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Rick's Rants and Raves

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Like an athlete who thinks the name on the back of the jersey is more important than the name on the front --- a politician who places his name prominently on his cause, or moreso than his cause, has lost sense of priority and needs to go!
Jesse White - Driver Services Facility - State of Illinois - Abuse of Power
Jesse White - Illinois Secretary of State abuses his power of office by placing his name on State Driver Services Facility signs.
It doesn't end there... look at the Illinois State Driver Services website! 
Examples of ABUSE:
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/
"The Official Web site for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White".
Isn't is supposed to be the official website for the
STATE OF ILLINOIS Department of Motor Vehicles??
Look at the signs outside the DMV centers - is it Jesse White's office or does it belong to the State of Illinois??

Stop the politicians tagging our infrastructure

How much money do we spend to promote our politicians and their egos rather than to
serve the interests of the people?
How many DuPage County Forest Preserve District signs feature President Dewey Pierotti?
I pass no less than five on the way to work. Why do we pay to promote these politician?
Who pays to replace these signs when they are replaced? No wonder Illinois is $13bn in the red!
Dewey Pierotti - President DuPage Forest Preserve District - abuse of power 
Dewey Pierotti, DuPage Forest Preserve District President abuses his power of office through
self promotion at taxpayer expense.
This issue was brought to light when our honorable governor was impeached from office.
CHICAGO (CBS) reported on May 16, 2011 – "Only about an hour into Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term, the signs on the Chicago Skyway were being replaced with his name."
Excerpt. Link
To his credit, note that when Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn took office in 2009, his spokesman said the governor directed state agencies to "replace [former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's] name in a timely and least expensive manner." He added that Quinn's preference was for large signs to be left blank, or read simply "The People of Illinois."
Other people's rants on the issue - from the Chicago Tribune "Voice of the Poeple"

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

February 03, 2009

First line of business

Pat Quinn's first line of business after being sworn in was to remove disgraced Rod Blagojevich's name from the signs trumpeting open-road tolling on the state's tollway system.

Marvelous.

Let's go one step further and have any public building or structure with any politician's name on it stricken as well. And while we're at it, roadway signs welcoming drivers into the state of Illinois should be welcomed by the people of Illinois and not the sitting governor. With the revolving door of corruption in the governor's mansion, it will save taxpayers from having to change the signs on what has become an all-too-frequent basis.

Is anything in this state that has been built with taxpayers' money not tainted by the pay-to-play corruption endemic throughout our politicians? The howls of protest and disgust over Blagojevich's outright solicitation of campaign contributions by our state senators is the height of hypocrisy. One can imagine what we'd hear if we were privy to any one of our state's politicians if they were subjected to the same scrutiny as the former governor.

-- Steve Sarich, Grayslake

Voters' job

I think Pat Quinn was wrong to remove Rod Blagojevich's name from the signs that festoon Illinois toll locations. The signs should have remained in place as a regular reminder that we voters need to take our jobs more seriously. If seeing Blagojevich's name didn't do the trick, paying the toll as we pass under it should have made the point.

-- W.R. Nelson, Glenview

Helpful reminders

I think Rod Blagojevich's name should have been left on tollway signs and the impeachment date should have been added, and, if convicted of a crime, the sentencing date should have been added. This should be done with any sign with a politician's name on it if convicted of a crime to remind voters of what party the politician represents.

-- Jerome C. Malon, Chicago

Erasable names

If Illinois politicians must have their names on signs, and with there being a revolving door of occupants in office, perhaps the state could save money by printing their names in pencil.

-- K. Sislow, Riverwoods

Missed opportunity

With the removal of four letters and rearranging two, we could have had: "Open Road Tolling -- Rod R. Blagojevich, gone!"

This would have provided Illinois citizens a badly needed smile.

-- W. Bradley, Glen Ellyn

Signs of the times

 
This isn't the problem, its a symptom of a much larger set of significant problems facing Illinois. See Rant of Republican Roger Keats below.

Blagojevich's name coming off tollway signs

| 44 Comments | UPDATED STORY
The controversial signs at Illinois tollway plazas announcing "Open Road Tolling -- Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich" will soon be changed, a tollway spokeswoman said today.

New signs, keeping the open-road-tolling message but covering Blagojevich's name, will be placed over the old ones, said Joelle McGinnis, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, before the Illinois Senate voted to remove the governor.

The new signs will have the toll plaza's name and number, McGinnis said. They will not feature the name of Gov. Patrick Quinn or any other politician.

The 32 blue Blagojevich signs were erected in 2004 at a cost of $480,000. McGinnis estimated it would cost $15,000 apiece to change them. Tollway crews probably will replace the signs at night to minimize traffic disruptions, she said.

Then-Lt. Gov. Quinn, who criticized the signs as a symbol of "pompous government," told the Tribune this week he would like to hold a ceremony to take them down.

--Rich Wronski

 
Another Rick's Rant -
Political campaign signs posted on public park and forest preserve land ...
Can't stand those pesky political campaign signs promoting a given candidate? Okay, they serve a purpose informing the public and allowing citizens to show their support for their candidate of choice. Candidates abuse those signs when they place them on public park and forest preserve lands. The following candidates posted campaign signs on our protected Forest Preserve property.

If they don't play by the rules and respect protected lands when running for office, what does that say about how they will behave and perform when elected to office?
 
Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land - McKillip Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land - McKillip
Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land - Paul O'Shea Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land - Paul O'Shea
McKillip Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land  Paul O'Shea Campaign Signs on
Forest Preserve Land 
   
Election sign abuse - Woodridge Mayor candidate Vandor on Forest Preserve Land
Vandor for Mayor - Woodridge, IL  - Green Valley and Hobson Forest Preserve Lands
What was particularly egregious and aggravating here was that some of these signs were not even posted in the jurisdiction or town where people could vote against this guy! 
   
Abusive Campaign Signs on Forest Preserve Land Abusive campaign signs on protected forest preserve lands
   

Other abuses -  Campaign signs break law in OKC
Candidate signs linger after election's end
Campaign Signs Breaking The Law?
Illegally-Posted Campaign Signs

 

Roger Keats Says Goodbye To Chicago 

After losing election for Cook County Board of Supervisors, a frustrated Republican says farewell to the Democratic machine of Illinois:

GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK
As we leave Illinois for good, I wanted to say goodbye to my friends and wish all of you well. I am a lifelong son of the heartland and proud of it. After 60 years, I leave Illinois with a heavy heart. BUT enough is enough! The leaders of Illinois refuse to see we can’t continue going in the direction we are and expect people who have options to stay here. I remember when Illinois had 25 congressmen. In 2012 we will have 18. Compared to the rest of the country we have lost 1/4rd of our population. Don’t blame the weather, because I love 4 seasons.

Illinois is ranked 50th for fiscal policy; 47th in job creation; 1st in unfunded pension liabilities; 2nd largest budget deficit; 1st in failing schools; 1st in bonded indebtedness; highest sales tax in the nation; most judges indicted (Operations Greylord and Gambat); and 5 of our last 9 elected number of governors have been indicted. That is more than the other 49 states put together! Then add 32 Chicago Aldermen and (according to the Chicago Tribune) over 1000 state and municipal employees indicted. The corruption tax is a real cost of doing business. We are the butt of jokes for stand up comics.

We live in the most corrupt big city, in the most corrupt big county in the most corrupt state in America. I am sick and tired of subsidizing crooks. A day rarely passes without an article about the corruption and incompetence. Chicago even got caught rigging the tests to hire police and fire! Our Crook County CORPORATE property tax system is intentionally corrupt. The Democrat State Chairman who is also the Speaker of the Illinois House and the most senior alderman in Chicago each make well over a million dollars a year putting the fix in for their client’s tax assessments.

We are moving to Texas where there is no income tax while Illinois’ just went up 67%. Texas’ sales tax is ½ of ours, which is the highest in the nation. Southern states are supportive of job producers, tax payers and folks who offer opportunities to their residents. Illinois shakes them down for every penny that can be extorted from them.

In the Hill Country of Texas (near Austin and San Antonio) we bought a gracious home on almost 2 acres with a swimming pool. I is new, cost us around 40% of what our home in Wilmette just sold for, and the property taxes are a third of what they are here. Crook County’s property tax system is a disaster: Wilmette homes near ours sell for 50% more and their property taxes are ½ of ours. Our assessed home value was 50% higher than the sales price. The system is unfair and incompetent.

Our home value is down 40%, our property taxes are up 20% and our local schools have still another referendum on the ballot to increase taxes over 20% in one year. I could go on, but enough is enough. I feel as if we are standing on the deck of the Titanic and I can see the icebergs right in front of us. I will miss our friends a great deal. I have called Illinois home for essentially my entire life. But it is time to go where there is honest, competent and cost effective government. We have chosen to vote with our feet and our wallets. My best to all of you and Good luck!
 
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