05 Aug 2008

Madigan Up a Tree and Out on a Limb

By Rich Miller

As I write this, Governor Rod Blagojevich is contemplating yet another special legislative session to take up a newly revised $25-billion infrastructure-repair proposal for transportation, schools, and economic development.

Whatever happens, it certainly appears that any special session would be an exercise in futility. House Speaker Michael Madigan is not budging off his opposition to the governor's capital-construction plan, even in its newly revised and scaled-back form.

16 Jul 2008

Madigan-Daley Partnership Appears Fragile

By Rich Miller

Last year, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was able to use his alliance with the House and Senate Republicans to thwart Governor Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones at almost every turn.

Whether it was the budget, or the governor's health-insurance expansion, or a multitude of other issues, Madigan and the Republicans were a solid team throughout the long overtime session.

This year, the Republicans have flipped on Madigan, allying with Blagojevich and Jones on the $34-billion capital-construction package, funded by expanded casino gambling and by leasing the Illinois Lottery to a private company.

02 Jul 2008

Remain Skeptical About Threatened Cuts

By Rich Miller

There are several important things to keep in mind when discussing the governor's proposed budget cuts. The governor threatened to slash $1.5 billion out of the state budget unless the House comes back to Springfield and passes some revenue-generating bills and the capital-construction budget, all of which were approved by the Senate in May and blocked by House Speaker Michael Madigan.

25 Jun 2008

Latino Senator Playing Both Sides of the Aisle

By Rich Miller

Senator Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) was one of just a tiny handful of Illinois Democratic state legislators who backed Hillary Clinton's presidential bid over the local favorite Barack Obama.

18 Jun 2008

Memo Gets Democrats Talking About Impeachment

By Rich Miller

The reasons why House Speaker Michael Madigan's campaign staff produced a memo for candidates about how best to call for the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich are pretty sound. The execution, however, left something to be desired.

11 Jun 2008

Conviction Leads to More Questions Than Answers

By Rich Miller

Some random thoughts about Tony Rezko's guilty verdict in his federal corruption trial...

04 Jun 2008

Pay-Raise Issue Brings Session to a Quick Close

By Rich Miller

The state-legislative pay-raise issue was a big reason why the Illinois Senate Democrats wanted to wrap things up by the May 31 deadline.

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.

 

 

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