I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems that as it relates to the operations of state government, there’s a new story fairly regularly about how corruption and waste have infected the state of Illinois. The broad brush of how this goes is as follows: there’s a rather obscure area that some investigators have stumbled upon, and in this area there is widespread, institutionalized abuse and fraud. Read more »
Symptom, Diagnosis, Prescription, Cure
I recently guest-posted at For the Good of Illinois the following post of the same name, and am cross-posting it here for our readers. Many thanks to Adam Andrzejewski for the opportunity to guest-post. Click the “read more” button that follows to view the post in its entirety. Read more »
Legislative Duty
The standoff in Wisconsin between the state’s Republican Governor and the opposition party’s minority in the Legislature is instructive for so many reasons, but none more so than this: the Democrats fleeing the state raises a troubling question, and answers it. What is the legislator’s obligation; what is his or her job and how should they fulfill their duty? Read more »
While Rome Burns
Residents of Illinois will recognize the following stories more for the general sense that they happen here, and are not uncommon, rather than the specifics; these just happen to be two stories in the news this week. Read more »
Under New Management
Perhaps this is using a little hyperbole to make a point, but could this common phrase “under new management” one day apply to our state government? Could it one day apply to local units of government? If each unit of government has specific responsibilities, what happens when a unit of government fails? Read more »