News Progress

November 26, 2014

by Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

I was struck to read the other day that Illinois receives back from the federal government only 56 cents of every dollar it sends to Washington in taxes, which ranks us 49th on this indicator. I have known for decades that Illinois has been on the short end of the stick, but I did not know it was so bad.
So I decided to dig a little deeper to see if it could be true. I found that, yes, it probably is correct.
The state of Illinois should mount a major effort in the new Rauner Administration to begin to claw back some of our money. Read More

November 19, 2014

By Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

In less than three months, governor-elect Bruce Rauner has to present a budget that is balanced—and do so with $4 billion less available revenue than is in the present $35 billion general funds budget, because of the automatic January 1 rollback of much of the 2011 income tax increases.

It will be a difficult task. Indeed, I think it will be nigh impossible. I wish it were otherwise as a lower tax burden would make our state more competitive.

Some background: State government has already been trimming operating expenses. For example, state government employment fell from 87,000 in 2002 to about 64,000 this past year, more than a quarter of the workforce. Read More

November 12, 2014

By Tyler Harvey
Mo-Do Farm Bureau Manager

It seems long ago since the last time I wrote to you by the change in landscape around the area.

In the last month farmers have been tirelessly working in the fields and taking their crops from the field to elevators and storage bins. It is always amazing to see the harvest unwind every year and always a blessing when the rain stays away to let farmers finish the task before them. This has been a good year for crops around the area as many of you could tell if you passed nearby elevators and saw corn placed outside a storage bin. At the same time, I tip my hat to all the workers who logistically were able to make this 2014 crop move. When you think of the process it takes to get the crop from the field, combine, auger cart, truck, elevator, and to other destinations, it takes a committed group of people to make this all possible. Read More

Glad Sullivan Has Kept Halloween Tradition

I was so excited to see in the October 22 paper, which I just got in Oregon, that Sullivan still allows more than one day for trick or treating.

In the 1940’s and ‘50’s we always went out more than one night, and then there was also the parade. Halloween was a very big deal in those days. Read More

October 29, 2014

by Jim Nowlan
Outside Columnist

Ever since the Literary Digest poll of 1936 infamously predicted that Alf Landon would smother Franklin D. Roosevelt in that year’s presidential election, pollsters have been working to refine their art.

This column looks at why polls have become more difficult to do well and of the consequences the polls can have for election outcomes.

When I commissioned polls in the 1970s and ’80s for U.S. Senate and other candidates I was working for, we had the gold standard of random digit dialing of the universe of nearly 100 percent of households that had telephones. The pollster was confident he could achieve a sample of voters that was representative of the whole population. Read More