Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats..." /> Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats..." /> Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats..." />
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Tag: Writers – Carol Felsenthal
All the Comforts of the House (of Representatives)
By Carol Felsenthal
A recent Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats... Read more
The Wives Club: No Wonder Blago Wanted That Job for Patti
By Carol Felsenthal
How lovely for Carrie Zalewski and Lynne Sered. Governor Pat Quinn recently appointed the two women to plum jobs on state boards that pay six-figure annual salaries. Each woman appears to have solid credentials. But—in the kind of coincidence that seems to happen all too often in Illinois—each woman also has a powerful connection... Read more
Alexi G's Basketball Diaries
By Carol Felsenthal
Many stories about Alexi Giannoulias, the candidate for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Barack Obama, mention that the two are basketball-playing buddies. Not recently: They haven’t played since Obama won the White House. In a phone interview, Alexi attributed this to the President’s busy schedule, but reports suggest that Obama’s advisers want their man... Read more
A Republican Ahead in Hawaii—A Sign of Things to Come in Illinois?
By Carol Felsenthal
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, President Obama drew applause when he mocked the conspiracy theory that he was born in Kenya. “It's been quite a year since I've spoken here last—lots of ups, lots of downs—except for my approval ratings, which have just gone down. But that's politics. Beside[s], I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth... Read more
Forrest Claypool to the Rescue?
By Carol Felsenthal
Editorial boards and earnest columnists have exhorted readers to sign those petitions for Forrest Claypool—the one man, in their words, standing between fair property tax bills and Joseph Berrios, a machine pol who won the Democratic nomination for assessor in February.

The signatures are flowing in, and the 52-year-old Cook County commissioner will almost certainly claim a spot on the November... Read more
Houlihan on Giannoulias vs. Kirk: Alexi's In to Win
By Carol Felsenthal
Early Monday morning, I spoke on the phone with Jim Houlihan, whom I interviewed in person last Wednesday. I wanted an update on the Senate race in light of the closing of the Giannoulias family’s Broadway Bank on Friday. Houlihan was in Washington for the wedding of a friend, but he got a chance to see his pals, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel... Read more
James Houlihan interested in run for mayor
By Carol Felsenthal
The Cook County Assessor has his eyes on the office—whether or not Daley runs

On Wednesday, I met with outgoing Cook County Assessor James Houlihan at his spacious downtown County Building office. The last time I interviewed him was in July 2006, when I was writing about Bill Clinton’s post-presidency. (The two men are golfing buddies.) Houlihan is a big man with an open face and manner—a great talker who has the natural gift of remembering... Read more
Goldman Sachs or Broadway Bank? Voters’ Choice
By Carol Felsenthal
So Alexi Giannoulias demands that Mark Kirk, his Republican opponent in U.S. Senate race, return the thousands he has received from Goldman Sachs. The firm was just charged with civil fraud for allegedly misleading investors on a mortgage instrument that went south with the housing market... Read more
The One Question I'd Like to Ask Blago
By Carol Felsenthal
If I ever land another interview with Rod Blagojevich—I suppose I could wait until next Sunday and call his weekly WLS-AM talk show—I’d ask him why he didn’t just serve his terms as governor in a reasonably honest manner and then do what legions of retired legislators do: grab a job at a law firm and rake in a seven-figure salary... Read more