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, […]
Rich Miller
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 […]
