For 32 years Janet Edburg worked as a laborer at Northbrook-based
Leedal, Inc. helping to manufacture laboratory equipment like stainless
steel sinks.
A mother of three, Edburg became a victim of
corporate downsizing in 2008, and lacking a high-school diploma she has
struggled to find work since then.
“I’ve gone into a very deep
depression, even felt suicidal,” Edburg said at a Chicago Jobs with
Justice rally on Friday afternoon. “One of my comrades here took me in. I
was ready to be off on the streets, homeless. And if it wasn’t for him I
would be.”
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In a show of victory, about 50 activists returned to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) yesterday with a giant check for $33 million — and the now 
The use of Facebook in Rahm Emanuel’s successful 2011 mayoral
campaign could offer progressive causes — and candidates — important lessons in utilizing
the social network to galvanize support.
The Chicago Tea Party may not like many things – taxes, Mitt Romney,
even the Republican Party. But the Tea Party did like a video made by
Andrew Marcus, which champions Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education
policies.
Spending cuts for Medicaid is dominating talk in Springfield, as both
Democrats and Republicans point the finger at the health care program as one of the main causes of the state’s budget woes. The current Medicaid debate, though, is
perhaps misleading. 
California's ban on gay marriage has been deemed 
An summit geared towards the immigrant community Saturday highlighted Illinois’ pro-immigrant policies and also controversy between Cook County and
federal immigration officials.
CREDO Mobile, a San Francisco-based company that sells cell phones
and phone plans, has started a super PAC aimed at defeating Tea Party
congress members in the 2012 election cycle. One of their primary
targets? Illinois’ 8th district representative Joe Walsh.
While the interests of big business seem to be very much so on the radar of Springfield politicians, as evidenced by the passage of recent corporate tax break packages, the needs of children — and the impact of passed legislation and cuts on Illinois' youngest residents — may not always be as prevalent in political discussions as it should be. 