Michigan Republican Fred Upton will assume the committee chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, after closed-door voting by the Republican Steering Committee denied Collinsville Republican John Shimkus the seat. Shimkus, who walked out of a joint session of Congress earlier this year while the President spoke, was vying for the seat by trying to claim the mantle of the true conservative choice for the seat. more ›

Republican Congressman John Shimkus, of downstate Collinsville, is making a long-shot bid for chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Politico is reporting. The downstate congressman will become the most powerful Illinois Republican in Congress if he can bypass several other, more senior congressman for the seat. more ›

While the national news has been chock-full of stories of angry anti-health care reform activists storming town hall meetings with congressmen, the local news won't be carrying any of those stories soon, at least not starring U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and 19th District Congressman John Shimkus. “I won’t be doing sucker-punch town hall meetings,” Democrat and Senate Majority Whip Durbin said. “They can do all the political theater they want, but I don’t have to supply the stage for them.” more ›

We talked a few days ago about the high demand for Obama inauguration tickets and the high prices being paid for them, even though they're technically free. Well, any hopes Illinois residents had of the state getting a few extras to hand out since we're Obama's "home" state have been dashed. It seems that each Congressional district in the country will get a paltry 198 tickets to hand out to those who signed up with their respective offices. Jesse Jackson, Jr. spokesman Ken Edmonds said, "We received about 1,500 requests in 48 hours on our Web site, not including the thousands of calls since last week. We're disappointed that we'll have to disappoint some of our constituents." more ›