Illinoisans for Growth and Opportunity was established because state leaders have failed taxpayers. We face over $110 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, a $6 billion deficit in next year’s budget and a $1.5 billion shortfall in this year’s budget.
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We can all agree that something has to change.Illinois GO is designed to help lawmakers make better decisions through research, education campaigns, and public engagement. Illinois GO is not designed to push Gov. Bruce Rauner’s, or any other individual’s, agenda, as Mark Brown assumes in his column.As for Mr. Brown’s “dark money” allegations, 510(c)4 structures, under which donors are not publicly disclosed, is the very same design used by hundreds of chambers of commerce and trade and labor groups across the country. Is the Sun-Times asserting that local chambers of commerce or AARP or the Sierra Club need to disclose the details of their members’ dues every time the group takes a position on a piece of legislation? Further, direct contributions to independent expenditure campaigns are always disclosed, and transfers from 510(c)4 are allowed.As Democrats, we believe state government has the power to do good for its residents. But this fundamental belief is undermined when government fails to function effectively. Worse, cynicism creeps in when that failure is the result of choices and not circumstances.Former Gov. Pat Quinn and Democratic legislative leaders wrote this year’s budget — which intentionally spent a full year’s worth of taxpayers’ dollars in only six months. Illinois faces a massive financial gap, and some of the state’s most vulnerable residents are now at risk. Illinois deserves better. If the General Assembly does what’s right, special interests on both the left and right will be unhappy. Our state must stop being guided by interests and start being guided by simple math. Illinois GO will be there to support responsible compromise.Anthony K. Anderson, Chair, Illinoisans for Growth and OpportunityShowboating not neededThe Prince of Peoria has abdicated. No orchestrated departure, no digital farewell and no high-flying banners.Sad that Illinois has lost another onetime popular figure. We are a democracy, not a duchy. Enablers contributed to the mayhem.Politics in Illinois should not be a “Wheel of Fortune” experience, but instead a quest to bring dignity to a state where criminality has struck both sides of the aisle of late. With our debt gone wild — showboating is not needed — and one’s talents used instead for its eradication. Thrills can be garnered later, but the electorate wants to see more success made than just Instagram images, fuzzy mileage numbers and interior decorative skills. This is not a laughing matter — so turn your skills into solutions instead of entertainment. Genuine public ratings will reward you.Vincent Kamin, Loop
New nickname
Will whoever replaces Aaron Schock in Congress become known as The After Schock?
Dan McGuire, Bensenville
Make some patent royalties tax-free
Any inventor or engineer who sells an American-patented design to a U.S. manufacturer should get tax-free royalties.
This would do two things: 1) It would increase the number of inventions sold in America and exported around the world, and 2) It would increase the number of people hired in manufacturing, creating more jobs.
Often inventors who have just started out lack the funding to seek a full patent. If their first full patent were legally sponsored by the government to patent lawyers , they could afford to pay for future patents and legal representation for additional inventions.
I also propose that inventors seeking for a first-time patent be paid perhaps $100,000, based on the marketability of each invention.
Our country needs to re-establish its manufacturing base, and I believe this is the best way to do it because the inventor is the backbone of production of any manufacturing economy.
Zachary Scott Gordon, Skokie
Help inventors
The Illinois Department of Transportation continues to forcefully take property for the proposed South Suburban Airport near Peotone. They currently have three families in eminent domain court in Will County. The judge continued the cases until April 30, apparently waiting to see what Gov. Bruce Rauner will do about the project.
The airport is a long way from final federal approval, has no source of funding, and the airlines oppose it. A recent (February 22, 2015) investigative report by the Better Government Association casts grave doubts on the project’s viability, indicating that even potential developers and investors see it as so risky that they would want the State of Illinois to assume the financial liability if the airport failed to generate enough revenue.
Rauner should do the right thing: Kill the proposed airport and sell the $90 million worth of state-owned property to help balance the budget.
George Ochsenfeld Monee, Illinois
