Free Republic

Washington - When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois. And as she prepared to become first lady, Mrs. Obama naively wanted to delay a move into the White House for six months, so her daughters could finish the school year. Her initial thought was to "commute" to the White House from her South Side home. And Marty Nesbitt, one of President Obama's best friends, had been recruited...

The hearing officer in Rahm Emanuel’s residency case has tossed out a friend-of-the-court brief filed by 47 well-known attorneys who argued that Emanuel should be allowed to run for mayor. The attorneys raised no new arguments that Emanuel’s attorneys had not already made, and four of the attorneys work at the law firm, which is representing Emanuel in the case, hearing officer Joe Morris wrote. Morris’ ruling on the friend-of-the-court brief does not necessarily signal his decision on Emanuel’s right to run for mayor, when he presents his findings to the Chicago Board of Elections. “The hearing officer has examined...

EAST CAMDEN, Ark. – Days before Arkansas voters deliver a verdict on her political career, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln spent Saturday telling them that she's built up the clout in Washington to best represent the state's interests. Talking up her credentials in Washington flies in the face of the anti-incumbent and anti-Washington sentiment that Lincoln faces. Halter, backed by labor unions that have soured on Lincoln, is portraying himself as an agent of change and Lincoln as the status quo. Lincoln is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in Washington this year. She angered conservatives by supporting the Democratic-led...

To go after violators of the state’s coastal protection laws, the California Coastal Commission first must go through the courts to levy penalties. But a new proposal would allow the commission to directly order civil penalties of $5,000 to $50,000 without court intervention – a move that is drawing attention in the Capitol. “This is a case of enforcement. There is a very difficult problem in enforcing coastal regulations,” said Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City. “The public voted to create a commission to protect the coast, and the people of California see the coast as a critical part of the...

Chicago Alderman Richard Mell has pushed a short-lived gun registration amnesty through the "Police Committee", allowing for certain lapsed registrations to be renewed for a 4-month window. The ordinance still faces a full city council vote, and would not apply to new registrations or banned weapons (Chicago has a ban list, and Cook County recently passed a sweeping "assault rifle" ban).

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Antique store owners in lower Manhattan, ticket vendors at India's Taj Mahal and Brazilian business executives heading to China all have one thing in common these days: They don't want U.S. dollars. Hit by a free fall with no end in sight, the once mighty U.S. dollar is no longer just crashing on currency markets and making life more expensive for American tourists and business people abroad; its clout is evaporating worldwide as foreign businesses and individuals turn to other currencies. Experts say the bleak U.S. economic forecast means it will take years for the greenback...

Politicians knew it. The community knew it. The police knew it. If you really wanted to connect with voters in troubled northwest Oakland, ... , all roads led to the late Yusuf Bey and his Your Black Muslim Bakery on San Pablo Avenue. Bey and his followers knew they had political clout. They used it to great advantage in obtaining money from the city, lenient sentences from judges, and a virtual hands-off approach from the Police Department - even though evidence now shows that the bakery's leadership was implicated in serious crimes. Jerry Brown - former governor, now state attorney...

WASHINGTON, June 9 — Helped by the fight over immigration, Democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination are moving to court Hispanic voters like never before, as a string of early primary states with sizable Hispanic voting blocs prompt candidates to hire outreach consultants, start Spanish-language Web sites and campaign vigorously before Hispanic audiences. The battle for Hispanic voters is a result of the decision by several states with large Hispanic populations to move their presidential primaries to early 2008, including California, Florida and New York. Roughly two-thirds of the nation’s Hispanic residents live in nine of the states that will...

SAN DIEGO - It isn't every day on the campaign trail that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson proclaims himself a Californian, or that Hillary Rodham Clinton pledges to be a president who respects gay relationships. But with trendsetting California set to move its primary to next Feb. 5, candidates are scrambling to adjust to a new reality in which the state's votes, and not just its money, may have a decisive impact on the nominating process. California's enhanced role in the political calendar was on full display this weekend, with nearly all the major Democratic contenders flying in to address...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that California would be "an example for the rest of the country" if it adopted universal health coverage, something he insisted he wants done this year. "Let the rest of the country look at us in a jealous way and just say, 'How did they do it?'" the governor said at a luncheon meeting of the Sacramento Press Club. Schwarzenegger also said he wants to move the California presidential primary up, so the state has a role in the decision-making process. As it is, he said, candidates come here to raise money...

EL MONTE Maria Valdez didn't consider herself an environmentalist when she pressed this city east of Los Angeles to buy land ringed with factories and railroad tracks for a new neighborhood park. The trash lot is now on its way to becoming a green oasis with a butterfly sanctuary and community garden and Valdez is undergoing a transformation of her own. Next month she will be sworn in as president of the El Monte chapter of Mujeres de la Tierra, a two-year-old environmental group that caters to Hispanic immigrants and translates as "Women of the Earth." "When you get involved...

Taxpayers in Friendswood will receive a 10 percent refund from their 2005 city property taxes after City Council voted 4-3 to return nearly $1.1 million in tax revenue Monday night. City Council members Jim Hill, Jay Horecky, John LeCour and Chris Peden supported the controversial measure, which was opposed by City Council members Laura Ewing and Mel Measeles as well as Mayor David Smith. When the $1,093,680 in rebates will be issued and what form it will come in has not yet been decided. The process to issue the refunds is projected to take 30 days, according to a city...

SACRAMENTO — The Legislature, facing the highest turnover in at least a decade this November, will likely more closely match the ethnicity of the Bay Area as it gains additional African-American representation. With one-third of lawmakers leaving due to the political musical chairs created by term limits, or because of other plans, projections of current races indicate the Legislative Black Caucus may become the largest in its history. The current caucus has six members — all from Los Angeles County — but three to five new members could hail from the Bay Area, the Inland Empire and San Diego. Such...

SACRAMENTO – The stark disparity in wealth and political power that Indian gambling has brought to California reservations has taken two tribes on decidedly different journeys in recent weeks. The Agua Caliente band of Palm Springs already has 2,000 slot machines in two casinos that generate more than $250 million a year for the 400-member tribe. The Quechan band, whose remote reservation straddles the California-Arizona border in Imperial County, has fewer than 800 slots in two small casinos that produced $71 million last year for the 3,600-member tribe. Both tribes negotiated new gambling agreements that would permit expansions – a...

AUSTIN – Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is siding with a conservative group that is suing state leaders – including her – and accusing them of spending more taxpayer money than the state constitution allows. Mrs. Strayhorn, who is running against Gov. Rick Perry, is among the defendants listed in a lawsuit filed last month by Citizens for Lowering Our Unfair Taxes, a Houston-based group. Others include Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick. Mr. Perry is not named in the lawsuit. -SNIP- The comptroller agrees that "the voters meant something when they voted in 1979 to cap spending,"...

KSEV morning talk-show host and executive director of CLOUT: Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes has announced his intention to file a lawsuit designed to force state government to comply with strict spending limits written into the Texas State Constitution. Article 8, Section II of that fine document was approved by 84% of Texas voters in 1979, and reads as follows: In no biennium shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues not dedicated by this constitution exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy. Here’s the problem– the legislature hasn’t been doing this. Instead, they’ve...

AUSTIN - The state's biennial spending limit is an artificial gauge of the economy that allows unconstitutional and excessive spending on state agencies and programs, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a conservative taxpayer watchdog group. The constitution requires that the state budget not exceed economic growth. The Legislative Budget Board determines that limit before each regular legislative session, based on personal income of all Texans. The limit for the current budget was set at about $56 billion. But the group Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes is arguing that personal income gives an inflated measure of the economy and...

C.L.O.U.T ANNOUNCES LAWSUIT AGAINST LT. GOV., SPEAKER, COMPTROLLER Taxpayer group asks court to enforce constitutional spending limits AUSTIN, Texas – Edd Hendee, executive director of taxpayer-watchdog group CLOUT: Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes announced today that he has lawsuit aimed at requiring Texas state government to comply with the spending limits already written into the Texas constitution. “Regardless of your political affiliation or public policy agenda, all of us can agree that Texas government needs to operate within the framework of the state constitution,” Hendee said. “That isn’t happening. Instead, we have a clear constitutional provision that is routinely ignored,...

The longest-tenured city manager in Galveston County is resigning. Friendswood officials confirmed Wednesday that Ronald Cox would step down in April after years on the job. Cox met Friendswood Mayor Kimball Brizendine last week to inform him of his plan to resign. “It was a surprise to all of us,” said Brizendine. “We’ve been blessed to have had him for the last 15 years.” Cox shared the news with the city council in an executive session Monday and his resignation was announced to city employees Tuesday. The mayor said Cox would pursue opportunities as a private consultant for cities across...

Sunni Arabs gain American backing in negotiations to form a new government.BAGHDAD – One month after Iraq's Dec. 15 election, a shift is afoot that will probably weaken Shiite political clout as the country's factions enter serious negotiations to form a new government. Increasingly, the US is throwing its weight in Iraq behind Sunni Arabs, about 20 percent of the country, to ensure they are part of a new coalition government. Analysts say the US is convinced reconciliation with Sunni Arabs will help stop the insurgency. There is also an American unease with the growing influence of Iran on Iraq's...