Nothing funny about political corruption
And so another think tank has declared that Chicago and Illinois have corruption problems.
Har. Har. Yuk. Yuk. Bring it on, Jay. Have at us, Dave. Stephen, Jon, Conan, let ‘er rip. Tell us something we haven't heard before.
No doubt there is some value in quantifying corruption in Illinois, but at this point, that value falls more under the heading of reminder than news. We've put a raft of political insiders in prison in the last few years -- including two governors -- so Illinois' reputation, like that of its largest city, was well-cemented long before the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs put numbers to the snickers.
Nor is it fair to suggest that the state has done nothing to address corruption. In addition to all those imprisonments -- one might argue, by the way, that perhaps one reason our numbers of corrupt politicians look so bad compared to those of other cities and states is that we catch ours -- the legislature has made important strides toward campaign finance reform, ethics reform and transparency in recent years.
It just hasn't gone far enough.
Unfortunately, the dismal condition of the state's economy has stalled some of the work toward improvements that must be made, but it's encouraging to note Senate President John Cullerton's promise, in a statement released in response to the corruption report, to “continue to rebuild public trust by strengthening ... reforms and increasing transparency in government.”
To be sure, one of the most important reforms remaining to be addressed is the power that the Chicago Democrat Cullerton himself has, along with other legislative leaders, to contribute money to legislative campaigns without limits. And it also bears noting that no sooner had lawmakers strengthened access to information about public spending and government activities than they began finding ways to chip away at those reforms.
Overcoming the state's unseemly reputation is not likely to happen soon, but dealing with issues like these can help both with the practicalities of the objective and the transformation of the image. Moreover, as parents commonly lecture their teenage children, it is much harder to change a bad reputation than to acquire one. So, lawmakers need to be constantly looking for stronger ways to police their behaviors to emphasize to citizens the sincerity of their commitment.
One such practice recommended in the corruption report and endorsed by Gov. Pat Quinn, is establishment of procedures to let the public set rules and limits by referendum. The devil of that idea is in the details, as at least one expert observed, but it remains the kind of concentrated thinking on political ethics that merits discussion.
For in the end, of course, political corruption is no laughing matter.