House
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.
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.
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.
In
early 2006, Governor Rod Blagojevich faced a firestorm of criticism
from Jewish leaders for his appointment of Louis Farrakhan's
"minister of protocol" to the Illinois Hate Crimes Commission.
Several Jewish members resigned from the commission in protest of
Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad's appointment, but Blagojevich
refused to back down and claimed he didn't know who she was when he
put her on the commission.
Normally,
a tax hike would be the last thing that state legislators would
consider in an election year. Tax increases are usually approved in
"off years" to give voters time to forget before they vote. So,
you'd think that a large income-tax increase in Springfield would
be the last thing being considered.
The
2008 general election is almost nine months away, but you don't
have to listen too closely to hear some of the first shots of the
2010 governor's race being fired.
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