Too much thinking may be bad for voters

Here’s a thank-you going out to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

ISIS, police shootings, Hillary and Pokemon Go assaults just crowd brains so much and are so overwhelming that the people of Illinois just don’t need something else to concern themselves about. Madigan won a round in ensuring the worries of state government continue to rest on his tiny shoulders.

Madigan’s lawyers, at least temporarily, stopped the Independent Map Amendment from going before voters in November. A Cook County judge on Wednesday accepted the Madigan argument that the Illinois Constitution only allows petition-driven amendments that affect “structural” or “procedural” changes to the legislature.

Thanks to Mike, one less issue to ponder in November but a whole lot fewer choices at the polls in the future.

Here’s Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s short-sighted take on the matter: “A stunning two-thirds of incumbents will be running unopposed in November. That’s certainly not because the politicians in charge are doing such a good job in Springfield. It means the system is broken.”

Broken? How can he say that about such a well-oiled Chicago machine?

The map amendment people think voters should have a say in whether Madigan & Co. draw the state legislative districts to protect incumbents, or whether an independent panel should draw maps based on demographics and common interests. They collected 564,000 Illinois voters’ signatures to get the amendment on the ballot and now are pledging to quickly put the issue before the Illinois Supreme Court, where they always expected the issue to be settled.

“Redistricting reform was specifically addressed by the framers of our constitution as a ‘critical’ area for citizen petition initiatives. We believe that the Illinois Supreme Court will side with Illinois voters and not deny citizens the opportunity to vote on this amendment,” Independent Maps Chairman Dennis FitzSimonss said.

Bruce. Dennis. Stop fighting Mike. He knows what’s best for the people of Illinois.

Just look at where his leadership has taken us.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Too much thinking may be bad for voters."