New year, new rules

New year, new rules on campaign cash, pension benefits
Major reforms to the way Illinois politicians raise campaign cash and new state workers collect Pension benefits take effect with the new year, both sets of changes inspired by the departure of disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The state's first limits on political contributions were a direct response to Blagojevich's arrest, Impeachment and indictment on blockbuster government Corruption charges centered on Shakedown allegations. And the gridlock over slowing runaway State Employee Pension c...

Quinn signs pension law for cops, firefighters; Daley disappointed
Gov. Quinn Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed Legislation affecting the Pension system for Law Enforcement officers and Firefighters. Quinn signed the law Thursday. His office says it will stabilize Pension systems and protect Retirement Benefits for the officers and Firefighters. However Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says he’s disappointed Quinn signed the law, saying it will burden Chicago Taxpayers. The new law will affect those hired on or after Jan. 1. Quinn’s office also says it ...

Campaign finance leftovers from 2010 who gave to everybody?
Some campaign contributors  spread their money around in last year’s Elections. Nearly 100 political action committees, corporations and individuals gave at least 50 checks of the maximum-amount to various state office Candidates in Florida for the 2010 election, including 33 contributors who cut more than 100 such checks, according to an Orlando Sentinel review of Campaign Contributions. Almost all of the frequent givers spread the money to both Rep...

Jessica Levinson: Recalling Schwarzenegger's Tenure as Governor
Like it or not, the Governator will not "be back." We've had a long run with him, seven years. The Economy is now, undeniably, in the tank. Questions continue to linger as to whether California is governable. Answers are many, but real solutions too often seem few and far between. So behind all the rhetorical noise, it is worth asking, how did the Governator do and what does his tenure mean for the future of California? To answer those questions, let's take a look at a few key issues: Budget...

Q: If you're the Democrat Governor of a Blue State With a $15 Billion Budget Deficit, What Do You Do? A: Borrow More Money!
Does anyone else think of the phrase "death spiral" when they read a story like this? Illinois' borrowing spree would continue into 2011 under a plan Governor Pat Quinn is floating to sell more Debt to deal with a huge unpaid bill backlog and Pension payments... The state's lack of cash could lead to a $15 billion Deficit that would include $8 billion of unpaid bills heading into fiscal 2012, which begins July 1, the state Comptroller has warned. ...The state is betting on a good reception in th...

New laws to take effect Jan. 1 in Illinois
ALAN SOLOMON The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. (Chicago Tribune) To see the bills in Illinois that have been signed into law and take effect Saturday, go to www.ilga.gov/reports. In Missouri, laws passed by the Legislature took effect in August. To see those laws, go to www.house.mo.gov and www.Senate.mo.gov. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Life in Illinois will get tougher for Sex Offenders, monkey owners and impeached Governors starting on Saturday. A total of 193 new state laws will take...

Supreme Court Okays Using Public Schools for Political Fundraising
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled this week in a 4-3 decision that School Districts may administer Payroll deductions from employees for the benefit of the Michigan Education Association’s political action committee. This overturned a Court of Appeals decision. The MEA has in its union contracts throughout the state provisions that require districts to collect Payroll deduction for the union's political action committee. The union asserts that it pays the districts for any related administ...

ODonnell: Spending accusations are thug tactics
Stumble This! Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell said Thursday that accusations she misspent campaign funds are politically motivated and stoked by disgruntled former campaign workers. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows to defend herself a day after The Associated Press reported federal authorities have launched a Criminal Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. O'Donnell, the Tea Party favorite ...

Christine O'Donnell Is Being Persecuted by the FBI Because Just Because
So, you may have heard that there's maybe a federal investigation underway to determine if Senate Candidate hilarious performance artist Christine O'Donnell misused campaign for personal use such as rent, broomsticks, eyes of newt, etc. Obviously, this is merely a case of the FBI and the Vice President's office persecuting Christine O'Donnell for reasons that make obvious sense. Obviously! "There's been no impermissible use of campaign funds whatsoever," O�...

Murkowski finally certified winner in Alaska
The state of Alaska certified Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski’s victory over Tea Party favorite Joe Miller on Thursday, nearly three months after the Incumbent won the race with an unconventional write-in campaign. The certification document was signed in the State Capitol in Juneau by Governor Sean Parnell and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, a spokeswoman for Parnell said. “It’s been certified. The governor signed the certificate and the lieutenant governor notarized it,...

Alaska certifies Murkowski's write-in Senate victory
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The state of Alaska certified Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski's victory over Tea Party favorite Joe Miller on Thursday, nearly three months after the Incumbent won the race with an unconventional write-in campaign. The certification document was signed in the State Capitol in Juneau by Governor Sean Parnell and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, a spokeswoman for Parnell said. "It's been certified. The governor signed the certificate and the lieutenant governor n...

Alaska certifies Murkowski's write-in Senate victory
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The state of Alaska certified Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski's victory over Tea Party favorite Joe Miller on Thursday, nearly three months after the Incumbent won the race with an unconventional write-in campaign. The certification document was signed in the State Capitol in Juneau by Governor Sean Parnell and Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, a spokeswoman for Parnell said. "It's been certified. The governor signed the certificate and the lieutenant governor n...

Christine O'Donnell's Campaign Spending Probed
Federal authorities have opened a Criminal Investigation of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate Candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned as part of the Probe. The case, which has been assigned to two Federal Prosecutors and two FBI agents in D...

Biggest Political Stories of 2010
2010 was a year full of politics, with most of the year spent leading up to the Nov. 2nd General Election.   In that election, the voters of Williamson County were in step with voters throughout most of Texas and most of the United States by electing or re-electing Conservatives to office.  Unlike the 2008 election, when the first Democrat in many years won an election in Williamson County and Democrats throughout Texas and the nation won, 2010 was a year for big Republi...

2010: The Year of the Tea Party
2010 was the year of the Tea Party. The Grassroots conservative political movement made its clout felt the entire year, from the Healthcare Reform debate to GOP primaries and the General Election last month. Senior Democrats, ranging from Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.), aggressively attacked the Tea Party in the lead-up to the midterms, hoping that doing so would soften losses to the GOP. House Min...

CT Government Year To Come/Year In Review
Upcoming next Wednesday are the swearings-in and inaugurations in Hartford and governing beyond that.  That is what is at hand.  How to fund our kids is always the biggest issue, especially education and that will be news this year.  Big news and always should be.  How to pay for it.  How to tax, not whether to tax.  How to bridge an inherited fiscal gap beyond all records is an unimaginable task that these public servants have had the willingness to stick...

CBSs Crawford Dismisses Christine ODonnells Response to Accusations
Dignified Newsweek? They Print 'F--k John McCain,' Scalia a 'C--ksucker' Clap Off! CBS, NBC, NPR Skip Over Intelligence Chief Clapper's Ignorance on ABC of London Terror Arrests 17 Years and Counting: ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson Continues Spinning for Dems on Health Care On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, as CBS correspondent Jan Crawford filed a report on the allegations that former Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell misused campaign money...

Miller Concedes Loss to Murkowski
(AP) Republican Joe Miller is ending his fight over Alaska's U.S. Senate seat, conceding the race to his bitter rival, Incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Miller's decision, announced Friday at a news conference in Anchorage, comes one day after the state certified Murkowski as the winner. This ends what started as a promising campaign for Miller, a Tea Party favorite who upset Murkowski in the GOP primary, in his first bid for statewide public office. He was widely seen as the favorite for winnin...

CBSs Crawford Dismisses Christine ODonnells Response to Accusations
Dignified Newsweek? They Print 'F--k John McCain,' Scalia a 'C--ksucker' Clap Off! CBS, NBC, NPR Skip Over Intelligence Chief Clapper's Ignorance on ABC of London Terror Arrests 17 Years and Counting: ABC's Dr. Tim Johnson Continues Spinning for Dems on Health Care On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, as CBS correspondent Jan Crawford filed a report on the allegations that former Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell misused campaign money...

Out with the old, in with the new in the Senate as Congress set to reconvene
In a Congress dominated by complicated bills and wonky policy fights, perhaps the biggest challenge for members of the Senate was simply keeping straight the names of all their colleagues.  The 111th Congress will go down as one of the most chaotic in Senate history because of the constant turnover in personnel.
 That influx of fresh faces means the 112th Congress will begin with a notably inexperienced group of senators. More than one-fifth of the upper chamber’s 100 seats changed hands

McMahon Takes Issue With Patersons Pension Assessment
EJ McMahon has often been a vocal critic of Gov. Paterson, arguing that he hasn’t done enough to address the state’s fiscal problems and he thinks Paterson’s op-ed calling for Pension Reform in Friday’s Daily News misses the mark. McMahon is the Director of the Empire Center on New York State Policy. He joined Liz Benjamin in the studio Friday. Share this post! ...

Paterson Preaches Pension Reform On Last Day In Office
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The nearly three-year roller coaster ride that has been David Paterson’s governorship is ending. Paterson’s time in office has been marked by some high profile headlines, including his admitted Cocaine use, Domestic Violence allegations against his top aide, the Yankee tickets debacle and of course his appearance on Saturday Night Live. “I hope they didn’t distract from my actual professional undertakings,” Paterson said. Paterson admitt...

Nearly one in five 'to reach 100'
Nearly one in five people currently in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday, according to the government. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said its figures suggested 10 million people - 17% of the population - would become centenarians. These are based on Office for National Statistics population projections and life expectancy estimates. Pensions Minister Steve Webb said the "staggering" figures brought home the need for Pension Reforms. The DWP estimates there will ...

Quinn signs police and fire pension measure into law
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a major Pension overhaul for newly hired police and Firefighters throughout Illinois that will raise the Retirement Age, limit benefits and require Chicago and many suburbs to set aside more money. Mayor Richard Daley had opposed the Legislation, saying it would blow a hole in Chicago's Budget in the coming years. Quinn, however, approved the measure ahead of a long holiday weekend. The legislation takes effect on Saturday. Read more HERE on Clout Street. ...

Feds Probe Christine O'Donnell's Campaign Spending
Via the Washington Post:Failed U.S. Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell denied Thursday that she had inappropriately used any campaign funds, defending herself a day after the disclosure of a Criminal Investigation into her spending. The Delaware Republican appeared on several network morning shows after it was revealed that federal authorities have launched the Probe to determine whether she broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses. "There's been no impermissible use of ...