Good News for Illinois?

 

 

Well, it depends….

Anytime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has a say in the future of Illinois, we need to worry. After all, he will one day have to answer to the fact that he has led the Illinois House through one of the most tragic periods in state history, and he needs to be held partially responsible for our fiscal mess, political backwardness, and general sad state of affairs. Yes, our previous two governors – one Republican in jail and one Democrat the laughing-stock of the nation and on the verge of going to jail – have much blame on their hands. But it has been Madigan who has been the constant through this period.

Illinois needs a reset button. But until then, politics as usual. In that context, despite the wave of Republican victories across the nation and in Illinois, the Illinois Democrats still have some good news. They still run things in Springfield. Part of that power will bring the ability to redraw the congressional districts around the state, presumably to favor as much as possible the Democratic base.

Good news for Democrats; good news for Illinois if Madigan and Quinn do the right thing. Do what is right for Illinois – yes, redraw the boundaries, but start to figure out how to get the entire state out of the ditch.