This inquiry is directed to your guest columnist, Peter Roskam. Please discuss the bill that is being debated in Congress that, if passed, will enable illegals to receive Social Security checks mailed to their country of birth.

Rep. Roskam replied to your inquiry by saying, “You are correct that some members of Congress have proposed granting amnesty, or legal status, to individuals who broke our nation’s laws to enter and stay in the United States illegally.  Amnesty would, by definition, make illegal immigrants eligible for Social Security and other federal programs.  I believe that the rule of law is fundamental to our American liberty and prosperity, and I remain firmly opposed to taxpayer funded benefits for lawbreakers.”—JAC

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I have two questions for House Rep. Peter Roskam. Number one: How are you going to vote on former President Bill Clinton’s ongoing 70 percent tax on Social Security benefits. Two: How are you going to vote on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s 55 percent death tax?

The congressman responded, as well, to the above comment by saying, “I believe your question refers to the federal income tax liability of Social Security benefits.  As you point out, retirees who earn between $25,000 and $34,000 and file their taxes as individuals are required to pay income taxes on 50 percent of their benefits. If an individual filer earns more than $34,000, he or she must pay federal income taxes on up to 85 percent of their Social Security benefits. For couples filing jointly, the 50 percent tier is between $32,000 and $44,000, and the 85 percent tier begins above $44,000. I oppose these taxes on Social Security benefits, and believe that all Americans should be able to keep more of their hard-earned money.  In this light, I stand firmly in opposition to Speaker Pelosi’s 55 percent death tax. Families that have worked their entire life to build small businesses, paying their fair share of taxes throughout, deserve to not be burdened with another massive tax, jeopardizing their small business’ future. I recently introduced an amendment in Congress on behalf of small businesses to repeal the Death Tax. Unfortunately, it was blocked by Congressional Democrats in a partisan measure.”—JAC

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Hi, this is north Lombard calling. I was wondering if you could update me as to the status of the resurfacing project for Main Street between St. Charles Road and North Avenue. The road is badly in need of repair and resurfacing.

Village engineer Dave Dratnol responded to your comment: “The village is working on the funding of the project in order to move forward with the improvement. Main Street (from St Charles Road to North Avenue) is currently programmed as a grind and overlay project in fiscal year 2011. If additional funding becomes available, we may be able to start this project sooner.”—JAC

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I live in Lombard and across the street from us there’s a foreclosed house which has a group of foxes living in a dilapidated shed; about seven to nine of them. We’ve called the Village of Lombard, who referred us to DuPage Animal Control, who referred us to Willowbrook Wildlife Center. The summary of this is they’re a protected species and no one can do anything about it, unless we want to pay to have them trapped. I don’t think it’s our responsibility. It should either be the realtor or the bank who holds the foreclosure—they own the house now.

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Hey, folks. The United States’ leading organizations that track the world’s temperature, including NASA, just released their report. In 2007, the earth’s temperature actually decreased by .7 percent of a degree. That is the largest decrease ever since they’ve been keeping records. Yes, that means the Earth is cooling, and as a matter of fact, that meant that in 2007 we were running at 1930 temperatures. Why are we going to pass this bill that’s going to tax energy and do nothing? What’s wrong with you people? Global warming, yeah, right.

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I have a concern about the red light cameras. When making a right turn I suspect I would get a ticket if I stopped a few feet past the white line. After all, that’s the law. Of course, the white line is too far back to get a clear view of oncoming traffic. I now make sure to do the double stop—once to avoid triggering a ticket and a second time to make sure I don’t drive into an oncoming vehicle. This double stop creates a more likely chance of getting rear-ended when the person behind me is also making a right turn and thinks I am turning after the first stop. I’ve seen this type of accident without red light cameras, but I’m sure the cameras will only make them more likely.

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This is to the Lombard resident who is a hardworking single mother with the two teenage children, who has the red light camera violations of $200. I wonder if you really realized if you made a full stop, or if you just went sliding around that corner. Maybe you should go to the police station and have them check the Web cam. They have the film; they can show you if you stopped first before you made your right-hand turn on red. I don’t think people realize you must make that full stop.

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This is Lombard calling to give a little advice to the walkers on the Prairie Path; I am one of them. You might want to try walking facing the people who are bicycling toward you. I learned this the hard way after somebody ran into me and also, it won’t be a surprise when someone comes up on you going very, very fast on the Prairie Path. It may not promote the flow all the time, but it certainly is much safer.

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Regarding the question about the Prairie Path crossing of Main Street Lombard, I fail to see where there is any ambiguity about the right-of-way. It is clearly posted that pedestrians should yield right-of-way to cars. I am an avid bike rider, but I believe attitudes have gotten out of hand that bicycles should be excluded from traffic laws, with riders ignoring traffic lights and walking across roads at any point expecting motorists to stop for them.

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Hi, I was wondering if the woman who phoned in regarding the dog fight in Lombard is doing anything to raise awareness? I too am outraged, extremely outraged. I would be willing to assist in any effort to help the cause.

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What kind of police department allows a handful of people to commandeer a residential street for over two hours on July 4, exploding every manner of illegal fireworks? The only police involvement occurred earlier, when a policemen said, Make sure you clean up. He knew what was coming, and that’s all this officer did. The fireworks are illegal. The pastor of the Catholic church spoke negatively of the July 4 illegal fireworks during his Sunday homily. The argument that the only role of the police on July 4 is to get people safely out of Madison Meadow park is an absolutely wrong one. It is the role of the police department to preserve order and protect the citizens.

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Lombard, thanks to the two Good Samaritans who chased after a hit-and-run driver who left the scene of an accident on July 3 in Mr. Z’s parking lot. I didn’t get the names of the young couple who retrieved the license number. It is nice to know that good people will go the extra mile to help a total stranger. God bless you. Thanks to Office Klecka for the courteous manner in which he completed the accident report.

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I’ve been living in Lombard for over 40 years. I’ve gone to every single Taste of Lombard and Lilac Parade and this year, I went to the Taste of Lombard one night. It was so lame. Every year it looks identical to the year before, the music just gets worse and worse every year. This town doesn’t ever want to spend any money on the people who live in it. The Taste of Lombard is lame, our downtown is a joke. I only stay here because of my kids.

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I also got a ticket at Wal-Mart on Route 83 in Villa Park. I’m a very good driver so I was really perplexed. I drove over there trying to figure out how I got a ticket, why I got a ticket, how I could blow a light. When I got there, I realized what the Village of Villa Park has done. They have actually set this up intentionally to give out tickets there. The northbound and southbound Route 83 traffic both get turn signals to turn left. Instead of giving us a turn on right signal to go southbound on Route 83 while coming out of Wal-Mart, they leave it red so that the traffic is backed up into Wal-Mart parking lot and everybody feels pressured to get out of there, with cars honking and the complete chaos going on there. So, clearly this is intentional.