Letters & Commentary

Capitol Fax

Rich Miller's commentary on State Government

You may have read the news by now that former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan is seriously considering another run for governor. Ryan commissioned a poll which shows him leading the GOP pack and running neck and neck with Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes and trailing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn by five points.

That ain't bad considering Ryan's been out of politics since he lost the 2002 gubernatorial race to Rod Blagojevich.

Ryan's last name, however, will always be a liability in the wake of George Ryan's conviction and imprisonment. 19 percent of those polled thought Jim Ryan was the former governor, for instance, and only 10 percent knew he was the former attorney general. Ryan's name identification in the poll is only surpassed by Gov. Quinn, although Ryan's negatives are as high as Quinn's - likely because of that toxic last name.

Ryan's name was one of his biggest liabilities in the 2002 race, but the trend at the time away from the Republican Party in Illinois certainly hastened his downfall as well, and his poor campaign didn't help much, either.

And while times are different now and George Ryan is long gone from the scene, Jim Ryan will face a major new problem if he pulls the trigger this time around.

Two words: Stu Levine.

Levine, of course, pled guilty to using his seats on two state boards to pad his pockets with kick-back money. His indictment shocked the Illinois political world because it included lurid details of Levine's heavy hard drug use and wicked sexual appetites.

Levine and Jim Ryan were law school study mates and Ryan is generally blamed for bringing Levine to the political dance. After Levine was indicted, Jim Ryan was quoted by the Daily Southtown saying this about his longtime friend: "He's always been a very compassionate person, and I always have liked and respected him, and I continue to call him a friend."

Oops.

Ryan has never been accused of any improprieties with Levine, but that was an unfortunate remark, to say the least.

A Chicago TV station did a brief report on Ryan's potential candidacy the other day. The anchor read the story while the station ran some stock video of Ryan making a campaign announcement in 2002. The station didn't notice that Stu Levine was on that tape, walking up to his old friend and whispering in his ear. Others did take notice, however. Lots of notice.

Guilt by association is distasteful and often just plain untrue. But the Republicans have been playing that card for months against Democrats for their association with Rod Blagojevich. They've even whacked Democrats who fought Blagojevich tooth and nail. So, turnabout would be fair play.

There were no questions about Stu Levine in that poll Ryan released last week. There also weren't any questions about Ryan's recent support for a broad tax hike on income and services, which won't go down well in a Republican primary.

And while Jim Ryan may lead the GOP pack right now, he doesn't exactly dominate it. Almost half (48 percent) of Republican primary voters remain undecided in the uninformed ballot test, according to Ryan's own poll. Ryan does far better in a slightly informed ballot test (he's called the former attorney general), but 30 percent are still undecided. And all those other establishment suburban conservative moderates in the race right now could be vulnerable to a more conservative type, perhaps Bill Brady, to lump them all together and take the win for himself.

Shortly after Ryan released his poll it was learned that former Gov. Jim Edgar was endorsing Sen. Kirk Dillard in the super-crowded Republican primary battle. Plain and simple, Edgar moves poll numbers. He is the most popular Republican - if not the most popular politician - in Illinois. If Dillard can raise the money to put Edgar in lots of TV ads, Ryan's initial lead will dwindle.

And if Ryan's past does become an issue, he could end up more vulnerable than almost any other Republican running right now.

American Legion Bear Drive

The American Legion Family has volunteers who attend family meetings of men and women who are being deployed. At these meetings the volunteers, take pictures of the children and the serviceman or woman and iron those pictures on a pillowcase. These pillowcases are given to the children and the serviceman to take with them, so they will always have the other one close.

They also take stuffed bears and outfit them with homemade vests. These vests have small pockets, which the serviceman or woman may put a note to the children that are receiving these bears. It is sad to think that maybe this could be the last note that child will receive from their parent. As a mother who received a note from her son when he was leaving for boot camp to be read after he left, I can tell you those few words that he had written meant a great deal to me.

These items are free of charge to those being deployed and their families.They attend all deployments that they are notified of. At a typical deployment they distribute 500 bears.

I would like to ask if anyone would care to donate some new bears, or some old ones that are in very good condition - we would gladly accept them. This might be a project for a scout group, church group, etc.

If you would care to learn more about this project or wish to donate bears, I may be reached at .

Julia Moore

American Legion Auxiliary

Department of Illinois,

President

No Big Government

While I disagree with almost everything Chuck Wenstrom wrote in his last letter, "The Way we Weren't," (9/30) ­ FDR acting for the common good, the blessings of LBJ's Great Society, women dying from botched abortions, witty nuns, etc. the most absurd claim of all was that we need big, robust, well-funded government to solve the big problems we face. He's blissfully unaware that it's the big governments themselves, especially ours, that have created those problems.

Like big wars, for instance. Small, local governments don't have the resources to annihilate one another. Ain't that a shame! Only big governments can afford to design, manufacture and drop atomic and hydrogen bombs on other, not-so-big governments and murder million of foreign men, women and children non-combatants to establish "peace" on earth, while bankrupting their own big government at home.

Only big governments can starve (Russia), gas (Germany) and enslave (China) millions of their own citizens.

Only big governments run by big politicians can send thousands of soldiers to die, get dismembered or go mad conquering other, not-so-big governments on the other side of the world, forcing millions of other civilians to flee with only the skin on their backs to neighboring countries, where they're herded into refugee camps to starve.

Illinois and Indiana can't do that to each other. Shows you how weak and useless small governments are! They can waste a lot of money and cut a lot of shady deals, but nothing like the pros in Washington.

All hail big governments! Why can't those damn naysayers get it straight?

Never mind that the greatest government on earth was created by the hard work, ingenuity, sweat and sacrifice of small groups of free, independent citizens ­ pioneers, inventors, investors, explorers, entrepreneurs, adventurers, and just plain hard working men and women with the minimum of supervision and interference by the federal government and the military.

Never mind that big government's big dreams of world domination have brought us to the brink of collapse (the "bust" in robust.) As reported by Macedonian Radio and Television On-line, Igor Panarin, a respected professor at Moscow's Diplomatic Academy within the Russian Federation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has predicted that the United States will fall apart in July 2010. A former KGB analyst and dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Academy for future diplomats, Panarin is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russian relations. The Wall Street Journal said, "Prof. Panarinis not a fringe figure."

"Mr. Obama is similar to the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev," he said. "Gorbachev was also making great promises for the Soviet Union, but the situation was only getting worse." By next summer, he predicts, the US will disintegrate into six blocsand everyone will get their piece. "The probability is more than 50 percent."

He came up with his grim forecast while analyzing the parallels between the Soviet Union in its final days and the current situation in the United States. "The American dream ballooned seven times in 11 years. During the Gorbachev era, the Soviet dream ballooned five times." Americans hope President Barack Obama "can work miracles," he wrote. "'But when spring comes, it will be clear that there are no miracles."?Panarin said in an interview with IZVESTIA, "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like n avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."?As Drudge reported, "When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: 'It is already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and two are barely surviving.Their losses are the biggest in history. Now what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global financial scale. America will no longer be the world's financial regulator."

Panarin went on,"Mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar . . . Russia might even 'claim' Alaska."?Joseph Farah, editor of World Net Daily, said, "Until recently, no one took him very seriously. And then came the economic calamity that has rocked Americans and the rest of the world, too.Now, Panarin's predictions of an end of the United States, due to economic and moral collapse, is being taken seriously by many."

Who knows what will happen, or how, or when? Nobody.I suspect it'll end in a military dictatorship. That would suit Barak Obama just fine. All revolutionaries hate having to work with congresses and parliaments.Getting majorities is such a drag.The point still is: this is what Big Government inevitably leads to.

A South African historian recently chronicled the big governments of history, dating the time of their rise and fall. Here's what he found:

Assyria (859-612 B.C.): a 247-year reign.

Persia (538-330 B.C.): a 208-year reign.

Greece (331-100 B.C.): a 231-year reign.

The Roman Republic (260-27 B.C.): a 233-year reign.

The Roman Empire (27 B.C.-180 A.D.): a 207-year reign.

The Arab Empire (634-880 A.D.): a 246-year reign.

The Mameluke Empire (1250-1517 A.D.): a 267-year reign.

The Ottoman Empire (1320-1570 A.D.): a 250-year reign.

Spain (1500-1750 A.D.): a 250-year reign.

Romanov Russia (1682-1916 A.D.): a 234-year reign.

Great Britain (1700-1950 A.D.): a 250-year reign.

The USA (1790-2009 A.D.): 219 years and counting.

In the end ­however, whenever it comes ­ we'll start all over again with small, local governments, if we survive at all. As someone said, if God doesn't chastise America for its crimes, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Richard O'Connor

Pearl City, IL

Deer Season

I thought you or someone you know might be interested in some of the recent changes in Illinois' deer hunting laws. These changes are intended to lengthen the deer hunting season for sportsmen. They are more hunter-friendly and will provide an opportunity for more deer to be harvested.

The fall deer season began on October 1, with archery hunters taking the first crack at the herd. The seasons are:

- Archery - October 1 - January 17;

- Youth - October 10 - 11;

- Firearm season - November 20-22 and December 3-6;

- Muzzleloader only - December 11-13;

- Late Winter - December 31 - January 3 and January 15-17.

Deer permits that remain after the daily drawing period will be available for over-the-counter sales on October 20. Hunters will be able to purchase these licenses through the Department of Natural Resources and approved retailers.

As you know, hunting can be a dangerous sport. It is important that all young and new hunters go through a safety education course. I hope our Illinois hunters will have a safe and bountiful season.

A link to deer season information and hunters' safety education materials can be found on my website: http://www.DanRutherford.com

Sincerely,

Dan Rutherford

State Senator

Publisher's Note: You can meet Sen. Rutherford, candidate for Illinois State Treasurer, this month, as he will be the guest speaker at the Carroll County Republican Roundup on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Buck's Barn in Thomson.

Time For REAL Change

Columnist Victor Davis Hanson believes Barack Obama is under the delusion he is a university president. Hanson's piece is four pages long, and appeared September 23rd on National Review Online (NRO.com). Here's a sample of his prose: "For many in the academic community, ...Middle America is an exotic place inhabited by aborigines who bowl, don't eat arugula, and need to be reminded to inflate their tires....It is the role of the university, from a proper distance, to help them, by making sophisticated, selfless decisions on health care and the environment that the unwashed cannot grasp are really in their own interest."

So, what are we to do in the face of this insufferable, pompous attitude, which the Congress shares with the President? The nation is bankrupt. The national debt will double by 2012 and triple by 2019 under this administration's plans.

A brief lesson in civics here. Who passes bills? The Congress. Which house of Congress passes the spending bills? The House. Which house of Congress must run for re-election every two years? The House.

Well, there you have it! Problem solved! Just RECYCLE THE HOUSE! But there's the sticky problem of the two-party system. Third parties fail because they can't raise enough funds, and the third party is always an offshoot of an existing party - Nader's party drew from Democrats/Liberals and Perot's party drew from Republicans/Conservatives. Major parties insist on offering the incumbent time and again, because he's got name recognition. We may have liked the guy well enough the first few years, but now would dearly love to be rid of him. (I don't feel that way about Don Manzullo, IL-16th, BTW)

But, wait! There is hope! A new party has arisen, and it is not your typical "third party." The party is GOOOH (pronounced GO) - GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE (of Representatives). GOOOH empowers voters to choose their own candidate for the Congress. Chosen at four weekend meetings in April 2010, the GOOOH candidate will undergo scrutiny by his neighbors in the district, will indicate his positions on 100 separate issues, and will pledge to quit the Congress after two terms. GOOOH candidates will not need to fundraise, and can benefit from a national media campaign. Issues will differ from district to district, but GOOOH is a party without a platform. The people of a district can place on the November ballot whomever they feel will best represent them. How well have the professional politicians done?

Tim Cox, GOOOH founder, will be in St. Charles Oct. 15th , at the historic Arcada Theatre, one of eight remaining vaudeville theaters in the U.S., and at Key Lime Cove Water Park in Gurnee Oct. 13th. Please email for more information. Let's work for REAL CHANGE across America in November 2010.

Jane Carrell

Roscoe, IL

Guns at Rallies

I must take issue with Richard Kocal regarding gun toting Patriots (It's All 'Relative,' 10/7/09). We're not talking about militia men with their muskets attending town hall meetings in the 13 original states. We're talking about the Loonie Toons out there who have a vacuum between their ears. Ask them what a Patriot is and I guarantee the answer will be "a football player from New England". How anyone could refer to those idiots as Patriots is beyond me. Their sole purpose is to try and intimidate others.

This is 2009 and this is the United States of America. A time and a place where sane, sober and civil people should be gathering to intelligently discuss the issues concerning the well being of all of us. Maybe we need another Wyatt Earp saying "drop off your guns at the jailhouse while you're in town" or else.

I'm not anti gun and I know that it's people that kill and not guns. I do believe that there is not enough control on the people that buy or sell them.

Harry Cello

Lake Carroll, IL

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

I've commented often on the tremendous difficulty I share with my colleagues on the House Criminal Law Committee in dealing with some legislation targeting sex crimes. Deciding what is fair for those convicted of these crimes often comes down to whether it's a case of an adult imposing his or her will on children.

There is no doubt that a forty year old man furnishing alcohol and drugs to a thirteen year old child and then sexually "having his way" with her in a number of ways should be beyond anyone's moral compass. Movie producer Roman Polanski was convicted of doing just that in this country in 1977, but fled to Europe prior to sentencing. It's hard to believe that his arrest last week in Switzerland on that thirty year-old conviction has sparked such a tremendous outcry. One hundred of Hollywood's biggest names have signed a petition demanding his release. No one questions that the crime occurred, yet how dare we, the United States of America, seek to extradite him back to this country to face the sentence that was to be imposed? I can't even find words to express my disgust with those who accept this behavior. It will certainly add a new dimension to our discussions on how we deal with those convicted of sex crimes. Here in Illinois, I have little doubt that he would have a very lengthy stay in prison then be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

You know my stand on our right to keep and bear arms. Think about this recent occurrence in Michigan: an escaped murderer is breaking into a rural home. He is confronted by a man with a gun who keeps him face down on the ground until police arrive. Yeah, that's how it's supposed to be, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the outcome. Oh, the rest of the story: the home being broken into is the vacation home of none other than Chicago's Mayor Daley-one of the biggest anti-gun guys on the planet. The man with the gun was "Hizzoner's" personal bodyguard. Do you see a bit of hypocrisy here? Mayor, you need to understand that most Illinoisans don't have personal bodyguards with guns, but they face the same crackpots that you do. Rest assured I'll do my best to make sure that every member of the House hears this story when the next anti-gun bill comes up. My thanks to Mark Chestnut, the editor of the NRA's Freedom Magazine, for the information.

From time to time, all of us have questions regarding insurance; be it property, casualty, life or health insurance. Illinois now has a hotline. It's a number worth saving ­ . It's staffed from 9 AM to 4 PM Monday through Friday.

The House and Senate are returning to session on October 14th, to deal with 61 bills vetoed by Governor Quinn. Our state constitution allows the Governor four possible veto options for legislation that makes it to his desk:

1. Total Veto ­ The governor likes nothing about the bill and returns it in its entirety to the chamber of origin. A 3/5ths majority vote in both chambers is required to override a total veto.

2. Item Veto ­ The governor can veto out a specific item in a bill, leaving the rest intact. Again, a 3/5ths majority of both chambers is required to override.

3. Reduction Veto ­ The governor can reduce the dollar amount of any appropriation in a bill. Interestingly, only a simple majority of each chamber is required to restore the appropriation to its original amount.

4. Amendatory Veto ­ the governor can return a bill with specific recommendations for change. A 3/5ths majority is required to reject the governor's recommendations.

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at . You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.