Obama's splash and Restoring Democracy

Check it out over at the Hotline.

Update: Nothing to do with the Obama link unless one wants to argue transparency. Jerry over at Illinois Progressive Legal Action Center found this story at SJ-R.com

Members of a newly created group say they want to "restore democracy" to the Illinois General Assembly because it often approves complicated legislation too hastily and with little or no chance for public scrutiny.

"We're saying we live in a democracy. Let's act like it," said Jim Broadway, a Springfield resident.

Citing this timely example,

One example of that slapdash approach, Broadway said, is the 1997 electric deregulation law, which led to the double-digit electric rate increases that took effect this month.

"There weren't 10 legislators who really understood" that measure 10 years ago, he said. "It was 261 pages of the toughest bill that I ever read."

Requiring a public review period for most legislation would improve the quality of the General Assembly's work because "good ideas would replace not-so-good ideas," Broadway said.

As for Obama, I wish we were hearing his thoughts instead on Gov Richardson's trip to Darfur. Why Obama wasn't at Richardson's side with Sam Powers on a trip like that mystifies me. My hopes for him spiral downwards daily.