washington
Laura S. Washington biography
Laura S. Washington, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times , brings more than two decades of experience as a non-profit professional and multi-media journalist who …
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‘Shadow strikers’ marched with CTU
They are the shadow strikers. Behind the bullhorns and police lines, hundreds of community organizers and their compatriots strategized, marched and danced last week in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union. Quiet as it’s kept, the city’s robust community-organizing movement has been a potent sister …Read More
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4 DAYS IN OCTOBER MAY DECIDE ELECTION
There are just 57 excruciating days until Election Day. Four may be pivotal. On four evenings in October, American voters will get their best and last chance to judge the presidential nominees. For many American voters this summer, the livin’ hasn’t been easy. The new …Read More
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Dems should leave convention with ‘strong sense of unity’: Ald. Tunney
D ese, dem and dose. Leave it to Chris Christie be the one to resurrect a hackneyed chestnut: Barack Obama the ward heeler. As the GOP convention kicked off last week, the New Jersey governor lobbed that number at a meeting for the California delegation, …Read More
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To GOP: Round up blacks for the camera
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be formally nominated this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. It’s his first and best chance to tell his personal story and warm up before a national audience in prime time. (Did you know his real first …
How Fed policymakers affect the economy
The Federal Reserve’s chief policymaking group, the Federal Open Market Committee, has vast power over the economy through its ability to set monetary policy. How the FOMC operates.
Fed cuts 2012 growth forecast, raises next 2 years
The Federal Reserve has lowered its outlook for growth this year but is more optimistic about the next two years.
Here’s hoping for change: Hillary Clinton for VP
Here she comes again. She’s going to cue up that broken record, once again. She’s going to beat that old horse down, down into the ground. Here’s my pitch, one more time. Hillary Clinton for vice president is a hands-down, sure-fire victory strategy for President …
Both sides play ‘us’ vs. ‘them’
Class wars? Or the politics of penury? Democrats and Republicans are ferociously exchanging barbs about our money. Those barbs could backfire. Each side is spending millions on ads accusing the enemy of failing the Cleavers, Huckstables and Bunkers. Each side argues they are the true …
‘Ale to the chief’: White House releases beer recipe
WASHINGTON — Beer lovers, the secret is out. The White House has made public the recipe for two homemade beers that have become an object of fascination for beer drinkers everywhere. White House Honey Brown Ale, thought to be the first beer brewed on the …
Gov. Quinn stands up to People of the Gun
It’s about time someone stepped up. Last week, I lamented the lack of leadership on gun control. Even after last month’s movie theater horror in Aurora, Colo., the politicians are still cowering and quivering. From President Barack Obama on down, the politicians fear alienating the …Read More
Bowing low to the People of the Gun
A semiautomatic assault rifle, anyone? How about a few thousand rounds of ammo? On July 20, those weapons of choice killed 12 innocents at the Century 16 Theatre in Aurora, Colo. The shooter legally bought an AR-15 assault rifle, three other guns and thousands of …Read More
A fitting honor for civil-rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett
July 16, 2012, marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a singular Chicagoan, among many other things: journalist, educator, civil-rights activist, suffragist, mother and wife, rabble-rouser. Wells-Barnett was born in Holly Springs, Miss., in 1862, the daughter of former slaves. She …Read More
Bring on Hillary and Condi for VP
What do Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice have in common? Both have first-rate political pedigrees. Both are among the boldest of boldface names. Both could knock the 2012 presidential race out of the box. The vice presidential speculation machine kicked into overdrive Thursday night, via …
Obama ‘deeply saddened’ by shooting at Sikh temple
President Barack Obama said Sunday that he and first lady Michelle Obama are “deeply saddened” by the killing of at least six people Sunday at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and promised his administration will provide “whatever support is necessary” to those investigating the shooting.
A new energy fuels city-county job training
The city and county on Monday will announce the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership, a brand-new nonprofit agency birthed from a massive overhaul of the region’s federally funded employment training, placement and job retention programs. Not another mind-numbing bureaucracy, you say? Before your eyes glaze over, its …Read More
Why Obama skips the Bud Billiken parade
What politician can resist a parade? Especially one as storied as Chicago’s Bud Billiken Parade? For 83 years, its mascot has been Bud Billiken, a cuddly, Buddha-like comic book character and champion of summer fun. Sponsors bill it as the nation’s oldest and largest African-American …Read More
Preckwinkle cleaning up a mess at morgue
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle didn’t see this one coming. Watching her conduct at a news conference last week reminded me of a conversation we’d had in early March, weeks into the worst embarrassment of her administration. As we chatted over ice cream and …
Feds give Florida list of resident noncitizens
WASHINGTON — In a victory for Republicans, the federal government has agreed to let Florida use a law enforcement database to challenge people’s right to vote if they are suspected of not being U.S. citizens. The agreement, made in a letter to Florida Gov. Rick …
Obama in a jam? Salvation is in Ohio
Voters in Illinois, the bluest of blue states, have come down with a bad case of the 2012 presidential blues. Everywhere I go, I am button-holed with grim queries about President Barack Obama’s political travails. Staunch Obama-ites are fearful over his 2012 presidential prospects, right …
Fixing the Red Line: Let’s tough it out
We can’t live without it. The CTA’s Red Line is the city’s safety net and equalizer, an urban lifeline that links us to our paychecks, diplomas, baby sitters, even a good movie. Last week CTA officials announced a plan to shut down the rail line’s …
