(14th District) Hultgren Says Repeal Obamacare

The Daily Herald reports on Republican Randy Hultgren’s ideas on Obamacare as he races to the finish line to become the congressman from the 14th District.

Hultgren told attendees of a luncheon in St. Charles last week that changes created in the new law do nothing to address the cost of health care. He said he would’ve voted against both the major Democratic versions of the law and will work to undo “Obamacare.”

“I think Republicans blew it on this,” Hultgren said of the new law. “But I think Democrats blew it even more. We need to get rid of what we’ve got. Let’s repeal it.”

Hultgren said he’s particularly disappointed in what’s become known as the “1099 provision” of the new health care law. The provision requires companies to submit a report to the IRS for every business-to-business transaction made that exceeds $600. Critics view the provision as a nightmare of paperwork and accounting for as many as 30 million small businesses.

“This is going to kill small businesses,” Hultgren said.

Check out the rest of the article to see what his opponent, Bill Foster, said about Obamacare.

Cost of Government Day Finally Arrives

Every year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability calculate Cost of Government Day. This is the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state, and local levels.

In 2010, Cost of Government Day falls on August 19. That means working people must toil 231 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government. In other words, the cost of government consumes 63.41 percent of national income.

“Two years ago Americans worked until July 16 to pay for the cost of government: all federal, state and local government spending and regulatory costs.  That government was too expensive and wasteful.  Two years later, we work until August 19 for the same bloated government.  We have lost an additional full month of our income to pay the cost of government in just the last two years,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Key findings of the report include:

1. Cost of Government Day (COGD) falls 8 days later in 2010 than last year’s revised date of August 11.
2. Workers will have to labor 104 days just to pay for federal spending, which consumes 28.6 percent of national income.
3. Taxpayers will have to work 52 days just to pay for state and local government expenditures.
4. The average American worker must labor 74 days to cover the costs of government regulations. A breakdown of the COGD components can be found here.
5. The report also includes a state breakdown. The earliest Cost of Government Day occurs in Alaska, on July 28. Connecticut has the latest COGD, on September 17.
6. One of the contributing factors to increased spending is the growth in government payrolls. The federal workforce totaled 4.4 million employees this year, while the addition of state and local workers brings the total government workforce to 24.315 million employees.
7. The report also tracks taxpayer migration, showing taxes are a driving component behind interstate movement. In 2008, the ten states with no income tax gained over 80,000 new residents who brought with them over $900 million in net adjusted income. In contrast, the states with the highest tax burden lost 129,445 residents and $10.2 billion in wealth.

Video: Ignoramus Democrat Says The More We Borrow the Richer We Get

Idiot Pete Stark (D, Calif.) says that the more we borrow as a nation the “richer” we get. You see, says Congressman Stark Raving, that trillions of dollars in debt proves that we are a rich people.

“If YOU’D SHUT UP,” Stark says we might be able to appreciate his genius. And if the guy that was trying to interview Congressman Stake Raving would “Get the %*^# outta here,” maybe we could all have benefited from Congressman Stark Raving’s perspicacity.

Just watch this and see why Democrats can’t be trusted to do… well, anything…

Wow, what a distempered half-wit Representative Stark Raving is.

Sadly, I see nothing to separate Rep. Stark Raving from any other Democrat. This video is pretty prosaic, really. This sort of economic ignorance piled on top of such arrogance is the Democrat Party personified.

A final note to say that this video is a few years old, but Stark’s lunacy is timeless. And as Obama continues to borrow more and more, this video is still relevant.

Winfield’s Infrastructure Woes

This is an archived article from February 2010

Chances are you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the intricate system of underground pipes that bring us drinking water, carry away sewage and ensure rainstorms don’t leave us waterlogged. That is, of course, unless you’ve found your home flooded or your commute blocked by thousands of gallons of water gushing into the streets.

Winfield officials have been warned for years their system is in need of repairs, many pipes are close to 60 years old and worn down by ground water and acidic soil. Over the last five years Winfield Village President Deborah Birutis has failed to even marginally address a solution to mend Winfield’s crumbling infrastructure and miles of deteriorating roads throughout town. Now she’s in panic mode scrambling to get support from a taxed-out public for a referendum to fix the massive problems caused by her leadership mismanagement.

A few years back the village had a long cold snap with about a month and a half of below-freezing temperatures. Then, abruptly, the mercury rose and over the course of the next several months, 54 water mains broke, causing all sorts of havoc. The pipes were old. Some were ancient. And they were laid shallow without much protection. So with any radical changes in temperature, they were susceptible to breaking. The village is currently operating at about a 20 percent loss in their system of finished water out of the system through leaks and failures. How long could a business stay viable if they have a 20 percent shrinkage walking out the door?

The question that is now on everyone’s mind is: What has Village President Birutis and the village board done to stop the hemorrhaging of Winfield’s infrastructure?

The answer, absolutely nothing.

Trustee Jack Bajor has been the Public Works Committee Chairman for the past five years. Maybe Mr. Bajor can explain why over the last five years under his leadership he turned away from our screaming infrastructure needs and let the deterioration continue. It has been Mr. Bajor’s responsibility as public works chair to ensure the village’s infrastructure needs are met and the community is safeguarded. Public Works Chair Bajor talks a good game but that’s all it is, talk. Sadly, Mr. Bajor needs to be informed that ignoring these problems imperils public safety, diminishes our economic competitiveness, is penny-wise and pound-foolish, and results in tremendous missed opportunities for the village.

Winfield is near the top in DuPage County for the number of structurally deficient and functionally obsolete infrastructure. Why is Winfield in this predicament? The answer lies with Village President Birutis and her board. Ms. Birutis along with her village board blindly follow the anti-growth philosophy of Winfield United. Ms. Birutis espouse Winfield United’s self-serving and highly flawed position that Roosevelt Road should remain residential. This is a thoroughfare which is commercialized from the Lake Michigan to DeKalb and affords Winfield the best opportunity for revenue growth. The past five years of  Ms. Birutis’ economic plan has produced not one single dollar in new revenue. Revenues badly needed to repair and maintain the decaying infrastructure in town.

At the start of every year Ms. Birutis throws around the terms economic development – downtown redevelopment and this years was no different. But these are merely buzz words to try and hide the failed policies of her administration and mislead the voting public. In the last 6 years Winfield has not seen one new development, downtown or anywhere else.

How did Ms. Birutis think she was going to be able to fund the needed infrastructure improvements? Obviously she had no idea. So the village board pushed aside infrastructure initiatives, including basic maintenance and repair. If you think this is an exaggeration consider a little known fact, the village owns the fire hydrants in town, the village is responsible for their maintenance yet the village has not tested the fire hydrants in over 5 years. Hydrants must be tested on a regular basis to ensure they are capable of delivering water at a pressure and a rate of flow for public health and effective firefighting operations. If this isn’t a cause for concern, I don’t know what is?

Now throw in the board’s wasteful spending of $8 million in taxpayer’s monies earmarked for water, sewer and road improvements on projects to make themselves look good. Think $2 million for remote meters, $1.5 million for new water and sewer lines to an empty lot and $1.5 million for a new public works building. Try finding out where the remaining $3 million went, you’ll need a full scale forensic audit. While the village board boast about these projects they mean nothing if the village they are operating in has its vital organs fail on them.

What this board never understood is infrastructure spending is a crucial investment in the village’s future. Delaying infrastructure maintenance, repairs and replacement never pays off in the long run. Who can say what breach of public health and safety it might result in next time? Addressing Winfield’s infrastructure shortcomings should be of the highest priority for the community.

It is clear, maybe not to this board that getting Winfield’s infrastructure act together is critical to the town’s future. If Winfield doesn’t, it would be worse than foolish. It would be tragic.

Business Owners: Higher Fees Unfair

Tough budget times are pushing the village to consider other sources of revenue. Winfield leaders are making noises about raising taxes and hoping discrete increases in fees go unnoticed.

In just the last year Winfield residents have been saddled with an increase in waste collection fees are bracing for yet another water rate increase and now the business owners are being hit with new and higher business license costs. In some cases the business license fees have quadrupled while doubling of the current license fee appears to be the standard. The timing couldn’t be worse for stressed businesses struggling with the economic downturn.

Opponents object that, because the costs are passed onto customers, the new fees amount to a hidden tax. One downtown business argues, “The increases add an undue and unfair burden to the cost of doing business.”

Every situation is different. But the village has to balance its budget by using two basic tools: reducing expenditures and raising revenues. Village budgets are statements about priorities. Should services be preserved at the expense of additional taxes? Should money go to police, economic development or roads? Budget choices are products of the fiscal, demographic and political realities facing the community. The existence of this board’s failure to prudently plan for infrastructure improvements and their continued resistance to adopt a pro-growth agenda has forced the town to deal with five years of fiscal concerns all at once.

During these tough budget times the village board must make progress on the issues which will make the greatest impact on the town’s future. The village board must increase its commitment to economic development and planning. Furthermore, the board should scrape Winfield’s 10 year old comprehensive plan as obsolete and woefully inadequate in meeting the community’s future needs.

Winfield Village President Deborah Birutis will make her “State of the Village” next week. Maybe the Winfield Chamber of Commerce will finally step forward and ask the hard-hitting questions of Ms. Birutis. What steps is she implementing to help Winfield’s struggling business community? What is her plan to rebuild Winfield’s roads and how will she pay for it? Is she seriously considering cutting or disbanding the police department? How will Ms. Birutis’ stop the five year depletion of the general fund and build a comfortable balance? Difficult questions for Ms. Birutis and her board which campaigned on their past sound fiscal management and “no new taxes” platform. The Chamber needs to hold Ms. Birutis accountable so the residents can get the core truths behind the spin.

Million Dollar Road Solution

Reyes ‘New Taxes Not The Answer’

During my campaign for Winfield Village President I mentioned the Village of Winfield was broke and foretold the financial problems we would experience in the police department and road repairs if we didn’t make some changes to generate more sustainable revenues.

Less then one year later Winfield Village President Deborah Birutis is making noises that sound like we need to cut police protection or push Winfield residents to approve placing a referendum on the November ballot. This referendum would only be a temporary solution which will  hike property taxes to fix roads and fund the police department instead of discussing development of Roosevelt Road. No big surprise if you read my financial analysis and concerns last year.

A recent Daily Herald article www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=355830 covers Villa Park’s failed attempt to pass a referendum which would have raised property taxes for the purpose of selling bonds to repair roads.  In a nutshell Villa Park residents said “NO”.  Winfield needs to do the same.

This is a terrible time to ask people for more money.  It’s up to all of us to “say NO” to raising our taxes or to allow the selling of bonds.

Instead, the village needs to create revenue streams and stop asking residents for higher tax rates or to cough up more dollars.

Tell me what you think about Village President Deborah Birutis’ plan to hit you for more property taxes.

Tony For The People of Winfield