10 New Year's Resolution Suggestions for Illinois Governor Blagojevich

With the rapidly approaching New Year and the mid-January beginning of Rod Blagojevich's second term as Illinois governor, here is a list of resolutions that he cannot afford to miss on New Year's Eve.

Number ten: Resolve to actually live in the governor's mansion. Perhaps, dear Governor, you are unaware of it, but the state of Illinois extends beyond Chicago and its suburbs. By insisting on living in the Windy City rather than in the state capital, you are insulting all of us who live in downstate Illinois.

And, as taxpayers, we are paying for a perfectly good mansion to sit empty and we are paying to fly you back and forth to your family home in Chicago. All in all, it seems like a big waste of taxpayer dollars.

Number Nine: Get real about financing the state government. Stop looking for quick fixes and address the real issue: lack of revenue. Yes, raising taxes can be political suicide, but an under-funded third party candidate who was promoting raising the state income tax by 66 percent got 11 percent of the vote in November.

If I had to guess, I would say that was the way the well-educated in Illinois were trying to send a message: We understand that a 3 percent income tax cannot fund the state government. Don't lie to us about other funding sources. Don't hide the tax increases as "usage fees." Bite the bullet and raise the taxes. Jim Edgar did it and people love him.

Number Eight: Resolve to work with the state's electric providers to prevent a 30 percent increase in electric bills, Electrical providers across the state have guaranteed a rate increase ranging from 15 to 40 percent in January. And, the big hit may not really take effect until air conditioning season when gas heat and heating oil and wood stoves aren't an option.

Don't wait for there to be a crisis in funding basic energy needs for the less fortunate in the state. Take initiative, show some leadership, and call a special session of the General Assembly to deal with the cost of energy.
Number Seven: Admit that selling the Illinois Lottery was a dumb idea and come up with a more realistic way to fund state government and state schools.

Number Six: Stop promising people the moon without having any real way to deliver it. You promised the city of Carterville that they would get the state funding for a new high school, and aggravated half a dozen other cities impatiently waiting for their state funding, cities that were higher on the priority list than Carterville.

You promised reduced drug prices for senior citizens by buying from Canada before you checked into the legality of it. You bought thousands of doses of flu vaccine internationally before checking to see if the Food and Drug Administration would allow it. Try checking the feasibility of a project before you announce that you can do it.

Number Five: See resolution number six about project feasibility. Resolve to actually investigate options before haphazardly promising to do them or making them the law of the land with no real plan for their operations. Your "All Kids" plan is great in theory, but is it working? Have you actually done anything to make health care more available for Illinoisans?

Number Four: Resolve to pay the state's bills in a timely manner. Quit letting state agencies make excuses and just pay the bills. If the money isn't available to pay the bills, refer back to resolution number nine. Illinois should not be the nation's biggest debtor state. Bills should not be delayed for a month or so in the state agency and then another month, or so, at the comptroller's office in an effort to balance the state's budget by paying for it next year.

Number Three: Did I mention pay the bills on time? Citizens who rely on state services are being denied access because the bills aren't paid. Fix it!

Number Two: Fix the medical malpractice crisis in Illinois. This story has slipped from the headlines, but the reality is that doctors here are still paying too much for medical malpractice insurances. One doctor I know gets a $5,000 a year break on his taxes because he practices in Missouri one day a month. We should not be losing good doctors to neighboring states because we allow frivolous lawsuits to get huge awards in Illinois. Legitimate malpractice cases should get appropriate rewards, but allowing insurance companies to gouge the doctors who aren't making mistakes simply drives good doctors out of practice.

Number ONE: Clean up the state government. Get rid of all the pay to play politics and make the state government ethical. No phony ethics laws that are then ignored, please. Real reforms to get rid of even the appearance of evil. For too long, Illinois state government has been modeling its level of corruption on Chicago and Illinois needs a better role model!