Recently Governor Quinn placed $2 Billion in spending cuts on the internet and asked people to give their ideas about additional cuts to be made to the budget. More and more this has been the hallmark of modern transparency. It’s supposed to say see, I am not in a bubble, I am open to all ideas. To me, it says, you are paying me so that you can do my job. Recently there has been a growing number of elected officials that feel most comfortable hiding behind their constituents… The argument is always, “this is what my people want” and NOT “this is what I think is best.” I know it sounds minor, and politicians, particularly conservatives love to rail against these heady elitists that think that they know better than the people, but let’s think about that more closely.

Do we really want to leave National Security up to popular opinion? I mean it’s not like everyday people are getting CIA briefings about the full extent of threats. This is true with the economy, and entitlement reform, and the budget process. Yes the people can have a say about what the priorities of the government should be, but do you really want people in their part time deciding that we don’t need this level of funding for the Department of Mental Health? I mean to think that due to the internet and news reports a person can make an informed decision about major government initiatives in non-sensical. This is not an indictment of the mental capacity of the citizenry, because even the best and brightest of us should not be expected to have intimate knowledge of the inner workings as a hobby. And after all, if they did, what exactly do we need elected officials for? What is the job of an elected representative if it is not to represent the best interests of their constituents based on the work and research that is available to them and it is frankly their job to find. Read more »

Did you hear that sound of a screeching halt? That was the sound of 4 schools inexplicably being pulled off of the renaissance 2010 Turn-around/ closure list or more specifically it was the sound of us entering another city election cycle. Not sure if you heard the news, but today 4 schools that had been slated to be shut down were given a reprieve from Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman. The actual explanation of why was not made clear, nor was any metric that separated the four schools that were spared from the 9 or so schools that were not. In fact, there was never much clarity about why certain schools made the list. One day there was a determination that certain schools that were on probation were being shut down, next day there is the public hearing outrage, the day after some schools are spared. At no point have any of these judgments be clear or measurable.

But that’s what we are left with, things happen and there is nothing we can do, and by leaving the questions unanswered we create some very serious issues. For instance, at first the system was convinced the school needed to be shut down, and after a public meeting they changed their mind citing their “closer look” are we then to understand that closer looks were not made at the time of the initial decisions? Some schools were determined to be bad by some standard, the communities argued it was not that bad but did not have the original standard, what is the determination of who is correct? How could anyone know? Who are the people that are researching and making assessments and how much are the results factored in to the decisions? Get the picture? The general lack of transparency is an issue because the entire back and forth never gets to the underlying question as posed by former President George W. Bush “is out children learning?” (I know, low blow, sorry) Read more »

One name… Scott Lee Cohen. Wow… Was there ever such a strange story and lets face it politics in Illinois has some doozies. He shot to significance and his demise hit all in less than a week. I think most have heard the story, the winning candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor was a previously little known pawn broker who spent $2.5 million of his own money on his campaign. Soon after his victory, stories begin to surface about his ugly divorce, alleged past drug use, and an alleged incident of domestic assault against an ex-girlfriend who had previously been arrested for prostitution herself. Like I said before… Wow. So soon after the choruses of outrage arose, there were calls for him to step down, he put up what I might call perhaps my favorite defense of all time considering the allegations, (He said that he had told the papers before the election so if nothing else he brings integrity to the ticket) then finally had the tearful farewell at halftime of Superbowl Sunday. Sure, it was entertaining but doesn’t it make you sort of feel cheap about our political process? Read more »

Tuesday was Election Day in the State of Illinois. Turnout was approximately 26% of registered voters, close to an all-time low. When I had discussions with many of my friends many were highly unmotivated to vote because they were disappointed in the quality of the candidates who ran. While I know that to be a legitimate feeling I also know that there was a more fundamental issue. The question is less about whether they talk to any constituencies particular issues, but how they speak to those issues.

Strangely enough I was actually of the opinion that after the election of Barack Obama the political campaigns would be filled Read more »