By John Aguilar -
Long before Illinois was known as the” Land of Lincoln,” our great state was known as the “Land of Suckers." Well, we have reclaimed our old nickname.
The State of Illinois has over 290 accounting systems. No economic system can function effectively with so many accounting systems. Also, Illinois has the second highest property tax in the country. With so many accounting systems, how could the state’s revenue be allocated correctly? And how can any accountability occur?
More taxes and more laws are not going to fix the state alone, those are only smoke and mirrors. Our main issue is that Illinois continues on having the same old recycled politicians running the state for over 30 years.
For example, Michael Madigan is the longest sitting Illinois Speaker of the House and the Chairman for the Democratic Party of Illinois. This is a major conflict of interest for the residents of Illinois. Everyone should be aware that there are only two reasons why the state budget has not passed: Michael Madigan will not agree to “Term Limits” and the "Right-to-Work."
Michael Madigan is playing a dangerous game of political chicken with our livelihood. This is not fair to the residents of Illinois and we deserve better. Madigan is not willing to meet Gov.Rauner halfway on these issues.
It’s interesting, that if we lie to the government it’s considered a crime; however, if the government lies to us, it’s called politics and government bureaucracy. We are being held hostage in our state.
John M. Aguilar is a resident of Aurora.
The lack of fiscal responsibility and the culture of political cronyism stretches all the way down to the county and township levels.
Like the parable of the onion, every layer peeled off reveals another layer, and that layer stinks as bad as the previous one.