CHICAGO: Chris Kennedy, a gubernatorial candidate for Democratic Party, said here that he was strongly committed to have term limit for all elected members of the Illinois Assembly and Illinois Governor to ensure that fresh and new blood comes to the power rather than seeing old guards sticking to their seats of power
He said in response to a question from India Post that he was one for overhauling the State income tax structure making it really progressive wherein the rich pays more and the poor relatively less. This will result over a period of time in raising the State revenue which in its turn will help prune the budget deficit and save the State going bankrupt because of the pension hole.
His reference to the term limit was general but was in a way also directed at House Speaker Mike Madigan who has earned the distinction of being the longest serving State House Speaker in US and Senate President John Colleton, who has been there for over one and half decades. The term limit if decided upon will pave the way for the newer blood to come in. He also laid huge emphasis on education and funding schools and colleges as according to him the spread of education is a panacea for many social evils, including poverty.
Chris is son of renowned US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy and a nephew of President John F Kennedy. He is seeking nomination from Democratic Party for Governor of Illinois. Friends of Chris Kennedy and supporters led by Multi Ethnic Advisory Task Force (MEATF) and American Multi Ethnic Coalition (AMEC) hosted a media meet on Monday February 5 at Hema Kitchen on Devon Avenue in mini India town. It was attended by, besides media representatives, many community leaders and Chicago elites.
Kishore Mehta of MEATF welcomed all and observed that “this event seeks to capture the milestone on Chris’s perspective, public awareness for his campaign and his involvement in various types of projects.” He recounted his accomplishments saying that “Chris has served as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Chicago Food Depository; has managed the Merchandise Mart, worked with government agencies, labor groups and independent small business and served as Chairman of the University of Illinois, Board of Trustee at U of I.”
Currently Chris is leading a real-estate development in downtown Chicago known as Wolf Point to bring in more than $ 1 billion in private financing and 2000 construction and permanent jobs to Illinois. Dr Vijay Prabhakar of AMEC also greeted the guests and strongly pitched for getting Chris elected as next Illinois Governor. He also introduced Hema Potla, owner of Hema Kitchen.
Hema in her brief speech recalled her emotional turmoil when John Kennedy got killed five decades ago. She said that she felt as if a member of her own family had died and this is one of the propelling factors for her to support any member of Kennedy clan seeking elected office in the country. She mentioned that for this particular event she woke up early and prepared all the dishes by herself. To say the least, all those present enjoyed veg and non veg items for the lunch.
Sohan Joshi, nick named as Rashtraparti of mini India Town, lent his whole hearted support to the Chris Kennedy candidacy for gubernatorial position in this state. Indian Padma Shree painter Dr SV Rama Rao presented his beautiful work of art to Chris Kennedy getting huge applause from all those present. The nearly three-hour event was gracefully emceed by young Tanya Prabhakar.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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