Republicans trying to raise taxes! (Chicago, Kansas: house, bankrupt, maintenance)

[Liledgy]

Originally Posted by BRU67

You've tried raising this idiotic argument before and you were thoroughly discredited. Again, any notion that the income tax hike made any sense in absence of reforms is completely off base. "It took $31.6 billion of new tax revenue to reduce the backlog of bills by $1.3 billion." And it was an absolutely bad idea.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illin...come-tax-hike/

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/2011-...-other-states/

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/2011-...w-study-shows/

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/incom...come-tax-hike/

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/famil...come-tax-hike/

Discredited? And you quote Illinois policy, hahahahahhahaha.

[dtcbnd03]

Originally Posted by madpaddy

Agree. I lean pretty far right, but I recognize there's no way out of the pension hole without some sort of tax increase.

Furthermore, the ongoing lack of a budget is hurting people of both parties in this state. The Dems have a majority in the legislature. The Republicans have to either compromise or filibuster on tax increases and continue the gridlock. Doing the latter has actually made things worse. If the Republicans actually get behind this, then the ball's in the Dem's court. Then we'll see if they play ball or not.

Rauner has said all along he supports a tax increase so long as it comes with real structural reform. Democrats (mostly Madigan) never went for it. He's even tried to compromise on term limits including himself and top level politicians. Again, democrats said no. He's really tried to work with the other side but we need Madigan to retire, resign or die in order to get anything done.

The gridlock and lack of budget has actually been good for Illinois. Voters need to feel the pain caused by the democrats over the last 30 years so we can restructure hopefully through bankruptcy or something similar. It's easy to think everything's great as unbalanced budgets get rubber stamped year in and year out just adding to debt levels. Now that Rauner has finally said enough is enough and we need change it will take some pain to realize that change.

It reminds me very much of when Theo Epstein came in for the Cubs in 2012. He got rid of veterans, stopped overpaying veterans, shed expensive contracts, made trades for prospects and built through the draft. It was a painful 4 years (or 108!) but we finally won the World Series. Rauner is our Theo Epstein. If he had a republican legislature...or reasonable democrats...or if Madigan got hit by a bus...we would be on the path to turning around in 4-5 years.

In the end...i'm kinda loving gridlock cause it leads to bankruptcy. I don't wanna pay back these pensions.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

Rauner has said all along he supports a tax increase so long as it comes with real structural reform. Democrats (mostly Madigan) never went for it. He's even tried to compromise on term limits including himself and top level politicians. Again, democrats said no. He's really tried to work with the other side but we need Madigan to retire, resign or die in order to get anything done.

The gridlock and lack of budget has actually been good for Illinois. Voters need to feel the pain caused by the democrats over the last 30 years so we can restructure hopefully through bankruptcy or something similar. It's easy to think everything's great as unbalanced budgets get rubber stamped year in and year out just adding to debt levels. Now that Rauner has finally said enough is enough and we need change it will take some pain to realize that change.

It reminds me very much of when Theo Epstein came in for the Cubs in 2012. He got rid of veterans, stopped overpaying veterans, shed expensive contracts, made trades for prospects and built through the draft. It was a painful 4 years (or 108!) but we finally won the World Series. Rauner is our Theo Epstein. If he had a republican legislature...or reasonable democrats...or if Madigan got hit by a bus...we would be on the path to turning around in 4-5 years.

In the end...i'm kinda loving gridlock cause it leads to bankruptcy. I don't wanna pay back these pensions.

I like your analysis. My only concern is that the voters will blame the wrong person.

[BRU67]

Illinois voters have not distinguished themselves in the past as being particularly bright, especially in Chicago, which will just blindly vote Democrat. Rauner and the Republicans are going to need a big turnout downstate.

[Liledgy]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

Rauner has said all along he supports a tax increase so long as it comes with real structural reform. Democrats (mostly Madigan) never went for it. He's even tried to compromise on term limits including himself and top level politicians. Again, democrats said no. He's really tried to work with the other side but we need Madigan to retire, resign or die in order to get anything done.

The gridlock and lack of budget has actually been good for Illinois. Voters need to feel the pain caused by the democrats over the last 30 years so we can restructure hopefully through bankruptcy or something similar. It's easy to think everything's great as unbalanced budgets get rubber stamped year in and year out just adding to debt levels. Now that Rauner has finally said enough is enough and we need change it will take some pain to realize that change.

It reminds me very much of when Theo Epstein came in for the Cubs in 2012. He got rid of veterans, stopped overpaying veterans, shed expensive contracts, made trades for prospects and built through the draft. It was a painful 4 years (or 108!) but we finally won the World Series. Rauner is our Theo Epstein. If he had a republican legislature...or reasonable democrats...or if Madigan got hit by a bus...we would be on the path to turning around in 4-5 years.

In the end...i'm kinda loving gridlock cause it leads to bankruptcy. I don't wanna pay back these pensions.

Or we would look like kansas. That republican governor really screwed that state up. Now he's doubling down.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by deeman7

As a right winger , I understand that we will need to raise state income tax (temporarily) to get us out of this hole.


As long as we have a solution for the pensions moving forward and have cut some fat out of the budget, I'm okay with a hike to get us out of this mess.


As I read this article, I'm not so sure the real reform is there yet, but it is a step in the right direction.

The problem I have with temporary tax increases is that they are often not temporary. The politicians get used to having the extra income, so it stays that way.

But I agree. Taxes need to increase and spending needs to decrease for us to escape the mess we are in.

[goillini8]

Originally Posted by deeman7

As a right winger , I understand that we will need to raise state income tax (temporarily) to get us out of this hole.


As long as we have a solution for the pensions moving forward and have cut some fat out of the budget, I'm okay with a hike to get us out of this mess.


As I read this article, I'm not so sure the real reform is there yet, but it is a step in the right direction.

I'm so worried that it all leads nowhere; it doesn't get us out of his hole - there's new money coming in, thus there's new money to get diverted, wasted, kicked-back, whatever. But, I guess with all the court orders, consent decrees, and pending lawsuits, a big percentage would HAVE to go to legit use?

[Jacobo1]

Originally Posted by Liledgy

Or we would look like kansas. That republican governor really screwed that state up. Now he's doubling down.

https://www.mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...scal-stability

Kansas is in far better shape than we are. Do you need those to be from Vox or Huffpost to believe them?

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by Jacobo1

https://www.mercatus.org/statefiscalrankings
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...scal-stability

Kansas is in far better shape than we are. Do you need those to be from Vox or Huffpost to believe them?

True but that's setting the bar low and doesn't negate the fact that the over the top conservative movement in Kansas is an epic failure.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.chica...olumn,amp.html

[skeddy]

State income taxes need to be raised at least 20% to reach fiscal well being.