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CHICAGO—High taxes and corruption go hand-in-hand in Illinois, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Illinois is easily the most corrupt state in the union,” said Tobin. “The previous front-runner, Louisiana, is now a distant second. And the mother-lode of corruption is the Democrat machine of Cook County, which runs roughshod over the entire state.”
“Illinois’ high taxes are driving small and medium businesses out of the state. But the Springfield Democrats don’t care; all they care about is pampering the unions who are their financial benefactors and who own these legislators in the General Assembly.”
“Brian Costin, writing in the May 16 issue of Illinois Corruption Watch, put it well when he wrote:”
When it rains it pours in Illinois. We found 45 different news stories relating to Illinois corruption in just the month of April. They continue to pile up in the first half of May, with 28 new news stories on corruption already. This includes tales of patronage hiring (again), using public resources for political campaigns (again), a politician who has to pay a $550,000 federal corruption fine and a story about secret waitlists on veterans at an Illinois VA Hospital.
“The so-called pension reform bills passed by the Ill. General Assembly are just window-dressing, and even these ‘reforms’ are being challenged. A coalition of labor unions asked a court in Springfield to prevent a new state law aimed at curbing Illinois’ public employee pension debt from taking effect next month until questions about its ‘constitutionality’ have been resolved.”
“According to St. Rep. Michael W. Tryon (R-66, Crystal Lake), Article VIII of the Illinois Constitution is clear in its mandate that appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year. In February, the House unanimously adopted House Joint Resolution 80, which set the FY15 revenue estimate at $34.5 billion. The total appropriations approved on Thursday exceeded that estimate by close to $3 billion.”
“Illinois has over $187 billion in unfunded government-employee pensions, some of the highest taxes in the country, and is run like a banana republic by machine bosses, Michael J. Madigan (D), House Speaker, and John J. Cullerton (D), Senate President. Until these leaders and their minions in the House and Senate are thrown from office, Illinois will continue to spiral around the drain and some day will literally go bankrupt.”
“How many elected and appointed Illinois politicians have to go to jail before we learn that we can’t send unchecked, copious amounts of cash to be administered by these criminals? As taxpayers, we must stop the life-blood that perpetuates the Illinois cartel; we must cut off the money supply and demand sane and moral tax policies that respect the taxpayers’ right to keep their own money and make their own decisions about how it is spent….or not.”
“And we start by firing every politician from Gov. Patrick Quinn down to every village administrator who thinks taxpayer money is theirs for the taking.”