to have hearings on whether they can stay in the United States, but those already deported are out of luck.Under the law, legal permanent residents who committed crimes before 1996 were deported without a hearing. Many who already served jail time and had started to build new lives were forced to leave their families...

Mark Guethle, the new chairman of the Kane County Democratic Party, said he voted for a Republican in the 2000 primary election because his union told him to. Guethle's Kane County voting history indicates he took a Republican ballot in the 2000 primary election. Now the union's political organizer, Guethle said Painters Union District Council No. 30 strongly supported Sunny Abello, who was challenging State Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, in the primary."It wasn't the first time," Guethle said of voting in a Republican primary on the directive of his union."When the union director sends you a letter, you read it...

Some say priest gets just treatment; others claim racism and say priest had been marked for years. CHICAGO - On Sunday, Cardinal Francis George of the Chicago Archdiocese announced that eight Chicago area priests would be withdrawn from their ministry duties. One name on the list is that of 54-year-old John Calicott of Holy Angels church in Chicago.In 1976, Calicott was accused by two 15-year-old boys of engaging in sexual misconduct. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin reinstated him in 1995, a year and a half after the allegations came to light, and, after he had admitted to the improper conduct, and had...

(Reader's comment to Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune Editor) Like Don Wycliff, I like art. But I think he owes his readers a little bit of an explanation. After admitting (May 2) the important insights that are some of art's benefits, he needs to justify how he can in good conscience still be an opponent of government funding for the National Endowment of the Arts.Eileen G. SoderstromChicago (Don Wycliff replies) Fair question and I'm glad you asked it. It all goes back to the principle that underlies the 1st Amendment, with its guarantees of freedom of religion, speech and press. The...

If there's one long-term electoral trend worrying Republicans, it's the widening gender gap in voting behavior. In the early postwar period, a majority of women favored Republican candidates, while men were more inclined toward Democrats. In recent decades, however, voting patterns have reversed sharply, with far more women supporting Democrats and men voting Republican. Recent elections highlight the shift. The support of women was a big factor in Bill Clinton's victories, and if women's votes alone had been counted in 2000, Al Gore would have won by a landslide. While polls suggest that George W. Bush has at least temporarily ...

"Although community organizations have been protesting against these loans, not enough homeowners have stepped forward to file a complaint" "...call any of the following groups: The Woodstock Institute at 312-427-8070 The National Training and Information Center at 312-243-3035"

Congress shall have power....To declare war....To provide for calling forth the militia....such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states....according to the discipline prescribed by Congress (US Constitution). 1. Congress should declare war. A "Tonkin Gulf" resolution leaves committment in doubt. We must learn from history. Do it right or don't do it. If Congress doesn't have the guts now, They won't have the guts later. 2. Congress should call up part of the militia as the constitution provides. That part of the militia should be called up to carry ...

Schaumburg Mon 5/7 7pm Schaumburg Twp Hall meet friends Chicagoland, Th 5/10 7pm 10 E. Main St.Carpentersville, conservative round table, representatives of many groups. Hosted by FTN-Family Taxpayer Network, thechampion.org Streamwood, Wed 5/16 7pm Trianno's Restaurant, West side of Bartlett Rd, 1 block N of Streamwood Blvd. meet friends. contact spintreebob@yahoo.com