Capitol Fax

Rich Miller’s commentary on State Government

Without a doubt, the worst place to be right now in Illinois politics is the state’s House Republican caucus.

Their leader Tom Cross went “all in” this year against House Speaker Michael Madigan and came up way short.

There were the innumerable planted newspaper stories about Madigan, including, for instance, how he apparently picked his own Republican challenger. The Republicans then staged a downtown Chicago “fundraiser” for Madigan’s invisible opponent. Then there were the billboards along the Tollway ridiculing Madigan, which ginned up even more unflattering media coverage. Of course, there were also the countless mailers and TV ads claiming that Madigan was the real problem in Illinois. Not to mention the hundreds of times Cross boldly predicted he would win the majority and finally put Madigan in his place. Madigan detested Cross before the election. It’s gone way beyond that now.

Maybe Leader Cross truly believed he could take Madigan out. More likely, the boasting was a ruse to raise money from gullible rich Republican businessmen.

Maybe Cross figured that even if he didn’t win, Bill Brady would surely beat Gov. Pat Quinn and then Cross would have someone to protect him and his members from Madigan’s retribution. A Brady win would also mean that Cross would have a chance at drawing the new legislative district map next year.

And maybe Cross concluded that even if he didn’t win and Brady lost, then at least Democratic Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Kilbride would lose his retention battle because out-of-state business groups were spending cash hand over fist against him. With Kilbride out, the court would at least temporarily lose its Democratic majority and might be frightened into going along with any Republican lawsuit against a Democratic district map.

Well, not only is Cross still in the minority, but he won’t have a Republican governor to backstop him. And Chief Justice Kilbride won. Big.

Most of Cross’ members are loyal, but they have to be worried about their future. Legislators, like most humans, are mainly concerned with self-preservation. But the Quinn/Kilbride wins mean that Speaker Madigan will draw the new district map. And the power of the map means that some of those Republicans won’t be coming back in two years. One time-tested map trick is to draw two or more enemies into the same district. In other words, the Republicans need to hope that the housing market improves soon because some of them will have to find new digs.

The remap always hovers above everything in Springfield. During the last redistricting process in 2001, several state Senators were in the secure computer room on September 11th. Planes were crashing, buildings were falling, but they were checking on their boundaries. That’s how important this is to them.

It’s no secret that Madigan is not the forgive and forget type. And he’s not above using something as important as the map to “urge” compliance with his wishes. There are a whole lot of crucial votes coming up during the next several months as the General Assembly attempts to dig the state out of this massive hole. The Republicans have spent the past three years in open, hostile opposition to Madigan, with the situation degrading sharply over the past year or so. Many of those members are trying to figure out how they can best navigate the next couple of years and preserve themselves in the process.

It’s not that simple, though. Even if some of Cross’ members bow down to His Royal Highness in exchange for map crumbs, they have another, perhaps even more serious problem to ponder.

Several House Republicans have state facilities in their districts, so they are naturally more amenable to “revenue enhancements.” Others, particularly in the suburbs, have long been allies of the teachers unions. But many of those same members are surely worried what could happen to them if they vote with the Democrats. Forget Cross. I’m talking about the tea partiers.

Just look at what the tea partiers did to established Republicans in primaries all over the country this year. In Delaware, they beat the most respected Republican in the state with a bizarre candidate who eventually had to run TV ads assuring voters she wasn’t a witch. No way does Harry Reid go back to the US Senate if Nevada Republicans had nominated their sane primary candidate.

Illinois’ next primary will be held in a little over 17 months. Whatever the Republicans do next year will still be fresh in angry voters’ minds.

I just wouldn’t want to be in their shoes right now.

The Whole Picture, After the Election

This comment is not just for the Tea Party, but it is important for this movement to see the whole picture. If we support just one party, it will fail. The American people are fed up with the whole Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. But I fear that if they become one-sided, the American people will see this mistake, and the Tea Party will loose our support.

We all know that both political parties need corrections so they can govern us like they should. The world is changing fast. What is lacking are strong leaders and governments who are having a hard time adjusting to this fast-changing world. This means that the people must do their best to elect wise and honest people to govern them.

In our country, we keep hearing about how our education system is not what it should be. Both parties know this. Did either party correct it? Maybe they don’t know how, so our next generation falls behind in the world competition. We all know the answer is not just throwing money at it, or giving us lip service.

If other countries have a better educational system and spend less money to do it, why not compliment them and use the ideas in our country?

Of course, this goes double for our health care system. If you recall, whenever this idea comes forward, Congress starts yelling “socialized medicine!” We are not asking for that, but there may be some good points in it to help make our system better. After all, we spend more on our system, but it’s at the point where we can’t afford it. Enough lip service: do something!

Republicans are saying “kill it.” I say “fix it!”

Congress told us that they hear us. The people said get out of the war in Iraq, but the Republicans didn’t hear us. Now the Republicans say the people want government to stop spending, and the Democrats don’t hear us! This is part of the whole picture: both sides blame each other, so we get less done in Congress.

I am saying this not just to the Tea Party, but to all of us. Congress has to earn our vote. Then. they should support our leaders so he or she can lead. Yes, correct them in an honest way, but help them and work together for the good of our country.

Let’s not forget the media. It is very good, but too often it falls short because sensationalism gets in the way. It would be good, regarding the events at hand, to remind us what happened before and how we handled it then, so we can have a better understanding of current events.

We have had people’s movements before . . . the youth during the Vietnam war . . . the Ross Perot movement . . . but they didn’t last. We should look at them to see why, so that we can understand more of what we want - and what we want from our government.

Yes, we do want both parties, but they must work together. I’ll say it again: If the Tea Party supports just one party, it will fail. I know I won’t want it.

Charles Blegen

Mount Carroll, IL

Volunteerism Works

Earlier this year I attended a Village of Lena board meeting because I heard they were going to (or wanted to) purchase a snow wing. Being a conservative-minded person with 15 years experience in the snow removal industry, I am in a unique position to know how much fuel and how many man-hours can be saved with proper use of a snow removal wing. Since such a purchase would ultimately save the village money, I spoke out in support. I also volunteered myself to install the wing on the village truck, and I am happy to report that on October 30th, the install and test were done the same day.

Now that I’ve made myself sound like a superhero, I will have you know Randy Raab did 95% of the installation and deserves the lion’s share of the credit.

My point is, it’s easier to sit back and expect someone else to fix our problems, and complain when those problems aren’t fixed. But sometimes we just need to extend a hand. When I extended mine, Randy added his, and a community benefited. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

Taryon Cornwell

Mechanical Designer

Monroe Truck Equipment

Monroe, WI

Clarification

In the July 20, 2010 edition of The Prairie Advocate News, it was reported that the “Milledgeville American Legion hosted a presentation of the students they sponsored that attended the American Legion Boys and Girls State Convention at the MV Legion Hall on Tuesday evening, July 13.” The article stated that “nearly 15 Milledgeville businesses also donated to help offset the cost of attendance at State.”

The fact that there was also great support in the form of donations made by several Chadwick businesses was inadvertently left out of the report. The Milledgeville American Legion appreciates their financial assistance.

The Prairie Advocate News regrets the error.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Growing up in the era of Jack Webb’s “Dragnet” I’m reminded of his often quoted line,”The facts ma’am, just the facts”.

My career as an FBI Agent investigating numerous crimes, those words were haunting, “just the facts”. All of our investigations came down to those three words. Accordingly, being a part of putting many very bad folks in prison, I often marveled at their lack of hate. Going away for many years, it was not uncommon for them to shake my hand. They knew what the facts were. Contrast that to some opposing the Bos Dairy. Fair to say, if you disagree, you are an evil person and hated.

The following should not have to be written about again, but a small group refuses to let it go. Soon after learning of the proposed large dairy in the Nora area three years ago, the HOMES group made it very clear, that as a state representative I had an obligation to take a stand. That made sense to me and I did what I had spent a lifetime doing. I investigated. I traveled the nation at my expense, visiting dairy farms from 2,000 to 23,500 cows, built in the past ten years. I chose ten years because I knew older ones would not have the environmental standards of those built in that time frame. I initially visited nine in a four month period. I conducted a very thorough investigation of each, concentrating on “just the facts”.

To a dairy, they are environmentally sound, ecologically friendly, and providing positive economic development to their respective areas. I now have visited a total of fourteen, not one has let me down.

Oh, but Representative Sacia, they aren’t built on Karst. Perhaps not, but the Warren Sanitary Facility is on the same ground type and its construction has the same clay liner. If you have a septic system, as I do, you and seven of your neighbors pollute more than the proposed 5,000 cow dairy will. The HOMES group will tell you that is absolutely false, but professional engineers state it is fact.

I continue to marvel at those who tell you the dairy will grow by fifty percent every two years. They say there will be no market for area farmers’ milk. They say employees will make minimum wage with no benefits. They say Fair Oaks Dairy in Indiana displaced seventy five percent of family farmers. They say the smell will be onerous. Those comments simply put, are “hocus pocus”. The Bos Dairy will be great for Northwest Illinois. Illinois produces only twenty five percent of its milk needs.

Jo Daviess County has lost 11,000 dairy cows in the past twenty years. We all saw the economic development two years ago when the dairy was being built. Regulating agencies would not allow it if it were anything less that environmentally perfect. A small vocal group attempts to tell you, the longtime citizens of Jo Daviess County, how to think.

It’s time for more of us to take a stand. Don’t listen to half truths, allegations, innuendos, and out and out lies. Let’s welcome this dairy and move forward.