Thread: Illinois Adjusts Course... Directly Into The Abyss How much closer to Detroit or

Illinois Adjusts Course... Directly Into The Abyss




How much closer to Detroit or Puerto Rico must Illinois go before it reforms?

Sun, 11/11/2018 - 20:30
44SHARES
Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.com,

How much closer to Detroit or Puerto Rico must Illinois go before it reforms?



That’s now the central question, and this week we’ve learned we have much further to go. The primary culprits in Illinois’s collapse ran the field - Chicago machine Democrats retained firm control of both houses of the General Assembly and won every statewide office. Congressional election results were just as dismal.
Plenty of Republicans share blame. Bruce Rauner was a failure, deeply alienating even his base. The number of genuine Republican reformers who understand Illinois’ problems who are candid enough to speak about them remain few.
None of that came as a surprise, except the race for Attorney General, and that result is terrifying. Erika Harold was a solid candidate but was trounced by Kwame Raoul. Raoul will present a special obstacle to reform and Illinois’ economy, politicizing law enforcement on behalf of his sponsor, House Speaker Michael Madigan, just like his predecessor. Raul’s race was a straight up test of Illinois’ sanity, and it failed.
In almost all other races, Illinois voters effectively chose to believe they can “vote themselves money,” as Benjamin Franklin put it, which, he said will “herald the end of the Republic.”
Their lesson will come, though when remains unclear.
They chose, more precisely than ever, the malfeasance and corruption that long ago set the state’s trajectory into the abyss, and offered no indication of what or when would be enough to convince them they’ve reached the bottom. A bottom will come, but when? Something then will arise, but what?



Personally, it’s one of my favorite, historical pictures that haunts the short term but inspires hope for a later day. It shows the first business to reopen in Chicago after the Great Fire, marking the start of a hundred rip roaring years when Chicago was among the most dynamic cities on the planet.
A similar day, far, far off, is all we can hope for.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...directly-abyss

Progressives Zero-In On Exit-Tax On Illinois Wealth



Eureka! They figured out a way to tax wealthy folks trying to flee Illinois: A progressive real estate transfer tax, and the idea seems to be getting popular...

Tue, 11/13/2018 - 20:25
322 SHARES
Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.com,

Eureka! They figured out a way to tax wealthy folks trying to flee Illinois: A progressive real estate transfer tax, and the idea seems to be getting popular.



An Op-Ed yesterday in the Chicago Sun-Times by Daniel Kay Hertz of the Center for Tax Budget Accountability and Marisa Novara of the Metropolitan Planning Council made the case for it in Chicago. Evanston already voted in favor of it Tuesday.
Chicago today has a real estate transfer tax of $5.25 per $500 of property value, but the city should stick pricey homes with a higher rate, say the authors.
They weren’t specific about what rates they favor, but the ballot measure passed in Evanston, as Crain’s reported, calls for a transfer tax increase of 40 percent to establish a new rate of $7 for every $1,000 of value for sales between $1.5 million and $5 million and an increase of 80 percent to establish a new rate of $9 for every $1,000 of value for sales over $5 million. Evanston’s current rate is $5 for every $1,000 of value.
If the concept flies, nobody knows where the rates will eventually end up.
You may remember a recent proposal by three Chicago Federal Reserve bank economists to establish a statewide property tax. Their express reasoning was that property can’t flee, so that’s what Illinois should tax. Proponents of progressive transfer taxes don’t say it, but their true rationale undoubtedly is similar. Think you’re going to sell your expensive home and move to Tennessee? Sorry, that will cost you.
The statewide property tax idea set off a firestorm of objections. Our article on it alone had over a million pageviews, and preemptive ballot measures opposing it passed overwhelmingly in a number of Illinois areas on Tuesday. The general public doesn’t like the idea of the statewide property tax, but a transfer tax only on the wealthy? Why not? Maybe that’s why Evanston Now reported their city may “start a trend.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already opposed the idea, but he will be gone next year. A proposed Chicago ordinance is pending to put the idea on the Feb. 26 election ballot, as a referendum question. And Hertz’s comrade at the CTBA, Ralph Martire, is on the budget committee of Governor-elect Pritzker’s transition team. So, we’ll have to see how far this goes.
This is scary stuff – seizure of property before it can escape.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...llinois-wealth

DO NOT USE A FEDERAL BAILOUT TO SAVE THIS SIMPLETON STATE

No more Federal bail outs to failed States...including Puerto Rico.

They run themselves into the ground, do not repair their water systems or infrastructures then rely on Federal Tax dollars to clean up the mess!

NO NO NO

Why would any State follow a budget if they were going to get bail outs?

They would burn through those funds in no time!