This blog is maintained for the sole purpose of allowing the people of Peru and those interested in the cities of the Illinois Valley to express their views.
“It doesn’t take a majority to win, just a tireless minority that will keep starting brush fires in the mind and hearts of their fellow men.” Samuel Adams
Ready for all those round abouts? Strange article, what about Oglesby and La Salle?
39 comments:
Anonymous
said...
fat cats at the scratching post. curious comment about 2035 and the peru electric - is he seriously suggesting that peru will get out of the electricity business in 2035?
I noticed that Ottawa is developing a new Industrial Park to attract business that actually produce good jobs. While Peru is gathering yet another discount retailer to dilute the existing market and generate some short term sales tax.
Difference between Ottawa and Peru - Peru wants sales tax. Ottawa wants good jobs for citizens.
12:28 PM, February 13, 2016 - Retail stores pay minimum wage. We need factories that produce product, transportation warehouses, mines. I want to look to the north and see smoke stacks!
The Peru Fireworks will be hosted by the Peru Mall this year. Plenty of room in the parking lot. They will be exploded over the corn field to the west. Permits for beer tents, food tents, etc. will be sold.
7:39 no one and I mean NO one turns DOWN a retailer. You have no idea how business works. Yes they often pay minimum wage jobs but anytime a business locates anywhere it produces additional jobs. You blame the Peru City Council for only bringing retail jobs which is a LIE as we are still far ahead of other area cities on ALL jobs but the city council doesn't just pick and decide who comes here and who doesn't.
12:28 is spot on and you are absolutely clueless. The thing about business is ANY AND ALL business, economic development and growth is a good thing. That's does mean they are against the better paying jobs but you don't just snap your fingers and they show up.
It tells you a lot when Peru gets teased about having "too many" of a particular business like auto parts stores. That's not a bad thing as the market clearly indicates a need for them and they are in PERU!
It is truly unbelievable how clueless some people are. If it is so easy, then run for office and bring in all the high paying jobs! I can't wait!
Calm down 6:54 AM. Wow, you are soooo intelligent with your informative information for us folks who don't know how wonderful Peru really is. Thanks for doing a cheer for old PEE-RUU. You must be in that Mensa club I bet. Wish I was so smart like you. Now please take your meds.
6:54 AM, February 15, 2016 - you are clueless. And I have an MBA. Peru is only interested in advancing retail. The entire market for retail in a 30 square mile area around Peru is about $166 million dollars. It is not getting any bigger. Peru would do better to expand the market by putting all their efforts into attracting heavy industry to the region. That will increase the population and increase the market for retail. Right now, the population is shrinking along with the market.
6:54 AM, we are paying a man to find retail which is not necessary. Peru's retail district is self sustaining now. Unless Peru does something to spoil it, any new retail in the area will naturally gravitate to Peru - we don't need to pay a guy to find it. We should be paying that guy to find the next industrial development.
11:38 Peru is very active in heavy manufacturing. My MBA tells me that manufacturing is on a decline in the USA. The high workers comp. and the union organization have hampered the already stressful manufacturing situation in the state of Illinois. What I mean by saying Peru is active, its in the fact that they have some very active manufacturing companies in Central Illinois. And they have some areas in which they can accommodate manufacturing, low water and electrical rates, near rail and river, near highway, programs for training at the Junior College. As soon as we elect leaders that make trading fair in the world wide market and create a fair taxing system for US partners, you will see manufacturing pick up. I don't think Peru officials have much to offer when it comes to federal and state policies. Your local newly appointed State rep. is working on the 2nd amendment rights meetings to tell us Illinois Valley residents that its ok to have guns. I wonder if that civics class Rep. Skoog had in high school covered the topic? While most of us want jobs and create personal income, he wants to tell us that the 2nd amendment covers your right to bear arms? oH BOY! Maybe, next week he will cover the 1st amendment right to free speech?
Manufacturing is actually on a rise in the USA. I agree it is on the decline in Illinois for the reasons that you stated - but in the USA it is increasing. China is no longer a low priced option - the people are getting the taste of middle class living and wages are increasing at a rapid rate. They are looking inward and are developing a consumer economy. That is only natural. Manufacturing options in Mexico and South America are hampered by government corruption.
We need our local officials to pull the barriers to industrial development down. That will make this area attractive to industrial development.
I don't know how you got off on guns, but that is a very important topic. Any given year, there are 10 to 15 serious attempts to restrict the ownership of firearms introduced into the Illinois Legislature. Rep. Skoogs, like Rep. Mautino before him, would do well to stand and fight against these attempts to restrict firearm ownership. Otherwise.... me just may be talking about potential restrictions of the 1st Amendment in the not to distant future.
The first thing we need to do is abolish the Ethanol Mandate! That one simple act will lower the price of farmland around here and make it attractive for new industrial development.
The LaSalle County Board also needs to get out of the way. They continually block projects that will "take land away from agricultural production." Well friends, we need that land out of AG and into Industrial. Farms do not provide employment! They don't even pay taxes, so they are dragging down the local schools and the local economy.
And before you people start flaming about food. Farms around here have not grown food in years. They grow fuel! Fuel that we absolutely don't need and that ends up costing us more in Agricultural Welfare!
10:43 There are many, many opportunities for land for industrial growth. The perceived lack of land has nothing to do with industry not locating. Every city has ample space located next to prime transportation areas for industry to grab. And most of them have land based incentives to locate. Your beef with the ethanol production has no bearing on industrial growth. It's the State with high costs of labor from worker's comp to corporate tax rates! And farms do have employment from the fertilizer salesperson to the transportation to the consumer. How to do think they make fertilizer or farm equipment? Do you believe that the sand industry does not provide jobs? That is industrial growth.
12:05 PM you are wrong. Every time somebody wants to build something, if they can afford land to do it, they have to jump through all kinds of legal hoops to avoid county zoning. They get the property annexed into the nearest municipality - which is better than dealing with the county yokels, but adds a different layer of complexity.
If the Ethanol Mandate is removed, farm land values will drop and will be able to buy it. Right now, farm land in LaSalle County is valued at about $10,000 an acre. Undeveloped land should be quite a bit lower than that. Farms do not add nearly enough employment into the economy. Local agriculture also has the politician wrapped around their finger. The tax laws make so they pay virtually nothing in income, property, or sales tax. They employ nobody, pay no taxes, and complain when it doesn't rain. When it does rain, they have drainage tiles which drain everything to the river immediately causing millions of dollars in damage to cities. All in all - agriculture is a leach on the local economy.
By the way folks - you can buy gasoline without Ethanol in it at several gas stations in Peru. I encourage everyone to stop using Ethanol spiked gasoline!
1:38 Agreed. He seems to have an issue with the farm community. Pretty sure in my book that farmers purchase quite a bit of manufactured farm equipment and supplies that employ quite a few people. Pretty sure his information on pricing is not current either. I think his story changes daily based on how bored he is. Maybe he should get a real job. I would bet money that he didn't take Logic and theory in college.
7:53 PM, February 17, 2016 You are wrong and based on your comment you sound like a liberal elitist.
The modern farmer in our part of the country is a burden on society. They take more than they produce and most of them don't produce food. They produce fuel additives. Now, the few that produce actual food are probably OK. I'm taking about the ones that are suckling from the mother sow. We need to end all farm subsidies that do not directly support the production of food.
6:29 we hear you over and over again. Coming from an American farm family, your lies are pathetic, not that it is going to stop you. Corn and beans are used for far more products than could ever be listed here, ethanol being a small part of it. Corn is not used in food products? You are so completely clueless.
Let's flip your argument. Let's just shut all those evil farmers down. What do you think would happen to the economy? Or food prices, although according to you it wouldn't matter. And while I do not think all subsidies are necessary, it IS, despite the crap you spew off, a big part of why food is very affordable. What percentage of the federal budget is farm subsidies?
You haven't a damn clue how difficult it is to run a business like a farm. The agriculture industry is huge and diverse and for you to say all they produce is fuel is beyond laughable.
Hey I know, go start a farm and live the good life. It's so easy. The government just sends you checks and you get to wear overalls and ride in a tractor all day. It's a great life.
"Illinois ranks second in the country for corn production. Illinois Farmers planted 12,000,000 acres of field corn in 2009 which produced over 2 billion bushels. 25% went to Ethanol production. 15% was processed for other chemical and processed food use. 7% was for animal feed. Leaving 53% to be exported out of the country."
"274 million bushels of Illinois corn are used to produce more ethanol than any other state -- about 678 million gallons. Illinois also markets other renewable fuels, including soybean-based biodiesel."
These are facts. At the very least - one quarter of Illinois Corn is burned for fuel. That is a terrible waste of land and resources. The only reason that the farmers do this is because the Ethanol producers are subsidized by the government. The corn growers are also subsidized by the government to incentivize them to grow more corn for fuel production.
8:45 PM, February 19, 2016 - I would be happy to support hard working farmers if they where not on the public dole. You could add up all the welfare payments to single unemployed mothers in the State of Illinois and it would be dwarfed by the corporate welfare we give to our "farmers."
We need to end Free Loading Farmers. Stop all government payments. If they are truly growing a product that the market wants and needs, they don't need to be propped up!
Tell you what there are some crazy couple folks on here. Hey 4:19 as a market investor I can tell you that oil prices have been dropping solidly for a year and you won't see much of a correlation to corn prices. I am guessing you wanted to be a farmer but are just bitter and miserable because you couldn't? Wishing ill on other people says all that needs to be said. Good luck to you.
The anti corn alcohol people on here completely ignore tbe co products production of feed from every bushel used for alcohol, the new methods that shift the Co2 Balance in favor of fuel alcohol, and the advances being made because of subsidized growth. The overly simplistic attitude that all technologies must live or die based on short term free market economics completely ignores the unsustainable use of non renewable resources that are artificially cheap because of questionable profiteering by big oil. One of the best uses of tax dollars is to allow energy sources of the future to develop and prosper. Government can guide R and D toward a reliable and sustainable future. Feel free to begin the liberal elitist, anti government, anti bullet, blah blah rant you use whenever anyone disagrees.
Don't forget that Farmers are the largest POLUTERS in the state. They dump tons of poisons and nitrates into our rivers and streams every year.
Farmers are responsible for millions and millions of dollars in flood damage to our local communities through their irresponsible and destructive use of field drainage tiles.
The impact the FARMERS have had on our local environment is much worse that that of LaSalle Rolling Mills, New Jersey Zinc, Diamond Phosphate, and countless other businesses combined.
6:37 here You made my day 10:41. I tried to predict the possible names I would be called for pointing out that the anti power alcohol faction here were using decade old co2 arguments and ignoring the fraction of feed and lignins that further reduce the crazy amount you idiots are saying go to ethanol. But of course, any alternate view is label instead of discussed civilly. I forgot I would be called a communist because I mentioned that government does step in and do things to reflect true cost, liking taxing cigarettes to help defray the burden on society, or taxing gasoline to reflect its true cost to the environment and encourage renewables industry.In your simple mind, unless you believe in the mythical pure free market and zero government, you are a communist. Be sure to hand over that social security check and dont use any of those government built roads.
And there's the mandatory "communist" comment. 10:41 is about officially the only one left on the blog. Get some help would you 10:41? You've made everyone else go away.
Haha! Amen 7:10! Don't forget medicare, as I am sure 10:41 will forego that and buy private insurance instead. I'm also sure he never eats a "USDA Grade A" steak either. I'm also sure he drives cars that have not been put through the ringer of those cumbersome government regulations. Or hands down the largest part of our government, the US military protecting us. Or let's just let Wall Street run rampant and the "free market" will determine the winner and the losers. Yeah, right.
The sad thing is people like that are the ones who have ruined good conservativism when real conservatives know that there is some reasonable balance between good business and good government. We have a long ways to go in Illinois in that regard, but our local government people do a pretty solid job. Government needs to get out of the way of some things, but the fringe idiots who think all government is bad are doing everything in power to make sure the push back is there and the people in the middle will go left as long as we don't have a conservative base with any common sense.
12:08 it is called the United States of America. It is absolutely NOT communism, and how could you say something like that? How uneducated are you? People throw around words like "communist" with no idea what communism means. Without a history lesson, it is not defined as "influences the free market."
There are times when the government does get involved and some examples were provided. Should the federal government not have broken up the phone monopoly and let the "free market" decide? How about pharmaceutical regulations? What about slavery? Should the market have just determined where that was headed? You do realize free markets and cost of business were used as a justification for slavery, right?
The free market is not flawless and we are a land of rules and laws and yes, regulations. Are some burdensome? Of course they are. But to say that the free market should determine everything would eventually result in utter chaos. It is never what our country has been and thankfully we live in a civilized society and we should hope it never is.
America was largely built in a free Market system, but our government has always played a role to some degree. We just need some good common sense.
Slavery would have ended about 60 years earlier if the government did not get involved.
The government destroyed the most advanced communications system in the world at the time. It is only in the last couple of decades that we have removed from that disaster.
Did you know that growing corn for use as ethanol is five times more destructive to the environment than using oil or natural gas? We have enough natural gas reserves in this country to meet our current needs for at least two hundred years. That is without trying to find more. If you want to subsidize something - subsidize the development of a network of natural gas fueling stations.
The only reason the government stays on this totally useless ethanol plan is for VOTES. That's right. Take the Ethanol Pledge or else.
And finally - my beef with the farmers is that they don't pay their fair share of taxes. They are essentially Welfare Queens being subsidized by people. They complain when schools need more funding. They damage the land using poison. They drain their fields to the rivers causing millions and millions of dollars in damage and they refuse to acknowledge their reckless use of the land.
39 comments:
fat cats at the scratching post. curious comment about 2035 and the peru electric - is he seriously suggesting that peru will get out of the electricity business in 2035?
I noticed that Ottawa is developing a new Industrial Park to attract business that actually produce good jobs. While Peru is gathering yet another discount retailer to dilute the existing market and generate some short term sales tax.
Difference between Ottawa and Peru - Peru wants sales tax. Ottawa wants good jobs for citizens.
11:40
Peru already has industrial sites ready and able in the north area. They have incentives and near rail. They are a step ahead of Ottawa in this area.
What's wrong with retail? They put money in the economy. They pay wages. And they don't overtax your water and sewer services.
4th of July is getting closer and we have heard of no change of location for the fireworks and no pyrotechnic is on board.
No locations on city property, should we pay for use of private property for the firewors?
12:28 PM, February 13, 2016 - Retail stores pay minimum wage. We need factories that produce product, transportation warehouses, mines. I want to look to the north and see smoke stacks!
The Peru Fireworks will be hosted by the Peru Mall this year. Plenty of room in the parking lot. They will be exploded over the corn field to the west. Permits for beer tents, food tents, etc. will be sold.
7:39 no one and I mean NO one turns DOWN a retailer. You have no idea how business works. Yes they often pay minimum wage jobs but anytime a business locates anywhere it produces additional jobs. You blame the Peru City Council for only bringing retail jobs which is a LIE as we are still far ahead of other area cities on ALL jobs but the city council doesn't just pick and decide who comes here and who doesn't.
12:28 is spot on and you are absolutely clueless. The thing about business is ANY AND ALL business, economic development and growth is a good thing. That's does mean they are against the better paying jobs but you don't just snap your fingers and they show up.
It tells you a lot when Peru gets teased about having "too many" of a particular business like auto parts stores. That's not a bad thing as the market clearly indicates a need for them and they are in PERU!
It is truly unbelievable how clueless some people are. If it is so easy, then run for office and bring in all the high paying jobs! I can't wait!
Calm down 6:54 AM. Wow, you are soooo intelligent with your informative information for us folks who don't know how wonderful Peru really is. Thanks for doing a cheer for old PEE-RUU. You must be in that Mensa club I bet. Wish I was so smart like you.
Now please take your meds.
The fireworks bid packet and launch site are now available on the city website peru.il.us
6:54 AM, February 15, 2016 - you are clueless. And I have an MBA. Peru is only interested in advancing retail. The entire market for retail in a 30 square mile area around Peru is about $166 million dollars. It is not getting any bigger. Peru would do better to expand the market by putting all their efforts into attracting heavy industry to the region. That will increase the population and increase the market for retail. Right now, the population is shrinking along with the market.
6:54 AM, we are paying a man to find retail which is not necessary. Peru's retail district is self sustaining now. Unless Peru does something to spoil it, any new retail in the area will naturally gravitate to Peru - we don't need to pay a guy to find it. We should be paying that guy to find the next industrial development.
11:38 Peru is very active in heavy manufacturing. My MBA tells me that manufacturing is on a decline in the USA. The high workers comp. and the union organization have hampered the already stressful manufacturing situation in the state of Illinois. What I mean by saying Peru is active, its in the fact that they have some very active manufacturing companies in Central Illinois. And they have some areas in which they can accommodate manufacturing, low water and electrical rates, near rail and river, near highway, programs for training at the Junior College. As soon as we elect leaders that make trading fair in the world wide market and create a fair taxing system for US partners, you will see manufacturing pick up. I don't think Peru officials have much to offer when it comes to federal and state policies.
Your local newly appointed State rep. is working on the 2nd amendment rights meetings to tell us Illinois Valley residents that its ok to have guns. I wonder if that civics class Rep. Skoog had in high school covered the topic? While most of us want jobs and create personal income, he wants to tell us that the 2nd amendment covers your right to bear arms? oH BOY! Maybe, next week he will cover the 1st amendment right to free speech?
2:59 PM, February 15, 2016
Manufacturing is actually on a rise in the USA. I agree it is on the decline in Illinois for the reasons that you stated - but in the USA it is increasing. China is no longer a low priced option - the people are getting the taste of middle class living and wages are increasing at a rapid rate. They are looking inward and are developing a consumer economy. That is only natural. Manufacturing options in Mexico and South America are hampered by government corruption.
We need our local officials to pull the barriers to industrial development down. That will make this area attractive to industrial development.
I don't know how you got off on guns, but that is a very important topic. Any given year, there are 10 to 15 serious attempts to restrict the ownership of firearms introduced into the Illinois Legislature. Rep. Skoogs, like Rep. Mautino before him, would do well to stand and fight against these attempts to restrict firearm ownership. Otherwise.... me just may be talking about potential restrictions of the 1st Amendment in the not to distant future.
The first thing we need to do is abolish the Ethanol Mandate! That one simple act will lower the price of farmland around here and make it attractive for new industrial development.
The LaSalle County Board also needs to get out of the way. They continually block projects that will "take land away from agricultural production." Well friends, we need that land out of AG and into Industrial. Farms do not provide employment! They don't even pay taxes, so they are dragging down the local schools and the local economy.
And before you people start flaming about food. Farms around here have not grown food in years. They grow fuel! Fuel that we absolutely don't need and that ends up costing us more in Agricultural Welfare!
10:43 There are many, many opportunities for land for industrial growth. The perceived lack of land has nothing to do with industry not locating. Every city has ample space located next to prime transportation areas for industry to grab. And most of them have land based incentives to locate. Your beef with the ethanol production has no bearing on industrial growth. It's the State with high costs of labor from worker's comp to corporate tax rates! And farms do have employment from the fertilizer salesperson to the transportation to the consumer. How to do think they make fertilizer or farm equipment? Do you believe that the sand industry does not provide jobs? That is industrial growth.
12:05 PM you are wrong. Every time somebody wants to build something, if they can afford land to do it, they have to jump through all kinds of legal hoops to avoid county zoning. They get the property annexed into the nearest municipality - which is better than dealing with the county yokels, but adds a different layer of complexity.
If the Ethanol Mandate is removed, farm land values will drop and will be able to buy it. Right now, farm land in LaSalle County is valued at about $10,000 an acre. Undeveloped land should be quite a bit lower than that. Farms do not add nearly enough employment into the economy. Local agriculture also has the politician wrapped around their finger. The tax laws make so they pay virtually nothing in income, property, or sales tax. They employ nobody, pay no taxes, and complain when it doesn't rain. When it does rain, they have drainage tiles which drain everything to the river immediately causing millions of dollars in damage to cities. All in all - agriculture is a leach on the local economy.
By the way folks - you can buy gasoline without Ethanol in it at several gas stations in Peru. I encourage everyone to stop using Ethanol spiked gasoline!
Right on 2:01! The biggest Welfare Queens in the State of Illinois are our local farmers!
I get the feeling the same person is commenting to his/her self. Like three of the last five comments?
1:38 Agreed. He seems to have an issue with the farm community. Pretty sure in my book that farmers purchase quite a bit of manufactured farm equipment and supplies that employ quite a few people. Pretty sure his information on pricing is not current either. I think his story changes daily based on how bored he is. Maybe he should get a real job. I would bet money that he didn't take Logic and theory in college.
7:53 PM, February 17, 2016 You are wrong and based on your comment you sound like a liberal elitist.
The modern farmer in our part of the country is a burden on society. They take more than they produce and most of them don't produce food. They produce fuel additives. Now, the few that produce actual food are probably OK. I'm taking about the ones that are suckling from the mother sow. We need to end all farm subsidies that do not directly support the production of food.
6:29 we hear you over and over again. Coming from an American farm family, your lies are pathetic, not that it is going to stop you. Corn and beans are used for far more products than could ever be listed here, ethanol being a small part of it. Corn is not used in food products? You are so completely clueless.
Let's flip your argument. Let's just shut all those evil farmers down. What do you think would happen to the economy? Or food prices, although according to you it wouldn't matter. And while I do not think all subsidies are necessary, it IS, despite the crap you spew off, a big part of why food is very affordable. What percentage of the federal budget is farm subsidies?
You haven't a damn clue how difficult it is to run a business like a farm. The agriculture industry is huge and diverse and for you to say all they produce is fuel is beyond laughable.
Hey I know, go start a farm and live the good life. It's so easy. The government just sends you checks and you get to wear overalls and ride in a tractor all day. It's a great life.
People like you make me sick to my stomach.
The farmers here sell their corn to one customer only. The Ethanol Producers.
No 6:10. They don't. They sell on the open market.
New topic.
With the low price of oil, I can't wait for the price of corn to take a nose dive.
From the Illinois Department of Agriculture:
"Illinois ranks second in the country for corn production. Illinois Farmers planted 12,000,000 acres of field corn in 2009 which produced over 2 billion bushels. 25% went to Ethanol production. 15% was processed for other chemical and processed food use. 7% was for animal feed. Leaving 53% to be exported out of the country."
"274 million bushels of Illinois corn are used to produce more ethanol than any other state -- about 678 million gallons. Illinois also markets other renewable fuels, including soybean-based biodiesel."
These are facts. At the very least - one quarter of Illinois Corn is burned for fuel. That is a terrible waste of land and resources. The only reason that the farmers do this is because the Ethanol producers are subsidized by the government. The corn growers are also subsidized by the government to incentivize them to grow more corn for fuel production.
Everyone should STOP buying corn spiked gasoline!
4:19 Seriously, you need help. That much anger can not be good for you or safe for society. Sounds like you are ready to snap.
8:45 PM, February 19, 2016 - I would be happy to support hard working farmers if they where not on the public dole. You could add up all the welfare payments to single unemployed mothers in the State of Illinois and it would be dwarfed by the corporate welfare we give to our "farmers."
We need to end Free Loading Farmers. Stop all government payments. If they are truly growing a product that the market wants and needs, they don't need to be propped up!
Tell you what there are some crazy couple folks on here. Hey 4:19 as a market investor I can tell you that oil prices have been dropping solidly for a year and you won't see much of a correlation to corn prices. I am guessing you wanted to be a farmer but are just bitter and miserable because you couldn't? Wishing ill on other people says all that needs to be said. Good luck to you.
11:18 AM, February 20, 2016 - the point is let the farmers stand on their own just like any other business.
The anti corn alcohol people on here completely ignore tbe co products production of feed from every bushel used for alcohol, the new methods that shift the Co2 Balance in favor of fuel alcohol, and the advances being made because of subsidized growth.
The overly simplistic attitude that all technologies must live or die based on short term free market economics completely ignores the unsustainable use of non renewable resources that are artificially cheap because of questionable profiteering by big oil. One of the best uses of tax dollars is to allow energy sources of the future to develop and prosper. Government can guide R and D toward a reliable and sustainable future.
Feel free to begin the liberal elitist, anti government, anti bullet, blah blah rant you use whenever anyone disagrees.
Don't forget that Farmers are the largest POLUTERS in the state. They dump tons of poisons and nitrates into our rivers and streams every year.
Farmers are responsible for millions and millions of dollars in flood damage to our local communities through their irresponsible and destructive use of field drainage tiles.
The impact the FARMERS have had on our local environment is much worse that that of LaSalle Rolling Mills, New Jersey Zinc, Diamond Phosphate, and countless other businesses combined.
6:37 AM, February 21, 2016 - you sound like a Communist.
6:37 here You made my day 10:41. I tried to predict the possible names I would be called for pointing out that the anti power alcohol faction here were using decade old co2 arguments and ignoring the fraction of feed and lignins that further reduce the crazy amount you idiots are saying go to ethanol. But of course, any alternate view is label instead of discussed civilly. I forgot I would be called a communist because I mentioned that government does step in and do things to reflect true cost, liking taxing cigarettes to help defray the burden on society, or taxing gasoline to reflect its true cost to the environment and encourage renewables industry.In your simple mind, unless you believe in the mythical pure free market and zero government, you are a communist. Be sure to hand over that social security check and dont use any of those government built roads.
And there's the mandatory "communist" comment. 10:41 is about officially the only one left on the blog. Get some help would you 10:41? You've made everyone else go away.
Haha! Amen 7:10! Don't forget medicare, as I am sure 10:41 will forego that and buy private insurance instead. I'm also sure he never eats a "USDA Grade A" steak either. I'm also sure he drives cars that have not been put through the ringer of those cumbersome government regulations. Or hands down the largest part of our government, the US military protecting us. Or let's just let Wall Street run rampant and the "free market" will determine the winner and the losers. Yeah, right.
The sad thing is people like that are the ones who have ruined good conservativism when real conservatives know that there is some reasonable balance between good business and good government. We have a long ways to go in Illinois in that regard, but our local government people do a pretty solid job. Government needs to get out of the way of some things, but the fringe idiots who think all government is bad are doing everything in power to make sure the push back is there and the people in the middle will go left as long as we don't have a conservative base with any common sense.
12:08 AM, February 22, 2016 - What do you call it when the government artificially influences the free market?
Doesn't matter. The next president is likely to be a fascist or a socialist. Either way - Bernie or Trump - this country is in deep trouble.
12:08 it is called the United States of America. It is absolutely NOT communism, and how could you say something like that? How uneducated are you? People throw around words like "communist" with no idea what communism means. Without a history lesson, it is not defined as "influences the free market."
There are times when the government does get involved and some examples were provided. Should the federal government not have broken up the phone monopoly and let the "free market" decide? How about pharmaceutical regulations? What about slavery? Should the market have just determined where that was headed? You do realize free markets and cost of business were used as a justification for slavery, right?
The free market is not flawless and we are a land of rules and laws and yes, regulations. Are some burdensome? Of course they are. But to say that the free market should determine everything would eventually result in utter chaos. It is never what our country has been and thankfully we live in a civilized society and we should hope it never is.
America was largely built in a free Market system, but our government has always played a role to some degree. We just need some good common sense.
Slavery would have ended about 60 years earlier if the government did not get involved.
The government destroyed the most advanced communications system in the world at the time. It is only in the last couple of decades that we have removed from that disaster.
Did you know that growing corn for use as ethanol is five times more destructive to the environment than using oil or natural gas? We have enough natural gas reserves in this country to meet our current needs for at least two hundred years. That is without trying to find more. If you want to subsidize something - subsidize the development of a network of natural gas fueling stations.
The only reason the government stays on this totally useless ethanol plan is for VOTES. That's right. Take the Ethanol Pledge or else.
And finally - my beef with the farmers is that they don't pay their fair share of taxes. They are essentially Welfare Queens being subsidized by people. They complain when schools need more funding. They damage the land using poison. They drain their fields to the rivers causing millions and millions of dollars in damage and they refuse to acknowledge their reckless use of the land.
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