Excerpts from editorials by Illinois newspapers

October 25, 2015

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan

Edgar’s ’doable’ just isn’t doing it

The “doable” is responsible for Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation credit rating. The “doable” has blown holes in the state budget year after year. The “doable” has nearly bankrupted the state pension system.

Sorry, Gov. Edgar, the “doable” is what created this mess in the first place.

Illinois’ former governor recently teed off on fellow Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in an interview with the State Journal Register of Springfield, blaming Rauner for the state’s four-month-old budget impasse. Rauner is too focused on tax relief, worker’s compensation reform and weakening the union stranglehold over state government, Edgar said. Rauner should push only what’s “doable,” Edgar said. Of course, by “doable,” Edgar meant the status quo.

The budget, and only the budget, must be Rauner’s primary concern, Edgar argued. Yes, he’s referring to the very same budget that, last year, touted a $9 billion deficit. That’s what doable offered the state.

Taking out loans to pay the state’s bills. That was doable not too long ago, Gov. Edgar. Robbing the state pension to fund the rest of government. That was, in recent history, doable, too. Non-stop capitulation to state unions, while private workers grappled with stagnant wages, was most assuredly doable.

It’s true that the impasse, which has dragged on for more than four months, is causing pain throughout the state. The Rauner administration has all but gutted funding for child care, an important program that keeps working single mothers off welfare. The Amateur Trapshooting Association is eyeing an exit strategy from Sparta because of uncertainty at the state’s World Shooting Complex. Doubt is running rampant throughout state universities. And, counter to what Rauner contends, the non-stop instability is surely holding private investment at bay.

We don’t love all of the governor’s proposals. Some are necessary, but painful, requirements to right the ship. He’s rightly removed his doomed right-to-work proposal from the table. But Rauner’s core contention that the state needs a systematic overhaul is spot on. And, even with his poll numbers plunging in Southern Illinois, Rauner is correctly looking long term.

Both Rauner and lawmakers expect a budget deal by January. Rauner is finally meeting with Democratic Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, he said. “Progress” is being made, he assured us. That alone is noteworthy considering the total lack of communication from a few months ago.

A lot of pain will have swept across the state by January. Jobs will be lost. Important initiatives will be temporarily shelved.

But Illinois can’t continue running up massive debts and spending billions more than it brings in. Taxpayers need relief. Union power must be brought under control. Widespread inefficiency throughout state government must be streamlined.

Reimagining what’s “doable” will cause strife throughout Illinois in the short term. Any paradigm shift causes a tremor or two.

Edgar’s shot at his fellow Republican shows, yet again, just how pervasive the dogma that brought Illinois to its knees is within the old guard.

Rauner has no choice but ignore what Edgar considers “doable.” He’s instead operating with “what must be done.”

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October 22, 2015

Belleville News-Democrat

Votes for drivers if they show their IDs at polls

Too often policy is the product of hypocrites serving their own partisan power needs instead of the outgrowth of principled stands by those doing what they believe is fair and right.

At-large vs. Electoral College selection of our presidents fits into that category, with policy shifting depending on whether your party is in power. So does automatic voter registration.

State Sen. Andy Manar, a Democrat from Bunker Hill, introduced a bill that would automatically register every driver eligible to vote. Oregon and California recently passed similar bills, and this generally seems to be a cause for Democrats.

Those would be the same Democrats worried about voters being forced to show a photo ID at the polls, claiming it is a disenfranchisement barely a step away from the old Southern literacy tests.

Well, hogwash. Being asked for your ID is a routine that accompanies most exchanges at the discount store. Showing an ID when we exercise our greatest right as citizens of a democracy seems like a minor matter.

Go ahead and automatically register everyone eligible to vote, but as part of that initiative let’s make everyone show their driver’s license when they go to the polls.

Licenses can easily be marked to reflect voter status, say with a red, white and blue stripe in the corner. Marking the licenses would prevent illegal immigrants with licenses or drivers younger than 18 from voting. Those without a license could have voting status marked on their state IDs.

Politicians with fistfuls of absentee ballots and public apathy are much greater threats to our democracy than votes for drivers.

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October 21, 2015

The Quincy Herald-Whig

Illinois teens safer under graduated license law

Illinois doesn’t seem to come out at the top of too many rankings these days — at least the good kind of rankings — but national safety advocates and other states have been envious of the vast reduction in teen driving deaths during recent years.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White kicked off National Teen Driver Safety Week by announcing that teen driving deaths within the state have fallen to less than half the number reported before a nationally recognized graduated driver licensing program took effect in 2008.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, there were 155 teen driving deaths in 2007. Last year there were 66.

White was the first to say that too many teens are still dying. And there may be some modest improvements in car safety and highway design that could account for part of the lower death toll. But the tougher driver’s license rules that White championed have undoubtedly led to this significant improvement.

“I am pleased this law is working as we intended. Our goal all along was to save lives,” White said.

Looking at the graduated driver’s license law in the rearview mirror, it’s easy to see how it improves safety.

Teens with a learners’ permit are not allowed to drive after 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday or after 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Novice drivers must spend a minimum of nine months under parental supervision logging at least 50 hours of practice, with at least 10 hours of night driving. The number of passengers is limited to one in the front seat and the number of safety belts in the back seats. All occupants must use a safety device. No texting or cellphone use is allowed for drivers under age 19 except in an emergency.

The initial driver’s license phase usually involving 16- and 17-year-olds maintains the nighttime driving restrictions and limits the number of passengers under age 20.

There also is a license for 18- to 20-year-olds that has fewer restrictions and greater freedoms.

In all three license phases, moving violations can keep those drivers from getting a full driver’s license at age 21.

In a perfect world lawmakers would not need to pass laws that restrict someone’s driving privileges. Since we don’t live in that perfect world, it’s good to know there are rules that have saved the lives of teens — as well as the other drivers on the roads with the novices.

It’s also good to know that Illinois elected officials can sometimes hit on good ideas.