57 Comments - AC - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:11 am: ==our state’s slow and painful decline== A rapid and excruciatingly painful decline is much better! Thank you Governor Rauner for helping destroy the state at an unprecedented pace. /S - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:12 am: I suggested yesterday that the GA not pass any budget at all, not even a stop-gap K-12 bill. Just let the State run under the court orders and consent decrees. If parents want the schools to open in the fall instead of having a Rauner Holiday, get a court order. I also suggested the only bill the GA should pass it a tax increase big enough​ to close the $7-8B structural deficit plus enough to pay down the current $8-12B backlog over the next 3 or 4 years. That second amount could sunset once the backlog was down to a normal 30 day cycle. And when Rauner vetoes it, pass it again. Repeat as needed until it is signed or 2019. - Henry Francis - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:17 am: I guess it is all in how one defines a “bad” deal for taxpayers. I think math tells us that given the financial mess our state is in, taxpayers are going to have to pay more in taxes. A lot more. So is the Guv saying any deal where taxpayers pay more in taxes is a bad deal? If so, then there is no such thing as a good deal for taxpayers. If the Guv is saying that a balanced budget with reforms is the only way the taxpayers can get a good deal, then he has to prove his case. A balanced budget would include both cuts and increased taxes. But the Guv (and his budget chief and his agency heads) have refused on multiple occasions to identify the cuts necessary to balance the budget. As to his “reforms”, the Guv has failed now for over 2 years to explain with a factual basis how his reforms would help balance the budget, or improve the overall quality of life for the taxpayers (or citizens) of Illinois. We know what no deal gets us. Instead of creating unrealistic or unachievable ideals of what a “good” budget is, I wish the Guv would instead focus on getting the “best” budget he can. - Annonin' - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:18 am: The DopeyDuct op ed makes him looks sillier than the flannel short events — if that is possible. Guessin’ he believes that if he adds in Madigan to every bungled sentence — after droppin’ g’s — he will be helped. - a - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:19 am: Our slow and painful decline didn’t exist until this governor took office and put it into hyperdrive to be rapid and excruciating! What kind of positive leadership does this? - Saluki - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:19 am: Any budget is better than no budget at all. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:19 am: ===“I apologize but we may have to go through a little rough times and we have to do what Ronald Reagan did with the air traffic controllers. We sort of have to do a do-over and shut things down for a little while, that’s what we’re going to do,” Rauner said.=== ===“I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic and bring the folks who say, ‘You know what, for our tax dollars, I’d rather help the disadvantaged, the handicapped, the elderly, the children in poverty,’ ” Rauner said, instead of directing tax dollars to the Service Employees International Union or “AF-Scammy,” an apparent reference to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME for short.=== No Deal for Governor Rauner is the best deal. A bad deal doesn’t get the damage Rauner wants. A bad deal prevents passive destruction too. That’s why, I think, Rauner feels he’s right. To Rauner, no deal allows wedges, possible shutdowns, a reset, and squeezing the beast. Not the way to run a railroad. - Honeybear - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:21 am: The Great Perfidy “structural reform” When REMI analysis were produced for peer review 1.4% increase in our economy. They haven’t tried it again because the economic benefits are false. The “structural reforms” are a false God. No fellow citizens Rauner serves Mammon, the God of Profit The “structural reforms” would bring private profit Junk bond rating=private profit EDGE = private profit Labor weakened/destroyed =Private profit Government weakened= private profit The poor,disabled,elderly not cared for=private profit Less revenue/taxes= private profit Every Action Rauner and Republicans do is for Private Profit All for Mammon Mammon is their Lord - d.p.gumby - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:21 am: Only in his fantasy can no deal be better than a bad deal. No deal allows him to keep politicking and refusing to govern. No deal allows him to have no responsibility for anything. Any deal requires Brucie to be a governor–something he apparently does not want–he only wants to run for governor. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:32 am: The machine always waits it out - Joe M - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:36 am: Polling people if they want a longer or shorter tax freeze is about like polling them if they like paying taxes at all. The results are pretty predictable. - Rogue Roni - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:38 am: At least we get things with “bad budgets”. little things like higher education and social services. All we have now is 12 billion in debt building up interest. Governor, do your job. - don the legend - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:44 am: Rauner’s personal reward is No Deal. He feels great that he is on the path to breaking the systems of our government. He views government as unnecessary and costly to him. After two years of his actions and non-actions it is clear that Rauner loves the feeling that he gets from having No Deal. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:46 am: Simply, Rauner has too much money, more focused on what people think, than getting things done. - Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:07 am: The man is not a leader. He only ever knew how to do for himself and nobody else ever. If he really wanted a deal, he would have it. Because a real leader would work for it, and not just say they want a deal. - Pundent - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:09 am: A “good deal” (if one is even possible at this point) would have to not only change the trajectory of the state but also overcome the consequences (and taxation requirements) that have been brought by the bill backlog. To me therein lies Rauner’s problem. When it’s all said and done we’ll have to answer the question of “why did we endure X number of years of no budgets to get this and now pay Y in taxes”? The juice has never been worth the squeeze. - Honeybear - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:11 am: Rauner is negotiating Rauner negotiates for an unconditional surrender For the God of Profit Mammon Because DEMS are not unconditionally surrendering Negotiations will continue till surrender “No one can serve two masters. ” Luke 16:13 Rauners reforms are for Private profit - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:11 am: == this reader said he received an automated poll… == Is that the damned “CCI” that calls the landline every 10 - 15 minutes from 5 or 6 different numbers? They call faster than you can call block them! - LeadingInDecatur - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:15 am: OW. Thanks for replaying Rauner’s greatest hits… I was also trying to find when he said something along the lines of “You only need the legislature if you want to spend more. They can’t stop me if I want to spend less.” Amazingly, he seems to be right… he slashed his own taxes, raised his return on Illinois bonds with ratings declines, and may get his wish for another bite at the pension reduction apple. All this by simply refusing to sign a budget. Well played, Raunie…well played. You are winnin’ and all it took was gaslighting… why would he want to change this new dystopian status quo? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:30 am: - LeadingInDecatur - Thank you. Yeah, that “spending what’s budgeted” talk led to MOUs entering the mix as Rauner said, as is the 100% privilege as governor, he may not spend all monies allocated. Then, of course, Rauner would own that passive cut, and Dems want monies spent they voted for, for agencies and programs. Meanwhile, no worth of MOUs or holding monies back. Rauner is passively destroying everything, not just a program or 8 - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:30 am: “worry” - Chicago 20 - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:48 am: To me the 4 and 4 means no budget for the next two years. Another vague unworkable plan for Raunerite’s to put their hopes and dreams. - Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:53 am: I like RNUG’s proposal. I would add a Senate shutdown of all confirmations and investigations of DCFS and DOIT. Any agreement will reveal priorities. I don’t think Governor Rauner wants to commit. - Rabid - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 11:55 am: Self proclaimed “baddest negotiator” thinks no budget is not bad, a benchmark in his administration - Free Set of Steak Knives - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 12:19 pm: I can already tell you what the voter’s response is to the latest Rauner proposal: about 17 percent in favor. That’s how many were in favor of his proposal the last time, and nothing has changed. - Winnin' - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 12:35 pm: You know what? This campaign’s gonna be easy for Pritzker. It’s going to be easy to correlate Rauner’s decimation of Illinois to his decimation of corporations and businesses via vulture capitalism. He desperately needs a deal or he is toast. - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 1:25 pm: It would be great if we laid off the state workforce and could put everyone on Tier 2. Save a lot of money. - Honeybear - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 1:49 pm: Mammon likes to save money by shedding the unprofitable. More for private profit Layoffs Downsizing Privatizing Moving plants to Mexico Reducing hours Reducing benefits Beloved methods of increasing profit Methods of Mammon and his faithful Right Ron? Private profit over public good - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 2:22 pm: Wrong Honeybear. Taxpayers are being crushed by outrageous taxation in Illinois. Rationalizing state government is very important for the future of the state. I am for progressive income taxes, but cutting comes first. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 2:25 pm: Do not feed the Troll. Add to the discussion, yes, but don’t feed the troll. - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:04 pm: ==This campaign’s gonna be easy for Pritzker.== Agreed 100%. Others will obviously disagree but unless Rauner figures out how to effectively govern in the next 17 months he’ll be defeated handily. The recent “tax hit” on Pritzker is ineffective because the simple truth is that most poor and middle class folks already assume rich guys exploit tax loopholes. Therefore, it’s baked in for most. Of course none of us like it and it might carry water if J.B. was facing off against a blue-collar opponent. Everyone knows Rauner is a billionaire so that dog likely won’t hunt. People are going to be voting for the billionaire they like best this time around. I’m saying it’s an easy call for most who that is. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:07 pm: == Taxpayers are being crushed by outrageous taxation in Illinois. == Yes, the POOR taxpayers in Illinois are paying too much. But that is because the RICH taxpayers aren’t paying enough. Time for a progressive income tax that exempts the first $50,000 in income, taxes the next $50,000 at 3%, taxes the next $150,000 at 6%, and taxes everything over $250,000 at 9%. No other deductions allowed. - Honeybear - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:18 pm: My bad. I poked it. I’m just driving home the absolute immorality of creating economic suffering in order to secure private profit, which is what I honestly believe Reublicans are doing. Many republicans are Christian especially here in the South. I am messaging that to pursue profit over people, to put people in literal danger, to harm the poor, disabled and elderly, to be “competitive then we can be compassionate” is to be immoral It is to worship a golden calf to worship a false God It is to worship Mammon Luke 16:13 No one can serve two masters For too long republicans have held themselves as righteous Christians defending the mythical taxpayer. I I rebuke this false righteousness and call it what it is Idolatry People before profit Community before corporation 1.4% was no reason to destroy Over a million people’s economic security Higher education Private social services State agencies State credit Small main street business Our rural communities Contractors with the state Ruined for decades! Immoral I scream at the top of my lungs! There is no religious There is no Christian justification for what they are doing! What they are doing is worshipping private profit At the corporate temple. - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:23 pm: Yes, the POOR taxpayers in Illinois are paying too much. But that is because the RICH taxpayers aren’t paying enough. Time for a progressive income tax that exempts the first $50,000 in income, taxes the next $50,000 at 3%, taxes the next $150,000 at 6%, and taxes everything over $250,000 at 9%. No other deductions allowed.” That is utterly ridiculous. Should be 3.5% up to $50K 4.5% up to $150K 5.5% above - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:24 pm: RNUG, Illinois is not a very desirable place other than Chicago. Those are rates like in CA almost. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:24 pm: “A bad deal for taxpayers is worse than no deal at all, because it preserves the broken system and continues our state’s slow and painful decline” LOL! Governor Kevorkian wants us to have a swift painful decline! I can’t imagine a more ungubernatorial thing to say. Compromise much Governor? - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:25 pm: ==Yes, the POOR taxpayers in Illinois are paying too much. But that is because the RICH taxpayers aren’t paying enough. Time for a progressive income tax that exempts the first $50,000 in income, taxes the next $50,000 at 3%, taxes the next $150,000 at 6%, and taxes everything over $250,000 at 9%. No other deductions allowed.== Excellent proposal. I think most poor to middle class folks would agree. Besides being fair it would also spur our economy much more than putting the screws to some guy who blew out his rotator cuff on the job. When people get to keep more of their income it’s been shown time and time again that the majority of those dollars get spent and mainly at local businesses. The rich guys, on the other hand, simply buy more stocks. For the guys crying about the rich paying too much, how about we bump the capital gains rates up to match ordinary income. - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:28 pm: Those tax rates are for crack smokers. High income earners will bail in a minute with those rates. California here we come! Illinois can’t even keep people with 3.75% rate. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:29 pm: == Those are rates like in CA almost == You got it! I was deliberately going to California rates where people truly are highly taxed. - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:33 pm: RNUG, Illinois is not California. Illinois is sub par. California is the nicest state in the Union. People will leave Illinois in droves with those confiscatory tax rates. They are leaving with the rates we have now. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:40 pm: == Should be 3.5% up to $50K 4.5% up to $150K 5.5% above == Not high enough. Right now math says the flat income tax needs to be about 5.5%. If you go progressive, figure 6% -7% for the top rate. Note: the flat rate could have been OK at 5% before Ruiner dug such a deep hole in the last 2 years. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 3:42 pm: They are leaving because of the disfunction. They don’t see Rauner compromising the next 2 years. - CrazyHorse - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 4:01 pm: ==People will leave Illinois in droves with those confiscatory tax rates. They are leaving with the rates we have now.== I don’t have the DATA but I’m guessing that the majority of the people leaving are middle-class and the elderly. Those rates would help those people and incentivize them to stay. With the rates RNUG proposed, anyone making under 250K (over 95%) would be paying 2K less than what they paid when Quinn had the rates at 5%. Also, even for those right at that 250K threshold, it only represents a tax hike of $1,125 when compared with our current 3.75%. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 4:38 pm: == Illinois is not California. == Actually,in terms of political leanings and social policies, Illinois IS (or at least was until Rauner) a lot like California and New York. We also have a lot of the nanny laws like California and New York. In that way, we are pretty much unique in the mid-week. And, like those 2 states, we tend to swing back and forth on the political spectrum. What we don’t have is the climate or the mountains / desert / coastline California does. We also don’t have the stability of having a working budget. But if you are going to have a blue leaning state, you can’t do it on a red tax rate … although Illinois has tried to do so. The voters elected Rauner because (a) he wasn’t Quinn and (b) he promised to fix the fiscal mess while not hurting the State. He lied. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 4:51 pm: CA real estate tax is 1%. If you are going to talk about Illinois having a red tax rate you should be transparent and compare real estate taxes. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 5:28 pm: Ron@3:24. I think you meant to say, “most of Illinois is desireable to live in, except Chicago.” - Ron - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 5:36 pm: Illinois is a dump. Why do you think the vast majority of well educated live in the Chicago area. Downstate is dying. - Anonymous - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 5:39 pm: Yep, Anonymous is right. RE taxes are capped in CA. So they have outrageous income taxes. Illinois has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. And to the joker that claims people are leaving because of dysfunction, LOL! That is some excellent crack. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 5:43 pm: Ron. Usually I find your comments somewhat interesting. I don’t agree with your assessment on this one. Having just spent a few years in Lincoln Park, I was more than happy to return to SoIll. - Honeybear - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 7:26 pm: Why do you think the vast majority of well educated live in the Chicago area. Downstate is dying. Outside of Hyde Park and Evanston, I’d put up Edwardsville and Glen Carbon as totally competing with Chicago academically. Again the arrogance of the privileged. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 7:34 pm: FYI. Education does not belie intelligence. Wealth does not mean happiness. Progressive does not ensure compassion. Conservative does not mean unChristian. - Rabbit Hole - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 8:28 pm: OMG! I couldn’t get past the “everyone has a lobbyist but you, the taxpayers. That’s why you elected me…”!!!! Puh-lease!!! Gov needs to hire lobbyists instead of CONTRACTORS!!! At least lobbyists are open about why they are in the business! Contractors make it appear that they’ve “won” bids and are “saving taxpayers money”. blah blah blah. So Gov, please…don’t insult. Contractors get contracts for reasons you choose NOT to disclose. DoIT is prime example. Rauner-Bhatts don’t disclose their contacts or conflicts of interest to large scale companies that get contracts for large scale IT jobs. May not be at DoIT, but other agencies. HFS Medicaid/Medicare system, DNR licensing system…. - RNUG - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 8:31 pm: == CA real estate tax is 1%. If you are going to talk about Illinois having a red tax rate you should be transparent and compare real estate taxes. == And my $90,000 home in Springfield would be a $500,000 home (or more) in a suburb over an hour commute from LA and the real estate tax at 1% would be $5,000, about double what I pay here. And Prop 10 doesn’t prevent the value from being reset to market when you buy. - blue dog dem - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 9:00 pm: Property tax. The very words make my blood boil. The ultimate penalty on the working poor and middle classes. The ultimate penalty on the unemployed, the elderly. Illinois CAN NEVER recover while we fund so much with this immorral tax. kennedy has been the only one to address this. Not saying I like him, but if we can’t change the way we generate revnue, I am afraid we will have to get down on our hands and needs and beg Congress to let us walk from our obligations. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, May 16, 17 @ 10:34 pm: With all due respect, Honeybear, you need to fire up the Family Truckster and take a drive through Central Illinois. Springfield and Decatur could be doing better, but Champaign is hot right now. $250 million in commercial/residential ready to come out of the ground. Urbana will get going now that the Mayor for life is gone. BloNo still looks good even with State Farm moving jobs hither and yon. As far as schools, every one of those cities’ school districts have been nationally recognized. The Big E is as much about gerrymandered boundaries as educational excellence. - Illinoyed - Wednesday, May 17, 17 @ 6:49 am: RNUG - With much respect (you have no idea how much!), as one of the much demonized state employees/retirees, I’d like your opinion on this idea. A graduated income tax also include retirement income with again 0% for 50k and less. Increase the amount of brackets, every 50k if not 25k, if practical. This maybe would “undemonize” us as the AAI increases would move us into higher brackets as time goes on. Not so much for the average pensioner (I don’t think I’ll live long enough to see another bracket!) but as for those collecting six figure pensions…? As an aside, I ran across this site during the whole pension ordeal in 2013. If I had trusted your opinion then as much as I do now, I would have completed the goal of serving 32 years that I set for myself at age 20 instead of leaving 2 years short of that goal. Words can’t describe how much I appreciate your sharing of knowledge, as well as the other commenters here. As you said last fall, this site is truly a classroom of Illinois state politics and I learn something new everyday. Let me not be remiss in acknowledging our gracious host who makes this possible - Thank-you Mr. Miller!!! - RNUG - Wednesday, May 17, 17 @ 9:20 am: - Illinoyed - I would be OK with more brackets and with taxing some retirement income. My proposal above, while partly serious, was as much about trolling the troll. (I know, I don’t joke that much on here but I sometimes do.) Specifically to taxing retirement income, I think it all needs to be taxed: pensions, retirement annuities, Social Security, IRA / 401K withdrawals, etc. although I could make an argument to follow the Federal rules, which would exempt a portion of SS and all Roth IRAs. I do think the first $50K per person needs to be exempt, partly out of helping the retired and partly out of necessity to get such a tax passed and signed. And while some States exempt just Social​ Security, I don’t think that would be fair to the people who didn’t pay into Social Security, because they weren’t allowed to. It might even lead to a court case by “state” retirees over diminishment, especially since it could be shown to be unequal treatment of a whole class of people. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.