By Rich Miller The state’s political world may have been shocked, but I doubt many in that world were surprised at the level of vitriol in Rep. Sam Yingling’s (D-Grayslake) press release last week, which claimed he’d been “attacked” by Gov. JB Pritzker. Pritzker’s “offense” was endorsing Yingling’s Democratic primary opponent Mary Edly-Allen in the…

By Jim Nowlan Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally put her finger on the fundamental problem about youth violence in her city: “Parents should not let their 10-year-olds go downtown alone late at night, as some are doing!” Duh. I fear the quality of parenting has declined sharply over the past half century, especially in—I’m generalizing here,…

By Ray Hanania When your top employee turns out to be an accused pedophile, and is later convicted and jailed, the last thing you want the public to see is the letter you wrote urging leniency so he can continue doing your work. That’s basically what Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison did when he learned…

By Rich Miller The long Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and is perhaps best known in Chicago as the beginning of its long, hot season of gun violence. The morning-after news coverage typically notes that the holiday “was the most violent weekend of the year so far,” or some such thing.…

By Walter G. Copan Bureaucrats are debating whether to take away patent rights on Xtandi, a prostate cancer drug, from its manufacturer. Activists have complained that the medicine’s price is too high. They argue that because the molecule behind the drug originated in a research lab that received federal funding, the government has the power…

By Rich Miller Illinois peaked at 27 U.S. House seats after the 1910 Census and subsequent reapportionment. That lasted until the 1940 Census, when Illinois dropped to 26 seats in Congress. We’ve been steadily losing ground ever since. It’s not that we lost population, it’s that other states in the West and the South grew…

By Ray Hanania The Republican Party in Illinois has been in disarray for the past few years, with a wide range of people pulling it in every direction. But on May 20, mainstream Republicans who have the true spirit of the conservative movement in their hearts will gather to solidify their voices to rally their…

By Kenneth E. Thorpe A U.S. team in Geneva reportedly made a deal with dire consequences for patients everywhere. They threw their support behind a proposal that would nullify intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines. Though ostensibly intended to make shots more accessible, the deal will do the exact opposite by discouraging the research investments.…

By Rich Miller Gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin has spent tens of millions of billionaire Ken Griffin’s dollars introducing himself to Republican primary voters. Yet, a recent poll taken for WGN TV by Emerson College Polling shows he’s leading Sen. Darren Bailey by just 4% points, 24-20, with 19% split between the other four candidates and…

By Thomas L. Knapp In the wake of a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion which, if it represents a final vote, would overturn Roe v. Wade, pro-choice advocates are marshaling their best — and worst — arguments against removing that ruling’s protections for abortion. As always, I’ll refrain from sharing my own opinions on abortion…