Letter to the Editor: Let’s Expand on Berglunds Point a Bit…..

While Orlock and Bauernfeind can conveniently gloss over a wealth of facts here, let this serve as a cold splash of water to the face. One party rule in this state has had it’s consequences. Here is a short compendium of factoids that I feel the need to share since you don’t seem to have the internet at your fingertips.

• For four years in a row, Illinois has lost population at an alarming rate. In 2017, the state lost almost 34,000 residents, the largest numerical decline of any state.  

• Illinois is already bankrupt. Even with massive tax increases, there is no way the state can meet its pension obligations. The issue is 2 fold; public employee union members who have this delusion that government is the means by which to evade the first law of economics, which says there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Number 2, The Democrats in the state legislature that suck up to public employee unions in an effort to make these delusions a reality.

• A permanent income tax hike of 32% in 2017.

• Getting shot in Chicago is pretty easy. Stacking up 555 murders in 2018, they are on a tear.

• They have added on average 10 Billion to the public dept each year since 2008. In 2016, Chicago’s debt burden was at 40.5 billion, and this is less than 1/5th of the Illinois burden at 216 billion.

• Ranked most recently as the 48th most financially broke state.   

• That 4 of the last 9 Govenors of this state have done prison time doesn’t strike you as aberrant?  Really?

• And last but not least, I’ll add Jussie Smollett. -mic drop-

And you overlook these points and say this pales to the squabble over a stinky granary that will never make a Trip Advisor hit list for DC and blights a plum tax generating property in our town. (you just squandered our road improvement dollars BTW, congrats, I’ll send you my alignment bill) .   

Don’t drag your bad habits north.

David Johnson

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.