My Tea Party Comments Still Ring True
As we approach Independence Day, the words I spoke in the below video at the April Tea Party in Lisle still ring truer than ever:
Joe Birkett at the Lisle Tea Party from Joe Birkett on Vimeo.
This is How We Make Change Happen
Last week, I had an exchange on Twitter with Pamela J. Harris of Willow Springs (@pam_harris on Twitter).
Pam has a child with developmental disabilities — and her family is in the cross-hairs of the unnecessary “doomsday” cuts that Governor Quinn is threatening in order to win approval for his massive tax increase.
Last Thursday, Pam sent me the following Tweet:
“Tell me what to do. How can I help IL do what is right?”
I suggested to Pam that she write a letter to her legislators, as well as to Governor Quinn.
She not only did that — she also forwarded her letter to the Chicago Sun-Times, which printed the letter in this morning’s edition.
This is exactly how we are going to take our state back: citizens like Pam making their voices heard in the media and directly to our legislators.
I urge you to follow Pam’s example by emailing your state legislators and Governor Quinn today.
Then, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Pam is one Illinois citizen who would be the target of Governor Quinn’s cuts. But she’s not buying the rhetoric — because she knows that Governor Quinn could alternatively make the choice to cut political workers, waste and pork instead of cutting services to her family.
The choice is Governor Quinn’s and your state legislators’. It’s up to you to make them do the right thing.
We Can Learn from Iran’s Heroes
As we speak, reformers in Iran are showing us what it means to treasure the right to vote and protest government . In the wake of questionable election results in which Iranian despot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was “re-elected” …. Iranian students and reformers have taken to the streets to protest.
Despite a media blackout, Iranian citizens are risking their lives to use online tools like You
Tube and Twitter to tell their story to the rest of the world. Some of these protesters have been beaten, jailed or killed for their efforts.
It is a stark reminder that we should never take for granted our right to vote – and that we should avoid becoming apathetic amid our distrust of the corruption-plagued government that has inflicted Illinois for the past six years.
It is a reminder that change in Illinois starts with you – not the politicians.
About a month ago, I asked you to submit your ideas for reforming Illinois – and the response was overwhelming. We received hundreds of ideas and thousands of votes.
Today, we ask you again to view this list, add your reform ideas and vote on the ideas you think most important to reforming our state:
We should never become apathetic about sharing our ideas, and we must always remember that the politicians and elected officials work for us — not the other way around.
Thank you for sharing your reform ideas, and for taking time out of your day to read this message.
Together, we can reform Illinois. We just need to keep on fighting the good fight.
Today is Illinois Tax Freedom Day
This week’s headlines have focused on the national “Tea Parties” scheduled to be held this Wednesday (Tax Day) to protesting the growing size of government and taxes in this country.
But for Illinois taxpayers, today, April 13, is another equally – if not more important – milestone: Tax Freedom Day.
According to the Tax Foundation , April 13 is “Tax Freedom Day” for Illinois taxpayers: the date at which taxpayers stop working pay taxes, and start keeping their hard-earned money.
As you can see from this chart , Illinois isn’t in the “Ten Earliest” states – nor in the “Ten Latest” states.
But we can only assume that Governor Quinn’s proposed income tax hike – if enacted – would catapult us to a much later date – meaning Illinois taxpayers will spend even more of the year paying government than saving and investing their money.