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9/7/2010
DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom has unveiled a $70 million capital plan with bond projects ranging from improvements to roads and campus grounds, creating bike trails and planting trees.
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9/7/2010
All the news you need to know for September 7th
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9/7/2010
The Administration will come to regret those stimulus propaganda signs.
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9/7/2010
Illinois state government is losing voter confidence.
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9/6/2010
Would raising user fees stop state parks from closing?
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9/4/2010
Small businesses and job creation stand to lose if tax cuts expire.
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9/3/2010
All the news you need to know for the week of August 30th.
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9/3/2010
The Illinois Policy Institute has received yet more recognition for our timely, incisive work in education reform.
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9/3/2010
the federal government announced The US DOE announced the final $350M in awards that it'll be handing out for Race to the Top. This time, the Department of Education is funding multi-state initiatives to develop better standardized testing models.
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9/3/2010
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has been racking up some interesting credit card expenses, including meals at steakhouses, luxury hotel stays, and a chartered evening cruise on the Chicago river.
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9/3/2010
What did you pay Gov. Blagojevich in 2009?
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9/2/2010
Questionable advice from a departing White House economist.
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9/2/2010
Daley proposes the merger of several city departments to cut down costs.
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9/2/2010
A Highland Park Liberty Leader says he was barred from a public meeting by school district officials in order to keep details of a costly referendum from the public.
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9/2/2010
Get on Board with the Illinois Turnaround Tour. If you think Illinois is heading in the wrong direction—and if you want to turn this state around—you're not alone. A film by Tom Buttaccio - An Illinois Policy Institute Production.
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9/1/2010
A new study finds that middle school students do significantly worse than kids enrolled in schools that run, K through 8, all the way to high school.
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9/1/2010
Why was Quincy's police chief named Nanny of the Month by Reason.tv?
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8/31/2010
The group Americans for Tax Reform takes Governor Pat Quinn to task for his constantly-shifting tax hike plans.
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8/31/2010
Since 1950, private spending has increased 5-fold while state and local government spending has increased nearly 10-fold.
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8/31/2010
Illinois voters sound fed up! Recent polls released by the Illinois Policy Institute and Rasmussen Reports reveal similar findings.
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8/31/2010
Illinois state government is saving money by taking a closer look at office building leases.
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8/30/2010
Illinois has some bad habits, and they're getting expensive...to the tune of $550 million a year.
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8/30/2010
A recent Chicago Reader article highlights confusion among Chicago’s restaurants in regards to the recent Cook County Sales tax reduction and a myriad of different taxing districts within the city.
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8/30/2010
Liberty Leader Nancy Thorner has been asking elected officials to sign the pledge and so far has collected 3 new signatures.
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8/27/2010
Daley won't raise taxes to balance the budget.
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8/27/2010
Colorado's Right to Health Care Choice citizens amendment would accomplish two hugely important steps to protect Coloradans from the ongoing takeover of health care by government, and to make Colorado a “sanctuary state” for quality health care.
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8/27/2010
Did electoral politics factor into a $4 billion federal education grant program? Some people think so. Yet Illinois didn't get a dime.
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8/27/2010
Check out this handy tool from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). They have created a pamphlet, called "What Does Health Reform Mean for You?," which explains the new legislation’s major points in a succinct and unbiased way.
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8/26/2010
All the news you need to know for the week of August 23.
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8/26/2010
Blago's tale as told by Japanese anime artists.
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8/25/2010
Be sure to check out this animated documentary that takes a critical look at government spending and where the country is headed if action is not taken to curb it.
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8/25/2010
"Where are the new jobs?" asks John Stossel in his article today. Why aren't businesses hiring?
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8/25/2010
Here's an interesting chart from the Mercatus Center's Veronique de Rugy, who has examined different states' unemployment at the time The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed and the stimulus funds each state has received so far.
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8/25/2010
Chicago Public Schools has announced that it is moving forward with a new plan to extend the school day at select elementary schools by using online learning technology.
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8/25/2010
We know that Chicago charter schools outperform other public schools in the district, but a new report says that Chicago is doing less than other cities to expand on that success.
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8/25/2010
The state is behind in paying its vendors, local school districts, and now...Illinois businesses waiting for their tax refunds.
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8/25/2010
Illinois's public pension plans are selling assets to cover benefits.
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8/24/2010
Spotlight on Spending #9: The State Un-Fair has produced some questions we'd like to address.
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8/23/2010
Despite the threats of layoffs and a bleeding budget, teachers will not forego a raise.
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8/23/2010
Does Illinois need a state comptroller and a state treasurer?
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8/20/2010
So how's that stimulus working out for you?
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8/20/2010
Illinois has borrowed $2.2 billion to keep the unemployment benefit fund solvent.
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8/20/2010
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the state of New Jersey with lying and withholding information to investors in billions of dollars worth of municipal bond deals.
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8/20/2010
The news you need to know for the week of August 16.
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8/19/2010
Online learning has served a niche role in public education...so far. A new group is forming to make 21st century technology commonplace in America's education system.
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8/19/2010
From The American Culture: In case you missed it, LA Times reporters used California’s public records law to obtain seven years of math and English test scores from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The story was an eye-opener.
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8/19/2010
$3.4 million dollars to build a pedestrian tunnel for construction workers under a Florida road. Is that real?
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8/19/2010
Betsy Hart writes about the "myth of underpaid teachers" in today's Sun-Times. Hart discusses the facts, explaining how "the average teacher makes over $60,000 a year," how it's higher in Chicago at $70,000, and "some make over $100,000 a year."
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8/19/2010
R. Eden Martin, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, offers some solutions to the critical pension problem facing Illinois in today's Wall Street Journal.
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8/18/2010
Watch this video for the latest from the Wall Street Journal's Senior Editorial Writer Joseph Ragoon covering a recent meeting of state insurance regulators discussing the President's health care plan.
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8/17/2010
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce invites Scott Hodge of the Tax Foundation to explore the Illinois economy and where it is headed.
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8/17/2010
Could you afford to see your taxes double?
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8/14/2010
The news you need to know for the week of August 9th
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8/13/2010
Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center recently produced an excellent graphical illustration of the job growth/loss in the United States since the Recovery Act was passed.
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8/11/2010
A clout hiring scandal in Chicago's Department of Transportation has lead to the suspension of an engineering technician and the resignation of a Deputy Commissioner.
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8/11/2010
A nice neighborhood + state of the art school facilities may not equal a quality education.
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8/11/2010
Congress bails out the unaffordable status quo, for now.
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8/11/2010
Scott Stantis illustrates the tax holiday tease
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8/11/2010
Project funded by your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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8/10/2010
Dennis Byrne's column poses some interesting questions about the Illinois state pension system -- namely, if it goes belly up, will taxpayers be on the hook for paying those benefits? A new analysis says NO.
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8/10/2010
How did the members of Illinois's congressional delegation vote on the ill-crafted state government/union boss bailout?
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8/10/2010
A Cook County job training program is under scrutiny after an audit brought questionable spending to light.
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8/6/2010
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin co-sponsors union pension bailout bill.
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8/6/2010
The news you need to know for the week of August 2.
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8/5/2010
Congress is on its way to passing a $26 billion bailout of state and local government overspending.
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8/5/2010
The State of Illinois hired 33 locksmiths in calendar year 2008 for $1,786,125 in combined total wages
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8/5/2010
With oil spill in the gulf, the economy in shambles, midterm elections approaching, and season two of Jersey Shore ongoing...is there really nothing better for the media to talk about than Chelsea Clinton's wedding?
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8/5/2010
Chicago ranks the worst when it comes to local taxes that impact business travelers.
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8/5/2010
Illinois’s budget is required to be balanced by constitutional mandate, right? Then why has the budget been balanced only 15 of the 41 years between 1970 and 2010?
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8/5/2010
The White House's latest promotional video for financial reform--funded by your tax dollars--has some curious factual omissions.
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8/4/2010
Our next door neighbors in Missouri overwhelmingly passed a significant ballot measure yesterday that takes aim at the unconstitutional individual mandate requirement in the federal health care takeover.
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8/4/2010
Spending tax dollars to study soda tax hikes. Stimulating? No.
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8/4/2010
The State of Illinois hired 33 clinical psychologists in calendar year 2008 for $2,516,451 in combined total wages.
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8/4/2010
CNN Money unveils a state-by-state map of government indebtedness. Guess who's leading the pack?
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8/3/2010
UofC’s Harald Uhlig provides sound research divergent to Mark Zandi’s pro-spending multipliers.
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8/3/2010
According to the Chicago Tribune, a new Congressional report called “Summertime Blues” shows stimulus funding has gone to buy iPods for high school students, cell phones for smokers trying to quit, and advertising for the stimulus itself.
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8/3/2010
What the expiring Bush tax cuts and Quinn's tax hike would mean for the average Illinois family.
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8/3/2010
The State of Illinois hired 107 electricians in fiscal year 2008 for $7,370,091 in combined total wages.
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8/2/2010
The Illinois Department of Human Services hired ten nutritionists in fiscal year 2008 for $543,117 in combined total wages. The average salary for a nutritionist was $54,311 while the highest paid nutritionist took home a $65,165 salary.
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8/2/2010
The costs of compensation for government workers continue to strain budgets, and until government opens up to more competition, "so agencies are pressured to keep compensation reasonable," government budget deficits will not go away.
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8/2/2010
The Institute for Justice recently released a 50-state report called "Policing for Profit" on civil forfeiture laws.
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8/2/2010
Our friends at the Center for Fiscal Accountability reported Sen. Tom Coburn's Earmark Transparency bill passed out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with bipartisan support last week.
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7/30/2010
Ald. Waguespack introduced an ordinance on Wednesday that would allow mobile food trucks to prepare food on-site.
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7/30/2010
Snooki has words for our President about the 10% tax on indoor tanning.
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7/29/2010
The news you need to know for the week of July 26.
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7/29/2010
The News-Gazette sounded a warning today with regards to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), reacting to the efforts to weaken FOIA some have already attempted.
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7/29/2010
Leading lawmakers from both parties, including Governor Pat Quinn, step forward to support the Institute's recent work on fiscal transparency.
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7/28/2010
An audit of 12 government agencies in the Hanover Township area revealed that only the township government itself received a passing grade on basic online transparency guidelines.
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7/28/2010
Cook County paid out $175K in contracts before learning whether or not they would receive federal grants to reimburse the costs.
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7/28/2010
Timeless argument that demonstrates the power of Friedman's ideas when statists argue that free enterprise has failed.
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7/28/2010
Governor Christie takes on critics and calls the 35,000 teachers union rally a me-first rally.
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7/28/2010
Cook County will now provide a searchable online database regarding lobbyists' activities, according to the Daily Herald.
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7/28/2010
The State of Illinois hired 910 registered nurses in fiscal year 2008 for $62,742,469 in combined total wages. The average salary was $68,947 while the highest paid registered nurse made $188,009. The Bureau of Labor Statistics website shows the mean sala
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7/28/2010
Only District 54, Schaumburg, District 211, and Hoffman Estates perform well on basic online transparency guidelines.
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7/28/2010
Glenview, Northfield Park District, Glencoe School District 35, and Sunset Ridge District 29 score well on transparency audit.
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7/28/2010
District 211 is the only government unit to pass a 10-point transparency test in the Palatine Township area.
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7/28/2010
Though Illinois' problems may be equating our state with California and New York, we have some things that our uniquely our own--our colorful political history.
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7/28/2010
No government agencies within the Barrington Township area meet basic transparency standards.
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7/27/2010
The State of Illinois hired 22 receptionists in fiscal year 2008 for $657,353.22 in combined total wages.
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7/27/2010
Gov. Quinn has made an amendatory veto to HB5141, which called for the exemption of all public employee performance evaluations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
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7/26/2010
Much of what we in the public know is not true.
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7/26/2010
If Superintendent Michelle Rhee has her way, special needs students in the nation's capital will receive school vouchers.
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7/26/2010
The Illinois Department of State Police hired 8 polygraph examiners in fiscal year 2008 for a total of $667,324.10 in combined total wages.
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7/26/2010
San Diego's beach drinking ban offers a case study in the law of unintended consequences.
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7/26/2010
Henrik Rasmussen has been nominated for the Irreverent Messenger award based on his recent Chicago Tribune Op-Ed titled, “Cause for optimism about America’s future: An immigrant’s tale”.
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7/26/2010
The signing of the bill to reduce unnecessarily burdensome regulations on hair braiders is a small but necessary step in making Illinois a better place to start and operate a business.
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7/26/2010
Britain's nationalized health service plans drastic cuts to basic services.
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7/26/2010
Some insurance companies in Florida will no longer provide individual coverage for children.
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7/23/2010
The news you needed to know during the week of july 19th
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7/23/2010
The new University of Illinois President and his top aide are pulling down big salaries despite the tough economic situation the University is in.
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7/23/2010
The Office of the State Appellate Defender hired six social historians in fiscal year 2008 for $278,278 in combined total wages.
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7/23/2010
Gov. Quinn took down the tollway signs that read "Open Road Tolling—Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor" when he stepped in as Governor. Yet, Quinn's decision didn't compel other state officials to stop "using government funds for self-promotion."
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7/23/2010
Are Chicago's traffic control aides worth the cost?
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7/23/2010
The state budget for fiscal year 2011 included $750 million of federal funding for Medicaid, but now it is unlikely the state will received any of this assumed funding.
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7/23/2010
Some Chicago area students are taking action to improve education in Illinois.
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7/22/2010
Is a $4 billion dollar "stimulus" project for high speed rail between Chicago and St. Louis worth the cost?
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7/22/2010
The Senate Majority Leader is apparently a little confused about the government's role in a supposed bailout of Ford.
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7/22/2010
Because apparently our government needs a law to say we shouldn't be spending $50 billion dollars on "dead people, fugitives and those in jail who shouldn't be getting benefits." Which of the first two is worse?
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7/21/2010
Illinois produces more electricity from nuclear energy than China, but while they're building new plants we can't.
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7/21/2010
Reason magazine turns in a great piece for anyone looking for a primer on the politics and polices affecting online learning in public schools.
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7/21/2010
Echoes of FDR? A little-known provision slipped into the health care bill tracks private gold ownership.
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7/21/2010
Something strange is going on with American unemployment...and the current "fixes" don't seem to be working.
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7/21/2010
At a June 14th committee meeting resident Darlene Heslop was asked to leave after rolling her eyes and sighing during a discussion about the city hiring a state lobbyist.
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7/21/2010
A refeshing interview with Indiana Budget Director Christopher Ruhl.
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7/21/2010
Is this the economic development we can expect from high-speed rail?
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7/21/2010
Oregon raises taxes, but their budget situation deteriorates.
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7/20/2010
Texas takes the prize as the best state for business in America, while Illinois loses ground.
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7/20/2010
Chances are you've seen an article about ObamaCare pop up in your magazines of choice lately. Chances are the articles gloss over the major problems inherent in the federal takeover of health care -- if they're not a straight out endorsement.
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7/20/2010
Niall Ferguson offers an in-depth look at our economic situation.
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7/20/2010
The Obama Administration is now arguing that the individual mandate is a tax in the court of law.
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7/20/2010
Governor Quinn announced that construction on the high-speed rail route from Chicago to St. Louis would begin in September 2010.
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7/20/2010
The State of Illinois spent $6,795 on the "printing of pens" in fiscal year 2009 by Global Printing and Graphics.
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7/19/2010
Could fiscal tough times accelerate the pace of education reform? At least one education scholar thinks so.
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7/19/2010
The State of Illinois hired 18 dental assistants in fiscal year 2008 for a total of $677,595 in combined total wages.
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7/16/2010
Over $11 million from the State of Illinois went to vendors located in Cincinnati, Ohio in fiscal years 2007 and 2008.
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7/16/2010
Despite Illinois's dire pension system, which includes police, fire and public-sector employees, boosting public employee salaries shortly before retirement in order to put them on a path to a bigger and better retirement package has turned into common pr
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7/16/2010
Strikers go back to work on a Naperville school, but not before imposing serious costs on suburban taxpayers.
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7/16/2010
Illinois is borrowing money it will have to repay eventually to repay the pension money it already spent to pay for other spending it couldn’t afford then and can’t afford now.
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7/16/2010
The State sold $900 Million in Build America Bonds Wednesday, and on face the bonds will pay investors an average interest rate of 6.96 percent.
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7/16/2010
The news you need to know for July 16th, 2010.
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7/15/2010
That according to a leading American business guru and an expert on online learning, at Forbes.com.
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7/15/2010
Legislators can't say they were not warned.
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7/15/2010
The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs.
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7/15/2010
As the Dodd-Frank financial bill edges its way through Congress (bringing 243 new federal rules along with it, according to the Wall Street Journal), financial uncertainty continues to rise. Columnist Charles Krauthammer spells out the costs of that unc
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7/15/2010
A high number of Chicago area school teachers earned at least $100,000 last year, the Chicago Tribune reports. In areas like Highland Park and Deerfield, nearly half of the teachers brought home six-figure salaries.
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7/15/2010
The State of Illinois hired 9 nuclear safety inspectors in fiscal year 2008 for $635,997 in combined total wages.
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7/15/2010
The State of Illinois paid 12 Benefit Counselors $679,791 in combined total wages in fiscal year 2008.
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7/15/2010
A Romanian model offers some novel political suggestions to improve her country's image.
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7/15/2010
A court-appointed watchdog group claims Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is “using the county payroll to reward those who backed his failed re-election effort and punish those who did not,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
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7/15/2010
Challenger cites vagueness of Illinois law and its discriminatory exemption for labor unions as violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
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7/15/2010
Between June 2011 and January 2012, unionized state workers are scheduled to receive a total of 7.25 percent in cost of living adjustments.
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7/15/2010
State support of public universities may not offer the best example of a healthy relationship between state funding and institutional action.
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7/15/2010
Local Politicians petition Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to bail out a Chicago bank.
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7/15/2010
Bill Gates, Joel Klein on teacher pensions.
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7/14/2010
A new report from the Cato Institute spells out exactly what ObamaCare will mean for you.
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7/14/2010
The LA Times writes that Canada's economy can teach the U.S. a thing or two. Well, yes. But is it all good?
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7/14/2010
Refreshing: soda. Not refreshing: soda taxes.
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7/14/2010
When it comes to taxing "bad" foods, where do we draw the line?
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7/14/2010
The State of Illinois hired four breath alcohol analysis technicians for a total of $241,878 in combined total wages in fiscal year 2008.
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7/14/2010
Great video from Reason on why LeBron James abandoned the mistake on the lake.
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7/13/2010
Global opinions on the benefits of the free market show signs of hope
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7/13/2010
California's high-speed rail debacle may be instructive for Illinois.
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7/13/2010
The State of Illinois hired 43 chaplains in fiscal year 2008 for $2,417,084.46 in combined total wages.
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7/13/2010
Fox Chicago News takes a closer look at a taxpayer-funded social service agency that likes to hire family members.
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7/12/2010
The Sun-Times reports that more than 10% of Metra employees last year made at least $20,000 in overtime pay. Total overtime pay in 2009 reached nearly $20 million.
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7/12/2010
The State of Illinois hired two housekeepers in fiscal year 2008 for $56,309.31 in combined total wages.
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7/9/2010
A recent Rasmussen survey reveals that “most Americans report their state currently has a budget crisis, and they continue to blame politicians more than taxpayers for the problem.”
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7/9/2010
New Jersey Governor Chrisitie's administration has put out a 57-page report identifying areas where government services could be privatized in order to save tax dollars -- 210 million dollars a year, to be exact.
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7/9/2010
The State of Illinois hired 215 motor vehicle
cashiers in fiscal year 2008 for a total of
$6,722,279.25 in combined total wages and an
average annual salary of $31,266.41.
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7/9/2010
“It’s more than rainy, it’s a monsoon.”
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7/9/2010
Thousands of blue recycling carts totaling nearly $1 million in value are sitting idle in a warehouse in Chicago, the Sun-Times reports.
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7/9/2010
We’re about to send a nice postcard mailing to our supporters about the Illinois Turnaround Plan. Needing a bunch of stamps for our postcards, I went to the nearest U.S. Post Office, walked in, and ordered $800 dollars worth of stamps.
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7/9/2010
We've been hearing lots about how giving money to unemployed folks creates jobs (or not) over the past few days. But how much, exactly, do these benefits cost?
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7/8/2010
Allstate CEO, Thomas Wilson, calls government spending at the federal, state and local level "out of control."
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7/8/2010
America is a great country, full of wonderful people…but we should probably beef up on history classes. Last weekend, Jay Leno took a quick walk to find out how much his fellow Americans really know about Independence Day.
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7/8/2010
Broken promises from a governor who last year promised to "cut, cut, cut" state government.
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7/8/2010
What does Gov. Daniels suggest reading?
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7/7/2010
Implications of the Financial Reform Bill anticipated to pass the Senate next week
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7/7/2010
Who would've guessed that I'd have learned something from watching Aliens vs. Predator 2?
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7/7/2010
Thirteen new legislators are on TweetIllinois.og
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7/7/2010
Do smarter cars make us less responsible drivers?
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7/7/2010
$4.712 billion: Illinois's bill backlog at the end of June 2010.
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7/7/2010
State and local government employees have enjoyed a greater improvement in compensation levels than private sector employees.
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7/7/2010
The State of Illinois gave a $15,000 grant in fiscal year 2006 to the Chicago Park District "for the installation of two stall type batting cages at Jackie Robinson Park" in Chicago.
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7/6/2010
A dozen Cook County contracts are currently under investigation, and two of the contracts are with businesses that are not registered with the state or county.
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7/6/2010
The State of Illinois paid 5 inhalation therapists $170,935.86 in fiscal year 2008 in combined total wages, with the highest paid therapist making $43,824.
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7/6/2010
"Decadent" Western haircuts--including the infamous mullet--are now banned in Iran.
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7/6/2010
The Associated Press reports "Governor Quinn has given his staff 43 raises averaging 11.4 percent since he became governor."
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7/2/2010
The biggest and most pressing stories.
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7/2/2010
Today Quinn announces $155 million in cuts to appropriations for fiscal year 2011.
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7/2/2010
Why is Governor Quinn comparing his cuts to last year's spending?
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7/2/2010
More evidence that vouchers work. More calls for their passage in Illinois.
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7/1/2010
Many Illinois government employees are set to receive a pay raise today--even as the state budget is billions of dollars out of balance.
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7/1/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity gave $25,000 to the Chicago Park District for the renovation of a spray pool.
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7/1/2010
In a bit of good news the arrival of July 1st, 2010 marked a drop in the Cook County sales tax rate. The Cook County portion of the sales tax (1.75%) dropped ½ a percentage point to 1.25%.
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7/1/2010
The federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program wasted $100 million paying electric bills for people who were dead, in prison or not eligible for the program.
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7/1/2010
Property owners on State Street in Chicago are on the hook for the installation of the EYE, a giant eyeball designed by artist Tony Tasset.
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6/30/2010
Since 2000, Chicago's budget has increased 11.6% while population has remained fairly stable.
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6/30/2010
Do we all want the same thing for the nation?
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6/30/2010
Questions are surrounding the nearly half a million dollar salary of Bellwood's Roy McCampbell.
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6/30/2010
Lack of oversight in Chicago TIF process, surprised?
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6/30/2010
The State of Illinois paid 11 meat & poultry inspector supervisors $616,597.87 in fiscal year 2008 in combined total wages, with the highest paid supervisor making $61,633.
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6/30/2010
Five key employees of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) have combined to spend more than $300,000 on travel since fiscal year 2005.
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6/30/2010
Meet Nancy Thorner, one of the most prolific letter-to-the-editor writers in Illinois.
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6/30/2010
Congratulations to all of the Liberty Leaders whose work has been recognized across the state of Illinois during the month of June!
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6/30/2010
The Chicago City Council has approved the construction of the city's second Wal-Mart.
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6/30/2010
The cost of borrowing has reached record highs for Illinois, but that hasn't stopped the state government from planning more and more borrowing.
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6/29/2010
"Stop Spending!" CNBC reporter Rick Santelli (of "Tea Party" rant fame) offers some sound advice to the government.
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6/29/2010
Well, some of them at least. Here's a way to get out of paying all those new taxes then-candidate Obama promised wouldn't exist.
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6/29/2010
The State of Illinois paid 41 public administration interns $736,463.01 in fiscal year 2008 in combined total wages, with the highest paid intern making $52,914.
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6/29/2010
Increase borrowing and taxes to expand employment in an already bloated public sector will destroy even more private sector jobs and will not lead our economy to a recovery.
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6/29/2010
Charter lotteries - fulfilling choices and breaking hearts - are becoming more popular on screen and across Illinois.
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6/28/2010
At the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings we get to see how silly many of the protesters are.
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6/28/2010
Illinois's credit ratin has only been downgraded 17 times in its entire history, most coming in the last 8 years of Democrat leadership.
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6/28/2010
How is Illinois spending its Medicaid dollars? Taxpayers could soon find out thanks to a new law championed by Rep. Patti Bellock and the Illinois Policy Institute.
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6/28/2010
While legislators left Springfield at the end of May without a plan to pay for the required $4 billion pension payment next year or the current backlog of $6 billion of unpaid bills, they did pass a 2,134 page bill full of appropriations.
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6/25/2010
When government censorship goes awry.
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6/25/2010
How much would it cost to close the US budget deficit?
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6/25/2010
The State of Illinois paid 28 Liquor Control Special Agents $1,418,421 in fiscal year 2008 in combined total wages, with the committee chairman making $56,695.71.
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6/24/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave an $873,700 grant to “produce the larger nuts and bolts used in construction of wind turbines.”
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6/24/2010
Updated results from a global survey on the impact of free market economies.
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6/24/2010
A new Rasmussen poll has some startling results.
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6/23/2010
Are Illinois's public universities about to join to the league of extraordinary borrowers?
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6/23/2010
The Pelican Institute’s Fergus Hodgson reports on the importance of anti-ObamaCare legislation that passed this week in Louisiana.
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6/23/2010
Austerity measures hit merry old England...while the U.S. government pleads for more spending.
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6/23/2010
Check out this really funny video from the Australian Broadcast Company.
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6/23/2010
Inmates--some sentenced for life-- receive thousands in tax credits to buy new homes.
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6/23/2010
The State of Illinois paid 30 fingerprint technicians $1,457,511.64 in fiscal year 2008 in combined total wages, with the highest paid technician making $52,494.
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6/22/2010
Only when Illinois starts evaluating every item of spending, whether it's necessary and the best use of taxpayers' money, will the state have a chance at turning around it's budget situation.
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6/22/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave a $400,000 grant to “provide solar thermal collectors to be installed on a meat packing factory roof."
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6/22/2010
Illinois has overtaken California as the worst credit risk among American states.
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6/22/2010
Who you should root for at the World Cup.
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6/22/2010
The worst problem affecting America's cities is the nationwide dropout pandemic. Guess what was just proven to help in a big way? School choice.
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6/22/2010
I went to Chicago and all I got were these lousy taxes.
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6/22/2010
The State of Illinois spent almost $2 million to employ vocational instructors to serve in prisons during 2008.
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6/21/2010
Let's compare government health care to private dentistry in Canada, our canary in the health care mine.
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6/21/2010
Just because money is spent doesn't mean it is spent well.
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6/21/2010
What are state legislators in Mississippi thinking?
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6/21/2010
On Thursday June 17th, the Illinois Policy Institute conducted a conference call to discuss its new citizen's guide: "Bargaining for Better Schools: An Introduction to Collective Bargaining in Illinois Public Education".
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6/21/2010
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn wants to claim that he's focused on job creation, but the results point in the other direction.
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6/21/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave a $750,000 grant to “construct a High School Basketball Hall of Fame."
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6/18/2010
Commentary: if there was no teacher tenure, then there'd be no argument for teacher tenure.
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6/18/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave an $83,400 grant to “increase public awareness of the benefits of Illinois coal.”
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6/17/2010
Why do we have such high taxes on people who want nothing more than to visit and spend lots of money here?
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6/17/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave a $45,000 grant to buy a tour boat.
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6/17/2010
Yet another innovative use for online learning in Illinois.
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6/17/2010
Illinois Department of Transportation paid employees over $2 million in wages to work a free ferry service in 2008.
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6/16/2010
BillTally provides a window into the cumulative costs or savings present in bills sponsored by Members of Congress.
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6/16/2010
Conference call discussing how Illinois taxpayers can become more involved in the public education collective bargaining process and promote online transparency for local government.
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6/16/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave over $83,000 in grants for costs associated with the production and showing of a film about Daniel Burnham.
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6/16/2010
Illinois state pensions have millions invested in British Petroleum.
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6/16/2010
A study finds that the Illinois pension system will be out of money by 2018.
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6/16/2010
Illinois continues to impose a high minimum wage rate, putting itself at another disadvantage and giving businesses and entrepreneurs one more reason to leave Illinois and set up shop elsewhere.
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6/16/2010
An interactive migration map from Forbes helps us understand Illinois's population migration.
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6/15/2010
Our transparency website, IllinoisOpenGov.org, shows the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave $300,000 in grants for costs associated with the sesquicentennial of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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6/15/2010
It's expensive preventing trumped up mass layoffs.
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6/15/2010
What is a “green job”? Not sure? Neither is the federal government.
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6/15/2010
Did you know that the federal government spent $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly?
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6/14/2010
Obama still thinks that his health care bill will save money.
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6/14/2010
New leadership vows to battle testing, charter schools, and the district's budget balancing plan.
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6/14/2010
Why does home field advantage exist in soccer? And why does it matter to Illinois?
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6/14/2010
In recent weeks there has been a lot of bad news surfacing for taxpayers when it comes to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
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6/11/2010
Illinois Legislators have the fifth
highest salary in the nation.
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6/11/2010
New research: the GED has no resume value, but its misnomer as an "equivalent" credential might induce teenagers to needlessly leave high school.
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6/11/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave a $100,000 grant to help "with the costs associated with hosting the Canadian 4th of July Celebration."
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6/11/2010
A new paper at the American Enterprise Institute finds that high employment benefits appear to deflate interest in higher education.
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6/11/2010
The federal government is looking to disburse high-speed rail funds to Illinois. The result? Higher debt, maybe moderate speed rail, and people will still drive their cars. And a big catch for railroad companies.
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6/11/2010
Common-sense went a long way for the Blackhawks, and it can go a long way for the state as a whole.
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6/10/2010
While most hockey fans in the Chicagoland area would’ve taken it during any game and in any city, some people apparently, would’ve rather the Hawks waited until game seven (in Chicago) to close it out.
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6/10/2010
The warnings in Canada are becoming louder and more frequent. Are we listening?
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6/10/2010
About that budget proposal from Gov. Quinn...
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6/10/2010
In 2008, the State of Illinois employed almost 200 environmental protection engineers at a cost of over $13 million.
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6/10/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave $50,000 to promote awareness of Chicago and Illinois in the Republic of Ireland.
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6/10/2010
Cook County health panel has the ability to bring full reform the the County's health system.
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6/10/2010
Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, disputes a recent study that claims state and local government workers are underpaid compared to similar private sector workers.
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6/10/2010
Snooki doesn't appreciate Obama's tax on tanning.
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6/9/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave a $16,698 grant in fiscal year 2009 to "Install a solar thermal energy system at the Phi Kappa Theta House" at NIU.
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6/9/2010
What is the best way for government to help people in need of jobs?
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6/9/2010
Is America nearing the fiscal tipping point?
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6/9/2010
Madeleine Sackler's "The Lottery" was shown as a one day event last night around the country. The film follows four Harlem families trying to win a lottery in order to gain admission to Harlem Success Academy, a high-achieving charter school in New York.
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6/9/2010
The Chicago Teachers Union sues to stop teacher layoffs, citing fire safety.
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6/9/2010
Increasingly, people demand education reform that decreases the public system.
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6/9/2010
On Monday, the council agreed to publish on the city’s website all collective bargaining agreements with unions representing city employees.
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6/8/2010
Nationalized health care is sinking in popularity--but a new big-money PR initiative hopes to change all that.
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6/8/2010
Left-leaning economist Jeffrey Sachs tells MSNBC that the simulus was all for naught.
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6/8/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave $10,000 to restore a gas station on the historic Route 66 highway, hoping its location will promote tourism in the area.
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6/8/2010
On June 2, nHealth, a Virgina-based health insurance company, sent a letter to its agents announcing that it will exit the health insurance market due to the “considerable uncertainties” created by ObamaCare.
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6/4/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) gave $1,278.88 to promote advertising for “bed and breakfasts that specialize in chocolate-themed meals.”
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6/4/2010
The Illinois General Assembly wants to exempt public employee performance reviews from the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA). The Institute recently submitted FOIA requests to state agencies for performance reviews, and these are the responses we received.
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6/4/2010
Illinois’s Tort Climate is the fourth worst in the country, following New Jersey, New York and Florida, according to the U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2010 Report from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI).
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6/3/2010
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DECO) allocated $334,093.16 to fund a tourist attraction aimed at simulating an authentic Amish experience.
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6/3/2010
An adjunct scholar for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy responds to a recent study which concludes that state and local government workers receive lower compensation than private sector workers.
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6/3/2010
Does the Lieutenant Governor need a $1.5 per year work force?
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6/2/2010
In recent years, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association has received funding from three tourism grants totaling nearly $200,000.
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6/2/2010
A friendly reminder to all school districts in Illinois...
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6/1/2010
The achievements with Glenview, School District 54, and other government agencies demonstrates how easy improving transparency can be.
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5/28/2010
Government will grow. That is what it does.
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5/28/2010
Government performance reviews should remain available to the public under Freedom of Information laws.
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5/28/2010
In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Commerce and Economic Education disbursed $67,500 of a $75,000 grant to BLH Enterprises to help expand their electronic recycling program.
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5/27/2010
Illinois will likely be stuck with another unbalanced budget this year, thanks in large part to two retiring Republican legislators.
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5/27/2010
In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity gave Peabody Investments Corp a $750,000 Coal Competitiveness Program grant.
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5/26/2010
Public officials in Chicago act like its their own money...
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5/26/2010
The Illinois House of Representatives fails to pass significant spending reforms.
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5/26/2010
In fiscal year 2009, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity disbursed $108,000 of a $120,000 grant to the Southern Recycling Center.
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5/26/2010
Another botched Illinois government program.
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5/26/2010
In 2008, the State of Illinois spent almost two million dollars on 43 paralegal assistants.
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5/26/2010
Two pieces of important legislation sent to Governor today.
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5/25/2010
Stanley Cup Finals tickets are going for $500 to $10,000. Is this fair?
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5/25/2010
In 2008, 32 employees at the Illinois Commerce Commission made over $100,000 in wages alone.
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5/25/2010
The Illinois House of Representatives is considering plans to borrow our way out of the state's budget mess.
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5/24/2010
When does political activism cross the line?
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5/24/2010
Illinois's expanded "All Kids" audit reveals high costs and operational issues.
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5/24/2010
Say hello to the Office of the Auditor General Inspector General.
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5/24/2010
A report from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform found that taxpayers paid lobbyists nearly $6.4 million to influence their own state government last year.
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5/21/2010
Politically active people are happy people according to an Illinois study.
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5/21/2010
Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward explores a rather complicated brownie recipe.
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5/21/2010
The Department of Transportation spent a total of $956K on the wages for deck hands in 2008.
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5/21/2010
Call taker trainees received over $200,000 in wages in 2008.
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5/21/2010
The Springfield Journal-Register ran a story on May 20 that indicated the Illinois Policy Institute would post public employee performance reviews on IllinoisOpenGov.org. That is not the case, and the paper ran a correction.
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5/20/2010
In 2008, the Illinois State Board of Education spent $21.8 million on 335 consultants.
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5/20/2010
It used to be private schools that did fund-raisers. Now it is the public.
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5/20/2010
The average 2009 score for Illinois’s U.S. Representatives is a 33%, for our U.S. Senators it is 3%.
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5/20/2010
In 2008, the State of Illinois Spent over 17 million dollars on wages for employees in training programs.
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5/19/2010
One of Obama's Czars thinks the Internet needs to be controlled.
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5/19/2010
How about just letting us pay what we think it is worth?
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5/19/2010
Is a tax bill that is 33 percent higher than usual inconsequential?
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5/19/2010
Ten million Americans are covered by Health Savings Account-eligible insurance plans, an increase of 25 percent since last year, a new census released today by America’s Health Insurance Plans finds.
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5/19/2010
Architects on the state payroll receive average annual wages of $84,335 in 2008.
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5/19/2010
The Teachers' Retirement System pays its employees over four million dollars more than the State Employees' Retirement System.
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5/18/2010
Coin counting clerks working for the State Toll Highway Authority received average wages of $55,050 in 2008.
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5/18/2010
In 2008, the state of Illinois paid library staff over $6 million in wages.
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5/17/2010
In 2008, library technicians on the state payroll received average annual wages over 60% higher than the average annual wages of library technicians in Illinois.
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5/14/2010
Government Bailouts and Crony Capitalism.
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5/14/2010
Are the various levels of government helping or hurting the current economic situation?
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5/14/2010
Illinois is ranked the 6th-worst place to do business in the country by Chief Executive magazine.
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5/14/2010
A quarter of a million dollars to plan the development of the Capitol.
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5/13/2010
Court reporters on the state payroll in 2008 received average annual wages of $60,832 - 54% higher than the average annual wages of court reporters in Illinois.
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5/12/2010
Here we go again. Now it is global cooling that humans are causing.
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5/12/2010
Welders working for the Illinois Toll Highway Authority received average annual wages 73% higher than the average for welders in Illinois.
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5/11/2010
In 2008, the Department of Human Services had a baker on their payroll receiving $34,628 in annual wages.
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5/11/2010
Brian Costin, Director of Outreach at the Illinois Policy Institute, shepherded 25 volunteer Liberty Leaders securing meetings with their Illinois legislators and staff.
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5/11/2010
In 2008, the State Universities Civil Service System paid its 18 employees over $800,000.
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5/10/2010
Chicago is still a union - not a citizen - town.
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5/10/2010
In 2008, the 9 landscape architects on the state payroll received wages that were almost $20,000 higher than the average annual wages for all landscape architects in Illinois.
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5/7/2010
Can you read 2,300 pages in just a few hours? There is no way Illinois state legislators are reading the entire budget before they go to vote on it.
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5/7/2010
Vouchers, Government debt and corruption.
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5/7/2010
A column I wrote for the Toronto Sun on whether the user of a service should kick in when money is tight.
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5/7/2010
The Illinois Policy Institute’s Budget Solutions 2011 offers an alternative spending blueprint that addresses our state’s immediate problems rather than kicking the can further down the road.
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5/7/2010
Tobacco tax hikes come with a number of significant policy complications.
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5/7/2010
In fiscal year 2009, the DCEO gave the Consolidated Grain & Barge Co a $750K grant to expand their operations in Mound City, Illinois.
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5/7/2010
The Transparency Pledge has received bi-partisan support with 6 Republicans and 5 Democrats signing the pledge since April 20th.
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5/6/2010
Go on line and experience the thrill of playing with other people's money.
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5/6/2010
Medicaid transparency (HB5241) has passed both Houses and now awaits a signature from the Governor.
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