We are told the solution to the problems in Springfield is the “Fair Tax.” I would suggest that what we need more than a new tax is new politicians. Illinois’ main problem isn’t that the state doesn’t have enough money. It’s that the people in Springfield don’t know how to use the money they already have — and haven’t known how to use it for years. Which is why we’re in the mess we are in.
Giving more money to the politicians we have now will not result in better programs and more things done well. It will, rather, result in more of what we already have: Poorly-run government that spends too much and accomplishes too little.
I am not saying Illinois government might not need more money to do the things that need to be done. What I am saying is that the people we have in Springfield now couldn’t accomplish those things no matter how much money we give them.
For example, the problems we have regarding pensions are the result of really bad laws and really bad decisions made over a long period of time. Some of those bad decisions can’t be changed now and we have to live with them. What we don’t have to live with is the politicians who were around when those decisions were made.
There is no reason to give Springfield more money until we have new people in Springfield who can properly use the money we give them.
Patrick Allen
River Forest
