by Kristina Rasmussen Illinois’ flat tax is one of the few bright spots in our state’s tax code. It’s simple, fair and good for growth. And, as NRO’s Kevin Williamson puts it, a flat tax is perfectly progressive: One’s income-tax liability is perfectly proportional to one’s income: At 10 percent, that means $10 on $100 in income, and...

by Dan Proft In January of this year, Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton passed the largest tax increase in Illinois history. They proceeded to spend much of 2011 carving out special exceptions to the tax hike for politically powerful Illinois employers. This week, Sears and the CME Group...

by Kristina Rasmussen From the sounds of it, House leaders are planning another go on the “tax relief” deal and break it up  into two amendments. One for the business measures, and one for the personal measures. My dissatisfaction with Democrats’ previous attempts to offer tax relief to individuals and family is no secret (get my take from...

by Kristina Rasmussen If Illinois Members of Congress had their way, how much would government spending increase or decrease? The National Taxpayers Union Foundation keeps a running tally of each Congressman’s net spending agendas as measured by their bill co-sponsorships. Last week I asked them to share preliminary data on the spending agendas of members of the Illinois...

by Mark Cavers Last week, the Illinois Policy Institute partnered with the Manhattan Institute to release a poll measuring the public’s mood on a wide range of issues including: Pensions, the state’s budget, the economy, taxes, unions, and collective bargaining. According to our poll, 63% of people still oppose the tax hikes that were passed in January. Even more...

by Aon Hussain With the world watching, the Republican controlled House and the Democrat controlled Senate and President came to an agreement on the debt ceiling that simultaneously raised the debt ceiling and ensured more than two trillion dollars in spending cuts. While this showdown was combative, another duel between Democrats and Republicans looms in...

by Kolin Karchon  On August 1st, the city of Central Falls in Rhode Island filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection citing that  “the city’s financial condition has deteriorated to the point where it is insolvent.” The city’s pension plan is expected to run out of assets by October, but city negotiations regarding benefit cuts with current workers...