Here's a change we can't believe in
An article by Greg Hinz in the July 3 edition of Crains Chicago Business details how the opponents to the constitutional convention have hired David Axelrod's firm to develop their $2-3 million advertising campaign to defeat the referendum on the November 4 ballot. You can read the entire article at:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=30073
Twenty years ago, David Axelrod made pro-consitutional convention ads for free. This year, his firm is hired to make anti-constitutional convention ads for millions of dollars. Now there's a change we can't believe in! Axelrod is Barack Obama's campaign manager. Come on, Barack, endorse a yes vote on the constitutional convention and prove that you're not beholden to the gang in Springfield that are scared stiff ($2-3 million worth) that citizens will exercise our right (granted only once every twenty years) to change the way they do business.
Comments
5 Whoppers They'd Have Us Believe
It’s kind of like being Alice in Wonderland to read the statements of the officiously self-proclaimed Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution. You have to buy five whoppers before you can even engage them in conversation.
Whopper #1: A new constitutional convention will prevent change in Springfield.
The Truth: The opponents say that a constitutional convention will give politicians in Springfield an excuse not to address any changes until a constitutional convention meets, when in fact a constitutional convention is the best, quickest and easiest way to bring about serious structural change in the way Springfield does business. A constitutional convention can address issues like recall, merit selection of judges, tax reform, school funding and other issues that Springfield has not and will not address (see the recent fiasco over the recall amendment).
Whopper #2: The legislature and the governor will control a constitutional convention.
The Truth: The Big Three in Springfield are all against a constitutional convention precisely because they CANNOT control it. A constitutional convention is the closest thing the citizens in Illinois have to direct democracy, and this is what scares the big business and big labor and big lobbyist opponents of the constitutional convention. The list of the opponents to a new constitutional convention reads like a Who’s Who of the power structure in Springfield.
Whopper #3: A constitutional convention will cost upwards of $100 million.
The Truth: Why don’t they say $100 billion or $100 trillion? They have no basis for their figure. The estimate from the state’s own Legislative Research Unit is that a constitutional convention might cost $14-23 million, and we think it can be done for even less. Even at the high end, this means that a constitutional convention would cost about half a million dollars for each of the years since the last constitutional convention, not a huge price to pay for keeping our elected officials accountable once every generation.
Whopper #4: There are better ways to fix state government.
The Truth: If there are better ways to fix state government, then why haven’t the members of the opposition group done so? The reason is that they don’t think things are that bad. In fact, they say we just need to “fix the flat tire.” The opponents of a new constitutional convention only agree on one thing: they don’t want a new constitutional convention for Illinois because they are afraid that they will lose some piece of the pie they already have in Springfield.
Whopper #5: Proponents of a constitutional convention are trying to take away basic freedoms and protections.
The Truth: Those of us who are supporting a constitutional convention are trying to protect our greatest freedom and protection, which is democracy itself. Instead of highlighting that we can revisit the issue once every 20 years, I think it would be more effective to point out that it has been 40 years since the last convention, that a lot has changed since the last convention, and that the current state of affairs in Illinois are historically pressing. It has been forty years since the last convention, a lot has changed in our society since then, and the current state of political affairs in Illinois are at a historic low. The citizens of Illinois are empowered by OUR STATE CONSTITUTION ITSELF to decide whether or not we want to take a hard look at how our state government is being run. This is a right, not a threat. Otherwise, why have it in our constitution at all?
The very power brokers who have failed to address health care, education funding, foreclosure crises, tax inequities and other life-and-death issues in Illinois to numerous to list have finally found a cause that has stirred them to action. They will spend millions of dollars on ads trying to scare and misinform people that could have gone into encouraging a debate on what structural changes are needed in our state.
The citizens of Illinois are simply being asked if we want to elect a group of delegates to take a comprehensive look at how we do business. We only get this chance once every generation. If we don’t take it now, with the mess that our elected officials and paid lobbyists have made in Springfield, then when will we ever do so? United Power for Action and Justice urges voters not to buy the whoppers being put forth by the well-financed coalition that has come together only for the purpose of defeating a new constitutional convention and will then return to business-as-usual. Vote yes on a new constitutional convention for Illinois.
(For further information, contact Gregory F. Augustine Pierce at 847-676-2282 or 773-590-3801 or at gfapierce@aol.com.)
Post new comment