The Republican gubernatorial candidate has already lost my vote. Wednesday morning I heard George Ryan on WBBM-AM say that everything is fine with the state, so why change anything.
The last thing the state of Illinois needs is another former secretary of state as governor without an agenda. There are many school districts in this state that desperately need money to properly educate their students, but attempts at raising the funds through referendum repeatedly fail. Placing the burden on the property owner to pay for schools is terribly unfair. The only fair way is for an increase in the income tax. I have never failed to vote for an increase in my property taxes to help pay for schools simply because there is no better investment in my tax dollars.
But a high property value is no indication of that property owner’s ability to pay. That is why the income tax is the fairest way to provide funds for schools. Gov. Jim Edgar did a flip-flop on this issue after his last election, so it was clear he lacked the courage and commitment it would take to pass this legislation. The man to vote for is Glenn Poshard. At least he has an agenda and realizes that there are problems that need to addressed.
