Friday, June 22, 2018

Any more Dr. Daughtrys out there?


I applaud Dr. Barry Daughtry of Oak Brook who left Illinois for Wisconsin under the 'Three strikes and I'm out' rule (Trib letter 'Fed up', June 22). The most egregious offense cited was the additional $7,000 in property tax he has to pay over the past 21 years living in toney Oak Brook. Offense No. 2 was inability of the Tollway Authority to process his online request to replace a lost I-Pass device. Strike three, which sent Daughtry to the dugout, opps, I mean Wisconsin, was a red light camera violation attributed to being "more tired than usual". During my weekly drive to Chicago from Glen Ellyn, I've got to plan my timing carefully to avoid tie ups from the mass of humanity driving in and out of one of the most vibrant cities and suburban areas in the country. Next time traffic slows on the 'Ike' I'll ponder if some of these folks might follow the good doctor on a one way trip north, never to return.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Roskam's 'wild card' in the White House makes plea for immigrant children ring hollow



My congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6) coming out against President Trump's atrocious policy tearing immigrant children from their parents at the border is simply too little, too late. Roskam eyed the racist, xenophobic candidate in 2016, who essentially called all immigrants criminals, and blessed his candidacy. "I do think time is Donald Trump's friend. I think people are saying... alright, I'm ready to hear this guy out, see what he has got to say with the flash and dash aside." Wrong congressman. The flash and dash hasn't been put aside in the 510 days since his inauguration. Everything we hear is scurrilous fear mongering, denigration of the defenseless, and appeals to the worst impulses in a minority base that loathes the 'other' in our society. Roskam knew better in 2016 and he knows better now. But political expediency required his unending obeisance to a man morally unfit to hold office. As long as Trump pushed Roskam's tax giveaway to the rich, Roskam ignored his malevolence.

Peter Roskam mulled the catastrophic spectacle of hysterical children and parents at the border over the Father's Day weekend and decided to appear reasonable. But for his 12 years in Congress he did nothing to solve the immigration crisis and protect millions of dreamers. He vehemently opposed Obama's sensible plan, preposterously claiming immigration was too big for one bill and needed to be addressed in 'chunks'. And the one and only chunk he ever advocated for was enhanced border security. Roskam's epiphany about distraught immigrant kids and their parents has more to due with the winds of change blowing in the Illinois 6th than ever doing the right thing about the most vulnerable in our society.