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PI Original
by Adam Doster
2:06pm
Tue Dec 2, 2008

Premium Hikes Doom Strapped Consumers

Health Care

Mickey Trznadel isn’t rich.
The 55-year old Brookfield resident earns about $25,000 a year
landscaping, painting homes, and plowing snow. But as someone with diabetes, high blood
pressure, and a history of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, health insurance is
an expense he can’t ...

PI Original
by Josh Kalven
12:33pm
Tue Dec 2, 2008
19 comments

Your Thoughts On Clemency For Ryan?

George Ryan

Last Wednesday, after Sen. Dick Durbin said he was considering whether to ask President Bush to commute former Gov. George Ryan's prison sentence, we provided a round-up of editorial board opinion on the subject (which was unanimous in opposition to the idea).  In the week ...

PI Original
by Adam Doster
11:28am
Tue Dec 2, 2008

Kirk, The UAW, And Paid Leave

Labor

When we initially flagged
Rep. Mark Kirk’s misleading diatribe on the United Auto Workers, we
focused our energy on deflating his claim that General Motors’ hourly
labor cost was $78 per hour. But Kirk uttered a second deceptive
allegation worth debunking during the same ...

PI Original
by Angela Caputo
5:17pm
Mon Dec 1, 2008

Turning Away The Down And Out

Hunger

With unemployment, foreclosures, and evictions all on the rise, social service providers warned months ago that ignoring homelessness, hunger, and other social service needs in Illinois wouldn’t make the problems go away.

Just as the cold weather sets in, demand ...

PI Original
by Adam Doster
3:53pm
Mon Dec 1, 2008
6 comments

Schock's Holiday Mailer

Aaron Schock

Congressman-elect Aaron Schock isn’t asking for much this holiday season. After ousting
Democrat Colleen Callahan by a healthy 20-point margin in the 18th
congressional district race, the 27-year-old Republican sent a letter
to supporters on November 21 requesting for a ...

PI Original
by Adam Doster
12:25pm
Mon Dec 1, 2008

Sun-Times Endorses Jackson Jr.

Rod Blagojevich

Time is ticking for Gov. Rod Blagojevich to name Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate successor. The state’s chief executive -- who may have showed his hand on Thanksgiving Day by calling Rep. Danny Davis “Senator” on two different occasions -- insists he will go public with his ...

PI Original
by Angela Caputo
11:06am
Mon Dec 1, 2008
3 comments

Illinois Has $831 Million In Ready-To-Go Infrastructure Projects

Economy

At Barack Obama’s press conference last Tuesday, ABC 7’s
Andy Shaw told him that across the country “mayors and county board
presidents and governors are facing hemorrhaging budgets and … are
wondering, to paraphrase the late, great Mike Royko, ‘Where’s ours?’”
In his ...

PI Original
by Josh Kalven
2:14pm
Sat Nov 29, 2008
1 comment

Stroger: A Living, Breathing Case For Better Recycling Programs

Todd Stroger

The waste and excess exhibited by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's administration is extensive.  But the most embarassing item on the list has to be ... paper. 

Yes, paper.

This week, Stroger's staff released its 2009 budget document, only to find ...

PI Original
by Adam Doster
12:55pm
Fri Nov 28, 2008

Eliminating The New Poll Tax

Election Reform

Two days before Americans went to vote this year, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow described
Election Day lines as “a poll tax.” Considering the opportunity costs
of waiting around to cast a ballot on a work day, the description
seems apt. It’s possible that the historical parallel...