"I was walking last week in Arlington Heights, and the first three homes I visited had at least one family member unemployed. At one home, both the husband and wife were unemployed and couldn't find work. She was so upset that she could barely talk about their situation," wrote Dan...

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners last Thursday got a pasting from financial analyst Daniel Kaplan and candidate Todd Connor -- who is aiming to join the board's ranks -- over a botched bond deal that cost Cook County area taxpayers $68 million.

The news today that the State of Illinois owes the University of Illinois $317 million but has paid only $400,000, reported by Paul Wood at the Champaign News-Gazette, must graphically remind Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois legislature that the Illinois budget is cratering under its crushing expenses and...

Oh, how a few weeks can rewrite the political narrative.

Governor Pat Quinn's job disapproval ratings have hit 53 percent and his approval ratings have skidded to 45 percent, according to a new Rasmussen poll in the Illinois 2010 governor's race.

Meanwhile, Quinn's primary opponent, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes,...

Here's the latest from the Illinois 2010 candidate and cow-pie trail ...

... Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes' Democratic primary campaign for governor has a new income tax attack ad on Quinn airborne.

Hynes contrasts his tax plan with Governor Pat Quinn's by noting he'll raise taxes only on...

Will President Barack Obama choose between Pat Quinn or Dan Hynes in the 2010 Illinois Democratic primary for governor?

Perhaps.

In the last week, both the New York Times and the Washington Post report that the Obama White House political operation is picking sides in primaries...

It's the media's fault.

In a comment on THE iLLINOIS OBSERVER blog -- which is written by your Huffington Post blogger -- former Illinois First Lady Patricia Blagojevich thinks "the incredible bias of the press in this state" represents an effort "to make a fair trail [sic] impossible" for...

Weighed down by a Republican voting history and skipped votes in local elections since 1997, first-time Democratic State Senate candidate Jim Madigan's challenge to incumbent Sen. Heather Steans for the party's nomination in the overwhelmingly progressive north Chicago lakefront district becomes a heavier lift.

A civil rights attorney...

In his quest for a seat in the Illinois State Senate from Chicago's north lakefront, gay rights activist Jim Madigan focuses much of his campaign fire against Democratic primary opponent State Senator Heather Steans' vote to legalize video gaming to help fund a $31 billion state capital construction program.

"It's...

Each political party usually possesses its own crank or crackpot.

In Illinois, the Democrats had, until recently, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And the Republicans apparently now have gubernatorial wannabe Dan Proft.

On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings downgraded the rating on $19.1 billion general obligation bonds of the State of Illinois to...

State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), one of two openly gay and lesbian lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly, just endorsed freshman State Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) for reelection in the upcoming Democratic primary over gay rights activist Jim Madigan.

Responding to an inquiry from your Huffington Post blogger,...

Gov. Pat Quinn's office said the widely reported 86 percent funding level for state human services in the new Illinois budget signed by Quinn is purely "speculative."

Elizabeth Austin, the communications director at the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, said Friday the 86% figure -- which is currently swirling...

The good news is that Illinois now has a regular fiscal year 2010 budget. The bad news is Illinois now has a fiscal year 2010 budget.

Wednesday night, the Illinois General Assembly approved the new Illinois budget and Governor Pat Quinn signed the financial beast.

The Illinois budget borrows $3.5...

From the Department of New Budget Plans by the Minute, Governor Pat Quinn has dumped his plan for an income tax increase (from 3% to 4.5%)-at least until fall-and now wants a temporary five month budget, a plan he recently opposed.

Additionally, Quinn wants to float $3.5 billion in five-year...

Governor Pat Quinn and Illinois General Assembly leaders reached agreement on a single number regarding the Illinois doomsday budget: it began Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.

Yep, 12:01 a.m. It was the only number to which they agreed. Everything else? Forget it.

Governor Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John...

Last Thursday State Representative Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) hosted a bloggers-only conference call on Gov. Pat Quinn's "political reform" agenda, zeroing in on the need to cap campaign contributions at $2,400 per election cycle.

Hamos, one of Springfield's leading progressive lawmakers, expressed concern that House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) and Senate...

Illinois Senate Democrats are pushing back--gently--but pushing back nonetheless against some Illinois newspaper editorial board claims that the legislature is an obstacle to Illinois political reform.

As part of that push back, and under the shadow of the Collins Commission public relations wave machine, several Democratic senators hosted an exclusive,...

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias on Monday stood before the same phalanx of Chicago news media and at the same podium in the State of Illinois Building where Rod Blagojevich had recently stood.

Giannoulis stood there to defend the use of state money from a flailing college investment fund that his...

From the Department of Reality Check, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports that during the past decade influenza -- a.k.a. "the flu" -- and subsequent pneumonia have caused an average of 3,500 deaths a year in Illinois. Since 1992, the highest number deaths, 4,021, occurred in 1993.

Thus,...

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) recently floated the idea of imposing a "symbolic and appropriate" salary cut on state lawmakers. Good idea. But the lawmaker pay cut should not occur willy-nilly.

It should occur as a matter of principled budgeting policy: If the state cuts its payments...