Chicago -
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
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
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
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
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.
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In visits to each of the Chicago Transit Authority’s 144 train stations, a team of reporters from Columbia College Chicago discovered broken elevators, handicap turnstiles and automatic doors at 16 stations, while there were no automatic doors at another 20 stations. In all, 36 of 88 stations the CTA labels as accessible had problems. And in several cases, the same problems were discovered weeks later on second and third visits to the stations.
Posted on May 12, 2009
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.
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Just four of the 10 elevated stations in and around the Loop – the CTA’s hub that hundreds of thousands of people pass through each day – are equipped with elevators, while the other six Loop stations, including Quincy and Adams & Wabash, two of the city’s 15 busiest stations, are not accessible.
Posted on May 12, 2009
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.
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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
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
By The Beachwood Illinois Reform Commission Affairs Desk
Editor’s Note: This is the third 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.
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PROCUREMENT
I. Introduction
The state’s current procurement system has failed to stop pay-to-play abuse and has resulted in widespread manipulation of the system in awarding state contracts. Clouted and favored companies have benefited from large contracts through corrupt processes, to the detriment of companies without the right connections. Consequently, the reduced competition raises the cost of goods and services; and a system where connected companies do best means tax dollars are leveraged for political advantage.
Posted on May 5, 2009
By The Illinois Reform Commission
Editor’s Note: This is the second 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.
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CAMPAIGN FINANCE
I. Introduction
For decades, Illinois has been rocked by one public corruption scandal after the next – each seeming to take the state to a new low. “Pay-to-play” has become a term of art in Illinois politics as interested parties make large campaign contributions expecting a return on their “investments.” These problems are not new, nor are they limited to Illinois. The difference is that the federal government and nearly every other state in the country have adopted a more comprehensive system of campaign finance regulation than Illinois. Instead, Illinois has chosen to rely solely on a disclosure-based system requiring candidates to identify campaign contributions on a semi-annual basis. In fact, excepting the newly adopted pay-to play bans, Illinois is one of four states without any campaign contribution limits and one of less than half the states without some form of public financing.
Posted on May 4, 2009
