44 Comments - NIU Grad - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:41 pm: Now that she has to make cuts, let’s see who is targeted…likely more people from her enemies list. - Fax Machine - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:42 pm: The repeal saves Preckwinkle from getting an opponent funded by millions from the beverage industry. However - someone who just gets on the ballot would force her to spend 7 figures. The problem is it’s tough to get on the ballot - some 8,500 good signatures (i.e. better turn in 25,000). Sean Morrison acquitted himself extremely well in this fight and came out the big winner. I don’t think he’ll run as the GOP nominee however because he doesn’t want to give up his seat. - MG85 - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:43 pm: This is a sad case where good intentions, once again, went horribly wrong. The prevalence of soda in the American diet, no doubt, contribute to our population’s growing and alarming obesity rates. It is also no doubt that Cook County needs more revenue streams to continue to fund its government. Excise taxes, however, are terribly regressive and extremely unpopular because they attempt to solve one problem while addressing another that no one can see the connection. People get trying to lessen soda consumption. People get paying for government. People hate preying upon a social vice to pay for government function. Preckwinkle gambled and lost because she didn’t understand this concept. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:44 pm: Bad politics. Preckwinkle is desperate for revenue. She at least honest about it. How do we get the biggest consumers of government services to help pay for government services? Pop tax wasn’t a winner… - Albany Park Patriot - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:44 pm: This wasn’t about making a difficult choice. It was about doing the work to build a public consensus around something and not just shoving it down their throats. Those are two different things and if she doesn’t understand this after “almost 30 years” in public life, she should consider another profession. This happens when good people with good ideas get arrogant and lose touch. - DownstateKid - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:56 pm: I deem these men and women my Heroic 15. Bless you folks, bless you. - Old time Republican - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:56 pm: Morrison is the big winner and now has a ton of good press moving forward. A race against Preckwinkle would be tough but Mendoza I hear is in his sights. His popularity in cook county right now is sky high and he would be her most formidable opponent IMP - Earnest - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 2:58 pm: I agree with most of the criticism, but I continue to celebrate any Illinois political leader who will own an unpopular tax increase or an unpopular budget cut. - Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:06 pm: Legalizing and taxing marijuana would have multiple layers of benefits to governments, state and local, instead of such an unpopular tax. I wonder, though, how many people outraged by the sweetened beverages tax are equally mad at the astronomical costs of healthcare that are partially caused by consumption of fattening food and drink. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:08 pm: This is all Bloomberg’s fault. - Perrid - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:10 pm: @DownState, Heroic? Half of them flipped because of bad PR. Call it listening to constituents if you want, you’d be more than a little right, but changing your stance 180 degrees because of popularity smacks of cowardice to me. I don’t feel that strongly one way or another about the tax, but if some of the commissioners strongly believe that this tax would make people healthier, and caved anyway, well, that is a pretty good example of cowardice, not heroism. Siding with the majority, the loudest voice, doesn’t usually require much bravery. - Out Here In The Middle - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:18 pm: MG85 - “People hate preying upon a social vice to pay for government function.” I agree with most of your points but this? What about casinos, lotteries, alcohol & tobacco taxes? I’d say people are pretty tolerant of taxing social vices. - Boone's is Back - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:24 pm: Agree with the tagline of this post. You cannot continue to use additional taxes and fees as the ONLY answer to every year’s budget deficit. Better to admit the mistake and move on than continue to be a tax martyr. - MG85 - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:29 pm: @Out Here in The Middle I would say, without polling, that those averse to regressive taxes admonish politicians who want to pay for government on the backs of those who play the lottery. Gambling is different because you can actually have high rollers in casinos. That said, do you see a casino in Springfield or many places on land in Illinois? Many factors play into that but regressive taxes play a part. Tobacco excise taxes have had pretty stiff responses by both the population and the lobbyists for tobacco. I remember during the Clinton years when the idea was brought up to reduce buying cigs by taxing them and it was pretty vehemently opposed. Chicagoans and downstate Illinois STILL complain about cigarette taxes in Cook County. That said, I concede that these are all things that are taxed to pay for spending, but just because some are passed does not mean many or most are for them or don’t prefer an alternative. They are, as I said earlier, regressive. That’s the Democratic gubernatorial field’s position on taxes this year right? We need to implement a progressive income tax so it’s not regressive and burdensome on middle and lower class folks. The logic flows to excise taxes. - broken record - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:30 pm: Cook County has had budget/spending problems for almost two decades; -Cut services in health care (ask Will/DuPage/Lake what their public health care expenditures look like). -Get rid of Forest Preserve Police. -Close branch court houses (if Evans won’t do it, cut his entire staff). -Privatize the clerk of the court. -Stop giving the unions raises over and above the cola’s, get the employee health care on par with other large public employers. -Decertify the Public Defenders -Merge Rolling Meadows and Skokie into one courthouse -Mandate video conferencing for status hearings in criminal cases. -Require Supreme Court approval for any criminal case continuances after 18 months. - Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:31 pm: I think the problem is no one really thinks of sweetened beverages the same way they do gambling, drinking alcohol or smoking. I do think they would consider a tax on the legal consumption of marijuana in the same way. We need to get on that before any of the surrounding states do it. - Loop Lady - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:34 pm: I totally disagree…high fructose corn syrup kills… - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:38 pm: People have spoken. They want drastic cuts to the budget, not higher taxes. It’s up to the board to find out what to cut and what not to. - Responsa - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:38 pm: ==This is all Bloomberg’s fault.== No, It was Toni’s fault. But Bloomberg’s ads did not help her as he had hoped. They hurt her because they muddled the message and stoked added civic outrage by highlighting her hypocrisy. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:39 pm: This is not a regressive tax. A tax on something you don’t need cannot be regressive because you don’t have to buy it because you don’t need it. No one needs to buy soda pop. No one will die of thirst because they can’t buy soda pop. Everyone in Illinois has access to cheap, plentiful, clean, healthy, fresh water which, unfortunately, is apparently being used to wash the brains of the misinformed. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:40 pm: ==Describing a nationwide “anti-government sentiment,” Preckwinkle said it makes it difficult for governments to raise the revenues they need to deliver services.== When the state raises income taxes, teh city raising property taxes, the school district raising property taxes, something’s gotta give. There’s no anti-government establishment going on, just taxed to the brim. Get lost taxiwinkle. - City Zen - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:47 pm: ==do you see a casino in Springfield or many places on land in Illinois?== Ever driven past a strip mall with a Stella’s Place? I bought a few 12 packs of Coke on sale but before the soda tax went into effect. I would’ve paid a 65% soda tax on that transaction and that’s before sales tax. Is a sugary drink really worth a 65% tax? If it was a dime per pack (5% of purchase price), I’d bet most folks wouldn’t cross borders to buy their soda. Preckwinkle got greedy. She could’ve had some additional revenue. Now she has none. - Responsa - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:50 pm: ==No one needs to buy soda pop. No one will die of thirst because they can’t buy soda pop. Everyone in Illinois has access to cheap, plentiful, clean, healthy, fresh water which, unfortunately, is apparently being used to wash the brains of the misinformed.== Misinformed? Geez. It was the money she desperately needed and wanted, not the health benefits. If the tax remained in place unchanged, and if everybody stopped buying pop as you suggest they should (and Bloomberg says they should) then Cook County is still broke and the threatened cuts still happen. - City Zen - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:50 pm: ==Get lost taxiwinkle.== It’s Taxi Popwinkle, BTxIA member (Best Taxers in America) - Sue - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:55 pm: Rauner has been railing against excessive spending and the need toner form govt. Cook County perhaps can demonstrate that shen you reach the end of the road for tax increases- govt can restrain spending- or maybe not. Illinois is at the top of the list for govt assistance- many of us are tired of being asked for more money to blindly give away for political largesse - Snark - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:57 pm: =A tax on something you don’t need cannot be regressive because you don’t have to buy it because you don’t need it….Everyone in Illinois has access to cheap, plentiful, clean, healthy, fresh water= So you need water. Water is healthy for you. Chicago taxes bottled water. But you don’t need NEED bottled water. Regressive? - G. Franco - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 3:59 pm: The question is whether the pushback is just a corporate-funded anomaly or the beginning of a tax revolt. We’ll see as Rahm rolls out his increased property, phone, etc etc taxes. - Harry - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:02 pm: Yeah, well muni govt is about fire and police and garbage, but not Cook County. This tax was the wrong tax and at way too high a rate. It is not about sugar or obesity, it’s about money, administration has been confused and arbitrary, and it is highly regressive in the bargain. - MG85 - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:08 pm: ==A tax on something you don’t need cannot be regressive because you don’t have to buy it because you don’t need it.== Sorry, but the definition of a regressive tax has nothing to do with the subject and everything to do with the tax rate. Soda is bought up mostly by the lower and middle class. A flat tax upon it, thus, has a higher rate upon them than the upper class. This is the case on most taxes placed upon consumables but not all. - Trapped in the 'burbs - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:08 pm: She was arrogant and a bully. It caught up to her. Now, if any competent opponent runs against her in the primary, she has a problem. Any name on the ballot against her has a shot because people would be thrilled to be able to vote against her. She brought all of this on herself. - Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:09 pm: No, you don’t need bottled water for the most part. You need running water, a faucet and something to hold the water until you drink it. - I said it - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:15 pm: Big lose here is Bloomberg. But the two commissioners have his total bank roll for their reelection. - Earnest - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:17 pm: >Rauner has been railing against excessive spending Sue, I’ll take Preckwinkle’s pop tax disaster over Rauner’s railing. Last Friday he was talking about spending state money on a small biz center for Aurora while saying at the same time the state budget was at a $1.7 billion deficit and needed to be cut. Spending more than we have is what got Illinois into our financial state, and Rauner has just given us more of the same. That’s not to say I don’t like some of the positions he has more than I like Preckwinkle’s, but we’re desperate for financially responsible leaders in this state. - Mike - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:22 pm: If gross income in the county is not increasing enough to support new services then cut the budget. We should be spending our tax money in a way that increases the tax base. Not trying to find a way to drive down the tax base - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:25 pm: @Responsa If everyone stopped buying soda pop….the sky would brighten, birds would sing, heavenly music would play……. and everyone would lose weight, their blood glucose level would drop, and Cook County Medical costs would be slashed. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:28 pm: @Snark No one needs bottled water. Get a thermos. Fill the bottles with tap water. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:33 pm: @MG85 I know what a regressive tax is. But the implication is that we’re putting an undo burden on those who can least afford and that is just not the case here. In fact, it’s just the opposite. “Soda is bought up mostly by the lower and middle class.” Exactly. It’s predatory. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:38 pm: ===“Soda is bought up mostly by the lower and middle class.” Exactly. It’s predatory. === So are cigarettes. - Almost the Weekend - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:42 pm: The way this law was written to the way it was sold to the public has been a nightmare. You blame everyone but yourself, maybe time to look in the mirror and find some one in your inner circle who isn’t a yes man/woman. - TinyDancer(FKASue) - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 4:57 pm: ===“Soda is bought up mostly by the lower and middle class.” Exactly. It’s predatory. === “So are cigarettes.” Yes, they most definitely are. And they are heavily taxed. And I’m old enough to remember the old days when almost everyone, including myself, smoked. So, the tax and the the anti-smoking campaign worked. Today we had a tax and a pro-sugar campaign. I know a lot of poor people still smoke, but I’m sure there were more poor smokers in the 60’s. (Then again, there are more poor people today.) - Loop Lady - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 5:06 pm: Don’t mean to be cruel, but you smoked for years and paid taxes on cigs cuz they kill. So does soda with sugar and HFCS…just sayin… - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Oct 11, 17 @ 6:36 pm: Darn. We were so close to legislating eternal life for everyone. Everyone not aborted, that is… - Buyout is key - Thursday, Oct 12, 17 @ 8:13 am: Not sure if anyone in government really cares, but 85% of government budgets consist of payroll employees. The most logical thing to do is to offer older employees a buyout. That’s really the only way to cut your expenses. Those people are going to be eligible to retire in the next few years anyway, might as well let them go now and save the budget 10’s of millions of dollars now. Just saying. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Oct 12, 17 @ 8:39 am: ===Not sure if anyone in government really cares, but 85% of government budgets consist of payroll employees=== Cite please. Thanks. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.