August 27, 2014
'FREE PASS' PACTS STILL GUIDE AREA POLITICIANS
If the English bard Shakespeare were resurrected and brought to the Northwest Side and the northwest suburbs to pen some verse on political reality, he undoubtedly would coin the saying: "To pact or not to pact? That is the question." The answer is, politicians who don't pact don't win. Full Article...
August 20, 2014
FRERICHS' "STUMBLING" AIDS CROSS IN TREASURER'S RACE
Illinois' state treasurer Dan Rutherford is a political outcast, having lost the Republican governor's primary with a barely 7.5 % of the vote. But the battle for succession is intense, and the "stumbling and bumbling" campaign of Mike Frerichs (D) gives Tom Cross (R) the edge. The obscure Frerichs, of Champaign, is getting no traction in Cook County, which he must win by more than 500,000 votes. His miscues are damaging. Cross views the office through the prism of numbers: He wants a balanced budget, and won't spend more than tax revenue generates. Presently, Illinois spends $3 for every $2 in revenue, borrowing, deferring or just not paying the balance. Frerichs argues for "compassion": "We must invest in Illinois," he said. If Bruce Rauner beats Gov. Pat Quinn by more than 200,000 votes, Cross will be swept in. Full Article...
August 13, 2014
RAUNER TARGETS 55TH DISTRICT TO AVOID BEING "GOVERNOR EUNUCH"
Bruce Rauner (R) is not spending $50 million to be Illinois' Governor Eunuch. But he would, in fact, be impotent and inconsequential if Democrats retain their House (71-47) and Senate (40-19) supermajorities: Democrats could pass any bill, and override any veto. The northwest suburban 55th District (Park Ridge - Des Plaines) is Ground Zero for the Republicans. Speaker Madigan spent $1 million to elect Marty Moyland (D) in 2012, in a historically Republican seat. Moylan won by 2,610 votes. If the seat flips to Mel Thillens (R) in 2014, Madigan's supermajority evaporates. The campaign is about base and money. Moylan is fiscally conservative and a popular former Des Plaines mayor; 31 of the District's 66 precincts are in Des Plaines. Thillens is the Park Ridge park board president; only 20 precinct are in Park Ridge. Madigan will spend another $1 million, and Republicans about $500,000 for Thillens. If will be a nasty, negative race. Full Article...
August 6, 2014
"LUCKY" SPOSATO ANNOUNCES BID FOR 38TH WARD ALDERMAN
Luck or skill? Chicago Ald. Nick Sposato has a plentitude of both. He beat the 36th Ward's sputtering Banks-DeLeo Machine in 2011, had the ward cannibalized to defeat him in 2015, has been a vocal critic of the Emanuel Administration, and is now running for a second term in the adjacent 38th Ward. In a stroke of luck, Ald. Tim Cullerton (38th) is retiring, giving Sposato a clear shot at the seat. In the new Hispanic-majority 36th Ward, Sposato has endorsed Gilbert Villegas, who will face Omar Aquino, the hand-picked choice of the 31st Ward Berrios-Suarez Machine. After the fiasco of losing Toni Berrios's Illinois House seat in the March primary, that Machine no longer looks invinceable. Full Article...
Previous Articles