68 Comments - Can - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:18 am: With agency directors unable to identify budget cuts, what else could the Senate Democrats do? - TominChicago - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:19 am: Not sure I get why the Senate Dems are doing this. It basically fits Rauner’s narrative and gives him an upper hand and yet Dems get no budget approval. - Trapped in the 'burbs - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:23 am: Every taxpayer knows that we have to raise revenue and cut spending. At some point, we need the legislators to put their name on some bills that would do just that. Nobody will be happy about what we’re going to have to do to get healthy but we need to swallow the medicine. The governor could put together a balanced budget which would mean deep spending cuts and raising revenue but it’s obvious that he won’t. Unless he shows some leadership, blaming Madigan won’t be enough. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:24 am: Yep. The best intentions that the SDems have and continue to push had only one headline conclusion… Senate Dems Raise Taxes Yep, there was no other real media way this was going to go. I’m guessing these headlines will be used with millions and millions against the SDems… as Rauner purposely destroys Illinois for an agenda, even if it’s passively done. This is the “weak” stuff, the headlines. Wait until these headlines are run in ads over and over and over, with those millions, to help Bruce Rauner win re-election… Two plus years, no Dem messaging, now “this”. There will be a time when Dems will wish today was the worse they had it. - Joe M - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:27 am: The GOP needs to show us their work and give real, verifiable dollar figures as to how much their so-called reforms are going to help balance the State budget. Otherwise, they are just talking more political and campaign rhetoric. - AC - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:31 am: My headline would’ve been: Rauner supports spending, not revenue, promises veto After all, the Democrats based their numbers on Rauner’s own budget proposal. - Anon - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:35 am: “* AP: Illinois Senate Democrats vote for $5.4 billion tax increase: Senate Democrats added spending to a budget plan Tuesday to lure more Democratic support before voting to approve a $5.4 billion tax increase without a single Republican “aye.” Remove Leader Radogno from the table and wonder why you don’t get a single Republican “aye.” - MOON - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:36 am: The Senate Dems played right into Rauners hand. Terrible mistake that will cost them seats. The House will never pass this bill unless Rauner agrees to sign it. - Chicago J - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:37 am: I was so mad listening to the coverage of this last night- most places didn’t even provide the context that this vote was in attempts of ending a 2 year budget impasse! It was just “raise taxes!”. what’s wrong with our media for not being more neutral, providing a real context for viewers to understand this vote in the larger budget negotiations? Ugh! - Collinsville Kevin - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:45 am: Hey, only raising it 32% sounds a lot better than the previous 67% increase! And can anybody please tell me what the deal is with a 4.95% tax rate instead of 5%? - Context? - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:47 am: If a tax hike does nothing to fix the pension death spiral and merely perpetuates the status quo, what is the point? The media doesn’t need to provide context because it is worthless. The math doesn’t work without CUTS and REVENUE. What a sad sad state. - A guy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:47 am: ===Every taxpayer knows that we have to raise revenue and cut spending.=== I wish it were true…that every taxpayer would know this. Trouble is; they don’t. None of these headlines are a surprise, given the events of yesterday. Heck, in this case “they truly did write themselves”. I’m just not sure why they pursued this course. It’s no clearer today than it was yesterday. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:48 am: == Not sure I get why the Senate Dems are doing this. == The Dem’s will be able to counter that they passed a budget, a budget the State desperately needed, so the schools could open in the fall, and do the children, the poor, and the elderly can he cared for. They can also claim it is a first step to fixing Rauner’s mismanagement that grew the bill backlog to $14B. Spun right, it can be a powerful message. Something like Rauner​ and the IGOP couldn’t or wouldn’t do the job, do we did. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:49 am: Any sign yet of of that “balanced budget proposal” Rauner talks about in his TV spot? It must exist. Otherwise, the governor would be lying to the people about a very important issue. Let’s see who takes the beating: those who propose the obvious realistic path, or those who just make stuff up while the fiscal meltdown continues. - So tired of political hacks - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:50 am: If the bill passes the house (lol) and the governor vetoes it then we had a budget and reps killed it. If he signs it then he raises taxes. Simple most people know there is going to be tax increase they just tired and what a budget and their $ - AC - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:51 am: ==can anybody please tell me what the deal is with a 4.95% tax rate instead of 5%?== The desire to have bragging rights associated with lower taxes than we had under Quinn is greater than the desire to have a simple round number or to dig ourselves out of our fiscal mess any faster. - Adults in the room - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:52 am: The press are seeking readers and ratings just reporting that the senate Dems try to end the budget stalemate by passing a budget that includes a 5% across the board cut in spending and a 1.2 point increase in taxes. Based on the Illinois median income for a family of 4 : 74,705 thisbtax increase would be $897 a year or $37 bi monthly or $2.45 a day - Pundent - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:56 am: I tend to agree with RNUG. Attempting to do something to end the crisis can be presented as a positive thing particularly if the tax increase doesn’t happen. It helps underscore the $14B hole we have to dig out of and sets the stage for an inevitable tax increase (whenever that may be). A 4.95% hike today could be a relative bargain compared to what we will need as the backlog continues to grow. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 9:59 am: The headlines are predictably bad for the SDEMs, but then there’s also the SJ-R today, which is a bad headline for everybody else. At least the Senate Dems can say they passed a budget. Of course, if I’m reading this correctly, a big if for sure, then the only part of the Senate package the HDEMs are likely to leave untouched is the tax hike bill. I expect the House to write its own spending plan to match whatever revenue the Senate bill(s) give them. Maybe they’ll give Rauner something, but let’s face it, Rauner’s best chance of a major win died in the Senate. And he only has himself to blame for that. Unacceptable is right. I’m glad the Senate Dems stepped up and did their job, thankless as it is. - 51st ward - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:02 am: Sen. Murphy tweeted that the budget passed yesterday had 3 billion in cuts. I havent seen anything about that is it true and what are they? - Valvino - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:07 am: Instead of not voting or voting present, why don’t the Republicans come up with a budget solution? I forgot, the Governor has, a roll of duct tape - Deadbeat Conservative - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:07 am: “approving a spending plan that would raise the income tax rate in the state by 32 percent” As long as paying old bills is characterized as a “spending plan” that causes a tax increase, the deadbeat caucus continues to control the message. - Peoria Citizen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:07 am: Unkind? What’s unkind is no budget. Those are what we in reality called Justified Headlines. - Last Bull Moose - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:09 am: If the House gets on board, they can force Rauner to veto the bill. The Dems can then resist a separate schools bill. Thus pushing Rauner to do his own bill. - Peoria Citizen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:09 am: That said, Rauner is as guilty as much as the rest. In fact, pretty sure we had budgets before he was there. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:15 am: == And can anybody please tell me what the deal is with a 4.95% tax rate instead of 5%? == According to what Dan Long said in a presentation I sat through, the rate needed to be 5.25% but it wasn’t politically possible to be high than Quinn’s 5%. At that time, the thinking was it would be between 4.85% and 4.99%. Apparently the need for revenue partially out balanced the politics, so we ended up with 4.95%. It’s also why the expanded sales tax on services is included, to make up the 0.30% that wasn’t put into the income tax. - City Zen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:17 am: ==Based on the Illinois median income for a family of 4 : 74,705 this tax increase would be $897 a year or $37 bi monthly or $2.45 a day== $897/yr invested in an IRA over 40 years earning 7% interest nets you over $200,000 at retirement, an amount 40x greater than the median for all working-age families in the USA (per EPI). And this is only one unit of government. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:31 am: Ever since Ogilvie, there’s been a tax curse in Illinois that gets waved like dirty underwear every election day. He’s been gone 45 years, but our state politicians still drag his political corpse out and show it off. Madigan’s first terms were in his shadow. Ask any legislator it seems, and they faint the moment you ask them about taxes. Illinois hasn’t moved on. Blago talked around it. Thompson and Edgar got queasy. After Ogilvie, Illinois got snake bit discussing taxes like adults. We’ve had a bunch of governors end up in jail, we’ve watched our economy struggle to keep up, we’ve witnessed one systemic shock after another without the level of vitrol we see the moment someone meantions taxes. Geez, I’m conservative, but a lot of you folks are so ridiculous on this. We are worse off today than we were when we had a 5% income tax. Stop mobbing people who know this and want to return us to the bad old days under Quinn. It’s better than what we have now. Let Ogilvie rest in Peace ILGOP! - Jimmy H - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:42 am: The Bill Backlog graphic from the Comptroller destroys Rauner’s no increased/new taxes argument. - Norseman - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:51 am: I really hate to criticize Cullerton for doing the adult governmental thing, but the rest of the crowd are still in kiddie “all for themselves” mode. Hopefully, Cullerton and his members will not get punished for their effort. - Puddintaine - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 10:53 am: Re: 3 billon in cuts. That would be 3 billion paper cuts, bleeding the taxpayers (synonym: productive, now looking to flee). Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge improvement over the old and tired thousand paper cuts. - So tired of political hacks - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:11 am: =puddintaine= You sound like GOP rep can you explain where the cuts could come from. Illinois last in state employee per cap. Last in school funding per state k-12 and higher ed I believe, last in Medicare per person of all states. Talk is cheap that’s why Rauner likes it. But show us the cuts. Also if they still want in this state after all this they probly not going any where. Illinois not broke 5th largest economy in us. - So tired of political hacks - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:14 am: BTW social services getting destroyed and still 6 billion in hole on lack of 2017 budget. - So tired of political hacks - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:17 am: Btw social devices being destroyed and 2018 budget still 6 billion in hole. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:25 am: “With agency directors unable to identify budget cuts” Is that supposed to be funny? Just give each agency 10% less than last year. No one every wants to cut, but when given a budget, people deal with it. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:27 am: “You sound like GOP rep can you explain where the cuts could come from. Illinois last in state employee per cap. Last in school funding per state k-12 and higher ed I believe, last in Medicare per person of all states. Talk is cheap that’s why Rauner likes it. But show us the cuts. Also if they still want in this state after all this they probly not going any where. Illinois not broke 5th largest economy in us.” And yet Illinois has the highest state and local tax burden in the nation. Where does the money go? - Anonymous - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:36 am: =Where does the money go?= Interest payments and self-inflicted contingencies (court orders, emergency repairs, etc.) An old conservative argument was rolled out the other day…..”The worst thing you can do with your debts is ignore them.” Make no mistake, that’s what got Illinois in this hole. - Juvenal - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:42 am: Petrosian v Spassky, 1966. In round 10, Petrosian refuses to play to another draw, and instead of trading pieces, on move 30 makes a brilliant play to sacrifice his queen, setting up a knight fork that would cost the world champion his queen and leave Tigran “The Tiger” Petrosian up a knight. Spassky resigned, Petrosian became the new world champion. Rauner and the GOP should and will take the blame if there is no school budget this fall. - Hamlet's Ghost - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:45 am: == And yet Illinois has the highest state and local tax burden in the nation. Where does the money go? == Great question that no one seems able to answer. Perhaps the assertion that Illinois has the highest state and local tax burden in the nation is fake news, spread as astroturf, for political reasons. - CapnCrunch - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:09 pm: “They [Dems] can also claim it is a first step to fixing Rauner’s mismanagement that grew the bill backlog…” But weren’t they the people who allowed the sunset of a 5% tax rate which was reducing our bill backlog? - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:10 pm: Hamlet, the math is there it look at. Whether or not Illinois has the highest or 4th highest state and local tax burden is not particularly important. We pay outrageous taxes and get very little for it. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:12 pm: ===But weren’t they the people who allowed the sunset of a 5% tax rate which was reducing our bill backlog?=== Rauner ran on, and after being Gov-Elect, and cheered the sunsetting tax hike. So, there’s that. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:27 pm: == We pay outrageous taxes and get very little for it. == The outrageous taxes are at the local level, the stuff ran by your neighbors and local elected officials. You need to take this discussion up with them. - CapnCrunch - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:44 pm: “Rauner ran on, and after being Gov-Elect, and cheered the sunsetting tax hike.” The GA attempt to demonstrate political genius by acceding to his request seems to have backfired by handing the Governor the weapon he needed (lack of revenue) to pursue his agenda. Now, having discovered their foolishness, they’re handing him another weapon to pound them with. You gotta admit, Will, that these folks are slow learners. - Mama - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:54 pm: Dear Senate Democrats, Thank you for being accountable and doing the right thing for Illinois. Raising taxes is never easy, but it had to be done. Senate Republicans are Not doing the right thing by doing what Rauner wants instead of the voters. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:55 pm: ===You gotta admit, Will, that these folks are slow learners.=== That, or how would anyone guess that someone, anyone, would want to be governor of Illinois so they can destroy as much as they can, as quickly as they can. They weren’t slow learners, none of us are. We learned a lesson that the RaunerS ultimate goal was to destroy Illinois, it’s now up to others to stop the RaunerS from succeeding. It’s crazy, I’ll give you that. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:05 pm: “The outrageous taxes are at the local level, the stuff ran by your neighbors and local elected officials. You need to take this discussion up with them.” I agree, That’s why the property tax freeze is so important. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:08 pm: - Ron - How could you be for local control if you advocate the state usurping that local control here? Even Rauner can’t reconcile that. - City Zen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:13 pm: ==The outrageous taxes are at the local level, the stuff ran by your neighbors and local elected officials. You need to take this discussion up with them.== What exactly are my local elected officials going to do about the state only providing 15% funding to my school district? That’s the main reason my property taxes are high. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:15 pm: I don’t care about control other than me controlling my money. Government’s in Illinois are proven to be prolific spenders, but terrible administrators. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:17 pm: ===I don’t care about control other than me controlling my money. Government’s in Illinois are proven to be prolific spenders, but terrible administrators.=== … and like DeNiro in “Backdraft” exposing the arsonist that hasn’t reformed, but wants parole, by asking a simple question or two, ironically… “See you next year, Ronald” - Anonymous - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:22 pm: - Juvenal - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:42 am: Petrosian v Spassky, 1966. Really neat analogy and I hope you are right. - TominChicago - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:22 pm: - Juvenal - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 11:42 am: Petrosian v Spassky, 1966. Really neat analogy and I hope you are right. - Mama - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:27 pm: IL’s income tax is Not outrageous when you compare it to other states. - Ron - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:31 pm: Mama, no the income tax is not outrageous by itself, but you can’t ignore all the other taxes our governing kleptocrats collect. - CapnCrunch - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:35 pm: “They weren’t slow learners, none of us are.” Afraid we’ll have to disagree on that point. The GA had to know in December 2014 that a 5% rate was needed just to stay afloat and that more money would be needed to fund future pension benefits. They knew that for the next quarter of a century or so, about 27% of general revenue funds would go to pay pension benefits. They hate the thought of the citizenry knowing, especially while raising taxes, because they know they caused the problem. The reason they caused the problem is that they are slow learners. I think some of the same people who allowed the sunset were there in 2005 when they passed a bill reducing 2006-7 pension contributions even though the bill synopsis stated that reducing contributions in FY 2006 and FY 2007 would require larger State contributions for the next 27 years and that those increases were then unknown. - RUG - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:37 pm: == What exactly are my local elected officials going to do about the state only providing 15% funding to my school district? That’s the main reason my property taxes are high. == Do you support a income tax high enough to offset cutting and capping the school property tax? How high are you willing to go? 7%? 8%? 10%? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 2:43 pm: ===Afraid we’ll have to disagree on that point=== You have a mouse in your pocket? You knew, we all knew Bruce and Diana Rauner would put $20 million two years ago to hold votes hostage, then $50 million after an election to continue to own Raunerite votes, then get an additional $20 million from Griffin on the day of a critical vote? All to destroy Illinois? You and that mouse need to head to Vegas because I never thought two people wanted one to be governor to destroy a while state. The rest of your drivel, and it’s drivel, ignores Rauner running on letting the tax sunset, made clear after becoming Gov-Elect he wanted it to sunset, then cheered once it did sunset. Why? Well, you “knew”, you and that mouse… The RaunerS wanted to destroy as much of Illinois as they can, as quickly as they can. A governor concerned about a state would’ve tried to save that state, not stockpiled monies to keep votes from happening to save that state. - RNUG - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 3:22 pm: 2:37 pm was I - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 4:13 pm: –$897/yr invested in an IRA over 40 years earning 7% interest nets you over $200,000 at retirement– Can you hook me up with one of those IRAs earning 7% annually? I think you’re way confused on your investment products. - CapnCrunch - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 4:37 pm: “You have a mouse in your pocket?” Will, I was referring to you and me. Probably should have said you I. We appear to be talking about two different subjects. You are talking about Rainer’s tactics in pursuit of his agenda. I was talking about the learning abilities of the members of the legislature. You say my comments regarding actions taken by the legislature in 2005 and 2014 were nonsense because I “”knew”, you and that mouse… The RaunerS wanted to destroy as much of Illinois as they can, as quickly as they can.” I knew no such thing. I stated why I thought it was foolish to allow the sunset of a 5% income tax. Subsequent actions appear to prove my point. Had the GA acted in a responsible manner by extending the tax rate we would have had maybe $5 billion more revenue each year. “You and that mouse need to head to Vegas because I never thought two people wanted one to be governor to destroy a while state.” I can’t parse that sentence. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 4:53 pm: - CapnCrunch - Don’t play the babe in the woods, “2005″… We all knew thru all 2014 that Rauner wanted the sunsetting. Even in 2013, Rauner wanted the sunsetting. To say it’s only Dems, that’s ridiculous. Also, I’m mocking that you can claim you could know the RaunerS plan for destruction. The sunsetting, Rauner himself wanted, and the RaunerS subsequent plan to destroy Illinois. By ignoring Rauner, and by ignoring both RaunerS subsequent sctuons to destroy as much as quickly of Illinois as possible… yikes. What they learned is obliging Rauner sped up the RaunerS plan. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 5:45 pm: –Where does the money go?– Ron, even from the comfort of your high chair, you can let your fingers do the walking through the google and find that information with little effort and no problem, if you’re truly interested. You ask to be spoon-fed a lot. - Anonymous - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 5:50 pm: Yep, the money doesn’t help the people. Thanks for your help word. Why do you think illinois is losing population faster than almost any state? - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 5:55 pm: –Yep, the money doesn’t help the people. Thanks for your help word.– You’re welcome, Ron. You’d be amazed at all the things you could learn on your own with just a little effort and initiative. - City Zen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 6:05 pm: ==Can you hook me up with one of those IRAs earning 7% annually?== Sure can. It follows the same investment principals as our state pension systems that assume 7% ROR, except it doesn’t have to contend with huge withdrawals. - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 6:13 pm: –Sure can. It follows the same investment principals as our state pension systems that assume 7% ROR, except it doesn’t have to contend with huge withdrawals.– Well, that’s the gag, isn’t it? You contend that rate of return is unrealistic for pension and corporate funds (although a common assumption), but you’re promising it over 40 years — year in, year out — on what would be paid in a tax increase. I’m starting to question your sincerity. Pick a lane. - City Zen - Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 8:01 pm: Word - I can only play the game by the rules in place. As soon as the pension systems lower their assumptions, I will too. BTW - I’m not aware of any corporate pension funds assuming over 7% ROR. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.