How the Machine That Created Barack Obama Keeps Power in Illinois

Draw the legislative map to favor Democratic incumbents — to the point where most seats are uncontested. The Illinois Constitution is meant to prevent tyranny, not to enshrine it,” so said Justice Robert Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court in his dissent from the courts’ decision last Thursday to void a ballot initiative to take away the power of the state legislature to draw its own districts.

Spendthrift and incompetent government has turned Illinois into a basket case. Barack Obama’s adopted state ranks 47th in the nation in fiscal health;...