Wherein I Sound Like A Fiscal Conservative... Kinda

People don't mind a tax increase if you cut out the waste and inefficiency

So says Mayor Dailey, so say we all.

Ok, I think I've officially overused that Battlestar Gallactica reference. Moving on!

Illinois, like most other states, is in a bit of a bind. Since the economy tanked, the state hasn't done so well with managing its debt. Which is to say that the state legislature and our wonderfully corrupt chain of governors has taken every bit of tax money and made it magically disappear without so much as a thank you note for all of our contributions.

Yesterday (or this morning rather, depends on what you consider 1:30 am to be) our legislators decided that in order to fix the problem of magically disappearing money that they should obviously ask for money to magically appear! Which, of course, means that they decided to hike income taxes. Obvi.

Now instead of giving the illuminati of Illinois (I <3> 3% of our income, we get the divine privilege of giving them 5%! That doesn't seem like much to some people. But let's assume you make $40k a year; you now are giving away an additional $800 to your government per year. That's about $35 a paycheck. Again, doesn't sound like much. But can you honestly see where you can cut out $35/check?

Maybe you'll drive less. Of course, Chicago has the highest gas prices in the country right now so even driving less, you're paying more right now (lets not even consider what this summer's gas prices will be). Maybe you'll just cut out your clothing budget. I mean, you're faded, frayed and out-dated threads from 5 years ago still fit, right? Or maybe you'll start that fabulous diet you've been thinking about. You know, the one where you just fast two days a week? Yeah, that one.

Now if you make $50k, we're talking $1000 a year. Bye bye vacation!

So we're essentially being asked to cut back on our spending so that the government can spend more. Being a liberal, that idea doesn't really bother me… if we're actually getting something in return or if I can say that the state will come out of this ahead. But this time I can't say that.

Illinois will be borrowing even more money this year than it did last year, in spite of the tax hike. And I won't see any quality of life increases.

I am normally quite OK with tax hikes, normally because they are rationalized in a more equitable way (i.e. higher earners see higher tax rates), but a blanket increase unfairly places pressure on middle class and poor workers. The tax increase will cause us to actually have to sacrifice. On the flip side, I don't think you'll see Vince Vaughn or Mayor Dailey not eating out any time soon because of the tax increase. They might have to fly commercial next time the go to Hawaii for vacation, but at least they can still go. The rest of us will be stuck here shoveling snow in Chicago.