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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Trails Preckwinkle, Lewis

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not popular with his city’s voters. Emanuel trails two potential opponents in his race for re-election next year. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis both lead Emanuel in hypothetical match-ups. Preckwinkle holds an astonishing 24 point lead over Emanuel in a potential head-to-head…

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Appeals Court to Hear Indiana, Wisconsin Gay Marriage Cases on August 13

The state of Indiana’s same-sex marriage appeal will be heard before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on August 13. Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed the emergency appeal after a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in June. Several thousand marriages were performed during a three-day period before the…

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White House Will Not Deport Immigrant Youth if Death Threat Exists

The crisis on the border has renewed debate over immigration policy. Should the government treat as refugees the children fleeing to the United States from their violent Central American homeland — or should they be returned home? For its part, the White House went on record today saying that they would not deport youth if…

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The Ultra Right-Wing State Nobody Mentions

Indiana is a right-wing, conservative state. Somehow, however, the state seems to fly under the radar of the national media when they address the right-leaning activities in other states like Texas and Wisconsin. This is curious because it has frequently been Indiana at the forefront of many of the right-wing laws that have garnered attention…

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Ritz Alleges Board of Education Power Grab as Superintendent’s Role Reduced

The State Board of Education passed several resolutions on Wednesday aimed at undermining the role of the Schools Superintendent. The current Superintendent is Glenda Ritz, a Democrat who defeated incumbent Republican Tony Bennett with 53 percent of the vote in 2012. She has faced a number of roadblocks throughout her tenure. The latest attempt at…

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Number of Uninsured Americans Hits Record Low

Newly released data from Gallup shows that the number of Americans without health insurance is at a record low since the polling firm began tracking the statistic six years ago, confirming data released from the federal government in May showing massive enrollment during the Affordable Care Act’s rollout. “The uninsured rate in the U.S. fell…

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Governor Mike Pence Tells Indiana Agencies to Ignore Legal Same-Sex Marriages

Indiana Governor Mike Pence has sent a memo to state agencies telling them to not recognize same-sex marriages performed in the state. Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck down in federal court on June 25. Thousands of same-sex couples married across the state throughout a three day period before an Appeals Court granted a…

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Op-Ed: Hillary Clinton and the Future Failure of Progressive Hope and Change

Recently, Hillary Clinton allowed as how she’s been “thinking” about running for President in 2016. “Thinking” about it? Even a six year old didn’t buy that. When a politician says she (or he) is thinking about running, for an office, it’s like an addict saying they are “thinking,” about taking their next fix. They want…

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President Obama Promises Executive Action on Immigration This Year

President Obama said today that he would no longer wait on House Republicans to pass a comprehensive immigration bill as thousands of migrant children remain mired in a bureaucratic jungle that has placed them in inhospitable care. The mostly teenage children have fled their homes in Mexico and Central America where violence and endemic poverty…

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Supreme Court Rules Yet Again That Corporations Are People

If you were surprised to learn four years ago in Citizens United that corporations were people in the eyes of the Supreme Court, you probably were not as surprised today when a 5-4 conservative majority followed the same logic in gutting the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. The ACA requires employers with 50 or more…