Letters to the Editor and Commentary

Thanks a Million!

The Harvest Hammer has become a rewarding community project for The Morrison Rotary Club, and we are proud to promote fitness and a healthy life style. The success of this fun, family friendly, challenging event would not be possible without the unselfish community cooperation that is alive and well in Morrison.

We thank the participants and their supporting spectators.  Without athletes, young and old, willing to work towards achieving a new personal record on race day, there would not be a Harvest Hammer.  We are grateful to the neighbors who endured, without complaint, the intrusion of over 400 runners and bikers on race day. 

We thank City Hall for helping with registration and local business that helped advertise our event.  We are grateful to  Community State Bank for allowing the use of their facility for organizational meetings and preparation, and the Morrison Unit 6 School District for the use of the school property.

Special Thanks to Don Beswick, race day announcer; Sterling Rock Falls Amateur Radio Society, who provides radio communications; Cottonwood 4H Club, for the water stop, City, County, and State Police, for traffic control; Morrison High School Key Club, Americorp, MIT students, Mount Carroll Rotarians, Morrison Rotarians and spouses, and all the Morrison teachers and community volunteers.

Finally, we thank the generous sponsors who provided the financial support necessary.

Gold Sponsors

CGH Medical Center,CGH Morrison Health & Vision Center

RE/Max Property Associates

Exelon

Community State Bank

MCH (Morrison Com. Hospital)

Waste Management

Wells Fargo Bank

Prairie Advocate News

Mead’s Bike Shop

Silver sponsors

CGH Health Foundation

Schuler Motors

Dairy Queen Grill and Chill

Central Bank

1st Farm Credit

Ludens, Potter, Melton & Calvo

Pete Harkness Auto Group

Frontier Communications

Coplan Buckwalter, P.C.

Pleasant View Rehab & HCC

Ward, Murray, Pace & Johnson

THE National Bank

R.C. Smith Transportation

CLIMCO

Ashford University, LLC

Farmers National Bank

Woodlawn Arts Academy

Bronze sponsors

Advantage One Credit Union, Law Office of William R. Shirk, P.C., Morrison True Value Hardware, Advocare, B-Fit 10/10, Prairie Ridge, Happy Joes.

In Kind (donated product or services)

Nelson, Kilgus, Richey, Huffman & Buckwalter-Schurman, Morrison Chamber of Commerce, Resthave Nursing Home, Whiteside News Sentinel, WLLT, WSDR, Unity Hospice, Sullivan’s Foods, Hardees, Morrison Unit 6 School District, Turnroth Signs, HyVee.

Kathy Schmidt
President
Morrison Rotary Club

Coincidence

(employment data from U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Many would have us believe tax rates have no effect on economic growth, in fact there are some claiming increased taxation will produce economic growth. Fortunately, the authors of the U.S. Constitution delegated sufficient autonomy to the states that they can be used as models to compare the effects of varying policies, including taxation.

In January, Illinois enacted massive tax hikes, both personal and corporate, making it the poster child for the economic fallout from taxation.

In 2010, Illinois added over 12,000 jobs per month, at a pretty steady pace. Illinois lost 15,000 jobs per month from January to July (the last month of data). It’s probably just a coincidence the job losses started at the same time as the tax hike.

Illinois is on track to hit 11% unemployment by the end of the year, also just a coincidence.

To add insult to injury, the Wall Street Journal reported Illinois median income has dropped over 7% in the last 15 years. When you consider the combined effects of fewer workers, with each making less money, it’s pretty clear the net revenue increase from the tax increases will disappear in pretty short order. So it’s a lose/lose/lose/lose situation – higher unemployment, higher taxes for those who keep their lower paying jobs, and, in the long run, lower government revenue.

“In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now.”

John F. Kennedy

Folks, none of this is coincidence, and it can be fixed: Stephenson County Tea Party meetings resume on October 13, 6:30 at the Dietz Old School Apartments, Lena.

Terry Smith
Lanark, IL

Political Accountability

Have you ever tried to hold a politician accountable on an issue? It is easier to hold a slippery fish! A core principle in an organization titled GOOOH (Get Out Of Our House), is to not only to establish in writing a citizen representative’s position on various issues of the day, but to also require he or she be contractually bound by their positions. What a novel idea! Are we not bound by implied or explicit contracts in virtually every other aspect of our lives? Of course we are. Then, why not do so in politics? Contract law is one of the oldest and most settled bodies of law. In a political context, a violation of contract law could result in a temporary restraining order or removal from office. Impossible, you say? Think again! Please join www.goooh.com now and hold those who are to represent us accountable!

Sincerely,
Norm Redhead
Kerrville, TX

Disadvantage To Independent Family Farms

Whoever said that industrial sized dairy farms will not hurt independent family farms had better think again! Recently, a local dairy owned by a California investor paid over two and a half times the going rental rate (from the USDA Sept. report) to obtain land near their 1,000 plus cow facility. This industrial facility’s need to obtain enough acreage to dispose of their manure has taken land away from an independent family farmer that has rented it for decades. Farms that your friends and neighbors have lived on for generations can’t compete with subsidized corporations. Please support our local independent family farms. In return they will greatly benefit our rural communities by keeping their profits local.

Cindy Bonnet
Lena, IL

Kangor Deters Honest Debate

The guest commentary by Dr. Paul Kengor entitled On the Deficit, the Rich, and the Tea Party in your 9-28-11 edition was interesting not so much for what it said but rather what it didn’t say.

The professor complains that federal spending never decreased once in the 1965-2009 period. He didn’t say the US population increased from 194,302,693 in 1965 to 305,302,963 in 2009. Would one expect the federal budget to decrease in the face of a 57% population increase?

He further over looks the facts that during that period of time: we fought the Vietnam War, dealt with the inflation of the 70’s, broke the back of that inflation with a major recession, OPEC was formed which drove up the price of oil, President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard, the nation under went President Reagan’s military build up, U.S. industry was hollowed out, we fought the first Gulf War and went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq to name but a few of the influences that worked to increase the federal budget.

He also complains about the fact that the rich of our nation are being blamed for not paying their fair share of our tax burden. He states that the top 1% pay 38% of all federal tax revenue without saying that the top 1% of tax payers also own between 37% and 40% - depending on whose source numbers you use - of the nation’s assets.

In other words our system, a system that has provided a stable social and legal environment which has allowed these individuals to accumulate immense wealth, is stacked against the rich. The truth is, the billionaire group has in some cases individual wealth that exceeds the GDP of some smaller nations such as Honduras and Bolivia.

Also of note is the fact that as Paul Krugman states in his New York Times column of 9-23-11 entitled The Social Contract “… there has been a major shift of taxation away from wealth and toward work: tax rates on corporate profits, capital gains and dividends have all fallen, while the payroll tax – the main tax paid by most workers – has gone up.” The main result of this as Warren Buffett has pointed out, is that he ends up paying a lower tax rate than his secretary.

In short, Professor Kengor has produced a very one sided column by carefully picking only those facts that suit his position to the detriment of honest bebate.

Lyle Sykora
Lake Carroll, IL

Learn About Mental Illness

October 2-8 is Mental Illness Awareness Week. MIAW is a time to learn about serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Mental illnesses are medical illnesses. They affect all communities.

One in four adults experiences a mental disorder in any given year. One in 17 adults lives with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder.

MIAW is especially important this year as severe budget cuts threaten mental health services in many communities around the country. People who do not receive treatment end up in hospitals, shelters, in jail or dead.

Illinois continues to cut money for mental health services. Currently the governor has selected several institutions housing the mentally ill for closure, including Rockford’s Singer. Although community-based services would be a more cost-effective way to serve the mentally ill, continuous cuts to community mental health providers have reduced the services and the beds available. This constitutes a community care crisis in Illinois for the literally tens of thousands of children, women and men who are on a journey of treatment and recovery. These decisions do not recognize or respect the need for treatment, transition of care plans or respect for fair and reasonable support for Illinois’ citizens who are reliant on community behavioral health care.

Treatment works—and saves lives.

Learn more about mental illness and support, education and advocacy to improve the lives of individuals affected by serious mental illnesses at www.nami.org. Please join the public dialogue during MIAW.

Mary Ann Hutchison
President, NAMI Sauk Valley

“Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.”
Ronald Reagan

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Thomas Paine

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

Last week I shared my appointment to the committee on instituting “Obama Care”, which is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The response from many of you was somewhat surprising. A prominent area newspaper publisher wrote “May I suggest not wasting any of your time on this “implementation” plan when it has been declared unconstitutional and will more than likely be deemed such when it arrives in the U.S. Supreme Court?”…”There are certainly many more pertinent items that need to be hashed out in the great state of Illinois”.

Here is where we completely agree. This thing is a monster and, in my opinion, a boondoggle. I’ve seen other boondoggles become the law of the land and if it does become law, I want to be part of making it the best law possible (that is not the track it is currently on). Only by educating myself (and you) can we hope to do that.

In a recent interview, United States Senator Coburn (R-Oklahoma) stated the number one reason for the lack of business growth across the nation, according to significant research, is fear of the national health care plan and the cost to employers. Simply put, businesses are not hiring new employees due to their health care costs. As an employer I challenge that, I believe it is a contributor but not the “be all” cause.

I, like all business owners, want my business to grow. I, like everyone, want to see everyone have affordable health care. Right now “Obama Care” is all that’s on the table. Until someone tells me it’s unconstitutional we have an obligation to institute it as wisely as possible.

Rest assured that Illinois, being the home state of President Obama, will be pushed to get the model on the table as soon as possible.

The President of Shannon, Bonnie Foust, shared some interesting information with me about comparing international health care systems, to include Japan, Netherlands, Canada, United States, and Mexico. The Netherlands has gained significant attention as a potential model for United States health care reform. All Netherland residents are required to purchase health insurance which is provided by private health insurers that compete for business and are required to accept all residents regardless of pre-existing conditions. That sounds exactly like what is coming at us.

The Illinois Department of Insurance has shared with us the following projection – cost of implementation will cost participating health care plans 2.5% to 3.5% to implement the exchange which in Illinois will be $92.3 million. That’s a projection. I believe it will be significantly more.