This Monday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) closed its public comment period regarding the new fuel efficiency standards that will be adopted by automakers for vehicles made from 2017-2025. These new standards will increase the fuel economy for cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon, which will cut...

On January 20th, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that most employers will need to cover contraception in their basic benefits packages. Bearing in mind the religious objections of some to contraception, the Administration also included an exemption that will allow religious institutions that exist for religious purposes...

Last week, we learned that Treasury Secretary Paulson disclosed material non-public information to Wall Street insiders regarding his plan to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship. In a July 21, 2008 meeting at Eton Park Capital Management LLC, which included at least five Goldman Sachs alumni,...

The horror of Tucson may be fading from the national headlines, but deadly gun-violence in Chicago is as prevalent as ever. On any given weekend a half-dozen Chicagoans lose their lives to guns.

But Chicago is not alone. Americans across the country from Ft. Hood to campuses in Dekalb and...

Anyone who has ever asked for directions knows you need two crucial pieces of information to get good results: a starting point and a destination. As the rhetoric swirls around our growing budget deficit, we seem to have forgotten the importance of this lesson. We can't possibly figure out how...

One year ago today, I was sworn in to represent Illinois' 5th District in the United States Congress. As I said that night on the House floor, "the people of my district gave me their trust--I can't tell you how much that means to me."

In his State...

As the City of Chicago digests the news of today’s Olympics decision, we must not overlook the news that came out of Washington earlier this week that will directly impact our neighborhoods, with or without the Games.

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review McDonald vs. City of...

These days, state and local governments are struggling to make ends meet, provide services to citizens and balance their budgets. They're scrounging for every penny they can find.

What if I told you we could have an extra 700 million dollars for Cook County?

Last year, Todd Stroger told us...

The Chicago Tribune editorial board rightly chastised President Todd Stroger and a majority of my colleagues on the County Board this morning for trying to stuff coal in taxpayers' stockings by borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars--just months after hiking sales taxes. The Tribune editorial also pointed to

Twenty years ago this month--on August 8, 1988, to be exact--the Chicago Cubs attempted to play their first-ever night game at Wrigley Field. Mother Nature was apparently a silent member of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine (CUBS), the scrappy neighborhood group demanding "no lights" at Wrigley, because rain...