Liberty Justice Center joins the fight to save Uber Chicago
Liberty Justice Center joins the fight to save Uber Chicago
Proposed rules and regulations would prohibit Uber
The progressive income tax: unfair, unstable, unresponsive and inefficient
The progressive income tax: unfair, unstable, unresponsive and inefficient
Gov. Pat Quinn and many groups in Illinois are pushing for the state’s next multibillion dollar tax increase – a progressive income tax. Passing a progressive income tax is “one of my goals before I stop breathing,” Quinn said. There has been a lot of misinformation about the progressive income tax floating around. It’s time to...
Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education
Obama’s likely to continue focusing on big government solutions for education
Unlike four years ago, a vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama was not about change. It was about maintaining the status quo. This is no truer than in the issue of education, where Obama will continue to use the federal government’s purse strings to incentivize states to pursue his top-down agenda. The two...
The progressive income tax: unfair, unstable, unresponsive and inefficient
The progressive income tax: unfair, unstable, unresponsive and inefficient
Gov. Pat Quinn and many groups in Illinois ares pushing for the state
With the election over, will Obama bail out Illinois pensions?
With the election over, will Obama bail out Illinois pensions?
President Barack Obama has won a second term, giving him what he described earlier this year as “more flexibility” in his policy choices. Will one of those choices be bailing out state pensions? All across the country, states are grappling with pension systems that are massively underfunded. Under new accounting rules, Illinois’ unfunded pension debt stands...
Despite Obama re-election, many states will still opt out of ObamaCare
Despite Obama re-election, many states will still opt out of ObamaCare
With a second term now secure for President Barack Obama, states will need to decide whether they should opt-in to ObamaCare’s massive expansion of Medicaid. A Supreme Court decision earlier this year gave states the choice of whether to opt-in or not. So far, just nine states have committed to implementing the expansion. Leaders from most states,...
California’s Proposition 30: a sneak peek into Illinois’ future
California’s Proposition 30: a sneak peek into Illinois’ future
Last night, California Gov. Jerry Brown asked Californians to pay higher income taxes. Fifty-four percent of voters opted for the tax increase. A similar scenario is beginning to play out in Illinois. Under California’s current progressive income tax structure, the second-highest marginal rate of 9.3 percent kicks in at just $48,000. To put that into perspective,...
Smith wins House seat despite cloud of corruption
Smith wins House seat despite cloud of corruption
In March of this year, state Rep. Derrick Smith was charged with accepting a bribe of $7,000 in exchange for supporting a grant for a fictional day care operator in an undercover FBI sting. The legislature expelled Smith from the legislature in August, but after Tuesday night’s elections it appears that Smith will return to the Legislature...
Sales tax referendums defeated
Sales tax referendums defeated
Last night, four Illinois counties had referendums asking voters if they wanted to create a new sales tax. All four referendums were defeated. The 2007 Illinois County School Facility Tax Act allows a referendum to go on the ballot once a school board representing 51 percent of a county’s population approves the measure. Recently, the...
Michigan voters say no to union proposals
Michigan voters say no to union proposals
An interesting test for Illinois came in Michigan, where labor unions were largely defeated in a state that saw Democrats do well. Michigan voters rejected two union-backed ballot proposals that were intended to undo a string of labor-law reforms and cost-saving measures. The results confirm that the public in the upper Midwest is ready to rethink...
Georgia paves way for more charter schools
Georgia paves way for more charter schools
Georgia parents spoke loudly last night. They want more school choice. By a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent, Georgia voters approved a new constitutional amendment, granting the governor, lieutenant governor and the state House speaker the authority to appoint a board that will be in charge of approving new charter schools in the...
Election yields Democratic supermajorities in Illinois General Assembly
Election yields Democratic supermajorities in Illinois General Assembly
After yesterday’s election, Democrats will have a supermajority in both the Illinois House and Senate after inauguration on Jan. 8, 2013. Senate Democrats picked up five seats and will have 40 seats in January – Senate Republicans will control only 19 seats. Illinois House Republicans lost seven seats yesterday, and House Speaker Michael Madigan will...
Chicago voters indicate desire for state to fund city
Chicago voters indicate desire for state to fund city
Will state taxpayers be asked to pick up the employer share of Chicago teacher pensions?
Labor unrest: how much do striking teachers make?
Labor unrest: how much do striking teachers make?
In 2011 the average household income in Illinois dropped 2.6 percent to $53,234.