Taxpayers In Springfield Protest Pritzker’s New Middle Class Taxes

By on May 22, 2019   /   IL, Items of Interest  

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Springfield–Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA), and other taxpayer activists staged a protest in the Illinois State Capitol Building on May 21. The protest was held in opposition to the nearly endless demands for newer and higher taxes proposed by Gov. Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker and other tax thieves. 

Tobin, who spoke to the crowd at the protest, had harsh words for the current Illinois Governor. “Pritzker promised not to increase taxes on the middle class,” said Tobin. “He lied! Pritzker’s $2.4 Billion gasoline tax increase is a tax increase on the middle class.”

Pritzker has promised many new regressive taxes that will largely hurt the poor and middle class. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, some of the new taxes could be placed on ride-sharing, cable streaming, alcohol purchases, plastic bag usage, parking garage fees, cigarettes, electric vehicles, car registration fees and gasoline. These taxes are all regressive in nature, as they take up a larger share of an individual’s income compared to other taxes.

Of all the regressive and anti-middle class taxes being pushed however, the taxes for “road improvement” is the worst scam that Pritzker is pushing. As exposed in a Taxpayer Education Foundation study, a large part of the gasoline taxes collected in Illinois are funneled into the bloated bureaucracy that is Chicago government transit. This money is being stolen from non-Chicago taxpayers to fund lavish government employee pensions and subsidize an obsolete, 19th Century transit system. 

“The corpulent con man Pritzker is no savior of the middle class,” said Tobin. “He is determined to pillage the Illinois middle class to enrich the Chicago government class. This is irresponsible and legalized theft on a statewide scale.”

“That is why these grassroots protests are so important, now more than ever. We need to show Illinois government that Illinois taxpayers will resist new tax increases every step of the way.” 









  • Pictured: Ed Ford of Taxpayers for Action and and Jim Tobin.

  • Pictured: Jim Tobin and Ralyn Sue, a local activist.
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JAIL PRITZKER, FREE TAXPAYERS!

By on April 24, 2019   /   IL, Illinois, Items of Interest, Latest  

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Ill. Gov. Jay Robert  “J. B.” Pritzker, the corpulent con-man acting on behalf of Chicago’s Democrat political machine, could find himself sharing a jail cell with former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a result of a federal criminal investigation into a dubious residential property tax appeal, according to WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.


It seems that Pritzker, his wife and his brother-in-law are under federal criminal investigation for a dubious residential property tax appeal. According to WBEZ, the probe, which has not been revealed publicly until now, began last October and remains active.


The billionaire Pritzker and his wife may face a serious legal threat arising from their controversial pursuit of a property tax break on a 126-year-old mansion they purchased next to their Gold Coast home.


According to the WBEZ report, a Cook County inspector general’s report found Pritzker directed workers to remove all toilets from the mansion in order to have it declared “uninhabitable,” which gave the Pritzkers a huge property tax break. The report also found that the governor’s brother-in-law, Thomas J. Muenster, made “false representations” on tax appeal documents. That amounted to a “scheme to defraud” taxpayers out of more than $331,000.


The Chicago Sun-Times published news of a confidential memo from Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard. The report found the Pritzkers had caused the residence they had purchased next to their home to fall into disrepair, in part, by removing its toilets in October 2015 in order to lower the home’s property taxes by having it declared “vacant and uninhabitable.”


On that basis, the Pritzkers’ lawyers persuaded then-Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios’ office to lower the home’s market value from more than $6.25 million to slightly less than $1.08 million. That ultimately led to a dramatically lower property tax bill for the mansion.


“It’s ironic that Pritzker allegedly planned to defraud taxpayers out of more than $331,000 for his benefit while he is pushing to change the state income tax to a graduated income tax,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA). “Pritzker’s graduated income tax increase amendment would steal billions from the state’s most productive citizens to fund lavish, unnecessary government pensions.”


“This man has no conscience. The way things are going, he may end up in a residence provided by the state, and he won’t have to worry about property taxes.”

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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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