by Ashley Muchow Pew Center on the States and the Public Policy Institute of Californiareleased a comprehensive study this morning zoning in on the public’s opinion of state fiscal management. The study, Facing Facts: Public Attitudes and Fiscal Realities in Five Stressed States, polled residents from five fiscally distressed states: California, Arizona, Florida, New York, and our very...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson As the debate over whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts continues, Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center adds some much needed perspective by comparing the size of the tax cuts to the amount of spending over the next decade. In The American, the journal of the American Enterprise Institute, Dr. de...
by Mark Cavers Last week the President was campaigning in Iowa when he was asked about his administration’s perpetual push to increase taxes. His response: “Your taxes haven’t gone up in this administration. Your taxes have gone down in this administration. There’s a notion that, well, he’s a Democrat so your taxes must have gone up....
Apparently Bill Gates, Sr. is not smarter than a 5th grader because he seems to think the correct answer is 74. Mr. Gates is advocating for a progressive income tax increase in Washington state. He has put $500,000 of his own money into the initiative campaign to impose this tax on the people of Washington. That data...
by Ashley Muchow Arthur Laffer addressed a core issue regarding the economic impact of state income taxes in the WSJ today. Laffer addressed the often ignored negative impact income taxes have on state economies. Illinois’s personal income per capita decreased from 133 percent of the U.S. prior to its 1969 income tax levy, to just 106 percent...
by Wesley Fox Like many states, Illinois faces severe budget problems resulting from the economic recession. Illinois’s budget problems are made worse by the massive cost of its Medicaid program. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, Medicaid represents approximately 30% of the Illinois budget. Only two other states (Maine and Missouri) commit more of their...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Over the weekend, unions in France protested pension reform plans, which include raising the retirement age from 60 to 62. The reforms are an effort to maintain France’s AAA credit rating and limit the growing public debt. But the reforms are rubbing some the wrong way. Reuters reports: The unions and the left-wing opposition say the...
With the Chicago Mayoral race heating up, so too is talk about the City’s $500M annual Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues. Former Chief of Staff to President Obama, Rham Emanuel recently gave a call to former Alderman and now U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley in regards to Chicago’s TIF districts. Recently, two Cook County Board President candidates,...
On September 30th the Illinois Turnaround Tour made a stop in Rockford. Over 50 people packed the Wallingford Center at the Best Western Clock Tower Resort to hear about the Illinois Turnaround Plan of lower taxes; responsible spending; transparent, accountable government; and a business friendly environment that empowers entrepreneurs, investors and workers. John Tillman, CEO...
by Ashley Muchow Meredith Whitney, former banking analyst, and current CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, doesn’t see anything short of fiscal ruin for a handful of U.S. states. In a Bloomberg interview, Whitney holds up states as the new systemic risks to the U.S. economy. Her company’s latest report, appropriately titled “Tragedy of the Commons”,...
by John Tillman Since the tax hike fight of 2009 (the picture on the left is from my debate on Fox 32 on the merits of a tax hike versus spending reforms – see it here) we have been saying some simple things at the Illinois Policy Institute. First, our problems are rooted in structural overspending. Second,...
by Mark Cavers On Friday September 24th, the Editorial Board at USA Today penned an opinion piece titled, “Our view on the Pledge to America.” In this article, USA Today refers to the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts as an irresponsible “giveaway.” Even more irresponsible is the pledge’s vow to permanently extend all the...
by John Tillman Illinois is broke but if you are a regular visitor to our site you already knew that. But you may not know just how broke our state is and that one of the root causes of the problem (there are many) is unsustainable public employee pensions. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of...
by Kristina Rasmussen Earlier today I testified at a House Revenue committee hearing on the matter of online taxation. Up for consideration was SB 3353, and more broadly, the hearing served as a review of attempts to use online affiliates of Internet retailers to establish physical nexus for taxation purposes. So what’s at stake? Some want to impose so-called...