The Inmates Are Running The Asylum

We live in the great State of Illinois. We enjoy four seasons every year, we can drive a couple hours and see anything from the second largest city to cattle grazing. It is a state with a down-to-earth, home-town attitude. It is a state that has the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears and many other minor league teams (joking).

However, it is not all bliss here in Illinois. We have a State government which has been managed and manipulated by Cook County corruption. Despite the fact that our state is populated with 13 million people, we are controlled by the 3 million that reside in Cook County. From it's politicians to it's labor union leaders to it's special interests, there are 10 million people who are forced to pay punitive taxes and are subject to laws and regulations for the sake of the 3 million residents in Cook County. Actually, it is not the residents that are forcing us to suffer, but the far-too-many criminals running the Cook County government that are holding the rest of the state hostage.

For example, gang crime is increasing at a frightening pace in Cook County, yet the citizens of Illinois are not given the right to carry concealed weapons. How much would crime be affected if you can carry a handgun for your own protection or for the protection of your friends and family? How likely would it be for a punk to confront you if he did not know whether or not you were packing heat?

Chicago is now in a battle with Wal Mart over the addition of another store into the city. Wal Mart and the people in the neighborhood would love to have a store where they can work and purchase goods at a competitive price. Yet, the labor unions have used their power to influence the City of Chicago, not to allow Wal Mart to open in the city. So what's next? The people in this neighborhood continue to live off the government and shop at a corner grocer, paying prohibitive prices for everyday goods?

The next governor of this state must be prepared to face the city of Chicago and the labor unions head-on and withhold funding until they are convinced that ethics, not greed or corruption, must be the law of the state. It's time to tell the gangsters running the city, that their days of reigning by threats and influence are over. It's time for the people of this state to elect someone with the courage to "just say no!"