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.

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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.

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Posted on November 3, 2014

By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group

In this year’s campaigns, bigger wallets give a small set of mega-donors an outsized voice, according to new information released today by Illinois PIRG Education Fund and Demos.
In the congressional primaries, just 426 donors who gave $1,000 or more to candidates outspent the at-least 13,315 small donors who gave less than $200, and 64% percent of all contributions came from donors giving chunks of $1,000 or more.
In the last quarter of the Illinois governor’s race, where campaign contribution limits have been lifted, the numbers are even more stark: one individual donor has outspent the at-least 3,208 small donors who gave less than $200, and 85% of all contributions came from donors giving $1,000 or more.

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Posted on November 3, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Anti-Rauner, not pro-Quinn. Plus: Karen And Toni’s Guy; Never Let A Bribery Scandal Go To Waste; This Is A Chickenshit Town; Bruce Rauner vs. Bill Brady; Kass Is For The Combine.

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Posted on November 1, 2014

By Ed Hammer

Today I became convinced that the best way to test the quality of a political candidate is to determine if he or she likes puppies. I do not know about you, but I never will vote for a candidate, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, who is not a canine lover.
What convinced me that this is valid criteria to select a candidate is an article on the Huffington Post about Illinois State Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro). Bost is running for Congress this year. His slogan is “Passionate Leadership for Southern Illinois.”
Apparently his passion was expressed back in 1986 when he shot and killed a neighbor’s beagle. Now, the dog did bite his daughter in the face – after she provoked it. And I love dogs. But my two daughters come before any animal. I will do anything to protect my princesses. Bost’s case is a slightly different. He took the law into his own hands. Impatient that the authorities were not responding to his complaint, he grabbed his gun then went to the dog’s cage and killed it.

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Posted on November 1, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Nothing clangs when they walk. Plus: Slowing Rauner’s Endorsement Roll, Anatomy Of A Tribune Editorial, RahmNation, and CPD Swabbies On The CTA.

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Posted on October 26, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

The Illinois Rauner Republican Party sent this Tribune editorial out Saturday morning via its e-mail account that uses a Quinnochio header, but it’s the paper’s editorial board that is being dishonest.
To wit:
“The race for governor is about whether incumbent Pat Quinn or challenger Bruce Rauner will be Illinois’ CEO for four years.”
No it’s not. It’s about who will be Illinois’ governor for four years. A governor is a chief executive, but one whose job is wholly different than that of a corporate CEO. If you don’t understand how, you don’t deserve to be writing editorials for a major metropolitan daily.
Though relatively trivial, this is just the first example of how the Tribune puts its thumbs on the scale. (Yes, an editorial is an opinion, but it’s supposed to be an honest one, arrived at through factual argument, not sleight of hand.)

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Posted on October 25, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail And In The Newsroom.

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Posted on October 20, 2014

Oh Dear God, The E-Mails . . .

Not being the change you want to see.

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Posted on October 17, 2014

By Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin/ProPublica

Newly disclosed National Security Agency documents suggest a closer relationship between American companies and the spy agency than have been previously disclosed.
The documents, published last week by The Intercept, describe “contractual relationships” between the NSA and U.S. companies, as well as the fact that the NSA has “undercover” spies working at or with some U.S. companies.
While not conclusive, the material includes some clear suggestions that at least some American companies are quite willing to help the agency conduct its massive surveillance programs.

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Posted on October 16, 2014