Raise our Taxes!
In one of the largest Statehouse rallies ever, thousands of unionized government workers and social-service advocates rallied for an income-tax hike that could avert billions of dollars in crippling budget cuts.Three hundred busloads of people, mostly from AFSCME Council 31, SEIU, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, converged outside the Capitol while lawmakers were in session.
On several occasions during the late-morning rally, protesters turned away from the stage across from the Capitol to face the ornate seat of state government and chant, "Raise our taxes!" and "Save Our state!"
James King here in Arizona thinks the new "I didn't pay enough" law here is dumb.
Feel like voluntarily ponyin' up some of your hard-earned cash to help legislators dig themselves out of the budget crisis they created? Of course you don't, but that didn't stop legislators from taking time out of their day to pass a bill that asks taxpayers to do exactly that.
The "I-didn't-pay-enough fund" is the creation of numb Skull Valley Representative Judy Burges. It asks taxpayers to voluntarily donate money to the state government to help chip away at the state's $2.6 billion budget shortfall.
What he doesn't readlize is that it is aimed directly at the folks that are protesting in the example above. Want to pay higher taxes, then send in a check! But don't make the rest of us do so.
Captain Obviousness:
Sounds good to me! If they want the government to "Raise OUR Taxes" the government should pass a new tax only on the incomes of public union workers. From what I hear the multiplier on government spending is greater than one, so the government should be able to pay for public union worker salary increases with the new revenue generated by higher taxes on public union worker incomes. Keynes would be proud of their solution.
April 22, 2010, 2:42 pmIgotBupkis:
CO: Sweet. If only you lived in Illinois to contact your state congressbozo to suggest the idea. (I'm assuming you don't).
> Want to pay higher taxes, then send in a check!
Ah, but they don't want to send in their money, like all libtards, they want YOU to send in YOUR money.
April 22, 2010, 3:53 pmDMS:
Nooone should be surprised by this.
What they are really saying, of course and as IgotBupkis points out, is "Raise *their* taxes". This is of course virtually indistinguishable from "Raise everybody's taxes" because the people protesting here would pay no or limited taxes and have a low marginal tax rate in any case.
It is also very rational behaviour because they realise that any minimal loss of income due to increased taxes will be more than offset by increased benefits, or "slush" if you will, to be received.
April 22, 2010, 4:04 pmGW:
You really need to take a look at the youtube video on the illinois public union worker rally to get a feel for these bottom feeders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdREEcx0-Qc&feature=player_embedded
April 22, 2010, 5:14 pmGW:
This is just one of the major reasons public sector unions need to be ended. http://wolfhowling.blogspot.com/2010/02/public-sector-unions-toxin-crisis.html
April 22, 2010, 5:17 pmNot Sure:
“Raise our taxes!†is essentially the same as "Lower our wages!" when you consider the final result- fewer of your earned dollars in your pocket.
I propose, as an exercise in efficiency, that we do the latter for those protesters and just skip the unneeded first step.
April 22, 2010, 5:26 pmMJ:
DMS,
Some times it really is "raise *their* taxes".
April 22, 2010, 9:54 pmCilla Mitchell, Galveston Texas:
I am so angry about this I can't even write a civilized comment. The only thought that comes to mind, is hold all those accountable who stole from the tax payers. First thing in order: get rid of that socialist in the White House.
April 23, 2010, 5:03 amMark ii:
I have been on this crusade for a decade now. THere is no need for a law at all. Your "tax rate" is simply the minimum amount you are required to pay. Nor are you are not required to take any deduction or credit. You can pay anything you want. I even called the IRS one day and asked a bemused IRS agent if this was the case and he confirmed it.
So, if the 54% of the upper income (above $200,000) who voted for Barrack Obama simply paid 10% higher federal income tax rates on their AGI that would raise about $200 billion/year. Before Obama's massive spending increases that would have been enough to balance the federal budget. If these "compassionate" people did the same with their state income taxes they would come close to balancing those budgets too.
But, these liberal people are not compassionate. They are greedy SOBs that are in fact stingy with their time and money. Self declared conservatives contribute to charity at much higher levels than liberals do even AFTER you factor out donations to religious causes. And, conservatives donate to causes that help people in much higher proportions than liberals. THe charitable contributions of liberals like Nancy Pelosi are dominated by giving to art and "cultural" chartities and animal welfare rather than human welfare. These people pretend to be compassionate. They point their spindly liberal fingers at the supposed greedy, uncompassionate people and demand more of their money so they can salve their own conscious.
April 23, 2010, 9:44 amSpartan79:
This protest, if I'm not mistaken, occured on a workday. Very likely every one of these teachers and other civil serpents parading around the Illinois capitol with their astroturf signs took a day of sick, personal, or other type of leave. In other words, we the taxpayer paid each teacher $200 or so to prance around demanding more of our tax money. Particularly if they used sick leave, this would be a violation of the terms of most employer policies and/or labor agreements. I expect appropriate disciplinary action will be imposed on all who can be identified. (NOT! Their bosses want your tax money too, and probably gave them the day off without requiring use of any leave at all. So the Illinois taxpayer paid the teachers' salaries and the pay of the substitute who had to replace them.
The state of Illinois, to be fair to their taxpayers, should at least send out tax forms with a jar of vaseline next year.
April 23, 2010, 4:41 pmilovebenefits:
It is always easy to spend someone else's money or cut someone else's program. http://www.icbn1.com
April 25, 2010, 5:02 pmmbts-mbtshoes:
This is just one of the major reasons public sector unions need to be ended
April 27, 2010, 1:19 am