* From a fundraising e-mail from Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman…
I hope your week is going well. I wanted to reach out and thank you for your support this year. You know that reforming our state government is not for the faint of heart.
Entrenched politicians – like Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan – have rigged state government to benefit themselves and their special interests.
Uprooting this decades-old system is not easy. But that’s exactly what we’re doing here at the Illinois Policy Institute.
Thanks to your support, here’s what we’ve been able to do this year:
You helped us convince entrenched, bureaucratic politicians to resign. When lawmakers debated a multibillion-dollar tax hike over Independence Day weekend, we connected with more than 40 percent of the state’s population. Tens of thousands of taxpayers called their lawmakers. And as a result, more than 30 state lawmakers have already either resigned their seats or will not be holding on to their seats in the next General Assembly. This is an exodus unlike anything Springfield insiders have ever seen. And most importantly, it’s a sign that power is shifting back to where it belongs: you.
You helped us lead the fight against forced unionization: In just a few months, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Janus v. AFSCME. Our litigation partner, the Liberty Justice Center, is representing plaintiff Mark Janus. The historic case has the opportunity to provide right to work for every government worker in the nation, freeing millions of people from being forced to pay money to unions.
You helped repeal the Cook County soda tax: This fall, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal its penny-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax. Leading up to the vote, our team generated massive support in favor of the repeal. And our policy experts educated the public about the wasteful spending in Cook County government that was being fueled by this regressive tax.
This was a historic victory for millions of Cook County residents. Tax repeals are a rare species in Illinois. And most importantly, this victory proved that even the most powerful machine politicians – including Mike Madigan – are not above the wrath of the voting public, especially when people are given the tools necessary to make their voices heard.
None of this would have been possible without the support of principled Illinoisans like you.
As you think about your year-end giving, will you consider supporting the Illinois Policy Institute? We rely on the support of donors like you to help teach Illinoisans about the policies that affect their everyday lives. When your fellow citizens see the truth, they can’t help but join this movement to take back our state from crony politicians like Mike Madigan.
- Annonin' - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:24 am:
Somehow funding Tillman’s olive bobbin’ at the Globe does not sound like a good use of our funds
- VanillaMan - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:27 am:
That mass exodus was a lot of his own people.
- Madame DeFarge - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:28 am:
What color is the sky in his world?
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:28 am:
Dear Friends,
As a white male, Bruce Rauner unceremoniously fired the people that helped him win, then he hired IPI novices in their place.
None lasted longer than 100 days in the governing of Illinois, proving how inept they were, and what a mistake it was including IPI folks in actual governing.
There are still some IPI people in state government, hopefully they hide long enough to continue to hurt Illinois as only IPI can do.
Donate. Let us showcase how awful we are in real-life governance with whomever is left in state government we sent over.
Thanks,
Fake John Tillman
- Collinsville Kevin - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:28 am:
IPI’s new motto: Let them drink soda.
- PJ - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:30 am:
You didn’t include the title of that email: “stoking the revolt”. Aside from painful mixed metaphors (stoke the *fires* of the revolt maybe?) it’s another instance of IPI using overly aggressive, apocalyptic language to talk about politics.
It’s groups like this that irresponsibly get people fired up to the level of threats and violence about often mundane public policy.
- G'Kar - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:31 am:
“Entrenched politicians – like Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan – have rigged state government to benefit themselves and their special interests.
Uprooting this decades-old system and replacing them with our own soon to be entrenched politicians is not easy. But that’s exactly what we’re doing here at the Illinois Policy Institute.”
There, I fixed if for them.
- old time golfer - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:37 am:
Had ZERO to do with the Cook County Tax being repealed. None of those commissioners give a rats rear end on what he or Proft thinks… It was lead by Morrison who is a Rauner guy and Boykin who is a hard D. Sorry John but not buying that story
- 360 Degree TurnAround - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:38 am:
“We rely on your money, along with Richard Uihlein who is supporting Roy Moore. Your money will be co-mingled with Uihlein’s money, who is supporting a man who can’t go into malls.”
- Chris Widger - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 11:51 am:
==It’s groups like this that irresponsibly get people fired up to the level of threats and violence ==
Human beings make choices and it’s irresponsible to take their agency away from them.
- Thoughts Matter - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
Another argument that doesn’t consider reality. Has he ever been able to explain how we were going to be able to pay the states bills without a tax hike? Because between the expiration of the previous tax hike and no budget, we just sank deeper into the red.
I already have the right to work. If I choose not to be in a union, I’m free to find a non union job. Being in a union in government job protects me from the political types, like the IPI. It would not be helpful to the state if the people who actually did the work were replaced in mass every election.
I consider myself highly principled. You won’t get 1 penny from me just for that reason.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 12:09 pm:
Whoa, easy there Mr. Tillman. You’re going to hurt your shoulder if you keep patting yourself on the back like that.
- RNUG - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 12:12 pm:
While I won’t be donating to him, you have to admire Tillman’s ability to take a victory lap … even if they weren’t all his victories.
That’s something Rauner could learn to do …
- Honeybear - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 12:39 pm:
Wow…that is some sick stuff
They canabalized
Ate alive
Their own political compatriots
It only makes sense
If they were never compatriots at all
As OW pointed out from shortly after
Rauner started
These IPI folks
Aren’t republicans
They aren’t even conservative
They are
Neoliberal (transfer public to private)
Objectivist (Ayn Rand libertarian)
Free Market (no regulation on corporations)
Amoral ( no social agenda, perfidy, lying to a cardinal)
Plutocratic ( wealth worshippers)
I am not calling them Raunerites
Because they have taken over everywhere
Trump, Bannon, Walker, Snyder, Greitens, Reynolds, Holcomb
And
Rauner
Seek the “destruction of the administrative state” as Bannon
Preached
Republicans/conservatives
They ate you alive
They are bragging about it
- Honeybadger - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 1:48 pm:
Mr. Tillman and IPI, when it came time to acknowledge and condemn the racial cartoon, your group published, you were silent. All you did was take it down. When you talk about “rigged” contracts, do you mean the $12.5 million, no-bid contract to consultant McKinsey & Co?
- wordslinger - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 2:44 pm:
–That mass exodus was a lot of his own people. –
LOL, true that.
Not a lot of exposition on how his peeps did when they actually had an opportunity to put their mad skills to something beyond dorm-room think-tankery.
But grifters gonna grift.
- Conventional Wisdom - Friday, Dec 8, 17 @ 2:54 pm:
Translation: “We are pleased to report that we had several overt political accomplishments this year. We finance these activities illegally by laundering tax deductible donations from folks like you to pay for them. Please consider donating more money so we can continue using it illegally for obvious political purposes.”