County board public comments, or..."I am a small business owner and I just stumbled on this meeting without any knowledge of anything"....

On 2/11, I to the DuPage county board meeting watching the republican government at work. We have 3 Democratic board members and 12 Republican so it can be a bit one sided. We are of the "upper middle class" venue if you listen to our...um....County Board. It is true that DuPage county has a much higher average income over many other areas of Illinois(our average is $78,000, Illinois average is $55,000), but there are 9 counties, that have an average income of higher than Illinois' median average, all but 2 are northern counties. My opinion? I think our "higher income" is not because of the republicon twitch, but because we're located near Chicago, as are the other 6 counties that make above the median(and that includes Cook).
Full disclosure: the reason I was at these particular meetings was due to my involvement with A Better Illinois, which is a grassroots group that is trying to get a ballot referendum on for the next general election that allows the voters of Illinois the ability to choose a graduated income tax(like 34 of the states now have) or stay with our antiquated misnomer tax system of "flat" which includes corporate loopholes galore. Illinois' tax system has not been really updated since the 1970's and is one of the biggest problems with our funding problems in the Land of Lincoln.
So...I'm sitting and listening to the workings of the board, who are basically wasting time and tax funds by holding a meeting to discuss the viability of sending a resolution to the State Assembly, which doesn't do anything at all in the actual process of putting the referendum on the ballot. Yep, just blowing smoke up their own asses...see how import'nt we are? Not much.
During the meeting there is time for public comment. Yes, I was there to speak, but I wasn't the only one.
There were representatives from different chapters of the League of Women Voters, IEA(one of the teacher's unions) and just regular old folks, shucks, who just came to speak...the same words...over and over again....blah blah blah"blank check", blah blah blah "we pay too much already", blah blah blah "businesses are going to move out!" All seemed to have the same message, sort of like the Stepford wife routine. I smelled something fishy. So, when I got home, I got on the google machine. See, the meetings are taped and you can watch everything over and over again...and everyone's name was right there so it was pretty easy to find out who these people were and what planet they're from.

So, one of the first person that struck me as a bit of a ranty lunatic was Glen Luckinbill who introduced himself as a "small business owner", in fact he said that he owned a business and his wife owned a business--the wording made it sound like there were at least 2 in the family, although there's only one that comes up on the web..which his wife is the president and he the sales executive(hmmm....wonder if they get that lucrative "minority" status since she's the prez?). He went on to say that they used to employ 30, now they employ 17 because of taxes(although the read on the company shows only 3 employees, including the Luckinbills, although I could be missing something), not, of course because of the recession that we've been in, that had nothing to do with it, just taxes. He also said that he and his wife are paying almost 50% of their profits in taxes now and if this went through, OH MY GOD! They'd have to move to another state. OK, so my first question, Who the Hell is doing your taxes?!?!!??!?! There isn't a smart business in this country that's paying that much and if that's true...DUDE, call me, I bet I can do better(but I will be charging him a "gullible" fee).

So the next brainiac I'd like to introduce you to is Jerry Schilling--talk about batshit crazy....I'm talking so far right, he don't make left turns when driving. He began his rant about how we pay too much in taxes, every year the state, county, municipal and other government institution raise taxes, fees, codes and we're being bled to death by taxes! He doesn't want to pay anything in taxes! OK. I really wanted to ask him how he thinks the roads would have been plowed by his house without paying taxes(we've had over 60" of snow), the snow plow fairies???? And the actual fact is that Illinois is a low tax state--we don't tax services, storage, entertainment, automotive service as do all of the states that surround us. We also have a lower tax rate than all of the states that surround us except Indiana(and its Indiana...where they tax services like hair cuts).
So, now what's his background? First, he's in his late 60's/early 70's so unless he's too silly not to retire, he's not paying state income taxes because Illinois doesn't tax retirement income! He runs a blog that complains about every little single thing that government does and he also writes for another rightwing blog(West Suburban Patriots) about, basically the same thing. He also seems to rant alot at the Naperville council meetings and is very upset by the whole smart meter thing, to the point of making a conspiracy out of it.

Then there's Victoria Deppe. Again, the phrases, "worst business climate", "worst unemployment", "highest sales tax", "will raise taxes on those making $18K), "Need to reform pensions and regulations" Illinois is "3rd highest in taxes and unemployment"...so many lies, so little time.
But who is Victoria Deppe? Well she writes on the Illinois Review right wing site, she's involved with the right wing Convention of States that wants to hold a Federal Constitutional Convention cuz they're tired of the Federal Government gettin' in their bidness. This "group" is the loving baby of Mark Levin and Glen Beck and...wait for it...ALEC--so that says how far right and out of step it is with the normal population. And she's a CHRISTIAN!!!! No, not a Christian, but a CHRISTIAN!!!!!, one that embraces the bible and bigotry if the websites that she's on are any evidence...again, she wants gomminint outta her bidness, but also wants gomminint all up in our bedroom bidness. And although I didn't see her being directly invovled in WSP, the Convention of States crap is all over that site.
Hmmm...do I see a pattern, not only of words, but of political bents?
But it gets stoopider....
We have Greg G. from Downers Grove  who's unemployed...but he's also 51 and there has been so much written about how many workers have been laid off cuz of their age..no, that's not it, its cuz of taxes..and rich people are job creators(again, the rich person who doubles as the welfare agency...just create a job without profit? I don't think so). He can't pay more in income tax cuz he paid close to $6K for property tax...in Downers Grove...where I live...I had some scepticism about this cuz he was trying to play the "just middle class unemployed worker" so, since his address was mentioned in the hearings, I looked up his taxes...silly boy...don't you understand the interwebs? He paid less than $5K, yes still a lot, but why LIE about it unless you were playing dramaqueen? Again, property tax is not income tax...and, because of other laws in the Illinois tax structure, if Illinois had a fairer tax system, we in this area are assured to receive more funding which would bring down our property taxes...DUH. Oh...and he mentioned its a "spending" problem again.

So then we have Carol Davis who said she only made $40K a year working 2 jobs. She lives in Carol Stream. The only Carol Davis that comes up in Carol Stream is one that owns a business that makes over $70K.Now, those silly interwebs, they can come up with anyone that lives in an area that has a phone number/address...so, if this isn't the person that owns the $70K business, maybe she lives in a cardboard box behind McDonald's. She was all, "I've never resented a wealthy person, because I never got a job from a poor one"...OH HAHAHAH. And there's no rich person or small business person who makes up a job without having a need for it...and, again, that means that I'm the job creator(because my money is spent, not shipped to the Caymen Islands), not Mr. Moneybags. Oh, and she's on the West Suburban Patriots band wagon and a "prepper"(one that is preparing for the end of the world, as we know it). You know the ones that like to hoard food, weapons, etc. and talk about how their neighbors are the crazy ones? Cuz they're gonna have to shoot their neighbors when the collapse comes down.

So, on to the next economic superstar, Hugh Hamill. He owns a jewelry store...one that sells to other jewelers and customers that make appointments to be serviced...we ain't talking Zales, here! High end/luxury type customers. So, he says, again, we're bankrupt, too much spending, blah blah blah. Oh, and he's going to move his business to Tennessee because Tennessee has no personal income tax. Well, he's right on that to a point, but Tennessee does have an annual 6% tax on all income made by capital gains and investments..you know, stocks and stuff. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Hamill probably has a couple or 3 dollars invested and prolly will pay a capital gains tax considering his business and wealth--hmmm...maybe he didn't think this out too well?

Then there was Jan Shaw, from Wheaton, who's big splash on the google machine is that she ran for a School Board seat and made some disparaging remarks about special needs students...oh, and she is/was a board member on the teabagger site, West Suburban Patriots. This pattern isn't just developing, its a freaking snowstorm!

Then, there was Heidi Holan, again, she also is on WSP. She's also running for office in Illinois. She also has absolutely no knowledge about tax structures or math. Yep the, "spending issues", went into the definition of "fair" from Webster's Dictionary and then told this bizarre story about her 2 sons cutting wood, she pays them $10 an hour, one son works for 9 1/2 hours and she pays him 91.43(she took out the 3.75% for the old Illinois income tax) and the other worked for 10 hours and she paid him $89, cuz she took out the 11% made up income tax...huh?????? That's not how a graduated tax works anyway(both would pay 3.75% on the first bracket of $95, and only the other $5 would be taxed at a higher rate, no bracket jumps up by 8%) but there is absolutely nothing in the referendum about brackets! Is this how taxes work in Heidiland???? Because its not the way they work in the real world. So, she wants to be in the General Assembly and doesn't even understand basic taxes???? Really???? And who works their kids for that long chopping wood????

Of course there were the handwringers from the Koch and ALEC backed Americans for Prosperity and the Illinois Policy Institute, both of which have been shown to be partisan and lapdogs for the uber greedy rich. Both of the spokespersons mention how this would raise taxes on those incomes that were under $18,000, one of them said that it would start at $5000...again, no rates have been scheduled and the only structures that have been spoken about favorably all use similar scales as the CTBA, which would end at less than 7% for the wealthiest and no income tax for those who make less than $9000.., but then when you don't understand basic tax policy and think math is hard, I guess 7 and 11 are the same and paying no income tax until you reach $9000 is the same as paying taxes at $5000.

How crazy are these people? And, just how mean-spirited, selfish and greedy? Boggles the mind of compassionate, thinking people.

The Governor's Race in Illinois

Oh goodie, another governor's race, another let down. The governor's race in Illinois is starting up...and already it doesn't bode too well for many that will be directly effected by the outcome. We have at least 2 darlings for the teabaggers, 1 1/2 for the dollarcrats, poor Kirk Dillard, who's been forced to dumb down so as to look like a teabagger...but not one for citizens who are intelligent and compassionate, at least so far.
So, the players of today:
Patrick Quinn: The Governor as of today. I always feel a bit sorry for Mr. Quinn. He was the true outsider, in his day, he was the face of CUB, Citizen's Utility Board, he's been a force in the 'outsider's' club, he was fired by Harold Washington because of his inability to get involved with day to day politics...he knew how to agitate, not negotiate...in fact, he is the true outsider, unlike Rauner who knows how to grease palms. BUT that causes a big problem when you're governor cuz he's the one that has no friends. That can work in campaign ads, but it doesn't work after the election, specially when you're dealing with Mike Madigan.
Bill Daley: All I can say is always running on the coattails....he has never won a political position, but has been given many. In fact, when he's thought about running, he jumps out before the opposition polling attacks. Also, another Dollarcrat--not Democrat; a lapdog for the Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Federation. He was involved with my nemesis, the evil Chase Bank...
Bruce Rauner: Well, he does own a German Wirehaired Pointer, one point in his favor. One point...but he's also given $$$$$ to break the Chicago Teacher's Union(he was instrumental in getting the bill passed that made it illegal for Chicago teachers to strike unless they had a 75% pro-strike vote...and the teachers outsmarted him by getting over 75% of a strike vote--he's still pissed about this), he's on the board of a charter school corporation, and brought the "Stand For Children"(read screw the teachers) group to Illinois(their policy insists that charter schools are the end all/be all and teacher's unions are evil...teachers should just feel blessed that they get to teacher our brats....err....angels and get paid a little better than minimum wage). He's listed on 21 Boards
And who did he speak to while trying to make up his mind to run? Scott Walker--who's placed WI in 50th place in the union in keeping jobs and enticing new businesses, Bobby "The Exorcist" Jindahl, who has allowed charter schools to run amok in Lousiana...and is consistently in the bottom 10 of educational ability of states(and the same for jobs), Chris Christie--another teacher abuser(notice how all of these 'men' enjoy abusing women?), and just signed a bill to allow 50 caliber weapons in NJ---after he said he wouldn't, and, last, but not least...although probably the smallest, Mitch Daniels--again, abuse of teachers, championed a right to work for less law in Indiana. And the Trib says this guy is fascinating--just like a train wreck, I imagine, for working people.
And, of course, he's running as the "outsider", although he's been on winning end of political appointments. You know, the ones in charge that aren't elected. He blames the "union bosses" for all of the issues with the state, never the corporate welfare that Illinois vomits out(Sears, Caterpillar, Google, CME, Office Max...and on and on and on...oh, and giving these big corporations tax cuts/rebates/refunds and not paying the bill). I'm always amazed when I hear how much power I have as a "union thug/boss" while still having to fight for the pension that I paid up to 9% of my income into...while the state hung out with the likes of Rauner(who, by the way made his money with...wait for it...outsourcing our jobs to other countries!). He's been outspoken on how our economy hurts Illinois' ability to create jobs while praising Walker...although since Walker took over Wisconsin, he's lost about 10,000 jobs...and Illinois has gained over 30,000 jobs. Seems like Rauner can't even understand basic math. OK, so his math issue may be to blame for his non-payment of taxes in Cook County.
Kirk Dillard(R): If Dillard had won the last governor's primary, he'd probably be governor now. He knows how to talk to both sides of the aisle, knows how to negotiate. BUT since his run in with teabagger Chris Nybo, he's been dancing with the right wing crazies...so will the real Kirk Dillard, please stand up...
Bill Brady: He made his money the old fashioned way--he married it. He plays the "pull yourself up be the bootstraps" crap without telling people how he made his money(again, so....was he on his knees?) Another CINO(christian in name only). Would love to get rid of worker protection for public employees and thinks right to work for less is just fantastic...
Dan Rutherford(R): Rutherford is a life long politician. He's been a state representative(93-2002), state senator(02-10), born in Pontiac, was a "business executive" before running for office, of course that was 20 years ago. Recently, he's come out against the new education initiative, Common Core Standards, which does have conservative support...except for the likes of teabaggers and Glenn Beck. Although he voted for civil unions in Illinois, he's against marriage equality, feeling that a 24 hour marriage in Vegas between a man and a woman holds much more love/honor than a 40 year same sex relationship. And what do you serve with hypocrisy, Mr. Rutherford? He's also a member of ALEC, which doesn't bode well for middle class/working Illinoisans.
So, there's my take on how our governor race is shaping up....sad to say, but unless Dillard decides to be Kirk Dillard and not Kirk"OH PLEASE...I'LL VOTE FOR BATSHIT CRAZY RIGHT WING LEGISLATION!!!", I may be voting for Quinn again.

Ralph Martire is My Hero--Illinois Fiscal Policy Wonk.

Ralph Martire is the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountablility which is a bipartisan nonprofit research group that studies budget and fiscal matters. Mr. Martire also writes a monthly column for the Springfield Journal Register.

This month's column dealt with how government spends money. There are 2 ways, first directly on services(roads, education, medical, prisons, human services, etc.) but the other way is indirectly by enacting tax breaks/cuts.

I think all of us understand the first category at least a bit, although some skew it to just spending on poor lazy people who just won't get a job(of course they are the only ones that use the roads, education, medical, IEMA, Commerce Agency....yes, I'm being snarky). But the second category is a bit wonkier....now, we, as normal people, do receives some tax cuts, dependent and property tax "cuts" could be considered "tax expenditures", but this category are giving to businesses to allegedly "help fund a public good", you know-economic development. Such as jobs.

OK, the first category, direct expenditures, are given direct funds from the budget...hence the term, "direct expenditures"(OK, duh), but indirect or tax expenditures, Illinois doesn't collect anything, they allow businesses to keep the profits they would pay in taxes(or a percentage) and expect the business to provide a public good...you know, jobs and such. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a very "noble" aspect and a good partnership, if neither partner tries to screw the other...HELLO Google, Sears, CME! I'm talking about you!

Once corporate tax cuts(rarely are these given to the mom and pop small business groups--cities and counties can give local tax cuts) are made law...the cuts are not inspected to see if they are being used as intended...you know, more jobs rather than...oh...junkets to Costa Rica.  Corporations don't have to come back on a yearly basis, begging for their tax cut, unlike schools, social service agencies--they must make their argument annually for their share of the budget...and these same services also compete with each other for what's in the pot...sort of like the reality shows like Survivor or Fear Factor(among others), each agency has to prove their more worthy than the next for a budget that keeps shrinking...strongest man left standing. 

Now, its understandable that during times of sluggish economy, services might have to fight to be King of the Hill, but why only those? Why not corporate tax cuts? As I noted, both Google and Sears are still receiving the tax cuts even tho they lied about how they were going to help Illinois! Everyone needs to pay their fair share.

SB1159/HB390, the Close Corporate Tax Loopholes bills were written during this session to close/investigate changes within a couple of our worst loopholes in Illinois. Forcing service providers to slug it out for funding during difficult fiscal times may be unavoidable, but why only direct expenditures? Why not big corporations having to also be scrutinized? Tax expenditures should also be scrutinized. Even Gov. Quinn endorses it as well as having bi-partisan supporters.

The first loophole that was identified in this bill is the Foreign Dividend Exemption. Corporations in Illinois don't have to pay any taxes on dividends made in foreign lands, only on profits in the United States...could we make it any easier for companies to move much of their profits into dummy corporations in, oh, I don't know, Viet Nam????? How about the job outsourcing? No taxes paid for that call center in India? Cool, lets screw the Illinois citizens. This is an annual loss of $300 million.

The second loophole is almost as bad as the first. The Domestic Activities Production Deduction which is guided by federal law that states that businesses may deduct 9% of their income if they are producing anywhere in the United States. So, what does Illinois do? We have the same freakin' wording, so that if an Illinois company moves its business to say, Alabama, it get to keep the deduction from the Illinois business instead of only making it about Illinois. Yes, this does encourage businesses within the US, but why not just make it for Illinois? Instead of encouraging businesses to grow in other states?  The cost of this idiotic law? $100 million annually.

And last, the non combination rule. This rule exempts all financial, insurance and transportation businesses from reporting all profits. So, if I'm in charge of a big corporation that has a transportation subsidiary...how long do you think it'd take me to figure out, move most, if not all, of my profits to that business and not pay taxes? Maybe an hour if I'm a bit dull, I'd say. This costs us about $25 million--not as large as the other 2, but I'd pick it up in a flash, wouldn't you?

And as we know in these times of corporate greed and lobbyists, this bill wasn't even called for a vote.

But there a couple  more that I'd like to see changed and I've complained about them in the past:

The Retailer's Discount on Sales Taxes and Accelerated Depreciation.

Accelerated depreciation is very easy to understand. Some businesses get to depreciate equipment (computers, cars, JETS) at a faster rate than other businesses--doesn't sound very fair to me.

The Retailers Discount goes sorta like this---I go to a store, buy $100 worth of clothing and pay the 6.25% state sales tax. The retailer then sends the $6.25 to the state at the end of the quarter/year, right? Nope. This  tax cut allows the retailer to keep some of the sales tax. It was established years ago when it was more difficult to figure out the taxes in a small window of time. My idea? To the State legislature...ummm, we have computers now, this problem is alleviated! Get rid of this giveaway NOW!  This costs the state between $4-5 Billion annually! We wouldn't have a so-called pension problem if we changed this law to only include small local businesses. Walmart walks out with an extra $9 million a year---you mean to tell me you think Walmart, the one that pays its employees so little that over 80% receive medicaid and food stamps...and we give them another $9 Million of our tax money?????
Yes, its time for some changes in Illinois, but that means everyone should pay their fair share, not just Mr. and Ms. John Q Public...Caterpillar its time to get your lazy ass off of corporate welfare and get to work!

Governor Quinn is being a mouse turd

Yeah, I get it, the state is in financial ruin(if we made the 2/3 corp.that pay no income tax pay like citizens have to, it wouldn't be).
Yeah, I get it, we have a pension(Although I don't get the meme of how much we make, since over 60% make under $25K and no social security).
NO I DON'T GET WHY WE'RE THE PROBLEM!!!!
Governor Quinn decided he's gonna take his ball and go home....just like the mouse turds that use to do that in neighborhood ball---name your sport, football, basketball, baseball---you know the kid. He wasn't able to bully the other kids into what he wanted so his panties got in a bunch and he owned the ball.
REALLY????
Gov. Quinn Cancelled our contract and lied about the reasons why: he said AFSCME wanted too much money, we wouldn't even think about playing ball(not when "playing ball" meant a 20% pay cut). He whined that we were just too mean....
Again, REALLY???
Let's look at what has been happening for the last....oh...30 years...
First, for the employees: Employees have paid into the pension every paycheck their fair share, somewhere between 4 - 9% of their paycheck, every paycheck, towards their pension.
Second, AFSCME has negotiated, for at least the past 30 years to protect pensions--we've gone without raises/benefits/language to keep the pension for our members. Why? Because we thought it was important for our members to be safe during retirement.
Third, the state's reaction to pensions? For the past 30 years, they've acted like a drunken sailor when it came to pension payments. Not only have they not paid their part for at least 26 of the past 30 years, but they took my money out to spend on other things such as projects the governors wanted to do(remember Illinois First? That was done with public employees pension funds) or to pay other funds. And now? Oh, its too much of a bother to pay what they owe...I feel the same way about my mortgage, but I still must pay it - if I want to keep my house. The same for the state of Illinois--if they want to keep their employees, they must pay what is due.
And then, there are the lies that Quinn has told. The first one? Before the election, he spoke about how much retirees made when they retired. He said that if an employee in 1992 was making $65K, that retiree now would have doubled what he was receiving due to the overgenerous COLA...sure. What Quinn didn't relay is that in 1992, the average pension was about $11,000 a year, no where close to $65K(that was the pols and governor appointees) so, even if he is right about the pension doubling in 20 years, that doubling would only amount to $22K for most long term retirees!
And some more lies: Quinn whines he's cancelling the contract because AFSCME is being mean...you know how bullies are, they either intimidate you or snitch that you're being mean...BUT the facts are far from what he's whining about.
AFSCME negotiated a contract, but came back to the table to defer raises and find money savings in health insurance 2 years ago. AFSCME also requested meeting about negotiating changes in retirement earned benefits with only one caveat--that these changes would only effect future retirees, not present ones. The union was rebuffed by the Governor. AFSCME has always tried to work with the state during times of duress, but that doesn't mean we are going to roll over and play dead. Now some facts:

• Quinn is arguing that AFSCME is making excessive demands in negotiations. The truth? AFSCME has been at the bargaining table for almost a year now working in good faith to try to reach a contract settlement. Contrary to the governor’s claims, the Union’s economic proposals have been very moderate in recognition of the state’s dire fiscal condition.
• Quinn tries to give the impression that the Union has been dragging its feet in negotiations. In fact, progress in negotiations has been moving at a snail's pace for only one reason -- the Quinn Administration for more than 10 months was demanding that every employee’s pay had to be cut by 10%. And Administration is the one that cancelled meetings, not AFSCME.
•  Even now the Administration continues to demand that employees’ wages be reduced by demanding a three-year wage/step freeze and massive health care cost increases.  
• Quinn is basing his efforts to drive down employee wages on the lie that Illinois state employee salaries are the highest in the country. NOT TRUE. Although Illinois ranks 7th in the nation for wages, Illinois public employees rank only 9th, compared to other states.  

And, yes, I know, AFSCME endorsed Quinn during the last Governor's election. But I don't think we really had much of a choice, considering Brady(R) veers on teabagger and made his money the old fashioned way---he married into it and Whitney(G) had no game---no ground game, no finance game, no election game. Yes, Mr. Whitney had good ideas, but no one knows who he is, which means, no name recognition for the voters.
So, what happens now? We live in a state that seems determined to bankrupt seniors so 2/3 of Illinois based corporations pay nothing in income taxes. We seem to think its just fine if these seniors lose their homes, their savings, their future, their dignity, but can't change our laws so that the state receives all of the 6.5% of retail tax, instead of retailers keeping about 1.5%(which gives Wallmart an extra $9 million in profits just cuz they don't have to pay the tax to the state).
But, then, there we are--I think the administration of this state would like to pay us the way Wallmart pays their employees...little to nothing and the employees qualify for food stamps and Medicaid...so, then the state budget crisis would just go from so-called pension problem to the Medicaid and food stamp program...but at least the employees of those agencies know what they need to qualify for those benefits. Just very sad and shameful.

My letter to the editors--now, if it gets posted....

I sent this letter to different newspapers: The Sun-Times, the Trib(HAH!), Daily Herald, Springfield and my little DG paper. Let's see who posts it!

I am a state retiree, one of the "regulars", whose pension averages around $25,000 a year. I'm somewhat luckier than over 75% of my fellow retirees because I can collect Social Security, yes, that's right. Over 75% of state retirees do NOT collect Social Security--all they have is their pension.
I worked for the Department of Corrections for about 30 years, over 2/3 of that time at Stateville, not what I would consider a "cushy" job. But we, that worked there, felt that we made a difference, we were to be firm, fair and consistent with inmates, we dealt with their families and with the public. I had worked my way from the young woman who had a low paying clerical job, to a correctional officer and then counselor. I could take care of my family and I paid taxes. I never made 6 figures at the job...not even close, but I knew I would be secure in my retirement because we had a contract, we had a pension and I kept my part of the deal and I paid my 8 - 9% of my pension cost every paycheck...but the state(and the people of Illinois) don't care and don't want to live up to their side of the deal. It's not that Illinois is spend drunk. In fact, we're 47th in revenue spending and 50th in state employee per citizen capita in the United States. What we are, is tax-phobic.
Not that the state doesn't make deals--over 2/3 of the state based corporations in Illinois pay NO state income tax and/or sales tax! We allow corporations to take many of the same deductions  that the Federal tax system uses, but on our flat income tax, those deductions are destructive to our financial situation and a majority of states have dropped these deductions.
Ways to raise revenue? First, we need to get rid of the Single Sales Factor--this alone costs us about $600 Million just from Caterpillar annually!  Drop the federal accelerated depreciation and go back to normal depreciation rates(would bring in about $300M annually), a deduction that allows no tax on dividends paid by foreign corporations to US parent corporations in Illinois(gain $400M annually). Getting rid of the Retailer's Discount on Sales Tax, at least for large retailers--Walmart keeps about $9 million annually of what we Illinois citizens think we're paying in sales tax! Like the Waltons need that money more than our citizens. That would bring in another couple hundred million annually.
And before all of the "OH NO, The nice corporations would LEAVE if we make them pay their FAIR SHARE!!!!" If Illinois tax structure was the same as Iowa's, we'd raise $6 billion more in revenue every year...Wisconsin's?  We'd raise about $9 billion more. Illinois taxes are not overtly high, that's just the sound byte.
I'm tired of seeing how my finances could be ruined over time while CME, Sears, Motorolla, United, Boeing, Caterpillar pay less in taxes than the average Illinois citizen. Its time to see the real problem, and its with the ones that control what's seen on TV and what stories get printed in the paper, not the 70 year old teacher living on your street--she deserves her pension, she worked for it, as we all have. And we demand to be respected. We're not demanding 6 or 7 figure pensions as some of our pols get. We want what we negotiated--a livable pension, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Illinois pols say they made bold tough decisions--AGAINST poor kids, the disabled and SENIOR CITIZENS

Well well well...the Illinois general assembly, along with the gov, say they made "bold, tough" decisions by attacking the disabled and senior citizens...ok, they don't say the attack part, but they'd be more honest.
In this last session, they've ended IllinoisCareRX, cut medicaid, attacked State retirees health insurance and are  aiming for my pension next. They would already have it, but the democrats and republicans got into a hissy match and stomped out of session before they could snatch away parts of our pension.
Now, the assembly is just so sorry about making gramma having to choose between electricity and medication, but decisions must be made for the GREATER good...psst...Mr. Cullerton? Madigan? Cross? Rodagno? When you say that? Please realize that I'm NOT THAT STUPID!!!
I guess I could think that all of you are that stupid...or that greedy...ok, greedy over stupid, but did you even pay attention to what you were doing? Do you know what the ramifications are of your actions?
First, Medicaid "reform" or middle class/senior destruction. The changes in Medicaid* which were touted as much needed include:

• Ending the IllinoisCareRX program -- drops drug coverage for 180,000 senior citizens. Yes, ObamaCare does help some of these citizens since ObamaCare gets rid of the doughnut hole, but the doughnut hole isn't gone until 2020 and the people that used this program had already had an income of under $19,000 per year; saves $72,000
• Family Care for Adults --  reduce eligibility to those adults with covered kids to 133% of poverty level and eliminates care for caretakers/adults. This affects about 26,000 citizens...this affects the working poor/lower middle class. We are taking away the ability of parents to get health insurance from the state...when their employer(and yes, I'm calling out mallwart, homedespot and other big box stores) doesn't offer affordable insurance without caveats; saves $50,000.
• Eliminate adult dental, chiropractic, podiatry, group psychotherapy...there is "emergency" adult dental, but does that cover a tooth that needs a root canal and is painful?  I know I missed a couple of days because of that--and I was lucky, I had a union to back me; saves $56,000.
• Limit adult optical(every other year), occupational/physical therapy to 20 visits per year--the optical is not my issue, but the PT? the OT? When I had my knee surgery, it took more than 20 visits before I was OK...now, think about someone who has a stroke? Only 20 visits? That's deplorable; saves $18,000. 
• Adopt policy to not pay for other care services when citizen is in hospice...this one hit home. Last year my mother was sent from a nursing home to the hospital(due to an infection) to hospice and then, after less than a week, we were told she was to go back to the nursing home(and she's still alive)...if medicaid hadn't paid for her bed, we would have had to scramble to find another one; saves $3,000
• *****Reduce home health services; saves $2,000 and how many people will have to go into nursing homes if they can't get home health care???? And how much more will that cost????
• Limit medication to 4 perscriptions per month(need prior approval for more); saves $180,000...hmm...ok, I understand that some people shop doctors, shop 'scripts...BUT...on the other hand...a person has asthma--2 'scripts(an inhaler and a "stableizer") hypertension(one for blood pressure and usually one diauretic) and oh...lung issues, heart issues, HRT, anxiety, depression, other mental health issues, diabetes!!!! People on Medicaid don't go to the doctor until they absolutely have to, which usually means more care is needed, not less.
• Cuts to Hospice support
• Changing asset verification for spouses...I'd love to agree on this one, but I am sure that the only ones that will be caught in this net are the ones not rich enough to hire good attorneys...if you think I'm just blowing smoke, I know people in my area that brag about how they've already hid their parents assets...10 years before there's an issue!
• Cuts to Nursing home Care, so...after the state cuts home health care(see **** bullet point), the state is cutting nursing home care?!?!?!?!?!
• Reduce advance imaging, cardiac imaging, pain management, back surgery(some of it dealing with managed care/care coordination); saves approximately $20,000. Again, part of this I agree with...too many doctors will push up the bill by adding more tests, but on the other hand, Illinois has cut chiropractic care and now wants to limit back surgery???
• Denying pediatric palliative care. For those who don't want to hit the link, Pediatric Palliative care is for children that are either terminal or chronically ill.
• Reduce some provider rates by 2.7%; saves $240,000--this does not include doctors...but...it doesn't spell out, in laymen(citizen) terms, who this will affect.

But, other issues were not addressed, how about actual bold/brave decisions such as:
Make corporations pay their fair share! Two Thirds of Illinois corporations pay no state income tax! But the only thing I ever hear on the tv is how high Illinois' tax rate is and its running corporations out of the state! So, they're trying to find a state that will pay THEM????? Can we just say the truth-they're greedy bastards. One very good post by Curtis Black(Truth Out) brings up some very good points about how horrifically biased Illinois tax structure is towards wealthy/corporations. Although Illinois has a so-called flat tax which is regressive by nature, we've also grabbed a bunch of loopholes/deductions from the federal tax code that benefits the upper class more so than middle or lower.
Raise revenue by:

• Getting rid of the Single Sales Factor There is a very good explanation of this procedure on page 4 & 5 of the Closing Corporate Loopholes,Bolstering Illinois Budget by the Good Jobs First organization 
• Getting rid of certain deduction which allow for dividend paid by foreign corporations to US parent corporations located in Illinois(this costs about $400 million annually) and the reduces tax bills for Illinois corporations that produce in other states(about $200 million). 
• Getting rid of Accelerated depreciation it does what it says. It allows businesses to take a higher percentage of depreciation on business machines/supplies. This would bring in $300 million annually.
• Getting rid of the Retailer's Discount on Sales Tax. This would bring in over $100 million a year! As I've said in previous posts, computers are the norm in retail business...in fact most registers I've worked on keeps a running balance on cash/credit and tax for the day...its time to end this welfare to wall mart(kept $9M on this in FY11)...and home depot....and menards....and so on and so on. This would had up to a couple of hundred Million annually.
• Oil Company subsidies...what? in Illinois???? Yep, oil companies get a $75 million tax break! 

OH LOOK, I've just brought in a couple of billion dollars without it being very painful for the Citizens of Illinois! 

So, to our General Assembly, Governor, and other governmental executives--this is bold and brave. What you did with the Medicaid bill? That was shameful. Sure, attack little kids, the disabled and old people; the first two categories don't vote and the last one will die off...hopefully quickly--and with the measures you just shoved through, in all probability will be their future...which is very sad, considering Illinois is one of the wealthiest states in the country.

* all monies saved in the smash Medicaid bill are in millions of dollars

Illinois is NOT broke, but our Tax System is!

HUH??? But all the media says Illinois is one of the worst business states in the universe!!!! If ET had landed in Illinois, he'd still be stuck! Sure...don't ya just love the crap the right/rich/corporate/take you pick like to try to shove down our throats? Too often it works because sound bytes and snappy little phrases work much better for people who don't feel like they have the time or the knowledge to understand these things. Oh, and you know its MY fault Illinois isn't paying its bills...so, what are some facts? 

First: Illinois has the least amount of state employees per capita than any other state, yes, that means that even Mississippi cares more for their residents than we can. You can't lay off more employees, because many places are down to bare bones minimum to begin with. 

Second: Why make cuts???? Our tax system is antiquated and needs to be updated. We also need to get rid of a couple tax laws that either aren't needed any longer or are not needed in a time when we, the middle class, state employees and/or retirees, are expected to pay more while the corporations are paying less.

So, some facts about the tax system. In my last post, I spoke about the difference between our flat tax and a graduated income tax, like all of our neighbors have('cept Indiana):

• Iowa: 9 rates that start at 0.36% to 9% (rate is higher than Illinois at $12K-6.12%)
• Kentucky: 6 rates that range from 2.0% to 6% (rate higher than Illinois at $5000)
• Missouri: 10 rates from 1.5% to 6% ( rate is higher than Illinois at $9,000)
• Wisconsin: 5 rates starting at 4.6% to 7.75% (rate is higher than Illinois at $13,580 - 6.15%)
• Indiana: 3.4%--ok, they're lower, but...its Indiana(spoken like a true FIB).

OMG!!! LOOK--all of the states have rates that actually are higher than ours at the top end! How could that be??? You mean all those fine business/media types have been lying to us?!?!?!?? Sure seems that way.

Not only that, but all, including Indiana tax services as well as goods. In other words, they have broadened the sales tax base.  So, what services? Dining, marina fees, landscaping, dry cleaning are some that were in a bill a couple of years ago(that also included seniors being able to get a property tax rebate on income taxes-now its just a credit). And how do those state sales tax rates compare?

• Illinois:       6.25%          Indiana:   7%
• Kentucky: 6%                Michigan: 6% 
• Iowa:        6%                 Missouri:  4%

Illinois is not out of bounds on sales tax, in fact it looks like we're about the same place as everyone else. 

Another area that we could set up a tax is on financial transactions--sales of stocks, etc., not withdrawing $100 from your savings. Again, this is something that would be small, but effective in 2 ways: first, more revenue, second-more stability in the market and less fluctuation--think gas prices and how they've been manipulated in the last couple of months by speculators...same thing can happen statewide vs. nationwide.

So, now that I've begun to get Illinois out of the trash bin that others have built for her, I've got a couple more ideas...

Large businesses in my state get a much larger piece of the tax cut pie than small and medium sized businesses, specially in the area of the "Single Sales Factor"(I will try to explain this later in another post because its very, very, wonky), suffice to say that this bomb allowed Caterpillar to pay NO sales tax in Illinois, this costs us about $600 million annually! But there are 2 other cuts/credits that businesses receive that just don't seem very fair:  the Retailer's Discount on Sales Taxes and Accelerated Depreciation.

Accelerated depreciation is very easy to understand. Some businesses get to depreciate equipment (computers, cars, JETS) at a faster rate than other businesses--doesn't sound very fair to me.

The Retailers Discount goes sorta like this---I go to a store, buy $100 worth of clothing and pay the 6.25% state sales tax. The retailer then sends the $6.25 to the state at the end of the quarter/year, right? Nope. This  tax cut allows the retailer to keep some of the sales tax. It was established years ago when it was more difficult to figure out the taxes in a small window of time. My idea? To the State legislature...ummm, we have computers now, this problem is alleviated! Get rid of this giveaway NOW! 

Yes, Illinois needs to budget the balance, but there are many ways to balance that would be fair to the state employees, the retirees and to all of the people in Illinois, not just kow-towing to the Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Civic Federation.

The state of the State of Illinois-it ain't broken

The Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Civic Federation have been jumping up and down about how Illinois is broke and its all "my" fault, being a retired state employee who receives a pension that I put up to 9% of my salary into....naw, I don't have an issue with their lies....but anyways.....
First, nothing to do with finances directly, but Illinois received a "C" in public integrity, placing 10th in the nation...yep, there are 40 states that are worse than Illinois and that includes all the ones that surround us, imagine that. Yes, we've had our share of corrupt politicians, but ours actually end up in prison or at least indicted and out of public office.
So, back to the financial state of Illinois. I do agree that our tax system is broken, but not because its too much...its broken because its a "flat tax"--everyone alleges to be taxed at the same rate...not really. We have an antiquated tax system--flat tax, no taxes on service(unlike the surrounding states). We have not actually changed the tax structure since the 70's, partially because to change the flat tax, we need an amendment to our constitution, but we do need to do something.
So, how broke is Illinois? Not very. Illinois has the 5th largest economy in the United States...and has been for over a decade! Obviously, some people are doing all right in the Land of Lincoln. Much of this is in northern Illinois--Cook, Will and DuPage counties. So why do we have such a problem with paying our bills? Greed?
I do believe that part of the problem is greed, considering the disproportionate income/wealth inequality that has developed in this country in general, but in Illinois we also have a very unfair tax system, the one that so many right wing folks dream of--the flat tax. The idea is that everybody pays the same, and that's more fair than a progressive income tax.
So, why is a flat tax unfair? It seems to be fair, a guy making $10K pays the same as a guy making $10M, right? Wrong...
The less income you have, the more you pay in taxes, when all taxes are considered. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability is a bi-partisan non-profit think tank that promotes fair, efficient and progressive tax, spending and economic policies--the definition on their website. This group has been instrumental in research on different ways to end the funding problems in Illinois and make it a better system for all Illinoisans, not just the top percentage.
In February of this year, the CBTA issued a report on why Illinois needs an overhaul of the tax system and why the flat tax is one of the most recessive ways of taxing. The first graph in this report shows the different taxes we all pay, Sales/excise, property and income. People making $18K or under spend 13.7% of their income on taxes...people making $500K and over? Only 5.3%! Now, if you're sitting there with the idea that, "well those poor folks should try harder...they're the burden"...if you make under $50K, you're still paying about 12% of your income on taxes. So how fair is it that we (middle class) should pay more than the wealthiest? I'm not talking about a percentage point or so, its almost 7% difference! This report also points out that the bottom 60%(making up to $58K annually) of working people in Illinois bring home less than they did in 1979! And our taxes really haven't changed much since the 70's.
Part of the reason that Income tax is such a big issue is that its the only one that can be controlled by our present situation. For example, I'm very lucky and I'm making $100K...all of a sudden, the company I'm working for closes up and all I can find is a job as a barista making $20K...with a progressive income tax(and to a point, the regressive income tax), the tax automatically adjusts. That doesn't happen with other types of taxes...I can't go to the gas station and tell them, "I can't pay that much right now cuz I lost my job"...best they may do is say, "Fill out an application, we're hiring", that is if they don't laugh me out of the door....
So, you're still cynical...."What about cutting spending? We all know that the government spends too much!" that might work somewhere else, but Illinois is 47th in the country when it comes to spending and we are 50th when it comes to state employment rolls(not the lowest in number, but as a ratio of state employees per capita). If we go along with some of the budget cuts that are running around, we are not only putting more people on unemployment, we are putting the clients in danger. Illinois does not act like a drunken sailor on Friday night, more like a spinster librarian on Sunday morning!
"What about all of those businesses that would move?" Hasn't happened yet. Remember when WI and IN scab governors put out ads and billboards about the great business climate in their states? In the last year, Illinois has gained 30K jobs, while both IN and WI have lost thousands of jobs....hmmm....but, then again, our tax structure does some other interesting perks than others for business, such as a retailers discount on sales taxes. Huh? This began years ago when it was difficult for retailers to figure out the exact amount to send to the state...we have computers now...I think we can stop this practice. I'll have more tomorrow-this has gotten reallllll long and I'm hoping you haven't fallen asleep.