By The Illinois Campaign For Political Reform And CHANGE Illinois!

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR) on Thursday called on Gov. Pat Quinn to veto Senate Bill 3722, which would create a wide loophole in the state’s campaign contribution limits system. [Ed. note: links added]
“Gov. Quinn can and should veto this bill and protect the campaign finance system reforms he helped enact in 2009,” said Brian Gladstein, Executive Director of ICPR. “The Governor signed the limits bill just a few years ago as part of what he called his ‘year of reform.’ If he signs this bill, a lot of the work he did during that year will be for naught.”

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Posted on May 31, 2012

And He’s Right

Occupy Springfield.

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Posted on May 30, 2012

By Blair Hickman/ProPublica

We rounded up some of the best accountability journalism for U.S. soldiers in our recent wars. Check them out while you’re basking on a boat this weekend, and remember the reason for this federal holiday.
Armored Humvees are in Short Supply, October 2003, News Observer: When the insurgency in Iraq started, the U.S. Army didn’t have enough armored Humvees to protect its troops. As soldiers died in vehicles not built to withstand combat, the Army boosted their orders. But that takes time. While waiting for requests to be filled, soldiers rigged their own with sandbags.

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Posted on May 27, 2012

By The Beachwood Bob Forrest Affairs Desk

“Cash-strapped Cook County government and the more financially sound Forest Preserve District are looking to bring in corporate cash by selling naming rights, sponsorships and concessions,” the Tribune reports.
Is this really a good idea? Cook County isn’t exactly a brand anyone would want to be associated with. Besides, the best ideas aren’t likely to make money. For example:
* The Todd Stroger Memorial Department of Human Resources. I mean, I’m not sure all of that would fit on his locker at the East Bank Club.
* The Forrest Claypool Memorial Preserve District. I mean, who would want that?
* The Toni Preckwinkle Ethics Task Force Chaired By Political Ally And Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios Brought To You By JPMorgan Chase. I mean, it’s just a mouthful.
* The Cook County Auditor’s Office of Joe Berrios. Wait, that exists.

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Posted on May 25, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

A continuing look at the nonsense that surrounded NATO.
1. Eric Zorn says it so I don’t have to. Lou Raizin, you are Today’s Most Ridiculous Person In Chicago.
*
Raizin, and just about everybody else it seems, apparently has also forgotten that it was the G8 conference that was expected to draw loads of protesters. NATO was almost an afterthought.
*
And don’t forget, it was that hippie organization called Crain’s Chicago Business that blamed Rahm Emanuel himself for a summit plan that “reinforces the very stereotypes that Chicago is trying to shed” and creating a crisis atmosphere.

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Posted on May 24, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

It’s certainly not the weekend – or month, really – we would have seen had the G8 come here too, but there have been some moments of note. Let’s take a look.
1. “Veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan returned their service medals to visiting NATO representatives Sunday to express their opposition to America’s role in these conflicts, and to demand better care for returning forces,” the Huffington Post reports.
“Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War organized a day-long protest, including a musical performance at the Petrillo Music Shell, a march and rally through the city and a ceremony at Michigan and Cermak where participants hoped to return their medals to visiting NATO generals.
“While Rev. Jesse Jackson and other political leaders spoke to demonstrators before they began a massive march through downtown Chicago, the group was unable to bring visiting NATO generals to accept their medals, so the 45 participating veterans hurled them at McCormick Place, where NATO meetings were taking place, according to ABC.”

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Posted on May 21, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Another day, another Tribune poll mishandled by its own writers. (See The [Thursday] Papers.)
This time, it’s a story whose headline “Global Policy A Hit At Home” is contradicted by the poll’s actual findings.
For example, on the question touted as one of the poll’s keys, just 33 percent of those polled approve of President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014. Forty-two percent chose another option: Withdraw troops immediately. Which is just what this weekend’s protestors are calling for.

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Posted on May 18, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Madness abounds. Let’s take a look.
Today’s Al Capone Alert: “We ought to be known for something more than the old stockyards, smog or Al Capone, but we aren’t,” Richard Longworth, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, told AP.
Stakes And Shakes: “If you live or work in Chicago, you may be shocked to learn that the NATO Summit this weekend is about more than protesters and traffic headaches,” the Sun-Times editorial page says.
Only if the Sun-Times was your only source of news.

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Posted on May 17, 2012

By Kiljoong Kim

Is it the end of American community as we know it?
The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to kill the American Community Survey, an ongoing survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that collects demographic and economic information from over three million households every year.
The goal of the ACS is to continually provide information about ourselves that has been deemed crucial for policy makers, planners, academics, and businesses. The ACS replaced the long-form of the decennial census that used to collect the same information.

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Posted on May 15, 2012

By The Grassroots Collaborative

Dear Journalist,
We are excited that you’ll be visiting Chicago and reporting on the NATO summit. Grassroots Collaborative has organized tours visiting four Chicago neighborhoods on May 17 and 18, so that you have the chance to see working class neighborhoods in the city, meet with local residents who are fighting for improvements, and report on the connections between Chicago struggles and your city.
Watch this teaser for the tour on May 17th:

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Posted on May 14, 2012