Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
Kennedy accuses Illinois Dems of blocking candidacy The race for governor seems to be focused on ousting incompetent Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner, but the real battle is between the two Democrats, Chris Kennedy and J.B. Pritzker to win party backing for the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary By Ray Hanania It’s a war between a…
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Kennedy endorsed by Southern Illinois Democrats First major endorsement in the governor’s race goes to Chris Kennedy two weeks after announcing his campaign Chris Kennedy, Democratic candidate for governor, received the endorsement of the Southern Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association yesterday. This is the first major endorsement in the Democratic race for governor. “The SIDCCA insists…
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Kennedy: Rauner Holds budget hostage “We want to pass reform, not pay a ransom.” Chris Kennedy, Democratic candidate for governor, faulted Governor Rauner’s budget address for failing to offer solutions to Illinois’ budget crisis. “He needs to stop holding us hostage. We want to pass reform, not pay a ransom,” said Kennedy. “Instead of Governor…
Why is my TV clogged with election Ads? Nauseating political commercials have already started to clog our Spring season television viewing, and it has a lot to do with the fact that the three candidates for governor in Illinois are among the richest people around. Republican Bruce Rauner, one of the most incompetent governor’s Illinois has…
Arrogance of the Orland Park Village Board The Orland Park Village Board is apparently pretending that village voters really didn’t mean to support “change” in the last election, voting to oust 24-year incumbent Dan McLaughlin and replacing him with a little known, well-intentioned challenger, Keith Pekau. The board has named Joe LaMargo, the former head…
Rauner, Pritzker & hypocrisy at the Chicago Sun-Times Most mainstream American journalists love to dish it out and criticize people, but they are thinned skinned and hate to be criticized themselves, especially when they are involved in their own conflicts-of-interest that they fail to mention in their stories. As a columnist who writes my opinions, I…
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Analysis: Why Pekau won and McLaughlin lost A poorly run re-election campaign by seven-term incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin combined with a hot-topic issue of salary and pension hikes, and a laser-focused issues campaign of a non-political challenger, Keith Pekau, running on the Republican Party banner did what no one thought could happen April 4 in Orland Park….
Muslims lose in backlash in Suburban Chicago elections Two Muslim candidates who had strong political backing lost their bids for election on Tuesday in Suburban Chicago contests. Dave Shalabi, who was appointed to a position on a local school board two years ago, lost his bid to remain on the influential school board. Bahira Karim fails in…
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Pekau defeats McLaughlin in Orland Park mayoral race Republican challenger Keith Pekau easily unseated 23 year incumbent Dan McLaughlin as Mayor of Orland Park in a contest that focused on the mayor’s bid to boost his salary by more than 375 percent and to spike his pension from $30,000 a year to $110,000. By Ray Hanania…
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Pekau says he won’t take pension benefit The high profile battle for the office of mayor of Orland Park in southwest suburban Chicago is fueled by the board’s decision to give the 23 year incumbent Mayor Dan McLaughlin a massive salary boost and huge pension after only one term in office. The salary and pension spike has…
Orland Mayoral race has state’s attention The battle between Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin and challenger Keith Pekau has the attention of the entire state apparently creating a wild election contest filled with a lot of unusual issues, supporters and claims By Ray Hanania The battle to lead Orland Park, one of the fastest growing suburbs…
Kennedy promises to bring diversity to Illinois government Christopher Kennedy, the son of slain former New York Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, told an overcrowded gathering of American Arabs outside of Chicago that he would defend the rights of immigrants and fight to bring diversity back to Illinois government when elected governor of the…
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Fighting oppressive taxes in Cook County SW News Group Column March 9, 2017. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle bashed former President Todd Stroger when she ran against him for proposing outrageous hikes in taxes including the sales tax. But as soon as she got to office, she raised the taxes, too. Even worse. The…
Suburbs should not have to pay Chicago’s spending shortfalls SW Newspaper Group Feb. 23, 2017 By Ray Hanania Don’t waste your time trying to figure out how Illinois divides the property taxes it collects to support local schools and the sales and income taxes it collects to subsidize Chicago’s bailout. It’s too complicated, intentionally. The…
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Skimming through the Obits and life The obituary section of the old more informed newspaper era was an obsession with my father back in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the newspapers are anorexic but the Obit section is still growing strong. And, I understand why my father paid attention to it so much now that I…
Orland Park approves 375% increase in mayoral salary Nearly 100 residents crowded the Orland Park village hall to complain that the pay hike should be presented to the voters for approval and not the board members, who voted unanimously to hike the salary following two hours of public discussion and debate. By Ray Hanania (Note: You…
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State should prevent candidates from suing each other By Ray Hanania Part of the job of running for office is to tell the voters why you should be elected. And another part of the job of being a candidate is to tell the voters why your opponent shouldn’t be elected. That means that you give…
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Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman resigned from her 13 year position on the board to take an important private sector job at a Fortune 100 company. It’s a loss for Cook County, a loss for moderation, a loss for Gov. Bruce Rauner and a loss for taxpayers By Ray Hanania Liz Gorman, the Orland Township…