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During CBS’s Iowa caucus coverage on Monday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) stated that the surge in Venezuelan migrants is the fault of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because he “created the chaos that’s happened in Venezuela that’s caused so many people to leave that country and seek asylum in the United States.” And that while immigration will be “an important issue to people,” “what people really care about is their own well-being, their family’s well-being,” and economic issues are “things that really matter to people in their personal lives.” Pritzker said, “Well, I think it’ll be...

A drug kingpin in Mexico who has never set foot in Chicago has been named the city's new Public Enemy No. 1 — the same notorious label assigned to Al Capone at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars. The Chicago Crime Commission announced the move Thursday, saying it considers Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman even more menacing than Capone because he's the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which supplies most of the narcotics sold in the city. "Of the two, Guzman is by far the greater threat. ... And he has more power and financial capability than Capone ever dreamed...

(Newser) – Looks like Jesse Jackson Jr. didn't exactly work out a sweetheart plea deal for himself. Prosecutors intend to recommend 46 to 57 months of prison time for the former congressman, along with a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000, Politico reports. As part of the deal, Jackson admits to having conspired with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 in campaign money on such vagaries as fur coats, airplane tickets, a $43,000 Rolex watch, celebrity memorabilia, booze, cigars, and even groceries. Jackson was formally charged today with felonies including conspiracy, reports the Chicago Tribune. His wife, former Chicago...

His name is on the ballot. But Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. hasn't made a campaign appearance since the primary. The Democratic congressman from Chicago is running for re-election for his seat in the House of Representatives, but has been out of sight for the last three months, being treated for bipolar disorder. Campaign advisers told the New York Times, which noted that the campaign's office was locked shut, that the candidate is waiting for the doctor's approval to campaign again. The son of Rev. Jesse Jackson was expected to win the election easily, but the Washington Post reports he is...

Democrats at the Feb. 25 health summit argued that under their proposal, 31 million of the 47 million uninsured Americans would receive coverage. CNN’s “American Morning” co-host Kiran Chetry repeated that claim Feb. 26 and asked one of her guests: Kenneth Thorpe, Prof. at the Rollins School of Public Health, about its validity and the debate surrounding the statistic. “I mean there’s 47 million uninsured Americans they [Senate Democrats] argue. And when you talk to Republicans, we talked to Sen. John Cornyn yesterday – ‘No, no, no - that’s a wildly inflated number,” Chetry said. “If you can’t even necessarily...

The Barry Hussein Soetoro presidency which is known for its excessive propensity to finger point is getting some fingers pointed back at it as Democrats attempt to assess what’s gone wrong with their opportunity to transform America into the world-wide example of Progressive Left-wing politics as they had hoped this bright young clean African-American without a Negro dialect would do. Many are blaming his advisors referred to as the “Chicago Mafia” by many. That would also include a writer for the Timesonline, Christina Lamb, in her article entitled, Obama’s ‘Chicago mafia’ blamed for paralysis at the top.

THOMSON, Ill., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Thousands of jobs would be created in Illinois if the U.S. government purchases a nearly empty prison there to house terror detainees, a study indicates. The study, performed by the Obama White House Council of Economic Advisers and obtained by The Chicago Sun-Times, asserted that 2,290 to 2,960 jobs would be created in and around Thomson, Ill., in the first year after its conversion to house some of the prisoners now held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility, the newspaper reported Sunday. Local residents in the Illinois-Iowa border town would be "good candidates"...

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey has resigned from DLA Piper, saying a firestorm over his ties to a conservative nonprofit opposed to health care reform has hurt the firm. In an interview, John Merrigan, a DLA Piper partner who chairs the federal affairs practice, said Armey, who had been a senior policy adviser, made the decision to leave. The nonprofit group, FreedomWorks, has been associated with disruptive protests at town hall meetings on health care reform. Armey's association with FreedomWorks, and his ties to DLA Piper, have been repeatedly raised on liberal blogs and by left-leaning commentators. For instance,...

The White House is lashing out publicly and personally at a CNBC reporter whose attack on President Barack Obama’s anti-foreclosure plan caught fire on the Internet on Thursday. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs jumped at the chance to go after the CNBC journalist, Rick Santelli, when a question about his bracing critique was asked at Friday’s news briefing. “I’ve watched Mr. Santelli on cable the past 24 hours or so. I’m not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives but the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgages, stay in their...

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama's campaign has approached Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel about possibly serving as White House chief of staff, officials said Thursday as the marathon presidential race entered its final, frenzied stretch with a Democratic tilt. The disclosure came as Republican John McCain, in need of a comeback, focused on pocketbook issues amid fresh signs of a recession. "Ohio is hurting now, people in Ohio are having trouble staying in their homes, keeping their jobs," he said as he set out on a two-day bus tour of the state.