If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

I’m turning over a new leaf this week. I’ve spent the better part of three years trying to show the other side of many arguments. Not only disagreeing on topics, but showing why and offering alternatives. Most of my ideas were ignored or shot down. So from now on, I am going to take the path of least resistance and agree with the decisions made by our local leaders.

Recent news has offered that at least two more large buildings are to be razed in town. The Wolf Furniture warehouse for the YMCA and the former Brown Shoe Factory by the school district are both slated for demolition. Everyone agrees parking is inadequate in town.

It is about time we rid the town of these eyesores and put bring in some more open space around town. The green spaces where Central School once stood and the 1700 block of Broadway are an asset to the community. And the additional parking at the depot is much needed. The money saved by not paving the lot shows the City cares about wasting tax dollars.

The county opting to leave any mention of zoning out of the comprehensive plan was definitely the right choice. The citizens obviously are not in favor of zoning, so why should we waste our time studying it.

Several weeks ago, the Governor of Illinois announced his plan for massive tax increases to fund new government programs and the ailing Illinois pension program. It is time to tighten our belts and put our faith in our Governor. After all, we elected him not once, but twice. Illinois ranks last in funding its pension program, and we all need to pitch in our share to correct this.

And boy, was I wrong about Ameren. This is a private company that deserves to make money. Everyone should quite whining about paying higher rates. Suck it up, cut elsewhere and let pay up. Ameren needs this increase to stay out of bankruptcy.

Yep, I’m tired of being on the losing side of an issue. It’s time turn over that leaf and change my way of thinking. Or maybe not, maybe I should point out this being the first column in the month of April. The first of April traditionally known as “All Fool’s Day”

Should smoking be banned in City parks?

This subject has been bouncing around town lately and it is something I never really gave much thought. Other cities and even the State of California have banned smoking in public places. And now, Lea Northam has asked the Mattoon City Council to consider, at the least, banning smoking in public parks.

My thoughts on smoking bans have always been for the government to stay out of private business. If an owner of a business wants to allow smoking, as long as cigarettes are legal, they should be allowed. However, that business owner should be aware, that I will most likely be taking my business elsewhere. This is the risk they take for allowing smoking.

But banning in parks is a different argument I had never thought of. The city banning smoking in their parks is equivalent to the city banning smoking in their buildings, or a business owner banning smoking in their establishment. They are not putting restriction on what a business owner can or cannot do with their establishment. Instead, they would be asking to respect their property and allow everyone to enjoy it by not polluting the air and ground.

And since parks, or at least the playground portions, are primarily for children, why would such a policy be so controversial? I’m not sure a citywide ordinance is in order, but at the very least, creating a smoke free buffer zone around the playground areas in the parks is a very good idea.

And should be easy to implement with some signs and receptacles for those nasty cigarette butts. Besides second hand smoke, there are a lot of smokers who flick their butts to the side or drop them, step on them, and leave them. This act is equally disgusting, and effects visitors long after the smoke has cleared. Kids will pick anything off the ground. Lets keep the cigarette butts away.

I recently had my girls at the playground and one started to pick up a cigarette butt that had been littered onto the ground. I wondered why someone would be so careless and throw that down actually in the wood chips where kids play. While there is no excuse for this, I wonder if there had been a no smoking reminder posted and a butt receptacle nearby, if the offender would have obliged. I would bet most would.

I hope the council takes on this issue. They have gone through spells of openly debating issues on the floor during the meeting. This is one they need attend to. I think when someone takes the time to address the council they owe it to that person and the community to publicly state their position on the issue. Put it to a vote, even if you are going to vote it down, and let us know where each councilperson stands.

It is time to end electric deregulation

When Congress opened the doors for the deregulation of the electric power industry, it was supposed to lower prices by creating competition in a free-market system. As had been done in the airline, natural gas and telecommunications industries, deregulation was anticipated to bring electricity to consumers at the best possible price. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, as a true competitive marketplace never formed, and many states, including Illinois, were forced to cap prices to protect consumers.

California was the first state to pass electricity deregulation legislation in 1996. Power customers soon faced electricity shortages and sharp price increases, and the state government was forced to step in, suffering a significant financial loss. Maryland deregulated in 1999. They also lack the competitive marketplace promised by supporters of the legislation. Baltimore was expected to see a 72 percent rise in rates.

Other states such as Connecticut, and New Jersey are also experiencing cost issues since deregulating. And Virginia recently overwhelmingly repealed its deregulation and returned to its previous system. Arkansas, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma have changed course and abandoned or indefinitely delayed deregulation.

Deregulation has had some success with large power customers. The cities and school districts locally were able to negotiate with other power companies to lower their bills. Though they are still paying more than their 2006 rates. The residential customer however has mostly been a victim of deregulation, as power companies see no profit in encouraging residential customers to switch.

Deregulation led to the uprising of Enron, an energy broker that ultimately folded under scandals of price fixing and fraud. Now, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has called for a federal investigation of Ameren and ComEd for price manipulation.

Ameren appears to be manipulating more than prices. They had offered a rebate to assist residential customers, but pulled it when their credit ratings were threatened. Attorney General Lisa Madigan is questioning whether a decision to downgrade the Ameren Illinois utilities' credit ratings to "junk" status on Monday might have been orchestrated by Ameren and ratings agency Moody's Investors Service.

I am normally against government intervention and all for free market. But electric deregulation has failed Illinois and many other states. It is time to end deregulation for a better system. If that system is the one in place before deregulation, then go with that. But the large utility companies appear corrupt and do not have the low-end customers in their best interests.
As I’ve said before, price caps can’t be held forever, but it appears we are not ready for free market electricity.

Do you trust the Governor with your money?

Last year, Governor Blagojevich proposed selling the Illinois State Lottery for $10 billion to boost education funding. Under the plan, $4 billion would be used for a four-year plan to increase education funding. The remaining $6 billion would fund an annuity to replace the lost lottery revenue stream with a $650 million annual payment until fiscal 2025. This is controversial, but at least you can say his reasoning is noble. It is ironic to sell the revenue generator created to fund education in order to fund education.

About the same time, he also proposed selling the Illinois State Tollway system for $18 billion. The tollway clears well over $300 million annually after expenses. The loss of both the Tollway system and Lottery would be a loss of nearly $1 billion annually.

This year, the sale of the lottery has been proposed again. This time, the proceeds are to fill the gap in Illinois’ under funded pension system. During his first term, Blagojevich spearheaded the sale of $10 billion in bonds to pay down pension debt. Last year, the State balanced the budget by robbing $2.3 billion of that borrowed money from the pension fund.

So how does Governor Blagojevich plan to replace the loss of $1 billion dollars per year? What is his Plan B on funding education since he no longer wants to use proceeds from the lottery sale? What is his plan for healthcare in Illinois?

You guessed it. Massive tax increases. Over $7 billion in new taxes are being proposed. That is the largest in Illinois history. The taxes will be on businesses so the Governor claims it does not break his campaign promise of not raising income or sales taxes. But he completely ignores that business will pass this expense to their customers.

Also included in the Governor’s budget is a new entitlement program Illinois Covered, which offers health care to 1.4 million Illinoisans at a cost of $2.1 billion per years. This will be funded in part by a new tax on employers who do not offer health care. Said tax is estimated to bring in $1 billion per year.

So lets recap. First sell the lottery to pay for education. Then under fund state pensions by billions, ignoring the warnings and dangers. Then flip on education funding, instead diverting the money to the pension that is in such bad shape partly because HE didn’t pay proper attention to it in the first place. Then flop on raising taxes to fund education since he flipped on his original plan. Then offer everyone in the State health care, but mandate all employers provide it or pay a penalty.

All the while spending existing money on such items as $15 million on state funded stem cell research; $1 million grant to repair a church damaged by fire while cutting funding on repairs to a state university damaged by fire; and $2.6 million for 610,000 doses of flu vaccine from Europe that were not approved by the FDA. They ultimately expired and were destroyed.

Giving this administration more money is giving them a license to steal. The $60 billion budget is the largest in Illinois history, almost 10 percent increase over last years, which Illinois had to borrow over $2 billion to pay for.

Douglas Whitley, Illinois State Chamber of Commerce president, said it best. "Gov. Rod Blagojevich's budget plan for state taxpayers is a reckless and irresponsible affront to every employer and worker in Illinois. If this plan is approved, Illinois will most certainly lose jobs and businesses to other states for lack of regard for the economic consequences of his political ambitions for big government."