Rauner Wants to Slim Down Government

Written by Mark Fitton

With nearly 7,000 units of government, Illinois is No. 1 in the nation, and that’s an honor Gov. Bruce Rauner would like some other state to enjoy.

The governor recently signed an executive order creating a task force charged with streamlining government functions.

Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti will lead the group, which will be made up of representatives from local governments, school districts and members of the legislature from throughout the state.… Continue Reading

Squabbling, Jockeying for Topinka’s Job

Written by Russ Stewart

Death can be extraordinarily beneficial to an ambitious politician. Death creates openings, and openings are opportunities.

The death of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka creates a tantalizing opening. The question in political circles is, who gets her job, a caretaker or a keeper?

Having been re-elected to her second term on Nov. 4, Topinka’s death on Dec. 10 creates two thorny legal issues — who appoints her successor, and for what duration?… Continue Reading

Final Election Results

     Governor-elect Bruce Rauner (R) won a slim majority of the total votes and by 142,284 votes over incumbent Patrick Quinn (D).  Voter turnout was 49 percent, and compared to the 2010 gubernatorial election was down two percent, or 112,353 less voters in the 2014 election.

Rauner Will Not Cure Springfield Dysfunction

Written by Russ Stewart

The outcome of Illinois’ gubernatorial race proves anew that any mother’s son can grow up to be governor, provided that he can self-fund $28 million and raise another $60 million.

Republican Bruce Rauner‘s win also reaffirms another pearl of wisdom: Bad always gets worse. If Illinoisans thought that state government was incompetent and leadership was dysfunctional under the Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton Democratic regime, they ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 2018 campaign for governor started on Nov.… Continue Reading

Rauner Adviser Glenn Poshard’s Pension Bonanza

Written by John Biver

Glenn Poshard’s pension is high — and he’s not alone. Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Chuck Neubauer, Patrick Rehkamp and Sandy Bergo of the Better Government Association:

One of the big problems Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner will face is what to do about the state’s public pension crisis.

He doesn’t need to go any farther than a member of his own transition team, Glenn Poshard, to get a close-up look at some of the factors fueling the crisis.

Illinois’ GOP(P): Pro-Abort, Pro-Gay Marriage

Written by Pastor John Kirkwood

“Dysfunctional” Democrats May Keep House Supermajority

Written by Russ Stewart

Michael Madigan is a political genius, a durable Democratic leader, a successful and wealthy lawyer, and a horrendously dysfunctional speaker of the Illinois House.

Mayor Richard J. Daley once babbled some nonsense that “Good government is good politics.” He should have known better, as he spent a decade in Springfield, where the operative philosophy is “good politics may be good government, but if it’s not, so what?” Grasping, clutching and holding power is endemic.… Continue Reading

November Election Result will be “UPS Moment”

Written by Russ Stewart

The Nov. 4 election, for Democratic politicians in Chicago, will be a “UPS moment.” Which committeemen among the 50 Chicago wards will deliver, and will their delivery be decisive and intimidating?

With Chicago politicians already heavily focused on the Feb. 24, 2015, municipal election, and those with statewide ambitions intensely pondering the state landscape for 2016 and 2018, the 2014 vote will, to use that old expression, “separate the men from the boys.”… Continue Reading

On the Ballot: Pro-Life Libertarian Candidate for Governor

Written by IllinoisReview.com

Illinois on Verge of Becoming America’s Most Democratic State

Written by Russ Stewart

Illinois is an anomaly. It is “The Land of Lassitude.” Voters are passive, partisan and forgiving. In state government, there are no checks and balances to Democratic abuses, ineptitude and favoritism.

In any other state, when a governor is impeached, indicted, convicted and imprisoned, the party of that incumbent would be shamed, tarnished and ousted. Not in Illinois.

In any other state, when one party controls all the levers of government — governor, both houses of the state legislature and the supreme court — and that party fails to govern effectively, voters would hold them accountable and they would be ousted.… Continue Reading