Governor Pritzker Must Do More For Taxpayers NOW!

By on March 29, 2020   /   Latest  

View as PDF

Chicago–Taxpayers United of America (TUA) president Jim Tobin, today criticized Illinois Governor Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker’s response to COVID-19.

“Pritzker is killing the Illinois economy,” said Tobin. “On March 25, Pritzker announced he was considering extending the statewide lockdown, and the continued closure of all businesses he deemed non-essential.”

“If the lockdown is extended as is, the Illinois middle class will be devastated. Unlike government employees, taxpayers have to worry if their jobs will still be there after the lockdown. One taxpayer wrote to me, telling how he lost his job of 11 years, and that his former employer would likely close its doors soon. The virus didn’t do that. Pritzker did.”

“Pritzker needs to use his emergency powers to slash taxes to support those struggling in Illinois. Tax cuts will especially be needed if he extends his lockdown order. I know Representatives in the Illinois State House, including Allen Skillicorn (R-66, Crystal Lake), have come forward with a list of actions needed to defend the Illinois economy against the worst of Pritzker’s lockdown. Their proposed sales tax holiday will be particularly useful in getting Illinois moving again.”

“Pushing back the state income tax deadline to that of the new federal income tax deadline is not enough. Taxpayers need immediate relief, and the defeat of all new tax increases, including the November 3 Income Theft Amendment, are necessary for recovery.”

Back to Top

LAW PROFESSOR TO PRITZKER: DON’T USE CONSTITUTION AS EXCUSE TO AVOID PENSION REFORM

By on March 19, 2020   /   Latest  
TUA logo

View as PDF

A notable law professor dismantled the argument of Ill. Gov. Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker (D), who argued that pension reform involving reduced government pensions violates the U.S. Constitution’s contracts clause.

Mark D. Rosen, University Distinguished Professor of Law at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, writing in Crain’s, stated that Pritzker is wrong, and that a long line of U.S. Supreme Court cases holds that the Constitution’s prohibition on impairing the obligation of contracts is not absolute.

“Pritzker’s argument is not based on law, but is the result of pressure by government-employee unions and government bureaucrats,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

The Court had stated that “we must attempt to reconcile the strictures of the Contract Clause with the essential attribute of sovereign power…necessarily reserved by the States to safeguard the welfare of their citizens.”

Rosen states that “Common sense suggests that maintaining the state’s viability so it can provide adequate education and health care and public safety might likewise be sufficiently important to allow impairments.”

Rosen concluded, “…Pritzker should not invoke the U.S. Constitution as an excuse for not considering a state constitutional amendment.”

“Rather than bankrupting the state’s middle class with a huge graduated income tax increase this November, it’s time Pritzker was honest with his Income Theft Amendment,” said Tobin. “Illinois government pensions cannot be fixed with tax increases. True pension reform has to be based on reforming the lavish, gold-plated government-employee pension plans.”

Back to Top

Turning Point

By on March 18, 2020   /   Blog, Latest  
Yesterday was a good day for taxpayers. Despite the naysaying and the heckling from tax thieves, taxpayers have just won a string of very important victories. Every Home Rule referenda in Cook County was soundly defeated, along with two government school property increase referenda in Will County.

Taxpayers in Lynwood Illinois handing out vote no Home Rule fliers.

View as PDF

Yesterday was a good day for taxpayers. Despite the naysaying and the heckling from tax thieves, taxpayers have just won a string of very important victories. Every Home Rule referenda in Cook County was soundly defeated, along with two government school property increase referenda in Will County.

“These are all great results,”, said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), commenting on the March 17 election. “Our hard work in Burr Ridge, Westchester, and Lynwood have paid off. Every Home Rule referendum was trounced by overwhelming majorities.”

“Ever since tax thieves bulldogged a $5,000,000,000 income tax increase through Springfield, they have pushed for even higher taxes on the middle class. Taxpayers are furious at these constant tax hikes. Homeowners bristle at the very idea of another property tax increase.”

“Taxpayers have fled these outrageous taxes in droves, and quite a few have lost hope. One supporter of TUA went so far as to write me a letter, telling me to give up, that Illinois is a lost cause. I didn’t give up though, and neither should anyone else! When it comes to tax increase referenda, taxpayers win.”

“I have fought tax increases in Illinois for over 40 years. Including the 3 new Home Rule referenda victories, with the property tax referenda victories in Peotone and Oswego, we have now racked up 437 taxpayer referenda victories. Illinois taxpayers are nowhere near out of the fight.”

“I sense a turning point coming in Illinois. Illinoisans are done with new taxes, but government employees are demanding more The lavish pensions Speaker Madigan and his cronies have promised are outgrowing the amount of money they can steal from taxpayers. The only way they can keep the gravy train rolling is with a graduated income tax increase.”

“The $5,000,000,000 income tax increase was not enough, and neither is the proposed graduated income tax increase. This ‘Fair Tax’ as called, is nothing more than thievery. It is in fact an Income Theft Amendment, a graduated income tax increase on the middle class.”

“Now that the March 17 elections are over, the November 3 Income Theft Amendment is now our major focus. We beat Home Rule, we defeated, property tax increases, and now we are going to beat back the Income Theft Amendment as we did before.”

Back to Top