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.

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.

"It's been anticlimactic," sighed a top House Democratic operative last week when asked about some of the Chicago-area primary races.