I live in Illinois. Illinois is a conservative’s nightmare. If you are trapped in the Land of Lincoln you can give up on anything worthwhile happening in the political arena. Better to hope for a miracle to minimize the damage from Springfield lawmakers’ decisions or, in the case of public pension reform, the refusal to make a decision.
By December Illinois will be doling out driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants under the foolish liberal do-gooder delusion that making illegals prove they have insurance when they get their license will ensure that they keep it. Are state legislators stupid, or do they believe their vision is so vital that they ignore the ethical questions swirling around their decisions as if they don’t matter?
Illinois politics stinks. Washington is worse. You can leave Illinois, but the decisions members of Congress make on Capitol Hill impact everyone and make you a very tiny part of the big picture. If your senator or representative is a Democrat, then their decisions make you a contributor to the problems they create because they represent you.
What can we do between elections to get even with the stupidity we are forced to fund in government? Sometimes we get lucky. We stumble across an announcement for a candidate’s forum, town hall meeting, or some other public political event. If you are a conservative in Illinois or any blue state and feel inclined to ask a few ethical questions of your Democratic member of Congress, here are a few ideas to get you started.
Where do you draw the line between social welfare and fiscal responsibility?
When do fairness and rights for illegal immigrants take precedence over the needs of American citizens?
What would you tell the parent of a student who is a citizen and was just denied resident tuition at a state school that granted it to the son of illegal immigrants living across the street?
Could your stance on the Affordable Care Act ever come before the wishes of your constituents?
Is the vote important enough to our democracy that Americans should prove they are eligible to exercise it?
Which is more important, the national debt or the partisan issues that keep us from fixing it?
What problems justify increasing the deficit?
If telling a lie was the only way to pass a piece of legislation you knew would bring huge benefits, would it be worth it?
If you thought your constituents were wrong about a bill, would you vote against their wishes?
When does the common good justify breaking party rank?
Considering you are a federal legislator, if a provision of a bill benefits members of your state but harms residents of others, is it still a good idea?
And a few ethical questions for members of the Illinois legislature:
Illinois raised the state income tax and most of the take went to a pension payment. When is it justified to take money from all to benefit the few?
The income tax increase was sold as a temporary tax hike. Will it be repealed on schedule?
One of the reasons behind giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants is so they can get to work and school. Illinois has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and it is illegal to work without a work permit. How will the driver’s license law not bring competition for jobs with citizens, undercut wages, and encourage an illegal workforce?
Civil Candor, I agree with you. Those in government receiving pay checks and other benefits provided by the taxpayer look out for themselves, they are greedy.
I am going to guess the answer is an unconditional “Hell yes, I would.”
One more question:
Would you vote for an increase in pay for Congress and other government officials knowing that some of the laws you have passed put millions of Americans on the unemployment lines?