Boots

President Obama smugly proclaimed he’d put his boot on the throat of BP to get the oil leak stopped. OK, so when a rich politician says “boots”, he’s referring to Gucci loafers, but it’s the thought that counts.

Our president pretends to be unaware of just how many boots Washington has. Before the president choked BP, the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Jones Act, and the Coast Guard had put their boots to the throats of those who wanted to mitigate the environmental damage. Not satisfied with this, the president put his boots on the throats of other Gulf oil producers. He doesn’t seem to notice it is the now-unemployed workers who are gasping for air. Choking is contagious – ask any business owner on the Gulf coast. They’re having a little trouble breathing, as well.

Boots on throats are nothing new to these folks. Ask any business owner how many unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats from acronymed agencies have boots on their throats. Which is not to slight the IRS, which Congress uses to impose the second highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. It’s no wonder businesses are choking. It’s hard to hire anyone when you’re choking, pinned flat to the ground by so many boots. But, as with the oil workers, it’s not only the businesses suffering. Ask anyone who’s unemployed if they’re breathing better these days.

Washington, your boots had better be made for walking. If not, on Nov. 2 the American people will introduce you to real boots, and I guarantee they’ll leave a mark. If you’ve had enough, lace up your boots, and head over to the Stephenson County Tea Party meeting, Aug. 12th. 7pm, at Dietz’s Old School Apartments, 111 E. Mason St., Lena. Jim Tobin from Illinois Taxpayers United will be speaking.

Terry Smith

Lanark, IL

Misinformed

Kathy Hood is misinformed. Eleven states in the union issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, e.g. North Carolina, Ohio, New Mexico, Rhode Island, etc. Therefore a driver’s license is not necessarily proof either of citizenship or of legal residency. And illegal aliens CAN legally obtain a driver’s license.

For domestic air travel, it is necessary to show only a government issued photo ID. The ID is proof only of your name, not proof of citizenship.

For auto travel, you must carry a driver’s license only if you are actually driving a car. A passenger who is a US citizen is not required to carry any “papers” at all.

What this means is: a US citizen travelling in Arizona could be stopped. If he looks Hispanic, proof of residency could be demanded of him. If he answers, “I don’t need papers, I’m a citizen,” the officer might not believe him. He could thus be taken in and delayed until his citizenship is proved. Thus the Arizona law is discriminatory and could easily result in racial profiling. A federal judge has already barred provisions of this law. Kathy Hood can disagree with the judge, but it’s incorrect to say there is “no proof” that the law is unconsitutional.

Children who are here illegally are not denied access to public education. Thus they do not need to show proof of citizenship, or a US birth certificate, to be enrolled in school.

Crime in southwestern border counties has declined more than thirty percent in the last two decades. FBI statistics show that the four safest large cities in the US are Phoenix, El Paso, San Diego and Austin, all in border states.

Kathy Hood would be wise not to substitute sarcasm, distortion and mean-spiritedness for facts. And the headline “Lying Liars and the Lies they Lie” does not apply to Chuck Wemstrom and Paul Gonzales.

Pat Wemstrom

Mount Carroll

Dam Not In Danger

In the July 28, 2010 issue of the Prairie Advocate, there was an article entitled “Massive Flooding Leaves Area Battered But United.” (Cover Story, page 10). The article included a photo in the lower left corner with a caption that contained the following:

“. . . The Lake Carroll dam was in danger of collapsing from the huge influx of rain water and runoff. Officials opened the flood gates to relieve some of the pressure on the dam Friday night, which added to the already full Plum River . . .”

I want all readers to know that the caption was totally inaccurate and unsubstantiated by the reporter (Tom Kocal, Publisher). The Lake Carroll dam was never in danger of collapsing and no flood gates were open. Lake Carroll dam does not even have any flood gates.

What was of concern was the potential of added water to the Plum River due to the potential of additional water going over the emergency spillway of the Lake Carroll dam. When the lake water reaches a height of 5.5 feet over pool, the water will start going over the emergency spillway, which is essentially a large parking lot on the north side of the dam. The water started to go over a small portion of the spillway which triggered Lake Carroll officials to inform the local authorities of the situation. This action is per the “Emergency Dam Plan” that was developed several years ago by Lake Carroll which included input from our local authorities.

I found it unfortunate that no Lake Carroll officials were contacted to verify the situation.

Sincerely,

Wayne Ugorek

General Manager

Lake Carroll Association

Publisher’s Note: Fortunately, there was no problem whatsoever with the dam. The report in question came from what this reporter deemed reliable information from people who were on the scene, and were asked to voluntarily evacuate due to the risk. This reporter regrets not contacting Lake Carroll about the situation, but due to time constraints with the flooding on Sunday, compared with The Prairie Advocate’s late-Monday publication schedule, and the fact that there was no dam disaster, the call was not made.

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

I’ve written many times of the deplorable condition of our state’s finances. I’ve shared my opinion that we cannot spend money we do not have; my frustration over the continuation of “free rides for seniors” costing us $70 million per year; an All Kids insurance program that spent $79 million in 2009, of which $56 million can’t be accounted for because a large percentage of the children covered for treatment were from other states or other countries. There’s no accountability.

I’ve introduced legislation the past two consecutive years demanding accountability from welfare recipients who in some cases are now 4th and 5th generation recipients that have no incentive to work. I have always shared my sincere belief that if someone is in need we, the more fortunate, should be there to help them. I don’t think anyone reading this would take issue with this common sense approach.

Now, many in Illinois are sharing the grief of significant flood damage. If water did not affect you, you are one of the fortunate few. The following e-mail was forwarded to me from an area school superintendent from the Lee Ogle Regional Office of Education to all Northwest Illinois school districts: “subject: flooding and homeless. I am sending this out as a reminder …possibly your district did not get the flood waters, but if you did, the families that were forced to leave their homes (even for one night) would qualify as homeless. This fact needs to be dealt with when they come in to register. Remembering their school fees would be waived, they would qualify for free meals, school supplies and such.

A fact to keep in mind, it does not matter, if at registration time, they are back in their homes. If after July 1, 2010 they were displaced because of flood waters they would qualify as homeless for the FY 10-11 school year. Also keep in mind, even if an eligible homeless family refuses the services you still need to report them as homeless. The information has to be entered into SIS.”

This is nuts. Our school districts have always taken care of their own in a sensible manner. Would anyone care to put a pencil to the potential costs to your school district, the state and the federal government? Here is the craziness folks - If you were out of your home for one night on July 24th for1, say water in your basement, come late August when your five kids go back to school, all of the aforementioned is free to them for the entire school year. What a deal…let’s let the government pay for it. More and more we seem to forget that the government is us and we are the ones who pay. My personal applause to those of you with minor damage who at registration time say “thanks, but no thanks.”

Yes, I called the lady at the Regional Office of Education who sent the e-mail. She assured me she was just doing her job and passing along the information…and we wonder why we’re broke.

I will be at the BP Gas Station in Orangeville on Friday, August 13, 2010, at 6:30 AM – coffee and doughnuts are on me.

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at or e-mail us at . You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.