Ted Dabrowski, Wirepoints News
Illinois’ lethal combination - property tax increasing three times faster than household income
A lethal combination of rising property taxes and stagnant incomes has forced many Illinoisans to rethink their relationship with their state. Families have done the math, whether they’re in the struggling south suburbs of Chicago or the affluent North Shore, and they’ve decided to leave Illinois behind.
Pritzker’s progressive tax plan will hit the middle class
J.B. Pritzker has staked his run for governor on a progressive income tax, yet he won't say a word about his plan.
Janus v. AFSCME and the truth about pensions in one graphic
One graphic perfectly captures the absurdity of Illinois pensions over the past three decades.
It’s the pension promises, stupid!
You can trust public pension apologists to deflect any critique that calls out the failure of defined benefit plans. Unsurprisingly, their response to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial highlighting Wirepoints’ research was just that – deflection via misdirection and victim playing.
Magicians: How Illinois politicians made $1.2 billion in budget deficits disappear
If you want to understand Illinois’ corrupt budget making process, take the example of how the legislature just “cleaned up” some of its unaccounted-for budget deficits.
A budget for lawmakers, not Illinoisans
Earlier this week, Wirepoints warned that the eerie silence in Springfield augured bad news for Illinoisans. Sadly, we were right.
No fight over the budget is bad for Illinoisans
Illinois media is widely reporting that no news on Illinois’ budget negotiations is good news – that a quiet battleground in the statehouse means all is well. Especially after a nasty near three year impasse between Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan.
Who does Illinois’ Civic Federation really champion?
Glance at the list of the Civic Federation’s Trustees and you’ll see a collection of Illinois corporate titans. Many of the 16 men and one woman are CEOs, heads of private equity, chairs of boards, investors or hugely successful entrepreneurs.
The insanity in Harvey, Illinois
It’s happening. We've written about this before. It’s not one big blowup like the subprime crisis, but it is happening, and Harvey is part of it.
Gubernatorial candidates hurling insults instead of addressing 10 trends driving Illinois towards insolvency
With Illinois’ decline in full display for the nation to see, proposals for fiscal and spending reforms should dominate the campaign and political landscape. After all, virtually every budget and economic trend in Illinois is pointing towards insolvency sometime in the near future.
Illinois pensions: Overpromised, not underfunded
For years, the state’s political elite has blamed ordinary Illinoisans for the state’s pension crisis.