Chicago Tribune Editorial - The state of corruption lives on

Chicago Tribune Editorial - The state of corruption lives on
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
June 3, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/arts/chi-edit-pageone-reformjun03,0,5960784.story


Your valiant lawmakers galloped off to Springfield in January, ousted a disastrous governor and promised to clean up your government. They headed back to their districts this week to brag about what a great job they did. Open government! Campaign finance reform! Huzzah for us!

Don't believe it. Not for a minute. They failed you.

They failed you and they protected themselves.

How did they fail you?

They didn't trust you with the power to recall them from office when you see they're not serving you. A constitutional amendment to give you that authority? Nowhere to be found. The only amendment that gained any traction would allow you to recall only the governor. The rest of the people in power -- the mayors, judges, legislators? Forget it. Never had a chance. They protected themselves.

They didn't trust you to know everything that's going on in your government. It's your money, you pay for that government -- but don't try to look too closely. The lawmakers sent Gov. Pat Quinn a rewrite of the state's open records law. It's better than the current law. But it still builds in protections for government officials who want to operate in secret. There's one more chance on this: Quinn can issue an amendatory veto to strip out the loopholes and make this legislation better.

They passed a campaign finance "reform" law that was built on cynicism and fraud. They're going to tell you they took strides to squeeze the money out of politics. They didn't. They passed a law that will be Exhibit A for everyone (including this newspaper's Editorial page) who argues that such laws are destined to fail.

This may be remembered as Pat Quinn's most feckless moment in office. He cut a deal that protects the power of House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton and gives Quinn himself a boost toward the Democratic nomination for governor next year. All in the name of "reform."

So what did they do right? A few things. It will be harder to engage in the steering of contracts to political cronies -- the perverse pay-to-play governing that was at the heart of the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich and his removal from office. Internal investigations of wrongdoing by state workers will be a little more transparent.

Beyond that, not much good came out of Springfield.

Fortunately, lawmakers don't get to go home for long, so you won't have to listen to them claim they fixed things. They have to go back to Springfield to pass a budget because they failed you on that count too.

Quinn, Madigan, Cullerton: Once more, with feeling. When you get together on Thursday to talk budget, deal with the state of corruption. Thus far, you've failed.