Illinois Senate President Emil Jones has never been fully appreciated as a legislative leader. Jones, who announced his retirement last week after years at the helm, has a manner of speaking that leads far too many people to assume that he is not intelligent.

There once was a proper young English miss named Alice Pleasance. She, according to Lewis Carroll biographers, was the real-life inspiration for a fictional Alice who tumbled down a rabbit hole and commenced a tour of a riotous realm called Wonderland.

During her wanderings, she encountered an egg named Humpty Dumpty and came away with a memorable sound bite.

Declaimed Mr. Dumpty, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

As an object lesson to the political pragmatists of the United States - those "practical" advocates of "democracy" who see no role for principles in government, just "majority rule" - one need only pause and consider the recent events in Venezuela to realize the profound impact principles actually do have on human affairs.

I will start by taking for granted that most people feel that our economy is struggling and that higher prices are being felt. But why is our economy struggling?