Madigan Bribing Dems To Extend State Income Tax Increase? Say It Isn't So!

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CHICAGO—The president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today condemned House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D) for attempting to bribe house Democrats into voting to make permanent, the 67% increase in the state personal income tax.
“Bribing and intimidating legislators runs in the Democrat party family,” said Jim Tobin, TUA president.
This January, the ‘temporary’ state personal income tax that raised the rate from 3% to 5% is due to drop to 3.75% and to 3.25% in 2025, and the 9.5% state corporate income tax is required to drop to 7.75% in 2015 and drop further in 2025 to a rate of 7.3%. Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) and Chicago Democrat machine boss and House Speaker Madigan originally promised Illinois taxpayers that the income tax hikes would be temporary. Now, Madigan, who is short of the 60 votes needed to extend the income tax hike, is pulling out all the stops to bribe and intimidate Democrats in the Ill. House.”
“Madigan is basically telling house members that if they don’t vote ‘Yes’, their districts will get no new capital projects, and that they may lose projects they already have.”
“Bribes are standard operating procedures for Springfield Democrats. Gov. Quinn bribed former St. Rep. Careen Gordon (D-Morris) in order to secure her vote for the 67% increase in the state personal income tax. Her Yes vote gave Quinn the minimum 60 votes. “The Chicago Tribune in January 2011 revealed that after securing Gordon’s Yes vote, Quinn gave Gordon a new $86,000-a-year state job.”
“Almost all of the money from the 67% income tax increase is going to shore-up the floundering state government-employee pension funds, which provide retired government employees lavish, gold-plated pensions that are higher than the actual wages of most workers in the private sector.”
“If the Illinois economy stands any chance of recovery, house Democrats must stand firm and reject House Bill 395, which would make the 67% increase in the state personal income tax permanent.”

Is Chicago Press Part of the Cabal that Supports Illinois’ High Tax Rates?

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The Illinois state corporate income tax continues to be understated by reporters and politicians, according to Jim Tobin, the president of one of the nation’s largest taxpayer groups, Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“The total Illinois corporate state income tax rate of 9.5% includes a base rate of 7% and another 2.5% on top of that, which was added by constitutional amendment in 1980,” says Tobin, “The additional tax was called a ‘personal property replacement tax,’ which purportedly replaced a 19th-century tax that was not even being collected.”
“But the government game of misrepresenting the actual corporate income tax rate is perpetuated by a press that is either lazy, sloppy or part of the conspiratorial group who would drive taxes even higher.”
“Let’s not forget that the Chicago Sun Times, who consistently understates the corporate income tax rate, also supported Gov. Quinn’s 67% income tax surcharge increase.”
“I guess if the press can’t ask the hard questions of the lawmakers, such as what’s the plan for fixing Illinois’ financial house of cards, it’s up to us to ask why not?”
“It is also reasonable to ask how much responsibility lazy or incompetent press bears in the state’s financial and corrupt cesspool when they fail to do basic diligence, much less responsible, investigative journalism.”
The facts are readily available at the non-partisan Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., “The Illinois corporate state income tax rate, raised from 7.3% to 9.5%, rose from being the 21st highest overall corporate tax rate in the country to 4th highest.”
“This is the third time since October we have provided this information to all members of Illinois Press.”
The first report is HERE, released October 10, 2013. The second report is HERE, released March 31, 2014.

Illinois High Taxes and Corruption Go Hand-In-Hand

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CHICAGO—High taxes and corruption go hand-in-hand in Illinois, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Illinois is easily the most corrupt state in the union,” said Tobin. “The previous front-runner, Louisiana, is now a distant second. And the mother-lode of corruption is the Democrat machine of Cook County, which runs roughshod over the entire state.”
“Illinois’ high taxes are driving small and medium businesses out of the state. But the Springfield Democrats don’t care; all they care about is pampering the unions who are their financial benefactors and who own these legislators in the General Assembly.”
“Brian Costin, writing in the May 16 issue of Illinois Corruption Watch, put it well when he wrote:”
When it rains it pours in Illinois. We found 45 different news stories relating to Illinois corruption in just the month of April. They continue to pile up in the first half of May, with 28 new news stories on corruption already. This includes tales of patronage hiring (again), using public resources for political campaigns (again), a politician who has to pay a $550,000 federal corruption fine and a story about secret waitlists on veterans at an Illinois VA Hospital.
“The so-called pension reform bills passed by the Ill. General Assembly are just window-dressing, and even these ‘reforms’ are being challenged. A coalition of labor unions asked a court in Springfield to prevent a new state law aimed at curbing Illinois’ public employee pension debt from taking effect next month until questions about its ‘constitutionality’ have been resolved.”
“According to St. Rep. Michael W. Tryon (R-66, Crystal Lake), Article VIII of the Illinois Constitution is clear in its mandate that appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year. In February, the House unanimously adopted House Joint Resolution 80, which set the FY15 revenue estimate at $34.5 billion. The total appropriations approved on Thursday exceeded that estimate by close to $3 billion.”
“Illinois has over $187 billion in unfunded government-employee pensions, some of the highest taxes in the country, and is run like a banana republic by machine bosses, Michael J. Madigan (D), House Speaker, and John J. Cullerton (D), Senate President. Until these leaders and their minions in the House and Senate are thrown from office, Illinois will continue to spiral around the drain and some day will literally go bankrupt.”
“How many elected and appointed Illinois politicians have to go to jail before we learn that we can’t send unchecked, copious amounts of cash to be administered by these criminals? As taxpayers, we must stop the life-blood that perpetuates the Illinois cartel; we must cut off the money supply and demand sane and moral tax policies that respect the taxpayers’ right to keep their own money and make their own decisions about how it is spent….or not.”
“And we start by firing every politician from Gov. Patrick Quinn down to every village administrator who thinks taxpayer money is theirs for the taking.”