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January 27, 2010

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Listen up, ladies and gentlemen and pay attention very closely. The Obama Administration, Rahm Emanuel and Luis Gutierrez plan on changing our Social Security rules. They’re not going to give us any cost of living allowance for the next three years. But they also plan to let the illegal immigrants from Mexico draw on the Social Security program. Isn’t this nice? What kind of government do we have? Talk to your congressman, talk to your senator and write to them and better yet, call them and tell them this stuff has got to stop. If we can’t get cost of living to pay for our expenses, how in the world are we going to give Social Security benefits to the illegal immigrants? That is wrong and something has to be done to stop it immediately. So, ladies and gentlemen, pay attention and do your share.


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Hey, Villa Park. When are you going to get on the stick with this Ardmore Avenue bridge? I only drive a little car; I was on North Avenue, the railroad gates were down at North Avenue and Addison Road. You can’t get by the trains, you can’t get over the bridge, you’ve got to go all the way to Villa Avenue or Route 83. You’ve got to figure out how to let cars over and keep trucks off. You can’t just keep this bridge closed forever. What about the fire department—do they have to go all the way to Villa Avenue? What if there’s a train, do they have to go to 83? Get on the stick.


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To the person who called complaining about the TV weather reports on snow, I bet you are the same individual who calls in complaining about being interrupted by breaking news and other stuff that is on the TV news broadcasts, because you don’t think it’s important. You are a disgruntled TV viewer who finds this stuff to be minutiae in your world; OK, we get it. Maybe you should find something else to do besides watch TV, or here’s an idea—hit the mute button or change the channel. That’s just the way it is and your griping about it is getting old. Call the station and complain instead. Besides, who doesn’t want to know what the weather’s going to be like? And, I don’t think our schools have closed due to snow this year.


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Hi, we live near St. Charles Road and Route 53. I wonder if somebody could tell me if there’s a shooting range in this area. It’s a Friday afternoon and I’m hearing what sounds like gun shots. They’re very disturbing and very loud. Could someone help me out with this?


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Cook County is all up in arms on account of their county board raising the sales tax to 10 percent. Go to a restaurant in Lombard and pay 9.25 or 9.5 percent. Nobody says a word about that. How are we going to get these guys out of office? That’d go the same way as the head of the Cook County Board. Everybody ought to run against them. This is a crime. Especially in this economy, you go out and try to have a meal or something, and you have to pay almost a 10 percent tax on top of it? Unbelievable.


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This is Lombard calling. I just read in the Lombardian about the Village of Lombard facing a fiscal crisis. I have to wonder, how can we be facing a fiscal crisis this year when we are in the middle of a great recession and this is not a surprise to anybody, although Bill Mueller did mention that we were lucky a couple of times and avoided some increases. Dave Hulseberg also said we should raise the cost of our village stickers and the fee for water. Well, Mr. Hulseberg, I’m not working and I don’t make $180,000 a year. Perhaps the village should only spend what it takes in. You guys need to wake up and stop taking more from us. First it’s the federal government, then the state and the county and now my local government wants to take more from me? How about we lose the Christmas lights and the police accreditation, and stop all overtime in the village and then you don’t have to keep taking from me, Mr. Hulseberg.


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The situation in Haiti has been horrible to watch because of the nightmare of bureaucracy and the delays in getting help to the people. But I don’t think the president should have committed something like $100 million in relief, when so many people in this country are in such dire straits. Not as close to dying of starvation or of a medical emergency, but still needing immediate assistance to put food on the table or see a doctor. We sent troops to help, which costs money; and many organizations, celebrities and individuals are raising millions of dollars to help, so why can’t we supplement that with a smaller donation? And I can’t even imagine what it will cost to bring Haitians here to be with family—some who are illegal themselves and now have been given a break about that. I am not being hard-hearted; I just think the world sits back and expects it of us and we can’t afford to be so generous.


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Hi, this is Villa Park calling. I’d like to see everybody get out and vote on Feb. 2. If you can do me one favor; if you voted for these two things—air conditioning at Willowbrook and the new library, and you wanted the new ambulance, don’t vote. Stay home. Villa Park can’t afford you.


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A lot of people are still heaping criticism on Sarah Palin, who ran for vice president in 2008. I’m guessing a lot of those critics voted for John Edwards when he ran for vice president in 2004. Which former candidate deserves more scorn and ridicule? Was John McCain’s selection of Palin as a running mate a worse choice than John Kerry’s selection of Edwards?


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I just read an article online stating that the Lombard village trustees do not want to have a Taste of Lombard this year due to not enough money from the hotel/motel tax. I am outraged by this. I have been a Lombard resident for over 20 years and always go to the Taste. There are many other programs sponsored by the tax money they can get rid of. I encourage all Lombard residents to write or call their village trustee and tell them no. The village trustees’ saying no to the Taste of Lombard is political suicide. I won’t vote for them next time.


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I live in Villa Park and I’d like to encourage voters to please vote no on the road referendum vote.  This is not the right time with our economy to be pushing big expenditures for roads, for a new library, etc. Frankly, I’m getting taxed right out of Villa Park. I live in a 1950 tri-level with a one-car garage that the assessor’s office has assessed at $284,000. That’s absolutely crazy. Real estate person after real estate person told me I won’t even get $200,000 for it. I wouldn't mind the library asking for a new library like they did last year or the village asking for the roads referendum like they’re doing now if the York Township Assessor's Office was the least bit realistic in its assessments. The village trustees have said that the referendum would be an additional $113 a year for a home valued at $150,000. Just where in Villa Park is there a house valued at $150,000? And without any referendum, or if they’d been responsible and asked for less money, we’ll still get the roads fixed. It just will get done a bit slower. I’m very thankful that I have a job, but my salary isn’t going up. And we don’t even know yet what extra taxes the state of Illinois is going to toss at us this year because the state is dead broke. I don’t know how the families trying to afford college do it. I have no children and I’m just barely making ends meet. Please vote no. Thanks.

 

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