Ray Hanania on Politics, Media & Life

04-06-25 Tom Tresser discusses the impact of TIFs in Orland Park and Aurora

Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast S8 Ep 4 04-06-25

Sunday April 6, 2025 and I am talking with Tom Tresser anexpert on TIFs, Tax Increment Financing Districts … and the impact TIFs had in the outcomes of two major suburban elections, the defeat of Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau by Jim Dodge and the defeat of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin by Alderman John Laesch …

Pekau and Irvin were abusers of TIFs and the issue surfacedduring both elections to impact the outcomes

Award winning Chicagoland political writer and formerChicago City Hall reporter and columnist addresses the facts that drive regional politics and elections in Chicagoland and the United States in this mainstream podcast, “Ray Hanania on Politics.”

For more information on Ray Hanania and his podcast, RayHanania on Politics, visit www.Hanania.com… watch the video at Youtube.com/@rayhananiaor go to the audio podcast at www.RayHananiaOnPolitics.com

03 30 25 Billy Marovitz Video Podcast Interview

S8 Ep 3

Ray Hanania on Politics Video Podcast March 30, 2025One of the elected officials I most admire is Billy Marovitz, who I first met when I was covering Chicago City Hall and have since maintained a friendship with him, seeing the vastness of all the things he has done.Marovitz is a guy who can’t sit still and has done many great things.He is a former Illinois legislator, who served in the Illinois House in 1974 and then went on to the Illinois Senate in 1980. He was only 25 when he entered politics, with no political allies, PACs or politicians behind his campaign. He rose to political influence serving as Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party for 25 years. As a legislator, Marovitz introduced and passed the Illinois Generic Prescription Drug Act which forced Big Pharma to sell Generic Drugs at a discount of 50 to 60 percent of their prescription costs, introduced the wrote and Hate Crimes Law, produced a musical celebrating the Cubs 2016 World Series victory, opened the Latin-Fusion restaurants Carnivale in Chicago and in Paradise Island, Bahamas, and hosts and interviews celebrity authors including New York Times Pulitzer Prize Columnist Maureen Dowd.Here is an interview I did with Marovitz, a true public servant with one of the most positive attitudes in American politics, that I think you will enjoy.For more information on my columns and the column I wrote on the interview, visit hanania.com.

03 09 25 Hanania in Cicero Orland Park Fire District elections

S8 E2

Veteran award winning political columnist and former Chicago City Hall reporter Ray Hanania talks about the top election aces this season in Chicagoland.

Hanania discusses the achievements of Cicero Town President Larry Dominick, who he does media work for, and all of Dominick's achievements. Dominick is celebrating his 20th year in office and in the Feb. 25, 2025 election, Dominick won re-election in a landslide, achieving the same percentage win that he did in his last contested election in 2013. (Cicero has seen a drop in voter turnout of 1,900 voters, which accounts for a slight reduction in percentage win but still an amazing victory for a mayor who has done so much to strengthen and change the image of the Town of Cicero.

The Cicero race is decisive and final and does not have an election on April 1. President Dominick will be sworn in to a 6th term as Town President in May 2025.Hanania also talks about the big race taking place in the April 1, 2025 General election that is in Orland Park, the largest city between Chicago and Joliet in the Southwest Suburbs. Incumbent Mayor Keith Pekau is going to lose to former Trustee Jim Dodge mainly because people are tired of Pekau's outrageous bullying and name-calling. Pekau doesn't tolerate public questions, has the worst transparency in the state for a municipal leader, and truly hates the people who question his consolidation of power in Orland Park over the past 8 years he has been in office, 6 of which he controlled the rubber stamp board.

Pekau and other surrounding mayors and supervisors all want to grab, merge, and consolidate the Orland Fire Protection District, which is the jewel in the crown of national firefighters. The OFPD has a fully funded pension that Pekau is drooling to control. Neighboring villages want to control the fire district, too, to shore up their limited fire department performances.The OFPD has a 71 percent Cardiac Arrest Save Rate, one of the highest in the Midwest if not the highest in the nation. The national Save rate is only 10 to 15 percent. That means if you live in the OFPD (which includes Orland Park, Orland Hills and some unincorporated areas) you have a 5 Times better chance of surviving a heart attack.

There are three slates of 3 candidates running to control the OFPD. One is backed by Pekau. Losers. Another is backed by a local supervisor and funded by donations from surrounding mayors who want to merge and consolidate -- they say they don't publicly but privately consolidation would be a financial windfall for them.I am supporting the Fiscal Voices for Orland Fire slate of candidates that include the only candidates with First Responder, police or fire experience:

OFPD Trustee Beth Damas Kaspar

OFPD Trustee Donald "DJ" Jeffers

Former Palos Heights CSO Bridget Tolan

Their website is

https://FiscalVoicesforOrlandFire.com

and their Facebook Page is

https://Facebook.com/people/Fiscal-Voices-For-Fire-Safety-Orland-Fire/61572978827101/

Check them out. If you live in the OFPD District support them to protect the Fire District from mergers and consolidation.

Get more information on all of this at my columns website at

https://Hanania.com

Thank you

RAY HANANIA

03-06-25 Ray Hanania on Politics: Trump & Ukraine; the biggest race in Chicago suburbs

Season 8, Episode 1

Podcast Topics:

I am reviving the podcast starting today. It will be recorded in audio here at Spotify and in video on YouTube, several times each week. And, I will write about it on my syndicated column page at www.HANANIA.com

You can easily subscribe to the syndicated columns and not miss an episode, column, or topics from Mainstream to Middle East.

What is President Donald Trump doing?

Trump stabbed Ukraine in the back claiming it was about money, but is it about the taxpayer money or his money? Trump is sucking up to Communist tyrant Vladimir Putin, his pal, because Trump wants to build those skyscrapers in Moscow and St. Petersburg like he has been trying to do for the past four decades.

Trump's policies in the Middle East are pushing our allies away from us and we'll have major consequences down the road as a result. Hamas is a Terrorist organization but so is the current Government of Israel. They both have killed innocent people. Hamas killed 1,400 Israel has killed 58,000 and the casualties continue to grow. Most are women and children. Babies are being murdered by American funding and American bombs given to Israel.

Imagine, Trump has ordered the firing of hundreds of thousands of Americans from Federal government jobs -- up to 40 percent of those Federal jobs among the targeted departments and bureaus are held by American Military Veterans.

Is that how a President rewards veterans, a president who dodged the draft to avoid military service to profit and hang around with Jeffrey Epstein???

Trump is giving $8 billion to Israel, a foreign country, and firing thousands of Americans from jobs because DOGE and Elon Musk assert it will save America $2 billion???

Trump's tariff wars are going to kill our economy and push away our allies, which is exactly what Putin wants.

LOCAL ELECTIONS

The biggest local election in the Chicagoland area is in Orland Park. Orland Park is the largest city between Chicago and Joliet, and actually the biggest city in the Southwest suburbs of Cook County. What happens there impacts the region financially and politically.

The big races to watch there:

1 - The Orland Fire Protection District, which many mayors like Pekau and others have said they want to control. They want to merge or consolidate, call it whatever you want, so they can raid the coffers. The OFPD has a fully funded pension that if the political pirates take control will siphon the funding out of that pension pool.

I support three independent candidates who have First Responder experience: Fire Commissioner Donald "DJ" Jeffers, Fire Trustee Beth Damas Kaspar, and former Palos Heights Police Community Service Officer Bridget Tolan. The two slates of 3 candidates each running against them are slated by Pekau's slate and a slate run by the union and township superviso to takeover the district and eliminate the checks an dbalances between unions and governments, You don't put a government int he hands of a union. You respect the union and respect the government and that's how they negotiate responsibly.

2 - The race for Mayor of Orland Park. Mayor Keith Pekau, one of the worst-ever mayors in the Chicagoland suburbs, is being challenged by a former Trustee with financial experience Jim Dodge. I think Dodge will win but he's not doing a great job of conveying his talents through media.

3 - In Orland Township, a slate led by Dick Kelly is challenging Supervisor Paul O'Grady, whose allies have been behind many attacks against me personally and professionally. Kelly heads the ORLAND TOWNSHIP TOGETHER Slate which includes

Cindy Murray for Clerk

Antonio Rubino for Assessor

Tracy Sullivan for Highway Commissioner

Michael Schofield, retiring OFPD Fire Chief, for trustee

Lena Matariyeh for Trustee

Daniel Flores for Trustee

Kelly Metzger for Trustee.

(Matariyeh represents the growing Arab community in Orland Park.)

Enjoy the podcast

07-12-24 Ray Hanania on Radio in Michigan on the Biden-Trump presidential election

06-29-24 Can Robert F. Kennedy Jr win in wake of distasrous Biden-Trump debate?

Hosts Bill Lipinski and Ray Hanania Biden's poor debate performance with Trump and if Biden should drop out for someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Biden-Trump debate was a complete disaster for the Democrats and a growing number of the public are feeling Biden cannot survive. Should Biden drop out of the presidential. race and should Democrats slate someone else? Or, can a third party candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., run against turmoil plagued Trump and a  very confused Biden and win?

Should Democrats support someone else like Michelle Obama and abandon vice president Kamala Harris, who has been roundly criticized during Biden's first term in office? 

Hanania was in Atlanta covering the Debate and discusses how the news media, CNN, tried hard to use the debate to strengthen Biden and undermine Trump, but in the end forced Trump to be "tempered" and controlled better leaving Biden to stumble, fumble and bumble in a terrible way undermining Democratic Party unity.

You can read Ray Hanania's column urging Biden to step down gracefully or be replaced and analyzing how CNN caused Biden's political demise by their intentional effort to help him overcome their nemesis Trump.⁠⁠https://hanania.substack.com/p/biden-should-step-down-and-finish⁠⁠

“Two Guys on Politics” Podcast presents a Reagan Democrat Perspectives from Chicagoland’s Southwest Side and the Midwest.

Bill Lipinski served as Democratic Committeeman / Alderman of Chicago’s 23rd Ward. Lipinski was elected to Congress in 1983 and served through 2005. He currently writes the “Right from the Center” opinion column at ⁠⁠BillLipinski.com⁠⁠

Ray Hanania covered Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 and writes mainstream opinion columns for The Southwest News Newspaper Group.

Subscribe to his syndicated columns by visiting ⁠⁠https://www.Hanania.com⁠⁠

Hanania also writes Middle East columns and news for the Arab News Newspaper ⁠⁠https://www.ArabNews.com⁠⁠

06-06-24 S3E16 A look back at D-Day; Giving VA benefits to Americans serving in a foreign country, Trump's legal challenges and the Lewinsky scandal, and Illinois election restrictions

Hosts Bill Lipinski and Ray Hanania discuss the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion and the sacrifice that American soldiers made to defeat the Nazis during World War II. Lipinski, a historian on World War II, discusses the challenges or soldiers faced that brutal morning on June 6, 1944 at Normandy, France.

The efforts of two members of congress to pass legislation that would grant full veteran benefits to Americans who serve in Israel's military. State Reps. Max Miller (R-OH) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), said they want Congress to provide protections and benefits to Americans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), regardless of whether or not they first served in the U.S. Military.

Click here to read my column on the topic:

⁠https://hanania.substack.com/p/pro-israel-pac-recipients-urge-benefits⁠

A look at former President Donald Trump's legal challenges and a comparison to challenges former President Bill Clinton faced. Clearly, Democrats made a great effort to prevent Clinton from being charged or convicted of felony perjury or felony influencing a witnesses' testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clinton manipulated the system and lied, and yet his lies were treated with sympathy from the mainstream news media. Clinton's purpose was to lie to survive so that his wife, Hillary Clinton, could seek higher office including the presidency at a later date. His perjury denying he had sexual relations with Lewinsky was a crime that if Trump had made would have resulted in a felony conviction.

The impact of a new law that changes the election dates and procedures in Illinois's elections. Now, if a party fails to run a candidate in a primary election contest for state or local office in Illinois, then the party would be prohibited from slating someone from their party to run in the general election. The real purpose is to strengthen the Democratic Party's control of Illinois politics. Illinois is one of the most "Blue States" in America with the strongest control by Democrats. It is almost a one-party state undermining the election process. That might explain why the last election had one of the worst and lowest voter turnouts in the country, less than 20 percent.

“Two Guys on Politics” Podcast presents a Reagan Democrat Perspectives from Chicagoland’s Southwest Side and the Midwest.

Bill Lipinski served as Democratic Committeeman/Alderman of Chicago’s 23rd Ward. Lipinski was elected to Congress in 1983 and served through 2005. He currently writes the “Right from the Center” opinion column at ⁠BillLipinski.com⁠

Ray Hanania covered Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 and writes mainstream opinion columns for The Southwest News Newspaper Group.

Subscribe to his syndicated columns by visiting ⁠https://www.Hanania.com⁠;

Hanania also writes Middle East columns and news for the Arab News Newspaper ⁠https://www.ArabNews.com⁠

05-30-24 Trump Trial, Kennedy censored by media and Sam Alito's upside down flag

Hosts Bill Lipinski and Ray Hanania discuss former President Donald Trump's trial on 34 charges of allegedly falsifying business records, the bias of the news media engaging in the trial and the Democrats doing everything they possibly can to prevent Trump from returning to the White House.Lipinski and Hanania questioned the validity of the charges noting how a conviction will only increase and strengthen Trump's popularity in the upcoming election, and throw American into further disarray.

As they discussed the issue, the jury found Trump guilty on all 34 charges.

Click this link read story.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/may/30/trump-hush-money-trial-verdict

Lipinski and Hanania also talk about how the Democrats and the News Media are doing everything to prevent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from becoming president. Kennedy, a conservative, could take votes away not only from Trump but also from President Joe Biden. But even if he does not win, he can prevent both Biden and Trump from winning enough of the Electoral College Votes to become president.The media is more desperate and has compromised their ethics and professionalism to twist and distort facts. The New York Times refused to run a full page paid Advertisement from Kennedy demanding that he be included in the Presidential Debates which so far are being restricted to Kennedy and Trump.

And, Lipinski and Hanania discuss the fake accusations against Republican Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito whose wife raised an upside down flag in front of their home in protest of her fight with a neighbor. The neighbor called the media and the media has been demanding that Alito resign.

Their deception is clear however. They don't care about the American Flag. They care about removing a conservative from the Supreme Court in order to make it more difficult an option for the Supreme Court to intervene in any appeals Trump might make.Ironically, it has always been the liberals and Democrats who have defended the right of citizens to abuse the American flag, burning it, tearing it, wearing it as clothing or turning it upside down as a form of protest in a Free Country. Now the liberal media asserts that Alito's upside down flag is a crime.

Lipinski and Hanania also discuss the growing problems America continues to have, problems that have protrayed this country as weak and vulnerable to tyrants like Russia, North Korea, Iran and China.As a side note, both Hanania and Lipinski had hospital procedures last week (which is why we missed one show) and Lipinski was not able to be on camera.

Ray Hanania on Politics and “Two Guys on Politics” Podcast presents a Reagan Democrat Perspectives from Chicagoland’s Southwest Side and the Midwest.

Bill Lipinski served as Democratic Committeeman/Alderman of Chicago’s 23rd Ward. Lipinski was elected to Congress in 1983 and served through 2005. He currently writes the “Right from the Center” opinion column at BillLipinski.com

Ray Hanania covered Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 and writes mainstream opinion columns for The Southwest News Newspaper Group.

Subscribe to his syndicated columns by visiting https://www.Hanania.com; Hanania also writes Middle East columns and news for the Arab News Newspaper https://www.ArabNews.com

Our web address is www.TwoGuysonPolitics.com Our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/TwoGuysOnPolitics

5-03-24 Should Robert F. Kennedy Jr. be part of the Trump-Biden debates? And, comparing student protests today with 1968

04-24-24 S3E13 Israel, Ukraine & Taiwan Aid; Tiktok influence; Hollywood's anti-Trump movie "Civil War," & Robert F. Kennedy Jr's challenge to become president

Two Guys on Politics Episode