By Ray Hanania
Illinois politicians did it again. Instead of fixing broken public service problems like the inefficient CTA, they quickly passed massive tax hikes on the working middle class, the way they have repeatedly in the past, to patch up the bloated system
How did they do it? It was easy. The Republicans lack any real strong statewide leaders — they are ineffective in dealing with the challenges. And the Democrats used the cover of the national debate over the crackdown on illegal aliens, ICE, immigration, and President Trump to shove new taxes down the throats of hardworking and voiceless Illinois taxpayers.
And amazingly, the Democrats think that they will be able to field “strong candidates” for president in 2028, like Gov. J.B. Pritzker and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (who is as responsible for Chicago’s problems as his successors).
Pritzker reigns over one of the worst states in America. Emanuel left Chicago in a worse state than when he took control.
I can just imagine the campaign slogans Pritzker and Emanuel might use in their delusional presidential campaigns: “When people say our taxes are too high, we can prove that we can go higher. We have that talent to patch up our problems by using tax dollars.”
Pritzker and Emanuel have managed to help turn perception upside down. Their achievement is politically amazing, pulling an anorexic rabbit out of the political trough using smoke and mirrors to make people believe that paying more in taxes is a better solution than improving broken government systems like the CTA and making them work, or cutting back on inefficiencies and reducing spending.
You don’t spend more money to cover up a problem when you can’t get something done.
They’re magicians who use political relativity to argue that unacceptable crime rates in Illinois aren’t so bad, because they compare them to past years when they were worse. They tell you you are safe because “crime is going down,” compared to before.
“It was worse before. It’s not so bad.”
This week, under Pritzker’s leadership and Emanuel’s political spirit, the Illinois Legislature approved new taxes on all Illinois residents to cover a $1.5 billion budget shortfall facing Chicago, a geographic area that represents less than 23 percent of the state population. The interests of that 23 percent trump — no pun intended — the needs of the rest of the state.
That has always been the Illinois way: throw money taken from the hardworking middle-class families and taxpayers to cover the inefficiencies and failed performances of Chicago’s government.
This round of new taxes is on top of the round of new taxes they passed the year before.
Under the “tax the middle class plan,” the RTA sales tax will increase by 0.25 percentage points, to 1 percent in Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, and Will counties and 1.25 percent in Cook County. That tax hike will generate $478 million, which will be wasted. A rubber patch on an inner tube covered in rubber patches.
Motorists will be forced to pay 45 cents more per toll on Illinois Tollways, a 60 percent hike for drivers.
The CTA is a good example. I am convinced that when the state created METRA and the RTA, they did so not to provide good public transportation services to suburban residents, but to instead create a means of justifying regional taxes to bail out the patronage-controlled and ineffectively run CTA.
What they should do is merge the CTA, RTA and METRA into one large agency with everything connected, and impose a new mentality that to spare the rod is to spoil the child. Be tough. Demand that employees work more. Cut back on excessive pensions and benefits.
Instead of raising taxes to cover government service failures, force those governments to perform better.
Every time the CTA has a problem, the state bails it out by taxing the suburbs and surrounding counties. They did it in the 80s, the 90s, and every decade since. Instead, they find excuses, blaming the CTA’s problems on the COVID pandemic and loss of Federal funding that was misspent by local governments to cover shortfalls.
And what is the result? CTA services worsen. The system is plagued by crime and inefficiencies. And instead of serving more people, the population served continues to drop from just over 3 million in the 1970s to 2.72 million today.
CLICK HERE to see the population of Illinois 102 counties.
CLICK HERE to see the state’s loss of population.
The formula of raising taxes to cover CTA losses doesn’t work. More than a quarter million people have fled Chicago, and the people leaving are not the poorest. The people leaving are the ones who work for a living.
If the CTA has a $230 million funding shortfall in 2026, with the deficit projected to grow to $834 million in 2027 and $937 million in 2028, THEN CHARGE CTA RIDERS MORE TO USE THE SYSTEM. At the cost rate we are headed, it might be easier for commuters to buy cheap cars and drive. It might take longer, but it would be more affordable.
Those arguing that the tax hikes are needed to protect the 15,000 employees who work in the transportation industry are disingenuous. Yes, there are about 15,000 employees for the transportation system, in this breakdown: the RTA has 173 employees; METRA has 2,800 employees; and the CTA has 11,400 employees.
They get away with blurring the facts to defend their outrageous wages and, worse, their excessive pensions.
The Transportation system has more than 15,000 employees, and just maybe that is bloated and should be reduced.
And let’s pause for a moment to define the category of “poor.” There is no doubt in my mind that more than 60 percent of the people who barely survive on welfare are actually capable of working if they could find jobs. But short of having a good job, surviving on government welfare, funded by those who do work and pay taxes, is the easiest option.
Chicago government has always been a formula for disaster that no one wants to address. Instead, the politicians insist on throwing more and more taxpayer money at the problems, and nothing gets better.
Is the CTA better today than it was in the 1980s financial crisis? It’s not. It’s worse. Services are worse. It can be frightening to ride the CTA in some areas and during some hours.
Funding for policing is worse. Combined with the newest trend of blaming the police for crimes instead of holding people responsible for committing the crimes, the crime wave is expanding. It may be “less than before,” but it is not acceptable. The crime level is still way too high.
The county has pandered to the criminals, reducing arrests and the perception of crime by using gimmicks, like raising the felony theft level from $500 to $1,000, and not prosecuting everyone who should be behind bars.
Only the wealthy can really enjoy the sports events in Chicago, or the various entertainment venues and restaurants. Chicago is a mirage of what the city used to be, promising excitement but only for those who don’t live there.
But it is election season again, and Pritzker and Emanuel are both planning to run for president.
Just what America needs, Chicago’s solution to inefficient government, which is to impose higher taxes and increase spending to protect the existing failed public service systems.
And don’t think the Republicans in Illinois are exempt from criticism. They are pathetic. Disorganized and devoid of good leadership. There are a few good Republicans and a few good Democrats, but good officials are in the minority in Illinois. If good leadership were in the majority, we wouldn’t be in this mess where people are fleeing Chicago and Illinois in record numbers.
The key messages here:
1 - Increasing taxes doesn’t resolve the problem. They have been doing that for years without achieving a solution.
2 - The hike the tax proponents are fudging data to justify tax hikes.
3 - The RTA, METRA, and the CTA should be combined, merged into one more efficient agency. Its employee base, particularly in the CTA, should be dramatically cut.
4 - Pensions should be capped and brought under control, especially for public servants.
5 - Electing Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker or former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as President in 2028 would turn the problems of Illinois and Chicago into the problems of the nation, which are already bad. Electing either would make this country worse.
6 - Stop bailing out the CTA by taxing the rest of the state. If the CTA needs more money, RAISE CTA FARES, not taxes on people who don’t use the inefficient, broken system.
7 - Republicans who opposed the increases are no better than the Democrats who passed them in Springfield this week. The Republicans need new leadership that is more effective in addressing the needs of Illinois taxpayers.
What is stunning is we are asked to accept new taxes for massive unplanned and massive unbudgeted spending of millions of dollars . Make no mistake the politics is votes. make no mistake it was indeed not in the authorized by the people budget.