My friend Adam Beeson, who comments here under A.Bees and has been quite vocal as of late, got a letter to editor published in the Daily Herald today, so I figured I'd run this as our guest editorial for today:
Yes Illinois, Pat Quinn was an apt pupil to his mentor Rod Blagojevich. Just like Blago, he learned how to lie to the Illinois voters.
Contrary to his campaign promises, Quinn and the Democratic majority have passed an income tax increase that is twice the size that he promised during his campaign.
To make matters worse, they passed this tax increase in the middle of the night, with a lame duck legislature and without cutting a single thing.
Regardless of how tough the economy or how many people are out of work or the epic corruption and waste in government, we are all expected to reach into our pockets and give 67 percent more.
To all of the families who will now be moving out of state, I envy you. As much as I’d like to cross the cheddar curtain, the housing crash has locked me into my home and will now hold me hostage to these lies and horrible decisions.
For those in my boat, please remember this in two years and vote for dramatic changes in the composition of the Illinois legislature. It is our only hope.
Adam Beeson
Gurnee
Meanwhile: Senator Mark Kirk has been doing a series of town halls with GOP Congressmen and is now reaching across the aisle to do one with a Dem, Congressman Danny Davis. I'd say that's practicing what you preach.
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9 comments:
TA - thanks for posting Adam's letter.
Adam - you hit the nail on the head.
Like thieves in the night (which they are - stealing from the taxpayers to fund their spending addiction) the dems showed how despicable they actually are.
Madigan promised no tax increases without bipartisan support and Quinn promised he would veto any tax increase above the 33% increase (1% actual) that he wanted during his campaign.
They are liars and should be treated as such.
Congratulations on your astute letter and let us all keep their feet to the fire.
Trebor of Libertyville
Your guest author said this just a day or so ago: "The total tax outlay in the state of Illinois dwarfs that of neighboring states. Why do you think so many are moving elsewhere. Simple example... Uline's new digs in Pleasant Prairie." Uline moved long before the tax increase. In fact, they signed off on the deal at the same time Suzi Schmidt was lobbying to increase the sales tax in Lake County.
He also said: "However, the jackass majority decided to raise taxes. Now there is a surplus of money to spend." Woah! That's a stinger from Mr. Bees. Except, of course, that the income tax increase will still not create a surplus.
And lest we forget the pinnacle of Bees' cleverness; "Hello - earth to sackless wonder hiding behind the anonymous tag!" Priceless.
Thank you so much, TA, for highlighting the partisan invective and pedestrian thought processes of Mr. Bees. Who's your next guest, Sharon Angle? Benito Mussolini?
Since Bees claimed to have "understood" the political process so much more than most of the rest of the planet, then perhaps he'd like to share those proposals sponsored by GOP members of the House or Senate that actually sought to reduce the size of government, make more transparent the taxing process, or even begin the process of bringing some accountability to the way in which the State of Illinois spends its money.
Bees and other members of his hive seem to relish their position of standing there in the corner, arms crossed, waiting to pounce on anyone who attempts to do anything. Perhaps Representative Sullivan, who actually has a pretty good record of bipartisan votes could add something real to this discussion. But if all that Bees and Louis are capable of saying is that Democrats are bad and Republicans are good, isn't it time we figured out how little they are actually saying?
No tax increase, Moody would have rated IL bonds "junk" at 0001 January 17, 2011.
Why isn't anyone talking how you run a state with junk bond status? Because ...."You can't"
The budget crisis is a multi year both party run up. Now we have to man up and get back in control.
"The budget crisis is a multi year both party run up.". I listened to the House budget vote last year. When Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan was asked "Why was Republican Minority leader Tom Cross not in the budget meetings?" he responded "Mr. Cross has a different viewpoint than mine, thus I felt he did not need to be in the meetings".
As for the GOP proposals on reducing state spending - just look at the bills that died in Speaker Madigan's rules committee. No bill hits the House floor without his OK.
Thanks for the props, TA.
...and "sackless" continues to hide behind the anonymous tag.
...and for those who actually know me will find the end of "sackless'" rant particularly funny.
In regards to the junk bond argument...
One way to make a fiscal correction to avoid junk bond status is to raise taxes.
THE OTHER WAY is to cut programs and spending.
The philosophical question is which is better, bigger government or smaller government.
My contention is that increasing government is a poor decision. Dramatically increasing taxes in one of the worst economic climates in our 200+ year history will be seen as a generational failure.
to Anon 3:41 hmmm...you sound a bit like Carol Sente. You are correct A.Bees - I like that last paragraph!
Gee, Bees, you've had a day or two and you still cannot come up with a single piece of legislation sponsored by your vaunted GOP to reduce the size of government. You also haven't responded to your specious argument that Uline moved to Wisconsin due to Illinois taxes. You don't know squat about government or even the example you cite. Uline's senior management live in Illinois and pay Illinois income taxes. Uline is registered in Illinois and pays Illinois ROT. And you continue your juvenile invective.
If you're so concerned about the size of government, impress us with your knowledge and tell us which gubernatorial administration oversaw the largest increase in the number of the State of Illinois' employees.
Really, do something more than just flap your jowls.
...and you still haven't figured out that pointing specifically to income tax and corporate taxes don't account for total tax burden. It also ignores the regional taxes, such as property taxes, sales tax, etc. So in the case of Uline, my reference refers specifically to a business leaving N. Illinois and moving to Kenosha County. Same regarding Abbott purchasing significant lands in S. Wisconsin.
Shame on me, I may have not explained that clearly enough the first time. If that is the source of confusion, my apologies.
In real application of the implications of this ridiculous tax increase, we have to look first at the regional variations. So we need to compare businesses in Lake County to Kenosha County and Edgar County to Parke County, etc.
The reality is that Wisconsin, Indiana, etc. are open for business. They are providing significant tax breaks for businesses to relocate. On the other hand we are applying harsher fiscal challenges in a struggling economy which will drive those businesses out.
So to sum up, keeping the regional tax variations in mind, the total tax burden in the state of Illinois is worse than in our bordering states. This is awful fiscal policy. And to implement this tax increase without cutting anything is a blatant slap in the face of the Illinois taxpayer.
As far as legislation to cut spending...well in the first 50 bills of legislation introduced on the house side, here are two:
Rep. Sacia - HB 0011 Requires drug testing for people to receive benefits through the TANF program.
Rep. Tracy - HB 0018 Limits the All Kids program to families with incomes within 300% of the poverty line.
Considering there will be thousands of other pieces of legislation introduced in the coming months, I'd venture it's safe to assume there will be more.
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