From Salon
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel cakewalked into office, from his former position as the White House chief of staff to President Obama, to succeed the two-decade reign of Richard M. Daley. Like Daley, Emanuel faced weak opponents who grumbled at his supersize war chest, thickly padded by financiers from Hollywood to Wall Street. But unlike Daley, Emanuel promised two things Chicagoans do not hear often: pledges for more government transparency, and to make “tough choices” to fix the city’s ballooning budget deficit.

 
 
Now, midway into his inaugural term, the honeymoon is …

From George Will at JWR
As soon as the Constitution permitted him to run for Congress, Al Salvi did. In 1986, just 26 and fresh from the University of Illinois law school, he sank $1,000 of his own money, which was most of his money, into his campaign to unseat an incumbent Democratic congressman. Salvi studied for the bar exam during meals at campaign dinners.

He lost his campaign. Today, however, he should be invited to Congress to testify about what happened 10 years later, when he was a prosperous lawyer and …

From Bill Donohue
The State Department under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to have been infinitely more concerned about punishing whistleblowers than pedophiles. Aurelia Fedensin, a former senior inspector general investigator at the State Department, said Gutman “routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children.” Evidently, lots of people knew about it and did nothing. Gutman raised a half-million dollars for Obama in 2008 and helped finance his inaugural.

 
Here’s Ambassador Gutman applying his parenting skills to condemn Sarah Palin
This has …

From the USA Today
Over the past 10 years, Rep. Luis Gutierrez has paid a Chicago lobbyist more than $500,000 in taxpayer funds to work side-by-side with his congressional staff.
 

 
Lobbyist Doug Scofield, Gutierrez’s former chief of staff, can train staff, review and help draft news releases, and help “publicize programs and activities” of the congressman, among other things. He can do all that and still not be counted as a member of Gutierrez’s official staff. Instead, Scofield is paid as a contractor providing “training” under a contract approved by the Committee …

Fr. Greeley, a Priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, successful author, and chronicler of Chicago Catholicism, has died at age 85.

 
Fr. Greeley was a frequent visitor and subject of editorial the Chicago Daily Observer.  May he Rest in Peace.
More to come
 

From Before it’s News
Obama nomination of John Wyma attorney Zach Fardon to replace Patrick Fitzgerald conflict of interest, More Obama stacking of USDOJ, Wyma Obama involvement in Health Board corruption and senate seat selling
“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

 
 
“The defense also questioned whether the government …

From the Financial Times
Experts who follow the IRS say the controversy reflects not only the complicated nature of the rules governing such groups, but an agency that has cut corners because it is being starved of funds by Congress even as its responsibilities veer far beyond the collection of tax.
It has yet to be determined whether the IRS vetting was politically motivated, as Republicans allege. But the first independent inquiry into the matter, by the IRS inspector general, found that the improper criteria were put in place because of “insufficient …

From the White House
AP: When did you first learn that the IRS was targeting conservative political groups?  Do you feel that the IRS has betrayed the public’s trust?  And what do you think the repercussions for these actions should be?  <snip>
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, let me take the IRS situation first.  I first learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this.  I think it was on Friday.  And this is pretty straightforward.

 
 
From PJ Media
Long before the extensive questionnaires and document requests levied on …

David Morrison of the (shadowy) Illinois Campaign for Political Reform laments that the IRS is not aggressive enough in attacking political speech
It’s in this context that the IRS began to investigate 501(c)(4) applicants that appeared to tilt conservative. If the IRS was applying special scrutiny to groups based on their apparent political bent, that action was categorically wrong. No group should be denied a government benefit, like a nonprofit tax status, based on its political beliefs.
But neither should political figures be allowed to hide their identities behind the Internal Revenue …