Chicago Tribune: Nominee's rejection casts light on ICC

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0511190044nov19,1,7210968.story?coll=chi-business-hed

'For an organization that regulates house movers and sewage companies, the Illinois Commerce Commission has gotten a lot of attention recently.

When Gov. Rod Blagojevich nominated prominent consumer advocate Martin Cohen to chair the commission in September, it was front-page news. It made the front page again this month when the state Senate rejected Cohen, the first time that an ICC commissioner's appointment has been rejected since the agency was founded in 1913.

Cohen's rise and fall raises key questions about the ICC.

What is the agency's role in an economy that is increasingly abandoning regulation in favor of market forces? Is it to protect the public from predatory monopolies? Or is it to arbitrate the often conflicting interests of consumers and the utility companies?'