For the past two weeks, I was following the legislative fallout in Illinois.
Believe it or not, the Land of Lincoln is in worse economic shape than California. The Republican Governor has repeatedly blocked and vetoed tax and spending increases. In fact, he outlined clear guidelines for future budget bills:
1. Cap on property taxes.
2. Pension reforms
3. Redistricting Commission
4. Term Limits
The Democratic Party has controlled the Illinois legislature for decades, apart from a two year stint when Republicans across the country took over state legislatures.
In Illinois, the pension and budget issues have grown so out of control, that they can't make payroll. Private vendors have been waiting six months to get paid. Instead of fixing the problems, the Speaker of the General Assembly Michael Madigan gets away with gutting and amending large pieces of legislation, then pushes these massive bills onto the floor with little time for review from the fellow members.
Before Rauner became governor to stop the insanity, conservative Republican Mike Bost took on Springfield, Illinois corruption like a boss!
Here is Assemblyman Mike Bost's response to this corrupt, anti-democratic process:
Here's another view if you missed any of his comments:
Illinois was the last state to comply with the Second Amendment rulings on concealed-carry permits. A federal court forced the state legislature to pass legislation to allow individual citizens to get permits.
Once again, the Speaker of the General Assembly changed the bill substantially from what he and other colleagues has voted for.:
Now this is the kind of fight we need to see from our representatives.
We don't need men and women in state legislatures playing nice.
Notice that Bost had no problem shouting at the rude assemblymembers in the majority, especially when they attacked his character and his intellect on Second Amendment issues.
This is the kind of representation we need in our state legislatures. We need men and women who will fight for our rights, and fr what is right.
We need legislators, citizen representatives who do not worry about making people unhappy or offending people who are doing wrong at taxpayers' expense.