by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released Wastebook 2011, a report covering 100 examples of wasteful government spending. The examples range from millions of dollars to just a few thousand dollars, but all highlight how government uses taxpayer money to fund unnecessary projects, often not relating at all the to core purposes...
The Elgin City Council plans to vote tonight on a new budget that increases taxes and adds new fees. The Council has chosen to pursue new revenue sources to fill a $4.5 million deficit, rather than run a more efficient government. This strategy of higher taxes only compounds the problems that average Illinoisans and residents of Elgin...
by Ted Dabrowski Illinois is bleeding people to almost every state in the nation. People are packing up and voting with their feet. Gone – goodbye. When people leave, they don’t just take their belongings. With them go their earnings, their spending power and their contribution to society. When they own companies, they even take the...
by Kristina Rasmussen A letter writer to the State-Journal Register nails it: One of the things I’ve noticed in past exposure to politicians is that they are not dumb people. In fact, most are quite intelligent. The recent tax breaks for several Illinois employers is proof of that. When legislators approved a large tax hike a few months...
by Kristina Rasmussen Today I stood up with a left-right coalition to call for the end of the FutureGen earmark. Details are below. Illinois Farmers, Government Watchdogs, and Environmentalists Hold Press Conference on FutureGen and Its Implications on the Federal Budget and Environment Springfield, Illinois—Today, representatives of Taxpayers for Common Sense, The Heartland Institute, Friends of...
by Kristina Rasmussen Illinois’ flat tax is one of the few bright spots in our state’s tax code. It’s simple, fair and good for growth. And, as NRO’s Kevin Williamson puts it, a flat tax is perfectly progressive: One’s income-tax liability is perfectly proportional to one’s income: At 10 percent, that means $10 on $100 in income, and...
by Dan Proft In January of this year, Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton passed the largest tax increase in Illinois history. They proceeded to spend much of 2011 carving out special exceptions to the tax hike for politically powerful Illinois employers. This week, Sears and the CME Group...
by Jacob Huebert In its November veto session, the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass the comprehensive pension reform that Illinois needs to avoid fiscal disaster. But at least it took one step in the right direction: It voted to repeal provisions of state law that allowed a few privileged individuals to receive large public pensions for the years they spent...
by Ted Dabrowski Earlier this year, lawmakers raised income taxes by a record amount. The tax increases included a hike in the state’s corporate tax rate to 7 percent, up from 4.8 percent. When combined with the personal property replacement tax levied on businesses in Illinois, they now face a corporate tax rate of 9.5...
by Kristina Rasmussen From the sounds of it, House leaders are planning another go on the “tax relief” deal and break it up into two amendments. One for the business measures, and one for the personal measures. My dissatisfaction with Democrats’ previous attempts to offer tax relief to individuals and family is no secret (get my take from...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Between 2000 and 2010, Illinois lost 434,100 jobs – more than almost any other state. By comparison, Texas gained 910,400 jobs during the same time span. Click on the image below to check out our interactive dashboard to see how Illinois stacked up against other states in job creation over the last decade.
Introduction Rod Blagojevich’s tenure as governor of Illinois will have a lasting effect on the state’s reputation and fiscal condition. From January 2003 to January 2009, Blagojevich made headlines for his sensational comments, political feuds and backroom deals. After being arrested in December 2008 on charges of political corruption, the Legislature removed him from office...
A tax relief giveaway was approved by a House committee today. The bill lacks relief for the average Illinois family, however.
by Emily Dietrich Illinois’ economy added 30,000 jobs in the month of October. However, the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 10.1 percent. This contradiction leaves many wondering: did the Illinois jobs market improve or not? To evaluate the jobs market, economists rely on two surveys produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. The...