Overflow Crowd At Saturday Town Hall Meeting

Crystal Lake City Council Chambers were filled to overflowing Saturday afternoon for a Town Hall meeting highlighted by Congressman-elect Joe Walsh, the Republican who unseated Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean by a slight margin of 292 votes. Also on hand to talk with the public were Illinois Senator-elect Mark Kirk and State Representative Mike Tryon-R-64^th District. Congressman Don Manzullo-R-16^th was also to be present but stayed in Washington working on difficult issues in the House and Senate.

The audience filled the entire seating area as well as the council dais and areas usually occupied by City officials during City Council meetings.

Senator-elect Kirk explained to the audience, using visuals on a screen, that there is a need to worry about the economy with increased housing failures and deficit government spending. He related that what is occurring in European counties is one-half of the gross domestic product is spent on government and that is also occurring in the U.S.

With regard to the federal government freezing the budget as announced by the President, Kirk noted that when adding it up spending without a freeze is not much different. He also noted that more people work for the government than for the private sector.

As for Illinois, the state's credit rating is decreasing and is among the worst states in the nation. Along with that, the pension liabilities are increasing.

The Senator-elect suggested that the earmark system should be eliminated.

He also said he would back up Patrick Fitzgerald and build an education system for the global economy.

Congressman-elect-Joe Walsh was introduced by Kirk who told the audience it is a very large freshman class with 80 plus freshmen congress members.

Walsh related to the audience that he left Washington with a sense of purpose and understanding why he was sent there. "We need to cut spending and need to get government out of the way to create jobs, cut taxes, also to be the lone ranger for small business in this country. We also need to abolish some taxes and put in others. We need to change the way business is done in Washington".

Remarks from the audience—

Starting these, one gentleman related that he was part of a human relations department and is now unemployed. As a result he lost everything including his family. Said we do not need a socialist government. "The United States is the greatest country because of competition."

It was also noted that Teddy Roosevelt cautioned that if government gets too big, it needs to be broken up.

Other comments from the public included:

"The job of congress should be for the public and to build business. What is going on now is the result of what the public allowed the politicians to do."

"There is a need to get back to the constitution."

"The GOP now needs to get government out of the way and lower taxes."

"Any possibility of removing Social Security from taxing and return it to the fund as it began?"

"We are shipping jobs to China, what is being done to bring them back home?"

"Need to abolish the estate tax."

A reference was made to a Teddy Roosevelt adage that if it gets too big, break it up.

"All that is going on is what the public allowed the politicians to do."

Walsh noted he would not vote for legislation unless it is covered by constitution—every bill must meet the constitution.

One public member opined that there is a need to get back to the constitution, mentioning a number of departments that are not authorized by the constitution.

Walsh told the audience he intends to sleep in his office and be home as much as he can to meet with the people in the district. .He considers it important to know what the voters think.

He also expressed the opinion that law enforcement in this county has been handcuffed, and suggested  that law enforcement should be allowed to go after those who want to harm us.

A member of the audience asked if it was possible to remove social security from taxing and return it to the fund as it began.

A member of the public wanted to know why we are shipping so many jobs to China. Walsh says we need to make it more attractive for businesses to stay here; free trade in general benefits us all.

PTSD treatment for Veterans was also mentioned. It was related that a PTSD facility may be located in Illinois as a meeting is taking place with Walsh and Kirk regarding that topic.

Another subject touched upon was illegal immigration. Kirk suggested that officials need to govern what the people want and need to figure out what to do with illegals in this country now as it is a financial drain on the country. Immigration laws are up to the federal government, not the local or state government, as explained by Kirk.