Want Proof That Our Legislature is too Often Filled With Idiots?

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Chicago Tribune had one of those ubiquitous year-end pieces to inform us about how some thing or another ended up as the year came to a close. On Dec. 30 the Trib gave us a little round up of some of the really stupid, useless, pointless new laws that our wonderful state representatives in Springfield worked so hard to give to us in 2010.

As the Trib notes, our state budget is in practical bankruptcy and while our stalwart politicians have failed to do a single thing about it, they haven’t been completely idle. Oh, no. They’ve been very busy with the important work of the state.

Yes, they’ve been diligently working for you and me, don’t you know? They have been hard at work passing those most important laws, new rules that will surely make all our lives better.
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Want Proof That Our Legislature is too Often Filled With Idiots?”


‘Kill’ Lawsuit Loan Shark Bill Editorial Blasts Bill — Help Us Stop it Today!

From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce…

Thanks to your grassroots efforts, we have so far stalled a bill in Springfield that would legitimize an industry of “Lawsuit Loan Sharks” in Illinois.

This weekend, the Chicago Tribune editorial board also weighed in, urging the General Assembly to reject this wrongheaded bill:

Bottom line: The bill would give legal certainty to an abusive practice and put it under a light regulatory scheme where it can flourish — spawning lawsuits galore. Illinois already has a notorious reputation for jackpot justice. Kill the bill.

We agree.
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‘Kill’ Lawsuit Loan Shark Bill Editorial Blasts Bill — Help Us Stop it Today!”


President Obama About to Name Another Chicagoan Chief of Staff?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg News is reporting that President Obama may be about to name Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s brother, Bill, to become the next White House Chief of Staff.

That will make yet another Chicago crony working for the Obama White House. Bill Daley will be joining the ranks of Chicagoans Rahm Emanuel, Valarie Jarrett and several others whom the Obama’s worked with in Chicago before Barack became president.

Bill Daley, 62, was once the U.S. Commerce Secretary under Bill Clinton and chaired Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000. Daley co-chaired Obama’s transition team as he prepared to take office and also served as an economic adviser.
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President Obama About to Name Another Chicagoan Chief of Staff?”


Video: Dan Proft on WTTW Channel 11 on Illinois Budget Mess

A new year is upon us but it is the same old tax-and-spend, borrow-and-spend policies being promulgated in Springfield. Proft and State Rep. Lou Lang join Eddie Arruza on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight to discuss the governor’s plan to borrow $15 billion.

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Video: Dan Proft on WTTW Channel 11 on Illinois Budget Mess”


Chicago Tea Party January Monthly Meeting: Meet Cedra Crenshaw

From the Chicago Tea Party…

2011 will be the biggest year ever for the tea party movement in Chicago. Start the year off right by joining us at our next Chicago Tea Party Monthly Meeting on Wednesday, January 5 at 7:00PM at Blackie’s, 755 S. Clark. Our featured speaker at the meeting will be Cedra Crenshaw, the Mom vs. The Machine. Cedra will discuss what the Republican party needs to do to expand its base and reach out to new voters. We’ll also discuss the steps the IL GOP needs to take to reform.

Please register here to attend the meeting or RSVP through Facebook.

Cedra became nationally known when Chicago Democrats tried to kick her off the ballot in her State Senate race even though she had far more than the required number of signatures on her nominating petitions. Before that, Cedra had been active in the tea party movement since early 2009. When the NAACP attacked the movement Cedra represented our Chicago group on television and came to our defense. You can watch that appearance here.
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Chicago Tea Party January Monthly Meeting: Meet Cedra Crenshaw”


Danny Davis Quits Chicago Mayor Race, Leaves One African American in Race

-By Warner Todd Huston

The theme of the race for mayor has thus far been twofold. One, will Rahm Emanuel be allowed to stay on the ballot, and two, will there be too many African Americans in the running effectively splitting the black vote all to pieces allowing Rahm to waltz in unopposed?

When we started this off a few months ago there were four black candidates. Rep. Danny Davis, former Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Reverend James Meeks, and the least known of the pack William “Doc” Walls.

Since then we’ve seen several of these candidates drop their bid, leaving two. First to fall was James Meeks and now the Sun-Times is reporting that Danny Davis has also given up his campaign and will be endorsing Carol Moseley Braun.
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Danny Davis Quits Chicago Mayor Race, Leaves One African American in Race”


Hey, Ill. Republicans: Want to Have a Say in Your Party? We Have chance To Do It

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, Illinois Republicans, a great opportunity to return the Illinois GOP back to some accountability to YOU is at hand. The Illinois legislature is about to enter its own lame duck session that will run from January 3 to January 11. During this session we have a chance to get a law passed that has quite a lot of support. It is a law that will return the Illinois GOP’s planning committee to your hands via direct elections of its members.

We’ve talked about SB600 many times in the past, of course. This bill would change the way the Illinois State GOP fills the seats on its state central committee, the group responsible for planning the way the state party operates, arrives at its goals, and its assembles its policies. Currently central committee members are placed on the committee by a vote of the Republican ward chiefs, township bosses and committeemen throughout the state. SB600 would change that to provide for the actual voters to elect central committee members instead of allowing the party insiders to appoint them.
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Hey, Ill. Republicans: Want to Have a Say in Your Party? We Have chance To Do It”


Chicago News Bench Had a Banner Year!!

Tom Mannis of Chicago News Bench gave me a shout letting me know that he made a video of all the banner he’s made to top his blog, Chicago News Bench.

Them thar is a buncha banners!

By the way, be sure and scroll down to get a look at all the links to the great Illinois blogs and such under the Illini Alliance icon to the left of your screen. There are some fantastic blogs and websites listed there, Chicago News Bench being one of them.


Disgusting: Chicago Firefighter ‘Priest’ Uses Fellow’s Funeral For Union Speech

-By Warner Todd Huston

Father Thomas Mulcrone made an ass of himself at the funeral for fallen Chicago Firefighter Edward Stringer on Tuesday, Dec. 28 by delivering some union-like hectoring of the city from the pulpit during his dead comrade’s eulogy. Mulcrone’s union-centric address was as disgusting a display as I can imagine and at the most inappropriate time imaginable.

Sadly Stringer, a 12-year veteran Chicago Fireman, perished in a fire a few days before Christmas when a roof of an abandoned building collapsed on him and several other firemen. One other fireman, Corey Ankum, was also killed that terrible day.

At the funeral on Tuesday morning, Father Mulcrone, a Catholic Priest attached to the Chicago Fire Department for some 25 years, launched into some finger waving at all those people who claim that Firemen don’t deserve the money they make.
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Disgusting: Chicago Firefighter ‘Priest’ Uses Fellow’s Funeral For Union Speech”


Jesse Jackson Jr., Hiding From Media Over Scandals

-By Warner Todd Huston

Jesse Jackson, Jr., was at one time one of those politicians that was on TV and radio as much as humanly possible. Like his father, it wasn’t a good idea for one’s personal safety to get between either Jackson and a TV camera or microphone. But since the end of 2008 Junior’s media appearances have been relatively scarce. So what happened? At least two scandals can be identified to have worked to force Junior into hiding.

First, and worst, was Jackson’s connection to the scandal surrounding the arrest (and later conviction, and soon retrial) of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. As the facts about Blago’s attempts to sell for personal gain Barack Obama’s Senate seat came to light, it became clear that Jackson, Jr. was somehow mixed up in the whole mess. Junior has, of course, insisted that he had no part in trying to buy his way into a Senate seat, but the rumors and facts of the case were embarrassing enough to cause Junior to shy from public exposure in hopes that it would all calm down.

During the Blago trial a millions in payoffs to Blago in conjunction with a Jackson, Jr. Senate nod caused Junior no end of heartburn. While Junior hasn’t been charged with anything, his political career might still falter due to the second Blago trial coming early this year as more facts come out on his involvement in the whole affair.
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Jesse Jackson Jr., Hiding From Media Over Scandals”


Meeks Out, One More Quits Race for Chicago Mayor

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few weeks ago four names were dropped from the race for Chicago Mayor’s office. This week Reverend James Meeks has suspended his campaign to run for the top seat at City Hall, too.

Further more, the election board responsible for determining if Rahm Emanuel is eligible to even run for mayor has made its decision. Rahm stays on the ballot.

Certainly more will be removed as time rolls onward, but here is the list of candidates as it stands now:
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Meeks Out, One More Quits Race for Chicago Mayor”


Teachers Union Prez Lewis With Heartland Institute’s Behrend on Chicago’s Fox

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois state government is discussing ideas of education reform and it is assumed that a vote on a plan of one kind or another might occur in the state capitol in Springfield as early as January. Fox Chicago had Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis and the Heartland Institute’s Bruno Behrend on the show to discuss the issue. (Dec. 17, 2010)

FOX Chicago Sunday: Karen Lewis & Bruno Behrend: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

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Teachers Union Prez Lewis With Heartland Institute’s Behrend on Chicago’s Fox”


Happy Holidays And Other News

From the Office of Cook County Commissioner Timothy O. Schneider…

Commissioner Timothy O. Schneider sworn in December 6, 2010

On Monday, December 6th, 2010, Commissioner Timothy O. Schneider took the oath of office for his second term on the Cook County Board.

Over the next four years, Commissioner Schneider will continue to fight to reduce the size of county government. He will work to make sure Cook County is run like a business. A top priority of Commissioner Schneider’s is to continue to fight to repeal the remaining 0.5% of the sales tax.
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Happy Holidays And Other News”


Congressman-Elect Walsh to Sit on Three Committees

From the office of Congressman-Elect Joe Walsh (8th District)…

Washington, DC. – Congressman-elect Joe Walsh (R, Illinois-8) will be a busy man during committee time in the 112th Congress that begins in January. The Republican Steering Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives has assigned Walsh to three committees: Homeland Security, Small Business, and Oversight and Government Reform.

“I am proud to accept these positions, and I thank the Steering Committee for entrusting me with these responsibilities. I believe that these committees will allow me to advocate for the issues that I campaigned on and those issues which are important to my constituents in the eighth district,” Walsh said.
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Congressman-Elect Walsh to Sit on Three Committees”


The Village of Palatine Passes Its Own Cap and Trade Ordinance – Part 2

From the Palatine Tea Party…

The Village of Palatine Passes Another Cap and Trade Ordinance

(Palatine, Illinois) – The Palatine Village Council is following in the footsteps of the Obama Administration moving his progressive agenda forward at the local level. At the Village Council Meeting on December 13, 2010 the village unanimously passed its own version of Cap and Trade Ordinance without the “trade”. This would generate additional revenue to offset the Village of Palatine’s 2011 budget shortfall.
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The Village of Palatine Passes Its Own Cap and Trade Ordinance – Part 2″


40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools

-By Warner Todd Huston

Liberals love to claim that the public school system is the shining success story of the American political system. And even when the schools break down in effectiveness, liberals double down on their support for them and insist that we spend ever larger chunks of the taxpayer’s money to “fix” them.

Of course, even as liberal politicians constantly extol the virtues of the public schools they are quietly sending their own kids to private schools. These hypocrites don’t seem to mind sending the public’s kids to subpar, failing schools but they’ll be damned that they’ll do so with their own kids.
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40% of Chicago Public School Teachers Send Own Kids to Private Schools”


America Held Hostage‏

-By Dan Proft

Why am I always the last to know?

Apparently earlier this week the American people were taken hostage.

Thankfully President Samuel L. Jackson intervened to negotiate our release.

Explaining his philosophy when it comes to engaging hostiles, the President said, “I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. In this case, the hostage was the American people and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”
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America Held Hostage‏”


Rep-Elect Joe Walsh Comments on Importation of Guantanamo Bay Terrorists to Illinois

From the office of Congressman-Elect Joe Walsh (8th District)…

Today Rep.-elect Joe Walsh made the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s plans to import Guantanamo Bay terrorists to Illinois:

“It is imperative that terrorists from Guantanamo Bay not be brought to Illinois. Such action would pose a grave national security threat and create unnecessary challenges in the war against Al Qaeda. As the only member from Illinois serving on the Committee on Homeland Security, I will make this one of my top priorities on the committee.”
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Rep-Elect Joe Walsh Comments on Importation of Guantanamo Bay Terrorists to Illinois”


Illinois Republican State Central Committee Meeting Report

I’ve attended one of these meetings in the past and to tell the truth, the Party does not take much effort to make what goes on there relevant to anything in the general electorate. Then,. after the public session they shoo everyone out and have the private leadership meeting and the public is not invited.

Anyway, this year Doug Ibendahl attended the one held in Bolingbrook and posted a report on Republican News Watch.

Here is an excerpt…
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Illinois Republican State Central Committee Meeting Report”


Ill. Policy Institute: Tax Hikes for Christmas

From the Illinois Policy Institute…

Governor Pat Quinn and House Speaker Mike Madigan want to stick a lump of coal in your stocking this holiday season — in the form of a lame-duck tax hike. They’re spoiling to raise taxes before the new General Assembly is sworn into office in mid-January.

Despite receiving less than 50 percent of the popular vote, Governor Quinn believes he has a “mandate” to pad his public employee union friends’ pockets while sticking Illinois families with the bill.

We’ve been here before. Remember 2009, when everyone said a tax hike was “inevitable”? Well, we stopped it then and, with your help, we can stop it again.
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Ill. Policy Institute: Tax Hikes for Christmas”


Illinois to the Elderly: Retire Somewhere Else, Will Ya?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Guess which state is the single worst state to try and retire in? Yup. Illinois.

TopRetirements.com, a site that tracks the best values for retirees, recently posted its top ten worst states to retire to and Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois tops the list of the worst. California comes up a close second worst.

Of Illinois the sites says, “Illinois’s fiscal health could be the worst of any state, which is what tipped the scales. It has even borrowed money to fund its pension obligations.”
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Illinois to the Elderly: Retire Somewhere Else, Will Ya?”


Rahm Says He’s a Chicago Resident, But Filed 2009 Taxes as Non-Resident

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not only did Rahm Emanuel file his 2009 taxes returns as a non-resident of the City of Chicago, but once people began questioning his Chicago residency and biloxing up his run for the Mayor’s office, he quietly went back and amended his taxes to say he was a resident.

If that doesn’t seem like an admission that he wasn’t a real citizen, what is?

According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel filed his 2009 tax returns as a “part-year resident” of Illinois instead of a full-time resident as he had moved to Washington to take Obama’s offer of becoming his chief of staff.
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Rahm Says He’s a Chicago Resident, But Filed 2009 Taxes as Non-Resident”


SAM Examines Tea Party Culture

From the Sam Adams Alliance…

As part of our new “Green” Energy series, we unveiled today our latest research: a study of the Tea Party as a cultural institution. SAM’s Chris Stolte explored this idea in a piece he wrote for the Daily Caller.

Tea Culture: This party is not just about politics
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SAM Examines Tea Party Culture”


(Video) Townhall Meeting With Mark Kirk and Randy Hultgren, Saint Charles, Illinois

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Dec. 11, 2010, I attended a townhall meeting held in the 14th Congressional District featuring Congressman-elect Randy Hultgren and newly minted Senator Mark Kirk. The event was held in the theater of a local high school in Saint Charles, Illinois.

The afternoon started out with an address by Senator Mark Kirk who already was sworn in for an interim term and will be starting his first full term as senator in January. After Kirk finished his opening remarks, Mr. Hultgren spoke and then there was some time for questions for the audience.

Kirk spoke for a strong defense, he spoke for fiscal responsibility and he spoke against the DREAM Act. For his part, Mr. Hultgren didn’t have much to say past his recently successful campaign talking points. But that is to be expected since he has not yet been to Washington to be involved in the issues in our nation’s capitol. Hultgren won’t take office until Jan. 5. Both men strongly spoke in favor of repealing Obamacare.

I have video of both men’s comments. I took the video with my hand-held Flip cam so it may be a bit shaky here and there. (And on the Kirk video I had to set the camera down for half a minute to turn my phone off as I got a call in the middle of his remarks. I thought I had turned it off, but obviously forgot to do so! So my apologies there.)

Here is the video of the two gentleman’s remarks…
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(Video) Townhall Meeting With Mark Kirk and Randy Hultgren, Saint Charles, Illinois”


Why Is Illinois So Corrupt?

Chicago Magazine asks why Illinois is so corrupt. My answer: Democrats. Still, Shane Tritsch has a great article here.

Why Is Illinois So Corrupt?

-By Shane Tritsch

When federal agents arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich two years ago—interrupting what the U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree”—Robert Grant, head of the FBI’s Chicago office, offered a succinct analysis of the day’s events. “If [Illinois] isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States,” he said, “it is certainly one hell of a competitor.”

Given the abundance and variety of political scandals in the state, it’s hard to disagree. Over the past 40 years, about 1,500 people—including 30 Chicago aldermen—have been convicted for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, tax fraud, and other forms of corruption, according to Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Three former Illinois governors have gone to prison, and a fourth soon could be locked up if a jury convicts Blagojevich in his upcoming retrial on corruption and conspiracy charges.

Still, it’s hard to find empirical data that confirm Illinois as the king of crookedness. The U.S. Department of Justice tracks federal corruption convictions through its Public Integrity Section. Examinations of department data from several recent ten-year periods show that Illinois has mostly ranked among the top ten states in federal corruption convictions per capita, though two years ago it fell to an almost respectable 18th—which may demonstrate the limitations of such studies. In any case, these tallies reflect only the subset of wrongdoers cloddish enough to have gotten caught. And the cohort of crooks is merely the tip of the viceberg, so to speak, in a state where pitifully weak campaign finance and ethics laws are so easy to game legally. Considering the totality of government chicanery in Illinois—from the illegal to the merely questionable—the political consultant Don Rose concludes, “It’s fair to say we’re among two or three states that would vie for the honor [of most corrupt].”

But if that’s true, how did Illinois and Chicago get so good at being so bad…

Read the rest at ChicagoMag.com.


Illinois School Uses ‘Stimulus’ $$ For Raises and Bonuses While Raising Property Taxes

-By Warner Todd Huston

Arrogance is an ugly thing. But it seems that Grayslake School Board Superintendent Ellen Correll has it in spades. Not only did she and four other board members vote to increase its tax levy on the community, but she also announced that she used federal “stimulus” money to dole out raises and bonuses to teachers and administrators.

The school board claims that it needs to raise the tax levy by 8.3 percent because of shortfalls in operating costs. Tax rates are limited on existing properties and is capped by law so due to this the tax hit on older properties would not be as great as 8.3 percent. New properties, however, are not capped.

But in this economy, who can afford property taxes to go up yet again? As school board member Michael Carbone said in his comments, statistics show that in 2009 one in three houses sold in the district were in distress and in 2010 it was 50%.
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Illinois School Uses ‘Stimulus’ $$ For Raises and Bonuses While Raising Property Taxes”


Rahm’s Little Spy

-By Warner Todd Huston

Walter Jacobson of Channel 2 News reports that Rahm Emanuel sent a spy to one of his opponent’s events. Gery Chico had a community meeting with various representatives of the community in attendance but one fellow was loathe to be fully identified as the rest were. Turns out he was a spy for Emanuel.

Chico held a meeting for community leaders to talk issues. One by one they introduced themselves and identified the community groups they represent.

All except for one man who said only that his name is Jim, and that he was there to observe and learn.

That seemed odd, so Jim was watched and seen tape recording the meeting.

When asked about it, he admitted it was not quite true he was there to observe and learn — but to record the meeting for Rahm Emanuel.

And there you go. Just another example of Chicago-style politics.

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Rahm’s Little Spy”


Four Out of the Race for Chicago Mayor

-By Warner Todd Huston

The man that is renting Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago house announced today that he’ll drop his bid to run against the former White House chief of staff.

Emanuel tenant Rob Halpin told reporters that the financial burden — as well as the legal hurdles — of running for mayor was simply too much for him to incur.

The board of elections also removed three candidates from the ballot due to the candidates not having enough ballot signatures to satisfy the minimum requirement of 12,500 signatures.

The three removed were M. Tricia Lee, only had 700 valid signatures; Jay Stone, had a mere 246; and Ryan Graves had duplicate signatures.

With Lee’s removal from the ballot, that puts Rahm Emanuel in the second spot on the ballot.

Certainly many more will be removed as time rolls onward, but here is the list as it stands now:
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Four Out of the Race for Chicago Mayor”


Joe Walsh Launches Listening Tour (8th District)

From the office of Congressman elect Joe Walsh, 8th District…

I will launch a series of town hall meetings across the district during the month of December. I expect the meetings to give my constituents an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns. Please check the schedule below for dates, times, and locations. These meetings are open to the public and all opinions are welcome.

Please forward this e-mail to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers, especially those who may not have voted for me. I would like this to be an opportunity to hear the concerns of the 8th District regardless of political viewpoint.

Joe Walsh,
Congressman-elect of the 8th District
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Joe Walsh Launches Listening Tour (8th District)”


Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel

-By Warner Todd Huston

Most Chicagoans are assuming that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will become the next mayor of Chicago. But while the perception might satisfy many folks in the Windy City, at least one powerful Democratic sector isn’t so sure they are happy with the whole idea. Chicago’s union leaders are not very fond of the distempered former Chief of Staff.

Big Labor has been put off on Emanuel since he helped Bill Clinton get the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passed in the 1990s when Emanuel was a Congressman from Chicago’s 5th District.

Emanuel also has a history of dissing Big Labor. At least he’s put other interests ahead of Big Labor enough times that labor leaders are not overly fond of the diminutive candidate.
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Chicago Unions Leaders Not Thrilled With Rahm Emanuel”