PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS Near the top of any list of Illinois government’s many problems is that House Speaker Michael Madigan has made a decades-long game out of messing with the minds and the agendas of our governors. If there’s one constant since 1983, it’s Speaker Madigan’s jiu-jitsu moves against whoever happens to be governor. […]
Democrats
Posted inOpinion
Get out of the way
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS With yet another poll showing plunging Downstate support for Gov. Bruce Rauner in a Republican district and the intense Republican freakout over Donald Trump’s impending presidential nomination and its impact on independent suburban women, there appears to be a growing feeling among Democrats, particularly in the Illinois Senate, that they need […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislative competition up for 2016
One of the realities of Illinois legislative politics is that our state’s system tends to discourage competition. Byzantine ballot access laws, a highly partisan legislative district map-drawing process, heavily concentrated populations of partisan voters in Chicago (Democrats) and in the collar counties and Downstate, (Republicans) along with often tireless work by incumbents and political parties […]
Posted inNews
The Show Must Go On
Capitol observers could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. For the second week in a row, the Illinois House of Representatives ran legislation modeled after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s agenda, and for the second week in a row, Republicans raised objections. Two weeks ago, a bill resembling Rauner’s proposed budget was brought […]
Posted inOpinion
Illinoisans want Statehouse peace
A solid majority of Illinoisans want newly inaugurated Gov. Bruce Rauner to find common ground with the Democratic legislative majority rather than be confrontational, a new poll finds. However, most aren’t confident that the state’s leaders can avoid gridlock, and a majority believes the Democrats will be to blame. “Do you think Republican Gov. Bruce […]
Posted inOpinion
Ballot-measure democracy a notable success in 2012
This being the season of giving, it’s worth looking back at some special gifts from November’s election that received little acknowledgement at the time. These victories came in campaigns that had no candidates – no Democrats, Republicans or other party designations. Rather, they were ballot initiatives – policy ideas put to a vote of people […]
Posted inOpinion
Helping Republicans find real voter fraud
Republican officials are having a major problem with their widely ballyhooed claim that they must create new barriers to voting in order to ensure the “integrity” of the ballot. The problem is this: Their high-decibel effort is completely devoid of integrity. The real electoral fraud is the GOP’s frantic claim that hordes of ineligible Democrats […]
