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Health & Fitness

Karen Ramey: Who Else Is Missing the 'Don't-Say-That' Gene?

Is political courage contagious?

I wonder if anyone one else is missing the gene that used to ring like a little bell in your head saying, "Don't say that ... take the path of least resistance ... hey, if nobody else will speak up, why should I?"

Reading and witnessing monetary abuse waged at taxpayer’s expense from Washington, Springfield and the Geneva Government Center has been very interesting.

I feel as if one day I just woke up and determined that, as a taxpayer, I was "mad as hell and I wasn't going to take it anymore."

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Just about every day in my Tribune and Daily Herald (and now Patch), I was reading another story about public corruption.

The stories told of the audacious attitude of those public officials "employed" by us who simply went to the finance spigot and turned it on for days, months or years at a time.

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The stories about deals that were made to place family, friends and campaign contributors into positions of status, power and financial gain were endless.

I know that it may appear disingenuous that, as a lobbyist, I would be frustrated, since I supposedly am "part of the system."

Rest assured that I am probably the lowest-paid lobbyist in the state of Illinois, and absolutely the lowest paid in Kane County!

But I do work to ensure that taxpayers I work for receive a healthy return on their investment when it comes to grants, transportation and program dollars.

But I have spoken out against the "system" and have paid a professional price for it.

The personal price is painful; but the pain can be replaced with this baptismal-like purging that we have all experienced at one time or another when the truth mattered more than any of the rest of it.

Haven't we all, at one time or another, paid the price for our opinion, whether it be with our government, our professions, our church, our neighbors, in-laws, and the most fearful of all ... from our own kids?

I remember as a kid watching my oldest relatives just launch out and tell it like it was.

And the rest of the family was annoyed, astounded or privately pleased that whatever it was had to be said, and they said it!

And for some reason I hoped that one day I too could be so free as to say what needed to be said.

I just never thought that the day would arrive. It has!

This week, we witnessed a revolution in New York, where virtually the impossible happened.

Candidates who appeared to be “shoo-ins” were shocked to discover that insiders don’t always determine elections; the silent majority does with their vote.

Voters were paying attention, they admitted to being “mad as hell” and they didn’t take it anymore.

In the past month, we have read about candidates calling for real assessment freezes, local government and school districts finding ways to save tax dollars through refinancing. Our government is listening to our pleas for relief.

I am witnessing politicians at the local and state levels coming forward out of sheer frustration to ask the hard questions, consider consequences and the cost of retaliation but speaking out against the status quo anyway.

I only hope this spate of conscience and courageous stance is contagious.

And those who take that stand will wonder why they feel so darn good.

And those who pretend to listen but don't are shown a different career path.

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