From a press release:
“President Bush’s plan to address the growing health care crisis in our country is disappointing. The plan he outlined tonight would do nothing to help the 1.4 million uninsured Illinoisans finally get access to coverage they can afford. In fact, his plan would discourage employers from offering quality healthcare coverage, could increase the number of uninsured and would mostly benefit the rich. At a time when healthcare costs are rapidly increasing and millions of families across the country are struggling to afford medical insurance, the President’s plan could put healthcare even further beyond reach for millions of Americans. It’s clear that the task of finding ways to help the middle-class afford healthcare will be left up to the states.
“In Illinois, we’re already leading the way in expanding access to affordable healthcare for working families. We have expanded healthcare coverage to more than 500,000 people in just the last four years, and now every uninsured child in the State can get affordable health coverage. Soon we will announce plans for extending healthcare access to every Illinoisan. We would welcome more support for our efforts from the federal government, but not at the expense of important programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
“And while the President’s proposals to boost the use of renewable fuels and reduce reliance on petroleum are steps in the right direction, this Administration has provided little more than lip service when it comes to meaningful energy reform. Our country as a whole is no closer to energy independence now than it was a year ago when the President declared that Americans are addicted to oil.
“Here in Illinois, we’ve proposed an ambitious energy independence plan that calls for real fuel conservation and real investment in clean, renewable energy alternatives that protect consumers while significantly reducing greenhouse gases. We hope to see real leadership and investment from our federal government in technologies and strategies that will result in genuine energy independence.â€
Also, Sen. Durbin blogged his response at Daily Kos.
It wasn’t all serious.
Welcome Senator Durbin. WOOO HOOOO.
by Chamonix on Tue Jan 23, 2007 at 07:25:56 PM PST
Woo Hoo back at You.
by Dick Durbin on Tue Jan 23, 2007 at 08:02:29 PM PST
And, finally, did anyone else see Sen. Obama on TV last night? I caught him on CNN and MSNBC and his delivery seemed super-flat to me. It made me think that his attempt to move up the political ladder to the top rung has caused him to be too cautious, too hesitant to speak in his usual casual yet straightforward manner.
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Question of the day *** Updated x1 ***
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
As I told you yesterday, a federal judge has ruled that the messages on “specialty license plates” in Illinois are covered under the 1st Amendment and can’t be regulated by government.
If this ruling stands, all it will take is 800 or so Illinoisans to sign up for the license plates and the secretary of state will have to make them.
So, what messages would you like to see on future specialty plates? Snark encouraged.
Late bonus question: Should Illinois do away with the specialty plates altogether? Explain.
*** UPDATE *** Zorn makes a good point. After quoting part of the judge’s decision…
(The state) argues that if the “Choose Life†message is permissible, than the state would also have to issue Ku Klux Klan or Nazi plates to avoid viewpoint discrimination. (But) the fact that speech or viewpoint is unpopular does not exempt it from First Amendment protection. Indeed, the First Amendment protects unpopular, even some hateful speech. The message conveyed by this proposed license plate is subject to First Amendment Protection.
…he writes:
In other words, this decision opens the door wide for what I’m calling “hate plates” — specialty license tags espousing any and all forms of bigotry or bile. More likely, though, we’ll see every manner of mainstream advocacy group on the right and the left wanting to use specialty plates to boost their causes and notions.
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SS numbers distributed to ward hacks
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
So, apparently, every ward boss in the city has my Social Security number. Fantastic.
Four Chicago residents filed lawsuits Monday alleging their privacy was violated because the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners accidentally released their Social Security numbers along with those of 1.3 million other city residents.
A database file containing the Social Security numbers and other personal data from registered voter files was distributed in late 2003 and early 2004 to about 100 political organizations run by the city’s aldermen and committeemen. About a half dozen copies were also released more recently.
Tom Leach, a spokesman for the board, said it was legal for the information to be released, but the Social Security information should have been deleted. He said the board plans to ask everyone who received copies of the records to return them.
Last fall the board was forced to patch a security flaw on its Web site that had made private voter information, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth for more than 780,000 registered voters, vulnerable to online theft.
They sure seem to be downplaying these idiotic mistakes.
In addition to commenting on the city election board’s blunder, let’s use this as a privacy law open thread. What penalties should be involved here? Is there any new legislation you’d like to see introduced?
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Online voting? Lang wants to give it a look
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Lou Lang proposes that the state take a look at Internet voting.
Internet voting has the potential to allow voters to cast their ballots from anywhere — from the office, the coffee shop or the living room in their slippers. This convenience holds the promise of attracting younger, tech-savvy voters to the polls and could also be a simpler alternative to absentee voting for citizens living abroad or serving in the military.
State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, has filed a bill calling for the state to study the idea, and possibly use Internet voting in Illinois elections as early as the 2010 gubernatorial race. […]
Michigan, as recently as 2004, allowed online voting in its Democratic presidential caucus. The result was the second-biggest caucus turnout ever of 164,000 votes, 46,000 of which were cast online. More importantly, there were no reports of security glitches, fraud or intimidation, according to Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Jason Moon.
Madison County Clerk Mark Von Nida worries about the privacy lost when voting is taken away from monitored polling places. “When you open up voting (by computer), you open up the possibility of people having to vote in front of their boss, or their union boss, just to prove that it’s done,” he said. “And of course, (the vote) would be (cast) in a way that’s how the person who coerced them wanted them to vote.”
Lang says that’s why he wants to study the issue first. Your thoughts?
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Bayer on pensions, workers
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer is not impressed with the recent report on how to fix the state pension mess.
Imagine there was an employer who sent its employees notice each month that it had electronically transferred their pay to the bank account that they designated.
Imagine further that, in fact, the full deposit had never actually been made, that the entire amount to which the employee was entitled, legally and contractually, had never been sent.
And finally, imagine the problem was discovered — that some of the pay owed had never been received.What would your remedy be?
Well, if you’re the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a group of self-appointed guardians of the public trust, you’d fix it by cutting the pay of the employees who had been shortchanged.
Go read the whole thing. It’s an interesting take.
Meanwhile, Bayer also had some harsh words for Gov. Blagojevich in Bernie Schoenburg’s recent column. During his inaugural address, Blagojevich said, “Four years ago, standing before you, I looked back and what I saw was a government that was failing our people, a bloated bureaucracy, costing taxpayers millions, for no purpose, no results.”
“I think it’s highly unfortunate that the governor chooses to use that rhetoric,” Bayer said in an interview at Springfield’s AFSCME headquarters last week.
“I know that in some circles, the rhetoric plays well, but it doesn’t jibe with the reality, and I think it’s a great disservice to the thousands of state employees who come to work every day and try to keep order in our prisons and care for the mentally ill and care for veterans and try to make sure that people who are applying for unemployment benefits get the benefits that they’re entitled to in a timely fashion - all of the things that state employees do and all the services they provide.”
“To denigrate them by saying, well, they didn’t used to work and they don’t work … it’s not true and it’s really time for that rhetoric to stop.”
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Morning Shorts
Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* NYT: Illinois to Privatize Lottery; Fritchey’s take
*Chicago Board of Elections hit with lawsuit over Social Security number flap
* City slates 25 large commercial properties for tax review:
The Daley administration contends the aggressive filings have helped prevent local taxing districts from paying up to $63 million in refunds — and shifting $10 million in tax burden from those large businesses to average taxpayers.
* Mark Brown: A look at former mayoral aide Reyes private files
*Sorich remains free pending appeal
* Tribune: Illinois sues over text message spam
* Two commissioners suggest tax increases to counteract Stroger’s cuts
* Some towns glad they didn’t ban smoking; other complaints
* Official with ties to Rezko leaves state post
* Chicago Federal Reserve President to step down
* Families urged to apply for low income tax credit
* Tax breaks questioned as health costs soar:
Meanwhile, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) is pushing for legislation that would require non-profit hospitals to list benefits they provide to their communities. A similar measure stalled last year, but Madigan’s office is now negotiating with Illinois hospitals to try to craft an agreement.
* Tribune Editorial: Madigan just doing her job
* Eric Zorn: What is Lisa Madigan thinking?
* McQueary: Your Welcome, President Stroger
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Obamarama, Part 2 - Debunked
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The crackpots who pushed this goofy rumor ought to be ashamed of themselves, but I’m not holding my breath.
Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a “madrassa” are not accurate, according to CNN reporting.
Insight Magazine, which is owned by the same company as The Washington Times, reported on its Web site last week that associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, had unearthed information the Illinois Democrat and likely presidential candidate attended a Muslim religious school known for teaching the most fundamentalist form of Islam. […]
But reporting by CNN in Jakarta, Indonesia and Washington, D.C., shows the allegations that Obama attended a madrassa to be false. CNN dispatched Senior International Correspondent John Vause to Jakarta to investigate. […]
“I came here to Barack Obama’s elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa … like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Vause said on the “Situation Room” Monday. “I’ve been to those madrassas in Pakistan … this school is nothing like that.”
Go read the whole thing and learn something.
It’s past time that people stopped fervently believing and passing along as gospel the absolute worst rumors about politicians they don’t like.
One other thing. Some people ought to be fired at Insight and Fox News for this disgusting atrocity.
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Developing story. No link yet.
U.S. District Judge David Coar ruled Friday that Secretary of State Jesse White’s office violated the First Amendment when it refused to make license plates saying “Choose Life.’”
*** UPDATE *** The Choose Life IL people told me they’ll be posting a press release relatively soon on their website. It appears that just about everybody is in DC for the march today.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Jesse White spokesman Dave Druker: “We’re studying the opinion. We’re going to ask the Attorney general to appeal it… We don’t think we have the authority without legislative approval to create the license plates.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** You can download the opinion by clicking here [pdf file].
From the opinion:
…this court concludes that the privately-crafted and privately-funded message on specialty license plates constitutes private speech.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Also from the opinion:
Where the government voluntarily provides a forum for private expression, the government may not discriminate against some speakers because of their viewpoint. If the government is not expressing its own policy, it presumptively violates the First Amendment when it picks and chooses access to the forum on the basis of views expressed by the private speakers. […]
Defendant’s main argument is that the license plate message is state speech, and thus not subject to First Amendment protection. However, it has been determined that the added message of specialty license plates constitute private speech, and thus the First Amendment is implicated.
*** UPDATE 5 *** More from the opinion…
By its terms, the statute does not require enabling legislation before a new category of specialty license plates may be issued. […]
Defendant requires that the General Assembly must approve specialty plates. Defendant has required that legislation be introduced and approved by both chambers of the General Assembly, and signed into law by the Governor, in order to approve the specialty plates. These requirements for specialty plates are not included in the statute authorizing specialty plates… and there are no substantive criteria or guidelines for the approval of the specialty license plates by the General Assembly and the Governor.
Katie, bar the door.
*** UPDATE 6 *** Just to be clear, I don’t have a position one way or another on the Choose Life plates. But, as I noted in comments, if all specialty plates are now to be considered “private speech,” I’m wondering what sort of road we’re heading down.
I’m about as free speech as a person can get. But I do think that the state probably ought to control what goes on license plates. Then again, the ensuing craziness will undoubtedly be a lot of fun. So, perhaps I’m a bit torn.
*** UPDATE 7 *** The AP story is up, and it’s not quite right.
A federal judge today ordered the state of Illinois to offer license plates with the pro-adoption motto “Choose Life.”
A group called Choose Life Illinois, made up largely of adoption advocates, has been trying for several years to get legislative approval.
The president of Choose Life Illinois is Jim Finnegan. Finnegan describes himself this way in his alumni directory entry:
Jim has distributed literature in front of hospitals that perform abortions and in front of the home of one of the most active abortionists in the Chicago area. Jim and his associates have placed large posters, that show the truth of abortion, in such areas as the Daley Plaza, the Art Institute in Chicago, and Chicago area train stations. Jim is on the Board of the Caring Institute that has provided Pro Life advertising on television, and is an advisor to the Board of the abortion breast cancer link that provides well-documented research on the connection between abortion and breast cancer. He is President of Pro Life adoption that promotes specialty license plates in Illinois, and is a co-founder of Vote Life America, which provides politicians’ voting records on such subjects as abortion, stem cell research and homosexual marriage demands. Jim spent a week in Ireland supporting organizations that campaign to keep abortion illegal in that country, and has raised over $80,000 in the US to provide support for these organizations in Ireland.
Another leader of the group is Tom Brejcha, who runs the Thomas More Society.
Founded in 1997, the Thomas More Society, Pro-Life Law Center, is a nonprofit, public interest law firm based in Chicago and dedicated to fighting for the rights and dignity of all human life. The Society vigorously defends clients in state and federal courtrooms around the country, addressing vital issues across the pro-life spectrum, including pregnancy discrimination, end-of-life health care, the right of conscientious objection for medical workers, and freedom of speech for peaceable nonviolent protest.
Under the leadership of President and Chief Counsel Tom Brejcha, the Society champions the rights of pro-life activists — including in the United States Supreme Court, where we won two decisive victories in the past three years (2003, 8-1; 2006, 8-0).
Assisting Brejcha was DC law firm Robbins, Russel, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, which has handled abortion-related cases.
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From the Tribune…
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (R-Ill.) gave Mayor Richard Daley a political boost today, endorsing the mayor for reelection to a sixth term in office.
“I travel around the country a lot, and I see a lot of cities,” Obama said. “I can honestly say I am always glad to be back home because I don’t think there is a city in America that has blossomed so much over the last couple of decades.” […]
The Daley administration has been beset by hiring and contracting scandals during the mayor’s current term, and Obama said that “I continue to be concerned” about City Hall corruption. But he asserted that Daley has taken action, including strengthening procurement rules and appointing a strong inspector general to produce a “cleaner government.”
“Ultimately, you want to look at the whole record…and I think the city has moved overall in a positive direction,” Obama said at a news conference at Daley’s downtown campaign headquarters.
Sun-Times…
In August 2005, Obama nearly ran into trouble with Daley when he hedged on whether he’d support the mayor for re-election in light of the corruption investigations at City Hall.
Asked then if he planned to support the mayor or if the corruption probes might have given him pause, the senator replied, “What’s happened — some of the reports I’ve seen in your newspaper, I think, give me huge pause.”
An hour later, he called the Sun-Times saying he wanted to clarify his remarks. Obama said the mayor was “obviously going through a rough patch right now.” But he also said Chicago has “never looked better” and that “significant progress has been made on a variety of fronts.” The senator said then it was “way premature” to talk about endorsements because the mayor had not yet announced his candidacy.
Daley didn’t hold a grudge against Obama. He reportedly concluded that the freshman senator had been trapped by a loaded question.
Meanwhile, my syndicated column this week takes a look at the Obamarama phenomenon, (and contains an unfortunate headline that I didn’t write).
This Obama phenomenon is not rational in any form. It is, in fact, almost completely irrational.
As the skeptics continually point out, average Obama supporters know very little about the man they adore. But I’ve noticed that the more exposure he gets, the more people swoon over him. In some ways he’s been able to accomplish on a fairly wide scale what JFK did with my Grandma at that union gathering in Chicago. Millions are personally smitten, and, at least for now, there’s no reasoning with them on this topic.
He’s inexperienced? That’s a good thing. He’s black in a nation that still has a lot of bigots? It won’t matter and actually may help. He’s politically untested? He’ll get all the seasoning he needs on the campaign trail. On and on it goes.
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National Journal press release
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Washington, DC– The Hotline, National Journal Group’s daily political news and analysis service, announced today the addition of 4 new partners in its recently launched state political network, which now consists of 10 of the nation’s best state political websites. The Hotline Political Network, launched in October of 2006, provides readers with up to the minute state and local news in some of the most politically important states in the country, including the three earliest primary states: Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
The Network, located on National Journal’s web site, will allow The Hotline’s influential readers to quickly access superior state and local coverage on top of the comprehensive, ground-breaking reporting on national politics they get from The Hotline.
“The Hotline has been bringing wisdom before it’s conventional to Washington readers for nearly 20 years and now with our ever-expanding Hotline Political Network, we’ll be bringing that same wisdom to every political community in the country, not just Washington, DC,” said Chuck Todd, Editor in Chief of The Hotline.
The Hotline Political Network’s inaugural members include:
• Florida’s Sayfie Review
• Illinois’ Capitol Fax Blog
• Missouri’s johncombest.com
• New Hampshire’s News Links
• Texas’ Quorum Report
• Wisconsin’s WisPolitics
And the four new members added today include:
• Arizona’s AZ Political News
• Georgia’s Political & Policy Digest
• Iowa’s IowaPolitics
• South Carolina’s The Shot
The Hotline Political Network provides readers access to updated headlines from each of the Network member’s sites, as well as links to Hotline’s On Call and Blogometer and other select content from The Hotline, including columns from Chuck Todd, John Mercurio and Charlie Cook.
News from the Network is also regularly featured on Hotline’s On Call blog, which has established a loyal audience of readers and has been credited with breaking several key political news stories over the past months. On Call was first to report that former-Governor Mark Warner was not running for President, and was again first in reporting then-Senator Bill Frist’s decision not to enter the 2008 race. Last week, On Call was also credited with being the first to report the Democrats’ decision to choose Denver as its 2008 Convention host city. On Call can be found by clicking this link.
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Note to subscribers *** Updated x1 ***
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
E-mail-only Capitol Fax subscribers didn’t receive their newsletter this morning because of a serious problem with AOL. We’re working on it. Fax recipients received their version without problems.
Sorry about this, but like I said we’re working on it. I’ll get it to you as soon as I possibly can.
*** UPDATE *** AOL has apparently fixed the problem and the e-mails have been sent. Sorry for the delay.
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Question of the day
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Who is your favorite Illinois Congress critter? Explain.
*** UPDATE *** Hmmm. Not much response so far. OK, how about you list your favorite and your least favorite? Explain both.
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More reform and renewal
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The AP offers up another piece in the big puzzle.
A Blagojevich administration personnel director, now part of a federal hiring probe, was accused by a subordinate of misconduct and creating a “culture of intimidation.”
The subordinate told state investigators that Robin Staggers, the deputy director for human resources at the Department of Children and Family Services, hired people without having specific jobs for them, pressured an underling to hire someone and increased the use of interns who didn’t have to go through normal employment procedures.
Christina Griffin, who was personnel manager under Staggers, made the statements in an interview with the state executive inspector general that are contained in a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The Blagojevich administration has previously confirmed that Staggers - along with two other Blagojevich aides - is being reviewed by federal prosecutors for potential “criminal wrongdoing.” Staggers, who now makes $92,500, was put on paid leave for three weeks in fall 2005, but administration lawyers who looked into hiring procedures said she should return to work.
Go read the whole thing before commenting, please.
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Madigan on the hot seat
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is not exactly popular with pro-choice groups right now.
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan said Friday that a long-dormant state law that prohibits minors from obtaining an abortion without notifying a parent is constitutional and should be enforced.
The General Assembly passed the notification law in 1995, but the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois won a federal court order that has blocked it from taking effect for 12 years.
In court papers filed Friday, Madigan asked the federal court in Chicago to dissolve the long-standing court order and, in a statement, said she had little other choice. […]
Illinois is the only state in the region without a parental involvement law. Abortion opponents say that has caused minors to come to Illinois from neighboring states to obtain abortions, skirting their local laws.
The former conservative, pro-life state Rep. Cal Skinner takes note that the pro-choice Madigan has “taken action that will please pro-lifers.”
Politics certainly makes strange bedfellows, as the cliché goes.
The pro-choice groups lashed out.
“It’s a sad day because our attorney general has gone to court and asked a judge to put in effect a very harmful statute,” said Lorie Chaiten, director of the state ACLU’s Reproductive Rights Project.
Chaiten says young women will be more likely to seek illegal abortions than to want to go through a court proceeding.
“It is a statute that makes it very difficult for young women to access reproductive health services,” she said. “This is the kind of law that every major medical organization, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, opposes.”
But, as Skinner has said before, the original law was full of holes.
This is definitely a “headline bill†without the substance which is promised.
But as I pointed out to subscribers this morning, there may be another story here. By taking over the lawsuit, Madigan could conceivably slow down implementation long enough to allow Rep. John Fritchey to pass his new bill that kills off the old law and substitutes a more pro-choice friendly alternative.
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Morning Shorts
Monday, Jan 22, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson
* Questions and Answers about electric rate increases
* Guv signals health reform goal
*Gun packing activist gives up on Illinois
* Stroger: Budget fixes are on the way
* Splitting Hairs over evaluations
* Employee alleges improper hiring at DCFS
* Editorial: Fiscal Responsibility taking a beating in Springfield:
“Brady said the solution is for the state to stop creating any new programs and learn to live within its means. He thinks House Speaker Mike Madigan is ‘going to play hardball again’ as he did two years ago and try to bring the budget under control. As for Senate President Emil Jones, Brady said, ‘Emil doesn’t have a fiscally responsible bone in his body.’
* State inmates enjoy long lives
* Paul Simon’s daughter forging into politics
* Harper college to offer 4 year degrees; must change state law
* Stroger’s payroll padding will spark opposition
* Public Housing shortage cited
* Tribune Editorial: Wiping the Slate clean
Many provide some sort of review before the youthful offender’s name is added to the adult registry. Last spring, the General Assembly passed a bill to give Illinois judges that discretion, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed it, saying he couldn’t abide leniency toward any sex offender. He should think again.
* Obama domain name already taken by local blogger
* City loses vital voter information: “it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the Board of Elections to retrieve sensitive data physically scattered on more than 100 discs throughout the area.â€
* Can he deliver? Update on Stroger’s campaign promises
* Guv will be listening carefully to State of the Union
* Firefighters endorse Brown
* Health Insurance for all Illinoisans: “The 29-member panel will submit to the Legislature a final report that recommends expanding coverage to 89 percent of the state’s 1.7 million uninsured residents.â€
* Daley cousin quits job after breaking city residency requirement
* Cook County Treasurer proposes revenue increases with coupons and ads:
“Commissioner William Beavers said while other offices are ‘in the 19th century, Pappas is way beyond the 21st century. If everybody looked at her operations, I think we could save a lot of money.’”
* Duckworth encouraged by Vet developments: “Thanks to the governor’s leadership, our state is making sure our veterans get the care they bravely earned and deserve,” Duckworth said. “I would be very happy and content to live at any of our state’s veterans homes someday.”
* Illinois measure would ban remote control hunting
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