You Choose Who Leads

Good Morning Citizens:

I would like to talk to you today about the thoughts that goes through your mind the moment right before you enter the voting booth on Nov 2, 2010 or right before you fill out your absentee ballot.

I have a saying on my website by Theodore Roosevelt: “NOBODY CARES HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE! Well, if you vote you care, but how do we activate other people to vote. I do it today by writing this editorial. You can do it today by talking to your neighbor, friend and yes even your adult children. Your children need direction on civic responsibility duty, honor, service to your community.

When you step into the voting booth you are ready to make your selection, you already know who you support, who you want to represent you and your wishes, to lead this county, state, and country back to the wishes of its people.

If there are questions in the form of referendums be knowledgeable as to the results of you voting yes or you voting no. How many times have we all gone into the booth and come out guessing as to what you just did when you voted. Know the people you vote for and know the issues of the day. This is your day, the day where your voices are heard. No polls. No spin. No guessing. This is the day the people tell their representatives either they can have another 4 years or thank you for your services, but I’m are going to try someone else to represent me. On this day the power is yours. You are the boss, you have to get it right and you will by knowing your issues and people you want to represent you.

The issues as I see them are: Who do you want to lead this county to become self-reliant without tax anticipation warrants, without debt, to turn this corner for economic prosperity. Yes, it is possible, and yes it will be a long hard road, but with the right leadership it is possible. The choice is yours. The way as I see it is retention and growth. We need to take small steps get our bearing so we move forward together as a community of all citizens not just the self appointed leaders of the county.

Now you ask why are you, Mr. Kinney, writing this editorial two months before the vote will be taken. I have not taken this responsibility lightly and tried to ask questions to the readership that would make them think, discuss, and engage their representatives (including myself). I have researched issues to the fullest of my capacity. I know I have raised concerns with my fellow board members in the leadership, but is this not good to challenge the status quo when you feel they are going in the wrong direction. As I see it the common good of Stephenson County’s citizens is not being served. This is how I feel and to say anything different I would not be true to my own principles.

See you in line on Nov 2.

Your Government: Learn It! Live It! Vote It!

George Kinney (I)

County Board Member

District “K”

Mail:

Gullible People

I find it hard to believe that so many people are so gullible and influenced by a few. How often have you heard on the street, radio, television, and read in the newspapers, that President Obama is not a citizen of the United States, or that he is not of the Christian faith? Are the people so misinformed, that they believe anyone could run for Political Office, both State and Federal, and not be a citizen of the United States? I believe they should run for office and find out. I would imagine most of them flunked their History and Civic classes in school, if they went.

The Original Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines a hypocrite as one who feigns to be what he is not, one who has a form of godliness without the power, or who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.

Would Glenn beck, Sarah Palin, or Newt Gingrich fit in this category? What about the Republican politicians that were giving speeches, and marching in parades on Labor Day, that vote almost totally against Labor? What about Bill Brady, who wants to lower the minimum wage, and voted against selling the Thomson State Prison to the Federal Government, although he did not support funding the prison at the state level?

Have many of the people lost their common sense? Are many becoming educated dummies? Can you tell me? I don’t understand how easy it is for people to be influenced.

Gerald L. Bork

Mt. Carroll, IL

Lowering Taxes Will Not Create Jobs

The Republican Party continues with the trickle down economic philosophy. Ever since the presidency of their hero, the over rated President Reagan, they have consistently insisted that lowering the tax rate will create jobs. The Party of “no” which has absolutely nothing to offer but tax cuts for the rich for every problem, continue to hang on to this myth. In conjunction with the hate and their fear mongering issues, this works well with their followers. However, this is just that, a myth.

Following are the number of jobs created by every administration since President Kennedy. These numbers are based on information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percent tax rate represents the top tax rate at that time and the job numbers created are in millions.

Kennedy/Johnson (D) 1961-1965, 4 years, jobs created 5.9, top tax rate 91%; Johnson (D) 1965-1969, 4 years, jobs created 9.9, top tax rate 70%; Nixon (R) 1969-1973, 4 years, jobs created 6.2, top tax rate 70%; Nixon/Ford (R) 1973-1977, 4 years, jobs created 5.1, top tax rate 70%; Carter (D) 1977-1981, 4 years, jobs created 10.3, top tax rate 70%; Reagan (R) 1981-1985, 4 years, jobs created 5.3, top tax rate 69/50%; Reagan (R) 1985-1989, 4 years, jobs created 10.8, top tax rate 50/28%; HW Bush (R) 1989-1993, 4 years, jobs created 2.6, top tax rate 28/31%; Clinton (D) 1993-1997, 4 years, jobs created 11.5, top tax rate 31/40%; Clinton (D) 1997-2001, 4 years, jobs created 11.2, top tax rate 40%; GW Bush (R) 2001-2005, 4 years, jobs created (.02), top tax rate 40/35%; GW Bush (R) 2005-2009, 4 years, jobs created 1.1, top tax rate 35%; Obama (D) 2009-2010, 1 year, jobs created (3.9), top tax rate 35%; Obama (D) 2010-June 2010, 6 months, jobs created .8, top tax rate 35%. To better illustrate, I’ve split the terms of Reagan, GW Bush and Obama.

During the Carter administration the top tax rate was at 70% and the avg. jobs created were 2.575 million per year. During Reagan’s second term the top tax rate was at 50/28% and the avg. jobs created per year was 2.7 million. During HW Bush administration the top tax rate was at 28/31% and the Avg. jobs created per year were .65 million (650,000). During the Clinton’s first term, the top tax rate was 31/40% and the avg. jobs created were 2.875 million per year. During the Clinton’s second term, the top tax rate was 40% and the avg. jobs created were 2.8 million per year. During GW Bush’s first term the top tax rate was 40/35% and the avg. annual jobs created were 0 (lost jobs). During GW Bush’s second term the top tax rate was 35% and the avg. jobs created per year were .275 (275,000). Now for those readers that will notice the job loses during Obama’s first year, let me tell you that under that last year of GW Bush, in 2008, we lost 4.4 million jobs, so that was just a continuation of the Bush’s administration and the Republican policies. The first 6 months of this year the economy has gained .8 million jobs (800,000) and will continue to grow after the Democrats put the needed policies in place in 2009.

The tricked down economics being pushed by the Republican Party works only for the rich. They get richer at the expense of the middle class and the poor. We now have the lowest tax rate in the last 50 years, according to the Republican’s philosophy; we should be creating millions of jobs per year. But as we all know that is not the case. So next time you hear a Republican politicians saying that only lower tax rates will create the jobs needed, ask them to prove it with facts.

Paul Gonzalez

Lake Carroll, IL

A Grain of Salt

It’s campaign season, and we can expect lots of folks to start using smoke, mirrors, and fog to obscure the truth. It’s usually easy to spot these purveyors of darkness, using no more than a Grain of Salt (GOS). Doubt everything. If a speech or article has no original-source data, GOS. If quotes appear out of thin air (no author is attributed), GOS.

Scan an article – if it contains the phrase “Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich”, it’s a GOS red flag. If you have a pre-2002 Tax Table, compare vs. post-2002 rates. (You can download them from irs.gov.) You’ll easily see that the lower the income, the larger the tax cuts. When someone uses that phrase, they’re either less informed than you, or deliberately misleading you. Either way, it’s a waste of your intelligence to read any further.

“It’s Bush’s Fault” is another GOS red flag. This phrase is really code for “We don’t have a clue what we’re doing, and there’s no way we can fix this.” Did your GOS detector just alert you? Good for you! My bad, but this illustrates the way language can be misleading when facts aren’t involved.

Treat every such “talking point” as a GOS alert – “question with boldness” (Thomas Jefferson), and you’ll be amazed how many disintegrate. Trust only original data, with sources. It’s not easy, but you’ll soon discover who to trust. Don’t be surprised if someone with flowery, good-sounding rhetoric is totally bogus. Those flowers are the primrose path down which you’re being led. A GOS cures this.

Lest any health care professionals reading this go all apoplectic on me, I should state that I’m not suggesting anyone consume this much salt. A large dose of truth is the preferred equivalent.

“Truth needs no flowers of speech.” - Alexander Pope

Terry Smith

Lanark, IL

News or Editorial?

Mr. Parsons, thank you for your time and effort to further investigate the circumstances of the Plum River flooding. However, it would have been appropriate for you to label your writing as an editorial rather than a report as it was laden with your opinions and emotions. I won’t address your treatment of Mr. Parker because I’m not informed about that situation, but I would like to comment on your discussion of the happenings at Lake Carroll.

The statements of: “. . Lake Carroll is a private lake with boats I can’t buy surrounded by houses that cost more than I can afford” and “I’d like to say I found proof that Lake Carroll’s handling of the flood contributed unnecessarily to the flood damage further down river . . “ and “ “I was sort of hoping someone could be blamed” reveal your inherent dislike/jealousy/envy of the “selfish rich folks” who own property there and a suspected bias in your objectivity in reporting about the situation. In your investigation you found a number of factors that were correct and not previously reported, but your writing contained some factual errors as well.

Starting with a small one; it’s the Leroy Hinkle (not Hill) dam, named for a man who devoted a significant portion of his life in dogged and passionate pursuit of the proper care and maintenance of the dam and the lake. Also, the “pool” level is not the absolute capacity of the dam/lake. It is the level that is normal, desired, and controlled by the spillway. The “absolute” capacity occurs when an inflow of excess water causes the level to rise to the extent that water flows into the marina parking lot and across the top of the dam at the opposite end from the controlled spillway. And that occurred during this incident. The dam did, in fact, reach its maximum capacity. At that time the lake level was 5.5 feet above pool, resulting in an amount of excess retained water calculated by several people, including me, to be on the order of a billion gallons as you were told and reported. These calculations are done with a number of simplifying assumptions and result in an assessment that is on the conservative side, slightly lower than the probable actual amount. But the billion gallons is representative and suitable for conversation. By any account, it was a lot of water.

However, it’s apparent that you failed to understand, or chose to ignore, some factors related to the mechanics of the dam/lake. The dam interrupts the natural flow of the pre-existent East Fork of the Plum River, a stream formed by the confluence of several tributaries both above and below the dam. The East Fork, in turn, deposits into the main course of Plum River. I would personally label the segments above and below the dam as the East Fork upper and lower reaches respectively. Several statements in your writing implicated that the lake collects water from a variety of sources not related to the river and then deposits the outflow into the river, therefore adding to its total flow and by direct implication in your composition that it increased the flow and the damage in the lower reaches. That is absolutely incorrect. The dam collects water that is already flowing in the upper reaches of the East Fork, holds it back and discharges the excess volume through the spillway back into the original stream. It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to realize that the dam/lake actually protected the lower reaches of the East Fork, the main river floway and Savanna from even more severe damage. That billion gallons of excess water was held back by the dam and was dispersed to the lower reaches over a period of four days. If the dam were not present the billion gallons would have coursed down the lower river in a matter of hours and made the destructive flow much worse. Mr. Ugorek’s statement that the dam avoided the potential for an even worse flood is a fact, not a claim as you described it. To repeat, the dam/lake does not contribute flow to the Plum River that would not be there otherwise, it regulates the naturally occurring flow. Be glad the dam is there.

And I’m compelled to comment on your disdain for the “selfish rich folks” who own property at the lake and your apparent attempt to reveal some perceived animosities between the Lake Carroll community and the surrounding counties. On the contrary, I feel that the Lake community is a valued partner to the surrounding area. Beginning with the Lake Carroll development is a tremendous economic engine for Carroll County. Our property taxes alone provide approximately 28% of the total county revenue. 67% of my tax bill is allotted to Eastland Schools, and I’m proud to see what a fine school system it is. Another 6% goes to the Lanark fire department and I feel secure about the really good protection they provide for us. Then there is the support of local employment through such items as the building trades, landscaping, recreational product purchase and maintenance, home and automobile maintenance. Plus trade with local businesses; groceries, fuel suppliers, restaurants, etc. But, it’s not just about money. Lake Carroll residents are active in the area community with personal support for the schools, various charities, Timber Lake Playhouse, Tyler’s Justice Center, Carroll County Senior Center, the police and fire departments, school and county boards, etc. In all this the residents strive to be good neighbors and I know from personal experience they make conscious effort to do so.

I’m a native of Carroll County, a full time resident at Lake Carroll, enjoy living in this unique community, appreciate the open and honest nature of the area residents and enjoy the scenic vista that surrounds us (we, too, watch the corn grow). I don’t resent paying those taxes or investing volunteer time to benefit the county and would appreciate your not resenting my good fortune (resulting from hard work) in being privileged to live here.

Dan Herman

Lake Carroll, IL

Guest Commentary . . .

Illinois’ Recall Amendment:

Holding Politicians Accountable Only if they Say it is OK

From Columns, Illinois, Law / Legal Issues, Politics

By John Bambenek

The ability of voters to recall corrupt or ineffective governors was a hot topic in the days after the arrest of Rod Blagojevich. Voters will get the chance to adopt an amendment that purports to give citizens this right. I support recall. The public needs a means to fire public servants who no longer serve the public. However, I will be voting no on the recall amendment in November. The reason is simple; this amendment is a sham.

In order for citizens to initiate a recall election, they need to collect about 550,000 signatures from voters in 150 days (15% of the number of votes in the last governor election). In reality, it should be double that to deal with the inevitable signature challenges and court fight to throw out signatures. That, however, isn’t the worst provision.

Before a single signature can be gathered, an affidavit signed by at least 20 State Representatives (10 Republicans, 10 Democrats) and at least 10 State Senators (5 Republicans, 5 Democrats) needs to be filed with the Secretary of State. You see, in Illinois politicians will let you hold them accountable only when they think it is ok.

To show you how absurd this is we can examine the lay of the land during the Blagojevich administration to see if this recall would have worked. After Rod was arrested, every legislator was stumbling over themselves to impeach the governor and they did it far faster than 150 days.

Before he was arrested, however, you would have been hard pressed to get 10 Democratic State Representatives to sign an affidavit for a recall. You most certainly would not have gotten 5 Democratic State Senators. You might not even get the Republicans.

Gathering over a million signatures is no easy prospect with no assurance of being successful. During the time a recall petition was undertaken, those legislators would be exposed to every manner of retaliation at the disposal of the governor’s office. You would have to get 30 state legislators, many of whom epitomize the definition of timidity, to stick their necks out on a difficult process that may not be successful.

In short, this recall amendment would have been useless to get rid of Rod Blagojevich. If we couldn’t have recalled Rod with it, what good is it?

Adding the legislator affidavit was a “compromise” because politicians were afraid that voters might actually avail themselves of the recall process for reasons they did not deem valid. To put it another way, politicians felt the affidavit provided an “important” check and balance against citizen action. You read that correctly; our Illinois politicians are so afraid of citizen action they introduced a constitutional amendment to actually check the power of the voters and subject it to their discretion.

What makes this an even more laughable position is that the recall amendment can only be used against the governor. Of the 18 states that already have this process (with some states having it over a century) it has only led to recall elections twice against a governor. In one case, the governor was impeached before the recall. The latest instance was Gray Davis in California who was equally a disgrace. Illinois will be the only state to have recall that is subject to the discretion of the state legislature.

I believe in recall. It is an important tool to hold politicians accountable, but this recall amendment is a sham and a disgrace. It was designed to give voters the appearance of reform. By the time we come around to actually try to use it, we will discover the con job too late. Join me in November in voting no on this preposterous amendment so we can push for a real recall amendment and real accountability in Springfield . . . accountability not requiring us to get a permission slip from our legislators to use.

A Neglected Pro-Life Issue: Nuclear Arms

By Arthur C. Donart, Ph. D.

With elections coming up this November, the Party of No is focusing on a return to Bush Economics as if one disaster is not enough, while the Party of Half Measures fails to articulate a bold vision for a better America and a better world. The Obama Administration has a penchant for seeking compromises on everything, health care reform, financial industry reform, even nuclear arms reduction treaties. The results, half baked reforms that please no one.

Lost in all this is Senate ratification of the recent agreement between Presidents Obama and Dmetry Medvedev to replace the expiring START Treaty negotiated by President Bush in 2002 which also was never ratified by our U.S. Senate but observed. The agreement really doesn’t amount to mush but it is better than nothing. Under the Bush agreement, both sides agreed to limit their stock pile of nuclear warheads to between 1,700 to 2,200. Obama and Medvedev agreed to hold the levels to between 1,500 and 1,675. That should not make us feel comfortable. It is still enough to destroy the world and the six billion of us that share this planet.

Obama has announced a goal of a nuclear weapons free world which only makes sense since it is hard to justify why the U.S. Britain, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea should be allowed to have nuclear weapons but no other country should have them. It also seems very undemocratic that a few players can annihilate the world without the rest of us having any say in the matter. Shouldn’t we have a vote on whether or not to end all life on this planet? I think we would vote overwhelming pro-life.

This past election, the Roman Catholic Church and others made a big issue of abortion. The some of the bishops went so far as to deny communion to Catholic politicians that were “pro-choice.” They issued position statements. They even went so far as to oppose the health care reform bill because they were afraid that it just might fund an abortion. Yet, when it comes to the killing of every man, woman and child on the planet, they remain strangely silent! Shouldn’t they be demanding our Senate to ratify the new nuclear arms reduction treaty even though it is not enough?

These weapons are costly, dangerous and ultimately useless. To threaten their use is to threaten global genocide. There is no comparison between the destruction of a human fetus and the destruction of every living person on the planet. Where is the moral leadership from the “Pro-life” groups? Perhaps it will come from the Buddhist.

Support for CC Extension Service

What do we really know about our Carroll County Extension Service? This is truly a valid question for all of us. As Carroll County Citizens we have used the extension service in many ways. Perhaps it was through 4-H or another youth service. Being a rural community, a large amount of population has been influenced by 4-H development. Our community has been influenced over the years by the 4-H round up, the 4-H participation in the Carroll County Fair, and many other 4-H activities.

However, Extension is not only 4-H, but includes many summer activities for young people even if they are not part of the 4-H experience. There is Fun in the Park; a program which includes” fantastic Fitness Camp, Camp Cupcake, Kids-a-Cooki n’, tennis camp, golf camp, cheerleading camp, Wacky Wildness crafts. Some programs offered in previous years included: Wonders of Science, Babysitting Clinic, GPS camp, art camp, junior leadership, Day at Camp Benson, Amazing Race, and American Girl Doll Theme Camps.

Numerous agricultural programs (23 at least) which included: Annie’s project for farm women, Beef Sire Selection and Management, managing the dairy, Ag Drainage Law Workshop, grazing workshop, Pond Construction workshop, NW IL Agronomy updates, Dairy Days, Certified Livestock Manager Training, Pesticide Safety Education/Applicator Training,. Farm Conservation, Water & Soil Telenets,

The Carroll County Extension has provided many, many partnerships with other county organizations and service providers. One partnership is the Community Development Program in partnership with the City of Mt. Carroll. Another is the Solid Waste and Recycling program which has assisted in providing: Used Motor Oil Collections, Electronic & Appliance Collections, Used Tire Collections plus several other programs/collections. A partnership with the Carroll County Substance Education Coalition has helped to secure grants that have brought over $200,000 in grant funding to Carroll County. Due to having an office within Carroll County, the U of I Extension has often provided matching funds to assist projects in Carroll County.

Can Carroll County really afford to loose all of this by underfunding the Extension Service? That is the present plan of the Carroll County Board. The Board is proposing to fund the Extension Service at $35,000 in stead of the current amount of $82,642. For every dollar of tax money contributed through county tax funding, the Extension returns $3 – that makes our investment of $82,642 worth $247,926. Every person working at the Extension lives in and is a tax payer in Carroll County. This is a reinvestment in our county.

The Extension Service has a long history of providing services to the citizens of Carroll County. With reasonable funding, this tradition and the volunteers it inspires can continue to serve our county. If you have ever received a service or participated in a program that was provided by the Extension Service please contact your Carroll County Board members from your district and encourage them to fund the Extension Service at the requested amount. If you are unsure of who your board members are for your district please contact the Carroll County Clerk’s office at to get this valuable information. Let’s work together to keep Carroll County providing services that make it a great place to live.

Sincerely,

Ron Preston

Carroll Co. Board District 2

Thanks From Relay For Life

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the West Carroll 4th grade class of 2009-10 and their teachers for their unbelievable help and support for our Relay For Life team and the American Cancer Society. The class held a bike-a-thon at the Thomson school at the end of las year. They raised funds, collected donations, and rode their bikes, skated or walked all day long. Some of us had the privelege to be at the event and help. It was fantastic to see all the work the teachers put into getting ready for this event. Getting the students organized, gathering up bikes and keeping the actual event going all day.

The kids had a track laid out, a big part of it in the grass. I wish you all could have seen those kids riding lap after lap after lap. They rode a lot of miles that day, and rode their hearts out for a great cause - someday ending cancer!

The kids collected $3,278.15 and donated it all to Jan’s Fans Relay For Life Team. The event was held this summer and with the help of the wonderful 4th grade class, our team was the top team, raising $8,100 to fight cancer.

Our team had been told of the decision to have the bike-a-thon earlier in the year, and we were all so touched to think that these kids, parents and teachers would do this. What a wonderful life lesson to show the kids everyone can help and every penny really does count.

Jan’s Fans is a team for Janice Weber. I can’t begin to tell you what these kids doing this meant to her and her family. She was touched beyond words, and brought to tears. She lost her battle with cancer just before the bike-a-thon.

She had a great-neice in the 4th grade class riding that day. Several of her family members were at the event, and watching those kids was so touching and will be in our hearts forever. We know that Janice was watching down on every child, smiling and praising them.

Just wanted to say THANK YOU and let people know there are so many kids out there doing really wonderful things. West Carroll 4th grade class of 2009-10: You are GREAT! A job well done.

Jan’s Fans Relay For Life Team

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

A book that I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed is “Ramblings of a Conservative Cow Doctor” by Krayton Kerns, a veterinarian and a State Representative in the great state of Montana.

Krayton has a great way of drawing analogies. I find myself saying “I wish I’d have said that”. Montana is very different than Illinois but also very similar. Krayton and I completely agree on where socialism is taking us. I am hereafter stealing the words of a conservative cow doctor, but he says it so well.

“Throughout the evening I pondered the many woes of Mr. Venne’s Tribal Nations. All the problems he mentioned have a single cause; drug addiction. Not just any drug, but one so strong it destroys every life it touches. It’s not meth. The Indian’s battle is with a far more dangerous and addictive drug…socialism.

Two hundred years ago the American Indians were thriving, powerful, and free. Now imprisoned in poverty, they are forced to beg the government for their very existence. Socialism is a nasty drug… By 1886, all the Indian Nations had surrendered their freedom in exchange for the promise of food, goods, housing, and medical care. They became slaves of their own security.

Every generation of Native Americans sinks deeper into the quagmire of socialism. Program after program is handed down disguised as assistance. Once you remove self-reliance, the Indians become so federal aid dependent they are a political bloc that faithfully trades their vote for the next crumb of assistance. Look at every reservation and ghetto in America. Socialism is the same everywhere.” Thank you Krayton, I wish I’d have said that.

In his comments, he talked of self reliance. There was a time that it was a badge of honor for someone to be self reliant. I want to believe that it still is today. So many with their hand out and third, fourth, and fifth generation on welfare, makes you ask the question – do they want to be self reliant?

Government needs to be there to provide assistance when necessary. In my opinion it should “set the bar” as well, to create incentives to get to get back to work. More and more unemployment benefits without some obligation on the part of the unemployed makes no sense. The idea that you grow an economy by raising taxes is, to steal an old analogy by Winston Churchill, like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handle.

I will be at the Market House in Galena from 1:30 PM until 3:00 PM on Friday, September 24, 2010.