Illinois' Mismanagement of natural resources.

Illinois has a serious problem with the management of its parks and fish/game. Governor Blagojevich doesn't seem to care much about the environment or the conservation of wildlife. The problem with Illinois' budget system is that revenue from sources such as fishing licenses , hunting licenses and DNR ( Department of Natural resources ) tickets goes to the overall budget and not to help conserve and protect our parks.

Due to Illinois' 2.1 Billion budget deficit on Nov. 1st , 39 state employees will be fired and 11 state parks will close. The root of this issue is a broken system and an indifferent governor. Blagojevich has a long track record of not caring about conservation and not being able to balance a budget correctly. He has been critized in mishandling the budget , causing deficit and using improper means to balance the budget. He called for balancing the 2005 budget by removing 1.2 billion from the state pension fund.

One of the problems that this issue causes is that because not enough money is appropriated to the DNR , they cannot do their job correctly. Officers are given too little gas and are unable to give tickets to raise money and protect our fish/game. Poachers are decimating populations of animals in Illinois and nothing can be done to stop it because the DNR has no money. It saddens me that our Natural resources and parks are being mismanaged. This issue will have an affect on future generations. If we do not do something soon to change the way the budget works and increase DNR funds , our parks and fisheries may be ruined for a long time to come. The best way to fix this issue would be to take funds from fishing/hunting related tickets and from fishing/hunting licenses and use that money for specifically fishing/hunting related purposes such as conservation and restocking animals where populations have declined. We need to fix this now and not pass this on to the next generation, because by then it may already be too late.

Mccain's new econmic plan

In what seems to be a last ditch effort , John Mccain revealed his new 52.5 billion dollar economic plan. The plan would guarantee all savings for 6 months in an effort to calm American's fears about bank failures. It would almost cut capital gains taxes and end taxes on unemployment benefits. Obama's campaign spokesman , Bill Burton stated that this plan would have no affect on the middle class and would only increase the incomes of the upper class. The fact that Mccain released this plan makes little difference because he has already lost. Unless a very huge event has a dramatic influence on voters Obama has already secured the presidency. With Obama having an 8 point lead in the polls , there is little that John Mccain can do at this point to win. The electoral vote predictions put Obama at 330 and Mccain at 164. This pretty much sets things in place for Obama to be our next president.

Mud slinging

This week Sarah Palin made the following statement: "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." She is reffering to Barack Obama's friend Bill Ayers , who bombed various government buildings in the 70's. In my opinion Palin has the right to make a statement like that and Obama cannot say it isn't true. Obama met with Ayers multiple times since Obama's senate campaign. In response to Palin's attack Obama accused the Mccain campaign of using smear tactics. He said that Mccain was more intrested in smearing him than fixing the economy. Obama is quick to call attention away from the fact that he does indeed know Bill Ayers. Although a rational person would probably see that it is unlikely that Ayers affected Obama , the smear is aimed at the people who would only hear " Barack Obama and terrorist". Obama will have to find a way to reach out the the average American , who has no intrest in listening to 2 hour long debates.