McHenry County Blog

Matt Murphy met with local supporters at Nick's Pizza on July 9.

I guess I’ve slipped off State Senator Pam Althoff’s press release list, but, fortunately, I discovered on < that one of McHenry County’s legislators is endorsing her colleague Matt Murphy for Lieutenant Governor.

Murphy started off running for governor, then hooked up with former GOP state party chairman Andy McKenna and switched to the second spot.

His first campaign appearance in McHenry County, as far as I know, was on July 9th at Nick’s Pizza in Crystal Lake.

He was a national convention delegate candidate for Fred Thompson in 2008.

He favors a structural change in the General Assembly that I promoted in my 2002 Libertarian Party gubernatorial campaign—Term Limits for Legislative Leaders.

In the debate when Illinois Senate Democrats passed a 67% income tax hike, Murphy was a true star.

Murphy is from Palatine.

Previously, McHenry County Blog extracted the responses of state representatives to a proposal to impose term limits on leaders.

Locally, Republican Mike Tryon was the only one opposed to imposing term limits on legislative leaders.

That’s the reform I championed when I was running on the Libertarian Party ticket for governor against “unreformer” (as John Kass puts it) Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan.

(Top fund raisers of both of my 2002 opponents are now Federal felons awaiting imprisonment.)

Based on my 43 years of watching Springfield politics, I believe such term limits would do more to make the General Assembly responsive to citizen wishes than anything else.

Here’s where suburban state senators stand on the issue:

• Pam Althoff – Favors
• Michael Bond – Favors
• Dan Cronin – Favors
• Kirk Dillard – Favors
• Dan Duffy – Favors
• Susan Garrett – Favors
• Don Harmon – Refused to answer, saying he was part of the negotiating process
• Linda Holmes – Favors
• Randy Hultgren – Favors
• Dan Kotowski – Opposes
• Chris Lauzen – Favors
• Terry Link – Opposes
• John Millner – Favors
• Matt Murphy – Favors
• Michael Nolan – Favors
• Carol Pankau – Favors
• Arthur AJ Wilhelmi – Opposes

So, all Republicans in favor; three Democrats openly opposed.

= = = = =
The signs are the ones I took to every appearance in my 2002 gubernatorial campaign. The phone number on the bottom was switched because I thought an 8-year term limit for legislative leaders was more appropriate than one of 6 years.

I’m pretty amazed that the issue I stressed when I ran for governor against Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan in 2002 is getting attention during this year when the media is pushing reform:

When my Libertarian Party running mate Jim Tobin and I kicked off our campaign in his National Taxpayers United of Illinois office in the South Loop, the sign we held up is the one you see below.

The sign went everywhere in the campaign and might have gotten some real play had Blagojevich and Ryan not conspired to skip the Illinois League of Women Voters gubernatorial debate after I managed to reach the 5% threshold in the Daily Southtown’s 1,000 person survey. (That was the largest in the entire campaign, by the way.)

It seemed perfectly obvious to me that legislative leaders should not be leaders for life.

Except for two years after Republican Lee Daniels managed to elect a Republican majority in 1994—the year that the GOP’s Contract with America clicked on the national level—Mike Madigan has been speaker since George Ryan held the office in the early 1980’s.

Pate Philip stopped all sorts of bad legislation in his leadership of the state senate during the 1990’s, but it still seems to me that there ought to be turnover.

While the old guy/gal may pick the new guy/gal, at least the newbies would have different friends.

When Daniels got deposed during a staff-campaign-work-on-state-time scandal initiated by Rich Means–part of which took place in McHenry County–successor Tom Cross won votes by promising not to try to follow Daniels’ example of being Republican leader as long as he could.

Cross promised term limits.

In 2008, that 2002 promise went bye-bye.

And, of course, nothing will happen on the issue because Madigan is not willing to see an end to his regime…even if it were ten years from now.

The Daily Herald has polled suburban legislators on how they stand on various reform proposals and how the term limits for leaders issue shakes out can be seen below.

First House members:

• Susanne Bassi – Favors
• Mark Beaubien (Republican representing eastern part of McHenry County) – Favors
• Bob Biggins – Favors
• Linda Chapa-LaVia – Favors
• Franco Coladipietro – Favors
• Sandy Cole – Favors
• Michael Connelly – Favors
• Tom Cross – Opposed (Big surprise there.)
• Keith Farnham – Opposes
• Mike Fortner – Favors
• Jack Franks – (Democrat representing northern & western McHenry County) Favors
• Paul Froehlich – Opposes
• Kay Hatcher – Favors
• Emily Klunk-McAsey – Did not respond to Daily Herald
• Sidney Mathias – Favors
• Rosemary Mulligan – Favors
• Elaine Nekritz – Favors
• JoAnn Osmond – Favors
• Sandra Pihos – Favors



• Randy Ramey – Opposes (Step-father is Pate Philip.)
• Dennis Reboletti – Favors
• Kathleen Ryg – Favors
• Skip Saviano – Favors
• Tim Schmitz – Favors
• Darlene Senger – Favors
• Ed Sullivan – Favors
• Mike Tryon – (Representing southeastern McHenry County) Opposes
• Mark Walker – Opposes
• Eddie Washington – Favors

= = = = =
The top sign is the one used in the 2002 campaign. The bottom one was the first version. I concluded that 8 years as leader was better than 6, hence the change in toll free phone numbers.

One of the proposals which has the greatest potential to break the logjam in Springfield is the one I campaigned on for governor in 2002:

Needless to say, legislative leaders think this is horrible idea.

New Republican Senate Leader Christine Radogno told the Chicago Tribune “she would not support term limits for legislative leaders.

“House Majority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) declined to take a position…”

Some with long memories will remember that he said he would serve no more than ten years when campaigning to replace Lee Daniels in 2002.

That promise went by the wayside last year.

Newly elected Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) “wants to read the report before taking any position, spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said.”

And Lisa Madigan surely is speaking for her father when she says,

“That’s something that I’m skeptical of. You don’t necessarily want to put into place a situation where it’s staff and lobbyists and special interests who control a lot of government. There’s no harm in having some institutional knowledge. Voters always have the ability to make sure that someone’s not re-elected.”

She has a point, but there’s nothing saying the term-limited leaders couldn’t remain in office in order to offer their expertise.

When Tom Cross replaced Lee Daniels as House Minority Leader, one of the changes he put forth was that he would not serve forever like Daniels did.

Ten years would be enough, thank you.

Cross has now taken the limit on his tenure as leader out of the House Republican rule book.

And, remember how Cross allowed the members to pick half the sub-leaders?

That disappeared this year, too.

Of course, a majority of the members concurred.

The more things change the more they become the same.

The longer a leader is in power, the less democratic he becomes.

I found the following in a Nov. 11, 2007, email newsletter from now-outgoing State Rep. Ruth Munson (R-Elgin):

“With the exception of the House Republicans, there are no term limits for leaders.

“Additionally, in all but the House Republican Caucus, the caucus leader appoints the entire leadership team.

“It is argued that the lack of term limits and the appointment of the entire leadership team by the caucus leader consolidates power into a handful of individuals, making it very difficult for rank and file members to influence policymaking.

“It was precisely this thinking that led to the reforms implemented by the House Republican Caucus in 2003. Individual members wanted a stronger voice and voted on new rules that limits an individual to no more than 10 years (5 terms) as leader and provides for half of the leadership team to be elected by the caucus members. These rules opened the door for more member participation in policymaking and more input into the legislative process.

“Because of these self-imposed changes, the House Republican leadership is directly accountable to caucus members (or they won’t be re-elected). The leader solicits member input before sitting down at the negotiating table and includes members in discussions about issues and policy direction.”

And newly-elected State Rep. Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) wrote the following in answer to an Aurora Beacon questionnaire:

“Unlike the other bodies, House Minority Leader Tom Cross has instituted a voluntary Leader term limit, which I think is a VERY healthy philosophy.

“Too much power, for too long, strangles the initiative of potential leaders, gridlocks the system and reinforces the public’s belief that Springfield sometimes does more damage than good.

“Cross has done a phenomenal job of finding common ground between members of both parties. I believe instituting a leadership term limit for the Majority and Minority Leaders for both the Senate and House would do wonders to clear the air.”

When Tom Cross replaced Lee Daniels as House Minority Leader, one of the changes he put forth was that he would not serve forever like Daniels did.

Ten years would be enough, thank you.

Cross has now taken the limit on his tenure as leader out of the House Republican rule book.

And, remember how Cross allowed the members to pick half the sub-leaders?

That disappeared this year, too.

Of course, a majority of the members concurred.

The more things change the more they become the same.

The longer a leader is in power, the less democratic he becomes.

I found the following in a Nov. 11, 2007, email newsletter from now-outgoing State Rep. Ruth Munson (R-Elgin):

“With the exception of the House Republicans, there are no term limits for leaders.

“Additionally, in all but the House Republican Caucus, the caucus leader appoints the entire leadership team.

“It is argued that the lack of term limits and the appointment of the entire leadership team by the caucus leader consolidates power into a handful of individuals, making it very difficult for rank and file members to influence policymaking.

“It was precisely this thinking that led to the reforms implemented by the House Republican Caucus in 2003. Individual members wanted a stronger voice and voted on new rules that limits an individual to no more than 10 years (5 terms) as leader and provides for half of the leadership team to be elected by the caucus members. These rules opened the door for more member participation in policymaking and more input into the legislative process.

“Because of these self-imposed changes, the House Republican leadership is directly accountable to caucus members (or they won’t be re-elected). The leader solicits member input before sitting down at the negotiating table and includes members in discussions about issues and policy direction.”

And newly-elected State Rep. Kay Hatcher (R-Yorkville) wrote the following in answer to an Aurora Beacon questionnaire:

“Unlike the other bodies, House Minority Leader Tom Cross has instituted a voluntary Leader term limit, which I think is a VERY healthy philosophy.

“Too much power, for too long, strangles the initiative of potential leaders, gridlocks the system and reinforces the public’s belief that Springfield sometimes does more damage than good.

“Cross has done a phenomenal job of finding common ground between members of both parties. I believe instituting a leadership term limit for the Majority and Minority Leaders for both the Senate and House would do wonders to clear the air.”

That, plus computerized redistricting of legislative seats are the main suggestions of Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller in his latest syndicated newspaper column.

Term limits for legislative leaders.

Where have I heard that before? (See third issue link on the left.)

Oh, I know, I espoused the idea when I ran for governor as a Libertarian in 2002.

Here’s what I pulled up from the Library of Congress archived web site:

Where does Cal Skinner stand on term limits?

Professional politicians are running our country and our state into the ground. They spend most of their time scheming to get re-elected. Then they pass porkbarrel legislation to please their biggest donors, to keep the donations rolling in.

And guess what keeps this corrupt system going? Your tax dollar.

The problem is especially bad in Illinois, where four legislative leaders — the House Speaker, the Senate President, and the House and Senate minority leaders — dictate nearly the entire legislative agenda. The founders of our country never meant for so much power to be in the hands of so few elected officials.

The solution?

Six-year term limits for legislative leaders. Don’t give career politicians like Michael Madigan and Pate Philip time to build political empires that allow their power to go unchecked. Bring back the era of the citizen-politician, when the average citizen took an active role in governing his community.

Cal Skinner and the Libertarian Party support term limits as a sensible means of restoring order to the out-of-control power and money system at the highest levels of our government.

Well, infusing new ideas into the body politic is the primary role of third parties, isn’t it?

That, plus computerized redistricting of legislative seats are the main suggestions of Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller in his latest syndicated newspaper column.

Term limits for legislative leaders.

Where have I heard that before? (See third issue link on the left.)

Oh, I know, I espoused the idea when I ran for governor as a Libertarian in 2002.

Here’s what I pulled up from the Library of Congress archived web site:

Where does Cal Skinner stand on term limits?

Professional politicians are running our country and our state into the ground. They spend most of their time scheming to get re-elected. Then they pass porkbarrel legislation to please their biggest donors, to keep the donations rolling in.

And guess what keeps this corrupt system going? Your tax dollar.

The problem is especially bad in Illinois, where four legislative leaders — the House Speaker, the Senate President, and the House and Senate minority leaders — dictate nearly the entire legislative agenda. The founders of our country never meant for so much power to be in the hands of so few elected officials.

The solution?

Six-year term limits for legislative leaders. Don’t give career politicians like Michael Madigan and Pate Philip time to build political empires that allow their power to go unchecked. Bring back the era of the citizen-politician, when the average citizen took an active role in governing his community.

Cal Skinner and the Libertarian Party support term limits as a sensible means of restoring order to the out-of-control power and money system at the highest levels of our government.

Well, infusing new ideas into the body politic is the primary role of third parties, isn’t it?