Metering is ON

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Rich Miller biography

Rich Miller has been writing about Illinois politics since 1990. He began publishing Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, in 1993. He is recognized as …

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  • Wannabe gangster Blago — all flash and swagger

    There’s no real mystery to understanding Rod Blagojevich. He was, and still is, a failed wannabe gangster. Not a real gangster who pops caps in people’s behinds. Blagojevich tried to model himself on movie gangsters. The guy even quoted a character from “The Godfather, Part …Read More

  • Quinn’s OK a must for more gaming

    The last two decades give us a pretty simple Illinois history lesson: Unless all four state legislative leaders and the governor are pulling hard in the same direction, no gaming expansion bill can ever become law. The last significant gaming bill passed a few months …Read More

  • Two weeks of nothing  in our messed up state

    The second and final week of the annual state legislative veto session was a disappointing dud. Just about nothing came together, except that one tiny part of the massive state budget problem was solved. Sort of. And only for a year. Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed …Read More

    • Corporate tax break bidding war heats up

    An expensive bidding war is escalating at the Illinois Statehouse and it needs to be slowed down. Gov. Pat Quinn met with the four legislative leaders Thursday morning. Much of the discussion centered around CME Group’s threat to leave Illinois unless it gets a tax …

    State Dems in trouble if ‘Obamallac Man’ bailing

    History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself. Lots of Illinois Democrats believed after the 2010 national Republican landslide that the worst had passed. They harkened back to 1996, when President Bill Clinton rallied from humiliating midterm losses and decisively won re-election. The Illinois House had been taken …

    Obama thinks like a legislator — and that doesn’t cut it

    It’s generally considered a rule of thumb that politicians with mainly legislative backgrounds do not make particularly effective chief executives. The two worlds, and their required mind-sets, are vastly different. And, for the most part, our state’s better governors and our country’s most effective presidents …

    Drama queen Quinn spreads the blame

    Our state’s reigning drama queen has struck yet again. As you know by now, Gov. Pat Quinn held a news conference Thursday to blame the General Assembly for forcing him to close seven state facilities and lay off almost 2,000 employees. The Legislature, Quinn said, …

    Corporate tax break bidding war heats up

    An expensive bidding war is escalating at the Illinois Statehouse and it needs to be slowed down. Gov. Pat Quinn met with the four legislative leaders Thursday morning. Much of the discussion centered around CME Group’s threat to leave Illinois unless it gets a tax …

    Hoping Jobs’ exit spurs flexibility, innovation at Apple

    RICH MILLER: I feel almost the same about Steve Jobs retiring from Apple as I felt when Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he’d had enough. I truly appreciate his many years of service, but I’m happy to see him leave.

    Stop thinking, gov. Put people to work

    ‘I think you want a governor who’s thoughtful and thinks of everything before deciding an important matter.” That’s Gov. Pat Quinn, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon in Chicago. Yes, that’s the same governor who seems to be best known for his policy flip-flops and his …

    Pat Quinn’s a union man — until he’s not

    Maybe now would be a good time for Gov. Pat Quinn to pay off his bet with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. After all, according to AFSCME, they’re practically soul brothers these days. Quinn bet Walker way back in January that the Bears would beat the …

    Too easy to blame McCormick unions

    The Illinois General Assembly was back in Springfield for one day this week, but they might return again. The House and Senate had to come back to make sure there were no delays in the state’s massive infrastructure program. The Senate Democrats had tacked some …

    Blagojevich’s defense: ‘I’m not sayin’ ... I’m just sayin’’

    ‘He talked and he talked and that is all he did. . . . They want you to believe his talk is a crime. It’s not.” That statement Thursday by Rod Blagojevich’s attorney Aaron Goldstein, as reported by the Sun-Times’ “Blago Blog,” pretty much sums …

    Dem legislators swing to the right and back again left

    Remember that Soca Boys song, “Follow the Leader,” which went: “Jump for the left, jump for the right”? That’s probably the best way to sum up what Democratic state legislators have been doing for the past six months. They’ve been following their leaders first in …

    Two vultures in ugly fight  to claim foreclosure fees

    Every now and then, I find myself privately rooting for and against both sides of a bill at the same time. I’m doing it again. Two sides in Springfield are fighting over a rather unseemly and rapidly growing pile of auction fees created by the …

    Seeking payback, GOP calls Quinn’s pick ‘pay to play’

    There seems to be a deliberate misunderstanding by some state Senate Republicans these days. They’re claiming that Gov. Pat Quinn’s nomination of Terry Cosgrove to the Illinois Human Rights Commission is a disgusting example of “pay to play” politics. But that’s just silly. Pay to …

    Dems may approve ‘concealed carry’ to throw GOP a bone

    I wouldn’t blame you if you thought things are moving way too fast at the Illinois Statehouse. Civil unions, an income tax increase and then, Wednesday, the death penalty abolition law. But change like this comes maybe once in a generation, if that. Things move …

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