Letters to the Editor and Commentary

Capitol Fax

Rich Miller’s Commentary on State Government

Gov. Pat Quinn recently vetoed a “Smart Grid” bill that was pushed through the General Assembly this past spring by ComEd and Ameren, the two biggest electric utilities in the state.

Politically, this veto was a no-brainer for the populist Quinn. The governor never tires of recounting how he helped start the Citizens Utility Board, and that dovetails nicely with his repeated claims that the utility proposal “locks in” corporate profits.

ComEd’s severe weather-related outage problems in the Chicago area this summer have seriously hurt the company’s already damaged image, both in its territory and at the Illinois Statehouse. Add those outages to the possibility of legislative-approved rate hikes and then mix that in with an electorate already inflamed by the income tax hike and the seeming inability of the state government to get its act together, and it’s obvious why this thing never had a chance with Quinn.

That’s not to say there wasn’t an effort to come to an agreement. ComEd did bow to a Quinn demand to insert language allocating $50 million to help seniors and the poor. However, that money was included in the company’s original plan and was only pulled at the last moment during the spring legislative session.

Quinn’s administration and others, including AARP and the attorney general, never really believed that the company was negotiating in good faith this summer. For example, ComEd wants to use a form from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to report costs and expenditures, instead of continuing to use the Illinois Commerce Commission’s form. There are only minor differences between the two forms, but the governor’s office and its allies are convinced that ComEd wants the change for nefarious purposes. The company reportedly wants the change because it fears the ICC, which opposes its Smart Grid bill, will exact its revenge by changing the form.

The company’s opponents say the Smart Grid stuff is just a ploy to increase profits on other aspects of the company’s business. A statement earlier this year by the CEO of the company’s parent corporation seemed to disparage the Smart Grid by consigning it to pilot project status. Company officials now say that a recent pilot project was so encouraging that it is firmly behind the technology.

Despite all the political problems, ComEd executives firmly believe they can override the governor’s veto. It has a list of companies which will expand here if its “Smart Grid” program moves ahead. It has also offered to spend $150 million to prevent outages. The company claims it’s close to a three-fifths majority in both chambers. After the veto is overridden, the company wants to pass a “trailer bill” to address what it considers to be legitimate concerns by legislators, including Senate President John Cullerton.

Gov. Quinn will reportedly use his bully pulpit and meetings with legislators to prevent an override, in much the same way he blocked the passage of the concealed carry bill earlier this year.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Harmon is in charge of crafting the trailer bill. Harmon says he wants a legislative solution, not necessarily a ComEd solution. That’s encouraging. The bill’s two legislative sponsors last spring were far too close to the company for comfort’s sake. One has a father who lobbies for ComEd and the other is widely rumored to be planning a career as a lobbyist.

I have supported the Smart Grid for a very long time. Upgrading our infrastructure gives our businesses a competitive advantage over other states and other countries, and the electric grid is a hugely integral component of our infrastructure. But I totally understand why people don’t trust ComEd. There’s a good reason why it has to hire a battalion of lobbyists every time it tries to pass a bill. Yet, opposition shouldn’t be totally knee-jerk. Denying the company a decent return on its legitimate investments won’t help us move forward.

Sen. Harmon needs to wrest control of this process away from both ComEd and grandstanders like Quinn to come up with a bill that’s good for all of Illinois. Everybody should have input, but nobody should dictate the outcome. We need to accept the hard fact that infrastructure improvements aren’t free, but we shouldn’t just be padding corporate bottom lines without specific, hard guarantees that our state will, indeed, be moved significantly forward.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com.

Wood’s Morrison City Council Notes

The Whiteside County Sheriff’s Board Room was the site of the Morrison City Council Meeting September 12, 2011. All board members, Mayor Drey, department heads, Administrator Wise, and Attorney Zollinger were present. It was great to see a good turnout of residents in attendance, also.

Of the $87,194.44, $2,635.28 was spent at the Sports Complex. I asked what the Cafeteria Plan Payable was. Tim Zollinger explained it is a form of insurance plan where the money is withheld from the check pretax then reimbursed for expenses. I also questioned why we were paying Baxter and Woodman from Series 2010 Alt Rev Loan when we just took out a $3,600,000 loan in 2011 for THE PROJECT (water). Mayor Drey said there were some ongoing engineering costs that would be eligible for reimbursement from the IEPA Loan.

Bob Shambaugh talked to an engineer about the incline between the sidewalk and curb being too steep near the Rt. 30 bridge construction (before it was seeded). He wanted to know if the city could put up a retaining wall or assist him with the mowing.

Harvey Zuidema wanted to know whose responsibility it was to clear the forest from the sidewalk to nowhere area at the curve near the Rt. 30 construction. Is it the property owner, city or IDOT’s responsibility? He also noted that there is as sidewalk on the corner of Academic Drive and Genesee St that is covered with brush and is in disrepair. He wanted to know whose responsibility it is to clean that area up. It would create more visibility on that corner by the school.

Bob Gale, representing the Planning and Zoning Board, stated there would be a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 on the proposed Ag district.

Pat Zuidema stated that there have been no problems at Fat Boys in the 9 or 10 years he has been open. After much discussion, Fat Boys was granted a One Day Special & Limited Use Permit Liquor License for Oct 23, 2011 and be open to the public from noon until 10pm for a surprise birthday party.

Joseph Roundtree, Crossroads, requested Market Street be closed in front of the Crave building from 4 pm until 8 pm on Sept. 14, 2011. With much debate, it was decided to close Market Street to Base for the time allotted for the youth event.

The Annual Homecoming Parade permit was also granted for Sept. 23, 2011.

Gary Tresenriter is to sell the 1985 vactor for scrap. The 1974 motor grader will be put up for sale on the internet.

Ordinance11-10- amending offense against person-was passed. Also, Ordinance 11-13-Truancy-was passed.

During other items for consideration/discussion, Gary Tresenriter reported the Street department received a check for $12,846.86 from the Illinois Emergency Management Association which was 75% of the expenses incurred from the Feb 2, 2011 blizzard.

Pat Zuidema reminded residents not to blow grass onto the street when mowing to prevent the storm sewers from getting plugged.

I presented a list of “unanswered questions”. We still did not have an Orientation. According to Melanie, city clerk, the new Code Books should be here in October. Like suggested before, I would like to know if we met any of the previous board’s goals and would like to set new goals with the present board. At a budget meeting of July 14, 2010 Barb Bees asked where did the $3 Million borrowed over the past two years go? I would like to know what $3 Million dollars and where it went also? I was informed by Gary that we will be heating the concession stands instead of changing out the toilet constant pressure system at the Sports Complex because those buildings were designed to be heated (not sure how a building is designed to be heated). The National Historic District Registry-Do the businesses downtown really want this is it just a few people? I will be getting with Administer Wise and Gary about the $3.6 million expenditures for the water repairs and buildings…because I do not understand what happened to the $10 million bond we tapped about 2 years ago for the water and sewer repairs.

Next Morrison City Council Meeting will be September 26, 2011 at 7 pm at the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Board Room. Hope to see you all there.

A Morrison Taxpayer
Marti Wood

Honoring Civil War Vet

The Savanna Historical Society will be honoring the first of many Civil War Veteran/Soldiers from the area. We will be honoring, Jacob Phillip Plattenberger, the last surviving Civl War veteran from Savanna. Saturday, October 1, 2011 will be the day we will be inviting all Plattenberger family members to come to The Savanna Museum and Cultural Center to share photos and memorabilia of their ancestor. There will be a “Certificate of Honor” presentation at 2:00 p.m.. All family members and friends are invited to attend the day and presentation.

The Savanna Historical Society would also like to have any other families from the area bring us the stories, photos and memorabilia of their ancestor that served in the Civil War so we can honor them too. Stop in at The Savanna Musuem and Cultural Center, 406 Main Street, Savanna on weekends or call with information.

Respectfully,
Ann Zink
Corresponding Secretary

Where Is The Outcry?

Where is the indignation about unjust and exploitive treatment of people? Why aren’t the masses offended by the brutality in the works by national leadership as the deficient budget discussions move in a more oppressive direction with unfair tax burdens, denial of living wages, depriving poor of rights, withholding justice from the oppressed, making those with hunger and health concerns the prey of the privileged, and robbing children of their future compromising education, healthcare, safety, and housing? (~Isaiah 10:1-2, Psalm 146:1-10)

It’s not a financial crisis, it’s a moral crisis. Where is there just action when corporations make unimaginable profits by refusing to pay fair wages, use fraudulent and hideous financial tools, and refuse to pay for services used by paying little or no tax? “Two out of every three United States corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1998 through 2005 …” The New York Times, August 13, 2008

Are we to say nothing? Do nothing?

I am not so much suggesting new legislation at the state capital or in Washington DC either. Laws are not in themselves the real answer. Moral action is the real issue.

Is there honor in just and fair action? Will people act on character and conviction, by doing business with people and corporations that act with integrity?

Five considerations in acting for justice as a consumer - Does the said business: 1. Pay a fair wage to all employees? 2. Use honest practices in promotion of their business? 3. Pay a fair share of taxes in the country, region, and community where they produce and also sell their products and services? 4. Use resources in environmentally friendly ways? 5. Produce products or services that are wholesome and life giving?

Dan Rusmisel,
pastor Community Mennonite Fellowship,
Sterling

Guest Commentary . . .

On the Deficit, the Rich, and the Tea Party

By Dr. Paul Kengor

I’ve only recently come to realize the nature of the hurdle this country faces in trying to turn around a stalled economy and horrendous deficit. Here it is: liberal Democrat politicians have fully convinced huge numbers of people that our economic/fiscal mess is the result of two principal demons: 1) “the rich” and 2) the Tea Party. The former, of course, has been a longtime liberal scapegoat; the latter is a new one.

I’ve realized this painfully in the last few weeks as a result of several commentaries I’ve done (USA Today, FoxNews, among others), viewed by a large portion of Americans from across the political spectrum. In these commentaries, I tried to stick to statistics and facts. I naively thought my approach would be convincing. It was not, as evidenced by the many people I continue to argue with in emails.

Here today, I’ll reiterate the one fact that I thought was irrefutable:

As I noted in an article titled, “It’s the spending, stupid,” the federal government, from 1965-2009, never cut spending one single year. That’s right, not one time—nope, nada, nothing. To repeat: from 1965-2009, the federal government never decreased annual spending. To see the figures on a chart is eye-opening. The annual rise in spending has been a steady, non-stop, unbroken, upward climb for over 40 years. To the contrary, revenues to the federal government have gone up and down, the result—not of tax rates on “the rich,” but—of the status of the economy from year-to-year, especially during recessions. It’s both amazing and depressing to see that the federal government, unlike you and your family and your household and your business and your anything and everything else, is apparently incapable of adjusting (i.e., decreasing) its spending based on available revenues. It used to do so, under both Democrat and Republican presidents, but that changed in 1965, when the federal government, starting with the Great Society, began an outright spending addiction.

As I noted in the article, seeing this for yourself is as easy as Googling “historical tables deficit,” where one can view two sources: CBO historical tables (Congressional Budget Office)and OMB historical tables (Office of Management and Budget). These are the official sources for data on federal budgets. In the OMB link, look at Table 1.1, titled, “Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits: 1789-2016.”

In my articles and emails, I even included hyperlinks (as I have here) to these tables, imploring people to look for themselves rather than accept my word. And yet, I can’t begin to recount the angry emails I got from people insisting that the reasons for our deficits/debt is not over-spending by the federal government but greed by wealthy people who don’t pay “their fair share” of income taxes and by dastardly “racist” “terrorists” in the Tea Party. And, yes, I actually got emails (many of them) from people insisting that Tea Party members are “terrorists.” To observe an American public, only a decade removed from September 11, somehow equating Tea Party members with “terrorists” leaves me almost speechless and hopeless.

I will not bother responding to that particular smear, but I would like to address the charge that the rich are not paying “their fair share.” Again, I will stick to data.

If you Google the words “Who pays income tax?” you will find a chart from the National Taxpayers Union. It includes these telling statistics:

The top 1 percent of income earners pay 38 percent of all federal tax revenue. The top 5 percent pay 59 percent. The top 10 percent pay 70 percent. The top 25 percent pay 86 percent. The top 50 percent pay 97.3 percent. Conversely, the bottom 50 percent pay merely 2.7 percent of all federal tax revenue.

As the data shows, the rich are certainly paying their fair share. In fact, they pay the vast share. The poorest Americans, conversely, pay literally nothing in income taxes.

If anything, the system is disproportionately titled against the wealthy. Our “rich” are paying for the reckless behavior of politicians addicted to spending; they are subsidizing spending addicts. And to watch those addicts blame their mess on the rich for not paying enough? It’s downright obscene.

But the folks who have emailed me have the complete opposite opinion. It is an incorrect opinion.

Let me repeat: America’s deficit/debt problem is a spending problem. It is not the fault of rich people who pay too little income tax or Tea Party members guilty of “terrorism.” Don’t take my word for it. Look at the data.

My fear, however, is that the data just doesn’t matter to a huge number of followers of the party line. And that’s a very serious problem for this country, a giant propaganda hurdle that may be insurmountable.

- Dr. Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values. His books include “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism,” and his latest release, “Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century.”

Herman Cain in Wall Street Journal: ‘My Plan to Revive Economic Growth’

Last week, President Obama unveiled his eagerly anticipated jobs plan. After 43 minutes of his speechifying, Americans were left wondering: We waited 30 months for this?

Indeed, it seems Mr. Obama’s first term has been spent advancing a legislative agenda that pays no mind to our ailing economy and the Americans whose sufferings are casualties in his ideological war. After a failed stimulus package, preferential industry bailouts, and the disastrous government overhaul of the health-care industry, it seems the plight of the American worker has remained an afterthought.

This is the worst jobs recovery since the Great Depression. If the Obama administration’s aim was to merely tie for last place with the previous worst recovery, it would have created eight million more jobs, based on comparative data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If our recovery were more typical of the postwar era, as former Sen. Phil Gramm reported on this page in April, we would have 14 million more jobs today.

As a longtime leader in the business community, I know firsthand that government does not create jobs. It can only create the conditions in which businesses operate. These conditions can spur growth, or they can suppress it. The conditions imposed by the current administration have suppressed growth.

Still, there is hope. That hope begins with economic certainty, a sort of assurance the president seems unwilling to provide. I, on the other hand, have proposed a plan that would stabilize and grow our economy:

“Cain’s Vision for Economic Growth,” also known as the 9-9-9 Plan, is founded upon three guiding economic principles: Production drives the economy. Risk-taking creates growth. Units of measurement must be dependable.

The plan begins with restructuring the tax code to include the broadest possible base at the lowest possible rate. The elements are:

• A 9% corporate flat tax. Businesses would deduct purchases from other businesses and all capital investment. The resulting gross income is taxed at 9%.

• A 9% personal flat tax. Individuals would deduct charitable contributions, then pay 9% on the rest of their income. Capital gains are excluded.

• A 9% national sales tax. This levy would be placed on the consumption of all new goods. Used goods purchased would be excluded.

My plan would also permanently eliminate taxes on repatriated profits, as well as payroll taxes and the estate tax.

All of these measures would free up capital, spur production, and incentivize risk-taking, thereby fueling the economy and creating jobs. The plan has been designed to be revenue neutral initially, and then revenues would grow in line with the economy.

But these policies must be coupled with sound money. A dollar must be worth the same tomorrow as it is today. Stabilizing the dollar’s value starts with the federal government taking significant measures to rein in its spending and pay down the national debt. Americans must be assured that the federal government will live within its means and get serious about eliminating our crippling debt. Repealing ObamaCare, Sarbanes-Oxley and the Dodd-Frank bank-regulation bill would be critical steps.

Finally, my plan promotes enterprise zones, also known as “empowerment zones.” Coupled with tax reform and monetary stabilization, empowerment zones would revitalize inner cities by providing tax credits to businesses that hire workers living and working in underprivileged areas.

Some of the most tragic unemployment numbers can be found in minority communities and in urban centers around the country. Empowerment zones would create a whole new generation of wage-earners providing for their families. The late Jack Kemp, a secretary of the department of Housing and Urban Development and a dear friend, was one of the first lawmakers to propose empowerment zones. He understood the tremendous economic benefits they would provide.

Each job lost today is not merely a statistic. Americans are struggling to determine whether to pay their mortgages or buy groceries, whether to buy school uniforms or pay the electric bill.

Such despair is unfitting for the greatest nation the world has ever known. After all, it is inherently American to work, to risk and to dream. Our government’s policies should encourage that, not stifle it.

Published: Thursday, September 15, 2011. Mr. Cain, a Republican, is running for president of the United States. He is a former chairman and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and a former chairman of the board of directors to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

It’s complicated and time consuming. It’s important to every American. I’m referring of course to “Obama Care”, officially “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Early this summer I was appointed to the legislative committee on health care exchanges. It has meant, of course, more trips to Springfield and Chicago. The necessity of this committee is very significant as we hope to make recommendations to the General Assembly in Veto Session in October, or shortly after reconvening in January, on its implementation in Illinois.

As a small business owner who already provides health care to our employees, I’ve welcomed this appointment as an opportunity to learn the “nuts and bolts” of implementation.

I know from personal experience that one year after federal passage of this law, there are far more unknowns than knowns. There isn’t one of you who isn’t aware of significant increases in health care costs this past year. Is that directly related to the unknowns of PPACA? I could make a pretty good argument that this is exactly why.

Our study group is made up of very talented people. We are receiving input from every organization and group from the insurance industry, to the medical profession, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Refugee Rights, the Illinois Health Care Justice Campaign, plus every available health plan, and business entities of every type, yes, I could go on. The point is – every one of us sucking up air will somehow be affected. It is imperative that we recommend the proper implementation in Illinois.

Here is what we all need to know – PPACA requires everyone to have health insurance and it provides subsidies for lower income people to purchase a non-employer sponsored policy in a government sanctioned exchange.

There is belief among many that once implemented there will be a “bail out” of many plans in favor of heavily subsidized government exchanges. In order to prevent this bail out there will be tax credits offered to employers who purchase health insurance through the exchanges.

Are you a little confused? The volumes of information coming to our committee are amazing. Each of us accepts the mandate to fix the system. By early next year the exchanges should be in place with a navigator system to find what is best for each of us. Can we put it all together? May it still implode? I remain committed and cautiously optimistic.