Illinois’ unemployment rate: losing the game of catch-up
Illinois’ unemployment rate: losing the game of catch-up
Illinois
Even before record 67 percent tax hike, Illinois has 11th-highest tax burden nationwide
Even before record 67 percent tax hike, Illinois has 11th-highest tax burden nationwide
The Tax Foundation has reaffirmed Illinois’ status as a high-tax state in its newly released 2012 Annual State-Local Tax Burden Ranking. Based on the Census Bureau’s 2010 data, the report found that Illinois’ overall tax burden per resident is the 11th highest in the nation. Some highlights from the report include: At 10.2 percent, Illinois has...
Championing the start-ups
Championing the start-ups
The problem State officials have doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks and other incentives to keep Fortune 500 names and other big businesses from fleeing Illinois. But were state officials focused on the right targets? Who and what matters most in job creation? The Illinois Policy Institute’s new analysis finds the...
State workers break the rules, get a paid vacation
State workers break the rules, get a paid vacation
Overall, paid leave cost the state
The pretend power of the “do nothing” pension amendment
The pretend power of the “do nothing” pension amendment
Instead of telling voters that this amendment doesn't solve the problem, some opponents are making arguments that only serve to provide political cover to lawmakers who falsely claim they're fixing the pension crisis with Amendment 49.
The cost of Quinn
The cost of Quinn
Gov. Quinn is not getting great press these days. The Cato Institute recently ranked him the worst governor in the nation. His approval rating stands at just 26 percent. And while Gov. Quinn may choose to ignore those messages, he may want to heed the warnings the financial markets continue to fire his way. Credit agencies have...
Can Illinois afford another income tax hike?
Can Illinois afford another income tax hike?
Household incomes have plunged by 8.2% across the nation since President Obama took office. In the President’s old stomping grounds, median household income dropped by 2.6% just between 2010 and 2011. And now Gov. Quinn is working to take even more from families in Illinois through higher taxes. But there’s no room left in the family budget for another...
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says “NO” to a federal bailout of state pensions
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says “NO” to a federal bailout of state pensions
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined Carol Marin on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight to discuss the presidential election, partisan gridlock, and his own future in the Democratic Party. At the 9:15 mark Sen. Durbin says, “NO” to a federal bailout of state pensions.
The Unctuous, Impoverishing Bigotry Of Class Warfare
The Unctuous, Impoverishing Bigotry Of Class Warfare
Class warfare is a form of bigotry; it shouldn
Dispelling the class size myth
Dispelling the class size myth
As teachers’ strikes continue to spread across Illinois, union officials are pushing back against criticisms that they are not doing enough to raise student achievement. One of the most common excuses they use to explain the lack of results – apart from claiming that low-income populations have too many issues to overcome, something the Institute showed is...
Six out of ten doctors would retire today if given the opportunity
Six out of ten doctors would retire today if given the opportunity
The Physicians Foundation has completed one of the largest and most comprehensive physician surveys ever conducted in the United States. Here are a few highlights.
Get out of jail free card
Get out of jail free card
Sometimes it
The real “Mediscare”
The real “Mediscare”
by Diane Cohen, general counsel with the Liberty Justice Center During last night’s debate, Vice President Joe Biden literally laughed off suggestions that ObamaCare sets up a death panel for Medicare recipients. This follows President Obama’s claim in the first debate that ObamaCare’s more than $700 billion cut to Medicare will not directly reduce Medicare benefits...
Fact checking Vice President Biden’s Medicare malarkey
Fact checking Vice President Biden’s Medicare malarkey
In last night’s Vice Presidential debate, you might have heard Vice President Biden claim that ObamaCare “saved $716 billion [from Medicare] and put it back — applied it to Medicare.” The only problem with this claim? It’s simply not true. As the Congressional Budget Office notes, ObamaCare is expected to cut $716 billion from the Medicare...