02 Sep 2003

Showdown Brewing Between Illinois Governor and Treasurer

By Rich Miller
The media missed the mark on Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's press conference not long ago. Topinka summoned reporters to issue a public demand that the governor call a special session to deal with the budget problem.
02 Sep 2003

Postwar Iraq Moves Dangerously Close to Civil Disaster

By Rich Miller
Editor's note: River Cities' Reader political columnist and Chicago-based journalist Rich Miller is spending a month in Iraq. This is the first in a series of articles he's filing presenting an alternative viewpoint on the postwar effort there.
26 Aug 2003

Hunting Group Misfires with Criticisms of Bills

By Rich Miller
I generally sympathize with the pro-hunting folks, but the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is engaging in either deliberate lies or abject incompetence these days. The alliance's Web site (http://www.ussportsmen.
19 Aug 2003

Intrigue and Scandal at the Illinois State Fair

By Rich Miller
A costly mistake by the parents of a 4-H club member has turned into some bad publicity for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Representative Shane Cultra (an Onarga Republican) wants an apology from the governor over his remarks last week about the State Fair animal-doping controversy.
12 Aug 2003

Pork Money Flows While Illinois Contractors Wait

By Rich Miller
Pharmacists and road-builders have to wait months for their state-government reimbursements, but Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has managed to find the cash to green-light $200 million worth of pork-barrel projects.
29 Jul 2003

Prison Employees Help Illinois Governor Monitor His Image

By Rich Miller
In yet another example of how obsessed Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is about his public image, even during "the worst fiscal crisis in the state's history," the governor is requiring state employees to videotape and review local TV-news broadcasts about him seven days a week on state time.
15 Jul 2003

Jobs Program with Interesting History Gets the Ax

By Rich Miller
A $6-million annual state program to help at-risk high-school students graduate and find jobs has been vetoed out of existence by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The program appears to be worthwhile, and the governor has never really explained why he wanted to kill it, other than he wants to "streamline" and "consolidate" the state's job-training efforts.
01 Jul 2003

Irony Abounds in Illinois Politics

By Rich Miller
Talk about a week filled with heavy-duty irony. Christian conservatives rallying for lower casino taxes and Governor Rod Blagojevich doling out George Ryan's pork money. Early last week, a coalition of conservative groups held a press conference.
24 Jun 2003

Conservative Leader Has Eye on Illinois

By Rich Miller
"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals - and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship," Grover Norquist recently told the Denver Post. Norquist runs a group called Americans for Tax Reform, and his organization was scheduled to participate in a Chicago press conference last week that was called to attack Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for his anti-business proposals.
17 Jun 2003

Illinois GOP Infighting Only Helps the Democrats

By Rich Miller
House Republican leader Tom Cross and Senate Republican leader Frank Watson weren't exactly on the same page during the spring legislative session. As a result, there is serious tension between the two Republican caucuses.

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