Issue Focus: Life Issues

Two deeply personal stories have forever impacted my view on life issues: the infertility my wife and I experienced and my grandmother’s death from Alzheimer’s. And while the issues I chose to focus on are the same as thousands of voters I’ve met the past seven months: jobs/the economy, our tax and spending policy, and government reform; I would be doing a disservice to voters to not discuss my views on these critical issues.

Abortion

I am pro-life and, as I reflected upon the abortion issue as I embarked upon this journey for public office, I have always considered myself pro-life.

Abortion is principally a federal issue but in the areas where a state legislator can make an impact: I support parental notification and/or consent; I oppose late-term and partial birth abortions; and I oppose tax dollars being used to fund abortions.

I also oppose the “harvesting” of human embryos for embryonic stem-cell research, cloning or other such programs. I support ‘safe haven’ efforts and streamlining adoption to make it easier for couples to love and care for children. I would support added counseling services for women considering abortion. And if a mother’s life is at risk, with the wonderful medical technology we have today, all effort should be made to give that baby a chance to live in addition to saving the mother’s life.

But I do have empathy for people that face difficult choices as my wife and I spent more than five years of emotionally, mentally, spiritually and financially draining infertility treatments in an effort to bring life to our family, which has left me with a difficult and somewhat contradictory dilemma as I seek to be a legislator.

After years of heartache, we were blessed with the birth of our daughter in October 2007, and quickly surprised by the emergency birth of our son in February 2009 – 11 weeks premature (he is healthy and doing well).

But the fertility process has left us with cryogenically frozen embryos. We may still try to grow our family, but have not yet decided as there are health risks for my wife and other factors to consider. We will not donate the embryos to science or sell them.

So, I find it difficult to take moral and legal obligations away from a woman or couple as I’ve been confronted with from our infertility treatments. I also can empathize with the rape or incest arguments but as a wise man once told me, there is only one criminal in such a scenario and it is not the baby, who gets the death penalty while the rapist may only serve a few years in jail.

The best I can do is continue to be responsible for the things I need to be, not create a double-standard I don’t also live by, and continue to advocate for those things which I do support, which is promoting life and helping to reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

I hope you will keep my real life experience in mind as you evaluate this issue in consideration of my candidacy.

End of life care

I still miss my grandparents, who have all long since passed on. I haven’t visited them in a few years, but remember taking my fiancé to their graves to ‘meet’ her before we married.

My maternal grandmother suffered for years with Alzheimer’s before dying a shell of the woman she was. After struggling to care for her in our home (I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor for a while so she could have my bed), my parents could no longer care for her as they wanted, work and raise two young kids, so she moved into an area nursing home to live out her remaining days.

The critical point to end of life care is that people create wills and have explicit instructions on how they want to be cared for in their last remaining days. This helps remove governmental or court involvement in what is a private family matter. I do not believe government should be endorsing euthanasia (such as physician assisted suicide) or mandating artificial care if a patient does not want it.

As much as my grandmother’s ‘life’ was effectively over long before her physical and spiritual death, she still deserved care and love until those last remaining days and I would continue to advocate for the care of our fellow citizens until their natural death.

If you missed Carol Marin's article about 19-year incumbent Rep. Burke's primary race, please take a read. One excerpt: ". . .'Which is why Burke is, for the first time, out knocking on doors and shaking hands. "At the last count, 1,787 hands," he said, adding he's never "had to run a campaign. We take this very seriously. And Speaker Madigan [recommended] that he get involved. I trust and defer to the experts.'"

I enjoy knocking on doors and meeting voters. Not sure my primary opponent does as she hasn't been seen and circulated exactly zero petitions herself, instead relying on known Chicago Democrat operatives.

Marin's full article at:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1969609,southwest-side-political-brawl-010210.article

The Chicago Tribune issued a "Call to Arms" in their recent editorial stating in part:

"And 2010 also needs to repudiate entrenched state and local lawmakers who have spent and borrowed Illinois into gooey morasses of debt just waiting to swallow our children and grandchildren." and
" Illinois needs results. We intend to live by that credo in an effort to rehab Illinois during 2010. In the months since those words appeared, Illinoisans have watched their politicians resist aggressive reforms, both to how Illinois is governed and to how state and county governments spend money: Many politicians have jealously protected their power while overcommitting taxpayers to more missions than we can afford. As a result, this state is impoverished in spirit. And it is too impoverished financially to pay its bills for services already delivered to the disabled, the sick, the most vulnerable among us. Yes, recklessly growing state government at double the rate of inflation for two decades has brought devastating consequences to Illinois."

I intend to stand on principle, oppose new taxes or borrowing on the backs of our children (the incumbent sponsored $3.5 billion in new borrowing this past session) and deliver results to build a better government and brighter future for Illinois. Read the Tribune's full editorial at the following link:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1227edit1dec27,0,5665098.story

Primary election-who's naughty and who's nice?

See the story linked below from SouthtownStar columnist and Illinois Review blog editor Fran Eaton about questionable primary opponents in the GOP field, including my race. As she reports: "When the candidates' petitions were circulated by union guys or county employees that live in the purely Democratic 19th Ward, that sounds suspicious." and "No one in Bremen or Orland Township Republican organizations has ever met or even heard of Junkas' GOP opponent..."

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/eaton/1942293,121609eatoncol.article

A few recent articles worth a look in case you missed them. Very telling.


Wanted to be sure you saw respected SouthtownStar columnist Kristen McQueary's recent column questioning the validity of my primary opponent's intentions for running. http://www.southtownstar.com/news/mcqueary/1882754,111509mcqueary.article
You can help fend off this “plant by the Democrats to weaken” me by contributing to my campaign now, securely, online at http://www.jeffjunkas.com/.

Learn about more ballot and ‘plant’ candidate shenanigans in “How Madigan ‘helps’ his newbies” in a follow-up column by Ms. McQueary at: http://www.southtownstar.com/news/mcqueary/1892617,111909mcqueary.article

Recent Chicago Sun-Times article about one questionable hire from the heyday of former Gov. Blagojevich: http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/1898928,CST-NWS-watchside23.article

Govt. Reform (update)/2nd Amendment

Government Reform (update)

Regarding the passage of SB 1466, the latest attempt at reforming Illinois’ campaign finance system: I think of it like a bowl of Neapolitan ice cream I ate the other night for dessert…tasted good, few different flavors, but pales in comparison to moose tracks, chocolate chip cookie dough, anything Oreo, etc. In other words, might be good to some, but we could continue to do better and be more creative.

SB 1466, with contribution limits of $5,000 for an individual and other overly generous “limits” and loopholes, will likely do little to dramatically alter the political system as it currently stands in Illinois – an overly expensive and excessively long process for many, power concentrated in a select few leaders, flawed redistricting that dampens competitive elections and very little transparency. While there may be no perfect system, this is at least a start, but I think many voters remain skeptical, as do I, if it will truly reform the system. For a good rundown of the many provisions of the law (expected to be signed by Gov. Quinn) see this summary by Illinois Issues, unfortunately departing bureau chief, Bethany Jaeger: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/one-more-step-in-campaign-finance.html

Patrick Collins, former U.S. Attorney and head of Gov. Quinn’s Illinois Reform Commission that was created in the wake of the Blagojevich impeachment, wrote an opinion piece critical of SB 1466 that is worth a look too. http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1870289,CST-EDT-open08b.article

2nd Amendment

I support the Second Amendment and an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. This issue is simple in my mind: law abiding citizens should not be overly restricted from owning a gun for protection of themselves, their loved ones or their home. The gangbangers don’t care if we have one law or a 1,000. We need to enforce the laws we have and if someone misuses a weapon, make the penalties strong. Training, background checks and other precautionary and educational policies are commonsense measures that I would support, but blanket bans only serve to keep an unarmed public less safe from heartless, uncaring criminals’ intent on harm.

Cook County Board veto reform

Finally, the Cook County Board will join the rest of the state, and nation probably, in having a commonsense 3/5 majority needed to override a veto by its chief executive. Gov. Quinn signed legislation changing the veto override for Cook County’s president from 4/5 to 3/5 of the commissioners, or from 14 of 17 to 11 of 17.

The political pressure and public anger at being subjected to the highest tax rate in the nation, along with seeing consumers eagerly go outside Cook County to buy things, finally moved the Speaker and the controlling Democrats “off the dime.” They knew this would be an issue easily used against them in the fall. But such logical laws shouldn’t be ignored for decades to placate select voters and it shouldn’t take a massive recession coupled with out of control spending and taxing to pass it either. It should be about right and wrong, fair and unfair, good policy not race-based politics. Luckily this time, logic, reason and fairness won. Learn more by reading a brief Chicago Sun-Times article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/1871771,CST-NWS-quinn08.article

Public union pensions

Thought you might be interested in a recent editorial from the Chicago Tribune about the pension liabilities we as taxpayers face. No easy answers, but something has to give as $90 billion is an exasperating debt. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-1108edit1nov08,0,6463125,print.story (site registration may be required)

Veto Session

The General Assembly begins their annual fall veto session Wednesday, October 14. The session consists of three days this week and three more at the end of the month. The biggest item on the agenda is a pillar of my campaign, government reform, with the funding of the state’s Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) for lower- and middle-income college students also high on the ‘to-do’ list.

First, concerning the MAP program, the governor had the power to fund the program for the full year, but didn’t. That has left students and their families in limbo for the second half of the school year.

For all the talk of supporting education from the Democrats, it is disappointing to say the least that only half the school year was funded, negatively impacting some 138,000 students across the state. While I know there are hundreds of other worthwhile programs to be considered and funded, providing funding for only half the year is like funding construction of half a bridge…which was something former Gov. Blagojevich did a few years ago.

Let’s pass the back tax amnesty program supported by House Republican Leader Cross and work with our universities to identify cost cutting or other budgetary options at the state or university level (there has to be some way to save some dollars on campus given tuition and fees have outpaced inflation just about every year since I was in college nearly twenty years ago) to get these students through this year without more taxes.

* * *

With respect to the latest government reform efforts, it is clear the Democratic leadership is feeling the heat from voters for the passage of their “incumbent protection bill” this spring, which the governor rightly vetoed.

But cynicism remains across the state that meaningful reforms will get passed, as one can easily tell by reading a recent State Journal Register column: http://tinyurl.com/yzy8elh or a recent Decatur Herald & Review article, that also calls into question what action, if any, the current leadership is taking to help fix the state’s woeful economic and budget situation: http://tinyurl.com/ygc6urc

But biding time in hopes voters will forget the scandal and corruption that has plagued the state is unrealistic.

I articulated government reform proposals I support in my previous post, some of which are being strongly advocated by other Republican leaders and candidates because they are achievable, realistic and at the very least, set a reasonable bar from which we can move up. I am also researching additional considerations for improving how our government operates, most notably the first rung in the election ladder – ballot access, i.e. signature requirements, mandatory forms, etc. Perhaps there are ways we can create a less cumbersome system that encourages participation by our citizenry.

The bottom line for government reform advocates and frustrated citizens is: don’t give up the fight. Keep the pressure up through the 2010 elections when we’ll have a chance to install new leaders untainted from the recent scandals to create a better government and brighter future for Illinois.