Free Republic

Report: Chicago To Fight Gun Violence With Letters Chicago police are going to hand deliver letters to people suspected of committing or being victims of gun crimes in an effort to stem violence in the city, according to a new report. Starting Friday, a district commander will be delivering letters warning certain targets in that district not to commit violent crimes, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The pilot program is targeting individuals off a “heat list” developed by a Yale professor, who studied murders on Chicago’s West Side between 2005 and 2010 and found a small network of people was responsible...

Democrats say Mitt Romney manipulated his deductions to keep his overall 2011 federal income tax rate below a certain level for political purposes. The Republican presidential nominee is certain to face new questions about his finances. Romney and his wife, Ann, donated roughly $4 million to charities last year, but they only claimed a deduction of $2.25 million on their tax return, filed with the Internal Revenue Service on Friday. Romney made $13.7 million last year and paid $1.94 million in federal income taxes, giving him an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. That was a bit above the 13.9...

JERUSALEM – The Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations have "legitimate claims" that are being "weakened" by the violence the terror groups carry out, Sen. Barack Obama stated in an interview today with the New York Times. Speaking with columnist David Brooks, Obama said the U.S. needs a foreign policy that "looks at the root causes of problems and dangers." The presidential candidate compared Hezbollah to Hamas, stating they both need to be compelled to understand that "they're going down a blind alley with violence that weakens their legitimate claims." Brooks was speaking to Obama for clarification on an earlier statement...