The King and his court
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has declared his latest bogus attempt at campaign finance reform as “squarely in the mainstream” of reform efforts nationwide.
Sadly, he’s probably right. With the U.S. Supreme Court seemingly on the verge of…
Missouri’s grim revenue picture got even grimmer last month, with tax collections falling 16.3 percent below what they were in September 2008 — and revenue in September 2008 was lousy to begin with.
The only bright spot in Missouri’s revenue picture —…
For too many Illinois legislators, the state’s corruption crisis is not Job One. The state’s budget crisis is not Job One. Job One is making sure they hang onto their own jobs.
So they ended the regular legislative session in May by…
Bigger things are planned.
During the chaotic final hours of the legislative session that ended May 31, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill that could help turn 900 acres of corn and bean fields near Glen Carbon into a “destination attraction” that…
One way corruption creates jobs.
It’s a fine mess the Illinois legislature has gotten itself into. Its members have known since January that they had to fix a $12 billion budget deficit. But first they had to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from…
Robert Cohen/Post-Dispatch
Pat Quinn walked into our offices 10 days ago with a stack of business cards reading “Pat Quinn, Lieutenant Governor, State of Illinois.” Before he handed each card over, he used a pen to scratch out “Lieutenant.”
He then launched into…
Reform might end scenes like this: Rod Blagojevich after his arrest on Dec. 9. (Photo by Darren Hauck/Getty Images North America)
Illinois lawmakers now have 33 days to put up or shut up. On Tuesday, the Illinois Reform Commission submitted…
Now-former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevcich talks to Diane Sawyer on Monday about his impeachment hearings. | Getty Images
So, the Illinois Senate convicted (now-former) Gov. Rod Blagojevich, removing him from office.
The nation (or at least the media) seemed transfixed by the…
It seems odd to use the words “ethics reform” in the same sentence as “Illinois legislature,” and to be sure, the ethics reform bill that the legislature gave final passage to Monday leaves a lot to be desired.
But as Dr. Johnson…
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he’s “improved” a bill that would shut off one of the biggest spigots pouring money into his campaign fund. In fact, as the governor knows full well, his “improvements” will kill the reform bill. He shouldn’t…
Like a bunch of kids playing hooky, Illinois legislators skipped out of the Capitol last week, thumbing their noses at the governor and the state’s citizens and casting responsibility to the wind.
Faced with a Saturday night adjournment deadline and the…
After the last attack ad fades away and the last ballot is counted, elected officials are supposed to sit down and govern. But it’s hard to govern effectively if the losers can demand a do-over.
That’s the problem with recall elections. They…
