Almost as a rule, when politicians or political organizations try to do humor (or worse, "relatability"), it falls deathly flat. See: Mitt Romney's "Who Let The Dogs Out" moment, the GOP's faux-birthday cards for President Obama, Al & Tipper's makeout moment and Mike Dukakis' cartoonish tank-driving fiasco. (Admittedly, the last two weren't exactly intentionally humorous.) Which is why we have to give a bit of credit where it's due, for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's quick photoshop party poking fun at Aaron Schock's easily-mockable beefcake photo shoot. more ›

Twitter no-no's have been all the rage this week. First, there was the local woman who was sued for defamation by her property company and now it appears as if U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, who recently announced his campaign for U.S. Senate, may have violated some military rules via his Twitter account. Kirk, a Naval Reservist, is under scrutiny from The Capitol Fax for a pair of tweets that went up on his campaign twitter account while he was on active duty and may have violated rules. He revealed his location, which violates military rules, and because the twitter account is part of his U.S. Senate campaign, he may be in trouble because military rules prohibit certain political activities while on active duty. A Kirk spokesman told Rich Miller at Capitol Fax that it wasn't Kirk but rather a staffer who posted those tweets on Kirk's account. The Navy told Miller they are, "going to be looking into the matter.” [via ChicagoNow] more ›

Well, they did it. Our elected officials in Springfield passed a budget (finally) this weekend. It's not a done deal, yet, as Blagojevich hasn't signed the bill yet, and has made some public indications that he's going to veto the bill. After the colossal failure of Blagojevich to get a budget with anything that he wanted, Mike Madigan stepped in a put the deal together, effectively castrating Blago while usurping the state GOP's attempts... more ›

Chicagoist has always been quick to point out that money in politics is a necessary evil. The money isn’t going away anytime soon, but two of the evildoers are facing the music. more ›

Jim Oberweis never ceases to amaze us. The man who isn't a politician, but plays one during election season, is upset that Bill Brady and Ron Gidwitz will not drop out of the Republican race for governor because he believes they are taking away the votes he needs to beat frontrunner Judy Baar Topinka. Oberweis' solution? The three men should all draw straws to see which one can stay in the race. Seriously. Oberweis' campaign... more ›

Yesterday Gov. Gonad made Illinois the fourth state in the nation and the only state in the Midwest to allocate public funds for stem cell research. He signed an executive order directing the Illinois Department of Public Health to create the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute. The IRMI will give $10 million in grants to medical research facilities for the study of adult, cord blood and embryonic stem cells. A ">similar bill stalled in the state... more ›

Springfielders are buzzing about a report released this afternoon by State Auditor General William Holland. The report accuses a powerful state agency of illegally shifting funds between accounts, failure to track contract expenses, and inability to document $137 million of claimed procurement savings. The report stopped short of suggesting criminal activity, but the report was referred to Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who's office is reviewing it "very closely." The agency accused of wrongdoing, the... more ›