Chicago Daily Observer

State Rep. Robert Rita has a strange take on government employment. When news broke that Senate President Emil (I Need a Raise) Jones was trying to hand his seat over to his son, Emil III, Rita’s justification was:

“Give him a chance to prove himself.”

Astonishing. Yet, odds are that Chicago and Democratic voters, if given the chance, would elect Emil Jones III to succeed his father. Demonstrating again that they are gratified to be led by the nose by a political system that is more akin to an oligarchy than a republic. Naturally, Rita would jump to defend such a system, in that he, like so many others, is a beneficiary of the system. His father, John, is the longtime Calumet Township Democratic committeeman.

Perhaps there’s no other person qualified in Jones’ South Side district to fill father Emil’s shoes. Of course, Emil the Younger’s credentials are ... Read More...

So, it has come to this. Headlines in newspapers across the state were devoted to informing voters and taxpayers of the following, momentous development – state senators voted to reject a 7.5% pay increase they would’ve automatically received if no vote was taken.

What a brave and selfless action to take. In an election year, during a recession, while the state is broke. Of course, to get to this point, criticism of the pay increases from pundits, citizens, watchdogs and editorial boards had to continue unabated for months. Even that wouldn’t have been enough to kill the raises if the General Assembly hadn’t been called into special session.
Still, talking heads are hailing this vote as a victory for taxpayers, and I suppose it is, albeit a small one monetarily, when put in context of the state’s budget. Meanwhile, as the legislative raise brushfire is quenched, Rome continues to ... Read More...

“What are we paying him for? Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, arguably the most powerful Democrat in the state, takes home $95,000 a year but refuses to sit down with the governor.” Sun Times Editorial July31, 2008

The jerk who has had a happy hour fueled night of entitlement floors his Jaguar through traffic and is eventually pulled over by a police officer for violating public safety and the Laws. The officer is treated to ‘Don’t you have anything better to do? How’s the murder rate? Hey, I pay your salary. How about catching some real criminals?’

Teachers, who have given young Rachel a B- in Honors English, hear this as well –‘What am I paying you for?’

The Chicago Sun Times whines the same thing against Speaker of the House Mike Madigan – the only adult voice in Springfield Leadership and the only person not linked by the forged ... Read More...

The approach of August means that it is time to begin making plans for the start of another school year. Back to school sales will be widely advertised in coming weeks. For those of you who have not made a vacation trip this year, there is time to do so before Labor Day. August is also the time to make plans to attend the Illinois State Fair. This year’s fair opens on August 7th and concludes on the 17th.

Attending the State Fair means making a trip to Springfield, which is still the state capital after all.

Judging from Rod Blagojevich’s chronic absenteeism one would never know that to be the case. Prior to the ratification of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, our governors were actually required to reside in the state capital.

The current constitution states that the governor be a resident of Springfield during his or her term ... Read More...

llinois should go to a military strongman form of government.

Instead of the pretense of representative democracy, we should submit to one of those charismatic, totalitarian dictators with the Captain Kangaroo get-up who makes people disappear.

After all, isn’t that what the “Chicago 9” are doing?

The Chicago 9 are the nine Chicago Democrats who live within about five squares miles of one another and who control more than $70 billion worth of government and more than 125,000 public sector jobs in Illinois.

[The 9: Daley, Blagojevich, (Lisa) Madigan, White, Hynes, Giannoulias, Jones, (Mike) Madigan, Stroger]

It was reported last week that the Chicago 9 had made more than 6,000 private sector jobs in Illinois disappear between May and June. Only four states in the nation lost more jobs during that period.

The Chicago 9 have Illinois’ unemployment rate at a robust 6.8%, nearly 25% higher than the national average ... Read More...

Last year, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was able to use his alliance with the House and Senate Republicans to thwart Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones at almost every turn.

Whether it was the budget or the governor’s health insurance expansion or a multitude of other issues, Madigan and the Republicans were a solid team throughout the long overtime session.

This year, the Republicans have flipped on Madigan, allying with Blagojevich and Jones on the $34 billion capital construction package, funded by expanded casino gambling and by leasing the Illinois Lottery to a private company.

The Illinois attorney general’s office, which began an investigation into the business practices of Countrywide Financial Corp. last fall, says it has found enough evidence of wrongdoing that it plans to file a civil suit against the mortgage lender and its chief executive, Angelo Mozilo.

The suit is expected to be filed Wednesday.

In a draft of the complaint, Illinois alleges that the company engaged in “unfair and deceptive practices” in the sale of mortgage loans. The 78-page document says the company loosened its underwriting standards, structured loans with “risky features” and engaged in “marketing and sales techniques” that incentivized employees and mortgage brokers to push loans whether or not homeowners had the ability to repay them.

The growing field of 2010 Illinois governor aspirants, with the exception of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, have a common motto: “I don’t like Mike” – as in Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. All the candidates want to be the ultimate “tumor remover,” and they don’t want Madigan to impeach Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich before they get their chance to defeat him.
A recent memorandum concerning the possible impeachment of Blagojevich, prepared by the legislative staff of Madigan, stated that “criminal activity” in the Blagojevich Administration has been “proven” and is now a “tumor” on the state’s body politic.
Madigan’s memo further argued that impeachment is feasible, for three reasons:
First, that the ongoing federal investigation into alleged bribes-for-jobs, involving Blagojevich, his wife, and his campaign committee, has “impaired” his ability to govern. The recent plea of Ali Ata, who gave Blagojevich $125,000 in campaign contributions, and got ... Read More...

You should if he’s Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

And surprisingly, under the Illinois Constitution, you can.

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, which requires “high crimes and misdemeanors” as justification for impeachment and removal from office, the state Constitution is purposely vague on the subject. So being the blockhead he is, the General Assembly can grant his most cherished desire: to become a permanent resident of Ravenswood who never, ever needs to go to Springfield again.

To that I’d say hurrah and alleluia. And three cheers for the Democratic staff, which works under the direction of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, for getting the ball rolling for laying out one of the best indictments I’ve seen yet for kicking In-Rod-We-Trust out of office. Yes, it is ironic for one top state Democratic office holder to go after the state’s highest Democratic state officer, for, of all things, corruption, when the Democratic Party ... Read More...

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says she is a champion of open government.

But a Springfield State Journal-Register analysis of more than two years of records requests received by Madigan’s office shows that the state’s highest law enforcement officer routinely answers requests for information later than the law allows.

Under the state Freedom of Information Act, public agencies have seven working days to respond to records requests. If requests are complicated or voluminous, agencies can give themselves seven-day extensions.

Between Jan. 1, 2006, and Feb. 13, 2008, Madigan’s office received 537 FOIA requests. According to her files, Madigan’s staff missed the deadline in 220 cases.

Madigan’s office says cracks in the system are being patched so that records requests are answered promptly.

In an action that is scrambling normal political alliances, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has decided to appeal a federal court order that overturned the state’s law on parental notice for abortions for minors.

Ms. Madigan’s office filed paperwork Thursday indicating that it will ask the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate a statute that generally requires underage girls to get parental permission to have an abortion. The law had been tossed out by U.S. District Judge David Coar, who ruled last month that the statute is incomplete and defective.

llinois House Speaker Michael Madigan wants to put curbs on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s power, prompting a Republican leader to predict the legislature will “grind to a halt” this year.

Madigan, D-Chicago, is seeking to add a clause to most House bills preventing Blagojevich and his state agencies from writing their own rules about how to administer the laws.

A Cook County judge is allowing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to intervene as a third party in a lawsuit that challenges Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s authority to expand a government health-care program without lawmakers’ approval.

Opposing Blagojevich in the lawsuit are Riverside attorney Richard Caro, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ronald Gidwitz and Greg Baise, president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. They say the Democratic governor overstepped his authority by expanding a program the General Assembly did not fund.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan formally intervened Thursday in a lawsuit that effectively pits allies of her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, against Gov. Rod Blagojevich in a political and legal dispute over health care spending.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a motion intervene on December 26, 2007 as a plantiff in Richard Caro and Ron Gidwitz constitutional case agains Governor Rod Blagojevich.

The Shriver Poverty Law Center has also filed a motion to intervene, as a defendent in this case.

Here is the link for all Chicago Daily Observer Coverage of the Richard Caro vs. Rod Blagojevich Case.

The biggest obstacle for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in her anticipated 2010 quest for the governorship is her father, not the governor.

There’s no doubt that Madigan, in a Democratic primary against beleaguered incumbent Rod Blagojevich, would win. But there’s growing doubt that her father, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, will give up his powerful post in order to stifle voter misgivings about the Madigans possibly running the whole state. .

Should Lisa Madigan win, a father/daughter team would occupy two of Illinois’ three most powerful positions. Facing Lisa in a primary, Blagojevich, hoping voters will forget that he’s governor because of his family ties, would excoriate Lisa as Mike’s “puppet.” Think of his ads: “Do you want a governor who does what Big Daddy tells her? Or a governor who stands up to Big Daddy?” Or: “Madigan and Madigan. Too much power.”

The Springfield presumption is that Mike ... Read More...

On November 5, Roy Jones got the bad news from the Cook County treasurer’s office: the property taxes on his west-side condo have doubled. Shorenstein Properties, owner of the John Hancock building, is having a much better month: the tax bill for the iconic skyscraper is down 14.6 percent from last year.

The Chicago Tribune didn’t stretch itself unduly to mention a lawsuit brought as a public interest by my friend Richard Caro. But what the legislature won’t do…and what all the combined weight of the editorialists’ cannot evidently accomplish…Richard—who passes the plate every Sunday at 11 a.m. Mass at St. John Cantius (the mother church of authentic Catholicism) is accomplishing. He is like Roland at the pass, the heroic medieval soldier who held the pass in Spain enabling his comrades to pass through unharmed by the Saracens and who with his dying breath blew the trumpet that summoned reinforcements.

Who is Richard Caro and what is he doing? He’s a mild-mannered (deceptive) public interest lawyer, a doctor of jurisprudence, who is today’s version of the English barons at Runnymede who taught the tyrant King John a needed lesson in 1215—and got him to sign the Magna Carta, the charter of our ... Read More...

To the surprise of absolutely no one in state government, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office is declining to get involved in a political and legal dispute between her father and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In a letter released Thursday, Ms. Madigan’s office said it won’t rule on whether her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, has a conflict of interest in working as a property tax appeals lawyer at the same time the House considers legislation to cap annual tax hikes for homeowners in Cook County at about 7%.

The firing of the wife of a top aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan could add more acrimony to the yearlong fight between Madigan and Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Bronwyn Rains’ contract as a psychologist with the state Department of Human Services was terminated last week by the Blagojevich administration. She is the wife of Madigan Chief of Staff Tim Mapes.