Illinois Review

Cook County, A Soda Tax, and the Death of an Economy

By John F. Di Leo - 

Contemplations on the new Cook County Soda Tax

Cook County, Illinois - the home of America’s fourth largest city - Chicago, is, like many metro areas, broke. So, as many jurisdictions do when broke, they imagine a need to raise tax rates. 

The one they have chosen for July 1, 2017 is a soda tax, in addition to any applicable sales tax, which in Illinois can be as high as ten percent ad valorem already. This new “soda tax” is not just on soda, but on any beverage that is sweetened with either sugar or artificial sweetener (so it applies to both regular drinks and diet drinks), from soda pop to children’s juice boxes, from bottled iced teas to sports drinks. And the price will not be ad valorum (a percentage of the price) as we’re accustomed; it’s a penny per ounce.

So if you buy a package of 10 x 6.75oz juice boxes for your children’s lunches, there’s another 67.5 cents for the county on top of the $2.00 for the juice. If you buy a large Coke or Diet Coke for a dollar at McDonald’s or some other restaurant that 32oz drink alone will add another 32 cents to the bill. And if you buy a 24-can case of pop at the grocery store, which usually costs between six and nine dollars around here, that’s another $2.88 in taxes for that case.

Despite gains, Illinois' cities have yet to erase the job losses of the recession

From Illinois News Network - 

Illinois' cities are mostly gaining jobs but have yet to erase the losses of the recession. 

The Illinois Department of Employment Security released a more detailed look at the state's unemployment situation. All but one metropolitan area had their unemployment rate drop. However, five of those 14 areas have fewer jobs than they did a year ago.

Many metro areas, especially Chicago, have gained jobs compared to last May, but the rest of the state still lags behind. The Second City gained 24,600 jobs since last May. The state in total gained only 200 more jobs than that. 

Lawmakers blame poor policy decisions for Illinois' near-worst income growth

By Michael Carroll / Illinois News Network - 

Nearly every state in the union has outpaced the rate of personal income growth in Illinois since the recession set in a decade ago, according to recent economic data.

The personal income figures for all U.S. states have rebounded to surpass pre-recession levels, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported last month, but Illinois’ 0.8 percent annual rate of income growth was the second slowest pace nationwide, just ahead of Nevada. By contrast, North Dakota had personal income gains averaging 4.5 percent a year.

More HERE

Reeder: Rauner Falters

By Scott Reeder - 

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Before taking office, Bruce Rauner pledged to lower our income tax rate during his first term.

It was a lie, wrapped in a prevarication, enveloped with deception, packaged in falsehood and bound up with a fabrication.

The people of Illinois have been hoodwinked, fooled and tricked. Again. 

We elected a man who is not true to his word. And last week, he said he wants to jack our taxes up from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent.

4.95 percent?

Cut Crime By Repealing Useless Occupational Licensing Regulations

Instead of “banning the box” to help ex-cons find a job, just get rid of unnecessary occupational licensing. There is a movement to ban employers from asking if a job applicant has a criminal history. The idea is to help ex-cons get back into the workforce so that they don’t return to a life of crime. Hans Bader points out that there is a better solution than rely on forcing employers to be ignorant of an applicant’s criminal past: 

North Korea Must Pay Massive Price For Otto’s Murder

Options for dealing with North Korea: North Korea has killed an American, Otto Warmbier, and it holds three more Americans as prisoners. What can the United States do? Rebeccah Heinrichs: 

“Families of the hostages might call for restraint. But Otto’s fate demonstrates that unless the United States forces Pyongyang to assess it is not in its interest to harm them, we have no reason to think their fate will be better than Otto’s.”

Heinrichs recommends:

Illinois Police Give a Warning on Marijuana Legalization

Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel predicts that legalized marijuana will put more drugged drivers on Illinois roadways and cause more headaches for Illinois than all its tax revenue is worth. The chief was not allowed to testify during a recent legislative hearing on pro-marijuana legislation. He outlined his opposition to legalization in an interview with the Illinois Family Institute.

Supreme Court to Slants: Rock On!

It’s not the government’s job to decide what speech is disparaging. On Monday the Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination when it issues trademarks. In a case brought by the Asian-American rock band, The Slants, the Court struck down a provision of federal trademark law (the Lanham Act) that bars the registration of trademarks that disparage “persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt or disrepute.” Ilya Shapiro writes that this is the right decision: 

“Fundamentally, this somewhat unusual case […] shows that government can’t make you choose among your rights. The Lanham Act’s disparagement clause placed an unconstitutional condition on those who consider the use of an edgy or taboo phrase to be part of their brand: either change your name or be denied the right to use it effectively. Whether you’re a musician, a politician, or a sports team—the Washington Redskins’ moniker will now be safe—it’s civil society (consumers, voters, fans) who should decide whether you’re being too offensive for polite company.”

More at Cato Institute

Why Is Healthcare So Expensive?

The Affordable Care Act was supposed to lower healthcare costs, but it has done just the opposite. Why? Because it ignored the realities of how markets work.

Senate health care bill misses opportunities to fix Obamacare problems

Edmund Haislmaier, Robert Moffit, and Marie Fishpaw write: “[A] major weakness of the Senate bill is that, unlike the House bill, it does not create enough incentives for continuous coverage—either directly or by permitting states to use the waiver process to adopt such provisions on their own. Such provisions are important to limiting the adverse selection and gaming effects that have driven up premiums under Obamacare.

“The Senate bill should be strengthened by at least expanding the waiver process to permit states to experiment with different approaches for incentivizing continuous coverage.”

And while the Senate bill also improves the Medicaid setup, it doesn’t go far enough in addressing the weaknesses of the program. Haislmaier, Moffit, and Fishpaw recommend:

Ted Dabrowski talks property taxes with State Rep. Jeanne Ives

Rep. Roskam asks USTR Lighthizer about anti-Israel BDS movement

Illinois Home Education Makes the Grade

Illinois Tea Party shows spark of life in face of another income tax hike

SPRINGFIELD - While liberals in Illinois are giddy about appearing to have successfuly suffocated the state's angry Tea Party movement through IRS manipulations and Leftist Media collaboration, a spark of smoldering Tea Party frustration reached the surface earlier this week.  

It was when Illinois Tea Party leader Denise Cattoni posted a warning to those state lawmakers and the governor himself, which Tea Party activists actively supported into office in 2012 and 2014, when the anti-tax movement was at its height nationwide: 

Rep Batinick reports on special budget session

SPRINGFIELD - Leftist media isn't interested in hearing from the Illinois legislature's conservatives - and there are plenty of energetic and passionate conservatives in Springfield. Instead of giving up, lawmakers like State Rep. Mark Batinick, State Senator Kyle McCarter, State Rep. Allen Skillicorn and others have been taking their messages directly to the people on Facebook via videos. Here's one from Rep. Batinick this week:

Reps Skillicorn and Ives talk need for property tax assessment resolution

SPRINGFIELD - Two of Illinois' most conservative and thoughtful lawmakers took time to explain what's going on in Springfield this week concerning a major concern among Illinois property owners: the unbearable burden of paying some of the nation's highest property taxes.

State Reps. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) and Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) explain:

Syverson's plan for bipartisan barbecue summit appears to have failed

SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) appears to have failed in his plan to bring together Democrat and GOP senators on a mutually-agreeable budget plan at a bipartisan barbecue in Springfield this week.

At least if the summit was successful, we haven't learned of it yet.

Where's Weyermuller? Visiting with Illinois GOP Congressmen

By Mark Weyermuller -

The event was called "Cocktails with Congressmen." Illinois GOP Chairman Tim Schneider hosted the reception and fundraiser. He was joined by Congressmen Mike Bost, Peter Roskam, Randy Hultgren, Adam Kinzinger, Darin LaHood and Governor Bruce Rauner on Monday, June 19, 2017 at Gene and Georgetti Steakhouse in Rosemont.

Di Leo: Springfield – The City That Banned Capitalism

By John F. Di Leo - 

Perhaps we should begin by acknowledging the fact that the headline isn’t exactly true.  Springfield is a reasonably normal small town in the American Heartland, with a normal enough distribution of conservatives, liberals and moderates.

But Springfield is ruled by Chicago, the King Kong of Illinois politics, which, for all its good points (and yes, there are many), simply can’t help being utterly destructive to everything within reach.  And because of its size, its reach is far-ranging indeed.

So, while Springfield, as the seat of Illinois government, theoretically rules Illinois, Chicago’s powerful and virtually unanimous Democratic legislative delegation rules Springfield.

And the more desperate Chicago gets, confronted with fleeing residents, disappearing employers, and an increasingly impatient and demanding grubber list, the more Chicago acts like King Kong in the movies, smashing everything in sight, a danger to friends and enemies alike.

St Rep Steve Reick's firsthand report on special session [video]

SPRINGFIELD - Rep. Steve Reick's (R-Woodstock) first year as a state lawmaker has been memorable, including the latest development - a 10 day special session to bring together the first state budget in three years.