State Rep. Darlene Senger of Naperville has an interesting dilemma. She will be faced with a massive tax increase on thousands of everyday items, necessities, really, like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, sunscreen. A whopping 500%-plus tax increase on such items just passed the Illinois Senate and is now heading her way.

The bill also taxes non-essential things — those little nice little extras that we treat ourselves to — like candy, beer and soft drinks. Not necessarily the soft drinks that are nutritional, like anything over 50% juice. The ones that have less or no nutritional value, the kind that come in a pre-sealed bottle and contain natural or artificial sweeteners, like, oh, I don’t know, a Snapple Iced Tea.

If you think that because Senger is a Republican that this would be a no brainer, think again. Republicans in the Senate gushed with praise for the legislation. Her counterpart senator, Republican Randy Hultgren, voted YES. Republican Dan Cronin voted YES. Republican Carole Pankau voted YES. Republican Kirk Dillard voted YES.

Obviously, the best thing for her to do now is to “take a stand against her party,” and as you may know, any such stand will need to be approved of ahead of time by her party leadership and would have to have absolutely no consequences, like killing the bill.

But then she may not get that approval. That kind of discord can have consequences in this tax-hostile region of the Western Suburbs. The Republican Party stoked the anti-tax flames on April 15 by staging a Tax Day Protest in Downtown Naperville and said before God and everyone that they are sick of the taxes. Come to find out, most of the area’s state senators voted for this fiscally irresponsible and immoral bill.

If Representative Darlene Senger, who was a featured speaker at the Tax Day Protest, votes against the tax that Hultgren is for, it may get those hard-core right-wingers thinking, “Maybe she ought to have HIS job.” I’m sure Hultgren doesn’t want that, does he? And if they can say that about Hultgren in some districts, voters in other can say Cronin, Pankau and Dillard shouldn’t have their jobs either. Find more people like Senger, for goodness sake!

Thus, there may be some pressure to show what a darned good idea this is, even though it’s a tax increase, by having all House Republicans on board with the plan.

So will the Tax Day Tea Party protester raise taxes on Snapple Iced Tea? Stay tuned.

Receiving glowing praise for their bi-partisanship, the leaders of the Illinois Senate just passed a massive tax increase on a wide range of ordinary products that you might buy on your next trip to the grocery store. Everything from candy to toothpaste, taxes will increase to 6.25%*.

If you’re among those of us who drive, get ready to shell out more for the privilege. License fees are going up.

They also allowed the state to lease out the Illinois Lottery so a private middle management company can take a cut (that can’t be good for jackpots!) and expanded gambling to include video poker machines, turning every bar and roadhouse into a gambler’s paradise.

The spending increases were introduced to the public and passed with blinding speed. The spending measures were also buried in a totally unrelated bills, so an enterprising citizen like you might not be able to find it without a little help. Here’s where you can find info on your new taxes:

HB 255 - Senate Amendment 1 - the video gaming and tax/fee hike bill
HB 312 - Senate Amendment 2 - this is what they’re going to spend your money on

Again, these bills had broad support of Republicans and Democrats. So remember, next time you see your state senator, be sure to say thank you.

* corrected

Check out this excellent timeline on torture. This is a fascinating history of the Iraq War.

While reading the timeline I remembered Jessica Lynch, and wondered specifically what the Bush administration propagandists had to say about torture back then as this hero fable was being sold to the public. Check out this People Magazine article from the time, which reads like a Karl Rove press release on what happened.

Note that the un-named administration source calls the imaginary torturers “barbaric”. That an Iraqi officer slapping Lynch undermined her humanity — that’s a tactic right out of Bush administration’s own handbook!

This same tactic of slapping is mercilessly being mocked RIGHT NOW by right-wingers. What’s so bad about a slap? Yet here we have a story fabricated by the Bush administration where one of the main characters is so disturbed by this slapping that he begins to fear for his own safety, even hides his wife and kid, then risks his own life by going to the U.S. Military.

When this horseshit was originally disproven, critics at the time accused the Bush administration of concocting the tale to sell the war. But many Americans (including most of the media) were already sold on the war and would remain sold for years afterward.

In light of what we now know was going on, it is clear that the Lynch myth was created not to sell the war, but to sell torture. After all, if these evil Iraqi’s could do it to Wirt County Fair’s 2000 Miss Congeniality, by golly, they could do it to you too, and that made it okay for US to do it to THEM.

The story of Jessica Lynch is a torture fantasy written by torturers. And yet, it still manages to be an indictment of torture as a tactic that doesn’t work in getting intelligence (they claim Lynch remained defiant through the torture). This illustrates that only thing torture succeeds in doing was scaring the living crap out of every man, woman and child who hears about.

Excerpts below, but definitely read the whole article:
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20139817,00.html

Whether she was shot in captivity or earlier, during the battle in which she was captured, or even through friendly fire, is still uncertain. But a Capitol Hill source privy to intelligence briefings about her condition tells PEOPLE that some of her wounds were the result of extensive torture. “Those people—the Iraqi captors—were barbaric,” says the source. “I have no doubt that with her injuries, and with what they had planned for her, she was going to die.” Her tormentors apparently met their match in Wirt County Fair’s 2000 Miss Congeniality.
…
She has many to thank for her survival, among them a 32-year-old lawyer named Mohammed who had seen Lynch on a chance visit to Nasiriya’s six-story Saddam Hussein Hospital, where his wife worked as a nurse….Mohammed (whose last name hasn’t been disclosed for security reasons) says he saw a black-uniformed officer whom others addressed as the Colonel slap the woman across the face. “The Colonel wanted a certain reaction out of Jessica, and he didn’t get what he wanted,” says a Pentagon intelligence officer familiar with Mohammed’s account. Horrified by what he had witnessed and fearing for his own family’s safety, Mohammed sent his wife and 6-year-old daughter to stay with a relative and walked six miles outside of town to tell U.S. GIs where Lynch was being held. “My heart cut,” says Mohammed, whose story has been confirmed by the Pentagon. “A person, no matter his nationality, is a human being. It was very important that I save Jessica’s life.”

Republican Representative Judy Biggert’s Public Schedule:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009:

As taxpayers around the nation hold tea parties to protest excessive government spending, borrowing, and taxing, Biggert will attend several such events being organized by area bloggers and taxpayer advocates….

Thursday, April 16, 2009:

Biggert will join officials from the Army Corp of Engineers, the Cook County Forest Preserve, Orland Park, Tinley Park, and the Audubon Society to celebrate the groundbreaking of a federally-funded effort to restore the Orland Grasslands….Biggert has long supported the restoration, having secured funding for the project over several years.

Friday, April 17, 2009:

In preparation for Earth Day, Biggert will visit a local branch office of UPS during an event showcasing its new hydraulic hybrid delivery truck….The truck is the result of a partnership formed in 2006 between UPS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Eaton Corporation, the U.S. Army, and Navistar International Corp.

Just out of curiosity…anyone who attended the tax day tea parties…did Biggert get up in front of the crowd and offer a preview of her little pork tour?

And in case you missed Republican Rep. Judy Biggert’s earmark requests, they’re available here on her Web site. Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, surely this is just a blank Web page. Didn’t Biggert declare a personal moratorium on earmarks on March 25, 2008? In fact, didn’t she say this at the time:

“Last year, Congress passed 11,737 earmarks at a cost of $16.9 billion in taxpayer money,” said Biggert. “And just this month, the House Democrat majority passed a budget that sets the stage for more spending and the largest tax increase in history — $683 billion over five years. They want to raise taxes, but they don’t want a transparent process that allows wasteful spending to be challenged on the House floor. My constituents don’t want to pay for bridges to nowhere and indoor rainforests in Iowa anymore.”

Yes, you are correct in your recollection. She did publicly declare a little more than one year ago that she would not repeat NOT participate in the earmark process. These bridges to nowhere (referring to a project in Alaska earmarked by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and met with much fanfare at the time by Republican Gov. Sarah Palin) and indoor rainforests in Iowa (if you’re not sure what that is, imagine an Orland Grassland, except indoors) would have no place in her district. No sir!

So why the change of heart this year? Well, apparently, now that House rules obligate her to tell the public what earmarks she is making, that means it’s now okay to make earmarks. And like that, earmarks transform from evil bad spending to the one thing that can save us from the wrath of the dreaded Washington Bureaucrat. Quoth Judy:

“Members know their district’s needs better than some bureaucrat in Washington, but every dollar of taxpayer money should be fully vetted by the public and scrutinized for waste, fraud, and abuse.”

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with any of these projects. I’m all for the Grasslands. God knows I’m all for the 63rd Street Sewer Expansion. And if the Women’s Entrepreneurial Education and Workforce Development Initiative at Benedictine University says they need $300,000 to teach job skills to low and middle income women then I say give the Women’s Entrepreneurial Education and Workforce Development Initiative at Benedictine University the $300,000, damn it!

But then, I would not be caught dead at one of those stupid tax day tea parties, except to mock it. But then again, maybe I’m not giving her enough credit. Maybe that’s exactly why she went.

The headline:

$2.5 billion Midway Airport lease deal officially dead

The story:

Chicago officials say talks calling on a $2.5 billion deal to lease Midway Airport to private investors have collapsed because of the economy.

It’s too bad the bad economy couldn’t kill the other ill-advised privatization deals Daley has rammed through, such as the leasing of the Chicago Skyway and the leasing of city streets to corporations who jack up the rates and basically sit back and collect the cash. It’s too bad for Daley, his olympic spending orgy won’t be quite what he’d hoped, but it’s good for the rest of us.

Daley shouldn’t cry too much: With the biggest congressional backer of the superfluous third airport in Peotone, Jesse Jackson Jr., being scrutinized for his involvement in the Blagojevich Senate seat fiasco, Midway should remain financially viable for years to come. It’s a good thing. Don’t mess with it.

Bad!

In case you’ve missed it, there was a chilling article in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune on contamination in the Crestwood municipal water supply. Read it here

There are still unanswered questions, like “how in the hell could this happen?” There are several clues, and incidentally, they all can be found in the same paragraph (my bold):

For years Crestwood was best known for its longtime mayor, Chester “Chet” Stranczek, a former minor-league pitcher and trucking company owner who boasted that he ran the village like a business.

Here we have a mayor who bragged about the great taste of his towns water, who cut costs by cutting corners. Yes, he did indeed run the village like a business. And therein lies the problem. Governments are NOT businesses, and therefore, they should not be run like businesses. Businesses are self-serving entities. Governments are entities that serve the greater good. One is not like the other.

Here’s another clue that something’s not right in Crestwood:

Stranczek retired in 2007 after nearly four decades in office and was succeeded by his son, Robert.

So Stranczek builds this town almost four decades and gives it over to his son? Kind of like a family business? Was there was no hint of a clue of public accountability in this town?

This is as much of an indictment of Illinois election code as it is the Illinois EPA and environmental monitoring. People, we cannot keep re-electing people to the same office for four decades, and then when they step down, elect their kids. Why even have the election?

We badly need term limits so we know that people who run government like a business will occasionally get swept out and replaced by people who can capably run a government like a government.

Polls in DuPage County will be open until 7 p.m., so be sure to head down to your local polling place and do your democracy proud. Chances are, you won’t run into any crowds.

Which leads me to a broader question…why do so few people vote in local races? Is it that people don’t know? Is it that people don’t care? Both?

It’s true that detailed information on local candidates is, shall we say, lacking. Most of the time, you can find out that someone is running from the board of elections, along with their address, which unless you’re planning to go knocking on each candidate’s door, it’s probably not going to do you too much good. Searching for information on Google can be hit or miss, because not all news outlets have their sites indexed. And even when a newspaper does have info about a local candidate, it’s probably a very, very small percentage of what you would need to feel “informed”. And if you are one of those determined citizens who make it out to a candidate forum, you’re not going to get much information there, depending on how long the forum is and how many candidates are present, you may not get too much info there.

In my local races, I had a few questions about some of the candidates, and I traded notes with several people, and even talked to some of the candidates directly. It’s the only way, most of the time.

As you know God’s wrath is upon us:

According to the founding pastor of New York City’s Times Square Church, David Wilkerson, denizens of the Big Apple should stockpile survival gear and a month’s supply of non-perishable food in preparation for an “earth-shattering calamity” that could happen at any moment. The threat is not from foreign terrorists this time, but instead from God.

Question: How exactly will duct tape and trail mix help you survive the End of Times?

I think our national mood has moved from concern, to distress, to panic, which is what you get when distess reaches the point of absurdity.

Here’s an interesting pickle: What do you do if you’re a Republican governor who hates government, who wants to halt the move toward universal health care, who wants to dismantle public education, who detests mass transit, and this big fat stimulus check arrives in your state’s mailbox. Do you take it? do you reject it?

Actually, you do both, that is, if you’re Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas, Sarah Palin of Alaska, “Butch” Otter of Idaho, Mark Sanford, or Bobby Jindal of Louisiana:

A handful of Republican governors are considering turning down some money from the federal stimulus package , a move opponents say puts conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents struggling with record foreclosures and soaring unemployment.

Though none has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion bill signed into law this week will even help the economy.

Of course none of them will walk away from the money. They know that when something goes wrong, people tend to blame executives, be they mayors, governors or presidents. As much as they might complain, executives have to take the resources they’re given and make it work. And the ones who don’t do that will be toast.

Updated March 23, 2009: Great. Everytime a volcano erupts, I’m going to think of Bobby Jindal. You’ll remember that in his poorly executed response to Obama’s national address, he derrided “something called volcano monitoring” as just one of the many supposedly wasteful things in the stimulus package.

Here is an example of how government works. Cell phones and cell phone accessories are one of the most ridiculous wastes of money for consumers on the market today. It seems all phones have their own special cord that goes with them, even among the same manufacturer.

That’s by design, because when you buy that $30 charger for your cell phone and that phone breaks down, you’re stuck with a perfectly good but useless $30 charger. That’s the reality of the free market: everyone is out to make money, so every phone manufacturer is in on the scam, and you as a consumer don’t have a choice.

But soon (well, in 2012), thanks to government intervention, this little racket is coming to an end (from Yahoo! Tech):

This morning at the GSMA Mobile World Congress conference taking place in Barcelona, a mammoth pile of cell phone manufacturers have agreed to a universal cell phone charger standard. […]

Only days ago, the European Union announced it would be pursuing stronger means of forcing cell phone makers to get together on a charging standard that would work across a range of different handsets.

So a uniform standard was not impossible to find, and it was not even that difficult to find. The fact that this was done so quickly tells us that probably these cell phone manufacturers already knew of a standard that they would all be happy with some time ago. But it still took that added step of government intervention to actually get them to adopt something as commonsense as a universal standard.

This will save everyone who buys a cell phone money. And for those who worship the myth of the free market, don’t worry, you can still waste your $30 in plenty of other ways.