Vote no on issue of
constitutional convention

The Glen Ellyn League of Women Voters urges readers to vote no on the question of calling a new constitutional convention.

Our league, in conjunction with more than 20 other leagues in Illinois, looked at the constitution that Illinois has now and found it to be a good, workable document. To be sure, we do not always have good, workable government in Springfield, but that is not the fault of the constitution.

The Illinois constitution as written provides an amendment process, and in fact 10 out of 17 proposed amendments have been approved by voters in the 38 years since the constitution was adopted.

The league believes that the constitution as written is an important safeguard of individual liberties and a workable framework for state and local government in Illinois. We do not want to submit the document to the partisan politics and special interest groups that might try to gain control of a convention’s deliberations.

Please join us in voting no on Nov. 4.

Rinda Allison
Glen Elly

Remember to vote to
keep DuPage what it is

The enormity of choosing a president shouldn’t completely overshadow the importance of local elections to our daily lives and our values.

As chairman of the Milton Township Republican Central Committee, I’m extremely proud of my party’s local leadership and how hard and effectively they’ve worked to keep the township and DuPage County the communities we all choose to live.

Just consider: Although DuPage County is the largest and most populous of the collar counties, its tax levies remain among the lowest, as the County Board reduced its portion of the property tax levy over nine straight years. Our crime rate has been held in check and our infrastructure revitalized, with improved public transportation.

These results are no accident but flow directly from leadership’s vision, its fiscal discipline and its adamant refusal to spend money it does not have. At the same time, county services are increasingly reliable while the county’s assets, such as its forest preserves, have been extended and improved.

When you step into the voting booth on Nov. 4 or vote early, please remember to support the Republican candidates who have served us so well and have our best interests at heart. They’re our neighbors and friends, as well as our officials.

Mike Formento
chairman
Milton Township Central Committee

Morgenthaler has experience
to serve in the U.S House

Voters in the 6th District have a great opportunity to elect a candidate for Congress who has a unique and varied background of service to our state and our country.

Jill Morgenthaler was awarded a Bronze Star for her service in Iraq and the Humanitarian Service Medal for her work in Kosovo. Upon retiring from the military in 2006 as a colonel, she was recognized with the Legion of Merit. In addition, Jill Morgenthaler has worked in both the private sector as a business woman and for the state as its homeland security adviser.

This range of experiences gives Jill a broad view of the critical issues facing us all, whether they be related to the wars we are involved in, the economic challenges we face, the health care quandary we have or the environmental problems we have to sort through. Please take the time to visit her Web site at jillmorgenthaler.com to see that her positions are moderate and driven by a common sense approach derived from decades of being a decision-maker.

Dismiss as electioneering the character assassination Jill’s opponent has attempted in his ads, and research for yourself Jill’s fine record and pragmatic positions on the issues. We have an incredible opportunity to elect a truly well-versed and thoughtful person who could represent us all honorably and diligently.

Mary Vieregg
Wheaton

Assess the candidates
before Election Day

It’s fall again. We’ve booted the squirrels out of the attic and secured the roof.

I warm my hands around a hot cup of coffee and listen to a radio voice warning me of the candidate who rubs elbows with felons and liars. You know the voice well — it’s the voice of the gossip who’s got the goods on somebody. The goods are those dangling suggestions spiced up with phrases like, “Doesn’t that send a shiver up your spine?”

What makes me shiver is that anyone believes a candidate is no better than the worst elements of his party. The real question is whether our candidates are inoculated with a healthy dose of good judgment.

We walk away from the local gossip knowing he’s got a motive somewhere. Yet we make crucial choices based on what, in the old days, we called  propaganda — the planting of goblins under the bed.

What makes this election like no other is that we know for certain the coldest season is coming. We are called on to protect our country, our economy and our future as carefully as we prepare our dwellings for winter. This is no time to look for goblins under the bed.

This is the time to assess the facts and ask who between two decent men has made not promises, but decisions we respect. Which of the two is supported by experienced, decent individuals who have earned our respect over the years?

The answers may guide us and give comfort on Nov. 5 that we’ve cast our vote for the right reasons.

Debra Thomas
Glen Ellyn

Barack Obama
has bad ties

I am amazed at all the so-called intelligent people who would vote for Barack Obama. I can’t even imagine having a president with all the negative baggage he is carrying.

If all the negative baggage about ACORN, the Rev. Wright, Ayers and Rezko were known and brought out during primaries, Sen. Obama would not have won the primary. Notice he is not free of all these negative contacts.

So America, wake up! America will no longer be the America we are used to.
These are all corrupt contacts Barack Obama has. Our safety and our way of life will be greatly influenced by ACORN and the like. Scary!

Thelma Oldenburger
Wheaton

Thank you to
all of Wheaton

The members of the Wheaton Chapter of the Auxiliary of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago would like to thank all of those who supported our recent golf outing, Playing Fore the Kids. More than $13,000 was raised through sponsorships, donations and the generous support of our attendees. This money will be used to help the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago provide health care and related services to the children of the working poor.

We would like to extend special recognition and thanks to our sponsors, without whom we would not have been so successful. These include invitation sponsors Northern Trust, Dot Buikema and Crowe Capital Markets; table sponsors Stones Jewelry, Mac and Vonla Airhart, Robert and Mary Beth Benedict, and Grant and Power Landscaping Inc.; hole sponsors Kathy Burrows, Danada Square Dental Center, Tony and Marie Kinnear, Laundry Concepts, Peggy Luthy Agency-Farmers Insurance and Financial Services, Mark-It Co., Phillips Martin Real Estate, Sebring Services and Trimarco, Radencich, Scwartz, Mrazek LLC Certified Public Accountants; prize sponsor Cornerstone Medical Group; water sponsor The Capital Grille; and program sponsor Clarice’s Creating Beautiful Looks.

For the past 50 years the people of Wheaton have supported the Wheaton Chapter of the Infant Welfare Society Auxiliary. Through their generous donations and support of our annual luminaria sale, they have helped make a different in the lives of countless children. We continue to be grateful for the generous support of this community.

Rosanne Merrill and Elaine Luse
2008 golf outing chairs

Congressman Roskam
is the right choice

Rahm Emmanuel, Democrat congressman from Chicago — gotta love him, bless his heart, he has once again hand-picked someone who doesn’t live in the 6th Congressional District to run against a locally born and raised resident of the 6th Congressional District, Peter Roskam.

And to top it off, Rahm’s candidate, Jill Morgenthaler, has her very own association with the Chicago/Cook County Democrat machine, having been in the Blagojevich administration as the Illinois Homeland Security advisor up until a few months ago. Wow — that is a resume that she is likely to avoid mentioning!

Someone should ask Morgenthaler if she approves of the 10.25 percent sales tax just enacted in Cook County. Does she, or doesn’t she? Inquiring minds want to know.

The answer is important, because if she doesn’t approve of it, did she display any leadership in opposition to that increase? If she does approve of it, well, then, we know what we can expect from her in Washington: more and higher taxes!

Morgenthaler has no experience to recommend her to the job she is seeking, and her probable allegiance to her mentor, Emmanuel, suggests she would be more accountable to him than her constituents. What we in the 6th Congressional District don’t need in Washington is an out-of-district resident with no legislative record and with ties to Blagojevich, Rahm Emmanuel and the rest of the Cook County machine.

Peter Roskam is a known quantity. He has accumulated a record of being fiscally conservative while in Springfield, both as a state representative and state senator, and he continues that record in Congress today.

He has been a thoughtful, principled congressman. I suspect some of that is because he actually lives here and has firsthand knowledge of the needs of his constituents, but also because he has a worldview of government, which includes limits on government spending. Congressman Peter Roskam deserves to be re-elected to represent the 6th Congressional District — the district he calls home.

Lori Carlson
Milton Township Republican precinct committeeman