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Chicago—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) have fought against higher taxes, reckless spending, and government largesse for nearly forty years. As we look back at our decades of activism and education of taxpayers, TUA is releasing some footage from our archives featuring our president and founder, Jim Tobin.
“This pyramid [pointing at a dollar bill], that’s the social security program. It’s a pyramid scheme. It’s a legalized Ponzi scheme. And it’s a terrible system for the young people of this country,” said Tobin on the evening of February 20, 1997. He was one of the audience members who offered commentary on the subject of Social Security at a special Chicago Tonight live event at Triton College. The event also included a panel of social security experts and politicians.
Tobin, who holds a masters in economics, goes on to briefly discuss the downsides of the Social Security system, including the shifting retirement age and the tripling of tax rates to fund the program, both of which do great harm to those who can least financially afford the arbitrary policy changes.
“We are not going to get twenty cents on the dollar back, unless we live to be 110,” joked Tobin. Host John Callaway then posed the all-important question, “What do you want to see happen?”
“I want to see the system privatized. I want the Senator from Illinois to support privatization of the Social Security system,” responded Tobin, addressing the host as well as U.S. Senator from Illinois Carol Moseley Braun, who was in attendance.
Tobin concluded, “And I’ll do it on my own. I want my responsibility for my own life and I don’t want to be talked to and told what to do by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Congress. We want our freedom!”
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Chicago—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) responds to Prospect Heights SD 23 Strike.
“It is incomprehensible that the teachers of SD 23 could actually strike at this time. By no measure are these ‘civil servants’ underpaid in employment or retirement,” stated TUA executive director, Rae Ann McNeilly.
“These teachers are effectively demanding that their neighbors take another pay cut, which will come in the form of even higher property taxes, so the teachers can make more today and in retirement. The reality is that these striking teachers must look their neighbors in the eyes and say, ‘I don’t really care if you can no longer afford to live in your home, as long as I get what I want.’”
“Government school teachers make more than their counterparts in the private sector in both wages and benefits, they enjoy virtually iron-clad job security, and are only active for about 8 months out of the year,” added McNeilly.
“In any case, the State of Illinois is near implosion, financially speaking, and it is just irresponsible for any government employee to expect compensation increases when the taxpayers who fund them can barely keep their own heads above water.”
“The most recent report indicates that the Prospect Heights Education Association, the union at the heart of the strike, expects taxpayers to cough up pay increases of 4.5% for the first two years of the three year contract and 4.25% for the third year. How many taxpayers have received comparable pay increases recently or expect such huge increases over the next three years? Most of our members are worried about hanging on to their homes and keeping up with their property taxes as is, yet Illinois tries to tax its way out of the financial debacle, the same way bureaucrats created it.”
“It’s about time for teachers, and any other government employees, to suck it up and live on the very fair wages they are already getting and give the taxpayers a break.”
“If they really want to do what’s best ‘for the children,’ they will let the kids’ parents keep more of their hard-earned money and hopefully continue to afford their property taxes.”
“The following data shows taxpayers what a few of these ‘poor civil servants’ are making in retirement; we can only imagine what kind of salaries warrant these pensions.”
Click here to see the complete list of SD 23 pensions.
“Although many of the top pensioners retired as administrators, they were all teachers first,” concluded McNeilly.
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CHICAGO—Chicago residents, especially minority residents on the South and West sides of the city, are shortchanged on police protection, as they bear the brunt of the crime wave caused by rival drug gangs, charged Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“This past weekend, six persons were killed and 27 wounded between Friday and Sunday. This carnage is unacceptable.”
“The highly-politicized police department has essentially given up on protecting Chicagoans,” said Tobin. “And to make it worse, while they provide substandard protection, Chicago police are pulling down high salaries and fat, lavish, gold-plated pensions that have been drained to the point where the plans are grossly underfunded and, in effect, bankrupt.”
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) is calling for the largest property tax increase in modern Chicago history, between $450 million and $550 million, to raise enough money to make a major pension payment for police and firefighters next year. This will drive Chicagoans with good jobs and homes out of the city, leaving the less affluent to pay the higher property taxes as they are besieged by criminals,” said Tobin.
“The War on Drugs is not only a complete failure, but its prosecution has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and an even steeper price for the countless lives lost. This is a war on people, as we are continuing to witness on the South and West sides, and considerable reform of the drug laws are required to stop the violence fueled by prohibition.”
“Just like the pension plans of the State of Illinois, the Chicago government-employee pension plans and the Chicago Board of Education pension plan are beyond the point of being rescued by tax increases. The amendment to the Illinois Constitution protecting government employee pensions from being “diminished or impaired” must be repealed. The Illinois General Assembly must vote to allow municipalities to file for bankruptcy so the bankrupt pension plans can be restructured to bring expenses down to reasonable levels.”
“Finally, all new hires should be placed into 401(k)-style retirement plans, so they can fund their own retirements rather than living off the earnings of Chicago homeowners and property owners.”
