Shimkus Fantasies, Constituency Dreams

Hat Tip to Marie for providing this information to IL-19 voters yesterday. Rep. John Shimkus has friends (i.e., paid consulting firm to help build the GOP coffers) in the D.C. area and willing to show just how much they really like him and their other clientèle -- in cold hard greenbacks.

The previous evening, this dubiously industrious congressman found time for a robo-call with some of his constituents and wished he could be honest (Q: Does he know how to spell the word so he can look it up in the dictionary?? Can he read the dictionary??). Rural Thoughts has the scoop.

IL-19 residents dream of him leaving office.

The rest of Illinois just reaches for the antacid.

Faith or Consequences

Faith can be a good thing. It is basically a belief system, a code of ethics. Everyone feels it for something or someone at any number of levels ranging from positive to negative with a myriad of consequences included.

For residents in IL-19, history does not provide much for their faith in change following the 2010 congressional redistricting. CQ Politics rolled out their crystal ball. They peaked. It cracked. No mention of the infamous name of John Shimkus from IL-19.

If the Democrats do control redistricting, they’ll be interested in further endangering Republicans Mark Steven Kirk and Peter Roskam . . .

Neither of these Republicans (as dubious as their behavior has been and quite consistantly) protected a sexual predator, hired staff from a fraudulent ex-governor (and then promoted one of them after skirting jail in exchange for her testimony), and inappropriately used a baseball analogy (among other things). Only one man achieve such high level of incompetence for his constituents: John Shimkus. The man generates bad memories for people just walking the Earth.

When it comes to the Earth, he does have it's best interests in mind: lots and lots of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Carbon dioxide is used by plants during photosynthesis to make sugars which may either be consumed again in respiration or used as the raw material to produce polysaccharides such as starch and cellulose, proteins and the wide variety of other organic compounds required for plant growth and development. It is produced during respiration by plants, and by all animals, fungi and microorganisms that depend on living and decaying plants for food, either directly or indirectly. It is, therefore, a major component of the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide is generated as a by-product of the combustion of fossil fuels or the burning of vegetable matter, among other chemical processes. Large amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted from volcanoes and other geothermal processes such as hot springs and geysers and by the dissolution of carbonates in crustal rocks.

His diatribes during the past several months appear that another Late Triassic Epoch would make him a very happy camper indeed. Of course, it would create the next Jurassic Epoch he seems to demand -- a planet with lots and lots of planet life feeding on the CO2. Humans would come back into the scene again -- eventually. Just wait for it. Evolution takes millions of years.

On the John Shimkus Plan, the Earth survives happy and health as ever. Humans -- not so much. IL-19 residents had faith in redistricting for their continued survival. They need very little:

1. Fairness for potential congressional candidates after Redistricting -- Currently IL-15, IL-16, IL-19, etc. appear so gerrymandered that Democratic candidates have no chance. Candidates should have at least an even chance of winning. Also, Springfield should be in one congressional district not three.
2. A political career path for future candidates -- Those candidates genuinely interested in working for the best interests of the people could achieve the necessary name recognition to obtain the congressional seat they seek.
3. Long on bread-and-butter promises, short on deliveries to constituents -- It is glaringly obvious that rural GOP representatives at all levels talk values instead of quality of life issues. Nothing can change until there are significant changes in the map.

Potential Central and So. IL democratic congressional candidates deserve fairness in a redistricted map. Faithful people do not deserve living with the consequences of an ill-conceived gerrymandered map in perpetuity. Just look at the results.

There is only so much suffering that people should tolerate.

Information on the Illinois Reform Commission

On May 14, 2009, Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus invited bloggers to a blogger-only discussion regarding progress on upcoming legislation reforming Illinois government. Senators Don Harmon (IL-039, Assistant Majority Leader), Jeff Schoenberg (IL-009, Assistant Majority Leader), and Kwame Raoul (IL-013) were on the call. The bloggers included Disarranging Mine, Carl Nyberg, Animal Farm, Chicagoist, Archpundit, and Philosophe Forum.

An invitation to a blogger-only conference call with Illinois senators on legislative proposals is not a daily occurrence. Sen. Harmon said lawmakers did not get the appropriate attention in the mainstream media. He is right. Reformers never receive any ink. Media is set in their comfort zone. They refuse to cross it. After two consecutive governors that were walking nightmares (and great for selling tabloid news!), it is time for America to see Illinois more positively, less corrupt. In this situation, move outside the box, forget the media, and enter the 21^st Century. The Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus succeeded this evening.

Here is the outline of the Illinois Reform Commission’s final proposals for reforming Illinois government:

I. Campaign Finance

To bring greater transparency to the campaign finance process and to reduce the skyrocketing costs of election campaigns in Illinois, the Commission recommends:

A. expanding disclosure requirements for campaign contributions to include:

o Year-round "real time" reporting of contributions,
o Mandatory disclosure of "bundlers" who collect contributions from others, and
o Mandatory disclosure of large "independent" expenditures made by individuals to promote a candidate;

B. limiting campaign contributions to:

o $2,400 for individuals, and
o $5,000 for political committees;

C. banning outright contributions from lobbyists and trusts;

D. extending the "Pay to Play" ban by forbidding vendors with large state contracts from contributing to members of the legislature;

E. establishing a pilot project for public financing of judicial elections in 2010;

F. strengthening ISBE enforcement of campaign laws and greater transparency of ISBE sanctions and proceedings; and

G. moving primary elections closer to general elections to reduce length of campaign and resulting costs.

II. Procurement

To help cure state procurement abuse in Illinois, the Commission recommends:

A. insulating the state procurement officials from political pressure and making them independent;

B. cutting back loopholes and exemptions in Procurement Code;

C. applying the Procurement Code to legislative, judicial branches and quasi-governmental agencies;

D. subjecting no-bid and "emergency" contracts to much tighter scrutiny and limitations;

E. establishing an Independent Contract Monitor to oversee and review contracts; and

F. creating greater transparency in the procurement process including:

o Disclosure of subcontractors,
o Disclosure of all lobbyists and agents representing vendors,
o Documenting any contact between vendors/agents and procurement staff, and
o Providing public access to all procurement information on one website.

III. Enforcement

The Commission recommends that the ability of state law enforcement to investigate and prosecute corruption be enhanced by:

A. amending and enhancing state laws to provide prosecutors and investigators with many of the same tools available to federal authorities;

B. adding significant corruption offenses to the existing list of offenses that are non-probationable;

C. granting the Illinois Attorney General the authority to independently conduct grand jury investigations of public corruption offenses;

D. directing additional resources to the investigation of public corruption crimes, by creating an independent public corruption division within the Illinois State Police; and

E. modifying the laws applicable to Inspectors General's Offices to improve the ability of Inspectors General to independently conduct investigations.

IV. Government Structure

To address structural problems that enable and produce corruption and inefficiency in state government, the Commission recommends:

A. adopting legislation to restore fairness to the process by which state legislative and congressional districts are drawn;

B. supporting pending legislation regarding term limits for legislative leadership positions;

C. amending House and Senate Rules applicable to the budget approval process to restore an effective system of checks and balances; and

D. amending the House and Senate Rules to ensure that each piece of proposed legislation that has a minimum number of sponsors receives a full committee vote.

V. Transparency

To improve and enhance the transparency of State government, the Commission recommends:

A. applying Open Meetings Act to General Assembly;

B. adopting presumption in favor of disclosure in FOIA requests;

C. reducing exemptions to FOIA and Open Meetings Act so that citizens have greater access and knowledge of government records and decision-making;

D. enhancing the penalties for violation of FOIA and Open Meetings Act requirements;

E. establishing an Independent Office of Transparency to provide training and ensure compliance with FOIA and OMA requirements; and

F. greatly expanding and enhancing the use of modern technology to improve disclosure, reporting and collaboration in state government.

VI. Inspiring Better Government

The Commission proposes the following reforms to inspire all state government workers and restore citizens' confidence in the integrity of State government:

A. combating patronage by reforming the personnel system to better protect a-political positions and the employees who hold them;

B. reforming the State's hiring process;

C. establishing a code to guide everyday decision-making and holding state employees accountable for abiding by the code;

D. revising the ethics training system to improve state employees' understanding of relevant ethical standards;

E. more clearly defining whistleblower protections to ensure and expand coverage for state employees; and

F. creating additional safeguards to protect against ethical violations by those exiting state employment.

Campaign Finance – The recommendation adopts the federal model. Limits could be too low with unintended consequences. The General Assembly is working on it so that it becomes a fair & level playing field.

Contracting – From the recommendation, legislators are working to create a firewall against political influences for the decision makers. The web provides accountability & transparency. It is a tool that has become effective. They know it is well passed time to take advantage and begin using it to the fullest. One of the justifications would have been full-disclosure of sub-contractors on the Chicago toll-way debacle.

Enforcement – The recommendations for campaign finance reform will start at the State’s Supreme Court level and trickle down to subsequent court levels eventually. Legislators would like to see localities obtain local prosecutors the same as U.S. attorneys. Electing people with such power can be such dangerous things.

Government Transparencies – Although the Commission’s recommendations did not include it, Archpundit suggested that the State Board of Elections obtain a better data base system. Online users have been desperate for a user-friendly accessible and searchable database for several election cycles now at ever level of government. Now it is especially relevant for court races since the last one cost $10 million compliments out-of-state money pouring in. Externalities are always trying impact tort reform or other critical issues. It will only get worse.

Although the Collins commission has no real-world experience, an independent body endorsed their recommendations. The senators found the recommendations easy to develop into legislative proposals. The year-round, real-time contribution reports are feasible and reasonable with a 48-hr turnaround time during campaigns. Legislators can refine the ideas when they are not campaigning. They also hope to prohibit contingency fees for people that really do not do work (i.e., investment deals, bond deals supporting the governor only to get a sizable commission). That is now against the law. They have already eliminated much of that activity.

Ethics Reform has be local to work – and work well. This is a cooperative venture with people outside of the political process. There is already a significant broad agreement between a bi-partisan legislature and the commission. The legislature has also taken ownership for past plea agreements, indictments, court proceedings, teacher retirement issues, and the health facility problems.

This has been a tough job. There are successes, new laws, a lot of work with stress levels and weary eyes to prove it. The bi-partisanship provides promise for the future. The Media has been a deaf ear to their efforts. They are not the right audience any way so it makes no difference.

The real audience is the people of Illinois.

And the real work begins for the representatives of Central and Southern Illinois.

Fuzzy Torture Techniques

President Barack Obama has released part of the torture memos. Rep. John Shimkus (IL-19) has seen the memos just like everyone else by now. For him, the jury is still out. He still doesn't know if the techniques (i.e., waterboarding) are torture. For anyone else with a conscience (and a modicum of common sense and decency), the decision is quite simple.

These memos show that what happened at Abu Graib and what happened at Guantanamo were not some bad apples, these were decisions made at the highest levels of our government.

In an interview with WSIL TV, McLeansboro, Shimkus simply dismissed and clumsily justified the contents of the memos: Now the cats out of the bag, now we ought to see if this was helpful and again protecting us from further attack or with what people are talking about a second wave.

Shimkus wants Pres. Obama to release all the documents to be fair because his friend, Former Vice president Dick Cheney, says there are memos documenting the success of torture (the torture that Shimkus does not identify with). So Shimkus has a suggestion: Get Congress involved to weigh in on the issues: We have credible members of congress who've had limbs broken, hung upside down on meat hooks, you name it. They know what torture is, let them be part of this debate about whether enhanced interrogation is torture.

For a butter bar that spent his entire time as an XO in the Fulda Gap in the early 1980s, this thought process would make sense. It makes sense to those lacking in common sense.

The Last Illinois Medal of Honor Recipient

Russell Dunham lived quietly in Jerseyville, Illinois. To look at this 89-year-old man, no one would ever realize that he had been injured in France during World War II. He received the highest congressional honor for those injuries in 1945.

According to the citation, Mr. Dunham spearheaded a successful diversionary attack against the Germans by throwing a grenade. Few people survive such experiences let alone live so long to die of heart failure in their own home.

Mr. Dunham passed away on April 06, 2009. He was the last surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipient in Illinois.

Shameful Shimkus Notoriety

It has been several days (and not the first time) since the country heard Rep. John Shimkus (IL-19) spew foolish comments regarding natural science. The story just will not die.

On a more positive note. The Democratic Party could use Rep. Shimkus as an excellent justification for keeping science completely separate from political discourse.

Meanwhile, IL-19 voters have ANOTHER reason for keeping this man embarrassing man out of office. People outside of the state are more vocal with a question asked after every election:

What were you thinking?!

Update: And the hits just keep coming.

Thank you Bill Maher for speaking so honestly. Also commenting in the video was Reihan Salam, an Atlantic associate editor and a conservative: Shimkus is a nut boot him off the committee.

No argument there.

Illinois Folly

In response to Rep. John Shimkus (IL-19) pretending to understanding environmental science, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann took note.

Maddow transcript

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN SHIMKUS (R-IL): Today, we have about 288 parts per million in the atmosphere. I think in the age of dinosaurs, where we had more flora and fauna, we were probably at 4,000 parts per million. There is a theological debate that this is a carbon star planet, not too much carbon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: In other words, we shouldn‘t bother trying to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere because the dinosaurs did just fine with the tons of carbon that God gave them for their atmosphere. Also, the dodo bird ate plenty of cholesterol. And the saber tooth tiger never, ever flossed. Stop worrying, people.

Keith Olbermann also named Shimkus last night's "Worst Person In The World" (the relevant section begans at the 3:15 mark):

[video]

Olbermann transcript

But our winner, Congressman John Shimkus, Republican of Illinois, with two fascinating and utterly contradictory statements. A, Congressman Shimkus on why there isn‘t global warming. “Today we have about 388 parts per million of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. I think in the age of the dinosaurs, when we had most flora and fauna, we were probably at 4,000 parts per million. There‘s a theological debate that this is a carbon-starved planet, not too much carbon.”

Number one, Carbon and Carbon Dioxide are not the same thing. Number two, the only theological debate over how much carbon the plan needs would be taking place in the church of the Labrea Tar Pits. Number three, didn‘t the freaking dinosaurs go extinct? Or do they just have a bad public relations person?

But I‘m digressing. B, Congressman Shimkus on why it doesn‘t matter anyway. “The Earth will end only when God declares it‘s time to be over. A man will not destroy this Earth. This Earth will not be destroyed by a flood. I appreciate having panelists here who are men of faith, and we can get into the theological discourse of that position. But I do believe that God‘s word is infallible, unchanging, perfect.”

So a man pressing a button to start a nuclear war, that would be God‘s infallible word? Why do we bother trying to govern? Can‘t he do something about the budget deficit? By the way, as you hit me over the head with your Bible, Congressman, there ain‘t a word in it about those dinosaurs you mentioned earlier.

Congressman John Shimkus of Illinois, today‘s worst person in the world! Dinosaurs.

Naturally Progress Illinois as been keeping score on the infamous jester of IL-19. Yes. There he is. The perennial fool of IL compliments of a national network.

Are his constituents proud or what??

Illinois Needs Horse Sense

Although Congress has H.R. 503, Rep. Jim Sacia of Pecatonica decided to take matters into his own unscrupulous hands. On February 06, 2009, he introduced HB0583 to repeal the two-year-old ban on horse slaughtering for human consumption.

On February 24, 2009, the State Journal-Register stated that The House Agriculture and Conservation Committee voted 11-2 in approval of the bill:

Sacia’s veterinarian, Dr. Tim Strathman, testified before the committee in favor of repealing the ban. To appease animal rights groups, Strathman proposed adding a tax on horses at slaughter plants to Sacia’s measure. He said a $25 fee on horses payable to the state could then be turned over to horse organizations to fund non-slaughter alternatives.

What Rep. Sacia, his veterinarian, and all his other minions will not tell you is the everything else that an informed, humane legislator should know ---> From the Humane Society:

From the auction where horses are purchased by killer buyers to the process of slaughter itself, every moment of the slaughter pipeline is frightening and stressful for horses. Frequently trucked long distances without food, rest and water in crowded double-decker trailers meant for shorter neck species like cows and pigs, injury, fighting and even death are frequent occurrences.

The pictures from the Equine Protection Network say a lot more. (NOTE: Horse slaughterhouses located in the United States are all foreign owned.) And people really want to eat that -- and slaughtered without a certificate of veterinary inspection???

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) closed the largest horse-slaughter operation in the United States. The country does not need another one.

This is a bad bill for Illinois and the United States. The Illinois House votes on it on March 31, 2009. Hopefully, they will slaughter it and not one of the best companion animals humans are fortunate to experience.

It is a good idea for every voter in Illinois to call the Illinois Representatives and remind them. This is a BAD BILL!