11th Congressional District GOP candidate: Constant G. “Connor” VlaKancic

Complete coverage of the local and national primary and general election, including results, analysis and voter resources to keep Chicago voters informed.

On Feb. 6, Constant G. “Connor” VlaKancic appeared before the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board. We asked him why he’s running for the GOP seat in the 11th Congressional district of Illinois in the March 2018 primary:

My name is Connor VlaKancic, I was born in Aurora and grew up on my grandfather’s farm in Dekalb County. My grandparents worked for Barber Greene, major, significant, excellent company, example of Aurora’s industries back then.

After graduating from college in Chicago, I went to Silicon Valley as an electronic engineer and had a very successful career in technology, multiple patents in technology. Made some money, lose some money, that’s the way it is in Silicon Valley. And I got involved in federal politics in 1994, I am the actual author of The original “Contract of America” that I gave to Newt Gingrich in August 1994, which was the platform for the GOP contract with America that empowered Newt Gingrich to try and topple Bill Clinton. The “Contract with America” as I wrote it was published by the Library of Congress so it’s national media available. After I wrote the contract I was candidate for Congress in the 15th Congressional district in California and subsequently in the 17th Congressional district. I started my training in U.S. federal government in Washington, D.C. at the Leadership Institute and government.net, have a long list of congressmen that know me personally, previous congressmen and current congressmen.

My goal here in Illinois is turn around the election system, particularly as a international election observer, working for the U.S. State Department in Europe as an election observer. There’s election technology called alternate graded voting. What I seek to do on the federal level, starting with let’s make America great again, starting with Illinois, to have all of the candidates on the ballot in November, eliminate the primary election and its partisan bickering. We saw what happened with candidates Duckworth and Kirk. Republicans couldn’t choose between the two of them. If those two and all the other candidates had been on the ballot in November, the outcome could have been seriously different. Same thing with the presidential election. In March, Illinois voters are required to figure out who they think they want to have on the ballot in November, way too soon. With all of the candidates on the ballot in November, all of the voters, republicans, democrats, independents, all of them, will have a much better choice, real choice. Graded voting means you vote for all of the candidates, your first choice, your second choice, your third choice, all the way down to, very importantly, the candidate you think is terrible for Illinois. This process eliminates, as votes are counter the candidate with the least number of first choice votes, that candidate is eliminated and all the ballots that have that candidate as the first, now their second choice becomes their first choice. These keeps going, very quickly, until somebody gets 50 percent of the vote. And we also know who go the majority of the last choice votes. That person has a political campaign platform you want to stay away from.

The Chicago Sun-Times sent the candidates seeking nominations for Congress a list of questions to find out their views on a range of important issues facing the state of Illinois. Constant G. “Connor” VlaKancic submitted the following answers to our questionnaire:

QUESTION: As a member of the House from Illinois, please explain what your specific cause or causes will be. Please avoid a generic topic or issue in your answer.

ANSWER: “Make Illinois Great Again” – Personify a charismatic Illinois perspective (turn-around platform) to attract and capture news media attention to Illinois as a prime example of a “Can Do” turn-around state. From my position as the U.S.-IL 11th District Representative, define and expound an Illinois “Bully Pulpit” legislation platform to define and propagate coordinated governance that advances justice for Illinois citizens that suffer government malfeasance (that’s everybody). Advance all manner of my 2018 election campaign experience (April thru December) to advocate and achieve January, 2019 nomination and election as the Speaker of the House of Representatives to finally obliterate from Illinois the disgrace of Dennis Hastert history.

Constant G. “Connor” VlaKancic

Running for: 11th Congressional district (Illinois)

Political/civic background: Author of original Contract with America [1994], Copyrighted by Library of Congress [Feb 1995] (was purloined by Newt Gingrich). Previous US Representative and US Senator candidate in California. Author of three California Constitutional Amendments. Official Representative of US Dept. of State as International Election Observer in East Europe. Previous US Representative candidate in Illinois (11th and 18th Districts).

Occupation: President, founder/owner of East Europe ethnic beverage and food import company with sales throughout US and particularly in Chicagoland. Previous entrepreneurial career in Silicon Valley, California. Founder of four communications media systems and Internet security technology companies, including awarded three U.S technology patents.

Education: Degree in electronic, semiconductor, computer and Internet security technology. Business development and administration. US Congressional legislation development training on Capital Hill, WDC.

Campaign website: connorforcongress.org

QUESTION: Please list three district-specific needs that will be your priorities. This could be a project that is needed in your district, or a rule that needs to be changed, or some federal matter that has been ignored.

ANSWER: The #1 first and foremost priority (also is #2 and #3) is disenfranchise the intractable political malfeasance in Illinois General Assembly that has put Illinois voters into a partisan quagmire. Illinois Primary election calls to the voters like a siren seductresses song. Which partisan ballot to chose? ‘Oh come all ye partisan faithful…’ aka: Politics-as-Usual (P/U). There is a much better way for Illinois stalwart voters.

The perfected legislation platform for empowerment of Illinois voters to chose most preferred highly competent candidates in inclusive (Federal and state) legislative elections is Alternative Preferred Vote ballots. In this preferred candidate election platform, the Primary election candidates are all enumerated on the November General election ballot.

At the November General election, voters rank the candidates (by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th… etc. preference of their character, honesty and integrity, and training and experience). The lesser candidates are eliminated one-by-one with the voters 2nd and 3rd and continuing Ranked Choice alternate candidates becoming increasingly appreciated for pragmatism insight instead of partisan graft. The lesser vote accumulating candidates are eliminated until one of the remaining candidates collects enough alternate votes to achieve the 50%+ volume of best overall choice candidate votes.

Governor Bruce Rauner touting his perception of Term Limits as the magic bullet for Springfield’s ineptness would be comical if it weren’t so blatantly inept. Term Limits is a political Buzz Word for “Haven’t got a Clue” politicians.

RELATED ARTICLES: Constant “Connor” VlaKancic

QUESTION: If you are running as a Democrat, what is your best idea for getting any initiative you may propose advanced if the House continues to be controlled by the GOP after the 2018 elections?

ANSWER: Tell all Democrats to bring their worthy best ideas to U.S. Representative Constant G, “Connor” VlaKancic to be recognized as the bi-partisan visionary of an idea that helps all who take responsibility for themselves to participate in the opportunity of American Way of Life.

TOPIC: President Donald Trump

QUESTION: What do you make of President Trump?

ANSWER: He is a change agent… as in Silicon Valley leveraging political catastrophe into an entrepreneurial opportunity… breaking America out of destitute boredom of our politics-as-usual. To cure an infected boil requires some messy bloody surgery. He made many campaign promises and he delivered the bestest of them all November 9th 2016.

Donald Trump is certainly NOT an America Camelot rerun. Yet his wife is an exquisite Balkan delight. Hillary Clinton would have foisted First Slick Willie on White House female interns and all America’s unsuspecting innocent youth.

QUESTION: Which three actions by the Trump administration do you support the most? Which three do you oppose the most?

ANSWER: Seven days into his first term, President Trump issued more than a dozen executive actions. To me, the #1 premier action was invoking a Federal government-wide freeze on new and pending regulations. This is also #2 and #3.

I oppose Trump’s taking an entire year to upend Obama era regulations that have clearly been Congress’ legislative prerogatives.

What is your view of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian tampering in the 2016 election, including possible collusion by the Trump campaign. Does Mueller have your support?

ANSWER: Robert Mueller is milking the job with his conflict of interest selected neverTrump discriminatory lawyers (all invisible to voter introspect). Russian tampering in the 2016 elections is likely more akin to Russian disrupting voter’s information. Partisan political wonks professing Russian tampering with “Help America Vote Act of 2002” tested and approved voter systems, hardware and software, is beyond most Democrat partisan insanity (except perhaps…)!

TOPIC: Terrorism

QUESTION: What should Congress do to reduce the threat of terrorism at home, either from ISIS or from others?

ANSWER: Provide highly competent nationalized concealed handgun handling training to FBI cleared Global Entry American citizens. To pass FBI inspection that awards Global Entry credentials is more difficult to achieve than a US Government Secret Clearance. Illinois “concealed carry” and U.S. Congress legislation for reciprocal concealed carry authority is quietly effective to thwart wayward terrorism in public places.

TOPIC: Guns and violence

QUESTION: What is the single most important action Congress can take to curb gun violence in the United States?

ANSWER: Provide highly competent nationalized concealed handgun handling training to FBI cleared Global Entry American citizens. To pass FBI inspection that awards Global Entry credentials is more difficult to achieve than a US Government Secret Clearance. Illinois “concealed carry” and U.S. Congress legislation for reciprocal concealed carry authority is quietly effective to thwart wayward terrorism in public places.

QUESTION: Do you favor a law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” that increase the firing speed of semi-automatic weapons? Why? Do you favor any further legal limits on guns of any kind? Or, conversely, what gun restrictions should be done away with?

ANSWER: The sale or owning ‘bump stocks” is comparatively immaterial. However, USING “bump stocks” to shoot people… in any manner… must be a hanging offense. Gruel and painful is maybe a deterrent for others criminal conduct.

TOPIC: America’s growing wealth gap

QUESTION: As an editorial board, our core criticism of the tax overhaul legislation supported by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate is that it lowers taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans at a time of historic inequalities of wealth and income in the United States. We believe in free markets, but it does not look to us like the “silent hand” of the market is functioning properly, rewarding merit fairly. We are troubled that the top 1 percent of Americans own 38.6 percent of the nation’s wealth and the bottom 90 percent own just 22.8 percent of the wealth.

ANSWER: Who are the members of your editorial board? How much money do they have compared to the people that deliver the paper? How much money has Chicago-Sun Times executives benefited by Mike Madigan manipulating real estate taxes in Chicago?

QUESTION: Tell us how we are right or wrong about this. Does the growing income and wealth gap trouble you?

ANSWER: Your editorial board is a bunch of mischief makers! The “silent hand” of the market… swings according to so many complexities that freedom naysayers lack the insight to grasp. Wealth and income are not intended or can be expected to be awarded fairly (as defined by socialist instigators) because wealth and income are only always awarded justifiably to those who make personal financially success for themselves and their loved ones their self preservation objective.

I was raised on the DeKalb County dairy farm of my maternal Grandfather. He got what he earned without complaining about who owned a wealthier farm. He was also the DeKalb County Assessor and highly respected for his integrity.

TOPIC: International affairs

QUESTION: Do you support the Trump administration’s decision to move the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem? How will this help or hinder efforts to secure a lasting peace between Israel and its Middle East neighbors?

ANSWER: The Trump administration has recognized that the State of Israel recognizes Jerusalem is its Capital. That the State of Palestine government (called Palestinian National Authority) also recognizes Jerusalem is its Capital needn’t be a problem. The geographic areas are separate populated regions. It will seem intractable to persons that can’t see the forest for the trees, yet this is the rational solution when emotions are extracted from the solution.

QUESTION: Is military action by the United States a plausible response to the nuclear weapons threat posed by North Korea? How might a U.S. military response play out for South Korea, Japan and China? What alternative do you support?

ANSWER: There is more Korean peninsula ego involved than threat of potential nuclear conflict. Allow North Korea and South Korea sufficient negotiating space to locally mitigate their cultural tensions. The U.S. has certainly been the adult parent figure in the international room full of squabbling childish governments. Yet, our objective should be to promote such countries to tame their insecure rhetoric and decide to be trading countries thus becoming more financially dependent on each other. United States and Soviet Union had the nuclear conflict over Cuba. Discombobulation was achieved because the alternative was insanity. Even in Korea, however insane the level of egos, with China downwind from the quagmire, nuclear destruction will simply be unacceptable. The U.S. Department of State certainly has a – good as can be ascertained – overview of all the political actors rhetoric. However, as these actors are emotionally malcontents, they are not overtly insidiously stupid.

TOPIC: Immigration

QUESTION: The Supreme Court has ruled that the third version of the Trump administration’s travel ban on eight countries with predominantly Muslim populations can go into effect while legal challenges against the ban continue. What is your position on this travel ban?

ANSWER: While I grasp the Founding Fathers wisdom in crafting U.S. Constitutional mandate of our Judicial system, I currently have not studied and examined the rational of how few or one lone U.S. Federal Judge is empowered to stall thus thwart U.S. Constitutional Presidential authority.

QUESTION: Has the United States in the last decade been accepting too many immigrants, and does this pose a threat to the American way of life?

ANSWER: Everything that changes is a threat and also an opportunity. For some recent timeline, U.S. has certainly been accepting too many immigrants without a comprehensive plan of how to mobilize their utility within American way of life. Historically America’s economy has greatly benefited from population growth of working aged immigrants when America’s rapidly proliferating economic expansion could quickly train and mobilize their able bodied… bodies.

I myself am a 2nd generation family immigrant from Croatia (then called Yugoslavia). My Grandfather worked at Barber-Greene as a highly skilled machinist. Illinois equipment manufacturing companies would benefit with more immigrants like him just as soon as I am elected U.S. Representative with my visionary strategy to “Make Illinois Great Again”.

Perhaps require a H1B visa for all immigrant applicants. The H1B visa classification permits a foreign national to work in the United States for a temporary period. It is available for offers of employment that are in a specific occupation for which a productive job awaits them. Their status would be Registered Inhabitant. Voter privilege, from U.S. Citizenship, is of ZERO interest to them.

The American drama caused by Barack Obama’s decision, to illegally foist his DACA Executive Order that bypasses U.S. Congress legislative prerogative to authorize legal funding, is a particular accurate example of Democrats indigestible regulations. That there are these people living in America, despite having been illegally brought across United States borders without pretense, are productive in value to Americas social fabric. As such, misguided efforts to award them U.S. Citizenship is premature compared to their being legally conferred as a “Registered Inhabitant”.

As I am a 2nd generation immigrant, born in Aurora, Illinois and married a Croatian born national, we had no interest in her achieving U.S. Citizenship. For her to be a Registered Inhabitant, able to transit in and out of America, was our only desire. Legal U.S. Citizenship was without intrinsic value for our living life to the fullest.

Stop Dreaming… Get real! As U.S. Representative from Illinois, I will endeavor to achieve U.S. Federal legislation that will provide Registered Inhabitant designation to persons that willfully volunteered themselves to DACA scrutiny.

QUESTION: Should the “wall” between the United States and Mexico be built? What might it accomplish?

ANSWER: Perhaps some day in the future, as is now the Great Wall of China, perhaps it will be a greatly visited tourist attraction including coffee shops, taco flavored pizza restaurants and souvenir outlets. And pieces of it (as has been the fate of sections of the Berlin Wall), removed by future wealthy collectors and moved to their estate property as a piece of bygone era political history.

TOPIC: Affordable Care Act

QUESTION: The tax reform plan created by Republican majorities in the House and Senate would eliminate the Obamacare “individual mandate” that most Americans must have health insurance or pay a fine. Does this threaten the viability of the Affordable Care Act? What more on this, if anything, should be done?

ANSWER: The viability of the Affordable Care Act was unviable from it’s inception.

The “individual mandate” is actually a malfeasance government involuntary servitude imposed on people that have maintained a healthy lifestyle as best examples of NOT “a threat to the American way of life”.

Specifically, what should be done, is eliminate the imposed state-specific limitation on insurance companies offering-providing health insurance. Any insurance company can offer their service in any state they desire to operate, directly or through subsidiaries.

TOPIC: The opponent(s)

QUESTION: What is your biggest difference with your opponent(s)?

ANSWER: U.S. Congress Representative challenger candidates, what is the stuff that they are made of? Their personal life; where they have lived, what worlds they have experienced, what have they learned that equips them to perform in U.S. Congress? Their professional abilities; what have they trained for that purports to attract voters confidence in their U.S. Congress leadership competence? What do they leave behind when they are required to end their existing career because U.S. Representative is a 24×7 job! Their political accomplishments; what are their people skills, what are their communication skills when the subject is politically controversial, what has been their test-of-time interactivity with U.S. Congress as time spent on Capital Hill, engaged within “The Peoples House”, establishing trust with all manner of political leadership?

My contrary Republican Primary candidate lacks any specific critical training or explicit hands-on experience of what being a U.S. Representative requires of a person. The dramatic disruption of their life, family and end of their current career profession. Illinois (General Assembly) legislators function part time, allowed to continue their career profession when away from Springfield. My daily hours watching C-SPAN live coverage of Congress floor debates and my visits to House and Senate members on Capital Hill exemplifies my U.S. Representative candidacy. The service of a U.S. Representative requires extended time living in Washington, DC to build trusted relationships with U.S. Congress compatriots.

Constant G. “Connor” VlaKancic – is Illinois “been there… done that…” Republican candidate!

“Let’s make America Great Again Starting with Illinois”