Politics – Rich Miller

A bunch of weak political arguments have been used so far against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed constitutional amendment for a graduated income tax. But there is a clear path to killing it. My favorite argument was the complaint that the governor is trying to impose a “millionaire’s tax.” That’s precisely the sort of “Won’t everyone […]

 Democrats often propose ideas that take forever to explain and are difficult for the masses to understand. That wasn’t the case last week. “Under my fair tax plan,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted, “97 percent of taxpayers get tax relief and the wealthy will pay their fair share.” It’s gonna be really tough to top a […]

A lobbyist who works for a business-related organization asked me a question the other day that I’ve been hearing a lot lately: “Who’s going to be the stopper now?” He meant, who in the legislative process can be counted on these days to help derail bills which are deemed hostile to business interests? Before this […]

Give Gov. J.B. Pritzker some credit; the man can give a good speech. Last week’s budget address was well-written and respectful of its audience and effectively used Illinois history to make its points. Unlike some previous occupants of that office, Pritzker didn’t try to make himself look better at the General Assembly’s expense. He didn’t […]

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration has confirmed that its new public pension plan will slash $800 million from the state’s scheduled pension payment next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That reduction is a direct result of Pritzker’s proposal unveiled last week by Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes, which would extend the state’s pension payment “ramp” by […]

 Two “dark money” groups are stepping up to separately promote and attack the new governor’s agenda. Think Big Illinois, a brand new 501(c)(4) organization which doesn’t have to disclose its donors, will be supporting Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose 2018 campaign slogans included “Think big.”  The organization will be headed by Quentin Fulks, who served as […]

We’ve known for weeks now that the FBI recorded Chicago Ald. Ed Burke’s mobile phone conversations over a period of eight months, listening in on 9,475 calls. And then we discovered that the feds had wired up Chicago Ald. Danny Solis during his own conversations with Burke. Ald. Burke has a rather, um, “earthy” way […]

We all know that former Gov. Bruce Rauner was outspent by our new Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the 2018 campaign.  But the actual numbers are pretty darned eye-opening. During the final three months of last year, Pritzker reported spending $37.2 million.  Rauner, on the other hand, spent just $7.1 million – less than a fifth […]

Gov. JB Pritzker announced last week that he had picked Sol Flores to be his fourth deputy governor. He’d previously announced deputy governors Dan Hynes, Christian Mitchell and Jesse Ruiz. Pritzker’s deputy governors are each overseeing a block of related state agencies and departments and track their progress on goals that the governor wants those entities to […]

 I missed JB Pritzker’s impromptu speech to a gathering of Republicans last week by a few minutes. But the fact that Pritzker even stopped by the event, hosted by Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, was notable. As one top Republican said after Pritzker’s speech, just imagine Gov. Bruce Rauner […]

 The state constitutions of Illinois and Arizona have very similar language prohibiting reductions to pension benefits and welding pensions to contract law. But the two are very different states. In 2016, when Arizona’s legislature approved a pension reform bill to limit first responders’ pension benefits and then-voters approved amending their constitution to match that legislation […]

D.T. is really quite good at one special skill: branding. He has slapped his name on a ridiculous range of consumer merch – teddy bears, steaks, made-in-China ties, vodka, underwear and even a urine test. Then, of course, there’s his very own post office. Yes, he bought a 60-year lease on the “Old Post Office […]