Unless someone can produce video proof that these video excerpts have been doctored and/or taken out of context OR that Washington was suffering from some sort of dementia, shouldn’t this be all we need to hear or know about Pat Quinn?  Sure, you can say that a person should not be judged strictly by their past mistakes.  Afterall, people have the capacity to learn, grow, and improve, and Quinn’s involvement with Washington was many moons ago.  However, I have learned over my many years that you need to judge a tree by its fruit.  What is Quinn’s fruit?  Continued economic stagnation, budgeted dependence on federal stimulus money, growing budgetary deficits, expanded borrowing, reinforced distrust towards our state’s elected officials (and many of the state employees), expanded reliance on government handouts, steadfast determination to raise taxes, etc. etc. etc.

Can you show many any positive fruit?  Please.  Do tell.

14 Weeks from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

I really can’t stand McCain and Graham, but I hate the Pelosis, Reids, and Obamas of the world even more.  I love the imagery and the message of this ad even if voting for the current crop of Republicans really only means voting for the lesser of two evils.  Say “no” to Giannoulias, Quinn, and every other Illinois State political long-timer.

So what do you think?

Remember Thomson?  It is the location of the prison slated to become the stateside home of enemy combatant detainees currently housed at the military-run facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  You might recall that quite a few Illinoisans bristled at the thought of suspected terrorists and enemies of the State becoming our newest residents.  Even more bristled at the idea of selling the facility for roughly $170 million despite the facts that the mostly unoccupied facility has already racked up in excess of $164 million in state expenses and another $12 million in village expenses (and counting).  (For those of you doing the math, that represents a net loss.)  Prepare to bristle again as Thomson finds itself back in the news again.

The politicians at the state and federal levels are doing their best to perform an end-around on we the people.  To alleviate our concerns over the possibility of “alleged” terrorist detainees being transferred to Illinois, a Justice Department official announced last week that the Obama administration intends to purchase the facility regardless of whether Congress allows the transfer.  In the words of Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, the Department of Justice has been directed to buy the facility “to fulfill both the goals of reducing federal prison overcrowding and transferring a limited number of detainees out of Guantanamo.”  He went on to write that the department “would be seeking to purchase the facility in Thomson even if detainees were not being considered for transfer there.”  Make no mistake about it!  This statement was made for the sole purpose of easing objections and greasing the wheels.

You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal??  It gets a liability off of the state books, and it brings much-needed jobs to an extremely poor area with negligible prospects.  Win-win, baby…”  Not so fast.  If Illinois sells now, the deal as is represents worse than a $6 million loss because of inflation (which has risen almost 22% since the middle of 2001).  Considering inflation, the loss is more like $33 million.  Considering the higher costs of building materials and general business expenses, it just does not make sense to sell for such a low amount.  In this era of government bailouts, it doesn’t make sense that a state so cash-strapped would give the federal government a deal.  Let’s not even get into asking why the supremely cash-strapped federal government is buying property at discounted prices from an impressively cash-strapped state.  

You might be thinking, “But the feds are budgeting another $67 million for upgrading, modifying, and running the facility for one year.  That equals jobs.”  I appreciate the prospect of jobs, but there is nothing promising that Illinois residents and Illinois businesses are going to be the contractors upgrading and modifying the prison.  Besides that, how deep do we sink for the promise of paying jobs?

Lastly, you might be thinking, “What is the big deal about bringing enemy combatant detainees to a federal prison in the states??  It’s got to be cheaper than maintaining a prison on foreign soil.”  The truth is that such a scenario represents something much bigger than dollars and cents.  First, you have the majority will of the people being ignored by the government.  If we don’t want them here, then why is it even being discussed still?  Second, there is no legal precedent for imprisoning enemy combatants indefinitely, so either new federal legislation would have to be passed OR the detainees would have to be granted access to the court system.  “Access to our court system” equals “bad.”  Third, how many jihadist detainees does it take to create a domestic target?  Is it inconceivable that having 100 detainees so close to a rather large Muslim population might garner some unwanted attention from said population (and I’m not talking about the lawyers)?

At the end of the day, the moral of the story is that the government is willfully deceiving us at the state and federal levels.  The feds are telling us that they would purchase the Thomson facility even if transferring the Guantanamo Bay prisoners was off the table, but they have every intention of transferring them.  The governor is assuring us that the state will be getting fair market value for the prison, but the numbers don’t make sense.  There is no hint of playing hardball here.  If anything, there is the hint of a back room deal.  If anything, Quinn should be saying, “Look Barry, it’s not like you have a lot of states clamoring for these detainees.  For a cool $300 million, we’ll consider it.”  That would at least be respectable negotiating.

Of course, President Obama, Senator Durbin, and Governor Quinn are all loving the deal thus far.  The appraiser is in place, and the Thomson facility is scheduled to close at the end of April.  We are stepping closer and closer to this thing becoming a reality.  Hopefully, Illinoisans will recognize it for what it is come November and respond accordingly.

It only took three months to realize the move was a mistake.  By the time Quinn shut the MGT Push program down on December 30th, 1,745 inmates had been released.  Of that number, 56 had already returned to prison either for parole violations or completely new offenses.  Seventeen of those 56 offenses were of an allegedly violent nature (attempted murder, armed robbery, and domestic battery).  In some cases, inmates only spent a few weeks behind bars before they were released again.  More than one inmate was released in as few as 11 days.  In the case of one Jorge Bogas, he only spent 18 days behind bars, which was less time than one of his vehicular accident victims spent in the hospital recovering from the very accident he had caused.  All of this is despite the fact that the Illinois Department of Corrections had maintained a long-standing policy of incarcerating inmates a minimum of 61 days before release.  All told, as of December 14^th, more than 850 of these 1,745 inmates had been released prior to hitting the 61-day mark.  Included in the mess was the allegation that some who should have been released according to terms set forth by MGT Push were not while some who not have been released actually were.

This all sounds… bad.  You might be thinking that heads should roll over such an egregious error.  Well, the man responsible for the program was Michael Randle, and that man still enjoys the exact same position he did back when he unleashed this program on Illinois.  Was he suspended?  No.  Was he formally put on notice?  Not really.  Has he been raked over coals?  Not that I have seen.  All he had to do was own the mistake.  That’s all he’s done, and he’s continued on his merry way.

This situation seems ridiculous, but wait!  Take 100 steps back, and cast your eyes on the bigger picture in this State.  What you see with Michael Randle and Patrick Quinn is commonplace throughout Illinois government.  The accompanying common thread through all of it is the total lack of meaningful accountability.  How else can you explain Speaker of the House Michael Madigan continuing in his position??  While he is not the ONLY reason Illinois is so messed up, he is the poster boy for Illinois government and politics.  He has been the face since the early 80s.  Every two years, his constituents vote him back to Springfield.  Every two years, his fellow Democrats rubber stamp him back into the Speaker position.

Appreciate this.  Michael Madigan has been Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives for all but two years since 1983.  He’s been the Chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1998.  He is a senior partner in a Chicago law firm that has been a major player for years.  He holds major influence with Chicago aldermen, real estate developers, and members of the Illinois General Assembly.  Hell, his daughter is the State’s Attorney General.  If anyone has been calling the shots in Illinois, it’s Mr. Madigan.  People don’t even approach him in the capitol building without his tacit or expressed approval.  If anyone can affect a legislative vote or ballot issue, it is the good Speaker.  If anyone could make a positive difference for Illinoisans, it’s Mikey.  Yet, from 1977 till 2006, Illinois has ranked 47^th in job creation, and more than 700,000 people fled to greener pastures between 1997 and 2006.  (Go here to see several other ways Illinois is not so wonderful.)  Illinois has not been able to report a “budgetary (cash basis) improvement” since Fiscal Year 2002!  I could understand him holding his position if our recent economic downturn was the first bit of turbulence we had encountered, but that’s not the case.  Let’s remember the economic/budget problems of the early 90s, and let’s not put all of the blame on Rod Blagojevich.  Madigan survived the mess then, and he’s surviving this mess now.  If things don’t change fundamentally, he’ll maintain his grip on Illinois politics until he passes the baton to the person of his choosing.

Ideally, as the grand poobah, Michael Madigan would be judged on the condition of Illinois- in terms of its economy, its political climate, its national influence, and its national relevance- and he would get the axe for having failed miserably.  This is Illinois, though, and idealism does not seem to enter into the equation.  Madigan has the votes of his constituents, and he has the votes of his party members.  He is entrenched, and he has no incentive to change how he operates.  How can you hold people accountable that cannot be touched?  Realistically, you can’t.

All you can do is to fundamentally change the system.  The only thing you can do to get him out of office (not necessarily out of power) is to implement term limits.  It really is a shame that such a move could, in theory, limit the impacts of well-intentioned, motivated, and true public servants, but I think it’s necessary at this time.  Besides, term limits might have the added benefit of lessening the politicians’ pension burden on Illinois.  Would it affect Madigan’s power?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

At least we would not have to hear him addressed as “Mr. Speaker” anymore.  That’s something, at least.  At this stage of the game, we Illinoisans should take what we can get.

This ad about says it all.  I wonder how Alexi Giannoulias can possibly be the best the Illinois establishment has to run this election cycle.  It’s kind of sad really.

Strange bedfellows.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are still six Republican candidates vying for governor of our fine State.  Rather than endorse one candidate, I would rather- in this particular contest- give you food for thought in voting against one.  That lucky guy is Kirk Dillard.  What beef could I have with one of the most endorsed Big-R candidates running this election cycle?  There are a ton of reasons but none greater than the fact that he is part of the Illinois State party establishment.

This guy has been an Illinois State Senator for the 24^th District (see Chicago… suburbia-style) since 1994.  He was the Dupage County Republican Party chairman from 2004-2007.  Prior to that, he was chairman of the Downers Grove Township Republican Organization.  He also briefly served on the Illinois Republican State Central Committee for the 13^th Congressional District.  While being politically active might normally be a positive, it is a bright red flag in Illinois.  This man is political, and this man is connected, plain and simple.

The powers that be want you to decide between McKenna and Dillard- possibly Ryan.  They really don’t want you to consider anyone else.  Dillard is being touted as THE conservative in the race and as the uniter we apparently dream of… without knowing it.  Such the uniter and bipartisan is he that he actually appeared in a 2008 television ad for President Barry H. Obama, glowingly overstating Obama’s accomplishments in Springfield.  (He did this while being a delegate for McCain.)  Can anyone smell the Chicago-brand politics in this move?  Are we to believe that Dillard is just so principled that he spoke from his heart about Obama, or should we recognize the political payoff in Chicago for what he did?  It was a calculated move.  Whether or not it was a good one is for you to decide.  Many Illinois players have decided already.

Kirk Dillard has been endorsed by the Chicago Sun-Times, Crane’s Chicago Business, Peoria Journal Star, Elgin Courier, Kankakee City News, Naperville Sun, Joliet News-Herald, Southtown Star, Southwest News-Herald, Springfield State Journal-Register, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aurora Beacon News, Illinois State Rifle Association, National Rifle Association, Illinois Education Association, and the Family-PAC.  My goodness, he’s a slam-dunk!  Former Governor Jim Edgar even endorses him, which is simply incredible considering Dillard was Edgar’s chief-of-staff.  It’s shocking that Crane’s Chicago Business would endorse him considering Dillard is a partner at Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP, one of Chicago’s oldest and largest law firms.  He has the endorsement of the IEA because he’s promising to put more money (or at least maintain current levels) into education even as Illinois continues to get crushed under the weight of budget deficits and loans that currently cannot be repaid.  I cannot connect those dots…

The man has done little with his time in office.  He’s done little more than play his part in the Illinois political edition of “Survivor.”  In the last nine years, he has done little or nothing to impart fiscal responsibility and logic into Illinois’ budgetary situation.  In stereotypical fashion, he offers almost-cliché catch phrases as novel ideas that will take Illinois into a brighter tomorrow.  We will become the “destination economy” with “green jobs” as he and his appointed commission figure out how Illinois businesses simultaneously stay in Illinois while continuing to actually stay open for business.

Tomorrow, remember that he endorsed Obama, and realize who he represents.  Chances are, he does not represent you.

Happy voting!