A "Tie" to Politics

VIDEO: Freivogel discusses SCOTUS and the City of Chicago

Ongoing debate regarding the Second Amendment and Chicago city ordinances pushed by Mayor Richard M. Daley could make Illinois reconsider its state gun laws, says visiting Institute professor William Freivogel.

Freivogel, who is director of the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a member of the Missouri Bar Association, discussed the U.S. Supreme Court opinion that struck down a ban on handguns within Chicago’s city limits and the new restrictions passed by the City Council last week.

A group of pro-gun activists have already filed litigation against the city and Mayor Daley for what they claim are additional violations of the Second Amendment.

Here is this week’s video commentary:

Freivogel also wrote about the Chicago gun ban in his blog featured on the St. Louis Beacon.

VIDEO: Yepsen discusses Blago trial fallout, Kirk’s presser

Another week in the federal trial charging former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of political corruption brought out names in the White House and the Democratic Party’s U.S. senate nominee.

However the Blagojevich trial does not seem to be having as much of an impact on the party’s popularity among voters, said Institute director David Yepsen.

Yepsen was featured in this week’s video commentary. He said polls suggest voters offended by the Blagojevich incident seem to have already left the Democratic Party.

Yepsen also touched on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk’s press conference in which he apologized for exaggerating on his past accomplishments.

Here’s this week’s commentary:

Tags: alexi giannoulias, blago, blagojevich, david yepsen, election 2010, illinois, mark kirk, obama, paul simon, paul simon institute, rod blagojevich, valerie jarrett

Yepsen featured in first pair of Institute video commentaries

Gen. Stanley McChrystal may be out of a job before the end of the week, says Institute director David Yepsen.

In the first of what is hoped to be several video commentaries produced by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Yepsen discussed the consequences of McChrystal’s comments in a Rolling Stone magazine article.

The discussion also touched on a federal judge’s opinion that would block the White House’s moratorium on offshore oil drilling…

Yepsen also commented on the possibility of the Illinois Senate returning to vote on a pension borrowing bill and the latest gossip in the races for governor and U.S. senate…

Comments have been turned off on the videos, but discussion is welcome on this post.