It's been an opportunist playground," a top Republican Party official sighed last week.

Every time somebody floats his or her own name for the vacant slot for Republican U.S. Senate candidate and then "withdraws," the media paints it as yet another disaster for the state party, the clearly annoyed official complained.

Slowly but surely, the state legislature is being replaced by five guys in a back room.

It's old news that the four legislative leaders and the governor have totally hijacked the budget process. For years now, the governor, the House speaker, the Senate president, and the House and Senate minority leaders have met behind closed doors to hammer out the state's spending plans.

During the last scheduled night of the spring legislative session, a reporter decided to step outside for a smoke.

While he was outdoors, he tried to catch a glimpse inside the governor's office.

In one window, the reporter saw Deputy Governor Bradley Tusk talking to someone on the telephone.

Something really stinks at CMS.

The latest scandal to hit the powerful Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) revolves around a lucrative contract to manage health-care costs for tens of thousands of state workers and their families.