The campaign against Mike Madigan

By Rich Miller

The Illinois Republican Party has relentlessly bashed House Speaker Michael Madigan almost every day via press release during the past few months. Not many of those statements have been covered by the

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, August 9,2012

Quinn plays the politics of pensions

By Rich Miller

Gov. Pat Quinn’s office flatly denies it, but it’s hard to see how last week’s big announcement about calling a special session on pension reform wasn’t at least partially rela

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, August 2,2012

Statehouse Dems dominate the dollar race

By Rich Miller

The House and Senate Democratic leaders have once again dominated the quarterly fundraising race. The Democrats are currently sitting on almost three times the amount of cash as the Republicans.House

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, July 26,2012

When the feds can’t nail their suspect

By Rich Miller

The federal criminal complaint against the seven people arrested in Chicago last week for federal bribery conspiracy is 42 pages long. Former state Sen. Rickey Hendon is mentioned 21 times in those 42

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, July 19,2012

Metro-East congressional race could spell trouble for Democrats

By Rich Miller

A new poll taken last week has Republican congressional candidate Jason Plummer leading his new Democratic challenger by 11 points. The poll, taken Monday, July 9, by We Ask America, found Plummer ahe

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, July 5,2012

Closing in on Rep. Derrick Smith

By Rich Miller

Finally, a little bit of good news.In stark contrast to the glacially paced House Committee on Investigations, the panel charged with deciding indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith’s punishment look

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, June 28,2012

Legislators thought they had a deal to keep prisons open

By Rich Miller

Several Downstate Illinois legislators were furious last week that Gov. Pat Quinn decided to go ahead and close some state facilities, including prisons, in their districts. They weren’t just up

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, June 21,2012

Labor gives Democrats a slap on the wrist

By Rich Miller

Only a handful of state House Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat by the Republicans were endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO last week, but the damage to the Democratic Party’s chances this

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, June 14,2012

The Senate President’s quiet accomplishments

By Rich Miller

It went almost totally unnoticed at the Statehouse, but Senate President John Cullerton pulled a neat little trick at the end of the spring legislative session and he may end up getting what he wants

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, June 7,2012

Summer pension session unnecessary. Leaders will decide.

By Rich Miller

At least for now, it doesn’t appear that rank and file legislators will have to spend much time in Springfield this summer, even though they failed to finish their work on public pension reform