Decatur Democrat

TDD WIth no Comments! Shocking!

Takin it to the people

Blood Transfusion

Time calls Durbin one of the 10 best Senators

Evans gives nod to Hare

Lane

Primary Wrap-up

Impeachment vs. Censure

Guess who's back?

On second thoughts

No room for difference

Assuming Assuming Assuming

Support Durbin or Support Terror

Caterpillar, screwing retirees since 2004

Opportunity Returns Take Two

The Trib or The Onion

Yes, I am angry

Social Security Events tommorow

Silence is golden

Opportunity Returns

Owned

If this wasn't real I'd laugh

Paging Gary Sawyer, Gary Sawyer to the White courtesy phone

BlogDecatur.com

Wow

How much profit is enough?

Using Religion to Divide, a guide to Christ

Cousin Ed

Trolley Report

Class Warfare vs. Religious Warfare

Updates

Booze at the Avon

It's Monday

Happenings at DMH

Blunders and Wonders of the Week

Obstructionist, or will of the people

$2 Billion or $382 Billion

Bush's Super Secret Don't Tell No One Gotta Do It Or The Terrorist Win Social Security Plan Unveiled

Is Poshard up to something?

Rants regarding Lane

Social Security

lets behave ourselves

Herald & Review, news or not

input and advice

County Administrator

Ratzinger or Benedict XVI

Blunders and Wonders

As it looks

Bah!

Bean

My analysis

Obama, us guy vs. them guy

Wanted your recaps

What we have here is a failure to agree

Analysis

Final Thoughts?

Pope John Paul II

H & R endorsements

Comments re-opened

GMail

Illini Nation

Comments

Political Play of the Week

Open Thread

NY Times - Bush &%*$#@ up big time

320 more jobs

Blogger again

Obama

Creepy Republican Blogging

School board elections

Money

Political Play of the Week

First Challenger for Evans stands up

Take it for granted

A retort

Apologies

Sawyer's blog - Again

Reminder

2006-04-27T16:01:00.000-04:00

Great job. Idiots managed to shut down comments. Seriously its great to see people who are actually bonafide adults acting like 7th graders with the teacher out of the room. Actually its quite disturbing, and speaks volumes of why we have problems with unity in Macon County. Catch you on the flip,
TDD

2006-04-20T22:02:00.000-04:00

Who: Phil Hare, Lane Evans' choice for the 17th Congressional District
What: A Meet and Greet
When: April 24 at 6 p.m.
Where: The Decatur Public Library
Why: Hopefully to hear the voice of the people, and take it with him to Washington!

Oh yeah and refreshments, those are always a good thing.

2006-04-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

James
Underwood of Maroa won election by acclamation as Democratic central committee
chairman while James Gresham of Decatur was unopposed for GOP chairman.Other
Democrat officers elected by acclamation were vice chairman, Louise "Wegi"
Stewart; secretary, R.C. Smith; treasurer, Roger Walker Jr.; and
sergeants-at-arms, Shad Etchason, Annie Williams, Bobbie Mann, Mike Wakeland and
Jim Taylor.

Glad to see this. Well wehat I'm really glad to see is that Chairman Underwood is taking a look into our bylaws and looking to use them, and better yet adopt them to something closely resembling modern times. Kudos to him. Sadly, the MCR's keep plugging away, and I'll be honest I'm a little worried they might do something this next election on the county board level. If they do though, they deserve it because it seems like they are putting work into the project.

2006-04-19T08:16:00.000-04:00

And if he can't reach a compromise behind the scenes, Durbin is happy to
return to the open well of the Senate. "I really enjoy debate," he says. "The
battle of ideas is what it should be about."

This ought to bring out the crazies. Besides that, what else is out and about in the area? I think the big discussion here has been Stockwell's bid for the 17th. It seems to me to be a lot like a Steve Rauschenberger campaign, everyone speaks highly of the candidate, but they get no traction. Agree or disagree?

2006-03-30T18:07:00.000-05:00

Late this afternoon Congressman Lane Evans threw his support behind his long-time aide, and familar face to Decatur, Phil Hare. I'll have more plus a link to an article about this later. The latest is that the new candidate will be picked by the 700 some committeeman of the 17th district. I can't believe the headache in organizing that. But I am a populist, so power to the people!

2006-03-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Feel free to leave your favorites concerning Lane. Be they stories, quotes, or anything else. He has a bunch. Me personally:

I'd rather have FDR in a wheelchair than Ronald Reagan on a horse.

2006-03-28T14:28:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON — Rep. Lane Evans, who has battled Parkinson’s disease for more
than a decade, has told fellow Illinois Democrats here that he intends to
announce his retirement from Congress.
Evans, who was hospitalized for a
brief period in February, had not cast a vote in the House since Feb. 14 and had
not reported to work in his Washington office for more than a month. He began
informing members of the Illinois delegation today and plans to make a public
announcement as soon as this afternoon. […]
A spokesman for Evans could not
immediately be reached for comment. But three officials from the Illinois
delegation confirmed that Evans, 54, had told party officials of his decision to
retire.
This is a sad day for the 17th district. For 22 years Lane Evans has carried our banner in the D.C. Say what you will about the man, but don't disrespect him. Republican or Democrat he served us all.
Lane's retirement will create huge movement in the 17th district. Top contenders right now in my eyes:
1. Boland
2. Sullivan
3. Jacobs Old or Young
But seriously, everyone that is anyone will have their name mentioned in the next week. Most of them will make you scratch your head and say what.
Your thoughts on who the front runners are? Keep the comments respectful, or they will be gone for a very very long time.

2006-03-24T16:25:00.000-05:00

Gov Dem. - Was anyone suprised by this? The only thing that suprises me is how bad Ed Eisendrath's campaign was. I'm not sure what his point in running was, but someone got rich off it, and it wasn't the people of Illinois.

Gov Rep. - Does Judy Baar remind anyone else of the lady at the end of the bar every night? The one with the raspy voice that is well past her prime? Oh well. Maybe it's just me. I really do expect Rod to win re-election. The only thing the Dem primary served to do is make Rod stronger, not weaker. Yes I said that. Oberweis, please Jim keep running! We love you we really do, see you in '08 pal. Brady - I expect we'll see him in the running to challenge Durbin in 08, good man, too bad about his party. Gidwitz - you scare me, you creepy creepy man.

Treasurer Dem. - In what was not a suprise to me, Star power triumps machine power. Some people billed this as Obama V. Madigan. I billed it more as young up and comer vs. slightly confused will run for anything state's attorney. Luckily the Up and Comer won. Illinois has quite the stable of young candidates and office holders. Hopefully Alexi will add to the ranks.

County Board District 7 - Really does the county board matter? Does it matter who is on their? The same things are going to be done, just my honest opinion. I'll boil it down to this, I dont care.

Cook County Board President - Unfortunately Stroger wins. Not that Claypool is the reformer he claims to be, but he would have been better for the future. I prefer candidates that look to the future, instead of those who grasp the past.

99th District - Cahnman wins over Redpath in the battle of who is less of a sleaze? Can't help but think the Illinois Times article on Redpath's brother helped his defeat, just like Cahnman's proposition helped his victory. Either way, both were headed to defeat in November.

Races you care to talk about?
Comments?

Just a prediction, but the Dems will hold all the consitutional offices come next January.

2006-03-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

Lately news has been made of Sen. Feingold's proposal to censure Pres. Bush for violating FISA, which is the Foreign Intelligence Security Act. Some people, not elected leaders, have pushed for the idea of impeaching President Bush. Here is my two cents on this. Pres. Bush should be censured for in the best of lights, pushing the limits of FISA, the authorization of force in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the doctrine of Executive Power, to limits stretched beyond our wildest dreams. But when it comes to Impeachment I will say this.

"Unlike the Republicans who decided that impeachment would advance their politics, and help them win elections, I believe impeachments on the whole should be reserved for extraordinary situations, and Bush has not reached that limit yet. Yes he has destroyed our standing internationally, weakend our defense, failed to make us safer, but he does not deserved to be impeached."

The Republicans impeachment attempt on Clinton absolutely disguested me. It is my belief that if they thought Clinton was worth impeaching they should stand by their morals and start an impeachment hearing on Bush for the amount of things he has lied about. But they won't they are punks with no backbone who play by the mantra of anything goes for them, if the Democrats try the same, WHY MUST YOU WANT THE TERRORISTS TO WIN? I think Bush is the worst president I have ever seen, but that doesn't deserve impeachment. Suprised Republicans? THere is a place for principle in politics, you should try it sometime.

2006-03-05T21:53:00.001-05:00

34%
Civil unrest in Iraq.
Spying at home.
SHooting by VP.
This is all to good for me to miss out on. I think I'm back.
TDD

2005-10-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

Am I cynical for thinking that it isn't outside the realm of possibility that Harriet Miers' withdrawal was more than a withdrawal. It easy in my mind to imagine that Harriet Miers' is nothing more than a distraction. A distraction from what? I don't know how about the impending, hopefully to be released today, indictments to high officials in the Bush administration for doing all sorts of fun things, mainly blowing CIA Agents covers.

2005-10-27T09:41:00.000-04:00

In breaking news, Conservative leaders today showed that there is now room for moderates in today's Republican party. With the withdrawal of Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court the Bush Administration has waved its white flag in capitulation to the far right. After screwing his base relentlessly in support of large corporate interests Bush has finally come back to the one's who nominated him. I was content with the Miers' nomination, let's be honest she wasn't good, but she beat what else Bush could have thrown up. Now the question comes who will replace him, and if it is a far right winger will that person face an easier path through the senate. My feeling is that person will not, it will be a tough fight indeed if the White House throws up a far right winger. The Bush Administration has shown they are weak, and now Chafee, Snowe, Collins, Specter and their ilk will hopefully no longer be afraid to vote their conscience. What do you all think, will a Priscilla Owens type have an easier path than Harriet Miers or will Bush have to have an unprecedented two Supreme Court Withdrawals in a row, and on the same lines, what are the odds he'll nominate another moderate?

2005-10-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

People tend to assume a lot. If nothing else the last few months have proven that. The reason I've been on hiatus was for lack of anything else, material. I was left to resort to creating my own topics, and to be honest it was fun, but boring. I prefer to focus more on news, with my comments and spin on it. I think it makes for a lot better blogging, and a lot more fun. So look for me to possibly be back in the next few days or weeks as the world of politics gets more interesting.
TDD

2005-06-16T10:41:00.000-04:00

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here [at Guantanamo Bay]--I almost hesitate to put them in the [Congressional] Record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:
On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.
If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

There it is Boys and Girls, Sen. Durbin's remarks in their full. This is what all the uproar is about. Is Durbin wrong for pointing out that as Americans we have a responsibility to lead the world, and set a good example. What would be the U.S. position on Al Qaeda holding torture camps for enemy combatants? We would be outraged and do everything in our power to bring it to an immediate halt, and yet we continue to do the same thing. You have two choices here, support Senator Durbin, or support Torture, at least according to wing nut "Solid Logic." So what will you be supporting this morning, torture or Durbin?

2005-06-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

Then

Workers said the company's earlier proposals to shift health care costs were too steep, especially for retirees on fixed incomes. Caterpillar said costs were about a third of national averages, and that nearly 80 percent of U.S. employees now contribute to their medical coverage.

The two-tiered wage scale would pay new hires and current supplemental employees less than veterans doing the same job, which workers argued would create friction in plants. Caterpillar countered that the wage scale is needed to stay competitive in its global market and is above industry standards.

Now

Caterpillar Inc. on Wednesday announced a two-for-one stock split and increased its quarterly dividend by 22% to 50 cents a share from 41 cents a share on a pre-split basis. On a split-adjusted basis, the per-share increase of 4.5 cents is the largest in the company's 80-year history. The stock-split shares will be distributed on July 13 to shareholders as of June 22 and Caterpillar's previously announced share buyback program goal to reduce outstanding shares to 320 million will be adjusted for the split to reflect an adjusted goal of 640 million shares outstanding by October 2008. The new quarterly dividend rate of 25 cents a share is payable August 19 to shareholders as of July 22.

And when we tell you competive, we mean we have to make more money than we ever have. Thanks guys for all your hard work, so much for our promises we made to ya, but ya know we need money hand over fist.

2005-06-08T16:41:00.000-04:00

From a forward:

Governor Rod Blagojevich will be in Decatur on Friday, June 10 to announce the Central Regional Plan for Opportunity Returns. The Economic Development announcement will take place at noon at the Mueller Foundry on the corner of Garfield and Jasper streets. The Central Region includes Cass, Menard, Logan, Macon, Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Christian, Shelby, Greene, Macoupin and Montgomery counties.

2005-06-06T16:26:00.000-04:00

It would be funny if it was the Onion, as it is its still funny. From today's Chicago Tribune in an article on Kraft and Harris Bank's Sponsorship of the Gay Games VII.

Randy Sharp, director of special projects for American Family Association, said he was shocked to learn that Kraft, the corporate giant behind brands such as Oreo, Tang and Jell-O, would openly support what he considers a "dangerous" and "unhealthy activity."
"When you look at all the Kraft commericals, they all revolve around family and children," Sharp said. "Now if I go buy Kraft mac and cheese, I'll know that part of my dollar is going to sponsor Olympic-type games for men that have sex together."

The horrors, the horrors men that have sex together participating in Olympic-type Games. Oh wait that already happens, hey Randy guess what I even hear gay people are in the real Olympics! And, I bet that gay people might even work at Kraft. Now if you go buy some Kraft mac and cheese, you'll know that part of your dollar is going to pay GAY people. Quick start the boycott, more Oreos for me.

2005-06-05T12:46:00.000-04:00

Macon County Republican recently posted this

I've been reading posts on Decatur Conservative and blogdecatur where there have been "discussions" with regard to differences between democrats and republicans. Many topics have been discussed, but I've detected one recurring theme. Regardless of the topic, I've noticed the democratic posters tend to be fairly angry, and in some cases, down right nasty. Why the anger? Is it just a personality trait, or something else?

As if we need to explain a reason why we are angry with this Congress and President, well here are a few reasons why I am angry.

Because I have to worry about friends and loved ones dying because of a war based on false intelligence.
Because this president and this congress have consistently sided with corporate interests over everyday Americans.
Because of the "national" importance that Terri Schiavo might die, when I have friends who have died because they can't afford the best medical care or the right drugs, and anyone thinking they should be provided with that are pinko commies.
Because my government thinks they should have the right to come into my life and tell me who I can and cannot marry.
Because the radical right is trying to create a theocracy in this country.
Because this president and this congress think the idea of majority rule minority rights is BS, when 8 short years ago they were pulling worse antics.
Because you can get impeached for getting a blowjob, but not for letting thousands of people, American and others, die needlessly.
Because this President and this Congress chant ceaselessly Support the Troops Support the Troops, while they screw the veterans.

Am I angry? You're damn right I am. What makes you angry?

2005-06-01T17:25:00.000-04:00

Johnson called upon to stand up for Social Security
Constituents to officially launch 15th District Committee of Illinois United to Protect
Social Security – will release official report estimated average benefit loss under President
Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security
President Bush continues to barnstorm the nation, stubbornly ignoring the will of the majority of Americans who oppose Social Security privatization. With many in Congress torn between fealty to the President and the opinion of constituents, the 15th District Organizing Committee of Illinois United to Protect Social Security will ask Congressman Tim Johnson to join them in opposition of privatizing Social Security.
Illinois United will also release a report compiled by the Institute for America’s Future (IAF)
detailing the estimated benefit cuts the average Illinoisan would suffer under the President’s
plan for Social Security privatization – based on estimates from the Congressional Budget
Office, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and IAF.

Date: Thursday, June 2, 2005
Champaign Event:
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Stevick Senior Center, 48 E Main Street, Champaign IL
Who: Claudia Lennhoff, Executive Director, Champaign Co. Health Care Consumers
Kevin Sandefur, President, AFL-CIO of Champaign County
Barbara Franklin, President, AFSCME Retirees Subchapter 88
Dave Morris, Co-President, UIUC, Graduate Employees Organization
Bernard Hammel, Pres., Champaign-Vermilion Chapter, IL Farmers Union
Barb Pritchard, Director, Campaign for Real Choice in Illinois
Hannah Lehman, Citizen Action/Illinois

Bloomington Event:
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: The new Social Security building, 207 Williamsburg Drive, Bloomington, IL
Who: Hal Gullet, Normal resident, President of IL Alliance for Retired Americans
Don Armstrong, VP, Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly
Father Tom Shea, St. Patrick Church of Merna
Hannah Lehmen, Citizen Action
Others to be announced

Questions? Email me.

2005-05-26T18:55:00.000-04:00

The State Journal-Register broke the news today on the ongoing DMH investigation.

DECATUR - Federal investigators have ordered dozens of Macon County doctors to hand over tax forms, contracts and other documents in an ongoing probe of Decatur Memorial Hospital's financial practices.

No charges or other formal allegations have been filed in the investigation, in which at least 85 doctors have received subpoenas.

As part of the inquiry, federal officials apparently are trying to determine whether Decatur Memorial broke federal laws that prohibit hospitals from using incentives or kickbacks to get doctors to refer patients for medical services, said Dr. Tim Bailey, a Decatur general surgeon.

It is sad to see this broken in the Springfield paper, I would hope that the second largest employer in Decatur being the target of a federal investigation, and yet we have nothing from our paper on it. Oh well, as it goes, I'll be patiently waiting to see if it makes the news tommorow, but I'm not hopeful.

2005-05-21T18:08:00.000-04:00

The Herald & Review covered the failure of Gov. Blagojevich to unveil the Opportunity Returns program for this area a few days ago. Criticism was leveled at him, based on the fact that, well he hasn't launched the damn thing. He even went as far as to schedule a press conference to announce it, then cancelled at the last minute siting poor weather for not being able to make it.

However, is it possible there is a better story here? I think so, and it makes the whole thing make sense. Could this be a possible scenario, The Opportunity Returns program for this region was highly focused on expanding existing industries in Decatur, that could otherwise not afford to expand. If one was to look for a company that would like to expand, but couldn't at the time, you would have most likely settled on Intermet Wagner. An Opportunity Returns program could use grants, tax credits, and what not to basically pay to keep Intermet here and expand to boot. However, you would have to convince a company that otherwise wanted to close the plant, to not only stay but expand. The administration and the company could have agreed, but at the last minute the company changes its mind, and pulls out. Well what does that leave the Governor to do, come announce a plan for a company, that isn't going to do it and instead is actually closing the plant, or cancel the press conference citing weather? And, the reason we don't have an announcement yet, well thats probably because they are back at the drawing board creating a new one.

Then again maybe thats not a scenario........

2005-05-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

Villaraigosa over Hahn 58.66 to 41.34.

Probably doesn't matter much to most readers of TDD but L.A. has a new mayor. More than that, he's one of the good guys, a honest to goodness progressive. Kudos to L.A. today.

2005-05-17T18:15:00.000-04:00

If this wasn't real life I'd laugh.
"It's puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the story," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard that should be met and in this instance it was not."
"The report has had serious consequences," McClellan said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."
Now let's take a closer look.....

Read the rest at blogdecatur.com, that's right, just click on the blue paragraph.

2005-05-16T13:03:00.000-04:00

Gary where have you gone? Your blog looks to have gone into a deep slumber. April 26th is your last post. Come back!!!!

2005-05-13T11:45:00.000-04:00

The new Scoop based site for Central Illinois. Where discussion is at a premium, and everyone gets there say. Write your own thoughts on whats happening at the Avon, cell phones in Decatur, the filibuster, Blago, or whatever you feel like, and get the discussion started!

2005-05-11T16:21:00.000-04:00

The governor has finally released his ethics proposal. From a press release :

* Completely prohibits contributions from corporations and unions. This would be Illinois’ first limitation on contributions from any corporate entity.

* Limits individuals to contributions of $2,000 per candidate per election. This would be the first limit ever placed on donations to candidates by individuals in Illinois.

* Limits Political Action Committees (PACs) to contributions of $5,000 per candidate per election. This is the first limit ever placed on donations to candidates from Political Action Committees (PACs) in Illinois.

* Limits state party contributions to $5,000 per candidate per election.

* Limits contributions to state parties and PACs to $5,000 a year from individuals or other PACs.

* Prohibits an individual from contributing more than $40,000 in total contributions to all candidates, party committees and PACs in any election cycle.

* Includes provisions for candidates whose opponents exceed the threshold amount of personal spending – mirroring the federal law. [...]

* Improves Statements of Economic Interest. Currently, Illinois requires public officials to report limited information about their occupation, employer and potential conflicts of interest. The Governor is calling for a greater level of detail regarding public officials’ financial holdings and potential conflicts of interest.

* Requires Disclosure of Lobby Contracts and Improved Lobbyist Regulations. Current law requires lobbyists to list their clients and gifts on public disclosure forms. The Governor’s plan requires lobbyists to disclose the terms of their contracts, including fees and exactly who they lobby.

* Closes the Revolving Door between Public Officials and Lobbying Firms. Current law places a one-year prohibition on former state employees working for companies they regulated or to which they awarded contracts. The Governor calls for extending the law by requiring a one-year prohibition on all former legislators and state employees lobbying.

* Strengthens the State Board of Elections enforcement powers. For example, the Governor’s proposal would allow the State Board of Elections to perform audits of election committees to determine that the committee is complying with state laws, including contribution limits.

* Distributes non-partisan candidate information through Voters Guides. Voters Guides would be posted online by the State Board of Elections and would contain information such as the date and time of the general election as well as a description of elected offices and statements and photographs of candidates for the General Assembly, statewide executive branch constitutional offices, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, and Illinois Appellate Court Judge.

* Provides More Frequent Campaign Financial Disclosure. Current law requires candidates to report their campaign finances twice a year. The Governor proposes requiring candidates to file their campaign finances quarterly.

* Prohibits law firms, consulting firms and lobbying firms that have contracts with the state (including the Governor’s, Attorney General’s, Secretary of State’s, Comptroller’s and Treasurer’s offices, state agencies or state regulatory boards) from providing income to members of the state legislature, state employees, and board appointees.

* Prohibits legislators or state employees from earning outside income by directly lobbying or receiving compensation from any firm that lobbies the General Assembly or any agency of the Executive Branch. This includes lobbying the office of the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller or Treasurer, state agencies or state regulatory boards.

* Prohibits family members of state employees, including those of legislators, from lobbying the state (including all constitutional offices, state agencies and state regulatory boards) or from serving on state boards or commissions for which they receive compensation.

* Conflict of Interest Provision. The Governor’s plan prohibits a public official or public employee from voting or making an official decision if the official or employee (or a business or organization they or a family member is associated with) has a financial interest in the vote or decision.

* Prohibits any officer of any state campaign organization from receiving state contracts, lobbying the state (including the office of the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller and Treasurer, state agencies or state regulatory boards) or from participating in investments involving the state.

2005-05-09T13:29:00.000-04:00

Recently on the Jackson File a slew of comments has been flying back and forth about DMH and events happening about it. This opened my eyes up to certain facts I was unaware of, one being that most of DMH's property is exempt from property taxes, and two as a non-profit organization it is exempt from income taxes. Below is a table comparing the yearly profit of not-for-profit DMH vs. the yearly losses of St. Mary's, a not-for-profit as well, over a 4 year period.

DMH profits:
1999 +$19,430,490
2000 +$14,288,225
2001 +$9,233,667
2002 +$5,703,584
Total DMH profits+$48,655,966

St. Mary’s losses:
1999 -$4,113,192
2000 -$2,872,896
2001 -$310,693
2002-$7,619,625
Total St. Mary’s losses- $14,916,406

I'll admit I do not have more up to date information then that, so maybe DMH isn't quite raking in dough hand over fist anymore. Before I go any farther I would also like to look at the profit over total revenue, a.k.a. profit margin.

1999 - $135,207,370 total revenue with a profit of $19,330,490 or 14.29% of revenue was profit.
2000 - $142,421,357 total revenue with a profit of $14,288,225 or 10% of revenue was profit.
2001 - $156,907,733 total revenue with a profit of $9,233,667 or 5.8% of revenue was profit.
2002 - $182,992,200 total revenue with a profit of $5,703,584 or 3.1% of revenue was profit.

The real question at this point becomes how much profit should a non-profit company be making?

In 2004, in Urbana, Provena Convent Medical Center had it's non-profit status revoked. Provena, which has 270 beds then had to pay over $1 million dollars in property taxes. In an article from the Wall Street Journal on February 14, 2004 Lucette Langado wrote

The decision by the Illinois Department of Revenue in Springfield came after the Champaign County Board of Review, a three-member panel that reviews property-tax assessments, questioned the tax-exempt status of both major hospitals in Champaign-Urbana over the past two years. The Champaign board documented that hte hospitals filed lawsuits and used other aggressive debt-collection tactics against patients who didn't pay their bills. "Based upon the fact that they sue --people and we had been told by the Department of Revnue if you sue people you are not charitable -- there was not a lot of room for ambiguity," said Stan Jenkins, a longtime member of the Champaign board.

In its challenge to Provena Covenant's tax-free status, the Champaign board also argued that Provena had allowed a host of external for-profit entities to fulfill key hospital functinos. The use of outside, for-profit companies has become fairly common across the not-for-profit hospital industry.

According to the Macon County Circuit Clerk's webpage Decatur Memorial Hospital is listed as a litigant in 5276 cases, stretching back to 1986, the vast majority of which are small claims cases.

In 2003, the last full tax year before this decision was handed down, Covena actually showed a loss of $700,000. The year before that DMH showed a profit of $5,703,584.

For months we have read in the Herald & Review city leaders praising the landing of Target pointing out how far the $800,000 in sales taxes it will hopefully yield a year will go to help the city. The only question I have is how far would the property taxes from DMH go to help all of our taxing bodies if it's not-for-profit status was revoked?

2005-05-06T12:24:00.000-04:00

I dont even know what to say right now. Let me start off by posting a few links.

They were literally kicked out of the church for being Democrats. I am without words for this, never before have I seen such an ugly, wrong, un-christian display of intolerance by a pastor. The members of his church were told if they voted for John Kerry they had two options, repent or leave the church. You repent for sins, taking part in Democracy is not a sin, at least it isn't yet. It seems almost that the line in the sand is being drawn by these people, either you are with us or you're against Christ is the line they are trying to draw. If you disagree with that statement, well you're wrong. That is what is being done by these people. They don't represent the mainline of the Republican party I hope, and as such they should be denounced for their action. I am not one to actively pursue things but this morning I wrote a long letter to both Sens. Dole and Barr - R N.C. asking them to denouce the hatred their constituents are spreading. Because that is what it is hatred, being incited and spread in the name of religion. I can't even get on to the last two articles because I'm so upset right now. You're either with us or againt Christ, go .... It's a sad state of Christianity when only 40 other members out of 300 left the church in protest. So much for love they neighbor, I guess it should state love thy Neighbor-R. Pricks.

2005-05-05T12:03:00.000-04:00

Bearing a charmed name in Macon County politics, Edwin J. Tangney Jr. rose from union plasterer to county recorder, a post he held for more than 22 years until he retired in 1998.

Tangney, 72, died Tuesday at home from complications of his long fight with lung cancer. He was remembered Wednesday by friends as a man with a sharp sense of humor and a temper that sometimes hid the pleasure he derived from helping people.

Visitation is 3-5 & 6-8 Friday at Britlinger & Earl, Funeral Saturday morning at 10 A.M. at Britlinger & Earl.

2005-05-04T21:11:00.000-04:00

After the City Council election I struck up a E-correspondence with new Decatur City Councilman Dan Caulkins. I recently invited him for a return trip back into the blogosphere, and he responded quickly. Below is a short article about the trolley issue which was brought up at the last city council meeting. This is a feature that may or may not turn into a semi-regular feature. So let's hear your input or thoughts on the trolley and other issues you feel are important to Decatur. This can quickly become a two way conduit for ideas. So let's see how it turns out, and we can develop the idea from here.
TDD

Decatur Buys A Trolley?

Monday night (5/2) the City Council discussed the idea of purchasing one of the trolleys that are currently in use by the Transit System. Because this was a Study Session ("Possible Acquisition of One Trolley"), no formal vote was taken on a proposal to purchase but it was an opportunity for the members to discuss the issue with staff.

A short review of the details: Originally, this trolley was purchased with $110,000 in grants. For the city to purchase it from the Transit System we would need to spend $71,012 ($55,734 to Feds and $15,278 to IDOT). It will take 4-6 weeks after the resolution is passed to get their approval.

The City staff have negotiated with the Feds to get our $55,734 set aside for any other eligible transit purpose we may have. IDOT can't do that but they have agreed to some sort of deal that will allow us use the Fed money without their participation.

The transit system wants to use the Fed's money for a new wheelchair lift-equipped van. There are two 1993 vans in service now, and the Fed money to replace them has dried up. The estimated cost of a new van is about $50,000. There is some talk of being able to use our $55K to leverage the purchase of 2 new vans, but nothing definite. (That was short by government standards.)

Now, The Opinion: It was clear to me that everyone on the Council is in favor of removing at least 1 trolley from service. My understanding is we can't just give it back (my first choice!) without paying a heavy penalty. Even though there is no line item in this years budget for the $71K purchase of a trolley (or $50K for a new lift van), I think it's a fairly good idea IF we can find a way to recover our costs ($71K) from the use or sale of the trolley. I use the $71K number because that is what we're really spending. Yes, the Transit System is getting a new lift van in the deal but these purchases have been made with grant money, not City GRF dollars.

The second part is just as important to me as the first. I do not want the city to become a Trolley-Taxi service. We have no expertise in this area and we can't afford to start one. I would like to see our staff immediately put together a request for bids to either purchase or lease the trolley for use in Decatur. We can grant a taxi license and parking privileges if need be. I say let some smart business person decide what it's worth to have a trolley for rent in Decatur. If the result is not attractive enough to the Council, we can discuss other options (E-Bay?)

Dan Caulkins

2005-05-03T11:16:00.000-04:00

VPCheney's comments from a few days ago have had me thinking for a long while now. In his comments he seemed quick to attack myself and other Democrats as trying to rely on class warfare because I said poor people deserve tax breaks more than rich people. In fact he used the "stop inciting class warfare" argument against several people. This got me thinking which is worse class warfare or religious warfare?

Let me be very clear what I mean when I say religious warfare, I am referring to the National Republican leaders that take part in events such as "Stop the filibuster against people of faith", as if the only reasons Democrats would filibuster these justices is because they are christian, the Republican Leaders who use wedge issues such as gay marriage and others to fire up their base at the expense of espousing hate against others, the Republican leaders who insist that they know what is best for our country, that their religious beliefs must be what becomes law in D.C., the right wing ministers who announce on national TV that federal judges are a bigger threat to America than al qaeda or Nazi Germany. That my friend is religious warfare by the right and it is worse than any class warfare short of outright revolution by the lower classes than you can imagine. To use religion to the ends that these people have is digusting.

Your leaders, your party, don't have a claim to the mantle of religion. Yet they act as they do, that the simple notion that a Democrat could be anything more than a secular, baby killing, welfare mooching, draft dodging, god hater is unbelievable. You have a leadership and a national party that has used religion to incite hate against others, and to divide rather than unite America. That my friend is much worse than any division that has ever been created by "class warfare."

2005-05-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

Taking a hint from JoinCross I spruced up a little today. I've added a few more blogs to my blog roll, and put more posts up on the front page. If anyone has any blogs I should take into consideration to add or I have overlooked let me know in the comments.

2005-05-02T22:08:00.000-04:00

The council is expected to vote today on whether to change regulations to allow "limited sales of single drinks of beer and wine only" in movie theaters in downtown's central business district. Sales would not be allowed when movies are not being shown.

Does anyone know how the vote on this turned out? I am in favor of the idea for sure. I have only heard good things about the "brew and views" in other cities. It would further bolster a business that I hope will one day become an instituion to this city. I have spoken to a few people on this issue, and the resonse tends to the positive side. What are your thoughts on a "Brew and View" in Decatur?

2005-05-02T12:32:00.000-04:00

It's Monday, that means I have to figure out something to do with today's H & R. It was great to see that Decatur news has been pared down to one article. All we have left to read is AP articles and briefs, and I think I saw some scary ladies in red hats in there somewhere. Kudos to the upper management at H & R for giving us that one story though, seriously thanks guys, it almost made me say I am glad to have a subscription.

2005-05-02T12:18:00.000-04:00

Matt Jackson hopped on it first, I figured I would let him because it hit his blog first, but what is going on here?

I'm curious about this one.
I know the physicians in Decatur are considering circling the wagons, and bracing for some sort of federal investigation - so far I haven't been able to figure out exactly what is being investigated! As far as I can tell, the doc's themselves don't know what's up, either.
Subpoenas are flying right and left (120 is the number I've heard). It does seem a little odd that DMH, being a major employer and a major player in the city, isn't doing all they can to get out in front of this issue.

Anybody have ideas on what's up?
Is DMH building a Carle-style empire?
What are the fed's looking into?

Has anyone heard anything about this, is it rumor or based on something more than that? I have always been a bit confused with the med-mal crisis and how hard it is to be a doctor in Illinois these days that DMH is always expanding. So let's hear it folks, what is the real scoop here?

2005-04-30T18:55:00.000-04:00

My nomination for Blunder - Pres. Bush proposal on changing SS benefits - front page article in The Chicago Tribune about how even Republicans aren't supporting it, not the moderates but the conservative Republicans as well.

My nomination for Wonder - Rep. Shays R-Connecticut refusing to support Delay.

I guess I should make this clear because I am willing to bet there is some misunderstanding here. I don't dislike most Republicans. I count among my closest and most dear several ardent Republicans. I don't disagree with issues Republicans hold just because I am a Democrat. In fact I like the Republicans we have in local offices here, heck I don't even mine Judy Baar. However, the policies and actions the National Republicans over the last 5 years have taken, have left me angry and outraged at them. I enjoy the meaningful dialogue that has taken place on this and other area blogs, and hope that they served to keep things civil and rational. Keep up the good work everyone, and know that I respect all of your thougts and all of you.
TDD

2005-04-30T11:23:00.000-04:00

On a Social Security comment frequent poster VPCheney labeled Democrats as obstructionist for opposing Social Security reform simply because it came from Bush. Ignoring the fact that it is not only Democrats opposing Social Security Reform in Congress it is Republicans too, I just wanted to run some SS poll numbers past everyone and ask if we are obstructing or if we are serving the will of the people.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling Social Security?"

"Who do you trust to do a better job handling Social Security: Bush or the Democrats in Congress?" Options rotated
						.
		Bush	Democrats	Both (vol.)	Neither (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	4/21-24/05	32	50	2	11	3
	3/10-13/05	37	49	2	11	2

"Do you have confidence in George W. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about Social Security, or are you uneasy about his approach?"
					.
		Confident	Uneasy	Unsure
		%	%	%
	ALL	25	70	5
	Republicans	59	33	8
	Democrats	6	92	2
	Independents	19	76	5

I guess it is obstructing these days to ensure that the will of the people is carried about, I guess it is scary to the Republican administration to have to deal with average joes instead of screwing them over relentlessly.

2005-04-29T10:29:00.000-04:00

The Republican Congress last night passed a budget for this year that leaves a $382,000,000,000 budget deficit while at the same time handing out tax cuts to the tune of $106,000,000,000, the vast majority of which goes to the ultra wealthy who are already living fat thanks to Bush, while not allocating the full amount of money needed for Iraq and Afghanistan meaning another supplemental bill will be needed this year pushing the deficit up even higher for this year. I would think this would be of a key interest to people, but instead today's wonderful Herald & Review editorial board takes Sen. John Cullerton too task for proposing a bill which will not pass, and saying the only way to solve the budget problem is to reduce state government's size. I think the bigger issue would be to call on the Republicans in Washington to even at least pretend a bit that they care about fiscal responsibility, but instead they choose to focus on a $2 Billion dollar gap in Illinois, which will be harder to bridge by the way due to the Republicans cutting $10 Billion from the Medicaid budget being cut. But then again why criticize Republicans when you can take a swipe at a Democrat?

2005-04-29T10:17:00.000-04:00

And Here it is:

"What I propose is simple, once again we screw the working men and women of America, poor people stay the same, rich people get tax cuts, Middle Class America, well let's cut their benefits and screw them on tax breaks, damn I'm smart."

2005-04-28T17:03:00.000-04:00

A late notice of DownLeft a southern Illinois based blog let me in on this little tidbit of information

The Poshard Question
Marking earth day the Southern Illinoisan ran an article about Glen Poshard's new campaign to beautify the region. The positive article makes a good point that litter is a problem across Southern Illinois and I am glad some efforts are being made to address the issue, especially considering the wonderful natural beauty of the region...

That being said there is a political impact to this story. Democratic insiders have wondered for several months just exactly what Poshard is up to. Glenn was a longtime resident of Marion however in the fall of 2004 he moved to Murphsyboro about 25 Miles away. By making the move he changed State Senate, State Rep and Congressional districts.

One of the interesting aspects of the SI story is Poshard states there are organizers for the cleanup committee in 16 counties....sounds like how one would organize a political campaign to me.

The move combined with the step up in media presence make his activities a question, especially since he has no desire to return to Washington. Maybe an attempt to return to Statewide politics is in the cards....stay tuned.

If so I am eagerly anticipating, Poshard and I differ signifigantly on almost every Social issue there is, but I don't know what it is about this guy, he is by far my favorite public servant I have ever had. Here's to hoping that he comes back one more time.

2005-04-27T16:06:00.000-04:00

From The Inside Dope a Republican left a comment talking about Lane and his health, in reply came the best. rant. ever.

Here Here, Republican Joe! It is about time for someone to come forward without any moral compunctions about discrimination on the basis of physical disability! For far too long, Republicans have brandished their prejudice with a base alloy of hypocrisy and pretext! Good for you, republicanjoe, for coming out and saying what the rest of your party thinks but does not say. The God that you Republicans invoke for the purpose of gaining political power is a wrathful one indeed. There is no place in his Heaven for gimps or queers.

I, for one, agree with you. After all, why SHOULD we be represented by someone who has the misfortune of an affliction with Parkinson's Disease, when there are so many potential candidates out there who do not suffer from physical disabilities?

While we're on the subject, if you ask me, they should have gotten rid of the Pope the first time his hand trembled! That cripple's time had come and gone years ago! And, of course, Dennis Hastert is fat. We should get rid of him. God knows that obesity creates a veritable plethora of health problems, all of which might interfere with his ability to serve as Speaker of the House. And don't get me started on Rehnquist! Can you BELIEVE that our Supreme Court is led by a man afflicted with cancer!? If God meant for him to preside over our high court, he would not have afflicted him with a terminal disease!

Americans with Disabilities Act my ass! I do not know WHAT those Democrats were thinking when they enacted legislation to protect those weaker than us. I am sick and tired of wheelchair ramps and Braille elevator buttons. It's about time we bring back good ol' stairs and blind people getting off on the wrong floor! God created physical disabilities for the purpose of separating the wheat from the chaff. So let's get rid of the chaff and start electing the wheat!

Indeed, republicanjoe, it is time for the poor, the weak and the disabled to get out of the way. For the republicans are coming, backed with the invocation of an angry and wrathful God, unburdened by the annoyance of compassion for the poor and the weak, unfettered by the hindrance of fundamental protections guaranteed by a once great Constitution.

I couldn't write it better myself. People like Lane and Pope John Paul II should serve as an inspiration. It would be easy enough to sit on the sidelines and say I can't do this, it is too hard on my body. But, instead they have both exhibited courage and strength by continously fighting for what they believe is right, even given the circumstances that should be setting them back. Attacking someone with a long history of great service by labeling them everything short of crippled is despicable, and I would certainly hope good Republicans in the 17th District would denounce such hateful campaigning.

2005-04-26T12:08:00.000-04:00

I haven't heard much lately on the Republicans plan to give us a few trillion dollars in new debt and screw millions of working people lately, or I could have just said I haven't heard much on the Republicans plan on Social Security lately. Is Social Security reform as we know it dead, no, simply because the Republicans never gave the American public a plan for reform, there plan on reform was say private accounts enough in the people will like it. So let's see the D.C. Republicans success rate since the November election.

Terri Schiavo
Social Security
The Nuclear Option
Bolton for Ambassador

Maybe if the Republican's had bathed these ideas in the kind of grand words they have used for other plans to screw the people then they would have been more succesful. Here are my ideas, feel free to contribute your own.

Terri Schiavo = Freedom to Live Bill
Social Security = Freedom in applying seniors cash opportunity - The F.I.A.S.C.O. Bill
The Nuclear Option = The Jesus says they're good Bill
Bolton for Ambassador = The U.N. Remodeling appointment, a tip to his comment of knocking off 1o floors of the U.N.

And in a late addition to help Social Security George Bush has brought out Tom Delay to help push it. I wish I was making this up. Keep up the good work guys!

2005-04-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

"There are some people out there who are Christians...who believe that homosexuality is a sin. You know what? I'm a Christian. I do believe that it's a sin. You know what else? I believe divorce is a sin. Guess what? I've been divorced. Guess what? Jesus talks about divorce a lot more than he talks about homosexuality. I don't know why people obsess over it so much, but they do. Wait a second, I do know why they obsess over it. Because they get votes bashing gays."
--Joe Scarborough

2005-04-25T19:59:00.000-04:00

lets behave ourselves on commenting until changes are made. I'm opening them back up, play nice.

2005-04-25T18:05:00.000-04:00

I ran to the door today to read the newspaper with great interest. After reading the newspaper all I could think is, if this is a newspaper where is the news? As a recap, the front page covered a tea party and a kid that makes movies in Mt. Zion, besides that there was an article on the Formosa Explosion in Illipopolis, past that everything was an AP or Knight Ridder article or a news brief. To steal an old commercial, where's the news? Anyone can make a newspaper that takes articles off the wires, where is the news that matters to Decatur? 3 articles and briefs, in the eyes of the directorship of the Herald and Review that is all the news Decatur deserves.

2005-04-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

On the advice of some people, who's opinions I tend to value, I have for the time being taken down comments. I've been undertaking something new for me over the last month which has slowly but surely greatly dwindled my time I have to devote to this. I would like the advice from all of you on what my policy on comments should be. What Im tentatively looking at is a team approach with other people who I trust monitoring the comments as well, with the ability to delete the profane and libelous comments. If you feel you are up to this challenge, or have other suggestions email me at TheDecaturDemocrat@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts, Marucco, LightnerForMayor, JacksonFile, Bob Sampson, and hey even some of our republican bloggers, I strongly encourage you to email me about this as well. Look for comments to be down for the next few days.

2005-04-22T03:18:00.000-04:00

The talk of a county administrator has come to the forefront again. I am a bit confused because it seems some believe that if we have a county administrator, then we can't have a county auditor. The herald and review article on this same subjects points out that Champaign County has two county administrators, but they also have an auditor as well. On the whole I am not in favor of a county administrator, for the same reason I am not in favor of a city manager. I believe if we instill people with power, such as that a county administrator or city manager has, they should be answering to the voters, not 4 or 11 people. Though I agree with Oliver, the time of business by committee has passed. Might it be in the best interest of the county to have a full time board chairman, or possibly look into the executive form of government f or the county. Both interesting prop0sal, that would hopefully ensure everything is being done the same way a county administrator would, but they would be answering to the voters as well.

2005-04-22T03:14:00.000-04:00

We have a new pope, or as they might say in the Vatican Habimus Popi, I think. I can't say I'm too happy with Ratzinger as Cardinal. I was hoping the college of cardinals would recognize the fact that the church is growing in areas, and fading in others. Ratzinger represents the old guard, and I think the day is fresh for a new guard. The church should look for ways to make itself grow, and to help its members that need it the most, the members in Africa, Asia, and South America. I'm not saying Ratzinger isnt up for the job, but I think we would be better served by a pope more in touch with these consituencies. Then again there is probably a reason I am not a cardinal. What are your thoughts?

2005-04-15T15:20:00.000-04:00

Political Blunders and Wonders from this week, hit it boys.

2005-04-15T15:09:00.000-04:00

As of today it looks like Bean stays, thank goodness. It is a hard issue to comprehend, and I dont have the time right now to map it all out. But someone screwed up big time, Im not going to point fingers because I dont know the whole picture, but someone has to step up and say I am the reason this happened.

2005-04-12T03:51:00.000-04:00

Matt Jackson is going to be appearing on Byers and Company regularly now. No offesne Matt, but I really think you are the Joe Lieberman of Macon County. Feel free to attack someone besides Democrats at some point in time!

2005-04-12T03:39:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know if there is any truth to the Bean rumors that have been flung around here, if it is true it would tie up some loose ends and make sense of some grumblings I have heard. I would hate to see it, Steve is one of the last of the good guys. If you have the scoop email me thedecaturdemocrat@gmail.com

2005-04-11T10:03:00.000-04:00

While I haven't had the time to crunch the final numbers or look at precint by precint results, I'll give you a recap of what I just emailed Dan Caulkins with. This is what I think happened, Shampine took the ground game, Caulkins took the air game, sometimes the ground game works sometimes teh air game works. I think they were both in contention for the same seat. McDaniels didn't grow much from the primary to now, and I expected that. He is a great guy, and I hope he sticks around, but I didn't see him making the final cut. Stockard and Edwards were guaranteed to stay on, in fact Edwards didn't have to do anything to get re-elected. How nice that must be. So what it came down to were Shampine and Caulkins going for the same seat. Caulkins did a media campaign, Shampine did a ground campaign. Both cant be winners, Caulkins won, oh and the DUI didn't help. I'll be back later.
TDD

2005-04-08T00:02:00.000-04:00

I just stumbled across Sen. Obama's new blog through Rick Klau, and I realized he is an us guy as opposed to a them guy. I guess I should explain what that means, read this then I'll explain:

Good luck to all of you Illini fans out there. Tonight, I'll be watching the game with my staff in Washington. Since we can't actually be in Illinois, we plan to pack as many Illini fans as possible into one room so that it at least feels like we're there. Though I have to say, anything will be better than watching the Illini-Arizona game in Scottsdale, AZ.

When Deron Williams hit that three to take the game into overtime, I yelled so loud that the entire restaurant went silent and turned to stare at us. Surprisingly, from then on the service was a little slower and the waitress wasn't quite as nice. But I guess that's the price you pay for victory.

Call central and request a Senator, they'll send a them guy. A them guy is someone you couldn't imagine yourself being, an us guy is someone who you could imagine being. I don't know about all of you, but when Deron Williams hit that three I went nuts, the whole state erupted, our senator erupted. Obama, he's an us guy, check out his blog.

2005-04-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

I'm looking to publish recaps of the elections in all the muncipalities and townships in Macon County if possible. For example a Long Creek person could contribute a bit on what happened in Long Creek such as Greenfield's negative ads, etc. If you would like to submit anything in line with this email it to TheDecaturDemocrat@gmail.com and let me know if you want it published under a handle or under your name.
TDD
P.S. Im still waiting for biographies on important democrats in macon county from the past and now.

2005-04-07T14:05:00.000-04:00

Decatur's 'turned the corner:' Mayor paints vibrant picture about progress

Intermet kills hopes for Decatur plant: State official frozen out of testy, four-hour talks

2005-04-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

This might shock some of you to hear, but with the exception of Shampine losing, I would say last night was a good night overall for Democrats. We managed to hold on or expand almost everywhere. The Decatur Township Democrats swept with their whole slate winning. I can only hope that puts the blue house is evil meme to rest. We elected some good Democrat school board members. We elected a Democrat to the Richland Board. I'm sure I am going to hear from the flamers, yeah but what about the city council race. There were three things that could have happened last night with it, best case scenario, worst case scenario, and the status quo. Best case scenario, Mike and Shad get elected, worst case scenario Mike and Shad lose, status quo, Mike loses Shad wins or vice versa. Nothing really changed with that, so am I disappointed yeah, but am I upset no. I'll be back later with more and better analysis.

2005-04-05T08:26:00.000-04:00

Open Thread

2005-04-03T23:47:00.000-04:00

To be honest I didn't think I would be moved to much by the Pope's passing. It was inevitable, we all knew it was coming, for all intents and purposes there was a media countdown. But, after it happened, I suprised myself. Thinking of all that man has strived for his whole life isn't much more different then mine. He was a conservative prelate, but at the same time he recognized the fact that if you believe in "the culture of life" then that has to be all life. You can't be against abortions, and pro-death penalty, you can't be pro-life and pro-iraq. He recognized the fact that though we may disagree, in the end we are all sons and daughters of a great and mighty god, that we owe it to each other to care and provide for others when they cannot do it themselves. He recognized that each person no matter how high and mighty, or how low and shameful they may be has an inherent worth to them as a human being, and that as such we all are equal, he was the rare person who could walk with kings, yet not lose the common touch. Above all, he was a great man, who loved and cared for all that he met, if we all took a lesson from him this would be a just and righteous world. We're losing to many of the ones we need most, I sincerely hope we have all learned lessons from those that we have lost this year.

2005-04-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

The Herald & Review announced who they were endorsing today. They are as follows:

Betsy Stockard
Pat McDaniel
Dan Caulkins

Although they are pretty predictable, there are some things to disagree with. For starters,

In recent days, Stockard has been unfairly characterized by Edwards in an article in the Waterloo, Iowa, Courier as not living in the inner city and perhaps not representing the views of all of the black community

Now I cant say I read the Waterloo Courier on a regular basis, but I figured I would check out their website and see what all this fuss is about. The only article with Shad in it on their website mentions nothing about Betsy, so I searched Lexis-Nexis and found nothing as well. I'm not saying the article doesn't exist, but I am saying that if they want to dig for info on candidates they can at least start out by checking out their businesses they run, but more on that in a bit. But, again we're making nothing out of nothing.

Now onto Pat, I won't say much about Pat, I think he would be a decent councilman, would he be a great councilman probably not, would he be a great yes man, probably.

Finally this gem makes it in there:

Our third choice for council is Dan Caulkins, a local businessman. From what we've seen, Caulkins will bring some much-needed small business and customer service expertise to the council, and he promises to keep a closer eye on city expenses. Caulkins appears to be well-versed on issues facing the city and hasn't been afraid during the forums to take some strong stands.

There have been a few allegations tossed out there, and I've been sent some things regarding Dan's small business. Suffice to say, I would not want to recieve that type of customer service, and we'll leave it at that.

Other endorsements
Firefighters

Betsy Stockard
Shad Edwards
Mike Shampine

Cops

Betsy Stockard
Shad Edwards
Mike Shampine

City Workers

Betsy Stockard
Shad Edwards
Mike Shampine

Anyone want to guess who Garman's dogs in this race are?

2005-04-03T14:14:00.000-04:00

Pretend we're all reasonably responsible adults.

2005-04-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

I have GMail invites, anyone want one, email me at TheDecaturDemocrat@gmail.com

2005-04-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

Illinois by 8 today, thats my prediction. What are all of our blog readers doing for the game today? TDD will be at anyone of a long list of bars in Decatur today, I don't make it out often, but today is the exception. Does anyone know where Ralph's Illini Club will be? Where will all of you be?

2005-04-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

After the craziness that ensued with 4th grade arguments today I have chosen to change over to registered users only can comment for the time being. We'll see how it goes after the election, but i don't feel like cleaning up after you all. Go to blogspot.com to become a registered user.

2005-04-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

Who's up? Who's Down? Who's all around?

2005-04-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

For whatever you choose to discuss over this weekend, any comments that havent fit elsewhere, throw them out here.

2005-03-31T12:13:00.000-05:00

A scathing report made public this morning concludes that American intelligence agencies were "dead wrong" in almost all of their prewar assessments about the state of unconventional weapons in Iraq, and that on issues of this importance "we simply cannot afford failures of this magnitude."

But in the end the agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, collected too little for the "analysts to analyze, and much of what they did collect was either worthless or misleading."

As I remember correctly I was the one labeled as anti-american and un-patriotic because I didn't want our troops sent to die in a place that didn't pose an immediate or long term threat to us. And every day it becomes more blatantly obvious that Iraq did not. Some people might say well they could have started building bio chemical or nuclear weapons. Well oh my god, quick Russia has nuclear weapons, we gotta get them now because they may use them on us someday. 1,500 plus soldiers gone,1,500 plus families destroyed, and George W. Bush is still viewed as a moral person by the right.

"Three and a half years after Dec. 7, 1941, the United States had built and equipped an army and navy that had crossed two oceans, the English Channel and the Rhine; it had already won Germany's surrender and was two months from vanquishing Japan," the report continues.

Food for thought.

2005-03-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

The news that Decatur's Intermet Corp. foundry is destined to close by the end of the year was greeted Tuesday with sadness and disappointment by workers and community leaders. In a carefully phrased statement issued Tuesday morning shortly after plant workers were given the bad news, the company said it has "developed plans" to close the foundry, which produces parts for auto manufacturers. The closure is "expected" to happen by Dec. 31, and Intermet, struggling to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said it needed to cut costs to help its recovery.

I can't say I am stunned by this, but more in disbelief. How much longer are we going to go along trying to develop a retail environment in Decatur, while letting our industrial corp slipping away. People may say, but we have the farm progress show coming. I guess I can only counter that by saying, great 10 weekends over 20 years. This is 320 jobs, 320 families forever.

Coil praised the work of plant general manager Michael DelSignore, who he said worked hard to keep the plant alive. "He did an amazing job; he was very passionate about it," Coil added. In a brief statement Tuesday, DelSignore said he had resigned from Intermet. He arrived in 2002 with a mission to keep the plant alive and did not feel comfortable watching it die. "It's not what I came here for," he said. "It's not why I had put my heart and soul into turning the facility around."

This is a class act, by a nice guy. Too often Corporate leaders act without a conscious when doing the bad things they do, this is an example of a leader who cares about his business, employees, and town. We need people like this more than ever.

2005-03-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

Haven't been up to posting due to Blogger being about as good as Arizona in crunch time. Sorry for the lack of posting. I couldn't even take down the double posting from earlier.

2005-03-29T12:58:00.000-05:00

Dozens of candidates have called Obama's office since December seeking his endorsement — and perhaps more impactful, a smiling photo with him. He has obliged in many cases, from higher-profile offices to trustees and township elections.

For Republicans, a photo with President Bush can be golden. For the Democrats, Obama is the one.

"There are a bunch of candidates across the state that have asked for our support, and we've endorsed or, in some cases, chosen not to take a position," said Dan Shoman, Obama's political director. "A bunch of people really stuck out their necks, risked their political fortunes, for Sen. Obama, and there are those who put in countless hours working for us (during his campaign). Those folks are the core of how we got elected."

2005-03-28T19:29:00.000-05:00

Do you want this sweater representing you? Vote Democrat April 5th!


Kathy Bagley, Decatur Township Republican Trustee candidate
I need contributions for creepy republican ideas, got any, click on the Contact TDD link on the right.

2005-03-28T00:36:00.000-05:00

Steve Bean mentioned the School Board elections coming up, and I figured I would throw together a quick post on the candidates, I don't really want to do a cattle call, because I have no read whatsoever on it.

Terry Robinson - Incumbent 3 termer, teachers union is upset with him because of his refusal to abstain from any matters concering the Director (I believe that is the right term) of Human Resources, who just happens to be his wife. Seems to be a nice guy, as well as a very good speaker.
Jeff Perkins - IBEW 146's own, Jeff is a former school board member coming back to the board. I believe his experience is an asset, and wish him luck on getting back on.

Kevin Moore - Dynamic young guy who works for the Governor's office. He seems to be Wakeland's choice to replace him judging by his sign in Wakeland's front yard. A product of the Decatur schools he thinks it is time to start giving back. Good future ahead of him hopefully.

Jackie Bullard - Absolutely wowed the teachers in the endorsement session from what I hear. Active in Garfield school activities, as well as an assistant public defender for the appelate court in springfield, dealing mainly with juvenile deliquents. I believe she will bring a great approach to the board that hasn't been seen before.

Dan Winter - Teacher for 33 years, retired in 2001. As a former teacher he knows the problems our school district face first hand, but as a former teacher would he be willing to take the approach towards teachers some people think is needed? Time will tell.

Decatur Education Association has endorsed Jeff Perkins, Kevin Moore, Jackie Bullard, and Dan Winter. Five people for four seats, who is the odd man out?

2005-03-26T15:36:00.000-05:00

The Herald & Review did a write up of how much money each candidate has raised, as was the primary Shampine and Edwards on top in fundraising. I'm wondering if Edwards is planning a late hit, or what his ideas are, haven't seen too much of him. Now for the city council roundup:
1. Stockard - I got nothing
2. Edwards - Still no one has given a reason for why he should not be re-elected, this is a race for the open seat so far.
3. Shampine - Appears to have the momentum, the ground game and message seems to grow by the day.
4. McDaniel - Still out there
5. Caulkins - Now is not the time to have your campaign be off-focus, and it looks like it has become that way with the pollwatching/disenfranchising argument
6. Keck

I'll be back tommorow with a wrap up of this week, I haven't been in the blog mood, but there are a lot of issues to be addressed.
TDD

2005-03-25T03:22:00.000-05:00

As usual its Friday, and thus its time for the political play of the week. I'm pushing for people to look beyond local politics as well for the political play of the week. I might consider a Political Blunder of the Week, and for that I would award the GOP Political Blunder of the week for the Terry Shiavo blunder. Also accepting nominations for Creepy Republican posting to be up later today.

2005-03-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

Hat tip to the inside dope on this one

Saying that incumbent U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., is out of step with the
values of his congressional district, a 43-year-old commercial real estate
developer from Rock Island said he will try to unseat the 12-term incumbent
next year. Jim Mowen, a founder of Davenport-based Premier Partners,
said Tuesday that he will run in 2006 for the Republican nomination in the
17th Congressional District. A formal announcement is planned soon, he said.

Time will tell if this is a more serious than the last two candidates, who were about as serious as Gary Crowley for President. I guess this means Mowen already has one newspaper endorsement in hand for the general election, any guesses on which newspaper?

2005-03-23T13:36:00.000-05:00

Instead of constantly asking TDD if I was at a certain event don't waste your time, I'm going to say no. If i was there then that would give you a list of suspects. If I wasn't there, trust me I'll hear about it. TDD is everywhere and nowhere.

2005-03-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Gary Sawyer hit back on my Social Security posting, which was a reply to his post about that little pesky 1 trillion dollar devil. I said Gary didn't understand how Social Security worked or was trying to mislead us, one our the other, here is a recap of what he said originally.

Of course, no one in the Social Security debate is advocating taking all of the
Social Security money and putting it in a private account, or stuffing it in a
mattress. President Bush has mentioned private accounts of relatively small
amounts – 1 to 5 percent of an individual’s contribution.

To which I replied, 1 to 5 percent is a relatively large amount, because thats actually 1 to 5 percent of your pay, currently you pay 6.5 percent in payroll taxes up to 90,000 dollars to Social Security, and Bush is advocating taking almost all of that and throwing it in a private account, I would say thats not a relatively small amount, and thus Gary Sawyer either doesn't get how Social Security works, or is trying to mislead us. But then again I guess I should have said Gary Sawyer doesnt get how social security works, doesn't get how Bush's proposal works, or is trying to mislead us. Either way any of those options isn't a good option for the editor of the largest print information source in our area.

Now on to the rest of his post.

The solutions are basically these – cut back on benefits, raise Social Security
taxes or do a combination of the two.

No Gary indeed there are other solutions, raise or remove all together the cap on Social Security payroll tax. Social Security goes along way towards those who need it the most, so lets not make it a regressive tax which it is now, let's make it fair to everyone. If you raised the cap to 200,000 dollars Social Security would be solvent for as far as the eye can see, but then again you don't want those pesky rich people to pay their fair share, just cut their taxes and leave our children to pay for it.

The private accounts may be one way out of the problem. Bush has asked for other
solutions. The silence so far has been deafening.

The silence is deafening for a good reason, a while ago there was a good idea proposed, and actually passed into law, it works, you may have heard of it, it is called Social Security, that is our proposal, tinker with it sure, but don't ruin it. There haven't been other solutions because there don't have to be, if you did something as simple as raise the cap on Social Security which by the way was done under Reagan, then there wouldn't even be this discussion.

Let’s say a young person were allowed to divert some of their Social Security
funds into a private account and that the private account performed moderately
well. That person would have more money available at retirment than the person
who put all of their money in Social Security.

In a generation that is floundering in more debt, be it credit card, student loans, and other loans, than any generation before them, I think it would be a bad idea to say by the way even though you are a terrible financial planner right now you need to start planning for 50 years down the road, good luck! I know many young people that don't even balance their checkbook, and I have asked them what they think about this, and the response, "I would have no idea what to do." So much for the security part.

If that happens enough, then the increase in Social Security taxes wouldn’t have
to be as great.

Now you throw me off here, because frankly I have no idea what you are talking about. No where have you mentioned an increase in Social Security taxes, which would solve any problem there may be, and then now you say if you come out ahead often enough then we won't have to raise social security taxes as much. Well umm if you raised Social Security taxes then there wouldn't be a problem. So I'm glad you finally realized the solution.

My point is simply this. What’s so wrong with giving a young person the option
of diverting some of their Social Security money into a private account?

Because that isn't how the system works! You can't save the system by completely undermining it.

And finally,

It’s probably not a good idea to make a habit of answering anonymous bloggers,

Umm Gary, don't you publish unsigned editorials almost well you know ALL THE TIME!

2005-03-23T00:38:00.000-05:00

I had a great post responding to Gary Sawyer's response on Social Security, but erased it, so I'll give a little preview and post the rest tommorow.

Social Security Privatization is a terrible idea. News at six.

Ill be back
TDD

2005-03-21T20:51:00.000-05:00

Gary Sawyer brings up Social Security in his blog again.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I just don’t get the arguments some people have against private investment accounts for Social Security.

I’ll admit up front that the devil is in the details and anytime the federal government gets involved in something it’s smart to keep your eyes open.

Well I guess the Devil is a 1 Trillion Dollar Devil, thats $1,000,000,000,000 just to let that sink in. That is the cost for to transition into private accounts over a decade, e.g. the money that should be paid to retirees that is instead diverted to big investment companies pockets, im sorry individual retirment accounts....I got a little off track. Gary says that social security privitization will only effect young people, but I disagree. I say coming up with a trillion dollars at least in the federal government's budget over a decade will effect everyone. But then again thats all part of Bush & Co. plans, run the deficit sky high so that the United States is crushed under the it to the point where the only thing we can do to save ourselves is cut government spending to entitlement programs and everything else, headstart, low income housing, aid to children in living in poverty, medicaid, medicare, all those terrible liberal ideas that allow people to get a chance in life. I'm on a rant, but unless Gary Sawyer has a trillion dollars lying around Social Security Privatization effects everyone. By the way, Gary Sawyer still hasn't answered whether he doesn't understand how social security works, or if he just is trying to mislead us.

Approve

Disapprove

Unsure

2005-03-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

Long Creek has their annual Pancake and Sausage breakfast tommorow.

What - Long Creek Pancake and Sausage Breakfast
When - 7-11 AM
Where - Long Creek Township Building
How Much - 5 Dollars all you can eat
Why - Because the godfather claims to have "the best sausage in the county"
And Finally - Because this guy is going to be there
>



City Council Roundup
2005-03-18T12:52:00.000-05:00
1. Stockard - Suprise of all suprises, she is still on top.  Though TDD hears she had no clue what she was talking about at the Environmental forum.  Hopefully she keeps that streak up.

2. Edwards - The thing that people gunning to knock Edwards out is that you have to offer a compelling reason why the incumbent should not be re-elected, as well as offering a compelling reason of why you should be elected.  No one has offered a reason why Shad shouldn't be, so at second he stays.

3. Shampine - I'm going to get flamed for putting Shampine at third, but I'll say this, Shampine has the appearance of momentum on his side, and thats what counts in the final weeks.  Ground game, momentum, base, its all coming together.

4. McDaniel - I'm still not convinced he is alive, has done nothing to capitalize on his third place finish.

5. Caulkins - Great website, bad ideas.  I think it would be a good idea to keep people that in jail, in well jail.  Caulkins' idea to empty a medium security prison to clean up Decatur..........thumbs down.

6. Keck - Keep on keeping on Sister.


Political Play of the Week
2005-03-18T12:44:00.000-05:00
Air your thoughts out.  Who is up who is down, we want to know.  By the way if it seems this week has been slow for posting, IT HAS.  Blogger has been killing me the last two weeks.  Hopefully it gets all its kinks worked out so we can be back to business as usual.


Creepy Republican Blogging
2005-03-18T12:11:00.000-05:00
I would be remiss if this man did not come up some point in my creepy Republican blogging.



Support our troops, not our veterans, a look from the Senate Republicans
2005-03-17T11:48:00.000-05:00
Yesterday the U.S. Senate was debating the next fiscal year budget.  After examining some of their votes its clear what their message is, support our troops, not our veterans. 
Republicans Voted Against An Amendment to Provide for the Health Care Needs of Our Veterans.  Senate Republicans voted against the Akaka/Murray amendment that would have increased the Veterans Affairs budget by $2.85 billion.  The amendment would also rejects the President's proposal to cut funding to State veterans' homes, eliminate the means-test for veterans to enroll for VA care, provide for much-needed mental health services, rejects the President's proposal to drive veterans away from the VA with annual user fees and increased prescription drug costs.  The amendment failed 47-53.
It is so nice to see that we send our troops to a poorly planned, unneeded war, and once they come home injured as veterans, well good luck guys thanks for the help!  False patriotism is one of the worst crimes a person can commit. If we look at the incredible number of sacrifices our men and women in the armed service have made over the last 200 years to make this the greatest country in the world, and then compare them to the Republicans who have wrapped themselves in the flag and called any dissent un-American, well it's a no brainer who the better of the two groups are.  My message to Republicans, support your troops and your veterans.  Welcome new readers, sorry but there wont be much new content today.  Happy St. Patricks Day!


H & R on Social Security - Just Make It Up
2005-03-16T08:48:00.000-05:00
I, as usual, opened up todays Herald & Review eagerly anticipating the derth of news this morning, and saw a headline that made me think wow looks like the H & R has a story I've read no where else, or someone is just making up headlines.  The headline was Both parties agree Social Security needs help.  So then I read it and realized their idea of agreeing Social Security needs help is the one paragraph where the Senate agreed that "strengthening Social Security was a vital national priority." ,and by one paragraph, I mean half a sentence.  I guess they were struggling to come up with a headline that accurately portarys this 5 Republican Senators side with Democrats in saying Bush is %^&#*(% Nuts.  Seriously in an article that devoted almost the entirety of its copy to talking about how 5 Republican Senators sided with the ENTIRE Democratic Senate Caucus in adopting a resolution that states "Congress should reject any Social Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt.", an apt title would have even been Half of US Senate rejects Bush privatization plan.  But no, they just made up something that stretches almost as far as it can go, the truth.  If you asked anyone in the know if Both parties agree Social Security needs help was the main thing coming out of the Senate yesterday they would LAUGH at you.  I guess this is what happens when your editor starts pushing the Heritage Foundation's agenda.  I don't even know what to say.  I'll be back on this later, but for now I'm just in disbelief.


Memo
2005-03-16T00:57:00.000-05:00
To: Daniel Caulkins
From: The Decatur Democrat

Subject: website

Daniel,
Please be advised in the future it would be a good idea to actually have a website at www.dancaulkins.com before advertising it on your literature. I believe it will help your campaign more than this:

I guess you could say it gives it that personal touch.  This is not a good sign of a campaign going places.
Sincerely,
TDD




Big Mac makes Big Stacks
2005-03-14T21:39:00.000-05:00
The Herald & Review on Sunday gave us a gem of an article on governmental salaries, included in that piece was this nugget:
McPherson’s salary of $136,047 is possibly on the low side for what a superintendent of a large unit school district would earn, said Linda Dawson, editor of the Illinois School Board Journal. A salary study published in the journal recently found the mean salary for unit school districts to be $110,493 in for the 2004-2005 school year.


Just as a follow up that number is a little low, because well it is a little low.  It appears that the School District provided the Herald and Review with base salary only numbers, and did not include things such as McPherson's car allowance, cell phone allowance etc.  If you add all of those numbers in you get an even more eyebrow raising number of $175,976.  Not bad for a guy who was making only $91891 Siz years ago.


New kid on the block
2005-03-14T15:43:00.000-05:00
A new blog has emerged from Decatur, and I like it's style.  Decaturite or What is up with Decatur Illinois? are the two names, though I prefer to refer to it as Decaturite.  Anyways check it out, its a good blog.


Tom Durbin going for the taxpayers' Triple Crown
2005-03-14T13:03:00.000-05:00
Well it appears that Tom Durbin is indeed going to go for the taxpayers' Triple Crown, and by that I mean he is going to try and make it onto 3 different public payrolls.  Making just over $60,000 most likely as a firefighter I can understand, its a public service and he deserves it.  And, I think its great that on his off time he is willing to serve as a public official on the county board.  But, when you add in the roughly $55,000 from the Decatur Township Supervisor's position that he wants to add under his belt that gets to be a bit ridiculous.  I want someone in the Supervisor's office who is going to be the Supervisor full time, not when they are off duty from their other job.  $120,000 a year from the public payrolls might just be the taxpayers' Triple Crown, we haven't seen a triple crown winner in baseball in a long long time, and I doubt we'll be seeing Durbin as one either.


Creepy Republican Blogging Late
2005-03-14T12:50:00.000-05:00
Due to Blogger being a mess the last few days I missed out on creepy Republican Blogging.  I took my potshot at Caulkins last week, and I think we have a good one for this week.  I don't know what it is about this picture, but it just makes my skin crawl.



Political Play of the week
2005-03-13T11:54:00.000-05:00
Now that we are back up running throw up your ideas for the political play of the week.


Problems
2005-03-11T00:28:00.000-05:00
Ive heard from a few people that they have had problems commenting today, if you have too let me know, and if you still cant leave a comment email me.


Where are the new David Livingstons?
2005-03-10T20:02:00.000-05:00
From Bob Sampson via Marucco's blog on the passing of County Board Member David Livingston.
DAvid Livingston was truly a historic figure in Decatur. What many people may not realize is that he had a distinguished career long before he joined the county board, eventually serving from two different districts. The Livingston family, including David, were among the civil rights pioneers in Decatur. I'm talking 1930s and 1940s, long before there was any federal legislation or public opinion to defend or encourage the effort to make our society a fairer one, one that actually lived up to the Declaration of Independence. David was a man of courage, conviction and quiet leadership. It was my great privilege to campaign with him and serve with him. Like many others, I will miss his example of courage in the face of pain and ill health and the inspiration he provided all who came in contact with him. I will especially miss his steadying, dependable influence on the board where a few words from David more than equaled a lengthy speech from others. His pain is over. HIs memory and example live on to inspire those in pubic service. Rest in peace, good friend.
Bob Sampson
Where are people like David Livingston these days?  The thing i remember most vividly about David is the wall in his basement on the far north end.  It is a testament to his life's work of achieving equality for all.  From certificates of service as a youth mentor to man of the year awards dating back to the 60's and earlier, it was quite easy to see that David was devoted to a righteous and just cause at a time when it wasn't easy.  Too often we get along and go along instead of making waves, and in doing so we co-opt our beliefs.  Maybe we fake a laugh when others are even though we know what they're laughing at is wrong.  Maybe we pretend we don't hear something that we do, because it's easier than saying something.  Speak up for your beliefs people, because if you don't do that, then do you stand for anything at all?  The world needs more courage as exemplified by David Livingston, God Bless my friend.
              Dear lovely Death
             That taketh all things under wing -
             Never to kill -
             Only to change
             Into some other thing
             This suffering flesh,
             To make it either more or less,
             But not again the same -

             Dear lovely Death,
             Change is thy other name.
                     - Langston Hughes



Tip 1
2005-03-10T16:16:00.000-05:00
TDD hears that the Decatur School Board has hired a new assistant principal for MacArthur High School, my understanding is she is now the number two authority in one of the two largest high schools in our county.  Lets take a look at her qualifications.
  Teacher for Five years
Working on masters degree
Daughter of a schoolboard member
 
  Now I might be wrong here, but I have it on pretty good knowledge that their are plenty of more qualified indidviduals within the district, and by more qualified, I mean teachers that have taught more than five years for goodness sakes.  I do believe this will do nothing to help with the discipline problem currently being had at MacArthur.  17 fights in 10 days is unreal, and something should have been done about it that was a little more far reaching than a school assembly.  Decatur......we like it here?


Somebody gets it
2005-03-10T01:02:00.000-05:00
Somebody at least gets it.  I need your tips and ideas to keep this thing entertaining and enthralling.  Hear some backroom chatter, won't it confirmed, got some backroom chatter, it is confirmed, want to see it up hear?  Email me your ideas, tips, topics, questions of the day, anything else you might want to see.  I even made it easy right under my counter all you have to do is click on where it says Contact the Decatur Democrat, and an email from your email client will pop up.  If you use webmail, well then mail me TheDecaturDemocrat@Gmail.com


City Council Roundup
2005-03-10T00:42:00.000-05:00
1. Stockard - No surpise here, unless something changes expect her to be the top vote getter from here to eternity, though you were missed Monday night Betsy?
 2. Edwards - Keep on keeping on, I don't expect any signfigant changes here either, Shad will most likely stay in second all the way through.
 3. McDaniel - Are you alive?
 4. Caulkins - Shampine - I would be hard pressed to believe they dont have a final big push planned.  Little Daniel your new billboard at the end of the Franklin Overpass looks creepy at night with a spotlight on your face. 
 5. Keck - You know what, I've got admiration for this lady.  She isn't going to win, I don't know if she knows that or not, but she is running for the right reasons, she believes she can do something to help all of us.  Kudos to you, hopefully you can come back in 2007 and get on.


Barack Obama, Basketball Expert
2005-03-08T22:27:00.000-05:00
An unknowing source informed me the other day that he spotted Senator Obama on TV expounding on Air Jordans and their impact on inner city youth.  Last night I spotted Obama pontificating on the Harlem Globetrotters and how they served as a great influence to african american males of previous generations.  I can't help but think that our good Senator has been brushing up on his basketball knowledge, hopefully he'll have better results than Bill Bradley.


Social Security History Lesson
2005-03-08T00:56:00.000-05:00
    In 1936, 99% of House Republicans and 63% of Senate Republicans against founding Social Security.
    In 1939, 75% of Congressional Republicans voted against Social Security as we know it.
    In 1950, 89% of Congressional Republicans voted against Social Security as we know it.
    In 1956, 86% of Senate Republicans voted against Social Security as we know it.
   In 1985, Senate Republicans voted to eliminate Cost of Living Adjustments
 
 Now I can pretend to be a right wing radio hack by asking this question they would ask a liberal, Republicans why do you hate seniors, why do you want them to live the last days broke and destitute?  If you want to break something put a Republican in charge.


Send out the Search Party
2005-03-07T13:13:00.000-05:00
Anyone want to join the Search Party for Lightner, he hasn't been heard from since the 26th.  I am a bit worried that their may have been a coup de tat at the Lightner homestead, and now it is Mrs.LightnerForMayor who will be joining us.


HB 758
2005-03-07T12:54:00.000-05:00
HB 758 is a bill before the state house right now that would change the amount of petition signatures needed by third parties and independent candidates need to get on the ballot. Let me give you a real quick run down on signatures neccesary to be on the ballot.
   State Representative  
       Independent - 6,040 Signatures
       Third Party   - 3,020 Signatures
       Democrat     -    300 Signatures
 
     Congress
       Third Party   -15,380 Signatures
       Democrat     -     458 Signatures
 
 Coming off an election year where fully 50% of our state representatives and state senators ran unopposed, I am hard pressed to see how competition could hurt us. Much hurrah was made last month when Iraq held free and open elections, and yet they were more open then ours. Let me repeat that, the first election after the fall of a brutal dictator and regime, and they have more open elections than us.
Luckily there is something we can do about this. State Rep. Bob Flider - D Mt. Zion, our state rep. serves on the Campaign and Election Reform Committee, right now this bill is bottled up in Executive Committee, but next time you see Rep. Flider tell him we need to have free and open elections in Illinois too.

Late Edit: I guess I should explain what the bill does, DUH!  The bill would lower the limit of signatures of third parties and indepedents to twice what the limit for established parties are.  To become an established party for a race you must have recieved over 5% of the vote in that race in the previous election I believe.  If you are not an established party then you must obtain 5% of the voters who voted in the last election signatures on your petition, whereas a demorat or republican only needs one percent i believe, and in congressional races I believe its one half of one percent versus five percent.