WHAT IF an epidemic in our nation were taking the lives of 30 people a day — 8 of which were children?  We would look to our state and federal governments to mobilize immediate assistance and legislation to protect us!  WHAT IF terrorists were killing 30 people daily?  Whether foreign or home-grown … murderers ARE terrorists!!   Democrats in the House were joined by some 20 Senators on Wednesday — in a Sit-In on the House floor — trying to force a vote on some gun-control bills (which were defeated in the U.S. Senate).  They were demanding that the Speaker of the House at least ALLOW A VOTE on strengthening universal background checks for gun-show and online gun sales and “No-Fly No-Buy” and enhanced oversight legislation, which around 90 percent of Americans WANT passed and enforced!  WE THE PEOPLE WANT LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS — FREE FROM CONSTANT LOSS AND GRIEF; the Orlando shooting was 1 of 43 shootings in the U.S. on 6/12/16.  The 2nd amendment was enacted when flintlock muskets were in use and took a minute or so to load one lead ball, and we NEEDED local, well-regulated militias.  Now each state has one — it’s called the National Guard, and federally — The Department of Defense.

Trish Forsyth Voss for 6/24/16 Community Roundtable response for The Register-Mail newspaper, Galesburg, IL.

Yes, I think it should apply to salaried workers as well.  Illinois law not only requires employers to pay its workers at least $8.245 per hour, but also “time and a half” for all hours worked after the first 40 hours in a given week.  There is also the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is federal law, that requires that covered employees be paid time and a half for work over 40 hours a week, and also protects employees from retaliation, such as being demoted or fired, for asking about or suing for lost wages.  Federal and state overtime laws applied to the majority of employees, but excluded some Executive, administrative and professional employees, sales people, mechanics, and workers in agricultural fields.   Private employers cannot offer workers “comp time” in place of overtime wages or require workers to perform tasks “off the clock” to get around paying them their due.   It is considered wage theft for employers to not comply with these laws, and employees can sue their employers without fear of retaliation says the Chicago Overtime Law Center, who can be contacted by phone at 312-869-4095 for a free and confidential consultation; they represent clients in state and federal court.

It’s all grandstanding, coercion and political posturing!  Last week after the first HB580 override motion failed and Governor Ruiner walked away from the bargaining table, 7 Republican representatives (Hammond, Davidsmeyer, Moffitt, Brown, Bryant, Bourne and Jimenez) “sent a letter to the governor and to AFSCME urging both parties to renew negotiating to reach a settlement”.  May 31 was the final legislative deadline to override the governor’s veto of HB580 by a simple majority; the vote fell 3 short, with NOT ONE of those 7 voting to support the override motion, thereby backing up Rauner’s deleterious efforts to hold us all hostage to his Scott Walker wannabe agenda!  So their letter was just a ploy to appear to care about state employees and constituents all the while prolonging the impasse that damages us all.  The billionaire governor is for the rich getting richer and plundering the state, our workers and our unions, pensions, health insurance and workman compensation benefits, etc. to accomplish that goal, and the Republicans will aid the vulture-capitalist in his vain quest against the populace and our social programs — like education!

Trish Forsyth Voss,  Community Roundtable forum for 6/3/16 The Register-Mail newspaper, Galesburg, IL.

Hillary is the presumptive nominee; Hillary will get the nomination; Hillary will be the next president of The United States!  For now Bernie Sanders supporters want to see their candidate compete in the next several states and feel their voices are heard, but Cruz and Kasich supporters probably felt the same way.  The experts say that Bernie cannot win the number of delegates that he needs to secure the nomination, and I feel he is holding the Democratic party hostage to his ideation and his ego, but those Sanders supporters that will vote for Hillary in the general election want Sanders to drag Hillary as far to the Left as possible, which he fully intends on doing!  The problem I have is with the radical remnant of “Bernie or Bust” followers, that threaten to throw their votes to Trump if they can’t get their way; they have no commitment to the Democratic party, they would just as soon see it all go up in smoke… to see and feel the Bern!   They are vociferous about feeling that Bernie is getting ripped off; that the system is rigged, and they’re now — acting out like those nasty Trump fans!  The real danger lies in the acrimony that Sanders (who has yet to release his income taxes) instills in his followers against Hillary.  While some prominent Republicans are saying that they will vote for Hillary over Trump, the “Bernie-bots” have drunk the Kool-Aid, gone off the reservation, and would embrace the vile Trumpeteer, all in the name of their sacred “BS” REVOLUTION!!        *************  Remember the old movie:  Weekend at Bernie’s…  Where his friends are dragging his cold, dead corpse from party to party because they cannot accept that he is DEAD!  That seems to correlate to this scenario exactly!

Trish Forsyth Voss

Yes, we all want our schools to be fully funded before the coming school year, and the districts to know how much to expect.  We want the State of Illinois to fulfill its financial obligations to our schools, so I am hopeful that the legislation passes that will do so.  The complicated measures for calculating each district’s share of funds should be streamlined.  It is despicable that the budget stalemate has gone on for nearly a year.  It has been reported that “bipartisan groups of Illinois lawmakers are making progress on changes Rauner has said are essential to any agreement on a long-overdue state budget ….. but a compromise remains elusive as the Legislature approaches a critical end-of-the-month deadline.  The Legislature has until the end of May to approve a budget for this year and the new fiscal year, which starts July 1, by a simple majority.  After that it takes a three-fifths vote to pass a spending plan, making it considerably more difficult to achieve.”  This needs to happen!  The stalemate is the result of Gov. Rauner deciding to make his demands (that essentially weaken Unions) part of the state budget, when those concerns probably should have been ballot issues, and leading Democrats not succumbing to his demands.

The polls show that a majority of voters support stricter gun regulations, such as: more stringent background checks, closing gun show loopholes, waiting periods for purchasing a handgun, and ending sales of assault-style weapons.  So, if that’s what voters want, why can’t we get the legislation that reflects those views?  Well, we can; if voters would vote their conscience, and vote for the candidates that support those views.  It’s fairly easy folks!  Remember those “connect the dot” activity books we had as kids?  Just connect the dots.  There is NO DAMN WAY that someone who is deemed to be “too dangerous” to board an airplane should be able to buy weapons in the United States!    A Register-Mail article of Dec 8th stated, “The Government Accountability Office concluded that membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law”.  Really?!  Shouldn’t they be considered just as dangerous as a domestic abuser or an ex-con?   That’s the kind of legislation that needs to be changed, by Congress — by a Congress that has the greater good of the populace in mind (instead of how big a kickback they can get from the NRA).