Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
Lakefront Legos. Plus: Harold & Slim On Jane; Exercises In Disdain: City Council vs. Board of Ed; Pension Police Powers; Solving The NYT’s Middle East Coverage As An Example Of Newspapers’ Continuing Failure To Think Digitally First And Let Print Be An Afterthought.
Posted on November 23, 2014
The Excusable, The Malicious And The Incompetent
A response to the Chicago Maroon’s “Problems At The Polls,” which we linked to in a Papers column last week, by a faithful reader with justifiable reason to remain anonymous.
I read that Maroon piece. Some of it struck me as hyperbolic undergraduate stuff, but a lot of it was on target.
Election Day is a mess. We (collectively) rent thousands of rooms to host elections, and things go wrong all the time. Buildings are locked, they forget to give out keys or the owners oversleep. The rooms aren’t big enough, don’t have enough electrical outlets (which is really on the local election authority for renting such a place, but maybe they were lied to). Judges, some of them (retirees and students, mostly) are terrific but a lot of them are hacks who can’t be bothered to keep up with new technology and new statutes. Again, the local election authority should be purging the worst of the worst, and the move to electronic poll books should also serve to push some out, as there is now no “station” in a polling place for the technologically averse to sit.
Part of the problem, and I say this not as an excuse but as a factor that has to be considered in any solution, is that we don’t vote all that often and so Election Day has a slapdash quality to it. Any effort to organize 7,000 people to work at 1,600 locations in suburban Cook County (to say nothing of Chicago or the collars or . . . ) for a single day and then evaporate, is going to be rough. Maybe (and I’m almost serious) election authorities can learn something from those Spirit Halloween stores. They’re open for six to eight weeks a year and have more money behind them, and if they fail to open on time no one really cares or is hurt, but still.
Posted on November 18, 2014
By Steve Rhodes
Look in the mirror, newsies. Plus: Jane Byrne Sucked; Illini, Bears Need Tougher Beers; CPS Office of Accountability Is Super Ironic; Meet The New Swaps, Same As The Old Swaps.
Posted on November 15, 2014
By Steve Rhodes
Phony Bruce, Quinn’s Rose Garden, Late & Never, Journesia, and The Combine Transitions. Plus: They came to watch Nik Wallenda live, not die.
Posted on November 8, 2014
By Beachwood Labs
10. Last-minute push by the secret Ketchup Lobby.
9. Voters appreciated the boldness of his lies in contrast to Quinn’s slippery evasions.
8. Illinois’ new One Dollar, One Vote Act paid off.
Posted on November 6, 2014
By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group
As the dust begins to clear on this year’s midterms, it is clear that deep-pocketed donors played an outsized role in funding our elections. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, as of reporting on Election Day, spending from Super PACs, c(4)s, and other outside groups reached $553 million, 80% higher than similar spending in the 2010 midterm elections. And this spending is disproportionately from megadonors – in fact, according to campaign reporting to date, just 17 donors to Super PACs spent as much as the at-least 793,000 small donors to Congressional candidates.
Posted on November 6, 2014
By Steve Rhodes
Remember, you can print this out and take it into the voting booth with you!
Governor: Grimm or Quinn? Because you are not to vote for Bruce Rauner. Take it from fellow Republicans Jim Edgar and Kirk Dillard (and Bill Brady). The man has just run the most disingenuous campaign this side of Obama ’08 and Emanuel ’10 and must not be rewarded for it. Plus, the last thing we want to do is bring any amount of satisfaction to Michael Ferro. And a vote for Rauner is a vote for Ferro.
So Quinn, right? Not so fast. Quinn has not earned your vote either. He made a decision early on in his accidental governorship to throw in with the hacks in order to keep his job and many people have been hurt because of it; namely social service providers and recipients.
Posted on November 4, 2014
By Millionaire Corner
The majority of investors (58 percent) at all wealth levels believe the U.S. would benefit from a third viable political party, according to the latest survey from Spectrem Group’s Millionaire Corner.
Ultra-wealthy investors, however – those with $5 million or more in net worth, not including primary residence – are divided about the issue: 50 percent think a third viable political party would be beneficial, while the other half do not.
To Improve Congress’ Approval Rating . . .
Posted on November 3, 2014
By Keybridge Communications
* With zero precincts reporting, we already know one thing: Our candidate will win. Americans are voting for energy.
* Candidates from both sides of the aisle took note and recognized America’s potential to be an energy superpower.
* Both Democrats and Republicans embraced pro-energy policies, calling for approval of the Keystone pipeline, for safe development of domestic oil and natural gas resources, and for restraining the urge to overregulate hydraulic fracturing.
Posted on November 3, 2014
By Ed Hammer
Twenty years ago, on November 8, 1994, a tragedy occurred in Wisconsin that so impacted Illinois history we are still feeling the effect of that tragedy in 2014
Recollections of that tragic incident will be recalled in the memories of some as informed and considerate voters decide who is the lesser of two evils in this upcoming election. The Illinois culture of corruption reached an all-time low while an Illinois official attempted to cover-up events connected to this tragedy in order to protect his public image. That same official eventually became Illinois’ 39th governor.
On that day, an Election Day, Scott and Janet Willis said a prayer with their six youngest children at their Chicago Southwest Side home asking God to watch over them before they began a journey to Milwaukee. Later that same day, while riding in their family minivan on the interstate not far from their planned destination, a rear taillight assembly dropped from the semi-trailer of the vehicle in front of them. What happened next is so horrific that any parent reading about it in the Chicago newspapers the next day must have felt pain and emptiness deep inside their hearts.
The minivan drove over the fallen piece of sharp metal, which struck the vehicle’s gas tank. Ben, Joe, Sam, Hank, Elizabeth and Pete were killed in the ensuing fire. Scott and Janet survived with severe burns. George Ryan was elected to his second term as Secretary of State, the constitutional official in charge of issuing Illinois driver’s licenses. His opponent Pat Quinn, was only able to get 38% of the vote.
Posted on November 3, 2014
