Mayor’s Row………..by Ned Mitchell
From time to time I get email, phone calls, personal conversations about this column and every now and then things handed to me. We’ll start off first today with one of those things handed to me. It was emailed to Sesser resident and friend Keith Ward and his from his nephew, Tom Coggins and is right on target. It goes like this;
A new element, the heaviest yet known to science has been discovered and named the Governmentium atom. It has one neutron, 12 assistance neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic weight of 312.
These particles are held together by forces called morons, each of which is surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Governmentium has no electrons so it is inert. It can be detected in microscopic quantities because it impedes every reaction or process it comes in contact with. A minute amount of Governmentium often causes an action that would normally take a fraction of a second to require over 4 days to reach termination.
It has a half life of 4 years and will not decay by ejecting undesired component particles but undergoes internal reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and the deputy neutrons exchange places at frequent intervals. This allows Governmentium to increase in mass over time since each reorganization allows additional morons to become neutrons thereby forming what are called isodopes. This moron promotion and isodope formation leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed spontaneously whenever morons achieve a certain level of concentration in any given location.
I don’t know if Keith is calling us morons or peons down here, but if the shoe fits, we’ll have to wear it. Thanks to Keith for passing that along from Tom-it is a very funny look at our government today from top to bottom, and there is a lot of truth in it!
Well I wasn’t called a moron or peon by some of the local press during a hosted tour of democratic gubernatorial candidate Edwin Eisendrath’s visit to Southern Illinois last week but I was termed an “outspoken supporter” of Eisendrath.
Here is the deal on that subject. I, like another friend in particular, Kenneth Richardson of Benton, say what I mean and mean what I say. That’s a simple concept and one that I happen to think we need more of today, especially from politicians. You and I may not agree on things, but it is important for us to be honest with each other and express our thoughts and ideas in a civil manner. The whole idea of writing a column is to express viewpoints that cause us to stop and think. I read dozens of them each day on my computer and while I don’t always agree with the writer, I do think about what they write from their perspective and often find myself changing how I think about a given subject or idea. I don’t have a corner on good ideas but try to approach events from a common sense angle in a tell it like it is manner.
That being said and back to the start of this section. I am an “outspoken supporter” of Edwin Eisendrath for governor and here are some reasons. Things are not going well in this state and it is time we cut to the chase and quit lying to each other. We are over 60 billion dollars in debt that has to be paid back by somebody. Our debt has doubled under the reformer/unreformer. If you are a teacher or a state employee you need to be very interested in your pension plan. It is the worst funded plan out of the 50 states. Our very wise politicians in this state skipped last year’s pension payment of 1.5 billion dollars and a like amount this year. They used that money to pay for everyday bills and frivolous pork projects throughout the state to help themselves get re-elected. They owe a whopping 40 billion, yes billion dollars to this plan right now and in just 9 years the annual payment will be 10 billion dollars. Get your calculator out and figure it.
I do appreciate outspoken people though and one of them followed Eisendrath at a campaign stop in Christopher. Former Congressman David Phelps has always been a stand up guy and he proved it again when he spoke. He heaped mounds of praise on the reformer/unreformer but the difference between him and me is he is drawing a $!00,000.00 plus salary from the reformer/unreformer. Now I can see why he was there promoting him. If Eisendrath wins, he might be out of a job and be forced to live on an $85,000.00 or so pension for the rest of his life and lets not forget the automatic 3% raise yearly on top of that. Some folks have a vested interest here and I understand that.
Speaking to folks in Franklin County let me ask you a simple question. Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? What about your utility bill last month? Mine was huge! What about the cost of gasoline, food, clothes, medicine and the cost of living? What about your income? Are all of these things better now than 4 years ago?
In the last 4 years over 1,800 correctional officers have lost their jobs but this department has increased the number of high paid administrative personnel. Continental Tire employees have had their wages slashed, pensions drastically altered, and health insurance greatly increased to them. They have less money to spend now. What about the Technicolor employees in Pinckneyville who lost their jobs last week? The rumor from inside that plant is that it will close completely very soon. What about the Maytag employees who lost their jobs? The cookie factory, the fish farm, Joy Manufacturing, Roundy’s, American Coal, what about these folks?
Again, specifically speaking to Franklin County folks, what has been done for us right here by state government? Other than cut every job base we have, nothing. While Williamson County has 55 million dollars proposed to expand a highway between Marion and Crab Orchard, which is a huge waste of our money, a 3 million dollar grant for a little league baseball field that does not have a team to use it, and Jefferson County to our north is getting millions of dollars for highway construction, we get zilch, notta, nothing! If we don’t elect leaders who will do something other than hand out cash to build roads that are only going to serve a few of us we will continue to decline. Could we not use that 55 million dollars in a better way to provide a better education or spur economic growth for real long term jobs? That highway project will provide construction jobs but once it is built they are gone, then what? Borrow more money and build another highway? We cannot borrow our way to better economic times. Illinois is seriously lagging behind neighboring states and we need to change that. If you think you are better off now that you were 4 years ago, hey, stick with the reformer/unrefomer. If you see that things are not that good you have an opportunity to do something about it. Get involved in the process, both democrats and republicans have some great people running in the upcoming primary. Study the candidates and get involved. If we don’t bring about change, it won’t ever get here. Are we morons, peons or outspoken folks, that is the question we all need to answer to ourselves? I’m a combination of all 3 I guess!
The long awaited Sesser only phone directory is now available at city hall or The Print Shop. Each household and business is entitled to one. From personal experience trying to read the huge all inclusive phone books, the city and the chamber of commerce decided to publish our own phone directory for Sesser. It includes phone numbers and correct mailing addresses for everyone in Sesser. It is a free public service for you.
Give us a call at 625-3611, 625-5322, email nedmitchell@veriozon.net or www.sesser.org we are always glad to hear from you.
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