Wednesday, Jun. 03, 2009

Incumbent Protection Act

The essential qualification for being a Democratic leader in Illinois seems to be the ability to tell others how to live without ever living those ideals yourself.

We still chuckle over U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin showing up in a Lincoln Navigator to push fuel efficiency standards in 2004. Corruption's poster boy, former governor Rod Blagojevich, ran as a reformer.

And in recent months our Democratic leaders have managed to pass only the measures proposed by the governor's hand-picked Illinois Reform Commission that don't hurt them. They ignored bills on recall of elected leaders, opening up the primary elections and making the legislative redistricting process fairer.

Which brings us to their latest perversion of the commission's proposals: campaign finance reform.

The plan should have been to bring state campaign limits in line with federal limits, but the proposed $1,000 limit for an individual donor per election cycle was compromised to $5,000 each year. Groups, unions and associations can give $10,000 a year and political parties can give $90,000 a year.

What's worse, the limits on in-kind giving were eliminated. That means your state party can give you $90,000 a year in cash, but then spend millions on TV ads, direct mail, posters and consultants if they wish.

If they wish.

So now Joe Candidate is even more beholden to the party leadership. Displease the leadership and you find yourself in a very chilly place.

Instead of creating a climate for reform, the campaign finance bill awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn's signature was twisted into a control mechanism that state Rep. Ron Stephens calls the Incumbent Protection Act.

When the Blagojevich hit the fan, the state's leadership was splattered with a fresh veneer to an already thick coat of corruption.

It will take a very coarse brush to get them clean, or a firehose to clear them out. The clean-up crew does not reside in Springfield.