Animal Farm

goes to Chicago Democrat Rickey Hendon for his blistering defense of free rides for senior citizens on Chicagoland mass transit.

"Stick it to granny and poor little uncle Willy. I refuse to screw the senior citizens of the state of Illinois."

We might get our first look today at a "deal" on campaign finance limits. The people I talked to late Wednesday were reluctant to call it a deal but said there were tentative agreements on the concepts and the task was now translating those agreements into legislation for a vote.

Here are some provisions on which there is supposedly broad agreement, though things can and do change when put writing. (Even the leading ethics/good government groups wouldn't return calls or comment about negotiations. Nothing says ethics reform like watchdog groups not talking about what they're working on behind closed doors with the very lawmakers they say need reforming.)

But I digress ...

The basic limits are still ...
$5,000 limit on individual campaign contributions.

Lawmakers and sources around the Capitol are talking of an ethics deal that would include capping how much legislative leaders and political parties can spend in primary campaigns. Haven't seen any details yet. Negotiations are continuing today supposedly in hope of having a vote before the fall session ends Friday.

Of note, Friday's end of session does not automatically kill off any pending plans. Lawmakers could come back in January (the start of the spring session) and take up any proposals with no legal of procedural hiccups. And these campaign finance proposals never targeted the upcoming elections anyway. They're all proposed for the next round of elections in 2012.

Courtesy of AP, here's the latest in impeachment news from across the country ...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina lawmakers will not consider a move to impeach Republican Gov. Mark Sanford anytime soon.

Quick summary of why: The House Speaker there said there's not enough time to take it up in an brief session.

Back to the story ...
(SC House Speaker) said state Rep. Greg Delleney can file the resolution next month in advance of the regular legislative session starting in January.

Delleney, a Republican from Chester, says Sanford should lose his job for skipping the state for five days in June to rendezvous with his Argentine lover.

I bet that impeachment charge would be a lot more interesting to cover than violations of JCAR rules.`

Earlier this afternoon, Gov. Pat Quinn talked to reporters while on his way out of the Capitol. In summary, he said he was confident he'd be able to find money to fund the Monetary Award Program to ensure thousands of college students would still get their financial aid, however, the state will likely seek to borrow another $1 billion for cashflow reasons so it can pay some bills and he's waiting to hear from transit officials on Wednesday before saying much about their financial problems.

Here's the QNA with reporters on ethics.

Q: Campaign finance out there you can sign?
A: I think we’re making progress. It’s got more work to do but I think there’s been steady progress since we got together in the summer. So I’m optimistic there.

Q: Where are we right now?