Free Republic

The last time Jim Ryan ran for governor of Illinois, he offered voters a clear choice between a man who never took a dime in public life and Rod Blagojevich. And though many would like to forget it, they chose Blagojevich. "The infrastructure of the Illinois Republican Party has never really been for me," Ryan said over breakfast the other day as we talked about that 2002 campaign and his current run in the crowded GOP primary for governor. "I'm not a deal-maker. And senior Republicans knew my reputation. They knew I wouldn't be flexible." Seven years ago, Ryan, then...

A labor leader in Chicago is expected to receive pension payments of nearly $500,000 a year, while another could get about $438,000 a year, according to reports Wednesday. The Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV, which obtained information about union pension benefits during a joint investigation, said at least eight union officials in Chicago were eligible for what were described as inflated city pensions on top of union pensions for the same period of employment. The news organizations said this was due to "a charitable interpretation" of Illinois law by officials representing two city pension funds. "Can you name any place in...

Former Gov. George Ryan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison today following his historic conviction for steering lucrative state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family. "People of this state expected better, and I let them down," Ryan said in a statement delivered to the courtroom before the sentencing. Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 8 to 10 years. But defense attorneys argued before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer that even a sentence of up to 30 months could deprive Ryan, 72, of the last healthy...