Proof our leaders need political experience

We are seeing, at both the national and state level, what happens when you elect a millionaire with no political experience. In Illinois, Gov Rauner has prevented a budget from being passed, and the collateral damage has impacted thousands of people who are the neediest among us. He is holding up a state budget now for over two years on these points:

• Term Limits - we have elections every two years. If voters want to make a change, they always have that opportunity. We don't need a governor to hold the budget hostage over that item. • Second - Freeze property taxes - Might sound good to some people, but think about it. Why should the state government prevent your city, town or village from meeting its obligations in education, safety and health. Suppose a medical crisis arose, would you want your municipality to be prevented from treating or caring for the elderly or the ill because they couldn't raise the money to provide for them? Recently the Emerald ash borer created a safety issue by weakening trees and these trees had to be removed so they didn't fall on people. Do you want the State to prevent your municipality from fixing the problem?

What if your schools became overcrowded? Do you want the state (which has proved itself to be unable to act) to prevent your municipality from adding school facilities? Gov/ Rauner is dead wrong on these two points and we should all contact our state congressional officials to let them know how they should vote.

Bob Hedrich

Buffalo Grove

Today's leaders need greater faith in God

I often read about politicians and their partisan and petty behavior. When I was 10 years old, our fifth-grade teacher took the class on a field trip. We visited the state Capitol.

The building was grand and quite impressive. My 10-year-old imagination told me that the men and women who occupied that building were just as majestic as the building itself. In 1963, many of those men and women were majestic. The Democrats and Republicans disagreed on issues then just as they do today.

The difference was that these leaders were friends after work. Petty behavior was rare. In the election of 1960 when Nixon lost to Kennedy, some investigations showed that Kennedy's people had cheated grandly. Nixon had evidence but refused to put the country through such a nightmare.

Nixon was a flawed human being, but he did the honorable thing for us, the American people. In 1974 under the cloud of Watergate, Nixon resigned from office to spare the American people more torment. Nixon was a Quaker by faith. He put God and country before his own petty self-interest. Can you think of a politician today who would do such?

Politicians were far from perfect in those days. However, they had something politicians today do not have, honor and the fear of God. George Washington, said, "Do not let anyone claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics." Are today's politicians petty, unpatriotic and without noble hearts because so many of them remove God from their politics and from their lives? Sadly, the poet Henry David Thoreau's words are applicable to today's politicians: "They created a lot of grand palaces here, but they forgot to create the noblemen to put in them."

Charles Danyus

Round Lake Beach

Trump opponents have right to speak out

Vera Gojewycz seems to think the "left" needs to wake up and smell the coffee." First of all, let's go back into our history for a moment. This is exactly what our Founding Fathers did not do. They did not accept the status quo just because it was in place, so that is why you can say "coffee" instead of "tea."

I do agree we are more divided than ever, but it is completely out of proportion to blame the "left" whoever they are. Don't forget that Trump lost the popular vote, so that means the majority of Americans do not support him and he has done nothing to even try to bridge this gap. His actions and behavior while in office have been outrageous thus deepening this divide even further.

It takes two to settle a disagreement, and so far Trump has not even come close to reconciliation. He is trying to run things like he is CEO on The Apprentice. It doesn't work that way in Washington, D.C. He acts like a bully who just got hit back.

His detractors have been fueled by Trump's own indiscriminate actions. His travel ban has been twice rejected by law, for example, because it was deemed to discriminate against a particular group.

As for the Clintons, at this point they are old news. Whatever they did that was illegal has nothing to do as to why we should accept what Trump is doing or trying to do right now. Move on and deal in the present.

And, please, don't forget our country has freedoms as defined by our Founding Fathers including freedom of speech. To say basically just go along with Trump now frankly just isn't in our national DNA and thank goodness for that. We have a right to protest and to voice our opinions. To say just stop it is tantamount to abandoning one's principles sand a step toward totalitarianism.

And that is coffee you don't want.

Lawrence Kopp

Schaumburg

Opponents shouldn't just 'get over it'

Every week, we seem to be chastised by one of our local citizens to "get over it" or "wake up and smell the coffee" with regard to the current occupant of the White House. The latest example is the letter from Vera Gojewycz of Hoffman Estates published on May 15.

Contrary to her sentiments, the whole country knows and is having to deal with the fact that Trump is our president. We have to cringe and wince every day as he continues to display all the lack of knowledge, bullying behavior, and blatant disregard for honesty, civility, and propriety that was on full display during the campaign. Yet somehow, though not through a plurality of votes, we find ourselves with this man as the leader of our country and the free world.

There is a reason that no major newspaper in the entire country, including the Daily Herald, endorsed Trump. A huge proportion of those papers are very conservative and had never in their entire history endorsed a Democrat. This includes our own Chicago Tribune who only broke with this tradition to endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. This year they endorsed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

Every reasonable person in this country who is not completely blinded by their own confirmation bias knows Donald Trump is a narcissistic, megalomaniacal, perfidious, venal little man. His brazen disregard for the truth amazes even the most hardened political observers.

If you voted for Trump hoping for the best or because you just couldn't stand Hillary Clinton, fine. But please don't tell us to ignore the continual barrage of reports about his presidential failings. This is not "fake" news. See if you can deal with what is going on today, what this president is doing to our country and our world without bringing up Bill Clinton.

Do I need to remind you to "get over it"? He hasn't been in office in over 16 years! Trump is a national and international disgrace and we are all suffering because of him.

Donald L. Hangey

Arlington Heights

Reps have to step up

A large number of people voted for Donald Trump to be president (nearly half of those that bothered to vote). Metaphorically speaking, many voters may have been reaching out for a lifeline, a semblance of renewed hope in an otherwise bleak landscape of diminished opportunity. As it becomes increasingly evident that the new president will not deliver on his promises, a very significant portion of the aforementioned voters will assume that Mr. Trump was not treated fairly - by the Democrats, by his fellow Republicans or by the press and the judiciary. And due to his mistreatment, he failed. Little question that this group of supporters will be angry. And who will they blame?

Before we feel the full fury of their anger, this may be an opportunity for our legislators to address the issues that brought us to this development - corruption, inaction, divisiveness, distrust, ineptitude … the list goes on. A capricious individual in the presidency cannot be used as yet another reason nothing meaningful gets done. Representatives, go to work! Do what you are being paid to do. If you can't do that, we will find individuals to represent us who can.

Richard L. May

Palatine

Fund Alzheimer's research

Last month, the Alzheimer's Association hosted its annual D.C. Advocacy Forum and a record-breaking 62 advocates from Illinois joined more than 1,200 advocates from across the U.S. to let their voices be heard on Capitol Hill. Advocates shared their personal experiences with the disease and spoke up for increased research funding and improved access to care and support. When I lost my father to Alzheimer's in 2012, I felt alone. Alzheimer's has this overwhelming effect of making you feel powerless. Working with other advocates helps me feel energized, committed, but most importantly not alone.

I am immensely grateful to Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky for supporting this vital cause and being an advocate for us in Congress. Just this week we received news that Congress approved an additional $400 million in research spending for Alzheimer's disease. With the support of our elected officials, there is hope for a world without Alzheimer's.

I would also urge the congresswoman to co-sponsor PCHETA (HR1676) which focuses on palliative and hospice care - medical approaches which focus on reducing pain and stress and increasing support of the patient and their caregivers. People with Alzheimer's and other dementias rely heavily on this care, which PCHETA would help expand. Oftentimes, it is both cost effective and improves the patient's quality of life. My father spent the last 2.5 years of his life on hospice and I don't think I would have been able to manage his care physically or emotionally without that dedicated and supportive team.

I will continue to engage in this fight. I will advocate for those currently affected and to create a world without Alzheimer's - one day we will have the first survivor and I am honored to be a part of these efforts and proud to be working alongside Rep. Schakowsky to achieve this goal.

Carrie Jackson

Evanston