Illinois Review

Illinois AG Madigan favors redefining marriage

CHICAGO - Being the daughter of the Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Mike Madigan, Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan's opinion in support of same sex marriage made public Wednesday in the Chicago Tribune surprised no one. Indeed, AG Madigan's agrees with her and her father's political party platform. Although AG Madigan identifies herself as a Roman Catholic, she separated herself from her religious affiliation by supporting the redefinition of marriage to include same sex couples. The measure waits before the Illinois House.

I believe that passing the marriage equality bill is the only way to fulfill the promise of equal protection under the Illinois Constitution. While I have supported marriage equality since my days as a state senator over a decade ago, I have since conducted an extensive legal analysis that has only emboldened my support as attorney general.

A ban on same-sex marriage violates the state Constitution's equal protection clause. The law does not allow the state or federal government to create a separate class of marriage based on a person's sexual orientation. There is no other way to describe this than to call it discrimination. That is why, in state court, I have intervened in a lawsuit challenging Illinois' current marriage law, and at the federal level, my office has filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court that support overturning California's same-sex marriage ban and finding the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

Quinn rated Governor with worst fiscal policy in the nation

WASHINGTON DC - Cato Institute released their 11th bi-annual Fiscal Policy Report Card on Governors this week, and Illinois' Governor Pat Quinn scored a 16, the lowest grade of the nation's state CEOs. The report grades governors on their fiscal policies from a limited-government perspective. The governors receiving an "A" are those who cut taxes and spending the most, while the governors receiving an "F" raised taxes and spending the most. The grading mechanism is based on seven variables, including two spending variables, one revenue variable, and four tax rate variables.

Pat Quinn of Illinois took office after his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, was impeached and removed. Unfortunately, Quinn is following the same approach that earned Blagojevich an “F” grade from Cato in 2008.3 In 2009 Quinn signed into law a $1.1 billion tax increase. In 2011 he pushed through a massive $7 billion tax increase, which included higher individual income taxes, corporate taxes, and estate taxes. Quinn raised the top individual income tax rate from 3 to 5 percent, and raised the top corporate rate from 4.8 to 7.0 percent. Illinois corporations pay a special tax on top of the basic rate to bring the overall rate to 9.5 percent. In 2012 Quinn approved a large cigarette tax increase. Quinn also spends too much, and he has tried to paper over the state’s fiscal problems by issuing billions of dollars of bonds to cover unpaid state bills and to fund the state pension plan.

Illinois Review interviews State Senate Candidate John Bambenek

By Hannah Ihms, IR Correspondent -

Illinois Review recently interviewed John Bambenek, a conservative Republican candidate running for the 52nd State Senate district which stretches from Champaign to Danville.

Where did you grow up and what do you do for a living?

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, in Oak Grove. I moved to the University of Illinois for college and that’s where I met my wife and never left. I’ve been in Champaign for seventeen years. Professionally I do electronic fraud prevention, so essentially I deal with Russian hackers trying to steal your credit card and bank account information. 

How did you decide to run for State Senate?

I’ve been active in politics for a while, most actively since I’ve had children and seen the direction of the state in terms of its ever-increasing tax burden, debt burden, and the amount of jobs and opportunities leaving the state. I’m much more conscious as to what kind of future my children will have. With this status quo, they won’t have the kind of opportunities I’ve had, and as a father that’s not really acceptable to me. The way to change that is to change the people who are there.

Blagojevich - On the Bright Side

By Ghost of John Brown -

The former Governor is going away to prison for 14 years. On the bright side, at least he doesn't have to worry about missing the Cubs' first World Series in over 100 years. They'll still be waiting for you, Rod.

The Jury Is In

By Mark Rhoads -

In politics, emotion often trumps logic and it is very hard for candidates with huge egos to give up their childhood dreams.  But facts are facts.  There have been 19 GOP primaries and caucuses since January 1.  Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia on March 6 by a plurality even with a majority of GOP voters casting their vote for other candidates than Newt by 53 percent to 47 percent.

Humpty Dumpty Goes Banking

By John F. Di Leo

A President Dares Us Once Again.

In Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s story, “Alice in Wonderland,” young Alice is wandering through that magical fantasyland when she encounters a talking egg, which confused her by sprinkling clearly-misused words into the conversation.  When she called him on it, Humpty Dumpty assumed his most arrogant pose and declared "When I use a word, it means just what I chose it to mean – neither more nor less."

How dare the girl call him on his abuse of language?!  If he wanted to use a word to mean something it had never meant before, and would never mean thereafter, he would do so.  No matter whether his abuse would enable his audience to understand him (surely that is the purpose of language, n’est ce pas?) or not; successful communication was not his goal.  He just wanted to sound impressive, authoritarian, definitive… and he expected any audience, particularly someone so insignificant in his eyes as a little lost girl, to regard him with the appropriate awe, whether comprehending or not.

What they said about Blagojevich in 2002

CHICAGO - If you wonder sometimes how things slipped so far downhill in Illinois, let's give credit to where credit is due - at least in part.  Here's what powerful media voices in Illinois' political hierarchy wrote about the now-convicted, soon-prison-entering former Governor Rod Blagojevich in October 2002. Blagojevich was Chicago media's pick over former Attorney General Jim Ryan:

More below the fold ...

Huntsman drops

Despite lecturing his opponent Mitt Romney last week by saying, "This nation is divided because of attitudes like that," former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is dropping from the GOP presidential race Monday morning and will endorse Romney.  The Hill reports:

"It's true," said a Huntsman campaign source. "He doesn't want to stand in the way of the person who's best capable of beating Barack Obama, and that's Mitt Romney."

Taxpayer-Funded Housing for an Illinois Pol

by John F. Di Leo

Racing to the Finish Line

Racetracks exist at the pleasure of the state. As highly regulated businesses, they need the blessing of the state to set up shop, to open for business, to continue from year to year. If they want to hold more races per day than they used to, or to be open more days per week, or more weeks per year, they need the permission of the state. And, as in most states, the Illinois gaming commission is run, for the most part, by the governor.

In 1969, Governor Otto Kerner (D, The Stables) was discovered to have accepted bribes (in the form of preferred stock!) from a racetrack or two, in exchange for granting the racetrack’s special requests (approving a favorable racing schedule, planning an extra highway exit or two to route consumer traffic toward the track, etc.). The wheels of justice turn slowly, but Governor Kerner was eventually convicted, and did time in federal prison as a result.

On the Day of His Sentencing, Jurassic Media Downplays Obama Ties to Rezko

by Teri O'Brien

Back in 2008, Barack Obama’s former employer and patron, former slumlord Antonin “Tony” Rezko, was convicted of six counts of mail fraud, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of abetting bribery. Today he was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison. This is the man who facilitated Barack and Michelle Obama’s purchase of a Hyde Park mansion that they otherwise couldn’t have afforded, and who has been an Obama political contributor since 1995, or as the Washington Post calls him “Blagojevich fundraiser.” 

Everybody and his dog knows what a smarmy, sleaze ball that Blago guy is. What many of us have a tough time understanding is how two guys, the afore-mentioned Blago, and the current occupant of the Oval Office, both of whom emerged from the same stinking slough of corruption, and who share the same benefactor, could have been perceived so differently.

We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent

by Teri O'Brien

I took the title of this post from the late Milton Rakove, political science professor and chronicler of what has come to be known as “The Chicago Way.” It was the title of one of his books, subtitled “An Oral History of the Daley Years.”

I thought about Prof. Rakove’s book yesterday as I watched our Thug-in-Chief at yet another propaganda event, staged by the CBS branch of his PR team, address a sob story from laid off government employee, Karin Gallo. The  43 year-old mother-to-be sought help from the One in the following exchange: 

Social conservatives weigh heavily in early Iowa presidential races

Social and religious conservatives in Illinois were an energized catalyst for victory in former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald's 1998 bid and an obstinate albatross in Judy Baar-Topinka's 2006 gubernatorial bid loss against former Governor Rod Blagojevich. 

The hot topic among Republicans statewide after last November's election was why social conservative Bill Brady lost and social liberals Mark Kirk and Judy Baar-Topinka won statewide races.  The conclusion drawn among many was that Illinois social conservatives held their noses and voted for Republican social liberals while social liberals refused to extend the same courtesy to the gubernatorial candidate, a staunch social conservative.  But somehow the election's wins and losses were interpreted to mean that social conservatism had become an irrelevent relic of the 80s Reagan years, and issues such as abortion and gay rights mattered no more.

Nothing could be further from the truth in Iowa where presidential candidates are vying for early caucus support, the Washington Times reported today. 

RTA hires Madigan son-in-law to lobby state legislature

As they say in Illinois politics ... "You can't make this stuff up."  House Speaker Mike Madigan's son-in-law joins the RTA as its lobbying hired gun.  Guess the family law firm business of property tax appealing has no openings. Greg Hinz reports:

A press release announcing the appointment cites Mr. Matyas' "extensive legal and legislative background" but somehow neglected to mention that he is married to the former Tiffany Madigan, Speaker Madigan's daughter.

Another Madigan daughter, Lisa, is the Illinois attorney general.

Partners: SEIU and Obama

American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union were crucial in Obama's 2008 campaign

Blagojevich to be retried in January; case against brother dropped

Statehouse News Online was at Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Sr's press conference Thursday after the government dropped its case against former governor Rod Blagojevich's older brother Robert and indicated the case against Rod would be retried after the first of the year.  Here's an excerpt of that press conference:

Quinn's 'Family Tree' Shows Strong Ties to Blagojevich

from the IL GOP:

(CHICAGO) – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady today challenged Pat Quinn’s claim to be running an “honest government” and his promises to “clean it up” in the wake of convicted ex-governor Rod Blagojevich. Brady pointed out that Quinn has retained more than two thirds of top officials appointed by Blagojevich and has countless other connections with insiders going back three decades.

“Pat Quinn once called Rod Blagojevich a person of integrity,” said Chairman Brady. “But look at his record. He has not made a clean break with the past. But, if you know some of Quinn’s history, that’s hardly a surprise.”

Quinn left state government in 1980 amid accusations that he was a “ghost pay roller” under then Governor Dan Walker, who himself was later convicted. Quinn has since maintained close ties to numerous questionable insiders, hiring and promoting many of them.

Blago finds loads of fans at Wizard World

True to comic book form, former Governor and barely-convicted felon Rod Blagojevich was a key attraction at Saturday's Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, where comic book fans paid $50 to $80 for his autographs and photos.  CBS 2 reports: 

In a room where fans swarmed the captains of the SS Enterprise, Anakin Skywalker and Batman, Illinois’ own larger than life character, Rod Blagojevich, attracted as many if not more of his own groupies Saturday.

The ex-governor repeatedly smiled and posed with admirer after admirer at the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.

Despite the presence of some 500 actors, artists, writers, pro wrestlers and models, Blagojevich was touted atop the show’s website and enjoyed prime real estate on the convention floor with a booth near the entrance. While Blago got no appearance fee, he kept proceeds from autographs ($50 each) and photos ($80 a pop).

The rest here.

Justice: Chicago-style

Steve Benson

Topinka: Justice will ultimately prevail

CHICAGO – Former State Treasurer and 2006 Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Judy Baar Topinka released the following statement Tuesday in response to the verdict of a conviction on one charge and a hung- jury on the remaining 23 counts announced in the trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

“While I applaud the jury for convicting Rod Blagojevich of lying to the FBI, I am disappointed in today’s announcement of a hung-jury on the remaining counts in the trial of Rod Blagojevich. I believe the evidence of his guilt was clear and persuasive, however it is clear that at least some of the jurors were unable to reach the same conclusion.

“Today’s decision does not change the facts in the case or the reality that personal enrichment cannot be tolerated. It does not diminish my confidence in our judicial system, or my strong belief that a jury will ultimately hold Blagojevich fully accountable for his actions – and I would hope that the prosecution would move to retry the remaining counts without delay.”

“Justice will prevail; it will just take longer than many of us hoped.”

Wishful thinking in the state capital

Taken at a storefront in Springfield, just in time for the busiest time of the summer -- the State Fair season.