It’s obvious that not enough Illinois voters got the message that Illinois Democrats have made a mess of the state. We are far worse off as a state than we were just eight years ago when the Dems took total control. Certainly, some of the worsening mess was created with the votes of Republican legislators. Nevertheless, we’ll now have to endure two more years of the Democratic Party rule.
The fact that more Illinoisans are now activated through tea party or 9/12 patriot type groups is the great hope for the future. While these newly activated citizens can rejoice in four new Illinois Republican Congressman, there’s a lot of improvement needed if we’re to avoid another mixed-result election in 2012.
Obviously, when Pat Quinn and the rest of his party retained power here in Illinois in a big year for Republicans nationally, you know we have a prairie state knowledge gap of epic proportions.
If you doubt just how uninformed your fellow Illinoisanans can be, check out www.howobamagotelected.com and watch the short video here. It’s frightening, but true. A lot of folks are just too busy with other aspects of life to learn just how screwed up the political class has made things.
This is from the HowObamaGotElected website:
On November 4th, 2008 millions of Americans were shocked that a man of Barack Obama’s limited experience, extreme liberal positions and radical political alliances could be elected President of the United States. For many of these Americans, the explanation was rather simple… the news media, completely enamored with Obama, simply refused to do their job.
On Election day twelve Obama voters were interviewed extensively right after they voted to learn how the news media impacted their knowledge of what occurred during the campaign. These voters were chosen for their apparent intelligence/verbal abilities and willingness to express their opinions to a large audience. The rather shocking video below seeks to provide some insight into which information broke through the news media clutter and which did not.
All Republicans — all conservatives — and all new activists need to reach more uninformed fellow citizens with the kind of information they’re not getting through the mainstream media. And not just during campaign season, but all year long, and through all the usual means (public forums, private conversation, the web, expanded use of the media, etc., etc.).
Friends of mine who are more involved with and thus more informed about the workings of the tea party and 9/12 patriot groups tell me of infighting, dysfunction, petty power games, and turf wars. Some of it is natural and no big deal in the long run. But as a political veteran I also realize that too much of it is because too many of the would-be “leaders” don’t spend enough time actually accomplishing the task at hand — which is (sorry to be so repetitive) moving public opinion in the right direction.
Think about the big picture for a moment. Take this paragraph from one of columnist Robert Samuelson’s recent articles. We can’t change government, he wrote — without changing the philosophy of government:
For years, it was assumed that a rapidly growing economy could pay for added programs. The result was the careless use of government for almost anything that made a good slogan or could support a lobby. The underlying economic assumptions were overoptimistic. Now, an aging society and uncontrolled health costs will automatically expand the size of government well beyond today’s tax base. Demographics mean government will become supersized unless we trim its responsibilities.
Both the federal and state governments must have their responsibilities trimmed. Limited government must be in our future or our state and the nation will fall due to its own fiscal immaturity.
How many of your fellow citizens are ready for this very serious conversation?
A recent article on the American Enterprise Institute website noted that cutting is key: “Cuts to pension and health entitlements had the most beneficial effect on economic growth.”
How many of those receiving paychecks or other benefits via Illinois taxpayers are ready to have their incomes trimmed or cut off?
Republicans, conservatives, tea party and 9/12ers all have a lot of work ahead. And none of the work is optional if Illinois is going to get back onto the road to fiscal sanity.
