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The total of those hit for lobbying the mayor without registering rises to three in cases that emanate from a BGA lawsuit that led Mayor Emanuel to release thousands of pages of business related emails from his personal accounts.

In what may seem a paradox, the worse off Illinois government gets the more the wealthy are willing to spend to gain control. It is part of a national trend that has seen ever escalating spending battles for even down the ballot offices.

“How’s that working out for you?” Rauner the 2014 Republican candidate often asked in questioning why voters kept returning Democrats to run Springfield. Now he’s governor of a very troubled state and the same question may loom large over his reelection bid next year.

BGA analysis of new data underscores how chronically bad government policy, not fat pensions, lie at the heart of soaring pension debt now hobbling the state’s and Chicago’s efforts to pay for schools and other critical services.

City ethics watchdogs have uncovered enough evidence to suspect yet another instance of improper lobbying of Chicago officials, an issue that came to light following settlement of a Better Government Association lawsuit over Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s personal email accounts.

Compared to other states, Illinois has fewer state workers, spends less on Medicaid per patient and owns a worst in the nation record for supporting local schools. So budget-balancing without tax hikes will mean cutting into muscle.