Missouri

Progressive tax facts

By Benjamin VanMetre
09/09/2013
Several special interest groups and lawmakers in Illinois are pushing to increase taxes by swapping out the state’s constitutionally protected flat rate income tax for a progressive income tax. Advocates for higher income taxes try to disguise the tax hike as something it isn’t. Here are the facts on a progressive income tax: Thirty-one of...

TAGS: fair tax, flat tax, graduated income tax, income tax, progressive income tax

A tax on the rich?

By Benjamin VanMetre
09/05/2013
Illinois’ competitive flat-rate income tax is protected in the state’s constitution. But there is a growing movement to increase income taxes in Illinois by swapping out the state’s flat-rate income tax for a progressive tax. The progressive tax plan is being sold as a tax on the rich, but it would hike tax rates on...

Interactive dashboard: State income tax rates

By Benjamin VanMetre
08/28/2013
Illinois’ competitive flat rate income tax is protected in the state’s constitution. But there is a growing movement to increase income taxes in Illinois by swapping out the state’s flat-rate income tax for a progressive tax. The progressive tax plan is being sold as a tax on the rich. But the data tell a different...

The food stamp decade: a million more Illinoisans dependent on SNAP

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner
07/16/2013
The real story behind Illinois’ decade of fiscal and governance crises is that the number of jobs is shrinking and food stamps are taking their place. Illinois’ massive pension debt, perennial overspending and high taxes are squeezing out the private sector and jobs, while Springfield’s dysfunction and the state’s collapsing credit rating are destroying investor...

Congress Hotel strike shows how union representation can leave workers worse off

06/01/2013
by Paul Kersey The 10-year strike by housekeepers at the Congress Hotel was not actually the longest in U.S. history. Teamsters at Diamond Walnuts in California staged a walkout that lasted 14 years before agreeing to a contract. But the length of the strike and the sad way the Congress Hotel strike ended demolishes a fond...

Illinois was the only state to see a double-digit year-over-year jump in food stamp use

05/14/2013
by Ted Dabrowski     Food-stamp use rose 2.7% in the U.S. in February from a year earlier, with 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits. The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reached 47.6 million, or nearly one in seven Americans. With more...

Illinois vs. Missouri

03/31/2013
Scott Reeder Illinois News Network Do folks in the Show-Me State have a greater love of taxes than in the Land of Lincoln? Well, at first blush, that’s what you might think if you looked at the results of a study Americans for Prosperity shared with me. Voters in both states went to the polls...

Cook County cigarette tax hike takes effect today

By Hilary Gowins
03/01/2013
Health nuts and anti-tobacco fanatics, get out your streamers and champagne: Cook County’s new $1 per pack cigarette tax hike goes into effect today. Contrary to the so-called health conscious intentions of this tax’s creators, however, Cook County smokers will continue to buy cigarettes. Lots of them. Last year, Cook County brought in approximately $115 million...