Divide Illinois in 2 (Chicago, Arlington Heights, Kankakee: city hall, hotels, income tax)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by muleskinner

I have no anger issues at all

Kiss off. What you just did was call my home a "cesspool" and called me, my wife, my son, my family, my friends and fellow Chicagolanders "lower lifeforms". You got a big mouth, you better back it up and take that back.

[Maintainschaos]

How about we keep Illinois all together? The 13ish million of us need us all, including the bigger cities, farmland, crops, tourists, money markets, taxes, etc.

[whatever you want]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Kiss off. What you just did was call my home a "cesspool" and called me, my wife, my son, my family, my friends and fellow Chicagolanders "lower lifeforms". You got a big mouth, you better back it up and take that back.

I gave you a pov as seen from the far south side of the big cornfield (central Illinois)...I told you the truth as we see it without the political correctness that has trashed most areas of our country.....I can't help it that you do not like it.It's not my fault in the least.Actually it's guys like you that are to blame for the stereotype that you seem to hate.

As far as the idle "backing it up " thing is concerned,I'm sure you will not understand this(like you didn't understand the very first comment I made which is more proof in itself as to how true the original statement I made actually was AND how you fit the profile to a T),but I've never saddled anything I couldn't ride.If you need me to break it down for you so you'll understand it crystal clear,don't be ashamed,just ask and I'll be glad to.Have a good one

[linicx]

Anybody remember Mike Royko? He kept us all informed of what went on in Chi politics. I miss that. On to the other issue.

If downstate had 8M people in Sprinfield if would be different. If Springfield offered resodents something besides high property taxes and non-stop politics It would be different.

Tell me this.. Do your eally want your nice restaurants in Chicago to buy their beef, pork, spring lamb and fresh vegetables from China? The soutnern Illinois you hate is in the heart of the Beef and Grain belt. We produce the corn for your Corn Flakes, canned and frozen corn, summer corn, cornbread and acres of soybeans, not to mention the farm to market fresh products all summer long. We produce flowers for your florists, fresh cut christmas trees for your stores and even wine for your table. And the roads you complain about carry it to Chicago.

The state gifts small towns with very little, very, very, little of anything. Right now we are fighting for one stop light to protect children. Last year thee project were awarded to towns around us that have larger population. I do not begrudge any town who wants to make school safety a priority, but I do get a little testy about project that could have waited another year. Our case is a little different. Our Jr. High and Sr. high properties area joined. Five streets carry student and vehicle traffic in and out of the schools. All five streets are US and State highways. There is nary a stoplight, stop sign or marked crosswalk for any school exit. The jr high faces US 160. The 20 mile school zone is two blocks. Trucks buzz past this school 50 mph every day of the week, Worst, they ignore the flashing school lignts. I fianlly managed to talk to the guy that runs IDOT and convinced him to help the kids. In the meantime every bigr rig I catch running school lights I contact the owners. They don't like driver complaints before they have coffee. I don't like the idea of what will happen if an 80,000# truck going 50mph hits a 80# kid. The state would be down here installing a light before the cops could scrape the kid off the highway.

I understand the Chicago machine and who oils it. I also unnderstand there needs to be an equity between farm and city and I think it would be a great forum to kick around ideas. You need trains to transport people. We need trains to transport our products to depots so they can be distributed to your stores. The same thing can be said about the boats that traverse the Illinois to and from your ports..

Instead of compaining, let's start a forum and find a way that will help all of us and not just the few and the greedy.

[Avengerfire]

Nobody that has a brain hates downstate and rural Illinois from the Chicago area. Nobody that has a brain hates the Chicago area from downstate and rural Illinois.


This is getting out of hand.

[whatever you want]

Originally Posted by linicx

Anybody remember Mike Royko? He kept us all informed of what went on in Chi politics. I miss that. On to the other issue.

If downstate had 8M people in Sprinfield if would be different. If Springfield offered resodents something besides high property taxes and non-stop politics It would be different.

Tell me this.. Do your eally want your nice restaurants in Chicago to buy their beef, pork, spring lamb and fresh vegetables from China? The soutnern Illinois you hate is in the heart of the Beef and Grain belt. We produce the corn for your Corn Flakes, canned and frozen corn, summer corn, cornbread and acres of soybeans, not to mention the farm to market fresh products all summer long. We produce flowers for your florists, fresh cut christmas trees for your stores and even wine for your table. And the roads you complain about carry it to Chicago.

The state gifts small towns with very little, very, very, little of anything. Right now we are fighting for one stop light to protect children. Last year thee project were awarded to towns around us that have larger population. I do not begrudge any town who wants to make school safety a priority, but I do get a little testy about project that could have waited another year. Our case is a little different. Our Jr. High and Sr. high properties area joined. Five streets carry student and vehicle traffic in and out of the schools. All five streets are US and State highways. There is nary a stoplight, stop sign or marked crosswalk for any school exit. The jr high faces US 160. The 20 mile school zone is two blocks. Trucks buzz past this school 50 mph every day of the week, Worst, they ignore the flashing school lignts. I fianlly managed to talk to the guy that runs IDOT and convinced him to help the kids. In the meantime every bigr rig I catch running school lights I contact the owners. They don't like driver complaints before they have coffee. I don't like the idea of what will happen if an 80,000# truck going 50mph hits a 80# kid. The state would be down here installing a light before the cops could scrape the kid off the highway.

I understand the Chicago machine and who oils it. I also unnderstand there needs to be an equity between farm and city and I think it would be a great forum to kick around ideas. You need trains to transport people. We need trains to transport our products to depots so they can be distributed to your stores. The same thing can be said about the boats that traverse the Illinois to and from your ports..

Instead of compaining, let's start a forum and find a way that will help all of us and not just the few and the greedy.

Excellent post.

[sandgirl]

Originally Posted by Jons99

This is another thing that rips me about the subsidizing of southern Illinois.. There is a chance that Statesville prison will be closed, result will be that people will lose their jobs and the family of inmates will have to travel 300 miles to make visits.

Why? Because in all of its wisdom the state of Illinois has decided to build prisons 300 miles from its population in an attempt to prop up these areas instead of building them where they should be.

jojo- The only thing I have ever said that southern Illinois doesn't deserve is state handouts, too bad you feel differently...

Why do you deserve so much more than others? Sounds a bit elitist to me. I don't think these criminals and their families should take higher precedence than the people of Southern Illinois.

[linicx]

It is an inconvenience to drive 300 miles to visit a prisoner. I hate to say this but maybe the con is the real problem and not the distance. I somehow do not believe the parents, sister, brother, wife, children, aunt, uncle, cousin, ex-in-laws or ex-wife of the felon caused him/her to break a law, be convicted and sent to Statesville or any other Illinois prison. Whining prisonerrs do not get my sympathy or my vote. They really should have considered how it would feel to be locked away from family that lived 300 miles in the other direction. Let me ask you a questions.

Where are you going to find an affordable 50 acre parcel on which to build a prisson in Chicago. Not.. No one wants their home devalued because a maximum security facility is in their neighborhood. and they certainly don't want cons bothering them or their families. I know how that feels. I lived four blocks from a county prison that, until they built one that could actually contain a prison population, the bad boys busted out on a regular basis.

As far as central illinois, we have already several medium-security prisons. I am not all that anxious to have another one.

[histo320]

Almost every state has a major city and that major city takes precedence over the rest of the state. New York has New York, Mass has Boston, Arizona has Phoenix, Indiana has Indianapolis. It is something people just have to deal with.

One of the best ways to get representation downstate is to get out and vote. Politics aside, get Blago out of office and elect a governor from downstate such as Edgar was.

The complaining of where downstate should start and stop is a stupid one. Chicago will always say that Kankakee is in the boonies. Well those of us downstate know that they are wrong!!! Downstate we have seen Chicago politics ruin our lives', ruin our schools, ruin our roads, and ruin our way of life.

Nevermind that Rochester High School along with 100's of other schools are over crowded and needs funding for a new buildings, books, desks, and teachers, but hey, Chicago needs a new road, or new park, or toll way, or god forbid a new football stadium (which was paid by a hotel tax and that money could have went to fix our roads).

Basically, the state economy of Illinois is terrible, and that is one of the reasons I moved to NC, where no major city dominates politics. As I've said before, the people of Illinois need to rise up and get Blago out of office ASAP, and take down the Chicago Political Machine, which will make life better for all from Rockford to Carbondale.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by muleskinner

You could be right there.Look at the amount of money spent in our schools vs what gets spent in your schools.You could be onto something there.I'll do a nonfunded gov. study on it and get back to you with the findings.

And where does the school funding come from? Overwhelmingly from local property taxes. Wealthier areas (such as Chicagoland) can afford higher property taxes, hence more more spent on schools.