by Jerry Agar

Why are laws passed?  Sometimes to right a wrong.  Sometimes to favor those who are favored by the lawmakers.  Sometimes because legislators are effectively busy-bodies who think themselves more reasonable than the rest of us. 

Just because there is a law, doesn't mean the law is right.  Here are ten things, in no particular order, that I think should be legal in Illinois.  It is just my opinion, and you can send me yours at jerry@illinoispolicy.org.

1.  Guns.  Particularly I am thinking of Chicago, where guns are illegal and gun violence is rampant.  Obviously, it is time the good citizens were legally allowed to defend themselves, which, by the way, is constitutional.  I will make a gentleman's wager that the Supreme Court will solve this for us relatively soon.

2.  Education Vouchers.  Why do we allow the government to control virtually all facets of public education?  I am perfectly fine with paying taxes to publicly fund education, but not with a monopolistic, socialist style authority deciding what is good for everyone.  If the money follows the child, at the parents discretion, not the state's - even to a religious school - we have no constitutional issues, and very likely we could put a dent in that deplorable 50% graduation rate in the Chicago public schools.

3.  Wal-Mart.  There is only one reason that Wal-Mart is unable to locate on the South side of Chicago in a food and job desert.  Aldermen are doing the bidding of unions, and the unions care not a whit for the poor people who would be served by the giant retailer.  If the unions did care, they would be picketing the stores they work at now to have them put a store where Wal-Mart wants to locate.

4.  Smoking.  This is a prime case of the government treating adults as children.  If one person owns a business, another person wants to patronize that business, and both of them agree that either one of them may smoke, what is the problem?  Non-smokers like me can't get off of our tender sensibilities and choose a different place in which to dine, drink and be entertained?  I know I can make that grown-up decision.  Can you?  Many bars, having remained popular under the smoking ban, may choose to continue the ban--and I'd be all for that (I personally hate smoking).  The point is, the owner should get to choose and you, the customer, can voice your opinion with your wallet.

5.  Buying Health Insurance Elsewhere.  Competition works in favor of the customer.  Competition in health insurance is limited by the fact that we cannot buy it across state lines.  How is that not stupid?

6.  Private Rate Setting for Taxis.  Why does the city decide what a taxi driver can charge?  Do they decide what you earn?  Should they?  Isn't that price fixing?

7.  One tax rate.  Sales and business taxes are often used for more than revenue generators, which is legitimate up to an arguable point.  Some businesses get tax breaks to re-locate, or to stay, or to come in to the state or city to shoot a movie.  Their competitors, meanwhile, do not.  Some products, such as alcohol and cigarettes suffer the attack of so-called sin taxes.  But then, so did bottled water.  What is the tax rate?  Depends on how the politicians view the product or service and, of course, what is in it for them.

8.  Distilling Our Own Spirits.  It is legal to make personal use wine and beer at home, but not spirits.  Why not?  If the reason is that someone might get hurt, well, yes, perhaps.  But someone will get hurt today driving a car.  We can't outlaw everything.  This is Nanny state regulation, plain and simple.

9.  Running a Small Business Without Government Approval.  Business licensing serves two purposes for government.  To collect taxes and to push one business person around to the benefit of another business person the politician likes better.  Here is an example from Quincy, Illinois.  Sure, I want to know when I go into a Doctor's office that the Doctor passed the right exams, and we could argue whether that needs to be managed by government or by the profession, but how much government regulation do we need for Billy's Snappy Snow Removal and Sally's Braids and Stuff?  Billy removes the snow as we agreed - I pay him.  Sally gets the braids right (and I'm quite finicky about my braids) I pay her.  It is that simple.  No one gets hurt.

10.  Transparency in Government.  We are making progress in this regard in Illinois, but there is always more to do.  I think that the more people know, and easier it is for them to know it, the less problem we will eventually have with many of the issues of government.