Truth Wonk

As another budget battle looms over the politically weary heads of the Illinois voters, the real issues of state government are going to be once again ignored.  The stereotypical political talking points are going to be flung at either side one claiming the other will raise taxes or the other claiming that his opponent doesn’t under the real needs of Illinois.  Yet, the real systemic and structural issue plaguing the Illinois government will be oddly left out.

Now, while there is definitely a need for cuts in the Illinois budget one way in which to do that is not to threaten human services but reform the entrenched bureaucracy.  To say that there is not a structural problem is to abandon all rational thought.  Illinois departments are top heavy, inefficient, over staffed in administration, and not at all effective in allocating resources.

Take the Illinois Department of Corrections, one such department that is constantly going over budget and over paying for services on everything from food to vehicle maintenance.  Just one glaring example of waste is the fact that they still maintain payroll timesheets by hand instead of having employees “punch in” electronically.

However, while the Illinois DOC is an utterly egregious example of waste in the Illinois system it does speak to a larger problem that is not being addressed by either party.  While I know it may be difficult to fully implement all of the necessary changes to the actual structure of the Illinois government it is worth a try.

It is not enough to advocate for tax increases, which of course are counter-productive, and budget cuts, in a targeted and systematic manner, but to actually start tackling the real issues behind a ballooning deficit and a pension system that will implode if not addressed.

The way to a smaller government is a more efficient and effective government that is streamlined and digitalized where it can be.  It is a matter of common sense, something sorely lacking in the current state of political affairs in Illinois, to address the real issues behind the increasing deficit.

Attacking the already shrinking tax base and those who depend on human services as well as college students is not a sign of leadership but of political expediency.

Are politicians really that afraid of the bureaucratic system that pervades our daily lives in Illinois?  I only ask this because nobody wants to actually go after some of the real problems.  If either candidate for governor were to implement their plans we would still be facing structural deficiencies.

One only has to look at the current situation to see the glaring gaps in the system. And let’s face it, Illinois does not have the most business friendly environment and has exceedingly high out-migration rates.  The job of our next governor should be to foster a pro-growth business climate and one important way to do that is reform the system of government in Illinois.

Continuing to ignore this problem and just slap what some perceive as fixes, which I see as just throwing mud at a dam hoping it will plug a hole, will only lead to more unstable budgets in the future. True governance means putting aside childish notions and acting like an adult, so far our policy makers have a lot of growing up to do.

The heft of Obama’s ideology is unquestionable and, as such, governing with pragmatism and prudence is seen as a lack of conviction.  Pragmatism is viewed with distrust and hostility by those who have a purist ideological ax to grind and thus are ultimately doomed to failure.

However, ideology does not need to be cast aside altogether and, in fact, can be a good foundation to build upon, but it becomes a liability when one’s perception of political reality becomes distorted.  This has been evidenced in the State of the Union address and subsequent speeches since then and has only highlighted his inability to rationally approach matters of politics and policy.

Now, while those on the other side are not innocent of such child-like irrationality, it is worth noting that the utter lack of such rational guidance in statements made by Mr. Obama has become obvious to not only the political savvy but the general electorate.

Mr. Obama’s political compass is broken and his ship of state is dangerously off course as the political squall of the elections fast approach.  Failed economic, health care, foreign, and domestic policies are scattered about the deck as the political winds pick up the debris of those policy wreckage’s and whip them around tattering the sails.

The people shall speak and their assault upon his hull will sink his ship of state before it sinks the Republic.

by Jarad Perry

In a great cascade of promises and platitudes, President Obama pontificated his plans to improve the State of the Union. However, in a Herculean effort of mental gymnastic the President offered plans for new energy sources yet seeks a cap-and-trade scheme to shackle growth.  He talked of job’s creation saying “…..the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America’s businesses” yet continues to insist that government is the engine by which jobs will be created.

Spending freezes, cuts, and all other manner of gimmicks were tossed about as ways in which to save the country from the abysmal deficit yet, by the magic of rhetoric, he listed a cavalcade of new spending.

Amidst the call for job creation and spending reductions, the President pulled the populism card once again decrying the bankers on Wall Street even though he curses them for reckless spending while seemingly unaware of the inherent hypocrisy of such statements.  He lambasted the recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance with the justices sitting directly in front of him, stoned face, as Justice Alito shook his head mouthing ‘not true’ to the ignorance of the constitutional lawyer lecturing him from the pulpit.

The President’s speech will soon be forgotten and the lofty rhetoric will be nothing more than notes in a history book.  All the while, this President has shown time and time again that what he says and what he does are often mutually exclusive. Lost in the ideology of those who seek to ‘equalize’ the playing field not by supporting excellence but by forcing mediocrity.  Fairness is used as a cudgel to beat upon the engines of growth and the invisible hand is restrained at every opportunity.

Yet, it is not leadership to continue to blame the ills of the country on a multitude of scapegoats but to stand up and lead, something he lectured the Republicans on without having the moral authority himself to do so.  The act of governing is not the act of speaking of governing, but doing.

Time will be the great equalizer of fact and fiction, and history may lay the laurel of failure upon this President cementing his legacy as one who knew only the campaign not the art of governance.

by Jarad Perry

The vitriolic tones, snickering quips, and general snobbery that have become a staple of the American political process are so often heard that it amounts to nothing more than white noise.  However, with the recent election of Scott Brown to the Senate as well as the constant White House berating of Quixotic windmills manifest in the tea-partiers, radio-talk show hosts, and the general ‘vast right-wing conspiracy, the ante has been raised as the 2010 election season heats up as those on the left are becoming disheartened and disenchanted with their intellectual savior.

Yet, this was only natural as the act of governing (whether well or not it is effective) is far different from the act of campaigning to govern and the campaign of President Obama was a well funded, organized, and ran machine whose cogs have started to fall off the once smooth clockwork that was his image.

Beneath the polished veneer of candidate Obama is nothing more than a hollow ideological demagogue set upon contorting to his will the mechanism of growth. Of course, that ideology is not as simplistic as ‘socialism’ it is more an American reworking of European social democracy.  The social democrat is a person who does not want to completely turn off the valve of the market but to control the flow so as to keep the people in scarcity and dependence.

But it only takes a mere look at the fortunes of Europe to see that the stalwarts of the left are coming under increased scrutiny by their once loyal charges.

Social democracy is a proposition of the farcical middle-way between socialism and capitalism, one that fails to understand that the basic mechanisms of the two are incompatible.  Yet, far from discouraging the social democrat, the failures only empower the continued push for more control of the falsely accused market forces.

Such social democratic thinking manifests itself in America under the guise of ‘progressives’ and, as such, is often not fully grasped until the failed end results of policies lacking substance.  Media shills cry out to those in power that the answer is not to buckle under the pressure of the electorate but to push through the foretold agenda no matter the political, societal, or economic costs.

So as the election season gets fully underway, the manner in which the campaigns are conducted may be a lesson in the failures of electoral demagoguery.