A Chicago Blog

From the Trib Editorial Page:
Two Chicago Democrats in the Illinois Senate paid a call on the Tribune editorial board last week. When prompted, Kwame Raoul and Heather Steans told us they don’t want a recall amendment added to the state constitution. They do, however, want an amendment to kill the mandate of a flat-rate state [...]

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform has done the state of Illinois a major service by investigating how much local governments and government agencies spend to lobby state government for tax and funding increases. It published a report this week with the following details:
* In the midst of legislative debates on [...]

Well, I’m finally back in Chicago after more than a week on the road. I feel like Johnny Cash; I’ve been to Seattle, Denver, Reno, and Vegas. Two days in Seattle were vacation days and I will be posting pictures and video shortly.
It’s good to be home, and the spring weather reminds me that I [...]

I filed a FOIA request this morning for Arne Duncans credit card statement. I’ll keep you posted on how things turn out. If you’re interested, here’s the letter.

This morning I attended a press conference where the Illinois Policy Institute released the latest version of their Piglet Book. In the clip below, Chairman John Tillman runs through some highlights. My favorite is a study of Ukranian Easter Eggs. Nice!
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A little over a week ago I blogged about my attempt to gain access to Governor’s Office emails using a freedom of information act request. I didn’t expect this request to be greeted with a smile. Other bloggers around the country have made similar requests and been told it would cost anywhere from $1350 to [...]

Seriously, the guys over at AFP have put together a coalition letter supporting HB4765 which would create an “Accountability Portal” on web for Illinois state government. According to their press release the bill would require the posting of “comprehensive information about state spending, state employees and their pay rates, state contracts, state tax credits, and [...]

According to another Trib story:
Linking Gov. Rod Blagojevich to pay-to-play politics, the star witness at the corruption trial of Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko said Wednesday that the governor agreed to a plan to cut off state business from a Chicago financier who failed to come up with campaign cash.
Maybe one of the reasons the [...]

The Tribune Reports:
SPRINGFIELD — A measure allowing voters to dump the governor and other statewide officeholders through California-style recall petitions advanced Wednesday in a key test vote in the House, though its approval is far from certain.
Proponents said the bill was prompted by their dissatisfaction with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been criticized by Republicans [...]

It always makes me nervous when people predict good things for the Cubs. Needless to say I plan on burning the newest issue of Sports Illustrated, which predicts the Cubs will go to the World Series. Jeez! Don’t say stuff like that. Lucky for us they have us losing to the Tigers.
From SI:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
NATIONAL LEAGUE

DIVISION [...]