Yet another bizarre year of Illinois politics has been duly capped by Governor Rod Blagojevich's recent stated opposition to a constitutional convention.

Only in Illinois, perhaps, could voters be shocked into voting yes on the convention referendum because their own governor strongly urged a no vote.

The price tag and our state's failed politics appear to be the two biggest arguments against holding a constitutional convention.

Every 20 years, Illinois voters are given the right to call a constitutional convention. I want you to vote "yes," but various interest groups are spending millions to convince you to vote "no."

The "vote no" ads claim the projected cost of holding a convention is too high, especially considering that the state is running a horrific budget deficit.

They aren't telling you something.

The crushing lack of leadership, underscored by the absence of even a rudimentary understanding of the factors that contributed to the current economic crisis, begins to unfold in the wake of a demoralizing vote by the U.S. legislature for a $700-billion bailout. The House of Representatives originally voted it down, obviously holding out for earmarks from the Senate. Incredibly, the Senate obliged, attaching an additional $125 billion worth of such bribes to ensure the House majority vote in favor of bailing out Wall Street, and indefinitely indenturing future generations with impossible debt.

Fifteen years later, the Reader is still afflicting the comforted and comforting the afflicted. This is true, thanks in no small part to you, the loyal reader. The Reader began its independent publishing career in October 1993 and was a monthly publication for 20 months before converting to a weekly edition in the summer of 1995. The Reader is picked up at more than 700 distribution locations every week throughout the entire Illinois and Iowa Quad Cities region and enjoys a printed circulation between 17,500 and 20,000 each week.