79 Comments - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:08 am: The “Rauner Tax” will be determined by Bruce Rauner due to two very important and critical details. Rauner will be required to put on a structured roll call a significant number of GOP Raunerites, and the promise that Rauner would sign the “Rauner Tax” as a clean bill. So… Cullerton is right. That’s just how it works with a governor. - Augie - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:14 am: Just letting Rauner know early no non budget related issues. And its also called compromise, Dems take some heat and Republicans take some heat on a tax increase that everyone in Springfield knows has to happen. No just cutting our way out of this one, or getting rid of “waste, fraud and abuse” like we from every politician. Time to take the medicine, hold your nose and get it done. - Dan S - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:16 am: That is political speak for, there’s gonna be a tax increase but the dems are not taking the blame for it. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:18 am: “The Pat Quinn Tax” Governors own, it’s not unique to Bruce Rauner. Candidate Rauner knew that too. - Cubs in '16 - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:25 am: ===That is political speak for, there’s gonna be a tax increase but the dems are not taking the blame for it.=== There HAS to be a tax increase and dems don’t want to take the SOLE blame is a more honest statement. - Last Bull Moose - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:28 am: Cullerton still believes they can negotiate a deal. I am not so sure. Cullerton has been playing nice, confirming appointments and allowing reorganizations. Could that change to increase pressure? - downstate commissioner - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:32 am: Seems to be a fair statement: serves notice to Rauner that there is more than just Madigan to deal with… - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:34 am: Cullerton——-I am telling you what you have to do but I’ll call it compromise. Rolls Eyes - Ahoy! - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:37 am: Maybe Cullerton should then decide the cuts and exercise his legislative duties of passing a balanced budget. Or Cullteron can shut up and they can all sit down and negotiate. - unspun - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:38 am: Cullerton knows that Rauner owns the tax increase, or he owns the calamity associated with not having enough revenue. - Honeybear - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:39 am: I imagine he’s known this all along but that is what makes the choice of intentionally causing the loss of thousands of social service jobs, the loss of help for over a million people, the non payment of contracts with the state, and the absolute destruction of private social service agencies all the more appalling. It is only because people don’t feel it that it has been allowed to go on so long. I felt it yesterday. My mother in law is going to help us pay out of pocket for my daughter to visit a dermatologist about her acne. Grandma is also letting us borrow the her SUV to go on vacation and we won’t be breaking up the death drive with an overnight in Galena. So let’s look at this. One nights decisions from one family of four. The economically effected are. Enterprise Rental Galena B&B The 20 shops my daughters would dropped cash in Galena. A restaurant in Galena for dinner. You get my drift? - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:48 am: Gotta love Cullerton talking about increasing the super majority of Democrats but not explaining why we should elect more democrats. What have the Democratic supermajorities accomplished? Their trophy cases are empty but they are running around like they are winning. - SKI - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:53 am: “It has to be two parties sitting down and willing to compromise and that’s certainly where I am.” I hear Dems and Reps saying the same thing about ‘compromise’. Unfortunately, neither party understands the meaning of it. It’s not sitting down at the table and expecting the other party agree with everything you offer. How many meetings have Rauner, Madigan and Cullerton had so far? - atsuishin - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:55 am: cullerton is the height of cowardliness and disingenuousness. he and other il dems are just too fearful to stand up for their own policy prescriptions. They bankrupted this state not rauner and if they don’t want “anything radical” pass a massive tax and defend your principals. - pundent - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:56 am: =Maybe Cullerton should then decide the cuts and exercise his legislative duties of passing a balanced budget.= That would make him Governor Cullerton. Rauner is trying to turn his “need” into the democrats “want”. Cullerton knows this. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:56 am: ===they don’t want “anything radical” pass a massive tax and defend your principals.=== Rauner will veto it. Then what? - X-prof - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 9:59 am: Nothing new here, I’m afraid. The governor isn’t about to abandon his TA agenda, his political reason for being, to meet Cullerton’s demand for a clean budget bill. He doesn’t need a budget to wage his battle with AFSCME. The Dems are still unwilling to take the reins and put together a responsible balanced budget with new revenue on their own (would take away the governor’s main talking point against the Dem leadership, not to mention doing what’s right for the people of Illinois). There is risk involved, but I think the Dems could be rewarded politically for breaking the impasse. Unless some external factor forces the issue, it’s more likely the budget impasse will continue under the status quo into the new year. - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:01 am: No Honeybear, I don’t get your drift. So you are saying it is Rauner’s fault you can’t pay for your daughter’s acne condition or go on vacation? Huh? I guess I should have asked Blago and Quinn to pay for my kid’s college and for us to go to Disney World. - A guy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:01 am: Too bad the guy who will scuttle any agreement like this isn’t party to this discussion. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:04 am: ===The Dems are still unwilling to take the reins and put together a responsible balanced budget with new revenue on their own=== Rauner will veto it, so again, now what? - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:07 am: Cullerton believes a Rauner tax increase is required to pay for the decades of overspending and under taxing by Madigan and Cullerton. - illinoised - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:12 am: “Everybody wants to go heaven, nobody wants to die” as the song says. Everybody knows a tax increase is needed, nobody wants to own it. - JS Mill - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:15 am: =Cullerton believes a Rauner tax increase is required to pay for the decades of overspending and under taxing by Madigan and Cullerton. = and Ryan, Thompson, Edgar and everyone that has been in the legislature for the past 50 or 60 years. - Saluki Matt - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:17 am: I wish the Democrats could recognize, simply by looking at what other states have done, that many of Rauner’s ideas really aren’t that radical. Perhaps by radical they mean “it threatens my choke hold on Illinois government, so it is radical.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:22 am: ===I wish the Democrats could recognize, simply by looking at what other states have done, that many of Rauner’s ideas really aren’t that radical.=== 60 and 30 - Saluki Matt -, 60 and 30. Of course IllinoisGo was designed to eliminate Democrats and elect Raunerites disguised as Democrats, but that folded as an utter failure. It’s 60 and 30, Rauner demands, he doesn’t compromise. “How can you say that?” Revenue is required, it’s not a give. Required. Rauner saying he will “give” on revenue is totally ignorant to the governing. - atsuishin - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:25 am: ==and Ryan, Thompson, Edgar and everyone that has been in the legislature for the past 50 or 60 years.== Madigan tamed Edgar and Ryan to get a massive tax increases and ramp ups in government spending. Don’t forget Madigan is extremely powerful and governors have limited abilities to fight him (the veto). Madigan usually gets whatever he wants, hence Illinois’ mess. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:29 am: - atsuishin - If you think any Illinois governor is constitutionally weaker than the Speaker of the General Assembly is constitutionally… I’m embarrassed for you. Arguably, the Illinois Governor is one of the strongest Executives in America. If you want to play the victim - atsuishin -, understand your whole governmental arguement is, at best, charitably, “flawed” - Jimmy H - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:32 am: Rauner is bent on placing the blame for a tax increase on the Democrats. Good for Cullerton standing up to Rauner’s strong-arm tactics. For the sake of people who are being hurt and the viability of our State; shared responsibility for a tax increase, please Governor Rauner! Democrats and Republicans sharing responsibility for a tax increase. Start with that compromise. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:37 am: If the Governor agrees to the “Rauner tax increase” I am sure The Speaker and Senate President can agree to the “Madigan and Cullerton budget cuts” Not very optimistic on that if their failed budget proposals are an indicator. - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:41 am: Wonder how many more will leave the state after this next forced tax increase? I know I will be one of them! - @MisterJayEm - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:43 am: “Maybe Cullerton should then decide the cuts and exercise his legislative duties of passing a balanced budget.” Guess it’s time for another constitutional reminder about Illinois budgets: “The Governor shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State budget for the ensuing fiscal year.” — Illinois Constitution, Article VIII, Section 2(a) – MrJM - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:48 am: Governors, any and all governors, own their signed budgets. The legislature will own their structured roll call votes on signed budgets. The Pat Quinn Tax, as a stand alone, as the “Rauner Tax”, signed will belong to Rauner and all the GOP Raunerites that touted #TaxHikeMike, and the Democrats will own their “Green” votes no different than the earlier mocking Raunerites with #TaxHikeMike Circling back, the Rauner Budget, signed by Rauner, is the measured document ANY governor shows as their monetary value of government services. That’s why governors own budgets. The governor’s agencies, programs, initiatives, the Rauner Governmental Agenda is weighed and measured by the dollars each get in a governor’s signed budget. I can’t imagine a reasonable person as governor not wanting control of the budget they will sign… … but Rauner wants the Turnaround Agenda at the… cost… of having or NOT having a state budget. That’s one messed up way to be a governor. Warped. - X-prof - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:51 am: Serious as the budget impasse is, one thing that concerns me more for the long run is the fundamental threat that Rauner’s overall political strategy poses to democratic (small d) rule at both the state and federal levels. This impasse would have broken long ago if Rauner and a few of his friends didn’t have that $25 million war chest to keep the GOP members of the GA in line. Rauner might not have been elected w/o the shredding of campaign finance regulations. Unchecked campaign spending by the ultra wealthy (or any other well-financed group for that matter) undoes the balance of power that lies at the heart of our federal and state constitutions. This is not a future danger. We are living through a high-risk and expensive experiment that replaces democracy with oligarchy. So far, the results aren’t good, not good at all. There are special regulations in scientific research for experiments that involve human subjects, including early termination when a pattern of harm emerges. IMO, there’s sufficient cause to halt this dangerous experiment now. - Century Club - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:57 am: The chance that Rauner is going to sign a tax increase is about the same as the chance that Dems will pass the turnaround agenda. Despite all evidence to the contrary, both sides seem to think that the collapse of our state will break the other side. In reality, polls (and the primary elections) show that each side’s base blames the other side, so the political fallout isn’t there. Piecemeal spending, IOU’s and court orders are all we are going to see until 2018. - forwhatitsworth - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:00 am: Everyone knows that Illinois needs more revenue from an increase in the state income tax. Both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for making this happen. Why all the “Mickey Mouse” posturing, rhetoric and finger-pointing? Man up! - X-prof - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:11 am: OW, if the Dems fulfill their constitutional duty to propose a truly balanced budget and Rauner vetoes it, he will come under strong pressure to fulfill his own constitutional duty with a balanced-budget counterproposal. If he continues his current strategy of offering no specifics, I think (at least hope) he loses politically because he loses one of his main talking points: that the Dems aren’t doing they’re job. It would be clear that only he is not fulfilling his sworn duty. If the Dems include reforms to make the state’s revenue structure less regressive, so that the top earners pay a fair share of the tax burden, it would provide a tangible example with verifiable numbers that can be used to counter the fear-mongering against the new revenue that is clearly needed to solve IL’s problems. As any objective person knows, Rauner cannot come up with a balanced budget w/o new revenue unless he proposes unacceptable cuts. If he balances the budget using regressive revenue sources, it will be easy to compare the impact of the Dem and Rauner budgets on the majority of taxpayers. Again, Rauner loses if the Dems have any political chops worth talking about. - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:20 am: You always have to remember (or think about) who benefits from all of this chaos and who is hurt by it. Those responsible for fixing it aren’t hurt in the least so there is not much incentive. Apparently those who are hurt are supposed to rise up and demand a fix once enough are hurt. At least that’s what Rauner is counting on. And he’s posturing so that his TA will be ceded to once it gets the little people riled enough. Meanwhile, probably looking at the purchase of house #10. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:22 am: ===OW, if the Dems fulfill their constitutional duty to propose a truly balanced budget=== Stop. Full Stop. ===“The Governor shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State budget for the ensuing fiscal year.” — Illinois Constitution, Article VIII, Section 2(a)=== That open IS the requirement of a governor, any governor. Your premise is off, in the true constitutional steps. To continue, for argument sake… ===…that the Dems aren’t doing they’re job. It would be clear that only he is not fulfilling his sworn duty.=== Rauner is already doing that. Nothing new to face, that’s happening now. ===If the Dems include reforms to make the state’s revenue structure less regressive, so that the top earners pay a fair share of the tax burden, it would provide a tangible example with verifiable numbers that can be used to counter the fear-mongering against the new revenue that is clearly needed to solve IL’s problems.=== Constitutionally, it’s not possible in the short term. To close, Suggesting cuts or wrapping a budget chock full of cuts and new revenue with no GOP support would be… “Democrats now want to raise taxes… and cut services… with no reforms, picking who Democrats want hurt” Cullerton is trying to avoid ALL these messes, and explaining a compromised structured roll call and budget with revenue is required. Conpromise. - Huh? - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:25 am: X-prof - you have is backwards. 1.4% is supposed to present a balanced budget proposal. The GA is supposed to pass a balancdd budget. So far, 1.4% has yet to do his constitutionally mandated duty and present a balanced budget. - RNUG - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:27 am: == There is risk involved, but I think the Dems could be rewarded politically for breaking the impasse. == Rauner will spend whatever million$ it takes to drive home a message about Democrats passing the largest tax increase in Illinois history. No political upside for the Democrats to go it alone. Republicans thought they were electing someone who would work with the GA; instead they got a demagogue hell bent on destroying the unions even if he has to burn down the State to do so. This isn’t going to change until January, 2019 … if then. - SKI - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:29 am: “Wonder how many more will leave the state after this next forced tax increase? I know I will be one of them!” I’m going to go out on a limb and say very few statistically and I doubt you will leave too. I’m guessing you did not move after Quinn’s tax increase to 5%, why would any tax increase now suddenly make you leave when it did not in the past. Let’s take a look at how you would fair with state income tax rates for neighboring states (assuming you would keep your current job, move to a neighboring state, and commute to work): - Wisconsin - 4.00% to 7.65% depending on marital status and income - Higher than Quinn’s rates. - Indiana - 3.3% Flat Tax - Lower - Missouri - 6% - Unless you earn less than $9,000 a year. Higher than Quinn’s tax rate. - Kentucky - 5.8% to 6% unless you earn less than $8,000 a year. Again higher than Quinn’s tax rate. Indiana would give you the lower rates, but with the added commute time and cost associated with the extra commute, you probably would not come out significantly better. Hey maybe you would be able to find a job there too that pays the same….but I doubt it. Best of luck in Indiana! - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:30 am: ===Indiana - 3.3% Flat Tax - Lower === Indiana also has municipal income taxes. - Common Sense Republicain - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 11:38 am: Anonymous @ 10:41 I hear a lot of people saying if something happens, then they are leaving the State. My response, see ya, bye! As the saying goes, ‘If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem’. I am not worried about people leaving, no matter if they are rich, middle class or poor. Some people say this will cause a ‘death spiral’. I don’t believe it. I think it will actually be a blessing in disguise. I think if these people leave, other who WANT to be here will come in and help solve our problems. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:14 pm: Some people who want to stay leave because they can’t find a decent job. We lead the nation in unemployment but do virtually nothing to attract employers or encourage those companies that are here to expand. - oldman - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:22 pm: Who, besides the Chicago Trib editorial staff, doesn’t understand that a large tax increase is coming. It’s really basic math. Both sides should just bite the bullet, be adults and deal with it now. (It will never happen before the election) - Common Sense Republicain - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:35 pm: Lucky Pierre @ 12:14 == Some people who want to stay leave because they can’t find a decent job. We lead the nation in unemployment but do virtually nothing to attract employers or encourage those companies that are here to expand.== Actually you are almost correct. While you are correct about why some people leave and the unemployment rate, you are wrong about ‘virtually nothing’ part. We have a Governor, that consistently complains, grippes and does everything he can to portray Illinois, ‘broken’, ‘corrupt’, ‘financial mess’ etc. Companies looking to expand see these comments from the LEADER of the State and wonder why they should come to Illinois. Does Illinois have problems, YES, can we fix the problems YES. It just takes common sense and people that have both the Citizens and Businesses of Illinois as the first priority! - City Zen - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:39 pm: @Honeybear - I get exactly what you’re saying. But that same scenario holds true with your cuts or a tax hike. You merely shift the impact from one person to the other. Who sacrifices their Galena trip, you or me? I live in Cook County. I recently drove to DuPage to make large purchases I could have otherwise made in Cook. Why? Not only the significant-enough sales tax difference but also the recent hike in Cook’s sales tax. So what did Preckwinkle’s tax hike cost local businesses and municipalities? Preckwinkle’s decision altered my behavior and determined the winners and losers in those transaction. My district might be gerrymandered, but my wallet is not. Never underestimate the power of spite. - Chicagonk - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:43 pm: Politicians love turning complex issues into binary ones. Unfortunately, the public is to blame for this. The tax hike (which is necessary and inevitable) will not be presented as a choice between different tax structures or rates, but as a (false) choice between hiking taxes or not hiking taxes. I know OW is fond of saying “vote accordingly.” Well my vote will be to clean house and that goes for both sides. - Steve Polite - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:47 pm: Lucky Pierre, I heard on the news this morning Springfield has 6,000 open jobs right now not including construction, lowest unemployment in the state at 4.7%. As for decent jobs, the right-to-work for less states around us all have lower median incomes than Illinois. If you need a decent job, come to Springfield. - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:49 pm: I love when some posters comment on how much higher income tax rates are in the surrounding states. Care to look at the sales tax rates and real estate taxes. Do that and report back. There are states offering no income tax, if you think people aren’t moving to TN, Texas, Florida, etc. you are not paying attention. A buddy of mine who owns a moving company just told me they are moving a lot of people to other states. - City Zen - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 12:52 pm: ==Let’s take a look at how you would fair with state income tax rates for neighboring states (assuming you would keep your current job, move to a neighboring state, and commute to work):== - Wisconsin - taxes retirement income - Indiana - taxes retirement income - Missouri - taxes retirement income - Kentucky - taxes retirement income IN, MO, KY have lower costs of living. Each one of those state has much lower property taxes. And all the other full tax picture is needed stuff… I agree with your assessment that a massive outbound migration will probably not occur with a hike. But you seem to take pleasure in that folks are somehow trapped here. Yeah, it’s hard to pick up and move. To think that gives you carte blanche to raise taxes to your heart’s content is a pretty dark thought. - Morty - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:06 pm: “A buddy of mine who owns a moving company just told me they are moving a lot of people to other states” A buddy of mine is a mortician, he’s saying lots of people are dying… Another buddy is a banker- he says lots of people are taking out loans… - atsuishin - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:40 pm: - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 10:29 am Read my comment, I never claim the governor is “constitutionally” weaker. I said Edger and Ryan were tamed by madigan. Elephants and Lions are very strong but can still be tamed by the ring master. I am using a good analogy for Madigan’s relationship with illinois governors. he likes to tame the beast. - Ron - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:40 pm: What’s truly radical is a state Constitution that coddled and protects public workers at the expense of taxpayers. A true abomination of justice. - SKI - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:43 pm: You are right. In order to compare all the states you do need the full tax picture. However, I think you missed the boat on the reasoning for my comparison. The original poster stated that a forced INCOME TAX increase would cause a mass exodus. As if an income tax increase alone will be the straw that breaks the camels back. “But you seem to take pleasure in that folks are somehow trapped here. Yeah, it’s hard to pick up and move. To think that gives you carte blanche to raise taxes to your heart’s content is a pretty dark thought.” No, I just take pleasure in calling people out for being overly dramatic. I’ve been waiting since 2008 for the mass exodus to Canada too. - Ron - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:44 pm: Illinois is losing population faster than all states but West Virginia. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:45 pm: - atsuishin - Read McKinney … http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/pensions Then tell me about taming… ugh. - Ron -, The constitutional guarantees are there to protect the public workers, and protect them from losing their pensions. Seems the ILSC keeps siding with that pesky constitution. - Ron - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:46 pm: Illinois has the third highest state and local tax burden in the country. - Ron - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:48 pm: OW, the Illinois Constitution is an abomination of all that is fair and just. - Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:49 pm: Ron, “tone” it down, please. Thanks. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:50 pm: ===OW, the Illinois Constitution is an abomination of all that is fair and just.=== The rule of law says otherwise, but, you go with your thought, or at least until a cloud comes by for you to yell at that too… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:51 pm: Sorry Rich, my bad. - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:52 pm: “cullerton is the height of cowardliness and disingenuousness” is plain silly - Rabid - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:56 pm: #TaxBoostBruce - steve schnorf - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 1:58 pm: Pierre, where do your numbers come from? According to BLS, Illinois doesn’t lead the nation in unemployed, either way you look at it, unemployment rate or number of people unemployed. Did you just make that up? - walker - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:01 pm: Rauner submitted two budget proposals that de facto required billions in tax increases to balance. End of discussion. Don’t pretend otherwise. If you continue to insist we have no new taxes, then you disagree with our governor. Of course, Madigan and Cullerton did the same, which is why all three will have to step up to the plate to pass the required tax increase. - Ron - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:02 pm: Illinois has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Not the worst though - Anonymous - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:02 pm: atsuishin, “Madigan tamed Edgar and Ryan to get a massive tax increases.” Tell me about the “massive tax increases”. I don’t remember any massive tax increases under either Governor, nor under Blago. That’s eighteen years without any massive tax increases. - kimocat - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:07 pm: Somebody seems to be having a tantrum today. Ron, you need a timeout. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:11 pm: Steve Heard it on WTTS Week in Review last Friday night from Charles Thomas of WLS TV in Chicago who said Illinois has the highest unemployment except for Alaska. I will be more precise in the future, but it really seems like a distinction without a difference. Alaska is 6.7 percent we are at 6.2 percent but our U 6 rate which would include those long term unemployed who have left the labor force is 11 percent. - steve schnorf - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:27 pm: Pierre, “worst” is a very powerful word and I don’t think it should be used incorrectly. Had you said we had a “very high” or “one of the worst” I wouldn’t have commented. Had you said we had a “huge” number of unemployed, I would have said “Of course, because we have a huge population and one of the largest number of employed in the country.” Playing games with numbers to score points has alway bothered me. I’m not implying that you were, just explaining why I sometimes make comments that probably seem “picky” to many - atsuishin - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:42 pm: ==That’s eighteen years without any massive tax increases.== What? Did your brain fall out. Edgar repeatedly raised and taxes income, gas and “fees”. Included $1.4 billion ($2.2 billion in today’s dollars) income tax He signed in the dreaded ramp. Ryan raised spending massively ($12 billion) and increased the sales taxes and fees hugely. Additionally property taxes soared during this time. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 2:46 pm: ===Edgar repeatedly raised and taxes income, gas and “fees”. Included $1.4 billion ($2.2 billion in today’s dollars) income tax He signed in the dreaded ramp. Ryan raised spending massively ($12 billion) and increased the sales taxes and fees hugely. Additionally property taxes soared during this time.=== - atsuishin - Don’t you mean Madigan did that? Or did Madigan “tame” then to do it? No. Governors own. They always do. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 3:01 pm: I think… “This”… is my favorite. ===He (Governor… Governor Jim Edgar) signed in the dreaded ramp.=== Edgar signed it, Edgar owned it. Hmm. Yeah, that’s my favorite. - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 3:01 pm: Your point is well taken Steve. Looking up the stats Nevada is 6.4 and we are next tied with New Mexico and Louisiana. We should hold our politicians to that same standard. Is Rauner really extreme if 42 states allow exceptions for collective bargaining? How about asking for workers comp reform where our rates are among the highest in the country? If you believe the polls, not passing term limits or redistricting is extreme because they are popular with bipartisan majorities. - anon - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 3:18 pm: Edgar raised the income tax by making permanent the temporary hike passed under Big Jim. Edgar in 1990 campaigned in favor of keeping the tax hike, which Madigan’s candidate opposed. === the Illinois Constitution is an abomination of all that is fair and just. === Voters don’t agree as reflected in the overwhelming defeat of Con-Con every time it comes up in referendum. 2008 was the last one. - Mama - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 3:50 pm: “It has to be two parties sitting down and willing to compromise and that’s certainly where I am.” Cullerton, good luck with getting a compromise. Rauner’s P-12 schools have been funded. Therefore, he has no need to compromise. - Steve Schnorf - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 4:39 pm: Edgar raised taxes because he didn’t let the rate go down? What bs! There were no massive tax increases under Edgar, Ryan, or Blagojevich. There were increases in gas taxes and license plate fees,that went to road and mass transit improvements. But if all those are added together you’re nowhere near massive given the size of the state’s budget. BTW,none of the 3 governors raised proper taxes either. - James - Friday, Jul 29, 16 @ 4:39 pm: Rauner: no tax increase without turnaround agenda items. Cullerton: no radical reforms; no tax increase unless Rauner proposes it. Are there some items on the TA that are not “too radical” for Cullerton (and Madigan)? And can the parties put their differences behind them, to find and agree on those items? If not, we’re Kansas, until January, 2019. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.