Illinois' corruption tax

Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn has proposed a 50 percent increase in the state's income tax. Chicagoans pay the highest sales tax in the nation, suburban Cook County residents pay the second highest tax, as I note two posts down.

Could corruption be the reason for high taxes? Or do Illinoisans pay a "corruption tax?" AP analyzes:

People pay the tax when politicians give government jobs to unqualified cronies and contracts to expense-padding donors. They pay when public employees take bribes to overlook violations, when law enforcement spends millions prosecuting crooked politicians and when people are injured because of government misconduct.

"It means hundreds of millions of dollars lost in waste," said Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and head of political science at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Every state has its share of bad apples, but Illinois is notoriously corrupt. Residents and politicians sometimes seem to embrace the state's "anything goes" culture.

All together, 1,000 public officials and businessmen have been convicted of public corruption in Illinois since 1970, Simpson found. That includes 19 Cook County judges, 30 Chicago aldermen, two members of Congress and two governors — plus another imprisoned for crimes unrelated to state government.

What a disgrace.

Technorati tags: politics Illinois Democrats corruption Blagojevich news illinois politics Patrick Quinn chicago cook county

Twenty-eight years ago today: Ronald Reagan shot

I was taking a nap--maybe sleeping it off--28 years ago today in Champaign, Illinois when a radio in the dorm room below mine informed me and everyone within earshot that President Ronald Reagan had been shot in Washington.

In her WorldNet Daily column, Andrea Shea King talks about that troubling day and more.

Here is ThirdWaveDave's look at March 30, 1981.

Related post:

Midwestern Presidential Pathway: Tampico, Ronald Reagan's birthplace

Technorati tags: politics history Americana Reagan republican Ronald Reagan

After weeks of selling budget, Obama support still slips

In his Top of the Ticket blog, the Los Angeles Times' Andrew Malcom takes a look at Barack Obama's poll numbers--in regards to the budget--and sees some problems for the president.

Obama took his well-oiled road show to California in that time frame to hold two nationally-televised town hall meetings dominated by budget talk. He went on Jay Leno's show and talked to some 14 million bedtime viewers about the budget. He did a well-watched "60 Minutes" interview last weekend and talked more about the budget. He held a nationally-televised primetime news conference Tuesday and talked endlessly about the budget to an estimated 42 million Americans. His support team mobilized millions of e-mails to gin up supporters across the land to talk up the budget, especially to friends and elected representatives. Other groups ran ads supporting the budget. Obama brings up the ambitious budget at every opportunity. And he drove to Capitol Hill to create even more opportunity for budget news coverage.

The result, according to Gallup: People who feel positively about his budget fell from 44% in late February to 39% this week. People who feel negatively about the budget increased one point to 27% in the same time frame. And after all that budget talk, people who claim to not know enough to have an opinion increased 10% from 30% to 33%.

The budget battles are far from over, of course, even with Obama's own Democratic Party controlling both houses of Congress.

But imagine what could have happened to U.S. public opinion on the president's budget if he hadn't invested all that salesmanship. Can he keep it up? And is some public caution creeping in?

Eventually the novelty of Obama's town halls and online press conferences will wear off. And how many more times can he appear on the Tonight Show?

Of course the public, once they take a closer look at his fiscal policy, might begin to tune out the Obama PR machine.

And does America really want the government to run General Motors and Chrysler?

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama automobiles cars automobiles auto news Business economy

Todd "Corruption Tax" Stroger dragged into municipal election

Municipal elections will take place next month in many Illinois communities, including Niles, which is just west of Morton Grove.

The Maine Township Incumbents slate is running a group of candidates in Niles, and is bringing Cook County Board President Todd Stroger into the political dialogue. Now there is nothing these individuals can do, even if they win in April, about Stroger, a hack who gave Chicagoans the nation's highest sales tax. Suburbanites such as myself and the residents of Niles pay the America's second highest.

Stroger faces voters in next February in the Democratic Primary.

Expect Stroger's "corruption tax" to be the hottest issue when voters head to the polls on a cold winter day next year. For some voters, it will be the only issue.

Related posts:

Hey Obama! Speak out on proposal to impose nation's highest sales tax in your hometown: UDPATED
More Cook County waste
Todd Stroger: More Chicago Democratic sleaze
Another update on America's worst government--Cook County
Rita Rezko's contribution to America's worst government, Cook County
The latest from America's worst governmental body, Cook County
Bid to rescind Cook County corruption tax fails: UPDATED
Revolt at the polls against the Cook County corruption tax called by Democratic reformer
T-Day in Obama's hometown: Highest sales tax of any big city in America
Patronage hiring still thrives in Cook County
Another thing for Obama to be silent on: Cook County summer jobs going to pols' kids
Update on America's worst governmental body, Cook County
Palatine wants to secede from Cook County
Something else for Obama to be silent on: Chicago will have the nation's highest sales tax
Say no to higher Cook County taxes
No fat in Cook County budget?
Beavers leaves it to the race card as America's worst governmental body gets worse
Your Cook County tax dollars at work
Stop the proposed Cook County phone tax
"Is anyone watching out for Chicago taxpayers?"
Time for me to shop...outside Cook County?
Marathon Pundit Chicago River dumping follow up
Obama and Chicago's "We Don't Want Nobody Nobody Sent" culture
Cook County sues Cook County
My day as a Cook County juror

Technorati tags: Obama politics Illinois Politics Cook County news government Niles taxes

Obama the auto baron

One day after he fired General Motors' CEO, Barack Obama announced that the federal government is not interested in running the onetime auto industry powerhouse.

During that same speech, Obama said the feds will back up GM's warranty commitments.

How?

Let's take example my Ford. Until the problem was finally fixed, the dealership had to replace the car's fuel pump three times. What if the government-guaranteed warranty stipulates just two? Or will feds say, replace the engine, no matter the cost?

Meanwhile, Obama is encouraging a Chrysler alliance with Fiat. Obama, who drove a Chrysler gas-guzzler until the media blew the whistle on him, wants the deal to go through, which would involve the Italian automaker acquiring a 35 percent interest in Chrysler as well as a sharing of technology between the two firms.

Maybe that's not the right move. German auto manufacturer Daimler used to own Chrysler--that didn't work out too well. Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press doesn't think Fiat will help Chrysler.

Unfortunately for the American taxpayer, Obama and the Democrats feel they owe the unions for their recent successes at the polling place. A reworking of union contracts is in order, but the Dems won't force the United Auto Workers to bend.

A bankruptcy court will, and that's where I still believe GM and Chrysler will end up.

Related post:

Obama in full hypocrisy mode in comments about gas guzzlers

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama automobiles cars automobiles auto news

New Republic: Why The Democrats Can't Govern

From The New Republic:

The last Democrat who held the White House, Bill Clinton, saw the core of his domestic agenda come to ruin, his political support collapse, and his failure spawn a massive Republican resurgence that made progressive reform impossible for a decade to come. The Democrat who last held the White House before that, Jimmy Carter, saw the exact same thing happen to him.

At this early date, nobody can know whether or not Barack Obama will escape this fate. But the contours of failure are now clearly visible. In Obama's case, as with his predecessors, the prospective culprit is the same: Democrats in Congress, and especially the Senate. At a time when the country desperately needs a coherent response to the array of challenges it faces, the congressional arm of the Democratic Party remains mired in fecklessness, parochialism, and privilege. Obama has made mistakes, as did his predecessors. Yet the constant recurrence of legislative squabbling and drift suggests a deeper problem than any characterological or tactical failures by these presidents: a congressional party that is congenitally unable to govern.

Of course it could be that Democrats, not just congressional Dems, could be unable to govern because of their policies.

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Democrats news government congress

Obama fires GM CEO

Okay, admittedly the headline is a bit provocative, but on the other hand, I believe it's correct. As a condition for the government to loan billions more to General Motors, the Obama administration made it clear that GM CEO Rick Wagoner had to go. So he resigned.

This is very disturbing news. Not that Wagoner was given a pink slip, perhaps he deserves it. But we have a government that does not govern well, and the businesses it operates, the US Postal Service and Amtrak, are not highly regarded going concerns.

Disturbing.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Not since President Franklin Roosevelt considered taking control of Ford Motor Co. in 1943 from a failing Henry Ford has the federal government pushed for such sway in the management of Detroit's automakers.

In an editorial, the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World scolds the Obama administration for its vision of change. The op-ed was written before Wagoner was set adrift:

How long will the public allow Obama and his congressional henchmen and henchwomen to take away freedoms and exert greater control over America? At first, many of his defenders tried to soft-pedal his "changes," but now, even some of his most ardent supporters are starting to urge him to slow down, with some saying they intend to start voting against some of his efforts.

More...

What is to limit the president and his government from taking control of any business in the country if he judges it is too large to fail?

If he and the government have the power to take over a particular business, what is to keep him from taking over businesses and/or telling all kinds of businesses what they can pay employees? How about telling Americans how to set their thermostats or what color of car they can buy?

It's reaching a dangerous stage that will change America for decades, in domestic matters as well as in America's position and stature abroad.

Here's some more disturbing news, courtesy of AP:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended his approach to fixing the country's economic mess Sunday, saying "the market will not solve this" while disclosing a bailout fund for battered banks has $135 billion left and might need more.

Freedom--and capitalism--is what made America great. Geithner is wrong.

So is Obama.

GM should declare bankruptcy. Time for a fresh start. Time for change.

Related post:

McCain: GM bankruptcy not so bad

Technorati tags: economy business automobiles cars auto industry general motors Obama politics Barack Obama