95% of Illinois Taxpayers Held Hostage by State Pension Cartel
View as PDF Chicago –Pension reform could be easy if there were no government-union bosses — and the votes they deliver — according to Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “The entire State of Illinois has been brought to its knees by about 5% of its population,” said Rae Ann McNeilly, TUA executive director. “The debt [...]
Illinois State Police Pensions Get Media Attention They Deserve
View as PDF CHICAGO—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) released Illinois State Police Pensions and garnered major media attention. Click here to read the release where we publish the ISP pension study and Jim Tobin calls on Gov. Quinn to freeze hiring until comprehensive pension reforms are passed. http://www.taxpayersunitedofamerica.org/uncategorized/6845 CBS 2 in Chicago secured an exclusive [...]
Just another $10 Million Government Pension
View as PDF CHICAGO —All across the country, millions of government pensioners are contract-bound to receive lifetime pension payouts, each in the millions of dollars, along with taxpayer- funded, premium healthcare insurance, according to Rae Ann McNeilly, executive director of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “There has been a flurry of reaction to the ‘discovery’ [...]
Happy Birthday to the Federal Reserve – 100 Years of War, Welfare, and Pork
View as PDF By Dennis Constant December 2013 is the 100th birthday of the Federal Reserve System (Fed). The Federal Reserve Act was conceived and described in a preliminary version in November 1910, at a secret meeting in the private resort of J. P. Morgan on Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia. Republican Senator [...]
Oh, the Hypocrisy of Obama’s Gun Control Advocacy!
View as PDF CHICAGO—President Obama calls for greater gun control and has done so throughout his political career, yet takes great comfort in the knowledge that his daughters are protected by ‘men with guns,’ as stated in interviews with David Letterman and others. “The president seems to think that, ‘We the Little People,’ need more [...]
Stop Oak Park and River Forest District 200 from Raising Our Property Taxes on December 20!
Brought to you by: Protect District 200 Property Taxpayers Barb Langer, Ph.D., Founder and Barry Epstein, Ph.D., CPA, Forensic Accountant Contact: NoNewTax@att.net The Board of Education (BOE) for Oak Park-River Forest High School (OPRFHS) District 200 (D200) in Oak Park, Illinois, said on November 15 that D200 will pass a 2.5% property tax increase on [...]
Mayor Emanuel: Fire Striking Teachers, Or Be Fired Yourself
View release as a PDF CHICAGO–Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel should, for once, take the side of Chicago taxpayers and fire the city’s striking teachers, said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Huge raises have been offered to striking teachers. Four percent raises per year would take the average salary of Chicago government-school [...]
Chicago Government-School Administrators Really, Really Rake in the Bucks!
View release as a PDF CHICAGO–The news that well-paid Chicago government-school teachers have gone on strike because they didn’t get a 29% increase in salaries over 2 years draws attention from the even more outrageous salaries that Chicago government-school administrators are getting, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Our recently-obtained [...]
Chicago Teachers’ Strike Would Be Just Plain Stupid!
View release as a PDF CHICAGO–Chicago teachers, who are the second-highest paid big-city teachers in the nation, are demanding an unconscionable pay hike while workers in the private sector struggle to keep their jobs, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “The average Chicago teacher makes $76,000 a year, according to [...]
Retired Illinois Judges Raking in Gluttonous Pensions
View release as a PDF CHICAGO–Retired state and county Illinois judges are enjoying some of the most lavish, gold-plated pensions of all Illinois government-pensioners, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Even while Springfield political leaders finally are discussing pension reform, judges’ million-dollar pensions are draining their state government-employee pension fund,” [...]
NATO Meeting Costly Ego-Trip For Chicago Pols
View release as a PDF CHICAGO—Chicago’s hosting of the May NATO meetings was an expensive ego-trip for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his fellow politicians, charged Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Emanuel and his press flacks claimed that holding the NATO meetings put Chicago in a favorable light in the eyes [...]
State Troopers & Corrections Officers Quick to Capture Lavish Pensions
View release as a PDF CHICAGO–A report just published by Taxpayers United of America (TUA) on the “Top 100” pensions of the State Employee Retirement System (SERS) revealed that 84 of the Top 100 are state troopers or corrections officers, and that 28 state troopers retired at age 50 and have pensions over $100,000. “If [...]
Warren Buffett Crowned King Of Hypocrisy
Click here to view News Advisory as a PDF CHICAGO–Warren Buffet is the king of hypocrisy and “should put a cork in it,” according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “I am sick and tired of seeing and hearing the swill expressed by this phony,” said Tobin. “The expose by Peter [...]
Cigarette Tax Hikes Usually Backfire
Raising cigarette taxes in most instances have backfired on states hoping to get a windfall on the higher taxes. Unintended consequences are the rule, not the exception. States raising cigarette taxes usually find that consumers alter their purchasing patterns. They start getting their cigarettes from sources with lower or no taxes. These sources may be [...]
“Governor Bribe” Again Plays The Game To Earn The Name!
Two lucky politicos from Oak Lawn were appointed to fill terms in the Illinois General Assembly in 2010. And in what the Chicago Tribune calls a “Quinncidence,” after voting for Gov. Patrick Quinn’s huge 67% state income tax increase, they landed cushy jobs with cash-strapped Cook County. John O’Sullivan and Michael Carberry were selected by [...]
Taxpayers Oppose Civic Federation’s Suggested $1-a-pack Cigarette Tax Increase
CHICAGO–The President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today condemned the Civic Federation’s recommendation that the state tax on a pack of cigarettes be raised $1-a-pack. “Not only would such a huge tax increase be counterproductive, but this high regressive tax would drive many small stores out of business, especially minority businesses that are barely [...]
Clueless Gov. Quinn Makes Titanic’s Captain Seem Highly-Skilled By Comparison
The President of Taxpayers United of American (TUA) today compared Gov. Patrick Quinn (D) to the Captain of the Titanic, saying that Quinn makes the Titanic Captain look highly-skilled by comparison. “In his state of the State speech today, Governor Quinn quoted Abraham Lincoln. Well, Lincoln also said ‘You can fool some of the people [...]
9/11 Not the Only “Surprise” Attack on U.S.
As the 10th anniversary draws near of the “surprise” attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, one should not forget that December 7, 2011, marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack drew the U.S. into World War II and when it was [...]
War on Drugs Snake Oil Cures Nothing and Costs Everything
Click here to view this News Release as a PDF. After 40 years of selling more than $1 trillion worth of War on Drugs to American taxpayers as an effective treatment for the drug problem, more and more taxpayers are questioning the soundness of this investment. Has the government delivered the product as promised? Has [...]
90% Toll Tax Hike Plan Would Fund Political Payoffs
Click here to view this ITEF Comment as a PDF. CHICAGO— The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has always been a notorious patronage machine. To listen to Tollway lackeys now, today’s Authority is something out of a fairy tale—an upstanding group of public servants to whom we shouldn’t hesitate to give $12.1 billion in toll [...]
Phony Debt-Limit Deal Only Made Things Worse
Click here to view this ITEF Comment as a PDF. CHICAGO–The phony federal-debt-limit deal put together by Democrats and Republicans has fooled no one and has actually made matters worse, according to economist Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “You can’t fool the markets. On Wednesday, the Standard and Poor’s 500 hit [...]
Taxpayers to Congress: Keep Debt Limit, Cut Military Spending
Click here to view this TUA Comment as a PDF. At the most recent national election, heads rolled in Washington and candidates for both chambers of Congress were elected who purported to be fiscal conservatives. Now these newly-elected public officials must show some backbone and make good on their campaign promises…if they are to keep [...]
Total IL Government Retirees Receiving Over $100,000 a Year Soars 22% to 5,294
Click here to view this ITEF Comment as a PDF. The number of retired Illinois government employees receiving pension benefits of over $100,000 a year has climbed to 5,294 as of April 1, 2011, an increase of 22% from June 30, 2010, according to the president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). Of the six [...]
Police Pay and Benefits Higher Than More Dangerous Jobs
View as PDF CHICAGO—Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not support the perception that police officers have very high-risk jobs, or that there is a “war on cops,” according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America. “Police-organization bureaucrats repeatedly state that there is a ‘war on cops’ in order to justify [...]
May 13, 2013 | Categories: Arizona, blog, California, Colorado, Commentary, featured, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Latest, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Pension Reform, South Carolina, Wisconsin | Leave A Comment »