16 Jun 2025

One Governor Does Not a Firewall Make ... but Perhaps Two Do

By Rich Miller

As I write this, multiple news outlets have reported that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is preparing to deploy its Special Response Teams to five major U.S. cities, including Chicago, in the very near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told reporters last week: “There will be tactical teams, mini-tanks, other tools they use in which they plan to do raids, as we saw in Los Angeles.”

09 Jun 2025

Ambitious Illinois Lobbyists Need Only Know When Lethargic Last-Minute Lawmakers Take Their Coffee

By Rich Miller

I asked Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch last week about the failure to pass an omnibus energy bill (the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act) during the just-ended spring legislative session.

06 Jun 2025

Where Is Scott County's Local Grand Jury When You Need Them?

By Todd McGreevy
DCI Report on 324 Main Street Case Number 2023014262 Version 1 Cover Page

The watchers are no longer being watched by the people. At least in Scott County, Iowa, that is.

04 Jun 2025

Got Curruption?

By Kathleen McCarthy
1034 June 2025 3 Faces of Uncle Scam Three Branches

Inexplicably, for decades, incurious American voters refuse to remove elected bad actors, even though we are responsible for giving them power and access. The lawlessness and corruption has gotten so over the top and still we do nothing, ever-expecting the ones who are breaking our system to fix it. This inertia is beyond wishful thinking: It is lazy, cowardly, slothful civic conduct.

04 Jun 2025

Tariffs in American History

By John Steele Gordon
At inauguration, George Washington had been symbolically careful to wear a suit made of cloth wov

Tariffs are among the oldest of taxes for the simple reason that they are easy to collect. Just send in the tax collectors and don’t let the goods being transported move until the duty has been paid. Being one of the earliest forms of taxation, it is not surprising that tariffs produced one of the earliest forms of tax evasion: smuggling.

02 Jun 2025

Alexi Giannoulias and Susana Mendoza Both Want the Mayoralty, But Neither Wants to Be the First to Admit It

By Rich Miller

For quite a while now, most folks in politics have assumed that Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and Comptroller Susana Mendoza will probably run for mayor of Chicago in 2027. The incumbent Brandon Johnson is spectacularly unpopular, and a real hunger is developing in the city (again) for new leadership.

26 May 2025

Illinois Medicaid Coverage After Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill Will Be a Big, Bitter Pill to Swallow

By Rich Miller

The U.S. House’s Energy and Commerce Committee released its recommendations for budget reconciliation early last week. A preliminary review by the Congressional Budget Office projected that, if implemented, at least 8.6 million Americans would lose their Medicaid coverage during the coming decade. That translates to well over 300 thousand Illinoisans.

19 May 2025

It’s Speaker Welch’s Fingerprints on the Blade Sticking Out of Fred Crespo, in Case You’re Wondering

By Rich Miller

House Speaker Chris Welch took the extraordinary actions last week of permanently kicking Representative Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) out of the House Democratic caucus, stripping him of his legislative staff, removing him from his appropriations committee chair’s position, and booting him from the bicameral Legislative Audit Commission.

13 May 2025

Scott County Attorney Keeping DCI Report on 324 Main Collapse Secret Will Cost Taxpayers … Again.

By David Ezra Sidran

[The remarks below were delivered during Public With Business at the Scott County Board of Supervisors Board Meeting Thursday April 24, 2025.]  "I will save you the suspense: It is a public record. We all know how this is going to end. The only question is if you’re going to write another check for $93,000 to Mike Meloy or not?"

13 May 2025

Debris in Davenport Is Gone, but the Secrets Remain: May 15 Iowa Public Information Board Might Hear County Attorney Request to Keep DCI Report on 324 Main Street Collapse Hidden

By Randy Evans

As we approach May 28, the second anniversary of a tragedy that shocked the people of Davenport and brought national attention to the issue of building safety, secrecy continues to cloud public confidence in their government officials.

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