by Amanda Erickson

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) made at least $1 million last year, according to financial records released Monday, while the campaign of another Illinois Democrat, Rep. Danny Davis, paid his wife Vera $13,000 for unspecified work.

The annual disclosure forms filled out by lawmakers--which include information on their assets, mortgage payments, debts and investments--offer a glimpse but not a precise picture of their financial affairs because the forms require officials to list only income ranges.

Some interesting tidbits:

• Bill Foster (D - Ill.) sold Electronic Theatre Controls Inc., the theater lighting company that he started with his brother at age 19, for between $1 million and $5 million last year, and promissory notes from the sale may eventually net him another $5 million to $25 million.

•The report of Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel shows that a family member invested between $1,000 and $15,000 in Wal-Mart, the retail giant that has drawn the ire of those protesting its treatment of workers.

A spokesman for the congressman said the investments were made by Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, with her income. "She has some of her own individual assets, including this investment," said Emanuel spokesman Nick Papas.

• Rep. Davis won $5,000 in a lottery last year. It's unclear how the lucky congressman spent his winnings.

See the full story here.

(Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

Sen. Richard Durbin knew he potentially could be stepping on a cow pie yesterday if he didn't carefully answer a reporter's question yesterday about the inflationary effect U.S. ethanol mandates might be having on food prices around the world.

The Senate's second-in-commade represents Illinois, after all, a state with large farm interests. And his party's presidential and congressional fortunes also depend on voters in states significant agricultural interests.

So Durbin was not only careful in what he said, but he was clear in asking reporters to report his answer accurately. He basically acknowledged that ethanol is part of the problem without saying much that would offend farmers. Budding politicians should study it as a great example of how to straddle an issue.

REPORTER: Senator Durbin, a lot of people, hunger experts, say that the demand for biofuels, ethanol and other biofuels, is contributing a lot to the increase in prices.

But we have to understand that it's had an impact on food prices, and let's be honest about it. Even in the corn belt, we'd better be honest about it.

by Jim Tankersley

A pair of Illinois lawmakers are taking vocal roles in the debate over the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which President Bush submitted to Congress this week.

In one corner, supporting the deal, Republican Rep. Jerry Weller, who writes in an op-ed released by his office that "Illinois farmers and manufacturers are big winners in this agreement... If you’re looking for an even playing field for Illinois corn, pork, and heavy machinery, this agreement is for you."

In the other corner, Democratic Rep. Phil Hare, who joins House colleague Michael Michaud (D-Me.) in a Huffington Post op-ed today that begins: "If we had been born in Colombia, we would probably be dead. That's right. As members of our respective labor unions, the fight for higher wages, better working conditions, and a secure pension could have cost us our lives."

Hare and Michaud focus on violence against labor leaders in Colombia and accuse the government there of doing little to stop it. They also warn the agreement could cost America jobs. Weller defends the Colombian government as a good ally, particularly in comparison to Venezualan president Hugo Chavez. He says the deal would boost the U.S. and Illinois economies.

Both pieces are worth a read.

by Jim Tankersley

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) wants to steer about $114 million in federal funding to Chicago-area groups and projects, according to a list of "earmark" requests for the 2009 fiscal year that his office released this morning.

Nearly half of that money would go to a pair of rail projects -- the CTA Brown Line and METRA's UP-NW Line. Other multi-million dollar requests include road work on Milwaukee Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, initiatives by Children's Memorial Hospital and Chicago Public Schools, and a Navistar International "next generation diesel engine" for military ground vehicles.

"Earmarking" is the practice of reserving portions of appropriations bills for specific projects, often in a lawmakers' home district. Fiscal conservatives often deride the practice as an example of wasteful federal spending; many have called for a moratorium on "earmarks" entirely. New House rules require any earmarks that make it into a bill to include the name of their sponsoring congressman. Emanuel's release goes further than that by detailing all of his earmark requests, even though it's highly unlikely all the projects will win funding.

“In the spirit of this effort to make the process more transparent, I am happy to make public today the complete list of meritorious projects for which I have requested federal help,” he said in a press release today. “I have never opposed the ability of Members of Congress to direct federal funds to vital programs and projects, but the taxpayers deserve to know where their dollars are being spent.”

Read on for the full breakdown of Emanuel's requests.

By Jim Tankersley

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), the newest member of the House, delivered the Democratic Radio Address today. Topic: the economy. Gist: Democrats working hard for the middle class.

“Good morning, this is Congressman Bill Foster from Illinois’ 14th District," he began. "Just three weeks ago, I was elected to Congress in a special election. I haven’t been on the job long, but even at my first constituent meeting at a grocery store in Aurora, Illinois, voters reminded me of what I learned in the campaign.

“The families I met know the challenges our nation is facing better than anyone in a government office building.

“My constituents are worried about the economy, and with good reason. They can barely afford groceries or a trip to the gas station. If they talk about health care, it isn’t about the latest medical advances, but about the latest increase in costs. They want a good college education for their kids, but they’re nervous about tuition increases. And virtually everyone I talked to was worried about their homes and the mortgage crisis.

“I’m a scientist and a businessman, so when I went to the voters of Illinois, I pledged not to continue the endless political bickering in Washington, but to work on solving problems.

“So today, I am proud to report that Democrats in Congress are putting middle-class families first and fighting for real solutions."

By Jim Tankersley

House Democrats have tapped their newest member to rebut President Bush on the airwaves this weekend.

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), who won a special election this month to replace retired former Speaker Dennis Hastert, will discuss the economy in this weekend's Democratic radio address. The speech will be broadcast across the country.

“Now, Democrats in Congress are fighting to cut taxes for middle-class families who need relief, and we’re working to keep families in their homes by addressing the mortgage crisis head-on," Foster will say, according to excerpts of the speech his office released today. "Next week, the House of Representatives will continue to work on a comprehensive plan to help families who are on the brink of losing their homes. Our plan will help more families avoid foreclosure and gives cities the chance to rehabilitate foreclosed homes and put them back on the market."

He goes on to urge an end to foreign oil dependence, additional alternative energy tax incentives and expanding a federal children's health insurance program.

“I am honored to be chosen to speak on a national stage on behalf of my constituents," Foster said in a press release. "From Dixon to DeKalb and from Geneseo to Geneva and everywhere in between, the problems of the 14th District are the same ones felt across the nation – and these are the problems, that both Democrats and Republicans, must work together to solve.”

By Jim Tankersley

Even in a rhetorically charged political season, House candidate Steve Greenberg stands out: He's all but accusing Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) of disloyalty to the United States.

At issue is Bean's support for Serbia, the country her grandparents left for America, and Serbian-Americans' financial support for her re-election campaign. Greenberg, a Republican, said in a press release this week that Bean was "flagrantly working on behalf of foreign interests against the interests of the United States"—and that the Serbian government was repaying her by illegally steering contributors her way. He's also charged Bean with supporting "Serbian criminals" and "anti-American fundamentalists," referring to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade

Bean's spokesman and her supporters rejected Greenberg's comments, which have touched off a surge of donations from across the Chicago area, home to the largest ethnic Serb population in the U.S.

Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Greenberg "has resorted to saying anything to get attention—regardless of how shameful and desperate." Bean's spokesman Jonathan Lipman said the congresswoman "doesn't respond to ethnically and religiously divisive attacks, even when they go so far as to demonize an entire ethnic community and question their patriotism."

Greenberg campaign spokesman Brad Goodman responded: "It's very typical of Washington politicians, like Ms Bean, when caught under ethical clouds, the first thing they do is blame someone else."

Read the whole story in today's Tribune.

By Jim Tankersley

The candidates who lifted Democrats to House control in 2006 were a carefully culled, largely centrist team that included military veterans, business executives, a tough-talking sheriff and a former pro quarterback.

The list of Republican recruits for House races this year tells a much different story. Against freshman Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), the GOP has ... no one. Same for the race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill).

In the 29 House districts nationwide that Democrats consider most vulnerable for a Republican pickup, only 19 boast a challenger the Democrats deem "credible." For the last 75 years, parties that lost power in the House and Senate, as the Republicans did two years ago, have almost always rebounded to gain seats the following election -- most recently in 1996, when Democrats recovered from the "Republican Revolution" of 1994 to net eight House districts.

But for the GOP this year, all signs point to another election under siege.

Click here for the rest of the story from today's Tribune.

By Jim Tankersley

It didn't take long for Bill Foster to make an impact in Congress.

Foster, a Democratic scientist/businessman, won a special election Saturday to replace retired former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in the House. He was sworn into his seat representing the exurban 14th Congressional District on Tuesday afternoon. By evening, he was casting what was arguably the deciding vote on a white-hot ethics bill.

The bill, pushed aggressively by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), creates an independent, outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members. The House approved it last night, 229-182, with most Democrats in favor and most Republicans opposed. That margin is deceptive: Before final passage, the bill first had to clear a much closer procedural vote, which gave House members a chance to kill the idea without, technically, voting against it.

The bill survived that test by a single vote, with Foster voting in favor.

Only four Republicans joined Foster and 202 other Democrats on that vote. We can't say for sure what Jim Oberweis, the Republican whom Foster beat in the special election, would have done if he were in Congress. But given the party-line nature of the vote, some Democrats on Capitol Hill (who favored the outside panel) are crediting Foster today with the bill's passage.

by Jim Tankersley

Here's the top of my story in today's Chicago Tribune on the nation's great coin crisis...

WASHINGTON - These days, your thoughts are worth 1.7 cents.

That's what it costs the government to forge a penny, thanks to the rising price of metal. A nickel costs 10 cents. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, has concluded that's a pretty bad deal.

A House subcommittee led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) convened a hearing Tuesday on a proposal to change the composition of both coins. Republicans and Democrats like the concept, particularly its promise to save taxpayers $100 million a year by using cheaper metals at the U.S. Mint. If the legislation clears the House and Senate and President Bush signs it, you could be plucking steel pennies off the street before year's end.

In Washington, of course, nothing is that simple.

Go here for the rest....

by Jim Tankersley

For all the heated disagreements of Congress, Democrats and Republicans typically sugar-coat their criticisms of one another when speaking on the House floor. But Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) pulled no punches this evening, when she defended her friend (and presidential endorsee) Sen. Barack Obama from an attack by a House Republican.

Schakowsky took to the floor to denounce remarks by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who said last week that terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama won the presidential election. Schakowsky called the remarks a "smear campaign" and urged colleagues to condemn them.

Here is Schakowsky's statement:

"I rise to strongly condemn the remarks made about U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama by Congressman Steve King of Iowa who said that if Barack Obama became President, Al Qaida terrorists would, (and I quote) 'be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11'. Why? Because, he said, 'of his middle name...' and 'because of who his father was.'

"Senator Obama, like all of us in this House, swore on the Bible to defend our country from all enemies foreign and domestic. He has done nothing to warrant this attack. He has served his country honorably in the US Senate. This attack on his patriotism, religion, heritage, and middle name amount to nothing more than a smear campaign.

"I would fully expect these comments to come from people like Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter; not from one of my House colleagues. There is simply no room in this country for remarks like these, remarks that Mr. King declares he stands by.

"I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning these hateful remarks."

By Jim Tankersley

The architect of the Democrats' 2006 takeover of the House of Representatives weighed in this afternoon on his party's upset win in Illinois' special congressional election, chalking it up to residual frustration with congressional Republicans, "tactical errors" by the former Speaker and a sleeper issue that could resonate through November.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, seemed positively gleeful in an interview that Democrat Bill Foster beat Republican Jim Oberweis on Saturday in the race to replace retired former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert – particularly when juxtaposed with Democrat Nick Lampson's 2006 win in the race to replace former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

"Never in history have both the Majority Leader and the Speaker lost (their seats in back-to-back elections) to the other party," Emanuel said. "It's unprecedented. It reflects a huge level of anger at the Republican Party."

Emanuel said Hastert erred in stepping down mid-year – perhaps in hopes of handing off his seat to a Republican before the general election – and in backing Oberweis, who had lost three previous political races.

He also said Foster scored by focusing his campaign heavily on a children's health care program that Congress has repeatedly voted to expand in the last year, each time drawing a veto from President Bush. Foster devoted television and mail ads to the issue – which, coincidentally enough, is Emanuel's baby – and said he wanted to help the House override the veto.

Emanuel expects other Democratic candidates to follow suit this fall and warned the special election results signal a "target-rich environment" for Democrats in Illinois in seats such as Rep. Mark Kirk's. The special election, he said, "is the first shot fired in a change election. This is not a one-off."

by Jim Tankersley

Democrats in Illinois and Washington are celebrating today, after scientist/businessman Bill Foster beat Republican dairyman Jim Oberweis in yesterday's special election to replace retired Rep. Dennis Hastert, the former Republican Speaker of the House. And with good reason.

Republicans have cautioned against reading too much into the results and their implications for the fall elections. History, indeed, shows special elections sometimes foreshadow general-election trends and sometimes do not. But there are several reasons why this appears to be more than a typical pick-up of a House seat for Democrats - and why Republicans should worry in the coming months. Consider:

* This was not a "normal" seat in Congress. This was the home of the congressman who, until the GOP lost control of the chamber in the 2006 elections, was the most powerful man in the House. Oberweis was the candidate he backed to replace him. As psychological victories go for a party, this is on par with Republicans knocking off former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

* Oberweis' loss will fan fears that Illinois demographics are trending away from Republicans. When Melissa Bean beat GOP Rep. Phil Crane in the suburban 8th Congressional District in 2004, Republicans called it a fluke. Then she won re-election, and now she has another suburban/exurban Democrat joining her in Congress. Other Republicans in similar seats outside of Chicago - including Reps. Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam - are surely taking notice of that trend.

by Matthew Hay Brown

The House Democrats' chief fundraiser said the victory in today’s special election for the Illinois seat vacated by Republican former Speaker Dennis Hastert is only the beginning of the hurt his party is going to lay on the GOP this fall.

“Despite spending 20 percent of … their cash on hand, the [National Republican Congressional Committee] was unable to hold a seat easily won by President Bush and held by Speaker Hastert for 20 years,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen crowed. “Americans of all political stripes are rejecting Republicans’ divisive, status quo politics and turning to Democratic candidates for change.”

Democrat Bill Foster, a physicist running his first campaign, scored a 52-48 upset over Republican Jim Oberweis, a dairy owner who was expected to hold Illinois’ 14th Congressional District for the GOP. Foster won even in Kendall County, Hastert’s home base, reliably Republican – until now.

The NRCC took exception to Van Hollen’s analysis.

“The one thing 2008 has shown is that one election in one state does not prove a trend,” spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said. “In fact, there has been no national trend this entire election season. The presidential election is evidence of that. The Democratic candidates are trading election victories from week to week and the nomination could hinge on a few news cycles. The one message coming out of 2008 so far is that what happens today is not a bellwether of what happens this fall.”

By Jim Tankersley

DAYTON, OH – For the past week, and with increasing intensity, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have tried to top each other in their critiques of American trade policy and its effects on factory jobs in Ohio and the nation. They've decried outsourcing and promised to rewrite trade rules to protect U.S. workers.

In Dayton, a city where many workers blame trade for thousands of lost factory jobs in recent years, it got to the point this week where you couldn't watch "SportsCenter" or "Ellen" without Obama or Clinton bashing trade policy at the commercial breaks (er, or so we're told).

But other members of Congress say trade has benefited the country and should keep expanding, including the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain – and a small contingent of Cabinet secretaries and House and Senate members who flew to Colombia this weekend to build a case for a proposed trade deal between that country and America that is currently pending before Congress.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), a freshman who favors expanded trade, called the Tribune from Colombia today to recount a morning of meetings with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who made "a very compelling case" for the proposed agreement, Roskam said.

(Actually, the first topic on Roskam's mind was the news, which Colombian leaders shared with the American contingent earlier today, that Colombian troops on Saturday had killed the No. 2 leader in a cocaine-trafficking rebel group that the U.S. State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2001.)

Supporters cheer for their candidates before the Democratic Presidential Debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton at Cleveland State University on Tuesday, February 26, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal/MCT)

by Jim Tankersley

CLEVELAND - "We are all witnesses," the giant Nike billboard downtown proclaims. Tonight, more than ever, that's true.

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will supplant the man on the billboard, LeBron James, as the biggest stars in Cleveland tonight, when they debate at 9 p.m. at Cleveland State University.

It's the political equivalent of a playoff atmosphere. The debate is the last faceoff between the Democratic presidential candidates before next week's critical primaries in Ohio and Texas. For Clinton, who trails Obama in delegates and has lost every nominating contest since Feb. 5, it could be her final chance to change the tide of a race that is on the brink of slipping out of her grasp. For Obama, who is tied with Clinton in Texas and has cut her early Ohio lead to single digits according to recent polls, it could be his night to all-but clinch the nomination - or commit the sort of mistake that opens the door for a Clinton comeback.

The hype has electrified the local media (though the city itself seems to be hiding inside from a snowstorm today). The Plain Dealer, Cleveland's local newspaper, devoted its entire front page to a debate preview (sprinkled with weather forecast) this morning. Television coverage is ramping up. Ohio is used to this sort of presidential frenzy, but not usually until the general election, when it proudly assumes its role of pivotal swing state.

Tonight, we'll be watching for how the candidates address Ohio's struggling economy, how they reassure "security mom" voters in the state's suburbs that they can keep America safe and how populist they get in their economy-themed pitches to blue collar voters.

Mostly, though, we'll be watching to see how Clinton tries to change the race. Will she attack? Emote? Pull a surprise of some kind?

The Swamp's own Jason George will be live-blogging those answers, and everything else debate-related, here tonight. Tune in and join him. Remember, you're a witness too.

By Jim Tankersley

It will be weeks, quite possibly months, until we know for sure if Barack Obama and John McCain will square off in the November presidential election. But early next month, the senators are set to match political muscle in a special congressional election in Illinois.

Obama took a break recently from his presidential primary race with Sen. Hillary Clinton to cut radio and television ads for Bill Foster, the Democrat running to replace former House Speaker Dennis Hastert in Illinois' 14th congressional district, Foster's campaign announced this week. In the ads, Obama extends his presidential campaign theme to declare that Foster can "deliver change" in Washington.

McCain, meanwhile, is headed into Illinois next week to raise money for Foster's opponent, Republican Jim Oberweis, as the Tribune's James Kimberly noted this week. Along with cash, the Oberweis campaign is hoping McCain can bring their candidate votes from independents in the district.

The congressional candidates are also previewing the debate over Iraq that a McCain-Obama contest would surely bring, with Foster accusing Oberweis of wanting to continue President Bush's course in Iraq and Oberweis (and national Republicans) accusing Foster of undermining American troops with his pledge to vote against further funding for the war.

The special election is scheduled for March 8. The 14th has been solidly Republican in recent elections, but a Foster internal campaign poll -- keep in mind, that means it was conducted on his behalf -- showed the race to be deadlocked this week.

By Jim Tankersley

As President Bush prepares to give his final State of the Union address, Rep. Rahm Emanuel has prepared a handy scorecard for the president's seven-year tenure. As you might expect, it's scathing.

Emanuel is far from an unbiased source when it comes to the Bush administration. He's a Democrat, for one, and the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House at that. He also worked in the Clinton White House, and it's fair to say he's partial to the way he and his colleagues ran the ship back then.

His indictment of Bush today, though, rested less on rhetoric -- an Emanuel specialty, to be sure -- and more on cold, hard statistics. Here's the chart Emanuel displayed at a press conference critique of Bush's record on America's economy, quality of life and role in the world. The upshot: Growth is down, prices are up, and other countries just don't like us as much these days.

UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Republican National Committee spokesman Chris Taylor responds with this: "If only Rahm Emanuel would put as much effort into finding bi-partisan solutions to America's problems as he does into these political attacks, maybe then he wouldn't be leading the lowest rated Congress in history."

By Jim Tankersley

This holiday season, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) is taking his family over the river and through the woods ... to the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Roskam, a freshman from the O'Hare-area suburbs, is on his way to address inmates in the prison chapel tomorrow, thanks to a passing aquaintance he made some time ago with Burl Cain, the warden of the maximum-security prison in Angola, La.

Cain impressed Roskam with a program he instituted that allows inmates to take classes through the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Roskam credits the program for a decline in the prison's murder rate. The prison's web site proclaims that the penitentiary "in its previous unhealthy condition was known for its violence and frequent escape attempts. Currently, Angola displays a peaceful and safe environment, which is the best evidence of a successful, healthy religious program."

But is it a good vacation destination? Depends on which Roskam you are.

Peter Roskam called The Swamp this afternoon from Memphis. He estimated he, his wife and their two sons would hit Angola tonight. Later in the week, he said, they planned to check out Baton Rouge and the Louisiana State University campus.

The two Roskam daughters, he said, passed on the trip.

“Our boys are pretty game," the congressman said. "Our girls kind of had a twinkle in their eye when they actually had other obligations.”