Illinois’ comeback story starts here.

LLC fees hurt low-income entrepreneurs

LLC fees hurt low-income entrepreneurs

The Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 2776 to lower the cost to create a Limited Liability Company to $39 from $500. This piece of legislation, which rightfully received bipartisan support, will take effect immediately upon receiving Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature. LLC fees are unnecessary and harm low-income entrepreneurs. In fact, LLC fees function like a...

By Michael Lucci

CTA train operator fired after Blue Line crash at O’Hare

CTA train operator fired after Blue Line crash at O’Hare

The Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA, has effectively fired the blue line operator who fell asleep and crashed a train into the O’Hare International Airport terminal. CTA authorities announced today the worker was issued a termination notice, which is effective immediately. They may have fired the operator for now, but this is just the beginning...

By Justin Hegy

Chapa LaVia’s war on school choice

Chapa LaVia’s war on school choice

Should this Twitter ad be illegal? State Rep. Chapa LaVia, a Democrat from Aurora and head of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, thinks so. She’s the chief sponsor of a bill that would prohibit “any and all marketing and advertising to the public for charter school enrollment and recruitment made by a charter...

U.S. joblessness stays steady, Illinois lags

U.S. joblessness stays steady, Illinois lags

The U.S. jobless rate remained at 6.7 percent in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national jobless measure has not improved for three months. U.S. payrolls picked up 192,000 workers in March, slightly below expectations of 200,000. Employment gains were made in professional and business services (57,000), food and drink services (30,000),...

By Michael Lucci

Saving Chicago: Pension reform without tax hikes

Saving Chicago: Pension reform without tax hikes

Chicago politicians have exploited city-worker pensions for nearly two decades. They’ve used the city’s pension systems as slush funds and pension benefits as bargaining chips to further their own agenda, with seemingly no regard for Chicago’s fiscal health. Now those pension systems are nearly insolvent and the city is heading toward bankruptcy. Chicago is facing...

By John Klingner, Benjamin VanMetre

CTA: Blue Line crash comes just five months after previous crash on same line

CTA: Blue Line crash comes just five months after previous crash on same line

UPDATE: The CTA is changing how rail operators are scheduled as a result of a review of the crash that injured at least 30 people at the O’Hare International Airport Blue Line station, the agency said today. READ MORE … Does the latest Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA, Blue Line crash at O’Hare feel like déjà...

By Justin Hegy

How you can help fight ObamaCare in Illinois

How you can help fight ObamaCare in Illinois

Can you help us fight ObamaCare in Illinois? The Liberty Justice Center has a plan to bring a lawsuit challenging a major part of ObamaCare’s implementation in Illinois – but we need people in Illinois who are affected by ObamaCare to be our plaintiffs. Here’s what the lawsuit is about. The Affordable Care Act passed...

Quinn reneging on ‘temporary’ tax hike cowardly, dishonest

Quinn reneging on ‘temporary’ tax hike cowardly, dishonest

Gov. Pat Quinn began his recent op-ed in the Chicago Tribune with a couple of quotes. In that spirit, I’ll do the same. Cowardly Lion: “What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the ‘ape’ in apricot? What...

By Jonathan Greenberg

401(k)s are better than politician-run pensions

401(k)s are better than politician-run pensions

Opponents of pension reform in Illinois are quick to malign self-managed accounts, such as 401(k)s, as too risky for government workers. They claim that workers are better off with pensions paid for and run by the government, as if that somehow makes them more secure. But there are three key problems with that argument. The...

Supreme Court upholds free speech, strikes federal limits on aggregate campaign contributions

Supreme Court upholds free speech, strikes federal limits on aggregate campaign contributions

Free speech won at the Supreme Court today as the court struck down a federal law that limited how much money a person could give to federal candidates and political committees. Under Supreme Court precedent, the government can only limit campaign contributions if doing so is necessary to prevent quid pro quo corruption – that...

“Urging” versus coercion in anti-smoking campaigns

“Urging” versus coercion in anti-smoking campaigns

Earlier this month, 28 attorneys general, including Illinois’ Lisa Madigan, sent a letter to major convenience retailers including Rite Aid, Walmart and Walgreens, urging them to stop selling tobacco products in their stores. This came shortly after CVS voluntarily announced that it would completely phase out sales of tobacco products by October 2014. Madigan and...

By Bryant Jackson-Green

2014 Liberty Speakers Series

2014 Liberty Speakers Series

We’re excited to announce the following events as part of our Liberty Speakers Series in 2014. Clark Neily, April 17, 2014 Mary Katharine Ham, May 8, 2014 S.E. Cupp, June 10, 2014 We look forward to seeing you at these events.

By Chris Andriesen

Too soon for an ObamaCare victory lap

Too soon for an ObamaCare victory lap

The ObamaCare inaugural open enrollment ended on Monday just like it began: riddled with technical difficulties. Notorious for a glitch-ridden debut on Oct. 1, 2013, the site was down for several hours on at least two occasions throughout the day on Monday. On top of that, the administration announced last week that individuals who began – but weren’t...

By Naomi Lopez Bauman