The first thing Bruce Rauner did as governor was to lower Illinois income tax from 5% to 3.75%. Rauner reported $55,128,335 net income on his 2012 state return, and paid $2,657,192 in state tax. If his income today is similar, then allowing the state tax rate to drop by 1.25% will save him personally $689,104 next year. Most Illinoisans would trade their entire annual income for the windfall Governor Rauner gave himself in state tax savings alone.
The second thing Rauner did was declare there is now a huge budget shortfall. That this would occur when he reduced the income of the state by 25% seems to have escaped his thought process. With this excuse, he began slashing state programs that support our towns and villages (by 50%), mental health, foster youth1, higher education, health care2, and other vital services. He terminated programs for the autistic and those with epilepsy, addiction prevention, the homeless, teens and immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens3. Rauner’s proposals “undermine access to health services, child care, affordable college and retirement security for working- and middle-class families.”4 They cut public transit by $110 million, with biggest cuts to CTA (20%)5.
There may be a few selfish people (some who euphemistically call themselves “Republicans” or “libertarians” or “anarchists”) who want government to help them and no one else. Some hate all Americans who are not identical to themselves and simply do not care when other people suffer.
But most of these people are simply ignorant of the many ways they benefit from government. The vast majority of Americans want their government to build roads, employ teachers, police and firemen, stop crooks from cheating us financially or selling us rancid meat, make sure bridges are safe, take care of physically and mentally handicapped individuals, feed impoverished single mothers and their children, give us the option of public transportation, and help our children get a college education or job training so they can become productive citizens. All serious grown-up adults want these things. And all adults know that we have to pay taxes to the government so that these services can be provided.
This is what we call living in a civilized society. Unfortunately, there is a coalition of (A) selfish people who want all of these things but do not want to pay for them, and (B) people with ulterior motives who exploit Group A to corrupt the political system so they can personally become obscenely wealthy. Group B are cynical politicians, Wall Street banks, the Koch brothers and their hirelings, like Karl Rove, Roger Ailes, Grover Norquist, and Fox News, whose goal is to brainwash Group A (gullible and selfish Americans) into voting against their self-interest.
Politicians pander to Group A — the socially backward deadbeats — and promise to give them everything they want but without asking them to pay more tax. Anyone who has mastered second grade math understands that this cannot happen, but the populace is too stupid or too busy working two full-time minimum-wage jobs to accept reality.
When politicians lack the courage to raise the tax required to pay for their budget, they must cheat because being stupid does not correct real-world math errors. So politicians create sneaky taxes: They increase tax on cigarettes and alcohol, they install red-light cameras, and most insidiously, they sell bonds that create debt so future generations will have to pay for our greed. Sneaky taxes disproportionately hurt the poor and the middle class, but they lower the tax rate for the richest. This is why rich people and the politicians who pander to rich people prefer the dishonest sneaky tax system.
Stealing from the poor, the sick, the mentally impaired, those who cannot defend themselves, just so the rich can become even more fabulously wealthy is simply evil.
Let’s grow up as a society, like Europe did long ago. We want civilization and we have to pay for it. Do you seriously want to abolish government? Of course not! Fine, then accept the fact that we all have to pay for the numerous benefits of living in an organized, civilized society.
We should have a fair progressive tax, as most states do, in which the richer you are, the higher your tax rate. If we citizens accepted the fact that we live in a civilized society and that this costs money, we could face our problems directly and solve them. If we prefer to live in Fantasy Land where someone else magically pays our bills, then we can be manipulated by cynical politicians to vote against our self-interest and against a fair tax system. I am willing to pay my fair share to live in a civilized society. This is the meaning of fiscal responsibility.
Tom DeCoursey is an Oak Park resident.
1. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150218/BLOGS02/150219820/rauners-first-budget-pension-shifts-transit-cuts-shared-pain | 2. “Rauner budget cuts target older Illinois foster youth” by Christy Gutowski Chicago Tribune | 3. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-rauners-budget-hypocrisy-20150408-story.html |4. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton. 5. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150218/BLOGS02/150219820/rauners-first-budget-pension-shifts-transit-cuts-shared-pain