RAHM EMANUEL FIRES CHICAGO POLICE CHIEF ONE YEAR LATER; FREDDY GRAY MURDER TRIAL BEGINS

Amid public outrage, one year after being re-elected as Mayor of Chicago, RAHM EMANUEL is finally moving forward with the LAQUAN MCDONALD Murder case.

Why was Laquan's Irresponsible Mother paid $5 Million in HUSH money when her 17-yr old Son was still in Foster Care when he was killed?

FREDDY GRAY'S Murder trial has begun to move forward in BALTIMORE.

Freddy Gray's family was also PAID OFF.

Thus none of the six Cops culpable for Freddy's Murder will spend time in Prison.

Under OBAMA'S Administration, Young BLACK Men & Boys in America are worth Dead than Alive.

We need to PRAY and keep demanding JUSTICE!


~ Analysis: After firing McCarthy, Emanuel faces bigger problem

Now that Rahm Emanuel has gone against his political instincts by firing his larger-than-life police superintendent, the mayor faces an even bigger political dilemma that could define his legacy.

He must find a worthy replacement for Garry McCarthy without making worse racial tensions brought to a boil by the Laquan McDonald shooting video.

The video played around the world of a white Chicago Police officer pumping 16 rounds into the body of the black teenager not only sealed McCarthy’s fate.

It also made the job of filling McCarthy’s shoes that much more difficult.

Hispanic elected officials will almost certainly demand that the permanent job be awarded to First Deputy Police Superintendent John Escalante, who will serve as acting superintendent until a permanent replacement is chosen.

But Escalante is already a political flashpoint. McCarthy’s decision to appoint him to replace retiring First Deputy Al Wysinger, who is African-American, infuriated the City Council’s Black Caucus and triggered demands for McCarthy’s ouster even before the Laquan McDonald video was made public.

Hispanics may also lobby behind the scenes for Hiram Grau, the former Chicago deputy superintendent and former state police director who was chosen by Emanuel to recommend police reforms as part of a five-member Task Force on Police Accountability.

Having succeeded in forcing Emanuel’s hand, black elected officials are equally certain to demand that McCarthy’s replacement be an African-American to restore public confidence between citizens and police in the black community so shaken by the department’s handling of the McDonald shooting.

Several aldermen are openly lobbying for Wysinger’s return, even though he is best remembered for being the statue who stood motionless behind McCarthy at news conferences.

“I believe in my heart that Al Wysinger will be a great choice to lead the department. Al has the respect of the community as well as the entire police department,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), former chairman of the City Council’s Police Committee.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who lobbied hard for McCarthy’s ouster, said the new superintendent need not necessarily be black. But it must be someone willing to make the “structural changes” necessary “so there’s not an effort to cover up, deny, misplace evidence and perjure when bad things happen.”

“The mayor complains about the code of silence in the black and Hispanic communities that prevent people from coming forward and sharing information. What about the code of silence in the police department that protects bad cops?” Preckwinkle said.

Another strong black candidate is Charles Ramsey, the former deputy police superintendent who went on to lead the police departments in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Ramsey was Emanuel’s first choice in 2011 before pricing himself out of the market by demanding a salary in excess of $400,000.

The case for a black superintendent is strengthened by the fact that the surge in shootings and gang violence under McCarthy’s watch disproportionately impacted the African-American community and left many of those neighborhoods under siege.

They need only point to the execution murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee as proof. The boy was lured into an ally by a gang member seeking revenge after his brother was killed in a gang-related shooting.

That initial nationwide search for a new superintendent will be conducted by the Police Board, whose president, Lori Lightfoot, is another member of Emanuel’s Task Force on Police Accountability.

They will narrow the list to 10 candidates then winnow the names to three finalists from which the mayor can choose. Escalante will almost certainly be one of them unless he blows his audition.

On Tuesday, Emanuel was asked whether a new superintendent needs to be an outsider or black.

“I’m not looking for a type. I’m looking for a professional that can lead the department and make sure that they have a robust record of bringing results in public safety,” the mayor said.

“I want to have somebody that will meet the needs of public safety, help obviously in this issue of both changing the culture, putting in place the building blocks to restore the confidence and trust that we want to see in Chicago and have a record in the police department of invigorating . . . not only commitment to professionalism but the type of commitment I want to see to make the changes necessary.”

Lightfoot added, “It needs to be somebody with a track record of positive engagement with the community . . . There’s also a need for terrorism experience and ideas to combat violence and street crime.”

If Emanuel dares to chose a white superintendent, former Englewood District Commander-turned State Police Director Leo Schmitz would be a strong candidate. Schmitz was a star of the CNN documentary series, “Chicagoland.”

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley was a me-first politician who never hesitated to throw people under the bus, including two police superintendents: Phil Cline and Matt Rodriguez.

Emanuel is far more loyal to his people. It goes against his grain to create political scapegoats.

But the steady drumbeat for McCarthy’s ouster got too loud to ignore, particularly for a mayor who had promised during his second term to listen more to African-American voters, who were alienated by his record 50 school closings.

The Chicago Sun-Times may well have put the final nail in McCarthy’s coffin with a front-page editorial demanding his ouster.

“I have a lot of loyalty to what he’s done and him. But . . . no one person trumps my commitment and my responsibility to the city of Chicago and its future,” the mayor said.

Pressed to explain what his only police superintendent had done wrong, he said: “I have a lot of confidence in the work and results that he’s done. But our goal . . . is to build the trust and confidence of the public. And at this point and this juncture for the city, given what we’re working on, he has become an issue, rather than dealing with the issue, and a distraction.”

Emanuel has been under fire for keeping the McDonald video under wraps until after the April 7 mayoral runoff and waiting until one week after the election to settle the case for $5 million even before the McDonald family had filed a lawsuit. The video was released only after a judge’s order.

On Tuesday, the mayor was asked what responsibility he bears for the crisis of confidence that has, once again, undermined the trust between citizens and police in the black community so essential to solving crime.

“I take responsibility and none of us are above it . . . I have taken certain steps prior to this day. I’m taking steps today. As I told you, this is a work in progress in finding a solution [to police accountability]. It’s not the end of the problem. It’s the beginning of a solution towards the problem,” the mayor said.

Emanuel was asked about demands for his own resignation. He kept his cool and simply said a sarcastic, “Thank you.”

On Black Friday, the same day protesters infuriated by the McDonald video shut down Michigan Avenue, McCarthy insisted that the mayor “has my back.”

Instead, he got a political knife in the back delivered Tuesday morning after a series of conversations with his boss over the last few days.

The Emanuel-McCarthy dialogue started with the superintendent defending himself and making the case to finish the job he came to Chicago to do and ended with a realization that his tenure as superintendent, second only to Terry Hillard’s, had come to an end.

“After repeated meetings with community and faith leaders and conversations with elected officials, the mayor realized community support for the superintendent had gotten so low, he could no longer be effective in his job. It was an evolution of conversations that got him to that point,” said a mayoral confidante, who asked to remain anonymous.


~ First of Six Trials in Freddie Gray Death Begins With Protests

Demonstrations tied to the April police custody death of Freddie Gray continued on Monday evening, hours after jury selection got underway for the first of six officers slated to stand trial in his death.

Carrying signs that read, "Black Lives Matter," and chanting "No justice no peace! No killer police!" several dozen protestors marched through downtown Baltimore, making stops at City Hall, police department headquarters, and several popular tourist spots, including the city's famed Inner Harbor. No arrests were reported.

The protests followed day one of the jury selection process in the case of William G. Porter, 26, one of six officers indicted. He faces charges that include with manslaughter, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment for his alleged role in Gray's demise.

Sources: Chicago Suntimes, Fox News, NBC News, YouTube

Harry Reid's Deals To Get His 60 Votes, Defense Bill Clears

Mass., Vermont Bigger Medicaid Winners Than Nebraska


Perhaps the Republican criticism of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is misplaced: Nebraska is set to reap only a fraction of the $1.2 billion in special Medicaid deals for three states.

Vermont, which is represented by the once-wavering Sen. Bernie Sanders, would recieve $600 million over 10 years for its Medicaid costs, according to Congressional Budget Office figures requested by Senate Republicans.

Massachusetts would see $500 million, according to the CBO.

Nelson, who has been lambasted throughout the day, steered only (!) $100 million to his state to cost the full cost of the Medicaid expansion.





Payoffs For States Get Harry Reid To 60 Votes



Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback,” as the GOP is calling it, got all the attention Saturday, but other senators lined up for deals as Majority Leader Harry Reid corralled the last few votes for a health reform package.

Nelson’s might be the most blatant – a deal carved out for a single state, a permanent exemption from the state share of Medicaid expansion for Nebraska, meaning federal taxpayers have to kick in an additional $45 million in the first decade.

But another Democratic holdout, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), took credit for $10 billion in new funding for community health centers, while denying it was a “sweetheart deal.” He was clearly more enthusiastic about a bill he said he couldn’t support just three days ago.

Nelson and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) carved out an exemption for non-profit insurers in their states from a hefty excise tax. Similar insurers in the other 48 states will pay the tax.

Vermont and Massachusetts were given additional Medicaid funding, another plus for Sanders and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Three states – Pennsylvania, New York and Florida – all won protections for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries at a time when the program is facing cuts nationwide.

All of this came on top of a $300 million increase for Medicaid in Louisiana, designed to win the vote of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Under pressure from the White House to get a deal done by Christmas, Reid was unapologetic. He argued that, by definition, legislating means deal making and defended the special treatment for Nelson’s home state of Nebraska.

“You’ll find a number of states that are treated differently than other states. That’s what legislating is all about. It's compromise," he said.

It was Nelson who proved that he who plays hardest to get, gets the most.

He forced Reid to redraft the bill’s restrictions on federal funding of abortion. And while most insiders were focused on that deal, Nelson was quietly ensuring that his state would never have to pay for the Medicaid expansion being written into the bill – an agreement that had been in the works for weeks.

Medicaid is usually paid for with a mix of federal and state funding, but Nelson's carve out means that any Medicaid beneficiaries who join the program under the bill will be fully paid for by the federal government.

It's an important deal considering that many governors are worried that the Medicaid expansion will further strain already stressed state budgets – and one that came after Nebraska Gov.Dave Heineman called on Nelson to vote against the bill.

"The State of Nebraska cannot afford an unfunded mandate and uncontrolled spending of this magnitude,” the governor wrote to Nelson.

Nelson deferred all questions on the provision to Reid, saying only that he was “comfortable” the deal took care of Nebraska.

But Nelson’s deal could be a pittance compared to where the Nebraska compromise might ultimately lead – to 49 other states demanding that the feds pick up their share of health reform’s new Medicaid burden when it kicks in during 2017.

"When you look at it, I thought well, God, good, it is going to be the impetus for all the states to stay at 100 percent [federal funding]. So he might have done all of us a favor," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said of Nelson’s dealings.

Nelson and Levin also pushed a provision that exempts non-profit insurers in Nebraska and Michigan from an annual multi-billion dollar excise tax on insurance companies.

Not surprisingly, both states are home to non-profit insurers who control a high-percentage of the industry’s profits. In Michigan, non-profit insurers control 76 percent of the industry’s profits – one of the highest percentages in the nation – while Nebraska non-profits control 46 percent of their state’s profits.

And in an example of how closely senators guarded details, Levin’s office did not answer any questions about the proposal when asked about it on Friday.

Republicans, meanwhile, expressed outrage at the wheeling and dealing, as if their party had never cut a legislative deal in its 150-year history.

“This bill is a monstrosity, a 2,100-page monstrosity full of special deals for people who are willing to vote for it,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. “And they’re playing these kind of games with the nation’s health care. This is an outrage.”

But Sanders didn’t sound outraged when he talked about the extra Medicaid funding Vermont will get for six years. Massachusetts, meanwhile, received three years worth of additional Medicaid funding. Under the original bill, neither state had qualified for the money.

Republican Sen. Mike Enzi accused Democratic leaders of favoring Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Pennsylvania, New York and Florida at the expense of seniors in other parts of the country.

“The Democrats are playing ‘Let’s make a deal’ with trillions of your hard-earned tax dollars. You and all the American people should know that the majority leader is buying his votes with your money,” said Enzi (R-Wyo.) “The Reid bill gives sweetheart deals to a few states and the rest of the country will foot the bill. Making unfair deals like this is the wrong way to legislate and the American people know it.”

And while there were plenty of state-specific deals, some of the changes were clearly aimed at pleasing specific Democratic factions. For instance, tightened insurance regulations went a long way toward putting a smile on the faces of liberal senators who have lost their much-loved public option.

The amendment mandates that insurers spend no less than 80 percent of their premium revenues providing medical care. Currently, insurers spend about 70 percent of their premiums paying for health care. The bill also eliminates insurers’ ability to cap annual coverage amounts.

In brief remarks at the White House, President Barack Obama also highlighted some new provisions, including penalties for insurers who “arbitrarily jack up rates” and an immediate prohibition on insures’ ability to deny children coverage.

Obama, too, talked of the deals as just the cost of doing business in Washington.

“As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process,” Obama said. “But I'm pleased that recently added amendments have made this landmark bill even stronger.”





War bill Survives Poisonous Vote



A $626 billion Pentagon budget narrowly advanced in the Senate Friday morning, but not before Washington’s political battles seemed to eclipse the real wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Senate scene, played out in a post-midnight session on a freezing night, dramatized how poisonous the atmosphere has become in the health care fight.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to weigh in for fear the military would be left with only stop-gap funding while fighting two wars overseas. And ailing 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) was wheeled in for the 1 a.m. vote while his old friend Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) deserted the bill under pressure from his own leadership to slow action.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made no secret of the fact that he was looking for leverage over Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to delay action on health care reform until after Christmas. The pressure on rank-and-file members was severe, and it was only after Democrats had secured the needed 60 votes that three Republicans broke ranks in support of cutting off debate.

“Not even the darkness outside can conceal the games being played inside this Senate chamber,” Reid said in closing remarks before the vote. “We are here in the middle of the night, but the reason is as clear as day.”

By contrast, the same defense measure — including $128 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — sailed through the Houseon Wednesday on a 395-34 vote. Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, had worked closely with Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) to ensure passage. And toward this end, Democrats pared back extraneous provisions and devoted the bulk of the additional domestic spending to jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.

“It is a good bill. It ought to be passed, and it ought to be passed as soon as possible,” Cochran said on the floor Wednesday. But after a health care blowup on the floor that day infuriated McConnell, Cochran was pressed by his leadership to slow progress at least until Reid comes forward with the text of proposed changes being made in the Democrats' health care package.

In a statement after the vote, the Mississippian said his party felt it was important to act in “unison,” but that he was confident the measure would soon pass. “I regret that its consideration is being affected by the divisive end-of-session debate on health care reform.”

Neither party is blameless in the sorry state of the defense budget, which should finally clear Congress on Saturday, almost three months into the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Democrats stalled action themselves for months, hoping to use it as the locomotive for an end-of-the-year train of legislative items. “The Republicans didn’t control the timing on this bill,” said Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). “Why haven’t the Democrats been able to bring this most important bill to the Senate for a vote until a week before Christmas?”

Nonetheless the bare-knuckle Republican tactics are most striking because GOP members are typically very supportive of defense spending and reluctant to do anything to obstruct the annual Pentagon budget.

That tradition is wearing thin in today’s Washington. The 1 a.m. vote in the Senate echoed a fight last summer in the House during which Republicans opposed new war funding because they were upset that money for the International Monetary Fund had been added to the package.

“I think they picked the wrong bill for it,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). “Why are we putting the men and women in uniform in the middle of this debate? They didn’t ask for that.”

The three Republicans who supported cloture were Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — all representing states with a major economic stake in the defense budget.



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Sources: Politico, Google Maps

Tiger May Have Paid Rachel To Cancel Press Conference...Celeb Rumors

Alleged Woods mistress cancels press conference. A press conference for Rachel Uchitel, one of the women reportedly romantically connected with golfer Tiger Woods, was cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances." Msnbc.com's Courtney Hazlett reports for WRC.

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Are Tiger's Endorsements in trouble?

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Did Woods pay to quiet one alleged mistress?

“Unforeseen circumstances” was the only explanation given for a canceled news conference that was expected to shed light on the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rachel Uchitel, the 34-year-old woman first connected to the star golfer.

Sources say those “unforeseen circumstances” stem from a last-minute deal between Woods and Uchitel worth upwards of $1 million, in order to keep quiet about her real story. (Uchitel’s attorney, Gloria Allred, had no comment.)

Uchitel initially told the New York Post there was no affair nor any text messages between herself and Woods, and some believe that denial also had to do with money. Some sources say Uchitel was receiving financial help from Woods prior to the National Enquirer story that initially linked the two. (Allred did not respond to comment requests on this point.)

As for whether this will be the end of the Uchitel/Woods chapter, that remains to be seen. Other sources have come forward claiming to have text messages that Woods and Uchitel exchanged, and they’re shopping those messages around to several media outlets.

More info from the scene of the accident

The Florida Highway Patrol has released the complete interview with the neighbors who found Woods after his crash. A few interesting points of note from the 16-minute interview: according to Jarius Lavar Adams, who placed the call, Woods was on the ground, near the passenger side of his car, and was snoring at the time the call was placed.

Adams and his sister, Kimberly Harris, also said that the mothers of both Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, were both at the scene of the accident when Adams made the 911 call. Adams and Harris told the FHP that no one at the scene made any mention of pulling Tiger out of the car, or using a golf club to smash in windows. There were no clubs on the ground at the scene, they said, instead telling the FHP that there were two clubs placed in a nearby golf cart.



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Sources: MSNBC, Scoop, Swindle, Google Maps