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ILLINOIS CLEAN JOBS BILL

The Illinois General Assembly can make our state a leader in clean energy. As a progressive leader in Springfield, I know that policy that supports energy-efficiency programs encourages economic development and keeps homes in our neighborhood affordable. That means adding new jobs to our communities and putting savings back into consumers’ pockets.

With the proper policies, we can generate thousands of jobs statewide for people of various skill sets. One study showed that a proposed policy, H.B. 2607 and S.B. 1485 (the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill), will create 32,000 new jobs a year.

Members of our community would greatly benefit from employment opportunities and job training that would accompany increased investment in energy-efficiency work. Also, energy-efficiency upgrades have helped lowincome members of our community save money on their utility bills, which can make a big impact for families struggling to make ends meet.

This progress is now threatened by a lack of supportive energy policy; enacting a bill that encourages energy efficiency is imminently important. To keep these benefits in our community, we need policies that move energy efficiency forward in Illinois. These policies will increase the market for energy-efficiency work, helping members of our communities to attain gainful employment, and help more home and building owners save money. Let’s not waste this opportunity to bring great jobs to our communities and give consumers the break they deserve. Alana Reynolds Springfield

HILLARY AND THE TRUTH

Why does she lie? Hillary, who wrote her masters thesis on Saul Alinsky, follows the Rules for Radicals premise that when dealing with opposition, there are no lies, only “fundamentally transformed truths,” which are used to further your agenda, ideology and actions to diminish, if not destroy, your opponent(s).

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, studied Alinsky’s tactics heavily and Alinsky studied Hitler’s early organizing tactics, focusing on persuasion. Hillary, with the approval of the American people, may take Alinskyism to its zenith.

Hillary believes she is telling the truth because if she were lying, she would have been held accountable, and in her 30-year public career, she has never had to answer for her words or actions, no matter how viciously destructive they are to others or to our culture. This is known as George Costanza’s “Hey, it’s not a lie if you believe it,” defense.

Napoleon said that “History is a big set of lies agreed upon,” and historians are going to go bonkers trying to sort out this election and its aftermath. Bill Klein Springfield

THE GENIUS OF TRUMP

In 1995, Donald Trump’s tax man told him that the bad news was that Trump made some dumb moves and lost a billion dollars. The good news was that Trump wouldn’t have to pay income tax for the next 20 years because of it. In a flash of brilliant thinking, Trump said that it was welcome news.

Being the humble person he is, Trump never mentioned this great move or took credit for it until it became public. His surrogates went out yelling that he’s brilliant; he’s a genius for doing it. Only then did he take credit for it. It’s one of the most shameful episodes of “baloney slicing” in the history of America politics.

John McCain called Trump’s cheering crowds “a bunch of crazies” which prompted Trump to say that in his book, P.O.W.s are not heroes. Tom Ferrari Tovey