In this era of tight public funds afflicting virtually every state in the nation, there is one revenue source that has been all but neglected in the public debate: the subsidy of “not for profit” private hospitals by exemption from sales and property taxes being the typical form. This has been reexamined by the remarkable Illinois supreme court decision in the Provena Covenant case: the Court ruled that the Provena hospital group failed to meet the charitable health care provision required to enjoy the property ands sales tax freedom they had enjoyed.

In a unanimous, 7-0 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court said that Rahm Emanuel will appear on the February 22 ballot for Mayor of Chicago. This overturns a previous ruling from a state appeals court.

With regard to former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s bid for Mayor of Chicago, I do not know about you, but I cannot think of any instance in which a White House and President, especially one so intimately related to one side of the issue, has so directly stepped into a state and local court proceeding at such a critical moment with its opinion on the ultimate legal determination.

The Supreme Court of Illinois has granted Rahm Emanuel a stay of the appellate court’s ruling, so his name will still appear on the ballot for Chicago mayor.