People looking for work, temporary or full time, shouldn't look at DuPage County for available summer positions. Those were filled without any advertising. In fact, many of those positions went to the children of county employees. So much for the clarity of government.
During a Tuesday county finance committee meeting, County Commissioner Debra Olsen revealed that at least 20 of the nearly 200 summer jobs the county offers were filled by relatives of current county employees. Olsen sad it wasn't fair qualified candidates didn't have the opportunity to apply for the positions.
Not only were the positions filled without advertising, some of the seasonal hires were allowed to begin working before the hires were approved by the county board.
DuPage County commissioners need to ensure hiring practices are fair and open to everyone. Kudos to Commissioner Olsen for revealing the nepotism running through the county.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Roskam rightly argues for repeal of the estate tax (death tax)
Last week U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Il., rightly denounce the House Ways and Means Committee for refusing to debate the necessity of the estate tax. Roskam argues, and rightly so, that a repeal of the estate tax, also referred to as the death tax by conservative, will benefit small businesses and will help stimulate the national economy.
Roskam called the estate tax an "albatross around the neck" of small business owners and entrepreneurs. A repeal of this tax will help create prosperity, he said. A video of Roskam's argument can be found here.
Currently the estate tax is set to sunset next year, although that would be temporary. It will come back the next year.
Proponents of the estate tax argue the tax on inheritance will prevent the perpetuation of wealth in one family. But put more simply, proponents of the estate tax do not believe money belongs to the people, money belongs to the state. These people believe money should not simply be handed from one person to another without the state getting another taste through taxation. They argue that it is income and should be taxed as such -despite the fact it was already taxed when it was first made.
Following this logic, one can make a Swiftonian argument that the allowance a parent gives his child should be taxed because that's income to the child. Or birthday money should be taxed because that's income to the birthday boy or girl.
Ending the estate tax is the right measure to take. Eliminating the estate tax will allow small businesses to expand at a greater rate. Because of the current rate, many small business owners would rather spend their profits rather than reinvest them back into the company.
Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said in a Los Angeles Times column the "high estate tax rates provide small-business owners with a powerful incentive to limit the size of their companies. Why would a business owner want to expand his or her company beyond a certain size if the end result will be a large "death tax" bill that will negate much of the hard work and sacrifices the owner and the owner's family made over the years?"
Holtz-Eakin cites a study conducted for the American Family Business Foundation, that analyzed the reactions of small businesses to past tax changes. He said they found eliminating the estate tax would "increase the climate for wealth accumulation, ultimately increasing wealth in the United States by $1.6 trillion. Small-business investment would rise by more than 3% annually. That in turn would increase small-business payrolls by as much as 2.6%, adding roughly 1.5 million jobs to the economy, or nearly half the number President Obama hopes to save or "create."
Hopefully Congress will listen to reason rather than tax everyone to death - and beyond.
Roskam called the estate tax an "albatross around the neck" of small business owners and entrepreneurs. A repeal of this tax will help create prosperity, he said. A video of Roskam's argument can be found here.
Currently the estate tax is set to sunset next year, although that would be temporary. It will come back the next year.
Proponents of the estate tax argue the tax on inheritance will prevent the perpetuation of wealth in one family. But put more simply, proponents of the estate tax do not believe money belongs to the people, money belongs to the state. These people believe money should not simply be handed from one person to another without the state getting another taste through taxation. They argue that it is income and should be taxed as such -despite the fact it was already taxed when it was first made.
Following this logic, one can make a Swiftonian argument that the allowance a parent gives his child should be taxed because that's income to the child. Or birthday money should be taxed because that's income to the birthday boy or girl.
Ending the estate tax is the right measure to take. Eliminating the estate tax will allow small businesses to expand at a greater rate. Because of the current rate, many small business owners would rather spend their profits rather than reinvest them back into the company.
Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin said in a Los Angeles Times column the "high estate tax rates provide small-business owners with a powerful incentive to limit the size of their companies. Why would a business owner want to expand his or her company beyond a certain size if the end result will be a large "death tax" bill that will negate much of the hard work and sacrifices the owner and the owner's family made over the years?"
Holtz-Eakin cites a study conducted for the American Family Business Foundation, that analyzed the reactions of small businesses to past tax changes. He said they found eliminating the estate tax would "increase the climate for wealth accumulation, ultimately increasing wealth in the United States by $1.6 trillion. Small-business investment would rise by more than 3% annually. That in turn would increase small-business payrolls by as much as 2.6%, adding roughly 1.5 million jobs to the economy, or nearly half the number President Obama hopes to save or "create."
Hopefully Congress will listen to reason rather than tax everyone to death - and beyond.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Renaming Democratic Party is a foolish priority
The Republican National Committee is meeting this week and the results of that meeting are likely to be disastrous for the party rather than beneficial.
Rather than focusing on the two national electoral smackdowns, the party powers that be want to focus on a name calling agenda item. What's this item - it's to rename (in GOP speak) the Democratic Party to "The Democrat-Socialist Party." Not only is this a waste of time, but it will further isolate the national GOP from mainstream voters. This tells voters that the national Republican Party isn't interested in smaller government, fiscal responsibility, national defense, health care, or any other issue important to the people. Rather, the party is only interested in labels. This move will not help a single national candidate win an election, and in fact, could hurt the chances of state and local candidates. Nor will this labeling of the Democrats help with fundraising or new voter registration. According to a Washington Post poll published last week, the number of self-identifying Republicans stood at 21 percent. That's not a number to be proud of.
Calling Democrats socialists also leaves the national GOP wide open to criticism since the past eight years of national Republican leadership led to the biggest expansion of the federal government in decades. It's not a legacy for the party trumpeting fiscal responsibility and smaller government to be proud of.
If Republicans want to break the stranglehold of the the Democrats on Washington, D.C. and many state capitals, the party needs to focus on engaging the voting public rather than alienating it.
Rather than focusing on the two national electoral smackdowns, the party powers that be want to focus on a name calling agenda item. What's this item - it's to rename (in GOP speak) the Democratic Party to "The Democrat-Socialist Party." Not only is this a waste of time, but it will further isolate the national GOP from mainstream voters. This tells voters that the national Republican Party isn't interested in smaller government, fiscal responsibility, national defense, health care, or any other issue important to the people. Rather, the party is only interested in labels. This move will not help a single national candidate win an election, and in fact, could hurt the chances of state and local candidates. Nor will this labeling of the Democrats help with fundraising or new voter registration. According to a Washington Post poll published last week, the number of self-identifying Republicans stood at 21 percent. That's not a number to be proud of.
Calling Democrats socialists also leaves the national GOP wide open to criticism since the past eight years of national Republican leadership led to the biggest expansion of the federal government in decades. It's not a legacy for the party trumpeting fiscal responsibility and smaller government to be proud of.
If Republicans want to break the stranglehold of the the Democrats on Washington, D.C. and many state capitals, the party needs to focus on engaging the voting public rather than alienating it.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hypocrite Stroger owes back taxes
Isn't it funny how the folks who want you to pay more in taxes are often the ones who don't pay their own taxes. Americans have seen several of President Obama's appointments derailed due to failure to pay income taxes. How unpatriotic of them. I mean, according to Vice President Joe Biden, paying taxes is one's patriotic duty.
Now the chickens have come home to roost, so to speak. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger owes the federal government $12,000 in back taxes. According to federal documents, the IRS put a lien on Stroger's home on March 23 for $11,668.10 in unpaid income taxes.
As a public servant, Stroger earns about $170,000 annually, according to the Daily Herald. A Stroger spokesman told media outlets that the Stroger family made arrangements to pay off the debt. But that's beside the point. Stroger is adamant in his defense of Cook County's high taxes that they're for the public good. Obviously though it's not necessary for Stroger to contribute his money for the public good. Stroger talks the talk, but refuses to walk the walk. It would behoove Cook County voters to send Stroger walking in the next election.
Now the chickens have come home to roost, so to speak. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger owes the federal government $12,000 in back taxes. According to federal documents, the IRS put a lien on Stroger's home on March 23 for $11,668.10 in unpaid income taxes.
As a public servant, Stroger earns about $170,000 annually, according to the Daily Herald. A Stroger spokesman told media outlets that the Stroger family made arrangements to pay off the debt. But that's beside the point. Stroger is adamant in his defense of Cook County's high taxes that they're for the public good. Obviously though it's not necessary for Stroger to contribute his money for the public good. Stroger talks the talk, but refuses to walk the walk. It would behoove Cook County voters to send Stroger walking in the next election.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Cook County Board should override Stroger's veto and repeal the tax hike
Cook County President Todd Stroger says repealing a sale tax increase would put the county in a $250 million hole. He vetoed the county board's decision to roll back the tax.
Last week, the county board voted 12-3 to rollback the tax from 1.75 percent to .75 percent. A majority of board commissioners who supported the repeal have said the shortfall could be made up by better budget management, including scaling back patronage hiring. Stroger said the board doesn't have the votes to override his veto.
Stroger told the Sun Times that eliminating a full percent from 1.75 percent to .75 percent would result in closing down health clinics that serve the uninsured. To further the populace in the public opinion battle, Stroger said the number of patients coming to county health facilities with no insurance or no ability to pay is up 10 percent this year.
Last week, the county board voted 12-3 to rollback the tax from 1.75 percent to .75 percent. A majority of board commissioners who supported the repeal have said the shortfall could be made up by better budget management, including scaling back patronage hiring. Stroger said the board doesn't have the votes to override his veto.
But Stroger doesn't think so. Of course Stroger is well known for hiring political cronies and putting his family members on the county payroll. Stroger has his supporters, but the truth of the matter is Cook County is taxed too high. Numerous county residents travel to DuPage County to shop so they can save money on sales taxes. In the April elections, residents of three Cook County municipalities supported a non-binding resolution to leave Cook County because of the high taxes.
County board members would do well to remember that taxes are going up across the state because government is out of control. Tell Stroger no and repeal the tax.
DuPage Board rightly rejects imposing limits on churches
The DuPage County Board of Commissioners rightly rejected a decision that would impose strict limitations on where churches can build. According to the Daily Herald, board members said they initially wanted to control church construction and growth in residential areas. But, they said the proposed zoning changes went beyond what the commission intended when the issue of controlling church construction was first broached. The board said they wanted to control the growth of churches in residential areas after they received petitions to turn several single-family homes into a religious facility.
The proposal would have required new churches to build on at least five acres, which opponents complained would limit churches to only parcels along highways or industrial parks. But that would also limit new church construction and expansion of existing churches. Property in DuPage County is at a premium, especially in the eastern portions of the county. New churches would have to rent empty theaters or seek empty strip mall spaces.
Considering DuPage County already has ordinances in place to prevent the construction of religious sites or places of assembly if the site is deemed to have traffic, parking or other site-specific problems. But it is wise to block the turning of single-family homes into places of worship and perhaps a property tax dodge. But penalizing church construction is not the right answer to addressing this problem.
The proposal would have required new churches to build on at least five acres, which opponents complained would limit churches to only parcels along highways or industrial parks. But that would also limit new church construction and expansion of existing churches. Property in DuPage County is at a premium, especially in the eastern portions of the county. New churches would have to rent empty theaters or seek empty strip mall spaces.
Considering DuPage County already has ordinances in place to prevent the construction of religious sites or places of assembly if the site is deemed to have traffic, parking or other site-specific problems. But it is wise to block the turning of single-family homes into places of worship and perhaps a property tax dodge. But penalizing church construction is not the right answer to addressing this problem.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Board members refuse to recuse themselves
Typical bought politicians. Members of the College of DuPage board who were elected in large part due to funding from an education political action committee based on the college campus and funded by a teachers union.
The Daily Herald is reporting the four members of the board (three new and the current chairman) refuse to recuse themselves from negotiations over college faculty salaries. During Monday's board meeting, outgoing member Kory Atkinson displayed two oversized checks totaling $100,000. The checks symbolized the amount of money spent by the teachers union on the election of the board members. College of DuPage Friends of Education helped Kim Savage, Nancy Svoboda and Sandy Kim win seats on the board last month.
Because the issue of taxpayer money is at hand, should the board members be beholden to a teachers organization - especially when it comes to the board voting on faculty salary. All citizens have a right to lobby their government, but if the members of the government are beholden to a small segment of the population, it leads to an appearance of a conflict of interest when it comes to legislation concerning that segment.
The board members must recuse themselves from voting on faculty salaries or the stain of corruption will smear this board.
The Daily Herald is reporting the four members of the board (three new and the current chairman) refuse to recuse themselves from negotiations over college faculty salaries. During Monday's board meeting, outgoing member Kory Atkinson displayed two oversized checks totaling $100,000. The checks symbolized the amount of money spent by the teachers union on the election of the board members. College of DuPage Friends of Education helped Kim Savage, Nancy Svoboda and Sandy Kim win seats on the board last month.
Because the issue of taxpayer money is at hand, should the board members be beholden to a teachers organization - especially when it comes to the board voting on faculty salary. All citizens have a right to lobby their government, but if the members of the government are beholden to a small segment of the population, it leads to an appearance of a conflict of interest when it comes to legislation concerning that segment.
The board members must recuse themselves from voting on faculty salaries or the stain of corruption will smear this board.
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