Rich Miller

The latest scandal to hit the powerful Illinois Department of Central Management Services revolves around a lucrative contract to manage health-care costs for tens of thousands of state workers and their families. Health Alliance has handled that task for downstate employees for more than 20 years, and just about everybody has been happy with its […]

Part of me cheered when Gov. Rod Blagojevich took a shot at Chicago Mayor Richard Daley last week. In case you hadn’t heard, Daley last week announced that he wanted a huge land-based, city-owned casino. Twenty-four hours later, Blagojevich said no way. I live in Chicago, and I’ve come to believe that it’s a little […]

There’s always a soap opera in progress at the Illinois statehouse, but this year’s version is a bit crazier than usual. • House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, is killing off Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s proposals left and right. Madigan’s strongest supporters so far are two Republicans: Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson and state Treasurer […]

The concept of “racial slippage” is back, and it’s being misapplied to Illinois. The term describes a situation of minority candidates’ doing worse on Election Day than the polls predict. According to the theory, some white voters lie to pollsters and tell them they support a black candidate because they are embarrassed to admit that […]

This was supposed to be a quiet year at the Statehouse. The Democrats have some vulnerable incumbents, particularly in the House. The fewer problems and the less controversy, the better for incumbents. At least, that’s what just about everybody figured. But then last week, House Speaker Michael Madigan surprised the state’s political world and whacked […]

Last fall, Gov. Rod Blagojevich took a brief but nasty beating in the Chicago media. Thick smoke from a superhot fire killed nine people in a Loop office high-rise. One of the building’s managers, Elzie Higginbottom, was a Blagojevich campaign contributor. When the city and county’s investigators dragged their feet, the Chicago media demanded that […]

During the 2002 campaign, gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich spoke to a large crowd of union members in Vandalia, most of whom worked at the local state prison. Blagojevich made a pledge to them: If elected governor, “I will never balance the budget on your backs.” Fast-forward to February 2004. Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposes closing the […]

I’m going to talk about Blair Hull, but I have to tell you a story first. Nobody thought Terry Link had a chance back in 1996. Link was running for an Illinois Senate seat in a Republican-leaning Lake County district. He was a surefire loser. But Link worked hard, and his Republican opponent wasn’t much […]

Buried deep within Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s annual budget address last week was a nasty argument with the most influential bunch of do-gooders in Illinois — the social service providers. These are the groups, many of them religious (like the Catholic Conference, Lutheran Social Services and the Jewish Federation), that take care of the state’s most […]

At first glance, it may seem puzzling that last week’s list of federal indictments included the powerful lobbying firm of Ronan Potts, but not Al Ronan, the guy who runs the firm. Ronan’s attorney has all but admitted that Ronan is “Fawell Associate 1,” who was repeatedly referred to in the indictments of former George […]

You really have to hand it to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. By simply proposing to transfer the powers of the Illinois State Board of Education to his own office, Blagojevich did several huge favors for the teachers unions, forestalled any budget-busting funding increases for education and all but killed the income-for-property tax swap idea for the […]