So,
the fox says to the farmer, "Hey, don't fix the hen-house door, just buy
more chickens."
That's
pretty much the same advice that you, as Illinois voters, are about to be spoon
fed.
Big
business, big labor and some "good government" groups have teamed up
to urge a "No" vote this November on the Constitutional Convention
ballot question. They're planning to spend $3 million on TV and other
advertising.
Illinois
voters are given a choice every twenty years about whether to call a
"con-con," and in 1988 the ballot question was defeated.
The
entire Illinois establishment was opposed to a constitutional convention back
then, including most newspapers. But 2008 is a whole lot different than 1988,
when the political world was pretty stable here and most things were on track.
"A
mess" hardly begins to describe our current state political situation.
Some have suggested that voters might be so fed up with our political disaster
that they will vote for a constitutional convention with the hope that
something - anything - might change.
It
was obvious during a conference call with reporters last week that "fear
and loathing" will be the message of the "No" campaign.
"If
you think things are bad now, just wait until the same people who have screwed
up our government get their hands on the constitution," sums it up pretty
well. The opponents did their very best to make the claim that the same people
who are responsible for the gridlock and political warfare in Springfield will
be the ones who will control a constitutional convention.
However,
all the powers that be in this state oppose a convention. Why? Because they
know they may not be able to control it. They fear the controls that ordinary
citizens running as convention delegates might attempt to put on their power.
And they believe that the voters, who will have the final say over every single
proposed revision or amendment, are not to be trusted. It's no coincidence that
the groups providing most of the cash for the "No" campaign are also
allied with the most powerful politicians in Illinois.
The
well-funded convention opposition will likely do anything to scare you away
from voting "Yes." They claimed last week, for instance, that a
convention will cost taxpayers $100 million. That's far more than a recent
estimate by a legislative agency, but it has a nice, round, scary ring to it,
so that's what we'll be hearing over and over again.
And
the opposition's claim that all our problems are political, not structural, is
simply ludicrous. "It's the politicians, not the constitution, that are at
fault," said the executive director of the Alliance to Protect the
Illinois Constitution, which is fronting for the interest groups.
I
do not understand how the opponents can claim with a straight face that even
though a tiny number of people have accumulated an enormous amount of power
under this Constitution - the House Speaker, Senate President and governor -
all we have to do is just elect new people and all our woes will suddenly
disappear.
I've
been around just since 1990, but only a small handful of legislators remain in
office who were there when I first started reporting on Illinois politics. Rod
Blagojevich was still chasing ambulances for Eddie Vrdolyak's law firm back
then. The 27-year old state Rep. Aaron Schock was barely in grade school.
Lots
and lots of new people have been elected since 1990. Lots of good people, even.
I would venture to say that the General Assembly as a whole has a brighter,
more diverse and thoughtful membership now than in the old days. But the power
concentration problems have only gotten worse. Our constitution simply allows too much power to be
concentrated in too few hands.
Also,
the legislative leaders and the governor control the drawing of the legislative
district maps so tightly that it's unbelievably difficult to defeat an
incumbent. The only way to do it is with money supplied by those leaders, who
get their campaign funds from the very people who are now saying that this mess
is purely the fault of politicians, not the constitution.
The
people arguing against change have been our political system's greatest
enablers, and now the fox tells us that the broken hen-house door is fine and
what we ought to do is buy more chickens.
Better
to just fix the door.
Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.