If the editors of the Wall Street Journal think that the Illinois governor’s race is about taxes, they’ve got a hold of the wrong end of the stick. Not that Illinois hasn’t raised taxes over the last dozen years. We have. We’ve transmogrified from a moderate tax state to a high tax one and most of those taxes are regressive. We have a high sales tax, since our property taxes are reassessed every three years, they tend to rise quickly, and, since we have so many distinct taxing entities in the state, sales taxes and property taxes tend to rise with the expenses of these entities rather than with the state’s income.
I think Illinoisans would bear the taxes if they believed the state were moving in the right direction but they don’t. Nearly every indicator from income to population to number of businesses to our unemployment rate has worsened or, at least, gotten no better.
Mae West is quoted as saying that when it comes to a choice between two evils she always picked the one she hadn’t tried. I think that’s what this election is about in Illinois.
Well, Mae West’s advice is worthless for people voting in the Florida gubernatorial race. We’ve tried ’em both already, and found them as pleasant as colonoscopy prep!
Seems like it is always a choice between two evils. Really don’t understand the folks who are all gaga over their team.
Steve
steve, it is worse than that. Dems online are calling me a racist, sexist Nazi Klansman, as for example, Reynolds, raving against any that don’t worship Obama’s shit as manna from heaven. Meanwhile Republicans are acknowledging that their candidates are awful and just a bout as bad as the Democrats, but that I’m a traitor if I don’t vote straight Republican Party ticket tomorrow.
And in the middle are people telling me that if I don’t vote for candidates who absolutely suck in my opinion and theirs, that I’m losing my ability to influence the parties to present better candidates next time. I’ve been voting 28 years, and the candidates have been getting worse the whole time, and the “centrists” and “moderates” are making this claim of influence?
Steve Verdon had the right idea: Don’t vote. At the very least you can save yourself some time, and you aren’t validating the turds running the country into the ground. I’m sure as shit not voting for that crook and liar Scott, or the liar and crook Crist, or the Libertarian candidate who seemingly believes in Nullification (for Christ’s sake, when will THAT idea just fucking die already?), or the Green candidate who is basically a communist. Sweet Jesus, those are awful choices.
@Icepick
Not voting is to vote for the winner, but if you are cynical, it does not matter anyway.
I would recommend doing something constructive with your time. Read Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark. Wonderful nonsense for a day of nonsense. If you have never delved into his mathematical puzzles, you may enjoy them also.
Whatever happened to Steve Verdon?
@Icepick
I am not sure how old your daughter is, but with practice, you can read it to her. (You have to get the cadence right.) You will need to stop every few stanzas to explain things and point out things in the illustrations. At around six (or even younger), she will probably pick up more than you think. I suspect it is the cadence. (Dr. Seuss is similar.)
@elipses, how is not voting superior to voting against all incumbents, other than saving time? (Also, understanding that at least one of your choices is current incumbent versus former incumbent)
PD, if I vote for the major party candidates, I’m endorsing the party’s BS and its leaders. If I vote fringe I’m voting for people that even I think are nuts. I’m refusing to endorse any of it any more.
TB, for the moment I will stick with Fox in Socks, which is great fun to read aloud.
And someone is going to win no matter who I vote for.
AND if tweetle beetles battle with a paddle in a puddle in a bottle on a poodle eating noodles….
elipses, that sounds like a perfectionist fallacy. Perfection may be a goal worth pursuing for nuclear weapon safety and airplane design, but politicians are just human beings entering into contested arenas with other human beings.
I voted for at least two governors that went on to use their office to get themselves convicted. I feel no complicity in that. They were still better than the alternatives at the time.
This summary of a study that promotes “The Vital Role of the Occasional Voter” may disagree. It sees the process of voting, as one in which the process of choosing makes us less objective about the candidates we’ve chosen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/upshot/the-vital-role-of-the-occasional-voter.html?abt=0002&abg=1&_r=0
I’d be more convinced if they found a way to study this at ages beyond 20 yrs old.
@PD Shaw
To vote for the winner, one either casts a positive ballot or casts a non-ballot. Not voting is simply voting for the winner.
As are most voters, you are in an abusive relationship. It is not a mutually beneficial relationship. The politician is working for their interests, and if a few crumbs fall your way, great.
Most voters are trying to determine the candidate who will abuse them the least. I would not call that healthy.
I think the only thing that could make a difference would be massive numbers of people getting involved in politics at the grassroots level- but who has the inclination, time, and money to do so?
Not voting does avoid sins of commission I guess but as a good Catholic I know that that’s not substantially different from a sin of omission. And it generally doesn’t send much of a message, except for the generic “low turnout” message. I’ve started to wonder if it would help to try to rally people around the idea of abstaining from all but a few local races. Potentially if the idea caught on, it would be hard to ignore the message that we do want to vote but can’t support any of the candidates for the state and federal offices.
PD, who’s looking for perfection? I don’t think there’s a candidate I’ve voted for in state or federal elections that I’ve even agreed with 25%, weighted for importance of issues or on raw numbers.
Yeah, the state-level election is Florida is a shit sandwich. Write in it is! Our representative (Posey, a Republican) is sure to win, but I’ll vote against him anyway.
There are two important local issues where my vote will actually matter – a tax increase for school facilities and technology and the renewal of a referendum granting the county the ability to continue providing limited tax exemptions to lure business. (I will vote for both).
There’s also Marijuana amendment – I’ll vote for it even though it is badly written and I’m a bit scared about driving on the road with stoned snowbirds.
And you’re not concerned about driving with nearly senile full-timers and Autobhan starved Germans?
BTW. In Naples those who ride bicycles on the roads must have a death wish……
Did they at least cut the crust off for you? 😉
Drew, I’m surprised 1/2 the Italian population doesn’t die annually from car-related fatalities.
I don’t know what it’s like now but my impression years ago was that Italian men’s sense of manhood was highly invested in their automobiles.
Schuler, not only did they not cut the crust off, it’s two heels bookending the shit.
And I’m pretty sure that side item isn’t really a pickle.
But you can wash it down with some warm lemonade.
I’m a little suspicious of the lemonade too, truth be told …
LOL!
Go on, Andy, tell me I’m wrong.