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 Official Business

Published: September 20, 2004

Politics and Government


Good morning, boys and girls. Today's lesson is about government, and
how people in government make decisions that help all of us. Did you
know that Illinois has an official state flower? It's the violet.
Illinois also has a state mineral, fluorite, which is used to make
steel, enamels, aluminum and many chemicals. It has a state fish, a
state animal, a state tree, bird and insect.

Who decides these things? We all do, with our votes. Right now, for
example, children in Illinois are being asked to vote for the official
state amphibian. If the gray tree frog gets more votes than the
American toad and Eastern tiger salamander, the frog wins, and that is
how our democracy works!

Well, that is partly true. There is another way, too. It is called the
bid solicitation process.

Illinois needs money. Who has lots of money? Big companies. Will they
just give it away? No.

The governor, Rod Blagojevich, is thinking about asking beverage
companies to promise money to Illinois. The company that promises to
give the most money would win. It would be the only company allowed to
sell beverages in 1,300 vending machines at about 100 state office
buildings, parks and rest stops across the state. And its beverage
would become the official Illinois state beverage!

Illinois hasn't decided whether to do this yet. Some people don't like
the idea. When New York City made Snapple the official city beverage,
many people laughed or got angry. They said the idea was silly, and
that Snapple wasn't good for schoolchildren's teeth. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said the deal was worth more than $100 million and that was
good enough for him. It raised lots of money and was completely
painless, unless you count the dental work.

No state has done what Illinois is thinking of doing. And Illinois has
other ideas, too. What would you think of an official State of
Illinois credit card? There may be lots of ways to raise money, the
state says, we just have to find them and make sure they don't annoy
too many people. What might the official beverage be? Dr Pepper? Red
Bull? Old Style beer? Tap water? Not Old Style, because beer has
alcohol, and no drinks with alcohol are allowed. Not tap water,
because that's free. It could be Dasani water, though. Remember, the
beverage has to be made by a company with lots of money and come in
containers you can buy from vending machines.

We don't know the beverage yet, but here's a secret - whatever it is,
it will probably contain one important ingredient. Most drinks from
vending machines are sweet. The sweetness comes from a syrup made from
corn. The corn is grown mainly by big farmers. Do the big farmers give
money to the government? No, the government gives money to them. It's
complicated. We'll save that lesson for another day.

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