By: Diane Benjamin
WGLT and the League of Women Voters are teaming up again for local debates. Nothing is scheduled for anybody running except mayoral candidates:
Former County Clerk candidate and current employee of the City of Bloomington thinks all of you who sacrificed to send your kids to college should pay the bill for black women. Once they graduate their earning potential is greater than those with no post high school education, but everyone should pay for their education anyway. Richards used to be the Democrat Party Chair in McLean County – the party of unity.
Patrick Lawler: The citizens want representatives that make their life better. They want lower taxes and roads that don’t wreck their cars. Your nonsense and those of Carrillo and Crabill’s gang do nothing to improve Bloomington. How about fixing the pension system? No other elected officials have the guts to declare they are bankrupting people who won’t be getting one. Oh, I forgot you are looking forward to getting one, so that won’t be you. Does your tweet mean when you teach Social Studies you ignore truth?
If you thought the impeachment trial that violates the Constitution and is therefore meaningless will permanently get rid of Trump:
Besides, even the FBI has admitted Trump wasn’t responsible for the pre-planned attack on the capital. Since running on killing jobs, making insulin more expensive, destroying energy independence, open borders so illegals can take jobs from low skilled citizens, and destroying women sports wouldn’t play well – they need to divert your attention to the useless. Sounds just like the local socialists.
A reader sent this to me:
Spookily, this was written over 70 years ago but could have been written today:
′′One young devil asked the old man: “How did you manage to bring so many souls to hell?”
The old devil answered: “I instilled fear in them!”
Answers the youngster: “Great job! And what were they afraid of? Wars? Hunger?”
Answers the man: “No, they were afraid of the disease!”
For this youngster: “Does this mean they didn’t get sick? Are they not dead? There was no rescue for them?”
The old man answered: “but no . . . they got sick, died, and the rescue was there.”
The young devil, surprised, answered: “Then I don’t understand???”
The old man answered: “You know they believed the only thing they have to keep at any cost is their lives. They stopped hugging, greeting each other. They’ve moved away from each other. They gave up all social contacts and everything that was human! Later they ran out of money, lost their jobs, but that was their choice because they were afraid for their lives, that’s why they quit their jobs without even having bread. They believed blindly everything they heard and read in the papers. They gave up their freedoms, they didn’t leave their own homes literally anywhere. They stopped visiting family and friends. The world turned into such a concentration camp, without forcing them into captivity. They accepted everything!!! Just to live at least one more miserable day . . . And so living, they died every day!!! And that’s how it was very easy for me to take their miserable souls to hell….. ′′
C.S. Lewis – ′′ Old Devil’s Letters To Young ′′ 1942.
‘The citizens want representatives that make their life better. They want lower taxes and roads that don’t wreck their cars”
Lower taxes and infrastructure improvements don’t match unless you believe that infrastructure can be done on the cheap.
As far as college it used to be going college didn’t cause hundreds of thousands of dollars. That puts students in debt for years lowering the earning potential as young adults as they try to dig out of unmanageable debt. This effects their ability to buy homes start families. Many colleges are for profits who lure students in with promises of high earnings. It’s only after they graduate that they learn that their certifications are useless along with their diplomas. These colleges also prey on veterans and their GI benefits putting veterans in debt. So there should be legislation policing the price colleges charge. This includes for profit colleges who bait and switch on unsuspecting students.
It’s called better priorities. College only costs hundreds or thousands of dollars is you are stupid enough to borrow that much.
The reason college costs too much is because student loans are issued and backed by the federal government. They will underwrite anyone going to college, regardless of high school grades, college major, credit history (borrow and co-borrower), or other factors relevant to one’s ability to repay. Colleges eagerly jack up tuition because they know the government will continue issuing loans to virtually anyone with no limits. If the government exited the student loan space altogether, tuition prices would fall like a stone. It’s ironic that those wanting their student loan debt wiped away don’t understand that they are seeking help from the very institutions and politicians that put them in this predicament in the first place.
C.S. Lewis – pretty profound similarity to today. What would possess him to write this in the 40’s?
Well Hitler was out and about for one thing. And he was using the Marxist/Communist playbook to manipulate the world.
There are more and more parallels piling up.
Censorship prevalent
Identity politics is the first choice in political discourse.
One party rule (attempting)
Socialists in the government
Acceptance of Marxist’s groups
Critical Race Theory being taught – directly from Marx
Concerns about election validity ignored
Close ties between media and politics (state media)
Calls for “re-education” for half the country
Politicians wanting to regulate “truth” in the media
Wouldn’t there be enough money available to maintain the roads if we could just cut back and get “back to the basics”
And by this I mean – the same things that families/individuals do with their own spending.
Let’s convince the local mayors/council members to focus on providing the basic infrastructure and basic services – cut all of the fluff and wasteful spending. No more pet projects. I am tired of the tax payers owning and maintaining local property that costs way too much. The list is LONG, but starting with the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts and all of the other random buildings. Heck, taxpayers were almost straddled with paying for the old State Farm downtown building when the ones who built the building said it cost too much to maintain and no one wanted to purchase it. (I still wonder if the State Farm downtown building isn’t subsidized by the taxpayers)
Agreed, Stuck. I think the whole ‘fix the roads instead’ argument is too hyperfocused, limited, and conveys almost a defensive posture. I don’t dispute that the roads need fixing and have been neglected or sidelined in favor of pet projects and other wasteful ideologically/politically motivated expenses. However, the “back to basics” has more of a fresh start feel to it. As well, by getting back to (and sticking with) the basics, businesses and residents can focus on building themselves up without interference from government, which seems to create obstacles for all but a few hand-selected friends of City Hall.
Some very specific people here in this community understand and use this Luciferian principle:
Operate in plain sight; always let everyone know what you’re doing (or about to do); use fear and deception to gain consent (consent MUST be given)
Sound familiar?
Wish Bloomington had a true fiscal conservative, pro-business candidate running for office. If ever there was an election, it would be now, following an unpopular lame-duck Tari Renner with more than enough political baggage in combination with the childish antics of the SJWs on the Council. I expect the nutjob candidate for mayor will drag the other two into a lengthy lecture and gotcha game discussion of wokeness, which will leave little time to debate policy on the real issues: the declining one-dimensional local economy, pensions, wasteful spending on pet projects, and mismanagement of the City’s budget.
The Council has barely any time to address issues important to the majority of the residents (within the purview of a municipality )because of the nonsense brought forth by Jenn & Jeff. Can just imagine what “line items” they want removed from the budget (police funding) or added (social services for all)
Good points, Do Tell. I wonder how many businesses closed permanently and how many residents left Bloomington, while Jenn and Crabs were lecturing us on which holidays are politically correct, what information law enforcement can share inter-agency, and the virtues of removing cash bail. Rome is burning and Nero is playing the lute. God bless the next mayor/ringmaster of this three-ring circus that is the Bloomington City government.
A prerequisite for anyone working in government should be at least 5 years in manufacturing, minimum. In the midst of this pandemic, the pathetic level of respect and responsibility that our council member’s show for the citizens and businesses in our community is appalling. Every business that is lost and every hour our schools were closed up should have shaken them to the core. It’s obvious that it doesn’t.
I can tell you for certain that a majority of them would have been fired long ago for mismanagement, abuse of budgets and a general lack of caring.
I love C.S. Lewis. It would do well for more people to read his writings.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was my favorite!
Screwtape Letters are serious parables…
Having worked in a bookstore YEARS back (the OLD College Hills Mall). I observed that SOME writers works were read WAY more then others, and C. S. Lewis was one. Some folks are just good at writing timeless material-this begs the question DOES history repeat itself? Probably if one doesn’t read/study it..