Stories tagged "state politics"

Former Illinois Attorney General and U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris certainly is accumulating a lot of frequent flyer miles these days. After heading to Washington only to be turned away from the Senate by Democratic leaders, he’ll be back in Illinois today testifying before the state house committee that is considering the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich. Committee members say their decision on impeachment could come as early as today. We are joined by Amanda Vinicky, the statehouse reporter for Illinois Public Radio.

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"Giving All My Money to the Man" by Steven Zelin, the Singing CPA
Trouble viewing this video? Check out the YouTube version (click "watch in high quality" for best quality).

Across the country, state governments are trying to cope with severe budgetary shortages. The solution: taxes! Whether you call them fee hikes or revenue enhancements, we are seeing ideas that range from a real bummer to downright odd. Everything is on the table to increase tax revenues including sugary drinks and iTunes downloads. The Takeaway invited Steven Zelin, a certified public accountant in New York City who calls himself "The Singing CPA," to write a holiday-themed song about the current state of affairs.

Listen to Steven Zelin on The Takeaway.

To download an mp3 of the soon-to-be hit "Giving All My Money to the Man" click here.

Still want more from the Singing CPA? Check out his music on Amazon.com and on his Web site, thesingingcpa.com.

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President-elect Obama's aides will release a report today reportedly showing his transition team is clean. Meanwhile, the Illinois state senate committee considering impeachment of Blagojevich ended its work for the week without coming to any definitive conclusions. Politico's Ben Smith joins The Takeaway for an update.

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Trading jobs for money is only part of the story.

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Unfortunately for Illinois, political corruption is not unusual.

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The U.S. Attorney prosecuting the corruption case has a higher profile than the Governor.

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"I take the Church at its word. I think they have very genuine and sincerely held beliefs about marriage but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can't find something short of that that can be helpful to gays and lesbians in the state of Utah."
-- Scott McCoy

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Barack Obama's election to the top office in the United States was accomplished in part by his recruitment of thousands of new black voters. But though the president-elect is one of the more liberal members of the Senate, his constituency has a conservative streak. Nowhere is that clearer than in California, where the passage of Proposition 8 — an amendment to the state constitution that will ban gay marriage — can partially be attributed to conservative leanings among many black voters. So what does that say about the soon-to-be president's mandate? The Takeaway talks to Joe Hicks, a commentator for Pajamas TV and a talk show host with KFI.

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A sign identifies Peak Energy's Dunn County, North Dakota drilling site. (Caitlin McNally)

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We're asking for your photos of ballots, envelopes, machines and polling locations to get a sense of all the different methods by which Americans are voting. Email the photo to mytake@thetakeaway.org or post it to Flickr.com. Be sure to tell us your name, where you're from, and the story of the photo. We'll share the best of them with our readers on Wednesday.

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The trial of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, continues. Sen. Stevens takes the stand in Washington D.C. — an extraordinary step for a sitting senator, let alone one running for re-election. Alaska Public Radio Network’s Libby Casey joins The Takeaway with a wrap-up of this week’s trial developments.

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With Election Day less than three weeks away and polls showing the potential for a Democratic landslide, The Takeaway talks to the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, about what districts he will be watching and as his party seeks to gain seats.

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Congressman Lee Terry of Nebraska has aligned himself with presidential nominee Barack Obama in a new campaign ad. The strange thing? Terry is a Republican.

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Conventional wisdom suggests that the more a political candidate spends on campaigning, the more likely he or she is to win the election. Stephen Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics book and blog, investigates.

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Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee Tom Cole of Oklahoma talks with The Takeaway about his party's challenges with three weeks to Election Day.

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U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole was considered a sure thing for re-election this year. But politics are shifting and her Democratic challenger, Kay Hagen, just might win the Senate race in this southern state.

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In my previous post about North Dakota's Bakken oil fields, I included a conversation with two young waitresses about their journey from opposite sides of the country to almost the dead northern middle. The girls had left their homes on the coasts with their boyfriends, searching for work in what they had heard was the beginning of an all-out oil boom.

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With a less than a month before Election Day, The Takeaway takes a broad look at the hundreds of battles for Congressional seats and why the Democrats are favored.

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On September 10th Charles Dean Hood will die by lethal injection — or not. He’s already received five stays of execution, which is not unusual for death row. What is unusual is why: there are credible allegations that the judge who presided over Hood’s trial was, during the trial, having an affair with the prosecutor who handled the case against Hood. For the latest developments we spoke with Michael Hall, Senior Editor of Texas Monthly. He’s been corresponding with Hood since 2002.

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