When it comes to revitalizing Davenport's downtown, the public has been led to believe that without their hard-earned tax dollars subsidizing private enterprise, we will never grow our community. First it was the two downtown parking ramps, then it was Vision Iowa, then the TIF for Ryan/Lee Enterprises, then John O'Donnell Stadium, then the Isle of Capri boatel - these projects represent the progressive trail of do-or-die projects that taxpayers had to subsidize or we would fail to attract new investment to our community.

The latest Chicago Tribune poll appears to track closely with recent polls conducted by two Republican statewide contenders. The Tribune poll found Judy Baar Topinka leading the GOP governor's race with 38 percent, followed by Jim Oberweis at 17 percent, Ron Gidwitz finally breaking into double digits with 11 percent, and Bill Brady bringing up the rear at 8 percent.

Ninety-one percent of Quad Cities teenagers do not have sufficient "developmental assets" and are therefore less likely to be successful adults, a recently released survey found. On January 27, the United Way of the Quad Cities Area announced the results of a survey filled out by 8,000 seventh-, ninth-, and 12th-grade students from nearly every school district in Scott and Rock Island counties.

There is a hue and cry across this land demanding political reform and accountability. The hubris that abounds, relative to the spending of taxpayers' dollars by government - whether elected, appointed, or simply hired - has gone beyond intolerable to immoral.