When Illinois becomes a red-state in 2012 how does the “Man from Illinois” win?
Pat Quinn has done Republicans and America a great favor by managing the passage of IL’s huge tax increase. The outpouring of hostility towards this increase is emblematic of the downfall of the progressive movement in the United States. It is Illinois’ version of ObamaCare.
You lie about the issue when campaigning, you force the law through the legislature at the last moment with arm-twisting and special deals against huge public opposition and then you crow about how you are really, really doing the taxpayer a favor even if they don’t realize it. This shows Obama and Quinn agree: non-progressives are stupid and ignorant.
Who knows the will of the people better than I-have-never-had-a-real-job-and-this-governor-gig-is-fun Pat Quinn?
Campaigning for President from an Illinois base will be problematic for Obama.
I think one of the dumbest moves of Obama’s 2012 campaign was the recent decision to move his campaign headquarters, headed by David Axelrod, to Chicago. Not only will the tsunami of hostility to the state income tax increase be gaining steam, Chicago’s huge property tax increase (thanks again to Quinn) to fund public pensions will hit everyone’s tax bills.
Here’s what Mayor Daley said about it:
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley accused his fellow Democrat, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, of imposing “the largest property-tax increase in the history” of the city by signing a pension-overhaul bill into law.
Quinn’s action places “a tremendous burden on Chicago taxpayers” to bolster the pension funds of public-safety employees, Daley said yesterday in a statement.
“The governor took away the opportunity to fix the legislation before he signed it,” Daley said. “The direct result of the governor’s actions will be a massive property-tax hike for Chicago residents of at least $550 million, or about a 60 percent increase in our current property-tax levy.”
How does David Axelrod handle the inevitable tax questions?
Axelrod looks to me like a meat and potatoes kind of guy so I can see him in the corner booth at Morton’s chowing down on a 24 OZ prime steak (courtesy of Obama’s billion dollar campaign fund) while thinking up a response to reporters’ questions on Illinois taxes not Federal policy.
His options are:
“I am not here to talk about IL policies.”
Lots of luck with that answer.2. “The President is against raising taxes in a recession.”
So IL Democrat’s disagree with the President’s tax policy?3. “The President agrees with Gov. Quinn’s tough decision to raise taxes. After all we have to protect the public sector’s millionaire pensioners.”
Hoo, ha.4. Let’s move this thing back to DC (this is the right answer).
Think this can’t happen in Illinois? Think again.
In the 2008 presidential election Obama won IL 62% to 37% and NJ 57% to 42%. But last year Chris Christie won the Governor’s election by 49% to 45% a loss of 12 percentage points for Democrats. That same turn makes it 50% to 49% in Illinois not taking into account the open hostility to the tax increases or the sweep of the state legislature by Republicans. Obama’s friends and political mentors Quinn, Madigan and Cullerton will constantly be in the news in a manner most will considered to be negative to Obama’s campaign.
Being a liberal for most of my life I think I have more insight into the mind of the progressive (and it is scary in there too) than most conservatives. Too prove my progressive bona fides I will admit to voting for both McGovern and Mondale (mea culpa, mea culpa). Well as George Bush said: “When I was young and stupid I was young and stupid.”
Only my 12-step program studying state pensions has saved me from the debilitating mental disease known as “progressive thought obsession.” Hopefully by election time in November, 2012 many others will be cured too.
As an example of the magnitude of the problem I submit my children, all raised to be good liberals. They are all against the income tax increase a response I never thought I would live to see. When my kids are against a tax increase liberals everywhere are in big trouble.
I close with this haunting picture of Barack Obama, one-term progressive president.
Here’s the steely-eyed agrarian Barack looking for any weak-kneed boll weevils in his party. He will pull them out root and branch.
Well, the few that are left after the IL 2012 elections anyway.
Bill Zettler is a free-lance writer and consultant specializing in public sector compensation. He can be contacted at this email address.
