WHY ENDING PUBLIC CORRUPTION IS IMPORTANT!
THE PROBLEM:
“If Illinois is not the most corrupt state, it certainly is one hell of a competitor!”, said Robert Grant, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the investigation of Blagojevich at the press conference of December 9, 2008.
- 1. Stalled economic growth because of corrupt public sector.
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LSU studied states in which public corruption was high and found "the perception that it's who you know, and not what you know" harms a state looking to attract new business. Even the perception of corruption has to be eliminated!
- 2. Getting the government you deserve. Illinois deserves true public servants.
- Illinois ranks 46th in lack of turnover in the legislature (Congressional Quarterly's State Fact Finder 2007, pg 108). Decades of pervasive corruption at all levels of government have created an attitude where people believe that they “cannot fight city hall”. Adam will empower every Illinoisan who wants to take on “City Hall”.
- 3. “Pay to play” political culture.
- Recent arrests/indictments/convictions (Anton Rezko, Eddie Vrdolyak, George Ryan, Scott Fawell, Jim Lasky, Rod Blagojevich) and scandals (Hired Truck, Illinois Health Facilities Board, Shakman Decree, Rigged Hiring, Federal Hiring Monitor, etc.) involve numbers that may approach the billion dollar mark or more. That “corruption tax” needs to be cut before one more dime of tax increases are considered.
- 4. History of corruption-
- 6 Illinois governors indicted in the past 80 years, while 4 Illinois governors have been convicted of public corruption. Of our last 7 governors, 3 have been convicted with charges including: racketeering, embezzling, lying, fraud, bribery, perjury, tax evasion, misuse of campaign funds, conspiracy and many other related charges.
Corruption is NOT a minor issue in Illinois. Financially, it is bankrupting the state.
Culturally, it is causing a moral “hollowing out” of the public sector, while potential reformers become increasingly cynical, apathetic, and won’t even consider entering the public sector to clean it up. This process must be reversed.
Here is how Adam Andrzejewski will accomplish that goal…
Illinois Governor’s Constitutional Powers Are Formidable.
According to a study by Congressional Quarterly, State Fact Finder 2007, the office of Governor in Illinois is ranked 10th most powerful among the 50 states. It’s time someone wielded that power with the interests of the citizens in mind. As governor, Adam will use his constitutional powers to rapidly reshape how public business is done in Illinois.
EVERY DIME. ONLINE. IN REAL TIME.
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1. Empower the citizens to review the books- statewide financial transparency!
- Examples: Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Alabama
Public spending should be done publicly. The spending of public monies should not be cloaked in difficult to understand budgets and obscured behind the process and proceedures of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Illinois government should enter the 21st Century by proactively posting all spending online. This is just like viewing your credit card statement on the internet. Only, the state’s credit card racks up nearly $60 billion in spending a year and the state and municipalities have rung up a $106 billion debt!
The Illinois Accountability Portal, HB4765 (Currently HB0032), provides for direct access to information concerning state employees and individual consultants, expenditures, tax credits, contracts, and revocations and suspensions of occupation and use tax certificates of registration and professional licenses. On April 1, 2008, HB4765 passed the Illinois House, 107-00 and was never called in the Illinois Senate. This bill is good government and should be enacted immediately. In the absence of legislation, I will take action through executive order.
Adam Andrzejewski’s track record on transparency: Adam spearheaded the Illinois grassroots financial transparency movement in Illinois school districts and other units of government. Through ForTheGoodOfIllinois, he identified and helped 42 school districts, 4 park districts, 3 municipalities and the first county in Illinois, DuPage County ($530 million operating budget!) to post their check registers on their own websites. Total checks posted annually amount to well over $1 billion of public spending! Link to PDF of database:
Financial transparency is good government. The taxpayer deserves to see exactly where every dime of their taxes are spent. Transparency invites the citizens to review the government’s books and provide feedback. Furthermore, it holds government leaders publicly responsible and accountable for their financial decisions. Financial transparency therefore provides a deterrent to corruption.
- 2. End corruption by instituting real ethics reform- crack down on insider dealing in government!
Examples: Louisiana, Rhode Island, Washington
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A few years ago, Louisiana was considered a very corrupt state. Now, with aggressive and bold leadership, Louisiana is rapidly becoming one of the nation's leaders in ethics and transparency. Adam will enter into a friendly competition with the Governor of Louisiana to see if he can improve Illinois as fast as Governor Bobby Jindal has done in Louisiana. Being first in ethics would reverse Illinois political reputation and end politics the way it is currently practiced. Adam Andrzejewski will sign into law reform to the following 7 areas: lobbying; public officials' financial disclosure; conflicts of interest disclosure; enforcement of ethics law; easing public access to state information; anti-fraud measures; and expanding the “Whistle Blower” protections to all municipal employees.
Adam Andrzejewski will propose wholesale changes to Illinois ethics laws. Most Illinoisans now understand that politics is dominated not by Democrats or Republicans, but by what is called "the Combine". As a result, people have little faith in either party to respond to their real needs.
Andrzejewski’s plan will throw down the gauntlet of good government to both politicians and to the the people of Illinois.
-Force local elected officials and lawmakers to disclose their sources of income.
-Close the loophole in the current law that allows lawmakers to receive free tickets from lobbyists to sporting events and concerts. The Legislature has repeatedly killed earlier such attempts.
-Ban government officials’ spouses and family members from all non-elected public (state and local) employment, as well as from winning state contracts.
-Bar lobbyists from spending more than $50 on food and drink for a lawmaker or any other public servant.
Adam Andrzejewski will promote an ethics agenda clearly at odds with many of the powerbrokers and much of the Illinois entrenched political class. He will focus on empowering people rather than government.
- 3. Eliminate waste and abuse by utilizing forensic auditing to balance the books!
Examples: Iowa, Kansas, Indiana, etc
Good government relies on forensic auditing to streamline services and maximize resources. Currently in Illinois, public money goes into bureaucracy. Forensic auditing will help us bring maximum public money to people that are in need.
Kathleen Sebelius, of Kansas – a Democrat – kept her promise to “perform a top-to-bottom audit of state government--an effort that to date has uncovered $159 million in wasteful government spending, and led to new efficiencies that produced over $1 billion in budget savings on behalf of Kansas taxpayers.” If a Kansas Democrat can do that, then an Illinois Republican can do the same.
Illinois is in dire need of an in-depth audit. For instance:
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-83 state agencies can’t even tell the Auditor General of Illinois how many programs are within their own agency!
-The State of Illinois has 700 different data management systems!
-It’s so bad that Governor Blagojevich can divert $1 million to a church in Chicago and not to the school where the money was intended to go.
-Many political pundits, watch dogs, and reports estimate that 20% of the state budget is waste, fraud, corruption and abuse in the spending of public monies. On a $60 billion state government budget, the corruption tax amounts to $12 billion!
-For more than 20 years the State has adopted “officially” balanced budgets which would mean to most people zero deficits. The State’s financial statements tell a different story. The accumulated deficit in net assets is $17.5 Billion. Some of the Illinois Pension Fund Liabilities, are not properly reported on the financial statements. So-called “Off Balance Sheet” Obligations are $26.6 Billion. The truth is that Illinois is in a huge financial hole. Negative Net Worth: $44.1 billion. (Source: TruthInAccounting.org)
- 4. Create greater accountability by providing for Recall Amendment.
- Examples: Arizona, California, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc.
If ever there was a case to illustrate why citizens must assert greater control over our political process, the recent events surrounding Governor Blagojevich make the point clearly. Now is the time for Illinois citizens to reassert control over their government. Citizen-originated recall is the fastest way to achieve these goals.
History: Prior to California's 2003 recall election, the only successful recall of a governor to date took place in North Dakota in 1921, when voters removed from office not only Governor Lynn J. Frazier, but also the attorney general and the commissioner of agriculture. California voters have initiated 32 gubernatorial recall attempts since 1911, but the 2003 recall of Governor Gray Davis in 2003 was the first to ever reach the ballot.
Recall differs from another method for removing officials from office - impeachment - in that it is a political device that belongs to the people instead of the elected officials. Those inside the political process will always have reasons to “go slowly” or shy away from “dramatic” or “radical” solutions like Recall.
There is nothing radical about Recall. It can be crafted to prevent abuse, and it will provide citizens with a tool by which they can circumvent their legislators.
Eighteen states permit the recall of state officials:
Alaska Arizona California Colorado Georgia Idaho Kansas Louisiana Michigan Minnesota Montana Nevada New Jersey North Dakota Oregon Rhode Island Washington Wisconsin
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