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Health & Fitness

Food for thought given the deplorable status of Illinois

On Tuesday, February 3, Northshore resident Dan Cox posted the following on the Board at Highland Park Patch, "WARNING:  REP. SCOTT DRURY, INCORRECT AGAIN!"   http://highlandpark.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/rep-scott-drury--incorrect-again?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001&newsRef=true

Was Cox’s posting correct?  Did Rep. Scott Drury (D) misspeak on an important issue?  I believe he did, but here are the facts so that you can judge for yourself.  Rep. Drury stated:  "As of Jan. 1, 2014, people can carry loaded concealed weapons" -- Cox's post refers to Drury’s irrational stance on gun control, and it conveys further implications extending far beyond the gun issue.  They include Drury's loyal allegiance to Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan and his [Drury's] support of failed Democratic House policies, which have been wrought with make believe solutions tailored to appease the public   Due to Democrats having a super majority in the House, they have all the control and thus are able to set the agenda.

Voters in the coming election should be aware that According to Moody's Analytics Illinois is at the bottom of the barrel (50th) in job creation for the coming year. Is it any wonder why people and businesses are leaving IL in droves to neighboring states where taxes are less? When people and businesses leave they take their purchasing power, entrepreneurial activity and taxable income with them.  While at the same time, our Democrat leaders have been making unwise financial decisions that are damaging our financial security

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It has been said that a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy. What follows is a dictatorship. We must ask ourselves, just how close is America to the tipping point in which we lose our republic?

As trust is an essential ingredient in all relationships including our marriages, our children and friends, why then do we so easily overlook an elected official who deceives and misspeaks (a polite way to define lying) in order to be elected?  Why do we tolerate elected officials who pass laws they know we reject?  They continually betray our trust, but where is the public outrage? And most puzzling of all, why are they re-elected?

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Have we become a nation of low information voters whose knowledge is largely limited to media sound-bites and newspaper headlines? It must be every citizen’s responsibility to determine if a candidate has kept his/her promises through a knowledge of past performance. Too many Illinois voters believe their elected candidates have performed well, while placing blame for our dysfunctional state and federal governments on the backs of other state and federal legislators. Until we hold our own representatives accountable, this trend will continue.

The success and failure of our state and nation lies in the hands of voters, whose responsibility is to investigate and elect representatives who are patriots, men and women who are willing to jealously guard the Constitution, and who will continually put country over personal gain.

Dr. Mark G. Neerhof is such an individual.  He is running unopposed as a Republican in the 58th District and will be running against the incumbent Democratic Representative Scott Drury in November.   dmarkforillinois.com/about

Having attended a "Meet and Greet" event held in Lake Bluff on Monday, February 3, I can attest to the stalwartness of Republican candidate Dr. Mark Neerhof.  He meets all the criteria of an informed, concerned citizen who wants to enter the political arena for the right reasons.  He sees government growing bigger and bigger, and believes it must be stopped before it consumes the fruits of our labor.

Coming from humble beginnings, Dr. Neerhof's parents expressed disbelief when he expressed his wish to become a physician in his freshman year of college.  But Neerhof persevered his dream.  After practicing high risk obstetrics for over twenty years, Dr. Neerhof feels he can assist more people, but in a different way. Dr. Neerhof knows the key to a healthy government begins by helping to create good policy, and if elected as our representative, that will be his goal.  Good policies advance freedom and help people flourish, while oppressive policies cause people to wither.

Besides the loss of people and taxpayers exiting Illinois, Illinois also labors under high taxes and oppressive rules and regulation.   Neerhof presented the following facts to illustrate how dysfunctional Illinois has become, largely due to one basic flaw:  Illinois has largely become a one-party state.  There is little or no opposition to curtail or correct bad laws.  Our “one party” elected officials rule without restraint, making one bad policy after another, with the result being our state is beginning to implode from within. The following facts illustrate that truth:

  • The $100 billion in unfunded pensions has not been solved despite what Governor Quinn has claimed. Illinoisans are still being crushed by debt.  Only tweaks were made in the system, taking Illinois back to where it was in 2011.  The way forward is by offering defined contribution type plans such as the 401(k) plan.
  • Medicaid is badly managed and takes 40% of the Illinois budget.  Over 40% of the people enrolled in Medicaid do not qualify for the program.  "Means testing" is not practiced.
  • 50% of women having babies in Illinois are enrolled in Medicaid, yet little help is given to the poor with disabilities who desperately need assistance (Illinois ranks near the bottom of the help it provides for the disabled poor.).
  • What used to be a ratio of 5 to 1 Illinoisans enrolled in Medicaid, the rate has now risen to a ratio of one in every three Illinoisans. The measure of success should be how many patients we get off Medicaid and onto private insurance.  Instead, Medicaid is expanding the size of government by increasing its Medicaid financial load.
  • Medicaid payments amount to only 40% of private insurance and often does not cover the cost of care.  Is it any wonder why doctors can't afford to treat many Medicaid patients?  They risk going out of business.
  • With "means testing” employed, the premiums might be paid for the very poor, and part of the premiums for others, so they could afford private insurance.  If patients had private insurance doctors would be happy to care for them.  With low reimbursement rates, doctors shy away from taking on Medicaid patients.
  • The "powers to be" in Springfield wish to make the 67% tax for business and the 47% for citizens permanent.  There is also talk of a progressive tax. Because 90% of businesses in Illinois have 5 employees or less, they file as individuals.  A progressive tax would raise their taxes considerably, only adding to the exodus of people and business from Illinois.

There is a revolution waging.  Not one in the sense of the revolution fought by our Founding Fathers, but its implications are just as far reaching as if we had lost our fight with the British for our independence.  What is being fought is a revolution of ideas as to whether man can govern and rule himself through smaller government and less taxes and where freedom and liberty are ours to cherish, or whether government should continue to become all powerful, thereby restricting the ability to pursue our dreams. 

The two biggest and most costly issues of contention here in Illinois are Medicaid and pension reform.  A question every voter must ask as he/she participates in Illinois’ primary election in March and the general election in November: “How is this state (and nation) doing under its current leadership?” 

Republican candidates throughout Illinois must offer concrete and workable ideas to capture your trust and in so doing prevent Illinois from falling off the cliff into collapse and ultimately financial ruin.  The status quo cannot continue.


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