Republican Debate!!!

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!