McHenry County Blog

Reading the post-veto do-over that Democrats want of campaign finance reform put State Rep. Lou Lang’s vision of the subject in a new light.

At last Wednesday night’s meeting of the McHenry County Democratic Party Central Committee, Lang, state representative and Niles Township Central Committeeman, was the guest speaker.

The House Democratic Party Floor Leader talked about accomplishing “some ethical reforms, including strengthening the Freedom of Information Act and campaign finance limits.

“There too high there,” he said of the bill vetoed last week by Governor Pat Quinn, a bill he previously endorsed.

Then, Lang laid out his own idea of campaign finance reform:

“I’d put strong limits on expenditures, for example, $100,000 (on House campaigns).

“Each candidate would get exactly the same access to exactly the same voters.”

I hope that I was not the only one in the room who figured out such a restriction is a way to give incumbents even more of an advantage than they have now.

Incumbents already have so many advantages.

Because they have won at least one election and had the support of state-paid public relations persons for almost two years by the time they seek re-election, public officials have a huge name identification advantage, just to mention one benefit to being in office.

Another is that newspapers quote you. (Check out the number of times non-incumbents pry their way into articles during a campaign.) That makes the incumbent and his r her ideas seem more important than a challenger.

Want to keep the same people in office?

Enact Lang’s suggestion.

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Greenwood Township’s Ed Riley greets Lou Lang at the McHenry County Farm Bureau building in Woodstock.

As McHenry County Blog reported Monday, State Rep. Jack Franks booked over $1 million during the first six months of 2009.

That was enough to make him noticed by the Chicago Sun-Times in Springfield correspondent Dave McKenney’s story on what statewide candidates raised how much.

Franks’ photo and that of DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom were featured in the article above which State Comptroller Dan Hynes snagged the headlinefor having $3.5 million in the bank.

Franks has told the Northwest Herald that he’s thinking about running for governor.

One thing is for sure, if the campaign “reform” bill is signed by Governor Pat Quinn, this will be the last election cycle that candidates with rich relatives like Franks will be able to tap them for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The new limit is $5,000 per person, if I read the legislation correctly.

Crystal Lake’s State Rep. Mike Tryon sent out a report about the session today. Just in case you didn’t get it, McHenry County Blog will publish it.

Dear Friend,

The final week in Springfield unfolded with the Democrats blatant unwillingness to abort their tax and spend addictions and refusal to consider making any real budget reforms.

For the last several years, I have adamantly opposed Democrat budgets that continue to bankrupt the state with increased spending and ignore our mounting budget deficit.

This year, budget discussions remained behind closed doors in the final hours with Democrat leaders in the House and Senate committed to passing massive tax increases on families and businesses.

I voted against a plan that would have raised the income tax by 50% for two years.

The bill failed in the House by a vote of 42-74-2.

An income tax increase during today’s economic downturn would be absolutely devastating to families and businesses and fails to address the state’s core economic crisis.

The Senate passed a 67% increase on the income tax and a massive sales tax increase, but their plan was never called for a vote in the House.

I cannot support turning the Land of Lincoln into the Land of Taxes.

When they could not garner the votes for tax increases, Democrats decided to walk away from the table and pass a budget bill that simply keeps the lights on. The House and Senate approved a partial budget (Senate Bill 1197), which I voted against, that funds state agencies at roughly 51%.

The House and Senate Dems have had months to look at ways to reduce runaway spending costs and examine new or inefficient budget eaters.

Instead of cutting back, they stick to their old political games, which will force the legislature to return later and address the lingering budget problems.

I also voted against a bill to raid hundreds of funds including

• $24 million from the Mental Health Fund,
• $7 million from the State Police Fund,
• $6 million from a Medicaid Trust fund, and
• many other important funds dedicated to education, cancer research, fire prevention, violence protection, drug treatment and many others.

The bill (Senate Bill 1433) passed the House and Senate.

Just days before adjournment, the House and Senate also passed a so-called campaign finance “reform” measure that does nothing more than codify the current practice and promote political coverage.

While House Bill 7 does offer minimal caps on campaign contributions, the watered down measure omits crucial reforms supported by Republicans, the media, and good government groups across the state.

In particular, the bill fails to cap in-kind campaign contributions and sets sky high limits for certain committee transfers. It limits donations by calendar year instead of election cycle giving incumbents an advantage and fails to implement real-time, year round transparent reporting.

In short, this measure will still allow powerful legislative leaders and party bosses like Speaker Madigan to maintain their majorities by providing enough loopholes for large amounts of cash to flow through.

Real genuine ethics reform continues to be at the top of my legislative agenda in Springfield.

Tomorrow, Tryon explains what happened to his legislation this year

Don’t see clothes lines much anymore.

Guess most people have clothes dryers now.

I think my bit-too-uppity Village of Lakewood has even banned this “green” way of drying clothes.

I found this clothes line in the blessedly unincorporated early McHenry County settlement of Ridgefield. It’s northwest of McHenry County College on, would you believe, Ridgefield Road, not to mention Hillside Road and a bit of Country Club Road.

In any event as I drove by, I knew I didn’t have a photo of a clothes line, so I took it.

When I arrived home and read how the legislative leaders had put no meaningful restrictions on their ability to gather all the money and decide which of their subservient members or to-be subservient members would get how much, I knew it had to be my “Message of the Day.”

Illinois voters have been “clotheslined.”

Or as some folks think “closelined.”

Do you think those who use the incorrect spelling are just too young to know what a clothesline is”

If Pat Quinn wants to go out in a blaze of glory and pass a petition seeking a constitutional amendment on Term Limits for Legislative Leaders, count me in.