* Illinois Policy Institute…
Illinois state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, wants Illinoisans to pay higher gas taxes to fund public construction across the state.
Brady didn’t specify exactly how much in new taxes he wants. But he thinks “that [a gas tax increase] may absolutely be where we can come together. Whether that’s a five percent increase, I don’t know. That’s going to be the ultimate debate.”
* There were two issues with the story. One of them was fixed…
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified state Rep. Dan Brady as Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady.
Best Team… nevermind.
* But the piece has also set off former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, a close ally of Gov. Bruce Rauner…
* The piece in question was based on a story by the Illinois Policy Institute’s news service…
An Illinois Republican lawmaker says the question isn’t whether the state should increase its gas tax to raise new revenue for roads and other capital projects. It’s a matter of how high it should be raised.
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said there’s been plenty of talk at the State Capitol about raising the state’s gas tax. Now, those talks are narrowing in on how high the state will raise the tax.
“I don’t know how high we’re going to go,” Brady said. “But certainly the governor and others want a capital bill. We want a capital bill. Our infrastructure is crying for a capital bill in the state of Illinois.”
Brady isn’t sure when lawmakers may sit down and formalize the plan to raise gas taxes in order to build new roads. But those talks may not be too far off.
“I think that [a gas tax increase] may absolutely be where we can come together,” Brady said. “Whether that’s a five percent increase, I don’t know. That’s going to be the ultimate debate.”
So, I suppose you could say that Rep. Brady doesn’t really want a tax hike, he just thinks one is inevitable and do-able (and I wouldn’t be so sure of that, either).
* Meanwhile…
- Touré' s latte - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:16 pm:
I ran out of a taste for popcorn earlier this year, so it is difficult to enjoy silliness like this anymore.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:29 pm:
“Intra-party”? IPI is … not the Republican Party.
- Cable Line Beer Gardener - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:30 pm:
I was surprised to see the ad begging for money in the middle of the piece.
- Norseman - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:31 pm:
One of the few times I agree with Pat Brady.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:33 pm:
Maybe Brady meant “idiots” in a good way.
What does Uncle Bruce have to say? It’s his party, literally. He paid for it and has $67M in the bank.
Seriously, who’s running the show for him these days? Rauner has proven that he’s not exactly attention to detail, manager kind of guy.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:35 pm:
The Brady Bunch…. Pat, Bill, Dan…
Raunerites… . Bunch of wealthy 7th graders whining.
The shill that IS Pat Brady continues to embarrass himself as the bought and paid for credibility that Rauner lacks himself.
I can’t get enough of @RadicalCandorIL.
I check that Twitter constantly.
Dan Proft? It’s about the money. Right now, it’s Uihlein money, IPI shilling. It’s a good gig if you lack a conscious. That’s Proft.
Kristina Rasmussen is still with Rauner, so IPI still gets the Bruce and Diana Rauner obsession.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:39 pm:
–“Intra-party”? IPI is … not the Republican Party.–
Right, they’re independent, non-partisan deep-thinker-tankers, dedicated to truth, justice and the American way.
And big dark-money checks to peddle their paymasters propaganda.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:41 pm:
Two words describe Proft: Snow. Flake.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:42 pm:
If I had a penny for every time OW wrote “conscious” when he meant conscience … I kid.
So to be clear, Pat calls them idiots because they wrote what his cousin said, and then people probably left mean comments on D. Brady’s Facebook page for it? Whiny.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:42 pm:
Let’s not forget that Pat Brady, the failure, allowed Rauner to own the brand that is the former ILGOP.
Thanks, Pat Brady.
Maybe it’s you that’s the …
… then again, shilling for Rauner allows Pat Brady the opportunity to be embarrassingly relevant.
I’m sure as a white male Governor Rauner would rather everyone just stayed owned by him.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 5:51 pm:
If I had a penny someone couldn’t come up with a name.
Phone’s auto-correct.
Sorry.
- Ignorance is strength - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:02 pm:
Maybe their trying to out-dumb each other.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:04 pm:
Wonder if Kristina Rasmussen thinks the IPI are…
… she may need a place to land after enough time fades and Rauner can move on from the mistake that is the IPI hires.
“Rent, Kristina, don’t buy”…
- Fixer - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:08 pm:
Not overly surprised by Proft doing that. “Republicans” are a very fragile bunch on social media.
- Chris Widger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:20 pm:
Yes, Dan Proft is the delicate fragile flower and not the anonymous Twitter account that tag-teams with this blog to celebrate the bipartisan destruction of Illinois.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:21 pm:
===…celebrate the bipartisan destruction of Illinois===
… another delicate flower heard from…
- Chris Widger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:24 pm:
===… another delicate flower heard from…===
Hey, I’m just stamen the course
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:27 pm:
Yes, Dan Proft is the delicate fragile flower and not the anonymous Twitter account that tag-teams with this blog to celebrate the bipartisan destruction of Illinois.–
This Dan Proft? What does he care?
– Dan Proft @DanProft
Is Schaumburg the best place to live in IL?
Is assessing the best place to live in IL like debating over the tallest skyscraper in Wichita?
4:52 AM - 19 Sep 2017 –
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:28 pm:
===Hey, I’m just stamen the course===
Watch your spelling, otherwise “anonymous” commenters might think they’re clever, lol.
I have no idea what this means.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:38 pm:
No one earns their pay over there.
Perhaps that’s why they instantly wail the moment someone asks for a dime from them.
- Just Me - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:50 pm:
I’ll forgive the Illinois Policy Institute when they show their plan for a capital bill.
Or is the “free market” going to magically rebuild our roads, bridges, and rail systems?
- 360 Degree Turnaround - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 6:51 pm:
I think Pat Brady renamed them. The Illinois Policy Idiots.
- Anon312 - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 7:00 pm:
How many triggers does Proft have? What a whiner. No wonder he lost every election he ran in by a landslide. Dude needs to grab a beer and chill.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 7:08 pm:
Proft is busy on his twitter account today trying to get his buddy Kass to peek in bedroom windows with him, looking for The Combine.
He really probably doesn’t want to go there.
- Rick - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 7:46 pm:
Well it’s about time Dan Brady is working on something other than funeral and cemetery laws.
- Amalia - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 8:13 pm:
I have popcorn, please boys, do go on and on and on. LOL.
- tinsel town - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 8:13 pm:
This all signifies a break between the self absorbed Proft, the Republican Party, no excuse me the Party of Rauner.
It will end in a little over a year!
- theCardinal - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 9:43 pm:
Gas tax hasnt been raised in what 25-30 years ? So add a few pennies who cares? Its neede to maintain and create needed infrustucture …Do not use gas taxes for Transit programs though, that should come from its own sources. No more bait and switch.
- Just Me - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 10:25 pm:
theCardinal — yeah, because removing cars from the roads is a horrible thing and benefits nobody.
While we are at it, let’s make only parents pay for our public education system. And since this is such a great idea, let’s take it a step further and make only the criminals pay for our entire public judicial system.
- LoisLearned2much - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 10:40 pm:
Join the few, the proud, the blocked from Delicate Danflower Proft. It is an honor.
- Mr B. - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 11:26 pm:
I’ve been reading Oswego Willy’s post for months. I can’t figure out what the heck he is talking about. Except an obsession with Diana Rauner. Who is not the Governor.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 21, 17 @ 11:45 pm:
===I’ve been reading Oswego Willy’s post for months. I can’t figure out what the heck he is talking about. Except an obsession with Diana Rauner===
Yeah. If you had been reading for “months” with Rich’s Post(s) corresponding, you’d understand.
Good try. Tomorrow is another day.
lol
- Deft Wing - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 5:07 am:
“Dan Proft? It’s about the money. Right now, it’s Uihlein money, IPI shilling. It’s a good gig if you lack a conscious.”
It’s a conscience. And no Proft ain’t got one and most are conscious of that. You’re welcome.
- Rabid - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 7:34 am:
diana is bruce’s senior advisor, of coarse she is relevant
- anon2 - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 8:45 am:
Good for Dan Brady for saying what everyone knows to be true, but most Republicans won’t admit, namely that it will take a tax hike to fund the necessary capital bill.
- Thomas Paine - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 8:55 am:
You can blame Pat Brady for a lot of things, but you can’t blame him for the fall of the GOP in Illinois.
That collapse started atleast as far back as 1998, with the election of George Ryan, and the exile of Peter Fitzgerald. I’d go back even further to Pate’s fiscally disasterous decision to kill Education funding reform.
The rightward March from 2002 onward to purge pro-choice Republicans from the party, the retreat on equal rights for gay Americans…
To the underlying post: Rich has been right that a capital bill should have been Rauner’s first priority instead of his last. And it could have been except that since jump street he’s wanted to insist it was tied to changes in prevailing wage. Plus he was still a little mad at the Operaing Engineers — who it turns out were right to oppose him with fervor.
Now there is simply no way they will pass a capital bill, and it has nothing to do with Madigan or denying the Governor a “win.”
This governor has proven he doesn’t need any help denying himself a win.
But a capital bill won’t get done because it requires trust, and no one on either side of the aisle trusts Bruce Rauner, for good reason.
- Arock - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 9:01 am:
A tax hike here and a tax hike there everywhere a tax hike. Pretty soon we will be talking about real money(like we don’t already pay a lot of taxes) and even more reasons to leave Illinois because nothing gets done with all the waste and abuse. Nice story about how pension spiking works for long time legislators as well, if the article about Currie’s upcoming pension is true.
- wordslinger - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 9:07 am:
Arock, you forgot the “fraud” with your boilerplate “waste and abuse.”
You Raunerbots have had nearly three years to deliver on the “waste, fraud and abuse” savings. What’s taking so long? Are you bogged down in Hud’s Remedial Phone Call Returning class?
- Arsenal - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 9:44 am:
Both sides are right to be mad at the other. IPI’s trolling for purity- on economic issues, the most bloodless- has made it impossible for Republicans in the GA to field a diverse, effective caucus. And Republican Leadership’s failure on economic issues gives IPI no reason to trust them. It’s a bad marriage.
- anonymous - Friday, Sep 22, 17 @ 10:01 am:
I think that at one time Proft believed in what he now espouses. But now he’s just an angry about his own irrelevance and doesn’t take the time to read any of the arguments against his own position.