Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, October 6,2011

Pay raise outrage reconsidered

Earlier this year, when it was disclosed that Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director had handed out two pay raises to top staffers on the same day that the governor signed the income tax increase into

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 29,2011

Reform legislative scholarships, or end them

By Rich Miller

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “Legislators don’t lose elections over what happens at the Statehouse, they lose because they don’t take care of bu

National - Jim Hightower | Thursday, September 22,2011

Let’s get real on jobs

By Rich Miller

You know what’s wrong with the American economy, Bucko? You, that’s what. Yeah, yeah, it’s true that the reckless global gambling schemes of Wall Street bankers are what wrecked our

Illinois - James Krohe Jr | Thursday, September 22,2011

Get smarter about a Smart Grid for utilities

By Rich Miller

Gov. Pat Quinn recently vetoed a “Smart Grid” bill that was pushed through the General Assembly this past spring by ComEd and Ameren, the two biggest electric utilities in the state.Politi

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 15,2011

Quinn’s doomsday game gets old

By Rich Miller

I began to reminisce during Gov. Pat Quinn’s Chicago press conference last week. Quinn had called the media together to announce he was closing seven state facilities and laying off almost 2,000

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 8,2011

Anti-tax Republicans move in for the kill

By Rich Miller

Last year, the state Senate Republicans tested anti-tax messages in their campaigns without much success. While almost all Senate Democrats had voted for a large income tax hike along with an expansio

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, September 1,2011

Why Democrats are angry at each other

By Rich Miller

A few weeks ago, I ran into a fairly high-level Illinois Democrat at a party in Springfield. He said he’d taken my advice and was reading the New York Times’ “Disunion” Civil W

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, August 25,2011

Would‘unveto fix regional supts. mess?

By Rich Miller

Way back in 1981, Gov. Jim Thompson got into a fight with the Illinois General Assembly over who should fund the salaries of county state’s attorneys. By law, Illinois was on the hook for two-th

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, August 18,2011

Ratings agencies worry about fiscal future of Illinois

By Rich Miller

As we are all too painfully aware, the past few weeks have been beyond crazy. Congress and the president took the nation to the brink of default. Standard & Poor’s lowered the federal govern

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, August 11,2011

The changing faces of the General Assembly

By Rich Miller

Redistricting is a time for stock-taking; for looking back and looking ahead. State legislators who’ve been around a while are suddenly faced with the often stark reality of signing on for anoth