In Bloomington our growth has been successfully planned and shaped by the marketplace. The greatness of this community is a direct result of the buying decisions made by the citizens in pursuit of their happiness and use of their property. The proper role of the city council is to provide the infrastructure that supports these decisions made by the people.
With Form Based Code the city is overstepping it’s role and attempting to dictate these decisions, thus denying the residents of Bloomington Liberty by shifting power from the people to the government all in the name of securing federal and state grants designed to control our lives. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood a recent guest in Bloomington said this: “About everything we do around here is government intrusion into people’s lives.”
John Adams “Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist.”
George Washington “ Property and freedom are inseperable.”
Mayor Stockton, Council Members, When you say the Pledge of Allegiance to the republic for which it stands are those just words? Council members now is the time to stand tall for liberty and the residents of Bloomington and reject the intrusion of form based code being pushed on our community by outsiders.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
High Speed Rail Protestors
Protesters question high-speed rail in the face of budget deficits
Story Discussion By Mary Ann Ford
mford@pantagraph.com
Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:00 pm
Not everyone at Friday’s news conference supported spending $8 billion for high-speed rail. Several people gathered at the Amtrak station held signs and even made negative comments while Sen. Dick Durbin was speaking. They questioned projections of economic growth from high-speed rail spending and the wisdom of spending so much money in the face of mounting state and federal budget deficits.
“I’m really upset,” said Jeff Strange of Bloomington.While officials say the money will help produce jobs and bring economic development, Strange said similar systems in other countries don’t work and taxpayers end up paying. In addition, he said, the claim that a $1 billion infusion will produce 20,000 jobs is based on freight rail, not high-speed passenger rail.
Don Tolan of Minonk held a sign that read: “Quit spending my money, my kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money.” “I’m tired of politicians spending money like there’s no limit,” he said. “We’ve doubled our deficit in one year.”
Plane or train? Laura McNeil of Normal also held a sign, but not to protest high-speed rail.
“I’m bothered by the fact they’re here to promote Amtrak but they didn’t ride the train,” she said.
Gov. Pat Quinn, Durbin and several other officials at the conference flew from Chicago to Alton and then to Normal to talk about the $1.2 billion the state received from the high-speed rail stimulus plan President Barack Obama unveiled Thursday.
McNeil said riding the train would be much cheaper — something the state should be thinking about in the midst of its budget. “Last year, my kids got $4,000 in MAP grants,” she said, referring to the state’s Monetary Award Program for college students. “This year, they got nothing.”
Quinn and Durbin said using the plane was a matter of scheduling. “I’m the governor of Illinois,” Quinn said. “I can’t spend all my time on one thing.” Quinn said besides spreading the message about high-speed rail Friday, he also had to work on the state’s budget.
Story Discussion By Mary Ann Ford
mford@pantagraph.com
Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:00 pm
Not everyone at Friday’s news conference supported spending $8 billion for high-speed rail. Several people gathered at the Amtrak station held signs and even made negative comments while Sen. Dick Durbin was speaking. They questioned projections of economic growth from high-speed rail spending and the wisdom of spending so much money in the face of mounting state and federal budget deficits.
“I’m really upset,” said Jeff Strange of Bloomington.While officials say the money will help produce jobs and bring economic development, Strange said similar systems in other countries don’t work and taxpayers end up paying. In addition, he said, the claim that a $1 billion infusion will produce 20,000 jobs is based on freight rail, not high-speed passenger rail.
Don Tolan of Minonk held a sign that read: “Quit spending my money, my kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money, their kids’ money.” “I’m tired of politicians spending money like there’s no limit,” he said. “We’ve doubled our deficit in one year.”
Plane or train? Laura McNeil of Normal also held a sign, but not to protest high-speed rail.
“I’m bothered by the fact they’re here to promote Amtrak but they didn’t ride the train,” she said.
Gov. Pat Quinn, Durbin and several other officials at the conference flew from Chicago to Alton and then to Normal to talk about the $1.2 billion the state received from the high-speed rail stimulus plan President Barack Obama unveiled Thursday.
McNeil said riding the train would be much cheaper — something the state should be thinking about in the midst of its budget. “Last year, my kids got $4,000 in MAP grants,” she said, referring to the state’s Monetary Award Program for college students. “This year, they got nothing.”
Quinn and Durbin said using the plane was a matter of scheduling. “I’m the governor of Illinois,” Quinn said. “I can’t spend all my time on one thing.” Quinn said besides spreading the message about high-speed rail Friday, he also had to work on the state’s budget.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Secretary Lahood or Behavior Czar?
Transportation Secretary Lahood will be speaking to the McLean County Chamber of Commerce. As a former congressman from Illinois Lahood stated: “I think high speed rail is a bad idea because we don’t have the money to fund routes that currently serve Illinois.” However, since Lahood is now a member of the President’s cabinet he is pushing a train that averages 55 to 75mph as high speed rail.
The federal stimulus for high speed rail is $13 billion with a bill in the US House calling for $50 billion more over the next six years. Japan’s National Railway recently forced citizens to absorb $200 billion in losses and the European Union spends $100 billion a year subsidizing rail.
Proponents of High Speed Rail suggest that for every $1 billion dollars spent 20,000 jobs will be created. But these job creation estimates are based on spending for freight rail, not passenger rail. That figure also works out to $50,000 per job many of which would be temporary.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute high speed rail is part of the Obama Administration's "livability" campaign to reshape the lifestyles of average Americans. Secretary Lahood has stated “About everything we do around here is government intrusion into people's lives,” and "It is a way to coerce people out of their cars." In LaHood’s quest for controlling Americans and promoting sustainability the unintended consequence is Unsustainable debt and loss of liberty on the backs of the forgotten working man.
The federal stimulus for high speed rail is $13 billion with a bill in the US House calling for $50 billion more over the next six years. Japan’s National Railway recently forced citizens to absorb $200 billion in losses and the European Union spends $100 billion a year subsidizing rail.
Proponents of High Speed Rail suggest that for every $1 billion dollars spent 20,000 jobs will be created. But these job creation estimates are based on spending for freight rail, not passenger rail. That figure also works out to $50,000 per job many of which would be temporary.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute high speed rail is part of the Obama Administration's "livability" campaign to reshape the lifestyles of average Americans. Secretary Lahood has stated “About everything we do around here is government intrusion into people's lives,” and "It is a way to coerce people out of their cars." In LaHood’s quest for controlling Americans and promoting sustainability the unintended consequence is Unsustainable debt and loss of liberty on the backs of the forgotten working man.
Railway to Gateway
The issues of high-speed rail and government control of the Internet and news media have been rising in popularity among the people of our state and nation.
First, local and state politicians have been pushing and deceiving the public with so called high-speed rail in Illinois.
By definition, high-speed rail is any passenger train that travels over 120 mph and the rail line being promised for Normal tops out at 110 mph and will average a speed of 56 mph reducing the current rail trip from Chicago to St. Louis from 5½ hours to 5 hours.
Second, The Obama administration has declared war on anyone from news organizations, bloggers and private citizens who oppose their policies. This is behavior that you would witness from Hugo Chavez, Castro or Mao Zedong, not from a president of the United States.
However, frustration turned to optimism once I found out that Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute, who has been featured on CNN and CSPAN, and Jim Hoft, proprietor of the "Gateway Pundit," are coming to speak at the Illinois State University Alumni Center on Nov. 11.
Kristina Rasmussen is an expert on the myth of high-speed rail and Jim Hoft's blog is read by 1.5 million people each month and he is credited with forcing Obama's communist Green Czar Van Jones to resign.
An educated populace is the best defense against soft tyranny.
First, local and state politicians have been pushing and deceiving the public with so called high-speed rail in Illinois.
By definition, high-speed rail is any passenger train that travels over 120 mph and the rail line being promised for Normal tops out at 110 mph and will average a speed of 56 mph reducing the current rail trip from Chicago to St. Louis from 5½ hours to 5 hours.
Second, The Obama administration has declared war on anyone from news organizations, bloggers and private citizens who oppose their policies. This is behavior that you would witness from Hugo Chavez, Castro or Mao Zedong, not from a president of the United States.
However, frustration turned to optimism once I found out that Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute, who has been featured on CNN and CSPAN, and Jim Hoft, proprietor of the "Gateway Pundit," are coming to speak at the Illinois State University Alumni Center on Nov. 11.
Kristina Rasmussen is an expert on the myth of high-speed rail and Jim Hoft's blog is read by 1.5 million people each month and he is credited with forcing Obama's communist Green Czar Van Jones to resign.
An educated populace is the best defense against soft tyranny.
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