Topinka Wants To Make State Budget Public

This article talks about how Judy Baar Topinka wants to make the state budget public for 7 days before it is passed into law by lawmakers. ."Topinka says the change would let people examine the budget before it's sent to the governor." (WQAD.com) Topinka says for years both democrats and republicans have been working behind closed doors during the states budgeting process and vows to put an end to that if she is elected the Governor of Illinois. "Yesterday, Democrats in the Illinois House muscled through a 56 (B) billion state budget. The state Senate has yet to approve it because Hispanic lawmakers have refused to support the plan." (WQAD.com) She is planning to put this constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=4860317&nav=1sW7

Judy Baar Topinka

This article talks about the battle between Rod Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka. It talks about how Blagojevich is spending some of his 15 million dollar campaign budget for commercials against Judy Baar Topinka. Topinka talks about how she thinks that him spending his money this early is good and that she also think it is "kind of dumb"(Topinka) that he would spend his money on attacking her in commercials this early in the election. I do encourage the governor to just keep spending because he has got that absolutely humongous war chest and I'd like to even things out. So the more he spends the happier I am," she told reporters at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association convention. (bellevillenewsdemocrat.com) Blagojevich has said that he has asked Topinka to argue the issues in a debate but she has declined.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/14461873.htm

Brady and Oberweis Square Off

In a side room at the Tazewell County Lincoln Day dinner, Bill Brady and Jim Oberweiss continued to make their case for Governor of Illinois by responding back and forth about comments made at one another. "One night after Oberweis said Brady missed a vote on legislation that led to hundreds of business fee increases. (Chicago Tribune)" Bill Brady lashed back at Oberweis by saying he didn't know what he was talking about and that the fees were added later in the bill. After the fees were added, Brady voted against it. "Oberweis said Brady should have known the bill would eventually include the fee increases." You have all the (Republican) leadership voting against it," Oberweiss said. “You are something else," replied Brady, a Bloomington senator. "You have trouble with the truth, don't you?" Brady has pledged to repeal the business tax fees." (Chicago Tribune) It seems that in this particular article, Oberweiss tried to somewhat spin information to mislead people into thinking the Brady was for adding fees. He left the majority of the story out for his own benefit. Bill Brady simply told him that he was lying and that he trouble getting his facts straight. The Tuesday vote is coming up and these candidates are trying to make last minute attempts to get the voters to see where they stand.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0603190247mar19,1,5604989.story

Debate on Death Penalty and Gun Control

This article is from the Chicago Tribune. The article is titled "On death penalty, the debate is over time." It talks about the Governor's and his opponent's view on the death penalty and gun control. It goes through each candidate and they explain in the article what their stance is on these particular issues. The first issue is the death penalty. Bill Brady said that he would lift the moratorium right away, "state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington said they would lift the moratorium soon after entering office."(Chicago Tribune). Some of the candidates said that they would wait to lift the moratorium as soon as more studies were done on death penalty reform. Issues regarding gun control were also brought up. Like always, democrats were for more gun control laws (strict) and republicans were more lenient towards gun laws. "Brady has proposed legislation to repeal the firearm owner's identification, or FOID, card first required in Illinois in 1968. He would still require criminal background checks. "I believe, rather than prohibiting ownership of firearms, we should strictly enforce existing laws ... for those persons who use firearms while committing crimes," Brady said." (Chicago Tribune). He believes that people should have the right to have a fire arm, but is all for punishment if they use them to commit a crime.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0602270220feb27,1,4167767.story

State Senator Bill Brady's Ethics Questionnaire

In the Chicago Tribune, there was an article called "State Sen. Bill Brady's ethics questionnaire," in which Bill Brady answered an ethics questionnaire. He answers a variety of questions on ethics and political issues regarding the state of Illinois. The questions range from campaign financing to lobbyist. He supports all of the questions asked in the questionnaire and explains that he is all for an ethically sound state of Illinois.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-060215election-ethics-brady-story,1,5084485.story

Blagojevich Leads in Funds

This article was taken out of the Chicago Tribune. The article is called "Governor has lead in funds." The article explains the amount of campaign funds that Governor Blagojevich has along with the Republican candidates. It talks about how Rod Blagojevich has far more funds than his opponents, "state campaign finance reports filed Tuesday showed the Democratic incumbent still began the election year with an imposing $15.5 million available to seek re-election" (Chicago Tribune). Bill Brady is somewhere near the bottom of the group of Republicans in terms of campaign funds available. "Brady, of Bloomington, reported raising nearly $440,000 during the six-month period, including a $150,000 personal loan and $100,000 from Rolling Meadows-based housing developer Kimball Hill Homes. Brady, who began launching TV ads Tuesday on cable stations in DuPage and Lake Counties, spent more than $640,000. He reported almost $391,000 in cash on hand" (Chicago Tribune).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0602010267feb01,1,5005727.story

The First Debate

This article was taken out the Chicago Tribune. It is called "GOP gubernatorial hopefuls rail against Blagojevich." This article is getting the more uninformed voter acquainted with the four Republican Candidates. It gives the voters an idea on what the candidates are running on and who their primary targets will be through out the election. Bill Brady made his presence felt by his introduction on why he thinks he would be the next Governor of Illinois, "I kinda feel like Goldilocks here," said state Sen. Bill Brady, 44, a 12-year lawmaker from Bloomington. "I think you've got to be just right. You can have ... too much experience and too little. I think you need to have just the right amount." (Chicago Tribune, Bill Brady). The two more conservative Republicans, Bill Brady and Jim Oberweis, made their arguments known in the debate. Brady let Oberweis "hear it" when Oberweis brought up his illegal immigration policy. Brady responded by trying to evoke memories of the controversial illegal immigration TV ads that Oberweis used in his unsuccessful 2004 bid for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination. Arguing the answer to illegal immigration involved working more closely with law enforcement, Brady said, "With all due respect to Mr. Oberweis, it doesn't include rounding them up via helicopter and dropping them in Soldier Field." "Brady accused Oberweis of being "un-American" in attacking Brady's vote for in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. Oberweis and Brady also traded accusations of flip-flopping as each sought to become the strongest ideological challenger to moderates Topinka and Gidwitz." (Chicago Tribune). Brady also made a point in letting the viewers and the other candidates know that he thought the election against Blagojevich should be run on the recent corruption in the Governor's office.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060125gopdebate,1,990256.story