28 May 2008

Capital-Bill Architects Basically Give Up

By Rich Miller

Back in 1966, with the Vietnam War escalating by the day, Vermont Senator George Aiken famously said that the United States should just "declare victory and go home."

History may have repeated itself last week when the two men assigned by Governor Rod Blagojevich to forge a compromise on a multi-billion-dollar capital-construction plan unveiled a $31-billion proposal for roads, bridges, schools, and mass transit and then quickly left town. Their war was unwinnable.

21 May 2008

Voters Favor Impeachment of Blagojevich

By Rich Miller

A new statewide poll has found that 59 percent of Illinois registered voters want the Illinois legislature to begin impeachment hearings against Governor Rod Blagojevich.

14 May 2008

Choose Our Own Adventure

By Rich Miller

Sometimes, you run across something so perfect that you just have to share it.

Last week, an anonymous commenter on my blog composed a thing of pure beauty. The Automated Rod Blagojevich Story Generator is a very funny satire on how our state politics are stuck in a bizarre, ever-repeating spectacle.

The idea, the commenter explained, is to "pick one item from each section to generate a typical Rod Blagojevich story." And here it is.

 

 

07 May 2008

Recall Measure Fails, but Impeachment Could Loom

By Rich Miller

The oldest axiom in government is that it's always easier to kill something than it is to pass something. And that was proved true yet again last week when Senate President Emil Jones and Governor Rod Blagojevich teamed up to kill off the proposed constitutional amendment for recall of elected officials.

30 Apr 2008

Noose Tightens Around Blagojevich

By Rich Miller

"It had better be a job where you can make some money."

That, apparently, was what Governor Rod Blagojevich told Ali Ata about Ata's quest for a state job during Blagojevich's Navy Pier fundraiser in 2003 - an event that pulled in almost $4 million for the governor and appears to have put Blagojevich and his campaign fund in extreme legal jeopardy.

23 Apr 2008

Voters Could Force Major Reforms

By Rich Miller

A poll taken earlier this year for the University of Illinois' Institute of Government & Public Affairs and released last week shows overwhelming public support for legislative term limits and recall of elected state officials.

16 Apr 2008

The Speaker's Declaration of Civil War

By Administrator

Michael MadiganHouse Speaker Michael Madigan told a firefighters group last week that he, Governor Rod Blagojevich, and Senate President Emil Jones are engaged in a "civil war," and that "no prisoners" are being taken.

This isn't exactly a fresh insight.

08 Apr 2008

Feel-Good Distractions at the Mean-Spirited Circus

By Rich Miller

It's difficult to take seriously last week's House vote to establish a recall provision in Illinois' state Constitution. An amendment to the constitutional provision passed the other day with 80 votes - a pretty solid majority.

The tiny minority who opposed the amendment pointed out that the proposal could cause all sorts of problems.

26 Mar 2008

Burning Questions

By Rich Miller

I get questions all the time, so here are a few answers ... .

 

 

19 Mar 2008

Obama Spells Trouble for Illinois Republicans

By Rich Miller

A new statewide poll confirms what most of us knew anyway. If Barack Obama is the Democratic presidential nominee, he will do a whole lot better in Illinois against Republican John McCain than will Hillary Clinton. But there's more to it than that.

 

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