Reforming Illinois Government: The Putback Amendment Vs. the Illinois Fair Map
by Michael VolpeOver the last month or so, I have featured several posts on the Putback amendment. The Putback amendment is a proposal by an Illinois activist named John Bambenek that tries to dramatically reform the structure and procedures of our government in order, in the hopes of Bambenek, to make the government more responsive.
The Putback amendment is comprehensive and so I did three separate posts on it. It includes a mechanism to allow the rank and file within the legislature to get their bills to the floor. With this amendment, any legislator would need to get 25 legislators to sign off on a discharge petition and that would get any bill onto the floor. Currently, it only goes through the rules committee and the rules committee is manned by the leadership. It also removes so called “shell bills” which are blank bills that filter through the legislature and allow the legislature to write the meat and bones in private and quickly have it voted on.
The amendment also has language that helps with ballot access. It limits challenges to those that are rooted in fraud and/or deception or ineligibility. It also allows for a more transparent and open process for redistricting. (That’s only the beginning of course so please visit the links for a comprehensive analysis of the amendment)
Over the last month or so, another amendment has been introduced to the public to compete with the Putback amendment. It’s called the Fair Map amendment. The first major difference is that this amendment only deals with the question of redistricting. Currently, the way the law is structured is this: First, a bill has to come out of both chambers and survive a gubernatorial veto. In each time, the Democrats controlled one and the Republicans the other, so that’s never happened. Next, the leadership each pick four people from each party. Then, five of those eight have to agree on a map. Of course, if there’s 4 partisan Republicans and four partisan Democrats on said committee, the chances are slim that any such agreement will be formed. In fact, it’s never happened. The third step is to pick either Democrat or Republican out of a hat (Lincoln’s hat, by the way) and have their map enacted.
The Illinois Fair Map amendment changes this process slightly. The leadership would still have to pick four people, but now they can’t be legislators, staff, lobbyists, etc. Furthermore, the committe must choose a ninth person up front. The map must be drawn based on specific criterion, something the Putback amendment also requires, so that partisanship is eliminated.
According to Bambenek, the first problem here is that this amendment wouldn’t pass constitutional muster. Any amendment to the State of Illinois’ constitution must contain two different things: a structural change and a procedural change. In the Putback amendment, a structural change is that the bicameral legislature becomes unicameral. A procedural change is that now a legislator can bring their bill to the floor with 25 votes in a discharge petition.
The Illinois Fair Map amendment only has a procedural change. There is no structural change. So, according to Bambenek, this won’t survive constitutional muster. Yet, the Fair Map amendment, only a month old, is the one receiving all the attention. The Chicago Sun Times has already given it their seal of approval.
Illinois voters, prep your John Hancocks. Citizen petitions began circulating Thursday to fix the perverse way Illinois draws its state legislative districts — a way that stacks the deck in elections in favor of incumbents.
Don’t be shy about signing on the dotted line.
The goal is 500,000 signatures by April, enough to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot asking voters if they want to strip from legislators the power to draw legislative districts and give that power to an independent, bipartisan commission. Nine other states already do it this way.
The Tribune is probably not far behind. What has the Sun Times said about the Putback amendment? Nothing and ditto for the Tribune. In fact, there’s been scant reporting of the Putback amendment in any of the Chicago media. Bambenek held a press conference in Chicago’s posh Union League Club and the only member of the Chicago media to show was the local Fox affiliate and they didn’t even use the footage in a broadcast.
That almost certainly has everything to do with who’s backing each of the two amendments. The Fair Map amendment is backed by Tom Cross, Illinois House Republican leader, and it’s being helped by the powerful and respected New York law firm, the Brennan Group. That gives the Fair Map amendment credibility the Putback amendment doesn’t have. After all, John Bambenek, the leader of the Putback amendment, is a relative political unknown.
In fact, in the establishment, the issue of constitutionality is dismissed. After all, a respected law firm like the Brennan Group would never get something like that wrong. So, it appears that the Putback V Fair Map amendment will wind up much like everything else here in Illinois politically, the establishment versus the outsiders.
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38 Comments
Why not use a computer? Use county/city lines, highways, rivers, etc other natural barriers, and make it so the districts must be fairly geometric in size that can not be more than 2 times in length one direction as the other.
After the computer doe the base districts, then people can go in and fine tune. this would take almost all partisianship out
The fact that BG has posted this article gives reason to at least think it through. But I have to tell ya, given the evidence of what Illinois (mostly Chicago I guess) has provided us in the 1910s, 1930s, and now – I'm just not very open to what they have to offer. The trust level is very, very low.
gerrymandering is their tool for their power and corruption. The state has no need to know who belongs to what party. Representation is based on population not affiliation. Voter registration or ballot should have no party affiliation on them for that is corruption.. Tax payer dollors to parties should end..
There are few things more sacred to a republic than representation. The one man one vote and all it’s citizens are represented equally promise. Why isn’t voter fraud hounded out of existence? Voter fraud is a direct assault on our republic, it can kill a nation. There is nothing more fraudulent than gerrymandering and it’s creation of an artificial majority based on party affiliation not representation to silence the dissention of we the people. It is one of the reason our congress does not listen to we the people. Gerrymandering is a creation of the government parties to protect their power and to turn representation into re-election.. The parties can not speak of freedom until districts are based on representation not party affiliation.
Could not agree more. With gerrymandering and voter fraud the Republic will ultimately crumble as true positive change will be impossible. It may require a Constitutional Amendment to permanently kill it.
no constitutional amendment is necessary. electing people who will give us true represenation is necessary. the parties created gerrymandering and we the common people can destroy it.
The rebirth of nation is in our hands. This new American revolution armed with the internet and formats like this can pull our country back from the brink of being a Banana republic and transform it into a nation built on real representation. The people in military uniform did not put their life and bodies on the line to come home to have their voice stolen by government party members to fill their pockets. The party system must cease to exist for our country to become once again the beacon of freedom and success. The promise of America is on the line and it is your choice to let die or give it new life by destroying the party system. Demand real representation, now is the time before district are drawn up to look like road kill again to kill the promise of America. Demand country before party before there is no country left.
As for not using a computer, computers are used to draw maps now. They just use them to draw them to advantage parties and protect incumbents.
As for using natural or political boundaries, federal law makes that all but impossible in a state like Illinois. Title 2 of the Voting Rights Act essentially requires that the percentage of "minority" districts be roughly equal to the state's minority population. So if a state is 50% minority, 50% of the districts need minority populations. Right or wrong, that's the problem I had to content with.
More importantly, I require districts to be drawn to be competitive. That means no 70-30 districts where the incumbent has a 40 point advantage from the word go. The only way we voters can hold politicians accountable is voting them out. Without that, we're essentially back to the House of Lords. Competitiveness is key to keeping politicians in check.
I like this John Bambenek. He appears to be a Tea Party type person, wants to eliminate corruption, and someone who invited other disgruntled voters from other parties to help. I have neighbors who are Dems and just as disgusted with the way things are run as myself. He's also in favor of secret ballots for union workers, and has spoken out against the Chicago AG who doesn't believe people have this right – she's obviously in bed with the SEIU. Axlerod and Obama don't like Putback either which is another good reason to support it: I'm not well-versed in either Putback or Fair Map but it appears that this Fair Map is just something they threw together, as a foil, in an effort to keep things status quo. I grew up in a country where we were Gerrymandered. In a nutshell, it's ethnically and morally wrong – one can go on from there… Where did Axelrod's firm get the millions to fight John's effort?
The main reasion the Putback amendment has zeo chance of sucess is because it advocates a unicameral system of legislation. The only single party system that has been in practice since 1934 is in Nevada and by all accounts it has proven to be quite effecient. Which means it aint never gonna happen in Illiionis.
http://cloward-piven.com/
The strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/clowardpiv...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiaLnQvy7_w
OK, it seems we need to work on the Voting Rights Act then and do away with the "minority" clause requiring the nember of districts for minorities.
A rep should be for all the people in their district, not just one group. If they are doing this without all the gerrymandering ,, it should equal out anyhow.
Once again, thank you LBJ. I am ashamed he was a Texan
Hmm… well since I'm thinking about moving to Illinois (Quincy no where near Chicago!) in just over a year I'd best pay attention to this stuff!
Personally I like the sound of the Putback amendment, but I agree something stinks when you don't even hear about it in the media. It just flags it as "the right thing to do" in my book if they won't talk about it!
Tatersalad has it right, now if only the MSM were smart enough to figure it out…
The Putback amendment or the Fair Amendment is a tiny solution to a much larger problem of enormous importance, from where I sit.
I'm a lifelong Illinois resident and for most of that time, I've lived in Cook County. There has been a Daley in City Hall almost my entire life, two generations of Strogers, and fatcat career politicians in charge of almost every office except governor, who we seem to put in jail about once per decade. Half the city and county employees on the payroll are patronage appointments, and very few Illinois politicians retire poor. We make New Jersey look like a nunnery.
I did a computer project for the Chicago Police Department back in the 1980's, and the smell of blatant corruption is still in my nose 25 years later. No point in dragging out the particulars, but suffice to say I will never seek another project with the city again.
I've come to expect that everything that happens at the city, county and state level is making some politician rich, buying influence, or screwing the taxpayer. You might call me, uh, cynical.
My government does not represent me, and I have absolutely no hope that it will change any time soon. And I feel the same way about the current aristocracy in Washington, with union favors, suppressed congressional debate, a complete disregard for the will of the voters and a rampant arrogance of power I don't think we've ever seen before in our history. Add to that a complicit media, and I'm hard pressed to find my usual sunny disposition.
I think we're screwed. I don't like it, but, there. I said it. We don't need a Palin. We need a Robespierre for a while.
The MSM are in on it! We, the great middle class, the consumer, the CUSTOMER, the TAXPAYER, the BACKBONE,HEART,SOUL and MUSCLE of this nation are looked down upon with contempt! Where does a politician derive his own self esteem? By being POPULAR and taking money from productive people (If he were productive would he be in politics?) and REDISTRIBUTING it. Being compassionate with OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY and accepting all the accolades. By BUYING and SELLING favors paid for by our efforts. The MSM doesn't do investigative reporting anymore unless it is a scandal involving a Republican (See Cloward-Piven links by TaterSalad AND read non-fiction Ayn Rand). And what do they have in common with the politician (besides a bed)? They don't PRODUCE ANYTHING! They merely tell you what OTHER PEOPLE are DOING. And they do it with a total herd mentality as frequently demonstrated by Rush L.. They are constantly involved in a POPULARITY CONTEST! No EARNED self esteem like us working stiffs. But I ramble…
Bottom line? It must become the law of the land that EVERY candidate is limited to financial support ONLY from INDIVIDUAL,IDENTIFIABLE, REGISTERED VOTERS (CITIZENS!!!) in the State or District in which they are seeking office and NO ONE ELSE!!! — no business,union, PAC or any other entity whatsoever! Unspent campaign contributions are given to charity or forfeited to the government to prevent building a war-chest. And, as others have noted, vote fraud must be stamped out HARD!
Most of us know the bare-bones of what we are fighting for here. I know there is a lot of hostility toward Ayn Rand because she was an Atheist. Even more people are simply ignorant of her non-fiction work and just dismiss it as not relevant to anything happening today. Pick it up. Read it. You will be frightened. You will have your confidence bolstered. Remember: she lived through what we are experiencing now. She had somewhere to run to, we don't. The Founding Fathers would likely name her American Philosopher of the 20th Century because she believed in INDIVIDUALISM and OBJECTIVE REALITY. Don't let someone else make up your mind, read it yourself. It is the philosophical armament we need and also provides key insights into the mentality of the enemy. I believe in God, but I won't dismiss her insight because she didn't. Pick an essay or two based on the title. It won't hurt, I promise…
Anthem was a good work. Atlas Shrugged was tedious. Most of my objections to Ayn Rand revolve around her advocating sexual immorality, her creepy cultistic philosophy, and her outright wackiness (a dollar sign on your tombstone? Really, Ayn?).
I stand corrected, too much cali red, lol
Her heros were too perfect, everything black or white, no shades of grey. I've heard all the valid criticism. Ayn Rand was what she was. Was she as good a writer as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Herman Hesse, Boris Pasternak , Leo Tolstoy maybe? Nope not nearly as good and any of these or many others. But I submit that her works were merely about message. The beauty of Mans ability to control his or her destiny, nothing more, nothing less.
Or maybe just go with Marx. what do you think?
I appreciate your reply. Yeah, "Atlas" was VERY long. I read "Anthem" straight through in about 45 minutes, it was good. "The Fountainhead" was also good, but in a similar vein to "Atlas". For a some perspective on the horror of the Russian revolution try "We the Living" – absolutely brutal! Her best work of fiction. I am more into the non-fiction myself.
As for her advocating sexual immorality, you might want to double-check before leveling that charge. She explicitly says people who treat sex cheaply lack self esteem or fully developed character and values. The perception/smear about her sexual values most likely stems from her rejection of the the Vatican and it's view of human sexual morality. Read and compare, I think I have an idea which is closer to your reality. The "cultist philosophy"? I would wager that I could recommend at least 10 essays that most conservatives would readily either agree with or find very insightful. I will send a list to anyone interested…
As for the wackiness of the dollar sign on her tombstone… you be the judge:
http://www.101bananas.com/graveyard/rand.html
As for the $ itself – Ask yourself – Is it not the symbol of your own productivity? The value you represent to your employer or clients? A manifestation of your freedom? When you earn it, is is not YOUR Property? When the government taxes the product of your labor is it not taking a value, subordinating your labor and limiting your freedom, liberty and property in a meaningful way?Sure, we need to fund the government, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be conscious of where it comes from or what it represents when it is spent. It is also a perfectly acceptable symbol for someone who highly values productivity, especially an Atheist.
Thanks TaterSalad, this dovetails nicely with Ayn Rand's non-fiction. We are in a war with evil that is seeking to reverse the moral and philosophical foundation of our great nation. EVERYONE must keep spreading the word and generating ideas so we can re-take our country from this hideous cabal. Ultimately we must find ONE BIG issue or reform that will deal a major blow to the status quo. We need to win one battle decisively so that they understand that we mean war and will not stop until we have secured victory. My choice is simplified campaign finance reform. See my other posts for my ideas. Constructive criticism and new/better/refined ideas are welcome.
I think it's time that the Conservatives get their own group of people to stand outside polling centers (wherever) ACORN is and see to it that people don't feel intimidated by voting their own way..If we can't STOP ACORN, maybe the best thing to do is show up where they are with our own signs!
If anything is good for America or Illinois; take it to the bank; It ain't gonna happen peacefully.
Just please do not lump all of Illinois with Chicago. It's like two states, Chicago and Downstate. My middle of the state county is conservative. We have been disgusted with state government as long as I can remember. Hard to beat dead voters, but it can be done.
And "Law Enforcement" enables this as well.
Eden, you're right. Illinois is actually two states, like Pakistan, divided by I-80. I travel to southern Illinois several times a year, and it feels like I'm in another state. If it wasn't for Southern Illinois, there would be no check on Cook County's corruption at all. I'm glad you guys are there.
In Cook County, the Republican party doesn't even bother to slate candidates for most public offices. In fact, I don't remember the last time I saw a Republican candidate listed for a judgeship or the Cook County Board. Last time I voted, half my ballot was unmarked. It was either vote Democrat or don't vote.
— And if this deal involves Chicago, I'd question it's validity!
"The only way we voters can hold politicians accountable is voting them out."
And we voters have had a sledgehammer moment. The time for America to look into the mirror has come and almost gone. It's one thing for Chicago to get its kicks off the over-the-top corruption and laugh about it.
Great stuff Mr. Volpe. Kick on the bright lights and watch them scatter.
Thanks for your reply. Over 60 years of Daley Combine Rule has deeply corrupted Chicago. I won't even go near there.
Excellent idea. This is the same Nebraska with Senator "Could you slip me an unconstitutional deal" Nelson.
Unreal this slimeball didn't learn anything from his unicameral State Lawmakers.
As a Tea Party member this is right up our alley.
We should question our candidates looking for some level of support.
Everything said about Crook County and Chicago is true. County Hospital (named Stroger Hospital for the Cook County board president WHILE he was alive: I thought only Battista and the communists did that) is a perfect example.
Most contractors there are—surprise!—major donors to Daley, and formerly to Blagojevich. One of them DIED—and still retained his much-higher-than market contract with the county (his wife then "gave" the contract to another colleague: surely, free of charge).
Anything that will even modestly relieve the cronyism and careerism of these thieves would be a step forward. I am, however as skeptical as the rest on this string. Me? I'm moving to the southwest, for lower taxes and a bit less corrupt unionism than here in the Land of Lincoln.
Crook county is, incidentally, how Tony Peraica, my favorite pol, refers to the county.
If you live in Illinois go to the site, download a petition and help us get those signatures. It's a good way to make a difference.
I’m a huge fan of Ayn Rand’s work, and the objectivist philosophy. Free markets, and free will lead to growth and prosperity. More government and regulation leads to less growth and prosperity.
Seeing how the FedGov can't do anything right, and that they are attempting to build a fence at the border with Mexico, how about they practice a little closer to home and build a fence around Chicago? Just wondering….
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