Missing the good old days of Rod Blagojevich

Last week, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D-Pandering Populists) delivered the first budget address of his administration. He acknowledged the state’s financial predicament – an $11.5 billion budget deficit – and attempted to soften the blow of proposed tax hikes with unconvincing, trite rhetoric. 

Quinn’s speech began with tired platitudes about corruption that have become the basis for his platform.  After the foreplay of reform-talk, he began to highlight the details of his $53 billion dollar budget.  He proposed $1.3 billion in spending cuts, but offered few specifics about the nature of the cuts.  Next, he offered “ground-breaking public pension reforms” and, once again, pledged to run an open and honest government.

Finally, Quinn unveiled the centerpiece of the budget, the Illinois Economic Recovery and Tax Reform Act of 2009.  The plan calls for a 50% increase in the rate of corporate and personal income taxes.

The governor used the terms “reform” and “tax relief” 30 times in an ineffective attempt to make the tax hike more palatable. 

“Let’s talk about tax reform,” Quinn pandered. “And I mean reform that produces tax relief for middle-class and working families.  Under the plan that I present today, five million people will get major tax relief.”

Quinn neglected the fact that the state has over 12 million residents, meaning that a majority of Illinois citizens will bear the burden of increased income taxes. 

Before unveiling the specifics of his plan, which had been outlined in the Chicago Tribune nearly a week earlier, Quinn pledged his devotion to working families.  He said that increasing the personal tax exemption would “shield income from taxation” for families. 

Quinn glossed over the big news of the day – the tax rate would increase by 50% – before citing several scenarios where families would see their tax bill lowered.

“A family of four with income of $32,000 will get a 72% tax reduction,” Quinn explained.  “Families earning about $61,000 will break even.”

Lowering taxes for working families is a noble endeavor.  However, Quinn’s first example paints a picture of a family that would be struggling mightily.  In the Chicagoland area, $32,000 of net income is barely adequate for an individual to sustain a modest lifestyle.  It is not nearly enough money to support a family of four. 

Why should a family that routinely turns to ramen noodles and mustard packets for sustenance be burdened with income taxes at all?  After deductions and child tax credits, the family would have no federal tax liability.  Can the family not be afforded the same luxury by the state of Illinois?

Each of Quinn’s examples was based upon a typical nuclear family.  The governor failed to mention the effect on single taxpayers, couples without children and unmarried parents.  

An individual earning a modest $20,000 per year will pay 13.4% more in taxes.  A single mother netting $40,000 a year would be hit with same percentage increase.  A person making the $32,140, the median income in 2005, will see their taxes rise by more than 28%.    

Consider the common scenario of an entry-level professional fresh out of college.  A new college grad might accept a $30,000 salary in order to break into his or her chosen field.  While dealing with rising food prices and huge student loan payments, this person would have to pay over 28% more in state income taxes thanks to Quinn’s “tax relief” plan. 

This is a glaring flaw in the tax code, both at the state and federal level.  Income taxes place the greatest burden of funding the government on the backs of those who do not breed. 

This is not to say that families do not deserve a tax break.  However, why should recent college grads, elderly widows and widowers and those who simply choose not to have children be penalized?  What about the gays?  They get screwed twice – they can’t legitimize their love with marriage, so they can’t realize the tax benefits that breeders do. 

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When Quinn’s predecessor, Rod Blagojevich (D-Shit’s Creek), was ejected from office, I was one of many who hailed the move as a positive change for the state.  After his impeachment, the deposed governor characterized his removal from office as conspiracy by the Illinois General Assembly in order to raise taxes.

The concept of a conspiracy is utterly ridiculous.  However, Blagojevich was correct in noting that he repeatedly fought the Illinois legislator to prevent tax increases.  

The jackals in Springfield, long held in check by Blagojevich, may now feast on the earnings of the hard working citizens of Illinois. 

Quinn has spent his entire career portraying himself as a reformer.  Yet he was unable to summon his inner reformer when crafting the 2010 state budget.  He resorted to the tactics of countless politicians before him: fill holes in the budget with taxpayer money, burden the working class to fix the problems caused by a failed bureaucracy.

Quinn failed to address the problem that caused the budget crisis: rampant, undisciplined spending by the state government.  The cuts that Quinn characterizes as “drastic” are miniscule – $1.3 billion – when compared to the $53 in spending contained in the budget. 

The state of Illinois crying broke and asking taxpayers for a bailout is the equivalent of a coke addict bitching about not having enough money for rent.

Two percent spending cuts are not reform.  Increased taxes on the middle class during the worst economic crisis in generations are not reform.  Referring to tax hikes as “tax relief” is not reform. 

Clearly, Pat Quinn sucks as a reformer. 

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