Part-Time Pundit

Press Release: Illinois Citizen begins Petition Drive for Constitutional Amendment

CHAMPAIGN – Today Illinois citizen and activist John Bambenek began a petition drive to place a state constitutional amendment on the November 2010 general election ballot. Citing the frustration at the gridlock in Springfield and the chaos caused by massive cuts to social services spending, Bambenek believes that the time is right to reform the Legislature.

“We’ve had two very different governors now, and while Blagojevich was a significant problem, the dysfunction in Springfield remains under Quinn. The only consistent feature of our dysfunctional state government is the Legislature,” Bambenek said.

The amendment will fundamentally change the Legislature by converting it to a unicameral (or one chamber) body and return to three-member districts with cumulative voting (total of 177 members). Additionally, it will implement long ignored reforms such as reforming redistricting, implementing term limits of no more than four two-year terms, term limit legislative leaders to only one session (two years), end shell bills, require a seven-day public viewing period for all legislative, provide for any bill to get an up-or-down vote upon motion of at least 25 members and greatly reform the process for legislative pay raises.

“Now isn’t the time to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, it is time to decentralize power in the legislature. When one man can cause political and social chaos simply to bolster his daughter’s political prospects, something is very wrong.”

In explaining why he is taking the effort to circulate a petition to put the amendment on directly, Bambenek said, “The campaign contribution caps bills shows that we simply cannot trust the Legislature to reform itself. Regardless of what someone thinks about caps, “caps for everyone but Mike Madigan” is a radical power grab masquerading as reform. The framers of the Constitution put this right of citizens in our state constitution explicitly because the legislature cannot be trusted to right itself.”

The amendment will be called the “Bambenek Put-back Amendment” design to Put the voters Back in charge. If Bambenek is successful in gathering enough signatures (legal minimum of just less than 280,000), the amendment will be listed on the ballot and requires no General Assembly Action. It will pass upon 60% of the votes approving the question.
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John Bambenek is a political activist, writer and co-founder of the Illinois Citizens Coalition (ICC), a political action committee created to inform and organize Illinois citizens to take more of an interest in state government. For more information visit the ICC website at www.yesforillinois.com.

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July 3rd, 2009 Posted by John Bambenek | Illinois, Politics, Putback Amendment | no comments

Trusting Faceless Republican Insiders Will Ensure Defeat in 2010

As the saga of Governor Rod Blagojevich seems to be behind us with his removal from office, it seems Republicans are salivating at the prospects of a sure win of the Governor’s mansion in 2010. However, the path to victory is not nearly as certain as many believe it to be and certainly not on the present path the Illinois Republican Party is taking. The path they are trying to take will guarantee yet another cycle of brutal election losses.

As usual, the same people responsible for the Illinois Republican Party’s precipitous decline are once again returning to their “traditional” role in selecting the nominee. It seems incongruous to protest the backroom dealing of the Blagojevich Administration by engaging in that same kind of backroom dealing. The last time the Illinois Republican Party selected the nominee for the rest of us they brought in Alan Keyes. We all know how well that turned out. Maybe they learned their lesson, so let’s take a look at which horse they are backing.

Currently, it appears that this has resulted in coalescing support for Bruce Rauner as the salvation of the Illinois Republican Party. At this moment, perhaps he does have the policies that will bring the Republicans out of the wilderness. We don’t know mostly because he was selected in a star chambers audition in front of the party’s finance committee (basically a Cook County millionaires club).

While he has done impressively with his investment firm, he is a political unknown. What is know is that he has given far more to Democrats than he’s ever given to Republicans. With the exception of the 2008 cycle, most of his donations are to Democrats. If the secret Republican committee can’t do basic vetting of candidates, they are profoundly ill-suited to pick nominees.

For instance, he has given $200,000 to Democrat Mayor Daley, $150,000 to Democrat Forrest Claypool and can even boast of having given money to Democrat Rahm Emanuel (who’s signature accomplishment was the 2006 Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives). Skipping past the absurdity of the aristocracy of the party telling all of us that they know better than the voters, what, if anything, has Rauner gotten for those donations?

While I do agree that the “self-funding” candidate model of the Republican Party has been abysmal at producing solid candidates, it does not follow that having a secret tribunal of insiders who take no input from anyone (much less anyone south of I-80) is somehow the only other option. The only difference is that Bruce Rauner greased all the right palms before he formally announces his run.

There is a better way to finding good candidates and that is finding people with a solid record of political accomplishment and supporting them. Bruce Rauner’s sole accomplishment seems to be his investment company. Good for him but that doesn’t make him a good politician.

Candidates like Senator Bill Brady have years of political leadership under his belt. He’s run for office, he supports the party platform and has 16 years of political experience. He may not be well-liked among the ivory tower limousine Republicans from the North Shore, but he’s at least trying to win support of the voters not demanding their support from regal perches.

If the Republicans are to recover from the drubbing they have received in the last few election cycles, royal proclamations from on high are not the way to go. Self-funders are no either. What is needed are politicians with a record of accomplishment and a set of principles to take their message to the voters and engage them.

After 6 years of Blagojevich and Democratic corruption, the answer is a candidate who can convincingly stand up to corruption and who is willing to be transparent and open. We need candidates who will serve the people, not be beholden to nameless committeeman. Perhaps its time to trust the voters instead of letting unaccountable insiders pick our nominees.

February 9th, 2009 Posted by John Bambenek | Columns, Elections, Illinois, Politics | no comments

Latest On Suit To Remove Blagojevich

We’re working fast and furious to get it done, and word that we’re working on it has spurred many state “leaders” into action, we’ll see how things fall today.

Important note that I got from a friend. We’re $4B in the hole with backlogged bills (Medicaid payments, payments to people who provide services to the state, etc). We were working on getting a $1.4B bond deal to alleviate the pressure because without any change the state will be insolvent in March. That bond deal is now dead because we have had a negative credit rating apply to us because of the governor’s legal situation. This political freak show needs to end… now.

December 12th, 2008 Posted by John Bambenek | Illinois, Politics | 2 comments

Bambenek v Blagojevich: Duel of the Daily Show Guests

Right now, have a team of people working around the clock to finish up our Rule 382 suit to remove Blagojevich for being unable to continue as Governor (as reported here at Illinois Review and mentioned at Capitol Fax. Wanted to write up a quick note… we’re planning to file tomorrow and a press release will come when details are firm. Interesting fun fact though, both Blagojevich and I were on the Daily Show on different occasions. Here’s some clips for those interested.

December 12th, 2008 Posted by John Bambenek | Illinois, Politics | 2 comments

Column: Financial Mismanagement Caused Illinois’ Backlog of Bills

The following was an op-ed I wrote and was printed in about a half dozen Illinois papers in the last couple of weeks

Last week, state Comptroller Dan Hynes reported that the backlog of state bills has reached over $4 billion. Several vendors have threatened to stop providing services to the state if they cannot be paid on timely basis. Many Medicaid patients are finding fewer and fewer providers are willing to give them health care. Illinois is in a full-blown fiscal crisis that puts IndyMac to shame.

In the wake of this crisis, only two solutions are presented: to unleash draconian cuts to essential human services spending or massive tax increases in the wake of the largest global economic downturn in decades. There is apparently not a dime of waste in the state budget. There isn’t even any money spent on corrupt purposes to be cut. Yeah… and I’m a Chinese fighter pilot.

The fact is the state has been wasting money for decades. Remember the Loop Lab School that got a special $1 million check from the governor? What about the $25,000 checks from Sen. Hendon for educational programs that didn’t exist? And then there are the legislative pay increases. But that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the waste, fraud and corruption that permeates the closed-door budget process.

Earlier this year, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request on $2 billion worth of spending. This spending was the “member initiative” (basically Illinois’ equivalent of earmarks) spending of just the Senate Democrats. The interesting part of this request wasn’t that there was $2 billion in spending on “pet projects” but that the Illinois Senate and the state government refused to disclose what this money was spent on.

In a parting stiff arm to the taxpayers of Illinois, Senate President Emil Jones not only refused to disclose what the member initiative money was spent on, but he even outright rejected the Freedom of Information Act request. If you thought the Freedom of Information Act was supposed to allow taxpayers to find out what government officials were doing with their tax dollars, apparently you are mistaken.

What does this have to do with the backlog of bills? Everything. Each and every year the legislature wastes billions one these special member initiatives. In some cases they even hide those expenditures from the voters. This little 2 billion adventure in wasteful spending would cut our backlog of bills in half the first year. In two years, the backlog would be gone.

More importantly, it shines the light on the real problem, that is the legislature and governor who have pushed through unbalanced budgets each and every year with the problem coming to a head now. They may try to blame the economic downturn, but the reality is that after years of deficit spending, eventually the chickens come home to roost.

Governor Blagojevich, for his part, has done well in pump-priming the idea that any budget cut would result in drastic cuts to essential human services. He close state parks even though it would require forfeiting federal funds and provide only a meager savings to the state funds. He cut alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs. Never has he tried to actually cut the spending glut due to corruption or waste.

Politically, this means that taxpayers can expect a large tax increase to be proposed as the “only solution” out of this fiscal mess when the General Assembly convenes in January. It is time that voters and taxpayers stand up and demand that wasteful and corrupt “member initiatives” by cut, wasteful and duplicate programs be eliminated and empowering the state’s Auditor General to seek out and find where Enron-style book-keeping is occurring in the state government.

The emerging financial crisis of both unpaid bills and an inability to craft a balanced budget has been a long time coming. It is time for the General Assembly to learn to tighten their belt before they tax even more families into foreclosure or poverty.

December 3rd, 2008 Posted by John Bambenek | Columns, Corruption, Illinois, Politics | no comments

Book Review: The Case Against Barack Obama by David Freddoso

For people who pay attention to politics, the phrase “Chicago Machine Politics” means all the worst aspects of electioneering, corruption and dirty politics. Jobs are handed out as political favors, contributions are solicited in exchange for contracts, and government workers spend their times leading up to Election Day doing political work on behalf of connected candidates. It’s everything that’s wrong with Washington politics, except far worse.

This is the starting point of David Freddoso’s new book, The Case against Barack Obama – The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate. For instance, it is little-known that Barack Obama’s first real election challenge was his primary race against… Hillary Clinton. In 1996, he ran for the State Senate but used Illinois’ arcane (and unconstitutional) election laws to throw every other candidate off the ballot. He won office unopposed.

In 2004, he ran for Senate but the sexual dalliances took down his main primary opponent. The general election race, however, would be pure comedy if it wasn’t so tragic for the Illinois Republican Party. A Republican version of Obama, Jack Ryan, won the primary nod, but he was not well-loved in the inner-circles of the state GOP organization. His divorce files were made public, and more sexual dalliances came out (at least those were with his wife) which sunk Ryan.

For weeks, the Illinois GOP could not find a nominee. They had to import Alan Keyes to run against Obama, who’s only campaign point seemed to be “Jesus would not vote for Barack Obama”. Obama won his Senate seat without any real opposition in what would have otherwise been a very bad year for the Democrats.

To political observers, it seems absurd that a product and participant of Chicago machine politics could credibly claim to be the voice of change and hope to reform Washington D.C. Not impossible, sure, but it defies credulity. Freddoso examines the facts of Obama’s career in Illinois, his relationships and his rise to power to definitively show that Obama is not the sterling immaculate candidate he portrays, but in reality, is just another Chicago politician – albeit with a better speech writer.

Throughout his tenure in the Illinois General Assembly, Obama had given favors and steered state contracts to contributors and friends. In particular, he has a great deal of ties to real estate developers that benefited from his state legislative career and he benefited from their success. Developers having access to the corridors of power is nothing new, especially in Chicago, but for a candidate who is preaching an anti-lobbyist anti-special interest message, the evidence shows he didn’t practice what he preaches.

The Obama campaign has steadfastly refused to speak the nitty-gritty of policy on the stump and has run a “cult of personality” campaign. This is why it is a timely and important work to show the man behind the façade, but to do so in a legitimate way. Many, mostly slanderous, attempts have been made to show Obama as some kind of un-American Trojan horse candidate. This has only helped to inoculate him against legitimate criticism. However, Freddoso sticks to the record with copious footnotes to back him up.

Most of Obama’s more radical leftist connections are public record. The public fallout from the Rev. Wright controversies started to bring to light that strange company that Obama has kept. In particular, Freddoso touches upon Obama’s relationship to Bill Ayers who was part of the terrorist group the Weathermen. Obama may try to walk and talk like a “moderate” on the stump, but he surrounds himself with the far left.

The book is a thorough treatment of Obama’s career, what he has done and how he got there. The image that emerges does not mesh at all with the icon of hope. The media, for their part, simply has not dug deep into the mirage that is the Obama campaign. The book provides a sorely needed analysis for a candidate who is almost getting a free ride to the White House. It is fact-based, well-researched and is critical reading for anyone interested in who Obama really is.

August 14th, 2008 Posted by John Bambenek | Book Reviews, Elections, Features, Illinois, Politics | no comments

Is Obama Afraid of Change for Illinois?

The presidential candidate for change has adopted the twin themes of "hope" and "change" for his political campaign. These themes are the creation of David Axelrod, Barack Obama's senior campaign adviser. It was a stroke of brilliance to tap into the widespread disaffection with Washington D.C. and the growing irritation among normal citizens that they have no say in their federal government. With approval ratings of the U.S Congress being around 9% (in other countries there would be an armed coup by now), the timing was perfect.

However, the same distrust and disgust are just as true with the state government of Illinois. We have a governor under multiple federal investigations, a General Assembly that can never seem to pass a budget, and political patronage happening out in the open with no regard for citizens. The gridlock in Springfield is universally despised and all other attempts to reform Illinois have failed. Change is sorely needed for Illinois.

That is why it is disappointing to see the same firm that crafted the candidate for change was just given a  two to three million dollar contract to oppose a constitutional convention. Among the arguments they will make is that convening a constitutional convention will give power to all the special interests, that the constitution will be made worse, and that there is no way to elect good people to a convention. They have already gone so far as to tell seniors that a constitutional convention will take their pensions away even though federal law is clear that it can't. In short, the ads can be reduced to a sound bite: "No… you can't."

In November, voters will be able to vote to convene a constitutional convention to amend the state charter. This would allow for the ending of gerrymandering, the practice of politicians picking their voters and not vice versa (see Illinois Congressional District 4's map for an illustration of how absurd the maps have gotten). An additional change could be adding the ability of citizens to recall elected officials, a right many states currently already enjoy.

Many of the problems that Illinois faces are a direct result of a constitution written in 1970 to create a "strong government." This allowed politicians to amass incredible power and to engage in rampant and overt corruption. For instance, the Cook County presidency was almost literally bequeathed from father (John Stroger) to son (Todd Stroger) reminiscent of a title of nobility in the Middle Ages. The constitution guarantees state pensions but it was also explicitly written to not require funding of the pensions. This has resulted in the worst funded pension system in the nation. We aren't even close to 49th place.

The governor can treat budgets as advisory and move money around at will. The leader of a legislative chamber can unilaterally kill a bill with no recourse by other members of the chamber (see House Bill 1 which was sponsored by over 80% of the Illinois Senate, yet still killed by Senator Debbie Halvorson).

In all this, the citizens are disempowered. Illinois election law is the most restrictive (and unconstitutional) in the Union. Third party and independent candidates are required to get over 10 times more signatures and are subject to capricious ballot challenges that keep them from being listed on the ballot. Ballot initiatives are not binding and routinely ignored by politicians.

Even the balanced budget requirement in the Constitution is considered a "moral imperative" when crafting the state budget. This requirement is unenforceable which is how the state gets away with trying to pass a budget $2 billion out of balance. Try considering paying your next property tax bill with a "moral imperative" and see how that works out.

Citizens are disempowered and government is dysfunctional. The result has been a grassroots movement comprised of Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, and those who normally would not associate with a political party. The citizens are demanding that Springfield change. The question is why the same people running Obama's campaign are saying, "Change you must fear."

July 15th, 2008 Posted by John Bambenek | Columns, Illinois, Illinois Consitutional Convention, Illinois Constitution, Politics, con-con | no comments