Obama's State of the Union is Feb. 12: Where Will You Be Watching?

President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union address at 8 p.m. CST Tuesday, Feb. 12.

President Obama's annual State of the Union address is the most important speech he delivers and could be the most important of his entire presidency, argues the Washington Post. The President is expected to preview the 2014 federal budget and discuss, among other issues, gun control, job creation, infrastructure repair, deficit and debt, climate change, the military and protecting the middle class, according to useconomy.about.com. Obama's State of the Union address begins at 8 p.m. CST. What agenda items are you most interested in? Are you attending or hosting a State of the Union viewing party? Post the details in the comments to share with your neighbors.

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Poll: What Should Be Done About U.S. Drought?

Corn and soybean crops are being hit hard by the worst U.S. drought in 50 years.

The worst U.S. drought in more than 50 years has caused alarms around the world as corn and soybean crops are threatened and could impact the world's food supply, the Christian Science Monitor reported. After a record-setting hot July, August has been mild by comparison. The Chicago Tribune reported that although Illinois still is in a drought, only 8 percent of the state remains in an "exceptional drought." However, even with improving conditions in August, the U.S. corn crop is supposed to be down 13 percent and the soybean crop down 12 percent, The Washington Post reported. The drought and extreme conditions in July have raised several issues. For example, the U.S. mandates the use of corn-based ethanol to reduce U.S. reliance of …

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Poll: Should All Of The Bush Tax Cuts Be Extended?

President Obama has said he will veto legislation that extends the tax cuts for those with incomes over $250,000.

President Obama said he would veto legislation that would extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts, Fox news reported. Obama has proposed extending the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 for another year, the Chicago Tribune reported. Obama said it would be imprudent to extend all of tax cuts – including those for upper income earners – because they were a major driver of the budget deficit (Note: Obama's complete remarks are attached to this story). "By the way, these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans are also the tax cuts that are least likely to promote growth," Obama said. "So we can't afford to keep that up, not right now. So I'm not proposing anything radical here. I just believe that anybody making over $250,000 a year …

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Ben Azeko

3:40 am on Wednesday, October 3, 2012

benjamin this is free consultation for me.i seek for permission to apply yr method in my business. anyway i am not in us. i am in Ghana where the tax system is different.   more ›

Dold, Kirk Want Changes to Affordable Care Act, Schakowsky Praises Decision

Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act. In a 5–4 decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld the President's Affordable Care Act.

Update: Dold, Kirk Want Changes to Affordable Care Act, Schakowsky Praises Decision

Local politicians reacted Thursday to the Supreme Court's 5–4 decision to uphold President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

(Update at 2:15 p.m.) Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) wants to make change to some parts of the Affordable Care Act and retain other provisions in the wake of today’s United States Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to uphold the law. “We need to put in place provisions we’ve talked about and repeal some of the others,” Dold said today. “I consider the doctor-patient relationship sacrosanct and nothing should come in between that.” Among other things, Dold wants to get rid of the Independent Patient Advisory Board, a 15-member panel created by the Affordable Care Act charged with finding Medicare savings. Dold wants to retain the provisions allowing people under 26 to remain on their parents’ coverage and those that prohibit an insurer from …

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Poll: Do You Agree With President Obama's Immigration Policy?

President Obama's immigration policy will allow young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally to seek work permits.

  The Obama administration announced that it will no longer deport younger immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children and will begin issuing work permits to them, The Huffington Post reported. The permits only would be available to individuals who had led law-abiding lives, the website reported. As many as 800,000 people could be affected by the policy change. "Today, I am announcing that effective immediately, young people brought to U.S. by no fault of their own and meet several criteria no longer are removed from country or entered into removal proceedings,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said to Fox News. Fox News reported that immigrants will have had to live in the U.S. for …

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Steinar Andersen

5:12 pm on Monday, June 25, 2012

Arizona gets to determine immigration status after a person has committed a crime. Win/win.   more ›

Poll: Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?

President Barack Obama said that he supported gay marriage this week, while Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

  Gay marriage came to the forefront of the 2012 presidential campaign this week. President Barack Obama said on ABC's Good Morning America that he personally supported gay marriage. "You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently," Obama said in the interview with ABC. Obama's support for gay marriage came one day after North Carolina passed an amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, the Huffington Post Reported. Republican …

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Bob Blinick

4:05 pm on Thursday, May 24, 2012

But marriage is steeped in both legal issues and intensely personal ones. I cannot name them, but married people have both rights and obligations with regard to medical decisions, visitation and access, social security/pension, property rights, and perhaps a thousand more. Therefore, it does affect the legal standing of each as to whether the couple is married. Second, marriage is a declaration …   more ›

Dold Town Hall Crowd Blasts Republican Leadership

Local congressman spared some of the criticism.

A crowd of more than 60 people lashed out at Congressional leadership and partisan bickering in Washington during a town hall hosted by Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) Saturday in Wheeling. The attendees, while angry, spared the North Shore legislator some of their wrath. “You are one reasonable man in a sea of politicians who are thinking like politicians and not about us,” Vernon Hills resident Rich Lachman told Dold Saturday. “Please act like a reasonable man for the people who pay your salary.”  During Dold’s opening 40-minute presentation, the congressman said the federal government had three deficits to deal with, a jobs deficit, a budget deficit and a leadership deficit.  Jodi Wilson of Northbrook jumped on the leadership issue.  “…

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Richard Schulte

8:35 pm on Tuesday, October 11, 2011

There is plenty of demand in America. Who doesn't want a new car and a new house? The problem is fear. It is obvious that the Obama Administration is anti-business, so business just sits on the sidelines waiting to see what's going to happen next and consumers are afraid to spend money. So, of course, there is no demand. Lower taxes allows business owners and consumers to keep more of their money…   more ›

Dold Votes to Repeal Health Care Law

Freshman North Shore congressman joins 249 other representatives in voting to reverse last year’s Health Care Reform Act.

Before Rep. Robert Dold (R-Kenilworth) fulfilled a campaign pledge Wednesday by voting to repeal the Health Care Reform Act passed last year, he had already started an effort to reduce the law’s effects on small business.  While the legislation is expected to be defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate, the House of Representatives voted 245-189 Jan. 19 to repeal the entire bill. This touched off criticism from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the arm of the Democratic Party responsible for recruiting Congressional candidates. Knowing Wednesday’s vote is unlikely to be enacted, the Republican House majority plans to propose a number of pieces of legislation that will ultimately modify provisions of the new law. …

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