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" Buckeye - the budget, including 3 salaries is about $185,000. Did you hear that albundy - OMG! $185,000 of YOUR TAX $$$$!!!!! Was that thud the the sound of you hitting the floor in a dead faint? What do YOU, get for that amount? YOU get $1,000,000 per year return to Bloomington Normal in tourism dollars spent in this community. The city and state work pretty hard to get business into this community for job development. They do spend YOUR TAX dollars to do that! Stop complaining about it and realize that this old house does make you, the tax payer, money! A lot of people in the service trade have jobs because of the mansion and other attractions.
And, you know what? I think going fishing is boring, so I don't do it. But, I have no problem with MY TAX $$$$ being spent on parks for those who do enjoy it. This is a shared burden. We do not get to pay for just those things we like and refuse to pay for those we don't. Except for albundy, who, apparently is too cheap to take his family and friends to something that actually costs money. "

" Thanks Betty for the wonderful letter. To Anchor, et al. We get it. You don't like the Mansion. Please stop using the tired argument about "your" tax dollars. It is pointless. Lots of people want lots of different things done with their tax dollars. The Mansion was given to the State of Illinois as a gift. It is on the list of 150 architectural treasures in IL. If it hadn't been for Davis, we may not have had a Lincoln. People come because of Lincoln. It's just that simple. "

" When the first two things that disappear in a free society are the Arts and History, (which teach us freedom and pride), then government control begins in earnst over its people. Schools stopped teaching art in school and has a very limited view of history it teaches. Most Americans are idiots on the subject of history. The writing is on the wall and people don't even know it. "

" I am saddened, but not suprised by the history haters. Some people just don't get it. They don't understand or care how things today came to be. History to them is something boring and dead. Those of us who love history look at it more as a living thing that explains who we are as a country and as a people. "

" Sorry Betty but the Davis mansion is hardly worthy of any tax money. It has been 8on the taxpayers back far too long. I wonder of the 48,000 visitors you boast of have been there numerous times? I wonder how many of your out of state and out of country guests take the tour simply because it is FREE? I have lived here my entire life and in 53 years I was in the mansion once, that was enough. I do know people who have frineds and family from out of town and they take the tour, because as I said it is FREE. Charge an admission and if the place pays for itself fine, keep it open. It is not something that taxpayers should have to bare the burden of any longer. "

" I've been to the "mansion" myself. I'll tell you this, I've been in mansions and it is not a mansion. Anyone that believes this is fooling themselves. In addition, the "history" is useless information.

My beef with the mansion is why are my tax dollars going to keep that thing running? Charge an admission fee. If people feel it is worth going to then they will pay the fee (i.e. Disneyland) and if they don't they won't. And if the fees don't cover the costs then guess what? So, good, I'm glad Blago has shuttered the site.

BTW, I had drinks with Michael Keaton once. Will the taxpayers of Illinois pay to do the upkeep on my house now? "

" Betty, with all due respect to your profession, I took the tour of the David Davis mansion today. I would rather stick bamboo slivers under my fingernails than go through that again. Seriously, the tour SHOULD have lasted maybe 20 minutes...maybe 1/2 hour....an hour and 1/2 later I had to leave before the guide was done....History is important....but it shouldn't take all of my present to learn it. "

" Does anyone know how much there budget is ? "