I like the fact that you just posted a picture in the "Drinking" thread of you "enjoying" both Revolution Eugene Porter AND Sobieski Vodka and then you posted the comment above. That is something. I don't know exactly what, but it is something. (and, I agree, I don't like Donald Trump. I think he's "hella" stupid.)
Are you folks happy with the victory for Mike Madigan? Just asking. Continue with with political discussions.
Nope Indiana though all my tv commercials for politicians are for the most part from IL. And people wonder why I don't care about politics. I had no idea who Mike Pence was until he was VP.
No problem. Just hate Mike Madigan. The man put the squeeze on the unions to provide man power to renovate his personal properties and then screwed the guys that did the work. I really have a deep dislike for Mike Madigan and any Illinois Democrats that keep giving him power. Politics is all local. Maybe Pritzger will have the guts to challenge Madigan. Madigan really is the Mr. Burns of Illinois politics. One can only hope for change. Rauner failed. Hopefully things will change under Pritzger. I hear the worst.
Well, Mike Madigan had only token opposition, so it was somewhat of a forgone conclusion. If you mean Pritzker winning was a "win" for Madigan, hell yeah! Rauner....gone.
I don't think anyone is a fan of Mike Madigan. Lisa Madigan is no fan of Mike Madigan. I doubt Mike Madigan is a fan of Mike Madigan. I agree that much of what he has done has been less than beneficial for the unions, especially the public unions. However, Mike Madigan is not opening and affirmatively out to destroy the unions, as Bruce Rauner is/was. Rauner's entire agenda was: 1) to cut taxes (for some idiotic reason, despite the state being short on revenue) and 2) gut the unions. No, not even gut the unions, out and out destroy the unions, beginning with the teacher's union. If Mike Madigan (or another Democrat) was not Speaker of the House, Illinois very likely would have gone the way of Scott Walker and Wisconsin in 2011-2016- 'bye, 'bye public unions. My feelings about Mike Madigan are quite similar to my feelings about Nancy Pelosi, very effective at their jobs as Speaker, incredibly powerful in 'getting things done,' but completely polarizing figures. They serve as the Republican bogeymen(women) and they are not that popular among the general electorate in their own party. Both did a good job and now it is time for both of them to step aside and let the next generation of leadership take over. Each can still be the "power broker emeritus" in their respective House, but they should no longer by the "face" of the parties in the Legislatures.
Short? Or, what revenue? The last time I looked we have the worst budget in the entire country. Illinois needs a massive (that's still too small of a word) overhaul in that regard.
Yes, that is true. Of course, we did not have a budget for 2 1/2 years of Rauner's reign. Basically, we are very short on revenue. A large reason is that as a state we made negotiated promises and obligations to the unions (police, fire, teachers, public employees) and we never set aside the money to meet the obligations. As the bills are coming due, we are super short. Second, we have, a Constitutionally-mandated flat tax, despite the fact that a flat tax is in essence a regressive tax on lower income people. 4.75% on someone making $25,000 is a much bigger burden on that person than 4.75% on someone making $250,000. There are 9 states with no income tax and 8 states with a flat tax. The income tax rate in Illinois is very low. It was 3.75%, but went up to 4.75%. Of the flat tax states, Mass., North Carolina, and Utah have a higher flat tax rate than Illinois. Colorado is about the same. Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania are lower. The rest of the states and DC have a graduated income tax. California has the greatest tax difference between the lowest rate (1.0%) and the highest rate (12.3%, with a 1% tax over a million, so the effective rate is 13.3% for those making over $1,000,000). Every state (other than Arizona and North Dakota) that has a graduated income tax has a higher top rate than Illinois. The graduated tax rate was probably the second biggest issue in the gubernatorial race in Illinois this year (second only to Bruce Rauner basically sucking at everything. Oh, and Mike Madigan being satan-incarnate). Third, we have an incredibly stupid and inequitable property tax system which has caused our schools systems to be FUBAR (almost FUBAR, they could be fixed). However, property taxes are not set by the Legislature, but by local taxing authorities. Fourth, we charge everyone 5.5% sales tax on goods (other than food and medicine), which is a burden on the poorer populations. It is essentially a regressive tax. Our sales tax, paid on goods we buy, is HIGHER than our income tax, paid on what we earn. This is friggin' nuts. Add onto that the county sales taxes, city sales taxes, gas taxes, alcohol taxes, and consumers are being screwed, while the high wage earners are benefiting, literally at our expense. We also spend an awful lot and there may be some things that can be reduced. https://www.taxadmin.org/assets/docs/Research/Rates/ind_inc.pdf https://www.taxadmin.org/assets/docs/Research/Rates/ind_inc.pdf https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/illinois_state_spending_pie_chart
I have no clue how you guys tax stuff in IL. Chicago is like 10% sales tax rate but state standard is 6.25?
Easy, locals (cities & counties) can levy sales taxes on top of the state sales tax. Most do. Thus, varying levels of taxation based on jurisdiction. As far as Madigan is concerned over several decades, you're going to piss just about everyone off. That said, I worked for the man several decades ago and he's the best tactical politician I've ever met. I'm very pleased he (and the Democrats) are back to a supermajority. That said, for those looking for MJM to move on, with Rauner vanquished, this may be the time. He won't quit, but may not run next time. Don't look for any announcement until filing time as it would diminish his power in the meantime. Lastly, the Rauner ads of MJM "owning" JB cracked me up. Look at the $$$$$. If anything, it will be the other way around. Most probably they'll both be individual power centers.