“You guys are nothing if not entertaining. It’s like living next door to the Simpsons — the dysfunctional family down the block.”
—Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, commenting on Tuesday’s spectacle in Springfield in an interview on WLS-AM’s “Don Wade and Roma” show.
“Escape to Wisconsin.”
—Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, celebrating the Illinois General Assembly’s votes to raise the personal and business income tax rates by 67 percent and 46 percent, respectively.
The nation’s laughing at us again. The nation’s laughing and our neighbors are having fun at our expense, and who can blame them? Walker and Daniels are aggressively courting employers, and Illinois has made their jobs that much easier by passing a huge tax increase that will send businesses racing across the state line.
We heard from a lot of angry Illinois citizens on Wednesday. We heard from a lot of citizens who encouraged us to create a new version of the tax calendar that appeared for months on this page, counting up the days after Cook County imposed a sales tax hike and counting down the days until voters could toss out the tax champion, former County Board President Todd Stroger.
We heard from Illinois voters and we heard those neighboring governors beckon to Illinois businesses.
“If you want to bring new jobs to your state, the last thing you do is make it more expensive to hire people,” Daniels said.
The Tax Foundation reports that Indiana already has a much better business tax climate than Illinois has. Illinois is better than Wisconsin. Watch that change.
Walker popped up on national television Wednesday holding a bumper sticker with the tourism slogan “Escape to Wisconsin.” His office noted the $4 billion Illinois will borrow to make an annual pension payment, the increase in income taxes, the built-in spending increases to come.
“We’re not only lowering taxes, we’re reforming the regulatory and litigation climate,” Walker crowed. “Illinois is heading in the opposite direction.” D’oh.
So here they are, the 60 House Democrats and 30 Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the jobs-killing Illinois income tax increase.
HOUSE
Edward Acevedo, Chicago; Luis Arroyo, Chicago; Daniel Beiser, Alton; Maria Antonia Berrios, Chicago; Mike Boland, East Moline; John Bradley, Marion; Daniel Burke, Chicago; Will Burns, Chicago; Michael Carberry, Oak Lawn; Linda Chapa LaVia, Aurora; Annazette Collins, Chicago; Marlow Colvin, Chicago; Barbara Flynn Currie, Chicago; Monique Davis, Chicago; William Davis, Homewood; Anthony DeLuca, Chicago Heights; Lisa Dugan, Bradley; Ken Dunkin, Chicago; Sara Feigenholtz, Chicago; Robert Flider, Mount Zion; Mary Flowers, Chicago; LaShawn Ford, Chicago; Paul Froehlich, Schaumburg; Robyn Gabel, Evanston; Esther Golar, Chicago; Careen Gordon, Morris; Betsy Hannig, Gillespie; Greg Harris, Chicago; Elizabeth Hernandez, Cicero; Jay Hoffman, Collinsville; Thomas Holbrook, Belleville; Constance Howard, Chicago; Eddie Lee Jackson, East St. Louis; Naomi Jakobsson, Urbana; Charles Jefferson, Rockford; Lou Lang, Skokie; Camille Lilly, Chicago; Joseph Lyons, Chicago; Michael Madigan, Chicago; Frank Mautino, Spring Valley; Karen May, Highland Park; Rita Mayfield, Waukegan; Kevin McCarthy, Orland Park; Jack McGuire, Joliet; Susana Mendoza, Chicago; David Miller, Lynwood; Kathleen Moore, Chicago; Elaine Nekritz, Northbrook; John O’Sullivan, Worth Township; Dan Reitz, Steeleville; Al Riley, Olympia Fields; Robert Rita, Blue Island; Michael Smith, Canton; Cynthia Soto, Chicago; Andre Thapedi, Chicago; Arthur Turner, Chicago; Patrick Verschoore, Milan; Mark Walker, Arlington Heights; Karen Yarbrough, Maywood; Michael Zalewski, Chicago.
SENATE
James Clayborne, Belleville; Jacqueline Collins, Chicago; Maggie Crotty, Oak Forest; John Cullerton, Chicago; William Delgado, Chicago; Deanna Demuzio, Carlinville; Michael Frerichs, Gifford; William Haine, Alton; Don Harmon, Oak Park; Rickey Hendon, Chicago; Linda Holmes, Aurora; Mattie Hunter, Chicago; Toi Hutchinson, Olympia Fields; Mike Jacobs, East Moline; Emil Jones III, Chicago; David Koehler, Peoria; Dan Kotowski, Park Ridge; Kimberly Lightford, Maywood; Terry Link, Waukegan; Edward Maloney, Chicago; Iris Martinez, Chicago; John Mulroe, Chicago; Antonio Munoz, Chicago; Kwame Raoul, Chicago; Martin Sandoval, Cicero; Jeff Schoenberg, Evanston; Heather Steans, Chicago; Donne Trotter, Chicago; Louis Viverito, Burbank; A.J. Wilhelmi, Joliet.
