Madigan, Durbin make case for term limits
There's no doubt people are frustrated, scared, irritated and generally divided over politics more than they've ever been. However there are two words that every person of every persuasion will agree upon as the answer to our political malaise: Term Limits.
Whoever said we should allow certain individuals to occupy our elected offices for essentially life. In Illinois we have a lot of them and they should not be allowed to get so entrenched in their political positions that they monopolize public policy decisions for generations.
In Illinois, we need only to look at the current condition of our state and its largest city to see that these people who have been making the decisions are not that good at it. Let me put it this way, the family car is totaled and they were driving when it happened.
The current and perennial Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, who controls the state purse strings, began his run 45 years ago. Since then our state debt has grown from $1.6 billion in 1971 to $127 billion today. Maybe he should have taken some math classes along the way.
Illinois also has a U.S. Senator who has occupied our Senate seat, not his, for twenty years and was a Congressman for 14 years before that. And I suppose we're obligated to pay him two pensions. Can you say double-dippin'?
Irregardless of your political persuasion, term limits are essential to preventing corruption and allowing in new ideas and energy to best serve our citizens.
Mike Simon
Glen Ellyn