A Voice of Reason

Here in Illinois there is a voice of reason in the House. He’s a Democrat from Marengo (which is a bit west from where I live in the northeast corner of the state). His name is Jack D. Franks.

He wrote an Op-Ed in today’s Chicago Tribune:

Why are we in such dire straits? Too much spending.

Illinois doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. State revenue this year is at the third-highest level in the history of Illinois. We have more money than we had in 2007.

We have a labyrinth of pork projects. We have more than 1,700 state programs. All those programs make it difficult to run the vital and necessary state services. All those programs cost billions of dollars. We need to take a step back and remember that government is not self-perpetuating.

he ends with:

Illinois can pull itself out of this mess. We have to shrink the size of government through better accounting and restrained spending.

I urge Gov. Quinn and my fellow legislators to be innovative. To show leadership.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair once said, “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

We have to say no.

Read the rest.

via Dr. Wes via Instapundit

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