From the Illinois Family Institute:
The Speech of the Weekend
by David Curtin
One of the more memorable moments of the final weekend came from Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Louisville) during budget debate (SB 3019).
If you’ve ever seen floor debates, particularly House floor debates, you know that one legislator may be recognized to “have the floor” to speak, but the other 117 legislators are in conversation with each other and half-listening or not at all.
Now, everybody knew Rep. Wilhour, a member of the Freedom Caucus, wouldn’t like the budget.
Everybody knew he would ask to speak on the budget.
What they didn’t predict was the substance and nature of his speech that stopped all (and I mean all) conversations on the floor.
Everyone from far left to left to moderate to conservative listened intently.
That’s rare.
It was one of those 3-minute speeches you wish you had a copy of.
Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Louisville) while Rep. Tom Weber (R-Antiopch) and the rest of the House listens.
I usually take notes on good speeches.
I didn’t on this one because I was just listening to every point he hit, he hit out of the park.
Since 2019, Rep. Wilhour said, Gov. Pritzker and the supermajority has raised taxes by $77 billion on families.
Families pay the price – not special interests, not lobbyists, not lawmakers – “moms and dads,” and “seniors” and “people on fixed income.”
“Why do we keep asking them to pay more?” Wilhour asked.
“You know what I keep hearing all over the state? ‘Why does my government hate me?’”
When families face financial pressure, they cut spending, he said.
When Springfield faces financial pressure, it increases taxes on families.
And every year the state comes back to families and says it’s broke.
“How does that happen?” he asked.
“Why is it never enough?”
The money is always going to be used to fix this or that, but it never does because government is spending money on the wrong things.
It was quite a speech.
I wish I could do it justice.
