Nannyocracy

Governor Blagojevich has decided he can raise money by putting speed cameras along the Interstates to catch speeders. He wants to do this under the pretense of helping out Chicago with their crime problems.

In the long term, the governor is considering installing speed cameras in each direction of every interstate in the 20 State Police districts across Illinois to raise $50 million a year in revenue — enough for 500 more troopers. The money could support an “elite tactical team” and bolster everything from crash investigations to cold-case murder probes, Trent said.

Currently, camera-equipped vans nab speeders in construction zones, but state law does not allow speed cameras on interstates, Trent said.

In Arizona, 50 speed cameras will be deployed on highways by September with another 50 by January at a cost of about $20 million. The state hopes to raise $90 million a year by imposing $165 fines on vehicles going 10 mph over the speed limit or faster.

Asked what speeds Illinois motorists would have to hit before they would get nailed with a camera violation, Guerrero said, “It would have to be egregious — 80 or 85 mph. We don’t know yet.”

This is already in the process of happening in Arizona. These cameras are just one more example of the money hungry antics of Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois Legislature. It is also one more step down the road of big brother watching everything we do.Technorati Tags: Governor Blagojevich, Arizona, Interstate cameras, speed camers, Chicago gangs

Everyone wanting to follow the #dontgo movement, head over to dontgolist.com and signup for their email list.

Are we are not our brother’s keeper? is a letter to the editor in today’s Daily Herald.

The preamble of our state constitution holds state government responsible for, among other things, to “provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people,” to “eliminate poverty and inequality,” and to “maintain orderly government, and assure legal, social and economic justice.”

One can say that this is similar to the Biblical “brother’s keeper” concept which emphasizes a sense of community vs. individualism. Instead, we have a philosophy of government obsessed with no tax increases and smaller government regardless of the effect upon people.

—————————————-
The governor has said he will veto any tax increase bill, and proposed a balanced budget that makes draconian cuts in education, health care, payments to health care providers of the aged and disabled, and many other services to the disadvantaged.

To correct the problems of revenue and school funding, and to provide adequate services for the needy, Senate Bill 2288 has been introduced. It provides for lowering property taxes and funding schools through the income tax, which will be increased, and will enable the legislature to meet the challenges of the constitution’s preamble.

If we feel that we are our brother’s keeper and believe that we are to help the “least of these” among us, we should demand that our representatives act accordingly.

Darwin Cooper

This is a prime example of why we are living in a Nannocracy. Community to Mr. Cooper means State control. Community to me means your neighbors and friends who come together to help each other in times of need. An example of a neighbors and friends helping others can be found at DebbiTepper.com and MargaretLindner.com.

Mr. Cooper, it is very nice that you want to help others, but stop taking money from me to server your purposes. It is my money and I will help those I believe deserve it. I believe more people can be helped if the State bureaucracy is not involved in the decisions. In addition, SB 2288 is a massive tax grab where

of the $8 billion estimated to be raised by SB2288 and HB750, only 7.5% will go to education, 36% will go to property tax relief, and the remaining 56.5% will go to fund state debt, road construction, state employee pensions and unpaid Medicaid bills, which do not benefit education

Track current events at dontgo.us

Sign the petition to Call Congress Back.

Arlington Heights District 25 School Board has banned Birthday cakes from the classroom. Of course many area residents are happy with this, thus proving that people are willfully creating a nannystate, i.e. a nannyocracy.

Kudos for school’s birthday cake ban

I applaud the District 25 school board’s decision to eliminate birthday cake items from classroom
celebrations.

I like the idea of celebrating a child’s birthday or teaching a concept without the reward of food.

Reducing or eliminating highly processed foods from our school menu offerings is a must. If the school board wants to take a serious stand on healthy food choices, how about helping the district staff educate our children on the importance of choosing whole or minimally processed foods?

We have an opportunity to teach our children the importance of eating well.

Teach them this at home. Stop allowing the government to take over the parental responsibility for everyone. What rights are you going to give up next and allow the government to take care of.

Take school cake ban a step further

I applaud Arlington Heights District 25 school board’s decision banning cakes for birthdays.

As a registered dietitian, I find the use of high-calorie, high-fat desserts for celebrations problematic for many children.

Counseling children, I find those with health conditions ostracized at parties because of food restrictions. Some include allergies, celiac disease, diabetes, elevated cholesterol and obesity.

Why must unhealthy food be a major part of celebration? Can’t we teach children that a sweet dessert or high fat snack does not have to be the basis for every celebration or outing?

——————————–
I challenge District 25 to go further to eliminate all unhealthy snacks for all holiday celebrations. This will teach our children healthier behaviors, help curb obesity and diabetes and lower future health care costs.

Again, teach them nutrition, but don’t take away the rights of parents and force upon them draconian rules on what kids can and can’t eat.

At least there is one resident who gets it and does not want to allow a nanny state.

Parents of Arlington Heights Elementary District 25: Please join me in a slow clap for Sarah Jerome, superintendent and crusader against cupcakes, for elevating District 25 to national laughingstock status.

Her zero tolerance policy against frosted baked goods was justly ridiculed on MSNBC’s Monday “Zeitgeist,” making her and our district the poster child for a nanny state gone awry, where clueless administrators suck every last ounce of fun out of childhood.

The Wall Street Journal has an article explaining how the insurance industry is trying to nationalize disaster insurance. This is really being done to protect the insurance companies from making bad decisions and providing insurance in areas that should not be built in. Even businesses want to be protected from their own stupidity and they are going to do it at our expense. The taxpayers are going to pay for this which is going to gradually lead to more and more taxes and regulations.

WASHINGTON — As hurricane season begins, Democrats in Congress want to nationalize a chunk of the insurance business that covers major storm-damage claims.

The proposal — backed by giant insurers Allstate Corp. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., as well as Florida lawmakers — focuses on “reinsurance,” the policies bought by insurers themselves to protect against catastrophic losses. The proposal envisions a taxpayer-financed reinsurance program covering all 50 states, which would essentially backstop the giant insurers in case of disaster.

————————————
But environmentalists and other critics — including the American Insurance Association, a major trade group — say lower premiums would more likely spur irresponsible coastal development, already a big factor in insurance costs. The program could also shift costs to taxpayers in states with fewer natural-disaster risks.

“This bill makes it a little bit too easy for the state to go to the federal government for a bailout,” said Eric Goldberg, associate general counsel at the American Insurance Association, an insurers’ trade group.

————————————
The two Democratic contenders, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, in their recent visits to Florida — a key swing state — have both voiced support for the plan.

I’d like to know where John McCain stands. It would be nice to have at least one Presidential Candidate who is opposed to this nannyocracy legislation.

Welcome to Nannyocracy. You are probably asking yourself, what is a nannyocracy? A nannyocracy is a democracy where voters vote to enable the government to become their nanny. These voters vote to give up their very freedoms so they no longer have to make any decisions or take any responsibility for their future.

Voters do this by electing the politician who promises the most give aways. The politician who will pay for their healthcare, their mortgages, their child’s education, their college education, and pay for their retirement. These voters are more interested in ensuring they have no responsibility of future bad decisions or accidents at the expense of their freedoms and the salaries of their neighbors via the higher tax burden.