We promised to name names of Illinois state senators who voted in favor of giving themselves a pay raise.
What happened in Springfield Tuesday was something of a political miracle. Not one of the senators voted in favor of the 7.5 percent raise.
Senate President Emil "I need a pay raise" Jones voted present and chickened out on voting for his raise. But he got in a cheap shot by calling those who voted against it "hyprocrites," because the legislators will still get a 3.8 percent cost of living increase.
Now that they have taken action against the pay raise, it's time the legislators get back to work on more pressing issues like education and transportation funding.
What are we paying them for anyway?
This blog brought to you by the Sun-Times editorial board (click on names to read bios):
They did not say no, they were TOLD no.
You ask a good question. We pay these politicians and give them wonderful pensions and health benefits. The result? They make politics a career. What next? They go out and solicit special interest money and volunteers. Why? So they can stay in office forever. What else? The money they make in office isn't enough. What do they do? They double dip, or they work for law firms that do lobbying (like Kirk Dillard) even if they don't personally lobby. What should we do? Demand that we elect statesmen, people who serve the public, not themselves. Can it be done? New Hampshire pays its legislature $100 per year - yes, that is correct, not a typo. They never have a problem with filling vacancies. They get average people who want to serve their state or district. They don't have the corruption we have in Illinois; they don't have nearly the size of government because the legislators don't benefit from bigger government. They don't even have an income tax. Could it happen here? Yes, if the media and public would demand it.
Illinoisians are finally taking action which proves citizen action pays off. Thanks to Pat Quinn for his initiative on NO Pay Raise.
Thanks to Pat Quinn for bringing this atrocity to our attention and creating a way for us to respond immediately. These legislators heard the voice of the people loud and clear.
Why does Emil (I need a pay raise or better still, I'm in ComEd's back pocket) Jones keep getting elected? He is obviously in this for his own gain above all other objectives. It's time that the electorate got wise and voted this guy out of office. He's taken enough of our money.
To those who don't understand, the Church is not broken. But it teaches those in theflesh who fall into temptation because we are in the flesh. For man shall not be perfect and those shall forgive as God had forgiven us.Thank You Jesus how hard that must have been. You love me with unconditional love. You knew I would not be perfect for I am in a world of humans and that we know of Adam and Eve. Yes the system is broken for zero tolerance, means we live in a perfect world. Since we do not live in a perfect world, to forgive someone for then to acknowledge what they did and not do it again in remorse. For there are some that are just beyond or have no faith or hope and are just gone with no remorse. With no remorse and nothing to believe, for it was the law that did not believe in God who nailed Jesus to the Cross and put on him a slow death. Mke Madigan is a devil who separates Church from State. Get behind me Devil as the Lord said. Come Jesus come, save the world for I do believe for the world is not perfect for we are in the test of time. Will you forgive your brother, your mother, your father, your sister, your uncle, your aunt, your cousin, your grandpa. You legislators do not deserve raises. We the poor folks out here would love to make $65,000 per yr or more, and we work harder than any lawmaker. Present day laws being created are ridiculously unfair. Anyone going thru the criminal justice system is constantly victimized. Sex Offender laws are ridiculously unfair, drunk driving laws and fines are way to stiff, all of probation and all the county jails are too crowded and unamanageable. CTA, RTA, and the over Construction of all the Hiways and Interstates are in a state of chaos. Tollways cost too much. Too many contractors in the construction business rely on this corrupted government for unnecessary work. Where is the "Justice For All!" in Illinois?
So, I guess I have EMIL JONES to thank for a doubling the my electric bill eventhough my family work so hard to cut usage in HALF! If I had his salary...I wouldn't care
Illinois politics? Money....Money... Mon....Ney! Taxes! Taxes! Tax....ES!
Check out http://www.bop-o-rama.com. Get Bopping mad!
If I had the money that Emil has... I would not mind paying my electric bill....My most recent ComED bill was doubled! This is despite my children and I making concerted efforts to conserve. (We cut our usage almost in half yet the bill was DOUBLE! I can not imagine what other's are doing if they were not on the budget plan....) Thanks Emil for leading us further down the dire straights in economically troubled times.
We are living in sad times. Not because the politicians are getting worse but we are letting them. We no longer have choices. They determine who will have the position and then trump up a bogus type election where you have a choice of Mr/Ms Bad or Mr/Ms.Worse.
What is wrong with us that we complain constantly & then do nothing about it. Maybe we need an Illinois Tea Party where we dump them all in the River.
Instead of letting them bring on every family member raming them down our throats because they conveniently left office after the primary, we should hold an immediate special primary giving the citizens the choice of selecting a successor to run in a "Real" election.
I also have a suggestion to eliminate part of the problem. Eliminate pensions. Most businesses are no longer offering pensions but instead offering a 401-K. We are all instructed that we can not rely on government to support us in our old age & we should provide for our own future. Why do our government officials not follow their own edict? This is like "Animal Farm" where we are all equal but the "Pigs" are a little more equal.
I am also tired of hearing "they give their life to the people". They give us nothing. They are in it for power & money. Well if we take their pensions away & let them save their money like they are telling us to do, they might just turn away and determine we are not worth it. One can only dream.
Thank you for bringing the self serving antics of our legislators into the light. They most assuredly have not earned a raise and based on the amount of good work accomplished they probably need to be replaced.
Thank you too to Carol Marin for her excellent article on nepotism.
Haven't our citizens had enough of this?
On another subject, can Obama be so arrogant as to ignore the eighteen million Hillary voters, many of whom are still not sure of his leadership. Bringing the party together is a prime consideration in
winning the presidency. Overlooking Hillary on his short list for VP
is short sighted.
HAHA! still get a 3.8% cost of living raise! I make 17 bucks an hour i got a 1.5% now that is bogus! Whats up with the Governor closing down all those state parks! Oh wait Chicago is in $420 mill debt for the year so he is gonna shutdown state parks down south that were making money...that makes since...thanks for ruining my memories Gov. Blagojevich heres a $27,000 dollar raise go back to Albania.
I feel like politicians act as if they never struggled before. Just because they make more money than we do, they feel like they are on top of the world. They only care about themselves and not others. For example, how would they feel if they were in our place, and we were in theirs? They wouldn't like the fact that we wanted to give ourselves a raise and not them. In today's society, citizens are struggling everyday just to keep food on the table, support their families, and pay bills. Emil is being very selfish due to the fact that he knows what today's society become.