Mayor’s Row……..by Ned Mitchell

          Boy, boy, boy, here we are with nothing to talk about now that the reformer/unreformer has been removed from office.  Not only did he become the first Illinois Governor to be impeached, the State Senators went a step beyond and prohibited him from ever holding any office in this State.

          I’ve had several comments from readers who wonder just what we can discuss now that we don’t have the reformer/unreformer to kick around.  Trust me; there are plenty of scallywags in the House of Representatives who brought forth the charges and Senators who cast the guilty verdict.  It will be interesting to see if the former Governor will rat out his cohorts.

          What just makes me chuckle is now that Rod Blagojevich has been removed from office that leaves us with new Governor Pat Quinn.  I’ve been a friend and supporter of Pat Quinn for over 30 years I suppose.  I have campaigned for him every time he has run for office.  I figure that he is one honest politician and he, like me, more often than not is willing to take on the powers that be in the Illinois Democratic Party.  I have to admire his independence of guys like Madigan, Jones, Daley and other who seem to control everything.  Those are just the democrats he has battled.  He has also taken on the political power brokers on the Republican side.

          We all may have some bitter medicine to swallow in the near future as we try to sort out the huge financial mess that we are in.  Governor Quinn I suspect will be honest with the tax payers of Illinois.  He may or may not have a message that we don’t want to hear but one thing for certain he will study all angles, make a decision, and then inform the electorate of what it will take to right this ship and get us back on the road to recovery.

          Governor Quinn upon taking the oath of office immediately said he wanted to fumigate state government.  That probably sent chills up the spines of some folks who are imbedded in needless jobs at high salaries.  I’m not a believer that we can cut enough salaries to balance the budget but for certain there are some jobs that were created by the former Governor that we don’t need and simply cannot afford.  If nothing else; ridding this state of these hacks would send a message of change to all of us.  Governor Quinn most likely will not end up too popular with legislative leaders and party officials.  That might be just what we need, a good dose of political independence.  If Governor Quinn decides to run for the office in two years he will be a tough opponent.   We do owe the new Governor a chance to prove himself though and I look forward to him visiting our area in the near future.

          Meanwhile back at the ranch I would like to thank the city workers and private contractors that helped plow the snow and ice that hit us last week.  As bad as it was, we were still more fortunate than folks south of us.  I thought our crews did an incredible job of cleaning the streets and then opening up drive ways afterwards.  We do maintain a list of folks who need driveway assistance and are happy to help out if you cannot get the job done yourself.  All you need to do is call 625-3611 for help.

          President Obama is sticking his political neck out in his proposed economic stimulus package amounting to over 800 billion dollars.  Experts on both sides of this issue are predicting a huge success and a massive failure.  One thing about it we will see something happen. 

          My suggestion to those pushing this stimulus package is to put a lot of safeguards in place to keep this money from being squandered or stolen.  The bank bailout program has found huge bonuses being handed out to CEO’s.  Unless we can get a handle on this program it might just well follow the same path.

          I’ve thought a lot about this new venture and decided to give this the hammer test.  Not long ago I was shopping or grazing as some folks call it, in a major chain hardware store.  I was in need of a certain size drill bit and was disturbed to find that not a single drill bit was made in this country.  All the drill bits in the store were imported.  Reluctantly I purchased an imported bit and as sure as I am writing this it was done for after about three uses.  Cheap and inferior quality were  two of the words that came into mind as I pitched the bit into the trash bin.

          While at the store I was looking at hammers.  Not that I need another hammer, I probably have 8, if I could find them all.  I picked up an Eastwing brand that proudly proclaimed that is was made in America.  It was a nice hammer and the 16 ounce variety was priced at just under $20.00.  Not bad I thought if one needed a hammer.  Right next to the Eastwing was a Stanley which I thought was an American sounding name.  Close examination revealed that this hammer was made in Mexico and it retailed for about $16.00.  Next to the Stanley hammer was a Kobalt brand that was made in China and it was priced at about $14.00.

          I am sure you can see where I am going with this.  Products made in this country, and they are getting to be far and few in between, are priced higher than their imported counterparts.  I’m no economic guru or anything like that but that simply will not work.  Our elected leaders should insist that a hammer made in China be priced the same as one made in America.  If we don’t get back in the manufacturing business in this country it will soon be too late to rescue our economy.  Construction jobs are nice but over time they disappear.  We need to rebuild the manufacturing base and make sure that our products are competitive.  We have our work cut out for us but to sit back and not do anything is the wrong attitude.

          Lola Kirkpatrick is home from the hospital and doing better as is Gary “Bugsy” Howell.  A card, phone call, or visit would be a great thing.

          Make plans now to attend the comedy play “Noises Off” which will open next week at the historic Sesser Opera House.  The entire cast have put in dozens of hours building the set and getting their lines memorized.  I think you will be impressed with this production.  The show runs the 12th, 13th, and 14th at 7:00 pm and the 15th at 2:00 pm.  Thursday the Café will feature Italian buffet, Friday is the seafood buffet, Saturday will be prime rib and Sunday of course it will be southern fried chicken.  Call 625-5322 for show tickets and dinner reservations!