a sad day in Illinois....

[unkachuck]

....Dem legislators voted down the Dem gov's GRT tax....money would have been used to pay for programs that would have ensured that everyone in Illinois had access to health insurance....

http://www.lincolncourier.com/story.asp?SID=5903&SEC=8

....it doesn't get any better than this folks; blue state, Dem governor, Dem legislature....

....Democrat? Republican? Difference?

1) I will work harder to help ensure that every slot in every future election has a progressive running, even if I have to run for office myself (yikes)....

2) no more money directly to the Party....I will only contribute in the future to individual progressive candidates or groups....

3) tough-love....I will be prepared to stay home during any and all future elections if no progressive is running....putting DLC'ers and corporatists in office maintains corporate control of the Party and system....

4) products-list....starting tomorrow, I will make a list of all commercial products and services I use and determine if they support progressive candidates or ideas....I will no longer spend money enabling my political opposition....

5) litmus-test....all conservative friends I have will be ignored, especially the ones that have recently become 'green'....I no longer have anything to say to them and I don't really care what they have to say to me....

6) lowered-expectations....I've concluded that the average American is a Jerry Springer audience member and meaningful progressive change will not occur in my lifetime....but that's ok, I've got my health, I've got my healthcare and I have 'free' money coming in every month....I am happy....

[illinoisprogressive]

1. What about the one for kids? they didn't shut that down did they???

[unkachuck]

2. I not sure....

....where the CHIP program stands right now....but here's another take on the GRT vote....

http://mywebtimes.com/ottnews/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=297504

[dsa]

3. um...

...don't you think you're going a little overboard??

[dsa]

4. um...

...don't you think you're going a little overboard??

[krkaufman]

5. Democrat? Republican? ... Difference = Iraq War

Difference = loss of habeus corpus
Difference = 650,000+ dead
Difference = sanctioned torture
Difference = 8 more years of climate change inertia
Difference = dictatorial power grab

etc


As for "6", it will, unfortunately, possibly require catastrophic circumstances to awake Americans from their slumber -- but there is no guarantee that the public, misinformed and irrational, will make a reasonable choice as to a new direction. It is very possible that we haven't yet experienced the conditions analogous to 1933 Germany.

[cleveramerican]

6. nothing good comes easy

I would take a different outlook.

Its hard as hell to pass anything ever, its supposed to be.
Change comes slow and steady in response to constant pressure.

If you stop pushing for it, it will NEVER come.

Winston Churchill said victory and defeat should be greeted the same.

So take a little time to do something you enjoy.
Remember why you started caring about this stuff in the first place.

Then you go back to work making things better for yourself and your family.


Send a letter to some legislators who you feel have let you down and tell them why.
Don't sugarcoat it.Be blunt and businesslike.

I genuinely hope you don't let one(or one hundred) setbacks beat you.

[dsc]

7. I actually read the linked article

and shock of shocks you are being less than honest. It appears that many of the Democrats didn't vote for this because they felt that the taxes that were being raised would be more likely to fall upon the poor than those they wanted raised. But you left that out, I wonder why.