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Posts tagged "Michael Madigan"

CME's political contributions to Illinois' power brokers pay off

Steve Bogira  at the Reader details how the some–shall we say?–farsighted campaign contributions by CME to House Speaker Michael Madigan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Pat Quinn and Ald. Ed Burke might help explain why the financial giant successfully–dare I say–extorted a bribe from Illinois not to move out of state. Explains Bogira: Just since 2010, CME’s... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
December 16, 2011 at 10:37 am
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House Speaker Mike Madigan actually speaks!

Mike Madigan responds to a Crain’s Chicago Business story asserting that he cost taxpayers perhaps as much as $500 million by killing five bills to refinance McCormick Place debt. His motive? The story said because he strongly disliked Juan Ochoa, the former  executive director of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition and Exposition Authority (McPier), which runs... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
November 22, 2011 at 8:38 am
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Michael Madigan's $500 million boondoggle

Crain’s Chicago Business has the story: Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan Cost Taxpayers up to $500 Million in Higher McCormick Place Debt Payments Crain’s Chicago Business investigation reports how politics put Chicago’s $8 billion trade show industry at risk.  Chicago, Illinois – Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan cost taxpayers nearly a half billion dollars by blocking repeated efforts that would... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
November 13, 2011 at 8:00 pm
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Democrats at Illinois state fair praise themselves for cleaning up their mess

It’s as if Republicans were to blame for giving us Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Here is a week worth of chuckles in which:  House Speaker Michael Madigan sets the Democratic strategy for the coming elections: Face it head on. Point out that Democrats threw him out of office. (But ignore the fact that it was the... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
August 18, 2010 at 5:37 pm
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Will Illinois GOP scuttle school voucher bill?

Tribune photo by Abel Uribe / April 21, 2010 Lorynda Taylor, a science teacher from South Holland District 205, and other protesters march around the State Capitol last month in Springfield, Ill. The protesters, bused down by labor unions and social service advocates, are rallying in an attempt to pressure state lawmakers into raising the... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
May 4, 2010 at 8:02 am
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Illinois Fair Map is in Peril

Yeah, right; this is a MEGO (My eyes glaze over). But all of you people out there who bitch about rotten Illinois government, but only read about the best pick-up lines, have to pay attention, or just shut up. One of the reasons that Illinois government sucks is the way that the districts from which... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
April 20, 2010 at 1:21 pm
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Keep the lieutenant guv

Michael Madigan: What’s he up to? Chicago Tribune photo by Terrence Antonio James / For some unfathomable reason, House Speaker Michael Madigan has introduced legislation that would abolish the office of lieutenant governor. It’s hard to take it seriously when Madigan is getting blasted for not properly vetting Scott Lee Cohen, who won the Democratic primary for... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
February 11, 2010 at 7:40 pm
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Reform Illinois? Do it yourself

Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak / December 9, 2009 Brain dead politicians applaud themselves. Only politicians as stone deaf and rock dumb as the people we constantly send to Springfield could congratulate themselves on the pathetically defective campaign-finance reform they enacted. “It’s a start,” someone said as they celebrated Gov. Pat Quinn’s recent signing of... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
December 15, 2009 at 12:24 pm
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Michael Madigan's hypocrisy

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s hypocrisy is so transparent, it would humiliate anyone who isn’t as big an egomaniac. Tribune photo by Chris Walker / December 4, 2008 House Speaker Michael Madigan yuks it up with his pal, convicted ex-gov. George Ryan on a 1999 plane flight to Cuba with a delegation of business and... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
October 15, 2009 at 12:13 pm
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Must reading: Andy Shaw

Any one who cares anything about Chicago and Illinois needs to read this op-ed in the Chicago Andy Shaw Tribune. Andy Shaw, one of the best TV reporters in town, now is head of the Better Government Association, a storied and respected corruption fighting group in Chicago. In this op-ed, he helps open our eyes... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
July 16, 2009 at 12:27 pm
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