Has Pro-Family Movement Succumbed To "The Money Changers"? Has Movement Become What It Fought Against? by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director
EDITOR'S NOTE: In the first part of this series [http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2010/01/part-1-has-profamily-movement-succumbed-to-the-money-changers-has-movement-become-what-it-fought-aga.html] I referred to something called the Combine and attempted to describe what it is. The following column details the Combine's mission. Even if you don't live in Illinois, this story may be applicable in your state. The Combine is mostly dominated by so-called moderate Republicans. In actuality, many of these moderates are stone-cold liberals masquerading under the Republican banner who are in league with the Daley Democratic Machine. When the Combine says jump, Republicans and Democrats must do so or reap the political whirlwind. The following piece is about why the Combine--which includes the Republican establishment--has targeted state Senator Chris Lauzen (R- 25th-Aurora).
Illinois state Senator Chris Lauzen was first elected to office in 1992. Lauzen is a steadfast pro-family conservative.
There are very few people I have had experience with in the world of politics who seem to be incorruptible and Lauzen is one. Lauzen has helped carry the water for the pro-life movement. He has a strong record of supporting Second Amendment rights and he is a staunch defender of traditional marriage.
Lauzen is also a fiscal conservative. He has an MBA from Harvard and he understands that big government and high taxation has played a significant role in the demise of our nation's economy and culture.
Lauzen sounds like a perfect legislator as a Republican. His positions support the state and national GOP platforms. However, there are strong forces within the Illinois Republican Party establishment who would like to see Lauzen go away. They have tried to defeat him or gave him little, if any, help when he ran for state office. This evil coalition encouraged someone to run against him when he ran for federal office as well. But why?
The Combine--which includes the GOP establishment led by state Chairman Pat Brady--considers Lauzen a renegade. Lauzen doesn't play by the rules that have been handed down to him from political Valhalla. I'm sure Sen. Lauzen bucked the establishment far before the following incident, but what I am about to relate put him directly in the cross hairs of the Combine and he has not been out of their political bulls-eye ever since.
How Lauzen Drew Combine's Wrath
Illinois once had a Republican Governor named George Ryan. This man gained national notoriety because of his fight against the death penalty and his participation in widespread corruption. In fact, Ryan is still sitting in a federal prison as a result of his crimes.
One of then-Governor Ryan's pet projects was an extensive repair of the Illinois Highway System called "Illinois FIRST." FIRST was an acronym for "Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools and Transit." Signed into law in May 1999, the law created a $6.3 billion package for use in school and transportation projects [http://www.ncbg.org/public_works/illfirst.htm]. But, in actuality, Illinois FIRST was a highly technical and stealthfully written piece of legislation that would have increased taxes, raised fees and allocated taxpayer money to projects which had nothing to do with the state's highway infrastructure.
Lauzen quickly caught on as to what Ryan was trying to jam down the throats of Illinois legislators. Indeed, during one session of the Illinois General Assembly, Lauzen was the only legislator to stand up and denounce Illinois FIRST as a bad bill which he would not support as it was written. Hence, ever since, Lauzen has become a marked man.
Was Lauzen's description of Illinois FIRST accurate? Yes, but that didn't matter. He was clearly bucking the system and Lauzen had to pay for it in some way.
SB600
In 2005, Chris Lauzen was one of the primary sponsors of a bill titled SB600. The legislation called for the direct election of the Republican Party State Central Committee. This is a mechanism that the Illinois Democratic Party already has in place. But, to say the least, the Republican establishment's reaction to SB600 is visceral. In essence, SB600 would let Republican voters decide who should make up the GOP's State Central Committee. But this would take power out of the hands of the GOP establishment and, subsequently, the Combine which divvies up the state of Illinois like a large Chicago-style pizza.
If Lauzen wasn't in the cross hairs of Party bosses before SB600, he was now in their bulls-eye.
Watch for PART 3: How the Combine Attacks
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