A report of penalties paid to the Teachers Retirement System, the pension fund for the state’s 362,000 teachers, showed that several districts across the area including Naperville School District 203 and Indian Prairie School District 204 have paid penalties in recent years, stemming from large raises awarded to teachers in the years prior to retirement. [...]
IL Lawmaker turns lobbyist overnight
April 23, 2012 By
Marlow Colvin, who recently resigned his South Side House seat to take the job as ComEd’s vice president of governmental affairs, was a co-sponsor of an old House-passed version of the controversial bill to require ratepayers to finance the Taylorville “clean coal” plant proposed by Omaha, Neb.-based Tenaska Inc. But now, Mr. Colvin will be the lead [...]
Cong. Johnson Faces Scrutiny over Timing of Retirement
April 20, 2012 By
Several Republicans in McLean County and even some of the other party chairmen believe that the timing of the announcement was part of a “setup” so that Johnson could hand off the seat to his former top aide, Jerry Clarke, said McLean County Republican Party chairman John Parrott. And one of Clarke’s rivals for the [...]
The Governing Class and Us
April 20, 2012 By
How commonplace is government waste? Given its sheer size and scope — which is set to spend $6.3 trillion this year — it’s impossible to say. But just as pernicious as the countless billions that have been squandered is the cancerous attitude that has taken hold in Washington and that is metastasizing across the land. [...]
Rockford Tea Party plans Tax Day Rally to Mark 3rd Anniversary
April 11, 2012 By
TO THE EDITOR: On Tax Day, April 15th, it will be 206 days, or 6 mos. 22 days, until the Nov. 6th election. Were we pleased at the primary election outcome? Speaking for Northern IL Tea Party, we were not buoyed up by Congressman Kinzinger’s defeat of Manzullo. Don Manzullo was the most conservative of [...]
Overpaid Public Workers: The Evidence Mounts
April 11, 2012 By
Recently, an analysis by two Bureau of Labor Statistics economists, published in the winter 2012 Journal of Economic Perspectives, concluded that the salary and current benefits of state and local government employees nationwide are 10% and 21% higher, respectively, than private-sector employees doing similar work. This study didn’t even factor in the market value of [...]
Santorum exits Presidential Race
April 10, 2012 By
Rick Santorum will drop out of the presidential race Tuesday afternoon, according to a campaign consultant, essentially guaranteeing Mitt Romney the GOP nomination. His decision comes after a slew of primary losses made it harder for him to catch Romney in the delegate count and it follows a meeting the former Pennsylvania senator had with [...]
Hispanics and the 2012 Elections
April 10, 2012 By
It is, to be sure, a population that continues to grow in size, voice, and importance. In the 2008 election, Hispanics turned out in force — 9.7 million Hispanics voted, and those numbers are projected to grow to 11.8 million to 12.2 million in 2012, with particular importance in presidential battlegrounds such as Colorado and [...]
In Milwaukee, Nation’s Oldest School Choice Program Sees Major Growth
April 10, 2012 By
Enrollment in the program has expanded steadily since its beginning in 1990. It was the first vouchers program in the nation. “The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program started with just seven schools, and now we have 107 schools,” said Anneleise Dickman, research director at the PPF. “Over the past 10 years the number of students using [...]
Illinois: The Don Knotts of Congress
Illinois’ congressional delegation used to kick sand in anyone’s face. Now it’s turning into a 98-pound weakling. No matter how this fall’s elections turn out, the state is losing its most senior members on the House transportation, agriculture and financial services committees—three areas vital to Chicago and downstate interests. To read this article from Crain’s [...]