So... I'm going to focus on state politics this time.

First of all, I will explain our old situation. Two words will do: Rod Blagojevich. You all know how that turned out, though of course it should have been done long before.

Now we have a wonderful governor, Patrick Quinn, who has exactly the right ideas. He desperately wants to get the Illinois budget closer to being in the black, rather than billions of dollars in the red.

How does he propose to do this? By increasing the income tax rate from 3% (the lowest in the country) to 4.5% (which is still among the bottom ten). Illinois has a flat tax rate (BOOOOO!), so that rate applies to everyone, no matter their income.

He is being met with fierce resistance from both parties.

I don't want to sound like some kind of idealistic dope, but if it will help keep state parks open and maintain Pontiac Prison (a hard-won battle), I'm willing to pay more.

What upset me most was the headline in the newspaper: "Governor Proposes 50% Tax Hike." Well, of course no one's going to support it if you make it look like that. And of course they failed to mention that our tax rate would still be among the lowest in the country.

Pandering to your audience. Whatever happened to journalistic integrity?