I understand why the majority of voters don’t vote. The people seeking their votes don’t seem to understand that elections are not about the person running for office, but about solving the problems that voters face in their everyday lives.
In local elections for mayors, trustees, county board seats, and Congress, turnout is discouragingly low, undermining both the Democratic and Republican parties.
You would think that candidates running in local elections would wake up and recognize that voters are sick and tired of mudslinging and name-calling that have nothing to do with what taxpayers need.
I was in Bolingbrook when Mayor Alexander-Basta demanded the Illinois Commerce Commission hold a second hearing on the outrageous Illinois American Water water rate hike, the 4th increase in 10 years. IAW’s parent company generated more than $1.1 billion in net profits over the last two years.
Taxpayers at two hearings shared horrific stories about how the high IAW water rates negatively impact their lives. They included families and seniors who told how their outrageously high water bills force them to significantly cut back on washing dishes and clothing, reduce taking baths, fearing the impact on their monthly spending that using the water will have.
The testimony from the people at the two hearings, July 14 and Sept. 16, was painful to hear. Yet not one ICC commissioner attended. Instead, they sent a taxpayer-paid administrative judge to listen and turn 150 minutes of testimony into a short report for them to read.
The ICC has awarded IAW a rate hike every time they demanded one.
Angry that the ICC members were not at the first hearing to hear the painful testimony, Mayor Alexander-Basta demanded the ICC hold a second hearing, which is unprecedented.
The public has no confidence in the ICC standing up for their rights but always surrender to IAW, their lobby and their campaign-influenced donations.
The five ICC board members make about $200,000 a year in salary plus benefits from the state. They are appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Mayor Alexander-Basta invited all of the ICC members to attend, and she also invited Pritzker to attend. None of them showed up at the second hearing that was held on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
But Pritzker’s challenger, Darren Bailey, showed up, and he spoke. In fact, Bailey spoke very eloquently about the outrageousness of the rate hike request, the profits that IAW and its parent company make, the fact that IAW is buying up water companies like Aqua Illinois, and the fact that IAW and other utilities are monopolies with no competition to keep them fair or honest.
Several hundred people attended the Sept. 16 meeting, including a small handful of Pritzker minions who yelled, grunted, coughed, and made loud noises every time Beiley made a point about what needs to be done.
There is no doubt those disruptive minions were sent there to undermine Bailey’s message.
Most people don’t believe Bailey can win the governor’s race. That’s because Bailey has raised about $2.4 million, with only about $390,000 in campaign cash left for the remaining five weeks left before the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election.
Pritzker, on the other hand, is a billionaire living off of daddy’s investments in military weaponry and hotel profits. A billionaire, Pritzker has set aside more than $114 million for his re-election campaign and has more than $69 million left.
Pritzker has spent most of his money attacking Bailey personally and trying to associate him with President Donald Trump, a selfish narcissist and one of the worst presidents this nation has ever elected.
He has spent millions on campaign commercials that inaccurately claim that he cares about the economic challenges Illinois taxpayers face, even though Illinois has one of the highest total tax rates and fee rates in the nation, 49 out of 50!
Why do you think so many voters don’t want to vote? They know that the election is driven by millions of dollars to fund “deflection messages” and mudslinging that redirect voters away from their issues to fake issues that are less important.
This year alone, Pritzker imposed more than $89 million in new taxes and fees on Illinois residents, making our lives horrible. Instead of showing sympathy for the victims of IAW’s outrageous water rates, Pritzker couldn’t even bother to attend or even send anyone to speak on his behalf, except for several disruptive goons who cackled when Bailey spoke.
Reach more and watch the video at CourageousThought.com
