Singin' the two-party system blues

Back when I was in grade school, I learned about America's great "two-party system." Basically, the theory was that because there were two distinct parties in the United States that competed for office, there was always a choice for voters. Yet, because there were only two parties, the government remained fairly stable.

Trouble is, there's nothing in the Constitution setting up political parties. In fact, George Washington warned against them.

But now, anyone not in one of these two unofficially official parties is essentially frozen out of the process. If the Founders had known this would have happened, they would have gone back to the drawing board.

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan says it's increasingly clear this is a bad idea:

Right now the Republicans and Democrats in Washington seem, from the outside, to be an elite colluding against the voter. They're in agreement: immigration should not be controlled but increased, spending will increase, etc.

Are there some dramatic differences? Yes. But both parties act as if they see them not as important questions (gay marriage, for instance) but as wedge issues. Which is, actually, abusive of people on both sides of the question. If it's a serious issue, face it. Don't play with it.

I don't see any potential party, or potential candidate, on the scene right now who can harness the disaffection of growing portions of the electorate. But a new group or entity that could define the problem correctly--that sees the big divide not as something between the parties but between America's ruling elite and its people--would be making long strides in putting third party ideas in play in America again.

I'm no longer a member of the Libertarian Party, but I sure would like the opportunity to vote for Libertarian candidates here in Illinois, just like I have for president and vice president.

But as Jeff Trigg constantly points out, the Land of Lincoln requires third party candidates to meet ballot requirements that are far tougher to meet that those faced by the Democrats and the Republicans. No doubt he'll read this post and let us know the number of signatures.

I can't help but to think that if there were more parties -- whose candidates had some possibility of success -- that would make all parties somewhat more ideologically based, giving voters real choices in the ballot box. These parties would have to learn to cooperate with each other on issues with which they agreed, and fight it out on issues with which they do not. Cooperation, not constant bickering over wedge issues, might lead to better government.

But I remain convinced that the Big Government Party likes things just the way they are.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

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Cook County judge gives thumbs-up to Klocek case against DePaul

Crossposte on Marathon Pundit.

Late Wednesday, Marathon Pundit has obtained a copy of the below press release about the Thomas Klocek free speech case from TC Public Relations.

Covering the crimes against free speech by DePaul University has almost become a full time job for me.

(May 31, 2006, Chicago ) Today the most significant hurdle was cleared in the defamation law suit of Professor Thomas Klocek against DePaul University. Judge Stuart Nudelman of the Illinois Circuit County Law Division Court agreed that Klocek’s claims have merit, which will allow his suit against DePaul to move forward toward a trial by jury.

Judge Nudelman believes that DePaul’s actions to discipline Professor Thomas Klocek went to such extreme that their conduct rose to the level of defamation. He noted that DePaul exhibited destructive political correctness when it gave way to its fear of students’ reactions to Prof. Klocek’s challenges to the student groups’ literature and perspective on the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Judge Nudelman also commented that if such limited debate took place when he was a student, it would have resulted in having an inferior educational experience.

Judge Nudelman also stated that DePaul’s public disclosures about Prof. Klocek defamed him in that they denigrated his ability to perform as a professor.

"We have cleared the biggest hurdle before trial. The judge has agreed with us that we have properly stated valid claims for defamation charges against DePaul and individual defendants, including DePaul’s president," said Andy Norman, Klocek’s attorney with the law firm of Mauck & Baker.

Background of Case:

A defamation suit was filed in Illinois ’ Cook County Chancery last June charging that DePaul University and its leadership defamed Professor Thomas Klocek when DePaul publicly characterized arguments he presented to members of Palestinian and Muslim student groups as racist and bigoted. The suit seeks damages against DePaul for maligning Klocek’s integrity and professional competence. The defendants named include: DePaul University ; Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, President of DePaul; and Susanne Dumbleton, Dean of DePaul’s School for New Learning.

For much more on the Klocek case, visit FIRE and read Professor Suspended for Expression Without Due Process

Previous Marathon Pundit post: One year anniversary of the Thomas Klocek press conference at DePaul

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George Dunne Helped Penny Pullen's HIV Bills

Many people might remember what brought down George Dunne, but probably no one knows how he helped protect Illinoisans from the spread of HIV.

He had to go around the radicals who were running Cook County Hospital to do it.

What brought him into the issue was a bill sponsored by State Rep. Penny Pullen (R-Park Ridge) that required health care workers involved in invasive procedures to tell patients if they were HIV-infected. Some physician at County Hospital was HIV-infected and Dunne was trying to assign him to administrative duties over the objections of his left-leaning advocates.

In Springfield, the health committee was, as usual, dominated by liberals, who had already cleared the AIDS Confidentiality Act that tied the hands of public health officials.

For the same committee to approve a comprehensive public protection package required divine intervention, in this case, of the human variety.

That intervener was George Dunne.

And, because of that intervention, Illinois did not go the way New York and California. Our HIV laws are a mixed bag, but relatively protective of the public’s health.

Dunne's wife, Claudia, is Chairman of the National Day of Prayer for Chicago.

A summary of May stories on McHenry County Blog can be found here.

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Why doesn't the GOP ban abortion now?

EMILY's List is fundraising group dedicated to electing pro-abortion women candidates.

Two of the 21 women EMILY's List is promoting are from Illinois - Melissa Bean (CD-8) and Tammy Duckworth (CD-6).

But Bean and Duckworth may not want to publicize that, since EMILY's List has such a poor track record. In 2004, it amassed only a 39% success rate, while 80% of its counterpart's (Susan B. Anthony List) candidates won. In 2002, 17 of EMILY's 21 candidates lost.

The pro-life issue is a winner. Properly framed poll questions show most Americans are against most forms and reasons for abortion.

So, the question posed by Human Events editor Terence Jeffrey yesterday is good: "Why not ban abortion now?" Jeffrey stated:

When I asked [Republican National Chairman Ken] Mehlman... whether the pro-life issue was good for Republicans, his response was instantaneous. "Absolutely," he said.

As proof, he pointed to the 2002 Senate races in Missouri and Minnesota....

Mehlman insists, however, that the GOP should advance the pro-life cause "because it is morally right," not because it is politically advantageous....

Mehlman's analysis can explain the self-contradictory behavior Democrats often exhibit on abortion. But it cannot explain similar behavior by Republicans. Democrats find themselves caught between the demands of commonsense and good morality on the one hand and a core constituency adamant about preserving legalized abortion on the other. They forsake commonsense and morality to appease their base.

But why are Republicans so timid about advancing a cause where they occupy the moral and political high ground?

Consider one of the few things President Bush, Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, House Republican Leader John Boehner and Sen. John Kerry... have in common: They all say human life begins at conception....

The Republican Party's pro-life platform... endorses "legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."

In this Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California Republican, introduced H.R. 552, the Right to Life Act, which follows through on the platform by defining as a "person" for 14th Amendment purposes "all stages of life, including but not limited to the moment of fertilization or cloning."

It recognizes in law what Bush, Frist, Boehner and Kerry already recognize in fact....

Today, we are having a great national debate, driven by a president at odds with the base of his own party, over how many immigrants we should allow into our country and by what means -- so we can fill a shortage in workers. What if we had a great national debate driven by a president, in unison with the base of his own party, over how many babies we can save?

South Dakota had that debate this year, and the pro-lifers won.... What South Dakota proved is that truth is persuasive. All you need are politicians who will fight for it.

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Sen. Durbin Backs Barack Obama for President

I don't know what the general perception of Newsmax.com is but I found this interesting article there about Illinois' senior senator speaking glowingly of the possibility of the junior senator running for President. How appropriate in light of Sen. Obama's name being thrown around as a possible contender for the presidency in 2008 and he's already got one endorsement. I post this article in its entirety.

Sen. Durbin Backs Barack Obama for President
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 11:24 a.m. EDT

Barack Obama is getting a push toward a presidential run from fellow Democratic senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Durbin said he's told Obama he should look "long and hard" at the possibility of running. The 44-year-old Obama has already said he won't run for president in 2008.

But Durbin says Obama brings something special to politics. He says Obama connects better with people than anyone he's ever seen. And Durbin adds that he thinks Obama has the potential to unite people from both Democratic and Republican regions of the country.

And, yes, Durbin also says he would endorse an Obama candidacy should he decide to run.

© 2006 Associated Press.

I really would like to know what to make of this.

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Is US Atty Trying to Peel Emerald Casino Grape?

A year ago Parkway Bank Chairman Rocco Suspenzi refused to tell the state Gaming Board "about his role in secretly splitting up an investment in the now-defunct Emerald Casino with at least one man the FBI has claimed associated with members of organized crime,” according to the Chicago Tribune reporter John Chase.

Now, another Suspenzi is in more serious trouble.

Here’s the beginning of the U.S. Attorney’s press release today:

A former bank officer was charged today with fraud and federal income tax offenses for allegedly obtaining nearly $500,000 from a customer’s credit line and converting the money to his own use. The defendant, Jeffrey Suspenzi, was charged with one count of bank fraud and two counts of filing false individual income tax returns in a three-count criminal information filed today in U.S. District Court, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Suspenzi, 34, of South Elgin and formerly of Palatine, was an assistant vice president of Parkway Bank and Trust Company, based in Harwood Heights.

It seems likely that the two Suspenzi’s are related, so could this be a way of prying information out of bank Chairman Rocco Suspenzi?

Also posted at McHenry County Blog.

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IL Dem Corruption on California TV

Assuming Judy Topinka has enough money for TV ads, she might want to take a page out of California State Treasurer Phil Angelides’ use of Illinois Democratic Party corruption in his quest for his state’s gubernatorial nomination.

Awaiting sentencing in the Downstate Teachers Pension kickback scheme in Illinois is former Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman Joe Cari.

Joe Cari, as in the guy who fingered Governor Rod Blagojevich as “Public Official A.”

As in a guy who helped Al Gore raise big money.

Now, California Democrats are batting Illinois Dem crook Cari around like a tennis ball.

Whom Cari helped most is a major issue in California’s June 6th gubernatorial primary fight.

Is Democrat State Treasurer or Democrat State Comptroller Steve Westly more corrupt? That seems to be the issue before Democratic Party primary voters.

State Treasurer Angelides is excoriating State Comptroller Westly for
Raising cash from “a corrupt Chicago businessman,” according to the Los Angeles Times

But, Blagojevich also got $15,000 from Cari—in three 2003-04 chunks of $5,000. Each donation ranked as national player Cari’s biggest Illinois contribution.

What did Blagojevich do with the money?

On August 4th--after Cari copped a plea--the Governor gave it back to Cari.

In effect, Blagojevich made a contribution to his fellow Democrat’s legal defense fund.

And Demo crook Steven Loren, a Blagojevich administration appointee also caught up in the pension scandal, got his $4,500 back, too.

How much more fertile are the crooks, alleged crooks and pre-alleged crooks who helped Governor Rod Blagojevich!

Just in case Topinka’s creative people need any help, here’s part of the TV ad:

"This is Joe Cari," the narrator intones. "He's a corrupt Chicago businessman who gave Steve Westly thousands in campaign contributions."

Westly's picture appears, and the narrator continues: "Westly then steered public pension funds to Joe Cari's investment company….

"Now Joe Cari has pleaded guilty to extortion in a pension fund scandal."

Monday, the LA Times reported that the Clinton-supported Democratic candidate making the charge also sought Cari’s help in fund raising.

Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle's Ad Watch reported:

Cari held fundraisers for Westly in New York and Chicago and, in 2004, the fund invested $5 million in Healthpoint….Westly can't deny that he backed the investment efforts of a fundraiser who was later convicted of a felony.

And, if you think that only in Illinois do public officials try to raise money from those doing business with state pension funds, read this, also from the LA Times:

Westly and Angelides both sit on the state's main public pension boards, and both have raised millions in campaign donations from companies and individuals seeking lucrative pension fund investments.

Topinka can run similar ads, of course.

But she could make them more powerful.

Not only did Blagojevich give money back to pension fund crooks Cari and Loren, but he also gave $500 back to alleged mob firm M&M Amusements on April 28, 2005.

Only after I asked political spokesman Peter Giangreco what the Governor was going to do now that M&M (think brothers James and Michael Marcello) had been implicated in the massive mob indictment was the money returned.

On the other hand, contributions from multi-indicted and part-time Republican Stuart Levine of the alleged Crystal Lake Mercy hospital kickback and the pension fund kickback fame were not returned.

Blagojevich directed his $4,267 in contributions to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

McHenry County Blog is where this originated.

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Rep. Aaron Schock: Ticket scalper

For those who missed it and keep asking me about it, here it is: Aaron Schock -- ticket scalper:

When Aaron Schock was in high school, his job was to buy tickets.

His employer would order tickets to, say, a Garth Brooks concert, and Schock would call Ticketmaster. He would purchase the maximum number of tickets allowed and send them to his employer, who would reimburse Schock's credit-card account and send him a commission. Then his employer would try to resell the tickets to a diehard Garth Brooks fan, hopefully for way more than face value.

"It wasn't bad money for a high school student," Schock says. "It beat working at McDonald's."

Schock, one of the Peoria area's representatives in the state legislature, compares the practice of ticket-scalping to other great examples of American capitalism, such as playing the stock market or speculating in real estate. There is the potential of great reward, but also risk. And the risk and reward cut both ways.

Yeah, well the payday loan business is legal too, but I wouldn't call it moral. But you would elect a payday loan operator to the state legislature? I wouldn't want my sister to date one. A ticket scalper is almost on the same moral level.

JS sports columnist Kirk Wessler later explains that the State of Illinois legalized this sort of behavior in 1991. Even the ballclubs are getting into the act, selling tickets never offered to the public to brokers who then immediately jack up the prices. Thanks to computers and the Internet, scalpers don't even have to stand in line, which is why so few tickets are available at the door on game day anymore.

And the problem just keeps getting worse. Eventually, every single sporting event will be like the Super Bowl and the only way to get tickets it to know somebody who knows somebody, or be connected to a powerful politician or be a client for a huge corporation.

Ticket scalping is ruining sports. It benefits the greed-heads at the expense of the fans.

If ticket scalping is one of the "great examples of American capitalism," then so is Enron. But then, the last thing a sharp operator like Shock wanted to do as a kid was work at McDonalds. At least it would have been honest work, and might have better prepared him to understand his constituency a little bit better.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

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Protecting Homes Before Studios

Once again, my posting has slowed as the result of a busy schedule, holiday, etc. And I'm not sure that the next 5-7 days will be much more productive on the blogging front.

I have been wanting to weigh in on the Governor's education proposal, but I figured that it has been getting enough coverage and discussion as is. But before I get back to other work however, I do want to touch on one aspect of this issue.

Over the past couple of days, many of my constituents have been receiving reassessment notices for their homes. And three years after getting increases of 40-100%, they are once again getting increases of...40-100%. Same home, same neighborhood, absurd taxes. By example, when we moved into our home about nine years ago, the property taxes were about $3800. With the latest reassessment, we will be looking at a tax bill of about $20,000.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that while about half of our tax bill goes to the Chicago Board of Education, the public school two blocks from my house is one of the worst-performing in the area, graduating just 8 kids last year. What's wrong with this picture? A lot.

The point of this is that while the Governor proposes to pump billions more into our school system, and while he aggressively worked to give tax relief to film producers who shoot in Illinois, many of his neighbors are being faced with having to sell their homes because of our overreliance on property taxes in the funding of school. His proposal does nothing to address this issue, although in his defense I guess, he never claimed that it did.

But this issue has been around long before the near ten years ago since I joined the General Assembly, and long before my predecessor, the Governor, joined the House before that. It has not gone away, nor will it, until something is done to address it head on. Given the propensity of elected officials to think in terms of election cycles rather than real world timeframes, I am dubious that any meaningful reforms are on the horizon.

The exception to this would be the convening of a Constitutional Convention a couple of years from now, something which I think would be in the best interest of the State on a number of fronts.

There is arguably no more pressing issue in my area than that of property taxes, and I believe that I echo the thoughts of a number of my surrounding colleagues in saying that, given this fact as well as the numerous other questions surrounding the proposal, it will be exceedingly difficult (impossible?) to get many of us to support this measure. Couple that with the reported upon concerns of Downstate Democrats about the proposal, and this is looking a lot like a non-starter.

I will be keeping tabs here, but may not post for the next week, but thanks as always for checking in.

To read, or post, comments, visit Dome-icile.

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Kudos Daily Southtown; Now, How About School Choice?

The Daily Southtown, with its usual good sense, gives Governor Blagojevich's Education gamble a nice squirt in the puss of wake-up juice.
This morning's editorial calls into question the many 'what ifs' that the Guv boldly side steps.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsedit/x31-ed1.htm

The ugly step-child at the table - school choice - is once again consigned to the gang-way. Parental choice of school is the only real bold choice equation in education reform. Competition sparks quality.

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George Dunne

This I remember,

When U.S. Rep. Harold Washington won the Democratic nomination for mayor in 1983, many white Democrats refused to support him. But Mr. Dunne's protege and successor as 42nd Ward committeeman, Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), recalled Mr. Dunne's reaction to Washington's nomination.

"George said, `I don't care who he is, we're backing the winner,'" Natarus said. "And he backed him all the way. At one of the St. Patrick's Day parades, he took Harold by the hand and took him to the head of the line."

A lot of other Chicago politicans disgraced themselves instead during those years.

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"Kettle, you're black!" - the pot

If Rod Blagojevich wants to attack Judy Topinka, he needs to ask a different question than "Where's your education plan, Judy?"

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

A great question Governor. Where's your education "plan"? Why can't the public see the study that purports a lottery sale would bring in $10 billion, the study by the same company that made a bundle off the last privatization plan? Where's the breakdown of how your "plan" will affect each legislative district and each school district, for the next 25 years, or the next four years, or even the next one? Where's your memo explaining how a State Board of Education that can't even get a simple test out on time once a year is going to start taking over school districts and operating them day-to-day?

And please, for the love of all that is Holy, can you explain to us all in detail why you can't seem to find the political will to lead the charge for major property tax relief for millions of Illinois families, but you've decided that Hollywood needs a white knight in shining armor to champion tax breaks for the movie industry?

I hope somebody in that camp is certified in the Heimlich maneuver, because they're going to choke on all that hypocrisy.

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