Last night at the Prairie Grove Village Hall, State Senator Dan Duffy talked about Springfield. The more I heard, the more it reminded me of the principal character in black and white movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Duffy managed … Continue reading
Category Archives: John Cullerton
Don’t when I found this story from the Illinois Radio Network. But its headline: Cullerton Blames GOP For Lack of a Tax Hike surely is helpful to those who want Republicans to win elections in the Galesburg area. Cullerton says … Continue reading
Hearing Palatine’s State Senator Matt Murphy question why legislative leaders had state paid vehicles brought back the memory of how the practice started. Mike Madigan was House Speaker, of course. He and fellow Democrats were abolishing the quasi-independent Legislative Investigating … Continue reading
That’s what an article on BND.com (serving Southwestern Illinois and the St. Louis region) says. What’s the legislation? House Bill 6200, a Democrat Party bill limiting campaign contributions to legislative leaders. “Even Reps. Karen May and Jack Franks, Democratic sponsors … Continue reading
Billing himself as the only non-millionaire in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, State Senator Kirk Dillard spoke to mainly women at Crystal Lake’s 1776 restaurant Tuesday morning. He related having received this advice from his former boss, … Continue reading
Springfield political columnist Bernie (OK, Bernard) Schoenburg of Springfield’s State Journal-Register flushed out details of why State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) hasn’t announced his future political plans. Part, he points out, is probably because of his son Henry’s bar mitzvah … Continue reading
Apparently I missed some tension while having dinner at the Crystal Lake Country Club. I admit to raising the body temperatures of some club members by asking if they were ready to pay a 6.25% state sales tax on their … Continue reading
Yesterday I wrote more stories about Springfield than I ever have before in one day. I covered Mike Tryon’s campaign sign bill, Jack Franks’ recall constitutional amendment and the John Cullerton/James Meeks’ 67% income tax hike/ services sales tax imposition … Continue reading
A 50% income tax hike was not high enough. Slot machines in every convenience store and tavern wouldn’t tempt enough people. Senate Democrats caved into the Rev. and Senator James Meeks’ goal and voted 31-27-1 to raise income tax rates … Continue reading
You may have noted that the Chicago Tribune is putting a story with the logo “STATE OF CORRUPTION” on its front page. Everyday, I guess, but I only looked at Friday’s and Monday’s papers for this article. Friday the upper … Continue reading
One of the proposals which has the greatest potential to break the logjam in Springfield is the one I campaigned on for governor in 2002: Term Limits for Legislative Leaders Needless to say, legislative leaders think this is horrible idea. … Continue reading
There is no official way to submit proposals for the new stimulus package, so an association of the largest counties in Illinois took it upon themselves to develop their own list. County Administrator Peter Austin emailed me, “We submitted it … Continue reading
There is no official way to submit proposals for the new stimulus package, so an association of the largest counties in Illinois took it upon themselves to develop their own list. County Administrator Peter Austin emailed me, “We submitted it … Continue reading
A roomful of Northern Illinois Pro-Lifers met at Mama Rini’s Restaurant Saturday for breakfast to hear Illinois Citizens for Life lobbyist Ralph Rivera explain what happened during the election and what how the group’s cause could be advanced. “We have … Continue reading
A roomful of Northern Illinois Pro-Lifers met at Mama Rini’s Restaurant Saturday for breakfast to hear Illinois Citizens for Life lobbyist Ralph Rivera explain what happened during the election and what how the group’s cause could be advanced. “We have … Continue reading
Bill Gentes must be smiling today. In fact, he may still be dancing the Snoopy happy dance. Late yesterday afternoon, he reported receiving $75,000. $50,000 came from The Senate Democratic Victory Fund, run by Chicago State Senator John Cullerton. Cullerton, … Continue reading
Bill Gentes must be smiling today. In fact, he may still be dancing the Snoopy happy dance. Late yesterday afternoon, he reported receiving $75,000. $50,000 came from The Senate Democratic Victory Fund, run by Chicago State Senator John Cullerton. Cullerton, … Continue reading