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Monthly Archives: January 2011

State of the Union or Congress?


The State of the Union address drew mixed reviews from all parties including Tea Party,New Republicans (Dupublicans), New Democrats (Scamocrats). Everyone wanted something that points to their side winning. The only winners that should come out of this should be the voters but our “representatives (of all flavors)” seem to have forgotten this. The American public has been assaulted from all sides with sound bites, innuendo and near truths by these Political factions but none of them have the interests of the voters in mind. It appears to me that the voters are last in the pecking order of receiving the benefits of proper representation by these groups but these groups are quick to solicit and accept monies to run their operations. The whole intent of free elections is to install the best people to do the work of running the country in a responsible manner on behalf of the voter, we have for the past 30 plus years been subject to slipshod and irresponsible governing due to the personal agendas of our “trusted” elected officials. The time to act is now and at every election cycle. Disregard the Hype, yard signs, bumper stickers and other semi truths and be not afraid to change horses in midstream, our representatives do.

Mission Statement (or Omission Statement)


A non profit gone rogue!It sad to report the end of the Springfield Urban Leagues’s mission to service the community. This comes on the heels of the Head Start program’s conversion to a Union Shop. The primary reason for this conversion is the mismanagement of the program. For several years the Head Start program has suffered in aged and outdated buildings. The upper management has seemingly mis handled funding with poor judgement in spending on rental of facilities which were barely up to standards, inadequate staffing in class rooms and poor to unsafe conditions in the buildings. Currently 1 site is shut down due an extreme mold problem which unfortunately was ignored last year while several people including a teacher were ill for several months. There are other issues involving the basic cleaning maintenance in all of the buildings.There have been several opportunities to move the program to better housing but management declined to entertain the idea of using available funding to take better care of their clients ( the children and their parents) or the workers. Now after eliminating 30 plus positions to try and break the Union effort, they are stalling in the bargaining process. During all of this time the same mismanagement continues and the board members, the policy council (the parent\ staff component) have been kept in the dark as to the Union situation and the actual problems confronting the head start program. The local papers have coverd this minimally and it should be covered better than the statehouse as this issue affects almost all of the citizenry of Springfield of Head Start age and their parents. This seems to be a non profit gone rogue!

Mafia Style Suicide?


The Mayor of Spring field Illinois committed suicide approximately 6 to 8 weeks ago. There was no suicide note but a 911 call from his cell phone determined that the call occurred before the gunshot as the bullet went directly into the body, passing into the car seat. The death was immediate enough to dispel any chance of long term survival after the shot. The mayor was not planning to run again for office but had run afoul of the legal system with an investigation of improprieties involving his handling of an estate involving monies that were to be given to a Catholic charity. Two of his top aides (cronies) have recently resigned their offices and one at least has ties to the estate controversy. This tie was knotted with the appointment of this associate to head the City Light and Power company. Now that office has been vacated perhaps with the revelation of a connection to this estate problem. Was this suicide an honor saving effort as used by the old Romans and several modern day so called gangland figures?

Untrue To Form


The recent flurry of activity by the major political parties and their newest members (by extension, the inter party factions) in making public statements about things they will change immediately when in office has taken a more low key tone. The so called “Obama care bill” which was going be repealed as soon as “they” got in to office is still in force and due in part to the inability of the newly empowered to consider the devastating effect of a total repeal until the entire bill was read and understood. Couple that with the fact that the repeal cannot be accomplished without a detrimental effect on the voters who have reaped the benefit. The tone now is one of “tweaking the healthcare law to make it better. All of this could have been done without all of the negative hype, scare tactics and innuendo that had the nation in an uproar most of last year. The whole thrust of all of the media grabbing attention was to sway the voters to their side and to regain power in the Congress. The new ruling thugs now have to put up or shut up. This appears no different to me than the outrages committed by the Taliban daily in the middle east to gain power but without the suicide bombings and subsequent loss of life. There was possible a time when men of state were considered honorable and were venerated, now they seem to be men of high profile who aspire to greatness without the ability to be great and do what it takes to carry the mantle of statesman.

Illinois In Action


The latest edition of the Illinois legislature in action has appeared. The State is in dire financial straits but the “leaders” have decided to impose a tax increase to cure the problem. This tax increase is supposed to be “temporary” but given the past financial malfeasance, this no doubt will continue beyond the projected expiration date. The voters of this state (and the Nation) have been snookered, bamboozled and lied to for years but we still elect the same morons because of sound bites and innuendo. The art of politics is to put on a theatrical production before elections and perform sleight of hand actions (that would amaze David Copperfield). These machinations have created a fiscal morass that appears impossible to overcome by the current administration. The entire legislature is to blame but no more that the voters (us) who put them there. The election season (season of signs, media ads and personal appearances) brings a mass media assault equal to a military campaign but no substantial content. These office seekers can be likened to whipped cream which goes flat when warm. The cure is to listen carefully to what these aspirants say and believe none of it especially if they have been in office for more that 2 terms. The founders intended that these positions would be part time not permanent or perpetual. The thought was to allow various views and fresh thoughts, we certainly have not seen much of that in the past 50 years or so. This latest debacle is not an oddity, it is more an ongoing process of line our pockets and lie to the public.

Snookered.


What is it about advertising that makes us buy products that do not work, marginally work or has no function relative to its hype? A nationally advertised weight loss product state in the initial few seconds of it’s airing that it is the most sold (in other words more people buy it), not necessarily the most effective or useful. This is the same tactic used by politicians and office seekers to pull us into voting for them and donating to their campaigns. The public has been snookered so many times and so often that they do not know what is true and what isn’t. If and when we understand that we are being advertised into doing and not doing, then we can begin to elect an effective government.

Door to Openess?


Freshmen legislators in Illinois have recently proposed a 10% pay cut for all members, this cut would not be near enough to put a dent in the budget deficit but it is a start. This bill named #110 will show if the legislature is really in tune with the people who elected them. This pay cut may be permanent or temporary depending on how much self serving greed has to do with it. If this bill passes and become law what will happen when the annual mandated “cola” comes around again? The elected officials at the Federal, State and local levels have a lot of “splainin” to already so what will be said when this bill fails or is so watered down as to be ineffective? The public needs to keep careful watch on this bill as it will be used as an election aid or a stick to beat the opponents and still not become an effective law.

State of the State


The State of Illinois has proposed raising taxes, taxes is how states are run. When the government mismanages funds collected from the people then increasing taxes is ludicrous. The state leaders (Congress) has not seen fit to link themselves to the people they serve by sharing the pain of pay reductions. Each year the Congress receives a pay increase regardless of the fiscal situation. The Congress treats issues that affect the state as a whole in a microcosm of their service(?) area. The Congress appears to be in perpetual state of “knee jerk” as issues arise, so what is happening during the regularly scheduled sessions? Let us not forget the “overtime sessions “to do work that could have been done in the regular session. The voters have the right to remove legislators but only at election times after being bombarded with ads and other media blitzes. These onslaughts serve to confuse and anger the public into a “point and shoot” method of voting.
It is in the best interest of the people to remove ineffective legislators based on their actions and not on their public images generated in the media. We still have a half empty multimillion dollar prison the generates little (if any) revenue for its community. It is apparently easy to issue press releases stating your political platform but not so easy to carry out that agenda. If the Congress wants the support of the people, they will need to get out of the “HUTA” club. A TV ad or yard sign never made a life altering legislative decision.

The Truth Is Within Us.


It is an expected turnabout from the current speaker John Boehner, his fiery rhetoric when pursuing the electoral edge in the Congress has turned to low burning embers. The shouts of dismantling the healthcare (Obamacare) bill is more talk now because the so called dismantling has come down to revisions and tweaks that the Scamocrats called for before these elections. The Dupublicans were invited and urged to participate in changing or tweaking the Healthcare bill but refused to do so yet continued to speak out against it with half truths and innuendo. Now it is business as usual, they (Dupublicans) mere want to be the controlling party pure and simple. The American voters have been scammed again, this is how politicians continue on their path of self service while asserting that they are working for the people. It is incumbent on the voters to recognize when being scammed. When we are looking to buy a car, we do diligence in researching the car but will not spend any measurable time in examining the people who are seeking offices that can make or break this country. We are drawn in by our own personal opinions , innate fears and phobias that the office seekers use to persuade us to vote for them. Our personal feelings have nothing to do with the functioning of the government so become a means for office seekers to manipulate our votes.

Under Understanding


Now that the “Dupublicans” have some control in Congress, the tone has changed. The high sounding promises and rhetoric has toned down a peg. The rages and rants prior to the elections have shifted to a more civil demeaner. The effects on the public that voted them in has not diminished, the public has not processed the subtle changes in their tone and will continue to beleive the first information issued pre election. This is how the political establishment continues to remain in office, they use the fears and misconceptions of the public to continue their reign of doing what ever suits their next election campaign. What we can look at is the happiness on the face of the new speaker now that the gavel is in his hands. The whole point of the political face time and media frenzied leaks is to get elected.