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Nowlan: Keep Madigan in power so Illinois can tax bull semen… or something

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Illinois

* Jim Nowlan, October 8, 2018…

Illinois Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan is not the evil Darth Vader trumpeted by opponents’ ads — but he has shut down democracy in Illinois, and must go.

* Jim Nowlan, October 23, 2020

James Nowlan, a former GOP lawmaker who chairs the anti-Kilbride committee Citizens for Judicial Fairness, asks political audiences in towns such as Carthage, Monmouth and Utica if they ever wished they could vote against Madigan.

“They almost come out of their chairs with applause,” he said. “And I say, ‘This year you can (vote against Madigan). You can vote against Tom Kilbride.’”

* Jim Nowlan, November 9, 2020 writing in the Tribune…

Illinois can fix its broken fiscal system — without increasing tax rates on the rich, or anyone else. Hard work and painful actions will be required, but it is absolutely necessary to a healthy future for our state. […]

Think of the revenue side of state and local finance as a four-legged stool. The legs are the income, sales and local property taxes plus fees, hundreds of them. In Illinois, the property tax leg is way too long; the sales tax peg is skinny and short; our present income tax leg is, we contend, about the right length and, last time we looked, Illinois license and fee revenue was less than in most states.

As for the critical state sales tax, Illinois exempts more than 100 or more services that other states tax, such as auto repair and personal care services. And we exclude scores of items as well, such as photographic equipment for movie shoots and semen for artificial insemination of livestock. […]

The supreme irony of our plight is that the one, singularly powerful politician who could muscle the votes together for comprehensive budget reform is embattled Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Maybe we should allow Madigan one more term as speaker, so he can make fixing Illinois his lasting legacy. If he is not around, then the governor and a new legislative team will have to shoulder the herculean task. They won’t make any friends with a public that lacks understanding of the crisis we are in, yet it has to be done.

* And he’s not alone. John Kass…

And as an example of the kind of heavy lifting that will be necessary, consider what Madigan accomplished 10 years ago in March. He rushed necessary but controversial public pension reform legislation through the legislature before influential government employee and teachers unions had time to pick off lawmakers to vote against it. The legislation created a new “tier” of worker benefits that were far less superior, and less expensive, for all new hires. The unions were hotly against it.

But Madigan sprung the bill as a surprise, got it through committee and onto the floor, and passed it in record time, before the rising up. He had to. He knew he had to. Positively Homeric.

Could Pritzker do something like that to fix the state’s budget mess? No.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 2:27 am

Comments

I just don’t get it. Either you are against Madigan because his relentless work ethic in building a political machine over decades thwarts the public will ….. or you are for Madigan because his political machine can deliver your preferred policy?

Either you want each legislator to debate freely and come to consensus on wise public policy without the influence of the Speaker’s political organization …. or you want the Speaker’s political organization to deliver your policy consensus because you don’t think legislators would otherwise be willing to do so.

Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 4:40 am
But, it’s my right as an American to have tax free bull semen, isn’t it?

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 6:31 am
It another clue that listening to govt pensioners about govt costs is nutty

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 6:54 am
I’m sorry Mr. Nowlan, this column is beyond worth reading. Fantasy. Ridiculous fantasy.

Comment by Overlord Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 7:22 am
So they are admitting they have no ideas for the very real issues facing the state and blame Madigan is all they’ve ever had.

Comment by people caring loudly Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 7:23 am
To Nowlan,

Being a buffoon in a year or all framing on Madigan doesn’t get better when you then see Madigan as the hope for your idea of a next step. It’s pathetic.

Argue with yourself further down the bar, in between yelling or needing Madigan.

Things I know;

John Kass doesn’t read, or read with any comprehension, his own newspaper.

I learned today either John Kass has never read a single column he’s written about Madigan, or John Kass is an utter phony, and all his Madigan trifle was bluster and ignorance he knew was wrong but needed to be that “old, angry” brand… to prop up a phony “Chicago Way”

I’ll let John Kass choose.

(Hashtag) Pathetic

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 7:42 am
He has shut down democracy?

What was that paper thingy I got in the mail late September from the county clerk’s office?

I get it. You hate the guy, even more so because you can’t beat him.
But for the love of Pete, not everyone is a Fox news viewer who swallows this garbage willingly.

Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 8:01 am
Everyone hates Madigan till you need him.

Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 8:15 am
Honestly these articles Les are written by white men to now protect a white man? No one else is intelligent to find solutions that do t relay on the stale thinking? These articles embrace the false narrative that Madigan is now the savior to the fiscal problems he created? Maybe if he were to go, different ideas could be embraced and the solution would be better in the long run that a barbaric solution most likely considered and rammed through by a Madigan regime.

Comment by Huh Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 8:19 am
“I hate that guy but I hope he stays around to fix my problem”

Pick a lane already!

Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 8:58 am
Madigan seems to make people on both sides irrational.

Comment by walker Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 8:59 am
Madigan, and the John Kass he controls.

Comment by Hamlet's Ghost Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:02 am
Must be a doppelganger at 8:19.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:08 am
It’s nice that Jim Nowlan was able to keep his live stock semen and hair cut tax ambitions under wrap until after the amendment failed.

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:14 am
Why, it’s almost as though they realize that if Madigan goes away, they lose their bogeyman.

Comment by thunderspirit Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:15 am
“Hard work and painful actions will be required”

For anyone but the wealthiest, such as…

“Illinois exempts more than 100 or more services that other states tax, such as auto repair and personal care services”

More regressive taxation to add to the flat income tax.

But we just had an off-ramp and didn’t take it. As Democrats should not and probably will not make brutal GOP-style cuts, there may be a flat income tax hike.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:21 am
At the beginning Knowlan states “without increasing tax rates on the rich, or anyone else.”

He then goes on to describe more than 100 tax increases?

He may need a med check.

Knowlan- “I am opposed to raising taxes on ONLY rich people. I want taxes raised on everyone.”

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:21 am
Maybe they can just sell the Thompson Center a few more times.

Comment by SAP Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:28 am
Madigan aside, the four-legged stool analogy has merit. Our sales tax structure is way too narrow compared to other states. During the Grand Bargain negotiations in 2017, former Sen Hutchinson was right to push for a broader sales tax base to better reflect the modern Illinois economy. It doesn’t have to be a regressive expansion, since there are many untaxed services used primarily by upper income households.

Just because the messenger is suspect doesn’t mean the whole message should be discarded.

Comment by muon Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:29 am
It’s bad for business for Madigan to leave. They’re the dog that’s about to catch the ambulance.

Comment by Luis Robert Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:35 am
Nowlan has become a joke as a serious government reformer. He wants to further politicize the courts to overturn past decisions to harm public sector employees and campaigns against a progressive tax system that is in place at the national level in so many other states, including ruby red MO. Now he plays up Madigan as a change leader. Get real.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:45 am
The Tribune has often done this too. They bash him as a foil. But when something needs to get done they urge him to use his muscle.

Nowlan wanted the political enemy, but wants his political strength. It’s unreal.

Comment by Siriusly Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 9:45 am
The two faces of Jim Nowlan….

Comment by Don't Bloc Me In Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:08 am
muon is right. As is Jim Nowlan on the point about our sales tax (it is too narrow). Our income tax is too narrow as well (exempts retirement income and the brackets for luxury income are missing).

The four-legged stool (or table, I guess) is a good analogy.

Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:11 am
== Illinois license and fee revenue was less than in most states. ==

A number of the States with really high license and registration fees don’t have an income tax. That is a major reason those fees are that high.

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:16 am
Conflicted Kass kisses Madigan’s accomplishments?

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:23 am
But, it’s my right as an American to have tax free bull semen, isn’t it?

You can surely get an unending free supply of something else from the bull….

Many of your elected officials are happy to deliver it on a very regular basis.

Mr. Good policy

Well, the courts were politicized long ago, Nowlan had nothing to do with that.

And the truth is (or perhaps, used to be) this: Madigan IS the master of the “let’s have a shell bill to be filled in later” game.

In the dark do the work of ironing out the bill, compromise to get enough people on board, spring it, vote super fast and send it to the Gov.

Is it likely to happen? Probably not. But, if MJM does see the sunset, he might well want to ride tall into it.

Comment by Fav Human Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:26 am
Was just talking to a friend of mine about how many different headline possibilities I tried out for this post last night. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:43 am
=== how many different headline possibilities I tried out===

Self editing is tough when the fun to what could be is impossible to use.

It’s like… a David Letterman’s “Top 10”

“I hold in my right hand… From the home office in Oblong, Illinois, these are the ‘Top 10 Rejected Nowlan Headlines’… here we go”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:47 am
== As Democrats should not and probably will not make brutal GOP-style cuts, there may be a flat income tax hike.==

Legislators may see imposing a sales tax on certain services as slightly less unappetizing than an across-the-board income tax hike. As muon pointed out, certain services solely cater to affluent clients, so a given service tax need not be regressive.

Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:47 am
Nolan’s column is unhelpful nonsense.

His potential $12 billion in additional revenues, according to P. 37 of his book, consists of such things as reimposing the sales tax on food, taxing all retirement income other than social security, eliminating the property tax credit against the income tax, imposing the sales tax on purchases by charitable organizations, eliminating all income tax and sales tax credits, deductions and exemptions and taxing services.

Talk about “dorm room theorizing” . . . .

Comment by Facts Matter Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:48 am
Fresh off the lucrative practice of running a dark money PAC to protect billionaires, state pensioner Jim Nowlan is now calling for bipartisanship in the hope that an increasingly blind media will again turn to him as a political observer so he can maintain a public profile and be positioned to cash in on the next election cycle.

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:58 am
Those are the only positive words about Madigan that Kass has ever written. They are also true words, which belong in any balanced assessment of the Speaker, as opposed to a partisan attack.

Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 10:58 am
== Madigan IS the master of the “let’s have a shell bill to be filled in later” game. ==

I will second that comment.

Like him or hate him, Madigan is usually several moves ahead of everyone else … just waiting for the need for action to become obvious enough he can cobble together a voting bloc for necessary but politically distasteful actions.

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:05 am
Facts Matter,
We could do a pilot project for taxing retirement income.
Let’s tax Jim Nowlan’s government pension and see how it goes.

Comment by Leigh John-Ella Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:06 am
It was a Herculean, not Homeric, effort. Maybe with a dash of that trickster, Hermes. Kass can’t get his ancients right and he isn’t much better with here-and-now references.

Comment by Marine Life Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:14 am
Both Kass and Nowlan create fertile ground for headlines,eh?…in the form of fertilizer.

Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:16 am
Fresh from his convincing victory over the fair tax, Nowlan is clearly convinced that an R majority is coming soon, so he needs that tax revenue just like Rauner did. Why not let Madigan wear that shirt while he is thrown under the bus?

Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:25 am
Kass often writes Homeric columns - Homer Simpson.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:28 am
At least Kass acknowledges that pension reform that unions were hotly against has already been implemented as Madigan pushed through the new tier 2 reforms. It’s clearly already been done. Please move on to what else is doable.

Comment by Just A Dude Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:43 am
=== Why not let Madigan wear that shirt while he is thrown under the bus?===

Because math is undefeated, and as buffoon-like as Nowlan is, Rauner was far more the all-out phony.

It’s… nuanced.

Why you never go full Rauner.

:)

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 11:50 am
anon2 - that’s inaccurate. Kass, back in his pre ultra conservative days, was an MJM stan. Google what he wrote about John Schmidt when Lisa had that primary in 1998.

Comment by Eloy Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 12:43 pm
Maybe Kass and Madigan’s relationship is like Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler. Big fight in public laughing about it behind closed doors.

Comment by Publius Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 12:50 pm
Lots of people are against Madigan until they want something done.

Republicans want Democrats to fix the financial mess they created by opposing tax hikes for the last 23 years.

They want to do it without any Republican votes if at all possible.

And they want to be able to blame Democrats for the tax increase when it is over.

Republicans and Democrats both know there is no hope of fixing the state budget without Madigan.

Do you believe enough votes can be found to eliminate qualified immunity without Madigan? I don’t.

What about a statewide mask mandate? HaHa.

Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 1:21 pm
“Mike Madigan is a dastardly, evil dictator who forces his members to vote for horrible bills we hate.”

“Mike Madigan needs to use his awesome power to muscle through laws that we love.”

By George, I do believe this Jim Nowlan guy has a career as a member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board. He fits right in.

Comment by John Deere Green Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 1:39 pm
Translation: We have the arrogance to tell the voters in a legislator’s district that they need to stop electing a person who they think best represents their interests. And while we’re at it, we’re going to tell legislators to stop voting for a person who they feel best represents their interests, and who does this through hard work, and a skilled understanding of the legislative and political processes in the state.

No, he’s not a saint, and, yes, he’s currently under investigation but he’s not been charged with anything. Want to dump Madigan? Then put as much effort into developing a palatable alternative. Otherwise, it’s just the sound and the fury …

Comment by Johnny Tractor Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 1:59 pm
If there were enough House members to retire Madigan, then who would be his successor?

Comment by anon2 Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 2:10 pm
This reflects one of the sillier lines of logic I’ve heard in Springfield for years: “Mike Madigan has too much power” … “Why isn’t Mike Madigan using his power to do the things I want?”

Comment by High Socks Tuesday, Nov 10, 20 @ 2:59 pm
Three things about Jim Nowlan’s editorials:
Awful in the past, awful in the present, awful in the future.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Nov 13, 20 @ 6:24 am