Tag Archives: Illinois Policy Institute

What Did You Learn at School Today?

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Alyssa Sonnenburg
It seems like anything can become a political issue nowadays. Schools are no exception. IFI has frequently sounded the alarm about the indoctrination of students occurring in today's education system and, Lord willing, we'll continue to do so as long as it's happening.
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Chicago Teachers’ Union’s Absurd Tweet About School Re-Openings

Posted on December 8, 2020 by David E Smith

The state of Illinois long ago made the embarrassing leap from local joke to national joke. The Land of Lincoln is now the corrupt, insolvent, morally vacuous, leftist dystopia of U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, Springfield mob boss Mike Madigan, Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. I guess the lazy, irresponsible, anti-science, and morally vacuous community organizers that comprise the Chicago Teachers’ Union thought Illinois was not getting quite enough national PR, so on Sunday, they tweeted,

The push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny.

Say what? Even for …

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A Big and Bold Illinois Tax Reform Plan is Needed

Posted on May 25, 2018 by David E Smith

As many readers are aware, Illinois families and jobs have been fleeing the state in record numbers in recent years due to the heavy tax burden. It’s not just time for a change in Illinois tax policy, it’s time for a revolution.

If conservatives ever want to win majorities in the General Assembly and elect an effective governor, they have to start thinking big and getting bold.

Should Bruce Rauner lose in November, it’ll be fresh start time for the beleaguered Illinois Republican Party. That’s not a bad place to be for a political party in a state that is …

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A Progressive Income Tax Proposal Will Not Satisfy the Illinois Taxeaters

Posted on May 2, 2018 by David E Smith

Back in the 1990s, Illinois conservatives watched as Republican governors cooperated with General Assembly Democrats to lay a foundation for our state’s current fiscal disaster. Today, as 25 percent of the state’s budget goes to paying overly-generous pensions for government employees, some sleepy slow-to-learn Republicans are waking up to the fact that something is amiss.

The good news is that Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker has a plan to solve our state’s revenue problem. Of course, I’m kidding: we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.

A proposal for a graduated income tax in Illinois …

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The Illinois Pension Scam: Unconstitutional and Corrupt

Posted on August 9, 2017 by David E Smith
Before citing a few facts and linking to a few articles from the Illinois Policy Institute, let me outline reality in simple terms: the pensions systems cannot be fixed. They need to be shut down, taxpayers should be cut free from the scam, and the state government should get out of the pension business. After decades, it has proven incapable of being trusted with tax dollars for employee pensions.
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The Illinois Pension Scam: State Officials (Including Conservatives) Have Known About it for Many Years

Posted on August 3, 2017 by David E Smith
Government employee compensation expert Bill Zettler, has had some great lines over the years. “Economics always wins,” is among his best. Despite the wishes and dreams of people on both the political left and political right, the day of accounting always comes. We are at that day right now as taxpayers face hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liability...
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The Illinois Pension Scam: There is No Excuse for the Failure of Reform

Posted on July 29, 2017 by David E Smith

In preparation for the recording of an IFA Spotlight weekly podcast, executive director Dave Smith asked me to do some research about the Illinois government’s employee pension problem. For me, it is not a fun topic to delve into because for a dozen years now I’ve watched elected conservative state legislators completely ignore the seriousness of the legalized theft that has been going on in Illinois for decades as it pertains to pensions.

Yes, legalized theft. How else can you describe someone paying into a fund about $154,000 over the course of their working years and then expect $2,200,000 …

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State Senator McConchie Outlines the Simplicity of the Budget Crisis

Posted on May 24, 2017 by David E Smith

Two years after the “temporary” income tax expired, rapacious Springfield lawmakers are once again working toward raising our taxes, supposedly in order to solve the state’s fiscal problems. This time they want to raise the state’s income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, raise the corporate tax from 5.25 percent to 7 percent and expand the state’s sales tax to include certain services.

In a partisan line vote, Illinois Senate Democrats passed these ridiculous proposals in SB 9 on Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 32-26.  Most of these lawmakers honestly believe that taking more money from citizens …

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Republicans in the Illinois Senate Want to Increase the Size of Illinois Government and Your Taxes

Posted on May 1, 2017 by David E Smith
Have you heard about the “Grand Bargain” that has been travelling the bumpy road of the legislative process in Springfield during this General Assembly session? Not surprisingly, it is neither a bargain nor grand for taxpayers. Illinois Senate Minority leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) has been (or was?) working with Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) for a few months on trying to craft a budget that can pass.
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‘Lame Duck’ Tax Increase Debated While Both Parties Struggle with Basic Math

Posted on November 30, 2016 by David E Smith

Anyone paying the least bit of attention to Illinois government knows the state is a fiscal mess, and the ongoing drama being played out between our Republican governor and Democrat General Assembly is like a long-running TV soap opera.

The news of the day is that Rich Miller’s Capitol Fax is reporting that the passing of a tax increase during the current lame duck session is now not going to happen. For those unfamiliar with Capitol Fax, it is in some ways to Illinois politics what the Drudge Report is nationally. While Drudge is a conservative, both sides can benefit

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