COMMENTARY: New legislative cycle, same old chaos
As a new General Assembly legislative session convenes this week, the same political chaos continues.
The newly-established Democratic super-majority continued to elect the same corrupt leadership in Michael Madigan and John Cullerton, just as Republicans did the same with Jim Durkin and Bill Brady. This only confirms that the duopoly embraces corruption.
In other words, the same political clusterfuck still exists: Illinois still spends nearly $143.79 billion for every $108.53 billion taken in. The state has an operational debt of $158.5 billion. 13% of the state’s residents are on food stamps as a result of the poverty created by government via excessive taxation. (Obligatory “taxation is theft, taxation is poverty” line.)
The 2019 fiscal year ending June 30 is set to end with a $1 billion deficit, with FY2020 potentially hiking the fiscal deficit to nearly $3 billion.
Democrats and moderate Republicans think taxing Illinoisans to death in exchange for governmental prosperity is the only option.
Let’s not forget that they want to tax us on our mileage, thus attempting to make it less worthwhile for for independent contractors or corporate employees who travel for work to claim mileage on their Federal taxes.
Let’s not forget that they want to hike the motor fuel tax (MFT). Currently, Illinois charges 19 cents per gallon for gasoline and 21.5 cents for diesel. The Federal government isn’t exactly helping matters, as Republicans considered hiking the MFT from its current level of 4.3 cents, which has been the rate since October 2016 following a 18.4 cent rate which was active from October 1997 until the end of September 2016.
Let’s not forget that they want to resort to a progressive tax, as if the 4.95% flat rate wasn’t enough. The 1.2% hike from the previous rate of 3.75% represents a 32% hike. The proposed hike, with still no details provided by governor J.B. Pritzker, would not only hurt the poor and middle classes, it would not help the already low business tax rating at number 33, according to the Tax Foundation.
We don’t need more spending. We don’t want more taxes. We’re sick and tired of the Illinois government’s lack of anything fiscal-related. All 177 members of the Illinois General Assembly really need an Idiot’s Guide to Fiscal Responsibility, preferably written by financial gurus Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard. And maybe it’s time for the voters to also not be so ignorant and avoid electing fiscally illiterate idiot politicians into office as well.
Nothing new in the deep surveillance nanny state that is Illinois.
Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.
