Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:22 PM CST
At EIU, Merriner talks political corruption
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Journalist/author James Merriner, who has spent years writing about Illinois political corruption, gave the Eastern Illinois University students in his audience a hypothetical assignment Wednesday evening.
The former Chicago Sun-Times political reporter/editor asked the students to write a law that would clean up Illinois politics, but to write this law without worrying about whether it would pass in the General Assembly.
Reformers have been “good people who are fighting the good fight” over the years but they often do not understand politics, Merriner said. Any reform bill needs the approval of the Illinois House speaker and Senate president just to get to the floor, and they know their legislators want to avoid having to vote on such controversial issues, he said.
“The problem with reform is the people who benefit from the current system are the people who have to vote to change it,” Merriner said during his Edgar Lecture Series presentation in Lumpkin Hall.
As an example of the results of reform efforts, Merriner said the General Assembly recently approved a bill that limits contributions to candidates but not to their party leaders.
“The effect of that bill is to concentrate power in the hands of a few people,” Merriner said, adding this is “very undemocratic.” Gov. Pat Quinn has not yet signed this bill, he said.
The Edgar Lecture Series was established in 2007 by former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and his wife, Brenda, both Eastern alumni, to give students insight into various study areas, particularly state government.
Edgar was in the audience and he asked about Chicago-area U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s prosecution of political figures for charges that would not have been filed 30 years ago, which Merriner had referenced earlier in his presentation.
“It seems to me that has brought a change in the environment that has been long overdue,” Edgar said.
Merriner said in his response that Fitzgerald is a “hero of mine,” and he said earlier in the presentation that Illinois juries are getting tougher on corrupt political figures.
Still, Merriner said the public should be wary of the abuse of power that could come from prosecutors intimidating elected officials and their staff members. He also said throwing every corrupt politician in jail would still leave an Illinois political system in place that is prone to corruption.
“We can’t prosecute our way to good government,” Merriner said. “I am happy we have an aggressive U.S. attorney, but that by itself won’t clean up Illinois.”
Asked about term limits, Merriner said this might work best for cleaning up Illinois politics when applied to the leadership positions in the state House and Senate. Merriner said he thinks the best course of action would be to reduce the size of state government, thereby reducing the opportunities for corruption, but this is not likely to happen.
“Government will not shrink; it will only get bigger,” Merriner said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861.
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