A 15 percent drop in entitlements?

There is a harsh reality to face: Illinois is broke. Illinois did not get into this mess the same way that the federal government did with the real necessity of military spending. Illinois is broke because of internal mismanagement of funds. Bad spending habits with no accountability.

The hope is that the working, taxpaying, people of Illinois will start to realize that a great deal of their tax dollars are being used to support people, who in most cases, do not have the motivation to support themselves. Their tax dollars are being used to support the activities of illegal immigrants who, by law, should not even be in Illinois, let alone the country.

Clearly there are people in our society that need temporary government assistance to get back on their feet. However, that assistance should not turn into a never-ending generational lifestyle. At some point, the cycle of poverty needs to stop.

Some interesting observation that everyone should think about: Only in America will you find: 1. Homeless people with cellular phones. 2. Able-bodied people collecting welfare. 3. Obese people collecting food stamps. 4. Section 8 homes that have flat screen TVs, X-Box, and PlayStation 3. Again, taxpayers are being told that they need to flip the bill for Illinois continuing mismanagement. However, if working taxpayers have to live with less, shouldn’t the people collecting entitlements be expected to do the same as well? After all, the entitlement crowd has not felt any of the economic pinch ... they never worked to begin with.

Since taxpayers are being told to pay 66 percent more in state taxes, perhaps it would be fair the entitlement crowd should get a 15 percent reduction in their entitlement benefits.

Charles Nelson

Wood Dale