This is Lombard calling. I want to inform you about the nonsense about the debt limit our president keeps pushing upon us. First off, when Aug. 2 comes, if we don’t raise the debt limit, we will still pay all of our bills. They will take taxes from you and me, Social Security checks will go out, everybody will get paid. The only difference is, the federal government can’t spend more money. Isn’t that a crazy concept? So, it is not true that we will default on our debt. We will keep paying our debt. We are just saying to them, No, you can’t borrow more money to spend. It’s just like if you have a credit card with a $2,000 limit and you reach it, you’re still making your payments on that bill—you’re not in default; you just can’t spend any more money on that credit card. It is time for us to say to Barack Obama, Harry Reid and all the others who want to spend money, No more, we are through. We are cutting off their credit card. Let’s pay our bills off. It’s that simple, folks. Call your congressmen and tell them no to raising the debt limit.

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Here we go again. Bush did this but Obama is a knight in shining armor. Wrong. Bush was bad but so is Obama; $2 trillion in debt and he hasn’t finished his term in office. People tried this Republican-Democrat strategy. Wrong. Rich people pay most of the taxes now; 53 percent of Americans pay taxes, 47 of Americans don’t. Of the 53 percent, the so-called rich pay more. Our jobs come from the rich cat, not government. Don’t forget, our government creates nothing; they are the spenders.

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Hi, I’m responding to the person who was complaining about the Republicans putting our country into this situation. Just remember when Bush was in office, who was in the Senate and the House? All Democrats.

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Lombard calling. Keep “At this Stage” in the paper. Dynako and Fitzpatrick wrote an exceptionally good article about point A,B,C, June 29. For those of you who didn’t catch it, go back. They talked about the bridge for the Great Western Trail over the tracks, and it was much clearer to understand than the Morse Code the village has been dishing out in the past. Thanks for getting the information out.

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Freedom is not free. We all paid for this one way or the other and some of the veterans paid for it with their lives. People come to this country and say it’s a free country. It’s not a free country. You have to pay for everything. If they come in and circumvent the law, everyone who works has to pay for this ridiculous abuse of freedom. Freedom is not free; we have to pay; there is a price for it. But, it is not a free country—get that in your head and never forget it.

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Lombard calling. If we want quality teachers and good schools for our children they have to be paid for. That should be a top priority. I’m not a teacher but a senior citizen whose children are long out of school.

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To the caller who has no use for unions. I’d like to ask a few questions: Do you work a five-day work week? Thank the unions. Do you have vacation leave? Thank the unions. Do you have a medical plan? Thank the unions. Do you have an on-the-job injury plan? Thank the unions. I’m sick and tired of all the union-bashing going on in this country. Do you think these benefits were given out by the employers’ huge heart? No, they were fought and won by brave men and women who stood up to the men in power. Come work with me for a day and I guarantee you, you will not be leaning on any shovel.

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The other day I saw a for-sale sign advertising a vintage home from the 1800s, located in Wheaton. I had to chuckle when one of the amenities listed was a heated four-car garage.

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Wow, people—Speak Out is a forum for opinions and discussion. If you want to know an answer to a question, don’t post it anonymously in speak out, just call the correct village office and ask them. You’ll get a correct answer. No one is saying they won’t answer you; what do you have to hide anyway if you’re just asking a question? And really, speak out, do you have to print your response every time? Post it if you must at the beginning of the page, don’t answer the question and then let citizens call back with their answers in the next week’s paper. But remember, if you ask a question to speak out, you are only getting other people’s opinions in response; if you want a correct answer, call the village.

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Thanks, Lombard, for the Taste and the fireworks. I thought the finale was the best in years. A few comments on the Lombard Idol contest. I believe it should only be open to Lombard residents. And it was over an hour long with the voting for all groups at the end. You should vote after each age group. Some people heard them sing but were unable to stay until the end to vote. Especially in that heat. The voting was also too subjective. Idol should have judges all the way through, not leave the voting up to an applause meter. I heard many people surprised at the outcome. The cheers and screams for some contestants did not seem to match up with who they announced as a winner. What’s up with that? All the contestants put in hard work and deserve to win if they were the best. If Lombard Idol is going to continue, figure out how to judge it fairly. 

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I was always told that even after a train has passed, drivers must wait until the round red warning lights stop flashing, even if the gates are almost completely up. I strictly adhere to that, even if it means getting honked at. Last week I saw someone violate that, southbound over the tracks at Elizabeth Street. That doesn’t set a good example for us civilians, now, does it?

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Now that Laura Fitzpatrick has been elected and sworn in as a Lombard trustee, we need her and the other trustees to curb the speeding on Fairfield Avenue from dawn to dusk. Likewise, serious attention should be given to no parking regulations from Roosevelt Road to Madison. Some of the driveways along the aforementioned street are 100 feet long, so there is no inconvenience to the homeowner or guest. Addison Street is a very busy thoroughfare, especially during the a.m. and p.m. rush hours when people try to avoid the backups on Roosevelt Road. Once again, ample driveway space is available for the homeowners. The Trifecta of streets is Wilson and like the two aforementioned streets should be designated as no parking from Main Street to Westmore Meyers.

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Hi, this is in response to the media’s attention, or people’s attention to the recent storm outage from ComEd when almost 900,000 people lost power. People were wondering why certain areas were restored first; it’s because of how the power grid is run, and if you don’t know how the power grid is run, you shouldn’t be complaining. These people are out 24/7 working 16-hour shifts and ComEd had crews working all night, all day in the dark. Kudos to ComEd for such a massive effort and getting crews in from 15 other states to hurry up the process of getting the customers’ power back on. Thank you, ComEd; someone appreciates it.

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Lombardians, if we really want to make a change in the way our village management is being run, we need to change the management. Talk to or call your village trustee and village president. We voted the village board to do a job for us. Let us keep Lombard the people-friendly town it was.

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Come on, folks. I know we are unhappy that the village won’t answer anonymous questions, but why keep bombarding SPEAK OUT? You know what the response will be, so it is a waste of space that could be used to have more calls on the page. Why not just call the village with your question? Or maybe, as I’ve read on occasion in the past, it is quite a trivial question to ask the village, but you knew SPEAK OUT would get an answer. I mean, questioning the Westin or use of funds, personnel, etc. is one thing, but wanting to know why a light is positioned the way it is or to keep bringing up the dirty pond—that seems pretty inane to me.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I just wanted to tell you a little joke. How do you make a grown man or woman cry, saying that they’re overworked and underpaid? Punch line: Give then a union card.

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The Lombard police need to monitor the crosswalks, especially on Westmore by the Prairie Path. It’s a state law that you’re supposed to stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk. I have stopped and almost got rear-ended, and then I’ve been passed up because they don’t want to stop for the people who are riding their bikes across the street. I think the people in Lombard don’t have a clue that this is a law. I think the police should go there, give out some tickets, and they’ll figure it out.

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Hi, SPEAK OUT. This is in response to the person from the paper who said that Villa Park only makes half as many calls as the Lombard people do. Just for the record, you need to remember, Villa Park is only half the size of Lombard. That’s right. Lombard has approximately twice as many residents as Villa Park. I guess that’s why they don’t make as many calls from Villa Park.

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Lombard calling. When are the Lombard police going to start enforcing this no-cell-phone-in-the-school-zones law that went through a year or so ago? I just drove past Westlake and past the high school and virtually every lady driving in that area—and some of the men, but mostly the women—are on the phone driving in the wrong lane, driving in the left lane, through the school zone and never even hesitate. It should be pretty easy to stand in front of the school and point to them to pull over like you guys did downtown and on Finley Road with the seat belts—same deal. Start doing something.

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Does anyone else see the danger at Park and Grove? It is a two-way stop and has always been safe, but now parallel parking is taking place all along Park. One cannot see traffic approaching as one pulls out going north on Grove until one is almost all the way into the intersection. Someone is going to be collided with. It should now be a four-way stop. Could the police department please look into this?

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Hi, Lombard. There’s an excellent mosquito repellent we found in a health magazine—it is equal parts imitation vanilla extract with water in a spray bottle; spray it on your exposed skin, spray it around where you’re sitting on your patio, etc., and make the kids get it. It’s harmless; get the imitation vanilla extract—Walmart’s got it for 98 cents a bottle, the dollar store’s got it for a dollar. Try it. It works fantastic. We sit on our patio until 9:30 at night every night; no mosquitoes. Enjoy the summer, finally.

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Hi, this is Lombard calling referring to the Democrat who suggested that Bush caused the economic problems with housing and mortgages. It was Clinton who allowed all that. He wanted to make sure everybody could buy a house. Clinton, not Bush.

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Hi. The Union Pacific Railroad has been doing some major track work since last fall. This involves putting in switches and overhead signal lights. As far as I know, the Lombardian has never done an article about this to let the public know how long this project would take and what to expect. Information is sketchy from the village as well. It would be nice of someone to inform us as to the railroad’s plans. They’re just a little bit too powerful and seems that they don’t have to account to anyone for what they do. I sure would like some information from somebody.

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The city of Chicago’s got a big controversy about spending money for bodyguards, and Rahm Emanuel, the newly appointed mayor, is right at the heart of it. What I don’t understand is, Rahm Emanuel has only been on the job a couple of months and he comes back from a vacation. What kind of system do we have here when you get a job like that; you’re on the job a couple of months, and you’re entitled to a vacation? And with all the problems going on in the city? Talk about a waste of money. He should start checking his own position. Why does he need a vacation after only a couple of months on the job? This is an abuse of power.

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This is to the apparent Obama lover from Villa Park. First, people can call about whatever subject matter they want. Unless the editor chooses not to print it, freedom of the press is always controlled by the newspaper’s owner. Secondly, your little town is controlled by the feds and state. All you get is table scraps.

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Hi, I was just wondering who’s responsible for cutting all the dead branches and our trees that are along the street. This is Butterfield East calling.

According to Dennis Devitt, president of the Butterfield East Homeowners Association, “Trees on the parkway are taken care of by the township you live in. Butterfield East is divided between York township and Milton township. If you are not sure which township you reside in, you can call either of them and give them your address and they will tell you. The Milton Township number to call is  Highway Department 23W040 Poss St., Glen Ellyn, 630-682-4270. The York Township number to call is Highway Department 19W475 Roosevelt Road, 630-627-2200. The boundary between the townships  is Lloyd Avenue for the most part, but Lloyd is not straight so some of Milton township goes well east of that divide.”—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling regarding the Terrace View Pond. It’s absolutely atrocious, but the village and the park district are allowed to spend money on aerators that they don’t put in and don’t work. I want my share back as a Lombard taxpayer and I think everyone else should get it back. Will officials ever be held accountable for anything they do? Obviously not, and we’re going to end up like some of the other towns—bankrupt. It’s absolutely unbelievable. Mr. Mueller, thank you very much for your service, but apparently you don’t care anymore.