At No. 9 and dropping:
We're No. 9, we're No. 9!" isn't exactly a cheer that would resonate through sports stadiums in this country. But that's where the United States stands on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, released Wednesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
States from New Jersey to California are slashing budgets in response to their fiscal crises, but Illinois is trying a different way, adopting a whopping 67 percent hike in the income tax. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has the appropriate response.
CHICAGO (WLS) - As Illinois prepares to raise income taxes, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels tells Don and Roma he's trying to keep from laughing at our plight.
Today we present the award for most shameless attempt to use the Tucson shootings to advance an agenda. The runner-up is Mark McKinnon:
Back in 1973, National Lampoon had a cover (pictured below) that became famous (or infamous) almost overnight:
Now someone has taken that bad-taste joke and made it real:
This is the national conversation we should be having:
Because the State Fair is a "family oriented event," should children there still be shielded from demon rum?
Visitors to the Indiana State Fair will be able to drink a cold beer or sip Indiana wine as they chow down on fried food if one lawmaker gets his way.
Rep. Robert Cherry, R-Greenfield, has filed a bill to lift a longtime ban on alcohol at the annual fair.
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Proof that "reads a lot" is not the same thing as "smart":
The most literate city is, Washington, according to a survey released Monday by Central Connecticut State University, followed by Seattle and Minneapolis.
The study, which has been conducted annually for eight years by Jack Miller, president of CCSU, includes only cities with populations greater than 250,000.
The trouble with all the "Sarah Palin caused the Arizona shooting" talk is that it distracts us from an equally entertaining theory that the recent rash of bird deaths was caused by the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell:
The tea party has certainly made its mark on the politics. But does it have a future?
It's a question that political observers have been asking ever since the tea party came along -- whether it's here to stay or is simply a flash in the pan.
One piece of "this gun violence sprang from the climate of hate, so conservatives should shut up now" drivel sounds pretty much like another, so let's quote former Mayor Paul Helmke of the Brady campaign just to give a nod to a hometown boy trying to make his mark:
We also are deeply concerned about the heated political rhetoric that escalates debates and controversies, and sometimes makes it seem as if violence is an acceptable response to honest disagreements.
