During the months-long trial of former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, the jury heard testimony about the powerful Democrat’s use of play-to-pay tactics that included bribery and ghost jobs. That testimony ultimately led to a guilty verdict for the longtime politician.

Despite the guilty finding, the culture of corruption cultivated by Madigan is still in play in the Land of Lincoln and we cannot afford to be complacent. Madigan’s handpicked successor now presides over the House of Representatives, and the House chamber is still governed by Madigan rules.

For Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats, making and breaking big promises is becoming a way of life. If that sounds like a typical throwaway political attack line, an examination of the last year of action (or inaction) by the governor and the Illinois General Assembly reveals the truth.

From drawing fair legislative maps to promises of honesty in financial dealings, protecting children in the care of DCFS, addressing rising crime, and providing relief for families struggling to afford necessities like food and fuel, Democrats have made some big promises. To this point in the 102nd General Assembly, it seems Democrats' promises were made to be broken. 

The Democratic majority and Governor Pritzker have been busy working on their priorities: Passing gerrymandered legislative maps, defunding the police, and turning a blind eye to the corruption charges filed against the former longtime Speaker of the House Michael Madigan. All while middle-class families, children in state care, and veterans pay the price for the misdirected priorities.

Yesterday, former longtime Democratic Speaker of the House, Michael J. Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering conspiracy and bribery charges following a federal probe into political corruption in the state of Illinois. Also named in the indictment is longtime Madigan confidant Michael McClain. A joint press conference held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) outlined the indictment.

After learning that yet another meeting of the Special Investigating Committee (SIC) into the conduct of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan was canceled and work of the committee has been postponed indefinitely, Republicans serving on the bipartisan panel are demanding the committee get back to work.

"People are fleeing Illinois. And still, Democratic leaders in Chicago
and Cook County...deny that high taxes, underfunded pensions, government
debt and political dysfunction are the reasons for the exodus..."

While imposing a stiff prison sentence on former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. District Judge James Zagel contemplated an issue that, just over six years later, continues to debase this state’s prosperity.

“In the United States, we don’t much govern at gunpoint,” Zagel told the courtroom on Dec. 7, 2011. “We require willing and creative cooperation and participation to prosper as a civil society. This happens most easily when people trust the person at the top to do the right thing most of the time, and more important than that, to try to do it all of the time.”

Corruption at the top tears and disfigures the “fabric of Illinois” and is “not easily or quickly repaired,” Zagel said.

Trust in government is essential to civil society — not only governance that is corruption-free but also competent and responsible. Read the rest of the commentary by Tribune Editorial Board member Kristen McQueary.

A new report issued Monday by a court-appointed watchdog charged with looking into patronage hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation details how top Democrats clouted relatives and friends into positions under former Gov. Pat Quinn, even as many of those hired had little or no experience.

House Speaker Mike Madigan's office successfully pushed a former bricklayer for a job that included "maintaining relationships" with minority road contractors, though the man eventually resigned after being arrested for allegedly "physically assaulting" a then-state lawmaker. Cicero Rep. Lisa Hernandez sent in the resume of a bank manager who was put on the state payroll to inspect roads. And a daughter of 30th Ward Chicago Ald. Ariel Reboyras ended up in another state job after complaints at a different agency. Read more.

Too bad the Legislature didn’t apply a little weather-stripping to keep its home energy-efficiency program from leaking money and promised jobs.

This boondoggle of a state program was done in by either politics or incompetence, not unlike the way Gov. Pat Quinn’s anti-crime Neighborhood Recovery Initiative was botched.

Can’t Springfield get anything right?

Five years ago, lawmakers enacted the Urban Weatherization Initiative. The idea was to train workers in predominantly African-American communities to refit old buildings, creating jobs and lowering utility bills.

The notion was laudable, but the program had some gaping holes.

As a result, only a fraction of the 1,900 people trained to be laborers and inspectors actually got jobs, according to a Better Government Association report in Monday’s Sun-Times. Only 183 homes have been upgraded. And more than $13 million of the $16-million-plus spent so far has gone for administrative costs and training. Read the rest of the SunTimes Editorial.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

There's no disputing the substance of the hiring scandal that's racked the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The only real question is, What to do about it? And that's an issue on which Gov. Pat Quinn and his critics are at odds. So it's going to be up to a federal judge to decide whether to install a hiring monitor to assure merit-based hiring at IDOT.

In our view, the federal court has no choice but to put a monitor in place at Transportation. Indeed, one could credibly argue that a monitor ought to oversee all hiring in state government, not just at the Transportation Department.

Why? The recent report issued by Executive Inspector General Richardo Meza revealed that illegal — repeat illegal — patronage hiring is alive and well in the Land of Lincoln. What a shock. Read the editorial in its entirety The News-Gazette.