35 Comments - frustrated GOP - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:33 pm: So how long will it take to repay the $100 million at 5% per year? - Joe M - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:39 pm: Reported December 11, 2011: “Senators in the state capital of Springfield approved 44 to 9 a measure that cuts CME’s and CBOE Holdings Inc’s annual tax bills by a collective $85 million” (The House had already passed the bill) - 47th Ward - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:42 pm: If he pays 5% income tax on the full amount, he’ll owe $305,000 next year. So there’s that. Of course, if he pays taxes on the full amount, he’ll need a new accountant. - qcexaminer - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:44 pm: Gotta love crony capitalism and the Blue Social Model of: Big Government Big Business, and Big Labor. It’s all about the “bigs” in Illinois. - Colossus - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:46 pm: The Job Creators (peace be upon them) have earned every penny they are paid. - haverford - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:55 pm: Meh, we would have just spent it on schools for poor kids anyway. - wordslinger - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:58 pm: I’m sure that’s comforting to the MF Global creditors slugging it out in bankruptcy court to recover 12 to 42 cents on the dollar on the collapse of that CME “self-regulated” kahuna. I’m beyond rants on the Masters of the Universe. They’re too big to fail, too big to jail, too big to regulate, too big to manage, too big for them to even assess their own risk. See Jamie Dimon and the London Whale. Nobody — not Bush, not Obama, not Congress — had the guts to take them on after 2008. They’ll stick it to us again, and then maybe we’ll get serious. But don’t let CME tell you their tax break was about jobs. Twenty years ago, two trading floors were hopping at the Merc building on Wacker, plus more at Board of Trade building and annex on LaSalle. Now you’re down to a few pits and rows of computer banks. Those support jobs, thousands of them, are long gone. That’s the way it goes, with productivity improvements. But the tax breaks were about money in the pocket. The jobs are still leaving in that industry. - Wensicia - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 1:59 pm: Over 1.5 million per month?? - Jimbo - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:14 pm: You know, handing out free money like this while crying poor to vendors and pensioners is plain bad form. Let’s not forget the Sears debacle either. - Grandson of Man - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:21 pm: “Twenty years ago, two trading floors were hopping at the Merc building” I was working there and can attest to how many were working at the Merc. These are some of the same people who are calling state workers greedy and saying they have “gold-plated” pensions, as a commenter called them. If these folks don’t like unions, they should stop giving them ammunition to fight back. Any time some multimillionaire says our compensation is too big, it justifies our positions and battles. “But don’t let CME tell you their tax break was about jobs.” What if they gave corporate tax breaks and no corporations came? That’s what’s happening to Wisconsin. A billion dollars in budget cuts plus $100+ million in corporate incentives has resulted in poor economic performance. New Jersey is going through the same thing, massive budget cuts and corporate tax breaks with nothing to show for it. - Huh? - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:28 pm: So how many jobs did he create for such an obscene amount of money for such a short amount of time? This is a perfect example of why executive compensation should be heavily regulated. - wordslinger - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:39 pm: QC Ex, aren’t you busy in Texas executing the developmentally disabled, teaching The Flinstones in the public schools and denying poor people access to health care? You seem awful homesick, cousin. Aren’t they keeping you busy down there? - anon - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:49 pm: The transfer of wealth. Cut public pensions. Cut social security, etc…so it frees up money to award to corporations with tax breaks. I suppose this guy will now leave the state too if he hasn’t already done so — so that none of that cash trickles back down to our local economy here. Financial collapse well on it’s way. We’ve seen median wages fall -8.9 percent since 1999 while we’ve seen a 39% rise in inflation over the same period. Nice delta don’t ya think? They’ve devalued our current work and are devaluing our prior work. The apparatus has robbed our home equity with the housing bubble and is in the process of stealing the wealth of every IRA, 401K, and savings account via “Quantitative Easing” interest rate manipulation. Our savings is not worth a lousy 5% ROI anymore if we want to lend it out as an investment. The Fed is handing out money for almost free. 10 year bonds under 2%. 18 month CD’s under 1%. Why would anyone want to pay you more for the use of your money? This is causing the boomers to draw down the priciple in their retirement savings much faster than anticipated I would imagine. Which in turn makes the retiree’s more social security dependant. However the money flow is still not fast enough obviously as we have to cut pensions and social security even more via the Chained-CPI thefts. The gift that will just keep on giving. Accelerating our decent into poverty at a compounding exponential rate as the delta with the real cost of living explodes nothward. Just think, if we can force the IRA, 401K withdrawals fast enough we can hit them with more tax penalties too! If we can cut unuion wages enough we can lower the medain wage and the poverty thresholds which will enalbe more people to be on welfare! With more people on welfare we can use that as a tool to cut more entitlements and so goes the death spiral as the corporate exec’s robb the treasury and leave town.. Follow the money my friends. - Observing - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:52 pm: ==Huh? This is a perfect example of why executive compensation should be heavily regulated. == This is not a perfect example of why executive compensation should be heavily regulated. This is a perfect example of why the Governor and the GA should tell CME, SEARS and all future companies that threaten to leave if they don’t get tax relief to stuff it. Get out of Illinois because the way the money (tax relief) deal never helps the taxpayers. - Chris - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 2:53 pm: “Gotta love crony capitalism and the Blue Social Model of: Big Government Big Business, and Big Labor.” Dunno how that’s too different from the Red Social Model of: Big Government Big Business, and Big Religion. The Rs don’t have any respect for you, either. - Liandro - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 3:06 pm: What bothers me is that some people then point to things like this and complain about the free market, when this is the opposite of a free market. This is government(s) picking who to give a leg up, all while regular businesses have to scrap for themselves at normal tax rates and normal everything else. - qcexaminer - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 3:11 pm: Hey word, ever hear of “schadenfreude”? I’m feeling it big time, along with the pleasure of knowing I no longer have to finance the buffoonery in Springfield. Word baby, watching Illinois government is like watching a slow moving train wreck—priceless! There’s nothing like it in TX to compare—here they are fighting over how to spend/save $8B+ surplus. Also, the legislature only meets for about 6 months every 2 years, so that when the current legislature disbands at the end of May, they won’t be around to harass us until January 2015. Sweet for liberty-loving people. Not so much for top-down Big Government collectivists in places like Illinois. - MrJM - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 3:38 pm: If you’re very still, you can almost feel something trickling down. – MrJM - geronimo - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:03 pm: These are the likes of which want to screw grannie public pensioner, collecting 40k/year out of health insurance because she’s got it too good. - Demoralized - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:18 pm: Wow. And people argue that teachers get paid too much for only “working” 9 months out of the year. - Plutocrat03 - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:30 pm: I might like the concept of regulating private company If and only if the company has taken major handouts like the CME folks, GM, Fisker, Solyndra. Regular business deductions would be OK, but this hostage or bailout stuff needs to stop. Give them incentive to stand on their own two feet and get off the subsidy bandwagon. When it is all private money, then they can pay themselves anything they want. - RNUG - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:39 pm: Make it a condition of any future tax break or bailout that, during the period the breaks are in effect, all management personnel payments at the company is capped at the level of the Govenor’s salary … and that cap includes salary, bonuses, retirement contributions on their behalf, health insurance payments, or paying any expenses of any kind on their behalf. Better yet, let’s make it retroactive on all previous tax breaks … and all earnings over that level have to be immediately paid in as a State windfall profits tax. Just solved both the corporate handout problem and part of the state revenue problem … - Jaded - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:40 pm: Nope, I don’t wonder. I figure the state was stupid enough to offer it, so what they do with it is their business. - Joe Schmoe - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:41 pm: Sounds like the boys at CME used the same tactics as North Korea…..keep up the threats until we give them the cash! - wordslinger - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:44 pm: Liandro, I’m with with you. In tough times, sadly, the regular guy pulls the weight, and the big dog turns into hyenas. In the midst of the worst economic crisis since The Depression, the richest guys in Illinois, the pillars of the community, the guys who were making money when everyone else was getting hosed, stuck a gun to our collective head and said “give me more.” I may forgive, but I will never forget. For more than 25 years, I’ve worked and continue to work down on LaSalle Street. I’m old-school. That CME shakedown was shocking and despicable, and I’m glad the old boys didn’t see it. Back in the day, when things went south, the financiers backed the play. They didn’t seek to score on it. Read your Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Economist. Today’s financiers are moronic outlaws, but they get away with it, and they’re fixing to do it again. Remember, the second time is shame on you. - Wensicia - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 4:44 pm: ==If you’re very still, you can almost feel something trickling down.== Yeah, I feel the disdain. I think these corporate tax breaks should end. The benefit to state employees is minimal at best, while we see where the maximum benefit results. - zatoichi - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 5:22 pm: I did not notice this position on Monster. - hisgirlfriday - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 6:17 pm: Too bad the Sun-Times couldn’t have used their real estate on this disgrace instead of poo-pooing the minimum wage increase. - RNUG Fan - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 6:57 pm: Right on RNUG. I want to know if Rich had this one planned when he posted civic club “legal” spokesperson public purpose thread?! - midway Gardens - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 7:34 pm: Hey, he’s worth every penny to the CME. Even if the only thing he did for the CME is get the tax break. - Waffle Fries - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 7:53 pm: I’m still glad the GA was able to reach consensus on the corporate bail out bill..it gives me hope they can reach consensus on a proposal to pay human service providers! - Boone Logan Square - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 9:27 pm: I rue the consolidate of Illinois family farms in recent years, as there are fewer people with pitchforks to storm the doors. - 21st State - Monday, Apr 8, 13 @ 10:07 pm: let’s give this year’s Golden Horseshoe to @wordslinger now THAT IS ALL - Louis Howe - Tuesday, Apr 9, 13 @ 8:13 am: “…the second time is shame on you.” Word, the financial elite have dominated politics in America ever since Alexander Hamilton’s friends scooped up the continental bonds for pennies, convinced Congress to buy them back at par, and then taxed Whiskey consumption to pay for it. Only FDR seriously challenged Wall Street, and he used Ol’ Joe Kennedy as his enforcer. - Irish - Tuesday, Apr 9, 13 @ 9:48 am: Wow!!! I am waiting for the IPI and Ty Fahner to jump all over this!!!! I am waiting for them to complain about over inflated wages and costs to the State etc.!!! And waiting….. And waiting…… And waiting…… Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.