Free Republic

Illinois today became the last state in the country to legalize the concealed carry of guns after both the House and Senate rejected Gov. Pat Quinn’s attempt to rewrite the compromise bill. Senators voted 41-17 to override Quinn’s amendatory veto of the bill. Earlier in the day, the House voted 77-31 to overturn the governor’s rewrite. The measure now becomes law, though the actual ability of gun owners to carry a concealed firearm remains months away. The action by the Democratic General Assembly was a major repudiation of the actions of the state’s Democratic governor. Supporters of the compromise legislation...

Yesterday, with the federal court deadline for enactment of concealed carry legislation fast approaching, Governor Pat Quinn (D) issued an amendatory veto on House Bill 183. This legislation was introduced and passed by the state legislature last month in an attempt to comply with a ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on December 11, 2012, that invalidated Illinois’ total ban on carrying firearms for self-defense. Governor Quinn’s irresponsible amendatory veto, if allowed to stand, would impose some of the strictest concealed carry laws in the nation and make a mockery of the serious issue...

Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today a measure that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in party primary elections if they turn 18 before or on the date of that year’s general election. The Democratic governor signed the bill at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, where civic faculty and students pushed the legislation. Quinn said Illinois joins at least 20 states that set younger age limit for primary voters, citing a national voting advocacy group. Sponsoring Rep. Carol Sente, D-Vernon Hills, said in a statement that the measure was “only fair” since 18-year-olds “are already voting for candidates...

If ever there was a region where incumbent Republican governors can experience the great GOP gubernatorial apocalypse, it is the upper Midwest. Three of the races involve Republican incumbents who rode the Republican wave of 2010 into office. They are Rick Snyder in Michigan, John Kasich in Ohio and Scott Walker in Wisconsin. That potential loss of three Governor’s offices may be mitigated by a Pat Quinn Democratic loss in Illinois. The problem is that Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin are less red than Illinois is certainly blue.

Shortly after Barack Obama won reelection in November, New Jersey governor Chris Christie pointed out that Republicans’ cloudy political prospects had a bright silver lining. “One of the reasons you have 30 Republican governors in America, and why we’re the only organization to add Republican strength,” Christie said, “is because people see us getting things done.” Christie’s stance countered most of the elite postelection commentary, which gleefully pronounced the Republican Party’s political irrelevance. But the governor was right. Since Obama first took office in 2008, Republicans have picked up a net nine governorships, bringing their total to 30 states,...

Governor Pat Quinn announced a $54 million capital investment to build a Fine Arts Complex that will strengthen Illinois State University’s renowned arts programs and create 775 construction jobs. “This investment means Illinois State University will be able to build on its excellent reputation in the fine arts while creating hundreds of good jobs in Normal,” the governor said on Founders Day on February 21. “Higher education is a powerful force for growth in Illinois. We all benefit when our universities have the facilities to engage and educate our young people, whether the field is art, accounting or engineering.” The...

If you thought President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder had given up on closing Guantanamo Bay and bringing jihadists to American soil, think again. Two troubling developments on the Gitmo front should have every American on edge. The first White House maneuver took place in October, while much of the public and the media were preoccupied with election news. On Oct. 2, Obama's cash-strapped Illinois pals announced that the federal government bought out the Thomson Correctional Center in western Illinois for $165 million. According to Watchdog.org, a recent appraisal put the value of the facility at $220 million. Democratic...

Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is getting hit with a nationwide backlash over his suggestion that the federal government bail out the state employees’ pension program. Critics have in the past several days pounced on the suggestion, made last year when Quinn, in announcing the state’s fiscal 2012 budget, said part of Illinois' long-term effort to reduce the estimate $167 billion in under-funded liabilities would be to seek “a federal guarantee of the debt.” Among those leading the charge is Republican Sen. Jim DeMint. The South Carolina senator has joined the Illinois Policy Institute’s national “No Pension Bailout” campaign --...

How 'bout a little refresher re. Obama political Godfather  and actual (16-count!) convicted felon Tony Rezko...? The Syrian-born Rezko is an infamous Chicago slumlord, fast-food restauranteur, and sleazy political operator who played a key role in the Blagojevich case- as well as the unlikley ascension to power of Barrack Hussein Obama.Obama's longtime ally, friend, and top fundraiser was found guilty of 16/24 counts of felony influence peddling back in June 2008. Of course the story was mostly buried/detached from his bud Barry in the run-up to that year's most unfortunate (for us) presidential election whilst the jury convicted Rezko of wire...

Really, Governor Quinn? Really? Catholic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn took time out recently to do some Islamic praying on Ramadan.

Gov. Pat Quinn today approved legislation requiring thousands of retired state employees to chip in on the costs of health care insurance that many of them get for little or nothing. The law attempts to rein in the state’s rising costs but also seeks to share the expense with the 78,000 retirees who pay no premiums for their insurance now. The Quinn administration will set premiums each year for the group health program, which includes retired judges, lawmakers, university employees and rank-and-file state workers. Currently, retired legislators get free premium health insurance after four years, retired judges after six years...

Gov. Pat Quinn--following on President Barack Obama's Tuesday call to raise the dropout age--will ask the Illinois legislature next week to boost the age students have to stay in school from 17 to 18. "I like the fact that the president said kids have to stay in school until they are 18. Jobs follow brainpower. We have to understand that investing in education, including community colleges, is the key to a nimble economy," Quinn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday morning. Quinn's office said in a Friday release he will propose hiking the drop-out age this year in his...

What is Democratic Governor like Pat Quinn in a pork barrel blue state like Illinois to do? The Party's power depends upon an endless stream of government jobs with budget-busting benefits, which translates into votes. Unfortunately, the game only works if the bill can be foisted onto a deep-pocket third party. The fly in the ointment is those unreasonable, right-wing tax payers, who are tired of being played for a pocket. The Democrats' preferred solution is to sew up acquiescence and hamstring resistance by invoking fairness, responsibility, family or what-have-you. The answer is never to cut the size and scope...

Illinois' six Catholic bishops have deplored Catholic governor Pat Quinn's role as the presenter of a “Pro-Choice Leadership Award” at an abortion advocacy group's upcoming ceremony. “We deeply regret the governor's decision to present this award, which so closely associates him with a political action group whose purpose is contrary to the common good,” the six bishops said in a Nov. 2 statement released by the Catholic Conference of Illinois. “With this action, Governor Quinn has gone beyond a political alignment with those supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother's wombs, to rewarding those deemed most successful...

Gov. Pat Quinn plans to issue layoff notices to thousands of state workers this week as he deals with a budget shortfall he pegs in the hundreds of millions of dollars, a state government source with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune. The governor also intends to announce the closing of several state facilities, including a prison, juvenile detention center and homes for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, sources confirmed. Without action, Quinn's budget office says, several agencies would run out of money by the spring. Quinn is responding to the Democratic-controlled Legislature's decision at the end of...

Thanks to Illinois governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois legislature Illinois Loses Most Jobs in the Nation. In a trend that continues to worsen, more Illinoisans found themselves unemployed in the month of July. Illinois lost more jobs during the month of July than any other state in the nation. ... When it comes to putting people back to work, Illinois is going backwards. Since January, Illinois has dropped 89,000 people from its employment rolls. A combination of high taxes, overspending and red tape do nothing but chase away job creators and leave too many citizens without jobs. Springfield needs...

Huge Illinois Business Leaves for Indiana by Scott McCOY for State Representative of the 106th House District in Illinois Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 10:10 pm CST Tomorrow (Tuesday), Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is expected to announce that Indiana will welcome a new business that will bring 240 new jobs to Indiana — all thanks to Illinois’ Governor Quinn, the Illinois Democrats, and the major hike in Illinois’ taxes the Democrats put on Illinois businesses. Modern Drop Forge, of Blue Island, Illinois, is expected to move its operation to Merrillville, Indiana. They are also expected to make a $7 million...

Immigration: An insolvent state hemorrhaging jobs enacts its version of the federal DREAM Act, holding out another carrot to illegal aliens by setting up a college scholarship fund for their children. Illinois' Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday illustrated why liberals tend to run governments and economies into the ground by signing into law Monday the Illinois DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, a seemingly innocuous and compassionate piece of legislation that sets up scholarships for anyone with a Social Security number or taxpayer identification number. At a time when the Land of Lincoln is driving away...

Illinois is on the verge of a major gambling expansion, and citizens are being pelted with competing claims. The advocates envision a gusher of jobs and tax revenues. The opponents brace for an epidemic of bankruptcies, crime, divorce and suicide. Which side to believe? Neither. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is now considering whether to sign or amend a measure authorizing five new casinos, including one in Chicago, and slot machines at racetracks as well as Chicago airports. The capacity of gambling establishments in Illinois would more than triple. The motive for this sudden interest is economic. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel...

State Government: The chief fiscal officer of tax-and-spend Illinois is preparing to warn lenders that allowing it to borrow any more money would be a major risk. Will his be the first state to go bankrupt? Treasurer Dan Rutherford is a Republican in a very blue state, and the usual critics will say his warning is political grandstanding. We think the guy who counts Illinois' money has simply embraced fiscal reality and sanity in shouting from the financial rooftops: "Don't help us anymore; we can't afford it." Rutherford on Monday said the state was in a deep hole and needed...