Illinois Still Sorting Out Options on Deficit

Illinois politicians are still considering their options for the projected $12b deficit. For now, they seem to be leaning towards some combination of tax hikes and spending decreases.

"Mr. Quinn, a Democrat running for re-election in November, proposed cutting $2 billion in general-fund spending for the fiscal year, including $1.3 billion from education and $380 million from human services. The governor is also reviving his proposal to increase income-tax and corporate-tax rates to boost revenue. Last year, he pushed unsuccessfully to raise the individual income-tax rate to 4.5% from 3%."

A predictable but nonetheless interesting fallout of this debate is the fact that more than a thousand people rallied at the Capitol last week for tax increases at the state level!

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that proponents of tax increases know that they themselves will have to pay more, but rather that others will have to do so.

As unpalatable as tax increases may seem to some, this type of discussion is being held exactly where it should be - at the state level. Any taxpayer in Illinois who is ultimately unhappy with seeing his (or her) taxes rise is then free to move to another state that is not so generous with other people's money.