Chicago Daily Observer

Like most uprisings, the Illinois/Cook County/Chicago tax revolt has started without anyone sending out a press release or making a formal proclamation.

Not in memory—mine, at least—have so many taxpayers here been so riled. Not in memory, have so many taxpayers here been hit with such a flood of proposed tax increases. Not in memory, have the demands for higher taxes come from a gaggle of such incompetent, ineffective or corrupt politicians—namely Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Cook County President Todd Stroger and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley (henceforth to be referred to here as BS&D

The signs of an impending march on the tyrants’ citadels surround us: Stroger’s office phone lines crammed with angry taxpayers. Liberal politicians and commentators jumping on the “we-re-taxed-out” bandwagon, without seeing the irony of their crabbing about the billion-dollar tax increases necessary to fund the government excesses that they have demanded.

They’re all asking: How much ... Read More...

On Monday, First Lady Laura Bush appeared on “Good Morning America” and encouraged Americans to recognize October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She praised the work of “Susan G. Komen for the Cure” (formerly known as the Susan G. Komen Foundation).

If you have ever had Oprah on for more than five minutes, you know about the billions that “Komen for the Cure” has raised for breast-cancer research through its races and walks and partnerships with vendors of pink merchandise. But something you (and the First Lady) may not know:

:”Susan G. Komen for the Cure” has given more than a million dollars to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood killed over a quarter-of-a-million unborn babies last year and distributed untold amounts of hormonal contraceptives. There is enough data linking both induced abortion and long-term use of hormonal contraceptives to an increased risk of breast cancer to choke an elephant.

Discussion of ... Read More...

Here we go again!

In my misspent youth, I watched Abbott and Costello comedies on television often enough to memorize some of their routines. It wasn’t that difficult. If a comedic bit worked, Bud and Lou were certain to repeat it over and over again. Some of their most celebrated sketches were performed in the movies as well as on radio and television. Constant repetition of familiar routines may have served to hasten the end of their careers as headlining entertainers during the Fifties.

Listening to our politicians engage in brinksmanship and double talk, makes me pine for a straight man like Bud Abbott. He could at least put over some of the nonsense more skillfully than our elected officials.

Higher taxes are being threatened by City Hall and the County Board, but how much of it is genuine and how much of it is part of a bait and ... Read More...

In 1973 Richard Nixon, US president, under political pressure be­cause of rising domestic food prices, banned the export of soyabeans. The policy had predictably dire results, but today, with the world in the grip of another bout of food price inf­lation, governments worldwide are rushing to distort the market with subsidies and quotas, price controls and export taxes. They should stop