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Hold Your Nose and Vote This Election

November 01, 2010   Editor: Dave Uphoff
Election time is this Tuesday when we hold our noses and go into the booths to vote for the least offensive candidate. Campaign advertisements this election year have been especially nasty. Most candidates concentrate on bashing their opponent rather than putting forth their accomplishments and goals.

Most election pundits expect the Republicans to recapture the House in Congress and maybe even the Senate, which means President Obama will have an even harder time getting anything through Congress. The reason cited for the Republican comeback is due to voters dissatisfaction with the economy. Unemployment is still around 9.5%.

Unlike FDR, who was elected when the Great Depression was already in its deepest throes, President Obama came into office when the Great Recession was just getting started. Democrats state that Obama inherited seeds of the bad economy from the former administration, while Republicans state that Obama's policies to restore the economy have been ineffective. While Republicans rant against Fed Chief Bernanke for printing money to stimulate the economy and Obama's increase in government programs such as the new health care plan, the average voter is mostly concerned about their job and their home. Voters also are concerned about the government's trend toward socialistic policies, although those who are the beneficiaries of government entitlements are probably not in that camp. It can be surmised that given the current environment even George Washington would be unpopular if he was the current president.

So whom do we vote for? We should not vote based solely on a candidates party affiliation. Rather, we should be pragmatic and realize that the State of Illinois is financially a failed state. It is my opinion that as a country we have had a long run of prosperity that we will not see again in my lifetime.

Overspending in the past has been our downfall. This includes too much consumer debt, too many entitlements, too easy credit, too many wasteful government programs and too many subsidies.

Tough decisions must be made by our elected officials. Republican candidate for governor, Bill Brady, says he will cut spending 10% across the board, but he is not very specific about it and one wonders if he will actually cut spending. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn, running for re-election, says he wants to increase taxes, but is not as eager to cut spending. In actuality we need to both cut spending and increase the state income tax.

In the U. S. Senate race, Republican Mark Kirk, is more likely to control spending as opposed to his opponent, Alexi Giannoulias, although neither appear to be of senatorial timbre.

Republican Dan Rutherford's experience as a state lawmaker makes him the better candidate over his opponent Robin Kelly for the office of State Treasurer.

Our country is losing ground to the rest of the world economically for too many reasons to discuss here, and no elected official is going to change that. China, India, Russia, and Brazil are not hampered by excessive entitlements like the United States and the European Union. Our elected officials have to make the unpopular decisions to reduce spending on entitlements that include excessive welfare programs and ridiculously high pensions. As individuals we will have to prepare to live a more frugal and less materialistic life.

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