By now, you’ve heard that Governor Rod Blagojevich was so surprised about the state’s budget deficit that he is considering raising taxes. He claims the deficit is $4.8 billion–at least a billion higher than he’d expected–and not the kind of hole he can just cut his way out of. If he really didn’t know the […]
Rich Miller
Posted inOpinion
Peace without prosperity
State legislators are rebelling across the country. You’ve heard about the Texas Democrats who fled to Oklahoma in order to kill a Republican redistricting bill? Here are some other stories: • In Arizona, the Republican Senate rejected the Democratic governor’s budget, then put together its own plan. But the Republicans can’t pass it because one […]
Posted inOpinion
Chicago’s big appetite
Remember last year when Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan warned that Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley would control the state’s agenda if Rod Blagojevich got elected? Well, Ryan may have been right. Last week SBC–the giant Texas-based company that swallowed up Ameritech a few years back and is now run by Bill Daley, the mayor’s […]
Posted inOpinion
The Floodgates
The Floodgates Democrats won’t let the budget stop a deluge of bills. Ten years in the minority frustrated Illinois Senate Democrats. They would sponsor bills that had passed the House with huge bipartisan majorities–and often significant public support–only to watch them quietly die in the Senate Rules Committee, which was controlled with an iron fist […]
Posted inOpinion
Pat Quinn rendered speechless!
For more than 20 years Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn has proudly cast himself as a people’s advocate. He helped create the 150,000-member Citizens Utility Board, which has acted as a trusted consumer watchdog of the utility industry since 1983. Quinn has long raged against the political clout wielded by the company formerly known as Ameritech, […]
Posted inOpinion
Made men
At the end of primary election day on February 25, Mark Mahoney got some good news. He not only finished first among four candidates for alderman of Springfield City Council Ward 6, he got more votes than the other three candidates combined. Mahoney says his success was due to his simple promise to be a […]
Posted inOpinion
The governor’s permanent campaign
Say what you want about Rod Blagojevich, he sticks like Super Glue to his top priorities. Unfortunately, his highest priority is running a permanent campaign. Pundits used to accuse Bill Clinton of the very same thing, but it worked for Clinton. Blagojevich undoubtedly figures he can ignore the grumbling of statehouse “insiders” and succeed with […]
Posted inOpinion
Taking stock in the statehouse
Last week a new source of cash fell into the laps of Springfield lobbyists. Several New York securities firms hired statehouse lobbyists, but not for their help with legislation. What stock traders wanted was information, which, in the right hands, could be worth millions. Philip Morris has been rebelling against a court order to post […]
