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By Ed Rutledge
Several people from southern Illinois have expressed to me their concern about Chicago’s perceived domination over statewide politics, their feeling that they are voiceless in the face of business as usual politics.
Frankly, it is not just people in southern Illinois that feel voiceless. I live in Chicago, but because I am not a cog in the Machine I have felt pretty voiceless, too. When we step back and objectively look at what is happening, very few of us actually have much of a voice, regardless of where we live.
Our politicians have created a system in which we send our money to them, and then we beg them for some of it back. So why does it seem like Chicago gets preferential treatment? To put it very bluntly, special interest groups in Chicago can deliver more votes than any downstate bloc, so our money ends up funding politically expedient projects and programs in Chicago.
But it is important to understand that this is not about geography. This is about politicians using our money to perpetuate the very system we complain about, the system that forces us to fund, through taxes and debt, projects and programs that benefit those special interest groups which can deliver votes and campaign cash. If we are feeling voiceless, it is because we have been letting our politicians steal our voice.
We need to break this cycle. I can tell you that I will fight to shrink government, but what would this mean for you? It means that I will fight to let you and your community keep more of what is yours so you don’t have to beg for crumbs from the pie that you helped bake. Within the context of the state Constitution, I will fight to starve political programs, which are currently the source of political power, and give that money, and that political power, back to its rightful owner – YOU.
And while I fight to shrink the size, scope and cost of government, I will also fight to open the books so that you can see how our politicians spend what money you do still end up sending to Springfield. It is your money, and you deserve to know what they are doing with it.
We need to remember that it is our money, not theirs. Taxpayers are the largest voting bloc. Politicians should be begging us for money, not the other way around. It is time for all of us to get our voices back, no matter where we live, and to make ourselves heard.
