Mayor's Row..by Ned Mitchell
Not long after I left the Illinois State Senate a casual acquaintance of mine left me a life size card board cut out of famous comedians Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Many of you remember the antics of Laurel and Hardy as they did a lot of comic routines along with another famous duo by the name of Abbott and Costello. The pair of Abbott and Costello did a routine called "Who's On First" and as I was thinking about the state of our government in Springfield, I wondered exactly who is on first?
First of all this is not meant to be mean spirited or critical of our local Representative John Bradley and Senator Gary Forby. They have both tried to put forth some effort to curtail the power bills we have all been receiving the last couple of months. My problem with what is being done or what is not being done is like this. The House of Representatives has passed at least two versions and maybe even three of some sort of rate freeze on utility rates. Speaker of the House Mike Madigan is not about to let the utility companies get by with this so he says. The State Senate, led by President Emil Jones has steadfastly refused to even let Senators talk about, much less vote on Rep. John Bradley's bill.
Now Senator Gary Forby is being allowed, notice I said allowed, to bring a bill up for a vote in the Senate that would once again freeze the utility rates but would only apply to AmerenCips and not Commonwealth Edison. Here is the problem with that. Speaker Madigan says he won't call that bill for a vote in the House because it does not include Commonwealth Edison. You can bet your next monthly utility bill that AmerenCips attorneys have already sharpened their pencils and have a lawsuit ready to file in case the bill did pass both the House and the Senate. What would be constitutional about freezing one utility company's rates and not any of the others? Then the fact that Commonwealth Edison has dumped millions of dollars in campaign cash on President Emil Jones and his counterpart Republican Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson has to figure in this equation somewhere.
Conventional wisdom tells us that neither side is serious about solving this problem. Democrats have complete control in Illinois. They own the House, the Senate, and the empty Governor's mansion in Springfield yet they cannot get their heads together long enough to put forth some real relief for utility customers. It makes me wonder who is on first. It is even more amazing that the media in this state don't seem to get it either. How many times have we seen good legislation passed in the House to then be bottled up in the Senate? The next time a good bill will pass the Senate and then it gets hung up in the House. If both the House and Senate pass a bill there is a chance the Governor will veto it and then we go back to the drawing board. You can sort of expect this kind of gridlock if republicans and democrats split power in Springfield but it certainly is difficult to understand when one or the other controls everything and they still can't do the people's work.
Are Bradley and Forby's bills merely feel good legislation that Madigan and Jones have allowed to get their butts off the hot seat locally? Only time will tell and if we were running a NASCAR race I would say the caution flag is out right now and folks are taking a mighty dim view of who is on first in this state. People usually vote their pocket books and if the democrats don't get their heads together soon and bring about some changes that benefit the people they represent things could be bad next election for incumbents all over Illinois. I don't know who will blink first, Madigan or Jones, but sooner or later we will find out who exactly is on first in this state. I seriously doubt if it will be either you or me.
The one bright spot that I can see on the horizon is the fact that Attorney General Lisa Madigan has entered the fray on behalf of the consumer and is taking up the cause for the people. The problem here is this may be a lengthy drawn out court case. Perhaps if Attorney General Madigan puts enough legal heat on the utility companies then maybe all sides will get together and come up with reasonable solutions. I can assure you that everyone of the politicians is looking for the easy way out and the utility companies don't really want state and federal regulators snooping around their business. The really sad part of all of this is that it did not have to happen. Just about everyone in Springfield was asleep at the wheel on this one. I'd say the person who can get all sides together and come up with a solution could be awarded a big paying job at DHS with an $84,000.00 a year driver!
I happened to be one of the lucky small business owners to receive a letter from the reformer/unreformer governor. This letter was sent out to thousands of small business owners in Illinois at a cost to the taxpayer of $115,000 dollars. The letter explained that the newly proposed gross receipts tax would not cost any of us with sales under one million dollars. While I have not yet received sales of one million dollars over the last 10 years combined, I don't buy into the argument that it will not harm my business. Since I am a printer and buy a lot of paper products from very large corporations it will cost them more money as they will see a tax increase. Are these large corporations going to absorb this additional tax? Of course not, they are going to pass it on down to me and I won't be able to absorb it so I will have to pass it on down to my customers who will in turn pass it on the consumer.
I'm all for everyone paying their fair share and a formula could be easily written if our elected officials would put their minds together. This is not rocket science we are dealing with here; it is the difference in what is right and what is wrong. There is no sense in making this more difficult than it should be.
The Sesser Church of Christ has started a new community ministry that promises to be a great thing for Sesser area residents. If you need a ride to the doctor, to the store, or just someone to visit with, give them a call at 625-5179 or 625-5372. We are proud of all of our churches in Sesser and we applaud the Church of Christ for noticing this need in our community and stepping forward to help meet that need.
A new feature at the historic Sesser Opera House Café is a showcase section on old Sesser memorabilia. The public is invited to come in and view the many artifacts of former businesses, schools, and such from Sesser. I have collected many interesting items over the years and am putting them on display for the first time. I am always looking for old pictures, books, advertising items and such that pertain to Sesser.
A new community theater group has been formed at the historic Sesser Opera House Theater. The name of the group is The Opera House Company and they will call our Opera House their home. Their first show is a musical, "The Pirates of Penzance" which will be performed in late May. Auditions have been held for the various parts but I am sure there will be jobs to do related to the show. If you feel like volunteering give us a call and we will put you in touch. We are excited about the long range possibilities of having a theater group perform annually in our Opera House. We also have booked three performances by the Chicago Chamber Orchestra in late June and the Pyramid Players will be in the house in August. It will be a busy summer for us!
If you need us give us a call at 625-5322 or 625-3611 or write to nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 277, Sesser, Illinois 62884.
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