Free Republic

“Follow the money trail” was a comment made on an October 12, 2025 article describing Chicago politics as a gangster movie rerun. Well, both Jesse Watters of Fox News and the Chicago Sun-Times decided to “follow the money trail” for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, now that he is standing in the way of arresting criminals and blocking President Trump’s heroic attempt to shut down crime in Chicago. Jesse Watters reported that Pritzker made over a million dollars playing blackjack in 2024 while staying in Sin City Las Vegas. Senior National Correspondent Kevin Corke stated Pritzker made “$1.425 million bucks in...

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a $16.6 billion budget plan for 2026 on Thursday, relying on a number of new or increased taxes on corporations to close a $1.2 billion shortfall while protecting the city from funding cuts by the Trump administration. "We are asking large corporations and big tech companies that have made trillions of dollars to pitch in a little bit more," Johnson said. f Johnson's budget plan is approved, social media companies could find themselves on the hook for a new tax next year. Chicago would be the first city to impose such a tax, and it's just...

One of President Trump’s biggest political adversaries stunned the political world after revealing that he won an unusual amount of money gambling in Las Vegas last year. As The New York Times reported, Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker released his 2024 tax returns on Wednesday as rumors circulate about him as a 2028 presidential candidate.The returns revealed that Pritzker and his wife reported $10.7 million in adjusted gross income. But the biggest shock was the fact that he won $1.4 million playing blackjack in Las Vegas in just one trip. Such an amount is surprising, especially considering Pritzker is not...

There are a lot of candidates for biggest misuse of tax-increment financing. Enter a new contender: the pending approval of a TIF to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Lowe's in Belleville. It's bad enough that the world's largest retailer argues that it needs a tax break or it won't build. It's worse when a city, now dependent on Wal-Mart's sales taxes, feels that it can't turn down the request.

I have been harrassed, followed, suffered property damage and the introduction of substances into my home and vehicle that have been making my family (my 10 year old son and I) ill for over 2 years, I purchased a small bungalow on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood at the southeast most tip of Chicago that borders Lake Michigan and a lakefront park. The parties involved: I believe are individuals from city government agencies (Department Water and Sewer, Department of Planning, Purchasing, Police Department), It seems that there is interest in this area and I believe there is...

In the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's," lead character Holly Golightly cheered herself up by window shopping at Tiffany & Co.'s (TIF) Manhattan store. A couple of years ago, the firm itself could have used a little cheering up. Sales and profit fell in fiscal 2001 and rose only slightly the next year. The main problem was demand. In a year racked by terror and recession, there just wasn't much of it for the kind of high-end merchandise Tiffany carries. But like a lot of retailers, Tiffany has recently bounced back, thanks in part to a healthier economy. "In the first...