Legal Blog of Thaddeus M. Bond & Associates

In many ways, it is good to have 2008 in the rear view mirror. While the economy and other factors presented many challenges, I have to believe we will all be stronger for having survived it. Tough times have forced us to become more efficient and more cost conscious. When things bounce back, and they will, our bottom lines will improve and we will all be better prepared for the future. That said, let's not focus on what is bad and instead remember all of the many blessings we have. Be of good cheer and relish the great new opportunities that 2009 will bring.

This week we confirmed that our current governor is a criminal. He has engaged in a scheme of corruption and paybacks that, although not surprising, has been revealed on an unprecedented level. This makes four out of our last seven governors felons. At some point, it is time to stop blaming only the players and instead look to whether our entire system of government needs an overhaul.

Last month, voters in Illinois had an opportunity to vote for a constitutional convention that could have lead to creation of a new constitution. Since a large majority voted against the convention, one must assume that not a lot of thought was given to the issue by the electorate. The issue received very little attention as the members of the elite media and higher ranking political circles gave it very little publicity. This only makes sense as those people all have an interest in maintaining the status quo. The fact is that the Illinois Constitution created in the early 1970's has been a miserable failure.

Our system has allowed the thirst for campaign money to overwhelm all else. The dishonorable felons Ryan and Blagojevich committed their misdeeds in the quest for millions of dollars necessary to finance their campaigns for higher office under our current system. Would pay for play and the under the table sale of government services have been necessary if a candidate for office did not need such huge sums to be viable? If we had a constitution that banned all political contributions and the existence of professional lobbyists, corruption and greed would go away. Then and only then would our public servants truly exist to serve the public and not themselves.

What about term limits? How about limiting each person to holding one public office in their lifetime? Such limitations would give us leaders who are truly committed to good government, are at the point in their lives that they can sacrifice a few years for the good of the general public and who are not always looking ahead to the next election cycle.

Where does our constitution say that we can only have two viable political parties? Why are the leaders of those parties allowed to create rules to stifle competition, individual voices and ballot access? Let's create a constitution that bans political parties and allows our elected representatives to do what is best for their constituencies instead of always being beholden to their parties and their leadership.

Drastic problems call for drastic measures. Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. It's time for a massive reform of our state government. If anything good is to come out of the latest gubernatorial foibles, let's hope its a change in the system, not just a new set of players trying to figure out another way to personally profit from public service.

Having lived in or worked in Waukegan most of my life, I fully support the state's last open casino license being granted to the City. This rust belt town has long felt the loss of industry, retail, entertainment and dining that resulted from much of the City's residents relocating further west. Efforts to revitalize the downtown area, while slow, have had success. The revitalization of the former Lakehurst site to date has been impressive and will only be helped by a casino. I have seen first hand how casinos have improved run down cities like Joliet, Elgin and Rock Island. Waukegan has been as down on its luck as any of those towns. Yes, allowing gambling will cause some problems for the irresponsible. But the harms it may create are far outweighed by the benefits it will provide. Let's hope that the corruption that has surrounded this license and the City of Rosemont does not exist this time and that Waukegan finally gets what it has long deserved.