The Blagojevich Debacle Has Created No Real Reform

After the embarrassingly corrupt tenures of former Governors Ryan and Blagojevich, many of us hoped that those in Illinois government would clean up their act. To the contrary, all they have done is offer meaningless proposals designed to get good publicity but to continue to concentrate all of the power in the political elite. Legislation was recently submitted to create a constitutional amendment that would allow a recall of the governor. The process of recall is so incredibly difficult, requiring petition signatures from 15% of those who voted in the last election, that it will be impossible to use. Of course, only the governor can be recalled, not any other office holders who have just as much potential for and/or history of corruption. Another piece of legislation proposes campaign contribution limitations. The mucky mucks all claim this bill will help reduce the influence of money on politicians. This provision is also a joke in that it only limits the contributions that we regular citizens can make. There are no limits to the amount a political party or a political action committee can contribute to a favored candidate. This so called reform will only serve to concentrate more power in the unaccountable legislative and party leaders and will take even more control away from the voters. Illinois politics is a cess pool. Nothing that has happened in recent weeks would indicate that we have any serious chance of cleaning it up.