Gillan and the Putback Amendment

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Mary (left) and Roger Gillan are trying to get signatures to put the Putback Amendment on the November ballot. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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ZEARING — While most people are still reviewing the results of Tuesday’s primary election, some area residents are focused on the Nov. 2 general election.

Roger Gillan and his wife, Mary, of Zearing are among many people across Illinois trying to get signatures to put the Putback Amendment on the November ballot.

“It does several things, but the major thing would be create term limits for our politicians down at Springfield,” Gillan said. “It’s something I think needs to be done because even though you say we got the vote, politicians still get re-elected about 80 to 90 percent of the time, the good and the bad ones.”

Gillan first became seriously interested in politics about two years ago when he became alarmed at the money flowing out of Washington in President George Bush’s final year.

“This spending is what scares me,” he said. “They’re just throwing money after one cause and another.”

Gillan said the spending has continued in Barack Obama’s administration, and he’s worried about its effect in the future.

“It isn’t so much for myself. I’m 61 years old, but I’m worried about my kids and grandkids,” he said. “We’re in a mess, and that’s what got me involved.”

Gillan contacted his representative in Washington, Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, about his concerns about the health care bill, but he wasn’t satisfied with her answers.

“When I left, I said, ‘Debbie, you’ve got to quit spending the money. You’re burying us in debt,’” he said.

Gillan attended the first Tea Party meeting in Princeton, and has become a member. A couple of months ago, one of the members mentioned the Putback Amendment, and Gillan was interested.

“I looked it up on the Internet,” he said. “You can print out the petitions to sign, so I printed out a couple, and I started to get signatures.”

So far the Gillans have gotten about 45 signatures. The Amendment will need 500,000 signatures turned in by May 2 to be put on the ballot.

While Gillan has gotten some positive response, other people have turned down his request to sign the petition, usually because they had never heard of the amendment.

“People are leery about signing anything, and in a minute, you can’t tell them why,” he said.

Gillan said he going to try and collect as many signatures as he can before the deadline.

“I just think it’s something that we need here in Illinois,” he said. “If it’s good enough for the president to have eight years, it’s good enough for our own representatives.”

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