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* Halvorson mum as her airport deadline for the state passes
The Illinois Department of Transportation did not comply with Halvorson’s demand that it submit its long-awaited master plan for the airport near Peotone to the Federal Aviation Administration by March 1.
* Students who don’t speak English to take ISAT
* Goodbye, Electoral College?
* Ballot group may have partisan ties
“I do not know which I am more appalled by: the lack of security of the ballots or the Election Commission’s failure to follow yet another Illinois election law directive,” Urda said at last week’s County Board meeting, outlining her latest allegation of two legal breaches by the commission during the Feb. 5 election
* Over the Top
Extreme vulgarity and taunting by college basketball fans this season raise the question: How much is too much? For schools and conferences, it’s time to act
* I -55 drivers will endure construction this summer
The project, from north of Clear Lake Avenue south to East Lake Drive, will begin March 9 and includes pavement patching, milling and resurfacing. It also will involve rehabilitation of the bridges on West Lake Drive and on Interstate 72 over South Sixth Street, which means there could be traffic tie-ups at the I-55/72 interchange.
* Hastert, Poshard might team up to fight for construction money
* Pontiac mayor traveling to D.C., stopping at nothing to get aid
“I will go to Senator (Dick) Durbin’s office and Representative (Tim) Johnson’s office and there are some meetings lined up to see what we can do to make our presence known and to see what we can do,” McCoy said.
* Natural gas marketer faces new complaint
* Ford to cut shifts at plants in Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio
* Air suffers as vehicles further supplant feet
* More Americans turning to Web for news
* Presidential museum admission goes up
* Campaigns and Elections Offer
* ‘All of them are at fault’
“In the performance of his duties, President Stroger submitted his executive budget to the board’s finance committee on October 17, 2007,” says the complaint, filed in county court by Stroger, state’s attorney Richard Devine, and sheriff Tom Dart, naming all 17 board members as defendants.”
* County Board hikes sales tax
* Report blasts Stroger’s government for favoritism, political hiring
“This report confirms what many of us have said for years — that county government is a patronage dumping ground and run for the benefit of political workers and politicians instead of taxpayers,” said Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Stroger critic. “We’ve seen another unnecessary half-billion-dollar tax increase to pay for the perpetuation of this system.”
* Car Dealer Plans For Sales Tax Hike
* Farm Bureau speaker keeps crowd amused: CLICK FOR VIDEO!
* Ryan moved to prison in Hoosier State
* Illinois Weighs Second Chances
* Pantagraph.com to add registration for reader comments
* Prayer in Public Schools: Is the Illinois Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act Constitutional?
The Chicago Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) will host a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 5 at 12:15pm at John Marshall Law School, Room 200, 315 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago.
* Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD) in Springfield
All Illinois gun owners are invited to join in Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD) in Springfield Tues. March 11, 2008.
* Cost of water leak at Capitol at least $150,000
* Bridge to start out toll-free, but ..
* Federal judge in Chicago confirmed for Justice post
The unanimous vote installed Mark R. Filip, 41, after a season of partisan wrangling over President Bush’s nominees.
* U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald takes the stand in mob leak case
* Proposal would stop county clerks from endorsing candidates
* Talk of gambling expansion always on the horizon in Illinois
* Legislation will appropriate vetoed funds for a 4-H youth program
* Nursing Home Justice
* Outgoing Illinois lawmakers don’t rush to disperse campaign money
Even if Schock or state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, win their respective races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, they are not obligated to close out their Illinois campaign funds, so long as they keep paying the filing fees twice a year.
* State representative’s campaign finances questioned
A watchdog group today filed a complaint alleging that Collins withheld information on the political money she raises and spends. The Campaign for Political Reform wants the State Board of Elections to investigate.
* Tardy money for Illinois hospitals awaits House approval
* Proposal aims to tax strip club patrons
* Koehler: Civil unions deserve discussion
* Our opinion: Legislature may have to lead state
* Sieben’s final day in Senate spent helping his district
* Listen up, Governor: No
A state legislative panel last week delivered an unmistakable “No” to the governor: You cannot massively expand health coverage in the state without legislative approval.
* Pitting cancer against politics
* Skeptics react to Blagojevich’s check plan
* Budget a shell game for Illinois’ parks
* Officials tout economic stimulus
Barry Maram, the governor’s director of health care and family services, said the administration is not touting free insurance, but the opportunity for people to buy into affordable insurance policies.
* Public input sought on state budget
* Where you can sound off on Blagojevich budget
* Bernard Schoenburg: Democrat has difficult fundraising battle in 18th District
For Callahan to raise the kind of money she is talking about would certainly be extraordinary for a Democrat in the 18th. But that, in part, is because the district, while changed periodically through redistricting, has been solidly held by LaHood and before him, then-U.S. House Minority Leader BOB MICHEL, R-Peoria, for decades.
posted by Kevin Fanning
Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 4:39 am
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I’m getting really sick of our uneducated populace supporting idiotic constitutional changes like this Electoral College thing.
Basically, supporters are saying the Electoral College is OK unless we don’t like the result, then we’ll just allow the nations population centers to pick the President. Avoiding that is the WHOLE reason FOR the Electoral College.
If anyone wants to make a case for changing anything, it should be for doing away with winner-take-all states, and dividing electoral votes by Congressional District, giving voters of both parties in non-major-city districts in states like Illinois and Texas a voice. Now, unless I’m wrong about how Texas allocates its votes, Republicans’ votes for President really don’t count here, and Democrats’ votes in Texas (for instance) don’t really count, because those states as a popular vote pretty much always vote the other way.
The current proposal does nothing to change that, instead, concentrating even MORE power to the major cities that would mean candidates could consolidate their campaigns to the top ten or fifteen cities, ignoring most of the rest of us entirely.
Ludicrous. The poor education and limited interest of Americans in their government is apalling.
Comment by Frustrated Republican Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 10:29 am
If you care about federalism or understand it even a wee bit, then you would better understand the reason for the Electoral College.
Does you local and state governments represent the will of the electorate? If it does, and it obviously does, then you wouldn’t want a president for the federal government over-riding these institutions, do you?
The electoral college ensures that the citizen’s democratically elected and federally protected institutions are represented as a part of the presidential election system.
OK?
As to Halvorson: her airport beef was just for political cover against Blagojevich. Now that there isn’t an opponent for her, she can show her true colors again and become that silent partner she has been playing for the past decade for Emil Jones and friends.
Jones set Obama up for the US Senate, and now he is setting Debby Halvorson up for the US House.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 12:11 pm
The article about construction on I-55 only discussed construction in the Springfield area. For the drivers who use I-55 from I-80 north into the city, beware of construction from I-80 to Weber Road. The project is building the 3rd lane in each direction.
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 1:20 pm
“The electoral college ensures that the citizen’s democratically elected and federally protected institutions are represented as a part of the presidential election system.”
Correct. And the “one man, one vote” philosophy guiding the Founding Fathers is not protected when a system representing hundreds of millions of people is allowed to be governed by the will of the voters of only a few large metropolitan areas, which is what would happen with a system that - for all practical purposes - would eliminate the need for the Electoral College at all.
If Al Gore could have just won his home state, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. That’s the problem. This is all driven by a segment of academics that were irritated that their guy lost a close election - not a serious constitutional need.
I care about Federalism AND I understand it. That doesn’t mean I have to support every hair-brained idea someone CLAIMS is supported by Federalism when, in fact, it is not.
This is nothing more than discontent over Democrats’ inability to win two recent Presidential Elections because they couldn’t win enough states. Just win more states, and leave the constitution alone. It works just fine. Get over yourselves.
Comment by Frustrated Republican Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 4:59 pm
Well, if you’re a “States’ Righter,” then you’re for the E.C; if you’re a Federalist, then you want a straight popular vote.
I’m pretty much with the States’ Righters, except in the last case, we’re stuck with a couple of goofs because states like Wyoming (home of our fabulously popular VP) have greatly disproportionate voting power vis-a-vis the electoral college. Then again, ditto for the U.S. Senate.
Once you fudge with this, you fudge with our entire system of government as set forth by our Constitution. I may not like some of the results, but I still say keep the system.
Comment by Snidely Whiplash Tuesday, Mar 4, 08 @ 5:40 pm