. By Ray Hanania Chicago’s City Council aldermen were always intended to be equal to the city’s mayors, to exert influence and represent the needs of their residents. Long before Richard J. Daley took control, creating the Chicago Machine in 1952 and becoming mayor in 1955, aldermen had power. But during those first 100 years,…

By Rich Miller A couple of Chicago mayoral race polling results from last month have been stuck in my head ever since they were released. The BSP Research poll taken March 15-23 for Northwestern University’s Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy found the two mayoral runoff candidates were running neck and neck. The…

By Ray Hanania Brandon Johnson, the Cook County Commissioner very few people heard of, defeated Paul Vallas in the runoff for Chicago mayor. Don’t believe that the major issues between them determined the election results. Vallas criticized Johnson for his numerous statements calling to defund the police, his support of looters who destroyed businesses in…

. By Ray Hanania Buried in a lot of the news over the past few weeks was the announcement that Social Security recipients will see a 20% cut in monthly payments by 2034, predicting the Social Security trust fund will “run out” by 2035. That’s only 12 years away. What is being done? Nothing. For those still…

. By Rich Miller If you’re getting a strong and unpleasant sense of déjà vu about the new U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates for counties, including Cook County, you’re not alone. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8th) is feeling it as well. Krishnamoorthi, who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has been trying to…

By Ray Hanania As much as he tries, Brandon Johnson can’t get away from comments that he made about the most important issues facing Chicagoans, his support to “defund” the Chicago police and comments he made defending looters, criminals who destroyed and robbed hundreds of stores after the George Floyd protests. At the time, Johnson,…

By Dr. Cynthia L. Sears and Dr. Fyza Yusuf Shaikh As two physicians who have devoted our lives to studying cancer, we’re thrilled with President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative to halve the disease’s death rate within 25 years. But it won’t achieve that goal unless we act on a lesser-known health crisis. For many cancer…

By Rich Miller Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Park’s July 4th parade have been prevented with a small change to state law? It’s never been publicly reported before, but several local sources confirmed this week that Highland Park Police Chief Louis Jogmen wanted to send a city-owned drone above the July 4th parade last year.…

By Ray Hanania No ethnic group in America suffers more than Arabs, even more so than African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans. Why do I say that? Because all of the groups I mentioned, with the exception of Arab Americans, are protected by American laws against discrimination and included in the U.S.…

, By Rich Miller ComEd has long been a source of political patronage. The company’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement with federal prosecutors even references how former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s “old-fashioned patronage system” obtained ComEd meter reader jobs for its precinct workers. Madigan’s wasn’t the only patronage network to do this. It was a widespread practice…