As a young, upstart party, the Illinois Whigs are not sponsoring a candidate for Governor in Illinois' election this year, but we will not stand on the sidelines and allow the state to fall into greater distress either. It is the responsibility of every voter in this state to do the research and select the best candidate to manage our state government for the next four years. This year's theme could be labeled, "Experienced Need Not Apply"!
This past week, the Republican candidates for Governor met in a debate to discuss their plans, should they be elected Governor of the state of Illinois. Of the five candidates, they all fell into one of two groups - government insiders and outsiders. As I listened to the responses to the moderators questions, it did not take long for me to discount the political insiders as simply, more of the same. Below is my short summary of the candidates from this weeks debate:
Senator Bill Brady - Presented himself as a downstate businessman, but touted his affiliation with the Thompson/Edgar administrations; while both were better than what we have today, neither earned any bragging rights from a conservative standpoint. Mr. Brady is a political insider and his responses where non-specific and patronizing. He often spoke of cuts to Medicaid as his primary source of saving taxpayer dollars. Do not be fooled!!!
This is a classic political game played by politicians. They present cuts to emotionally charged programs, such as medicaid or subsidized lunch programs as a way to reduce government spending, knowing that neither the public nor it's representatives will ever allow such cuts. This clears the way for the Governor to come back to the people with a justification to raise taxes. Mr. Brady, you are no Ronald Reagan. Count him out!
Senator Kirk Dillard - Same as Bill Brady on Medicaid cuts. He is an insider from the collar counties and while he does not have dirt on his hands, it just may be that he can afford better soap. My recommendation is we play it safe and keep him out of Springfield.
Robert Schillerstrom - Words came out of his mouth, but he really did not say anything. Mr. Schillerstrom was a caricature of a politician. Watching him speak was not unlike watching Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons) speak when he was running for Govenor. His spoke in platitudes and rhetoric. The only thing missing was a baby to kiss. Mr. Schillerstrom, we know Government is broken, we know they are spending out of control and we know taxes are too high. What we still do not know, is what you plan to do about it. Next time, let's hear something specific. One more thing, while I do not have specific data, my property taxes in DuPage County have doubled in the past 10 years. Once again, an insider that should be on the outside.
Dan Proft - Until the debate, I really did not know much about Dan Proft, which is a check in his favor. Clearly and intellectual, Mr. Proft understands the problems of our state and understands the impact of taxation on business. He also understands the corruption in Cook County and he was the only candidate with the guts to state that he would challenge Cook County, head-on. Mr. Proft offered an innovative approach to Medicaid spending cuts which includes a means test with co-pays based on income levels. I was not comfortable with his plan for school choice however as it sounds very expensive, but based on everything else I heard, I would be interested in hearing more details about this program. Mr. Proft is one of two whom I will consider in the upcoming primary. Ironically, he is also one of the two political outsiders running this year. The other is...
Adam Andrzejewski - Another outsider from downstate. He knows how taxes effect business in Illinois. He understands that while a 10 cent tax on business may not seem like much to most people, it could mean the difference between success and failure to a small business. Mr. Andrzejewski has experience running a business and understands how to make difficult and unpopular decisions. As a business owner, he knows that sometimes making a decision will mean becoming unpopular to those around you. This is a good quality to have if you are going to take on our state government. While some of his answers where a little weak, I attribute it more to lack of preparation due to his political inexperience than to his lack of knowledge of business. This is a positive for me.
With both, Mr. Proft and Mr. Andrzejewski, they provided detailed answers to the moderators questions with details to back up their answers. The three political insiders had no place but their experience as politicians, to look for answers. As a result, their answers were disingenuous and political.
The only candidate missing at the WTTW debate was Jim Ryan. Anyone living in Illinois for the past 10 years understands Mr. Ryan's record. He is a great person and probably the most honest of the three insiders. However, Jim Edgar was an honest Governor as well, but his views were socially conservative and fiscally moderate to liberal - the opposite of how the Whig party believes. Since he is cut from the same cloth, I believe Jim Ryan will be the same type of Governor. If we truly want to fix the problems in this state, we must consider taking a serious look at the candidates that are running and make a decision based on the information we have available. We must make the tough decision, join together and vote for the outsider.
As this is not a Repulican site, I will not endorse a specific candidate, but leave you to make your decisions based on your own research. But before making a decision, please do your research!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year, America!
After working a long week to total exhaustion, have you ever fallen into a deep, almost catatonic sleep, which ends with what seems to be a week long nightmare about a horrible event in your life? It ends with you waking up with a euphoric feeling of relief enveloping you as you realize it was only a dream. This is my prayer for 2010.
The year 2009 had been filled with some of the most amazing and unconscionable events we could have ever imagined, both in our state and in our nation. I pray that whatever made our politicians behave as recklessly as they did last year, ended with the last second of 2009.
As much as we would like to forget, let's take a moment to remember a few of the events that made 2009 a year we are all glad to see come to an end...
1. We entered the year shelling out billions to keep financial institutions in business, enabling them to continue irresponsible lending to those that cannot afford to pay back their loans while tightening restrictions on small business - a recipe for economic failure.
2. We inaugurated a President from a state known for blatant corruption. A President who is not discreet about his dislike for his country, Christians, the armed forces and freedom. A President who brought with him to D.C., some of the most corrupt politicians Cook County has produced.
3. We indicted a Governor who was caught red handed, trying to sell a senate seat vacate by the new President, ensuring the seat would be filled with another corrupt rubber stamp politician.
4. We witnessed one of Chicago's largest conservative radio stations exploit the celebrity of this corrupt governor by placing him in his own talk show, which he still hosts today. This same station exploited an ex-cop and alleged wife killer until the court prohibited his further exploitation by the media. One of the rare signs of common sense shown throughout the year.
5 . Our federal government perverted and violated the literal intent of the constitution by purchasing a majority interest in GM, adding to their corporate holdings after taking over financial institutions.
6. The President who promised to keep taxes down for the poor and middle class, pushed one of the largest tax increases in our nation's history with Cap and Trade. His argument for such a tax increase? To force oil companies and foreign countries to reduce greenhouse gases by penalizing them. Who pays the penalty? You and me! But through smoke and mirrors, he is able to tax us without calling it a tax.
7. The President had taken a major step toward the overthrow of our representative republic form of government, in which we live, by forcing healthcare reform down our throats. Despite the fact that more than 80% of the nation are satisfied with their current healthcare plan and despite the fact that millions have spoken against a public health insurance plan, our congress or should we call them parliament; ended the year by passing a national healthcare bill. A 2000 page bill that nobody had been allowed to read or review. A plan that had to be passed in a special Christmas Eve vote that could not be delayed for a minute more.
8. Our President, who had to pass a healthcare bill in the dark of a holiday night because it was so urgent, a bill which begins taxing Americans almost immediately, yet does not offer benefits for several years; could not interrupt his golf game in Hawaii, to react to a terrorist attempt in the sky on Christmas Day. In fact, he waited a full three days to offer any public response, proving once again that his priorities are far more important than the safety of the 300 million people he swore to protect.
9. We witnessed a terrorist attack on a military base in Fort Hood Texas where too many of our hero's died in the name of political correctness. The terrorist had a record of questionable behavior, yet rather than risking offending him, we chose to put our hero's at risk and eventually, watch them die. Our President reaction? "Don't be too quick to judge". This is the same President that called policemen stupid and racist, earlier this year before he had all of the facts in the case of a college professor breaking in to his home. He apologized by bringing them to the White House for a beer. Now that's class!
10. The President was asked in August for additional troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. He waited four months before making a decision to send troops. In the meantime, we ended 2009 with the highest number of casualties since the war began. As our understaffed military was being decimated in the deserts of Afghanistan, the President was improving his golf score, proving once again that he cares more about the enemy than he does the American soldier.
11. The Governor of our fair state, though an improvement over his predeccesor, made the careless decision to let scores of prisoners out of jail early. As of now, eight have been returned to jail on new crimes. Good job Mr. Quinn. The last time a governor released prisoners early, it was speculated that it would ensure his safety when he was prosecuted and sent up the river. Will 2010 bring us news about Mr. Quinn? I mean, aside from his defeat because of this negligent move. The most dissappointing thing I heard about this issue was the Governor blaming the move on his director of prisons. What happened to "the buck stops here"?
12. We watched the governors race fill up with many faces in preparation for this years election.
Unfortunately, too many of them are the same faces. The same politicians with the same message. This means, whoever becomes the governor of Illinois, we will have politics as usual. Will it be Mark Kirk? The Republican congressman from the liberal northern Cook County suburbs who voted in favor of Cap and Trade? Will it be Jim Ryan - a nice guy, but a lifetime politician just the same? The good thing is that since our primary has been moved to February, we will know soon enough who our choices will be.
This list can go on for miles but productive Americans, a.k.a., conservatives do not have time to spend dwelling on the past. Our mission is to focus on the future. If 2009 was a nightmare from which I have finally awaken, here is my wish for 2010 now that I am wide awake.
I wish...
1. Republicans in Washington and Illinois will become the fiscal conservatives they claim to be. They can do this by forcing their ideals for fiscal responsibility onto their democratic counterparts. When they are met with resistance, don't simply cower but become vocal, forceful and aggressive!
2. Americans will embrace a new common sense conservatism, realizing that the extremist views will not play in any election. Stand by your principles, but choose your battles wisely. Mexican immigration is not a smart battle and is a senseless and polarizing fight. We need Mexican immigrants and should embrace them as part of our future. Mexico has given us many good people as many of our military heroes are Mexican immigrants. There are common sense ways to fight illegal immigration from both, Mexico and Canada, but racism should not be the motivation. The 9/11 terrorists did not come across the Mexican border, they came across the Canadian border.
3. Congress will realize their role in our representative republic. They will stop forcing their socialist views into our lives and will return the power back to the states where it belongs. The role of the U.S. government is to protect us from foreign enemies. If the U.S. government can do this successfully, I will be satisfied.
4. All levels of government would stop spending! During times of economic hardship, the government can jumpstart an economy by reducing taxes on the people that create jobs - small businesses; and on the people that spend the money - taxpayers. Government cannot motivate economic growth by creating government jobs, which only redistributes government money from one pocket to another. Further, government has never been known for efficiency. The private market will employ three people for every one person the government hires.
This is also not the time to plant flowers, expand highways and repave good roads. In Illinois, perfectly good roads are torn up and new pavement laid, simply as a way to create public sector jobs. In the meantime, the fortunate people that have jobs are wasting fuel, sitting in traffic in construction zones. If you want to save real money, pull the construction crews off of the roads for a couple years and let traffic flow. Essential repairs can be done at night using contractors - overpaid state workers can be laid off, saving taxpayers millions.
5. Candidates could be wired to polygraph machines anytime they speak. How refreshing would it be to hear a politician speak the truth? Imagine having a politician coming out in a campaign commercial with a message like - I will take bribes for my signature! I will work for my own personal gain because I am running for my future growth. The people of this state are lemmings and I will lead them where I want them to go. If they do not follow, I will force them. I will make promises that I will not keep and do not care how you feel about it. I will spend millions, entertaining my friends and special interests that can benefit me, because I am special! If I get any resistance on my spending initiatives, I will blame my opposition for taking food and medicine out of the mouths of children, the elderly and sick because I know this is what makes people think I am good and they are bad.
Followed by a true common sense conservative who will say -
As I reflect on the year that just ended, I pray that the negative is behind us. I start the new year with high hopes and anticipation for a powerful and positive new year. I pray for God's guidance through the year, that he help our leaders make the right decisions. I pray that people begin to see the unfortunate results of their negligent decisions. I pray that this new year brings a new attitude - an attitude based on good, right, ethical, honest and Christian morals. I pray for our soldiers fighting overseas and for our country and our sovereignty. I pray that one year from today, I can reflect on the previous year as a year of good dreams and memories, not nightmares. Finally, I ask that God bless everyone who reads this and ask that you pass the blessing on to everyone you meet.
Happy 2010, God bless and save us all!
The year 2009 had been filled with some of the most amazing and unconscionable events we could have ever imagined, both in our state and in our nation. I pray that whatever made our politicians behave as recklessly as they did last year, ended with the last second of 2009.
As much as we would like to forget, let's take a moment to remember a few of the events that made 2009 a year we are all glad to see come to an end...
1. We entered the year shelling out billions to keep financial institutions in business, enabling them to continue irresponsible lending to those that cannot afford to pay back their loans while tightening restrictions on small business - a recipe for economic failure.
2. We inaugurated a President from a state known for blatant corruption. A President who is not discreet about his dislike for his country, Christians, the armed forces and freedom. A President who brought with him to D.C., some of the most corrupt politicians Cook County has produced.
3. We indicted a Governor who was caught red handed, trying to sell a senate seat vacate by the new President, ensuring the seat would be filled with another corrupt rubber stamp politician.
4. We witnessed one of Chicago's largest conservative radio stations exploit the celebrity of this corrupt governor by placing him in his own talk show, which he still hosts today. This same station exploited an ex-cop and alleged wife killer until the court prohibited his further exploitation by the media. One of the rare signs of common sense shown throughout the year.
5 . Our federal government perverted and violated the literal intent of the constitution by purchasing a majority interest in GM, adding to their corporate holdings after taking over financial institutions.
6. The President who promised to keep taxes down for the poor and middle class, pushed one of the largest tax increases in our nation's history with Cap and Trade. His argument for such a tax increase? To force oil companies and foreign countries to reduce greenhouse gases by penalizing them. Who pays the penalty? You and me! But through smoke and mirrors, he is able to tax us without calling it a tax.
7. The President had taken a major step toward the overthrow of our representative republic form of government, in which we live, by forcing healthcare reform down our throats. Despite the fact that more than 80% of the nation are satisfied with their current healthcare plan and despite the fact that millions have spoken against a public health insurance plan, our congress or should we call them parliament; ended the year by passing a national healthcare bill. A 2000 page bill that nobody had been allowed to read or review. A plan that had to be passed in a special Christmas Eve vote that could not be delayed for a minute more.
8. Our President, who had to pass a healthcare bill in the dark of a holiday night because it was so urgent, a bill which begins taxing Americans almost immediately, yet does not offer benefits for several years; could not interrupt his golf game in Hawaii, to react to a terrorist attempt in the sky on Christmas Day. In fact, he waited a full three days to offer any public response, proving once again that his priorities are far more important than the safety of the 300 million people he swore to protect.
9. We witnessed a terrorist attack on a military base in Fort Hood Texas where too many of our hero's died in the name of political correctness. The terrorist had a record of questionable behavior, yet rather than risking offending him, we chose to put our hero's at risk and eventually, watch them die. Our President reaction? "Don't be too quick to judge". This is the same President that called policemen stupid and racist, earlier this year before he had all of the facts in the case of a college professor breaking in to his home. He apologized by bringing them to the White House for a beer. Now that's class!
10. The President was asked in August for additional troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. He waited four months before making a decision to send troops. In the meantime, we ended 2009 with the highest number of casualties since the war began. As our understaffed military was being decimated in the deserts of Afghanistan, the President was improving his golf score, proving once again that he cares more about the enemy than he does the American soldier.
11. The Governor of our fair state, though an improvement over his predeccesor, made the careless decision to let scores of prisoners out of jail early. As of now, eight have been returned to jail on new crimes. Good job Mr. Quinn. The last time a governor released prisoners early, it was speculated that it would ensure his safety when he was prosecuted and sent up the river. Will 2010 bring us news about Mr. Quinn? I mean, aside from his defeat because of this negligent move. The most dissappointing thing I heard about this issue was the Governor blaming the move on his director of prisons. What happened to "the buck stops here"?
12. We watched the governors race fill up with many faces in preparation for this years election.
Unfortunately, too many of them are the same faces. The same politicians with the same message. This means, whoever becomes the governor of Illinois, we will have politics as usual. Will it be Mark Kirk? The Republican congressman from the liberal northern Cook County suburbs who voted in favor of Cap and Trade? Will it be Jim Ryan - a nice guy, but a lifetime politician just the same? The good thing is that since our primary has been moved to February, we will know soon enough who our choices will be.
This list can go on for miles but productive Americans, a.k.a., conservatives do not have time to spend dwelling on the past. Our mission is to focus on the future. If 2009 was a nightmare from which I have finally awaken, here is my wish for 2010 now that I am wide awake.
I wish...
1. Republicans in Washington and Illinois will become the fiscal conservatives they claim to be. They can do this by forcing their ideals for fiscal responsibility onto their democratic counterparts. When they are met with resistance, don't simply cower but become vocal, forceful and aggressive!
2. Americans will embrace a new common sense conservatism, realizing that the extremist views will not play in any election. Stand by your principles, but choose your battles wisely. Mexican immigration is not a smart battle and is a senseless and polarizing fight. We need Mexican immigrants and should embrace them as part of our future. Mexico has given us many good people as many of our military heroes are Mexican immigrants. There are common sense ways to fight illegal immigration from both, Mexico and Canada, but racism should not be the motivation. The 9/11 terrorists did not come across the Mexican border, they came across the Canadian border.
3. Congress will realize their role in our representative republic. They will stop forcing their socialist views into our lives and will return the power back to the states where it belongs. The role of the U.S. government is to protect us from foreign enemies. If the U.S. government can do this successfully, I will be satisfied.
4. All levels of government would stop spending! During times of economic hardship, the government can jumpstart an economy by reducing taxes on the people that create jobs - small businesses; and on the people that spend the money - taxpayers. Government cannot motivate economic growth by creating government jobs, which only redistributes government money from one pocket to another. Further, government has never been known for efficiency. The private market will employ three people for every one person the government hires.
This is also not the time to plant flowers, expand highways and repave good roads. In Illinois, perfectly good roads are torn up and new pavement laid, simply as a way to create public sector jobs. In the meantime, the fortunate people that have jobs are wasting fuel, sitting in traffic in construction zones. If you want to save real money, pull the construction crews off of the roads for a couple years and let traffic flow. Essential repairs can be done at night using contractors - overpaid state workers can be laid off, saving taxpayers millions.
5. Candidates could be wired to polygraph machines anytime they speak. How refreshing would it be to hear a politician speak the truth? Imagine having a politician coming out in a campaign commercial with a message like - I will take bribes for my signature! I will work for my own personal gain because I am running for my future growth. The people of this state are lemmings and I will lead them where I want them to go. If they do not follow, I will force them. I will make promises that I will not keep and do not care how you feel about it. I will spend millions, entertaining my friends and special interests that can benefit me, because I am special! If I get any resistance on my spending initiatives, I will blame my opposition for taking food and medicine out of the mouths of children, the elderly and sick because I know this is what makes people think I am good and they are bad.
Followed by a true common sense conservative who will say -
- I will keep congress in check and hold them accountable for every careless decision they make!
- I will veto every spending bill they present that does not serve the best interest of everyone from Illinois, not just a chosen few. If they over-ride my veto, I will shout my objection from the highest point, in the media, on blogs and anywhere else people will be able to see it - and I will name names.
- I will cut non-essential government spending immediately after walking in to the governor's mansion, starting with the governor's salary.
- In a state that cannot meet it's budget, a governor does not deserve to make more than $100k. When the budget is balanced, we can talk about a raise.
- I will show the door to anyone that offers bribes or uses intimidation to try to get their way. I will then ask for an investigation of their business practices and force the indictment of anyone found to be anything less than on-the-level. This includes labor unions, lobby groups and special interests.
- I will not give in to Cook County politics! Mayor Daley may run the city, but he does not run the state and his control of the state ends today!
- I will bring an end to the tollway system - not in 10 years, but in 10 months and the process will begin now!
- I will eliminate all body guards for government officials and use state troopers on workers comp to serve these duties at a reduced salary.
- I will make the education system in the state accountable for their failures. Education, not political correctness or indoctrination; will become the focus of our school system. If students cannot read, write, add and subtract; they will not graduate and educators will be penalized with the loss of their certificates.
- I will reduce the tax burden on businesses to bring business (and jobs) back to the state, but I will not prostitute the state in order to say I brought them here.
- I will reduce the tax burden on property owners who work hard for what they have and deserve to keep it.
- I will reduce and balance the budget by spending cuts, not by increasing taxes. I will not allow the opposition to use children, the elderly and sick as pawns for tax increases or for political gains. Spending cuts will be made in common sense areas first - that may be all that is needed to balance the budget.
- I will make the state of Illinois one to be admired, not one to be ridiculed. It will be the benchmark for other states to aspire to, not the butt of late night television jokes.
As I reflect on the year that just ended, I pray that the negative is behind us. I start the new year with high hopes and anticipation for a powerful and positive new year. I pray for God's guidance through the year, that he help our leaders make the right decisions. I pray that people begin to see the unfortunate results of their negligent decisions. I pray that this new year brings a new attitude - an attitude based on good, right, ethical, honest and Christian morals. I pray for our soldiers fighting overseas and for our country and our sovereignty. I pray that one year from today, I can reflect on the previous year as a year of good dreams and memories, not nightmares. Finally, I ask that God bless everyone who reads this and ask that you pass the blessing on to everyone you meet.
Happy 2010, God bless and save us all!
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