The Palatine Township Democratic Organization has changed its name to "Greater Palatine Area Democrats." Matt Flamm, who was elected Committeeman in the March 18th primary, explained the name change. "Our old name may have made people think we were only interested in Palatine Township elections. We're active in everything from Presidential elections to local park districts, school boards, municipal and state elections. We welcome Democrats who live in Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, and the other communities that include parts of Palatine Township." For more information, call (847)454-0134 or email [email protected].

Conventional wisdom is that President Obama had a "bad year" in 2013. You hear it on talk shows and read it in newspaper columns. People cite the government shutdown, problems with the Obamacare rollout, and disclosures about the NSA.

But was it really a bad year? Consider these facts:

1.  The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) went into effect October 1st, despite the determined efforts of Republicans to repeal or defund it.

2.  Millions of people now have health insurance for the first time. Some got coverage through healthcare.gov, others used the toll-free line or worked with navigators. People under 26 are now covered by their parents' health insurance.

3.  The expansion of Medicaid has provided millions of others with coverage. Hospitals like Cook County Hospital are now being reimbursed for care they've been providing for free.

4. The economy is growing at a faster pace, and the unemployment rate continues to fall.

5.  President Obama refused to give in to the government shutdown, which ended without further damage to the economy and our political process.

The Daily Herald recently ran an excellent three-part series on Firearms Owners Identification (FOID) Cards. About 10% of people in the suburbs have FOID cards, which means that 90% of us don't. Even among those who have FOID cards, most are hunters or people who have  a family heirloom or a gun for protection in their home. Most of them support reasonable regulation of privately-owned firearms.