How can Barak run a country when he was part of the regime that has bankrupted the state of Illinois while never uttering a word about fiscal responsibility? As far as I'm concerned, not 1 political figure from Illinois is fit to be chief of state including our esteemed Dick Durbin.
Ummmm. Barack. And if you look back, the real troubles have been much more significant since he's been out of the Illinois statehouse. I look forward to hearing more of his plans regarding the economy. More importantly, I look forwad to seeing who will be his economic advisor/committee.
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3215 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
Amy, true, the problems that face Illinois have been years in the making. Like Congress until recent history, the Illinois legislature has been controlled by the dems. The deficits and massive entitlement programs have been created mostly by the dems but the Repubs, especially in this state, have had a hand in it as well. Hell, look at DuPage County? Last night on Ch 7 news, one of the news guys was talking about the financial situation of our beloved county and specifically mentioned "mega schools and their budgets" and the budget deficits racked up in the county.
Illinois is getting like Michigan. Curious that the politicians, when politicking in Michigan, promised to lift the state out of it's economic depression, one of the worst in the Union. They NEVER mentioned what the labor unions have done to the manufacturing sector there. Same thing happening here. The cost of doing business in Illinois is just too high, and Indiana is lauging all the way to the bank.
Hot off the press: Illinois facing a 750 million budget gap for the 2007. 2008 looks worse. Rising costs of Medicaid, state PENSIONS,coupled with lower tax receipts due to a slowing economy and real estate taxes, paints a bad picture for Illinois in 2008.
Dear Mr. Obama: what can you suggest to clean up this mess????
Are additional taxes on the populace the solution to the problem?
He pushed the wrong button, he asserted at the time. Two of the admitted flubs were on hotly contested issues.
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 24, 2008
Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.
"I was not aware that I had voted no," he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he "intended to vote yes."
That was not the only misfire for the former civil rights attorney first elected to the state Senate in 1996. During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times.
The rules allow state lawmakers to clear up a mishap if they suffered from a momentary case of stumbly fingers or a lapse in attention. Correcting the record is common practice in the Illinois Legislature, where lawmakers routinely cast numerous votes in a hurry.
But some lawmakers say the practice also offers a relatively painless way to placate both sides of a difficult issue. Even if a lawmaker admits an error, the actual vote stands and the official record merely shows the senator's "intent."
Luckily, when he is President, he won't have to push any buttons to vote for legislation. The only button is "the big one" and it requires many more steps than pushing one button. I think we're safe.
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3215 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
Dear MainStreeter: though I have enjoyed your posts over the years, a few million bucks for the disadvantaged is a drop in the bucket, in the scheme of things, as long as it's managed well. The main issue are pensions and the patronage system that dwells within the confines of cook county. Corruption and nepotism is alive and well in Illinois.
It's not the pensions themselves that are bankrupting the system, it's the way the pensions are structured and what people are allowed to do to "maximize" their pensions. It pisses me off and I won't do that - it's wrong. It just is. I know there are other educators on this BB who disagree with me, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.
"The most valuable things in life are not measured in monetary terms. The really important things are not houses and lands, stocks and bonds, automobiles and real state, but friendships, trust, confidence, empathy, mercy, love and faith. " -Bertrand Russell V. Delong
Posts: 3215 | Location: Glen Ellyn, IL | Registered: April 04, 2003
You are correct Amy. People in the public sector deserve a fair wage and bene's package. Never said anything different. But the politicians never have the guts to say enough is enough. I've also said there is a time and a place for unions but we don't need to end up like France or worse yet, the Great State of Michigan, and soon, Illinois, if not already here.
