guestcommentary
Shapiro: Main arguments against gun control lack logic
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. In 2008, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court held that this …
Reeder: State government policies stymie jobs rebound
Illinois has the second-worst unemployment rate of any state. At 9.5 percent, it’s two percentage points higher than the national average of 7.5 percent. Two percentage points might not seem like much on paper, but that equates to 130,000 people. That’s more than the entire …
BGA: Iron fists needed to hold public funds
Rita Crundwell’s betrayal of the public trust was staggering. For years she served as Dixon’s comptroller. And for years, because she had almost sole control over town finances, she stole taxpayer money without detection. In fact, nobody noticed until, on one of her vacations, a …
McGrath: Mother’s Day (of reckoning) coming for senators
“This is just a new way of living,” Stephanie Decker told an ABC News reporter. “If the worst thing that ever happened is me losing my legs, I’m good.” The Marysville, Ind., mother traded her limbs for the lives of her two children. And if …
Reeder: He’s critical of Illinois because he loves it here
Every once in a while someone will ask, “Scott, why are you so critical of Illinois?” My response is simple — Because I love it here. This is the state where I was born and where I was raised. During my adult life, I’ve lived …
Varjavand: Immigrants should respect customs, culture of their new country
Why do we Muslims demand that Americans accommodate, even embrace, every odd thing we do under the umbrella of religion? We seem to have a predisposition to be obsessed with our religious rites so they have an almost pathological influence over us and others. Some …
Caterina and Gonzalez: Resetting underwater mortgages
Business groups with an ax to grind against the Obama administration, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, like to push the idea that “uncertainty” over government actions is the monkey on the economy’s back. As small-business owners …
Reeder: A guarantee that Illinois should not provide
Mix pension financing, constitutional law and politics and you’ll either have a recipe to cure insomnia — or the most important but under-discussed issue facing Illinois today. Illinois lawmakers are on the brink of making a mistake that could lock taxpayers in for hundreds of …
McGrath: Alleged Boston Marathon bomber: Jekyll and Hyde
It is not unreasonable to speculate that the three public defenders representing alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might end up filing a plea of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Evidence that might support their claim is documented in his birth certificate. Not …
Reeder: Illinois income tax too high as it turns 44
Forty-four years ago as of last week, Illinois began collecting a state income tax. Folks from Cairo to Chicago filled out their IL-1040s for the first time in 1969, and the state began to transform. And not in a positive way. State government has ballooned …
Salata: Retire on your own terms
Most Americans are aware that they need to save for retirement. It’s a topic that’s easy to brush aside to a later date because although the subject is important, it may not seem urgent. But the longer you put off some basic retirement planning, the …
Gallagher: Let heroes be our legacy, not tragedies
As we drove by the explosion site, someone warned not to roll down the windows. Even still, we could smell the unforgettable horrors of death. Eighteen years ago today, 168 people were killed, including my college roommate, when a bomb went off at the Murrah …
Reeder: Government bureaucracy and toothpaste not so different
As the Transportation Security Administration agent rummaged through my suitcase, she picked up my tube of toothpaste, shook her head and said “no.” The tube went sailing into a wastebasket filled with bottles of suntan lotion, cans of shaving cream and other odds and ends …
McGrath: A reunion lesson: Encourage kids to pursue passions
Legends abound of geniuses who were surprisingly poor students in elementary school, such as Thomas Edison or Isaac Newton. My wife, Marianne, did not exactly have an A average at Mother McAuley High School but today is the smartest person I know (and I’m no …
Shaw: Local election boards in serious need of reform
April 9 is Election Day for local government in Illinois, including 500 Cook County taxing bodies — cities, villages, school districts, park districts, library districts, fire protection districts and my favorite poster child for unnecessary bureaucratic waste, townships. Voter turnout is expected to be low, …
Battalora: Same-sex marriage and lessons from the past
It was not that long ago when the most important item on the political agenda for white people was prohibiting marriage between a white person and a nonwhite person. The prohibition of such marriages was called an antimiscegenation law, and they existed for more than …
