State and local tax hikes in Illinois have hurt economic growth, lowered the standard of living, and contributed to out-migration.

Local governments create TIF districts to encourage development in “blighted” areas; but TIFs often don’t deliver on promised economic benefits, while they do divert tax dollars from other uses and create opaque slush funds for the mayor to reward insider developers.

The new tax on plastic bags is Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s latest revenue grab.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is spending money promised for rebates on police body cameras, a legal defense fund for undocumented immigrants and other programs.

To address the city’s worsening financial crises, Chicago politicians turned up the dial on their usual answer to budgetary woes: raising taxes.