Roskam's deception on health law deplorable

After eight years as my congressman, Peter Roskam has honed political sophism, the art of using false arguments to deceive voters, to perfection. Consider his take on the Affordable Care Act which has been a signature Roskam deception concerning good governance. During the campaign, Roskam argued that the Affordable Care Act began with worthy goals but is failing to deliver. For the past six years Roskam never once told voters what those worthy goals were: giving 40 million needy Americans a chance for good health, financial security and avoiding needless, early death. While tens of thousands were dying yearly and tens of millions were incurring bankruptcy and bad hearth from our heartless political system, Roskam was doing everything in his misguided power to keep those folks in that same deplorable condition. He even helped lead a 16 day government shutdown, inflicting severe economic damage, because he and his Tea Party colleagues couldn't destroy the ACA with conventional governance.

But even worse than ignoring the substance of those "worthy goals" is his astounding falsehoods about its outcomes. When he says it "is failing to deliver", he avoids the truth that it has brought many millions their first health care relief ever, lowered premiums well below expectations, and is steadily bringing down the heretofore endless health care spending spiral. This translates into less folks going bankrupt, suffering declining health and dying. It is a remarkable societal improvement.

Maybe the congressman should visit the homes of some families who lost a loved one from lack of heath insurance. Then he should meet with families now being helped by its critically mandated benefits. Roskam loves to meet with folks who will bolster his extreme anti government agenda. That only serves his obsessive reliance on political sophism, not good governance nor the people.

Calling cardiologist Rauner

GOP State Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka is always a candid voice on the state of the state. During her successful re-election bid Topinka said if the 5% state income tax expires as scheduled January 1, 2015, the state will suffer a financial "heart attack." Gov. Elect Bruce Rauner, spent $27 million of his own wealth promising to let it expire and freeze property taxes. Enough voters bought that prescription for personal financial health to let Illinois' arteries clog beyond repair. Maybe the voters should have checked Rauner's med school credentials before entering the voting booth.

McKee life sentence a judicial travesty

If 20 year old Bethany McKee lives to her expected 80 year life span, strapped Illinois taxpayers will have shelled out about a cool million to warehouse her into senility at an Illinois penitentiary. McKee, a secondary participant in the double murder of two male acquaintances for beer and cigarette money, as masterminded by two other male acquaintances, got natural life under a misguided Illinois sentencing law mandating natural life ...for anyone convicted of a double murder. Just 18 at the time of the crime, McKee was physically and sexually abused in her early teens, had multiple stays in mental health facilities, including one lasting 90 days, and was disturbed enough to have cut herself 200 times. She wasn't present at the actual killings after luring the victims with a promise to "party". Given her age and mental history, there is some merit to her claim she was controlled by the violent male deed doers. This happens to broken and abused women under the control of evil male partners with some frequency. In a sad irony for McKee, another female participant, Alisa Massaro, copped a plea to 'concealing a homicide' in exchange for testimony against the other three, and received a ten year sentence that could see her released in just four years.

A pittance of that million would be better spent on intensive psychiatric care to prepare McKee for a semblance of a normal and possibly productive life after a short sentence to a reduced charge. Even the sentencing judge, Gerald Kinney, recognized the stupidity of McKee's draconian sentence saying: "This case is an example of why the legislature's imposition of mandatory sentencing is just inappropriate."

Hopefully, the appellate court hearing McKee's appeal will have more sense than the legislators who passed such injudicious and wasteful sentencing requirements.

Country going to pot...figuratively and literally

Yesterday's election has fueled progressives' fears US is, figuratively, going to pot. While that may be arguable, it is true that US is going to pot literally, as Oregon and Washington DC legalized recreational use of marijuana, and still undecided Alaska appears headed for higher ground when all votes are counted.

New Army motto

'Be all you can be' is passé. With Uncle Sam's reliance on drones and F-16's to do all the senseless killing of innocents in the Middle East and Africa, the Army needs a new motto.

How 'bout: 'Today's Army - these boots were made for sitting'.

An alternate could be: 'Today's Army - these boots will never touch the ground'.

To Daily Herald, District 48 disappears into Tea Party Twilight Zone

    

Is the Daily Herald in the tank for GOP and Tea Party candidate Peter Breen, running for District 48 state rep?

For the last 30 days the Herald has gone silent on the most fascinating of all 118 legislative races in the Land of Lincoln. And it's right in the heart of DailyHeraldland! Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, Lombard, Lisle and Downers Grove have sprouted hundreds of Write-In Marian For 48 yard signs in the lawns of folks who still believe democracy means having choice at election time.

Tomlinson's write-in campaign was prompted by the Tea Party's efforts to get her booted from the Democratic ballot on a technicality, which she got on by obtaining nearly 1,000 petition signatures after the Primary. Not to be denied the opportunity to give the district a choice to the Tea Party, Tomlinson mounted a credible write-in campaign in all 102 District 48 precincts, reaching out with hope and vision to all 72,000 registered voters.

The Herald was quick to cover the race when Breen's challenge to Tomlinson was upheld in June. Then not a word about the race for over three months till they finally published her candidate profile on October 2. It is a remarkable statement in this age of cynical, anti-government politicians who pander to the fears and ignorance of the electorate, and it can be found here.   http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20141002/submitted/310029848/

 

Then, mysteriously, the Herald incurred a moral power outage that produced a blackout in their duty to cover real political news and inform the electorate. We've sent them a number of District 48 press releases and dozens of phone calls requesting coverage. For the last two weeks staff writer Jessica Cilella has promised to write a story about the campaign but none has appeared, with ONE news day to go before a blizzard of write-in votes for Marian occurs on Tuesday.

 

Herald founder H.C. Paddock created this great motto 142 years ago:  "To fear God, tell the truth and make money." Money and truth aside, the Herald apparently also fears the Tea Party.