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
Tags: Adlai Stevenson, Bill Scott, Bill Stratton, Bruce Rauner, Charles Carpentier, Dan Hynes, Dick Ogilvie, Donald Smith, Dwight Green, Ed Kucharski, Eddie Barrett, Edward Dunne, Edward Hughes, Elbert Smith, Francis Lorenz, Harry Woods, Jerry Cosentino, Jim Edgar, Jim Skelton, Jim Thompson, Joe Lohman, John Lewis, Judy Baar Topinka, Lewis Stevenson, Lloyd Morey, Lou Bertuca, Louis Emmerson, Michael Howlett, Mike Howlett, Neil Hartigan, Orville Hodge, Otto Kerner, Pat Quinn, Paul Powell, Rahm Emanuel, Richard Yates Rowe, Sheila Simon, Tom Cross, Ty Fahner, William Chamberlain
Illinois Politics | David E. Smith | 
January 4, 2015 8:30 AM | 
Comments Off on Squabbling, Jockeying for Topinka’s Job
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
Tags: Bill Brady, Bruce Rauner, Chad Grimm, John Cullerton, Judy Baar Topinka, Lisa Madigan, Michael Madigan, Pat Quinn, Rich Whitney, Rod Blagojevich, Scott Lee Cohen
Illinois Politics | David E. Smith | November 21, 2014 7:34 AM | Comments Off on Rauner Will Not Cure Springfield Dysfunction
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
Tags: Bill Kilquist, Bruce Rauner, Cullen Cullen, Dwight Kay, Glenn Nixon, Jaime Andrade, Jim Wozniak, Kate Cloonen, Lou Lang, Luis Arroyo, Marty Moylan, Mel Thillens, Michael Madigan, Mike Bost, Mike McAuliffe, Mike Smiddy, Mo Khan, Pat Quinn, Rich Morthland, Richard J. Daley, Rob Martwick, Sam Yingling, Sandy Cole
Illinois Politics | David E. Smith | October 13, 2014 7:00 AM | Comments Off on “Dysfunctional” Democrats May Keep House Supermajority
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
Tags: Bill Brady, Bill Lipinski, Bob Fioretti, Bob Shaw, Bruce Rauner, Gery Chico, Howard Dean, Jesse White, John Cullerton, John Daley, Karen Lewis, Lisa Madigan, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Paul Schrimpf, Rahm Emanuel, Richard Daley, Tom Hynes
Illinois Politics | David E. Smith | October 2, 2014 7:45 AM | Comments Off on November Election Result will be “UPS Moment”
Written by Benjamin BanMetre
Illinois began August with a $4.4 billion dollar backlog of unpaid bills. If lawmakers would have kept the promises they made in 2011, the backlog would be zero today – or close to it.
In January 2011, Illinois lawmakers pushed through a record tax hike that raised the income tax rate on individuals to 5 percent from 3 percent, and on corporations to 7 percent from 4.8 percent. They called it the Taxpayer Accountability and Budget Stabilization Act and went on record making the following promises:
“We have some temporary tax increases that are designed to pay our bills, get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing and make sure that our state has a strong economy.”
…
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Written by IllinoisReview.com
Neither Governor Pat Quinn nor his Muslim American Advisory Council have commented on, or condemned, ISIS’ beheading of American journalist James Foley.
Quinn’s Muslim American Advisory Council is the only religious group to which the governor has reached out. Although the 500,000 Muslims in Illinois make the state home to the largest Muslim population in America, Catholics are the largest religious group, and unaffiliated evangelicals are the second largest.
No advisory councils or committees representing those two religious groups are listed among the 58 commissions Quinn has created.
…
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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
Tags: Anthony Brown, Bernie Sanders, Bob Erlich, Brian Schatz, Bruce Rauner, Colleen Hanabusa, Daniel Inouye, George McGovern, George Ryan, Gina Raimondo, Glenn Poshard, Howard Dean, Illinois Democrats, Linda Lingle, Marty O'Malley, Michael Dukakis, Mitt Romney, Neil Abercrombie, Pat Quinn, Rod Blagojevich, Spiro Agnew
Uncategorized | David E. Smith | August 21, 2014 3:00 AM | Comments Off on Illinois on Verge of Becoming America’s Most Democratic State
Written by IllinoisReview.com
Illinois taxpayers should be upset about the millions of taxpayer dollars that Governor Pat Quinn distributed to anti-violence groups in the Chicago, Rockford and Metro-East areas during the months leading up to his 2010 election, a state lawmaker said Thursday.
Earlier this week, the Legislative Audit Commission announced it would be reviewing Quinn’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
Would this panel overlooking Quinn’s program be hinting of a pre-impeachment investigation?
“No, no,” insisted Commission member State Representative David Reis (R-Ste.… Continue Reading
Written by Dan Proft, IllinoisOpportunity.org
This week two Chicago Democrat politicians who are farther out over their skis than Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards ever was (I’ve got Winter Olympics fever) will tell us their version of the state of United States of America, and the state of the State of Illinois.
They will explain to us that with just a few structural tax increases, and a price control or two, we could be living in a modern Utopia not even H.G.… Continue Reading
