FRESH AIR, NOT LOCKDOWNS FOR ILLINOIS!

By on July 3, 2020   /   Blog, Latest  
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“Instead of lockdowns that cripple local economies and cause rapid spread of coronavirus due to crowded, poorly ventilated buildings, more research points to getting people outside and ending lockdowns,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA).

“The corrupt and inept Illinois Governor, Jay Robert ‘J. B.’ Pritzker, is destroying the state’s fragile economy with his Soviet-style lockdown. He could learn a few things by looking at the report, Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #61, which points out in ‘Health Lesson from Japan’ that one of the mysteries of coronavirus is why Japan has been almost entirely immune from a disease that began in Asia.”

According to the report, “There are few more densely populated cities than Tokyo and Japan has an aging population. Yet this country with 126 million people has suffered less than 1,000 deaths. This is a death rate less than one-tenth ours. What have they done right?” The report’s conclusions:

  • There were no economic lockdowns.
  • The Japanese understood from the start that nearly all of the significant transmission events appear to be inside, typically in poorly ventilated spaces. This insight was part of the Japanese “3 Cs” strategy that saw less than a thousand total deaths in the whole country — with no lockdown.
  • An article in Science suggested that about 80% of people with coronavirus infect exactly zero others. Almost all the transmission comes from super spread events. “Probably about 10% of cases lead to 80% of the spread,” according to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
  • There are three simple and costless ways to reduce the risk of illness from coronavirus. 1) Get outside. 2) Open the windows. 3) For businesses and schools without windows to open, we need to think about how to significantly increase ventilation in their indoor spaces.

“Like so many other Democrat politicians, Pritzker is lacking in common sense as he pursues a left-wing agenda that is crippling the Illinois economy. Get fresh air into work spaces, and open them up for business!” said Tobin.

Source: https://mailchi.mp/2dc4bf98ad1e/unleash-prosperity-hotline-722861?e=326efb7454

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BLUE STATES HEAD TOWARD DEPRESSION

By on June 29, 2020   /   Latest  
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Blue states are losing jobs at a record pace and red states are gaining on them, according to a report published by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. New Dept. of Labor employment data show that “America is on two divergent paths.”

Nine of ten states with unemployment rates above 15 percent in May are states with Democrat governors: Nevada, Hawaii, Michigan, California, Rhode Island, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, and Washington.

“It’s no surprise that the six states with the lowest unemployment rates are all ‘red’ states,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA). “Illinois, which has had its economy stifled by the Soviet-style lockdown of Democrat Governor Jay Robert ‘J. B.’ Pritzker, had an unemployment rate in May of 15.2 percent.”

“The report shows that the recession in Illinois is not a ‘coronavirus recession.’ It is a blue state lockdown recession.”

“It is shocking that the Democrat-run blue states not only have the highest unemployment figures, but that these states generally have had the highest death rates and the highest nursing home fatalities.”

“As the report put it so well, the blue states have not only failed to keep their citizens safe, they’ve ruined their economies as well,” said Tobin.

Source: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6953815-Stephen-Moore-Unleash-Prosperity-Hotline-56.html

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Rockford Pensioners Collect Millions Amid Unemployment Crisis

By on June 26, 2020   /   Illinois, jim tobin, Latest  
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TUA in the News!
Story covered by CBS Channel 23 News Rockford.

Rockford- “Rockford area property taxes have been some of the highest in the country in recent years. Property taxes pay for the local government pensions and state law requires those pensions to be paid before any other commitments. No matter how many private sector workers lose their jobs, government retirees continue to collect their gold-plated pensions,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

“While the local pensions of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) are paid by property taxes, the remaining five state pension funds are subsidized with the Illinois state income-tax.” 

“In order to fund pensions of the 148,654 pensioners who will collect more than a million dollars in pension payments, Democrat Gov. Jay Robert ‘J. B.’Pritzkeris seeking to hoodwink voters into passing constitutional amendment that that ushers in massive state income-tax increases.”

“Pritzker’s incometheft amendment will be on the November 3, 2020 ballot. If passed, this taxpayer theftwill hit the middle-class the hardest. Between the mass exodus of Illinois residents to more tax-friendly states and the huge loss of jobs and income from Pritzker’s Soviet style lockdown, Illinois’ middle-class will virtually disappear.”

“As many of us have been struggling without a paycheck, or watching businesses disintegrate, here’s what a few of the political elite in Winnebago County collected without a concern of what is to come:

Alan S. Brown retired from Rockford SD205 at the age of 55. His current annual pension is $188,828, an increase of about $5,000 over last year. With his 3% compounded COLA, he will realize about $5,353,244 over a normal lifetime. His personal investment in that stunning payout is only about 3%.

Paul A. Logli retired from Winnebago County government with a current annual pension of $172,197. His raise this year was about $3,700 and he will collect about $4,966,168 in estimated lifetime pension payments. Paul is also eligible for a social security pension. 

Karl Jacobs, Rock Valley College retiree, collects $184,970 a year from the State University Retirement System (SURS). His estimated lifetime payout is $2,968,762. He only had to invest $159,281 of his own money in that payout.”

“Illinois government employees only work 20.1 years on average in order to collect these unrealistic pensions. And for every dollar they deposit in their own pension fund, taxpayers are forced to fork over $4.74. Add to that a 3% COLA, compounded for all but IMRF, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Illinois’ government pensions are insolvent.”

“Rather than put an income theft amendment on the November 3rd ballot, Pritzker should have pushed for a pension reform amendment because these outrageous pensions are protected by the state constitution. 

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