Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. How Washington pays Big Green to sue the government – Ron Arnold, Washington Examiner Solar company that received Obama administration backing closes its doors – Andrew Restuccia, The Hill Growing the economy for dummies – Richard W. Rahn, The Washington Times How Obama’s rules hold back Chicago business – Peter Roskam, Chicago Sun-Times Paving the way to World War III – James Carafano, Washington Examiner Libya woes not over – Peter …
President Obama jetted out of town to celebrate his 50th birthday in Chicago last night, an event that doubled as a fundraiser for his re-election campaign. With the debt deal behind him, expect to see Obama on the road to build his war chest for 2012. Tickets to the birthday bash reportedly ranged from $50 a person to whopping $35,800 per couple. Back in the nation’s capital, reporters who were so preoccupied by the deal negotiations noticed that Congress hadn’t approved the Federal Aviation Administration funding bill. Despite the fact thousands of …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Time for a red-tape rescue – Ed Feulner Debate continues on balanced budget amendment – Trish Choate Test cheating rooted in centralization – Lindsey Burke Bill Clinton Does ‘Jim Crow’ – WSJ Let’s hope N.C.’s voter ID bill lives to fight another day – Pat McCrory Pakistan racing to placate China: An analysis – Seema Sirohi Levin and McCain: We have no idea how much debt deal cuts defense – Josh …
The White House has pegged Aug. 2 as the drop-dead deadline for a debt-limit deal. But deal or no deal, President Obama is heading to Chicago on Aug. 3 for his 50th birthday bash — a pricey fundraiser for his re-election campaign. Obama’s campaign began promoting the birthday last week with an appeal to supporters to “bring 50 new people into this campaign for President Obama’s 50th birthday.” Obama’s birthday is Aug. 4. The party will be held the night before at Chicago’s historic Aragon Ballroom. Lynn Sweet of the …
The City of Chicago is preparing for the absolute worst. No, it’s not the financial crunch they’re worried about. While cities across the country are considering closing libraries, cutting services and even pleading for bankruptcy in order to avoid economic Armageddon, the Windy City is preparing for a global-warming-induced environmental apocalypse. The New York Times reports on the dire predictions and what Chicago plans to do about it: If world carbon emissions continued apace, the scientists said, Chicago would have summers like the Deep South, with as many as 72 days …
Hey kids, say goodbye to your lunch boxes! In one Chicago-area school, packing a lunch is now banned. Apparently, mother and father don’t know best. The school’s principal does … or at least she thinks so. The Chicago Tribune reports: At … Little Village Academy on Chicago’s West Side, students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria. Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.
While it’s being reported that every state (except Florida) had snow on the ground this week, 46 states are digging out of another kind of mess — a combined deficit of at least $127 billion. Democratic and Republican state leaders alike are grappling with structural budget deficits, many of whom are proposing budget cuts to tackle the problem. But then there’s Illinois. President Barack Obama’s home state is beleaguered by a $15 billion budget deficit that is said to be the worst in the nation. And apparently the last thing …
Probably not permanently, but the economic policy excerpts from Rahm Emanuel’s stump speech last Saturday could lead one to believe that: . . . we cannot ask taxpayers for more when families are struggling to stay afloat in this economy. We cannot price Chicagoans out of their homes, their schools and communities. This is no time to even talk about raising taxes. Our first responsibility is to make the tough choices that have been avoided too long because of politics and inertia. Whether or not the call for austerity measures …
It turns out that many city public pension plans are just as underfunded as various state plans are. For instance, Chicago has only about $22 billion in pension assets to pay for $66 billion in pension promises to its city workers, while New York City has $93 billion available to pay $215 billion in city pension promises, and Boston has only $3.5 billion available to pay $11 billion in promises. That means that every household in Chicago has a liability of about $42,000 just to pay pensions to city workers, …
This Tuesday, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton addressed The Heritage Foundation’s Chicago Community Committee on American Sovereignty Under a Post-American Presidency as part of out Protect America Month. You can read Chicago Committee Chairman Vince Kolber’s introduction below, and watch Bolton’s speech in the video embedded: It is noteworthy that we have come here today in the Land of Lincoln, when on this very day 150 years ago Lincoln received his party’s nomination a few short blocks from here. We also are in the birth state …
