All Posts Tagged With: "Illinois"
Watch the IL House hearing on the proposed rules for the impeachment proceedings
If you’d like to watch the live hearing, which just started, click here.
Thanks to Rich Miller at Capitol Fax for providing the link.
Case No. 107713 – Bambenek v. Milorad R. Blagojevich
Attorney General Lisa Madigan wasn’t the only one to file suit today to remove Rod Blagojevich. Urbanagora contributor John Bambenek also filed suit today. Read more…
Some ways to fill Obama’s seat
Out of the chaos of the Blagojevich controversy, somehow we need a new U.S. Senator. Here I’ll explain some of the problems with Durbin’s special election proposal, and offer a few alternatives. Read more…
Quick look at the Illinois Constitution
Article V of the Illinois Constitution deals with the Executive Branch.
Today Pat Quinn discussed a provision that allows a Governor to “step aside” rather than resign.
Article V, Section 6. (c). Whenever the Governor determines that he may be seriously impeded in the exercise of his powers, he shall so notify the Secretary of State and the officer next in line of succession. The latter shall thereafter become Acting Governor with the duties and powers of Governor. When the Governor is prepared to resume office, he shall do so by notifying the Secretary of State and the Acting Governor.
If the office of Lieutenant Governor is vacated, it remains empty until the end of the term. So if Pat Quinn becomes Governor through Blagojevich’s impeachment or resignation, he will not have a Lieutenant Governor.
Article V, Section 7. If the Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller or Treasurer fails to qualify or if his office becomes vacant, the Governor shall fill the office by appointment. The appointee shall hold office until the elected officer qualifies or until a successor is elected and qualified as may be provided by law and shall not be subject to removal by the Governor. If the Lieutenant Governor fails to qualify or if his office becomes vacant, it shall remain vacant until the end of the term.
Illinois’ next U.S. Senator?
Any predictions about who will take over Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate?
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“You can tell a lot about a guy from his shoes”
Today cable news is paying too much attention to what the McCain campaign paid for Sarah Palin’s clothes. This is a story I couldn’t possibly care less about, and while it’s good for the Obama campaign, it’s not as helpful as focusing on the issues. As I speak the Dow is down 515. Palin will stay connected with those she connects with, but by now most at the margin have been lost, with polls showing that 55% of Americans have reached the self-evident truth that Palin isn’t prepared to be President.
As an Illinoisian I take pride in our state’s history of producing leaders who were great speech makers, like Lincoln, Everett Dirksen, and Adlai Stevenson.
I was thinking of Stevenson today when I heard about Palin, and the famous picture of Stevenson with a hole worn into his shoes. In that spirit, take a look at the pictures below:
U of I Law Prof. Francis Boyle attacked on Fox News
U of I alum Bob Novak’s attempted hit and run
The Prince of Darkness tried to take out a jaywalker today, and then started to speed off like he didn’t notice. From the witness description, it would be hard not to notice:
The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident. As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said “a black Corvette convertible with top closed plows into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed into the windshield.” Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a “Walk” signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “This car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.
In a 2001 interview, Bob Novak commented on his loathing of jaywalkers: “He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don’t run the country, all I can do is yell at ‘em. The other option is to run ‘em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that.”
Illinois: Rich State or Poor State?
It should be required reading for every member of the Illinois General Assembly, particularly as they contemplate new and exciting ways to fleece the state’s producers.
At the end of 2007, the bipartisan American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) published a study done by noted economists Art Laffer and Steve Moore entitled “Rich States, Poor States”.
The study did two things. First, it provided an economic performance ranking over the past 10 years (1996-2006) state-by-state. Second, it provided an economic outlook ranking, again state-by-state, based on a comparative review of 16 separate economic indicators.
Am I boring you yet? Well, here’s where the information gets more stimulating:
The upshot for Illinois is that, over the past decade, we would have been better off with MC Hammer setting the state’s fiscal policy.
Illinois’ ranked 48th out of 50, ahead of only Michigan and Ohio, in economic performance over that time.
There were 727,150 people who got hip to this reality well before the ALEC report. That is net number of individuals who moved out of Illinois between the years 1996-2006. Only New York and California lost more population.
Besides contributing to Illinois’ incredible shrinking tax base, that population loss has Illinois slated to lose at least one congressional seat after the 2010 census. It is so bad here that not even waning political clout can motivate our Honorables.
As important as who and how many are leaving is who and how many are not coming in the first place. Illinois ranked 45th in the nation when it came to attracting college graduates to locate here (Federal Reserve Bank of New York – August 2007 study). The good news is we are poised to shoot past West Virginia, a state whose senior U.S. Senator is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, for 44th place. Look out, West Virginia, we’re coming for ya!
Add to this that in our state’s largest public school system only 6 of every 100 high school freshman will go on to earn a bachelor’s degree (Consortium on Chicago Public School Research).
Thus, Illinois neither produces college graduates nor does it attract them. How’s that working out for us in the hyper-competitive, digital, global economy of the 21st century?
Just about how you think it might: Illinois is 44th in the nation in per capita personal income growth and 47th in job growth over the decade that was studied.
The bad news for Illinois is compounded with our high property tax burden (41st), an unfriendly legal liability system (46th), and a high minimum wage (44th).
Tally up those dismal numbers and Illinois’ 16-variable composite score gives it an economic outlook ranking of 42nd. In other words, the outlook is depressing or, perhaps more accurately, a Depression.
Edwin Moses could not clear all of the hurdles to economic prosperity state lawmakers have put in front of Illinois families and Illinois small businesses and therefore, the exodus.
Sans a crash course in Econ 101, this study is a message to Illinois lawmakers to identify their gut instincts when it comes to thinking about state economic policies and then do the opposite.