While the Senators were grilling the Oil Company Execs about the high cost of gas, the revenues the government receives from the gas taxes are bringing in record revenues into their coffers. In fact in Chicago, who has the highest gas prices in the nation, taxes account for approximately 20% of the gas costs. [Emphasis mine]
Tired of seeing the price at the pump jump every time you need to buy gasoline? Well, the record-high price of gasoline in the Chicago area is linked to a record-high rate of taxation: nearly 20 percent of the Chicago price.
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“It was $4.20. I can come over here and get it for $3.93,” said Tikvah Wadley, one of the many fleeing Illinois taxes.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin complained to oil company bosses at a hearing on Capitol Hill about Chicago having the highest gasoline prices in the United States. Largely ignored was the role taxes are playing — an astounding 10 levels of taxation.
“Does it trouble any of you when you see what you’re doing to us?” Durbin asked..
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The watchdog Civic Federation says that on a $4 gallon of gas, the total tax is 79.2 cents. That compares to 77 cents in Los Angeles and 65 cents in New York City.
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And that, of course, is exactly the point for the politicians. Gov. Blagojevich, for example, is counting on the high price of gasoline to bring at least an extra $220 million in the State Treasury in the fiscal year that begins this July. Most of that will be used to balance the way-out-of-balance budget.
Senator Durbin, does it trouble you when you see what you’re doing to us? Don’t you and your fellow Senators care about the poor and middle class working families? Why are you are forcing them to pay nearly a 20% tax rate on the gas they need to get back and forth to work?
Eventually, the majority of the taxpayers are going to find out the truth that Congress, State Legislators and local governments are to blame for the high gas prices. They will understand that you and your cohorts don’t want to fix the high gas prices. You just want the tax revenue so you can spend more of our money on your pet projects and never have to make decisions to actually cut spending.
This in not the first time the Illinois Review has shunned someone who speaks out against the corruption and impotent Republican leadership in the Illinois Republican Party. I personally know of another conservative who was blocked from writing any more articles because he too dared to question the Republican leadership.
Tactics like this are what turn people off from the Republican Party. They want unquestioning loyalty no matter how bad they govern; no matter how corrupt they act; no matter how much they increase spending; no matter how little difference there is between them and the Democrats.
One day the Republicans here in Illinois will realize that they can’t build a totalitarian party like the Democrats. The more conservative people are, the more freedom oriented they are. This means that the Republicans or any party that wants to attract Free Market/Limited Government people must build a coalition of varied thought. Without this, the Republican Party in Illinois will become nonexistent.
State Sen. Chris Lauzen will be holding a property tax forum Monday, May 12 from 7 - 8:30 pm at the Yorkville Public Library, 902 Game Farm Road, Yorkville. (Hat tip: Daily Herald) [Emphasis mine]
As property tax bills begin to appear in mailboxes throughout Kane and Kendall counties, state Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, wants to help area residents understand their bills and provide information on a variety of cost-saving measures.
The best cost savings will be to lower property taxes instead of the annual unending increases.
Lauzen has partnered with the supervisors of assessments and treasurers from both counties to help answer questions on local residents’ property tax bills and to help explain where their tax dollars are distributed.
The largest percentage goes to the local school districts who spend the money on the following instead of the education of the children: (This is not an all inclusive list)
Pay raises higher than those the taxpayers
Outrageous end of career bonuses
Retirement at age 55
Overtaxing after referendums
Use of bonds schemes to fleece the taxpayer more
No bid contracts
Information also will be provided on a number of new homestead exemptions that have recently passed the General Assembly.
Sorry, Mr. Lauzen, but these new exemptions help only a minority of taxpayers, particularly Seniors and Veterans. Even for them, it will only slow the growth of their tax bills. If you wish, please e-mail Mr. Lauzen and ask him for real property tax reform instead of these meetings and feel good sessions.
Unlike Illinois, who won’t allow recall, the State of Michigan does. There is currently a recall effort taking place against the Speaker of the House, Andy Dillon. This effort started after he helped push through a the first tax increase since 1983. (Hat tip: Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Publius Forum)
Citizens in his district are gathering signatures currently at libraries and township offices. Speaker Dillon is not thrilled with this effort. Employees of his office are driving hundreds of miles back to the township and are intimidating the citizens in a process known as blocking. This technique is to surround the petition gatherer and intimidate anyone who actually wants to sign the petition. Imagine citizens wanting to hold their elected officials accountable and being harassed by employees of the officials themselves. Watch the following video and see for yourself what is taking place in Michigan.
For more information, read the post over at Publius Forum.
We have equal opportunity corruption here in Illinois. Both Republicans and Democrats take part in the bribery, kickbacks, and influence peddling. Our previous governor is in jail, the current governor is under investigation and just think about how many other elected officials, their staff and their cronies who are in jail, on trial or under investigation currently. With the criminal records Illinois politicians are piling up, just imagine the thugs our elected officials would use here on us?
There is a move here in Illinois to pass a recall law, but do you really think they are going to pass a law that would allow us, the citizenry to hold them accountable for their actions? It’s not going to happen and if it does, it is going to be so restrictive, it will be just another useless law designed to make the politicians appear that they actually care about what “we the people” think.
We can fight back. Many of you probably don’t know this, but we have a chance this fall to take back our State from the politicians this fall. Every 20 years, a mandatory vote is held giving the citizens of Illinois a chance to have a Constitution Convention. The last vote was in 1988 and the last convention was in 1970. That convention allowed our State, City and Municipal governments to run rough shod over us. In essence, it allowed the State to use citizens as it servants instead of the State serving the citizens.
Go watch the video and be amazed at the arrogance of another Cook County elected official. The quote that got me was when she said, “Am I just an employee of the County?”.
Bruno Behrend of Extreme Wisdom has also picked the story on his blog. He opens with this line:
The Daily Herald covered Tom Cross’s brilliant plan to keep all of you dumb and stupid. Being dumb and stupid, most people seem to support plans to make them even more so.
House Republican Majority Leader Tom Cross is introducing legislation that will limit the free speech here in Illinois. He wants to ban robo calls.
At a news conference scheduled for today in Geneva, House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego, state Rep. Tim Schmitz, a Batavia Republican and state Rep. Ruth Munson, an Elgin Republican, are expected to call for new restrictions on the use of such calls.
I understand why politicians, especially the corrupt ones we have in Illinois want to limit free speech, but why do so many citizens want to give up one more freedom? I am including a few of the citizen comments:
I agree that these calls must be stopped. I pay for home telephone service so that I can call other people, and so that I can invite other people to call me.
I do NOT pay for home telephone service just to make it easier, cheaper and more convenient for some politician to feed me their propaganda.
The notion that my phone is just another campaigning tool is an outrage and if it takes legislation to stop the practice, so be it.
posted by RegularGuy
THANK YOU! I hated these bombarding phone calls as much as the twice-a-day mailings. It was ridiculous!
posted by Me2
Bruno sums it up best in his sarcastic response to these commenters:
“Take my freedom, I’m not using it.” Yecch!
At the rate we’re going in Illinois, there will soon be no need to even vote. Those of you who still care about free speech need to speak up before all your freedoms are gradually taken or given away by politicians and people who don’t want to be bothered with actually knowing the facts.
I have personally used robo calls in my school district. Because of their use, my group was able to get about $7,000,000 abated back to the taxpayers. Without robo calls supplementing the neighborhood walks, the effort would have failed. We didn’t have the money to advertise on the radio or the paper. We only had a website, letters to the editors, robo calls and our feet. This is a free speech issue and not just about calls somebody thinks are annoying.
