Gangs & Politicians In Chicago: An Unholy Alliance
LAWBREAKERS, LAWMAKERS: In some parts of Chicago, violent street gangs and pols quietly trade money and favors for mutual gain. The thugs flourish, the elected officials thrive-and you lose. A special report.
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December 23, 2011
By David Bernstein and Noah Isackson
Chicago Magazine
A few months before last February’s citywide elections, Hal Baskin’s phone started ringing. And ringing. Most of the callers were candidates for Chicago City Council, seeking the kind of help Baskin was uniquely qualified to provide.
Baskin isn’t a slick campaign strategist. He’s a former gang leader and, for several decades, a community activist who now operates a neighborhood center that aims to keep kids off the streets.
Baskin has deep contacts inside the South Side’s complex network of politicians, community organizations, and street gangs. as he recalls, the inquiring candidates wanted to know: “Who do I need to be talking to so I can get the gangs on board?
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The Quality of Life & Liberty In America Today
President John Adams said "liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people."
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December 20, 2011
By Rhonda Reed-Slaughter
A synopsis of life in America today:
High unemployment, corrupt politicians, "out of control" government spending, excessive debt, legalized marijuana, gay marriage, don't ask-don't tell legislation, abortion rights, public education, and the teachers union, gerrymandering, quid pro quo, campaign reform, pension reform, religion in schools, privatizing prisons, universal health care, social security...The issues can be overwhelming.
Today, it's easy to just ignore the social and economic troubles facing our country. We live in an open society that gives us the freedom to "opt-out".
But are we better off as a society when our citizens fail to stay informed, and participate in an open, liberated society?
SOCIAL MEDIA: A GIFT OR CURSE?
Thanks to the emergence of social media like facebook and twitter; the smart phone and reality tv, Americans have the freedom to "opt-out" of reality at any time, and stay "out".
Even the newspapers, and cable news channels understand this basic need. They "tweak" their programming, and lead stories to capitalize on this very fact.
Just today, I witnessed first hand, a popular cable news channel reporting a story about a frightening statistic that 1 in every 2 families are technically poor. Within seconds, the reporter switched the topic to cover Britney Spears engagement.
This type of "soft" reporting goes on locally as well.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
There are important issues being played out right before our very eyes. We do ourselves and society a disservice when we fail to see it, and participate in the process.
How would this country look if more people took their role as a "fellow American" of this incredible nation more seriously?
Maybe we can look to our founding fathers for the answer.
A deep thinker, President John Quincy Adams wrote passionately about democracy, and liberty.
According to President Adams -
"liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people."
Can we assume America is at risk of losing its basic qualities of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
More on Liberty from President Adams -
"Liberty, according to my metaphysics, is an intellectual quality; an attribute that belongs not to fate nor chance. Neither possesses it, neither is capable of it There is nothing moral or immoral in the idea of it. The definition of it is a self-determining power, in an intellectual agent. It implies thought and choice and power; it can elect between objects, indifferent in point of morality, neither morally good nor morally evil. If the substance in which this quality, attribute, adjective, call it what you will, exists, has a moral sense, a conscience, a moral faculty; if it can distinguish between moral good and moral evil, and has power to choose the former and refuse the latter, it can, if it will, choose the evil and reject the good, as we see in experience it very often does"
Again, consider for a moment. Although we live in a society that gives us the freedom to "opt out", do we risk losing it when americans fail to stay informed, and participate?
Tell us what you think?
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America's Deficit Culture: Seeing Beyond Our Noses
Changing personally means taking shorter-lived mortgages, with bigger down payments... not taking on more debt... And, yes, it means ceasing to view the government as a sugar daddy.
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December 9, 2011
By William R. Thomas
Article originally published Winter, 2010. The New Individualist: America's Deficit Culture - Seeing Beyond Our Noses.
Too many today count on economic growth, without appreciating where it comes from. Too many want to consume now, without having produced the wherewithal to do it.
I’ve heard this described as “me-ism,” but that’s the wrong term. It’s not in one’s self interest to stumble forward into a mess of one’s own creation. But the problem here isn’t self-sacrifice, either.
People are not being irresponsible for a cause, or in order to destroy their livelihoods, or for the sake of others.
No, the problem is that too many are, as Ayn Rand said, “concrete-bound.” Too many focus on the goods they have today rather than the costs those goods imply tomorrow.
The politicians shamble from one election to the next handing out goodies to constituents and buying off powerful interest groups like the teachers’ unions, mass transit, and the ethanol lobby. Tea Party activists, our best hope at this time, have been known to rave against big government and against threats to their Medicare (the biggest government boondoggle of all).
Republicans and Democrats cut deals to cut taxes and raise spending. Americans take the wealth and influence of their culture for granted, but don’t care to understand its causes.
A blind, lurching pragmatism is the order of the day, as people focused on concretes grope for the policies and plans of action that will bring prosperity back, or at least pay off somehow, and soon!
The cure is simple. But it will require a break from the past.
Politically, we need to insist that the government be put back within its bounds. Such a limited government will, among things, be one that lives within its means and that borrows only in the most extraordinary times.
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PEEPER BACK TO WORK FOR STATE
BGA's 2010 investigation expose the shocking arrest of a highly ranked IDOT employee.
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November 28, 2011
"Peeper Back to Work for State" was originally published in the BGA Notebook-Roundup edition on August 26, 2010.
If you take a peek inside the Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) offices in Schaumburg these days, you might see James Stumpner, 48.
Paid nearly $104,000 a year, he’s the bureau chief of maintenance for the IDOT district based in the northwest suburbs.
He had been on leave — or suspension — since March, when he was arrested for peeping into a woman’s Crystal Lake apartment. But now he’s back on the job — as of early July — a month after pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
An IDOT spokesman explained: “The incident took place outside of working hours, outside of state property.”
What’s more, Stumpner served a suspension and “is a vital component to the Bureau of Maintenance in the Chicagoland region. Some of his responsibilities include the direct oversight of the maintenance, operations of snow removal, bridge work, beautification projects.”
Stumpner declined to comment, and his attorney insisted he was not a serial peeper, and was wrongly portrayed as such in early accounts.
Either way, he was sentenced to supervision, fined $500 plus court costs, and ordered to perform 30 hours of community service and complete counseling, according to Demetri Tsilimigras, deputy chief of the McHenry County state’s attorney’s office criminal division. Stumpner also was given a 30-day jail term, but he won’t have to serve it if he keeps his nose clean, Tsilimigras said.
In the meantime, he’s back to making sure our state roads are clean.
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Health Care Is Topic of Local Meeting
County board members host panel discussion for residents to learn about H.B. 311, the Illinois Universal Health Care Act.
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By Jackie Traynere
Will County Board, District 4
November 8, 2011
Four members of the Will County Board teamed with The Heartland Institute and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) to sponsor a panel discussion on the pros and cons of our current health care system and proposals for changing it.
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Mayor Vetoes Funding to Firefighters, Community Groups & Meal On Wheels
Park Ridge Mayor, David Schmidt decides to stand by his principles, and put the taxpayers interest first.
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Video: Who Do You Blame For the Budget Crisis?
News journalist, John Stossel debate the issue with a public employee union representative. Where do you stand in the debate?
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Producers vs Expropriators: America's Coming Civil War?
"Most productive Americans... value their independence, their freedom to make their own lives as they see fit, not to make themselves subservient to politicians and government bureaucrats."
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It's Time To Get Money Out Of Politics: We Can Start Locally
As tens of thousands sign MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan's petition to " help get money out of politics" (on the federal level), we wanted to know if there were any "bought politicians" on the local level? Who's donating to our local leaders campaign, and how much?
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Will Local Leaders Ever Step Out of the Shadows, Face Our Questions, and Speak Their Truth?
Maybe they can learn a few things from Senator Wilhelmi's (D) play book - Face your critics head-on. It's good for the community.
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Bolingbrook Government Rakes In An Estimated $360 Million in Revenue
Learn how the 5 governmental entities in Bolingbrook are funded. Hint: We pay more than property taxes.
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Video: Police Officer's Final Act of Kindness Moments Before Being Gunned Downed
A terrible reminder of the danger cops face on a daily basis.
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50% of U.S. Households Pay No Federal Income Tax
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The Illinois Defense of Marriage Initiative
The Illinois general assembly legalized civil unions, but the people of Illinois never got a chance to vote on the matter. Lets change that.
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Out Of Sync:
The Disparity Between Government & Private Employee Compensation In Illinois
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Jesse White Gives Raises While Other Illinois Agencies Freeze Pay
At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Jesse White has given pay hikes to his entire executive staff.
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MSNBC Dylan Ratigan Lose Temper On Air
Are you sick of the extraction of our banking, trade and tariff? Dylan certainly is. Watch the video.
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Private Prisons Spend Millions On Lobbying To Put More People In Jail
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Chris Matthews Give The Country A Reality Check
Do you believe the government can pull us out of the recession by putting people to work?
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Man Sues Naperville Claiming False Arrest: Imagine If This Happened To You
If he blew a 0.0 on a breathalyzer, why did the cops proceed with the arrest?
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Americans Leave The Country In Pursuit Of A Better Life
How many frustrated Americans leave the country seeking happiness abroad?
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