In Illinois, our Legislature just had a grueling four days in Springfield, where they passed whatever they wanted.  When Democrats have huge majorities in the House and Senate and control the governor's mansion, it is not tough to pass what the speaker of over thirty years wants.

Illinois has a constitution that requires a balanced budget, so the budget they passed borrowed $5 billion from the federal government and left a $6-billion deficit.  We have hundreds of billions in actual debt and unfunded liabilities; how is this in adherence to the constitution?

Since the work was so tough, the legislators gave themselves an almost 3% raise.  Everyone should remember that while the Democrats intentionally keep millions unemployed in Illinois and tens of thousands of businesses closed or in limited capacity, almost every state employee, whether essential or non-essential, gets paid and gets raises and generous benefits.  The private sector is clearly expendable to Democrats.

The Legislature was able to come up with detailed language on a constitutional amendment to change the income tax system from a flat tax to a graduated tax.  Here is how specific it is.

The proposed amendment grants the State authority to impose higher income tax rates on higher income levels, which is how the federal government and a majority of other states do it. The amendment would remove the portion of the Revenue Article of the Illinois Constitution that is sometimes referred to as the "flat tax," that requires all taxes on income to be at the same rate. The amendment does not itself change tax rates. It gives the State the ability to impose higher tax rates on those with higher income levels and lower income tax rates on those with middle or lower income levels. You are asked to decide whether the proposed amendment should become a part of the Illinois Constitution.

Most of the media, along with other Democrats, use the talking point that 97% of taxpayers will see their taxes go down under their proposed rates.  What the public will rarely or never see is the actual size of the cuts.  Here is what the current proposal looks like:

The current flat tax is 4.95%. The proposed rates are that the first $10,000 in taxable income would be taxed at 4.75%, the next $90,000 at 4.90% and the next $150,000 would remain at 4.95%.  Then the substantially higher rates would kick in. 

So an individual or family with taxable income of $10,000 would save $20 per year or around 6 cents per day.  Taxpayers with $50,000 in taxable income would save $40 per year or around 12 cents per day, and the maximum any taxpayer would save is $65 per year, or around 18 cents per day. 

I wonder what the taxpayers would do with all that extra money from the generous Democrats!

Maybe voters could remember that since Pritzker came in as governor in 2019, the Democrats have already raised several regressive taxes and fees, including the cigarette tax, doubling the gas tax (18 cents more per gallon), and raising license plate fees $50 per year.  Boy, the Democrats sure care about the poor and middle class. 

Should we open the constitution to such big spenders and taxers?  Why would this tax increase solve the budget problems when all the previous ones haven't solved the problem?

Shouldn't the media tell the public the size of the cuts instead of repeating the 97% talking point that sounds so good?  Isn't transparency important?

Illinois and most states that are intentionally keeping their states in a deep recession or depression are sanctuary states, which refuse to abide by immigration laws that Congress passed.  Yet they impose dictatorial edicts that we are supposed to abide by or else be punished.  These mayors and governors obviously believe they are special and above the law. 

They say that border walls or fences don't work, and we shouldn't have them, yet they put borders or fences around parks, churches, beaches, and other places they deem non-essential.  They treat illegals better than citizens.  The Democrats are letting criminals out of jail while threatening to arrest people who want to leave their house and go to work to feed their families.  Doesn't that look idiotic and backward?

This past weekend, the media were questioning whether Trump could constitutionally require churches to open.  Why didn't they ask the correct question?  Do governors and mayors have the constitutional right to close churches?

Maybe the ACLU and media outlets, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, would be concerned about censorship, free speech, and freedom of religion if governors dictatorially called the media non-essential and shut them down.

Governor Pritzker says every day that he makes all his tyrannical decisions to destroy the Illinois economy based on science and facts.  He also repeatedly says his dictatorial decisions to destroy businesses and keep millions unemployed have saved huge numbers of lives.  Data from other states that have not had the strict shutdowns, and which are substantially open, show that his statements are not based on facts.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (photo credit: Lt. Col Bradford Leighton).

Illinois has around 13 million residents and around 5,000 deaths. Florida has 22 million residents, an older more vulnerable demographic, and as of May 18th had 1,779 deaths. Texas has 29.5 million residents and one fifth the deaths at 1,133.

Pritzker claims the lives saved by comparing the numbers to garbage modeling predictions which are not science or factual. It is a shame that anyone pretends that modeling projections are factual.

By early May, the scientific data showed that over 50% of counties had zero deaths and around 80% had less than five deaths. This statistic will not be shown to the public because it would comfort the public instead of scaring the public into submission.

Most of the media is rooting actively for deaths to hit 100,000. The NYT ran a front-page article with the names of 5,000 people who died from the virus. Maybe they should publish a list of all those who have died in New York, New Jersey and other states where idiotic governors basically sent suicide bombers into nursing homes to infect and kill vulnerable, elderly people. Think of how much better the death toll would be if those deaths were factored out, along with other deaths that have been assigned to COVID 19 when other morbidity causes were the major factor in the deaths. 

Here is some health advice for people every year:

If you have any virus, cold, flu, pneumonia or COVID 19, stay at home or go to the doctor. Don't spread your germs. Don't send sick people into nursing homes to kill vulnerable people. That is stupid because so many old people in nursing homes are already very vulnerable. Otherwise, live your life as you always have. If you are old and feel well, go out and enjoy your friends, children and grandchildren as you always have. Give them a hug. They are not killing you and you are not killing them.

So. as you vote, if you want freedom and prosperity, vote for people like Trump, Abbott and DeSantis. If you want a tyrannical government with a destroyed economy and mass dependence on government, vote for whom most of the media wants: Pelosi, Schumer, Biden, Cuomo, Newsom, Pritzker Whitmer and others. The choice is simple.

In Illinois, we have been losing residents (taxpayers) for years. Will it be good for the future when the politicians are so hostile to small, medium and large businesses alike and to all taxpayers?

Why would anyone trust the health experts who have continually been so wrong in the past with our future policies based on more modeling predictions?

The country should be open for business. More delays are inexcusable and will further greatly physically, mentally and financially harm hundreds of millions of people.