R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
So now comes Missouri Auditor Susan Montee to say the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District is the worst-run agency her office ever has encountered, a “poster child” for bad government, a place where none of the books are balanced,…
R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
Last April 8, the Missouri House passed a measure that would have given voters the right to change the state’s non-partisan judicial selection process and put politics back in the system.
On Sunday, The Kansas City Star looked at that 85-72 vote…
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…
R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
On Thursday, state Rep. T.D. El-Amin, D-St. Louis, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of soliciting and accepting $2,100 in bribes.
Bad. Very bad. As state Rep. Joe Smith, R-St. Charles, told the Post-Dispatch’s Jake Wagman, it causes people to ask,…
Jeff Smith at an anti-Wal-Mart rally in 2006, before he needed a new cell phone. (AP/James Finley)
Those who have sought a deeper meaning in the disgrace of former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith have fallen back on the ancient Greek notion of…
Pat Quinn: Hey, he picked a tie! (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois legislature last week met expectations by agreeing on a $26 billion budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 — the agreement is every…
Here's a tip: The National Conference of State Legislatures offers a free video.
The Missouri House was awfully busy last week, passing or advancing a passel of terrible bills that would harm the public interest in any number of ways. Among the…
No, that's not a check Roland Burris is taking from his pocket as Gov. Blagojevich introduces him Tuesday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In a way, we don’t blame Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for defying the leadership of his own Democratic Party last…
In March 2005, a month after Alberto Gonzales became U.S. attorney general, Justice Department staffers sent to the White House a chart ranking all 93 U.S. attorneys in terms of their allegiance to President George W. Bush and his administration.
On…
Today is Rod Blagojevich’s 52nd birthday. It should be the last one he spends as governor of Illinois.
He has betrayed the citizens of his state. He is not fit to hold public office. If he doesn’t have the good sense…
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Two years ago, as this page was debating the editorial endorsement for governor, and the page was leaning toward Rod Blagojevich, one writer told another writer, “You’re going to endorse someone who will be indicted before his…
One year after beginning a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for racketeering and fraud, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan still hasn’t admitted to or apologized for the systematic corruption that marked his single term as governor and his two terms as secretary of…
