opinions
Our View: Approve same-sex marriage in Illinois
The General Assembly’s plate is full of major issues as it heads toward the May 31 end of the spring session — pension reform, concealed carry of guns, gambling expansion and same-sex marriage. All are controversial, but the one that should be easiest to approve …
Open Line: Plan to get rid of old folks?
There was a recent letter by Josie Deym promoting assisted suicide. Is it me, or is there some sort of conspiracy to get rid of old people? The paper has run some anti-senior things that are disturbing. We oldsters earned our keep. Make no mistake, …
Letters: Twin boondoggles
The bureaucrats of IDOT and INDOT would have us believe the Illiana Expressway is necessary, as they contrived it. It’s not. Why would truckers going north on interstates 55 or 65 want to switch south of Wilmington, Peotone and Beecher, and pay through the nose …
Handy: Education funding reform essential in Illinois
A September 2012 study by the Center for American Progress reaffirmed what we had known for decades — tremendous funding inequity exists between high- and low-poverty school districts in Illinois. We have the second-most inequitable education funding system of any state, largely because of public …
OpenLine: Where was the outrage?
There has been a lot of stuff on the news about Benghazi, Libya and the four Americans who were killed. But I don’t remember anything in the news during President Bush’s two terms when multiple United States embassies were attacked and many more people lost …
Letters: Hoarding a disorder
Wednesday, after 13 years of revisions, the new DSM-5 will add “hoarding” as an official psychiatric disorder. The addition to “psychiatry’s Bible” will likely lead to increased treatment options for hoarders beause insurance companies often grant coverage based off DSM “codes.” As the 31-year-old daughter …
Our View: Paving the way to nonsense
Illinois travels the road to financial perdition and even paying for the road is mismanaged. For most of the past decade, less than half of the roughly $25 billion in Illinois’ primary road construction fund was spent directly on highway construction and repair, according to …
Common Sense: Gummess: Putting the kibosh on long-winded council meetings
And so it was that the Joliet City Council gave its unanimous approval to an ordinance that changes the meeting time of “pre-council” sessions from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The reason for the change was “to embrace the entire city of Joliet,” in the words …
OpenLine: Get rid of the IRS
It looks like the Internal Revenue Service is under fire for targeting people who are associated with the Tea Party. One has resigned and more will either resign or get fired. It would be nice if they fired everyone and just get rid of the …
Shapiro: Main arguments against gun control lack logic
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. In 2008, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court held that this …
Letters: More runs on scoreboard
The clock atop the center-field scoreboard in Wrigley Field says it’s time for the Cubs to put up more runs on the scoreboard. Everything is hunky-dory then. Raymond F. Stoiber Joliet Stop sign needed New Lenox is looking for input on a U.S. 30 corridor …
Seeing a conspiracy when none exists
Some members of the Will County Board’s land use committee don’t think it’s cool to be a Cool County — and that’s not cool. In a silly move, the committee this week rejected an innocuous resolution that the full board designate the county as a …
OpenLine: Middle-class blues
When 90 percent of Americans are for or against a particular issue, then Congress will automatically defeat it and inevitably turn it down. Yet when banks or corporations want something fast, Congress will vote for it unanimously. Ed McReynolds Romeoville Pols on the dole What …
Letters: We need to be ethical
An area newspaper featured an article on April 15, concerning the abuse of Federal Disability Insurance (SSI.) The article spoke of the “civilian labor force” participation rate, defined as U.S. workforce holding jobs and/or looking for them. The rate is stated at 63.5 percent, the …
Reeder: State government policies stymie jobs rebound
Illinois has the second-worst unemployment rate of any state. At 9.5 percent, it’s two percentage points higher than the national average of 7.5 percent. Two percentage points might not seem like much on paper, but that equates to 130,000 people. That’s more than the entire …
Letters: Democrats ‘flip-flopping’ on marriage issue
What I heard in the last campaign was the term “flip-flopping.” It referred to an individual who changes positions to gain favor. The newspaper said it was dishonest. I agree. When this happens, we are usually talking about an individual. But flip-flopping is now being …
