DuPage County Board and the Fair Income Tax

As expected the DuPage County Board voted today for a resolution by a margin of 14-3 - Larson was a no show - to oppose an effort in Springfield to put a statewide referendum on the ballot this fall for voters to ask the State Assembly to amend the Illinois Constitution to allow for a fair graduated income tax. Every Republican voted for the resolution, every Democrat voted against it.

From the other side we heard a lot of scare tactics that were to be expected. They said it would raise taxes on DuPage residents, they said it didn't have any tax brackets attached to it so would raise taxes on everyone. To believe that is to believe that most politicians in Springfield are bent on political suicide and would pass a tax bill that hurts middle class taxpayers more than we're being hurt now.

All of this is conjecture based on nothing because the referendum only asks voters if they want to replace the flat income tax with a fair graduated tax. If Illinois voters in the fall said yes it would be up to the elected representatives and senators, Republicans included, to craft an amendment that would pass with support from both Democrats and Republicans.

Unlike the scary rightwing conjecture that presumes doom and gloom from a fair tax, which thirty four other states have, even conservatives ones, we do have real proof, real evidence about how the flat tax has worked out for us.

It's been an utter failure. Illinois has the worst credit rating of any state in country, the worst debt per capita. Our lousy credit rating costs Illinois taxpayers an extra $300 million dollars a year in interest on the bonds we issue. We have some of the highest property and sales taxes in the country. And for what? So Bruce Rauner's and Rahm Emanuel's buddies on the North Shore don't have to pay their fair share? Seems to me Illinois has been very good to these folks. If we want to continue to be a high wage state with good schools and roads they're going to have to start paying their fair share. And to do that we need to be adults and replace the unfair flat income tax with a fair graduated tax.