Visiting with other politically active conservatives earlier this week provided both encouragement and a sad reminder. Encouragement in that there are some really first rate people stepping onto the political playing field in Illinois. A sad reminder in that too few of these higher caliber individuals have been elected to the General Assembly.
Below are two excerpts from the old media. First: might there be good news on the horizon – will G.A. Republicans really propose budget cuts? Second: The IL GOP culture is often indistinguishable from that of Illinois Democrats – the bolded emphasis is mine.
Senate GOP says it has state budget solution, mum on what it is
SPRINGFIELD – Republican state senators said Thursday they’ve identified up to $6 billion in spending cuts to help Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn balance his budget – only they’re not ready to share them with the public…
[Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said at a news conference]: “We’re going to talk about those next week, because we think it’s so critical that people understand the importance of changing the direction of the discussion.” …
It’s all part of a long-running dynamic: Republicans criticize the Democrats who control state government for running it into the ground, but don’t provide much in the way of their own solutions.
Legislator: Metra board wasting money, should resign
SPRINGFIELD – The head of a House government oversight panel Thursday identified a pattern of “deliberate, deceitful” financial abuses by Metra board members and called for them to resign.
State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo), chairman of the House State Government Administration Committee, zeroed in on Metra Chairman Carole Doris’ out-of-state travel and the free health care and dual government pensions that the board’s treasurer, former state Sen. Jack Schaffer, collects…
Schaffer, a Crystal Lake Republican and political rival of Franks, draws $9,050 in monthly government pensions from his time as a state senator and as the state commissioner of Banks and Trusts. Schaeffer also will qualify for a pension from Metra, which pays him and other board members $15,000 a year, Franks said.
“Over the last five years, Jack Schaffer has taken over $105,000 in Metra-paid health care even though one of his state pensions provides free health care. He and other board members are receiving full-time benefits for very part-time service,” Franks said.
The solution to all of this is for all of us to keep marching forward, improving our reach, and recruiting ever more honest and talented people into the arena. We need to continue the hard work of an American counterinsurgency.
Newt Gingrich recently wrote the following in an article titled “How Fast Can We Turn Things Around?”
“As I have written many times in this newsletter, there are 513,000 elected officials in the United States. That’s why it will take a genuine grassroots movement at all levels of government to achieve the level of real change this country needs in its policies to remain safe, prosperous and free in the 21st century.”
And so we fight on…boats against the current…just twelve months away from the next all-important primary election.
