The best physicians will utilize every tool they have to assess symptoms and diagnose a patient’s condition. Once you have a correct diagnosis – a valuable thing, not often easily obtained – you can begin treating an illness or injury. Treating symptoms may provide short-term and temporary relief to a patient, but it is not a long-term or sustainable course of action. Read more »
Election analysis
We’ve been on a brief hiatus here at the IfBG, volunteering our time for political campaigns. We hope you’ve been doing the same, and that the election on Tuesday saw success for your candidates of choice.
While there are better sites for electoral analysis, we’d like to reflect on what we’re seeing on a national basis. Now, none of us associated with this organization live in Kentucky or follow closely the politics of that Commonwealth, but the people of Kentucky recently elected Rand Paul to the U.S. Senate. Read more »
Illinois Voters and Balanced Government
So the venerable polling outfit Rasmussen just released a report today about the relative temperature of prospective Illinois voters. Illinois is our home, and is our focus as we bring our message of balanced government to the people. Read more »
The Responsibility Question
On Monday I was a guest at the Southland Chamber of Commerce luncheon, which featured a debate for the office of Illinois Treasurer between Robin Kelly and Dan Rutherford.
A great question came from the audience which highlights the difference between the candidates in this race, but also is a larger example of the problem that we have in America. Read more »
On Units of Government
Illinois is home for me, I’m a native, born and raised. It’s a beautiful state, rich in resources, with a great history and some of the best people you’d ever want to meet.
The Land of Lincoln
One thing that there isn’t a lot of pride in is the number of units of government Illinois has. We’re tops in the country. As of the 2002 census, Illinois had 6,904 units of government, beating Pennsylvania who had 5,032 units of government. Please, Pennsylvania. If you want to continue to come in second place, keep up that level of effort.
We’ve had some problems, as you can imagine, with all these units of government. The DuPage Water Commission is one such unit of government, which has an up, and now decidedly down, history.
An audit of that unit of government has uncovered negligence and a lack of oversight. And, sadly sounding familiar, a case of missing money. Now, there is talk of the county government absorbing this unit of government and making it a department in the county.
While I’m an advocate of pushing government responsibility closer to the people, this move by the General Assembly and the county doesn’t bother me. Given the responsibilities of the Water Commission, the county is the right home for the responsibilities of the Commission.
I’ve been talking a lot about what I’m calling the “Principle of Proximity” recently. This Principle states that the government that is closer to the people is more accountable and more participatory. For this reason, I have advocated and will continue to advocate for a proper re-allocation of responsibilities in the smaller (closer to the individual) spheres of government. Consolidation of authority, responsibility, and power hasn’t worked well in the general sense.
One of the key questions we have to ask ourselves in analyzing units of government is this: whose responsibility should it be? If the duties of a Water Commission are indeed necessary, it should be acknowledged that there are exceptions to every rule, and in this case, consolidating this responsibility in the next larger sphere of government actually makes sense.