The Mike Bertelsen Project

While the festivities were going on in Denver, the Blagojevich administration announced state park closures and layoffs within human services. Four state agencies will cut their workforce which include 179 jobs at the Department of Children and Family Services and 73 at the Department of Human Services.

Several state parks will close and many will remain open on a limited basis. Here are the closures:

* Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park
* Illini State Park near Marseilles
* Wolf Creek State Park
* Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
* Lowden State Park, Oregon
* Hidden Springs State Forest, Strasburg
* Channahon Parkway State Park, Channahon
* Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris
* Kickapoo State Park, Oakwood
* Moraine View State Park, Leroy
* Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton

Locally Black Hawk in Rock Island will close the Hauberg Indian Museum on October 1, but the natural areas and lodge will remain open five days per week. The site had 138,668 visitors in 2007.

Here is a list of the state historic sites:

* Lincoln’s New Salem, Petersburg: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open five days per week, and received 432,176 visitors in 2007.
* Lincoln Tomb, Springfield: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open seven days per week but will reduce operations to five days per week starting September 1 due to the layoff of seasonal workers. The Tomb had 339,073 visitors in 2007.
* Old State Capitol, Springfield: Will open seven days per week starting in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open five days per week, and had 109,254 visitors in 2007.
* Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices, Springfield: Will open seven days per week in spring 2009 using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The site is currently open on Saturdays only and had 37,774 visitors in 2007.
* Dana-Thomas House, Springfield: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 41,045 visitors in 2007.
* Vachel Lindsay Home, Springfield: Will be open on a limited schedule, with hours to be determined by staff at the Old State Capitol who also manage this site. The site is currently open on Saturdays only, and had 2,472 visitors in 2007.
* Cahokia Mounds, Collinsville: The site will remain open five days per week. It had 329,428 visitors in 2007.
* Lewis and Clark, Hartford: The site will remain open five days per week, and had 96,188 visitors in 2007.
* Ulysses S. Grant Home, Washburne House and Old Market House, Galena: The Grant Home will remain open five days per week using funds from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the Illinois Bureau of Tourism. The Washburne House and the Old Market House will remain open on their current schedules using volunteers: Washburne House, open Fridays only; Old Market House, open five days per week. These Galena sites had 113,328 visitors in 2007.
* Douglas Tomb, Chicago: The site will remain open five days per week. The sole employee lives on-site and is needed to provide security. The site had 13,456 visitors in 2007.
* Pullman, Chicago: The site will not be impacted. It will remain open by appointment only. The sole employee maintains the collections, works with volunteers and provides security.
* Lincoln Log Cabin, near Charleston: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 82,735 visitors in 2007.
* David Davis Mansion, Bloomington: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 49,468 visitors in 2007.
* Fort de Chartres, Prairie du Rocher: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 38,100 visitors in 2007.
* Vandalia Statehouse, Vandalia: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 31,690 visitors in 2007.
* Bishop Hill Museum, Colony Church and Bjorklund Hotel: These three buildings will close October 1 but will be open on a limited basis for special events. They are currently open five days per week, and had 19,551 visitors in 2007.
* Carl Sandburg, Galesburg: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 8,598 visitors in 2007.
* Cahokia Courthouse, Cahokia: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. It is currently open five days per week, and had 8,414 visitors in 2007.
* Bryant Cottage, Bement: The site will close October 1 but will open on a limited basis for special events. The site is currently open four days per week, and had 5,176 visitors in 2007.
* Jubilee College, near Brimfield: The site will close October 1. It is currently open five days per week, and had 72,780 visitors in 2007.
* Apple River Fort, Elizabeth: The site will close October 1. It is currently open five days per week, and had 24,693 visitors in 2007.
* Fort Kaskaskia and Pierre Menard Home, Ellis Grove: These two sites, including the campground at Fort Kaskaskia, will close October 1. These sites are currently open five days per week, and had 23,086 visitors in 2007.
* Mt. Pulaski Courthouse, Mt. Pulaski, and Postville Courthouse, Lincoln, will remain open four days per week, and Metamora Courthouse, Metamora will remain open five afternoons per week. These sites are operated with volunteers.

The Silvis Moonlight Festival was Saturday, August 23rd and it was a gorgeous day for the event. I made the rounds that afternoon and stayed for the lighted parade. Fireworks followed as a great crowd was on hand.

Coal Valley was where the action was on Saturday morning, the 23rd. Coal Valley Days was the event. The parade was very good with much vocal support along the way. I was just ahead of Santa Claus in the line-up. I got to thinking if I may be getting my Christmas gift a bit early! I had to say "hi" to Santa and told him Christmas isn't that far off. The Niabi Zoo entry was right behind us and I just love their truck with all their zoo animals on it. The Henry County Republicans were there too with Dave Doebbels, Rick and Loren Rathjen.

The Rock Island County Republican Central Committee held their annual bar-b-q on Thursday, August 21st at Indian Bluff Golf Course and Forest Preserve. The event was well attended and I saw mant familiar faces as well as meeting new friends and supporters. The Rock Island County Republicans have been working very hard and the entire committee has been very helpful to me and the campaign. The food was excellent, provided by Famous Dave's. A big thanks to all who attended and helped with the event! News Channel 8 was there providing coverage and I, along with Steve and Rock Island GOP Chairman Susie Carpentier were interviewed.

The special guest was Dr. Steve Sauerberg, M.D., Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. I had met Steve before as he spoke at the Mercer County Lincoln Dinner on May 10th. Steve is big now on energy and he had a press conference that day addressing that issue.

I spoke and I was really fond of the response. The message is change and folks need to tell the ballot that very thing on November 4th.

The pictures are from top to bottom:

Dr. C. Edgar Crockett, ph.D., Professor of Music at Blackhawk College and the band providing some great light jazz.

Brent, Samantha and Carrie Titus on yard sign detail.

Myself and Dr. Sauerberg take a moment to greet one another.

Myself and Matt Larson talk about the issues in the state senate race.

Emil Jones, Illinois State Senate President, has announced his intentions to retire, probably at the end of 2008. This has come as a surprise to many since Barack Obama once served with Jones in the state senate. The Democrat National Convention is next week in Denver.

One source said that Jones is tired and is coming to an end in the legislature. Jones has served since 1973 and has been senate president since January 2003. The formal announcement is expected sometime today.

Here is a link to the source article.

Jones garnered criticism from the fact that he funneled no-bid state contracts to a tech firm headed by his stepson. Judicial Watch recently filed suit against Jones for ignoring Freedom of Information Act requests on legislative earmarked appropriations that weren't segregated in the state budget.

I went back to Morrison for the Whiteside County fair. A big thanks to Robin Blackert, Whiteside County GOP Chairman for her hospitality. Their booth was great and the folks were really friendly. I did get a picture of the round barn, which is the only barn of that type on a county fairgrounds in the State of Illinois. It's used for horses during harness racing.

The Whiteside County Fair was in full swing on Friday the 15th. There was the tractor pull and plenty of people to meet. The evening's weather was perfect. The fair is in the county seat of Morrison and the Whiteside County Republicans were well represented with a booth at the Merchant's Building.

The pictures are, top: myself and Greg Spencer, Whiteside County State's Attorney and two folks I met at the booth.

The New Windsor Fair, Horse Show and Rodeo got underway on Thursday, August 14th. This is always a big event with plenty of entries. The Republicans were well represented with us from Mercer County and Henry County. The people along the route were very enthusiastic. At New Windsor there are many fire/rescue vehicles and horses, which get along better now, because the fire trucks don't "hit" the sirens anymore! The New Windsor Rodeo runs through August 16th.

The Pictures are from top to bottom: Lew Wiley, Mercer County Coroner candidate, Mike Bertelsen, Jeff Benson, Mercer County Circuit Clerk and Vicki Bull.

Me and the entry also helping and representing Steve Sauerberg, U.S. Senate candidate.

The Henry County entry...could they find a bigger truck?

Joe Loving, from Woodhull and myself. Joe and I are Lodge members together in Aledo.

Tim Wells and Loren Rathjen, Henry County Board candidates, me, Lewis Willey and Art Goodrich, Henry County Board candidate

I had the pleasure of attending Henry County Treasurer Rich VerHeecke's Annual Corn Boil at the park in Geneseo. Rich and I are good friends and he is the campaign's Henry County coordinator. There were about 200 people there and I felt right at home. I saw several folks I had met before and met many new people too. The event was capped off by a pie auction which supported a local charity. Great event Rich!!

The pictures are: Rich and I, Terry Patton, Henry County State's Attorney and I, Tim Wells, candidate for Henry County Board and an excellent supporter, Don Moffitt, 94th State representative and I and Tim Bivins, State Senator 45th District and I.

Port Byron was the place for the annual Tugfest. Friday night the 8th was truly spectacular with the fireworks display over the Mississippi River. There were plenty of people to talk to and I thank Rich Morthland, Rock Island County Board candidate for his hospitality.

The consensus was change in state government. Most people I talked to don't feel that they're represented. Taxpayers don't feel like they are in charge. Too bad, because they are. If only they had a voice in government. If elected I will be that voice.

On Saturday there were the "tugs" and the motorcycle show along with plenty of food, including Gaybo's Grill on Wheels, owned by Richard Gay of East Moline. Richard's motto is: "Cooking is my passion, serving you will be my pleasure." His pulled pork bar-b-q is the best I've ever had! Give Richard a call if you are in need of catering at 309-755-6821. Tell him Mike Bertelsen, the senate candidate told you to call. That's Richard and I above. Richard also wants a voice in Springfield for business owners just like him.

The special session called for education funding became a special session for pay raises. The senate voted on House Joint Resolution No. 132 that would reject the Comprehensive Review Board report for legislative pay raises. The vote carried 47 to 0, with 3 present to REJECT THE RAISES. Here's a link to the vote history.

Senator Mike Jacobs had this to say before the vote: "I encourage everyone to run for public office. It's not the greatest experience in the world but you learn a lot about yourself. I'm going to do the political thing. My newspaper friends who write bad editorials will say 'look he did the right thing.' I'm doing the wrong thing."

So far the comments about this aren't all the positive. Here's the link to the Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch article which includes comments. Comments at this writing are not positive.

I say the "right thing" was done. Thanks to you, this issue did not go away, and a vote was taken. I would have voted to reject the raises and my stance would have been to get to the business at hand, even going back to the regular session. We have to address the $44 billion pension liability, the $185 million in Medicaid unpaid bills and a reasonable capital plan to boost infrastructure and help with job creation. The pay raise should not have been an issue.

When I decided to run for the state senate, I didn't know what the job paid. I did know it paid more than what I am making now. My reason for running is not the pay, but to serve. I want to serve you as your state senator. When I filed to get on the primary ballot, pay raises had not yet been discussed.

Have you heard that pay raises have become the focal point of this special session? Originally Governor Blagojevich called it for a capital works plan, but the shift has taken place. That's because taxpayers in Illinois are fed up. The House and Senate Republicans were opposed to the raises from the start and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn has posted a website so citizens can sign a petition and e-mail it to Governor Blagojevich and State Senate President Emil Jones. You can also just sign the petition. I signed it and e-mailed it.

I heard this morning from a news item on the Illinois Radio Network that the governor is now opposed to the raises. He didn't say a word about them during the last special session. Emil Jones remains adamant on the issue, and sounded like he won't budge. Will Senate Democrats try to persuade their leader to bring up a rejection vote? This might be a mute point because State Comptroller Dan Hynes says the raises won't be paid because the money wasn't appropriated.

Do you notice that the legislative business at hand gets put on the back burner with the Democrats? Will one wonder why the special session was called in the first place?

Governor Blagojevich blamed 10 Democrat legislators from Chicago for "double-dipping" and also for killing his construction plan because Mayor Richard Daley said to do it. The legislators, according to the governor also for work for the City of Chicago or Cook County. Earlier last week Blagojevich asked Daley to intervene between himself and House Speaker Madigan, who doesn't trust the governor to deliver on his promises. House Democrats, who also work for other public entities in Chicago or Cook County think the governor can threaten them with their jobs if they don't cooperate. Some legislators have been on unpaid leave or get about half the salary because they are now in the state legislature. Blagojevich has said that these legislators need to "stop killing jobs" for downstate.

I was in the Illinois City Days parade. There was good attendance and the rain, which was light, stopped just in time. I saw several folks I knew and met others. I was sure pleased with the turn out and congratulate the Illinois City Volunteer Fire Department was a successful event. The day's weather was just right.

I had one person say to me that the legislature won't get anything accomplished next week. I responded, "We'll see." There perhaps might be more to next week's session, with the school funding subject and the capital plan.

An article in the Daily Herald reports that Governor Balgojevich wants education funding fixed , and fixed now, before the November elections. The article mentions that he wants this done WITHOUT a tax increase. If a tax increase is in the bill, the governor would veto it.

This isn't sitting well with legislators (especially Democrats), since Governor Blagojevich wants to call a special session in September to address this. That is right during the heart of campaign season, and the special session could renew talk of a recall amendment to the State Constitution and impeachment.

Education funding is now a hot issue, thanks to State Senator James Meeks, who brought up the disparity in property tax funding between Chicago inner city and suburban school districts. This could be the focal point of next week's special session. Meeks also said that if Blagojevich will run for re-election, he will run against him in the Democrat primary in 2010.

Yesterday I went to the Carroll County Fair in Milledgeville. The weather was excellent and the folks were very nice. The Republicans had a tent set up that looked great. I talked with several people and learned that the Milledgeville Men's Club are putting on a bean bag toss tournament on the morning of August 23rd. I was asked if I could come and participate! I'll see what direction the campaign trail takes.

The pictures are from the fair where I made a couple of friends who said that they may go to Springfield and talk to the governor! I couldn't resist the John Deere tractors of course! I found a Farmall 300 which brought back memories. My dad started farming with a 300 and it was the first tractor I ever drove by myself.

I received an e-mail from State Senator Chris Lauzen (R - Aurora) who has some very pertinent information I wanted to convey.

This is part of what Senator Lauzen wrote:

ILLINOIS BUDGET: State taxpayers are sending literally $6.5 Billion (with a "b") more to Springfield this year than they did six years ago when Blagojevich, Jones and Madigan were given by our fellow citizens and their party allies total control over state government. Beware of a multi-billion dollar tax increase after November 4 when they are freshly and firmly re-ensconced in office.

Although, I voted "yes" on the $25B capital plan to rebuild our roads (including Route 47), bridges and schools, Blagojevich-Hastert-Poshard came back for even more, $34B that includes $1B (again, with a "b") for "urban revitalization" -- a euphemism for walking around pork spending for Emil Jones along with $600M in unspecified pork for the four party caucuses and the Governor's office. Proponents of this sloppy and greedy waste should be ashamed of themselves -- no matter which political party they come from.

Note that the capital plan has been scaled down to $ 25 billion dollars by the governor for next week's special legislative session. Also note that there is $600 million in "unspecified" legislative appropriations. All the appropriations should accounted for to stop potential abuses and wasteful spending. I am not for "lump-sum" appropriations and support efforts to stop the practice. Also remember that the capital plan does not have a capital improvement plan (CIP) attached to it. A CIP tells us where ALL the money will be spent BEFORE it's voted on.

Governor Rod Blagojevich has called a special session of the legislature next week. One thing I thought of is the state legislature may find enough time to enjoy the Illinois State Fair and thus help sagging attendance. But back to business. They will go at the bequest of the governor to look at the scaled-down version (from 34 to 25 billion dollars) of the capital plan and public school funding.

First the public school funding issue was brought up by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, who demanded a special session. The ILBC wants to put school funding to the forefront because of the disparity of school district funding based on property taxes versus a tax dollar boost from income taxes. Recently Senator James Meeks (D-Chicago) called for parents to register their children for the upcoming school year at the New Trier Township school district, a wealthy suburban district. This is to be done to protest the funding disparities between intercity and suburban school districts.

Meeks and other African-American legislators have called for a property tax/income tax swap to equalize funding among school districts. Several have said that this plan would raise income taxes. This notion is nothing new. I can remember when Jim Edgar was in office as governor, he tried twice for at least some sort of reduction of the property tax for schools, but he could get no real, serious support and the initiatives failed. Once the plan was dead before any real talk on the issue could get going. Remember Edgar left office in January 1999. That's how long this has been. In Chicago, Meeks said he hoped to see a vote next week on a bill to allow students to go to whatever school district they wished. He also called for a vote on legislation to dismantle the state’s school funding system in 2010, forcing a rewrite of the funding system during the next gubernatorial election year.

I personally don't criticize the idea of this (I've shot the idea out in plenty of tax discussions for the last 12 years), but I have a difficulty accepting that this should be attempted in a special session without so much as a hearing on the issue. What do school administrators have to say? Or even county treasurers (of which I am one)? Since we collect and distribute school district property tax monies, I am a bit curious how an income tax system would operate. Plus how would this effect the property tax levy process? Would income taxes have to be increased? Get my concern? Logistics are a bit involved here!

Well if that's not enough, the capital plan revenue is still up in the air, since the major portion of the revenue is the sale or lease of the lottery. Meeks wanted the sale or lease of the lottery to go to education, but that plan failed. Meeks said he would not vote for the lottery sale or lease to fund construction. Will Senator Meeks appeal for a sale or lease of the lottery for his school tax swap plan? Tune in to find out. Will there be the votes in the House to use the lottery to fund the capital plan. A "test run" in the last special session said no (the vote was for the expansion of gambling licenses), but more House Republicans than who'd thought, voted for the expansion of gambling licenses as a source of revenue. Were they just practicing for what was yet to come? By the way, that initiative failed mainly due to a three-fifths vote needed.

If that's not enough, bring State Senate President Emil Jones into the mix. Jones faces the prospect of the legislative pay raises taking effect while the Senate is in session, opening him and other Democrats to criticism, or should I say more criticism? Jones & Co. have an "out" and that is to reject the raises in this special session. How bad does Mr. Jones and the Senate Democrats want that raise? We'll soon see.

Chicago Tribune Clout Street was a source article for this entry

We know by now about the storm that ravaged our area on July21st. I was sorry to hear that my good friend and colleague Rich VerHeecke's place got hit hard. Rich is the Henry County Treasurer and a farmer that lives west of Geneseo on Route 6. Rich is the campaign's county coordinator too.

I was told that his place won't look the same and the pictures tell that story. Thankfully no major damage was done to the house or nearby buildings. He lost a lot of good shade trees though.

The talk in Illinois politics since mid-April has been centered around the capital plan proposed by Governor Blagojevich. Recently the governor had dropped the plan from $34 billion to $25 billion. Just how many jobs will the capital plan create? Depends on who you ask! First, there is the 611,000 jobs number when the plan was estimated at the $34 billion level. But now where are we when it comes to the jobs number with the reduction?

Southern Illinois University economics professors Subhash Sharma and Basharat Pitafi were asked to calculate the capital program’s economic impact on Illinois at the behest of SIU President Glenn Poshard. Mr. Poshard and Dennis Hastert, former U.S. House Speaker were chosen by Blagojevich to negotiate with legislative leaders on the capital bill. Sharma came up with numbers for three versions of an Illinois capital bill: $25 billion, $30 billion and $35 billion. His estimated job creation tallies ranged from 443,596 to 611,024. The last number is the usual figure touted by proponents of the capital bill.

The effect of money can be measured as it flows through the economy and theoretically creates more jobs. Jobs are divided into three categories: direct, indirect and induced.

• Direct jobs are those tied directly to the construction projects that would be funded in the capital bill. A construction worker hired to build a road or school is a direct job.
• Indirect jobs are a step removed, but still tied to construction. For example, a concrete company buys more cement because of the capital program, and the cement supplier then has to hire additional workers.
• Induced jobs are those created because the construction workers are spending money from their new jobs. The people hired for induced jobs then spend their money and create more new jobs, and so on. If the construction worker and his friends started taking their families out to eat regularly because they can afford it with their new jobs and the restaurant had to hire additional help, those would be induced jobs.

One other item to consider: the study is using numbers of jobs, not people working. Say for instance if an employee on a job site gets done in Peoria and then goes to Rockford to another job site, that's two jobs and one working.

On Saturday night the 2nd, I attended The Green Room Theatre production of Assassins. The theatre is operated byTyson Danner and my son Derek Bertelsen and is located at 1611 2nd Avenue in Rock Island. They opened on August 10th of last year. I was glad to see the show and everyone involved.

The music and lyrics to Assassins was written by Stephen Sondheim and the book was written by John Weidman. The music is terrific and the talent is great. The production was directed by Derek and Tyson conducted the music. Check out the link above to learn more about their theatre and upcoming season.

At Hampton on July 30th, I had the pleasure to meet Greg Sullivan, co-author of Just 2 Simple Guys: Rediscovering Common Sense in America. (ISBN: 970-0-615-19162-1) Published in 2008 by Fidlar Doubleday. I was given a copy of the book by Greg and was pleased to meet and talk with him. I have just started reading it and so far I am very impressed.

The chapters are on such topics as the economy, taxes, immigration and welfare, among others. The authors ask a variety of questions and give very simple answers. I like that!

If you'd like more information about the book, visit Adam and Greg's website: www.Just2SimpleGuys.com

President Theodore Roosevelt was back in action at the Osco Community Church on Friday, August 1st. I learned about this at Hamilton and was extended the invitation by John Zahm, campaign coordinator for Lawrence Bruckner. I was very pleased to meet the folks there and see their facilities. The hospitality extended to me was fantastic.

President Roosevelt, played by Joe Wiegand, talked about being in the arena. He mainly focused on the arena of politics, where ideas come together for the common good. Where a person can take a stand and debate and compromise to help people and government move forward. President Roosevelt said, "To serve as well as lead, that is the make of a true politician." Theodore Roosevelt was first elected to the New York House of Representatives when he was 22 years old.

The top picture is myself with T.R. and Vicki Bull. The bottom picture is John Zahm, T.R. and Lawrence Bruckner. The t-shirt reads, "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." One of T.R.'s famous quotes.

As entered on this blog, education grant abuses were reported by The Chicago Tribune. Initiatives that would have prevented these abuses were "shot down"by the Democrat led senate. This was brought to light locally by Bernie Theirgart, who has been reviewing state government fo several years.

His letter to the editor in the Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch on August 2nd is very commendable. Bernie has brought to light the very fact that too many downstate legislators have gone along with the status quo that sends so many of our tax dollars to Chicago, even when past abuses were revealed in 2006.

Remember that the investigation into this was done by a media outlet. Abuses were not prevented by legislation that was sponsored by the senate minority Republicans. There certainly is more need for accountability in state government and the status quo seems not to want to do anything about it.

As reported earlier, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the governor, senate president and state senate for open records violations. Judicial Watch claims that information is being withheld about pork-barrel spending which is often hidden inside the budget as "lump-sum" appropriations. Specific details about the projects and how much each project costs are not available to taxpayers.

Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Judicial Watch were ignored by Blagojevich and Jones. Requests made to the State House of Representatives were NOT ignored and hence they were not named in the suit.

Please note that SB1601, sponsored by Republican Senator Gary Dahl would stop this practice. But the bill got stuck in rules by the Democrat led committee and went nowhere.

Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson called on Governor Blagojevich to sign the current ethics bill into law. Mr. Watson made his appeal to the governor on Thursday, July 31st at a discussion of a state construction plan.

The bill is HB824, the ethics bill that would curb the state's "pay-to-play" political contributions and clean up state government. The measure passed the state legislature overwhelmingly and is now awaiting the governor's signature. Governor Blagojevich did say he would make ethics reform part of a new construction plan.

New government figures show that state and local governments boosted spending 7.8% in the second quarter compared with 2007 while revenue rose 2.5%. Government is on a hiring binge, too, even as private-sector jobs disappear. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that government can provide more services, but that could bring higher taxes.

Chris Edwards, budget director of the libertarian Cato Institute, says elected officials don't manage money well. "Why can't government adjust a percentage or two here and there without having a crisis?" he asks. "Businesses do it routinely."

Judicial Watch has filed lawsuits against Governor Rod Blagojevich, the Illinois Senate and State Senate President Emil Jones. The lawsuits were filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield. The suits are part of an investigation by Judicial Watch which involve private deals between Governor Blagojevich and Democrat lawmakers. Judicial Watch is also reviewing public spending in general in Illinois.

Open record requests filed with the Governor's Office and the State Senate on February 20 and March 25, 2008 were ignored, prompting the lawsuits. The lawsuits were necessary, according to Judicial Watch, to force compliance with Illinois open records law.

Judicial Watch and Americans for Prosperity launched an investigation of public spending policies in the State of Illinois after multiple press reports documented "secret side deals" between Governor Blagojevich and Illinois lawmakers "for items ranging from police cars and tornado sirens to millions of dollars for after-school programs..." (The Chicago Tribune estimated these pork barrel projects cost Illinois taxpayers at least $70.8 million in 2006 alone.)

A detailed review of public spending practices in Illinois is being conducted by Judicial Watch and Americans for Prosperity, including member initiatives and/or earmarked appropriations, about which substantial questions have been raised," Judicial Watch wrote in its original open records request filed with the Illinois Senate.

I have said that if elected I would call for a major, independent accounting firm to conduct a thorough audit of Illinois government spending. This might well be happening now with the Judicial Watch investigation.