Ready For Reform: Not Loopholes

By The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform
Over the objections of reform advocates throughout the state, the Illinois Senate on Thursday approved a bill (HOUSE BILL 7) to establish contribution limits but with so many loopholes that the legislation is “limits” in name only.
Cynthia Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR), issued the following statement:
“The disappointing Senate action should not be rubberstamped by the House,” said Cynthia Canary, Director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR). “This phony reform should be blocked, and reform-minded legislators should insist on filling the loopholes created by the Senate.”

Posted on May 29, 2009

Mystery Burris Theater

In which I insert myself into the just-released conversation between Roland Burris and Robert Blagojevich.
–
ROLAND BURRIS: (Clears throat.) Burris speaking.
ROB BLAGOJEVICH: Hello Roland, this is Rob Blagojevich again. How are you?
STEVE RHODES: Um, guys, I’m on the line too . . .
BURRIS: I’m doing fine, I’m doing fine. What’s . . . (chuckles) what’s going on? I was just discussing you yesterday.
BLAGOJEVICH: (Chuckles.) Oh, were you. Now this is the governor’s brother, not . . .
BURRIS: Alright.
BLAGOJEVICH: . . . not the governor.

Posted on May 27, 2009

Going To Pot

By Sam Singer
So a California assemblyman wants to make the Golden State the first to legalize marijuana, Governor Schwarzenegger is open to the idea, and pot enthusiasts across the state are elated.
Still, for some, the nagging question remains: What about federal law?

Posted on May 22, 2009

Changing Illinois: The Four Tops And Their Money

By CHANGE Illinois!
The CHANGE Illinois! coalition on Wednesday called on legislators to enact meaningful limits on campaign contributions from everyone, including political action committees controlled by the four legislative leaders.
“Illinois’ wide open campaign finance system allows large contributors to drown out the voices of everyday Illinoisans and is part of the reason Illinois has a much deserved reputation for corruption in government,” said Peter Bensinger, former Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and a co-chair of the CHANGE Illinois! coalition. “With one former governor in federal prison and another facing an array of deplorable charges, voters are fed up and weary of the foot-dragging in the General Assembly.
“We call on legislators to enact meaningful reform,” he continued. “Limits must be set on how much money the four legislative leaders can collect and pass on to candidates of their choice. These war chests subvert the will of individual voters. Without limits on transfers, Illinois won’t have real reform.”

Posted on May 21, 2009

When We Leave Illinois

By Kiljoong Kim

A little hole-in-the wall restaurant called Ginza, located on the 1st floor of Tokyo Hotel in downtown Chicago is a small haven for many weary Japanese salarymen visiting Chicago, a home away from home. The same sentiment can be found for Chicagoans at a Cubs bar named Lulu’s in Kona, or a Bears bar called Bruno’s in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
With a great deal of mobility for jobs and schools, many people no longer live in their places of birth. Though more than two-thirds (66.8%) of Illinois residents were born in the state, and it is unknown how many have moved overseas, more than 4.4 million Illinois natives have traveled afar and settled across the country. And these Illinois natives in other states show that moving isn’t simply about jobs and schools.

Posted on May 20, 2009

Replacing Souter

By Sam Singer
For a legal journalist, a Supreme Court vacancy presents an opportunity to channel an inner sports writer. It’s an occasion to size up a talented field of contestants, to gauge their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately to forecast the outcome of one of the more critical contests in U.S. government. For a profession that finds excitement in the dullest of matters, a Supreme Court vacancy is the stuff of action adventure films, like a high-speed chase for a traffic cop. It’s no wonder the opening coverage quickly digresses into a search for the front-runner.
In this tradition, let’s consider what we know about the field. First, the vetting process is well underway. Last week, an ABC blog reported that the White House had finalized a short list of six candidates, all women. We then learned the list was neither final nor complete, and that the president was taking great pleasure in watching the media go to work believing otherwise.

Posted on May 16, 2009

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA

By Kaitlyn McAvoy
A three-month investigation of the CTA found that 41 percent of the handicap-accessible train stations could not be fully used by customers in wheelchairs, calling into question whether the nation’s second-largest mass transit system is doing what it should for hundreds of thousands of disabled Chicagoans.

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA

By Eli Kaberon
Five of the CTA’s 10 busiest train stations cannot accommodate a customer in a wheelchair, and that’s perfectly legal under the nearly 20-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act.
The federal law allows older mass transit systems like the Chicago Transit Authority to forgo installing elevators, ramps and other equipment that would give the disabled access unless a stop is renovated or has been designated a “key station.” In all, 88 of the CTA’s 144 train stations – or 61 percent – are accessible.

Ready For Reform: Chapter 4

By The Beachwood Illinois Reform Commission Affairs Desk
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth part of a multi-part series excerpting the final report from the Illinois Reform Commission. We don’t necessarily endorse all parts of the report, but offer it up as a starting point to generate support for bringing real structural change to Illinois’ sordid political culture.
*
ENFORCEMENT
I. Introduction
For far too long, Illinois has allowed the federal government to serve as its primary check on public corruption.
The Commission recognizes that there are examples of successful corruption prosecutions in Illinois at the state and local levels, and notes that in other cases Illinois law enforcement agencies have worked jointly with the federal government. At other times, however, the ability of Illinois prosecutors to successfully investigate and prosecute corruption has been constrained by limitations on the authority and independence of state enforcement agencies, as well as the investigative and prosecutorial tools available to them.
The Commission believes that Illinois need not, and should not, rely upon the federal government to solve the problem of corruption in state government.

Posted on May 12, 2009

Obama’s Torture Test

By Sam Singer
If you find pleasure in watching politicians thrash about in a tangle of their own policy positions, you likely enjoyed the White House’s programming this April. Between the president and his attorney general, the Obama Administration seemed to have a new position every week of the month on prosecuting senior Bush Administration officials who authorized torture, each carefully calibrated to address the political failings of the last.
May promises to bring more backpedaling from the president. Despite earlier efforts, Obama can’t seem to put enough distance between his Justice Department and some of the more contentious wartime positions of its predecessor. What many thought would be a crisp and clean break from the Bush Administration has proved a slow, if tentative, unwinding.

Posted on May 6, 2009

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