Mayor's Row......by Ned Mitchell
It is a good thing we did not spend the money we were going to save on our reduced utility bill! Writing, preaching, whatever you wish to call it, I have for weeks performed a written rant in this column about the joke of a legislature we have running this state. I could not have written a more descriptive column about this bunch of kooks than what they performed last week right in front of our eyes.
The only mistake I made was assuming everything would be on a level playing field and that consumers actually had a voice in this state. I had predicted that a vote would never be taken on Senator Gary Forby's bill to roll back the rate increases that we all suffered at the first of the year. Senate President Emil Jones had said all along that he was opposed to Forby's bill. My experience in Springfield told me that if the Senate President is opposed to a bill, it will not get out of committee let alone get voted on.
Senator Forby told me last week that his bill was going to get voted on. I was not convinced but when Friday rolled around and the bill was call for a vote I began to look for the other shoe to drop. I watched the vote live on computer and could not believe that a bill opposed by the Senate President was not only going to be voted on but it appeared like it would pass. We in general should have seen what was coming and Senator Forby in particular should have seen it. After all he was up there in the mix and to think he would pass a bill opposed by his own Senate President is just unthinkable.
About the time everyone thought a consumer friendly bill had passed along comes one of Senator Jones' cronies, Senator Hendon with a written request for a reconsideration of the Forby bill. This is a procedure available only in the Senate in Illinois and is seldom used, nevertheless it is there for just such occasions as this one. Senator Hendon had wisely voted for the Forby bill. If he had opposed the Forby bill he would not be eligible to file a request for reconsideration. Not only did he want reconsideration, he requested it in writing. If he had made the request verbally the Senate would have taken an immediate vote on the reconsideration issue and the bill would have either been approved or defeated. As it was by filing the request in writing the matter will be referred back to the Senate calendar and will be called for a vote if and when President Emil Jones deems it necessary. In other words it ain't gonna happen!
Here is another part of the story that is not being told by any of the media. All of the Emil Jones cronies who voted for this bill already knew that a request for reconsideration had been prepared and this bomb would be dropped on a very unsuspecting fellow Senator. This was part of the grand scheme, and trust me, it is a scheme to protect the utilities and their millions of dollars in campaign cash. Those who appeared to cross Emil Jones and vote for this bill already knew the bill was going to fail in the end. What a hoot! Now every one of these Senators can go back home and crow about how they voted to approve this consumer friendly bill only to see it denied by a parliamentary slight of hand. They can't really blame Senator Hendon because the move is and has been in the rules of the Senate for years. It is a classic slight of hand maneuver.
Senator Forby can certainly come home and say he did his part. Representative John Bradley can correctly say he has done all he can. They are both right but at the same time they are dead wrong and you and I are going to pay the fiddler while Emil Jones and his cronies are doing the dancing. No matter what kind of spin is applied here, the bottom line is this issue is going no where and the least these public servants could do is level with us.
Once Forby's bill went down to defeat he immediately went back to the drawing board in an attempt to save some face and passed a bill that omitted Commonwealth Edison from the package. The new bill would only involve customers of AmerenCIPS. That bill sailed right through and passed. There are two huge problems with this bill. First, Forby and everyone in Springfield is aware that Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan is on record saying his branch of government will not pass any legislation that does not include all of the utility companies. Second even if the bill would happen to pass in the House and the Governor were to sign it, there is no way this law is constitutional, it won't pass that test for the simple reason you cannot treat one utility company differently than you do another.
This continues to be a classic example of a charade and you and I are the brunt of this joke. It is a worn out routine that will now find Senators telling us that Speaker Madigan will not pass their bill. Madigan and his cronies will amend Forby's and put Commonwealth Edison back in it and send it back to the Senate. Senate President Emil Jones will not call this bill. Forby will be reduced to blaming Madigan and Bradley will blame Jones. Who is on first?
Fellow democrats pay attention here. All of this is brought to us by the same folks who want illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses; who extend free college tuition to illegal immigrants; free medical care for illegal immigrants; guaranteed low interest home loans to illegal immigrants; every type of give away program you can think of; abortions for 12 year old girls without parental notification; partial birth abortions; expanded gun control; the right to burn the American Flag; DEMOCRATS! I am disgusted not only as a democrat but more importantly as an American that the party that once stood up for the working men and women of this country, has been hijacked by a bunch of liberal lunatics with not one ounce of common sense. We are being held hostage by Emil Jones, Mike Madigan, and that great reformer/unreformer Governor, Rod Blagojevich.
As I have pointed out before the Democrats in this state have complete control of every branch of government in Illinois and this is what we get, finger pointing and more finger pointing. When is the last time you have agreed with something this bunch has done? It has been a while for me and I suspect it will be a longer spell in the future. We should not only expect Democrats to solve our problems, we should demand it! Emil Jones has left Gary Forby alone to twist in the wind. They set him up, put him on that proverbial limb, pulled the saw out and cut if off. Shame on them, but more importantly shame on me and you for putting up with this nonsense.
Things were booming in Sesser over the weekend and our Main Street was as busy as it has been in years. The Sesser-Valier Thespians put on their spring performance of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown". The show was well attended each night and the kids did an outstanding job. We congratulate the students and their teacher Bethany Sink on a job well done.
This week we have another new venture coming up. Thursday evening the historic Sesser Opera House will be filled with a different type of entertainment. The Sesser-Valier and Murphysboro High School jazz bands will each perform in live concert. We are excited about this joint venture and are happy to host the event. Musicians from both schools have been selling tickets for dinner and music. The tickets are $10.00 and will feature a prime rib dinner upstairs in the Opera House Café and then the concert in the theater. Dinner is at 5:30 and the concert starts at 7:00 pm. If you can't make it to dinner, come to the concert and support these young musicians and their program. You can always stay after the concert and have a cup of fresh ground coffee and a fantastic home made dessert.
Sunday was very busy at the Opera House and we fed hundreds of local citizens our famous fried chicken, smoked ribs and other delights. We had a private birthday party upstairs for some folks from St. Louis, and three church groups downstairs. Friday night we hosted a wedding rehearsal dinner upstairs and dinner for theater attendees downstairs. We had visitors from St. Louis, Sturgis, Kentucky, Kenosha, Wisconsin, Mt. Vernon, Pinckneyville, Benton, Christopher, Valier, Tamaroa, Du Quoin, Zeigler, and others that we do not know in for dinner over the weekend. Our goal is to provide good food, a family atmosphere, in a clean facility that is tobacco free for you to enjoy. We love giving free tours of the historic Sesser Opera House to our guests and if you come away with a good impression of Sesser we feel like we have been successful. We are extremely proud of our town and of most of those who live here!
Continue to remember Betty Edwards who is recovering from heart surgery, Ruth Ann King as she gets stronger, Josephine Goessman as she recovers at home from her surgery, Dwight Dame, Josephine Gibbons recovering from heart issues, and others that live among us. A card, phone call, or visit would help these and others that you know to recover.
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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