ILLINOIS STATE POLICE BLOCK TAXPAYERS UNITED OF AMERICA NEWS CONFERENCE!

By on September 16, 2020   /   Latest  
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Illinois State Police blocked a Taxpayers United of America (TUA) news conference at the Illinois State Capitol from taking place on Monday, Sept. 15, 2020, reports Jim Tobin, economist and TUA president.

“We have been issuing analyses of state government pensions for 14 years,” said Tobin, “and TUA Executive Director Matt Schultz and I traveled from Chicago to Springfield to report on the lavish, gold-plated government pensions as they affect Sangamon County, which has some of the highest taxes in the country.”

“I had reserved a block of time at the state capitol press room, which I have been doing for 44 years. When we arrived at the state capitol building, members of the Illinois State Police blocked us from walking to the press room. They claimed they didn’t know who we were, and that they could not let us proceed ‘without authorization.’ After some time had passed, some woman arrived thinking we were part of another group. Finding out that we were not, she left without authorizing our move to the press room.”

“Finally, after about 30 minutes, we made it to the capitol press room and found it completely deserted.”

“Whether our being blocked was intentional or due to sheer incompetence, the effect was the same. We were unable to discuss the Sangamon County pensions or Illinois Gov. Jay Robert ‘J. B.’ Pritzker’s income theft amendment that has been placed by Democrats on the November 3 ballot. This amendment to the State Constitution would significantly raise taxes on Illinois taxpayers by converting the flat-rate state income tax to a graduated income tax.”

“I have been holding news conferences at the state capitol press room for 44 years, and never have I been blocked from holding a news conference until yesterday. What happened was outrageous and unconscionable, and we are owed an apology from Gov. Pritzker and Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, but I am not holding my breath.”

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James R. Thompson: The Ghost Haunting Illinois

By on August 17, 2020   /   Items of Interest, Latest  

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On August 14, 2020 James R. Thompson (R) passed away. Big Jim Thompson, as he was known, was the 37th and longest-serving governor of the state of Illinois, serving from 1977 to 1991. Thompson is survived by his wife Jayne and daughter Samantha. The Chicago Tribune describes Thompson as a moderate willing to work on a bipartisan basis to pass legislation.

“A better way to describe Thompson is as a tax thief,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Thompson was one of the worst tax-raisers in Illinois history. Thompson twice tried to increase the state’s income tax. He championed a ‘temporary’ tax hike in 1983 that took the income tax rate from 2.5% to 3% for two years. Then in 1989, Thompson raised taxes permanently to 3%.”

“When he retired, Thompson secured a gold-plated Illinois General Assembly Pension that his income tax increase would fund. This year, he was set to receive an annual pension of $165,987. His total pension payout from taxpayers stands at over $3,219,842.”

“However, since Governor Thompson has finally passed away, his wife will now receive survivor benefits. According to state law, Jayne Thompson will now receive 66 2/3% of her husband’s pension, increased at a rate of 3% compounded annually. Jayne will receive this pension, despite being reported to still work as President and CEO of her own company.”

“It’s pensions like these that are bankrupting Illinois. The Illinois General Assembly Retirement System in which Mrs. Thompson will receive payment is only funded at 15.65% thanks to overpromised pensions. That’s why the current Illinois governor wants to increase the Illinois income tax with a graduated rate: to take from you, to fund lavish government pensions.”

“Pritzker’s proposed state constitutional amendment is a wealth transfer from taxpayers to wealthy retired bureaucrats who produce nothing. It is urgent that taxpayers in Illinois vote no on Pritzker’s Income Theft Amendment this November 3 and force Illinois politicians to act within the bounds of reality.”

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Rockford Pensioners Collect Millions Amid Unemployment Crisis

By on June 26, 2020   /   Illinois, jim tobin, Latest  
Jim Tobin
Jim Tobin

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TUA in the News!
Story covered by CBS Channel 23 News Rockford.

Rockford- “Rockford area property taxes have been some of the highest in the country in recent years. Property taxes pay for the local government pensions and state law requires those pensions to be paid before any other commitments. No matter how many private sector workers lose their jobs, government retirees continue to collect their gold-plated pensions,” said Jim Tobin, economist and president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

“While the local pensions of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) are paid by property taxes, the remaining five state pension funds are subsidized with the Illinois state income-tax.” 

“In order to fund pensions of the 148,654 pensioners who will collect more than a million dollars in pension payments, Democrat Gov. Jay Robert ‘J. B.’Pritzkeris seeking to hoodwink voters into passing constitutional amendment that that ushers in massive state income-tax increases.”

“Pritzker’s incometheft amendment will be on the November 3, 2020 ballot. If passed, this taxpayer theftwill hit the middle-class the hardest. Between the mass exodus of Illinois residents to more tax-friendly states and the huge loss of jobs and income from Pritzker’s Soviet style lockdown, Illinois’ middle-class will virtually disappear.”

“As many of us have been struggling without a paycheck, or watching businesses disintegrate, here’s what a few of the political elite in Winnebago County collected without a concern of what is to come:

Alan S. Brown retired from Rockford SD205 at the age of 55. His current annual pension is $188,828, an increase of about $5,000 over last year. With his 3% compounded COLA, he will realize about $5,353,244 over a normal lifetime. His personal investment in that stunning payout is only about 3%.

Paul A. Logli retired from Winnebago County government with a current annual pension of $172,197. His raise this year was about $3,700 and he will collect about $4,966,168 in estimated lifetime pension payments. Paul is also eligible for a social security pension. 

Karl Jacobs, Rock Valley College retiree, collects $184,970 a year from the State University Retirement System (SURS). His estimated lifetime payout is $2,968,762. He only had to invest $159,281 of his own money in that payout.”

“Illinois government employees only work 20.1 years on average in order to collect these unrealistic pensions. And for every dollar they deposit in their own pension fund, taxpayers are forced to fork over $4.74. Add to that a 3% COLA, compounded for all but IMRF, and it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Illinois’ government pensions are insolvent.”

“Rather than put an income theft amendment on the November 3rd ballot, Pritzker should have pushed for a pension reform amendment because these outrageous pensions are protected by the state constitution. 

View Top Rockford IMRF Pensions
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