U.S. hypocrisy never in short supply

RayHanania

. By Ray Hanania . Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, America began to build up its reputation as the leader of the free world. One of the most important aspects of carrying that title was to lead the fight to champion freedom and to speak out against human rights violations, injustices and government-sanctioned crimes, especially against innocent…

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Labor, business want more infrastructure spending

RichMiller

. By Rich Miller . Three of Gov. JB Pritzker’s appointees to the Illinois Commerce Commission have not yet been confirmed by the Illinois Senate, including the chair, Doug Scott. All three unconfirmed appointees have recently voted against the stated interests of trade unions. Senate President Don Harmon has assiduously courted trade union support and…

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Missing the old days of imagination

. By Ray Hanania . Technology has been a blessing and a curse for our society, especially in the making of movies. Too often technology takes the place of great movie scripts and stories. While the CGI (computer generated images) sometimes can be astonishing, there is nothing like having a great story to provoke your…

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Voters need to stop hiding in the weeds

RayHanania

. By Ray Hanania . Let’s be honest. The choices we have for president next year are very flawed. You can find something you don’t like about every candidate. Some voters will close their eyes to flaws in order to vote against someone over some issue they don’t like, while others will vote for someone…

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Lobbying orgs need to re-think questionnaires

RichMiller

. By Rich Miller . Imagine a lobbyist approaching a legislator and promising that if the member voted for a specific bill the lobbyist would contribute to their campaign committee. Lobbyists have been convicted here for doing just that, going back to at least 1982. Legislators would be violating state law if they made that…

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Get ready to tighten those belts

RichMiller

. By Rich Miller . The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget released a revised state revenue and spending forecast last month for the current fiscal year and it’s pretty good. Its projections for next fiscal year, however, were not nearly as strong. Projected Fiscal Year 2024 revenues have been revised upward by $1.4 billion,…

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Holidays are different today

RayHanania

. By Ray Hanania . When I was growing up, a phrase I am sure younger generations hate to hear is that I really enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas. The focus was on family, food and fun. Kids got time off from school, and our parents had time off from work. But instead of going on…

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Start thinking for yourself

RayHanania

. By Ray Hanania . Congress and American politics is like a shell game in which the truth is slid in circle-eights and from side-to-side, replaced by lies, actions that completely contradict what is being claimed. Social Security is a good example of how this federal shell game operates and why Democrats in Congress have…

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Pols fail private-school kids

RichMiller

. By Rich Miller . I don’t know whether or not the legislative Democratic leadership would have allowed a vote, but it is puzzling to me that the people behind the extension of the state’s Invest in Kids Act program didn’t at least try to run a bill that would have wound the program down…

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School board spat erodes confidence in Springfield

RichMiller

. By Rich Miller . Chicago Teachers Union lobbyist Kurt Hilgendorf told the Illinois Senate Executive Committee on Nov. 7 that the union had only “one problem” with Senate President Don Harmon’s elected Chicago school board bill. Hilgendorf praised much of the bill during his testimony. But the Chicago Teachers Union has claimed for years that…

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