18 Jul 2006

Conviction Means No More Politics as Usual

By Rich Miller

"I've researched this pretty carefully," confided a very high-level Blagojevich administration official this spring over late-night cocktails. "For any of this to be illegal, somebody has to profit. There has to be money involved."

The official was responding to my questions about the swirling allegations of state contracts and jobs handed out to political insiders. Since there was no personal profit, nobody was in any serious legal danger, he claimed.

This month's verdict in Robert Sorich's trial, however, proved that person to be dead wrong.

27 Jun 2006

Third Party Could Finally Break Through the Ballot Barrier

By Rich Miller

I'm not a big fan of third-party candidates.

It's not that I'm ecstatic about the two-party system. Too many "mainstream" candidates are poll-driven media robots to the point that they make me a little batty.

I wouldn't mind having another choice, if only to force the other candidates to stop acting like automatons and start speaking like human beings again.

The problem is that third-party candidates are usually a bit, um, goofy. Two words: Ross Perot. Need I say more?

13 Jun 2006

Governor Leads in Poll, but Corruption Issue Looms Large

By Rich Miller

Is Governor Rod Blagojevich's administration just as corrupt as or even more corrupt than former Governor George Ryan's crew? A new poll finds a plurality of Illinoisans would answer "yes" to that question.

06 Jun 2006

Hiring Practices Could Bring Problems for Blagojevich

By Rich Miller

For years, the governor and his top aides have claimed that politics never touch state hiring.

They swore up and down that they follow the law whenever they fill mid- to low-level civil-service positions, and claimed they don't even know the names of the people who were applying for the jobs.

 

16 May 2006

State Loses Bright Light in Lou Jones

By Rich Miller
Her name was Lovana, but everyone called her Lou.

There haven’t been many politicians like state Representative Lou Jones in this world. The Chicago Democrat was completely out front about whatever she was doing, and I don’t think she ever minced a single word in her entire career. She took on issues that almost nobody else would touch, and she used every ounce of her being to force the rest of us to see some harsh truths that we preferred to ignore. 
10 May 2006

Poll Suggests Third Gubernatorial Candidate Would Hurt Republicans

By Rich Miller
State Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago) has continually brushed aside notions that he wouldn’t run for governor on a third-party ticket, saying last week, for instance, that he is very encouraged by the results of a new poll he commissioned that shows him right in the race.

The Meeks poll has some more bad news for Governor Rod Blagojevich, but also a rare spot of good news. 
02 May 2006

Reform Packages Treat the Symptoms, Not the Disease

By Rich Miller
Whenever there's a big story, a calamity of some sort, an outrage, or some type of disaster, you can bet that a lobbyist or special-interest group will try to take advantage of the situation to push its own legislation in Springfield.
18 Apr 2006

Schools and Roads Suffer at the Hands of Political Games

By Rich Miller
Despite what they said, it's not too hard to figure out why the Senate Republicans blocked two construction-bond bills proposed by Democrats, one for education and the other for roads and bridges. The idea is to starve the governor and the Democrats of cash for projects that they could use to promote their re-elections this fall.
11 Apr 2006

Poll Takes an Early Snapshot of Statewide Races

By Rich Miller
For the first time, a statewide poll has included state Senator James Meeks in the gubernatorial mix, but the results are not yet encouraging for the potential third-party candidate. Meeks is an African-American minister and state legislator who has been threatening to run for governor for the past several weeks.
04 Apr 2006

Investigations Bring an End to the Old Ways

By Rich Miller
The paranoia level is pretty much at an all-time high at the Illinois Statehouse. Walk past House Speaker Michael Madigan's office and there's a good chance you'll see him standing in the hallway talking on his cell phone.

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