Freeloaders...

I live in Illinois, and as such I know all about corrupt politicians. I'm pretty sure we're the only state where our governors make the license plates, but I digress.

So I go outside today and I pick up the newspaper off the driveway and open it up to the front page and start taking in a few headlines.

Now bear in mind, this is a suburban paper. Suburbs of Chicago, the Daily Herald. Covers Du Page and parts of Lake, and I believe a couple other counties. This isn't even the big city paper like the Sun-Times or the Tribune.

Here are the two headlines that drew my attention:

Sweet Pension Deal At Issue: Opponent Questions Why Du Page Clerk gave multiple raises to former board member.

How Many Millions Did We Pay Out?: 15 to state legislators by Topinka's count.

You can click on the headlines to read the articles if you like.

Now the first article is the one that royally stuck in my craw. Its basically the Du Page county clerk looking out for his boy. He gave him 40% raises over a 5 year period with the last raise coming just 6 months before his retirement so that it boosted his pension into the stratosphere.

The second one is easier to stomach just because I'm from Illinois and I'm used to this shit.

Its examining all the little perks that state lawmakers get while they are making laws. Which we all know is a bunch of bullshit, but its just what happens.

You've got welfare queens out there who aren't this bold in their bullshit.

At least welfare queens have to go to the state and apply for the benefits, and they can only take so much. These fucking politicians try to take all they can and call it earned! Politicians are the worst kind of freeloaders there are, the kind who take your money and pretend that they earned it. They bankrupt a state and attack employee pensions when mentioning nothing of their own sweet deals.

Which brings me to my next point.

When you are dealing with politicians I think there are two things that could clean up our political system quickly. Make it so you only get people who truly want to serve.

1. Term limits. You only get two in any job. That's it and that's all. No Mayor Daley of Chicago bullshit where you're mayor for life. On top of which, there are no pensions for legislators. Nothing, you get paid for your time in office and when you leave you have to go back to making a living just like everyone else. I think there should be a 401(k) program for them, because it wouldn't be fair to have them serve 4 years in office and be 4 years behind the power curve on their own retirement. But no pension obligation that the people of the state have to bear for 100 years after they're gone. Government service should be just like the military, all your needs are met. Housing, medical, education, salary, and just like the military reserves your job is protected. If you were working for Joe's Widget factory and got elected to office. Joe would have to hold your job and all your pay and benefits until you got back. 
2. Publicly financed campaigns. This one would be tricky because you would have to figure out how to choose who could run and what the prerequisites would be. No money in politics. From anyone or anything other than the taxpayer. If you don't like the idea of your tax dollars going to campaigns, think about what the system has produced when rich guys and corporations finance the campaigns. Each candidate gets X amount of dollars from the government to conduct his/her campaign and that's all they can use and they have to provide an in depth accounting of every dollar spent. Kinda like when soldiers come back from TDY and have to cough up all their hotel and meal receipts.

You do those two things and you remove all the motivation that these criminal cock suckers have to get into politics. You reduce the corporations to nothing in the grand political scheme of things and you allow good people, who aren't rich to compete on an even playing field with the 1%ers.

And you stop the most damaging and dangerous freeloaders of them all. The fucking politicians!