To the Editor:

The Illinois Capitol building is beautiful. The swarms of school children everywhere melted my heart. I’m surrounded by people who care about something, whether we agree or not, at least they are trying to achieve something to better our state! It’s inspiring!

Then I reached the fourth floor and entered the chamber to watch our House representatives in session. The two House bills that got rather heated discussion were HB4081 and HB4900. A highlight of the Call Center Bill (HB4081) was when I heard “the road to hell was paved with good intentions” by a House Republican towards the opposing Democrat.

The Generic Drug Bill (HB4900) was especially discouraging. Each side took their turn debating the issue and the entire time I heard no one bring up practical solutions. Both bills were close, both bills the Democrats won.

Overall the lessons I learned were that Democrats have a heart of gold but can’t do simple math and the Republican Party has Democrats in it. Ending crony capitalism and promoting free market capitalism to allow healthy competition would solve the problems causing both bills to be brought up. But of course, that was not spoken of.

Electing Libertarians would help bring more ideas to the table. Libertarians are the only party that represents fiscal responsibility while still protecting personal freedoms for all. We want to cut spending by downsizing our need for the government to control every aspect of our lives. Our platform agrees with the best of both the two parties, allowing us to be able to work together more efficiently.

If you are interested in learning more about the Libertarian Party please join us every second Thursday of the month at Hank’s Farm in Ottawa at 7 p.m.

Jenae Wise

Illinois Valley Libertarian Party Chairwoman