Statement on the Sentencing of former Gov. George Ryan
Cross posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:
STATEMENT OF ICPR DIRECTOR CYNTHIA CANARY:
Today, former Governor George Ryan was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. The length of time George Ryan spends behind bars matters only to George Ryan and his family. To the rest of us, he will forever be enshrined in the Illinois Government Hall of Shame for betraying the trust of the people of Illinois.
Illinois’ politics didn't have a good reputation before Ryan’s trial, which brought us months of testimony about sweetheart contracts, trips to Jamaica and Las Vegas, cover-ups, deceit, tax evasion and on and on. The Ryan trial put it all at center stage for us to see once again. What is it about Illinois that breeds politicians like Ryan and scores of others who have gone to jail for using the power of public office to enrich themselves and their campaign contributors?
Unfortunately, George Ryan's use of government for personal gain is not a freak occurrence in Illinois. It is precisely why everyday citizens have so little trust in their government and believe big campaign contributors have an unfair advantage.
Instead of debating how many years George Ryan should serve, our elected leaders ought to be debating what needs to be done to restore the public's trust in government. Their answers should include restrictions on how much can be contributed to candidates and a ban on direct contributions by corporations and labor unions. Decisions about state employment and contracts should be based on merit and not decided by contributions and politics. We need reasonable restrictions on how campaigns are financed and a strong regulatory system that will enforce those laws. And we need more disclosure about lobbying practices, as well as increased sunshine on all levels of government.
Voters and candidates can - and will - disagree on important issues, like funding education, selling the tollway and the licensing of new casinos. But all of us want a government that is fair, a government where those issues are debated and decided by honest people. Voters don't think the system is fair now.
As long as candidates can get unlimited campaign cash from special interests, we won't have fairness, and voters know that.
It has been too easy for a government office to become an arm of a campaign. . . where all decisions are made with an eye toward the next election and who provides the money to buy the TV ads and mass mailings. If we're going to sever that connection, we need limits on how campaign funds are collected. Only then will we have a chance at achieving fairness in government -- a place where real people are heard, where all issues get a fair hearing and decisions are made by honest men and women who are not influenced by campaign cash.
The U.S. Attorney and the Federal courts have made it abundantly clear that elected officials have a duty to uphold the public trust and those who don’t will be tried and convicted. Voters in this state have been let down far too many times. It’s long past time for politicians who have talked the talk about changing business as usual, to actually start walking the walk. Illinois citizens deserve fair and honest government. And they have the right to demand it.
At the end of his prison sentence, I hope George Ryan returns to a changed Illinois, one that welcomes honesty in government and merits the trust of Illinoisans.
6 comments:
I hope so too, but I don't see much hope from the governors race from either party. Both look like scandles waiting to happen...(sigh) Some day I hope we get a politician who isn't corrupt, but I am not holding my breath that it is coming anytime soon.
Mayor Richard Daley and John Daley are next.
Taxpayer funding of political campaigns won't make any difference at all in this culture of corruption as long as gerrymandering of districts and the worst in the world ballot access laws are in place that curtail most of the political competition. Not being able to recall people like George Ryan also fosters the corruption.
Money, acting like water, will always find it's way to people with power. I'd say ending gerrymandering and equalizing and minimizing ballot access barriers will do a lot more to decrease corruption than capping what an individual can do with their own money to influence politics. I'm with you on corporations and unions and non-voting entities though.
Madigan, Jones, Daniels, and Phillips were just as guilty of letting this go on, after all. And probably the best way to limit their extreme power is to increase the amount of political competition. Having only a handful of competitive House and Senate races every two years is a much bigger problem than unrestrictive campaign finance rules are. End the gerrymandering and we can start talking.
If Canary thinks the system is so bad, why doesn't the ICPR begin with themselves and wean their little organization off of "special interest" spigot. Not only do they send out fundraising solicitation and fundraising announcements to the entire lobbying corps they also continue to take contributions from Illinois politicians.
Isn't money collected by Illinois politicians and then transferred to Canary's political group still dirty money and, therefore, ill-gotten gains?
Capping contributions and curtailing First Amendment rights does nothing to end corruption or diminish incumbency. As the federal system has shown us, every time "reforms" are put in place, money finds a way and we still have 98% incumbent return.
I don't see exactly how most of what Cindi Canary suggests would have done anything to prevent much, if any at all, of the "crimes" George Ryan has been convicted of. He certainly didn't enrich himself, in the normal sense of the word, through personal bribe taking. I don't see much in the way of campaign contributions he got from people who received his "largesse" in the form of innapproprietly issued contracts.
I think she really hopes the changes she suggests would lead us toward a more egalitarian political system, but I just don't see how they change the real problems we face.
Steve,
You see exactly what I, a hard-working, taxpaying, American voter, see.
The frenzy to eat George Ryan's liver is now exhausted and the birds ( Zorn & Kass and their Tribune handlers) are getting flapped for the next plateful.
I am not a Phi Betta Kappan ( Loyola couldn't get a charter and I was too dumb anyway) but I can follow the news - not the opinion pull funnies - but the details and I still have yet to see a 'crime' - not a 'services denied' flavor of the week but an actual crime that Gov. Ryan committed. I saw political hard ball played out unmatched since Sejanus had a hook thrown through his jaw.
Today's Medill Swill was too much even for a guy who likes to dunk his Slim Jims in Bosco - Kass and Zorn did not get enough of Ryan's guts and scalp. They are beating wings for their next feed.
Illinois is screwed.
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