By: Mark Glennon*   The Civic Federation had a long, proud history providing an important check on state and local financial management. It sounded the alarm loudly long ago about Illinois’ problems: “Doomsday is here,” said its President, Laurence Msall, six years ago.   No more. A noticeable change occurred about three or four years ago. Since then, the alarms have softened. Critical issues are overlooked or given lip service. Limp pension reform proposals dominate. Dire implications of its own research pass without comment.   Now, it has worsened. The Civic Federation has become part of the problem. Last