PEORIA -- Here's a fascinating article on how to reform/reign in/ax Wall Street.
Here's another way: How many places where we buy stuff send the profits straight to Wall Street or out of town, to Chicago, New York City, even China?
Let me count the ways: GateHouse media, owner of the Peoria Journal Star and many other downstate newspapers. (Rumored to be sending $1 million a month or more out of Peoria to Wall Street to pay off its debt.)
Banks, grocery stores and other national financial and retail chains. (Though the stores do pay sales taxes.)
What places where we do business reinvest the profits and proceeds back into the community?
Think deeply about this insight. Peoria and most downstate towns, many of which are almost impoverished, need LOCAL enterprises where the profits are invested back into the community, and don't leave town.
They don't need Bass Proshops. That and similar enterprises should not receive local tax funds to set up business.
Though the OSF venture in Peoria's troubled East Bluff smacks of corporate welfare, at least OSF is basically a local enterprise. Isn't it?
Even Peoria Disposal Co., the city of Peoria's waste contractor, is a local business, as is Caterpillar, Inc., though both have far flung enterprises enriching people elsewhere.
Credit unions are also local.
And it's distressing to see governments buying things from out of state -- insurance, etc., when that money should at least stay in Illinois.
A website and lists of local and Illinois businesses, to make people aware of this distinction, would be helpful.
That would be a worthy project for the Chambers of Commerce everywhere, instead of lobbying for right wing causes.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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