“INFRASTRUCTURE” TAXES HELP POLITICIANS, NOT COMMUTERS

By on February 18, 2020   /   IL, Illinois, Latest  
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Raising taxes for “infrastructure” is a scam that helps politicians but not commuters, according to Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayer Education Foundation (TEF).

“Politicians want to raise taxes for infrastructure because new projects give taxpayers the impression they are getting shiny new things for their money,” said Tobin. “But, in fact, these projects actually harm commuters.”

“Several studies by transportation expert Randal O’Toole, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, show that with the exception of New York City subway ridership, the future for the rest of the government transit industry is dim. Yet billions of dollars are still being poured into declining government transit systems instead of improving roads.”

“O’Toole provides some startling statistics to illustrate these facts.”

  • Other than New York City subways, nationwide ridership fell 1.2 percent for 2019 as a whole.
  • When compared with 2014 ridership, 2019 ridership fell in 44 out of the 50 largest urban areas.
  • Transit buses, including commuter buses, trolley buses, and bus-rapid transit as well as conventional buses, carried fewer riders in 2019 than in any year since 1939.
  • Light rail is also doing poorly, losing more than 4 percent of its riders in 2019.
  • Government Transit is not healthy in almost all urban areas. Los Angeles and Washington ridership peaked in about 2008; Chicago in 2012; and the others in 2013 or 2014.  If government transit can’t thrive in Chicago, which has the nation’s second-largest downtown, then it is really becoming a one-urban-area industry (New York).
  • Whenever it opens a new light-rail line, Los Angeles loses five bus riders for every light-rail rider it gains, and even light-rail ridership declines in years that it doesn’t open new lines.

“O’Toole shows that building government rail transit usually does more harm than good to a transit system. Gasoline is cheap and autos provide people access to far more jobs and other economic opportunities than transit,” said Tobin.

“Interstate Highways, called the world’s best transportation system, were paid for entirely out of federal and state highway user fees. There is little justification for raising more taxes and trying to get people out of their cars and onto transit, which in turn means there is little justification for the tens of billions of dollars of annual subsidies American taxpayers give to the government transit industry.”

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REMINDER: Fill Up Before July 1!

By on June 26, 2019   /   Latest  

This is a reminder to all Illinois taxpayers to fill up their tanks with gasoline before Pritzker’s Gas Tax Increase takes effect July 1.

Illinois Governor Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker recently approved massive regressive tax increases on gasoline and other items, affecting the poor and middle class.

Some of the tax increases include:

  • Doubling the Illinois state gasoline tax.
  • Increased license plate fees.
  • Increased driver’s license fees.
  • Allowed an additional 8 cents in county gasoline taxes.
  • State gasoline taxes will be automatically increased every year without future votes.

“Illinois may as well have elected a pirate, seeing how thoroughly Pritzker is pillaging Illinois,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America. “It is newer and higher taxes as far as the eye can see. Not only that, but these taxes are all regressive in nature. Pritzker has already broken his promise to tax only the rich.”

“The $45 Billion in new spending paid for by these new tax increases needs to be a red line for Illinoisans. We are taxed enough already. This policy of continually raising taxes is killing Illinois. Taxpayers must reject and repeal any new taxes.”

“In the meantime, fill up on gasoline while the prices are still lower.”

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Massive Gas Tax Increase From Springfield

By on December 26, 2018   /   Illinois, Items of Interest, Latest, Taxpayer Alert  

There is a terrible secret that has leaked from Springfield. Lame duck tax raisers are planning to pass a 30 cent gasoline tax increase on January 7 or 8 as a farewell gift. This tax gouge will give Illinois the highest gas taxes in the nation.

Information started to break as the Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and a union of tax thieving mayors called for a massive fuel tax increase to fund what they described as “infrastructure projects.”

We know better than to believe that.

This state gas tax increase will heavily damage the Illinois economy, and chase even more taxpayers out of the state. For the year ending in 2018, Illinois continued a 5-year population decline and lost an additional 45,000 residents.

The bill will be voted on either the 7th or the 8th of January, so we do not have much time. We do not have the bill number, and we do not know in which chamber the bill will originate.  The only information we have is that it will happen on those dates, and the sources of this information are credible.

We must take this threat seriously and we need all hands on deck to defeat this. I strongly urge you to call your state representative and state senator and tell them to vote NO on any new gas tax. You can contact them by going go to http://ima-net.org/illinois-legislator-e-contact-lists/ to get their phone numbers and email addresses. If you do not know who your local politician is, you can find them and their contact information with an interactive map here. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/

This is a fight that we can win. France, one of the highest taxed countries in the world protested a recent gas tax similar to the one being proposed in Springfield. They donned yellow vests and took to the streets demanding the government reverse the tax. They won! The tax was reversed.

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