WLS AM's Don and Roma Wade hear the Governor accuse Speaker Madigan of maneuvering the budget system towards a state income tax -- suggesting they're going to wait until after the election to push through a 66% increase in the state's income tax. He challenges state lawmakers to pledge they won't raise taxes. Unbelievable. Listen . . .
State Rep. Jack Franks (D-McHenry) was the first state rep to call for a House committee to consider possible grounds for impeachment of Governor Blagojevich, as Cal Skinner reports on Illinois Review today.
However, Rep. Franks isn't the first state rep to suggest consideration of impeachment. Indeed, the first state rep to mention impeachment was State Rep. Mike Bost (R-Carbondale) last summer ("Impeachment Rumblings")when the General Assembly was so frustrated with stalled budget talks and hot summer days wasted in Springfield, out of their districts and away from constituents.
Continue reading "Franks not first to suggest impeachment" »
Secrets revealed this week about Governor Blagojevich's million dollar fundraiser, convicted and now-imprisoned Tony Rezko indicate just how entangled and influential he has been in Illinois political circles . . . and how much more there is untold and unrevealed about this continuing saga.
Where to start?
We got a feel on last night's Chicago Tonight (HERE) for how the anti-Blagojevich and pro-Blagojevich forces may be spinning their arguments for and against impeachment proceedings over the days to come.
Illinois Review agrees with House Speaker Mike Madigan's under the cloak call for impeachment proceedings to begin per the Democratic House Caucus' in-house memorandum released by the Associated Press earlier this week.
Madigan, who is also the state party chairman of the Democratic Party said it best on page one of the memorandum, " One thing we learned from the George Ryan case is that we should excise a tumor when it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do further harm."
by Cal Skinner
One of the first articles on McHenry County Blog was "Will Those Illegally in Illinois Will Be the Biggest Beneficiary of Governor Rod Blagojevich’s 'All Kids' Health Plan?" It ran on October 24, 2005.
At a town meeting conducted by State Senator Pam Althoff and State Rep. Mike Tryon in Lake in the Hills on October 24, 2005, the question came up and impressed the Northwest Herald reporter and editor enough that it ended up on the front page of the paper.
Continue reading ""All Kids" means "all," but Gov doesn't know how many" »
The legislature's still in session today, and so much is rolling across our screen, we're unable to tear ourselves away from IR today, even on one of the most gorgeous days in 2008! Come on, guys, give us a break . . .
IL GOP Chairman Andy McKenna's responding to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's dissing of fellow Democrat, Governor Rod Blagojevich, who told the Chicago Tribune last night that he was "troubled" with some of Blagojevich's early appointments, and that he really has little contact with the governor from the state Durbin represents to the U.S. Senate.
Hear that back up alarm going off . . . ?
Thursday night on Chicago Tonight, I raised a question about Lisa Madigan's commitment to fighting corruption, challenging her to show some muscle and not leave all the state's corruption investigating to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office.
Continue reading "Why does Lisa Madigan leave the heavy-lifting to Fitzgerald?" »
This quiet little lawsuit should blow the lid off any ideas of adding more casinos or slot machines anywhere in Illinois -- for a either the capital bill or to make up budget revenue loss, misappropriation and/or overspending -- for at least as long as the Blagojevich administration is in control.
At the very least, an appeals court allowing a citizen to sue the governor emphasizes what we've said on Illinois Review for over a year now -- impeachment investigation should be initiated into whether the governor abuses his executive powers.
From today's Springfield Journal-Register:
The former head of the Illinois Gaming Board may sue the Blagojevich administration for retaliating against her when she refused to cooperate with allegedly illegal activities, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Jeannette Tamayo filed a federal lawsuit in 2006 against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, two top aides, the Gaming Board and its parent agency, the Department of Revenue. But a federal court dismissed the suit in September 2007, ruling Tamayo had not offered enough evidence or followed proper procedures.
Tuesday’s decision, reversing most of the lower court’s opinion, came from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The lawsuit claimed Tamayo resisted Blagojevich, his then-chief of staff Alonzo Monk and Revenue Director Brian Hamer when they tried to take control of Gaming Board operations and administrative hearings, interfere with casino bidding processes, demanded an end to investigations of certain casinos, and sought confidential financial information on other casinos.
IL GOP calls on Blagojevich to return Rezko money . . .
DECATUR – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna today called on Governor Rod Blagojevich to return all of the money raised by Tony Rezko for Blagojevich’s election efforts including $1.4 million raised from 2001-2004.